bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Multi-sensor analysis of convective activity in central Italy during the HyMeX SOP 1.1
Authors: Roberto N. , Adirosi E. , Baldini L. , Casella D. , Dietrich S. , Gatlin P. , Panegrossi G. , Petracca M. , Sanò P. , Tokay A. 
Published: February 2016

Abstract. A multi-sensor analysis of convective precipitation events that occurred in central Italy in autumn 2012 during the HyMeX (Hydrological cycle in the Mediterranean experiment) Special Observation Period (SOP) 1.1 is presented. Various microphysical properties of liquid and solid hydrometeors are examined to assess their relationship with lightning activity. The instrumentation used consisted of a C-band dual-polarization weather radar, a 2-D video disdrometer, and the LINET lightning network. Results of T-matrix simulation for graupel were used to (i) tune a fuzzy logic hydrometeor classification algorithm based on Liu and Chandrasekar (2000) for the detection of graupel from C-band dual-polarization radar measurements and (ii) to retrieve graupel ice water content. Graupel mass from radar measurements was related to lightning activity. Three significant case studies were analyzed and linear relations between the total mass of graupel and number of LINET strokes were found with different slopes depending on the nature of the convective event (such as updraft strength and freezing level height) and the radar observational geometry. A high coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.856) and a slope in agreement with satellite measurements and model results for one of the case studies (15 October 2012) were found. Results confirm that one of the key features in the electrical charging of convective clouds is the ice content, although it is not the only one. Parameters of the gamma raindrop size distribution measured by a 2-D video disdrometer revealed the transition from a convective to a stratiform regime. The raindrop size spectra measured by a 2-D video disdrometer were used to partition rain into stratiform and convective classes. These results are further analyzed in relation to radar measurements and to the number of strokes. Lightning activity was not always recorded when the precipitation regime was classified as convective rain. High statistical scores were found for relationships relating lightning activity to graupel aloft.
Highly efficient solution-processed host-free organic light-emitting diodes showing an external quantum efficiency of nearly 18% with a thermally activated delayed fluorescence emitter
Authors: Wada Yoshimasa , Shizu Katsuyuki , Kubo Shosei , Fukushima Tatsuya , Miwa Takuya , Tanaka Hiroyuki , Adachi Chihaya , Kaji Hironori 
Published: February 2016

Abstract
We demonstrate solution-processed host-free organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) using a thermally activated delayed fluorescence emitter 10-[4-(4,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl)phenyl]-9,9-dimethylacridan (DMAC-TRZ). A spin-coated neat DMAC-TRZ film shows weak concentration quenching, leading to a high photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of 84%. OLEDs containing a neat film of DMAC-TRZ display a maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 17.6%. Both the PLQY and EQE are the highest reported for solution-processed host-free films and OLEDs, respectively. In addition, the OLEDs exhibit an EQE of 16.8% at high luminance (over 400 cd m−2).
External cavity diode laser with very-low frequency drift
Authors: Takamizawa Akifumi , Yanagimachi Shinya , Ikegami Takeshi 
Published: February 2016

Abstract
An external cavity diode laser with significant mechanical robustness was installed in a housing that was sealed from outside for eliminating variations in the refractive index of air. Using the feedback signal for a frequency lock, it was found that the variation in the laser frequency under free running was suppressed to 275 MHz over one month and depended on the room temperature. Moreover, the upper limit of the linear frequency drift rate was evaluated as intrinsically 40 Hz/s. The frequency lock is expected to be sustainable for more than 110 days with temperature-controlled housing.
Educational (Mis)match and skill utilization in Germany: Assessing the role of worker and job characteristics
Authors: Rohrbach-Schmidt Daniela , Tiemann Michael 
Published: February 2016

Abstract
This paper provides precise figures on the incidence and wage penalties of mismatching in Germany. We use the BIBB/BAuA Employment Survey 2006 to compute two different measures of person-to-job matching. A first measure indicates an educational (mis)match, i.e., whether a worker’s attained level of education corresponds to the qualificational requirements of his or her job. Second, — and different from most other studies—we observe a skill (mis)match that reflects the correspondence between the skills of the job holder and the skill requirements of the job. We explore whether and the extent to which results on mismatch differ between these measures and explain the probability of being (mis)matched by different sets of worker and job characteristics. We also examine wage penalties for mismatching in Germany, considering a large number of controls for workers and, in addition to most earlier studies, job heterogeneity; we use random intercept models with workers nested in occupations. Our results indicate that large shares of over- or under-educated workers in Germany have skills that correspond to the skill requirements of their jobs. Furthermore, there are workers perfectly matched with respect to their education who, nevertheless, feel under- or over-challenged by their jobs’ skill requirements. Random intercept models reveal that beyond worker characteristics, i.e., human capital compensation (heterogeneous ability) and career mobility rationalities, job characteristics play a role in the mismatching variance and its real or apparent wage penalties.
Randomized controlled trial of tranexamic acid among parturients at increased risk for postpartum hemorrhage undergoing cesarean delivery
Authors: Sujata Nambiath , Tobin Raj , Kaur Ranjeet , Aneja Anjila , Khanna Mona , Hanjoora Vijay M. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractObjectiveTo assess the effects of tranexamic acid among patients undergoing cesarean delivery who were at high risk of postpartum hemorrhage.MethodsBetween August 1, 2012, and April 30, 2013, a randomized controlled trial was performed at a tertiary care center in India. Women undergoing an elective or emergency cesarean delivery who were at high risk for postpartum hemorrhage were enrolled. They were randomly assigned using sealed, opaque envelopes to receive 10 mg/kg tranexamic acid or normal saline 10 min before skin incision. Anesthesiologists were not masked to group assignment, but patients and obstetricians were. The primary outcome was need for additional uterotonic drugs within 24 h after delivery. Analyses were by intention to treat.ResultsThirty patients were assigned to each group. Additional uterotonic drugs were required in 7 (23%) patients assigned to tranexamic acid and 25 (83%) patients in the control group (P < 0.001).ConclusionIntravenous tranexamic acid, administered before skin incision, significantly reduced the requirement for additional uterotonics among women at increased risk for postpartum hemorrhage.Clinical Trials Registry India: CTRI/2015/05/005752.
Corporate governance and information transparency in Taiwan’s public firms: The moderating effect of family ownership
Authors: Liu Yunshi , Valenti Alix , Chen Yi-Jung 
Published: February 2016

AbstractThis study incorporates insights from both institutional and family socioemotional wealth perspectives with agency theory to examine the relationships among governance practices, family ownership, and information disclosure quality. Employing a sample of 516 publicly listed firms in Taiwan over a period of 5 years (2006–2010), we found that high levels of board independence and board activity have a significant positive effect on disclosure quality. Further, family ownership positively moderated the relationship between board independence and disclosure quality. This relationship is stronger with a higher level of family ownership. The results support the institutional proposition that family-owned firms that pursue socioemotional wealth are more likely to promote information transparency to gain legitimacy and enhance their reputations with outside stakeholders.
Retrospect and Prospect, Retribution and Deterrence
Authors: Flew Antony 
Published: February 2016

(1) During my lifetime most of the discussion of punishment in British philosophical journals has started from an article first published in 1939. Thirty years later this was reprinted, along with a selection of eleven of the most substantial subsequent contributions, to form a volume which has since served to introduce further student generations toThe Philosophy of Punishment. In that seminal paper the late John Mabbott — whom it was later my good fortune to have as one of my tutors — proposed “to defend a retributive theory of punishment, and to reject absolutely all utilitarian considerations from its justification”.His initial claim perhaps sounded bolder, or rasher, than it was. For Mabbott in his second paragraph explained: “The question I am asking is this. Under what circumstances is the punishment of some particular person justified, and why?” After giving and defending his retributive answer to this question Mabbott turned to the “distinction between abolishing injustice in punishment and abolishing punishment altogether”. While still insisting that “punishment is a corollary of law breaking …” he went on to allow that “considerations of utility come in on two quite different issues. Should there be laws, and what laws should there be? … The choice which is the essentialpriusof punishment is the choice that there should be laws”.
Aptness as a Criterion of Just Punishment
Authors: Enker Arnold 
Published: February 2016

The development of criteria for determining a just sentence in criminal cases has been the subject of considerable thought and discussion in recent years. To be regarded just, a sentence must meet criteria of proportionality, humane decency and equality. It may not be excessively severe in proportion to the moral wrong committed by the defendant. It may not be so harsh and cruel as to demean him and deny his humanity. The punishment imposed may not be significantly more onerous than that inflicted on other defendants in similar circumstances.In this brief paper, I would like to suggest an additional factor by which punishment should be judged. I will call this factor the aptness of the penalty. By this I mean the degree to which the penalty itself — note, I say the penalty, not the act of inflicting punishment — expresses moral criticism of the crime for which it is being imposed. Aptness connotes an observable connection between the crime and the offence such that one feels almost instinctively that the particular penalty imposed is the moral consequence of the particular offence committed.
CHANGES IN THE GENETIC STRUCTURE OF A VALLEY IN THE PYRENEES (CATALONIA, SPAIN)
Authors: Toledo Alejandra , Pámpanas Leyre , García David , Pettener Davide , González-Martin Antonio 
Published: February 2016

SummaryIn some situations the use of isonymy is the best strategy for studying the genetic structure of a population and its biological history. In this study different population parameters were calculated for one of the most isolated valleys in the Pyrenees – the region of the Alta Ribagorça in Catalonia, Spain. Surnames from marriage records covering the continuous period from 1638 to 1988 were used. From 1950 onwards this region underwent important social, economic and biological changes related to the introduction of hydroelectric and mining industries, and the change from livestock farming to a society based on services. Two periods were analysed (1638–1950 and 1951–1988) allowing population changes that occurred in the region to be determined. The study focused on calculating the number of surnames by gender, diversity index (H), population sub-structure (RP−RPr)/RPr and inbreeding coefficient (Ft) and detection of possible genetic barriers. The results demonstrate the importance that geography initially had in shaping the genetic structure of the population and how this was gradually replaced by other parameters such as roads or the social and economic importance of towns. An interesting phenomenon is that inbreeding has traditionally been associated with rural life, isolation and endogamy. However, for the Alta Ribagorça it was observed that in the second period, 1951–1988, inbreeding mainly depended on the composition of migrant groups and the reaction of the native population to the arrival of migrants from outside the region.
Varicella Zoster Antibodies after Herpes Zoster, Varicella and Multiple Sclerosis
Authors: Ross R.T. , Nicolle L.E. , Dawood M.R. , Cheang Mary , Feschuk C. 
Published: February 2016

ABSTRACT:Background:We previously showed that Manitoba Hutterites seek physician care for varicella zoster virus infection significantly less than non-Hutterites. The current study was undertaken to measure varicella zoster virus seroprevalence for Hutterite and non-Hutterite controls.Methods:Blood was obtained from 315 Hutterites and 259 similar age and sex controls at the time of blood donations to The Canadian Red Cross Society. The controls were from the same or a contiguous postal code area and were collected at the same time as the Hutterite samples. The immune status of the specimens was determined by the ELISA method (enzyme linked immunosorbent assay).Results:Twenty-eight per cent of 315 Hutterites had no immunity and an additional 25% had only marginal immunity. Among the 259 controls, 10% had no immunity and an additional 10% had only marginal immunity (p < .0001).Conclusions:Manitoba Hutterites have significantly decreased seroprevalence to varicella zoster virus infection. This study of serum varicella zoster virus antibodies verifies a previous population based study that demonstrated the relative rarity of varicella and herpes zoster among a particular population group.
Tissue Plasminogen Activator in a Vertebral Artery Dissection
Authors: Gasecki Andrew P. , Graffagnino Carmelo , Hachinski Vladimir , Bahary J.P 
Published: February 2016

ABSTRACT:Background:Spontaneous dissection of the vertebral artery is uncommon.Method:Case study.Results:We report a 49-year-old woman who presented with the rapidly progressing basilar artery syndrome who was given an intravenous dose of tissue plasminogen activator seven hours after the onset of first symptoms. Thirty minutes after the injection, a dramatic recovery of the patient's consciousness and neurological signs was noted.Conclusion:To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of intravenous tissue plasminogen activator use in acute vertebral artery dissection.
Neural Transplantation in Parkinson's Disease
Authors: Mehta V. , Spears J. , Mendez I. 
Published: February 2016

ABSTRACT:Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects about 1% of Canadians between the ages of fifty and seventy. The medical management for these patients consists of drug therapy that is initially effective but has limited long term benefits and does not alter the progressive course of the disease. The recalcitrance of longstanding Parkinson's disease to medical management has prompted the use of alternative surgical therapies. Many neurosurgical procedures have been utilized in order to improve the disabling symptoms these patients harbour. Although most of the current procedures involve making destructive lesions within various basal ganglia nuclei, neural transplantation attempts to reconstitute the normal nigrostriatal pathway and restore striatal dopamine. The initial success of neural transplantation in the rodent and primate parkinsonian models has led to its clinical application in the treatment of parkinsonian patients. Currently, well over one hundred patients throughout the world have been grafted with fetal tissue in an effort to ameliorate their parkinsonian symptoms. Although the results of neural transplantation in clinical trials are promising, a number of issues need to be resolved before this technology can become a standard treatment option. This review focuses on the current status of neural transplantation in Parkinson's disease within the context of other surgical therapies in current use.
Motor Evoked Potentials and Disability in Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis
Authors: Facchetti D. , Mai R. , Micheli A. , Marcianó N. , Capra R. , Gasparotti R. , Poloni M. 
Published: February 2016

ABSTRACT:Background:To investigate the mechanisms underlying disability in multiple sclerosis (MS), 40 patients with the relapsing-remitting form of the disease and 13 patients with secondary progressive MS underwent multimodal evoked potential (EP), motor evoked potential (MEP), and spinal motor conduction time evaluation. Clinical disability was evaluated by the expanded disability status scale (EDSS) and functional system scales. In secondary progressive MS patients, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to obtain a semiquantitative estimate of the total lesion load of the brain.Results:Spinal motor conduction time was significantly longer in secondary progressive MS patients than controls (p &lt; 0.001) and relapsing-remitting MS patients (p &lt; 0.05), but did not differ between relapsing-remitting patients and controls. Spinal motor conduction times also correlated directly with EDSS scores (p &lt; 0.001) and pyramidal functional system scores (p &lt; 0.001). Brain lesion load (4960.3 ± 3719.0 mm2) and the total number of lesions (67.7 ± 37.0) in secondary progressive MS did not correlate with disability scores. For the following EPs, the frequencies of abnormalities were significantly higher in secondary progressive MS patients than relapsing-remitting patients: visual evoked potentials (p &lt; 0.05), somatosensory evoked potentials and upper limb motor evoked potentials (p &lt; 0.01), and brainstem auditory evoked potentials, lower limb somatosensory evoked potentials and lower limb motor evoked potentials (p &lt; 0.001).Conclusions:These findings suggest that disability in secondary progressive MS patients is mainly due to progressive involvement of corticospinal tract in the spinal cord.
Reversal of Syphilitic Hydrocephalus with Intravenous Penicillin
Authors: Cosottini Mirco , Mascalchi Mario , Zaccara Gaetano , Arnetoli Graziano 
Published: February 2016

ABSTRACT:Background:CSF shunting procedures are generally considered the fundamental therapy of syphilitic hydrocephalus.Methods:We followed up with CSF analysis and MR imaging a patient with progressive mental and gait disturbances and tetraventricular hydrocephalus due to tertiary syphilis who was treated for 14 days with high dose intravenous penicillin alone.Results:Clinical and CSF abnormalities resolved within a few months, whereas the hydrocephalus disappeared only 30 months after therapy.Conclusions:Before consideration of a CSF shunting procedure, a trial of high dose intravenous penicillin is warranted for patients with syphilitic hydrocephalus.
Burden of Illness of Multiple Sclerosis: Part I: Cost of Illness
Authors:   The Canadian Burden of Illness Study Group
Published: February 2016

ABSTRACT:Background:Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a common neurologic disease in young and middle-aged adults affecting approximately 35,000 Canadians. The objectives of this study were to estimate the annual and lifetime costs of MS from the Canadian societal perspective.Methods:Patients were consecutively recruited by neurologists in 14 MS outpatient clinics across Canada. They were classified according to the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) into three groups: mild (EDSS ≤ 2.5), moderate (EDSS = 3.0-6.0) and severe (EDSS ≥ 6.5). Sociodemographic, clinical and resource utilization data were collected retrospectively for the three months prior to patient inclusion. Costing of resources was performed from Ministry of Health, private third party payers, patient and societal perspectives. Average Canadian costs ($CDN 1995) were valued from available provincial data.Results:A total of 198 patients were included in the analysis (mild: n = 62, moderate: n = 68 and severe: n = 68). Costs increased with increasing EDSS scores, from all perspectives. The annualized societal costs per patient were $CDN 14,523, $CDN21,698 and $CDN37,024 for the mild, moderate and severe groups, respectively. In all severity groups, most of the financial burden is borne by patients, from 74% to 88%. Indirect costs, namely lost daily activity/leisure time and lost productivity, were the major societal cost drivers. The lifetime cost of MS, including patient institutionalization, was estimated to be $CDN 1,608,000 per patient.Conclusion:In Canada, MS is associated with enormous direct and indirect costs. Patients carry most of the economic burden of this disease. The results of this burden of illness study provide a basis for cost-effectiveness analyses of new therapeutic interventions for MS.
Evaluation of Selection Criteria Used in Alzheimer's Disease Clinical Trials
Authors: Willmer J. , Mohr E. 
Published: February 2016

ABSTRACT:Background:In the absence of a biological marker for Alzheimer's disease (AD), diagnosis has to be achieved using clinical criteria sets such as those outlined in DSM-IV, NINCDS-ADRDA, or ICD-10. As these criteria are quite broadly defined, there may be inter-rater variability in interpretation.Methods:Using a previously published CT scan measuring technique which correlates well with diagnoses achieved using the NINCDS-ADRDA criteria as interpreted at our clinic, we chose to independently examine and reach a diagnosis in patients selected for participation in clinical trials of therapeutic agents for the treatment of AD. Forty-four CT scans from six investigators across Canada were examined using this model. All patients had been diagnosed as having AD by NINCDS-ADRDA criteria and were deemed acceptable to participate in a clinical trial.Results:The diagnostic concordance achieved in the original published model was 91.5%. The diagnostic concordance in the population currently being studied was 77.3%. However when examined by site, results ranged from 57.1% to 100%. Using the model, an index of atrophy and a probability of diagnosis of AD can be determined. Across sites, there were statistically significant differences in these measures (p ≤ 0.035). The mean probability of diagnosis of AD across sites ranged from 0.56 to 0.94. Although the sites with lower probabilities had slightly lower mean ages and slightly less atrophy, there was no overall correlation of the atrophy measures with age.Conclusion:Current results raise the possibility that the selection of patients for AD clinical trials using current diagnostic criteria sets may not be adequate and conclusions with respect to agent efficacy could be flawed.