bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Three Little Companies — the Birth of a Major Australian Scientific Instrument Industry
Authors: Willis J. B.
Published: November 2003

The atomic absorption spectrometer revolutionized chemical analysis in the 1960s. Invented by Alan Walsh of the CSIRO Division of Chemical Physics, its manufacture in Australia began with three small Melbourne companies making the necessary optical, mechanical and electronic components. Subsequently, one of these companies, Techtron Pty Ltd, made a complete instrument and became a major supplier to the international market. Techtron expanded rapidly and in 1967 was sold to a large US company, Varian Associates Inc., which still operates as Varian Australia Pty Ltd and manufactures atomic absorption spectrometers and other scientific instruments at Mulgrave, Victoria.
SNP cherry picker: maximizing the chance of finding an association with a disease SNP
Authors: Harris Mark , Martin Jeremy M. R. , Peden John F. , Rawlings Christopher J.
Published: November 2003

Summary: The high cost of genotyping single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) generally prohibits the systematic mapping of entire genetic linkage regions in order to find the polymorphisms associated with increased risk of disease. In practice, SNPs are selected at approximately equal spacing across the linkage region to try to locate a SNP lying in the haplotype block of the disease SNP. The size of the haplotype block may not be known, however, and SNPs taken from public domain sources may not in fact be polymorphic. Our program will choose a subset of the SNPs in a linkage region so as to maximize the expected proportion of the sequence that lies within a given distance of a real SNP.

Availability: The software is available, free of charge, for academic use on request from the authors.

Supplementary Information:  www.oxagen.co.uk
Electrophoretic data classification for phylogenetics and biostatistics
Authors: Cardinali Gianluigi , Maraziti Francesco , Selvi Sabrina
Published: November 2003

Summary: This paper presents ClassMaker, a macro of MS Excel® able to classify continuous data of molecular weight data as binary (1/0) values. The output is represented by a binary matrix, which can be introduced in every software application for phylogenetics or multivariate statistics. This application is designed in order to be a link between image analysis programs and statistical or phylogenetic applications, in order to produce a complete series of free programs able to carry out the complete analysis from the gel to the dendrogram.

Availability: ClassMaker is freely available from http://www.agr.unipg.it/cardinali/index.html, where a list of the URLs from which programs of image analysis, statistics and phylogenetics can be freely downloaded.
An unsupervised hierarchical dynamic self-organizing approach to cancer class discovery and marker gene identification in microarray data
Authors: Hsu Arthur L. , Tang Sen-Lin , Halgamuge Saman K.
Published: November 2003

Motivation: Current Self-Organizing Maps (SOMs) approaches to gene expression pattern clustering require the user to predefine the number of clusters likely to be expected. Hierarchical clustering methods used in this area do not provide unique partitioning of data. We describe an unsupervised dynamic hierarchical self-organizing approach, which suggests an appropriate number of clusters, to perform class discovery and marker gene identification in microarray data. In the process of class discovery, the proposed algorithm identifies corresponding sets of predictor genes that best distinguish one class from other classes. The approach integrates merits of hierarchical clustering with robustness against noise known from self-organizing approaches.

Results: The proposed algorithm applied to DNA microarray data sets of two types of cancers has demonstrated its ability to produce the most suitable number of clusters. Further, the corresponding marker genes identified through the unsupervised algorithm also have a strong biological relationship to the specific cancer class. The algorithm tested on leukemia microarray data, which contains three leukemia types, was able to determine three major and one minor cluster. Prediction models built for the four clusters indicate that the prediction strength for the smaller cluster is generally low, therefore labelled as uncertain cluster. Further analysis shows that the uncertain cluster can be subdivided further, and the subdivisions are related to two of the original clusters. Another test performed using colon cancer microarray data has automatically derived two clusters, which is consistent with the number of classes in data (cancerous and normal).

Availability: JAVA software of dynamic SOM tree algorithm is available upon request for academic use.

Supplementary information: A comparison of rectangular and hexagonal topologies for GSOM is available from http://www.mame.mu.oz.au/mechatronics/journalinfo/Hsu2003supp.pdf
Effortful Control as a Personality Characteristic of Young Children: Antecedents, Correlates, and Consequences
Authors: Kochanska Grazyna , Knaack Amy
Published: November 2003

Abstract
Effortful control, the ability to suppress a dominant response to perform a subdominant response, was assessed in 106 children during early childhood (at 22, 33, and 45 months) using multitask behavioral batteries. By 45 months, effortful control was highly longitudinally stable and coherent across tasks and thus appeared to be a traitlike characteristic of children's personality. Children who had been less intense in terms of proneness to anger and joy, and those who had been more inhibited to the unfamiliar in the second year developed higher effortful control. Children with higher effortful control at 22–45 months developed stronger consciences at 56 months and displayed fewer externalizing problems at 73 months. Effortful control mediated the oft‐reported relations between maternal power assertion and impaired conscience development in children, even when child management difficulty was controlled.
Felix Culpa: Luck In Ethics And Epistemology
Authors: Axtell Guy
Published: November 2003

Luck threatens in similar ways our conceptions of both moral and epistemic evaluation. This essay examines the problem of luck as a metaphilosophical problem spanning the division between subfields in philosophy. I first explore the analogies between ethical and epistemic luck by comparing influential attempts to expunge luck from our conceptions of agency in these two subfields. I then focus upon Duncan Pritchard's challenge to the motivations underlying virtue epistemology, based specifically on its handling of the problem of epistemic luck. I argue that (1) consideration of the multifold nature of the problem of epistemic luck to an adequate account of human knowledge drives us to a mixed externalist epistemology; and (2) the virtue‐theoretical approach presents a particularly advantageous way of framing and developing a mixed externalist epistemology.
Virtue and Luck, Epistemic and Otherwise
Authors: Greco John
Published: November 2003

This essay defends virtue reliabilism against a line of argument put forward by Duncan Pritchard. In the process, it discusses (1) the motivations for virtue reliabilism, (2) some analogies between epistemic virtue and moral virtue, and (3) the relation between virtue (epistemic and otherwise) and luck (epistemic and otherwise). It argues that considerations about virtue and luck suggest a solution to Gettier problems from the perspective of a virtue theory.
At the End of an Age?
Authors: McNeill William H.
Published: November 2003

Book reviewed in this article:

John Lukacs, At the End of an Age
Frontiers of Individuality: Embodiment and Relationships in Cultural Context
Authors: Meyers Diana Tietjens
Published: November 2003

Book reviewed in this article:

Margaret S. Archer, Being Human: The Problem of Agency
Squaring the circles: issues in modeling English worldwide
Authors: Bruthiaux Paul
Published: November 2003

The model originally promoted by Braj Kachru and representing English worldwide as Inner, Outer, and Expanding circles has helped valorize denigrated varieties by drawing attention to commonalities across old and new varieties and by altering perceptions of their communicative potential and relative prestige. However, the model suffers from being based in a political/historical view of English worldwide and thus fails to capture transplantations of the language in locations not formally recorded by colonial history. Because it promotes specific varieties, the model also ignores variation within locales, especially where the gap between those who know English and those who do not is vast. Overall, the model encourages broad‐brush descriptions of manifestations of English across all three circles that do not stand up to sociolinguistic analysis. In response, it is suggested that the model can continue to serve as a shorthand for English worldwide but that it must adapt by (1) moving away from a focus on nation‐states in favor of a sociolinguistic focus on English‐speaking communities wherever they are found and (2) recognizing that fundamental differences across contexts for English worldwide cannot be glossed over in support of specific varieties if we are to arrive at descriptively adequate sociolinguistics and socially relevant language policies.
Concurrent and retrospective verbal reports as tools to better understand the role of attention in second language tasks
Authors: Camps Joaquim
Published: November 2003

This study investigates how the use of think‐aloud protocols, both concurrent and retrospective, can contribute to the study of the role of attention in second language acquisition. It is based on the analysis of think‐aloud protocols produced by 74 first‐year learners of Spanish during and immediately after a reading and multiple‐choice activity. The activity consisted of a text with direct object pronouns and 16 blanks for which a choice of three possible antecedents was given. The key to making the right choice was attending to both form and meaning in the input. The data in the think‐aloud protocols was classified into mentions of the pronouns in the text as well as references to gender and number agreement. The results showed that mention of the targeted structure in the think‐aloud protocols was related to better performance on the task for second‐semester students, but not for first‐semester students. There was some difference in the results for the concurrent and retrospective protocols. The possible complementary nature of these two sources of data is discussed.
Reviews
Authors: Tatham Mark , Scholfield Phil
Published: November 2003

Books reviewed in this article:

Peter Roach, Phonetics

Barbara Fennell, A History of English: A Sociolinguistic Approach
Monitoring and Diagnosis Systems: New Components of Production Planning and Control — Methodologies, Applications and Experience
Authors: Wiendahl Hans‐Peter , Ludwig Eberhard , Ullmann Werner
Published: November 2003

Traditional performance measurement in job shop production disregards the new challenges concerning logistics‐oriented customer demands. Additionally, the manufacturing of innovative products requires lean and efficient production structures and stable production processes. But the way to lean production often suffers from the lack of objective performance criteria at shop floor level. We introduce new approaches for the logistics evaluation of production: monitoring and diagnostic methods support the analysis of production flows and order structures, allowing for a quantified turn to account of hidden potentials. By means of a dependency model combined with AI techniques, deviations are detected and even appropriate actions can be proposed. On this basis, company‐wide accepted information systems with illustrative graphics help to keep on‐track with consistent and realistic defined goals.
Towards Intelligent Organisational Information Systems
Authors: Mentzas Gregory
Published: November 2003

It has been argued in the literature that although specific types of computer‐based information systems (CBIS) are powerful tools in certain parts of the decision‐making processes in modern organisations, none of them provides integrated support. This lack becomes even more acute when one considers the operation of CBIS within an organisational setting where consistent assistance of a multitude of users in different departments is required, together with facilities for modelling such features as cooperation, conflict, negotiation, etc. On the other hand, there are indications that the incorporation of abilities such as perception, interpretation, reasoning, explanation, goal‐setting, and learning in computer‐aided support would greatly enhance the aforementioned decision‐making processes. This paper reviews the evolution of CBIS, and attempts to synthesise current research towards the goal of competent and intelligent aiding of decision‐making in organisational settings. The main argument of the paper is that decision‐making functions in multi‐participant organisations can be facilitated by the use of intelligent software entities with autonomous processing capabilities which possess coordination and negotiation facilities and are organised in distributed, hierarchical societies. This paper presents a conceptual definition of these entities, outlines their structural characteristics, and describes a framework for research towards their development.
The Changing Face of OR Practice Present Indicators and Possible in the UK: Futures
Authors: Benett Peter
Published: November 2003

This paper starts by considering some indicators of how OR in the UK has changed in the short term, over the past five years. During this time, Strathclyde University's postgraduate course in OR has included a brief placement for students half‐way through the course, in which they spend time with practising OR groups. Students report back on how the group is organised, who its clients are, what sort of work it is doing, methods in common use, and so on. Data have now been gathered from a wide variety of groups throughout Britain. Having discussed the changes reflected in these ‘reports from the front’, we go on to consider whether they can be seen as harbingers of longer‐term shifts in the nature of OR practice, with particular reference to the possible impacts of new Information Technologies on organisations.
Evolutionary Computation Techniques for Nonlinear Programming Problems
Authors: Michalewicz Zbigniew
Published: November 2003

This paper presents several evolutionary computation techniques and discusses their applicability to nonlinear programming problems. On the basis of this presentation we discuss also a construction of a new hybrid optimization system, Genocop 11, and present its experimental results on a few test cases (nonlinear programming problems).
Weak Lower Subdifferentiability in Fractional Programming
Authors: Boncompte M. , Martínez‐Legaz J.E.
Published: November 2003

We consider generalized fractional programming problems for which numerators and denominators appearing in the objective function satisfy certain tangential convexity conditions ensuring its weak lower subdifferentiability. Estimates of the weak lower subdifferential in terms of the generalized subdifferentials of the numerators and denominators are provided and necessary and sufficient Kuhn‐Tucker type optimality conditions involving these sets are obtained for problems with quasiconvex constraints.
Delivering Improvement from Truth — the Fragile Link Between Analysis and Effective Change
Authors: Falkenhausen Hasso Freiherr Von
Published: November 2003

In the history of operations research in industry there has been an abundance of analyses and recommendations produced in millions of man hours by dedicated OR specialists. And yet the net improvement is significantly lower than expected. There are numerous reasons for this shortfall: incomplete analysis, too much theory, incomplete implementation, unreliable recommendations, or a combination of some of these reasons.

By describing several examples, the major reasons for the fragility of the link between recommendation and implementation will be reviewed. What has to be done today to increase the likelihood of implementing an OR recommendation and thus improve the performance of an industrial entity by using the power of OR tools will then be described.
Quasidifferential Optimization Algorithms in a Parallel Computation Environment
Authors: Peretti A.
Published: November 2003

In this paper some parallel algorithms for the minimization of a quasidifferentiable function in the sense of Dem'yanov are considered. In particular a new parallel method for the search of a descent direction of a subdifferentiable function is presented. Such a method is based on the approximation of the subdifferential by a simplex which is related to the directional derivatives of the function at the current point; the direction of descent is found by solving in parallel some quadratic programming problems on the simplex. Some ideas about the possibility of reducing the number of constraints are also presented. Based on this new method, an algorithm for quasidifferentiable functions is sketched.
An Approach to Ordinal Classification Problems
Authors: Larichev O.I. , Moshkovich H.M.
Published: November 2003

An ordinal classification task is defined. An approach to the construction of full ordinal classification on the basis of a decision maker's knowledge is proposed. It allows elicitation of information (or knowledge) in a natural form for the decision maker (through qualitative attribute scales and verbal descriptions of decision classes). It provides verification of the received judgments for consistency and possibilities for corrections and modifications of the elicited classification rules. Problems with obtaining valid judgments from people in ordinal classification tasks are discussed. The decision support system ORCLASS, developed on the of the proposed approach, is described.
Impact of the New Global Environment on US National Security Planning — Challenges to the OR Community
Authors: Bonder Seth
Published: November 2003

Recent events have changed the world political/military environment from a relatively stable bi‐polar one to one with much less regional stability. This paper will describe the impacts of this change on US national security planning. It summarizes the global and national security environment changes, corresponding changes in the analysis activity to support national security planning, some approaches used to conduct analyses in the new environment, and some emerging results.
Community OR — Five Years of Organised Activities and Beyond
Authors: Ritchie Charles
Published: November 2003

What has become known as Community Operational Research has been around in the UK for many years. The election of Jonathan Rosenhead as President of the UK OR Society in 1986–87 was the catalyst for bringing together and expanding activities which had been carried out largely by individuals working in isolation on a voluntary basis. The following five years have seen the establishment of the Community OR Unit at Northern College, the Centre for Community OR at Hull University and the Community OR Network, which supports the activities of volunteer OR workers across the UK. This paper reviews the range and types of work which have been undertaken by various practitioners. An assessment of the success of community OR is made and a number of issues which have arisen are discussed. Finally, given the diverse nature of community OR, its practice and practitioners, there is some discussion about the future of the area.
Constitutional courts as veto players: Divorce and decrees in Italy
Authors: VOLCANSEK MARY L.
Published: November 2003

Abstract. This article argues that constitutional courts in Western European parliamentary systems should be integrated into discussions of how public policies are changed, rather than being viewed as an external veto point. It attempts to bridge a gap between a judicial politics literature that focuses on the micro–level of individual judges’ votes and comparative scholarship that operates at the macro–level. A model for viewing constitutional courts as veto players, as a third institutional actor, is proposed and is then illustrated using the cases of legalizing divorce and blocking the executive reissuing decree laws in Italy. The model considers both the indirect and direct influences that constitutional courts can exert on the policy–making process. It also facilitates understanding and explaining the role of courts, as well as legislatures and executives, in conducting the interactions and bargaining that result in policy change.
Coming Apart: Fiscal and Budgetary Policy Processes in the Johnson Administration
Authors: Mowery David C. , Kamlet Mark S.
Published: November 2003

Budgeting in the 1980s seems very different from budgeting in the 1960s. The differences have more to do with economic conditions than with the techniques of budgeting. In the article published below, David C. Mowery and Mark S. Kamlet present their interpretation of how budgeting was transformed during the Johnson administration. The editors of this journal, both of whom have conducted research on the Johnson administration, do not share the point of view expressed in this article, but believe that the readers of Public Budgeting and Finance should be provided a diverse range of viewpoints. The editors invite comment on this article and expect to publish articles presenting different interpretations in subsequent issues of the journal.
From The Summit: The President's Budget for 1989
Authors: Caiden Naomi
Published: November 2003

The president's budget is a political document, a prediction and an institution. As a political document, its version of the past and vision of the future are open to criticism. As a prediction, its projections arguable in the light of experience and professional judgment. As an institution, its contribution to the general capacity of government is subject to debate.
State Medicaid Budgeting in Hard Times: Implications for Long‐Term Care
Authors: Keigher Sharon M.
Published: November 2003

This qualitative analysis compares the annual Medicaid budgeting processes in Utah and Illinois from the late 1970s until 1985, explaining why Utah cut the proportion spent on nursing homes and Illinois did not. It posits rational, organizational, and political process interpretations of each state's choices. The states implemented Medicaid rationing (through preadmission screening, rate freezes and adjustments, and expansion of alternatives) in significantly different ways. Utah reduced utilization of nursing homes while Illinois contained rates. Such diverse policy choices have aggravated disparities among the states in access to and quality of long‐term care. Rational planning for our aging society will have to overcome these growing disparities among state policies.
Current Practices and Issues in Capital Budgeting and Reporting
Authors: Bunch Beverly S.
Published: November 2003

Budgeting and accounting professionals, as well as other interested parties, are currently examining ways to improve governmental capital budgeting and reporting. Although progress has been made, major policy issues are still being analyzed and debated. This article provides an overview of current practices and the major policy issues that are being addressed. The discussion incorporates related ideas and observations made by Jesse Burkhead four decades ago. The author concludes that many of Burkhead's insights in the area of capital budgeting and reporting are still relevant and useful today.
Computerizing Accounting Systems in Developing Bureaucracies: Lessons from Kenya
Authors: Peterson Stephen , Kinyeki Charles , Mutai Joseph , Ndungu Charles
Published: November 2003

Kenya's agriculture ministries are reforming their accounting systems and the reform includes computerization. This article examines the impact of computers on accounts and the lessons that can be drawn from Kenya about building computerized accounting systems.

Four propositions emerge about the impact of computers on the accounting systems. First and surprisingly, the initial impact of computers is indirect. Their primary impact is to strengthen the manual accounts which the ministries continue to rely upon. Second, computers promote effectiveness reforms by changing procedures, rather than efficiency reforms by accelerating the throughput of data with existing procedures. Third, computers do not initially promote document processing but do improve data processing. Fourth, computers do promote rudimentary analysis.

One conclusion from the Kenya case is that modular implementation of computerized accounting is helpful. Implementing modules rather than an integrated system means that accounting reforms can begin without waiting for lengthy procedural reforms. Modular implementation also facilitates agency involvement in the design of the system.
Congress, the Deficit, and Budget Reconciliation
Authors: Doyle Richard
Published: November 2003

President Clinton's veto of the 1995 reconciliation bill, the largest and most ambitious such legislation ever passed by Congress, was the first time a reconciliation bill was ever rejected by a president. It was also the first reconciliation bill in two decades to include a tax reduction rather than a tax increase. The fate of this bill, and its scope and contents, suggest the need to assess the evolution of reconciliation within the congressional budget process. In the early 1980s, Congress altered budget reconciliation procedures, putting in place a powerful new capability for deficit reduction. Reconciliation became the primary means within the budget process of restraining entitlement spending and increasing taxes as part of congressional efforts to reduce the deficit. Gramm‐Rudman‐Hollings magnified certain problems Congress encountered in using reconciliation to control entitlements, producing increased pressure to cut discretionary spending. While the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 included new authority to use reconciliation to restrain entitlements, congressional spending priorities combined with the Peace Dividend to maintain the relative sanctuary entitlement programs have enjoyed. The limits of reconciliation as a deficit reduction tool, both in terms of increasing revenues and curtailing entitlements, are detailed. The inherent procedural advantages accorded to entitlements are contrasted with the treatment of discretionary programs, explaining in part the widening gulf between these two categories of spending. Congress has attempted, without success, to find alternatives to reconciliation. The failure of the seven‐year, deficit‐eliminating reconciliation bill of 1995 may indicate that certain Limits on the use of reconciliation may have been reached.
Line Item Veto Act of 1996: Heads‐up from the States
Authors: Fisher Louis
Published: November 2003

This article reflects on the passage of the Line Item Veto Act of 1996 and the impact it is likely to have on the three branches of the federal government. It does this by reviewing the experiences of various states, thereby revealing the creative tactics that legislatures undertake to subvert governmental item‐veto powers. In addition, it shows that the state courts, which are often ill‐equipped to decide complex fiscal and procedural issues, have both diluted and strengthened item‐veto powers. In the final analysis, the article questions the ability of the Act to increase public accountability.
The Use of Program Analysis in State Budgeting: Changes between 1990 and 1995
Authors: Lee Robert D.
Published: November 2003

Reform literature has long championed the notion that program analysis should be utilized in budgetary decision making. This article reveals that, although the 1990s may have shown renewed interest in this line of reform nationally, a noticeable decline seems to have occurred in the conduct and use of program analysis by states. The article examines other changes in the period from 1990 to 1995, compares different executive‐branch units with one another in their involvement with program analysis, and considers possible relationships between executive and legislative use of analysis Few linkages are found between the characteristics of states and their use of program analysis. The article concludes with a discussion of possible explanations for the changes between 1990 and 1995 and the implications of those changes.
Budgeting in Ghana: Innovations, Problems, and Prospects
Authors: Assibey‐Mensah George O.
Published: November 2003

Systematic development has been a high priority of Ghanaian leaders, particularly since Independence. The impetus for this national objective has been recent budgetary innovations aimed at far‐reaching implications for a healthy national economy, including meaningful development. This article evaluates these innovations with a view to finding out the extent to which such forces of innovation have improved overall public financial administration, as well as the masses' living conditions via development. Finally, the results of these innovations and the lessons learned are summarized.
Late Appropriations and Government Shutdowns: Frequency, Causes, Consequences, and Remedies
Authors: Meyers Roy T.
Published: November 2003

This article reviews the history of government shutdowns and evaluates their effects. It first discusses the frequency of late appropriation bills, especially since the passage of the Congressional Budget Act in 1974. Then it examines the commonly suspected causes and the resulting consequences (the most extreme being government shutdowns). Remedies are suggested to alleviate financial, managerial and political costs of government shutdowns.
The Impoundment Control Act of 1974: Restraining or Reviving Presidential Power?
Authors: McMurtry Virginia A.
Published: November 2003

The power to impound allows the president to cancel or postpone the spending of appropriated funds. Over the years Congress has struggled with the challenge of maintaining some control over impoundment actions while still allowing sufficient discretion for the president during budget implementation. This article examines the events leading up to the passage of the Impoundment Control Act as Title X of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, and the framework established by the law. It provides some analysis of data on rescissions and deferrals in the period from 1975–1995 and reviews efforts to grant the president expanded impoundment authority, culminating in the passage of the Line Item Veto Act of 1996. On April 10, 1997, the new law was found unconstitutional by a district court, but on June 26 the Supreme Court set aside that earlier decision on jurisdictional grounds, ruling that the plaintiffs (six members of Congress) lacked proper legal standing to bring the case (Raines v. Byrd, 96–1671). However, the Supreme Court decision was confined to this technical issue and did not address the underlying constitutional questions. Whatever the further legal developments relating to the Line Item Veto Act, the article suggests that the issue of restraining or reviving presidential impoundment power will remain unsettled.
Local Property Taxation in South Africa: Current Performance and Challenges for the Post‐Apartheid Era
Authors: Bell Michael E. , Bowman John H.
Published: November 2003

As part of the many changes in post‐apartheid South Africa, few large non‐racial local governments replace relatively small, racially defined ones. The new constitution reserves property taxation for local governments, making it the only major tax available to localities. Property taxation is being extended into previously untaxed areas, principally those of the former black local authorities. It is expected that pressures on this tax will increase as it is called upon to finance services for the larger population Preliminary assessment‐sales ratio studies for a handful of localities indicate a wide range of assessment levels. Such circumstances could undermine the acceptance and legitimacy of the tax and, perhaps, of local government. More frequent valuation might raise both assessment levels and uniformity. Systematic, widespread ratio studies and a closer look at the manner in which values are estimated are needed.
Budget Reform in Malaysia and Australia Compared
Authors: Xavier John Antony
Published: November 2003

The study, using the recent contrasting experience of budget reform in Malaysia and Australia, inquires why quite similar changes were attempted in different socio‐economic and fiscal settings. It explains why their implementation differed and identifies the factors that shaped, sustained, or impeded the respective efforts.

Three basic themes emerge. First, political and administrative will are necessary requirements for the success of any budget reform effort. Second, the more correspondent the bureaucratic culture is with the culture upon which the new budget system is premised, the more easily change occurs. Third, a model of reform predicated upon the assumption of fiscal restraint cannot effectively function in a climate of fiscal relaxation. Malaysia adapted its budget model from the Australian system. As the Australian model suited the paradigm of expenditure restraint, the adapted model proved less workable against the Malaysian climate of fiscal relaxation.
Active dendrites and spike propagation in multicompartment models of oriens‐lacunosum/moleculare hippocampal interneurons
Authors: Saraga F. , Wu C. P. , Zhang L. , Skinner F. K.
Published: November 2003

It is well known that interneurons are heterogeneous in their morphologies, biophysical properties, pharmacological sensitivities and electrophysiological responses, but it is unknown how best to understand this diversity. Given their critical roles in shaping brain output, it is important to try to understand the functionality of their computational characteristics. To do this, we focus on specific interneuron subtypes. In particular, it has recently been shown that long‐term potentiation is induced specifically on oriens‐lacunosum/moleculare (O‐LM) interneurons in hippocampus CA1 and that the same cells contain the highest density of dendritic sodium and potassium conductances measured to date. We have created multi‐compartment models of an O‐LM hippocampal interneuron using passive properties, channel kinetics, densities and distributions specific to this cell type, and explored its signalling characteristics. We found that spike initiation depends on both location and amount of input, as well as the intrinsic properties of the interneuron. Distal synaptic input always produces strong back‐propagating spikes whereas proximal input could produce both forward‐ and back‐propagating spikes depending on the input strength. We speculate that the highly active dendrites of these interneurons endow them with a specialized function within the hippocampal circuitry by allowing them to regulate direct and indirect signalling pathways within the hippocampus.
Oestrogen effects on urine concentrating response in young women
Authors: Stachenfeld Nina S. , Taylor Hugh S. , Leone Cheryl A. , Keefe David L.
Published: November 2003

Oestrogen lowers the plasma osmotic threshold for arginine vasopressin (AVP) release but without commensurate changes in renal concentrating response, suggesting oestrogen (OE2) may lower renal sensitivity to AVP. Ten women (23 ± 1 years) received a gonadotropin releasing hormone analogue (GnRHa), leuprolide acetate, to suppress OE2 for 35 days, and then added OE2 (two patches each delivering 0.1 mg day−1) on days 32–35. On days 28 and 35 we tested blood and renal water and sodium (Na+) regulation during stepwise 60 min AVP infusions (10, 35, 100, 150 and 200 μu (kg body weight)−1 Pitressin). Plasma OE2 concentration increased from 19 ± 4 to 152 ± 3 pg ml−1 and plasma progesterone concentration was unchanged (1.0 ± 0.4 and 0.7 ± 0.1 ng ml−1) for GnRHa and OE2 administration, respectively. Standard log plots of plasma AVP concentration ([AVP]P) vs. urine osmolality (OsmU) were fitted to a sigmoidal curve, and EC50 was determined by non‐linear regression curve fitting of concentration‐response data. OsmU rose exponentially during AVP infusions, but hormone treatments did not affect EC50 (3.3 ± 0.07 and 3.1 ± 0.6 pg ml−1, for GnRHa and OE2, respectively). However, the urine osmolality increase was greater within the physiological range (˜2.5−3.4 pg ml−1[AVP]P) during OE2 treatment. Throughout most of the AVP infusion, the rate of clearance of AVP from plasma (PCRAVP) was increased during OE2 (45.5 ml (kg body weight)−1 min−1) compared to GnRHa administration (33.1 ml (kg body weight)−1 min−1; mean for the 100–200 μu (kg body weight)−1 infusion rates). The rate of renal free water clearance (CH2O) was similar between hormone treatments. Sodium excretion fell during OE2 administration due to greater distal tubular sodium reabsorption. Despite more rapid PCRAVP, renal concentrating response to graded AVP infusions was unaffected by oestrogen treatment suggesting oestrogen does not affect overall renal sensitivity to AVP. However, OE2 may increase renal fluid retention within a physiological range of AVP.
Functional and Biochemical Analysis of
Chlamydia trachomatis
MurC, an Enzyme Displaying UDP-
N
-Acetylmuramate:Amino Acid Ligase Activity
Authors: Hesse Lars , Bostock Julieanne , Dementin Sebastien , Blanot Didier , Mengin-Lecreulx Dominique , Chopra Ian
Published: November 2003

Chlamydiae are unusual obligate intracellular bacteria that cause serious infections in humans. Chlamydiae contain genes that appear to encode products with peptidoglycan biosynthetic activity. The organisms are also susceptible to antibiotics that inhibit peptidoglycan synthesis. However, chlamydiae do not synthesize detectable peptidoglycan. The paradox created by these observations is known as the chlamydial anomaly. The MurC enzyme of chlamydiae, which is synthesized as a bifunctional MurC-Ddl product, is expected to possess UDP-
N
-acetylmuramate (UDP-MurNAc):
l
-alanine ligase activity. In this paper we demonstrate that the MurC domain of the
Chlamydia trachomatis
bifunctional protein is functionally expressed in
Escherichia coli
, since it complements a conditional lethal
E. coli
mutant possessing a temperature-sensitive lesion in MurC. The recombinant MurC domain was overexpressed in and purified from
E. coli
. It displayed in vitro ATP-dependent UDP-MurNAc:
l
-alanine ligase activity, with a pH optimum of 8.0 and dependence upon magnesium ions (optimum concentration, 20 mM). Its substrate specificity was studied with three amino acids (
l
-alanine,
l
-serine, and glycine); comparable
V
max
/

K
m

values were obtained. Our results are consistent with the synthesis of a muramic acid-containing polymer in chlamydiae with UDP-MurNAc-pentapeptide as a precursor molecule. However, due to the lack of specificity of MurC activity in vitro, it is not obvious which amino acid is present in the first position of the pentapeptide.
The ADP-Ribosylating Toxin, AexT, fromAeromonas salmonicidasubsp.salmonicidaIs Translocated via a Type III Secretion Pathway
Authors: Burr Sarah E. , Stuber Katja , Frey Joachim
Published: November 2003

AexT is an extracellular ADP ribosyltransferase produced by the fish pathogenAeromonas salmonicidasubsp.salmonicida. The protein is secreted by the bacterium via a recently identified type III secretion system. In this study, we have identified a further 12 open reading frames that possess high homology to genes encoding both structural and regulatory components of theYersiniatype III secretion apparatus. Using marker replacement mutagenesis ofaopB, theA. salmonicidasubsp.salmonicidahomologue ofyopBinYersinia, we demonstrate that the bacterium translocates the AexT toxin directly into the cytosol of cultured fish cells via this type III secretion pathway. AnacrVmutant ofA. salmonicidasubsp.salmonicidadisplays a calcium-blind phenotype, expressing and secreting significant amounts of AexT even in the presence of CaCl2concentrations as high as 10 mM. ThisacrVmutant is also unable to translocate AexT into the cytosol of fish cells, indicating AcrV is involved in the translocation process. Inactivation of either theaopBoracrVgene inA. salmonicidasubsp.salmonicida(resulting in an inability to translocate AexT) is accompanied by a loss of cytotoxicity that can be restored bytranscomplementation. Finally, we present data indicating that preincubation of the wild-type bacteria with antibodies directed against recombinant AcrV-His protein provides fish cells protection against the toxic effects of the bacterium.
Purification and Characterization of the PcrA Helicase ofBacillus anthracis
Authors: Naqvi Asma , Tinsley Eowyn , Khan Saleem A.
Published: November 2003

PcrA is an essential helicase in gram-positive bacteria, and a gene encoding this helicase has been identified in all such organisms whose genomes have been sequenced so far. The precise role of PcrA that makes it essential for cell growth is not known; however, PcrA does not appear to be necessary for chromosome replication. ThepcrAgene was identified in the genome ofBacillus anthracison the basis of its sequence homology to the corresponding genes ofBacillus subtilisandStaphylococcus aureus, with which it shares 76 and 72% similarity, respectively. ThepcrAgene ofB. anthraciswas isolated by PCR amplification and cloning intoEscherichia coli. The PcrA protein was overexpressed with a His6fusion at its amino-terminal end. The purified His-PcrA protein showed ATPase activity that was stimulated in the presence of single-stranded (ss) DNA (ssDNA). Interestingly, PcrA showed robust 3′→5′ as well as 5′→3′ helicase activities, with substrates containing a duplex region and a 3′ or 5′ ss poly(dT) tail. PcrA also efficiently unwound oligonucleotides containing a duplex region and a 5′ or 3′ ss tail with the potential to form a secondary structure. DNA binding experiments showed that PcrA bound much more efficiently to oligonucleotides containing a duplex region and a 5′ or 3′ ss tail with a potential to form a secondary structure than to those with ssDNAs or duplex DNAs with ss poly(dT) tails. Our results suggest that specialized DNA structures and/or sequences represent natural substrates of PcrA in biochemical processes that are essential for the growth and survival of gram-positive organisms, includingB. anthracis.
Localization of the Vegetative Cell Wall Hydrolases LytC, LytE, and LytF on the
Bacillus subtilis
Cell Surface and Stability of These Enzymes to Cell Wall-Bound or Extracellular Proteases
Authors: Yamamoto Hiroki , Kurosawa Shin-ichirou , Sekiguchi Junichi
Published: November 2003

LytF, LytE, and LytC are vegetative cell wall hydrolases in
Bacillus subtilis
. Immunofluorescence microscopy showed that an epitope-tagged LytF fusion protein (LytF-3xFLAG) in the wild-type background strain was localized at cell separation sites and one of the cell poles of rod-shaped cells during vegetative growth. However, in a mutant lacking both the cell surface protease WprA and the extracellular protease Epr, the fusion protein was observed at both cell poles in addition to cell separation sites. This suggests that LytF is potentially localized at cell separation sites and both cell poles during vegetative growth and that WprA and Epr are involved in LytF degradation. The localization pattern of LytE-3xFLAG was very similar to that of LytF-3xFLAG during vegetative growth. However, especially in the early vegetative growth phase, there was a remarkable difference between the shape of cells expressing LytE-3xFLAG and the shape of cells expressing LytF-3xFLAG. In the case of LytF-3xFLAG, it seemed that the signals in normal rod-shaped cells were stronger than those in long-chain cells. In contrast, the reverse was found in the case of LytE-3xFLAG. This difference may reflect the dependence on different sigma factors for gene expression. The results support and extend the previous finding that LytF and LytE are cell-separating enzymes. On the other hand, we observed that cells producing LytC-3xFLAG are uniformly coated with the fusion protein after the middle of the exponential growth phase, which supports the suggestion that LytC is a major autolysin that is not associated with cell separation.
Synthesis and Deformylation of
Staphylococcus aureus
δ-Toxin Are Linked to Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle Activity
Authors: Somerville Greg A. , Cockayne Alan , Dürr Manuela , Peschel Andreas , Otto Michael , Musser James M.
Published: November 2003

In bacteria, translation initiates with formyl-methionine; however, the N-terminal formyl group is usually removed by peptide deformylase, an enzymatic activity requiring iron.
Staphylococcus aureus
δ-toxin is a 26-amino-acid polypeptide secreted predominantly with a formylated N-terminal methionine, which led us to investigate regulation of δ-toxin deformylation. We observed that during exponential and early postexponential growth, δ-toxin accumulated in the culture medium in formylated and deformylated forms. In contrast, only formylated δ-toxin accumulated after the early postexponential phase. The transition from producing both species of δ-toxin to producing only formyl-methionine-containing δ-toxin coincided with increased tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle activity. The TCA cycle contains several iron-requiring enzymes, which led us to hypothesize that TCA cycle induction depletes the iron in the culture medium, thereby inhibiting peptide deformylase activity. As expected,
S. aureus
depletes the iron in the culture medium between the postexponential and stationary phases of growth. Inhibition of δ-toxin deformylation was relieved by TCA cycle inactivation or by addition of supplemental iron to the culture medium. Of interest, peptides containing formyl-methionine are potent chemoattractants for neutrophils, suggesting that δ-toxin deformylation may have functional consequences. We found neutrophil chemotactic activity only with formylated δ-toxin. The
S. aureus
TCA cycle is derepressed upon depletion of rapidly catabolizable carbon sources; this coincides with the transition to producing only formylated δ-toxin and results in an increased inflammatory response. The proinflammatory response should increase host cell damage and result in the release of nutrients. Taken together, these results establish that there is an important linkage between bacterial metabolism and pathogenesis.
Structural and Topographical Studies of the Type IV Bundle-Forming Pilus Assembly Complex of Enteropathogenic
Escherichia coli
Authors: Hwang Jaiweon , Bieber David , Ramer Sandra W. , Wu Cheng-Yen , Schoolnik Gary K.
Published: November 2003

The type IV bundle-forming pili (BFP) of enteropathogenic
Escherichia coli
(EPEC) are required for virulence in orally challenged human volunteers and for the localized adherence and autoaggregation in vitro phenotypes. BFP filament biogenesis and function are encoded by the 14-gene
bfp
operon. The BFP assembly complex, containing a BfpB-His
6
fusion protein, was chemically cross-linked in situ, and the complex was then purified from BFP-expressing EPEC by a combination of nickel- and BfpB antibody-based affinity chromatography. Characterization of the isolated complex by immunoblotting using BFP protein-specific antibodies showed that at least 10 of the 14 proteins specified by the
bfp
operon physically interact to form an oligomeric complex. Proteins localized to the outer membrane, inner membrane, and periplasm are within this complex, thus demonstrating that the complex spans the periplasmic space. A combination of immunofluorescence and immuno-gold thin-section transmission electron microscopy studies localized this complex to one pole of the cell.
Generalizations of Euler numbers and polynomials
Authors: Luo Qiu-Ming , Qi Feng , Debnath Lokenath
Published: November 2003

The concepts of Euler numbers and Euler polynomials are
generalized and some basic properties are investigated.