bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A prospective study assessing anal plug for containment of faecal soilage and incontinence
Authors: Chew M.‐H. , Quah H.‐M. , Ooi B.‐S. , Lim J.‐F. , Ho K.‐S. , Tang C.‐L. , Eu K.‐W. 
Published: November 2007

AbstractObjective  Faecal incontinence is a common and embarrassing problem for many individuals. Some patients remained symptomatic despite the availability of different treatments. There is a limited range of commercially available products designed to cope with faecal incontinence. The anal plug has been developed to contain the loss of stool. This study aimed to evaluate the use of anal plug in Asian patients with intractable faecal soilage and incontinence judged by clinical and functional outcomes.Method  A prospective study of consecutive patients with intractable faecal incontinence was carried out. Suitable patients tested the anal plug for 3 weeks. They completed a structured questionnaire on its use including the ASCRS quality of life questionnaire for faecal incontinence.Results  Thirty patients, median age 63 (interquartile range 52–70) years, participated in the trial. Nineteen of 30 patients were comfortable wearing the plug, seven patients withdrew from the study because of discomfort, and four had tolerable discomfort and managed to complete the trial protocol. Patients who tolerated the plug found that it was highly successful in controlling faecal incontinence. Twenty‐one of 30 patients wished to continue to use the plug regularly after the study. There was a trend toward improvement in quality of life scores during the study.Conclusion  The anal plug was effective in containing faecal incontinence and was well tolerated in the majority of patients selected for this treatment.
Applying the Theories of Reasoned Action and Planned Behavior to Athlete Training Adherence Behavior
Authors: Anderson Ailsa G. , Lavallee David 
Published: November 2007

The ability of the Theories of Reasoned Action (TRA) and Planned Behavior (TPB) to predict adherence to training in a group of athletes (N = 46; M age = 20.2, SD = 3.7 years) who had recently been introduced to a new strength and conditioning training regimen was investigated. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that the TPB was superior to the TRA in predicting training behavior and accounted for 24 per cent of variance in adherence to training (F(2, 43) = 8.20, p < .01) with perceived behavioral control contributing independently. Perceived behavioral control appeared to be more important in determining adherence in early stages of training. These results suggest that the TPB and TRA offer theoretical frameworks to examine adherence to new training regimens, and that they may be used to direct interventions to increase training adherence.La capacité des théories de l’action raisonnée (TRA) et du comportement planifié pour prédire l’adhésion à la formation d’un groupe d’athlètes (N = 46, moyenne d’âge 20,2, ET = 3,7 ans) récemment soumis à un nouveau régime d’entraînement a étéétudiée. Des analyses de régression multiple indiquent que le TPB était supérieur au TRA pour prédire le comportement lors de la formation et expliquait 24% de la variance de l’adhésion à la formation (F(2, 43) = 8,20, p > .01), le contrôle comportemental perçu contribuant indépendamment. Le contrôle comportemental perçu apparaît être plus important pour déterminer l’adhésion dans les premières étapes de l’entraînement. Ces résultats suggèrent que le TPB et le TRA offrent des cadres théoriques pour examiner l’adhésion à de nouveaux régimes d’entraînement et qu’ils peuvent être employés lors d’interventions directes dont le but est d’augmenter l’adhésion à la formation.
Salmon shark connections: North Pacific climate change, indirect fisheries effects, or just variability?
Authors: Okey Thomas A , Wright Bruce A , Brubaker Michael Y 
Published: November 2007

AbstractA variety of changes are occurring in the ecosystems of the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea, but information about the mechanisms of change has been relatively limited, due in part to the region’s remoteness and subarctic conditions. Any number of ecosystem components or indicators could be used to exemplify this dilemma, but here we point to the salmon shark (Lamna ditropis, Lamnidae) as an example of a species that can potentially mediate considerable ecosystem change due to its high trophic level, but for which some basic information is lacking despite attracting some interesting research and widespread rumours and anecdotal evidence of increased abundance. Increases in the abundance of sharks such as salmon sharks in this region during the 1990s, if true, may help explain other observed changes such as declines in ocean survival rates of Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp., Salmonidae) in the region and declines in some wild salmon stocks. Mechanisms that could cause salmon shark increases in Alaskan coastal waters include: (i) increases in sea temperature since the 1970s allowing distributional shifts of this species and changes in the abundance or distribution of their prey; (ii) the 1992 banning of high seas drift gillnets; and (iii) indirect fisheries effects such as competitive release of salmon sharks in the North Pacific transition region and towards the more southern geographic extent of their annual migration as the result of fishery‐related reductions in blue sharks (Prionace glauca, Carcharhinidae) and other pelagic predators. The relative plausibility of these alternative explanations can be evaluated using combinations of existing ecosystem models and empirical research and monitoring programmes including local and indigenous observations.
Managing fisheries is managing people: what has been learned?
Authors: Hilborn Ray 
Published: November 2007

AbstractUnderstanding the behaviour of fishermen is a key ingredient to successful fisheries management. The aggregate behaviour of fishing fleets can be predicted and managed with appropriate incentives. To determine appropriate incentives, we should look to successes to learn what works and what does not. In different fisheries incentive systems have been found to reduce the race‐for‐fish and make fisheries profitable, to stimulate stock rebuilding, to reduce bycatch, and to provide for reductions in illegal fishing. Yet, success can be evaluated in many dimensions, but is, in fact, rarely done – per cent overfished seems to be the dominant measure of performance. I evaluate the yield lost due to overfishing in several ecosystems and contrast the situation of North Atlantic cod where considerable yield is lost, to fisheries in New Zealand and the west coast of the USA where lost yield due to overfishing is very small. Much more systematic evaluation of the other aspects of fisheries performance is greatly needed. From examples explored in this paper I conclude that prevention of overfishing can be achieved with strong central governments enforcing conservative catch regulations, but economic success appears to require an appropriate incentive structure.
Health and Safety at Home: Private and Public Responsibility for Unsatisfactory Housing Conditions
Authors: Burridge Roger , Ormandy David 
Published: November 2007

This paper reviews two legislative approaches intended to control housing conditions in the rented sector ‐ the landlords’ contractual obligations, and the powers of local authorities. The authors argue that the landlords’ covenants are almost totally ineffective, and that it now rests on local authorities to protect the health and safety of tenants. Breaches of the implied covenants that houses should be fit and in repair will provide tenants with a legal action against their landlords. However, the tenant's standing is now so weak that these covenants fail to provide protection. The Housing Act 2004 introduced a regulatory framework based upon assessing the risks to the health and safety ‐ the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) ‐ giving local authorities tools to ensure that housing is as safe and health as possible.The history of the regulation of housing conditions also reveals important insights into the nature of private and public regulation.
Gender, Vulnerability, and the Experts: Responding to the Maldives Tsunami
Authors: Fulu Emma 
Published: November 2007

ABSTRACTThis article examines the initial response by national and international agencies to gender issues during the aftermath of the Maldives tsunami, arguing that it was, in general, inadequate. Some agencies took a gender blind approach, ignoring different impacts on men and women, as well as the effects of complex gender relations on relief and recovery efforts. Other agencies paid greater attention to gender relations in their response but tended to focus exclusively on the universal category of the ‘vulnerable woman’ requiring special assistance, whilst at the same time ignoring men's vulnerabilities. This article argues that such language entrenched women as victims, excluding them from leadership and decision‐making roles and as such served to reinforce and re‐inscribe women's trauma. It is suggested that it is partly because of the nature of international bureaucracies and the fact that this disaster drew foreign ‘experts’ from around the world that the response neglected or over‐simplified gender issues.
Unsettling Experiences: Internal Resettlement and International Aid Agencies in Laos
Authors: Baird Ian G. , Shoemaker Bruce 
Published: November 2007

ABSTRACTA number of programmes and policies in Laos are promoting the internal resettlement of mostly indigenous ethnic minorities from remote highlands to lowland areas and along roads. Various justifications are given for this internal resettlement: eradication of opium cultivation, security concerns, access and service delivery, cultural integration and nation building, and the reduction of swidden agriculture. There is compelling evidence that it is having a devastating impact on local livelihoods and cultures, and that international aid agencies are playing important but varied and sometimes conflicting roles with regard to internal resettlement in Laos. While some international aid agencies claim that they are willing to support internal resettlement if it is ‘voluntary’, it is not easy to separate voluntary from involuntary resettlement in the Lao context. Both state and non‐state players often find it convenient to discursively frame non‐villager initiated resettlement as ‘voluntary’.
‘Black Economic Empowerment’, Business and the State in South Africa
Authors: Ponte Stefano , Roberts Simon , Van Sittert Lance 
Published: November 2007

ABSTRACT‘Black Economic Empowerment’ (BEE) has been a major policy thrust of the democratic governments in South Africa since 1994 in attempting to redress the effects of apartheid. In this article, we explore the historical precedents to BEE in South Africa, review the different steps taken in promoting it, and assess some of its outcomes to date. We argue that BEE can take only limited forms because of the economic policy constraints in which it has been incorporated. Moreover, these forms have an increasingly managerial logic that further restricts what can be achieved. Short of a major shift in conceptions of — and policy for — BEE, meaningful ‘empowerment’ is unlikely to take place.
DOES DISPERSED PUBLIC OWNERSHIP IMPAIR EFFICIENCY? THE CASE OF REFUSE COLLECTION IN NORWAY
Authors: SØRENSEN RUNE J. 
Published: November 2007

Corporate governance theory suggests that companies with dispersed and indirect ownership suffer from agency costs. A worst case is where several political authorities jointly own a company, which allows managers to operate with inferior efficiency. In political economy, the manager is not the major agency problem. Elected politicians may impair efficiency to improve their re‐election prospects. Since politicians have less influence in jointly owned firms, such companies are expected to perform better than those owned by a single public authority.Consistent with corporate governance – but not political economy – the empirical analysis suggests that dispersed municipal ownership impairs cost efficiency. In the Norwegian case of municipal refuse collection presented here, costs of dispersed ownership often outstrip gains from economies of scale. Use of jointly owned companies is not necessarily a proper response to efficiency problems inherent a fragmented local government structure.
Asset Specificity and Vertical Integration
Authors: Kvaløy Ola 
Published: November 2007

AbstractAsset specificity is usually considered to be an argument for vertical integration. The main idea is that specificity induces opportunistic behavior, and that vertical integration reduces the cost of preventing opportunism. In this paper I show that asset specificity can be an argument for non‐integration. In a repeated‐game model of self‐enforcing relational contracts, it is shown that when parties are non‐integrated, increasing degrees of asset specificity make it possible to design relational contracts with higher‐powered incentives.
Partial Linear Models for Longitudinal Data Based on Quadratic Inference Functions
Authors: BAI YANG , ZHU ZHONGYI , FUNG WING K. 
Published: November 2007

Abstract.In this paper, we consider improved estimating equations for semiparametric partial linear models (PLM) for longitudinal data, or clustered data in general. We approximate the non‐parametric function in the PLM by a regression spline, and utilize quadratic inference functions (QIF) in the estimating equations to achieve a more efficient estimation of the parametric part in the model, even when the correlation structure is misspecified. Moreover, we construct a test which is an analogue to the likelihood ratio inference function for inferring the parametric component in the model. The proposed methods perform well in simulation studies and real data analysis conducted in this paper.
‘Culture’ as a tool and an obstacle: missionary encounters in post‐Soviet Kyrgyzstan
Authors: Pelkmans Mathijs 
Published: November 2007

The relatively large number of converts from Islam to evangelical Christianity in post‐Soviet Kyrgyzstan is exceptional in the Muslim world and has challenged local confidence that Islam is an inseparable element of Kyrgyz nationality. I argue that part of the missionary success stems from unexpected synergies between communist cultural legacies and new evangelical approaches. Both communists and evangelicals attempted to advance their ideals by disconnecting religion and culture. But although these efforts delivered tangible results, they also had the (unintended) consequence of folklorizing and objectifying ‘culture’, thereby partly re‐inscribing the ethnic boundaries that they intended to overcome.RésuméLe nombre relativement important de musulmans convertis au christianisme évangélique dans le Kirghizstan post‐soviétique est exceptionnel dans le monde musulman et ébranle la croyance locale que l'islam est indissociable de l'identité nationale kirghize. L'auteur affirme qu'une partie du succès des missionnaires provient de la synergie inattendue entre l'héritage culturel communiste et la nouvelle approche évangélique. Les communistes aussi bien que les chrétiens évangéliques ont tenté de faire progresser leurs idéaux en dissociant religion et culture. Bien que ces efforts donnent des résultats tangibles, ils ont aussi eu la conséquence involontaire de folkloriser et d'objectiver la « culture », en retraçant ainsi les frontières ethniques qu'ils avaient cherchéà abolir.
Modelling Method Effects as Individual Causal Effects
Authors: Pohl Steffi , Steyer Rolf , Kraus Katrin 
Published: November 2007

SummaryMethod effects often occur when different methods are used for measuring the same construct. We present a new approach for modelling this kind of phenomenon, consisting of a definition of method effects and a first model, the method effect model, that can be used for data analysis. This model may be applied to multitrait–multimethod data or to longitudinal data where the same construct is measured with at least two methods at all occasions. In this new approach, the definition of the method effects is based on the theory of individual causal effects by Neyman and Rubin. Method effects are accordingly conceptualized as the individual effects of applying measurement method j instead of k. They are modelled as latent difference scores in structural equation models. A reference method needs to be chosen against which all other methods are compared. The model fit is invariant to the choice of the reference method. The model allows the estimation of the average of the individual method effects, their variance, their correlation with the traits (and other latent variables) and the correlation of different method effects among each other. Furthermore, since the definition of the method effects is in line with the theory of causality, the method effects may (under certain conditions) be interpreted as causal effects of the method. The method effect model is compared with traditional multitrait–multimethod models. An example illustrates the application of the model to longitudinal data analysing the effect of negatively (such as ‘feel bad’) as compared with positively formulated items (such as ‘feel good’) measuring mood states.
Telling It Like It Is: Developing Social Stories™ for Children in Mainstream Primary Schools
Authors: WHITEHEAD JO 
Published: November 2007

In this article, the author reports on a practical strategy originally developed for use with pupils with Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC). Based on a small‐scale research project, the article focuses on the use of Social Stories to promote pro‐social behaviour with a group of non‐ASC pupils. The topic was chosen for systematic enquiry by the author, herself the parent of a child with autism, following requests from colleagues to develop the strategy for use with other pupils with behavioural difficulties. The tensions arising from the extension of use of the strategy, devised for a particular group with specific needs, are highlighted, in particular recognising the need to maintain the integrity of the original work. The report concludes that Social Stories involve a complex strategy that relies upon sound relationships between teacher and pupil and suggests that, instead of determining success by behavioural outcome, Social Stories might be judged in terms of self‐esteem and perceptions of self of the pupil during the key process leading to the writing of the story. The strategy may be effective in helping all parties to recognise challenging situations, particularly with pupils who have difficulties in taking the perspective of others. The author also makes practical suggestions for consideration by teachers who are concerned with the pastoral care and well‐being of pupils. The words ‘Social Story’ and uncapitalised variants are the trademarks originated and owned by Carol Gray. References to ‘stories’ hereafter indicate ‘Social Stories™’ as the full citation.
Acute neurological deterioration in ovarioleukodystrophy related to EIF2B mutations: pregnancy with oocyte donation is a potentially precipitating factor
Authors: Peter L. , Niel F. , Catenoix H. , Jung J. , Demarquay G. , Petiot P. , Rudigoz R. C. , Boespflug‐Tanguy O. , Ryvlin P. , Mauguière F. 
Published: November 2007

Mutations in the eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2B (eIF2B) represent a heterogenous group of autosomal recessive leucodystrophy characterized by a diffuse CSF‐like aspect of the white matter at MRI designed as vanishing white matter (VWM) and episodes of acute deterioration after stresses. The mild juvenile and adult forms are often associated with primary ovarian failure, a syndrome referred to as ovarioleukodystrophy (OLD). We reported case of a woman with OLD who successfully underwent in vitro fertilization with donated oocytes and embryo transfer. Pregnancy was complicated by a non‐convulsive epileptic status leading to the identification of compound heterozygous EIF2B5 mutation (p.Arg113His and p.Arg299His). The patient gave birth to a healthy child by Caesarean section. In conclusion, we report for the first time that in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer can lead to a successful procreation in patients with OLD related to EIF2B mutations. However this procedure must be considered with cautiousness, because of its potential neurological risks.
Evaluation of black tea gel and its protection potential against UV
Authors: Turkoglu M. , Cigirgil N. 
Published: November 2007

SynopsisIn this study, aqueous and alcoholic extracts of black tea were obtained. The black tea extracts were tested in vitro for their ultraviolet (UV) absorption profile. It was found that both extracts showed UV absorption and followed the same path based on the wavelength. Aqueous extract showed a stronger absorptivity per weight basis than the alcoholic extract of black tea. A peak was obtained between 250 and 300 nm. After 300 nm, UV absorption decreased fast towards 400 nm with a low absorptivity. The black tea aqueous extract was formulated as a gel with the help of a carbomer resin and tested in vivo in six subjects for evaluating its protection potential against the UV (200–400 nm) using an artificial UV source consisting of a high pressure metal halide discharge lamp. Based on erythema evaluation, it was found that erythema appeared after 4 h and reached a peak at 24 h on control site. On the contrary, no erythema was observed in any of the six subjects on black tea gel applied sites. Therefore, it was concluded that black tea gel protected the skin from a broad range UV (200–400 nm) radiation. The black tea gel can be safely applied in large amounts on large skin surfaces without any toxicological concerns.
Influence of different parameters on droplet size and size distribution of sprayable sunscreen emulsions with high concentration of UV‐filters
Authors: Durand L. , Habran N. , Denis C. , Meulders L. , Henschel V. , Amighi K. 
Published: November 2007

SynopsisThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the possible influence of different formulation and technological parameters such as sunscreen type and concentration, viscosity, propellant gas, actuator and valve type on size and size distribution of droplets in emulsions of waterproof sunscreens conditioned in aerosol cans. Different kinds of emulsion, W/Si and W/O, were prepared with high concentrations of organic and inorganic UV‐filters. These formulations were incorporated in aerosol cans with gas (a blend of butane, propane and isobutane). The size and size distribution of the droplets were analysed by laser diffraction using a Malvern® Spraytec. The results showed that the sprayability of the formulation and the particle size characteristics of the emitted sprays are dependent on the physicochemical properties of the formulations. Sprayable waterproof sunscreen emulsions, with a high sun protection factor and negligible percentage of emitted droplets below 30 μm, were successfully developed by optimizing formulation parameters and using appropriate actuators and valves.