bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Vertical profiles of methanogenesis and methanogens in two contrasting acidic peatlands in central New York State, USA
Authors: Cadillo‐Quiroz Hinsby , Bräuer Suzanna , Yashiro Erika , Sun Christine , Yavitt Joseph , Zinder Stephen
Published: May 2006

Northern acidic peatlands are important sources of atmospheric methane, yet the methanogens in them are poorly characterized. We examined methanogenic activities and methanogen populations at different depths in two peatlands, McLean bog (MB) and Chicago bog (CB). Both have acidic (pH 3.5–4.5) peat soils, but the pH of the deeper layers of CB is near‐neutral, reflecting its previous existence as a neutral‐pH fen. Acetotrophic and hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis could be stimulated in upper samples from both bogs, and phylotypes of methanogens using H2/CO2 (Methanomicrobiales) or acetate (Methanosarcinales) were identified in 16S rRNA gene clone libraries and by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T‐RFLP) analyses using a novel primer/restriction enzyme set that we developed. Particularly dominant in the upper layers was a clade in the Methanomicrobiales, called E2 here and the R10 or fen group elsewhere, estimated by quantitative polymerase chain reaction to be present at ∼108 cells per gram of dry peat. Methanogenic activity was considerably lower in deeper samples from both bogs. The methanogen populations detected by T‐RFLP in deeper portions of MB were mainly E2 and the uncultured euryarchaeal rice cluster (RC)‐II group, whereas populations in the less acidic CB deep layers were considerably different, and included a Methanomicrobiales clade we call E1‐E1′, as well as RC‐I, RC‐II, marine benthic group D, and a new cluster that we call the subaqueous cluster. E2 was barely detectable in the deeper samples from CB, further evidence for the associations of most organisms in this group with acidic habitats.
Widespread distribution and high abundance of Rhizobium radiobacter within Mediterranean subsurface sediments
Authors: Süß Jacqueline , Schubert Karin , Sass Henrik , Cypionka Heribert , Overmann Jörg , Engelen Bert
Published: May 2006

Eastern Mediterranean sediments are characterized by the occurrence of distinct, organic‐rich layers, called sapropels. These harbour elevated microbial numbers in comparison with adjacent carbon‐lean intermediate layers. A recently obtained culture collection from these sediments was composed of 20% of strains closely related to Rhizobium radiobacter, formerly classified as Agrobacterium tumefaciens. To prove and quantify the in situ abundance of R. radiobacter, a highly specific quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) protocol was developed. To convert quantification results into cell numbers, the copy number of rrn operons per genome was determined. Southern hybridization showed that our isolates contained four operons. Finally, quantitative PCR was applied to 45 sediment samples obtained across the eastern Mediterranean. Rhizobium radiobacter was present in 38 of 45 samples indicating an almost ubiquitous distribution. In total, 25–40 000 cells per gram of sediment were detected, corresponding to 0.001–5.1% of the bacterial cells. In general, the relative and absolute abundance of R. radiobacter increased with depth and was higher in sapropels than in intermediate layers. This indicates that R. radiobacter forms an active population in up to 200 000 years old sapropels. The present study shows for the first time that a cultivated subsurface bacterium is highly abundant in this environment.
Inactivation of the Pseudomonas putida cytochrome o ubiquinol oxidase leads to a significant change in the transcriptome and to increased expression of the CIO and cbb3‐1 terminal oxidases
Authors: Morales Gracia , Ugidos Ana , Rojo Fernando
Published: May 2006

Pseudomonas putida KT2440 contains a branched aerobic respiratory chain with several terminal oxidases. Inactivation of the cyo terminal ubiquinol oxidase has little effect on growth rate but is known to relieve the inhibition by global control that modulates induction of genes required to assimilate alkanes in cells growing in the presence of preferred carbon sources. We show that inactivation of other terminal oxidases has no effect on regulation of the alkane degradation pathway, which points to cyo as the oxidase that transmits a regulatory signal related to the activity of the electron transport chain. Using a genome‐wide DNA microarray we found that inactivation of cyo has a significant effect on the transcriptome, supporting that it participates in global regulation of gene expression. Among the genes affected stand out those coding for transporters of organic acids, porins, transcriptional regulators and terminal oxidases. Real‐time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) showed that, in cells growing exponentially in a complete medium, the absence of cyo was compensated by increased expression of the cyanide‐insensitive and cbb3‐1 terminal oxidases, while cbb3‐2 and aa3 oxidases remained unaffected. When cells enter into stationary phase cyo levels decrease and inhibition of the alkane degradation genes ceases. This was paralleled by upregulation of the cyanide‐insensitive, cbb3‐1, cbb3‐2 and aa3 terminal oxidases. The results suggest that P. putida adapts the composition of the electron transport chain not only to optimize energy generation, but also to influence the transcriptome profile of the cell through global control of gene expression.
The prevalence of small, flat colorectal cancers in a western population
Authors: Suzuki N. , Talbot I. C. , Saunders B. P.
Published: May 2006

Objective  Small, flat colorectal cancers have been widely reported in the Japanese literature but are thought to occur rarely outside Japan. The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to clarify the prevalence of flat colorectal cancer in a Western population.

Methods  One thousand and twenty‐six consecutive colonoscopies performed by a single experienced endoscopist were retrospectively analysed over a two‐year period. The morphology, site and histological appearance of all documented colorectal cancers (CRC) were recorded.

Results  Forty‐seven cases of CRC were detected, five of which (10%) demonstrated flat configuration. Flat cancers varied between 8 and 15 mm in diameter (mean 11 mm). Histologically, all flat lesions were moderately differentiated Dukes A adenocarcinomas. Two of these cancers contained no adenomatous component.

Conclusion  This study confirms that small, flat colorectal cancers are not an uncommon finding at colonoscopy in Western patients. Compared to polypoid neoplastic lesions, flat cancers appear to undergo malignant change at a smaller size.
Diabetes as a risk factor for cardiac conduction defects: a review
Authors: Movahed Mohammad‐Reza
Published: May 2006

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and mortality with increasing prevalence in the ageing population. Coronary artery disease is the major cardiovascular abnormality in DM patients. Cardiomyopathy and left ventricular hypertrophy are two other known associated cardiovascular abnormalities. There are a few non‐randomized studies reporting increased prevalence of cardiac conduction abnormalities, such as right bundle branch block (RBBB), bifascicular block and high degree atrioventricular (AV)‐block but not left bundle branch block (LBBB), in DM patients. Most clinicians are not aware of this association, and it is rarely mentioned in the published reviews about cardiovascular abnormalities in this population. The cause of cardiac conduction abnormalities in DM patients is not known. If autonomic neuropathy or DM‐associated cardiovascular disease plays a role, it remains unknown. The goal of this manuscript is to review the current literature about the risk of conduction abnormalities in DM patients. For this study, Medline, Google and published books were searched and reviewed for any references that matched cardiac conduction abnormalities, AV‐block, BBB for bundle branch block, LBBB, RBBB, bifascicular block, autonomic neuropathy and DM.
Earnings Management Vehicles for Korean Firms
Authors: Yoon Soon Suk , Miller Gary , Jiraporn Pornsit
Published: May 2006

We investigated the vehicles that Korean firms use when the firms manage earnings. We partitioned our sample into low, mid and high accrual sub‐samples based on discretionary accruals. Low accrual firms are defined as income‐decreasing firms whereas the high accrual firms are considered income increasing firms in this study. We decomposed accounting earnings into cash from operations and various components of accruals in a systematic way. Next we examined the types of accruals individual firms use when the respective firms increase reported earnings. The empirical results of the study indicate that there are clear discrepancies in the earnings management vehicles firm use when the firms manage earnings depending on the directions of earnings management. More specifically, income‐increasing firms frequently employ non‐cash revenues including asset‐disposal gains. Income‐decreasing firms employ non‐cash expenses including bad‐debt expenses and asset‐disposal losses. Firms also tend to use current accruals but to a limited extent as current accruals entail cash flow implications in the following years.
EVIDENCE‐BASED MANAGEMENT: THE VERY IDEA
Authors: LEARMONTH MARK , HARDING NANCY
Published: May 2006

This essay critically evaluates the recent phenomenon of ‘evidence‐based management’ in public services that is especially prominent in health care. We suggest that the current approach, broadly informed by evidence‐based health care, is misguided given the deeply contested nature of ‘evidence’ within the discipline of management studies. We argue that its growing popularity in spite of the theoretical problems it faces can be understood primarily as a function of the interests served by the universalization of certain forms of managerialist ‘evidence’ rather than any contribution to organizational effectiveness. Indeed, in a reading informed by the work of French geographer Henri Lefebvre, we suggest that in the long term the project is likely to inhibit rather than encourage a fuller understanding of the nature of public services. We conclude with a call for forms of organizational research that the current preoccupations of the evidence‐based project marginalize if not write out altogether.
THREE UNIVERSITIES AND THE BRITISH ELITE: A SCIENCE OF COLONIAL ADMINISTRATION IN THE UK
Authors: DIMIER VÉRONIQUE
Published: May 2006

In this article we examine how the science of colonial administration, which evolved within the training for colonial administrators in the decades 1930–50 in Britain, became institutionalized in British Universities. We will see that both the colonial context and the somewhat ambivalent conception of colonial administration conveyed by academics such as Margery Perham, Lucy Mair and officials from the Colonial Office may have justified the need to consider colonial administration to be a scientific discipline in its own right, but that it was perhaps the fight between the universities to control and produce the British administrative elite which provided the driver that helped that science to gain institutional legitimacy.
POLICY AS NARRATIVE: NEW LABOUR’S REFORM OF THE NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE
Authors: MORRELL KEVIN
Published: May 2006

Beginning with a brief review of the governance literature, a definition of governance in the National Health Service of England and Wales (NHS) is offered. This introduces an analysis of NHS reform, as presented in the recent policy literature. Using narrative theory, I critique this literature with reference to three key actors: the new organizational form of the ‘Foundation Trust’, NHS staff, and NHS patients. For each actor, a motif is identified and examined: ‘freedom’ for Foundation Trusts, ‘clinical governance’ for staff, and ‘choice’ for patients. Each of these motifs is instrumental in the narrative on NHS reform, whose main themes are emancipation, progress and duty. These are common to other political projects. This critique makes the rhetoric underpinning the recent policy literature more explicit, and underlines the created, contingent nature of New Labour’s account of NHS reform.
AT THE INTERFACE BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTICE – POLICY TRANSFER AND LESSON‐DRAWING
Authors: EVANS MARK
Published: May 2006

AT THE INTERFACE BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTICE – POLICY TRANSFER AND LESSON‐DRAWING
 
Learning From Comparative Public Policy: a Practical Guide
 
Richard Rose  Routledge 2004, 147 pp., £16.99 (pb) ISBN: 0415317428
COMPARING LOCAL GOVERNANCE: TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS
Authors: Elcock Howard
Published: May 2006

COMPARING LOCAL GOVERNANCE: TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS
 
Bas Denters and Lawrence E. Rose (eds)  Palgrave Macmillan, 2005, xiv + 293 pp., £18.99 (pb) ISBN: 0333995562
UNDERSTANDING KNOWLEDGE TRANSMISSION
Authors: Faulkner Paul
Published: May 2006

We must allow that knowledge can be transmitted. But to allow this is to allow that an individual can know a proposition despite lacking any evidence for it and reaching belief by an unreliable means. So some explanation is required as to how knowledge rather than belief is transmitted. This paper considers two non‐individualistic explanations: one in terms of knowledge existing autonomously, the other in terms of it existing as a property of communities. And it attempts to decide what is at issue between these explanations.
SEMANTIC EXTERNALISM AND A PRIORI SELF‐KNOWLEDGE
Authors: Haukioja Jussi
Published: May 2006

The argument known as the ‘McKinsey Recipe’ tries to establish the incompatibility of semantic externalism (about natural kind concepts in particular) and a priori self‐knowledge about thoughts and concepts by deriving from the conjunction of these theses an absurd conclusion, such as that we could know a priori that water exists. One reply to this argument is to distinguish two different readings of ‘natural kind concept’: (i) a concept which in fact denotes a natural kind, and (ii) a concept which aims to denote a natural kind. Paul Boghossian has argued, using a Dry Earth scenario, that this response fails, claiming that the externalist cannot make sense of a concept aiming, but failing, to denote a natural kind. In this paper I argue that Boghossian’s argument is flawed. Borrowing machinery from two‐dimensional semantics, using the notion of ‘considering a possible world as actual’, I claim that we can give a determinate answer to Boghossian’s question: which concept would ‘water’ express on Dry Earth?1
POSSIBLE EVILS
Authors: Hazlett Allan
Published: May 2006

I consider an objection to Lewisian modal realism: the view entails that there are a great many real evils that we ought to care about, but in fact we shouldn’t care about these evils. I reply on behalf of the modal realist – we should and do care about possible evils, and this is shown in our reactions to fictions about evils, which (plausibly, for the modal realist) are understood as making certain possible evils salient.1
NATURAL GOODNESS AND NATURAL EVIL
Authors: Millum Joseph
Published: May 2006

In Natural Goodness Philippa Foot gives an analysis of the concepts we use to describe the characteristics of living things. She suggests that we describe them in functional terms, and this allows us to judge organisms as good or defective depending on how well they perform their distinctive functions. Foot claims that we can judge intentional human actions in the same way: the virtues contribute in obvious ways to good human functioning, and this provides us with grounds for making moral judgements. This paper criticises Foot’s argument by challenging her notion of function. I argue that the type of judgement she makes about living things requires an evolutionary biological account of function. However, such an account would render her meta‐ethical claims implausible, since it is unlikely that human beings are adapted to be maximally virtuous. I conclude that Foot is wrong about the logical structure of our judgements of human action.
EVANS’S ANTI‐CARTESIAN ARGUMENT: A CRITICAL EVALUATION
Authors: Newstead Anne
Published: May 2006

This paper evaluates the anti‐Cartesian argument given by Evans in chapter seven of The Varieties of Reference. It focuses on Evans’s claim that bodily awareness is a form of self‐awareness. The apparent basis for this claim is the datum that sometimes judgements about one’s position based on body sense are immune to errors of misidentification. However, Evans’s argument suffers from a crucial ambiguity. Once disambiguated, it turns out that Evans’s argument either begs the question against the Cartesian or fails to be plausible. Nonetheless, the argument is important for drawing our attention to the idea that bodily modes of awareness should be taken seriously as possible forms of self‐awareness.
THE MORAL BELIEF PROBLEM
Authors: Sinclair Neil
Published: May 2006

The moral belief problem is that of reconciling expressivism in ethics with both minimalism in the philosophy of language and the syntactic discipline of moral sentences. It is argued that the problem can be solved by distinguishing minimal and robust senses of belief, where a minimal belief is any state of mind expressed by sincere assertoric use of a syntactically disciplined sentence and a robust belief is a minimal belief with some additional property R. Two attempts to specify R are discussed, both based on the thought that beliefs are states that aim at truth. According to the first, robust beliefs are criticisable to the extent that their content fails to match the state of the world. This sense fails to distinguish robust beliefs from minimal beliefs. According to the second, robust beliefs function to have their content match the state of the world. This sense succeeds in distinguishing robust beliefs from minimal beliefs. The conclusion is that the debate concerning the cognitive status of moral convictions needs to address the issue of the function of moral convictions. Evolutionary theorising may be relevant, but will not be decisive, in answering this question.
Unprincipled Virtue – Nomy Arpaly
Authors: Suikkanen Jussi
Published: May 2006

Book reviewed:

Nomy Arpaly, Unprincipled Virtue (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003), 208 pp., £10.
Adam, Pre‐Adamites, and Extra‐Terrestrial Beings in Early Modern Europe
Authors: ALMOND PHILIP
Published: May 2006

This article examines the question of the existence of non‐Adamic persons — both terrestrial and extra‐terrestrial — in early modern Europe. More particularly it looks at how the existence of non‐Adamites seriously called into question the credibility of the central themes of the Christian story of the creation, fall and redemption in Jesus Christ in early modern Europe. It analyses the impact on the Christian view of history caused by the discovery of the inhabitants of the New World, speculations about the polygenetic origins of the human race, and discussions about the plurality of worlds. It concludes with some reflections on the monogenetic and polygenetic accounts of the origin of humans in a post‐Darwinian context.
A Vision of an Anglican Imperialism: The Annual Sermons of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts 1701–1714
Authors: STRONG ROWAN
Published: May 2006

This article examines the first two decades of the oldest continuing Anglican missionary society, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, founded in 1710. It argues that, contrary to the prevailing historiography of the British missionary movement, this early eighteenth‐century society was genuinely evangelistic and marks the real beginning of that movement. The society also marks the beginning of a formal, institutional engagement by the Church of England with the British Empire. In the Society's annual anniversary sermons, and influenced by the reports sent by its ordained missionaries in North America, the Church of England's metropolitan leadership in England constructed an Anglican discourse of empire. In this discourse the Church of England began to fashion the identities of colonial populations of Indigenous peoples, white colonists, and Black slaves through a theological Enlightenment understanding.
Curious Paradoxes: James Anthony Froude's View of the Bible
Authors: MADDEN MICHAEL
Published: May 2006

James Anthony Froude disapproved of the apologetic methods used by English Protestants in defending Christianity because he felt they did not answer the real questions. Nevertheless, he was disquieted by the rise of religious infidelity during the nineteenth century. Froude believed that heterodox clergymen deserved a hearing, but he also believed they had to be answered. He feared that simply using legal means to silence the doubters would strengthen infidel opinion, and drive young inquirers toward Rome or atheism. At a minimum, Froude himself wanted to believe the gospel history. While he could not believe much that was said in its defence, he was unhappy with much that was said against it. Froude suggested that the synoptic gospels might have been based on an early, authentic biography of Christ. He preferred this solution to assuming that the early church had been motivated by “passion or fraud or cowardice” in creating a fiction.
The impact of privatization on firm performance in a transition economy
Authors: Loc Truong Dong , Lanjouw Ger , Lensink Robert
Published: May 2006

The Vietnamese privatization programme, launched in 1992, differs from the usual Western privatization programmes in terms of the residual percentage of shares owned by the state and the portion of shares owned by insiders. This begs the question whether these differences influence the effects of the programme on firm performance. This study measures the impact of privatization on firm performance in Vietnam by comparing the pre‐ and post‐privatization financial and operating performance of 121 former state‐owned enterprises (SOEs). We find significant increases in profitability, sales revenues, efficiency and employee income. Results of applying the ‘difference‐in‐difference’ (DID) method, wherein a control group of firms is used to pick up the influence of other determinants of firm performance, suggest that the performance improvements may indeed be associated with equitization. Regression analyses reveal that firm size, residual state ownership, corporate governance and stock market listing are key determinants of performance improvements.
The great transformation of Central Eastern Europe
Authors: Kornai János
Published: May 2006

The study examines the changes of the Central Eastern European region first in the context of world history. It confirms by comparative historical analyses that the transformation was indeed unique. This has been the only total transformation that took place peacefully, without violence, and at the same time astonishingly fast, in the main direction of the economic and the political changes of Western civilization. From that perspective it is an exceptional success story. However, from the perspective of everyday life, the result is different. Deep economic troubles are experienced by a considerable portion of the population. The perception of losses is intensified by various cognitive problems. Based on the experience of today's generation, evaluating the change as an unequivocal success would be unwarranted. Both approaches are justified: it would be wrong to blend the two and to weigh them by the same scale.
Monopolistic wages or efficient contracts?
Authors: Dimova Ralitza
Published: May 2006

Using a representative sample of medium and large firms, this paper explores the process of employment and wage bill determination in the Bulgarian manufacturing sector. The results suggest that, during 1997–2001, the labour market behaviour of these firms was consistent with weakly efficient contracting and employment elasticity with respect to both sales and wages similar to that of the fastest‐reforming Central and Eastern Europe economies. Although a case study using data on sell‐off deals by the Privatization Agency suggests that the largest firms selected for cash privatization may have exhibited higher preference for wage enhancement than employment protection, the results do not bring into question the efficient performance of the post‐crisis labour market in Bulgaria. Importantly, the study rejects the hypothesis that either persistent government stakes or mass privatization may have led to efficiency deterioration.
Regional unemployment and its persistence in transition countries1
Authors: Bornhorst Fabian , Commander Simon
Published: May 2006

We look at the differences in regional unemployment rates in six major transition countries and their persistence over time. We analyse the role various adjustment mechanisms play. While movement out of the labour force seems to be one consequence in many regions with high relative unemployment, there are also signs of emerging wage flexibility. Employment creation, by contrast, has not picked up in regions of high unemployment. Labour mobility also remains very limited in size although it appears to respond to basic economic incentives. Policies addressing housing market imperfections and information asymmetries are necessary to increase worker mobility and to integrate better national labour markets.
The information content of the neutral rate of interest
Authors: Brzoza‐Brzezina Michał
Published: May 2006

The concept of the neutral rate of interest has recently received much attention from economists. In this paper, we estimate the neutral rate of interest in Poland. We show how it can yield important information for a central banker. In particular, estimation of the neutral rate can be helpful for monetary authorities seeking to stabilize inflation after a long process of disinflation. We also suggest possible explanations for the relatively high level of the neutral rate in Poland.
New economic geography meets Comecon
Authors: Brülhart Marius , Koenig Pamina
Published: May 2006

We analyse the internal spatial wage and employment structures of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia, using regional data for 1996–2000. A new economic geography model predicts wage gradients and specialization patterns that are smoothly related to the regions’ relative market access. As an alternative, we formulate a ‘Comecon hypothesis’, according to which wages and sectoral location are not systematically related to market access except for discrete concentrations in capital regions. Estimations support both the NEG (new economic geography) prediction and the Comecon hypothesis. However, when we compare internal wage and employment gradients of the five new member states with those of Western European countries, we find that the former are marked by significantly stronger discrete concentrations of wages and service employment in their capital regions, confirming the ongoing relevance of the Comecon hypothesis.
Why does China protect its labour‐intensive industries more?*
Authors: Claro Sebastián
Published: May 2006

China's tariff structure favours labour‐intensive sectors, and this is at odds with traditional theory of comparative advantage. The paper argues that tariffs in China are a mechanism for protecting technology‐backward domestic – especially state‐owned enterprises (SOEs) from competition technology‐advanced foreign enterprises producing in China. With relatively integrated labour markets and cross‐firm technology differences, SOEs’ subsistence is supported by subsidized credit and limited access of foreign firms’ local production to tariff‐protected domestic markets. Labour market integration and capital subsidies increase the relative cost of labour in SOEs compared to their foreign competitors, hurting more domestic firms in industries that use labour more intensively. Restrictions to FIEs’ (foreign‐invested enterprises) access to tariff‐protected product markets, which protect more labour‐intensive industries, compensate for the greater cost disadvantage of SOEs in labour‐intensive sectors.
Pulmonary Kaposi sarcoma in the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy
Authors: Palmieri C , Dhillon T , Thirlwell C , Newsom‐Davis T , Young A‐M , Nelson M , Gazzard BG , Bower M
Published: May 2006

Objective

Since the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) there has been a dramatic reduction in the incidence of Kaposi sarcoma (KS) and an improvement in survival. We wished to examine whether the outcome in pulmonary KS (pKS) has also altered.

Methods

In a single‐institution cohort of 1140 HIV‐positive patients with KS, 305 patients were diagnosed in the HAART era (1996–2004). We examined the clinicopathological features and outcomes of these patients, of whom 25 had pKS and 280 did not.

Results

Patients with pKS had lower CD4 cell counts at the time of KS diagnosis (Mann–Whitney U‐test P=0.005). The incidence of pKS was higher in African patients than in non‐African patients in this sample (Fisher's test, P=0.001). There were no significant differences in age, gender, plasma HIV‐1 viral load or prior HAART treatment at the time of KS diagnosis. Five‐year overall survival in the pKS group was 49% [95% confidence interval (CI) 26–73%] as compared with 82% (95% CI 76–87%) for the non‐pKS group (log rank, P<0.0001).

Conclusion

PKS remains an ominous diagnosis in the era of HAART, with a median survival of just 1.6 years.
Counteracting muscle wasting in HIV‐infected individuals
Authors: Dudgeon WD , Phillips KD , Carson JA , Brewer RB , Durstine JL , Hand GA
Published: May 2006

HIV‐infected persons often experience a loss of lean tissue mass, which includes decreases in skeletal muscle mass. This HIV‐associated wasting is significant because it has been associated with accelerated disease progression and increased morbidity. Signalling related to several circulating molecules, including tumour necrosis factor (TNF)‐α, growth hormone, insulin‐like growth factor (IGF)‐1 and testosterone, has been associated with the aetiology of muscle wasting. Additionally, nutritional status related to malnutrition and specific dietary deficiencies may be involved. In an attempt to counter muscle wasting in HIV‐infected persons, treatments have been suggested that target these mechanisms. Nutritional supplementation, cytokine reduction, hormone therapy and resistance exercise training are potential treatments for this condition. Resistance exercise training, which is more easily accessible to this population than other treatments, holds promise in counteracting the process of HIV wasting, as it has been successfully used to increase lean tissue mass in healthy and clinical populations. This review will explore the HIV/AIDS muscle‐wasting syndrome, its aetiology, and the treatments used to counteract wasting.
Regimen‐dependent variations in adherence to therapy and virological suppression in patients initiating protease inhibitor‐based highly active antiretroviral therapy
Authors: Moore DM , Hogg RS , Yip B , Wood E , Harris M , Montaner JSG
Published: May 2006

Objective

To examine differences among four protease inhibitor (PI)‐based drug regimens in adherence to therapy and rate of achievement of virological suppression in a cohort of antiretroviral‐naive patients initiating highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).

Methods

Participants were antiretroviral‐naive and were first dispensed combination therapy containing two nucleosides and a ritonavir (RTV)‐boosted PI, or unboosted nelfinavir, between 1 January 2000 and 30 September 2003. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine associations between the prescribed PI and other baseline factors associated with being >90% adherent to therapy and then to determine the associations of prescribed drug regimen, adherence to therapy and baseline variables with the odds of achieving two consecutive viral loads of <500 HIV‐1 RNA copies/mL.

Results

A total of 385 subjects were available for analysis. Lopinavir (LPV)/RTV was prescribed for 168 patients (42% of total); 86 (22%) received indinavir (IDV)/RTV; 91 (24%) received nelfinavir (NFV) and 40 (10%) received saquinavir (SQV)/RTV. SQV/RTV‐based HAART was associated with reduced adherence to therapy [odds ratio (OR)=0.40; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.19–0.83]. In multivariate models, IDV/RTV (OR=0.45; 95% CI 0.22–0.92), SQV/RTV (OR=0.18; 95% CI 0.07–0.43) and NFV were associated with reduced odds of achieving virological suppression within 1 year in comparison to LPV/RTV‐based therapy. For patients receiving NFV, adjusting for adherence (OR=0.73; 95% CI 0.36–1.47) rendered this association nonsignificant.

Conclusion

Patients prescribed IDV/RTV, NFV or SQV/RTV were less likely to achieve virological suppression on their first regimen compared with patients prescribed LPV/RTV. Reduced adherence to these therapies only partly explained these observed differences.
A prospective evaluation of the effect of atazanavir on the QTc interval and QTc dispersion in HIV‐positive patients
Authors: Busti AJ , Tsikouris JP , Peeters MJ , Das SR , Canham RM , Abdullah SM , Margolis DM
Published: May 2006

Background

Atazanavir (ATV), an HIV protease inhibitor (PI) that may be preferred for the treatment of HIV‐infected patients with cardiovascular comorbidities because of its favourable effects on plasma lipids, has been associated with cardiac rhythm disturbances.

Objective

To quantify the effect of ATV on corrected QT (QTc) and QTc dispersion (QTd), markers of the potential for cardiac dysrhythmia, in patients switching from other PIs to ATV.

Methods

In this prospective, single‐centre, open‐label study, 12‐lead electrocardiograms were performed for subjects at baseline, 2 h after the first dose of ATV, and 1 month after initiation of ATV.

Results

Twenty‐one patients (19 received ritonavir‐boosted ATV) completed the study. There was a trend towards an increase in the QTc at 2 h after the first dose [mean±standard deviation 3.19±8.0 ms; 95% confidence interval (CI) −0.47 to 6.85 ms; P=0.084]. There was no difference between QTc values at baseline and at 1 month (−1.5±8.75 ms; 95% CI −5.50 to 2.46; P=0.43). There was a nonsignificant decrease in the QTd between baseline and 2 h (−5.1±15.19 ms; 95% CI −13.22 to 2.96; P=0.197) and between baseline and 1 month (−0.61±15.04 ms; 95% CI −8.1 to 6.87; P=0.865). A significant increase in the PR interval (7.4±10.7 ms; 95% CI 2.5 to 12.25 ms; P=0.005) was observed at 1 month.

Conclusions

The use of ATV did not result in increases in the QTc interval or QTd. However, PR interval monitoring may be warranted in patients with underlying heart block or those treated with atrioventricular nodal blocking agents.
Risk factors for fibrosis progression in HIV/HCV coinfected patients from a retrospective analysis of liver biopsies in 1985–2002
Authors: Schiavini M , Angeli E , Mainini A , Zerbi P , Duca PG , Gubertini G , Vago L , Fociani P , Giorgi R , Cargnel A
Published: May 2006

Objectives

To identify predictive factors for moderate/severe liver fibrosis and to analyse fibrosis progression in paired liver biopsies from HIV‐positive patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.

Methods

HIV/HCV coinfected patients followed at the 2nd Department of Infectious Diseases of L. Sacco Hospital in Milan, Italy, with at least one liver biopsy specimen were retrospectively evaluated.

Results

A total of 110 patients were enrolled in the study. In a univariate analysis, predictive factors of Ishak–Knodell stage ≥3 were a history of alcohol abuse [odds ratio (OR) 3.6, P=0.004], alanine aminotransferase level >100 IU/L at biopsy (OR 2.4, P=0.05), necro‐inflammatory grade ≥9 (OR 37.14, P<0.0001) and CD4 count <350 cells/μL at nadir (OR 5.3, P=0.05). In a multivariate analysis, age >35 years (OR 3.19, P=0.04) and alcohol abuse (OR 4.36, P=0.002) remained independently associated with Ishak–Knodell stage. Paired liver biopsies were available in 36 patients; 18 showed an increase of at least one stage in the subsequent liver biopsy. Either in a univariate or in a multivariate analysis, a decrease of CD4 cell count of more than 10% between two biopsies (OR 6.85, P=0.002) was significantly associated with liver fibrosis progression.

Conclusion

Our findings highlight the relevance of encouraging a withdrawal of alcohol consumption in people with chronic HCV infection and of carrying out close follow‐up of patients, especially if they are more than 35 years old. It is therefore mandatory to evaluate HIV/HCV coinfected patients for anti‐HCV treatment and to increase CD4 cell count through antiretroviral therapy in order to reduce the risk of fibrosis progression and to slow the evolution of liver disease.
Safety of nevirapine‐containing antiretroviral triple therapy regimens to prevent vertical transmission in an African cohort of HIV‐1‐infected pregnant women
Authors: Marazzi MC , Germano P , Liotta G , Guidotti G , Loureiro S , Da Cruz Gomes A , Valls Blazquez MC , Narciso P , Perno CF , Mancinelli S , Palombi L
Published: May 2006

Objective

To assess the incidence and consequences of adverse reactions among African HIV‐positive pregnant women treated with fixed‐dose combinations of a nevirapine‐containing antiretroviral (ARV) triple therapy.

Methods

A retrospective analysis of the clinical files of 703 HIV‐1‐positive pregnant women treated with a nevirapine‐containing regimen between May 2002 and July 2004 was conducted. Selection criteria for inclusion in the analysis were: (a) taking ARV for more than 14 days; (b) baseline values of transaminases below the threshold of 2.5 times the upper limit of normal (ULN). The women were on a nevirapine‐containing regimen for a median of 127 days [interquartile range (IQR) 86–190 days], starting on average at the 27th week of gestation (standard deviation±9.5) and continuing up to a maximum of 6 months after delivery. All women were offered formula milk to feed the babies. Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) was continued beyond 6 months only if the patient qualified on the first visit. The main outcome measures were incidence of hepatotoxicity, skin rashes and Stevens–Johnson syndrome. Multivariate analysis to assess the impact of several factors on the adverse reaction rate was performed.

Results

As of 1 August 2004, 554 pregnancies reached term, 96 women were still pregnant, and 53 women dropped out of the programme before giving birth. After 2 months of therapy the percentage of patients with a viral load less than 1000 HIV‐1 RNA copies/mL increased to 78.6%; average CD4 cell counts increased from 490 cells/μL before therapy to 630 after therapy. The incidence of grade 3–4 adverse reactions (hepatotoxicity, skin rashes and Stevens–Johnson syndrome) was 6.5, 2.4 and 1.1%, respectively. Five women died during pregnancy (0.88%). Only one of the deaths could be associated with ARV treatment.

Conclusion

Nevirapine‐containing regimens in pregnant woman, at all CD4 cell count levels, appear to be safe in African settings.
‘Simply forgot’ is the most frequently stated reason for missed doses of HAART irrespective of degree of adherence
Authors: Barfod TS , Sørensen HT , Nielsen H , Rodkjær L , Obel N
Published: May 2006

Objectives

Previous studies have reported that forgetfulness is the most frequently mentioned reason for missed doses among patients on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). However, no previous study has compared the reasons given by highly nonadherent patients with the reasons given by patients with better adherence. The objective of this study was to examine further patients' self‐reported reasons for missing doses of HAART and to compare the reasons given by patients with lower adherence with those given by patients with higher adherence.

Methods

All patients visiting the clinics participating in the Danish HIV cohort study during a 1‐year period (July 2002 to June 2003) were eligible if they had started HAART at least 6 months previously. Consenting patients completed an anonymous self‐administered questionnaire based upon the adult AIDS Clinical Trial Group adherence questionnaires. Lower adherence was defined as reporting a missed dose within the preceding 4 days.

Results

We received usable questionnaires from 840 (75%) of the 1126 eligible patients. Patients with lower adherence reported the same reasons for missed doses as patients with higher adherence (Spearman's ρ=0.952, P<0.0001). In both groups of patients the three most frequently reported reasons for missed doses were ‘simply forgot’, ‘were away from home’, and ‘had a change in daily routines’.

Conclusions

Patients with poorer adherence to HAART state the same reasons for missing doses as patients with better adherence, and ‘simply forgot’ is the most frequently stated reason.
Cultural factors and beliefs influencing transfer of training
Authors: Subedi Bhawani Shankar
Published: May 2006

Most organizations invest in people for training. Training effectiveness is arguably constrained because of inadequate transfer of learning from the training environment to the workplace environment. Training‐job relevance and the extent of transfer have been found limited. Although performance is affected by a number of factors, training is often used as a solution to all problems. Trying to fix non‐training problems with training solutions is futile, yet often attempted in the context of Nepal. Thus, the growing recognition of the problem of inadequate transfer of training has been recognized as a compelling issue.

This article presents a brief discussion of the data and corresponding findings pertaining to one of the research questions included in a recent doctoral study. The purpose of the study was to examine the extent of transfer of learning from the training environment to the workplace environment, and identify cultural factors and beliefs held by stakeholders influencing such transfer in the context of civil and corporate sector organizations in Nepal.

What are the cultural factors and beliefs that influence the extent of transfer of training? This was one of the questions that prompted the study.
Age differences in career activities among higher‐level employees in the Netherlands: a comparison between profit sector and non‐profit sector staff
Authors: Van Der Heijden Beatrice Isabella Johanna Maria
Published: May 2006

The present study describes age differences in the occurrence of career activities among profit sector and non‐profit sector employees in the Netherlands. Three different types of variables have been studied, i.e. individual, job‐related and organizational variables. Hypotheses have been tested with original survey data from 423 profit sector employees and 136 non‐profit sector employees. The employees are all working in higher‐level jobs in large organizations.

Overall, we may conclude from this study that the differences between profit sector and non‐profit sector workers are not consistent at all. For some factors the situation is more advantageous for profit sector employees, whereas for other factors the outcomes point in the opposite direction.

Regarding age effects, we have found that, in general, for profit sector employees the differences between starters (20–34 years) and middle‐aged workers (35–49 years) are not univocal, whereas the differences between middle‐aged workers and seniors (over‐fifties) imply that the amount of individual initiatives and organizational activities is less for the latter group of employees.

When the three age groups are compared for the non‐profit sector employees, most factors do not vary significantly. For the factors where the F‐test is found to be significant, by and large, the situation regarding the possibilities for a further career development is worst for the seniors.
Gender disparities in mental health service use of Puerto Rican children and adolescents
Authors: Cabiya José J. , Canino Glorisa , Chavez Ligra , Ramirez Rafael , Alegría Margenta , Shrout Patrick , Hohman Ann , Bravo Milagros , Bauermeister José J. , Maritínez‐Taboas Alfonso
Published: May 2006

Background:  Differences in service utilization indicating that boys use more mental health services than girls were analyzed to see if they could be explained by known correlates of service use. These correlates were arranged into individual (severe emotional disturbance, level of impairment and externalizing disorders), family (parental education, psychopathology and parental concern) and school factors (difficulties with school work). The objectives were to understand and identify the factors accounting for gender differences in mental health service utilization in order to develop alternatives to promote equity in service delivery.

Methods:  A representative sample of 1,896 children 4 to 17 years of age and their primary caretakers were interviewed for this study. Reports of service use were obtained using the Service Assessment for Children and Adolescents. Logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between gender and service use, adjusting for known correlates.

Results:  Our results showed that, except for impairment, other individual, family and school factors did not explain gender differences in service utilization. Males with impairment were 2.87 times more likely to receive services than impaired females (p ≤ .01), and this result continued to hold true for impaired undiagnosed boys compared to impaired diagnoses‐free girls (p ≤ .001).

Conclusions:  Our findings showed a service disparity between impaired boys and girls who did not meet criteria for a DSM IV diagnosis, but no observed differences in service use between boys and girls who met criteria for severe emotional disturbance (SED). Continued investigations are necessary to analyze, assess and understand the different circumstances that bring boys and girls into treatment, followed by the development of appropriate intervention programs at the school and community levels.
Distribution, status and conservation of Indian gray wolf (Canis lupus pallipes) in Karnataka, India
Authors: Singh M. , Kumara H. N.
Published: May 2006

The Indian gray wolf Canis lupus pallipes is the major large carnivore in the plains of Karnataka, India. We carried out a study on its distribution and status from November 2001 to July 2004. We estimated 555 wolves occupying about 123 330 km2 of the state. In the past 40 years, wolves have disappeared from the southern plateau from an area of about 31 801 km2. Their distribution is now largely restricted to the north‐eastern dry plains. The wolf has also disappeared in recent years from some ‘protected areas’ such as Melkote Temple Wildlife Sanctuary, and their present population is largely found in ‘non‐protected’ areas. Blackbucks are the only natural prey of wolves in Karnataka, but their density in most parts of the state is extremely low. The major prey species is domestic livestock, especially sheep. The available ‘remote area’ (forests or rocky terrains) in the wolf‐occupied regions determined the status of the wolf. Killing of adult wolves and pups was common throughout the range of the wolf. However, such killings were made largely by local sheepherders with small sheep holdings and not by nomadic shepherds who maintained large sheep herds. The forests in the north‐eastern parts of the state exist in small patches every few kilometers. Because each wolf pack ranges over large distances and is by and large a commensal species, we propose that the management of these small forest patches, considering them as components of a larger landscape, is the only effective conservation practice for the wolf. Although existing locally in low densities, because of a large ranging area of a single pack, the seemingly isolated wolf packs can become parts of a large metapopulation, providing a sustainable population.