bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
JUST SAY NO TO WALL STREET: PUTTING A STOP TO THE EARNINGS GAME
Authors: Fuller Joseph , Jensen Michael C.
Published: April 2005

CEOs are in a bind with Wall Street. Managers up and down the hierarchy work hard at putting together plans and budgets for the next year only to discover that the bottom line falls far short of Wall Street's expectations. CEOs and CFOs are therefore left in a difficult situation; they can stretch to try to meet Wall Street's projections or prepare to suffer the consequences if they fail.

All too often, top managers react by suggesting or even mandating that middle‐ and lower‐level managers redo their forecasts and budgets to get them in line with external expectations. In some cases, managers simply acquiesce to increasingly unrealistic analyst forecasts and adopt them as the basis for setting organizational goals and developing internal budgets. But either approach sets up the firm and its managers for failure if external expectations are impossible to meet.

Using the recent experiences of Enron and Nortel, the authors illustrate the dangers of conforming to market pressures for unrealistic growth targets. They emphasize that an overvalued stock, by encouraging overpriced acquisitions and other value‐destroying forms of overinvestment, can be as damaging to the long‐run health of a company as an undervalued stock. Ending the “expectations game” requires that CEOs reclaim the initiative in setting expectations and forecasts so that stocks can trade at close to their intrinsic value. Managers must make their organizations more transparent to investors; they must promise only those results they have a legitimate prospect of delivering and be willing to inform the market when they believe their stock to be overvalued.
A SENIOR MANAGER'S GUIDE TO INTEGRATED RISK MANAGEMENT
Authors: Meulbroek Lisa K.
Published: April 2005

This paper provides an overview of corporate risk management for senior managers. The author discusses the integrated risk management framework, emphasizing that a company can implement its risk management objectives in three fundamental ways: modifying its operations, using targeted financial instruments, or adjusting its capital structure. “Integration” refers both to the aggregation of all risks faced by the firm into a net exposure and to the coordinated use of these three risk management techniques. The author provides a functional analysis of integrated risk management using a wide‐ranging set of case illustrations to show how the risk management process influences, and is influenced by, a company's overall strategy and business activities. Based on such analysis, the article concludes by sketching a framework intended to help managers design a value‐maximizing, enterprise‐wide corporate risk management system.
ENTERPRISE RISK MANAGEMENT: THE CASE OF UNITED GRAIN GROWERS
Authors: Harrington Scott E. , Niehaus Greg , Risko Kenneth J.
Published: April 2005

Enterprise risk management (ERM) refers to the identification, quantification, and management of all of a company's risks within a unified framework. This approach is much more comprehensive than traditional risk management practice, where different types of risk are managed by different people using different tools. The authors evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of ERM and then describe how United Grain Growers (UGG), a major farm service provider in Western Canada, established such an approach.

Extensive risk identification and measurement indicated that the volatility of UGG's earnings was driven to a large extent by changes in the volume of its grain shipments, which in turn were principally due to variation in weather. After first considering the use of weather derivatives to hedge the risk, the company ended up purchasing an insurance contract, bundled with its traditional insurance coverage, that pays UGG if its grain volume is unexpectedly low. The potential for moral hazard that can make insurance an expensive proposition was limited by basing payoffs on industry grain shipments rather than the company's shipments. The bundled approach served to expand and integrate UGG's insurance coverage, while eliminating redundant coverage.

Besides economizing on insurance costs, another valuable aspect of enterprise risk management is as a source of information about the operations of the firm. By providing managers with a better understanding of their business and events that can undermine the firm's strategic objectives, ERM can lead to better operating decisions as well as a more efficient approach to risk retention and risk transfer.
HOW FIRMS MANAGE RISK: THE OPTIMAL MIX OF LINEAR AND NON‐LINEAR DERIVATIVES
Authors: Gay Gerald D. , Nam Jouahn , Turac Marian
Published: April 2005

This paper provides guidance on how corporations should choose the optimal mix of “linear” and “non‐linear” derivatives. Linear derivatives are products such as futures, forwards, and swaps, whose payoffs vary in linear fashion with changes in the un‐derlying asset price or reference rate. Non‐linear derivatives are contracts with option‐like payoffs, including caps, floors, and swaptions.

A company's optimal hedging position should generally consist of linear contracts because of their effective‐ness in smoothing corporate cash flows. But as the firm's business (quantity) risk increases, its use of linear contracts will decline due to costs associated with overhedging. At the same time, there will be a shift towards the use of non‐linear contracts. The degree of substitution of non‐linear for linear in‐struments will depend on the relation‐ship between the quantities to be hedged and market prices. A negative relationship will tend to exacerbate the substitution effect while a positive re‐lationship will dampen the effect. An empirical examination of corporate derivative holdings provides support for all of the major hypotheses.
THE INSURANCE PERFORMANCE MEASURE: BRINGING VALUE TO THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY
Authors: Calandro Joseph , Lane Scott
Published: April 2005

The performance of the property and casualty (P&C) insurance industry has suffered in recent years, even prior to the losses incurred in the tragic events of September 11th. Part of the industry's difficulties stems from its focus on premium generation, as measured by the combined or underwriting ratio, at the expense of overall operational performance. In this regard, the underwriting ratio is an incomplete measure of operating performance since it ignores two critical P&C operational functions: investment return and reinsurance results.

In this article, the authors present their Insurance Performance Measure (IPM), a comprehensive performance measure for the P&C industry. The IPM captures the three critical operational functions mentioned above in an overall performance measure. The measure is also versatile in that it can be easily decomposed into critical value drivers in each area of operation. Thus, the IPM framework enables P&C managers to observe the interaction and trade‐offs between the operational functions of premium generation, investment return, and reinsurance results separately or as a group, and as they relate to the opportunity cost of surplus.
WHERE'S THE CAT GOING? SOME OBSERVATIONS ON CATASTROPHE BONDS
Authors: Schöchlin Angelika
Published: April 2005

This article provides an assessment of the current state of the market for catastrophe (or “Cat”) bonds. Given the changes in insurance markets since September 11th, the demand for Cat bonds is likely to increase. For issuers, Cat bonds have the effect of transferring risks to the capital markets that would normally be underwritten by insurance or reinsurance companies. And as a substitute for insurance, Cat bonds have the potential to help issuers address problems such as lack of capacity and real risk transfer, cyclicality, and credit risk that are commonly associated with insurance and reinsurance markets. Investors value Cat bonds in part because of their low correlations with stocks and conventional bonds. Notable trends in the structuring of the products involve higher levels of risk transfer, longer‐term contracts, and linkage to a portfolio of catastrophic risks.
REGULATION OF FINANCIAL MARKETS: TOWARD A FOCUSED APPROACH
Authors: Stoll Hans R.
Published: April 2005

Regulation of financial markets arose in a simpler time when transactions were carried out face to face on an exchange floor or in a banker's office—when trading was localized and the variety of financial instruments was small. Today the task of regulators is much more difficult. Markets are global, trading takes place in cyberspace, and the variety of financial instruments is limitless.

The initial focus, and still the central concern, of our regulatory system is to ensure full corporate disclosure and transparency of trading markets. But regulation today goes far beyond disclosure requirements. The existing tendency to expand regulation to match the expanding financial markets is likely to be inefficient, unwieldy, and too costly, given the increased complexity and global nature of financial markets. A new approach and a new regulatory mindset are needed—one in which regulators aim to identify and provide only necessary regulation rather than simply continuing to expand regulatory oversight. Such a focused approach to regulation would separate what is regulated from what is not. Those aspects of banking that are essential to the integrity of the payments system would be regulated while other aspects would not. Some securities and derivatives markets would be regulated, while others would not. And market participants would be able to choose which markets to participate in. Given an ever‐expanding financial system, such a focused approach to regulation is not only the most cost effective one—it is also likely to prove the only workable alternative to a system that is now under great pressure.
HOW TO FIX ACCOUNTING—MEASURE AND REPORT ECONOMIC PROFIT
Authors: Stewart G. Bennett
Published: April 2005

Bending accounting rules has become so ingrained in our corporate culture that even ethical business leaders succumb to the temptation to “manage” their earnings in order to meet analysts' demands for smoothly rising results. The author of this article argues that such behavior reflects not a general decline in ethical standards so much as executives' growing sense that accounting itself has become “unhinged from value.” For example, clearly valuable expenditures on R&D, customer acquisition, and employee training are generally expensed immediately against earnings. And reported corporate income is often further reduced by provisions for losses that most companies never expect to incur, by “book” taxes they never expect to pay, and by depreciation charges on assets that are actually increasing in value. At the same time, the opportunity costs associated with employee stock options and the corporate use of equity capital are not reflected in the accountant's measure of profit.

To improve the quality of corporate governance and revitalize the public's faith in reported earnings, the author proposes a complete overhaul of GAAP accounting to measure and report economic profit, or EVA. Stated in brief, the author's concept of economic profit begins with an older, but now seldom used, definition of accounting income known as “residual income,” and then proposes a series of additional adjustments to GAAP accounting that are designed to produce a reliable measure of a company's annual, sustainable cash‐generating capacity. Besides expensing the cost of equity capital as well as stock options, the author recommends bringing off‐balance‐sheet items such as pension assets and liabilities back onto the balance sheet, eliminating reserve accounting, capitalizing R&D and other expenditures on intangible assets, and recording economic rather than accounting depreciation. Such changes, by replacing the accountants' current flawed definition of earnings with a comprehensive new statement of value added, could restore investor confidence in financial statements. Even more important, managers would be less likely to pursue their now common practice of boosting earnings by making value‐reducing operating and investment decisions and more likely to use financial reporting not to mislead the market but as an opportunity to communicate relevant, forward‐looking information.
THE ART OF STRATEGIC DIVESTMENT
Authors: Anslinger Patricia , Jenk Justin , Chanmugan Ravi
Published: April 2005

Divestiture makes sense only as part of a sound, long‐term strategy. Before simply shedding business units, companies must consider all the options, and be willing to constantly review, replenish, and trim portfolios as markets change and evolve. In so doing, a company increases not only its flexibility but also its chances of adding shareholder value.

This article examines the corporate restructuring “big picture,” in which divestments are only one alternative. It reviews additional measures besides divestments, such as outsourcing, joint ventures, asset swaps, and using new technologies to cut costs, and provides case studies of each. It also raises some interesting issues regarding divestiture, such as ways to sell a business unit without strengthening a competitor's hand, as well as strategies for improving a business unit's valuation in preparation for sale. The authors, who are M&A advisors at Accenture, conclude that “a carefully planned and well‐executed restructuring that involves divestiture can be as significant a victory for management and shareholders as a successful acquisition.”
THE SHAREHOLDER WEALTH EFFECTS OF CALPERS' FOCUS LIST
Authors: Anson Mark , White Ted , Ho Ho
Published: April 2005

Shareholder activism can help to protect shareholder value by promoting sound corporate governance practices. As an active institutional investor, CalPERS takes its role in the corporate governance process very seriously. In addition to many other initiatives, CalPERS publishes each year a list of six to twelve public companies with poor corporate governance principles and poor financial performance—its well‐known “Focus List”—in the hope that the managements of these companies will be motivated to improve their performance and increase shareholder value for CalPERS and their other equity owners.

In an attempt to assess the effectiveness of CalPERS' governance program, the authors examine the market impact of the Focus List and find that companies on the list experience positive excess stock returns of about 12% over the three months following release of the list. Moreover, this wealth effect is even greater for companies with a large, widely dispersed shareholder base, as might be expected given the relative inability of such shareholders to act collectively.
METHODOLOGY TO DETERMINE THE EVOLUTION OF ASYMPTOMATIC HIV POPULATION USING FUZZY SET THEORY
Authors: JAFELICE ROSANA MOTTA , DE BARROS LAÉCIO CARVALHO , BASSANEZI RODNEY CARLOS , GOMIDE FERNANDO
Published: April 2005

The aim of this paper is to o study the evolution of positive HIV population for manifestation of AIDS, the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome.

For this purpose, we suggest a methodology to combine a macroscopic HIV positive population model with an individual microscopic model. The first describes the evolution of the population whereas the second the evolution of HIV in each individual of the population. This methodology is suggested by the way that experts use to conduct public policies, namely, to act at the individual level to observe and verify the manifest population.

The population model we address is a differential equation system whose transference rate from asymptomatic to symptomatic population is found through a fuzzy rule-based system. The transference rate depends on the CD4+ level, the main T lymphocyte attacked by the HIV retrovirus when it reaches the bloodstream. The microscopic model for a characteristic individual in a population is used to obtain the CD4+ level at each time instant. From the CD4+ level, its fuzzy initial value, and the macroscopic population model, we compute the fuzzy values of the proportion of asymptomatic population at each time instant t using the extension principle. Next, centroid defuzzification is used to obtain a solution that represents the number of infected individuals. This approach provides a method to find a solution of a non-autonomous differential equation from an autonomous equation, a fuzzy initial value, the extension principle, and center of gravity defuzzification. Simulation experiments show that the solution given by the method suggested in this paper fits well to AIDS population data reported in the literature.
GRAPHOID PROPERTIES OF QUALITATIVE POSSIBILISTIC INDEPENDENCE RELATIONS
Authors: AMOR NAHLA BEN , BENFERHAT SALEM
Published: April 2005

Independence relations play an important role in uncertain reasoning based on Bayesian networks. In particular, they are useful in decomposing joint distributions into more elementary local ones. Recently, in a possibility theory framework, several qualitative independence relations have been proposed, where uncertainty is encoded by means of a complete pre-order between states of the world. This paper studies the well-known graphoid properties of these qualitative independences. Contrary to the probabilistic independence, several qualitative independence relations are not necessarily symmetric. Therefore, we also analyze the symmetric counterparts of graphoid properties (called reverse graphoid properties).
Toll-like receptor-4 is required for intestinal response to epithelial injury and limiting bacterial translocation in a murine model of acute colitis
Authors: Fukata Masayuki , Michelsen Kathrin S. , Eri Rajaraman , Thomas Lisa S. , Hu Bing , Lukasek Katie , Nast Cynthia C. , Lechago Juan , Xu Ruliang , Naiki Yoshikazu , Soliman Antoine , Arditi Moshe , Abreu Maria T.
Published: April 2005

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) arises from a dysregulated mucosal immune response to luminal bacteria. Toll-like receptor (TLR)4 recognizes LPS and transduces a proinflammatory signal through the adapter molecule myeloid differentiation marker 88 (MyD88). We hypothesized that TLR4 participates in the innate immune response to luminal bacteria and the development of colitis. TLR4−/− and MyD88−/− mice and littermate controls were given 2.5% dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) for 5 or 7 days followed by a 7-day recovery. Colitis was assessed by weight loss, rectal bleeding, and histopathology. Immunostaining was performed for macrophage markers, chemokine expression, and cell proliferation markers. DSS treatment of TLR4−/− mice was associated with striking reduction in acute inflammatory cells compared with wild-type mice despite similar degrees of epithelial injury. TLR4−/− mice experienced earlier and more severe bleeding than control mice. Similar results were seen with MyD88−/− mice, suggesting that this is the dominant downstream pathway. Mesenteric lymph nodes from TLR4−/− and MyD88−/− mice more frequently grew gram-negative bacteria. Altered neutrophil recruitment was due to diminished macrophage inflammatory protein-2 expression by lamina propria macrophages in TLR4−/− and MyD88−/− mice. The similarity in crypt epithelial damage between TLR4−/− or MyD88−/− and wild-type mice was seen despite decreased epithelial proliferation in knockout mice. TLR4 through the adapter molecule MyD88 is important in intestinal response to injury and in limiting bacterial translocation. Despite the diversity of luminal bacteria, other TLRs do not substitute for the role of TLR4 in this acute colitis model. A defective innate immune response may result in diminished bacterial clearance and ultimately dysregulated response to normal flora.
Prenatal Diagnosis, Phenotypicand Obstetric Charact eristics of Holoprosencephaly
Authors: Joó Gábor J. , Beke Artúr , Papp Csaba , Tóth-Pál Ernő , Szigeti Zsanett , Bán Zoltán , Papp Zoltán
Published: April 2005

The diagnosis of fetal malformations, especially those of the central nervous system, is strikingly important in the practice of genetic counseling. Early diagnosis is very significant, not only because of the prognosis, but also because of the emotional effects caused by the accompanying craniofacial malformations. The summary of the obstetrical and diagnostical characteristics should be useful in the management of holoprosencephaly. The analysis of the 50 cases we encountered between 1981 and 2000, including the anatomical, diagnostic and clinical aspects, as well as the associated craniofacial malformations, forms the essence of our publication. In one of the examined cases a familiar recurrence was verified.
Evaluation of a Fetus with Neu-Laxova Syndrome through Prenatal, Clinical, and Pathological Findings
Authors: Mihci Ercan , Simsek Mehmet , Mendilcioglu Inanc , Tacoy Sukran , Karaveli Seyda
Published: April 2005

We report a case of Neu-Laxova syndrome in a fetus at 22 weeks with the ultrasonographic findings of characteristic facial findings, limb contractures, kyphosis and polyhydramnios. Pathological and ultrasonographic studies are discussed.
Oligohydramnios in Uncomplicated Pregnancies beyond 40 Completed Weeks
Authors: Ek Sverker , Andersson Agneta , Johansson Annette , Kublicas Marius
Published: April 2005

Objectives: In low-risk pregnancies, the management of oligohydramnios is not clear. The aim of this study was to compare maternal and neonatal outcomes in cases of isolated oligohydramnios randomised to either induction of labour or expectant management. Methods: 87 women pregnant beyond 40 completed weeks were asked to participate in the study. Fifty-four accepted and were randomised at 288 days of pregnancy. Twenty-six were randomised to expectant management and 28 to induction of labour. The primary maternal outcome was the mode of delivery and the primary neonatal outcomes were cord blood pH and Apgar score at delivery. Results: No significant differences were found for any important maternal or neonatal outcome. Conclusion: Based on these results, the decisions about management could be individualised. Even though the number of patients included was small, these results are well in concordance with others.
Management for Neonatal Aspiration Syndrome Caused by Vernix caseosa
Authors: Nishijima Koji , Shukunami Ken-ichi , Inoue Shuji , Kotsuji Fumikazu
Published: April 2005

Objective: To clarify resuscitation methods against the lethal vernix caseosa aspiration syndrome. Method: A single case report with a literature review. Results: Our case report was associated with aspiration syndrome caused by an airway obstruction of vernix caseosa: a proteolipid biofilm synthesized by the fetus. A 23-year-old woman normally delivered a mature infant at term. The infantile oral cavity was filled with numerous aggregates of vernix caseosa. Two hours after his birth, the infant died from respiratory insufficiency. We discuss the difference between management of our case and the previously reported case.Conclusion: Pregnant women with a diffuse pattern of high-level echoes in prenatal ultrasonography, suggesting the presence of massive vernix caseosa, should be transferred to a well-equipped institution that can administer inhaled nitric oxide and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.
The ex utero Intrapartum Treatment (EXIT) Procedure in Giant Fetal Neck Masses
Authors: Ogamo Mari , Sugiyama Takashi , Maeda Yoichi , Kusaka Hideto , Utsunomiya Hirofumi , Tsubouchi Masayoshi , Uchida Keiichi , Sasaki Naoya , Mitani Yoshihide , Komada Yoshihiro , Toyoda Nagayasu
Published: April 2005

Giant fetal neck masses can cause airway obstructions with potential poor fetal prognosis after delivery. The relationship between the fetal neck mass and airway structure can be defined prenatally with ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The ex utero intrapartum treatment (EXIT) procedure is an available technique to obtain a fetal airway while feto-maternal circulation is preserved. We present a case in which prenatally a giant fetal neck mass was diagnosed on ultrasound and MRI, and a successful EXIT procedure could be performed.
Tetrasomy 9p Mosaicism Associated with a Normal Phenotype
Authors: McAuliffe Fionnuala , Winsor Elizabeth J.T. , Chitayat David
Published: April 2005

Isochromosome (tetrasomy) 9p is a rare chromosomal aberration characterized by phenotypic abnormalities ranging from mild developmental delay to multiple anomalies including intrauterine growth retardation, cerebral ventriculomegaly, dysmorphic facial features, cleft lip or palate, abnormal genitalia and renal anomalies. We present a patient with isochromosome (tetrasomy) 9p mosaicism who is a healthy normal adult male with oligospermia who has fathered two normal children. This chromosomal abnormality may be tissue specific, with a higher detection rate in cultured lymphocytes compared with fibroblasts. Therefore, there is an increased chance of missing the abnormality prenatally by amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling. We are aware of only one other patient in the literature with a normal phenotype associated with mosaicism for this chromosomal abnormality.
2nd-Trimester Maternal Serum Human Chorionic Gonadotropin and α-Fetoprotein Levels in Male and Female Fetuses with Down Syndrome
Authors: Lehavi Ofer , Aizenstein Orna , Evans Mark I. , Yaron Yuval
Published: April 2005

Background/Objective: Several studies have shown that the 2nd-trimester maternal serum α-fetoprotein (AFP) level is significantly lower and that the maternal serum human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) level is significantly higher in the presence of a female fetus. This may potentially affect Down syndrome (DS) screening such that a higher false-positive rate may occur in women carrying a female fetus, whereas a lower detection rate may result in those carrying males. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the gender impact on marker levels in DS pregnancies and its effect on DS screening. Methods: The study included 62 DS pregnancies with a single fetus of known gender (31 male and 31 female). Only pregnancies with chromosomal analysis showing trisomy 21 were included. The maternal serum levels of hCG, AFP, and unconjugated estriol were measured at 16–20 weeks of pregnancy. These levels were expressed as gestational-age-corrected multiples of the median. Results: No statistically significant differences were noted in maternal serum levels of hCG or AFP in DS pregnancies between women carrying a female and those carrying a male DS fetus. No statistically significant differences in ‘screen-negative’ rates were noted among male and female fetuses. Conclusions: In normal pregnancies, the maternal serum hCG level is higher, and the AFP level is lower in the presence of a female fetus. However, this gender-related difference is not apparent in DS pregnancies. Therefore, the gender-related differences in serum marker levels would not result in a lower detection rate of DS in male fetuses.
Do High-Resolution CT Findings of Usual Interstitial Pneumonitis Obviate Lung Biopsy?
Authors: Diette Gregory B. , Scatarige John C. , Haponik Edward F. , Merriman Barry , Fishman Elliot K.
Published: April 2005

Background: High-resolution CT (HRCT) of the lungs has become an essential component to evaluate patients with diffuse lung disease. Little is known, however, about the current practices of pulmonologists caring for patients with these complex conditions, and, in particular, whether HRCT can obviate the need for surgical lung biopsy. Objectives: To investigate the practices of pulmonologists concerning the acceptability of a HRCT diagnosis in lieu of lung biopsy in diffuse lung disease. Methods: We asked practicing pulmonologists among membership of the American College of Chest Physicians whether HRCT results could replace lung biopsy in 16 diffuse lung diseases. Responses were examined in light of published evidence, practice guidelines, and certain practice parameters. Results: Two hundred and thirty (52.6%) of 437 eligible physicians responded. Sixty-seven percent (67%) of respondents accepted HRCT diagnosis for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis/usual interstitial pneumonia (IPF/UIP) despite their awareness of guidelines recommending histological diagnosis. Most would not accept a radiologic diagnosis for lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM; 37%) or eosinophilic granuloma (Langerhans’ cell histiocytosis, LCH; 19%), even though CT findings are frequently characteristic. Responses were similar by type of clinical practice and recency of fellowship training. Chest physicians who referred patients for HRCT more frequently were more likely to accept HRCT diagnosis (p = 0.008) and those who had higher self-ratings of proficiency in reading HRCT (p = 0.004) were more likely to believe HRCT often suggests specific diagnosis. Conclusions: Most US pulmonologists will accept an HRCT diagnosis of IPF/UIP without lung biopsy, but are reluctant to do so for most other diffuse lung conditions including LAM and LCH.
Blood Gas Analysis and Chest X-Ray Findings in Infants and Preschool Children with Acute Airway Obstruction
Authors: Pifferi Massimo , Caramella Davide , Pietrobelli Angelo , Ragazzo Vincenzo , Boner Attilio L.
Published: April 2005

Background: The importance of SaO2 in the assessment of respiratory distress in bronchial asthma has been reported. Objectives: To evaluate the correlation between blood gas analysis and chest X-ray lung opacities in young children presenting with acute respiratory symptoms. Methods: Eighty patients (43 males and 37 females aged 0.5–24 months; mean ± SD 9.1 ± 7.2 months), either with acute wheezing respiratory symptoms and/or with crackles were enrolled in our study. In all children, blood gas analysis and chest X-rays were performed within 12 h following admission to the emergency department. Results: In 55 children (68.75%) chest X-rays demonstrated lung opacities. Subjects with normal X-rays had paO2 and SaO2 higher than subjects with lung opacities (p < 0.0001 and p = 0.0001, respectively). Children with lung opacities almost always presented paO2 <80 mm Hg. Sensitivity and specificity for the presence of lung opacities of paO2 <80 mm Hg were 81 and 90%, respectively, while sensitivity and specificity of SaO2 <95% were 92 and 40%, respectively. paO2 <80 mm Hg in association with SaO2 <95% had a positive predictive value for the diagnosis of pneumonia of 90.9%. Conclusions: Our study suggests that blood gas analysis, particularly paO2, may help in predicting the presence of lung opacities in patients aged less than 2 years. However, chest X-rays may still be needed to define the actual extension of opacities as well as the possible concomitant presence of complications.
Immunosuppressant-Responsive Idiopathic Lymphocytic Pleuritis
Authors: O’Connor Terence M. , Haider Waqar , Crotty Thomas , McDonnell Timothy J. , McNicholas Walter T.
Published: April 2005

Lymphocyte-dominant pleural inflammation is seen in tuberculous, malignant and immune-mediated pleural disease. We describe two male patients who presented with chest pain and dyspnoea, in whom radiological and histological investigations showed idiopathic lymphocytic pleuritis that responded to immunosuppressive therapy with corticosteroids and/or azathioprine. Corticosteroid-responsive pleuritis has been described in association with many conditions, but little is known of idiopathic lymphocytic pleuritis. The authors suggest that patients with idiopathic pleural thickening undergo early thoracoscopic pleural biopsy, and that immunosuppressant therapy be considered for patients with idiopathic lymphocytic pleuritis.
Language-Specific Articulatory Settings: Evidence from Inter-Utterance Rest Position
Authors: Gick Bryan , Wilson Ian , Koch Karsten , Cook Clare
Published: April 2005

The possible existence of language-specific articulatory settings (underlying or default articulator positions) has long been discussed, but these have proven elusive to direct measurement. This paper presents two experiments using X-ray data of 5 English and 5 French subjects linking articulatory setting to speech rest position, which is measurable without segmental interference. Results of the first experiment show that speech rest position is significantly different across languages at 5 measurement locations in the vocal tract, and is similar to previously described language-specific articulatory settings. The second experiment shows that the accuracy of achievement of speech rest position is similar to that of a specified vowel target (/i/). These results have implications for the phonetics and phonology of neutral vowels, segmental nventories, and L2 acquisition.
Somatotopic Organization of Perioral Musculature Innervation within the Pig Facial Motor Nucleus
Authors: Marshall Christopher D. , Hsu Ron H. , Herring Susan W.
Published: April 2005

The orbicularis oris and buccinator muscles of mammals form an important subset of the facial musculature, the perioral muscles. In many taxa, these muscles form a robust muscular hydrostat capable of highly manipulative fine motor movements, likely accompanied by a specialized pattern of innervation. We conducted a retrograde nerve-tracing study of cranial nerve (CN) VII in pigs (Sus scrofa) to: (1) map the motor neuron pool distributions of the superior and inferior orbicularis oris, and the buccinator, to test the hypothesis that perioral muscle motor neuron pools exhibit a somatotopic organization within the facial motor nucleus; and (2) test the hypothesis that portions of the superior orbicularis oris (SOO) motor neuron pool also exhibit a somatotopic organization, reflecting a potential compartmentalization of function of the rostral, middle, and caudal segments of this muscle. Cresyl violet histological staining showed that the pig facial motor nucleus was comprised of 7 well-defined subnuclei. Neuroanatomical tracers injected into these perioral muscles transported to the motor neuron pools of the lateral 4 of the 7 subnuclei of the facial motor nucleus. The motor neuron pools of the perioral muscles were generally segregated from motoneurons innervating other facial muscles of the rostrum. However, motor neuron pools were not confined to single nuclei but instead spanned across 3–4 subnuclei. Perioral muscle motor neuron pools overlapped but were organized somatotopically. Motor neuron pools of portions of the SOO overlapped greatly with each other but exhibited a crude somatotopy within the SOO motor neuron pool. The large and somatotopically organized SOO motor neuron pool in pigs suggests that the upper lip might be more richly innervated than the other perioral muscles and functionally divided.
Simvastatin Blunts Endotoxin-Induced Tissue Factor In Vivo
Authors: Steiner Sabine , Speidl Walter S. , Pleiner Johannes , Seidinger Daniela , Zorn Gerlinde , Kaun Christoph , Wojta Johann , Huber Kurt , Minar Erich , Wolzt Michael , Kopp Christoph W.
Published: April 2005

Background—

Beyond lipid lowering, various antiinflammatory properties have been ascribed to statins. Moreover, in vitro studies have suggested the presence of anticoagulant effects of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors, as lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced monocyte tissue factor (TF) was suppressed. In this study, we examined the role of statins in experimental endotoxemia on inflammatory and procoagulant responses in vivo.

Methods and Results—

In this double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study, 20 healthy, male subjects were randomized to receive either simvastatin (80 mg/d) or placebo for 4 days before intravenous administration of LPS (20 IU/kg IV). Plasma high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP), monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP-1), sCD40L, sCD40, and prothrombin fragment F1+2 (F1.2) were determined by ELISAs at baseline and at 4 and 8 hours after LPS administration. Monocyte TF expression and monocyte-platelet aggregates were measured by whole-blood flow cytometry over the same time course. The increases in hsCRP and MCP-1, both known inducers of TF, were significantly suppressed by statin treatment after LPS challenge. Statin premedication blunted the increase of monocyte TF expression in response to LPS. In parallel, endotoxin-induced formation of F1.2 was significantly reduced by simvastatin after 4 and 8 hours. LPS infusion affected neither the formation and activation of monocyte-platelet aggregates nor plasma levels of sCD40 and sCD40L.

Conclusions—

Simvastatin suppresses the inflammatory response to endotoxin and blunts monocyte TF expression but does not affect platelet activation.
Some Points in a Time
Authors: Jones Karen Spärck
Published: April 2005

This article offers a personal perspective on the development of language and information processing over the last half century, focusing on the use of statistical methods. Introduced, with computers, in the 1950s, these have not always been highly regarded, but were revived in the 1990s. They have proved effective in more ways than might have been expected, and encourage new thinking about what language and information processing involve.
The Proposition Bank: An Annotated Corpus of Semantic Roles
Authors: Palmer Martha , Gildea Daniel , Kingsbury Paul
Published: April 2005

The Proposition Bank project takes a practical approach to semantic representation, adding a layer of predicate-argument information, or semantic role labels, to the syntactic structures of the Penn Treebank. The resulting resource can be thought of as shallow, in that it does not represent coreference, quantification, and many other higher-order phenomena, but also broad, in that it covers every instance of every verb in the corpus and allows representative statistics to be calculated.

We discuss the criteria used to define the sets of semantic roles used in the annotation process and to analyze the frequency of syntactic/semantic alternations in the corpus. We describe an automatic system for semantic role tagging trained on the corpus and discuss the effect on its performance of various types of information, including a comparison of full syntactic parsing with a flat representation and the contribution of the empty “trace” categories of the treebank.
Discriminative Reranking for Natural Language Parsing
Authors: Collins Michael , Koo Terry
Published: April 2005

This article considers approaches which rerank the output of an existing probabilistic parser. The base parser produces a set of candidate parses for each input sentence, with associated probabilities that define an initial ranking of these parses. A second model then attempts to improve upon this initial ranking, using additional features of the tree as evidence. The strength of our approach is that it allows a tree to be represented as an arbitrary set of features, without concerns about how these features interact or overlap and without the need to define a derivation or a generative model which takes these features into account. We introduce a new method for the reranking task, based on the boosting approach to ranking problems described in Freund et al. (1998). We apply the boosting method to parsing the Wall Street Journal treebank. The method combined the log-likelihood under a baseline model (that of Collins [1999]) with evidence from an additional 500,000 features over parse trees that were not included in the original model. The new model achieved 89.75% F-measure, a 13% relative decrease in F-measure error over the baseline model's score of 88.2%. The article also introduces a new algorithm for the boosting approach which takes advantage of the sparsity of the feature space in the parsing data. Experiments show significant efficiency gains for the new algorithm over the obvious implementation of the boosting approach. We argue that the method is an appealing alternative-in terms of both simplicity and efficiency-to work on feature selection methods within log-linear (maximum-entropy) models. Although the experiments in this article are on natural language parsing (NLP), the approach should be applicable to many other NLP problems which are naturally framed as ranking tasks, for example, speech recognition, machine translation, or natural language generation.
Evidence Evaluation for Bayesian Neural Networks Using Contour Monte Carlo
Authors: Liang Faming
Published: April 2005

Bayesian neural networks play an increasingly important role in modeling and predicting nonlinear phenomena in scientific computing. In this article, we propose to use the contour Monte Carlo algorithm to evaluate evidence for Bayesian neural networks. In the new method, the evidence is dynamically learned for each of the models. Our numerical results show that the new method works well for both the regression and classification multilayer perceptrons. It often leads to an improved estimate, in terms of overall accuracy, for the evidence of multiple MLPs in comparison with the reversible-jump Markov chain Monte Carlo method and the gaussian approximation method. For the simulated data, it can identify the true models, and for the real data, it can produce results consistent with those published in the literature.
A Unified Approach to Building and Controlling Spiking Attractor Networks
Authors: Eliasmith Chris
Published: April 2005

Extending work in Eliasmith and Anderson (2003), we employ a general framework to construct biologically plausible simulations of the three classes of attractor networks relevant for biological systems: static (point, line, ring, and plane) attractors, cyclic attractors, and chaotic attractors. We discuss these attractors in the context of the neural systems that they have been posited to help explain: eye control, working memory, and head direction; locomotion (specifically swimming); and olfaction, respectively. We then demonstrate how to introduce control into these models. The addition of control shows how attractor networks can be used as subsystems in larger neural systems, demonstrates how a much larger class of networks can be related to attractor networks, and makes it clear how attractor networks can be exploited for various information processing tasks in neurobiological systems.
A Hierarchy of Associations in Hippocampo-Cortical Systems: Cognitive Maps and Navigation Strategies
Authors: Banquet J. P. , Gaussier Ph. , Quoy M. , Revel A. , Burnod Y.
Published: April 2005

In this letter we describe a hippocampo-cortical model of spatial processing and navigation based on a cascade of increasingly complex associative processes that are also relevant for other hippocampal functions such as episodic memory. Associative learning of different types and the related pattern encoding-recognition take place at three successive levels: (1) an object location level, which computes the landmarks from merged multimodal sensory inputs in the parahippocampal cortices; (2) a subject location level, which computes place fields by combination of local views and movement-related information in the entorhinal cortex; and (3) a spatiotemporal level, which computes place transitions from contiguous place fields in the CA3-CA1 region, which form building blocks for learning temporospatial sequences.

At the cell population level, superficial entorhinal place cells encode spatial, context-independent maps as landscapes of activity; populations of transition cells in the CA3-CA1 region encode context-dependent maps as sequences of transitions, which form graphs in prefrontal-parietal cortices. The model was tested on a robot moving in a real environment; these tests produced results that could help to interpret biological data.

Two different goal-oriented navigation strategies were displayed depend-ing on the type of map used by the system.

Thanks to its multilevel, multimodal integration and behavioral imple-mentation, the model suggests functional interpretations for largely un-accounted structural differences between hippocampo-cortical systems. Further, spatiotemporal information, a common denominator shared by several brain structures, could serve as a cognitive processing frame and a functional link, for example, during spatial navigation and episodic memory, as suggested by the applications of the model to other domains, temporal sequence learning and imitation in particular.
Synchronized Firings in the Networks of Class 1 Excitable Neurons with Excitatory and Inhibitory Connections and Their Dependences on the Forms of Interactions
Authors: Kanamaru Takashi , Sekine Masatoshi
Published: April 2005

Synchronized firings in the networks of class 1 excitable neurons with excitatory and inhibitory connections are investigated, and their dependences on the forms of interactions are analyzed. As the forms of interactions, we treat the double exponential coupling and the interactions derived from it: pulse coupling, exponential coupling, and alpha coupling. It is found that the bifurcation structure of the networks depends mainly on the decay time of the synaptic interaction and the effect of the rise time is smaller than that of the decay time.
From Engineering Economics to Extended Exergy Accounting: A Possible Path from Monetary to Resource‐Based Costing
Authors: Sciubba Enrico
Published: April 2005

The article describes the extended exergy accounting technique (EEA), a novel method for computing the cost of a commodity based on its resource‐base equivalent value (as opposed to its monetary cost) that enables the analyst to perform more complete and meaningful assessments of a complex system. The claim made here is that the novelty, as well as the decisive advantage, of EEA consists in its being entirely and uniformly resource based, thanks to the inclusion in the system balance of exergetic fluxes equivalent to labor, capital, and environmental remediation costs. In this respect, EEA owes some of its structural formalism to Sraffa's network representation of the economic production of commodities by means of other commodities, which it extends by accounting for the unavoidable energy dissipation in the productive chain (whose economic implications were first discussed by Georgescu‐Roegen), to Daly's pioneering work in resource‐oriented economics, and to Szargut's cumulative exergy consumption method.

The representation of a process by means of its extended exergy flow diagram is discussed in this article, and it is argued that some of the issues that are difficult to address with a purely monetary approach can be properly resolved by EEA. The main shortcomings of EEA are its intrinsic locality in time and space: They are demonstrated to be necessary and not casual consequences of its very definition and of the nonuniformity of societal conditions. In the conclusions, some indications are given as to the possibility of using this new technique to complement (and extend) other current tools, such as life‐cycle assessment or environmental footprint analysis.