bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
MODELING STOCHASTIC VOLATILITY: A REVIEW AND COMPARATIVE STUDY
Authors: Taylor Stephen J.
Published: December 2006

Diffusion models for volatility have been used to price options while ARCH models predominate in descriptive studies of asset volatility. This paper compares a discrete‐time approximation of a popular diffusion model with ARCH models. These volatility models have many siimilarities but the models make different assumptions about how the magnitude of price responses to information alters volatility and the amount of subsequent information. Several volatility models are estimated for daily DM/ exchange rates from 1978 to 1990.
WHEN IS THE SHORT RATE MARKOVIAN?
Authors: Carverhill Andrew
Published: December 2006

We answer this question in the very general context of the n‐factor Heath, Jarrow, and Morton model for the evolution of the term structure of interest rates, with nonrandom volatility. the answer is that a constraint is imposed on the behavior of the volatility structure. We explain the importance of this result for the design of efficient numerical algorithms for the valuation of options on the term structure.
THE EARLY EXERCISE PREMIUM REPRESENTATION OF FOREIGN MARKET AMERICAN OPTIONS1
Authors: Rutkowski Marek
Published: December 2006

The note deals with the pricing of American options related to foreign market equities. the form of the early exercise premium representation of the American option's price in a stochastic interest rate economy is established. Subsequently, the American fixed exchange rate foreign equity option and the American equity‐linked foreign exchange option are studied in detail.
CONTINGENT CLAIMS VALUED AND HEDGED BY PRICING AND INVESTING IN A BASIS
Authors: Madan Dilip B. , Milne Frank
Published: December 2006

Contingent claims with payoffs depending on finitely many asset prices are modeled as elements of a separable Hilbert space. Under fairly general conditions, including market completeness, it is shown that one may change measure to a reference measure under which asset prices are Gaussian and for which the family of Hermite polynomials serves as an orthonormal basis. Basis pricing synthesizes claim valuation and basis investment provides static hedging opportunities. For claims written as functions of a single asset price we infer from observed option prices the implicit prices of basis elements and use these to construct the implied equivalent martingale measure density with respect to the reference measure, which in this case is the Black‐Scholes geometric Brownian motion model. Data on S & P 500 options from the Wall Street Journal are used to illustrate the calculations involved. On this illustrative data set the equivalent martingale measure deviates from the Black‐Scholes model by relatively discounting the larger price movements with a compensating premia placed on the smaller movements.
THE TERM STRUCTURE OF INTEREST RATES AS A GAUSSIAN RANDOM FIELD
Authors: Kennedy D. P.
Published: December 2006

A simple model of the term structure of interest rates is introduced in which the family of instantaneous forward rates evolves as a continuous Gaussian random field. A necessary and sufficient condition for the associated family of discounted zero‐coupon bond prices to be martingales is given, permitting the consistent pricing of interest rate contingent claims. Examples of the pricing of interest‐rate caps and the situation when the Gaussian random field may be viewed as a deterministic time change of the standard Brownian sheet are discussed.
ARBITRAGE IN SECURITIES MARKETS WITH SHORT‐SALES CONSTRAINTS
Authors: Jouini Elyégs , Kallal Hédi
Published: December 2006

In this paper we derive the implications of the absence of arbitrage in securities markets models where traded securities are subject to short‐sales constraints and where the borrowing and lending rates differ. We show that a securities price system is arbitrage free if and only if there exists a numeraire and an equivalent probability measure for which the normalized (by the numeraire) price processes of traded securities are supermartingales. Also, the tightest arbitrage bounds that can be inferred on the price of a contingent claim without knowing agents’preferences are equal to its largest and smallest expected normalized payoff with respect to the supermartingale measures. In the case where the underlying security price follows a diffusion process and where short selling is possible but costly, we derive partial differential equations that must be satisfied by the arbitrage bounds on derivative securities prices, and we determine optimal hedging strategies. We compute the arbitrage bounds on common securities numerically for several values of the borrowing and short‐selling costs and show that they can be quite sharp.
EXISTENCE OF A NONNEGATIVE EQUILIBRIUM PRICE VECTOR IN THE MEAN‐VARIANCE CAPITAL MARKET
Authors: Konno Hiroshi , Shirakawa Hiroshi
Published: December 2006

We derive a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a nonnegative equilibrium price vector under which the total demand and supply of each asset balances in the standard mean‐variance capital market. Also, we give an explicit formula for such a price vector. This formula shows that the price of assets is an increasing function of p̄, the weighted average of the requested rate of return of individual investors, which tends to infinity as p̄ approaches the expected rate of return on the market portfolio. Further, we construct a macroeconomic index which gives information about the soundness of the capital market.
TAKEOVERS OF DIFFUSELY HELD FIRMS: A NONSTANDARD APPROACH
Authors: Noe Thomas H.
Published: December 2006

A common theme in the literature on corporate control is that, when share ownership is diffuse, the free‐rider problem prevents raiders from making acquisitions at tender prices below the postacquisition share price. In this paper, we address this question by formulating a nonstandard model of takeovers of diffusely held firms. It is demonstrated that, even when individual shareholdings are infinitesimal relative to firm size, takeovers succeed with positive probability and equilibria exist in which the raider earns substantial per share profits. Further, the Nash equilibria of the game are characterized with regard to raider profit, the aggregate fraction of shares tendered, and the relation between raider profit and the degree of randomization exhibited by shareholder tendering strategies.
OPTION PRICING USING THE TERM STRUCTURE OF INTEREST RATES TO HEDGE SYSTEMATIC DISCONTINUITIES IN ASSET RETURNS1
Authors: Jarrow Robert , Madan Dilip
Published: December 2006

This paper demonstrates the use of term‐structure‐related securities in the design of dynamic portfolio management strategies that hedge certain systematic jump risks in asset return. Option pricing formulas based on the absence of arbitrage opportunities in this context are also developed. the analysis is for the case where assets returns are driven by a finite number of Brownian motions and an m‐variate point process. the inclusion of :the additional traded assets in the term structure makes it possible to hedge systematic jumps imbedded in the m variate point process.
OPTIMAL PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT WITH FIXED TRANSACTION COSTS
Authors: Morton Andrew J. , Pliska Stanley R.
Published: December 2006

We study optimal portfolio management policies for an investor who must pay a transaction cost equal to a fixed Traction of his portfolio value each time he trades. We focus on the infinite horizon objective function of maximizing the asymptotic growth rate, so me optimal policies we derive approximate those of an investor with logarithmic utility at a distant horizon. When investment opportunities are modeled as m correlated geometric Brownian motion stocks and a riskless bond, we show that the optimal policy reduces to solving a single stopping time problem. When there is a single risky stock, we give a system of equations whose solution determines the optima! rule. We use numerical methods to solve for the optima! policy when there are two risky stocks. We study several specific examples and observe the general qualitative result that, even with very low transaction cost levels, the optimal policy entails very infrequent trading.
APPROXIMATE COMPLETENESS WITH MULTIPLE MARTINGALE MEASURES
Authors: Artzner Philippe , Heath David
Published: December 2006

We construct a financial market with countably many securities for which there are two equivalent martingale measures under which the market is approximately complete. Thus, approximate completeness does not in general guarantee unique consistent prices for nonmarketed claims. the construction also produces an economy with two agents and infinitely many traded goods which is in equilibrium but has no equilibrium when a new good (recognized by all as redundant) is tentatively traded.
CRITICAL STOCK PRICE NEAR EXPIRATION
Authors: Barles Guy , Burdeau Julien , Romano Marc , Samsoen Nicolas
Published: December 2006

We study the critical price of an American put option near expiration in the Black‐Scholes model. Our main result is an estimate for the difference P̄ (t)‐ K between the critical price at time t and the exercise price as t approaches the maturity of the option.
ATTAINABLE CLAIMS IN A MARKOV MARKET1
Authors: Bensoussan Alain , Elliott Robert J.
Published: December 2006

It is shown how, even when the market is incomplete, certain contingent claims are attainable: that is, they can be represented as stochastic integrals with respect to the process which describes the evolution of the asset prices.
ISOLATING THE WILD CARD OPTION
Authors: Cohen Hugh
Published: December 2006

Many embedded options are difficult to value the wild card option in the Treasury bond futures contract is one of these embedded options. We illustrate how narrow theoretical bounds on the value of this option, relative to the price of the contract, may be obtained in the presence of other embedded options. Simulations suggest that the value of the wild card option is close to zero. This implies that, in this economy, a simpler pricing model of the Treasury bond futures contract, which ignores the wild card option, will result in only a small loss of accuracy.
INFINITE HORIZON INCOMPLETE MARKETS WITH A CONTINUUM OF STATES
Authors: Araujo Aloisio , Monteiro Paulo K. , P´ascoa M´rio Rui
Published: December 2006

In this paper we address existence of equilibria in an incomplete markets economy with countably many periods and a continuum of states at each node of the infinite tree. We consider two models: one where agents have to honor their commitments and another where default is allowed. In both models, marginal utility of income, at each node, is shown to be bounded, and we prove existence by taking finite‐dimensional approximations and applying Fatou's lemma sequentially.
WIENER CHAOS: A NEW APPROACH TO OPTION HEDGING
Authors: Lacoste Vincent
Published: December 2006

This paper addresses the problem of estimating and analyzing the residual risk that is not hedged by a discrete hedging strategy. the use of die chaotic representation allows an elegant decomposition of the residual risk to be hedged by adequate assets. Alternative strategies to the classical delta hedging and optimization under the risk‐neutral and historical probabilities are discussed.
EQUILIBRIUM STATE PRICES IN A STOCHASTIC VOLATILITY MODEL1
Authors: Pham Huyěn , Touzi Nizar
Published: December 2006

In a stochastic volatility model, the no‐free‐lunch assumption does not induce a unique arbitrage price because of market incompleteness. In this paper, we consider a contingent claim on the primitive asset, traded in zero net supply. Given a system of Arrow‐Debreu state prices, we provide necessary and sufficient conditions for consistency with an intertemporal additive equilibrium model that we fully characterize. We show that the risk premia corresponding to the minimal martingale of Föllmer and Schweizer (1991) are consistent with logarithmic preferences, while the Hull and White model (1987) (volatility risk premium independent of the asset price) is consistent with a class of utility functions including constant relative risk aversion (CRRA) ones.
PRICING OF AMERICAN PATH‐DEPENDENT CONTINGENT CLAIMS
Authors: Barraquand Jérôme , Pudet Thierry
Published: December 2006

We consider the problem of pricing path‐dependent contingent claims. Classically, this problem can be cast into the Black‐Scholes valuation framework through inclusion of the path‐dependent variables into the state space. This leads to solving a degenerate advection‐diffusion partial differential equation (PDE). We first estabilish necessary and sufficient conditions under which degenerate diffusions can be reduced to lower‐dimensional nondegenerate diffusions. We apply these results to path‐dependent options. Then, we describe a new numerical technique, called forward shooting grid (FSG) method, that efficiently copes with degenerate diffusion PDEs. Finally, we show that the FSG method is unconditionally stable and convergent. the FSG method is the first capable of dealing with the early exercise condition of American options. Several numerical examples are presented and discussed.2
PRICING CALLABLE BONDS BY MEANS OF GREEN'S FUNCTION1
Authors: Büttler Hans‐Jürg , Waldvogel Jorg
Published: December 2006

This paper derives a closed‐form solutin for the price of the European and semi‐Amirican callable bond for two popular one‐factor models of the term structure of interest rates which have been proposed by Vasicek as well as Cox, Ingersoll, and Ross. the price is derived by means of repeated use of Green's function, which, in turn, is derived from a series solution of the partial differential equation to value a discount bond. the boundary conditions which lead to the well‐known formulae for the price of a discount bond are also identified. the algorithm to implement the explicit solution relies on numerical quadrature involving Green's function. It offers both higher accuracy and higher speed of computation than finite difference methods, which suffer from numerical instabilites due to discontinuous boundary values. For suitably small time steps, the proposed algorithm can also be applied to American callable bonds or to any American‐type option with Green's function being explicitly known.
SOLUTION OF THE EXTENDED CIR TERM STRUCTURE AND BOND OPTION VALUATION
Authors: Maghsoodi Yoosef
Published: December 2006

The extended Cox‐Ingersoll‐Ross (ECIR) models of interest rates allow for time‐dependent parameters in the CIR square‐root model. This article presents closed‐form pathwise unique solutions of these unsolved stochastic differential equations (s.d.e.s) in terms of functionals of their driving Brownian motion and parameters. It is shown that quadratics in solution of linear s.d.e.s solve the ECIR model if and only if the dimension of the model is a positive integer and that this solution can be achieved by construction of a pathwise unique generalized Ornstein‐Uhlenbeck process from the ECIR Brownian motion. For real valued dimensions an extension of the time‐change theorem of Dubins and Schwarz (1965) is presented and applied to show that a lognormal process solves the model through a stochastic time change. Pathwise equivalence to a rescaled time‐changed Bessel square process is also established. These novel results are applied to characterize zero‐hitting time and to produce transition density and zero‐hitting conditions for the ECIR spot rate. the CIR term structure is then extended to ECIR under no arbitrage, and its solutions and the transition density are represented under a new ECIR martingale measure. the findings are employed to derive a closed‐form ECIR bond option valuation formula which generalizes that obtained by CIR (1985).
DIFFUSION COEFFICIENT ESTIMATION AND ASSET PRICING WHEN RISK PREMIA AND SENSITIVITIES ARE TIME VARYING: A COMMENT
Authors: Pastorello Sergio
Published: December 2006

The purpose of this note is to analyze the diffusion coefficient estimator suggested by Chesney, Elliott, Madan, and Yang (1993). I start by correcting their formula (4.1), and by showing that their procedure is a member of a class of estimators sharing the same Milstein approximation. I then show how to select the minimum variance estimator (for constant μσ) within a two‐parameter subclass of procedures which do not depend on the current realization of the process. I also show that if μ is small the best procedure only allows moderate reduction in variance with respect to the classical quadratic variation estimator (which is a member of the same class). the note concludes by highlighting the fact that the empirical use of the filtered volatilities poses an error in variables problem which can be addressed using instrumental variables methods.
PORTFOLIO SELECTION PROBLEMS VIA THE BIVARIATE CHARACTERIZATION OF STOCHASTIC DOMINANCE RELATIONS1
Authors: Kijima Masaaki , Ohnishi Masamitsu
Published: December 2006

Stochastic dominance (SD) is a very useful tool in various areas of economics and finance. the purpose of this paper is to provide the results of SD relations developed in other areas such as applied probability which, we believe, are useful for many portfolio selection problems. In particular, the bivariate characterization of SD relations given by Shanthikumar and Yao (1991) is a powerful tool for the demand and the shift effect problems in optimal portfolios. the method enables one to extend many results that hold for the case where the underlying lying assets are statistically independent to the dependent case directly.
OPTION HEDGING AND IMPLIED VOLATILITIES IN A STOCHASTIC VOLATILITY MODEL1
Authors: Renault Eric , Touzi Nizar
Published: December 2006

In the stochastic volatility framework of Hull and White (1987), we characterize the so‐called Black and Scholes implied volatility as a function of two arguments the ratio of the strike to the underlying asset price and the instantaneous value of the volatility By studying the variation m the first argument, we show that the usual hedging methods, through the Black and Scholes model, lead to an underhedged (resp. overhedged) position for in‐the‐money (resp out‐of the‐money) options, and a perfect partial hedged position for at the‐money options These results are shown to be closely related to the smile effect, which is proved to be a natural consequence of the stochastic volatility feature the deterministic dependence of the implied volatility on the underlying volatility process suggests the use of implied volatility data for the estimation of the parameters of interest A statistical procedure of filtering (of the latent volatility process) and estimation (of its parameters) is shown to be strongly consistent and asymptotically normal.
CHOQUET PRICING FOR FINANCIAL MARKETS WITH FRICTIONS1
Authors: Chateauneuf A. , Kast R. , Lapied A.
Published: December 2006

In markets where dealers play a central role, bid‐ask spreads inhibit asset valuation as defined by the formation cost of a replicating portfolio. We introduce a nonlinear valuation formula similar to the usual expectation with respect to the risk‐adjusted probability measure. This formula expresses the asset's selling and buying prices set by dealers as the Choquet integrals of their random payoffs We investigate several price puzzles: the violation of the put‐call parity and the fact that the components of a security can sell at a premium to the underlying security (primes and scores).
MINIMIZING TRANSACTION COSTS OF OPTION HEDGING STRATEGIES
Authors: Grannan E. R. , Swindle G. H.
Published: December 2006

This paper introduces a method for constructing option hedging strategies in the presence of transaction costs. the approach begins with the prescription of a large, but tractable class of strategies. A variational problem is constructed in which the expected square replication error is minimized subject to a fixed initial portfolio value from among the class of strategies. the solution of this variational problem results in a replicating strategy which simulations show outperforms strategies previously considered. We illustrate this method in a particular class of strategies which contains Leland's discrete time replication scheme. We show that a strategy which uses varying time intervals between hedging can significantly reduce replication error for a given initial wealth. We will also construct and assess strategies obtained by optimizing a mean‐variance criterion. This methodology extends to other optimization problems involving initial portfolio value and expected square replication error, as well as to other classes of strategies.
The Challenge of European Union Security Governance*
Authors: KIRCHNER EMIL J.
Published: December 2006

The central aim of this article is to explore whether or not the EU is an effective security actor. To assess the strengths and weaknesses of the EU, three security functions (conflict prevention, peace‐enforcement/peace‐keeping and peace‐building) and three core components of governance (co‐ordination, management and regulation) are applied. Security governance is seen as a helpful framework for studying the interactions between a diverse number of actors and for conceptualizing EU security policy‐making in a meaningful way.
Evaluating Presidencies of the Council of the EU: Revisiting Nice*
Authors: SCHOUT ADRIAAN , VANHOONACKER SOPHIE
Published: December 2006

Judging presidencies is easy, evaluating them is not. Evaluations are rare and often superficial. This article provides a theoretical framework for such evaluations. Using contingency theory, it develops hypotheses about the demand for, and supply of, presidency roles. It offers a structured analysis by linking behaviour to the specificities of the actual negotiations. The framework is then applied to the performance of the French presidency during the IGC in 2000. The analysis shows, that apart from the complaints relating to some embarrassing failures, not all the criticism levelled at the French was justified.
Reactive Identity versus EU Integration*
Authors: VETIK RAIVO , NIMMERFELFT GERLI , TARU MARTI
Published: December 2006

This article discusses public opinion of EU integration in Estonia in a comparative perspective. It introduces the concept of ‘reactive identity’ and finds that, instead of the internal politics and socio‐economic factors put forward in previous research, identity is the key factor in explaining euroscepticism in the countries of central and eastern Europe (CEE).
Reactive changes of retinal astrocytes and Müller glial cells in kainate‐induced neuroexcitotoxicity
Authors: Chang Min‐Lin , Wu Ching‐Hsiang , Jiang‐Shieh Ya‐Fen , Shieh Jeng‐Yung , Wen Chen‐Yuan
Published: December 2006

The aim of this study was to investigate reactive changes of astrocytes and Müller glial cells in rats subjected to kainate treatment, which leads to neuronal degeneration in the ganglion cell layer and the inner border of the inner nuclear layer as confirmed by labelling with Fluoro‐Jade B, a marker for degenerating neurons and fibres. Both the astrocytes and the Müller glial cells reacted vigorously to kainate injection as shown by their up‐regulated expression of nestin, glial fibrillary acidic protein and glutamine synthetase. A major finding was the induced expression of nestin together with glial fibrillary acidic protein beginning at 1 day post‐injection of kainate. The marked nestin expression appeared to be most intense at 1 day and was sustained till 2 weeks as compared with the untreated/normal retina. Western blotting analysis confirmed a marked increase in expression of nestin, glial fibrillary acidic protein and glutamine synthetase as compared with untreated/normal retina. Double labelling study revealed that astrocytes and Müller glial cells expressed the radial glia marker nestin, and incorporated bromodeoxyuridine to re‐enter into their cell cycle. The induced expression of these proteins in astrocytes and Müller glial cells indicated an induction of gliotic responses and de‐differentiation that may be associated with regenerative efforts after kainate‐induced injury. Indeed, with the acquisition of an immature molecular profile as manifested by the induced expression of brain lipid‐binding protein and doublecortin in astrocytes and Müller glial cells, the potential of these cells to de‐differentiate in retinal neurodegeneration is greatly amplified.
Maternal pseudo primary hyperaldosteronism in twin‐to‐twin transfusion syndrome
Authors: Gussi IL , Nizard J , Yamamoto M , Robyr R , Ville Y
Published: December 2006

Objective  To monitor changes in the maternal renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system following laser therapy and amnioreduction in severe twin‐to‐twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS).

Design  Observational prospective study.

Setting  Single university hospital in Poissy, France.

Population  Sixty cases of TTTS at 16–26 weeks of gestation.

Method  Maternal blood sampling before, 6 and 24 hours following the procedure.

Main outcome measures  Plasma levels of aldosterone, renin, angiotensin II (AII), atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), vasopressin, sodium, potassium and plasma proteins together with full blood count were measured before, 6 and 24 hours following the procedure.

Results  TTTS is associated with maternal hyperaldosteronism dissociated from renin–angiotensin changes. Correcting TTTS by placental surgery and amnioreduction triggers incomplete correction of hyperaldosteronism, as early as 6 hours following the procedure, without changes in AII but an increase in the levels of ANP in plasma. Electrolyte concentrations remained stable despite haemodilution, while vasoactive hormone levels such as that of vasopressin remained unchanged.

Conclusion  Mechanisms involved in marked fluid retention in TTTS are rapidly corrected by laser therapy followed by amnioreduction while maintaining electrolyte homeostasis.
Feasibility of screening for ovarian cancer using symptoms as selection criteria*
Authors: Rufford BD , Jacobs IJ , Menon U
Published: December 2006

Objective  Retrospective studies have reported that 95% of women with ovarian cancer have symptoms prior to diagnosis and that women with these symptoms are at an increased risk of ovarian cancer. Failure to recognise these symptoms may result in a delay in referral and diagnosis. We assess the feasibility of screening for ovarian cancer using symptoms as selection criteria.

Design  A randomised controlled trial.

Setting  General practices in East London.

Population  Three hundred and ninety GPs.

Methods  GPs were randomised by practice, and those in the study group were given rapid access to ultrasound and CA125 test for women, >45 years, suffering from symptoms that may be caused by ovarian cancer.

Main outcome measures  Symptoms leading to referral, ultrasound and CA125 results and ovarian cancer diagnosis.

Results  Seventy nine practices containing 197 GPs were randomised to the study arm. Three hundred and seventeen women were referred, of which 315 were eligible. Women reported the following symptoms: abdominal 87%, gastrointestinal 41% and constitutional 29%. Twenty‐three women had abnormal findings on ultrasound: 20 were managed conservatively and 3 surgically. Histology revealed a mucinous cystadenoma, a Brenner tumour and a serous cystadenoma. Incidental findings included endometrial pathology in 13 women and bladder pathology in 2. Ninety five percent of CA125 results were <35 units/ml.

Conclusions  This pilot study confirms the feasibility of screening for ovarian cancer using symptoms as selection criteria. Specificity was high and patient compliance good. Initial concerns about referral volumes and additional investigations and referrals generated were not confirmed. No ovarian cancers were detected in this pilot study, and this may be due to the size of the cohort.
Women with peritoneal carcinomatosis of unknown origin: efficacy of image‐guided biopsy to determine site‐specific diagnosis
Authors: Hewitt MJ , Anderson K , Hall GD , Weston M , Hutson R , Wilkinson N , Perren TJ , Lane G , Spencer JA
Published: December 2006

Objectives  To evaluate the use of image‐guided biopsy (IGB) in routine clinical practice to obtain site‐specific diagnoses in women presenting with peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC).

Study design  Retrospective case study.

Setting  Tertiary referral centre.

Population  A total of 149 consecutive women with PC who underwent IGB.

Methods  Biopsy was performed in women considered unsuitable for primary surgery because of poor performance status or disease unlikely to be optimally debulked, with a prior history of malignancy or where there was clinicoradiological uncertainty about primary tumour site. Standard haematoxylin–eosin histological analysis was supplemented with immunohistochemistry.

Main outcome measures  The rate of site‐specific diagnosis.

Results  A total of 149 women underwent IGB using computed tomography or ultrasound over a 6‐year period. The only complication was one rectus sheath haematoma. In 138 (93%) women, a site‐specific cancer diagnosis was made on the IGB (including 111 müllerian tract, 8 gastrointestinal tract, 4 breast and 3 lymphoma); in ten women, a repeat biopsy was necessary, giving an overall failure rate of 7%. In a further six women, malignancy was confirmed but a site‐specific diagnosis could not be made, and in four women, biopsy showed benign tissue. A site‐specific diagnosis was obtained in 29 of the 32 women (94%) with previous malignancy, of which 18/32 (56%) showed a new primary cancer.

Conclusions  IGB is a safe and accurate technique for providing site‐specific diagnoses in women with PC in routine clinical practice, including those with a previous relevant malignancy. IGB can replace laparoscopic or open biopsy in defining primary therapeutic options. The data would suggest that the biopsy should be performed with ultrasound where feasible.
Changing regional rural inequality in China 1980–2002
Authors: Liu Hui
Published: December 2006

Regional rural inequalities in China since the reform are examined based on Theil's regional inequality index. By using data from the three zones (east, central and west) and provinces in the period 1980–2002, I find that China's rural regional inequality has an overall increasing trend with a short period of decrease during the entire reform period. However, the trends vary in different indicators and different geographical scales. The trend of income inequality does not always match that of rural economic inequality. The decomposition of Theil's regional inequality further reveals that, since 1987, interregional inequalities between the eastern, central and western regions have been more serious than provincial inequality within the regions themselves. For example, when rural non‐agriculture inequality decreased substantially within the east, it increased greatly within the west. Similarly, the income inequality increased within the west and the east but decreased within the central region. China's regional rural inequality remained at a high level and the coastal/interior income differential continued to increase.
Asking the right questions: environmental conflict in the case of Azerbaijan
Authors: O’Lear Shannon , Gray Angela
Published: December 2006

This paper contributes an empirical test of key themes of the literature on natural resource conflict. Survey and interview data from an ongoing project in Azerbaijan provide insights into an unexpected lack of conflict in Azerbaijan related to the environment, resources and energy despite the predictions of resource conflict literature. We contend that questions about public perceptions about the environment and other daily concerns are critical if we are to understand who is likely (or unlikely) to be involved in conflict and why. The data presented in this paper demonstrate that Azerbaijani citizens rank environmental and resource issues among their immediate concerns and their top concerns for the country. However, compared to other day‐to‐day concerns such as the Nagorno‐Karabakh conflict and economic concerns, environment‐related concerns do not appear to be sufficient to motivate widespread violent conflict or citizen dissent related to environmental or natural resource conditions.
Branding the design metropole: the case of Montréal, Canada
Authors: Rantisi Norma M , Leslie Deborah
Published: December 2006

As part of a broader process of inter‐urban competition, city governments have increasingly sought to ‘position’ themselves as centres of creativity. In these branding initiatives, culture is viewed as a tool of urban regeneration and economic development. Our paper examines the case of Commerce Design Montréal, an annual design competition run by the City of Montréal, which aims to brand Montréal as a centre of design. Commerce Design Montréal is an example of a ‘fast’ policy initiated by the state, but carried out by business owners and citizens. As such, it represents a downloading of the responsibility for economic development to the private or individual scale and adopts only a partial view of the varied actors and uses that are implicated in the design process. The paper considers the opportunities and challenges that this model presents for promoting design as a form of urban regeneration in a neo‐liberal context.
Sacred cows in coastal management: the need for a ‘cheap and transitory’ model
Authors: McKenna John , Cooper Andrew
Published: December 2006

The participative, ‘bottom‐up’ approaches of contemporary European ICZM (integrated coastal zone management) are ineffectual and unsustainable. The approach lacks the authority and resources to deliver ICZM and should be abandoned. A new model of ICZM in a predominantly sectoral administrative framework is presented. It requires that capacity be built in existing statutory authorities and in‐house ICZM groups be established. Time‐limited participatory projects would be used to gain information on conflicts and issues that transcend existing sectoral boundaries, but this information would be passed to the established statutory authorities for action. A sound statutory and legislative basis is the essential prerequisite for effective coastal management – not voluntary partnerships.
Assessing the effect of environmental and anthropogenic factors on land‐cover diversity in a Mediterranean mountain environment
Authors: Nogués‐Bravo David
Published: December 2006

This study assesses the factors that influence land‐cover diversity, including the specific contributions of environmental and anthropogenic forces in determining landscape diversity (spatial variability in climate, lithological variations and human management). The proposed model was tested in Navarra (northern Spain), a region with a long history of human settlement and distinct management practices, ranging from mountain communities in the Pyrenees to Mediterranean lowland cropland systems. Variance in landscape diversity was divided into environmental‐ and human‐influenced fractions, and generalized additive models within a GIS framework were used to evaluate the effects of environmental and anthropogenic factors. We also assessed the influence on the results of the number of land‐cover classes by employing contrasting thematic resolutions of 220 and 24 classes. The model that includes only environmental factors, using 24 classes, accounted for 65 per cent of the total variance (P < 0.005). The residuals obtained from this model were then regressed against human variables (distance to settlements, accessibility, total municipality population and productive specialization). Residuals and productive specialization, which varies between areas devoted to grazing and forest exploitation in the Pyrenees mountains to lowland Mediterranean croplands, showed a strong correlation (r

2

= 0.40; P < 0.005), but weak correlations were found when 220 land‐cover classes were used. Results based on the sign of residuals suggest that human activities have resulted in an increase in land‐cover diversity in mountainous areas and have acted to homogenize land cover within the Mediterranean agricultural landscape. In summary, the model that uses the map of 24 classes as dependent variables and includes human and environmental factors explains 80.75 per cent of total land‐cover diversity variance using only three variables: climatic spatial variability, lithological diversity and productive specialization.
Extracting photogrammetric ground control from lidar DEMs for change detection
Authors: James Timothy D. , Murray Tavi , Barrand Nicholas E. , Barr Stuart L.
Published: December 2006

Research has shown the importance of measuring topography for surface change detection and that the use of remote sensing methods is ideal for this application. A prerequisite for measuring change is a historical data‐set that covers the time period of interest. Many remote methods of topographic data collection such as lidar are relatively recent developments and therefore cannot provide records longer than about a decade. Alternatively, aerial photography has been in common use since the early 20th century and archives upwards of 50 years are therefore not uncommon. While photogrammetry is dependent on well distributed, high quality ground control points (GCPs), such data has been successfully applied retroactively. Therefore, contemporary lidar data, which requires little ground‐truth data, should be an ideal source of GCPs for controlling historical aerial photographs. This study aims to evaluate the success with which GCPs can be extracted from a high‐resolution lidar data‐set for controlling aerial photography for digital elevation model (DEM) production. Using a data‐set collected in Upper Wharfedale, northern England, GCPs were measured both by means of a lidar data‐set and by using traditional field‐based methods. The results showed that while the use of lidar‐derived ground control produced a DEM of inferior quality, increasing the number of GCPs used in the model produced results comparable to the GPS‐controlled DEM. These results are significant especially for surface change detection research in remote areas where high quality ground control is difficult to secure.
Automated correction of surface obstruction errors in digital surface models using off‐the‐shelf image processing
Authors: James Timothy D. , Barr Stuart L. , Lane Stuart N.
Published: December 2006

Airborne topographic data collection requires removal of errors that arise due to surface features that obstruct the ground from the sensor. Typically, this has been based on manual correction and/or automated filtering. To some degree, the latter has provided a method for identifying and removing unwanted surface obstructions in large topographic data‐sets. However, the algorithms used are unintelligent in that they cannot reliably differentiate between the various types of obstructions and the ground. If coincident optical support imagery is available, the use of intelligent correction routines becomes possible. This paper describes an automated approach for removing obstruction errors using optical support imagery and simple image processing routines. Orthorectification and classification of support imagery enable obstruction errors to be identified in the digital surface model (DSM) and corrected intelligently to produce a digital terrain model (DTM). The results show that support imagery can be used with basic image processing routines to remove obstructions intelligently and automatically from large topographic data‐sets. Since the approach can differentiate between types of obstructions, the removal of each type of error can be customised, making this a very flexible approach to topographic data correction.
Determination of Exterior Orientation Using Linear Features from Vector Maps
Authors: Karjalainen Mika , Hyyppä Juha , Kuittinen Risto
Published: December 2006

This paper presents a procedure for the determination of the exterior orientation (EO) of images using existing digital vector maps. The most important characteristic is that there is no need for signalised ground control points (GCPs), because the EO is carried out solely using ground control lines (GCLs) acquired from the geographical information system (GIS). Although the proposed EO procedure could be fully automated, a small amount of operator guidance is needed in the adjustment of the initial EO, which should be moderately accurate prior to automating the EO procedure. However, adjusting the initial EO parameters is fairly easy, because the projected locations of the map vectors on the image are updated in real time on the computer monitor. Ultimately, the final EO is determined by using an automatic method that uses a local line scanning technique that attempts to locate the linear features from the image. The final EO is calculated using the line photogrammetry method. The EO procedure was implemented as software running in a Microsoft Windows environment and, although the software is able to process only one image at a time, it provides a way to determine the EO that is both reliable and rapid. The test results showed that the accuracy achieved depends on the positional accuracy of the linear features used. Therefore, 2D coordinate shifts in the vector maps will be directly passed to the EO parameters without other control.
Local accuracy measures for digital terrain models
Authors: Kraus Karl , Karel Wilfried , Briese Christian , Mandlburger Gottfried
Published: December 2006

Airborne laser scanning and image matching can today form the basis for the generation of digital terrain models (DTMs). In addition to the DTM, quality parameters are needed that describe the accuracy at a high level of detail, at best for every interpolated DTM point. Furthermore, other parameters are of interest, for example, the distance from each DTM point to the data point next to it. This paper presents a method to derive accuracy measures from the original data and the DTM itself. Its application is demonstrated with an example. The quality measures are suitable for informing users in detail about DTM quality and warning them of weakly determined areas.
British Anatomists, Phrenologists and the Construction of the Aboriginal Race,c.1790–1830
Authors: Turnbull Paul
Published: December 2006

This article considers how Aboriginal Australian bodily remains were procured and understood in British anatomical and phrenological circles from the beginning of Australian colonization in 1788 to the early 1830s. These years saw an important shift in European thinking about race. The idea that racial differences were the result of humanity's diversification from one ancestral type through environmental modification came to be challenged by “transmutationist” theories that conceptualized racial characteristics as markers of biological peculiarities between different human‐like beings, quite possibly of primordial origin. The article shows how comparative anatomical analysis of Aboriginal Australian remains – often procured in violent circumstances – served to reinforce received environmentalist explanations of the nature and origins of human variation. However, the article also shows how in what they made of Aboriginal remains, subscribers to the concept of environmental degradation could be as fatalistic in their prognosis of the natural capacity of Aboriginal Australians to be progressively brought to embrace civilization as the transmutationist critics they began to encounter in earnest from the mid‐1830s. In the hands of metropolitan British anatomists and phrenologists, Aboriginal bones were used so as to generate knowledge that had a pernicious impact on Australia's Indigenous inhabitants.

History Compass’second PODCAST is now available

The podcast is a discussion between Professor Stuart Ward,History Compass’Australasian/Pacific editor, and Professor Paul Turnbull, a publishedHistory Compassauthor and editor. They examine Professor Turnbull’s published essay, entitled ‘British Anatomists, Phrenologists and the Construction of the Aboriginal Race,c.1790–1830’, and discuss the cognitive evolution of racial science in Europe, the theft of Indigenous cultural property from the colonial Pacific, and the repatriation of skeletal remains in Australian and European museums. Click here to launch the podcast:http://wiley.cdn.palmerhargreaves.com/podcast/hic3/hic3‐02.mp3(mp3 file, 13.8MB, 28 minutes 44 seconds).
Revisiting the Battle of Iquique
Authors: Sater William F.
Published: December 2006

Both Peru and Chile needed to achieve maritime supremacy to protect themselves from each other as well as to carry the war to their enemy. The Battle of Iquique provided one of the seminal events in the naval war: Peru lost one of its two most powerful ships, giving Chile maritime supremacy. As this article indicates, had the Peruvians won the Battle of Iquique, Peru's navy under the command of the very aggressive Captain Miguel Grau would have threatened Chile's maritime traffic, endangered its heartland, and prevented the invasion of Peru itself. Quite possibly, he might have stalemated the war.
Eighteenth‐Century Land Speculation at the Margins of the Anglo‐American World
Authors: Dewar David
Published: December 2006

Sometimes, by looking closely at one emblematic life we can see the ways in which historical dynamics work themselves out. Such is the case with George Morgan and his pursuit of land in the trans‐Appalachian west. During the late eighteenth century he was, like many others, a fur trader, a diplomat, and a partner in a variety of land speculation schemes west of the Appalachian Mountains. As Americans of European extraction moved farther west, Morgan applied the trans‐Appalachian speculation model in a unique manner and attempted to gain vast wealth and political power by obtaining rights to land west of the Mississippi River in Spanish Louisiana. In the end, his attempts to settle land and create a new society west of the Mississippi River extended, expedited, and facilitated the spread of Anglo‐American settlements across the nation during the nineteenth century.
Gene expression profiles of drug‐metabolizing enzymes and transporters with an overexpression of hepatocyte growth factor
Authors: Kakizaki Satoru , Yamazaki Yuichi , Kosone Takashi , Horigichi Norio , Sohara Naondo , Sato Ken , Takagi Hitoshi , Yoshinari Kouichi , Mori Masatomo
Published: December 2006

Background:It is important to elucidate the precise mechanism of drug metabolism during hepatic regeneration. Although cytochromes P450 (CYPs) are well known to be down‐regulated in growth‐stimulated cells, the overall gene expression profile of drug metabolizing enzymes are still not fully understood during hepatic regeneration. In this study, we investigated the gene expression profiles of such enzymes with an overexpression of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF).

Methods:Gene expression profiles were obtained using the Affymetrix MOE430A GeneChip oligonucleotide microarray by comparing HGF transgenic mice and wild‐type mice.

Results:HGF produced a general decrease in mice with the expression of CYP isoforms such as Cyp1a2, Cyp2b10, Cyp2c, Cyp2d9, Cyp3a11, Cyp4a10, and Cyp7a1. Some isoforms of alcohol dehydrogenase, aldehyde dehydrogenase, and carboxylesterase also decreased. In the phase II enzymes, some isoforms of glutathioneS‐transferase and UDP‐glucuronosyl transferase showed a reduced expression, although the sulfotransferase did not. In phase III transporters, some organic anion transporter and organic cation transporters were down‐regulated. Among the nuclear receptors that are known to regulate the drug‐metabolizing enzymes, small heterodimer partner and constitutive androstane receptor were down‐regulated with an HGF overexpression. The protein level and enzymatic activity of Cyp2c decreased with an HGF overexpression. We furthermore investigated the inducibility of Cyp2b10 with xenobiotic inducers. Although the basal expression of Cyp2b10 was repressed, the inducibility was not abolished with the HGF overexpression.

Conclusions:HGF down‐regulated not only CYPs but also some drug‐metabolizing enzymes, transporters, and nuclear receptors. We thus have to take in our mind the low basal expression of drug metabolizing enzymes, when treating patients with a regenerative liver state.