bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Strategic Pricing Behavior under Asset Value Maximization
Authors: Wang Shinn‐Shyr , Stiegert Kyle W. , Dhar Tirtha P. 
Published: November 2009

In this paper, we empirically evaluate strategic pricing behavior and shareholder delegation of financial market objectives in the U.S. butter and margarine market. Shareholders are assumed to maximize the value of firm assets according to a certainty equivalent capital asset pricing model (CAPM). The delegation setup instructs managers to maximize a linear combination of firm profits and shareholder equity values. A key result from the analysis is that a test of financial market influences cannot be rejected in the product market for butter and margarine. Product market competition is best described using a conjectural variation model of industrial organization. Estimates of Lerner Indexes suggest significant market power and counterfactual simulations point toward significant biases in estimated Lerner Indexes when capital market dimensions are ignored or if the wrong market structure is assumed. Dans le présent article, nous avons effectué l'évaluation empirique de comportements stratégiques dans la détermination des prix et la délégation d'objectifs financiers de la part d'actionnaires sur le marchéétatsunien du beurre et de la margarine. Nous avons supposé que les actionnaires maximisent la valeur de l'actif d'une firme selon l'équivalent certain du modèle d'évaluation des actifs financiers (MEDAF). La structure de la délégation amène les gestionnaires à maximiser une combinaison linéaire des profits de la firme et de la valeur nette des actions. L'un des principaux résultats de l'analyse est qu'un test des influences du marché des capitaux sur le marché des produits ne peut être rejeté pour le cas du beurre et de la margarine. La concurrence sur le marché des produits est plus adéquatement caractérisée par un modèle d'organisation industrielle à variations conjecturales. Les estimations de l'indice de Lerner ont indiqué la présence de pouvoir de marché, et les simulations contrefactuelles ont montré des biais significatifs dans les valeurs estimées des indices de Lerner lorsque l'on ne tient pas compte du marché des capitaux ou que l'on suppose une structure de marché erronée.
The utility of the Sysmex XE‐2100 analyzer’s NEUT‐X and NEUT‐Y parameters for detecting neutrophil dysplasia in myelodysplastic syndromes
Authors: FURUNDARENA J. R. , ARAIZ M. , URANGA M. , SAINZ M. R. , AGIRRE A. , TRASSORRAS M. , URESANDI N. , MONTES M. C. , ARGOITIA N. 
Published: November 2009

SummaryThe diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) is based on morphological changes in the blood and bone marrow. The parameters NEUT‐X and NEUT‐Y of the Sysmex XE‐2100 analyzer could help detect neutrophil dysplasia. A control group of 50 patients, along with 50 postpartum patients, 50 anemias, 50 leukopenias, 50 patients with microscopically visible hypergranulated neutrophils and 50 MDS patients were assessed. The NEUT‐X and NEUT‐Y values (mean ± SD) for the control group were 1346 ± 28.2 and 420 ± 19.3, respectively, with the anemia and leukopenia groups giving similar values. The postpartum and hypergranulated neutrophils groups presented higher values (P < 0.05), whereas the values in the MDS group were 1286 ± 72.8 and 385 ± 50.9 (P < 0.05), respectively. There were no differences between the morphological MDS types. The NEUT‐X and NEUT‐Y values in MDS patients with optical hypogranulation were significantly lower than for MDS patients without optical hypogranulation. NEUT‐X and NEUT‐Y values lower than 1298 and 398, respectively, would have a specificity for detecting MDS of 94% and 91% and would detect 60% and 56% of cases, respectively, whereas they would detect 75% and 74%, respectively, of MDS cases with optical hypogranulation. NEUT‐X and NEUT‐Y parameters can be used to detect neutrophil dysplasia arising from MDS and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia.
The Hôtel de Bourgogne in 1760: Some Previously Unpublished Drawings by Louis‐Alexandre Girault
Authors: GOLDER JOHN 
Published: November 2009

For Donald Royand in memory of David Illingworth and Graham Barlow
AbstractBuilt in 1548, the Hôtel de Bourgogne was in almost continuous use as a theatre for 235 years. We have, until now, had only an approximate idea of the internal layout of the auditorium and virtually no idea at all of the way in which the outbuildings were arranged. Recently, however, a series of architectural plans has come to light in the French National Archives. They date from 1760, which was when Papillon de La Ferté, who was in overall charge of the Royal Entertainments Department (les Menus‐Plaisirs), ordered that the auditorium be both extensively refurbished and made more attractive, in order to increase audiences and to rescue the Italian players from a financially parlous position. Louis‐Alexandre Girault, an architect attached to the Royal Entertainments, was put in charge of the work. The five plans and the longitudinal section which he has left us – and which are published and discussed here for the first time – allow us not only to visit the various different parts of the auditorium and stage, but also to have access to the public spaces, the actors' dressing rooms and their administrative offices, and even to go down into the store‐rooms below the auditorium and the stage.
Repertory Reforms at the Paris Opéra on the Eve of the Revolution*
Authors: DARLOW MARK 
Published: November 2009

AbstractThis article examines the principal reforms made to the repertoire of the Paris Opéra in the 1780s. The main aim was to encourage the submission of new works to the Opéra, hence to grow its repertoire, by means, first, of a competition for librettos under royal sponsorship and, second, of a reform of the system of authors' rights. The correspondence which passed between Dauvergne, the director of the Opéra, and Papillon de La Ferté, who was in charge of the Royal Entertainments Department (les Menus‐Plaisirs), also reveals an attempt to correct what it calls the insubordination of the principal subjects. Among other points, there was the question of changing the salary system in order to make salaries depend on the number of performances, thus ensuring a higher quality of performance. But, as the Chéron case proves (they were dismissed in 1790 for going absent without leave), artists were increasingly concerned for their public reputation and considered themselves less and less to be ‘subjects’ of the king's household. The third type of reform concerned the use of try‐out rehearsals in order to sift the libretti and eliminate those unlikely to prove successful in performance, before beginning the production process. Thus we see how the directors and the officers of the king's household were in fact attentive to correcting certain abuses in the management of the institution well before 1789, contrary to the commonly held view that the privileged theatres had ossified in the decades before the Revolution.
Une scénographie de Servandoni conservée pour les spectacles de l'Opéra à Paris: le décor de la ville de Thèbes du Triomphe de l'harmonie (1737)
Authors: DE LA GORCE JÉRÔME 
Published: November 2009

AbstractUntil now, the work of Jean‐Nicolas Servandoni for the lyric stages of Paris has only been known through archival papers, descriptions published in the Mercure de France and a handful of stage plans and sections. However, a drawing held in the Musée des arts décoratifs in Lyon allows us to see for the first time what one of his set designs for the stage of the Opéra may actually have looked like. Thanks to manuscript notes penned on the drawing in the eighteenth century, it is possible to accurately identify and attribute the drawing, of which no detailed examination has previously been undertaken. Although it does not show the stage picture in its entirety, the design – conceived in 1737 for the third entrée of Grenet and Lefranc de Pompignan's opéra‐ballet, Le triomphe de l'harmonie– carries an overlay, showing how a key moment in the drama was staged. It illustrates the moment at which Amphion, to protect the city of Thebes from attack by savages, magically causes new walls to rise into place ‘par le charme de sa voix’. Unpublished sources offer evidence of this scene's success, which was due in no small part to Servandoni, and to his involvement in the production just before he left the Opéra to create some even more spectacular settings at the Salle des Machines in the Tuileries Palace.
Gaps, Pauses and Expressive Arms: Reconstructing the Link between Stage Gesture and Musical Timing at the Académie royale de musique
Authors: WENTZ JED 
Published: November 2009

AbstractOne of the most salient features of French Baroque opera was its moulding of music, text and acting into a unified whole. This rigorous aesthetic resulted in a distinct performance style, one which melded the music and the singers' gestures on stage. This article will examine the possibility of a symbiotic relationship between stage action and passionate musical expression in France. Using the writings of Rousseau, Rameau and other participants of the Querelle des Bouffons as a starting point, the central place of the theory of the passions in the acting and musical aesthetics of the day will be examined. Special attention will be given to Lallemant's Essai sur le méchanisme des passions (1751), in which the physical manifestation of the passions in the human body is clearly linked to musical tempo. Having established the medical basis for such a link, it is easy to see how, aesthetically, a change of tempo would be felt as a change of affect and thus result in a physical change in the actor's gesturing body.
VASCULAR DIALYSIS ACCESS FLOW MEASUREMENT: EARLY INTERVENTION THROUGH EARLY DETECTION
Authors: Miguel Susana San , Chow Josephine 
Published: November 2009

SUMMARY Aim: The aim of the project is to determine the effectiveness of using online access flow measurement, thermodilution method (Fresenius BTM™), in detecting and predicting thrombosis or stenosis of the haemodialysis fistula, so that early intervention could be instituted. Methodology: All haemodialysis patients with permanent vascular dialysis access, either arteriovenous fistula (AVF) or arteriovenous fistula graft (AVG), in a large tertiary referral Dialysis Service in Australia were included in this prospective observational quality project, conducted over 12 months. Results: Out of 165 patients studied, 36 patients were found to have poor dialysis access flow, defined as AVF—flow of <200 ml/min or a decrease of 25% from last measurement or AVG—flow of <600 ml/min or a decrease of 25% from last measurement. Doppler ultrasounds were performed, and confirmed findings of significant stenosis, either on the arterial or venous sites, as indicated by poor dialysis access flow results. Conclusion: Thermodilution technique is a reliable and effective method of detecting poor dialysis access flow for patients with permanent vascular access, comparable with other techniques.
IMPLEMENTING THE BUTTONHOLE METHOD USING THE BIOHOLE PEG IN A BUSY DIALYSIS UNIT: A REPORT OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF CURRENT PRACTICE
Authors: King Jennie 
Published: November 2009

SUMMARYA report outlining experience gained from the practice of introducing the buttonhole (BH) method of arteriovenous cannulation using the Biohole device, a polycarbonate sterile peg, to form the tunnel tracks. The author's findings are discussed informally and compared with current published literature to provide encouragement to nursing colleagues who are interested in introducing this method of needling, using the peg, into a typically busy haemodialysis unit.
Advocacy in the Age of Authoritarianism: Adjustments of all Sorts in Egypt
Authors: Tadros Mariz 
Published: November 2009

SummaryThis paper examines how advocacy, a highly political concept became a depoliticised technocratic buzzword for many donors, international and local NGOs. The focus of the paper is on the top‐down introduction of advocacy in the Egyptian context in the 1990s as part of the bid to promote democratisation in the Arab world. It argues that in authoritarian contexts, participatory advocacy is inimical to the inhibitive policy environment and the nature of the political culture in place.The paper relies on a series of case studies involving donor‐state‐civil society interfaces in supporting advocacy. It draws in particular on the largest funding scheme to promote advocacy in the country, a USAID initiative involving a consortium of partners. It tracks the transformations that took place in order to convert advocacy into a ‘government‐friendly’ form of engagement and reflects on the inherent tensions for donors backing a politicised form of development that clashes with their foreign policy.The paper argues that often advocacy NGOs are disembedded from the wider context due to a focus on the policy influence arena where they are expected to elicit change. Insufficient incentives to mobilise a constituency as well as a politically restrictive environment means that sometimes advocacy oriented initiatives or organisations ignore prompts from citizen groups engaged in contentious politics. Many advocacy NGOs engage in an elite way that impacts negatively on policies and on downward accountability towards a weak or nonexistent constituency. This not only has implications for their positionality in their contexts but also on the nature of policy demands made as well.
Novel Ambler Class A Carbapenem-Hydrolyzing β-Lactamase from a
Pseudomonas fluorescens
Isolate from the Seine River, Paris, France
Authors: Girlich Delphine , Poirel Laurent , Nordmann Patrice 
Published: November 2009

ABSTRACT

A
Pseudomonas fluorescens
isolate (PF-1) resistant to carbapenems was recovered during an environmental survey performed with water from the Seine River (Paris). It expressed a novel Ambler class A carbapenemase, BIC-1, sharing 68 and 59% amino acid identities with β-lactamases SFC-1 from
Serratia fonticola
and the plasmid-encoded KPC-2, respectively. β-Lactamase BIC-1 hydrolyzed penicillins, carbapenems, and cephalosporins except ceftazidime and monobactams. The
bla
BIC-1
gene was chromosomally located and was also identified in two other
P. fluorescens
strains isolated from the Seine River 3 months later.
In Vitro
Activity of Fosfomycin against
bla
KPC
-Containing
Klebsiella pneumoniae
Isolates, Including Those Nonsusceptible to Tigecycline and/or Colistin
Authors: Endimiani Andrea , Patel Gopi , Hujer Kristine M. , Swaminathan Mahesh , Perez Federico , Rice Louis B. , Jacobs Michael R. , Bonomo Robert A. 
Published: November 2009

ABSTRACT

In vitro
activity of fosfomycin was evaluated against 68
bla
KPC
-possessing
Klebsiella pneumoniae
(KpKPC) isolates, including 23 tigecycline- and/or colistin-nonsusceptible strains. By agar dilution, 93% of the overall KpKPC were susceptible (MIC
50/90
of 16/64 μg/ml, respectively). The subgroup of 23 tigecycline- and/or colistin-nonsusceptible strains showed susceptibility rates of 87% (MIC
50/90
of 32/128 μg/ml, respectively). Notably, 5 out of 6 extremely drug-resistant (tigecycline and colistin nonsusceptible) KpKPC were susceptible to fosfomycin. Compared to agar dilution, disk diffusion was more accurate than Etest.
Improved Survival of Mice Deficient in Secretory Immunoglobulin M following Systemic Infection withCryptococcus neoformans
Authors: Subramaniam Krishanthi S. , Datta Kausik , Marks Matthew S. , Pirofski Liise-anne 
Published: November 2009

ABSTRACTCryptococcus neoformanscauses severe, and often fatal, disease (cryptococcosis) in immunocompromised patients, particularly in those with HIV/AIDS. Although resistance to cryptococcosis requires intact T-cell immunity, a possible role for antibody/B cells in protection against natural disease has not been definitively established. Previous studies of the antibody response to theC. neoformanscapsular polysaccharide glucuronoxylomannan (GXM) have demonstrated that patients who are at increased risk for cryptococcosis have lower serum levels of GXM-reactive IgM than those who are not at risk, leading to the hypothesis that IgM might contribute to resistance to cryptococcosis. To determine the influence of IgM on susceptibility to systemic cryptococcosis in a murine model, we compared the survival of mice deficient in serum IgM (secretory IgM deficient [sIgM−/−]) and C57BL/6 × 129Sv (control) mice after intraperitoneal infection withC. neoformansstrain 24067 and analyzed the splenic B- and T-cell subsets by flow cytometry and the serum and splenic cytokine/chemokine and serum antibody profiles of each mouse strain. The results showed that sIgM−/−mice survived significantly longer than control mice when challenged with 105CFU ofC. neoformans24067. Naïve sIgM−/−mice had higher levels of B-1 (CD5+) B cells, proinflammatory mediators (interleukin-6 [IL-6], IL-1β, MIP-1β, tumor necrosis factor alpha [TNF-α], and gamma interferon [IFN-γ]), and anti-inflammatory mediators (IL-10 and IL-13) and significantly higher titers of GXM-specific IgG2a 3 weeks postinfection. In addition, CD5+splenocytes from both mouse strains had fungicidal activity againstC. neoformans. Taken together, these results suggest that the inflammatory milieu in sIgM−/−mice might confer enhanced resistance to systemic cryptococcosis, stemming in part from the antifungal activity of B-1 B cells.
Mouse Strain-Dependent Differences in Susceptibility toNeisseria gonorrhoeaeInfection and Induction of Innate Immune Responses
Authors: Packiam Mathanraj , Veit Sandra J. , Anderson Deborah J. , Ingalls Robin R. , Jerse Ann E. 
Published: November 2009

ABSTRACTAcute gonorrhea in women is characterized by a mucopurulent exudate that contains polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) with intracellular gonococci. Asymptomatic infections are also common. Information on the innate response toNeisseria gonorrhoeaein women is limited to studies with cultured cells, isolated immune cells, and analyses of cervicovaginal fluids. 17β-Estradiol-treated BALB/c mice can be experimentally infected withN. gonorrhoeae, and a vaginal PMN influx occurs in 50 to 80% of mice. Here, we compared the colonization loads and proinflammatory responses of BALB/c, C57BL/6 and C3H/HeN mice toN. gonorrhoeae. BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice were colonized at similar levels following inoculation with 106CFU ofN. gonorrhoeae. BALB/c, but not C57BL/6, mice exhibited a marked vaginal PMN influx. Tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin-6, macrophage inflammatory protein 2 (MIP-2), and keratinocyte-derived chemokine were elevated in vaginal secretions from infected BALB/c mice, but not in those from C57BL/6 mice. MIP-2 levels positively correlated with a vaginal PMN influx. In contrast to BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice, C3H/HeN mice were resistant to infection, and there was no evidence of an inflammatory response. We conclude thatN. gonorrhoeae causes a productive infection in BALB/c mice that is characterized by the induction of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines and the recruitment of PMNs. Infection of C57BL/6 mice, in contrast, is more similar to asymptomatic infection. C3H/HeN mice are inherently resistant toN. gonorrhoeaeinfection, and this resistance is not due to an overwhelming inflammatory response to infection. Host genetic factors can therefore impact susceptibility and the immune response toN. gonorrhoeae.
Polyfunctional T Lymphocytes Are in the Peripheral Blood of Donors Naturally Immune to Coccidioidomycosis and Are Not Induced by Dendritic Cells
Authors: Nesbit Lance , Johnson Suzanne M. , Pappagianis Demosthenes , Ampel Neil M. 
Published: November 2009

ABSTRACTCoccidioidomycosis is a fungal infection endemic in the southwestern United States that is increasing in incidence. While cellular immunity correlates with protection from clinical illness, the precise elements of that response are undefined. Using the coccidioidal antigen preparation T27K and multiparametric flow cytometry, the in vitro frequency of polyfunctional T lymphocytes in the peripheral blood of naturally immune healthy donors and those who were nonimmune was determined. Polyfunctional CD4 lymphocytes, defined as producing intracellular interleukin 2 (IL-2), gamma interferon (IFN-γ), and tumor necrosis factor alpha simultaneously, had a frequency of 137 per 400,000 events among peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of immune donors compared to 11 per 400,000 PBMC from nonimmune donors (P= 0.03). When monocyte-derived mature dendritic cells pulsed with T27K (mDCT27K) were used for antigen presentation, the frequency of polyfunctional CD4 T lymphocytes did not significantly increase for either group, although mDCT27Kdid significantly increase the concentrations of IL-2 and IFN-γ released by PBMC from nonimmune donors (P= 0.02). After in vitro stimulation with T27K, polyfunctional CD4 and CD8 lymphocytes of PBMC from immune donors had a mixture of low- and high-expression CCR7 cells, suggesting both effector and central memory, compared with predominantly high-expression CCR7 cells when PBMC were incubated with the mitogen phytohemagglutinin (P= 0.03). These data demonstrate the presence of polyfunctional T lymphocytes in the peripheral blood of individuals with coccidioidal immunity and suggest a model for the in vitro testing of vaccine candidates for coccidioidomycosis.
Impact of initial state on the fabric and permeability of a lime-treated silt under long-term leaching
Authors: Le Runigo B. , Cuisinier O. , Cui Y.-J. , Ferber V. , Deneele D. 
Published: November 2009

The long-term performance of lime-treated soil is still in question, especially in the case of the use of such soils to build earthen structures in permanent contact with water (i.e., dams, river levees, etc.) Indeed, water circulation may induce significant alteration of the improvements brought by the lime treatment. In this context, the main objective of this work is to study the long-term behaviour (durability) of lime-treated soils submitted to water circulation as well as to determine the most favourable initial soil compaction in terms of lime-treated soil durability. First, the impact of lime addition on soil microstructure is investigated with mercury intrusion porosimetry tests. This was done to highlight the effect of curing time, lime dosage, and compaction on soil initial permeability, a critical parameter in terms of long-term behaviour of the lime-treated soil. Then, lime-treated soil samples were submitted to an accelerated circulation of water over a period of 150 days. The obtained results show that soil permeability did not fluctuate with circulation time. This has been confirmed by the results obtained on the samples’ microstructure that remained stable throughout the experiments.
PERFECT SYMMETRIC RINGS OF QUOTIENTS
Authors: VAŠ LIA 
Published: November 2009

Perfect Gabriel filters of right ideals and their corresponding right rings of quotients have the desirable feature that every module of quotients is determined solely by the right ring of quotients. On the other hand, symmetric rings of quotients have a symmetry that mimics the commutative case. In this paper, we study rings of quotients that combine these two desirable properties. We define the symmetric versions of a right perfect ring of quotients and a right perfect Gabriel filter — the perfect symmetric ring of quotients and the perfect symmetric Gabriel filter and study their properties. Then we prove that the standard construction of the total right ring of quotients [Formula: see text] can be adapted to the construction of the largest perfect symmetric ring of quotients — the total symmetric ring of quotients [Formula: see text]. We also demonstrate that Morita's construction of [Formula: see text] can be adapted to the construction of [Formula: see text].