bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Openness, Investment Climate, and FDI in Developing Countries
Authors: Sekkat Khalid , Veganzones‐Varoudakis Marie‐Ange
Published: October 2007

The paper assesses the importance of openness, infrastructure availability, and sound economic and political conditions in increasing developing countries' attractiveness with respect to FDI. The results show that these factors are particularly important for South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. The paper also shows a higher impact of these factors on FDI in the manufacturing sector than on total FDI. The message to developing countries' policymakers is twofold. First, efforts towards openness should be initiated or further increased in order to make their economies attractive to foreign investors. Second, improvements in other aspects of the investment climate are important complements to openness and result in additional and sensitive increases in FDI inflows.
Pitfalls in Private and Social Incentives of Vertical Cross‐border Integration and Disintegration
Authors: Rossini Gianpaolo
Published: October 2007

Production increasingly takes place on a cross‐border basis along two patterns. Either a vertically integrated (VI) multinational firm (MNF) spreads the production sequence over many countries or vertically disintegrated (VD) firms operate independently in distinct stages and countries. On the private side, the decrease of transport costs expands VD, due to incentives alternatively in the upstream (U) and the downstream (D) sections of production. With VD the benefits are disseminated over many countries. With VI they are skewed towards a single area. Then, some countries prefer cross‐border VD. In an international duopoly setting, with vertical restraints due to competition or trade policies, VD becomes the privately preferred mode and provides further ground for the wave of international fragmentation.
Exchange‐rate Effects on China's Trade*
Authors: Marquez Jaime , Schindler John
Published: October 2007

Though China's share of world trade exceeds that of Japan, little is known about the response of China's trade to changes in exchange rates. The few estimates available have two limitations. First, the data for trade prices are based on proxies for prices from other countries. Secondly, the estimation sample includes the period of China's transformation from a centrally‐planned economy to a more market‐oriented one. We address these limitations with an empirical model explaining the shares of China's exports and imports in world trade in terms of the real effective value of the renminbi. The specifications control for foreign direct investment and for the role of imports of parts to assemble exports. Parameter estimation uses disaggregated monthly trade data and excludes China's decentralization period. We find that a 10 percent real appreciation of the renminbi lowers the share of aggregate Chinese exports by nearly one percentage point. However, the estimated response of imports is negligible and lacks precision.
Immigration Policy, Self‐selection, and the Quality of Immigrants*
Authors: Bellettini Giorgio , Ceroni Carlotta Berti
Published: October 2007

This paper investigates the effects of immigration quotas on the average quality of immigrants by developing a human capital migration model where efficiency in migration depends on skills and emigration rates are higher among skilled workers. Studying the joint determination of the domestic level of wages and immigrants' self‐selection, we find a negative relationship between the wage level and the percentage of educated workers among immigrants, which results in a nonstandard downward‐sloping labor supply. In our framework, a higher quota increases the skill mix of immigrants through its negative effect on wages and raises aggregate national income.
Sharecroppers or Shrewd Capitalists? Projections of the US Current Account, International Income Flows, and Net International Debt
Authors: Kitchen John
Published: October 2007

This paper presents a detailed framework and analysis to address whether the US is on track to becoming a society of “sharecroppers,” paying a large and growing share of income to foreign owners of US assets, or rather is more likely to continue as a society of “shrewd capitalists” with the cost of servicing international debt remaining relatively low and manageable despite growing international debt. Various scenarios illustrate the reliability of the modeling framework and show how alternative future paths for key variables affect the outcomes. The relationships determining the international flows and relative debt levels—including relative rates of return, asset portfolio compositions, valuation effects, and the outlook for an improving US trade position—indicate that a manageable and sustainable outlook is more likely than often considered to be the case. Results also show, however, the extent to which the outlook is vulnerable to the loss of “exorbitant privilege.”
Un/doing Gender and the Aesthetics of Organizational Performance
Authors: Hancock Philip , Tyler Melissa
Published: October 2007

In the age of the so‐called ‘expressive organization’ and the ‘aesthetic economy’, for an organization to compete in the global marketplace it would appear that it must perform. This does not refer simply to economic performance, but rather to the idea of performance as a means of affecting both people's impressions and definitions of reality. In this article we argue that such performativity is achieved, in part, through the power of symbolism and aesthetics, as well as the capacity to bring oneself into being in an environment in which successful management of the aesthetic has increasingly become a prerequisite for the conferment of recognition. Central to this process are the ways in which the aesthetics of gender are mobilized and indeed simultaneously ‘done’ and ‘undone’ in order to affirm particular, but often unstable, regimes of managerially desired meaning. Drawing on the work of Judith Butler, and informed by a critical or hermeneutic structuralism, we are concerned here to think through the relationship between performativity and the gendered organization of the desire for recognition as it is materialized in, and mediated by, the landscaping of corporate artefacts and organizationally compelled ways of un/doing gender. With this in mind, we consider a series of images taken from a sample of recruitment documents that, as cultural configurations that organize and compel particular versions of gender, we argue, are concerned with the production of organizationally legible and therefore viable gendered subjects.
Occupational Cultures and the Embodiment of Masculinity: Hairdressing, Estate Agency and Firefighting
Authors: Hall Alex , Hockey Jenny , Robinson Victoria
Published: October 2007

Drawing on data from an Economic and Social Research Council‐funded project, this article explores the implications of different occupational cultures for men's masculine identity. With a focus on embodiment and individual agency, it explores the argument that it is within ‘scenes of constraint’ that gendered identities are both ‘done’ and ‘undone’. In this article we examine embodied experience in occupational cultures commonly stereotyped as ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’ (hairdressing, estate agency and firefighting), showing how men conform to, draw upon and resist the gendered stereotypes associated with these occupations. What we argue is that gendered conceptions of ‘the body’ need to be differentiated from individual men's embodiment. Instead, processes of identification can be shown to emerge via embodied experiences of particular kinds of gendered body, and in the ways in which men negotiate the perception of these bodies in different occupational contexts.
The Doing and Undoing of Gender: The Importance of Being a Credible Female Victim
Authors: Jeanes Emma L.
Published: October 2007

It is increasingly argued that gender is something we ‘do’ (or ‘undo’) rather than ‘are’. The doing of gender, or the accomplishment of gender, becomes credible when it conforms (in broad terms) to certain normative conceptions of gender. Resistance to, or subversions of these norms, or the failure to appear credible, deny the individual a gendered authenticity. Attempts to unshackle notions of gender — to ‘undo gender’ and to accept the outcome as authentic, open and fluid — have been matched with concerns that this theoretically empowering process may result in the loss of political power — the notion of woman (or man) in whose name we can act being lost as the binary is eliminated. These tensions are explored in the context of the UK Sex Discrimination Act 1975 (rev. 1986). This article demonstrates how the doing and undoing of gender in an employment tribunal accomplishes or negates the ‘authenticity’ of gender.
‘Ass‐kicking’ Women: Doing and Undoing Gender in a US Livestock Auction
Authors: Pilgeram Ryanne
Published: October 2007

Using in‐depth interviews with farm operators and participant observation at a livestock auction, this article explores how women in conventional agriculture in the USA ‘do gender’ in a male‐dominated world. In particular the ways that space, both public and private, alters the performance of gender are analysed. Given that agriculture in the USA has traditionally been tied to masculinity and that more and more women are entering the field, the article examines the strategies women employ to negotiate the tension between being women and being farmers. The findings suggest that in general women's success is intricately tied to their ability to reproduce the masculinity that spells success for their male counterparts. These women dress in masculine clothing, swear and are ‘tough as nails’. Furthermore, women's mere presence as farm operators does not necessarily subvert the relationship between masculinity and agriculture. In many ways this notion is reinforced by the presence of these women and so the performance of gender ultimately reinforces rather than subverts the ties between hegemonic masculinity and agriculture.
No support for a truncated interferon‐α17 allele as risk factor for MS
Authors: Nyström M. , Ruuth K. , Lundgren E. , Sundström P.
Published: October 2007

Cytokines have a central role in multiple sclerosis (MS) pathogenesis and may contribute to the aetiology of MS. A polymorphism in the IFNA17 gene with an allele carrying a pre‐mature stop codon has been suggested to convey a 26‐fold increased risk for MS. We investigated the possible association between this polymorphism and MS using population‐based samples from a genetically well‐characterized population. The IFNA17 gene variant was found in 2.8% of 327 MS cases and 3.3% of 698 referents (P = 0.64). Thus, our study does not support an association between the IFNA17 allele and risk for MS.
Acute onset of fatal vegetative symptoms: unusual presentation of adult Alexander disease
Authors: Huttner H. B. , Richter G. , Hildebrandt M. , Blümcke I. , Fritscher T. , Brück W. , Gärtner J. , Seifert F. , Staykov D. , Hilz M.‐J. , Schwab S. , Bardutzky J.
Published: October 2007

Since genetic analysis of the GFAP gene for the diagnosis of adult Alexander disease (AD) has been established in 2001, several cases of both sporadic and familial cases of AD have been described. Except for one patient, all subjects revealed glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) mutations, and clinical progression of symptoms, mainly bulbar and pseudobulbar, were moderate. Here we report on a patient with acute onset of vegetative symptoms, rapid progression, and death within 2 months. Although histology and final magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were characteristic of AD, sequencing of the encoding GFAP gene revealed no mutation. We believe that this case report expands the so far known clinical spectrum and MRI dynamics of adult AD, and suggest that analysis of the coding part of GFAP may be inconclusive in rare cases. In such patients, only histology may lead to definitive diagnosis.
A longitudinal observational study of a cohort of patients with relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis treated with glatiramer acetate
Authors: Debouverie M. , Moreau T. , Lebrun C. , Heinzlef O. , Brudon F. , Msihid J.
Published: October 2007

Immunomodulatory treatments for relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) are not efficacious or tolerated in all patients. It is important to evaluate alternative classes of treatment in patients failing first‐line therapy. The objective of this prospective observational study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of glatiramer acetate in patients, to whom β‐interferons could not be administered. The study included patients with RRMS who were intolerant to or had contraindications to β‐interferon. After initiation of glatiramer acetate treatment, follow‐up visits were made every 3 months, when data on neurologist‐ascertained relapses and disability [Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score] were collected. Tolerability was evaluated by spontaneous adverse event reporting. Overall, 205 patients were studied and 113 (55.1%) treated for at least 4 years. The proportion of patients presenting over three relapses per year decreased from 51.2% to 8.4% in the 2 years following treatment initiation. Over 5 years of treatment, mean annualized relapse rates and mean EDSS scores remained stable (0.4–0.6 relapses/year and 3.6 ± 1.8–3.3 ± 2.1 respectively). Adverse events were reported by 179 patients, leading to discontinuation of treatment in 10 patients. Patients with RRMS to whom β‐interferons cannot be prescribed can benefit from treatment with glatiramer acetate.
Report of an EFNS task force on management of sleep disorders in neurologic disease (degenerative neurologic disorders and stroke)
Authors: Jennum P. , Santamaria J. ,   Members of the Task Force
Published: October 2007

A task force to develop guidelines for diagnostic evaluation and treatment of sleep disorders in degenerative neurologic disorders and stroke was initiated by the European Federation of Neurological Societies (EFNS). The aims were to provide evidence‐based recommendations in the management of sleep disorders associated with degenerative neurologic disorders and stroke.

Neurological patients often have significant sleep disorders like sleep‐related breathing disorders (SBD), insomnia, sleep‐related motor and rapid eye movement behavioral disorders affecting nocturnal sleep and daytime function.

A polysomnography (PSG) is usually a diagnostic minimum for the diagnoses of the most commonly reported sleep disorders in patients with neurologic diseases. A full video‐PSG/video‐EEG‐PSG should be considered in patients with nocturnal motor and/behavior manifestations.

Respiratory polygraphy has a moderate sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of SBD without neurologic diseases, but its value in patients with neurologic diseases has not been evaluated. Oximetry has a poor sensitivity‐specificity for the identification of SDB.

Continuous and bi‐level positive airway pressure devices are the most effective treatment of SDB in patients with neurologic diseases.

There is a need for further studies focusing on the diagnostic procedures and treatment modalities in patients with sleep disorders and degenerative neurologic diseases and stroke.
Factors Related to Self‐Rated Participation in Adolescents and Adults with Mild Intellectual Disability – A Systematic Literature Review
Authors: Arvidsson Patrik , Granlund Mats , Thyberg Mikael
Published: October 2007

Background  Self‐rated participation is a clinically relevant intervention outcome for people with mild intellectual disability. The aim of this systematic review was to analyse empirical studies that explored relationships between either environmental factors or individual characteristics and aspects of participation in young adults with mild intellectual disability.

Method  Four databases were used, 756 abstracts examined and 24 studies were evaluated in‐depth.

Results  Four aspects of participation were found: involvement, perceptions of self, self‐determination and psychological well‐being. Reported environmental factors were: social support, choice opportunity, living conditions, school, work and leisure, attitudes, physical availability and society. Reported individual characteristics were adaptive and social skills.

Conclusions  There is a relative lack of studies of factors influencing self‐rated participation and existing studies are difficult to compare because of disparity regarding approaches, conceptual frameworks, etc. For adequate interventions, it seems important to study how profiles of participation are influenced by different patterns of environmental factors and individual characteristics.
Hare on Possible People
Authors: CAMPBELL STEPHEN M.
Published: October 2007

abstract  R. M. Hare claims that we have duties to take the preferences of possible people into consideration in moral thinking and that it can harm a merely possible person to have been denied existence. This essay has three parts. First, I attempt to show how Hare's universalizability argument for our obligations to possible people may fail to challenge the consistent proponent of the actuality restriction on moral consideration, regardless of whether this proponent is construed as an amoralist or a fanatic. Second, I raise some objections to Hare's claim that a merely possible person can be harmed. Even if Hare could successfully overcome the objection that a possible person cannot be the recipient of harm, he would still need to show that this harm is morally significant. Third, whether or not Hare is able to answer these objections, I indicate how his moral theory still supports his general position on possible people — namely, that we are ceteris paribus morally bound to bring happy people (and avoid bringing miserable people) into existence.
Personal Identity, Autonomy and Advance Statements
Authors: WRIGLEY ANTHONY
Published: October 2007

abstract  Recent legal rulings concerning the status of advance statements have raised interest in the topic but failed to provide any definitive general guidelines for their enforcement. I examine arguments used to justify the moral authority of such statements. The fundamental ethical issue I am concerned with is how accounts of personal identity underpin our account of moral authority through the connection between personal identity and autonomy. I focus on how recent Animalist accounts of personal identity initially appear to provide a sound basis for extending the moral autonomy of an individual — and hence their autonomous wishes expressed through an advance statement — past the point of severe psychological decline. I argue that neither the traditional psychological account nor the more recent Animalist account of personal identity manage to provide a sufficient basis for extending our moral autonomy past the point of incapacity or incompetence. I briefly explore how analogies to similar areas in law designed to facilitate autonomous decision, such as wills and trusts, provide at best only very limited scope for an alternative justification for granting advance statements any legal or moral authority. I conclude that whilst advance statements play a useful role in formulating what treatment is in a patient's best interests, such statements do not ultimately have sufficient moral force to take precedence over paternalistic best interests judgements concerning an individual's care or treatment.
The Moral Psychology of Conflicts of Interest: Insights from Affective Neuroscience
Authors: THAGARD PAUL
Published: October 2007

abstract  This paper is an investigation of the moral psychology of decisions that involve a conflict of interest. It draws on the burgeoning field of affective neuroscience, which is the study of the neurobiology of emotional systems in the brain. I show that a recent neurocomputational model of how the brain integrates cognitive and affective information in decision‐making can help to answer some important descriptive and normative questions about the moral psychology of conflicts of interest. These questions include: Why are decisions that involve conflicts of interest so common? Why are people so often unaware that they are acting immorally as the result of conflicts of interest? What is the relation of conflicts of interest to other kinds of irrationality, especially self‐deception and weakness of will? What psychological, social, and logical steps can be taken to reduce the occurrence of immoral decisions resulting from conflicts of interest? I discuss five strategies for dealing with conflicts of interest: avoidance, optimal reasoning patterns, disclosure, social oversight, and understanding of neuropsychological processes.
Resources and the Rule of Rescue1
Authors: SHEEHAN MARK
Published: October 2007

abstract  The central issue that I consider in this paper is the use of the so‐called ‘Rule of Rescue’ in the context of resource allocation. This ‘Rule’ has played an important role in resource allocation decisions in various parts of the world. It was invoked in Ontario to overturn a decision not to fund treatment for Gaucher's Disease and it has also been used to justify resource decisions in Israel concerning the same condition.

 In the paper I consider the nature of the Rule of Rescue and its moral justification. The latter involves consideration of the distinction between agent‐relative and agent‐neutral obligations. If the Rule of Rescue is to be justified, it is plausible to think that it will be in the context of agent‐relative obligations. Two problems with this suggestion are considered: the role of identifiability in the Rule of Rescue and the extent to which policy makers in a health care system can be taken to have such obligations. It is argued that in both cases these problems can be overcome and hence that there is a prima facie obligation to follow the Rule of Rescue.
A Reply to Cholbi's ‘Suicide Intervention and Non‐Ideal Kantian Theory’
Authors: TONKENS RYAN S.
Published: October 2007

abstract  In his ‘Suicide Intervention and Non‐Ideal Kantian Theory’ (2002), Michael J. Cholbi argues that nihilism and hopelessness are often motivating factors behind suicide, contrary to Immanuel Kant's prescribed motive of self‐love. In light of this, Cholbi argues that certain paternalistic modes of intervention may not only be effective in preventing suicide, but are ultimately consistent with Kantian morality. This paper addresses certain perceived shortcomings in Cholbi's account of Kantian suicide intervention. Once the psychological complexities of the suicidal person are brought to bear, the suicidal person is found in many cases to be irrational at the time of her death. Because of this, rationalistic intervention strategies may prove ineffective, despite their being consistent with Kantian morality, and despite instances of suicide being non‐ideal circumstances. Cholbi assumes throughout his article that suicidal human beings remain Kantian moral agents. However, because rationality represents a crucial criterion for Kantian moral agency, and because certain human beings who commit suicide are not rational, such human beings are not Kantian moral agents. Because Cholbi's intervention strategies are not applicable to (or effective towards) irrational suicidal people, his account is found incomplete.
Migratory behaviour of the Schreiber's bat: when, where and why do cave bats migrate in a Mediterranean region?
Authors: Rodrigues L. , Palmeirim J. M.
Published: October 2007

Regional migrations are important elements of the biology of bats, but remain poorly understood. We obtained a large dataset of recoveries of ringedMiniopterus schreibersiito study the patterns and drivers of migration of a Mediterranean cave‐dwelling bat. In spite of the mildness of Mediterranean winters, in average years bats hibernated, and few movements were recorded during this period. After hibernation, females migrated to spring roosts, and again to maternity roosts just before parturition. This late arrival at nurseries could be a strategy to avoid a harmful build‐up of parasites. Soon after the juveniles were weaned, the mothers migrated to the roosts where they spent autumn and sometimes also winter. Juveniles remained in the warm nurseries longer, presumably because high roost temperatures speed up growth. The pattern of migration of males was similar to that of females, but they left hibernacula later and remained more mobile during the maternity season. They also arrived at the hibernacula later, possibly because they needed time to build up fat stores after the energetically costly mating season. Maternity colonies spent the yearly cycle in well‐defined home ranges (mean=19 030 km2), which overlapped greatly. Bats were furthest from the maternity sites during hibernation, but even then 80% remained within 90 km of them. Each hibernaculum attracted bats from multiple nurseries, from within a mean range of 10 770 km2. We tested two potential drivers for migration – temperature in the roosts and at the foraging areas – but our results supported only the first one. Bats migrated to reach the roosts most thermally suited for each phase of their life cycle, indicating that roost temperature and associated metabolic advantages are key drivers for regional migrations of cave‐dwelling bats.
Spatial ecology of cheetahs on north‐central Namibian farmlands
Authors: Marker L. L. , Dickman A. J. , Mills M. G. L. , Jeo R. M. , Macdonald D. W.
Published: October 2007

Knowledge of a species' ranging behaviour is both fundamental to understanding its behavioural ecology and a prerequisite to planning its management. Few data exist on the spatial ecology of cheetahs Acinonyx jubatus outside protected areas, but such areas are particularly important to their conservation. Cheetahs on Namibian farmlands occupied exceptionally large home ranges, averaging 1651 km2 (±1594 km2), with no detectable effect of sex, social grouping or seasonality. Despite such large ranges, cheetahs tended to utilize intensively only a small fraction of that area: 50% of the fixes were located within an average of 13.9±5.3% of the home range. Ranges were not exclusive, overlapping on average by 15.8±17.0%, with male cheetahs showing more intra‐sexual range overlap than did females. Coalitions of males appeared to select for a dense, prey‐rich habitat, but this preference was not apparent for other social groupings. Conflict with humans is an important contributor to the species' decline, and these large, overlapping cheetah home ranges result in the movements of each individual cheetah encompassing many farms (21 based on the average home‐range size). Consequently, many cheetahs may be exposed to a minority of farmers attempting to kill them, and also that many farmers may see the same cheetahs, thereby gaining an exaggerated impression of their abundance. Conservation priorities for cheetahs outside protected areas are the development of techniques for conflict resolution, as well as the maintenance and restoration of suitable habitat and promotion of land‐management practices compatible with the continued existence of large carnivores.
Radiocollars do not affect the survival or foraging behaviour of wild meerkats
Authors: Golabek K. A. , Jordan N. R. , Clutton‐Brock T. H.
Published: October 2007

The practice of radiocollaring is increasingly being used in the study of wild animal populations. However, methods of tracking and monitoring are known to affect some species negatively. On a wild population of habituated meerkats Suricata suricatta, we investigated the potential costs and consequences of carrying a radiocollar for small carnivores, focusing on detailed aspects of foraging behaviour and survival. Radiocollared individuals were no more likely to be predated than non‐collared individuals in the same social group. We also found that collaring did not affect foraging efficiency, with collared individuals being equally efficient foragers (four measures) while wearing a collar compared with the pre‐collaring period. To control for group‐specific events, changes in foraging efficiency after collaring were compared with the behaviour of control individuals from the same group and no significant differences were found. In conclusion, we found no evidence to suggest radiocollars impact negatively on the bearer's welfare, survival or foraging ability.
Divergent character clines across a recent secondary contact zone in a Hispaniolan lizard
Authors: Gifford M. E.
Published: October 2007

Studies of genetic contact zones provide valuable information regarding the processes of population divergence, adaptation and speciation. In this paper, I examine transitions in morphology, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and nuclear DNA (nDNA) haplotypes across a recent secondary contact zone in a Hispaniolan lizardAmeiva chrysolaema. Maximum likelihood cline fitting analyses suggest non‐coincidence of cline centers and that the mtDNA cline is significantly displaced to the west of the remaining clines. nDNA and morphological clines are coincident and tend to be associated with the prevailing environmental gradient. The lack of cytonuclear disequilibrium near the center of the contact zone and the non‐coincidence of character clines suggest that this zone does not conform to a tension zone model of hybridization; thus, gene flow across the zone does not seem to be impeded. The extremely narrow width of the dorsal scale size cline and the close association of this cline with the steepness of the environmental (precipitation) gradient suggest that this character may be under environmental selection. Taken together, this contact zone appears to be structured by a combination of mtDNA introgression, possibly associated with eastward movement of the zone, and environmental selection on some characters.
Tachykinin regulation of cholinergic transmission in the limbic/prefrontal territory of the rat dorsal striatum: implication of new neurokinine 1‐sensitive receptor binding site and interaction with enkephalin/mu opioid receptor transmission
Authors: Pérez Sylvie , Tierney Adrienne , Deniau Jean‐Michel , Kemel Marie‐Louise
Published: October 2007

The tachykinin neurokinin 1 receptors (NK1Rs) regulation of acetylcholine release and its interaction with the enkephalin/mu opioid receptors (MORs) transmission was investigated in the limbic/prefrontal (PF) territory of the dorsal striatum. Using double immunohistochemistry, we first showed that in this territory, cholinergic interneurons contain tachykinin NK1Rs and co‐express MORs in the last part of the light period (afternoon). In slices of the striatal limbic/PF territory, following suppression of the dopaminergic inhibitory control of acetylcholine release, application of the tachykinin NK1R antagonist, SSR240600, markedly reduced the NMDA‐induced acetylcholine release in the morning but not in the afternoon when the enkephalin/MOR regulation is operational. In the afternoon, the NK1R antagonist response required the suppression of the enkephalin/MOR inhibitory control of acetylcholine release by βfunaltrexamine. The pharmacological profile of the tachykinin NK1R regulation tested by application of the receptor agonists [[Pro9]substance P, neurokinin A, neuropeptide K, and substance P(6–11)] and antagonists (SSR240600, GR205171, GR82334, and RP67580) indicated that the subtype of tachykinin NK1R implicated are the new NK1‐sensitive receptor binding site. Therefore, in the limbic/PF territory of the dorsal striatum, endogenous tachykinin facilitates acetylcholine release via a tachykinin NK1R subtype. In the afternoon, the tachykinin/NK1R and the enkephalin/MOR transmissions interact to control cholinergic transmission.
Rapid estrogen regulation of DHEA metabolism in the male and female songbird brain
Authors: Pradhan Devaleena S. , Yu Yan , Soma Kiran K.
Published: October 2007

In the songbird brain, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is metabolized to the active and aromatizable androgen androstenedione (AE) by 3β‐hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase/Δ5‐Δ4 isomerase (3β‐HSD). Thus, brain 3β‐HSD plays a key role in regulating the steroidal milieu of the nervous system. Previous studies have shown that stress rapidly regulates brain 3β‐HSD activity in a sex‐specific manner. To elucidate endocrine regulation of brain 3β‐HSD, we asked whether 17β‐estradiol (E2) regulates DHEA metabolism in adult zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) and whether there are sex‐specific effects. Brain tissue was homogenized and centrifuged to obtain supernatant lacking whole cells and cell nuclei. Supernatant was incubated with [3H]DHEA and radioinert E2in vitro. Within only 10 min, E2 significantly reduced 3β‐HSD activity in both male and female brain. Interestingly, the rapid effects of E2 were more pronounced in females than males. These are the first data to show a rapid effect of estrogens on the songbird brain and suggest that rapid estrogen effects differ between male and female brains.
Hydroxytyrosol protects retinal pigment epithelial cells from acrolein‐induced oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction
Authors: Liu Zhongbo , Sun Lijuan , Zhu Lu , Jia Xu , Li Xuesen , Jia Haiqun , Wang Ying , Weber Peter , Long Jiangang , Liu Jiankang
Published: October 2007

Hydroxytyrosol (HTS) is a natural polyphenol abundant in olive oil. Increasing evidence indicates HTS has beneficial effect on human health for preventing various diseases. In the present study, we investigated the protective effects of HTS on acrolein‐induced toxicity in human retinal pigment epithelial cell line, ARPE‐19, a cellular model of smoking‐ and age‐related macular degeneration. Acrolein, a major component of the gas phase cigarette smoke and also a product of lipid peroxidation in vivo, at 75 μmol/L for 24 h caused significant loss of cell viability, oxidative damage (increase in oxidant generation and oxidative damage to proteins and DNA, decrease in antioxidants and antioxidant enzymes, and also inactivation of the Keap1/Nrf2 pathway), and mitochondrial dysfunction (decrease in membrane potential, activities of mitochondrial complexes, viable mitochondria, oxygen consumption, and factors for mitochondrial biogenesis, and increase in calcium). Pre‐treatment with HTS dose dependently and also time dependently protected the ARPE‐19 cells from acrolein‐induced oxidative damage and mitochondrial dysfunction. A short‐term pre‐treatment with HTS (48 h) required > 75 μmol/L for showing protection while a long‐term pre‐treatment (7 days) showed protective effect from 5 μmol/L on. The protective effect of HTS in this model was as potent as that of established mitochondria‐targeting antioxidant nutrients. These results suggest that HTS is also a mitochondrial‐targeting antioxidant nutrient and that dietary administration of HTS may be an effective measure in reducing and or preventing cigarette smoke‐induced or age‐related retinal pigment epithelial degeneration, such as age‐associated macular degeneration.
Thirteen nuclear microsatellite loci for butternut (Juglans cinerea L.)
Authors: HOBAN SEAN , ANDERSON ROBERT , MCCLEARY TIM , SCHLARBAUM SCOTT , ROMERO‐SEVERSON JEANNE
Published: October 2007

Butternut (Juglans cinerea L.) is an eastern North American forest tree severely threatened by an exotic fungal pathogen, Sirococcus clavigignenti‐juglandacearum. We report here 13 nuclear microsatellites for genetic evaluation of the remaining natural populations. Summary statistics are reported for individuals from a population of butternuts in central Kentucky (N = 63). All markers were polymorphic, with an average of 13.7 alleles per locus observed. Four loci exhibited significantly fewer heterozygotes than expected under Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium (P < 0.05).
Subjective refraction: the mechanism underlying the routine
Authors: Harris W. F.
Published: October 2007

The routine of subjective refraction is usually understood, explained and taught in terms of the relative positions of line or point foci and the retina. This paper argues that such an approach makes unnecessary and sometimes invalid assumptions about what is actually happening inside the eye. The only assumption necessary in fact is that the subject is able to guide the refractionist to (or close to) the optimum power for refractive compensation. The routine works even in eyes in which the interval of Sturm does not behave as supposed; it would work, in fact, regardless of the structure of the eye. The idealized subjective refraction routine consists of two steps: the first finds the best sphere (the stigmatic component) and the second finds the remaining Jackson cross‐cylinder (the antistigmatic component). The model makes use of the concept of symmetric dioptric power space. The second part of the refraction routine can be performed with Jackson cross‐cylinders alone. However, it is usually taught and practiced using spheres, cylinders and Jackson cross‐cylinders in a procedure that is not easy to understand and learn. Recognizing that this part of the routine is equivalent to one involving Jackson cross‐cylinders only allows one to teach and understand the procedure more naturally and easily.
Image quality characteristics of a novel colour scanning digital ophthalmoscope (SDO) compared with fundus photography
Authors: Strauss Rupert W. , Krieglstein Tina R. , Priglinger Siegfried G. , Reis Werner , Ulbig Michael W. , Kampik Anselm , Neubauer Aljoscha S.
Published: October 2007

Purpose:  To establish a set of quality parameters for grading image quality and apply those to evaluate the fundus image quality obtained by a new scanning digital ophthalmoscope (SDO) compared with standard slide photography.

Methods:  On visual analogue scales a total of eight image characteristics were defined: overall quality, contrast, colour brilliance, focus (sharpness), resolution and details, noise, artefacts and validity of clinical assessment. Grading was repeated after 4 months to assess repeatability. Fundus images of 23 patients imaged digitally by SDO and by Zeiss 450FF fundus camera using Kodak film were graded side‐by‐side by three graders. Lens opacity was quantified with the Interzeag Lens Opacity Meter 701.

Results:  For all of the eight scales of image quality, good repeatability within the graders (mean Kendall’s W 0.69) was obtained after 4 months. Inter‐grader agreement ranged between 0.31 and 0.66. Despite the SDO’s limited nominal image resolution of 720 × 576 pixels, the Zeiss FF 450 camera performed better in only two of the subscales – noise (p = 0.001) and artefacts (p = 0.01). Lens opacities significantly influenced only the two subscales ‘resolution’ and ‘details’, which deteriorated with increasing media opacities for both imaging systems.

Conclusions:  Distinct scales to grade image characteristics of different origin were developed and validated. Overall SDO digital imaging was found to provide fundus pictures of a similarly high level of quality as expert photography on slides.
Peripheral refraction for distance and near vision in emmetropes and myopes
Authors: Calver Richard , Radhakrishnan Hema , Osuobeni Ebi , O’Leary Daniel
Published: October 2007

We investigated the relationship between myopia and peripheral refraction for distance and near vision by measuring peripheral refractive errors in 10 myopic and 10 emmetropic participants at viewing distances of 2.5 and 0.4 m. Measurements were made at the fovea, and at eccentricities of 10°, 20° and 30° in the temporal and nasal hemispheres of the horizontal visual field. Our results showed that peripheral astigmatism increased with increasing eccentricity, but there was no significant difference between refractive error groups except at 30° eccentricity in the temporal retina. Considering the Mean Spherical Equivalent errors, emmetropes became relatively myopic at peripheral eccentricities, but there was little change in myopes. The effect of viewing distance on astigmatism or Mean Spherical Equivalent error was not significant. Our results do not support the view that myopia is associated with changes in peripheral refraction during distance or near vision.
The relationship between the treatment zone diameter and visual, optical and subjective performance in Corneal Refractive Therapy™ lens wearers1
Authors: Lu Fenghe , Simpson Trefford , Sorbara Luigina , Fonn Desmond
Published: October 2007

Purpose:  To investigate the stability of the treatment zone (TZ) size during Corneal Refractive Therapy (CRT™) over 4 weeks of lens wear, and to determine the relationship between TZ diameter and visual, optical and subjective performance.

Methods:  Twenty‐three myopic subjects wore CRT™ lenses overnight and removed their lenses on awakening. Visual Acuity (VA), subjective vision, refractive error, aberrations and corneal topography were measured at baseline, immediately after lens removal on the first day and 14 h later, and these measurements were repeated on days 4, 10 and 28. The TZ including the central flattened zone (CFZ) and the annular steepened zone (ASZ) was demarcated by the change in corneal curvature from negative to positive and vice versa, using the tangential difference map from the Atlas corneal topographer.

Results:  After overnight CRT™ lens wear, the central cornea flattened and the mid‐periphery steepened (both p < 0.001). After 4 weeks of lens wear, the CFZ (±SE) increased from 3.41 ± 0.09 mm on day 1 morning to 3.61 ± 0.07 mm on day 28 morning and the diameter of the ASZ increased from 8.17 ± 0.16 mm (day 1 morning) to 8.85 ± 0.14 mm (day 28 morning) (both p < 0.001). From day 10 onwards, the CFZ and ASZ diameter were stable in the morning (p ≥ 0.404). Throughout the day, the CFZ became smaller during the first 10 days (all p ≤ 0.022), whereas the ASZ diameter remained constant (all p ≥ 0.079). There were positive correlations between the CFZ or ASZ and residual refractive error, subjective vision and spherical aberration. The CFZ was also correlated with astigmatism and higher order aberrations, and the ASZ was positively correlated with coma (r = 0.726 to 0.961, all p ≤ 0.042). In addition, there were negative correlations between the CFZ or ASZ and total aberration and defocus and between the ASZ and VA (r = −0.707 to −0.953, all p ≤ 0.050).

Conclusion:  The TZ changed during the first 10 days. Its size was associated with VA, residual refractive error, aberrations and subjective vision. The concept of a TZ is a useful metric of visual, optical and subjective performance in CRT™ lens wearers.
Vision screening of older people
Authors: Jessa Zahra , Evans Bruce , Thomson David , Rowlands Gill
Published: October 2007

A recent systematic review found that between 20% and 50% of older people in the UK have undetected reduced vision and in most cases this is caused by refractive error or cataracts, and is correctable. Two approaches to improve the detection of these problems are to better publicise optometric services and to carry out community‐based vision screening of older people. Screening programmes should pass the Wilson criteria and a consideration of these highlights three inter‐related questions: ‘Is vision screening effective at detecting correctable low vision in older people?’; ‘Which tests should be included?’ and ‘Which venues are most appropriate?’ We carried out a systematic review to investigate these questions.

For the first question, only one study was found which met our selection criteria. The ‘gold standard’ eye examination in this study lacked several important components, and the vision screening method that was used was not found to be very effective. The review revealed other studies, which, although not meeting our selection criteria, included relevant information. The screening studies highlight the lack of agreement on the content of a gold standard eye examination and of the test(s) that should be used to screen vision.

Visual function in older people is not adequately described by high contrast visual acuity (VA), nor by self‐reports of visual difficulties. Other tests that may be relevant include visual field testing, low contrast VA, contrast sensitivity and stereo‐acuity. The pinhole test has often been used in attempts to detect uncorrected refractive errors, but results from this test can be problematic and possible reasons for this are discussed. Appropriate venues for vision screening are contingent upon the format of the vision screening programme.

There is still uncertainty over the battery of vision tests that are most appropriate. This, and optimum venues for screening, require further research before it can be fully determined whether vision screening of older people meets the Wilson criteria. If a vision screening programme using a battery of vision tests, perhaps computerised, can be established, then this should be tested to determine the sensitivity and specificity for detecting the target conditions. Ultimately, longitudinal studies are necessary to determine whether such a screening programme will lead to improved visual performance and quality of life in older people.
Estimating Health Conditions for Small Areas: Asthma Symptom Prevalence for State Legislative Districts
Authors: Mendez‐Luck Carolyn A. , Yu Hongjian , Meng Ying‐Ying , Jhawar Mona , Wallace Steven P.
Published: October 2007

Research Objective. To create prevalence estimates of asthma symptoms for California legislative districts.

Data Sources.
Three main data sources were used for this study: 2001 California Health Interview Survey, 2000 Census, and 2000–2002 March Current Population Surveys.

Study Design. Secondary data analyses were conducted from cross‐sectional data to distribute the joint probability of ever having an asthma diagnosis and symptoms in the last 12 months within an Assembly district. We applied hierarchical logistic regressions to estimate the parameters for selected survey and census data that predicted the probabilities of diagnosed asthmatics with asthma symptoms. Predictors included individual‐level variables and contextual variables at zip code levels.

Principal Findings. Asthma symptom prevalence geographically varied by age within and across Assembly districts throughout California.

Conclusions. With modest investments in establishing analytic data files and estimating regression parameters for target conditions, small area estimation (SAE) procedures can create health data estimates not otherwise available at the sub‐county level. Applying SAE procedures to asthma symptom prevalence suggest that these data can become essential reference tools for advocates and policy makers currently addressing this and other public health concerns in the state.
Implications of the Medicaid Undercount in a High‐Penetration Medicaid State
Authors: Goidel R. Kirby , Procopio Steven , Schwalm Douglas , Terrell Dek
Published: October 2007

Research Objective. This study investigates the impact of misreporting by Medicaid recipients on estimates of the uninsured in Louisiana, and is based on similar work by Call et al. in Minnesota and Klerman, Ringel, and Roth in California. With its unique charity hospital system, culture, and high poverty, Louisiana provides an interesting and unique context for examining Medicaid underreporting.

Study Design. Results are based on a random sample of 2,985 Medicaid households. Respondents received a standard questionnaire to identify health insurance status, and individual records were matched to Medicaid enrollment data to identify misreporting.

Data Sources. Data were collected by the Public Policy Research Lab at Louisiana State University using computer‐assisted telephone interviewing. Using Medicaid enrollment data to obtain contact information, the Louisiana Health Insurance Survey was administered to 2,985 households containing Medicaid recipients. Matching responses on individuals from these households to Medicaid enrollment data yielded responses for 3,199 individuals.

Conclusions. Results suggest relatively high rates of underreporting among Medicaid recipients in Louisiana for both children and adults. Given the very high proportion of Medicaid recipients in the population, this may translate up to a 3 percent bias in estimates of uninsured populations.

Implications. Medicaid bias may be particularly pronounced in areas with high Medicaid enrollments. Misreporting rates and thus the bias in estimates of the uninsured may differ across areas of the United States with important consequences for Medicaid funding.

Funding Source. Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals.