bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Does the laparoscopic colorectal surgery learning curve adversely affect the results of colorectal cancer resection? A 3‐year prospective study in a district general hospital
Authors: Lordan J. T. , Tilney H. S. , Shirol S. , Jourdan I. , Gudgeon A. M. 
Published: October 2007

AbstractIntroduction  Laparoscopic colorectal surgery is slowly being adopted across the UK. We present a 3‐year prospective study of laparoscopic colorectal cancer resections in a district general hospital.Method  Data relating to premorbid, operative and postoperative parameters were recorded for all patients undergoing laparoscopic, open, planned converted (laparoscopic assisted) and unplanned converted resections prospectively from April 2003 to April 2006.Results  A total of 238 colorectal resections were performed, 153 of which were for cancer. Of these 44 (29%) were open, 77 (50%) were laparoscopic and 32 (21%) were converted [26 (17%) planned and six (4%) unplanned]. Blood loss was less in the laparoscopic group compared with the open group (P = 0.02) as was intra‐operative fluid replacement (P = 0.01). Time to requiring oral analgesia alone was shorter (P = 0.001) and bowel function returned earlier (P = 0.001) in the laparoscopic group. This is reflected in a trend towards a shorter hospital stay for the laparoscopic group compared with the open group (P = 0.049). The operating time of the laparoscopic group was not significantly longer (P = 0.38). The complication rate was similar between groups (P = 0.31) and the mortality in the laparoscopic group was 1.3%.Conclusion  Changing from open to laparoscopic dissection for colorectal cancer is safe even during the initial learning curve. There are clear potential short‐term benefits for patients and the technique can be introduced without penalties in terms of reduced surgical throughput.
Is a morphologically intact anal sphincter necessary for success with sacral nerve modulation in patients with faecal incontinence?
Authors: Melenhorst J. , Koch S. M. , Uludag Ö. , Van Gemert W. G. , Baeten C. G. 
Published: October 2007

AbstractObjective  Sacral nerve modulation (SNM) for the treatment of faecal incontinence was originally performed in patients with an intact anal sphincter or after repair of a sphincter defect. There is evidence that SNM can be performed in patients with faecal incontinence and an anal sphincter defect.Method  Two groups of patients were analysed retrospectively to determine whether SNM is as effective in patients with faecal incontinence associated with an anal sphincter defect as in those with a morphologically intact anal sphincter following anal repair (AR). Patients in group A had had an AR resulting in an intact anal sphincter ring. Group B included patients with a sphincter defect which was not primarily repaired. Both groups underwent SNM. All patients had undergone a test stimulation percutaneous nerve evaluation (PNE) followed by a subchronic test over 3 weeks. If the PNE was successful, a permanent SNM electrode was implanted. Follow‐up visits for the successfully permanent implanted patients were scheduled at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months and annually thereafter.Results  Group A consisted of 20 (19 women) patients. Eighteen (90%) had a positive subchronic test stimulation. Twelve patients had a successful SNM implant during middle‐term follow‐up. Group B consisted of 20 women. The size of the defect in the anal sphincter varied between 17% and 33% of the anal circumference. Fourteen (70%) had a positive subchronic test stimulation. Twelve patients had a successful SNM implant during middle‐term follow‐up. In both groups, the mean number of incontinence episodes decreased significantly with SNM (test vs baseline: P = 0.0001, P = 0.0002). There was no significant difference in resting and squeeze pressures during SNM in group A, but in group B squeeze pressure had increased significantly at 24 months. Comparison of patient characteristics and outcome between groups A and B revealed no statistical differences.Conclusion  A morphologically intact anal sphincter is not a prerequisite for success in the treatment of faecal incontinence with SNM. An anal sphincter defect of <33% of the circumference can be effectively treated primarily with SNM without repair.
Influence of palliative surgical resection on overall survival in patients with advanced colorectal cancer: a retrospective single institutional study
Authors: Kaufman M. S. , Radhakrishnan N. , Roy R. , Gecelter G. , Tsang J. , Thomas A. , Nissel‐Horowitz S. , Mehrotra B. 
Published: October 2007

AbstractBackground  The role of palliative surgical resection in patients presenting with locally advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) is unclear. Resection is often limited to symptomatic management of bleeding, obstruction, perforation or for relief of pain, in patients with an adequate performance status and an expected life span of over several weeks. An exploratory analysis to evaluate the influence of a palliative surgical resection on survival outcome in patients with advanced CRC is reported.Method  A retrospective review of medical records of all patients diagnosed with advanced CRC at our institution between the years 1998 and 2003 was undertaken. Tumour registry data were reviewed to identify age, gender, modalities of therapy [i.e. surgery (S), chemotherapy (C), radiation] and overall survival. IRB approval was obtained for this study.Results  One hundred and eighty‐five patients were identified. Median age was 67 years (range 30–99). M:F ratio was 1:1. Sixty‐two per cent of patients (115/185) underwent a palliative surgical intervention. Median survival of patients who underwent S and those that did not undergo S was 22 and 3 months respectively (P < 0.0001). Forty‐eight per cent of patients (79/184) underwent systemic C. Median survival of patients who received C + S, and patients who received C alone was 30 and 15 months respectively (P < 0.0004). Fifty‐one per cent of patients who underwent S, received C; 30% of patients who did not undergo S, received C. Chemotherapy data were available on 46 of 79 patients. Patients treated with S + C, and C without S, received a median of 9 and 6 months of therapy respectively. The median number of regimens used were similar in both.Conclusion  These exploratory data suggest a positive influence of a palliative resection performed during the disease course of patients with advanced CRC. The increased frequency of utilization and the more prolonged duration of C in the surgically treated patients may in part contribute to this improved survival. This may also be reflective of performance status at the time of diagnosis. Future trials enrolling patients with advanced CRC should prospectively stratify for surgical intervention to further clarify the influence of this modality on the outcome of systemic therapy in this disease.
Innovation Shortfalls
Authors: Maloney William , Rodríguez‐Clare Andrés 
Published: October 2007

AbstractThere is a common perception that low productivity or low growth is due to what can be called an “innovation shortfall,” usually identified as a low rate of investment in R&D. The problem with this analysis is that it fails to see that a low R&D investment rate may be appropriate given the economy's pattern of specialization, or may be just one manifestation of impediments to accumulation more generally. This paper first shows a simple way to estimate the R&D gap that can be explained by a country's specialization pattern, illustrating it for the case of Chile. Second, we show how a calibrated model can be used to determine the R&D gap that should be expected given a country's investment in physical and human capital. If the actual R&D gap is above this expected gap, then one can say that the country suffers from a true innovation shortfall.
Labor Conflict and Foreign Investments: An Analysis of FDI in India
Authors: Menon Nidhiya , Sanyal Paroma 
Published: October 2007

AbstractThis paper analyzes patterns of foreign direct investment in India. We investigate how labor conflict, credit constraints, and indicators of a state's economic health influence location decisions of foreign firms. We account for the possible endogeneity of labor conflict variables in modeling the location decisions of foreign firms. This is accomplished by using a state‐specific fixed effects framework that captures the presence of unobservables, which may influence investment decisions and labor unrest simultaneously. Results indicate that labor unrest is endogenous across the states of India, and has a strong negative impact on foreign investment.
Schumpeterian Growth with Productive Public Spending and Distortionary Taxation
Authors: Peretto Pietro F. 
Published: October 2007

AbstractSchumpeterian growth theory eliminates the scale effect by positing a process of development of new product lines that fragments the aggregate market in submarkets whose size does not increase with population or the size of the workforce. This entails the sterilization of the growth effects of selected fiscal variables. This insight is applied to shed new light on the role of distortionary taxes on consumption, household labor and assets income, corporate income, and of productive public spending. The framework allows the identification of which of these fiscal variables have permanent (steady‐state) growth effects, and which ones have only transitory effects. It also allows the transitional dynamics to be solved analytically and thus the analysis of the welfare effects of revenue‐neutral changes in tax structure. It is found that replacing taxes that distort labor supply with taxes that distort saving/investment choices raises welfare, and the intuition behind this surprising result is discussed.
Openness, Investment Climate, and FDI in Developing Countries
Authors: Sekkat Khalid , Veganzones‐Varoudakis Marie‐Ange 
Published: October 2007

AbstractThe paper assesses the importance of openness, infrastructure availability, and sound economic and political conditions in increasing developing countries' attractiveness with respect to FDI. The results show that these factors are particularly important for South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. The paper also shows a higher impact of these factors on FDI in the manufacturing sector than on total FDI. The message to developing countries' policymakers is twofold. First, efforts towards openness should be initiated or further increased in order to make their economies attractive to foreign investors. Second, improvements in other aspects of the investment climate are important complements to openness and result in additional and sensitive increases in FDI inflows.
Pitfalls in Private and Social Incentives of Vertical Cross‐border Integration and Disintegration
Authors: Rossini Gianpaolo 
Published: October 2007

AbstractProduction increasingly takes place on a cross‐border basis along two patterns. Either a vertically integrated (VI) multinational firm (MNF) spreads the production sequence over many countries or vertically disintegrated (VD) firms operate independently in distinct stages and countries. On the private side, the decrease of transport costs expands VD, due to incentives alternatively in the upstream (U) and the downstream (D) sections of production. With VD the benefits are disseminated over many countries. With VI they are skewed towards a single area. Then, some countries prefer cross‐border VD. In an international duopoly setting, with vertical restraints due to competition or trade policies, VD becomes the privately preferred mode and provides further ground for the wave of international fragmentation.
Exchange‐rate Effects on China's Trade*
Authors: Marquez Jaime , Schindler John 
Published: October 2007

AbstractThough China's share of world trade exceeds that of Japan, little is known about the response of China's trade to changes in exchange rates. The few estimates available have two limitations. First, the data for trade prices are based on proxies for prices from other countries. Secondly, the estimation sample includes the period of China's transformation from a centrally‐planned economy to a more market‐oriented one. We address these limitations with an empirical model explaining the shares of China's exports and imports in world trade in terms of the real effective value of the renminbi. The specifications control for foreign direct investment and for the role of imports of parts to assemble exports. Parameter estimation uses disaggregated monthly trade data and excludes China's decentralization period. We find that a 10 percent real appreciation of the renminbi lowers the share of aggregate Chinese exports by nearly one percentage point. However, the estimated response of imports is negligible and lacks precision.
Immigration Policy, Self‐selection, and the Quality of Immigrants*
Authors: Bellettini Giorgio , Ceroni Carlotta Berti 
Published: October 2007

AbstractThis paper investigates the effects of immigration quotas on the average quality of immigrants by developing a human capital migration model where efficiency in migration depends on skills and emigration rates are higher among skilled workers. Studying the joint determination of the domestic level of wages and immigrants' self‐selection, we find a negative relationship between the wage level and the percentage of educated workers among immigrants, which results in a nonstandard downward‐sloping labor supply. In our framework, a higher quota increases the skill mix of immigrants through its negative effect on wages and raises aggregate national income.
Sharecroppers or Shrewd Capitalists? Projections of the US Current Account, International Income Flows, and Net International Debt
Authors: Kitchen John 
Published: October 2007

AbstractThis paper presents a detailed framework and analysis to address whether the US is on track to becoming a society of “sharecroppers,” paying a large and growing share of income to foreign owners of US assets, or rather is more likely to continue as a society of “shrewd capitalists” with the cost of servicing international debt remaining relatively low and manageable despite growing international debt. Various scenarios illustrate the reliability of the modeling framework and show how alternative future paths for key variables affect the outcomes. The relationships determining the international flows and relative debt levels—including relative rates of return, asset portfolio compositions, valuation effects, and the outlook for an improving US trade position—indicate that a manageable and sustainable outlook is more likely than often considered to be the case. Results also show, however, the extent to which the outlook is vulnerable to the loss of “exorbitant privilege.”
Report of an EFNS task force on management of sleep disorders in neurologic disease (degenerative neurologic disorders and stroke)
Authors: Jennum P. , Santamaria J. ,   Members of the Task Force
Published: October 2007

A task force to develop guidelines for diagnostic evaluation and treatment of sleep disorders in degenerative neurologic disorders and stroke was initiated by the European Federation of Neurological Societies (EFNS). The aims were to provide evidence‐based recommendations in the management of sleep disorders associated with degenerative neurologic disorders and stroke.Neurological patients often have significant sleep disorders like sleep‐related breathing disorders (SBD), insomnia, sleep‐related motor and rapid eye movement behavioral disorders affecting nocturnal sleep and daytime function.A polysomnography (PSG) is usually a diagnostic minimum for the diagnoses of the most commonly reported sleep disorders in patients with neurologic diseases. A full video‐PSG/video‐EEG‐PSG should be considered in patients with nocturnal motor and/behavior manifestations.Respiratory polygraphy has a moderate sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of SBD without neurologic diseases, but its value in patients with neurologic diseases has not been evaluated. Oximetry has a poor sensitivity‐specificity for the identification of SDB.Continuous and bi‐level positive airway pressure devices are the most effective treatment of SDB in patients with neurologic diseases.There is a need for further studies focusing on the diagnostic procedures and treatment modalities in patients with sleep disorders and degenerative neurologic diseases and stroke.
Factors Related to Self‐Rated Participation in Adolescents and Adults with Mild Intellectual Disability – A Systematic Literature Review
Authors: Arvidsson Patrik , Granlund Mats , Thyberg Mikael 
Published: October 2007

Background  Self‐rated participation is a clinically relevant intervention outcome for people with mild intellectual disability. The aim of this systematic review was to analyse empirical studies that explored relationships between either environmental factors or individual characteristics and aspects of participation in young adults with mild intellectual disability.Method  Four databases were used, 756 abstracts examined and 24 studies were evaluated in‐depth.Results  Four aspects of participation were found: involvement, perceptions of self, self‐determination and psychological well‐being. Reported environmental factors were: social support, choice opportunity, living conditions, school, work and leisure, attitudes, physical availability and society. Reported individual characteristics were adaptive and social skills.Conclusions  There is a relative lack of studies of factors influencing self‐rated participation and existing studies are difficult to compare because of disparity regarding approaches, conceptual frameworks, etc. For adequate interventions, it seems important to study how profiles of participation are influenced by different patterns of environmental factors and individual characteristics.
Resources and the Rule of Rescue1
Authors: SHEEHAN MARK 
Published: October 2007

abstract  The central issue that I consider in this paper is the use of the so‐called ‘Rule of Rescue’ in the context of resource allocation. This ‘Rule’ has played an important role in resource allocation decisions in various parts of the world. It was invoked in Ontario to overturn a decision not to fund treatment for Gaucher's Disease and it has also been used to justify resource decisions in Israel concerning the same condition.  In the paper I consider the nature of the Rule of Rescue and its moral justification. The latter involves consideration of the distinction between agent‐relative and agent‐neutral obligations. If the Rule of Rescue is to be justified, it is plausible to think that it will be in the context of agent‐relative obligations. Two problems with this suggestion are considered: the role of identifiability in the Rule of Rescue and the extent to which policy makers in a health care system can be taken to have such obligations. It is argued that in both cases these problems can be overcome and hence that there is a prima facie obligation to follow the Rule of Rescue.
Migratory behaviour of the Schreiber's bat: when, where and why do cave bats migrate in a Mediterranean region?
Authors: Rodrigues L. , Palmeirim J. M. 
Published: October 2007

AbstractRegional migrations are important elements of the biology of bats, but remain poorly understood. We obtained a large dataset of recoveries of ringedMiniopterus schreibersiito study the patterns and drivers of migration of a Mediterranean cave‐dwelling bat. In spite of the mildness of Mediterranean winters, in average years bats hibernated, and few movements were recorded during this period. After hibernation, females migrated to spring roosts, and again to maternity roosts just before parturition. This late arrival at nurseries could be a strategy to avoid a harmful build‐up of parasites. Soon after the juveniles were weaned, the mothers migrated to the roosts where they spent autumn and sometimes also winter. Juveniles remained in the warm nurseries longer, presumably because high roost temperatures speed up growth. The pattern of migration of males was similar to that of females, but they left hibernacula later and remained more mobile during the maternity season. They also arrived at the hibernacula later, possibly because they needed time to build up fat stores after the energetically costly mating season. Maternity colonies spent the yearly cycle in well‐defined home ranges (mean=19 030 km2), which overlapped greatly. Bats were furthest from the maternity sites during hibernation, but even then 80% remained within 90 km of them. Each hibernaculum attracted bats from multiple nurseries, from within a mean range of 10 770 km2. We tested two potential drivers for migration – temperature in the roosts and at the foraging areas – but our results supported only the first one. Bats migrated to reach the roosts most thermally suited for each phase of their life cycle, indicating that roost temperature and associated metabolic advantages are key drivers for regional migrations of cave‐dwelling bats.
Spatial ecology of cheetahs on north‐central Namibian farmlands
Authors: Marker L. L. , Dickman A. J. , Mills M. G. L. , Jeo R. M. , Macdonald D. W. 
Published: October 2007

AbstractKnowledge of a species' ranging behaviour is both fundamental to understanding its behavioural ecology and a prerequisite to planning its management. Few data exist on the spatial ecology of cheetahs Acinonyx jubatus outside protected areas, but such areas are particularly important to their conservation. Cheetahs on Namibian farmlands occupied exceptionally large home ranges, averaging 1651 km2 (±1594 km2), with no detectable effect of sex, social grouping or seasonality. Despite such large ranges, cheetahs tended to utilize intensively only a small fraction of that area: 50% of the fixes were located within an average of 13.9±5.3% of the home range. Ranges were not exclusive, overlapping on average by 15.8±17.0%, with male cheetahs showing more intra‐sexual range overlap than did females. Coalitions of males appeared to select for a dense, prey‐rich habitat, but this preference was not apparent for other social groupings. Conflict with humans is an important contributor to the species' decline, and these large, overlapping cheetah home ranges result in the movements of each individual cheetah encompassing many farms (21 based on the average home‐range size). Consequently, many cheetahs may be exposed to a minority of farmers attempting to kill them, and also that many farmers may see the same cheetahs, thereby gaining an exaggerated impression of their abundance. Conservation priorities for cheetahs outside protected areas are the development of techniques for conflict resolution, as well as the maintenance and restoration of suitable habitat and promotion of land‐management practices compatible with the continued existence of large carnivores.
Radiocollars do not affect the survival or foraging behaviour of wild meerkats
Authors: Golabek K. A. , Jordan N. R. , Clutton‐Brock T. H. 
Published: October 2007

AbstractThe practice of radiocollaring is increasingly being used in the study of wild animal populations. However, methods of tracking and monitoring are known to affect some species negatively. On a wild population of habituated meerkats Suricata suricatta, we investigated the potential costs and consequences of carrying a radiocollar for small carnivores, focusing on detailed aspects of foraging behaviour and survival. Radiocollared individuals were no more likely to be predated than non‐collared individuals in the same social group. We also found that collaring did not affect foraging efficiency, with collared individuals being equally efficient foragers (four measures) while wearing a collar compared with the pre‐collaring period. To control for group‐specific events, changes in foraging efficiency after collaring were compared with the behaviour of control individuals from the same group and no significant differences were found. In conclusion, we found no evidence to suggest radiocollars impact negatively on the bearer's welfare, survival or foraging ability.