bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Asymptotic enumeration of strongly connected digraphs by vertices and edges
Authors: Pérez‐Giménez Xavier , Wormald Nicholas
Published: April 2012

We derive an asymptotic formula for the number of strongly connected digraphs with n vertices and m arcs (directed edges), valid for m ‐ n →∞ as n →∞ provided m = O(nlog n). This fills the gap between Wright's results which apply to m = n + O (1), and the long‐known threshold for m, above which a random digraph with n vertices and m arcs is likely to be strongly connected. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 2013
The molecular basis of human congenital limb malformations
Authors: Zuniga Aimée , Zeller Rolf , Probst Simone
Published: April 2012

This review focuses predominantly on the human congenital malformations caused by alterations affecting the morphoregulatory gene networks that control early limb bud patterning and outgrowth. Limb defects are among the most frequent congenital malformations in humans that are caused by genetic mutations or teratogenic effects resulting either in abnormal, loss of, or additional skeletal elements. Spontaneous and engineered mouse models have been used to identify and study the molecular alterations and disrupted gene networks that underlie human congenital limb malformations. More recently, mouse genetics has begun to reveal the alterations that affect the often‐large cis‐regulatory landscapes that control gene expression in limb buds and cause devastating effects on limb bud development. These findings have paved the way to identifying mutations in cis‐regulatory regions as causal to an increasing number of congenital limb malformations in humans. In these cases, no mutations in the coding region of a presumed candidate were previously detected. This review highlights how the current understanding of the molecular gene networks and interactions that control mouse limb bud development provides insight into the etiology of human congenital limb malformations. WIREs Dev Biol 2012 doi: 10.1002/wdev.59

This article is categorized under:

Gene Expression and Transcriptional Hierarchies > Gene Networks and Genomics

Vertebrate Organogenesis > Musculoskeletal and Vascular

Birth Defects > Organ Anomalies
Trapping Dimethyltin Cations by Bipyridine‐N,N′‐Dioxide Ligands
Authors: Chandrasekhar Vadapalli , Singh Puja , Gopal Kandasamy , Steiner Alexander
Published: April 2012

N,N′‐dioxide ligands such as 2, 2′‐bipyridine‐N,N‐dioxide (BPDO‐I) and 4, 4′‐bipyridine‐N,N‐dioxide (BPDO‐II) were used to trap the hydrated dimethyltin cations under controlled hydrolysis. The use of the chelating ligand BPDO‐I leads to the isolation of the discrete monocation [Me2Sn(BPDO‐I)(OH2)(NO3)]+[NO3]– (2), whereas the linear ligand BPDO‐II directs the construction of cationic polymers, [{Me2Sn(OH2)2(μ‐BPDO‐II)}2+{NO3–}2·2H2O]n (3·2H2O) and [{Me2Sn(μ‐OH)(BPDO‐II)}22+{NO3–}2·H2O]n (4·H2O) under different reaction conditions.
Insertion Reactions of Heterocumulenes with Zincocene Cp*2Zn
Authors: Schulz Stephan , Schmidt Sarah , Bläser Dieter , Wölper Christoph
Published: April 2012

Zincocene Cp*2Zn reacts with carbodiimides C(NR)2 with insertion into the Zn–Cp* bond and formation of [(Cp*C(NR)2]2Zn [R = Et (1), iPr (2), Cy (3)]. In addition, the reaction of Cp*2Zn with CS2 under dry conditions gives (Cp*CS2)2Zn (4), whereas in the presence of a small amount of water [Zn4(μ4‐O)(S2CCp*)6] (5) is obtained. Compounds 1–4 were characterized by NMR (1H, 13C) and IR spectroscopy as well as elemental analysis and single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction (2–4, 5 of poor quality). The solid‐state structure of 5 is comparable to the carboxylate complex previously obtained from the reaction of Cp*2Zn with CO2.
1‐(2‐Hydroxyethyl)‐3‐nitro‐1, 2, 4‐triazole and its Complexes with Copper(II) Chloride and Copper(II) Perchlorate
Authors: Degtyarik Mikhail M. , Lyakhov Alexander S. , Ivashkevich Ludmila S. , Voitekhovich Sergei V. , Sukhanov Gennady T. , Grigoriev Yuri V.
Published: April 2012

1‐(2‐Hydroxyethyl)‐3‐nitro‐1, 2, 4‐triazole (hnt), prepared by alkylation of 3‐nitro‐1, 2, 4‐triazole with 2‐chloroethanol, was found to react with copper(II) chloride and copper(II) perchlorate in acetonitrile/ethanol solutions giving complexes [Cu2(hnt)2Cl4(H2O)2] and[Cu(hnt)2(H2O)3](ClO4)2, respectively. They are the first examples of coordination compounds with a neutral N‐substituted 3‐nitro‐1, 2, 4‐triazole ligand. 1‐(2‐Hydroxyethyl)‐3‐nitro‐1, 2, 4‐triazole and the obtained complexes were characterized by NMR and IR spectroscopy, X‐ray, and thermal analyses. [Cu2(hnt)2Cl4(H2O)2] presents a dinuclear chlorido‐bridged complex in which hnt acts as a chelating bidentate ligand, coordinated to the metal by a nitrogen atom of the triazole ring and an oxygen atom of the nitro group, and the copper atoms are inconsiderably distorted octahedral coordination. [Cu(hnt)2(H2O)3](ClO4)2comprises a mononuclear complex cation, in which two nitrogen atoms of two hnt ligands in trans configuration and three water oxygen atoms form a square pyramidal environment around the copper atom, which is completed to an distorted octahedron with a bifurcated vertex due to two additional elongated Cu–O bonds with two nitro groups. In both complexes, Cu–O bonds with the nitro groups may be considered as semi‐coordinated.
Iron(II) and Nickel(II) Complexes of N‐Alkylimidazoles and 1‐Methyl‐1H‐1, 2, 4‐Triazole: X‐ray Studies, Magnetic Characterization, and DFT Calculations
Authors: Huxel Timo , Riedel Sebastian , Lach Jochen , Klingele Julia
Published: April 2012

Using the ligands N‐methylimidazole (MeIm), N‐ethylimidazole (EtIm), N‐propylimidazole (PrIm), and 1‐methyl‐1H‐1, 2, 4‐triazole (MeTz) three series with a total of 13 iron(II) complexes were isolated. The series comprise of the following complexes: (a) [Fe(MeIm)6](ClO4)2 (1), [Fe(EtIm)6](ClO4)2 (2), [Fe(PrIm)6](ClO4)2(3), [Fe(MeTz)6](ClO4)2 (4), [Fe(MeIm)6](MeSO3)2 (5), [Fe(EtIm)6](MeSO3)2 (6), and [Fe(MeTz)6](BF4)2 (10); (b) [Fe(MeIm)4(MeSO3)2](7), [Fe(EtIm)4(MeSO3)2] (8), and [Fe(PrIm)4(MeSO3)2] (9); (c) [Fe(MeIm)4(NCS)2] (15), [Fe(EtIm)4(NCS)2] (16), and [Fe(MeTz)4(NCS)2] (17). Single crystal X‐ray diffraction studies were performed on 7–10 and 15–17. Temperature dependent magnetic susceptibility measurements were performed on selective examples of all series, and confirmed them to be in the HS state over the range 6–300 K. DFT calculations were performed at BP86/def‐SV(P) and TPSSh/def2‐TZVPP level on all [FeL6]2+ complex cations and the neutral complexes 7–9 and 15–17. Additionally the four homoleptic nickel(II) complexes [NiL6](ClO4)2 (11: L = MeIm; 12: L = EtIm; 13: L = PrIm; 14: L = MeTz) were synthesized and compounds 11–13 structurally characterized. UV/Vis/NIR spectroscopic measurements were carried out on all homoleptic iron(II) and nickel(II) complexes. The 10Dq values were determined to be in the range of 11547–11574 and 10471–10834 cm–1 for the iron(II) and nickel(II) complexes, respectively.
A Single, Global Patient‐Centered Measure from the SF‐36 Instrument to Assess Surgical Outcomes and Quality of Life: A Pilot Study
Authors: Velanovich Vic , Younga Jason , Bhandarkar Varun , Marshall Nathan , McLaren Patrick , Ritz Jennifer , Rubinfeld Ilan
Published: April 2012

Background

Many quality of life (QoL) and patient‐reported outcomes (PRO) measures have been developed to assess the effects of disease processes and treatments. Although these instruments are valuable, the process is hampered because of their number and lack of interchangeability.

Methods

We identified a cohort of patients across a variety of operations within 3–12 months postoperatively. Patients completed the SF‐36, measuring eight domains of QoL (physical functioning, role‐physical, role‐emotional, bodily pain, vitality, mental health, social functioning, and general health), plus a health transition item: Compared to one year ago, how would you rate your health in general now?. (1) Much better now than one year ago. (2) Somewhat better now than one year ago. (3) About the same as one year ago. (4) Somewhat worse than one year ago. (5) Much worse than one year ago. Additional data included improvement of preoperative symptoms, the occurrence of any postoperative symptoms, and the occurrence of any postoperative complications.

Results

Of 217 patients, 28 % were much better, 28 % somewhat better, 27 % unchanged, 13 % somewhat worse, and 3 % much worse. The health transition results were associated with all SF‐36 domains, preoperative symptom change (p = 0.03) and persistent or new postoperative symptoms (p = 0.001), but not postoperative complications. Patients with persistent or new symptoms postoperatively had worse scores in the role‐emotional (p = 0.01), bodily pain (p = 0.05), social functioning (p = 0.02), and mental health (p = 0.009) domains of the SF‐36.

Conclusions

This single, global assessment of health transition may be a promising practical alternative to assess postoperative patient‐centered outcomes. Improved patients had better QoL scores, preoperative symptoms elimination, and no operation‐related symptoms, but the occurrence of complications did not affect improvement.
Hemostasis using a fully covered self‐expandable metal stent for marked bleeding from the bile duct following stent removal (with videos)
Authors: Tonozuka Ryosuke , Itoi Takao , Sofuni Atsushi , Itokawa Fumihide , Ishii Kentaro
Published: April 2012

We describe a case of life‐threatening hemorrhage from the bile duct following stent removal. Eventually, hemostasis was achieved by tamponade using a fully covered self‐expandable metal stent.
Toward an Evidence‐Based System for Innovation Support for Implementing Innovations with Quality: Tools, Training, Technical Assistance, and Quality Assurance/Quality Improvement
Authors: Wandersman Abraham , Chien Victoria H. , Katz Jason
Published: April 2012

An individual or organization that sets out to implement an innovation (e.g., a new technology, program, or policy) generally requires support. In the Interactive Systems Framework for Dissemination and Implementation, a Support System should work with Delivery Systems (national, state and/or local entities such as health and human service organizations, community‐based organizations, schools) to enhance their capacity for quality implementation of innovations. The literature on the Support ystem has been under‐researched and under‐developed. This article begins to conceptualize theory, research, and action for an evidence‐based system for innovation support (EBSIS). EBSIS describes key priorities for strengthening the science and practice of support. The major goal of EBSIS is to enhance the research and practice of support in order to build capacity in the Delivery System for implementing innovations with quality, and thereby, help the Delivery System achieve outcomes. EBSIS is guided by a logic model that includes four key support components: tools, training, technical assistance, and quality assurance/quality improvement. EBSIS uses the Getting To Outcomes approach to accountability to aid the identification and synthesis of concepts, tools, and evidence for support. We conclude with some discussion of the current status of EBSIS and possible next steps, including the development of collaborative researcher‐practitioner‐funder‐consumer partnerships to accelerate accumulation of knowledge on the Support System.

Special Issue: Advances in Bridging Research and Practice Using the Interactive System Framework for Dissemination and Implementation; Guest Editors: Abraham Wandersman, Paul Flaspohler, Catherine A. Lesesne, Richard Puddy; Action Editor: Emilie Phillips Smith
Clus-DTI: improving decision-tree classification with a clustering-based decision-tree induction algorithm
Authors: Barros Rodrigo C. , Basgalupp Márcio P. , de Carvalho André C. P. L. F. , Quiles Marcos G.
Published: April 2012

Decision-tree induction is a well-known technique for assigning objects to categories in a white-box fashion. Most decision-tree induction algorithms rely on a sub-optimal greedy top-down recursive strategy for growing the tree. Even though such a strategy has been quite successful in many problems, it presents several deficiencies. For instance, there are cases in which the hyper-rectangular surfaces generated by these algorithms can only fit the input space after several sequential partitions, which results in a large and incomprehensible tree. In this paper, we propose a new decision-tree induction algorithm based on clustering named Clus-DTI. Our intention is to investigate how clustering data as a part of the induction process affects the accuracy and complexity of the generated models. Our performance analysis is not based solely on the straightforward comparison of our proposed algorithm to baseline classifiers. We also perform a data-dependency analysis in order to identify scenarios in which Clus-DTI is a more suitable option for inducing decision trees.
From European to Eurasian Energy Security: Russia Needs and Energy Perestroika
Authors: Baev Pavel K.
Published: April 2012

Political attention in Europe and the US to the problem of energy security has significantly diminished, and there is more to this shift that just the impact of financial crisis in the EU and the effect of the ‘shale gas revolution’. In the middle of the past decade, some fundamental decisions were made in the European Commission regarding the liberalization and diversification of the energy supplies, but the economic underpinning of these decisions has vastly changed. The whole set of energy directive is now pointing in the wrong direction, but rethinking of past mistakes is lagging, so the energy policy is left in its bureaucratic ‘box’. Russia is set to remain locked in the European gas market but is very slow in adapting to the changes in it. Both Russia and the EU remain in denial that the time for their energy-geopolitical games is over as the nexus of energy flows is fast shifting to Asia-Pacific.
Potential of D‐cycloserine in the treatment of behavioral and neuroinflammatory disorders in Parkinson's disease and studies that need to be performed before clinical trials
Authors: Pawlak Cornelius Rainer , Chen Fu‐Shih , Wu Fu‐Ying , Ho Ying‐Jui
Published: April 2012

Hyperactivation of glutamatergic N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate (NMDA) receptors has been implicated in the excitotoxicity and pathophysiology of Parkinson's disease (PD). NMDA receptor blockers have been used clinically to treat dementia, but their efficacy is controversial. Modulation of NMDA receptors might improve neuroinflammation and cognitive deficits in PD. D‐cycloserine (DCS), a partial agonist binding to the glycine binding site of NMDA receptors, has been demonstrated to improve cognitive function in primates and rodents. Our previous study showed that DCS can reduce motor, emotional, and cognitive dysfunctions, as well as neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration in a PD animal model and may therefore have potential for the treatment of neuroinflammation and cognitive dysfunction in patients with PD. In addition, increased expression of cyclooxygenase type‐2 (COX‐2) has been observed in dopaminergic neurons and activated microglia in the brain of both PD patients and PD animal models. COX‐2 inhibitors can suppress activation of microglia and protect dopaminergic neurons from degeneration. Thus, a combination of DCS and COX‐2 inhibitors might prove useful in suppressing neuroinflammation and cognitive deficits in PD.
High preoperative ratio of blood urea nitrogen to creatinine increased mortality in gastrointestinal cancer patients who developed postoperative enteric fistulas
Authors: Lin Hsing‐Lin , Chen Chao‐Wen , Lu Chien‐Yu , Sun Li‐Chu , Shih Ying‐Ling , Chuang Jui‐Fen , Huang Yu‐Ho , Sheen Maw‐Chang , Wang Jaw‐Yuan
Published: April 2012

Development of an enteric fistula after surgery is a major therapeutic complication. In this study, we retrospectively examined the potential relationship between preoperative laboratory data and patient mortality by collecting patient data from a tertiary medical center. We included patients who developed enteric fistulas after surgery for gastrointestinal (GI) cancer between January 2005 and December 2010. Patient demographics and data on preoperative and pre‐parenteral nutritional statuses were compared between surviving and deceased patients. Logistic regression analysis and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to determine the predictors and cut‐off values, respectively. Patients with incomplete data and preoperative heart, lung, kidney, and liver diseases were excluded from the study; thus, out of 65 patients, 43 were enrolled. Logistic regression analysis showed that blood urea nitrogen‐to‐creatinine (BUN/Cr) ratio [p = 0.007; OR = 0.443, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.245–0.802] was an independent predictor of mortality in patients who developed enteric fistulas after surgery for GI cancer. In conclusion, the results of our study showed that a high preoperative BUN/Cr ratio increases the risk of mortality in patients who develop enteric fistulas after surgery for GI cancer.
Head and neck extranodal lymphoma in a single institute: A 17‐year retrospective analysis
Authors: Chi Hung‐Sheng , Lee Ka‐Wo , Chiang Feng‐Yu , Tai Chih‐Feng , Wang Ling‐Feng , Yang Sheau‐Fang , Lin Sheng‐Fung , Kuo Wen‐Rei
Published: April 2012

The study's purposes are to identify patient characteristics, treatment response and survival rate, and to describe the important prognostic factors for our patients with extranodal head and neck lymphoma. Furthermore, no study has systemically discussed the overall figure of this disease in Taiwan and we analyzed our data on this topic. A retrospective review was performed for 86 patients with extranodal head and neck lymphoma, diagnosed in Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, between 1990 and 2007. We evaluated the medical records and analyzed the possible factors affecting treatment outcomes, survival rate, and free‐from‐disease (FFD) survival rate. Forty‐nine male and 37 female patients were included with a male:female ratio of 1.32：1. The most frequent histologic type was diffuse large B cell lymphoma, accounting for 41.9% of the total. The most common primary site involved with extranodal head and neck non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma was a tonsil with 27 cases (31.4%). Stage, international prognostic index (IPI) score, B symptoms, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) level, and lymph node status significantly affected treatment response. The overall 5‐ and 10‐year survival rates were 68.0% and 57.8%, respectively. The FFD survival rate was 53.6% and 49.3% at 5 and 10 years, respectively. Factors including stage, lymph node status, LDH level, and IPI score produced significant differences in both overall survival and FFD survival. Our analyzed information is similar to other previously presented studies. Stage, IPI score, B symptoms, LDH level, and neck nodal status can be used to evaluate the treatment outcomes. Neck nodal status and stage are the two significant prognostic factors for overall survival.
An investigation on illness perception and adherence among hypertensive patients
Authors: Hsiao Chih‐Yin , Chang Chueh , Chen Chih‐Dao
Published: April 2012

Successful blood pressure (BP) control requires good adherence to medication and specific health‐related behaviors. However, the BP control rate is not optimal, and limited research has focused on the patient's perspective. This study aimed at investigating the illness perceptions of hypertensive patients and how they relate to drug adherence. One hundred and seventeen hypertensive patients enrolled in this study, and data were collected in a family physician clinic of a medical center located in northern Taiwan. The Illness Perception Questionnaire was administered, and medication adherence and demographic data were also collected. Results showed the patients' perceptions of their hypertension, that it was a chronically severe but stable disease, and the patients were confident in the effectiveness of medical treatments and their ability to control their disease. The participants were divided into three clusters by cluster analysis. There were 46.15% participants in the first cluster; they had less negative belief in their illness consequence and less negative emotional responses, but a low personal sense of control. The second cluster (11.97%) had more negative emotional responses and more negative beliefs in their illness consequence, but these individuals scored highly on their personal sense of control and treatment control beliefs. The third cluster (41.88%) had scores between clusters 1 and 2. Cluster 1 had the best drug adherence, and cluster 2 had the worst drug adherence (χ2 = 7.67, p < 0.05). It may be beneficial for clinical physicians to pay attention to patients' illness perceptions, including their negative emotional response and symptoms, in order to improve their drug adherence.
Cultural Interbreedings: Constituting the Majority as a Minority
Authors: Gruzinski Serge , Wachtel Nathan
Published: April 2012

From the time of the Spanish invasion, in the Andean world as in Mexico, a mere handful of conquistadores came to impose their domination upon the indigent masses. One cannot, therefore, begin by speaking of minorities nor of the marginalization of Amerindian populations, even when these decrease dramatically following the demographic catastrophe of the sixteenth century, for in spite of this they remain significantly more numerous than the Spanish. Yet it is true that the term Indian appears, from its origins even, as a derogatory term (see the flood of contemporary literature on savages, idolaters, and so forth) and that it is in fact applied even now in countries such as Peru and Bolivia, where the autochthonous substratum survives in many regions, to the populations least integrated into national life, who might be considered, in this sense, as “marginal.” What, then, has taken place during these last five centuries?
City, State, and Public Ritual in the Late-Medieval Burgundian Netherlands
Authors: Arnade Peter
Published: April 2012

At the end of a distinguished career as chronicler of the Burgundian court, Georges Chastellain (1404–75) penned a quick sketch of the outstanding accomplishments of his duke, Charles the Bold. Accustomed to expositions awash in chivalric pomp, Chastellain employed a different tack to commemorate this sovereign: He sketched eleven “magnificences” performed by the duke of Burgundy, all reconstructed images of this prince's engagement with ceremony. Foremost among this snapshot collection of state ritual was neither a tournament, nor a wedding ceremony, nor even a processional entry. What stood out, in Chastellain's estimation, as Charles' greatest deed was something more riveting and more powerful than any of these spectacles so beloved by the fifteenth-century Burgundian court:

The first [magnificence] was at Brussels, where, seated on his throne, his sword unsheathed and held by his Marshall, he gathered the men of Ghent arranged kneeling before him and at his pleasure and in their presence cut and tore up the political charters they bore. Done for permanent record, this action was without parallel.

For Chastellain, the supreme magnificence of Charles the Bold was a lesson in exemplary punishment, the public abasement of the aldermen and guild deans of the Flemish city of Ghent in January 1469, a year and a half after a city revolt of rank-and-file guildsmen had unsettled celebrations in honor of his accession to the countship of Flanders.
Empire Loyalism and Minority Nationalism in Great Britain and Imperial Russia, 1707 to 1914: Institutions, Law, and Nationality in Scotland and Ukraine
Authors: Velychenko Stephen
Published: April 2012

In 1812 a Russian army inflicted two decisive defeats on the Persian army. The resulting Treaty of Gulistan shifted tsarist borders 250 miles south and secured Russian control over Georgia and the Caspian Sea littoral. The commanding general, Piotr Kotliarevsky, received a second St. George Cross (the equivalent of the Victoria Cross) for this accomplishment—wounded in the battle, surgeons removed forty pieces of bone from his skull to save his life. The Persians were allied to Britain, who, fearing Russian and French designs on India, had sent a mission in 1810 headed by General John Malcolm, to the Shah. Charles Christie, a military advisor on the mission was killed in battle. Whereas Malcolm was an important agent of British policy in Central Asia and India, Christie was one of the first Europeans to travel and map the Afghano–Persian frontier. These achievements are normally logged into Russian and English history, but the men behind them were not native Russians nor Englishmen. Kotliarevsky was born into a lesser Ukrainian noble family in Kharkiv (Kharkov) province, while Malcolm and Christie were Scots. Like thousands of their countrymen, they served and made careers in the empires that ruled their native lands. A Ukrainian was Peter I's principal panegyrist. Scots wrote Rule Britannia and created “John Bull.”
Protests of Engagement: Dignity, False Love, and Self-Love in Mexico during 1968
Authors: Braun Herbert
Published: April 2012

A few thousand young Mexicans were standing together in large groups in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas at Tlatelolco in downtown Mexico City to remember the massacre which had brought the student movement of 1968 to a sudden end ten years before. Many turned their heads upward to the balcony of a residential building that faced the plaza to hear Carlos Monsiváis, a well-known intellectual who had savored the protests, tell them that they “no longer saw the state as a tyrannical and omnipresent father.” Still another ten years later, many of them, and others as well, read the words of Hugo Hiriart, a promising young journalist in 1968, who claimed that the students had “dared to lead in a frontal and uncompromising opposition to the paternal and authoritarian Mexican state.”
Some Things That Have Happened toThe Sun After September 1965: Politics and the Interpretation of an Indonesian Painting
Authors: George Kenneth M.
Published: April 2012

As most tell the story, the mysterious and fearful twilight of Sukarno's Indonesia began in Jakarta sometime after sundown on the last day of September 1965. That night and in the early hours of October 1, a group led by leftist, middle-ranking military officers calling themselves the September Thirtieth Movement kidnapped and killed six generals in an attempted putsch. In its radio broadcasts the following morning, the movement announced its loyalty to President Sukarno and claimed that it had acted in order to thwart a coup planned by a ‘Council of Generals.’ In the year leading up to the putsch, the president's hold on power had been strained by the increasing polarization between the army and disaffected Muslims on the one hand, and Sukarno and the PKI—the Indonesian Communist Party (Partai Kommunis Indonesia)— on the other. Sukarno's ill health, factionalism within military ranks, and the shadow of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) only added to the anxiety and uncertainty. It is unclear whether this Council of Generals had anything more than a phantom existence. What is clear is that the head of the strategic reserve command in Jakarta, Major General Soeharto, was quick to manipulate the situation and bring the movement to a halt within hours. In an evening radio broadcast on October 1, Soeharto described the putsch as a counter-revolutionary movement and told listeners that the army and police under his leadership had regained control.
BEING KIKUYU IN MERU: CHALLENGING THE TRIBAL GEOGRAPHY OF COLONIAL KENYA
Authors: PARSONS TIMOTHY
Published: April 2012

Faced with a confusing range of fluid ethnicities when they conquered Kenya, colonial officials sought to shift conquered populations into manageable administrative units. In linking physical space to ethnic identity, the Kenyan reserve system assumed that each of these ‘tribes’ had a specific homeland. Yet the reserves in the central Kenyan highlands soon became overcrowded and socially restive because they could not accommodate population growth and private claims to land for commercial agriculture. Although colonial officials proclaimed themselves the guardians of backward tribal peoples, they tried to address this problem by creating mechanisms whereby surplus populations would be ‘adopted’ into tribes living in less crowded reserves. This article provides new insights into the nature of identity in colonial Kenya by telling the stories of two types of Kikuyu migrants who settled in the Meru Reserve. The first much larger group did so legally by agreeing to become Meru. The second openly challenged the colonial state and their Meru hosts by defiantly proclaiming themselves to be Kikuyu. These diverse ways of being Kikuyu in the Meru Reserve fit neither strict primordial nor constructivist conceptions of African identity formation. The peoples of colonial Kenya had options in deciding how to identify themselves and could assume different political and social roles by invoking one or more of them at a time and in specific circumstances.
Competitions for Resources: Partition's Evacuee Property and the Sustenance of Corruption in Pakistan
Authors: CHATTHA ILYAS
Published: April 2012

This paper explores the part that the redistribution of evacuee property—the property abandoned by departing Hindus and Sikhs during the mass migrations after Partition—played in the institutionalization of corruption in Pakistan. By drawing on hitherto unexplored sources, including Pakistan's Rehabilitation Department papers, local police files and court records, it highlights the schemes of illegal appropriation, misappropriation, and paints a wholly convincing portrait of the scramble for millions of rupees worth of abandoned property in the towns and countryside of West Punjab. It shows how politicians, bureaucrats, powerful local notables and enterprising refugee groups grabbed properties, mainly by bribing officers charged with allocating them to incoming refugees, or by utilizing their personal contacts. The paper argues that the fierce competition for resources and temptations for evacuee property encouraged the emergence of a ‘corruption’ discourse which not only contributed to an atmosphere that was detrimental to democratic consolidation in the early years of Pakistan's history, but also justified later military intervention. This not only adds to the empirical knowledge of Partition and its legacies, but also makes a significant contribution towards our understanding of the transitional state in Pakistan.
BAYESIAN META-ANALYSIS ON MEDICAL DEVICES: APPLICATION TO IMPLANTABLE CARDIOVERTER DEFIBRILLATORS
Authors: Youn Ji-Hee , Lord Joanne , Hemming Karla , Girling Alan , Buxton Martin
Published: April 2012

Objectives: The aim of this study is to describe and illustrate a method to obtain early estimates of the effectiveness of a new version of a medical device.

Methods: In the absence of empirical data, expert opinion may be elicited on the expected difference between the conventional and modified devices. Bayesian Mixed Treatment Comparison (MTC) meta-analysis can then be used to combine this expert opinion with existing trial data on earlier versions of the device. We illustrate this approach for a new four-pole implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) compared with conventional ICDs, Class III anti-arrhythmic drugs, and conventional drug therapy for the prevention of sudden cardiac death in high risk patients. Existing RCTs were identified from a published systematic review, and we elicited opinion on the difference between four-pole and conventional ICDs from experts recruited at a cardiology conference.

Results: Twelve randomized controlled trials were identified. Seven experts provided valid probability distributions for the new ICDs compared with current devices. The MTC model resulted in estimated relative risks of mortality of 0.74 (0.60–0.89) (predictive relative risk [RR] = 0.77 [0.41–1.26]) and 0.83 (0.70–0.97) (predictive RR = 0.84 [0.55–1.22]) with the new ICD therapy compared to Class III anti-arrhythmic drug therapy and conventional drug therapy, respectively. These results showed negligible differences from the preliminary results for the existing ICDs.

Conclusions: The proposed method incorporating expert opinion to adjust for a modification made to an existing device may play a useful role in assisting decision makers to make early informed judgments on the effectiveness of frequently modified healthcare technologies.
TRANSFERABILITY OF HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT REPORTS IN LATIN AMERICA: AN EXPLORATORY SURVEY OF RESEARCHERS AND DECISION MAKERS
Authors: Pichon-Riviere Andres , Augustovski Federico , García Martí Sebastián , Sullivan Sean D. , Drummond Michael
Published: April 2012

Introduction: HTA agencies, especially in developing countries, are under resourced and unable to conduct the desired amount of assessments. Adapting HTA reports (HTAs) from other jurisdictions is an alternative for saving resources.

Objectives: To explore HTA transferability experiences in Latin-America and Caribbean (LAC): are decision makers (DMs) using HTAs from other jurisdictions? Are researchers adapting HTAs when developing local reports? How useful is the information found in HTAs from other jurisdictions?

Methods: Web-based survey sent to 13031 HTA researchers and DMs.

Results: We received 671 responses from 19 countries. DMs reported using HTAs from other jurisdictions to guide decisions in the majority of the situations: 52.6 percent HTAs from outside LAC (e.g., Europe), 23.1 percent from other LAC countries, and only 24.3 percent HTAs from their own countries. 63 percent of researchers reported using HTAs from other jurisdictions. Usefulness scored significantly higher for HTAs from other jurisdictions as compared to local HTAs (7.1 versus 6.0 in a 1–10 scale; p < .01). Both DMs and researchers considered the information regarding safety and effectiveness more applicable than the information on social aspects, or economic evaluation. Barriers that limit transferability had significantly different scores for HTAs from other LAC countries as compared to those from regions outside LAC (i.e., poor methodological quality 6.7 versus 5.3, different epidemiological context 6.0 versus 7.4; all p < .01).

Conclusions: HTAs from outside the region are commonly used. However, DMs and researchers agreed that HTAs from LAC had the greatest potential for transferability, provided that barriers such as poor methodological quality could be overcome.
The special issue: agent-based computational economics—overview
Authors: Marks Robert E. , Vriend Nicolaas J.
Published: April 2012

The Knowledge Engineering Review is an outstanding journal in Computer Science. The guest editors and contributors to this Special Issue are economists. Why is this so? In recent years, there has been a growing dialogue between economists and computer scientists, to our mutual benefit. The Special Issue is devoted to nine papers in which economists survey aspects of the field of agent-based computational economics models, and in some cases report on new findings in several areas of application. As such, we hope it has something to offer both computer scientists and economists.
Analysis and synthesis: multi-agent systems in the social sciences
Authors: Marks Robert E.
Published: April 2012

Although they flow from a common source, the uses of multi-agent systems (or ‘agent-based computational systems’––ACE) vary between the social sciences and computer science. The distinction can be broadly summarized as analysis versus synthesis, or explanation versus design. I compare and contrast these uses, and discuss sufficiency and necessity in simulations in general and in multi-agent systems in particular, with a computer science audience in mind.
Evolution of market heuristics
Authors: Anufriev Mikhail , Hommes Cars
Published: April 2012

The time evolution of aggregate economic variables, such as stock prices, is affected by market expectations of individual investors. Neoclassical economic theory assumes that individuals form expectations rationally, thus forcing prices to track economic fundamentals and leading to an efficient allocation of resources. However, laboratory experiments with human subjects have shown that individuals do not behave fully rationally but instead follow simple heuristics. In laboratory markets, prices may show persistent deviations from fundamentals similar to the large swings observed in real stock prices.

Here we show that evolutionary selection among simple forecasting heuristics can explain coordination of individual behavior, leading to three different aggregate outcomes observed in recent laboratory market-forecasting experiments: slow monotonic price convergence, oscillatory dampened price fluctuations, and persistent price oscillations. In our model, forecasting strategies are selected every period from a small population of plausible heuristics, such as adaptive expectations and trend-following rules. Individuals adapt their strategies over time, based on the relative forecasting performance of the heuristics. As a result, the evolutionary switching mechanism exhibits path dependence and matches individual forecasting behavior as well as aggregate market outcomes in the experiments. Our results are in line with recent work on agent-based models of interaction and contribute to a behavioral explanation of universal features of financial markets.
At Every Bloody Level: A Magistrate, a Framework-Knitter, and the Law
Authors: Steedman Carolyn
Published: April 2012

In November 1806, Nottinghamshire magistrate Sir Gervase Clifton was visited at his house by one of his poorer neighbours, “a pauper of the village of Wilford.” (Wilford is about three miles from Clifton village and Clifton Hall.) William Kirwin was attempting to sort out complicated domestic arrangements within the framework of the law that governed his family's life. He told the magistrate about his mother-in-law, a widow, currently living in Tollerton. “She is in a very distressed state,” he said; he and his wife wanted her to come and live with them, “so that she may be better taken care of & kept from want.” He had asked the Wilford overseer for permission to take her in but had been refused. The family had tried to help after her husband died: her son (with wife and children) had moved into her cottage on the understanding that “they would take care of her during her Life & allow her good victuals drinks firing & good cloathing.” Something had evidently gone wrong with that arrangement, but we are not to know what, or how, as the entry in Clifton's notebook breaks off here (as is the case with many pieces of magisterial business he recorded). Kirwin was aware of local ratepayers and tensions between parishes in regard to their financial responsibilities under the old Poor Law: what he proposed would keep his mother-in-law from “troubling the … parish of Wilford,” he said. She was financially independent, or at least on marriage she had “brought a many good with her & such as a beds & other goods.” He knew that a justice of the peace was a point of appeal in the vast, complex edifice of ancient statutory law (poor and settlement law) that dictated the way he lived his life. We can discern something of William Kirwin's understanding of these matters from the fragmentary, incomplete account of what he said, and the strategies he used in telling his story; we can discern some of Sir Gervase's from the action he did not take in this case, and what he did not have his clerk record.
Use of a telescopic system for transcatheter radiofrequency perforation and balloon valvotomy in infants with pulmonary atresia and intact ventricular septum
Authors: Bondanza Sara , Derchi Maria , Tuo Giulia , Zannini Lucio , Marasini Maurizio
Published: April 2012

Background

Pulmonary atresia and intact ventricular septum is a complex congenital heart disease with great morphological variability. Approximately two-thirds of patients may be suitable for transcatheter pulmonary valvotomy. We reviewed our experience in the use of two different percutaneous approaches to evaluate the impact on fluoroscopy time and morbidity of a new technique to perform transcatheter radiofrequency perforation and valvotomy in newborns with pulmonary atresia and intact ventricular septum.

Methods and Results

In all, 31 patients underwent radiofrequency perforation of the pulmonary valve. The first 14 infants were treated using a 5 French Judkins right coronary catheter, which was manoeuvred directly underneath the atretic pulmonary valve (Group A). The others were treated using a telescopic system consisting of Northstar Lumax Flex and White Lumax Guiding Catheters (Cook; Group B). In both groups, after radiofrequency perforation of the pulmonary valve, a 0.014-inch superfloppy guidewire was advanced into the descending aorta and balloon dilations were performed. Required fluoroscopy time was significantly lower in Group B (48.5 ± 28.1 versus 24.9 ± 14.4 minutes, respectively; p < 0.01). A higher incidence of unfavourable events including the need for early surgery was found in Group A.

Conclusion

In our experience, telescopic catheter proved to be a valid option able to decrease the fluoroscopy time of percutaneous radiofrequency perforation of pulmonary valve and consequently patients’ exposure to procedure-related risks.
Evaluation of cardiac functions with Doppler echocardiography in children with Down syndrome and anatomically normal heart
Authors: Al-Biltagi Mohammed , Serag Amany R. , Hefidah Mohammed M. , Mabrouk Maaly M.
Published: April 2012

Objective

To study the cardiac functions in Down syndrome children who did not have structural cardiac lesion by conventional and tissue Doppler echocardiography.

Materials and methods

A total of 85 children with Down syndrome without anatomic heart disease and 50 normal control children were subjected to the assessment of right and left ventricular functions by both two-dimensional and tissue Doppler echocardiography.

Results

Children with Down syndrome had significantly higher left ventricular ejection fraction detected by two-dimensional echocardiography and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction detected by tissue Doppler than observed in the controls. In addition, children with Down syndrome also had right ventricular systolic and diastolic dysfunctions. Children with Down syndrome had significantly higher pulmonary artery systolic pressure than the control children. There was no significant difference in the cardiac functions between children with non-disjunction Down syndrome and those with the translocation type.

Conclusion

Despite an apparently normal heart, children with Down syndrome may have silent disturbed cardiac functions, which may be detected by two-dimensional or tissue Doppler echocardiography. This may have an important clinical implication, especially before involving Down syndrome children in surgery or strenuous exercise.
EXPONENTIAL AND CHARACTER SUMS WITH MERSENNE NUMBERS
Authors: BANKS WILLIAM D. , FRIEDLANDER JOHN B. , GARAEV MOUBARIZ Z. , SHPARLINSKI IGOR E.
Published: April 2012

We give new bounds on sums of the form ∑ n≤NΛ(n)exp (2πiagn/m) and ∑ n≤NΛ(n)χ(gn+a), where Λ is the von Mangoldt function, m is a natural number, a and g are integers coprime to m, and χ is a multiplicative character modulo m. In particular, our results yield bounds on the sums ∑ p≤Nexp (2πiaMp/m) and ∑ p≤Nχ(Mp) with Mersenne numbers Mp=2p−1, where p is prime.
Bayesian prediction of disability insurance frequencies using economic indicators
Authors: Donnelly C. , Wüthrich Mario V.
Published: April 2012

We use economic indicators to improve the prediction of the number of incurred but not recorded disability insurance claims, assuming that there is a link between the number of claims and the chosen economic indicators. We propose a Bayesian model where we model the claims development in three directions: along incurred periods, recording lag periods and calendar periods. A stochastic model of the economic indicators is incorporated into the calendar period development direction. Thus we allow for the impact of the economic environment on the number of claims. Applying the proposed model to data, we illustrate how the inclusion of economic indicators affects the prediction of the number of incurred but not recorded disability claims.
Cenozoic shortening budget for the northeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau: Is lower crustal flow necessary?
Authors: Lease Richard O. , Burbank Douglas W. , Zhang Huiping , Liu Jianhui , Yuan Daoyang
Published: April 2012

Two of the most popular mechanisms for thickening the crust beneath the Tibetan Plateau are (1) pure shear with faulting and folding in the upper crust and horizontal shortening below and (2) flow of lower or middle crust without significant shortening of the upper crust. To help discriminate between the relative contributions of these two mechanisms, well‐constrained estimates of upper crustal shortening are needed. Here we document the Cenozoic shortening budget across the northeastern Tibetan Plateau margin with several balanced cross sections that exploit thermochronological and magnetostratigraphic constraints. These sections indicate 11 +2/−1% east‐west shortening since middle Miocene time and ∼9 +2/−3% NNE‐SSW shortening between middle Eocene and middle Miocene times with little subsequent shortening of this orientation. Shortening rates accelerate fivefold after middle Miocene time. Given the present‐day crustal thickness of 56 ± 4 km in northeastern Tibet, crustal restorations that remove Cenozoic shortening suggest that the northeastern Tibetan crust was 45 ± 5 km thick prior to the India‐Asia continental collision. This precollision thickness estimate is equivalent to average continental crustal thicknesses both adjacent to the Tibetan Plateau (44 ± 4 km) and globally (41 ± 6 km) and suggests that pure shear alone may account for Cenozoic crustal thickening in northeastern Tibet. In contrast to eastern Tibet where, in the absence of significant shortening structures, crustal flow has been invoked to explain the addition of crustal material since middle Miocene time, our results may obviate lower crustal flow as a necessary crustal thickening agent in northeastern Tibet.
Occurrence rate of earthward‐propagating dipolarization fronts
Authors: Fu H. S. , Khotyaintsev Y. V. , Vaivads A. , André M. , Huang S. Y.
Published: April 2012

The occurrence rate of earthward‐propagating dipolarization fronts (DFs) is investigated in this paper based on the 9 years (2001–2009) of Cluster 1 data. For the first time, we select the DF events by fitting the characteristic increase inBzusing a hyperbolic tangent function. 303 earthward‐propagating DFs are found; they have on average a duration of 4 s and aBz increase of 8 nT. DFs have the maximum occurrence at ZGSM ≈ 0 and r ≈ 15 RE with one event occurring every 3.9 hours, where r is the distance to the center of the Earth in the XYGSM plane. The maximum occurrence rate at ZGSM ≈ 0 can be explained by the steep and large increase of Bz near the central current sheet, which is consistent with previous simulations. Along the r direction, the occurrence rate increases gradually from r ≈ 20 to r ≈ 15 RE but decreases rapidly from r ≈ 15 to r ≈ 10 RE. This may be due to the increasing pileup of the magnetic flux from r ≈ 20 to r ≈ 15 RE and the strong background magnetic field at r <∼13 RE, where the magnetic field changes from the tail‐like to dipolar shape. The maximum occurrence rate of DFs (one event per 3.9 hours) is comparable to that of substorms, indicating a relation between the two.