bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Profile and Determinants of Neurocognitive Dysfunction in a Sample of Adult Nigerians With Heart Failure
Authors: Adebayo Philip Babatunde , Akintunde Adeseye Abiodun , Audu Morenike Bosede , Ayodele Olugbenga Edward , Akinyemi Rufus Olushola , Opadijo Oladimeji George 
Published: September 2015

Background:
Heart failure (HF) in Africans is peculiar because subjects are younger than whites and have lower socioeconomic and educational level in addition to the high prevalence of hypertension-related etiology and increased mortality. Whereas cognitive dysfunction have been demonstrated among whites with HF, the prevalence and pattern of cognitive dysfunction among sub-Saharan African patients with HF have not been evaluated against this background.

Objectives:
The aim of this study is to determine the 1-year prevalence and the factors contributing to cognitive dysfunction in a cohort of Nigerian patients with HF.

Materials and Methods:
In this cross-sectional case-control study, cognitive performance was evaluated in 111 consecutive individuals (60 HF patients and 51 controls matched for age, gender, and level of education) using the Community Screening Interview for Dementia, Word List Learning Delayed Recall, Boston Naming Test, and Modified Token Test. Other clinical and disease-specific variables were collated and correlated with cognitive performance.

Results:
The mean total Community Screening Interview for Dementia, Word List Learning Delayed Recall, Boston Naming Test, and Modified Token Test scores were significantly lower among HF patients (P = < .001). The prevalence of global cognitive dysfunction was 90.0% in HF and 5.9% among controls (odds ratio, 15.3; 95% confidence interval, 5.08–46.01). Elevated systolic blood pressure, increased comorbidity index, and wide pulse pressure were significantly associated with poorer performance on at least 1 neuropsychological test. Using a multivariate linear regression analysis, pulse pressure retained its significance (P = .029; 95% confidence interval, −0.117 to −0.007) as the most important predictor of cognitive dysfunction in the cohort of HF patients.

Conclusion:
Cognitive dysfunction is prevalent among this sample of Nigerians with HF. Regular cognitive screening is therefore advocated among this high-risk group. Controlling comorbidities as well as blood pressure may improve cognitive performance among patients with HF.
Falls in Patients With Heart Failure
Authors: Lee Kayoung , Pressler Susan J. , Titler Marita 
Published: September 2015

Background:
Many heart failure patients show fall-related signs/symptoms including postural hypotension, cerebellar injury, and cognitive impairments. Falls contribute to injuries, increased healthcare use, and death, but falls have been understudied in this population.

Objective:
The purpose of this review is to identify fall rates, fall injuries, and risk factors for falls in heart failure patients.

Methods:
A systematic literature review was conducted using MEDLINE, CINAHL, PubMed, PsycINFO, and Cochrane Library to identify publications from August 1973 to June 2013. Keywords were accidental falls, heart failure, fall rates, fall injuries, and fall risk. Inclusion criteria were publications that were primary data based, included heart failure sample, had falls/fall risk as study variables, and were written in English language. Exclusion criteria were quality improvement/evaluation, case reports/studies, news, opinions, narrative reviews, meeting reports, reflections, and letters to editors. Data were abstracted using a standardized data collection form.

Results:
Four publications met the inclusion criteria. In the first study, fall rate was 43%, which is higher than the fall rates among community-dwelling older adults. Fall-related injuries were not examined in any of studies. Benzodiazepines and digoxin were identified as medications that increased risk of falls in 1 case-control study. Loop diuretics were not significantly associated with falls in 1 cohort study. In the fourth study, patients who had poor gait and balance were at greater risk of falling.

Conclusions:
Future studies are needed to determine factors associated with falls, characterize injuries resulting from falls, and most importantly design testable interventions to prevent falls in heart failure patients.
A Ventricular Assist Device Recipient and Suicidality
Authors: Balliet Wendy E. , Madan Alok , Craig Michael L. , Serber Eva R. , Borckardt Jeffery J. , Pelic Christine , Barth Kelly , Hale Anthony , van Bakel Adrian B. , Peura Jennifer L. 
Published: September 2015

Background:
Ventricular assist device (VAD) recipients are at high risk of depression and anxiety, and poor psychosocial functioning is associated with worse medical outcomes.

Purpose:
We present a case of a 31-year-old depressed patient who demonstrated passive suicidal behavior through multiple episodes of noncompliance, including temporarily discontinuing warfarin (Coumadin) several months after VAD implantation. The patient’s psychosocial and medical histories and outcomes are presented.

Conclusions:
This case underscores the importance of pre-VAD as well and ongoing psychosocial evaluation and management for this unique patient population.

Clinical Implications:
Medical teams who are treating patients with cardiovascular disease who are under consideration for VAD or heart transplantation need to be aware of the multitude of ways in which patients can express depressed and suicidal mood and work with a multidisciplinary team to treat such symptoms to optimize patients’ success with VAD/heart transplantation.
Presentation of spatial information in navigation aids for the visually impaired
Authors: Innala Ahlmark Daniel , Hyyppä Kalevi 
Published: September 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to present some guidelines on how different means of information presentation can be used when conveying spatial information non-visually. The aim is to further the understanding of the qualities navigation aids for visually impaired individuals should possess.

Design/methodology/approach
– A background in non-visual spatial perception is provided, and existing commercial and non-commercial navigation aids are examined from a user interaction perspective, based on how individuals with a visual impairment perceive and understand space.

Findings
– The discussions on non-visual spatial perception and navigation aids lead to some user interaction design suggestions.

Originality/value
– This paper examines navigation aids from the perspective of non-visual spatial perception. The presented design suggestions can serve as basic guidelines for the design of such solutions.
Co-designing a speech interface for people with dysarthria
Authors: Hamidi Foad , Baljko Melanie , Ecomomopoulos Connie , Livingston Nigel J. , Spalteholz Leonhard G. 
Published: September 2015

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to describe the development and evaluation of CanSpeak which is an open-source speech interface for users with dysarthria of speech. The interface can be customized by each user to map a small number of words they can speak clearly to commands in the computer system, thereby adding a new modality to their interaction.Design/methodology/approach– The interface was developed in two phases: in the first phase, the authors used participatory design to engage the users and their community in the customization of the system, and in the second phase, we used a more focussed co-design methodology during which a user of the system became a co-designer by directly making new design decisions about the system.Findings– The study showed that it is important to include assistive technology users and their community in the design and customization of technology. Participation led to increased engagement, adoption and also provided new ideas that were rooted in the experience of the user.Originality/value– The co-design phase of the project provided an opportunity for the researchers to work closely with a user of their system and include her in design decisions. The study showed that by employing co-design new insights into the design domain can be revealed and incorporated into the design that might not be revealed otherwise.
EdgeBraille: Braille-based text input for touch devices
Authors: Mattheiss Elke , Regal Georg , Schrammel Johann , Garschall Markus , Tscheligi Manfred 
Published: September 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to discuss the issue of tailored text input methods for visually impaired and blind users that are needed on touchscreen devices to support their accessibility. Previous approaches still have issues related to the necessity of searching for characters, slow entry speeds or cumbersome handling.

Design/methodology/approach
– The authors developed a new Braille-based text input method named EdgeBraille, which allows entering six-point Braille characters by swiping one finger along the edges of the touchscreen in an arbitrary sequence. The approach was compared with the current standard method of a talking keyboard, first in a short-term lab study (14 participants) and then during two weeks of daily training (seven participants).

Findings
– Overall EdgeBraille was perceived well by the users and possesses favourable handling characteristics. In terms of user performance (words per minute and error rate) the authors found no significant differences between the two methods. However, based on the evaluation results and the feedback of the participants the authors identified possibilities for improvement in terms of a smaller EdgeBraille version allowing the entry of eight-point Braille characters, and conducted a proof-of-concept study (seven participants).

Originality/value
– In the paper the authors comprehensively reflect on advantages and disadvantages of Braille-based methods in general and EdgeBraille in particular. The authors argue why and how Braille-based methods should serve as complement to current text input paradigms based on talking keyboard and indicate future directions of research.
Young vs old – landscape vs portrait: a comparative study of touch gesture performance
Authors: Wulf Linda , Garschall Markus , Klein Michael , Tscheligi Manfred 
Published: September 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to gain deeper insights into performance differences of younger and older users when performing touch gestures, as well as the influence of tablet device orientation (portrait vs landscape).

Design/methodology/approach
– The authors performed a comparative study involving 20 younger (25-45 years) and 20 older participants (65-85 years). Each participant executed six gestures with each device orientation. Age was set as a between-subject factor. The dependent variables were task completion time and error rates (missed target rate and finger lift rate). To measure various performance characteristics, the authors implemented an application for the iPad that logged completion time and error rates of the participants when performing six gestural tasks – tap, drag, pinch, pinch-pan, rotate left and rotate right – for both device orientations.

Findings
– The results show a significant effect of age on completion time and error rates. Means reveal faster completion times and lower error rates for younger users than for older users. In addition, a significant effect of device orientation on error rates could be stated. Means show higher error rates for portrait orientation than for landscape orientation. Qualitative results reveal a clear preference for landscape orientation in both age groups and a lower acceptance of rotation gestures among older participants.

Originality/value
– In this study the authors were able to show the importance of device orientation as an influencing factor on touch interaction performance, indicating that age is not the exclusive influencing factor.
The iPad as a mobile assistive technology device
Authors: Chmiliar Linda , Anton Carrie 
Published: September 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to present the viewpoint of the authors on the use of the iPad as an assistive technology tool for post-secondary students with disabilities.

Design/methodology/approach
– Although this paper is not classified as a research article, the viewpoints discussed by the authors are related to a pilot study and continuing case study research they are conducting.

Findings
– The authors indicate that they have been surprised at the positive results they have observed in the iPad implementation, particularly with students moving to the iPad to continue their studies at the completion of the research.

Practical implications
– This paper discusses the opportunities and limitations afforded by the use of the iPad with post-secondary students as well as suggestions for implementation.

Social implications
– After decades of experience in the field of assistive technology, the authors are becoming convinced that the iPad offers significant opportunities for learning for students with disabilities. One of the exciting parts of being involved in these iPad studies has been to observe: the transformation of student study skills, the increased student self-discovery around how they learn, and the increase in student confidence in technology use. Perhaps rather than labeling the iPad as a mobile device or an assistive technology tool, the authors need to look at different terminology to define it. The ownership of this device by post-secondary students is growing every year, and it is a device that does not set students with disabilities apart from their peers. It is a device that can effectively support student learning through built in accessibility features and the use of commonly available and used apps. Perhaps using the term “equalizing technology” to describe the iPad might be more appropriate.

Originality/value
– This paper discusses the opportunities and limitations afforded by the use of the iPad with post-secondary students as well as suggestions for implementation. This is a rapidly developing area in universities and colleges around the world.
Real wages and monetary policy: a DSGE approach
Authors: Perry Bryan , Phillips Kerk , Spencer David E. 
Published: September 2015

Purpose– Studies of the cyclical behavior of real wages have identified monetary shocks and examined the response of real wages and output or employment. A finding that real wages are procyclical in response to a positive monetary policy shock is taken as evidence that prices are stickier than wages. The purpose of this paper is to show that factors other than wage and price stickiness affect the response of real wages to a monetary policy shock.Design/methodology/approach– The authors simulate two prominent dynamic stochastic general equilibrium models under a variety of parameter values and examine the cyclicality of the real wage.Findings– The authors offer robust evidence that the real wage response to monetary policy is affected in important ways by properties of the economy other than stickiness of wages and prices, such as the importance of intermediate goods in the production process and the size of key elasticities. Consequently, the authors cannot appropriately infer the relative stickiness of wages and prices from examining only the response of real wages to a monetary policy shock.Originality/value– The authors show in this study that examining the response of real wages is not enough to sort out the relative stickiness of prices and wages.
Income inequality and the composition of public debt
Authors: Salti Nisreen 
Published: September 2015

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine the redistributive effect of domestic public debt: lenders to the government lie on the higher end of the income distribution, but the burden of debt financing falls on the entire tax base, to the extent that taxes are used to service debt. Because domestic debt is typically held by domestic lenders, this involves a redistribution of resources.Design/methodology/approach– The author uses cross-country panel data on debt composition, and run regressions of income inequality, as measured by the Gini coefficient, using various specifications, controlling for a variety of macroeconomic, fiscal and political variables.Findings– The author finds that the composition of public debt is consistently a significant determinant of income inequality: the domestic share of public debt is regressive and significant across all specifications, even controlling for total and external debt servicing, political conflict, corruption and a variety of government spending variables.Research limitations/implications– The data span 18 years (1990-2007) which means that long-run effects are hard to track. While the author has a good mix in the sample of observations from low-, middle- and high-income countries, the author is constrained in the choice of countries by the availability of data on inequality and on the composition of public debt.Originality/value– This is the first paper to examine the composition of public debt in terms of domestic and external debt, and any bearing it may have on income inequality. The finding is also new for both the public debt and income inequality literatures: cross-country panel data are consistent with the belief that domestic debt redistributes resources from the entire tax base to wealthy holders of government debt in a way that external debt does not.
Even education has its limits: closing the wage gap
Authors: Epstein Gil S. , Gafni Dalit , Siniver Erez 
Published: September 2015

Purpose– Economic outcomes are compared for university graduates in Israel belonging to four different ethnic groups. A unique data set is used that includes all individuals who graduated with a first degree from universities and colleges in Israel between the years 1995 and 2008 and which tracks them for up to ten years from the year they graduated. The main finding is that education and experience appear to have a strong effect on earnings in the long run and that an ethnic group can improve its position relative to certain groups while there is no effect relative to other groups. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approach– The authors consider three of the main factors determining the success of assimilation: size of the ethnic group; cultural differences between groups and skin color; and examine how these factors affect economic outcomes. The authors use a unique data set that includes all individuals who graduated with a first degree from universities and colleges in Israel between the years 1995 and 2008.Findings– The results obtained in this study show that on average native Jews attain the best economic outcomes, followed by FSU immigrants, Israeli Arabs and finally Ethiopian immigrants. Education and experience appear to have a strong effect on earnings in the long run. An ethnic group can improve its position relative to other groups as they accumulate work experience.Originality/value– This is the first time that the Ethiopian immigrants where taken into account.
Empirical appraisal of fiscal stability: the case of Ghana
Authors: Akosah Nana Kwame 
Published: September 2015

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to appraise the stability of Ghana’s fiscal policy by assessing government’s reaction in the past to rising public debt over the last three decades.Design/methodology/approach– Using quarterly data spanning 1990Q1-2013Q2, the study evaluated the mean reverting properties of Ghana’s public debt and also estimate the fiscal policy reaction function. The complementary estimation techniques include Pesaranet al.(2001) bound testing cointegration test, differencing method and also Granger two-step cointegration methods.Findings– Using quarterly data from 1990Q1 to 2013Q2, the study found the fiscal policy to be unstable in the 1990s, necessitating the adoption of Heavily Indebted Poor Countries’ initiative in 2001. The fiscal situation however relatively stabilizes afterwards following the external debt relief in 2001. Nevertheless, the study reveals that the recent fiscal policy (since 2006) seems to be confronted with tremendous fiscal pressures, exacerbated by fiscal excesses during election cycles as well as excessive domestic and external borrowings. In addition, the economic growth-debt link was found to be weak, though debt appears to adversely affect economic growth.Research limitations/implications– The study does not thoroughly explore the possibility of non-linear relationship between public debt and primary balance. Also, the result could be different using different data frequencies.Practical implications– The state of government finance has implications on the monetary policy and economic growth prospects of an economy. As an inflation targeting central bank since 2002, a successful monetary policy implementation that reins in inflation requires fiscal policy that curtails fiscal volatilities originating from imprudent behaviour of government. Therefore, the looming fiscal pressures in recent times would impair the effective implementation of the inflation targeting framework by the central bank, and also retard economic growth as the bulk of these expenditures are usually recurrent in the case of Ghana.Originality/value– This is the first paper to employ complementary econometric techniques to empirically evaluate fiscal sustainability in Ghana.
Monetary policy surprises and jumps in interest rates: evidence from Brazil
Authors: Meurer Roberto , Santos André A.P. , Turatti Douglas E. 
Published: September 2015

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to consider a monetary-jump model to measure the contribution of jumps to the total volatility of interest rates in the Brazilian interbank market and to assess the extent to which the central bank’s unanticipated monetary policy decisions are driving these jumps.Design/methodology/approach– The authors use a sample of swap rates contracts with different maturities to estimate a mixture GARCH-jump model that disentangles two components of interest rate volatility: a GARCH-type specification that models conditional heteroskedasticity to account for the volatility during “normal” times and a Poisson process that models the occurrence of abrupt changes in interest rates.Findings– The contribution of jumps to the total volatility is substantial, and monetary policy decisions partly explain the occurrence of those jumps. In particular, the authors find that the likelihood of a jump occurring during a meeting day of the Brazilian central bank’s monetary policy committee (COPOM) is higher in comparison to that of a non-meeting day.Research limitations/implications– The occurrence of jumps in the term structure of interest rates raises the question of the transmission mechanism of the monetary policy through the asset price channel as well as the relation between jumps and economic fundamentals.Practical implications– Communication between the central bank and the market will affect expectations and asset values. If the central bank’s decisions generate fewer jumps, then the variance of the interest rate-linked asset values will also be reduced.Originality/value– The paper employs a new approach to assess monetary policy surprises to a set of Brazilian interest rate data and relates the occurrence of jumps to the macroeconomic environment.