bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Approaches to the Merit Principle in Queensland Public Service Recruitment 1859–2000. From rich and dumb to gender discrimination to politicisation?
Authors: Colley Linda
Published: March 2006

The traditional career service model of public employment was ostensibly based on the merit principle, designed to ensure employment on what you knew rather than who you knew, and to remove patronage. However, the image of public servants is often poor, and many are perceived as having little real merit. This article reviews approaches to merit in the Queensland state public service. It finds that, in earlier times, the merit principle was often enshrined in primary and subordinate legislation, but was subsequently moderated by social values including gender and class discrimination, and by circumstances such as wars. This had implications for the skill levels and quality of public employees, and therefore for public policy and public services. In recent decades, the merit principle has been subjected to extensive redefinition and has been subordinated to the desire for greater political control of public services, and pursuit of ‘responsiveness’.
The Use of Predictive Modelling in Impact Assessment: Implications for Environmental Legislation and Regulation
Authors: Duncan Ronlyn
Published: March 2006

Predictive modelling is now an indispensable tool in the identification of social, economic and environmental impacts and risks. This article appraises its use in the assessment of environmental impacts on the Gordon River of Basslink, the Bass Strait power cable that will plug Tasmania into the National Electricity Market. This study follows a proponent's knowledge claims derived from predictive modelling from their origin in researchers' reports to their legitimation as regulatory outcomes. By tracing two modelling comparisons, it will be shown that conclusions on the extent of environmental impacts on the Gordon River changed during the impact assessment process from being considered significant to insignificant and, consequently, how an invocation of environmental regulatory legislation was avoided.
Newborns' Face Recognition: Role of Inner and Outer Facial Features
Authors: Turati Chiara , Macchi Cassia Viola , Simion Francesca , Leo Irene
Published: March 2006

Existing data indicate that newborns are able to recognize individual faces, but little is known about what perceptual cues drive this ability. The current study showed that either the inner or outer features of the face can act as sufficient cues for newborns' face recognition (Experiment 1), but the outer part of the face enjoys an advantage over the inner part (Experiment 2). Inversion of the face stimuli disrupted recognition when only the inner portion of the face was shown, but not when the whole face was fully visible or only the outer features were presented (Experiment 3). The results enhance our picture of what information newborns actually process and encode when they discriminate, learn, and recognize faces.
Getting There Faster: 18‐ and 24‐Month‐Old Infants' Use of Function Words to Determine Reference
Authors: Kedar Yarden , Casasola Marianella , Lust Barbara
Published: March 2006

Infants of 18 and 24 months acquiring English were tested in a preferential looking task on their ability to detect ungrammaticalities caused by manipulating a single function word in sentences. Infants heard grammatical sentences in which the determinerthepreceded a target noun, as well as three ungrammatical conditions in whichthewas either dropped, replaced by a nonsense function word (el), or replaced by an alternate English function word (and). Both the 18‐ and 24‐month‐old infants oriented faster and more accurately to a visual target following grammatical sentences. The results suggest that by 18 months of age, infants use their knowledge of determiners in sentence computation and in establishing reference.
Social Information Processing and Coping Strategies of Shy/Withdrawn and Aggressive Children: Does Friendship Matter?
Authors: Burgess Kim B. , Wojslawowicz Julie C. , Rubin Kenneth H. , Rose‐Krasnor Linda , Booth‐LaForce Cathryn
Published: March 2006

The primary objectives of this investigation were to examine the attributions, emotional reactions, and coping strategies of shy/withdrawn and aggressive girls and boys and to examine whether such social cognitions differ within the relationship context of friendship. Drawn from a sample of fifth and sixth graders (M age=10.79 years; SD=.77), 78 shy/withdrawn, 76 aggressive, and 85 control children were presented with hypothetical social situations that first involved unfamiliar peers, and then a mutual good friend. Results revealed group and gender differences and similarities, depending on the relationship context. From our findings emerges a central message: friends' involvement during interpersonal challenges or stressors mitigates children's attributions, emotions, and coping responses.
The Role of Negative Priming in Preschoolers' Flexible Rule Use on the Dimensional Change Card Sort Task
Authors: Müller Ulrich , Steven Dick Anthony , Gela Katherine , Overton Willis F. , Zelazo Philip David
Published: March 2006

Four experiments examined the development of negative priming (NP) in 3–5‐year‐old children using as a measure of children's executive function (EF) the dimensional change card sort (DCCS) task. In the NP version of the DCCS, the values of the sorting dimension that is relevant during the preswitch phase are removed during the postswitch phase. The experiments showed that the NP effect observed in the DCCS decreased during the preschool years, and they clarified the circumstances in which NP occurs. Taken together, the findings suggest that the development of EF in early childhood consists in part in disinhibiting attention to information that has previously been suppressed.
Children's Beliefs About Everyday Reasoning
Authors: Amsterlaw Jennifer
Published: March 2006

Two studies investigated children's metacognition about everyday reasoning, assessing how they distinguish reasoning from nonreasoning and “good” reasoning from “bad.” In Study 1, 80 1st graders (6–7 years), 3rd graders (8–9 years), 5th graders (10–11 years), and adults (18+ years) evaluated scenarios where people (a) used reasoning, (b) solved problems with nonreasoning approaches, or (c) reacted appropriately but automatically to events. All age groups distinguished reasoning from type (b) nonreasoning cases, but age‐related improvement occurred for type (c) cases. Study 2 tested 160 1st, 3rd, 5th graders' and adults' evaluation of good and bad reasoning processes, finding 2 developmental changes: initial improvement in discriminating thinking processes by 3rd grade, and emergence of an adult‐like, process‐focused (vs. outcome‐focused) concept of thinking quality by 5th grade.
Self in Learning: Chinese Adolescents' Goals and Sense of Agency
Authors: Li Jin
Published: March 2006

This study examined goals and agency as the 2 core aspects of self in learning among Chinese adolescents. A sample of 259 adolescents aged 12–19 responded to open‐ended probes about themselves. Counter to the common view that Chinese selves are predominantly social, adolescents expressed many more individual than social goals and agency. Moreover, older adolescents showed overall more goals and agency than younger adolescents. However, their specific goals did not differ by age. Regarding agency, older adolescents articulated more of the so‐called “learning virtues.” Yet their social agency did not differ by age. We interpret these findings as in reference to the Confucian learning tradition, the existing research on goals and agency, and self in culture from a domain‐specific perspective.
Social Identity and Spatial Behaviour: The Relationship between National Category Salience, the Sense of Home, and Labour Mobility across National Boundaries
Authors: Reicher Stephen , Hopkins Nick , Harrison Kate
Published: March 2006

This study explores the impact of manipulating the salience of national categories upon the willingness of highly identifying Scots to take up either short‐term or long‐term jobs in Scotland as compared to England. The results support the hypotheses (a) that high‐identifying Scots increase preference for intra‐ over extranational locations when national categories are salient, (b) that this effect is fully mediated by “fitting in”—that is, the sense of being “at home” in Scottish as compared to English locations, and (c) that these relationships only hold for long‐term as opposed to short‐term jobs. We discuss these results in terms of the impact of identity definitions upon spatialised action and the economic/political importance of this relationship.
Emotion Priming and Attributions for Terrorism: Americans' Reactions in a National Field Experiment
Authors: Small Deborah A. , Lerner Jennifer S. , Fischhoff Baruch
Published: March 2006

The terrorist attacks of September 11 elicited many forms of negative affect, including anger and sadness. They also elicited a search for explanations. A national field study that experimentally primed emotion evaluated how priming anger and sadness differentially evoked causal judgments about the attacks. It found that priming anger triggered more causal attributions than did priming sadness. Thus, specific emotions, rather than general negativity, shaped citizens' attributions regarding September 11. In addition to its theoretical implications, the study demonstrates a method for studying ecologically valid emotions, under conditions of experimental control, with a nationally representative sample.
If Mozart had Died at Your Age: Psychologic Versus Statistical Interence
Authors: Lebow Richard Ned
Published: March 2006

In an alternative world, Mozart lived to 65 and, as a result, neither World War nor the Holocaust happened. Two contemporary Germans in this world debate the implications of the counterfactual of Mozart dying young and cannot begin to conceive of the horrors of our twentieth century. A imaginary critic with a structural orientation reviews the story and challenges its premise. He denies that artistic changes could have far‐reaching political implications and uses the laws of probability to show the vanishingly low likelihood of the alternate future described by the main character of the story. The author responds with a defense of his counterfactual as an exercise in psychologic, where credibility is achieved through vividness.
Clause boundaries in Old Hittite relative sentences1
Authors: Probert Philomen
Published: March 2006

Hittite relative sentences typically take the form ‘conjunction whichever slaves have run away, conjunction those we shall recover’. The first part (‘conj…away’) is known as the relative clause and the second (‘conj…recover’) as the resumptive clause. However, neither part is always introduced by a conjunction, and there is not always an explicit resumption (‘those’). This paper argues that in Old Hittite, and with exceptions under two well‐defined conditions, the resumption and the conjunction introducing the resumptive clause are strictly both present or both absent. The distinction between sentences with both and sentences with neither points to a structural distinction between adjoined and embedded relative clauses. After Old Hittite, it is no longer necessary for a resumptive clause to include either both resumption and conjunction or neither of these elements. The new possibilities suggest that the Old Hittite embedded relative clauses have been reanalysed as adjoined.
Field Testing Alternative Criteria for Chronic Migraine
Authors: Bigal ME , Tepper SJ , Sheftell FD , Rapoport AM , Lipton RB
Published: March 2006

The criteria for chronic migraine (CM), as proposed by the Second Edition of the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD-2) is very restrictive, excluding most patients that evolve from episodic migraine. In this study we empirically tested three recent proposals for revised criteria for CM. We included individuals with transformed migraine (TM) with or without medication overuse, according to the criteria proposed by Silberstein and Lipton. All individuals had headache calendars for at least three consecutive months. We assessed the proportion of subjects that fulfilled ICHD-2 criteria for CM or probable chronic migraine with probable medication overuse (CM+). We also tested three proposals for making the CM criteria more inclusive. In proposal 1, CM/CM+ would require at least 15 days of migraine or probable migraine per month. Proposal 2 suggests that CM/CM+ would be classified in those with ≥15 days of headache per month, where at least 50% of these days are migraine or probable migraine. Proposal 3 suggests that CM/CM+ would be classified in those with chronic daily headache and at least 8 days of migraine or probable migraine per month. Among TM sufferers, 399 (62.5%) had TM with medication overuse, and just 10.2% were classified as CM+ 158 (37.5%) had TM without medication overuse; just nine (5.6%) met current ICHD-2 criteria for CM. Using the alternative criteria, proposal 1 included 48.7% of patients with TM without medication overuse; proposal 2 captured 88%, and proposal 3 classified 94.9% of these patients. For TM with medication overuse, the proportions for proposals 1-3 were, respectively, 37%, 81% and 91%. The differences were statistically significant, favouring proposal 3. Consistently, criteria for CM and CM+ should be revised to require at least 8 days of migraine or probable migraine per month, in individuals with 15 or more days of headache per month.
Teenage mothers’ anger over twelve years: partner conflict, partner transitions and children's anger
Authors: Jenkins Jennifer M. , Shapka Jennifer D. , Sorenson Ann M.
Published: March 2006

Background:  This study examined the effects of maternal anger, partner transitions and partner conflict on later oppositional and angry behavior of the children of teenage mothers.

Methods:  One hundred and twenty‐one teenage women were interviewed prior to the birth of the baby and at 3 points subsequently, when children were newborn, 7 years old and 12 years old. Child and teacher reports of children's oppositional behavior were obtained.

Results:  Women who showed higher levels of anger at Time 1 experienced more conflict with partners and more partner transitions over the next 12 years than women with lower levels of anger. Partner conflict was a stronger predictor of children's oppositional and angry behavior than partner transitions. Maternal anger at Time 1 was associated with maternal anger at Time 4 but neither predicted children's oppositional behavior at Time 4.

Conclusion:  There was support for the theoretical model that suggested that the personality characteristics of teenaged mothers confer some of their risk to children through children's exposure to the mothers’ problematic partner relationships.
Contractile activity of ATP and diadenosine tetraphosphate on urinary bladder in the rats: role of superoxide anion and urothelium
Authors: Khattab M. M. , Al‐Hrasen M. N.
Published: March 2006

1 Both ATP and diadenosine tetraphosphate (AP4A) produced a dose‐dependent contraction of rat isolated urinary bladder rings. The AP4A dose–response curve was to the left of that of ATP, and the maximum response was greater than that produced by ATP.

2 Mechanical removal of the urothelium increased the contractile response to ATP by between 53% and 71%, and that to AP4A by 42% (at highest AP4A concentration) to 68% at lower concentration.

3 Inhibition of Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase with diethylthiocarbamate (DETCA, 5 mm) significantly reduced the ATP‐evoked contraction by 31% (at high ATP concentration) to 40% at low ATP concentration. Similarly, the AP4A‐induced contractions were significantly decreased by 27% at low AP4A level to 38% at higher concentrations.

4 Induction of exogenous superoxide anion stress by the use of the superoxide anion generator, pyrogallol (0.5 mm), significantly decreased both ATP‐ and AP4A‐induced contractions of the rat urinary bladder over the whole dose range. Contractile responses to ATP decreased by 36–40%, and those to AP4A by 44–49%.

5 In conclusion, the urinary bladder urothelium exerts an inhibitory control over the purinergic contractility produced by adenine mononucleotides and dinucleotides. Superoxide anion stress, whether endogenous or exogenous, attenuates the ATP‐induced as well as AP4A‐induced contractility.
Vasopressin receptor antagonists: pharmacological tools and potential therapeutic agents
Authors: Streefkerk J. O. , van Zwieten P. A.
Published: March 2006

1  The present survey deals with the development and applications of non‐peptidergic vasopressin receptor antagonists.

2  The existence of at least three vasopressin receptors (V1, V2 and V3 respectively) is firmly established.

3  V1‐receptors play a relevant role in the regulation of vascular tone, whereas V2‐receptors are known to mediate the antidiuretic activity of vasopressin at the level of the renal collecting ducts. The V3‐receptor appears to be involved in the release of the adreno‐corticotropic hormone.

4  Vasopressin receptor antagonists which are peptides have been known for several decades, more recently, both V1‐ and V2‐receptor blockers which are non‐peptidergic have been introduced, as well as agents with affinity for both V1‐ and V2‐receptor subtypes. A survey of these non‐peptidergic antagonists is presented here. Such compounds are useful as pharmacological tools, and they can also be thought of as therapeutic agents as therapeutic agents in cardiovascular and renal diseases.

5  Selective V1‐ and V2‐receptor antagonists were used to study the interaction between vasopressin receptors and sympathetic neurones. Depending on the experimental model used this interaction can occur at either the pre‐ or postsynaptic sites. In both cases predominantly V1‐receptors are involved.

6  A brief survey is given of the potential use of V‐receptor antagonists in the drug therapy of syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion and other water retaining disorders, congestive heart failure and certain forms of hypertension (in particular in the Negroid hypertensive patients).
The role of autacoids and the autonomic nervous system in cardiovascular responses to radio‐frequency energy heating
Authors: Jauchem J. R.
Published: March 2006

1 Among the potential effects of exposure to high levels of radio‐frequency energy (RFE) (which includes microwaves), an increase in body temperature is the primary consequence. Release of autacoids and activity of the autonomic nervous system may influence (or be directly responsible for) some of the physiological changes that occur in conjunction with this hyperthermia.

2 The main focus of this review is the interaction of autacoids and the autonomic nervous system with cardiovascular changes during heating. Differences between environmental and RFE‐induced heating (such as rate of temperature change and degree of skin vs. core heating) may be important when considering these effects.

3 Antihistamines exhibited no beneficial effect on circulatory collapse during RFE‐induced heating. The serotonergic blocker methysergide decreased survival time in rats during terminal RFE exposure, despite no effects on heart rate (HR) or blood pressure. Although blockade of platelet‐activating factor resulted in lower HR before RFE exposure, there was a lack of effect on the subsequent increase in HR during heating. Nitric oxide did not contribute to the hypotension that occurs due to rapid heating by RFE exposure. There have been either no or very limited studies of effects of prostaglandins, bradykinin, or angiotensin on RFE‐induced heating responses.

4 β‐Adrenoceptor antagonism with propranolol resulted in significantly decreased survival times and lower final colonic temperatures during RFE exposure. A lack of effects of nadolol on survival time and temperature, coupled with its poor ability to traverse the blood–brain barrier, suggests that central β‐adrenergic stimulation rather than peripheral stimulation may alter thermoregulation.

5 Effects of the autonomic nervous system (as studied by adrenoceptor blockade) on potassium changes during heating have not been fully investigated. Such changes could be important in animals’ responses to RFE and other modalities of heating, and should be studied in future.
Pharmacological characterization of 5‐hydroxytryptamine‐induced contraction in the chicken gastrointestinal tract
Authors: Kitazawa T. , Ukai H. , Komori S. , Taneike T.
Published: March 2006

1 5‐Hydroxytryptamine (5‐HT) receptor subtypes involved in 5‐HT‐induced contraction of the chicken gastrointestinal tract were characterized pharmacologically using subtype‐selective agonists and antagonists. The proventriculus (area of stomach adjacent to the oesophagus) and ileum are examined.

2 5‐HT applied cumulatively caused sustained contraction of the proventriculus that was not decreased by tetrodotoxin, atropine or l‐nitro‐arginine methylester (l‐NAME). α‐Methyl‐5‐HT showed the same potency as that of 5‐HT, indicating the involvement of the 5‐HT2 receptor. (±)‐1‐(2,5‐dimethoxy‐4‐iodophenyl)‐2‐amino‐propane (DOI), 5‐methoxytryptamine and 1‐(3‐chlorophenyl)piperazine hydrochloride (mCPP) were potent, and 2‐methyl‐5‐HT, 5‐carboxamidotryptamine, BW723C86 and 6‐chloro‐2‐(1‐piperazinyl)pyrazine hydrochloride (MK212) were moderate, but (±)‐8‐hydroxy‐2‐dipropylaminotetralin hydrobromide (8‐OH‐DPAT), [endo‐N‐8‐methyl‐8‐azabicyclo‐(3,2,1)oct‐3‐yl]‐2,3‐dihydro‐(1‐methyl)ethyl‐2‐oxo‐1H‐benzimidazol‐1‐carboxamide (BIMU‐8) and cisapride were weak agonists. Correlation of pEC50 values of these agonists with documented pEC50 values for 5‐HT2C receptor was higher than 5‐HT2A and 5‐HT2B.

3 Cinanserin, ketanserin, methiothepin, methysergide, mianserin, (8‐[5‐(2,4‐dimethoxy‐5‐(4‐trifluoromethylphenylsulphonamido)phenyl‐5‐oxopentyl)‐1,3,8‐triazaspiro[4,5]decane‐2,4‐dione hydrochloride (RS102221), N‐(1‐methyl‐1H‐indolyl‐5‐yl)‐N′‐(3‐methyl‐5‐isothiazolyl)urea (SB204741), spiperone and N‐desmethylclozapine concentration‐dependently inhibited the contractile responses to 5‐HT. Correlation of pKb/pA2 of antagonists with documented pKi for 5‐HT2C receptor was highest among 5‐HT2 receptor subtypes.

4 In the methysergide‐ and ketanserin‐treated proventriculus, 5‐HT, 2‐methyl‐5‐HT and cisapride did not enhance the electrical field stimulation (5 Hz)‐induced cholinergic contractions.

5 5‐HT applied non‐cumulatively caused transient contraction of ileum, and the responses were partly decreased by atropine or tetrodotoxin. 5‐Methoxytryptamine, α‐methyl‐5‐HT, 5‐carboxamidotryptamine, L692,247 and DOI were potent agonists. However, 2‐methyl‐5‐HT, cisapride, BW723C86, 8‐OH‐DPAT and 5‐nonyloxytryptamine, mCPP and MK212 were less effective. Ketanserin and methysergide decreased the 5‐HT‐induced ileal contraction, but neither GR113808 nor SB269970 inhibited the responses.

6 In conclusion, 5‐HT causes contraction of the proventriculus via 5‐HT2C‐like receptors present on smooth muscle. 5‐HT also causes contraction of the ileum, but the underlying mechanisms are complex, involving neural and smooth muscle components, and both 5‐HT1‐ and 5‐HT2‐like receptors. Neural 5‐HT receptors similar to 5‐HT3/5‐HT4 receptors were not found in the chicken proventriculus and ileum.
Geopolitics and ‘the vision thing’: regarding Britain and America's first nuclear missile
Authors: MacDonald Fraser
Published: March 2006

Critical geopolitics, despite its radical ambitions, has been reluctant to shift its emphasis from the figure of the geopolitical tactician, ‘decisive’ events and the agency of the military‐state. This paper, in common with recent work on ‘popular geopolitics’, offers a different agenda. It takes up the story of Britain and America's first nuclear missile – the US‐made ‘Corporal’– through the testimony of a self‐described ‘space‐daft’ schoolboy who, in 1959, travelled alone across Scotland to witness the first British testing of the missile. However, unlike much of the literature on popular geopolitics, this paper is concerned with the more‐than‐representational question of observant practice. Addressing recent calls for a more empirical enquiry into the relationship between geography and visual culture, the paper examines how geopolitical power operates through sights and spectacles.
The Influence of Health Policy and Market Factors on the Hospital Safety Net
Authors: Bazzoli Gloria J. , Lindrooth Richard C. , Kang Ray , Hasnain‐Wynia Romana
Published: March 2006

Objective. To examine how the financial pressures resulting from the Balanced Budget Act (BBA) of 1997 interacted with private sector pressures to affect indigent care provision.

Data Sources/Study Setting. American Hospital Association Annual Survey, Area Resource File, InterStudy Health Maintenance Organization files, Current Population Survey, and Bureau of Primary Health Care data.

Study Design. We distinguished core and voluntary safety net hospitals in our analysis. Core safety net hospitals provide a large share of uncompensated care in their markets and have large indigent care patient mix.

Voluntary safety net hospitals provide substantial indigent care but less so than core hospitals. We examined the effect of financial pressure in the initial year of the 1997 BBA on uncompensated care for three hospital groups. Data for 1996–2000 were analyzed using approaches that control for hospital and market heterogeneity.

Data Collection/Extraction Methods. All urban U.S. general acute care hospitals with complete data for at least 2 years between 1996 and 2000, which totaled 1,693 institutions.

Principal Findings. Core safety net hospitals reduced their uncompensated care in response to Medicaid financial pressure. Voluntary safety net hospitals also responded in this way but only when faced with the combined forces of Medicaid and private sector payment pressures. Nonsafety net hospitals did not exhibit similar responses.

Conclusions. Our results are consistent with theories of hospital behavior when institutions face reductions in payment. They raise concern given continuing state budget crises plus the focus of recent federal deficit reduction legislation intended to cut Medicaid expenditures.
Disclosure Risk and Price Drift
Authors: SONG SHIN HYUN
Published: March 2006

Disclosures play an apparently critical role in the empirical regularity of the short‐run momentum and long‐run reversal in stock returns. Motivated by this evidence, this paper integrates an analysis of disclosures within an asset pricing model to arrive at a framework in which disclosures and asset returns are jointly determined. Disclosures resolve uncertainty, but the increased information flow also raises the risks during the disclosure period. When disclosures and asset returns are modeled jointly, apparently good news is associated with the upward revision of future disclosure risks. The model generates predictions that have the outward appearance of short‐run momentum and long‐run reversal.
Public Timber Supply, Market Adjustments, and Local Economies: Economic Assumptions of the Northwest Forest Plan
Authors: POWER THOMAS MICHAEL
Published: March 2006

Abstract: The Northwest Forest Plan in the Pacific Northwest sought to stabilize local economies, including local employment and income, by stabilizing the flow of wood fiber from public forests. This is also a common forest management objective in other regions and countries. Because this economic strategy ignores basic market adjustments, it is likely to fail and to unnecessarily damage forest ecosystems. Application of basic economic principles on how markets operate significantly changes the apparent efficacy of efforts to manage local economies by managing timber supply. The emphasis on timber supply tends to ignore the dominant role that the demand for wood fiber and wood products, rather than wood‐fiber supply, plays in determining levels of harvest and production. Contemporary economics indicates that markets tend to operate to offset reductions in wood‐fiber supply. This significantly moderates the economic cost of reducing commercial timber harvest in the pursuit of environmental objectives. In addition, contemporary economic analysis indicates that the economic links between natural forests and local communities are much broader than simply the flow of commercially valuable logs to manufacturing facilities. At least in the United States, the flow of environmental services from natural forests has increasingly become an amenity that has drawn people and economic activity to forested areas. Attractive site‐specific qualities, including those supported by natural forests, can potentially support local economic development even in the face of reduced timber harvests. These market‐related adjustments partially explain the Northwest Forest Plan's overestimation of the expected regional impacts associated with reduced federal timber supply and the ineffectiveness of the plan's efforts to protect communities by stabilizing federal timber supply.
The Northwest Forest Plan: Origins, Components, Implementation Experience, and Suggestions for Change
Authors: THOMAS JACK WARD , FRANKLIN JERRY F. , GORDON JOHN , JOHNSON K. NORMAN
Published: March 2006

Abstract: In the 1990s the federal forests in the Pacific Northwest underwent the largest shift in management focus since their creation, from providing a sustained yield of timber to conserving biodiversity, with an emphasis on endangered species. Triggered by a legal challenge to the federal protection strategy for the Northern Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis caurina), this shift was facilitated by a sequence of science assessments that culminated in the development of the Northwest Forest Plan. The plan, adopted in 1994, called for an extensive system of late‐successional and riparian reserves along with some timber harvest on the intervening lands under a set of controls and safeguards. It has proven more successful in stopping actions harmful to conservation of old‐growth forests and aquatic systems than in achieving restoration goals and economic and social goals. We make three suggestions that will allow the plan to achieve its goals: (1) recognize that the Northwest Forest Plan has evolved into an integrative conservation strategy, (2) conserve old‐growth trees and forests wherever they occur, and (3) manage federal forests as dynamic ecosystems.
Epidemiology of Refractory Neuropathic Pain
Authors: Taylor Rod S.
Published: March 2006

Abstract:  Although neuropathic pain can be acute in nature, in most patients the pain is persistent (or “refractory”). Patients with chronic neuropathic pain are seen most often in clinical practice. It consists of a number of different disease‐specific indications, each of which can have differing diagnostic definitions and cutoffs. Consequently, it is difficult to estimate precisely the prevalence and incidence of neuropathic pain. The limited currently available epidemiological literature is reviewed in this article. The burden of neuropathic pain on patients and healthcare systems appears to be potentially large, with an estimated prevalence of 1.5%. Patients with neuropathic pain experience a poor health‐related quality of life and consume a high level of healthcare resources, and costs. The future prioritization by healthcare policy makers for neuropathic pain treatment funding requires further data to clarify its epidemiology, the burden on the health of patients, and the demand on healthcare budgets.
Pharmacotherapy for Neuropathic Pain
Authors: Jackson Kenneth C.
Published: March 2006

Abstract:  Refractory neuropathic pain can be devastating to a patient's quality of life. Ideally, the primary goal of therapy would be to prevent the pain, yet even the most appropriate treatment strategy may be only able to reduce the pain to a more tolerable level. Pharmacotherapy is currently the mainstay of treatment in patients with neuropathic pain, although at present the drugs are used on a mainly “off‐label” basis. A wide variety of agents are used, especially antidepressants (ie, tricyclic antidepressants, selective serotonin‐reuptake inhibitors) and anticonvulsants, but also opioids and tramadol, topical agents (eg, lidocaine), systemic local anesthetics, and anti‐inflammatories. Even so, effective pain relief is achieved in less than half of patients with chronic neuropathic pain. In refractory patients, combination therapy using two agents with synergistic mechanisms of action may offer greater pain relief without compromising the side‐effect profile of each agent.
Neural Modulation by Stimulation
Authors: De Andrés José , Van Buyten Jean‐Pierre
Published: March 2006

Abstract:  Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) for the treatment of neuropathic pain is supported by good‐quality randomized controlled trials, prospective and retrospective case studies, and observational case series that confirm its efficacy and safety. SCS has been successfully used in various refractory neuropathic pain conditions, including failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS), neuropathic back and leg pain, and complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) types I and II. According to the Harbour and Miller Scale (2001), the evidence for SCS in FBSS has been classified as grade B, while that for CRPS type I has been classified as grade A. Clinical evidence has shown that compared to conventional pain therapy, more than two‐thirds of carefully selected patients treated with SCS achieved sustained pain relief of 50% or more, with minimal side effects. Many patients were able to reduce their analgesic consumption. Quality of life improved and the majority of patients were happy with their treatment; in some cases, patients were able to return to work. Trial stimulation, which is relatively inexpensive and completely reversible, provides predictive value for long‐term efficacy and increases the cost‐effectiveness of permanent implantation. Studies consistently report that over time, SCS is potentially cost saving to the healthcare system. At present, SCS is considered a “last resort” in the treatment of refractory neuropathic pain, yet evidence suggests that early intervention with SCS results in greater efficacy and, in the case of FBSS, should be considered before re‐operation.
Radiofrequency Procedures
Authors: Racz G. B. , Ruiz‐Lopez R.
Published: March 2006

Abstract:  Radiofrequency is a minimally invasive, target‐selective technique that has been in clinical use for more than 25 years and has demonstrated success at reducing pain in several chronic pain conditions, including trigeminal neuralgia, chronic low back pain, postherpetic neuralgia, and complex regional pain syndrome. However, the success of radiofrequency in chronic pain has not been adequately reproduced in good‐quality, randomized controlled trials, and its use in the management of neuropathic pain is under some debate. In addition, conventional radiofrequency occasionally leads to worsening and even new onset of neuropathic pain. Nevertheless, clinical experience suggests that radiofrequency may be a useful tool in the overall management of refractory neuropathic pain. Pulsed radiofrequency in particular is a minimally destructive procedure that may offer new opportunities and a broader perspective for therapy with radiofrequency.
Other Surgical Interventions
Authors: Loeser John D.
Published: March 2006

Abstract:  Optimal management of patients with chronic neuropathic pain requires a multidisciplinary approach that may include surgery. Yet despite the fact that lumbosacral spinal surgery, for example, is performed in thousands of patients every year, there is very little controlled clinical data to support its use or that of other surgical techniques in the treatment of chronic nonmalignant pain, especially neuropathic pain. Nevertheless, there is evidence of some success for ablative techniques such as dorsal root entry zone lesioning for phantom limb pain and girdle‐zone neuropathic pain, and sympathectomy for the treatment of complex regional pain syndrome, and a variety of operations for tic douloureux. However, before considering a surgical procedure, a nonsurgical approach should have been tried and the suitability of the patient must be carefully assessed. To fully establish the role of surgery in the treatment of chronic neuropathic pain, further well‐designed, prospective, controlled trials are essential.
A Newsvendor Problem with Revenue Sharing and Channel Coordination*
Authors: Koulamas Christos
Published: March 2006

Increasingly manufacturers and retailers are implementing revenue‐sharing policies to coordinate distribution channels more effectively. This article considers a standard newsvendor problem in a single manufacturer–retailer channel and compares the expected profits that each party receives in a traditional ordering environment with those that can be achieved under a revenue‐sharing policy designed to completely eliminate double marginalization. It is shown that the retailer always benefits from the transition to revenue sharing by capturing a portion of the incremental channel profit generated by the complete elimination of double marginalization. A necessary demand‐distribution‐dependent condition is derived under which the transition to revenue sharing benefits the manufacturer as well. The findings of this research are illustrated in a numerical example for the uniform demand distribution.
Pathological Effects of Pulmonary Vein β‐Radiation in a Swine Model
Authors: PÉREZ‐CASTELLANO NICASIO , VILLACASTÍN JULIÁN , ARAGONCILLO PALOMA , FANTIDIS PANAYOTIS , SABATÉ MANEL , GARCÍA‐TORRENT MARIA J. , PRIETO CARLOS , CORRAL JOSÉ M. , MORENO JAVIER , FERNÁNDEZ‐ORTIZ ANTONIO , VANO ELISEO , MACAYA CARLOS
Published: March 2006

Introduction: Atrial fibrillation (AF) may be triggered by ectopic beats originating in sleeves of atrial myocardium entering the pulmonary veins (PVs). PV isolation by means of circumferential ostial or atrial radiofrequency ablation is an effective but also a difficult and long procedure, requiring extensive applications that can have serious potential complications. Our objective was to examine pathological effects of PV β‐radiation, particularly the ability to destroy PV myocardial sleeves without inducing PV stenosis and other unwanted effects, in order to establish its potential feasibility for the treatment of AF.

Methods and Results: Ten minipigs were studied. A phosphorus‐32 source wire centered within a 2.5‐mm diameter balloon catheter (Galileo® III Intravascular Radiotherapy System, Guidant, Santa Clara, CA, USA) was used to deliver β‐radiation to the superior wall of the right PV trunk. Pathological analysis was performed either immediately after ablation (2 pigs) or 81 ± 27 days later (8 pigs). Acute effects of PV β‐radiation consisted of endothelial denudation covered by white thrombus, elastic lamina disruption, and PV sleeve necrosis. Late effects consisted of mild focal neointimal hyperplasia that reduced the PV luminal area by only 1.3 ± 1.8%, elastic lamina thickening, and PV sleeve fibrosis. Four of these 8 PVs were completely re‐endothelized. Lesions were transmural in 6 of 10 radiated PVs and segmental, involving 28 ± 7% of the right PV perimeter.

Conclusion: Intravascular β‐radiation can induce transmural necrosis and fibrosis of PV myocardial sleeves without PV stenosis and other unwanted effects, which supports a potential usefulness of this energy source in the treatment of AF.
Simultaneous Atrial and Ventricular Anti‐Tachycardia Pacing as a Novel Method of Rhythm Discrimination
Authors: SABA SAMIR , BAKER LINDA , GANZ LEONARD , BARRINGTON WILLIAM , JAIN SANDEEP , NGWU OGUNDU , CHRISTENSEN JILL , BROWN MARK
Published: March 2006

Background: Inappropriate shocks remain a problem in patients with defibrillators (ICD).

Objective: To evaluate a new discrimination algorithm for supraventricular (SVT) and ventricular (VT) tachycardias, based on the response to simultaneous (A+V) atrial (A) and ventricular (V) anti‐tachycardia pacing (ATP).

Methods: Patients undergoing electrophysiological testing or dual‐chamber implantable cardioverter‐defibrillator (ICD) implantation were enrolled (N = 32) and underwent A+V ATP through a Marquis ICD with investigational software. If persisting after ATP, the rhythm was classified as VT if the first electrical event was sensed on the V channel and as an SVT otherwise.

Results: Arrhythmia sequences (N = 275; 53 VT; 222 SVT) were analyzed in 26 patients (age = 51 ± 17 years, 13 men, LVEF = 0.49 ± 0.14). In response to A+V ATP, 55% of SVT versus 41% of VT episodes were terminated (P = NS). Termination of VT but not of SVT was more likely with faster (50% at ATP/arrhythmia cycle length (CL) = 0.81 vs 8% at ATP/arrhythmia CL = 0.88, P = 0.02) but not with longer ATP bursts (P = NS). Of the 115 arrhythmias that persisted after A+V ATP, the algorithm correctly classified 24 of 24 VT (GEE‐adjusted sensitivity = 100%) and 85 of 91 SVT (GEE‐adjusted specificity = 93%). Proarrhythmia was noted after two A+V ATP, in the form of atrial fibrillation induction and VT acceleration.

Conclusions: We describe a new algorithm that can discriminate between SVT and VT with a high sensitivity and specificity. This form of ATP can terminate 55% of SVT sequences. The performance of this new algorithm merits further testing in a large population of dual‐chamber ICD patients.
Hepatocellular Carcinoma with Right Atrial Extension in a Young Patient with Congenitally Unguarded Tricuspid Orifice
Authors: Barberis Vassilis I. , Brili Stella , Dimopoulou Maria , Barbetseas John , Stefanadis Christodoulos
Published: March 2006

We report a case of a young female patient with congenitally unguarded tricuspid orifice and underdeveloped pulmonary valve leaflets, who had developed severe right‐sided congestive heart failure and cardiac cirrhosis early in life. She was admitted to our hospital with deterioration of dyspnea and abdominal tenderness. Hepatocellular carcinoma was diagnosed on the basis of computed tomography findings, high plasma alpha‐fetoprotein levels and evidence of chronic hepatitis B viral infection. Transthoracic echocardiogram revealed a mass into the right atrium, considered to be an extension of the tumor.
Role of Rare‐Earth Oxide Additives on Mechanical Properties and Oxidation Behavior of Si3N4/BN Fibrous Monolith Ceramics
Authors: Karlsdottir Sigrun N. , Halloran John W.
Published: March 2006

The rare‐earth oxides ytterbium oxide (Yb2O3) and lanthanum oxide (La2O3) were used as additives in fibrous monolithic (FM) Si3N4/BN composites to study their individual effect on flexural strength and oxidation behavior of the composite. Two compositions were prepared: 20 vol% BN/80 vol% Si3N4 with additives for the Si3N4 and BN being either 8 wt%Yb2O3 or 8 wt% La2O3. Four‐point flexural testing and static oxidation experiments at 1400°C in dry air for 10 h were performed. The material with Yb2O3 showed a high flexural strength, graceful failure, and comparable strength to reported Si3N4/BN FMs with 6 wt% Y2O3 and 2 wt% Al2O3. The material with La2O3 showed lower flexural strength and brittle failure in the majority of the samples; this was believed to be related to the hydration of La2O3 from the rare‐earth apatite phase, La5Si3O12N, resulting in lanthanum hydrate crystals on the side surfaces of the samples and disintegration of the material. The surface of the FMLA sample after oxidation showed severe oxidation. In contrast, the oxidation test of the FMs with Yb2O3 revealed a thin oxide scale containing small Yb2Si2O7 on the Si3N4 cells but large Yb2Si2O7 on the BN cell boundary. Also, microscopic analysis showed ∼100 μm recession in the BN cell boundary and an ∼4 μm oxide scale on Si3N4 cells.
Fabrication and Characterization of Thin and Dense Electrolyte‐Coated Anode Tube Using Thermoplastic Coextrusion
Authors: Sun Jong‐Jae , Koh Young‐Hag , Choi Won‐Young , Kim Hyoun‐Ee
Published: March 2006

Anode tubes coated with thin and dense electrolyte layers were fabricated by thermoplastic coextrusion, using a nickel oxide (NiO)–yttria‐stabilized zirconia (YSZ) composite and YSZ as the anode and electrolyte materials, respectively. The initial feedrod with a diameter of 22 mm, comprised of three thermoplastic compounds (carbon black (core), NiO–YSZ (intermediate), and YSZ (shell)), was coextruded through various orifices having diameters of 0.5, 1, and 2 mm at 120°C, producing continuous filaments with remarkable size reductions, while preserving the cross section of the initial feedrod. After removing the binder and carbon black used as the core material, the samples were cofired at 1350°C for 3 h in air, producing ceramic tubes with small diameters, ranging from 0.4 to 1.8 mm, where the surfaces of porous NiO–YSZ layers were coated with thin and dense YSZ layers, ranging from 22 to 98 μm.
Creep and Stress–Strain Behavior after Creep for SiC Fiber Reinforced, Melt‐Infiltrated SiC Matrix Composites
Authors: Morscher Gregory N. , Pujar Vijay V.
Published: March 2006

Silicon carbide fiber (Hi‐Nicalon Type S, Nippon Carbon) reinforced silicon carbide matrix composites containing melt‐infiltrated silicon were subjected to creep at 1315°C at three different stress conditions. For the specimens that did not rupture after 100 h of tensile creep, fast‐fracture experiments were performed immediately following the creep test at the creep temperature (1315°C) or after cooling to room temperature. All specimens demonstrated excellent creep resistance and compared well to the creep behavior published in the literature on similar composite systems. Tensile results on the after‐creep specimens showed that the matrix cracking stress actually increased, which is attributed to stress redistribution between composite constituents during tensile creep.
Regulation of α7‐nicotinic receptor subunit and α7‐like gene expression in the prefrontal cortex of patients with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia
Authors: De Luca V. , Likhodi O. , Van Tol H. H. M. , Kennedy J. L. , Wong A. H. C.
Published: March 2006

Objective:  The α7‐nicotinic receptor subunit gene (CHRNA7) is located at chromosome 15q13–14, a region previously linked with schizophrenia. Genetic association and mRNA expression studies also implicate CHRNA7 in schizophrenia. The CHRNA7 gene has a partial duplication that constitutes the α7‐like nicotinic receptor gene (CHRFAM7A). We hypothesized that major psychoses could affect the expression of both CHRNA7 and CHRFAM7A.

Method:  CHRNA7 and CHRFAM7A mRNA levels were measured in postmortem prefrontal cortex (donated by the Stanley Foundation) from subjects with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and unaffected controls (n = 35 each).

Results:  The mRNA levels of alpha7 and α7‐like genes have a positive correlation overall (r = 0.25; P = 0.009), however, there is no significant difference in the expression of CHRNA7 among the three diagnostic groups.

Conclusion:  This correlation is driven by the bipolar group (r = 0.43; P = 0.009), and is absent in schizophrenia and unaffected controls, suggesting an alteration in the CHRNA7:CHRFAM7A ratio in bipolar disorder.