bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Nicotine enhances antisaccade performance in schizophrenia patients and healthy controls
Authors: Petrovsky Nadine , Ettinger Ulrich , Quednow Boris B. , Landsberg Martin W. , Drees Judith , Lennertz Leonhard , Frommann Ingo , Heilmann Katharina , Sträter Birgitta , Kessler Henrik , Dahmen Norbert , Mössner Rainald , Maier Wolfgang , Wagner Michael 
Published: February 2013

Abstract
Nicotine has been proposed to be a cognitive enhancer, particularly in schizophrenia patients. So far, the published studies of nicotine effects on antisaccade performance in schizophrenia patients only tested participants who were deprived smokers. Thus, we aimed to test both smoking and non-smoking patients as well as healthy controls in order to extend previous findings. Moreover, we employed a paradigm using standard and delayed trials. We hypothesized that, if nicotine is a genuine cognitive enhancer, its administration would improve antisaccade performance both in smoking and non-smoking participants. A total of 22 patients with schizophrenia (12 smokers and 10 non-smokers) and 26 controls (14 smokers and 12 non-smokers) completed the study. The effects of a nicotine patch (14 mg for smokers, 7 mg for non-smokers) on antisaccade performance were tested in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial. Schizophrenia patients made significantly more antisaccade errors than controls (p = 0.03). Both patients and controls made fewer antisaccade errors in the delayed trials than in the standard trials (p < 0.0001). Nicotine significantly reduced antisaccade error rate in the standard trials, but not in the delayed trials (p = 0.02). Smoking status did not influence the nicotine effect on antisaccade error rate (p = 0.10) indicating an equal procognitive effect of nicotine in smokers and non-smokers. Overall the present findings indicate that beneficial effects of nicotine on antisaccade performance are not confined to smoking schizophrenia patients. Instead, the findings likely represent genuine nicotine-induced enhancement of cognitive performance.
Preferences for redistribution and pensions. What can we learn from experiments?
Authors: TAUSCH FRANZISKA , POTTERS JAN , RIEDL ARNO 
Published: February 2013

AbstractRedistribution is an inevitable feature of collective pension schemes and economic experiments have revealed that most people have a preference for redistribution that is not merely inspired by self-interest. However, little is known on how these preferences interact with preferences for different pension schemes. In this paper, we review the experimental evidence on preferences for redistribution and suggest some links to redistribution through pensions. For that purpose we distinguish between three types of situations. The first deals with distributional preferences behind a veil of ignorance. In the second type of situation, individuals make choices in front of the veil of ignorance and know their position. Finally, we discuss situations in which income is determined by interdependent rather than individual choices. In the closing sections of the paper, we discuss whether and how these experimental results speak to the redistribution issues of pensions. For example, do they argue for or against mandatory participation? Should we have less redistribution and more actuarial fairness? How does this depend on the type of redistribution involved?
Depression, survival, and epidermal growth factor receptor genotypes in patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer
Authors: Pirl William F. , Traeger Lara , Greer Joseph A. , Jackson Vicki , Lennes Inga T. , Gallagher Emily , Sequist Lecia , Temel Jennifer S. 
Published: February 2013

AbstractObjective:Although depression appears to be associated with worse survival from cancer, the underlying mechanisms of this association are unknown. Tumor epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) genotype is a known predictor of survival in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and appears to be associated with depression. We hypothesized that tumor EGFR genotype may account for a relationship between depression and survival in this population. We investigated this possible relationship in a cohort of patients with metastatic NSCLC, in which we had previously demonstrated an association between depression and worse survival.Method:A cohort of 151 patients with newly diagnosed metastatic NSCLC were enrolled and followed in a randomized controlled trial of early palliative care. At enrollment, 150 had depression assessed with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and categorical scoring for major depressive syndrome (MDS) was used for analyses. Patients with tumor tissue available underwent EGFR genotyping. Associations with survival were tested using Cox proportional hazards models, adjusting for potential confounders.Results:Twenty-one patients (14.0%) met criteria for MDS. Forty-four patients (29.3%) had EGFR genotyping, and 17 (38.6%) of these harbored EGFR mutations. Patients with EGFR mutations had significantly lower PHQ-9 scores (p = 0.03), and none met criteria for depression. EGFR mutations were significantly associated with superior survival (p = 0.02). When both depression and EGFR genotype were simultaneously entered into the model, only EGFR mutations remained significantly associated with survival (p = 0.02), and the effect of depression was attenuated.Significance of results:Depression is associated with worse survival in metastatic NSCLC, and this relationship may be at least partially explained by tumor EGFR genotype. Further study into whether depression could be associated with specific biologic properties of cancer that vary by genotype is warranted.
Crop loss analysis and global food supply: focusing now on required harvests.
Authors: Esker P. D. , Savary S. , McRoberts N. 
Published: February 2013

Abstract
Historically, the path of crop loss assessment research has known three phases: exploratory, development and implementation. These phases took place at different periods of agricultural research, with a common thread to improve our knowledge of the impact of diseases on crop yield quantity and quality. In this review, we provide a discussion on these phases. In particular, we emphasize the seminal research that has laid a foundation for a new phase to develop. We do this through an examination of the measurement of injury and crop losses, the current statistical models used to define thresholds and damage functions, and what is currently known regarding qualitative losses. Crop loss research enters a fourth phase of crop loss assessment, the multi-criteria assessment phase. In the latter portion of the review, we provide a brief discussion on the efforts, the concepts, and the necessary multidisciplinary dialogue, that the multi-criteria assessment phase requires in order for crop loss assessment to truly change the ways diseases are managed and how management itself is truly seen among the disciplinary fields that contribute to sustainable agricultural development.
Probiotics, prebiotics and synbiotics effects on immunity with emphasis on modulation of vaccine responses.
Authors: Baran M. M. , Kolida S. , Rastall R. A. 
Published: February 2013

Abstract
Over the last decade, research has provided a better understanding of the complexity and activity of the human gut microbiota. Molecular, culture-independent techniques made possible to identify health-promoting bacterial species in the human gut. This has intensified interest in the use of dietary approaches such as probiotics, prebiotics and synbiotics targeting beneficial micro-organisms to maintain gut health or to improve disease states. Recently, research has focused on the ability to modulate the immune system by these strategies. Several studies to date support the ability of probiotics to enhance immunity and suggest potential mechanisms. Less is known about the prebiotic effects on immunity and the question has risen if the mechanism relies on direct interaction or through indirect changing in the composition of indigenous microbiota by prebiotic fermentation. The synbiotic approach merges the two individual strategies of probiotic and prebiotic; however, it is challenging to establish the mutual relationship between those components to evaluate the synbiotic functionality. Vaccination is a clinical marker to evaluate changes in immune functions by the coordinated, integrated immune response to a relevant challenge. Increasing number of studies describe the putative effects of dietary ingredients to improve the antibody response after vaccination. The outcome of such studies may contribute to the better understanding of relation between modulation of beneficial gut microbiota and clinical evident effects. This review highlights the recent knowledge on the modulation of immunity by probiotics, prebiotics and synbiotics with specific emphasis on their effects on immune response to vaccination.
Timing of Population Fragmentation in a Vulnerable Minnow, the Umpqua Chub, and the Role of Nonnative Predators
Authors: O'Malley Kathleen G. , Markle Douglas F. , Ardren William R. 
Published: February 2013

AbstractWe examined the distribution of Umpqua Chub Oregonichthys kalawatseti, an endemic, vulnerable minnow in western Oregon, and whether six ecological populations (based on distribution patterns) had sufficient genetic cohesion to be considered evolutionary populations. We also evaluated the influence of Holocene geological events and recent nonnative predator introductions on the timing of population formation or fragmentation. Based on data from 10 microsatellite loci, we found evidence for four evolutionary populations of Umpqua Chub. One population, in the Smith River, is isolated by the Umpqua estuary and is more than 100 river kilometers from the other three populations: Elk Creek, Calapooya Creek–Olalla Creek, and Cow Creek–South Umpqua River. Quantile regression was used to examine the timing of genetic divergence among evolutionary populations assuming a genetic isolation‐by‐distance model. The quantile regression suggested that the genetic differentiation index (FST) should change by at least 0.0002/km; most fragmentation was recent and with similar timing, but the Smith River isolation event may have been about 2–4 times older. We could not distinguish whether the timing of the Smith River isolation corresponded to the last major tsunami event or the introduction of Striped Bass Morone saxatilis, a likely predator. All population fragmentation appears to be relatively recent, with the three upstream populations restricted to third‐ and fourth‐order streams, most likely fragmented by either nonnative Smallmouth Bass Micropterus dolomieu, which now dominate sixth‐order streams, or in the case of Elk Creek, a dam. The mid‐drainage Calapooya–Olalla population was the most genetically diverse and appeared to be a mix of the other populations, which showed a significant isolation‐by‐distance relationship to this population. We hypothesize that Umpqua Chub populations have formed and fragmented by peripheral isolation from a larger population, the remnant of which is the mid‐drainage Calapooya–Olalla population.
How the Supreme Court Alters Opinion Language to Evade Congressional Review
Authors: Owens Ryan J. , Wedeking Justin , Wohlfarth Patrick C. 
Published: February 2013

AbstractWe argue that actors can attempt to shield their policy choices from unfavorable review by crafting them in a manner that will increase the costs necessary for supervisory institutions to review them. We apply this theory to the US Supreme Court and demonstrate how justices strategically obfuscate the language of majority opinions in the attempt to circumvent unfavorable review from a politically hostile Congress. The results suggest that Supreme Court justices can and do alter the language of their opinions to raise the costs of legislative review and thereby protect their decisions.
Trustee Courts and the Judicialization of International Regimes
Authors: Stone Sweet Alec , Brunell Thomas L. 
Published: February 2013

AbstractThe article focuses on judicial politics in three international regimes. The courts of these regimes are trustee courts, operating in an environment of judicial supremacy with respect to states. An international trustee court meets three criteria: (1) the court is the authoritative interpreter of the regime’s law; (2) the court’s jurisdiction is compulsory; and (3) it is virtually impossible, in practice, for contracting states to reverse the court’s important rulings. After developing a theory of trusteeship, we turn to how judges have used their powers. Although there is variation, each court has engaged in “majoritarian activism,” producing law that reflects standard practices or a high degree of state consensus but that would not have been adopted by states under unanimity decision rules. Majoritarian activism helps judges to develop the law progressively, to mitigate potential legitimacy problems, and to render efforts at curbing the growth of their authority improbable or ineffective.
Conceptualizing and Measuring Rule of Law Constructs, 1850–2010
Authors: Nardulli Peter F. , Peyton Buddy , Bajjalieh Joseph 
Published: February 2013

AbstractThis article outlines an effort to gauge cross-national and intertemporal differences in law-based orders for 165 nations from 1850 to 2010. Despite the increasing importance attributed to “the rule of law,” there have been few efforts to develop objective measures of it. The conceptual foundations for this effort rest on a review of centuries of scholarship concerning the societal utility of law. Data are drawn from a variety of sources to create two composite measures. The derivation of these measures is reported and the measures are examined to determine whether they present reinforcing profiles of a country's legal order.
Policy Preferences and Legal Interpretation
Authors: Farnsworth Ward , Guzior Dustin , Malani Anup 
Published: February 2013

AbstractThis article presents an empirical study of statutory interpretation. Respondents were asked to read statutes and answer questions about how they should be applied to simple cases. The results suggest, first, that it is difficult to separate judgments about the linguistic meaning of a statute from policy preferences about it. Different ways of framing the interpretive question have consequences, however; asking how an ordinary reader would interpret a text helps produce answers that are distinct from a respondent’s own preferences about it. The article considers why this might be so and discusses implications for the interpretation of statutes by courts.
Law without the State
Authors: Hadfield Gillian K. , Weingast Barry R. 
Published: February 2013

AbstractMost social scientists take for granted that law is defined by the presence of a centralized authority capable of exacting coercive penalties for violations of legal rules. Moreover, the existing approach to analyzing law in economics and positive political theory works with a very thin concept of law that does not account for the distinctive attributes of legal order as compared with other forms of social order. Drawing on a model developed elsewhere, we reinterpret key case studies to demonstrate how a theoretically informed approach illuminates questions about the emergence, stability, and function of law in supporting economic and democratic growth.
Is the adoption of environmental practices a strategical decision for small service companies?
Authors: Bagur‐Femenias Llorenç , Llach Josep , del Mar Alonso‐Almeida María 
Published: February 2013

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore the impact of the decision to adopt environmental practices in small service companies given that most of the studies on environmental practices focus on the industrial sector and on larger companies.Design/methodology/approachThis work is based on 448 personal surveys involving the managers of small travel agencies, using structural equation modeling to study the links between the dimensions studied.FindingsThe results of this paper suggest that being proactive on environmental issues can bring small service companies a great number of benefits that improve their competitiveness and firm performance.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to explore the impact of the adoption of environmental practices on a single service industry. It therefore provides useful empirical evidence for managerial practice in the industry concerned.
An examination of the relationships among budget emphasis, budget planning models and performance
Authors: Kung Fan‐Hua , Huang Cheng‐Li , Cheng Chia‐Ling 
Published: February 2013

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the relationships among budget emphasis, budget planning models, and performance, to determine whether an emphasis on the budget has indirect effects on performance, in the presence of other budget planning characteristics as mediators.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire survey was conducted and structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed models among the constructs and related hypotheses.FindingsThe results indicate that while budget planning models entirely mediate the influence of budget emphasis on the performance of management and the organization, they partially mediate the influence of budget emphasis on budget satisfaction. In addition, it is determined that differentiation strategies have a significantly positive influence on budget emphasis, budget planning models and performance.Originality/valueThe results of this study provide a reference for organizations in the design of budgeting systems. During the design process, budget planning models should consider the degree of emphasis an organization places on the budget.
Guanxi, performance and innovation in entrepreneurial service projects
Authors: Arribas Iván , Hernández Penélope , Vila Jose E. 
Published: February 2013

PurposeThis paper aims to analyze the role played by two dimensions of entrepreneurs' private social capital in the survival, growth and innovativeness of entrepreneurial service ventures: local size and preferential attachment degree.Design/methodology/approachData were collected by a questionnaire, the unit of investigation being the private entrepreneur in the service sector in the city of Shanghai. The questionnaire allows the authors to identify the social network of the entrepreneurs, estimate the empirical degree distribution for the entire sample, and estimate local size and preferential attachment degree.FindingsThere is empirical evidence that entrepreneurs do not create social networks with preferential attachment structure and a large local size of the network increases the chances of survival of new ventures; however, the chance to become a dynamic venture is only related to entrepreneurs' preferential attachment degree.Social implicationsAny entrepreneurial strategy should include an investment plan to generate a minimum level of social capital orguanxi. Additionally, efficient strategy to generate social capital for dynamic entrepreneurship should focus on the creation of quality social capital. The underestimation of the role of social capital seems to have a deeper impact when analyzing the phenomenon of entrepreneurial innovation.Originality/valueThis conclusion suggests that the role of social capital in the entrepreneurial process could be underestimated systematically, since most of the literature only considers local measures of social capital. This underestimation seems to have a deeper impact when analyzing the phenomenon of entrepreneurial innovation.
Do retirement anxieties determine bridge employment preference?
Authors: Mariappanadar Sugumar 
Published: February 2013

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the extent to which perceived financial preparedness, social retirement anxieties, and level of income influence mature aged workers' preferences to enter different retirement employment options within the contingent and the flexible work arrangements (FWA) types of bridge employment.Design/methodology/approachData for this study was collected in 2008 using a questionnaire with 31 items. A total of 144 mature aged workers from multiple firms, aged 50 years and over, working full‐time, in the construction industry participated in the study. The collected data was analysed using correlation and regression analyses.FindingsThe results indicate that the study variables have positive and negative influences on pre‐retirees' preference for the retirement employment options within the contingent and the FWA bridge employment. It was also found that while income failed to moderate, social retirement anxieties did significantly moderate the relationship between perceived financial preparedness and the different employment options within the contingent bridge employment.Practical implicationsThis study clearly provides practitioners and career counsellors a new insight that the work and non‐work predictors for the retirement employment options within each of the contingent and the FWA bridge employments vary between factors of perceived financial preparedness, social retirement anxieties and level of income.Originality/valueIn contradiction to the existing literature that “comfortable” social retirement adjustment as a determinant for bridge employment, this study's findings revealed that if pre‐retirees perceive that they are not adequately financially prepared for retirement, they would opt for bridge employment irrespective of levels of social retirement anxieties.
Competences as the foundation of employability: a qualitative study of German freelancers
Authors: Süß Stefan , Becker Johannes 
Published: February 2013

PurposeIn recent years, the number of freelancers has increased considerably, especially in the IT and the media sectors. Additionally, the discussion around employability has intensified because of its relevance for employees in meeting labour market demands. Employability is especially important for freelancers as it has a key influence on their financial success. However, there is a lack of empirical research on the employability of freelancers and the competences associated with it. This article aims to reduce this research gap by presenting findings of an explanatory study on freelancer employability.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical data in this article is based on 23 semi‐structured interviews which were conducted with freelancers in the IT and media sectors.FindingsThe results reveal that the employability of freelancers is shaped by technical, social and networking competences. Additionally, it is pointed out that the dynamics in the analyzed sectors are distinct and therefore the intensity of competence development and training is varying.Originality/valueThe presented study contributes to research on freelancers as it stresses the necessity of employability for success at work. The link between employability and freelancers has not received prior attention in research.