bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Economic research in Canada: Evolution and convergence
Authors: Brander James A. , Smith Gregor W. 
Published: December 2017

AbstractWe describe the history and current state of economic research in Canada, including the role of the Canadian Economics Association (CEA) and other institutions. Our paper is organized around two central questions. Is Canadian economic research distinctive? And should it be more distinctive? We argue that a distinct Canadian “school” of economics existed in the past, but that economic research in Canada has converged on an evolving global standard in both method and topics. We ask whether this convergence serves the Canadian public interest and we raise some questions about the future of the CEA and its flagship journal, the CJE.
Waist circumference at five common measurement sites in normal weight and overweight adults: which site is most optimal?
Authors: Brown R. E. , Randhawa A. K. , Canning K. L. , Fung M. , Jiandani D. , Wharton S. , Kuk J. L. 
Published: December 2017

SummaryThe aim of this study was to determine (i) if adults would measure their own waist circumference (WC), (ii) which WC site(s) are the most intuitive and easy to measure and (iii) if measurement accuracy and association between WC and blood pressure differs across five measurement sites. Participants (n = 198) measured their WC first with no instruction and then using visual instructions for the iliac crest, last rib, midpoint, minimal waist and umbilicus. Without instruction, men most commonly measured their WC at the umbilicus and iliac crest, while women measured their WC at the umbilicus and minimal WC. Both men and women reported the minimal waist and umbilicus to be moderately easier to self‐measure compared to the other sites (P < 0.05). Prevalence of abdominal obesity varied significantly by gender and measurement site, especially for females (normal weight: 0–18%; overweight: 51–79%). Measurement site did not influence accuracy of WC self‐measurement or the association between WC and blood pressure (P > 0.05). A universal WC landmark is needed. From these results, there does not appear to be a clear clinical advantage in terms of blood pressure or practical advantage of measuring one WC site over another. However, the umbilicus may be the most intuitive and easy to measure.
From International to Global Development: New Geographies of 21st Century Development
Authors: Horner Rory , Hulme David 
Published: December 2017

ABSTRACTRecent claims of 21st century global convergence and the ‘rise of the South’ suggest a profound and ongoing redrawing of the global map of development and inequality. This article synthesizes shifting geographies of development across economic, social and environmental dimensions, and considers their implications for the ‘where’ of development. Some convergence in aggregate development indicators for the global North and South during this century challenge, now more than ever, the North–South binary underlying international development. Yet convergence claims do not adequately capture change in a world where development inequalities are profound. Between‐country inequalities remain vast, while within‐country inequalities are growing in many cases. Particular attention is given here to exploring the implications of such shifting geographies, and what those mean for the spatial nomenclature and reference of development. This article concludes by arguing for the need, now more than ever, to go beyond international development considered as rich North/poor South, and to move towards a more holistic global development — where the global South remains a key, although not exclusive, focus.
Vulnerable Creation: Vulnerable Human Life between Risk and Tragedy1
Authors: Springhart Heike 
Published: December 2017

AbstractIn this paper a theology of vulnerability is explored by describing three bridges between risk and tragedy. Conceptually, ontological and situational vulnerability will be explored as the basis of anthropological realism. Hermeneutically, a case study is done by interpreting the documentary film “Roadside Radiation,” which shows attempts to live a normal life in tragedy in the “death zone” around Chernobyl. The theological bridge unfolds a theological approach to vulnerability that grasps its processive character.
The linear and nonlinear refractive index of amorphous Al2O3 deduced from aluminosilicate optical fibers
Authors: Dragic Peter , Cavillon Maxime , Ballato John 
Published: December 2017

AbstractThe Sellmeier coefficients for the linear refractive index of amorphous alumina (a‐Al2O3) are deduced from measurements on binary aluminosilicate glass optical fibers. This data is then used to approximate the nonlinear refractive index, n2, for a‐Al2O3, which was found to be 1.89 × 10−13 esu (4.77 × 10−20 m2/W at a wavelength of 958 nm) and found to increase slightly sublinearly with increasing alumina concentration in silica glass. Several commonalities with some amorphous alumina thin films are suggested. In addition, a proposal for the extension of a simple additive materials model for the calculation of n2 as a function of composition is presented. Alumina is an important dopant into silica for high energy optical fiber‐based lasers and so the determination and modeling of its optical properties is of significant technological value.
Correlations of sensory parameters with physicochemical characteristics of Argentinean honeys by multivariate statistical techniques
Authors: Patrignani Mariela , Ciappini Maria Cristina , Tananaki Chrysoula , Fagúndez Guillermina Andrea , Thrasyvoulou Andreas , Lupano Cecilia Elena 
Published: December 2017

SummaryHoney acceptability is mainly determined by its colour, crystallisation degree and aroma. In the present work, the sensory characteristics and physicochemical parameters of Argentinean honeys from different ecoregions were analysed. Moisture content, Pfund colour, diastase activity, hydroxymethylfurfural content, electrical conductivity, sugar profile and volatile compounds were analytically determined in honey samples, while sensory characteristics (crystal size, fluency score, sweetness, persistence, granularity, crystallisation, colour intensity and aroma) were evaluated by a trained panel. Significant correlations were found between honey crystallisation degree and hydroxymethylfurfural content and diastase activity (P ≤ 0.05). It could be confirmed that honey crystallisation interferes with the visual perception of colour. Floral, fresh fruit, ripe fruit, balsamic and wood aromas could be successfully linked to honey volatile profile (P ≤ 0.05). These results demonstrate that the parameters that could best guarantee the consumers’ preference can be successfully associated with the chemical composition of honey by multivariate statistical analysis.
The Meaning of Discipleship
Authors: Onyinah Opoku 
Published: December 2017

AbstractThis article is an attempt to use academic tools to bring out the meaning of discipleship from the practitioners' perspective. The mandate of the Great Commission, making people disciples, is the process of making someone become like Christ. This contribution shows that as individuals learn from him and follow the pattern of Jesus' life, there will be marks of discipleship, such as commitment and being like him in deeds. The primary purpose of Jesus' coming to the world was to establish the kingdom of God through his death. The study demonstrates that the kingdom becomes evident in form and practice as people surrender to God's progressive rule. The strength and influence of the church is shown to be wholly dependent upon its commitment to authentic discipleship; that is, producing transformed lives and seeing those lives reproduced in others. The paper concludes that the transformed disciples must together take a journey of transforming communities into the kingdom of God.
Understanding Racial Disparities in Police Use of Lethal Force: Lessons from Fatal Police‐on‐Police Shootings
Authors: Charbonneau Amanda , Spencer Katherine , Glaser Jack 
Published: December 2017

AbstractDuring a 29‐year period studied by a government task force, 10 off‐duty police officers were found to have been mistaken for civilians and fatally shot by another police officer. Eight of these officers were Black, one was Hispanic, and one was White. Given that at least 75% of U.S. police officers in this period were White, we estimate that there is a roughly one in one million chance that this disparity reflects a random deviation from a condition in which Black and White officers faced the same risk of being fatally shot by another officer while off duty. Estimates of the magnitude of this racial disparity must be interpreted cautiously, but the increased risk faced by Black officers while off duty compared to their White counterparts appears to be even larger than the racial disparity among civilians killed by police officers. The disparity is much less pronounced in mistaken‐identity fatal shootings of on‐duty officers, of which two were Black, one was Hispanic, and 12 were White. These incidents are rare, but they comprise an important subset of all police interactions because they are known errors that involve a misperception of threat, and because the differential patterns of racial disparities suggest that there are situational factors that vary systematically and contribute to the observed outcomes. We examine fatal, mistaken identity police‐on‐police shootings and explore potential explanations for the dramatic racial disparity among officers killed while off duty.
Perceptions of Police, Racial Profiling, and Psychological Outcomes: A Mixed Methodological Study
Authors: Nadal Kevin L. , Davidoff Kristin C. , Allicock Neil , Serpe Christine R. , Erazo Tanya 
Published: December 2017

AbstractWhile scholars have documented the contentious relationship between law enforcement and communities of color, most studies tend to compare perspectives of specific communities of color (e.g., Black Americans, Latina/os, Asian Americans) to White Americans—without examining between‐group differences of the historically marginalized racial groups. In Study 1, 543 participants of diverse racial/ethnic groups (e.g., Black, Latina/o, Asian, White) completed the Perceptions of Police Scale (POPS)—a measure of general attitudes toward law enforcement and beliefs about police bias. Findings demonstrate that Black participants were more likely than Whites and Latina/os to view police negatively. While there were no significant gender differences in participants’ perceptions of police, Black men were more likely to have negative perceptions of police than White and Asian men. In Study 2, we extracted 222 participants from the larger sample who were asked about the number of times police had unlawfully stopped them, while providing a guided narrative to explore their reactions to these experiences. A total of 61 participants (or 27.8% of the total sample) reported being unfairly stopped by police officers. Using the Consensual Qualitative Research method, three domains emerged: (a) Perceived Reasons for Police Stop, (b) Types of Responses, and (c) Perceived Characteristics of Multiple Stops. Implications for community relations and improving the relationship between law enforcement and communities of color are discussed. We also explore the psychological implications for participants who perceive being mistreated or discriminated by the police, particularly for those who are racially profiled. Finally, recommendations are provided to address systemic ways that racial bias can be monitored or minimized in training and hiring processes in police departments.
Gut microbiota in early life and its influence on health and disease: A position paper by the Malaysian Working Group on Gastrointestinal Health
Authors: Lee Yeong Yeh , Hassan Siti Asma , Ismail Intan Hakimah , Chong Sze Yee , Raja Ali Raja Affendi , Amin Nordin Syafinaz , Lee Way Seah , Majid Noorizan Abdul 
Published: December 2017

AbstractThe role of gut microbiota in early life and its impact on gut health and subsequent diseases remain unclear. There is a lack of research and awareness in this area, especially in the Asia‐Pacific region, including Malaysia. This paper reports the position of a Malaysian Working Group on some key issues surrounding gut microbiota in early life and its role in gut health and diseases, as well as experts’ stand on probiotics and prebiotics. The group reached a consensus that certain factors, including elective caesarean; premature deliveries; complementary feeding; use of antibiotics, prebiotics and/or probiotics; and exposure to the external environmental, have an impact on gut microbiota in early life. However, as evidence is lacking, especially from the Asia‐Pacific region, further studies are needed to understand how gut microbiota in early life affects subsequent diseases, including allergy, inflammatory bowel disease, obesity and infantile colic. Lastly, although beneficial in acute diarrhoeal disease and probably allergic eczema, probiotics (and/or prebiotics) should be used cautiously in other gut dysbiotic conditions until more data are available.
Warfarin use and the risk of stroke, bleeding, and mortality in older adults on dialysis with incident atrial fibrillation
Authors: Tan Jingwen , Bae Sunjae , Segal Jodi B , Zhu Junya , Alexander G Caleb , Segev Dorry L , McAdams‐DeMarco Mara 
Published: December 2017

ABSTRACTAimThere is conflicting evidence regarding the safety and effectiveness of warfarin for atrial fibrillation (AF) treatment among older end‐stage renal disease (ESRD) patients, and differences among subgroups are unclear.MethodsOlder dialysis patients who were newly diagnosed with AF (7/2007‐12/2011) were identified in the United States Renal Data System. The adjusted hazard ratios (HR) of the outcomes (any stroke, ischaemic stroke, major bleeding, severe gastrointestinal bleeding, and death) by time‐varying warfarin use were estimated using Cox regression accounting for the inverse probability of treatment weight.ResultsAmong 5765 older dialysis patients with incident AF, warfarin was associated with significantly increased risk of major bleeding (HR = 1.50, 95% CI 1.33–1.68), but was not statistically associated with any stroke (HR = 0.92, 95% CI 0.75–1.12), ischaemic stroke (HR = 0.88, 95%CI 0.70–1.11) or gastrointestinal bleeding (HR = 1.03, 95% CI 0.80–1.32). Warfarin use was associated with a reduced risk of mortality (HR = 0.72, 95%CI 0.65–0.80). The association between warfarin and major bleeding differed by sex (male: HR = 1.29; 95%CI 1.08–1.55; female: HR = 1.67; 95%CI 1.44–1.93; P‐value for interaction = 0.03).ConclusionOlder ESRD patients with AF who were treated with warfarin had a no difference in stroke risk, lower mortality risk, but increased major bleeding risk. The bleeding risk associated with warfarin was greater among women than men. The risk/benefit ratio of warfarin may be less favourable among older women.
Deregulating Overtime Hours Restrictions on Women and its Effects on Female Employment: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Japan
Authors: Kato Takao , Kodama Naomi 
Published: December 2017

AbstractThis paper provides novel evidence on the effect of deregulating overtime hours restrictions on women by using the 1985 Amendments to the Labour Standards Act (LSA) in Japan as a natural experiment. The original LSA of 1947 prohibited women from working overtime exceeding two hours a day; six hours a week; and 150 hours a year. The 1985 Amendments exempted a variety of occupations and industries from such an overtime restriction on women. Applying a difference‐in‐difference model to census data, we find causal evidence pointing to the positive effect of this particular piece of labour market deregulation on the proportion of female employment. We then carry out a series of sensitivity analyses to ensure the robustness of our finding. Especially, we conduct a falsification test and an event study to show that our causal inference is not threatened by the differential pretreatment trends. Finally, we use quantile regressions and find that for jobs with more rapidly growing proportion of female employment, the effect of the exemption from the overtime work restriction on women is larger.
Automated QT analysis on Holter monitors in pediatric patients can differentiate long QT syndrome from controls
Authors: Follansbee Christopher W. , Beerman Lee , Arora Gaurav 
Published: December 2017

AbstractBackgroundBorderline QTc is a common referral to the pediatric cardiology clinic. Evaluation is challenging due to significant overlap of normal and abnormal QTc ranges. We hypothesized that automated QT analysis on Holter could differentiate between patients with long QT syndrome (LQTS) and healthy controls.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective review of 39 patients with known genotype‐positive, phenotype‐positive LQTS who underwent Holter monitoring between January 2010 and January 2016. They were compared 2:1 to age‐ and sex‐matched controls. Automated QT analysis data were analyzed.ResultsSignificant differences were found in all automated QT and QTc fields, except minimum QTc interval (P = 0.57). Mean QTc interval (LQTS 479 ± 28 ms vs controls 429 ± 16 ms; P ≤ 0.001) and percent QTc intervals (%QTc) >450 ms (LQTS 80 ± 28% vs controls 14 ± 16%; P ≤ 0.001) were selected for further analysis. A receiver operating characteristic curve was generated for each variable demonstrating high area under the curve values of 0.9494 and 0.9540, respectively. Threshold values of ≥461 ms for mean QTc (sensitivity 79.49%, specificity 98.72%) and ≥65% of %QTc >450 ms (sensitivity 79.49%, specificity 98.72%) allowed highly specific discrimination between cohorts (false positive rate 1.09%). Similarly, thresholds of <434 ms (sensitivity 97.44, specificity 61.54) for mean QTc and <32% (sensitivity 89.74, specificity 87.18) for %QTc >450 ms resulted in highly sensitive discrimination (false negative rates 2.17% and 8.7%).ConclusionHolter monitor testing with automated QT analysis may be a useful tool to differentiate LQTS and control patients.
Observational study on the occurrence of surgical glove perforation and associated risk factors in large animal surgery
Authors: Biermann Nora M. , McClure JT. , Sanchez Javier , Doyle Aimie J. 
Published: December 2017

AbstractObjectiveTo determine the incidence of and associated risk factors for glove perforation in large animal surgery.Study DesignProspective observational cohort study.Sample PopulationSurgical gloves (n = 917) worn during 103 large animal surgical procedures.MethodsGloves worn by personnel involved in sterile preparation and surgical procedures were tested for perforation by 2 previously validated methods, water leak test (WLT) and electroconductivity testing (ECT). The association between surgical and glove‐related variables and glove perforation was assessed by using a multivariable mixed‐effect logistic regression model.ResultsAt least 1 glove perforation was detected in 66% of surgical procedures, and 17.9% (164/917) of gloves tested were identified as perforated. All perforations were detected by ECT, whereas only 110/178 (61.8%) were detected by WLT. All perforations detected by WLT were also detected by ECT. The risk of glove perforation increased with duration of wear (>60 minutes odds ratio [OR] 2.3, 95% CI 1.4‐3.7; P < .001) and with invasiveness of procedures (OR 7.9, 95% CI 3.2‐19.5; P < .001). Primary surgeons were at higher risk for glove perforation than first (OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.1‐2.5; P = .008) and second (OR 3.4, 95% CI 2‐6.7; P < .001) assistants. Only 25% of glove perforations were detected intraoperatively by the wearer.ConclusionIncidence of glove perforation is similar in large animal, human, and small animal surgery and is influenced by duration of wear, invasiveness of the surgery, and role of the wearer. ECT is more sensitive than WLT for detection of glove perforation.
Activity‐dependent control of NMDA receptor subunit composition at hippocampal mossy fibre synapses
Authors: Carta Mario , Srikumar Bettadapura N. , Gorlewicz Adam , Rebola Nelson , Mulle Christophe 
Published: December 2017

Key pointsCA3 pyramidal cells display input‐specific differences in the subunit composition of synaptic NMDA receptors (NMDARs).Although at low density, GluN2B contributes significantly to NMDAR‐mediated EPSCs at mossy fibre synapses.Long‐term potentiation (LTP) of NMDARs triggers a modification in the subunit composition of synaptic NMDARs by insertion of GluN2B.GluN2B subunits are essential for the expression of LTP of NMDARs at mossy fibre synapses.AbstractSingle neurons express NMDA receptors (NMDARs) with distinct subunit composition and biophysical properties that can be segregated in an input‐specific manner. The dynamic control of the heterogeneous distribution of synaptic NMDARs is crucial to control input‐dependent synaptic integration and plasticity. In hippocampal CA3 pyramidal cells from mice of both sexes, we found that mossy fibre (MF) synapses display a markedly lower proportion of GluN2B‐containing NMDARs than associative/commissural synapses. The mechanism involved in such heterogeneous distribution of GluN2B subunits is not known. Here we show that long‐term potentiation (LTP) of NMDARs, which is selectively expressed at MF–CA3 pyramidal cell synapses, triggers a modification in the subunit composition of synaptic NMDARs by insertion of GluN2B. This activity‐dependent recruitment of GluN2B at mature MF–CA3 pyramidal cell synapses contrasts with the removal of GluN2B subunits at other glutamatergic synapses during development and in response to activity. Furthermore, although expressed at low levels, GluN2B is necessary for the expression of LTP of NMDARs at MF–CA3 pyramidal cell synapses. Altogether, we reveal a previously unknown activity‐dependent regulation and function of GluN2B subunits that may contribute to the heterogeneous plasticity induction rules in CA3 pyramidal cells.