bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Information content analysis in automated microscopy imaging using an adaptive autofocus algorithm for multimodal functions
Authors: BRÁZDILOVÁ S.L. , KOZUBEK M.
Published: September 2009

We present a new algorithm to analyse information content in images acquired using automated fluorescence microscopy. The algorithm belongs to the group of autofocusing methods, but differs from its predecessors in that it can handle thick specimens and operate also in confocal mode. It measures the information content in images using a ‘content function’, which is essentially the same concept as a focus function. Unlike previously presented algorithms, this algorithm tries to find all significant axial positions in cases where the content function applied to real data is not unimodal, which is often the case. This requirement precludes using algorithms that rely on unimodality. Moreover, choosing a content function requires careful consideration, because some functions suppress local maxima. First, we test 19 content functions and evaluate their ability to show local maxima clearly. The results show that only six content functions succeed. To save time, the acquisition procedure needs to vary the step size adaptively, because a wide range of possible axial positions has to be passed so as not to miss a local maximum. The algorithm therefore has to assess the steepness of the content function online so that it can decide to use a bigger or smaller step size to acquire the next image. Therefore, the algorithm needs to know about typical behaviour of content functions. We show that for normalized variance, one of the most promising content functions, this knowledge can be obtained after normalizing with respect to the theoretical maximum of this function, and using hierarchical clustering. The resulting algorithm is more reliable and efficient than a simple procedure with constant steps.
Endogenous Nociceptin / Orphanin FQ System Involvement in Hypothalamic‐Pituitary‐Adrenal Axis Responses: Relevance to Models of Inflammation
Authors: Leggett J. D. , Dawe K. L. , Jessop D. S. , Fulford A. J.
Published: September 2009

Nociceptin/orphanin FQ (N/OFQ) peptide and its receptor (NOP) function in the neuromodulation of anxiety, stress and hypothalamic‐pituitary‐adrenal (HPA) axis activity. We investigated the endogenous NOP system using the selective NOP antagonist, UFP‐101, during the HPA axis response to bacterial endotoxin, lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Although i.c.v. N/OFQ (1 μg/rat) had no significant effect on LPS‐induced (250 μg/rat i.p) plasma corticosterone release at 30 or 60 min post‐i.c.v. injection, i.c.v. UFP‐101 (1 μg/rat)/LPS significantly attenuated plasma adrenocorticotrophic hormone and corticosterone at the 30‐min time‐point compared to i.c.v saline (0.9%)/LPS. Parvocellular paraventricular nucleus (PVN) corticotrophin‐releasing factor (CRF) and corticotrophic pro‐opiomelanocortin (POMC), but not parvocellular PVN arginine vasopressin (AVP), mRNA expression was significantly increased by LPS compared to non‐LPS control. Intracerebroventricular UFP‐101/LPS treatment was associated with increased POMC mRNA expression 4 h after injection and a clear trend towards increased parvocellular CRF mRNA. Furthermore, i.c.v. UFP‐101 was selectively associated with an LPS‐induced increase in parvocellular AVP mRNA, an effect that was absent in the i.c.v saline/LPS group. To determine whether LPS challenge was associated with compensatory changes in N/OFQ precursor or NOP receptor mRNAs, in a separate study, we undertook reverse transcriptase‐polymerase chain reaction analysis of preproN/OFQ and NOP transcripts. In support of an endogenous role for central N/OFQ in inflammatory stress, we found that LPS significantly increased preproN/OFQ transcript expression in the hypothalamus 4 h after injection compared to the saline control. No changes in preproN/OFQ mRNA level in the hippocampus or basal forebrain (including bed nucleus of stria terminalis) were seen, albeit at 4 h. LPS was associated with a significant attenuation of NOP mRNA in the basal forebrain at 4 h, possibly as a compensatory response to increased N/OFQ release. Although the exact mechanisms require elucidation, the findings obtained in the present study provide evidence indicating that the endogenous NOP system is involved in the acute HPA axis response to immune challenge.
Central Endogenous Vasopressin Induced by Central Salt‐Loading Participates in Body Fluid Homeostasis through Modulatory Effects on Neurones of the Paraventricular Nucleus in Conscious Rats
Authors: Kato K. , Kannan H. , Ohta H. , Kemuriyama T. , Maruyama S. , Tandai‐Hiruma M. , Sato Y. , Nakazato M. , Nishimori T. , Ishida Y. , Onaka T. , Nishida Y.
Published: September 2009

Peripherally secreted arginine vasopressin (AVP) plays a role in controlling body fluid homeostasis, and central endogenous AVP acts as a neurotransmitter or neuromodulator. The limbic system, which appears to exert an inhibitory effect on the endocrine hypothalamus, is also innervated by fibres that contain AVP. We examined whether central endogenous AVP is also involved in the control of body fluid homeostasis. To explore this possibility, we examined neuronal activity in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN), periventricular parts of the PVN and limbic brain areas, as well as AVP mRNA expression in the PVN and the peripheral secretion of AVP after central salt‐loading in rats that had been pretreated i.c.v. with the AVP V1receptor antagonist OPC‐21268. Neuronal activity in the PVN evaluated in terms of Fos‐like immunoreactivity (FLI), especially in the parvocellular subdivisions, was suppressed. On the other hand, FLI was enhanced in the lateral septum, the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and the anterior hypothalamic area. Similarly, AVP mRNA expression was enhanced in the magnocellular subnucleus of the PVN, despite the lack of a significant difference in the peripheral AVP level between OPC‐21268‐ and vehicle‐pretreated groups. We recorded renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA) as sympathetic nerve outflow during central salt‐loading. The suppression of RSNA was significantly attenuated by i.c.v. pretreatment with OPC‐21268. These results suggest that the suppression of RSNA during central salt‐loading might be the result of a decrease in neuronal activity in the parvocellular subdivisions of the PVN via the inhibitory action of central endogenous AVP. The parvocellular and magnocellular neurones in the PVN might show different responses to central salt‐loading to maintain body fluid homeostasis as a result of the modulatory role of central endogenous AVP.
Physiological Models of Leptin Resistance
Authors: Tups A.
Published: September 2009

In common forms of obesity, animals and humans become leptin resistant associated with impaired regulation of energy homeostasis. Over the last decade, significant advances in delineating the underlying mechanisms have been achieved. As well as the obvious scientific progress obtained by novel transgenic animals, natural and physiological models of leptin resistance such as the Siberian hamster (Phodoups sungorus), the field vole (Microtus agrestis) or the rat during pregnancy have also provided invaluable insight into the dynamic long‐term control of energy homeostasis. Seasonal (in the hamster) and pregnancy‐induced leptin resistance are characterised by a modulation of the leptin signalling cascade downstream of its receptor in the hypothalamus. In this state, leptin‐induced phosphorylation of the important transcription factor, signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), is impaired in the arcuate nucleus and the ventromedial hypothalamus (only during pregnancy). This is accompanied by elevated levels of leptin signalling inhibitors such as the suppressor of cytokine signalling (SOCS3) and the protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B). The janus kinase 2 (JAK2)‐STAT3 signalling pathway might be modulated by a dual function of the tyrosine residue Tyr985 in the intracellular domain of the leptin receptor. In seasonal animals, SOCS3, most importantly seems to act as a ‘molecular switch’ enabling a photoperiod‐induced alteration in leptin signalling and subsequent adjustments in energy homeostasis to allow attainment of a new body weight set‐point. These physiological models show that animals can exhibit leptin resistance as an adaptive response to meet new physiological or environmental challenges, promoting the survival of the species during times of increased metabolic demand. The molecular mechanisms mediating physiological and/or pathological leptin resistance, like during diet induced obesity, might be very similar involving hypothalamic SOCS3. Investigation of these models might further provide new insight into the dynamic complexity of energy homeostasis.
Elucidating the role of genetic drift and natural selection in cork oak differentiation regarding drought tolerance
Authors: RAMÍREZ‐VALIENTE J. A. , LORENZO Z. , SOTO A. , VALLADARES F. , GIL L. , ARANDA I.
Published: September 2009

Drought is the main selection agent in Mediterranean ecosystems and it has been suggested as an important evolutionary force responsible for population diversification in these types of environments. However, population divergence in quantitative traits can be driven by either natural selection, genetic drift or both. To investigate the roles of these forces on among‐population divergence in ecophysiological traits related to drought tolerance (carbon isotope discrimination, specific leaf area, leaf size and leaf nitrogen content), we compared molecular and quantitative genetic differentiation in a common garden experiment including thirteen cork oak (Quercus suberL.) populations across a gradient of rainfall and temperature. Population differentiation for height, specific leaf area, leaf size and nitrogen leaf content measured during a dry year far exceeded the molecular differentiation measured by six nuclear microsatellites. Populations from dry‐cool sites showed the lowest nitrogen leaf content and the smallest and thickest leaves contrasting with those from humid‐warm sites. These results suggest (i) these traits are subjected to divergence selection and (ii) the genetic differences among populations are partly due to climate adaptation. By contrast, the low among‐population divergence found in basal diameter, annual growth and carbon isotopic discrimination (a surrogate for water use efficiency) suggests low or no divergence selection for these traits. Among‐population differentiation for neutral markers was not a good predictor for differentiation regarding the quantitative traits studied here, except for leaf size. The correlation observed between the genetic differentiation for leaf size and that for molecular markers was exclusively due to the association between leaf size and the microsatelliteQpZAG46, which suggests a possible linkage betweenQpZAG46 and genes encoding for leaf size.
Phylogeography ofCamassia quamashin western North America: postglacial colonization and transport by indigenous peoples
Authors: TOMIMATSU HIROSHI , KEPHART SUSAN R. , VELLEND MARK
Published: September 2009

Recent human activities have spread numerous plant species across the globe, yet it is unclear to what degree historical human activities influenced plant dispersal. In western North America,Camassia quamashwas one of the most important food plants for indigenous peoples, who transported its propagules either intentionally or accidentally. We investigated how human and natural dispersal might have contributed to the current pattern of spatial genetic structure inC. quamashby performing phylogeographical surveys at two geographical scales. We sequenced two noncoding regions of chloroplast deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in 226 individuals from 53 populations ofC. quamashas well as 126 individuals from 21 populations of the non‐food plantZigadenus venenosus. Contrary to the expectation of anthropogenic transport,C. quamashpopulations did not exhibit weaker genetic structure thanZ. venenosuspopulations. We also failed to find convincing evidence for signatures of transport. Instead, our data showed strong effects of past glaciation and geographical barriers of the mountains in the Cascade Range, Olympic Peninsula and Vancouver Island. West of the Cascades, the species appears to have largely migrated northward from a southern refugium after deglaciation, whereas few populations having a highly divergent haplotype might have survived in southwestern Washington. Our data suggest that despite substantial ethnobotanical evidence for anthropogenic transport, the current pattern of genetic structure ofC. quamashdoes not show any detectable signatures of transport by indigenous peoples and is better understood as the result of natural dispersal processes.
Predictors for progression in immunoglobulin A nephropathy with significant proteinuria
Authors: HWANG HYEON SEOK , KIM BYUNG SOO , SHIN YOUNG SHIN , YOON HYE EUN , SONG JOON CHANG , CHOI BUM SOON , PARK CHEOL WHEE , YANG CHUL WOO , KIM YONG SOO , BANG BYUNG KEE
Published: September 2009

Aim:  Proteinuria is a primary factor requiring treatment in immunoglobulin (Ig)A nephropathy. The purpose of this study was to assess the relevance of treatment response and relapse of proteinuria with renal function decline.

Methods:  One hundred and twenty‐five biopsy‐proven primary IgA nephropathy patients who had more than 1.0 g/day proteinuria at the first assessment were studied. All patients underwent anti‐proteinuric treatment, and the association of the rate of renal function decline with treatment responsiveness, clinical and laboratory data was investigated.

Results:  The treatment response of the patients was: 30.4% complete response (<0.3 g/day proteinuria), 32.8% partial response (0.3–1.0 g/day), 23.2% minimal response (decrement but not reduced to <1 g/day) and 13.6% no response (no decrement of proteinuria). The slope of renal function decline (−1.06 vs−1.24 mL/min per 1.73 m2/year, P = 0.580) was comparable between complete and partial response groups, but they were slower than those of minimal or non‐response groups (P < 0.001). In multivariate analysis including other parameters, mean arterial pressure (MAP; β = –0.240, P = 0.004) during follow up, minimal (β = –0.393, P < 0.001) and non‐response (β = –0.403, P < 0.001) were significant predictors. In further investigation of complete and partial response groups, MAP (β = –0.332, P = 0.001) and relapse of proteinuria (β = –0.329, P = 0.001) were independently associated with slope of renal decline.

Conclusion:  Achievement of less than 1.0 g/day proteinuria and MAP were important for limiting the loss of renal function, and relapse of proteinuria should be closely monitored in proteinuric IgA nephropathy.
Evaluation of erythrocyte dysmorphism by light microscopy with lowering of the condenser lens: A simple and efficient method
Authors: BARROS SILVA GYL EANES , COSTA ROBERTO SILVA , RAVINAL ROBERTO CUAN , SILVA JUCÉLIA SARAIVA E , DANTAS MARCIO , COIMBRA TEREZILA MACHADO
Published: September 2009

Aim:  To demonstrate that the evaluation of erythrocyte dysmorphism by light microscopy with lowering of the condenser lens (LMLC) is useful to identify patients with a haematuria of glomerular or non‐glomerular origin.

Methods:  A comparative double‐blind study between phase contrast microscopy (PCM) and LMLC is reported to evaluate the efficacy of these techniques. Urine samples of 39 patients followed up for 9 months were analyzed, and classified as glomerular and non‐glomerular haematuria. The different microscopic techniques were compared using receiver–operator curve (ROC) analysis and area under curve (AUC). Reproducibility was assessed by coefficient of variation (CV).

Results:  Specific cut‐offs were set for each method according to their best rate of specificity and sensitivity as follows: 30% for phase contrast microscopy and 40% for standard LMLC, reaching in the first method the rate of 95% and 100% of sensitivity and specificity, respectively, and in the second method the rate of 90% and 100% of sensitivity and specificity, respectively. In ROC analysis, AUC for PCM was 0.99 and AUC for LMLC was 0.96. The CV was very similar in glomerular haematuria group for PCM (35%) and LMLC (35.3%).

Conclusion:  LMLC proved to be effective in contributing to the direction of investigation of haematuria, toward the nephrological or urological side. This method can substitute PCM when this equipment is not available.
Chronic kidney disease in Tasmania
Authors: JOSE MATTHEW D , OTAHAL PETR , KIRKLAND GEOFF , BLIZZARD LEIGH
Published: September 2009

Aim:  Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a progressive disease which is becoming a major public health issue due to its high rate of premature death, poor quality of life and expensive end‐stage treatment (dialysis or transplantation). The burden of this chronic condition in a community setting was examined.

Methods:  Data were obtained from 369 098 Tasmanian adults (aged ≥18 years) and included 1 640 687 measurements of creatinine taken between 1995 and 2007. In 2007 alone, testing comprised 25.5% of the state's adult population. A modelled estimate of CKD prevalence was developed.

Results:  For those at risk of CKD (aged >50 years), 50.6%, 70.2% and 82% had a measured creatinine (and reported estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR)) during the last 1, 2 and 3 years respectively. However, only 9.4% of people with eGFR of less than 60 mL/min per 1.73 m2 had albuminuria formally measured. Estimated prevalence of stage III or greater CKD (eGFR <60 mL/min per 1.73 m2) was at least 11.4% of women and 8.6% of men during 2007. Detection of low eGFR increased significantly over the last 13 years. There was a large geographic variation throughout Tasmania and high relative mortality with lower eGFR. There is a broad gap between the number of people with eGFR of less than 15 mL/min per 1.73 m2 (stage V CKD) and those receiving dialysis treatment.

Conclusion:  The number of people identified with low eGFR has increased significantly since 1995 with a large geographic variation. Despite this, testing for kidney disease (by measuring serum creatinine and albuminuria) in people at risk is still suboptimal.
Comparable transplant outcomes between local and shipped deceased‐donor kidneys in Australia: Analysis of Australia and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplant Registry 1992–2007
Authors: LIM WAI H , RUSS GRAEME R , MCDONALD STEPHEN P
Published: September 2009

Aim:  Allocation of deceased‐donor kidneys in Australia often involves the shipping of well‐matched renal allografts across states. However, the impact of shipping on graft outcomes remains unclear. In this study, the effect of shipping of well‐matched (0–2 human leucocyte antigen (HLA) mismatches) and poorer‐matched (3–6 HLA mismatches) deceased‐donor kidneys on transplant outcomes in Australia were examined.

Methods:  Using data from Australia and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplant Registry (ANZDATA), graft and patient outcomes were compared between shipped and locally transplanted allografts in Australia between 1992 and 2007 stratified by the number of HLA mismatches.

Results:  Recipients receiving shipped renal allografts were more likely to be highly sensitized with previous grafts and/or higher panel reactive antibodies levels with significantly longer graft ischaemic time compared to local allografts. Regardless of the HLA mismatches, the risk of delayed graft function, acute rejection, 12 month serum creatinine, graft failure and patient survival was similar between shipped and locally transplanted renal allografts.

Conclusion:  Recipients of shipped renal allografts with 0–2 and 3–6 HLA mismatches have similar transplant outcomes to locally transplanted allografts.
BDNF and NT‐3 increase excitatory input connectivity in rat hippocampal cultures
Authors: Jacobi Shimshon , Soriano Jordi , Segal Menahem , Moses Elisha
Published: September 2009

The neurotrophic factors brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and neurotrophin‐3 (NT‐3) have been shown to promote excitatory and inhibitory synapse development. However, a quantitative analysis of their influence on connectivity has proven in general difficult to achieve. In this work we use a novel experimental approach based on percolation concepts that provides a quantification of the average number of connections per neuron. In combination with electrophysiological measurements, we characterize the changes in network connectivity induced by BDNF and NT‐3 in rat hippocampal cultures. We show that, on the one hand, BDNF and NT‐3 accelerate the maturation of connectivity in the network by about 17 h. On the other hand, BDNF and NT‐3 increase the number of excitatory input connections by a factor of about two, but without modifying the number of inhibitory input connections. This scenario of a dominant effect on the excitation is supported by the analysis of spontaneous population bursts in cultures treated with either BDNF or NT‐3, which show burst amplitudes that are insensitive to the blockade of inhibition. A leaky integrate‐and‐fire model reproduces the experimental results well.
Altered distribution and function of A2A adenosine receptors in the brain of WAG/Rij rats with genetic absence epilepsy, before and after appearance of the disease
Authors: D’Alimonte Iolanda , D’Auro Mariagrazia , Citraro Rita , Biagioni Francesca , Jiang Shucui , Nargi Eleonora , Buccella Silvana , Di Iorio Patrizia , Giuliani Patricia , Ballerini Patrizia , Caciagli Francesco , Russo Emilio , De Sarro Giovambattista , Ciccarelli Renata
Published: September 2009

The involvement of excitatory adenosine A2A receptors (A2ARs), which probably contribute to the pathophysiology of convulsive seizures, has never been investigated in absence epilepsy. Here, we examined the distribution and function of A2ARs in the brain of Wistar Albino Glaxo/Rijswijk (WAG/Rij) rats, a model of human absence epilepsy in which disease onset occurs 2–3 months after birth. In the cerebral areas that are mostly involved in the generation of absence seizures (somatosensory cortex, reticular and ventrobasal thalamic nuclei), A2AR density was lower in presymptomatic WAG/Rij rats than in control rats, as evaluated by immunohistochemistry and western blotting. Accordingly, in cortical/thalamic slices prepared from the brain of these rats, A2AR stimulation with the agonist 2‐[4‐(‐2‐carboxyethyl)‐phenylamino]‐5′‐N‐ethylcarboxamido‐adenosine failed to modulate either cAMP formation, mitogen‐activated protein kinase system, or K+‐evoked glutamate release. In contrast, A2AR expression, signalling and function were significantly enhanced in brain slices from epileptic WAG/Rij rats as compared with matched control animals. Additionally, the in vivo injection of the A2AR agonist CGS21680, or the antagonist 5‐amino‐7‐(2‐phenylethyl)‐2‐(2‐fuyl)‐pyrazolo‐(4,3‐c)1,2,4‐triazolo(1,5‐c)‐pyrimidine, in the examined brain areas of epileptic rats, increased and decreased, respectively, the number/duration of recorded spontaneous spike–wave discharges in a dose‐dependent manner during a 1–5 h post‐treatment period. Our results support the hypothesis that alteration of excitatory A2AR is involved in the pathogenesis of absence seizures and might represent a new interesting target for the therapeutic management of this disease.
Paraventricular hypothalamic oxytocinergic cells responding to noxious stimulation and projecting to the spinal dorsal horn represent a homeostatic analgesic mechanism
Authors: Condés‐Lara Miguel , Rojas‐Piloni Gerardo , Martínez‐Lorenzana Guadalupe , Rodríguez‐Jiménez Javier
Published: September 2009

The participation of the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) in an endogenous central mechanism of analgesia has been observed using rats in various experimental procedures including electrophysiological and behavioral tests. However, little is known about the PVN neuronal responses to noxious stimulation. The only data available indicate a c‐fos increase after noxious visceral stimulations. Our electrophysiological recordings of single PVN cells showed that, out of 223 cells, 79 responded to noxious mechanical and/or thermal stimuli, and another 10 responsive cells were found in the Reuniers thalamic nucleus. These cells responded only to noxious stimuli mainly in the ipsilateral hind limb but we also observed cells responding to stimulation of both hind limbs and also the tail. Mechanical stimulation was most effective but some cells could respond to both mechanical and thermal noxious stimuli. Some of the responding PVN cells were identified by antidromic stimulation in the ipsilateral lumbar dorsal horn spinal cord. Finally, in order to document the nature of the neurotransmitter and the projection to the spinal cord of the PVN cells that responded to noxious stimulation, we used a juxtacellular approach to record and stain some neurons and found them to be oxytocinergic by immunofluorescence procedures. The PVN cells activated by noxious stimuli may suppress the peripheral incoming afferent A‐delta and C fibers, completing a circuit involved in diffuse endogenous analgesia. This mechanism strongly suggests that the PVN participates in a homeostatic mechanism involved in pain and analgesia.
Predators temper the relative importance of stochastic processes in the assembly of prey metacommunities
Authors: Chase Jonathan M. , Biro Elizabeth G. , Ryberg Wade A. , Smith Kevin G.
Published: September 2009

Communities assemble through a combination of stochastic processes, which can make environmentally similar communities divergent (high β‐diversity), and deterministic processes, which can make environmentally similar communities convergent (low β‐diversity). Top predators can influence both stochasticity (e.g. colonization and extinction events) and determinism (e.g. size of the realized species pool), in community assembly, and thus their net effect is unknown. We investigated how predatory fish influenced the scaling of prey diversity in ponds at local and regional spatial scales. While fish reduced both local and regional richness, their effects were markedly more intense at the regional scale. Underlying this result was that the presence of fish made localities within metacommunities more similar in their community composition (lower β‐diversity), suggesting that fish enhance the deterministic, relative to the stochastic, components of community assembly. Thus, the presence of predators can alter fundamental mechanisms of community assembly and the scaling of diversity within metacommunities.
A SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION OF VOLATILITY MODELS
Authors: Caporin Massimiliano , McAleer Michael
Published: September 2009

Abstract Modeling volatility, or predictable changes over time and space in a variable, is crucial in the natural and social sciences. Life can be volatile, and anything that matters, and which changes over time and space, involves volatility. Without volatility, many temporal and spatial variables would simply be constants. Our purpose is to propose a scientific classification of the alternative volatility models and approaches that are available in the literature, following the Linnaean taxonomy. This scientific classification is used because the literature has evolved as a living organism, with the birth of numerous new species of models.
COLLATERAL AND CREDIT RATIONING: A REVIEW OF RECENT EMPIRICAL STUDIES AS A GUIDE FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
Authors: Steijvers Tensie , Voordeckers Wim
Published: September 2009

Abstract The relationship between firms and banks often suffers from informational opacity that may result in credit rationing. In theory, providing collateral to the bank can have a mitigating effect on these informational asymmetries and thus solve the credit‐rationing problem. Even though collateral is already a widespread debt contract feature, recent trends predict that, in the future, collateral will become even more important for informationally opaque firms. The aim of this paper is twofold. First, we provide a review of the recently growing empirical research on collateral as a remedy for credit rationing. Second, we would like to pinpoint gaps and limitations in current empirical research. Most studies contend with a flawed research design by not distinguishing between business and personal collateral and excluding other information opaqueness reducing tools such as the strength of the relationship between borrower and lender, loan maturity and covenants. We also discuss the limitations of using a single equation estimation method and the usefulness of incorporating interaction effects into the estimation models. Finally, we provide suggestions for fruitful research avenues that would fill these gaps and enrich the empirical knowledge in this research domain.
Beyond Corporate Responsibility: Implications for Management Development
Authors: WADDOCK SANDRA , McINTOSH MALCOLM
Published: September 2009

Since the mid‐1990s we have witnessed the rise of numerous constructive and positive activities aimed at developing or enhancing corporate responsibility and corporate citizenship as well as anti‐globalization and anticorporate activism. And, of course, in 2008, we witnessed the meltdown of financial markets and numerous financial institutions as well as some major companies teetering on the brink of collapse. What is actually needed to create the world that many people want to live in may in fact be a new relationship between business and society, that is, new ways of looking at the corporation and its role in society, both in practice and in management education? We will argue that some initiatives, such as Corporation 2020, have already begun to explore these issues by taking a more holistic perspective on different purposes and roles of the corporation in the future. Management education, which has been severely criticized in the aftermath of the economic crisis, has an important role to play, but in a changed form. Implications for leadership and management education include the need to shift cognitive, moral, and emotional levels of development, renewed emphasis on balance both individually and socially, a less is more sensibility, a holistic systems perspective, and shifting the purpose of the firm to encompass not just shareholder needs, but also societal, stakeholder, and ecological needs and interests. In this article we explore some of the ways in which these attributes might be engendered in future leaders, at least in those management development and education programs interested in fostering a new wave of progressive leadership in management for the future.
Insights from a Management Prophet: Mary Parker Follett on Social Entrepreneurship
Authors: Simms Michele
Published: September 2009

Current‐day management leaders such as Peter Drucker and Rosabeth Moss Kanter have cited Mary Parker Follett as guru and prophet given her foreknowledge of systems theory, action research and leadership. She viewed business as a social institution and work itself as a community service, concepts particularly relevant in the context of understanding social entrepreneurship. Referencing two of her works, “The Individual in Society” and “Business in Society”, this paper introduces Follett, defines social entrepreneurship and presents her ideas as timely insights on the meaning of work, ethics and the role of business in society.
Coming back to life: From indicator to stereotype and a strange story of frequency1
Authors: Aaron Jessi Elana
Published: September 2009

In the history of Spanish there are five forms, originally from the same lexical item, co‐existing: así, asín, ansí, asina, and ansina, all meaning ‘like that’. Standard Modern Spanish includes only one of these: así. This is not the case, however, in New Mexican Spanish. This corpus‐based study examines the patterns of synchronic variation in New Mexican Spanish, as well as the near death and transformed rebirth of forms other than standard así in literature. Multivariate analysis suggests a decline in non‐standard variants in New Mexico, associated with rural activities and objects, and with older, less‐educated speakers. The synchronic idiosyncrasy of stereotypes is confirmed, while the quantitative diachronic patterns found may prove to be a regular pattern for developing stereotypes in literary texts: a slow decline in frequency followed by a sharp rise.
How Many Ways Can you Look at a Proportion?: Cross-Community Vote Transfers in Northern Ireland After the Belfast Agreement
Authors: O’Kelly Michael , Doyle John , Boland Philip J.
Published: September 2009

The single transferable vote is a method of election that allows voters to mark candidates in order of preference. Votes that are not required to elect a candidate are passed to the next candidate in the voter’s order of preference. Results of this kind of election give us data about the degree to which voters of a given persuasion are willing to pass their vote to a candidate of a different persuasion. Measures of voters’ willingness to pass a vote to a candidate of a different persuasion are of particular interest in places such as Northern Ireland, where communities differ by religion and national aspiration, and agreed new political institutions are based on cross-community power-sharing. How we quantify this voting data may depend on the questions that we want to answer, of course. But, to understand changes in how the voter orders her or his preference, one may need to ask several questions, and to quantify the results of the election in more than one way.
Internuclear and supranuclear disorders of eye movements: clinical features and causes
Authors: Karatas M.
Published: September 2009

Eye movements bring visual stimuli to the fovea and also maintain foveal fixation on a moving target and during head movements. These movements are performed by the ocular motor system that consists of ocular motor nerves and nuclei in the brainstem originating in the cerebral cortex, cerebellum, vestibular structures, and the extraocular muscles. The ocular motor system is divided according to anatomic location into infranuclear, nuclear, internuclear, and supranuclear components. It is important to distinguish supranuclear and internuclear from nuclear and infranuclear disturbances affecting cranial nerves III, IV, and VI, because the disturbances are of highly varied causes and present different clinical pictures. Internuclear ophthalmoplegia is due to a lesion of the medial longitudinal fasciculus, caused by multiple sclerosis in younger patients, particularly when the ophthalmoplegia is bilateral, and usually of vascular origin in the elderly. Eye movement abnormalities of supranuclear origin are characterized by gaze palsies, tonic gaze deviation, saccadic and smooth pursuit disorders, vergence abnormalities, nystagmus, and ocular oscillations. Supranuclear disorders result from lesions above the level of the ocular motor nerve nuclei. If oculocephalic maneuvers move the eyes appropriately, the lesion causing the gaze palsy is supranuclear. Supranuclear disorders account for almost 10% of all patients with disorders of eye movements.
Ultrastructural assessments of the melanosome distribution patterns and pigmentation features in human epidermal cells after UV irradiation and kojic acid treatment
Authors: Vie K. , Fitoussi R. , Mathieu É. , Benetti L. D. , Gooris É. , Hemmerlé J.
Published: September 2009

Synopsis

It is well‐known that skin pigmentation depends, among others, on number, aggregation and distribution of melanosomes in the epidermis. Here we describe a correlative microscopy‐based ultrastructural approach that investigates the spatial distribution and pigmentation features of the melanosomes within melanocytes and keratinocytes. Data obtained from control skin, ultraviolet (UV)‐stimulated tissue and kojic acid‐treated UV‐irradiated explants are compared. We introduce original parameters for the evaluation of the aggregation and pigmentation features of the melanosomes: the aggregation and pigmentation indexes. The aggregation index evaluates the presence of clustered melanosomes when the pigmentation index expresses the electron‐density level of the pigment granules. The present study demonstrates that the last parameters clearly express histological effects induced by UVB irradiation. Results indicate that UV light did not change the number of melanosomes within either melanocytes or keratinocytes, but it definitely modified the distribution patterns of the pigment granules in both cell types. It also enhanced the pigmentation state of the epidermal cells. Moreover, statistical analysis concerning keratinocytes discloses a significant decrease in the mean pigmentation index when explants exposed to UV light were treated with kojic acid. Obviously, the present numerical findings point out the relevance of the introduced parameters to characterize the pigmentation state of skin.
Neurological Mechanisms of Migraine: Potential of the Gap-Junction Modulator Tonabersat in Prevention of Migraine
Authors: Durham PL , Garrett FG
Published: September 2009

Migraine is a neurovascular disorder characterized by recurrent episodic headaches, and is caused by abnormal processing of sensory information due to peripheral and/or central sensitization. The exact pathophysiological mechanism underlying migraine is not fully understood; however, cortical spreading depression (CSD) is thought to provide the basis for migraine aura and may serve as a trigger of migraine pain. CSD depends on neuronal-glial cell communication, which is mediated by intercellular transfer of messengers through connexin-containing gap junctions, as well as messengers released into the extracellular space by non-junctional connexin-containing hemichannels. These processes are believed to be important in peripheral sensitization within the trigeminal ganglion and to lead to central sensitization. The novel benzopyran compound tonabersat binds selectively to a unique site in the brain. In preclinical studies, tonabersat markedly reduced CSD and CSD-associated events and inhibited gap-junction communication between neurons and satellite glial cells in the trigeminal ganglion. Together, these findings suggest that tonabersat should have clinical application in preventing migraine attacks.
Sacred Places, Domestic Spaces: Material Culture, Church, and Home at Our Lady of the Assumption and St. Brigitta
Authors: Konieczny Mary Ellen
Published: September 2009

The relationship between the material culture of public worship and congregants' homes is explored in a study of two Catholic parishes—theologically liberal St. Brigitta and conservative Our Lady of Assumption. At St. Brigitta, congregants' worship space is almost devoid of religious art and ritual objects are plain, but worshippers' homes are rich in decorative objects. By contrast, masses at Our Lady of the Assumption take place in a church filled with devotional art and ornate objects, but worshippers' homes are spare, neutrally furnished, and display few decorations. Distinct congregational logics surrounding the making of the self help to explain the material culture differences: St. Brigitta parishioners value individualized self‐expression whereas Assumption's members subordinate individuality to family and church identities. Individuals use material objects not only for self‐expression, but also to explicitly shape identities and make the self.
Religiosity and Spiritual Engagement in Two American Indian Populations
Authors: Garroutte Eva M. , Beals Janette , Keane Ellen M. , Kaufman Carol , Spicer Paul , Henderson Jeff , Henderson Patricia N. , Mitchell Christina M. , Manson Spero M. ,   And The AI‐SUPERPFP Team
Published: September 2009

Social scientific investigation into the religiospiritual characteristics of American Indians rarely includes analysis of quantitative data. After reviewing information from ethnographic and autobiographical sources, we present analyses of data from a large, population‐based sample of two tribes (n = 3,084). We examine salience of belief in three traditions: aboriginal, Christian, and Native American Church. We then investigate patterns in sociodemographic subgroups, determining the significant correlates of salience with other variables controlled. Finally, we examine frequency with which respondents assign high salience to only one tradition (exclusivity) or multiple traditions (nonexclusivity), again investigating subgroup variations. This first detailed, statistical portrait of American Indian religious and spiritual lives links work on tribal ethnic identity to theoretical work on America's “religious marketplace.” Results may also inform social/behavioral interventions that incorporate religiospiritual elements.
Higher Education as Moral Community: Institutional Influences on Religious Participation During College
Authors: Hill Jonathan P.
Published: September 2009

Borrowing from the literature on religion and deviance, the concept of moral communities is applied to religious and secular postsecondary education to explain institutional influences on student religious participation. Results from nationally representative panel data indicate that students attending Catholic and mainline Protestant affiliated institutions decline in religious participation at a faster rate than students attending evangelical institutions or students attending nonreligious public colleges and universities. This finding is consistent with Catholic and mainline Protestant institutions less successfully providing a shared moral order that legitimates religious language, motive, and behavior when compared to conservative Protestant colleges. At the same time, the religious and ethnic pluralism that activates minority religious identity at nonreligious public institutions is also less likely to be present on Catholic and mainline Protestant college campuses. Additional results indicate that evangelical students' religious participation declines while attending Catholic colleges and universities, while Catholic students increase their participation while attending evangelical institutions. The religious composition of students may act to alter friendship networks, and thus participation rates, on these campuses, although further research is necessary to validate the proposed institutional mechanisms.
Randomised controlled trial of parent groups for child antisocial behaviour targeting multiple risk factors: the SPOKES project
Authors: Scott Stephen , Sylva Kathy , Doolan Moira , Price Jenny , Jacobs Brian , Crook Carolyn , Landau Sabine
Published: September 2009

Background:  There is a pressing need for cost‐effective population‐based interventions to tackle early‐onset antisocial behaviour. As this is determined by many factors, it would seem logical to devise interventions that address several influences while using an efficient means of delivery. The aim of this trial was to change four risk factors that predict poor outcome: ineffective parenting, conduct problems, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, and low reading ability.

Methods:  A randomised controlled trial was carried out in eight schools in London, England. Nine hundred and thirty‐six (936) 6‐year‐old children were screened for antisocial behaviour, then parents of 112 high scorers were randomised to parenting groups held in schools or control; 109 were followed up a year later. The intervention lasted 28 weeks and was novel as it had components to address both child behaviour (through the Incredible Years programme) and child literacy (through a new ‘SPOKES’ programme to help parents read with their children). Fidelity of implementation was emphasised by careful training of therapists and weekly supervision. Controls received an information helpline. Assessment of conduct problems was by parent interview, parenting by direct observation and child reading by psychometric testing.

Results:  At follow‐up parents allocated to the intervention used play, praise and rewards, and time out more often than controls, and harsh discipline less; effect sizes ranged from .31 to .59 sd (p‐values .046 to .005). Compared to control children, whose behaviour didn’t change, intervention children’s conduct problems reduced by .52sd, (p < .001), dropping from the 80th to the 61st percentile; oppositional‐defiant disorder (ODD) halved from 60% to 31% (p = .003). ADHD symptoms reduced by .44sd (p = .002), and reading age improved by six months (.36sd, p = .027). Teacher‐rated behaviour didn’t change. The programme cost £2,380 ($3,800) per child.

Conclusions:  Effective population‐based early intervention to improve the functioning of with antisocial behaviour is practically feasible by targeting multiple risk factors and emphasising implementation fidelity.
Seasonal variation in the diet of Galidictis grandidieri Wozencraft, 1986 (Carnivora: Eupleridae) in a sub‐arid zone of extreme south‐western Madagascar
Authors: Andriatsimietry R. , Goodman S. M. , Razafimahatratra E. , Jeglinski J. W. E. , Marquard M. , Ganzhorn J. U.
Published: September 2009

We describe the diet of Grandidier's Vontsira Galidictis grandidieri (family Eupleridae), one of the rarest carnivorans in the world and restricted to an area of 400 km2 in the spiny forest of south‐western Madagascar. From May 2006 to May 2007, 342 G. grandidieri scats were collected in the Parc National de Tsimanampetsotsa – 256 faecal samples in the dry season and 86 in the wet season. In total, 886 prey items were identified from these scats. Invertebrates (principally large cockroaches of the genus Gromphadorhina) were the most frequently eaten prey. Even though vertebrates comprised only 8 and 17% of prey individuals in the diet of G. grandidieri during the dry and wet seasons, they contributed 58 and 80% of the prey biomass in each season, respectively. About 90% of all prey consumed had body masses below 10 g. This is well below the weight of the prey consumed by Cryptoprocta ferox, the only native carnivoran occurring in sympatry with G. grandidieri, making competition for food between the two species unlikely.
Are parents gender neutral when financing their children's consumption?
Authors: Brusdal Ragnhild , Berg Lisbet
Published: September 2009

Children are consumers from early on, but they are dependent on financial support from their parents for many years. Based on a survey among 1173 Norwegian children aged 8–24 years, we examine how children's consumption is financed and how their main financial sources change during childhood, distinguishing between pocket money and odd jobs on the one hand and gainful employment and study loans on the other. Our analysis demonstrates how parental monetary support decreases as years go by and is replaced by gainful employment and study loans. We ask whether parents are gender neutral in supporting their children's consumption or not. This is done by comparing the distribution of pocket money among girls and boys, as well as the amount of money given to the respective genders for special consumer goods. Girls and boys have divergent preferences and often exhibit different spending patterns. The analysis of the six selected fields of consumption showed significant gender differences in four of them. By comparing what children choose to pay for with their own money with what they influence their parents to pay for, we find that parents' financial support tend to have a moderating effect on their children's own gender‐biased preferences.