bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Space–time slices and surfaces of revolution
Authors: Giblin John T. , Hwang Andrew D.
Published: November 2004

Under certain conditions, a (1+1)-dimensional slice ĝ of a spherically symmetric black hole space–time can be equivariantly embedded in (2+1)-dimensional Minkowski space. The embedding depends on a real parameter that corresponds physically to the surface gravity κ of the black hole horizon. Under conditions that turn out to be closely related, a real surface that possesses rotational symmetry can be equivariantly embedded in three-dimensional Euclidean space. The embedding does not obviously depend on a parameter. However, the Gaussian curvature is given by a simple formula: If the metric is written g=φ(r)−1 dr2+φ(r)dθ2, then Kg=−12φ″(r). This note shows that metrics g and ĝ occur in dual pairs, and that the embeddings described above are orthogonal facets of a single phenomenon. In particular, the metrics and their respective embeddings differ by a Wick rotation that preserves the ambient symmetry. Consequently, the embedding of g depends on a real parameter. The ambient space is not smooth, and κ is inversely proportional to the cone angle at the axis of rotation. Further, the Gaussian curvature of ĝ is given by a simple formula that seems not to be widely known.
Formation of tabular single-domain magnetite induced by
Geobacter metallireducens
GS-15
Authors: Vali Hojatollah , Weiss Benjamin , Li Yi-Liang , Sears S. Kelly , Kim Soon Sam , Kirschvink Joseph L. , Zhang Chuanlun L.
Published: November 2004

Distinct morphological characteristics of magnetite formed intracellularly by magnetic bacteria (magnetosome) are invoked as compelling evidence for biological activity on Earth and possibly on Mars. Crystals of magnetite produced extracellularly by a variety of bacteria including
Geobacter metallireducens
GS-15, thermophilic bacteria, and psychrotolerant bacteria are, however, traditionally not thought to have nearly as distinct morphologies. The size and shape of extracellular magnetite depend on the culture conditions and type of bacteria. Under typical CO
2
-rich culture conditions, GS-15 is known to produce superparamagnetic magnetite (crystal diameters of approximately <30 nm). In the current study, we were able to produce a unique form of tabular, single-domain magnetite under nontraditional (low-CO
2
) culture conditions. This magnetite has a distinct crystal habit and magnetic properties. This magnetite could be used as a biosignature to recognize ancient biological activities in terrestrial and extraterrestrial environments and also may be a major carrier of the magnetization in natural sediments.
Potential modulation of plasma ghrelin and glucagon-like peptide-1 by anorexigenic cannabinoid compounds, SR141716A (rimonabant) and oleoylethanolamide
Authors: Cani Patrice D. , Montoya Maite Lasa , Neyrinck Audrey M. , Delzenne Nathalie M. , Lambert Didier M.
Published: November 2004

The CB1 cannabinoid receptor antagonist, N-piperidino-5-(4-chlorophenyl)-1-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-4-methylpyrazole-3-carboxamide (rimonabant; SR141716A), and oleoylethanolamide (OEA) are known to reduce food consumption, by, at least partially, a peripheral regulation of feeding. The effects of systemic SR141716A or OEA (5 mg/kg) administrations on food consumption in 24 h food-deprived and fed rats were investigated. In fasted rats, SR141716A and OEA produced an inhibition in food intake measurable the first 20 min following injection. The increase in ghrelin levels observed in the vehicle-injected rats was abolished in animals receiving OEA and significantly reduced with SR141716A. Neither OEA nor SR141716A modified glucagon-like peptide-1 (7–36) amide portal levels 20 min after the administration. In fed rats, plasma ghrelin levels of SR141716A- and OEA-treated rats were 35% lower as compared with those of the vehicle-injected rats. These results show an influence of cannabinoid agents on circulating ghrelin levels and suggest that their short-term action on appetite seems to be in accordance with the control of secretion of gastrointestinal orexigenic peptides, mainly expressed in the upper part of the gastrointestinal tract.
A substitution model of dietary manipulation is an effective means of optimising lipid profile, reducing C-reactive protein and increasing insulin-like growth factor-1
Authors: Heald Adrian H. , Golding Cheryl , Sharma Reena , Siddals Kirk , Kirk Sara , Lawton Clare , Anderson Simon , Gibson J. Martin , Cade Janet E.
Published: November 2004

There are two key methods in which fat intake may be manipulated; the ‘substitution model’ and the ‘reduction model’. However insufficient information is known about the mechanisms of dietary fat reduction in individuals who have successfully reduced their fat intake, to be clear as to which strategy offers the greatest chance of success. Our objective was to ascertain the most effective dietary intervention for improving cardiovascular risk profile. Eighty female volunteers (high fat consumers) were recruited. Each subject was randomly allocated into one of the following groups. Substitution of high-fat foods was made with reduced-fat products, by the reduction of high-fat foods, by a combination of substitution and reduction strategies, or no advice was given. Each intervention lasted 3 months. Anthropometric measures and fasting blood samples were taken at baseline and follow-up. The substitution intervention resulted in weight loss (mean −1.4 (95% CI −2.4, −0.2) kg) and reduced percentage body fat (mean −1.3 (95% CI −2.0, −0.5)%). There was no significant weight change with the other interventions. Fasting triacylglycerols (−0.2 (SEM 0.07) mM;P=0.04), cholesterol and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels (0.8 (SEM 0.2) mg/l;P=0.04) fell with the substitution intervention, but not with the other interventions. Insulin-like growth factor-1 increased with both substitution and reduction (P=0.02). There was no significant change in fasting insulin or glucose with any intervention. The substitution model of dietary intervention is effective even over a relatively short interval of time in reducing fasting total cholesterol, triacylglycerols and CRP. Although the group size for the present study was small and involved females only, it has significant implications for population intervention strategies.
Various non-digestible saccharides increase intracellular calcium ion concentration in rat small-intestinal enterocytes
Authors: Suzuki Takuya , Hara Hiroshi
Published: November 2004

We have previously shown that non-digestible saccharides (NDS) stimulate intestinal Ca absorption via tight junctions. However, the cellular mechanisms activated by the NDS are not yet known. We investigated the effects of four NDS, difructose anhydride (DFA) III, DFAIV, fructo-oligosaccharides, and maltitol, on intracellular Ca signalling in isolated rat small-intestinal enterocytes. The changes in intracellular Ca2+concentration were measured before and after the addition of capric acid (7·5 or 15 mmol/l, a positive control), glycerol, or each NDS (1 or 10 mmol/l) to fura-2-loaded enterocytes. Treatment with capric acid or each NDS caused an immediate and dose-dependent rise in intracellular Ca2+concentration. Mechanical and osmotic stimulation achieved by adding glycerol had no effect on intracellular Ca2+concentration. The intracellular Ca2+concentration in enterocytes treated with DFAIII and fructo-oligosaccharides reached a peak level at about 30 s after stimulation, but those treated with DFAIV and maltitol showed further increases after the initial rapid rise. The maximum change in intracellular Ca2+concentration obtained by the application of maltitol was higher than that of DFAIII at 10 mmol/l. These findings suggest that each of the four NDS directly stimulates rat enterocytes, and increases intracellular Ca2+concentration. Thus, molecular structure may be more important than the size of the NDS in the induction of Ca signalling in the cells.
Apical sodium–glucose co-transport can be regulated by blood-borne glucose in the ruminal epithelium of sheep (Ovis aries, Merino breed)
Authors: Atasoglu Cengiz , Gäbel Gotthold , Aschenbach Jörg R.
Published: November 2004

The intestinal Na-dependent D-glucose co-transporter (SGLT)-1 in sheep is under dietary regulation by luminal substrates. The aim of the present study was to find out whether the SGLT-1 in the forestomach of sheep is also regulated by sugars. Furthermore, the location of a possible glucosensor (luminalv.intracellularv.basolateral) was to be elucidated. Ruminal epithelia of sheep (Ovis aries, Merino breed) were pre-incubated in Ussing chambers with various substrates on the mucosal (i.e. luminal) or serosal (i.e. blood) side. This pre-incubation period was followed by a second pre-incubation period without the tested substrates (washout period). Thereafter, apical D-glucose uptake by ruminal epithelial cells was determined with 200 μmol D-[14C]glucose/l in the absence or co-presence of the SGLT-1 inhibitor, phlorizin. Pre-incubation with D-glucose on the mucosal side had no significant effect on apical D-glucose uptake (P>0.05). In contrast, pre-incubation with D-glucose, D-mannose, 3-O-methyl-D-glucose or sucrose on the serosal side significantly increased D-glucose uptake compared with mannitol-treated controls (P<0.05). Serosal pre-incubation with cellobiose or D-xylose had no effect. The stimulation of D-glucose uptake by serosal D-glucose pre-incubation was concentration dependent, with maximal stimulation at about 10 mmol/l. We conclude that the ruminal SGLT-1 can be up-regulated in a concentration-dependent manner by blood-borne D-glucose via an extracellular sugar-sensing mechanism.
Validity of a food-frequency questionnaire for a large prospective cohort study in Bangladesh
Authors: Chen Yu , Ahsan Habibul , Parvez Faruque , Howe Geoffrey R.
Published: November 2004

We have developed a thirty-nine-item semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to assess the dietary consumption of 11 746 men and women in a prospective cohort study that evaluates the health effects of As from drinking water in Bangladesh. In order to validate the FFQ, two 7 d food diaries (FD) were completed for 189 randomly selected cohort participants in two different seasons of the year. Nutrient values were converted based on both the United States Department of Agriculture's National Nutrient Database and a food composition table for the Indian subcontinent. Pearson product-moment and Spearman non-parametric rank correlation coefficients comparing food and nutrient consumptions estimated from FFQ and 7 d FD were calculated based on log-transformed consumption values with or without adjustment for total energy and correction for within-individual variation. Correlations of macronutrients and common micronutrients including total fat, monounsaturated fat, polyunsaturated fat, saturated fat, protein, carbohydrate, dietary fibre, Na, K, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, riboflavin, Mn, thiamin and Fe were moderately good, ranging from 0·30 to 0·76. However, correlations of other micronutrients were weak (<0·30). Large seasonal variations in intakes of retinol equivalents and vitamin C were observed. This analysis documents the degree of validity of the FFQ in measuring specific nutrient intakes in the study population. To our knowledge, the present study is the first to document the validity of a FFQ with the use of 7 d FD in a Bangladeshi population.
The A78V Mutation in the Mad3-like Domain ofSchizosaccharomyces pombeBub1p Perturbs Nuclear Accumulation and Kinetochore Targeting of Bub1p, Bub3p, and Mad3p and Spindle Assembly Checkpoint Function
Authors: Kadura Sheila , He Xiangwei , Vanoosthuyse Vincent , Hardwick Kevin G. , Sazer Shelley
Published: November 2004

During mitosis, the spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) responds to faulty attachments between kinetochores and the mitotic spindle by imposing a metaphase arrest until the defect is corrected, thereby preventing chromosome missegregation. A genetic screen to isolate SAC mutants in fission yeast yielded point mutations in three fission yeast SAC genes: mad1, bub3, and bub1. The bub1-A78V mutant is of particular interest because it produces a wild-type amount of protein that is mutated in the conserved but uncharacterized Mad3-like region of Bub1p. Characterization of mutant cells demonstrates that the alanine at position 78 in the Mad3-like domain of Bub1p is required for: 1) cell cycle arrest induced by SAC activation; 2) kinetochore accumulation of Bub1p in checkpoint-activated cells; 3) recruitment of Bub3p and Mad3p, but not Mad1p, to kinetochores in checkpoint-activated cells; and 4) nuclear accumulation of Bub1p, Bub3p, and Mad3p, but not Mad1p, in cycling cells. Increased targeting of Bub1p-A78V to the nucleus by an exogenous nuclear localization signal does not significantly increase kinetochore localization or SAC function, but GFP fused to the isolated Bub1p Mad 3-like accumulates in the nucleus. These data indicate that Bub1p-A78V is defective in both nuclear accumulation and kinetochore targeting and that a threshold level of nuclear Bub1p is necessary for the nuclear accumulation of Bub3p and Mad3p.
Intervention in context-sensitive probabilistic Boolean networks
Authors: Pal Ranadip , Datta Aniruddha , Bittner Michael L. , Dougherty Edward R.
Published: November 2004

Motivation: Intervention in a gene regulatory network is used to help it avoid undesirable states, such as those associated with a disease. Several types of intervention have been studied in the framework of a probabilistic Boolean network (PBN), which is essentially a finite collection of Boolean networks in which at any discrete time point the gene state vector transitions according to the rules of one of the constituent networks. For an instantaneously random PBN, the governing Boolean network is randomly chosen at each time point. For a context-sensitive PBN, the governing Boolean network remains fixed for an interval of time until a binary random variable determines a switch. The theory of automatic control has been previously applied to find optimal strategies for manipulating external (control) variables that affect the transition probabilities of an instantaneously random PBN to desirably affect its dynamic evolution over a finite time horizon. This paper extends the methods of external control to context-sensitive PBNs.

Results: This paper treats intervention via external control variables in context-sensitive PBNs by extending the results for instantaneously random PBNs in several directions. First, and most importantly, whereas an instantaneously random PBN yields a Markov chain whose state space is composed of gene vectors, each state of the Markov chain corresponding to a context-sensitive PBN is composed of a pair, the current gene vector occupied by the network and the current constituent Boolean network. Second, the analysis is applied to PBNs with perturbation, meaning that random gene perturbation is permitted at each instant with some probability. Third, the (mathematical) influence of genes within the network is used to choose the particular gene with which to intervene. Lastly, PBNs are designed from data using a recently proposed inference procedure that takes steady-state considerations into account. The results are applied to a context-sensitive PBN derived from gene-expression data collected in a study of metastatic melanoma, the intent being to devise a control strategy that reduces the WNT5A gene’s action in affecting biological regulation, since the available data suggest that disruption of this influence could reduce the chance of a melanoma metastasizing.

Contact:  edward@ee.tamu.edu
Review article: oesophageal complications and consequences of persistent gastro‐oesophageal reflux disease
Authors: Pisegna J. , Holtmann G. , Howden C. W. , Katelaris P. H. , Sharma P. , Spechler S , Triadafilopoulos G. , Tytgat G.
Published: November 2004

The major oesophageal complications associated with persistent gastro‐oesophageal reflux disease (GERD) include erosive oesophagitis, ulceration, strictures and gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding. Although the causes of these complications are uncertain, studies indicate that erosive oesophagitis may progress to the development of ulcers, strictures and GI bleeding. Pharmacological treatment with proton pump inhibitors is favoured over that with H2‐receptor antagonists for the treatment of strictures. The treatment of strictures is accomplished with dilation and many favour the concomitant use of proton pump inhibitors. Most gastroenterologists are seeing far fewer oesophageal strictures these days since the introduction of proton pump inhibitors. In addition, research has shown that oesophageal complications have a greater impact on patients suffering from night‐time GERD than on those suffering from daytime GERD. Barrett's oesophagus is a significant complication associated with persistent GERD and those at risk generally experience a longer duration of symptoms, especially those with a high degree of severity. In addition, there is a strong relationship between Barrett's oesophagus and oesophageal adenocarcinoma. This is in part due to the association of obesity and the development of hiatal hernias. Furthermore, endoscopic screening is being used to detect Barrett's oesophagus and oesophageal adenocarcinoma in persons suffering from chronic GERD, even though screening may not have an impact on outcomes (Sharma P, McQuaid K, Dent J, et al. A critical review of the diagnosis and management of Barrett's esophagus: The AGA Chicago Workshop. Gastroenterology 2004; 127: 310–30.).
Childhood disadvantage and health inequalities: a framework for policy based on lifecourse research
Authors: Graham H. , Power C.
Published: November 2004

Tackling health inequalities is moving up the policy agenda of richer societies like the UK, with governments looking for evidence to guide policy review and development. Observational studies of how childhood disadvantage compromises health in adulthood are an important part of the evidence base, but are largely inaccessible to the policy community. We develop a framework which captures the findings of these studies. Our framework highlights how disadvantage in childhood adversely affects both socio‐economic circumstances and health in adulthood through a set of interlocking processes. Key among these are children's developmental health (their physical, cognitive and emotional development) and health behaviours, together with the associated educational and social trajectories. In breaking down the link between childhood disadvantage and adult health into its constituent elements, the framework provides a basis for understanding where and how policies can make a difference. The paper argues that the process of policy review and development needs to include both new programmes and the mainstream policies in which they are embedded.
Facilitators and barriers for co‐ordinated multi‐agency services
Authors: Sloper P.
Published: November 2004

Background  Greater collaboration between agencies and the need to improve interagency working is a key policy priority. The lack of co‐ordinated multi‐agency working in children's services has been highlighted in many research studies. Evidence on the facilitators of and barriers to such working and the outcomes for children and families of co‐ordinated services is important to inform local developments.

Methods  Literature on multi‐agency working was reviewed as part of the evidence gathering to inform the Children's National Service Framework. Searches were mainly concentrated on existing reviews, plus recent studies which included children's services and were not covered by the reviews obtained.

Results  There is little evidence on the effectiveness of multi‐agency working itself or of different models of such working in producing improved outcomes for children and families. However, reviews of evidence on multi‐agency working provide consistent findings on facilitators and barriers, including: clear aims, roles and responsibilities and timetables that are agreed between partners; a multi‐agency steering group, commitment at all levels of the organizations involved and good systems of communication and information sharing, including IT systems, are central; support and training for staff in new ways of working is needed. There is some evidence that interprofessional programmes of continuing education can help to remove barriers to joint working.

Conclusions  Existing research provides useful information for organizations developing multi‐agency services. However, there is a need for methodologically sound research which investigates the outcomes of different models of multi‐agency working in services for children, includes assessment of cost effectiveness, and explores the ways in which the factors identified as facilitating multi‐agency working relate to outcomes.
Effective services to support children in special circumstances
Authors: Statham J.
Published: November 2004

Background  Children living in special circumstances, defined as those who are at risk of achieving poorer outcomes than their peers, have a particular need of good quality, accessible services to promote their health and well‐being, yet may be least likely to receive them.

Aims  This review considers the evidence for effective services to support children living in five kinds of special circumstances: (1) those at risk of offending; (2) teenage parents; (3) children whose parents have drug, alcohol or mental health problems; (4) children living with domestic violence; and (5) children who have been abused or neglected. In practice, there is often considerable overlap between these groups, and many children face multiple disadvantage. The review also aims to identify effective strategies for making support services more accessible to hard‐to‐reach groups.

Methods  Relevant literature was identified through searches of databases and websites, and consultation with experts. Given the broad scope of the topic, the aim was to provide an overview of best evidence rather than to undertake a systematic review.

Results Similar themes underpin the most promising approaches to supporting children in special circumstances. These include: (1) a holistic, multi‐agency approach addressing the needs of the whole child rather than compartmentalising children's social, educational, health and care needs; (2) the importance of links between adults’ and children's services so that children who are in need because of their parents’ circumstances can be identified and supported; and (3) the value of providing children in special circumstances with intensive, targeted support within a framework of universal provision.

Conclusions  Overall, there is a lack of well‐designed evaluations of the effectiveness of UK services and programmes for children in special circumstances. The existing evidence base would be strengthened by the development of better outcome measures, by exploring the characteristics of effective services from the perspective of different stakeholders (including children and young people themselves) and by extending the current problem‐oriented approach to consider the factors that promote resilience and coping.
Infant well‐being at 2 years of age in the Growth Restriction Intervention Trial (GRIT): multicentred randomized controlled trial
Authors: Reading Richard
Published: November 2004

.
 

(
2004
)

,
364
,
513
–
520
.

Background  Although delivery is widely used for preterm babies failing to thrive in utero, the effect of altering delivery timing has never been assessed in a randomized controlled trial. We aimed to compare the effect of delivering early with delaying birth for as long as possible.

Methods  Five hundred and forty‐eight pregnant women were recruited by 69 hospitals in 13 European countries. Participants had fetal compromise between 24 and 36 weeks, an umbilical‐artery Doppler waveform recorded, and clinical uncertainty about whether immediate delivery was indicated. Before birth, 588 babies were randomly assigned to immediate delivery (n = 296) or delayed delivery until the obstetrician was no longer uncertain (n = 292). The main outcome was death or disability at or beyond 2 years of age. Disability was defined as a Griffiths developmental quotient of 70 or less or the presence of motor or perceptual severe disability. Analysis was by intention‐to‐treat. This trial has been assigned the International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number ISRCTN41358726.

Findings  Primary outcomes were available on 290 (98%) immediate and 283 (97%) deferred deliveries. Overall rate of death or severe disability at 2 years was 55 (19%) of 290 immediate births, and 44 (16%) of 283 delayed births. With adjustment for gestational age and umbilical‐artery Doppler category, the odds ratio (95% CrI) was 1.1 (0.7–1.8). Most of the observed difference was in disability in babies younger than 31 weeks of gestation at randomization: 14 (13%) immediate vs. five (5%) delayed deliveries. No important differences in the median Griffiths developmental quotient in survivors was seen.

Interpretation  The lack of difference in mortality suggests that obstetricians are delivering sick preterm babies at about the correct moment to minimize mortality. However, they could be delivering too early to minimize brain damage. These results do not lend support to the idea that obstetricians can deliver before terminal hypoxaemia to improve brain development.
Fisheries of two tropical lagoons in Ghana, West Africa
Authors: Dankwa H. R. , Shenker J. M. , Lin J. , Ofori‐Danson P. K. , Ntiamoa‐Baidu Y.
Published: November 2004

Abstract  The fisheries of two coastal lagoons, Keta and Songor, were studied as part of Ghana Coastal Wetlands Management Project (GCWMP) aimed at sustainable exploitation of wetland resources. Fish samples were obtained with seine nets and cast net as well as from local fishermen. Water quality parameters (pH, dissolved oxygen, temperature and turbidity) were similar in the two lagoons, except for salinity, which was significantly different (P < 0.001). Despite their close geographical proximity, the two lagoons supported different fish assemblages with the blackchin tilapia, Sarotherodon melanotheron Rüppell, and the redchin tilapia, Tilapia guineensis (Bleeker), being the most important commercial fishes in both lagoons. The number of individuals for each species in Songor Lagoon were far more abundant, with densities several orders of magnitude higher than in Keta Lagoon. However, both species were significantly larger (P < 0.01) in the latter [15–121 and 25–157 mm standard length (SL)] than in the former lagoon (30–102 and 15–95 mm SL) for S. melanotheron and T. guineensis respectively. Over‐fishing, use of small‐size mesh nets, limited mixing of marine and fresh water were some of the factors limiting fish production in both lagoons.
Information needs of Hong Kong Chinese patients undergoing surgery
Authors: Henderson Amanda , Chien Wai‐Tong
Published: November 2004

Background.  The provision of information to patients is an important aspect of contemporary health care. Limitations in health resources necessitates that the provision of information is carefully planned and culturally specific to maximize the benefits to patients from the resources available.

Aim and objectives.  The purposes of the study were to recognize Chinese surgical patients’ information needs on admission and ascertain why the information is important to assist in understanding how it is used and, therefore, its potential impact.

Methods.  A descriptive study design was used. A convenience sample of 83 surgical patients took part comprising 51 men and 32 women. An eight‐item questionnaire based on the right of patients to information as listed in the Patients’ Charter in Hong Kong using a 5‐point Likert scale and one open‐ended question to comment on why the information was important to them was completed by patients on the day of admission.

Results.  Patients rated highly the need for all types of information. They rated most highly the need for information about the signs and symptoms indicating postoperative complications and when to seek medical help. Patients did not rate as highly, information regarding why the doctor believes the surgery is important, treatment alternatives and explanation of the procedure.

Conclusions.  These findings indicate that Chinese patients are desirous of a range of relevant information.

Relevance to practice.  Nursing staff, in particular, need to consider the ‘timeliness’ of information and the cultural appropriateness of how information is delivered.
Ecohydrology and Environmental Change to Lake Albacutya and Wyperfeld Park in North‐Western Victoria, Australia
Authors: BREN LEON , SANDELL PETER
Published: November 2004

Lake Albacutya is a well‐known intermittent lake in north‐western Victoria. The lake is near the termination of the Wimmera River. From time‐to‐time the lake fills and flow passes down Outlet Creek into Wyperfeld National Park. The wetlands associated with the lake have a high biodiversity value and are named in international treaties. This paper examines the hydrologic factors associated with lake filling and flow into Wyperfeld. The lake has filled approximately six times since 1880 and has partially filled on other occasions. Examination of rainfall data from 1875 at Horsham gave no indication of long term rainfall decline, and showed that rainfall at Horsham can be viewed as representative of rainfall in the Wimmera River catchment. However a double‐mass analysis showed that the relationship between the Wimmera River flow and rainfall has varied from 1890 to the present. Examination of data associated with six fillings of Lake Albacutya suggested that filling is a two‐year event requiring at least 550 GL of flow passing Horsham over the two years immediately associated with the flood. A simple model based on rainfall and this threshold reproduced observed characteristics of the data reasonably well. This suggested that the flooding frequency of Lake Albacutya has dropped from about one in 25 years in the natural state to a substantially lower frequency under current river conditions. The results also suggested that because of changes in the Wimmera River the last filling and flood into Wyperfeld in 1976 was far smaller than it would otherwise have been. This is consistent with field mapping of the flood in relation to River Red Gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh.) stands. Analysis of the health of these stands showed major dieback with the severity of this being roughly proportional to the distance from the 1976 flood boundaries. An examination of values associated with the lake and adjoining Wyperfeld National Park suggested that biodiversity and economic values are and will be compromised by the reduction in flooding. In particular, an internationally‐known provenance of Red Gum is at risk, and bird‐breeding opportunities have diminished.
Tropical Cyclones in the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, 1910–1999: a First Step Towards Characterising the Disturbance Regime
Authors: PUOTINEN M.L.
Published: November 2004

The proximity of a reef to a tropical cyclone path is the simplest means of estimating the potential for disturbance (that is, physical damage from waves) at that reef. Calculated for cyclones that tracked across a sample of reefs spanning much of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) from 1910 to 1999, such proximities provide a preliminary history of cyclone disturbance in that region for which spatial and temporal trends can be examined. As the long‐term dynamics of cyclone disturbance affect the structure and function of coral reef communities, the disturbance regime can be used to consider whether the current state of coral communities (as measured in 1999) represents that which was present over the entire time series, and whether the frequency of cyclone disturbance across the GBR is high (limited recovery time between events) or intermediate (variable recovery time between events) in nature. This analysis reveals that for more than half of the GBR, the latest major disturbance occurred less recently than normal for the time series (current communities had more time for recovery than usual) and that these disturbances are generally intermediate in frequency. However, because many factors other than distance affect the potential for disturbance, these results represent a first step towards characterising the nature of cyclone disturbance across the GBR.
The effects of noise and gender on children's episodic and semantic memory
Authors: BOMAN EVA
Published: November 2004

The main objectives in the present study were to examine meaningful irrelevant speech and road traffic noise effects on episodic and semantic memory, and to evaluate whether gender differences in memory performance interact with noise. A total of 96 subjects, aged 13–14 years (n= 16 boys and 16 girls in each of three groups), were randomly assigned to a silent or two noise conditions. Noise effects found were restricted to impairments from meaningful irrelevant speech on recognition and cued recall of a text in episodic memory and of word comprehension in semantic memory. The obtained noise effect suggests that the meaning of the speech were processed semantically by the pupils, which reduced their ability to comprehend a text that also involved processing of meaning. Meaningful irrelevant speech was also assumed to cause a poorer access to the knowledge base in semantic memory. Girls outperformed boys in episodic and semantic memory materials, but these differences did not interact with noise.
Managing the Public Service Market
Authors: Brown Trevor L. , Potoski Matthew
Published: November 2004

Prescriptions for improving contracting focus on how public managers can negotiate, implement, and monitor contracts to enhance service delivery and save costs. Yet, the well‐functioning markets that effective contracting requires cannot be taken for granted. All markets risk failure. Consequently, public managers must manage the market to ensure competition and the flow of information about vendor performance, effective contract practices, and so on. We supplement transaction‐cost theory with scholarship on public management networks to evaluate refuse services in nine governments in the Columbus, Ohio, metropolitan area. Our analyses reveal that even in the case of refuse collection, where nonspecific asset investments and easily measured service outputs and outcomes enhance contracting success, public managers looking to improve service delivery still must manage the market and the network supporting it.
A Mixed Relationship: Bureaucracy and School Performance
Authors: Smith Kevin B. , Larimer Christopher W.
Published: November 2004

We argue the negative relationship between school bureaucracy and school performance that is commonly reported in the bureaucracy and educational policy literature is theoretically and empirically incomplete. Like most public agencies operating in complex task environments, we suggest that schools have to make trade‐offs between the multiple outputs they are expected to produce. Bureaucracy plays an important role in determining the nature of these trade‐offs: one that is more multidimensional than it is portrayed in the existing literature. We find bureaucracy's relationship with school performance depends on how performance is measured. It is negatively associated with test scores but positively associated with other performance measures such as attendance and dropout rates. This is consistent with an economies‐of‐scope perspective of bureaucracy, which emphasizes bureaucracy's role in managing the trade‐offs inherent in pursuing multiple goals.
Thinking about Affirmative Action: Arguments Supporting Preferential Policies
Authors: Massey Garth
Published: November 2004

Despite a history of legal discrimination and practices of racial and ethnic exclusion, there is widespread doubt about the fairness and applicability of affirmative action policies. Opponents range from the most socially and politically conservative to moderates who find it difficult to justify preferential policies. The current debate over affirmative action in higher education has temporarily shifted to arguments concerning the value of diversity and avoids questions about the fundamental justification for affirmative action throughout society. There are several reasons to provide affirmative action policies. Three of these, commonly heard in popular discourse, are weak arguments that are not compelling in the current climate of opinion. Three other arguments, though seldom heard, are strong and provide the basis for affirmative action to be recognized as both a logical and moral imperative. These are based on rational choice, Rawls's theory of justice, and the consideration of a desirable future. The strong arguments can move the discourse concerning this important issue of public policy in the direction favoring preferential treatment of persons likely to experience discrimination or ascriptive barriers to equity and equal opportunity.
A Lingering Question of Priorities: Athletic Budgets and Academic Performance Revisited1
Authors: Meier Kenneth J. , Eller Warren S. , Marchbanks Miner P. , Robinson Scott , Polinard J. L. , Wrinkle Robert D.
Published: November 2004

Many organization theories suggest that divergent goals can hamper an organization's pursuit of its primary mission. An earlier version of this article analyzed the effect of the pursuit of divergent goals on American public schools. This is an update of the original article that adds two years of data to the original study. Using an educational production function, this article assesses the relationships between athletic budgets and various aggregate measures of academic performance. Controlling for various known components of academic performance, athletic budgets have a significant negative relationship with academic performance. Schools that devote a large amount of resources to athletic budgets have lower levels of academic achievement. A focus on athletics seems to institutionalize goals that conflict with the schools’ academic missions.
Innovating Science Policy: Restructuring S&T Policy for the Twenty‐first Century1
Authors: Richardson James J. , Matson Whitney B. , Peters Robert J.
Published: November 2004

Over the next twenty years, accelerating scientific and technical developments will spawn immense changes to society that can be both crucially beneficial and tragically destructive. This trend, principally occurring outside of government control, is both helping the United States to improve defense and economic security and producing threats to national security. To deal with these increasingly technical issues, the nation's leadership needs to be armed with considerable scientific and technological acumen. Hence, the United States should explore the creation of a national security science and technology (S&T) strategy that improves: (1) scientific analysis available to decision makers; (2) understanding of the S&T needed to maintain national security; (3) coordination and collaboration among S&T providers; (4) control of dangerous technologies; (5) technology prioritization and acquisition processes; and (6) the dialog on enhancing the application of the products of private sector and foreign research for American national security purposes. Policies that address these issues will have to achieve the difficult balance between government and scientists’ influence over research and development (R&D). This article explores how to better deliver technical advice to high‐level decision makers, as a means to better deal with emerging threats that are enabled by the rapid innovation and proliferation of scientific knowledge throughout the world.
The Case for Trials: Considering the Intangibles
Authors: Butler Paul
Published: November 2004

In the United States, trials perform important functions that are difficult to quantify. Trials, for example, educate Americans about each other, and the law. They are a vivid, practical example of the faith in democracy that lies at the core of the American experiment. It is worrisome that trials are declining as trial arbiters—jurors and judges—become more diverse. The rejection of trials may also evidence a new and troubling cultural preference for compromise over standing on principles. The article recommends that trials be encouraged, including by reducing the costs of losing and by evaluating proposed laws and policies for the effect that they would have on trials.
Puzzles about Supply‐Side Explanations for Vanishing Trials: A New Look at Fundamentals
Authors: Diamond Shari Seidman , Bina Jessica
Published: November 2004

The recent sharp decline in the rate of federal trials has many potential explanations. In addition to changes in the demand for trials, some commentary suggests that a shortage in judicial resources and the press of the criminal docket have led to problems of supply, inducing litigants to turn to alternative dispute resolution or other means of resolving their cases. The increased number of federal magistrate judges provides a counterweight to many of these claims about judicial shortages. Nonetheless, we show that a puzzle remains. Federal districts vary in their trial rates, and the rate of trial is negatively correlated with the number of civil cases filed per judge, regardless of whether magistrate judges are included in the total. Moreover, that relationship persists even after controlling for the rate of criminal cases filed in the district. Thus, unless other differences across districts explain the persistent negative correlation, the supply of judicial resources remains a potential contributor to the low rate of trial in the federal system, reducing the willingness of litigants to persevere until trial in districts with heavy caseloads. Prospective studies of the perceptions of litigants are needed to understand how the users of the civil justice system interpret trial signals and decide whether to resolve their dispute at trial.
Disappearing Trials? A Comparative Perspective
Authors: Kritzer Herbert M.
Published: November 2004

Is the declining incidence of trials a uniquely American phenomenon or does it reflect a broader trend in the common‐law world? To explore this question, this article examines trial patterns in England and Wales (both civil and criminal) and in the Canadian province of Ontario (civil only). There is a reasonably clear pattern of declining numbers (and rates) of civil trials in both jurisdictions examined, although in England and Wales much of the change reflects changes in jurisdiction and procedure. Some of the common patterns across the three countries may reflect the international focus of alternative dispute resolution, and some of the pattern may reflect ongoing changes in civil procedure. In England and Wales, the incidence of criminal trials in the Crown Court shows a remarkable pattern of stability, even as the number of cases rises and falls during the period examined; the reason for this pattern of stability is unclear.
Examining Trial Trends in State Courts: 1976–2002
Authors: Ostrom Brian J. , Strickland Shauna M. , Hannaford‐Agor Paula L.
Published: November 2004

Recent examinations of federal litigation trends show that the use of trials by the federal courts is declining. This knowledge has invariably raised the question of whether the use of trials in state courts is also declining. Unfortunately, the ability to conduct parallel examinations of state court litigation trends has been hampered by the lack of available state court disposition data. In this article we introduce the “State Court Disposition Trends” database and analyze, for the first time, long‐term trial trends in the state courts. The present analysis examines 27‐year trends of trials and trial rates for criminal, civil, and felony cases, and 11‐year trends of trials and trial rates for general civil cases. We find that despite substantial growth in the number of case dispositions, there has been a decrease, often significant, in the use of trials by state courts.
Migrating, Morphing, and Vanishing: The Empirical and Normative Puzzles of Declining Trial Rates in Courts
Authors: Resnik Judith
Published: November 2004

This article explores competing explanations of the data on declining rates of trials in the federal courts of the United States. One possibility is that while trials have declined in courts, trials have migrated elsewhere, resulting in a proliferation of adjudicatory processes. The proliferation thesis has plausibility because of the positive political significance now attached to trials and the adjudicatory processes for which they stand. Conversely, a second analysis of the data focuses instead on the rarity of trials in courts and the negative rhetoric and rules stemming from courts about trials. The data could mark the privatization of disputing processes, whether located in or out of courts. The available data also reveal the political and economic incentives and capabilities of the legal profession. The gaps in data on adjudication in state courts and within agencies reflect the lower priority paid to those kinds of claims. The disparity between the federal system and the others (which provide adjudicatory mechanisms for most complainants in the United States) illustrates the impoverishment of public provisions for dispute resolution. History, law, and tradition also support public access to courts, making them more transparent than more recently invented decision‐making centers. But one should not assume the stability of either the equation of courts with public access or the equation of administrative agencies and private providers with secrecy. Courts’ processes are increasingly private, prompting the question of whether to insist (as some judges and state legislators now do) on public access to information about outcomes (settlements included) that are generated through courts, or to permit invisible and sometimes secret resolutions. Whether trials are migrating, morphing, or vanishing, the normative questions now pending are whether a role ought to be preserved for public participation in dispute resolution in either courts or their alternatives and how public resources will be distributed to support either sector.