bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
An International Physician Survey of Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension Management
Authors: Gall Henning , Preston Ioana R. , Hinzmann Barbara , Heinz Sabina , Jenkins David , Kim Nick H. , Lang Irene 
Published: June 2016

We conducted an international study to evaluate practices in the diagnosis and management of patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) globally across different regions. Between August and October 2012, CTEPH‐treating physicians completed a 15‐minute online questionnaire and provided patient record data for their 2–5 most recent patients with CTEPH. Overall, 496 physicians (Europe: 260; United States: 152; Argentina: 52; Japan: 32) completed the questionnaire and provided patient record data for 1,748 patients. The proportion of physicians who described themselves as working in or affiliated with a specialized pulmonary hypertension (PH) center ranged from 38% in France and Italy to 83% in the United States. A large proportion of patients did not undergo ventilation/perfusion scanning (46%–67%) or right heart catheterization (24%–57%) for the diagnosis of CTEPH. Referral rates for pulmonary endarterectomy evaluation ranged from 25% in Japan to 44% in Europe, with higher referral rates in PH centers; the main reasons for lack of referral were that surgery was not considered unless medical treatment was failing and patient refusal. Other variations in management included greater use of phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors in the United States than in Europe and Japan and greater use of combination treatment in the United States than in Europe. Physicians' perceptions of their treatment strategy were generally consistent with patient record data. Results from this study, which includes a global aspect of CTEPH care, demonstrate not only regional differences in CTEPH management but, more importantly, considerable nonadherence to the diagnosis and treatment guidelines for CTEPH, even in PH centers.
Spectropolarimetry of the Type IIb SN 2008aq*
Authors: Stevance H F , Maund J R , Baade D , Höflich P , Patat F , Spyromilio J , Wheeler J C , Clocchiatti A , Wang L , Yang Y , Zelaya P 
Published: June 2016

ABSTRACT
We present optical spectroscopy and spectropolarimetry of the Type IIb SN 2008aq 16-d and 27-d post-explosion. The spectrum of SN 2008aq remained dominated by Hα P Cygni profile at both epochs, but showed a significant increase in the strength of the helium features, which is characteristic of the transition undergone by supernovae between Type IIb and Type Ib. Comparison of the spectra of SN 2008aq to other Type IIb SNe (SN 1993J, SN 2011dh, and SN 2008ax) at similar epochs revealed that the helium lines in SN 2008aq are much weaker, suggesting that its progenitor was stripped to a lesser degree. SN 2008aq also showed significant levels of continuum polarization at pcont = 0.70 (±0.22) per cent in the first epoch, increasing to pcont = 1.21 (±0.33) per cent by the second epoch. Moreover, the presence of loops in the q − u planes of Hα and He i in the second epoch suggests a departure from axial symmetry.
Uveitis in children
Authors: Angeles-Han Sheila T. , Rabinovich Consuelo Egla 
Published: June 2016

Purpose of review
The review provides updates on novel risk markers for the development of pediatric inflammatory uveitis and a severe disease course, on treatment of refractory disease, and on the measurement of visual outcomes.

Recent findings
There are several new genetic markers, biomarkers, and clinical factors that may influence a child's uveitis disease course. It is important to identify children at risk for poor visual outcomes and who are refractory to traditional therapy. Racial disparities have recently been reported. We describe agents of potential benefit. In addition, we discuss the importance of patient reported outcomes in this population.

Summary
Uveitis can lead to vision-threatening complications. Timely and aggressive treatment of children identified to be at risk for a severe uveitis course may lead to improved outcomes.
Anti-reductionism at the confluence of philosophy and science: Arthur Koestler and the biological periphery
Authors: Stark James F. 
Published: June 2016

The Hungarian-born intellectual Arthur Koestler produced a wide-ranging corpus of written work throughout the mid twentieth century. Despite being the subject of two huge biographies in recent years, his long-standing engagement with numerous scientific disciplines remains unexplored. This paper situates Koestler's scientific philosophy within the context of mid-twentieth-century science and explores his relationship with key figures, including Dennis Gábor, C. H. Waddington, Ludwig von Bertalanffy and J. R. Smythies. The argument presented is threefold. First, surprisingly, serious scientists, particularly in the biological sciences, took Koestler's scientific work seriously; second, despite Koestler's best efforts, his allies could not agree on a single articulation of anti-reductionism; and third, the reductionist/anti-reductionist debates of the mid twentieth century constituted a battle for the authority to speak on behalf of ‘science’ that led Koestler into direct conflict with figures including Peter Medawar. By exploring the community associated with Koestler, the paper sheds new light on the status of scientific authority and the relationship between scientists’ metaphysical beliefs and their practices.
Genomic Dissection of an Icelandic Epidemic of Equine Respiratory Disease
Authors: Björnsdóttir Sigríður , Harris Simon R. , Svansson Vilhjálmur , Gunnarsson Eggert , Sigurðardóttirr Ólöf G. , Gammeljord Kristina , Steward Karen F. , Newton J. Richard , Robinson Carl , Charbonneau Amelia R. L. , Parkhill Julian , Holden Matthew T.G. , Waller Andrew S. 
Published: June 2016

ABSTRACTThe native horse population of Iceland has remained free of major infectious diseases. Between May and July 2010 an epidemic of respiratory disease swept through the population. Initial microbiological investigations ruled out known equine viral agents as the cause of the infections, but identified the opportunistic pathogenStreptococcus zooepidemicusas being frequently isolated from diseased animals. This diverse bacterial species has a broad host range and is usually regarded as a commensal of horses. By genome sequencingS. zooepidemicusrecovered from horses during the epidemic we show that although multiple clones ofS. zooepidemicuswere present in the population, one particular clone, ST209, was responsible for the epidemic. Concurrent with the epidemic, ST209 caused zoonotic infections, highlighting the pathogenic potential of this clone. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that the original ST209 strain entered Iceland in late 2008 or early 2009. Epidemiological investigation revealed that the incursion of this strain into a training yard that utilized a submerged treadmill between the 5thand 19thof February 2010 was a critical trigger for the ensuing epidemic of disease, provided a nidus for the infection of multiple horses, and subsequent distribution of these animals to multiple sites in Iceland.
Time scale and fractionality in financial time series
Authors: Sproul Thomas W. 
Published: June 2016

Purpose– Turvey (2007, Physica A) introduced a scaled variance ratio procedure for testing the random walk hypothesis (RWH) for financial time series by estimating Hurst coefficients for a fractional Brownian motion model of asset prices. The purpose of this paper is to extend his work by making the estimation procedure robust to heteroskedasticity and by addressing the multiple hypothesis testing problem.Design/methodology/approach– Unbiased, heteroskedasticity consistent, variance ratio estimates are calculated for end of day price data for eight time lags over 12 agricultural commodity futures (front month) and 40 US equities from 2000-2014. A bootstrapped stepdown procedure is used to obtain appropriate statistical confidence for the multiplicity of hypothesis tests. The variance ratio approach is compared against regression-based testing for fractionality.Findings– Failing to account for bias, heteroskedasticity, and multiplicity of testing can lead to large numbers of erroneous rejections of the null hypothesis of efficient markets following an independent random walk. Even with these adjustments, a few futures contracts significantly violate independence for short lags at the 99 percent level, and a number of equities/lags violate independence at the 95 percent level. When testing at the asset level, futures prices are found not to contain fractional properties, while some equities do.Research limitations/implications– Only a subsample of futures and equities, and only a limited number of lags, are evaluated. It is possible that multiplicity adjustments for larger numbers of tests would result in fewer rejections of independence.Originality/value– This paper provides empirical evidence that violations of the RWH for financial time series are likely to exist, but are perhaps less common than previously thought.
Quantitative finance for agricultural commodities: discussion and extension
Authors: Power Gabriel J. 
Published: June 2016

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to review three papers in this issue and contribute new results on commodity futures prices and volume using wavelet analysis.Design/methodology/approach– The paper uses time series econometrics including variance ratio tests, fractional integration estimators, and wavelet transforms.Findings– The role of time horizon is emphasized in the discussion of the three papers, and wavelet methods are shown to be a useful tool to better understand time horizon-specific risk. Moreover, changes in the time horizon of futures trading are documented and discussed.Originality/value– In addition to discussing three papers on quantitative finance for agricultural commodities, this paper also looks at how the analysis and management of short-term and long-term risk may differ. To this end, wavelet transform-based time series methods are reviewed and applied.
The US crop insurance program and WTO disciplines
Authors: Glauber Joseph William 
Published: June 2016

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to examine the US crop insurance programs in the context of domestic support disciplines under the World Trade Organization (WTO). Crop insurance has become an integral part of many domestic support programs, not just in developed countries, but in important emerging markets as well. An often-cited impetus for the growth in insurance program is the potential treatment of such programs as exempt from WTO reduction commitments.

Design/methodology/approach
– A detailed examination of the so-called “green box provisions” of the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture is presented with particular emphasis on eligibility criteria for crop yield and revenue insurance programs.

Findings
– While WTO rules potentially shield green box policies from reduction, few developed countries have notified agricultural insurance policies under Annex 2. Moreover, crop insurance programs have been challenged in recent WTO dispute settlement cases and domestic countervailing duty investigations.

Originality/value
– The paper presents a unique perspective on a program which has become the largest single farm program in the USA.
Big data and Ag-Analytics
Authors: Woodard Joshua 
Published: June 2016

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief and necessarily partial overview of the design, motivation, and use of the Ag-Analytics platform (ag-analytics.org), focussing on integration and warehousing of publicly available research data for broad communities of researchers, including those in the area of agricultural finance.

Design/methodology/approach
– The paper walks the reader through an overview of the layout and utilization of the Ag-Analytics platform, including a few example applications of some of the tools and web API’s.

Findings
– Much of the data researchers routinely use in agricultural and environmental finance and related fields are often – strictly speaking – publicly available; however the form in which they are distributed leads to great inefficiencies in data sourcing and processing which can be greatly improved. The goal of the Ag-Analytics open data/open source platform is to help researchers centralize and share in such efforts. Development of systems for disseminating, documenting, and automating the processing of such data can lead to more transparency in research, better routes for validation, and a more robust research community.

Practical implications
– Some of the tools and methods are discussed, as well as practical issues in data sourcing and automation for research. A few high level introductory examples and applications are illustrated.

Originality/value
– Development and adoption of such systems and data resources remains seriously lacking in social science research, particularly in the economics, natural resource, environmental, and agricultural finance spheres. This brief provides an overview of one such system which should be of value to researchers in this field and many others.
Hedging crop yield with exchange-traded weather derivatives
Authors: Zhou Rui , Li Johnny Siu-Hang , Pai Jeffrey 
Published: June 2016

Purpose
– The application of weather derivatives in hedging crop yield risk is gaining more interest. However, the further development of weather derivatives – particularly exchange-traded – in the agricultural sector has been impeded by concerns over their hedging performance. The purpose of this paper is to develop a new framework to derive the optimal hedging strategy and evaluate hedging effectiveness.

Design/methodology/approach
– This framework incorporates a stochastic temperature model, a crop yield model, a risk-neutral pricing method and a profit optimization procedure. Based on a large number of simulated scenarios, the authors study crop yield hedge for a future year. The authors allow the hedger to choose from different types of exchange-traded weather derivatives, and examine the impact of various factors on the optimal hedging strategy.

Findings
– The analysis shows that hedging objective, pricing method and geographical location of the hedged exposure all play important roles in choosing the best hedging strategy and assessing hedging effectiveness.

Originality/value
– This framework is forward-looking, because it focusses on the crop yield hedge for a future year rather than on the historical hedging effectiveness often studied in literature. It utilizes the most up-to-date information related to temperature and crop yield, and hence produces a hedging strategy which is more relevant to the year under consideration.
Financial engineering in pricing agricultural derivatives based on demand and volatility
Authors: Assa Hirbod 
Published: June 2016

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, the author proposes a financial engineering framework to model commodity prices based on market demand processes and demand functions. This framework explains the relation between demand, volatility and the leverage effect of commodities. It is also shown how the proposed framework can be used to price derivatives on commodity prices. Second, the author estimates the model parameters for agricultural commodities and discuss the implications of the results on derivative prices. In particular, the author see how leverage effect (or inverse leverage effect) is related to market demand.

Design/methodology/approach
– This paper uses a power demand function along with the Cox, Ingersoll and Ross mean-reverting process to find the price process of commodities. Then by using the Ito theorem the constant elastic volatility (CEV) model is derived for the market prices. The partial differential equation that the dynamics of derivative prices satisfy is found and, by the Feynman-Kac theorem, the market derivative prices are provided within a Monte-Carlo simulation framework. Finally, by using a maximum likelihood estimator, the parameters of the CEV model for the agricultural commodity prices are found.

Findings
– The results of this paper show that derivative prices on commodities are heavily affected by the elasticity of volatility and, consequently, by market demand elasticity. The empirical results show that different groups of agricultural commodities have different values of demand and volatility elasticity.

Practical implications
– The results of this paper can be used by practitioners to price derivatives on commodity prices and by insurance companies to better price insurance contracts. As in many countries agricultural insurances are subsidised by the government, the results of this paper are useful for setting more efficient policies.

Originality/value
– Approaches that use the methodology of financial engineering to model agricultural prices and compute the derivative prices are rather new within the literature and still need to be developed for further applications.
Electronic Arts: gambling on the future of video games
Authors: Gupta Atul , Nicovich Stef , Garrison Taylor 
Published: June 2016

Subject area
CSS 11: Strategy

Study level/applicability
Undergraduate or Graduate Capstone Course in Management or Marketing.

Case overview
Electronic Arts is one of the premiere video game software developers in the world. With the changing video game industry, evolving tastes and preferences, the introduction of next generation platforms and supporting various mobile platforms, Electronics Arts has important decisions to make as it charts its future.

Expected learning outcomes
The analysis seeks to fulfil several objectives relevant to management and marketing strategy courses, where analysis of the external environment of a firm is important. Students should be able to do the following: identify the relevant content to include in an industry analysis. Understand the key concepts of strategic analysis and how to apply them. Use the analytical tools of strategy to synthesize information from multiple sources into a comprehensive picture of an industry. Provide an overview of the dynamics and near-term future of this industry. Use industry analysis to explore emerging markets, billing options and where to target company resources.

Supplementary materials
Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.
An examination of oral and literal teaching traditions through a comparative analysis of mathematics lessons in Iran and Japan
Authors: Sarkar Arani Mohammad Reza 
Published: June 2016

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine a seventh grade mathematics lesson in Iran and Japan through a comparative analysis for illuminating what actually goes on in the classroom in different cultural contexts. Emphasis is here placed on Iranian oral and Japanese literal teaching traditions.Design/methodology/approach– Qualitative research methods were employed for data collection, including cross-cultural lesson analysis meetings in Iran and Japan and semi-structured interviews with the participants of the meetings. In doing this, the study plans to make apparent the structure of meaning hidden in lesson practice – a so-called cultural script of teaching – by comparing this practice in cultural context, through the eyes of educators from different socio-cultural perspectives.Findings– The findings are intended to clarify the mathematical communication approach used in Iran and Japan. Mathematical communication proceeds through speaking rather than writing in Iran, discussing before summarizing and taking notes (speaking/listening), while in Japan, it proceeds through writing before telling and speaking (writing/reading).Research limitations/implications– This study delivers a transnational learning opportunity for educators to learn how to provide evidence-based analysis of a lesson for professional learning to raise the quality of teaching. However, as this is a case study, it opens up the possibility for comparative lesson analysis of more sample lessons, and how active learning and dialogic teaching can be designed in different educational contexts. In addition, it may be interesting for educators to see how this comparative lesson analysis helps practitioners to revise their teaching. These are very important research questions which the researcher hopes to cover in his next manuscript.Practical implications– Comparative lesson analysis has the potential to expand more “research in practice” for designing mathematics lessons from the perspective of the students – so-called “customized teaching.” In addition, how the silent process of each individual student in the lesson has impacted on their learning and understanding – so-called “personalized learning” – is one of the issues arising from the case studies.Social implications– The value of comparative lesson analysis as a lens is in its ability to reveal to educators their own unconscious teaching script. It provides an opportunity for evidence-based critiques of our own teaching traditions that we accept culturally, share tacitly and may not even be aware of in the construction process.Originality/value– This study combines careful measurement with “insider” and “outsider” perspectives to provide a deeper understanding of the real world of the classroom and the cultural context of teaching.
Developing mathematics teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge in lesson study
Authors: Ni Shuilleabhain Aoibhinn 
Published: June 2016

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the development of mathematics teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) over successive cycles of lesson study. Utilising the framework of mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) (Ballet al., 2008), this research classifies features of PCK as utilised by post-primary mathematics teachers in their planning and reflection conversations in lesson study. The development of these features of PCK is then traced over successive cycles.Design/methodology/approach– In total, 12 teachers in two Irish post-primary schools participated in this research. Over the course of one academic year, these two groups of teachers completed a number of cycles of lesson study and qualitative data were generated through audio recordings of all lesson study meetings and through individual interviews with participants.Findings– Analysis of teacher dialogue reveals distinct features of knowledge of content and students (KCS) and knowledge of content and teaching (KCT) incorporated by these teachers in their planning and reflection conversations, providing empirical evidence of MKT in lesson study. The occurrence of these features of KCS and KCT in lesson study conversations increased over successive cycles, demonstrating teacher learning.Originality/value– This research contributes to the literature in expanding the theoretical underpinnings of teacher learning in lesson study. It also provides further empirical evidence of MKT (Ballet al., 2008) in teacher practice, specifically related to post-primary mathematics teachers.