bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Context for the PorGrow study: Europe’s obesity crisis
Authors: Lobstein T. , Millstone E. ,   the PorGrow research team
Published: March 2007

The Policy Options for Responding to the Growing Challenge of Obesity Research Project (PorGrow) study was conducted at a time when the prevalence levels of overweight and obesity among both adults and children had been rising for over a decade in most countries in Europe. The reasons are assumed to be related to changes in dietary patterns and in patterns of physical activity, and may be linked to economic as well as socio‐environmental influences on behaviour. Inequalities in the distribution of obesity across different socio‐economic groups are also apparent. The demographic and secular trends have led to increasing concern among policymakers over the costs of obesity‐related disease to the health services and to the economy generally. In response, a series of policy initiatives have been considered among the countries participating in the PorGrow study.
Methodology for obtaining stakeholder assessments of obesity policy options in the PorGrow project
Authors: Stirling A. , Lobstein T. , Millstone E. ,   the PorGrow research team
Published: March 2007

The Policy Options for Responding to the Growing Challenge of Obesity Research Project (PorGrow) study provided a unique opportunity to develop a large‐scale application of a semi‐quantitative technique for exploring interviewees’ views on options to tackle obesity, using multi‐criteria mapping. This ‘heuristic’ approach utilizes the advantages of a structured interviews framework by predefining a set of options for appraisal, while leaving interviewees free to select their own criteria for making their judgements. Additional information can be gleaned from the interview transcripts and related materials to set the appraisals in their policy context, and allowing interviewees to express their views on the options presented and their own appraisals. The PorGrow study team agreed a predefined set of 20 options for appraisal, and interviewed sets of stakeholders representing more than 20 aspects of policy development in each of the nine participating countries. The details of the methodology adopted are set out in this paper.
The PorGrow project: overall cross‐national results, comparisons and implications
Authors: Millstone E. , Lobstein T.
Published: March 2007

European policymakers need more information on policy responses to obesity that stakeholders judge effective and acceptable. The Policy Options for Responding to the Growing Challenge of Obesity Research Project gathered such intelligence by interviewing key stakeholder groups in nine countries. Interviews used an innovative multi‐criteria mapping (MCM) methodology that gathers quantitative and qualitative information on the stakeholders’ perceptions and judgements. Aggregating across all participants, a comprehensive portfolio of policy measures, integrated into a coherent programme, would be well‐supported by broad coalitions of stakeholders. Those portfolios should include measures (i) to provide improved educations in schools and to the general adult population; (ii) measures to improve access to and incentives for physical activity; (iii) measures to improve information about both foods and physical activity and (iv) changes to the supply of and demand for foodstuffs. There was little support for fiscal measures and technological ‘fixes’; they were judged ineffective and unacceptable. Significant differences were found across European regions, and across different stakeholder perspectives, but not across genders. There is a strong case for improved monitoring of body mass index levels, dietary habits and physical activity. An MCM study can effectively cover several countries, rather than being confined to just one, and generate both national and cross‐national policy analyses and proposals.
Policy options for responding to the growing challenge from obesity: Cyprus national findings
Authors: Savva S. C. , Chadjioannou M. , Tornaritis M. J.
Published: March 2007

A multifaceted public health policy approach is required for reversing the current obesity epidemic. The Policy Options for Responding to the Growing Challenge of Obesity Research Project aimed to explore the consistency and/or variability of the perspectives of key stakeholders towards a range of different options to respond to the growing challenge of obesity among nine participating European member states. The multi‐criteria mapping technique was used. Cyprus national data, when analysed in the public health and public policy context of Cyprus, collectively indicate that no single policy option appears to be unique in combating obesity, but rather need to be combined with other policy options. Specifically, measures are needed to improve levels of knowledge and understanding regarding food, diet, health and fitness beginning from early childhood with health professionals having an important role in this regard. These measures should be coupled with informational initiatives emphasizing the improvement of nutritional information labelling system, and the control of food and drink advertising. There was also a consensus regarding the need for modifying the supply of and demand for foodstuffs, but not via economic instruments. Practical feasibility, social acceptability, efficacy and social benefits but not the economic costs of the options were deemed the most important criteria for a successful implementation.
Policy options for responding to the growing challenge from obesity (PorGrow) in Poland
Authors: Szponar L. , Ciok J. , Dolna A. , Oltarzewski M.
Published: March 2007

To explore the perspectives of stakeholders towards a range of policy options to respond to obesity in Poland, a multi‐criteria mapping method was used. During structured interviews, stakeholders were invited to appraise policy options by reference to criteria of their own choosing. They also provided relative weightings to their criteria, generating overall rankings of the policy options in relation to each other.

Efficacy, feasibility and societal benefits were the groups of criteria deemed most important. There was most consensus in favour of options related to health education, particularly in schools, compared with options that aimed at modifying the environment to prevent obesity, i.e. options around physical activity, modifying the supply and demand for food products, and information‐related options. There was little support for technological solutions or institutional reforms.

There was broad consensus that to reverse the rising trend in the incidence of obesity, it will be necessary to implement a portfolio of measures, but options related to behaviour change through education are most highly regarded.

It will also be necessary to invest in improved surveillance and monitoring of Polish dietary practices, levels of physical activity and obesity in terms of data on height, weight and body mass indexes.
Policy options for responding to the growing challenge from obesity in the United Kingdom
Authors: Mohebati L. , Lobstein T. , Millstone E. , Jacobs M.
Published: March 2007

The aim of this study was to map and analyse how key stakeholders evaluated options for dealing with the rising incidence of obesity in the UK, as part of a wider cross‐national study in nine European countries. Multi‐criteria mapping was used to capture the ways in which different policy options were evaluated by a variety of key stakeholders. ‘Positive societal benefits’ was among the criteria most often selected by participants to assess the options and was generally considered more important than costs. Of the seven pre‐defined options that all participants appraised, those related to increasing opportunities for physical activity received the highest rankings, and fiscal measures the lowest. Educational measures fared best among the remaining 13 discretionary options while technological measures performed poorly. No one option, or group of options, was considered sufficient to address the obesity problem. Rather, a general consensus was evident in support of mutually reinforcing measures related to education, information, healthier food and physical activity. Although obesity policies are currently emerging in these different areas in the UK, there is a need for them to be better coordinated, and for improved surveillance to estimate their effectiveness in reversing the trend in obesity.
Promotability of Host‐Country Nationals: A Cross‐Cultural Study
Authors: Herrmann Pol , Werbel James
Published: March 2007

Drawing on person–environment fit and national identity theory, the article proposes that person–national culture fit is likely to influence the promotability of host‐country nationals in multinational firms. Focusing on fit with upward influence tactics, it suggests that the parent company's national culture influences managerial expectations of host‐country nationals in foreign subsidiaries. It argues that host‐country managers who demonstrate upward influence tactics that are culturally appropriate to the parent company's national culture will be more promotable than those who do not. Higher‐level supervisors were asked to assess the promotability of two direct subordinates, who were independently surveyed about the upward influence tactics they used. The study contrasted ingratiation, exchange of benefits and coalition, and directness influence tactics of host‐country nationals in domestic Ecuadorian firms with American and German multinationals in Ecuador. Compatible with our hypotheses, data from a sample of 79 firms suggest that exchange of benefits and coalition are more likely to be associated with promotability in German than in domestic Ecuadorian firms. In addition, upward‐appeal assertiveness is more likely to be associated with promotability in American than in domestic Ecuadorian firms.
Unravelling Learning within Multinational Corporations*
Authors: Saka‐Helmhout Ayse
Published: March 2007

This article explores the impact of institutional variation on the extent to which subsidiary firms learn from multinational corporations. Learning is conceptualized here as consisting of two aspects: knowledge flow and reinforcement of or change in routines to incorporate the behaviourist assumptions of learning into the international business field. The research is based on in‐depth case studies that systematically compare the ways in which parent company knowledge diffuses to Polish, Turkish, Italian and German subsidiary firms in the chemical industry. The findings show that even though firms face the same global pressure to integrate and pursue the same international strategy, their learning outcomes are not the same. There is heterogeneous learning as a result of differences in the institutional context of home countries. Where institutional structures are not favourable to learning, the proactive or reactive orientation of actors to identifying future needs and modifying existing schemata – which highlight the importance of human agency – is significant in explaining learning.
Plasticity for Affective Neurocircuitry
Authors: Fox Nathan A. , Hane Amie A. , Pine Daniel S.
Published: March 2007

We ( Fox et al., 2005 ) recently described a gene-by-environment interaction involving child temperament and maternal social support, finding heightened behavioral inhibition in children homozygous or heterozygous for the serotonin transporter (5HTTLPR) gene short allele whose mothers reported low social support. Here, we propose a model, Plasticity for Affective Neurocircuitry, that describes the manner in which genetic disposition and environmental circumstances may interact. Children with a persistently fearful temperament (and the 5HTTLPR short allele) are more likely to experience caregiving environments in which threat is highlighted. This in turn will exacerbate an attention bias that alters critical affective neurocircuitry to threat and enhances and maintains anxious behavior in the child.
The Time Course of Attention
Authors: Olivers Christian N.L.
Published: March 2007

What is the time course of attention? Research using rapid-stimulus streams has suggested that it is rather slow: Attention takes half a second to recover from processing one thing before it can process the next. This period is referred to as the attentional blink, and it is thought to reflect a fundamental bottleneck in conscious processing. If this period does exist, such a limitation would have severe consequences in real-life situations in which multiple events may rapidly succeed each other (e.g., in traffic). However, findings that support the attentional blink are at odds with other findings indicating that attention is not reduced, but enhanced, following potentially important occurrences. The article reviews evidence that these opposite effects are actually closely related. The attentional blink is a consequence of selection mechanisms that are not severely limited, but have an adaptive function: They enhance perception in response to relevant information but suppress perception in response to irrelevant information. It means that humans are better geared for real life than was previously thought.
Molecular Genetic Studies of Eating Disorders
Authors: Klump Kelly L. , Culbert Kristen M.
Published: March 2007

We review association studies that have examined the genetic basis of eating disorders. Overall, findings suggest that serotonin, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, and estrogen genes may be important for the development of the disorders. These neuronal systems influence behavioral and personality characteristics (e.g., anxiety, food intake) that are disrupted in eating disorders. Future studies would benefit from larger sample sizes and inclusion of behavioral and personality covariates in analyses. Consideration of the mechanisms of genetic effects and interactions between genes and environment is also needed to extend conceptualizations of the genetic basis of these disorders.
Psychosocial Factors and Disease Progression in Cancer
Authors: Antoni Michael H. , Lutgendorf Susan
Published: March 2007

Psychosocial factors such as stress, personality, and social support relate to differences in disease progression in cancer patients. Neuroendocrine substances associated with psychosocial factors may regulate immune responses to cancer, as well as regulate the activity of oncogenic (cancer-causing) viruses, DNA-repair processes, and the expression in tumor cells of genes that may affect the tumor's growth and metastasis. Biobehavioral oncology research seeks to understand how these psychosocial factors, and interventions designed to modify them, become neurohormonal changes that alter cell signaling and tumor growth, viral oncogenesis, and immune responses. We review the empirical basis for psychosocial factors and biobehavioral processes in cancer progression and suggest future research.
Adaptation to Sperm Competition in Humans
Authors: Shackelford Todd K. , Goetz Aaron T.
Published: March 2007

With the recognition, afforded by recent evolutionary science, that female infidelity was a recurrent feature of modern humans' evolutionary history has come the development of a unique area in the study of human mating: sperm competition. A form of male–male postcopulatory competition, sperm competition occurs when the sperm of two or more males concurrently occupy the reproductive tract of a female and compete to fertilize her ova. Males must compete for mates, but if two or more males have copulated with a female within a sufficiently short period of time, sperm will compete for fertilizations. Psychological, behavioral, physiological, and anatomical evidence indicates that men have evolved solutions to combat the adaptive problem of sperm competition, but research has only just begun to uncover these adaptations.
The Psychology of Voluntary Employee Turnover
Authors: Harman Wendy S. , Lee Thomas W. , Mitchell Terence R. , Felps William , Owens Bradley P.
Published: March 2007

Most research on voluntary turnover has focused on dissatisfaction-induced and rational decisionmaking processes, with some attention paid to external market influences. This focus leaves unexplained a large portion of the variance in why people choose to quit a job. Recently, however, researchers are considering the alternative ways that the turnover process is enacted, as well as what businesses can do to prevent turnover.
Pathways to Problem Behaviors: Chaotic Homes, Parent and Child Effortful Control, and Parenting
Authors: Valiente Carlos , Lemery‐Chalfant Kathryn , Reiser Mark
Published: March 2007

Guided by Belsky's and Eisenberg, Cumberland, and Spinrad's heuristic models, we tested a process model with hypothesized paths from parents' effortful control (EC) and family chaos to indices of parenting to children's EC, and finally children's externalizing problem behavior. Parents reported on all constructs and children ( N = 188; M age = 9.55 years) reported on their EC and externalizing problem behaviors. Consistent with expectations, parents' EC promoted their positive (and inhibited negative) reactions to children's negative emotions. In addition, high levels of family chaos predicted low levels of parental positive reactions to children's emotion. Children's EC was predicted by high levels of positive reactions and low levels of negative reactions. As expected, children's externalizing problem behaviors were negatively related to their EC. Results clarify possible family processes by which children's EC is enhanced and problem behaviors are reduced.
Legislating for Equality? Working Hours and Progression in Science Careers
Authors: Ackers Louise
Published: March 2007

Abstract:  This article presents some recent research on the progression of women in science careers in five EU Member States—the UK, Italy, Austria, Portugal, and Greece, examining the growing gender pay gap in science careers. It focused on the recruitment and participation of women, but also on their retention and progression. The interviews with scientists highlighted the importance of various dimensions of ‘time‐use’ to an understanding of the progression of women and men in science careers. This article focuses on three dimensions of time: (1) time over the working day; (2) time over the working week; and (3) time over the working year. It describes the typical working schedules of the respondents, the functional use of that time and the particular challenges this presents for scientists with caring responsibilities. The results confirm previous findings1 underlining the importance of working hours in science both to the attractiveness of science careers—and the ability to recruit and retain men and women—and to career progression. Within this context, the article considers the potential of recent European legislation designed to regulate working time (Council Directive 93/104) to create a more level playing field and improve the progression of women in science.
Gender Equality, Citizenship, and the EU's Constitutional Future
Authors: Millns Susan
Published: March 2007

Abstract:  While gender equality has been a matter of some concern for EU law and policy makers over the past half century, this concern has tended, at least historically, to focus upon equal treatment in employment and has not yet materialised into the delivery of a broader package of civil, political, and social rights for women. Taking the concept of EU citizenship as a framework within which to view the promotion of gender equality, this article assesses the debate on the constitutional future of the EU. This is with a view to examining the possible amelioration of women's social position through the exploitation of opportunities that the constitutionalisation of EU law presents. Looking at women's citizenship through the lens of political rights to participate in the debate on the EU's future, together with examining substantive aspects of the Constitutional Treaty for their gender equality content, the article suggests that a more comprehensive endeavour by all institutional actors to engage in gender mainstreaming is needed in order to give effect to a broader form of equality between women and men.
Transobturator and retropubic tape procedures in stress urinary incontinence: a systematic review and meta‐analysis of effectiveness and complications
Authors: Latthe PM , Foon R , Toozs‐Hobson P
Published: March 2007

Background  Various types of suburethral tapes inserted via the transobturator route (tension‐free vaginal tape obturator route [TVTO] and transobturator tape [TOT]) have been widely adopted for treatment of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) before proper evaluation of their effectiveness and complications.

Objectives  To assess the effectiveness and complications of TOTs as treatment of SUI by means of a systematic review.

Search strategy  MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, LILIACS (up to September 2006), CENTRAL (The Cochrane Library, Issue 3, 2006), MetaRegister of Controlled Trials, The National Library for Health, the National Research Register and Google Scholar were searched using various relevant search terms. The citation lists of review articles and included trials were searched, and contact with the corresponding author of each included trials was attempted.

Selection criteria  Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that compared the effectiveness of TVTO or TOT with synthetic tension‐free vaginal tape (TVT) by retropubic route (Gynecare; Ethicon Inc., NJ, USA) for the treatment of SUI in all languages were included.

Data collection and analysis  Two reviewers extracted data on participants’ characteristics, study quality, population, intervention, cure and adverse effects independently. The data were analysed in the Review Manager 4.2.8 software.

Main results  There were five RCTs that compared TVTO with TVT and six RCTs that compared TOT with TVT. When compared by subjective cure, TVTO and TOT at 2–12 months were no better than TVT (OR 0.85; 95% CI 0.60–1.21). Adverse events such as bladder injuries (OR 0.12; 95% CI 0.05–0.33) and voiding difficulties (OR 0.55; 95% CI 0.31–0.98) were less common, whereas groin/thigh pain (OR 8.28; 95% CI 2.7–25.4), vaginal injuries or erosion of mesh (OR 1.96; 95% CI 0.87–4.39) were more common after tape insertion by the transobturator route.

Author’s conclusions  The evidence for short‐term superiority of effectiveness of TOTs is currently limited. Bladder injuries and voiding difficulties are lower, but the risk of vaginal erosions and groin pain is higher with TVTO/TOT. Methodologically sound and sufficiently powered RCTs with long‐term follow up are needed, and the results of continuing trials are awaited.
Differential effects of genotoxic stress on both concurrent body growth and gradual senescence in the adult zebrafish
Authors: Tsai Stephanie B. , Tucci Valter , Uchiyama Junzo , Fabian Niora J. , Lin Mao C. , Bayliss Peter E. , Neuberg Donna S. , Zhdanova Irina V. , Kishi Shuji
Published: March 2007

Among vertebrates, fish and mammals show intriguing differences in their growth control properties with age. The potential for unlimited or indeterminate growth in a variety of fish species has prompted many questions regarding the senescent phenomena that appear during the aging process in these animals. Using zebrafish as our model system, we have attempted in our current study to examine the growth phenomena in fish in relation to the onset of senescence‐associated symptoms, and to evaluate the effects of genotoxic stress on these processes. We observed in the course of these analyses that the zebrafish undergoes continuous growth, irrespective of age, past the point of sexual maturation with gradually decreasing growth rates at later stages. Animal population density, current body size and chronological age also play predominant roles in regulating zebrafish growth and all inversely influence the growth rate. Interestingly, the induction of genotoxic stress by exposure to ionizing radiation (IR) did not adversely affect this body growth ability in zebrafish. However, IR was found to chronically debilitate the regeneration of amputated caudal fins and thereby induce high levels of abnormal fin regeneration in the adult zebrafish. In addition, by resembling and mimicking the natural course of aging, IR treatments likewise enhanced several other symptoms of senescence, such as a decline in reproductive abilities, increased senescence‐associated β‐galactosidase activity and a reduction in melatonin secretion. Our current data thus suggest that during the lifespan of zebrafish, the onset of senescence‐associated symptoms occurs in parallel with continuous growth throughout mid‐adulthood. Moreover, our present findings indicate that genotoxic DNA damage may play a role as a rate‐limiting factor during the induction of senescence, but not in the inhibition of continuous, density‐dependent growth in adult zebrafish.
On the Relation between Conservatism in Accounting Standards and Incentives for Earnings Management
Authors: CHEN QI , HEMMER THOMAS , ZHANG YUN
Published: March 2007

This paper studies the role of conservative accounting standards in alleviating rational yet dysfunctional unobservable earnings manipulation. We show that when accounting numbers serve both the valuation role (in which potential investors use accounting reports to assess a firm's expected future payoff) and the stewardship role (in which current shareholders rely on the same reports to monitor their risk‐averse manager), current firm owners have incentives to engage in earnings management. Such manipulation reduces accounting numbers' stewardship value and leads to inferior risk sharing. We then show that risk sharing, and hence contract efficiency, can be improved under a conservative accounting standard where, absent earnings management, accounting earnings represent true economic earnings with a downward bias, compared with under an unbiased standard where, absent earnings management, accounting earnings represent true economic earnings without bias.
Measure for Measure: The Relation between Forecast Accuracy and Recommendation Profitability of Analysts
Authors: ERTIMUR YONCA , SUNDER JAYANTHI , SUNDER SHYAM V.
Published: March 2007

We examine the contemporaneous relation between earnings forecast accuracy and recommendation profitability to assess the effectiveness with which analysts translate forecasts into profitable recommendations. We find that, after controlling for expertise, more accurate analysts make more profitable recommendations, albeit only for firms with value‐relevant earnings. Next, we show that conflicts of interest from investment banking activities affect the relation between accuracy and profitability. In the case of buy recommendations, more accurate forecasts are associated with more profitable recommendations only for the nonconflicted analysts. For hold recommendations, higher levels of accuracy are associated with higher levels of profitability for conflicted analysts, provided these recommendations are treated as sells. Finally, we find that regulatory reforms aimed at mitigating analyst conflicts of interest appear to have improved the relation between accuracy and profitability. Specifically, the integrity of buy and hold recommendations has improved and the change is more pronounced for analysts expected to be most conflicted.
A Geostatistical Analysis of Soil, Vegetation, and Image Data Characterizing Land Surface Variation
Authors: Rodgers Sarah E. , Oliver Margaret A.
Published: March 2007

The elucidation of spatial variation in the landscape can indicate potential wildlife habitats or breeding sites for vectors, such as ticks or mosquitoes, which cause a range of diseases. Information from remotely sensed data could aid the delineation of vegetation distribution on the ground in areas where local knowledge is limited. The data from digital images are often difficult to interpret because of pixel‐to‐pixel variation, that is, noise, and complex variation at more than one spatial scale. Landsat Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) and Satellite Pour l'Observation de La Terre (SPOT) image data were analyzed for an area close to Douna in Mali, West Africa. The variograms of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from both types of image data were nested. The parameters of the nested variogram function from the Landsat ETM+ data were used to design the sampling for a ground survey of soil and vegetation data. Variograms of the soil and vegetation data showed that their variation was anisotropic and their scales of variation were similar to those of NDVI from the SPOT data. The short‐ and long‐range components of variation in the SPOT data were filtered out separately by factorial kriging. The map of the short‐range component appears to represent the patterns of vegetation and associated shallow slopes and drainage channels of the tiger bush system. The map of the long‐range component also appeared to relate to broader patterns in the tiger bush and to gentle undulations in the topography. The results suggest that the types of image data analyzed in this study could be used to identify areas with more moisture in semiarid regions that could support wildlife and also be potential vector breeding sites.
Space–Time Accessibility Under Conditions of Uncertain Travel Times: Theory and Numerical Simulations
Authors: Ettema Dick , Timmermans Harry
Published: March 2007

Recently, several accessibility measures using the space–time prism concept have been suggested in the literature. These measures fail to take into account (i) the ability of individuals to adjust their activity–travel patterns in coping with constrained choice sets, (ii) uncertainty in the perception of travel times, (iii) temporal variability of travel times, and (iv) the influence of travel information on accessibility. The aim of the present article is to contribute to this literature by addressing these four shortcomings. Theory will be developed and illustrated using numerical simulations. The results suggest that the accessibility measure proposed in this article is a useful indicator of social inclusion in terms of the time individuals can spend to conduct their preferred activities. Moreover, accessibility is found to be affected by the presence of schedule delay penalties, restrictions in time allocation to activities, and the provision of travel time information in order to reduce uncertainty.
A biomechanical assessment of the relation between the oral implant stability at insertion and subjective bone quality assessment
Authors: Alsaadi Ghada , Quirynen Marc , Michiels Katleen , Jacobs Reinhilde , Van Steenberghe Daniel
Published: March 2007

Aim: The study was set to evaluate the validity of subjective jaw bone quality assessment.

Materials and Methods: A total of 298 patients (198 females, mean age 56.4) were treated with oral implants at the Periodontology Department at the University Hospital of KUL. A total of 761 TiUnite™ implants have been installed. Subjective bone quality assessment was performed on radiographs and by the surgeon's tactile sensation and was compared with torque measurements. In a subset of patients, implant stability was also assessed by implant stability quotient and/or periotest values.

Results: Subjective assessment of bone quality was related to the PTV, ISQ and placement torque [in the crestal, the second and the apical third (N cm)], respectively; in grade 1: −5.3, 73.3 (4.2, 9.6, 15.2), and grade 3 or 4: −1.6, 55 (3.3, 5.5, 8.4). For the surgeon's tactile sensation, a good correlation was noted for the presence of a thick cortex: −4.6, 70.3 (4.2, 9.7, 15.1), or a thin one: −0.3, 65.9 (3.6, 6.9, 10.1). For dense trabecular bone, the values were −2.8, 69.4 (4.4, 9.7,14.8), while for poor trabecular bone, the values were−1.7, 66.4 (3.6, 6.4, 9.8).

Conclusions: Subjective assessment of bone quality is related to PTV, ISQ and placement torque measurements at implant insertion.
Java project on periodontal diseases: the relationship between vitamin C and the severity of periodontitis
Authors: Amaliya  , Timmerman M. F. , Abbas F. , Loos B. G. , Van der Weijden G. A. , Van Winkelhoff A. J. , Winkel E. G. , Van der Velden U.
Published: March 2007

Objective: To study the relationship between vitamin C and the severity of periodontitis.

Material and Methods: The study population consisted of subjects from the Malabar/Purbasari tea estate on West Java, Indonesia. In 2002, clinical measurements were performed in 128 subjects, including evaluation of plaque, bleeding on probing, pocket depth and attachment loss. In 2005, 123 out of 128 subjects could be retrieved who were present at the examination of 2002. Blood samples were taken to measure plasma vitamin C levels. Information about the subject's dietary habit was obtained by means of a personal interview guided by a questionnaire.

Results: Plasma levels of vitamin C ranged from 0.02 to 34.45 mg/l with a mean of 7.90 mg/l (±5.35). The correlation coefficient between plasma vitamin C level and periodontal attachment loss was −0.199 (p<0.05); stepwise linear regression revealed that vitamin C levels explained 3.9% of the variance in periodontal attachment loss. Subjects with vitamin C deficiency (14.7% of the study population) had more attachment loss compared with those with depletion or normal plasma vitamin C values.

Conclusion: The negative association between plasma vitamin C levels and periodontal attachment loss suggests that vitamin C deficiency may contribute to the severity of periodontal breakdown.
Clinical effects after subgingival polishing with a non‐aggressive ultrasonic device in initial therapy
Authors: Kahl Maren , Haase Eike , Kocher Thomas , Rühling Andreas
Published: March 2007

Objectives: The Vector® ultrasonic system provides root debridement supported by different abrasive irrigation fluids. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical outcome of initial therapy with subgingival low‐abrasive debridement.

Material and Methods: Twenty patients, who had at least two teeth with pocket depths >5 mm in each quadrant, took part in this prospective randomized clinical study. Patients were treated in a split‐mouth design as one test quadrant (1) subgingivally with Vector™ fluid polish (VU‐H) and as three control quadrants, (2) with only supragingival polishing (PO‐H), (3) with hand instruments (HI‐H) performed by a hygienist and (4) with hand instruments (HI‐D) performed by a dentist. At baseline, 3 and 6 months after treatment, pocket depths and attachment levels (ALs) were measured and bleeding on probing (BOP) was recorded.

Results: At 6‐month evaluation, all groups showed an improvement in clinical parameters. No statistically significant differences in any of the investigated parameters could be observed between the Vector group and the hand scaling groups, or when comparing the results of the two different operators.

Conclusion: This study demonstrates that Vector™ treatment with polishing fluid was able to reduce pocket depths and the prevalence of BOP and improve clinical AL in a similar way as scaling with curettes.
Effect of Val92Met and Arg163Gln variants of the MC1R gene on freckles and solar lentigines in Japanese
Authors: Motokawa Tomonori , Kato Tomomi , Hashimoto Yuki , Katagiri Takayuki
Published: March 2007

Melanocortin‐1 receptor (MC1R) is a highly polymorphic gene. The variety of the variants is dependent on the ethnic background of the individual. In Caucasians, specific variants, such as Arg151Cys, Arg160Trp, and Asp294His, are strongly associated with red hair, skin cancer and pigmented lesions. In Asians, there is no report so far indicating an association such as that observed in Caucasians. Here, we performed an association study on melanogenic phenotypes in 245 Japanese individuals. We focused on freckles and solar lentigines as melanogenic phenotypes. The 92Met allele and the 163Arg allele were positively associated with freckles and severe solar lentigines; the 163Gln allele showed a negative association. Those subjects who were homozygous for both the 92Met and 163Arg alleles had a highly elevated risk of developing freckles (OR: 7.92; 95% CI: 1.52–39.6) and severe solar lentigines (OR: 4.08; 95% CI: 1.34–13.1). Our study is the first report to show a clear association of MC1R variants on melanogenic phenotypes in Asians and also indicates the importance of Arg163Gln. In vitro studies by other groups demonstrated that Val92Met impaired MC1R function but Arg163Gln did not. Based on these in vitro studies, we believe that the result we observed for Val92Met could be attributed to impaired MC1R function, while, for Arg163Gln, other factors, e.g. effect of other loci, need to be considered.
Zebrafish as a new model for phenotype‐based screening of melanogenic regulatory compounds
Authors: Choi Tae‐Young , Kim Jin‐Hwa , Ko Dong Han , Kim Cheol‐Hee , Hwang Jae‐Sung , Ahn Soomi , Kim Sun Yeou , Kim Chang‐Deok , Lee Jeung‐Hoon , Yoon Tae‐Jin
Published: March 2007

Although many hypo‐pigmenting agents are currently available, the demand for novel whitening agents is increasing, in part due to the weak effectiveness and unwanted side effects of currently available compounds. To screen for novel hypo‐pigmenting agents, many methodologies such as cell culture and enzymatic assays are routinely used. However, these models have disadvantages in terms of physiological and economic relevance. In this study, we validated zebrafish as a whole‐animal model for phenotype‐based screening of melanogenic inhibitors or stimulators. We used both the well‐known melanogenic inhibitors (1‐phenyl‐2‐thiourea, arbutin, kojic acid, 2‐mercaptobenzothiazole) and newly developed small molecule compounds (haginin, YT16i). All the tested compounds produced inhibitory effects on the pigmentation of zebrafish, most likely due to their inhibitory potential on tyrosinase activity. In simultaneous in vivo toxicity tests, a newly developed melanogenic inhibitor YT16i showed massive abnormalities in terms of deformed morphologies and cardiac function. Together, these results provide a rationale in screening and evaluating the putative melanogenic regulatory compounds. We suggest that the zebrafish system is a novel alternative to mammalian models, with several advantages including the rapidity, cost‐effectiveness, and physiological relevance.
Internalization and Trafficking of Cell Surface Proteoglycans and Proteoglycan‐Binding Ligands
Authors: Payne Christine K. , Jones Sara A. , Chen Chen , Zhuang Xiaowei
Published: March 2007

Using multicolor live cell imaging in combination with biochemical assays, we have investigated an endocytic pathway mediated by cell surface proteoglycans, primary receptors for many cationic ligands. We have characterized this pathway for a variety of proteoglycan‐binding ligands including cationic polymers, lipids and polypeptides. Following clathrin‐ and caveolin‐independent, but flotillin‐ and dynamin‐dependent internalization, proteoglycan‐bound ligands associate with flotillin‐1‐positive vesicles and are efficiently trafficked to late endosomes. The route to late endosomes differs considerably from that following clathrin‐mediated endocytosis. The proteoglycan‐dependent pathway to late endosomes does not require microtubule‐dependent transport or phosphatidyl‐inositol‐3‐OH kinase‐dependent sorting from early endosomes. The pathway taken by these ligands is identical to that taken by an antibody against heparan sulfate proteoglycans, suggesting that this mechanism may be used generally by cell surface proteoglycans and proteoglycan‐binding ligands that lack secondary receptors.
No association of SUMO4 M55V with autoimmune diabetes in Asian‐Indian patients
Authors: Sedimbi S. K. , Kanungo A. , Shastry A. , Park Y. , Sanjeevi C. B.
Published: March 2007

Autoimmune diabetes [type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA) and part of malnutrition‐related diabetes] has been shown to have genetic predisposition. Studies in IDDM 5 have lead to the discovery of a novel polymorphism 163 A→G, of SUMO4 (small ubiquitin‐related modifier) gene, associated with risk to T1DM in Asians, but not in Caucasians. We studied patients with T1DM (n = 134), patients with LADA (n = 101), patients with malnutrition‐modulated diabetes mellitus (n = 66) and patients with fibrocalculous pancreatic diabetes (n = 43) and healthy controls subjects (n = 114) from Cuttack, India. Polymerase chain reaction–sequence‐specific primer (PCR‐SSP) was used to amplify the 163 A→G sequences. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) was performed using restriction enzyme Taq I (PCR‐RFLP). Differences in the allelic frequencies of the A and the G alleles were tested statistically using Fisher's exact test or chi‐squared test wherever appropriate. P‐values were considered significant when equal to or less than 0.05. No significant association was detected between SUMO4 M55V and T1DM susceptibility in Asian‐Indians. Comparison of the A and G alleles with HLA DR3‐DR4 did not result in any significant P‐values. No significant association was found between SUMO4 M55V and LADA or malnutrition‐related diabetes mellitus (MRDM). Our results show that Asian‐Indians with T1DM are different from other Asian populations. Asian‐Indians show more similarity to Caucasians with respect to the association of SUMO4 M55V variant in T1DM. Association studies on Asian‐Indian patients with LADA and MRDM showed no significant difference in the presence of the A and the G alleles when compared to healthy controls.
Polymorphism of HLA class I genes in Meizhou Han population of Guangdong, China
Authors: Chen S. , Li W. , Hu Q. , Liu Z. , Xu Y. , Xu A.
Published: March 2007

Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) is an invaluable marker for anthropological studies because of its extreme polymorphism. Most of the studies carried out in Chinese populations are about HLA class II genes, but few about class I genes. In the present study, we investigated HLA class I polymorphism using polymerase chain reaction‐sequencing‐based typing (PCR‐SBT) method in 104 unrelated Han individuals in Meizhou of Guangdong, southern China. Twenty‐three HLA‐A, 43 HLA‐B and 27 HLA‐C alleles were identified and allele frequencies and two‐locus (C/B) and three‐locus (A/C/B) haplotypes were statistically analysed. The most frequent HLA‐A allele is A*110101 with a frequency of 30.3%, followed by A*24020101 (22.2%) and A*2420 (11.6%). Among the 43 detected HLA‐B alleles, B*5801 (17.0%), B*400101 (15.5%) and B*4601 (10.0%) were frequently observed. Among the 27 detected C alleles, the most predominant one is Cw*07020101 (25.8%), followed by Cw*0717 (14.7%). The most frequent HLA‐C/B two‐locus haplotype is Cw*07020101/B*400101 (10.1%). The most common HLA‐A/C/B three‐locus haplotype in Meizhou Han is A*110101/Cw*07020101/B*400101 (3.4%). Phylogenetic tree based on HLA class I allele frequencies genetically suggested that Meizhou Han has an affinity to southern Asian populations. The result may also reflect an admixture of Han and ethnic minorities of southern China.
COX‐2 promoter region polymorphisms in multiple sclerosis: lack of association of −765G>C with disease risk
Authors: Mazzola S. , Lira M. Gomez , Benedetti M. D. , Salviati A. , Ottaviani S. , Malerba G. , Ortombina M. , Pignatti P. F.
Published: March 2007

Cyclooxygenase‐2 (COX‐2) is extensively expressed in multiple sclerosis lesions suggesting that regulatory variants of the COX‐2 gene could be implicated in multiple sclerosis (MS). Screening of the proximal 5′ regulatory region and genotyping of −765G>C and −62C>G showed that polymorphisms in this COX‐2 region are unlikely to be involved in MS susceptibility.
Rethinking fairness
Authors: Pearce Nick
Published: March 2007

Nick Pearce takes issue with the almost exclusive focus on outcomes over processes in public service reform, and argues that the literature on procedural fairness provides important insights into human behaviour and attitudes that merit deeper attention in public service reform debates.
Why do Liberal Democrats oppose the Child Trust Fund?
Authors: White Stuart
Published: March 2007

The Liberal Democrats have long argued for the abolition of the Child Trust Fund – Labour's prize initiative. Here, political philosopher Stuart White argues that their opposition is not only misplaced, but contradicts their own values and historical commitments.
Legalize it? How to solve Afghanistan's drug problem
Authors: Applebaum Ann
Published: March 2007

Anne Applebaum argues that licensing poppy fields could prove one solution to the country's woes
Democracies, of the world unite
Authors: Daalder Ivo , Lindsay James
Published: March 2007

When Ivo Daalder and James Lindsay first called for an ‘alliance of democracies’ to replace the United Nations in the Washington Post in 2004, ‘it caused uproar.‘ Here they explain why their proposal for a new international democratic body would not only solve international disputes more effectively than the UN but would, ‘post‐Iraq,‘ ensure a United States of America that again plays by the rule.
North–south asymmetry in solar activity: predicting the amplitude of the next solar cycle
Authors: Javaraiah J.
Published: March 2007

Using Greenwich and Solar Optical Observing Network sunspot group data obtained during the period 1874–2005, we find that the sums of the areas of the sunspot groups in the 0°–10° latitude-interval of the Sun's northern hemisphere and in the time-interval of −1.35 yr to +2.15 yr from the time of the preceding minimum – and in the same latitude interval of the southern hemisphere but +1.0 yr to +1.75 yr from the time of the maximum – of a sunspot cycle correlate well with the amplitude (maximum of the smoothed monthly sunspot number) of its immediate following cycle. Using this relationship it is possible to predict the amplitude of a sunspot cycle about 9–13 yr in advance. We predicted 74 ± 10 for the amplitude of the upcoming cycle 24. Variations in solar meridional flows during solar cycles and 9–16 yr variations in solar equatorial rotations may be responsible for the aforementioned relationship, which seems to be related to the 22-yr solar magnetic cycle.
Occam's razor meets WMAP
Authors: Magueijo João , Sorkin Rafael D.
Published: March 2007

Using a variety of quantitative implementations of Occam's razor we examine the low quadrupole, the ‘axis of evil’ effect and other detections recently made appealing to the excellent Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) data. We find that some razors fully demolish the much lauded claims for departures from scale-invariance. They all reduce to pathetic levels the evidence for a low quadrupole (or any other low ℓ cut-off), both in the first and third year WMAP releases. The ‘axis of evil’ effect is the only anomaly examined here that survives the humiliations of Occam's razor, and even then in the category of ‘strong’ rather than ‘decisive’ evidence. Statistical considerations aside, differences between the various renditions of the data sets remain worrying.