bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Robust binary regression with continuous outcomes
Authors: Heritier StÉPhane , Ronchetti Elvezio 
Published: February 2008

AbstractThe authors propose a robust bounded‐influence estimator for binary regression with continuous outcomes, an alternative to logistic regression when the investigator's interest focuses on the proportion of subjects who fall below or above a cut‐off value. The authors show both theoretically and empirically that in this context, the maximum likelihood estimator is sensitive to model misspecifications. They show that their robust estimator is more stable and nearly as efficient as maximum likelihood when the hypotheses are satisfied. Moreover, it leads to safer inference. The authors compare the different estimators in a simulation study and present an analysis of hypertension on Harlem survey data.
Interval censoring: Model characterizations for the validity of the simplified likelihood
Authors: Oller Ramon , Gomez Guadalupe , Calle M.Luz 
Published: February 2008

AbstractIn survival data analysis, the interval censoring problem has generally been treated via likelihood methods. Because this likelihood is complex, it is often assumed that the censoring mechanisms do not affect the mortality process. The authors specify conditions that ensure the validity of such a simplified likelihood. They prove the equivalence between different characterizations of noninformative censoring and define a constant‐sum condition analogous to the one derived in the context of right censoring. They also prove that when the noninformative or constant‐sum condition holds, the simplified likelihood can be used to obtain the nonparametric maximum likelihood estimator of the death time distribution function.
Analyzing multivariate longitudinal binary data: A generalized estimating equations approach
Authors: Sutradhar Brajendra C. , Farrell Patrick J. 
Published: February 2008

AbstractThe authors consider regression analysis for binary data collected repeatedly over time on members of numerous small clusters of individuals sharing a common random effect that induces dependence among them. They propose a mixed model that can accommodate both these structural and longitudinal dependencies. They estimate the parameters of the model consistently and efficiently using generalized estimating equations. They show through simulations that their approach yields significant gains in mean squared error when estimating the random effects variance and the longitudinal correlations, while providing estimates of the fixed effects that are just as precise as under a generalized penalized quasi‐likelihood approach. Their method is illustrated using smoking prevention data.
Partially replicated two‐level fractional factorial designs
Authors: Liao Chen‐Tuo , Chai Feng‐Shun 
Published: February 2008

AbstractIn a two‐level factorial experiment, the authors consider designs with partial duplication which permit estimation of the constant term, all main effects and some specified two‐factor interactions, assuming that the other effects are negligible. They construct parallel‐flats designs with two identical parallel flats that meet prior specifications; they also consider classes of 3‐flat and 4‐flat designs. They show that the designs obtained can have a very simple covariance structure and high D‐efficiency. They give an algorithm from which they generate a series of practical designs with run sizes 12, 16, 24, and 32.
Theories of Urbanization and the Colonial City in West Africa
Authors: Rayfield J. R. 
Published: February 2008

Opening ParagraphThe main purpose of this paper is to show how recent research into the process of urbanization in Africa and into the structure of African cities and nations compels us to rethink our theories of urbanization in general.The relationship between theory and research is a reciprocal one. New research compels the creation of new models, and new models suggest new subjects and methods of research. But both theory and research are affected by politics in the broadest sense of the term. Many African scholars consider the study of modern Africa by Westerners an extension of economic and political colonialism, especially when African cities are studied in terms of Western models. And many African governments, aware of the social problems involved in urbanization, seriously study the work of both African and non-African social scientists. The period since 1960 has been one of rapid development in the study of urbanization in Africa and the rest of the world, and the African material should throw new light on general theories of urbanization.
On the Implications of the Practice–Institution Distinction: Macintyre and the Application of Modern Virtue Ethics to Business
Authors: Moore Geoff 
Published: February 2008

Abstract:After exploring MacIntyre’s (1985) practice—institution distinction, the article demonstrates its applicability to business-as-practice and to corporations as institutions. It then considers the implications of MacIntyre’s schema to ethical schizophrenia, to the claim that the market is a source of the virtues and to the opposite claim that capitalism corrodes character. A fully worked out modern virtue ethics, based on MacIntyre’s work, is then established and the claim is made and substantiated that such an understanding of MacIntrye’s work revitalises it and makes it directly applicable to business and to corporations.
Guynesomia (Asteraceae: Astereae), a new genus from central Chile
Authors: Bonifacino José M. , Sancho Gisela 
Published: February 2008

AbstractGuynesomia (Asteraceae: Astereae), a new genus restricted to the western slopes of the Andes mountains in central Chile, is described. Guynesomia is a shrub characterised by raceme­like or panicle­like capitulescences, disciform capitula, alveolate receptacles, pistillate zygomorphic marginal florets with three or four short lobes, and a pappus of two series of subequal scabrid bristles. Diplostephium is the putative closest relative of Guynesomia. The new combination Guynesomia scoparia is based on Nardophyllum scoparium.
Phylogenetic relationships in subtribe Scorzonerinae (Asteraceae: Cichorioideae: Cichorieae) based on ITS sequence data
Authors: Mavrodiev Evgeny V. , Edwards Christine E. , Albach Dirk C. , Gitzendanner Matthew A. , Soltis Pamela S. , Soltis Douglas E. 
Published: February 2008

AbstractSubtribe Scorzonerinae of tribe Lactuceae (Asteraceae: Cichorioideae) appears to be well supported as monophyletic; however, generic circumscription and relationships within the group have been problematic. To investigate the monophyly and circumscription of the recognized genera and their intergeneric relationships, we conducted a phylogenetic analysis of subtribe Scorzonerinae using ITS sequence data. Our results reveal that most genera, including Tragopogon, Epilasia, Podospermum, Koelpinia, and Lasiospora, are monophyletic. The monotypic Pterachaenia and Tourneuxia are distinct lineages within Scorzonerinae. The monotypic Geropogon, which has often been included in Tragopogon, is phylogenetically removed from the highly supported Tragopogon clade. In contrast, Scorzonera is clearly not monophyletic, with species of the genus appearing in multiple clades with other genera. Scorzonera purpurea is weakly supported as the sister to Podospermum. Scorzonera austriaca is sister to Takhtajaniantha and may represent one ancestral parent of this monotypic polyploid genus. Species of Scorzonera sections Tuberosae, Vierhapperia, Nervosae, and Pulvinares form a clade with the genus Lasiospora. Scorzonera sections Pulvinares, Tuberosae, and Foliosae are clearly not monophyletic. Some non­DNA characters (e.g., achene morphology) generally agree with the clades recognized by ITS sequence data. However, our analyses also show that traditionally important morphological and karyological characters have multiple origins in Scorzonerinae.
History and concepts of big plant genera
Authors: Frodin David G. 
Published: February 2008

Abstract“Big” plant genera, those of 500 or more species, have not only occasioned interest among systematic botanists, but for geographical, ecological or horticultural reasons, have also become well­established popular concepts. Their size has rendered them difficult, if not impossible, to study in their entirety; there have been few full revisions since the nineteenth century. Despite their embodiment of significant taxonomic, biological and evolutionary questions, from the 1980s their importance has been more generally recognised, and recent technological and methodological developments have made it easier to come to grips with their study. This paper synthesizes growth impediments to our knowledge of these genera and possible approaches to studying them. Of the 57 genera currently thought to have 500 or more species, 22 of these were also considered in 1883 to be large (300 or more species). Others gained their prominence as a result of later exploration, some of it driven by enthusiasts. It is argued that comparisons of size, phenomena, and processes will only be possible by comprehensive study of the lineages comprising these genera and their immediate historical relatives; uncritical lists or relatively limited samples are not enough. Such studies will be of great scientific as well as cultural benefit.
A re­examination of the taxonomic boundaries of Symphysia (Ericaceae)
Authors: vander Kloet Sam P. , Baltzer Jennifer L. , Appleby Julia H. , Evans Rodger C. , Stewart Donald T. 
Published: February 2008

AbstractDNA sequence data were generated for the nuclear ITS region for Symphysia racemosa and for 26 additional Vaccinieae representing 12 sections in the genus Vaccinium plus one species from each of five additional segregate genera. Our focus is on the placement of S. racemosa relative to Vaccinium sensu stricto and Vaccinium sect. Oreades (represented by V. poasanum). Maximum parsimony analysis of 608 bp of nrITS region suggests that S. racemosa and V. poasanum form a well­supported clade in spite of substantial morphological divergence. Furthermore, this clade is a sister group to a clade consisting of all segregate genera examined. These molecular results led us to undertake a morphological cladistic analysis of all of the other Central American green­flowered taxa. We suggest that the genus Symphysia should be expanded to encompass these 15 taxa, despite the lack of phylogenetic resolution within this group. This will necessitate eight new combinations, viz., Symphysia almedae (= V. almedae), Symphysia costaricensis (= V. costaricense), Symphysia jefensis (= V. jefense), Symphysia orosiensis (= V. orosiense), Symphysia ovata (= Lateropora ovata), Symphysia perardua (= V. santafeënsis), Symphysia poasana (= Vaccinium poasanum), Symphysia santafeënsis (= L. santafeënsis), and Symphysia tubulifera (= L. tubulifera).
The systematic position of Ehretia cortesia nom. nov. (≡ Cortesia cuneifolia: Ehretiaceae, Boraginales) inferred from molecular and morphological data
Authors: Gottschling Marc , Hilger Hartmut H. 
Published: February 2008

AbstractThe systematic position of Argentinean Cortesia cuneifolia (Ehretiaceae, Boraginales) is investigated based both on morphological and on ITS1 sequence data. Inferred from a molecular phylogeny, monotypic Cortesia is not isolated from other taxa of Ehretiaceae as previously suggested, but is nested within Ehretia. Cortesia shares a two­parted endocarp with the Ehretia II subclade (including Ehretia microphylla), which is considered as a derived condition within Ehretiaceae and is the most striking indication for a close relationship of the two. ITS1 sequence data and specialised leaf morphology suggest that Ehretia microphylla is probably the sister species of Cortesia cuneifolia, for which a new name is proposed: Ehretia cortesia.
A molecular phylogeny and a new classification of parmelioid lichens containing Xanthoparmelia­type lichenan (Ascomycota: Lecanorales)
Authors: Blanco Oscar , Crespo Ana , Elix John A. , Hawksworth David L. , Thorsten Lumbsch H. 
Published: February 2008

AbstractGeneric concepts in the parmelioid lichens have been discussed intensively over the past three decades without reaching a broad consensus. We have now employed molecular data from three genes to provide a basis for a revised generic concept of the parmelioid lichens containing Xanthoparmelia­type lichenan. The phylogeny of the parmelioid lichens containing Xanthoparmelia­type lichenan was reconstructed using a combined Bayesian analysis of nuclear ITS, LSU rDNA and mitochondrial SSU rDNA sequences, and a maximum parsimony analysis was also made for comparison. 179 new partial sequences of 58 taxa were generated and 12 sequences were downloaded from GenBank. Our results indicate that the lichens containing Xanthoparmelia­type lichenan form a monophyletic group. However, the segregates proposed earlier do not form distinct clades within the group. Alternative hypotheses of monophyletic Karoowia and Neofuscelia that are not nested within Xanthoparmelia were rejected with our dataset; Karoowia is polyphyletic, and Neofuscelia is reduced to synonymy under Xanthoparmelia. Xanthomaculina convoluta also belongs to Xanthoparmelia. Since we were unable to sequence the umbilicate type species of Xanthomaculina, we refrain from synonymizing that genus with Xanthoparmelia here. The synonymy of Chondropsis and Paraparmelia under Xanthoparmelia already proposed is supported. The revised and enlarged genus Xanthoparmelia includes species that have cell walls with Xanthoparmelia­type lichenan, a palisade plectenchyma with a pored epicortex, lack pseudocyphellae, with usually simple rhizines, generally bifusiform conidia, and medullary chemical diversity. Ten new names are proposed, and 129 new combinations are made into Xanthoparmelia.
Potamogetontaxa proposed by J. F. Wolfgang and his collaborators
Authors: Kaplan Zdenek , Zalewska-Gałosz Joanna 
Published: February 2008

AbstractIn the first half of 19thcentury Jan Fryderyk Wolfgang (1775–1859) was the outstanding expert on Potamogetonaceae. Twelve of the names he proposed in a manuscript of a monograph onPotamogetonwere validly published by Schultes & Schultes (1827). Of these, four names are now the correct names for the respective taxa, one for a species (P.rutilusWolfg.) and three for hybrids (P. ×nervigerWolfg.,P. ×salicifoliusWolfg. andP. ×undulatusWolfg.). Ten names ofPotamogetontaxa described by Wolfgang are typified in this paper, together with two names proposed by his collaborators, Besser and Gorski. The identity of these names is discussed.
Evaluation of Systematic Surface Evidence for Pottery Production in Veracruz, Mexico
Authors: Stark Barbara L. , Garraty Christopher P. 
Published: February 2008

AbstractSurvey-based analyses have used varied criteria to detect locations of pottery production in the Gulf lowlands of south-central and southern Veracruz, Mexico. A common practice uses double criteria: high frequencies or high densities of particular kinds of pottery in conjunction with highly reliable indicators, such as kiln fragments. Reliable indicators are relatively scarce, however, and subject to sampling error. Two previous analytical approaches each present problems with respect to threshold values for applying the density and frequency criteria, and a more standard set of procedures is suggested. An alternative criterion using spatial clustering helps reduce susceptibility to sampling error from infrequent finds such as deformed wasters or kiln fragments. In a case study, two newly detected locations of possible pottery production result from application of the alternative double criteria. With incorporation of these new data, changes in Gulf lowland pottery production over time are compatible with a growing role for specialization and marketing, especially from the Late Classic to the Late Postclassic periods. The examination and application of criteria for identifying possible locations of pottery production are important for harnessing the potential of systematic survey and surface collection for studies of economic change.
Mortuary Preferences: A Wari Culture Case Study from Middle Horizon Peru
Authors: Isbell William H. 
Published: February 2008

AbstractMortuary practices reveal a great deal about the social organization of prehistoric cultures and their landscape of places. However, tombs are favored targets for looters, making it difficult to determine original burial practices. Very little was known about Wari burial during the Middle Horizon (A.D. 500–1000), even though Wari was an imperial, early Bronze Age culture with a spectacular urban capital in highland Peru. Excavations at the secondary Wari city of Conchopata produced remains of more than 200 individuals, from disturbed and undisturbed contexts. These burials as well as information from other sites permit an initial description of ideal patterns of Wari mortuary behavior. The forms abstracted reveal graves ranging from poor and ordinary citizens to royal potentates, supporting inferences of hierarchical political organization. It is also clear that the living accessed graves of important people frequently, implying some form of ancestor worship. However, unlike the later Inkas, Wari ancestors were venerated in their tombs, located deep within residential compounds and palaces.
The Chimú Sculptures of Huacas Tacaynamo and El Dragon, Moche Valley, Perú
Authors: Jackson Margaret A. 
Published: February 2008

AbstractA corpus of wooden figures archaeologically recovered from the Huacas Tacaynamo and El Dragón (also known as Huaca Arco Iris) at Chan Chan in the Moche Valley, Perú, forms the basis for this inquiry into the role and function of Chimú wooden figure sculpture. Although the sculptures were excavated from a disturbed context, they represent an important body of evidence relating to two problematic architectural complexes. The author places this group of figures within the temporal sequence of the region and defines the specific attributes of each sculpture to clarify social function. In reconciling the architecture’s relationship to the Chimú capital city, Chan Chan, and temporally placing the sites as Early Chimú, the figures are realigned within the larger artistic traditions of Perú’s North Coast. I suggest that the sculptures were part of a coherent artistic program that was integrally linked to the religious and funerary purpose of the architecture. More specifically, these characters depict scenes of socially prescribed ritual activities, including the interment of an important person whose funeral procession was attended by various servitors, and the celebration or consecration of burial through the sacrifice of prisoners.
The Southeastern Inka Frontier against the Chiriguanos: Structure and Dynamics of the Inka Imperial Borderlands
Authors: Alconini Sonia 
Published: February 2008

AbstractRecent research on the Inka has documented the strategies and effects of imperial administration at a provincial and household level. Less is known, however, about the structure and dynamics of the Inka frontier and its impact on local and economic processes. The southeastern Inka frontier—according to ethnohistoric record—was the setting for conflict between the Inkas and the Guaraní-speaking Chiriguano groups from the Chaco piedmonts and Amazonian lowlands. In the context of two competing frontier models, one military (a hardened perimeter or in-depth defense) and one cultural (with wide socioeconomic processes), this article evaluates the nature of the southeastern Inka frontier and its effects on local socioeconomic dynamics. Archaeological and ethnohistorical research at Oroncota and Cuzcotuyo, two Inka centers of this frontier, suggest an alternative in the form of a “soft military frontier” formed by outposts and imperial centers disembedded from local socioeconomic processes. While architecture reveals high levels of investment, settlement data, storage capability, and the distribution of Inka imperial materials all suggest a minimal involvement in local socioeconomic processes. The results are relevant to understanding Inka frontier strategies and provide a case study of frontier interaction between a highly organized prehistoric state and tribal populations.
Enforcing Virtue: Social Norms and Self-Interest in an Eighteenth-Century Merchant Court
Authors: Kessler Amalia D. 
Published: February 2008

Recent scholarship on law and norms has emphasized that important social values are at work in the law. But nothing could prepare us for the “Red Ink Case.” Decided by an eighteenth-century French merchant court, the suit was brought by a young woman driven by poverty to prostitute herself in return for a bill of exchange, written with her lover's blood. When the person on whom the bill was drawn refused to accept it for payment, the women sued her lover, demanding that he honor it instead. Although the applicable law required the defendant to pay the bill, the merchant-court judge declined to enforce payment on the ground that “humanity is the primary law.” Instead, the judge ordered the defendant to marry the plaintiff and thereby restore the virtue he had taken. With virtue thus saved, “[t]hese poor children withdrew satisfied.”What are we to make of this case? It appears inLe négotiant patriote, an account of Old Regime commercial life and merchant-court practice penned by a successful eighteenth-century merchant named Bedos, who claimed to have served as a merchant-court judge and president of a chamber of commerce. Although Bedos' depiction of the Red Ink Case may well be exaggerated, his professional experience suggests that it must be taken seriously—if only as an expression of what contemporary merchants believed merchant-court litigation should be like. Yet, as familiar as we have become with the notion that law shapes and expresses social values, the case remains puzzling. What commercial interests are served, we might ask, by enforcing norms of sexual virtue? And how does a court order of marriage promote the transactional efficiency that bills of exchange, as a defining feature of merchant-court jurisprudence, were presumably intended to facilitate?By examining the workings of a merchant-run court in eighteenth-century Paris, this article seeks to make sense of the Red Ink Case and its place in merchant-court jurisprudence.
Glycans as a Target in the Detection of Reproductive Tract Cancers
Authors: Janković Miroslava , Kosanović Maja , Milutinović Bojana 
Published: January 2008

Glycans as a Target in the Detection of Reproductive Tract CancersThe significance of changes in glycosylation for the beginning, progress and outcome of different human diseases is highly recognized. In this review we summarized literature data on the alteration of glycans in cancer, especially glycoforms of tumor markers of reproductive tract cancers: prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and cancer antigen 125 (CA125). We aimed to highlight the diagnostic potential and relevance of glycan microheterogeneity and to present some novel methods for cancer detection. A computerized search of articles published up to 2007 was performed through the PubMed database. Search terms utilized included prostate/ovarian cancer glycosylation, prostate/ovarian cancer detection, PSA/CA125 glycosylation. Additional sources were identified through cross-referencing and researching in available biomedical books. The comparative studies of sugar chain structures of the PSA and CA125 indicated specific structural alterations associated with malignant transformation, in relation to glycan branching, sialylation and fucosylation. These glycan modifications should be better in distinguishing between benign and malignant conditions than the measurement of marker concentrations alone, which is widely used in practice. Cancer-associated changes in the glycosylation could yield more sensitive and discriminative diagnostic tests for reproductive tract cancer detection, i.e. for improvement of the clinical utility of known tumor markers or the discovery of new ones.