bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Do Regions Matter? Regional Differences in Female Labour-Market Participation in Germany
Authors: Sackmann R , Häussermann H 
Published: October 2006

Over the last twenty years, fundamental changes have taken place in the structure of employment in the highly developed countries. In particular, the number of jobs in manufacturing has decreased, but service employment has increased considerably. This has been associated with an increase in the number of women in paid work, as well as with regional shifts in growth and decline. However, despite these fundamental changes, in Germany the pattern of female labour-market participation has, in contrast, been stable over the last 100 years. The authors aim to develop an explanation for this contrast. Labour-market analysis does not provide an adequate explanation, for there is no simple relation between female participation in employment and the presence or absence of typical ‘female’ jobs. Rather, explanations lie outside the remit of current labour-market explanations. To this end the authors examine regional differences in the ‘modernisation’ of life-styles since industrialisation in the nineteenth century. Industrialisation progressively removed paid employment from the home, which became more purely a site for housework undertaken by women. However, this process varied regionally, and resulted in regionally specific female roles of dual orientation to paid work and unpaid housework. Female participation in the labour force, therefore, took different forms—and means different things—in different regions.
The Nature and Methods of Applied Research in Architecture
Authors: Savchenko M R 
Published: October 2006

This paper develops a framework for architectural research of an applied nature, that is, research that will generate ‘operational knowledge’ in relation to architecture's principal identifying characteristic, and that element which rests in the hands of the designer, namely the organisation of space. A theoretical framework is developed which insists upon a clear distinction between the characteristics of the space and the ‘meanings’ constructed upon the spatial object by ‘consumers’. The nature of ‘conflict’ is defined, as that noncorrespondence within the system comprising a society and its architectural activity which propels the evolution of new spatial types forward over real time. Architectural objects are conceived as complex products of three categories of relationships; functional, compositional, and constructive. On the basis of those categories are defined architectural types, activity types, and ‘applied’ types, each of which may exist in conflict-bearing or canonical forms. The framework for an architectural science is then constructed which distinguishes its object, its subject matter, and its method. Measurements are identified as the fundamental elements of operational knowledge, and they are distinguished as being of two kinds—‘parameters’ of the object itself, and ‘properties’ describing its functioning in some human context. A methodology of applied architectural research is presented which comprises alternating deductive and inductive cycles. Each has three component operations, which are discussed in some detail. The discussion of parameters and properties leads to the distinguishing of three classes of object, the empirical (actual), the hypothetical (possible), and the type (the required), and a corresponding array of functional, compositional, and constructive models.
Employment Policy for Regional Labor Markets
Authors: Pfaff M , Hurler P 
Published: October 2006

In the past, considerable attention has been paid to the global economic and social consequences of high and persistent unemployment. Regional or spatial aspects did not receive nearly as much attention. However, high unemployment rates tend to generate their own spatial dynamics. Thus a process of differentiation in the labor market takes place at two levels: First, via the spatial polarization of opportunies to earn income; second, via the incidence of high and persistent unemployment affecting particular groups, especially in ‘problem regions’, that is, in regions with high unemployment. As a consequence, ‘problem groups' of the unemployed face persistent and much higher levels of unemployment in those regions. An employment policy which attempts to operate via the demand for labor should necessarily take note of the peculiarities of each region. Thus it must be selective and specific rather than global and general in nature. Therefrom results the need for a better consideration of structural factors, such as sectoral structure, industry mix, size of enterprise, and type of enterprise, all of which influence the regional employment situation. The paper attempts to explain persistent differences in regional unemployment in terms of the regional economic structure.
Local Government Fiscal Behaviour and Intergovernmental Finance in a Period of Slow National Growth: A Comparative Analysis
Authors: Wolman H , Goldsmith M 
Published: October 2006

Most recent analysts suggest that many local governments are facing serious fiscal difficulties. This article contains reviews of the experience of nine nations, between 1976 and 1982, in terms of the impact of slow economic growth on local expenditures, particularly in terms of changes in intergovernmental grants, and this is followed by an examination of the kinds of revenue and expenditure adjustments which local authorities have made in the light of these changes. Generally speaking, the results reveal that although national government expenditure patterns vary during the latter part of the review period, in all cases grants were singled out as a target for expenditure reductions, and that there were few distinctions between federal and unitary systems. In most countries, local authorities responded by increasing local tax receipts, and most did not suffer any decline in total revenues in real terms, though revenues increased less rapidly during the latter part of the review period when economic growth was generally slower. Revenues were maintained largely by increases in nontax revenues and then by increases in taxes. However, the most intriguing finding is the variability in the behaviour of local fiscal systems in the nine countries studied. The paper is concluded with some tentative suggestions of explanations for this variability.
Regional Policy in the European Community: Its Impact on Regional Policies and Public Administration in the Mediterranean Member States
Authors: Tömmel I 
Published: October 2006

When the European Community (EC) created the European Fund for Regional Development (EFRD) in 1975, regional policy was established at an international level for the first time ever. Because of the chosen instruments and the ‘additive’ mechanism of implementation—via the administrative bodies of the member states—this policy seemed at first to mean little more than a reinforcement of regional policies at a national level. Since then, the EC has considerably intensified its regional policy and diversified its instruments. However, the recent reforms of the Community's regional policy serve not only to achieve (certain) development effects with respect to the economic structure of less-developed areas, but also as a means of reorganizing governmental (planning) bodies and regional development policies in the member states, that is, as a means of inducing modernization and differentiation of state intervention in the countries concerned. Thus, the EC intervenes’ in the affairs of the member states: Not in the shape of more or less authoritarian intervention by a superior body—EC powers do not permit this—but via the indirect effect of market mechanism. Subsidies are the economic incentive to collaborate.
Tax Reform, Revenue Windfalls, and Elderly Taxpayers
Authors: Gist J R 
Published: October 2006

Federal and state income tax reform will have far-reaching effects on the distribution of income and tax burdens in the United States of America. It was expected that tax reform would shift the burden of taxation from individuals to corporations and from lower to higher-income pérsons, but it has also shifted the aggregate burden of federal income tax from the general population to US citizens over the age of sixty five. Total federal income taxes for the general population declined by nearly $36 US billion, but increased for older citizens (that is, those over the age of sixty five) by nearly $3 US billion. The shift in taxes is progressive, however, in that low-income older Americans pay less federal income tax and those with high incomes pay more. At the same time, state income tax payments increased for most US citizens as a result of federal tax reform, but more so for older citizens than for the general population. These ‘windfall’ increases in state income taxes added to the increased federal income tax borne by upper-income and middle-income older persons, and partially or fully offset the reduction in federal income taxes for lower-income older persons. However, the income tax burden on the elderly population remains relatively low, with 75% of the elderly paying less than 5% of income in federal income tax and over half paying less than 1%, with most of these not filing tax returns at all.
The Politics of Gun Control: Comparing Canadian and American Patterns
Authors: Mauser G A , Margolis M 
Published: October 2006

In this paper two questions are asked: To what extent do the Canadian and US publics differ in their beliefs about firearms-control legislation, and to what extent do these differences help to account for the stricter firearms legislation found in Canada? Surveys indicate that Canadians and Americans have remarkably similar attitudes towards firearms and gun control. Linear regression is used to analyze the factors that underlie the popular support for (or opposition to) stricter gun-control legislation. It is found that, with respect to support for gun control, cultural differences between Canadians and Americans are overshadowed by socioeconomic variables, such as gender and gun ownership. The similarities in public attitudes between Canadians and Americans suggest that the explanation for stricter firearms legislation in Canada lies more with the differences in political elites and institutions than with differences in public opinion. The differences in public attitudes in the two countries are insufficient to explain the stark contrast in firearms legislation.
Social Europe, Legitimate Europe: The Inner and Outer Boundaries of Europe
Authors: Lipietz A 
Published: October 2006

The legitimation of Europe as a ‘homeland’ does not depend only upon formal democracy, but upon a social compromise, as the example of the unification of Germany has shown. But this unification of a social Europe matches two problems, (1) The different nations constituting the EC are already engaged in different paths. Legitimation of the EC requires more integration of its social governance, (2) The other countries at the boundary of the EC (Eastern Europe, Turkey, Magreb) are very different. Their integration would mean disintegration; the integration of the EC without them would exclude them. The author explores this paradox of ‘integration/exclusion’ from the social, political, and cultural point of view. The risks of a new boundary ‘Europe/barbarians’ (across the EC itself) will be outlined. Some suggestions will be made.
Aesthetics, Bureaucracy, and the Politics of Patrimony: The Case of the Greek Central Archaeological Council
Authors: Loukaki Argyro 
Published: October 2006

The author reviews the operation of the most important decisionmaking body in Greece for archaeological and cultural work, as well as for the urban and environmental ethic of heritage protection, the Central Archaeological Council (CAC), functioning in the context of the Ministry of Culture. The CAC is a site of mediation between the state (seen as an entity with many internal contradictions) and various private interests. The author reveals the deeply developmental character of the aesthetic and symbolic presence of monumental landscapes in modern Greece on the basis of research into an extremely rich source of primary materials, the archives of proceedings of the CAC for the period 1974–90, research which included the examination of approximately 16 000 cases. The usual pessimistic view is that state bureaucracy merely promotes the interests of specific socioeconomic powers. But bureaucratic routines can mask deeper and wider processes, such as issues of national development, identity, and self-respect, questions of disciplinary prevalence and aesthetics (as in the case of archaeologists and architects), and problems of coordination of coresponsible state agencies. In Greece such processes take place in the context of an historically established, fierce, Western critique of Greek cultural policies. More specifically, the author tries to answer the questions of how outcomes arc mediated by the bureaucratic apparatus, how power relations are internalised in the CAC, and what aspect masks what. It is suggested that the opening up of such bureaucratic processes to wider social strata could free new possibilities of social evolution. This started happening in the subperiod 1981–90 alongside the introduction of new institutions and policies in the context of the Ministry of Culture.
On frames for countably generated Hilbert 𝐶*-modules
Authors: Arambašić Ljiljana 
Published: October 2006

Let

V
V

be a countably generated Hilbert

C
∗

C^*

-module over a

C
∗

C^*

-algebra

A
.

A.

We prove that a sequence

{

f
i

:
i
∈
I
}
⊆
V

\{f_i:i\in I\}\subseteq V

is a standard frame for

V
V

if and only if the sum

∑

i
∈
I

⟨
x
,

f
i

⟩
⟨

f
i

,
x
⟩

\sum _{i\in I}\langle x,f_i\rangle \langle f_i,x\rangle

converges in norm for every

x
∈
V

x\in V

and if there are constants

C
,
D
>
0

C,D>0

such that

C
‖
x

‖
2

≤
‖

∑

i
∈
I

⟨
x
,

f
i

⟩
⟨

f
i

,
x
⟩
‖
≤
D
‖
x

‖
2

C\Vert x\Vert ^2\le \Vert \sum _{i\in I}\langle x,f_i\rangle \langle f_i,x\rangle \Vert \le D\Vert x\Vert ^2

for every

x
∈
V
.

x\in V.

We also prove that surjective adjointable operators preserve standard frames. A class of frames for countably generated Hilbert

C
∗

C^*

-modules over the

C
∗

C^*

-algebra of all compact operators on some Hilbert space is discussed.
Toronto’s Health Department in Action: Influenza in 1918 and SARS in 2003
Authors: MacDougall Heather 
Published: October 2006

Abstract
This article compares the Toronto Health Department’s role in controlling the 1918 influenza epidemic with its activities during the SARS outbreak in 2003 and concludes that local health departments are the foundation for successful disease containment, provided that there is effective coordination, communication, and capacity. In 1918, Toronto’s MOH Charles Hastings was the acknowledged leader of efforts to contain the disease, care for the sick, and develop an effective vaccine, because neither a federal health department nor an international body like WHO existed. During the SARS outbreak, Hastings’s successor, Sheela Basrur, discovered that nearly a decade of underfunding and new policy foci such as health promotion had left the department vulnerable when faced with a potential epidemic. Lack of cooperation by provincial and federal authorities added further difficulties to the challenge of organizing contact tracing, quarantine, and isolation for suspected and probable cases and providing information and reassurance to the multi-ethnic population. With growing concern about a flu pandemic, the lessons of the past provide a foundation for future communicable disease control activities.
Endogenous interleukin‐18 is involved in immunity to Leishmania donovani but its absence does not adversely influence the therapeutic activity of sodium stibogluconate
Authors: Mullen Alexander B. , Lawrence Catherine E. , McFarlane Emma , Wei Xiao‐Quing , Carter Katharine C. 
Published: October 2006

SummaryImmunity to Leishmania donovani is associated with an interleukin (IL)‐12 driven T helper 1 (Th1) response. In addition, the ability to respond to chemotherapy with sodium stibogluconate (SSG) requires a fully competent immune response and both Th1 and Th2 responses have been shown to positively influence the outcome of drug treatment. In the present study, the influence of IL‐18, which can modulate both interferon (IFN)‐γ and IL‐4 production, on the outcome of primary L. donovani infection and SSG therapy following infection was assessed using BALB/c IL‐18‐deficient and wild type mice. IL‐18 deficiency was associated with an increased susceptibility to L. donovani infection, evident by day 40 post infection, resulting in higher parasite burdens in the spleen, liver, and bone marrow compared with wild type control animals. Infected IL‐18‐deficient mice had significantly lower splenocyte concanavalin A (ConA) induced IFN‐γ production as well as lower serum IL‐12 and IFN‐γ levels, indicating a reduced Th1 response. However, drug treatment was equally effective in both mouse strains and restored serum IL‐12 and IFN‐γ levels, and IFN‐γ production by ConA stimulated splenocytes of IL‐18‐deficient mice, to levels equivalent to similarly treated wild type mice.
Growth curves of the fetal prostate based on three‐dimensional reconstructions: a correlation with gestational age and maternal testosterone levels
Authors: Lunacek Andreas , Oswald Josef , Schwentner Christian , Schlenck Barbara , Horninger Wolfgang , Fritsch Helga , Longato Stefano , Sergi Consolato , Bartsch Georg , Radmayr Christian 
Published: October 2006

There are two papers in this section this month. The first, by authors from Austria, concerns growth curves of the fetal prostate, correlating gestational age and maternal testosterone using three‐dimensional reconstructions. The second, from the UK, investigated testicular microlithiasis, and found no convincing evidence that alone it is a premalignant condition.OBJECTIVETo create a nomogram of the fetal growth of the human prostate corresponding to gestational age, and to investigate the relationship between the expansive growth of the fetal prostate and the maternal testosterone surge during pregnancy.MATERIALS AND METHODSIn all, 27 fetal prostates at 11–40 weeks of gestation, and seven neonatal specimens at 1–20 weeks after birth, were analysed. Serial sections of prostates were immunostained and examined using light microscopy. After modular image acquisition the volumes were calculated using three‐dimensional reconstruction. The prostate volumes were correlated with gestational age, and related to reference testosterone levels during pregnancy.RESULTSThere was exponential growth of the fetal prostate with gestational age. The increasing volume of the prostate during the fetal period corresponded with maternal testosterone levels. In the second trimester there was a significant increase in prostate volume in relation to the bladder. In infants, macroscopically there was an inverse proportion between bladder size and prostate volume.CONCLUSIONSStarting from the second trimester there is distinct growth of the fetal prostate, obviously triggered by the maternal testosterone surge. In neonates there is an inversion of the dimensions between bladder and prostate. These results indicating exponential growth of the fetal prostate provide evidence of a gender‐related transient infravesical obstruction in human fetuses.
Could a rural lifestyle decrease the prevalence of erectile dysfunction?
Authors: De Almeida Claro Joaquim , Kaufmann Oskar Grau , Alarcon Gustavo , Aguiar Wilson , Nadozza Archimedes , Ortiz Valdemar , Srougi Miguel 
Published: October 2006

OBJECTIVETo determine the prevalence of erectile dysfunction (ED) in a specific population and explore potential correlates with lifestyle.SUBJECTS AND METHODSThis prospective observational study, covering a population of a very small rural town, included 2000 men aged ≥ 20 years from a total population of 121 831 (51% female and 49% male). The International Index of Erectile Function was completed by each of the 2000 men at their homes over a 1‐year period. Another questionnaire assessing socio‐economic status and health‐related determinants of ED were also completed.RESULTSAll 2000 men completed the questionnaires; overall, only 34 reported ED (1.7%). The frequency of mild, mild to moderate, moderate and severe ED was 12%, 29%, 20% and 38%, respectively. Significantly more men aged > 51 years had ED than those aged <41 years (0.05% and 0.45%, respectively; P < 0.001). There was no difference in ED with salary levels.CONCLUSIONThe prevalence of ED in this particular rural population of Brazil was very low, at only 1.7%. Although ED increases with age, this association was not apparent for all age groups. It seems that several others factors, e.g. lifestyle, culture and diet, could be important for the onset of ED.
Development of a cell‐isolation method for human prostatic smooth muscle cells based on cell type‐specific activation of the SM22 gene promoter
Authors: Wang Chun‐Yu , Shi Jian‐Dang , Yan Chun‐He , Wu Quan , Klocker Helmut , Park Irwin , Lee Chung , Zhang Ju 
Published: October 2006

OBJECTIVETo separate smooth muscle cells (SMCs) from fibroblasts in cultured human prostatic stromal cells (PrSCs) by characterizing the SM22 promoter as a prostatic SMC‐specific gene promoter, and to investigate its use for a promoter‐based cell‐sorting method, as SMCs are critical for stromal function and the pathological changes in the development of benign prostatic hyperplasia.MATERIALS AND METHODSHuman PrSCs were cultured in SMC‐selective medium or standard medium, respectively, to obtain typical cultures of SMCs and fibroblasts. SM22 promoter activity and specificity were analysed by luciferase reporter‐gene assay. A dual‐colour vector was constructed with the expression of the red fluorescent protein (RFP) under the control of the 1.4 kb SMC‐specific SM22 promoter, and the expression of the green fluorescent protein (GFP) under cytomegalovirus promoter. Fluorescence‐activated cell sorting (FACS) was used to isolate and enrich GFP+/RFP+ and GFP+/RFP– cells. Cell phenotype was confirmed by reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction and immunofluorescence.RESULTSThe 1.4 kb SM22 promoter activity was much higher in PrSCs cultured in SMC‐selective medium. Immunofluorescence staining and merged fluorescence microscopy ensured that SM22 promoter‐driven GFP positive cells were SMCs. After transfection of the dual‐colour vector into PrSCs, GFP+/RFP+ cells (SMCs) and GFP+/RFP– cells (fibroblasts) were isolated by FACS. The phenotype of FACS‐enriched SMCs and fibroblasts was confirmed.CONCLUSIONThese results indicate that the 1.4 kb SM22 promoter is specific for prostatic SMCs. This dual‐colour vector could be a useful tool for separating living SMCs from fibroblasts using FACS.
Australia's switch to international financial reporting standards: a perspective from account preparers
Authors: Jones Stewart , Higgins Alison D. 
Published: October 2006

AbstractThis study reports the findings of a structured telephone survey on adoption of international financial reporting standards (IFRS) from 60 firms drawn from among Australia's top 200 corporations. Although we find evidence of strong systematic variation in survey responses with factors such as firm size, industry background and expected impacts on financial performance, the general results indicate that many respondents have not been well prepared for the transition and are generally very sceptical about the claimed benefits of IFRS as enunciated in the government's Corporate Law Economic Reform Program. The results have implications to other international reporting jurisdictions, particularly the European Union, where adoption of IFRS is already underway.