bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Waiting for Miracles: The Commercialization of Urban Water Services in Zambia
Authors: Dagdeviren Hulya 
Published: April 2008

ABSTRACTThis article focuses on the commercialization of urban water services in Zambia. It aims to demonstrate the tension between cost recovery and service extension when water sector reforms combine investment cuts with price increases. It is argued that in low‐income economies where infrastructure limitations are serious and poverty is widespread, heavy reliance on ‘tariff rationalization’ with low levels of investment can lead to reduced access to water and render water charges unaffordable. Reforms to public services can prove futile in the absence of upfront resources for investment in the restoration and extension of the existing infrastructure. In many ways, Zambia typifies other low‐income economies; this study thus offers useful lessons for them.
The Altai Road: Visions of Development across the Russian–Chinese Border
Authors: Nyíri Pál , Breidenbach Joana 
Published: April 2008

ABSTRACTThe Altai Republic is a poor mountainous region of Russia squeezed between Kazakstan, China and Mongolia. A project to build a road connecting Russia with China through the Altai has been conceived within a quadripartite regional co‐operation project, supported by Western development organizations. Yet while at the Chinese side of the border road construction went ahead, in Russia, a coalition of globally connected ecologists, romantic ‘Eurasianists’, nostalgic conservationists and anti‐Chinese xenophobes turned the road into a political hot potato. This case study, in which production and investment are the focus on the Chinese side and environmental protection is key on the Russian side of the border, shows the inadequacy of approaches that pit global capital/international (read: Western) organizations against local (read: non‐Western) resistance or adaptation. China's entry into the politics of international development may be a setback for development critics who have helped engineer a ‘cultural turn’ in institutions such as the World Bank.
Rules, roles and tools: Activity theory and the comparative study of e‐learning
Authors: Benson Angela , Lawler Cormac , Whitworth Andrew 
Published: April 2008

AbstractActivity theory (AT) is a powerful tool for investigating ‘artefacts in use’, ie, the ways technologies interrelate with their local context. AT reveals the interfaces between e‐learning at the macro‐ (strategy, policy, ‘campus‐wide’ solutions) and the micro‐organisational levels (everyday working practice, iterative change, individual adaptation). In AT, contexts are conceived of as activity systems in which human, technological and organisational elements are interrelated and largely inseparable. Both the subjects of the activity system (internal) and the wider community (external) mediate their activities through tools, rules and roles. This paper shows how a course management system (CMS) exerts an influence over all three of these mediators, though the exact nature of this influence depends on the particular configuration of each activity system. This is illustrated with reference to two case study programmes, both of which used Moodle as their CMS, but which had activity systems structured in quite different ways; the programmes also had different relationships with their external organisational environment.
e‐university: a cross‐case study in four Italian universities
Authors: Ghislandi Patrizia , Calidoni Paolo , Falcinelli Floriana , Scurati Cesare 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThis paper describes the aims, the methods, the stages and the results of the research project ‘e‐University. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) as a factor of change in Italian universities’, undertaken between 2003 and 2006 by the Universities of Trento, Perugia and Sassari and the Catholic University of Milan.The characteristics of the four institutions' subjects and objects of the investigation are analysed as case studies and then compared as a cross‐case study in the light of the factors that we feel constitute the main areas of concern in the four institutions as to the implementation of ICTs in the teaching/learning process, ie, the characteristics of the governance strategic plan, the choices relating to technology and the choices related to pedagogy. The paper describes the collaborative effort characterising the community of researchers through the different stages of the research. It also analyses how the individual features of each university—relating to its history, the number of students, the range of faculties, the diffusion of e‐learning, the driving factors for innovation, the institution's policies—have fostered a lively and fruitful discussion between different view points, thus engendering deeper reflections for each context.
Inquiry‐based learning and technology—supporting institutional TEL within one pedagogical context
Authors: Little Sabine 
Published: April 2008

AbstractFollowing the establishment of Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning in England and Northern Ireland in 2005, several institutions have used these to pursue specific pedagogical approaches at a strategic level, in line with and building on existing institutional strategic thinking. Technology‐enhanced learning is often one of the vehicles to implement these pedagogical approaches, leading to institution‐wide attempts to identify and support suitable technologies. This paper discusses the role of the educational developer in this process and what impact this particular role might have at strategic level, bearing in mind the numerous simultaneous developments that take place in an institution at any one time.
Entry and Exit in International Markets: Evidence from Chilean Data*
Authors: Alvarez Roberto , López Ricardo A. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractSeveral studies examine the patterns and determinants of entry and exit in manufacturing industries. Not much work exists on entry and exit in international markets. This paper uses Chilean data to analyze the industry‐level determinants of entry and exit in export markets. First, we show as stylized facts that entry and exit rates differ across industries, vary over time, and are positively correlated. Then, we study the main determinants of these patterns. Our econometric analysis shows that within‐industry heterogeneity, measured by differences in productivity or other firm characteristics, has a significant effect on plant turnover in international markets. Our findings reveal that trade costs, factor intensities, and fluctuations in the real exchange rate play a minor role explaining entry and exit. This last result is consistent with hysteresis in international markets.
Assessing Applied Protection across the World*
Authors: Bouët Antoine , Decreux Yvan , Fontagné Lionel , Jean Sébastien , Laborde David 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThis paper presents MAcMap–HS‐6, a database providing a consistent, ad valorem equivalent measure of tariff duties and tariff rate quotas for 163 countries and 208 partners, at the six‐digit level of the Harmonized System (5111 products), accounting for all preferential agreements. We describe the methodology used to compute and aggregate an ad valorem equivalent of applied protection. Emphasis is placed on minimizing the endogeneity bias in the aggregation procedure, while acknowledging structural differences in export specialization. The resulting quantitative assessment is illustrated by giving an overview of applied protection across the world in 2001, in terms of average as well as distribution.
Physiological Ecology of Aquatic Overwintering in Ranid Frogs
Authors: Tattersall Glenn J. , Ultsch Gordon R. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractIn cold‐temperate climates, overwintering aquatic ranid frogs must survive prolonged periods of low temperature, often accompanied by low levels of dissolved oxygen. They must do so with the energy stores acquired prior to the onset of winter. Overwintering mortality is a significant factor in their life history, occasionally reaching 100% due to freezing and/or anoxia. Many species of northern ranid frogs overwinter in the tadpole stage, which increases survival during hypoxic episodes relative to adults, as well as allowing for larger sizes at metamorphosis. At temperatures below 5 °C, submerged ranid frogs are capable of acquiring adequate oxygenviacutaneous gas exchange over a wide range of ambient oxygen partial pressures (PO2), and possess numerous physiological and behavioural mechanisms that allow them to maintain normal rates of oxygen uptake across the skin at a relatively lowPO2. At levels of oxygen near and below the criticalPO2that allows for aerobic metabolism, frogs must adopt biochemical mechanisms that act to minimise oxygen utilisation and assist in maintaining an aerobic state to survive overwintering. These mechanisms include alterations in mitochondrial metabolism and affinity, changes in membrane permeability, alterations in water balance, and reduction in cellular electrochemical gradients, all of which lead to an overall reduction in whole‐animal metabolism. Winter energetic requirements are fueled by the energy stores in liver, muscle, and fat depots, which are likely to be sufficient when the water is cold and well oxygenated. However, under hypoxic conditions fat stores cannot be utilised efficiently and glycogen stores are used up rapidly due to recruitment of anaerobiosis. Since ranid frogs have minimal tolerance to anoxia, it is untenable to suggest that they spend a significant portion of the winter buried in anoxic mud, but instead utilise a suite of behavioural and physiological mechanisms geared to optimal survival in cold, hypoxic conditions.
Three‐dimensional ontogenetic shape changes in the human cranium during the fetal period
Authors: Morimoto Naoki , Ogihara Naomichi , Katayama Kazumichi , Shiota Kohei 
Published: April 2008

AbstractKnowledge of the pattern of human craniofacial development in the fetal period is important for understanding the mechanisms underlying the emergence of variations in human craniofacial morphology. However, the precise character of the prenatal ontogenetic development of the human cranium has yet to be fully established. This study investigates ontogenetic changes in cranial shape in the fetal period, as exhibited in Japanese fetal specimens housed at Kyoto University. A total of 31 human fetal specimens aged from approximately 8 to 42 weeks of gestation underwent helical computed tomographic scanning, and 68 landmarks were digitized on the internal and external surfaces of the extracted crania. Ontogenetic shape change was then analyzed cross‐sectionally and three‐dimensionally using a geometric morphometric technique. The results of the present study are generally consistent with previously reported findings. It was found that during the prenatal ontogenetic process, the growth rate of the length of the cranium is greater than that of the width and height, and the growth rate of the length of the posterior cranial base is smaller than that of the anterior cranial base. Furthermore, it was observed that the change in shape of the human viscerocranium is smaller than that of the neurocranium during the fetal period, and that concurrently the basicranium extends by approximately 8° due to the relative elevation of the basilar and lateral parts of occipital bone. These specific growth‐related changes are the opposite of those reported for the postnatal period. Our findings therefore indicate that the allometric pattern of the human cranium is not a simple continuous transformation, but changes drastically from before to after birth.
Anatomical, immnunohistochemical and physiological characteristics of the vomeronasal vessels in cows and their possible role in vomeronasal reception
Authors: Salazar Ignacio , Sánchez‐Quinteiro Pablo , Alemañ Nuria , Prieto Dolores 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThe general morphology of the vomeronasal vessels in adult cows was studied following a classic protocol, including optical, confocal and ultrastructural approaches. This anatomical work was completed immunohistochemically. The vomeronasal organ in cows is well developed, and its vessels are considerable in size. This fact allowed some functional properties of the vomeronasal arteries to be evaluated and, for the first time, their isometric tension to be recorded.Our functional studies were in agreement with the immunohistochemistry, and both corroborated the morphological data on the similarity between the vomeronasal vessels and those of the typical erectile tissue. In consequence, the vasoconstriction and vasodilation of the vomeronasal vessels would facilitate an influx and outflow of fluids in the vomeronasal organ, that is to say, this organ in cows would be able to work as a pump mechanism to send chemical signals to the vomeronasal receptor neurones.
Nursing caries and buying time: an emerging theory of prolonged bottle feeding
Authors: Freeman Ruth , Stevens Anne 
Published: April 2008

Abstract –  Background:  Nursing caries is considered to be problematic by dental health professionals. In their zealousness to solve the nursing caries problem dental health professionals forgot to ask the question: ‘Why do mothers persist in prolonged bottle feeding?’Aim:  To use grounded theory procedures and techniques to analyse the qualitative data obtained from mothers and to generate an emerging theory of prolonged bottle feeding.Method:  A series of individual in‐depth interviews were conducted with 34 mothers of children with nursing caries. The children were aged between 3 and 4 years. Data were analysed using the grounded theory procedures and techniques of open and selective coding.Results:  The core category or the mothers’ main concern that emerged from the data was conceptualized as ‘buying time’. The feeding bottle bought time away from crying children by silencing them but also bought extra time with the child. Therefore, two different behavioural styles or categories of buying time emerged. These were: (i) to buy time away from the demands of their crying toddlers (instant solutions) and (ii) to buy extra time with their ‘toddler‐babies’ (double‐binding). The feeding bottle acted as an ‘instant solution’ as on seeing the bottle the child would instantly ‘stop crying’ and peace would reign. Double‐binding described how the feeding bottle was used to buy extra time for ‘babyhood closeness’ between mother and child while exposing the mothers’ harsh rejecting behaviours.Discussion:  An understanding of the time concerns that the mothers experienced when caring for their young children and how they resolve them provides an important insight into the reasons for prolonged bottle feeding.
Der Liquor des kongenitalen Luetikers.
Authors: TEZNER OTTO 
Published: April 2008

Zusammenfassung.1) Bei Zusammenfassung sämtlicher von mir veröffentlichten Befunde ergibt sich, dass unter 84 kongenital luetischen Säuglingen 48 = 57,1 % pathologischen Liquor hatten, unter 103 älteren Kindern 29 = 22,2 %; unter dell letzteren befanden sich 87 nervengesunde mit 13=14,9 % positiven Be funden und 16 nervös geschädigte mit 16=100 % positiven Befunden.2) Wir können nichts darüber aussagen, wie der Rückgang der positiven Liquores vor sich geht, ob er spontaii erfolgt oder auf Behandlung zurückzuführen ist.3) Die Liquorveränderungen im Säuglingsalter lassen keinerlei prognostische oder diagnostische Schlüsse zu; auch positive Goldsolreaktion, starke Pleocytose und positiver Liquor‐Wassermann lässt keine sichere Voraussage auf spätere Erkrankung des Zentralnervensystems stellen. Bei Behandlung der kongenitalen Lues des Sänglings ist die Lumbalpunktion entbehrlich.4) Jenseits des Säuglingsalters gehört die Punktion zur Luesbehandlung. Ein positiver Liquor kommt zwar auch bei nervengesunden Kindern vor, jedoch verhältnismässig selten; noch seltener ist bei solchen Kindern positiver Liquorwasserinann; komplett positiven Befund (positiver Liquorwassermann, positive Globulinreaktion, Pleocytose, positive Goldsolreaktion) habe ich mit einer einzigen Ausnahme überhaupt nur bei nervengeschädigten Kindern gefunden.5) Da die Liquorveränderungen durch Malariatherapie zum Verschwinden zu bringen sind, während sich schon bestehende Nervenänderungen nur schwer beeinflussen lassen, wird empfohlen, kongenital‐luetische Kinder jenseits des Säuglingsalters mit positivem Liquor mit Malaria zu behandeln.
The transition from fetus to neonate – an endocrine perspective
Authors: Gluckman PD , Sizonenko SV , Bassett NS 
Published: April 2008

Gluckman PD, Sizonenko SV, Bassett NS. The transition from fetus to neonate ‐ an endocrine perspective. Acta Pædiatr 1999; Suppl 428: 7–11. Stockholm. ISSN 0803–5326The transition from fetus to neonate involves three phases: late gestation, parturition and the processes needed to establish independent homoeostatic regulation after separation from the placenta. These phases are regulated by a series of fetal and placental endocrine events. Glucocorticoids have an important role in the preparation for birth, including involvement in lung and cardiac development, and the maturation of enzymes in a variety of pathways. Fetal Cortisol production is, in turn, also under hormonal control. Parturition is a complex process, which is still poorly understood in humans. The final steps are largely dependent on the effect of prostaglandin F2α on the myometrium associated with increased oxytocin activity. The transition to birth is accompanied by changes in respiration, circulation, glucose homoeostasis, and the onset of independent oral feeding and thermoregulation. Several examples of endocrine components of the transition from fetal to neonatal life are reviewed here: the role of prostanoids, the onset of thermogenesis, and changes in the thyroid hormone and growth hormone axes. The effects of hormone levels on prematurity and growth retardation are also discussed. □Birth transition, fetus, gestation, hormonal control, neonate, parturition
Obesity: a growing problem
Authors: Seidell JC 
Published: April 2008

Seidell JC. Obesity: a growing problem. Acta Pædiatr 1999; Suppl 428: 46–50. Stockholm. ISSN 0803–5326Obesity, defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 30 kg/m2 or more, is common in many parts of the world, especially in the established market economies, the former socialist economies of Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean and the Middle Eastern Crescent. As many as 250 million people worldwide may be obese (7% of the adult population) and two to three times as many may be considered overweight. The prevalence of obesity seems to be increasing in most parts of the world, even where it used to be rare. Increased fatness, measured by a high BMI, a large waist circumference or a high waist/hip circumference ratio, is associated with many chronic diseases as well as with poor physical functioning. Assessments of the prevalence of obesity, and trends in this prevalence over time, are more difficult in children than adults, due to the lack of international criteria for classifying individuals as overweight or obese. The World Health Organization has now recommended the use of BMI‐for‐age percentiles, but the reference curves are still under development. France, The Netherlands, the UK and the USA are among the countries that have reported recent increases in the prevalence of obesity in children and adolescents. Although there are no accurate estimates of the components of energy balance and their changes over time, the available evidence suggests that the trends in obesity rates are related more to a reduction in energy expenditure than to an increase in caloric intake. Prevention of obesity through the promotion of a healthy lifestyle is among the important challenges for the new millennium, and should start in childhood, □Adolescents, children, epidemiology, obesity, overweight
Leptin and the genetics of obesity
Authors: Clément K 
Published: April 2008

Clément K. Leptin and the genetics of obesity. Acta Pædiatr 1999; Suppl 428: 51–7. Stockholm. ISSN 0803–5326The discovery of the Ob gene and its product, leptin, is a good example of the contribution made by molecular biology to the understanding of mechanisms initially hypothesized from classic physiological studies. Leptin is produced in adipose tissue and acts on the central nervous system to regulate multiple neuroendocrine secretions. In three rare cases of human morbid obesity, the discovery of mutations in the leptin and leptin receptor genes shows that leptin plays a crucial role in the control of weight and several endocrine functions (particularly reproduction). These studies also illustrate the limits of genetics in the investigation of monogenic forms of animal obesity, and the difficulties of linking molecular findings to the pathophysiology of complex diseases, such as human common obesity. Previous searches for mutations in the leptin and leptin receptor genes indicated that these are probably not major genes for common forms of human obesity. This review focuses on the recent molecular findings that have indicated a putative role for the leptin axis in human obesity. □Adipose tissue, genetics, leptin, leptin receptor, obesity
Final height in idiopathic growth hormone deficiency: the KIGS experience
Authors: Cutfield W , Lindberg A , Wikland K Albertsson , Chatelain P , Ranke MB , Wilton P 
Published: April 2008

Cutfield W, Lindberg A, Albertsson Wikland K, Chatelain P, Ranke MB, Wilton P, on behalf of the KIGS International Board. Final height in idiopathic growth hormone deficiency: the KIGS experience. Acta Pædiatr 1999; Suppl 428: 72–5. Stockholm. ISSN 0803–5326Final height was evaluated in 369 patients with idiopathic growth hormone deficiency (IGHD) enrolled in KIGS ‐ the Pharmacia & Upjohn International Growth Database. At the start of growth hormone (GH) therapy, the patients were 9.8 years of age, their mid‐parental height SDS was ‐0.8, and their height SDS was ‐3.1. Of the 369 patients, 50% had multiple hormone deficiencies, and puberty was induced in 31%. Patients were 18 years of age at completion of GH therapy, and had received GH at a dose of 0.49 IU/kg/week (0.16 mg/kg/week), with a mean of 5.2 injections/week for 8.1 years. Final height SDS was ‐1.5, final minus initial height SDS was 1.7 and final minus mid‐parental height SDS was ‐0.5. A Swedish subgroup (n= 69) received conventional GH therapy throughout at 0.65 IU/kg/week (0.22 mg/kg/week), with seven injections/week for a mean of 9.4 years. These patients achieved their genetic potential (final minus mid‐parental height SDS, 0.03), with a normal final height SDS of ‐0.3. For the total group, the following variables were associated with final height: mid‐parental height SDS (r= 0.62), injection frequency (r= 0.37), duration of GH treatment (r= 0.28), peak stimulated GH concentration (r= ‐0.25), age (r= ‐0.19) (all p < 0.001) and height velocity SDS in the first year of treatment (r= 0.20, p= 0.004). In conclusion, genetic potential, expressed as the mid‐parental height, is the variable with the greatest identified influence on final height during GH treatment in IGHD. Current GH regimens will lead to a normal height and attainment of mid‐parental height. However, higher dose, individualized GH regimens are likely to be necessary for patients with IGHD who are disadvantaged at the time of commencing GH therapy, such as those with short parents, those whose treatment began in late childhood or adolescence and those with less severe GHD. □Final height, growth hormone treatment, height, idiopathic growth hormone deficiency, KIGS