bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Incidence and clinical relevance of uncontrolled ventricular rate during atrial fibrillation in heart failure patients treated with cardiac resynchronization therapy
Authors: Boriani Giuseppe , Gasparini Maurizio , Landolina Maurizio , Lunati Maurizio , Proclemer Alessandro , Lonardi Gabriele , Iacopino Saverio , Rahue Werner , Biffi Mauro , DiStefano Paola , Grammatico Andrea , Santini Massimo ,   on behalf of the ClinicalService cardiac centres
Published: May 2011

Aims

Uncontrolled ventricular rate (VR) during atrial fibrillation (AF) may cause clinical deterioration in heart failure (HF) patients who need continuous biventricular pacing to achieve cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). We aimed at evaluating the association between AF, uncontrolled VR, and sub‐optimal CRT, defined as low biventricular pacing percentage (BIVP%).

Methods and results

All 1404 patients had HF, New York Heart Association (NYHA) ≥II, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≤35%, and QRS ≥120 ms, and received an implantable CRT defibrillator (CRT‐D). Occurrence of AF, VR during AF and lifetime BIVP% were estimated from device data. Ventricular rate during AF was defined as uncontrolled in patients with mean VR>80 bpm and maximum VR>110 bpm. Over a median follow‐up of 18 months, AF was detected in 443 of 1404 patients (32%). In this sub‐group of AF patients, VR during AF was uncontrolled in 150 of 443 patients (34%). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that age [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.03, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.00–1.06, P= 0.028], and uncontrolled VR [HR = 1.69 (CI = 1.01–2.83), P= 0.046] were the only independent predictors of clinical outcome, assessed by HF hospitalizations and death. The median lifetime BIVP% was 95% (25–75 percentile range 91–99%). Biventricular pacing percentage was significantly and inversely correlated to VR, decreasing by 7% for each 10 bpm increase in VR. Sub‐optimal CRT, defined as BIVP% <95%, was predicted by the occurrence of persistent or permanent AF [odds ratio (OR) = 3.77, CI = 2.44–5.82, P< 0.001], and uncontrolled VR [OR = 2.25, CI = 1.35–3.73, P= 0.002].

Conclusion

Uncontrolled VR occurs in one‐third of CRT‐D patients, who experience AF, and is associated with HF hospitalizations and death and with sub‐optimal CRT (lifetime BIVP%<95%).
Human Capital and Transaction Cost Economics
Authors: Foss Nicolai J.
Published: May 2011

Human capital (HC) may be defined as the stock of valued skills, knowledge, insights, and so on, controlled by an individual: the attributes of the relevant individual that are valuable in an economic context. It yields services such as labour services, management services, or entrepreneurship. While this overall perspective cuts across organizational economics perspectives – such as transaction-cost economics (TCE), property rights/incomplete contracts theory, and agency theory – the specific terminology applied here is particular to TCE. This article surveys TCE as it pertains to HC, concentrating on: the work of TCE's most prominent flag-bearer, Oliver Williamson; the precursors of his work; and the various operationalizations and extensions of his approach. Also briefly discussed is the property-rights approach, which, like TCE, rests on the notion of incomplete contracting and the need to safeguard transactions under such conditions.
Human Capital in the Resource-Based View
Authors: Kraaijenbrink Jeroen
Published: May 2011

The resource-based view (RBV) is one of the most influential theories for explaining a firm's sustained competitive advantage (SCA). Its basic idea is that firms can attain an SCA when they possess and control valuable, rare, and inimitable assets and have an organization in place that is equipped to handle them. This article examines how human capital (HC) relates to the RBV. It deals critically with the RBV's evident weaknesses – especially its vague notions of resource and value. The article notes that there is no analysis of how HC might be differentiated from other types of resource, for the RBV treats all resources as conceptually equivalent. It distinguishes eight types of critique to the RBV. Three of these threaten the RBV's status as a core theory: the indeterminate nature of two concepts fundamental to the RBV – resource and value – plus the RBV's narrow explanation of a firm's SCA.
How Organizations Obtain the Human Capital they Need
Authors: Hamori Monika , Bonet Rocio , Cappelli Peter
Published: May 2011

This article addresses the question of how modern firms obtain the human capital they need. It focuses on how workforce recruitment and hiring practices have changed since approximately the late 1980s, as firms, driven by external forces to improve efficiency and increase flexibility, have responded by flattening hierarchies, downsizing, and making greater use of external labour markets. The article identifies four key features of these strategic shifts: a decrease in the importance of internal talent development; an increase in external hiring practices; increased use of alternative work arrangements such as part-time, temporary, and contract work; and decreasing loyalty of employees to employers. In the analyses of current recruitment practices, it identifies two key trends: the increased use of executive search agencies, and the growing use of the Internet as a recruitment medium.
Aligning Human Capital with Organizational Needs
Authors: Lepak David P. , Takeuchi Riki , Swart Juani
Published: May 2011

This article focuses on the alignment between human capital (HC) and organizational needs. It focuses on the question of how alignment between HC and organizational strategy influences individual and organizational performance. The starting point for this article is the human-resource architecture proposed by Lepak and Snell (1999), which suggests that firms' decisions to build or buy in HC are influenced by its strategic value and uniqueness. At the individual level of analysis, the article investigates the potential influence of job security/career prospects and the target of an individual's commitment on performance. In a wide-ranging analysis, it questions whether conventional goals of maximizing workforce commitment are necessarily desirable, given that, while core workers and firm's targets of commitment are likely to be in alignment, the targets of commitment for those in job–productivity relationships are more likely to align with their future careers outside the firm.
Human Capital in Developing Countries
Authors: Clarke Thomas
Published: May 2011

This article surveys the development of human capital (HC) in developing countries, focusing on the significance of the Asian experience. Here, the trajectories of human and industrial capital development in the Asia Pacific region are investigated as the most promising developing region in economic terms, posing the critical questions of whether this region will succeed in joining the advanced industrial countries in the knowledge economy, and whether other developing countries and regions of the world can follow the same path. A central theme is how the countries of Asia have coped and will need to continue to cope in future with the shift to a globalized, knowledge-based economy. In this process of development, the article identifies a central role for HC while stressing the complementary nature of other forms of capital including social capital, financial capital, manufacturing capital, and natural capital.
The Future of Human Capital
Authors: Kochan Thomas A. , Litwin Adam Seth
Published: May 2011

This article assesses the future of human capital (HC) in organizations from an industrial-relations perspective. It notes that, paradoxically, while HC has grown in importance in the shift to a knowledge-based economy, the externalization of work that has accompanied this shift and the consequent weakening of labour market institutions has reduced incentives and pressures on firms to invest in people. The article suggests that this is a case of market failure. Resolving this paradox requires firms as well as unions, professional associations, staffing agencies, and the state to work together. The employment relationship thus becomes their unit of analysis, and this article explores the variety of institutional support which is necessary to rebuild and sustain that relationship in the future economy.
Spatial Sampling to Detect an Invasive Pathogen Outside of an Eradication Zone
Authors: Demon I. , Cunniffe N. J. , Marchant B. P. , Gilligan C. A. , van den Bosch F.
Published: May 2011

Invasive pathogens are known to cause major damage to the environments they invade. Effective control of such invasive pathogens depends on early detection. In this paper we focus on sampling with the aim of detecting an invasive pathogen. To that end, we introduce the concept of optimized spatial sampling, using spatial simulated annealing, to plant pathology. It has been mathematically proven (15) that this optimization method converges to the optimum allocation of sampling points that give the largest detection probability. We show the benefits of the method to plant pathology by (i) first illustrating that optimized spatial sampling can easily be applied for disease detection, and then we show that (ii) combining it with a spatially explicit epidemic model, we can develop optimum sample schemes, i.e., optimum locations to sample that maximize the probability of detecting an invasive pathogen. This method is then used as baseline against which other sampling methods can be tested for their accuracy. For the specific example case of this paper, we test (i) random sampling, (ii) stratified sampling as well as (iii) sampling based on the output of the simulation model (using the most frequently infected hosts as sample points), and (iv) sampling the hosts closest to the outbreak point.
Alternative mechanisms of increased eggshell hardness of avian brood parasites relative to host species
Authors: Igic Branislav , Braganza Kim , Hyland Margaret M. , Silyn-Roberts Heather , Cassey Phillip , Grim Tomas , Rutila Jarkko , Moskát Csaba , Hauber Mark E.
Published: May 2011

Obligate brood parasitic birds lay their eggs in nests of other species and parasite eggs typically have evolved greater structural strength relative to host eggs. Increased mechanical strength of the parasite eggshell is an adaptation that can interfere with puncture ejection behaviours of discriminating hosts. We investigated whether hardness of eggshells is related to differences between physical and chemical traits from three different races of the parasitic common cuckooCuculus canorus, and their respective hosts. Using tools developed for materials science, we discovered a novel correlate of increased strength of parasite eggs: the common cuckoo's egg exhibits a greater microhardness, especially in the inner region of the shell matrix, relative to its host and sympatric non-host species. We then tested predictions of four potential mechanisms of shell strength: (i) increased relative thickness overall, (ii) greater proportion of the structurally harder shell layers, (iii) higher concentration of inorganic components in the shell matrix, and (iv) elevated deposition of a high density compound, MgCO3, in the shell matrix. We confirmed support only for hypothesis (i). Eggshell characteristics did not differ between parasite eggs sampled from different host nests in distant geographical sites, suggesting an evolutionarily shared microstructural mechanism of stronger parasite eggshells across diverse host-races of brood parasitic cuckoos.
Cuttlefish use visual cues to determine arm postures for camouflage
Authors: Barbosa Alexandra , Allen Justine J. , Mäthger Lydia M. , Hanlon Roger T.
Published: May 2011

To achieve effective visual camouflage, prey organisms must combine cryptic coloration with the appropriate posture and behaviour to render them difficult to be detected or recognized. Body patterning has been studied in various taxa, yet body postures and their implementation on different backgrounds have seldom been studied experimentally. Here, we provide the first experimental evidence that cuttlefish (
Sepia officinalis
), masters of rapid adaptive camouflage, use visual cues from adjacent visual stimuli to control arm postures. Cuttlefish were presented with a square wave stimulus (period = 0.47 cm; black and white stripes) that was angled 0°, 45° or 90° relative to the animals' horizontal body axis. Cuttlefish positioned their arms parallel, obliquely or transversely to their body axis according to the orientation of the stripes. These experimental results corroborate our field observations of cuttlefish camouflage behaviour in which flexible, precise arm posture is often tailored to match nearby objects. By relating the cuttlefishes' visual perception of backgrounds to their versatile postural behaviour, our results highlight yet another of the many flexible and adaptive anti-predator tactics adopted by cephalopods.
Reconstructing the dynamics of ancient human populations from radiocarbon dates: 10 000 years of population growth in Australia
Authors: Johnson Christopher N. , Brook Barry W.
Published: May 2011

Measuring trends in the size of prehistoric populations is fundamental to our understanding of the demography of ancient people and their responses to environmental change. Archaeologists commonly use the temporal distribution of radiocarbon dates to reconstruct population trends, but this can give a false picture of population growth because of the loss of evidence from older sites. We demonstrate a method for quantifying this bias, and we use it to test for population growth through the Holocene of Australia. We used model simulations to show how turnover of site occupation across an archaeological landscape, interacting with erasure of evidence at abandoned sites, can create an increase in apparent site occupation towards the present when occupation density is actually constant. By estimating the probabilities of abandonment and erasure from archaeological data, we then used the model to show that this effect does not account for the observed increase in occupation through the Holocene in Australia. This is best explained by population growth, which was low for the first part of the Holocene but accelerated about 5000 years ago. Our results provide new evidence for the dynamism of non-agricultural populations through the Holocene.
Urban habituation, ecological connectivity and epidemic dampening: the emergence of Hendra virus from flying foxes (Pteropusspp.)
Authors: Plowright Raina K. , Foley Patrick , Field Hume E. , Dobson Andy P. , Foley Janet E. , Eby Peggy , Daszak Peter
Published: May 2011

Anthropogenic environmental change is often implicated in the emergence of new zoonoses from wildlife; however, there is little mechanistic understanding of these causal links. Here, we examine the transmission dynamics of an emerging zoonotic paramyxovirus, Hendra virus (HeV), in its endemic host, AustralianPteropusbats (fruit bats or flying foxes). HeV is a biosecurity level 4 (BSL-4) pathogen, with a high case-fatality rate in humans and horses. With models parametrized from field and laboratory data, we explore a set of probable contributory mechanisms that explain the spatial and temporal pattern of HeV emergence; including urban habituation and decreased migration—two widely observed changes in flying fox ecology that result from anthropogenic transformation of bat habitat in Australia. Urban habituation increases the number of flying foxes in contact with human and domestic animal populations, and our models suggest that, in addition, decreased bat migratory behaviour could lead to a decline in population immunity, giving rise to more intense outbreaks after local viral reintroduction. Ten of the 14 known HeV outbreaks occurred near urbanized or sedentary flying fox populations, supporting these predictions. We also demonstrate that by incorporating waning maternal immunity into our models, the peak modelled prevalence coincides with the peak annual spill-over hazard for HeV. These results provide the first detailed mechanistic framework for understanding the sporadic temporal pattern of HeV emergence, and of the urban/peri-urban distribution of HeV outbreaks in horses and people.
BioCARS: a synchrotron resource for time-resolved X-ray science
Authors: Graber T. , Anderson S. , Brewer H. , Chen Y.-S. , Cho H. S. , Dashdorj N. , Henning R. W. , Kosheleva I. , Macha G. , Meron M. , Pahl R. , Ren Z. , Ruan S. , Schotte F. , Šrajer V. , Viccaro P. J. , Westferro F. , Anfinrud P. , Moffat K.
Published: May 2011

BioCARS, a NIH-supported national user facility for macromolecular time-resolved X-ray crystallography at the Advanced Photon Source (APS), has recently completed commissioning of an upgraded undulator-based beamline optimized for single-shot laser-pump X-ray-probe measurements with time resolution as short as 100 ps. The source consists of two in-line undulators with periods of 23 and 27 mm that together provide high-flux pink-beam capability at 12 keV as well as first-harmonic coverage from 6.8 to 19 keV. A high-heat-load chopper reduces the average power load on downstream components, thereby preserving the surface figure of a Kirkpatrick–Baez mirror system capable of focusing the X-ray beam to a spot size of 90 µm horizontal by 20 µm vertical. A high-speed chopper isolates single X-ray pulses at 1 kHz in both hybrid and 24-bunch modes of the APS storage ring. In hybrid mode each isolated X-ray pulse delivers up to ∼4 × 1010photons to the sample, thereby achieving a time-averaged flux approaching that of fourth-generation X-FEL sources. A new high-power picosecond laser system delivers pulses tunable over the wavelength range 450–2000 nm. These pulses are synchronized to the storage-ring RF clock with long-term stability better than 10 ps RMS. Monochromatic experimental capability with Biosafety Level 3 certification has been retained.
Cost effectiveness of interventions to reduce relapse to smoking following smoking cessation
Authors: Taylor Matthew , Leonardi‐Bee Jo , Agboola Shade , McNeill Ann , Coleman Tim
Published: May 2011

Aims  To determine the incremental cost effectiveness of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), bupropion and varenicline for preventing relapse to smoking when used by abstinent smokers

Design setting and participants  Cohort simulation and sensitivity analyses combining cost and health service data with systematic review estimates for the effectiveness of NRT, bupropion and varenicline when used by abstinent quitters to prevent their relapse to smoking.

Measurements  Incremental health gain in Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) generated by each drug compared to ‘no intervention’.

Findings  Bupropion resulted in an incremental QALY increase of 0.07 with a concurrent cost saving of £68; NRT and varenicline both caused incremental QALYs increases of 0.04 at costs of £12 and £90 respectively, although varenicline findings were based on data from a single clinical trial and require cautious interpretation. Even after extensive sensitivity analyses with substantial varying of key model parameters, cost effectiveness of all drugs remained. Cost effectiveness ratios only exceeded the UK National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) benchmark of £20 000 per QALY when drug treatment effects were postulated to last for no longer than 1 year; or, for NRT and varenicline, efficacy was reduced to 10% of that observed in clinical trials.

Conclusions  Bupropion, nicotine replacement therapy and varenicline appear cost effective at preventing relapse to smoking by smokers who are in quit attempts and have recently become abstinent; they have comparable cost effectiveness to smoking cessation interventions. Widespread use of these effective relapse prevention treatments could promote substantial health gain at an acceptable cost to health providers.
Shining a light on vitamin D and its impact on the developing immune system
Authors: Mullins R. J. , Camargo Jr C. A.
Published: May 2011

Cite this as: R. J. Mullins and C. A. Camargo Jr, Clinical & Experimental Allergy, 2011 (41) 766–768.
CD4 allergen tetramers
Authors: Thomas W. R.
Published: May 2011

Cite this as: W. R. Thomas, Clinical & Experimental Allergy, 2011 (41) 769–772.
Large‐scale architecture in non‐marine basins: the response to the interplay between accommodation space and sediment supply
Authors: HUERTA PEDRO , ARMENTEROS ILDEFONSO , SILVA PABLO G.
Published: May 2011

Sedimentary successions of non‐marine basins can be considered in terms of accommodation space and sedimentary supply changes. Changes in accommodation space controlling the large‐scale architecture of non‐marine basins are different in areas with high and low sedimentary supplies. Uplift of intrabasinal monoclines and anticlines reduced the available accommodation space, resulting in changes in both the geometry of the depositional sequences and the large‐scale architecture of fluvial, mudflat and shallow carbonate lacustrine deposits. Main drainage fluvial systems record areas with a high sedimentary supply, while mudflats and shallow fluctuating lakes represent areas that received less sediment. Two end members in the large‐scale architecture of main drainage fluvial system in the Almazán Basin (Spain) are: (i) ribbon‐shaped channel fills with low interconnectivity which pass laterally into mudflats dominated by mudstones and evaporites and into palustrine and shallow carbonate lacustrine deposits (mainly in the A2 depositional sequence); and (ii) sheet‐like channel fills with high interconnectivity laterally correlated with stacked calcretes in the marginal mudflats (in the upper part of A3). Ribbon‐shaped channel fills formed in areas of high accommodation space and sheet‐like channel fills formed in areas of reduced accommodation space.
Calcium and magnesium‐limited dolomite precipitation at Deep Springs Lake, California
Authors: MEISTER PATRICK , REYES CAROLINA , BEAUMONT WILL , RINCON MIGUEL , COLLINS LISA , BERELSON WILLIAM , STOTT LOWELL , CORSETTI FRANK , NEALSON KENNETH H.
Published: May 2011

Dolomite [Ca,Mg(CO3)2] precipitation from supersaturated ionic solutions at Earth surface temperatures is considered kinetically inhibited because of the difficulties experienced in experimentally reproducing such a process. Nevertheless, recent dolomite is observed to form in hypersaline and alkaline environments. Such recent dolomite precipitation is commonly attributed to microbial mediation because dolomite has been demonstrated to form in vitro in microbial cultures. The mechanism of microbially mediated dolomite precipitation is, however, poorly understood and it remains unclear what role microbial mediation plays in natural environments. In the study presented here, simple geochemical methods were used to assess the limitations and controls of dolomite formation in Deep Springs Lake, a highly alkaline playa lake in eastern California showing ongoing dolomite authigenesis. The sediments of Deep Springs Lake consist of unlithified, clay‐fraction dolomite ooze. Based on δ18O equilibria and textural observations, dolomite precipitates from oxygenated and agitated surface brine. The Na‐SO4‐dominated brine contains up to 500 mm dissolved inorganic carbon whereas Mg2+ and Ca2+ concentrations are ca 1 and 0·3 mm, respectively. Precipitation in the subsurface probably is not significant because of the lack of Ca2+ (below 0·01 mm). Under such highly alkaline conditions, the effect of microbial metabolism on supersaturation by pH and alkalinity increase is negligible. A putative microbial effect could, however, support dolomite nucleation or support crystal growth by overcoming a kinetic barrier. An essential limitation on crystal growth rates imposed by the low Ca2+ and Mg2+ concentrations could favour the thermodynamically more stable carbonate phase (which is dolomite) to precipitate. This mode of unlithified dolomite ooze formation showing δ13C values near to equilibrium with atmospheric CO2 (ca 3‰) contrasts the formation of isotopically light (organically derived), hard‐lithified dolomite layers in the subsurface of some less alkaline environments. Inferred physicochemical controls on dolomite formation under highly alkaline conditions observed in Deep Springs Lake may shed light on conditions that favoured extensive dolomite formation in alkaline Precambrian oceans, as opposed to modern oceans where dolomites only form diagenetically in organic C‐rich sediments.
Expression of plasminogen activator‐related genes in the adipose tissue of lactating dairy sheep in the early post‐weaning period
Authors: Theodorou G. , Lampidonis A. D. , Laliotis G. P. , Bizelis I. , Politis I.
Published: May 2011

There is growing evidence that plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI‐1) is expressed in adipose tissue and its expression is implicated in inflammation that accompanies obesity‐associated diseases. The physiological role of other genes implicated in the plasminogen‐activating cascade such as urokinase‐type plasminogen activator (u‐PA), u‐PA receptor (u‐PAR) and plasminogen activator inhibitor type 2 (PAI‐2) in ovine adipose tissue remains unknown. The objective of this study was to examine the changes in the expression of four plasminogen activator (PA)‐related genes during the early post‐weaning period in dairy ewes. A total of 21 subcutaneous adipose tissue samples were obtained from seven lactating dairy ewes of the Chios breed at weeks 1, 2 and 4 after weaning. Results indicated that expression of all PA‐related genes was detected in most of the samples examined. Greatest expression of u‐PAR corresponded to highest (week 1), while greatest expression of PAI‐2 corresponded to lowest (week 4) rate of lipolysis, as indicated by the expression of hormone‐sensitive lipase, in the ovine adipose tissue. There were no significant differences in the expression of the other two PA‐related genes (u‐PA, PAI‐1) throughout the experimental period. Plasminogen activator‐related genes are not expressed in a coordinated manner in the adipose tissue of lactating dairy sheep in the early post‐weaning period. In conclusion, adipose tissue mobilization is correlated with highest expression of u‐PAR and lowest expression of PAI‐2.
An integrated breeding technology for accelerating generation advancement and trait introgression in cotton
Authors: Wang XingFen , Wang YanXia , Zhang GuiYin , Ma ZhiYing
Published: May 2011

With 2 figures and 4 tables

We have developed an integrated breeding technology for cotton that can accelerate generation advancement to three or four times per year. This approach includes in vitro culturing of immature embryos into plantlets, which saves time because of no waiting for seed maturation. In addition to selection for kanamycin resistance and PCR identification of the gene of interest (here, insect resistance), we also incorporate methods such as plantlet grafting and growth regulation. In this way, embryos aged 20–30 days postanthesis can develop directly into plantlets in another 10–15 days. Here, kanamycin and PCR selection plantlets were grafted using a new and efficient technique called cotton joint graft, which can provide a reliable survival rate of 90–100%. Growth of the grafted plants was regulated for rapid development by adjusting the soil nutrients. We also treated the pedicels of hybridized or back‐crossed bolls with a mixture of naphthalene acetic acid and gibberellic acid to prevent shedding. Over the course of 1 year, we were able to produce three or four generations at intervals of about 90–120 days, i.e. from immature embryo culture through pollination and fecundation. Using this procedure, we transferred the Cry1Ac gene into three recurrent cultivars, ‘Han93‐2’, ‘Jimian20’ and ‘Nongda94‐7’. This was accomplished through four backcross generations and one cycle of selfing. BC4F2 progenies were obtained within 1.5 years, with each generation being completed between 89.0 and 117.3 days.
Evaluating the GAPS test as a screener for language impairment in young children
Authors: Nash Hannah , Leavett Ruth , Childs Helen
Published: May 2011

Background: The early identification of children is one of five themes identified by the Bercow review of 2008. The review also notes that there is a wide range in the methods used to identify children and it goes on to recommend that there needs to be a more systematic approach. One such approach would be to screen children before, or shortly after, school entry. The GAPS test has been designed as a screening tool to identify young children with language impairment and is reported to be of value in identifying children with language difficulties. However, the test has previously only been evaluated by its authors and the sensitivity of the test for identifying children from an unselected sample has not been evaluated.

Aims: This study evaluated the ability of the GAPS test to identify language‐impaired children in an unselected sample. In addition, the effect of tester status (a trained researcher and a teaching assistant) was investigated.

Methods & Procedures: A total of 106 children aged 3–6 years completed the GAPS test, the Early Repetition Battery (ERB) and the core language scales from the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals—Preschool 2 with a trained researcher. Half the children completed the GAPS test a second time with a teaching assistant.

Outcomes & Results: There was a significant effect of tester only for the non‐word repetition subtest of the GAPS test in the nursery age group; the teaching assistants awarded higher scores than trained researchers. Of the 106 children, ten were language impaired according to the CELF‐Preschool 2 core language score. The GAPS test identified two of these children at the 10th percentile cut‐off, resulting in a low sensitivity estimate of 20%. However, the GAPS test only identified four of the 96 remaining unimpaired children resulting in a high specificity value of 96%. These values were similar when the 15th percentile cut‐off was used and when parental concern or a family history of reading difficulties were used as the criterion measure.

Conclusions & Implications: These data show that although the GAPS test can be used by a range of people who work with young children, it is not a sensitive screener for language impairment when used by trained researchers.
New Forms of Employee Involvement at European Level — The Case of the European Company (SE)
Authors: Keller Berndt , Werner Frank
Published: May 2011

This article focuses on important but widely neglected problems of supranational employee involvement both at the level of information and consultation as well as at board level. It takes the most important pattern, the European Company (SE), and presents a systematic empirical analysis of its negotiated forms of worker representation and employee involvement. The questions addressed are: What do these new forms of collective voice and representation at the supranational level look like? What is the relevance of SEs for the development of an emerging system of European industrial relations in a broader perspective? Is the negotiated form of employee involvement likely to lead to new forms of harmonization and convergence or rather to heterogeneity and fragmentation?
Skills and Industrial Relations in Coordinated Market Economies — Continuing Vocational Training in Denmark, the Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland
Authors: Trampusch Christine , Eichenberger Pierre
Published: May 2011

This article offers the first systematic study of the institutional and political conditions under which collective agreements finance and organize continuing vocational training (CVT). Combining Mill's methods of agreement and difference with pattern matching, it identifies proactive small and medium enterprises, proactive public policies, proactive trade unions, and links between CVT and wage bargaining as probable conditions for CVT by collective labour agreement. The most important finding is that the research on the development of political–economic institutions in coordinated market economies has to analyse more carefully how state activities and the behaviour of small and medium‐sized firms affect the coordination of economic activities in skills formation.
Clans, Electoral Procedures and Voter Turnout: Evidence from Villagers' Committee Elections in Transitional China
Authors: Su Fubing , Ran Tao , Sun Xin , Liu Mingxing
Published: May 2011

Villagers' committee elections in Chinese rural areas highlight the promise as well as the challenge of democratization in a one-party state. Why are there huge regional variations in terms of voter turnout rate? Based on a large survey conducted in 2005, we argue that electoral procedures have played a crucial role in signaling the democratic intent of local governments. Villagers were more responsive to more meaningful elections with higher-quality electoral procedures. In addition, competitive politics has reactivated traditional social ties and networks in village lives, which have mobilized villagers to voting stations. The results are robust to endogeneity tests and other model specifications. These empirical findings highlight electoral dynamics that are common in many transitional democracies. They also imply some major challenges facing China's rural democracy.
Immigration, Global Poverty and the Right to Stay
Authors: Oberman Kieran
Published: May 2011

This article questions the use of immigration as a tool to counter global poverty. It argues that poor people have a human right to stay in their home state, which entitles them to receive development assistance without the necessity of migrating abroad. The article thus rejects a popular view in the philosophical literature on immigration which holds that rich states are free to choose between assisting poor people in their home states and admitting them as immigrants when fulfilling duties to assist the global poor. Since the human right to stay is entailed by values that feature prominently in the philosophical debate on immigration, the article further contends that participants in that debate have particular reason to reject the popular ‘choice view’ and endorse the alternative position presented in the article.
Labor Taxation and Foreign Direct Investment*
Authors: Egger Peter , Maria Radulescu Doina
Published: May 2011

In this paper, we analyze the implications of the effective taxation of labor for profits and, hence, the decisions made by multinational enterprises concerning the location of their headquarters. If a higher employee‐borne tax burden reduces manager effort, it should also negatively affect firm profits and the location of the headquarters. We compile data on personal income tax profiles for 52 economies and the year 2002 at different moments of the distribution of gross wages. Our findings suggest that higher employee‐borne labor taxes are less conducive to the location of headquarters and foreign direct investment stocks in a given host economy.
Tournaments with Prize‐setting Agents*
Authors: Eriksen Kristoffer W. , Kvaløy Ola , Olsen Trond E.
Published: May 2011

In some tournaments, it is the contestants themselves who determine reward allocation. Union members bargain over wage distribution, and some firms allow self‐managed teams to freely determine internal resource allocation, incentive structure, and division of labor. We analyze, and test experimentally, a tournament where heterogeneous agents determine the spread between winner prize and loser prize. We investigate the relationship between prize spread, uncertainty, heterogeneity, and effort. We find that a large prize spread is associated with a low degree of uncertainty and a high degree of heterogeneity, and that heterogeneity triggers effort. By and large, our real‐effort experiment supports the theoretical predictions.
Pension Plan Funding, Technology Choice, and the Equity Risk Premium
Authors: Webb David C.
Published: May 2011

In this paper, the impact of Lazear contracts with defined‐benefit pensions on aggregate technology composition and the aggregate risk premium is examined. In the presence of capital market constraints affecting workers, defined‐benefit pensions bias the economy towards risk‐free production. Leveraging the risky technology relaxes the constraints and results in more risky production and a fall in the aggregate risk premium. This effect holds with risky debt and low pension shortfall risk but breaks down with high pension shortfall risk. A key prediction is that as Lazear contracts become less common, risky production will increase and the aggregate risk premium will fall.
Scripting sexual function: a qualitative investigation
Authors: Mitchell Kirstin R. , Wellings Kaye , Nazareth Irwin , King Michael , Mercer Catherine H. , Johnson Anne M.
Published: May 2011

The biomedical model assumes universal agreement in what it means to have a functioning sex life. In reality there is significant variation in the criteria that individuals employ in assessing their sex lives. We use a scripting approach to understand the meaning of sexual function from a lay perspective. Based on the accounts of 32 individuals representing a range of sexual function experience, we identified three scripts employed by participants to describe their sexual experiences: the biomedical script emphasised genital function and physical release (orgasm), the relational script focused on relational aspects of encounters and valued emotional intimacy and security; and the erotic script focused on pleasure and valued novelty and excitement. Respondent accounts usually contained elements of more than one script, but often one of these was prominent. At the intra‐psychic level each script serves as a schema, comprising priorities, expectations and evaluative criteria. In the context of sex therapy, this scripting approach may help shed light on the sources of sexual difficulties. Our findings also challenge the current domination of the biomedical script in measuring, diagnosing and treating sexual dysfunction, since the construct does not adequately reflect the priorities of those who prioritise alternative scripts.
‘Filling one's days’: managing sick leave legitimacy in an online forum
Authors: Flinkfeldt Marie
Published: May 2011

An inherent part of the general understanding of illness is that it is incapacitating, making those who are ill unable to do things that they would normally do. Staying at home from work is a common consequence, and what `ill' people do while at home then becomes accountable. This article explores online discourse about the kinds of activities people engage in when on sick leave. It employs a discursive psychological framework for analysis, drawing heavily on conversation analysis. A Swedish internet forum thread on sick leave is examined, focusing on how the participants describe and account for the things they do when staying home from work due to illness. The analysis suggests that the participants’ accounts of their activities delicately manage the legitimacy of their sick leave. In examining how this is done in practice, the analysis makes visible the balancing act between being ill enough to stay home from work and well enough for other activities. In the context of recent debates in Sweden and elsewhere about the legitimacy of sick leave in different situations, the analysis of how legitimacy is actually negotiated is an important concern, making visible the moral work of being on sick leave.
Men, masculine identities and childbirth
Authors: Dolan Alan , Coe Christine
Published: May 2011

In recent years, fathers’ experiences during childbirth have attracted much research and policy interest. However, little of this work has been grounded in the first‐hand accounts of men and there is a lack of theory‐based research to help understand men’s thoughts and practices around childbirth. This paper is based on qualitative research undertaken with first‐time fathers and healthcare professionals. It draws on Connell’s (1995) conceptualisation of hegemonic masculinity to explore how men construct masculine identities within the context of pregnancy and childbirth and also how healthcare professionals construct masculinity. The paper demonstrates the ways in which men can find themselves marginalised within the context of pregnancy and childbirth, but are still able to draw on identifiable markers of masculine practice which enable them to enact a masculine form congruent with dominant masculinity. It also illustrates how healthcare professionals’ constructions of masculinity enable them to predict how men will behave and allow them to position men in ways that involve minimum disruption to their own practice. The paper also highlights how men’s marginal status is embedded in the dynamics of the social structure, which produce and reproduce dominant masculine identities within the context of childbirth.
Actualized affinities: a nation's memories as accumulating artefacts and appropriating aesthetics from the times of reconstruction
Authors: LUKE TIMOTHY W.
Published: May 2011

This paper re‐examines the aesthetics of presenting various historical artefacts, cultural documents, and ideological narratives at three museums in the United States of America: one tied to the African‐American experience, one to the Confederate States of America, and the last one to the Old West, namely the National Afro‐American Museum & Cultural Center in Wilberforce, Ohio; the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, Virginia; and the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. All three sites are clearly representative repositories and exhibits of ‘a nation's memories’. The paper asks how these fascinating exhibits activate, echo, or fabricate the myths that cast the Civil War and its aftermath during the Reconstruction as a ‘second founding’ of the USA in an ongoing nationalistic ‘singing of the nation’.

L’article réexamine l’esthétique de présentation de différents artefacts historiques, documents culturels et récits idéologiques dans trois musées aux États‐Unis d’Amérique, l’un consacré au parcours des Afro‐américains, l’autre aux États Confédérés et le dernier au « Far West » : le National Afro‐American Museum & Cultural Center à Wilberforce, dans l’Ohio, le Museum of the Confederacy à Richmond, en Virginie et le National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum à Oklahoma City, dans l’Oklahoma. Ces trois lieux sont manifestement des dépôts et expositions représentatifs des « souvenirs d’une nation ». L’auteur se demande comment les fascinantes pièces exposées activent, réverbèrent ou fabriquent les mythes qui ont forgé l’image de la Guerre de sécession et la Reconstruction qui l’a suivie comme celle d’une « seconde fondation » des États‐Unis, dans un « hymne » nationaliste qui résonne encore aujourd’hui.
Being ‘rasikas’: the affective pleasures of music and dance spectatorship and nationhood in Indian middle‐class modernity
Authors: RAM KALPANA
Published: May 2011

The long‐standing dominance of history in the adjudication of debates on postcolonialism and modernity in India has resulted in the relegation of the knowledge claims of ‘classical’ performance traditions and aesthetic concepts to the domain of the essentializing and the untrustworthy. This paper argues that performances of music and dance have preserved an understanding of tradition that is more dynamic and agential than that put forward by nationalist understandings of tradition, and that aesthetic conceptions continue to illuminate the values and efficacy of these practices in engaging the affects of spectators. The paper explores in particular the subject position of the rasika as offering a distinctive way of inhabiting the present. The class privilege implicit in being able to take up such an invitation is explored in the second part of the paper.

La longue domination de l’histoire dans l’orientation des débats sur le post‐colonialisme et la modernité en Inde a relégué les prétentions au statut de savoir des arts performatifs et des concepts esthétiques « classiques » au domaine des choses essentialisantes et peu fiables. Le présent article fait valoir que les performances de musique et de danse ont préservé une compréhension de la tradition plus dynamique et agentielle que celle mise en avant dans les interprétations nationalistes, et que les conceptions esthétiques continuent de mettre en lumière les valeurs et l’efficacité de ces pratiques en faisant appel aux affects des spectateurs. L’article explore en particulier la position de sujet du rasika comme une manière différente d’habiter le présent. Le privilège de classe, implicite dans la possibilité d’accepter une telle invitation, est exploré dans la deuxième partie de l’article.
Epistemo‐patrimony: speaking and owning in the Indian diaspora
Authors: PINNEY CHRISTOPHER
Published: May 2011

Noting the relative absence of claims for the restitution of cultural heritage objects by diasporic Indians in North America and Europe, this paper explores the heated contestation over what might be called ‘epistemo‐patrimony’. This term describes the knowledge forms and enunciatory protocols through which India and Hinduism can be constituted as proper objects. Recent interventions by the Infinity Foundation are examined through analogy with the debate between John Searle and Jacques Derrida, and it is suggested that epistemo‐patrimony is the ground on which the nature and threat ofiterationare fought. The general lesson that emerges from this – namely that all discourses and practices around the nation endlessly confront the impossibility of repetitionwithoutdifference – is christenediter(n)ation.

Face à l’absence relative de demandes de restitution des objets du patrimoine culturel par les Indiens de la diaspora d’Amérique du Nord et d’Europe, l’auteur analyse la vive contestation de ce que l’on pourrait appeler le « patrimoine épistémologique ». Ce terme désigne les formes de savoir et les protocoles d’énonciation qui confèrent à l’Inde et à l’hindouisme le statut d’objets. Les récentes interventions de l’Infinity Foundation sont examinées par analogie avec le débat entre John Searle et Jacques Derrida, et l’auteur suggère que le patrimoine épistémologique est le terrain sur lequel se jouent la nature et la menace de l’itération. L’enseignement général à en tirer, à savoir le fait que tous les discours et les pratiques concernant la nation se heurtent sans fin à l’impossibilité d’une répétitionsansdifférence, est baptiséiter(n)ation.
Validating the use of Anchoring Vignettes for the Correction of Response Scale Differences in Subjective Questions
Authors: van Soest Arthur , Delaney Liam , Harmon Colm , Kapteyn Arie , Smith James P.
Published: May 2011

Comparing self-assessed indicators of subjective outcomes (such as health, or job satisfaction) across countries or socio-economic groups is often hampered by the fact that different groups use different response scales. Anchoring vignettes are used as a tool to identify and correct for such differences. The paper develops a model in which objective measurements are used to validate such vignette-based corrections. The model is illustrated with an application to objective and subjective self-assessments of drinking behaviour by students in the Republic of Ireland. Model comparisons using the Akaike information criterion favour a specification with response consistency and vignette-corrected response scales. Put differently, vignette-based corrections appear quite effective in bringing objective and subjective measures closer together.
Design of the 2001 and 2011 Census Coverage Surveys for England and Wales
Authors: Brown James , Abbott Owen , Smith Paul A.
Published: May 2011

In many countries, a key component of measuring census coverage is a post-enumeration survey. In the 2001 censuses of the UK this was called the Census Coverage Survey. The paper reviews the design of the 2001 Census Coverage Survey and develops the design for the survey in 2011, taking advantage of the experience of 2001 and the data that were generated by the 2001 process. This leads to a proposed design that is less clustered than in 2001 and has an allocation that is more skewed towards areas where coverage in the 2011 census is expected to be lowest. The updated design balances optimal allocation against maintaining a sufficient sample across all areas.