bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Unfair Discrimination and Homeowners Insurance Availability: An Empirical Analysis
Authors: Regan Laureen 
Published: March 2007

AbstractThere has been an active public policy debate about the availability and cost of homeowners insurance in urban markets, and insurers have been charged with intentional discrimination, or redlining, against minority buyers and neighborhoods with a large proportion of minority population. Studies of relative price, loss costs, agency location, and product quality have attempted to determine whether insurers unfairly discriminate against minority homeowners in urban areas. This study focuses on insurance availability, and examines whether there is a systematic difference in the breadth of insurance coverage in the market that corresponds to the proportion of minority residents in a state. The market share of dwelling fire insurance polices across states for years 2000 and 2003 is analyzed, and evidence is presented that shows a positive correlation between the proportion of minority homeowners in a state and the share of more restrictive dwelling fire policies. However, this difference is not statistically significant once other risk‐related and economic factors are included in the analysis.
The Solvency II Process: Overview and Critical Analysis
Authors: Eling Martin , Schmeiser Hato , Schmit Joan T. 
Published: March 2007

AbstractAs early as the 1970s, European Union (EU) member countries implemented rules to coordinate insurance markets and regulation. However, with the more recent movement toward a general single EU market, financial services regulation has taken on new meaning and priority. Solvency I regulations went into effect for member nations by January 2004. The creation of risk‐based capital standards, the main focus of Solvency II, now appears likely sometime after 2007. The purpose of the discussion presented here is to outline the specifics of Solvency II as they currently stand and suggest important areas of future research.
Love's Usury, Poet's Debt: Borrowing and Mimesis in Shakespeare's Sonnets
Authors: Thurman Christopher 
Published: March 2007

Abstract This essay was runner‐up in the 2006 Literature Compass Graduate Essay Prize, Shakespeare Section. In Shakespeare's sonnets, sustained self‐reflexive deliberation on the nature of poetic representation is at times figured in terms of the nascent capitalism of early modern England: an intersection of ‘mimesis’ and ‘economics’ that is manifested in images of usury found in a number of the sonnets. This article surveys critical responses (by David Hawkes, James Dawes, Thomas Greene, John Mischo, Howard Felperin and others) that offer some insight into this aspect of Shakespeare's work. In doing so, the article attempts to reconcile potentially divergent perspectives on Shakespeare; it also suggests new ways in which the sonnets can be read, revisiting the relationship of the speaker/poet not only to certain figures in the sonnet sequence (the ‘fair youth’ and the ‘dark lady’) but also – perhaps more importantly – to his own poetic enterprise.
Fiction and Autobiography in Mary Hays'sMemoirs of Emma Courtney(1796)
Authors: Green Georgina 
Published: March 2007

AbstractThis essay was runner‐up in the 2006Literature CompassGraduate Essay Prize, Romanticism Section.Although current critical strictures prohibit the reading of biography between the lines of fiction, Mary Hays'sMemoirs of Emma Courtney(1796) demands that we do so. The novel is laced with autobiography. The novel developed out of a suggestion by the philosopher William Godwin that Hays write a sketch of her life in order to challenge her ‘habitual melancholy’. Thus, althoughEmma Courtneyis not an autobiography in the strictest sense of the term, the discourse of autobiography is fundamental to it.Emma Courtneyreproduces almost verbatim much of Hays's correspondence. The novel is literally sourced from life, quilted from the textual acts of that life, its letters. The autobiographical mode used by the novel transpires into an investigation of the relationship between fiction and reality. Godwin's mentoring of Hays illuminates this complex relationship between autobiography and fiction. Godwin's criticism of Hays's novel crystallises into a debate about reality. In their dialogue, Hays defends the imagination as a valid, and more importantly, inevitable part of experience. This enquires into the very possibility of the Godwinian ‘virtue’ of self‐knowledge by making the Real itself problematic.
Reproductive efficiency in grazing lactating dairy cows under a programmed reproductive management system
Authors: Cavestany D , Betancour H , Blanc JE , Lemaire C , Slavica J , Moreira F , Piaggio J , Risco C 
Published: March 2007

Objective  To evaluate the effectiveness of a reproductive management program consisting of combinations of Ovsynch/TAI and prostaglandin (PG) F2α treatments in Holstein dairy cows under a pasture‐based dairying system.Design  Field trial.Procedure  A total of 1177 cows in 8 commercial dairy farms were randomly allocated to control and treatment groups. Treatment group cows received one of two interventions depending upon the number of days postpartum (DPP) before the planned start of breeding. Cows more than 50 DPP by the planned start of breeding received the Ovsynch/TAI treatment, consisting of gonadotrophin releasing hormone (GnRH) – PGF2α– GnRH plus timed artificial insemination. Cows between 40 and 50 DPP received a PGF2α treatment followed by oestrus detection and, if the cow was not seen in oestrus, the cow received a second PGF2α 14 days later. Control cows were submitted to twice a day heat detection followed by artificial insemination. The experimental period was the start of the breeding season plus 21 days for cows over 50 DPP at the start of breeding, and was 40–61 DPP for cows that calved later and passed their voluntary waiting period after the start of the breeding season.Results  Submission rate was higher for the treated group than for the control group (84.9% vs. 55.1%; P < 0.0001), as was the conception rate (51.0% vs. 46.1%; P < 0.03). Due to farm variations, pregnancy rate was similar in both groups (38.5% vs. 28.2%; P > 0.1). Within the treated group, conception rate and pregnancy rate of the cows inseminated after a PGF2α were higher than for timed artificial inseminated cows (51.4% vs. 32.6%; P < 0.001), and (37.8% vs. 32.6%; P < 0.001).Conclusion  A programmed reproductive management protocol may improve reproductive efficiency in dairy farms with seasonal breeding, by increasing submission and conception rates at the beginning of the breeding season and/or at the end of the voluntary waiting period. Fertility of cows bred after a PGF2α synchronised heat was greater than after an Ovsynch/TAI protocol.
Skeletal and neurological malformations in pigs congenitally infected with Menangle virus
Authors: Philbey AW , Ross AD , Kirkland PD , Love RJ 
Published: March 2007

Objective  To describe the pathological findings in stillborn piglets and fetuses delivered by sows naturally infected with Menangle virus, a recently recognised Paramyxovirus.Design  Observations of the gross and microscopic pathology of natural disease.Procedure  Postmortem examinations were performed on 49 stillborn piglets, 35 mummified or semi‐mummified full‐term fetuses and 6 aborted fetuses from 20 litters at a 2600‐sow intensive piggery in New South Wales during an outbreak of reproductive disease from June to September 1997. Body weights, crown‐rump lengths and gross pathological changes were recorded. Tissues, including brain and spinal cord, were processed for histopathological examination.Results  Litters with reduced numbers of live born piglets had mummified fetuses and stillborn piglets. Affected stillborn and aborted piglets frequently had arthrogryposis, craniofacial and spinal deformities, pulmonary hypoplasia and degeneration of the brain and spinal cord. Intranuclear and intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies were observed in neurones and other cells in the brain and spinal cord in association with extensive degeneration, necrosis, infiltration of macrophages and gliosis.Conclusions  In utero infection of piglets with Menangle virus is associated with severe skeletal and neurological malformations.
Experimental Validation of a Common-Rail Injector Model in the Whole
Operation Field
Authors: Coppo Marco , Dongiovanni Claudio 
Published: March 2007

Abstract
The present study deals with the definition of an accurate mathematical model of a production common-rail-type injector for automotive diesel engines. The mathematical model defined in a previous work was refined, accounting for a broader range of effects on injector performance, thus allowing a more strict validation of the model predictions against experimental data. The geometry of the control-valve holes, crucial in determining the actual discharge coefficient, was accurately evaluated by means of silicone molds. The moving mechanical components of the injector, such as control valve, needle, and pressure rod were modeled using the mass–spring–damper scheme. The axial deformation under pressure of needle, pressure rod, nozzle and injector body was modeled. This effect was found to also affect the control valve device operation, and was properly accounted for. The model obtained was implemented in Simulink; the ordinary differential equations were solved by means of the numerical differentiation formulas implicit scheme of second-order accuracy, while the partial differential equations were integrated using the finite-difference Lax–Friedrichs method. In order to obtain sufficient data for validating the model in its entire operation field, two separate sets of tests were carried out. In the first analysis, a constant reference pressure was imposed in the rail, and the injector energizing time was progressively increased from values relative to small pilot injections to values characteristic of large main injections. The injected volume per stroke was measured by means of a mean delivery meter (EMI) device. During the second set of tests, the injector was mounted on a flow rate meter (EVI) device so as to measure the injection law. Electric current flowing through the injector solenoid, oil pressure in the common rail, and at the injector inlet, needle, and control valve lift were also gauged and recorded. The good agreement between numerical and experimental results allowed the use of the model to gain greater insight into the mechanisms and phenomena that regulate injector behavior. The nozzle hole discharge coefficient dependence upon time and needle lift was discussed, and the trends were presented in several working conditions. The flow in the control volume holes was studied, in order to determine whether cavitation occurs or not, giving an answer to a long disputed topic. Finally, the effects of injector deformation caused by fuel pressure on performance were investigated.
Gas Turbine Combustion Technology Reducing Both Fuel-NOx and Thermal-NOx Emissions for Oxygen-Blown IGCC With Hot/Dry Synthetic Gas Cleanup
Authors: Hasegawa Takeharu , Tamaru Takashi 
Published: March 2007

Abstract
In order to improve the thermal efficiency of the oxygen-blown integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) and to meet stricter environmental restrictions among cost-effective options, a hot/dry synthetic gas cleanup is one of the most hopeful choices. The flame temperature of medium-Btu gasified fuel used in this system is high so that NOx formation by nitrogen fixation results to increase significantly. Additionally, the gasified fuel contains nitrogenous compound, as ammonia, and it produces nitrogen oxides, the fuel NOx, in the case of employing the hot/dry gas cleanup. Low NOx combustion technology to reduce both fuel-NOx and thermal-NOx emissions has been required to protect the environment and ensure low cost operations for all kinds of oxygen-blown IGCC. In this paper, we have demonstrated the effectiveness of two-stage combustion and nitrogen injection techniques, and also showed engineering guidelines for the low-NOx combustor design of oxygen-blown gasified, medium-Btu fuels. The main results obtained are as follows: (1) Based on the basic combustion tests using a small diffusion burner, we clarified that the equivalence ratio at the primary combustion zone has to be adjusted according to the fuel conditions, such as methane concentration, CO∕H2 molar ratio, and calorific values of gasified fuels in the case of the two-stage combustion method for reducing fuel-NOx emissions. (2) From the combustion tests of the medium-Btu fueled combustor, two-stage combustion with nitrogen direct injection into the combustor results in reductions of NOx emissions to 34ppm (corrected at 16% O2) or less under the gas turbine operational conditions of 25% load or higher for IGCC in the case where the gasified fuel contains 0.1% methane and 500ppm of ammonia. Through nitrogen direct injection, the thermal efficiency of the plant improved by approximately 0.3% (absolute), compared with the case where nitrogen was premixed with gasified fuel. The CO emission concentration decreased drastically, as low as 20ppm, or combustion efficiency was kept higher than 99.9%. The above results have shown that a two-stage combustion method with nitrogen direct injection is very effective for reducing both fuel-NOx and thermal-NOx emissions at once in IGCC, and it shows the bright prospects for low NOx and stable combustion technology of medium-Btu fuel.
Ten-Year Surveillance of Pneumococcal Infections in Temuco, Chile: Implications for Vaccination Strategies
Authors: Inostroza Jaime , Illesca Vijna , Reydet Patricia , Vinet Ana Maria , Ossa Gonzalo , Muñoz Sergio , Thompson Terry , Sorensen Ricardo U. 
Published: March 2007

ABSTRACT

We monitored
Streptococcus pneumoniae
serotypes causing invasive infections in patients admitted to one hospital in southern Chile during a 10-year period (1994 to 2004). All specimens isolated from patients with invasive
S. pneumoniae
infections were serotyped at the CDC in Atlanta, GA. A total of 508 isolates belonged to 58 serotypes. There were 95 infections in patients <2 years old, 33 infections in patients 2 to 4 years old, 61 infections in patients 5 to 14 years old, 66 infections in patients 15 to 44 years old, 134 infections in patients 45 to 64 years old, and 120 infections in patients ≥65 years old. The 10 serotypes isolated with the highest frequency in all groups were, in decreasing order, 1, 3, 14, 5, 19F, 6B, 7F, 12F, 23F, and 6A. The 10 most frequent isolates in children under 2 years of age were 1, 6B, 14, 19F, 5, 23F, 6A, 9V, and 7F. In patients ≥65 years old, the most common serotypes were 3, 7F, 1, 14, 19A, 23F, 19F, 35B, 4, and 5. Penicillin resistance was detected in 14 (2.7%) clinical specimens isolated since 1998, with 13 resistant strains identified since 2001. Vaccine coverage for the 7-valent conjugate vaccine was 42% for children <2 years of age. This study is important for the design of vaccines for this region and to evaluate public health measures to decrease pneumococcal infections.
Recombinant Polypeptide Antigen-Based Immunoglobulin G Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay for Serodiagnosis of Dengue
Authors: Dos Santos Flavia B. , Nogueira Rita Maria R. , Lima Monique R. Q. , De Simone Thatiane S. , Schatzmayr Hermann G. , Lemes Elezer M. B. , Harris Eva , Miagostovich Marize P. 
Published: March 2007

ABSTRACT
We have developed an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detection of anti-dengue virus (DENV) immunoglobulin G antibodies using four recombinant DENV envelope polypeptides as antigens, which demonstrated a sensitivity of 89.4% and a specificity of 93.3%. These easily produced antigens are a feasible, cost-effective alternative for generating reagents for dengue serological tests.
Association of the Pneumococcal Pilus with Certain Capsular Serotypes but Not with Increased Virulence
Authors: Basset Alan , Trzcinski Krzysztof , Hermos Christina , O'Brien Katherine L. , Reid Raymond , Santosham Mathuram , McAdam Alexander J. , Lipsitch Marc , Malley Richard 
Published: March 2007

ABSTRACT

The recent discovery of a mobile genetic element encoding a pilus-like structure in
Streptococcus pneumoniae
and the demonstration of a role for the pilus in virulence in mice have led to the proposal of the use of the pilus as a candidate pneumococcal vaccine. We examined the frequency of occurrence of the pneumococcal pilus, as determined by the presence of the
rrgC
gene, and analyzed its association with virulence, capsular serotypes, and multilocus sequence types in the American Indian pneumococcal collection and isolates of
S. pneumoniae
from blood cultures collected at Children's Hospital Boston. Overall, 21.4% of strains in the American Indian collection had the
rrgC
gene, but there was no difference between isolates obtained from the nasopharynx and those obtained from sterile sites (blood or cerebrospinal fluid). Vaccine-type strains were significantly more likely than non-vaccine-type strains to have this pilus gene (
P
< 0.001). Among isolates with identical multilocus sequence types, there was a high concordance (95%) between the multilocus sequence type and the presence or the absence of
rrgC
. Finally, in the era of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, the frequency of
rrgC
in isolates from Children's Hospital Boston has decreased significantly (42.8% before 2000 versus 21.3% after 2000;
P
= 0.019). Therefore, our data show that the pilus is present in a minority of strains and is associated with certain serotypes and that its frequency has been reduced by the conjugate pneumococcal vaccine.
Epidemiology and Outcomes of Community-Associated Methicillin-Resistant
Staphylococcus aureus
Infection
Authors: Davis S. L. , Perri M. B. , Donabedian S. M. , Manierski C. , Singh A. , Vager D. , Haque N. Z. , Speirs K. , Muder R. R. , Robinson-Dunn B. , Hayden M. K. , Zervos M. J. 
Published: March 2007

ABSTRACT

Over a 2-year period (2003 to 2005) patients with community-associated methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus
(CA-MRSA) and community-acquired methicillin-susceptible
Staphylococcus aureus
(CA-MSSA) infections were prospectively identified. Patients infected with CA-MRSA (
n
= 102 patients) and CA-MSSA (
n
= 102 patients) had median ages of 46 and 53 years, respectively; the most common sites of infection in the two groups were skin/soft tissue (80 and 93%, respectively), respiratory tract (13 and 6%, respectively), and blood (4 and 1%, respectively). Fourteen percent of patients with CA-MRSA infections and 3% of patients with CA-MSSA infections had household contacts with similar infections (
P
< 0.01). Among the CA-MRSA isolates, the pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) groups detected were USA300 (49%) and USA100 (13%), with 27 PFGE groups overall; 71% of the isolates were staphylococcal chromosome cassette
mec
(SCC
mec
) type IV, 29% were SCC
mec
type II, and 54% had the Panton-Valentine leucocidin (PVL) gene. Among the CA-MSSA isolates there were 33 PFGE groups, with isolates of the USA200 group comprising 11%, isolates of the USA600 group comprising 11%, isolates of the USA100 group comprising 10%, and isolates of the PVL type comprising 10%. Forty-six and 18% of the patients infected with CA-MRSA and CA-MSSA, respectively, were hospitalized (
P
< 0.001). Fifty percent of the patients received antibiotic therapy alone, 5% received surgery alone, 30% received antibiotics and surgery, 3% received other therapy, and 12% received no treatment. The median durations of antibiotic therapy were 12 and 10 days in the CA-MRSA- and CA-MSSA-infected patients, respectively; 48 and 56% of the patients in the two groups received adequate antimicrobial therapy, respectively (
P
< 0.001). The clinical success rates of the initial therapy in the two groups were 61 and 84%, respectively (
P
< 0.001); recurrences were more common in the CA-MRSA group (recurrences were detected in 18 and 6% of the patients in the two groups, respectively [
P
< 0.001]). CA-MRSA was an independent predictor of clinical failure in multivariate analysis (odds ratio, 3.4; 95% confidence interval, 1.7 to 6.9). In the community setting, the molecular characteristics of the
S. aureus
strains were heterogeneous. CA-MRSA infections were associated with a more adverse impact on outcome than CA-MSSA infections.
Operational Feasibility of Using Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification for Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Microscopy Centers of Developing Countries
Authors: Boehme Catharina C. , Nabeta Pamela , Henostroza German , Raqib Rubhana , Rahim Zeaur , Gerhardt Martina , Sanga Erica , Hoelscher Michael , Notomi Tsugunori , Hase Tetsu , Perkins Mark D. 
Published: March 2007

ABSTRACT
The characteristics of loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) make it a promising platform for the molecular detection of tuberculosis (TB) in developing countries. Here, we report on the first clinical evaluation of LAMP for the detection of pulmonary TB in microscopy centers in Peru, Bangladesh, and Tanzania to determine its operational applicability in such settings. A prototype LAMP assay with simplified manual DNA extraction was evaluated for accuracy and ease of use. The sensitivity of LAMP in smear- and culture-positive sputum specimens was 97.7% (173/177 specimens; 95% confidence interval [CI], 95.5 to 99.9%), and the sensitivity in smear-negative, culture-positive specimens was 48.8% (21/43 specimens; CI, 33.9 to 63.7%). The specificity in culture-negative samples was 99% (500/505 specimens; CI, 98.1 to 99.9%). The average hands-on time for testing six samples and two controls was 54 min, similar to that of sputum smear microscopy. The optimal amplification time was 40 min. No indeterminate results were reported, and the interreader variability was 0.4%. Despite the use of a single room without biosafety cabinets for all procedures, no DNA contamination was observed. The assay was robust, with high end-point stability and low rates of test failure. Technicians with no prior molecular experience easily performed the assay after 1 week of training, and opportunities for further simplification of the assay were identified.
Genetic Diversity in a
Bacillus anthracis
Historical Collection (1954 to 1988)
Authors: Sue David , Marston Chung K. , Hoffmaster Alex R. , Wilkins Patricia P. 
Published: March 2007

ABSTRACT

Bacillus anthracis
, the etiologic agent of anthrax, has been widely described as a genetically monomorphic species. We used both multiple-locus variable-number tandem-repeat analysis (MLVA) and
pagA
gene sequencing to determine the genetic diversity of a historical collection of
B. anthracis
isolates collected from the 1950s to the 1980s from various geographic locations and sources. We sequenced the
pagA
gene of 124 diverse
B. anthracis
isolates and found all previously identified
B. anthracis pagA
types except type 4. Sixty-three of the 124
B. anthracis
strains were identified as
pagA
type 6, while 44 were
pagA
type 5, 12 were
pagA
type 1, and individual isolates were identified for types 2 and 3, respectively. Two new
pagA
genotypes were discovered in three environmental isolates within the historical collection. Two isolates had the same new genotype, and an additional isolate produced a second new genotype. MLVA detected 22 previously described genotypes in the historical collection. In addition, 33 new MLVA genotypes were found. For 11 isolates, an MLVA genotype could not be assigned because one or more alleles did not amplify. While only two additional
B. anthracis pagA
types were identified, in two instances, the use of
pagA
sequencing discriminated isolates with the same MLVA genotype. MLVA revealed that 39 of the 124 isolates were previously undocumented genotypes and that 1 isolate was found to be in the C cluster when it was subtyped by MLVA.