bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Judgmental Adjustments of Previously Adjusted Forecasts*
Authors: Önkal Dilek , Gönül M. Sinan , Lawrence Michael 
Published: May 2008

ABSTRACTForecasts are important components of information systems. They provide a means for knowledge sharing and thus have significant decision‐making impact. In many organizations, it is quite common for forecast users to receive predictions that have previously been adjusted by providers or other users of forecasts. Current work investigates some of the factors that may influence the size and propensity of further adjustments on already‐adjusted forecasts. Two studies are reported that focus on the potential effects of adjustment framing (Study 1) and the availability of explanations and/or original forecasts alongside the adjusted forecasts (Study 2). Study 1 provides evidence that the interval forecasts that are labeled as “adjusted” are modified less than the so‐called “original/unadjusted” predictions. Study 2 suggests that the provision of original forecasts and the presence of explanations accompanying the adjusted forecasts serve as significant factors shaping the size and propensity of further modifications. Findings of both studies highlight the importance of forecasting format and user perceptions with critical organizational repercussions.
Information Technology Project Escalation: A Process Model*
Authors: Mähring Magnus , Keil Mark 
Published: May 2008

ABSTRACTInformation technology (IT) a common and costly problem. While much is known about the factors that promote escalation behavior, little is known about the actual escalation process. This article uses an in‐depth case study to construct a process model of escalation, consisting of three phases: drift, unsuccessful incremental adaptation, and rationalized continuation. Each phase encompasses several within‐phase escalation catalysts and the model also identifies triggering conditions that promote transition from one phase to the next: project framing (antecedent condition), problem emergence, increased problem visibility, and imminent threat to project continuation (triggering the outcome deescalation). The results show that escalation is not necessarily the result of collective belief in the infallibility of a project. Rather, escalation results from continued unsuccessful coping with problems that arise during a project. Furthermore, the results suggest that the seeds of escalation are sown early: the very manner in which a project is framed contributes to whether or not the project will become prone to escalation. As problems ensue, repeated mismatches between attempted remedies and underlying problems contribute to fueling the escalation process. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
Blurring Firm Boundaries: The Role of Venture Capital in Strategic Alliances
Authors: LINDSEY LAURA 
Published: May 2008

ABSTRACTThis study documents a new value‐added role of venture capitalists and addresses important questions about how resources are combined to create firms. As part of the nexus of contracts surrounding a firm, strategic alliances can be viewed as relational contracts that blur firm boundaries. This paper provides evidence that alliances are more frequent among companies sharing a common venture capitalist. The effect is concentrated in alliances in which contracting problems are more pronounced, consistent with venture capitalists utilizing informational and other advantages in providing resources to firms. Further, these alliances improve the probability of exit for venture‐backed firms.
Bank Loans, Bonds, and Information Monopolies across the Business Cycle
Authors: SANTOS JOÃO A. C. , WINTON ANDREW 
Published: May 2008

ABSTRACTTheory suggests that banks' private information about borrowers lets them hold up borrowers for higher interest rates. Since hold‐up power increases with borrower risk, banks with exploitable information should be able to raise their rates in recessions by more than is justified by borrower risk alone. We test this hypothesis by comparing the pricing of loans for bank‐dependent borrowers with the pricing of loans for borrowers with access to public debt markets, controlling for risk factors. Loan spreads rise in recessions, but firms with public debt market access pay lower spreads and their spreads rise significantly less in recessions.
Attracting Attention: Cheap Managerial Talk and Costly Market Monitoring
Authors: ALMAZAN ANDRES , BANERJI SANJAY , MOTTA ADOLFO DE 
Published: May 2008

ABSTRACTWe provide a theory of informal communication—cheap talk—between firms and capital markets that incorporates the role of agency conflicts between managers and shareholders. The analysis suggests that a policy of discretionary disclosure that encourages managers to attract the market's attention when the firm is substantially undervalued can create shareholder value. The theory also relates the credibility of managerial announcements to the use of stock‐based compensation, the presence of informed trading, and the liquidity of the stock. Our results are consistent with the existence of positive announcement effects produced by apparently innocuous corporate events (e.g., stock dividends, name changes).
More Than Words: Quantifying Language to Measure Firms' Fundamentals
Authors: TETLOCK PAUL C. , SAAR‐TSECHANSKY MAYTAL , MACSKASSY SOFUS 
Published: May 2008

ABSTRACTWe examine whether a simple quantitative measure of language can be used to predict individual firms' accounting earnings and stock returns. Our three main findings are: (1) the fraction of negative words in firm‐specific news stories forecasts low firm earnings; (2) firms' stock prices briefly underreact to the information embedded in negative words; and (3) the earnings and return predictability from negative words is largest for the stories that focus on fundamentals. Together these findings suggest that linguistic media content captures otherwise hard‐to‐quantify aspects of firms' fundamentals, which investors quickly incorporate into stock prices.
Neighbors Matter: Causal Community Effects and Stock Market Participation
Authors: BROWN JEFFREY R. , IVKOVIĆ ZORAN , SMITH PAUL A. , WEISBENNER SCOTT 
Published: May 2008

ABSTRACTThis paper establishes a causal relation between an individual's decision whether to own stocks and average stock market participation of the individual's community. We instrument for the average ownership of an individual's community with lagged average ownership of the states in which one's nonnative neighbors were born. Combining this instrumental variables approach with controls for individual and community fixed effects, a broad set of time‐varying individual and community controls, and state‐year effects rules out alternative explanations. To further establish that word‐of‐mouth communication drives this causal effect, we show that the results are stronger in more sociable communities.
Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Upregulates Cardiac Autonomic Control
Authors: CHA YONG‐MEI , OH JAE , MIYAZAKI CHINAMI , HAYES DAVID L. , REA ROBERT F. , SHEN WIN‐KUANG , ASIRVATHAM SAMUEL J. , KEMP BRAD J. , HODGE DAVID O. , CHEN PENG‐SHENG , CHAREONTHAITAWEE PANITHAYA 
Published: May 2008

Objective: To determine the effect of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) on sympathetic nervous function in heart failure (HF).
Background: Neurohormonal dysregulation and cardiac autonomic dysfunction are associated with HF and contribute to HF progression and its poor prognosis. We hypothesized that mechanical resynchronization improves cardiac sympathetic function in HF.
Methods: Sixteen consecutive patients receiving CRT for advanced cardiomyopathy and 10 controls were included in this prospective study. NYHA class, 6‐minute walk distance, echocardiographic parameters, plasma norepinephrine (NE) were assessed at baseline, 3‐month and 6‐month follow‐up. Cardiac sympathetic function was determined by 123iodine metaiodobenzylguanidine (123I‐MIBG) scintigraphy and 24‐hour ambulatory electrocardiography.
Results: Along with improvement in NYHA class (3.1 ± 0.3 to 2.1 ± 0.4, P < 0.001) and LVEF (23 ± 6% to 33 ± 12%, P < 0.001), delayed heart/mediastinum (H/M) 123I‐MIBG ratio increased significantly (1.8 ± 0.7 to 2.1 ± 0.6, P = 0.04) while the H/M 123I‐MIBG washout rate decreased significantly (54 ± 25% to 34 ± 24%, P = 0.01) from baseline to 6‐month follow‐up. The heart rate variability (HRV) measured in SD of normal‐to‐normal intervals also increased significantly from baseline (82 ± 30 ms) to follow‐up (111 ± 32 ms, P = 0.04). The improvement in NYHA after CRT was significantly associated with baseline 123I‐MIBG H/M washout rate (r = 0.65, P = 0.03). The improvement in LVESV index was associated with baseline 123I‐MIBG delayed H/M ratio (r =−0.67, P = 0.02) and H/M washout rate (r = 0.65, P = 0.03). Conclusion: After CRT, improvements in cardiac symptoms and LV function were accompanied by rebalanced cardiac autonomic control as measured by 123I‐MIBG and HRV.
Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator Therapy in Patients with Prior Coronary Revascularization in the Sudden Cardiac Death in Heart Failure Trial (SCD‐HeFT)
Authors: AL‐KHATIB SANA M , HELLKAMP ANNE S. , LEE KERRY L , ANDERSON JILL , POOLE JEANNE E. , MARK DANIEL B. , BARDY GUST H. ,   for the scd‐heft investigators
Published: May 2008

Introduction: We conducted this study to examine the effect of the ICD on the outcomes of patients with prior coronary revascularization enrolled in the Sudden Cardiac Death in Heart Failure Trial (SCD‐HeFT) and to assess the association of time from coronary revascularization to enrollment with death and sudden cardiac death (SCD).
Methods and Results: We included in this analysis patients with ischemic heart disease not randomized to the amiodarone arm. Cox proportional hazards models were used to examine the association of prior CABG and of prior PCI with each outcome. Interactions between randomized treatment and each revascularization type and time were tested in each model. Of the 882 patients who met these inclusion criteria, 255 (29%) had no prior revascularization, 178 (20%) had prior PCI only, 284 (32%) had prior CABG only, and 165 (19%) had prior PCI and CABG. There was no significant difference in ICD benefit across the revascularization subgroups (all P > 0.1). There was a trend toward improved survival with an ICD in patients who had their CABG > 2 years before randomization (HR [CI]= 0.71 [0.49, 1.04]) that was not observed in patients who had their CABG ≤ 2 years before randomization (HR [CI]= 1.40 [0.61, 3.24]).
Conclusion: In SCD‐HeFT, there was no significant difference in ICD benefit across the revascularization subgroups. Patients who had their CABG > 2 years before randomization showed a trend toward improved survival with an ICD that was not observed in patients who had their CABG ≤ 2 years before randomization.
Substrate and Procedural Predictors of Outcomes After Catheter Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation in Patients with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
Authors: BUNCH T. JARED , MUNGER THOMAS M , FRIEDMAN PAUL A , ASIRVATHAM SAMUEL J , BRADY PETER A , CHA YONG‐MEI , REA ROBERT F , SHEN WIN‐KUANG , POWELL BRIAN D , OMMEN STEVE R , MONAHAN KRISTI H. , HAROLDSON JANIS M , PACKER DOUGLAS L 
Published: May 2008

Background: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is often accompanied by atrial fibrillation (AF) due to diastolic dysfunction, elevated left atrial pressure, and enlargement. Although catheter ablation for drug‐refractory AF is an effective treatment, the efficacy in HCM remains to be established.
Methods: Thirty‐three consecutive patients (25 male, age 51 ± 11 years) with HCM underwent pulmonary vein (PV) isolation (n = 8) or wide area circumferential ablation with additional linear ablation (n = 25) for drug‐refractory AF. Twelve‐lead and 24‐hour ambulating ECGs, echocardiograms, event monitor strips, and SF 36 quality of life (QOL) surveys were obtained before ablation and for routine follow‐up.
Results: Twenty‐one (64%) patients had paroxysmal AF and 12 (36%) had persistent/permanent AF for 6.2 ± 5.2 years. The average ejection fraction was 0.63 ± 0.12. The average left atrial volume index was 70 ± 24 mL/m2. Over a follow‐up of 1.5 ± 1.2 years, 1‐year survival with AF elimination was 62%(Confidence Interval [CI]: 66‐84) and with AF control was 75%(CI: 66‐84). AF control was less likely in patients with a persistent/chronic AF, larger left atrial volumes, and more advanced diastolic disease. Additional linear ablation may improve outcomes in patient with severe left atrial enlargement and more advanced diastolic dysfunction. Two patients had a periprocedureal TIA, one PV stenosis, and one died after mitral valve replacement from prosthetic valve thrombosis. QOL scores improved from baseline at 3 and 12 months.
Conclusion: Outcomes after AF ablation in patients with HCM are favorable. Diastolic dysfunction, left atrial enlargement, and AF subtype influence outcomes. Future studies of rhythm management approaches in HCM patients are required to clarify the optimal clinical approach.
β1 and β2‐Adrenergic Receptor Polymorphisms and Idiopathic Ventricular Arrhythmias
Authors: ULUCAN CEM , CETINTAS VILDAN , TETIK ASLI , EROGLU ZUHAL , KAYIKCIOGLU MERAL , CAN LEVENT H. , PAYZIN SERDAR , AYDIN MEHMET , HASDEMIR CAN 
Published: May 2008

Introduction:
Idiopathic ventricular arrhythmias commonly refer to ventricular tachycardia (VT) and/or frequent/monomorphic premature ventricular contractions (PVC) in patients with structurally normal heart. Activation of sympathetic tone has been shown to play an important role in the provocation and maintenance of these arrhythmias. We investigated whether common single nucleotide polymorphisms in the β1 and β2‐adrenergic receptors are associated with idiopathic ventricular arrhythmias.
Methods:
A total of 143 unrelated patients presenting with idiopathic ventricular arrhythmias were prospectively included in a case‐control association study. Patient population was matched by age and gender to the unrelated, healthy control subjects (N = 307). All study subjects were of Turkish (Anatolian Caucasian) descent. Allele and genotype frequencies of the Gly389Arg and Ser49Gly polymorphisms of the β1‐adrenergic receptor and Arg16Gly, Gln27Glu, and Thr164Ile polymorphisms of the β2‐adrenergic receptor were compared between patient population and control subjects. The genotype frequencies were in Hardy‐Weinberg equilibrium.
Results:
Patients with idiopathic ventricular arrhythmias had higher frequency of Arg389Arg genotype (22.4% vs 1.6%, P < 0.001), Arg389Gly49 (5.24% vs 0.73%, P = 0.005), and Arg389Ser49 (36.7% vs 13.6%, P < 0.001) haplotypes of the β1‐adrenergic receptor, and higher frequency of Gly16Gly (31.5% vs 13.4%, P < 0.001), Glu27Glu genotypes (18.2% vs 10.1%, P = 0.006) and Gly16Gln27Thr164 (15.3% vs 7.4%, P = 0.002), Gly16Glu27Thr164 (13.1% vs 7%, P = 0.004), and Gly16Glu27Ile164 (13.2% vs 6%, P = 0.002) haplotypes of the β2‐adrenergic receptor compared to control subjects.
Conclusion:
Our data suggest that common single nucleotide polymorphisms in the β1 and β2‐adrenergic receptors are significantly associated with idiopathic ventricular arrhythmias in Turkish population.
Effect of Ranolazine on Ventricular Vulnerability and Defibrillation Threshold in the Intact Porcine Heart
Authors: KUMAR KAPIL , NEARING BRUCE D. , BARTOLI CARLO R , KWAKU KEVIN F , BELARDINELLI LUIZ , VERRIER RICHARD L 
Published: May 2008

Introduction: Extensive in vitro studies and clinical evidence (MERLIN trial) indicate an antiarrhythmic potential of ranolazine, a novel antianginal agent. Programmed electrophysiologic testing was performed to quantify ranolazine's effects on ventricular vulnerability and defibrillation thresholds and to gain insights into mechanisms.
Methods and Results:
Effects of ranolazine (9.2 ± 2.1 μM, plasma level) on surface ECG, right ventricular effective refractory period (ERP), and repetitive extrasystole (RE), ventricular fibrillation (VF), and defibrillation (DFT) thresholds were determined in 29 normal closed‐chest anesthetized pigs. The single extrastimulus method was employed for ERP and for RE and VF thresholds. DFT50 was determined using an up‐down testing protocol with an implantable cardioverter‐defibrillator. Ranolazine increased rate‐corrected QT interval from 490 ± 30 to 527 ± 24 ms (P < 0.05) but did not alter Tpeak‐Tend interval (59 ± 8 to 62 ± 11, P = 0.65). ERP increased by 40 ± 6 ms (P < 0.001). Compared with baseline, ranolazine raised RE threshold from 20 ± 6 to 34 ± 9 mA (P < 0.001) and VF threshold from 38 ± 4 to 48 ± 10 mA (P < 0.05). DFT50 was unchanged (baseline: 14 ± 2 J; ranolazine: 14 ± 2 J; P = 0.6), whereas diastolic pacing threshold increased from baseline pulse width of 0.07 ± 0.03 to 0.17 ± 0.07 ms (P < 0.01) with 1V pulse amplitude.
Conclusions:
Ranolazine, at therapeutic concentrations, produces a mild increase in QT interval and a marked increase in both RE and VF thresholds. Thus, ranolazine does not augment and may improve dispersion of ventricular repolarization, suggesting a potential antiarrhythmic action. Ranolazine is unlikely to affect the margin of safety of defibrillation, given no significant effect on DFT, but could result in a mild increase in pacing threshold.
The Use of Water as a Medium for Altered States of Consciousness in Early Jewish Mysticism: A Cross‐Disciplinary Analysis
Authors: DENNIS GEOFFREY W. 
Published: May 2008

ABSTRACTThis article combines the disciplines of textual/linguistic analysis, anthropology, and perceptual psychology to examine selected ancient Jewish mystical texts that claim to describe the praxis for ascents into heaven and encounters with angelic spirits in order to reconstruct the psychosocial context of these literary works. Specifically, the article examines Hekhalot or “Divine Palaces” texts that deal with hydromancy, giving attention to their mythic–symbolic assumptions, their described preparatory and triggering rituals, and their accounts of the ASC (altered states of consciousness) visions resulting from these rituals that are experienced by the practitioners. The article suggests that these accounts correlate with ASC practices identified in the literature and additionally suggests that although the mystical texts are written to resemble biblical accounts of revelatory experiences, the texts under consideration are more than works of fabulous imagination; they are literary artifacts of an actual ecstatic ASC praxis among the Jews of Late Antiquity.
Glycinergic tonic inhibition of hippocampal neurons with depolarizing GABAergic transmission elicits histopathological signs of temporal lobe epilepsy
Authors: Eichler Sabrina A. , Kirischuk Sergei , Jüttner René , Schafermeier Philipp K. , Legendre Pascal , Lehmann Thomas‐Nicolas , Gloveli Tengis , Grantyn Rosemarie , Meier Jochen C. 
Published: May 2008

AbstractAn increasing number of epilepsy patients are afflicted with drug‐resistant temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and require alternative therapeutic approaches. High‐affinity glycine receptors (haGlyRs) are functionally adapted to tonic inhibition due to their response to hippocampal ambient glycine, and their synthesis is activity‐dependent. Therefore, in our study, we scanned TLE hippocampectomies for expression of haGlyRs and characterized the effects mediated by these receptors using primary hippocampal neurons. Increased haGlyR expression occurred in TLE hippocampi obtained from patients with a severe course of disease. Furthermore, in TLE patients, haGlyR and potassium chloride cotransporter 2 (KCC2) expressions were inversely regulated. To examine this potential causal relationship with respect to TLE histopathology, we established a hippocampal cell culture system utilising tonic inhibition mediated by haGlyRs in response to hippocam‐pal ambient glycine and in the context of a high Cl equilibrium potential, as is the case in TLE hippocampal neurons. We showed that hypoactive neurons increase their ratio between glutamatergic and GABAergic synapses, reduce their dendrite length and finally undergo excitotoxicity. Pharmacological dissection of the underlying processes revealed ionotropic glutamate and TrkB receptors as critical mediators between neuronal hypoactivity and the emergence of these TLE‐characteristic histopathological signs. Moreover, our results indicate a beneficial role for KCC2, because decreasing the Cl− equilibrium potential by KCC2 expression also rescued hypoactive hippocampal neurons. Thus, our data support a causal relationship between increased haGlyR expression and the emergence of histopathological TLE‐characteristic signs, and they establish a pathophysiological role for neuronal hypoactivity in the context of a high Cl− equilibrium potential.
Impulse conduction and gap junctional remodelling by endothelin‐1 in cultured neonatal rat ventricular myocytes
Authors: Reisner Y. , Meiry G. , Zeevi‐Levin N. , Barac D. Y. , Reiter I. , Abassi Z. , Ziv N. , Kostin S. , Schaper J. , Rosen M. R. , Binah O. 
Published: May 2008

AbstractEndothelin‐1 (ET‐1) is an important contributor to ventricular hypertrophy and failure, which are associated with arrhythmogenesis and sudden death. To elucidate the mechanism(s) underlying the arrhythmogenic effects of ET‐1 we tested the hypothesis that long‐term (24 hrs) exposure to ET‐1 impairs impulse conduction in cultures of neonatal rat ventricular myocytes (NRVM). NRVM were seeded on micro‐electrode‐arrays (MEAs, Multi Channel Systems, Reutlingen, Germany) and exposed to 50 nM ET‐1 for 24 hrs. Hypertrophy was assessed by morphological and molecular methods. Consecutive recordings of paced activation times from the same cultures were conducted at baseline and after 3, 6 and 24 hrs, and activation maps for each time period constructed. Gap junctional Cx43 expression was assessed using Western blot and confocal microscopy of immunofluorescence staining using anti‐Cx43 antibodies. ET‐1 caused hypertrophy as indicated by a 70% increase in mRNA for atrial natriuretic peptide (P < 0.05), and increased cell areas (P < 0.05) compared to control. ET‐1 also caused a time‐dependent decrease in conduction velocity that was evident after 3 hrs of exposure to ET‐1, and was augmented at 24 hrs, compared to controls (P < 0.01). ET‐1 increased total Cx43 protein by ∼40% (P < 0.05) without affecting non‐ phosphorylated Cx43 (NP‐Cx43) protein expression. Quantitative confocal microscopy showed a ∼30% decrease in the Cx43 immunofluorescence per field in the ET‐1 group (P < 0.05) and a reduced field stain intensity (P < 0.05), compared to controls. ET‐1‐induced hypertrophy was accompanied by reduction in conduction velocity and gap junctional remodelling. The reduction in conduction velocity may play a role in ET‐1 induced susceptibility to arrhythmogenesis.