bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Deciding subsidy for pharmaceuticals based on ambiguous evidence
Authors: Sjögren Ebba 
Published: August 2008

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to inquire into how decisions about public fiscal responsibility for pharmaceutical spending are made and justified when there is a lack of coherent, unambiguous and undisputed evidence about the material characteristics of pharmaceutical use.Design/methodology/approachThis is an exploratory, single‐organisation case study of a Swedish governmental agency tasked with deciding whether prescription pharmaceuticals are included or excluded from the public pharmaceutical benefits scheme. A comparison is made of two intra‐organisational decision‐making processes based on interviews, document studies and participant observations undertaken over a period of two years.FindingsThe study shows that providing foundation for making decisions involves attempts to remove ambiguity among multiple knowledge claims about pharmaceuticals' characteristics. Three means of removing ambiguity are outlined. In addition, a fourth means of dealing with ambiguity is identified, when efforts to achieve coherence among multiple sources of knowledge fail. In this case ambiguity about pharmaceuticals' characteristics may be delegated to the individual medical professional to decide about treatment for specific patients.Research limitations/implicationsThe limited empirical material provides no statistical generalisability of the findings. However, the study has theoretical implications for understanding decision‐making processes in health care institutions.Originality/valueThe paper provides a detailed empirical account of a newly created health care assessment organisation similar to those created in other countries to tackle problems of resource allocation.
Survey of service user involvement in clinical audit
Authors: Moore Jane 
Published: August 2008

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to undertake a survey of the level and quality of service user involvement in clinical audit in NHS trusts currently, in order to identify perceived drivers and barriers, and factors to increase meaningful involvement.Design/methodology/approachA cross‐sectional descriptive survey was conducted with clinical audit leads in NHS trusts in two Strategic Health Authority regions (South East Coast and London).FindingsThere has been an increase in the presence of relevant policies and structures related to user involvement in clinical audit since previous research a decade ago. However, similar barriers are identified and the role of users is still mainly providing feedback, with little meaningful involvement in the audit cycle, and few examples of improvements to clinical care.Practical implicationsAn organisational culture of user involvement needs to continue to be developed in the NHS generally, and the rationale and benefits of this need to be fully understood by all health professionals. Support needs to be provided at a national and trust level.Originality/valuePrevious research on this topic was conducted ten years ago and there is no evidence to demonstrate how practice has changed since. This paper provides contemporary evidence regarding the implementation of user involvement in clinical audit.
The sequential sawyer – a tale of frequentist fright
Authors: Powers Michael R. 
Published: August 2008

PurposeThe editorial aims to illustrate a major weakness of frequentist estimation – overlooking prior beliefs that are clearly relevant.Design/methodology/approachA hypothetical forecasting problem is considered in which a law‐enforcement officer has to determine who will be the next victim in a coded sequence constructed by a serial killer. The frequentist method of maximum likelihood is used to select the underlying pattern.FindingsThe example shows that it is quite possible for the maximum‐likelihood approach to overlook an intuitively obvious model.Originality/valueThe editorial provides a simple and clear example of the shortcomings of the maximum‐likelihood principle.
Defining and measuring business risk in an economic‐capital framework
Authors: Doff René 
Published: August 2008

PurposeThe objectives of this paper are to: define business risk; identify whether economic capital could be used to mitigate this risk; and investigate business‐risk measurement methodologies.Design/methodology/approachThe paper analyzes definitions used in theory and practice and derived a definition. It analyzes three measurement methodologies: analogue companies/peer group analysis, statistical methods, and scenario analysis. These methodologies are tested against the criteria of effective management control, because economic capital is increasingly used as a management control instrument.FindingsEconomic capital can be used as business‐risk mitigant albeit not the only one. The measurement methodology of scenario analysis satisfies most of the criteria for effective control.Practical implicationsThis paper opens a discussion to further develop the scenario approach in theory and practice.Originality/valueDespite the amount of economic capital that financial institutions hold to cover business risk, it has received little attention in literature. This paper opens a discussion on a relatively new field of research.
Impact of macroeconomic indicators on stock market performance
Authors: Kyereboah‐Coleman Anthony , Agyire‐Tettey Kwame F. 
Published: August 2008

PurposeThe study aims at examining how macroeconomic indicators affect the performance of stock markets by using the Ghana Stock Exchange as a case study.Design/methodology/approachQuarterly time series data covering the period 1991‐2005 were used. Cointegration and the error correction model techniques are employed to ascertain both short‐ and long‐run relationships.FindingsFindings of the study reveal that lending rates from deposit money banks have an adverse effect on stock market performance and particularly serve as major hindrance to business growth in Ghana. Again, while inflation rate is found to have a negative effect on stock market performance, the results indicate that it takes time for this to take effect due to the presence of a lag period; and that investors benefit from exchange‐rate losses as a result of domestic currency depreciation.Originality/valueThe single most important contribution of this study is its emphasis on macroeconomic variables and stock market performance in a small country, since most studies have concentrated on stock markets and economic growth in advanced economies.
Delta hedging of mortgage‐servicing portfolios under gamma constraints
Authors: Ortiz Carlos E. , Stone Charles A. , Zissu Anne 
Published: August 2008

PurposeInterest only strips are created by stripping the interest portion of cash flows generated in mortgage‐backed securities or simply by servicing portfolios of mortgages. A number of financial institutions have significant amounts of mortgage‐servicing rights (MSR) which need to be delta (dynamic) hedged. Because MSR have a positive duration when prepayment effect is stronger than discount effect, it is possible to delta hedge a portfolio of MSR with other fixed income securities such that the value of the portfolio is not affected by increases or decreases in market rates. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue.Design/methodology/approachThe paper develops the delta‐hedge‐ratio of MSR within a dynamic approach, using three different securities. To lower the cost of the delta hedge, the authors compare three hedge ratios dynamically, in order to obtain the portfolio that needs the least delta hedge.FindingsThe model enables the reduction of the amount of portfolio rebalancing and therefore reduces the cost of MSR portfolio hedging.Practical implicationsThe paper develops the gamma‐hedge‐ratio function for each of the three securities. The lowest gamma corresponds to the hedged portfolio that needs the least re‐balancing.Originality/valueThis paper is innovative with the introduction of a delta‐hedge‐ratio function of interest and prepayment rates.
Structuralism? Functionalism? Behaviorism? Or mechanism? Looking for a better approach to AI
Authors: Zhong Yixin 
Published: August 2008

PurposeResearch of artificial intelligence (AI), has aimed at making machines intelligent via the simulation of natural intelligence, particularly human intelligence. During the past decades, there have been three major approaches aimed at achieving this goal, namely structuralism, functionalism and behaviorism. Unfortunately, they work separately and contradictorily to a large extent. The purpose of this paper is to present a better and more unified approach.Design/methodology/approachThe paper analyses each of the three major approaches to AI, describing their advantages and disadvantages. There then follows an attempt to explore a new and more reasonable approach to AI. The new approach should be able to solve all the problems that the existing approaches can solve on one hand and can solve the problems that the existing approaches cannot solve on the other hand.FindingsIt was found that the more reasonable and more powerful approach is the one that directly touches the common and core mechanism of intelligence formation. This is due to the fact that the mechanism of intelligence formation is much more essential than other windows of an intelligent system, such as structure, function, or behavior. It was also found that the common and core mechanism of intelligence formation can be implemented through the information‐knowledge‐intelligence transformation. The third finding is that the three existing approaches are special cases of the mechanism approach under different conditions and can thus be harmoniously unified within the frame of the mechanism approach.Originality/valueThe three findings in the paper: the mechanism approach, the implementation of the mechanism approach, and the unification of the existed three major approaches, are important laws never found before in the literature. The breakthrough of the mechanism approach to AI will be of great significance to both theoretical and practical research in AI in the years to come.
Statistical analysis of C‐DNA microarray data for sample clustering and gene identification
Authors: Coutier Fabrice , Sebastiani Giovanni 
Published: August 2008

PurposeThis purpose of this paper is to describe a fast and easy method of both clustering samples and identifying active genes in cDNA microarray data.Design/methodology/approachThe method relies on alternation of identification of the active genes using a mixture model and clustering of the samples based on Ward hierarchical clustering. The initial‐point of the procedure is obtained by means of a χ2 test. The method attempts to locally minimize the sum of the within cluster sample variances under a suitable Gaussian assumption on the distribution of data.FindingsThis paper illustrates the proposed methodology and its success by means of results from both simulated and real cDNA microarray data. The comparison of the results with those from a related known method demonstrates the superiority of the proposed approach.Research limitations/implicationsOnly empirical evidence of algorithm convergence is provided. Theoretical proof of algorithm convergence is an open issue.Practical implicationsThe proposed methodology can be applied to perform cDNA microarray data analysis.Originality/valueThis paper provides a contribution to the development of successful statistical methods for cDNA microarray data analysis.
Habitat selection, diet and interspecific associations of the rufous‐tailed weaver and Fischer’s lovebird
Authors: Mwangomo Ephraim A. , Hardesty Linda H. , Sinclair A. R. E. , Mduma Simon A. R. , Metzger Kristine L. 
Published: August 2008

AbstractWe investigated habitat selection and diets of two co‐occurring endemic bird species (rufous‐tailed weaver, Histurgops ruficauda, Fischer’s lovebird, Agapornis fischeri) and four other species with which they associated in mixed feeding flocks (red‐billed buffalo weaver, Bubalornis niger, white‐headed buffalo weaver, Dinemellia dinemellii, superb starling, Lamprotornis superbus, and Hildebrandt’s starling, Lamprotornis hildebrandti) during the dry season in Serengeti National Park Tanzania. Mixed species flocks could facilitate food acquisition and/or act as anti‐predator mechanisms. Five of the six species selected grassland habitat over Acacia habitat along transects. Analysis of species association, using Cole’s coefficient of association, showed that both rufous‐tailed weavers and superb starlings co‐occurred with red‐billed buffalo weavers. Superb starlings were negatively associated with Fischer’s lovebird, Hildebrandt’s starling and white‐headed buffalo weavers. Diet analysis revealed that the rufous‐tailed weaver, white‐headed buffalo weaver, and red‐billed buffalo weaver were generalists eating both insects and seeds, whereas Fischer’s lovebird and superb starling were specialists, selecting only seeds and insects respectively. These data offer some support for the hypothesis that mixed species flocks facilitate mutual food searching.
Birds associated with a tailings storage facility and surrounding areas from a South African gold mine
Authors: Hudson Adrian , Bouwman Henk 
Published: August 2008

AbstractAs part of the ‘International Cyanide management code for the manufacture, transport, and use of cyanide in the production of gold’, companies voluntarily commit towards keeping the weak‐acid‐dissociable (WAD) cyanide concentrations in tailings below 50 mg l−1. Day and night‐time observations were made in winter at the tailings storage facility (TSF) of the Mponeng mine of AngloGold Ashanti, and extensive surveys of the surroundings were made for mortalities. The cyanide levels never exceeded 50 mg l−1 WAD. No dead birds or mammals were found. Twenty‐five bird species were recorded in and around the TSF and the associated return water dams (RWDs), with 20 occurring only in the surrounding grasslands or RWDs, and five (four wader species and a sand martin) on the TSF. The wading birds were most likely feeding on dead insects from the pond surface, as they adjusted their locations according to wind direction. Other birds actively avoided the TSF water, suggesting a locally learned behaviour. Whether this avoidance will also hold for migratory birds or natal dispersal of local birds in summer necessitates further investigation. A better understanding of the TSF–wildlife interactions would lead to improved measures to reduce environmental risks.
Quality nursing care as perceived by nurses and patients in a Chinese hospital
Authors: Zhao Shi Hong , Akkadechanunt Thitinut , Xue Xiu Li 
Published: August 2008

Aims and objectives.  To explore and compare nurses and patients perceptions of quality nursing care.Background.  It is important to measure both nurses and patients perceptions of quality nursing care. To date, however, no study on nurses’ perceptions of quality nursing care has been conducted specifically in the Chinese setting.Design.  Descriptive, comparative study with 221 nurses and 383 patients in 18 non‐ICU inpatient nursing units.Methods.  Data were collected using the Perception of Quality Nursing Care Scale.Results.  The results showed that the overall mean score and each category mean score, as perceived by nurses and patients, were high. There was a statistically significant difference between nurses’ and patients’ perceptions of quality nursing care based on the following categories: staff characteristics, care‐related activities and progress of nursing process. However, similarities in perception have also been identified in some categories.Conclusions.  The findings indicate that nurses and patients had differing views of quality nursing care, because they may have had different standards and ways in which they viewed these characteristics of care. Improvements are needed regarding certain aspects of patient information and support for patients’ psychological needs.Relevance to clinical practice.  It is a challenge to nurses when taking collaborative action to meet patients’ expectations and needs, however, it will move nursing practice in Chinese hospitals forward.
Associations of overweight and of weight dissatisfaction among Palestinian adolescents: findings from the national study of Palestinian schoolchildren (HBSC‐WBG2004)
Authors: Al Sabbah H. , Vereecken C. , Abdeen Z. , Coats E. , Maes L. 
Published: August 2008

AbstractBackground:  Overweight and obesity as well as weight dissatisfaction have been increasing in prevalence worldwide. Body weight dissatisfaction and fear of fatness are potential contributors to disordered eating. The present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of self‐reported overweight and weight dissatisfaction along with associations with socio‐demographic characteristics, body image, health complaints, risk behaviours, physical activity and television viewing in adolescents in Palestine.Methods:  The 2003/04 Palestinian Health Behaviour in School‐aged Children (HBSC) is a cross‐sectional survey of 17 817 adolescents from 405 randomly selected schools. Students from a representative sample of grades 6, 8, 10 and 12 (aged 12–18 years) self‐completed a modified version of the international World Health Organization collaborative Health Behaviour in School‐aged Children (HBSC‐2002) questionnaire.Results:  Although 16.5% of the adolescents were overweight, almost twice that number (32.1%) were dissatisfied with their weight (i.e. dieting or perceiving a need to diet). Of those adolescents, two‐thirds were not actually overweight (56.4% boys; 73.5% girls). One‐fifth of the total number of adolescents (16.0% boys; 24.0% girls) were not overweight but were dissatisfied with their weight. Boys reporting overweight or weight dissatisfaction were more likely to have mothers with higher education or to be from more affluent families. Among both genders, but especially among girls, weight dissatisfaction was positively associated with most of the outcome variables (body image, health complaints, risk behaviours, and television viewing) regardless of weight status, whereas weight status was associated with only a few of the outcome variables.Conclusions:  Weight dissatisfaction, independent of weight status, is associated with body image, health complaints, risk behaviours and television viewing, and represents a potential health risk factor for adolescents. Preventive interventions should focus not only on weight status, but also on body weight dissatisfaction.
Determinants of subjective sleepiness in suspected obstructive sleep apnoea
Authors: KOUTSOURELAKIS IOANNIS , PERRAKI ELENI , BONAKIS ANASTASIOS , VAGIAKIS EMMANOUIL , ROUSSOS CHARIS , ZAKYNTHINOS SPYROS 
Published: August 2008

SummaryAlthough daytime sleepiness is commonly associated with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), the relationship between OSA severity and subjective sleepiness has been documented elusive. This study aimed to identify clinical and polysomnographic determinants of subjective sleepiness among patients suspected of having OSA. A sleep clinic‐based sample of 915 patients was interviewed with a structured questionnaire and underwent diagnostic overnight polysomnography. Subjective sleepiness was quantified by Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). Excessive daytime sleepiness (defined as ESS score > 10) was present in 38.8% of patients. In multiple linear regression analysis, respiratory disturbance index [RDI; used to define (whenever RDI was >5) and quantify OSA], depression and diabetes were the most important determinants of ESS score accounting for 17%, 11% and 6% of its variability respectively. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), stroke, heart disease, alcohol use and body mass index were less important determinants of ESS score explaining 1–3% of its variability. In conclusion, OSA should not be considered the sole potential cause of increased subjective sleepiness in patients suspected of having OSA. Primarily depression and diabetes, but also COPD, stroke, heart disease, alcohol use and increased body mass index may contribute to increased subjective sleepiness.
The RGS protein Crg2 regulates both pheromone and cAMP signalling in Cryptococcus neoformans
Authors: Xue Chaoyang , Hsueh Yen‐Ping , Chen Lydia , Heitman Joseph 
Published: August 2008

SummaryG proteins orchestrate critical cellular functions by transducing extracellular signals into internal signals and controlling cellular responses to environmental cues. G proteins typically function as switches that are activated by G protein‐coupled receptors (GPCRs) and negatively controlled by regulator of G protein signalling (RGS) proteins. In the human fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans, three G protein α subunits (Gpa1, Gpa2 and Gpa3) have been identified. In a previous study, we identified the RGS protein Crg2 involved in regulating the pheromone response pathway through Gpa2 and Gpa3. In this study, a role for Crg2 was established in the Gpa1‐cAMP signalling pathway that governs mating and virulence. We show that Crg2 physically interacts with Gpa1 and crg2 mutations increase cAMP production. crg2 mutations also enhance mating filament hyphae production, but reduce cell–cell fusion and sporulation efficiency during mating. Although crg2 mutations and the Gpa1 dominant active allele GPA1Q284L enhanced melanin production under normally repressive conditions, virulence was attenuated in a murine model. We conclude that Crg2 participates in controlling both Gpa1‐cAMP‐virulence and pheromone‐mating signalling cascades and hypothesize it may serve as a molecular interface between these two central signalling conduits.
Treponema denticola TroR is a manganese‐ and iron‐dependent transcriptional repressor
Authors: Brett Paul J. , Burtnick Mary N. , Fenno J. Christopher , Gherardini Frank C. 
Published: August 2008

Summary Treponema denticola harbours a genetic locus with significant homology to most of the previously characterized Treponema pallidum tro operon. Within this locus are five genes (troABCDR) encoding for the components of an ATP‐binding cassette cation‐transport system (troABCD) and a DtxR‐like transcriptional regulator (troR). In addition, a σ70‐like promoter and an 18 bp region of dyad symmetry were identified upstream of the troA start codon. This putative operator sequence demonstrated similarity to the T. pallidum TroR (TroRTp) binding sequence; however, the position of this motif with respect to the predicted tro promoters differed. Interestingly, unlike the T. pallidum orthologue, T. denticola TroR (TroRTd) possesses a C‐terminal Src homology 3‐like domain commonly associated with DtxR family members. In the present study, we show that TroRTd is a manganese‐ and iron‐dependent transcriptional repressor using Escherichia coli reporter constructs and in T. denticola. In addition, we demonstrate that although TroRTd possessing various C‐terminal deletions maintain metal‐sensing capacities, these truncated proteins exhibit reduced repressor activities in comparison with full‐length TroRTd. Based upon these findings, we propose that TroRTd represents a novel member of the DtxR family of transcriptional regulators and is likely to play an important role in regulating both manganese and iron homeostases in this spirochaete.