bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The utility of clinical findings to predict laboratory values in hypertensive disorders of pregnancy
Authors: So Jane , Young Elizabeth , Crnosija Natalie , Chappelle Joseph 
Published: September 2015

AbstractPreeclampsia is the 2A retrospective chart review of women who presented for evaluation of hypertension in pregnancy during 2010. Demographic information, medical history, symptoms, vital signs, and laboratory results were collected. Bivariate analysis was used to investigate associations between predictors and the outcome.Of the 481 women in the sample, 22 were identified as having abnormal laboratory test results (4.6%). Women who reported right upper quadrant pain or tenderness had significantly increased likelihood of having laboratory abnormalities compared to those without the complaint.Only a small percentage of women evaluated were determined to have abnormal laboratory findings, predominantly among women with severe preeclampsia. Right upper quadrant pain or tenderness was positively correlated with laboratory abnormalities. The restriction of laboratory analysis in women with clinical evidence of severe disease may be warranted – a broader study should, however, first be used to confirm our findings.
Clinical results of proton beam therapy for twenty older patients with esophageal cancer
Authors: Ono Takashi , Nakamura Tatsuya , Azami Yusuke , Yamaguchi Hisashi , Hayashi Yuichiro , Suzuki Motohisa , Hatayama Yoshiomi , Tsukiyama Iwao , Hareyama Masato , Kikuchi Yasuhiro , Nemoto Kenji 
Published: September 2015

Abstract

Background. In an aging society, increasing number of older patients are diagnosed with esophageal cancer. The purpose of this study was to assess the clinical efficacy and safety of proton beam therapy for older patients with esophageal cancer.

Patients and methods. Older patients (age: ≥ 65 years) newly diagnosed with esophageal cancer between January 2009 and June 2013 were enrolled in this study. All patients underwent either proton beam therapy alone or proton beam therapy with initial X-ray irradiation. Toxicities were evaluated using the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 4.0.

Results. Twenty patients were eligible for this study and all completed the treatment. The median age was 78 years (range: 65–89 years) and the median follow-up time was 26.5 months (range: 6–62 months). Seven patients had lymph node metastases and 10 had stage II/III cancer. The median dose of proton beam therapy was 72.6 Gy relative biological dose effectiveness (RBE) (range: 66–74.8 Gy [RBE]) for proton beam therapy alone and 33 Gy (RBE) (range: 30.8–39.6 Gy [RBE]; total dose range: 66.8–75.6 Gy [RBE]) for proton beam therapy with initial X-ray irradiation. The 2-year overall survival rate was 81.8% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 62.4%–100%), and the 2-year local control rate was 89.4% (95% CI: 75.5%–100%). Grade 2 or 3 toxicities occurred in some cases; however, no grade 4 or 5 toxicity was observed.

Conclusions. High-dose (66–75.6 Gy [RBE]) proton beam therapy without chemotherapy was an efficacious and safe treatment for older patients with esophageal cancer.
Age-Related Differences in Postural Control and Attentional Cost During Tasks Performed in a One-Legged Standing Posture
Authors: Ihira Hikaru , Makizako Hyuma , Mizumoto Atsushi , Makino Keitarou , Matsuyama Kiyoji , Furuna Taketo 
Published: September 2015

Background and Purpose:
In dual-task situations, postural control is closely associated with attentional cost. Previous studies have reported age-related differences between attentional cost and postural control, but little is known about the association in conditions with a one-legged standing posture. The purpose of this study was to determine age-related differences in postural control and attentional cost while performing tasks at various difficulty levels in a one-legged standing posture.

Methods:
In total, 29 healthy older adults aged 64 to 78 years [15 males, 14 females, mean (SD) = 71.0 (3.8) years] and 29 healthy young adults aged 20 to 26 years [14 males, 15 females, mean (SD) = 22.5 (1.5) years] participated in this study. We measured the reaction time, trunk accelerations, and lower limb muscle activity under 3 different one-legged standing conditions—on a firm surface, on a soft surface with a urethane mat, and on a softer more unstable surface with 2 piled urethane mats. Reaction time as an indication of attentional cost was measured by pressing a handheld button as quickly as possible in response to an auditory stimulus. A 2-way repeated-measures analysis of variance was performed to examine the differences between the 3 task conditions and the 2 age groups for each outcome.

Results and Discussion:
Trunk accelerations showed a statistically significant group-by-condition interaction in the anteroposterior (F = 9.1, P < .05), mediolateral (F = 9.9, P < .05), and vertical (F = 9.3, P < .05) directions. Muscle activity did not show a statistically significant group-by-condition interaction, but there was a significant main effect of condition in the tibialis anterior muscle (F = 33.1, P < .01) and medial gastrocnemius muscle (F = 14.7, P < .01) in young adults and the tibialis anterior muscle (F = 24.8, P < .01) and medial gastrocnemius muscle (F = 10.8, P < .01) in older adults. In addition, there was a statistically significant interaction in reaction time (F = 8.2, P < .05) for group-by-condition.

Conclusions:
The study results confirmed that reaction times in older adults are more prolonged than young adults in the same challenging postural control condition.
Assessing the Thai Paddy Pledging Policy: Its Performance and Social Costs
Authors: Poapongsakorn Nipon , Pantakua Kamphol 
Published: September 2015

The paper assesses the benefits and costs of the Thai paddy pledging policy between October 2011 and May 2014. The scheme, which purchased 52 percent of total paddy production from the farmers, was to date the largest intervention by the government in the rice market. Its total costs were 984 billion baht (or 41% of the 2013 fiscal budget). The government also became the largest rice seller, trying unsuccessfully to corner the export market by withholding large supplies of rice from the market. Thai rice export dropped sharply as the export prices of Thai rice were much higher than those of India and Vietnam which toppled Thailand from the world largest exporter position. The attempt to release rice through the channel of Government‐to‐government sales failed. But the government refused to admit its failure and kept all rice sale information in secret. In fact, most of the claimed G‐to‐G sales were sold to the connected traders who in turn sold them in the domestic market.The policy directly benefited at least one third of the rice farmers who sold rice to the government. Other non‐participating farmers also benefited from the higher domestic price. Yet most of the benefits went to the medium‐ and large‐scale farmers. Thai consumers also gained because the government maintained a smooth flow of rice in the domestic market at the prices prevailing at the end of the previous government, despite higher paddy price. The study also finds that there was corruption in the government rice sale as it sold rice to a few connected traders at the prices below the market prices. That explained why the fiscal loss is estimated at 595 billion baht to 885 billion baht, depending on the time it will take to dispose 18 million tons of rice in the government stock. The policy also creates other social costs. Thus the social costs exceeded its benefits.
Size‐ and condition‐dependent predation: a seabird disproportionately targets substandard individual juvenile salmon
Authors: Tucker Strahan , Mark Hipfner J. , Trudel Marc 
Published: September 2015

AbstractSelection of prey that are small and in poor body condition is a widespread phenomenon in terrestrial predator–prey systems and may benefit prey populations by removing substandard individuals. Similar selection is widely assumed to operate in aquatic systems. Indeed, size‐selective predation is a longstanding and central tenet of aquatic food web theory. However, it is not known if aquatic predators select prey based on their condition or state, compared to their size. Surprisingly, no comparable information is available for marine systems because it is exceedingly difficult to make direct observations in this realm. Thus the role of body condition in regulating susceptibility to predation remains a black box in the marine environment. Here we have exploited an ideal model system to evaluate selective predation on pelagic marine fish: comparing characteristics (fork length, mass corrected for fork length) of fresh, whole, intact juvenile Pacific salmon delivered by a seabird to its single nestling with salmon collected concurrently in coastal trawl surveys. Three species of juvenile salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) are consumed by provisioning Rhinoceros Auklets (Cerorhinca monocerata); an abundant, colonial, pursuit‐diving seabird. Samples were collected from multiple colonies and fisheries surveys in coastal British Columbia in two years. As predicted, Auklets preyed on small individuals in poor condition and consistently selected them at levels higher than their relative availability. This is the first study to provide direct evidence for both size‐ and condition‐selective predation on marine fish in the wild. We anticipate that our results will be a starting point in evaluating how selective predation may structure or influence marine fish populations and bridges a fundamental incongruity between ecological theory and application; although “bigger is better” is considered a fundamental tenet of marine food webs, marine predators are often assumed to consume indiscriminately.
Evaluation Of Damage Mechanisms In Tight Gas Reservoirs: Integration Of Laboratory Experiments And Field Data With Numerical Simulation
Authors: Bahrami Nick , Dousi Niek , Lashari Arshad 
Published: September 2015

Abstract
Tight gas reservoirs represent a significant portion of natural gas reservoirs worldwide. Production at economical rates from tight gas reservoirs in general is very challenging not only due to the very low intrinsic permeability but also as a consequence of several different forms of formation damage that can occur during drilling, completion, stimulation, and production operations. Tight gas reservoirs generally do not produce gas at commercial rates, unless the well is completed using advanced technologies and efficiently stimulated.
Well productivity in tight gas reservoirs is largely controlled by formation damage mechanisms such as liquid invasion damage into the low permeability rock matrix that reduces the near wellbore permeability as a result of temporary or permanent trapping of liquid inside the porous media. In many cases of tight gas reservoirs, the key factors that control well productivity and formation damage mechanisms are not well understood, since it is challenging to characterise them in tight formations.
This paper presents evaluation of damage mechanisms and characterization of dynamic parameters in tight gas reservoirs and proposes the methods that can provide improved well productivity by minimizing damage to the tight formation. Numerical reservoir simulation is integrated with tight gas field data analysis and core flooding experiments to better understand the effect of different damage mechanisms on well productivity in order to propose the possible remedial strategies that can help achieve viable gas production rates from tight gas reservoirs.
Influence of Clay Content and Type on Oil Recovery Under Low Salinity Waterflooding in North Sea Reservoirs
Authors: Law S. , McDonald A. , Fellows S. , Reed J. , Sutcliffe P. G. 
Published: September 2015

Abstract
A high level screening has been performed of UKCS oil fields to identify the most likely LSWF candidates utilising screening criteria with a focus on kaolinite clay content. The screening results suggest that approximately 57% of the fields have 6 % or higher kaolinite clay content. Of these fields 26 % were water-wet and 74 % were mixed-wet in terms of wettability. This suggests that a significant number of fields would fall within the eligibility for consideration of LSWF EOR although their suitability will depend on field maturity (current recovery factor and facilities constraints). The difficulty in applying LSWF in tertiary mode unlike secondary mode, is in obtaining a reasonable prediction of how the reservoir is likely to respond. The question of core availability and quality has been raised in a number of studies in terms of LSWF and electrical property testing. We propose a methodology which can be applied to compensate for the lack of usable core based on petrophysical log response. The logs can be utilised to determine the clay types present (including fractions) from which the cation exchange capacity can be calculated. Selected compositions from anonymised field data from core was used to provide quality control the log derived values. The most likely recovery mechanism, multi-component ion exchange (MIE), requires the input of key electrical properties into the models (cation exchange capacity, reactive surface area, activation energy and mineral fraction) in order to predict the response of the reservoir to LSWF. In this study the effect of clay content on the reservoir response was modelled indirectly by altering the cation exchange capacity relative to the clay mineral fraction present in the reservoir to determine its effect. Utilising a mechanistic modelling approach, homogeneous Cartesian models were run in the compositional finite difference reservoir simulator GEM to assess the impact on oil recovery. The simulated coreflood tests reveal that under secondary LSWF recovery was 68.4 % compared to 63.6 % for formation water (high salinity). The conservative nature of the relative permeability curves limited the incremental recovery. An analysis of the tertiary recovery utilising a coreflood based on Fjelde et al. (2012) revealed that cation exchange impacts the predicted recovery by up to 2.65 % OOIP for the range of 5 - 30 % clay content. Given that the recovery under tertiary conditions is considered in the literature to be between 6 and 12 %, this is significant and highlights that if idealised data is selected rather than real field data, then significant potential exists to under or over-predict the incremental recovery.
The challenge of developing talent to meet the offshore and shipbuilding demands in Brazil
Authors: Medeiros Breno Barreto , Coester Marcus , Reichert Clovis Leopoldo , Pezzi Maria Virginia , Baungartner Rovanir 
Published: September 2015

Abstract
This case focuses on the challenges regarding capacity building required to meet the huge increase of manpower demand by the offshore and shipbuilding sectors in Brazil and Rio Grande do Sul state. This arises from four key factors: end of monopoly of exploration and production of oil and gas in 1997, expanding the Brazilian offshore market; the Local Content policy adopted since 1999; national programs to stimulate the maritime industry such as the Fleet Modernization and Expansion Program created in 2004 to renew the fleet of Transpetro, a Petrobras subsidiary; and the expansion of Petrobras investments, partly due to the discovery of giant oil reserves in the Pre-salt layer in Brazil, in 2006.
Since 2010, annual investments from Petrobras have reached US$ 40 billion/year, more than ten times the yearly investment in the 1997-2001 period. Consequently, offshore clusters have been developed in the country to build platforms, drilling ships and supply vessels, demanding massive training. In Rio Grande do Sul, three big shipyards and modules producers have installed.
In this context, government created in 2003 the National Oil and Natural Gas Industry Mobilization Program (Prominp) and the National Plan of Professional Qualification (Pnqp) in 2006. Until 2013, circa US$ 120 million were invested to train nearly 100.000 people in 185 trades at several levels. In the state, training has been provided mainly by SENAI-RS, the state branch of the National Service of Industrial Apprenticeship, linked to the Federation of the Industries of Rio Grande do Sul.
The large-scale actions undertaken for training have not been efficacious enough to meet the needs. Studies and discussions have raised factors that impact on shipyards’ productivity and competitiveness.
We consider alternatives to develop talents to accelerate the learning curve, anchored in the following axes: SENAI methodology for professional training; pre-selection of people according to specific abilities; the concept of a “Living Lab” training environment; familiarizing workers with productiveness indicators; efficient management paradigm; workers training aligned with the project repeatability principle.
The local industry must be internationally competitive when the local content policy ends and labour productivity plays a crucial role in this aspect.
The Interaction of Communicating Measurement Uncertainty and the Dark Triad on Managers' Reporting Decisions
Authors: Majors Tracie M. 
Published: September 2015

ABSTRACT
I conduct an interactive experiment with participants in manager- and investor-like roles to examine whether and how mandating range disclosures for uncertain estimates will influence managers' reporting decisions. I find that managers report less aggressively when ranges are disclosed, such that investors have little aggressive reporting to identify using range disclosures. However, consistent with psychology theory, range disclosures have the greatest effect on managers with stronger levels of psychopathy, narcissism, or Machiavellianism (“the Dark Triad” of personality in psychology). Range disclosures discipline these managers' aggressive reporting, while managers with lower levels of all of these personalities have less aggressiveness to discipline and are insensitive to range disclosure. Consequently, mandating range disclosures should have the greatest effect on managers most in need of reining in—and is unlikely to reveal aggressive reporting to investors (as might be expected) because these managers reduce aggressiveness in anticipation of investor actions.
Share Repurchase Choice and Executive Pension Compensation
Authors: Tan Christine E. L. , Young Susan M. 
Published: September 2015

ABSTRACT
Shareholders and regulators have increasingly been calling upon firms to reign in executive compensation. Most of this discussion has focused on bonuses and stock options, the more observable portions of an executive compensation package. More difficult for investors to assess, however, is long-term incentive pay, such as supplemental executive retirement plans (SERPs), which has become a significant portion of executive compensation. Our study examines whether managers use accelerated share repurchases (ASRs) to increase total compensation through this under-emphasized form of pay. Managers wishing to increase their total compensation through an increase in earnings per share (EPS) should prefer ASRs, which generally have a more immediate and significant impact on EPS relative to open market repurchases (OMRs). For a sample of repurchase firms, we find evidence that managers who have performance-contingent SERPs in place (i.e., a SERP based on salary and bonus or on average earnings), together with EPS-based bonuses and a share repurchase that results in a higher EPS number, are significantly more likely to choose an ASR versus an OMR.
JEL Classifications: G34; G35; M4; M41; M52.
Data Availability: The data are available from public sources identified in this study.
Two- versus Four-Handed Techniques for Endonasal Resection of Orbital Apex Tumors
Authors: Craig John R. , Lee John Y. K. , Petrov Dmitriy , Mehta Sonul , Palmer James N. , Adappa Nithin D. 
Published: September 2015

Background Open versus endonasal resection of orbital apex (OA) tumors is generally based on tumor size, location, and pathology. For endonasal resection, two- and four-handed techniques have been reported, but whether one technique is more optimal based on these tumor features has not been evaluated. Objective To determine whether two- versus four-handed techniques result in better outcomes after endoscopic resection of OA tumors, and whether either technique is better suited for intra- versus extraconal location and for benign versus malignant pathology. Methods A retrospective review of all expanded endonasal approaches for OA tumors was performed at a single institution from 2009 to 2013. A PubMed database search was also performed to review series published on endonasal OA tumor resection. Across all the cases reviewed, the following data were recorded: two- versus four-handed techniques, intra- versus extraconal tumor location, and benign versus malignant pathology. The relationship between these variables and resection extent was analyzed by the Fisher exact test. Postoperative visual status and complications were also reviewed. Results Ten cases from the institution and 94 cases from 17 publications were reviewed. Both two- and four-handed techniques were used to resect extra-and intraconal OA tumors, for both benign and malignant pathology. Four-handed techniques included a purely endonasal approach and a combined endonasal-orbital approach. On univariate analysis, the strongest predictor of complete resection was benign pathology (p = 0.005). No significant difference was found between the extent of resection and a two- versus a four-handed technique. Visual status was improved or unchanged in 94% of cases, and other complications were rare. Conclusion Benign tumors that involve the medial extraconal and posterior inferomedial intraconal OA can be treated by either two- or four-handed endonasal techniques. Selecting two- versus four-handed techniques and endonasal versus endonasal-orbital four-handed techniques depends mainly on surgeons’ experience. Endonasal approaches for malignant OA tumors are less likely to result in complete resection.
Attitudes on and Usage of Balloon Catheter Technology in Rhinology: A Survey of the American Rhinologic Society
Authors: Halderman Ashleigh A. , Stokken Janalee , Momin Suhael R. , Smith Timothy L. , Sindwani Raj 
Published: September 2015

Introduction Use of balloon catheter dilation in the management of paranasal sinus diseases, including chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) and recurrent acute rhinosinusitis, remains controversial. In an effort to gain some clarity about its evolving role, we surveyed members of the American Rhinologic Society (ARS). Method Online survey. Results ARS Members were sent an invitation by e-mail to participate in an online, anonymous 23-item survey. A total of 231 participants completed the survey, for an overall response rate of 25%. Balloon catheter technology (BCT) played no role in the practices of one-third of all the respondents. Of those who did use BCT, more than 50% performed only 1–4 cases per month on average. This did not differ significantly with practice type (p = 0.2988). The overall use of BCT differed between types of practices with those in private practice reporting greater use of the technology for maxillary and sphenoid sinuses (p = 0.0003 and p = 0.0073, respectively). Participants in private practice appeared significantly more impressed with the results of BCT when compared with those in academia (p = 0.0005) and also thought that patients were more satisfied (p = 0.0002). Opinions toward the strength of available evidence also differed significantly between the two groups (p = 0.0007). Thirty-two respondents had experienced a complication with BCT, although the majority of these did not require any intervention. Conclusions ARS members surveyed used BCT infrequently in their practices. Attitudes on the role of this technology in CRS management differed between academic and private practitioners, but, despite this, the volume of reported BCT use was the same. Surgeons are more accepting of the technology now compared with 5 years ago, and many of them believe that their use of BCT will increase in the future.