bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Missing the Boat: Port City Planning in Glasgow during World War II
Authors: Konvitz Josef W.
Published: October 2006

The Second World War marked a decisive expansion of planning for port cities in Western Europe and the UK. The study of plans for Glasgow shows that planners failed to prepare for the modernisation of port facilities and of waterfront-related industry and the improvement of transport connections between ports and the rest of the city. A comprehensive assessment of port matters was compromised by politics, first in bringing about government intervention in matters of port administration, and then in generating opposition between the municipal authorities of Glasgow and the central government on whether Glasgow should dominate the Clyde Valley. The Cooper report on the Clyde Estuary dealt with the question whether a unified port authority should be created. This institutional question kept port issues separate from the process of urban renewal. The Bruce and Abercrombie plans differed in their estimation of the importance of the port to the regional economy, but agreed that major changes in the port district were necessary if conditions in the rest of the city were to improve. This analysis shows that the shortcomings of planning during war cannot be attributed to wartime conditions, but reflected established perceptions of urban conditions and expectations of future development.
Residential Location, Housing Demand and Labour Supply Decisions of One- and Two-Earner Households: The Case of Bogota, Colombia
Authors: Assadian Afsaneh , Ondrich Jan
Published: October 2006

This paper is concerned with the simultaneous determination of housing consumption, residential location and the labour supply decisions of one-earner and two-earner households. The model is applied to the city of Bogota, Colombia. It finds that housing consumption and location as well as labour supply decisions vary across gender and household type. The paper suggests that married women who work in the labour market have the burden of a long journey-to-work and a probable heavy share of household responsibilities; their well-being is further eroded by lower wages and compensatingly long hours of work.
Central Policies and Local Autonomy: the Case of Wales
Authors: Boyne George A.
Published: October 2006

This paper assesses the impact of central policies on the autonomy of local authorities in Wales since 1979. Several problems in the measurement of central constraints are identified, including the distinction between aggregate and individual autonomy, the specification of central objectives and the need to take account of factors that reinforce or counteract central policies. The behaviour of Welsh local authorities is compared with six central goals: lower spending, less direct service provision, a greater emphasis on market mechanisms, compliance with central targets, less policy diversity and a weaker link between party politics and policy decisions. The empirical evidence provides only limited support for the centralisation thesis. General conclusions are drawn on the conceptualisation and measurement of central constraints on local autonomy.
Conversions, Condominiums and Capital Gains: The Transformation of the Ontario Rental Housing Market
Authors: Steele Marion
Published: October 2006

This paper challenges the widespread view that there was a rental housing supply crisis in the late 1980s in Ontario and shows that the increase in rental during that period was far greater than the number of new purpose-built rental units. Conversions and investor-owned condominiums made a major contribution. Contrary to conventional wisdom, conversions came from the relatively new stock and tenure switches unassociated with structural change were important. The importance of the conversion phenomenon is underlined by evidence that the conversion sector of the rental market was far looser in 1989 than in 1971. This suggests that the official rental vacancy rate, for large buildings, is misleading as an indicator of overall availability. The paper argues that the rise in the relative importance of conversions and investor-owned condominiums is no fluke, but rather is the consequence of the interaction of the income tax system and the high rates of inflation and capital gains of the 1970s and 1980s, as well as certain details of Ontario rent regulation. It argues that these forces have encouraged conversions of units from ownership to rental, additions of rental units in small buildings rather than in large, and non-corporate ownerships.
'Can Pay? Won't Pay?' or Economic Principles of 'Affordability'
Authors: Hancock K.E.
Published: October 2006

The term 'afford ability' has been gaining currency in housing policy debates, but neither government nor academic researchers have given much consideration to defining it. This paper considers what meanings have been given to the term affordability in practice and suggests a range of analytically more useful definitions. It argues from economic first principles that it is more logical to use some form of residual income definition than one based on a prescribed ratio of housing costs to income. Most researchers have been using a ratio definition. The paper then uses data from a household survey in the Glasgow Travel-to-Work Area in 1988/89 to examine the incidence of 'unaffordability' of housing costs according to a variety of definitions.
Power Disparities in the Planning of a Mixed Region: Arabs and Jews in the Galilee, Israel
Authors: Yiftachel Oren
Published: October 2006

This paper examines changes over time in Arab-Jewish power relations in the land use planning of Israel's Galilee region. A theoretical framework is developed, linking power disparities to levels of social and political strife. Following the findings of recent research on policies towards the Arabs in Israel, it is hypothesised that Arab-Jewish power disparities have narrowed since the mid 1970s. This hypothesis is tested against the case of land use planning in the Galilee between 1975 and 1988. Three principal aspects of the issue are examined: the power structure of the planning system; participation in the formulation of land use plans; and Arab and Jewish efficacy in the planning process. The findings do not support the hypothesis. Power relations have narrowed in some areas of the planning system during the research period, but in other areas disparities have widened with the introduction of new inequalities. Overall, a status-quo has been maintained, leaving the Arabs largely outside the policy-making process in a region where they form a clear majority.
East Germany's New Towns in Transition: A Grassroots View of the Impact of Unification
Authors: Rueschemeyer Marilyn
Published: October 2006

This paper describes the former German Democratic Republic in transition after unification, focusing on the new urban communities (Neubaugebiete) with particular reference to the levels of participation by residents in local organisations. The immediate effects of unification include loss of subsidies, massive unemployment and special problems for groups such as women, single parents, foreigners and young adults in residential areas. Levels of participation in local organisation are low because of a sense of futility and lack of familiarity. In the case-study city of Rostock the new political parties are committed to preserving some of the older GDR values such as non-segregated housing. The transition period has revealed enormously high expectations for social and economic well-being which are constantly challenged by the reality of everyday life.
The Employment and Skill Implications of the Adoption of New Technology: A Comparison of Small Engineering Firms in Core and Peripheral Regions
Authors: O'Farrell P.N. , Oakey R.P.
Published: October 2006

This paper examines the direct post-adoption effects of the introduction of new technology, specifically CNC machine tools, by small independent metalworking firms in three regions of the UK, the South East of England, Scotland and Wales. The research reports upon the impact of CNC adoption upon employment levels; the skills of operatives; the effect of CNCs upon skills and pay rates; the organisation of work and job content; and training. A benign interpretation of new technology's effects upon employment and deskilling is substantiated. The impact of CNC adoption upon enskilling has been similar in both the core and periphery of Britain. Also, there is scant evidence that CNC adoption has led to an increasingly polarised workforce.
Job Duration and the Macro-evaluation of Employment Policy: The Example of UK Regional Policy
Authors: Wren Colin
Published: October 2006

The paper argues that in order to use macro-evaluation techniques to calculate the employment effect of a policy over some sub-period after policy commencement, it is necessary to determine the rate at which policy jobs are lost. Crucially, it is the rate at which jobs cease to be attributable to policy which is relevant, rather than the rate at which jobs are lost to firms. This point is demonstrated for the case of UK regional policy over the period 1971-81. It is shown that the measured employment effect of this policy is highly sensitive to assumptions about the rate of policy jobs loss, but insensitive to the period over which jobs exist prior to being lost. Under reasonable assumptions, it is argued that the employment effect of this policy over the 1970s was twice that previously thought.
Financing the Post-apartheid City in South Africa
Authors: Bell Michael E. , Dearborn Philip M. , Hunter Roland
Published: October 2006

The recent dramatic changes in South Africa have created new opportunities for altering the country's basic political and economic institutions. Whilst much attention has been focused on the national level, another crucial strand in the reform movement has been efforts to foster truly effective non-racial local self-government which in turn need adequate own-source revenues. With the predicted increase in the urban black populations, the Black Local Authorities, which are supposed to be financially self-sufficient, will come under increasing pressure. A discriminatory electricity price system and boycotts in response to rapidly rising rents further reduce BLA income. Increasingly, BLAs are coming to rely upon user fees and charges to provide services, but unless the fee structures are carefully designed they become regressive. What is required is a single-tax-base including the local property tax and a local income or value-added tax.
Tax Abatements and Rent-seeking
Authors: Coffman Richard B.
Published: October 2006

Recent literature has argued that a policy of invariant tax abatement awards is more costly than necessary, and has suggested several ways of improving tax abatement policy by allowing officials discretion in granting abatements. This paper argues such discretion carries its own dangers, and may well create rent-seeking costs larger than the other costs it is meant to avert. Analysis suggests tax abatements should be abandoned as a development policy. More generally, rent-seeking should be recognised as an important concept in the analysis and evaluation of development programmes.
Postmodernism and the City: Mediterranean Versions
Authors: Leontidou Lila
Published: October 2006

Elements of postmodernism in social and cultural life seem to have been dominant in Mediterranean Europe before the concept was even coined in the 1970s. It is argued here that, by focusing on areas of the world with cultures and political histories different from those of the core of Europe and the USA, we can claim that postmodernism is not as new, nor does it follow modernism as distinctively and neatly as is believed. It has a longer itinerary and has emerged, as a culture, in different social formations at different periods. Is postmodernism perhaps a retrieved subordinate culture alternative to modernism, rather than a previously inexistent condition? This question, raised here, is answered only partly.
The Geographical Formation of International Management Centres in Europe
Authors: Bosman Jeroen , de Smidt Marc
Published: October 2006

International management centres are based on production-control functions. Control functions comprise headquarters as bases of operation and beachheads co-ordinating foreign branches and subsidiaries. Bases of operations and beachheads are sustained by advanced business services, financial and real estate services and corporate services. These activities make up an economic formation. Transport, communication facilities, internationally oriented office locations and specific amenities enable the formation to function smoothly. The spatial and social structures of many city regions are strongly affected by the development of these international management centres. Segmentation processes in the housing and labour markets can be related to these formations of management activities.
International Changes and the Single European Market: Impacts on the Spatial Structure of Germany
Authors: Bremm Heinz-Jürgen , Ache Peter
Published: October 2006

The aim of this paper is to discuss the relationship and connections between international changes, the Single European Market and urban and regional developments in Germany. In the first part of the paper, the ongoing changes in the global political and economic system are described in broader terms, focusing on shifts in Europe. The assumptions of the Cecchini report, a discussion of its neoclassical orientation and critical comments on the likely outcomes of SEM are the subject of the second part of the paper. In the third section we present an overview of recent urban and regional developments in Germany including the effects of unification. The impacts of the SEM on the spatial structure of Germany are discussed in the fourth part of the paper. In the final section, a summarising view is offered and the question is raised of how planning and intervention opportunities are changing at the urban and regional level.
Regional Innovation Policies Compared
Authors: Hassink Robert
Published: October 2006

Regional policy and technology policy increasingly converge into regional innovation policies in the Europe of regions. The comparison of technology-transfer networks in the German regions Baden-Württemberg and the Ruhr with the British region of the North East of England, makes clear that national political settings determine the political and financial power which regions have to devise their own policies. The region with the largest political autonomy, Baden-Württemberg, creates the most transparent technology-transfer network. In the North East of England, both regionally based organisations and initiatives from the central government emerged at the same time. This caused a considerable overlap between activities of 'economic development industry' and a lack of co-ordination.
Network Urban Structures in Northern Italy: Elements for a Theoretical Framework
Authors: Camagni Roberto P. , Salone Carlo
Published: October 2006

The recent urban dynamics of industrialised countries show the rise of a new spatial order, which simplifies 'vertical' relationships between the cities and complicates, instead, the 'horizontal' inter-urban patterns. Some northern Italian regions, such as Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna, have been characterised historically by polycentric settlement, which constitutes today the spatial texture of functional, economic and social relationships among the urban places, their hinterlands and their regions, according to a new order of spatial organisation. This is a network-based order, whose theoretical framework is not still well founded. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the establishment of a new theoretical paradigm, by integrating several taxonomies recently proposed by Italian researchers in urban and regional sciences. Obviously, the results of these reflections are still weak and open to further contributions, particularly with regard to other regions in north-western Europe.
Dimensions of Urban Structure: An Example of Construct Validation
Authors: Ross Stephen L.
Published: October 2006

Traditionally, city classification studies have been considered descriptive. Empirical results have typically not been applied to explain or predict other urban characteristics. This pattern was reversed in the 1980s by the application of the results of two well-known classification studies as independent variables in a regression analysis. However, in performing statistical inference, it was implicitly assumed that the classifications provide measures of unobservable theoretical constructs. In this paper, it is argued that knowledge of a classification's validity is required prior to performing such inference. An example of a construct validation is provided by proposing that the physical and spatial characteristics of urban areas may in part be described by four independent dimensions and an attempt is made to operationalise and validate appropriate measures.
Economic Diversification and Group Stability in an Urban System: The Case of Canada, 1951-86
Authors: Davies Wayne K. D. , Donoghue Daniel P.
Published: October 2006

Researchers have shown relatively little recent interest in the study of the economic diversification and classification of urban systems. If we are to understand contemporary urban structures, older studies must be brought up to date. This study of the economic character of towns greater than 30 000 in Canada demonstrates the degree of diversification of the centres between 1951 and 1986 and provides a succinct classification of the centres. The expected decrease in the general level of diversification between the two dates is complemented by the finding that differences in this single summary measure between the regions of Canada can no longer be found. Cluster analysis procedures are used to derive seven groups of places in 1986, which are very similar to the categories found in 1951, even though there has been a transformation in the size and economy of the places. This relative stability in the categories of places is parallelled by similarities in the membership of the groups. However, at the most fundamental level the urban system can be still be separated into service as opposed to production centres, a rather surprising dichotomy in view of the changes in urban economies.
An Analysis of the Factors Determining the Geographical Distribution of Japanese Manufacturing Investment in the UK, 1984-91
Authors: Taylor Jim
Published: October 2006

The purpose of this paper is to discover which factors have been important in determining the geographical distribution of Japanese manufacturing establishments in the UK during 1984-91. A multivariate statistical analysis is undertaken, based on the Poisson model, to investigate the inter-county variation in the number of establishments locating in each UK county during two separate time periods (1984-88 and 1989-91). In addition to examining the influence of variables such as labour costs, labour availability and industry mix on the locational choice of Japanese firms, the statistical analysis attempts to capture the influence of regional policy. Multivariate regression analysis reveals that the geographical distribution of Japanese-owned investment in the UK is only statistically associated with a small number of variables. The main explanatory variable in the model is whether an area had assisted-area status. Other key explanatory variables are those reflecting an area's industry mix.
Fiscal Fragmentation and the Distribution of Metropolitan Area Resources: A Case Study
Authors: Sacher Seth B.
Published: October 2006

This paper estimates the incidence of local taxes and expenditures and the distribution of income in metropolitan Washington, DC, under our current fragmented system of governing metropolitan areas and under a hypothetical metropolitan-wide regime. The purpose of this exercise is to consider how the distribution of metropolitan resources might differ had society evolved toward a unified form of metropolitan governance. It is found that tax and expenditure incidence and the distribution of income are strikingly similar under both systems. From an equity perspective, neither the current fragmented system nor a unified system emerges as a clearly superior form of metropolitan organisation.
A Multivariate Analysis of the Determinants of Urban Quality of Life in the World's Largest Metropolitan Areas
Authors: Mohammad Sufian Abu Jafar
Published: October 2006

The urban living standard index of the Population Crisis Committee, based on 10 indicators of urban quality of life for the 98 largest metropolitan cities of the world, has been used in this paper to create three groups of cities: those having high, medium, and low standards of living. The discriminant analysis technique has been applied for identifying those measures that contribute most in discriminating the three groups. The adequacy of the technique has been demonstrated by the fact that 97 per cent of the cases have been correctly classified. The first discriminant function accounted for 93 per cent of the total discriminable variance. The analysis shows that food cost, measured by the percentage of income spent on food, is the most influential discriminator among the three groups of cities. The other important discriminators are living space (number of persons per room), housing standard (percentage of homes with water/electricity), communication (number of telephones per 100 persons), education (percentage of children in secondary school), and infant mortality rate (infant deaths per 1000 live births). Implications are discussed.
The Measure of Locational Efficiency of Urban Parks: The Case of Chongju
Authors: Cho Cheol-Joo
Published: October 2006

A particular system of urban parks should have its own locational efficiency, which is determined by the geographical locations and sizes of the individual parks within it. This paper suggests a methodological procedure for measuring the locational efficiency of urban park systems, within a spatial interaction model framework, and demonstrates its practical efficacy by implementing the procedure with the empirical data collected from the city of Chongju, South Korea. The results of the research show that the existing four-park system is less efficient than the seven-park system the city of Chongju plans to construct in the future. In the case of the seven-park system, more space should be transferred from the eastern park site to the western park area in order to establish a park system with higher locational efficiency.
A Multi-level Analysis of the Variations in Domestic Property Prices: Southern England, 1980-87
Authors: Jones Kelvyn , Bullen Nina
Published: October 2006

It is argued that previous research on spatial variations in domestic property prices has failed to consider the multi-level nature of the problem. In describing underlying temporal trends and spatial patterns at the macro level, it is necessary to take account of the attributes of individual properties at the micro level. As an empirical illustration of the general approach, a number of models are calibrated for Southern England using sample data derived from building-society mortgages.
Different Trajectories in the Social Divisions of Labour: The Cutlery Industry in Sheffield, England, and Tsubame, Japan
Authors: Hayter Roger , Patchell Jerry
Published: October 2006

To contribute to the growing debate on the social division of labour and its implications for local development this paper comparatively analyses recent trends in the industrial organisation of the cutlery industry in Sheffield and Tsubame. Both industries evolved as flexibly specialised, export-oriented production systems based on a highly interdependent network of small firms. In the past 20 years, however, the social division of labour underlying Sheffield's cutlery industry has been much reduced in size and complexity while Tsubame has retained, and used, its social division of labour to adjust towards more value-added production. The different trajectories of the two systems reflect different approaches to competitiveness: in Tsubame the emphasis is on innovation; while in Sheffield the industry has been extremely conservative, placing emphasis on minimising costs.
Is the Journey to Work Explained by Urban Structure?
Authors: Giuliano Genevieve , Small Kenneth A.
Published: October 2006

Basic to several key issues in current urban economic theory and public policy is a presumption that local imbalances between employment and residential sites strongly influence people's commuting patterns. We examine this presumption by finding the commuting pattern for the Los Angeles region in 1980 which would minimise average commuting time or distance, given the actual spatial distributions of job and housing locations. We find that the amount of commuting required by these distributions is far less than actual commuting, and that variations in required commuting across job locations only weakly explain variations in actual commuting. We conclude that other factors must be more important to location decisions than commuting cost, and that policies aimed at changing the jobs-housing balance will have only a minor effect on commuting.
Immigration and the Management of Australian Cities: The Case of Sydney
Authors: Murphy Peter A.
Published: October 2006

Immigration to Australia surged from a trough of 55 000 arrivals in 1976 to a peak of 145 000 in 1988-89. Community debate was ignited in the late 1980s about the costs and benefits of immigration. A key issue was the impact of immigration on Australian regions, especially the major cities where immigrants predominantly settle. Thus between 1981 and 1986, 56 per cent of immigrants settled in Sydney and Melbourne, with a further 25 per cent choosing the other mainland state capitals. In common with other western industrialised nations, the capacity of governments to finance urban infrastructure by traditional means deteriorated during the 1980s. But there was little evidence that state governments, which are largely responsible for providing urban infrastructure, faced pressing difficulties in meeting basic needs. Local government, which in Australia is responsible for a quite limited range of services, does suffer from financing difficulties owing to limited revenue-raising powers, but this is a chronic rather than cyclical problem. The immigration boom also coincided with rapidly accelerating housing prices, and concomitant decline in housing affordability. Whilst immigrant demand for housing certainly affects prices in the short, and possibly longer terms, there are clearly other supply and demand factors which reduce affordability. The fact that housing is least affordable in Sydney, the preferred choice of immigrants, heightens the intuitive sense of a causal connection. The already parlous state of urban environments also became a moral panic in the 1980s. The apparent association between immigration, population growth and environmental decay was strongly publicised by environmentalists. Infrastructure finance, housing affordability and environmental quality are major concerns, but whilst immigration may exacerbate such problems, this need not be the case. More appropriate policy tools than control of immigration are available. It may even be argued that the pressure of immigration forces politicians and policy-makers to implement those solutions.
The Competitiveness of Business Services and Regional Development: Evidence from Scotland and the South East of England
Authors: O'Farrell P.N. , Hitchens D.M. , Moffat L.A.R.
Published: October 2006

This paper presents a matched-pairs analysis of the competitive performance of business service companies in Scotland and the South East of England. Value added per person is one-quarter higher in the English firms and a significantly higher proportion of them (49 per cent) have introduced a new service during the previous five years compared with 34 per cent of Scottish businesses. The latter were also more likely to function as multi-service companies reflecting the greater demand in Scotland for a more generalised service offering. The English service businesses also achieved a much greater degree of export orientation. The paper reviews various supply- and demand-side causes of the performance differences and the implications of potential policy responses are considered.
'What Big Teeth You Have!': Identifying the Motivations for Exclusionary Zoning
Authors: Bogart William T.
Published: October 2006

This paper considers whether a number of the motivations for exclusionary zoning usually examined by economists are distinguishable from one another in a general theoretical model. The four motivations identified are: fiscal zoning, public goods zoning, consumption zoning and political economic zoning. It is demonstrated in a general setting that the motivations are observationally equivalent if the only available information is community composition. The most important implication of this finding is that a policy directed at alleviating one motive for zoning inevitably affects other motives. The existence of exclusionary zoning does not constitute a prima facie case for any particular intervention. Rather, the true motivations behind the observed pattern of land use and land-use controls must be identified.
Disamenity Influences of Edge Cities on Exurban Land Values: A Theory with Empirical Evidence and Policy Implications
Authors: Nelson Arthur C.
Published: October 2006

A theory is posed with some empirical support on how the American exurban land market behaves near edge cities. The exurban land market exists beyond the built-up urban area within commuting range of urban employment and service opportunities. It responds differently to proximity to downtown, edge cities and the boundary of urban development. Three relationships between the value of exurban land and these landscape features are theorised and empirically supported. First, as exurban households are dependent upon dispersed employment opportunities and rely on the urban area for many services, the value of residential land falls with respect to distance from the boundary of urban development. Secondly, since exurban households view edge cities as sources of congestion, pollution, noise and other factors associated with perceived ills of suburbia, the value of exurban land rises with respect to distance from edge cities. Thirdly, since downtowns are the dominant centre of reference for many metropolitan regions, exurban land values fall with respect to distance from downtowns. Taken together, exurban land values fall with respect to distance from the boundary of urban development but, because of the disamenity influences of edge cities, at a flatter slope than suggested by monocentric land value theory. The effect of edge cities may be to push the urban field farther out than would be expected without this influence.
The Location of Multinational Firms in the European Urban System
Authors: Rozenblat Celine , Pumain Denise
Published: October 2006

The progress of political and economic integration among European countries is inducing the progressive emergence of a European urban system. National urban systems are restructuring and adapting themselves to this new international and economic context. The location of the largest multinational firms is taken as revealing a major step in the process of the integration of European cities into supra-national networks. A survey of the location of 3000 establishments belonging to the 300 largest European firms provides interesting results about the factors making European cities attractive for such activities. It may be inferred from these results that they confirm a new trend called `metropolisation', which is reinforcing the top of the national urban hierarchies, as demonstrated in other studies.
The Changing Commute: A Case-study of the Jobs-Housing Relationship over Time
Authors: Wachs Martin , Taylor Brian D. , Levine Ned , Ong Paul
Published: October 2006

Commuting patterns between home and work were studied among 30 000 employees of Kaiser Permanente, a major health care provider in Southern California. The study tracked the differences between home and work location among employees over 6 years by analysing employee records and responses to a survey of over 1500 of the workers. It was found that work trip lengths had in general not grown over the 6 year period. Growth of the work force had contributed more to the growth in local traffic congestion than had a lengthening of the work trip over time. The automobile remains the dominant mode of travel between home and work for these employees, and choices of residential location were found to be based upon many factors in addition to the home-work separation, such as quality of neighbourhood and schools and perceived safety.
The Strategic Implications for the Randstad of the Dutch Property System
Authors: Badcock Blair
Published: October 2006

The aim of this paper is to decide how well the Dutch are served by their property system and whether it is organisation ally and functionally suited to advancing the competitive position of the Randstad cities within a unified Europe. In the first part of the paper, some of the distinctive features of the Dutch property system are highlighted by drawing comparison with trends and outcomes found in the British and Australian housing and office submarkets. Pricing policy in the Netherlands is outlined, followed by a consideration of some key outcomes including the relative stability of property prices; modest inter-regional price differentials; public benefits of a regulated land supply; occasional breakdown of coordination; indifference towards development gains. Then the property system is discussed in the context of 'internationalisation', subsidies, and coordinated property development within the Randstad. The concluding assessment suggests that at present the Dutch have a de facto, as much as a strategic, land pricing policy; but that so long as inter-governmental coordination and the management of building assets can be improved, it does not make sense to dismantle a system that has served the Dutch comparatively well.
Coalition Building and Planning for Dutch Growth Management: The Role of the Randstad Concept
Authors: Faludi Andreas
Published: October 2006

The paper is about how, drawing on a unique policy infrastructure, the Dutch welfare state has come to conceptualise urban structure and a growth management strategy. It traces the history of coalition formation around the Randstad and its complement, the Green Heart. At the heart of growth management is the unparallelled public involvement in land policy and in housing. This paper also shows that coalition building around growth management is pre-programmed in intergovernmental relations and in arrangements to overcome 'individual ministerial responsibility'. Light is also cast on the division of society into ideological blocs and the Dutch welfare state. However, these days, Dutch corporate democracy seems to have few friends. Wholesale reform is being discussed, and so Dutch planners may lose their advantage. Randstad may continue to be seen as their international trademark. Internally, it may lose its appeal and become ever more diffuse in reality. However, a revival of the Randstad/Green Heart idea cannot be excluded either.
Enhanced Histopathology of the Spleen
Authors: Elmore Susan A.
Published: October 2006

The spleen is the largest secondary lymphoid organ, is considered the draining site for compounds that are administered intravenously, and is therefore considered an important organ to evaluate for treatment-related lesions. Due to the presence of B and T lymphocytes, the immunotoxic effects of xenobiotics or their metabolites on these cell populations may be reflected in the spleen. Therefore it is one of the recommended organs to evaluate for enhanced histopathology of the immune system. The two major functional zones of the spleen are the hematogenous red pulp and the lymphoid white pulp (periarteriolar sheaths, follicles and marginal zones). For enhanced histopathology, these splenic compartments should be evaluated separately for changes in size and cellularity, and descriptive rather than interpretive terminology should be used to characterize any changes ( Haley et al., 2005 ). Moreover, germinal center development within the lymphoid follicles should be noted as increased or decreased.
Normal Structure, Function, and Histology of Lymph Nodes
Authors: Willard-Mack Cynthia L.
Published: October 2006

Lymph nodes are traditionally regarded as having three compartments, the cortex, paracortex and medulla. B and T cells home to separate areas within these compartments, interact with antigen presenting cells, and undergo clonal expansion. This paper provides structural and functional details about how the lymph node brings lymphocytes and antigen presenting cells together. The concept of the lymphoid lobule as the basic functional and anatomic unit of the lymph node is developed and utilized to provide a framework for understanding lymph node pathobiology. Understanding the histomorphologic features of the lymphoid lobule and the role of the reticular meshwork scaffolding of the lymph node and how these related to the cortex, paracortex and medulla provides a unique approach to understanding lymph node structure and function.
Histopathology of Mucosa-Associated Lymphoid Tissue
Authors: Kuper C. Frieke
Published: October 2006

Mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) is a generalized term incorporating a disseminated collection of lymphoid tissues in multiple sites throughout the body. MALT sites that have been/are primarily studied include bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue (BALT), gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT), and nasopharynx-associated lymphoid tissue (NALT). Since MALT sites are often under-sampled in conventional toxicity studies, MALT lesions have not been extensively documented in these lymphoid effector sites. Lesions of the nasopharyngeal lymphoid tissue and Peyer’s patches include degeneration, inflammation, and both primary and metastatic neoplasia.
Histopathology of the Spleen
Authors: Suttie Andrew W.
Published: October 2006

The spleen contains hematopoietic and lymphoid elements, is a primary site of extramedullary hematopoiesis, and removes degenerate and aged red blood cells as well as particulate materials and circulating bacteria from the blood supply. Lesions of this important component of the immune system may center on the red pulp, the white pulp or involve both compartments The spleen is the site of direct and indirect toxicity, a target for some carcinogens, and also a site for metastatic neoplasia. Many systemic or generalized diseases have splenic involvement. This paper documents spontaneous background and treatment-induced lesions seen in rodent toxicity and carcinogenicity studies.
Enhanced Histopathology of the Lymph Nodes
Authors: Elmore Susan A.
Published: October 2006

Routine histopathology of lymphoid organs is the cornerstone in the identification of immunotoxic and immunomodulatory compounds. Enhanced histopathology is a systematic approach that can be used to further characterize, both qualitatively and semi-quantitatively, the immunomodulatory effects that may occur within both primary and secondary lymphoid organs. The lymph nodes are the major route of entry for antigens and pathogens, via the afferent lymph flow, and they can be sensitive indicators of compounds with regional or systemic immunomodulatory/toxic effects and should therefore be included in the battery of lymphoid organs to evaluate for enhanced histopathology. As with all lymphoid organs, the separate compartments should be evaluated independently and descriptive rather than interpretive terminology should be used to characterize changes within those compartments. This data, in conjunction with gross findings, clinical pathology and changes in organ weight (i.e., thymus), will enable the pathologist to determine if a significant effect on the immune system is present. Moreover, this data may enable the pathologist to determine the critical site or compartment in the targeted tissue, provide some indication of target cell population (B or T cell) and characterize a dose-response relationship.
Immunohistochemical Markers for the Rodent Immune System
Authors: Ward Jerrold M. , Erexson Cindy R. , Faucette Lawrence J. , Foley Julie F. , Dijkstra Christine , Cattoretti Giorgio
Published: October 2006

The responses to insults including chemical toxins, irradiation and infectious agents involve morphologic, biochemical and molecular changes in the immune system. The changes in specific tissues and cells often can be detected by histopathology and its associated field of immunohistochemisty (IHC). Cells normally express specific proteins (antigens) that can be detected by IHC. When responses to xenobiotics occur, cells often up or down regulate proteins. The art of IHC requires specialized procedures for detection of antigens. Fixation, tissue processing, immunoreactions and antigen retrieval methods are important elements of IHC. We review the antibodies, their sources, use of frozen or fixed paraffin-embedded tissues and specific IHC methods including antigen retrieval and illustrate how they can be effectively used to characterize the immunotoxicologic effects of agents.
Histopathology of Bone Marrow
Authors: Travlos Gregory S.
Published: October 2006

As a major hematopoietic and lymphoid organ, morphological evaluation of the bone marrow is an important component of toxicity or safety assessment studies. While definitive characterization of bone marrow lesions often requires cytological aspirates or smears, assessment of histological bone marrow sections provides information regarding tissue architecture and hematopoietic status that is relevant for the detection of direct or indirect responses to chemical exposure. A variety of lesions have been observed in bone marrow. For example, lesions involving disturbances in growth, degenerative changes, inflammatory changes and neoplasia have been described. Lesions identified in hematoxylin and eosin-stained sections typically represent changes in the hematopoietic cell lineage and/or stromal cells since definitive identification of lymphoid cells is difficult except in cases of lymphoma. This review provides a descriptive and pictorial representation of a wide range of bone marrow lesions. Since large animal-to-animal variation may exist and there can be collection site- and age-related differences, it is imperative that the pathologist reviews all potential treatment-related findings against appropriate concurrent controls.
Asymmetry of attentional set in rhesus monkeys learning colour and shape discriminations
Authors: Baxter Mark G. , Gaffan David
Published: October 2006

We trained rhesus monkeys on six visual discrimination problems using stimuli that varied in both shape and colour. For one group of animals shape was always relevant in these six problems, and colour always irrelevant, and for the other animals vice versa. During these “intradimensional shifts” (ID) the problems were learned at equal rates by the two groups, shape-relevant and colour-relevant. We then trained three further problems in which the other dimension was now relevant (“extradimensional shifts”, ED). The animals showed slower learning when shifting from colour-relevant to shape-relevant, but not when shifting from shape-relevant to colour-relevant. These results show that monkeys’ ability to selectively attend to a relevant stimulus dimension and to ignore an irrelevant dimension depends on the experimenter's choice of relevant and irrelevant dimensions.
Acquisition of a conditioned taste aversion becomes context dependent when it is learned after extinction
Authors: Rosas Juan M. , Callejas-Aguilera José E.
Published: October 2006

A conditioned taste aversion experiment tested context-switch effects on retrieval of conditioned stimulus (CS)–unconditioned stimulus (US) acquisition performance in rats. A context switch impaired performance when the target flavour was trained in a context where a different flavour underwent extinction. Conditioned taste aversion in the absence of previous extinction of the alternate flavour was not context dependent. It is suggested that the ambiguity in the meaning of the extinguished cue leads animals to pay attention to the context, so that the information learned in that context becomes context dependent.
Duration of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Carriage, According to Risk Factors for Acquisition
Authors: Marschall Jonas , Mühlemann Kathrin
Published: October 2006

Objective.

To examine the duration of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) carriage and its determinants and the influence of eradication regimens.

Design.

Retrospective cohort study.

Setting.

A 1,033-bed tertiary care university hospital in Bern, Switzerland, in which the prevalence of methicillin resistance among S. aureus isolates is less than 5%.

Patients.

A total of 116 patients with first-time MRSA detection identified at University Hospital Bern between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2003, were followed up for a mean duration of 16.2 months.

Results.

Sixty-eight patients (58.6%) cleared colonization, with a median time to clearance of 7.4 months. Independent determinants for shorter carriage duration were the absence of any modifiable risk factor (receipt of antibiotics, use of an indwelling device, or presence of a skin lesion) (hazard ratio [HR], 0.20 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 0.09-0.42]), absence of immunosuppressive therapy (HR, 0.49 [95% CI, 0.23-1.02]), and hemodialysis (HR, 0.08 [95% CI, 0.01-0.66]) at the time MRSA was first MRSA detected and the administration of decolonization regimen in the absence of a modifiable risk factor (HR, 2.22 [95% CI, 1.36-3.64]). Failure of decolonization treatment was associated with the presence of risk factors at the time of treatment (P = .01). Intermittent screenings that were negative for MRSA were frequent (26% of patients), occurred early after first detection of MRSA (median, 31.5 days), and were associated with a lower probability of clearing colonization (HR, 0.34 [95% CI, 0.17-0.67]) and an increased risk of MRSA infection during follow-up.

Conclusions.

Risk factors for MRSA acquisition should be carefully assessed in all MRSA carriers and should be included in infection control policies, such as the timing of decolonization treatment, the definition of MRSA clearance, and the decision of when to suspend isolation measures.
Community-Acquired Infection With Healthcare-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus: The Role of Home Nursing Care
Authors: Lescure François-Xavier , Locher Gwenaelle , Eveillard Mathieu , Biendo Maurice , Agt Stéphanie Van , Loup Guillaume Le , Douadi Youcef , Ganry Olivier , Vandenesch François , Eb François , Schmit Jean-Luc , Etienne Jerome
Published: October 2006

Objective.

To better understand the role of indirect transmission in community-acquired infection with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Design.

Prospective case-control study.

Setting.

A French teaching hospital.

Patients.

A total of 198 case patients and 198 control patients with MRSA or methicillin-susceptible S. aureus infection diagnosed between April 2002 and July 2003.

Results.

Multivariate analysis showed a highly significant independent link between MRSA infection at admission and prior receipt of home nursing care (odds ratio [OR], 3.7; P<.001). Other independent risk factors were prior hospitalization (OR, 3.8; P<.001), transfer from another institution (OR, 2.3; P = .008), and age older than 65 years (OR, 1.6; P = .04). Prior home nursing care showed a frequency dose-response relationship. Eleven MRSA-infected patients had had home nursing procedures but no hospital stay in the previous 3 years. These patients' MRSA strains were related to the prevalent MRSA clone currently spreading in French hospitals.

Conclusion.

Home nursing care appears to be an independent risk factor for MRSA acquisition in the community. The reservoir probably consists of MRSA carriers discharged from the hospital. Community nurses seem to be a potential vector.