bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Political Ecology of Violence in Eastern Sri Lanka
Authors: Bohle Hans‐Georg , Fünfgeld Hartmut 
Published: July 2007

ABSTRACTIn political ecology, violence is usually associated with conflicts over the control of natural resources. Up to now, political ecology has lacked a sound conceptual approach for analysing how violence that has its origin in political conflict induces environmental and social change. This article examines how the environment serves as an arena for exerting power, by using different forms of violence, affecting both ecosystems and the entitlements of the people who are dependent on natural resources. After a brief description of the role of violence in political ecology research, a conceptual framework for a political ecology of violence is laid out. In this framework, the notion of ‘violent environments’ introduced by Nancy Peluso and Michael Watts is blended with new approaches in livelihood research in which the political dimension of livelihood processes is emphasized. Case study material from eastern Sri Lanka, an area affected by prolonged violence and protracted conflict, is presented. This illustrates how violent struggles over environmental entitlements and the politicization of resource‐based livelihoods created alternative systems of power and control over natural resources and triggered new processes of disentitlement and social vulnerability.
Pareto‐optimal Delegation in Customs Unions*
Authors: Melatos Mark , Woodland Alan D. 
Published: July 2007

AbstractCustoms unions constitute agreements to engage in free intra‐union trade and to levy common external tariffs on trade with nonmembers. Existing theoretical models do not agree on how the common external tariffs are chosen. In this paper, a model of customs union formation is developed in which the Pareto principle and the assumption of unanimity are used to construct a mechanism for the choice of common external tariffs. The model is structured as a three‐stage game in which union members select common external tariffs yielding utility outcomes that are Pareto optimal and dominate the standalone alternative. Numerical examples demonstrate the wide range in the nature of these outcomes. Our results are discussed in relation to the delegation principle developed by Gatsios and Karp and to modeling approaches reported in the customs union literature. The paper emphasizes the importance of modeling the formation of the customs union agreement.
Dynamic Games of Environmental Policy in a Global Economy: Taxes versus Quotas
Authors: Yanase Akihiko 
Published: July 2007

AbstractThe effects of environmental policy on the global environment as an international public good with a stock externality and national welfare are examined in a model with trade in a polluting commodity. The welfare effects of environmental policy, decomposed into terms of trade, abatement cost, and environmental damage effects, induce governments to adopt a strategic use of their policy measures. In the absence of international cooperation on environmental policy, it is demonstrated that the emission tax game brings about larger strategic distortions than the emission quota game.
Testing for Error Correction in Panel Data*
Authors: Westerlund Joakim 
Published: July 2007

AbstractThis paper proposes new error correction‐based cointegration tests for panel data. The limiting distributions of the tests are derived and critical values provided. Our simulation results suggest that the tests have good small‐sample properties with small size distortions and high power relative to other popular residual‐based panel cointegration tests. In our empirical application, we present evidence suggesting that international healthcare expenditures and GDP are cointegrated once the possibility of an invalid common factor restriction has been accounted for.
Social Catholicism, Modern Consumption and the Culture Wars in Postrevolutionary Mexico City
Authors: Schell Patience A. 
Published: July 2007

AbstractUnleashed desire for consumer goods and a modern lifestyle were among the changes that swept across Mexico after, and partially as a result of, the revolution (1910–17). Consumer culture and modernity in postrevolutionary Mexico caused anxiety as well as delight, particularly because of the changes it threatened to bring to social mores, behaviour and gender roles. Catholic social groups were among those seeking to teach Mexicans how to consume everything from fashion to films while exhibiting good taste, good sense and strong moral rectitude. Moreover, the Catholic press attempted to create a space in which Catholics, especially women, could participate in modern consumption, advising its readers on which films were appropriate to view, which fashions did not offend morals and when it was a sin to wear make up. This article situates postrevolutionary adaptations to modernity within a long history of Catholic mediation of modernity within Mexico.
Structural Consequences ofKcna1Gene Deletion and Transfer in the Mouse Hippocampus
Authors: Wenzel H. Jürgen , Vacher Helene , Clark Eliana , Trimmer James S. , Lee Angela L. , Sapolsky Robert M. , Tempel Bruce L. , Schwartzkroin Philip A. 
Published: July 2007

SummaryPurpose:Mice lacking the Kv1.1 potassium channel α subunit encoded by theKcna1gene develop recurrent behavioral seizures early in life. We examined the neuropathological consequences of seizure activity in the Kv1.1−/−(knock‐out) mouse, and explored the effects of injecting a viral vector carrying the deletedKcna1gene into hippocampal neurons.Methods:Morphological techniques were used to assess neuropathological patterns in hippocampus of Kv1.1−/−animals. Immunohistochemical and biochemical techniques were used to monitor ion channel expression in Kv1.1−/−brain. Both wild‐type and knockout mice were injected (bilaterally into hippocampus) with an HSV1 amplicon vector that contained the ratKcna1subunit gene and/or theE. coli lacZreporter gene. Vector‐injected mice were examined to determine the extent of neuronal infection.Results:Video/EEG monitoring confirmed interictal abnormalities and seizure occurrence in Kv1.1−/−mice. Neuropathological assessment suggested that hippocampal damage (silver stain) and reorganization (Timm stain) occurred only after animals had exhibited severe prolonged seizures (status epilepticus). Ablation ofKcna1did not result in compensatory changes in expression levels of other related ion channel subunits. Vector injection resulted in infection primarily of granule cells in hippocampus, but the number of infected neurons was quite variable across subjects. Kcna1 immunocytochemistry showed “ectopic” Kv1.1 α channel subunit expression.Conclusions:Kcna1deletion in mice results in a seizure disorder that resembles—electrographically and neuropathologically—the patterns seen in rodent models of temporal lobe epilepsy. HSV1 vector‐mediated gene transfer into hippocampus yielded variable neuronal infection.
The Added Value of [18F]‐Fluoro‐D‐deoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography in Screening for Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Surgery
Authors: Uijl Sabine G. , Leijten Frans S. S. , Arends Johan B. A. M. , Parra Jaime , Van Huffelen Alexander C. , Moons Karel G. M. 
Published: July 2007

Summary
Purpose:[18F]‐Fluoro‐d‐deoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG‐PET) is an expensive, invasive, and not widely available technique used in the presurgical evaluation of temporal lobe epilepsy. We assessed its added value to the decision‐making process in relation to other commonly used tests.
Methods: In a retrospective study of a large series of consecutive patients referred to the national Dutch epilepsy surgery program between 1996 and 2002, the contribution of FDG‐PET, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and video‐electroencephalogram (video‐EEG) monitoring findings, alone or in combination, to the decision whether to perform surgery was investigated. The impact of FDG‐PET was quantified by comparing documented decisions concerning surgery before and after FDG‐PET results.
Results: Of 469 included patients, 110 (23%) underwent FDG‐PET. In 78 of these patients (71%), FDG‐PET findings led clinicians to change the decision they had made based on MRI and video‐EEG monitoring findings. In 17% of all referred patients, the decision regarding surgical candidacy was based on FDG‐PET findings. FDG‐PET was most useful when previous MRI results were normal (p < 0.0001) or did not show unilateral temporal abnormalities (p < 0.0001), or when ictal EEG results were not consistent with MRI findings (p < 0.0001) or videotaped seizure semiology (p = 0.027). The positive and negative predictive values for MRI and video‐EEG monitoring, which ranged from 0.48 to 0.67, were improved to 0.62 to 0.86 in combination with FDG‐PET.
Conclusions: In patients referred for TLE surgery, FDG‐PET findings can form the basis for deciding whether a patient is eligible for surgery, and especially when MRI or video‐EEG monitoring are nonlocalizing.
Dependence of AV Nodal Function Curves on the Selected Recovery Index: Pivotal Role of Pretest Conduction Time
Authors: TADROS RAFIK , LAVALLÉE MICHEL , BILLETTE JACQUES 
Published: July 2007

Introduction: Rate‐dependent AV nodal function is often assessed with premature protocols. Conduction curves generated from nodal responses differ with the selected recovery index (atrial–atrial, AA, or His–atrial interval, HA). We propose that these differences arise from changes in pretest conduction time that affect nodal recovery time assessment. Methods and Results: We varied the basic (S1S1), pretest (S1S2), and test (S2S3) cycle length with S1S2S3 protocols, and analyzed nodal responses as AA (A3H3 vs A2A3) and HA (A3H3 vs H2A3) curves in six rabbit heart preparations. Any A2H2 (pretest conduction time) prolongation bodily shifted AA curve rightward and HA curve leftward, regardless of prevailing basic cycle length. A prolonged A2H2 caused all A3H3 to occur at longer A2A3 and shorter H2A3, as compared with control. When corrected for these shifts, AA and HA curves displayed similar recovery and fatigue properties. To further investigate the possibility that nodal recovery time varies beyond that imposed by pacing interval, six additional preparations were subjected to 5‐minute frequency step protocols during which a long cycle was introduced after every 30th short cycle. After each long cycle, nodal conduction time increased progressively despite the constant short cycle length and fatigue level. Conclusions: Increases in the pretest conduction time play a pivotal role in apparent recovery‐index‐dependent differences in rate‐dependent AV nodal function by shifting AA and HA curves in opposite directions along the x‐axis. When corrected for pretest effects, AA and HA curves display similar rate‐dependent AV nodal function with recovery and fatigue as main properties.
Pattern of ocular manifestations in patients with sarcoidosis in developing countries
Authors: Khanna Aman , Sidhu Updesh , Bajwa Gurkirat , Malhotra Vineeta 
Published: July 2007

Abstract.Purpose:  Sarcoidosis is increasingly diagnosed in developing countries, although it was earlier thought to be uncommon. We describe the pattern of ocular manifestations in sarcoidosis in India.Methods:  A total of 48 consecutive patients with histologically confirmed sarcoidosis, referred to a teaching university hospital, underwent a detailed ophthalmological examination, irrespective of whether they had eye symptoms or not.Results:  Ocular involvement was seen in 14 (29%) patients. The mean age at presentation was 50 years, and neither two peaks of incidence nor a female preponderance could be demonstrated. The majority of patients had chronic disease. Posterior uveitis was distinctly more common (12/14) than anterior (5/14) uveitis. Conjunctival involvement was uncommon. These findings differ from those reported in the Western literature.Conclusions:  Eye involvement is common in sarcoidosis in India and may occur without ocular symptoms. Posterior segment involvement is more common than has been reported. Ophthalmologists need to be aware of ocular involvement in this disease as untreated disease can have significant visual consequences.
Reading performance with low‐vision aids and vision‐related quality of life after macular translocation surgery in patients with age‐related macular degeneration
Authors: Nguyen Nhung X. , Besch Dorothea , Bartz‐Schmidt Karl , Gelisken Faik , Trauzettel‐Klosinski Susanne 
Published: July 2007

Abstract.Purpose:  The aim of the present study was to evaluate the power of magnification required, reading performance with low‐vision aids and vision‐related quality of life with reference to reading ability and ability to carry out day‐to‐day activities in patients after macular translocation.Methods:  This study included 15 patients who had undergone macular translocation with 360‐degree peripheral retinectomy. The mean length of follow‐up was 19.2 ± 10.8 months (median 11 months). At the final examination, the impact of visual impairment on reading ability and quality of life was assessed according to a modified 9‐item questionnaire in conjunction with a comprehensive clinical examination, which included assessment of best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), the magnification power required for reading, use of low‐vision aids and reading speed. Patients rated the extent to which low vision restricted their ability to read and participate in other activities that affect quality of life. Responses were scored on a scale of 1.0 (optimum self‐evaluation) to 5.0 (very poor).Results:  In the operated eye, overall mean postoperative BCVA (distance) was not significantly better than mean preoperative BCVA (0.11 ± 0.06 and 0.15 ± 0.08, respectively; p = 0.53). However, 53% of patients reported a subjective increase in visual function after treatment. At the final visit, the mean magnification required was × 7.7 ± 6.7. A total of 60% of patients needed optical magnifiers for reading and in 40% of patients closed‐circuit TV systems were necessary. All patients were able to read newspaper print using adapted low‐vision aids at a mean reading speed of 71 ± 40 words per minute. Mean self‐reported scores were 3.2 ± 1.1 for reading, 2.5 ± 0.7 for day‐to‐day activities and 2.7 ± 3.0 for outdoor walking and using steps or stairs. Patients' levels of dependency were significantly correlated with scores for reading (p = 0.01), day‐to‐day activities (p < 0.001) and outdoor walking and using steps (p = 0.001).Conclusions:  The evaluation of self‐reported visual function and vision‐related quality of life in patients after macular translocation is necessary to obtain detailed information on treatment effects. Our results indicated improvement in patients' subjective evaluations of visual function, without significant improvement in visual acuity. The postoperative clinical benefits of treatment coincide with subjective benefits in terms of reading ability, quality of life and patient satisfaction. Our study confirms the importance and efficiency of visual rehabilitation with aids for low vision after surgery.
Haemarthrosis after superwarfarin poisoning
Authors: Kotsaftis Panagiotis , Girtovitis Fotios , Boutou Afroditi , Ntaios George , Makris Pantelis E. 
Published: July 2007

AbstractIntroduction:  Superwarfarins are widely used as rodenticides. They are similar to warfarin, but they are more potent and act longer. In case of poisoning, they cause severe bleeding, usually from multiple sites.Case report:  A 67‐yr‐old man was admitted with melaena, epistaxis and haemarthrosis in his left knee. PT, INR and aPTT were markedly increased. Initially, the patient was treated with blood and fresh frozen plasma (FFP) transfusions. However at the second day, PT, INR and aPTT were even worse. The combination of persistent coagulopathy, normal mixing studies, normal liver function tests and absence of hepatic failure or malabsorption syndromes lead to the suspicion of vitK dependent clotting factors deficiency due to superwarfarin poisoning. Indeed, the patient admitted a suicide attempt with rodenticide, although he had previously denied it. Psychiatric evaluation revealed a disturbed personality. Melaena stopped after 7 d. Then, the patient was administered 30 mg of vitK daily for a total period of 4 months.Conclusions:  Superwarfarin poisoning leads to severe bleeding, usually from multiple sites. Prolonged treatment with high doses of vitK is necessary. Haemarthrosis, as a complication of superwarfarin poisoning, is presented here for the first time in literature.
Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma presenting with severe myelofibrosis and a high serum hyaluronan level
Authors: Suehiro Youko , Tachikawa Yoshimichi , Abe Yasunobu , Ohshima Koichi , Muta Koichiro , Tani Kenzaburo 
Published: July 2007

AbstractEpithelioid hemangioendothelioma (EHE) is a rare tumor originating from the vascular endothelium; it has an intermediate malignant potential. EHEs affect all age groups and mostly originate from the soft tissues of the extremities, lungs, and liver. Spinal EHEs, especially those occurring in the bone marrow region, are extremely rare. We report a case of EHE with massive involvement of the liver, vertebrae, and cranial bones that caused severe myelofibrosis (MF) in a 67‐yr‐old‐male patient. Hyaluronan deposits were diffusely observed in the tumor tissue biopsies obtained from both the liver and bone marrow. Furthermore, the serum hyaluronan level increased markedly along with rapid progression of the disease. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of MF occurring in an EHE; hyaluronan may have played an important role in the pathogenesis of fibrosis in this case.
Hepatitis B virus vaccine in lymphoproliferative disorders: a prospective randomized study evaluating the efficacy of granulocyte‐macrophage colony stimulating factor as a vaccine adjuvant
Authors: Yağcı Münci , Acar Kadir , Sucak Gülsan Türköz , Yamaç Kadri , Haznedar Rauf 
Published: July 2007

AbstractObjectives:  Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is effectively preventable by immunization with the commercially available recombinant HBV vaccines (HBVvac) in approximately 95% of healthy people. Immunosuppressive diseases like hematological malignancies are a risk factor for non‐response to HBVvac. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy and safety of granulocyte‐macrophage colony‐stimulating factor (GM‐CSF) as a vaccine adjuvant in lymphoproliferative disorders (LPD).Patients and methods:  One‐ hundred and two patients with LPD were randomized to receive either a single dose of 40 μg HBVvac intramuscularly or one course of 40 μg HBVvac after 5 μg/kg recombinant GM‐CSF injection.Results:  Of the 94 patients that could be evaluated at 1 month, the seroprotection rate was higher in GM‐CSF + HBVvac group (25.5% in GM‐CSF + HBVvac group vs. 17% in HBVvac group). The median anti‐HBs titer was also higher in GM‐CSF + HBVvac group. However the difference did not reach to a significant level in terms of response rate and median antibody titers (P > 0.05). Univariate analysis identified age and time to vaccination from the last chemotherapy course as significant predictors of seroprotection. In multivariate analysis, age was the only predictor of achieving a seroprotective response. Patients who lost the seroprotective response during monitoring were boosted with a 20 μg HBVvac and they all achieved a seroprotective anti‐HBs titer > 100 mIU/mL.Conclusion:  In LPD, the response to HBVvac is impaired. GM‐CSF enhance to HBVvac in terms of the rate of response and average of antibody titers at the dose and schedule given.
Inextinguishable Laughter
Authors: Reeves John-Baptist 
Published: July 2007

Father Ronald Knox thinks, but is not sure, that modern humour is degenerate satire. However uncertain he may be in his theories in his practice of both humour and satire he has the certainty of a very great master. Success in satire is readily proved by the way those who are ridiculed sit up and take notice. In the case of Father Knox there are still more eloquent witnesses to success; namely, those who are accustomed to satire, yet find themselves omitted by a master as too easy or venerable a prey. Witness, indeed, the rage against this book by our venerable friend The Tablet.Every line of Father Knox’s introductory Essay is richly suggestive. I select the only two of his remarks that provoke me to a difference of opinion.He thinks that St. Thomas has omitted from the Summa Theologica the question of humour before the Fall; and that, for lack of space. The Summa is an encyclopedia, but not the modern sort. It classifies its subject-matter according to place in the universe, not according to place of first letter in the local alphabet. Therefore, you will not find a special paragraph beginning Humour before the Fall, with elsewhere, Fall, Humour before the. You will not; even find a special section on Humming Birds.
The Contribution of Sydney Smith
Authors: Clayton Joseph 
Published: July 2007

The Anglican episcopate in the House of Lords cut a sorry figure in the debates on Catholic Emancipation. To the last the bishops of the established Church resisted by vote and speech every proposal that would, as the Bishop of Bangor put it in 1808, place Catholics ‘on an equal footing with Protestants’; or, as the Bishop of Lincoln declared in 1828, ‘endanger the Protestant Establishment.’ Nor was the high churchmanship of the ancient university of Oxford more favourable to the civil rights of Catholics. John Henry Newman himself signed the petition against Catholic Emancipation—there were many of these petitions—and the university unseated Peel when he appealed to the electorate in 1829 as a supporter of Catholic claims.But one distinguished clergyman of the Church of England, Sydney Smith, Canon of St. Paul’s, did most consistently and whole-heartedly champion the Catholic cause. With wit and humour, with knowledge and, above all, with a sincerity that lifted the argument above mere advocacy, Sydney Smith strove year after year for the accomplishment of justice. And he wrote so well that The Letters of Peter Plymley and the articles in The Edinburgh Review are capital reading to-day. A forceful writer, thoroughly well informed of his subject, sure of his ground and equally sure of the mentality of the people he addressed, Sydney Smith struck as skilfully and as fearlessly as Cobbett did at iniquity.
The Spirituality of Mother Therese Couderc
Authors: Hugon Edouard 
Published: July 2007

I have in my hands the letters and intimate notes of Mother Thérèse and the testimonies of the nuns who knew her most intimately, and it seems to me that it will be useful to give in a sort of précis the spiritual teachings of the venerable Mother. It will be easy to correlate them if one bears in mind that her entire life was orientated towards the mystery of the Cenacle.It was on the Day of Pentecost itself that Marie Victoire Couderc made her First Communion at the age of ten years. From that time began to be verified in her regard the Divine Promise: ‘If you love me, keep my Commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Paraclete, that He may abide with you forever. The Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, nor knoweth him; but you shall know Him; because He shall abide with you, and shall be in you’ (St. John xiv, 15, 16, 17).Her whole life, like that of her Institute, will be to reproduce the role of Mary in the Cenacle. Now the Blessed Virgin in the Cenacle gives herself up (se livre) entirely to God, lives with God without ever losing consciousness of His Presence, and enjoys that permanent habitation of the Three Adorable Persons within her which is a foretaste of Eternity. But the contemplation of the Divinity does not make her lose the remembrance of the mysteries of the life and passion of her Son, and the Mother who was martyr with Jesus upon Calvary longs to fill up in her own person that which is wanting to the passion of the Redeemer.