bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Development of Obesity-Associated Comorbidities Post Bariatric Surgery with a Special Focus on Diabetes Remission and Short-Term Relapse
Authors: Lautenbach Anne , Riedel Nina , Wienecke Jan , Mann Oliver , Flitsch Jörg , Aberle Jens 
Published: November 2017

Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this study is to study a heterogeneous group of obese patients undergoing Bariatric surgery(BS) and its impact on glycemic control. Secondary endpoints include changes in lipid profile and albuminuria. BS has shown to effectively reduce body-weight. However, the impact on obesity-related comorbidities varies strongly between individuals. Especially postoperative short- and long-term improvement of Diabetes is an active area of investigation.
Methods We conducted a retrospective analysis from baseline to 24 months post bariatric surgery in our interdisciplinary obesity outpatient-clinic. Follow-up data was collected from 215 patients who had undergone either Roux-en-Y gastric bypass or Sleeve Gastrectomy. The prevalence of and changes in the major obesity-related comorbidities and concurrent medication were assessed.
Results Standard parameters of diabetic control showed a U-shaped curve with initial improvement after six months, but with a gradual worsening after the first year of follow-up. Weight loss resulted in dose reduction of oral antidiabetic medication and insulin in 85% and 100% of patients, respectively. With weight loss, a significant improvement in lipid profile one year after surgery was seen. Subgroup analysis demonstrated gender- and age-dependent differences in overall benefit.
Conclusions Current data on diabetes remission might be too optimistic and close follow-up should be provided to prevent gradual worsening of glucose metabolism after BS.
Visceral Adiposity Index was a useful Predictor of Prediabetes
Authors: Gu Dongfeng , Ding Yanan , Zhao Yunfeng , Qu Qingshan 
Published: November 2017

Abstract
Aim To study the relationship of visceral adiposity index (VAI) and prediabetes and the power of which in predicting of prediabetes.
Methods A cross-sectional epidemiological survey was conducted. All participants were divided into four groups: VAI and WC (both are normal), VAI↑ and WC (postcritical VAI and normal WC), VAI and WC↑ (Normal VAI and postcritical WC), and VAI↑ and WC↑ (postcritical VAI and postcritical WC). A multivariate logistic analysis was used to analyze the relationship between the four groups and prediabetes, and diabetes. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to evaluate the accuracy of predictions for prediabetes and diabetes.
Results Both VAI and WC were independent risk factors of Prediabetes. The ORs for Prediabetes in the VAI↑&WC group were 1.641 (95%CI 1.146–2.349), P=0.007, in males, in Model 2. The ORs for Prediabetes in the VAI&WC↑ group were 1.454 (95%CI 1.055–2.005), P=0.022, in males, in Model 2. The ORs for Prediabetes in the VAI↑&WC group were 2.305 (95%CI 1.623–3.273), P=0.000, in females, in Model 2. The ORs for Prediabetes in the VAI&WC↑ group were 1.997 (95%CI 1.529–2.608), P=0.000, in females, in Model 2. The AUC value of VAI were 0.601 (95%CI 0.568–0.634), P=0.000, in prediabetes of men; which were 0.645 (95%CI 0.618–0.672), P=0.000, in prediabetes women. WC had the highest AUC value of 0.605 (95%CI 0.571–0.638), P=0.000, in prediabetes of men, also had the highest of AUC value of 0.673 (95%CI 0.648–0.697), P=0.000, in prediabetes of women.
Conclusion VAI was positively associated with prediabetes, and also a usefulindicator of prediabetes.
Structural basis for arginine methylation-independent recognition of PIWIL1 by TDRD2
Authors: Zhang Heng , Liu Ke , Izumi Natsuko , Huang Haiming , Ding Deqiang , Ni Zuyao , Sidhu Sachdev S. , Chen Chen , Tomari Yukihide , Min Jinrong 
Published: November 2017

Significance
Arginine methylation is a common posttranslational modification serving as an epigenetic regulator of gene transcription, pre-mRNA splicing, and PIWI-interacting RNA (piRNA) biogenesis. Methylarginine recognition is mediated by the aromatic cage of the Tudor domain. TDRD2–PIWI interactions are essential for piRNA biogenesis, but the biochemical and structural basis whereby TDRD2 recognizes PIWI proteins is not clear. We used crystallography and biochemical studies to show that TDRD2 binds to PIWI-like protein 1 (PIWIL1) in an arginine methylation-independent manner. Our complex structures revealed a binding mode by which the extended Tudor domain of TDRD2 recognizes PIWIL1 distinct from the canonical Tudor recognition mode utilizing an aromatic cage. Our results provide a paradigm for how Tudor proteins harboring an incomplete aromatic cage bind to PIWI proteins.
Rethinking Research Into (Occupational) Stress
Authors: Carr Adrian 
Published: November 2017

ABSTRACT
Researchers often employ methodologies and instruments without regard to the assumptions that were originally made in the development of that methodology and instrument. This lack of reflexivity may lead to the protection of data whose usefulness is problematic. An instance of such blinkered research is the area of stress. This paper discusses a number of problems with past methodological approaches and conceptualisations of stress in an effort to cause future research to rethink the approach to this phenomenon. It is also the intention that this discussion may serve as a case study to alert researchers more generally to some taken for granted assumptions in research design.
Medical Benefits Abuse Under Medicare
Authors: Backhouse Peter 
Published: November 2017

ABSTRACT
This paper examines the attempts of recent Federal governments to cope with the economic and political problems presented by medical benefits abuse under Medicare. Despite an intensive five-year parliamentary inquiry in the early 1980s, ongoing discussions with the medical profession, and an array of separate legislative and regulatory packages, medical fraud and overservicing has not been effectively contained. Indeed, while successive governments and the medical profession appear to be actively concerned with the problem, the available evidence strongly suggests that it has continued to expand, and remains particularly noticeable in the area of pathology services. The official response is that governments are doing as much as is legislatively and practically possible to minimise the extent of medical fraud and overservicing, and that there will always be ‘a few bad apples’ within the medical profession to ensure its continuation on a limited scale. This paper argues, however, that the very means by which governments have sought to alleviate the problem—and especially their central dependence on the cooperation and expertise of the organised medical profession—have not only exacerbated the problem, but have also induced its institutionalisation within the Australian health care system.
Regional Integration in the Pacific Rim: the Future of APEC and the Potential for Conflict With the World Trade Organisation WTO
Authors: Dieter Heribert 
Published: November 2017

AbstractThe second wave of regional co-operation and integration differs sharply from the first wave of integration projects. The latter were characterised by protectionist economic policies and were mainly pursued by developing countries. Integration projects in the 1990s involve mainly developed countries and among the most important of these is APEC. It is an exceptional case in terms of the relevance of the participating countries and with regard to the potential for conflict with the existing multilateral order. It appears that APEC integration will either follow the GATT logic, with trade liberalisation being granted on a most-favoured nation basis. Or it may pursue a discriminatory path, whereby trade concessions will only be offered to third countries on a reciprocal basis. The decision for an APEC integration process which is based on reciprocity would call into question the existing World Trade Organisation and lead to the development of a competing system for the liberalisation of world trade.
The Chinese Diaspora and the Reshaping of Pacific Economic Relations
Authors: Tracy Noel 
Published: November 2017

Abstract
Until quite recently most commentators assumed that the international relations and political economy of the Pacific region would be dominated by the US-Japan relationship for the forseeable future. Two new factors have emerged in recent years to upset that judgement. The first is undoubtedly the rapid rise to economic prominence of China as a result of the post 1985 ‘economic miracle’; the second is the arrival of Chinese diaspora business as major players in the Asia-Pacific. This is evidenced by their ablity to outinvest Japan in the region by a consistently large margin since 1992 but particularly by their important role in the re-industrialisation of China and the latter's emergence as a major exporter. The Chinese diaspora presents a particular problem for International Political Economy (IPE): a series of highly integrated manufacturing, trading and investing networks operating throughout the region and beyond but lacking the backing of a powerful state. This purpose of this article is to begin the task of trying to conceptualise this phenomenon within IPE.
Aliran in Malaysia: A Public Interest Group Assuming the Role of the Liberal Press
Authors: Blackburn Kevin 
Published: November 2017

Abstract
This article studies how the Malaysian public interest group, Aliran, has attempted to foster a civic culture and create a liberal press. Aliran believes these are necessary for the advancement of democracy in Malaysia. The organization's journal, Aliran Monthly, follows the liberal press method of scrutinizing what it sees as the four estates of government, the executive, the legislative, the judiciary, and the Malaysian press. The Aliran Monthly advances the group's goal of creating a civic culture by fostering the idea that the country's citizens should insist upon the accountability of the four estates. By providing a dissenting opinion, the Aliran Monthly sees itself as assisting the citizens of Malaysia in evaluating the individuals and institutions that govern them.
Motorcycle Subcultures in Australia: Sketching the Big Picture
Authors: Vale Colin 
Published: November 2017

Abstract
Most research concerning motorcycle subcultures derives from the United States, Britain and Japan and is not particularly applicable to Australia. Furthermore, previous research into motorcycle clubs has dealt with only one type of subculture. This paper highlights the existence of two types of motorcycle subcultures in Australia, patch and non-patch groups. Based on five years of participant observation, comparison of the two types of subcultures and general overview of motorcycle subcultures is presented.
How do we Manage our Cities? Problems and Prospects for Urban Policy in the 1990s
Authors: Caulfield Jan , Wanna John 
Published: November 2017

Abstract
How policy processes relate to the city is the subject of this paper. We argue that the way in which cities are perceived by policy makers does make a difference to the policy approach adopted in planning for cities. In conventional ‘relativist’ approaches the nature of the city itself is not a prime consideration in policy formation or implementation but merely a complex site where diverse policies intersect. In this model policy design is related to criteria other than location. By contrast, if the city is seen as having an essential character then the policy design is likely to be spatially sensitive. The paper explores urban policy during the Hawke-Keating years and, in particular, the ‘integrated’ approach to city planning advanced by Minister Brian Howe as an example of an essentialist understanding of the city. Despite some competition from the new managerialism within the public sector, we conclude that the integrated approach offered some important reforms in urban policy design.
The politics of educational planning and development in Vanuatu
Authors: Mather Glenda 
Published: November 2017

Abstract
The marketing of educational resources and the selling of Australian education packages to the population of Asia and the Pacific reinforces a pervasive neo-colonial impact. This is indicated by the role that Australian politicians often assume in regional organisations and the recent tone of statements regarding environmental and political concerns in the region. In real terms, this process extends the social, cultural and political influence of Australia in the region. As part of this process of educational aid, the Primary & Secondary Education Project (PASEP), investigates the problems of design, planning and project implementation in Vanuatu through a detailed examination of an educational project, co-funded by AIDAB, the World Bank and the respective Vanuatu Governments during the period 1990—1994. The major issues of curriculum reform provide an underlying focus for these changes. The outcome of the project suggests that the ongoing dynamics of political change should not be underestimated or ignored by any planning process.
Institutional Vandalism
Authors: Allen Rodney 
Published: November 2017

Abstract
Virtually all our social institutions, public and corporate, are suffering paroxysms of restructuring. Waves of institutional agitation are sweeping across our social structure. This article explores some of the causes and consequences of the present frenzy of institutional change, finding that much of it is not the inevitable result of social, economic and technological pressures beyond our control, but rather is largely prompted by a developing cultural addiction to change as a good in itself. A lot of so-called restructuring, it concludes, amounts to unnecessary institutional vandalism.
Regulating Advertising in New Zealand and Australia: Learning from Failure and Success
Authors: Harker Debra 
Published: November 2017

Abstract
Advertising is the most visible element of modern marketing and an important component of trading. It is also an activity often accused by its critics of being intrusive and pervasive. Such accusations are not easily refuted by an industry which spends billions of dollars each year attempting to persuade its target markets. When advertising does offend, mislead, or is untruthful, a structure is required to provide protection for parties. In Australia a system of self regulation was dismantled at the end of 1996 and is currently in a state of flux as the industry grapples with designing a new system. In contrast, the self reguatory system operating in New Zealand appears to be effective and expanding. This article develops a conceptual framework for determining ‘acceptable advertising’ and analyses the regulation of advertising in Australia and New Zealand. It is argued that the New Zealand experience offers the Australian advertising industry and government regulators some useful instruction.
The Decline of Japan in Asia—an Update
Authors: Lever-Tracy Constance 
Published: November 2017

Abstract
This paper focuses on relative levels of investment and trade between Japan and East Asia in the 1990s. Although Japan has been devoting a higher proportion of its world wide investments to this region, the value of this investment has been falling absolutely and even more so relative to the size of inflows from other sources. The region is more important for the trade of Japan than is Japan for the trade of the region. While trade between Japan and China has become more important recently for the latter. Japan's contribution to the trade of the rest of the region has largely stagnated. For both FDI and trade intra regional flows are now larger than are flows between the region and Japan. Evidence that Japan dominates the region through supply of machinery or through coordinating regional production networks is not convincing. The paper concludes that Japanese hegemony over the region is neither actual nor imminent.
The ‘Pipeline Fallacy’ and Gender Inequality in Higher Education Employment
Authors: Castleman Tanya , Allen Margaret 
Published: November 2017

Abstract
Some writers reflecting on the continued low representation of women in management and non-traditional professions have posited a process of slow, long term change which will produce gender equality in the future as a result of recent changes of practice. This view (explicitly or implicitly) entails the notion of a ‘pipeline’ through which changes work their way through the system. This model is misleading. While equal employment opportunity initiatives may have a delayed impact, the pipeline fallacy obscures the need for active intervention in dynamic employment processes which continue to favour men over women. The pipeline fallacy diverts attention from systemic gender inequities to individual categories of blameworthy individuals. One example of ‘the blamed’ is older male employees who are sometimes portrayed as blocking the career entry or advancement of younger women. Attacks on this group of employees are often disguised attacks on conditions of employment. An examination of higher education employment data provides no evidence that male tenure blocks the opportunities of women although women continue to gain lower rewards in terms of tenure and seniority. The data suggest that the appointment and promotion practices which have favoured men are continuing.
Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party: Xenophobic Populism Compared
Authors: DeAngelis Richard 
Published: November 2017

Abstract
Recent political experience in France, Austria, Italy, USA and New Zealand plus the theories of contemporary right-wing radical or populist parties of Herbert Kitschelt and Hans-Georg Betz, offer valuable insight into the rise of Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party. As in other ‘globalising’ and reform-imposing liberal democracies, the causes of Hansonism as generic protest populism are multiple, hard-to-avoid, and predictable. Yet general explanations need to be supplemented by recognizing specific features of her movement, which are highly contingent on particular contexts and personal characteristics. Hanson's own brand of xenophobic populism, however, also exhibits certain unique features when compared with other similar Western European parties. Such feature include—the gender of the party leader, the relative absence of conventional ‘racism’, and the emphasis on democratic values and advocacy for a form of protectionist welfare state. Ironically, while these specificities give Hansonism, for the moment, a more ‘humane’ and moderate tone they also may limit not only its anti-democratic, intolerant, and destablising potential, but also its long-term growth and influence. If Kitschelt is correct, new radical right or populist parties which fail to take full advantage of emerging global trends favoring small government, free markets and authoritarian values, will compromise their long-run chances of success. That prediction may already be at work in determining Hanson's fate.
Energy and the Environment: The Limits of Australian Public Policy
Authors: Parker Rachel 
Published: November 2017

Abstract
An analysis of recent policy developments that seek to address the ecological impact of energy reveals a major short-fall in Australian public policy. Notwithstanding some important recent initiatives Australia's general environmental policy performance continues to lag significantly behind that of the international community. This short-fall is explained, in large part due to the dominance of neo-liberalism over much of Australia's policy regime. This policy approach acts to constrain effective governance of private industry, promotes cost minimisation in the pursuit of international competitiveness often at the expense of prudent and responsible environmental conservation. The case of the energy sector is germane to understanding this failure to meet internationally respectable greenhouse gas emission targets at Kyoto. The power of this sector within the national economy acts to constrain government policy and to reinforce neo-liberal dogma which acts to the detriment of the nation's international standing on matters of environmental protection.
The Intrusion of Market Principles in Human Services Provision
Authors: Doyle Robert 
Published: November 2017

AbstractIn many countries, generally, the size and role of government is changing, moving away from a role of provider to one of regulation. Much of economic and political life is governed by a belief that market forces provide the best avenue for social good. However, while there is now a more limited government intervention in the economic market, there is an imposed government-regulated ‘social market’ in the social welfare services. The changing role of government in social welfare provision has implications for both consumers and social welfare providers within both economic and welfare systems. In the social market, there appears to be a re-emergence of cartel-like organisations—movements toward larger, centralised and/or differentiated market-driven and business-oriented organisational forms. The dilemma is that the imposition of market principles, along with reduced government spending, tends to create an increasingly oligopolistic market in social welfare.The most political decisions about welfare lie in the future: the relationship between economic and social policy, between employment and income, between political decision-making and economic decision-making, between state and market, between this and subsequent generations.1
Regional community ‘empowerment’ and the competitive training market
Authors: Lawrence Kate 
Published: November 2017

Abstract
This paper sketches some connections and gaps between ‘community’ and Australian vocational education and training (VET) policy in regional contexts. While ‘community’ and ‘regional community’ feature in current VET policy statements, such policies demonstrate both a lack of clarity about what constitutes regional community/communities and an absence of strategies to address the collective interests suggested within a community discourse. The question is raised as to whether current policy based increasingly upon market relations can support or enable the expression of collective, community-based interests. An increase in VET purchasing power for individuals and enterprises in regional areas is not an adequate strategy for ‘empowering regional communities’: there need to be mechanisms by which the collective and long-term Interests of a region's community members are considered, whether or not they have financial power as VET ‘clients’. Some current initiatives which may facilitate the engagement by regional communities with the VET system are discussed.
The Regional Security Implications of the East Asian Crisis
Authors: O'Neil Andrew 
Published: November 2017

Abstract
The effects of the East Asian economic crisis will be felt for some time to come. In particular, the uneven economic impact of the crisis raises important questions about the capacity of states to undertake remedial measures to their individual economies while at the same time ensuring that regional security in East Asia is maintained. Like the causes and consequences of the economic crisis, its security implications are likely to be wide ranging. One of the few strategic certainties of the crisis is that regional security in East Asia will become more fluid in the short to medium term. The central argument of this article is that the regional crisis has cast further doubt over the capacity of East Asian states to successfully manage security affairs during the next decade or so. Even if the implications of the economic crisis do not alter the regional security balance in any fundamental sense, the effects of accentuated uneven economic development will pose an additional problem for states in their attempts to cooperatively manage adverse security challenges in the region. This will be especially evident in North East Asia, where the potential for inter-state conflict is greatest and where the foundations for multilateral security are weakest.