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This study examines the proposition that political business cycle theory is relevant to private foreign lenders to developing countries. We find that: credit rating agencies downgrade developing country ratings more often in election years, and do so by approximately one rating level; bond spreads are higher in the 60 days before an election compared to spreads in the 60 days after an election: spreads trend significantly downward in the 60 days before an election, but then flatten out in the 60 days after an election. Agencies and bondholders view elections negatively, increasing the cost of capital to developing democracies. JEL classification: D72; F30; F34; G12; G14; G15; G29 Keywords: Political business cycles; Elections; Developing countries; Credit ratings; Bond spreads

Altmetrics are increasingly playing a role in helping scholars illustrate their scholarly impact. One altmetric involves citations in syllabi or analyzing the way journal literature is presented and used in syllabi. This exploratory study uses data from the Open Syllabus Project to analyze citations in syllabi of journal articles from three leading library science journals. Results from the analysis show that the articles cited in syllabi were mostly research articles written on a range of topics in library science, primarily by practitioner librarians. The data show that citations of these articles in syllabi occur less frequently than citations from journals, making a citation in a syllabus a more unique occurrence. Data also show that the articles cited in the syllabi were primarily published within the last 15 years and used predominantly within library science courses, although there is evidence that library science articles are also being used in other disciplines. Analysis of subjects and terms associated with the articles cited in syllabi indicated that traditional areas of library science are represented more than newer or emerging topics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Systematic evaluations of the relationship between sleep patterns and length of stay in psychiatric intensive care units (PICUs) are lacking. The aims of the present study were to explore if sleep duration or night-to-night variations in sleep duration the first nights predict length of stay in a PICU. Consecutive patients admitted to a PICU were included ( N =135) and the nurses registered the time patients were observed sleeping. In the three first nights, the mean sleep duration was 7.5 (±3.2) h. Sleep duration the first night correlated negatively with the length of stay for patients with schizophrenia. The mean difference in sleep duration from night one to night two were 3.3 (±3.0) h and correlated with length of stay for the whole group of patients, but especially for patients with schizophrenia. Patients of all diagnostic groups admitted to a PICU had pronounced intra-individual night-to-night variations in sleep duration. Stabilizing night-to-night variations of sleep duration might be a major goal in treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: Non-operative management for blunt splenic injuries was introduced to reduce the risk of overwhelming post splenectomy infection in children. To increase splenic preservation rates, splenic artery embolization (SAE) was added to our institutional treatment protocol in 2002. In the presence of clinical signs of ongoing bleeding, SAE was considered also in children. To our knowledge, the long term splenic function after SAE performed in the paediatric population has not been evaluated and constitutes the aim of the present study. Methods: A total of 11 SAE patients less than 17 years of age at the time of injury were included with 11 healthy volunteers serving as matched controls. Clinical examination, medical history, general blood counts, immunoglobulin quantifications and flowcytometric analysis of lymphocyte phenotypes were performed. Peripheral blood smears were examined for Howell–Jolly bodies (H–J bodies) and abdominal ultrasound was performed in order to assess the size and perfusion of the spleen. Results: On average 4.6 years after SAE (range 1–8 years), no significant differences could be detected between the SAE patients and their controls. Total and Pneumococcus serospecific immunoglobulins and H–J bodies did not differ between the study groups, nor did general blood counts and lymphocyte numbers, including memory B cell proportions. The ultrasound examinations revealed normal sized and well perfused spleens in the SAE patients when compared to their controls. Conclusion: This case control study indicates preserved splenic function after SAE for splenic injury in children. Mandatory immunization to prevent severe infections does not seem warranted. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Objectives: The purpose of this study is to compare the development in symptoms, behaviors, function and treatment between patients with or without a substance use (SU) diagnose in a Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). Methods: A total of 118 admitted patients were assessed at admittance, day 3 and discharge from the PICU. Symptoms of psychopathology, therapeutic steps taken, violent episodes and length of patient stay were recorded. Results: More males than females received an SU diagnosis. Substance use patients had less psychiatric symptoms at admittance and showed a faster symptom reduction, more favorable and faster improvement of function and a shorter length of stay. Except for symptom reduction and shorter length of stay, these differences were largely due to differences in sex and diagnoses in the two groups. Conclusion: In a naturalistic group of patients in a PICU, SU is associated with favorable outcomes compared to patients not using substances. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights • Severe sepsis is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. • The impact of the severe sepsis 3-hour care bundle on sepsis patient mortality was examined. • Severe sepsis patients who received the 3-hour bundle had improved outcomes over those who did not. Severe sepsis is a major cause of mortality among hospitalized patients. We tracked severe sepsis 3-hour bundle compliance and mortality over time. Those patients with severe sepsis who received the entire bundle had improved in-hospital survivability over those patients who did not receive the bundle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comparative study of structure and thermal properties is reported for three 3C crystalline silicon carbide (SiC) microwires, including Sylramic, Hi-Nicalon S and a sample fabricated by laser chemical vapor deposition (LCVD). Structural characterization by Raman spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction (XRD) finds that the LCVD-based sample contains excessive silicon and smallest grains of SiC but detectable free carbon. Thermal characterization from room temperature down to 20 K uncovers the effect of nanosized grain on thermal properties. The thermal properties are correlated with the structure via structural thermal domain (STD) size, defined as the grain boundary-induced phonon mean free path at the 0 K limit. The STD size of the three samples is found as 9.35, 1.42 and 1.03 nm for the Sylramic, Hi-Nicalon S and LCVD SiC fibers, proportional to and nearly one order of magnification smaller than the corresponding crystalline size determined by XRD: 67–113, 14.6–18.4, and 5.85–7.84 nm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a highly prevalent psychiatric condition associated with significant disability, mortality and economic burden. A large proportion of MDD patients are treated in primary health care in the local community. Attentional Bias Modification (ABM) training in combination with antidepressants could be an effective treatment. Here we test the hypothesis that adding an ABM procedure to regular treatment with antidepressants in primary health care will result in further improvement of symptoms compared to treatment with antidepressants alone (treatment as usual, TAU) and as compared to an active comparison condition. A total of 246 patients with a diagnosis of MDD will be included in this study. The study is a three-armed pragmatic randomized controlled trial comparing the efficacy of ABM as add-on to treatment with antidepressants in primary care (ABM condition) compared to standard antidepressant treatment (TAU condition). In a third group participants will complete the same schedule of intermediate assessments as the ABM condition in addition to TAU, but no ABM, thus controlling for the non-training-specific aspects of the ABM condition (Antidepressant active comparison group). The clinical outcome of this study may help develop easily accessible, low-cost treatment of depression in primary health care. Moreover, the study aims to broaden our knowledge of optimal treatment for patients with a MDD by providing adjunct treatment to facilitate recovery and long-term gain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The aim of the study was to determine the temporal changes in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus and its associated risk factors in a rural population of Bangladesh. A total of 4757 subjects age ≥20 years both male and female were enrolled randomly in a cross-sectional study in 1999. The same area and population was reinvestigated in 2004 following the same selection procedure, on a sample of 3981 individuals. Structural and economical changes were noted for the last 5 years in the locality. An increased prevalence of diabetes was found with 6.8% in the present survey compared with 2.3% in the earlier survey (p <0.05). Age, BMI and systolic blood pressure were found to be significant risk factors following both for FBG and for OGTT. WHR was found to be a significant risk factor for men only. A substantial agreement was observed between FBG and OGTT (kappa 0.63) compared to the previous investigation in 1999 (kappa 0.40). Differences in the indices of obesity, that is BMI, WHR and waist girth, may in part explain the increased prevalence, which in turn may explain due to fast-expanded urbanization. The state of affairs warrants immediate measures necessary to prevent the epidemic particularly in the localities that are in the transition phase from rural to semi-urban facilities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]