bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Metabolically engineered soybean seed with enhanced threonine levels: biochemical characterization and seed‐specific expression of lysine‐insensitive variants of aspartate kinases from the enteric bacterium Xenorhabdus bovienii
Authors: Qi Qungang , Huang Jintai , Crowley James , Ruschke Lisa , Goldman Barry S. , Wen Li , Rapp William D.
Published: July 2010

Threonine (Thr) is one of a few limiting essential amino acids (EAAs) in the animal feed industry, and its level in feed rations can impact production of important meat sources, such as swine and poultry. Threonine as well as EAAs lysine (Lys) and methionine (Met) are all synthesized via the aspartate family pathway. Here, we report a successful strategy to produce high free threonine soybean seed via identification of a feedback‐resistant aspartate kinase (AK) enzyme that can be over‐expressed in developing soybean seed. Towards this goal, we have purified and biochemically characterized AK from the enteric bacterium Xenorhabdus bovienii (Xb). Site‐directed mutagenesis of XbAK identified two key regulatory residues Glu‐257 and Thr‐359 involved in lysine inhibition. Three feedback‐resistant alleles, XbAK_T359I, XbAK_E257K and XbAK_E257K/T359I, have been generated. This study is the first to kinetically characterize the XbAK enzyme and provide biochemical and transgenic evidence that Glu‐257 near the catalytic site is a critical residue for the allosteric regulation of AK. Furthermore, seed‐specific expression of the feedback‐resistant XbAK_T359I or XbAK_E257K allele results in increases of free Thr levels of up to 100‐fold in R1 soybean seed when compared to wild‐type. Expression of feedback‐sensitive wild‐type AK did not substantially impact seed Thr content. In addition to high Thr, transgenic seed also showed substantial increases in other major free amino acid (FAA) levels, resulting in an up to 3.5‐fold increase in the total FAA content. The transgenic seed was normal in appearance and germinated well under greenhouse conditions.
Gamers and gaming context: Relationships to critical thinking
Authors: Gerber Sue , Scott Logan
Published: July 2010

Gaming is purported to hold promise for education, in part, because it is thought to develop 21st century skills such as critical thinking. To date, there has been a dearth of generalisable research investigating the relationship between gaming and critical thinking. Results of a survey of 121 adults found that gamers and non‐gamers do not differ significantly on critical thinking dispositions. However, gamers who play strategy games scored higher on actively open‐minded thinking than did other types of gamers. In addition, low compared with high involvement in the gaming community was associated with higher open‐minded thinking. Implications for educators and for further research are discussed.
The characteristics of reusable learning objects that enhance learning: A case‐study in health‐science education
Authors: Windle Richard J. , McCormick Damion , Dandrea Jennifer , Wharrad Heather
Published: July 2010

We investigated the effectiveness of reusable learning objects (RLOs) when delivered in a workshop or released for self‐study with groups of student‐nurses studying chemistry. Analysis of examination results showed that the proportion of students answering chemistry questions correctly increased significantly in both the workshop and self‐study cohorts following the introduction of the RLOs. In terms of the factors that supported learning, students rated functional characteristics, such as universal availability and control over learning, as more important than media characteristics, such as audio‐narration and interactivity. There was no correlation between ratings and the age of the respondent, their computer confidence or whether they studied alone or in the workshop. Similarly, design differences between individual RLOs did not appear to detract from learning. Data suggest that the sense of control and ownership of the learning process that RLOs afforded to the learners were the keys to their effectiveness. By reporting the attainment of study cohorts compared with non‐intervention groups, exploring differential learning‐contexts for RLO use and by providing empirical evidence of reuse, the study provides evidence which is underreported in the literature despite the wide uptake of learning object format.
SimPharm: How pharmacy students made meaning of a clinical case differently in paper‐ and simulation‐based workshops
Authors: Loke Swee‐Kin , Tordoff June , Winikoff Michael , McDonald Jenny , Vlugter Peter , Duffull Stephen
Published: July 2010

Several scholars contend that learning with computer games and simulations results in students thinking more like professionals. Bearing this goal in mind, we investigated how a group of pharmacy students learnt with an in‐house developed computer simulation, SimPharm. Adopting situated cognition as our theoretical lens, we conducted a case study involving 20 undergraduate students to tease out how they made meaning of a clinical case differently in two different contexts: a typical paper‐based workshop and one enabled by SimPharm. The data collected included audio recordings of classroom discourse, focus group interviews and class observations. The findings identified differences in four areas: framing of the problem; problem‐solving steps and tools used; sources and meaning of feedback; and conceptualisation of the patient. These four areas can serve as axes along which future evaluations of educational simulations can be carried out based on their affordances.
Regulatory Regionalism and the Dynamics of Territorial Politics: The Case of the Asia-Pacific Region
Authors: Hameiri Shahar , Jayasuriya Kanishka
Published: July 2010

This article examines the emergence and politics of new modes of regional governance understood as a form of regulatory regionalism. Regulatory regionalism is defined in terms of the institutional spaces of regional regulation functioning within ostensibly national policy and political institutions. The central insight of this essay is that the politics of this regulatory regionalism can be conceptualised as a system of territorial politics fought out and accommodated across the institutional space of the state. The emphasis on territorial politics highlights the fact that strategic moves within institutional space are shaped by the political context in which the regional and ‘regionalising’ actors operate. From our perspective regulatory regionalism is a distinctive method of boundary control over overlapping political arenas, which brings into play a system of territorial politics within the state. We test this argument through an examination of regional governance in the Asia-Pacific region which is often thought of as being inhospitable to such governance innovation.
Illness and narrative
Authors: Hydén Lars‐Christer
Published: July 2010

AbstractThe article gives a review of the last ten years' of research on illness narratives, and organises this research around certain central themes. Four aspects of illness narratives are discussed: 1. a proposed typology giving three different kinds of illness narratives ‐ illnessasnarrative, narrativeaboutillness, and narrativeasillness; 2. considerations of what can be accomplished with the help of illness narratives; 3. problems connected with how illness narratives are organised; and 4. the social context of telling and its influence on the narrative. It is argued that as social scientists we can use illness narratives as a means of studying not only the world of biomedical reality, but also the illness experience and its social and cultural underpinnings.
Ethical capital: ‘What’s a poor man got to leave?’
Authors: Williams Beverley , Woodby Lesa , Drentea Patricia
Published: July 2010

For those of little or no means, leaving one’s mark through financial assets, social connections, and human investment is difficult. Using secondary analysis of transcripts from face‐to‐face interviews with 33 terminally‐ill patients from an outpatient clinic at a public hospital serving the disadvantaged in the southern United States, we examine the legacy participants wish to leave behind. As part of this process, participants assess life circumstances to try and generate a legacy allowing them to remain personally relevant to loved ones after death. For the low‐SES terminally ill persons in this study, the desire to leave a material legacy and the means to do so are not congruous. In the absence of economic resources to bequeath loved ones, participants describe their desire to leave loved ones some form of ethical currency to facilitate interactions with others and protect them against social marginalisation. We call this concept ethical capital. We then argue ethical capital is a way for disadvantaged people to find dignity and to affirm their lives.
Middle English occupational bynames as lexical evidence: a study of names in the Nottingham borough court rolls 1303–1455. Part 1, Methodology
Authors: McClure Peter
Published: July 2010

The potential value of Middle English bynames for the history of English vocabulary has long been recognised, and occupational names have been given a good deal of scholarly attention. Nevertheless there are many borough and city records whose bynames have yet to be systematically researched. The present paper on methodology and its sequel, Part 2, ‘Etymologies’, are concerned with occupational bynames in the borough court rolls of late medieval Nottingham. ‘Etymologies’ will discuss 51 bynames that either are not recorded as occupational agent nouns in the Middle English Dictionary (hereafter abbreviated as MED), antedate the earliest quotation in MED, or, through their forms and contexts, shed new light on the etymology or sense of the source word. Part 1, ‘Methodology’, places this investigation of Nottingham bynames against the background of previous lexicographical applications of Middle English bynames, describes the contents of the Nottingham borough court rolls, and sets out the methodological principles and practicalities that influence the etymological judgements made in the second paper. Lacking the linguistic contextualisation that is normal for items of vocabulary, bynames present special problems of interpretation for the lexicographer, which need to be identified and, where possible, mitigated.
Project Finance Collateralised Debt Obligations: an Empirical Analysis of Spread Determinants
Authors: Buscaino Valerio , Caselli Stefano , Corielli Francesco , Gatti Stefano
Published: July 2010

Credit rating is the most important variable in determining tranche spread at issue on collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) issues backed by project finance (PF) loans. Factors that are important for pricing in the case of corporate bonds, such as market liquidity and weighted average maturity, are also relevant for determining spreads for these securities. Furthermore, the nature of the underlying assets has a substantial impact on CDO pricing: Primary market spread is significantly higher when the underlying PF loans bear a higher level of market risk and when the proportion of projects still under construction in the securitised portfolio is larger.
Babies on Board: Women, Children and Imperial Policy in the Spanish Empire
Authors: Poska Allyson M.
Published: July 2010

From 1778 to 1784, in an attempt to colonise Patagonia, the Spanish Crown transported more than 1,900 peasants from northern Spain to the Río de la Plata. Based on Enlightenment ideas about economy and society, the Crown used the colonisation scheme to assert control over some of its most marginal subjects. In the hope of transforming these peasants from poverty‐stricken burdens on society into filial agents of empire, the Crown invested heavily in the health and wellbeing of the colonising mothers and children, and clearly established the monarchy as a benevolently powerful paternal authority.
Debating Womanhood, Defining Freedom: The Abolition of Slavery in 1880s Rio de Janeiro
Authors: Cowling Camillia
Published: July 2010

This article demonstrates how both the agency of women of colour and a particular set of ideas about femininity and maternity played an important part in shaping the ending of slavery in the city of Rio de Janeiro. It does so through the prism of untapped municipal documentation, exploring initiatives taken by the city council both to abolish slavery by emancipating mainly women and to shape the city's first generation of fully free working families by founding schools and charitable institutions. In enacting these measures, councillors found themselves debating not only the meanings of freedom, but the meanings of ex‐slave womanhood. Their discussions reflected both the long‐term development of ‘free womb logic’ in Brazilian slavery and emancipation, and tendencies by the 1880s abolitionist movement to make emotive, ‘feminised’ appeals for elite women to sympathise with enslaved mothers. The article explores how women of colour used elite discourses about freedom, maternity and womanhood in order to achieve freedom, but also contested and reshaped them as they sought to bring their own lived meanings to freedom.
The Women's Emancipation Union and Radical‐Feminist Politics in Britain, 1891–99
Authors: Wright Maureen
Published: July 2010

This paper considers the ideals and activism of the fin de siècle feminist organisation, the Women's Emancipation Union (WEU). Active between 1891 and 1899, the WEU held a prophetic vision of the future and an appraisal of women's subjection more comprehensive than any contemporary feminist group. Members were the first to link the possession by women of their bodily autonomy directly to the acquisition of the parliamentary vote, and thus redefined the terms upon which citizenship was constructed. One member raised the matter of armed insurrection in support of the women's franchise, an issue which would have serious implications for the future of suffragist campaigns. The political roots of WEU members lay chiefly within the utopian‐socialist and Radical‐liberal traditions, but it was an organisation which resisted party‐political allegiance to become anchored in the Progressive movement. Adopting what has been defined as the ‘muckraking’ tradition associated with Progressive authorship, the WEU suffragists constructed a rhetoric of resistance to women's subjection from social, sexual, economic and political standpoints. Many points they raised, including for a woman's right to consent to maternity to be enshrined in law, were to become the bedrock of the philosophy of the militant suffragette movement.
Divestment, Entrepreneurial Incentives, and the Life Cycle of the Firm
Authors: Wagner Wolf
Published: July 2010

Abstract:  An entrepreneur who wants to divest his firm suffers a time‐inconsistency problem: divesting a stake creates an incentive to divest further since he does not internalize the arising agency costs for the stake already sold. This paper shows that this leads to excessive divestment in equilibrium and entails efficiency losses which can offset any potential divestment gains. As a result, firms may stay private even if there are large gains from going public. We show that venture capitalists can reduce these inefficiencies. This is because they have influence over a firm's divestment decisions and can distinguish between an excessive and a desirable dilution of equity (such as in response to liquidity shocks). We also show that the divestment inefficiency gives rise to an optimal time of going public, which trades off the gains from going public early (higher divestment gains) with its costs (higher divestment inefficiency).
Determinants of Takeover Premium in Cash Offers: An Option Pricing Approach
Authors: Sudarsanam Sudi , Sorwar Ghulam
Published: July 2010

Abstract:  In takeovers bidders offer a premium to target firm shareholders but the determinants of such premium are not clearly identified. Among the factors previously examined in the literature are prior target undervaluation, expected synergy and overpayment due to behavioural biases like hubris. In this paper we use an option pricing approach to decompose the observed takeover premia. We also test the implications of recent real options‐based models of takeover premia and risk changes surrounding takeovers. We model the observed target stock price as a portfolio of unobserved stock price and a put option whose value depends on a number of target and deal characteristics that impinge on the probability of bid success. For a sample of over 200 UK cash takeover bids during 1990–2004, we estimate the put value using the Black‐Scholes option pricing model and find that target firm revaluation accounts for a substantial part of the observed takeover premium and the put value accounts for a smaller, but still significant, proportion. The latter is higher in hostile, failed and longer bids. The put option value is also significantly correlated with the relative riskiness of bidders and targets, and synergy as predicted by Lambrecht (2004). Movements in betas in the run up to takeover announcements and in the post‐announcement period are consistent with the real options‐based predictions of Hackbarth and Morellec (2008). This study contributes to a better understanding of the true determinants of takeover premium and demonstrates the usefulness of option pricing models and provides a preliminary test of real options models in understanding and measuring the impact of UK takeovers on firm risk and shareholder gains.
Feeling, caring, knowing: different types of empathy deficit in boys with psychopathic tendencies and autism spectrum disorder
Authors: Jones Alice P. , Happé Francesca G.E. , Gilbert Francesca , Burnett Stephanie , Viding Essi
Published: July 2010

Background:  Empathy dysfunction is one of the hallmarks of psychopathy, but it is also sometimes thought to characterise autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Individuals with either condition can appear uncaring towards others. This study set out to compare and contrast directly boys with psychopathic tendencies and boys with ASD on tasks assessing aspects of affective empathy and cognitive perspective taking. The main aim of the study was to assess whether a distinct profile of empathy deficits would emerge for boys with psychopathic tendencies and ASD, and whether empathy deficits would be associated with conduct problems in general, rather than psychopathic tendencies or ASD specifically.

Methods:  Four groups of boys aged between 9 and 16 years (N = 96) were compared: 1) psychopathic tendencies, 2) ASD, 3) conduct problems and 4) comparison. Tasks were included to probe attribution of emotions to self, empathy for victims of aggression and cognitive perspective‐taking ability.

Results:  Boys with psychopathic tendencies had a profile consistent with dysfunctional affective empathy. They reported experiencing less fear and less empathy for victims of aggression than comparison boys. Their cognitive perspective‐taking abilities were not statistically significantly different from those of comparison boys. In contrast, boys with ASD had difficulties with tasks requiring cognitive perspective taking, but reported emotional experiences and victim empathy that were in line with comparison boys. Boys with conduct problems did not differ from comparison boys, suggesting that the affective empathy deficit seen in boys with psychopathic tendencies was specific to that group, rather than common to all boys with conduct problems.

Conclusions:  Although both groups can appear uncaring, our findings suggest that the affective/information processing correlates of psychopathic tendencies and ASD are quite different. Psychopathic tendencies are associated with difficulties in resonating with other people’s distress, whereas ASD is characterised by difficulties in knowing what other people think.
Very early predictors of conduct problems and crime: results from a national cohort study
Authors: Murray Joseph , Irving Barrie , Farrington David P. , Colman Ian , Bloxsom Claire A.J.
Published: July 2010

Background:  Longitudinal research has produced a wealth of knowledge about individual, family, and social predictors of crime. However, nearly all studies have started after children are age 5, and little is known about earlier risk factors.

Methods:  The 1970 British Cohort Study is a prospective population survey of more than 16,000 children born in 1970. Pregnancy, birth, child, parent, and socioeconomic characteristics were measured from medical records, parent interviews, and child assessments at birth and age 5. Conduct problems were reported by parents at age 10, and criminal convictions were self‐reported by study members at ages 30–34.

Results:  Early (up to age 5) psychosocial risk factors were strong predictors of conduct problems and criminal conviction. Among pregnancy and birth measures, only prenatal maternal smoking was strongly predictive. Risk factors were similar for girls and boys. Additive risk scores predicted antisocial behaviour quite strongly.

Conclusions:  Risk factors from pregnancy to age 5 are quite strong predictors of conduct problems and crime. New risk assessment tools could be developed to identify young children at high risk for later antisocial behaviour.
Autophagy and protein aggregation after brain ischemia
Authors: Liu Chunli , Gao Yanqin , Barrett John , Hu Bingren
Published: July 2010

J. Neurochem. (2010) 115, 68–78.

Autophagy is the main degradation pathway responsible for eliminating abnormal protein aggregates and damaged organelles prevalent in neurons after transient cerebral ischemia. This study investigated whether accumulation of protein aggregate‐associated organelles in post‐ischemic neurons is a consequence of changes in autophagy. Electron microscopic analysis indicated that both autophagosomes and autolysosomes are significantly up‐regulated in hippocampal CA1 and DG neurons after ischemia. The microtubule‐associated protein light chain 3 (LC3)‐II conjugate, a marker for autophagosomes assessed by western blotting, was up‐regulated in post‐ischemic brain tissues. Confocal microscopy showed that LC3 isoforms were located in living post‐ischemic neurons. Treatment with chloriquine resulted in accumulation of LC3‐II in sham‐operated rats, but did not further change the LC3‐II levels in post‐ischemic brain tissues. The results indicate that at least part of the accumulation of protein aggregate‐associated organelles seen following ischemia is likely to be because of failure of the autophagy pathway. The resulting protein aggregation on subcellular organelle membranes could lead to multiple organelle damage and to delayed neuronal death after transient cerebral ischemia.
Striatal regulation of ΔFosB, FosB, and cFos during cocaine self‐administration and withdrawal
Authors: Larson Erin B. , Akkentli Fatih , Edwards Scott , Graham Danielle L. , Simmons Diana L. , Alibhai Imran N. , Nestler Eric J. , Self David W.
Published: July 2010

J. Neurochem.(2010)115, 112–122.

Chronic drug exposure induces alterations in gene expression profiles that are thought to underlie the development of drug addiction. The present study examined regulation of the Fos‐family of transcription factors, specifically cFos, FosB, and ΔFosB, in striatal subregions during and after chronic intravenous cocaine administration in self‐administering and yoked rats. We found that cFos, FosB, and ΔFosB exhibit regionally and temporally distinct expression patterns, with greater accumulation of ΔFosB protein in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) shell and core after chronic cocaine administration, whereas ΔFosB increases in the caudate‐putamen (CPu) remained similar with either acute or chronic administration. In contrast, tolerance developed to cocaine‐induced mRNA for ΔFosB in all three striatal subregions with chronic administration. Tolerance also developed to FosB expression, most notably in the NAc shell and CPu. Interestingly, tolerance to cocaine‐induced cFos induction was dependent on volitional control of cocaine intake in ventral but not dorsal striatal regions, whereas regulation of FosB and ΔFosB was similar in cocaine self‐administering and yoked animals. Thus, ΔFosB‐mediated neuroadaptations in the CPu may occur earlier than previously thought with the initiation of intravenous cocaine use and, together with greater accumulation of ΔFosB in the NAc, could contribute to addiction‐related increases in cocaine‐seeking behavior.
Overland flow initiation from a drumlin grassland hillslope
Authors: Doody D. G. , Higgins A. , Matthews D. , Foy R. H. , Pilatova K. , Duffy O. , Watson C. J.
Published: July 2010

Accurate prediction of overland flow requires an understanding of the hydrological processes controlling its occurrence over a range of spatial and temporal scales. This study investigated the factors controlling the initiation of overland flow from grassland on a drumlin. From January 2003 to December 2006, fine scale monitoring of soil moisture, rainfall and overland flow were carried out at a grazed grassland site in Northern Ireland. Logistic regression analyses were used to identify the factors controlling the initiation of overland flow. Relationships between the observed volumetric soil moisture (VSM) and soil moisture deficit (SMD) values predicted from regional meteorological data were also compared. Results demonstrated that although saturation excess overland flow occurs at this site, 59% of overland flow events occurred on days when soil moisture was below field capacity. The logistic regression analysis confirmed that when soils were below field capacity, average rainfall intensity was the most important variable in determining the probability of overland flow occurring followed by the SMD. Although VSM values at this site were correlated with two sets of modelled values of SMD, one based on the meteorological office rainfall and evaporation calculation system model of the UK Meteorological Office and the other based on a study from Ireland, neither model provided accurate indicators of the risk of overland flow. Each significantly overestimated the number of days when soils were at or above field capacity. This uncertainty and the predicted increase in high‐intensity rainfall events as a result of climate change pose challenges to the use of SMD as an indicator of the risk of overland flow.
TESTING THE BAUMOL–NORDHAUS MODEL WITH EU KLEMS DATA
Authors: HARTWIG JOCHEN
Published: July 2010

Baumol's (1967) seminal model of structural change predicts that large service industries financed mainly through taxes and social contributions—like health care and education, for instance—will acquire ever‐larger shares of total expenditures and that, concomitantly, overall productivity growth will decline. Applying a new testing strategy for Baumol's model, Nordhaus (2008) finds strong evidence in favor of the “cost and growth diseases” in U.S. GDP‐by‐industry data (published by the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis). The aim of the present paper is twofold. The first is to check whether Nordhaus's results can be reproduced using U.S. industry data from the EU KLEMS database. Second, Nordhaus's testing methodology is applied to European Union data from the same database. The results suggest that—although there are differences vis‐à‐vis the U.S.—the EU also shows symptoms of “Baumol's diseases.”
Pharmacological modulation by celecoxib of cachexia associated with experimental arthritis and atherosclerosis in rabbits
Authors: Romero FI , Martínez‐Calatrava MJ , Sánchez‐Pernaute O , Gualillo O , Largo R , Herrero‐Beaumont G
Published: July 2010

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs improve inflammatory cachexia in several conditions. Thus, we have explored inhibition of cyclooxygenase‐2 (COX‐2) in an experimental model of rheumatoid cachexia in rabbits.

EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH Chronic arthritis was induced in immunized rabbits by repeated intra‐articular injections of ovalbumin. To increase the degree of systemic inflammation and also to induce atherosclerotic lesions, the animals were fed a hyperlipidaemic diet (2% cholesterol and 6% peanut oil) and were given an endothelial injury of the femoral artery. Rabbits were randomized to receive the COX‐2 inhibitor celecoxib (10 mg·kg−1·day−1) or no treatment. After 4 weeks, sera, peripheral mononuclear cells and vessel specimens were collected.

KEY RESULTS Inhibition of COX‐2 by celecoxib modulated the systemic inflammatory response and increased total cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Celecoxib also minimized weight loss and prevented serum albumin fall. At a vascular level, celecoxib reduced COX‐2 protein in the femoral arterial wall, but did not modify size or the macrophage infiltration of femoral lesions nor the percentage of rabbits with spontaneous aortic plaques.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS Our animal model induced a severe inflammatory cachexia, comparable to that of persistently active rheumatoid arthritis. The inhibition of COX‐2 by celecoxib improves this state, suggesting that COX products play an important role in its development, without affecting the development or the progression of vascular lesions. Overall, these results suggest that celecoxib might be considered as a new therapeutic tool for the treatment of rheumatoid cachexia.
KAI1 gene suppresses invasion and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma MHCC97‐H cells in vitro and in animal models
Authors: Yang Jian‐min , Peng Zhi‐hong , Si Sui‐hai , Liu Wei‐wen , Luo Yuan‐hui , Ye Zai‐yuan
Published: July 2010

Background: Downregulation of KAI1 gene expression has been found in many types of cancer cells and is closely related to cancer invasion and metastasis. This study was aimed at investigating the effects and possible underlying mechanisms of KAI1 gene on invasion and metastasis of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: The invasive ability, visco‐elastic properties and cell adhesion forces were analysed in different HCC cells originating from the MHCC97‐H cell line transfected with either the sense or the antisense KAI1 expression plasmid. Tumuorigenicity, metastatic abilities, extracellular matrix (ECM) and intercellular adhesion molecule‐1 (ICAM‐1) expression were also evaluated in the nude mouse models of the xenografted and orthotopic liver cancer cells.

Results: Compared with their parental cells, in the HCC cells transfected with the sense KAI1 gene, the invasive ability in vitro was significantly decreased (P<0.01); the cellular elastic coefficients K1, K2 and μ were significantly higher (P<0.05); the cells adhesion forces to fibronectin were significantly lower (P<0.01). The sense KAI1 gene transfection into the cancer cells also inhibited their invasion and lung metastasis in the orthotopic liver cancer nude mice. However, the opposite changes were observed in the HCC cells transfected with the antisense KAI1 gene. KAI1 gene transfection also affected ECM and ICAM‐1 expression in the transplanted liver cancer.

Conclusion: The KAI1 gene plays an important role in the invasion and metastasis of human HCC and its upregulation in HCC cells suppresses their invasive and metastatic abilities. KAI1 gene functioned as a metastasis inhibitor by regulating the HCC cell biophysical behaviours including aggregation, adhesion, motility and visco‐elastic properties.
Turbary Restoration Meets Variable Success: Does Landscape Structure Force Colonization Success of Wetland Plants?
Authors: Beltman Boudewijn , Omtzigt Nancy Q. A. , Vermaat Jan E.
Published: July 2010

Peat ponds have been restored widely in the Netherlands to enhance the available habitat for species‐rich plant communities that characterize the early succession stages toward land. Colonization success of 33 target aquatic species has been quantified in eight complexes of new ponds. It has been related to the lay‐out of these ponds, the structure of the surrounding landscape, (historic) prevalence of source populations within the complex and within a perimeter of 10 km, and pond water quality. Colonization success was variable: between 6 and 26 target species had reached the complexes in 1998. This success was coupled to the first principal component (PC) in a principal component analysis (PCA) explaining 44% of the variation in 27 variables. This first PC correlated with historical perimeter and local within‐complex species richness, the number of ponds in the complex, the SW orientation of ditches in these complexes and pH, and transparency of the water. Age of the ponds (1–9 years), area of open water (8–42%), and shoreline density (13–43 km/km2 in the complex) did not contribute significantly to colonization success. Separation of the effect of a species‐rich surrounding landscape, the possibility to disperse through that landscape, the spatial lay‐out of the complex and transparency of the water were precluded by the strong covariance along the first PC. Probably all three are independently important. It is speculated that diel migration by waterfowl may be responsible for the dispersal of plant propagules to the pond complex, whereas within‐complex dispersal to establishment sites is enhanced by wind and water movement.
Why Do Migraineurs Abuse Butalbital‐Containing Combination Analgesics?
Authors: Evans Randolph W. , Baskin Steven M.
Published: July 2010

(Headache 2010;50:1194‐1197)
Migraine‐Induced Stroke With Risk Factors—Involving Two Cerebral Artery Territories
Authors: Li Sheng‐Yun , Guo Xiu‐Hai , Wu Jian , Jia Jian‐Ping
Published: July 2010

(Headache 2010;50:1203‐1214)

A patient with migraine‐induced stroke with risk factors involving both anterior cerebral artery and posterior cerebral artery territory was presented. To better explain the symptom, the mechanisms of the migraine‐induced stroke with risk factors were assessed and a hypothesis was raised.
A Practice Guide for Continuous Opioid Therapy for Refractory Daily Headache: Patient Selection, Physician Requirements, and Treatment Monitoring
Authors: Saper Joel R. , Lake Alvin E. , Bain Philip A. , Stillman Mark J. , Rothrock John F. , Mathew Ninan T. , Hamel Robert L. , Moriarty Maureen , Tietjen Gretchen E.
Published: July 2010

(Headache 2010;50:1175‐1193)

Objectives.— To provide a guide to the use and limitations of continuous opioid therapy (COT, or daily scheduled opioids) for refractory daily headache, based on the best available evidence and expert clinical experience.

Background.— There has been a dramatic increase in opioid administration over the past 25 years, with limited evidence of efficacy for either pain reduction or increased function, and increasing evidence of adverse effects, including headache chronification. To date, there has been no consensus on headache‐specific guidelines for selecting patients for COT, physician requirements, and treatment monitoring.

Methods.— A multidisciplinary committee of physicians and allied health professionals with extensive experience and expertise in the administration of opioids to headache patients, undertook a review of the available evidence from the research and clinical literature (using the PubMed database for articles through December 2009) to develop headache‐specific treatment recommendations. This guide reflects the opinions of its authors and is not an official document of the American Headache Society.

Results.— The guide identifies factors that would qualify or disqualify the use of COT, including, determination of intractability prior to initiating COT, requisite experience of the prescriber, and requirements for a formal monitoring system to assess appropriate use, safety, efficacy, and functional impact. An appendix reviews the available evidence for efficacy of COT in chronic headache and noncancer pain, paradoxical effects (opioid‐induced hyperalgesia, medication overuse headache, opioid‐related reduction in triptan and nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drug efficacy), other adverse effects (nausea and constipation, insomnia and sleep apnea, respiratory depression and sudden cardiac death, reductions in sex hormones, issues during pregnancy, neurocognitive functioning), and issues related to comorbid psychiatric disorders.

Conclusions.— Only a select and very limited group (estimate of 10‐20%) of refractory headache patients who meet criteria for COT respond with convincing headache reduction and functional improvement over the long‐term. Conservative and empirically based guidelines will help identify those patients for whom a COT trial may be appropriate, while protecting their welfare and safety.
Analysis of cutoffs for screening sensitized blood donors for HLA alloantibodies using a cytometric microbead assay
Authors: Makar Robert S. , Saidman Susan L. , Stowell Christopher P. , Lee Hang , Powers Amy
Published: July 2010

BACKGROUND: Cytometric‐based microbead assays for HLA alloantibodies may be effective tools for transfusion‐related acute lung injury (TRALI) risk reduction. However, the optimal cutoff for donor screening is unclear.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: To optimize the screening test cutoff in sensitized donors, sera were screened with a cytometric microbead assay. Confirmatory testing was performed on samples with a normalized background (NBG) ratio of 2.4 or more.

RESULTS: Sera with a NBG of 2.4 to 9.9 had positive predictive values (PPVs) of 78.2% (95% confidence interval [CI], 67.8%‐86.0%) and 71.1% (95% CI, 56.5%‐82.4%) for Class I and II antibodies, respectively. Sera with a NBG of 10 or more had PPVs of 98.9% (95% CI, 93.3%‐100%) and 99.1 (95% CIs, 94.7%‐100%) for Class I and II, respectively. The percent panel‐reactive antibody (PRA) of confirmed HLA alloantibodies from sera with a NBG of 2.4 to 9.9 was 29.3 ± 17% (mean ± standard deviation) for Class I and 22.3 ± 16.7% for Class II, but for antibodies from sera with a NBG of 10 or more the PRAs were 65.3 ± 24.0 and 64.1 ± 25.2% for Class I and II, respectively (p < 0.00001). Serial dilution studies comparing the screening test with antiglobulin‐enhanced lymphocytotoxicity suggested that NBG correlated with antibody titer. In our center, deferral for prior pregnancy or transfusion would result in loss of 28.8% of apheresis platelet (PLT) donors. Using the screening test at a cutoff of 2.4 or more or 10 or more would reduce the fraction of donors lost to 12.7 or 8.0%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: A screening cutoff of 10 or more predicts HLA alloimmunization in sensitized donors and is associated with higher PRAs and titers. Implementation of this cutoff may reduce TRALI risk while limiting unnecessary deferral of PLT donors.
New Product Preannouncement as a Signaling Strategy: An Audience‐Specific Review and Analysis*
Authors: Su Meng , Rao Vithala R.
Published: July 2010

Firms in various industries with highly competitive environments use new product preannouncement (NPP) as one of the most effective and popular signaling tools. Preannouncements can bring both benefits and costs to firms. Extant research has studied NPP from different perspectives and tackled the questions, “Should a new product be preannounced and when?” and “What information should be preannounced and why?” However, the benefits and costs of preannouncements from an audience‐specific perspective are less well understood. It is important to notice that benefits and costs of a preannouncement vary among different audiences and firms need to apply group‐specific weights in assessing the overall benefits and costs prior to making new product preannouncements. The purpose of this article is to review the existing literature on new product preannouncements for commonly observed marketing problems and to develop a general approach focusing on the target audiences and the incentives in sending signals to each audience and the impacts of these signals. This paper first reviews the literature on marketing‐related NPP issues as well as the determinants and effects of various factors on NPP decisions. Then, it discusses the phenomenon of new product preannouncements linked to other marketing and economics problems: (1) product development and positioning; (2) product diffusion and adoption; (3) firm value; (4) vaporware and antitrust litigations; and (5) consumer welfare. In addition, this paper divides the target audience of the new product preannouncement into four groups: customers, competitors, investors, and distributors. Based on current signaling theory, it proposes an audience‐specific framework to analyze the determinants, incentives, and impact of new product preannouncements. The proposed approach may provide more comprehensive insights on NPP strategies to managers and industrial decision makers. Finally, the paper suggests a number of future research directions from four different perspectives (i.e., customer, firm, government/industry, and methodology).
Whose Crystal Ball to Choose? Individual Difference in the Generalizability of Concept Testing
Authors: Peng Ling , Finn Adam
Published: July 2010

The product development literature has identified several individual characteristics that could influence how subjects respond to new products in concept tests. Few of these characteristics have been thoroughly investigated. The purpose of this research is to examine whether a number of personality traits (1) do influence concept evaluation scores and (2) can be used to identify respondents who provide substantially higher‐quality data in concept testing and whether the answers to these questions change for major versus minor innovations. The data quality of the concept testing data is defined using the generalizability theory, which provides a decision‐specific G‐coefficient. Higher quality means a G‐coefficient closer to 1 for a particular managerial decision. A Web‐based study to concept test 10 appliance innovations on multiple occasions was conducted among 105 panelists from the Institute for Online Consumer Studies (IOCS). During the concept testing, respondents' innovativeness, change‐seeking tendency, and propensity to exert cognitive effort were also measured. The results showed that the respondent characteristics influence the mean evaluation of the concepts and the psychometric quality of the concept testing data: (1) there is a significant linear relationship between concept scores and all of the innovativeness scales and change‐seeking measures; (2) the effect of innovativeness on concept testing outcomes is even more substantial for major innovations than for minor innovations; (3) the study provides evidence that the quality of concept testing data provided by respondents varies substantially with their innovativeness, whereas the differences are more modest when scaling just minor innovations; (5) there are also strong effects on data quality for the Need to Evaluate scale used to capture cognitive effort characteristics; and (6) there is little effect of segmenting on social desirability on data quality. Managerially, the current results indicate that a product manager wanting to concept test a pool of appliance concepts can benefit from screening for the respondents who will provide higher‐quality concept testing data. For example, respondents who are high on domain‐specific innovativeness provide the highest‐quality concept testing data for both minor and major innovations. The effects of traits are stronger for major innovations, supporting the claim that subject selection is a more critical issue in concept testing of major innovations. Product managers can improve the quality of their concept testing data without an increase in cost by screening the subjects they use in concept testing.
Innovation Management Practices Compared: The Example of Project‐Based Firms*
Authors: Blindenbach‐Driessen Floortje , Van Den Ende Jan
Published: July 2010

The importance of project‐based firms is increasing, as they fulfill the growing demands for complex integrated systems and knowledge‐intensive services. While project‐based firms are generally strong in innovating their clients' systems and processes, they seem to be less successful in innovating their own products or services. The reasons behind this are the focus of this paper. The characteristics of project‐based firms are investigated, how these affect management practices for innovation projects, and the influence of these practices on project performance. Using survey data of 203 Dutch firms in the construction, engineering, information technology, and related industries, differences in characteristics between project‐based and nonproject‐based firms are identified. Project‐based firms are distinguished from nonproject‐based firms on the basis of organizational configuration, the complexity of the operational process, and the project management capabilities of the firm. Project‐based firms also differ with regard to their level of collaboration and their innovation strategy, but not in the level of autonomy. A comparison of 135 innovation projects in 96 of the firms shows that project‐based firms do not manage their innovation projects different from other firms. However, the effects of specific management practices on project performance are different, particularly the effects of planning, multidisciplinary teams and heavyweight project leaders. Differences in firm characteristics provide an explanation for the findings. The implication for the innovation management literature is that “best” practices for innovation management are firm dependent.
A Longitudinal Study of the Impact of R&D, Patents, and Product Innovation on Firm Performance
Authors: Artz Kendall W. , Norman Patricia M. , Hatfield Donald E. , Cardinal Laura B.
Published: July 2010

Because of increasing levels of competition and decreasing product life cycles, a firm's ability to generate a continuous stream of innovations may be more important than ever in allowing a firm to improve profitability and maintain competitive advantage This paper investigates several issues that are central to an examination of the innovation productivity in a firm. First, the relationship between a firm's commitment to research and development and its innovative outcomes is examined. Two innovative outcomes are analyzed: (1) invention, which focuses on the development of new ideas; and (2) innovation, the development of commercially viable products or services from creative ideas. Invention is measured by the number of patents granted, and innovation is assessed by the number of new product announcements. Second, because many inventions ultimately result in marketable innovations and because patents may provide protection for new products, the relationship between patents and product announcements is also investigated. Finally, the ability of a firm to benefit from its inventions and innovations is studied by examining their separate effects on firm performance, measured as return on assets (ROA) and sales growth. Drawing from a sample of 272 firms in 35 industries over 19 years, the results from a model of simultaneous equations provided support for some of the hypotheses, but several other surprising findings were found. As expected, R&D spending was positively related to patents. This finding is consistent with others who argue that internal research capabilities, particularly those with a strong basic research component, is key to enabling a firm to generate creative outputs. More surprising was the finding of increasing returns to scale to R&D spending. While this contradicts much of the existing research, it is consistent with economic arguments for the advantages of scale in innovation. Also interesting is the finding that, while a significant curvilinear relationship exists between R&D spending and product announcements, it is not the predicted inverse‐U but instead a U‐shaped relationship. Consistent with previous work, product announcements were found to be positively related to both performance measures. A negative relationship was found between patents and both ROA and sales growth. While these findings were unexpected, they are intriguing and call into question the value of patents as protection mechanisms. In addition, these results may be resulting from the rise of strategic patenting, where an increasing number of firms are using patents as strategic weapons. As expected, a positive relationship was found between patents and new product announcements.