bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Transfusion support with RBCs from an Mk homozygote in a case of autoimmune hemolytic anemia following diphtheria‐pertussis‐tetanus vaccination
Authors: Johnson Susan T. , McFarland Janice G. , Kelly Kevin J. , Casper James T. , Gottschall Jerome L.
Published: March 2003

BACKGROUND: Autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) in children, although unusual, is often associated with recent infection. Several reports have identified the diphtheria‐pertussis‐tetanus (DPT) vaccination as a possible trigger for AIHA.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Life‐threatening AIHA was diagnosed in a 6‐week‐old infant 5 days after receiving a DPT vaccination. The patient required daily transfusion and/or exchange transfusion for 3 weeks. RBCs from an Mk homozygote were found compatible with the patient's autoantibody. Transfusion of RBCs from an Mk homozygote and later RBCs from an individual (K.T.) with a variant glycophorin, Mi.VII, were required to sustain the patient's Hb level until autoantibody production ceased, as evidenced by a fall in antibody titer and the patient's Hct returning to normal.

RESULTS: The DAT was positive (3+) with only anti‐C3 on presentation. An IgM cold reactive autoantibody with probable anti‐Pr specificity and high thermal amplitude (37°C) was identified in the serum. The DAT was no longer positive after transfusion with compatible blood.

CONCLUSION: This case represents life‐threatening AIHA in an infant, temporally related to a DPT injection and responsive to a combination of immunosuppression and transfusion of rare compatible blood.
Anti‐HCV confirmatory testing of voluntary blood donors: comparison of the sensitivity of two immunoblot assays
Authors: Kiely Philip R. , Eliades Leo A. , Kebede Mekonnen , Stephenson Matthew D. , Jardine Darren K.
Published: March 2003

BACKGROUND : In this study, the sensitivity of two commercially available anti‐HCV immunoblot assays (HCV Western blot [Wellcozyme] and RIBA 3.0 SIA [RIBA‐3, Chiron]) was compared in a voluntary blood donor population.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS : Four groups of donor samples were retrospectively tested in this study. Groups 1 and 2 were donor samples that gave positive or indeterminate band patterns, respectively, when originally tested on the HCV Western blot between 1994 and 1998. These samples were tested on the RIBA 3.0. Donor samples in Groups 3 and 4 were originally tested on RIBA‐3 during 1998 and 1999 and gave positive or indeterminate blot results, respectively. In this study these two groups were tested on the HCV Western blot. Samples with discrepant results on the two immunoblot assays were selected for genotyping or serotyping.

RESULTS : The two immunoblots showed similar sensitivity to the core and NS5 proteins. However, of 35 samples positive on Western blot or RIBA‐3, the Western blot failed to detect NS4 in 14 samples compared with only 5 for RIBA‐3. As well, the Western blot failed to detect NS3 in 6 samples compared to 2 for RIBA‐3. Five (27.8%) of 18 samples that were Western blot indeterminate due to core reactivity showed an additional NS3 band on RIBA‐3. Of the samples with additional NS3 and/or NS4 reactivity on RIBA‐3 that were genotyped or serotyped, all were HCV type 3.

CONCLUSIONS : Western blot and RIBA‐3 showed similar sensitivity to the HCV core and NS5 proteins. However, RIBA‐3 showed greater sensitivity to both NS3 and NS4 compared to the Western blot. The reduced sensitivity of the Western blot to the NS3 and NS4 proteins was observed with HCV type 3 samples.
Blood collection and transfusion in the United States in 1997
Authors: Sullivan Marian T. , McCullough Jeffrey , Schreiber George B. , Wallace Edward L.
Published: March 2003

BACKGROUND : Collections, processing, and transfusions of blood and blood components in the US in 1997 were measured and compared with 1994 and prior years.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS : Questionnaires were returned by 2391 blood centers, AABB member hospitals, nonmember hospitals, and other facilities. Statistical procedures were used to verify that the sample was representative and to estimate national collections and utilization.

RESULTS : The gross domestic blood supply in the US in 1997 was 12,602,000 units, 5.5 percent less than in 1994. It included 11,741,000 units of allogeneic community blood, 643,000 units of autologous blood, and 205,000 units of allogeneic‐directed blood. Platelet transfusions amounted to 9,037,000 platelet concentrate equivalent units, of which 62.4 percent were apheresis packs. Compared with 1994, total platelet units transfused increased by 14.9 percent and single‐donor platelet units transfused increased by 31.7 percent, whereas platelet concentrate transfusion declined by 3.8 percent. Transfusions of FFP increased by 26.6 percent compared with 1994.

CONCLUSIONS : The margin of US allogeneic blood supply in excess of allogeneic transfusions in 1997 was 630,000 units, 5.4 percent of total allogeneic supply as compared with margins in prior years ranging between 9.3 and 10.9 percent. Although overall allogeneic available supply in 1994 was adequate to meet transfusion demand, the decrease in the margin between 1994 and 1997 is cause for concern. The rate of whole‐blood collections in 1997 per 1000 members of the population aged 18 to 65 years was 12.6 percent lower than 1994. The RBC transfusion rate per 1000 members of the population in 1997 remained nearly the same as in 1994. However, the rates of platelet and of plasma transfusions both increased.
Sickle Hb polymerization in RBC components from donors with sickle cell trait prevents effective WBC reduction by filtration
Authors: Stroncek David F. , Rainer Tobie , Sharon Victoria , Byrne Karen M. , Noguchi Constance T. , Klein Harvey G. , Schechter Alan N. , Leitman Susan F.
Published: March 2003

BACKGROUND: RBC components collected from donors with sickle cell trait frequently occlude WBC‐reduction filters. In vitro, sickle trait RBCs have the potential for sickle Hb (Hb S) polymerization at low oxygen saturations and high Hb concentrations.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHOD: To determine if the low pH and high osmolarity of the CP2D used in the collection contributed to filter failures, the filterability of sickle trait donor RBCs collected in CP2D was compared with RBCs from the same donors collected in heparin.

RESULTS: Five of six sickle trait components collected in CP2D did not complete filtration, but all six RBC components collected in heparin filtered completely. RBC components collected in CP2D from four other sickle trait donors were divided in two, and one‐half was treated with carbon monoxide to convert Hb S to its liganded form to prevent Hb S polymerization. All four carbon monoxide‐treated components filtered within 9 minutes, but only one untreated component filtered completely. RBC components collected by apheresis contained less CP2D, and five of seven sickle trait apheresis components filtered completely; four of the five filtered rapidly (<15 min) and one filtered in 100 minutes. Hb oxygen saturation was greater in the four rapidly filtering apheresis RBC components (68 ± 9%) than in the three that filtered slowly or incompletely (37 ± 5%, p = 0.03).

CONCLUSIONS: Hb S polymerization appears responsible for RBC WBC‐reduction filter failures. Citrate anticoagulant and low oxygen saturation are responsible in part for Hb S polymerization in this setting.
Pharmacokinetic study of FFP photochemically treated with amotosalen (S‐59) and UV light compared to FFP in healthy volunteers anticoagulated with warfarin
Authors: Hambleton Julie , Wages David , Radu‐Radulescu Lucian , Adams Melanie , MacKenzie Malcolm , Shafer Steven , Lee Martin , Smyers Jocelyn , Wiesehahn Gary , Corash Laurence
Published: March 2003

BACKGROUND : To date, no clinical trials have characterized FFP infusion efficacy, and infusion still carries infectious risk. This single‐blinded crossover study compared postinfusion kinetics of FVII in photochemically treated FFP to standard FFP.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS : Subjects donated plasma by apheresis. Half of the collected plasma was treated with the psoralen amotosalen hydrochloride (S‐59) and UVA light, and half were prepared as standard plasma. Subjects received warfarin over 4 days to lower FVII levels. On Day 4, subjects received 1 L of either treated or standard FFP. After 2 weeks, subjects underwent a regimen identical to that with the other type of FFP.

RESULTS : After warfarin ingestion, the mean FVII concentration was 0.33 IU per mL. Both types of FFP exhibited comparable FVII kinetics, with a mean peak increment of 0.10 to 0.12 IU per mL occurring at the end of infusion. The effect disappeared after 8 hours.

DISCUSSION : Study data of warfarin‐treated healthy volunteers demonstrate that psoralen plus UV‐treated FFP provides an equivalent in vivo coagulation response to control plasma. A 1‐L dose of FFP in adults may provide an initial increment of 0.10 IU per mL of FVII. In the absence of bleeding, FVII levels return to baseline after 8 hours.
Parvovirus B19 transmission by heat‐treated clotting factor concentrates
Authors: Blümel Johannes , Schmidt Ivo , Effenberger Wolfgang , Seitz Holger , Willkommen Hannelore , Brackmann Hans Herrmann , Löwer Johannes , Eis‐Hübinger Anna Maria
Published: March 2003

BACKGROUND: Human parvovirus B19 (B19) DNA can be frequently detected in plasma‐derived coagulation factor concentrates. The production of some clotting factor products includes heat treatment steps for virus inactivation, but the effectiveness of such steps for B19 inactivation is unclear. Moreover, detailed transmission case reports including DNA sequence analysis and quantification of B19 DNA from contaminated heat‐treated blood components have not been provided so far. Therefore, the correlation between B19 DNA in blood components and infectivity remains unclear.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Asymptomatic B19 infections of two patients with hemophilia A were detected by anti‐B19 seroconversion after administration of B19‐contaminated heat‐treated clotting factors. The suitability of nucleic acid sequence analysis for confirmation of B19 transmission was investigated. Furthermore, the B19 DNA level in blood components was determined and the drug administration was reviewed to calculate the amount of inoculated B19 DNA.

RESULTS: Both B19 transmissions from clotting factor products could be confirmed by identical nucleic acid sequences of virus DNA from patients and blood components while sequences from unrelated controls could be differentiated. One patient received, for 4 days, a total of 180 mL vapor heat‐treated prothrombin complex concentrate containing 8.6 × 106 genome equivalents per mL of B19 DNA. The other patient received 966 mL of low‐contamination (4.0 × 103 genome equivalents/mL) dry heat‐treated FVIII concentrate over a period of 52 days.

CONCLUSION: B19 transmissions can be confirmed by nucleic acid sequencing. However, due to the low variability of the B19 genome, a large part of the B19 genome must be analyzed. The transmissions show that the applied heat treatment procedures were not sufficient to inactivate B19 completely.
Prophylactic antigen‐matched donor blood for patients with warm autoantibodies: an algorithm for transfusion management
Authors: Shirey R.S. , Boyd J.S. , Parwani A.V. , Tanz W.S. , Ness P.M. , King K.E.
Published: March 2003

BACKGROUND: Patients with warm autoantibodies are at high risk for delayed hemolytic transfusion reactions due to the presence of alloantibodies. To provide blood safe for transfusion and to avoid adsorption studies in some cases, the provision of prophylactic antigen‐matched donor blood where feasible for patients with warm autoantibodies is advocated.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Twenty consecutive adult patients with warm autoantibodies (January 1999 to February 2000) received chronic RBC transfusions by use of this protocol: the serology consistent with warm autoantibodies was confirmed; the alloantibodies were identified; the complete phenotype was determined (i.e., C, E, c, e, K, Jka, Jkb, Fya, Fyb, S, and s); and prophylactic antigen‐matched (i.e., donor RBCs matched with the patient's phenotype), WBC‐reduced donor RBCs were provided for transfusion. On subsequent admissions, samples were evaluated by panel studies and DATs. If the serology remained consistent with previous findings, prophylactic antigen‐matched, WBC‐reduced RBCs were transfused without further testing.

RESULTS: Eight of 20 (40%) patients had existing, clinically significant alloantibodies. In 12 of 20 (60%) patients, a phenotype was determined and the patients received transfusion of a total of 149 prophylactic antigen‐matched RBC units (mean, 15 units per patient) precluding adsorption studies on 51 pretransfusion samples. In 8 of 20 (40%) cases (2 with alloantibodies), phenotypes were indeterminant, necessitating differential allogeneic adsorption studies on 39 samples before transfusion of 144 RBC units (mean, 18 units per patient).

CONCLUSIONS: Determining complete phenotypes should be a routine component of the serologic evaluation of patients with warm autoantibodies. Our algorithm for providing prophylactic antigen‐matched RBCs to these patients when a complete phenotype can be determined provides flexibility in their transfusion management while maintaining safety and circumvents or simplifies pretransfusion adsorption studies.
Vasovagal reactions in high school students: findings relative to race, risk factor synergism, female sex, and non‐high school particpants
Authors: Newman B.H.
Published: March 2003

BACKGROUND : High school (HS) students have a high incidence of vasovagal reactions and are a good population for the study of vasovagal reactions.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS : Data from 1076 Caucasian students, 226 African‐American students, and 157 nonstudents from HS blood drives in 2001 were entered into a database. Race, high‐risk‐factor synergism, the phenomenon of “survivorship,” and female sex were evaluated. In addition, non‐HS student participants were described.

RESULTS : Vasovagal reactions were 84 percent lower in African‐American HS students than in Caucasian HS students (3 of 226 vs. 88 of 1076; 1.3 vs. 8.2 percent; p = 0.0001; relative risk, 6.2). In Caucasian HS students, first‐time donor status increased the vasovagal reaction rate to 9.4 percent (vs. 3.6% in repeat donors, p < 0.004). Low weight (≤ 130 lb) increased the reaction rate to 13.6 percent (vs. 3.3% in weight > 81.2 kg, p < 0.001). Together they increased the reaction rate to 16.0 percent (vs. 3.2%, p < 0.0001). Females had more reactions than males (11.3 vs. 4.8%, p < 0.001), but the reaction rates equalized when donors under 150 lb were excluded (5.7 vs. 4.6%, p = 0.66).

CONCLUSION : African‐American HS students had a significantly lower vasovagal reaction rate than Caucasian HS students. There was synergy among high‐risk factors in Caucasian HS students. Female and male vasovagal reaction rates were similar when low‐weight donors were excluded.
ATP‐Sensitive K+ Channels of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells
Authors: COLE WILLIAM C. , CLÉMENT‐CHOMIENNE ODILE
Published: March 2003

ATP‐sensitive potassium channels (KATP) of vascular smooth muscle cells represent potential therapeutic targets for control of abnormal vascular contractility. The biophysical properties, regulation and pharmacology of these channels have received intense scrutiny during the past twenty years, however, the molecular basis of vascular KATP channels remains ill‐defined. This review summarizes the recent advancements made in our understanding of the molecular composition of vascular KATP channels with a focus on the evidence that hetero‐octameric complexes of Kir6.1 and SUR2B subunits constitute the vascular KATP subtype responsible for control of arterial diameter by vasoactive agonists.
Information systems professionals and conflict of interest
Authors: Grupe Fritz
Published: March 2003

Conflicts of interest are situations in which a decision maker must balance personal interests with corporate or organizational interests. Often the conflict is unknown to others involved in or affected by a decision. Examples of conflicts of interest affecting the IT profession are examined and categorized in the areas of self‐dealing, accepting benefits, influence peddling, using your employer’s property for personal advantage, using confidential information, obtaining outside employment or moonlighting, and taking advantage in post‐employment. Further, steps are recommended by which individuals and organizations can reduce the risks attributable to conflicts of interest.
The Relations Bwetween Geography and History Reconsidered
Authors: Guelke Leonard
Published: March 2003

The ideas of Sauer, Darby, Clark, and Meinig have had a formative influence on the making of modern Anglo–American historical geography. These scholars emphasized the spatial– and place–;focused orientation of geography, contrasting it with history’s concern with time, the past, and change. Historical geography was conceived as combining the spatial interests of geography with the temporal interest of history, creating a field concerned with changing spatial patterns and landscapes. This idea of historical geography avoided issues in the philosophy of history by making the historical geographer a kind of spectator to external changes in the ways things were ordered and arranged on the face of the earth. This “natural history” view of historical geography failed to deal with history conceived as an autonomous mode of understanding in which the scholar’s task is to understand human activity as an embodiment of thought. Historical geography is more adequately conceived as a Collingwoodian–type historical discipline, in which the task of the historical geographer is aimed at rethinking and displaying the thought of historical agents as their actions relate to the physical environment. The traditional subject matter of historical geography is not thereby redefined, but a change in the way geography is seen in its relation to history is necessitated.
Hayden White: Beyond Irony
Authors: Domanska Ewa
Published: March 2003

A crisis of our age that is usually identified with the loss of the sacred was one of the causes of the fall into irony in the nineteenth century. In the case of historians, asHayden White has shown in Metahistory, this irony was caused by a“bitterness” stemming from the failure of reality to fulfill their expectations. Anironic apprehension of the world arose in an atmosphere of social breakdown or cultural decline.A current stage of irony manifests itself in a doubt as to the capacity of language to grasp reality. Thus we live in a “prison house of language.” An intellectual parlor‐gameproduces “second‐hand knowledge” that cannot satisfy the needs of post‐postmodern men and women still looking for another metanarrative. Therefore, the main purpose of this essay is to answer the question: how can we go beyond irony?

This text is a “post‐postmodern post mortem topostmodernism.” I am grateful to postmodernism for many things, especially for giving me an alternative apprehension of the world in terms of difference and continuity rather than binary oppositions, but I am tired of ontological insecurity and epistemological chaos. I need order. I miss metanarrative.

In trying to break with some modern/postmodern “principles” andretain within my discourse the premodernist perspective, I follow the current trend in thehumanities. We observe at present the breakdown of methodology and the rise of a more poeticapproach in the human sciences. Evidence of this phenomenon is the more autobiographical formof writing in anthropology (James Clifford, Clifford Geertz) and a more literary style inhistorical writing (Natalie Zemon Davis, Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, Simon Schama). This trendis associated with a revaluation of the subjective aspects of research. Perhaps, and I wouldwelcome it, it also could be identified with a reappearance of a Collingwoodian idea of history ashuman self‐knowledge, knowledge about human nature, knowledge about “what it is to be a man . . . what it is to be the kind of man you are . . . and what it is to be the man you are and nobody else is.”
Historiographical Counterfactuals and Historical Contingency
Authors: Tucker Aviezer
Published: March 2003

Book reviewed in this article:

Virtual History: Alternatives and Counterfactuals edited by Niall Ferguson
New Historicism: Postmodern Historiography Between Narrativism and Heterology
Authors: Pieters Jürgen
Published: March 2003

In recent discussionsof the work of new historicist critics like Stephen Greenblatt and Louis Montrose, it has oftenbeen remarked that the theory of history underlying their reading practice closely resembles thatof postmodern historiographers like Hayden White and Frank Ankersmit. Taking off from onesuch remark, the aim of the present article is twofold. First, I intend to provide a theoretical basisfrom which to substantiate the idea that new historicism can indeed be taken to be the literary‐critical variant of what Frank Ankersmit has termed the “new historiography.” Inthe second half of the article, this theoretical foundation will serve as the starting point of afurther analysis of both the theory and practice of new historicism in terms of its distinctlypostmodern historiographical project. I will argue that in order to fully characterize the newhistoricist reading method, we do well to distinguish between two variants of postmodernhistoricism: a narrativist one (best represented in the work of Michel Foucault) and aheterological one (of which Michel de Certeau's writings serve as a supreme example). Abrief survey of the two methodological options associated with these variants (discursive versuspsychoanalytical) is followed by an analysis of the work of the central representative of newhistoricism, Stephen Greenblatt. While the significant use of historical anecdotes in his workleaves unresolved the question to which of either approaches Greenblatt belongs, the distinctiondoes serve a clear heuristic purpose. In both cases, it points to the dangerous spot where the newhistoricism threatens to fall prey to the evils of the traditional historicism against which it defineditself.
On How to Kick the History Habit and Discover That Every Day in Every Way, Things Are Getting Meta and Meta And Meta . . .
Authors: Kramer Lloyd
Published: March 2003

Keith Jenkins, Why History? Ethics and Postmodernity
Social History Goes to Class
Authors: Reid Donald
Published: March 2003

Book reviewed:

Peter N. Stearns, Peter Seixas and Sam Wineburg (eds.), Knowing, Teaching, and Learning History: National and International Perspectives
The End of Art?
Authors: Carroll Noël
Published: March 2003

This article focuses on the arguments that Arthur Danto has advanced for alleging that the developmental history of art is over. The author is skeptical of Danto's conclusion and maintains that Danto has failed to demonstrate that art history is necessarily closed. The author also contends that Danto's end‐of‐art thesis is better construed as a specimen of art criticism than as an example of the speculative philosophy of art history.
the Future of the Past: Historiographical Disputes and Competing Memories in Germany and Israel
Authors: Levy Daniel
Published: March 2003

During the last two decades, a surge of historical revisionism has commanded considerable attention in both academia and the public sphere, as historians have linked their understandings of the past to salient problems and identity crises of the present. Increasingly, the histories of nations have been problematized and have become the object of commemorative battles. Historiographical disputes thus reveal no less about contemporary political sensibilities than they do about a nation's history. This article situates the proliferation of historical revisionism within the context of ongoing negotiations regarding the meaning of the nation at the end of the twentieth century. Through a comparison of recent historians' disputes in Germany and Israel, I explore the relationship between revisionism and collective memory, and the ways in which both are reflective of and contribute to the reformation of national identification. While national identities are usually predicated on continuities with the past, new German and Israeli identities are being defined in opposition to the founding myths of their nation‐states. Both are continuously reassessing their pasts, negotiating the balance between a commitment to universal (democratic) values and the persistence of particularistic (ethnic) traditions. To be sure, national pasts have been contested before, but until recently the primacy of the nation itself was not significantly challenged. I suggest understanding the ongoing phenomenon of national demystification in the context of changing state–society relations. States no longer enjoy the same hegemonic power over the means of collective commemoration. In contrast to the state‐supportive role of historians during the formative phase of nationalism, collective memory has become an increasingly contested terrain. In both countries, revisionists from the left and right self‐consciously struggle to provide historical narratives of their nation's past to suit their present political views of the future.
The Shifting Incidence of Involuntary Job Losses from 1968 to 1992
Authors: Boisjoly Johanne , Duncan Greg J. , Smeeding Timothy
Published: March 2003

Risks of involuntary job losses among male workers are examined with data spanning 1968 to 1992 from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. We find that the incidence of involuntary job losses among prime‐age men with strong links to the labor market rose substantially over the period under investigation and about as much for college‐educated and older workers as for less educated and less experienced workers. The only labor market group not sharing the burden of higher job‐loss risks were government workers. Overall, involuntary job losses were distributed more evenly across skill groups during periods of macroeconomic expansion than during periods of contraction.
Symposium Introduction
Authors: Strauss George.
Published: March 2003

This symposium as a whole examines four groups of countries not normally studied by industrial relations specialists. This opening paper compares the questions asked by the four papers and seeks to generalize from their findings.
Perceptions and Worry about Hazards at Work: Unions, Contract Maintenance, and Job Control in the U.S. Petrochemical Industry
Authors: Baugher John E. , Roberts J. Timmons
Published: March 2003

Union statements and journalist accounts have tied workers' fears of accidents to the increasing use of subcontractors at U.S. petrochemical plants. In this case study of workers at a chemical facility in Louisiana, we explore who perceives and worries about chemical exposures and explosions in the work place and why. Perceptions of chemical exposures were highest among union members, contract workers, and those with low job control, whereas perception of explosions was highest among those reporting being rushed or overworked. Contract workers appear to be more worried about hazards in the industry than direct‐hire employees.
Institutional Change and Union Membership: A Longitudinal Analysis of Union Membership Determinants in Israel
Authors: Harel Gedaliahu H. , Tzafrir Shay S. , Bamberger Peter
Published: March 2003

We examine the degree to which factors associated with workers' union membership decisions are sensitive to shifts in the institutional environment of unions. Comparative logit analyses of the relationship between potential determinants of membership and actual union membership over time suggestthat the factors associated with membership are elastic and may reflect shifts in the institutional context of unions.
U.S. and Canadian Industrial Relations: Convergent or Divergent?
Authors: Troy Leo
Published: March 2003

Two models, the divergence and the convergence models, address comparisons of Canadian and American industrial relations. Most specialists support the divergence hypothesis. It asserts that the two countries' systems have produced major transnational differences in industrial relations outputs. The convergence model reassessed the assumptions, data, and conclusions of the divergent model and concluded that the two countries' systems produced very similar, although not identical, industrial relations outputs.
Firm‐Level Influences on Forms of Employment and Pay in Russia
Authors: Russell Raymond , Callanan Valerie
Published: March 2003

This article examines forms of employment and compensation in a sample of 44 Russian enterprises in 1996. The incidence of employee participation in decision making is highest in employee‐owned enterprises. Otherwise, ownership has little impact. Effects of industry, size, resources, and transaction costs are consistent with Western experience. The employment relation in contemporary Russian enterprises is thus not so deeply embedded in institutional influences as to be insensitive to conditions prevailing in individual workplaces.
Changing Issue Agendas of Women Clergy
Authors: Olson Laura R. , Crawford Sue E. S. , Guth James L.
Published: March 2003

Using data from separate studies conducted in 1988–89 and 1998, we explore changes in the issue agendas of women clergy. Rosenstone and Hansen (1993) argue persuasively that mobilization often occurs due to a commitment to a particular political issue. Our data allow us to test three separate hypotheses about the evolution of women clergy's issue agendas over the course of a decade that saw an unprecedented number of women enter the ministry. Shifts in the issue agendas of women clergy suggest a model of issue agenda evolution including four possible explanations for change: public agenda shifts, changes resulting from the growing number of women clergy, or ideological stability.
Gay and Lesbian Christians: Homosexual and Religious Identity Integration in the Members and Participants of a Gay‐Positive Church
Authors: Rodriguez Eric M. , Ouellette Suzanne C.
Published: March 2003

In this study we explore individual 's experiences of identity integration between their sexual orientation and religious beliefs. Using both qualitative and quantitative research methods, we examined identity integration in forty members and participants of the Metropolitan Community Church of New York (MCC/NY), a gay‐positive church located in Mid‐town Manhattan. The survey and interview data collected showed that: (1)a majority of the research participants reported that they had successfully integrated their homosexual and religious identities, (2) being integrated was related to higher role involvement at MCC/NY, being a member of the church, attending more MCC/NY worship services and activities/ministries, and attending MCC/NY for more years, (3) lesbians were less likely than gay men to report past conflict between their identities, and more likely to report being fully integrated, and (4) MCC/NY played an important role in helping these participants achieve integration between their homosexual and religious identities.
Frequency of Prayer and Functional Health in Presbyterian Pastors
Authors: Meisenhelder Janice Bell , Chandler Emily N.
Published: March 2003

The purpose of this correlational study was to examine the relationship of frequency of prayer to eight subcategories of physical and mental health. As part of the ongoing Presbyterian Panel, 1,412 active Presbyterian pastors drawn from a national, random sample were surveyed by mail regarding their frequency of prayer and self‐perceptions of health outcomes. The results indicated a high level of functioning overall for all eight categories of physical and mental health. Predictably, frequency of prayer was extremely skewed towards high frequency. Despite a lack of variation in both health and prayer, high frequency of prayer was significantly related to higher scores in three health outcomes: vitality, general health, and mental health. These relationships remained significant in the analysis even after controlling for the influence of demographic variables, such as gender and age. Various explanations of the results are explored.
International Cross‐Listing and Order Flow Migration: Evidence from an Emerging Market
Authors: Domowitz Ian , Glen Jack , Madhavan Ananth
Published: March 2003

Policymakers in emerging markets are increasingly concerned about the consequences for the domestic equity market when companies list stock abroad. We show that the effects of cross‐listing depend on the quality of intermarket information linkages. We investigate these issues with unique data from the Mexican equity market. The impact of cross‐listing is complex—balancing the costs of order flow migration against the benefits of increased intermarket competition. These effects are exacerbated by equity investment barriers that induce segmentation of the domestic equity market. Consequently, the benefits and costs of cross‐listing are not evenly spread over all classes of shareholders.
Output, Stock Volatility, and Political Uncertainty in a Natural Experiment: Germany, 1880–1940
Authors: Bittlingmayer George
Published: March 2003

Why does stock volatility increase when output declines? The theory of investment under uncertainty implies that political uncertainty may simultaneously increase volatility and reduce output. Though cause and effect are typically hard to separate, the transition from Imperial to Weimar Germany offers a natural experiment because major political events left clear traces on stock prices. Current and past increases in volatility are associated with output declines, consistent with U.S. experience. However, political events are more clearly the source of volatility, and the results support the view that the relationship between volatility and output reflects the joint effects of political factors.
Can Costs of Consumption Adjustment Explain Asset Pricing Puzzles?
Authors: Marshall David A. , Parekh Nayan G.
Published: March 2003

We investigate Grossman and Laroque's (1990) conjecture that costs of adjusting consumption can account, in part, for the empirical failure of the consumption‐based capital asset pricing model (CCAPM). We incorporate small fixed costs of consumption adjustment into a CCAPM with heterogeneous agents. We find that undetectably small consumption adjustment costs can account for much of the discrepancy between the observed variance of nondurable aggregate consumption growth and the predictions of the CCAPM, and can partially reconcile nondurable consumption data with the observed equity premium. We conclude that the CCAPM's implications are nonrobust to extremely small adjustment costs.
Is Money Smart? A Study of Mutual Fund Investors' Fund Selection Ability
Authors: Zheng Lu
Published: March 2003

A previous study finds evidence to support selection ability among active fund investors for equity funds listed in 1982. Using a large sample of equity funds, I find evidence that funds that receive more money subsequently perform significantly better than those that lose money. This effect is short‐lived and is largely but not completely explained by a strategy of betting on winners. In the aggregate, there is no significant evidence that funds that receive more money subsequently beat the market. However, it is possible to earn positive abnormal returns by using the cash flow information for small funds.
The Effects of Market Segmentation and Investor Recognition on Asset Prices: Evidence from Foreign Stocks Listing in the United States
Authors: Foerster Stephen R. , Karolyi G. Andrew
Published: March 2003

Non‐U.S. firms cross‐listing shares on U.S. exchanges as American Depositary Receipts earn cumulative abnormal returns of 19 percent during the year before listing, and an additional 1.20 percent during the listing week, but incur a loss of 14 percent during the year following listing. We show how these unusual share price changes are robust to changing market risk exposures and are related to an expansion of the shareholder base and to the amount of capital raised at the time of listing. Our tests provide support for the market segmentation hypothesis and Merton's (1987) investor recognition hypothesis.
Performance Evaluation with Transactions Data: The Stock Selection of Investment Newsletters
Authors: Metrick Andrew
Published: March 2003

This paper analyzes the equity‐portfolio recommendations made by investment newsletters. Overall, there is no significant evidence of superior stock‐picking ability for this sample of 153 newsletters. Moreover, there is no evidence of abnormal short‐run performance persistence (“hot hands”). The comprehensive and bias‐free transactions database also allows for insights into the precision of performance evaluation. Using a measure of precision defined in the paper, a transactions‐based approach yields a median improvement of 10 percent over a corresponding factor model. This compares favorably with the precision gained by adding factors to the CAPM.
The Effect of Options on Stock Prices: 1973 to 1995
Authors: Sorescu Sorin M.
Published: March 2003

I show that the effect of option introductions on underlying stock prices is best described by a two‐regime switching means model whose optimal switch date occurs in 1981. In accordance with previous studies, I find positive abnormal returns for options listed during 1973 to 1980. By contrast, I find negative abnormal returns for options listed in 1981 and later. Possible causes for this switch include the introduction of index options in 1982, the implementation of regulatory changes in 1981, and the possibility that options expedite the dissemination of negative information.
Agency Conflicts in Public and Negotiated Transfers of Corporate Control
Authors: Burkart Mike , Gromb Denis , Panunzi Fausto
Published: March 2003

We analyze control transfers in firms with a dominant minority blockholder and otherwise dispersed owners, and show that the transaction mode is important. Negotiated block trades preserve a low level of ownership concentration, inducing more inefficient extraction of private benefits. In contrast, public acquisitions increase ownership concentration, resulting in fewer private benefits and higher firm value. Within our model, the incumbent and new controlling party prefer to trade the block because of the dispersed shareholders' free‐riding behavior. We also explore the regulatory implications of this agency problem and its impact on the terms of block trades.
The Effect of Bank Relations on Investment Decisions: An Investigation of Japanese Takeover Bids
Authors: Kang Jun‐Koo , Shivdasani Anil , Yamada Takeshi
Published: March 2003

We study 154 domestic mergers in Japan during 1977 to 1993. In contrast to U.S. evidence, mergers are viewed favorably by investors of acquiring firms. We document a two‐day acquirer abnormal return of 1.2 percent and a mean cumulative abnormal return of 5.4 percent for the duration of the takeover. Announcement returns display a strong positive association with the strength of acquirer's relationships with banks. The benefits of bank relations appear to be greater for firms with poor investment opportunities and when the banking sector is healthy. We conclude that close ties with informed creditors, such as banks, facilitate investment policies that enhance shareholder wealth.
The Long‐Run Stock Returns Following Bond Ratings Changes
Authors: Dichev Ilia D. , Piotroski Joseph D.
Published: March 2003

Using essentially all Moody's bond ratings changes between 1970 and 1997, we find no reliable abnormal returns following upgrades. However, we find negative abnormal returns on the magnitude of 10 to 14 percent in the first year following downgrades. Additional results reveal that this underperformance is especially pronounced for small, low‐credit‐quality firms. Also, downgrades underperform in nearly all years in the sample, and a large part of the abnormal returns occur at subsequent earnings announcements. Thus, the evidence suggests that the poor returns result from an underreaction to the announcement of downgrades, rather than from lower systematic risk.
The Efficient Use of Conditioning Information in Portfolios
Authors: Ferson Wayne E. , Siegel Andrew F.
Published: March 2003

We study the properties of unconditional minimum‐variance portfolios in the presence of conditioning information. Such portfolios attain the smallest variance for a given mean among all possible portfolios formed using the conditioning information. We provide explicit solutions for n risky assets, either with or without a riskless asset. Our solutions provide insights into portfolio management problems and issues in conditional asset pricing.
Why Do Money Fund Managers Voluntarily Waive Their Fees?
Authors: Christoffersen Susan E. K.
Published: March 2003

Over half of money fund managers voluntarily waive fees they have a contractual right to claim. Moreover, as a consequence of fee waivers, funds on average collect one half of reported expense ratios. Variation in fee waivers is significant and relates to differences in relative performance. Both low‐performing retail and institutional funds waive fees to improve their net performance. More interestingly, high‐performing retail, but not institutional, funds use fee waivers to strategically adjust net performance to increase expected fund flows. Despite fund flow incentives, high‐performing institutional funds do not waive more because they cannot significantly improve their relative performance.
The Value of a Finance Journal Publication
Authors: Swidler Steve , Goldreyer Elizabeth
Published: March 2003

The empirical analysis examines the salary and publication records of 311 finance professors at public research universities to calculate the worth of a top finance journal article. Within rank, salary regressions provide measures of the direct returns of a journal publication, while probit models consider the indirect returns that result from promotion. Ultimately, the analysis uses a reduced form salary equation to measure both the direct and indirect effects of publishing a journal article. Depending on professorial rank, the present value of the first top finance journal article is between $19,493 and $33,754, with the additional result of large returns to subsequent publications.
Investor Reaction to Salient News in Closed‐End Country Funds
Authors: Klibanoff Peter , Lamont Owen , Wizman Thierry A.
Published: March 2003

We use panel data on prices and net asset values to test whether dramatic country‐specific news affects the response of closed‐end country fund prices to asset value. In a typical week, prices underreact to changes in fundamentals; the (short‐run) elasticity of price with respect to asset value is significantly less than one. In weeks with news appearing on the front page of The New York Times, prices react much more; the elasticity of price with respect to asset value is closer to one. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that news events lead some investors to react more quickly.
The Regional Economic Impact of an Earthquake: Direct and Indirect Effects of Electricity Lifeline Disruptions
Authors: Rose Adam , Benavides Juan , Chang Stephanie E. , Szczesniak Philip , Lim Dongsoon
Published: March 2003

This paper develops a methodology to estimate the regional economic impacts of electricity lifeline disruptions caused by a catastrophic earthquake. The methodology is based on specially designed input‐output and linear programming models. A simulation of a major earthquake in the New Madrid Seismic Zone near Memphis, Tennessee, indicates the potential production loss over the recovery period could amount to as much as 7 percent of gross regional product. Reallocation of scarce electricity across sectors could reduce the impacts substantially. Additionally, an improved restoration pattern of electricity transmission substations across subareas could reduce losses even more.
The Hinterland's Stake in Metropolitan Growth: Evidence from Selected Southern Regions
Authors: Henry Mark S. , Barkley David L. , Bao Shuming
Published: March 2003

In this article we extend the Carlino and Mills and Boarnet models of local development to test for the presence and direction of rural area linkages to urban areas in Functional Economic Areas (FEAs). In a sample of southern FEAs, we detect a mix of spillover and backwash effects from urban core and fringe areas to their rural hinterlands. Rural‐area population and employment both grew faster than average between 1980 and 1990 if in an FEA with a pattern of urban decentralization.
The Effect of Federal Wilderness on County Growth in the Intermountain Western United States
Authors: Duffy‐Deno Kevin T.
Published: March 2003

A consistent theme in the debate over federally‐owned wilderness areas in the intermountain western United States is that local economies may be adversely affected by such a designation. Yet empirical evidence of this negative effect is rarely offered. This paper finds, for a sample of 250 nonurban counties in the eight states of the intermountain west, no evidence that the existence of federal wilderness is directly or indirectly associated with either population‐density or total‐employment‐density growth between 1980 and 1990. This empirical finding is based on a disequilibrium model of population and employment growth. Furthermore, much of the economic concern over wilderness designation centers on its perceived effect on resource‐based industries. Yet, this study finds no empirical evidence that county‐level resource‐based employment is adversely affected by the existence of federal wilderness.
Spillovers and the Locational Effects of Public Infrastructure
Authors: Boarnet Marlon G.
Published: March 2003

This paper examines the possibility of negative output spillovers frompublic infrastructure. A model of productive public capital shows that when input factors aremobile, public infrastructure investments in one location can draw production away from otherlocations. In a linear production‐function framework, this effect would be manifested as anegative output spillover from public capital. Using data for California counties from 1969through 1988, such negative spillover effects are shown to exist in the case ofstreet‐and‐highway capital. The data show that changes in county output are positivelyassociated with changes in street‐and‐highway capital within the same county, but outputchanges are negatively associated with changes in street‐and‐highway capital in other counties.
Profit‐Rate Maximization in Interdependent Markets: A Research Note
Authors: Sheppard Eric , Plummer Paul S. , Haining Robert P.
Published: March 2003

In the theory of the firm it is conventional to regard firms as (total)profit‐maximizing institutions. In this paper it is shown that the interdependence among firms that is characteristic of monopolistic competition makes it plausible for them also to choose to maximize the rate of profit on capital advanced. For a homogeneous product with inelastic total demand, such as gasoline retailing, firms acting as rational agents, facing fixed costs in a homogeneous spatial market, and choosing to set prices under rate of profit‐maximization can achieve higher total profits than firms operating under total profit‐maximizing objectives.
Worker Endowments and the Effects of Institutions on Earnings Realization: A Cross‐National Comparison
Authors: Van Dijk Jouke , Folmer Hendrik , Herzog, Jr. Henry W. , Schlottmann Alan M.
Published: March 2003

In this study we investigate how differential institutions, and their observance within regional labor markets, impact potential earnings realization. We investigate institutional linkages to labor market outcomes by means of cross‐nation comparisons between the United States and the Netherlands. In this regard, better job‐matching (information) programs, higher relative unemployment benefits and minimum wages, and a greater prevalence of both trade unionism and collective bargaining likely work to the favor of Dutch workers, and in turnaugment their reservation wages during job search. The predictable outcome of higher earnings realization among Dutch workers is tested econometrically by frontier estimation.