bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Eastern Enlargement Ten Years On: Transcending the East–West Divide?
Authors: Epstein Rachel A. , Jacoby Wade 
Published: November 2013

AbstractThis introduction summarizes the findings of nine research articles that examine the consequences of the European Union's eastern enlargement ten years on. The volume reaches three surprising conclusions: since 2004, the EU's economic effects have been more far‐reaching than its political effects; all of the new Member States (NMS) have had problems with democratic consolidation; and, despite four years of intense crisis in the eurozone, both the EU's enlargement and neighbourhood‐shaping efforts have continued. We set these economic, political and institutional developments in the context of the long‐standing east–west divide in Europe, and ask whether EU membership for post‐communist countries upends the continent's traditionally persistent divisions. Notable achievements of EU enlargement notwithstanding, the volume points to the continuing important differences between east and west and highlights the issue areas in which the EU transcends but also reinforces the centuries‐old partition.
Fast itch relief in an experimental model for methylprednisolone aceponate topical corticosteroid activity, based on allergic contact eczema to nickel sulphate
Authors: Curto L. , Carnero Ll. , López‐Aventin D. , Traveria G. , Roura G. , Giménez‐Arnau A.M. 
Published: November 2013

AbstractBackgroundTopical corticosteroids (TC) consistently show effectiveness against itch, a paradigmatic symptom, in various eczemas. Rapid itch relief is a therapeutic goal. The early response of itch to TC has not been adequately studied.ObjectivesTo assess the effect on itch of a TC, methylprednisolone aceponate 0.1% ointment (MPA), in induced eczema in volunteers sensitized to nickel sulphate.MethodsSixteen volunteers with a late positive patch‐test reaction to nickel sulphate entered the study. Eczema was treated once daily with ¼ fingertip unit of MPA for 5 days. Pruritus intensity was assessed with a 10 cm visual analogue scale (VAS). Mean time to itch relief (TR) defined as the time to reach a 30% decrease in the highest VAS value recorded was assessed, as well as TR‐baseline, colorimetry and planimetric morphometry of the reaction.ResultsMean TR was 1.0 days [standard deviation (SD) = 1.1] and mean TR‐baseline was 1.6 days (SD = 1.4). Five volunteers reached 100% decrease from itch baseline‐VAS in 2.0 ± 1.2 days, whereas a 75% decrease was obtained in 1.7 ± 1.6 days by 16 volunteers. A clinical improvement of patch‐test reaction was apparent at day 11, although erythema was still present.ConclusionWe present a valid model to assess the efficacy and speed of action of TC treatment to alleviate pruritus and the signs of eczema. The fast effect of MPA against pruritus supports the appropriateness of treating allergic contact eczema with TC.
Mohs micrographic surgery for basal cell carcinomas: results of a Spanish retrospective study and Kaplan–Meier survival analysis of tumour recurrence
Authors: Català A. , Garces J.R. , Alegre M. , Gich I.J. , Puig L. 
Published: November 2013

AbstractBackgroundMohs micrographic surgery (MMS) is a specialized procedure usually limited to specific indications (e.g. high‐risk basal cell carcinomas [BCCs]).ObjectiveTo determine the recurrence rate of MMS for BCC at a tertiary referral centre in Barcelona, Spain.MethodsReview of medical records of patients undergoing 534 consecutive MMS interventions for confirmed BCCs. The main outcome measure was biopsy‐proven recurrence of BCC at the same anatomical location after MMS.ResultsA total of 489 patients underwent MMS for 534 BCCs from April 1999 to December 2011. The patients’ mean age was 66 years. The most frequent location was the nasal/perinasal region (38.4%, n = 205). The surgical interventions of 47.9% (n = 256) were for primary BCCs and 52.1% (n = 278) procedures were for recurrent or residual BCCs. The mean follow‐up was 30.5 months (range 1–145 months). Thirty‐two recurrences were identified in total. The raw recurrence rate following MMS for primary BCCs was 1.2% (3/256) compared to 10.4% (32/278) for recurrent BCC. On multivariate analysis (Cox proportional hazard model) only prior treatment (P = 0.018, hazard ratio [HR] 4.68 with 95% confidence intervals [CI] 1.30–16.79), multiple prior treatments (P = 0.013, HR 2.72 [95%CI 1.24–5.96]), and healing by secondary intention (P = 0.041, HR 2.88 [95%CI 1.04–7.97]) were independent prognostic factors of recurrence after MMS.LimitationsThe limitations of our study are those of a retrospective study.ConclusionMohs micrographic surgery for primary high‐risk BCCs has a high success rate but the cumulative probability of recurrence increases significantly when tumours with recurrences are referred for MMS.
The risk of herpes zoster during biological therapy for psoriasis and other inflammatory conditions
Authors: Adelzadeh L. , Jourabchi N. , Wu J.J. 
Published: November 2013

AbstractRecent advances in biological therapies have proved highly effective in treating psoriasis and other inflammatory conditions, including psoriatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and ankylosing spondylitis. However, adverse effects related to their immunosuppression have been observed, including an increased propensity to viral infections. This review evaluates the evidence of herpes zoster (HZ) risk from biologics based on clinical reports, cohort studies and randomized controlled studies. The risk of HZ associated with these agents remains controversial, especially when comparing their risk with non‐biological therapy used to treat the same inflammatory conditions. This review specifically assesses the risk of the TNF inhibitors etanercept, adalimumab and infliximab, as well as interleukin‐12/23 inhibitor ustekinumab. We found multiple cohort studies, randomized controlled trials and case reports that suggest infliximab increases risk of HZ, whereas adalimumab, etanercept and ustekinumab HZ risk remain controversial. Nevertheless, HZ vaccination should be considered prior to initiation of biological therapy, particularly infliximab.
Influence of the Vertical Position of Maxillary Central Incisors on the Perception of Smile Esthetics Among Orthodontists and Laypersons
Authors: Machado Andre Wilson , McComb Ryan W. , Moon Won , Gandini Luiz Gonzaga 
Published: November 2013

AbstractObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to determine the perception of smile esthetics among orthodontists and laypeople with respect to different upper central incisor vertical positions in a frontal smile analysis.Materials and MethodsA frontal close‐up smile photo of an adult Caucasian woman was selected. The patient had healthy upper anterior dentition and had no history of orthodontic treatment. Images were altered in order to create six different central incisor vertical positions in 0.5‐mm increments. All images were assessed in three different views: full smile, gingival close‐up excluding incisal edges, and incisal close‐up excluding gingival margins. Images were randomly assembled in an album, which was given to 120 judges: 60 orthodontists and 60 laypersons. Each rater was asked to evaluate the attractiveness of the images using the visual analog scale. The data collected were then statistically analyzed.ResultsThe highest rated smiles showed two notable characteristics: the central‐to‐lateral incisal step was 1.5 mm; and the central incisor gingival margins matched the laterals, and both were 0.5 mm below the line of the canine gingival margins. The least attractive smile was the one with no step between the centrals and laterals, and with the central incisor gingival margins 1.0 mm above the canine gingival margins.ConclusionThe results of this study indicate that slightly extruded upper central incisors are more esthetically preferred than intruded.Clinical SignificanceThe upper central incisors are the key determinant in evaluating smile esthetics, and thus, the assessment of their ideal vertical positioning is an aspect of paramount importance.
Taking the Long Way Home: U.S. Tax Evasion and Offshore Investments in U.S. Equity and Debt Markets
Authors: HANLON MICHELLE , MAYDEW EDWARD L. , THORNOCK JACOB R. 
Published: November 2013

ABSTRACTWe empirically investigate one form of illegal investor‐level tax evasion and its effect on foreign portfolio investment. In particular, we examine a form of round‐tripping tax evasion in which U.S. individuals hide funds in entities located in offshore tax havens and then invest those funds in U.S. securities markets. Employing Becker's () economic theory of crime, we identify the tax evasion component by examining how foreign portfolio investment varies with changes in the incentives to evade and the risks of detection. To our knowledge, this is the first empirical evidence of investor‐level tax evasion affecting cross‐border equity and debt investment.
Collaborative Prototyping: Cross‐Fertilization of Knowledge in Prototype‐Driven Problem Solving
Authors: Bogers Marcel , Horst Willem 
Published: November 2013

This paper presents an inductive study that shows how collaborative prototyping across functional, hierarchical, and organizational boundaries can improve the overall prototyping process. Our combined action research and case study approach provides new insights into how collaborative prototyping can provide a platform for prototype‐driven problem solving in early new product development (NPD). Our findings have important implications for how to facilitate multistakeholder collaboration in prototyping and problem solving, and more generally for how to organize collaborative and open innovation processes.Our analysis reveals two levels of prototyping. Besides the more formal managerial level, we identify the informal designer level, where the actual practice of prototyping takes place. On this level, collaborative prototyping transforms the act of prototyping from an activity belonging exclusively to the domain of design engineers to an activity integral to NPD, with participants from within the organization (different functions and managers) and from outside (consultants and users). In effect, this collapses the discrete steps in the prototyping process (at the managerial level) to an essentially continuous process of iterative problem solving (at the designer level) that is centered around the collaborative prototype, which allows participants to see their suggestions implemented and exposing them to the design constraints.The study, moreover, shows how, at various stages of the prototyping process, the actual prototype was used as a tool for communication or development, thus serving as a platform for the cross‐fertilization of knowledge. In this way, collaborative prototyping leads to a better balance between functionality and usability; it translates usability problems into design changes, and it detects emerging usability problems through active engagement and experimentation. As such, the collaborative prototype acts as a boundary object to represent, understand, and transform knowledge across functional, hierarchical, and organizational boundaries.Our study also identifies some constraints in involving the appropriate stakeholders at the right time. The paper specifically elaborates on the role of users in collaborative prototyping, which is important in order to cover all phases of the problem‐solving cycle but triggers an interesting challenge due to the “reverse empathy” that a user may develop for the design constraints—parallel to the designer empathy for the user context. Finally, our study shows that despite the continuous nature of the (designer) practice of prototyping, there are certain windows of opportunities (at the managerial level) during which the collaborative prototyping approach actually leads to changes in the product design.
Temporal association between sleep apnea–hypopnea and sleep bruxism events
Authors: Saito Miku , Yamaguchi Taihiko , Mikami Saki , Watanabe Kazuhiko , Gotouda Akihito , Okada Kazuki , Hishikawa Ryuki , Shibuya Eiji , Lavigne Gilles 
Published: November 2013

SummaryThere is some evidence suggesting that obstructive sleep apnea–hypopnea syndrome is concomitant with sleep bruxism. The aim of this study was to investigate the temporal association between sleep apnea–hypopnea events and sleep bruxism events. In an open observational study, data were gathered from 10 male subjects with confirmed obstructive sleep apnea–hypopnea syndrome and concomitant sleep bruxism. Polysomnography and audio‐video recordings were performed for 1 night in a sleep laboratory. Breathing, brain, heart and masticatory muscle activity signals were analysed to quantify sleep and sleep stage duration, and number and temporal distribution of apnea–hypopnea events and sleep bruxism events. Apnea–hypopnea events were collected within a 5‐min time window before and after sleep bruxism events, with the sleep bruxism events as the pivotal reference point. Two temporal patterns were analysed: (i) the interval between apnea–hypopnea events termination and sleep bruxism events onset, called T1; and (ii) the interval between sleep bruxism events termination and apnea–hypopnea events onset, called T2. Of the intervals between sleep bruxism events and the nearest apnea–hypopnea event, 80.5% were scored within 5 min. Most intervals were distributed within a period of <30 s, with peak at 0–10 s. The T1 interval had a mean length of 33.4 s and was significantly shorter than the T2 interval (64.0 s; P < 0.05). Significantly more sleep bruxism events were scored in association with the T1 than the T2 pattern (P < 0.05). Thus, in patients with concomitant obstructive sleep apnea–hypopnea syndrome and sleep bruxism, most sleep bruxism events occurred after sleep apnea–hypopnea events, suggesting that sleep bruxism events occurring close to sleep apnea–hypopnea events is a secondary form of sleep bruxism.
Ecocriticism
Authors: Marland Pippa 
Published: November 2013

AbstractIn the last 20 years, ecocriticism has developed from its early incarnation as the relatively under‐theorised preserve of nature writing enthusiasts to its current vibrant state as a sophisticated array of ‘earth‐centred’ approaches to cultural criticism that mobilise and reframe theories drawn from a range of disciplines including ecology, philosophy, sociology and biology. Ecocriticism's diversity also extends to engaging with a variety of literary forms as well as, increasingly, film, TV, digital environments and music, and to an interest in representations of the urban. At its heart is the conviction both that we are living in a time of ecological crisis that requires us to reassess with some urgency our modes of being in the world and that our cultural perceptions of ‘nature’ and the ‘human’, and the relationship between the two, have to a large degree been responsible for these damaging modes of being. Its role is to interrogate and critique these perceptions, even within environmentalism itself, with some ecocritics also committed to exploring alternative ways of conceptualising our relationship with the non‐human world. This paper briefly traces the history of ecocriticism, discussing its initial development in the USA and Britain, outlining the two strands of social ecology and deep ecology that underpin its ongoing formulation, and tracing the ‘waves’ of its development. It then focuses on contemporary and emergent theorisations, in particular the global inflection of current post‐colonial ecocriticism and the environmental justice movement, which introduces the new paradigm of eco‐cosmopolitics, and the recent formulation of ecocritical post‐humanism. This emphasises the imbrication of the human in earth's matrix, drawing on the insights of ecofeminism, phenomenology and biosemiotics, and has its most recent incarnation in the currently emerging field of material ecocriticism, which, in its engagement with the complex entanglement of the human and the non‐human, the social and the scientific, hints at a more dissonant paradigm.
Association of transforming growth factor‐β1 T869C gene polymorphism with diabetic nephropathy risk
Authors: Zhou Tian‐Biao , Jiang Zong‐Pei , Qin Yuan‐Han , Drummen Gregor PC 
Published: November 2013

AbstractAimA possible association between the transforming growth factor‐β1 (TGF‐β1) T869C gene polymorphism and the risk of developing diabetic nephropathy (DN) remains unclear. This investigation was performed to assess if an association between the TGF‐β1 T869C gene polymorphism and DN risk exists by using meta‐analysis to combine comparable studies, thereby increasing sample size and statistical significance, and to identify patterns in various studies.MethodsThe association reports were identified from PubMed, Cochrane Library, and CBM‐disc (China Biological Medicine Database) on 1 May 2013, and eligible studies were recruited and synthesized.ResultsFifty reports were recruited into this meta‐analysis for the association of the TGF‐β1 T869C gene polymorphism with DN risk. The TT genotype in the overall population was shown to be associated with DN risk (odds ratio (OR) = 0.74, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.56–0.98, P = 0.04). In the sub‐group analysis, CC genotype was associated with DN risk in Asians, Caucasians, and Africans. However, the sample size for Caucasians and Africans was relatively small. Furthermore, T allele was distinctly associated with the risk of developing DN in the Asian population (OR = 0.76, 95% CI: 0.62–0.92, P = 0.005).ConclusionsThe TT genotype of TGF‐β1 T869C in the overall population was associated with DN risk, whereas the CC genotype and T allele were distinctly associated with DN risk in the Asian population. Nonetheless, additional studies are required to firmly establish a correlation between the aforementioned polymorphism and DN risk.
Ten Reasons to Care About the Sleeping Beauty Problem
Authors: Titelbaum Michael G. 
Published: November 2013

AbstractThe Sleeping Beauty Problem attracts so much attention because it connects to a wide variety of unresolved issues in formal epistemology, decision theory, and the philosophy of science. The problem raises unanswered questions concerning relative frequencies, objective chances, the relation between self‐locating and non‐self‐locating information, the relation between self‐location and updating, Dutch Books, accuracy arguments, memory loss, indifference principles, the existence of multiple universes, and many‐worlds interpretations of quantum mechanics. After stating the problem, this article surveys its connections to all of these areas.
Self‐Representation and Perspectives in Dreams
Authors: Rosen Melanie , Sutton John 
Published: November 2013

AbstractIntegrative and naturalistic philosophy of mind can both learn from and contribute to the contemporary cognitive sciences of dreaming. Two related phenomena concerning self‐representation in dreams demonstrate the need to bring disparate fields together. In most dreams, the protagonist or dream self who experiences and actively participates in dream events is or represents the dreamer: but in an intriguing minority of cases, self‐representation in dreams is displaced, disrupted, or even absent. Working from dream reports in established databanks, we examine two key forms of polymorphism of self‐representation: dreams (or dream episodes) in which I take an external visuospatial perspective on myself, and those in which I take someone else's perspective on events. In remembering my past experiences or imagining future or possible experiences when awake, I sometimes see myself from an external or ‘observer’ perspective. By relating the issue of perspective in dreams to established research traditions in the study of memory and imagery, and noting the flexibility of perspective in dreams, we identify new lines of enquiry. In other dreams, the dreamer does not appear to figure at all, and the first person perspective on dream events is occupied by someone else, some other person or character. We call these puzzling cases ‘vicarious dreams’ and assess some potential ways to make sense of them. Questions about self‐representation and perspectives in dreams are intriguing in their own right and pose empirical and conceptual problems about the nature of self‐representation with implications beyond the case of dreaming.
Context Matters: Studying Indigenous Religions in North America
Authors: King Sarah J. 
Published: November 2013

AbstractContext is critically important to the study of indigenous religions in North America. This paper argues that the significance of context to indigenous (native, Indian, tribal, or aboriginal) religions is unique and particular. In studying indigenous religions, attending to context engages geographical, political, and methodological issues, which emphasize the diversity of indigenous ideas and experience. The Mi'kmaq relationship to their homeland, Mi'kma'ki, demonstrates the importance of land as fundamental context for indigenous religions; the figure of Kateri Tekakwitha illuminates the inextricably political nature of indigenous religions. Finally, methods, theories, and practices (such as self‐reflexivity) that have arisen in indigenous contexts are important analytical tools in the study of indigenous ways of knowing/practices.
Leisure Activities and Rural Community Change: Valuation and Use of Rural Space among Permanent Residents and Second Home Owners
Authors: Pitkänen Kati , Adamiak Czesław , Halseth Greg 
Published: November 2013

AbstractRural communities are getting more diversified in terms of people's backgrounds, sources of livelihood and interests towards the rural landscape. A common way to discuss rural community change has been to contrast in‐migrants and seasonal residents with long‐term rural residents. In this article, we aim to challenge this segmentation. We ask what it is to be a dweller in the modern countryside and how much the residential status has to do with people's interests and use of space. Based on a postal survey in a case study area in Finland, we look into the differences in the valuation of different leisure activities performed in rural space between second home owners and permanent residents. After dividing permanent residents and second home owners into further subgroups based on their spatial and temporal possibilities to engage in rural leisure, we found that there are no specific activities or groups of activities typical for certain groups of rural leisure space users. Differences between local residents and second‐home owners are rarely explained by this simple dichotomy, rather the differences are better explained by spatial and temporal accessibility.