bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Structure and performance of the service sector in transition economies1
Authors: Fernandes Ana M. 
Published: June 2009

AbstractThis paper examines the performance of the service sector in the Eastern European transition economies during the 1997–2004 period. The performance of the service sector as a whole and of its sub‐sectors is very heterogeneous within the region. Service sub‐sectors that are information and communications technology producers or users and those using skilled labour more intensively exhibit the highest labour productivity growth. Our estimates show a positive and significant effect of liberalization on service labour productivity growth that is stronger for sub‐sectors that are more distant from the technological frontier. Service liberalization is also shown to have a positive effect on labour productivity levels and growth of downstream manufacturing industries.
Privatization in Poland What was the government trying to achieve?1
Authors: De Fraja Gianni , Roberts Barbara M. 
Published: June 2009

AbstractThis article uses the sequencing of privatization to infer the objective pursued by the Polish government in the privatization of its large manufacturing firms in the second half of the 1990s. We construct a model of mixed oligopoly and use it to evaluate the privatization process; our analysis is based on the assumption that firms which furthered the government's objective function the most would be chosen to be privatized first. Based on the features of the firms that were chosen for early privatization, our empirical analysis suggests that welfare maximization was more important than the desire to maximize the revenues from privatization and the government's budget or to minimize employment losses.
Job creation, job destruction, labour mobility and wages in Poland, 1988–19981
Authors: Jackson John E. , Mach Bogdan W. 
Published: June 2009

AbstractLongitudinal data from interviews with Poles of working age conducted in 1988, 1993 and 1998 combined with longitudinal firm‐level data present a detailed view of the transition from a state‐dominated to a market economy. Job losses in state firms and job creation in new private firms are the dominant employment changes, other than retirements from the labour force. In the Polish case, a significant proportion of this movement over the 1988–1998 period involves a spell of unemployment or exit from the labour force before obtaining a private sector job. This results in considerable job competition between workers leaving the state sector and those who are out of the labour force or unemployed. Income differences between the state sector and the de novo sector appear to have little association with mobility. These results suggest that movement to the new private sector is more likely to be the result of job loss than the result of people looking for better, higher paying jobs. Self‐employment plays an important role in the development of the private sector. People working on their own account have higher incomes than wageworkers and are likely to become owners employing additional workers. Incomes are higher in regions with high rates of job creation and depressed in regions with job destruction.
Oligarchs, political regime changes, and firm valuation1
Authors: Maury Benjamin , Liljeblom Eva 
Published: June 2009

AbstractThis paper examines the impact of a regime shift on the valuation of politically powerful oligarch firms. Focusing on the Yeltsin–Putin regime shift in Russia, we find that the valuations of oligarch‐controlled firms are significantly higher under the Putin regime than under the Yeltsin regime after controlling for industry and time effects. The findings suggest that the increasing cost of extracting private benefits outweighs the reduction in the value of political connections following the political regime change. The results are also consistent with changes in the risk of state expropriation. Our results indicate that effects driven by the political regime change complement the traditional view that increased ownership concentration improved the performance of Russian oligarch firms.
Non‐linear finance–growth nexus
Authors: Huang Ho‐Chuan , Lin Shu‐Chin 
Published: June 2009

AbstractThis paper revisits the question of whether the finance–growth nexus varies with the stages of economic development. Using a novel threshold regression with the instrumental variables approach proposed by Caner and Hansen (2004) to the dataset used in Levine et al. (2000) we detect overwhelming evidence in support of a positive linkage between financial development and economic growth, and this positive effect is larger in the low‐income countries than in the high‐income ones. The data also reveal that financial development tends to have stronger impacts on capital accumulation and productivity growth in the low‐income countries than in the high‐income ones. The findings are robust to alternative financial development measures and conditioning information sets.
Increased insulin resistance and risk of incident cerebrovascular events in patients with pre‐existing atherothrombotic disease
Authors: Tanne D. , Tenenbaum A. , Boyko V. , Benderly M. , Fisman E. Z. , Matas Z. , Adler Y. , Behar S. 
Published: June 2009

Background and purpose:  Diabetes and the metabolic syndrome are known risk factors for ischaemic stroke. Our aim was to examine whether amongst patients with pre‐existing atherothrombotic disease, increased insulin resistance is associated with incident cerebrovascular events.Methods:  Patients with stable coronary heart disease included in a secondary prevention trial were followed up for a mean of 6.2 years. Coronary heart disease was documented by a history of myocardial infarction ≥6 months and <5 years before enrollment and/or stable angina pectoris with evidence of ischaemia confirmed by ancillary diagnostic testing. Main exclusion criteria were insulin treated diabetes, hepatic or renal failure, and disabling stroke. Baseline insulin levels were measured in 2938 patients from stored frozen plasma samples and increased insulin resistance assessed using the homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA‐IR), categorized into tertiles or quartiles.Results:  Crude rates of incident cerebrovascular events rose from 5.0% for HOMA‐IR at the bottom tertile to 5.7% at the middle tertile, and 7.0% at the top tertile (P = 0.07). HOMA‐IR at the top versus bottom tertile was associated with an unadjusted hazard ratio (HR) of 1.37 (95%CI, 0.94–1.98) and a 1‐unit increase in the ln HOMA‐IR was associated with a HR of 1.14 (95%CI, 0.97–1.35). In further analyses adjusting for potential confounders, or categorizing baseline HOMA‐IR into quartiles, or excluding diabetic patients, we did not identify an increased risk for incident cerebrovascular events conferred by the top category.Conclusions:  Increased insulin resistance did not predict incident cerebrovascular events amongst patients with pre‐existing atherothrombotic disease.
Plasma levels of 15d‐PGJ2 are not altered in multiple sclerosis
Authors: Comabella M. , Pradillo J. M. , Fernández M. , Río J. , Lizasoain I. , Julià E. , Moro M. A. , Sastre‐Garriga J. , Montalban X. 
Published: June 2009

Background:  The 15‐deoxi delta prostaglandin J2 (15d‐PGJ2) is a peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor‐gamma agonist with potent anti‐inflammatory properties. It has been suggested that 15d‐PGJ2 may modulate multiple sclerosis (MS).Methods:  Here, we investigated the plasma levels of 15d‐PGJ2 by enzyme‐linked immunoassay in 28 healthy controls and 140 MS patients [30 patients with primary‐progressive MS, 28 patients with secondary‐progressive MS, and 82 patients with relapsing‐remitting MS (28 patients during clinical remission, 25 patients during relapse, and 29 treated with interferon‐beta – IFN‐β)].Results:  Levels of 15d‐PGJ2 were similar between healthy controls and untreated MS patients with different clinical courses of the disease. Treatment with IFN‐β had no effect on levels of 15d‐PGJ2.Conclusions:  Although these findings suggest that 15d‐PGJ2 is not involved in the acute or chronic phases of the disease, further studies measuring 15d‐PGJ2 in cerebrospinal fluid samples are needed before excluding a role of 15d‐PGJ2 in MS.
Relevance of the genetic polymorphism of NOD1 in Chlamydia pneumoniae seropositive stroke patients
Authors: Tiszlavicz Z. , Somogyvári F. , Kocsis Á. K. , Szolnoki Z. , Sztriha L. K. , Kis Z. , Vécsei L. , Mándi Y. 
Published: June 2009

Background and purpose:  Chronic infections with certain pathogens, such as Chlamydia pneumoniae, and genetic parameters that influence inflammatory reactions have been suggested to contribute to ischaemic stroke. NOD1 is a potent cytosolic receptor for C. pneumoniae. The aim of this study was to investigate the genetic polymorphism of NOD1 from the aspect of the development of stroke.Materials and methods:  A total of 280 patients with ischaemic stroke were enrolled in the study; 150 healthy blood donors served as controls. The G796A (E266K) NOD1 polymorphism was determined by restriction fragment length polymorphism. Chlamydia pneumoniae seropositivity was tested by ELISA.Results:  There was a significant difference in NOD1 G796A genotype distribution between the controls and the stroke patients with C. pneumoniae seropositivity. The AA homozygote and GA heterozygote mutant variants were detected in 16% (25 of 152) and in 50% (77 of 152) of the C. pneumoniae‐positive stroke patients, as compared with 8% (6 of 84), and 28% (24 of 84), respectively, in the C. pneumoniae‐positive healthy controls. (OR = 2.559; 95% CI = 1.105–6.517, P = 0.04 and OR = 2.567; 95% CI = 1.451–4.540 P < 0.001, respectively). The stroke patients with the large vessel pathology exhibited the highest frequency of the mutant allele A (51%). In contrast, amongst the C. pneumoniae‐negative subjects, no difference in genotype frequency was observed between the stroke patients and the controls.Conclusion:  Polymorphism in NOD1 G796A alone did not prove to be a risk factor for stroke in general, but in association with C. pneumoniae infection it appeared to be accompanied by an increased risk of the development of stroke.
BDNF Val66Met polymorphism is associated with cognitive impairment in Italian patients with Parkinson’s disease
Authors: Guerini F. R. , Beghi E. , Riboldazzi G. , Zangaglia R. , Pianezzola C. , Bono G. , Casali C. , Di Lorenzo C. , Agliardi C. , Nappi G. , Clerici M. , Martignoni E. 
Published: June 2009

Background and purpose:  A possible association between Parkinson’s disease (PD) and the polymorphism of Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) G196A (Val66Met) has been suggested by different studies that nevertheless yielded‐contrasting result. The purpose of this study was to analyze such possible association in a cohort of Italian PD patients.Methods:  The BDNF polymorphisms were analyzed in 294 Italian patients with PD; results were compared to those obtained in 233 age‐ and sex‐matched healthy controls (HC) enrolled from two tertiary centres in Italy. Polymorphisms were determined by Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) analysis; correlations between BDNF G196A polymorphism, and cognitive function were established by sub analyzing the results upon dividing PD patients based on their Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) score.Results:  Univariate analysis showed a highly significant correlation between the BDNF(AA) genotype and a MMSE score ≤24. Hence, the distribution of this genotype in PD individuals with a MMSE score ≤24 was significantly increased compared to PD patients with an MMSE score >24 and HC (P < 0.001 in both cases). Multivariate analyses showed that BDNF (AA) genotype was associated to a sixfold risk of cognitive impairment.Conclusions:  The BDNF(AA) homozygote genotype is over‐represented in PD patients compared with normal individuals; this genotype was significantly correlated to cognitive impairment, age and disease severity. These results, although preliminary, could be important in establishing novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to PD.
Cognitive and cerebral hemodynamic impairment in scleroderma patients
Authors: Giuliodori G. , Fraticelli P. , Bartolini M. , Cagnetti C. , Baruffaldi R. , Rocchi M. B. L. , Provinciali L. , Gabrielli A. , Silvestrini M. 
Published: June 2009

Background and purposes: Neurological involvement in systemic sclerosis is unusual despite the possible cerebral localization of vascular lesions. The aim of this study was to evaluate cognitive performances and cerebral vasoreactivity in young scleroderma patients without any signs or symptoms of nervous system involvement.Methods: Sixteen scleroderma patients and 16 sex‐ and age‐matched healthy subjects without vascular risk factors were included. A neuropsychological assessment for the evaluation of different areas of cognition was performed. For an assessment of cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR), each subject was submitted to hypercapnia with transcranial Doppler ultrasonography using the Breath‐Holding Index (BHI).Results: Patients had significantly lower adjusted mean levels of performance with respect to controls in the Modified Card Sorting Test (P < 0.001) and in the Trail Making Test Parts A and B (P < 0.001 andP < 0.05 respectively). Regarding CVR, BHI values were significantly lower in patients with respect to controls: 0.82 ± 0.44 vs. 1.34 ± 0.18,P < 0.0001.Conclusions: These findings show the presence of reduced performances of executive functions in scleroderma patients. The associated alteration of CVR in the absence of other apparent causes of cerebrovascular impairment suggests that cognitive problems may be related to an alteration in cerebral perfusion regulation specifically linked to the disease. Further studies are needed to evaluate whether cognitive changes may be positively influenced by treatments aimed to improve vessels functionality in scleroderma patients.
Trends in Parkinson’s disease related mortality in England and Wales, 1993–2006
Authors: Mylne A. Q. N. , Griffiths C. , Rooney C. , Doyle P. 
Published: June 2009

Background:  This paper describes changes in Parkinson’s disease (PD) mortality in England and Wales between 1993 and 2006 using all information on death certificates.Methods:  Information on deaths was obtained from the Office for National Statistics. Mortality rates for any mention of PD on death certificates were directly age‐standardized using the European standard population. Average yearly changes in mortality rates were estimated using linear regression. The underlying cause of death on death certificates where PD was mentioned was examined by sex and calendar period.Results:  Male PD age‐standardized mortality rates for any mention of PD decreased from 15.0 to 11.7 per 100 000 between 1993 and 2006. Female PD mortality rates fell from 6.3 to 4.9 per 100 000. Decreases were greater for older age‐groups. The proportion of deaths with PD recorded as the underlying cause increased by 50% in 2001 following implementation of the 10th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD).Conclusion:  Parkinson’s disease mortality rates in England and Wales are decreasing, especially for men and for older age‐groups. Because of data limitations we are unable to ascertain whether the decrease of PD recorded on death certificates is because of a reduction in PD incidence, or to improved survival for PD patients resulting from advancements in PD treatments or to improvements in general medical care. The dramatic increase in PD as the underlying cause of death following ICD revision in 2001 demonstrates the dangers of using underlying cause of death to investigate mortality trends without being aware of the potential for artifacts.
Cell proliferation and death in the brain of active and hibernating frogs
Authors: Cerri Silvia , Bottiroli Giovanni , Bottone Maria Grazia , Barni Sergio , Bernocchi Graziella 
Published: June 2009

Abstract‘Binomial’ cell proliferation and cell death have been studied in only a few non‐mammalian vertebrates, such as fish. We thought it of interest to map cell proliferation/apoptosis in the brain of the frog (Rana esculenta L.) as this animal species undergoes, during the annual cycle, physiological events that could be associated with central nervous system damage. Therefore, we compared the active period and the deep underground hibernation of the frog. Using western blot analysis for proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), we revealed a positive 36 kDa band in all samples and found higher optical density values in the hibernating frogs than in active frogs. In both active and hibernating frogs, we found regional differences in PCNA‐immunoreactive cells and terminal transferase dUTP nick‐end labelling apoptotic cells in the ventricular zones and parenchyma areas of the main encephalon subdivisions. During the active period of the frogs, the highest concentration of PCNA‐immunoreactive cells was found in the ventricle dorsal zone of the cerebral hemispheres but only some of the cells were apoptotic. By contrast, the tectal and cerebellar ventricular zones had a small or medium amount of PCNA‐immunoreactive cells, respectively, and a higher number of apoptotic cells. During hibernation, an increased PCNA‐immunoreactive cell number was observed in both the brain ventricles and parenchyma compared with active frogs. This increase was primarily evident in the lateral ventricles, a region known to be a proliferation ‘hot spot’. Although differences existed among the brain areas, a general increase of apoptotic cell death was found in hibernating frogs, with the highest number of apoptotic cells being detected in the parenchyma of the cerebral hemispheres and optic tectum. In particular, the increased number of apoptotic cells in the hibernating frogs compared with active frogs in the parenchyma of these brain areas occurred when cell proliferation was higher in the corresponding ventricular zones. We suggest that the high number of dying cells found in the parenchymal regions of hibernating frogs might provide the stimulus for the ventricular zones to proliferate. Hibernating frogs could utilize an increased cell proliferation in the brain areas as a neuroprotective strategy to face cell death and the onset of neurological damages. Therefore, the hibernator promises to be a valuable model for studying the mechanisms naturally carried out by the central nervous system in order to adapt itself or survive adverse conditions.
Development of the stapedius muscle and pyramidal eminence in humans
Authors: Rodríguez‐Vázquez J. F. 
Published: June 2009

AbstractThe aim of the study was to systematize the key developmental phases of the stapedius muscle and the pyramidal eminence to clarify their formation, as well as to understand the variations and anomalies that can affect these structures. Sixty human embryos and fetuses between 38 days and 17 weeks of development were studied. The stapedius muscle is formed by two anlagen, one for the tendon, which derives from the internal segment of the interhyale, and another for the belly, located in the second pharyngeal arch medial to the facial nerve and near the interhyale but forming a completely independent anlage. In the interhyale, two segments were differentiated, these forming an angle; at the vertex, the belly of the stapedius muscle is attached. The internal segment is located from the attachment of the belly of the stapedius muscle to the anlage of the stapes, forming the anlage of the tendon of the stapedius muscle. The external segment completely disappears at the beginning of the fetal period. The pyramidal eminence is formed by an anlage independent of Reichert’s cartilage, from the mesenchymal tissue of the tympanic cavity, which condenses around the belly of the stapedius muscle from 12 weeks of post‐conception development. The length of the tendon of the stapedius muscle in adults varies, depending on the attachment site of the belly of the stapedius muscle in the interhyale, which would determine the length of the internal segment (anlage of the tendon) and consequently the tendon length. This variation depends on the greater or lesser persistence of the angulation observed during development, between the tendon and the belly of the stapedius muscle.
The pattern of endocranial ontogenetic shape changes in humans
Authors: Neubauer Simon , Gunz Philipp , Hublin Jean‐Jacques 
Published: June 2009

AbstractHumans show a unique pattern of brain growth that differentiates us from all other primates. In this study, we use virtual endocasts to provide a detailed description of shape changes during human postnatal ontogeny with geometric morphometric methods. Using CT scans of 108 dried human crania ranging in age from newborns to adults and several hundred landmarks and semi‐landmarks, we find that the endocranial ontogenetic trajectory is curvilinear with two bends, separating three distinct phases of shape change. We test to what extent endocranial shape change is driven by size increase and whether the curved ontogenetic trajectory can be explained by a simple model of modular development of the endocranial base and the endocranial vault. The hypothesis that endocranial shape change is driven exclusively by brain growth is not supported; we find changes in endocranial shape after adult size has been attained and that the transition from high rates to low rates of size increase does not correspond to one of the shape trajectory bends. The ontogenetic trajectory of the endocranial vault analyzed separately is nearly linear; the trajectory of the endocranial base, in contrast, is curved. The endocranial vault therefore acts as one developmental module during human postnatal ontogeny. Our data suggest that the cranial base comprises several submodules that follow their own temporally and/or spatially disjunct growth trajectories.
Bioactive TGF‐β can associate with lipoproteins and is enriched in those containing apolipoprotein E3
Authors: Tesseur Ina , Zhang Hui , Brecht Walter , Corn Jacob , Gong Jian‐Sheng , Yanagisawa Katsuhiko , Michikawa Makoto , Weisgraber Karl , Huang Yadong , Wyss‐Coray Tony 
Published: June 2009

AbstractTransforming growth factor‐β1 (TGF‐β1) has central functions in development, tissue maintenance, and repair and has been implicated in major diseases. We discovered that TGF‐β1 contains several amphipathic helices and hydrophobic domains similar to apolipoprotein E (apoE), a protein involved in lipoprotein metabolism. Indeed, TGF‐β1 associates with lipoproteins isolated from human plasma, cultured liver cells, or astrocytes, and its bioactivity was highest in high‐density lipoprotein preparations. Importantly, lipoproteins containing the apoE3 isoform had higher TGF‐β levels and bioactivity than those containing apoE4, a major genetic risk factor for atherosclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease. Because TGF‐β1 can be protective in these diseases an association with apoE3 may be beneficial. Association of TGF‐β with different types of lipoproteins may facilitate its diffusion, regulate signaling, and offer additional specificity for this important growth factor.