bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effects of Syphacia muris and the anthelmintic fenbendazole on the microsomal monooxygenase system in mouse liver
Authors: Mohn Gertrud , Philipp Eve-Marie
Published: June 2007

Mice given food containing fenbendazole to prevent a reinfection with Syphacia muris were treated with inducers of the hepatic microsomal monooxygenase system. Specific induction values and factors were the same as found previously in similar mice infected with Syphacia muris. There was a decrease in the total hepatic monooxygenase system by 20-40%, associated with a similar decrease in the total microsomal protein. As this was found in both experimental and control mice, the induction factors of the total values remained also unaltered. Thus infection by Syphacia muris not only retarded the growth of young mice but also accelerated the development of their hepatic monooxygenase system.
Studies on the hygiene of drinking water for laboratory animals. 1. The effect of various treatments on bacterial contamination
Authors: Tober-Meyer B. K. , Bieniek H. J.
Published: June 2007

Daily autoclaving of drinking-water bottles or daily replacement of their contents resulted in drinking water hygienically acceptable for laboratory rats. However, daily autoclaving of the bottles imposes an additional workload which many institutions cannot afford. The daily replacement of the drinking water is not desirable, since with the usual routines it is virtually impossible to guarantee a bottle is returned to the same cage.

A reliable method of preventing bacterial growth for more then 1-2 days in the drinking water of conventional laboratory rats is its acidification with hydrochloric acid to pH 2·3-2·5.
Bowl for feeding powdered diet to rats
Authors: Thomsen Lindy
Published: June 2007

The bowl prevents diet wastage and contamination by urine and faeces. It could be adapted for smaller or larger numbers of rats, and for other laboratory animals.
A quality-controlled rodent diet
Authors: Topham J. C. , Eva J. K.
Published: June 2007

65 consecutive batches of a fixed-formula rodent diet have been assayed for 19 nutrients and 16 contaminants. The nutrients were always within the nutritionally desirable range. Except for cadmium, the levels of contaminants found were always well below the maximum recommended levels.
Rhabdomyosarcoma in a young rat
Authors: Glaister J. R.
Published: June 2007

A spontaneous rhabdomyosarcoma was observed in a female Sprague Dawley-derived rat at 8 weeks of age. Histopathological examination when the rat was killed at 5 months of age revealed marked differences from experimentally-induced tumours.
Studies on the hygiene of drinking water for laboratory animals. 2. Clinical and biochemical studies in rats and rabbits during long-term provision of acidified drinking water
Authors: Tober-Meyer B. K. , Bieniek H. J. , Kupke I. R.
Published: June 2007

The reaction of rats and rabbits to long-term application of acidified drinking water (pH 2·3-2·5) was observed over a 7-months period. The following parameters were studied: growth curves initiated at weaning, haematology, blood glucose, total serum protein, creatinine, inorganic phosphate, sodium, potassium, calcium, alkaline phosphatase, creatinine kinase, serum glutamate oxalacetate transaminase, and serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase in serum as well as the acid-base status in arterial blood; in addition in rabbits γ-glutamyl transferase and lactate dehydrogenase were examined in the serum. No significant changes were seen in comparison to the control groups.
Strain differences in kidney function of inbred rats: 1. Glomerular filtration rate and renal plasma flow
Authors: Hackbarth H. , Baunack E. , Winn M.
Published: June 2007

Bodyweight, kidney weight and glomerular filtration rate showed significant differences between strains-70% of the total variance was ascribed to the between-strain variance component-while the renal plasma flow showed only a slight strain difference due to a high within-strain variance component (63%).

Heritability in the broad sense was 0·78 for bodyweight, 0·85 for kidney weight, 0·66 for glomerular filtration rate and 0·35 for renal plasma flow. There were significant genetic correlations between bodyweight and kidney weight (0·90), bodyweight and glomerular filtration rate (0·73), and between glomerular filtration rate and renal plasma flow (0·71), but not between kidney weight and kidney functions. Significant environmental correlations could be calculated only between bodyweight and all other variables, so that for comparison between strains it seems better to correct renal functions for bodyweight than for kidney weight, which would increase the variation of glomerular filtration rate.
Etomidate: a valuable anaesthetic for mice
Authors: Gomwalk N. E. , Healing T. D.
Published: June 2007

Etomidate, a new nonbarbiturate short-acting hypnotic agent, was effective in anaesthetizing laboratory mice at a dose of 23·7 ± 1·5 mg/kg bodyweight ip. Surgical anaesthesia developed which permitted the performance of operations upon the animals for at least 20 minutes after induction, In these mice (LACA-2 and C57-BL strains), doses up to 33 mg/kg were tolerated. Recovery from anaesthesia was uncomplicated.
Ketamine alone and combined with diazepam or xylazine in laboratory animals: a 10 year experience
Authors: Green C. J. , Knight J. , Precious S. , Simpkin S.
Published: June 2007

Ketamine alone or supplemented by diazepam or xylazine has been used and evaluated as an anaesthetic in a range of animals including snakes, tortoises, lizards, birds, ferrets, dogs, cats, pigs, sheep, goats, non-human primates, rabbits, guineapigs, rats, mice and hamsters. Ketamine alone has severe limitations in most species, but in combination has proved valuable.
Some normal clinical chemistry values for cerebrospinal fluid of the rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta)
Authors: Hambleton P. , Baskerville A. , Wade J. J. , Bailey N. E.
Published: June 2007

The concentrations of many components of the cerebrospinal fluid are much lower than in serum. Values for sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium are similar to those in other primates. Activities of alkaline phosphatase (18·7 U/l), creatine phosphokinase (9·9 U/l), glutamine oxaloacetate transaminase (13·7 U/l), glutamine pyruvate transaminase (9·2 U/l), γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (3·1 U/l), α-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase (33·0 U/l, lactate dehydrogenase (47·2 U/l) and sorbitol dehydrogenase (3·9 U/l), and levels of zinc (1·0 μg/dl), copper (2·6 μg/dl), iron (35·9 μg/dl) and triglycerides (33·2 μg/dl) have not previously been reported for this species. Values for free amino acids, total protein, creatinine and urea nitrogen are compared with those of other primates. The use of gradient pore polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis for analysing proteins of CSF is described.
Pasteurella pneumotropica and the prevalence of the AHP (Actinobacillus, Haemophilus, Pasteurella)-group in laboratory animals
Authors: Kunstýř I. , Hartmann D.
Published: June 2007

134 bacterial isolates originally identified as Pasteurella pneumotropica were cultured from healthy, ill or dead mice, rats, hamsters, guineapigs, rabbits and cats originating from 7 conventional laboratory animal facilities. They occurred seldom in pure culture and were found in a variety of organs. Thorough identification (41 criteria) revealed that only 83 isolates (62%) were P. pneumotropica and could be subdivided into 3 biotypes. 3 isolates were P. aerogenes, 1 was P. ureae, 11 (8%) were qualified as Actinobacillus spp. and 13 (10%) as Haemophilus spp. Close relationship of the 3 genera - the 'AHP-group' - made the differentiation difficult. 23 atypical cultures were discarded at the beginning of the study as not belonging to the 'AHP-group'. Two-thirds of isolates were associated with inflammation or suppuration; Haemophilus spp. seemed to be more pathogenic than Pasteurella and Actinobacillus species.
Differences in the microenvironment of a polycarbonate caging system: bedding vs raised wire floors
Authors: Raynor T. H. , Steinhagen W. H. , Hamm T. E.
Published: June 2007

The microenvironment of polycarbonate cages housing rats with and without various types of bedding was compared with that of cages that utilized wire floor inserts with different bedding types. Parameters monitored were temperature, humidity, ammonia concentrations and particulates. No differences were noted in the various caging types in relation to temperature and humidity measurements. Significant differences in ammonia concentrations existed in some of the cages when bedding material was used. The use of raised floorwalk inserts also demonstrated significant differences in particulate counts to cages without inserts. The data obtained demonstrated that contact bedding was useful in controlling ammonia generation and that a raised floorwalk insert reduced significantly the aerosolization of bedding particles that could be ingested or inhaled by the rats.
Differences in antibody production against mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) among mouse strains
Authors: Nakanaga K. , Ishida T. , Fujiwara K.
Published: June 2007

Several strains of mice were examined for antibody production after intranasal inoculation with a low virulence strain of mouse hepatitis virus (MHV), MHV-NuU. C57BL/6N mice were shown to be high responders in the production of complement fixing (CF) antibody as compared to C3H/HeN, BALB/c-AnN, DBA/2N mice. F1 hybrids B6C3 and BDF1 from C57BL/6N mice, showed CF antibody responses as high as C57BL/6N, suggesting that high responsiveness is genetically controlled. All these mouse strains were able to produce high titred neutralizing antibody to MHV.
Yersiniosis in a breeding unit of Macaca fascicularis (cynomolgus monkeys)
Authors: MacArthur Judy A. , Wood Margery
Published: June 2007

2 outbreaks of acute fatal enteric disease involving 20 animals in a breeding unit of approximately 200 cynomolgus monkeys were diagnosed as yersiniosis; Yersinia pseudotuberculosis was isolated from 50% of the clinically affected animals. Post-mortem findings included enlarged mesenteric lymph nodes with some enterocolitis and necrotic foci in liver and spleen. Approximately 7% of clinically healthy monkeys were found to be excreting Y. pseudotuberculosis and a further 5% Y. enterocolitica. Rectal swabs, though less convenient, were better than faecal samples for the detection of Yersinia spp. in 'healthy' monkeys. Efficiency of the cold saline technique and direct plating for isolating Yersinia spp. were compared. It is thought likely that the infection was introduced into the unit by asymptomatic infected monkeys.
Anatomy of fetal rabbit gonads and the sexing of fetal rabbits
Authors: Nielsen H. C. , Torday J. S.
Published: June 2007

Fetal sex can be accurately and rapidly assessed in fetuses of 24 days gestation to term (31 days) by examination of the gonads. At 24 days both testis and ovary are a few millimeters below the kidney. With advancing gestation the testis descends markedly so that by 28 days it lies in the lowest region of the retroperitoneum. The ovary descends only slightly, never reaching a position more than halfway between the kidney and the bottom of the retroperitoneal space. The testis is larger, thicker, kidney-bean shaped and has an epididymis. The ovary is longer, thinner, rice grain-shaped and has a Fallopian tube. The character of the blood supply to the gonads also provides useful supporting information in determining fetal sex. Histological examination was used in 127 fetuses to evaluate the accuracy of anatomical identification of fetal sex and detected 2 errors (1·6%).
A new mutant of Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) characterized by generalized glycogenosis
Authors: Nunoya T. , Tajima M. , Mizutani M.
Published: June 2007

A flock of Japanese quail with generalized glycogenosis has been established. Affected quail showed difficulty in raising their wings. Excessive accumulation of glycogen was seen in the liver, heart, skeletal muscle and brain, apparently due to decreased acid maltase activity. The condition appeared between 2 and 12 weeks of age and tissue deposition of glycogen increased with age. The growth of affected quail was normal and there were no deaths from the condition. Although genetic analysis has not yet been completed, an autosomal recessive inheritance is suspected.
Respiratory disease associated with parainfluenza Type I (Sendai) virus in a colony of marmosets (Callithrix jacchus)
Authors: Flecknell P. A. , Parry R. , Needham J. R. , Ridley R. M. , Baker H. F. , Bowes P.
Published: June 2007

An outbreak of acute respiratory disease was observed in a colony of marmosets ( Callithrix jacchus). Parainfluenza Type I (Sendai) virus was isolated from the lungs and from throat swabs of 2 animals which showed clinical signs of disease. A rising titre of serum neutralizing antibody to the virus isolated was detected in several affected animals. Approximately 50% of the colony showed clinical signs of disease, and 3 animals died. The duration of illness ranged from 3 to 16 days.
Surgical manipulation of the developing chick embryo in ovo after the 4th day of incubation
Authors: Fyfe D. M. , MacMillan Gillian J.
Published: June 2007

Surgical manipulations were performed on the eyes of the developing chick embryo between 6½–12 days of incubation at stages when operations had to be performed through the shell and the extra-embryonic membranes. A sufficient proportion of the embryos survived a postoperative incubation period of 6–10 days to analyse the effects of surgical intervention on development.
Hydronephrosis in the inbred mouse strain DDD
Authors: Nakajima Y. , Imamura K. , Onodera T. , Motoi Y. , Goto N.
Published: June 2007

The inbred mouse strain DDD was found to have an extremely high incidence of hydronephrosis (37/37 in adult males and 12/32 in adult females). The hydronephrosis was classified as open with no definite cause for obstruction. The condition was either unilateral in the right kidney or bilateral. Another feature of the hydronephrosis kidney was circulatory failure. Hydronephrosis in strain DDD mice is considered to be a useful experimental animal model with additional possible use, in investigating disturbances of renal haemo-dynamics and function.
Acid-base status of pregnant guineapigs during neuroleptanalgesia with diazepam and fentanyl-fluanisone
Authors: Carter A. M.
Published: June 2007

Neuroleptanalgesia was induced in late pregnancy in guineapigs with diazepam and fentanyl-fluanisone. Hypotension occurred, but the arterial acid-base status after 45-60 min was near normal. When repeated injections of fentanyl-fluanisone were given to maintain neuroleptanalgesia, the blood pressure fell further and severe metabolic acidosis developed. Placental blood flow determined with radioactive microspheres was much lower during maintained neuroleptanalgesia than in guineapigs anaesthetized with diazepam and pentobarbitone.
Necrotizing vasculitis in a group of Beagles
Authors: Brooks P. N.
Published: June 2007

A high incidence of necrotizing vasculitis was observed in 9 individuals from a group of 32 Beagle dogs. The clinical, biochemical, haematological and pathological features of the disease are described and the possible aetiology discussed. This condition has not been seen in other animals from the same breeding stock either before or since the outbreak and it is of some concern that such a cluster of cases could reappear in the future.
The influence of various housing conditions on the ocular fundus in Wistar rats
Authors: Ernst A. , Weiss J.
Published: June 2007

Examinations of ocular fundi were performed on male Wistar rats which were housed for 2 years individually or in groups of 3, 5 or 10 animals per cage. Photographs were taken to make the data objective and provide a permanent record. The results indicated no differences between the various groups, although there were marked differences between individual rats.
An improved method of diet preparation for toxicological feeding experiments
Authors: Morrissey R. E. , Norred W. P.
Published: June 2007

Groups of 30 rats each were fed 1 of 4 diets to determine feeding preference for freeze-dried meal compared to dry meal, and to determine if 3% agar is a desirable component of freeze-dried meal. The diets were: dry meal, meal+distilled water(freeze-dried), meal+3% agar in distilled water(freeze-dried), and meal+3% agar in distilled water(gel). Diet preparation, and the method for introducing a toxin in a toxicological study, is described. Feed consumption, bodyweight, and observational data were collected. Rats ate freeze-dried meal in amounts comparable to dry meal. There were no significant variations in feed conversion ratios among the dietary treatment groups. Agar is not required for freeze-dried diets, and we recommend that it be omitted to save resources and preparation time. Freeze-dried diets have a longer storage and cage life, thus the frequency of diet preparation, animal feeding and dean-up arc reduced. For studies involving a toxin, these factors would reduce the potential for accidental exposure of personnel to potentially harmful materials.
Alloantibody to a sex-influenced esterase in rats (Rattus norvegicus)
Authors: Hayakawa J. , Nikaido Hiroko , Yamada J.
Published: June 2007

An antiserum to a serum protein from female ACI rats was produced in DONRYU rats by alloimmunization. The serum protein reacting with this antiserum was shown to be a sex-innuenced esterase which is identified by zymogram techniques. Evidence for this is as follows: this protein migrated in the albumin region on agarose gel immunoelectro-phoresis and was not present in sera from mature males; all rats possessing the protein were sex-influenced esterase positive; the activity of the sex-influenced esterase in sera specifically disappeared after treatment with this antiserum. The attempt in ACI rats to produce antiserum to the esterases from DONRYU rats was unsuccessful.
Choriocarcinoma xenografts in the nude rat
Authors: Partridge Christine S. , Boden Joan , Lewis J. C. M. , Searle Frances , Bagshawe K. D.
Published: June 2007

The transplantation of a human choriocarcinoma xenograft (CC3) in the nude rat is reported. The tumours grew progressively for up to 5 weeks but subsequently regressed. Our preliminary results suggest that regression of the tumours appears to be dependent on host age.
Presence of IgA-producing cells in rats and mice in relation to microbial status
Authors: Mullink J. W. M. A. , Morsink F. H. M.
Published: June 2007

The numbers of IgA-producing cells in intestinal mucosa, mesenteric lymph nodes, lungs and bronchial lymph nodes were scored in rats and mice. A statistically significant difference in the scores existed between germ-free and SPF mice and between gnotobiotic and SPF rats. In a group of SPF rats a statistically significant difference in the scores was demonstrated in relation to several bacterial and viral agents.
Mandible analysis of NOD and NON strains of mice
Authors: Komeda K. , Goto N.
Published: June 2007

10 inbred strains of mice including NOD and NON were identified by discriminant and canonical discriminant analysis of the mandible measurements. The number of erroneous discriminations was 0·5% (1/199) for the females and 0% for males (0/232). In canonical discriminant analysis (discriminant analysis with reduction of dimensionality), NOD and NON inbred strains were separately located on 2-dimensional planes, Z1-Z2, Z1-Z3, and Z2-Z3.

These results clearly indicate that the genetic constitution of NOD and NON differs, although they have been established from a common ancestor ICR mouse. Causes of divergence between NOD and NON mice arc discussed.
An investigation of genetic variation within a series of congenic strains of mice
Authors: Lovell D. P. , Totman P. , Bigelow S. W. , Nebert D. W. , Hoffman H. A. , Greig J. B. , Festing M. F. W.
Published: June 2007

2 congenic strains of mice, B6N.AKN- Ahk and D2N.B6N- Ahb, imported from the USA, were found to be either segregating or fixed for an incorrect allele at a number of biochemical loci. B6N.AKN- Ahk, supposedly congenic with C57BL/6N, had the wrong genotype at 6 out of 12 biochemical loci; D2N.B6N- Ahb, supposedly congenic with DBA/2N, was segregating at 3 out of 9 loci. There was genetic variation in mandible shape within the 2 strains but no abnormal coat colours were found and no hybrid vigour in breeding performance was detected.

Analyses in the USA confirmed these results and showed that 2 other congenic strains, C3N.D2N- Ahd and AKN.B6J- Ahb, were also segregating at a number of loci. Some of the alleles found in the C3N.D2N- Ahd mice must be the result of a genetic contamination.

The simplest explanation for this breakdown in the backcrossing programme is genetic contamination with other congenic strains or recombinant inbred lines under development in the same laboratory. These findings emphasize the importance of continual genetic monitoring of all genetic stocks at regular intervals and in particular during the development of congenic and recombinant lines.
Effects of fibre on digestibility and passage time in Callithricidae
Authors: Krombach F. , Flurer C. , Zucker H.
Published: June 2007

The effects of fibre in a pelleted diet on food intake, digestibility of crude fibre, dry matter and energy, on passage time and consistency of faeces were studied in 2 species of Callithricidae, Callithrix jacchus and Saguinus fuscicollis. Coarse cellulose, microcellulose, wheat bran and shrimp meal (chitin = crude fibre) were tested in diets containing 2, 4 and 6% total crude fibre, respectively. Digestibility and passage time were determined by inclusion of 0·5% Cr2O3 in the diet.

Both celluloses had little influence on the digestibility of energy and dry matter. Digestibility of crude fibre was very low. Wheat bran led to evident depression of energy and dry matter digestibility. High digestibility of crude fibre occurred at the higher levels of inclusion in the diet. Shrimp meal was highly digested with little influence on digestibility of energy and dry matter, indicating considerable degradation of chitin. Wheat bran showed a marked effect, while microcellulose had no effect on passage time, consistency and volume of faeces.
Effects of single- and mixed-sex caging on postweaning development in the rabbit
Authors: Bell Diana J. , Bray G. C.
Published: June 2007

Postweaning development was monitored in domesticated rabbits reared in single- or mixed-sex groups at a commercial farm. The results suggest that sex composition of cage groups had no significant effect on weight gain, feed intake or mortality rates from weaning (35 days) to marketing (93 days). On sacrifice at 93 days, females from single- and mixed-sex groups showed no significant differences in plasma gonadotropin levels (LH and FSH) or weights of paunched carcase, ovaries, uterus, adrenals, kidneys or kidney fat. Evidence for within-cage dominance hierarchies was found at 63 days of age when 46% of the rabbits inspected showed signs of aggressive attack.
Chronic fistulation and cannulation of the rabbit caecum
Authors: Carman R. J. , Waynforth H. B.
Published: June 2007

A PTFE cannula was introduced into the rabbit abdomen through the right flank. A purse string suture was used to fix a small plastic flange within the caecum. A larger flange was sutured under the skin to fix the cannula. Caecal contents could be collected from the chronic fistula via a threaded stainless steel cap on the cannula. Animals tolerated the fistulation well and sepsis was never seen.
Spontaneous pineal body tumours (pinealomas) in Wistar rats; a histological and ultrastructural study
Authors: Al Zubaidy A. J. , Malinowski W.
Published: June 2007

The pathology of 5 cases of pinealomas in Wistar rats used in long-term toxicological studies is described both grossly, microscopically and ultrastructurally, together with a review of the related literature.
Comparison of faecal flora of cats based on different housing conditions with special reference to Bifidobacterium
Authors: Itoh K. , Mitsuoka T. , Maejima K. , Hiraga C. , Nakano K.
Published: June 2007

Faecal flora of cats was compared in different colonies. In conventional cats there were no significant qualitative differences in composition of faecal flora in 3 colonies but there was variation in numbers of enterobacteriaceae, streptococci, bifidobacteria and clostridia, Bacteroidaceae and eubacteria were the most predominant nora followed by clostridia, streptococci and lactobacilli. In SPF cats produced by hysterectomy, the numbers of clostridia and enterobacteriaceae and the frequency of occurrence of staphylococci were higher than in conventional cats, and the numbers of bacterioidaceae and lactobacilli were much lower. 44 strains of bifidobacteria isolated from the faeces of cats were identified as Bifidobacterium adolescentis biovar b and d.
When Do Employees Become Entrepreneurs?
Authors: Hellmann Thomas
Published: June 2007

This paper examines an economic theory of when employees become entrepreneurs. It jointly addresses the two fundamental questions of when employees generate innovations, and whether these innovations are developed as internal ventures or outside the firm. The model shows that if generating innovations distracts employees from their assigned tasks, firms may discourage innovation. Firms may reject profitable opportunities that fall outside of their core activities. If employees own the intellectual property (IP), they may leave to do a start-up. The allocation of IP rights also affects the generation of innovation. The external entrepreneurial environment is a complement to firm-internal innovation. If the external environment is particularly good, firms may embrace employee innovation and take advantage of it through spin-offs.
Category Management and Coordination in Retail Assortment Planning in the Presence of Basket Shopping Consumers
Authors: Cachon Gérard P. , Kök A. Gürhan
Published: June 2007

This paper studies the assortment planning problem with multiple merchandise categories and basket shopping consumers (i.e., consumers who desire to purchase from multiple categories). We present a duopoly model in which retailers choose prices and variety level in each category and consumers make their store choice between retail stores and a no-purchase alternative based on their utilities from each category. The common practice of category management (CM) is an example of a decentralized regime for controlling assortment because each category manager is responsible for maximizing his or her assigned category’s profit. Alternatively, a retailer can make category decisions across the store with a centralized regime. We show that CM never finds the optimal solution and provides both less variety and higher prices than optimal. In a numerical study, we demonstrate that profit loss due to CM can be significant. Finally, we propose a decentralized regime that uses basket profits, a new metric, rather than accounting profits. Basket profits are easily evaluated using point-of-sale data, and the proposed method produces near-optimal solutions.
Performance of Portfolios Optimized with Estimation Error
Authors: Siegel Andrew F. , Woodgate Artemiza
Published: June 2007

We explain the poor out-of-sample performance of mean-variance optimized portfolios, developing theoretical bias adjustments for estimation risk by asymptotically expanding future returns of portfolios formed with estimated weights. We provide closed-form non-Bayesian adjustments of classical estimates of portfolio mean and standard deviation. The adjustments significantly reduce bias in international equity portfolios, increase economic gains, and are robust to sample size and to nonnormality. Dominant terms grow linearly with the number of assets and decline inversely with the number of past time periods. Under suitable conditions, Sharpe-ratio maximizing tangency portfolios become more diversified. Using these approximation methods it may be possible to assess, before investing, the effect of statistical estimation error on portfolio performance.
An Analysis of Short-Term Responses to Threats of Terrorism
Authors: Pinker Edieal J.
Published: June 2007

Two important defensive mechanisms available to governments combating terrorism are warnings and the deployment of physical resources. Warnings are relatively inexpensive to issue but their effectiveness suffers from false alarms. Physical deployments of trained security personnel can directly thwart attacks but are expensive and need to be targeted to specific locations. In this paper, we model the joint optimization of defenses against terrorist attacks based on warnings and physical deployments when there is uncertainty in the timing and location of attacks. We model both private warnings issued to security forces and public warnings broadcast to the general public. By structuring the trade-offs faced by decision makers in a formal way, we try to shed light on an important public policy problem. We show that the interaction between the use of warnings and physical defenses is complex and significant. For public warnings, we also model the possible response of terrorists and show how these responses influence the effectiveness of such warnings.
From Story Line to Box Office: A New Approach for Green-Lighting Movie Scripts
Authors: Eliashberg Jehoshua , Hui Sam K. , Zhang Z. John
Published: June 2007

Movie studios often have to choose among thousands of scripts to decide which ones to turn into movies. Despite the huge amount of money at stake, this process—known as green-lighting in the movie industry—is largely a guesswork based on experts’ experience and intuitions. In this paper, we propose a new approach to help studios evaluate scripts that will then lead to more profitable green-lighting decisions. Our approach combines screenwriting domain knowledge, natural-language processing techniques, and statistical learning methods to forecast a movie’s return on investment (ROI) based only on textual information available in movie scripts. We test our model in a holdout decision task to show that our model is able to significantly improve a studio’s gross ROI.
Electronic B2B Marketplaces with Different Ownership Structures
Authors: Yoo Byungjoon , Choudhary Vidyanand , Mukhopadhyay Tridas
Published: June 2007

This paper analyzes electronic marketplaces with different ownership structures: biased marketplaces and neutral marketplaces. Biased marketplaces can be either buyer-owned or supplier-owned, whereas neutral marketplaces are owned by independent third parties. We develop a single-period model, with fulfilled expectations equilibrium. The buyers experience positive network effects that are a function of the number of suppliers and the suppliers receive similar positive network effects depending on the number of buyers. We develop a general model with atomistic buyers and suppliers. We find that biased marketplaces set prices to induce greater participation (demand) from both buyers and suppliers compared to a neutral marketplace. This counterintuitive result can be understood in the context of the positive cross-network effects experienced by buyers and suppliers and the added benefit to the owner of a biased marketplace from participating in the marketplace. Biased marketplaces also provide greater social welfare compared to neutral marketplaces.
Implementing New Practices: An Empirical Study of Organizational Learning in Hospital Intensive Care Units
Authors: Tucker Anita L. , Nembhard Ingrid M. , Edmondson Amy C.
Published: June 2007

This paper contributes to research on organizational learning by investigating specific learning activities undertaken by improvement project teams in hospital intensive care units and proposing an integrative model to explain implementation success. Organizational learning is important in this context because medical knowledge changes constantly and hospital care units must learn new practices if they are to provide high-quality care. To develop a model of factors affecting improvement project teams driving essential organizational learning in health care, we draw from three streams of related research—best-practice transfer (BPT), team learning (TL), and process change (PC). To test the model’s hypotheses, we collected data from 23 neonatal intensive care units seeking to implement new or improved practices. We first analyzed the frequency of specific learning activities reported by improvement project participants and discovered two distinct factors: learn-what (activities that identify current best practices) and learn-how (activities that operationalize practices in a given setting). Next, ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analyses supported three of our four hypotheses. Specifically, a high level of supporting evidence for a unit’s portfolio of improvement projects was associated with implementation success. Learn-how was positively associated with implementation success, but learn-what was not. Psychological safety was associated with learn-how, which was found to mediate between psychological safety and implementation success.
The Iliad's Economy of Pain
Authors: Holmes Brooke
Published: June 2007

This paper analyzes the Iliad's representation of odunai, pains usually caused by weapons, within the context of the complex relationship between violence, payment, and timê in the poem. Absent from scenes of death, odunai appear, rather, in descriptions of wounding, where they have been interpreted as offering the wounded warrior an opportunity to display aretê. I demonstrate that wounds also help to represent the circulation of suffering (algea) that constitutes the epic plot; a critical component of this representation is blood. The latter part of the paper examines the wound of Agamemnon in Book 11, which challenges conventional representations of odunai and blood, not least of all by calling up the image of a woman in labor—the only time a simile is used to capture odunai. I argue that the simile implicitly challenges an economy in which timê is traded in blood and pains, a challenge echoed more darkly by Hecuba in Book 24. The epic's use of mothers to represent fierce and irreducible pain anticipates tragic appropriations of the feminine.
Toil and Trouble: The Acquisition of Spoils in the Iliad
Authors: Ready Jonathan L
Published: June 2007

A warrior amasses spoils at (re)distributions, and the discrepancy over who allots the booty allows a speaker to focus on the group’s or the individual leader’s role as he sees fit. A warrior also garners spoils on his own by, for example, despoiling his enemies of armor. Seeing the two means of acquisition as modes of exchange elucidates the distinctions between them. Forms of individual acquisition immediately reward the warrior for his labor and exemplify what Maurice Bloch and Jonathan Parry call “short-term transactions.” A warrior also performs a “long-term transaction” when he toils in battle with a view to participating in a (re)distribution that is intended to perpetuate the longterm social and cosmic order. Achilles posits a long-term transaction based on warriors’ providing material for the (re)distribution from goods they have obtained through short-term transactions on the battlefield.
Closet Cases: Queering Bioethics through Narrative
Authors: Chambers Tod
Published: June 2007

Drawing upon queer theory, this paper examines the heterosexual assumptions that underlie bioethics case narratives. These case narratives identify few individuals as having same-sex desires; it is only when homosexuals become dangerous to the straight community that they are "displayed" in bioethics cases. The perspective of same-sex desire as dangerous can be seen not only in the explicit content of these narratives but also in the sexual orientation that is implied of the reader of bioethics. In the end, bioethics case narratives reproduce rather than challenge the hetero-narrative pattern of our culture's stories.
Being John Doe Malkovich: Truth, Imagination, and Story in Medicine
Authors: DasGupta Sayantani
Published: June 2007

In the context of evidence-based science, where all truth has become knowable though rigorous experimentation and interpretation, the ambiguity and complexity of patient stories render them too often at the margins of medical practice. Stories that are not corroborated by "scientific evidence" are "false" and their tellers deemed "bad historians." In the increasingly technical world of medicine, this logic is in danger of becoming extended to almost all patient stories. Efforts in medical education to honor stories of illness must grapple with the profession's vexed expectations of veracity in patient narratives. This essay will address the issues of truth, representation, and story in medicine with the goal of complicating medicine's understanding of patient narratives. This essay will use narrative cinema—Charlie Kaufman's unusual 1999 film Being John Malkovich—as well as the disciplines of oral history and trauma studies, to expand the frame around medicine's understanding of truth in illness stories.
Form and Representation in Clinical Case Reports
Authors: Hurwitz Brian
Published: June 2007

The clinical case report is a literary tool that enables clinicians to depict and think medically about a sick person's situation. Composed for the most part as chronologies set out as observations, case reports are marked by various forms of literalism contrasted with more expressive forms of writing. In this way, they adopt literary framings and dramatic devices to help to convey the patient's overall situation and the physician's reaction to it. Encoding the clinically essential for the purposes of record, demonstration, and communication, the shape and emphases of case reports today build on, and contribute to, a long train of developments in medical theory, practice, and case description. My aim in this essay is not to suggest a single unbroken continuity between past and present case reports, but rather to explore the variety of textual representations deployed in their composition and to suggest that the plurality of past forms licenses renewed experimentation in the writing of clinical case reports today.
Fictions of Medical Minds: Victorian Novels and Medical Epistemology
Authors: Ryan Vanessa Lyndal
Published: June 2007

Victorian mental science led both scientists and nonscientists to consider whether between reason and emotion, thinking and feeling there exists a third type of thought, "thinking without thinking," that can serve as an epistemological alternative to reasoned thought. Drawing on physiological theories of mental reflex action, mid-nineteenth-century scientists made the startling claim that the mind performs some of its most complicated, innovative, and creative work mechanically. In probing the realities, possibilities, and dangers of nondeliberate thought, Victorian novelists turned to the emphasis on "experience" in medical practice as a possible model for integrating tacit knowledge into a theory of learning and action. Today, bolstered by work in cognitive science on the central role of nondeliberate thought in complex as well as everyday decisions, the concept of "thinking without thinking" is again gaining recognition in terms that echo the nineteenth-century insistence on "unconscious cerebration" as a positive and pragmatic problem-solving mode.
The Perilous Fate of the Teller, or What Bench? What Desolation?
Authors: Charon Rita
Published: June 2007

Henry James's understanding of the perilous consequences of telling of the situation of another seem salient to the clinical enterprise. This essay examines James's late story "The Bench of Desolation" to appreciate the narrative strategies adopted in its telling. The narrator of this story gradually nears the suffering protagonist and shifts from mockery to seeming compassion in the presentation of his plight. By effacing himself, or making himself transparent, the narrator exposes the characters directly to the reader, bringing the reader into intimate contact with the characters. These observations have evident clinical resonance. Other works James read or wrote at the time he wrote this story help us to understand what might have been on his mind during the creation of this work. The textual recognition that occurs in this story is given as a model for the mutual recognition possible in the clinical setting.
Great Moments: Authenticity, Ideology, and the Telling of Medical "History"
Authors: Metzl Jonathan , Howell Joel D
Published: June 2007

This essay sheds light on present-day pharmaceutical advertisements by looking back to an important early chapter in pharmaceutical company–sponsored promotion: the Great Moments in Medicine and Great Moments in Pharmacy series of commercial paintings produced by Parke, Davis and Company between 1948 and 1964. Beginning in the early 1950s, Parke-Davis delivered reproductions of the Great Moments series to physicians and pharmacies throughout the United States and Canada and funded monthly pull-out facsimiles in key national magazines. The images also appeared in calendars, popular magazines, and "educational" brochures. By the mid-1960s, articles in both the popular and the medical press lauded the Great Moments images for "changing the face of the American doctor's office," while describing the painter, Robert Thom, as the "Norman Rockwell" of medicine. Our analysis uses source material including popular articles about the Great Moments series, existing scholarship, previously unexamined artist's notes, and, ultimately, the images themselves, to explain why these seemingly kitschy depictions attained such widespread acclaim. We show how Great Moments tapped into a 1950s medical climate when doctors were considered powerfully independent practitioners, pharmaceutical companies begged doctors' good graces, and HMOs and health plans were nowhere to be seen. The article concludes by suggesting that the images offer important lessons for thinking about the historically embedded beliefs painted into the many pharmaceutical advertisements that confront present-day doctors, patients, and other consumers.
The Theatre and the Granary: Observations on Nineteenth-Century Medical Narratives
Authors: Rylance Rick
Published: June 2007

This essay examines nineteenth-century medical case histories as they evolved into a recognizably modern form. Analyzing material from the specialist and generalist periodical press in both the United Kingdom and the United States, alongside literary writing by Charles Dickens, Anthony Trollope, and Silas Weir Mitchell, this essay challenges some of the assumptions about clinical narratives that derive from leading commentators Michel Foucault and Oliver Sacks. It traces the emergence of a generic form for case histories in specialist journals such as the Lancet and the Medico-Chirurgical Review and tests the strengths and limitations of this form in relation to more discursive or literary material. It argues that nineteenth-century clinical case histories were porous forms created by diverse and probably irresolvable pressures. Among these pressures were their competing functions as both dramatic narratives and assemblies of clinical data—or, to use metaphors common during that period, the world of the theatre and of the granary.
What Can Narrative Theory Learn from Illness Narratives?
Authors: Rimmon-Kenan Shlomith
Published: June 2007

This essay assumes the possibility of establishing a fruitful mutual relationship between narratology and autobiographical illness narratives. Within this relationship, it focuses on several ways in which the latter illuminate, and sometimes problematize, central notions in narratology and narrative theory. The main issues explored are 1) the complex interaction between the collapse of the body and that of the narrative, and its implications for the interplay between order and contingency; 2) the resistance of a disintegrating body to both verbalization and narration, as well as its paradoxical articulation in language and narrative; 3) the potential undermining of the author-reader "contract" by a blunt narration of disturbing physical details; and 4) the ethical and psychological risks involved in texts where flesh-and-blood readers are also (fictional?) characters, and the pain, misunderstandings, and erasures such implicated readers may experience in the reception.
"The Trance of the Ecstatica": Margaret Fuller, Animal Magnetism, and the Transcendent Female Body
Authors: Manson Deborah
Published: June 2007

In Woman in the Nineteenth Century (1845), the American feminist Margaret Fuller promoted the "magnetic" element of the woman as a source of liberation and empowerment. During the time that she was composing this work, animal magnetism, or mesmerism, was a popular form of medical treatment in America and Europe. Fuller suffered chronic pain from intense headaches and spinal curvature, and her letters and essays indicate that she found relief in magnetic treatments at a time when women were thought to be particularly susceptible to the mesmeric trance. Fuller's experiences with mesmerism not only provided a remedy for her physical ailments but also contributed to her theory of feminism. This essay examines mesmerism as a form of holistic healing for Fuller, tracing her journey from a woman encumbered by intense pain to a woman who celebrated her magnetic female body and the spiritual liberation it afforded.
The Child Mortality Disadvantage among Indigenous People in Mexico
Authors: Heaton Tim B , England J. Lynn , García Bencomo Myrna , Reyes López Gerardo
Published: June 2007

This paper compares child mortality rates of Indigenous people with national rates. A long history of discrimination and exclusion experienced by indigenous residents of Mexico has created substantial disadvantage in terms of living conditions, education, and access to state resources. Recent policy efforts have been designed to address issues of poverty and inadequate health care. This paper uses data from the 2000 census of Mexico to examine: 1) the relative risk of child mortality among indigenous people, 2) the influence of living conditions, education and demographic characteristics on mortality differentials, and 3) the role of government programs in reducing mortality differentials. Results indicate that poor living conditions, low education and concentration in rural areas account for higher indigenous mortality. National programs have played a modest role in reducing mortality differentials.
Region, Industry, and Intergenerational Status Transmission in Urban Brazil
Authors: Neves Jorge A , Fernandes Danielle C , Helal Diogo H
Published: June 2007

This article presents a cautious analysis about regional and industrial variations in the process of status transmission in Brazil. It draws upon a disparate literature spanning that on the organizational structures of industries, the socioeconomic patterns of development, and modernization theory to derive testable hypotheses. The hypothesis tests are based on the estimation of Two-Level Hierarchical Linear Models (HLM). The dependent variable is the socioeconomic status of one's occupation. The first level independent variables represent individual characteristics (sex, age, schooling, and the father's socioeconomic status of occupation). The second level independent variables represent economic sectors' characteristics (based on regional and industrial segmentations). The data for the hypothesis tests come from the Brazilian National Household Sample Surveys (PNADs) from 1973, 1982, 1988, and 1996. The main hypothesis tests are related to the "slope as outcome" model. It is tested whether the second level variables (related to the regional/industrial segmentation) have any impact on the effect of the father's socioeconomic status on the socioeconomic status of his sons/daughters. In other words, it is assessed whether economic segmentation variables mediate the intergenerational status transmission in Brazil. The final results show that neither regional and industrial segmentations nor economic development levels seem to have much a role as mediators of the process of intergenerational transmission of occupational status in Brazil. This brings to the conclusion that the process of intergenerational status transmission in Brazil is very stable in both cross-sectional and temporal ways.