bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Trompe l'œil: architects, consumers, and the need to rediscover technical function for ecologically sustainable housing
Authors: Gabe Jeremy , Vale Robert , Vale Brenda 
Published: August 2009

AbstractOne challenge facing the need for ecologically sustainable housing is that it must cope with change over time. However, the flexibility required for housing to cope with change needs to be limited, as frequent change may offset the economy of resource use provided by durable housing stock. We describe two distinctly different but crucial aspects of housing services – social and technical functions – and briefly discuss how consumers and architects, who influence what consumers value in housing, have shifted design practices away from technical function and towards enhancement and growth of social function. Specifically, psychological obsolescence, which began in consumer products, is now emerging in housing, potentially accelerating demand for change as a result of fashion trends (an approach to the social function of identity expression) in housing. Four potential approaches to inspire consumer recognition of technical function in pursuit of ecologically sustainable housing are briefly discussed. These include promoting a ‘green’ fashion trend and three approaches that aim to restore the balance between social and technical function within housing design: regulatory tools, internalization of unaccounted costs, and incentives to move consumers from assumed to explicit recognition of technical function. Because they address the core problem of missing technical function, not just the increased demand for social functions, only these latter three approaches, possibly in combination, appear likely to contribute to a paradigm of ecologically sustainable housing.
Discovering the variables that influence new home‐buyer service satisfaction
Authors: Nahmens Isabelina , Ikuma Laura H. 
Published: August 2009

AbstractWhile home builders traditionally think of customer service in terms of upgrades and mortgage options, home buyers are thought to view the quality of service on a much broader basis. Previous research has identified five dimensions of service quality: appearance, reliability, timeliness, knowledge, and empathy. Home‐buyer satisfaction with service quality is then the result of home builders providing services that are perceived as meeting or exceeding buyer expectations. Although much research has been done regarding home‐buyer satisfaction with service quality, there is still a gap between builders' and home buyers' perception of the quality of service. Builders need to identify and understand home‐buyer needs in order to constantly improve service quality. This paper describes an exploratory study that focused on customer satisfaction with service quality. The objective of this study was to assess the correlations between various factors on home‐buyer expectations and their perceptions of service quality. Demographics considered in this study included age, gender and household income, while transaction characteristics included purchase price, number of occupants and house size. Characteristics such as higher income, higher purchase price, and larger house size appeared to value dimensions such as reliability most highly. Characteristics such as lower income, lower purchase price and smaller house size appeared to value dimensions such as empathy and appearance most highly. Gender, age and household size did not have significant associations with expectations or relative importance, but age and household size were associated with actual perceptions of service dimensions. Understanding the influence of these variables on customer satisfaction with service quality can positively impact home builders through improved reputation and increased local referrals.
The information needs of prospective homebuyers: an exploratory study of apartment purchases in Finland
Authors: Savolainen Reijo 
Published: August 2009

AbstractUltimately, the search for housing depends on information about the housing market and individual apartments for sale. The housing search process gives rise to diverse information needs. Their nature is elaborated in an exploratory study drawing on interviews conducted with 16 Finnish homebuyers in 2008. The data were analysed by means of qualitative content analysis. The constant comparative approach was utilized to capture the nuances of information needs experienced at three major phases of the housing search process. At the phase of orientation to the housing market and identifying vacancies, the information needs covered a broad area including the supply of relevant apartments in preferred districts and the realistic funding opportunities. The temporal frame within which these needs were experienced was fairly broad. At the phase of assessing vacancies, the information needs became more specific and the temporal frame narrower, since the needs primarily dealt with concrete issues such as the renovation requirements of the apartment. Finally, at the phase of bid formation, information needs were mainly related to the determination of the proper price level and the optimal timing of the price bid.
Furnishing the salon: symbolic ethnicity and performative practices in Moroccan‐Dutch domestic interiors
Authors: Dibbits Hester 
Published: August 2009

AbstractConfronted with traditional‐looking Moroccan furniture in a house where Moroccan migrants or their descendants live, one may interpret this furniture as an ethnic symbol, underlining the Moroccan, North African or Arabic background of the owners. Analysing interviews and discussions on the Internet, this article shows that the furniture has many other significances as well. It not only functions as an ethnic symbol, but also signals affluence and fashionability, and it appeals in different, often emotional ways to the senses of those who experience the furniture by sitting on it while eating, drinking and talking. Apparently the traditional‐looking Moroccan furniture has the capacity to transport people to other worlds. For those who spent their childhood in Morocco, these are often worlds that are part of their embodied memory, while for those who grew up outside Morocco, these are more often worlds that are primarily imagined and appropriated through aesthetic images in glossy magazines and coffee‐table books. In both cases however, traditional‐looking Moroccan furniture appear to respond to an emotional longing for the (re‐)creation of experiences of conviviality. Especially in interviews with first‐generation Moroccan migrants, this emotional longing resonates more strongly than the wish to make a statement about ethnic belonging.
The development of 3‐D visualization technology: the potential impact on interior design and its consumers
Authors: Lee Seunghae 
Published: August 2009

AbstractThree‐dimensional visualization has developed and improved significantly over the last several decades and resulted in consumers' having multidimensional, multi‐sensory experiences with a wide range of products and services. It has affected the built environment and its related businesses. Designers create 3‐D images and walk‐through animations to communicate with their clients more clearly, starting from the early stage of the design process. The interior–design‐related material manufacturers and retailers have enhanced their online stores with 3‐D visualization features to improve their interactivity and provide user‐friendly interfaces for product information search and purchase planning. Because of the continuing widespread interest in 3‐D visualization and the amount of its applications in the interior design field, a review of this area was a necessity to suggest the future research direction for the development of 3‐D visualization in interior design. This paper sought to demonstrate the status of the development of 3‐D visualization and its impact on the interior design field and its consumers while highlighting an area where future research is a potentially considerable benefit in developing 3‐D visualization in interior design.
Implicit Employment Contracts: The Limits of Management Reputation for Promoting Firm Productivity
Authors: HALES JEFFREY , WILLIAMSON MICHAEL G. 
Published: August 2009

ABSTRACTImplicit employment contracts are a common way to motivate firm productivity but also require that employees trust management to be fair when allocating postproduction firm resources between employees and owners. We use an experiment to study the problem of motivating firm productivity, which depends on levels of owner investment and employee productive effort, when managers have an incentive to favor the owner's interests over those of the employee. Drawing on research in psychology and behavioral economics, we argue that reputation concerns can more effectively promote firm productivity when manager compensation is relatively insensitive to how much the owner is allocated after production occurs. Consistent with our predictions, we find that reputation concerns lead to greater firm productivity and higher payoffs for all firm members, but only when manager pay is relatively insensitive to the owner's ex post allocation. In addition to offering testable empirical implications, our theory and results are important because they can help explain why executive compensation is, in practice, surprisingly insensitive to owner returns.
An Analysis of the Key Factors Influencing Farmer’s Choice of Crop, Kibamba Ward, Tanzania
Authors: Greig Laura 
Published: August 2009

AbstractThe need for further research into indigenous knowledge, in the context of agrarian development strategies, led to this investigation of one aspect of local knowedge; that of crop choice. Through the use of point score analysis, research was conducted in the Kibamba Ward located in the peri‐urban zone of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The main aims were to investigate the key factors underlying farmers’ choice of crop as well as to assess the differences in the decision‐making process between commercial and subsistence farmers. Vegetable cultivation was observed as the main practice, influenced particularly by the physical environment, the availability of machinery as well as certain economic factors. A significant difference in decision making among subsistence and commercial farmers was found. Subsistence farmers placed greater emphasis on the taste of the crop, whereas commercial farmers were predictably more influenced by the market. In addition, this study highlights several practical areas of concern regarding water resources, basic machinery and the lack of formal extension provision in the area. Although the complexity of crop choice is portrayed, a need for future research in different geographical contexts is noted.
A Cell‐Free Collagen Type I Device for the Treatment of Focal Cartilage Defects
Authors: Gavenis Karsten , Schmidt‐Rohlfing Bernhard , Andereya Stefan , Mumme Torsten , Schneider Ulrich , Mueller‐Rath Ralf 
Published: August 2009

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential value of a cell‐free collagen type I gel plug for the treatment of focal cartilage defects. Cellular migration and proliferation was addressed in vitro, and the formation of repair tissue in a nude mouse‐based defect model. A cell‐free plug made of collagen type I was placed in the center of an incubation plate. Surrounding space was filled with a collagen type I gel (Arthro Kinetics, Esslingen, Germany) seeded with 2 × 105 human articular chondrocytes/mL gel. After cultivation for up to 6 weeks in vitro, samples were subject to histological and immunohistochemical staining and gene expression analysis. Subsequently, chondral defects of human osteochondral blocks were treated with the plug, and specimens were cultivated subcutaneously in nude mice for 6 weeks. The repair tissue was evaluated macroscopically, and collagen type II production was investigated immunohistochemically. In vitro, morphology of immigrated cells did not show any differences, as did collagen type II gene expression. After 4 weeks, the plug was homogeneously inhabited. After 6 weeks of cultivation in nude mice, collagen gel plug treatment led to a macroscopically excellent repair tissue. Histological staining revealed a tight bonding, and the collagen gel plug started to be remodeled. We conclude that the novel collagen gel plug device offers an environment favorable for the migration of articular chondrocytes and leads to a good‐quality repair tissue in the nude mouse model. The arthroscopic transplantation of a collagen gel plug may be one option in the treatment of focal cartilage defects.
Highly Permeable Genipin‐Cross‐linked Gelatin Conduits Enhance Peripheral Nerve Regeneration
Authors: Chang Ju‐Ying , Ho Tin‐Yun , Lee Han‐Chung , Lai Yen‐Liang , Lu Ming‐Chin , Yao Chun‐Hsu , Chen Yueh‐Sheng 
Published: August 2009

AbstractHere we have evaluated peripheral nerve regeneration with a porous biodegradable nerve conduit (PGGC), which was made from genipin‐cross‐linked gelatin. To examine the effect of pores, nonporous genipin‐cross‐linked gelatin conduit (GGC) was considered as the control. Both the PGGC and the GGC were dark blue in appearance with a concentric and round lumina. The PGGC featured an outer surface with pores of variable size homogeneously traversing, and a partially fenestrated inner surface connected by an open trabecular meshwork. The GGC had a rough outer surface whereas its inner lumen was smooth. Both PGGCs and GGCs had similar hydrophilicity on condition of the same material and cross‐linking degree. The porosity of PGGCs and GGCs was 90.8 ± 0.9% and 24.3 ± 2.9%, respectively. The maximum tensile force of the GGCs (0.12 ± 0.06 kN) exceeded that of the PGGCs (0.03 ± 0.01 kN), but the PGGCs had a higher swelling ratio than GGCs at 0.5, 1, 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 60, 72, and 84 h after soaking in deionized water. Cytotoxic testing revealed the soaking solutions of both of the tube composites would not produce cytotoxicity to cocultured Schwann cells. After subcutaneous implantation on the dorsal side of the rat, the PGGC was degraded completely after 12 weeks of implantation whereas a thin tissue capsule was formed encapsulating the partially degraded GGC. Biodegradability of both of the tube groups and their effectiveness as a guidance channel were examined as they were used to repair a 10 mm gap in the rat sciatic nerve. As a result, fragmentation of the GGC was still seen after 12 weeks of implantation, yet the PGGC had been completely degraded. Histological observation showed that numerous myelinated axons had crossed over the gap region in the PGGCs after 8 weeks of implantation despite only few myelinated axons and unmyelinated axons mostly surrounded by Schwann cells seen in the GGCs. In addition, the regenerated nerves in the PGGCs presented a significantly higher nerve conductive velocity than those in the GGCs (P < 0.05). Thus, the PGGCs can not only offer effective aids for regenerating nerves but also accelerate favorable nerve functional recovery compared with the GGCs.
Effect of glucocorticoid receptor gene polymorphisms in Guillain‐Barré syndrome
Authors: Dekker Marieke J. H. J. , Van Den Akker Erica L. T. , Koper Jan Willem , Manenschijn Laura , Geleijns Karin , Ruts Liselotte , Van Rijs Wouter , Tio‐Gillen Anne P. , Van Doorn Pieter A. , Lamberts Steven W. J. , Jacobs Bart C. 
Published: August 2009

AbstractGuillain‐Barré syndrome (GBS) is a postinfectious immune‐mediated polyneuroradiculopathy in which host factors influence disease susceptibility and clinical course. Single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) gene influence the sensitivity to glucocorticoids and are related to both microbial colonization and susceptibility to develop auto‐immune disease. This genetic variation may therefore also influence the chance to develop GBS. In this study, we genotyped 318 GBS patients and 210 control subjects for five known SNPs in the GR gene. We could distinguish six different GR haplotypes of which two carried the BclI polymorphism: haplotype 1, which consists of the minor allele of BclI in combination with the common variant of TthIIII and haplotype 2, which carries the minor allele of BclI as well as the minor allele of TthIIII. The GR haplotypes were not related to susceptibility to develop GBS. Carriers of haplotype 2 had more frequently preceding diarrhea, serum antibodies to GM1 and GD1a, and more severe muscle weakness at entry. Haplotype 1 carriers had a significantly better prognosis. In conclusion, GR haplotypes are not a susceptibility factor for GBS. However, haplotypes carrying the minor allele of the BclI polymorphism were related to the phenotype and outcome of GBS.
Autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation for chronic acquired demyelinating neuropathy
Authors: Mahdi‐Rogers Mohamed , Kazmi Majid , Ferner Rosalie , Hughes Richard A. C. , Renaud Susanne , Steck Andreas J. , Fuhr Peter , Halter Jörg , Gratwohl Alois , Tyndall Alan 
Published: August 2009

AbstractSix patients with chronic acquired demyelinating neuropathy (CADP) were treated with autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT). Two with polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, M‐protein, and skin changes (POEMS) syndrome improved–improvement was sustained in one but relapsed and required repeat transplant in the other. Two of the three with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) and one with an IgM paraprotein and antibodies to nerve improved–of the responders, one relapsed after 18 months and the other was in remission after 6 months. Four developed neutropenic septicemia and pneumonia. The role of PBSCT in CADP refractory to other treatment deserves further investigation but the serious adverse events and lack of sustained response in some patients emphasize the need for caution.
Mutational analysis of GJB1, MPZ, PMP22, EGR2, and LITAF/SIMPLE in Serbian Charcot‐Marie‐Tooth patients
Authors: Keckarevic‐Markovic Milica , Milic‐Rasic Vedrana , Mladenovic Jelena , Dackovic Jelena , Kecmanovic Miljana , Keckarevic Dusan , Savic‐Pavicevic Dusanka , Romac Stanka 
Published: August 2009

AbstractWe report the results of mutational analysis in the following genes: GJB1, MPZ, PMP22, EGR2, and LITAF/SIMPLE in 57 Charcot‐Marie‐Tooth (CMT) patients of Serbian origin without the PMP22 duplication. We found 10 different mutations in 14 CMT patients: 6 mutations in GJB1, 3 in MPZ, and 1 in PMP22. Five of six GJB1 mutations are reported for the first time, and the most frequent one appears to be a founder mutation in the Serbian population. No mutations were found in EGR2 or LITAF. Thus, GJB1 mutation analysis should be done in patients without the PMP22 duplication and male‐to‐male transmission of CMT.
Phrenic nerve diabetic neuropathy in rats: unmyelinated fibers morphometry
Authors: Fazan Valéria Paula S. , Rodrigues Filho Omar A. , Jordão Caroline E. R. , Moore Kenneth C. 
Published: August 2009

AbstractWe have demonstrated that phrenic nerves' large myelinated fibers in streptozotocin (STZ)‐induced diabetic rats show axonal atrophy, which is reversed by insulin treatment. However, studies on structural abnormalities of the small myelinated and the unmyelinated fibers in the STZ‐model of neuropathy are limited. Also, structural changes in the endoneural vasculature are not clearly described in this model and require detailed study. We have undertaken morphometric studies of the phrenic nerve in insulin‐treated and untreated STZ‐diabetic rats and non‐diabetic control animals over a 12‐week period. The presence of neuropathy was assessed by means of transmission electron microscopy, and morphometry of the unmyelinated fibers was performed. The most striking finding was the morphological evidence of small myelinated fiber neuropathy due to the STZ injection, which was not protected or reversed by conventional insulin treatment. This neuropathy was clearly associated with severe damage of the endoneural vessels present on both STZ groups, besides the insulin treatment. The STZ‐diabetes model is widely used to investigate experimental diabetic neuropathies, but few studies have performed a detailed assessment of either unmyelinated fibers or capillary morphology in this animal model. The present study adds useful information for further investigations on the ultrastructural basis of nerve function in diabetes.
Effects of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure on Brain Activation During an Arithmetic Task: An fMRI Study
Authors: Santhanam Priya , Li Zhihao , Hu Xiaoping , Lynch Mary Ellen , Coles Claire D. 
Published: August 2009

Background:  While behavioral studies have established that prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) can result in diminished arithmetic processing capability, the underlying neural correlates of this deficit are still unclear. The aim of the present study was to use functional magnetic resonance imaging to determine the effect of PAE on neuronal activation during a subtraction task.Methods:  Participants were young adults from a low socio‐economic status population who were identified prenatally; the sample consisted of healthy unexposed controls (n = 17) and PAE who were subdivided based on the presence (n = 19) or absence of physical dysmorphic signs (n = 18). Multiple regression analysis was used to determine extent of activation and percent signal change during arithmetic processing, using a letter‐matching task as the baseline. Region of interest analysis of activation was performed in the native space and normalized for each individual to compensate for the considerable variability in head size observed in the alcohol‐exposed population.Results:  An exposure‐dependent response was observed in task performance and neuronal activation. Dysmorphic PAE individuals showed significantly lower task‐related performance and activation in regions known to be associated with arithmetic processing, including left superior and right inferior parietal regions and medial frontal gyrus, while the nondysmorphic PAE group was generally intermediate but not significantly different from the control group in task performance and activation.Conclusions:  Results indicate that there is a range of effects of PAE on arithmetic processing and that the severity of this deficit may be dependent on degree of impairment demonstrated by the exposed individual. Evidence of physical dysmorphia may be indicative of functional damage to regions associated with arithmetic calculation, resulting in markedly impaired neuronal recruitment.