bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Using Proxy Measures and Other Correlates of Survey Outcomes to Adjust for Non-Response: Examples from Multiple Surveys
Authors: Kreuter F. , Olson K. , Wagner J. , Yan T. , Ezzati-Rice T. M. , Casas-Cordero C. , Lemay M. , Peytchev A. , Groves R. M. , Raghunathan T. E. 
Published: November 2009

SummaryNon-response weighting is a commonly used method to adjust for bias due to unit non-response in surveys. Theory and simulations show that, to reduce bias effectively without increasing variance, a covariate that is used for non-response weighting adjustment needs to be highly associated with both the response indicator and the survey outcome variable. In practice, these requirements pose a challenge that is often overlooked, because those covariates are often not observed or may not exist. Surveys have recently begun to collect supplementary data, such as interviewer observations and other proxy measures of key survey outcome variables. To the extent that these auxiliary variables are highly correlated with the actual outcomes, these variables are promising candidates for non-response adjustment. In the present study, we examine traditional covariates and new auxiliary variables for the National Survey of Family Growth, the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, the American National Election Survey, the European Social Surveys and the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute survey. We provide empirical estimates of the association between proxy measures and response to the survey request as well as the actual survey outcome variables. We also compare unweighted and weighted estimates under various non-response models. Our results from multiple surveys with multiple recruitment protocols from multiple organizations on multiple topics show the difficulty of finding suitable covariates for non-response adjustment and the need to improve the quality of auxiliary data.
Work models in the Central Eastern European car industry: towards the high road?
Authors: Jürgens Ulrich , Krzywdzinski Martin 
Published: November 2009

ABSTRACTThe integration of the Central Eastern European (CEE) countries into the European Union (EU) has provoked debates about the danger of a ‘race to the bottom’ in Europe caused by the low wages and weak labour regulation and labour standards in CEE. This article examines the evolution of work models in the CEE automotive industry. It argues that the work models in CEE did not take the low‐road trajectory. Rather, a limited high‐road model emerged in the 1990s, which combined skilled labour and secure employment for the core workforce with a broad margin of precarious employment, low wages and limited employee voice. In the context of labour shortages after the accession to the EU of the CEEs, companies faced recruitment problems and labour conflicts, which threatened to destabilise this model. The first reactions of firms pointed towards the strengthening of the high‐road orientation, but the development remains unstable, not least of all because of the economic crisis beginning in 2009.
Free movement, equal treatment and workers' rights: can the European Union solve its trilemma of fundamental principles?
Authors: Dølvik Jon Erik , Visser Jelle 
Published: November 2009

ABSTRACTThis article analyses the trilemma the EU is facing concerning three fundamental principles on which the Community rests: free movement of services and labour; non‐discrimination and equal treatment, and the rights of association and industrial action. With rising cross‐border flows of services and (posted) labour after the Eastward enlargement, the conflict between these rights has triggered industrial disputes and judicial strife. In the view of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), highlighted in the Laval Quartet, some principles are more fundamental than others. Tracing the ‘dual track’ along which European integration has evolved, whereby supranational market integration has been combined with national semi‐sovereignty in industrial relations and social policies, our claim is that the supremacy of free movement over basic social rights implied by the ECJ judgments is leading Europe in a politically and socially unsustainable direction. To prevent erosion of the European Social Models and of popular support for European integration, the politicians have to reinsert themselves into the governance of the European project. A pertinent start would be to ensure that the rising mass of cross‐border service workers in Europe become subject to the same rights and standards as their fellow workers in the emerging pan‐European labour market.
The end of the Ghent system as trade union recruitment machinery?
Authors: Lind Jens 
Published: November 2009

ABSTRACTDuring the past 15 years, membership rates in many unions have been declining in Denmark, Finland and Sweden. Reasons for this decline may be similar to what has happened in other countries—occupational change and neoliberal ideology and policies—but in the three Ghent countries, changes in the unemployment insurance system may also have affected trade union membership losses. The major part of the decline has taken place in a period of low unemployment, which may have reduced the employee incentive to take unemployment insurance, but will increasing unemployment rates mean more trade union members? At least for the LO‐ and SAK‐affiliated trade unions, it seems that trade union independent unemployment funds may be alternatives for workers who take unemployment insurance.
The frontiers within: why employee representatives fail to set up European works councils
Authors: Whittall Michael , Lücking Stefan , Trinczek Rainer 
Published: November 2009

ABSTRACTThis article reviews results of a study conducted by the Technische Universität München into why the majority of German multinationals covered by the European Works Council (EWC) Directive (1994) continue not to take advantage of this legal provision. After providing a brief outline of the project's research design, the main part of the article considers reasons why employee representatives fail to set up an EWC. As will be shown, these reasons mainly concern (i) a knowledge deficit about the EWC Directive; (ii) a lack of transparency regarding company structure; and (iii) the perceived limited value of an EWC on the part of German works councillors.
What Lies Beyond Same‐Sex Marriage? Marriage, Reproductive Freedom and Future Persons in Liberal Public Justification
Authors: MARCH ANDREW F. 
Published: November 2009

abstractIn this article I consider whether the legalization of sex‐same marriage implies a right to incestuous marriage. I begin by suggesting that the liberal state get out of the ‘marriage’ business by leveling down to a universal civil union status. The question is then whether incestuous unions should be both legal and eligible for this status. I argue that the arguments compatible with public reason for prohibiting them outright, or even for excluding them from the permissible types of legally registered partnerships, are quite weak. The objections to allowing such relations are those from (1) child abuse; (2) unfair burdening of society; and (3) the creation of bad lives. I argue that while rape and other forms of child abuse would be no more legal or tolerated than they are now, the concern about any form of weakening a society's legal and political resources to combat such abuses does indeed register on the justificatory scale, but does not prove that such first‐degree incestuous sexual relations are inherently bad enough to warrant intervention in their own right. I then argue that the concern about unfairly burdening society with unhealthy persons is not as dangerously totalitarian as we might initially fear, but nor is it strong enough to justify an outright prohibition. Finally, I argue that a concern to dissuade persons from creating certain kinds of lives (children with extreme birth defects) is also not as dangerously totalitarian as we might initially fear, and in fact goes further towards explaining why we might have a legitimate interest in intervening. Nonetheless, I argue that the criminalization of such acts only make sense when they are indicators of other offenses, namely negligence or abuse, and it thus seems that the act of consanguineous reproduction is itself insufficient.
Widespread occurrence of the amphibian chytrid fungus in Kenya
Authors: Kielgast J. , Rödder D. , Veith M. , Lötters S. 
Published: November 2009

AbstractAmphibians at the global scale are dramatically declining and the pathogenic fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) has been suggested to be an important driver in this biodiversity crisis. Increasing evidence points towards the global emergence of Bd being a panzootic caused by pathogen pollution. Africa has been suggested to be the origin of the pathogen but remains one of the least‐studied areas. We have conducted the most comprehensive survey on the continent to date focusing on Kenya for investigating taxonomic and environmental components in the distribution of Bd in tropical Africa. Eleven sites along a 770 km transect from the coast up to the border of Uganda were surveyed. Using quantitative PCR, we screened 861 samples from 23 different species in nine genera. The pathogen was confirmed at all studied sites, with an overall prevalence of 31.5%. No dead or symptomatic specimens were found and no declines have been reported in the region so far. Both prevalence and parasite load ranged from the detection limit to some of the highest ever reported. The parasite load showed a significant taxonomic bias and a strong inverse correlation with temperature. Our findings suggest that Bd may be enzootic in the region. We recommend that further research should focus on comparative experimental studies of susceptibility to Bd in African species. Moreover, we stress the need for improved knowledge on the conservation status of the tropical African amphibian fauna to confirm the enzootic nature of widespread Bd infections.
Tracking the decline of the once‐common butterfly: delayed oviposition, demography and population genetics in the hermit Chazara briseis
Authors: Kadlec T. , Vrba P. , Kepka P. , Schmitt T. , Konvicka M. 
Published: November 2009

AbstractLarge populations, seemingly not at risk of extinction, can decline rapidly due to alteration of habitat. This appears to be the case of the butterfly Chazara briseis, which is declining in all of Central and Eastern Europe, even from apparently large areas of its steppe grassland habitats. We combined mark–recapture, allozyme electrophoresis and adult behaviour observation to study the last remaining metapopulation of this once‐widespread butterfly in the Czech Republic. The total population estimate was 1300 males and 1050 females in 10 colonies within a 70 km2 landscape. Adults were long‐lived, and inseminated females required several weeks before they started ovipositing. Models using realistic lengths of the preoviposition period estimated that due to background mortality, only 25–55% of the female census population lived long enough to contribute to the next generation. This demographic load was unlikely to be balanced by an increased fecundity. Allozyme electrophoresis of 22 loci revealed much higher allelic variation than in most other studies of butterflies living in small populations (mean heterozygosity: 20.7%). If expressed as per individual colony, the genetic variation did not correlate with population density, survival or longevity. This was probably due to frequent movements among colonies; during 8 weeks of adult flight, 5.1% of recaptured males and 3.6% of recaptured females moved between colonies. The high preoviposition mortality indicates that populations of this species must contain more individuals compared with populations not suffering this additional demographic load. The high allelic diversity of each single colony suggests that the population as a whole has not undergone genetic bottlenecks, but now may be facing risks of inbreeding depression due to allele frequency shifts and the possible increase of weakly deleterious alleles. In the past, high effective population sizes were maintained by frequent dispersal in dense networks of steppic grasslands. Generous habitat restoration is necessary to safeguard populations of this specialized, yet formerly common species.
A novel non‐invasive tool for disease surveillance of free‐ranging whales and its relevance to conservation programs
Authors: Acevedo‐Whitehouse K. , Rocha‐Gosselin A. , Gendron D. 
Published: November 2009

AbstractThe numbers of potentially pathogenic microorganisms that have been isolated from stranded cetaceans in the last three decades underscore the urgent need for methods of detection of microorganisms that might cause significant disease and increase the likelihood of population declines. We have designed and implemented two non‐invasive techniques for the collection of exhaled breath condensate (blow) from free‐ranging whales and demonstrated their suitability for the detection of respiratory bacteria. We successfully collected 22 individual blow samples from eight cetacean species. Using well‐established molecular techniques we detected three bacterial genera (Haemophilus, Streptococcus and Staphylococcus). Haemophilus spp. was detected in fin whale Balaenoptera physalus, sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus, humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae and gray whale Eschrichtius robustus blows, while unidentified β‐hemolytic streptococci and Staphylococcus aureus were detected in gray whale and blue whale Balaenoptera musculus blows. The detection limit of the test was determined as 1 CFU mL−1. None of the identified bacteria were found in environmental (control) samples, suggesting that their presence in the blows was genuine and not due to inadvertent contamination. While the population‐level relevance of these bacteria is as yet unclear and it is possible that they are commensal microorganisms, S. aureus has been identified previously as a high‐risk pathogen to cetacean health, and streptococci have increasingly been associated with cetacean mortality events. We suggest that future cetacean monitoring programs of vulnerable or threatened species include blow sampling as a means to determine the prevalence of the respiratory bacteria in the populations and monitor spatiotemporal fluctuations as indicators of changes in cetacean health.
The phylogeny of the red panda (Ailurus fulgens): evidence from the forelimb
Authors: Fisher Rebecca E. , Adrian Brent , Barton Michael , Holmgren Jennifer , Tang Samuel Y. 
Published: November 2009

AbstractWithin the order Carnivora, the phylogeny of the red panda (Ailurus fulgens) is contentious, with morphological and molecular studies supporting a wide range of possible relationships, including close ties to procyonids, ursids, mustelids and mephitids. This study provides additional morphological data, including muscle maps, for the forelimb of Ailurus, based on the dissection of four cadavers from the National Zoological Park, Washington, DC, USA. The red panda forelimb is characterized by a number of primitive features, including the lack of m. rhomboideus profundus, a humeral insertion for m. cleidobrachialis, the presence of mm. brachioradialis, articularis humeri and coracobrachialis, a single muscle belly for m. extensor digitorum lateralis with tendons to digits III–V, four mm. lumbricales, and the presence of mm. flexor digitorum brevis manus, adductores digiti I, II and V, and abductor digiti I and V. Red pandas resemble Ailuropoda, mustelids and some procyonids in possessing a soft tissue origin of m. flexor digitorum superficialis. In addition, red pandas are similar to ursids and procyonids in having a variable presence of m. biceps brachii caput breve. Furthermore, Ailurus and some ursids lack m. rhomboideus capitis. The forelimb muscle maps from this study represent a valuable resource for analyzing the functional anatomy of fossil ailurids and some notes on the Miocene ailurid, Simocyon batalleri, are presented.
Activation of Krox20 gene expression by Sox10 in myelinating Schwann cells
Authors: Reiprich Simone , Kriesch Jana , Schreiner Silke , Wegner Michael 
Published: November 2009

J. Neurochem. (2010) 112, 744–754.AbstractThe high‐mobility group domain transcription factor Sox10 is believed to influence myelination in Schwann cells by directly activating myelin genes and by inducing Krox20 as a pivotal regulator of peripheral myelination. Krox20 induction at this stage is thought to be mediated by the myelinating Schwann cell element 35 kb downstream of the Krox20 transcriptional start site and requires cooperation with Oct6. Here, we prove for the first time in vivo that Schwann cell‐specific Krox20 expression indeed depends on Sox10. We also provide evidence that Sox10 functions through multiple, mostly monomeric binding sites in the myelinating Schwann cell element in a manner that should render the enhancer exquisitely sensitive to Sox10 levels. Synergistic activation of the enhancer by Sox10 and Oct6 furthermore does not involve cooperative binding to closely spaced binding sites in defined composite elements. Nevertheless, the POU domain of Oct6 and the high‐mobility group domain of Sox10 as the two DNA‐binding domains were both essential indicating that each transcription factor has to bind independently to DNA. Whereas the POU domain was the only important region of Oct6, two further Sox10 domains were required for synergistic Krox20 activation. These were the carboxyterminal transactivation domain and the conserved K2 domain in the central portion of Sox10. All required regions are conserved in several closely related POU and Sox proteins thus explaining why Oct6 and Sox10 can be replaced by their relatives during Krox20 induction in myelinating Schwann cells.
PRIVATE BENEFITS: OWNERSHIP VERSUS CONTROL
Authors: Hwang Joon Ho , Hu Bill 
Published: November 2009

AbstractWe empirically decompose private benefits into benefits accruing from ownership and benefits accruing from control. We document that private benefits increase slowly with respect to the ownership level but increase rapidly with respect to the blockholder's likelihood of exercising control. The decomposition of private benefits allows us to quantify the magnitude of nonpecuniary private benefits by examining the block premium when the blockholder's likelihood of exercising control is close to zero. We find that the size of nonpecuniary private benefits ranges from 0.61% to 5.92% of the share price, or 18% to 29% of the total private benefits.
KEIRETSU AFFILIATION AND STOCK‐MARKET‐DRIVEN ACQUISITIONS
Authors: Brown Christine , Fung Carlson 
Published: November 2009

AbstractWe examine misvaluation as a driver of takeover activity in Japan. Mirroring empirical results from the United States, we find that overvaluation is an important factor affecting the dichotomy between acquirers and nonacquirers in Japan. Being affiliated to a keiretsu group appears to reduce the probability that an overvalued firm will decide to acquire another firm. Misvaluation is also an important determinant of the likelihood of a firm becoming a target; however, there is no significant difference between keiretsu and nonkeiretsu firms in this regard. Shareholders of keiretsu‐affiliated acquirers do not gain from acquisitions, whereas acquisitions by nonaffiliated firms do seem to be value enhancing.
Severe seizures associated with traumatic brain injury managed by controlled hypothermia, pharmacologic coma, and mechanical ventilation in a dog
Authors: Hayes Galina M. 
Published: November 2009

AbstractObjective –To describe the management and outcome of a dog presenting with intractable seizures associated with traumatic brain injury.Case Summary –A spayed female Wheaten Terrier was presented to an emergency clinic with neurologic deficits (modified Glasgow coma scale of 10) shortly after a road traffic accident. Seizures were uncontrolled despite aggressive pharmacologic intervention. Controlled hypothermia to achieve a rectal temperature of 33–35°C (91.4–95°F) was initiated as a protective measure to reduce intracranial pressure and cerebral metabolic rate, and to assist with seizure control. Intubation and mechanical ventilation were required to protect the airway and manage hypercapnia associated with hypoventilation. The patient went on to make a full recovery, although behavioral changes were noted by the owners for an 8‐week period following injury.New or Unique Information Provided –To the author's knowledge, this is the first instance of therapeutic hypothermia reported in the veterinary literature. A short review of this treatment modality is provided.
A comparison of total calcium, corrected calcium, and ionized calcium concentrations as indicators of calcium homeostasis among hypoalbuminemic dogs requiring intensive care
Authors: Sharp Claire R. , Kerl Marie E. , Mann F.A. 
Published: November 2009

AbstractObjective –(1) To evaluate whether total calcium (tCa) correlates with ionized calcium (iCa) in hypoalbuminemic dogs; (2) to evaluate whether calcium adjusted for albumin (Alb), or total protein (TP), or both accurately predict iCa concentrations and hence can be used to monitor calcium homeostasis in critically ill hypoalbuminemic dogs; and (3) to evaluate factors associated with any potential discrepancy in calcium classification between corrected total and ionized values.Design –Prospective observational clinical study.Setting –Small animal intensive care unit in a veterinary medical teaching hospital.Animals –Twenty‐eight client‐owned dogs with hypoalbuminemia.Interventions –None.Measurements and Main Results –iCa was determined using ion‐specific electrode methodology, on heparinized plasma. The tCa concentration was adjusted for Alb and TP using published equations. In total 29% (8/28) of the hypoalbuminemic, critically ill dogs in this study were hypocalcemic at intensive care unit admission, as determined by iCa measurement. Corrected calcium values failed to accurately classify calcium status in 67.9% and 64.3% of cases, according to whether the Alb‐adjusted or TP‐adjusted values, respectively, were used. The sensitivity and specificity of the tCa to evaluate hypocalcemia was 100% and 47%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of the correction formulae were 37.5% and 79% for the Alb‐adjusted values and 37.5% and 74% for TP‐adjusted values. tCa overestimated the presence of hypocalcemia and underestimated the presence of normocalcemia, while corrected calcium values overestimated the presence of normocalcemia and underestimated the presence of hypocalcemia.Conclusions –Calcium homeostasis in hypoalbuminemic critically ill dogs should be evaluated by iCa concentrations rather than tCa or calcium adjusted for Alb or TP. Given that tCa has 100% sensitivity for detecting hypocalcemia in this population it is recommended that all hypoalbuminemic and critically ill patients with low tCa should be evaluated with an iCa measurement.