bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Grey GM(1, 1) model with function‐transfer method and application to energy consuming prediction
Authors: You‐xin Luo , Long‐ting Zhang , An‐hui Cai , zhi‐ming He
Published: March 2004

The ability to forecast a trend is very important in energy consumption prediction and energy production planning. The principle, under which the grey systems theory is applied in our energy consumption prediction, is that the forecasting system can be considered as a grey system. In such a system, unknown system's information can be determined by using known information. Here, the known information consists of energy consumption data, development trend in the consumption system. Based on our study, we eventually make forecast and decisions regarding possible future development. Our method is a whitenization process of a grey course. The model developed is based on the division method established for general data modelling and estimation of parameters of GM(1,1) its standard error coefficient that was applied to judge the accuracy height of the model was put forward; further, the function transform to forecast energy consuming trend and assess GM(1, 1) parameter was established. These two models need not pre‐process the primitive data. It was not only suited for equal interval data modeling, but also for non‐equal interval data modeling. Its calculation was simple and used conveniently, and the oil consumption per unit output analysis was taken as an example. The example showed that the two models were simple and practical, it was worth expanding and applying in the energy consuming prediction and energy programming.
The minimum spanning flow in a network and its self‐organization principle
Authors: Ning Xuanxi
Published: March 2004

In the research work on blocking flow, the concept of minimum flow of a two‐terminal network was introduced. In this paper, a kind of special blocking flow – the concept of minimum spanning flow in the network is introduced and its construction method studied. Here, we show that it is easy to determine whether there is a minimum spanning flow in a network in polynomial time, but it is hard to determine whether there is a non‐circuit minimum spanning flow in one step. Fortunately, the latter problem can be solved in two steps, and its self‐organizing principle is put forward. The feasibility of the algorithm developed on this principle was proved by about 4,500 examples. The significance of this research work is pointed at last.
Study on locations and amounts of scrap ammunition processing
Authors: Song Hua‐Wen , Chen Qing‐Hua
Published: March 2004

Based on the scrap ammunition processing which is a part of the ordnance supply engineering, this paper established a decision‐making model of locations and amounts of scrap ammunition processing by the use of multiple‐objectives linear programming theory. In addition, an example was analyzed in detail to testify the model further.
Stability of nonlinear output‐feedback control system
Authors: Tan Guangxing , Pan Jian
Published: March 2004

This paper studies the stability properties of a class of nonlinear output‐feedback control system. By using a control transform and constructing Liapunov function, the sufficient conditions of the asymptotic stability for the nonlinear control system are presented. The result in this paper includes some existing results.
Using grey relational analysis to analyze the medical data
Authors: Xuerui Tan , Yuguang Li
Published: March 2004

Grey relational analysis (GRA) proposed by Deng Julong is very useful to analyze medical data. The essential thought of GRA is to find a grey relational order, which can be used to describe the relation between the related factors based on data series. The two‐grade difference is a traditional method of GRA and the three‐grade difference is an improved one. The basic steps and formulae of GRA are introduced and GRA is used to analyze the experiment medical data, clinical trial data, data of clinical study and ambulatory and grouping medical data.
Grey optimized models and their existence theorem
Authors: Xiaojun Tong , Mianyun Chen , Zhijun Li
Published: March 2004

Based on ideal absolute errors and relative errors, a new grey model‐GMp(1,1) model is presented. The existence problem of its solution is also solved based on a few conditions. Then, MGMp(1,n) model is presented. These optimized models GMp(1,n) and MGMp(1,n) have good anti‐noise property to absolute and relative errors. Examples illustrate that they have very good fitting and forecasting results.
Organic mechanism and capacity grey set optimization for knowledge‐based enterprise
Authors: Wenping Wang
Published: March 2004

In this paper, the organism model for knowledge‐based enterprise is proposed. A dynamic capacity grey set is defined and analyzed based on the definition of the growth and development for knowledge‐based enterprise organism. The structure of the capacity whiten core, a subset of the capacity grey set, is optimized for different periods of the organism's life cycle. The organism grey topological structure model of knowledge‐based enterprise is described to possess the essential capacity grey set.
A generalization of the GM(1,1) direct modeling method with a step by step optimizing grey derivative's whiten values and its applications
Authors: Yinao Wang , Zhijie Chen , Zhiqiang Gao , Mianyun Chen
Published: March 2004

This paper generalises the GM(1,1) direct modeling method with a step by step majorizing grey derivative's whiten values to unequal time interval sequence modeling, and proves that the new method still has linear transformation consistency of the old method. The example indicates that the new method still has gradual approaching white exponential law coincidence property. With this new method, we then model the high precision soft foundation settlement.
Building grey model GM(1,1) with translation transformation
Authors: Ziliang Wang
Published: March 2004

First, the conditions for GM(1,1) modeling are analyzed, and it revealed that the whole trend of the class ratio sequence and the whole concave‐convex of data sequence both affect the precision of the model. Secondly, the action of translation transformation on the features of data sequence is studied theoretically, and the satisfied interval of translation values is derived. Finally, an effective numerical method is presented which is illustrated by a medical example.
Relativistic system and relativistic control
Authors: Xiong Hejin , Chen Mian‐Yun
Published: March 2004

Classical control theory and modern control theory satisfy the Galilean principle of relativity. If the velocity v of controlled systems is high that is to say, v approaches the velocity of light in vacuo, then the existing control theories must be transformed into relativistic form, i.e. based on relativistic physics, we must reform relativistic control theory, making it satisfy Einstein’s principle of relativity. Based on this, some properties of relativistic control theory are discussed in this paper.
Study on adjustment countermeasure of an energy consumption structure
Authors: Zhong Xu Jian , Li Bing
Published: March 2004

The unreasonable situation of energy consumption structure has seriously influenced the development of China. This paper predicts the developing tendency of energy consumption, and searches for the best chance to adjust energy consumption structure, at the same time, raises some concerned adjustment measures.
Evaluation of system storage reliability
Authors: Zheng Bo , Cai Fangping , Xu Jun
Published: March 2004

Aiming at the product with long storage and one‐time application, this paper establishes the mathematical model of storage reliability and mathematical model system storage reliability. According to the reliability test data of every part (subsystem) of the product, it evaluates the system reliability of the product and reliable storage life, and lower limit of system storage reliability and lower limit of reliable storage life on the credible level.
Rough grey sets
Authors: Qishan Zhang , Guohong Chen
Published: March 2004

The differences and relations between grey sets and rough sets are discussed. Based on the concept of a rough grey set, its entropy is studied. Moreover, the grey inference resulting from a rough grey set is pointed out. The relative propositions and theorems are obtained.
The method of gray model control for the vibration of rotor system
Authors: Xizhe Zhi , Xiping Zhu , Yongshou Liu , Zhiping Gu
Published: March 2004

The theory and method of the gray model control with removed residuals is used first for the study of active vibration control of a rotor system. For the symmetric rotor bearing system having a single disk, a scheme of gray model control with removed residuals about the rotor vibration is designed in this paper. The results of simulated calculation showed that this control scheme not only has good effectiveness, but also can be realized easily.
Analysis of provision production security in Sichuan and countermeasures
Authors: Cao Kunsheng
Published: March 2004

The total provision output in Sichuan province fluctuates greatly, which is mainly caused by the influence of natural disasters. In this paper, the author analyzes several factors that affect Sichuan provision output by theory of gray system, then draws a conclusion that the important factors are irrigation area, pure dosage of fertilizer used, unit provision output, order prices, etc. and finally, puts forward some suggestions on how to reinforce production security. Though Sichuan is one of the big provisions in producing provisions, it also suffers natural disasters deeply. For example, in 1997 the area that suffered disasters is 2,447 kha, which is 25.76 percent of the whole crop area in Sichuan. The bad situation of big area of crop suffering disasters makes the total provision output fluctuate greatly. So how to increase the provision output stably by reinforcing production security has attracted much attention from all levels of the whole province.
Preparation and characterisation of linseed oil modified polyesteramide resins for surface coatings
Authors: Shende P.G. , Dabhade S.B. , Phalke Y.D.
Published: March 2004

Linseed oil was employed to modify polyesteramide resin via the condensation of hydroxyethylamide derivatives of fatty acids of linseed oil, i.e. {N, N′‐bis(2 hydroxylethyl) linseed amide} and phthalic anhydride and dicarboxylic acids such as adipic acid, succinic acid and sebacic acid. The polyesteramide resins obtained were tested for their application as a vehicle/binder in the preparation of surface coatings. The resins obtained were also characterised for their physico‐chemical properties, film forming properties and chemical resistance.
Novel arylazopyrazolo[1,5‐a]pyrimidine derivatives: synthesis, properties and dyeing characteristics
Authors: Elgemeie G.H. , Helal M.H. , El‐Sayed H.M.
Published: March 2004

Several new arylazopyrazolo[1,5‐a]pyrimidine derivatives were obtained from 4‐arylazo‐3,5‐diaminopyrazoles. The application and dyeing characteristics of the dyes synthesised were also reported.
Formulation and characterisation of anticorrosive paints
Authors: Molera P. , Oller X. , del Valle M. , González F.
Published: March 2004

Styrene‐acrylic resin paints having a pigment volume concentration of 31 per cent and consisting of a constant level of ethylene glycol, titanium oxide, water, rheological agent, inhibitor and defoamer and variable levels of dispersant (x), anticorrosion pigment (y) and wollastonite (z) were prepared. Such emulsion paints were applied to the flat carbon steel test panels. The dried paint films were subjected to various standard anticorrosion tests. The results obtained showed different types of relationship between the anticorrosive behaviour of the paints and variables x, y and z. The antifouling properties of the paint films were obtained through corrosion tests in a marine‐industrial environment at ambient temperatures.
Diversity and AAAJ: interdisciplinary perspectives on accounting, auditing and accountability
Authors: Guthrie James , Parker Lee
Published: March 2004

Addresses the Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal's actions and issues of concern to the accounting academic community and describes some interdisplinary perspectives on accounting, auditing and accountability (IPAAA). Concludes that the IPAAA movement has clearly arrived in the accounting discipline and has firmly established its place in the international scholarly community.
The politics of the changing forms of accounting
Authors: Skærbæk Peter , Melander Preben
Published: March 2004

This paper presents an in‐depth study of the processes of constructing a new strategy in a large Danish government‐owned ferry company undergoing privatisation. To explain the emerging characteristics of accounting, the sociology of translation is used. The paper provides a story of a translation of strategy and related management initiatives using Callon's four moments of translation. The story illustrates how, during the translation process, accounting changed its characteristics and uses from principles of control to principles of financialisation. Such emergent forms of accounting also reflect the political manoeuvring in the organisation as the result of network relationships. However, networks are open to erosion and undermining by active agents, changing the purposes of accounting. Whereas other authors within accounting, applying the sociology of translation, usually conceptualise accounting as inscriptions, this study explicates accounting as an interessement device. Finally, the study suggests that the sociology of translation may be a promising explication of accounting change.
Japanese cost management meets Sri Lankan politics
Authors: Wickramasinghe Danture , Hopper Trevor , Rathnasiri Chandana
Published: March 2004

The Sri Lanka Telecommunications company was recently partially privatised and a major Japanese company became responsible for its management. Previously, it was a government department characterised by rule bound, bureaucratic management and political interventions into operational issues. The longitudinal study illustrates how a Japanese manager's charismatic and patrimonial leadership eliminated bureaucratic controls, brought new management controls and reward systems, and achieved some commercial success. However, some employees unsympathetic to the changes allied with politicians frustrated with their exclusion from organisational affairs to get the Japanese manager removed and restore formal bureaucracy. This was achieved not through direct intervention but largely through the politicians' control of the regulatory system. Conflicts between the two competing management control ideologies were profound and violent. The paper traces how modes of production and management accounting and controls in less developed countries are related, and are transformed in an unpredictable and often unexpected fashion due to cultural, economic, and political factors.
Justifying the decisions for EAI implementations: a validated proposition of influential factors
Authors: Themistocleous Marinos
Published: March 2004

Enterprise integration is considered to be of great strategic significance in the support of organisations to achieve a competitive advantage. Traditional approaches to integration such as electronic data interchange (EDI) have provided a wide range of benefits but have not managed to fully automate and integrate business processes and applications. In addressing many of the limitations of EDI to piece together disparate systems, enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions introduced an alternative approach to integration. Although ERP systems overcome significant integration problems, they have failed to adequately support intra and inter‐organisational integration. There has been a great demand by organisations to overcome integration problems and become more competitive. In this respect, enterprise application integration (EAI) has emerged to address intra and inter‐organisational integration in a more flexible and maintainable way. The normative literature remains limited regarding this emerging area and there is consequently a need for further research and contribution in identifying influential factors for EAI adoption. In addressing this relative void in the literature, this paper proposes a model for the justification and evaluation of EAI adoptions. The proposed model can be used by organisations as a tool for decision making when considering the adoption of EAI.
Enterprise application integration systems and architecture – the case of the Robert Bosch Group
Authors: Puschmann Thomas , Alt Rainer
Published: March 2004

Today, most organisations are using packaged software for their key business processes. Enterprise resource planning, supply chain management, customer relationship management and electronic commerce systems enable organisations to improve their focus of using information systems to support their operational and financial goals. This article argues that the need to integrate these packaged software applications with each other as well as with existing or legacy business applications drives the need for a standardised integration architecture to more flexibly implement new business processes across different organisations and applications. To illustrate the components of such an architecture, a case study undertaken at the Robert Bosch Group provided necessary empirical evidence. The Robert Bosch Group has evaluated different enterprise application integration (EAI) systems to achieve a standardised integration architecture. The article describes a reference architecture and criteria for the classification of EAI systems which are derived from different integration approaches.
Value creation from the application service provider e‐business model: the experience of four firms
Authors: Currie Wendy L.
Published: March 2004

This paper embraces the e‐business model concept as the unit of analysis for investigating the ASP market. It develops three constructs of the ASP business model: strategic positioning; product/service portfolio; and customer value proposition. Using a case study method, it discusses the findings from four ASP firms; each having attempted to develop a unique ASP business model. The findings suggest the ASP business model is fundamentally flawed as ASP firms fail to provide the customer with an attractive value proposition.
ERP data archiving – a critical analysis
Authors: Mensching James , Corbitt Gail
Published: March 2004

ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems run on top of database systems, like Oracle, SQL Server and DB2. The longer these systems are in place within organizations the larger the databases are. Some sources estimate that corporate databases double or triple in size every year. As these databases grow, performance, the time it takes to complete transactions, is adversely affected. This implies that limiting the amount of data stored on an ERP system is an essential element of proper storage and data management. However, removing data from an ERP system can be a complex and risky task. Archiving ERP data is an area of academic and professional research that has had minimal attention. This paper examines the issues and provides insight into solutions associated with archiving ERP data. The issues are explored by summarizing the limited background and research in the archiving area, followed by an overview of the methodology used to arrive at the case study approach used to gather the data. Case data are presented from three different large corporate environments and the results of the data are used to recommend an archiving strategy that other companies can follow. A discussion of the implications of the proposed archiving strategy for future use and research concludes the paper.
Value propositions: a new conceptualisation for integration
Authors: Perrey Randall , Johnston Alex , Lycett Mark , Paul Ray
Published: March 2004

This paper argues that enterprise scale information systems integration should be driven by business value propositions rather than system level requirements. It reviews the existing literature of value and presents a summary of the issues and insights. A study of attitudes and perceptions from an enterprise system vendor organisation is presented. The study uses cognitive mapping to analyse the data and grounded theory to derive the concept of value proposition as a suitable concept for comprehending integration. The concept is further developed from a synthesis of the issues from literature with the results. The determination of a value proposition is argued to be a process of defining the consumer and providing perspectives. The provider perspective of value proposition is shown to be competency based whilst the consumer is results oriented. Discussion of the implications of value proposition driven integration projects leads onto recommendations for industry and implications for further academic research.
Integrating the IS with the enterprise: key EAI research challenges
Authors: Sharif Amir M. , Elliman Tony , Love Peter E.D. , Badii Atta
Published: March 2004

Enterprise application integration (EAI) technologies provide the means to integrate strategic business solutions within and across the component parts of organisational information system infrastructures. The continuing development of both digitally integrated business models, through various eCommerce and eBusiness initiatives, has meant that the importance of EAI within enterprise IS, has increased significantly. Noting that EAI incurs not only technological but stakeholder‐level commitments, this paper outlines the product of a sustained investigation into key challenges within enterprise IS and EAI, and provides a framework for future research and investigation into this emerging and evolving area.
White blood cell‐containing allogeneic blood transfusion, postoperative infection and mortality: a meta‐analysis of observational ‘before‐and‐after’ studies
Authors: Vamvakas E. C.
Published: March 2004

Background and Objectives  An association of white blood cell (WBC) reduction with decreased mortality was reported by one observational, before‐and‐after study. A meta‐analysis was undertaken to examine whether this finding is supported by all the evidence currently available from before‐and‐after studies, and whether these studies support an association of WBC reduction with a decreased risk of postoperative infection.

Materials and Methods  Observational, before‐and‐after studies were retrieved that reported on postoperative infection and/or mortality between January 1997 and June 2003. Six studies met the criteria for meta‐analysis. Unadjusted summary odds ratios (ORs) of postoperative infection or mortality in patients transfused after (compared with before) WBC reduction were calculated across the studies if the hypothesis of homogeneity was not rejected. Adjusted summary ORs were calculated across three studies that had reported multivariate analyses.

Results  There was an unadjusted association of WBC reduction with a decreased risk of postoperative infection [summary OR = 0·93; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 0·88–0·99; P < 0·01] that did not persist following adjustment for confounding factors (summary OR = 0·94; 95% CI, 0·85–1·04; P > 0·05). There was neither an unadjusted nor an adjusted association of WBC reduction with decreased mortality (summary OR = 0·94; 95% CI, 0·71–1·23; P > 0·05; and OR = 0·92; 95% CI, 0·80–1·05; P > 0·05, respectively).

Conclusions  An association of WBC reduction with decreased mortality was not detected across the results available from all before‐and‐after studies. An unadjusted association of WBC reduction with a decreased risk of postoperative infection exists, but this was not detected across the three studies that reported multivariate analyses.
Intravenous immunoglobulin products contain neutralizing antibodies to vaccinia
Authors: Goldsmith J. C. , Eller N. , Mikolajczyk M. , Manischewitz J. , Golding H. , Scott D. E.
Published: March 2004

Background and Objectives  Individuals with primary or secondary immune‐deficiency diseases may be at risk for vaccinia infection if widespread smallpox‐immunization programmes are implemented in the United States of America (USA) for bioterrorism preparedness. The objective of this study was to determine whether commercial immune globulin (intravenous, human) products contain biologically active antibodies to vaccinia that have the potential to protect people, with immune deficiencies, from complications of vaccinia.

Materials and Methods  Eight currently United States (US)‐licensed and two European intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) products were tested in a vaccinia plaque‐reduction neutralization assay. The in vivo activity of five of these lots was assessed in severely immune‐deficient mice.

Results  All tested products contained neutralizing anti‐vaccinia activity, in vitro and in vivo.

Conclusions  The use of IVIG by individuals with inherited or acquired humoral immune deficiencies may provide some protection if they are inadvertently exposed to vaccinia.
In vitro study of a triple‐secured von Willebrand factor concentrate
Authors: Mazurier C. , Poulle M. , Samor B. , Hilbert L. , Chtourou S.
Published: March 2004

Background and Objectives  Patients suffering from von Willebrand disease who are not responsive to desmopressin require substitutive treatment. This study was part of the development of a second‐generation plasma‐derived von Willebrand factor (VWF) concentrate, the manufacturing process of which includes two complementary viral‐inactivation/elimination steps that are effective against non‐enveloped viruses.

Materials and Methods  VWF was purified from solvent/detergent‐treated cryoprecipitate through a combination of anion‐exchange and affinity chromatography. The VWF preparation was diluted and filtered through filters with pore size of 35 nm. After concentration and formulation, the product was freeze‐dried and further heated at 80 °C for 72 h. Tests were performed to evaluate the effects of nanofiltration and dry heating on VWF multimeric structure and function.

Results  Nanofiltration and dry heating of the formulated product increased viral safety but did not modify VWF multimeric structure. Furthermore, these steps did not alter the ability of VWF to bind to platelet glycoprotein Ib, collagen and Factor VIII.

Conclusions  We have perfected a large‐scale manufacturing process to produce a human plasma‐derived VWF concentrate that boasts high specific activity and is very safe for the treatment of patients with von Willebrand disease.
Weakened expression of ‘e’ owing to concomitant occurrence of Cys16 and Val245 (VS antigen)
Authors: Rodrigues A. , Rios M. , Costa F. F. , Saad S. T. O. , Pellegrino J. , Castilho L.
Published: March 2004

Background and Objectives  The 48 G>C transversion in exon 1 of the RHCE gene leads to Trp16Cys, usually present in the conventional RHCE Ce, while Trp16 is associated with RHCE ce. The presence of Cys16 in RHCE ce is associated with the R0 (Dce) haplotype in Africans, leading to a weak ‘e’ antigen expression on red blood cells (RBCs). VS is a common red cell antigen in individuals of African descent and results from a single point mutation in exon 5 of the RHCE (733C>G), leading to Leu245Val substitution; VS positivity is also associated with weak expression of ‘e’. This study investigated the association of Cys16 and/or VS with the RHCE ce alleles in a cohort of sickle cell disease (SCD) patients phenotyped as R0r or R0R0 and rr.

Materials and Methods  DNA samples from 58 SCD patients were tested for the 48 G>C transversion, encoding Cys16, by allele‐specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR). We also amplified exon 5 of the RHCE by PCR and subjected the amplified product to restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis, using BfaI, in order to determine the VS status. Further cDNA analysis was performed on three samples to verify whether the mutations were located on the same or on different alleles.

Results  Fifty‐six of the 58 SCD patients studied (97%) were heterozygous for 48G/48C (Cys16). Of these, 18 (32%) were also heterozygous for 733C/G (245Val). All of these 18 samples showed weak ‘e’ expression on RBCs when tested with at least one monoclonal antibody to e antigen. cDNA sequencing of three of 18 patient samples showed that the genes encoding Cys16 and Val245 (VS) were on different alleles.

Conclusions  We found a high incidence of Cys16 associated with the RHCE ce in our SCD cohort. A high percentage of these patients were also found to be heterozygous for VS. cDNA analysis showed that, in at least three samples, the two mutations were on different alleles, with consequent weakening of expression of the e antigen on RBCs.
Restriction in the repertoire of the immunoglobulin light chain subgroup in pathological cold agglutinins with anti‐Pr specificity
Authors: Leo A. , Kreft H. , Hack H. , Kempf T. , Roelcke D.
Published: March 2004

Background and Objectives  In cold agglutinin disease, monoclonal red blood cell autoantibodies, termed cold agglutinins, induce haemolysis in patients exposed to the cold. Commonly, these autoantibodies are directed against the developmentally regulated I/i blood groups. A second blood group system, the Pr system (located on glycophorins), is involved less frequently. Anti‐Pr cold agglutinins recognize either alpha 2,3‐ or alpha 2,6‐linked N‐acetylneuraminic acid as the immunodominant group. Cold agglutinins of anti‐I/i specificity show a remarkable restriction in their genomic repertoire of the immunoglobulin heavy and light‐chain immunoglobulin‐variable domain (i.e. exclusive use of VH4‐34 in heavy chains). For anti‐Pr cold agglutinins, preliminary data on the repertoire of the light‐chain variable domain indicate a preference for the subgroup Vkappa IV. To elucidate restrictions in the light‐chain variable‐domain subgroup repertoire of anti‐Pr cold agglutinins systematically, and to discuss these results in the context of their anti‐Pr1–3 subclassification and immunodominant sialic acid, light chains in 13 anti‐Pr cold agglutinins were investigated.

Materials and Methods  The anti‐Pr light chains were isolated using temperature‐dependent absorption/elution techniques. Subsequently, they were subjected to N‐terminal Edman degradation, and the light chain Vkappa subgroup was affiliated using the Kabat database.

Results  Five of 13 (38%) light chains belonged to Vkappa IV, five of 13 (38%) to Vkappa I and three of 13 (23%) to Vkappa III. Anti‐Pr with Vkappa IV subgroup light chains exclusively recognized alpha 2,3‐linked N‐acetylneuraminic acid.

Conclusions  Including data from the literature, the repertoire of the light‐chain variable domain in pathological anti‐Pr cold agglutinins exhibits a clear bias towards the use of the single germline gene‐derived subgroup, Vkappa IV (eight of 17 or 47%). The association of Vkappa IV subgroup light chain‐containing anti‐Pr cold agglutinins with binding to alpha 2,3‐, but not alpha 2,6‐linked N‐acetyneuraminic acid raises speculations about a possible role of subgroup‐derived determinants in anti‐Pr binding.
Distribution of a bovine spongiform encephalopathy‐derived agent over ion‐exchange chromatography used in the preparation of concentrates of fibrinogen and factor VIII
Authors: Foster P. R. , Griffin B. D. , Bienek C. , McIntosh R. V. , MacGregor I. R. , Somerville R. A. , Steele P. J. , Reichl H. E.
Published: March 2004

Background and Objectives  The risk of haemophiliacs contracting variant Creutzfeldt‐Jakob disease (vCJD) via treatment with factor VIII concentrates is not known. Therefore, in order to determine the extent to which the vCJD agent might be removed during the preparation of factor VIII concentrate, the partitioning of a bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)‐derived agent was measured over the main purification step used to prepare the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service high‐purity factor VIII concentrate (Liberate®).

Materials and Methods  Murine‐passaged BSE (strain 301V), in the form of a microsomal fraction prepared from infected brain, was used to ‘spike’ a solution of factor VIII of intermediate purity. The ‘spiked’ starting material was subjected to solvent–detergent treatment and then to anion‐exchange chromatography with Toyopearl DEAE‐650M. All fractions were tested for 301V infectivity using a murine bioassay, including the procedures used to clean the ion‐exchange media after use.

Results  BSE 301V infectivity was reduced by 2·9 log10 in the fibrinogen fraction and by 2·7 log10 in the factor VIII fraction. Over 99% of the added 301V infectivity remained bound to the ion‐exchange column after elution of factor VIII. A large quantity of infectivity was subsequently removed by washing the ion‐exchange media with 2 m NaCl. No further BSE 301V infectivity was detected in column eluates after treatment with 0·1 m NaOH or a second wash with 2 m NaCl.

Conclusions  Results using a BSE‐derived agent suggest that vCJD infectivity would be substantially removed by the ion‐exchange process used in the preparation of fibrinogen and factor VIII concentrate. Although 301V infectivity remained bound to the ion‐exchange matrix following elution of factor VIII, this appeared to be eliminated by the procedure used for cleaning the ion‐exchange media after each use.
Occult hepatitis B virus infection: implications in transfusion
Authors: Allain J.‐P.
Published: March 2004

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) presents a higher residual risk of transmission by transfusion than hepatitis C virus (HCV) or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). While most infectious blood units are removed by screening for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), there is clear evidence that transmission by HBsAg‐negative components occurs, in part, during the serologically negative window period, but more so during the late stages of infection. Donations negative for HBsAg, but positive for HBV DNA, with or without the presence of HBV antibodies, correspond to ‘occult’ HBV infection (OBI). The frequency of OBI depends on the relative sensitivity of both HBsAg and HBV DNA assays. It also depends on the prevalence of HBV infection in the population. OBI may follow recovery from infection, displaying antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen (anti‐HBs) and persistent low‐level viraemia, escape mutants undetected by the HBsAg assays, or healthy carriage with antibodies to hepatitis B e antigen (anti‐HBe) and to hepatitis B core antigen (anti‐HBc). Over time, in the latter situation, anti‐HBe and, later, anti‐HBc may become undetectable. The critical question is whether or not OBI is infectious by transfusion. All forms have been shown to be infectious in immunocompromised individuals, such as organ‐ or bone marrow‐transplant recipients. In immunocompetent recipients, there is no evidence that anti‐HBs‐containing components (even at low titre) are infectious. Anti‐HBc only, with HBV DNA, can be associated with infectivity, as can rare cases of HBV DNA without any serological HBV marker. If HBV nucleic acid amplification technology (NAT) is considered, the OBI viral load would usually be < 500 IU/ml, making testing of plasma pools unsuitable unless the sensitivity of NAT significantly increases by genome enrichment or test improvement.
Impressions of difference: the painted canvases of Helen McNicoll
Authors: Huneault Kristina
Published: March 2004

This paper examines the works of Canadian impressionist painter Helen McNicoll (1879–1915), analysing them as creative inventions that mediate the irreducible gap between cultural symbolization and experience. McNicoll was a painter of women and girls, and the essay centres on the difference that gender makes in her canvases. Femininity is not the works' only operative axis of distinction, however. McNicoll's nationality and, most significantly, her deafness, conjoined with gender as constitutive and structurally overlapping elements of her pictorial production. The artist's applications of paint to canvas are visible renderings of an ambiguous relation to symbolization wrought by this conjunction. In this context, McNicoll's choice of pictorial style is especially apposite, and the paper explores the way in which impressionism's ideal of direct correspondence between experience and representation resonated forcibly with the ideologies of femininity and language available to a deaf woman painter at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Kristina Huneault is Associate Professor and Graduate Programme Director in the Department of Art History at Concordia University in Montreal. She is the author of Difficult Subjects: Working Women and Visual Culture, Britain 1880–1914 (Ashgate, 2002), and is currently working on a book that examines visual inscriptions of gender in art by nineteenth‐century Canadian women.
‘To stand and see within’: expressionist space in Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's Rhine Bridge at Cologne
Authors: Simmons Sherwin
Published: March 2004

This essay examines Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's Rhine Bridge at Cologne, one in a series of cityscapes that Kirchner painted during 1914–15, all of which treat monuments and spaces that had become important symbols within the German imagination. The painting's relationship to a discourse about a ‘modern Gothic’ style, as manifested in the 1912 Sonderbund chapel and a regional expressionist movement, are discussed. This relationship is shown to involve a broader concern about the ‘problem of individuation’ in modern life that was addressed in the theoretical writings of Wilhelm Worringer, Martin Buber and Georg Simmel. Kirchner's painting gave spatial form to this problem through the juxtaposition of modern steel bridge and Gothic cathedral and the empathic projection of the viewer into a space within which individual expression intersected with public discourse.

Sherwin Simmons is Professor of Art History at the University of Oregon. He has recently considered Red Tower in Halle, another of Kirchner's cityscapes, in an article published in Res 40 (Autumn 2001). He is currently completing Kunst oder Kitsch? Art and Mass Culture in Germany, 1900–1920.
Tactility: The Interrogation of Medium in Art of the 1960s
Authors: Potts Alex
Published: March 2004

This article intervenes in current debate about medium by looking back to the 1960s, a moment located on the cusp between medium‐based and post‐medium conceptions of art. It examines a body of sculptural work where tactile qualities were given priority to the point where the formal values constituting sculpture as a medium were effectively negated. This situation illuminates a larger split emerging in the art world between the focus on materials and physical processes and the impulse to be liberated from the constraints of medium specificity. Such a split, it is argued, relates to divided perceptions of economy at the time when a preoccupation with the materials and processes of industrial production coexisted with a new focus on consumerism. What implications does the subsequent intensification of a consumer‐orientated economy have for understandings of the materiality of the art work in a post‐medium art world?

Alex Potts is Professor and Chair of the Department of History of Art, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He is an editor of History Workshop Journal. His recent publications include The Sculptural Imagination. Figurative, Modernist, Minimalist (2000), and Flesh and the Ideal. Winckelmann and the Origins of Art History (1994 and 2000). He is currently working on a book about the European and American art worlds in the 1950s and early 1960s.
Clothing, charity, salvation and visionary experience in fifteenth‐century Siena
Authors: Warr Cordelia.
Published: March 2004

This article investigates the use of clothing as a liminal object, capable of moving across the boundary between the mortal and immortal worlds. The significance of clothing within the changing consumer culture of Renaissance Italian society, and the legislation surrounding it, has been discussed by a number of recent authors. I consider a different, but connected, aspect of clothing: depictions and descriptions of supernatural apparitions relating to clothes. Despite notable changes in the perception and uses of clothing, 1215–1545 (from the Fourth Lateran Council to the opening of the Council of Trent) can be seen as a unified period of religious devotion dominated by belief in the resurrection of the body, purgatory and the cult of saints. These beliefs contribute to considerable evidence suggesting that for those living in Latin Europe dress existed on two planes – the material and the spiritual. Focusing on the fifteenth‐century decoration of the hospital of Santa Maria della Scala in Siena – by artists including Domenico di Bartolo, Vecchietta and Giovanni di Paolo – this article explores the tensions inherent in the changing relationship of clothing and adornment to the mortal and immortal body.
‘To stand and see within’: expressionist space in Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's Rhine Bridge at Cologne
Authors: Simmons Sherwin
Published: March 2004

This essay examines Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's Rhine Bridge at Cologne, one in a series of cityscapes that Kirchner painted during 1914–15, all of which treat monuments and spaces that had become important symbols within the German imagination. The painting's relationship to a discourse about a ‘modern Gothic’ style, as manifested in the 1912 Sonderbund chapel and a regional expressionist movement, are discussed. This relationship is shown to involve a broader concern about the ‘problem of individuation’ in modern life that was addressed in the theoretical writings of Wilhelm Worringer, Martin Buber and Georg Simmel. Kirchner's painting gave spatial form to this problem through the juxtaposition of modern steel bridge and Gothic cathedral and the empathic projection of the viewer into a space within which individual expression intersected with public discourse.
Tactility: the interrogation of medium in art of the 1960s
Authors: Potts Alex
Published: March 2004

This article intervenes in current debate about medium by looking back to the 1960s, a moment located on the cusp between medium‐based and post‐medium conceptions of art. It examines a body of sculptural work where tactile qualities were given priority to the point where the formal values constituting sculpture as a medium were effectively negated. This situation illuminates a larger split emerging in the art world between the focus on materials and physical processes and the impulse to be liberated from the constraints of medium specificity. Such a split, it is argued, relates to divided perceptions of economy at the time when a preoccupation with the materials and processes of industrial production coexisted with a new focus on consumerism. What implications does the subsequent intensification of a consumer‐orientated economy have for understandings of the materiality of the art work in a post‐medium art world?
The methodological quality of trials affects estimates of treatment efficacy in functional (non‐ulcer) dyspepsia
Authors: Abraham N. S. , Moayyedi P. , Daniels B. , Veldhuyzen Van Zanten S. J. O.
Published: March 2004

Aim : To evaluate treatment efficacy using objective quality criteria.

Methods : A systematic review was performed of randomized controlled trials of endoscopically investigated dyspepsia (1979–2003) using the Jadad score and Rome II guidelines. The Jadad score differentiated studies as ‘high quality’ (score 4–5/5) vs. ‘poor quality’ (score 1–3/5). Three key Rome II guidelines on study design (cut‐off of 0/3 or > 0/3) were also compared with the Jadad score.

Results : Poor quality trials suggested a benefit of prokinetic therapy [relative risk (RR) of remaining dyspeptic, 0.47; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.39–0.56), which was not confirmed in high quality trials (RR, 1.0; 95% CI, 0.84–1.19). There was a marked benefit of H2‐receptor antagonist therapy in poor quality trials (RR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.61–0.76), but a marginal benefit in good quality trials (RR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.79–0.97). Trial quality did not affect the small statistically significant benefit seen with Helicobacter pylori eradication. Two high quality trials suggested a limited benefit with the use of proton pump inhibitors, with no poor quality trials to provide a comparison. Separation of the studies by the Rome II criteria had a similar impact on the calculated treatment estimates.

Conclusions : The magnitude of benefit of prokinetic and H2‐receptor antagonist therapies reported in previous meta‐analyses has been over‐estimated. The quality of trials has an impact on the efficacy estimates of treatment. The Rome II criteria for study methodology may be appropriate for judging study quality.
The risk of congenital abnormalities in children fathered by men treated with azathioprine or mercaptopurine before conception
Authors: Nørgård B. , Pedersen L. , Jacobsen J. , Rasmussen S. N. , Sørensen H. T.
Published: March 2004

Background : Immunosuppressive therapy with azathioprine and mercaptopurine is commonly used in patients with various chronic diseases. The few existing data on the reproductive safety of these drugs after paternal use before conception are inconclusive.

Aim : To examine the risk of congenital abnormalities in children fathered by men exposed to azathioprine or mercaptopurine before conception.

Methods : This was a Danish population‐based cohort study, based on data from the Prescription Database, the Medical Birth Registry and the Hospital Discharge Registry of North Jutland County, Denmark. Fifty‐four exposed pregnancies, in which the father filed a prescription for azathioprine or mercaptopurine (between 1 January 1991 and 31 December 2001) before conception, were included. The controls comprised 57 195 pregnancies with no paternal azathioprine or mercaptopurine use.

Results : Four children with congenital abnormalities (underlying paternal diseases: glomerulonephritis and severe skin disease) were found in 54 exposed pregnancies (7.4%), compared with 2334 (4.1%) in controls. The adjusted odds ratio for congenital abnormalities in children fathered by men treated with azathioprine or mercaptopurine was 1.8 (95% confidence interval, 0.7–5.0).

Conclusions : Our data may indicate that paternal use of azathioprine or mercaptopurine before conception is associated with an increased risk of congenital abnormalities. However, more data are needed to determine whether the association is causal.
Tenatoprazole, a novel proton pump inhibitor with a prolonged plasma half‐life: effects on intragastric pH and comparison with esomeprazole in healthy volunteers
Authors: Galmiche J. P. , Bruley Des Varannes S. , Ducrotté P. , Sacher‐Huvelin S. , Vavasseur F. , Taccoen A. , Fiorentini P. , Homerin M.
Published: March 2004

Background : Proton pump inhibitors control gastric acidity better during the day than at night, when nocturnal acid breakthrough can occur. Tenatoprazole is a novel proton pump inhibitor with a seven‐fold longer plasma half‐life.

Aim : To compare the effects of tenatoprazole 20 mg (T20), tenatoprazole 40 mg (T40) and esomeprazole 40 mg (E40) on intragastric acidity in healthy volunteers.

Methods : This randomized, three‐period, cross‐over study enrolled 18 Helicobacter pylori‐negative volunteers, who received E40, T20 and T40 once daily for 7 days with a 14‐day washout between periods. Twenty‐four‐hour gastric pH monitoring was performed on day 7. Serum gastrin was assessed on day 8.

Results : T40 induced a more potent acid inhibition than T20 (24‐h median pH: 4.6 vs. 4.0, P < 0.01; daytime: 4.5 vs. 3.9, P < 0.01; night‐time: 4.7 vs. 4.1, P < 0.05). T40 was more potent than E40 (24‐h median pH: 4.6 vs. 4.2, P < 0.05; night‐time: 4.7 vs. 3.6, P < 0.01); the pH > 4 holding time was higher during the night for T40 than for E40: 64.3% vs. 46.8%, P < 0.01; the nocturnal acid breakthrough duration was significantly shorter for T40 than for E40. No significant gastrin increase was observed and all drugs were well tolerated.

Conclusion : T40 is significantly more potent than T20 and E40 during the night. The therapeutic relevance of this pharmacological advantage deserves further study.