bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Preventive effects of vitamin K on recurrent disease in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma arising from hepatitis C viral infection
Authors: Kakizaki Satoru , Sohara Naondo , Sato Ken , Suzuki Hideyuki , Yanagisawa Masatoshi , Nakajima Hiroaki , Takagi Hitoshi , Naganuma Atsushi , Otsuka Toshiyuki , Takahashi Hitomi , Hamada Tetsuya , Mori Masatomo 
Published: March 2007

AbstractBackground:  Despite the progression of therapeutic approaches, a high frequency of recurrence is what determines the long‐term prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In this study, the chemopreventive effects of vitamin K2 on the recurrence and survival of patients with HCC after curative therapy were evaluated.Methods:  Sixty patients who were diagnosed to be free of HCC after radiofrequency ablation therapy or surgery were randomly assigned to either the vitamin K2 group (n = 30 patients) or the control group (n = 30 patients). All patients were positive for the hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody and hepatitis B surface antigen positive patients were excluded from this study. Patients in the vitamin K2 group received an oral dose of menatetrenone at 45 mg per day. Disease recurrence and the survival rates were analyzed in patients with HCC.Results:  The cumulative recurrence‐free rates in the vitamin K2 group were 92.3% at 12 months, 48.6% at 24 months and 38.8% at 36 months; and those in the control group were 71.7%, 35.9% and 9.9%, respectively (P = 0.045). The cumulative survival rates in the vitamin K2 group were 100% at 12 months, 95.0% at 24 months and 77.5% at 36 months; and those in the control group were 95.8%, 90.2% and 66.4%, respectively (P = 0.70).Conclusions:  Vitamin K2 may have a suppressive effect on the recurrence of HCC and a beneficial effect on tumor recurrence. However, there was no significant difference in the survival rates. The chemopreventive effects of vitamin K2 are not sufficient. The development of a further regimen such as combination therapy is required.
Bacterial translocation: Overview of mechanisms and clinical impact
Authors: Balzan Silvio , De Almeida Quadros Claudio , De Cleva Roberto , Zilberstein Bruno , Cecconello Ivan 
Published: March 2007

AbstractBacterial translocation (BT) is a phenomenon in which live bacteria or its products cross the intestinal barrier. Gut translocation of bacteria has been shown in both animal and human studies. BT and its complications have been shown clearly to occur in animal models, but its existence and importance in humans has been difficult to ascertain. We review the mechanisms of BT and its clinical impact based on the current literature.
What Determines Australia's Response to Emergencies and Natural Disasters?
Authors: Feeny Simon , Clarke Matthew 
Published: March 2007

AbstractThis article examines the determinants of Australia's response to emergencies and natural disasters. It examines the response from the Australian public by examining contributions made to the appeals of the country's largest Non‐Governmental Organisation: World Vision of Australia. It also examines the response of the Australian Government. The data include 43 emergencies and natural disasters since 1998. Results suggest that the responses from both the public and government are positively associated with the number of people affected, media coverage, and the level of political and civil freedom in the country where the event occurred. The type and location of the emergency or disaster are important for the public's response. Differences between public and government donations exist: support from the Australian Government is positively associated with smaller countries and there is some evidence that the public donates more to events occurring in larger and poorer countries.
Changing Skill Intensity in Australian Industry
Authors: Kelly Ross 
Published: March 2007

AbstractThis article examines changes in industry skill scores for Australia for the period 1991 to 2001 using indices of cognitive skill for industry based on Census employment data. Changes in mean industry cognitive skill levels are analysed, as are the relative contributions of changes to the occupational structure within industry and changes to the industry structure of employment. The main findings are that the drivers of skill change differed substantially between the two Census periods. Prior to 1996 the majority of the change was due to shifts towards industries with a more highly skilled workforce. After 1996 changes in the economy‐wide skill level were dominated by within‐industry changes in occupational composition. This coincided with a sharp pickup in the rate of capital expenditure on information and communication technologies. The increasing use of part‐time employment overall had a deskilling effect.
Developments in East Asian Welfare Studies
Authors: Ku Yeun‐wen , Jones Finer Catherine 
Published: March 2007

Abstract This essay in introduction is to the field of study, rather than to the present, itself distinguished, collection of papers. As such, it opens with a series of ‘flashbacks’: to the ways in which social policy, and the study of social policy, developed out of the interaction between Western welfare states (in this case Britain) and Asia Pacific. The main body of the article then charts the increasing presence of East Asian modes of welfare within comparative social policy, before going on to distinguish between the different types of approach to East Asian welfare study which have so far been adopted. Two sets of three‐part criteria have been adopted for the purposes of classification: focusing first on the dimensions (single case studies of specific countries; East Asia as a region; East Asia in comparison with other parts of the world) and second on the level of issues (matters of policy; of welfare system; of welfare regime) characteristic of each study in question. The article concludes with a restatement of its purpose: not to question the adequacy of hitherto Western (notably, Esping‐Andersen) approaches to the study of welfare regimes, but to demonstrate the need for a substantive extension to their scope.
The Rules of the Game: The Politics of National Pensions in Korea
Authors: Hwang Gyu‐Jin 
Published: March 2007

AbstractThis article explores the conditions in which policy changes occur over time. It studies the institutional pathways taken by national pensions in Korea over an extended period by identifying the key moments which have pushed through their development: initiation (1973), implementation (1988) and reform (1998). Public pensions have developed over time in an incremental fashion, bringing an ever‐growing proportion of the population under their umbrella. What accounts for this development? A number of factors may be at work. The elderly population has rapidly increased; the traditional extended family has increasingly become a nuclear one, meaning that what used simply to be a family issue of protecting the elderly has become a social matter; urbanization and industrialization have resulted in an ever‐growing number of life‐time contingencies such as unexpected income losses. Convincing as these socio‐economic accounts may seem, however, they offer only a snapshot, underscoring the politics of national pensions which stretch over long periods. This article seeks to answer how and in whose interest national pensions come on to the political agenda; how they are framed and defined; and how political actors respond to pressures for national pension reform. In each of the three stages, it is suggested, somewhat different institutional rules have operated. Defining institutional rules as ‘the process of who gets represented in the decision‐making processes’, this article identifies the different institutional rules which have played a pivotal role in the social policy‐making processes.
Advocacy Coalitions and Health Politics in Korea
Authors: Kwon Huck‐ju 
Published: March 2007

Abstract This article analyses the political dynamics underlying health care reform in Korea after the Asian economic crisis. The reform was a significant volte‐face in respect of the social policy paradigm, which now aims to enhance equity in National Health Insurance. The article pays special attention to the evolution of the advocacy coalition for equity in health policy and how it developed the two attributes required for successful policy change: institutional strength and the elaboration of policy rationale for reform. This process was not a simple linear development but a combination of setbacks and advances. The article also takes into consideration the structural conditions that set the policy environment over the course of the advocacy coalition's evolution since the 1960s. In short, the policy reform of 2000 was not a simple policy change in response to the economic crisis, but rather the outcome of the long‐term evolution of the advocacy coalition for equity in health policy.
The Fiscal Crisis of National Health Insurance in the Republic of Korea: In Search of a New Paradigm
Authors: Kwon Soonman 
Published: March 2007

AbstractIn 2001, National Health Insurance (NHI) in Korea, the social insurance system for health care with universal population coverage, experienced a serious fiscal crisis as its accumulated surplus was depleted. This fiscal crisis is attributed to its chronic imbalance: health care expenditure has increased more rapidly than have insurance contributions. The recent failure in implementing pharmaceutical reform was a further blow to the deteriorating fiscal status of the NHI. Although the NHI has since recovered from the immediate fiscal crisis, this has mainly been because of a temporary increase in government subsidy into the NHI. The strong influence of the medical profession in health policy‐making remains a major barrier to the introduction of policy changes, such as a reform of the payment system to strengthen the fiscal foundations of the NHI. Korea also has to restructure its national health insurance in an era of very rapid population ageing. A new paradigm is called for in the governance of the NHI: to empower groups of consumers and payers in the policy and major decision‐making process of the NHI. The fiscal crisis in Korean national health insurance sheds light on the vulnerability of the social health insurance system to financial instability, the crucial role of provider payment schemes in health cost containment, the importance of governance in health policy, and the unintended burdens of health care reform on health care financing systems.
Full Responsibility with Partial Citizenship: Immigrant Wives in Taiwan
Authors: Sheu Yea‐huey 
Published: March 2007

Abstract The interrelationship between increased ageing and declining fertility is facing many developed countries with challenges, risks and policy debates around care, reproduction and women's rights. This article demonstrates the special case of cross‐border marriages and the lives of immigrant wives in Taiwan, with a view to identifying their social needs and hence their prospects for social inclusion. It considers the extent to which these immigrant wives have managed to fulfil the dreams of their own native families and/or satisfy the reproductive demands of their ‘in‐law’ families. Issues of women's social and reproductive role, gender discrimination and the unfulfilled rights and ‘partial citizenship’ of immigrant wives are discussed. The author argues that immigrant wives carry full responsibility but possess only partial citizenship. The ideology of the spousal sponsorship regime, which makes the application for naturalization extremely difficult, not only increases the vulnerability of immigrant women but violates their human rights.
East Asian Welfare Regimes: Testing the Hypothesis of the Developmental Welfare State
Authors: Lee Yih‐Jiunn , Ku Yeun‐wen 
Published: March 2007

AbstractFollowing the three welfare regimes constructed by Esping‐Andersen, many scholars have addressed the question of whether there may be a further type of regime, differing from the categories of liberal, conservative and social democratic, pertaining to other parts of the world. Discussion has centred largely on East Asia and, in particular, on the notion of the developmental/productivist welfare regime. Yet these discussions have been based more on conceptual classification than empirical analysis. This article attempts to fill in the gap, with reference to the developmental characteristics of Taiwan, South Korea and Japan. A set of 15 indicators is developed for the factor and cluster analysis of 20 countries, based on data from the 1980s and 1990s. The results indicate the existence of a new group, consisting of Taiwan and South Korea, which is distinct from Esping‐Andersen's three regimes – unlike Japan, which remains a composite of various regime types. Regime characteristics peculiar to the cases of Taiwan and South Korea include: low/medium social security expenditure, high social investment, more extensive gender discrimination in salary, medium/high welfare stratification, a high non‐coverage rate for pensions, high individual welfare loading, and high family welfare responsibility. When compared with Esping‐Andersen's three regimes, the East Asian developmental regime shows similarity with his conservative model, in respect of welfare stratification, while the non‐coverage of welfare entitlements is similar to his liberal model. There is virtually no evidence of any similarity between the developmental welfare regime and Esping‐Andersen's social democratic regime type.
Do Upgradings and Downgradings Convey Information? An Event Study of the French Bond Market
Authors: Dallocchio Maurizio , Hubler Jerome , Raimbourg Philippe , Salvi Antonio 
Published: March 2007

This study has two purposes:

To present an alternative method for the study of events related to bond spreads applicable when only a small number of events is available;
To analyse the impact of downgradings and upgradings on the French financial market.

A small number of events can render the use of traditional methods based on the analysis of abnormal returns difficult. We suggest examining the stationarity of relative spreads and dating a possible interruption in the series by carrying out tests in increasingly wider time windows. This method has been applied to assess the role of rating agencies in the French financial market. The results obtained are, in general, not only similar to those previously obtained in other markets, but also more accurate. The aggregate analysis shows an absence of reaction for upgradings while downgradings determine reaction on financial markets. However, if we expand the analysis to single issuers we find that downgradings had no relevant effect on financial markets in most cases. Only two issuers (France Telecom and Vivendi), with initially good, but rapidly deteriorating, credit reputation, experienced a significant rise of their spreads. In these cases, financial markets reacted prior to the downgrading by the agency. Tests based only on the analysis of the whole events would have led us, in the case of downgradings, to partially flawed conclusions.
The Contemporary Professoriate: Towards a Diversified or Segmented Profession?
Authors: Stromquist Nelly P. , Gil‐Antón Manuel , Colatrella Carol , Mabokela Reitumtse Obakeng , Smolentseva Anna , Balbachevsky Elizabeth 
Published: March 2007

AbstractOn the empirical basis of six national studies (Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Denmark, Russia and South Africa), this paper examines the phenomenon of segmentation, defined as the solidification of deep hierarchies with little crossover between categories of institutions or individuals. The massification of higher education has brought about a great diversity of institutions and, concomitantly, stark differences among the professoriate. While the public sector has to some extent been able to protect its academic personnel, the for‐profit sector is moving towards an unstable professoriate, poorly paid, hired mostly on a per‐hour basis, and for whom sharing in academic governance is a distant dream. Some of this differentiation is emerging also within institutions and a new kind of academic who could be termed ‘just‐in‐time knowledge worker’ is on the rise.
Bringing the State Back In: Promoting and Sustaining Innovation in Public Higher Education
Authors: Bastedo Michael N. 
Published: March 2007

AbstractSince the well‐known failures of many experimental colleges and programs in the 1960s and 1970s, policymakers and scholars are often cynical about the possibilities for organisational innovation, particularly within public universities. Public university innovation is possible, however, when organisational actors seek to institutionalise reform and use the legitimacy of reform to obtain adequate human and financial resources. An illustrative case study of California State University at Monterey Bay is used to describe how institutionalisation processes can be used to establish, support and expand public university innovation, which may be increasingly crucial to meet political and competitive demands for university adaptation.
Implementation of Cost Sharing in the Ethiopian Higher Education Landscape: Critical Assessment and the Way Forward
Authors: Yizengaw Teshome 
Published: March 2007

AbstractHigher education participation in Ethiopia is very low (about 1.5 per cent) and is the major source of the critical shortage of educated and skilled human resource. The higher education system in Ethiopia is moving away from exclusive and dismally low enrolments towards increasing participation. To expand access, to redress inequitable subsidies by taxpayers to a small proportion of the age cohort and to diversify revenue the introduction of cost sharing is necessitated to supplement public finance. Cost sharing serves as an alternative non‐governmental source supplementing revenue opening more opportunities and making students responsible citizens and customers. It also has a profound effect on improving the management and academic efficiency of the higher education institutions. In the expanding system, covering the full tuition and food and room cost for a small proportion of the age cohort from the taxpayers’ money is inappropriate and inequitable distribution of resources. A significant number of students are enrolled in fee‐paying programs in public and private institutions.A modified model of the Australian type Graduate Tax, as a more attractive, simple and manageable scheme is adopted in the Ethiopian higher education landscape. The scheme is expected to ensure equitable access to students of any background, as there is no need to stipulate income of parents to arrive at the repayment amounts. Immediate removal of all subsidies to food and room, calculating appropriate tuition fees and costs, provision of every citizen a tax identification number (TIN) and decentralization and strengthening the tax collection and information system are essential for successful implementation of cost sharing in Ethiopia. These improvements enhance the confidence of both public and university community and improves cost recovery.
Higher Education in India: Growth, Concerns and Change Agenda
Authors: Agarwal Pawan 
Published: March 2007

AbstractHigher education in India has grown large since the country's independence in 1947. Starting from a small base, the pace of growth was initially rapid. Initially, the pace of growth was rapid. Enrolments grew by 13 to 14 per cent per annum during the 1950s and 1960s. Over the past few decades, the growth rate has declined noticeably. Since then it has remained stable between 4 and 5 per cent. The nature of growth over the past two decades is, however, strikingly different from the growth in the previous period. This article maps the growth pattern of higher education in India with particular focus on enrolment growth and change in funding patterns. On analysis of the trends, it identifies the concerns and builds a case for change in Indian higher education so that the country's virtuous cycle of economic growth fuelled mainly by its large pool of qualified manpower is sustained.
Has the debate over genetics and extinction of island endemics truly been resolved?
Authors: Jamieson I. G. 
Published: March 2007

AbstractThe relative importance of genetic factors in increasing the risk of extinction has been hotly debated in the past and has tended to be downplayed by ecologists researching the correlates of extinction of island endemics. More recently, Frankham has argued that there is now sufficient evidence to regard the past controversies over the contribution of genetic factors to extinction risk as mostly resolved. For example, evidence indicates that the majority of threatened species including island endemics have a lower genetic diversity than taxonomically related nonthreatened species, implying that genetic factors such as inbreeding can increase the probability of extinction before extinction events occur. Yet, recent ecological research on the correlates of extinction for over 220 species of island birds found compelling evidence that exotic mammalian predators were the sole drivers of extinctions, and neglected to even mention any role of genetic factors. This paper discusses how two research groups working towards identifying and understanding the correlates of extinction for island endemics can reach such distinct conclusions. Part of the reason for the different perspectives is that ecological research has tended to focus on the correlates of historical extinctions of island endemics while conservation geneticists have concentrated on genetic correlates of currently threatened extant species. Identifying whether the population growth rate is positive or negative is crucial to this debate because even the geneticists agree that inbreeding will have little time to impact populations that are declining rapidly due to high predation rates. Inbreeding depression is likely to have a greater impact on extinction probability in species suffering from gradual habitat loss and range contraction, which typify the deterministic causes of population decline in continental species, rather than the intense predation pressure commonly associated with declines and extinctions of oceanic island endemics.
Managed Migration: The Caribbean Approach to Addressing Nursing Services Capacity
Authors: Salmon Marla E. , Yan Jean , Hewitt Hermi , Guisinger Victoria 
Published: March 2007

Objective. To (1) provide a contextual analysis of the Caribbean region with respect to forces shaping the current and emerging nursing workforce picture in the region; (2) discuss country‐specific case(s) within the Caribbean; and (3) describe the Managed Migration Program as a potential framework for addressing regional and global nurse migration issues.Principal Findings. The Caribbean is in the midst of a crisis of shortages of nurses with an average vacancy rate of 42 percent. Low pay, poor career prospects, and lack of education opportunities are among the reasons nurses resign. Many of these nurses look outside the region for job opportunities in the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, and other countries. Compounding the situation is the lack of resources to train nurses to fill the vacancies. The Managed Migration Program of the Caribbean is a multilateral, cross‐sector, multi‐interventional, long‐term strategy for developing and maintaining an adequate supply of nurses for the region.Conclusions. The Managed Migration Program of the Caribbean has made progress in establishing regional support for addressing the nursing shortage crisis and developing a number of interesting initiatives such as training for export and temporary migration. Recommendations to move the Managed Migration Program of the Caribbean forward focus on advocacy, integration of the program into regional policy decisions, and integration of the program with regional health programming.