bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Esophageal saturation during antegrade cerebral perfusion: a preliminary report using visible light spectroscopy
Authors: HENINGER CARLY , RAMAMOORTHY CHANDRA , AMIR GABRIEL , KAMRA KOMAL , REDDY V. MOHAN , HANLEY FRANK L. , BROCK‐UTNE JOHN G.
Published: May 2006

Background:  Visible light spectroscopy (VLS) is newer technology that measures real‐time tissue oxygenation. It has been validated in detecting mucosal ischemia in adults. During complex neonatal heart surgery, antegrade cerebral perfusion (ACP) maintains cerebral saturation. Whether ACP maintains peripheral tissue perfusion in humans is not known.

Methods:  Five patients undergoing neonatal open heart surgery with hypothermic cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) were studied using a VLS esophageal probe in addition to bilateral near infrared cerebral oximetry. Three of five patients required ACP for arch repair, while two patients did not. VLS and cerebral saturation data were collected and analyzed in 5 min intervals prior to CPB, during CPB, and during ACP.

Results:  In the two patients undergoing heart surgery with routine hypothermic CPB, both cerebral and esophageal saturations were maintained. However in all three neonates requiring ACP, although cerebral saturations did not decrease, esophageal saturation fell below the ischemic threshold (35%). Following establishment of normal CPB, esophageal saturation returned to baseline.

Conclusions:  Antegrade cerebral perfusion maintains cerebral oxygen delivery, however, it does not adequately perfuse the esophagus in neonates. This could have clinical implications.
Anesthesia and Prader–Willi syndrome: preliminary experience with regional anesthesia
Authors: LEGRAND RYAN , TOBIAS JOSEPH D.
Published: May 2006

The constellation of neonatal hypotonia, developmental delay, hypogonadism and obesity caused by hyperphagia was first reported in 1956 and subsequently termed Prader–Willi syndrome (PWS). Genetic analysis has demonstrated abnormalities of chromosome 15. Anesthesia concerns of PWS include morbid obesity, the potential for difficulties with airway management, risk for perioperative respiratory failure, abnormalities in the central control of ventilation and temperature, rare reports of primary myocardial involvement, aggressive and at times violent behavior and glucose intolerance. For the first time, we report the use of regional anesthesia in four patients with PWS. A lumbar plexus catheter was used to provide postoperative analgesia in one patient while regional anesthesia (fasica iliaca block, spinal anesthesia, and lateral vertical infraclavicular block) was used to provide primary intraoperative anesthesia in three other patients while avoiding the need for general anesthesia. Previous reports of the anesthesia care of patients with PWS are reviewed and the potential perioperative implications of the sequelae of PWS are discussed.
Lidocaine pretreatment for the prevention of propofol‐induced transient motor disturbances in children during anesthesia induction: a randomized controlled trial in children undergoing invasive hematologic procedures
Authors: BILOTTA FEDERICO , FERRI FRANCESCA , SORIANO SULPICIO G. , FAVARO ROBERTO , ANNINO LUCIANA , ROSA GIOVANNI
Published: May 2006

Background:  We examined the effect of lidocaine pretreatment before propofol administration on the incidence of transient motor disturbances and on propofol requirements for anesthesia induction in infants and children undergoing repeated painful diagnostic and therapeutic hematological procedures.

Methods:  A series of 358 children subgrouped according to the presence of a peripheral‐vein or central venous catheter were randomly assigned to receive an intravenous dose of 2% lidocaine (2.0 mg·kg−1) or an equivalent volume of saline, 1 min before propofol (1.5–3.5 mg·kg−1) injected for anesthesia induction.

Results:  The incidence of spontaneous movements was significantly lower in patients pretreated with lidocaine than in those receiving placebo (2.5% vs 29%; P < 0.001, by chi‐square test), as was the propofol induction dose (1.6 ± 0.2 mg·kg−1 vs 2.2 ± 0.3 mg·kg−1; P < 0.001) and pain at the injection site in patients peripheral‐vein catheter (12% vs. 54%; P < 0.001). Lidocaine administration also improved children's acceptance as reported by parents on the Observational Scale of Behavioral Distress administered 2 h after the procedure (6.5 ± 2.5 vs. 9.4 ± 3.3; P < 0.001). Bouts of coughing developed significantly more frequently after lidocaine pretreatment than after placebo (62.5% vs. 17.5%; P < 0.001).

Conclusions:  Because lidocaine pretreatment before the induction of propofol‐based anesthesia decreases propofol‐induced motor disturbances, lowers hypnotic requirements and reduces pain at the injection site, without inducing untoward events, thus improving children's and parental acceptance, it should become standard practice in infants and children undergoing repeated painful diagnostic and therapeutic hematological procedures.
Value of bispectral index monitor in differentiating between moderate and deep Ramsay Sedation Scores in children
Authors: MASON KEIRA P. , MICHNA EDWARD , ZURAKOWSKI DAVID , BURROWS PATRICIA E. , PIRICH MICHELE A. , CARRIER MAUREEN , FONTAINE PAULETTE J. , SETHNA NAVIL F.
Published: May 2006

Background:  Pediatric patients who undergo diagnostic radiological imaging studies routinely require moderate or deep sedation to a Ramsay Sedation Score (RSS) of 4 or 5, respectively. The correlation between moderate and deep RSS and bispectral index (BIS) in children has never been validated. This study was designed to determine whether the BIS values correlate with RSS of children sedated for diagnostic imaging studies.

Methods:  After Institutional Review Board approval, data were prospectively collected on all children receiving pentobarbital alone for computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging. On arrival in the recovery room, any child assigned a Ramsay score of 4 or 5 was subsequently monitored with the BIS. Receiver‐operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to evaluate the discriminative ability of BIS in differentiating depth of anesthesia.

Results:  A total of 86 children over 1 year of age were enrolled. Children with Ramsay 4 (moderate) and Ramsay 5 (deep) sedation scores showed no significant difference in age or pentobarbital dose (mg·kg−1). BIS values followed a normal Gaussian‐shaped distribution for both Ramsay scores. There was no significant difference in mean BIS values between the Ramsay groups (P = 0.64). There was a wide variation in BIS values (range of 31–90), which demonstrates that the BIS monitor does not correlate with the clinically assigned RSS depth of anesthesia in children. The ROC curve for BIS is equivalent to a line of nondiscrimination.

Conclusion:  BIS has limited ability to distinguish between moderate and deep Ramsay sedation levels in children who receive pentobarbital sedation for diagnostic imaging studies.
Transmission assumptions generate conflicting predictions in host–vector disease models: a case study in West Nile virus
Authors: Wonham Marjorie J. , Lewis Mark A. , Rencławowicz Joanna , Van Den Driessche P.
Published: May 2006

This review synthesizes the conflicting outbreak predictions generated by different biological assumptions in host–vector disease models. It is motivated by the North American outbreak of West Nile virus, an emerging infectious disease that has prompted at least five dynamical modelling studies. Mathematical models have long proven successful in investigating the dynamics and control of infectious disease systems. The underlying assumptions in these epidemiological models determine their mathematical structure, and therefore influence their predictions. A crucial assumption is the host–vector interaction encapsulated in the disease‐transmission term, and a key prediction is the basic reproduction number, ℛ0. We connect these two model elements by demonstrating how the choice of transmission term qualitatively and quantitatively alters ℛ0and therefore alters predicted disease dynamics and control implications. Whereas some transmission terms predict that reducing the host population will reduce disease outbreaks, others predict that this will exacerbate infection risk. These conflicting predictions are reconciled by understanding that different transmission terms apply biologically only at certain population densities, outside which they can generate erroneous predictions. For West Nile virus, ℛ0estimates for six common North American bird species indicate that all would be effective outbreak hosts.
Catecholamine storage vesicles and the metabolic syndrome: the role of the chromogranin A fragment pancreastatin
Authors: Zhang Kuixing , Rao Fangwen , Wen Gen , Salem Rany M. , Vaingankar Sucheta , Mahata Manjula , Mahapatra Nitish R. , Lillie Elizabeth O. , Cadman Peter E. , Friese Ryan S. , Hamilton Bruce A. , Hook Vivian Y. , Mahata Sushil K. , Taupenot Laurent , O’Connor Daniel T.
Published: May 2006

Chromogranins or secretogranins (granins), present in secretory granules of virtually all neuroendocrine cells and neurones, are structurally related proteins encoded by different genetic loci: chromogranins A and B, and secretogranins II through VI. Compelling evidence supports both intracellular and extracellular functions for this protein family. Within the cells of origin, a granulogenic or sorting role in the regulated pathway of hormone or neurotransmitter secretion has been documented, especially for chromogranin A (CHGA). Granins also function as pro‐hormones, giving rise by proteolytic processing to an array of peptide fragments for which diverse autocrine, paracrine, and endocrine activities have been demonstrated. CHGA measurements yield insight into the pathogenesis of such human diseases as essential hypertension, in which deficiency of the catecholamine release‐inhibitory CHGA fragment catestatin may trigger sympathoadrenal overactivity as an aetiologic culprit in the syndrome. The CHGA dysglycaemic fragment pancreastatin is functional in humans in vivo, affecting both carbohydrate (glucose) and lipid (fatty acid) metabolism. Pancreastatin is cleaved from CHGA in hormone storage granules in vivo, and its plasma concentration varies in human disease. The pancreastatin region of CHGA gives rise to three naturally occurring human variants, one of which (Gly297Ser) occurs in the functionally important carboxy‐terminus of the peptide, and substantially increases the peptide’s potency to inhibit cellular glucose uptake. These observations establish a role for pancreastatin in human intermediary metabolism and disease, and suggest that qualitative hereditary alterations in pancreastatin’s primary structure may give rise to interindividual differences in glucose disposition.
Sister species within the Triops cancriformis lineage (Crustacea, Notostraca)
Authors: Korn Michael , Marrone Federico , Pérez‐Bote Jose L. , Machado Margarida , Cristo Margarida , Da Fonseca Luís Cancela , Hundsdoerfer Anna K.
Published: May 2006

We investigated the phylogenetic relationships among the three presently recognized subspecies of the tadpole shrimp, Triops cancriformis, using mitochondrial 16S and 12S rDNA sequences. Our results indicate that the taxon is divided into two distinct lineages. One lineage is formed of T. c. cancriformis populations and samples from northern Spain that had been classified as T. c. simplex in the most recent literature. The second lineage comprises all populations of T. c. mauritanicus and northern African populations of T. c. simplex. These two main lineages separated 2.3 to 8.9 million years ago, based on the range of inferred molecular clocks recognized for crustacean mtDNA sequence divergence. Percentages of divergence are in the range reported for recognized species in other notostracan lineages and we therefore propose to recognize them as two species, Triops cancriformis and Triops mauritanicus. The latter would comprise two subspecies in northern Africa, one consisting of the Moroccan populations of the former T. c. mauritanicus, the other comprising the African populations of the former T. c. simplex. It also includes three as‐yet unnamed lineages. A comparison of morphological characters with the molecular data revealed that the former T. c. simplex cannot be reliably separated from T. c. cancriformis, using morphological characters that have hitherto been used to distinguish among subspecies of T. cancriformis. Our investigation is the first to demonstrate the presence of T. c. cancriformis in Africa (Tunisia). The genetic haplotypes of these populations are identical with haplotypes also occurring in Central and Western Europe, as well as in Sicily. Therefore, we hypothesize that the African populations of T. c. cancriformis represent a result of repeated long‐distance dispersal across the Mediterranean Sea.
RECOGNIZING STRONG AND WEAK OPINION CLAUSES
Authors: Wilson Theresa , Wiebe Janyce , Hwa Rebecca
Published: May 2006

There has been a recent swell of interest in the automatic identification and extraction of opinions and emotions in text. In this paper, we present the first experimental results classifying the intensity of opinions and other types of subjectivity and classifying the subjectivity of deeply nested clauses. We use a wide range of features, including new syntactic features developed for opinion recognition. We vary the learning algorithm and the feature organization to explore the effect this has on the classification task. In 10‐fold cross‐validation experiments using support vector regression, we achieve improvements in mean‐squared error over baseline ranging from 49% to 51%. Using boosting, we achieve improvements in accuracy ranging from 23% to 96%.
THE IMPORTANCE OF NEUTRAL EXAMPLES FOR LEARNING SENTIMENT
Authors: Koppel Moshe , Schler Jonathan
Published: May 2006

Most research on learning to identify sentiment ignores “neutral” examples, learning only from examples of significant (positive or negative) polarity. We show that it is crucial to use neutral examples in learning polarity for a variety of reasons. Learning from negative and positive examples alone will not permit accurate classification of neutral examples. Moreover, the use of neutral training examples in learning facilitates better distinction between positive and negative examples.
LEARNING TO LAUGH (AUTOMATICALLY): COMPUTATIONAL MODELS FOR HUMOR RECOGNITION
Authors: Mihalcea Rada , Strapparava Carlo
Published: May 2006

Humor is one of the most interesting and puzzling aspects of human behavior. Despite the attention it has received in fields such as philosophy, linguistics, and psychology, there have been only few attempts to create computational models for humor recognition or generation. In this article, we bring empirical evidence that computational approaches can be successfully applied to the task of humor recognition. Through experiments performed on very large data sets, we show that automatic classification techniques can be effectively used to distinguish between humorous and non‐humorous texts, with significant improvements observed over a priori known baselines.
Diamonds Are a Rebel's Best Friend
Authors: Olsson Ola
Published: May 2006

Many countries that produce rough diamonds have experienced a highly adverse pattern of economic development. In this article, we propose that the primary reason for the negative impact is that diamonds easily become the prize in predatory struggles between loot‐seeking rebels and more or less kleptocratic governments. In weakly institutionalised countries like Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone, this theory works well, but it does not explain the impressive growth record of diamond‐rich Botswana and Namibia. For a deeper understanding of these countries’ success, we point at the crucial differences between kimberlite and alluvial mining and the effect of having the world‐leading firm De Beers as a partner. Indeed, we argue that in countries like Angola, diamonds can never be a major vehicle for sustained growth, although the ongoing Kimberley process for eliminating conflict diamonds probably has contributed to making several African countries more stable.
Geographical Location of Foreign Direct Investment and Wage Inequality in China
Authors: Ma Alyson C.
Published: May 2006

This paper examines the relationships between distance and the transportation costs of international trade on the location‐specific effects of foreign direct invest‐ment and provincial per capita income in China. Applying the economic geography model proposed by Redding and Venables (2004), it traces the increasing wage inequality among the coastal and inland provinces by focusing on the distance of foreign‐owned firms from access to international markets and to suppliers of intermediate inputs. First, a gravity‐type equation is used to construct the ‘market access’ and ‘supplier access’ variables. Then, the effect of market and supplier access on provincial wage rates is estimated. The results indicate that distance does affect international trade and geography explains roughly one‐third of the wage differential. Greater market access increases the provincial wage gap, while larger supplier access increases the wage difference in trade destined for the foreign market but decreases the wage difference in trade targeted for the domestic market. Similar findings also result from applying the estimations to two local firm types: state‐owned enterprises and collective‐owned enterprises.
Trade‐Policy Issues and Policy Options for Japan and the United States: Introduction and Overview
Authors: Saxonhouse Gary R. , Stern Robert M.
Published: May 2006

This symposium includes papers that analyse a number of issues that are likely to play a key role in the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) negotiations. These issues are analysed from the perspective of US‐Japanese economic relations. In these papers, the economic effects of the WTO negotiating options available to both countries are explored. A final paper examines the important issues raised by the free trade agreements (FTAs) that have or will soon be negotiated by the United States and Japan. Brief summaries of the papers are provided. With all the advantages that have accrued to Japan from the multilateral trading system, it is not surprising that for many years Japan, alone among the world's major economies, stayed aloof from regional trading arrangements. The very past success of the multilateral trading system has made further progress at this level far more complex and has pushed many countries, Japan included, to look to new and deeper regional trading agreements as a more productive path. But it should not be forgotten that while FTAs may be easier to conclude, their benefits are modest compared with what can be gained from a successful Doha Round, and the costs from new distortions imposed on regional trade can be very significant for some of the world's poorer economies. Every good reason remains for Japan to continue to wish to be a pillar of the WTO and of the new Doha Round.
Failure of the WTO Ministerial Conference at Cancun: Reasons and Remedies
Authors: Baldwin Robert E.
Published: May 2006

This paper first discusses four general developments in the world trading system that have made it increasingly difficult in recent years for nations to reach multilateral agreements aimed at further liberalising international trade, namely: (1) the increased technical complexity and disruptive domestic economic effects of the issues being negotiated; (2) the shift in relative bargaining power among the negotiating participants in favour of the developing countries; (3) the proliferation of bilateral and regional free trade agreements in contrast to multilateral agreements, and (4) the increased emphasis on achieving ‘fairness’ rather than reciprocity in trade liberalisation. Differences in negotiating positions of the participants on the major specific negotiating subjects of the Doha Round, such as new rules covering investment, competition policy, government procurement policy, and trade facilitation, agricultural liberalisation, changes in anti‐dumping and countervailing duty rules, the tariff‐cutting rule to increase access to non‐agricultural markets, and further liberalisation in the services sector, are then considered as well as the likelihood of reaching compromises on these matters. Finally, the possibilities of reaching acceptable balances of concessions and gains are considered for such key participants as the Group of 20 developing countries, the European Union, the United States and other industrial countries.
Intellectual Property Rights in Agriculture and the Interests of Asian‐Pacific Economies
Authors: Maskus Keith E.
Published: May 2006

This paper describes recent and ongoing processes of technological change in agriculture, which has become a highly R&D‐intensive sector in many countries of the Asia‐Pacific region. It also considers the role of various forms of intellectual property rights (IPRs) in promoting such technological changes and in affecting their diffusion through the region. A central part of the discussion is a review of how these various IPRs operate and are protected in major economies of the region. There is an assessment of the economic interests of key countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, China, Japan and the Republic of Korea, in global and regional policy evolution in agricultural IPRs. These interests are a mix of comparative advantage in farming, which is quite distinctive among these countries, and the technological basis of production, which is more convergent. A review of available measures of innovation in the region suggests that all of these economies are active in developing new agricultural technologies, although there is considerable specialisation in the types of processes developed. Given this mix of divergence in comparative costs and convergence in technology interests, it is difficult to describe sharply the preferences these economies may have in continued globalisation of agricultural IPRs. However, the analysis points to some areas in which countries may continue to specialise – thereby retaining the ability to remain in specific areas of farming – and other fields in which international collaboration may be sensible.
East Asia's Anti‐dumping Problem
Authors: Prusa Thomas J.
Published: May 2006

East Asia accounts for a large and growing share of worldwide anti‐dumping (AD) activity. East Asian countries have long been the main targets of AD actions, accounting for about one‐third of all AD actions during the 1980s, more than 40 per cent of all AD actions during the 1990s, and almost 50 per cent of all AD actions in recent years. After controlling for factors that might influence filings such as the exchange rate and trade volume, it is found that East Asian countries are subject to about twice as many cases as either North American or Western European countries. Moreover, the trend in filings against East Asian countries is increasing, meaning that in recent years the propensity for countries to direct their AD filings against East Asian countries is growing. One concern is that the growing intensity of AD use against East Asia is driven by China‐PRC. Importantly, but a rising propensity is found even excluding China‐PRC.
Computational Analysis of the Menu of US‐Japan Trade Policies
Authors: Brown Drusilla K. , Kiyota Kozo , Stern Robert M.
Published: May 2006

We have used the Michigan Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) Model of World Production and Trade to calculate the aggregate welfare and sectoral employment effects of the menu of US‐Japan trade policies. The menu of policies encompasses the various preferential US and Japan bilateral and regional free trade agreements (FTAs) negotiated and in process, unilateral removal of existing trade barriers and global (multilateral) free trade. The welfare impacts of the FTAs on the United States and Japan are shown to be rather small in absolute and relative terms. The sectoral employment effects are also generally small but vary across the individual sectors depending on the patterns of the bilateral liberalisation. The welfare effects on the FTA partner countries are mostly positive though generally small, but there are some indications of potentially disruptive employment shifts in some partner countries. There are indications of trade diversion and detrimental welfare effects on non‐member countries for some of the FTAs analysed. In comparison to the welfare gains from the US and Japan bilateral FTAs, the gains from both unilateral trade liberalisation by the United States, Japan and the FTA partners, and from global (multilateral) free trade are shown to be rather substantial and more uniformly positive for all countries in the global trading system. The US and Japan FTAs are based on ‘hub’ and ‘spoke’ arrangements. We show that the spokes emanate out in different and often overlapping directions, suggesting that the complex of bilateral FTAs may create distortions of the global trading system.
Erythema figuratum in septic babesiosis
Authors: Moreno Giménez JC , Jiménez Puya R , Galán Gutiérrez M , Ortega Salas R , Dueñas Jurado JM
Published: May 2006

Babesiosis is a rare worldwide‐distributed protozoal zoonosis caused by a haemoprotozoan of the genus Babesia, transmitted through bites of tick of the genus Ixodes. The first demonstrated case of human babesiosis in the world was discovered in Europe, in 1957. However, most of the cases were reported later in the north‐east of the United States where Babesia microti has been the cause of over 300 cases of human babesiosis since 1969. In Europe, the most severe cases are observed in asplenic patients infected by a parasite of cattle, the Babesia divergens. Only two cases of babesiosis have been reported in Spain. We present a case of erythema figuratum associated to septic babesiosis in a non‐splenectomized man, which is currently the third case of babesiosis in Spain.
Treatment of atopic dermatitis with the xenon chloride excimer laser
Authors: Baltás E , Csoma Z , Bodai L , Ignácz F , Dobozy A , Kemény L
Published: May 2006

Background  Narrow‐band ultraviolet B phototherapy is an effictive and safe treatment for atopic dermatitis. We have previously found that the 308 nm xenon chloride excimer laser was more effective than the narrow‐band ultraviolet B light for the treatment of psoriasis, suggesting that ultraviolet B laser might offer advantages over narrow‐band ultraviolet B.

Objective  The purpose of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of the 308 nm excimer laser in atopic dermatitis.

Patients and methods  Fifteen patients with atopic dermatitis (less than 20% body area involvement) were treated with a xenon chloride excimer laser (XTRAC laser, Photomedex Inc.) twice weekly. The severity of the atopic dermatitis was assessed via (i) a clinical score characterizing the intensity of erythema, infiltration, lichenification and excoriation; (ii) the quality of life, determined by means of a questionnaire; and (iii) a visual linear analogue scale, with which the patients scored the severity of their pruritus.

Results  After 1 month of laser therapy, the clinical scores were significantly lower than the initial values. Similar decreases were observed for the quality of life and pruritus scores. No serious or unpleasant side‐effects were observed.

Conclusion  These results suggest that the xenon chloride excimer laser is an effective and well‐tolerated treatment for localized atopic dermatitis.
Cyclosporin A treatment in severe childhood psoriasis
Authors: Pereira TM , Vieira AP , Fernandes JC , Sousa‐Basto A
Published: May 2006

Though used occasionally, systemic therapies in severe childhood psoriasis have not been systematically investigated. Cyclosporin A (CysA) is effective in adults with severe psoriasis but there are no extensive data regarding the efficacy and safety of its use in childhood psoriasis. In this paper, we describe six children aged between 11 months and 13 years (average: 7.6 years) treated with CysA microemulsion formulation for severe psoriasis, who had been unresponsive to other treatments. The CysA dose ranged from 2 to 4 mg/kg/day, for periods varying from 8 to 105 weeks (mean: 54 weeks). Dose tapering was gradual after lesion improvement and adjusted according to clinical response. Adjuvant therapy with topical steroids, vitamin D3 ointments, coal tar preparations or anthralin was used in all children. Acitretin was used in three patients for short periods. The children were regularly monitored for serum renal and liver function and blood pressure. Improvement of skin lesions was achieved after between 4 and 30 (mean: 12) weeks of treatment, with complete remission in three children. Relapse of lesions occurred in the other children during CysA reduction, but they responded to a dose increase. The treatment was found to be well tolerated and with no significant side‐effects. CysA can be used in carefully selected and monitored patients and may represent an alternative tool for severe episodes of psoriasis in children, when other therapies are unsuccessful.
Religion and Political Economy in an International Panel
Authors: McCLEARY RACHEL M. , BARRO ROBERT J.
Published: May 2006

Two important theories of religiosity are the secularization hypothesis and the religion‐market model. According to the former, sometimes called a demand‐side theory, economic development reduces religious participation and beliefs. According to the latter, described as a supply‐side theory, religiosity depends on the presence of a state religion, regulation of the religion market, suppression of organized religion under Communism, and the degree of religious pluralism. We assess the theories by using survey information for 68 countries over the last 20 years, measuring attendance at formal religious services, religious beliefs, and self‐identification as religious. In accordance with the secularization view, overall economic development—represented by per capita GDP—tends to reduce religiosity. Moreover, instrumental estimates suggest that this link reflects causation from economic development to religiosity, rather than the reverse. The presence of an official state religion tends to increase religiosity, probably because of the subsidies that flow to organized religion. However, in accordance with the religion‐market model, religiosity falls with government regulation of the religion market and Communist suppression. Greater religious pluralism raises attendance at formal services but has no significant effects on religious beliefs or self‐identification as religious. Although religiosity declines overall with economic development, the nature of the interaction varies with the dimension of development. For example, religiosity is positively related to education and the presence of children and negatively related to urbanization.
Religion and Civic Culture: A Cross‐National Study of Voluntary Association Membership
Authors: LAM PUI‐YAN
Published: May 2006

This article explores how religion shapes civic cultures through a cross‐national study of voluntary association membership. I adopt a multi‐level approach to examine the influence of religion at both individual and country level. First, I hypothesize that Protestants are more likely than Catholics to hold voluntary association membership. Second, I hypothesize that Protestant nations have a higher overall membership rate compared to Catholic nations. Third, I investigate if secularization has reduced individual‐level Catholic‐Protestant differences in voluntary association membership within a nation. I test the hypotheses using hierarchical nonlinear models with individual‐level and country‐level data from 29 nations. The findings show that Protestants are more likely than Catholics to be members of voluntary associations, while there is no difference between Protestants and those who belong to “Other” or no religions. At the same time, Catholic nations have lower overall membership rates compared to Protestant nations. The results can be interpreted as a “double negative” Catholic effect. Finally, the effect of secularization on Catholic‐Protestant differences is statistically nonsignificant.
Cooperative Coalitions on the Religious Right and Left: Considering the Resilience of Sectarianism
Authors: Evans John H.
Published: May 2006

Theory in the sociology of religion suggests that a prerequisite for cooperative coalitions among religious groups on political matters is a decline in sectarianism. In analyses of survey data I show that sectarianism has receded for the religious left but not the religious right. Groups that would comprise the religious right are less likely to want the other conservative religious groups to have an influence on public opinion, while groups on the left are less opposed to other liberal groups having influence. It is particularly clear that conservative Protestants are wary of the influence of Catholics. I also conduct exploratory analyses to examine who, among the members of the religious groups who would comprise the religious right, is more sectarian. I find that while demographics are largely nondeterminative, those who are supportive of religiously‐based politics are the least sectarian.
Marginalized Experiences of Hispanic Females in Youth‐Based Religious Groups
Authors: ARMITAGE JANET S. , DUGAN RHONDA E.
Published: May 2006

As part of a larger ethnographic study on the role of religion in the lives of youth in the United States, data collected through fieldwork at Protestant evangelical ministries in the Chicago area show an emerging pattern of marginalized experiences for “at‐risk” teenaged and college‐aged Hispanic females who are involved in youth‐based religious groups and activities. We suggest a contradiction emerging from our findings: churches desire to save youth from risky behaviors, thus accommodating their ministries to meet the needs of the at‐risk youths; yet, the churches simultaneously promote traditional gender roles that foster feelings of oppression. This forces the young women into a difficult position: conform and maintain the connectedness to the ministry, or resist the traditional expectations and forfeit what a youth group provides to at‐risk youth.
Inward, Outward, Upward Prayer: Scale Reliability and Validation
Authors: Ladd Kevin L. , Spilka Bernard
Published: May 2006

This study provides support for a model that conceptualizes prayers as the means to establish cognitive connections in three directions: inward (self‐connection); outward (human‐human connection); and upward (human‐divine connections). A confirmatory factor analysis demonstrates a single general prayer factor divisible into three subfactors that are in turn comprised of eight discrete scales. Measures of general religiosity, the need for structure, religious styles of coping, well‐being, life‐satisfaction, and belief in the paranormal provide evidence of convergent and divergent validity for the theory of prayer as a mechanism for inward, outward, and upward connections.
Some Implications of Denominational Heterogeneity and Church Attendance for Alcohol Consumption Among Hispanics
Authors: FORD JULIE M.
Published: May 2006

This article evaluates complementary perspectives on the relationship between religion and alcohol among Hispanics. In particular, it examines whether religion may be related to alcohol consumption through two mechanisms, one deriving primarily from doctrinally specific norms, and the other a denominationally independent effect of social integration. The basic premise is that these mechanisms may operate in relative independence. Thus, the article argues that in a fully specified model, variations in alcohol use that are associated with prohibitive norms can be distinguished from those that are associated with membership in a religious community (irrespective of its alcohol norms). The former effect is unique to members of Protestant denominations that object to the use of alcohol; the latter also accrues to the Catholics. A separate, exploratory analysis looks at whether these effects differ by gender. The results indicate that both mechanisms reduce the likelihood of alcohol consumption, but that the doctrinally specific normative one is more powerful. Furthermore, it appears that alcohol‐use norms are more salient for men than for women, although the findings are not as robust as expected.
Does Religion Increase the Prevalence and Incidence of Obesity in Adulthood?
Authors: CLINE KRISTA M. C. , FERRARO KENNETH F.
Published: May 2006

Previous research reveals that religion in America is related to variations in body weight. This article examines the relationships between religion and both body mass index (BMI) and obesity, which have increased in prevalence in the United States over the past two decades. Using longitudinal data from a national sample of adults, this study prospectively examines whether dimensions of religious life are associated with weight gain and the development of obesity during eight years of follow‐up. We examine four dimensions of religiosity (attendance, salience, media practice, and consolation) and religious affiliation. Ordinary least squares regression analyses reveal that high levels of religious media practice are associated with higher BMI in women. Logistic regression analyses reveal that high levels of religious media practice and affiliation with a Baptist denomination increased the risk of obesity for women, but that a high level of religious consolation reduced the risk of obesity incidence for men. Attendance at religious services was associated with a lower risk of the incidence of obesity for women, suggesting the importance of studying links between dimensions of religious life and body weight.
The National Spiritual Transformation Study
Authors: SMITH TOM W.
Published: May 2006

The first nationally representative study of spiritual transformations documents that spiritual/religious change is a common and powerful experience in America. About half of all adult Americans report having had such an experience. Such change is strongly related to current religious beliefs and behaviors, but shows little relationship to most nonreligious demographics. A series of open‐ended items indicates that the leading causes of spiritual/religious change are normal religious activity and having had a serious personal problem, most often an illness or accident to oneself or someone close or the death of someone close. A strengthening of faith is the most common consequence of this experience. This is followed by changes in character (e.g., being more understanding, helpful) and the stopping of perceived bad habits (e.g., drinking, partying). The lasting importance of such spiritual/religious change is also shown by closed‐ended measures and the predictive power that the variable has in explaining various beliefs and behaviors even when controlling for other religious variables.
The broader cognitive phenotype of autism in parents: how specific is the tendency for local processing and executive dysfunction?
Authors: Bölte Sven , Poustka Fritz
Published: May 2006

Background:  The objective of this study was to investigate the tendency for local processing style (‘weak central coherence’) and executive dysfunction in parents of subjects with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared with parents of individuals with early onset schizophrenia (EOS) and mental retardation (MR).

Method:  Sixty‐two parents of subjects with ASD, 36 parents of subjects with EOS and 30 parents of subjects with MR were examined. Data on two scales indicative of local visual processing (Embedded Figures Test, Block Design) and on three executive function tests (Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Tower of Hanoi, Trailmaking Test) were collected for all participants.

Results:  Parents of subjects with ASD performed significantly faster on the Embedded Figures Test compared with both control samples. No other substantial group differences were observed.

Conclusions:  The findings indicate that an increased tendency for local processing in terms of visual disembedding could be a relatively specific core feature of the broader cognitive phenotype of autism in parents.
Sex of the first hatched chick influences survival of the brood in the herring gull (Larus argentatus)
Authors: Kim S.‐Y. , Monaghan P.
Published: May 2006

Differences in the growth rate of male and female offspring can result in different parental rearing costs for sons and daughters. Such differences may also influence the survival chances of male and female offspring when conditions are unfavourable. In birds, hatching asynchrony leads to hierarchical competition for food between siblings. Therefore, the sex of the chick in the first hatched position in the brood may influence breeding success by affecting the extent to which the later hatched chicks can compete for resources. The interaction between brood sex composition and chick performance in the herring gull Larus argentatus was examined under different environmental conditions. When environmental conditions were relatively good, chick survival within broods was better when a female was first to hatch, an effect that was most obvious later in the season. When conditions were poorer however, sex of the first hatched chicks was not related to brood survival. In neither situation did the overall primary sex ratio differ from equality. However in the year of relatively good food availability, the first chick in the brood was more likely to be male early in the season, which was when the disadvantageous effects on brood survival of males being in this position are weakest.
Limb development in pouch young of the brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) and tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii)
Authors: Lentle R. G. , Kruger M. C. , Mellor D. J. , Birtles M. , Moughan P. J.
Published: May 2006

We examined the allometric scaling of limb bones, forelimb and hindlimb musculature, and bone mineral content of the brushtail possum Trichosurus vulpecula and tammar wallaby Macropus eugenii eugenii to determine whether the pattern of development of these parameters in early pouch development fits in with the mechanical requirements necessary for true climbing following birth. In the brushtail possum the rates of increase of the forelimb and hindlimb bone widths with body mass were generally significantly lower than those predicted from the hypothesis of ‘static strain similarity’, that is 0.375, and were not significantly different from isometry. Conversely, the rates of increase of limb bone lengths with body mass were significantly greater than predicted, that is >0.25 in this species. In the wallaby the rates of increase in the widths of forelimb bones with body mass were lower than predicted by the hypothesis of static strain similarity whereas those of the hindlimb bones were higher. Again the rates of increase in forelimb and hindlimb bone lengths were all greater than predicted by the static strain hypothesis. These findings show that the neonates of both species had short wide forelimb bones better able to withstand the strain of body mass. Mineral content was lower in the forelimb bones of the pouch young of smaller body size in both species whereas the mineral content of wallaby hindlimb bones was relatively decreased in larger animals. The length of long bones scaled with positive allometry in relation to the associated mass of muscles in the limbs of both species, indicating that greater muscle mass per unit length in the neonate may compensate for the relatively low leverage of the neonatal limb bones. However, the more positive allometric scaling of the length of the hindlimb bones in relation to muscle mass indicates that the neonatal hindlimb has relatively greater muscle mass per unit length of bone. Given the relatively gracile form of the hindlimb bones, this suggests that neonatal forelimb morphology in these two species may result from the timing of birth in relation to limb development rather than the precocious specialization of the forelimb for early locomotion.
Effect of predation risk on the presence and persistence of yellow‐bellied marmot (Marmota flaviventris) colonies
Authors: Blumstein D. T. , Ozgul A. , Yovovich V. , Van Vuren D. H. , Armitage K. B.
Published: May 2006

Habitat selection may have population level consequences and ultimately may influence a population's local persistence or extinction. We capitalized on a long‐term study (1962–2004) of yellow‐bellied marmotsMarmota flaviventrisin and around the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Gothic, Colorado, USA, and compared habitat characteristics associated with food availability and predation risk to explain variation in persistence of marmots at 27 sites, and their absence at 22 additional, randomly selected sites. We classified sites as persistent, intermittent or null based on whether there was a history of extinction; intermittent sites periodically went extinct and null sites never had marmots. Logistic regression analyses revealed that environmental variables associated with visibility and safety, rather than food, correctly classified sites as persistent or non‐persistent as well as persistent or intermittent. Discriminant function analysis that included the null sites revealed that the same visibility‐related characteristics predicted where marmots were found. These results highlight the importance of variation in safety among sites in predicting long‐term population persistence, as well as a species' distribution.
Intraspecific variation in ejaculate traits of the northern watersnake (Nerodia sipedon)
Authors: Schulte‐Hostedde A. I. , Montgomerie R.
Published: May 2006

Sperm competition occurs when the sperm of more than one male compete to fertilize the eggs of a female. In reptiles, sperm competition is particularly prevalent and is an important agent of sexual selection in males. Spermatogenesis in reptiles can be energetically expensive, suggesting that there may be costs to producing high‐quality ejaculates. The northern watersnake Nerodia sipedon has a mating system characterized by aggregations in which a single female mates with multiple males, resulting in high levels of multiple paternities. Under these circumstances sperm competition is likely important, and selection should favour sperm and ejaculate traits that enhance a male's reproductive success. In this study, we examined intraspecific variation in ejaculate quality (sperm length, motility, sperm density, spermactocrit) in male watersnakes and determined whether ejaculate traits varied with body size and condition, using both size‐corrected mass and haematocrit as indices of condition. We found large variation among males in all these traits, except for sperm length. Although there was significant variation in sperm length among males, the majority of variation in sperm length occurred within rather than among individuals. Males with high haematocrit had sperm that were less variable with respect to length, and large males produced ejaculates that were less concentrated with respect to sperm than small males. The lack of condition dependence of most ejaculate traits is consistent with previous studies that indicate that male reproductive effort in this species is generally not energy limited, perhaps because of opportunistic foraging during the mating season.