bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
OIL SPILL REDUCTION AND COSTS OF SHIP DESIGN REGULATION
Authors: HOPKINS THOMAS D.
Published: January 2010

The 1990 Oil Pollution Act mandates double hulls for new ocean‐going tankers unless the U.S. Coast Guard can find superior designs to reduce oil spill risks. This paper, based on a 1991 National Research Council (NRC) study of alternative tanker designs, examines policy implications of prescribing construction standards. Alternative construction designs for tankers, such as that of the Exxon Valdez, have markedly differing effects both on oil transport costs and on the risks of future oil spills. Annual costs of shipping oil to the United States would rise by anywhere from $462 million to $2,047 billion, depending on which of five plausible designs are selected. The chief objective of such designs is to reduce the outflow of oil occurring during groundings and collisions. Over the past decade, an average of about 7,500 tons have spilled annually from these causes in U.S. waters—representing roughly 20 percent of transportation‐related maritime oil pollution in 1990. NRC‐sponsored simulation research indicates that the various designs likely would prevent 2,600–5,600 tons from being spilled in a typical year. The paper presents cost‐effectiveness comparisons of the alternatives, contrasting these with available information on societal benefits per ton of oil spill avoided. Costs appear substantial relative to benefits, and lawmakers' emphasis on design standards deflects attention from alternative risk reduction strategies—e.g., operation and maintenance measures—that warrant equal attention.
WHAT SHOULD BANKS REALLY DO?
Authors: WHITE LAWRENCE J.
Published: January 2010

With banking currently in turmoil, a new formula for bank structure and activities, for deposit insurance, and for bank regulation is necessary. This paper reviews the dilemmas of the current structure of banking in the United States and explains how the banking sector arrived at its current state of crisis. It then suggests three alternative formulas, along with their advantages and disadvantages, that could provide the future framework for banking, deposit insurance, and regulation.
CONCEPTUAL ISSUES IN COST/BENEFIT ANALYSIS OF WELFARE‐TO‐WORK PROGRAMS
Authors: Greenberg DAVID H.
Published: January 2010

During the 1980s, a number of states operated welfare‐to‐work programs on a demonstration basis and subjected these demonstrations to formal cost/benefit evaluations. This paper examines the evaluators' methods and summarizes and interprets their findings. Cost/benefit analysis of welfare‐to‐work programs can provide a rough but useful assessment of a program's efficiency in reducing welfare caseloads. But the evaluation results are more difficult to interpret than they may appear to be. For example, the results typically imply that such programs produce small net gains to society when gains and losses are measured in terms of net income. However, a sensitivity analysis measuring net gains and losses to welfare recipients in terms of changes in net utility suggests that an important modification to the evaluators' methodology might well reverse this finding in many instances.
SCHOOL‐TO‐WORK EXPERIENCE OF HISPANIC YOUTH
Authors: Santos RICHARD , Seitz PATRICIA
Published: January 2010

Selected studies based on the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth Labor Market Experiences (NLS) and the High School and Beyond Surveys (HS&B) offer both consistent and conflicting findings about the experience of Hispanics in school and work. Non‐high school completion, college attendance, and the link between education and economic gains varied by the sample selected, gender and ethnic group, and model specification. Methodological complexities prevent a meaningful synthesis of the findings. This paper focuses on these research complexities in an attempt to translate the findings into policy statements that could improve Hispanics' school‐to‐work experience.
DISCOUNTS FOR CASH IN RETAIL GASOLINE MARKETING
Authors: Barron JOHN M. , Staten MICHAEL E. , Umbeck JOHN
Published: January 2010

Before introducing cash discounting in retail gasoline markets, major oil companies offered proprietary credit cards as an unpriced service to their customers. This paper analyzes the origins of cash discounting in order to determine why oil companies introduced explicit pricing of the credit service in 1982 only to begin discouraging it by the end of the decade. Sharp increases in nominal interest rates and in the real price of gasoline between 1978–1982 spurred a rapid rise in the cost of financing accounts receivable. This increasing cost in part drove the initial decision to discount. By 1990 the discounting trend reversed as the costs of processing credit transactions and of the float associated with non‐revolving accounts receivable fell.

Using station data from Delaware in 1983 and Washington in 1989, the paper also provides two separate estimations of the subsidy to credit buyers by cash buyers.
EARLY CORRECTIVE ACTION FOR TROUBLED BANKS
Authors: French GEORGE E.
Published: January 2010

This paper presents data concerning the performance of the U.S. commercial bank supervisory system and identifies a number of needed improvements in areas including: (i) rules governing bank loss recognition, (ii) supervisory response to excessive loan concentrations and poor underwriting standards, (Hi) rules governing dividend payments by troubled banks, and (iv) the early closure or resolution of troubled banks.
EFFECTS OF WORKFARE SATURATION ON AFDC CASELOADS
Authors: Schiller BRADLEY R. , Brasher C. NIELSEN
Published: January 2010

The Family Support Act (FSA) requires states to raise welfare/work program participation rates to unprecedented levels in the 1990s. This study analyzes Ohio's welfare/work demonstration to estimate the impact of mandated high participation on welfare caseloads. The estimated caseload reductions are larger than earlier estimates due to high participation rates, an emphasis on workfare, and a multi‐year observation period.
JAPANESE ANTITRUST: RECONCILING THEORY AND EVIDENCE
Authors: Dick ANDREW R.
Published: January 2010

Japanese antitrust law exempts a variety of vertical and horizontal restraints that remain closely regulated in the United States. Despite these dissimilar antitrust environments, however, market concentration, firms' exercise of market power, and deadweight loss from monopoly are highly similar in the two countries. The hypothesis that antitrust alters the relative mix of price to non‐price competition rather than the absolute level that competition assumes might explain this empirical puzzle. Thus, this paper studies Japanese antitrust exemptions for resale price maintenance and export cartel associations to illustrate how adopting vertical and horizontal restraints has allowed Japanese firms to substitute towards forms of non‐price competition better tailored to industry characteristics.
CARBON REDUCTION COSTS IN NEW ENGLAND'S POWER SECTOR
Authors: Krause FLORENTIN , Busch JOHN , Koomey JONATHAN G.
Published: January 2010

This paper examines the cost of reducing carbon emissions in New England's power sector. The analysis relies on detailed sectoral studies of costs and resource potentials for demand‐side efficiency, cogeneration, renewables, and conventional resource options. Sectoral studies' results were integrated using a production‐cost model to estimate the total cost and rate impacts of carbon reduction strategies relative to a business‐as‐usual forecast. To capture potential uncertainties, the analysis takes into account variations in capital costs, fuel prices, resource utilization levels, and base case retirements of existing power plants. Results show that New England's power sector can freeze carbon emissions at current levels or reduce carbon emissions while simultaneously decreasing customers' total electricity bills.
INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT AND WATER QUALITY
Authors: Moffitt L. JOE
Published: January 2010

Integrated pest management (IPM) is a promising alternative to conventional pesticide‐based pest control because IPM practices are less likely to pollute water supplies. Rational application of IPM principles is at least as profitable for farmers as is conventional pest control. However, better protection of water quality is not automatic. Publicly funded IPM programs should explicitly incorporate water and other environmental quality objectives to help ensure that farmers achieve these goals.
INSTITUTIONAL DETERMINISM AND THE RISE OF THE WESTERN WORLD
Authors: JONES E. L.
Published: January 2010

We tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency and demoralisation.
IMPOSED HEALTH INSURANCE IN MONOPOLISTIC MARKETS: A THEORETICAL ANALYSIS
Authors: “TED” FRECH H. E. , GINSBURG PAUL B.
Published: January 2010

The impact of public health insurance on price and output of medical care is analyzed within the context of monopolistic markets for health services. An important result, which is not obtained in competitive markets, is that indemnity benefits cause smaller price increases than service benefits, both directly and indirectly through the effect of benefit structure on the production of information. Various types of price regulation are considered, including limitation to “usual, customary, and prevailing” levels, a frequently used technique. With a simple dynamic model this type of regulation is shown to cause chronic price inflation.
TESTING A LIFE‐CYCLE HYPOTHESIS OF THE BALANCE‐OF‐PAYMENTS EFFECTS OF MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS
Authors: PRACHOWNY MARTIN F. J. , RICHARDSON J. DAVID
Published: January 2010

This paper proposes one possible determinant of the diversity of experience and behavior of multinational corporations and examines it empirically. The determinant is the “age” of foreign operations or “maturity” of foreign experience. We find empirical support for the proposition that the balance‐of‐payments flows between U.S. manufacturing parents and their foreign affiliates follow a predictable life cycle or sequence. We also find that the lags between “youth” and “full maturity” are perhaps much longer than the existing literature has suggested.
GRADUATE EDUCATION AND PRIVATE RATES OF RETURN: A REVIEW OF THEORY AND EMPIRICISM
Authors: CAMPBELL J. M. , CURTIS THOMAS D.
Published: January 2010

In this paper twelve recent studies regarding private rates of return for graduate education are reviewed and evaluated. Possible sources of error due to data base, methodology and interpretation of results are examined and compared. After this has been done, the authors calculate returns to graduate education with spatial distribution problems and job security incorporated in the model. The article concludes that the typical rate of return method has been pushed about as far as it can go and now is the time for the economic profession to develop more meaningful techniques which will allow us to come to grips with the policy issues regarding the level of support for education.
FIRM AND INDUSTRY RESPONSE TO CHANGED MARKET CONDITIONS: AN EVOLUTIONARY APPROACH
Authors: NELSON RICHARD R. , WINTER SIDNEY G.
Published: January 2010

This paper describes an evolutionary theory of the response of firms in a competitive industry to changed market conditions. Search and selection replace the more orthodox assumptions of profit maximizing and zero profit long run equilibrium. The particular assumptions needed to assure that the direction of response of such an evolutionary system is the same as that predicted by more orthodox theory are explored. While an evolutionary theory and a more orthodox one yield many of the same positive qualitative predictions, they differ sharply in a number of other respects, and these are considered in detail.
WHICH PRICE INDEX FOR ESCALATING DEBTS?
Authors: JONES ROBERT A.
Published: January 2010

The search for meaningful price indexes has been motivated by their usefulness both for macroeconomic description and for escalating contractual money payments. Existing theory of “economic price indexes” evolved for the purpose of description. This paper asks what form of index is appropriate for escalating deferred money payments. The theory of cost of living indexes is shown to be irrelevant for this problem. In circumstances where the optimal escalating index is unambiguous, it is a modified Paasche index, whether or not an invariant cost of living index of different form exists.
ON THE CHOICE BETWEEN PROPERTY RULES AND LIABILITY RULES
Authors: POLINSKY A. MITCHELL
Published: January 2010

When parties can bargain with each other in an externality situation, it is frequently argued that liability rules are preferable to property rules. The case for liability rules is thought to be strongest when the parties behave strategically, when the collective authority responsible for maximizing social welfare has perfect information, and when lump‐sum transfers are not available. It is shown here that liability rules are not generally preferable to property rules in these circumstances because of their limited ability to redistribute income between the parties.
AN EMPIRICAL TEST OF THE MEDIAN VOTER MODEL
Authors: HOLCOMBE RANDALL G.
Published: January 2010

This paper uses data at the school district level for 257 Michigan school districts to estimate the Bowen equilibrium level of expenditures in each district. The estimation uses a theoretical model of millage referenda that is developed in the paper. Then, the estimated Bowen equilibrium level of expenditures in each district is compared with the actual level. In the average district, the actual level of expenditures is less than 3 percent away from the estimated Bowen equilibrium. This evidence strongly suggests that, for educational expenditures at least, the theoretical median voter model provides a good explanation of empirical reality.
THE EFFECT OF MINIMUM WAGES IN THE PRESENCE OF FRINGE BENEFITS: AN EXPANDED MODEL
Authors: WESSELS WALTER J.
Published: January 2010

Firms may react to a minimum wage hike by reducing their expenditures on fringe benefits. This possibility is incorporated into an expanded model of minimum wages. A set of predictions that differentiate this expanded model from current minimum wage models is derived and tested. The expanded model is shown to better predict the effect of minimum wages on labor force participation, quit rates, and prices than previous models. An interesting result of the expanded model is that a covered worker may be worse off due to a minimum wage hike even if he retains his job.
LIBERTY AND THE HIGHER PLEASURES: REPLY
Authors: BRONFENBRENNER MARTIN
Published: January 2010

“I don't like spinach and I'm glad I don't, because if I liked it I'd eat it, and I hate it!” (Anonymous.)
Height and living standards in North Korea, 1930s–1980s
Authors: PAK SUNYOUNG , SCHWEKENDIEK DANIEL , KIM HEE KYOUNG
Published: January 2010

The adult stature of 6,512 North Korean refugees born from the 1930s to the 1980s was employed as an indicator of living standards in North Korea. The height of North Koreans born before the division of the Korean Peninsula exceeded that of their South Korean peers. All North Korean cohorts born thereafter were shorter than their South Korean counterparts. North Koreans did not experience a meaningful secular increase in height during 60 years of communism. A consistent and positive effect of about 1–2 cm for high educational status was found when height was regressed on birth decades, education, regional origin, and occupation.
A comparison of females and males for anti‐perspirant efficacy and sweat output
Authors: Bowman J. P. , Wild J. E. , Shannon K. , Browne J.
Published: January 2010

J. Cosmet. Sci., 60, 1–5 (January/February 2009)
Validation of HPLC method for the simultaneous and quantitative determination of 12 UV‐filters in cosmetics
Authors: Nyeborg M. , Pissavini M. , Lemasson Y. , Doucet O.
Published: January 2010

Synopsis

The aim of the study was the validation of a high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for the simultaneous and quantitative determination of twelve commonly used organic UV‐filters (phenylbenzimidazole sulfonic acid, benzophenone‐3, isoamyl p‐methoxycinnamate, diethylamino hydroxybenzoyl hexyl benzoate, octocrylene, ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate, ethylhexyl salicylate, butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane, diethylhexyl butamido triazone, ethylhexyl triazone, methylene bis‐benzotriazolyl tetramethylbutylphenol and bis‐ethylhexyloxyphenol methoxyphenyl triazine) contained in suncare products. The separation and quantitative determination was performed in <30 min, using a Symmetry Shield® C18 (5 μm) column from Waters and a mobile phase (gradient mode) consisting of ethanol and acidified water. UV measurements were carried out at multi‐wavelengths, according to the absorption of the analytes.
Epidermal tight junction: The master skin barrier regulator
Authors: Kuroda S. , Kurasawa M. , Mizukoshi K. , Maeda T. , Yamamoto T. , Oba A. , Sasaki H.
Published: January 2010

IFSCC Magazine, 12 (2009) (2) 87–91

Tight junctions between adjacent epithelial cells control paracellular permeability of solutes and maintain cell polarity by fencing lipid bilayer components into demarcated apical and basolateral domains. In the present study we investigated the role of epidermal tight junctions in two skin physiological processes, ‘formation of the epidermal calcium ion (Ca2+) gradient’ and ‘polarized lamellar body secretion’. The former is based on the fact that the epidermal Ca2+ gradient is closely related to epidermal differentiation and the latter on the knowledge that polarized lamellar body secretion is essential to supply intercellular lipids to the stratum corneum. We hypothesized that tight junctions might form the Ca2+ gradient in the epidermis by sealing cell‐cell contact at the stratum granulosum and allow the lamellar bodies to be normally secreted toward the stratum corneum by giving granular cells polarity. In our experiments we discovered that tight junctions control not only both intercellular Ca2+ permeability and fluorescent ceramide analog (Cer‐FL) secretion in cultured normal human keratinocyte cells but also both intercellular calcium distribution and polarized lamellar body secretion in the skin equivalent. Thus, tight junctions should be responsible for linking a series of processes from epidermal differentiation to stratum corneum barrier formation. Our findings suggest that tight junctions should have a crucial role not only in epidermal barrier function but also in both epidermal differentiation and stratum corneum barrier function.

Keywords: Calcium gradient, cell polarity, lamellar body, skin barrier, tight junction

IFSCC Basic Research Award winning paper presented at the 25th IFSCC Congress 2008, Barcelona, Spain
Cell‐activating effects of a viniferin‐enriched grapevine extract
Authors: Holtkötter O. , Jassoy C. , Bock A. , Waldmann‐Laue M. , Janßen F.
Published: January 2010

IFSCC Magazine, 12 (2009) (2) 101–105

Extracts of grapevine, especially in the fermented form of wine, are reported to exert beneficial effects to human health. Grapevine polyphenols are considered to be the main compounds responsible for this beneficial activity, and of these, resveratrol has been studied in most detail. Because of its antioxidant properties, resveratrol demonstrates cell protective characteristics, but it is also able to reduce cell proliferation and induce apoptosis, especially in cancer cells. Investigations on the effects of resveratrol on UVB irradiated primary keratinocytes and HaCats have demonstrated protective properties also in skin cells. Although grapevine extracts are routinely used as an active ingredient in skincare cosmetics, the activity of these extracts on skin, apart from that of resveratrol, is only poorly understood. Here the effects on skin cells of a grapevine extract enriched with the resveratrol dimer ε‐viniferin were analyzed in vitro and in vivo.

Keywords: Fibroblast, collagen contraction, confocal laser microscopy, resveratrol, senescence

This paper was presented as a poster at the 25th IFSCC Congress 2008, Barcelona, Spain
An analysis of semantic structure of KAITEKI‐KAN and development of its measuring method using emotional words
Authors: Monchi‐Semba R. , Katayama A. , Hikichi S.
Published: January 2010

We conducted three Internet studies in order to develop a psychological conceptual model of KAITEKI‐KAN which is comfortable and pleasant feelings in daily life. First, we collected emotional words that express positive feelings from literature and dictionaries. Then, we asked respondents (n = 239) to imagine a familiar comfortable scene and to rate their feelings on the scales of emotional words (study l). Factor analyses revealed that KAITEKI‐KAN is constructed from 14 factors, for example, satisfaction, calmness, refreshment, and so on. Because imaginary scenes that were reported by respondents of study 1 were limited to a few variations, we carried out study 2 which requested respondents (n = 1047) to imagine a wide variety of comfortable scenes. The results added two factors to the 14 factor model. Finally, we confirmed the reliability of the 16 factor model by study 3, which requested a part of respondents of study 2 (n = 409) to answer the same questions 3 months after study 2. From these studies, we concluded the 16 factor model was reliable and usable for understanding and measuring KAITEKI‐KAN. In addition, multidimensional scaling showed that the 16 factors could be depicted on a semantic space which was constructed in three dimensions. We understood the three dimensions as the ‘activation–deactivation’ dimension, the ‘physical‐cognitive’ dimension, and the ‘challenge‐acceptance’ dimension. Applying our 16 factor model of KAITEKI‐KAN, we developed a quantitative measurement method for KAITEKI‐KAN. We concluded that researchers would be able to understand details of consumers’ feeling when consumers rate commodities by using our method.

Key words:  KAITEKI‐KAN, comfort, pleasant, positive feeling, emotion, psychology, Internet research, factor analysis, multidimensional scaling, conceptual model, semantic space, dimension.
Founder Mutation(s) in theRSPH9Gene Leading to Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia in Two Inbred Bedouin Families
Authors: Reish Orit , Slatkin Montgomery , Chapman‐Shimshoni Daphne , Elizur Arnon , Chioza Barry , Castleman Victoria , Mitchison Hannah M.
Published: January 2010

A rare mutation in theRSPH9gene leading to primary ciliary dyskinesia was previously identified in two Bedouin families, one from Israel and one from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Herein we analyse mutation segregation in the Israeli family, present the clinical disease spectrum, and estimate mutation age in the two families. Mutation segregation was studied by restriction fragment length analysis. Mutation ages were estimated using a model of the decrease in the length of ancestral haplotypes. The mutations in each of the two families had a common ancestor less than 95 and less than 17 generations in the past. If the mutations in the two families are descended from a common ancestor, that mutation would have to have arisen at least 150 generations ago. If the Bedouin population has been roughly constant in size for at least 6000 years, it is possible that the mutations in the two families are identical by descent. If there were substantial fluctuations in the size of the Bedouin population, it is more likely that there were two independent mutations. Based on the available data, the population genetic analysis does not strongly favour one conclusion over the other.
Genome‐Wide Association Study Confirms SNPs in SNCA and the MAPT Region as Common Risk Factors for Parkinson Disease
Authors: Edwards Todd L. , Scott William K. , Almonte Cherylyn , Burt Amber , Powell Eric H. , Beecham Gary W. , Wang Liyong , Züchner Stephan , Konidari Ioanna , Wang Gaofeng , Singer Carlos , Nahab Fatta , Scott Burton , Stajich Jeffrey M. , Pericak‐Vance Margaret , Haines Jonathan , Vance Jeffery M. , Martin Eden R.
Published: January 2010

Parkinson disease (PD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disorder with a cumulative prevalence of greater than one per thousand. To date three independent genome‐wide association studies (GWAS) have investigated the genetic susceptibility to PD. These studies implicated several genes as PD risk loci with strong, but not genome‐wide significant, associations.

In this study, we combined data from two previously published GWAS of Caucasian subjects with our GWAS of 604 cases and 619 controls for a joint analysis with a combined sample size of 1752 cases and 1745 controls. SNPs in SNCA (rs2736990, p‐value = 6.7 × 10−8; genome‐wide adjusted p = 0.0109, odds ratio (OR) = 1.29 [95% CI: 1.17–1.42] G vs. A allele, population attributable risk percent (PAR%) = 12%) and the MAPT region (rs11012, p‐value = 5.6 × 10−8; genome‐wide adjusted p = 0.0079, OR = 0.70 [95% CI: 0.62–0.79] T vs. C allele, PAR%= 8%) were genome‐wide significant. No other SNPs were genome‐wide significant in this analysis. This study confirms that SNCA and the MAPT region are major genes whose common variants are influencing risk of PD.
Gerota and Brâncuşi: Romanian anatomy and art face to face
Authors: Chirculescu A. R. M. , Panduru Andra , Chirculescu Mihaela , Morris J. F.
Published: January 2010

Gerota’s name is associated with two eponyms and two histochemical methods, but he was also Brâncuşi’s teacher and supervisor. When Brâncuşi was a student in Bucharest, he produced an ‘écorché’ (flayed man), of which six plaster replicas still exist, two in apparently the original shape and four which have been modified/‘cosmetized’. The two are in the University of Arts in Bucharest, one in the main hall, the other in the classroom used for teaching students. Of the other four, one is in the Museum of Arts and one in the Museum of Natural Sciences of Carol I National College in Craiova (where Gerota graduated in 1885), and one each in the Faculties of Medicine in Cluj Napoca and Iassy. One more probably existed in the Faculty of Medicine in Bucharest, and one in the Faculty of Fine Arts in Iassy but no trace of them could be found. The original clay model was lost (or destroyed during transportation) in the 1930s or 1956. Two variants of the écorché exist: one ‘artistic’ (slender and smoother) in the University of Arts in Bucharest; the other more ‘anatomical’ (muscular, robust, athletic) in Craiova, Cluj and Iassy. Both variants are a very realistic representation of the human muscular system, but with that extra which only a master artist can add. Interestingly, the head of the écorché bears a striking resemblance in attitude and curves to that of Brâncuşi’s famous head of Mademoiselle Pogany. The replicas appear to have been distributed to embellish the capitals of four of the six historical Romanian provinces: Muntenia (Bucharest), Oltenia (Craiova), Moldavia (Iassy), and Transylvania (Cluj).
Both synthesis and reuptake are critical for replenishing the releasable serotonin pool in Drosophila
Authors: Borue Xenia , Condron Barry , Venton B. Jill
Published: January 2010

J. Neurochem. (2010) 10.1111/j.1471‐4159.2010.06588.x

The two main sources of serotonin available for release are expected to be newly synthesized serotonin and serotonin recycled after reuptake by the serotonin transporter. However, their relative importance for maintaining release and the time course of regulation are unknown. We studied serotonin signaling in the ventral nerve cord of the larval Drosophila CNS. Fast‐scan cyclic voltammetry at implanted microelectrodes was used to detect serotonin elicited by channelrhodopsin2‐mediated depolarization. The effects of reuptake were probed by incubating in cocaine, which is selective for the serotonin transporter in Drosophila. p‐chlorophenylalanine, an inhibitor of tryptophan hydroxylase2, was used to investigate the effects of synthesis. Stimulations were repeated at various intervals to assess the time course of recovery of the releasable pool. Reuptake is important for the rapid replenishment of the releasable pool, on the 1 min time scale. Synthesis is critical to the longer‐term replenishment (10 min) of the releasable pool, especially when reuptake is also inhibited. Concurrent synthesis and reuptake inhibition decreased both serotonin tissue content measured by immunohistochemistry (by 50%) and the initial amount of evoked serotonin (by 65%). Decreases in evoked serotonin are rescued by inhibiting action potential propagation with tetrodotoxin, implicating endogenous activity in the depletion. These results show synthesis is necessary to replenish part of the releasable serotonin pool that is depleted after reuptake inhibition, suggesting that regulation of synthesis may modulate the effects of serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
A “Screen‐and‐Treat” Approach for Helicobacter pylori Infection: A Population‐Based Study in Vammala, Finland
Authors: Salomaa‐Räsänen Anniina , Kosunen Timo U. , Aromaa Arpo R. J. , Knekt Paul , Sarna Seppo , Rautelin Hilpi
Published: January 2010

Background:  To accelerate the decline of Helicobacter pylori infection, and to study the significance of the possible risk factors for H. pylori infection in Finland, we started a voluntary H. pylori“screen‐treat‐retest‐and‐retreat” program for all young adults at primary health care in Vammala, Finland after a pilot study in 1994 including 504 subjects aged 15–75.

Materials and Methods:  A total of 3326 aged 15–40 in 1996, and 716 aged 15 and 584 aged 45 in 1997–2000 were screened for H. pylori using serology. Helicobacter pylori positive were treated, cure was verified by serology.

Results:  The eradication rates were 93.8%, 82.2%, and 77.6% per protocol in pilot study in 1994, in subjects invited in 1996 and 1997–2000, respectively. Helicobacter pylori seroprevalence rates were calculated to have decreased from 36% to 14% in pilot study, from 12% to 4% among subjects invited in 1996, from 3% to 2% among subjects aged 15 and from 27% to 12% among subjects aged 45 in 1997–2000. An epidemiologic questionnaire in 1996 revealed that crowding in the childhood household, low education of the mother, current smoking and alcohol consumption, unfavorable housing conditions, and sick leaves due to dyspepsia were independently associated with H. pylori infection.

Conclusions:  This intervention with high participation rates resulted in a significant decline in calculated H. pylori seroprevalence rates. Although the low prevalence of H. pylori infection may limit the cost efficiency of the program, the intervention is expected to reduce the burden of H. pylori‐associated diseases.
Characterization of Multiple Helicobacter bizzozeronii Isolates From a Finnish Patient With Severe Dyspeptic Symptoms and Chronic Active Gastritis
Authors: Kivistö Rauni , Linros Jüri , Rossi Mirko , Rautelin Hilpi , Hänninen Marja‐Liisa
Published: January 2010

Background:  Helicobacter pylori is the primary cause of gastritis and peptic ulceration in humans. In a minority of patients with upper gastrointestinal symptoms, long tightly coiled spiral bacteria, provisionally named “Helicobacter heilmannii,” are observed in gastric biopsies. These bacteria are extremely fastidious and only one previous study has succeeded in obtaining an isolate in vitro.

Materials and Methods:  We used two different selective media to isolate “H. heilmannii” from the gastric mucosa of a Finnish patient presenting with severe dyspeptic symptoms. The isolates were characterized by testing for urease and catalase activity, by using light and electron microscopy, and by sequencing of the partial 16S rRNA and ureAB genes. Single‐enzyme amplified fragment length polymorphism (sAFLP) was used to analyze the genetic diversity among the isolates.

Results:  We obtained 15 isolates from different gastric biopsies prior and three after unsuccessful treatment of the patient. The isolates were identified as Helicobacter bizzozeronii. Eradication therapy was unsuccessful most probably due to high level of resistance to metronidazole. Persistent colonization by the same H. bizzozeronii clone was confirmed by sAFLP, however, small differences between the profiles suggested long‐term colonization of the patient.

Conclusions:  Helicobacter bizzozeronii remains the only “H. heilmannii” species isolated from human gastric mucosa although it has been an infrequent observation among “H. heilmannii”‐infected patients in PCR‐based screening studies. The relevance of H. bizzozeronii and other potentially zoonotic gastric Helicobacter spp. in human disease remains to be determined.
Gastric Infection with Kazachstania heterogenica Influences the Outcome of a Helicobacter suis Infection in Mongolian Gerbils
Authors: Flahou Bram , De Baere Thierry , Chiers Koen , Pasmans Frank , Haesebrouck Freddy , Ducatelle Richard
Published: January 2010

Background:  The Mongolian gerbil model is often used to investigate the interactions between different gastric Helicobacter species and the gastric tissue. A preliminary screening of a gerbil population intended for use in Helicobacter suis infection studies revealed a natural yeast infection in the stomach of these animals. After identification, we have investigated the effect of the gastric yeast infection on the outcome of an experimental H. suis infection in Mongolian gerbils.

Materials and methods:  Yeast cells were isolated from the stomachs of Mongolian gerbils. Identification was done by Internally Transcribed rRNA Spacer 2 Region PCR fragment length analysis. To investigate a possible pathologic role of this yeast, Mongolian gerbils were infected experimentally with this yeast. Co‐infection with the newly isolated H. suis was performed to investigate possible interactions between both micro‐organisms.

Results:  Kazachstania heterogenica was found colonizing the stomach of Mongolian gerbils, mainly in the antrum. Few pathologic changes were seen in the stomachs of infected animals. Experimental co‐infection of gerbils with this yeast and the newly isolated H. suis showed a significant increase in inflammation in animals infected with both micro‐organisms compared to animals infected only with H. suis.

Conclusions:  K. heterogenica colonizes the stomach of Mongolian gerbils in exactly the same regions as gastric Helicobacter species. The uncontrolled presence of this yeast in the gerbil stomach can lead to an overestimation of the inflammation caused by Helicobacter in this animal model.
User−Producer Interaction in Housing Energy Innovations
Authors: Heiskanen Eva , Lovio Raimo
Published: January 2010

Von Hippel and colleagues have highlighted the crucial role of users in innovation in different industries and types of products. They describe the innovation process in terms of the distinct domains of knowledge that producers and users possess. Producers have knowledge about technical solutions and users about their needs, the context of use, and their own capabilities as users. Both sets of knowledge are characterized by “stickiness”: They move relatively freely within their own domain but are difficult to transfer outside of it.

In the case of radical innovations for sustainable consumption, the problem of “sticky information” is compounded. Both producers and consumers need to reach out of their conventional competencies and search for new solutions. “Societal actors,” such as government bodies or environmental experts, can show the way to such solutions, but this new knowledge needs to be integrated with the “sticky” knowledge about everyday practices in production and consumption.

In the present article we attempt to conceptualize the role and interaction of user and producer knowledge with the knowledge of environmental experts in housing energy innovations. We do so by applying the user−producer interaction framework to a case study on the introduction of low‐energy housing concepts in Finland. On the basis of this analysis, we draw conclusions on the potential and limitations of today's practices in the field. For example, we suggest that user involvement can help to enhance the acceptance of low‐energy solutions but that the methods for involving users need to be adapted to the particular circumstances in each industry.
Collateral Spread and Financial Development
Authors: LIBERTI JOSÉ M. , MIAN ATIF R.
Published: January 2010

We show that institutions that promote financial development ease borrowing constraints by lowering the collateral spread and shifting the composition of acceptable collateral towards firm‐specific assets. Collateral spread is defined as the difference in collateralization rates between high‐ and low‐risk borrowers. The average collateral spread is large but declines rapidly with improvements in financial development driven by stronger institutions. We also show that the composition of collateralizable assets shifts towards non‐specific assets (e.g., land) with borrower risk. However, the shift is considerably smaller in developed financial markets, enabling risky borrowers to use a larger variety of assets as collateral.
Correlation Risk and Optimal Portfolio Choice
Authors: BURASCHI ANDREA , PORCHIA PAOLO , TROJANI FABIO
Published: January 2010

We develop a new framework for multivariate intertemporal portfolio choice that allows us to derive optimal portfolio implications for economies in which the degree of correlation across industries, countries, or asset classes is stochastic. Optimal portfolios include distinct hedging components against both stochastic volatility and correlation risk. We find that the hedging demand is typically larger than in univariate models, and it includes an economically significant covariance hedging component, which tends to increase with the persistence of variance–covariance shocks, the strength of leverage effects, the dimension of the investment opportunity set, and the presence of portfolio constraints.
The Association between Left Ventricular Diastolic Dysfunction and Increased Aortic Stiffness Can Be Explained by Possible Neurohumoral Mechanisms
Authors: Sürücü Hüseyin , Tatli Ersan , Boz Hakki , Meriç Mehmet
Published: January 2010

Objective: In our study, we tried to find an answer to the question “How could the association between left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDDF) and increased aortic stiffness (IAS) be explained?” Methods: Cases without coronary artery disease (CAD) were divided into three groups according to their left ventricular (LV) inflow patterns and their LV basal‐lateral annulus pulsed‐wave tissue Doppler imaging (pw‐TDI). Group 1 (n = 38) represented the normal LV inflow pattern while Group 2 (n = 54) represented impaired LV relaxation and Group 3 (n = 18) represented pseudonormalization. Aortic diameters were measured by using M‐mode at a level that is 3 cm above the aortic valve. Aortic strain (AS) and aortic distensibility (AD) were calculated by using aortic diameters and pulse pressure. Results: In Group 3, AS was lower compared to Groups 1 and 2 (respectively P < 0.001, P = 0.040). AS was also lower in Group 2 compared to Group 1 (P = 0.012). AD was higher in Group 1 compared to Groups 2 and 3 (respectively P = 0.01, P < 0.001). Early diastolic velocity of aortic pw‐TDI was higher in normal LV inflow compared to Groups 2 and 3 (respectively P = 0.022, P = 0.050). Unfortunately, none of echocardiographic parameters that evaluate LV and aortic functions together (stroke volume, pulse pressure/stroke volume, pulse pressure/stroke volume index) were different among the groups. Conclusion: The results of our study clearly showed the association between LVDDF and IAS in cases without CAD. Additionally, it was concluded that this togetherness could be explained not by hemodynamic factors but by possible neurohumeral mechanisms. (Echocardiography 2010;27:275‐281)
Cognitive mediation of panic reduction during an early intervention for panic
Authors: Meulenbeek P. , Spinhoven P. , Smit F. , Van Balkom A. , Cuijpers P.
Published: January 2010

Meulenbeek P, Spinhoven P, Smit F, van Balkom A, Cuijpers P. Cognitive mediation of panic reduction during an early intervention for panic.

Objective:  This study investigated cognitive mediation of improvement in panic disorder (PD) symptomatology during and after an early intervention for panic symptoms in subthreshold and mild PD.

Method:  We executed a pragmatic, pre‐post, two‐group, multi‐site, randomized trial of an early intervention for panic symptoms, based on cognitive‐behavioural therapy, vs. a wait‐list control group in a sample of 217 participants with subthreshold PD or mild PD.

Results:  First, two of the three subscales of the mediator variable Panic Appraisal Inventory (PAI‐anticipation and PAI‐coping) significantly mediated residual change in PD symptomatology on the PD Severity Scale‐Self Report. Second, preintervention to postintervention PAI‐anticipation and PAI‐coping change scores significantly predicted postintervention to follow‐up change in PD symptomatology after controlling for other change scores. However, the converse association was also significant.

Conclusion:  The results suggest that changes in cognitions may mediate changes in PD symptomatology and that the process of change is circular.
Gingival changes during pregnancy: I. Influence of hormonal variations on clinical and immunological parameters
Authors: Figuero Elena , Carrillo‐de‐Albornoz Ana , Herrera David , Bascones‐Martínez Antonio
Published: January 2010

Figuero E, Carrillo‐de‐Albornoz A, Herrera D, Bascones‐Martínez A. Gingival changes during pregnancy: I. Influence of hormonal variations on clinical and immunological parameters. J Clin Periodontol 2009; 37: 220–229. doi: 10.1111/j.1600‐051X.2009.01516.x.

Aim: To test whether exacerbated gingival inflammation in pregnancy is associated with increased salivary hormone levels and changes in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) interleukin‐1β (IL‐1β) and prostaglandin‐E2 (PGE2) levels.

Material and methods: In this cohort study, 48 pregnant women without periodontitis were evaluated in the first, second, and third trimesters and at 3 months postpartum. Twenty‐eight non‐periodontitis non‐pregnant women were evaluated twice, with a 6‐month interval. Plaque and gingival indices (PlI, GI), salivary progesterone and estradiol and GCF IL‐1β and PGE2 levels were determined.

anova for repeated measures or Friedman's test were used for intragroup analyses. Inter‐group comparisons were analysed with t‐test or Mann–Whitney U‐test.

Correlations were evaluated with Pearson's and Spearman's test.

Results: Pregnant women showed an increase in GI (p<0.05) despite maintaining low PlI values. No changes in IL‐1β and PGE2 levels were observed during pregnancy. No significant correlation was found between the GI increase and salivary hormone levels. GI (p<0.05) and IL‐1β levels (p<0.001) were lower in non‐pregnant than in pregnant women.

Conclusions: This study confirms the presence of an exacerbated gingival inflammation during pregnancy, but this phenomenon could not be associated with an increase in progesterone or estradiol or with changes in PGE2 or IL‐1β.
Pattern of local plant species richness along a gradient of landscape topographical heterogeneity: result of spatial mass effect or environmental shift?
Authors: Zelený David , Li Ching‐Feng , Chytrý Milan
Published: January 2010

Several processes are hypothesised to mediate the relationship between local (microsite) plant species richness and the topographical heterogeneity of the surrounding landscape. In a topographically heterogeneous landscape with various habitats occurring close to each other, local species richness may be enriched by species from surrounding habitats due to the spatial mass effect (sink‐source dynamics). In contrast, increased habitat fragmentation due to spatial heterogeneity may have a negative effect on local species richness. The spatial mass effect is thought to be more pronounced in communities with a higher ratio of generalists, as generalists are more likely to establish viable populations in sink habitats. To reveal the pattern of local species richness along a gradient of landscape topographical heterogeneity at middle altitudes of the Bohemian Massif, we used 2551 forest vegetation plots stored in the Czech National Phytosociological Database. We developed an analytical approach relating the pattern of local species richness of vegetation types to the gradient of landscape topographical heterogeneity. An increase or decrease in species richness with increasing landscape heterogeneity was related to changes in the generalist/specialist ratio, and also to changes in soil reaction and productivity estimated through Ellenberg indicator values. Local species richness along a gradient of increasing landscape heterogeneity increased in nutrient‐poor vegetation and decreased in nutrient‐rich vegetation. Nutrient‐poor vegetation types, such as thermophilous and acidophilous oak forests, also had a high proportion of habitat generalists, supporting the hypothesis that increased richness in heterogeneous landscapes may result from the spatial mass effect. However, the same pattern may be explained by a shift in environmental conditions along the landscape heterogeneity gradient, such as increasing productivity of nutrient‐rich vegetation types or increasing soil reaction of most vegetation types in more heterogeneous landscapes. We discuss available evidence and conclude that these two explanations need not be mutually exclusive.
Multiple myeloma: changes in serum C‐terminal telopeptide of collagen type I and bone‐specific alkaline phosphatase can be used in daily practice to detect imminent osteolysis*
Authors: Lund Thomas , Abildgaard Niels , Andersen Thomas L. , Delaisse Jean‐Marie , Plesner Torben
Published: January 2010

Objective: Monitoring of bone disease in multiple myeloma is becoming increasingly important because bone‐protecting treatment with bisphosphonate is becoming restricted after the awareness of osteonecrosis of the jaw. Despite the potential of biochemical markers of bone remodeling to monitor dynamic bone turnover, they are not used in everyday practice. Here, we investigate their usefulness to detect imminent progressive osteolysis in relapsing patients with multiple myeloma. Methods: In an unselected cohort of 93 patients, we measured the bone resorption markers C‐terminal telopeptide of collagen type I (CTX‐I), C‐terminal cross‐linked telopeptide of type‐I collagen generated by MMPs (ICTP), N‐terminal cross‐linked telopeptide of type‐I collagen (NTX‐I), and the bone formation marker bone‐specific alkaline phosphatase (bALP) monthly for 2 yr. Retrospectively, we identified 40 cases where patients had progressive disease. We investigated how the bone markers developed prior to disease progression. Results: We observed that CTX‐I and bALP changed significantly before progressive disease were recognized. More interestingly, these changes differed depending on whether concurrent progressive osteolysis was present. In patients with progressive osteolysis, there was a large increase in bone resorption which was not compensated by increased bone formation. In contrasts, patients with stable bone disease had only a slight increase in bone resorption which was compensated by concurrent increased bone formation. By calculating a patient‐specific CTX‐I/bALP ratio, we quantified the risk a patient experiences if the ratio increases. Conclusion: By analyzing patient‐specific changes in the ratio of CTX‐I/bALP, we might tailor treatment with bone‐protecting agents in the individual patient.