bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Social Preferences in the Lab: A Comparison of Students and a Representative Population
Authors: Cappelen Alexander W. , Nygaard Knut , Sørensen Erik Ø. , Tungodden Bertil 
Published: October 2015

AbstractWe report from a lab experiment conducted with a sample of participants that is nationally representative for the adult population in Norway and two student samples (economics students and non‐economics students). The participants make choices both in a dictator game (a non‐strategic environment) and in a generalized trust game (a strategic environment). We find that the representative sample differs fundamentally from the student samples, both in the relative importance assigned to different moral motives (efficiency, equity, and reciprocity) and in the level of selfish behavior. It is also interesting to note that the gender effects observed in the student samples do not correspond to the gender effects observed in representative sample. Finally, whereas economics students behave less pro‐socially than non‐economics students, the two student groups are similar in the relative importance they assign to different moral motives.
Do Not Trash the Incentive! Monetary Incentives and Waste Sorting
Authors: Bucciol Alessandro , Montinari Natalia , Piovesan Marco 
Published: October 2015

AbstractIn this paper, we examine whether combining non‐monetary and monetary incentives increases municipal solid waste sorting. We empirically investigate this issue, exploiting the exogenous variation in waste management policies experienced during the years 1999–2008 by the 95 municipalities in the district of Treviso (Italy). Using a panel regression analysis, we estimate that pay‐as‐you‐throw (PAYT) incentive schemes increase the sorted‐to‐total waste ratio by 17 percent, and that their effect reinforces that of a door‐to‐door (DtD) collection system, which is equal to 15.7 percent. Moreover, the panel structure of our dataset allows us to find learning and spatial effects associated with both PAYT and DtD.
Peer Effects among Swimmers
Authors: Yamane Shoko , Hayashi Ryohei 
Published: October 2015

AbstractWe develop a novel identification strategy and examine various aspects of peer effects using swimming data. We find that the performance of adjacent competitors positively influences swimmers' performances. In particular, swimmers are influenced by slower‐lane peers, suggesting that being chased improves one's performance. We use absenteeism data to directly compare the performances of swimmers with and without peers. We have found that swimmers swim faster with peers swimming behind them than when swimming alone, but that they swim slower with peers swimming ahead. Finally, we find that observability is a key determinant of peer effects, by comparing freestyle and backstroke competitions.
Valuing School Quality via a School Choice Reform
Authors: Machin Stephen , Salvanes Kjell G. 
Published: October 2015

AbstractAmong policymakers, educators, and economists, there remains a strong debate on the extent to which good schools matter. In this paper, we estimate school quality valuations based upon house prices, by considering a policy reform regarding pupils' choices to attend high school. We exploit a change in school choice that occurred in Oslo county in 1997, where school authorities altered policy from one based on catchment zones to an open enrollment policy that allowed pupils to apply to any high school. Our estimates show that parents substantially value better performing schools because the sensitivity of housing valuations to school performance falls significantly (by over 50 percent) following the school choice reform that made the move to open enrollment.
Earnings Instability and Tenure
Authors: Cappellari Lorenzo , Leonardi Marco 
Published: October 2015

AbstractWe study the effect of tenure on earnings instability in Italy using the reforms of temporary employment contracts, which affected the average tenure of workers differentially across cohorts. We develop a model of earnings dynamics, and we exploit the variation of tenure and instability over time and across birth cohorts to estimate policy‐relevant parameters. Our results indicate that each year of tenure on the job reduces earnings instability by 11 percent; the drop is faster in the first three years of the match. Workers on a temporary contract have an earnings instability up to 100 percent higher than workers on a permanent contract.
How the Populist Radical Right Transformed Swiss Welfare Politics: From Compromises to Polarization
Authors: Afonso Alexandre , Papadopoulos Yannis 
Published: October 2015

AbstractThis paper shows how the rise of the Swiss People's Party (SVP) has affected welfare state reforms in Switzerland between the 1990s and the 2000s. In the 1990s, welfare state reforms drew on “modernizing” coalitions between FDP (Liberals), CVP (Christian Democrats) and SP (Social Democrats) combining retrenchment and “recalibration”. In the 2000s the FDP and CVP increasingly sided with the SVP in right‐wing coalitions pushing retrenchment alone. The article shows that changes in party competition have affected welfare schemes differently, with a policy gridlock in pension reforms, where voters of the SVP do not follow their elites, but unilateral retrenchment in unemployment insurance, where recipients can be portrayed as “underserving”.
Are rapidly mutating Y‐short tandem repeats useful to resolve a lineage? Expanding mutability data on distant male relationships
Authors: Turrina Stefania , Caratti Stefano , Ferrian Melissa , De Leo Domenico 
Published: October 2015

BACKGROUNDY‐chromosomal short tandem repeats (Y‐STRs) are essential to relate male lineages in forensic and evolutionary studies. Although large panels of Y‐STR markers are now available, none possess sufficient discrimination power to distinguish close male relatives. This limit may be overcome by the use of rapidly mutating Y‐STRs (RM Y‐STRs), characterized by mutation rates higher than common Y‐STRs. Recently, multicenter studies evaluated the ability of RM Y‐STRs to differentiate father–son pairs; however, more extensive data on distantly related males are needed.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODA total of 157 male relative pairs separated by two to seven meiotic events, originating from Italy, were analyzed by 13 RM Y‐STRs and 23 Y‐STRs.RESULTSOverall, 154 mutational events were observed at RM Y‐STR loci and the estimated mutation rate was of 2.59 × 10−2 (95% confidence interval, 2.16 × 10−2−2.97 × 10−2). A total of 105 male relative pairs showed at least one mutation in at least one locus and differentiation rates increased from 52.8% to 88.9% from the second to the fourth generation, while 23 Y‐STRs provided much lower values, spanning from 10.1% to 29.6%.CONCLUSIONSThese findings confirmed the higher capability of RM Y‐STRs than conventional Y‐STRs to resolve male lineages, thus suggesting a possible future use for forensic male individual identification.
Survival after ultramassive transfusion: a review of 1360 cases
Authors: Dzik Walter Sunny , Ziman Alyssa , Cohen Claudia , Pai Menaka , Lozano Miguel , Kaufman Richard M. , Delaney Meghan , Selleng Kathleen , Murphy Michael F. , Hervig Tor , Yazer Mark ,   the Biomedical Excellence for Safer Transfusion Collaborative
Published: October 2015

BACKGROUNDInformation about patient survival after transfusion of multiple blood volumes is limited, and most reports have focused on trauma patients.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODSRetrospective study of blood use and survival at 11 hospitals in six nations between 2009 and 2013. Ultramassive transfusion (UMT) was defined as transfusion of 20 or more red blood cell (RBC) units over the course of any 2 consecutive calendar days.RESULTSA total of 1975 patients received UMT and a representative sample of 1360 patients was studied in detail. Patients were grouped into seven diagnostic categories: solid organ transplantation (n = 411), cardiac or major vascular surgery (n = 317), general surgery (n = 228), trauma (n = 221), general medicine (n = 124), obstetrics (n = 23), and other (n = 36). During the 7 days after initiation of UMT, these patients used more than 120,000 blood components. The median (interquartile range) blood use was 35 (26‐50) RBC units, 30 (20‐47) plasma units, and 7 (4‐13) platelet doses. Five‐ and 30‐day survival significantly declined with increasing RBC use. Overall survivals of patients receiving UMT were 71% (5 day) and 60% (30 day), and in the subset of 165 patients receiving 60 or more RBC units over 2 consecutive days, 5‐day survival was 54% ranging from 17% (trauma) to 75% (solid organ transplant). The decline in survival with increasing RBC transfusions was minimal for patients undergoing solid organ transplantation and was most pronounced for trauma and nonsurgical bleeding patients.CONCLUSIONTrauma was not the leading cause of UMT. Increasing RBC requirements were significantly associated with decreasing survival. However, survival was more strongly associated with diagnostic category than total RBCs transfused, with highest survival rates in solid organ transplant surgery.
A minimum spanning forest based classification method for dedicated breast CT images
Authors: Pike Robert , Sechopoulos Ioannis , Fei Baowei 
Published: October 2015

Purpose:To develop and test an automated algorithm to classify different types of tissue in dedicated breast CT images.Methods:Images of a single breast of five different patients were acquired with a dedicated breast CT clinical prototype. The breast CT images were processed by a multiscale bilateral filter to reduce noise while keeping edge information and were corrected to overcome cupping artifacts. As skin and glandular tissue have similar CT values on breast CT images, morphologic processing is used to identify the skin based on its position information. A support vector machine (SVM) is trained and the resulting model used to create a pixelwise classification map of fat and glandular tissue. By combining the results of the skin mask with the SVM results, the breast tissue is classified as skin, fat, and glandular tissue. This map is then used to identify markers for a minimum spanning forest that is grown to segment the image using spatial and intensity information. To evaluate the authors’ classification method, they use DICE overlap ratios to compare the results of the automated classification to those obtained by manual segmentation on five patient images.Results:Comparison between the automatic and the manual segmentation shows that the minimum spanning forest based classification method was able to successfully classify dedicated breast CT image with average DICE ratios of 96.9%, 89.8%, and 89.5% for fat, glandular, and skin tissue, respectively.Conclusions:A 2D minimum spanning forest based classification method was proposed and evaluated for classifying the fat, skin, and glandular tissue in dedicated breast CT images. The classification method can be used for dense breast tissue quantification, radiation dose assessment, and other applications in breast imaging.
Direct measurement of electron beam quality conversion factors using water calorimetry
Authors: Renaud James , Sarfehnia Arman , Marchant Kristin , McEwen Malcolm , Ross Carl , Seuntjens Jan 
Published: October 2015

Purpose:In this work, the authors describe an electron sealed water calorimeter (ESWcal) designed to directly measure absorbed dose to water in clinical electron beams and its use to derive electron beam quality conversion factors for two ionization chamber types.Methods:A functioning calorimeter prototype was constructed in‐house and used to obtain reproducible measurements in clinical accelerator‐based 6, 9, 12, 16, and 20 MeV electron beams. Corrections for the radiation field perturbation due to the presence of the glass calorimeter vessel were calculated using Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. The conductive heat transfer due to dose gradients and nonwater materials was also accounted for using a commercial finite element method software package.Results:The relative combined standard uncertainty on the ESWcal dose was estimated to be 0.50% for the 9–20 MeV beams and 1.00% for the 6 MeV beam, demonstrating that the development of a water calorimeter‐based standard for electron beams over such a wide range of clinically relevant energies is feasible. The largest contributor to the uncertainty was the positioning (Type A, 0.10%–0.40%) and its influence on the perturbation correction (Type B, 0.10%–0.60%). As a preliminary validation, measurements performed with the ESWcal in a 6 MV photon beam were directly compared to results derived from the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) photon beam standard water calorimeter. These two independent devices were shown to agree well within the 0.43% combined relative uncertainty of the ESWcal for this beam type and quality. Absorbed dose electron beam quality conversion factors were measured using the ESWcal for the Exradin A12 and PTW Roos ionization chambers. The photon‐electron conversion factor, kecal, for the A12 was also experimentally determined. Nonstatistically significant differences of up to 0.7% were found when compared to the calculation‐based factors listed in the AAPM's TG‐51 protocol. General agreement between the relative electron energy dependence of the PTW Roos data measured in this work and a recent MC‐based study are also shown.Conclusions:This is the first time that water calorimetry has been successfully used to measure electron beam quality conversion factors for energies as low as 6 MeV (R50 = 2.25 cm).
Analysis of the track‐ and dose‐averaged LET and LET spectra in proton therapy using the geant4 Monte Carlo code
Authors: Guan Fada , Peeler Christopher , Bronk Lawrence , Geng Changran , Taleei Reza , Randeniya Sharmalee , Ge Shuaiping , Mirkovic Dragan , Grosshans David , Mohan Radhe , Titt Uwe 
Published: October 2015

Purpose:The motivation of this study was to find and eliminate the cause of errors in dose‐averaged linear energy transfer (LET) calculations from therapeutic protons in small targets, such as biological cell layers, calculated using the geant 4 Monte Carlo code. Furthermore, the purpose was also to provide a recommendation to select an appropriate LET quantity from geant 4 simulations to correlate with biological effectiveness of therapeutic protons.Methods:The authors developed a particle tracking step based strategy to calculate the average LET quantities (track‐averaged LET, LETt and dose‐averaged LET, LETd) using geant 4 for different tracking step size limits. A step size limit refers to the maximally allowable tracking step length. The authors investigated how the tracking step size limit influenced the calculated LETt and LETd of protons with six different step limits ranging from 1 to 500 μm in a water phantom irradiated by a 79.7‐MeV clinical proton beam. In addition, the authors analyzed the detailed stochastic energy deposition information including fluence spectra and dose spectra of the energy‐deposition‐per‐step of protons. As a reference, the authors also calculated the averaged LET and analyzed the LET spectra combining the Monte Carlo method and the deterministic method. Relative biological effectiveness (RBE) calculations were performed to illustrate the impact of different LET calculation methods on the RBE‐weighted dose.Results:Simulation results showed that the step limit effect was small for LETt but significant for LETd. This resulted from differences in the energy‐deposition‐per‐step between the fluence spectra and dose spectra at different depths in the phantom. Using the Monte Carlo particle tracking method in geant 4 can result in incorrect LETd calculation results in the dose plateau region for small step limits. The erroneous LETd results can be attributed to the algorithm to determine fluctuations in energy deposition along the tracking step in geant 4. The incorrect LETd values lead to substantial differences in the calculated RBE.Conclusions:When the geant 4 particle tracking method is used to calculate the average LET values within targets with a small step limit, such as smaller than 500 μm, the authors recommend the use of LETt in the dose plateau region and LETd around the Bragg peak. For a large step limit, i.e., 500 μm, LETd is recommended along the whole Bragg curve. The transition point depends on beam parameters and can be found by determining the location where the gradient of the ratio of LETd and LETt becomes positive.
Adult abdomen–pelvis CT: Does equilibrium dose‐pitch product better account for the kVp dependence of organ dose than conventional CTDI?
Authors: Li Xiang , Morgan Ashraf G. , Liptak Christopher L. , Muryn John S. , Dong Frank F. , Primak Andrew N. , Segars W. Paul 
Published: October 2015

Purpose:In CT imaging, a desirable quality assurance dose quantity should account for the dose variability across scan parameters and scanner models. Recently, AAPM Task Group 111 proposed to use equilibrium dose‐pitch product , in place of CT dose index (CTDI100), for scan modes involving table translation. The purpose of this work is to investigate whether this new concept better accounts for the tube voltage (kVp) dependence of organ dose than the conventional CTDI100.Methods:Three extended cardiac‐torso patient models were included in this study. They represented normal‐weight, overweight, and obese patients with abdomen–pelvis diameters ranging between 23 and 36 cm and body mass indices ranging between 20 and 42. A Monte Carlo program developed and validated for a 128‐slice CT system was used to simulate organ dose for abdomen–pelvis scans at five tube voltages (70, 80, 100, 120, 140 kVp) with a pitch of 0.8 and a collimation of 38.4 mm. The same Monte Carlo program was also used to obtain CTDI100 and as well as their volume‐averaged values, CTDIvol and .Results:With other scan parameters kept constant, organ dose itself depended strongly on kVp. For the normal‐weight patient model, the coefficient of variation (COV) across the five kVp values ranged between 72% and 75% for nine organs (liver, spleen, stomach, pancreas, kidneys, colon, small intestine, bladder, and ovaries) fully encompassed by the primary radiation beam. The COV generally increased with increasing patient size, ranging between 72%–77% and 76%–81% for the overweight and obese patient models, respectively. One‐way analysis of variance for the effect of kVp was highly significant for all patient models (p < 2 × 10−26). When organ dose was normalized by CTDIvol, the COV across kVps reduced to 5%–11%, 6%–15%, 12%–22% for the normal‐weight, overweight, and obese patients, respectively. The effect of kVp was still highly significant (p = 0.0001–0.004). When organ dose was normalized by , the COV further reduced to 1%–8%, 3%–11%, 9%–19%, respectively. The effect of kVp was still significant for the obese patient model (p = 0.004), but no longer significant for the normal‐weight and overweight patient models (p = 0.4 and 0.09, respectively). Finally, if organ dose conversion factors obtained at 120 kVp were used to approximate the values at 70 and 80 kVp, the resulting errors in the estimated organ dose were significantly reduced when the conversion factors were based on instead of CTDIvol.Conclusions:In adult abdomen–pelvis CT, equilibrium dose‐pitch product better accounts for the kVp dependence of organ dose than CTDI100.
Large area CMOS active pixel sensor x‐ray imager for digital breast tomosynthesis: Analysis, modeling, and characterization
Authors: Zhao Chumin , Kanicki Jerzy , Konstantinidis Anastasios C. , Patel Tushita 
Published: October 2015

Purpose:Large area x‐ray imagers based on complementary metal‐oxide‐semiconductor (CMOS) active pixel sensor (APS) technology have been proposed for various medical imaging applications including digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT). The low electronic noise (50–300 e−) of CMOS APS x‐ray imagers provides a possible route to shrink the pixel pitch to smaller than 75 μm for microcalcification detection and possible reduction of the DBT mean glandular dose (MGD).Methods:In this study, imaging performance of a large area (29 × 23 cm2) CMOS APS x‐ray imager [Dexela 2923 MAM (PerkinElmer, London)] with a pixel pitch of 75 μm was characterized and modeled. The authors developed a cascaded system model for CMOS APS x‐ray imagers using both a broadband x‐ray radiation and monochromatic synchrotron radiation. The experimental data including modulation transfer function, noise power spectrum, and detective quantum efficiency (DQE) were theoretically described using the proposed cascaded system model with satisfactory consistency to experimental results. Both high full well and low full well (LFW) modes of the Dexela 2923 MAM CMOS APS x‐ray imager were characterized and modeled. The cascaded system analysis results were further used to extract the contrast‐to‐noise ratio (CNR) for microcalcifications with sizes of 165–400 μm at various MGDs. The impact of electronic noise on CNR was also evaluated.Results:The LFW mode shows better DQE at low air kerma (Ka < 10 μGy) and should be used for DBT. At current DBT applications, air kerma (Ka ∼ 10 μGy, broadband radiation of 28 kVp), DQE of more than 0.7 and ∼0.3 was achieved using the LFW mode at spatial frequency of 0.5 line pairs per millimeter (lp/mm) and Nyquist frequency ∼6.7 lp/mm, respectively. It is shown that microcalcifications of 165–400 μm in size can be resolved using a MGD range of 0.3–1 mGy, respectively. In comparison to a General Electric GEN2 prototype DBT system (at MGD of 2.5 mGy), an increased CNR (by ∼10) for microcalcifications was observed using the Dexela 2923 MAM CMOS APS x‐ray imager at a lower MGD (2.0 mGy).Conclusions:The Dexela 2923 MAM CMOS APS x‐ray imager is capable to achieve a high imaging performance at spatial frequencies up to 6.7 lp/mm. Microcalcifications of 165 μm are distinguishable based on reported data and their modeling results due to the small pixel pitch of 75 μm. At the same time, potential dose reduction is expected using the studied CMOS APS x‐ray imager.
Draft Genome Sequence of Campylobacter fetus MMM01, Isolated from a Chronic Kidney Disease Patient with Sepsis
Authors: Rohit Anusha , Kumar Ballamoole Krishna , Deekshit Vijay Kumar , Rai Praveen , Kumar Ramanathan Vijay , Jayaprakash Jayapalan , Madhushankara Bhat , Karunasagar Iddya , Karunasagar Indrani 
Published: October 2015

ABSTRACT

Campylobacter fetus
is a Gram-negative bacterium that has caused several cases of human and animal disease. Here, we report the draft genome sequence of
C. fetus
MMM01, isolated from the blood of a 60-year-old patient with type II diabetes and chronic kidney disease. The sequence has a total length of 1,740,393 bp and an average G+C content of 33.1%. The availability of the draft genome sequence of
C. fetus
MMM01 isolated from a case of chronic kidney disease will contribute to a better understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms of this organism.
Complete Genome Sequence of Caulobacter crescentus Siphophage Sansa
Authors: Vara Leonardo , Kane Ashley A. , Cahill Jesse L. , Rasche Eric S. , Kuty Everett Gabriel F. 
Published: October 2015

ABSTRACT

Caulobacter crescentus
is a Gram-negative dimorphic model organism used to study cell differentiation. Siphophage Sansa is a newly isolated siphophage with an icosahedral capsid that infects
C. crescentus
. Sansa shares no sequence similarity to other phages deposited in GenBank. Here, we describe its genome sequence and general features.
Draft Genome Sequence of an Anthracimycin Producer,
Streptomyces
sp. TP-A0875
Authors: Komaki Hisayuki , Ichikawa Natsuko , Hosoyama Akira , Fujita Nobuyuki , Harunari Enjuro , Igarashi Yasuhiro 
Published: October 2015

ABSTRACT

Here, we report the draft genome sequence of an anthracimycin producer,
Streptomyces
sp. TP-A0875. The genome contains at least two type I polyketide synthase (PKS) gene clusters, two type II PKS gene clusters, and three nonribosomal peptide synthetase gene clusters. The gene cluster for anthracimycin biosynthesis was identified based on the PKS domain organization.