bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
On a certain functional equation in the algebra of polynomials with complex coefficients
Authors: Muhamadiev E.
Published: June 2006

Many analytical problems can be reduced to determining the number
of roots of a polynomial in a given disc. In turn, the latter
problem admits further reduction to the generalized Rauss‐Hurwitz
problem of determining the number of roots of a polynomial in a
semiplane. However, this procedure requires complicated
coefficient transformations. In the present paper we suggest a
direct method to evaluate the number of roots
of a polynomial with complex coefficients in a disc, based on
studying a certain equation in the algebra of polynomials. An
application for computing the rotation of plane
polynomial vector fields is also given.
Assessment of Toxicity of Some Penta‐ and Hexacoordinated Organotin(IV) and Tetracoordinated Tin(II) Complexes of Heterocyclic β‐Diketones
Authors: Jain Asha , Saxena Sanjiv , Rai Audhesh K. , Saxena Prabhu N.
Published: June 2006

A number of penta‐ and hexacoordinated organotin(IV) complexes and tetracoordinated tin(II) complexes of compositions (where R = −CH3, −p − ClC6H4, and −C6H5), (where R = −CH3, and −C6H5), and Sn(II) (where R = −p − ClC6H4 and −C6H5) were screened for their toxicity against Musca domestica (house fly). In general, organotin(IV) complexes contribute more to the activity than tin(II) complexes.
Stability and bifurcation of numerical discretization Nicholson blowflies equation with delay
Authors: Ding Xiaohua , Li Wenxue
Published: June 2006

A kind of discrete system according to Nicholson′s blowflies
equation with a finite delay is obtained by the Euler forward
method, and the dynamics of this discrete system are investigated.
Applying the theory of normal form and center manifold, we not
only discuss the linear stability of the equilibrium and the
existence of the local Hopf bifurcations, but also give the
explicit algorithm for determining the direction of bifurcation
and stability of the periodic solution of bifurcation.
Existence of positive solutions of PBVPs for first‐order difference equations
Authors: Zhou Yinggao
Published: June 2006

We consider the existence of positive solutions for the following
first‐order periodic boundary value problem: x(n + 1) = x(n) − f(n, x(n)), 0 ≤ n ≤ ω − 1, x(0) = x(ω). Some criteria for existence of positive solutions of the above
difference boundary problem are established by using
Krasnosel′skiĭ′s fixed point theorem, and some multiplicity
results of positive solutions are also derived.
Stabilization criteria for continuous linear time‐invariant systems with constant lags
Authors: De La Sen M.
Published: June 2006

Some criteria for asymptotic stability of linear and
time‐invariant systems with constant point delays are derived.
Such criteria are concerned with the properties of robust
stability related to two relevant auxiliary delay‐free systems
which are built by deleting the delayed dynamics or considering
that the delay is zero. Explicit asymptotic stability results,
easy to test, are given for both the unforced and closed‐loop
systems when the stabilizing controller for one of the auxiliary
delay‐free systems is used for the current time‐delay system. The
proposed techniques include frequency domain analysis techniques
including the use of H∞ norms.
"Equation missing"-commuting maps and invariant approximations
Authors: Hussain N , Rhoades BE
Published: June 2006

We obtain common fixed point results for generalized "Equation missing"-nonexpansive "Equation missing"-commuting maps. As applications, various best approximation results for this class of maps are derived in the setup of certain metrizable topological vector spaces.
Periodic solutions of dissipative systems revisited
Authors: Andres Jan , Górniewicz Lech
Published: June 2006

We reprove in an extremely simple way the classical theorem that time periodic dissipative systems imply the existence of harmonic periodic solutions, in the case of uniqueness. We will also show that, in the lack of uniqueness, the existence of harmonics is implied by uniform dissipativity. The localization of starting points and multiplicity of periodic solutions will be established, under suitable additional assumptions, as well. The arguments are based on the application of various asymptotic fixed point theorems of the Lefschetz and Nielsen type.
Nonexpansive mappings defined on unbounded domains
Authors: Kaewcharoen A , Kirk WA
Published: June 2006

We obtain fixed point theorems for nonexpansive mappings defined on unbounded sets. Our assumptions are weaker than the asymptotically contractive condition recently introduced by Jean-Paul Penot.
A Prospective Study on Algorithms Adapted to the Spatial Frequency in Tomography
Authors: Israel-Jost Vincent , Choquet Philippe , Constantinesco André
Published: June 2006

The use of iterative algorithms in tomographic reconstruction always leads to a frequency adapted rate of convergence in that low frequencies are accurately reconstructed after a few iterations, while high frequencies sometimes require many more computations. In this paper, we propose to build frequency adapted (FA) algorithms based on a condition of incomplete backprojection and propose an FA simultaneous algebraic reconstruction technique (FA‐SART) algorithm as an example. The results obtained with the FA‐SART algorithm demonstrate a very fast convergence on a highly detailed phantom when compared to the original SART algorithm. Though the use of such an FA algorithm may seem difficult, we specify in which case it is relevant and propose several ways to improve the reconstruction process with FA algorithms.
Synergistic modeling of call center operations
Authors: Dietz Dennis C. , Vaver Jon G.
Published: June 2006

We synergistically apply queueing theory, integer programming, and
stochastic simulation to determine an optimal staffing policy for
a repair call handling center. A stationary Markovian queueing
model is employed to determine minimal staffing levels for a
sequence of time intervals with varying call volumes and mean
handling times. These staffing requirements populate an integer
program model for determining the mix of call agent shifts that
will achieve service quality standards at minimum cost. Since the
analytical modeling requires simplifying assumptions, expected
performance of the optimal staffing policy is evaluated using
stochastic simulation. Computational efficiency of the simulation
is improved dramatically by employing the queueing model to
generate an analytic control variate.
On solutions of general nonlinear stochastic integral equations
Authors: Balachandran K. , Kim J.-H.
Published: June 2006

We study the existence, uniqueness, and stability of random solutions of a general class of nonlinear stochastic integral equations by using the Banach fixed point theorem. The results obtained in this paper generalize the results of Szynal and Wędrychowicz (1993).
Duality for multiobjective variational control and multiobjective fractional variational control problems with pseudoinvexity
Authors: Nahak C.
Published: June 2006

A class of multiobjective variational control and multiobjective
fractional variational control problems is considered, and the
duality results are formulated. Under pseudoinvexity assumptions
on the functions involved, weak, strong, and converse duality
theorems are proved.
A note on strong solutions of stochastic differential equations with a discontinuous drift coefficient
Authors: Halidias Nikolaos , Kloeden P. E.
Published: June 2006

The existence of a mean‐square continuous strong solution is established for vector‐valued Itô stochastic differential equations with a discontinuous drift coefficient, which is an increasing function, and with a Lipschitz continuous diffusion coefficient. A scalar stochastic differential equation with the Heaviside function as its drift coefficient is considered as an example. Upper and lower solutions are used in the proof.
Invariant densities of random maps have lower bounds on their supports
Authors: Góra Paweł , Boyarsky Abraham , Islam Md Shafiqul
Published: June 2006

A random map is a discrete‐time dynamical system in which one of a number of transformations is randomly selected and applied at each iteration of the process. The asymptotic properties of a random map are described by its invariant densities. If Pelikan′s average expanding condition is satisfied, then the random map has invariant densities. For individual maps, piecewise expanding is sufficient to establish many important properties of the invariant densities, in particular, the fact that the densities are bounded away from 0 on their supports. It is of interest to see if this property is transferred to random maps satisfying Pelikan′s condition. We show that if all the maps constituting the random map are piecewise expanding, then the same result is true. However, if one or more of the maps are not expanding, this may not be true: we present an example where Pelikan′s condition is satisfied, but not all the maps are piecewise expanding, and show that the invariant density is not separated from 0.
A singular control problem with an expected and a pathwise ergodic performance criterion
Authors: Jack Andrew , Zervos Mihail
Published: June 2006

We consider the problem of controlling a general one‐dimensional Itô diffusion by means of a finite‐variation process. The objective is to minimise a long‐term average expected criterion as well as a long‐term pathwise criterion that penalise deviations of the underlying state process from a given nominal point as well as the expenditure of control effort. We solve the resulting singular stochastic control problems under general assumptions by
identifying an optimal strategy that is explicitly characterised.
Fixed points of cone compression and expansionmultimaps defined on Fréchet spaces: The projective limitapproach
Authors: Agarwal Ravi P. , O′Regan Donal
Published: June 2006

We present a generalization of the cone compression and expansion
results due to Krasnoselskii and Petryshyn for multivalued maps
defined on a Fréchet space E. The proof relies on fixed point
results in Banach spaces and viewing E as the projective limit
of a sequence of Banach spaces.
Plasma Levels of t‐PA and PAI‐1 Correlate With the Formation of Experimental Post‐Surgical Peritoneal Adhesions
Authors: Filippo Clara Di , Falsetto Alessandro , De Pascale Vito , Tufariello Elisabetta , De Lucia Domenico , Rossi Francesco , D′Amico Michele , Cennamo Antonio
Published: June 2006

This study has evaluated whether systemic changes of plasminogen
activator (t‐PA) and plasminogen activator inhibitor‐1 (PAI‐1)
parallel the adhesions development and whether they could be used
as predictors of adhesion risk. This has been studied in an animal
model of post‐surgical peritoneal adhesion by monitoring for 10
days the plasma and tissue levels of t‐PA and PAI‐1. The results
showed that both tissular and plasmatic levels of t‐PA
were decreased in concomitance with the development of peritoneal
adhesions. In contrast, PAI‐1 was found increased into the tissue
and into the plasma samples of the rats taken at 5 and 10 days
time points. Inflammatory mediators such as ICAM‐1, VCAM‐1, and
IL‐6 within the peritoneal lavage fluid also correlated with the
adhesion formation process. In conclusion, post‐surgical
peritoneal adhesions provide alterations of local inflammatory
components and local and systemic fibrinolytic components,
possibly with PAI‐1 quenching t‐PA. This may have potential for
the identification of high‐risk patients.
Influence of Interleukin IL‐2 and IL‐12 + IL‐18 on Surface Expression of Immunoglobulin‐Like Receptors KIR2DL1, KIR2DL2, and KIR3DL2 in Natural Killer Cells
Authors: Chrul Slawomir , Polakowska Ewa , Szadkowska Agnieszka , Bodalski Jerzy
Published: June 2006

Natural killer (NK) cells express killer cell
inhibitory receptors (KIRs) that recognize polymorphic class I MHC
molecules. In the present study, we analyze the modulatory effect
of IL‐2 alone or a combination of IL‐12 with IL‐18 on surface
expression of killer cell immunoglobulin‐like receptors KIR2DL1,
KIR2DL2, and KIR3DL2 in NK cells. Thus, it was found that IL‐2
causes a significant increase in the proportion of cells with
given studied receptors. Stimulation by a mixture of IL‐12 and
IL‐18 caused significant increase in the fraction of cells with
the KIR2DL1 and KIR2DL2, however no significant change in the
percentage of cells with KIR3DL2 receptor on their surface was
observed. The results of the study show the presence of KIRs
on both resting and activated NK cells, this may suggest that KIRs
have also an important role in the regulatory processes after
activation of this subpopulation of cells.
Analytical prediction of stick‐slip chaos in a double self‐excited Duffing‐type oscillator
Authors: Awrejcewicz Jan , Holicke Mariusz
Published: June 2006

We have analytically predicted homoclinic bifurcations in a class
of double self‐excited Duffing‐type oscillators using the
Melnikov‐Gruendler approach. Both stick‐slip and smooth
chaotic behaviors predicted analytically have been confirmed by
numerical simulations.
Passivity and passivation of interconnected time‐delay models of reheat power systems
Authors: Mahmoud Magdi S. , Ismail Abdulla
Published: June 2006

This paper investigates the problems of delay‐dependent passivity and passivation of a class of linear interconnected time‐delay systems with particular emphasis on multiarea reheat power systems. This class contains state delay in the dynamics and observation at the subsystem (local) level. A new state transformation is developed to exhibit the delay dependence in the system dynamics and a less conservative passivity‐bounding inequality is incorporated. Through the analytical development, it is established that the passivity condition can be cast in a linear matrix inequality (LMI) format at the subsystem level thereby facilitating decentralized passivity analysis. For state‐feedback passivation, it is proven that it is indifferent to use instantaneous or delayed decentralized state feedback. The case of dynamic output‐feedback passivation is also treated. The analytical developments are simulated to a typical multiarea power system and the ensuing results show satisfactory performance.
Closed‐form solution for piezoelectric layer with two collinear cracks parallel to the boundaries
Authors: Singh B. M. , Rokne J. , Dhaliwal R. S.
Published: June 2006

We consider the problem of determining the stress distribution in an infinitely long piezoelectric layer of finite width, with two collinear cracks of equal length and parallel to the layer boundaries. Within the framework of reigning piezoelectric theory under mode III, the cracked piezoelectric layer subjected to combined electromechanical loading is analyzed. The faces of the layers are subjected to electromechanical loading. The collinear cracks are located at the middle plane of the layer parallel to its face. By the use of Fourier transforms we reduce the problem to solving a set of triple integral equations with cosine kernel and a weight function. The triple integral equations are solved exactly. Closed form analytical expressions for stress intensity factors, electric displacement intensity factors, and shape of crack and energy release rate are derived. As the limiting case, the solution of the problem with one crack in the layer is derived. Some numerical results for the physical quantities are obtained and displayed graphically.
Clinical Outcomes of Intraoperative Radiation Therapy for Extremity Sarcomas
Authors: Tran Quy N. H. , Kim Anne C. , Gottschalk Alexander R. , Wara William M. , Phillips Theodore L. , O′Donnell Richard J. , Weinberg Vivian , Haas-Kogan Daphne A.
Published: June 2006

Purpose. Radiation of extremity lesions, a key component
of limb‐sparing therapy, presents particular challenges, with
significant risks of toxicities. We sought to explore the
efficacy of intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) in the
treatment of soft tissue sarcomas of the extremities.
Patients. Between 1995 and 2001, 17 patients received
IORT for soft tissue sarcomas of the extremities. Indications for
IORT included recurrent tumors in a previously radiated field or
tumors adjacent to critical structures. Results. Gross
total resections were achieved in all 17 patients. Two patients
experienced locoregional relapses, six patients recurred at
metastatic sites, and one patient died without recurrence.
Thirty‐six month estimates for locoregional control, disease free
survival, and overall survival were 86%, 50%, and 78%,
respectively. IORT was extremely well tolerated, with no
toxicities referable to IORT. Conclusions. For patients
with soft tissue sarcomas of the extremities, IORT used as a boost
to EBRT provides excellent local control, with limited acute
toxicities.
Turnover and fate of fibrinogen and platelets at the rabbit aorta wall immediately after a balloon de-endothelializing injury in vivo
Authors: Ross Bonnie , Timleck Marnie , Southward Suzanne , Richardson Mary , Hatton Mark
Published: June 2006

A de-endothelializing injury to the artery wall in vivo results in a rapid procoagulant response at the surface of the exposed subendothelium. Activated tissue factor (TF)-bearing cells and hemostasis factors located at the site of injury respond by producing thrombin, and within minutes the principal thrombus-forming, blood-borne components (platelets, fibrinogen) accumulate at the site.To compare their behaviors, the rates of uptake and turnover of rabbit 51Cr-platelets and rabbit 125I-fibrinogen were quantified simultaneously during the initial 100-min interval after a balloon catheter injury to the rabbit aorta in vivo.Platelets (∼70,000/mm2) and fibrin(ogen) (∼2.8 pmol/cm2) saturated the ballooned aorta surface within five minutes after injury.Whereas the adherent platelet and fibrinogen concentrations remained steady at the aorta surface, fibrin(ogen)-related products continued to accumulate slowly in the tunica media (TM) for at least 100 minutes. A relatively small proportion (3.7%/min) of adhered platelets turned over at the ballooned aorta surface at 10 minutes, decreasing to 1.2%/min at 100 minutes. By contrast, a larger proportion of fibrin(ogen) (∼ 20%/min) was turned over within the platelet layer at 10 minutes, decreasing to 6%/min at 100 minutes. As verified by immunostaining aorta sections and by protein analysis ofTM extracts,the uptakes of platelets and fibrinogen at the site of injury contributed to an accumulation of products of platelet releasate and fibrin(ogen) degradation (FDPs) within the TM.These observations improve our understanding of the hemostatic processes and subsequent events that occur after an arterial injury in vivo.
Looking beyond the Nation State: A Baltic Vision for National Minorities between the Wars
Authors: Hiden John , Smith David J.
Published: June 2006

The end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union have again brought minorities in Central and Eastern Europe to the forefront of international attention and have generated renewed interest in the region's history between the two world wars. For all this, the continuing focus on conflictual aspects has obscured the efforts made at the time to build genuinely multicultural societies on the ruins of the old empires. This article examines an idea which was central to this endeavour, namely the principle of non-territorial cultural autonomy. The idea, originating with the Austro-Marxists Karl Renner and Otto Bauer, was uniquely adopted in the New Europe after the first world war by the Baltic countries, most notably Estonia. The doctrine recognized that the complex patterns of historical settlement in Central and Eastern Europe precluded a solution to nationality conflicts through the redrawing of territorial borders alone. Instead, it provided for a non-territorial expression of national identity, whereby minorities were allowed to constitute themselves as public corporations within their host states, enjoying full autonomy in the spheres of education and culture. The idea, taken up by the Congress of European Minorities from 1925, had far-reaching implications for the project of building a ‘United States of Europe’. It looked towards a Europe as a collection of nationalities rather than nation states. What was dismissed as utopian in an era beset by extreme nationalism has fresh resonance in today's ‘New Europe’, where West and East have finally been united within the supranational framework of the EU.
Hero or Villain? Bertolt Brecht and the Crisis Surrounding June 1953
Authors: Clark Mark W.
Published: June 2006

This article examines Bertolt Brecht's career as a political intellectual in the early German Democratic Republic. It builds upon and goes beyond traditional interpretations that have tended to portray Brecht either as an intellectual traitor to the working classes he claimed to represent or as a hero who steadfastly championed the cause of a better socialism even against the political élites of the Socialist Unity Party. The author focuses on Brecht's responses to the cultural and political challenges within the political crucible of the early GDR including, especially, the crisis surrounding 17 June 1953. He sees Brecht as a specific type of German intellectual, one positioned between his exile experience in Scandinavia and the USA and his conviction that the future of Germany lay in a socialist society that could only be guaranteed by the Soviet Union after the collapse of the Third Reich. He argues that Brecht understood his creative and intellectual contribution as a commodity, in the revolutionizing sense of the term he had developed in ‘The Threepenny Lawsuit’. As he adjusted to the changing realities of life in the fledgling communist state, Brecht learned how to exercise his commodity value in order to achieve his most important, and interrelated, goals: the construction of a new socialist culture and a permanent residence for the Berliner Ensemble. Along the way, Brecht made compromises — especially in 1953 — but he nevertheless contributed significantly to the cultural reconstruction of the GDR. This article thus joins the growing historical literature on cultural reconstruction in Germany and Europe after 1945.

The article also contributes to the broader discussion about the role that intellectuals have played and should play in any modern society. In particular, the author argues that the critique of intellectuals which Brecht developed during this time around the notion of ‘Tuismus’ engages a model of the public intellectual in which the self-image of the artist and thinker as a socially and politically engaged person corresponded to the expectations of the public. Partisan without being bound to a party, independent of official institutions yet experienced in surviving within institutions, prepared to entertain risks and undertake unconventional experiments: this was how Brecht accommodated a world which he envisioned as changeable. His antagonistic worldview fed on crisis and found its most productive, creative impulse in the escalation of contradictions. For this he found plenty of material in the early years of the GDR and introduced some innovative strategies to give it form.
Integrating High School and the Community College
Authors: Kisker Carrie B.
Published: June 2006

This article explores three incarnations of the idea to integrate high school and the community college—Leonard Koos’s 6-4-4 plan of public school organization, Middle College High School, and the early college high school initiative. The author discusses rationales for integrating high school and the first 2 years of college, as well as possible reasons why the 6-4-4 plan and middle college high schools were not as widely implemented as their founders may have envisioned. The article concludes with a look to the future and identifies policy changes that must occur if early colleges are to become a significant and successful pathway from high school both to and through college
Improving Access to the Baccalaureate
Authors: Zinser Richard W. , Hanssen Carl E.
Published: June 2006

This article presents an analysis of national data from the Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program regarding articulation agreements for the transfer of 2-year technical degrees to baccalaureate degrees. Quantitative and qualitative data are illustrated to help explain the extent to which ATE projects improve access to universities for technical students
A Bayesian Learning Model with Applications to Party Identification
Authors: Grynaviski Jeffrey D.
Published: June 2006

Previous research has suggested that party labels operate like brand names that citizens use to inform their votes. The article argues that this earlier work has focused too much on the content of party messages, while the informational value of party labels also depends on voter uncertainty about the party's behavior in office. These intuitions are developed in a Bayesian learning model in which voters update their beliefs about the mean and variance in the distribution of parties' ideologies, and apply these beliefs to a spatial model of partisan choice with risk-averse voters. The model predicts that if party unity is high, then party labels will provide a useful signal to voters about candidate characteristics and identifications with the parties will be strong, but if party unity is low, then party attachments will be weak. This approach seems to explain both the stability in respondents' political preferences over the life-cycle and the decline and resurgence in the strength of party identifications in the American electorate over the last half-century.
Is Full Compliance Possible?
Authors: Bednar Jenna
Published: June 2006

Games of public good provision, collective action, and collusion share concern for the free rider that shirks on its obligations. According to the folk theorem, the free rider problem can be resolved through punishment mechanisms. Versions of the folk theorem have been applied when monitoring is imperfect. Empirical evidence contradicts this theory: while often subjects cooperate significantly, rarely is all shirking eliminated. To reconcile theory with empirical evidence, I provide a theoretical basis for the inability of participants in collective action problems to attain full compliance. I construct a general class of compliance models with imperfect monitoring through a common signal. I derive sufficient conditions — on both the utility of agents and the monitoring capabilities — under which slippage from full compliance is unavoidable, showing the limits of the folk theorem logic. The results cover most cases of concern to political scientists and political economists including public goods provision, contract and treaty compliance, collective action, and even Cournot competition. The article concludes with a discussion about institutional design.
The Other Eye
Authors: Al-Bagdadi Nadia
Published: June 2006

The famous and vast body of Arab dream literature offers a very rich historical and systematic source for the study of indices, symbols and other visual indicators. While this oneiric literature has always attracted much attention to this world of dreams, their visual dimension has remained rather neglected. This article looks at one of the fundamental elements of the dream, namely its transposition from the visual to the oral and/or written, the only way, as J.C. Schmitt has underlined, by which we can know of dreams. Thus at the centre of this article stands the relationship between the visual aspect of the dream and the forms of its non-visual representation.
Image against Nature
Authors: Flood Finbarr Barry
Published: June 2006

Although the use of portable amulets and talismans in the pre-modern Islamic world is well documented, little is known about their monumental counterparts. Despite this neglect, references to apotropaia and talismans designed to offer protection from pests such as pigeons, snakes and scorpions are common in descriptions of medieval architecture in Arabia, Egypt, Syria and Iran. In many cases these consisted of pre-Islamic zoom-orphic spolia set at entrances and gateways. The function and nature of these images find close analogies in Byzantium, where antique statuary was also ascribed a talismanic value. In both cultural spheres, this value is predicated upon the ability of the image to invert or negate the power of the imaged, a function to which antique figural spolia may have been especially well suited.
On Being Less Theoretical and More Technological in Organizational Communication
Authors: Corman Steven R.
Published: June 2006

This commentary reflects on Mumby and Stohl's essay “Disciplining Organizational Communication Studies.” The author argues that Mumby and Stohl's desire to create a “birth” story for the discipline caused them to overlook two important trends among its scholars that may work to undermine the discipline's relevance: overvaluing theory relative to the empirical study of communication behavior and resisting technology both as a subject and a tool. Organizational communication scholars should work against tendencies to maintain the currency of their research enterprise.
Unplanned Articulation
Authors: Crowe Nick
Published: June 2006

Police Radio was a project made by the author, a researcher at MIRIAD at Manchester Metropolitan University, in collaboration with serving officers from Merseyside Police Force between 2001 and 2003. The officers who took part in the project were all patrol officers - undertaking either foot patrol or vehicle patrol - and as such were involved in the everyday concerns of an urban police force in the UK - youth disorder, drunkenness, burglary, and so on. The completed work takes the form of a web radio station that continuously broadcasts a stream of ‘shows’ in which the police officers act as DJs whilst going about their normal patrols.
Conversations from the South
Authors: Tebbutt John
Published: June 2006

The international conference ‘Radio 2005: the second transnational forum’, held in Melbourne in July 2005, provided an excellent opportunity to bring together radio producers and activists from ‘the South’ to discuss ‘convergence’ as it related to radio and development. Under the banner of ‘RadioPlus: evaluating hybrid forms for development’ participants with experience of radio and development came from South Asia, Africa, the Pacific and Australia. The forum was supported by La Trobe University’s School of Communication and Critical Enquiry and Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. South Asian participants were funded under AusAID’s International Seminar Support Scheme. This report outlines key themes and concerns raised by participants.
3G to Web 2.0? Can Mobile Telephony Become an Architecture of Participation?
Authors: Wilson Jason
Published: June 2006

Telecommunications companies (telcos) paid too much for European 3G licences on the basis that they would be able to reach mobile consumers directly with web content. The subsequent reluctance of consumers to pay for commercial content and the debts and devaluations afflicting the post-tech-boom telcos has had several consequences. Besides an undercapitalized 3G infrastructure, there has been increasing consternation about the absence of a must-have service ‘killer app’ that would lead to the uptake of 3G products, and determined efforts to find one, as evidenced at events like ‘Mobile Content World’, an industry conference and trade fair held in London in October 2005. But the efforts to sell 3G spectrum (and the entire 3G experiment) may be based on a misapprehension of the nature of users’ relationships with ICTs and web content. This article presents an overview and commentary on the progress of the 3G mobile content industry. In part it is based on a review of presentations at ‘Mobile Content World’, and in part on a review and synthesis of the most recent literature covering 3G and mobile content from the fields of media studies, cultural studies, economics and business.
Drugs and genotypes: how pharmacogenetic information could improve smoking cessation treatment
Authors: Lee Anna M. , Tyndale Rachel F.
Published: June 2006

Current smoking cessation treatments are not optimal as the long-term abstinence rates are low. Nicotine replacement therapy and bupropion are the only pharmacotherapies widely available to smokers and there is a need to improve current cessation treatments and to develop new drug therapies. Our goal is to use pharmacogenetic information to improve smoking cessation treatments. Candidate genes include those involved in central mechanisms (such as genes encoding the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, dopamine receptors, dopamine transporters and opioid receptors) and peripheral mechanisms (such as genes encoding the drug-metabolizing enzymes CYP2A6 and CYP2B6). Pharmacogenetics could be used to improve current smoking cessation treatments through two general approaches. The first would be to identify novel drug targets based on genetic variants that are associated with a natural protection against nicotine dependence, decreased smoking behaviour and/or increased smoking cessation. This knowledge could be used to develop drugs that can mimic these advantages, reducing the risk for acquisition, block the rewarding effects of smoking, decreasing the amount smoked and increasing cessation. The second would be to identify smokers with particular genetic variants who are likely to respond better to one treatment (or dose) versus another and to individualize their treatment to maximize long-term abstinence. This review will highlight examples of how pharmacogenetic information from central and peripheral candidate genes could contribute to improving smoking cessation outcomes by these two approaches.
Screening the receptorome
Authors: Kroeze Wesley K. , Roth Bryan L.
Published: June 2006

The term ‘receptorome’ is now being used to describe receptors, ion channels and transporters in the human genome that are potential drug targets. These proteins comprise a considerable fraction of the human genome, and include the G protein-coupled receptors, which are the targets for many medications. In this review, we summarize recent advances in the field, including the concept that the ultimate goal of drug discovery may not be the development of highly selective single-target drugs, the idea that potential side-effects can also be the goal of multi-target drug screening, and a discussion of the application of computational screening and public domain databases available to interested investigators.
Therapeutic drug monitoring of psychoactive drugs during pregnancy in the genomic era: challenges and opportunities
Authors: Devane C. Lindsay , Stowe Zachary N. , Donovan Jennifer L. , Newport D. Jeffrey , Pennell Page B. , Ritchie James C. , Owens Michael J. , Wang Jun-Sheng
Published: June 2006

Various symptoms of mental illness occur commonly during pregnancy. It is estimated that serious mental disorders, including major depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, panic and other anxiety disorders, occur with a frequency of 10 to 25% in community samples of US women in their child-bearing years. As a result, approximately a third of all women take at least one psychoactive drug during pregnancy. Fetal drug exposure has been documented for all psychoactive drugs studied to date. However, the rate and extent of placental transfer within and between psychoactive drug classes remains ill defined. The contribution of various genetic factors such as the role of polymorphic drug metabolizing enzymes and drug transporters in controlling the variability of fetal drug exposure is also unclear. Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) has traditionally played an important role in psychiatric pharmacotherapy during pregnancy to ensure an adequate drug dose to achieve desired benefits while avoiding excessive fetal accumulation for drugs. In the genomic era, individualized treatment with specific drugs tailored to the mother's and fetus's genotype should eventually become the standard of care. Several methodological problems need to be overcome for this prediction to become reality. One approach to this goal taken by the Specialized Center of Research on Sex and Gender Factors Affecting Women's Health at the Emory University Women's Mental Health Program is described. This research is grounded on TDM of pregnant women receiving antidepressants, antipsychotics, anti-epileptic drugs and mood stabilizers. The use of pharmacokinetic and pharmacogenetic models to predict maternal plasma drug concentrations, fetal drug exposure, and maternal and neonatal outcomes, is expected to improve our understanding of dose-response relationships of psychoactive drugs in pregnancy.
Why Don't Courts Treat Hospitals Like Tanks for Liquefied Gases? Some Reflections on Health Care Antitrust Enforcement
Authors: Gaynor Martin
Published: June 2006

In this article, I use the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice 2004 report Improving Health Care: A Dose of Competition as an occasion to comment on two specific issues that have arisen in health care antitrust: the recent string of losses by the enforcement agencies in hospital merger cases and an antitrust exemption for physicians to bargain collectively with health insurers. One of the more salient facts about health care antitrust enforcement is the notable recent lack of success of the enforcement agencies in hospital merger cases. This may be due to judges and juries holding views of hospital markets as being different from markets for other goods and services. My conclusion is that hospitals are an industry with unique attributes, but nothing about the specifics of the health care industry suggests that the unregulated use of market power in this industry is socially beneficial. As a consequence, the antitrust laws should be enforced here as in any other industry. Countervailing power is an issue that has come to the fore in health care antitrust. Physicians have explicitly asked for legislative exemption from the antitrust laws in order to bargain collectively with insurance companies, as a means of counteracting insurers' monopsony power. It is not clear that health insurers possess significant monopsony power. Even if they do, bestowing monopoly power on physicians will not necessarily improve matters. Active antitrust enforcement in insurance markets is the correct response, not blanket exemptions for providers.
Strategies to Enhance Price and Quality Competition in Health Care: Lessons Learned from Tracking Local Markets
Authors: Lesser Cara S. , Ginsburg Paul B.
Published: June 2006

Drawing on observations from tracking changes in local health care markets over the past ten years, this article critiques two Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice recommendations to enhance price and quality competition. First, we take issue with the notion that consumers, acting independently, will drive greater competition in health care markets. Rather we suggest an important role remains for trusted agents who can analyze inherently complex price and quality information and negotiate on consumers' behalf. With aggregated information identifying providers who deliver cost-effective care, consumers would be better positioned to respond to financial incentives about where to seek care and thereby drive more meaningful competition among providers to reduce costs and improve quality. Second, we take issue with the FTC/DOJ recommendation to provide more direct subsidies to prevent distortions in competition. In the current political environment, it is not practical to provide direct subsidies for all of the unfunded care that exists in health care markets today; instead, some interference with competition may be necessary to protect cross subsidies. Barriers can be reduced, though, by revising pricing policies that have resulted in marked disparities in the relative profitability of different services.
A Dose of Reality: Assessing the Federal Trade Commission/Department of Justice Report in an Uninsured, Underserved, and Vulnerable Population Context
Authors: Rosenbaum Sara
Published: June 2006

Despite the size of their report, the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice pay virtually no attention to tens of millions of uninsured and underinsured persons. By focusing on an increasingly rarified group of health care customers—healthy, affluent, and highly insured—the report takes on an untethered quality, with only the slightest tip of the hat to its own limitations. Furthermore, the report overstates the extent of legal constraints on the market, in particular, the degree to which the market is free to select its customers and tailor its goods and services to the best risks. By miscasting the legal context of the American health care system, the report ultimately undermines much of its potential value.
Benzimidazole–Chalcone: A Selective Intramolecular Charge-transfer Probe for Biologically Important Zinc Ions
Authors: Mashraqui Sabir H , Sundaram Subramanian , Khan Tabrez
Published: June 2006

Benzimidazole–chalcone 3 functions as an optical probe on the basis of intramolecular charge-transfer (ICT) interaction involving bi-dentate chelation. Dramatic changes were observed both in the UV–vis and fluorescence behaviors of 3 in the presence of Zn2+, while other metal ions e.g. Li+, Na+, K+, Ca2+, and Mg2+ produced relatively insignificant optical changes.
Carbon and Nitrogen-codoped TiO2 with High Visible Light Photocatalytic Activity
Authors: Cong Ye , Chen Feng , Zhang Jinlong , Anpo Masakazu
Published: June 2006

Titanium dioxide codoped with carbon and nitrogen was synthesized by a microemulsion–hydrothermal process. There was a synergistic effect for the carbon and nitrogen-codoped TiO2, which offset the deficiencies of carbon or nitrogen single doped TiO2. The results showed that the photocatalytic activity of C and N-codoped TiO2 was considerably improved because the band gap of TiO2 was greatly narrowed by C and N-codoping.
Increasing Residual Wage Inequality: Composition Effects, Noisy Data, or Rising Demand for Skill?
Authors: Lemieux Thomas
Published: June 2006

This paper shows that a large fraction of the 1973–2003 growth in residual wage inequality is due to composition effects linked to the secular increase in experience and education, two factors associated with higher within-group wage dispersion. The level and growth in residual wage inequality are also overstated in the March Current Population Survey (CPS) because, unlike the May or Outgoing Rotation Group (ORG) CPS, it does not measure directly the hourly wages of workers paid by the hour. The magnitude and timing of the growth in residual wage inequality provide little evidence of a pervasive increase in the demand for skill due to skill-biased technological change.
Medium-Term Business Cycles
Authors: Comin Diego , Gertler Mark
Published: June 2006

Over the postwar period, many industrialized countries have experienced significant medium-frequency oscillations between periods of robust growth versus relative stagnation. Conventional business cycle filters, however, tend to sweep these oscillations into the trend. In this paper we explore whether they may, instead, reflect a persistent response of economic activity to the high-frequency fluctuations normally associated with the cycle. We define as the medium-term cycle the sum of the high- and medium-frequency variation in the data, and then show that these kinds of fluctuations are substantially more volatile and persistent than are the conventional measures. These fluctuations, further, feature significant procyclical movements in both embodied and disembodied technological change, and research and development (R&D), as well as the efficiency and intensity of resource utilization. We then develop a model of medium-term business cycles. A virtue of the framework is that, in addition to offering a unified approach to explaining the high- and medium-frequency variation in the data, it fully endogenizes the movements in productivity that appear central to the persistence of these fluctuations. For comparison, we also explore how well an exogenous productivity model can explain the facts.
Matching and Price Competition
Authors: Bulow Jeremy , Levin Jonathan
Published: June 2006

We develop a model in which firms set impersonal salary levels before matching with workers. Wages fall relative to any competitive equilibrium while profits rise almost as much, implying little inefficiency. Furthermore, the best firms gain the most from the system while wages become compressed. In light of our results, we discuss the performance of alternative institutions and the recent antitrust case against the National Resident Matching Program.
On the Simple Economics of Advertising, Marketing, and Product Design
Authors: Johnson Justin P , Myatt David P
Published: June 2006

We propose a framework for analyzing transformations of demand. Such transformations frequently stem from changes in the dispersion of consumers' valuations, which lead to rotations of the demand curve. In many settings, profits are a U-shaped function of dispersion. High dispersion is complemented by niche production, and low dispersion is complemented by mass-market supply. We investigate numerous applications, including product design; advertising, marketing and sales advice; and the construction of quality-differentiated product lines. We also suggest a new taxonomy of advertising, distinguishing between hype, which shifts demand, and real information, which rotates demand.
Relaxed Significance Criteria for Linkage Analysis
Authors: Chen Lin , Storey John D
Published: June 2006

Linkage analysis involves performing significance tests at many loci located throughout the genome. Traditional criteria for declaring a linkage statistically significant have been formulated with the goal of controlling the rate at which any single false positive occurs, called the genomewise error rate (GWER). As complex traits have become the focus of linkage analysis, it is increasingly common to expect that a number of loci are truly linked to the trait. This is especially true in mapping quantitative trait loci (QTL), where sometimes dozens of QTL may exist. Therefore, alternatives to the strict goal of preventing any single false positive have recently been explored, such as the false discovery rate (FDR) criterion. Here, we characterize some of the challenges that arise when defining relaxed significance criteria that allow for at least one false positive linkage to occur. In particular, we show that the FDR suffers from several problems when applied to linkage analysis of a single trait. We therefore conclude that the general applicability of FDR for declaring significant linkages in the analysis of a single trait is dubious. Instead, we propose a significance criterion that is more relaxed than the traditional GWER, but does not appear to suffer from the problems of the FDR. A generalized version of the GWER is proposed, called GWERk, that allows one to provide a more liberal balance between true positives and false positives at no additional cost in computation or assumptions.