bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Sensory and Motor Thresholds of Transcutaneous Electrical Stimulation Are Influenced by Gender and Age
Authors: de Jesus Guirro Rinaldo Roberto , de Oliveira Guirro Elaine Caldeira , de Sousa Natanael Teixeira Alves 
Published: July 2014

AbstractBackgroundTranscutaneous electrical stimulation (ES) is a therapeutic procedure used in rehabilitation. However, the effectiveness of it depends on sensory responses to pain and motor control in neuromuscular recruitment, considering the differences related to gender and age of the subjects treated, as well as the intensity and frequency of ES.ObjectiveTo determine the threshold of sensory perception (TSP) and the threshold of motor response (TMR) in young and elderly individuals of both genders.DesignRandomized controlled clinical trial.SettingGeneral community.ParticipantsEighty volunteers with no history of systemic diseases were selected to participate in the study: 40 men and 40 women were subdivided by convenience sampling and age group into young male and female (age 21.6 ± 2.4 years) groups as well as into elderly female and male groups (age 72.6 ± 6.1 years).InterventionsThe participants received electrical stimulation (ES) at 5 and 50 Hz, with pulse durations of 20, 100, 400, 1000, and 3000 μs applied on the flexor muscle bellies of the wrist and fingers.Main Outcome MeasuresTSP was identified as the first sensation of increased current intensity and TMR as the minimum muscle contraction detected. The results were submitted to analysis of variance, followed by the Tukey's test, with a significance level of 5%.ResultsTSP was lower than TMR for all pulse durations, regardless of gender and age. In women, TSP was lower than that in young and elderly men at both frequencies. However, TSP was higher in elderly subjects than in younger subjects at 50 Hz for both genders. Age also affected the TMR, presenting higher thresholds in elderly subjects of both genders at 50 Hz; however the same occurred only in male subjects at 5 Hz.ConclusionAge and gender interfere directly with ES. These variables should be considered during rehabilitation because they indicate that electrical stimulation in elderly women should be carefully performed, as they have lower thresholds than elderly men when polarized currents are used, and there is a risk of skin lesion because of their high thresholds.
ANNUITIZATION BEHAVIOR: TAX INCENTIVES VS. PRODUCT DESIGN
Authors: Kling Alexander , Richter Andreas , Ruß Jochen 
Published: July 2014

AbstractWe analyze and compare the impact of tax incentives and of introducing enhanced annuities on annuitization behavior considering heterogeneity among the insured. We find that tax incentives for annuitization result in a significant increase of the portion of people who should annuitize and also an increase of the insurer's profit since less healthy individuals also annuitize, i.e. adverse selection is reduced. However, the problem that different insured receive a different value for money is even increased by tax incentives. If enhanced annuities are introduced, the percentage of insured who should annuitize further increases. Adverse selection is further reduced and the differences in value for money from annuitizing shrink.
Cognitive Discourse Analysis: accessing cognitive representations and processes through language data
Authors: TENBRINK THORA 
Published: July 2014

abstractThis paper offers the first general introduction to CODA (Cognitive Discourse Analysis), a methodology for analyzing verbal protocols and other types of unconstrained language use, as a resource for researchers interested in mental representations and high-level cognitive processes. CODA can be used to investigate verbalizations of perceived scenes and events, spatio-temporal concepts, complex cognitive processes such as problem-solving and cognitive strategies and heuristics, and other concepts that are accessible for verbalization. CODA builds on and extends relevant established methodologies such as cognitive linguistic perspectives, verbal protocol analysis in cognitive psychology and interdisciplinary content analysis, linguistic discourse analysis, and psycholinguistic experimentation.
APPLICABLE LAWS TO ARBITRATION AGREEMENTS UNDER CURRENT ARBITRATION LAW AND PRACTICE IN MAINLAND CHINA
Authors: Yang Fan 
Published: July 2014

AbstractThis article examines the recent development of mainland Chinese law and judicial practice regarding the law applicable to arbitration agreements. It identifies potential changes to mainland Chinese law and practice that may help to further develop the People's Republic of China (PRC) into a truly international-arbitration-friendly jurisdiction. It argues that in the absence of explicit statutory provisions and a consistent approach in the People's Courts to the determination of the place of arbitration and the law applicable to arbitration agreements, it is important for parties negotiating arbitration clauses with a seat in China and/or for contracts involving mainland Chinese elements to explicitly designate the place of arbitration as well as the law governing their arbitration agreements.
REFLECTIONS OF CUSTOMARY INTERNATIONAL LAW: THE AUTHORITY OF CODIFICATION CONVENTIONS AND ILC DRAFT ARTICLES IN INTERNATIONAL LAW
Authors: Bordin Fernando Lusa 
Published: July 2014

AbstractCodification conventions and draft articles completed by the International Law Commission are often—and increasingly—invoked by courts, tribunals, governments and international organizations as ‘reflections of customary international law’. This article discusses the factors explaining the authority that these ‘non-legislative codifications’ have come to enjoy in international legal reasoning. Moving beyond the traditional explanations of codification conventions as evidence of State practice and ILC draft articles as the teaching of publicists, it considers how, against the backdrop of the uncertainty of customary international law, institutional factors (relating to authorship, representation and procedure) and textual factors (including prescriptive form and the absence of a distinction between ‘codification’ and ‘progressive development’) converge to convey the image that the resulting texts constitute the most authoritative restatement of the existing law. It then assesses this phenomenon in light of the political ideal of the international rule of law. While non-legislative codifications contribute to enhancing the clarity, consistency and congruence of international law, the fact that they may portray novel rules as reflecting existing law inevitably raises legality concerns.
CORPORATE HUMAN RIGHTS ACCOUNTABILITY: THE OBJECTIONS OF WESTERN GOVERNMENTS TO THE ALIEN TORT STATUTE
Authors: Kohl Uta 
Published: July 2014

AbstractThe almost two decade-long bonanza of civil litigation concerning gross human rights violations committed by corporations under the US Alien Tort Statute 1789 was scaled back by the US Supreme Court in Kiobel v Royal Dutch Petroleum in April 2013. The court restricted the territorial reach of human rights claims against transnational corporations by holding that the presumption against extra-territoriality applied to the Act. Thus Shell, the Dutch/British defendant, and the role it played in the brutal suppression by the Nigerian military of the Ogoni peoples' protest movement against the environmental devastation caused by oil exploration, lay outside the territorial scope of the Act. Legal accountability must lie in a State with a stronger connection with the dispute. While this article briefly engages with the Supreme Court decision, its main focus is on the attitude of Western governments to the corporate human rights litigation under the ATS as articulated in their amicus briefs. In these briefs they objected to the statute's excessive extraterritoriality and horizontal application of human rights to artificial non-State actors. In these two respects corporate ATS litigation created significant inroads into the conventional State-centric approach to human rights and thus provided an opportunity for more effective human rights enjoyment. This article tests the validity of the objections of Western governments to corporate human rights obligations under the ATS against the norms of public international law and against the substantive demands arising out of the shortfalls of the international human rights enforcement.
The life cycle ofProsorhynchoides carvajali(Trematoda: Bucephalidae) involving species of bivalve and fish hosts in the intertidal zone of central Chile
Authors: Muñoz G. , Valdivia I. , López Z. 
Published: July 2014

AbstractWe describe the life cycle of the bucephalidProsorhynchoides carvajalifrom the intertidal rocky zone of central Chile. To elucidate the life cycle of this digenean, two mytilid bivalves,Semimytilus algosusandPerumytilus purpuratus, and ten intertidal fish species belonging to the families Blenniidae, Tripterygiidae, Labrisomidae, Kyphosidae and Gobiesocidae were analysed for natural infections. In addition, experimental infections of fish were undertaken and molecular analyses were performed of several developmental stages of the digeneans in various host species. Experimental infections of fish were made from infected mytilids to determine which fish species were suitable for the metacercarial stage ofProsorhynchoides. We also determined the abundance and prevalence of metacercariae in natural infections in fish and found that they were lower than in the experimental infections. A molecular analysis showed that sporocysts fromS. algosuswere identical to metacercariae from five fish species andP. carvajaliadults. Sporocysts isolated fromP. purpuratuswere similar to metacercaria found in one fish species only (G. laevifrons) but were different fromP. carvajali, with 1.9–2.0% genetic divergence. Therefore, the complete life cycle ofP. carvajaliconsists of the mytilid speciesS. algosusas the first intermediate host, at least five intertidal fish species as second intermediate hosts (Scartichthys viridis, Auchenionchus microcirrhis, Hypsoblennius sordidus, Helcogrammoides chilensisandGobiesox marmoratus), two carnivorous fish as definitive hosts (Auchenionchus microcirrhisandA. variolosus) and one occasional definitive host (Syciases sanguineus). This is the second description of a life cycle of a marine digenean from Chile.
Audiological evaluation in patients with Behçet's disease
Authors: Sonbay N D , Saka C , Tatlican S , Vuralkan E , Aygener N , Eren C , Akin I 
Published: July 2014

AbstractObjective:This study aimed to determine the characteristics of hearing loss in patients with Behçet's disease.Methods:Twenty-six consecutive patients with Behçet's disease and a control group consisting of 25 age-matched healthy subjects were prospectively included in this study. Pure tone and speech audiometry, tympanometry, distortion product otoacoustic emission testing, and auditory brainstem-evoked response assessment were performed in the patients and controls.Results:The pure tone audiograms and the results of distortion product otoacoustic emission testing showed statistically significant hearing loss in the Behçet's disease patients (p < 0.05). Auditory brainstem-evoked response results were not significantly different between the patients and controls (p > 0.05).Conclusion:The findings of the present study demonstrated that audiological involvement is more frequent in patients with Behçet's disease than in healthy controls. Therefore, all patients with Behçet's disease should be regularly monitored by an otolaryngologist and be given information about the possibility of inner-ear involvement.
Worshipping Relics and Animating Statues. Transformations of Buddhist statecraft in contemporary Laos
Authors: LADWIG PATRICE 
Published: July 2014

AbstractIn Laos—one of the few remaining ‘officially’ socialist countries—Buddhism was abolished as a state religion after the revolution in 1975. However, since the 1990s the communist government has been increasingly using its patronage of Buddhism to gain legitimacy. With reference to the divine sources of power in Theravāda Buddhism, this article explores the extent to which modern Lao state socialism is still imbued with pre-revolutionary patterns of Buddhist kingship and statecraft. The analysis will focus especially on ritual patronage of a Buddhist relic shrine and on the recent inauguration of statues of deceased kings in the Lao capital, Vientiane. With reference to the ritual animation of ‘opening the eyes’ of the statues, and with regard to theories exploring the agency of objects, I argue that the Lao palladium has to be understood as being made up of ‘living’ entities. Finally, the article explores to what extent the control, worship, and creation of statues and relics today are still essential for the legitimacy of rule in the Lao People's Democratic Republic.
Debye temperature of wurtzite AlN determined by X-ray powder diffraction
Authors: Wang J. , Zhao M. , Jin S. F. , Li D. D. , Yang J. W. , Hu W. J. , Wang W. J. 
Published: July 2014

The Debye temperature of wurtzite aluminum nitride (AlN) was determined by the Rietveld refinement method based on the room-temperature X-ray powder diffraction data. The refined lattice parameters area = 3.11139(1) Å,c = 4.978 43(3) Å; the refined positional parameter for N isz = 0.384 59(33) Å; and the refined temperature factors of Al and N were 0.442(12) Å2and 0.559(33) Å2, respectively. Using this refined temperature factor, the Debye temperature was evaluated as 971 K through the Debye approximation.
Seasonal abundance and breeding habitat occupancy of the Orinoco Goose (Neochen jubata) in western Brazilian Amazonia
Authors: ENDO WHALDENER , HAUGAASEN TORBJØRN , PERES CARLOS A. 
Published: July 2014

SummaryThe Near-threatened Orinoco Goose Neochen jubata is a poorly known South American sheldgoose with a declining population and range distribution. In this study, we surveyed the Orinoco Goose population along the middle reaches of the Rio Juruá, western Brazilian Amazonia, and its first-order tributaries. We quantified the seasonal abundance of geese, pinpointed their approximate breeding season, and examined their habitat associations and the potential effects of human activities on their abundance. Hunting by local villagers was also monitored to assess the offtake rate of this species. Orinoco Goose occurrence in the region was highly seasonal and restricted to the dry season. We estimated a mean dry-season encounter rate of 7.18 ± 2.45 adult individuals per 4-km section along this river. Immature individuals were seen along the river margins from August to December. The species showed a strong preference for sandy beaches and was primarily restricted to the main river channel, with few individuals occurring along tributaries. The encounter rate of this species was also significantly related to fluvial distance from the municipal urban centre and to the level of protection from hunting. Hunting of Orinoco Goose was reported in 12 of the 26 villages monitored. The seasonal appearance of the Orinoco Goose in the region indicates that this is a migratory population. Our study indicates that strict protection of the river margins, and sandy beaches in particular, along the main river channel is likely to be positive for the conservation of this species along the Rio Juruá. However, further knowledge of migration routes is critical for effective protection of both breeding and non-breeding populations.
Pathologizing Suffering and the Pursuit of a Peaceful Death
Authors: RICH BEN A. 
Published: July 2014

Abstract:The specialty of psychiatry has a long-standing, virtually monolithic view that a desire to die, even a desire for a hastened death among the terminally ill, is a manifestation of mental illness. Recently, psychiatry has made significant inroads into hospice and palliative care, and in doing so brings with it the conviction that dying patients who seek to end their suffering by asserting control over the time and manner of their inevitable death should be provided with psychotherapeutic measures rather than having their expressed wishes respected as though their desire for an earlier death were the rational choice of someone with decisional capacity. This article reviews and critiques this approach from the perspective of recent clinical data indicating that patients who secure and utilize a lethal prescription are generally exercising an autonomous choice unencumbered by clinical depression or other forms of incapacitating mental illness.
Ductal closure with radiofrequency energy: the first in-human report
Authors: Dalili Mohammad 
Published: July 2014

AbstractBackgroundVascular obstruction is one of the complications of radiofrequency ablation. Following our previous report on the use of radiofrequency energy for vascular closure in an animal model in this journal, we herein present the first ever in-human report.Patient and methodThe patient was a 3-year-old boy, who received a permanent endocardial pacemaker for congenital complete heart block. He also had a conical patent ductus arteriosus. The ductus was occluded with radiofrequency energy on the arterial side with no complications.ConclusionClosure of patent ductus arteriosus and probably other problematic small vessels could be achieved with radiofrequency energy. Further experience will elucidate the future scope of this novel technique.
FREE RIDING
Authors: FONTAINE PHILIPPE 
Published: July 2014

Following the publication ofThe Logic of Collective Actionby Mancur Olson in 1965, the notion of free riding gained wide currency in economics. The idea of enjoying the benefits of collective action without incurring the corresponding costs seemed to shed light on a number of major issues in American society at a time when social ills of various kinds prompted policy makers to reconsider the conditions of social cohesion. Gradually, free riding became to be regarded as the standard behavior of people placed in certain circumstances rather than the exception confirming the rule that people pay for what they get.In this article, after reviewing the various meanings associated with the termfree riding(andfree rider), I follow the notion from the late 1930s to the early 1970s. I show that though it was used to tackle problems in fields as diverse as finance and labor—the study of which betrays the usual tensions between the free market and government intervention—from the mid-1960s, the notion increasingly conveyed a message about society as a whole. That an economic notion could serve such a purpose is another indication of the permeation of society by economic reasoning.
The Clinical Utility and Specificity of Parent Report of Executive Function among Children with Prenatal Alcohol Exposure
Authors: Nguyen Tanya T. , Glass Leila , Coles Claire D. , Kable Julie A. , May Philip A. , Kalberg Wendy O. , Sowell Elizabeth R. , Jones Kenneth L. , Riley Edward P. , Mattson Sarah N. ,   the CIFASD
Published: July 2014

AbstractPrenatal alcohol exposure and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) result in behavioral issues related to poor executive function (EF). This overlap may hinder clinical identification of alcohol-exposed children. This study examined the relation between parent and neuropsychological measures of EF and whether parent ratings aid in differential diagnosis. Neuropsychological measures of EF, including the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS), were administered to four groups of children (8–16 years): alcohol-exposed with ADHD (AE+, n=80), alcohol-exposed without ADHD (AE−, n=36), non-exposed with ADHD (ADHD, n=93), and controls (CON, n=167). Primary caregivers completed the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF). For parent ratings, multivariate analyses of variance revealed main effects of Exposure and ADHD and an interaction between these factors, with significant differences between all groups on nearly all BRIEF scales. For neuropsychological measures, results indicated main effects of Exposure and ADHD, but no interaction. Discriminant function analysis indicated the BRIEF accurately classifies groups. These findings confirm compounded behavioral, but not neuropsychological, effects in the AE+ group over the other clinical groups. Parent-report was not correlated with neuropsychological performance in the clinical groups and may provide unique information about neurobehavior. Parent-report measures are clinically useful in predicting alcohol exposure regardless of ADHD. Results contribute to a neurobehavioral profile of prenatal alcohol exposure. (JINS, 2014, 20, 1–13)
TOPOLOGICAL FULL GROUPS OF -ALGEBRAS ARISING FROM -EXPANSIONS
Authors: MATSUMOTO KENGO , MATUI HIROKI 
Published: July 2014

AbstractWe introduce a family of infinite nonamenable discrete groups as an interpolation of the Higman–Thompson groups by using the topological full groups of the groupoids defined by$\beta $-expansions of real numbers. They are regarded as full groups of certain interpolated Cuntz algebras, and realized as groups of piecewise-linear functions on the unit interval in the real line if the$\beta $-expansion of$1$is finite or ultimately periodic. We also classify them by a number-theoretical property of$\beta $.
On fuzzy frontiers and fragmented foundations: some reflections on the original and new institutional economics
Authors: HODGSON GEOFFREY M. 
Published: July 2014

AbstractThese reflections are prompted by the papers by Ménard (2014) and Ménard and Shirley (2014). Their essays centre on the path-breaking contributions to the ‘new institutional economics’ (NIE) by Ronald Coase, Douglass North and Oliver Williamson. In response, while recognising their substantial achievements, it is pointed out that these three thinkers had contrasting views on key points. Furthermore, Ménard's and Shirley's three ‘golden triangle’ NIE concepts – transaction costs, property rights and contracts – are themselves disputed. Once all this is acknowledged, differences of view appear within the NIE, raising interesting questions concerning its identity and boundaries, including its differences with the original institutionalism. There are sizeable overlaps between the two traditions. It is argued here that the NIE can learn from the original institutionalism, particularly when elaborating more dynamic analyses, and developing more nuanced, psychologically-grounded and empirically viable theories of human motivation.
Brimonidine prevents neurodegeneration in a mouse model of normal tension glaucoma
Authors: Semba K , Namekata K , Kimura A , Harada C , Mitamura Y , Harada T 
Published: July 2014

AbstractGlaucoma is one of the leading causes of irreversible blindness that is characterized by progressive degeneration of optic nerves and retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). In the mammalian retina, excitatory amino-acid carrier 1 (EAAC1) is expressed in neural cells, including RGCs, and the loss of EAAC1 leads to RGC degeneration without elevated intraocular pressure (IOP). Brimonidine (BMD) is an α2-adrenergic receptor agonist and it is commonly used in a form of eye drops to lower IOP in glaucoma patients. Recent studies have suggested that BMD has direct protective effects on RGCs involving IOP-independent mechanisms, but it is still controversial. In the present study, we examined the effects of BMD in EAAC1-deficient (KO) mice, an animal model of normal tension glaucoma. BMD caused a small decrease in IOP, but sequential in vivo retinal imaging and electrophysiological analysis revealed that treatment with BMD was highly effective for RGC protection in EAAC1 KO mice. BMD suppressed the phosphorylation of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor 2B (NR2B) subunit in RGCs in EAAC1 KO mice. Furthermore, in cultured Müller glia, BMD stimulated the production of several neurotrophic factors that enhance RGC survival. These results suggest that, in addition to lowering IOP, BMD prevents glaucomatous retinal degeneration by stimulating multiple pathways including glia–neuron interactions.