bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Safety and Immunogenicity of Modified Vaccinia Ankara-Bavarian Nordic Smallpox Vaccine in Vaccinia-Naive and Experienced Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Infected Individuals: An Open-Label, Controlled Clinical Phase II Trial
Authors: Overton Edgar Turner , Stapleton Jack , Frank Ian , Hassler Shawn , Goepfert Paul A , Barker David , Wagner Eva , von Krempelhuber Alfred , Virgin Garth , Weigl Josef , Meyer Thomas Peter , Müller Jutta , Bädeker Nicole , Grünert Robert , Young Philip , Rösch Siegfried , Maclennan Jane , Arndtz-Wiedemann Nathaly , Chaplin Paul 
Published: May 2015

AbstractBackgroundFirst- and second-generation smallpox vaccines are contraindicated in individuals infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). A new smallpox vaccine is needed to protect this population in the context of biodefense preparedness. The focus of this study was to compare the safety and immunogenicity of a replication-deficient, highly attenuated smallpox vaccine modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) in HIV-infected and healthy subjects.MethodsAn open-label, controlled Phase II trial was conducted at 36 centers in the United States and Puerto Rico for HIV-infected and healthy subjects. Subjects received 2 doses of MVA administered 4 weeks apart. Safety was evaluated by assessment of adverse events, focused physical exams, electrocardiogram recordings, and safety laboratories. Immune responses were assessed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and a plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT).ResultsFive hundred seventy-nine subjects were vaccinated at least once and had data available for analysis. Rates of ELISA seropositivity were comparably high in vaccinia-naive healthy and HIV-infected subjects, whereas PRNT seropositivity rates were higher in healthy compared with HIV-infected subjects. Modified vaccinia Ankara was safe and well tolerated with no adverse impact on viral load or CD4 counts. There were no cases of myo-/pericarditis reported.ConclusionsModified vaccinia Ankara was safe and immunogenic in subjects infected with HIV and represents a promising smallpox vaccine candidate for use in immunocompromised populations.
Physoderma Brown Spot and Stalk Rot of Corn Caused by Physoderma maydis in Iowa
Authors: Robertson Alison E. , Jesse Laura , Munkvold Gary , Rojas Erika Salaau , Mueller Daren S. 
Published: May 2015

Physoderma brown spot (PBS) and stalk rot (PSR) of corn is caused by Physoderma maydis. The prevalence of PBS in the U.S. Corn Belt has increased within the past decade. In Iowa, in 2013 and 2014, PSR with associated stalk breakage was reported from numerous fields in western and northern Iowa. In some fields, up to 80% of plants in a field were affected. The reasons for the outbreak of PSR are unknown, although abundant rain during early growth of the corn likely played a role. Accepted for publication 2 April 2015. Published 4 May 2015.
School Attendance in Children With Functional Abdominal Pain and Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
Authors: Assa Amit , Ish‐Tov Alona , Rinawi Firas , Shamir Raanan 
Published: May 2015

ABSTRACTObjective:Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and functional abdominal pain (FAP) are associated with debilitating symptoms and frequent medical visits that may disrupt school functioning. The aim of this study was to assess school‐related quality of life and school absenteeism in children with IBD, compared with FAP and healthy controls.Methods:School absenteeism and participation in school and after‐school activities data were obtained for 43 children with Crohn disease (CD), 31 children with ulcerative colitis (UC), 42 children with FAP, and 30 age‐matched healthy controls for the 2013–2014 school year. We used a semistructured questionnaire for both children and parents. For diminishing recall bias, absenteeism data were cross‐matched with the patient's school annual report cards.Results:Children with FAP, CD, and UC missed significantly more school days than age‐matched healthy controls (17.6 [8.75–30], 24 [14–30], and 21 [12–25] vs 5.1 [3.75–6.25], respectively, P < 0.001). Compared with children with FAP, absenteeism because of medical appointments and hospitalization was significantly greater in children with CD and UC (8.8 [4–14] and 7.1 [3–10] vs 4.4 [2–6.25], P = 0.001). Participation of children with FAP and IBD in various school and after‐school activities was significantly reduced compared with healthy controls. There was no difference in school attendance and functioning between children with IBD and FAP.Conclusions:FAP has a significant impact on school attendance and functioning similar to IBD. These findings show that significant psychosocial and academic difficulties are faced not only by children with chronic diseases like IBD but also by children with FAP.
Bacillus crescens sp. nov., isolated from soil
Authors: Shivani Y. , Subhash Y. , Dave. Bharti P. , Sasikala Ch. , Ramana Ch. V. 
Published: May 2015

Two bacterial strains (JC247T and JC248) were isolated from soil samples collected from Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, India. Colonies of both strains were creamy white. Cells were Gram-stain-positive, rods-to-curved rods (crescent-shaped), and produced centrally located oval-shaped endospores. Major (>5 %) fatty acids of both strains were iso-C16
:
0, iso-C14
:
0, iso-C15
:
0, C16
:
1ω11c and C16
:
0, with minor ( < 5 but >1 %) amounts of anteiso-C15
:
0, anteiso-C17
:
0, iso-C16
:
1 H, iso-C17
:
0, iso-C18
:
0, C14
:
0, C17
:
0, C18
:
0, C18
:
1ω9c, iso-C17
:
1ω10c and anteiso-C17
:
0B/isoI. Diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylglycerol were the major polar lipids of both strains. Cell-wall amino acids were l-alanine, d-alanine, d-glutamic acid and meso-diaminopimelic acid. The genomic DNA G+C content of strains JC247T and JC248 was 48.2 and 48.1 mol%, respectively. Both strains were closely related with mean DNA–DNA hybridization >90 %. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis of both strains indicated that they are members of the genus Bacillus within the family Bacillaceae of the phylum Firmicutes. Both strains had a 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity of 96.93 % with Bacillus firmus NCIMB 9366T and < 96.92 % with other members of the genus Bacillus. Sequence similarity between strain JC247T and JC248 was 100 %. Distinct morphological, physiological and genotypic differences from previously described taxa support the classification of strains JC247T and JC248 as representatives of a novel species of the genus Bacillus, for which the name Bacillus
crescens sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is JC247T ( = KCTC 33627T = LMG 28608T).
Surface-driven registration method for the structure-informed segmentation of diffusion MR images
Authors: Esteban Oscar , Zosso Dominique , Daducci Alessandro , Bach-Cuadra Meritxell , Ledesma-Carbayo María J. , Thiran Jean-Philippe , Santos Andres 
Published: May 2015

AbstractCurrent methods for processing diffusion MRI (dMRI) to map the connectivity of the human brain require precise delineations of anatomical structures. This requirement has been approached by either segmenting the data in native dMRI space or mapping the structural information from T1-weighted (T1w) images. The characteristic features of diffusion data in terms of signal-to-noise ratio, resolution, as well as the geometrical distortions caused by the inhomogeneity of magnetic susceptibility across tissues hinder both solutions. Unifying the two approaches, we proposeregseg, a surface-to-volume nonlinear registration method that segments homogeneous regions within multivariate images by mapping a set of nested reference-surfaces. Accurate surfaces are extracted from a T1w image of the subject, using as target image the bivariate volume comprehending the fractional anisotropy (FA) and the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps derived from the dMRI dataset. We first verify the accuracy ofregsegon a general context using digital phantoms distorted with synthetic and random deformations. Then we establish an evaluation framework using undistorted dMRI data from the Human Connectome Project (HCP) and realistic deformations derived from the inhomogeneity fieldmap corresponding to each subject. We analyze the performance ofregsegcomputing the misregistration error of the surfaces estimated after being mapped withregsegonto 16 datasets from the HCP. The distribution of errors shows a 95% CI of 0.56–0.66 mm, that is below the dMRI resolution (1.25 mm, isotropic). Finally, we cross-compare the proposed tool against a nonlinearb0-to-T2w registration method, thereby obtaining a significantly lower misregistration error withregseg. The accurate mapping of structural information in dMRI space is fundamental to increase the reliability of network building in connectivity analyses, and to improve the performance of the emerging structure-informed techniques for dMRI data processing.
Designing catastrophic bonds for catastrophic risks in agriculture
Authors: Sun Lin , Turvey Calum G. , Jarrow Robert A. 
Published: May 2015

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to outline a pricing formula for the valuation of catastrophic (CAT) bonds as applied to multiple trigger drought risks in Kenya.Design/methodology/approach– The valuation model is designed around the multiple triggers of the Mexican Catastrophe bonds, but the valuation model is based on Jarrow’s (2010) closed form CAT Bond Pricing model. The authors outline the model structure, the multiple tranches with rainfall triggers, and simulate the model using Monte Carlo methods. Data input was synthesized from historical rainfall data in Kenya’s Moyale region as well as prevailing LIBOR and rates and conventional coupons.Findings– The authors compute the valuation model using Monte Carlo techniques. The authors found the pricing method to be robust and consistent under various parameter settings including trigger levels, time after launch, recovery rates, coupon spreads, and zero coupon curves. For example the higher the trigger rates, the lower will be the bond price at issue. With 50 percent recovery the CAT bond at issue would be around $702 with a high triggers and 976 with low triggers, but the valuation changes with parameters.Practical implications– As far as the authors know the use of multiple trigger CAT bonds has been very limited in practice. The valuation formula and methods outlined in this paper show how CAT bonds can be effectively designed to address CAT covariate risks in developing agricultural economies.Originality/value– This paper examines CAT bonds to investigate multi-trigger rainfall risks in Kenya. The paper shows how CAT bonds can be designed to meet specific and CAT risks. Using Jarrow’s (2010) closed form solution this paper is one of the first to apply it to the macro-management of agricultural risks.
Behavioral economic insights on index insurance design
Authors: Carter Michael , Elabed Ghada , Serfilippi Elena 
Published: May 2015

Purpose
– While behavioral economic experiments have uncovered a wealth of insights concerning how people decide in the face of risk and uncertainty, the implications of these insights for the demand for agricultural insurance are under-explored. The purpose of this paper is to report on results from two recent field experiments that measure the extent to which farmer behavior departs from the predictions of expected utility theory and derives the implications of these departures for insurance demand.

Design/methodology/approach
– Framed behavioral field experiments were played with random samples of West African Cotton farmers who lived in areas that were being incorporated into a cotton insurance pilot program.

Findings
– Substantial numbers of farmers depart from expected utility behavior in ways that predict excess sensitivity to uncovered basis risk in insurance contracts; and, the fact that insurance premiums are typically framed as certain and unavoidable, while benefits are unknown and stochastic.

Originality/value
– Using novel field experimental methods, the work summarized here indicates that more careful design of index insurance contracts in conformity with the findings of behavioral economics could result in larger contract uptake and, ultimately, larger development impacts.
Challenges in the design of crop revenue insurance
Authors: Goodwin Barry K. 
Published: May 2015

Purpose
– The federal crop insurance program has become the cornerstone of US agricultural policy. Since its introduction in the mid-1990s, crop revenue insurance has grown in prominence and now represents nearly 90 percent of liability for major crops. The pricing and design of revenue insurance raises a number of important challenges. The 2014 Farm Bill brought about several important changes in the program, resulting in a moving target for analysts and researchers. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach
– The risks are of a multivariate nature and are likely to be highly dependent on one another. The crop insurance setting is also constantly changing, with technological changes in production practices and highly volatile commodity prices. Compounding these challenges is the fact that US policymakers continually change the program.

Findings
– The program has indeed undergone many changes and a number of important research questions need to be addressed.

Originality/value
– Original research based upon recent policy.
A financial engineering approach to pricing agricultural insurances
Authors: Assa Hirbod 
Published: May 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to introduce a continuous time version of the speculative storage model of Deaton and Laroque (1992) and to use for pricing derivatives, in particular insurances on agricultural prices.

Design/methodology/approach
– The methodology of financial engineering is used in order to find the partial differential equations that the dynamics of derivative prices have to satisfy. Furthermore, by using the Monte-Carlo method (and Feynman-Kac theorem) the insurance prices is computed.

Findings
– Results of this paper show that insurance prices (and derivative prices in general) are heavily influenced by market structure, in particular, the demand function specifications. Furthermore, through an empirical analysis, the performance of the continuous time speculative storage model is compared with the geometric Brownian motion model. It is shown that the speculative storage model outperforms the actual data.

Practical implications
– Since the agricultural insurances in many countries are subsidised by government, the results of this paper can be used by policy makers to measure changes in agricultural insurance premiums in scenarios that market experiences changes in demand. In the same manner, insurance companies and investors can use the results of this paper to better price agricultural derivatives.

Originality/value
– The issue of agricultural insurance pricing (in general derivative pricing) is of great concern to policy makers, investors and insurance companies. To the author’s knowledge, an approach which uses the methodology of financial engineering to compute the insurance prices (in general derivatives) is new within the literature.
$25 spring wheat was a bubble, right?
Authors: Etienne Xiaoli Liao , Irwin Scott H. , Garcia Philip 
Published: May 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to test for bubbles in the US hard red spring (HRS) wheat market from 2004 to 2014, with particular focus on 2007-2008 when the market experienced record-high price volatility.

Design/methodology/approach
– The authors apply a recently developed bubble testing procedure to cash, rolling nearby futures contract, and individual futures contract prices of HRS wheat sampled at daily, weekly, and monthly frequencies. Two critical value (CV) sequences are derived to date-stamp bubbles, one from Monte Carlo simulations, and the other from recursive wild bootstrap procedure.

Findings
– The authors find that regardless of the price series adopted, sampling frequency chosen, or CVs used, bubbles account for only a small fraction of the HRS wheat price behavior during 2004-2014. However, much sharper differences are detected regarding the key policy question of bubble behavior during 2007-2008. Individual futures contract prices during this period suggest only a minimal number of bubble days, while rolling nearby futures and cash prices indicate bubbles lasting much longer. Since theory suggests that prices for individual futures contracts are more likely to provide a clearer test of bubble components, the authors conclude there is little evidence that the spike in spring wheat prices to $25 per bushel in 2007-2008 was a bubble.

Originality/value
– This paper is the first in the literature to examine the sensitivity of bubble testing to different types of data, sampling frequencies, and inference procedures.
Meso-level weather index insurance
Authors: Weber Ron , Fecke Wilm , Moeller Imke , Musshoff Oliver 
Published: May 2015

Purpose
– Using cotton yield, and rainfall data from Tajikistan, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the magnitude of weather induced revenue losses in cotton production. Hereby the authors look at different risk aggregation levels across political regions (meso-level). The authors then design weather index insurance products able to compensate revenue losses identified and analyze their risk reduction potential.

Design/methodology/approach
– The authors design different weather insurance products based on put-options on a cumulated precipitation index. The insurance products are modeled for different inter-regional and intra-regional risk aggregation and risk coverage scenarios. In this attempt the authors deal with the common problem of developing countries in which yield data is often only available on an aggregate level, and weather data is only accessible for a low number of weather stations.

Findings
– The authors find that it is feasible to design index-based weather insurance products on the meso-level with a considerable risk reduction potential against weather-induced revenue losses in cotton production. Furthermore, the authors find that risk reduction potential increases on the national level the more subregions are considered for the insurance product design. Moreover, risk reduction potential increases if the index insurance product applied is designed to compensate extreme weather events.

Practical implications
– The findings suggest that index-based weather insurance products bear a large risk mitigation potential on an aggregate level. Hence, meso-level insurance should be recognized by institutions with a regional exposure to cost-related weather risks as part of their risk-management strategy.

Originality/value
– The authors are the first to investigate the potential of weather index insurance for different risk aggregation levels in developing countries.
“Why can’t they be in the community?” A policy and practice analysis of transforming care for offenders with intellectual disability
Authors: Alexander Regi , Devapriam John , Michael Dasari , McCarthy Jane , Chester Verity , Rai Rahul , Naseem Aezad , Roy Ashok 
Published: May 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to describe key policy and practice issues regarding a significant subgroup of people with intellectual disability – those with offending behaviour being treated in forensic hospitals.

Design/methodology/approach
– The reasons why psychiatrists continue to be involved in the treatment of people with intellectual disability and mental health or behavioural problems and the factors that may lead to patients needing hospital admission are examined. Using two illustrative examples, three key questions – containment vs treatment, hospital care vs conditional discharge and hospital treatment vs using deprivation of liberty safeguards usage in the community are explored.

Findings
– Patients with intellectual disability, mental health problems and offending behaviours who are treated within forensic inpatient units tend to have long lengths of stay. The key variable that mediates this length of stay is the risk that they pose to themselves or others. Clinicians work within the framework of mental health law and have to be mindful that pragmatic solutions to hasten discharge into the community may not fall within the law.

Originality/value
– This paper makes practical suggestions for the future on how to best integrate hospital and community care for people with intellectual disability, mental health and offending behaviours.
Therapeutic communities for people with intellectual disability and complex needs
Authors: Taylor Jon , Crowther Simon , Bryant Christian 
Published: May 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to describe the use and value of therapeutic communties (TCs) in services for people with intellectual disabilities (IDs) and complex needs.

Design/methodology/approach
– A structured literature review of TC in ID services.

Findings
– TCs have been used in a range of in-patient services for people with IDs. Although outcome studies are scarce, those that exist offer promising indications of such service designs.

Originality/value
– TCs have seen a recent increase of interest in ID services. This paper provides an overview of these services and outlines the benefits that such a residential culture can offer for both service users and staff members.
Outcomes from the National High Secure Learning Disability Service: findings and challenges
Authors: Morrissey Catrin , Hobson Ben , Faulkner Emma , James Tamsin 
Published: May 2015

Purpose
– The “outcomes revolution” in healthcare has yet to impact strongly on secure intellectual disability (ID) services in the UK. The purpose of this paper is to review the service-level outcome studies that exist for this population, and to explore some of the challenges of conducting such research. It further describes some illustrative routine outcome data from the National High Secure Learning Disability Service.

Design/methodology/approach
– Routinely collected outcome measures (length of stay; violent incidents; Emotional Problem Scale (EPS) Behaviour Rating Scale and EPS Self-Report Inventory) were analysed for two overlapping cohorts of patients resident in the high-secure service between 2008 and 2013.

Findings
– The median length of stay of those discharged during the study period (n=27) was around 9.9 years (range one to 40 years). A significant proportion (25 per cent) of discharges resulted in an eventual return to high security. There did not appear to be a treatment effect over two to three years using staff-rated global clinical measures, but patient-rated clinical measures did reduce. Violent incidents also reduced significantly over a longer period of four years in treatment.

Research limitations/implications
– There are identified challenges to research design and outcome measurement which need to be addressed in any future cross-service studies.

Originality/value
– There are relatively few published outcome studies from forensic ID services. None of the studies have used clinical measures of changes or patient-rated outcome measures.