bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Recurrent laryngeal nerve injury in thyroid surgery: a review
Authors: Hayward Nathan James , Grodski Simon , Yeung Meei , Johnson William R. , Serpell Jonathan 
Published: September 2012

AbstractRecurrent laryngeal nerve palsy (RLNP) is an important and potentially catastrophic complication of thyroid surgery. Permanent RLNP occurs in 0.3–3% of cases, with transient palsies in 5–8%. A literature review and analysis of recent data regarding RLNP in thyroid surgery was performed, with particular focus on the identification of high‐risk patients, the role of intraoperative identification and dissection of the nerve, and the role of intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM) and optimal perioperative nerve assessment. In conjunction with the review, data from the Monash University/Alfred Hospital Endocrine Surgery Unit between January 2007 and October 2011 were retrospectively analysed, including 3736 consecutive nerves at risk (NAR). The current literature and our data confirm that patients undergoing re‐operative thyroid surgery and thyroid surgery for malignancies are at increased risk of RLNP. Intraoperative visualization and capsular dissection of the RLN remain the gold standard for intraoperative care during thyroid surgery for reducing RLNP risk. IONM should not be used as the sole mechanism for identifying and preserving the nerve, although it can be used to aid in the identification and dissection of the nerve, and may aid in nerve protection in high‐risk cases including cancer surgery and re‐operative surgery.
Association between hospital volume and outcomes of elderly and non‐elderly patients with acute biliary diseases: A national administrative database analysis
Authors: Murata Atsuhiko , Matsuda Shinya , Kuwabara Kazuaki , Ichimiya Yukako , Matsuda Yasufumi , Kubo Tatsuhiko , Fujino Yoshihisa , Fujimori Kenji , Horiguchi Hiromasa 
Published: September 2012

Aim:  This study aimed to investigate the relationship between hospital volume and clinical outcomes of elderly and non‐elderly patients with acute biliary diseases using data from a national administrative database.Methods:  Overall, 26 720 elderly and 33 774 non‐elderly patients with acute biliary diseases were referred to 820 hospitals in Japan. Hospital volume was categorized into three groups based on the case numbers during the study period: low‐volume, medium‐volume and high‐volume. We compared the risk‐adjusted length of stay (LOS) and in‐hospital mortality in relation to hospital volume. These analyses were stratified according to the presence of invasive treatments for acute biliary diseases.Results:  Multiple linear regression analyses showed that increased hospital volume was significantly associated with shorter LOS in both elderly and non‐elderly patients with and without invasive treatments. Increased hospital volume was significantly associated with decreased relative risk of in‐hospital mortality in elderly patients. The odds ratio for high‐volume hospitals was 0.672 in elderly patients without invasive treatments (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.533–0.847, P = 0.001) and 0.715 in those with invasive treatments (95% C, 0.566–0.904, P = 0.005). However, no significant differences for in‐hospital mortality were seen in non‐elderly patients with and without invasive treatments.Conclusion:  This study has highlighted that higher volume hospitals significantly reduced LOS and in‐hospital mortality for elderly patients with acute biliary diseases, but not non‐elderly patients. The current results are of value for elderly healthcare policy decision‐making, and highlight the need for further studies into the quality of care for elderly patients. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2013; 13: 731–740.
Campus‐based student experiences of learning technologies in a first‐year science course
Authors: Ellis Robert , Weyers Mark , Hughes Jane 
Published: September 2012

AbstractThis study reports on an investigation into the campus‐based experience of university students studying mammalian physiology that was significantly supported with learning technologies. The design of the course enabled the students to interrogate the key ideas that they came across in their lectures and laboratories through online activities which prepared the students for practical classes. Close‐ended questionnaires were used to uncover qualitative variation in the population sample, particularly the differences in the concepts of learning technologies and approaches to learning technologies. Qualitative variation in concepts of, and approaches to, learning technologies was found to be significantly associated with variation in academic achievement. The outcomes have important implications for the approaches to teaching of campus‐based experiences of learning supported by learning technologies when we seek to support all students to realise their learning outcomes in technology‐mediated processes
CEO Compensation and Corporate Governance in China
Authors: Conyon Martin J. , He Lerong 
Published: September 2012

AbstractManuscript TypeEmpiricalResearch QuestionsThis study investigates the determination of Chinese CEO pay. We focus on three related questions: (1) Is Chinese CEO pay related to firm performance? (2) Are CEO pay dynamics important? (3) Does corporate governance affect CEO pay and equity incentives in China?Research FindingsUsing data on CEO compensation in China's public traded firms from 2000 to 2010, we document significant changes in CEO pay, ownership and board structure. We document that CEO pay is positively correlated to both accounting and stock market performance, although the link to accounting performance is more robust. We find that CEO pay dynamics are important as pay in the current year is significantly positively correlated to CEO pay the previous year. We also find that CEO equity ownership and equity grants are influenced by board and ownership structure.Theoretical/Academic ImplicationsThis study supplements the standard agency theory approach to executive compensation with insights gained from the dynamics of wage setting theory developed in the labor economics field. It predicts that incomplete information and learning lead to adjustment costs and non‐instantaneous changes in CEO pay.Practitioner/Policy ImplicationsThis study offers insights to policy makers interested in enhancing the design of executive compensation and internal corporate governance within transition economies.
Large‐System Transformation in Health Care: A Realist Review
Authors: BEST ALLAN , GREENHALGH TRISHA , LEWIS STEVEN , SAUL JESSIE E. , CARROLL SIMON , BITZ JENNIFER 
Published: September 2012

Context:An evidence base that addresses issues of complexity and context is urgently needed for large‐system transformation (LST) and health care reform. Fundamental conceptual and methodological challenges also must be addressed. The Saskatchewan Ministry of Health in Canada requested a six‐month synthesis project to guide four major policy development and strategy initiatives focused on patient‐ and family‐centered care, primary health care renewal, quality improvement, and surgical wait lists. The aims of the review were to analyze examples of successful and less successful transformation initiatives, to synthesize knowledge of the underlying mechanisms, to clarify the role of government, and to outline options for evaluation.Methods:We used realist review, whose working assumption is that a particular intervention triggers particular mechanisms of change. Mechanisms may be more or less effective in producing their intended outcomes, depending on their interaction with various contextual factors. We explain the variations in outcome as the interplay between context and mechanisms. We nested this analytic approach in a macro framing of complex adaptive systems (CAS).Findings:Our rapid realist review identified five “simple rules” of LST that were likely to enhance the success of the target initiatives: (1) blend designated leadership with distributed leadership; (2) establish feedback loops; (3) attend to history; (4) engage physicians; and (5) include patients and families. These principles play out differently in different contexts affecting human behavior (and thereby contributing to change) through a wide range of different mechanisms.Conclusions:Realist review methodology can be applied in combination with a complex system lens on published literature to produce a knowledge synthesis that informs a prospective change effort in large‐system transformation. A collaborative process engaging both research producers and research users contributes to local applications of universal principles and mid‐range theories, as well as to a more robust knowledge base for applied research. We conclude with suggestions for the future development of synthesis and evaluation methods.
Off the Hamster Wheel? Qualitative Evaluation of a Payment‐Linked Patient‐Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Pilot
Authors: BITTON ASAF , SCHWARTZ GREGORY R. , STEWART ELIZABETH E. , HENDERSON DANIEL E. , KEOHANE CAROL A. , BATES DAVID W. , SCHIFF GORDON D. 
Published: September 2012

Context: Many primary care practices are moving toward the patient‐centered medical home (PCMH) model and increasingly are offering payment incentives linked to PCMH changes. Despite widespread acceptance of general PCMH concepts, there is still a pressing need to examine carefully and critically what transformation means for primary care practices and their patients and the experience of undergoing such change in a practice.Methods: We used a qualitative case study approach to explore the underlying dynamics of change at five practices participating in PCMH transformation efforts linked to payment reform. The evaluation consisted of structured site visits, interviews, observations, and artifact reviews followed by a structured review of transcripts and documents for patterns, themes, and insights related to PCMH implementation.Findings: We describe both the detailed components of each practice's transformation efforts and a grounded taxonomy of eight insights stemming from the experiences of these medical homes. We identified specific contextual factors related to wide variations in change tactics. We also observed widely varying approaches to catalyzing change using (or not) external consultants, specific challenges regarding health information technology implementation, team and staff role restructuring, compensation, and change fatigue, and several unexpected potential confounders or alternative explanations for practice success.Conclusions: Our evaluation affirms the value and necessity of qualitative methods for understanding primary care practice transformation, and it should encourage ongoing and future pilots to include assessments of the PCMH change process beyond clinical markers and claims data. The results raise insights into the heterogeneity of medical home transformation, the central but complex role of payment reform in creating a space for change, the ability of small practices to achieve substantial change in a short time period, and the challenges of sustaining it.
Asymmetric trade protection leading not to productivity but to export share change
Authors: Shin Hochul , Lee Keun 
Published: September 2012

AbstractThis article revisits a classical theme in economics, that is, the relationship between trade protection and economic performance, with an improved treatment of the endogeneity of tariffs and with consideration of alternative performance criteria. This paper also considers the effects of asymmetric protection, such as higher tariffs on consumer goods and lower tariffs on producer goods. Using sectoral data on Korean manufacturing during the period from 1967 to 1993, this study finds that the effect of trade protection by tariff tends to show up not in terms of total factor productivity but in terms of revealed comparative advantage and export shares of sectors. Such an effect tends to be greater in consumer goods, which are the main targets of promotion by higher tariffs. This study verifies the potentially positive role of tariffs under certain conditions, especially under discipline from world markets.
Local governments’ fiscal balance and privatization in transition countries1
Authors: Crivelli Ernesto 
Published: September 2012

AbstractSeveral transition economies have undertaken fiscal decentralization reforms over the past two decades along with liberalization, privatization and stabilization reforms. Theory predicts that decentralization may aggravate fiscal imbalances, unless the right incentives are in place to promote fiscal discipline. This study uses a panel of 20 transition countries over 19 years to address a central question of fact: Did privatization help to promote local governments’ fiscal discipline? The answer is clearly ‘no’ for privatization considered in isolation. However, privatization and subnational fiscal autonomy along with reforms to the banking system – restraining access to soft financing – may prove effective at improving fiscal balances among local governments.
Plumage polymorphism in a newly colonized black sparrowhawk population: classification, temporal stability and inheritance patterns
Authors: Amar A. , Koeslag A. , Curtis O. 
Published: September 2012

AbstractPersistent plumage polymorphism occurs in around 3.5% of bird species, although its occurrence is not distributed equally across bird families or genera. Raptors show a disproportionately high frequency of polymorphism, and among raptors it is particularly frequent among theAccipiterhawks. However, no systematic study of polymorphism in this genus exists. Using a long‐term study of the black sparrowhawk (Accipiter melanoleucus), a widespread polymorphicAfricanAccipiter, we first demonstrate that the species shows discrete polymorphism (cf. continuous polymorphism), occurring as either dark or light morph adults, and that morph type and plumage pattern are invariant with age. We then demonstrate that adult morph type follows a typicalMendelian inheritance pattern, suggesting a one‐locus, two‐allele system within which the allele coding for the light morph is dominant. This inheritance pattern provides further support for classifying polymorphism in this species as discrete. In most of the species' range the dark morph is the rarer morph; however, in our study population where the species is a recent colonist, over 75% of birds were dark and this remained fairly constant over the 10 years of our study. This reversal in morph ratio may represent an adaptive response to different environmental conditions or could be a founder effect with colonizing individuals having been mostly dark morph birds simply by chance. The extreme differences in environment conditions (seasonality of rainfall) that occur across the species' range inSouthAfrica provide support for an adaptive explanation, but further work is needed to test this hypothesis.
Maternal hypertension and intrapartum fever are associated with increased risk of ischemic stroke during infancy
Authors: MANN JOSHUA R , MCDERMOTT SUZANNE , PAN CHUN , HARDIN JAMES W 
Published: September 2012

Aim  To examine maternal hypertension, diabetes, and intrapartum fever as potential risk factors for ischemic stroke in infants.Method  We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 226 117 children born from January 2000 to December 2007 who were enrolled in the South Carolina Medicaid program. We linked maternal and child Medicaid billing records and birth certificate data. Children with ischemic stroke were identified based on the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD‐9), code 434 in the child’s billing data. Independent variables and covariates were identified using ICD‐9 codes and birth certificate data. We modeled the odds of ischemic stroke diagnosis in infants, either before 30 days of life or before 365 days.Results  Forty‐three children were diagnosed with ischemic stroke before 30 days and 161 before 365 days. Maternal hypertension (odds ratio 2.31 before 30d) and intrapartum fever (odds ratio 3.36 <30d) were significantly associated with odds of ischemic stroke before 30 days and before 365 days; maternal diabetes was not.Interpretation  Maternal hypertension and intrapartum fever appear to be risk factors for ischemic stroke in infants. Additional research is needed to determine the mechanism(s) underlying these associations and to develop effective preventive methods for high‐risk infants.
Daily variation in markers of nutritional condition in wintering Black‐capped Chickadees Poecile atricapillus
Authors: Mandin Clément , Vézina François 
Published: September 2012

The plasma metabolites triglycerides (TRIG) and β‐hydroxybutyrate (BUTY) are used as indices of nutritional condition in migrating birds during refuelling and can provide a measure of relative fattening rates in individual birds. Because non‐migratory birds wintering at northern latitudes also fatten on a daily basis to support their overnight fast, blood metabolites could provide a useful tool to measure individual performance in energy acquisition. However, daily patterns of metabolite change may differ between species and could be affected by thermoregulatory requirements. We studied daily variation in TRIG and BUTY over a complete winter in Black‐capped Chickadees to determine the pattern of daily and seasonal change in these markers. We also assessed how short‐term variation (up to 7 days) in weather parameters that influence heat exchange may affect TRIG and BUTY levels. In contrast to a linear gain of body mass, TRIG increased non‐linearly during the day, with a rapid increase in the morning that levelled off in the afternoon, whereas BUTY did not change significantly. Metabolites varied with sampling time and the seasonal change in day length, suggesting higher fat catabolism and fattening rates in mid‐winter. TRIG and BUTY also differed between capture sites, possibly due to differences in shelter quality. Weather variation did not affect TRIG levels and had a significant but marginal effect on BUTY, explaining at best 3% of the variation. Our results suggest that these markers can be used as indicators of energy turnover in resident wintering passerines.
A new large philisid (Mammalia, Chiroptera, Vespertilionoidea) from the late Early Eocene of Chambi, Tunisia
Authors: RAVEL ANTHONY , MARIVAUX LAURENT , TABUCE RODOLPHE , BEN HAJ ALI MUSTAPHA , ESSID EL MABROUK , VIANEY‐LIAUD MONIQUE 
Published: September 2012

Abstract:  Among the new dental remains from the late Early Eocene of Chambi (Kasserine area, Tunisia) is a large‐sized upper molar of a new bat species, Witwatia sigei nov. sp. (Chiroptera, Vespertilionoidea, Philisidae), described herein. The locality of Chambi has revealed evidence for an early appearance of two modern microchiropteran superfamilies in Africa: Dizzya exsultans, a Philisidae, which is considered to be an archaic Vespertilionoidea, and an indeterminate Rhinolophoidea. In addition to D. exsultans, the new species, W. sigei, is the second representative of the Philisidae in this locality. W. sigei extends back to the late Early Eocene the occurrence of the genus Witwatia, which was previously only reported from the early Late Eocene of the Fayum (BQ‐2, Egypt). By analogy with the largest extant microbats, the large size of Witwatia suggests a tendency to the opportunistic diet of this taxon, thereby contrasting with the strict insectivory characterizing primitive bats found in other continents in the same epoch.
The fossil record of Glypturus Stimpson, 1866 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Axiidea, Callianassidae) revisited, with notes on palaeoecology and palaeobiogeography
Authors: HYŽNÝ MATÚŠ , MÜLLER PÁL 
Published: September 2012

Abstract:  The fossil record of the callianassid genus Glypturus (Decapoda, Axiidea) is re‐evaluated. Our systematic revision, both of extant and fossil taxa, is based on major cheliped morphology only, thus providing an important impetus for palaeontological studies. Both spination and tuberculation of chelipeds are herein considered of great taxonomic importance. Presence of spines on the upper margins of the merus and propodus and the lower margin of the carpus are significant for generic assignment, whereas the extent of tuberculation on lateral surfaces of the propodus is important for assignment at the species level. Altogether, four extant and six exclusively fossil species of Glypturus are recognized. Several extinct callianassid taxa are now transferred to the genus, namely Callianassa berryi, Callianassa fraasi, Callianassa munieri, Callianassa pugnax and Callianassaspinosa; Callianassa pseudofraasi is considered a junior synonym of C. fraasi. Based on a comparison of ecological preferences of extant representatives, the presence of Glypturus in the fossil record is considered to be linked with tropical to subtropical, nearshore carbonate environments of normal salinity. We argue that Glypturus is of Tethyan origin, with a stratigraphical range going as far back as the Eocene. Since then, the genus migrated both westwards and eastwards, establishing present‐day communities in the western Atlantic and Indo‐West Pacific which both comprise several distinct species. In the presumed area of origin, the genus does no longer occur today. The exlusively fossil (middle Eocene) genus Eoglypturus from Italy is considered closely related to Glypturus and is thus assigned to the subfamily Callichirinae as well.
Decapod Crustacea from the Agrio Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of the Neuquén Basin, Argentina
Authors: AGUIRRE‐URRETA BEATRIZ , LAZO DARÍO G. , RAWSON PETER F. 
Published: September 2012

Abstract:  Two species of decapod crustacean are recorded from the Agua de la Mula Member of the Agrio Formation (Upper Hauterivian – Lower Barremian) of the Neuquén Basin of west‐central Argentina, namely Astacodes falcifer Bell and a new species of Palaeohomarus, P. pacificus. The preservation of the specimens is exceptional, some showing delicate compound eyes and a stridulatory apparatus, features rarely found in fossil forms. Many specimens are preserved articulated inside calcareous nodules, within dark‐grey shales. The lobster‐bearing sediments accumulated in a low‐energy marine environment and diagenetic mineralization occurred very rapidly, prior to significant decay, thus allowing exceptional preservation of specimens. Palaeohomarus was a rare genus in the Cretaceous with a palaeogeographic distribution restricted to the Mediterranean Tethys, the eastern USA and Madagascar, while Astacodes falcifer has been recorded only from Speeton (eastern England) and Neuquén.
The expression of calretinin and cytokeratins in canine acanthomatous ameloblastoma and oral squamous cell carcinoma
Authors: Fulton A. , Arzi B. , Murphy B. , Naydan D. K. , Verstraete F. J. M. 
Published: September 2012

AbstractOral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and canine acanthomatous ameloblastoma (CAA) represent two epithelium‐derived neoplasms that affect the oral cavity of dogs. The expression of cytokeratins (CKs) and calretinin has been previously established in the canine tooth bud and odontogenic tumours. The aim of this study was to characterize the CK and calretinin expression profile of OSCC in comparison to CAA and canine tooth bud tissues. Samples from 15 OSCC and 15 CAA cases, as well as 6 tooth buds and 2 normal gingival tissues were examined. OSCC CK expression was consistent with the CK expression profile of CAA and canine tooth bud tissue. Calretinin was positively expressed in 10 of 15 OSCC cases, with 5 cases demonstrating high staining intensity. Only 2 of 15 CAA cases demonstrated mild‐moderate staining intensity. The statistically significant difference in staining pattern and intensity of calretinin in OSCC and CAA can help distinguish between these two tumour types.