bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Hypersensitivity to acoustic change in children with autism: Electrophysiological evidence of left frontal cortex dysfunctioning
Authors: Gomot Marie , Giard Marie‐Hélène , Adrien Jean‐Louis , Barthelemy Catherine , Bruneau Nicole
Published: December 2004

Exaggerated reactions to even small changes in the environment and abnormal behaviors in response to auditory stimuli are frequently observed in children with autism (CWA). Brain mechanisms involved in the automatic detection of auditory frequency change were studied using scalp potential and scalp current density (SCD) mapping of mismatch negativity (MMN) in 15 CWA matched with 15 healthy children. Compared with the response in controls, MMN recorded at the Fz site in CWA showed significantly shorter latency and was followed by a P3a wave. Mapping of potentials indicated significant intergroup differences. Moreover, SCD mapping demonstrated the dynamics of the different MMN generators: Although temporal component was evidenced bilaterally in both groups, it occurred earlier on the left hemisphere in CWA, preceded by an abnormal early left frontal component. The electrophysiological pattern reported here emphasized a left frontal cortex dysfunctioning that might also be implicated in cognitive and behavioral impairment characteristic, of this complex neurodevelopmental disorder.
Large‐scale neural correlates of affective picture processing
Authors: Keil Andreas , Bradley Margaret M. , Hauk Olaf , Rockstroh Brigitte , Elbert Thomas , Lang Peter J.
Published: December 2004

Hemodynamic and electrophysiological studies indicate differential brain response to emotionally arousing, compared to neutral, pictures. The time course and source distribution of electrocortical potentials in response to emotional stimuli, using a high‐density electrode (129‐sensor) array were examined here. Event‐related potentials (ERPs) were recorded while participants viewed pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant pictures. ERP voltages were examined in six time intervals, roughly corresponding to P1, N1, early P3, late P3 and a slow wave window. Differential activity was found for emotional, compared to neutral, pictures at both of the P3 intervals, as well as enhancement of later posterior positivity. Source space projection was performed using a minimum norm procedure that estimates the source currents generating the extracranially measured electrical gradient. Sources of slow wave modulation were located in occipital and posterior parietal cortex, with a right‐hemispheric dominance.
Slow event‐related brain activity of aphasic patients and controls in word comprehension and rhyming tasks
Authors: Dobel Christian , Cohen Rudolf , Berg Patrick , Nagl Willi , Zobel Elvira , Köbbel Peter , Schönle Paul‐Walter , Rockstroh Brigitte
Published: December 2004

Slow event‐related potentials (ERP) were examined in healthy and aphasic subjects in two‐stimulus designs comprising a word comprehension and a rhyming task. Aphasics, though selected to perform above chance level, made significantly more errors and responded more slowly than controls, although canonical correlations did not indicate a statistical relationship between performance measures and ERP amplitudes. A discriminant analysis of ERP amplitudes distinguished the groups for the slow wave (SW; 0.5–1.0 s post‐S1 onset) in the word comprehension, for the SW and the initial contingent negative variation (iCNV; 1.0–2.0 s post‐S1 onset) in the rhyming task. Similarly for both tasks, ERP topography showed left‐anterior predominance of the negative SW and iCNV in controls, whereas participants with aphasia showed smaller anterior and larger left‐posterior amplitudes. The centroparietal terminal CNV (tCNV; 1 s pre‐S2) was smaller in participants with aphasia than in controls, but similar in topography. Results suggest left‐anterior activation for those language processes that were presumably provoked in the present tasks, like lexical access, or phonological encoding. The pattern of participants with aphasia may indicate effects of language impairment and recovery, but also consequences of the brain damage.
Auditory memory for backward masking signals in children with language impairment
Authors: Marler Jeffrey A. , Champlin Craig A. , Gillam Ronald B.
Published: December 2004

This study was designed to investigate early auditory memory and its possible contribution to an auditory processing deficit shown by some children with language impairment. Ten children with language impairment and 10 age‐matched controls participated in a series of simultaneous and backward masking tasks. The same backward masking stimulus was then used to elicit a mismatch negativity response. In the behavioral conditions, children in the language impairment group had significantly higher (poorer) signal thresholds than their nonimpaired controls in backward masking, but their thresholds in simultaneous masking were not significantly different. In the mismatch‐negativity conditions, latency was prolonged and the amplitude was diminished in the children with language impairment. Taken together, these psychoacoustic and electrophysiological data suggest that in a group of children with language impairment, underlying the nonsensory language disorder, there is a neurophysiological impairment in auditory memory for complex, nonlinguistic sounds.
Affective modulation of eyeblink startle with reward and threat
Authors: Skolnick Alexander J. , Davidson Richard J.
Published: December 2004

An emotion‐modulated acoustic startle paradigm for inducing positive and negative affect was used to address pregoal and postgoal affect. Participants played a computerized lottery task in which they chose digits that could match a subsequently displayed, random set of numbers. In the positive conditions, matches led to monetary rewards. In the negative condition, matches led to an aversive noise blast. In three experiments, we found eyeblink startle magnitude was potentiated just prior to feedback concerning reward outcome, suppressed following the feedback that a monetary reward was won, and potentiated when threatened with an aversive noise. When presented with a 0%, 45%, 90%, or 100% chance of winning, higher probabilities suppressed startle response after feedback whereas the 45% trials did not. These data indicate that postgoal positive affect (winning reward) reliably suppressed the startle response whereas pregoal positive affect did not.
Children's meta‐perceptions and meta‐accuracy of acceptance and rejection by same‐sex and other‐sex peers
Authors: Bellmore Amy D. , Cillessen Antonius H. N.
Published: December 2004

The goals of this study were to examine children's meta‐perceptions and meta‐accuracy of acceptance and rejection in the peer group, the degree to which these perceptions vary by perceiver sex and sex of the reference group, and the association between these perceptions and children's actual functioning in the peer group. Participants were 644 fourth‐grade children. Meta‐perceptions and meta‐accuracy were derived from sociometric nominations of actual and perceived acceptance and rejection. Children more accurately perceived how they were seen by same‐sex peers than how they were seen by other‐sex peers. They also perceived more rejection than acceptance from other‐sex peers. Meta‐accuracy for rejection was low regardless of the sex of the reference group. Sex of the reference group significantly moderated the association between meta‐perceptions and meta‐accuracy of acceptance and rejection and children's actual peer relationships. These findings indicate the importance of examining these relatively understudied social cognitions in research with children and the importance of taking the sex of the reference group into account in future peer relations studies using peer nomination methods.
Aesop and the humanist apologue
Authors: Marsh David
Published: December 2004

As Quattrocento humanists rediscovered Aesop in Greek, they were inspired to compose original Latin apologues. Leon Battista Alberti's Centum apologi (1437) spawned numerous imitations: Bartolomeo Scala's Apologi centum (1481) and Apologorum liber secundus (1488–92), Leonardo da Vinci's scattered favole ( c. 1485–95), Lorenzo Astemio's two Hecatomythia (1495, 1505), and Bernardino Baldi's 1582 Cento apologhi (first published in 1590). Alberti's apologues are couched as philosophical apothegms which tend to be more personal and less political than ancient Aesopic fables. Scala composes elaborate Latin apologues whose allegorical mythologizing arouses the admiration and emulation of Marsilio Ficino. In the marginalia to his notebooks, Leonardo writes Italian favole about plants and inanimate objects with notable borrowing from Alberti. In a more popular vein, Astemio creates two collections of Latin fables that blend Aesopic fable and novellistic facetia . And the Urbinate polymath Baldi creates a set of 100 Italian apologues inspired by Cosimo Bartoli's 1568 translation of Alberti. (pp. 9–26)
Consumption and trade of art between Italy and England in the first half of the sixteenth century: the London house of the Bardi and Cavalcanti company
Authors: Sicca Cinzia M.
Published: December 2004

Scattered passages in Vasari's Lives of the Artists testify to the trade of artworks outside Italy at the hands of the Florentine merchants. One such merchant‐venturer, Giovanni di Lorenzo Cavalcanti, is explicitly mentioned by Vasari in connection with commissions for Henry VIII. Documents found in private and public Italian archives shed light on Cavalcanti's activity, on the increasingly important role he came to play during the first half of the reign of Henry VIII. A strong Medici supporter, gentleman usher to Pope Leo X, Cavalcanti acted as a link between the Curia and the English monarchy, in a capacity which combined a semi‐diplomatic function with a thriving trading and banking activity in partnership with Pierfrancesco de' Bardi. In par‐ticular, the paper focuses on an analysis and discussion of the function of the firm's London house, as it can be evinced from a copia di masserizia (household inventory) drafted in 1523, when for six and a half months Gregorio da Casale (permanent English representative at the Curia) and Gabriello Cexano (Cardinal Giulio de Medici's secretary) lived in the house. The document affords an unprecedented insight into an early sixteenth‐century Italian household in London, its internal distribution, furnishings and works of art on display.
Speculating on mysteries: religion and politics in King Lear
Authors: Rubinstein Frankie
Published: December 2004

In a play about a pagan king and a mismanaged kingdom, where immorality, betrayal, civil strife and expectation of foreign intervention were omnipresent and the political landscape was beset by intrigue and domestic and foreign spies, Shakespeare created a surrogate for sixteenth and seventeenth century England. King Lear deals with theological ‘mysteries’ and doctrinal disputes and their political implications. Shakespeare exploits the fused religious and sexual language that was a tool in the deadly disputes, daringly conflating the sacrilegious and the religious: cannibalism is shorthand for the mystery of the Eucharist, and astrology, for divine influence. The pivotal speech of Act V, sc. iii, 9–20, alludes metaphorically to the profound religious and political issues of the Catholic–Protestant controversy; for example, King Lear takes upon himself ‘the mystery of things’ in his role as one of ‘God's spies’, in which we hear, also, ‘God's (s)pies’ or magpies, whose black and white plumage led to their being a frequent contemporary mockery of bishops in their black and white garb. Such crucial phrases and the punning changes Shakespeare rings on them lead to the core of the play and the divine denouement to come. Man's – and woman's – passing judgement on their fellows, presumptuous playing at God, and pretensions to the mantle of Christ are treated with a religious irony and irreverent levity in proportion to the moral falseness and religious and political bigotry of the times.
The problem of audience in Mantua: understanding ritual efficacy in an Italian Renaissance princely state
Authors: Cashman, III Anthony B.
Published: December 2004

Traditional historical analysis of the highly developed pageantry of Renaissance courts generally assumes the efficacy of ritual. In the case of Mantua, it would be easy to assume that the elaborate processions, costly chivalric tournaments, and stately commemorations of the city's patron saints communicated vital messages of power and authority to the subjects of marquis Francesco II Gonzaga and his wife Isabella d'Este, who ruled the city in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. The archival evidence, however, suggests that the Gonzaga often confronted a problem co‐ordinating the symbolic content of their rituals with the interests of their audiences. While the Gonzaga focused much of their energy and resources on the Mantuan nobility, they frequently failed to excite their more humble subjects. Specifically, the Gonzaga transformed formerly popular celebrations, such as the feasts of San Leonardo and Santi Pietro e Paolo, into elite affairs designed to construct and maintain their aristocratic networks while at the same time exalting themselves. But, by the end of the fifteenth century, both of these public events experienced flagging participation, not only among the city's lower orders but, surprisingly, also among Mantua's nobility.
Aretino's Marescalco: Marriage woes and the Duke of Mantua
Authors: Shemek Deanna
Published: December 2004

Pietro Aretino's 1533 play, Il Marescalco, is in some ways a thoroughly conventional example of Italian Renaissance theatre. Aretino's comedy recounts a practical joke played by the duke of Mantua on his stablemaster, who is led to believe that despite his own sexual orientation toward boys, he must take a wife in order to please his prince. This essay discusses a local historical subtext for the comedy's dark view of marriage and erotic self‐determination, and suggests that Il Marescalco is as much about tensions between Pietro Aretino and Federico II Gonzaga as it is about marriage, courtiers, and princely power in the Italian courts of the sixteenth century.
Exchanges of works of art at the court of Federico II Gonzaga with an appendix on Flemish art
Authors: Rebecchini Guido
Published: December 2004

The paper investigates the ways that works of art were exchanged at the Mantuan court during the rule of Federico Gonzaga (1519–1540). The difference between the art market in Mantua — much conditioned by the monopolizing presence of the court — and that in other centres is stressed in order to show the different conditions under which Federico Gonzaga and his entourage operated at home and abroad. Finally, the recovery of a notarial contract of 1535 allows us to reconstruct a key episode for the introduction of Flemish pictures into Italy. This transaction not only throws new light on artistic life in Mantua in the age of Giulio Romano, but also demonstrates the complexity of the art market of the period as well as its lack of established patterns.
‘To Parley Euphuism’: fashioning English as a linguistic fad
Authors: Guenther Leah
Published: December 2004

In 1578, John Lyly, the grandson of Henry VIII's grammarian, wrote a prose romance entitled Euphues: The Anatomy of Wyt. The text, along with its eventual sequel, proved to be an enormous success and was published in fifteen editions by 1613. Lyly's text even spawned its own style of speech called 'Euphuism', an elaborate linguistic pattern based on the grammatical acrobatics of Lyly's title character. At the apex of its popularity, Euphuism was spoken in court and was imitated by admiring literati. However, as rapidly as Lyly's text rose to fame, it fell into disfavour and began to garner intense public ridicule. While critics have spent much time dissecting and diagramming Euphuism's speech patterns, few have hypothesized why this style created such a stir in its own day. As a detailed look at Lyly's own prefatory matter will indicate, Lyly's text was a fleeting success because he wanted it to be: Lyly was not looking to produce a work that would stand the test of time. Instead, he was aiming for immediate social rewards and, in order to achieve them, Lyly promoted the text as a passing fad and used the language of fashion to do so.
The antique heroines of Elisabetta Sirani
Authors: Bohn Babette
Published: December 2004

The painter Elisabetta Sirani (1638‐1665), a pivotal figure in promoting the prominence of women artists in her native city of Bologna, was innovative in her portrayals of heroines from classical antiquity. Avoiding the eroticism generally employed by male contemporaries like Guido Reni, Sirani characterized such figures as Portia, Timoclea, and Cleopatra by virtues more commonly associated with men than women during the early modern period in Italy. Sirani's unusual approaches to antique subjects, grounded in her knowledge of pertinent texts, mark the emergence of women's specialization in history painting in Bologna, a development that must be understood in the context of Bolognese humanism and contemporary advances by Bolognese women in the fields of music and literature.
The Signs of Faces: Leonardo on Physiognomic Science and the ‘Four Universal States of Man’
Authors: Britton Piers D.G.
Published: December 2004

Leonardo da Vinci's engagement with the ancient science of physiognomy has been noted by several scholars, but most studies have provided tendentious accounts of his attitude to the discipline. There has, in short, been too great a willingness to view Leonardo as ‘proto‐modern’ in his outlook, and to detach him artificially from earlier conceptual models of physiognomic science. The purpose of this article is to suggest, with reference primarily to his sketchy writings on the subject but also to certain drawings and paintings, that Leonardo's attitude to ancient physiognomy cannot be so categorically fixed. In particular, the present discussion calls into question earlier interpretations of a paragraph in Leonardo's writings where he condemns ‘falace fisonomia’, stressing that there can be no certainty as to what he considered ‘fallacious’. Detailed attention is given in this article to Leonardo's use of the theory of the four humours, in both his writings on physiognomy and his approach to facial variation in his images. The possible impact of Leonardo's humoral interests on other artists is also briefly considered.
The Limitations of ‘Policy Transfer’ and ‘Lesson Drawing’ for Public Policy Research
Authors: James Oliver , Lodge Martin
Published: December 2004

The concepts of ‘lesson drawing’ and ‘policy transfer’ have become increasingly influential ways of understanding public policy, especially in the UK. However, the main proponents of the concepts, Rose for ‘lesson drawing’ and Dolowitz and Marsh for ‘policy transfer’, have difficulty in providing convincing answers to three questions that are important for them and those engaged in similar studies. First, can they be defined as distinctive forms of policy-making separate from other, more conventional, forms? ‘Lesson drawing’ is very similar to conventional accounts of ‘rational’ policy-making and ‘policy transfer’ is very difficult to define distinctly from many other forms of policy-making. Second, why does ‘lesson drawing’ and ‘policy transfer’ occur rather than some other form of policy-making? The proponents of ‘policy transfer’ put a set of diverse and conflicting theories under a common framework, obscuring differences between them. Third, what are the effects of ‘lesson drawing’ and ‘policy transfer’ on policy-making and how do they compare to other processes? Whilst the effect of more ‘lesson drawing’ seems to be more ‘rational’ policy-making, the effect of ‘policy transfer’ on policy ‘success’ and ‘failure’ is less clear. Dolowitz and Marsh redescribe aspects of ‘failure’ as different forms of ‘transfer’ rather than giving independent reasons for outcomes based on features of transfer processes. Overall, particularly in the case of ‘policy transfer’, researchers may be better off selecting from a range of alternative approaches than limiting themselves to these conceptual frameworks.
Reforming Ghana's Public Service: Issues and Experiences in Comparative Perspective
Authors: Haruna Peter Fuseini
Published: December 2004

This article addresses how the public service can be reformed to make it relevant to the circumstances and useful to the majority of people living and working in Ghana. In many public administration journals, reforms in sub‐Saharan Africa have received scant attention. Using Ghana as a case study, this article first summarizes and evaluates that country's reform efforts and compares them to mainstream Anglo‐American reform ideas. The article comments on the conceptualization of reform based on the notion of community, encompassing the unique political, social, and cultural experiences of the people of Ghana. Finally, the article discusses what a composite formulation of the notion of community might imply for a cross‐cultural understanding of comparative public administration.
Adaptive regulation of body reserves in reindeer, Rangifer tarandus: a feeding experiment
Authors: Fauchald Per , Tveraa Torkild , Henaug Cathrine , Yoccoz Nigel
Published: December 2004

The costs and benefits of body reserves fluctuate according to predictable factors such as season and life‐cycle stage. Theory suggests that individuals at any time should regulate their body reserves according to the current balance between costs and benefits. Most studies on adaptive body mass regulation have been done on small passerine birds. In large vertebrates the costs associated with body reserves are assumed to be small and the reserves of these species are therefore thought to be dictated by environmental limitations. In this study we present experimental evidence for adaptive body mass regulation in female semi‐domesticated reindeer (Rangifer t. tarandus). The risk of starvation in this species is highest in late winter. During snow melt this risk is reduced and the females should direct their effort towards the protection of their new born calf. To test how these seasonal and life‐cycle changes are related to body mass regulation, we conducted a crossed experiment with two treatments where females were fed ad libitum during winter and spring respectively. During winter, the females from the fed group gained on average 12% of their initial body weight while the females from natural pastures lost on average 6% of their initial body weight. This strong response to winter feeding had no effect on reproductive performance, and the previously fed females lost their excess of body reserves during feeding in spring. This suggests that body reserves during winter primarily is used as an insurance against stochastic periods of starvation and that the females regulate their body reserves down to a set point in spring when the risk is reduced. We found however a positive correlation between initial female body weight and reproductive performance suggesting a close relationship between body weight and intrinsic individual qualities.
Dark‐bellied Brent geese aggregate to cope with increased levels of primary production
Authors: Bos Daan , Van De Koppel Johan , Weissing Franz J.
Published: December 2004

We report on an aggregative response of Dark‐bellied Brent geese to increased productivity of the vegetation during the growing season on agricultural fields on the island of Schiermonnikoog, the Netherlands. Plant standing crop was found to be maintained at low levels in the fields where geese activity focussed, whereas the remainder of the fields escaped herbivore control and developed a high standing crop. This pattern can be explained by a decreased efficiency of grazing in vegetation with a high standing crop. In other words, the functional response of the geese is not monotonically increasing but dome‐shaped. As a consequence, continuously grazed swards are more suitable for feeding than temporarily ungrazed swards. We present a model showing that, for a dome‐shaped functional response, optimal foraging under increasing primary productivity leads to spatial heterogeneity in standing crop. Beyond a certain threshold value, a further increase in productivity leads to a progressive release of vegetation from herbivore control and to the development of a high standing crop. Interestingly, our model suggests that only in a stable and predictable environment the aggregative behaviour of herbivores is able to maintain the intake rate close to its potential maximum. Misjudgement of patch quality by the herbivore or any other process disrupting the match between local primary production and consumption leads to a less than optimal intake, as suitable vegetation becomes depleted. This has important implications for ecological inferences, such as the prediction of carrying capacities in herbivore‐dominated ecosystems.
The timing of egg maturation in insects: ovigeny index and initial egg load as measures of fitness and of resource allocation
Authors: Jervis Mark A. , Ferns Peter N.
Published: December 2004

Both the ovigeny index (OI) – defined as the proportion of the potential lifetime complement of eggs that is mature upon female emergence, and egg load – defined as the number of mature eggs carried by a female at a given moment in her lifetime, have been identified as significant fitness variables in insects. In discussions of egg maturation strategies initial egg load (IEL) and OI are often considered together, and they have been assumed to be strongly correlated. The purpose of this review is: (i) to summarise what is known about variation in OI and IEL both in relation to one another and in relation to other fitness variables (notably life‐span and body size), (ii) to assess the merits of OI and IEL as measures of resource allocation to reproduction, and (iii) to contrast knowledge of the mechanisms underlying cross‐species variation in these two variables with what is known concerning the mechanisms underlying intraspecific variation. Our review concentrates upon parasitoid wasps because most information on OI and IEL has been obtained for these animals, but most of the issues we address are pertinent to other insects, at least holometabolous ones. We conclude that, despite certain limitations, OI is, for insect evolutionary ecology, more useful than IEL for two reasons: (i) OI is a true measure of the degree to which lifetime egg production is concentrated into the early phase of adult life, (ii) the observed intraspecific and interspecific declines in OI with increasing body size are consistent with theoretical predictions concerning body size‐related changes in reproductive effort (when the proportional change in the allocation to reproduction is considered), whereas the intraspecific alteration in IEL is not (iii) OI is a measure of the relative extent of resource allocation between the juvenile and the adult stages of the female. Lastly, we discuss the possible application of OI to insect population dynamics and management.
Modeling the Demand Reduction Input‐Output (I‐O) Inoperability Due to Terrorism of Interconnected Infrastructures*
Authors: Santos Joost R. , Haimes Yacov Y.
Published: December 2004

Interdependency analysis in the context of this article is a process of assessing and managing risks inherent in a system of interconnected entities (e.g., infrastructures or industry sectors). Invoking the principles of input‐output (I‐O) and decomposition analysis, the article offers a framework for describing how terrorism‐induced perturbations can propagate due to interconnectedness. Data published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis Division of the U.S. Department of Commerce is utilized to present applications to serve as test beds for the proposed framework. Specifically, a case study estimating the economic impact of airline demand perturbations to national‐level U.S. sectors is made possible using I‐O matrices. A ranking of the affected sectors according to their vulnerability to perturbations originating from a primary sector (e.g., air transportation) can serve as important input to risk management. For example, limited resources can be prioritized for the “top‐n” sectors that are perceived to suffer the greatest economic losses due to terrorism. In addition, regional decomposition via location quotients enables the analysis of local‐level terrorism events. The Regional I‐O Multiplier System II (RIMS II) Division of the U.S. Department of Commerce is the agency responsible for releasing the regional multipliers for various geographical resolutions (economic areas, states, and counties). A regional‐level case study demonstrates a process of estimating the economic impact of transportation‐related scenarios on industry sectors within Economic Area 010 (the New York metropolitan region and vicinities).
Application of Human Reliability Analysis to Nursing Errors in Hospitals
Authors: Inoue Kayoko , Koizumi Akio
Published: December 2004

Adverse events in hospitals, such as in surgery, anesthesia, radiology, intensive care, internal medicine, and pharmacy, are of worldwide concern and it is important, therefore, to learn from such incidents. There are currently no appropriate tools based on state‐of‐the art models available for the analysis of large bodies of medical incident reports. In this study, a new model was developed to facilitate medical error analysis in combination with quantitative risk assessment. This model enables detection of the organizational factors that underlie medical errors, and the expedition of decision making in terms of necessary action. Furthermore, it determines medical tasks as module practices and uses a unique coding system to describe incidents. This coding system has seven vectors for error classification: patient category, working shift, module practice, linkage chain (error type, direct threat, and indirect threat), medication, severity, and potential hazard. Such mathematical formulation permitted us to derive two parameters: error rates for module practices and weights for the aforementioned seven elements. The error rate of each module practice was calculated by dividing the annual number of incident reports of each module practice by the annual number of the corresponding module practice. The weight of a given element was calculated by the summation of incident report error rates for an element of interest. This model was applied specifically to nursing practices in six hospitals over a year; 5,339 incident reports with a total of 63,294,144 module practices conducted were analyzed. Quality assurance (QA) of our model was introduced by checking the records of quantities of practices and reproducibility of analysis of medical incident reports. For both items, QA guaranteed legitimacy of our model. Error rates for all module practices were approximately of the order 10‐4 in all hospitals. Three major organizational factors were found to underlie medical errors: “violation of rules” with a weight of 826 × 10−4, “failure of labor management” with a weight of 661 × 10−4, and “defects in the standardization of nursing practices” with a weight of 495 × 10−4.
Toward Improved Communication about Wildland Fire: Mental Models Research to Identify Information Needs for Natural Resource Management
Authors: Zaksek Melissa , Arvai Joseph L.
Published: December 2004

The management of natural‐ and human‐induced wildland fires is an intricate process that must balance two considerations: that of fire as a necessary natural disturbance and that of the risks that fire poses. Reconciling tradeoffs between these risks and benefits is contingent upon informed, directed, and two‐way communication between wildland fire managers and stakeholders. In an effort to aid with the design of such a communication effort, this study used mental models research to determine the unique wildland fire information and decision‐making needs of stakeholders living at the wildland‐urban interface of a fire‐prone area. While the analysis revealed many similarities in how stakeholders conceptualized the risks and benefits of wildland fire, many misconceptions and important gaps in understanding on the part of both expert and nonexpert respondents were identified.
Integrated Analysis: Combining Risk and Economic Assessments While Preserving the Separation of Powers
Authors: Williams Richard A. , Thompson Kimberly M.
Published: December 2004

This article presents a process for an integrated policy analysis that combines risk assessment and benefit‐cost analysis. This concept, which explicitly combines the two types of related analyses, seems to contradict the long‐accepted risk analysis paradigm of separating risk assessment and risk management since benefit‐cost analysis is generally considered to be a part of risk management. Yet that separation has become a problem because benefit‐cost analysis uses risk assessment results as a starting point and considerable debate over the last several years focused on the incompatibility of the use of upper bounds or “safe” point estimates in many risk assessments with benefit‐cost analysis. The problem with these risk assessments is that they ignore probabilistic information. As advanced probabilistic techniques for risk assessment emerge and economic analysts receive distributions of risks instead of point estimates, the artificial separation between risk analysts and the economic/decision analysts complicates the overall analysis. In addition, recent developments in countervailing risk theory suggest that combining the risk and benefit‐cost analyses is required to fully understand the complexity of choices and tradeoffs faced by the decisionmaker. This article also argues that the separation of analysis and management is important, but that benefit‐cost analysis has been wrongly classified into the risk management category and that the analytical effort associated with understanding the economic impacts of risk reduction actions need to be part of a broader risk assessment process.
Insect Pigmentation: Activities of β‐Alanyldopamine Synthase in Wing Color Patterns of Wild‐Type and Melanic Mutant Swallowtail Butterfly Papilio glaucus1
Authors: KOCH PAUL BERNHARDT , BEHNECKE BETTINA , WEIGMANN‐LENZ MARGA , FFRENCH‐CONSTANT RICHARD H.
Published: December 2004

Color pattern formation was studied in wild‐type and melanic swallowtails because of their unique pigment system, the papiliochromes, which are derived from the tyrosine as well as from the tryptophan pathway. In a comparative approach we used females of Papilioglaucus which occur in two phenotypes, either wild‐type (yellow and black) or melanic. Pigment synthesis in the developing wings starts with formation of yellow papiliochromes followed later by black melanin. From earlier studies we know that dopamine produced from DOPA by the enzyme dopadecarboxylase (DDC), is a precursor of both black melanin and also of N‐β‐alanyldopamine (NBAD) in yellow papiliochrome synthesis. Thus, DDC expression and enzyme activity is required in both types of pigment forming scale cells and occurs in a time and pattern specific manner. However, differential activity of DDC alone can not be sufficient to regulate synthesis of different pigments in differently colored scales. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis whether activity of another enzyme, β‐alanyldopamine synthase (BAS), regulates specifically papiliochrome synthesis. BAS transfers β‐alanine to dopamine to give NBAD a component of yellow papiliochrome. We developed a radio‐enzyme‐assay of BAS activity in which (14C)‐β‐alanine is incubated with dopamine, Mg++‐ions and ATP together with wing homogenates containing putative BAS activity. In fact, high BAS activity was measured in yellow wings in concert with a high DDC activity. In contrast, in melanic wings almost no BAS activity was found. From this result it is clear, that papiliochrome synthesis in yellow scales is switched on by BAS shifting dopamine into the papiliochrome pathway and out of the melanin pathway or vice versa.
New Insights on the Structure of the Mouse Silver Locus and on the Function of the Silver Protein
Authors: SOLANO FRANCISCO , MARTÍNEZ‐ESPARZA MARÍA , JIMÉNEZ‐CERVANTES CELIA , HILL SIMON P. , LOZANO JOSÉ A. , GARCÍA‐BORRÓN JOSÉ C.
Published: December 2004

The melanosomal proteins encoded by the silver locus play important roles in melanogenesis. The human locus yields two proteins, PMEL17 and GP100, by alternative mRNA splicing. The mouse si locus was reported to encode a Pmel17 protein, and later gp87, a GP100 homologue. When we re‐examined the products of wild‐type and silver‐mutant mouse si loci, RT‐PCR of wild‐type RNA and genomic DNA sequence accounted for gp87 but excluded the occurrence of Pmel17. Analysis of cDNA from the silver (si/si) melanocyte line, melan‐si, showed that the pathogenic mutation is a G to A substitution at nt 1808, which yields a premature stop codon and a predicted protein truncated in the C‐terminus. This was confirmed by reaction of a specific anti‐gp87 antiserum with si/si melanocyte extracts.

To further explore gp87 function, we compared the DHICA oxidase activity of extracts from B16, melan‐si (heterozygous for the brown mutation and homozygous for the silver mutation) and Cloudman S91 cells (homozygous for the brown mutation), since both TRP1 and gp87 are thought to be involved in DHICA oxidation/polymerization. Cloudman extracts do not oxidize significantly DHICA and its methyl ester, supporting the involvement of native mouse TRP1 in DHICA oxidation. Extracts from B16 and melan‐si do not show significant differences for the oxidation of free acid and methylated dihydroxyindoles, indicating that the mechanism is not decarboxylative. Melan‐si extracts are very efficient in catalyzing dihydroxyindole oxidation, in spite of being heterozygous for the TRP1 mutation, consistent with a stablin effect for the wild‐type gp87 protein. On the other hand, aggregated and degraded forms of that mutant gp87 protein are found in the cytosolic fraction of melan‐si, suggesting that misrouting and aberrant processing of the gp87 and tyrosinase may also be related to the high DHICA oxidase activity of these melanocytes.
Photosynthates stimulate the UV‐B induced fungal anthraquinone synthesis in the foliose lichen Xanthoria parietina
Authors: SOLHAUG K. A. , GAUSLAA Y.
Published: December 2004

Synthesis of the cortical anthraquinone pigment parietin (= physcion) was studied in acetone‐rinsed, parietin‐free Xanthoria parietina thalli. UV‐B induced the synthesis, which increased linearly with UV‐B (log‐transformed) to the highest applied UV‐B level (1.8 W m−2). At natural UV‐B levels (0.75 W m−2), parietin resynthesis occurred at a constant pace (106 mg m−2 d−1) during a 14‐d period at 220 µmol m−2 s−1 PAR. Under these conditions, 56% of the natural parietin content prior to extraction was resumed, accounting for 10% of total net carbon gain. In the presence of UV‐B, the remaining results were consistent with the hypothesis assuming that photosynthates regulate the pace at which parietin is synthesized by the mycobiont. Resynthesis was rapid when photosynthesis was activated by light, or when certain carbohydrates were added exogenously. Additions of ribitol, the carbohydrate delivered from the photobiont, increased the parietin resynthesis substantially. Mannitol, the main fungal polyol, was significantly less effective. Furthermore, parietin resynthesis in X. parietina was depressed at high and low hydration when net photosynthesis is depressed. Therefore, the photobiont regulates the parietin resynthesis pace in its mycobiont partner by the delivery of photosynthates. In conclusion, both lichen bionts play important roles in the synthesis of parietin, which probably acts as a PAR‐ rather than a UV‐B‐screen.
Genetic dissection of cotton physiological responses to arid conditions and their inter‐relationships with productivity
Authors: SARANGA Y. , JIANG C.‐X. , WRIGHT R. J. , YAKIR D. , PATERSON A. H.
Published: December 2004

Testing of the extent to which different complex traits share common genetic control provides a means to distinguish associations that are truly diagnostic of genetic potential for improved adaptation to abiotic stress, from incidental phenotypic correlations. In two generations of progeny from a cross between Gossypium hirsutum and Gossypium barbadense, quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping was used to evaluate correspondence in genetic control of selected physiological measures and productivity under water‐limited and well‐watered environments, respectively. A total of 33 QTLs were detected for five physiological variables [osmotic potential (OP), carbon isotope ratio (δ13C; indicator of water use efficiency), canopy temperature, chlorophyll a and b], and 46 QTLs for five measures of crop productivity [dry matter, seed cotton yield (SC), harvest index, boll weight, and boll number]. QTL likelihood intervals for high SC and low OP corresponded in three genomic regions, two of which mapped to homoeologous locations on the two subgenomes of tetraploid cotton. QTLs for δ13C showed only incidental association with productivity, indicating that high water use efficiency can be associated with either high or low productivity. Different cotton species have evolved different alleles related to physiological responses and productivity under water deficit, which may permit the development of genotypes that are better‐adapted to arid conditions.
Detection by PCR of Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, the bacterium causing citrus huanglongbing in vector psyllids: application to the study of vector–pathogen relationships
Authors: Hung T.‐H. , Hung S.‐C. , Chen C.‐N. , Hsu M.‐H. , Su H.‐J.
Published: December 2004

Citrus huanglongbing (HLB), previously called greening, is a serious citrus disease in Asia, eastern and southern Africa. It is caused by Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (Las), a phloem‐limited, nonculturable bacterium transmitted by the Asian citrus psyllid (Diaphorina citri) in Asia. A PCR‐based assay was developed for monitoring Las in vector psyllids using a rapid DNA extraction from psyllid bodies and PCR amplification. The entire procedure for Las detection in psyllids can be completed within 5 h. Using this method, Las can be accurately detected in psyllid adults as well as nymphs in different instar stages. The assay is sensitive enough for Las detection in single‐psyllid extract from adult, fifth, fourth and third instars. In a transovarial transmission experiment, Las was not detected in eggs or in offspring produced by Las‐carrying psyllid females. In a retention test, the Las‐carrying psyllids remained Las‐positive for 12 weeks after they were moved to common jasmine orange, a Las‐immune plant. From these experimental results it was concluded that Las persists in the Asian citrus psyllid vector, but is not transovarially transmitted by the vector. These data help in understanding epidemiological characteristics of Las and psyllids in citrus HLB.
Spread of Sugarcane yellow leaf virus in sugarcane plants and fields on the island of Réunion
Authors: Rassaby L. , Girard J.‐C. , Lemaire O. , Costet L. , Irey M. S. , Kodja H. , Lockhart B. E. L. , Rott P.
Published: December 2004

The spread of Sugarcane yellow leaf virus (SCYLV) in sugarcane plants was studied on Réunion using virus‐infected cuttings from four cultivars (R570, R575, R577 and R579). One month after the germination of cuttings in an insect‐proof glasshouse, SCYLV was detected by reverse‐transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) and tissue‐blot immunoassay (TBIA) in the leaves, shoots and roots of all cultivars. The distribution of SCYLV in the whole plant did not vary over a 10‐ to 11‐month period of growth. In addition, the spread of SCYLV in sugarcane fields on Réunion was investigated during a survey conducted from 1998 to 2001. Samples were taken in three sugarcane‐growing areas, and TBIA was used to detect SCYLV in the three major cultivars (R570, R575 and R579). The percentage of infected stalks varied according to cultivar and growing area, but remained relatively stable for a given cultivar in a given growing area over the 30‐month survey period. Cultivar R575 was the most infected cultivar in all three growing areas (mean of 98% infected stalks). The percentage of infected stalks ranged from 16 to 94% in cv. R570 and from 21 to 92% in cv. R579. These results suggested that on Réunion: (i) infected sugarcane stools do not recover from the disease after harvesting; and (ii) the virus is mainly propagated by planting infected cuttings. SCYLV was detected by RT‐PCR in the aphid Melanaphis sacchari, a potential vector of this virus. Two months after planting virus‐free plants of susceptible cv. R575 in a field surrounded by sugarcane infected with SCYLV, 14% of plants were found infected with the virus. Four months later, 25% of plants were found infected with SCYLV, but no new infections were detected between 6 and 12 months after planting. In the first ratoon crop, 42% of plants were infected with SCYLV after 6 months of growth. Spatial distribution of infected plants suggested that, on Réunion, a small window of time (between 0 and 2 months after planting cuttings) exists during which primary infection can occur. Based on the results obtained in this study, the use of clean planting material for some cultivars and the use of tolerant cultivars should be an efficient means of controlling sugarcane yellow leaf on Réunion.
A Note on the Adaptive Control of False Discovery Rates
Authors: Black M. A.
Published: December 2004

The use of a fixed rejection region for multiple hypothesis testing has been shown to outperform standard fixed error rate approaches when applied to control of the false discovery rate. In this work it is demonstrated that, if the original step-up procedure of Benjamini and Hochberg is modified to exercise adaptive control of the false discovery rate, its performance is virtually identical to that of the fixed rejection region approach. In addition, the dependence of both methods on the proportion of true null hypotheses is explored, with a focus on the difficulties that are involved in the estimation of this quantity.
Endovascular treatment of stenosis between hepatic vein and inferior vena cava following liver transplantation in a child: A case report
Authors: Carnevale Francisco Cesar , Borges Marcus Vinicius , De Paula Pinto Ricardo Augusto , Oliva José Luiz , De Castro Andrade Wagner , Maksoud João Gilberto
Published: December 2004

Abstract: The liver transplantation technique advances have allowed the endovascular treatment of stenosis between hepatic vein and inferior vena cava, and this has become an established and widely acceptable method for the treatment of patients with end‐stage liver disease. However, in spite of the advances in the surgical technique of liver transplantation there is relatively still a high incidence of postoperative complications, especially those related to vascular complications. One technical variant of orthotopic liver transplantation is the piggyback technique with conservation of the recipient vena cava, which is anastomosed to the graft hepatic veins. As a consequence of the increased number of liver transplants in children, there is a higher demand for endovascular treatment of vascular stenosis, such as those at the level of the hepatic veins. This leads to more consistent experience of endovascular treatment of the surgical vascular complications following liver transplantation. This article describes the case of a child submitted to liver transplantation with reduced graft (left lateral segment) who presented stenosis of the anastomosis between the hepatic vein and IVC 6 months later which was successfully treated by PTA.