bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
What Drives Economic Growth? The Case of Cross‐Border M&A and Greenfield FDI Activities
Authors: Wang Miao , Sunny Wong M. C.
Published: April 2009

The effect of aggregate foreign direct investment (FDI) on economic growth remains uncertain in the literature. We revisit this FDI–Growth relation by analyzing the components of FDI – greenfield investment and cross‐border mergers and acquisitions (M&As). Our analysis contributes to the existing literature by focusing on potentially heterogeneous growth effects of different FDI entry modes. Using a sample of 84 countries from 1987 to 2001, we separately examine the growth effects of greenfield investment and M&As. We find that greenfield investment and M&As have different impacts on economic growth. Greenfield investment promotes economic growth while M&As can be beneficial only when the host country has an adequate level of human capital. Our results provide support for receiving M&As when policymakers allocate more resources for human capital accumulation.
Access and Property: A Question of Power and Authority
Authors: Sikor Thomas , Lund Christian
Published: April 2009

In this introduction we argue that access and property regarding natural resources are intimately bound up with the exercise of power and authority. The process of seeking authorizations for property claims also has the effect of granting authority to the authorizing politico‐legal institution. In consequence, struggles over natural resources in an institutionally pluralist context are processes of everyday state formation. Through the discussion of this theoretical proposition we point to legitimizing practices, territoriality and violence as offering particular insights into the recursively constituted relations between struggles over access and property regarding natural resources, contestations about power and authority, and state formation.
Property, Authority and Citizenship: Land Claims, Politics and the Dynamics of Social Division in West Africa
Authors: Berry Sara
Published: April 2009

In the contemporary African context of rising competition and anxiety over access to land, neoliberal policy interventions designed to clarify property rights, broaden political participation and increase official accountability have frequently provoked rather than alleviated social and political conflict. Comparing case histories of local struggles over land and authority in selected rural areas in Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire and Bénin, this paper argues that in situations where access to land has been linked historically to claims on authority and social belonging, pressures to privatize or clarify ownership have intensified debates over citizenship and governance as well as over land claimsper se. Ensuing struggles over land and entitlement have intersected with national as well as local economic and political dynamics, reinforcing ‘traditional’ hierarchies, contributing to the proliferation of formal and informal governing agents and institutions, and frequently disrupting or subverting open governance and sustainable resource use, rather than helping to create conditions for sustainable development and democratization.
Recategorizing ‘Public’ and ‘Private’ Property in Ghana
Authors: Lund Christian
Published: April 2009

In the course of political struggle in northern Ghana, the classification of land and resources has shifted between the two ‘master categories’ of public and private. Despite the fact that master categories may be wholly inadequate in accounting for the actual complexity of property objects, social units and rights, they are not divorced from the agency of people who have something at stake. Laws, rules and by‐laws are referred to as important markers and fashion the local political struggles over the rights to and control over resources. This article offers a general account of conflicts and the recategorization of resources in the property system of small‐scale irrigation. It examines the logics and positioning of the different stakeholders, and discusses how different levels of public policy have provided opportunities for such changes. A case study presents the opportunity to examine the details of a particular controversy demonstrating the social and political powers involved in the recategorization of property.
Land Access and Titling in Nicaragua
Authors: Broegaard Rikke B.
Published: April 2009

Despite the overreaching importance that the international donor community places on formal land titles as part of the process for securing property rights, improving the functioning of the land market and ensuring pro‐poor development, little attention is given to the specific ways in which factors such as inequality and abuses of public office mediate or even negate the expected effect of land titles. Based on empirical data from Nicaragua, this article shows that the state system is costly and does not provide a level playing field. In addition to land titles, different actions are used to secure property rights, drawing on other authorities which represent plural sources of recognition of land rights. Furthermore, the study shows that land transactions are often not followed up with titling and inscription in the name of the new owner, especially not among the poorest landowners. This has implications for future land titling policies.
Negotiating Post‐Socialist Property and State: Struggles over Forests in Albania and Romania
Authors: Sikor Thomas , Stahl Johannes , Dorondel Stefan
Published: April 2009

Since the demise of socialism, countries of Central and Eastern Europe have experienced intense negotiations over access and property. This article uses four case studies on struggles over forest in Albania and Romania to examine how these negotiations intersect with processes constituting authority. The cases demonstrate significant variations in the configurations of property and authority regarding forest, but they also reflect the influence of national politics in the two countries. In Albania, custom not only competes with the state as an institution sanctioning rights to forest but actually emerges as an alternative politico‐legal institution contesting state authority more broadly. In Romania, local struggles over forests play out the contestations between personalized and law‐based exercises of state authority at the national level. These insights suggest that due to their radical nature and simultaneous occurrence, negotiations over property and authority have challenged the position of post‐socialist states as primary politico‐legal institutions and have generated different exercises of state authority.
Property and Authority in a Migrant Society: Balinese Irrigators in Sulawesi, Indonesia
Authors: Roth Dik
Published: April 2009

Multiple definitions of resources as property lead to competition over legitimate authority between state and non‐state organizational and institutional arrangements. This article focuses on the overlapping and competing domains of the water users’ association, WUA, and the ‘traditional’ Balinese irrigators’ institution,subak. While the former is backed up by the power of state regulation and administration, the latter derives legitimacy from Balinese irrigators. The author presents a case study of the establishment and transformation of property rights in an irrigation‐based Balinese migrant society in Indonesia; he concludes that, in the ongoing process of competition for authority and mutual adjustment, both institutions undergo important transformations.
Product Quality, Wage Inequality, and Trade Liberalization*
Authors: Ma Yan , Dei Fumio
Published: April 2009

This paper constructs what we call a quality‐differentiation model of Chinese trade. This model captures some salient features of Chinese trade and allows us to analyze the impact of trade liberalization on wage inequality. At present, Chinese trade displays the following features: high‐quality cars are imported and low‐quality cars are produced and consumed domestically, for which some parts are imported. These features lead us to consider trade liberalization as two types of tariff reduction: namely, a tariff reduction on final quality‐differentiated goods and a tariff reduction on intermediate goods. This study shows that the two types of tariff reduction have completely different effects on wage inequality. Moreover, the results show that welfare inequality and wage inequality change in opposite directions when the tariff on final quality‐differentiated goods is reduced.
Comparative Advantages and Possible Coordination Failure: An Explanatory Note*
Authors: Tung An‐Chi , Wan, Jr. Henry
Published: April 2009

Most trade models today are specializations of, or variations on, the general‐equilibrium model of Arrow–Debreu–McKenzie, where no one's action is conditioned on others' previous action. Although that model does not deal with free riding, trade literature has achieved much for a world under stable environment. Evidence from Asian high‐tech sectors and findings of dynamic games argue for an augmented analysis of world trade, involving new goods, new suppliers, and rapidly changing technology. Here comparative advantage depends on industrial policy to control free riding, encourage pioneers and launch industries. Distinctly different industrial policies shape international specialization among the nations.
Common External Tariff Choice in Core Customs Unions*
Authors: Melatos Mark , Woodland Alan
Published: April 2009

This paper investigates how customs union members select the common external tariff (CET) to levy on imports from nonmembers. A perfectly competitive, pure exchange, general‐equilibrium model of world trade is simulated. Contrary to most previous work, countries have the freedom to share authority over CET choice and to select from a variety of possible coalition forms. The results confirm that when customs unions are observed in the core, members may wish to share responsibility for CET choice in a variety of ways. Generally, however, the member country that is relatively well‐endowed or has relatively elastic consumer preferences tends to take the lead in CET choice.
Global Free Trade is in the Core of a Customs Union Game*
Authors: Konishi Hideo , Kowalczyk Carsten , Sjöström Tomas
Published: April 2009

This paper shows nonemptiness of the core of a customs union game with a status quo equilibrium with tariffs by employing an appropriate notion of the core as in Kowalczyk and Sjöström (1994, Economica). Specifically, we find that if customs unions may have no effects on nonmember countries as in Ohyama (1972, Keio Economic Studies) and Kemp and Wan (1976, Journal of International Economics) then a subset of countries forming such a customs union does not block global free trade when accompanied by so‐called Grinols transfers (Grinols, 1981, Journal of International Economics).
Tariffs and Technology Transfer through an Intermediate Product*
Authors: Horiuchi Eiji , Ishikawa Jota
Published: April 2009

We examine the relationship between tariffs and North–South technology transfer in an oligopoly model when technology is embodied in a key component that only North firms can produce. They may have an incentive to transfer their technologies to South firms even if the South's licensing market is restricted or if intellectual property right protection is imperfect in the South. Interestingly, a decrease in the tariff on the final good as well as an increase may induce technology transfer. Our analysis suggests that the South should implement pro‐competitive policies to induce technology transfer and enhance welfare.
Preference Bias and Outsourcing to Market: A Steady‐State Analysis*
Authors: Riezman Raymond , Wang Ping
Published: April 2009

We analyze a model that focuses on the export/outsource decision. Outsourcing has the advantage of providing better information about local preferences. The disadvantage is that producing in the host country also means using the inferior technology embodied in the local capital. The decision of whether to offer an outsourcing contract weighs these two effects against each other. The host country accepts the outsourcing contract if the higher price they pay for the outsourced good is worth the benefit of consuming a manufactured good closer to their ideal variety. These results suggest that as low‐income countries develop they become a more attractive destination for outsourcing because their capital grows to meet production needs and the local market is more lucrative. In addition, the developing low‐income country finds the outsourcing contract more attractive since their increased demand for the correct variety of the manufactured good increases. This suggests that preference‐based outsourcing is more likely to occur with higher‐income host countries.
Optimal Growth and Competitive Equilibrium Business Cycles under Decreasing Returns in Two‐Country Models*
Authors: Nishimura Kazuo , Venditti Alain , Yano Makoto
Published: April 2009

This paper investigates the interlinkage in the business cycles of large‐country economies in a free‐trade equilibrium. We consider a two‐country, two‐good, two‐factor general‐equilibrium model with Cobb–Douglas technologies and linear preferences. We also assume decreasing returns in both sectors. We first identify the determinants of each country's accumulation pattern in autarky equilibrium, and secondly we show how a country's business cycle may spread throughout the world once trade opens. We prove indeed that under free trade, globalization and market integration may generate a contagion of the capital‐exporting country's business cycles and thus have destabilizing effects on the capital‐importing country.
Influence of the visual attention span on child reading performance: a cross‐sectional study
Authors: Bosse Marie‐Line , Valdois Sylviane
Published: April 2009

The visual attention (VA) span deficit hypothesis was found successfully to account for variability in developmental dyslexia (Bosse, Tainturier & Valdois, 2007). We conducted a cross‐sectional study on 417 typically developing children from first, third and fifth grades examining the role of VA span on the development of reading skills. A battery including reading, phoneme awareness and VA span tasks was administered. Results show that VA span predicts variations in learning to read independent of the influence of phoneme awareness. Moreover, whereas the specific influence of VA span on pseudoword reading declines from first to third grade, VA span has a significant and sustained influence across grades for the irregular words. In addition to phoneme awareness, the VA span contributes to reading performance from the beginning of literacy instruction, suggesting that it might have a long‐term influence on specific orthographic knowledge acquisition.
Private equity: A review and synthesis
Authors: Wood Geoffrey , Wright Mike
Published: April 2009

The recent international surge in private equity markets has been accompanied by growing interest in its nature and effects. Private equity involves investment in unquoted companies and includes both early stage venture capital and later stage buyouts. The latter, which have been particularly controversial, are our focus. This paper provides a review of the different theoretical approaches that have been deployed to understand this phenomenon. Thereafter, the findings of a large cross section of empirical studies within a range of different national settings are compared and contrasted. Finally, existing themes emerging from – and gaps in – the existing literature and likely future directions are summarized.
Hearing a Still‐Ticking Bomb Argument: A Reply to Bufacchi and Arrigo
Authors: WISNEWSKI J. JEREMY
Published: April 2009

abstract

My aim in this paper is to demonstrate that the recent anti‐Ticking Bomb argument offered by Bufacchi and Arrigo is unsuccessful. To adequately refute the Ticking Bomb strategy, I claim, requires carefully addressing both policy questions and questions involving exceptional conduct.
Why ‘Health’ is not a Central Category for Public Health Policy
Authors: JOHN STEPHEN
Published: April 2009

abstract

We normally think that public health policy is an important political activity. In turn, we normally understand the value of public health policy in terms of the promotion of health or some health‐related good (such as opportunity for health), on the basis of the assumption that health is an important constituent or determinant of wellbeing. In this paper, I argue that the assumption that the value of public health policy should be understood in terms of health leads us to overlook important benefits generated by such policy. To capture these benefits we need to understand the ends of public health policy in terms of the promotion of ‘physical safety’. I then go on to argue that the idea that ‘health’ is an important category for evaluating or estimating individuals’ wellbeing in the normative context of social policy is confused. I then clarify the relationship between my arguments and QALY‐based accounts of health assessment. In the final section of the paper, I defend this surprising conclusion against various attacks.
Educational Equality versus Educational Adequacy: A Critique of Anderson and Satz
Authors: BRIGHOUSE HARRY , SWIFT ADAM
Published: April 2009

abstract

Some theorists argue that rather than advocating a principle of educational equality as a component of a theory of justice in education, egalitarians should adopt a principle of educational adequacy. This paper looks at two recent attempts to show that adequacy, not equality, constitutes justice in education. It responds to the criticisms of equality by claiming that they are either unsuccessful or merely show that other values are also important, not that equality is not important. It also argues that a principle of educational adequacy cannot be all there is to justice in education.
Against Desert as a Forward‐Looking Concept
Authors: CELELLO PETER
Published: April 2009

abstract

Fred Feldman and, more recently, David Schmidtz have challenged the standard view that a person's desert is based strictly on past and present facts about him. I argue that Feldman's attempt to overturn this ‘received wisdom’ about desert's temporal orientation is unsuccessful, since his examples do not establish that what a person deserves now can be based on what will occur in the future. In addition, his forward‐looking account introduces an unnecessary asymmetry regarding desert's temporal orientation in different contexts. Schmidtz advances a promissory account of desert, only part of which presents a strong challenge to the received wisdom. After disambiguating the two main elements of his account, I examine Schmidtz's arguments for forward‐looking desert. I find these arguments to be unconvincing because they seem to either rely on past or present facts about people, including people's dispositions, or they give us desert without desert bases. I briefly examine the relationship between desert and merit, and I argue that some dispositions might be desert bases and others might be merit bases. I conclude the paper with a summary of the arguments against desert as a forward‐looking concept.
Species Inegalitarianism as a Matter of Principle
Authors: KNAPP CHRISTOPHER
Published: April 2009

abstract

Most critics of species egalitarianism point to its counter‐intuitive implications in particular cases. But this argumentative strategy is vulnerable to the response that our intuitions should give way in the face of arguments showing that species egalitarianism is required by our deepest, most fundamental moral principles. In this article, I develop an argument against deontological versions of species egalitarianism on its own terms. Appealing to the fundamental moral ideal of proportionality, I show that deontological species egalitarianism is morally objectionable as a matter of principle: it is committed to treating two individuals who are extraordinarily similar in morally relevant respects drastically differently. I then illustrate how an inegalitarian account of moral standing might be incorporated into traditional moral theories in ways that make them far more promising as theories of our obligations to the non‐human world.
Should there be separate parent and teacher‐based categories of ODD? Evidence from a general population
Authors: Munkvold Linda , Lundervold Astri , Lie Stein Atle , Manger Terje
Published: April 2009

Objective:  To examine the occurrence of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptoms in a general population of boys and girls, as reported by parents and teachers, and to investigate differences in prevalence estimates, depending on how parents’ and teachers’ ratings were combined.

Method:  Data were collected from 7007 children (aged 7–9) who participated in The Bergen Child Study (BCS), an ongoing population‐based study of children’s development and mental health. ODD symptoms were measured by the SNAP‐IV (Swanson, Nolan, & Pelham‐IV) Oppositional Defiant Disorder sub‐scale (SNAP‐IV ODD) that was distributed to parents and teachers. Co‐occurring symptoms of mental health problems were measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ).

Results and Conclusion:  Prevalence‐estimates of ODD varied considerably depending on how ratings from parents and teachers were combined. Specific ODD symptoms occurred at very different rates depending on the rater and on the gender of the child being rated. Parents and teachers co‐identified very few children with ODD. ODD identified by only one informant was associated with high levels of comorbid mental health problems and impairment according to both informants. The results support an informant‐specific conceptualization of childhood ODD.
The developmental course of anxiety symptoms during adolescence: the TRAILS study
Authors: Van Oort F.V.A. , Greaves‐Lord K. , Verhulst F.C. , Ormel J. , Huizink A.C.
Published: April 2009

Background:  Little is known about the development of anxiety symptoms from late childhood to late adolescence. The present study determined developmental trajectories of symptoms of separation anxiety disorder (SAD), social phobia (SoPh), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), panic disorder (PD), and obsessive‐compulsive disorder (OCD) in a large prospective community cohort.

Methods:  Anxiety symptoms were assessed in a community sample of 2220 boys and girls at three time‐points across a 5‐year interval. The Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS) was used to assess anxiety symptoms, and multilevel growth‐curve analyses were performed.

Results:  All subtypes of anxiety first showed a decrease in symptoms (beta for age ranged from –.05 to –.13, p < .0001), followed by a leveling off of the decrease, and a subsequent slight increase in symptoms (beta for age‐squared ranged from .006 to .01, p < .0001) from middle adolescence (GAD, SoPh, SAD) or late adolescence (PD and OCD) onwards. This increase in anxiety symptoms could not be explained by a co‐occurring increase in depression symptoms. Girls had more anxiety symptoms than boys, and this difference remained stable during adolescence (p < .0001). Gender differences were strongly attenuated by adjustment for symptoms of depression.

Conclusions:  The current study shows that, in the general population, anxiety symptoms first decrease during early adolescence, and subsequently increase from middle to late adolescence. These findings extend our knowledge on the developmental course of anxiety symptoms during adolescence. This is the first study to separate the development of anxiety symptoms from that of symptoms of depression.
Dopamine and serotonin transporter genotypes moderate sensitivity to maternal expressed emotion: the case of conduct and emotional problems in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder
Authors: Sonuga‐Barke Edmund J.S. , Oades Robert D. , Psychogiou Lamprini , Chen Wai , Franke Barbara , Buitelaar Jan , Banaschewski Tobias , Ebstein Richard P. , Gil Michael , Anney Richard , Miranda Ana , Roeyers Herbert , Rothenberger Aribert , Sergeant Joseph , Steinhausen Hans Christoph , Thompson Margaret , Asherson Philip , Faraone Stephen V.
Published: April 2009

Background:  Mothers’ positive emotions expressed about their children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are associated with a reduced likelihood of comorbid conduct problems (CP). We examined whether this association with CP, and one with emotional problems (EMO), is moderated by variants within three genes, previously reported to be associated with ADHD and to moderate the impact of environmental risks on conduct and/or emotional problems; the dopamine transporter gene (SLC6A3/DAT1), the dopamine D4 receptor gene (DRD4) and the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4/5HTT).

Methods:  Seven hundred and twenty‐eight males between the ages of 5 and 17 with a DSM‐IV research diagnosis of combined type ADHD were included in these analyses. Parents and teachers rated children’s conduct and emotional problems. Positive maternal expressed emotion (PMEE) was coded by independent observers on comments made during a clinical assessment with the mother based on current or recent medication‐free periods.

Results:  Sensitivity to the effects of PMEE on CP was moderated by variants of the DAT1 and 5HTT genes. Only children who did not carry the DAT1 10R/10R or the 5HTT l/l genotypes showed altered levels of CP when exposed to PMEE. The effect was most marked where the child with ADHD had both these genotypes. For EMO, sensitivity to PMEE was found only with those who carried the DAT1 9R/9R. There was no effect of DRD4 on CP or EMO.

Conclusion:  The gene–environment interactions observed suggested that genetic make‐up can alter the degree of sensitivity an ADHD patients has to their family environment. Further research should focus on distinguishing general sensitivity genotypes from those conferring risk or protective qualities.
A facial electromyographic investigation of affective contrast
Authors: Larsen Jeff T. , Norris J. Ian
Published: April 2009

Affective contrast refers to the tendency for stimuli to be judged as less evocative when preceded by more evocative same‐valence stimuli. The authors used facial electromyographic (EMG) activity over corrugator supercilii, which is inversely related to affective valence, to determine if context influences underlying affective reactions. In Experiment 1, moderately pleasant pictures elicited less activity over corrugator supercilii when they were embedded among mildly pleasant, as opposed to extremely pleasant, pictures. In Experiment 2, moderately pleasant pictures elicited less activity over corrugator supercilii when they were embedded among mildly valent (i.e., pleasant and unpleasant), as opposed to extremely valent, pictures; moderately unpleasant pictures elicited comparable EMG activity regardless of context. Results indicate that context can influence affective reactions underlying affective judgments of moderately pleasant stimuli.
Eye movements and visuospatial problem solving: Identifying separable phases of complex cognition
Authors: Kaller Christoph P. , Rahm Benjamin , Bolkenius Kristina , Unterrainer Josef M.
Published: April 2009

Identifying overtly observable indicators of cognitive processes should provide a promising basis for a more precise tracking of the associated cognitive and neural events. In the current study we used recordings of eye movements to gain deeper insight into the time course of visuospatial problem solving as measured by the Tower of London. Single‐trial, saccade‐locked analyses revealed that, despite the complexity of the implemented task, gaze alternations between start and goal state followed a highly regular pattern. Consistent with the buildup of an internal representation, the first two fixations were of constant duration and unaffected by experimental variations of planning demands. Instead, planning manipulations exclusively influenced the duration of the very last fixation before problem execution. Our results demonstrate that different phases of complex cognition can be identified on a single‐trial level using eye movement analyses.
Neural generators of ERPs linked with Necker cube reversals
Authors: Pitts Michael A. , Martínez Antígona , Stalmaster Clea , Nerger Janice L. , Hillyard Steven A.
Published: April 2009

Multistable perception occurs when a single physical stimulus leads to two or more distinct percepts that spontaneously switch (reverse). Previous ERP studies have reported reversal negativities and late positive components associated with perceptual reversals. The goal of the current study was to localize the neural generators of the reversal ERP components in order to evaluate their correspondence with previous fMRI results and to better understand their functional significance. A Necker‐type stimulus was presented for brief intervals while subjects indicated their perceptions. Local auto‐regressive average source analyses and dipole modeling indicated that sources for the reversal negativity were located in inferior occipital‐temporal cortex. Generators of the late positive component were estimated to reside in inferior temporal and superior parietal regions.
Prolonged reduction of electrocortical activity predicts correct performance during rapid serial visual processing
Authors: Keil Andreas , Heim Sabine
Published: April 2009

When two targets are shown in a rapid temporal stream of distractors, performance for the second target (T2) is typically reduced when presented between 200 and 500 ms after the first (T1). The present study used the steady‐state visual evoked potential (ssVEP), a continuous index of electrocortical facilitation, to compare brain responses in trials with correct versus incorrect T2 responses. We found a reduction of the electrocortical response following T1 in trials with correct T2 identification. By contrast, incorrect T2 trials were characterized by enhanced electrocortical amplitude. Amplitude attenuation predictive of successful T2 report was sustained over time, suggesting a reduction of resources allocated to the distractor stream in correct trials. Across intertarget intervals, T2 performance was a linear function of the ssVEP amplitude reduction in correct trials, weighted by the stimulus onset asynchrony.
Electrophysiological evidence for the effect of prior probability on response preparation
Authors: Scheibe Christina , Schubert Ruth , Sommer Werner , Heekeren Hauke R.
Published: April 2009

We investigated whether prior probability (PP) information modulates preparatory processes at a central premotor level or at a peripheral motor level. We provided parametrically graded probability information during the foreperiod of a precuing paradigm. The Contingent Negative Variation (CNV) and the Lateralized Readiness Potential (LRP) were used as indicators for premotor and motor preparation during the foreperiod, respectively. The CNV amplitude was parametrically modulated by PP. In contrast, the LRP amplitude during the foreperiod differed from baseline only when the precue was reliable. The interval between precue and LRP onset was shortened when probability information was delivered in contrast to noninformative advance information. Furthermore, a source analysis for the foreperiod revealed a dipole in the anterior cingulate cortex. Together, our results suggest that PP modulates preparatory processes at a central premotor level.
Weichselian glacial stage in Murchisonfjorden, Nordaustlandet, Svalbard
Authors: KAAKINEN ANU , SALONEN VELI‐PEKKA , KUBISCHTA FRAUKE , ESKOLA KARI O. , OINONEN MARKKU
Published: April 2009

Compared to the other islands in the Svalbard archipelago, Nordaustlandet offers only limited stratigraphical or sedimentological information on its Quaternary deposits. This article aims to fill the gap by presenting new results from glacial geological, sedimentological and chronological studies in the southern Murchisonfjorden area. Field data include reconnaissance mapping and detailed logging of vertical sections along cliff‐face outcrops a few metres high adjacent to the present‐day shoreline. Combined with OSL and AMS age determinations, these data provide evidence of three successive Weichselian sequences, each represented by the deposition of till followed by the accumulation of shallow marine deposits. Contrary to earlier conclusions, this study demonstrates that the area was occupied by a Late Weichselian glacier (LWG), although the LWG till is thin and discontinuous. Interstadial sublittoral sand related to the Mid‐Weichselian interstadial was dated to 38–40 kyr, and an Early Weichselian interstadial to 76–80 kyr. The preservation of older sediments, multiple striae generations and abundant observations of weathered local bedrock material indicate weak glacial erosion within the study area. We suggest that the Late Weichselian glacier was relatively inactive and remained mainly cold‐based until the deglaciation. The Isvika sections can be considered a new key site that offers further potential to improve our understanding of the Weichselian stage within the northwestern sector of the Barents–Kara Ice Sheet.
Chronology and organic chemistry of the Black Creek Swamp Megafauna site (Late Pleistocene), Kangaroo Island, Australia
Authors: FORBES MATT S. , KRULL EVELYN S. , BESTLAND ERICK A. , WELLS ROD T.
Published: April 2009

The timing of the extinction of the Australian Megafauna and whether it was simultaneous and widespread has been a much researched topic in Quaternary geoscience. The Black Creek Swamp Megafauna site on Kangaroo Island was thought to be a refugium for Megafauna; however, recent and multidiscipline age determinations have established that the fossils are considerably older than the well‐quoted extinction age of 45 kyr. Further radiocarbon age determinations, δ13C isotope analysis and 13C‐NMR spectroscopy of the fossil containing organic matter demonstrates that it is highly soluble and accumulated as recently as 31–18 cal. kyr BP. These radiocarbon ages are much younger than the 100–50 kyr age bracket ascertained for the fossil material itself, implying separate episodes of death, deposition and burial. The soluble nature of the organic matter and increasing radiocarbon ages with depth suggests lateral accumulation, probably transported by subsurface waters from elevated areas proximal to the low‐lying swamp. Such depositional conditions and 14C age range implies that the site may have experienced an unusually wet Last Glacial Maximum, due maybe to its proximity to the continental shelf and thus to maritime conditions. C3 vegetation dominates the Black Creek Swamp and its organic matter (δ13C; −30‰ and −23‰); however, variations in δ13C may indicate climatic shifts. 13C‐enrichment and an abundance of salt‐tolerant gastropods within the site's final phase of sediment accumulation (<6 cal. kyr BP) suggest that conditions during this most recent period were not as wet as those of the Last Glacial Maximum.
Interplay between equilibrium and kinetics in prograde metamorphism of pelites: an example from the Nelson aureole, British Columbia
Authors: PATTISON D. R. M. , TINKHAM D. K.
Published: April 2009

The distribution of metapelitic mineral assemblages in the Nelson aureole, British Columbia, generally conforms to what is predicted from phase equilibria. However, in detail, the sequence and spacing of isograds, mineral textures and mineral compositions and mineral chemical zoning do not. Two of the main disequilibrium features in the aureole are: (i) delay in the onset and progress of several reactions, i.e. overstepping in temperature; and (ii) unreactivity of staurolite and especially garnet porphyroblasts when they are reactants in prograde reactions. The thermal overstepping is ascribed to difficulty of nucleation of the product porphyroblasts and sluggishness of dissolution of porphyroblasts when they are reactants. The extent to which these kinetic barriers delay the onset of reaction is related to the reaction affinity of each reaction, defined herein as the Gibbs free‐energy difference between the thermodynamically stable, but not‐yet‐crystallized, products and the metastable reactants. For oversteps in temperature (ΔT), reaction affinity is, in turn, related to the difference in entropy (ΔS) between these two states through the relation A = ΔT * ΔS. Mineral reactions which release large quantities of H2O, such as chlorite‐consuming reactions, have a higher entropy change per unit of temperature overstep, and therefore a higher reaction affinity, than those which release little or no H2O, such as the chlorite‐free staurolite‐consuming reaction. Thermal overstepping is consequently expected to be less for the former than for the latter, as was estimated in the aureole where 0 to 30 °C overstepping was required for garnet, staurolite and andalusite growth from a muscovite + chlorite‐bearing precursor rock and ∼70 °C overstepping was required for the growth of Al2SiO5 from a staurolite‐bearing, chlorite‐free precursor. In all cases, reaction progress was strongly influenced by the presence or absence of fluid, with presence of fluid lowering kinetic barriers to nucleation and growth and therefore the degree of thermal overstepping. Textural features of rocks from the nearly coincident garnet, staurolite and andalusite isograds are suggestive of a fluid‐catalysed ‘cascade effect’ in which reaction took place in a narrow temperature interval; several competing muscovite + chlorite‐consuming reactions, some metastable, appear to have occurred in parallel. Metamorphic reaction, fluid release and possibly fluid presence in general in the aureole were episodic rather than continuous, and in several cases well removed from equilibrium conditions. The extent to which these findings apply to regional metamorphism depends on several factors, a major one being enhanced deformation, which is expected to lower kinetic barriers to nucleation and growth.
Polymetamorphism, zircon growth and retention of early assemblages through the dynamic evolution of a continental arc in Fiordland, New Zealand
Authors: SCOTT J. M. , PALIN J. M. , COOPER A. F. , FAGERENG Å. , KING R. P.
Published: April 2009

The Marguerite Amphibolite and associated rocks in northern Fiordland, New Zealand, contain evidence for retention of Carboniferous metamorphic assemblages through Cretaceous collision of an arc, emplacement of large volumes of mafic magma, high‐P metamorphism and then extensional exhumation. The amphibolite occurs as five dismembered aluminous meta‐gabbroic xenoliths up to 2 km wide that are enclosed within meta‐leucotonalite of the Lake Hankinson Complex. A first metamorphic event (M1) is manifest in the amphibolite as a pervasively lineated pargasite–anorthite–kyanite or corundum ± rutile assemblage, and as diffusion‐zoned garnet in pelitic schist xenoliths within the amphibolite. Thin zones of metasomatically Al‐enriched leucotonalite directly at the margins of each amphibolite xenolith indicate element redistribution during M1 and equilibration at 6.6 ± 0.8 kbar and 618 ± 25 °C. A second phase of recrystallization (M2) formed patchy and static margarite ± kyanite–staurolite–chlorite–plagioclase–epidote assemblages in the amphibolite, pseudomorphs of coronas in gabbronorite, and thin high‐grossular garnet rims in the pelitic schists. Conditions of M2, 8.8 ± 0.6 kbar and 643 ± 27 °C, are recorded from the rims of garnet in the pelitic schists. Cathodoluminescence imaging and simultaneous acquisition of U‐Th‐Pb isotopes and trace elements by depth‐profiling zircon grains from one pelitic schist reveals four stages of growth, two of which are metamorphic. The first metamorphic stage, dated as 340.2 ± 2.2 Ma, is correlated with M1 on the basis that the unusual zircon trace element compositions indicate growth from a metasomatic fluid derived from the surrounding amphibolite during penetrative deformation. A second phase of zircon overgrowth coupled with crosscutting relationships date M2 to between 119 and 117 Ma. The Early Carboniferous event has not previously been recognized in northern Fiordland, whereas the latter event, which has been identified in Early Cretaceous batholiths, their xenoliths, and rocks directly at batholith margins, is here shown to have also affected the country rock. However, the effects of M2 are fragmentary due to limited element mobility, lack of deformation, distance from a heat source and short residence time in the lower crust during peak P and T. It is possible that many parts of the Fiordland continental arc achieved high‐P conditions in the Early Cretaceous but retain earlier metamorphic or igneous assemblages.
Resolution of Warts in Association with Subcutaneous Immunoglobulin in Immune Deficiency
Authors: Lin Joann H. , Wang Kevin Y. , Kraft Sheryl , Roberts Robert L.
Published: April 2009

Abstract:  Common variable immunodeficiency is the most common severe primary immunodeficiency. Most common variable immunodeficiency patients have progressive hypogammaglobulinemia involving all immunoglobulin classes, poor or absent antibody responses, and recurrent bacterial infections, usually of the sino‐respiratory tract. Some may present with complicated cutaneous infections like furunculosis (J Allergy Clin Immunol; 109: 581) or recurrent cutaneous warts. Here, we report the case of an 18‐year‐old male diagnosed with common variable immunodeficiency who had extensive cutaneous warts that resolved within 2 months of starting weekly infusions of subcutaneous immunoglobulin.
Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID)‐Associated Dyschromia with Subsequent Repigmentation: A Report of Two Patients
Authors: Heath Candrice R. , Burk Cynthia J. , Lawley Leslie P. , Mancini Anthony J. , Connelly Elizabeth Alvarez
Published: April 2009

Abstract:  Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) often presents with mucosal infections, cutaneous infections and eczematous rashes. We present two patients with history of SCID diagnosed at an early age who experienced diffuse dyschromia associated with their bone marrow and stem cell transplants. Dyschromias may be caused by numerous factors including medications, genetics, environmental contacts, or as a sequela of underlying chronic disease. These case reports describe progressive repigmentation to original skin color after the occurrence of dyschromia in two patients with SCID.
Hair Shaft Abnormalities. Pili Bifurcati: A Scanning Electron Microscopy Analysis
Authors: Echeverría Ximena P. , Romero William A. , Carreño Néstor R. , Zegpi María S. , González Sergio J.
Published: April 2009

Abstract:  Pili bifurcati is an extremely rare hair shaft abnormality. We present a case with a scanning electron microscopy analysis.
An Unusual Case of Congenital Linear Eccrine Spiradenoma
Authors: Rodríguez‐Martín Marina , Sánchez González Rosalba , Sáez‐Rodríguez Miguel , García‐Bustínduy M. , Martín‐Herrera Antonio , Noda‐Cabrera Antonio
Published: April 2009

Abstract:  Eccrine spiradenoma (ES) is a benign uncommon tumor of skin adnexa with a characteristic clinical and histopathological presentation. Typically, it presents as a painful, slow growing and solitary nodule on the head or upper trunk in adult patients. We report a child with linear ES which presented with asymptomatic papulonodular lesions in a blaschkoid distribution on the face. Cases reported in the literature of multiple spiradenomas are very rare and multiple linear lesions are even rarer. To date, 21 cases of linear/multiple ES have been reported. Of these, eight were in children or adolescents. We report an additional case of this rare clinical presentation and review the literature.
Uptake of Pyrene in a Breast‐Fed Child of a Mother Treated with Coal Tar
Authors: Scheepers Paul T. J. , Van Houtum Jeanette L. M. , Anzion Rob B. M. , Harder Rianne , Bos Rob P. , Van Der Valk Pieter G. M.
Published: April 2009

Abstract:  A woman was treated for atopic dermatitis with coal tar containing ointments. Coal tar containing ointments contain genotoxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Over a period of 50 days the accumulated dose of different coal tar containing ointments treatments corresponded to 993 mg of pyrene and 464 mg of benz[a]pyrene. During this treatment she gave breast milk to her 3‐month‐old daughter. Analysis of urine samples from the breast‐fed child showed elevated levels of urinary excretion of a metabolite of pyrene (1‐hydroxypyrene, 1‐OHP). These levels were in the same range as urinary excretion levels of this metabolite observed in the mother’s urine. As no pyrene was observed in breast milk at a limit of determination of 0.0035 μmol/L, transfer of pyrene from mother to child via breast milk is not likely. Also, a low level of 1‐hydroxypyrene observed in the mother’s milk did not account for the observed urinary excretion levels in the child. It must therefore be assumed that pyrene was transferred from mother to child via another route, presumably direct skin‐to‐skin or skin‐to‐mouth contact. Dermatologists should inform their patients who receive treatment with coal tar containing ointments of the risk of transfer of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by skin‐to‐skin or skin‐to‐mouth contact.
Panniculitis as the Presenting Sign of a Myelodysplastic Syndrome in an Adolescent Boy
Authors: HENDRICKX GUY , NOOIJEN PEET , DE RAEVE LINDA
Published: April 2009

Abstract:  Panniculitis is an uncommon condition in childhood and may prove difficult to diagnose both clinically and histologically. The clinical spectrum is similar to that in adults and has been associated with many primary diseases. Noninfectious causes are less common in children than in adults. The pathogenesis remains uncertain in a significant number of children. In some it may be a malignant, unremitting disease which can be fatal. We present a boy aged 13 years with panniculitis of the right foot as presenting sign for the ultimate diagnosis myelodysplasia‐acute myeloid leukemia. To our knowledge this is the first report on a young boy.
Effects of Skin Care with Shower Therapy on Children with Atopic Dermatitis in Elementary Schools
Authors: MOCHIZUKI HIROYUKI , MURAMATSU REIKO , TADAKI HIROMI , MIZUNO TAKAHISA , ARAKAWA HIROKAZU , MORIKAWA AKIHIRO
Published: April 2009

Abstract:  For elementary school children with atopic dermatitis, a skin care program using shower therapy was performed during the school lunch break for 6 weeks from June to July in 2004 and 2005. All 53 participants showed an improvement in their atopic dermatitis during the 6‐week periods studied. Skin care with daily showering at an elementary school was thus found to be effective for the treatment of atopic dermatitis.
Congenital Hemangioma: A Report of Evolution from Rapidly Involuting to Noninvoluting Congenital Hemangioma with Aberrant Mongolian Spots
Authors: ACEBO ELVIRA , GARDEAZÁBAL JESÚS , GONZÁLEZ‐HERMOSA ROSARIO , PÉREZ‐BARRIO SILVIA , DÍAZ‐PÉREZ JOSE LUIS
Published: April 2009

Abstract:  Congenital hemangiomas are unusual vascular tumors that are fully developed at the time of delivery. We report a case of an infant with an exophytic congenital hemangioma with features of a rapidly involuting hemangioma on the arm which over 3 years decreased in volume but continued to persist with features of a noninvoluting congenital hemangioma. He also had aberrant, persistent Mongolian spots on both legs. To our knowledge, this association has not been reported to date.
Tinea Capitis Due to Trichophyton Soudanense in Chicago, Illinois: Report of a Case
Authors: CETNER AARON , KRUNIC ALEKSANDER , TESIC VERA , JANDA WILLIAM
Published: April 2009

Abstract:  The etiologic agents of tinea capitis have traditionally been very stable with respect to geographic boundaries, with different anthropophilic or zoophilic species serving as the primary agents in particular countries and even continents. With recent increases in immigration and international travel, these traditional patterns are being challenged. We report a case of tinea capitis due to Trichophyton soudanense in a West‐African‐born boy living in Chicago, Illinois.