bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Benzothiazoline derivatives. I. Reaction of 2‐benzothiazolinethione with ethylene oxide
Authors: Sohar Paul , Denny George H. , Babson Robert D.
Published: April 2009

Treatment of 2‐benzothiazolinethione with excess ethylene oxide in acetic acid resulted in N‐hydroxyethylation and thiono‐oxo replacement to give 3‐(2‐hydroxyethyl)‐2‐benzothiazolinone. This product was also obtained when S‐alkylthiobenzothiazoles were treated in this way. Similar treatment of the N‐substituted compounds 3‐methyl‐2‐benzothiazolinethione and 3‐(2‐hydroxyethyl)‐2‐benzothiazolinethione gave simple thiono‐oxo replacement.
The condensation of diphenylphosphinic azide with substituted acetonitriles ‐ Formation of phosphorylated tetrazolines
Authors: Berlin K. D. , Ranganathan R. , Haberlein H.
Published: April 2009

The condensation between diphenylphosphinic azide and several substituted phenylacetonitriles was investigated. Rather than a substituted aminotriazole, a phosphorylated tetrazoline (IX) was isolated from several reactions. In addition, a phosphorylated nitrile (X) and a phosphorylated eniminonitrile (XI) were found.N‐Acylation of IX, followed by warming, lead to a phosphorylated oxadiazoline (XX). Structural assignments are based on UV, IR, and NMR spectral data and chemical degradative evidence. A brief analysis of the results is presented.
Azulene‐1‐azo‐2′‐thiazoles. Synthesis and properties
Authors: Razus Alexandru C. , Birzan Liviu , Nae Stefania , Surugiu Mirela Nina , Cimpeanu Valentin
Published: April 2009

Several derivatives belonging to a new compound class, namely azulene‐1‐azo‐2′‐thiazoles, were prepared by the diazotization of 2‐aminothiazoles in the presence of HNO3/H3PO4 followed by the coupling of diazonium salts with azulenes in buffered medium. The reactions proved to be general for this class, the yields are, however, considerably influenced by the substituents at thiazole moiety. For the first time a N‐oxide provided from an amino substituted five‐member nitrogenous heterocycle was diazotized and coupled. The structure of the obtained compounds was assigned and their physico‐chemical properties were discussed. The new azulene azo derivatives exhibit a strong bathochromic shift in UV‐Vis due to the intense push‐pull effect of aromatic system and to the intrinsic properties of thiazole moiety.
Dihydrobenzoxazines and tetrahydroquinoxalines by a tandem reduction‐reductive amination reaction
Authors: Bunce Richard A. , Herron Derrick M. , Hale Lu Y.
Published: April 2009

A tandem reduction‐reductive amination reaction has been applied to the synthesis of 3,4‐dihydro‐2H‐1,4‐benzoxazines and 1‐acetyl‐1,2,3,4‐tetrahydroquinoxalines. The nitroketones required for the benzoxazine ring closures were prepared by (A) alkylation of the anion derived from 2‐nitrophenol with an allylic halide or (B) nucleophilic aromatic substitution of an allylic alkoxide on 2‐fluoro‐1‐nitrobenzene followed by ozonolysis. Precursors for the quinoxalines were prepared by alkylation of the anion of 2‐nitroacetanilide with an allylic halide followed by ozonolysis. Catalytic hydrogenation of the nitroketones using 5% palladium‐on‐carbon in methanol then gave the target heterocycles by a reduction‐reductive amination sequence. The N‐methyl derivatives for both ring systems were easily prepared by adding 5‐10 equivalents of aqueous formaldehyde prior to the reduction. The dihydrobenzoxazines were isolated in high yield following purification by chromatographic methods; tetrahydroquinoxalines were isolated in a similar manner and possessed differentiated functionality on the two nitrogens.
Structural modification of soy protein by the lipid peroxidation product malondialdehyde
Authors: Wu Wei , Zhang Caimeng , Hua Yufei
Published: April 2009

BACKGROUND: Protein oxidation results in covalent modification of structure and deterioration of functional properties of target protein. Oxidation extent of soy protein was affected by the content and type of lipid peroxidation (LPO) products in defatted soybean flours during storage and processing. Malondialdehyde (MDA) was selected as a secondary byproduct of LPO to investigate the effects of oxidative modification of LPO‐derived reactive aldehyde on soy protein structure.

RESULTS: MDA reacted with ε‐amino and sulfhydryl groups of soy protein, and resulted in an increase in protein carbonyl groups but a decrease in sulfhydryl/disulfide, free amines and lysine. The decrease in solubility, surface hydrophobicity and intrinsic fluorescence indirectly indicated that MDA induced soy protein aggregation, and results of high‐performance size‐exclusion chromatography directly showed that gradual aggregation of soy protein was induced by increasing concentration of MDA. Results of electrophoresis indicated that MDA caused soy protein aggregation, and non‐disulfide covalent bonds were involved in aggregate formation.

CONCLUSION: The results showed that sensitivity of soy protein was related to MDA concentration. Soy protein gradually aggregated with increase of MDA concentration; β‐conglycinin was more sensitive to MDA modification than glycinin. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry
Light scattering from anisotropic particles: propagation, localization, and nonlinearity
Authors: Qiu C.W. , Gao L. , Joannopoulos J.D. , Soljačić M.
Published: April 2009

Plasmon resonances and extraordinary light scatterings of a nanoparticle with radial anisotropy are studied and summarized. The coupling between localized surface plasmons and far‐field quantities is discussed. It is found that the presence of radial anisotropy redistributes the localization of plasmons and also results in certain novel phenomena in the far zone, which provide the possibility of scattering control such as electromagnetic transparency, enhanced scattering cross section, etc. The nonlinear optical response is explored in order to yield deeper physical insight into the interaction between plasmons and incident light.
The ion funnel: Theory, implementations, and applications
Authors: Kelly Ryan T. , Tolmachev Aleksey V. , Page Jason S. , Tang Keqi , Smith Richard D.
Published: April 2009

The electrodynamic ion funnel has enabled the manipulation and focusing of ions in a pressure regime (0.1–30 Torr) that has challenged traditional approaches, and provided the basis for much greater mass spectrometer ion transmission efficiencies. The initial ion funnel implementations aimed to efficiently capture ions in the expanding gas jet of an electrospray ionization interface and radially focus them for efficient transfer through a conductance limiting orifice. We review the improvements in fundamental understanding of ion motion in ion funnels, the evolution in its implementations that have brought the ion funnel to its current state of refinement, as well as applications of the ion funnel for purposes such as ion trapping, ion cooling, low pressure electrospray, and ion mobility spectrometry. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., Mass Spec Rev 29:294–312, 2010
Responding to Trust: Surgeons’ Perspective on Informed Consent
Authors: McKneally Martin F. , Martin Douglas K. , Ignagni Esther , D’Cruz Jason
Published: April 2009

Background

Every day thousands of surgeons and patients negotiate their way through the complex process of decision‐making about operative treatments. We conducted a series of qualitative studies, asking patients and surgeons to describe their experience and beliefs about informed decision‐making and consent. This study focuses on surgeons’ views.

Methods

Open‐ended interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with thoracic surgeons who treated esophageal cancer patients by esophagectomy, and general surgeons who routinely performed laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Their views were analyzed using a qualitative approach, grounded in the perspectives of the participants.

Results

Five dominant themes emerged from the analysis: (1) making informed decisions; (2) communicating information and confidence; (3) managing expectations and fears; (4) consent as a decision to trust; (5) commitment inspired by trust. These themes are illustrated by verbatim quotes from the surgeon interviews.

Conclusions

Surgeons carefully assess the risks and benefits of treatment before consenting to perform operative interventions. They are influenced by objective findings and by affective factors such as courage and the determination to survive expressed by their patients. They manage risks, doubts, and fears—both their patients’ and their own—relying on trust and commitment on both sides to ensure the success of the surgical mission. The trust of their patients has a strong influence on the surgeons’ decisions and actions.
Prognostic Factors for Survival in Patients with Hepatic Recurrence After Curative Resection of Gastric Cancer
Authors: Hwang Si‐Eun , Yang Doo‐Hyun , Kim Chan‐Young
Published: April 2009

Background

This study was done to evaluate the prognostic factors that may affect the survival of patients with recurrent hepatic metastasis after curative resection of gastric cancer.

Methods

We reviewed the medical records of 73 patients with recurrent hepatic metastasis after surgical treatment of gastric cancer from January 1995 to December 2005. Prognostic factors were classified into three groups: primary tumor factors, recurrent hepatic factors, and treatment factors. The prognostic values of these factors were assessed using univariate and multivariate analyses by the log‐rank test in the Kaplan‐Meier method and Cox’s proportional hazard model.

Results

The overall median survival rate of the 73 study patients was 20.0 months [95% confidence interval (CI) 15.4–24.6 months]. The median survival rate after diagnosis of recurrent hepatic metastasis was 5 months (95% CI 3.5–6.5 months). Univariate analysis showed that the favorable prognostic factors were stage I and II among the primary tumor factors, no extrahepatic metastasis and unilobar distribution among the recurrent hepatic factors, and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) ± chemotherapy among the treatment factors when operative treatment had been excluded. The independent favorable prognostic factors revealed by the multivariate analysis were no extrahepatic metastasis and RFA ± chemotherapy. The median survival rate of patients who had two favorable prognostic factors was 27 months (95% CI 0–66.38 months).

Conclusions

Improvement in the survival rate can be expected with RFA ± chemotherapy for patients with recurrent gastric cancer in the liver without extrahepatic metastasis.
Modeling responses of coupled social–ecological systems of the Gulf of California to anthropogenic and natural perturbations
Authors: Leslie Heather M. , Schlüter Maja , Cudney‐Bueno Richard , Levin Simon A.
Published: April 2009

Key elements of the rapidly expanding field of ecosystem‐based management include: (a) understanding connections among social and ecological systems and (b) developing analytical approaches to inform the necessary trade‐offs among ecosystem services and human activities in coastal and marine areas. To address these needs, we investigate the impacts of multiple economic sectors on the marine ecosystem and dependent human community in the Gulf of California with an ecological‐economic model. We focus on the spotted rose snapper (Lutjanus guttatus), an economically important species targeted concurrently by the nearshore artisanal fleet, the sportfishing fleet, and by the industrial shrimp fleet as bycatch. Economic returns to the local community are driven by the artisanal fishery catch and the number of tourists who engage in the sportsfishery, and these variables are in turn impacted by fish abundance. We find that the coexistence of the two sectors (and production of both seafood and tourism services) creates stability in key elements of the coupled systems. When the coupled systems are perturbed by changes in exploitation and climate variability, the artisanal fishery responds more rapidly and to a greater degree than the sportsfishery to shifts in the fish population. Our results suggest that vital components of coupled systems may well respond differently to climate variability or other perturbations, and that management strategies should be developed with this in mind. Models like ours can facilitate the development and testing of hypotheses about the form and strength of interactions between ecosystems, services, and the human communities that rely on them.
Synthesis of Novel Double-Layer Nanostructures of SiC–WO
x
by a Two Step Thermal Evaporation Process
Authors: Kim Hyeyoung , Senthil Karuppanan , Yong Kijung
Published: April 2009

A novel double-layer nanostructure of silicon carbide and tungsten oxide is synthesized by a two-step thermal evaporation process using NiO as the catalyst. First, SiC nanowires are grown on Si substrate and then high density W18O49nanorods are grown on these SiC nanowires to form a double-layer nanostructure. XRD and TEM analysis revealed that the synthesized nanostructures are well crystalline. The growth of W18O49nanorods on SiC nanowires is explained on the basis of vapor–solid (VS) mechanism. The reasonably better turn-on field (5.4 V/μm) measured from the field emission measurements suggest that the synthesized nanostructures could be used as potential field emitters.
Lipopolysaccharides can protect mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from oxidative stress‐induced apoptosis and enhance proliferation of MSCs via Toll‐like receptor(TLR)‐4 and PI3K/Akt
Authors: Wang Zhao‐jun , Zhang Fu‐min , Wang Lian‐sheng , Yao Yong‐wei , Zhao Qiang , Gao Xiang
Published: April 2009

Apoptosis of implanted mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) limits the efficiency of MSC therapy. Recent studies showed the ligands of Toll‐like receptors (TLRs) could control the function of these cells. We have investigated the effect of lipopolysaccharides (LPS), a ligand of TLR4, on the survival of MSCs and explored the roles of TLR4 and PI3K/Akt. H2O2/serum deprivation(H2O2/SD) induced apoptosis of MSCs but LPS‐preconditioning (1.0 μg/ml) protected MSCs from H2O2/SD‐induced apoptosis and promoted their proliferation. Western blotting showed that 1.0 μg/ml LPS enhanced phosphorylation of both Akt at Ser 473 and nuclear factor‐kappa B (NF‐κB) p65 at Ser 536. However, the protective effects of LPS on survival were not observed in TLR4lps‐del MSCs. The results suggest appropriate treatments with LPS can protect MSCs from oxidative stress‐induced apoptosis and improve the survival of MSCs via the TLR4 and PI3K/Akt pathway.
Role of MAP kinases in nitric oxide induced muscle‐derived adult stem cell apoptosis
Authors: Bironaite D. , Baltriukiene D. , Uralova N. , Stulpinas A. , Bukelskiene V. , Imbrasaite A. , Kalvelyte A.
Published: April 2009

Apoptosis in heart failure has been intensively investigated in vitro and in vivo. Stem cells have therapeutic value in the direct treatment of diseases, including cardiovascular disease. The main drawback of stem cell therapy is their poor survival in the diseased tissues. Since intracellular mitogen‐activated protein kinases (MAPKs) actively participate in the regulation of cell survival and of proapoptotic signals, the ability to manipulate the mechanisms of MAPKs activation in myogenic stem cells might increase the survival of transplanted stem cells. Our results clearly demonstrate sustained activation of all three MAPKs, ERK, JNK and p38 in myogenic stem cells after exposure to the NO inducer, NOC‐18. Inhibition of MAPKs phosphorylation by specific inhibitors revealed the anti‐apoptotic role of MAPKs in myogenic stem cells.
Upstream reactive oxidative species (ROS) signals in exogenous oxidative stress‐induced mitochondrial dysfunction
Authors: Lu Min , Gong Xingguo
Published: April 2009

Exogenous oxidative stress induces cell death, but the upstream molecular mechanisms involved of the process remain relatively unknown. We determined the instant dynamic reactions of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS, including hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), superoxide radical (O2•−), and nitric oxide (NO)) in cells exposed to exogenous oxidative stress by using a confocal laser scanning microscope. Stimulation with extracellular H2O2 significantly increased the production of intracellular H2O2, O2•−, and NO (P < 0.01) through certain mechanisms. Increased levels of intracellular ROS resulted in mitochondrial dysfunction, involving the impairment of mitochondrial activity and the depolarization of mitochondrial membrane potential. Mitochondrial dysfunction significantly inhibited the proliferation of human hepatoblastoma G2 (HepG2) cells and resulted in mitochondrial cytochrome c (cyt c) release. The results indicate that upstream ROS signals play a potential role in exogenous oxidative stress‐induced cell death through mitochondrial dysfunction and cyt c release.
Effects of anger and anger regulation styles on pain in daily life of women with fibromyalgia: A diary study
Authors: Van Middendorp Henriët , Lumley Mark A. , Moerbeek Mirjam , Jacobs Johannes W.G. , Bijlsma Johannes W.J. , Geenen Rinie
Published: April 2009

Background: Fibromyalgia is characterized by an amplified pain response to various physical stimuli. Through biological and behavioural mechanisms, patients with fibromyalgia may also show an increase of pain in response to emotions. Anger, and how it is regulated, may be particularly important in chronic pain.

Aim: To examine, among patients with fibromyalgia, whether anger during everyday life amplifies pain and whether general and situational anger inhibition and anger expression modulate the anger–pain link.

Methods: For 28 consecutive days, 333 women with fibromyalgia (mean age 47 ± 12 years) reported their transient anger and state anger inhibition (anger‐in) and expression (anger‐out) responses regarding a significant emotional event during the day as well as end‐of‐day pain. Trait anger inhibition and expression were assessed by questionnaire. Multilevel regression analyses were performed.

Results: State anger predicted higher end‐of‐day pain (p < .001) in half of the patients, but lower pain in one‐quarter of patients. State anger inhibition was unrelated to pain. Trait anger inhibition was related to more pain (p = .02). The lowest pain level was observed among patients with high trait anger expression who actually expressed their anger in an anger‐arousing situation (p = .02).

Conclusions: Our study suggests that anger and a general tendency to inhibit anger predicts heightened pain in the everyday life of female patients with fibromyalgia. Psychological intervention could focus on healthy anger expression to try to mitigate the symptoms of fibromyalgia.
HSP70 protects BCL2L12 and BCL2L12A from N‐terminal ubiquitination‐mediated proteasomal degradation
Authors: Yang Junwu , Hong Yi , Wang Wenzong , Wu Weibing , Chi Yayun , Zong Hongliang , Kong Xiangfei , Wei Yuanyan , Yun Xiaojing , Cheng Chunming , Chen Kangli , Gu Jianxin
Published: April 2009

MINT‐7026304: BCL2L12A (uniprotkb:Q9HB09‐2) physically interacts (MI:0218) with Hsp70 (uniprotkb:P08107) by anti tag coimmunoprecipitation (MI:0007)
CpG islands – ‘A rough guide’
Authors: Illingworth Robert S. , Bird Adrian P.
Published: April 2009

Mammalian genomes are punctuated by DNA sequences containing an atypically high frequency of CpG sites termed CpG islands (CGIs). CGIs generally lack DNA methylation and associate with the majority of annotated gene promoters. Many studies, however, have identified examples of CGI methylation in malignant cells, leading to improper gene silencing. CGI methylation also occurs in normal tissues and is known to function in X‐inactivation and genomic imprinting. More recently, differential methylation has been shown between tissues, suggesting a potential role in transcriptional regulation during cell specification. Many of these tissue‐specific methylated CGIs localise to regions distal to promoters, the regulatory function of which remains to be determined.
Effect of 1‐methyladenine on thermodynamic stabilities of double‐helical DNA structures
Authors: Yang Hao , Lam Sik Lok
Published: April 2009

1‐Methyladenine (m1A) alters T·A Watson–Crick to T·m1A Hoogsteen base pair. Owing to its conversion to N6‐methyladenine (m6A) at higher temperatures, thermodynamic studies of m1A‐containing DNAs using conventional melting methods are subject to the influence of m6A species. In this study, we applied nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to determine the base pairing modes and effect of m1A on thermodynamic stability of double‐helical DNA. The observed base pairing modes account for the destabilizing trend which follows the order T·m1A ∼ G·m1A < A·m1A < C·m1A, providing insights into the m1A flipping process and enhancing our understandings of the mutagenicity of m1A.
New dimensions in the study of protein complexes using quantitative mass spectrometry
Authors: Oeljeklaus Silke , Meyer Helmut E. , Warscheid Bettina
Published: April 2009

Mass spectrometry combined with affinity purification techniques has evolved as a prime tool for the in‐depth study of distinct protein complexes and protein–protein interactions. It fueled proteome‐wide studies leading to the establishment of intricate cellular protein interaction networks. Recent innovative advancements in quantitative protein mass spectrometry act as driving force for the design of ingenious strategies in interaction proteomics facilitating the acquisition of interaction data with improved accuracy and, most intriguingly, the elucidation of functional aspects by monitoring transient interactions as well as dynamic changes in composition, stoichiometry, localization and post‐translational modification of protein complexes under various conditions.
Fetal heart rate after vibroacoustic stimulation
Authors: Hoh Jeong Kyu , Park Young‐Sun , Cha Kyung‐Joon , Park Moon‐Il
Published: April 2009

Objective

To define reference ranges for fetal heart rate (FHR) parameters after vibroacoustic stimulation (VAS) according to gestational age by determining the relationship between FHR and gestational age using a computerized analysis system.

Methods

Data were analyzed from 3453 women using 10‐minute observational recordings during nonstress testing (NST) and VAS testing. FHR parameters were analyzed according to gestational age.

Results

All FHR parameters were related to gestational age except for mean baseline FHR, which did not vary significantly with gestational age. All other parameters followed trends similar to the NST results, except for decelerations.

Conclusion

FHR parameters after VAS differed significantly according to gestational age. The results suggest that the gestational age of the fetus should be considered when interpreting FHR patterns after VAS.
Expectant management of pregnancy‐related high‐velocity uterine arteriovenous shunt diagnosed after abortion
Authors: Degani Shimon , Leibovitz Zvi , Shapiro Israel , Ohel Gonen
Published: April 2009

Objective

To assess sonographic and clinical outcome in women with pregnancy‐related uterine arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) diagnosed after abortion.

Method

Twelve patients diagnosed as having AVMs after abortion were followed‐up until resolution of the lesions.

Results

The 9 asymptomatic patients were managed expectantly for 4 to 10 weeks without further complications. None of the 12 required aggressive interventions such as transcatheter arterial embolization, and 6 had uncomplicated pregnancies after resolution of the lesions.

Conclusion

Expectant management is an option in many women with pregnancy‐related uterine AVMs.
ISO 9000/1994, ISO 9001/2000 and TQM: The performance debate revisited
Authors: Martínez‐Costa Micaela , Choi Thomas Y. , Martínez Jose A. , Martínez‐Lorente Angel R.
Published: April 2009

The debate about the impact of ISO 9000/1994 on performance has been waging since its inception. While there is a general agreement regarding the positive impact of TQM on performance, there has been less agreement among the academics about the impact of ISO 9000/1994. Perhaps in response to such debate, the new ISO 9001/2000 has appeared purporting to be more in line with the TQM philosophy. As of now, how this 2000 version actually affects performance is yet to be explored. In this study, we compare the implementation of ISO 9000/1994 and ISO 9001/2000 as representing two different efforts to implement quality management practices. We evaluate its impact on company performance with a sample of 713 Spanish industrial companies. We also examine if the 2000 version of ISO is taking us closer to the implementation of TQM. Further, we depart from the past studies methodologically by considering performance as a formative construct rather than a reflective construct. Based on the mean and covariance structural (MACS) analyses, we conclude that ISO 9001/2000 certified companies do not perform noticeably better than ISO 9000/1994 or non‐certified companies. However, we find that ISO 9001/2000 certified companies apply TQM at a higher level than ISO 9000/1994 certified companies, but whether they actually perform better is less clear.
Symptom‐specific outcomes of endoscopic sinus surgery: A systematic review
Authors: Chester Alexander C. , Antisdel Jastin L. , Sindwani Raj
Published: April 2009

Background

Although multiple studies have demonstrated that symptoms of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) improve after endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS), a systematic large‐scale evaluation of specific symptom response has not been performed.

Objective

To analyze the relative effectiveness of surgery in the improvement of individual CRS symptoms.

Study Design

A literature search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane databases, and other Web‐based sources from January 1, 1980 through June 1, 2008 was performed. Studies of 20 or more adult patients with CRS that used symptom severity scores to analyze at least 3 major CRS criteria (facial pressure, nasal obstruction, postnasal discharge, and hyposmia) or 2 major CRS criteria plus headache were included.

Subjects and Methods

Inclusion criteria were met by 21 of 289 ESS studies reviewed. Meta‐analysis was conducted for each symptom separately with the standardized difference between the preoperative and postoperative severity scores as the effect size (ES).

Results

A total of 2070 patients with CRS were studied a mean of 13.9 months after ESS. All symptoms demonstrated improvement compared with their respective preoperative severity scores by an overall ES of 1.19 (95% confidence interval, 0.96 to 1.41; I 2 = 81.7%) using the random‐effects model. Nasal obstruction (ES, 1.73) improved the most, with facial pain (ES, 1.13) and postnasal discharge (ES, 1.19) demonstrating moderate improvements. Hyposmia (ES, 0.97) and headache (ES, 0.98) improved the least.

Conclusion

The relative improvements in major CRS symptoms and headache after surgery are similar, with the exception of nasal obstruction, which improves most.
Influenza-Impfung und medizinisches Personal – Diskrepanz zwischen offiziellen Empfehlungen und Impfraten
Authors: Wicker Sabine , Rose Markus A.
Published: April 2009

Einleitung

Medizinisches Personal hat einerseits ein erhöhtes Risiko, an Influenza zu erkranken und kann andererseits die Erkrankung auf Patienten übertragen. Der effektivste Weg nosokomiale Influenza-Ausbrüche zu vermeiden, ist die jährliche Influenza-Schutzimpfung des medizinischen Personals. Dessen ungeachtet ist die Akzeptanz der Influenza-Impfung beim medizinischen Personal, sowohl im nationalen als auch im internationalen Umfeld gering und es werden nur niedrige Durchimpfungsraten erzielt.
Asset pricing with a reference level of consumption: New evidence from the cross‐section of stock returns
Authors: Grammig Joachim , Schrimpf Andreas
Published: April 2009

This paper presents an empirical evaluation of recently proposed asset pricing models which extend the standard preference specification by a reference level of consumption. We motivate an alternative model that accounts for the return on human capital as a determinant of the reference level. Our analysis is based on a broad cross‐section of test assets, which provides a level playing field for a comparison to established benchmark models. The reference level model extended by human capital does a good job in explaining size and value premia. Estimated on Fama and French's size and book‐to‐market sorted portfolios, it outperforms Lettau and Ludvigson's scaled CCAPM and delivers average pricing errors comparable to the Fama–French three‐factor model.
Archaeological and historiographical implications of recent uplift of the Peloro Peninsula, NE Sicily
Authors: Bottari Carla , Carveni Pietro
Published: April 2009

In ancient times, the name “Peloro” was used to indicate an anthropic area that gradually developed around the first known human settlement on the Sicilian shore near the Straits of Messina. Since the 5th century BC, historians have documented that numerous naval armadas landed for long periods at Peloro. However, the present-day morphology of the Peloro Cape Peninsula does not have any protected inlet that would offer a location to repair hundreds of ships, as has been documented by historical sources. To address this discrepancy, geomorphologic data were collected and analyzed to verify whether historical documents were consistent with the palaeotopography of the area. This approach is based on the analysis of the morphotectonic evolution of the coastal lowland that resulted from regional uplift over the Quaternary and Holocene. The results indicate that the harbour was located in the basin of the Pantano Piccolo salt marsh, and was large and deep enough to have sheltered up to 320 ships.
The Khāliṣah of Varamin
Authors: Nezam-Mafi Mansoureh Ettehadieh
Published: April 2009

The history and development of land tenure in Iran have been affected by many factors, including climatic conditions, scarcity of water, lack of security, widespread tribalism, and legal and administrative confusion. In addition to limitations in resources, political instability in the premodern period molded systems of land tenure in Iran. Changes of dynasty were frequent and usually followed by the confiscation and redistribution of land. The Qajar dynasty (1788–1925), which came to power after a long period of anarchy and civil war, continued that general pattern. There were three classes of land ownership in Iran in this period: waqfs (religious endowments), arbābī (land owned by large landlords), and khāliṣah (state-owned lands). This last category was composed of lands confiscated by the government as punishment for rebellion or failure to pay taxes. As land was often the only form of wealth landlords had, the threat of government confiscation was an instrument of control as well as a source of revenue for the state. The khāliṣah were usually rented out on long-term leases or were granted as ṭuyul, that is in lieu of services rendered or salaries deferred. The khāliṣah were also in some instances farmed directly by the government. These lands were cultivated by peasants under conditions similar to those of the arbābī lands. They were scattered throughout the country and were also subject to various local and regional variations in agricultural taxes.
Ottoman Political Reform in the Provinces: The Damascus Advisory Council in 1844–45
Authors: Thompson Elizabeth
Published: April 2009

The year 1844–45 in Damascus province was a dry one, aggravated by a brutal winter frost. Reports of ruined crops and disputes over precious water sources reached the city, where as yet there was still enough to eat. But the city was by no means immune to the drought. It was felt in varying ways, like rising prices and, of all things, a shortage of leeches. Barbers could not get enough of them to meet medical needs, and their prices had risen sharply. So the barbers began smuggling them. An Ottoman market official (mültazim), on noticing that government leech sales for that month had dropped from 45,000 to 7,000, ordered police (tüfenkçi) to confiscate the creatures from barbershops and sold them himself for profit. Conflict between the official and barbers exploded, and each side made its way, as rural peasants and tax collectors had in the crisis, to the ultimate court of appeal in the province, theMajlis Shūrā al-Shām al-ʿAlī, or high advisory council for Damascus province.
Administrative Stability and Change in Late-17th-Century Iran: The Case of Shaykh ʿAli Khan Zanganah (1669–89)
Authors: Matthee Rudi
Published: April 2009

In June 1669 the Safavid ruler Shah Sulayman dismissed his grand vizier Mirza Muhammad Mahdi and appointed Shaykh ʿAli Khan Zanganah as his successor. Shaykh ʿAli Khan served in the exalted function of grand vizier or iʿtimad aldawla for a full twenty years and in this period grew into perhaps the most remarkable administrator of Safavid times.
Sadat and the Egyptian–Israeli Peace Revisited
Authors: Karawan Ibrahim A.
Published: April 2009

With the resumption of the search for an Arab–Israeli settlement, analysts have been debating the factors that have frustrated it for so many years. The fact that one Arab country, namely Egypt, concluded a peace treaty with Israel almost a decade and a half ago led some to reexamine that case to see what made it possible. The available literature on Egypt's disengagement from the Arab–Israeli conflict has been voluminous, as many policy makers and analysts in Egypt, Israel, the rest of the Arab world, and the United States published their accounts of this development. Despite many ideological and political differences among these writers, they all concluded that this foreign-policy shift represented a radical alteration of Arab policies toward Israel and that with Egypt out of the war equation, the regional balance of power had changed dramatically. Many of them also emphasized the centrality of President Sadat's role in explaining Egypt's exit from the conflict with Israel. One or another of Sadat's personal characteristics has been singled out by his admirers and critics alike as being the main factor behind the Egyptian foreign-policy shift. It is not that they considered other factors such as socioeconomic variables and regional or global structures irrelevant. They simply assessed them as not decisive in terms of their relative explanatory power.
A Reexamination of Three Current Explanations for al-Maʾmun's Introduction of the Miḥna
Authors: Nawas John A.
Published: April 2009

The seventh Abbasid caliph ʿAbd Allah al-Maʾmun (r. 813–833) was noted for the breadth of his intellectual horizons, and historians often associate him with the Golden Age of Islam. This image of glory is tarnished, however, by two particular actions that the caliph took: his declaration (in 827) of a doctrine asserting that the Qurʾan was created and his ordering of a miḥna an inquisition, that was designed to ensure acquiescence in this doctrine. The miḥna, an unprecedented event in the history of Islam, was begun by al-Maʾmun just four months before his sudden death in 833 and continued by his two immediate successors, al-Muʾtasim and al-Wathiq. It lasted some sixteen years until it was finally abolished by the tenth Abbasid caliph, al-Mutawakkil.
The Camondos and Their Imprint on 19th-Century Istanbul
Authors: Seni Nora
Published: April 2009

In cities like Paris and London in the 19th century, the leading bankers not only supported the developing industrialization but also established practices that determined the nature of their charitable and philanthropic activity and their patronage of the arts. They supported scientific and archaeological research as well. The recurrence of these practices over the century is increasingly recognized and would justify investigation to uncover the underlying rules that governed the activities of bankers outside the financial sphere. In other words, it would justify research in terms of the anthropology of bankers. One aspect that has, so far, received insufficient attention is the impact these bankers had on cities—both in their role as builders and protectors of schools and hospitals and in the imprint they made on the urban landscape. In housing, for example, the Stern, Heine, and Weill families established foundations in Paris for the construction ofHBM (habitat bon marché, low-cost housing), and architects adopted by the great banking families, such as William Bouwens, chosen by the banker Henri Germain to build the Parisian headquarters of Crédit Lyonnais, designed the great undertakings of the Parisian Belle Époque.
The Accommodationists Speak:Goals and Strategies of the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt
Authors: Abed-Kotob Sana
Published: April 2009

With the Islamist movement gaining momentum and recruits throughout the Near and Middle East and North Africa, it is vital that scholars and practitioners make an attempt to understand the objectives and strategies expressed by the groups within this movement. It is also imperative that we acknowledge that the Islamic resurgence is not a monolithic phenomenon, but is characterized by factions and voices that diverge on their approach to major themes such as the nature of society, the preferred relationship between Islamist activists and the political system, methodology for alleviating socioeconomic frustrations and spiritual laxity, and the temporal framework within which Islamist goals are to be achieved. The more “radical” or militant of these groups insist upon revolutionary change that is to be imposed on the masses and political system, whereas the more moderate groups, epitomized by the new Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt, call for gradual change that is to be undertaken from within the political system and with the enlistment of the Muslim masses.
Circumcision Circumscribed: Female Excision and Cultural Accommodation in the Medieval Near East
Authors: Berkey Jonathan P.
Published: April 2009

In a famous passage in his Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians, E. W. Lane described the ceremonies commonly held to celebrate the circumcision of a young boy in 19th-century Cairo. Family and friends of the boy, his schoolteacher, the barber who performed the operation and his assistant, musicians, and other retainers all participated in a celebration of an overtly public character. Dressed in fancy clothes and feted with song and dance, the boy, aged five or six or slightly older, was paraded through the streets of his neighborhood, often on horseback, to his parents' house, where the operation was performed. Cups of coffee might be distributed to passersby while guests and relations were, of course, treated to a celebratory feast. Modes of celebration may have changed, but festivities surrounding the circumcision of a young boy are still common in the Muslim countries of the Near East.
Writing the Unwritten Life of the Islamic Eve: Menstruation and the Demonization of Motherhood
Authors: Spellberg D. A.
Published: April 2009

Western scholars have long studied Jewish and Christian influence in shaping early Islamic tradition, but almost none of them has considered Eve's transformation as a critical part of the “genesis” of an Islamic historical framework and the evolution of its gender categories. I trace the transformation of the wife of Adam from the revelation contained in the Qurʾan and note the abrupt and distinct changes wrought upon this Qurʾanic persona in post-Qurʾanic sources in the matters of menstruation and motherhood. The figure of Satan plays a pivotal role in both of these biological aspects of Eve's biography. Her function as the first woman serves to explain not just the physiology of all women, but also the essential aspects of character that allegedly make all females different from the normative male in biology and behavior. As a wife, Eve is tested and fails, but as a mother, she both fails and passes the test of satanic temptation. I argue that in her role as wife, she is depicted in post-Qurʾanic sources in accordance with pre-Islamic monotheist precedent. However, in Eve's role as mother—especially as the mother of the prophetic patriline that culminates in Muhammad—Muslim scholars distinguished the meaning and implications of her temptation as distinctly Islamic. Eve embodied a fusion of traditions, a continuity of monotheistic meanings about the feminine in the Middle East, as well as an identity that distinguished her as the first woman of a new, emerging Islamic faith.
“Creating Phantoms”: Zaki al-Arsuzi, the Alexandretta Crisis, and the Formation of Modern Arab Nationalism in Syria
Authors: Watenpaugh Keith D.
Published: April 2009

This quotation may be nothing more than a well-turned phrase by its author, Zaki al-Arsuzi. Nonetheless, it illustrates a dilemma that young men like him faced in the troubled years preceding Syrian independence: As French-educated young men, should they take their places as minor functionaries in the colonial machine and accept the promise of a comfortable and privileged life, or should they join the growing political and ideological struggle to found an independent, national statein Syria? Al-Arsuzi, who is venerated by the current regime in Damascus as the ideological father of Baʾthism, went on to answer this question by spending the next eight years in and out ofthe former Ottoman province of Alexandretta, working in support of the Arab-nationalist cause. Both his contemporary writings and later recollections of the period reveal a growing political consciousness and the formulation of a complex Arabism that was at odds with the dominant ideology emanating from the large cities of Syria. This ideology, as embodied by the National Bloc government in Damascus, was personality-based, hamstrung by European colonial interests, and unable to arouse any sustained political sensibility in the broader population; it centered its political legitimacy and parochial brand of nationalism on opposition to the French occupation. Al-Arsuzi and others, recognizing the weakness inherent in this form of nationalism, drew away from its leadership in the course of the 1930s and moved to create other, more radical and militant Pan-Arabist groups.
The Roots of Peacemaking: The Dynamics of Citizenship in Israel, 1948–93
Authors: Peled Yoav , Shafir Gershon
Published: April 2009

The Declaration of Prsinciples signed by Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in September 1993 marked a dramatic about-face in Israel's traditional policy toward the PLO and the Palestinian issue in general. This turn of events came as a surprise not only to journalists and commentators following day-to-day political events, but also to scholars engaged in the academic study of Israeli society. The prevailing notion among these scholars had been that the Israeli polity was suffering from what Horowitz and Lissak (1989) called “overburden” due to domestic debates over the disposition of the occupied territories. Thus, it was concluded, Israel was unable to launch bold policy initiatives to try to solve its deadlocked conflict with the Arabs.
The Effect of Socioeconomic Change on Arab Societal Collapse in Mandate Palestine
Authors: Khalaf Issa
Published: April 2009

Between December 1947 and the first four months of 1948, the fabric of a centuries-old Palestinian Arab society unraveled with astounding rapidity, producing 750,000 refugees. The collapse occurred within the context of widespread socioeconomic disruption and dislocation among peasants and migrant and urban workers. The eroding socioeconomic foundation severely weakened this lower stratum's defense against Zionist settlement, colonial state policies, and military pressures. Beginning in late Ottoman times and throughout the British Mandate period (1918–48), the agrarian social economy had been slowly undermined by the urban landowning class and oppressive tax and land-tenure systems. Peasant dispossession, begun in the 19th century and aggravated by Zionist land-buying in the 20th, created a significant landless rural population that was increasingly dependent on wage labor in scattered rural locations and in the cities. During the British Mandate, as Palestine was rapidly incorporated into the world market, communal harmony and social integration were further strained by urban–rural and peasant–landowner tensions, disjointed urban–working–class development, unemployment, and overcrowding. As a result, by the late 1940s Palestinian Arab society was on the brink of disintegration.
Ardabil Becomes a Province: Center-Periphery Relations in Iran
Authors: Chehabi H. E.
Published: April 2009

Amid all the attention that Iranian politics has received since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, local politics has been almost totally neglected. This neglect vitiates our understanding of contemporary Iran, as it is at the local level that state policies are carried out, contested, reshaped, resisted, or revised. Beginning with the centralizing state-building of Reza Shah Pahlavi (r. 1926–41), Tehran increasingly dominated Iran's politics, commercial activities, and cultural life, and most of the country's Westernized elites lived in the capital. The 1979 revolution was to some extent a populist revolt against this Westernized elite, and among the new rulers those whose social and family roots are outside Tehran abound. Among the common people, “the experience of participation in mass political activity … undermined the feeling of political abjection,” while the new rulers have attempted, not always successfully, to lessen the gap not only between rich and poor, but also between rich and poor provinces. The new prominence of provincials in national life has gone hand in hand with a greater recognition of Iran's ethnic and linguistic diversity, while at the same time the sense of common participation in the revolution and the Iran–Iraq War has knitted people of different ethnic backgrounds more closely together.
Contract Stipulations (Shurūṭ) in Islamic Law: The Ottoman Majalla and Ibn Taymiyya
Authors: Arabi Oussama
Published: April 2009

With the generalization of production for exchange in modern times and the corresponding expansion of monetary and commercial transactions, the issue of contractual freedom has become a major concern for Muslim jurists and legislators, instigating a reconsideration of the classical doctrines of Islamic law on the subject. Due partly to its religious character and partly to the historical circumstances presiding over its formation in the first three centuries of the Hijra, Islamic law does not permit freedom of contract. Broadly speaking, three kinds of considerations intervene to restrict freedom of contract in classical fiqh: (a) those arising from the prohibition of usury (ribā); (b) those delimiting the licit object of legal obligation (maḥall alʿaqd); and (c) those concerning the stipulations attached to the contract (shurūṭ). In the present article, I investigate the third category of restrictions and touch on usury and the licit object of obligation insofar as the latter affect shurūṭ (sing., sharṭ), namely the conditions attached to a contract.
Early Islamic Jurisprudence in Egypt: Two Scholars and Their Mukhtaṣars
Authors: Brockopp Jonathan E.
Published: April 2009

Recent scholarship on the manuscript libraries of North Africa has substantially increased the amount of literature available for analysis of the formative period in Islamic law, particularly for the nascent Malikite school. Students of Islamic law are now in a position, for instance, to begin a re-assessment of the 9th century, the vital transition period between the ancient schools of the 7th and 8th centuries, and the establishment of the classical schools in the 10th and 11th centuries.1 Not only will these new texts make the process of establishment of the classical schools clearer, they will also provide a much stronger basis for the study of earlier centuries, throwing into question the canonical status that has been granted to early legal texts by Western and traditional Muslim scholars alike.
Global broadcasting and self-interpretation
Authors: Pereplyotchik David
Published: April 2009

Carruthers claims that global workspace theory implies that sensory states, unlike propositional attitudes, are introspectible in a non-interpretative fashion. I argue that this claim is false, and defend a strong version of the “mindreading is prior” model of first-person access, according to which the self-ascription of all mental states, both propositional and sensory, is interpretative.