bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Development of Polysemy and Frequency Use in English Second Language Speakers
Authors: Crossley Scott , Salsbury Tom , McNamara Danielle
Published: April 2010

Spoken language data were collected from six adult second language (L2) English learners over a year‐long period in order to explore the development of word polysemy and frequency use. The data were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. In the first analysis, the growth of WordNet polysemy values and CELEX word frequency values were examined. For both indexes, significant growth was demonstrated from the 2nd to the 16th week of observation, after which values remained stable. Growth in word polysemy values also correlated with changes in word frequency, supporting the notion that frequency and polysemy effects in word use are related. A second analysis used the WordNet dictionary to explore qualitative changes in word sense use concerning six frequent lexical items in the learner corpus (think, know, place, work, play, and name). A qualitative analysis compared normalized frequencies for each word sense in the first trimester of the study to the later trimesters. Differences in the number of word senses used across trimesters were found for all six words. Analyses 1 and 2, taken together, support the notion that L2 learners begin to use words that have the potential for more senses during the first 4 months; learners then begin to extend the core meanings of these polysemous words. These findings provide further insights into the development of lexical proficiency in L2 learners and the growth of lexical networks.
Wages, participation and unemployment in the economic transition of urban China1
Authors: Han Jun , Zhang Junsen
Published: April 2010

Wages, participation and unemployment are major topics for researchers of the labour market. How have these measures evolved in the economic transition of urban China? Have they evolved in accordance with those in the Statistical Yearbook of China (produced by the National Bureau of Statistics, China) and previous studies? We find that the estimated wage level based on Urban Household Survey (UHS) data was higher than that in the Statistical Yearbook in earlier years, but the relationship has reversed since 1999. Our estimated participation rate is lower than that of Giles et al. (2006) but higher than Dong et al. (2007) and Maurer‐Fazio et al. (2007). The analysis shows that the unemployment rate is lower than that estimated with the China Urban Labor Survey data in Giles et al. (2005). Our estimation results on unemployment rates turn out to be more similar to those in Dong et al. (2007) but are different from those in Hu and Sheng (2007). This analysis provides the first systematic comparison of the wage level from different sources, and supplements the existing estimates on participation and unemployment using a more representative dataset for urban China.
Soaring dragons, roaring tigers, growling bears
Authors: Badunenko Oleg , Tochkov Kiril
Published: April 2010

We perform a comparative analysis of regional growth and convergence in China, Russia and India over the period 1993–2003 by means of non‐parametric methods and kernel density estimates. Our results indicate that wealthy regions were largely responsible for the rapid growth in all three countries. For China and India, capital dissipation was identified as the major determinant of regional growth. In Russia, capital deepening impeded positive changes in labour productivity, leaving technological change as the only source of regional growth. Furthermore, we find that the increasing regional income inequality in all three countries was driven by technological change which more than offset the convergence resulting from capital deepening in China and India.
Four novel CYP27A1 mutations in seven Italian patients with CTX
Authors: Gallus G. N. , Dotti M. T. , Mignarri A. , Rufa A. , Da Pozzo P. , Cardaioli E. , Federico A.
Published: April 2010

Background and purpose:  Cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis (CTX) is a rare autosomal recessive disease, because of sterol 27‐hydroxylase deficiency. Clinical manifestations of CTX are tendon xanthomas, juvenile cataracts, osteoporosis, diarrhoea and multiple progressive neurological dysfunctions. More than 300 patients with CTX have been reported to date worldwide and about fifty different mutations identified in CYP27A1 gene. This study describes the clinical and laboratory findings of seven new patients.

Methods:  We report the molecular and clinical characterization of seven new Italian patients with CTX carrying four novel mutations.

Results:  We identified four novel mutations located in different exons, in particular in the region of exons 2–5 of the CYP27A1 gene. Phenotypical expression did not differ from classical CTX presentation except for absence of tendon xanthomas in two patients.
Epstein–Barr virus neutralizing and early antigen antibodies in multiple sclerosis
Authors: Lindsey J. W. , Hatfield L. M. , Vu T.
Published: April 2010

Background:  Our objective was to determine whether antibodies against the Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) nuclear antigen‐1 (EBNA‐1), early antigen (EA), and EBV neutralizing antibodies (NeutAb) are altered in multiple sclerosis (MS).

Methods:  We measured EBNA‐1 IgG, EA IgG, and EA IgA using quantitative ELISA. We measured NeutAb using a quantitative competitive ELISA. We studied 80 patients with MS, 80 matched controls, and 19 patients with MS with samples collected both whilst stable and in relapse.

Results:  Epstein–Barr virus nuclear antigen‐1 IgG and EA IgA were increased in MS compared to controls. The EBNA‐1 index value was 23.3 ± 18.3 in the patients with MS (mean ± SD) and 16.3 ± 17.4 in the controls (P = 0.007, paired t‐test). EA IgA had a median value of 1.964 in the patients with MS and 1.248 in the controls (P = 0.029, Wilcoxon signed rank test). EA IgG and NeutAb were not significantly different. None of the antibody levels were altered in relapse. The correlation between concentrations of different antibodies was minimal.

Conclusions:  IgG antibodies to EBNA‐1 are significantly increased in MS. IgA antibodies against EBV EA are also increased. The EBV neutralizing antibody response is similar in MS and controls.
The I/D polymorphism of the ACE1 gene is not associated with ischaemic stroke in Spanish individuals
Authors: Domingues‐Montanari S. , Fernandez‐Cadenas I. , Del Rio‐Espinola A. , Mendioroz M. , Ribo M. , Obach V. , Marti‐Fabregas J. , Freijo M. , Serena J. , Corbeto N. , Chacon P. , Alvarez‐Sabin J. , Montaner J.
Published: April 2010

Background:  The angiotensin‐converting enzyme 1 (ACE1) gene has been extensively studied in stroke, yet generating conflicting results. The goal of our study was thus to clarify the influence of the ACE1 on the risk of suffering an ischaemic stroke (IS).

Methods:  We genotyped the rs4341 (in linkage disequilibrium with the I/D polymorphism) of the ACE1 gene in 531 patients with IS and 549 healthy controls, and the rs1799752 (I/D polymorphism) in a subset of 68 patients with IS and 27 controls. We also performed functional studies by measuring serum ACE protein levels and enzymatic activity in 27 controls, 68 patients with IS at baseline and 35 patients with IS 24 h after onset of stroke symptoms.

Results:  There was no association of the ACE1 variant with IS, although it affected ACE protein levels (P = 0.001). Indeed, patients with IS showed lower ACE levels than controls in the acute phase (115.9 ± 38.9 vs. 174.1 ± 56.1 ng/ml, P < 0.001), but not in the chronic phase (168.2 ± 51.2, P = 0.673), and ACE protein levels did not differ between IS etiologies. Similar results were found for ACE activity.

Conclusions:  The D allele of the ACE1 I/D and ACE protein levels was not associated with a higher risk of IS in Spanish individuals.
University Efficiency: Complementariness versus Trade‐off between Teaching, Research and Administrative Activities
Authors: Sellers‐Rubio Ricardo , Mas‐Ruiz Francisco J. , Casado‐Díaz Ana B.
Published: April 2010

University managers should be aware of the importance that efficiency has for their own universities, orientating their actions towards research and teaching excellence. This study estimates teaching and research efficiency of the different departments of a university and tests the complementariness versus trade‐off between them. The results obtained show high levels of efficiency for the departments analysed, which is important for budget allocation, as one of the main challenges faced by a university is the allocation of budgets to different departments. The results also support the trade‐off between teaching efficiency and research activity, the complementariness between teaching efficiency and research efficiency, between research efficiency and time deducted from teaching, as well as the complementariness between research efficiency and administration activity.
Finnish Higher Education Expansion and Regional Policy
Authors: Saarivirta Toni
Published: April 2010

This paper concentrates on the expansion of Finnish higher education between the 1960s and 1970s, exposes its background in the light of the policy decisions that were made, compares the unique features of this expansion with those of certain other countries, discusses the impact of the controlled ‘top down’ governance of higher education policy, and describes the Finnish higher education system today. The paper argues that the driving forces behind universal mass higher education were, on the one hand, changes in the structure of society, and on the other hand, individual demand for education but also increased need for skills in production processes. This was the case in Finland as well but the Finnish higher education expansion was also characterised by regionalism. The actual location of universities in the era of expansion was a function of local political actors who were able to have an influence on ruling political parties.
The Established Church and Evangelical Theology: John Wesley's Ecclesiology
Authors: RAINEY DAVID
Published: April 2010

From the earliest years of the eighteenth century evangelical revival in Great Britain, John Wesley developed a particular ecclesiology. If John Wesley can be accused of having an overly pragmatic bent, this certainly was not true of his ecclesiology. His understanding of church order developed early during the revival and was eventually put into full practice in the controversial year 1784. This article defends the view that sacramental theology dictated the direction of church order according to John Wesley. Those who have interpreted Wesley as primarily a pragmatist on ecclesial practice have misinterpreted his own writings on the topic.
God's Free Grace and the Freedom of the Church: Theological Aspects of the Barmen Declaration
Authors: WEINRICH MICHAEL
Published: April 2010

This article explores the fundamental theological decisions of the ‘six evangelical truths’ of the Barmen Theological Declaration of 1934 on the occasion of its 75th anniversary. Seeing it in close proximity to the theology of Karl Barth, the essay considers in turn the substance and ongoing significance of the Declaration's reaffirmation of the First Commandment, its iteration of the threefold form of the Word of God, its repudiation of natural theology, its ringing affirmation of the positive freedom of the church and, finally, its ecumenical importance as an impulse to Christian unity.
Rethinking ‘Enthusiasm’: Christoph Blumhardt on the Discernment of the Spirit
Authors: ZAHL SIMEON
Published: April 2010

This article uses resources from the theology of Christoph Blumhardt to argue that Luther was mistaken in identifying a necessary theological connection between ‘enthusiastic’ views of the Spirit and naive anthropology. It demonstrates that Blumhardt successfully combined an abiding concern over the problem of spiritual self‐deception together with a pneumatology that affirmed the importance of affective experience of the Spirit not mediated exclusively by the proclaimed Word of Scripture, through a conviction that the most reliable sign of the Spirit's activity is ‘negative’, in suffering and visceral encounter with divine judgement, in the first instance. This critical ‘enthusiasm’ helps explain Blumhardt's singular critique of the nationalistic ‘Spirit of August’ from the start of World War I.
Psoriatic arthritis – what the dermatologist needs to know
Authors: Laws P , Barton A , Warren RB
Published: April 2010

Psoriasis is commonly associated with a co‐existent arthritis known as psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Although there is some treatment overlap for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, it is possible that dermatologists may not diagnose or treat appropriately patients who are developing psoriatic arthritis at an early stage of the disease process when joint damage may be preventable. In this article we review the criteria for diagnosis of this sero‐negative arthritis, look at the clinical indications for referral to a rheumatologist and discuss evolving treatment options relevant to both conditions.
Disability, Respect and Justice
Authors: BARCLAY LINDA
Published: April 2010

abstract

Recent political philosophers have argued that criteria of social justice that defend distributing resources to individuals on the basis of the disadvantages of their natural endowments are disrespectful and disparaging. Clearly influenced by the social model of disability, Elizabeth Anderson and Thomas Pogge have recently defended criteria of social justice that distribute resources to people with disabilities on the basis of eliminating discrimination, not making up for so‐called natural disadvantage. I argue that it is implausible to suggest that just entitlements for people with disability can be secured solely by eliminating discrimination. Resources for people with disabilities must sometimes be justified on the grounds that some natural endowments pose disadvantages even in societies that do not discriminate. I argue further that there need be nothing at all disrespectful about this way of explaining disadvantage; nor have proponents of the social model of disability or political philosophers provided any compelling reasons for supposing that it is disrespectful. There is thus no motivation for Anderson's and Pogge's attempts to secure justice for people with disabilities by appealing solely to the imperative to eliminate discrimination.
Beyond Mental Competence
Authors: EDWARDS CRAIG
Published: April 2010

abstract

Justification for psychiatric paternalism is most easily established where mental illness renders the person mentally incompetent, depriving him of the capacity for rational agency and for autonomy, hence undermining the basis for liberal rights against paternalism. But some philosophers, and no doubt some doctors, have been deeply concerned by the inadequacy of the concept of mental incompetence to encapsulate some apparently appealing cases for psychiatric paternalism. We ought to view mental incompetence as just one subset of a broader justification for psychiatric paternalism. The very basis of liberal limitations on psychiatric paternalism, whether described in terms of rights to autonomy or as respect for differences in values and lifestyles, presupposes a sense of moral persistence, and hence some sufficiently persistent self. Paternalistic intervention is warranted when we are unable to govern our lives in a manner consistent with the goals and values that comprise that ‘self’. One way that can occur is when we lack the mental capacities required for autonomy, such that we are unable to interpret and interact with our environment in order to meaningfully pursue our goals, i.e. mental incompetence. But it can also occur when we are subject to impositions that alter our goals without altering our capacity to pursue them — i.e. when it is our ‘self’ that is impaired rather than our competence.
Reexploring Differences among For‐Profit and Nonprofit Dialysis Providers
Authors: Lee Donald K. K. , Chertow Glenn M. , Zenios Stefanos A.
Published: April 2010

Objective.To determine whether profit status is associated with differences in hospital days per patient, an outcome that may also be influenced by provider financial goals.

Data Sources.United States Renal Data System Standard Analysis Files and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services cost reports.

Design.We compared the number of hospital days per patient per year across for‐profit and nonprofit dialysis facilities during 2003. To address possible referral bias in the assignment of patients to dialysis facilities, we used an instrumental variable regression method and adjusted for selected patient‐specific factors, facility characteristics such as size and chain affiliation, as well as metrics of market competition.

Data Extraction Methods.All patients who received in‐center hemodialysis at any time in 2003 and for whom Medicare was the primary payer were included (N=170,130; roughly two‐thirds of the U.S. hemodialysis population). Patients dialyzed at hospital‐based facilities and patients with no dialysis facilities within 30 miles of their residence were excluded.

Results.Overall, adjusted hospital days per patient were 17±5 percent lower in nonprofit facilities. The difference between nonprofit and for‐profit facilities persisted with the correction for referral bias. There was no association between hospital days per patient per year and chain affiliation, but larger facilities had inferior outcomes (facilities with 73 or more patients had a 14±1.7 percent increase in hospital days relative to facilities with 35 or fewer patients). Differences in outcomes among for‐profit and nonprofit facilities translated to 1,600 patient‐years in hospital that could be averted each year if the hospital utilization rates in for‐profit facilities were to decrease to the level of their nonprofit counterparts.

Conclusions.Hospital days per patient‐year were statistically and clinically significantly lower among nonprofit dialysis providers. These findings suggest that the indirect incentives in Medicare's current payment system may provide insufficient incentive for for‐profit providers to achieve optimal patient outcomes.
Job Stress and Job Satisfaction: Home Care Workers in a Consumer‐Directed Model of Care
Authors: Delp Linda , Wallace Steven P. , Geiger‐Brown Jeanne , Muntaner Carles
Published: April 2010

Objective. To investigate determinants of job satisfaction among home care workers in a consumer‐directed model.

Data Sources/Setting. Analysis of data collected from telephone interviews with 1,614 Los Angeles home care workers on the state payroll in 2003.

Data Collection and Analysis. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the odds of job satisfaction using job stress model domains of demands, control, and support.

Principal Findings. Abuse from consumers, unpaid overtime hours, and caring for more than one consumer as well as work‐health demands predict less satisfaction. Some physical and emotional demands of the dyadic care relationship are unexpectedly associated with greater job satisfaction. Social support and control, indicated by job security and union involvement, have a direct positive effect on job satisfaction.

Conclusions. Policies that enhance the relational component of care may improve workers' ability to transform the demands of their job into dignified and satisfying labor. Adequate benefits and sufficient authorized hours of care can minimize the stress of unpaid overtime work, caring for multiple consumers, job insecurity, and the financial constraints to seeking health care. Results have implications for the structure of consumer‐directed models of care and efforts to retain long‐term care workers.
Patient Panel of Underserved Populations and Adoption of Electronic Medical Record Systems by Office‐Based Physicians
Authors: Li Chenghui , West‐Strum Donna
Published: April 2010

Objectives. To examine the association between patient panels of underserved populations and adoption of electronic medical records (EMRs) among office‐based physicians.

Data Sources. Two thousand three hundred and twenty‐six office‐based physicians who responded and saw patients in the 2005 and 2006 National Ambulatory Medical Care Surveys.

Study Design. This study used a cross‐sectional design. The unit of analysis was the office‐based physician. EMR adoption was defined based on functionalities (No EMR, Limited, or Comprehensive). An EMR was considered to have “comprehensive” functionalities if it included computerized orders for prescriptions and tests, test results, and clinical notes by physicians. Patient panels of underserved populations were measured as proportions of racial/ethnic minorities, Medicaid recipients, or self‐pay/no charge/charity care patients treated by a physician using the reported sociodemographic characteristics in patient records linked to their treating physicians. Data were analyzed using multivariate regression analyses controlling for other patient‐panel characteristics and characteristics of physicians and their practices.

Principal Findings. We found a negative association between the proportion of Hispanics treated by a physician and physician adoption of EMRs with “comprehensive” functionalities after adjusting for other covariates.

Conclusions. Physicians treating high shares of Hispanic patients may have lower access to EMRs with essential functionalities.
Implications of the California Nurse Staffing Mandate for Other States
Authors: Aiken Linda H. , Sloane Douglas M. , Cimiotti Jeannie P. , Clarke Sean P. , Flynn Linda , Seago Jean Ann , Spetz Joanne , Smith Herbert L.
Published: April 2010

Objectives. To determine whether nurse staffing in California hospitals, where state‐mandated minimum nurse‐to‐patient ratios are in effect, differs from two states without legislation and whether those differences are associated with nurse and patient outcomes.

Data Sources. Primary survey data from 22,336 hospital staff nurses in California, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey in 2006 and state hospital discharge databases.

Study Design. Nurse workloads are compared across the three states and we examine how nurse and patient outcomes, including patient mortality and failure‐to‐rescue, are affected by the differences in nurse workloads across the hospitals in these states.

Principal Findings. California hospital nurses cared for one less patient on average than nurses in the other states and two fewer patients on medical and surgical units. Lower ratios are associated with significantly lower mortality. When nurses' workloads were in line with California‐mandated ratios in all three states, nurses' burnout and job dissatisfaction were lower, and nurses reported consistently better quality of care.

Conclusions. Hospital nurse staffing ratios mandated in California are associated with lower mortality and nurse outcomes predictive of better nurse retention in California and in other states where they occur.
Successful Treatment of Darier’s Disease with Adapalene Gel
Authors: Abe Masatoshi , Inoue Chizuru , Yokoyama Yoko , Ishikawa Osamu
Published: April 2010

Abstract:  We report a 12‐year‐old Japanese boy with a 3‐year history of skin lesions that had been unsuccessfully treated with topical steroids. We initiated two different topical treatments with adapalene gel 0.1% (Differin® Gel 0.1%) and high‐concentration vitamin D3 (tacalcitol) ointment; the lesions treated with adapalene gel improved dramatically in the first 2 months, whereas the high‐concentration vitamin D3 ointment resulted in little improvement. Topical adapalene gel 0.1% may be a promising choice as a topical treatment of Darier’s disease because of its high efficiency and lack of adverse effects.
Capillary‐Lymphatic Malformation, Kaposiform Hemangioendothelioma and Delayed Kasabach‐Merritt Phenomenon
Authors: del Pozo Jesús , López‐Gutiérrez Juan Carlos , Gómez‐Tellado Manuel , Nistal Manuel , Soler Rafaela , Sacristán Felipe , Tovar J.A.
Published: April 2010

Abstract:  According to International Society for the Study of Vascular Anomalies classification, vascular anomalies are mainly divided into two groups: vascular tumors and vascular malformations. Nevertheless, a small group of patients present clinical and/or histopathologic overlapping features. We report a case of a 4‐month‐old boy that presented a vascular lesion on his right buttock with involvement of abdominal wall muscles, abdominal cavity and drainage to primitive iliac by a tortuous drainage vein. Surgery was performed and histopathology demonstrated a combined vascular malformation. Six months later he developed a thrombocytopenia and repeat magnetic resonance imaging revealed a new solid mass involving the majority of the abdominal cavity. At 18 months of age the patient developed a Kasabach‐Merrit phenomenon and treatment with vincristine, interferon and then acetyl‐salicilic acid and dypiridamol was started. No response in platelet counts was obtained and one more surgery was perfomed. On this occasion a histopathologic study revealed vascular malformation areas intermingled with areas of kaposiform hemangioendothelioma. This patient demonstrates the Kasabach‐Merritt phenomenon with kaposiform hemangioendothelioma arising within a pre‐existing combined vascular malformation.
Collaborative Institutions in an Ecology of Games
Authors: Lubell Mark , Henry Adam Douglas , McCoy Mike
Published: April 2010

This article seeks to improve our understanding of policy institutions and cooperation by adapting Long's (1958)analysis of the ecology of games to the context of collaborative land use and transportation planning in California. The traditional institutional rational choice analysis argues that collaborative institutions reduce the transaction costs of cooperation among multiple policy actors. The ecology of games framework extends IRC by emphasizing the consequences of multiple institutions and identifies several reasons why collaborative institutions may actually reduce the amount of cooperation in existing policy venues. Analyses of survey data from policy actors in five California regions demonstrate that higher levels of cooperation in collaborative institutions are associated with lower levels of cooperation in other land‐use and transportation planning institutions.
The Effect of Electoral Geography on Pork Barreling in Bicameral Legislatures
Authors: Chen Jowei
Published: April 2010

How does the electoral geography of legislative districts affect pork barreling? This article presents a formal model extending Mayhew's classic credit‐claiming theory to account for the electoral geography of bicameralism. Under bicameralism, upper chamber (Senate) and lower chamber (Assembly) legislators who share overlapping constituencies must collaborate to bring home pork projects. Collaboration is easier between a Senator and an Assembly Member who share a large fraction of their constituents and thus have relatively aligned electoral incentives. But dividing a Senate district into a larger number of Assembly district fragments misaligns these electoral incentives for collaboration, thus reducing equilibrium pork spending. Hence, increased Senate district fragmentation causes a decrease in equilibrium spending. I exploit the 2002 New York Senate expansion as a natural experiment, examining how sudden changes in the geographic fragmentation of Senate districts account for differences in the distribution of pork earmarks immediately before and after the redrawing of district boundaries.
Partisan Polarization and Congressional Accountability in House Elections
Authors: Jones David R.
Published: April 2010

Early research led scholars to believe that institutional accountability in Congress is lacking because public evaluations of its collective performance do not affect the reelection of its members. However, a changed partisan environment along with new empirical evidence raises unanswered questions about the effect of congressional performance on incumbents' electoral outcomes over time. Analysis of House reelection races across the last several decades produces important findings: (1) low congressional approval ratings generally reduce the electoral margins of majority party incumbents and increase margins for minority party incumbents; (2) partisan polarization in the House increases the magnitude of this partisan differential, mainly through increased electoral accountability among majority party incumbents; (3) these electoral effects of congressional performance ratings hold largely irrespective of a member's individual party loyalty or seat safety. These findings carry significant implications for partisan theories of legislative organization and help explain salient features of recent Congresses.
Candidate Valence and Ideological Positions in U.S. House Elections
Authors: Stone Walter J. , Simas Elizabeth N.
Published: April 2010

We examine the relationship between the valence qualities of candidates and the ideological positions they take in U.S. House elections based on a study of the 2006 midterm elections. Our design enables us to distinguish between campaign and character dimensions of candidate valence and to place candidates and districts on the same ideological scale. Incumbents with a personal‐character advantage are closer ideologically to their district preferences, while disadvantaged challengers take more extreme policy positions. Contrary to conventional wisdom, challengers can reap electoral rewards by taking more extreme positions relative to their districts. We explore a possible mechanism for this extremism effect by demonstrating that challengers closer to the extreme received greater financial contributions, which enhanced their chances of victory. Our results bear on theories of representation that include policy and valence, although the interactions between these two dimensions may be complex and counterintuitive.
Untangling the Causal Effects of Sex on Judging
Authors: Boyd Christina L. , Epstein Lee , Martin Andrew D.
Published: April 2010

We explore the role of sex in judging by addressing two questions of long‐standing interest to political scientists: whether and in what ways male and female judges decide cases distinctly—“individual effects”—and whether and in what ways serving with a female judge causes males to behave differently—“panel effects.” While we attend to the dominant theoretical accounts of why we might expect to observe either or both effects, we do not use the predominant statistical tools to assess them. Instead, we deploy a more appropriate methodology: semiparametric matching, which follows from a formal framework for causal inference. Applying matching methods to 13 areas of law, we observe consistent gender effects in only one—sex discrimination. For these disputes, the probability of a judge deciding in favor of the party alleging discrimination decreases by about 10 percentage points when the judge is a male. Likewise, when a woman serves on a panel with men, the men are significantly more likely to rule in favor of the rights litigant. These results are consistent with an informational account of gendered judging and are inconsistent with several others.
What Stops the Torture?
Authors: Conrad Courtenay Ryals , Moore Will H.
Published: April 2010

States whose agents engage in torture in a given year have a 93% chance of continuing to torture in the following year. What leads governments to stop the use of torture? We focus on the principal–agent relationship between the executive and the individuals responsible for supervising and interrogating state prisoners. We argue that some liberal democratic institutions change the probability that leaders support the creation of institutions that discourage jailers and interrogators from engaging in torture, thus increasing the probability of a state terminating its use of torture. These relationships are strongly conditioned by the presence of violent dissent; states rarely terminate the use of torture when they face a threat. Once campaigns of violent dissent stop, however, states with popular suffrage and a free press are considerably more likely to terminate their use of torture. Also given the end of violent dissent, the greater the number of veto points in government, the lower the likelihood that a state terminates its use of torture.
Political Competition and Ethnic Identification in Africa
Authors: Eifert Benn , Miguel Edward , Posner Daniel N.
Published: April 2010

This article draws on data from over 35,000 respondents in 22 public opinion surveys in 10 countries and finds strong evidence that ethnic identities in Africa are strengthened by exposure to political competition. In particular, for every month closer their country is to a competitive presidential election, survey respondents are 1.8 percentage points more likely to identify in ethnic terms. Using an innovative multinomial logit empirical methodology, we find that these shifts are accompanied by a corresponding reduction in the salience of occupational and class identities. Our findings lend support to situational theories of social identification and are consistent with the view that ethnic identities matter in Africa for instrumental reasons: because they are useful in the competition for political power.
Political Ontology and Institutional Design in Montesquieu and Rousseau
Authors: Williams David Lay
Published: April 2010

Historians of political thought have been puzzled by Montesquieu's simultaneous appeals to the diversity of human practices and eternal norms of justice. Isaiah Berlin famously referred to this as an impassable “contradiction” burdening his work. Careful examination of Rousseau's appropriations from and developments on Montesquieu, however, reveal that these observations are not merely reconcilable—they provide a fruitful way to approach legislation and constitution drafting. This is accomplished by understanding his employment of the principle of transcendent constrained indeterminacy.
What to Do about Missing Values in Time‐Series Cross‐Section Data
Authors: Honaker James , King Gary
Published: April 2010

Applications of modern methods for analyzing data with missing values, based primarily on multiple imputation, have in the last half‐decade become common in American politics and political behavior. Scholars in this subset of political science have thus increasingly avoided the biases and inefficiencies caused by ad hoc methods like listwise deletion and best guess imputation. However, researchers in much of comparative politics and international relations, and others with similar data, have been unable to do the same because the best available imputation methods work poorly with the time‐series cross‐section data structures common in these fields. We attempt to rectify this situation with three related developments. First, we build a multiple imputation model that allows smooth time trends, shifts across cross‐sectional units, and correlations over time and space, resulting in far more accurate imputations. Second, we enable analysts to incorporate knowledge from area studies experts via priors on individual missing cell values, rather than on difficult‐to‐interpret model parameters. Third, because these tasks could not be accomplished within existing imputation algorithms, in that they cannot handle as many variables as needed even in the simpler cross‐sectional data for which they were designed, we also develop a new algorithm that substantially expands the range of computationally feasible data types and sizes for which multiple imputation can be used. These developments also make it possible to implement the methods introduced here in freely available open source software that is considerably more reliable than existing algorithms.
Little evidence for different phenomenology in poststroke depression
Authors: Cumming T. B. , Churilov L. , Skoog I. , Blomstrand C. , Linden T.
Published: April 2010

Cumming TB, Churilov L, Skoog I, Blomstrand C, Linden T. Little evidence for different phenomenology in poststroke depression.

Objective:  It remains unclear whether mood depressive disorders after stroke have a distinct phenomenology. We evaluated the symptom profile of poststroke depression (PSD) and assessed whether somatic symptoms were reported disproportionately by stroke patients.

Method:  The sample was 149 stroke patients at 18 months poststroke and 745 age‐ and sex‐matched general population controls. A comprehensive psychiatric interview was undertaken and depression was diagnosed according to DSM‐III‐R criteria.

Results:  Depressed controls reported more ‘inability to feel’ (P = 0.002) and ‘disturbed sleep’ (P = 0.008) than depressed stroke patients. Factor analysis of the 10 depressive symptoms identified two main factors, which appeared to represent somatic and psychological symptoms. There was no difference in scores on these two factors between stroke patients and controls.

Conclusion:  Phenomenology of depression at 18 months poststroke is broadly similar but not the same as that described by controls. Somatic symptoms of depression were not over‐reported by stroke patients.
The prognosis and incidence of social phobia in an elderly population. A 5‐year follow‐up
Authors: Karlsson B. , Sigström R. , Waern M. , Östling S. , Gustafson D. , Skoog I.
Published: April 2010

Karlsson B, Sigström R, Waern M, Östling S, Gustafson D, Skoog I. The prognosis and incidence of social phobia in an elderly population. A 5‐year follow‐up.

Objective:  To examine the prognosis and incidence of social fears and phobia in an elderly population sample followed for 5 years.

Method:  A general population sample (N = 612) of non‐demented men (baseline age 70) and women (baseline age 70 and 78–86) was investigated in 2000–2001 and in 2005–2006 with semi‐structured psychiatric examinations including the Comprehensive Psychopathological Rating Scale, and the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Social phobia was diagnosed according to the DSM‐IV criteria.

Results:  Among nine individuals with DSM‐IV social phobia in 2000, 5 (55.6%) had no social fears in 2005, and 1 (11.1%) still met the criteria for DSM‐IV social phobia. Among individuals without DSM‐IV social phobia in 2000 (N = 603), 12 (2.0%) had DSM‐IV social phobia in 2005.

Conclusion:  These findings challenge the notion that social phobia is a chronic disorder with rare occurrence in old age.
Antidepressant medication prevents suicide in depression
Authors: Isacsson G. , Reutfors J. , Papadopoulos F. C. , Ösby U. , Ahlner J.
Published: April 2010

Isacsson G, Reutfors J, Papadopoulos FC, Ösby U, Ahlner J. Antidepressant medication prevents suicide in depression.

Objective:  Ecological studies have demonstrated a substantial decrease in suicide in parallel with an increasing use of antidepressants. To investigate on the individual level the hypothesis that antidepressant medication was a causal factor.

Method:  Data on the toxicological detection of antidepressants in 18 922 suicides in Sweden 1992–2003 were linked to registers of psychiatric hospitalization as well as registers with sociodemographic data.

Results:  The probability for the toxicological detection of an antidepressant was lowest in the non‐suicide controls, higher in suicides, and even higher in suicides that had been psychiatric in‐patients but excluding those who had been in‐patients for the treatment of depression.

Conclusion:  The finding that in‐patient care for depression did not increase the probability of the detection of antidepressants in suicides is difficult to explain other than by the assumption that a substantial number of depressed individuals were saved from suicide by postdischarge treatment with antidepressant medication.
Safety of sertindole versus risperidone in schizophrenia: principal results of the sertindole cohort prospective study (SCoP)
Authors: Thomas S. H. L. , Drici M. D. , Hall G. C. , Crocq M. A. , Everitt B. , Lader M. H. , Jeunne C. Le. , Naber D. , Priori S. , Sturkenboom M. , Thibaut F. , Peuskens J. , Mittoux A. , Tanghøj P. , Toumi M. , Moore N. D. , Mann R. D.
Published: April 2010

Thomas SHL, Drici MD, Hall GC, Crocq MA, Everitt B, Lader MH, Le Jeunne C, Naber D, Priori S, Sturkenboom M, Thibaut F, Peuskens J, Mittoux A, Tanghøj P, Toumi M, Moore ND, Mann RD. Safety of sertindole versus risperidone in schizophrenia: principal results of the sertindole cohort prospective study (SCoP)

Objective: To explore whether sertindole increases all‐cause mortality or cardiac events requiring hospitalization, compared with risperidone.

Method: Multinational randomized, open‐label, parallel‐group study, with blinded classification of outcomes, in 9858 patients with schizophrenia.

Results: After 14147 person‐years, there was no effect of treatment on overall mortality (sertindole 64, risperidone 61 deaths, Hazard Ratio (HR) = 1.12 (90% CI: 0.83, 1.50)) or cardiac events requiring hospitalization [sertindole 10, risperidone 6, HR = 1.73 (95% CI: 0.63, 4.78)]: Of these, four were considered arrhythmia‐related (three sertindole, one risperidone). Cardiac mortality was higher with sertindole (Independent Safety Committee (ISC): 31 vs. 12, HR=2.84 (95% CI: 1.45, 5.55),P = 0.0022; Investigators 17 vs. 8, HR=2.13 (95% CI: 0.91, 4.98),P = 0.081). There was no significant difference in completed suicide, but fewer sertindole recipients attempted suicide (ISC: 68 vs. 78, HR=0.93 (95% CI: 0.66, 1.29),P = 0.65; Investigators: 43 vs. 65, HR=0.67 (95% CI: 0.45, 0.99),P = 0.044).

Conclusion: Sertindole did not increase all‐cause mortality, but cardiac mortality was higher and suicide attempts may be lower with sertindole.
Severity and pattern of peri‐implantitis‐associated bone loss
Authors: Fransson Christer , Tomasi Cristiano , Pikner Solveig Sundén , Gröndahl Kerstin , Wennström Jan L. , Leyland Alastair H. , Berglundh Tord
Published: April 2010

Fransson C, Tomasi C, Sundén Pikner S, Gröndahl K, Wennström JL, Leyland AH, Berglundh T. Severity and pattern of peri‐implantitis‐associated bone loss. J Clin Periodontol 2010; 37: 442–448. doi: 10.1111/j.1600‐051X.2010.01537.x.

Objective: The purpose of the present study was to describe the severity and pattern of peri‐implantitis‐associated bone loss.

Material and Methods: Intra‐oral radiographs from 182 subjects were analysed. Bone‐level measurements were performed in 419 implants with a history of bone loss. All radiographs obtained in the interval from the 1‐year follow‐up to the end‐point examination (5–23 years) were analysed. The amount of bone loss that occurred from 1 year after prosthesis insertion was assessed and the pattern of bone loss was evaluated.

Results: The average bone loss after the first year of function was 1.68 mm and 32% of the implants demonstrated bone loss 2 mm. The multilevel model revealed that the bone loss showed a non‐linear pattern and that the rate of bone loss increased over time. The model also revealed that the pattern of peri‐implantitis associated bone loss was similar within the same subject.

Conclusion: It is suggested that peri‐implantitis‐associated bone loss varies between subjects and is, in most cases, characterized by a non‐linear progression, with the rate of loss increasing over time.
Triclosan inhibition of acute and chronic inflammatory gene pathways
Authors: Barros Silvana P. , Wirojchanasak Sodsi , Barrow David A. , Panagakos Fotinos S. , DeVizio William , Offenbacher Steven
Published: April 2010

Barros SP, Wirojchanasak S, Barrow DA, Panagakos F, Devizio W, Offenbacher S. Triclosan inhibition of acute and chronic inflammatory gene pathways. J Clin Periodontol 2010; 37: 412–418. doi: 10.1111/j.1600‐051X.2010.01548.x.

Aim: We sought to determine whether triclosan (2,4,4′‐trichloro‐2′‐hydroxydiphenylether), an extensively used anti‐plaque agent with broad‐spectrum anti‐microbial activity, with reported anti‐inflammatory effects via inhibition of prostaglandin E2 and interleukin 1 (IL‐1)β, could also more broadly suppress multiple inflammatory gene pathways responsible for the pathogenesis of gingivitis and periodontitis.

Materials and Methods: As an exploratory study, the effects of triclosan on the inflammatory gene expression profile were assessed ex vivo using peripheral whole blood samples from eight periodontally healthy donors. Ten‐millilitres whole blood aliquots were incubated 2 h with 0.3 μg/ml Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) with or without 0.5 μg/ml triclosan. Affymetrix microarray gene expression profiles from isolated leucocytes and pathway‐specific quantitative polymerase chain reaction arrays were used to investigate changes in expression of target cytokines and cell signalling molecules.

Results: Ex vivo human whole blood assays indicated that triclosan significantly down‐regulated the LPS‐stimulated expression of Toll‐like receptor signalling molecules and other multiple inflammatory molecules including IL‐1 and IL‐6 and the dampening of signals that activate the T‐helper type 1 acquired immune response via suppression of CD70 with concomitant up‐regulation of growth factors related to bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)2 and BMP6 synthesis.

Conclusions: Anti‐inflammatory effects were found in this exploratory survey, including suppression of microbial‐pathogen recognition pathway molecules and the suppression of acute and chronic mediators of inflammation.
Effect of Porphyromonas gingivalis‐induced inflammation on the development of rheumatoid arthritis
Authors: Bartold P. Mark , Marino Victor , Cantley Melissa , Haynes David R.
Published: April 2010

Bartold PM, Marino V, Cantley M, Haynes DR. Effect of Porphyromonas gingivalis‐induced inflammation on development of rheumatoid arthritis. J Clin Periodontol 2010; 37: 405–411. doi: 10.1111/j.1600‐051X.2010.01552.x.

Background: Periodontitis is an extra‐synovial chronic inflammatory condition, which has been proposed to be inter‐related with rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: We investigated the effect of an established extra‐synovial chronic inflammatory lesion on the induction and severity of experimental arthritis.

Materials and Methods: Chronic inflammatory lesions were induced by the implantation of polyurethane sponges impregnated with heat‐killed Porphyromonas gingivalis into the backs of DA rats. Thirty‐five days later, adjuvant arthritis (AA) was induced in the rats by injecting a mycobacterium cell wall in complete Freund's adjuvant. The development of arthritis was then monitored for 2 weeks.

Results: Histological assessment of the implanted sponges confirmed that a chronic inflammatory lesion had been established after 21 days. Following induction of adjuvant arthritis, the severity of disease was scored and paw swelling was measured. Severe arthritis developed more rapidly in animals with a pre‐existing P. gingivalis‐induced inflammatory lesion elsewhere.

Conclusions: The results show that a pre‐existing extra‐synovial chronic inflammatory lesion induced by P. gingivalis promotes the development of arthritis in an animal model. These findings provide further evidence for a relationship between the presence of periodontal pathogen‐associated inflammation and the development of rheumatoid arthritis.