bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Development of Chiral Bicyclic Triazolium Salt Organic Catalysts: The Importance of the N-Aryl Substituent
Authors: Rovis Tomislav 
Published: December 2007

Abstract
The development of a family of chiral bicyclic triazolium salts is described. Treatment of these salts with base provides a nucleophilic carbene which may be used as an organic catalyst for asymmetric acyl anion chemistry including the benzoin and Stetter reactions, and some recently developed redox chemistry. Throughout the development of these reactions, the nature of the N-aryl substituent on the triazole ring has proven to have a profound effect on both reactivity and selectivity. These observations have also paralleled those made by others using our family of catalysts.
Fabrication of Carbon Nanostructures by Pulsed Electric Discharge between Metal Electrodes Using Fluorine-containing Organic Liquid
Authors: Hosoi Katsuhiko , Kuroda Shin-ichi , Kubota Hitoshi 
Published: December 2007

Abstract
The carbon nanotube and carbon nanoparticle that contain fluorine on the surface were prepared by the pulsed electric discharge in fluorine-containing organic liquid. The production rate of carbon nanostructures by this method was found to be about 50 times faster than that by the “arc in liquid” method previously reported.
Selfstressed Systems Comprising Elements with Unilateral Rigidity: Selfstress States, Mechanisms and Tension Setting
Authors: Quirant Jérôme 
Published: December 2007

Selfstressed reticulated systems have given rise to many studies in the past. However, the theoretical studies undertaken were based on the assumption that their components had bilateral rigidities when, in fact for systems with elements as cables (tensegrity or cable-strut systems) this hypothesis is not valid any more. We propose here to extend the methods of research of the selfstress states or the mechanisms for such systems. Then we can at the same time: choose the relevant selfstress states verify that cables do not induce unilateral mechanisms optimize the number of active elements for the tension setting of the system.
Corporate Governance Reform as Institutional Innovation: The Case of Japan
Authors: Yoshikawa Toru , Tsui-Auch Lai Si , McGuire Jean 
Published: December 2007

To address the convergence-divergence debate in corporate governance, we conduct a multiple-case, multiple-level study to analyze the diffusion of governance innovation in Japan. We argue that Japanese systems of corporate governance neither fully converge to, nor completely diverge from, the Anglo-American model. Rather, Sony—the pioneer of corporate governance reforms—and its followers selectively adopted features from this model, decoupled them from the original context, and tailored them to fit to their own situations to generate governance innovation. However, we find that the spread of innovation across firms and institutional levels is far from linear and straightforward, and that other well-regarded firms raised strong opposition to the institutionalization of corporate governance reforms. Eventually, the Ministry of Justice revised the Commercial Code to legitimize different systems, which led to the emergence of diverse corporate governance practices.Based on the results of our study, we construct an analytical framework to examine innovation diffusion in light of conflicting institutional pressures for change and continuity. Our analysis adds complexity to the convergence-divergence debate by identifying the creation of hybrid corporate governance systems and the nonlinear evolution of such systems as a result of interactions across multiple levels. We show the various degrees of decoupling from the Anglo-American model and identify the antecedents. We then extend the conventional focus of innovation research on diffusion across firms to examine diffusion across institutional levels. We also contribute to institutional theory by offering insights into organizational field formation and the conceptualization of the state in shaping institutional change and continuity.
Noninvasive Optical, Electrical, and Acoustic Methods of Total Hemoglobin Determination
Authors: McMurdy John W , Jay Gregory D , Suner Selim , Crawford Gregory 
Published: December 2007

Abstract
Background: Anemia is an underdiagnosed, significant public health concern afflicting &gt;2 billion people worldwide. The detrimental effects of tissue oxygen deficiency on the cardiovascular system and concurrent appearance of anemia with numerous high-risk disorders highlight the importance of clinical screening. Currently there is no universally accepted, clinically applicable, noninvasive hemoglobin/hematocrit screening tool. The need for such a device has prompted an investigation into a breadth of techniques.
Methods: A synopsis of the literature and current directions of research in noninvasive total hemoglobin measurement was collected. Contributions highlighted in this review are limited to those studies conducted with a clinical aspect, and most include in vivo patient studies.
Results: The review of potential techniques presented here includes optoacoustic spectroscopy, spectrophotometric imaging, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, transcutaneous illumination, electrical admittance plethysmography, and photoplethysmography. The technological performance, relative benefits of each approach, potential instrumentation design considerations, and future directions are discussed in each subcategory.
Conclusions: Many techniques reviewed here have shown excellent accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity in measuring hemoglobin/hematocrit, thus in the near future a new clinically viable tool for noninvasive hemoglobin/hematocrit monitoring will likely be widely used for patient care. Limiting factors in clinical adoption will likely involve technology integration into the current standard of care in each field routinely dealing with anemia.
Evaluation of Endometrial Urocortin Secretion for Prediction of Pregnancy after Intrauterine Insemination
Authors: Florio Pasquale , Bruni Luca , De Falco Carmen , Filardi Gilda , Torricelli Michela , Reis Fernando M , Galleri Letizia , Voltolini Chiara , Bocchi Caterina , De Leo Vincenzo , Petraglia Felice 
Published: December 2007

Abstract
Background: Urocortin is a neuropeptide produced by the human endometrium and has biological effects putatively important for promoting blastocyst implantation. We measured urocortin concentrations in samples of endometrial wash fluid collected from women with unexplained infertility who underwent intrauterine insemination (IUI).
Methods: Patients 28–42 years of age (n = 71) were consecutively enrolled after a complete clinical evaluation. Endometrial wash fluid was retrieved before IUI, at the time of ultrasound evaluation of endometrial thickness. Urocortin concentrations were assayed with a specific ELISA.
Results: After IUI, 28 patients (39%) became pregnant. Urocortin concentrations were significantly higher in women who became pregnant than in those who did not (0.38 μg/L vs 0.13 μg/L, P &lt;0.0001). At a cutoff of 0.321 μg/L, urocortin results were positive in 61% [95% confidence interval (CI), 41%–78%] of women who had successful implantation and negative in 98% (95% CI, 88%–99.6%) of those who did not. The pregnancy rate for women with urocortin concentrations &gt;0.32 μg/L was 94%, which differed significantly (P &lt;0.05) from the overall pregnancy rate of 39% in the study population.
Conclusions: Urocortin is measurable in endometrial wash fluid, and its concentrations before IUI are higher in women who subsequently achieve pregnancy. These data suggest that the probability of having a successful pregnancy-producing IUI may be better estimated by measuring urocortin in endometrial wash fluid.
Bloodspot Assay Using HPLC–Tandem Mass Spectrometry for Detection of Barth Syndrome
Authors: Kulik Willem , van Lenthe Henk , Stet Femke S , Houtkooper Riekelt H , Kemp Helena , Stone Janet E , Steward Colin G , Wanders Ronald J , Vaz Frédéric M 
Published: December 2007

Abstract
Background: Barth syndrome (BTHS) is a serious X-linked, metabolic, multisystem disorder characterized by cardiomyopathy, neutropenia, myopathy, and growth delay. Because early diagnosis and appropriate treatment are of key importance for the survival of affected boys, we developed a biochemical BTHS screening method based on analysis of the monolysocardiolipin:cardiolipin ratio in bloodspots.
Methods: We performed chloroform/methanol extraction on quarter-inch punches of dried bloodspots on Guthrie cards from BTHS patients and controls. Extracts were dried (60 °C, N2) and reconstituted in CHCl3/methanol/H2O [50:45:5 vol/vol/vol, 0.1% NH3 (25%)]. HPLC–tandem mass spectrometry analysis was performed with a normal-phase HPLC column and multiple reaction monitoring transitions for monolysocardiolipin (MLCL) and cardiolipin (CL) with a total run time of 10 min. The ratio of MLCL and CL was used as screening parameter.
Results: All BTHS patients (n = 31) had monolysocardiolipin:cardiolipin ratios &gt;0.40 and all controls (n = 215) had monolysocardiolipin:cardiolipin ratios &lt;0.23. Using a cutoff point of 0.30, a blind test of 206 samples (199 controls, 7 BTHS) had sensitivity and specificity of 100%. Bloodspots could be stored at 4 °C or room temperature for &gt;1 year without affecting the test outcome. Three neonatal Guthrie cards of BTHS patients taken 3.6 to 5.8 years previously were correctly identified as positive for BTHS.
Conclusions: HPLC–tandem mass spectrometry analysis of dried bloodspots is an unambiguous screening test for BTHS with potential for rapid screening of neonates suspected of having BTHS, making remote and retrospective diagnosis accessible for a disease that is almost certainly underdiagnosed.
Effect of Homocysteine Concentration in Early Pregnancy on Gestational Hypertensive Disorders and Other Pregnancy Outcomes
Authors: Dodds Linda , Fell Deshayne B , Dooley Kent C , Armson B Anthony , Allen Alexander C , Nassar Bassam A , Perkins Sherry , Joseph K S 
Published: December 2007

Abstract
Background: Increased total homocysteine (tHcy) may be associated with placental-mediated adverse pregnancy outcomes, but few prospective studies have measured tHcy before pregnancy outcome. This study was undertaken to determine whether increased tHcy measured in early pregnancy is associated with pregnancy loss, gestational hypertension (GH), preeclampsia, or small for gestational age (SGA) infants.
Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study between 2002 and 2005. We measured tHcy and serum folate in blood samples from pregnant women (&lt;20 weeks’ gestation) and collected detailed pregnancy information through a questionnaire and medical record review.
Results: Of the 2119 women included in the study, 103 had a pregnancy loss, 115 had gestational hypertension, 65 had preeclampsia, and 129 had an SGA infant. Subjects with increased tHcy concentrations were at increased risk of pregnancy loss [relative risk (RR) 2.1, 95% CI 1.2–3.6] or preeclampsia (RR 2.7, 95% CI 1.4–5.0) than subjects with lower tHcy concentrations, but increased tHcy concentration was not associated with increased risk of developing GH or having an SGA infant.
Conclusion: The finding of high tHcy in early pregnancy as a risk factor for pregnancy loss and preeclampsia is consistent with a hypothesis that increased tHcy results in abnormalities of the placental vasculature.
Rationale, Design, and Methodology of the Women’s Genome Health Study: A Genome-Wide Association Study of More Than 25 000 Initially Healthy American Women
Authors: Ridker Paul M , Chasman Daniel I , Zee Robert Y L , Parker Alex , Rose Lynda , Cook Nancy R , Buring Julie E ,   for the Women’s Genome Health Study Working Group
Published: December 2007

Abstract
The primary aim of the Women’s Genome Health Study (WGHS) is to create a comprehensive, fully searchable genome-wide database of &gt;360 000 single nucleotide polymorphisms among at least 25 000 initially healthy American women participating in the ongoing NIH-funded Women’s Health Study (WHS). These women have already been followed over a 12-year period for major incident health events including but not limited to myocardial infarction, stroke, cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, venous-thromboembolism, cognitive decline, and common visual disorders such as age- related macular degeneration and cataracts. Investigations within the WGHS will seek to identify relevant patterns of genetic polymorphism that predict future disease states in otherwise healthy American women, and to evaluate patterns of genetic polymorphism that relate to multiple intermediate phenotypes including blood-based determinants of disease that were measured at baseline for each study participant. By linking genome-wide data to the existing epidemiologic databank of the parent WHS, which includes comprehensive dietary, behavioral, and traditional exposure data on each participant since cohort inception in 1992, the WGHS will also allow exploration of gene-environment and gene-gene interactions as they relate to incident disease states. Thus, with continued follow-up of the WHS, the WGHS provides a unique scientific resource—a full-cohort, prospective, genome-wide association study among initially healthy American women.
Assessment of biodeterioration for the screening of new wood preservatives: Calculation of stiffness loss in rapid decay testing
Authors: Przewloka Simon R. , Crawford Douglas M. , Rammer Douglas R. , Buckner Donald L. , Woodward Bessie M. , Li Gan , Nicholas Darrel D. 
Published: December 2007

Abstract
Demand for the development of environmentally benign wood preservatives has increased significantly. To reduce the evaluation time of prospective candidates, reliable accelerated decay methodologies are necessary for laboratory screening of potential preservatives. Ongoing research at Mississippi State University has focused upon utilizing custom built equipment to measure stiffness losses in wood wafers after 4 weeks of fungal exposure as opposed to mass losses in blocks after 12 weeks. Stiffness loss as a measure to quantify the extent of biodeterioration may allow detection of incipient decay. The resistance of untreated and treated southern yellow pine and radiata pine (Pinus radiata) sapwood wafers to biodeterioration by brown rot (Neolentinus lepideus, Gloeophyllum trabeum and Postia placenta) and white rot (Trametes versicolor and Irpex lacteus) fungi was investigated by measuring stiffness. From the data collected percentage stiffness losses were calculated based upon modulus of elasticity. It is a potentially accurate alternative to the “secant modulus” at a deformation equal to 5% of the specimen height calculation generally performed.
FT-NIR spectroscopy in predicting the decay resistance related characteristics of solid Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) heartwood
Authors: Leinonen Asta , Harju Anni M. , Venäläinen Martti , Saranpää Pekka , Laakso Tapio 
Published: December 2007

Abstract
FT-NIR spectroscopy equipped with a fiber optic probe was used to predict the mass loss caused by a brown-rot fungus (Coniophora puteana) in Scots pine heartwood. Because decay tests are impractical for generating reference data for the calibration of prediction models, the possibilities of using the concentration of heartwood extractives as a reference variable instead of mass loss was studied. The material investigated covered a wide range of natural variation in durability and diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectra were recorded from the cross section of 41 pines. The partial least square (PLS) regression models were found to be satisfactory for prediction of the mass loss and the concentration of extractives (total phenolics, resin acids, pinosylvin and pinosylvin monomethyl ether). It was concluded that FT-NIR spectroscopy has the potential to become a tool for the decay resistance grading of Scots pine heartwood timber, especially if the prediction models will be based on heartwood extractives.
“We're Our Own Boss”: Gendered Class‐Consciousness and White Privilege among Hooper's Island Crab Pickers
Authors: Feltault Kelly 
Published: December 2007

AbstractThis article analyzes the gendered class‐consciousness of white crab pickers of the Chesapeake Bay through their claim that they are their own boss. Although crab pickers work in a factory for a wage, have a boss, and punch a time clock, this article argues that gender, whiteness, kinship, and localized myths of hard work and independence tied to the coastal landscape formed a unique local and regional history linked to class and racial ideologies that actually allowed white crab pickers to contest packinghouse owners' authority over their schedules, speed, and other political aspects of work. The article analyzes ethnographic fieldwork, discourses in federal documents, and a strike by crab pickers to argue that white women's claim of self employment was an historically contingent process where class and class‐consciousness operated as relationships defined by women as they lived their own lives. The article concludes that scholars must separate class‐consciousness from class action and understand the political power of dominant classes to control the latter, especially in relation to gendered labor markets. Women crab pickers' claim of self‐employment points to a consciousness of oneself within a specific power relationship and subordinated position.
Business First: Work Relations in Cape Breton's “Progressive” Third Sector
Authors: DeRoche Constance P. 
Published: December 2007

AbstractCape Breton Island, the northeastern portion of Canada's province of Nova Scotia, has a long history of both economic malaise and experimentation with innovative forms of economic organization. Disillusioned with both private enterprise and state economic intervention, local activists have, over the last three decades, worked to develop community‐oriented, “third‐sector” ventures. Building on the grassroots tradition of the region's “Antigonish Movement,” and inspired by the Basque worker co‐operatives of Mondragón, these reformers have established enterprises that purport to be progressive. This article examines that reformist claim as it pertains to a group of not‐for‐profit companies called New Dawn Enterprises, as well as the community‐investment firm it spawned, BCA. The analysis suggests that while these firms, in some ways, have “socialized” capital, they have done nothing to restructure labor‐management relations. Experimentation with workplace democracy has been sacrificed for conventional measures of business success. That is, though it is not privately appropriated in these firms, financial profit is the top priority.
Work, Experiential Learning, Lived Practice and Knowing‐in‐Action
Authors: Beck Sam 
Published: December 2007

AbstractThe work that is represented here demonstrates the importance of what we do in learning to work in professional settings of various sorts. Learning‐in‐context through experience and action is so essential that it is normalized and taken for granted, accepted as part of “the real world,” not needing explanation or intervention. The articles in this issue describe and explain learning‐in‐action. Each of the articles in this special issue demonstrates that no matter the style of teaching/learning and context, we must increasingly become aware of the unintended outcomes of the processes involved. The articles emphasize the simultaneity of work, learning, and teaching. The authors discuss how work experience is represented and the nature of reflection, the ways through which work confidence and competency are constructed in situated activities, and how work practice is transmitted by mentors and reproduced by novices through a process of transition.
Working Through Tradition: Experiential Learning and Formal Training as Markers of Class and Caste in North Indian Block Printing
Authors: DeNicola Alicia Ory 
Published: December 2007

AbstractLocated about 40 kilometers west of Jaipur, India, Bagru is home to a nationally renowned cluster of about 100 artisan families who use wooden blocks and rely heavily on regionally manufactured natural dyes to hand print upscale boutique textiles for the world market. As printers have successfully entered into export markets, they have sold their products as “traditional,” marking their commodities as distinct from mass‐produced, screen‐printed textiles made with chemical dyes in urban factories. At the same time, designers have played an important role in introducing these traditional products to a global market, marking their role as “innovative.” In this article I argue that the articulation and practice of tradition and innovation within different works, then, serve to mediate and maintain class distinctions in an arena where a rising middle class is still self‐consciously creating itself. This article explores the distinctive formal and experiential learning associated with tradition and innovation alongside the discourses that accompany them. What is implicitly at stake in this narrative is the construction and maintenance of a class distinction: one that borrows from local caste understandings of patronage and responsibility at the same time that it manages to negotiate local and global systems—both exploiting and being exploited by the consistently reconstructed boundaries of the market.
Appreciating the “Work” in Artwork: Handmade Ceramics from San Vicente de Nicoya, Costa Rica
Authors: Johnson‐Ortiz Aaron 
Published: December 2007

AbstractArtisans in San Vicente de Nicoya, Costa Rica, sustain a pottery industry partially inherited from ancient traditions but greatly developed over the past three decades, hand‐in‐hand with a rise in tourism. Contemporary ceramics change aesthetically as individual artisans instill their own sense of beauty in their work and discern the preferences of buyers. However, few tourists and collectors assess the labor that goes into each stage of manufacture. Community members are trying to create an environment in which ceramics sell for a price that at least covers the material investments and hours of labor, while instilling a greater appreciation of the art form, its history, and the artisans themselves. In this photo essay, I propose photography as one of the many ways that an ecomuseum can educate visitors and help promote a “fair trade” environment.
White Collars with Chinese Characteristics: Global Capitalism and the Formation of a Social Identity
Authors: Duthie Laurie 
Published: December 2007

AbstractChina's economic reform and the increasing presence of foreign direct investment has resulted in the creation of a new occupational segment of white collar business professionals employed by foreign‐invested multinational corporations. This article explores the emergence of this occupational segment in historical context and then further addresses the social prestige and meaning assigned to white‐collar professionals in contemporary China. Through the lens of different aspects of identity—namely gender, citizenship, race, and ethnicity—the author explores the formation of this social identity on local, national, and global scales. Ultimately, the author argues that the process of identity formation in the case of white‐collar workers in China involves the intertwining of multiple and contrasting ideologies.