bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Influence of activated charcoal on the pharmacokinetics of moxifloxacin following intravenous and oral administration of a 400 mg single dose to healthy males
Authors: Stass H. , Kubitza D. , Möller J.‐G. , Delesen H.
Published: April 2005

Aims

To evaluate the extent to which enterohepatic recycling circulation contributes to moxifloxacin bioavailability in healthy, males by administration of activated charcoal and to evaluate the efficacy of activated charcoal administration in decreasing systemic concentrations of moxifloxacin in the event of overdose.

Methods

Nine healthy males, mean age 34 years (range 23–45 years) participated in a single centre, randomized, nonplacebo‐controlled, three way crossover study. The pharmacokinetics of moxifloxacin in plasma and urine were determined for up to 96 h following a 400 mg single dose randomly administered on three separate occasions with a minimum washout phase of 1 week. Treatment A was 400 mg moxifloxacin IV as a 1 h infusion, treatment B was 400 mg moxifloxacin IV as a 1 h infusion with oral activated charcoal (5 g directly before the start of the infusion, 5 g immediately after the end of the infusion, and 10 g at 2, 4 and 8 h after the start of the infusion), treatment C was 400 mg oral moxifloxacin with activated charcoal (10 g 15 min before and at 2, 4 and 8 h after drug administration). The subjects underwent a series of clinical and laboratory tests.

Results

Single 400 mg doses of moxifloxacin (PO and/or IV) were safe and well tolerated. The bioavailability of moxifloxacin was significantly decreased when given with charcoal (AUC = 35.5 (IV reference) vs 5.40 (PO) vs 28.5 (IV) mg l−1 h). Concurrently peak concentrations were lowered Cmax = 3.38 (IV reference) vs 0.62(PO) vs 2.97 (IV) mg l−1) by approximately 85% (P < 0.05) following oral administration and by 20% after IV treatment (P < 0.05). Bioavailability amounted to 15.4% (95% confidence interval 9.6, 25.0%) for treatment B while it was 80.4% (95% confidence interval 76.3.6, 84.6%) for treatment C. Terminal half‐lives were not affected. The kinetics of urinary excretion corroborated these findings.

Conclusions

The results of this study show that moxifloxacin undergoes pronounced enteric recycling after systemic uptake. In addition, these findings confirm that activated charcoal may be useful in treating moxifloxacin overdose by preventing its absorption.
Cutaneous clear cell myomelanocytic tumour: a new member of the growing family of perivascular epithelioid cell tumours (PEComas). Clinicopathological and immunohistochemical analysis of seven cases
Authors: Mentzel T , Reißhauer S , Rütten A , Hantschke M , Soares de Almeida L M , Kutzner H
Published: April 2005

Aims : To analyse seven cases of cutaneous myomelanocytic tumour histologically and immunohistochemically. Perivascular epithelioid cell tumours (so‐called PEComas) are rare and recently delineated neoplasms occurring in the lung, kidney, pancreas, uterus, falciform ligament, vulva, heart, prostate and soft tissues. PEComas are characterized by a perivascular location of neoplastic cells showing a broad spectrum of epithelioid and spindled cells with clear, and granular pale eosinophilic cytoplasm, and a variable expression of melanocytic and muscle markers, whereas S100 protein and cytokeratins are usually absent.

Methods and results : We report seven cases of cutaneous myomelanocytic tumour arising on the lower (six cases) and upper (one case) extremities of female adults (age range 30–66 years). In all cases an ill‐defined dermal lesion with extension into subcutaneous tissue was noted. The neoplasms contained numerous blood vessels with a lace‐like pattern and slightly thickened vessel walls, and were composed of perivascular epithelioid cells containing clear or focally granular pale eosinophilic cytoplasm and round vesicular nuclei with small, sometimes slightly enlarged nucleoli. Increased proliferative activity and tumour necrosis were not seen. Immunohistochemically, tumour cells stained positively for HMB‐45, microphthalmia transcription factor, and NKIC3 in all cases, whereas perivascular expression of α‐smooth muscle actin and focal positivity for desmin were noted in one case each only. Two out of four cases tested stained focally positive for calponin. No expression of S100 protein and pancytokeratin was present. Despite incomplete/marginal excision in three cases none of the neoplasms has recurred locally so far.

Conclusions : With the presented series of cutaneous myomelanocytic tumours the clinicopathological spectrum of PEComas is expanded.
Expression of claudins 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 in various types of tumours
Authors: Soini Y
Published: April 2005

Aims : Claudins are adhesion molecules present in tight junctions. To evaluate their usefulness as differentiation markers claudins 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 were studied in 116 epithelial and 92 non‐epithelial tumours.

Methods and results : Immunoreactivity for all claudins could be seen in different carcinomas. There were, however, tumour type‐specific differences in their expression. Lower expression of claudin 2 was seen in breast and prostatic carcinomas, while hepatocellular and renal carcinomas expressed lower levels of claudins 4 and 5. In contrast to epithelial tumours, lymphomas did not express claudins and most soft tissue tumours and naevocytic lesions were negative or showed weaker, mainly cytoplasmic positivity for some claudins. Of non‐epithelial tumours, claudin 5 was found only in angiosarcomas and benign vascular tumours, which also showed reactivity for claudins 2, 3 and 7, but was not expressed in any other soft tissue lesions or lymphomas.

Conclusions : The results show that claudins 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 can be used as markers for epithelial differentiation and to distinguish epithelial neoplasms from lymphomas and selectively also from soft tissue and naevocytic lesions. Since these claudins show type‐specific differential expression in epithelial tumours, they may also be of some value in distinguishing different epithelial tumours from each other. Additionally, claudin 5 shows promise as a marker for endothelial lesions compared with other soft tissue lesions.
Dynamics of stomatal patches for a single surface of Xanthium strumarium L. leaves observed with fluorescence and thermal images
Authors: WEST JEVIN D. , PEAK DAVID , PETERSON JAMES Q. , MOTT KEITH A.
Published: April 2005

Fluorescence and thermal imaging were used to examine the dynamics of stomatal patches for a single surface of Xanthium strumarium L. leaves following a decrease in ambient humidity. Patches were not observed in all experiments, and in many experiments the patches were short‐lived. In some experiments, however, patches persisted for many hours and showed complex temporal and spatial patterns. Rapidly sampled fluorescence images showed that the measurable variations of these patches were sufficiently slow to be captured by fluorescence images taken at 3‐min intervals using a saturating flash of light. Stomatal patchiness with saturating flashes of light was not demonstrably different from that without saturating flashes of light, suggesting that the regular flashes of light did not directly cause the phenomenon. Comparison of simultaneous fluorescence and thermal images showed that the fluorescence patterns were largely the result of stomatal conductance patterns, and both thermal and fluorescence images showed patches of stomatal conductance that propagated coherently across the leaf surface. These nondispersing patches often crossed a given region of the leaf repeatedly at regular intervals, resulting in oscillations in stomatal conductance for that region. The existence of these coherently propagating structures has implications for the mechanisms that cause patchy stomatal behaviour as well as for the physiological ramifications of this phenomenon.
Analysing Macro‐Poverty Linkages: An Overview
Authors: Gunter Bernhard G. , Cohen Marc J. , Lofgren Hans
Published: April 2005

The analysis of macro‐poverty linkages has emerged as an important but contentious area of national and international policy‐making. Over the last few years, considerable progress has been made in understanding the linkages between macroeconomic policies and poverty reduction, as well as in developing evaluation tools and methodologies useful in conducting ex‐ante PSIAs of macro policies. Nevertheless, while there are some reasons for optimism about the future, the potential contribution of these insights and tools to poverty reduction is largely unfulfilled. This article provides an introduction to this theme issue on ‘Analysing Macro‐Poverty Linkages’ by reviewing (i) macroeconomic policy debates and (ii) methods and tools for evaluating the impact of macro policies on poverty.
Assessing Modelling Approaches to the Distributional Effects of Macroeconomic Policy
Authors: Kraev Egor , Akolgo Bishop
Published: April 2005

This article outlines a set of desirable properties of an adequate model for assessing distributional impacts of macroeconomic policy packages, and uses these as criteria to evaluate four model types commonly used for such assessments, namely, fixed ratio, econometric, CGE and microsimulation models. The desirable properties fall into five broad groups: being able to represent policy levels used in the policy packages, allowing for both price‐ and quantity‐clearing markets, integrating financial stocks, representing short‐term dynamics, and providing measures of confidence in a model's output. Of the model types reviewed, CGE models perform the best on most criteria, in spite of their substantial flaws of non‐verifiability and lack of short‐term analysis.
Paleoecology and the Coarse‐Filter Approach to Maintaining Biological Diversity
Authors: HUNTER MALCOLM L. , JACOBSON GEORGE L. , WEBB THOMPSON
Published: April 2005

Abstract: The difficulties of saving millions of species from extinction often cause conservationists to focus on a higher level of biological organization, the community. They do so for two reasons: (1) communities are considered important biological entities in their own right; and (2) conserving representative samples of communities is seen as an efficient way to maintain high levels of species diversity. This approach will work if the chosen communities contain almost all species. Because it potentially saves most but not all species, community conservation is a “coarse‐filter” approach to the maintenance of biological diversity, and contrasts with the “fine‐filter” approach of saving individual species. Paleoecological information on the distribution of plant taxa in North America, however, indicates that most modern plant communities are less than 8,000 years old and therefore are not highly organized units reflecting long‐term co‐evolution among species. Rather, they are only transitory assemblages or co‐occurrences among plant taxa that have changed in abundance, distribution, and association in response to the large climate changes of the past 20,000 years. During periods when climate changes are large, communities are too ephemeral to be considered important biological entities in their own right. Large climatic changes are also likely to occur during the next century because of increased concentrations of CO2, and we therefore propose that the coarse‐filter approach to selecting nature reserves should be more strongly influenced by the distribution of physical environments than by the distribution of modern communities. Ideally, nature reserves should also encompass a broad enough range of environments to allow organisms to adjust their local distribution in response to long‐term environmental change and should be connected by regional corridors that would allow species to change their geographic distributions.
Oligarchic Forests of Economic Plants in Amazonia: Utilization and Conservation of an Important Tropical Resource
Authors: PETERS CHARLES M. , BALICK MICHAEL J. , KAHN FRANCIS , ANDERSON ANTHONY B.
Published: April 2005

Abstract: Tropical forests dominated by only one or two tree species occupy tens of millions of hectares in Amazonia In many cases, the dominant species produce fruits, seeds, or oils of economic importance. Oligarchic (Gr. oligo = few, archic = dominated or ruled by) forests of six economic species, i. e., Euterpe oleracea, Grias peruviana, Jessenia bataua, Mauritia flexuosa, Myrciaria dubia, and Orbignya phalerata, were studied in Brazil and Peru Natural populations of these species contain from 100 to 3,000 conspecific adult trees/ha and produce up to 11.1 metric tons of fruit/hd/yr. These plant populations are utilized and occasionally managed, by rural inhabitants in the region. Periodic fruit harvests, if properly controlled have only a minimal impact on forest structure and function, yet can generate substantial economic returns Market‐oriented extraction of the fruits produced by oligarchic forests appears to represent a promising alternative for reconciling the development and conservation of Amazonian forests.
Conservation Genetics of the Black Rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis), I: Evidence from the Mitochondrial DNA of Three Populations
Authors: ASHLEY MARY V. , MELNICK DON J. , WESTERN DAVID
Published: April 2005

Abstract: A drastic decline in the number of black rhinoceroses (Diceros bicornis), primarily as a result of poaching places this species in imminent danger of extinction. The remaining black rhinos are divided into small, isolated populations that are vulnerable to demographic extinction, disease epidemics, genetic drift and inbreeding. Some conservationists have suggested minimizing these threats by moving as many animals as possible from different isolated populations to a few safe “rhino sanctuaries.” To examine the possible long‐term genetic consequences of such a strategy, we focused our efforts on determining the level of genetic differences among the remaining black rhino populations by examining restriction fragment length polymorphisms of the rapidly evolving mitochondrial DNA molecule. The 23 black rhinos in our survey, including animals from three geographic regions and two named subspecies, showed very little mitochondrial DNA differentiation. Only 4 out of 18 restriction enzymes revealed any mtDNA polymorphism, and the average estimated percent sequence divergence between the four mtDNA genotypes observed as 0.17%. Mitochondrial DNA divergence between the two named subspecies, D. b. minor and D. b. michaeli, was estimated to be only 0.29%. These results indicate a very close genetic relationship among the black rhinos in our survey. Thus, the mitochondrial DNA data suggest that within national boundaries, the black rhino populations we sampled may be considered single populations for breeding purposes, which might increase the species' probability of survival.
Species Migrations and Ecosystem Stability During Climate Change: The Belowground Connection
Authors: PERRY D. A. , BORCHERS J. G. , BORCHERS S. L. , AMARANTHUS M. P.
Published: April 2005

Abstract: Compatibility between the belowground mutualists of resident species and the needs of immigrant species will strongly influence the successful transition from one perennial plant community to another during climate change. A hiatus in the overlap between plant species that maintain a positive link with the soil ecosystem could result in site capture by weeds and rapid degradation of the productive capacity of soils. We discuss instances in which such rapid degradation has occurred and argue for the crucial importance of protecting plant‐soil links in the coming decades through maintaining biodiversity and utilizing management practices that help plants keep a firm grip on the soil. Examples of the latter include partial and dispersed cutting in forestry, use of green cover crops in agriculture and grazing intensities that permit degraded range to rebuild.
The Potential for Conservation of Polynesian Birds through Habitat Mapping and Species Translocation
Authors: FRANKLIN JANET , STEADMAN DAVID W.
Published: April 2005

Abstract: The dependency of highly endemic island floras on few potential pollinators in depauperate island faunas suggests that pollinators and seed dispersers may be crucial in the preservation of biodiversity in isolated oceanic islands. We discuss the hypothesis that flying foxes are “strong interactors” in South Pacific islands where they setwe as the principal pollinators and seed dispersers, This suggests that the ongoing decline and ultimate extinction of flying fox species on Pacific islands may lead to a cascade of linked plant extinctions. We propose an empirical test of this hypothesis: comparisons of plant reproductive success in Guam, which has virtually lost its flying fox populations, and Samoa, where signifcant populations remain.
The Who, What, When, Where, and Why of Risk Characterization
Authors: Goldstein Bernard D.
Published: April 2005

Extending the characterization of risk beyond the dimension of how much, to the dimensions of who, what, when, where and why, presents opportunities to enhance the understanding of risk by the public and by the regulator, and to improve risk management. These added dimensions should be used only as a supplement to the standard probability‐based description of risk. They should be restricted to those situations in which they enhance the likelihood of informed decisionmaking, are easy to develop technically, and are not likely to add to the existing paralysis in regulatory decisionmaking. The dimension of time during which an adverse event is expected to occur potentially is of great value. It can be used to restore the public health base to environmental decisionmaking.
Hazardous Waste Site Cleanup and Neighborhood Redevelopment: An Opportunity to Address Multiple Socially Desirable Goals
Authors: Greenberg Michael , Schneider Dona
Published: April 2005

The United States' hazardous waste site remediation programs are being challenged for lacking cost‐effectiveness. We argue that these expensive programs will be more cost‐effective and viable politically if economic and social analyses are included explicitly in risk analyses. Using data from surveys of people living within one‐half‐mile of seven hazardous waste sites, we show that some neighborhoods offer the opportunity for joint site remediation and neighborhood redevelopment programs. Mechanisms are suggested that would permit the United States Environmental Protection Agency to implement neighborhood environmental and redevelopment programs.
Policy Frames and Ethical Traditions
Authors: Zundel Alan
Published: April 2005

Discussions of the framing of policy issues have developed in the policy process and policy analysis literatures. This article uses a concept of “ethical traditions” derived from ideology theory to analyze the framing of programs promoting homeownership for the poor. It argues that the rhetoric surrounding the legislation of these programs was drawn from a tradition of agrarian republicanism, and concludes with some comments about the implications of this finding for designing antipoverty policy.
Reinventing Regulatory Development at the Environmental Protection Agency
Authors: Furlong Scott R.
Published: April 2005

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) develops some of the most complex, far‐reaching regulations in the federal government, which require a complex internal rulemaking management system. This paper examines current reforms to this process in the context of addressing obstacles to EPA's rulemaking efforts. The study is important both to the management of one of the most expansive regulatory agencies and to rulemaking management in general. Many of the reforms discussed in this paper could be used by other rulemaking agencies to improve their regulations and management systems as well.
Evaluating the Environmental Effects of Agricultural Policy
Authors: Ringquist Evan J. , Lee Jeffrey A. , Ervin R. Terry
Published: April 2005

The fact that agricultural policy decisions can have important environmental consequences has become common knowledge among policy scholars and policy practitioners. This relationship is reflected in the increasingly prominent soil conservation and environmental protection components of the 1985 and 1990 Farm Bills. In debating the value of continuing these provisions in the upcoming reauthorization of this legislation, scholars and politicians alike focus almost exclusively on their water quality benefits. However, the soil conservation components of agricultural policy also may affect air quality significantly. Using multivariate transfer function analysis, we find that implementation of the 1985 Farm Bill's Conservation Reserve Program has improved air quality significantly in that area of the country most plagued by agricultural air pollution.
The Effects of Mayoral Power on Urban Fiscal Policy
Authors: Morgan David R. , Watson Sheilah S.
Published: April 2005

Can mayors of American cities overcome the enormous constraints of environmental forces to exert some control over municipal spending priorities? Despite case study evidence suggesting that mayors can and do influence public policy making, the expectation of this research was that mayoral power in a comparative research design likely would not have a pronounced effect on city spending. Using multiple regression techniques and various socioeconomic, demographic, and political variables, the analysis indeed showed that mayoral strength was not a significant predictor of municipal expenditures for 1987. The findings also revealed only slight differences in the way the mayoral power variable operated when cities were divided by city government form (mayor‐council vs. council‐manager). The research did demonstrate that mayoral power was most likely to be effective in controlling city spending among localities having partisan ballots.
The Forest Service Since the National Forest Management Act
Authors: Mohai Paul
Published: April 2005

There has been considerable recent discussion and debate about change and the need for change in the United States Forest Service. A number of observers have argued that the agency has shifted its emphasis from commodity to non‐commodity values of the National Forests, has become more sensitive to environmental and ecological concerns, and has become more responsive to public input. However, to date most articles on the topic of change in the Forest Service have been either theoretical and speculative in nature or have based their conclusions on attitude surveys of agency employees. So far no studies have provided “hard,” empirical evidence of change or have conducted any systematic examination of the presumed causes. This symposium attempts to fill this gap. What follows is the presentation of the analyses of a wide range of important quantitative indicators of agency change. From these analyses, we attempt to answer the following questions: Has the Forest Service indeed been changing? If so, what direction has it taken and how significant has this change been? What are the possible causes of change, and what have been the consequences for National Forest policy? What factors are likely to influence future change in the agency?
Racial, Gender, and Professional Diversification in the Forest Service from 1983 to 1992
Authors: Thomas Jennifer C. , Mohai Paul
Published: April 2005

The United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service traditionally has been dominated by white, male for esters, particularly in its professional and leadership ranks. Beginning in the mid‐1970s, however, civil rights legislation, lawsuits, and statutes that mandated interdisciplinary planning collectively impelled the agency to begin diversifying by race, gender, and profession. This study attempts to quantify the progress the agency has made in workforce diversification since the early 1980s by grouping Forest Service job series into categories and tracking changes in these categories over time. The study reveals that the numbers of employees in “nontraditional” Forest Service fields (e.g., the social and biological sciences) increased markedly, but that these employees remain vastly outnumbered by employees in traditional fields such as forestry. The number of women in the agency also increased greatly, but women made much greater gains in administrative support positions than in jobs that put them in the pipeline for leadership positions. They remain vastly overrepresented in clerical and administrative positions and highly under rep resented in professional and technical positions. People of color made gains in nearly all job categories, but, like women, remain significantly overrepresented in jobs that will not lead to leadership positions. Thus, while aggregate numbers show greater diversity in the Forest Service workforce, a more detailed analysis reveals that the leadership ranks are still the domain of white, male foresters.
Litigating Agency Change
Authors: Jones Elise S. , Taylor Cameron P.
Published: April 2005

A study of Forest Service‐related litigation and administrative appeals was undertaken to examine their potential roles in effecting change within the Forest Service. The frequency of federal lawsuit decisions involving the Forest Service increased markedly between 1971 and 1993, indicating a dramatic increase in the use of litigation as a tool to force change within the agency, particularly in the Ninth Circuit. Administrative appeals followed a similar increasing trend. An examination of the instigators and purposes of lawsuits found that litigation is used most frequently by environmentalists and most often to block commodity production activities by the agency. Although the agency wins the majority of suits in which it is involved, litigants who initiated lawsuits to stop commodity production activities had higher success rates than litigants seeking to challenge additional environmental measures or to promote commodity production by the agency. A qualitative examination of five National Forest Management Act lawsuit case studies concluded that when litigants are successful in legal challenges against the agency, the court decision often results in substantive on‐the‐ground changes in management, thereby providing an incentive for additional use of litigation as a means to alter agency actions. These results indicate that the courts and administrative appeals process likely have been significant factors in catalyzing change within the Forest Service.
Neutral Bystander, Intrusive Micromanager, or Useful Catalyst?
Authors: Jones Elise S. , Callaway Will
Published: April 2005

An analysis of Forest Service‐related legislative activity found that increasingly Congress is becoming involved in agency activities and decisionmaking. Congress's growing scrutiny and management of the Forest Service is indicated by rising trends in requests for agency testimony at congressional hearings, in the number of Forest Service‐related bills and amendments introduced in Congress, and in the amount of Forest Service‐related legislation enacted. Anecdotal evidence of direct political pressure imposed upon agency personnel by congressional members also indicates that much congressional influence occurs outside of these legislative activities. An examination of activities such as these and directives attached to annual appropriation bills also shows that not all congressional actions are productive in fostering positive agency change. The results of this study indicate the likelihood that Congress has been playing a major role in instigating change within the agency.
Is the Forest Service Keeping Up With the Times?
Authors: Jones Elise S. , Mohai Paul
Published: April 2005

Interest groups involved in the Forest Service's 1990 Resources Planning Act (RPA) forest planning process and representatives from accredited forestry schools were surveyed via a written questionnaire on their perceptions of change within the Forest Service since 1976. Respondents felt that the agency had changed, particularly during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Consumptive users perceived the change to be negative, while non‐consumptive user groups and forestry schools felt it was somewhat positive, although they still felt the Forest Service had much further to go in this direction before achieving these groups' desired priorities for National Forest management. These results indicate that the agency is undergoing a net shift in direction towards increased emphasis on non‐commodity forest uses. In general, external forces, such as Congress and the courts, were seen as having a greater impact on agency change than were sources of change within the agency itself. Forestry schools agreed most often with non‐consumptive users, indicating that these programs may be undergoing a change away from their traditional focus on timber production. In addition to providing valuable insights on the subject of change in the Forest Service, these survey results locate areas of agreement and disagreement, and provide valuable feedback to the agency regarding its constituent groups' views about its performance in managing the National Forests.
Legal Challenges to Presidential Policies on the Use of Military Force
Authors: Sweet Barry N.
Published: April 2005

A review of legal challenges to the use of military force, from the Vietnam War era to the Gulf War, demonstrates a judicial unwillingness to constrain presidential policymaking. In most of these cases, the judiciary has ruled the legal challenge nonjusticiable. In the first post‐Cold War challenge, Dellums v. Bush, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued the equivalent of a declaratory judgment. Arguably, this is the only practical judicial response to the presidential use of force, but it does little more than redirect the policy conflict from the courts to Congress. The rule of law remains a weak reed in efforts to constrain presidential policymaking on the use of military force.
In the Public Interest
Authors: Brewer Lucy
Published: April 2005

In today's economic and political climate, there is a growing trend toward less governmental intervention in the economy and more reliance on the private sector for the delivery of a variety of services. Deficit politics, airline deregulation, and the prospect of a windfall of cash has prompted many local units of government that own and operate airports to consider selling or leasing these facilities to private investors. Airport privatization has emerged as a contentious issue, with weighty arguments on both sides of the debate. This article examines these arguments and presents several models of airport privatization. The authors suggest that the most aggressive form of privatization–full divestiture–is unlikely to produce the benefits advertised by its proponents. However, less radical forms of privatization serve as useful models for future airport ownership and operation. The authors conclude that, given the great variation in the types of airports in the United States system, no single model is sufficient.
Conceptualizing and Researching Policy Convergence1
Authors: Seeliger Robert
Published: April 2005

This article develops criteria to classify the relative development of public policies across countries as convergent, divergent, identical and synchronous, and indeterminate. It emphasizes that relative policy developments have to be compared over defined time periods, and that they cannot be aggregated or averaged over several time periods, or across policy sectors or policy dimensions. The significance of policy convergence between countries needs to be evaluated against relative policy developments between other countries during the same period. Given these rigorous conceptual and methodological requirements, it is doubtful whether policy convergence is as pervasive as generally assumed in the literature.
Patterns of Reinvention
Authors: Hays Scott P.
Published: April 2005

This study considers how states change policy innovations as they diffuse. This process of policy evolution during diffusion, known as reinvention, has been the focus of recent work on innovation diffusion in the states (Clark, 1985; Glick, 1992; Glick & Hays, 1991; Mooney & Lee, 1995). This manuscript focuses on differences in the patterns of reinvention for three different policy innovations with different rates of diffusion: child abuse reporting laws, crime victim compensation laws, and public campaign funding laws. Moreover, how the pattern changes after states amend their initial laws is examined. The data show evidence of reinvention during diffusion but provide only limited support for the first hypothesis that the pattern of reinvention is one of increasing comprehensiveness over time. Consistent with expectations, the data reveal little relationship between the date of adoption and the current law's comprehensiveness, including amendment.
Impure Public Goods, Relative Gains, and International Cooperation
Authors: Costello Matthew J.
Published: April 2005

The characterization of the products of international cooperation as public goods has been severely challenged, undermining a central pillar of theories of international cooperation. I review the criticism of public goods assumptions, identifying the need to account for both exclusion and rival consumption in international cooperative arrangements. Drawing on the recent debate of states as relative versus absolute gains maximizers, I offer a characterization of international cooperative arrangements as discriminatory clubs. I develop a refined relative gains model, which focuses on relative net gains, and apply it to a hypothetical situation to illustrate its usefulness in predicting patterns of exclusion and distribution in international trade.
Exploring The Basis For Parental Choice in Public Education
Authors: Lee Sung Roe , Fitzgerald Michael R.
Published: April 2005

From the perspective of public choice theory, this article explores the relationship between student performance and certain aspects of school organization and operation. Employing multiple regression and analysis of variance techniques, we found that variation in comprehensive student assessment test scores can be explained best by variables such as income, district size, and the extent of classroom crowding. Student performance was lowest in the largest districts. Student performance tended to be better in those school districts with relatively higher incomes, fewer schools, and a lower proportion of oversized classes. These findings confirm the utility of readily available information about public schools as a basis for parental choice and lend support to public choice criticism of large, centralized, educational organizations.
Private School Enrollment and Public School Performance
Authors: Simon Christopher A. , Lovrich Nicholas P.
Published: April 2005

Advocates of education privatization often take two general approaches to denigrating commonplace public school monopoly service provision assignments. One general argument is that public school administrators are self‐interested rent‐seekers, which is evidenced by the ever‐enlarging bureaucracies they operate. This argument has been roundly criticized by Kevin Smith and Kenneth Meier (1994, 1995) in two methodologically rigorous analyses. The second general argument is grounded in the assumption that public school student performance will improve if public schools are forced to compete for enrollment with private school alternatives. The evidence regarding this claim of privatization advocates has been contested in a systematic study of North Carolina school districts, but requires further analysis to determine if these findings can be generalized to school districts writ large. Such a replication study is presented here, with findings reported that are in agreement with those of Newmark (1995).
Inside or Outside? The Politics of Family and Medical Leave
Authors: Bernstein Anya
Published: April 2005

The efforts of interest groups to pass family and medical leave policies are illustrative of a dilemma confronting advocates of policy innovation. Faced with strong opposition from business lobbies and in many cases reluctant legislatures and veto‐wielding executives, proponents of family and medical leave had to balance their desire to pass the policy they wanted against their desire to pass a policy. This study examines the family and medical leave policy process at the federal level and in three illustrative states. The study finds that coalitions of “insiders” are more likely to get family and medical leave policies enacted both because they have more political clout and because they are more likely to propose moderate bills and to be willing to compromise. However, the policies enacted by the insider coalitions generally cover barely half the population and are unpaid. This lends credibility to the arguments of members of “outsider” groups that there is a value in proposing more wide‐ranging policies.
Predictors of Out‐of‐Home Placement in a Family Preservation Program: Are Welfare Recipients Particularly Vulnerable?
Authors: Thieman Alice A. , Dail Paula W.
Published: April 2005

Participants in a statewide family preservation program were classified on the basis of income level and enrollment in public assistance. These variables, along with other economic, parent, and child risk factors, were used to predict the probability of out‐of‐home placements at the close of this intervention program. Results revealed that neither low income nor receiving public assistance was predictive of having a child removed from the home. Higher levels of child‐centered risk and parent‐centered risk were the only consistent predictors of placement outcomes. Additional analyses revealed that family characteristics (e.g., history of psychiatric care, prior child placements, and involvement with the legal system) also were typical of families experiencing out‐of‐home placements. This study challenges the stereotype of low‐income or welfare families being at greater risk of having a child removed from their home. Findings are discussed in the context of recent welfare reform initiatives and implications for future family policy research.
State Expenditures and Policy Outcomes in Environmental Program Management
Authors: Bacot A. Hunter , Dawes Roy A.
Published: April 2005

Comparative state environmental research seeks to explain the factors contributing to intergovernmental environmental management. In pursuing the answer to this query, researchers have relied on either fiscal (expenditures) or nonfiscal (ranking) measures of state environmental effort. Respecting the debate surrounding state policy outputs and fiscal versus nonfiscal measures, we evaluate comprehensive state environmental management comparing spending and ranking measures in our analysis. Though pronounced differences do exist between the two models, we find pollution and state size to be the primary factors affecting a state's environmental effort no matter which measure is used.
Use and Usefulness of Performance Measurement in State Science and Technology Programs
Authors: Cozzens Susan E. , Melkers Julia E.
Published: April 2005

Over 40% of state science and technology programs are evaluating their results in some way. Programs have adopted performance measurement systems both for their own information purposes and to justify their activities to external audiences, usually legislatures. Performance measurement activities may have contributed to the evolution of these programs toward economic objectives, which can be measured in business activity. The most common performance measures are job creation and retention.
Invasion of dentinal tubules by root canal bacteria
Authors: Love Robert M.
Published: April 2005

Bacterial invasion of dentinal tubules and the clinical consequences have been recognized for over a century. However, while many components of the infected dentinal tubule microflora have been identified, it is likely that there are etiological agents involved in endodontic infections that have not yet been recognized. Bacterial invasion of coronal dentinal tubules occurs when the dentine is exposed to the oral environment and of radicular dentinal tubules subsequent to infection of the root canal system or as a consequence of periodontal disease. The content and architecture of a dentinal tubule can influence bacterial invasion, with tubule patency being important. This can account for regional variations in bacterial invasion and is particularly seen with dentinal sclerosis, where more advanced sclerotic changes in apical radicular tubules, especially in elderly individuals, limit bacterial invasion in this area. While several hundred bacterial species are known to inhabit the oral cavity, a relatively small and select group of bacteria are involved in invasion of dentinal tubules. Gram‐positive organisms dominate the tubule microflora in both carious and non‐carious dentine. The relatively high numbers of obligate anaerobes present, such as Eubacterium spp., Propionibacterium spp., Bifidobacterium spp., Peptostreptococcus micros, and Veillonella spp., suggests that the environment favors the growth of these bacteria. Gram‐negative obligate anaerobic rods, e.g. Porphyromonas spp., are less frequently recovered; however, with time, fastidious obligately anaerobic bacteria become established as principal components of the microflora and can be found within the deep dentine layers. In the early stages of infection, Gram‐positive bacteria dominate the microflora. The identification of adhesins that mediate these initial interactions of bacteria with dentine is important for understanding the development of tubule infection and in designing adhesion‐blocking compounds. Recent evidence suggests that streptococci and enterococci may recognize components present within dentinal tubules, such as collagen type I, which stimulate bacterial adhesion and intra‐tubular growth. Specific interactions of other oral bacteria with invading streptococci may then facilitate invasion of dentine by select bacteria. It is important therefore that the mechanisms of invasion and inter‐bacterial adhesion are understood to assist development of novel control strategies.
Nitrogen balance and seasonal fluctuations in soil nitrogen contents in a corn (Zea mays L)‐rye (Secale cereale L) rotation field
Authors: Kurokawa Yuzo , Iijima Yoshiaki , Tanaka Haruo , Shioya Tetsuo , Suzuki Sohzoh
Published: April 2005

In a corn (Zea mays L)‐rye (Secale cereale L) rotation field, the N output (plant uptake) and N input (crop residue and fertilizer applied) were measured for two years in order to evaluate the N balance in a forage production field. The soil was Low‐humic Andosol (mesic Typic Hapludand). The disappearance of crop residues on both a dry matter and N basis, and the seasonal fluctuations of total, inorganic, and available soil N content in the field were investigated. The interaction between the nitrogen balance and the soil N contents are discussed. The total plant N uptake of the corn and rye exceeded the sum of the N input of the fertilizer applied and the N from crop residues, so the N balance of the corn‐rye rotation had a negative value (two year average: −8.4 gN m−2). After the gradual disappearance of crop residue on the dry matter basis, rapid disappearance on the N basis was observed. At the same time, the C/N ratio decreased to less than 20. The soil available (38.4–55.3 mg kg−1) and inorganic (21.5–45.2 mg kg−1) N had their lowest values in spring. After they increased in early summer, they decreased in late summer and increased in autumn. The total N (0.5–0.7%) gradually decreased during the experimental period. The results indicated that the soil‐available N and inorganic N in the present study were highly dependent on the fertilizer‐applied N. The relation among management practices, N input and soil available N contents are discussed. It is suggested that the negative N balance is one of the causes for a decrease in soil total N.
A MODEL FOR TEMPERATURE AND MOISTURE DISTRIBUTION DURING CONTINUOUS MICROWAVE DRYING*
Authors: BOLDOR D. , SANDERS T.H. , SWARTZEL K.R. , FARKAS B.E.
Published: April 2005

A heat and mass transfer model of continuous drying of farmer stock (in‐shell, uncured) peanuts (Arachis hypogaea L.) in a planar microwave applicator was developed and investigated. Transport phenomena equations previously developed for batch‐type microwave drying were successfully adapted to account for the spatial variation of the electric field inside the applicator. The theoretical equations developed, together with experimental methods, were used to determine the effect of microwave power level and dielectric properties on the temperature profiles and reduction in peanuts’ moisture content (mc). The temperature profiles from the solution of these equations matched the experimental ones determined using fiber optic temperature probes inserted into drying peanut pods. An exact theoretical determination of mc reduction during microwave drying was not possible due to the dependence of dielectric properties on mc. The surface temperature distribution of the peanut bed measured using infrared pyrometry was well correlated with internal temperature profiles.
FOULING MODELS FOR HEAT EXCHANGERS IN DAIRY PROCESSING: A REVIEW
Authors: JUN S. , PURI V.M.
Published: April 2005

Fouling is a common food industry‐wide issue during thermal treatment using heat exchangers. It directly contributes toward increased energy costs in operation and maintenance, production losses and energy and water losses because of the repetitive cleaning operation, i.e., every 5–10 h in fluid food industry. There has been a considerable amount of work on modeling of the fouling process as well as the hydrodynamic and thermodynamic performances of heat exchangers. A variety of different fouling kinetics exists depending upon food components, types of heat exchangers and operating conditions. The available information on existing fouling models is summarized in terms of fouling mechanisms, dynamic performances of heat exchangers and integrated fouling dynamics. This review provides the basis for developing a vision of further research for understanding, quantifying and minimizing fouling of food materials in heat exchangers.
THEORY OF CHAIN SUPERCONDUCTIVITY IN YBa2Cu3O7-δ
Authors: LIU FU-SUI , CHEN WAN-FANG
Published: April 2005

This paper extends the two-local-spin-mediated interaction (TLSMI) for the superconductivity in the CuO 2 plane of the high-Tc cuprates to the Cu - O chain superconductivity in YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-δ (Y123), and sets up a theory for the chain superconductivity in Y123. We explain the observed 60 K chain superconductivity and predicts that the pseudogap should exist in the Cu - O chain of Y123.
COMPOSITE FERMIONS CLOSE TO THE ONE-HALF FILLING OF THE LOWEST LANDAU LEVEL REVISITED
Authors: FARID BEHNAM
Published: April 2005

By strictly adhering to the microscopic theory of composite fermions (CFs) for the Landau-level filling fractions ν e =p/(2p+1), we reproduce, with remarkable accuracy, the surface-acoustic-wave (SAW)-based experimental results by Willett and co-workers concerning two-dimensional electron systems with ν e close to ½. Our results imply that the electron band mass m b , as distinct from the CF mass m⋆, must undergo a substantial increase under the conditions corresponding to ν e ≈ ½. In view of the relatively low aerial electronic densities n e to which the underlying SAW experiments correspond, our finding conforms with the experimental results by Shashkin et al. [Phys. Rev. B 66, 073303 (2002)], concerning two-dimensional electrons in silicon, that signal sharp increase in m b for n e decreasing below approximately 2×1011 cm -2. We further establish that a finite mean-free path ℓ0 is essential for the observed linearity of the longitudinal conductivity σxx(q) as deduced from the SAW velocity shifts.