bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Screening for pre‐diabetes to predict future diabetes using various cut‐off points for HbA1c and impaired fasting glucose: the Toranomon Hospital Health Management Center Study 4 (TOPICS 4)
Authors: Heianza Y. , Arase Y. , Fujihara K. , Tsuji H. , Saito K. , Hsieh S. D. , Kodama S. , Shimano H. , Yamada N. , Hara S. , Sone H. 
Published: April 2012

Diabet. Med. 29, e279‐e285 (2012)AbstractAim  To evaluate various screening criteria for pre‐diabetes to identify which combination of impaired fasting glucose and elevated HbA1c values performs most effectively in predicting future diabetes in a large cohort of Japanese individuals.Methods  The study included 4670 men and 1571 women without diabetes (diabetes: fasting plasma glucose ≥ 7.0 mmol/l, HbA1c≥ 48 mmol/mol (≥ 6.5%), or self‐reported clinician‐diagnosed diabetes). Pre‐diabetes was diagnosed by a combination of impaired fasting glucose (fasting plasma glucose 5.6–6.9 mmol/l or 6.1–6.9 mmol/l) and elevated HbA1c [39–46 mmol/mol (5.7–6.4%) or 42–46 mmol/mol (6.0–6.4%)].Results  During a 5‐year follow‐up, 338 incident cases of diabetes occurred. The combination of HbA1c 39–46 mmol/mol (5.7–6.4%) and fasting plasma glucose 5.6–6.9 mmol/l yielded the highest sensitivity (86%) and generated a large population‐attributable per cent risk (78%) for predicting development of diabetes. Among individuals classified as having pre‐diabetes by any of the four combined criteria, 20.5–32.0% reverted to the normoglycaemic state as having neither elevated HbA1c nor impaired fasting glucose at the last follow‐up examination. At 5.6 years after the baseline examination, however, pre‐diabetic individuals who fulfilled both HbA1c 42–46 mmol/mol (6.0–6.4%) and fasting plasma glucose 6.1–6.9 mmol/l had a 100% cumulative risk of developing diabetes.Conclusions  The combination of HbA1c 39–46 mmol/mol (5.7–6.4%) and fasting plasma glucose 5.6–6.9 mmol/l would have the best performance in reducing the likelihood of missing future cases of diabetes. Identifying pre‐diabetic individuals who strictly fulfil HbA1c 42–46 mmol/mol (6.0–6.4%) and fasting plasma glucose 6.1–6.9 mmol/l would predict definite progression to diabetes.
Peer supporters for cardiac patients with diabetes: a randomized controlled trial
Authors: Wu C.‐J. (Jo) , Chang A.M. , Courtney M. , Kostner K. 
Published: April 2012

WU C.‐J., CHANG A.M., COURTNEY M. & KOSTNER K. (2012) Peer supporters for cardiac patients with diabetes: a randomized controlled trial. International Nursing Review59, 345–352Aims:  To determine whether incorporation of patient peer supporters in a Cardiac‐Diabetes Self‐Management Program (Peer‐CDSMP) led to greater improvement in self‐efficacy, knowledge and self‐management behaviour in the intervention group compared to a control group.Background:  Promoting improved self‐management for those with diabetes and a cardiac condition is enhanced by raising motivation and providing a model. Peer support from former patients who are able to successfully manage similar conditions could enhance patient motivation to achieve better health outcomes and provide a model of how such management can be achieved. While studies on peer support have demonstrated the potential of peers in promoting self‐management, none have examined the impact on patients with two co‐morbidities.Methods:  A randomized controlled trial was used to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of the Peer‐CDSMP from August 2009 to December 2010. Thirty cardiac patients with type 2 diabetes were recruited. The study commenced in an acute hospital, follow‐up at participants' homes in Brisbane, Australia.Results:  While both the control and intervention groups had improved self‐care behaviour, self‐efficacy and knowledge, the improvement in knowledge was significantly greater for the intervention group.Conclusions:  Significant improvement in knowledge was achieved for the intervention group. Absence of significant improvements in self‐efficacy and self‐care behaviour represents an inconclusive effect; further studies with larger sample sizes are recommended.
HOMEOPATHY IS UNSCIENTIFIC AND UNETHICAL
Authors: SMITH KEVIN 
Published: April 2012

ABSTRACTIn opposition to the premises of Against Homeopathy – a Utilitarian Perspective, all four respondents base their objections on the central claims that homeopathy is in fact scientifically plausible and is supported by empirical evidence. Despite ethical aspects forming the main thrust of Against Homeopathy, the respondents’ focus on scientific aspects represents sound strategy, since the ethical case against homeopathy would be weakened concomitant with the extent to which any plausibility for homeopathy could be demonstrated. The trouble here is that the respondents are attempting to perpetuate a sterile debate. The notion that homeopathic preparations could have any biological effects represents a fringe viewpoint, one not entertained by serious scientists nor supported by reason and evidence.In the present article, I shall endeavour to explain why the respondents do not have a valid case. I will deal firstly with their general approach to scientific plausibility and evidence, and then consider some of the specific claims they have made. Finally, I will answer the philosophical arguments some of the respondents have raised.
FOR HOMEOPATHY: A PRACTISING PHYSICIAN'S PERSPECTIVE
Authors: MOSKOWITZ RICHARD 
Published: April 2012

ABSTRACTThis article is a rebuttal to Kevin Smith's ‘Against Homeopathy,’ which was posted on 14 February 2011.1 It contends that his argument rests entirely on the assumption that homeopathic remedies are nothing but placebos. His argumentation is good, but his assumption is false. Evidence is presented to show that the Law of Similars is plausible and that ultradilute remedies do indeed have biological activity.
ETHICOVIGILANCE IN CLINICAL TRIALS
Authors: SHAW DAVID , MCMAHON ALEX 
Published: April 2012

ABSTRACTThis article provides an ethical critique of the Good Clinical Practice (GCP) and Declaration of Helsinki (DoH) documents. While the previous criticisms of GCP are entirely correct, there is much more wrong with the document than has previously been acknowledged, including a circular definition and an astonishing vagueness about ethical principles. In addition to its failure to provide adequate ethical protection of participants, the procedurally dense nature of GCP lends itself to a box‐ticking culture where important ethical issues are overlooked because they are not ‘mentioned on the form’. In contrast, the DoH is a much more effective ethical document, but actually goes too far in one respect. It transpires that the best ethical guidelines for clinical research would be neither over‐prescriptive in regard to particular ethical issues (as the DoH is) nor neglectful of them (as GCP is); correctly framed ethical principles will provide sufficient protection to participants while also ensuring a culture of ethicovigilance in clinical trials.
Migration, Foreign Aid and the Welfare State
Authors: Hatzipanayotou Panos , Michael Michael S. 
Published: April 2012

AbstractAspects related to the links between international migration, foreign aid and the welfare state are highlighted in this paper. Migration is modeled as a costly movement from an aid‐recipient developing country with low income and no welfare state, towards a rich donor, developed country with a well‐developed welfare state. Within this model, it is found, among other things, that the best response of the developed donor country is to increase aid as the co‐financing rate by the recipient country increases. When the immigration cost decreases, e.g. as a result of greater economic integration between the two countries, it is beneficial for the donor country to increase aid and the recipient country to increase the co‐financing rate.
Aid and Income Stabilization
Authors: Jeanneney S. Guillaumont , Tapsoba S. J‐A. 
Published: April 2012

AbstractThe potential stabilization of output shocks through official assistance flows is investigated is this paper. It contributes to the current debate on aid instability and argues that official assistance might cope with exogenous output shocks in recipient countries and stabilize resources available for national expenditure, including consumption and investment. High aid dependency and vulnerability to output shocks positively affect the stabilization property of aid. Contrasting with the current literature, the paper documents that aid volatility is not a significant determinant of the stabilizing or destabilizing impact of aid.
Intersectoral Spillovers, Relative Prices and Development Traps
Authors: Chen Been‐Lon , Lee Shun‐Fa 
Published: April 2012

AbstractWhy is the economic growth rate so low in poor countries? This paper offers an explanation by using a simple two‐sector AK growth model with intersectoral linkages and high relative prices of intermediate goods. Intersectoral linkages lead to two balanced growth paths (BGPs). The high‐growth BGP is a source. The low‐growth BGP is a sink because it has a small final goods sector, small intersectoral spillovers from the final goods sector to the intermediate goods sector, and small marginal products in the intermediate goods sector, yielding high relative prices of intermediate goods. The low‐growth BGP is an attractor and thus development trap. To produce a big push effect, this paper analyzes the first‐best policy and finds that a subsidy to own consumption and a provision of public goods to the final goods sector can internalize the external effect and render the low‐growth BGP infeasible. As a result, there is only the high‐growth BGP.
Foreign Direct Investment and Labor Quality in Developing Countries
Authors: Iwai Nobuyuki , Thompson Stanley R. 
Published: April 2012

AbstractThe quality of local labor is an important factor in a multinational corporation's (MNC) decision to set up production operations in a developing country. It is often observed that developing country governments attempt to attract MNCs by enhancing labor quality. This paper studies the interaction between an MNC and a local government which has superior information on local labor quality. The local government has an incentive to enhance the labor quality and share that information with the MNC because it increases both its net tax revenue and profit of the MNC. The paper provides an explanation for recent findings of FDI in developing countries: the bulk of FDI has been directed toward a limited number of countries and human capital plays an increasingly important role in attracting FDI.
Odious Debt in an Imperfect World
Authors: Janus Thorsten 
Published: April 2012

AbstractThe odious debt problem refers to a government's ability to borrow for elite consumption while the general population repays. Although an intuitive response is to ban lending to such regimes, this paper shows that if a government faces endogenous replacement risk, then an international odious debt doctrine which (i) decreases the country's debt ceiling; (ii) decreases the likelihood that the citizens must repay the debt; or (iii) increases the government's cost of borrowing for a given default risk can all decrease citizens' welfare. These findings suggest that, even when a regime is clearly odious, allowing it to borrow up to a point may be preferable to a complete lending ban.
Buyer and Seller Concentration in Global Commodity Markets
Authors: Oladi Reza , Gilbert John 
Published: April 2012

AbstractIn recent years there has been an increased incidence of export restrictions applied by developing countries to commodities and raw materials. Commodity markets may be characterized by concentration on the buyer side, with a small number of transnational intermediary firms purchasing from supplying countries and distributing to the market, and recent work has suggested that export taxes may be an optimal policy to recapture monopsony rent. However, in many commodity markets there are also a limited number of large supplying countries. This paper considers a situation where an oligopsonistic intermediary industry purchases from a small number of supplying countries, the governments of which act strategically in their policy choices both with respect to the intermediaries and any competing suppliers. In the resulting two‐stage game, the paper shows that an export subsidy, rather than an export tax, may arise as the optimal intervention.
Do Current Account Forecasters Herd? Evidence from the Euro Area and the G7 Countries
Authors: Frenkel Michael , Rülke Jan‐C. , Zimmermann Lilli 
Published: April 2012

AbstractData from the Consensus Economics Forecast Poll is used to analyze how current account forecasters form expectations. The results suggest that forecasts do not satisfy traditional unbiasedness and orthogonality criteria for forecast rationality. In addition, this paper finds anti‐herding behavior among forecasters for the euro area and G7 countries. It also shows that the cross‐sectional heterogeneity with regard to anti‐herding is associated with cross‐sectional heterogeneity in forecast accuracy. More specifically, this paper finds some evidence indicating that forecasters who tend to herd provide more accurate forecasts than their colleagues who follow an anti‐herding strategy.
The Globalization–Welfare State Nexus Reconsidered
Authors: Meinhard Stephanie , Potrafke Niklas 
Published: April 2012

AbstractTwo hypotheses relate to the globalization–welfare state nexus: the efficiency hypothesis predicts that globalization reduces government sector size and governments' capacity to finance the welfare state. The compensation hypothesis, in contrast, predicts that globalization induces a higher demand for social insurance which results in an extended welfare state. Empirical evidence on the globalization–welfare state nexus is mixed. The evidence is re‐examined by investigating a yearly panel dataset of 186 countries for the 1970–2004 period. This paper uses data compiled by the Penn World Tables on government sector size and employs the Konjunkturforschungsstelle (KOF—Swiss Economic Institute) index of globalization. The results show that globalization increased government sectors around the world. Social globalization especially had a positive influence. Globalization‐induced effects were stronger in Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) countries. Overall globalization and economic globalization reduced the relative price of government expenditures. These findings suggest that globalization does not jeopardize the welfare state at all.
Has Special 301 Promoted US Manufacturing Exports?
Authors: Riker David 
Published: April 2012

AbstractEvery year in its Special 301 review, the USA identifies trade partners who are not complying with their agreement on Trade‐Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) obligations to adequately protect and enforce intellectual property rights. Countries that are identified as Special 301 priorities become the focus of dispute resolution efforts. This study quantifies the impact of these priority designations on US manufacturing export revenues, manufacturing employment, and research and development (R&D) expenditures using an econometric model of the US export expansion between 2004 and 2007.
Does Outsourcing Provision Lead to Wage Inequality? New Evidence from Thailand's Establishment‐level Data
Authors: Chongvilaivan Aekapol , Thangavelu Shandre M. 
Published: April 2012

AbstractThe impacts of outsourcing provision—the arrangements whereby a firm carries out production stages for other firms—are examined on wage differentials between skilled and unskilled workers using Thailand's establishment‐level data. The estimates based on a translog production function indicate that outsourcing provision augments productivity of both skilled and unskilled labor and contributes positively to wage inequality. The model predicts that a 1% increase in outsourcing provision leads to a rise in wage differentials by nearly 2.5%. The robustness check further reveals that the impacts of services provision on wage inequality are more pronounced than those of materials provision. These results highlight the importance of outsourcing provision as a new explanation of the widening skilled–unskilled wage gap in developing countries which typically emerge as a hub of outsourcing provision.
Remittances, Exchange Rate Regimes and the Dutch Disease: A Panel Data Analysis
Authors: Lartey Emmanuel K. K. , Mandelman Federico S. , Acosta Pablo A. 
Published: April 2012

AbstractUsing disaggregated sectorial data for developing and transition countries, this study shows that rising levels of remittances have spending effects that may lead to real exchange rate appreciation, and resource movement effects that favor the nontradable sector at the expense of tradable goods production. These are two characteristics of the phenomenon known as “Dutch disease”. The results further suggest that resource movement effects that favor the nontradable sector should operate stronger under fixed nominal exchange rate regimes.
Regional Heterogeneity and China's Trade: Sufficient Lumpiness or Not?
Authors: Lu Meng , Milner Chris , Yu Zhihong 
Published: April 2012

AbstractThis paper explores whether there is sufficient lumpiness or heterogeneity in the relative endowments (capital, labor, and skills) of the regions of China to affect China's specialization and trade patterns. It does so using both the lens condition to identify the violation of factor price equalization across regions, and direct evidence on regional trade and specialization. The results are sensitive to the level of regional aggregation. The paper concludes, however, that China was sufficiently lumpy as recently as 2004 to affect its pattern of international trade.
Transaction Falsification and the Difficulty of Achieving Pareto‐improving Gains from Trade through Lump‐sum Transfers
Authors: Ichino Yasukazu 
Published: April 2012

AbstractLump‐sum transfer rules to redistribute the gains from free trade are examined. When individuals anticipate that free trade policy will come with a lump‐sum transfer, they are going to change their behaviors under autarky in order to get larger transfers. In spite of this falsification, can a lump‐sum transfer still make everyone enjoy the gains from free trade? In a model of simple exchange economy, a condition under which a lump‐sum transfer can make it was found, but in general it is difficult to achieve Pareto‐improving gains from free trade.
Unemployment and Retirement in a Model with Age‐specific Heterogeneity
Authors: Lefèbvre Mathieu 
Published: April 2012

AbstractThis paper presents a model where young and old workers compete for one type of jobs in the presence of retirement opportunity. Within this framework, we show that increased retirement opportunities (such as a decrease of the retirement age) has most of the time a depressing impact on the unemployment rate. Indeed the number of vacancies posted by firms is influenced by the probability that an old worker is going into retirement. We show that the degree to which younger workers are influenced by retirement of older workers depends on the relative productivity of young and older workers. It is only when older workers are much more productive than young workers that retirement may benefit to unemployment.
HLA‐Bw4 identifies a population of HIV‐infected patients with an increased capacity to control viral replication after structured treatment interruption
Authors: Stern M , Czaja K , Rauch A , Rickenbach M , Günthard H F , Battegay M , Fellay J , Hirschel B , Hess C ,   the Swiss HIV Cohort Study Group
Published: April 2012

ObjectivesAfter structured treatment interruption (STI) of treatment for HIV‐1, a fraction of patients maintain suppressed viral loads. Prospective identification of such patients might improve HIV‐1 treatment, if selected patients are offered STI.MethodsWe analysed the effect of previously identified genetic modulators of HIV‐1 disease progression on patients’ ability to suppress viral replication after STI. Polymorphisms in the genes killer cell immunoglobulin‐like receptor 3DLI (KIR3DL1)/KIR3DS1, human leucocyte antigen B (HLA‐B) and HLA Complex P5 (HCP5), and a polymorphism affecting HLA‐C surface expression were analysed in 130 Swiss HIV Cohort Study patients undergoing STI. Genotypes were correlated with viral load levels after STI.ResultsWe observed a statistically significant reduction in viral load after STI in carriers of HLA‐B alleles containing either the Bw480Thr or the Bw480Ile epitope (mean adjusted effect on post‐STI viral load: −0.82 log HIV‐1 RNA copies/ml, P < 0.001; and −1.12 log copies/ml, P < 0.001, respectively). No significant effects were detected for the other polymorphisms analysed. The likelihood of being able to control HIV‐1 replication using a prespecified cut‐off (viral load increase < 1000 copies/ml) increased from 39% in Bw4‐negative patients to 53% in patients carrying Bw4‐80Thr, and to 65% in patients carrying Bw4‐80Ile (P = 0.02).ConclusionsThese data establish a significant impact of HLA‐Bw4 on the control of viral replication after STI.
Labour Identities of the Coalfield: The General Election of 1931 in County Durham
Authors: BARRON HESTER 
Published: April 2012

AbstractThis article examines the extraordinary political swing that occurred in the Durham coalfield in the 1931 general election. Having won all eleven county seats in 1929, Labour lost all but two in 1931. This was despite the dominance of the coal industry, the strength of the miners' union, and the increasing pre‐eminence of Durham's Labour organization. While the circumstances of the election certainly motivated a traditional anti‐socialist base, the article suggests that previous explanations have failed to acknowledge the extent to which mining constituents may also have been responsible for the result. Rather than any uniform political identity amongst the mining community, it finds that allegiances were fluid and complex, swayed by factors such as political charisma (particularly with regard to Ramsay MacDonald, re‐elected at Seaham), specific local concerns, and paternalistic loyalties. In doing so, it reveals the fragility of the Labour Party's appeal even amongst its ‘core’ supporters. The National success in 1931 demonstrated that Labour's dominance in Durham remained recent, limited and as yet provisional, a finding that has significant implications for the wider picture of Labour's national advance, revealing that Labour's progress in the inter‐war years was conditional and erratic even in its most ‘natural’ strongholds.
Effects of Dohsa‐hou relaxation on body awareness and psychological distress1
Authors: FUJINO HARUO 
Published: April 2012

AbstractRelaxation is one of the most frequently used methods for treating psychological and physical problems. Many relaxation methods are effective treatments for various psychological problems. Body awareness could be an important component of body‐oriented psychological treatment. In this study, a self‐report measure for the assessment of body awareness was developed, and its psychometric characteristics and relationships with other psychological constructs were examined. The effect of Dohsa‐hou relaxation was investigated using the developed Body Awareness Scale (BAS). The results showed that the BAS had good internal consistency and test‐retest reliability, and that it was associated with related psychological constructs. Dohsa‐hou relaxation led to increased body awareness and decreased psychological distress. The BAS can be a useful instrument in the field of body‐oriented psychotherapy research and related treatment methods, and increased body awareness has an important role in Dohsa‐hou relaxation therapy.