bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Unrelated umbilical cord blood transplantation for adults with haematological malignancies: results from a single Australian centre
Authors: Bradstock K. F. , Hertzberg M. S. , Kerridge I. H. , Svennilson J. , McGurgan M. , Huang G. , Antonenas V. , Gottlieb D. J. 
Published: May 2006

AbstractBackground: A number of haematological malignancies can be cured by allogeneic stem cell transplantation but only approximately 30% of Australians have a suitable histocompatible related donor. Matched donors can be found on international registries of unrelated volunteers for a proportion of the remaining patients. For those patients in need of an allogeneic transplant, but for whom a suitable matched related or unrelated adult donor cannot be found, the use of banked unrelated umbilical cord blood has emerged as a potential option. However, there is uncertainty about the applicability of this technique for the majority of adult patients as a result of limitations in the number of cells in banked cord blood units and the degree of mismatching for histocompatibility antigens.Aims: The aim of this study was to define the feasibility of allogeneic stem cell transplantation using single unrelated cord blood units in a cohort of adults with poor prognosis leukaemia or lymphoma.Methods: Nine patients with haematological malignancies (five with acute myeloid leukaemia, one with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, one with Hodgkin lymphoma and two with non‐Hodgkin lymphomas) received transplants of cryopreserved cord blood after conditioning therapy with high‐dose cyclophosphamide, total body irradiation and antithymocyte globulin. Cord units contained a median 2.6 × 107 nucleated cells/kg recipient bodyweight and were matched for four (seven cases) or five (two cases) major histocompatibility complex class 1 and 2 antigens. Patients were given post‐transplant immunosuppression with cycosporin and methylprednisolone.Results: Neutrophil recovery to 0.5 × 109/L was seen by median day 30 after transplant in all seven patients who survived more than 1 month post‐transplant. Platelet recovery to 50 × 109/L occurred by median day 81 in five evaluable patients. Acute graft versus host disease (GVHD) grades II–IV was seen in four of seven evaluable patients and limited chronic GVHD was seen in four of five. Infection was the most common complication. Four patients died before day 100 of infection (methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus septicaemia, respiratory syncitial virus pneumonia), GVHD and multi‐organ failure, and intracranial bleeding. Five patients survived 7–69 months post‐transplant, without evidence of relapse of the underlying malignancy.Conclusion: Unrelated cord blood transplantation is feasible in adults with high‐risk malignancy, with infection relating to immunocompromise being the major limitation.
Consumer representation: challenges and pitfalls1
Authors: Piterman H. E. 
Published: May 2006

AbstractThe area of consumer participation in health care is new and best practice approaches to consumer provider relationships are still emerging. The exemplar of the market is a powerful model that is normalising consumer provider relationships in the public domain. Not surprisingly, this construct has infiltrated the area of health care and is increasingly defining relationships in this arena. While this model benefits some, its benefits are not universal. This paper cautions for vigilance in ensuring models of consumer participation remain alert to risks that can derail well intentioned initiatives and leave consumers and patients bereft.
Chronic hepatitis C infection and sex hormone levels: effect of disease severity and recombinant interferon‐α therapy
Authors: Nguyen H. V. , Mollison L. C. , Taylor T. W. , Chubb S. A. P. , Yeap B. B. 
Published: May 2006

AbstractBackground: We aimed to investigate the associations between androgen status and markers of liver disease severity and to determine the effect of interferon‐α (IFN‐α) treatment on sex hormone levels in the context of hepatitis C infection.Methods: We audited liver biopsy and sex hormone data from 35 men with chronic hepatitis C and a separate group of 11 men with hepatitis C who received IFN‐α treatment at Fremantle Hospital.Results: We found that men with low fibrosis scores (0–2) on the modified Knodell histological activity index were more likely to have lower sex hormone–binding globulin (SHBG) levels (38.2 ± 13.2 vs 66.6 ± 43.3 nmol/L, P < 0.001) and higher free testosterone levels (380.4 ± 102.0 vs 255.9 ±83.0 pmol/L, P = 0.01) than those with higher fibrosis scores (3–6). SHBG directly correlated with fibrosis scores (r = 0.37, P = 0.032). Free testosterone levels inversely correlated with liver fibrosis scores (r = −0.43, P = 0.011). A transient reduction in total testosterone of 5.7 ± 4.2 nmol/L (P = 0.014) occurred within the first 6 months of IFN‐α therapy although free testosterone was unaffected.Conclusion: More severe liver disease was associated with lower free testosterone and higher SHBG. IFN‐α therapy reduced total testosterone but not to hypogonadal levels, with no decline in free testosterone. These data suggest that liver disease in hepatitis C infection modulates androgen status indirectly via increased SHBG. Screening for androgen deficiency in the context of hepatitis C infection should selectively target men with more severe liver disease or documented higher grade fibrosis.
Vertical profiles of methanogenesis and methanogens in two contrasting acidic peatlands in central New York State, USA
Authors: Cadillo‐Quiroz Hinsby , Bräuer Suzanna , Yashiro Erika , Sun Christine , Yavitt Joseph , Zinder Stephen 
Published: May 2006

SummaryNorthern acidic peatlands are important sources of atmospheric methane, yet the methanogens in them are poorly characterized. We examined methanogenic activities and methanogen populations at different depths in two peatlands, McLean bog (MB) and Chicago bog (CB). Both have acidic (pH 3.5–4.5) peat soils, but the pH of the deeper layers of CB is near‐neutral, reflecting its previous existence as a neutral‐pH fen. Acetotrophic and hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis could be stimulated in upper samples from both bogs, and phylotypes of methanogens using H2/CO2 (Methanomicrobiales) or acetate (Methanosarcinales) were identified in 16S rRNA gene clone libraries and by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T‐RFLP) analyses using a novel primer/restriction enzyme set that we developed. Particularly dominant in the upper layers was a clade in the Methanomicrobiales, called E2 here and the R10 or fen group elsewhere, estimated by quantitative polymerase chain reaction to be present at ∼108 cells per gram of dry peat. Methanogenic activity was considerably lower in deeper samples from both bogs. The methanogen populations detected by T‐RFLP in deeper portions of MB were mainly E2 and the uncultured euryarchaeal rice cluster (RC)‐II group, whereas populations in the less acidic CB deep layers were considerably different, and included a Methanomicrobiales clade we call E1‐E1′, as well as RC‐I, RC‐II, marine benthic group D, and a new cluster that we call the subaqueous cluster. E2 was barely detectable in the deeper samples from CB, further evidence for the associations of most organisms in this group with acidic habitats.
Widespread distribution and high abundance of Rhizobium radiobacter within Mediterranean subsurface sediments
Authors: Süß Jacqueline , Schubert Karin , Sass Henrik , Cypionka Heribert , Overmann Jörg , Engelen Bert 
Published: May 2006

SummaryEastern Mediterranean sediments are characterized by the occurrence of distinct, organic‐rich layers, called sapropels. These harbour elevated microbial numbers in comparison with adjacent carbon‐lean intermediate layers. A recently obtained culture collection from these sediments was composed of 20% of strains closely related to Rhizobium radiobacter, formerly classified as Agrobacterium tumefaciens. To prove and quantify the in situ abundance of R. radiobacter, a highly specific quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) protocol was developed. To convert quantification results into cell numbers, the copy number of rrn operons per genome was determined. Southern hybridization showed that our isolates contained four operons. Finally, quantitative PCR was applied to 45 sediment samples obtained across the eastern Mediterranean. Rhizobium radiobacter was present in 38 of 45 samples indicating an almost ubiquitous distribution. In total, 25–40 000 cells per gram of sediment were detected, corresponding to 0.001–5.1% of the bacterial cells. In general, the relative and absolute abundance of R. radiobacter increased with depth and was higher in sapropels than in intermediate layers. This indicates that R. radiobacter forms an active population in up to 200 000 years old sapropels. The present study shows for the first time that a cultivated subsurface bacterium is highly abundant in this environment.
Inactivation of the Pseudomonas putida cytochrome o ubiquinol oxidase leads to a significant change in the transcriptome and to increased expression of the CIO and cbb3‐1 terminal oxidases
Authors: Morales Gracia , Ugidos Ana , Rojo Fernando 
Published: May 2006

Summary Pseudomonas putida KT2440 contains a branched aerobic respiratory chain with several terminal oxidases. Inactivation of the cyo terminal ubiquinol oxidase has little effect on growth rate but is known to relieve the inhibition by global control that modulates induction of genes required to assimilate alkanes in cells growing in the presence of preferred carbon sources. We show that inactivation of other terminal oxidases has no effect on regulation of the alkane degradation pathway, which points to cyo as the oxidase that transmits a regulatory signal related to the activity of the electron transport chain. Using a genome‐wide DNA microarray we found that inactivation of cyo has a significant effect on the transcriptome, supporting that it participates in global regulation of gene expression. Among the genes affected stand out those coding for transporters of organic acids, porins, transcriptional regulators and terminal oxidases. Real‐time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) showed that, in cells growing exponentially in a complete medium, the absence of cyo was compensated by increased expression of the cyanide‐insensitive and cbb3‐1 terminal oxidases, while cbb3‐2 and aa3 oxidases remained unaffected. When cells enter into stationary phase cyo levels decrease and inhibition of the alkane degradation genes ceases. This was paralleled by upregulation of the cyanide‐insensitive, cbb3‐1, cbb3‐2 and aa3 terminal oxidases. The results suggest that P. putida adapts the composition of the electron transport chain not only to optimize energy generation, but also to influence the transcriptome profile of the cell through global control of gene expression.
The prevalence of small, flat colorectal cancers in a western population
Authors: Suzuki N. , Talbot I. C. , Saunders B. P. 
Published: May 2006

AbstractObjective  Small, flat colorectal cancers have been widely reported in the Japanese literature but are thought to occur rarely outside Japan. The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to clarify the prevalence of flat colorectal cancer in a Western population.Methods  One thousand and twenty‐six consecutive colonoscopies performed by a single experienced endoscopist were retrospectively analysed over a two‐year period. The morphology, site and histological appearance of all documented colorectal cancers (CRC) were recorded.Results  Forty‐seven cases of CRC were detected, five of which (10%) demonstrated flat configuration. Flat cancers varied between 8 and 15 mm in diameter (mean 11 mm). Histologically, all flat lesions were moderately differentiated Dukes A adenocarcinomas. Two of these cancers contained no adenomatous component.Conclusion  This study confirms that small, flat colorectal cancers are not an uncommon finding at colonoscopy in Western patients. Compared to polypoid neoplastic lesions, flat cancers appear to undergo malignant change at a smaller size.
Earnings Management Vehicles for Korean Firms
Authors: Yoon Soon Suk , Miller Gary , Jiraporn Pornsit 
Published: May 2006

AbstractWe investigated the vehicles that Korean firms use when the firms manage earnings. We partitioned our sample into low, mid and high accrual sub‐samples based on discretionary accruals. Low accrual firms are defined as income‐decreasing firms whereas the high accrual firms are considered income increasing firms in this study. We decomposed accounting earnings into cash from operations and various components of accruals in a systematic way. Next we examined the types of accruals individual firms use when the respective firms increase reported earnings. The empirical results of the study indicate that there are clear discrepancies in the earnings management vehicles firm use when the firms manage earnings depending on the directions of earnings management. More specifically, income‐increasing firms frequently employ non‐cash revenues including asset‐disposal gains. Income‐decreasing firms employ non‐cash expenses including bad‐debt expenses and asset‐disposal losses. Firms also tend to use current accruals but to a limited extent as current accruals entail cash flow implications in the following years.
AT THE INTERFACE BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTICE – POLICY TRANSFER AND LESSON‐DRAWING
Authors: EVANS MARK 
Published: May 2006

AT THE INTERFACE BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTICE – POLICY TRANSFER AND LESSON‐DRAWING

Learning From Comparative Public Policy: a Practical Guide

Richard Rose  Routledge 2004, 147 pp., £16.99 (pb) ISBN: 0415317428
UNDERSTANDING KNOWLEDGE TRANSMISSION
Authors: Faulkner Paul 
Published: May 2006

AbstractWe must allow that knowledge can be transmitted. But to allow this is to allow that an individual can know a proposition despite lacking any evidence for it and reaching belief by an unreliable means. So some explanation is required as to how knowledge rather than belief is transmitted. This paper considers two non‐individualistic explanations: one in terms of knowledge existing autonomously, the other in terms of it existing as a property of communities. And it attempts to decide what is at issue between these explanations.
SEMANTIC EXTERNALISM AND A PRIORI SELF‐KNOWLEDGE
Authors: Haukioja Jussi 
Published: May 2006

AbstractThe argument known as the ‘McKinsey Recipe’ tries to establish the incompatibility of semantic externalism (about natural kind concepts in particular) and a priori self‐knowledge about thoughts and concepts by deriving from the conjunction of these theses an absurd conclusion, such as that we could know a priori that water exists. One reply to this argument is to distinguish two different readings of ‘natural kind concept’: (i) a concept which in fact denotes a natural kind, and (ii) a concept which aims to denote a natural kind. Paul Boghossian has argued, using a Dry Earth scenario, that this response fails, claiming that the externalist cannot make sense of a concept aiming, but failing, to denote a natural kind. In this paper I argue that Boghossian’s argument is flawed. Borrowing machinery from two‐dimensional semantics, using the notion of ‘considering a possible world as actual’, I claim that we can give a determinate answer to Boghossian’s question: which concept would ‘water’ express on Dry Earth?1
POSSIBLE EVILS
Authors: Hazlett Allan 
Published: May 2006

AbstractI consider an objection to Lewisian modal realism: the view entails that there are a great many real evils that we ought to care about, but in fact we shouldn’t care about these evils. I reply on behalf of the modal realist – we should and do care about possible evils, and this is shown in our reactions to fictions about evils, which (plausibly, for the modal realist) are understood as making certain possible evils salient.1
NATURAL GOODNESS AND NATURAL EVIL
Authors: Millum Joseph 
Published: May 2006

AbstractIn Natural Goodness Philippa Foot gives an analysis of the concepts we use to describe the characteristics of living things. She suggests that we describe them in functional terms, and this allows us to judge organisms as good or defective depending on how well they perform their distinctive functions. Foot claims that we can judge intentional human actions in the same way: the virtues contribute in obvious ways to good human functioning, and this provides us with grounds for making moral judgements. This paper criticises Foot’s argument by challenging her notion of function. I argue that the type of judgement she makes about living things requires an evolutionary biological account of function. However, such an account would render her meta‐ethical claims implausible, since it is unlikely that human beings are adapted to be maximally virtuous. I conclude that Foot is wrong about the logical structure of our judgements of human action.
EVANS’S ANTI‐CARTESIAN ARGUMENT: A CRITICAL EVALUATION
Authors: Newstead Anne 
Published: May 2006

AbstractThis paper evaluates the anti‐Cartesian argument given by Evans in chapter seven of The Varieties of Reference. It focuses on Evans’s claim that bodily awareness is a form of self‐awareness. The apparent basis for this claim is the datum that sometimes judgements about one’s position based on body sense are immune to errors of misidentification. However, Evans’s argument suffers from a crucial ambiguity. Once disambiguated, it turns out that Evans’s argument either begs the question against the Cartesian or fails to be plausible. Nonetheless, the argument is important for drawing our attention to the idea that bodily modes of awareness should be taken seriously as possible forms of self‐awareness.
THE MORAL BELIEF PROBLEM
Authors: Sinclair Neil 
Published: May 2006

AbstractThe moral belief problem is that of reconciling expressivism in ethics with both minimalism in the philosophy of language and the syntactic discipline of moral sentences. It is argued that the problem can be solved by distinguishing minimal and robust senses of belief, where a minimal belief is any state of mind expressed by sincere assertoric use of a syntactically disciplined sentence and a robust belief is a minimal belief with some additional property R. Two attempts to specify R are discussed, both based on the thought that beliefs are states that aim at truth. According to the first, robust beliefs are criticisable to the extent that their content fails to match the state of the world. This sense fails to distinguish robust beliefs from minimal beliefs. According to the second, robust beliefs function to have their content match the state of the world. This sense succeeds in distinguishing robust beliefs from minimal beliefs. The conclusion is that the debate concerning the cognitive status of moral convictions needs to address the issue of the function of moral convictions. Evolutionary theorising may be relevant, but will not be decisive, in answering this question.
The impact of privatization on firm performance in a transition economy
Authors: Loc Truong Dong , Lanjouw Ger , Lensink Robert 
Published: May 2006

AbstractThe Vietnamese privatization programme, launched in 1992, differs from the usual Western privatization programmes in terms of the residual percentage of shares owned by the state and the portion of shares owned by insiders. This begs the question whether these differences influence the effects of the programme on firm performance. This study measures the impact of privatization on firm performance in Vietnam by comparing the pre‐ and post‐privatization financial and operating performance of 121 former state‐owned enterprises (SOEs). We find significant increases in profitability, sales revenues, efficiency and employee income. Results of applying the ‘difference‐in‐difference’ (DID) method, wherein a control group of firms is used to pick up the influence of other determinants of firm performance, suggest that the performance improvements may indeed be associated with equitization. Regression analyses reveal that firm size, residual state ownership, corporate governance and stock market listing are key determinants of performance improvements.
The great transformation of Central Eastern Europe
Authors: Kornai János 
Published: May 2006

AbstractThe study examines the changes of the Central Eastern European region first in the context of world history. It confirms by comparative historical analyses that the transformation was indeed unique. This has been the only total transformation that took place peacefully, without violence, and at the same time astonishingly fast, in the main direction of the economic and the political changes of Western civilization. From that perspective it is an exceptional success story. However, from the perspective of everyday life, the result is different. Deep economic troubles are experienced by a considerable portion of the population. The perception of losses is intensified by various cognitive problems. Based on the experience of today's generation, evaluating the change as an unequivocal success would be unwarranted. Both approaches are justified: it would be wrong to blend the two and to weigh them by the same scale.
Monopolistic wages or efficient contracts?
Authors: Dimova Ralitza 
Published: May 2006

AbstractUsing a representative sample of medium and large firms, this paper explores the process of employment and wage bill determination in the Bulgarian manufacturing sector. The results suggest that, during 1997–2001, the labour market behaviour of these firms was consistent with weakly efficient contracting and employment elasticity with respect to both sales and wages similar to that of the fastest‐reforming Central and Eastern Europe economies. Although a case study using data on sell‐off deals by the Privatization Agency suggests that the largest firms selected for cash privatization may have exhibited higher preference for wage enhancement than employment protection, the results do not bring into question the efficient performance of the post‐crisis labour market in Bulgaria. Importantly, the study rejects the hypothesis that either persistent government stakes or mass privatization may have led to efficiency deterioration.
Regional unemployment and its persistence in transition countries1
Authors: Bornhorst Fabian , Commander Simon 
Published: May 2006

AbstractWe look at the differences in regional unemployment rates in six major transition countries and their persistence over time. We analyse the role various adjustment mechanisms play. While movement out of the labour force seems to be one consequence in many regions with high relative unemployment, there are also signs of emerging wage flexibility. Employment creation, by contrast, has not picked up in regions of high unemployment. Labour mobility also remains very limited in size although it appears to respond to basic economic incentives. Policies addressing housing market imperfections and information asymmetries are necessary to increase worker mobility and to integrate better national labour markets.
The information content of the neutral rate of interest
Authors: Brzoza‐Brzezina Michał 
Published: May 2006

AbstractThe concept of the neutral rate of interest has recently received much attention from economists. In this paper, we estimate the neutral rate of interest in Poland. We show how it can yield important information for a central banker. In particular, estimation of the neutral rate can be helpful for monetary authorities seeking to stabilize inflation after a long process of disinflation. We also suggest possible explanations for the relatively high level of the neutral rate in Poland.