bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Protective effect of phloroglucinol against myocardial ischaemia–reperfusion injury is related to inhibition of myeloperoxidase activity and inflammatory cell infiltration
Authors: Li Ting‐Ting , Zhang Yi‐Shuai , He Lan , Li Nian‐Sheng , Peng Jun , Li Yuan‐Jian
Published: October 2010

1. It has been shown that phloroglucinol has anti‐inflammatory and anti‐oxidant properties. Both inflammatory cell infiltration and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activation play an important role in myocardial reperfusion injury. The aim of the present study was to explore the effect of phloroglucinol on myocardial reperfusion injury and the mechanisms involved.

2. Anaesthetized rats were pretreated with phloroglucinol (15 or 30 mg/kg, i.g.) or vehicle (5 mmol/L carboxymethyl cellulose sodium) 30 min prior to experimentation. The left main coronary artery was subjected to 1 h occlusion followed by 3 h reperfusion. Infarct size, the release of creatine kinase (CK), inflammatory cell infiltration, MPO activity and protein content, catalase in the blood and myocardium, and myocardial apoptosis were measured.

3. Following myocardial ischaemia and reperfusion in vehicle‐treated rats, infarct size was 43.5 ± 3.7% (relative to the area at risk). Accompanying detrimental changes included elevated CK, enhanced inflammatory cell infiltration, high numbers of myocardial apoptotic cells, elevated caspase 3 activity, increased MPO activity and content in the plasma and myocardium and reduced catalase activity. These effects were attenuated by pretreatment with both doses of phloroglucinol (15 and 30 mg/kg, i.g.).

4. The results of the present study suggest that phloroglucinol protects the myocardium against ischaemia–reperfusion injury in rats and that its beneficial effects are related to inhibition of MPO activity and inflammatory cell infiltration.
Microbats in a ‘leafy’ urban landscape: are they persisting, and what factors influence their presence?
Authors: BASHAM ROCHELLE , LAW BRADLEY , BANKS PETER
Published: October 2010

Urbanization is an extreme form of habitat modification, but retention of native vegetation in bushland reserves may improve the ecological sustainability of cities. We focused on bats (Microchiroptera) and investigated the use of the urban matrix and surrounding bushland in a region of Sydney, Australia, where remnant bushland persists and gardens often support large trees. Ultrasonic surveys were conducted at 40 sites over one summer season in the backyard matrix, bushland remnants and surrounding National Parks to determine which species were present, and the influence of landscape elements and habitat characteristics on activity, species richness and presence of individual species. In total, 15 of the 17 microbat species known from the Sydney region were recorded in the study area. Yet only three of these species, Chalinolobus gouldii, Mormopterus species 2 and Miniopterus schreibersii were present in more than 40% of sites. Bat activity was significantly higher in remnant bushland on shale soils and in backyards, compared with sandstone gully and ridge remnants, or reference sites in nearby National Parks. Furthermore, species assemblages in urban areas were different from assemblages in reference sites. Of all the habitat characteristics examined, the amount of bushland within 0.5–3 km surrounding a site and tree density were the most common predictors of individual species presence, particularly rare species. Area of bushland, hollow abundance and average tree diameter were positively correlated with species richness, while tree diameter was the strongest predictor of total microbat activity. The proximity of large areas of bushland and the many trees remaining in residential areas of the northern ‘leafy’ suburbs of Sydney allowed the persistence of a range of bat species. The higher bat activity on fertile shale soils indicated that bushland remnants embedded within cities can have high conservation value for bats. Surveys in more urbanized areas of Sydney are needed to test predictions of the models derived in this study.
A stochastic fatigue damage model for composite single lap shear joints based on Markov chains and thermoelastic stress analysis
Authors: JOHNSON S. , WEI B. , HAJ‐ALI R.
Published: October 2010

Quantitative damage detection in composite single lap joints during fatigue is difficult and not practical with many traditional experimental methods. The objective of this study is to combine a new experimental analysis method with existing stochastic models that is capable of taking the scatter inherent in composite fatigue data into account for better representation of damage evolution in single‐lap joints. This study presents a new quantitative approach where thermoelastic stress analysis (TSA), a remote sensing and non‐destructive evaluation technique, is used for in situ continuous monitoring for fatigue damage detection of Fibre Reinfoced Polymeric (FRP) S2‐glass/E733FR single‐lap joints. Image analysis algorithms are developed to capture the debonding fronts, and Markov Chain models (MCMs) are developed to capture the fatigue damage evolution in composite lap‐joints based on the experimental analysis. The TSA damage index at the last fatigue cycle is used to calibrate the MCMs, and damage predictions using the MCMs are then examined at different fatigue cycles. Methods to construct a predictive stochastic S–N curve utilizing the MCMs are discussed. The proposed IR‐TSA with MCMs is shown to be very effective in predicting the damage evolution and allowed constructing S–N curves that take the variability into account for damage in composite single‐lap joints.
Change in manipulation with muscle fatigue
Authors: Todd Gabrielle , Gandevia Simon C. , Taylor Janet L.
Published: October 2010

Muscle fatigue is defined as an exercise‐induced reduction in the force‐generating capacity of muscle. Here, we investigated the effect of muscle fatigue on hand dexterity. Healthy adults (n = 17) gripped and lifted an object (0.342 kg) five times before and after two interventions. The interventions, performed on separate days, involved 2 min of rest (control) or sustained maximal pinch grip that reduced maximal force by 60% (fatigue). Horizontal grip force (GF), vertical lift force (LF) and first dorsal interosseous electromyographic activity (EMG) were measured. The lift (dynamic) and hold (stationary) phase of the task were analysed. Before the intervention, there was no significant difference between the control and fatigue conditions for the 15 measured parameters. However, post‐intervention GF was reduced with fatigue compared with the control condition (hold phase), whereas GF coefficient of variation (hold phase) and root mean square EMG (lift phase) increased with fatigue. Fatigue also disrupted the temporal relationship between GF and LF (assessed by cross‐correlation of the derivative of GF and LF). The maximum cross‐correlation coefficient was significantly reduced with fatigue compared with the control condition. Grip strategy and the kinetics of the lifting movement (minimum LF, maximum LF, maximum derivative of LF, and maximum acceleration) were unchanged with fatigue. Our results suggest that fatigued subjects generate more EMG to lift and hold an object but produce less force and are less able to match changes in LF with changes in GF. Fatigued subjects also exhibit greater fluctuation in GF while holding objects.
Postnatal exposure to N‐ethyl‐N‐nitrosurea disrupts the subventricular zone in adult rodents
Authors: Capilla‐Gonzalez V. , Gil‐Perotin S. , Garcia‐Verdugo J. M.
Published: October 2010

N‐ethyl‐N‐nitrosurea (ENU), a type of N‐nitrous compound (NOC), has been used as inductor for brain tumours due to its mutagenic effect on the rodent embryo. ENU also affected adult neurogenesis when administered during pregnancy. However, no studies have investigated the effect of ENU when exposured during adulthood. For this purpose, three experimental groups of adult mice were injected with ENU at different doses and killed shortly after exposure. When administered in adult mice, ENU did not form brain tumours but led to a disruption of the subventricular zone (SVZ), an adult neurogenic region. Analyses of the samples revealed a reduction in the numbers of neural progenitors compared with control animals, and morphological changes in ependymal cells. A significant decrease in proliferation was tested in vivo with 5‐bromo‐2‐deoxyuridine administration and confirmed in vitro with a neurosphere assay. Cell death, assessed as active‐caspase‐3 reactivity, was more prominent in treated animals and cell death‐related populations increased in parallel. Two additional groups were maintained for 45 and 120 days after five doses of ENU to study the potential regeneration of the SVZ, but only partial recovery was detected. In conclusion, exposure to ENU alters the organization of the SVZ and causes partial exhaustion of the neurogenic niche. The functional repercussion of these changes remains unknown, but exposure to NOCs implies a potential risk that needs further evaluation.
Rate maintenance and resonance in the entorhinal cortex
Authors: Haas Julie S. , Kreuz Thomas , Torcini Alessandro , Politi Antonio , Abarbanel H. D. I.
Published: October 2010

Throughout the brain, neurons encode information in fundamental units of spikes. Each spike represents the combined thresholding of synaptic inputs and intrinsic neuronal dynamics. Here, we address a basic question of spike train formation: how do perithreshold synaptic inputs perturb the output of a spiking neuron? We recorded from single entorhinal principal cells in vitro and drove them to spike steadily at ∼5 Hz (theta range) with direct current injection, then used a dynamic‐clamp to superimpose strong excitatory conductance inputs at varying rates. Neurons spiked most reliably when the input rate matched the intrinsic neuronal firing rate. We also found a striking tendency of neurons to preserve their rates and coefficients of variation, independently of input rates. As mechanisms for this rate maintenance, we show that the efficacy of the conductance inputs varied with the relationship of input rate to neuronal firing rate, and with the arrival time of the input within the natural period. Using a novel method of spike classification, we developed a minimal Markov model that reproduced the measured statistics of the output spike trains and thus allowed us to identify and compare contributions to the rate maintenance and resonance. We suggest that the strength of rate maintenance may be used as a new categorization scheme for neuronal response and note that individual intrinsic spiking mechanisms may play a significant role in forming the rhythmic spike trains of activated neurons; in the entorhinal cortex, individual pacemakers may dominate production of the regional theta rhythm.
When transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) modulates feature integration
Authors: Rüter Johannes , Kammer Thomas , Herzog Michael H.
Published: October 2010

How the brain integrates visual information across time into coherent percepts is an open question. Here, we presented two verniers with opposite offset directions one after the other. A vernier consists of two vertical bars that are horizontally offset. When the two verniers are separated by a blank screen (interstimulus interval, ISI), the two verniers are perceived either as two separate entities or as one vernier with the offset moving from one side to the other depending on the ISI. In both cases, their offsets can be reported independently. Transcranial magnet stimulation (TMS) over the occipital cortex does not interfere with the offset discrimination of either vernier. When a grating, instead of the ISI, is presented, the two verniers are not perceived separately anymore, but as ‘one’ vernier with ‘one’ fused vernier offset. TMS strongly modulates the percept of the fused vernier offset even though the spatio‐temporal position of the verniers is identical in the ISI and grating conditions. We suggest that the grating suppresses the termination signal of the first vernier and the onset signal of the second vernier. As a consequence, perception of the individual verniers is suppressed. Neural representations of the vernier and second vernier inhibit each other, which renders them vulnerable to TMS for at least 300 ms, even though stimulus presentation was only 100 ms. Our data suggest that stimulus features can be flexibly integrated in the occipital cortex, mediated by neural interactions with outlast stimulus presentations by far.
Blockade of endogenous neuraminidase leads to an increase of neuronal excitability and activity‐dependent synaptogenesis in the rat hippocampus
Authors: Isaeva Elena , Lushnikova Irina , Savrasova Alina , Skibo Galina , Holmes Gregory L. , Isaev Dmytro
Published: October 2010

Polysialic acids are widely distributed in neuronal tissue. Due to their position on glycoproteins and gangliosides on the outer cell membranes and anionic nature, polysialic acids are involved in multiple cell signaling events. The level of sialylation of the cellular surface is regulated by endogenous neuraminidase (NEU), which catalyses the hydrolysis of terminal sialic acid residues. Using the specific blocker of endogenous NEU, N‐acetyl‐2,3‐dehydro‐2‐deoxyneuraminic acid (NADNA), we show that downregulation of the endogenous NEU activity causes a significant increase in the level of hippocampal tissue sialylation. Acute application of NADNA increased the firing frequency and amplitude of spontaneous synchronous oscillations, and frequency of multiple unit activity in cultured hippocampal slices. The tonic phase of seizure‐like activity in the low‐magnesium model of ictogenesis was significantly increased in slices pretreated with NADNA. These data indicate that the degree of synchronization is influenced by the amount of active NEU in cultured hippocampal slices. Pretreatment with NADNA led to an increase of the density of simple and perforated synapses in the hippocampal CA1 stratum radiatum region. Co‐incubation of slices with NADNA and high concentrations of calcium eliminated the effect of the NEU blocker on synaptic density, suggesting that synaptogenesis observed following downregulation of the endogenous NEU activity is an activity‐dependent process.
Designing simple PK–PD studies in children
Authors: Thomson Alison H. , Elliott Henry L.
Published: October 2010

Conducting clinical pharmacology research studies in pediatric patients is challenging because of ethical and practical constraints but necessary to ensure that drugs are used safely and effectively in this population. Developments in laboratory analytical techniques, such as improved assay sensitivity and the use of alternative sample matrices, can reduce blood loss and offer less invasive blood sampling, causing less trauma to the patient and fewer ethical concerns. Recent advances in data analysis techniques, which aim to extract the maximum amount of useful information from small sample numbers, should be considered when planning a clinical trial and incorporated into the study design. Using ‘population’ methodology allows a more flexible sampling strategy that enables valuable data to be collected in the course of routine clinical practice, rather than in a rigid, and potentially artificial, setting. Integration of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics and the application of physiological approaches and simulation techniques to the analysis and interpretation of drug concentration and effect data offer new opportunities that have particular relevance to pharmacological research in the field of pediatric anesthetics.
Prostate cancer in Asian Americans: incidence, management and outcomes in an equal access healthcare system
Authors: Raymundo Eliza M. , Rice Kevin R. , Chen Yongmei , Zhao Jinxiu , Brassell Stephen A.
Published: October 2010

Study Type – Therapy (outcomes research) Level of Evidence 2c

What’s known on the subject? and What does the study add?

While epidemiological studies have shown a significantly lower incidence of adenocarcinoma of the prostate in Asia than the United States, several studies have demonstrated that Asian Americans present with more advanced stages, higher tumour grades, and worse mortality‐incidence ratios than Caucasian Americans.

This study, conducted in an equal access military healthcare system, reveals improved pathological and survival outcomes in Asian Americans compared to other races. This may indicate that worsened outcomes previously reported among Asian Americans diagnosed with adenocarcinoma of the prostate may be related to access to care, language barriers, socioeconomic status, or cultural factors.

OBJECTIVE

• To characterize the incidence, management and clinicopathological characteristics of prostate cancer (CaP) in a population of Asian Americans undergoing mandatory annual screening in an equal access healthcare system.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

• Men registered into the military‐based Center for Prostate Disease Research multi‐institutional database from 1989–2007 with biopsy‐proven CaP and categorized as Asian American, Caucasian or African American were included.

• Demographic information, treatment modality, clinicopathological characteristics and outcomes were compared.

RESULTS

• In total, there were 10 964 patients; 583 (5.3%) were Asian Americans. Asian Americans had lower clinical stage (P < 0.001) but worse biopsy grade (P < 0.001) than other groups. They were more likely to choose radical prostatectomy (RP) (P < 0.001) and showed a higher percentage of organ‐confined disease (P < 0.001).

• Asian Americans had improved biochemical recurrence free (P < 0.01) and overall survival (P < 0.001) rates compared to African Americans or Caucasians treated with RP or external radiation therapy.

CONCLUSIONS

• Asian Americans with CaP treated in an equal access healthcare system have improved pathological outcomes and survival characteristics compared to other races.

• Asian ethnicity’s negative impact on survival noted by others appears to be the result of factors other than the tumour’s intrinsic behaviour, such as language barriers, socioeconomic status and cultural norms.
Non‐clamped partial nephrectomy: techniques and surgical outcomes
Authors: Smith Gjanjé L. , Kenney Patrick A. , Lee Yoojin , Libertino John A.
Published: October 2010

Study Type – Therapy (case series) Level of Evidence 4

What’s known on the subject? and What does the study add?

Ishemic injury to the kidney normally occurs as a result of clamping the renal artery during a partial nephrectomy. Several years ago we described and presented the technique for partial nephrectomy without clamping the renal artery, thus avoiding renal ischemic injury. This study describes the technique and establishes the safety and efficacy of the technique. It adds a new technique to the surgical armamentarium for patients with renal tumours.

OBJECTIVE

• To describe our technique of partial nephrectomy (PN) without vascular clamping with perioperative and short‐term data to determine the safety, impact on renal function and oncological efficacy of this approach.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

• We performed a retrospective review of 952 PNs done at our institution between 1987 and 2009. Patients undergoing ex vivo PN with auto‐transplantation, patients with Von Hippel–Lindau disease and patients with incomplete follow‐up information were excluded from the analysis.

• The four‐variable modification of diet in renal disease equation was used to calculate estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR).

• The percentage change in eGFR at 1 year was compared between the two groups.

RESULTS

• The analysed cohort comprised 116 PNs done with renal vascular clamping (group A) and 192 PNs done without clamping (group B). The median tumour size was slightly larger in group B than in group A (3.0 vs 2.8 cm, P = 0.002).

• There was no difference in preoperative eGFR (P = 0.304) or the prevalence of solitary kidney (P = 0.69).

• Median estimated blood loss was 300 mL higher in the unclamped group (P < 0.001) and was associated with a higher rate of transfusion (P = 0.001). There was no difference the positive margin rate or rate of recurrence (P = 0.60).

• The median percentage change in eGFR was a 12.3% decrease for group A and a 9.8% decrease for group B at 1 year (P = 0.037). In the subset of patients with solitary kidneys, the median change in eGFR was a 21% decrease in group A and a 4.4% decrease in group B at 1 year (P = 0.027).

• The rate of complications was similar in groups A and B (11.2 vs 9.9%, P = 0.72). There were no perioperative deaths.

CONCLUSIONS

• Partial nephrectomy can be safely performed without vascular clamping in appropriately selected patients.

• Although PN without vascular clamping is associated with higher estimated blood loss, it is also associated with better preservation of renal function without compromising oncological efficacy, as evidenced by the solitary kidney cohort.
Broker recommendations and Australian small‐cap equity fund management
Authors: Comerton‐Forde Carole , Gallagher David R. , Lai Joyce , Walter Terry
Published: October 2010

This study examines whether the abnormal performance of active Australian small‐cap equity fund managers is associated with broker recommendations. Our evidence supports the investment value of broker recommendations, showing significant abnormal returns (ARs) both pre‐ and post‐broker recommendations. We find that when a factor‐mimicking portfolio based on broker recommendations is added to a Carhart (1997) model, annual alphas are reduced by 48 basis points. Using transaction‐level data, buy trades following broker recommendations earn significant cumulative ARs of 1.56 per cent after 60 days. Overall, we find that broker recommendations account for an economically significant component of alphas.
Tracing Imaginations of the State: The Spatial Consequences of Different State Concepts among Asylum Activist Organisations
Authors: Gill Nick
Published: October 2010

Abstract:  This paper examines the spatial consequences for activism of viewing the state through either a statist or post‐structural lens. It is argued that understanding the state in different ways produces very different spatial strategies among activists. Drawing upon detailed case studies of two asylum‐seeking activist organisations in the UK, the connections between imaginations of the state, spatial strategies towards institutionalised authority, and the pros and cons of these strategies for activism itself are examined. Through these cases, the paper emphasises the importance of everyday theories about the state not only for understanding what the state is, but also for understanding how relationships with the state are formed and points towards the constructive power of imaginations of the state in their own right.
Regulating Regional Uneven Development and the Politics of Reconfiguring Belgian State Space
Authors: Oosterlynck Stijn
Published: October 2010

Abstract:  This article mobilises a strategic‐relational approach to state spatial restructuring to overcome the weaknesses of the conventional “New Regionalist” account in economic geography of the resurgence of the region as a strategic site for economic governance. Focusing on hegemonic projects and the shifting nexus of spatial dependencies and engagements through which these are reproduced, undermined and transformed, the role and geography of political agency in state spatial restructuring is highlighted. To illustrate this point, I analyse the construction of new regional state spaces in Belgium, paying particular attention to the hegemonic projects that create a social basis for particular state spaces, the construction of collective agency on different scales (Belgian‐national and Flemish‐regional) and the various ways in which these processes are informed by pre‐existing state spatial and scalar selectivities.
From Spatial Keynesianism to Post‐Fordist Neoliberalism: Emerging Contradictions in the Spatiality of the Irish State
Authors: Breathnach Proinnsias
Published: October 2010

Abstract: The transition from Fordism to post‐Fordism has been accompanied by profound changes in the spatiality of west European states. The hierarchical, top‐down and redistributive structures that typified the Fordist welfare state have been replaced by more complex spatial configurations as elements of economic and political power have shifted both downwards to subnational territorial levels and upwards to the supranational level. A major debate has developed around the nature of these emerging forms of state spatiality and of the processes underpinning their formation. This paper examines how these processes have operated in the particular case of the Republic of Ireland. Here, the spatiality of the state was founded on a peculiar post‐colonial combination of a localised populist politics and a centralised state bureaucracy. While this arrangement was quite suited to the spatial dispersal of industrial branch plants which underpinned regional policy in the 1960s and 1970s, it has become increasingly problematic with the more recent emergence of new trends in the nature and locational preferences of inward investment. This is reflected in the profound conflicts that have attended the formulation and implementation of the National Spatial Strategy, introduced in 2002. The result is a national space economy whose increasing dysfunctionality may now be compromising the very development model upon which Ireland's recent spectacular economic growth has been built.
Contesting State Rescaling: An Analysis of the South Korean State's Discursive Strategy against Devolution
Authors: Sonn Jung Won
Published: October 2010

Abstract:  Recent developments in spatial political economy have shown that the shift of power from the national state to subnational states in many Western European countries does not represent a dismantling of the state, but a reconfiguration of statehood that the national state proactively takes part in. The existing literature, however, neglects the path‐dependent and contested nature of state spatiality and depicts devolution as the only possible option. In contrast, this paper shows that changes in state spatiality are contingent upon historical and spatial context, where the state may choose to pursue different options. Based on an empirical study of South Korea, this paper shows that the national state may choose to resist the pressure for devolution. The methodological contribution of this paper is on the emphasis of discursive strategy in the study of state spatiality.
Re‐Politicising the Analysis of “New State Spaces” in Hungary and Beyond: Towards an Effective Engagement with “Actually Existing Neoliberalism”
Authors: Varró Krisztina
Published: October 2010

Abstract:  Recent scholarship grounded in strategic‐relational state theory has offered a compelling approach to state spatial restructuring under neoliberal capitalism. By drawing on Hungary's post‐1990 state spatial reforms, this paper discusses a major limitation of state theoretical frameworks. In particular, the paper seeks to challenge state theorists’ generally subtle but persistent bias to capitalist economic structures, and argues that the above bias impedes an adequate and effectively critical account of state spatial regulation. Finally, it makes a case for a perspective on new state spaces that acknowledges the wider socio‐historical embeddedness of state space production, as well as its inherently political nature.
Challenging New State Spatialities: The Open Marxism of Henri Lefebvre
Authors: Charnock Greig
Published: October 2010

Abstract:  It is possible to identify a subterranean tradition within Marxism—one in which dialectical thought is harnessed not only to expose the necessarily exploitative and inherently crisis‐prone character of capitalism as an actual system of social organisation, but also to critique the very categories that constitute capitalism as a conceptual system. This paper argues that Henri Lefebvre's work can be included within this tradition of “open Marxism”. In demonstrating how Lefebvre's work on everyday life, the production of space and the state derives from his open approach, the paper flags a potential problem of antinomy in an emergent new state spatialities literature that draws upon Lefebvre to supplement its structuralist–regulationist (“closed”) Marxist foundations. A Lefebvre‐inspired challenge is therefore established: that is, to develop a critique of space which does not substitute an open theory of the space of political economy with a closed theory of the political economy of the regulation of space.
Asian trade: long‐term patterns and key policy issues
Authors: Athukorala Prema‐chandra , Hill Hal
Published: October 2010

Fragmentation‐based specialisation has become an integral part of the economic landscape of East Asia. Dependence on this new form of international specialisation is proportionately larger in East Asia, in particular in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, than in North America and Europe. In this regard, an important recent development has been the rapid integration of China into regional production networks. This development is a counterpoint to the popular belief that China's global integration would crowd out other countries' opportunities for international specialisation. The rise of product fragmentation has strengthened the case for a global, rather than a regional, approach to trade and investment policymaking. Given the global orientation of the region's economies, we question whether there would be a significant benefit from current efforts to promote regional cooperation, unless the principle of ‘open regionalism’ is recognised. With both the Doha Round and APEC floundering, this is one of the major multilateral policy challenges of our time.
Vietnam: an economic survey
Authors: Leung Suiwah E.
Published: October 2010

This paper reviews the two decades of economic development in Vietnam sinceDoi Moi, with the recurrent theme that integration with the world economy brings substantial benefits when accompanied by domestic reforms—when transition catches up with integration. In the 1990s, liberalisation of the agricultural sector—and of trade generally—led to rapid economic growth and reductions in poverty. Since 2001, addressing the extreme bias against the private sector has resulted in growth via development of labour‐intensive industries as well as enabling Vietnam to climb onto the first rung of the ladder in the global supply chains of electronics and related manufacturing. However, deeper international integration has made the economy more vulnerable to external shocks. Although Vietnam achieved two decades of rapid growth as well as survived the global financial crisis in better shape than most other economies of similar size in the region, prospects of sustaining another decade of rapid growth are far from assured. Vietnam still has very large state‐owned enterprises in capital‐intensive industries. The recent extension of these large enterprises into real estate and finance contributed to de‐stabilise the macro‐economy, and administrative measures were adopted to pare back some of these ‘non‐core’ activities. However, administrative measures are hard to sustain once a crisis is over. The Vietnamese government has the goal of transforming Vietnam into an industrialised society over the coming decade. The recent macroeconomic turbulence has demonstrated that the country needs strong macroeconomic institutions capable of stabilising the economy and setting the parameters for resumption of rapid growth. Thus there is a strong case for the development of modern public institutions as the focus of the third phase of reforms.
A comparison of Latin American and African economic development with an East Asian twist
Authors: Grabowski Richard
Published: October 2010

There are many parallels between the development of Latin America and Sub‐Saharan Africa. Recent literature on this is reviewed. It is argued in the paper that the key to long‐term development is the shift from inward (import substitution) to outward (export‐oriented) growth. This shift involves both tariff reduction and significant investment in infrastructure and human capital accumulation. Given that much of Latin America (historically) and Sub‐Saharan Africa (currently) has depended or depends on trade taxes for revenue, an outward orientation poses a significant fiscal problem, which makes it extremely difficult to switch to an export‐oriented growth path. East Asian experience points to the importance of broad‐based agricultural growth in making the fiscal transition.
Foreign aid, government behaviour, and fiscal policy in Papua New Guinea
Authors: Batten Aaron
Published: October 2010

The paper explores a number of long standing questions surrounding how foreign aid has influenced the fiscal behaviour of the PNG Government. This includes whether grant aid has encouraged the PNG government to be less fiscally responsible and accumulate higher levels of foreign debt; whether grant aid has tended to lower the PNG government's domestic revenue raising efforts; whether grant aid has drawn government expenditures away from key service delivery sectors; and whether budget support and project and program aid have had differential effects with respect to any of the foregoing questions. The analysis reveals several important insights regarding the interplay between foreign aid and public sector fiscal behaviour including evidence that grant aid has been an important source of debt reduction during this period. However, grant aid has tended to erode the domestic tax base, which has limited the government's ability to increase aggregate expenditure levels. Evidence is also found that suggests a significant portion of budget support was spent on key development sectors, although it also undermined domestic revenue collection. A number of policy implications follow.
Chinese exports and productivity gains: panel evidence
Authors: Koyuncu Cuneyt , Yilmaz Rasim
Published: October 2010

This paper examines the impact of imports from China on the labour productivity levels of importers, using unbalanced data from 1994 to 2006. It is hypothesised that imports from China increase importer countries' labour productivity levels. Using cross‐section, fixed and random‐effect models, a statistically significant, positive relationship is found between the share of a country's imports from China and labour productivity in the manufacturing sector of that country. Moreover, it is found that imports from China have a larger impact on China's main Asian‐Pacific trade partners and countries with higher manufacturing shares in their total exports.
A Regression Model for the Conditional Probability of a Competing Event: Application to Monoclonal Gammopathy of Unknown Significance
Authors: Allignol Arthur , Latouche Aurélien , Yan Jun , Fine Jason P.
Published: October 2010

Competing risks are classically summarized by the cause-specific hazards and the cumulative incidence function. To obtain a full understanding of the competing risks, these identifiable quantities should be viewed simultaneously for all events. Another available quantity is the conditional probability of a competing risk, which is defined as the cumulative probability of having failed from a particular cause given that no other (competing) events have occurred. When one event is of a particular interest, this quantity provides useful insights, as it displays a probability adjusted on the other competing events. In certain applications, this interpretation may be preferable to that for the cumulative incidence function in quantifying cause-specific cumulative failure probabilities. The use of the conditional probability has been limited by the lack of a regression modelling strategy. We apply recently developed regression methodology to the conditional probability function and illustrate, by using a data set on patients suffering from monoclonal gammopathy of unknown significance, the insights that are gained from this methodology.
NPM REFORMS AND THE PERCEPTION OF BUDGET BY HOSPITAL CLINICIANS: LESSONS FROM TWO CASE‐STUDIES
Authors: Macinati Manuela S.
Published: October 2010

This paper investigates how clinicians perceive managerial budgeting and how this affects clinical practice. To this end, case‐studies were conducted involving two Italian public hospitals. The results show that clinicians' commitment to organizational objectives was strongly enhanced by the use of the budget as a means to evaluate and reward clinicians' performance. One of the main lessons learned from this study is that aligning existing institutions to organizational objectives is the only way forward for effective reform implementation. Consequently, the challenge for future reforms is to deal with the search of balance between efficiency goals and existing institutions.
Young people’s risk of suicide attempts in relation to parental death: a population‐based register study
Authors: Jakobsen Ida Skytte , Christiansen Erik
Published: October 2010

Background:  The objective of this study was to examine the association between the death of a biological parent and subsequent suicide attempts by young people (aged 10–22 years), and to explore sociodemographic factors as modifying factors in the process.

Methods:  The study used a nested case–control design. The full study population was obtained from the Danish longitudinal registers and included all individuals born between 1983 and 1989 (n = 403,431 individuals). The 3,465 registered suicide attempters from that group were matched with 75,300 population‐based control subjects. Potentially confounding variables including age and gender were controlled for by conditional logistic regression analyses.

Results:  The findings indicated that young people who had lost one biological parent showed a significantly increased risk of attempting suicide (relative risk = 1.71, 95% confidence interval = 1.49–1.96). Losing the remaining parent nearly doubled the risk (relative risk = 2.7, 95% confidence interval = 1.48–5.06).

Conclusion:  Experiencing the death of one or both biological parents increased the risk of suicide attempts in young people. Relative risk was moderated by high income of the father.
Recent insights into antioxidant defenses of legume root nodules
Authors: Becana Manuel , Matamoros Manuel A. , Udvardi Michael , Dalton David A.
Published: October 2010

Legume root nodules are sites of intense biochemical activity and consequently are at high risk of damage as a result of the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS). These molecules can potentially give rise to oxidative and nitrosative damage but, when their concentrations are tightly controlled by antioxidant enzymes and metabolites, they also play positive roles as critical components of signal transduction cascades during nodule development and stress. Thus, recent advances in our understanding of ascorbate and (homo)glutathione biosynthesis in plants have opened up the possibility of enhancing N2 fixation through an increase of their concentrations in nodules. It is now evident that antioxidant proteins other than the ascorbate‐glutathione enzymes, such as some isoforms of glutathione peroxidases, thioredoxins, peroxiredoxins, and glutathione S‐transferases, are also critical for nodule activity. To avoid cellular damage, nodules are endowed with several mechanisms for sequestration of Fenton‐active metals (nicotianamine, phytochelatins, and metallothioneins) and for controlling ROS/RNS bioactivity (hemoglobins). The use of ‘omic’ technologies has expanded the list of known antioxidants in plants and nodules that participate in ROS/RNS/antioxidant signaling networks, although aspects of developmental variation and subcellular localization of these networks remain to be elucidated. To this end, a critical point will be to define the transcriptional and post‐transcriptional regulation of antioxidant proteins.

Contents

Summary
960

I.
Introduction
961

II.
Ascorbate
961

III.
Thiols
963

IV.
Ascorbate–glutathione pathway
963

V.
Superoxide dismutases and catalases
964

VI.
Thiol peroxidases: glutathione peroxidases  and peroxiredoxins
966

VII.
Protein disulfide reductases: thioredoxins  and glutaredoxins
967

VIII.
Glutathione S‐transferases
967

IX.
Antioxidants and metal sequestration
968

X.
Antioxidants of nodule bacteroids
969

XI.
Other molecules with antioxidative properties in nodules
969

XII.
Antioxidants and oxidative/nitrosative signaling
970

XIII.
Antioxidants and oxidative/nitrosative stress
971

XIV.
Conclusions and perspectives
972

Acknowledgements
973

References
973
Ethnic differences in cardiovascular‐somatosensory interactions and in the central processing of noxious stimuli
Authors: Mechlin Beth , Heymen Steven , Edwards Christopher L. , Girdler Susan S.
Published: October 2010

Ethnic differences in central sensitization of pain processing and stress‐relevant endogenous pain regulatory mechanisms were examined. Forty‐four African Americans (AAs; 50% women) and 44 non‐Hispanic Whites (nHWs; 50% women) matched for socioeconomic status, were tested for pain responses to the temporal summation of heat pulses and ischemic and cold pain. Resting and stress blood pressure (BP) and norepinephrine (NE) were assessed. AAs had heightened pain responses to all 3 pain tasks relative to nHWs. In nHWs, higher BP and NE were related to reduced pain. In AAs, there was no relationship between BP and pain, but higher NE was related to increased pain. This study provides evidence for ethnic differences in centrally mediated pain and extends prior research demonstrating ethnic differences in endogenous pain regulatory mechanisms. These results have implications for understanding biobehavioral factors contributing to ethnic disparities in clinical pain.
Farmers' Market consumers: a Scottish perspective
Authors: Carey Lindsey , Bell Pauline , Duff Audrey , Sheridan Mandy , Shields Margie
Published: October 2010

Farmers' Markets in Scotland have gradually developed since 1999 as an alternative retail outlet for consumers. Throughout the UK, shoppers have become increasingly concerned about the quality and safety of their food and as a result seek healthier, locally grown organic and non‐organic produce. Thus, the growth of Farmers' Markets is directly related to consumer demand for fresh foods, direct from source, with the high quality of products being a primary reason for shopping. Farmers' Markets are not only seen as a place to buy ‘good food’ but also as a means to express consumer values associated with food choices. Scottish Government efforts to revitalize rural economies through local enterprise initiatives is evidenced by funding the initial establishment of the Scottish Association of Farmers' Market (SAFM), formed in 2000 by market organizers to further their development. The benefits of fresh local produce for Scottish consumers, the revival of a sense of community and the concept of ‘new consumption spaces’ tied to locality means the rural economy benefits from the increase in activity and profits through direct sales. This research investigates consumption habits at farmers' markets through the use of attitudinal theories along with food behaviours and motivations for purchasing. The results demonstrate that a positive attitude is important but the influence of others and barriers are not. Consumers are particularly motivated towards resource conservation and there are distinct differences in attitude between urban and rural shoppers. This research provides a unique insight into the attitudes that influence and motivate Farmers' Market consumers in Scotland.
Mechanisms of colony selection by first‐year Lesser Kestrels Falco naumanni
Authors: CALABUIG GUSTAU , ORTEGO JOAQUÍN , APARICIO JOSÉ MIGUEL
Published: October 2010

In colonial species, first‐time breeders may use the number of settled conspecifics in colony selection, but such a relationship is confused by the correlation between colony size and nest‐site availability. To distinguish conspecific attraction from neutral colony selection, we experimentally increased nest availability for first‐year Lesser Kestrels Falco naumanni, allowing us to dissociate the number of vacant nest‐sites from colony size at the arrival time of first‐year birds. Under natural conditions, the number of first‐year birds settling was positively correlated with both the number of philopatric and the total number of breeding pairs (colony size) already settled. However, the probability of occupation of experimentally manipulated nests by first‐year birds was independent of colony size. In experimental colonies, the number of first‐year birds settling was positively correlated with the number of manipulated nest‐sites but not with the number of conspecifics. Overall, these results support a neutral colony selection by first‐year Lesser Kestrels based on nest‐site availability.
When Does Information Asymmetry Affect the Cost of Capital?
Authors: ARMSTRONG CHRISTOPHER S. , CORE JOHN E. , TAYLOR DANIEL J. , VERRECCHIA ROBERT E.
Published: October 2010

This paper examines when information asymmetry among investors affects the cost of capital in excess of standard risk factors. When equity markets are perfectly competitive, information asymmetry has no separate effect on the cost of capital. When markets are imperfect, information asymmetry can have a separate effect on firms’ cost of capital. Consistent with our prediction, we find that information asymmetry has a positive relation with firms’ cost of capital in excess of standard risk factors when markets are imperfect and no relation when markets approximate perfect competition. Overall, our results show that the degree of market competition is an important conditioning variable to consider when examining the relation between information asymmetry and cost of capital.
Market value, quality of the pool of potential mates, and singles' confidence about marrying
Authors: BREDOW CARRIE A. , HUSTON TED L. , GLENN NORVAL D.
Published: October 2010

Although most mate selection research has focused on what people want in a marriage partner, this research focuses on what people think they can get. Using survey data from a large, representative sample of unmarried individuals, this study revealed that people who believed they possessed fewer qualities that are valued in the mating marketplace and who reported meeting lower quality potential mates felt less confident about their chances of securing an acceptable partner to marry; these associations were no weaker for people who held lower versus higher standards for a mate. Consistent with predictions, individuals' perceptions of the desirability of the people in their mating pools partially mediated the link between their self‐reported market value and their confidence about marrying.