bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Embeddedness or Escapism? Rural Perceptions and Economic Development in Cornwall and Northumberland
Authors: Bosworth Gary , Willett Joanie 
Published: March 2011

AbstractThis article explores the effect of perceptions of rural life upon the subsequent actions of counterurbanisers and the resulting impact for rural economic development in the contrasting counties of Cornwall and Northumberland. Perceptions of a high quality of life attract migrants to remote rural areas yet these areas also have high rates of economic deprivation. In‐migration can stimulate rural development but in this article we hypothesise that the effectiveness of counterurbanisers as catalysts for economic development depends upon their attitudes towards the receiving community. If rural represents a slow pace of life and a step away from the pressures of modern, urban, lifestyles, counterurbanisers are unlikely to bring the dynamism to rural communities. By contrast, counterurbanisers that understand and engage with the local community are better placed to introduce new forms of human and social capital and provide valuable connections beyond the local area. Building on more endogenous development approaches, a greater understanding of the integration and economic activity of counterurbanisers can guide rural policies and highlight the significance of external representations for peripheral rural areas.
Redistribution and Government Tactical Behaviour: An Analysis of Local Public Expenditure in China after the 1994 Tax Reform
Authors: Guggiola Gabriele 
Published: March 2011

AbstractDuring the last few decades significant changes have affected Chinese public finance. In 1994, a major tax reform was undertaken and central–local sharing arrangements were deeply modified; the evolutions of regional public expenditure in the years following the reform deserve to be analysed. The issue is relevant for two additional reasons. First, income inequality is becoming a relevant issue and it is therefore important to understand whether the Chinese government is pursuing some kind of redistribution policy. Second, an analysis of the local expenditure dynamics might provide some important information concerning the objectives and the behaviour of the Chinese government. The article considers a set of structural, political and socio‐economic variables to analyse the determinants of local public expenditure in 30 Chinese regions over the period 1995–2007. The results reveal that redistribution seems not to be a priority for the Chinese government: expenditure is higher in richer and more internationally open regions, and the only redistribution evidence that emerges is related to urban–rural disparities.
Free Trade Agreements and Governance of the Global Trading System
Authors: Brown Andrew G. , Stern Robert M. 
Published: March 2011

AbstractThis article explores how far free trade agreements (FTAs) have strengthened or weakened global governance of the trading system. We open with an analysis of the altered political and economic context within which countries have come, in recent years, to assign a new importance to regional and bilateral trade agreements in their trade policies. We then consider each of the main provisions included in FTAs and comment on how these may separately affect the management of trade relations. We conclude with some observations of the broader trends affecting global governance that are associated with the spread of trade agreements as a whole.
Does Exporter Turnover Contribute to Aggregate Productivity Growth? Evidence from Malaysian Manufacturing
Authors: Dogan Ergun , Wong Koi Nyen , Yap Michael M. C. 
Published: March 2011

AbstractMalaysia’s economic success is to a significant extent underpinned by its export‐oriented manufacturing sector. The sector has a large foreign presence, with MNCs attracted by the open trade and investment regime, and FDI‐friendly policies. Using unpublished manufacturing census data for 2000 and 2005, we apply the methodology by Foster et al. (1998) to decompose productivity growth. The analysis shows that exporters were more productive than domestic‐oriented establishments, and were distinctly more competitive. The empirical evidence also shows that establishment turnover is important in boosting productivity growth. In particular, we find that turnover of exporters made a larger contribution to aggregate productivity growth compared with domestic‐oriented establishments during the period from 2000 to 2005. Surviving establishments (those that operated in both years), on the other hand, made a negative contribution. It is noteworthy that entrants to export markets were more productive than surviving non‐exporters and even surviving exporters. Exiters from export markets or ‘export failures’, on the other hand, were less productive than continuing exporters. Given the importance of turnover to productivity growth, the government should ensure unrestricted entry to the export sectors for both foreign and domestic investors. Continuing with pro‐FDI policies is also important, given the keener global competition.
The Design and Analysis of Variety Trials Using Mixtures of Composite and Individual Plot Samples
Authors: Smith Alison B. , Thompson Robin , Butler David G. , Cullis Brian R. 
Published: March 2011

SummaryField trials for evaluating plant varieties are conducted to obtain information on a range of traits including grain yield and grain quality. Some grain quality traits are costly to measure so it is not possible to test all plots individually. It has therefore become common practice to test a single composite sample for each variety in the trial but this precludes the use of an efficient statistical analysis. We propose an approach in which a proportion of varieties is tested by using individual replicate samples. The remaining varieties may either be tested as composite samples or with reduced replication. This allows application of efficient mixed model analyses for both the inexpensive traits (using data from the complete set of individual replicate plots) and expensive traits (using data from a subset of the plots or a mixture of composite and individual plot samples).
A Partially Linear Regression Model for Data from an Outcome-Dependent Sampling Design
Authors: Zhou Haibo , You Jinhong , Qin Guoyou , Longnecker Matthew P. 
Published: March 2011

SummaryThe outcome-dependent sampling scheme has been gaining attention in both the statistical literature and applied fields. Epidemiological and environmental researchers have been using it to select the observations for more powerful and cost-effective studies. Motivated by a study of the effect of in utero exposure to poly-chlorinated biphenyls on children’s intelligence quotient at age 7 years, in which the effect of an important confounding variable is non-linear, we consider a semiparametric regression model for data from an outcome-dependent sampling scheme where the relationship between the response and covariates is only partially parameterized. We propose a penalized spline maximum likelihood estimation for inference on both the parametric and the non-parametric components and develop their asymptotic properties. Through simulation studies and an analysis of the intelligence study, we compare the proposed estimator with several competing estimators. Practical considerations of implementing those estimators are discussed.
Estimating the Causal Effect of Low Tidal Volume Ventilation on Survival in Patients with Acute Lung Injury
Authors: Wang Weiwei , Scharfstein Daniel , Wang Chenguang , Daniels Michael , Needham Dale , Brower Roy ,   for the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Clinical Network
Published: March 2011

SummaryAcute lung injury is a condition that is characterized by acute onset of severe hypoxaemia and bilateral pulmonary infiltrates. Patients typically require mechanical ventilation in an intensive care unit. Low tidal volume ventilation (LTVV), which is a time varying dynamic treatment regime, has been recommended as an effective ventilation strategy. This recommendation was based on the results of a randomized clinical trial designed to compare low versus high tidal volume strategies by the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Network. After publication of the trial, some critics focused on the high non-adherence rates in the LTVV arm suggesting that non-adherence occurred because treating physicians felt that deviating from the prescribed regime would improve patients’ outcomes. We seek to address this controversy by estimating the survival distribution in the counterfactual setting where all patients assigned to LTVV followed the regime. Inference is based on a fully Bayesian implementation of Robins’s G-computation formula. In addition to reanalysing data from the original trial, we also apply our methodology to data from a subsequent trial, which implemented the LTVV regime in both of its study arms and also suffered from non-adherence.
Patterns and Trends of Forest Loss in the Colombian Guyana
Authors: Rodríguez Nelly , Armenteras Dolors , Molowny‐Horas Roberto , Retana Javier 
Published: March 2011

ABSTRACTSpatial patterns of tropical deforestation and fragmentation are conditional upon human settlement characteristics. We analyze four different human occupation models (indigenous, colonist frontier, transition and established settlement) in the Colombian Guyana Shield at three different times: 1985, 1992 and 2002, and compared them for: (1) deforestation rates; (2) the amount of forest as classified according to a fragmentation pattern (interior forest, edge forest, perforated forest and forest patch); (3) various fragmentation metrics using repeated measures analysis of variance; and (4) potential future deforestation trends though the implementation of a spatially explicit simulation model. The indigenous and colonist frontier occupation models had low rates of deforestation (0.04%/yr), while the well‐established settlement occupation model had the highest rate (3.68%/yr). Our results indicate that the four occupation models generate three deforestation patterns: diffuse, which can be subdivided into two subpatterns (indigenous and colonist), geometric (transition) and patchy (established settlement). The area with the established settlement model was highly fragmented, while in the transition occupation area, forest loss was gradual and linked to economic activities associated with the expansion of the agricultural frontier. The simulation of future trends revealed that indigenous and colonist areas had a constant, albeit small, loss of forest covers. The other models had a deforestation probability of 0.8 or more. Overall, our results highlight the need for new and urgent policies for reducing forest conversion that consider intraregional variability in human occupation linked to differences in land‐use patterns.Abstract in Spanish is available in the online version of this article.
SEROTYPE DISTRIBUTION OF LISTERIA MONOCYTOGENES ISOLATED FROM TURKEY MEAT BY MULTIPLEX PCR IN TURKEY
Authors: EROL I. , AYAZ N.D. 
Published: March 2011

ABSTRACTThe objectives of this study were to identify the serotypes of Listeria monocytogenes isolated from packaged fresh turkey meat samples marketed in Ankara, Turkey, and to determine the seasonal distribution of the serotypes. Out of 37 L. monocytogenes isolates obtained from 180 turkey meat samples, 19 (51.4%), 10 (27.0%) and 8 (21.6%) were serotyped by multiplex polymerase chain reaction as 4b (or 4d, 4e), 1/2a (or 3a) and 1/2b (or 3b), respectively. Serotypes 1/2a and 4b were dominant in turkey meat samples collected in the summer, and 4b was the most prevalent L. monocytogenes serotype during the winter. Serotype 4b was the most prevalent serotype in turkey meat cuts and legs, whereas 1/2b was the dominant serotype in turkey breast samples. Turkey meat can be a potential risk for public health; therefore, it should be produced under appropriate hygienic and technological conditions and cooked adequately before consumption.PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSSerotyping has been widely used to characterize L. monocytogenes isolates and is important from the epidemiological point of view. Serotypes 1/2a, 1/2b, 1/2c and 4b are the predominant (>95%) serotypes isolated from food samples and human listeriosis cases among 13 L. monocytogenes serotypes. Conventional agglutination and pulsed‐field gel electrophoresis methods have been routinely used for serotyping and characterizing L. monocytogenes but these techniques are today expensive and time consuming. In the present study, rapid and practical multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay was used to differentiate the major L. monocytogenes serotypes (1/2a, 1/2b, 1/2c and 4b) in turkey meat.
EFFECT OF SODIUM ACETATE AND NISIN ON MICROBIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL CHANGES OF CULTURED GRASS CARP (CTENOPHARYNGODON IDELLA) DURING REFRIGERATED STORAGE
Authors: GHOMI MOHAMMAD REZA , NIKOO MEHDI , HESHMATIPOUR ZOHEIR , JANNATI AMENEH AMIR , OVISSIPOUR MAHMUDREZA , BENJAKUL SOOTTAWAT , HASHEMI MASOOD , LANGROUDI HAMID FAGHANI , HASANDOOST MEHDI , JADIDDOKHANI DANIAL 
Published: March 2011

ABSTRACTMicrobiological quality, lipid oxidation and fatty acid composition of grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella slices dipped in sodium acetate (0, 1 and 3%), nisin (0, 0.1 and 0.2%) or their combination during refrigerated storage of 8 days were monitored. Both nisin and sodium acetate inhibited the proliferation of total mesophile and lactic acid bacteria in dose dependent manner, but the combination treatments exhibited the higher efficacy in retardation of microbial growth. Higher concentrations of sodium acetate (3%) were more effective in preventing lipid oxidation. By the end of the storage period, higher n3 fatty acids, EPA (C20:5n‐3) and DHA (C22:6n‐3) content and lower n6/n3 ratio were found in the samples treated with 3% sodium acetate + 0.1 and 0.2% nisin. Nisin in combination with sodium acetate can therefore be used as the effective preservatives to maintain the quality of slices during refrigerated storage.PRACTICAL APLICATIONSAntimicrobial agents such as sodium acetate and nisin are found to be effective in preventing microbial growth and improving quality of food under storage condition. Treatment of slices using 3% sodium acetate in combination with 0.2% nisin was recommended as the best condition for maintaining the quality of grass carp slices stored under the refrigerated condition.
ANTIBACTERIAL ACTION OF ZINC OXIDE NANOPARTICLES AGAINST FOODBORNE PATHOGENS
Authors: TAYEL AHMED A. , EL‐TRAS WAEL F. , MOUSSA SHAABAN , EL‐BAZ ASHRAF F. , MAHROUS HODA , SALEM MOHAMMED F. , BRIMER LEON 
Published: March 2011

ABSTRACTThe current spreading of nanomaterial applications supports the search for further possible functions of theses diminutive particles. The antibacterial potentiality of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles (NPs), compared with conventional ZnO powder, against nine bacterial strains, mostly foodborne including pathogens, was evaluated using qualitative and quantitative assays. ZnO NP was more efficient as antibacterial agent than powder. Gram‐positive bacteria were generally more sensitive to ZnO than Gram negatives. The exposure of Salmonella typhimurium and Staphylococcus aureus to their relevant minimal inhibitory concentrations from ZnO NP reduced the cell number to zero within 8 and 4 h, respectively. Scanning electron micrographs of the treated bacteria with NPs exhibited that the disruptive effect of ZnO on S. aureus was vigorous as all treated cells were completely exploded or lysed after only 4 h from exposure. Promising results of ZnO NP antibacterial activity suggest its usage in food systems as preservative agent after further required investigations and risk assessments.PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSFoodborne pathogen invasion is still a recurrent serious problem facing researchers and food industry overseers. The introduction of novel powerful antimicrobial agents is of great importance for the control of pathogenic bacteria, especially antibiotic‐resistant strains. Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticle (NP) could be one of these potential alternatives. This study focused on ZnO NP because of its increasing presence in many marketable products and that supports its application in food industries as a reasonably safe agent. The demonstrated antibacterial activity of ZnO NP recommends its possible application in the food preservation field; otherwise it can be applied as a potent sanitizing agent for disinfecting and sterilizing food industry equipment and containers against the attack and contamination with foodborne pathogenic bacteria.
POTENTIAL USE OF OXYGEN ELECTRODE FOR RAPID DETERMINATION OF BACTERIAL CONTAMINATION IN FOODS
Authors: NUMTHUAM SONTHAYA , SUTHILUK PHUNSIRI , SATAKE TAKAAKI 
Published: March 2011

ABSTRACTThe use of dissolved oxygen (DO) electrode to determine the total number of bacterial contamination in foods was investigated. The DO in food extract solution was measured as the electrical current continuously for 2 h at 30C. The rate of current decrease serves as a potential index for the prediction of bacterial contamination. The additional culture media is necessary for an effective determination of bacteria in shredded cabbage, cooked rice and instant cream sauce samples. The high prediction accuracies (r ≥ 0.90) were achieved for all sample types when the analysis period was 2 h. The measurement of DO using oxygen electrode provides a rapid and convenient method for the determination of bacteria in foods.PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSIn comparison with the traditional microbiological method, the present research could provide more rapid and simple measuring method to improve the existing security level in food process. In order to support the food industry and market needs, the development of the measuring method to be more simple, portable and inexpensive method was considered. The results obtained from this study were considered to be important basic information for the application to the sophisticated technique as the micro total analysis system or the lab‐on‐chip. Therefore, in further study, the micro‐electro‐mechanical system that facilitates accurate and economic analysis of a sample to be tested for practical use in the real market will be developed. We think that the microchip‐type oxygen sensor developed will become a powerful tool for the determination of total aerobic bacterial contamination in food industries as a rapid, simple and inexpensive measuring method.
ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE AND ESBL PREVALENCE IN ESCHERICHIA COLI FROM RETAIL MEATS
Authors: ARSLAN SEZA , EYI AYLA 
Published: March 2011

ABSTRACTIn the study, Escherichia coli isolates were recovered from 72 (42.9%) of the 168 retail meat samples. Overall, 48 (66.7%) of the poultry meat, 13 (18.1%) of the ground beef and 11 (15.3%) of the meat samples were positive for E. coli. All E. coli isolates using the disk diffusion method were tested for their resistance patterns toward 16 commonly used antimicrobial agents. In general, the most frequently encountered form of resistance in all samples was resistance to erythromycin (91.7%), tetracycline (55.6%), ampicillin (50%), sulphamethoxazole/trimethoprim (45.8%) and piperacillin (41.7%). None of the isolates had resistance to six antimicrobials tested. A total of 94.4% of the isolates were resistant to one or more antimicrobial agents, and multiple resistance to three or more antimicrobial drugs was 56.9%. Extended‐spectrum beta‐lactamases production in meat isolates was also found in 13.9% of E. coli isolates by the phenotypic confirmatory test and in 11.1% of E. coli isolates by the double disk synergy test.PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSFoodborne diseases are an important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and food safety is an increasingly notable public health issue. The contamination of foods with Escherichia coli may occur in a variety of ways including production, processing, distribution, retail marketing and handling or preparation. Moreover, the increased use of antimicrobial agents in food animal production and human medicine is a significant factor in the emergence of antibiotic‐resistant bacteria. Contamination of food with these bacteria is a threat to public health. This study shows the presence of resistant E. coli in retail meats, and the single and multiple antimicrobial resistance of the strains isolated. It is important because the emergence and development of antimicrobial‐resistant E. coli, as in other bacteria, may be a major public health problem. Recently, extended‐spectrum beta‐lactamase (ESBL) producers pose the challenges to clinical microbiologists, clinicians, antibacterial discoverers, veterinarians and food producers. It may be necessary to monitor the rates of ESBL in food‐related bacteria.
Toward a Bottom‐Up Approach to Assessing Sovereign Default Risk
Authors: Altman Edward I. , Rijken Herbert A. 
Published: March 2011

The authors propose a new approach to assessing sovereign risk that focuses on the underlying profitability and financial condition of a nations private corporate sector. More specifically, the authors show how their new Z‐Metrics™ approach—an updated and expanded version of the Alt‐man Z‐score methodology—can be used to measure the (cumulative) median probability of default of the non‐financial sector for the next five years, both as an absolute measure of corporate vulnerability and a relative measure that can be compared to the risk of other sovereigns and to the market's assessment as reflected in the prices of credit default swaps.In testing their approach, the authors measure the default probabilities of listed corporate entities in nine European countries, as well as the U.S., at two different points in time: the start of 2009 (and thus prior to the recognition of the Euro crisis by markets and most credit professionals) and for the first four months in 2010 (essentially, the beginning of the recognition of the crisis). Based on these two observations, the authors suggest that their corporate health index of the private sector would not only have served as an effective early warning indicator, but provided a (mostly) useful hierarchy of relative sovereign risks. In addition to predicting sovereign default risk, another potentially valuable use of the authors' model is to remind policy makers of the importance of a profitable private sector to the financial health of sovereign governments.