bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
THE WAY, THE RIGHT, AND THE GOOD
Authors: Cline Erin M.
Published: January 2009

This article argues that Kongzi's religious ethics suggests an alternative way of understanding the relationship between the right and the good, in which neither takes clear precedence in terms of being more foundational for ethics. The religious underpinnings of Kongzi's understanding of the Way are examined, including the close relationship betweentian(“Heaven”) and the Way. It is shown that following the Way is defined primarily by the extent to which one's actions express certain virtues, and not whether one's actions are conducive to the best overall outcome or whether they are inherently right irrespective of consequences. It is then argued that the Way is seen as constitutive of both the right and the good, and that this understanding of the right and the good has important implications for contemporary virtue ethics, religious ethics, and political philosophy.
KILLING, SELF‐DEFENSE, AND BAD LUCK
Authors: Miller Richard B.
Published: January 2009

This essay argues on behalf of a hybrid theory for an ethics of self‐defense understood as the Forfeiture‐Partiality Theory. The theory weds the idea that a malicious attacker forfeits the right to life to the idea that we are permitted to prefer one's life to another's in cases of involuntary harm or threat. The theory is meant to capture our intuitions both about instances in which we can draw a moral asymmetry between attacker and victim and cases in which we cannot. I develop the theory by attending to instances of intentional, villainous harm and instances of involuntary danger—the latter of which are a matter of bad luck. I call some bad luck cases “Interpersonal Lottery Conflicts.” These cases refer to potentially lethal conflicts into which parties are thrown as victims of circumstance. Although neither party has a moral advantage over another, that fact does not preclude permissible self‐defense.
OF EAGLES AND CROWS, LIONS AND OXEN: Blake and the Disruption of Ethics
Authors: Yeager D. M.
Published: January 2009

Why focus on the work of William Blake in a journal dedicated to religious ethics? The question is neither trivial nor rhetorical. Blake's work is certainly not in anyone's canon of significant texts for the study of Christian or, more broadly, religious ethics. Yet Blake, however subversive his views, sought to lay out a Christian vision of the good, alternated between prophetic denunciations of the world's folly and harrowing laments over the wreck of the world's promise, and wrote poetry as if poetry might mend the world. Setting imagination against the calculations of reason and the comfort of custom, Blake's poems inspire questions about the relationship of ethics to prophecy, and open the possibility that ethics itself would be markedly enriched could it find a place for what Thomas J. J. Altizer has called Christian epic poetry.
“I WALK WEEPING IN PANGS OF A MOTHERS TORMENT FOR HER CHILDREN”: Women's Laments in the Poetry and Prophecies of William Blake
Authors: Hopkins Steven P.
Published: January 2009

Cross‐cultural scholarship in ritual studies on women's laments provides us with a fresh vantage point from which to consider the function of women and women's complaining voices in the epic poems of William Blake. In this essay, I interpret Thel, Oothoon, and Enitharmon as strong voices of experience that unleash some of Blake's most profound meditations on social, sexual, individual, and institutional forms of violence and injustice, offering what might aptly be called an ethics of witness. Tracing the performative function of Enion, Jerusalem, Vala, and Erin in Blake's later epics,The Four ZoasandJerusalem, I argue for the close connection between the female laments and the possibility of redemption, though in Blake such “redemption” comes at the cost of the very voices of witness themselves.
RAGING WITH THE TRUTH: Condemnation and Concealment in the Poetry of Blake and Hill
Authors: Merriman Emily Taylor
Published: January 2009

An analysis of Geoffrey Hill's lyric poem about William Blake illuminates the relations between art, prophecy, and imperial politics across more than two centuries. Hill's poem responds to David V. Erdman's argument that Blake was resolutely, if ineffectually and sometimes secretly, opposed to war. It also establishes Hill's own cryptic but definite resistance to contemporary war and warmongers, while it mourns poetry's public powerlessness to halt the violent competition for material resources. Ignored by the majority, poetry fails to bring about the ethical social change that poets often envision. The layering of perspectives (Hill the poet and scholar writing about Erdman the scholar, who is explicating Blake the poet and artist) allows for a multidimensional interpretation of the role of poets and prophetic poetry. Despite their fury at society's deafness and greed, and frustration at their own incapacities, poets—because if they are great poets, they are prophets, too—continue to speak to their audiences about the problems of this world and about the better worlds that can be imagined. Hill's text obliquely teaches how the small success of a great poem can provide a minor note of consolation as it objects to terror and tyranny.
SAVING THE “SECULAR”: The Public Vocation of Moral Theology1
Authors: Biggar Nigel
Published: January 2009

The London suicide bombings of July 7, 2005 were partly the revolt of moral earnestness against a liberal society that, enchanted by the fantasy of rationalist anthropology, surrenders its passionate members to a degrading consumerism. The “humane” liberalism variously espoused by Jürgen Habermas, John Rawls, and Jeffrey Stout offers a dignifying alternative; but it is fragile, and each of its proponents looks for allies among certain kinds of religious believer. Stanley Hauerwas, however, counsels Christians against cooperation. On the one hand, he is right to resist, insofar as liberalism illiberally excludes theology from public discourse. On the other hand, not all humane liberalism does this: Stout's, for example, is genuinely polyglot, requiring not a common secularist language but a common ethic of communicating. Such a liberal ethic and its attendant anthropology merit the support of Christians: there may be more to be said about the Kingdom of God than respect, tolerance, and fairness, but there will not be less. The Christian has good theological reasons to expect some concord with other inhabitants of secular space. Ethical distinctiveness is no measure of theological integrity; and neither theology (paceBarth) nor biblical narrative (paceRichard Hays) should be expected to do all of the ethical running. If Christians are to be thorough in their moral theology and intelligible in their public statements, then they must borrow non‐theological material, formulate abstract concepts, and engage in casuistical analysis. Nevertheless, if an anxious insistence on distinctiveness is a mistake, concern for theological integrity is not. When the moral theologian borrows ethical material from elsewhere, he should integrate it into a theological vision structured by the Christian salvation‐historical narrative, which will sometimes modify the meaning of what is incorporated. So in affirming humane, polyglot liberalism, the moral theologian will at the same time make salutary qualifications. One of these is the assertion of the need of liberal institutions to own and promote their moral and anthropological commitments. In such a confessionally liberal society, universities in general, and the Arts and Humanities in particular, would recover their vocation to form citizens in communicative virtues and to offer them a dignifying, morally serious vision of human being that could save future generations from a degrading consumerism on the one hand and violent over‐reaction on the other.
MODELING THE RECOVERY RATE IN A REDUCED FORM MODEL
Authors: Guo Xin , Jarrow Robert A. , Zeng Yan
Published: January 2009

This paper provides a model for the recovery rate process in a reduced form model. After default, a firm continues to operate, and the recovery rate is determined by the value of the firm's assets relative to its liabilities. The debt recovers a different magnitude depending upon whether or not the firm enters insolvency and bankruptcy. Although this recovery rate process is similar to that used in a structural model, the reduced form approach is maintained by utilizing information reduction in the sense of Guo, Jarrow, and Zeng. Our model is able to provide analytic expressions for a firm's default intensity, bankruptcy intensity, and zero‐coupon bond prices both before and after default.
Fatigue, depression and disability accumulation in multiple sclerosis: a cross‐sectional study
Authors: Koch M. , Mostert J. , Heerings M. , Uyttenboogaart M. , De Keyser J.
Published: January 2009

Objective:  To investigate the influence of disability and the speed of disability accumulation on fatigue and depression in a large cohort of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Methods:  A total of 412 patients completed the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) and Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CESD). The patients were registered at our outpatient department and demographic and disease specific data were compared between patients with and without severe fatigue (FSS ≥ 5.0) and clinically significant depressive symptoms (CESD ≥ 16). We investigated the association of Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) scores, multiple sclerosis severity scores (MSSS) and either CESD scores or FSS‐scores with severe fatigue and clinically significant depressive symptoms in a multivariable logistic regression model, with adjustment for possible confounders.

Results:  Only CESD scores were independently associated with severe fatigue. FSS scores and female gender were independently associated with clinically significant depressive symptoms. Neither EDSS nor MSSS scores were independently associated with fatigue or depression.

Conclusion:  In patients with MS, fatigue and depression are strongly associated with each other but not with the degree of disability or the speed of disability accumulation.
Effects of levetiracetam on chronic pain in multiple sclerosis: results of a pilot, randomized, placebo‐controlled study
Authors: Rossi S. , Mataluni G. , Codecà C. , Fiore S. , Buttari F. , Musella A. , Castelli M. , Bernardi G. , Centonze D.
Published: January 2009

Background and purpose:  Central neuropathic pain (CNP) is a prevalent and distressing symptom in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). The anticonvulsant levetiracetam (LEV) has been shown to be efficacious in some types of CNP, but its efficacy in MS‐related CNP has not been confirmed.

Methods:  To investigate the tolerability and potential effects of LEV against CNP in MS subjects, we performed a single‐center, prospective, randomized, single‐blind, placebo‐controlled study in twenty patients with MS and CNP. Outcomes before and during the 3‐month study were assessed using validated measures of pain, depression, disability and quality of life.

Results:  The medication was well tolerated and analysis revealed a significant difference between the LEV and placebo arm in all study outcomes related to pain (mean pain intensity score, mean pain difference, percentage of patients with a clinically significant pain reduction). Furthermore, the individual quality of life rating improved in treated patients, showing a significant correlation with pain reduction.

Conclusions:  These findings suggest that further studies with larger samples of patients be carried out in order to confirm the efficacy of LEV in MS‐related CNP population.
Does the menstrual cycle influence the motor and phosphene thresholds in migraine?
Authors: Boros K. , Poreisz C. , Paulus W. , Antal A.
Published: January 2009

Background and purpose:  The excitability of the visual and motor cortical areas is altered in migraineurs. Controversial results of previous studies on cortical excitability may depend on the hormonal status of female subjects. The present study aimed to determine whether the different phases of the menstrual cycle influence the phosphene thresholds (PT) and resting motor thresholds (RMT) in migraineurs.

Methods:  Thirty‐two migraine patients participated in this study. Three to six PT and RMT measurements were done in headache‐free intervals during the follicular, middle and luteal phases of the female cycle, or in active dosage and withdrawal phases in patients who were taking low dosage oral contraceptives.

Results:  Generally, PTs showed higher individual variabilities than RMTs. Additionally, we have observed that the RMTs and PTs were significantly independent from hormonal changes. However, patients who were taking a low dosage of oral contraceptives had lower PTs compared with patients who were not taking oral contraceptives. RMTs show the opposite tendency.

Conclusion:  The results imply that PTs and RMTs can be reliably measured independently from the menstrual hormone status in female migraineurs.
Predictive value of clinical characteristics in patients with suspected cauda equina syndrome
Authors: Domen P. M. , Hofman P. A. , Van Santbrink H. , Weber W. E. J.
Published: January 2009

Background and purpose:  Overlooking a potential diagnosis of cauda equina syndrome (CES) can result in severe long‐term neurologic deficits. There is a growing trend to order urgent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the lumbar spine in any patient presenting with signs suspicious for CES. A substantial number of these MRI scans do not show cauda compression. The purpose of this study is to assess whether clinical characteristics can predict MRI‐confirmed cauda compression.

Methods:  We retrospectively studied 58 consecutive cases of suspected CES who presented at our hospital’s emergency room.

Results:  Eight of 58 patients had cauda compression on MRI. When measured, MRI + CES patients (6) had more than 500 ml urinary retention. Moreover, when these patients had at least two of the following characteristics: bilateral sciatica, subjective urinary retention or rectal incontinence symptoms, MRI was more probable to demonstrate cauda compression with an OR of 48.00, 95% (CI 3.30–697.21), which was also significant (P of 0.04). The presence of other symptoms or signs alone was not significantly different between both groups.

Conclusion:  In our series, urinary retention of more than 500 ml alone or in combination with two or more specific clinical characteristics were the most important predictors of MRI confirmed cauda compressions.
HLA‐DRB1 and multiple sclerosis in Argentina
Authors: Patrucco L. , Larriba J. , Redal M. A. , Rojas J. I. , Argibay P. F. , Cristiano E.
Published: January 2009

Background:  The association of multiple sclerosis (MS) with HLA DR subtypes, and particularly human leukocyte antigen (HLA)‐DRB1*15 has been a consistent finding across nearly all Caucasian MS populations. In South America, scarce data exist about this issue. As the complete characterization of the HLA association range around the world is important to understand the role of this locus in MS susceptibility, we analyzed the frequency of HLA‐DRB1* allelic groups in an MS population in Argentina.

Methods:  HLA‐DRB1 locus was genotyped using PCR and sequence‐specific primer amplification in 61 MS patients born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and 1216 healthy controls. Allele frequencies were compared between groups.

Results:  The HLA‐DRB1*15 allele frequency significantly differed between controls and patients (13.5% and 33.9% respectively, P < 0.001, OR 2.51, 95% CI: 1.7–3.0). The other allele frequencies did not show significant differences between patients and controls.

Conclusions:  The present HLA class II population study is in accordance with other Caucasian MS surveys which have found that HLA‐DRB1*15 allele is strongly associated with MS disease. In Argentina, this is the first study performed to analyze the association of HLA‐DRB1*15 and MS susceptibility in a Caucasian population and therefore contributes with new data to the immunogenomic global MS map.
Bonding, bridging and ethnic minorities in the Netherlands: changing discourses in a changing nation
Authors: SCHOLTEN PETER , HOLZHACKER RONALD
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT.The discourse on the integration of ethnic minorities in the Netherlands has undergone profound changes over the past few decades. This article analyses how discourses in politics and academia have revolved around changing emphases upon the social capital processes of ‘bonding’ of individuals within groups and ‘bridging’ of individuals to the wider society. Four episodes of discourse and policy may be distinguished: denial of being a country of immigration until the 1970s; the Minorities Policy in the 1980s; the Integration Policy of the 1990s; and the rise of a more assimilationist discourse after the turn of the millennium. The country thus began in the post‐war period with a pluralist perspective toward integration rooted in the traditional religious and ideological ‘pillarisation’ of society, shifting first to a multicultural perspective, then to an integrationist and, finally, in the new millennium, to an assimilationist perspective.
Pangs of nascent nationalism from the nationless state? Euro coins and undocumented migrants in Malta since 2004†
Authors: BALDACCHINO GODFREY
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT. This paper examines recent manifestations of the emergence of national identity amongst the citizens of Malta, now the smallest member state of the European Union. In this search, discrete events and ‘things’ are examined as symbolic paraphernalia, empirical phenomena that provide insights to overarching narratives about identity, nationalism and integration. The discussion and eventual decision on the choice of euro coin faces in Malta is proposed as one that illustrates a process of ‘nascent nationalism’. Meanwhile, the arrival of boatloads of undocumented migrants on Malta's shores has also encouraged the evolution of a secular, national character in Malta. Such episodes, and others, ultimately reflect a need for symbols of national unity that remain largely absent in this ‘nationless state’ which continues to be gripped by a bipolar partisanship that spares almost no one.
From Utopia to reality: Plaid Cymru and Europe†
Authors: WYN JONES RICHARD
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT. This paper traces the evolution of Plaid Cymru's attitude towards Europe. It does so by focusing in turn on: the place of Europe in the ideas of Saunders Lewis, the dominant figure in the party between its foundation in 1924/25 and 1945; the more ‘northern’ or Nordic vision of Europe that gripped the party in the post‐World War II era; and the waxing and waning of the party's most EU‐enthusiastic phase between the mid‐1980s and the present day. By adopting a longer timeframe than is normally the case, the paper argues that Europe has played a wider role in the thinking of the party than is often conceded; a role that was not at all or only tangentially related to actually existing institutions. The paper goes on to argue that it was in part the chastening impact of Plaid Cymru's eventual exposure to actually existing European institutions that led the party in 2003 to abandon its utopian commitment to a post‐sovereign Europe in favour of an explicit commitment to ‘independence’ as its long‐term aim.
Molecular mechanisms of metal hyperaccumulation in plants
Authors: Verbruggen Nathalie , Hermans Christian , Schat Henk
Published: January 2009

Metal hyperaccumulator plants accumulate and detoxify extraordinarily high concentrations of metal ions in their shoots. Metal hyperaccumulation is a fascinating phenomenon, which has interested scientists for over a century. Hyperaccumulators constitute an exceptional biological material for understanding mechanisms regulating plant metal homeostasis as well as plant adaptation to extreme metallic environments. Our understanding of metal hyperaccumulation physiology has recently increased as a result of the development of molecular tools. This review presents key aspects of our current understanding of plant metal – in particular cadmium (Cd), nickel (Ni) and zinc (Zn) – hyperaccumulation.

Contents

Summary
759

I.
Hyperaccumulation: the phenomenon
759

II.
Macroevolution of hyperaccumulation
760

III.
Microevolution of hyperaccumulation: variation within hyperaccumulator species
760

IV.
Genetic analysis of trace metal accumulation and tolerance
761

V.
Mechanisms of trace metal accumulation
762

VI.
General discussion and research perspectives
769

Acknowledgements
772

References
772
Autoimmune Angioneurotic Edema in a Patient with Helicobacter pylori Infection
Authors: Mukeba Didier , Chandrikakumari Kavitha , Giot Jean‐Baptiste , Leonard Philippe , Meuris Christelle , Frippiat Frederic , Moutschen Michel
Published: January 2009

Association of acquired autoimmune angioneurotic edema with other diseases is increasing. However, the precise mechanism by which antibodies to C1‐esterase inhibitor (C1‐INH) are produced, is not elucidated. We describe a patient with IgA antibodies against C1‐INH without other autoimmune markers. Our patient had gastritis and Helicobacter pylori infection, proven by biopsy. This case suggests that H. pylori infection can act as triggering factor for acquired autoimmune angioneurotic edema.
Gender Difference of Circulating Ghrelin and Leptin Concentrations in Chronic Helicobacter pylori Infection
Authors: Chuang Chiao‐Hsiung , Sheu Bor‐Shyang , Yang Hsiao‐Bai , Lee Shui‐Cheng , Kao Ai‐Wen , Cheng Hsiu‐Chi , Chang Wei‐Lun , Yao Wei‐Jen
Published: January 2009

Background:  Both ghrelin and leptin are important appetite hormones secreted from the stomach. We examined whether demographic background, Helicobacter pylori infection, or its related gastritis severity could be associated with circulating ghrelin and leptin levels.

Methods:  This study prospectively enrolled 341 dyspeptic patients (196 females, 145 males), who had received endoscopy to provide the gastric specimens over both antrum and corpus for histology reviewed by the updated Sydney's system. The fasting blood sample of each patient was obtained for total ghrelin and leptin analysis.

Results:  Without H. pylori infection, there were similar ghrelin levels between female and male patients. In the H. pylori‐infected patients, the males had lower plasma ghrelin levels than females (1053 vs. 1419 pg/mL, p < .001). Only in males, not in females, the H. pylori infection and its related acute and chronic inflammation scores were significantly associated with a lower ghrelin level (p ≤ .04). The multivariate regression disclosed that only the chronic inflammation score independently related to a lower ghrelin level. Only in males, the ghrelin levels ranked in a downward trend for the gastritis feature as with limited‐gastritis, with antrum‐predominant gastritis, and with corpus‐gastritis (1236, 1101, and 977 pg/mL). Leptin level was not related to H. pylori‐related gastritis, but positively related to body mass index.

Conclusion:  There should be a gender difference to circulating total ghrelin levels, but not leptin levels, in response to H. pylori infection and its related chronic gastritis.
Dual‐Priming Oligonucleotide‐Based Multiplex PCR for the Detection of Helicobacter pylori and Determination of Clarithromycin Resistance with Gastric Biopsy Specimens
Authors: Woo Hee‐Yeon , Park Dong Il , Park Hyosoon , Kim Min‐Kyung , Kim Dong Hoon , Kim In‐Suk , Kim Young Jae
Published: January 2009

Background:  Assessment of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) clarithromycin resistance has rarely been performed routinely despite an increasing resistance rate. Our aim was to develop and evaluate the use of dual‐priming oligonucleotide (DPO)‐based multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect point mutations in the 23S rRNA gene responsible for clarithromycin resistance of H. pylori.

Materials and Methods:  Gastric biopsy specimens from 212 untreated patients with dyspepsia were examined by culture, histology, and DPO‐based multiplex PCR. A disk diffusion test and E‐test were used for performing phenotypic antibiotic susceptibility tests.

Results:  Among the biopsy specimens tested, 22.2% (47/212), 42.5% (90/212), and 41.5% (88/212) of the specimens were classified as H. pylori positive by culture, histology, and DPO‐based multiplex PCR, respectively. Among 96 strains identified by either culture or DPO‐based multiplex PCR, 80 strains were clarithromycin‐susceptible and 16 strains (16.7%) were clarithromycin‐resistant. There was 94.1% (32/34) concordance between phenotypic susceptibility tests and DPO‐based multiplex PCR. In two patients with discrepant results, only DPO‐based multiplex PCR detected clarithromycin‐resistant strains. DPO‐based multiplex PCR identified additional 49 clarithromycin‐resistant or clarithromycin‐susceptible H. pylori among 165 culture‐negative specimens.

Conclusions:  DPO‐based multiplex PCR can be used as a practical method for the detection of H. pylori infection and the determination of clarithromycin susceptibility in addition to phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility tests.
Prevalence of Primary Fluoroquinolone Resistance Among Clinical Isolates of Helicobacter pylori at a University Hospital in Southern Taiwan
Authors: Hung Kuei‐Hsiang , Sheu Bor‐Shyang , Chang Wei‐Lun , Wu Hsiu‐Mei , Liu Chin‐Cheng , Wu Jiunn‐Jong
Published: January 2009

Background:  Fluoroquinolone‐containing therapy is effective in eradicating Helicobacter pylori. However, the resistance rate of H. pylori to fluoroquinolones in Taiwan has not yet been reported. In this study, we aimed to investigate the susceptibility to antibiotics commonly used in eradication schedules and fluoroquinolones in H. pylori.

Methods:  A total of 210 clinical isolates of H. pylori were collected from April 1998 to September 2007 from patients in southern Taiwan. The in vitro activities of six antimicrobial agents were determined by the agar dilution method and Etest. The mutations in quinolone resistance‐determining regions of gyrA and gyrB were investigated by direct sequencing.

Results:  Overall, 5.7% of the isolates were resistant to ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin. The resistance rate to amoxicillin, clarithromycin, metronidazole, and tetracycline was 1.0% (two of 210), 9.5% (20 of 210), 27.6% (58 of 210), and 0.5% (one of 210), respectively. The resistance rate to either ciprofloxacin or to levofloxacin increased from 2.8% (1998–2003) to 11.8% (2004–2007). The mutations in gyrA at N87 or D91 had an impact on primary fluoroquinolone resistance in H. pylori. Garenoxacin, but not moxifloxacin, had a good in vitro inhibitory effect against ciprofloxacin/levofloxacin‐resistant strains compared with objective minimal inhibitory concentration values.

Conclusions:  Drug resistance to ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin in H. pylori collected from 2004 to 2007 increased significantly compared with resistance level observed during 1998–2003. The continuous surveillance of quinolone resistance among H. pylori is important in this area.
Helicobacter pylori Eradication Therapy Success Regarding Different Treatment Period Based on Clarithromycin or Metronidazole Triple‐Therapy Regimens
Authors: Filipec Kanizaj Tajana , Katicic Miroslava , Skurla Bruno , Ticak Mirjana , Plecko Vanda , Kalenic Smilja
Published: January 2009

Background: The study compares the eradication success of standard first‐line triple therapies of different durations (7, 10, and 14 days).

Materials and Methods: A total of 592 naive Helicobacter pylori‐positive patients were randomized to receive pantoprazole, amoxicillin, and clarithromycin or metronidazole for 14 days (PACl14 or PAM14), 10 days (PACl10 or PAM10), or 7 days (PACl7 or PAM7). H. pylori eradication was assessed by histological, microbiological, and rapid urease examination.

Results: The intention‐to‐treat (ITT) and per‐protocol (PP) analyses have shown no overall statistically significant differences between the eradication success of PACl and PAM treatment groups (ITT p = .308, PP p = .167). Longer treatment duration has yielded statistically significant increase in eradication success for clarithromycin (ITT p = .004; PP p = .004) and metronidazole (ITT p = .010; PP p = .034) based regimens. Namely, PACl10, PACl14, and PAM14 protocols resulted in eradication success exceeding 80% in ITT and 90% in PP analysis. Primary resistance to clarithromycin and metronidazole equals 8.2% and 32.9%, respectively. Prolonging the metronidazole‐based treatment duration in patients with resistant strains resulted in statistically significant higher eradication success.

Conclusions: For all antimicrobial combinations, 14 days protocols have led to a significant increase of H. pylori eradication success when compared to 10 and 7 days, respectively. Prolonging the treatment duration can overcome the negative effect of metronidazole resistance. Only PAM14, PACl10 protocols achieved ITT success > 80% and should be recommended as the first line eradication treatment in Croatia.
The Helicobacter hepaticus hefA Gene is Involved in Resistance to Amoxicillin
Authors: Belzer Clara , Stoof Jeroen , Breijer Simone , Kusters Johannes G. , Kuipers Ernst J. , Van Vliet Arnoud H. M.
Published: January 2009

Background:  Gastrointestinal infections with pathogenic Helicobacter species are commonly treated with combination therapies, which often include amoxicillin. Although this treatment is effective for eradication of Helicobacter pylori, the few existing reports are less clear about antibiotic susceptibility of other Helicobacter species. In this study we have determined the susceptibility of gastric and enterohepatic Helicobacter species to amoxicillin, and have investigated the mechanism of amoxicillin resistance in Helicobacter hepaticus.

Materials and methods:  The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of antimicrobial compounds was determined by E‐test and agar/broth dilution assays. The hefA gene of H. hepaticus was inactivated by insertion of a chloramphenicol resistance gene. Transcription was measured by quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction.

Results:  Three gastric Helicobacter species (H. pylori, H. mustelae, and H. acinonychis) were susceptible to amoxicillin (MIC < 0.25 mg/L). In contrast, three enterohepatic Helicobacter species (H. rappini, H. bilis, and H. hepaticus) were resistant to amoxicillin (MIC of 8, 16, and 6–64 mg/L, respectively). There was no detectable β‐lactamase activity in H. hepaticus, and inhibition of β‐lactamases did not change the MIC of amoxicillin of H. hepaticus. A H. hepaticus hefA (hh0224) mutant, encoding a TolC‐component of a putative efflux system, resulted in loss of amoxicillin resistance (MIC 0.25 mg/L), and also resulted in increased sensitivity to bile acids. Finally, transcription of the hefA gene was not responsive to amoxicillin, but induced by bile acids.

Conclusions:  Rodents are frequently colonized by a variety of enterohepatic Helicobacter species, and this may affect their global health status and intestinal inflammatory responses. Animal facilities should have treatment strategies for Helicobacter infections, and hence resistance of enterohepatic Helicobacter species to amoxicillin should be considered when designing eradication programs.
Candidates and Competition: Variability in Ideological Voting in U.S. Senate Elections*
Authors: Gershtenson Joseph
Published: January 2009

Objectives. In choosing candidates to support in congressional elections, voters consider both policy and nonpolicy factors. However, the relative importance of incumbency or presidential approval versus candidates' ideological platforms likely varies across elections. Specifically, stiffer electoral competition should encourage ideology‐based voting because candidate information is more plentiful. In contrast, incumbents' ability to garner votes simply by virtue of already holding office should depress proximity voting in elections with incumbents.

Methods. Using data from the 1988–1992 Pooled Senate Election Study, I estimate logistic regression models of individual vote choice.

Results. I find that open‐seat elections do promote the use of candidate ideological proximity in the voting calculus but that the effects of election competitiveness are less clear.

Conclusions. The findings have important implications for normative democratic theory, for our constitutional framework, and for elite behavior and aggregate‐level electoral outcomes.
Are Ballot Order Effects Heterogeneous?*
Authors: King Amy , Leigh Andrew
Published: January 2009

Objective. Past research on ballot order effects has typically focused on the average benefit a candidate receives if placed at the top of the ballot. This study addresses a gap in the literature by examining the possibility that a simple average may mask systematic differences in how the ballot order effect varies across candidates and voters.

Methods. Using data from all Australian federal elections between 1984 and 2004, a sample that covers 1,187 separate electoral contests and 7,113 candidate × election observations, this study estimates the effect of ballot order on a candidate's share of the primary vote. To determine whether ballot order effects differ across voters as well as candidates, the study also makes use of electorate‐level demographic data from the 1996 and 2001 Australian censuses.

Results. The results of these estimations indicate that being placed first on the ballot increases a candidate's vote share by about 1 percentage point. As a proportion of their total vote, this effect is much larger for independents and minor parties than for major parties. The ballot order effect appears to be similar for male and female candidates, and does not show strong trends upward or downward over the 20‐year period covered by our study. Across electorates, the ballot order effect is higher in places where voters are younger and fluency in English is lower.

Conclusions. A statistically significant ballot order effect was a consistent feature of Australian federal elections between 1984 and 2004. Moreover, this study challenges the assumption that ballot order effects are homogenous, and finds that the effect of being placed atop the ballot varies across both candidates and voters.
Choosing Constituent Cues: Reference Group Influence on Clergy Political Speech*
Authors: Calfano Brian Robert
Published: January 2009

Objective.Though constituent reference groups have been shown to impact clergy political behavior, studies have largely cast group influence as a fixed effect. In an update of how specific constituent groups may affect clergy political speech, I assess whether clergy intentionally select cues from specific constituencies in determining whether to sermonize on an issue of political controversy.

Method.Data were collected from a 2006 survey of clergy in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). I use a series of maximum likelihood models to determine the effect of group cues on clergy behavior.

Results.Results show that clergy look to cues from both their congregations and denominational leaders when electing to deliver a sermon. What is more, clergy report feeling pressure from their congregational constituencies to behave in ways that they do not prefer. This pressure also impacts their decision to sermonize.

Conclusion.Taken together, these findings suggest that clergy, who are beginning to receive systematic attention for their role as framers and motivators of political deliberation among their followers, are subject to the influence of varied constituencies in exercising this deliberative role.
The Negative Effects of Populism on Gay and Lesbian Rights*
Authors: Pappas Christine , Mendez Jeanette , Herrick Rebekah
Published: January 2009

Objective. The objective of this article is to examine the degree to which populist features of state governments affect minority interests, particularly gays, lesbians, and bisexuals (GLB)

Method. We examine the effects of specific institutional features that affect state government responsiveness to majority preferences on GLB policies: bans on same‐sex marriage and hate crime. We also control for variations in political environment.

Results. Features that increase popular control over policy making and policymakers advance anti‐GLB policies but have little effect on pro‐GLB policies; however, legislative term limits have the opposite effect. Further, constituency size and senators' term length increases both types of policies.

Conclusions. The findings indicate that an unpopular minority is likely to be harmed by populist features that increase the role of citizens and may be helped by features that shield legislators from majoritarian preferences.
The Interaction of Race and Gender: Changing Gender‐Role Attitudes, 1974–2006*
Authors: Scott Carter J. , Corra Mamadi , Carter Shannon K.
Published: January 2009

Objective. The purpose of this article is to assess over‐time trends in the interactive effects of gender and race on attitudes toward the changing roles of women in U.S. society.

Methods. This article uses data from the 1974–2006 General Social Survey. Gender‐role attitudes are measured using two composite indices of traditionalism.

Results. We find black females tend to hold less traditional gender‐role attitudes than their black male, white male, and white female counterparts. Black and white males tend to hold similar attitudes toward women entering politics, but differ significantly in their attitudes toward women working outside the home and its impact on children. Assessing over‐time trends, we find the difference between black females and the other social groups to be generally diminishing. This convergence is more pronounced for white and black females. The difference in attitudes toward women entering politics between black females and white males, on the other hand, appears to be maintaining over time.

Conclusions. These findings support the idea that the labor force participation for women may have provided the groundwork for the evolution of attitudes for men and women. As white women in particular increase participation in the workforce, ideologies regarding the place of women in U.S. society have shifted.
Leader Creativity as a Predictor of Leading Change in Organizations1
Authors: Matthew Cynthia Trapani
Published: January 2009

This investigation examined leader creativity, broadly conceptualized as a confluence of personal attributes, as a predictor of leading change in organizations. Because organizational change occurs primarily in the social system in support of the technical system, the role of social‐emotional competency was also examined. Two correlational studies were conducted in samples of U.S. Army officers. As predicted, leader creativity was a significant predictor of leading change. Creativity measures explained 42% of the variance in leading change performance measures in novice officers and 71% of the variance in early‐ to mid‐career officers. Social‐emotional competency was also a significant predictor of leading change, but less than creativity.

“The art of the creative leader is the art of institution‐building, the reworking of human and technological materials to fashion an organization that embodies new and enduring values” (Selznick, 1957, pp. 152–153).
Do input subsidy programs “crowd in” or “crowd out” commercial market development? Modeling fertilizer demand in a two‐channel marketing system
Authors: Xu Zhiying , Burke William J. , Jayne Thomas S. , Govereh Jones
Published: January 2009

Many governments in developing countries distribute fertilizer at subsidized prices in an effort to stimulate small farmers' agricultural productivity and food security. Prior fertilizer demand studies have largely failed to account for the effects of government programs on farmers' commercial purchases. Using a double hurdle model and nationally representative rural household panel data in Zambia, we distinguish between these sources and measure the contemporaneous “crowding in” and “crowding out” effects of government input programs on commercial fertilizer sales. Where the private sector is relatively active and average wealth is higher (areas seemingly more likely to be targeted by government programs), results indicate that subsidies have substantially crowded out the private sector, in some cases to the point that such programs could actually lower overall fertilizer use. On the other hand, in poorer areas where the private sector is relatively inactive, subsidies help to generate demand and crowd in private sector retailers. Empirical studies explicitly modeling farmers' fertilizer purchase behavior within a dual marketing framework can provide important insights for agricultural policy discussions in developing countries.
Technology change as a policy response to promote changes in land management for environmental benefits
Authors: Pannell David J.
Published: January 2009

A previous study developed a framework for choosing among groups of policy mechanisms for encouraging environmentally beneficial land‐use change. The framework highlights that these choices should depend on the relative levels of private (or internal) net benefits, and public (or external) net benefits. Incentive‐based mechanisms (polluter‐pays and/or beneficiary‐pays) and extension need to be targeted carefully to appropriate projects—where private net benefits are close to zero, and/or public net benefits are more extremely positive or negative. This article focuses on policy mechanisms that alter the net benefits of changing land management, including R&D to develop new technologies, and training to improve the skill of landholders at using existing technologies. These policy options are now treated more comprehensively within the public benefits: private benefits framework. Benefits of technology‐change projects can include reductions in the opportunity cost of compliance with environmental programs, increases in the public benefits of a particular type of land‐use change, or improvements in private net benefits, resulting in public benefits through greater or more rapid adoption by private landholders. From an environmental management perspective, technology development is most relevant where public net benefits of land use change are positive and private net benefits are negative, but not highly negative. There is a set of projects for which technology change is the only viable alternative to no action, highlighting the importance of technology change in these cases.
Implant system for guiding a new layer of bone. Computed microtomography and histomorphometric analysis in the rabbit mandible
Authors: Freilich Martin , Shafer David , Wei Mei , Kompalli Rajeswari , Adams Douglas , Kuhn Liisa
Published: January 2009

Objective: To prove the concept that an implant system with osteoconductive surface characteristics and an osteoinductive scaffold material has the capacity to guide vertical supracrestal bone growth in a rabbit mandible onlay model.

Material and methods: Thirteen adult white New Zealand rabbits each received custom‐designed dental implants. All implants had sandblasted, acid‐etched (SLA™) surfaces, with the coronal aspect (3 mm) of each implant was left outside the lateral aspect of posterior mandibular bone, but covered by periosteum, muscle, subcutaneous tissue, and skin. Bone formation around implants placed adjacent to osteoinductive demineralized bone matrix (DBM) scaffolds were compared with contralateral implants without scaffolds in six rabbits using micro‐CT imaging. Bone formation around implants with scaffolds from seven additional rabbits was measured using both micro‐CT imaging and quantitative histology.

Results: At 8 weeks, new supracrestal bone was seen adjacent to all implants placed with DBM and two implants without DBM. The mean supracrestal bone heights achieved for implants with and without DBM scaffolds as measured by micro‐CT was 2.1±0.9 and 0.8±0.9 mm, respectively (P=0.008). Histomorphometric analysis illustrated that supracrestal bone‐to‐implant contact for implants with DBM scaffolds was 58.1±14% and that mean supracrestal bone height was 2.4±0.6 mm.

Conclusions: Successful implant‐guided supracrestal osteogenesis has been demonstrated in a rabbit model with the combined use of osteoconductive implant surfaces, an osteoinductive scaffold, and a device that prevents soft tissue downgrowth and provides scaffold stabilization.
A randomized, controlled clinical trial to evaluate a new membrane for guided bone regeneration around dental implants
Authors: Jung Ronald E. , Hälg Gian A. , Thoma Daniel S. , Hämmerle Christoph H. F.
Published: January 2009

Objectives: The use of barrier membranes in guided bone regeneration (GBR) procedures for the treatment of alveolar bone defects is common practice. The objective of this study was to test whether a synthetic bioresorbable polyethylene glycol (PEG) hydrogel membrane could result in a similar amount of vertical bone fill as a standard collagen membrane, both combined with a membrane supporting material.

Material and methods: The study enrolled 37 patients requiring implant treatment with an expected osseous defect in the posterior maxilla or mandible. After raising a mucoperiosteal flap, the implant sites were prepared and dental implants placed. The defect height was then measured and defects <3 mm were excluded from the study. Defects were grafted with bovine bone mineral and randomly covered with either a collagen membrane (control group, 18 patients) or a PEG hydrogel membrane (test group, 19 patients), which is applied as a liquid. After a healing period of 6 months, surgical re‐entry was performed and the change in vertical bone height from baseline evaluated.

Results: Well‐vascularized hard tissue was apparent at all sites and the regenerated bone was similar to the surrounding native bone. Mean vertical defect fill after 6 months was 5.63±1.84 mm at test sites and 4.25±1.16 mm at control sites, and the mean defect fills were 94.9% and 96.4% at test and control sites, respectively. More soft tissue complications were observed with the PEG membrane (e.g., delayed or incomplete wound healing) but all sites recovered uneventfully.

Conclusions: The new PEG hydrogel membrane was as successful as a standard collagen membrane in the treatment of bony dehiscence defects around dental implants with simplified clinical handling.
Long‐term effects of magnetron‐sputtered calcium phosphate coating on osseointegration of dental implants in non‐human primates
Authors: Alexander Fügl , Christian Ulm , Stefan Tangl , Christoph Vasak , Reinhard Gruber , Georg Watzek
Published: January 2009

Objectives:To determine the effect of magnetron‐sputtered calcium phosphate coating of implants on the later stages of osseointegration in a non‐human primate model.

Material and methods:Eighteen and 20 implants with a 0.1 μm amorphous calcium phosphate coating and a turned surface, respectively, were inserted in the anterior upper and lower jaw of adult non‐human primates. Following a 7.5 months healing period, one part of the implants remained in the submerged position. The other part of implants was connected to healing abutments to allow peri‐implant inflammation to occur. After another 20 months, histologic and histomorphometric analysis of the peri‐implant area was performed.

Results:Submerged implants with a calcium phosphate coating and a turned surface showed no signs of an inflammatory reaction. The histomorphometric parameters ‘bone volume per tissue volume’ (BV/TV) and ‘bone‐to‐implant contacts’ (BIC) were not affected by calcium phosphate coating. Non‐submerged implants of both groups showed occasionally signs of inflammation at the implant–abutment junction. Histomorphometric analysis revealed that the distance between the implant–abutment junction and the most coronal level (where bone was attached to the implant) as well as BV/TV and BIC were independent from the surface modification.

Conclusion:Our results show that dental implants with calcium phosphate coating behave similar to turned implants independently whether they are connected to healing abutments or remain submerged. Ultra‐thin calcium phosphate coating can combine the positive effects of calcium phosphate during the early stage of osseointegration without causing impairment of the later stages.