bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Case for Demoicracy in the European Union*
Authors: Cheneval Francis , Schimmelfennig Frank 
Published: June 2012

AbstractThe debate on the European Union's democratic deficit usually operates within a national‐democratic framework of analysis. This article argues for a change in methodology. It follows the thesis that the EU is a ‘demoicracy’– a polity of multiple demoi– and has to be evaluated as such. Core principles of demoicracy are developed and the EU is assessed accordingly. Such an evaluation is not only more adequate, but also provides original insights: it is found that, whereas the constitutional development of the EU has approached demoicratic standards in general, major deficits remain at the national level.
Partnerships of a feather flock together? An analysis of the emergence of networks of partnerships in the global cocoa sector
Authors: BITZER VERENA , GLASBERGEN PIETER , LEROY PIETER 
Published: June 2012

AbstractIn this article, we move away from the case study approach dominant in the literature on partnerships and explore the emergence of networks of partnerships. Taking the global cocoa sector as our research setting, we examine 55 partnerships to analyse the linkages between them, their evolution over time, as well as the simultaneous occurrence of cooperation and competition. We discover that the partnerships are connected to each other through overlapping memberships of organizations and increasingly also through institutional linkages. The linkages between the partnerships channel the flow of resources and thereby reinforce the capacity of individual partnerships. A meta‐governance organization, which steers and coordinates the broader sustainability efforts of the cocoa industry, enhances the impact of the linkages. Our analysis shows that partnerships should be studied not only as autonomous entities but also as networks of partnerships.
Consumer satisfaction among patients and their general practitioners about involving nurse specialists in primary care for patients with urinary incontinence
Authors: Albers‐Heitner Pytha , Winkens Ron , Berghmans Bary , Joore Manuela , Nieman Fred , Severens Johan , Lagro‐Janssen Toine 
Published: June 2012

Scand J Caring Sci; 2013; 27; 253–259

Consumer satisfaction among patients and their general practitioners about involving nurse specialists in primary care for patients with urinary incontinence
Background:  Urinary incontinence (UI) is a very common problem, but existing guidelines on UI are not followed. To bring care in line with guidelines, we planned an intervention to involve nurse specialists on UI in primary care and assessed this in a randomised controlled trial. Alongside this intervention, we assessed consumer satisfaction among patients and general practitioners (GPs).Methods:  Patients’ satisfaction with the care provided by either nurse specialists (intervention group) or GPs (control group), respectively, was measured with a self‐completed questionnaire. GPs’ views on the involvement of nurse specialists were measured in a structured telephone interview.Results:  The patient satisfaction score on the care offered by nurse specialists was 8.4 (scale 1–10), vs. 6.7 for care‐as‐usual by GPs. Over 85% of patients would recommend nurse specialist care to their best friends and 77% of the GPs considered the role of the nurse specialist to be beneficial, giving it a mean score of 7.2.Conclusions:  Although the sample was relatively small and the stability of the results only provisionally established, substituting UI care from GP to nurse specialist appears to be welcomed by both patients and GPs. Small changes like giving additional UI‐specific information and devoting more attention to UI (which had been given little attention before) would provide a simple instrument to stimulate patients to change their behaviour in the right direction.
Age‐dependent vulnerability to experimental acute pancreatitis is associated with increased systemic inflammation and thrombosis
Authors: Okamura Daiki , Starr Marlene E. , Lee Eun Y. , Stromberg Arnold J. , Evers B. Mark , Saito Hiroshi 
Published: June 2012

SummaryThe severity and mortality rates of acute pancreatitis (AP) are significantly elevated in the elderly population. However, due to a lack of appropriate animal models, the underlying mechanisms for this age‐dependent vulnerability remain largely unknown. The purpose of this study was to characterize a murine model of AP, which displays age‐associated severity, and to use this model to identify pathophysiologies that are distinctive of the aged with AP. AP was induced in young (4–5 months), middle‐aged (12–13 months), and aged (23–25 months) C57BL/6 mice by repeated injection of caerulein, a homologue of the gastrointestinal hormone cholecystokinin. Approximately 10% of aged mice died during AP, while young and middle‐aged mice showed no mortality. Although both young and aged mice exhibited early signs of edema and inflammation in the pancreas, kidney, and lung, young mice showed signs of recovery within 24 h, while aged mice exhibited increasingly severe tissue damage and cell death. There was a significant age‐dependent increase in pancreatic neutrophil activation and systemic inflammation as assessed by pancreatic myeloperoxidase and plasma interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) concentration, respectively. Importantly, aged but not young mice with AP showed significantly elevated thrombosis in the lung and kidney as well as a marked increase in plasma concentration of plasminogen activator inhibitor‐1 (PAI‐1), a primary inhibitor of the fibrinolytic system. These results demonstrate that aging is associated with increased severity of AP characterized by augmented and prolonged pancreatic inflammation and the presence of multiple extra‐pancreatic sequelae including thrombosis.
Nutrient‐dependent requirement for SOD1 in lifespan extension by protein restriction in Drosophila melanogaster
Authors: Sun Xiaoping , Komatsu Toshimitsu , Lim Jinhwan , Laslo Mara , Yolitz Jason , Wang Cecilia , Poirier Luc , Alberico Thomas , Zou Sige 
Published: June 2012

SummaryReactive oxygen species (ROS) modulate aging and aging‐related diseases. Dietary composition is critical in modulating lifespan. However, how ROS modulate dietary effects on lifespan remains poorly understood. Superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) is a major cytosolic enzyme responsible for scavenging superoxides. Here we investigated the role of SOD1 in lifespan modulation by diet in Drosophila. We found that a high sugar‐low protein (HS‐LP) diet or low‐calorie diet with low‐sugar content, representing protein restriction, increased lifespan but not resistance to acute oxidative stress in wild‐type flies, relative to a standard base diet. A low sugar‐high protein diet had an opposite effect. Our genetic analysis indicated that SOD1 overexpression or dfoxo deletion did not alter lifespan patterns of flies responding to diets. However, sod1 reduction blunted lifespan extension by the HS‐LP diet but not the low‐calorie diet. HS‐LP and low‐calorie diets both reduced target of rapamycin (TOR) signaling and only the HS‐LP diet increased oxidative damage. sod1 knockdown did not affect phosphorylation of S6 kinase, suggesting that SOD1 acts in parallel with or downstream of TOR signaling. Surprisingly, rapamycin decreased lifespan in sod1 mutant but not wild‐type males fed the standard, HS‐LP, and low‐calorie diets, whereas antioxidant N‐acetylcysteine only increased lifespan in sod1 mutant males fed the HS‐LP diet, when compared to diet‐matched controls. Our findings suggest that SOD1 is required for lifespan extension by protein restriction only when dietary sugar is high and support the context‐dependent role of ROS in aging and caution the use of rapamycin and antioxidants in aging interventions.
Passive smoking exposure might be associated with hypermetropia
Authors: El‐Shazly Amany A 
Published: June 2012

Citation information: El‐Shazly AA. Passive smoking exposure might be associated with hypermetropia. Ophthalmic Physiol Opt 2012, 32, 304–307. doi: 10.1111/j.1475‐1313.2012.00918.xAbstractPurpose:  The aim of the study was to explore the relationship between nicotine exposure in children via passive smoking and the refractive errors of these children.Methods:  The study included 300 children between the age of 5 and 12 years. Children were subjected to detailed history taking with special emphasis on the degree of exposure to passive smoke. They underwent a complete ophthalmological evaluation including cycloplegic refraction. Urine samples were collected to measure urinary levels of cotinine and creatinine with subsequent calculation of the cotinine creatinine ratio (CCR).Results:  The refractive error assessment indicated 122 hypermetropic (40.7%), 86 myopic (28.7%) and 92 emmetropic (30.7%) children. Gender and age were not statistically different between the three groups. Urinary cotinine was significantly higher in the hypermetropic than myopic and emmetropic groups (p < 0.0001). Moreover, it was significantly higher in the emmetropic group than the myopic one (p = 0.02). Cotinine/creatinine ratio (CCR) and the parental number of cigarettes smoked per day showed the same pattern as urinary cotinine. Considering all 300 data, the spherical equivalent refractive error was significantly correlated with the number of cigarettes smoked by the parents, CCR and urinary cotinine levels cotinine (p < 0.0001 for all correlations).Conclusion:  Passive smoking indices were related to the degree of refractive error and children with hypermetropia showed significantly higher passive smoking indices. We suggest that passive smoking might be associated with a refractive error shift towards hypermetropia.
The development & evaluation of two vision screening tools for correctable visual loss in older people
Authors: Jessa Zahra , Evans Bruce JW , Thomson David W 
Published: June 2012

Citation information: Jessa Z, Evans BJW & Thomson DW. The development & evaluation of two vision screening tools for correctable visual loss in older people. Ophthalmic Physiol Opt 2012, 32, 332–348. doi: 10.1111/j.1475‐1313.2012.00919.xAbstractObjectives:  In the UK, 20–50% of older people have undetected reduced vision and in most cases this results from correctable problems (refractive error and cataract). Many older people are not availing themselves of state‐funded community optometric care. We assessed the efficacy of two vision screening instruments at detecting correctable visual problems and investigated the effect of optometric intervention on quality of life.Methods:  A computerised vision screener (CVS) was developed and refined after a preliminary study of 180 older people to include tests of: monocular presenting distance high contrast and low contrast visual acuities (VAs), binocular near acuities, and monocular visual fields. The modified CVS and a flip‐chart vision screener (FVS) were evaluated on a second sample of 200 people aged 65+ (mean age 77 years). All participants in both studies were given an optometric eye examination, including high and low contrast VAs, refraction, binocular vision tests, tonometry, automated perimetry, and dilated fundoscopy including cataract grading and ARM grading. The target conditions were significant gain in monocular distance VA or binocular near VA with new refractive correction, significant cataract, or macular degeneration at risk of rapid progression. The Low Vision Quality of Life Questionnaire (LVQoL) was administered before and up to 3 months after testing.Results:  For the CVS, the best sensitivity (80.3%, 95% CI 72.4–86.4; specificity 66.7%, 95% CI 55.6–76.1) was obtained for a screener test combination of a fail on high contrast VA (>0.19 LogMAR) OR low contrast VA (>0.39 LogMAR) OR near VA (>N11.9). A screener test combination of high contrast VA OR near VA gave sensitivity of 79.5% (71.5–85.7) and specificity 67.9% (57–77.3). For the FVS, the best sensitivity was obtained for a test combination of a fail on high contrast VA OR low contrast VA OR near VA (sensitivity 82%, 95% CI 74.2–87.8; specificity 61.5%, 95% CI 50.4–71.6). A screener test combination of low contrast VA alone gave sensitivity of 75.4% (67.1–82.2) and specificity 76.9% (66.4–84.9). Significant improvements in LVQoL were found, with a significant correlation between gain in VA with new spectacles and improvement in LVQoL.Conclusions:  The vision screeners are effective tools for detecting those with reduced vision. Further work is required to determine their effectiveness as a tool for encouraging older people to engage in regular eyecare.
A differential evolution algorithm to solve redundancy allocation problems
Authors: Beji Noura , Jarboui Bassem , Siarry Patrick , Chabchoub Habib 
Published: June 2012

AbstractTo improve system reliability without changing its nature, three methods are proposed. The first method uses more reliable components and the second method provides redundant components within the system. The third method is a combination of these two methods. The redundancy allocation problem (RAP) finds the appropriate mix of components and redundancies within a system to maximize its reliability or minimize its cost due to several constraints, such as cost, weight, and volume. This paper presents a methodology to solve the RAP, which is an NP‐hard problem, modeled with discrete variables. In this paper, we use a metaheuristic to solve the RAP of a series–parallel system with a mix of components. Our metaheuristic offers a practical method with specific solution encoding, and combines a penalty function to solve large instances of the relaxed RAP, where different types of components can be used in parallel. The efficiency of the algorithm was tested through a set of well‐known benchmark problems from the literature. Testing of the algorithm achieved satisfactory results in reasonable computing time.
TRADE SIZE AND PRICE CLUSTERING: THE CASE OF SHORT SALES AND THE SUSPENSION OF PRICE TESTS
Authors: Blau Benjamin M. , Van Ness Bonnie F. , Van Ness Robert A. 
Published: June 2012

AbstractIn this article, we compare trade size and price clustering of short sales with regular trades. We find that short sales cluster less on round sizes and round prices than do nonshort trades. When price tests are suspended, both trade size and price clustering markedly increase for short sales although the difference between shorts and nonshorts remains significant during the postsuspension period. These results are consistent with the idea that because of execution uncertainty caused by price tests, short sellers are less concerned with cognitive processing costs, negotiations costs, and the costs associated with revealing information through trade sizes.
THE ROLE OF INVESTMENT BANK REPUTATION AND RELATIONSHIPS IN EQUITY PRIVATE PLACEMENTS
Authors: Erhemjamts Otgontsetseg , Raman Kartik 
Published: June 2012

AbstractWe explore the role of placement agents in equity private placements. Reputable agents are more likely to place shares of firms that have performed better and that have had frequent prior relationships with the agent. Controlling for self‐selection and endogeneity, firms using reputable agents offer smaller price discounts. However, issuers having frequent prior relationships with placement agents incur higher gross spreads. Although the results support the certification role of investment banks in private placements, they also shed light on the costs incurred by issuers that frequently rely on the same investment bank.
DOES FINANCIAL FLEXIBILITY REDUCE INVESTMENT DISTORTIONS?
Authors: de Jong Abe , Verbeek Marno , Verwijmeren Patrick 
Published: June 2012

AbstractThe average U.S. firm has less leverage than one would expect based on the trade‐off between tax shields and bankruptcy costs. We focus on firms’ financial flexibility and examine whether firms preserve debt capacity to reduce investment distortions in the future. We find that firms with high unused debt capacity invest more in future years than do firms with low unused debt capacity. Furthermore, firms that are reluctant to borrow in unconstrained periods are more likely to issue debt in periods in which access to capital markets is more constrained.
ARE PAIRS TRADING PROFITS ROBUST TO TRADING COSTS?
Authors: Do Binh , Faff Robert 
Published: June 2012

AbstractWe examine the impact of trading costs on pairs trading profitability in the U.S. equity market, 1963 to 2009. After controlling for commissions, market impact, and short selling fees, pairs trading remains profitable, albeit at much more modest levels. Specifically, we document a risk‐adjusted return of about 30 basis points per month among portfolios of well‐matched pairs that are formed within refined industry groups. Pairs trading exhibits a lower risk and lower return profile than a short‐term reversal strategy that sorts stocks relative to their industry peers. Notably, both these types of contrarian investing are largely unprofitable after 2002.
The anti‐nausea effects of CB1 agonists are mediated by an action at the visceral insular cortex
Authors: Limebeer CL , Rock EM , Mechoulam R , Parker LA 
Published: June 2012

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Conditioned gaping reactions reflect nausea‐induced behaviour in rats. Cannabinoid 1 receptor (CB1) agonists interfere with the establishment of nausea‐induced conditioned gaping; however, it is not known if their effects are mediated by an action at peripheral or central CB1 receptors.EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH We utilized the conditioned gaping model of nausea to evaluate the effect of peripheral and central administration of the peripherally restricted CB1 agonist, CB13, on the establishment of LiCl‐induced gaping in rats. We further evaluated the ability of HU‐210 administered to the gustatory insular cortex (GIC) or visceral insular cortex (VIC) to interfere with LiCl‐induced conditioned gaping and determined if this effect was mediated by CB1 receptors.KEY RESULTS Central, but not peripheral, CB13 suppressed LiCl‐induced conditioned gaping. Central administration of the potent CB1 agonist, HU‐210, delivered to the VIC, but not the GIC, suppressed the establishment of LiCl‐induced gaping reactions, but not LiCl‐induced suppression of hedonic reactions or conditioned taste avoidance. This pattern of results suggests that HU‐210 delivered to the VIC prevented LiCl‐induced nausea, but not learning per se. The suppression of LiCl‐induced conditioned gaping by HU‐210 was mediated by CB1 receptors because it was prevented by co‐administration of CB1 antagonist/inverse agonist, AM‐251, into the VIC. A high dose of AM‐251 (20 µg) administered alone into the VIC did not produce conditioned gaping reactions.CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS The nausea‐relieving effects of CB1 agonists, but not the nausea‐inducing effects of CB1 inverse agonists, are mediated, at least in part, by their action at the VIC in rats.
Introduction: Meeting in the Middle
Authors: Bellamy Richard , Kornprobst Markus , Reh Christine 
Published: June 2012

AbstractCompromise is routinely evoked in everyday language and in scholarly debates across the social sciences. Yet, it has been subjected to relatively little systematic study. The introduction to this inter-disciplinary volume addresses the research gap in three steps. First, we offer three reasons for the study of compromise: its empirical omnipresence in politics, its theoretical potential to bridge the rationalist-constructivist divide, and its normative promise to recognize the plurality of society. Second, we introduce different approaches to the coherence, legitimacy and limits of compromise found in the existing explanatory and normative literatures. We discuss why these literatures need to speak to one another, and identify possible applications in empirical research. Third, we conceptualize compromise as one possible solution to a conflict. Distinct from both dissensus and consensus, all compromises share three characteristics: concessions, non-coercion and continued controversy. However, different types of compromise can be distinguished by how mutual, costly and painful concessions are; by whether all forms of coercion are absent; and by the degree to which the relevant parties’ grounds for conflict are transformed. We conclude by discussing the challenge and appeal of ‘politics as compromise’ in plural and complex societies.
Predictors of Compromise over Social and Political Issues
Authors: Al Ramiah Ananthi , Hewstone Miles 
Published: June 2012

AbstractThis article provides a social psychological analysis of the neglected issue of ‘intergroup compromise’. We discuss the factors that promote respondents' willingness to compromise with two very different outgroups. We present a framework in which altruistic motivations (such as empathy) and egoistic motivations (such as trust and symbolic threat) act as proximal predictors of compromise, with intergroup contact as a distal predictor. We found that respondents who had more positive contact with homosexuals perceived them to be less threatening, and felt more empathy towards them, and in turn, were more likely to compromise with them on group-specific issues (controlling for the general tendency to compromise). We also found that respondents who had more negative contact with Muslims perceived them to be more threatening, and in turn, were less likely to compromise with them. We discuss these results with reference to recent developments in intergroup relations and the state of public discourse in contemporary Britain, examine their implications for intergroup relations in pluralistic contexts, and make suggestions for future research on willingness to compromise with outgroups.
How Rhetorical Strategies Reproduce Compromise Agreements: The Case of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Regime
Authors: Kornprobst Markus 
Published: June 2012

AbstractHow do actors, once they have reached agreement on a compromise, make this compromise persist? Being rooted in mutual concessions, it can never be taken for granted that compromises, once agreed upon, stay in place. Contestation about compliance is something that is very much to be expected and does not inevitably destabilize a compromise. Whether such a destabilization occurs or not depends on how actors communicate with one another. I contend that whether compromise persists or not has a great deal to do with the interplay of offensive and defensive rhetorical strategies that actors employ. I identify six offensive strategies (recourse, elaboration, entrapment, accusation, ostracism, abandonment) and six defensive ones (accommodation, placation, denial, deflection, inattentiveness, rejection), and chart the degrees to which offensive–defensive exchanges of strategies are conducive to reproducing compromises. Recourse–accommodation interplays on the one hand (most conducive) and abandonment–rejection interplays on the other (least conducive) form the poles of the spectrum of exchanges. I probe my theoretical framework by inquiring into the stability of the grand compromise that underpins the nuclear non-proliferation regime. The findings support my framework. The parties have tended to stay away from heavy rhetorical artillery and stuck to less robust rhetorical strategies. Elaboration and placation strategies have played a particularly important role for making the grand compromise persist.