bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The hunt for the secrets of uveal melanoma
Authors: Shields Carol L 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThe many secrets of uveal melanoma are being uncovered. Information on host and environmental factors that predispose to uveal melanoma has been published. The most important factors include light eye colour, fair skin, inability to tan and chronic sun exposure. Clinical clues that are visible on ophthalmoscopy have been shown to be significant factors in predicting growth of small borderline tumours and allow for early detection of melanoma. These factors include thickness over 2 mm, subretinal fluid, symptoms, orange pigment overlying the tumour and tumour margin within 3 mm of the disc. Refined methods of cytogenetic analysis have identified several chromosomal mutations associated with uveal melanoma. Currently, the most important mutation proves to be chromosome 3 monosomy, an abnormality associated with greater risk for metastatic disease.
Referral pathways and management of contact lens‐related microbial keratitis in Australia and New Zealand
Authors: Keay Lisa , Edwards Katie , Stapleton Fiona 
Published: April 2008

AbstractBackground:  We examine the referral pathways and treatment for contact lens‐related microbial keratitis in Australia and New Zealand.Methods:  Cases were reported in May 2003–September 2004; data on presentation, referral and treatment collected from practitioners and via patient interview. Severity was graded, 1‐week cure rate estimated, delays in treatment and medications documented. Hospital and private clinic managements were compared.Results:  A total of 297 eligible cases were reported; detailed information on treatment and referral pathways was available on a subset of these cases. Presentation was to optometrists (81/200, 41%), general practitioners (GPs) (69/200, 34%) or emergency departments (46/200, 23%). Optometrists referred to private ophthalmologists (47/79, 60%) more often than hospitals (27/79, 34%). GPs initiated treatment (39/68, 57%) but also referred to hospitals (22/68, 32%) and to private ophthalmologists (7/68, 10%). Of all cases, 67% (195/297) were managed in hospitals (29% admitted, 87/297). Hospitalized cases were predominantly managed with fortified aminoglycoside/cephalosporin (66/81, 82%) and others fluoroquinolones (168/195, 86%). Steroids were used in 36% (98/276) commencing on day 5 (median, interquartile range = 3–7). One‐week cure rate was 60% (49/82) in private clinics, 72% (62/86) for hospital outpatient cases and 37% (25/67, P < 0.001) for inpatient cases, which were more severe diseases (47%, 52% and 0% mild, respectively). Delays (≥12 h) receiving therapy were experienced by 33% (55/168) because of initial inappropriate treatment (48/55), time delays (7/55) but not remoteness (P = 0.6).Conclusions:  The majority of treatment is via hospital clinics, but milder disease is managed in private clinics. The referral process via optometrists, GPs and emergency departments is generally efficient; however, one‐third of cases experienced some delays before receiving appropriate therapy highlighting the need for timely diagnosis.
Eosinophilic angiocentric fibrosis of the orbit
Authors: Kiratli Hayyam , Önder Sevgen , Yıldız Sibel , Özşeker Havva 
Published: April 2008

AbstractA 30‐year‐old woman complained of right‐sided epiphora for 2 years. She also reported diplopia on certain gaze positions and felt a hard mass behind the right medial inferior orbital rim. Magnetic resonance imaging studies demonstrated a relatively well‐delineated mass in the right inferomedial orbit with minimal ethmoid sinus involvement. Histopathological evaluation following a large incisional biopsy showed massive eosinophilic infiltration and fibrosis with the final diagnosis of eosinophilic angiocentric fibrosis. She was then discovered to have significant peripheral eosinophilia and elevated serum IgE levels and clinical findings of allergic rhinitis and sinusitis. She was treated with systemic fluorocortolon and desloratadin for 4 months. She remained stable without recurrence for 32 months. The patient with this exceptionally rare tumour of the orbit benefited from debulking surgery followed by systemic corticosteroids and antihistaminics.
History, chance and adaptation during biological invasion: separating stochastic phenotypic evolution from response to selection
Authors: Keller Stephen R. , Taylor Douglas R. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractIntroduced species often exhibit changes in genetic variation, population structure, selection regime and phenotypic traits as they colonize and expand into new ranges. For these reasons, species invasions are increasingly recognized as promising systems for studying adaptive evolution over contemporary time scales. However, changes in phenotypic traits during invasion occur under non‐equilibrium demographic conditions and may reflect the influences of prior evolutionary history and chance events, as well as selection. We briefly review the evidence for phenotypic evolution and the role of selection during invasion. While there is ample evidence for evolutionary change, it is less clear if selection is the primary mechanism. We then discuss the likelihood that stochastic events shift phenotypic distributions during invasion, and argue that hypotheses of adaptation should be tested against appropriate null models. We suggest two experimental frameworks for separating stochastic evolution from adaptation: statistically accounting for phenotypic variation among putative invasion sources identified by using phylogenetic or assignment methods and by comparing estimates of differentiation within and among ranges for both traits and neutral markers (QST vs. FST). Designs that incorporate a null expectation can reveal the role of history and chance in the evolutionary process, and provide greater insights into evolution during species invasions.
Is Entrepreneurial Success Predictable? An Ex‐Ante Analysis of the Character‐Based Approach
Authors: Caliendo Marco , Kritikos Alexander S. 
Published: April 2008

SUMMARYThis paper empirically analyzes whether the character‐based approach, which focuses on the personality structure and the human capital of business founders, allows prediction of entrepreneurial success. A unique data set is used consisting of 414 persons whose personal characteristics were analyzed by different methods, namely an one‐day assessment center (AC) and a standardized questionnaire,beforethey launched their business. Results are partly unexpected and weaker than previous ex‐post findings: first, we found correlations between the AC data and the questionnaire in one subgroup only. Second, the predictive power of the AC data is slightly better than that of the questionnaire, but lower than expected in theory. Interestingly, for those subgroups where the AC data have low predictive power, the questionnaire does better. Third, when success is measured in terms of employees hired, the character‐based approach is a poor predictor.
Is the Welfare State Self‐Destructive? A Study of Government Benefit Morale
Authors: Heinemann Friedrich 
Published: April 2008

SUMMARYThe concern that generous welfare state institutions may in the long‐run undermine social norms which limit the disincentives of social security systems is as old as the welfare state itself. Already in the 1930s, Franklin D. Roosevelt warned of the ‘moral disintegration’ effect of welfare dependency. This study assesses the empirical validity of this concern. Based on the results of four waves of the World Value Surveys the individual and country‐specific determinants of benefit morale – defined as the reluctance to claim government benefits without legal entitlement – are analysed. The results support the empirical relevance of these worries: In the long‐run an increase of government benefits and unemployment is associated with deteriorating welfare state ethics.
The Impact of Growth Performance and Political Regime Type on Economic Policy Liberalization
Authors: Pitlik Hans 
Published: April 2008

SUMMARYWhile economic policy liberalization is a key to higher overall growth, reforms are often not implemented due to a fierce opposition from politically powerful prospective losers from reforms. In this respect, it is frequently claimed that economic crises can help overcome resistance to policy liberalization. Furthermore, political authorities not constrained by democratic checks and balances are supposed to be more decisive and are thus expected to carry out market‐friendly policy change in times of crises more easily. Rules of democratic participation and checks and balances may however also be good for policy reform, as they can serve as an institutional mechanism for peaceful conflict resolution.The paper investigates empirically the interaction between economic growth performance and political institutions in producing free‐market reform. We explore whether political regime types shape systematically government policy responses to good or bad growth performance, employing panel econometric techniques and using recently updated data for economic reform and political institutions. Contrary to conventional wisdom we find that a bad growth performance is conducive to reforms in democracies, but not in autocracies. Democracies not only carry out more liberal economic policies in general, but they are also more responsive to economic growth crises. Democratic rule seems to be favorable for policy liberalization, but a very good growth performance weakens liberalization incentives considerably.
Education Policy and Equality of Opportunity
Authors: Schütz Gabriela , Ursprung Heinrich W. , Wößmann Ludger 
Published: April 2008

SUMMARYWe provide a measure of equality of educational opportunity in 54 countries, estimated as the effect of family background on student performance in two international TIMSS tests. Using cross‐country variation in education policies and its interaction with family background at the student level, we then estimate how equality is related to organizational features of the education system. We find that equality of opportunity is positively related to late tracking into different school types and to longer pre‐school education. Pre‐school enrollment has an inverted U‐shaped relationship with equality. Equality is negatively related to private school financing, but positively to private provision.
Spatial and temporal expression of endosperm transfer cell‐specific promoters in transgenic rice and barley
Authors: Li Ming , Singh Rohan , Bazanova Natalia , Milligan Andrew S. , Shirley Neil , Langridge Peter , Lopato Sergiy 
Published: April 2008

SummaryTwo putative endosperm‐specific rice genes, OsPR602 and OsPR9a, were identified from database searches. The promoter regions of these genes were isolated, and transcriptional promoter:β‐glucuronidase (GUS) fusion constructs were stably transformed into rice and barley. The GUS expression patterns revealed that these promoters were active in early grain development in both rice and barley, and showed strongest expression in endosperm transfer cells during the early stages of grain filling. The GUS expression was similar in both rice and barley, but, in barley, expression was exclusively in the endosperm transfer cells and differed in timing of activation relative to rice. In rice, both promoters showed activity not only in the endosperm transfer cells, but also in the transfer cells of maternal tissue and in several floral tissues shortly before pollination. The expression patterns of OsPR602 and OsPR9a in flowers differed. The similarity of expression in both rice and barley suggests that these promoters may be useful to control transgene expression in the transfer cells of cereal grains with the aim of altering nutrient uptake or enhancing the barrier against pathogens at the boundary between maternal tissue and the developing endosperm. However, the expression during floral development should be considered if the promoters are used in rice.
Precision breeding for novel starch variants in potato
Authors: Muth Jost , Hartje Stefanie , Twyman Richard M. , Hofferbert Hans‐Reinhard , Tacke Eckhard , Prüfer Dirk 
Published: April 2008

SummaryPotato can be used as a source of modified starches for culinary and industrial processes, but its allelic diversity and tetraploid genome make the identification of novel alleles a challenge, and breeding such alleles into elite lines is a slow and difficult process. An efficient and reliable strategy has been developed for the rapid introduction and identification of new alleles in elite potato breeding lines, based on the ethylmethanesulphonate mutagenesis of dihaploid seeds. Using the granule‐bound starch synthase I gene (waxy) as a model, a series of point mutations that potentially affect gene expression or enzyme function was identified. The most promising loss‐of‐function allele (waxyE1100) carried a mutation in the 5′‐splice donor site of intron 1 that caused mis‐splicing and protein truncation. This was used to establish elite breeding lineages lacking granule‐bound starch synthase I protein activity and producing high‐amylopectin starch. This is the first report of rapid and efficient mutation analysis in potato, a genetically complex and vegetatively propagated crop.
Are Native and Non‐Native English Speaking Tutors Equally Effective?
Authors: Asano Akihito 
Published: April 2008

Abstract Many studies find a negative effect of non‐native English speaking instructors on students' performance in universities where the language of instruction is English. However, the negative effect observed in the existing literature is not found in the study by Fleisher, Hashimoto and Weinberg (2002), which uses the sample of instructors who received training in the Ohio State University's PhD programme. In many economics departments in Australia, mainly because their PhD programmes are not large enough, it is unrealistic to have all the tutors trained in the methods recommended in Fleisher, Hashimoto and Weinberg (2002). This gives rise to a potential negative impact of non‐native English speaking tutors on students' performance. Nevertheless, by analysing the panel data drawn from first‐year quantitative methods, microeconomics and macroeconomics courses in an Australian university, we find no statistically significant difference in the effectiveness of small class teaching between native and non‐native English speaking tutors.
Tertiary Performance, Field of Study and Graduate Starting Salaries
Authors: Chia Grace , Miller Paul W. 
Published: April 2008

Abstract This paper analyses data from the University of Western Australia (UWA) Graduate Destination Survey linked to information from the University's Student Records System to explore the determinants of graduates' starting salaries over the years 2002 to 2004. While the details examined also include age, gender, language spoken at home, country of birth, disability status and high school attended, most emphasis is placed on the impact on starting salaries of students' academic performance and their field of study. The analyses show that the main determinant of graduates' starting salaries is the weighted average mark they achieve at university. The salary differentials associated with higher marks in the Australian labour market appear greater than those reported in similar studies of the US and the UK labour markets. Science graduates are shown to have relatively low starting salaries, casting a shadow over recent suggestions that the supply of this group be increased through lower fee regimes.
An Analysis of FEE‐HELP in the Vocational Education and Training Sector
Authors: Chapman Bruce , Rodrigues Mark , Ryan Chris 
Published: April 2008

Abstract The public vocational education and training (VET) system is one of the few areas in Australia's tertiary education system where students are required to pay upfront fees without access to loan assistance. These arrangements may lead to sub‐optimal educational outcomes to the extent that prospective students reject a VET education on the basis of short‐term financial constraints. In this paper we analyse some of the important issues related to the adoption of FEE‐HELP (a 2005 federal government financial instrument based on the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS)). It is argued that income contingent loans of this kind are associated with the advantages of both default‐protection and consumption smoothing. Using data from the first three waves of the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey, we examine various empirical issues associated with the adoption of FEE‐HELP in VET, including the extent of private salary returns to VET qualifications. As well, we explore issues related to the public subsidies inherent in the adoption of FEE‐HELP in VET, and illustrate the time periods involved in loan repayments for various assumptions concerning the size of the charge and the future income of VET graduates. Administrative issues are considered, as are the implications for the Commonwealth government with respect to potential subsidies associated with the design parameters. In the 2007–08 Federal Budget, the former government announced a small extension of the FEE‐HELP system into Australian VET, a reform consistent with improved tertiary funding arrangements.
Dynamic Properties of Income Support Receipt in Australia
Authors: Tseng Yi‐Ping , Vu Ha , Wilkins Roger 
Published: April 2008

Abstract Using administrative records on Australian income support (welfare) recipients over the period July 1995 to June 2002, we examine dynamic properties of income support receipt and the personal characteristics associated with alternative patterns of receipt. We draw on three concepts: churning–the process of ending a spell on income support and subsequently commencing a new spell; transferring–moving from one payment type to another within a spell on income support; and Total Time On payments (TTO)–the proportion of time on income support in a given period. We find that churning and transferring are significant features of income support receipt in Australia. For example, over half of recipients churn within five years of commencing an income support spell, and one‐fifth make a payment transfer within the same time frame. Examination of the characteristics associated with each of five distinct patterns of receipt reveals substantial differences in patterns by age, family composition, unemployment status, health status, and recent history of income support receipt.
Economic Growth with Foreign Capital
Authors: Thompson Henry 
Published: April 2008

AbstractIn growth theory, foreign investment places a small open economy in the international steady state. In applied growth theory, foreign investment is assumed to shift technology. The present growth model separates foreign from domestic capital and develops the steady state where both capital/labor ratios are stationary. A capital scarce country would attract foreign investment and may arrive at a steady state with perpetual foreign investment. Such a steady state foreign investment host is characterized by low saving and high labor growth rates, and source countries the opposite. Incomplete convergence characterizes economic growth with foreign capital.
A Quantile Regression Analysis of Wages in Panama
Authors: Falaris Evangelos M. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractDifferences in the effects of worker characteristics on wages in Panama at different points of the conditional wage distribution are investigated. Public sector employment increases wages relatively more at lower quantiles. Within the public sector, employment in that sector increases wages of the median worker and reduces wage inequality. Presence of a labor union increases relatively more private sector wages at lower quantiles. Unions reduce wage inequality within the union private sector and increase average wages within that sector. In the public sector, the presence of a labor union increases wages of men at lower quantiles at a lower rate than in the private sector. Self‐employment decreases wages at lower quantiles and increases wages at higher quantiles. Urban location affects wages in a U‐shaped pattern as one moves from lower to higher quantiles. Rates of return to experience are higher for men at higher quantiles. Experience increases men's wage inequality.
Marking Time: An Analysis of Youth Hours of Work and Study in Urban Mexico
Authors: Levison Deborah , Moe Karine S. , Knaul Felicia 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThis paper argues that a more complex view of work and schooling is critical to poor countries as they implement policies to increase educational attainment. In this analysis of 12–17‐year‐old girls and boys in urban Mexico, we expand the traditional approach in two dimensions by (1) moving from an analysis of participation to one of hours of participation, and (2) broadening the definition of work to include youth's household responsibilities.
Teaching Confidence Intervals Using Simulation
Authors: Hagtvedt Reidar , Jones Gregory Todd , Jones Kari 
Published: April 2008

SummaryConfidence intervals are difficult to teach, in part because most students appear to believe they understand how to interpret them intuitively. They rarely do. To help them abandon their misconception and achieve understanding, we have developed a simulation tool that encourages experimentation with multiple confidence intervals derived from the same population.
Reconstructing the Genealogy of a BRCA1 Founder Mutation by Phylogenetic Analysis
Authors: Marroni F. , Cipollini G. , Peissel B. , D'Andrea E. , Pensabene M. , Radice P. , Caligo M. A. , Presciuttini S. , Bevilacqua G. 
Published: April 2008

SummaryEstimating the age of founder mutations may contribute to improve our knowledge of population genetics and evolutionary history of diseases. Previous haplotype analysis suggested that the BRCA1*1499insA mutation was a founder allele, probably originated in Tuscany (Italy). Here, we collected additional pedigrees carrying this mutation, and applied a phylogenetic method for estimating mutation age. A chromosome segment of about 25 cM, including 37 short tandem repeats (STRs) on both sides of the BRCA1 gene (DeCode map), was typed in 50 subjects (28 mutation carriers) from 14 unrelated families. The time to the most recent common ancestor (MRCA) of the mutation carriers was estimated by the length of the shared haplotype between all possible pairs of individuals. A function relating the length of the shared haplotype to the time to the MRCA was obtained by a computer simulation. This approach gives results comparable with those of other existing mutation‐dating methods, but does not depend explicitly on population‐specific parameters such as allele frequencies, provides narrower confidence intervals (CI), and allows one to build an extended genealogical tree of all mutation carriers. The 1499insA mutation shared by the investigated subjects was estimated to be present in an individual living about 30 generations ago (95% CL 22‐56), or 750 years (95% CL 550‐1,400).