bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Deep Brain Stimulation
Authors: Barton Brandon R. , Hall Deborah A. 
Published: November 2015

Abstract
Placement of a deep brain stimulator (DBS) may occur as an effective treatment in patients with multiple diagnoses, although this si most commonly done for Parkinson disease (PD) and essential tremor. Patients with PD are videotaped both on and off their dopaminergic medication in order for the DBS team to assess appropriateness for surgery. The goal is to assess how effective the dopaminergic medications are improving their symptoms, since the success of the surgery is proportional to the degree of their medication response. Patients with diagnoses other than PD may be taped with this protocol either on medications or on and off medication, although sometimes the disease-specific protocol is used instead. The DBS protocol focuses on parkinsonism, especially speech and gait.
On the physical requirements for a pre-reionization origin of the unresolved near-infrared background
Authors: Helgason K , Ricotti M , Kashlinsky A , Bromm V 
Published: November 2015

ABSTRACT
The study of the cosmic near-infrared background (CIB) light after subtraction of resolved sources can push the limits of current observations and yield information on galaxies and quasars in the early universe. Spatial fluctuations of the CIB exhibit a clustering excess at angular scales ∼1° whose origin has not been conclusively identified, but disentangling the relative contribution from low- and high-redshift sources is not trivial. We explore the likelihood that this signal is dominated by emission from galaxies and accreting black holes (BHs) in the early Universe. We find that, the measured fluctuation signal is too large to be produced by galaxies at redshifts z > 8, which only contribute ∼0.01–0.05 nW m−2 sr−1 to the CIB. Additionally, if the first small mass galaxies have a normal initial mass function, the light of their ageing stars (fossils) integrated over cosmic time contributes a comparable amount to the CIB as their pre-reionization progenitors. In order to produce the observed level of CIB fluctuation without violating constraints from galaxy counts and the electron optical depth of the IGM, minihaloes at z > 12 must form preferably top-heavy stars with efficiency f* ≳ 0.1 and at the same time maintain a very low escape fraction of ionizing radiation, fesc < 0.1 per cent. If instead the CIB fluctuations are produced by high-z BHs, one requires vigorous accretion in the early universe reaching ρacc ≳ 105 M⊙ Mpc−3 by z ≃ 10. This growth must stop by z ∼ 6 and be significantly obscured not to overproduce the soft cosmic X-ray background and its observed coherence with the CIB. We therefore find the range of suitable high-z explanations to be narrow, but could possibly be widened by including additional physics and evolution at those epochs.
Consumer responses to pharmaceutical-company-sponsored disease information websites and DTC branded websites
Authors: Huh Jisu , Shin Wonsun 
Published: November 2015

Purpose– This study aims to investigate pharmaceutical company-sponsored disease information websites that are created and operated by pharmaceutical companies. Without clear indication of the site ownership, these websites look like non-advertising health information websites. Consumers’ responses to pharmaceutical company-sponsored disease information websites were examined in comparison to their responses to typical direct-to-consumer (DTC) drug brand websites.Design/methodology/approach– A field experiment was conducted with a representative sample of US adults. Study subjects were randomly assigned to one of three live websites: pharmaceutical company-sponsored disease information website; DTC brand website with a high level of trust cues; and DTC brand website with a low level of trust cues. After viewing the assigned websites, participants completed an online questionnaire. The questionnaire included measurements for perceived website trust, attitude toward the website, intention to use information, perceived importance of prescription drug information, perceived health, prescription drug use, disposition to trust, prior experience with the website and demographic information.Findings– The pharmaceutical company-sponsored disease information website generated higher website trust and more positive attitude and information use intention than the DTC drug brand websites. The results suggest that company-sponsored disease information websites may present some ethical issues related to website identity information transparency, which seems to inhibit consumers’ persuasion knowledge activation and proper coping responses. Because such websites look like non-advertising health information websites, consumers tend to evaluate them more positively and place higher trust in them than typical DTC drug brand websites with clear advertiser identification.Originality/value– This is the first study examining pharmaceutical company-sponsored disease information websites, a relatively new form of covert DTC online advertising with potential ethical concerns due to the site identity transparency issues. This study’s findings suggest that consumers are likely to be more trusting and receptive of information presented in websites taking the form of a non-advertising health information website than in DTC brand websites.
Do consumers perceive their doctors as influenced by pharmaceutical marketing communications?
Authors: Wei Mei-Ling , Delbaere Marjorie 
Published: November 2015

Purpose
– This paper aims to explore whether and how consumers perceive the impact of pharmaceutical marketing on their own doctor’s prescribing behaviors, and subsequent responses toward their doctor’s advice.

Design/methodology/approach
– Three experimental studies were conducted. Studies 1 and 2 are based on text-based manipulations and undergraduate student research participants. Study 3 uses image-based manipulations and average adult consumers.

Findings
– Study 1 demonstrates that consumers can be quite skeptical about their doctor’s motives for prescribing certain brand-name drugs; in particular, consumers can construe doctors as agents of persuasion for prescribed brands. Study 2 shows that this can result not only in choosing generic drugs over prescribed brands but also in opting out of pharmaceuticals altogether by choosing alternatives like natural remedies. Study 3 further demonstrates that these effects can be easily triggered by visual cues in a non-student sample.

Originality/value
– This research builds on the existing literature on pharmaceutical marketing communications, and extends the theory of persuasion knowledge into healthcare settings.
The layers of relational communication in evaluating health care services
Authors: Kang Doo Syen , CHOY SYNG POM 
Published: November 2015

Purpose
– This study aims to determine communication factors in various social settings that influence a comprehensive evaluation process ranging from information search before selecting a service organization to a service value assessment after using healthcare services.

Design/methodology/approach
– An empirical study using structural equation modeling tests the relationships among factors of the social environment in pre- and post-consumption evaluations with a sample of over 400 outpatients.

Findings
– The results indicate that service value evaluations are influenced by health-related communications with family before being diagnosed, opinions from family and friends in the decision-making process and interaction with other patients after choosing a hospital. The level of evaluation is mediated by how willing consumers are to exchange thoughts and ideas with others.

Research limitations/implications
– Future studies could consider the differences in gender and culture, and include more various resources such as patients from different hospitals and geographical areas for better generalizability.

Practical implications
– The paper identifies the importance of understanding how social relationships are involved in creating satisfied customers who will be loyal, generate good news and recommend services to others. The findings are conducive to planning and executing public relations strategies throughout the pre- and post-purchase process.

Originality/value
– Unlike the previous research that focused on service provider-oriented factors influencing customer satisfaction, the study investigates the effect of consumer-oriented social elements on service value evaluation to extend the horizon of public relations planning.
Index correlation: implications for asset allocation
Authors: Michel Allen , Oded Jacob , Shaked Israel 
Published: November 2015

Purpose
– The cornerstone of Modern Portfolio Theory with implications for many aspects of corporate finance is that reduced correlation among assets and reduced standard deviation are key elements in portfolio risk reduction. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the conditional correlation and standard deviation of a broad set of indices with the S
&
P 500 conditioned on market performance.

Design/methodology/approach
– The authors examined volatility and correlation for a set of indices for a 19-year period based on weekly data from July 2, 1993 to June 30, 2012. These included the NASDAQ, MSCI EAFE, Russell 1000, Russell 2000, Russell 3000, Russell 1000 Growth, Russell 1000 Value, Gold, MSCI EM and Dow Jones UBS Commodity. The data for the Wilshire US REIT, Barclays Multiverse, Multiverse 1-3, Multiverse 3-5 and Multiverse 10+ became available starting July 2, 2002. For these indices the authors used weekly data from July 1, 2002 through June 30, 2012. For the iBarclays TIPS, the authors used weekly data from the time of availability, namely, for the period December 12, 2003 through June 29, 2012.

Findings
– The findings demonstrate that both the conditional correlations and standard deviations vary as a function of market performance. Moreover, the authors obtain a U-shape distribution of correlations conditioned on market performance for equity indices, such as NASDAQ, as well as for the Wilshire REIT. Namely, correlations tend to be high when market returns are at low or high extremes. For more typical market performance, correlations tend to be low. A modified U-shape is found for bond indices and the Dow Jones UBS Commodity Index. Interestingly, the correlation between gold and the S
&
P 500 is unrelated to the return on the S
&
P.

Originality/value
– While it has been observed that asset classes move together, this paper is the first to systematically analyze the nature of these asset class correlations.
“The lost decade”: an MPT perspective
Authors: Loviscek Anthony 
Published: November 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to test the efficacy of an application of modern portfolio theory (MPT) from 2000 through 2009, a period during which the annual rate of return on the S
&
P 500 is negative. The financial media have called this period “the lost decade” for investors.

Design/methodology/approach
– Using monthly data, the author uses a series of annual out-of-sample tests to compare the risk-reward performances of MPT portfolios against those of the S
&
P 500.

Findings
– The author finds that the MPT portfolios outperformed the S
&
P 500. During the “lost decade”. They generated a cumulative return of over 77 percent compared to a cumulative return of −9.1 percent on the S
&
P 500. Moreover, the MPT portfolio β’s are low, ranging from 0.45 to 1.01, suggesting above-average risk-reward performances.

Research limitations/implications
– The MPT portfolios are relatively small, and might not be well diversified. That said, they comprise a core set of securities that could help investors achieve a risk-reward performance that exceeds that of the S
&
P 500.

Practical implications
– The results suggest that investors should not overlook the potential of MPT, despite its theoretical and practical limitations, to provide above-average returns at below-average risks.

Originality/value
– This is the first study to show the efficacy of MPT during a period in which it was criticized at having failed investors when they needed it most.
Channels of cash savings: international evidence
Authors: Seifert Bruce , Gonenc Halit 
Published: November 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to examine cash savings from six potential sources of cash: net equity issues, net debt issues, internally generated cash flows, asset sales, changes in short-term debt, and changes in net working capital.

Design/methodology/approach
– The authors use both fixed effects and dynamic panel-data estimations to examine cash savings by using a sample of firms from 72 countries for the period 1991-2010.

Findings
– The authors observe that net equity issue is the largest source of new funds while cash savings rates are highest for asset sales, changes in net working capital, and net equity issues. Constrained firms have higher total savings rates than unconstrained companies. The authors also find that savings rates are positively related to whether firms perform R
&
D, multinational status, and protection for creditors and investors.

Originality/value
– The results suggest that firms usually use multiple channels when they increase their savings as opposed to relying only on one channel.
Momentum phenomenon in the Chinese Class A and B share markets
Authors: Choudhry Taufiq , Wu Yuan 
Published: November 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the momentum phenomenon in two market segments of the Chinese stock market – the Class A share market and Class B share market over time period spanning from January 1996 to December 2010.

Design/methodology/approach
– The authors largely follow Jegadeesh and Titman (1993) paper; the authors decompose the momentum returns following the procedure first proposed by Jegadeesh and Titman (1995). In addition, a liquidity factor (Pastor and Stambaugh, 2003) and a share ownership factor (Wang and Xu, 2004) are incorporated in the procedure to gauge the contribution of liquidity and the dynamics of share ownership towards the momentum returns, respectively in the two segments of the Chinese stock market.

Findings
– The authors find compelling evidence showing distinctively different momentum phenomena exist in the two market segments of the Chinese stock market. Specifically, the momentum phenomenon is more pronounced in the Chinese Class A share market compared to those found in the Chinese Class B share market. Through decomposing the momentum returns, the authors find evidence showing the dismal momentum returns observed in the Class B share market can be attributed to markedly weakened contributions of the liquidity factor and the share ownership factor.

Research limitations/implications
– Relatively short sample time horizon compared to the most of major financial markets such as USA and UK. The number of B shares has been rather limited.

Practical implications
– Subsequent to the opening of the Chinese Class B share market to domestic investors in 2001 and the opening of the Chinese Class A share market to qualified foreign institutional investors (QFII) in 2003, the empirical evidence found in this study provides a crucial reference point for domestic and foreign portfolio strategists in guiding them to form suitable portfolio strategies concerning investments in a nascent financial market such as the Chinese stock market, fraught with volatility and speculative trading behaviour.

Social implications
– It offers a comprehensive view of the momentum phenomenon in the Chinese Class A and B share markets over the sample period from January 1996 to December 2010. Second, the reasons behind the dichotomy of the momentum returns found in the two market segments were investigated through decomposing the momentum returns based on Jegdeesh and Titman’s (1995) method while incorporating three new explanatory factors – the liquidity factor, share ownership factor and the under reaction towards firm-specific news factor.

Originality/value
– A couple of extant papers have visited the topic before. yet this paper offers more comprehensive view on the existence of momentum premium in both Chinese Class A and B share markets and investigates the driving forces behind the subdued momentum returns observed in the B share market.
Severe invasive streptococcal infection by Streptococcus pyogenes and Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis
Authors: Watanabe Shinya , Takemoto Norihiko , Ogura Kohei , Miyoshi‐Akiyama Tohru 
Published: November 2015

ABSTRACTStreptococcus pyogenes, a group A Streptococcus (GAS), has been recognized as the causative pathogen in patients with severe invasive streptococcal infection with or without necrotizing fasciitis. In recent epidemiological studies, Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis (SDSE) has been isolated from severe invasive streptococcal infection. Complete genome sequence showed that SDSE is the closest bacterial species to GAS, with approximately 70% of genome coverage. SDSE, however, lacks several key virulence factors present in GAS, such as SPE‐B, the hyaluronan synthesis operon and active superantigen against human immune cells. A key event in the ability of GAS to cause severe invasive streptococcal infection was shown to be the acquisition of novel genetic traits such as phages. Strikingly, however, during severe invasive infection, GAS destroys its own covRS two‐component system, which negatively regulates many virulence factor genes, resulting in a hyper‐virulent phenotype. In contrast, this phenomenon has not been observed in SDSE. The present review describes the epidemiology of severe invasive streptococcal infection and the detailed pathogenic mechanisms of GAS and SDSE, emphasizing findings from their genome sequences and analyses of gene expression.
Analysis of single root tip microbiomes suggests that distinctive bacterial communities are selected by Pinus sylvestris roots colonized by different ectomycorrhizal fungi
Authors: Marupakula Srisailam , Mahmood Shahid , Finlay Roger D. 
Published: November 2015

SummarySymbiotic ectomycorrhizal tree roots represent an important niche for interaction with bacteria since the fungi colonizing them have a large surface area and receive a direct supply of photosynthetically derived carbon. We examined individual root tips of Pinus sylvestris at defined time points between 5 days and 24 weeks, identified the dominant fungi colonizing each root tip using Sanger sequencing and the bacterial communities colonizing individual root tips by 454 pyrosequencing. Bacterial colonization was extremely dynamic with statistically significant variation in time and increasing species richness until week 16 (3477 operational taxonomic units). Bacterial community structure of roots colonized by Russula sp. 6 GJ‐2013b, Piloderma spp., Meliniomyces variabilis and Paxillus involutus differed significantly at weeks 8 and 16 but diversity declined and significant differences were no longer apparent at week 24. The most common genera were Burkholderia, Sphingopyxsis, Dyella, Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, Actinospica, Aquaspirillum, Acidobacter Gp1, Sphingomonas, Terriglobus, Enhydrobacter, Herbaspirillum and Bradyrhizobium. Many genera had high initial abundance at week 8, declining with time but Dyella and Terriglobus increased in abundance at later time points. In roots colonized by Piloderma spp. several other bacterial genera, such as Actinospica, Bradyrhizobium, Acidobacter Gp1 and Rhizomicrobium appeared to increase in abundance at later sampling points.
The different ecological niches of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli
Authors: Gonzales‐Siles Lucia , Sjöling Åsa 
Published: November 2015

SummaryEnterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is a water and food‐borne pathogen that infects the small intestine of the human gut and causes diarrhoea. Enterotoxigenic E. coli adheres to the epithelium by means of colonization factors and secretes two enterotoxins, the heat labile toxin and/or the heat stable toxin that both deregulate ion channels and cause secretory diarrhoea. Enterotoxigenic E. coli as all E. coli, is a versatile organism able to survive and grow in different environments. During transmission and infection, ETEC is exposed to various environmental cues that have an impact on survivability and virulence. The ability to cope with exposure to different stressful habitats is probably shaping the pool of virulent ETEC strains that cause both endemic and epidemic infections. This review will focus on the ecology of ETEC in its different habitats and interactions with other organisms as well as abiotic factors.
Christianity and Secularisation in the West and the Middle East: A Theological Stance
Authors: Avakian Sylvie 
Published: November 2015

In this article I argue that Christianity is essentially secular. Hence, secularisation not only has a theological connotation concerning Christian faith but also it is the highest and most perfect realisation of Christian religion, since it signifies the cross that is in the centre of Christian faith. As Christians take upon themselves secularisation as an existential choice, namely the powerlessness of God and of the human being, they simultaneously take the worldly‐human existence as “here” and “now” upon themselves. I will argue that this is the culmination of Reformation. Further, I want to demonstrate that secular Christianity, in the sense given in this article, remains a challenge for both Western and Eastern worlds.In order to accomplish this I will reflect in the first part of this article — from a theological point of view — upon some sociological interpretations or theories concerning mainly secularisation in Western Europe and also the contemporary socio‐political scene in the Middle East. In the second part of the article I will present several Western and Eastern theological positions that defend secularisation, and through their contributions I will construct my own theological stance for secular Christianity.
Shall we tell the Minister? Scale matters in public policy: place is a geographic institution
Authors: Gale Robert 
Published: November 2015

AbstractI present an argument with a number of interlocking aims. The main aims are to show that geographic scale matters in policy making and that place is a geographic institution with policy relevance. Management experience working inside the public sector has taught me that geography, compared with law and economics, lacks policy effective operational definitions to enhance a geographer's communication abilities in policy circles. To counter this difficulty, I make the case that geographers in the social and environmental social sciences need a scalar, reflexive, and apolitical policy‐oriented praxis to make geography more policy relevant. Drawing on a foundational geographic insight, I show how policy analysis and policy making are affected when what seems evident at one geographic scale may be absent or not evident at another. In addition, I make the argument that policy can give rise to ‘place effects’ which give the place actor/agency status and strategic intent. Place can therefore be considered as a geographic institution. Scalar analysis and deliberative place‐based reasoning about policies of scale (scalar policies) could be applied systematically and strategically within the public sector and by academic geographers for the public sector. Reflexive analysis about geographic scale and place in policy deliberations could enhance a role for geography as a policy‐relevant discipline.