bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Towards a Political Economy of Reform, Regulation and Corporate Crime
Authors: SNIDER LAUREEN 
Published: January 2008

This paper focuses on the passage and enforcement of laws regulating the corporate sector, specifying patterns which seem to emerge from this literature in the major English speaking democracies.The creation of regulatory laws, the typical resistance by the industry and the state, and the crucial role of crises in the successful passage of laws are examined first. The patterns which law enforcement follows, and the key role of the regulatory agency in shaping these, are delineated next. The theoretical implications of these empirically based generalizations are then set out.The author argues that neither the pluralist nor the mainstream Marxist analyses adequately explain the very real progress that has occurred over the past 400 years in containing corporate crime, because it has happened largely in spite of rather than because of laws and regulatory activity. Real reform resulted because ongoing struggles forged a change at the ideological level, and this in turn led to improvements at the level of production. By raising the price of legitimacy for corporations in a particular nation‐state, prolaterian groups and their allies can create the conditions for change. Law and regulatory agencies have been of secondary importance, it is argued, in the struggle to restrain the predatory behavior of the corporate sector.
Community Participation and the Function of Rules: The Case of Urban Zoning Boards
Authors: STEELE ERIC H. 
Published: January 2008

Data from a case study of piecemeal zoning change suggest that the decisions of citizen zoning boards of appeal are neither lawless nor ineffective–the majority of requests that come before them are for bulk and dimension variances which typically do not threaten the land use status quo and are usually granted unless there is local opposition. When substantial changes of land use are involved two factors are influential in determining the outcome of zoning cases–the consistency or clash between the proposed land use and that of the neighborhood surrounding the site, particularly in single‐family residential areas; and the expression of opinion (positive or negative) by the residents of the community.Despite criticism of zoning boards as defective and illegitimate legal institutions and calls for their abolition, they remain popular and extremely resistant to change because they have come to play important dispute settling and community maintenance functions in the urban environment in addition to their explicit rule enforcement functions. These broader community functions of zoning can only be understood in terms of a participatory model of legal process where legal rules are understood as functioning to identify situations as much as they are norms to be enforced.
The Initiative Process and its Declining Agenda‐setting Value
Authors: BERG LARRY L. , HOLMAN C. B. 
Published: January 2008

California adopted the initiative process in 1911 as a means to allow the electorate to enact laws or amend the state constitution without acting through representatives. The process was instituted in reaction to an unresponsive legislature dominated heavily by well‐financed and professional special interest groups.Since 1978, however, there has been a clear trend toward the “professionalization” of the initiative process in California. What was once a valuable agenda‐setting mechanism for citizens has increasingly become a tool of professional special interest groups. A survey of expenditures made in solely the qualification phase of statewide initiatives over time shows a growing dichotomy between those initiatives that qualify for the ballot and those that fail to qualify. Not only are dramatically more funds spent on behalf of successful qualification efforts, but these funds also are more likely to be spent on enlisting professional signature‐gathering services. The era of the “popular initiative” is coming to a close unless steps are taken to reduce the professionalization of its agenda‐setting function.
Amicus Curiae and the Public Interest: A Search for a Standard1
Authors: DALY NANCY 
Published: January 2008

Despite the widespread and influential presence of an increasingly partisan amicus curiae brief, the role of the “friend of the court” brief remains controversial. Changing rules of access and diverging recommendations for its behavior are associated with two distinct views of jurisprudence. A traditional understanding of adversarial proceedings emphasizes the individual interests of the litigants, and correspondingly excludes consideration of non‐parties and the general public. An alternative to the traditional, individual‐based, liberal jurisprudence (and its skepticism toward public interest arguments) is a recognition of the need to integrate individual and public interests and to find a coherence between them.The skeptical view of the public interest can be avoided by adopting a post‐empiricist view, which recognizes a plurality of interpretations of the public interest. The amicus curiae role, if given wide access, can serve as a tool of inclusive pluralism, which recognizes a diversity of views regarding the public interest and the impact of legal decisions on the public.
What are Tort Awards Really Like? The Untold Story from the State Courts*
Authors: OSTROM BRIAN , ROTTMAN DAVID , HANSON ROGER 
Published: January 2008

The popular press frequently reports exorbitant money damage awards by juries. These stories cause paroxysms in the business community because juries are viewed as favoring plaintiffs over corporations. A growing body of literature has examined aspects of this complex issue, but within a limited framework. Prior studies, which are based on data from the early 1980s or before, tend to focus on federal court cases, primarily product liability and medical malpractice torts, only jury verdicts, and single jurisdictions when state courts are included.The objective of this article is to contribute to the literature by examining all tort cases reaching either a bench or a jury trial verdict during a sample period in 1989 in twenty‐seven general jurisdiction trial courts. Research is organized around three basic questions. What do torts look like? Do particular types of plaintiffs/defendants gain a higher percent of favorable verdicts? When plaintiffs are awarded money damages, what is the importance of litigant status, while controlling for other factors, in influencing the size of the awards?The article begins by describing the landscape of torts ‐ the typical configurations of the contending litigants, the composition of torts by area of law, the types of trials, verdict patterns, and the average size of awards. Basic contours of the landscape reflect the elemental facts that individuals generally are plaintiffs in these cases and the opposite tendency of corporations, insurance companies, and governments to appear as defendants.Next a model is outlined and tested to determine how strongly different possible determinants shape the size of tort awards in the twenty‐seven state trial courts. Does the size of the award depend on the configuration of the parties after taking into account the type of tort, the type of trial, the length of disposition time, and the state in which the court is located? The results indicate that the group of variables representing the various pairing of litigants accounts for most of the explained variation in award size. These findings support the notion that the status of the litigants is an important factor in influencing awards. Because the variables representing some of the individual states are also significant, the evidence also suggests no single, uniform pattern applies across all the courts. Instead, the state context shapes the basic parameters of plaintiff and defendant success.
Regulatory Assessment of Investments by Telephone and Electric Utilities*
Authors: NIX JOAN , GABEL DAVID 
Published: January 2008

A utility's investments are included in the rate base if the expenditures can pass the “prudent” or “used and useful” tests. Regulators have a difficult time applying these tests to telephone companies because little is known about the demand for new services. Under current regulatory procedures, telephone companies face an incentive system which rewards the firm for successful entry into new markets, but because of the lack of information about the demand for new services, the cost of failures is absorbed by customers of existing services.We propose a rate‐making standard that would insure that existing subscribers of telecommunications services will not subsidize the new services that are being introduced by local exchange telephone companies.
Reflexive Adaptation of Business to Regulation and Regulation to Business
Authors: KANE EDWARD J. 
Published: January 2008

Regulatory change is driven by competitive struggle. Regulatees struggle with each other for customers and with regulators to lessen the burden of the rules being enforced. Regulators compete for regulatees and for the confidence of customers and the general public.Competition among regulators is imperfect. Along with better rules, new entrants must offer reputational capital, financial strength, and recognized enforcement powers. These entry requirements have supported a secular expansion of government suppliers relative to private suppliers. Principal‐agent conflicts inherent in representative democracy establish incentives for this expanding sector to produce regulatory services of poor quality. Finding ways to make top government regulators economically accountable for acts of misregulation is a critical problem.
Sleep deprivation predisposes liver to oxidative stress and phospholipid damage: a quantitative molecular imaging study
Authors: Chang Hung‐Ming , Mai Fu‐Der , Chen Bo‐Jung , Wu Un‐In , Huang Yi‐Lun , Lan Chyn‐Tair , Ling Yong‐Chien 
Published: January 2008

AbstractSleep disorders are associated with an increased rate of various metabolic disturbances, which may be related to oxidative stress and consequent lipid peroxidation. Since hepatic phosphatidylcholine plays an important role in metabolic regulation, the aim of the present study was to determine phosphatidylcholine expression in the liver following total sleep deprivation. To determine the effects of total sleep deprivation, we used adult rats implanted for polygraphic recording. Phosphatidylcholine expression was examined molecularly by the use of time‐of‐flight secondary ion mass spectrometry, along with biochemical solid‐phase extraction. The parameters of oxidative stress were investigated by evaluating the hepatic malondialdehyde levels as well as heat shock protein 25 immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry. In normal rats, the time‐of‐flight secondary ion mass spectrometry spectra revealed specific peaks (m/z 184 and 224) that could be identified as molecular ions for phosphatidylcholine. However, following total sleep deprivation, the signals for phosphatidylcholine were significantly reduced to nearly one‐third of the normal values. The results of solid‐phase extraction also revealed that the phosphatidylcholine concentration was noticeably decreased, from 15.7 µmol g–1 to 9.4 µmol g–1, after total sleep deprivation. By contrast, the biomarkers for oxidative stress were drastically up‐regulated in the total sleep deprivation‐treated rats as compared with the normal ones (4.03 vs. 1.58 nmol mg–1 for malondialdehyde levels, and 17.1 vs. 6.7 as well as 1.8 vs. 0.7 for heat shock protein 25 immunoblotting and immunoreactivity, respectively). Given that phosphatidylcholine is the most prominent component of all plasma lipoproteins, decreased expression of hepatic phosphatidylcholine following total sleep deprivation may be attributed to the enhanced oxidative stress and the subsequent lipid peroxidation, which would play an important role in the formation or progression of total sleep deprivation‐induced metabolic diseases.
Transient suppression of progenitor cell proliferation through NMDA receptors in hippocampal dentate gyrus of mice with traumatic stress experience
Authors: Tamaki Keisuke , Yamada Kiyofumi , Nakamichi Noritaka , Taniura Hideo , Yoneda Yukio 
Published: January 2008

AbstractPost‐traumatic stress disorder is a long‐lasting psychiatric disease after the traumatic experience of severe fatal stress with the consequence of hippocampal atrophy. Freezing behaviors were more than quintupled on the fear‐conditioning test in mice previously subjected to water immersion restrain stress (WIRS) with metronome tones when determined 1–28 days after WIRS, while these mice exhibited the increased immobility time on the forced swimming test with the increased spontaneous locomotion. Prior experience of WIRS led to a transient decrease in subsequent 5‐bromo‐2′‐deoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation into proliferating cells in the hippocampal dentate gyrus. These behavioral and neurochemical alterations were significantly prevented by the daily injection of the tricyclic antidepressant imipramine and the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor fluvoxamine, respectively. Moreover, WIRS significantly decreased the number of cells holding BrdU without affecting the differentiation ratio to astroglial and neuronal lineages 28 days later. Prior administration of an NMDA receptor antagonist significantly prevented the aforementioned changes by WIRS. These results suggest that NMDA receptors may play a role in mechanisms underlying the crisis of a variety of psychiatric symptoms relevant to post‐traumatic stress disorder through transient suppression of neural progenitor cell proliferation in the murine hippocampal dentate gyrus.
Vertical extrusion and horizontal channel flow of orogenic lower crust: key exhumation mechanisms in large hot orogens?
Authors: SCHULMANN K. , LEXA O. , ŠTÍPSKÁ P. , RACEK M. , TAJČMANOVÁ L. , KONOPÁSEK J. , EDEL J.‐B. , PESCHLER A. , LEHMANN J. 
Published: January 2008

AbstractA large database of structural, geochronological and petrological data combined with a Bouguer anomaly map is used to develop a two‐stage exhumation model of deep‐seated rocks in the eastern sector of the Variscan belt. An early sub‐vertical fabric developed in the orogenic lower and middle crust during intracrustal folding followed by the vertical extrusion of the lower crustal rocks. These events were responsible for exhumation of the orogenic lower crust from depths equivalent to 18−20 kbar to depths equivalent to 8−10 kbar, and for coeval burial of upper crustal rocks to depths equivalent to 8–9 kbar. Following the folding and vertical extrusion event, sub‐horizontal fabrics developed at medium to low pressure in the orogenic lower and middle crust during vertical shortening. Fabrics that record the early vertical extrusion originated between 350 and 340 Ma, during building of an orogenic root in response to SE‐directed Saxothuringian continental subduction. Fabrics that record the later sub‐horizontal exhumation event relate to an eastern promontory of the Brunia continent indenting into the rheologically weaker rocks of the orogenic root. Indentation initiated thrusting or flow of the orogenic crust over the Brunia continent in a north‐directed sub‐horizontal channel. This sub‐horizontal flow operated between 330 and 325 Ma, and was responsible for a heterogeneous mixing of blocks and boudins of lower and middle crustal rocks and for their progressive thermal re‐equilibration. The erosion depth as well as the degree of reworking decreases from south to north, pointing to an outflow of lower crustal material to the surface, which was subsequently eroded and deposited in a foreland basin. Indentation by the Brunia continental promontory was highly noncoaxial with respect to the SE‐oriented Saxothuringian continental subduction in the Early Visean, suggesting a major switch of plate configuration during the Middle to Late Visean.
Adiponectin and visfatin concentrations in children treated with valproic acid
Authors: Rauchenzauner Markus , Haberlandt Edda , Scholl‐Bürgi Sabine , Ernst Barbara , Hoppichler Fritz , Karall Daniela , Ebenbichler Christoph F. , Rostasy Kevin , Luef Gerhard 
Published: January 2008

Summary Chronic antiepileptic therapy with valproic acid (VPA) is associated with increased body weight and insulin resistance in adults and children. Attempts to determine the underlying pathophysiologic mechanisms have failed. Adipocytokines have recently been defined as a link between glucose and fat metabolism. We herein demonstrate that VPA‐associated overweight is accompanied by lower adiponectin and higher leptin concentrations in children. The absence of any relationship with visfatin concentration does not suggest a role of this novel insulin‐mimetic hormone in VPA‐associated metabolic alterations. Therefore, adiponectin and leptin but not visfatin may be considered as potential regulators of glucose and fat metabolism during VPA‐therapy.
Outcome of Septic Shock in Older Adults After Implementation of the Sepsis “Bundle”
Authors: El Solh Ali A. , Akinnusi Morohunfolu E. , Alsawalha Leith N. , Pineda Lilibeth A. 
Published: January 2008

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effect on 28‐day mortality of implementation of a sepsis “bundle” protocol for the treatment of older adults with septic shock.DESIGN: Observational prospective study with a historical control group.SETTING: Tertiary care center.PARTICIPANTS: Eighty‐seven consecutive patients recruited between May 2004 and February 2007 matched to a historic group identified between March 2001 and April 2004.INTERVENTIONS: Implementation of a sepsis protocol for the management of septic shock.RESULTS: Subjects who were treated according to the sepsis “bundle” had an absolute risk reduction in 28‐day mortality of 16% (95% confidence interval (CI)=−31% to −2%). The treatment group received a larger volume of fluid in the first 6 hours of presentation (3,960 ± 1,990 vs 2,490 ± 1,020 mL; P<.001) and lower doses of vasopressors (maximum dosage of norepinephrine 0.51 μg/kg per min (range 0.12–1.7) vs 0.98 μg/kg per min (range 0.15–3.1) P=.009). A high prevalence of adrenal insufficiency (86%) was identified in the study population. There were no significant differences between the treatment and control groups in the surviving patients with respect to duration of mechanical ventilation (median 8.5 vs 12.0, respectively; P=.07) or intensive care unit length of stay (median 12 days vs 15 days; P=.08). According to Cox regression analysis, implementation of the sepsis bundle protocol was independently associated with better 28‐day survival (hazard ratio=0.54, 95% CI=0.33–0.86; P=.01).CONCLUSION: Older patients with septic shock had a better 28‐day survival rate when treated with a comprehensive sepsis “bundle” protocol.
Development and Testing of a Modified Version of the Brief Pain Inventory for Use in Residential Aged Care Facilities
Authors: Auret Kirsten A. , Toye Christine , Goucke Roger , Kristjanson Linda J. , Bruce David , Schug Stephan 
Published: January 2008

OBJECTIVES: A two‐phase study was conducted to refine a version of Cleeland's Brief Pain Inventory (BPI, Short Form) for use in residential aged care facilities (RACFs).DESIGN: The Australian Pain Society modified Cleeland's BPI by changing numerical response options to word descriptors. In Phase I, this version was tested in RACFs to determine the feasibility of its use, its stability over time, and its internal consistency reliability. Minor modifications resulted. In Phase II, the refined version was abbreviated, and the internal consistency reliability of this Modified Residents' Verbal BPI was examined.SETTING: RACFs.PARTICIPANTS: Thirty‐three residents of RACFs in Phase I, 149 in Phase II.INTERVENTION: The study revised and abbreviated the BPI to better fit it for use in RACFs, examining the reliability of the tool.MEASUREMENTS: Mini‐Mental State Examination, Global Deterioration Scale, modified BPI.RESULTS: The abbreviated tool comprises three items assessing pain intensity and three assessing pain interference. It also includes an item to specify pain location and a movement protocol. Cronbach alpha coefficient for six intensity and interference items was 0.72 (N=106).CONCLUSION: This abbreviated tool requires further testing but has demonstrated adequate internal consistency reliability and is a brief, multidimensional tool that appears feasible for assessing pain in RACFs, including use with residents who have some cognitive impairment. It shows promise as a screening tool and may be useful to assess the effectiveness of pain relief interventions and to measure pain prevalence.
Nutrition, Inflammation, and Leptin Levels in Aging and Frailty
Authors: Hubbard Ruth E. , O'Mahony M. Sinead , Calver Brian L. , Woodhouse Ken W. 
Published: January 2008

OBJECTIVES: To examine nutritional indices and levels of leptin and inflammatory markers across age and frailty.DESIGN: Observational study.SETTING: Continuing care wards and a day hospital in Cardiff, South Wales, United Kingdom.PARTICIPANTS: Thirty dependent patients (mean age 84.9) needing continuing inpatient care, 40 patients with falls attending a day hospital (mean age 84.2), 40 independent controls (mean age 82.7), and 30 young controls (mean age 23.3).MEASUREMENTS: Functional status, including the five frailty indicators proposed by Fried et al., anthropometry, and serum markers of nutrition and inflammation.RESULTS: The continuing care patients were frail, all having three to five frailty indicators. Day hospital patients were of intermediate frailty (mean Fried score 2.97), and the independent group was fittest (0.83). Body mass index, triceps skinfold thickness (TSF), and mid‐arm muscle area were lowest in continuing care patients. With increasing patient frailty, albumin levels fell significantly (P<.005) and C‐reactive protein (CRP) levels increased significantly (P<.005). Continuing care patients had significantly lower leptin levels (P<.005) and significantly higher interleukin (IL)‐6 levels (P<.005). There was a significant correlation between log transformed leptin and TSF for each patient group.CONCLUSION: The frailest older people displayed features of cachexia. Their leptin levels were appropriately low given their low body fat, and IL‐6 and CRP levels were high. The mechanism of their cachexia may therefore be similar to that proposed in heart failure and cancer: disturbed hypothalamic feedback of leptin or effects of proinflammatory cytokines.