bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Semantic‐aware components and services of ActiveMath
Authors: Melis Erica , Goguadze Giorgi , Homik Martin , Libbrecht Paul , Ullrich Carsten , Winterstein Stefan 
Published: April 2006

AbstractActiveMath is a complex web‐based adaptive learning environment with a number of components and interactive learning tools. The basis for handling semantics of learning content is provided by its semantic (mathematics) content markup, which is additionally annotated with educational metadata. Several components, tools and external services can make use of that content markup, eg, a course generator, a semantic search engine and user input evaluation services. The components and services have to communicate, pass content and state changes, actions, etc including mathematical semantics and educational markup. The novel event infrastructure supports this communication. This paper focuses on the usage of the content's semantics by selected novel components and sketches the communication.
A prototype Semantic Web‐based digital content exchange for schools in Singapore
Authors: Shabajee Paul , McBride Brian , Steer Damian , Reynolds Dave 
Published: April 2006

AbstractSingapore has many large and educationally valuable digital collections and is planning the development of many more. These digital collections contain historical, cultural and scientific multimedia objects, along with learning objects. At present, school teachers and pupils find it hard to locate many of these resources using traditional search engines. This paper describes a research investigation into the design and subsequent development of a prototype digital resource discovery portal (Digital Content Exchange) based on Semantic Web technologies, and explores some of the educational issues raised. The research project explored how the features of the Semantic Web might offer valuable additional educational benefits and affordances beyond that of those based on existing information retrieval technologies.
The Impact of Chinese Exports on Global Import Prices*
Authors: Kamin Steven B. , Marazzi Mario , Schindler John W. 
Published: April 2006

AbstractThis paper evaluates the evidence bearing on the question of whether China's buoyant export growth has led to significant changes in the import prices, and thus inflation performance, of its trading partners. This evidence suggests that the impact of Chinese exports on global import prices has been, while non‐ negligible, fairly modest. We identify a statistically significant effect of US imports from China on US import prices, but given the size of this effect and the relatively low share of imports in US GDP, the ultimate impact on US consumer prices has likely been quite small. Moreover, imports from China had little apparent effect on US producer prices. Finally, using a multi‐country database of trade transactions, we estimate that, since 1993, Chinese exports lowered annual import inflation in a large set of economies by 0.25 percentage point or less on average.
Long‐run Lunacy, Short‐run Sanity: a Simple Model of Trade with Labor Market Turnover*
Authors: Davidson Carl , Matusz Steven J. 
Published: April 2006

AbstractIt is often argued that international trade is all about long‐run relationships. In this paper, we argue that this view is flawed when factor markets are characterized by turnover. Toward that end, we provide a simple dynamic model of trade with labor market turnover and show that the relationship between the economy's short‐run and long‐run behavior is more complex than in traditional trade models. For example, in the short run, the economy may produce outside of its long‐run frontier. We show that focusing on long‐run relationships can lead one to draw faulty policy conclusions, while focusing on its short‐run behavior restores sanity. The implication is that in the presence of factor market turnover, international trade issues can only be understood by studying the entire dynamic path of the economy. Long‐run relationships should be ignored.
LUXURY AND WEALTH*
Authors: Ikeda Shinsuke 
Published: April 2006

I develop a dynamic theory of luxury consumption, particularly emphasizing the causal effect that pursuit of luxury goods has on wealth accumulation. A quasi‐luxury is defined as a good whose marginal rate of substitution is increasing in a utility index. Under certain conditions, it is indeed a luxury good. When current wealth holding falls short of (exceeds) long‐run needs, luxury consumption is postponed more (less) easily than necessity consumption, due to a lower (higher) time preference for luxury and/or a higher intertemporal elasticity of substitution thereof. Preferences for quasi‐luxuries lead to a higher steady‐state value of wealth or capital.
Countries which have sumptuary laws, are generally poor.(Sir Dudley North, Discourses Upon Trade, 1691, p. 14)
ANXIETY AND PERFORMANCE: AN ENDOGENOUS LEARNING‐BY‐DOING MODEL*
Authors: Rauh Michael T. , Seccia Giulio 
Published: April 2006

In this article, we show that a standard economic model, the endogenous learning‐by‐doing model, captures several major themes from the anxiety literature in psychology. In our model, anxiety is a fully endogenous construct that can be separated naturally into its cognitive and physiological components. As such, our results are directly comparable with hypotheses and evidence from psychology. We show that anxiety can serve a motivating function, which suggests potential applications in the principal–agent literature.
It doesn't take much technique to roll a 1.68 inch ball along a smooth, level surface into, or in the immediate vicinity of, a 4.5 inch hole. With no pressure on you, you can do it one‐handed most of the time. But there is always pressure on the shorter putts … 90 percent of the rounds I play in major championships, I play with a bit of a shake.Jack Nicklaus, quoted in Patmore (1986, p. 75)
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Associated with Trisomy 21
Authors: Bingol Nesrin , Fuchs Magdalena , Losub Silvia , Kumar Smita , Stone Richard K , Gromisch Donald S 
Published: April 2006

Five cases of Down syndrome in association with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) are described. Four of the babies were full term, one was premature. Phenotypically these babies (3M:2F) had manifestations of both Down syndrome and FAS; growth deficiency was more pronounced than is expected in Down syndrome. All measurements, birth weight, length and head circumference were below ‐2 SD. All had congenital heart disease. Chromsome analysis confirmed 21 trisomy in every case.Down syndrome and FAS may occur together, at random, in 1 in 525,0000 newborns in United States but 1 in 200,000 in our institution. Estimated incidence of FAS and Down syndrome in our institution was 1 in 6,600, a 30‐fold increase over the chance occurrence of these two conditions together. Mean age of mothers at delivery was 29.6 ± 9.3, statistically similar to the mean ages of mothers who delivered Down syndrome and FAS babies in our two hospitals, but was significantly higher than the mean age of mothers in our general population (p < 0.001).All study cases had chronic alcoholic mothers as well as maternal grandmothers, suggesting that there is an increased incidence of trisomy 21 in children of second generation of alcoholic mothers.
Gangliosides of Long Sleep and Short Sleep Mouse Cerebellum and Hippocampus and Cerebellar and Whole Brain Synaptosomal Plasma Membranes
Authors: Ullman M. David , Baker Rodney C. , Dietrich Richard A. 
Published: April 2006

Gangliosides appear to be factors in CNS membrane responses to ethanol. Responses of membranes to ethanol might be influenced by the membrane concentration of gangliosides, the distribution of ganglioside molecular species, or the surface orientation of gangliosides at the plasma membrane surface. To determine the importance of these influences to the acute effect of ethanol, we have chosen to study them in long sleep (LS) and short sleep (SS) mice. This report presents our findings on (1) the composition of gangliosides from LS and SS mouse cerebellum and hippocampus, (2) the composition of gangliosides from synaptosomal plasma membranes (SPM) of LS and SS mice, and (3) the molecular species of cerebellar gangliosides from the two lines.It has been found that GM1 is elevated in the cerebellum and in cerebellar SPM of LS mice compared to SS mice, but that there is no difference between the GMi concentration in the whole hippocampus of the two lines. Further, there are no differences in the molecular species of the cerebellar gangliosides of LS and SS mice.
Acupuncture Treatment of Alcoholic Recidivism: A Pilot Study
Authors: Bullock Milton L , Umen Andrew J , Culliton Patricia D , Olander Robert T 
Published: April 2006

We performed a randomized trial of acupuncture on a group of 54 hardcore alcoholic recidivists to determine if sobriety could be achieved and episodes of drinking and/or Detox Center admissions be decreased by this mode of therapy. Patients in the treatment group received acupuncture points specific for the treatment of substance abuse; control patients received nonspecific points.Significant differences in the two groups were noted at the end of the study. Patients in the treatment group expressed less need for alcohol (p < 0.003), and had fewer drinking episodes (p < 0.0076) and admissions to the Detox Center (p < 0.03) during the study than did control patients. THe majority of treated patients felt that acupuncture had a definite impact on their desire to drink, whereas only a few control patients noted this effect (p < 0.015).The results of this study suggest that acupuncture may be able to interdict the cycle of alcoholic recidivism. Further investigation is needed to define the role of acupuncture in the treatment of alcoholism more precisely.The authors wish to express their appreciation to Dr. Michael O. Smith for his encouragement and consultation during the course of this study, and to Drs. Alvin L. Schultz and Nicole Lurie for their critical review of the manuscript. Mary Kay Messner provided expert secretarial assistance.
Noninvasive Estimation of Blood Alcohol Concentrations: Ethanol Vapor Above the Eye
Authors: Giles H. G. , Sandrin S. , Saldivia V. , Israel Y. 
Published: April 2006

The present study describes, in animals, a novel approach to the in vivo, noninvasive determination of alcohol in the body. The concentration of ethanol in vapor above the lacrimal fluid in the eye was analyzed in situ by the use of a fast (1‐min) gas sensor method developed previously for biological liquids. After an oral dose of 1 g/kg to 11 animals, eye vapor measurements and blood samples were obtained over 4 hr. The correlation of 61 blood ethanol concentrations obtained by the two methods yielded a correlation coefficient of 0.92 and a slope of 0.99. The metabolic rates of ethanol determined by gas chromatographic analysis of blood and by ethanol eye vapor analysis are virtually identical. The data suggest that ethanol eye vapor analysis may be an attractive, noninvasive method for the determination of ethanol in animals. The method is not subject to false high readings due to alcohol in the buccal cavity and thus might constitute an alternative to breath analysis in the human.In a separate series, ethanol was determined by head space gas chromatography in samples of blood and lacrimal fluid while the animals were under ketamine anesthesia. The correlation of ethanol concentrations in blood and lacrimal fluid (r = 0.99) shows that ethanol is distributed in lacrimal fluid which comprises part of total body water.
Paternal Alcohol Exposure Affects Offspring Behavior but not Body or Organ Weights in Mice
Authors: Abel Ernest L. , Lee Julia A. 
Published: April 2006

Male mice consumed liquid alcohol diets containing 20, 10, or 0% ethanol‐derived calories (EDC) for 56‐61 days. Animals fed the 10 and 0% EDC diets were pair‐fed to 20% EDC animals. A nontreated ad libitum group was included to assess the effects of pair‐feeding. After treatment, males were bred to nontreated females.Litter size, birthweight, bodyweight at 21 or 55 days of age, and organ weights except for thymus were not affected by paternal alcohol ingestion. There was a dose‐related decrease in activity at 20 and 24 days of age in an activity chamber and a dose‐related decrease in serum testosterone levels at 55 days of age in male offspring sired by alcohol‐consuming males. Offspring sired by males consuming the 20% EDC diet also required fewer trials to learn a passive avoidance task and had longer latencies to reach the choice point in a T maze.
Use of an Objective Clinical Scale in the Assessment and Management of Alcohol Withdrawal in a Large General Hospital
Authors: Foy Aidan , March Susan , Drinkwater Vine 
Published: April 2006

A modified version of the Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment Scale (CIWA) was used in the management of alcohol withdrawal in a general hospital. Patients who developed seizures or confusion were noted to score higher on the scale, even before these complications, than patients who remained uncomplicated (21.7 ± 1.2 compared to 15.6 ± 0.55).When the score was used as a guide for treatment, it was found that patients scoring >15 were at significantly increased risk of severe alcohol withdrawal if they remained untreated (RR, 3.72; 95% confidence interval, 2.85‐4.85). The higher the score the greater this relative risk. Some patients however, still suffered complicated withdrawals although their scores were low or they were apparently adequately treated.It is concluded that the use of an objective clinical scale of alcohol withdrawal is valuable in a general hospital to identify those patients in early withdrawal who need sedation to avoid complication. There will however, be a small group of patients whose clinical course will be difficult to predict and further work is needed to determine the reasons for this.
Effect of Prenatal Exposure to Ethanol on the Development of Cerebral Cortex: I. Neuronal Generation
Authors: Miller Michael W. 
Published: April 2006

Prenatal exposure to ethanol causes profound disruptions in the development of the cerebral cortex. Therefore, the effect of in utero ethanol exposure on the generation of neurons was determined. Pregnant rats were fed a liquid diet in which ethanol constituted 37.5% of the total caloric content (Et) or pair‐fed an isocaloric control diet (Ct) from gestational day (GD) 6 to the day of birth. The time of origin of cortical neurons was determined in the mature pups of females injected with [3H]thymidine on one day during the period from GD 10 to the day of birth. The brains were processed by standard autoradiographic techniques.Ethanol exposure produced multiple defects in neuronal ontogeny. The period of generation was 1‐2 days later for Et‐treated rats than for rats exposed prenatally to either control diet. Moreover, the generation period was 1‐2 days longer in Et‐treated rats. The numbers of neurons generated on a specific day was altered: from GD 12‐19 significantly fewer neurons were generated in Et‐treated rats than in Ct‐treated rats, whereas after GD 19 more neurons were born. The distribution of neurons generated on a specific day was disrupted; most notable was the distribution of late‐generated neurons in deep cortex of Et‐treated rats rather than in superficial cortex as they are in controls. Cortical neurons in Et‐treated rats tended to be smaller than in Ct‐treated rats, particularly early generated neurons in deep cortex. The late‐generated neurons in Et‐treated rats were of similar size to those in Ct‐treated rats despite their abnormal position in deep cortex. Neurons in Ct‐treated rats tended to be rounder than those in Et‐treated rats which were more polarized in the radial orientation. A proliferation index, which was based on the amount of autoradiographic signal over each labeled neuron, indicated that an additional, late surge in proliferative activity occurred in Et‐treated rats on GD 20‐21. The amount of [3H]thymidine incorporated each day was determined by biochemical analyses. In Ct‐treated rats, incorporation increased to a maximum on GD 17 and decreased thereafter. In Et‐treated rats, there were two maxima, the first on GD 18 and the second on GD 20. These data fully support the findings of the autoradiographic analyses.The present data show that neuronal generation is profoundly affected by ethanol. Such disturbances result from ethanol‐induced abnormalities in neuronal proliferation and migration.
Disturbances in Na+ Transport Systems Induced by Ethanol in Human Red Blood Cells
Authors: Coca Antonio , Garay Ricardo 
Published: April 2006

The effects of ethanol on fluxes catalyzed by four Na+ transport systems (ouabain‐sensitive Na+, K+ pump, bumetanide‐sensitive Na+, K+ cotransport system, Na+:Li+‐ countertransport and anion carrier) and on Na+ and K+ leaks were investigated in human red blood cells.Ethanol concentrations higher than 32 my were required in order to significantly modify erythrocyte Na+ transport function. The observed changes can be summarized as follows: (a) stimulation of Na+ efflux through the Na+, K+ pump (by 21–32% at 160–400 mm) and Na+:Li+ countertransport (by 34–59% at 160–400 mmk (b) inhibition of outward Na+, K+ cotransport (by 23–34% at 160–400 mm) and LiCO3‐ influx through the anion carrier (by 17–21% at 64–400 mm); and (c) increase in Na+ and K+ leaks (by 13–16% at 64–400 mm).The effects of ethanol on the Na+, K+ pump and Na+, K+ cotransport system resulted from changes in maximal rates of Na+ efflux (increased and decreased, respectively) without any significant effect on the apparent affinities for internal Na+.Erythrocytes preincubated for 1 hr with 160 mm ethanol, washed and further incubated in flux media, recovered a normal Na+ transport function.In conclusion, high concentrations of ethanol induced reversible perturbations of fluxes catalyzed by erythrocyte Na+ transport systems. The observed effects may reflect disturbances in Na+ transport function associated with severe intoxication.
Early Measures of Maternal Alcohol Misuse as Predictors of Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes
Authors: Russell Marcia , Skinner Jeremy B. 
Published: April 2006

Pregnancy outcome was studied in 531 obstetric outpatients with respect to maternal alcohol consumption prior to pregnancy recognition, (absolute alcohol per day prior to pregnancy, PPAA) and indications of problem drinking (IPD). Multiple regression was used to predict pregnancy outcome with PPAA and IPD, controlling for potentially confounding sociodemographic and health factors.PPAA predicted spontaneous abortion and lowered Apgar scores. The risk of spontaneous abortion increased an average of 25% for each additional ounce of absolute alcohol consumed per day (p < 0.05). Adverse pregnancy outcomes related to intrauterine growth were more strongly related to IPD than PPAA, and IPD remained a significant predictor even after controlling for PPAA. The strongest association was with head circumference (p < 0.01); logistic regression indicated that for each additional indication of problem drinking reported, risk of head circumference below the 10th percentile increased 2.77 times. Other pregnancy outcome measures negatively related to IPD were 5‐min Apgar scores (p < 0.05), birth weight (p < 0.10), and 1‐min Apgar scores (p < 0.10). No significant curvilinear alcohol effects or interactions were observed.These findings highlight the potential clinical utility of PPAA and IPD in the early identification of women whose alcohol use puts their pregnancies at high risk.
Influence of Improved Drinking Habits on Brain Atrophy and Cognitive Performance in Alcoholic Patients: A 5‐Year Follow‐up Study
Authors: Muuronen Antti , Bergman Hans , Hindmarsh Tomas , Telakivi Tiina 
Published: April 2006

In the period 1977‐1979, a sample of consecutively admitted alcoholic in‐patients was studied with CT scan of the brain and neuro‐psychological tests. A subsample of 52 patients met the following criteria: age less than 46 years, no history of severe head injury or focal signs of traumatic brain damage, and no history of liver disease, drug abuse, or long‐lasting anticonvulsant therapy. However, 72% of the patients showed brain atrophy and 49% intellectual impairment as compared to 16% and 13%, respectively, in an age‐matched sample of men from the general population. Five years later, after excluding patients with head trauma, serious alcoholic liver disease and drug abuse, 37 patients were reinvestigated.Sixteen patients were abstinent or had greatly improved drinking habits during the 5‐year follow‐up period and 21 were still drinking. Alcohol abstinence was found to be associated with a regress of cortical atrophy and central atrophy as assessed by the width of the 3rd ventricle. However, the recovery was not complete as compared with the prevalence of atrophy in the sample from the general population. Among the patients a significant improvement in one cognitive test and a trend to improvement in some other tests associated with improved drinking habits was observed. Regression of central atrophy as assessed by a decreased diameter of the 3rd ventricle was associated with improvement in the very same cognitive tests.The results suggest that both atrophy of the brain and cognitive ability can improve in alcoholics who give up drinking. The CT‐findings indicate that changes of the tissues close to the 3rd ventricle is of clinical relevance in common types of alcoholism.
Neuroreceptor Changes in the Putamen of Alcohol Abusers
Authors: Freund Gerhard , Ballinger William E. 
Published: April 2006

The purpose of this study was to determine if alcohol abuse affects muscarink cholinergic and benzodiazepine receptors in histologi‐cally normal brains obtained at autopsy in a general hospital population. Patients were excluded from this study if they had clinical brain (including Wernicke's) disease, died in coma, had liver disease, significant brain atrophy, or dementia severe enough to require institutionalization. We found that muscarinic cholinergic synaptic receptor density determined with [3H]quinuclidinyl benzilate was decreased by 40% in homogenates of the putamen of 27 alcohol abusers compared with 37 matched nonalcoholic controls. In contrast, receptor densities and affinities of benzodiazepine receptors determined with [3H]flunitrazepam were not significantly different in the two groups. Age and death‐autopsy time interval had no significant effects on either wet tissue protein concentrations, yields of protein after centrifugation, or receptor binding. The contributions of age and time interval were each less than 3% of the total variance of protein concentrations and receptor binding. When patients who had received cholinergic, anticholinergic, or benzodiazepine medications before death were excluded or included we observed no significant effects on the final results. Pneumonia, known to be associated with acute hypoxia, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, known to be associated with chronic hypoxia, were approximately equally distributed between the two groups and had no significant effects on the results reported here.It is significant that the loss of muscarinic and the sparing of benzodiazepine receptors in the putamen occurs in histologically normal brains in the absence of significant atrophy and gross dementia. It implies that these changes are early in the development of alcoholic encephalopathy. We have previously reponed a decrease of muscarinic and benzodiazepine receptor binding in the frontal cortex and a decrease of muscarinic but not benzodiazepine receptors in the temporal cortex of alcohol abusers. Taken together, these findings suggest that alcohol neurotoxicity does not simply result in a random loss of neurons and/or their associated synapses with their receptors. Instead, different types of receptors are specifically affected or spared, depending upon their location in different brain regions. This suggests the involvement of region‐ and receptor‐specific mechanisms in alcohol toxicity, which then probably results in specific patterns of altered behavior.