bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Disease Characteristics Are Consistently Associated with Arterial Function in Rheumatoid Arthritis
Authors: Gunter Sule , Robinson Chanel , Norton Gavin R. , Woodiwiss Angela J. , Tsang Linda , Dessein Patrick H. , Millen Aletta M.E. 
Published: June 2017

Objective.Arterial properties influence cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. We identified potential determinants of arterial function in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).Methods.Relationships of traditional cardiovascular risk factors and RA characteristics with arterial stiffness (pulse wave velocity), wave reflection (augmentation index, reflected wave pressure, and reflection magnitude), and pressure pulsatility (central systolic and pulse pressure, peripheral pulse pressure, pulse pressure amplification, and forward wave pressure) were identified in multivariable backward regression models among 177 patients without established CVD (118 white, 32 Asian, 22 black, 5 mixed ancestry).Results.Recorded characteristics explained 37% (pulse wave velocity) to 71% (reflected wave pressure) of the variability in arterial function. These factors were particularly associated with wave reflection and pressure pulsatility: RA duration (p = 0.04), rheumatoid factor status (p = 0.01 to 0.03), leukocyte counts (p = 0.02 to 0.05), and total cholesterol (p < 0.01 to 0.03). Body mass index (p < 0.01 to 0.02) and insulin resistance (p < 0.01 to 0.01) were related to reduced wave reflection and peripheral pulse pressure. Exercise (p = 0.02) and alcohol consumption (p < 0.01) were associated with increased pulse pressure amplification and decreased peripheral pulse pressure, respectively. Tumor necrosis factor-α inhibition (p < 0.01) was related to reduced pulse wave velocity, and tetracycline use (p = 0.02) to decreased peripheral pulse pressure.Conclusion.Traditional cardiovascular risk factors and disease characteristics are consistently associated with vascular hemodynamic alterations in RA. The relative effect of arterial stiffness, wave reflection, and pressure pulsatility on CVD risk in RA needs further study.
Risk of Knee Osteoarthritis Over 24 Months in Individuals Who Decrease Walking Speed During a 12-Month Period: Data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative
Authors: Herzog Mackenzie M. , Driban Jeffrey B. , Cattano Nicole M. , Cameron Kenneth L. , Tourville Timothy W. , Marshall Stephen W. , Pietrosimone Brian 
Published: June 2017

Objective.To assess the association between change in walking speed over a 12-month period and risk of developing radiographic knee osteoarthritis (rKOA) over a 24-month period.Methods.We included participants without rKOA from the Osteoarthritis Initiative. Change in walking speed was determined from a 20-m walk assessment, calculated using walking speed at 12-month followup minus baseline speed and/or 24-month followup walking speed minus 12-month speed. Incident rKOA was defined as progressing to Kellgren-Lawrence arthritis grading scale ≥ 2 within 24 months (i.e., incidence between 12 and 36 mos or 24 and 48 mos). Self-reported significant knee injury during the exposure period, age, body mass index (BMI), and Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE) score were adjusted for analytically.Results.We included 2638 observations among 1460 unique participants (58% women; aged 59 ± 9 yrs, range 45–79). The mean change in walking speed over 12 months was 0.001 ± 0.13 m/s (range −0.6271 to 1.4968). About 5% of the sample (n = 122) developed rKOA over a 24-month period. After controlling for significant knee injury, age, BMI, and PASE score, we found an 8% relative increase in risk of developing rKOA for every 0.1 m/s decrease in walking speed over a 12-month period (risk ratio 1.08, 95% CI 1.00–1.15, p = 0.05).Conclusion.Evaluating change in speed over a 12-month period using a 20-m walk test may be useful in identifying individuals at increased risk of developing rKOA over the subsequent 24 months. Identification of patients at high risk for developing rKOA would allow medical providers to implement early interventions to maximize joint health.
A Comparative Evaluation of the 2011 and 2016 Criteria for Fibromyalgia
Authors: Ablin Jacob N. , Wolfe Frederick 
Published: June 2017

Objective.In 2016, a revised version of the 2010 American College of Rheumatology fibromyalgia (FM) criteria and the 2011 self-report (survey) FM criteria were published. The 2016 criteria preserved the distinction between physician and patient criteria, but made the individual criteria items identical, added a “generalized pain” criterion, and changed ascertainment and scoring methods, among other changes. In this study, we evaluated diagnostic differences relating to 2016 changes.Methods.We used the National Data Bank for Rheumatic Diseases and evaluated 16,987 participants with painful rheumatic disorders using the 2011 and 2016 methodologies.Results.There were 4731 patients (27.9%) who satisfied the 2011 criteria and 4077 (24.0%) the 2016 revision. This resulted in agreement in 96.2% of cases and disagreement in 3.9%. All disagreements occurred in the 4731 2011-positive cases who failed to meet the 2016 criteria. This result came about because 654 (13.8%) of the 2011-positive cases failed to meet the new generalized pain requirement. When using the approximate polysymptomatic distress diagnostic method, diagnostic misclassification ranged between 7% and 13%.Conclusion.The 2016 FM criteria further refined and increased the usefulness of symptom-based diagnosis of FM by excluding patients with regional pain syndromes. However, these changes, useful as they are, underscore the social construction of symptom-based diagnosis and the inherent limitations in reliability and validity associated with FM criteria.
Comparison of Composite Indices Tailored for Psoriatic Arthritis Treated with csDMARD and bDMARD: A Cross-sectional Analysis of a Longitudinal Cohort
Authors: Lubrano Ennio , De Socio Antonia , Perrotta Fabio Massimo 
Published: June 2017

Objective.In a complex disease such as psoriatic arthritis (PsA), several methods are available to define remission or low disease activity (LDA), including the assessment of different clinical features. The aim of this study was to compare the composite indices tailored for PsA in patients treated with conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (csDMARD) and biological DMARD (bDMARD).Methods.Patients with PsA classified with the ClASsification criteria for Psoriatic ARthritis criteria and with > 6 months followup treated with first csDMARD and bDMARD were consecutively enrolled. To assess disease activity, composite indices tailored for PsA were used, such as the Disease Activity Index for Psoriatic Arthritis (DAPSA), clinical DAPSA (cDAPSA), Psoriatic Arthritis Disease Activity Score (PASDAS), minimal disease activity (MDA) 5/7, and MDA 7/7. DAPSA and cDAPSA score ≤ 4, MDA 7/7, and PASDAS ≤ 1.9 identified remission. MDA 5/7, DAPSA score ≤ 14, cDAPSA score ≤ 13, and PASDAS < 3.2 identified the MDA and LDA criteria.Results.One hundred nine patients with PsA were enrolled: 79 patients were receiving stable treatment with bDMARD and 30 with csDMARD. Overall, 28 (25.6%), 23 (21.1%), 19 (17.4%), and 13 patients (11.9%) were in cDAPSA remission, DAPSA remission, MDA 7/7, and PASDAS ≤ 1.9, respectively. Moreover, 54 (49.5%), 80 (73.3%), 79 (72.3%), and 38 patients (34.8%) were in MDA 5/7, DAPSA LDA, cDAPSA LDA, and PASDAS LDA. Patients treated with bDMARD had significantly lower median DAPSA, cDAPSA, and PASDAS score than patients treated with csDMARD.Conclusion.Patients with PsA receiving bDMARD are more likely to achieve a status of MDA and remission when compared with csDMARD. PASDAS ≤ 1.9 and MDA 7/7 seem to be stringent remission criteria.
L’e-santé rend-elle la démocratie sanitaire pleinement performative ?
Authors: Dumez Hervé , Minvielle Étienne 
Published: June 2017

Depuis au moins les années 90, un mouvement cherche à introduire de nouveaux droits en faveur du patient. Connu sous le vocable de démocratie sanitaire, il aspire à changer les pratiques. Cette dynamique peut donc être analysée sous l’angle de la performativité, notion définissant tout un courant de recherche visant à comprendre comment une théorie ou une doctrine peut rendre les pratiques conformes à ce qu’elle analyse et préconise. C’est essentiellement sous l’angle d’une réduction de l’asymétrie vis-à-vis du patient que la démocratie sanitaire entend performer les pratiques médicales. Or, l’e-santé (réseaux sociaux, outils connectés, applications web) est elle aussi en train de modifier ces pratiques et de changer la relation entre le patient et les professionnels de santé. Reposant sur une analyse du corpus existant, l’article se propose d’éclairer la manière dont l’innovation numérique modifie le processus de performativité de la démocratie sanitaire. Il en ressort que l’e-santé répond aux attentes de la démocratie sanitaire en favorisant un engagement du patient dans son parcours de santé selon deux modalités : l’affirmation d’une co-production dans le cadre de la relation traditionnelle qu’il entretient avec les professionnels de santé grâce à de meilleurs suivis à distance, et l’acquisition d’une expertise autonome fondée sur les informations produites via les opérateurs privés du numérique. Chaque mode présente des avantages et des risques. Afin d’optimiser cette marge de manœuvre offerte par l’e-santé en faveur de la démocratie sanitaire, plusieurs implications managériales s’imposent. Présenté sous la forme d’une recension narrative, l’e-santé représente un processus de performativité de la démocratie sanitaire par « débordement » et révèle qu’un risque de contre-performativité est présent : alors que la relation patient/médecin se trouve rééquilibrée dans un sens plus démocratique par l’e-santé, le développement de celle-ci risque de créer des déséquilibres démocratiques d’une autre nature.
Athletic Trainers' Reasons for and Mechanics of Documenting Patient Care: A Report From the Athletic Training Practice-Based Research Network
Authors: Nottingham Sara L. , Lam Kenneth C. , Kasamatsu Tricia M. , Eppelheimer Bradly L. , Bacon Cailee E. Welch 
Published: June 2017

Context:
Documenting patient care is an important responsibility of athletic trainers (ATs). However, little is known about ATs' reasons for documenting patient care and the mechanics of completing documentation tasks.

Objective:
To understand ATs' perceptions about reasons for and the mechanics of patient care documentation.

Design:
Qualitative study.

Setting:
Individual telephone interviews with Athletic Training Practice-Based Research Network members.

Patients or Other Participants:
Ten ATs employed in the secondary school setting (age = 32.6 ± 11.4 years, athletic training experience = 7.1 ± 7.8 years) were recruited using a criterion-based sampling technique. Participants were Athletic Training Practice-Based Research Network members who used the Clinical Outcomes Research Education for Athletic Trainers electronic medical record system and practiced in 6 states.

Data Collection and Analysis:
We used the consensual qualitative research tradition. One investigator conducted individual telephone interviews with each participant. Data collection was considered complete after the research team determined that data saturation was reached. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and independently analyzed by 4 research team members following the process of open, axial, and selective coding. After independently categorizing interview responses into categories and themes, the members of the research team developed a consensus codebook, reanalyzed all interviews, and came to a final agreement on the findings. Trustworthiness was established through multiple-analyst triangulation and member checking.

Results:
Participants identified 3 reasons for documenting patient care: communication, monitoring patient care, and legal implications. Four subcategories emerged from the mechanics-of-documentation theme: location, time of day, length of time, and criteria for documenting. The ATs described different criteria for documenting patient care, ranging from documenting every injury in the same manner to documenting time-loss and follow-up injuries differently.

Conclusions:
Whereas ATs recognized individual mechanisms that enabled them to document patient care, they may need more guidance on the appropriate criteria for documenting various patient care encounters and strategies to help them document more effectively.
Using an inflation-augmented price-earnings ratio to guide tactical asset allocation
Authors: Saville Adrian 
Published: June 2017

Asset allocation plays a central role in determining investment outcomes, and available evidence shows that portfolio results can be enhanced through tactical asset allocation if managers use the simple price-earnings ratio as a predictor of equity returns. Recently, some international evidence has emerged which shows that, by augmenting the price-earnings metric with information about consumer price inflation, further enhancements can be achieved in tactical asset allocation. This study reviews these arguments as they apply to South Africa, and finds that an inflation-augmented price-earnings ratio is more successful in forecasting equity returns than is the simple price-earnings ratio. Moreover, the metric is found to be significant in explaining relative asset class returns. On a risk-adjusted basis, however, the tool fails to improve the portfolio results when compared to a buy-and-hold strategy.
Personal or remote interaction? Banking the unbanked in South Africa
Authors: Coetzee Johan 
Published: June 2017

The Financial Sector Charter (FSC) requires South African retail banks to provide retail products and services to the rural-based unbanked. The challenge is deciding whether or not banking the unbanked must be pursued through personal or remote channels. This study considers the challenge facing the four largest South African retail banks. It investigated trends in servicing this market since the effective date of the Charter. It found that banks are currently using an integrated approach combining personal and remote interaction and emphasising the promotion of financial literacy. It remains to be seen whether this approach truly adds value for the unbanked. It is recommended that further research be done to establish exactly what the behavioural characteristics of the unbanked are over a period of continuous use of bank products and services.
The influence of “buffering” variables on clients’ willingness to engage in dysfunctional behavior after a service failure
Authors: Boshoff Christo 
Published: June 2017

Much of the current service failure and recovery literature centres on reactive, post hoc measures that managers can take to address service failure. More importantly, much of the reported research has focused on managerial mechanisms under the direct control of service managers. This study shows that by viewing their responsibilities more broadly than only their narrow service-related goals, service managers can do much to prevent disgruntled clients from switching to competing service providers.A thousand clients of a commercial bank who complained about a service failure completed an online questionnaire. Following a thorough assessment of the construct validity of the measurement model, the mediating role of brand superiority and corporate reputation was assessed by means of structural equation modeling. The results reveal that both brand superiority and reputation mediate the relationship between negative word-of-mouth and intentions to switch to a competing service provider, following a service failure.The results show that by enhancing the firm’s brand superiority and corporate reputation, service firms can build a ‘buffer’ that can deter clients who have suffered a service failure from switching to a competing service provider. In other words, service managers should broaden their organisational involvement by participating in activities such as strategic planning, corporate reputation management, and the planning of brand strategies and positioning strategies, as these variables can prevent complaining clients from ending their relationship with the offending service provider. The results, by implication, caution service managers against a myopic view of their role in the service organisation.
The economic impact of hunting: A regional approach
Authors: Van der Merwe Petrus , Saayman Melville , Rossouw Riaan 
Published: June 2017

The core of South Africa tourism industry is based on wildlife tourism. Private game reserves and game farms which forms part of wildlife tourism constitute most of the wildlife products in South Africa. On these private reserves and game farms, hunting is one of the major income generators for product owners. The aim of this study is to analyse the economic impact of hunting on the regional economies of three of South Africa’s most important hunting provinces. The study used economic multipliers, input-output analysis, and related modelling processes through input-output (supply-use) tables and social accounting matrices (SAM). The results differed significantly for the three provinces, with Limpopo receiving the biggest impact (R2.6 billion) and the Free State having the highest multiplier (2.08). The geographical location of the game farms, the number of farms per province and the species available all influenced the magnitude of the economic impact of hunters over and above the traditional determinants of economic impact analysis. The implication of the research is that it will help product owners in the development of game farms or hunting products, contribute to policy formulation, especially for government decisions on what products to offer where, and how to create more jobs.
Improving the usefulness of accounting data in financial analysis
Authors: Saville A 
Published: June 2017

Accounting practices are flawed. As a consequence, the accounting data generated by firms are generally open to interpretation, often misleading and sometimes patently false. Yet, financial analysts place tremendous confidence in accounting data when appraising investments and investment strategies. The implications of financial analysis based on questionable information are numerous, and range from inexact analysis to acute investment error. To rectify this situation, this paper identifies a set of simple, yet highly effective corrective measures, which have the capacity to move accounting practice into a realm wherein accounting starts to ‘count what counts’. The net result would be delivery of accounting data that more accurately reflect firms’ economic realities and, as such, are more useful in the task of financial analysis.
Zero-rating food in South Africa: A computable general equilibrium analysis
Authors: Kearney M , Van Heerden J H 
Published: June 2017

Zero-rating food is considered to alleviate poverty of poor households who spend the largest proportion of their income on food. However, this will result in a loss of revenue for government. A Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model is used to analyze the combined effects on zero-rating food and using alternative revenue sources to compensate for the loss in revenue. To prohibit excessively high increases in the statutory VAT rates of business and financial services, increasing direct taxes or increasing VAT to 16 per cent, is investigated. Increasing direct taxes is the most successful option when creating a more progressive tax structure, and still generating a positive impact on GDP. The results indicate that zero-rating food combined with a proportional percentage increase in direct taxes can improve the welfare of poor households.
Land value as a function of distance from the CBD: The case of the eastern suburbs of Pretoria
Authors: Jordaan AC , Drost BE , Makgata MA 
Published: June 2017

The greater the benefit derived from using a piece of land for any particular purpose the higher the price the prospective user is willing to pay. The demand for land is thus a reflection of the utility derived from its use by current or potential users. The ability to compete for sites depends on whether they have the means to benefit from accessibility and complementarity within the urban framework. Conventional theory states that productivity determines urban rent, which is the highest at the place of maximum accessibility, i.e. the central business district (CBD). This paper review selected residential location theories and the factors influencing location decisions. Using selected eastern suburbs of Pretoria, the paper tries to determine whether residential land values decrease as distance from the CBD increase as theory suggests.Foreign aid and poverty reduction in sub-Saharan Africa: A cross-country investigation
The pricing of trees: A study of hold-ups, holdouts, buy-outs and sell-offs
Authors: Reekie WD 
Published: June 2017

This paper draws on transactions cost analysis, price and auction theory, and competition authority findings in order to answer some questions on the structure and trading patterns of the South African forestry industry. Does a forestry firm linked contractually to supply an adjacent sawmill customer, form part of a bilateral monopoly? For competition policy what are the relevant markets each party sells into or buys from? Can either firm opportunistically hold-up the other in price revisions? Or, where contracts have no effective terminal date, can one party hold out against offers of contract buyout? If one party is a state agency are there rights of eminent domain? If the state agency is due to be privatised can the method of sale, for example a simultaneous ascending auction, resolve some of the dilemmas?
Rural finance institutions, markets and policies in Africa
Authors: Pederson G 
Published: June 2017

We identify three types of obstacles (missing institutions) that limit the process of financial deepening in rural financial markets. Each of these obstacles contributes to a continuing and common dilemma in developing countries - the lack of long-term finance. In Africa, as in most developing regions, there is need to develop a more consistent strategy for improving access to term finance in agriculture and rural areas. Although some examples of term financing can be found in African agriculture, the general lack of term financing in rural areas can be linked to the lack of general policy measures to enhance the environment for long-term financing, weak effective demand for rural and agricultural investment financing, and inadequate capacity of lenders to provide long-term finance to those clientele.
Reform of irrigation management and investment policy in African development
Authors: Easter KW , Zekri S 
Published: June 2017

This paper examines the reform of water and irrigation management in Africa and compares it with similar reforms in Asia. Several things are evident from the review. First, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is at an earlier stage of irrigation development and reform than Asia. Second, the articulated need for reform is much stronger in Asia than it is in SSA. Third, the productivity of small-scale irrigated farms is significantly lower in SSA compared to Asia. Thus any irrigation investment strategy in SSA should be different from Asia and focus on increasing small-farm productivity as well as small-scale irrigation projects. Finally, all direct government irrigation investments should be done jointly with decisions regarding the type of project management.