bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
U.S State Tax and Expenditure Limitations: A Comparative Political Analysis
Authors: New Michael J. 
Published: January 2011

AbstractMuch of the academic literature that examines U.S. state tax and expenditure limitations (TELs) concludes that TELs are an ineffective mechanism for limiting state spending. However, one shortcoming common to all of these studies is their failure to take into account the incentives of the political actors who enact these TELs. I hypothesize that because of differences in incentives, TELs enacted by citizen initiatives will be more stringent and more effective than TELs passed by state legislatures. An examination of the provisions of the various TELs and a regression analysis support this hypothesis.
New Measures of Partisanship, Ideology, and Policy Mood in the American States
Authors: Carsey Thomas M. , Harden Jeffrey J. 
Published: January 2011

AbstractWe construct measures of U.S. state partisan identification, self-reported ideology, and policy mood using data from the 2000 and 2004 National Annenberg Election Surveys (NAES) and the 2006 Cooperative Congressional Election Study (CCES). These measures improve on existing methods for estimating state-level preferences because the surveys provide larger state samples without pooling across years. After detailing our methods for constructing the measures, we assess their validity through comparisons with measures already in use by scholars of state politics. We find that our measures correlate strongly with those created by Erikson, Wright, and McIver (1993) and Berry et al. (1998) and with measures from state-level polls. We conclude that our measures can be useful to research in state politics.
A Matter of Context: Christian Right Influence in U.S. State Republican Politics
Authors: Conger Kimberly H. 
Published: January 2011

AbstractThe Christian Right is a powerful force in contemporary state Republican party politics. In this article, I create a new comprehensive measure of that influence and offer a theoretical framework through which to understand how influence varies across the states. Drawing from the insights of social movement theory, the results of the data analysis demonstrate the importance of the movement's internal resources and the state political context in which the Christian Right seeks to influence state Republican party politics.
“A Hundred Miles of Dry”: Religion and the Persistence of Prohibition in the U.S. States
Authors: Frendreis John , Tatalovich Raymond 
Published: January 2011

AbstractOur fundamental objective in this article is to explain why certain counties within the U.S continue to restrict the sale of alcohol at the start of the 21st century. What factors identified as important for the initial drive for Prohibition remain important nearly 80 years later? We assess to what extent social, political, and economic variables are related to the presence of restrictions on the sale of alcohol at the county-level across the United States. Analyzing contemporary county-level data from over 3,000 U.S. counties, the strongest factor associated with “dry” status of a county is the religious composition, specifically the presence of Evangelical Protestants. Conversely, a larger concentration of Roman Catholics inhibits prohibition in a county. The regional character of the political geography of contemporary prohibition—the phenomenon is almost entirely Southern—appears to be driven by the uneven distribution of different religious adherents across the country.
Second-Order Devolution and the Implementation of TANF in the U.S. States
Authors: Kim Byungkyu , Fording Richard C. 
Published: January 2011

AbstractWelfare reform gave the U.S. states the opportunity to engage in second-order devolution (SOD), which allows local governments to exercise more discretion in the implementation of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Proponents of welfare decentralization insist that local governments better understand the needs of the poor and are therefore able to implement TANF more effectively. Nevertheless, opponents argue that decentralization could lead to a “race to the bottom” and, thus, SOD might lead to more restrictive TANF implementation. We investigate these competing claims by examining how differences in decentralization affect (1) TANF caseload decline, (2) the use of sanctions, and (3) several work-related outcomes among recipients. Based on a series of state-level analyses, we find that SOD states experienced a greater degree of caseload decline than non-SOD states. In addition, SOD states were more likely to use punitive policy tools, such as TANF sanctions. However, we also find that SOD states display marginally better TANF performance, as reflected in higher rates of employment exits and earnings gains among TANF recipients. Thus, we find support for both sides of the decentralization debate.
Assessing the Impact of Legislative Lobbying Regulations on Interest Group Influence in U.S. State Legislatures
Authors: Ozymy Joshua 
Published: January 2011

AbstractAll 50 U.S. states currently regulate lobbying. Data restrictions, however, limit our understanding of the relationship between legislative lobbying laws and interest group influence within the legislative process over time. A comparable measure of these laws published in the summer 2005 issue of State Politics and Policy Quarterly suggests a dynamic analysis. The early 1990s witnessed a marked increase in the stringency of state legislative lobbying regulations. This article examines how lobbying regulation impacted interest group influence across all 50 state legislatures in 1995. I then determine whether changes in a state's regulations affected interest group influence over time from 1990 to 1995. Evidence suggests that increased regulation reduces influence both across and within states over time.
The Dynamics of Public Confidence in U.S. State and Local Government
Authors: Wolak Jennifer , Palus Christine Kelleher 
Published: January 2011

AbstractWhile the dynamics of trust in the national government have been shown to be responsive to political events and governmental performance, less is known about why the public's trust in U.S. state and local government rises and falls over time. We examine the trends in confidence in subnational government using an aggregate level approach. First, we consider whether levels of trust are defined by reactions to the national government. Second, we consider how factors specific to subnational politics such as governmental performance and the quality of community life influence trust. Using measures of confidence in state and local government from 1968 to 2004 and a set of error correction models, we find evidence for both accounts. Confidence in subnational governments reflects national trends such as economic tides and public preferences for more or less government, but also exhibits unique dynamics explained by factors specific to subnational politics.
Reduced NR4A gene dosage leads to mixed myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative neoplasms in mice
Authors: Ramirez-Herrick Ashley M. , Mullican Shannon E. , Sheehan Andrea M. , Conneely Orla M. 
Published: January 2011

Abstract
The NR4A subfamily of nuclear receptors (NR4A1, NR4A2, and NR4A3) function as transcription factors that transduce diverse extracellular signals into altered gene transcription to coordinate apoptosis, proliferation, cell cycle arrest, and DNA repair. We previously discovered that 2 of these receptors, NR4A1 and NR4A3, are potent tumor suppressors of acute myeloid leukemia (AML); they are silenced in human AML, and abrogation of both genes in mice leads to rapid postnatal development of AML. Reduced expression of NR4As is also a common feature of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDSs). Here we show that reduced gene dosage of NR4A1 and NR4A3 in hypoallelic (NR4A1+/−NR4A3−/− or NR4A1−/−NR4A3+/−) mice below a critical threshold leads to a chronic myeloid malignancy that closely recapitulates the pathologic features of mixed myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative neoplasms (MDS/MPNs) with progression to AML in rare cases. Enhanced proliferation and excessive apoptosis of hematopoietic stem cells and myeloid progenitors, together with elevated DNA damage, contribute to MDS/MPN disease. We identify the myeloid tumor suppressor genes Egr1 and JunB and the DNA damage checkpoint kinase, polo-like kinase 2 (Plk2) as deregulated genes whose disrupted signaling probably contributes to MDS/MPN. These mice provide a novel model to elucidate the molecular pathogenesis of MDS/MPN and for therapeutic evaluation.
The role of hRev7, the accessory subunit of hPolζ, in translesion synthesis past DNA damage induced by benzo[a]pyrene diol epoxide (BPDE)
Authors: Neal Jessica A , Fletcher Kathryn L , McCormick J Justin , Maher Veronica M 
Published: January 2011

Abstract

Background
DNA polymerase zeta (Polζ) is a specialized DNA polymerase that, unlike classical replicative polymerases, is capable of replicating past DNA lesions, i.e. of performing translesion synthesis (TLS). The catalytic subunit of hPolζ, hRev3, has been shown to play a critical role in DNA damage-induced mutagenesis in human cells, but less is known about the role of hRev7, the accessory subunit of hPolζ, in such mutagenesis. To address this question, we recently generated human fibroblasts with very significantly reduced levels of hRev7 protein and demonstrated that hRev7 is required to protect cells from ultraviolet(254 nm) (UV) radiation-induced cytotoxicity and mutagenesis (McNally et al., DNA Repair 7 (2008) 597-604). The goal of the present study was to determine whether hRev7 is similarly involved in the tolerance of DNA damage induced by benzo[a]pyrene diol epoxide (BPDE), the reactive form of the widespread environmental carcinogen benzo[a]pyrene.

Methods
To determine whether hRev7 also plays a role in protecting human cells from the cytotoxicity and mutagenesis induced by benzo[a]pyrene diol epoxide (BPDE), cell strains with reduced hRev7 were compared to their parental strain and a vector control strain for the effect of BPDE on cell survival, induction of mutations, and the ability to progress through the cell cycle.

Results
The results show that cell strains with reduced hRev7 are more sensitive to the cytotoxic effect of BPDE than the control strains, and progress through S-phase at a slower rate than the control cells following BPDE treatment, indicating that hRev7, and likely hPolζ, is required for efficient bypass of BPDE-induced DNA lesions. However, neither the frequency nor kinds of mutations induced by BPDE in cells with reduced hRev7 differ significantly from those induced in the control strains, suggesting that hPolζ is not essential for inserting nucleotides opposite BPDE-induced DNA damage.

Conclusions
Taken together, our results which show that hRev7 is required for TLS past BPDE-induced DNA lesions but that it is not essential for inserting nucleotides opposite such lesions suggest a role for hPolζ in the extension step of translesion synthesis.
Mining flexible-receptor docking experiments to select promising protein receptor snapshots
Authors: Machado Karina S , Winck Ana T , Ruiz Duncan DA , Norberto de Souza Osmar 
Published: January 2011

Abstract

Background
Molecular docking simulation is the Rational Drug Design (RDD) step that investigates the affinity between protein receptors and ligands. Typically, molecular docking algorithms consider receptors as rigid bodies. Receptors are, however, intrinsically flexible in the cellular environment. The use of a time series of receptor conformations is an approach to explore its flexibility in molecular docking computer simulations, but it is extensively time-consuming. Hence, selection of the most promising conformations can accelerate docking experiments and, consequently, the RDD efforts.

Results
We previously docked four ligands (NADH, TCL, PIF and ETH) to 3,100 conformations of the InhA receptor from M. tuberculosis. Based on the receptor residues-ligand distances we preprocessed all docking results to generate appropriate input to mine data. Data preprocessing was done by calculating the shortest interatomic distances between the ligand and the receptor’s residues for each docking result. They were the predictive attributes. The target attribute was the estimated free-energy of binding (FEB) value calculated by the AutodDock3.0.5 software. The mining inputs were submitted to the M5P model tree algorithm. It resulted in short and understandable trees. On the basis of the correlation values, for NADH, TCL and PIF we obtained more than 95% correlation while for ETH, only about 60%. Post processing the generated model trees for each of its linear models (LMs), we calculated the average FEB for their associated instances. From these values we considered a LM as representative if its average FEB was smaller than or equal the average FEB of the test set. The instances in the selected LMs were considered the most promising snapshots. It totalized 1,521, 1,780, 2,085 and 902 snapshots, for NADH, TCL, PIF and ETH respectively.

Conclusions
By post processing the generated model trees we were able to propose a criterion of selection of linear models which, in turn, is capable of selecting a set of promising receptor conformations. As future work we intend to go further and use these results to elaborate a strategy to preprocess the receptors 3-D spatial conformation in order to predict FEB values. Besides, we intend to select other compounds, among the million catalogued, that may be promising as new drug candidates for our particular protein receptor target.
Assessment of bacterial diversity in the cattle tick Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplusthrough tag-encoded pyrosequencing
Authors: Andreotti Renato , Pérez de León Adalberto A , Dowd Scot E , Guerrero Felix D , Bendele Kylie G , Scoles Glen A 
Published: January 2011

AbstractBackgroundTicks are regarded as the most relevant vectors of disease-causing pathogens in domestic and wild animals. The cattle tick,Rhipicephalus(Boophilus)microplus, hinders livestock production in tropical and subtropical parts of the world where it is endemic. Tick microbiomes remain largely unexplored. The objective of this study was to explore theR. microplusmicrobiome by applying the bacterial 16S tag-encoded FLX-titanium amplicon pyrosequencing (bTEFAP) technique to characterize its bacterial diversity. Pyrosequencing was performed on adult males and females, eggs, and gut and ovary tissues from adult females derived from samples ofR. micropluscollected during outbreaks in southern Texas.ResultsRaw data from bTEFAP were screened and trimmed based upon quality scores and binned into individual sample collections. Bacteria identified to the species level includeStaphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus chromogenes, Streptococcus dysgalactiae, Staphylococcus sciuri, Serratia marcescens, Corynebacterium glutamicum, andFinegoldia magna. One hundred twenty-one bacterial genera were detected in all the life stages and tissues sampled. The total number of genera identified by tick sample comprised: 53 in adult males, 61 in adult females, 11 in gut tissue, 7 in ovarian tissue, and 54 in the eggs. Notable genera detected in the cattle tick includeWolbachia,Coxiella, andBorrelia. The molecular approach applied in this study allowed us to assess the relative abundance of the microbiota associated withR. microplus.ConclusionsThis report represents the first survey of the bacteriome in the cattle tick using non-culture based molecular approaches. Comparisons of our results with previous bacterial surveys provide an indication of geographic variation in the assemblages of bacteria associated withR. microplus. Additional reports on the identification of new bacterial species maintained in nature byR. microplusthat may be pathogenic to its vertebrate hosts are expected as our understanding of its microbiota expands. Increased awareness of the roleR. micropluscan play in the transmission of pathogenic bacteria will enhance our ability to mitigate its economic impact on animal agriculture globally. This recognition should be included as part of analyses to assess the risk for re-invasion of areas like the United States of America whereR. micropluswas eradicated.
Mental health of female foreign spouses in transnational marriages in southern Taiwan
Authors: Shu Bih-Ching , Lung For-Wey , Chen Ching-Hsien 
Published: January 2011

Abstract

Background
The aim of this study was to investigate the mental health status, and the risk factors associated with mild psychiatric disorders, of female foreign spouses (from Vietnam, Indonesia, and mainland China) in southern Taiwan, and to understand the mental health needs of these women.

Methods
One hundred and twenty nine participants were willing to participate in this study. All participants fulfilled all questionnaires which included demographic information, the Chinese Health Questionnaire (CHQ), the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ), and the Mental Health Care Needs Questionnaire (MHCNQ).

Results
By multiple linear regression, neuroticism characteristics (p = 0.000), the dimension of knowledge of the level of their own psychological disturbance (p = 0.001), dimension of friends assistance (p = 0.033), and dimension of religion comfort (p = 0.041) in mental health care needs could be used to predict possible mild psychiatric disorders. Furthermore, SEM model showed that Indonesian or Vietnamese spouses have more likely degree in mental health care needs (β = -0.24, p = 0.003), compared with Chinese ones. A higher level of neuroticism was associated with a greater likelihood of mild psychiatric disorder (β = 0.54, p < 0.001), and of mental health care needs (β = 0.21, p = 0.013). A higher degree of mental health care needs was related to a greater likelihood of mild psychiatric disorder (β = 0.14, p = 0.05).

Conclusion
In conclusion, we have obtained a better understanding of the mental health status of female foreign spouses in transnational marriages, who face many difficulties. Indonesian or Vietnamese spouses tend to more likely degree in mental health care needs than Chinese spouses, and then indirectly influenced their mental health status. Some individuals with a neurotic personality are exposed to high risk and might suffer from mild psychiatric symptoms. The needs for psychological counseling and religion therapy were the first priority for these women, particularly the Indonesian and Vietnamese spouses. From these findings, we have a better understanding of how to assist these female foreign spouses in future.
Parenting strategies for reducing adolescent alcohol use: a Delphi consensus study
Authors: Ryan Siobhan M , Jorm Anthony F , Kelly Claire M , Hart Laura M , Morgan Amy J , Lubman Dan I 
Published: January 2011

Abstract

Background
International concern regarding the increase in preventable harms attributed to adolescent alcohol consumption has led to growing political and medical consensus that adolescents should avoid drinking for as long as possible. For this recommendation to be adopted, parents and guardians of adolescents require information about strategies that they can employ to prevent or reduce their adolescent's alcohol use that are supported by evidence.

Methods
The Delphi method was used to obtain expert consensus on parenting strategies effective in preventing and reducing adolescent alcohol consumption. A literature search identified 457 recommendations for parents to reduce their adolescent child's alcohol use. These recommendations were presented to a panel of 38 Australian experts who were asked to rate their importance over three survey rounds.

Results
There were 289 parenting strategies that were endorsed as important or essential in reducing adolescent alcohol use by ≥90% of the panel. These strategies were categorised into 11 sub-headings: things parents should know about adolescent alcohol use, delaying adolescent's introduction to alcohol, modelling responsible drinking and attitudes towards alcohol, talking to adolescents about alcohol, establishing family rules, monitoring adolescents when unsupervised, preparing adolescents for peer pressure, unsupervised adolescent drinking, what to do when an adolescent has been drinking without parental permission, hosting adolescent parties, and establishing and maintaining a good parent-child relationship. The endorsed strategies were written into a document suitable for parents.

Conclusions
A comprehensive set of parenting strategies for preventing or reducing adolescent alcohol consumption were identified. These strategies can be promoted to parents to help them implement national recommendations for use of alcohol by young people.
Science-based health innovation in Uganda: creative strategies for applying research to development
Authors: Kamunyori Sheila , Al-Bader Sara , Sewankambo Nelson , Singer Peter A , Daar Abdallah S 
Published: January 2011

Abstract

Background
Uganda has a long history of health research, but still faces critical health problems. It has made a number of recent moves towards building science and technology capacity which could have an impact on local health, if innovation can be fostered and harnessed.

Methods
Qualitative case study research methodology was used. Data were collected through reviews of academic literature and policy documents and through open-ended, face-to-face interviews with 30 people from across the science-based health innovation system, including government officials, researchers in research institutes and universities, entrepreneurs, international donors, and non-governmental organization representatives.

Results
Uganda has a range of institutions influencing science-based health innovation, with varying degrees of success. However, the country still lacks a coherent mechanism for effectively coordinating STI policy among all the stakeholders. Classified as a least developed country, Uganda has opted for exemptions from the TRIPS intellectual property protection regime that include permitting parallel importation and providing for compulsory licenses for pharmaceuticals. Uganda is unique in Africa in taking part in the Millennium Science Initiative (MSI), an ambitious though early-stage $30m project, funded jointly by the World Bank and Government of Uganda, to build science capacity and encourage entrepreneurship through funding industry-research collaboration. Two universities – Makerere and Mbarara – stand out in terms of health research, though as yet technology development and commercialization is weak. Uganda has several incubators which are producing low-tech products, and is beginning to move into higher-tech ones like diagnostics. Its pharmaceutical industry has started to create partnerships which encourage innovation.

Conclusions
Science-based health product innovation is in its early stages in Uganda, as are policies for guiding its development. Nevertheless, there is political will for the development of STI in Uganda, demonstrated through personal initiatives of the President and the government’s willingness to invest heavily for the long term in support of STI through the Millennium Science Initiative. Activities to support technology transfer and private-public collaboration have been put in motion; these need to be monitored, coordinated, and learned from. In the private sector, there are examples of incremental innovation to address neglected diseases driven by entrepreneurial individuals and South-South collaboration. Lessons can be learned from their experience that will help support Ugandan health innovation.