bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Ag econ angst crisis revisited: a rejoinder
Authors: Rola‐Rubzen Maria Fay , Hardaker J. Brian 
Published: June 2003

Poverty reduction has been an underlying goal of governments and the development community since the Second World War, but it was the 1973 Nairobi address of Robert S. McNamara, then President of the World Bank, that created a new commitment to directly address poverty reduction in the quest for development (McNamara 1973). More than half a century after the war and close to 30 years after Robert McNamara's speech, poverty is still rampant in many parts of the globe. Reflections on why this scourge remains, and what we as agricultural economists can do about it, were the driving forces behind our paper with the late John L. Dillon entitled ‘Agricultural economists and world poverty: progress and prospects’ (Rola‐Rubzen et al. 2001). The part of our paper that Johnson, Rossmiller and Sandiford‐Rossmiller (JRS) have reacted to was deliberately provocative to stimulate thinking on ways to combat poverty. We are pleased that someone has taken the bait. As the two surviving authors, we find ourselves in agreement with much that JRS have written. However, in preparing this rejoinder we have sadly missed John Dillon, especially his broad international experience. We note that in several respects JRS amplify and support some of our points, as well as adding a new perspective of their own, dealing with the new institutional economics. We find it hard to work out just where they differ from us.
Doing Wonders with an Egg: Optimal Re‐distribution When Households Differ in Market and Non‐Market Abilities
Authors: Balestrino Alessandro , Cigno Alessandro , Pettini Anna 
Published: June 2003

AbstractThe paper studies non‐linear income taxation and linear commodity taxation in a household production context with households differentiated by market and non‐market ability. In such a setting, there is an efficiency motive for re‐distribution which is independent from the usual equity motive, and operates also when the social planner is indifferent to utility inequality. As a consequence, some of the policy prescriptions applicable to the case in which households differ in market ability only do not hold when households differ also in non‐market ability. For instance, re‐distribution is not necessarily from high‐ to low‐wage households, and it is not necessarily true that the marginal rate of income tax should be zero for high incomes and positive for low incomes. In some cases, re‐distribution may accentuate rather than lessen utility inequality, and can reverse the direction of income inequality relative to the laissez‐faire equilibrium. Furthermore, contrary to Atkinson‐Stiglitz, it may be optimal to use indirect and direct taxation simultaneously even when the utility function is separable in commodities and labour.
How Can Research Organizations More Effectively Transfer Research Knowledge to Decision Makers?
Authors: LAVIS JOHN N. , ROBERTSON DAVE , WOODSIDE JENNIFER M. , McLEOD CHRISTOPHER B. , ABELSON JULIA 
Published: June 2003

Applied research organizations invest a great deal of time, and research funders invest a great deal of money generating and (one hopes) transferring research knowledge that could inform decisions about health and health care. Basing these knowledge‐transfer activities on our evolving understanding of the most effective approaches to knowledge transfer will help us achieve value for money in our individual and collective investments in health services and health policy research. Research organizations and research funders can probably be excused for not basing their activities on research evidence until now, however, because the variety of relevant questions, target audiences, and disciplinary perspectives and methodological approaches used in empirical studies has made the identification of take‐home messages from this field of research a very difficult task.We provide an organizing framework for a knowledge‐transfer strategy and an overview of our understanding of the current knowledge for each of the five elements of the framework. The framework provides an overall approach to knowledge transfer that can be evaluated as a whole over long periods of time, as well as specific elements that can be evaluated and fine‐tuned over shorter periods of time.
The dynamics and characteristics of aeolian dust in dryland Central Asia: possible impacts on human exposure and respiratory health in the Aral Sea basin
Authors: Wiggs Giles F S , O'hara Sarah L , Wegerdt Johannah , Van Der Meer Joost , Small Ian , Hubbard Richard 
Published: June 2003

The drying up of the Aral Sea has been described as one of the most staggering environmental disasters of the twentieth century. Over the last 40 years over 36 000 km2 of the former seabed have been exposed, creating a potentially significant aeolian dust source. It is widely believed, but little researched, that increased dust storm activity in the region has had a major impact on human health. In this paper we report the findings of a study into the link between dust exposure and respiratory health amongst children in the Autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan located on the southern shore of the Aral Sea. The findings indicate that dust deposition rates across the region are high, with sites located near the former shore of the sea being the worst affected. For these northerly regions the former bed of the Aral Sea is the most likely source of dust. The situation for the rest of the country appears to be far more complex. In these regions it appears that local sources and more distant sources to the south and south‐west represent significant sediment providers, particularly in the early summer. Provisional analysis of the respiratory health data suggests that children living in the north of the country, where aeolian dust deposition rates are greater, show a lower frequency of respiratory problems. This inverse relationship requires further investigation, but highlights the complexities of environmental and human health inter‐relationships.
RNA Processing and Degradation inBacillus subtilis
Authors: Condon Ciarán 
Published: June 2003

SUMMARYThis review focuses on the enzymes and pathways of RNA processing and degradation in Bacillus subtilis, and compares them to those of its gram-negative counterpart, Escherichia coli. A comparison of the genomes from the two organisms reveals that B. subtilis has a very different selection of RNases available for RNA maturation. Of 17 characterized ribonuclease activities thus far identified in E. coli and B. subtilis, only 6 are shared, 3 exoribonucleases and 3 endoribonucleases. Some enzymes essential for cell viability in E. coli, such as RNase E and oligoribonuclease, do not have homologs in B. subtilis, and of those enzymes in common, some combinations are essential in one organism but not in the other. The degradation pathways and transcript half-lives have been examined to various degrees for a dozen or so B. subtilis mRNAs. The determinants of mRNA stability have been characterized for a number of these and point to a fundamentally different process in the initiation of mRNA decay. While RNase E binds to the 5′ end and catalyzes the rate-limiting cleavage of the majority of E. coli RNAs by looping to internal sites, the equivalent nuclease in B. subtilis, although not yet identified, is predicted to scan or track from the 5′ end. RNase E can also access cleavage sites directly, albeit less efficiently, while the enzyme responsible for initiating the decay of B. subtilis mRNAs appears incapable of direct entry. Thus, unlike E. coli, RNAs possessing stable secondary structures or sites for protein or ribosome binding near the 5′ end can have very long half-lives even if the RNA is not protected by translation.
ADP-Glucose Pyrophosphorylase, a Regulatory Enzyme for Bacterial Glycogen Synthesis
Authors: Ballicora Miguel A. , Iglesias Alberto A. , Preiss Jack 
Published: June 2003

SUMMARYThe accumulation of α-1,4-polyglucans is an important strategy to cope with transient starvation conditions in the environment. In bacteria and plants, the synthesis of glycogen and starch occurs by utilizing ADP-glucose as the glucosyl donor for elongation of the α-1,4-glucosidic chain. The main regulatory step takes place at the level of ADP-glucose synthesis, a reaction catalyzed by ADP-Glc pyrophosphorylase (PPase). Most of the ADP-Glc PPases are allosterically regulated by intermediates of the major carbon assimilatory pathway in the organism. Based on specificity for activator and inhibitor, classification of ADP-Glc PPases has been expanded into nine distinctive classes. According to predictions of the secondary structure of the ADP-Glc PPases, they seem to have a folding pattern common to other sugar nucleotide pyrophosphorylases. All the ADP-Glc PPases as well as other sugar nucleotide pyrophosphorylases appear to have evolved from a common ancestor, and later, ADP-Glc PPases developed specific regulatory properties, probably by addition of extra domains. Studies of different domains by construction of chimeric ADP-Glc PPases support this hypothesis. In addition to previous chemical modification experiments, the latest random and site-directed mutagenesis experiments with conserved amino acids revealed residues important for catalysis and regulation.
Virus Entry, Assembly, Budding, and Membrane Rafts
Authors: Chazal Nathalie , Gerlier Denis 
Published: June 2003

SUMMARY
As intracellular parasites, viruses rely heavily on the use of numerous cellular machineries for completion of their replication cycle. The recent discovery of the heterogeneous distribution of the various lipids within cell membranes has led to the proposal that sphingolipids and cholesterol tend to segregate in microdomains called membrane rafts. The involvement of membrane rafts in biosynthetic traffic, signal transduction, and endocytosis has suggested that viruses may also take advantage of rafts for completion of some steps of their replication cycle, such as entry into their cell host, assembly, and budding. In this review, we have attempted to delineate all the reliable data sustaining this hypothesis and to build some models of how rafts are used as platforms for assembly of some viruses. Indeed, if in many cases a formal proof of raft involvement in a virus replication cycle is still lacking, one can reasonably suggest that, owing to their ability to specifically attract some proteins, lipid microdomains provide a particular milieu suitable for increasing the efficiency of many protein-protein interactions which are crucial for virus infection and growth.
'THE NYAMANG ARE HARD TO TOUCH': MISSION EVANGELISM AND TRADITION IN THE NUBA MOUNTAINS, SUDAN, 1933-1952
Authors: Willis Justin 
Published: June 2003

AbstractIn 1935 the Church Missionary Society established a station at Salara, in the western part of the Nuba Mountains of Sudan. The station received considerable financial support from the colonial administration, as well as from donors in the United Kingdom, but it was strikingly unsuccessful in its attempts to create a local Christian community, and in the early 1950s the station was abandoned by the CMS. This paper explores the circumstances of this failure, and suggests that missionary work in Salara was undermined by the missionaries' ambivalent attitudes to tradition and modernity. These attitudes derived partly from engagement with colonial officials who were chronically uncertain as to the proper policy to pursue in the Nuba Mountains, and partly from a wider uncertainty in mission attitudes that had come to emphasize the need for a distinctly African form of Christianity but yet remained profoundly suspicious of the reliability of African Christians.
Validez de constructo de la necesidad de auto-realización en el contexto laboral
Authors: Fortea Miguel Ángel , Fuertes Francisco 
Published: June 2003

El Modelo Motivacional de las Características de las Tareas de Hackman y Oldham, (1974, 1980), Kulik, Oldham y Hackman, (1987), se operacionaliza frecuentemente con el cuestionario JDS (Job Diagnostic Survey) el cual mide satisfactoriamente la mayoría de los constructos (Taber y Taylor, 1992). No obstante, trabajos como los de Stone y otros (1979), Fuertes y otros (1993), Fortea (1994) plantean dudas respecto a la interpretación de las dos escalas del cuestionario que miden la Intensidad de la Necesidad de Auto-realización (INA). Nuestro trabajo presenta un estudio empírico de la validez de constructo de esta medida, buscando alternativas, para optimizarla en nuestro contexto cultural y abstraerla de coyunturas socioeconómicas. Nuestros resultados muestran que la Necesidad de Auto-realización no parece ser un factor unidimensional, ni un rasgo estable. Algunas de sus subdimensiones, además de ser sensibles a influjos contextuales, no producen el efecto modulador esperado. En todo caso, los resultados más coherentes se obtienen con trabajadores de nivel cultural medio-alto. Todo ello abogaría por una revisión del formato y redacción de estas escalas.
Potential Vorticity Diagnosis of a Simulated Hurricane. Part I: Formulation and Quasi-Balanced Flow
Authors: Wang Xingbao , Zhang Da-Lin 
Published: June 2003

AbstractBecause of the lack of three-dimensional (3D) high-resolution data and the existence of highly nonelliptic flows, few studies have been conducted to investigate the inner-core quasi-balanced characteristics of hurricanes. In this study, a potential vorticity (PV) inversion system is developed, which includes the nonconservative processes of friction, diabatic heating, and water loading. It requires hurricane flows to be statically and inertially stable but allows for the presence of small negative PV. To facilitate the PV inversion with the nonlinear balance (NLB) equation, hurricane flows are decomposed into an axisymmetric, gradient-balanced reference state and asymmetric perturbations. Meanwhile, the nonellipticity of the NLB equation is circumvented by multiplying a small parameter ɛ and combining it with the PV equation, which effectively reduces the influence of anticyclonic vorticity. A quasi-balanced ω equation in pseudoheight coordinates is derived, which includes the effects of friction and diabatic heating as well as differential vorticity advection and the Laplacians of thermal advection by both nondivergent and divergent winds.This quasi-balanced PV–ω inversion system is tested with an explicit simulation of Hurricane Andrew (1992) with the finest grid size of 6 km. It is shown that (a) the PV–ω inversion system could recover almost all typical features in a hurricane, and (b) a sizeable portion of the 3D hurricane flows are quasi-balanced, such as the intense rotational winds, organized eyewall updrafts and subsidence in the eye, cyclonic inflow in the boundary layer, and upper-level anticyclonic outflow. It is found, however, that the boundary layer cyclonic inflow and upper-level anticyclonic outflow also contain significant unbalanced components. In particular, a low-level outflow jet near the top of the boundary layer is found to be highly unbalanced (and supergradient). These findings are supported by both locally calculated momentum budgets and globally inverted winds. The results indicate that this PV inversion system could be utilized as a tool to separate the unbalanced from quasi-balanced flows for studies of balanced dynamics and propagating inertial gravity waves in hurricane vortices.
A mathematical model of the contribution of endothelial progenitor cells to angiogenesis in tumors: implications for antiangiogenic therapy
Authors: Stoll Brian R. , Migliorini Cristiano , Kadambi Ananth , Munn Lance L. , Jain Rakesh K. 
Published: June 2003

Abstract
The traditional view of angiogenesis emphasizes proliferation and migration of vessel wall-associated endothelial cells. However, circulating endothelial progenitor cells have recently been shown to contribute to tumor angiogenesis. Here we quantify the relative contributions of endothelial and endothelial progenitor cells to angiogenesis using a mathematical model. The model predicts that during the early stages of tumor growth, endothelial progenitors have a significant impact on tumor growth and angiogenesis, mediated primarily by their localization in the tumor, not by their proliferation. The model also shows that, as the tumor grows, endothelial progenitors adhere preferentially near the tumor periphery, coincident with the location of highest vascular density, supporting their potential utility as vectors for targeted delivery of therapeutics. Model simulations of various antiangiogenic strategies show that those therapies that effectively target both endothelial and endothelial progenitor cells, either by restoring the balance between angiogenic stimulators and inhibitors or by targeting both types of cells directly, are most effective at delaying tumor growth. The combination of continuous low-dose chemotherapy and antiangiogenic therapy is predicted to have the most significant effect on therapeutic outcome. The model offers new insight into tumor angiogenesis with implications for the rational design of antiangiogenic therapy. (Blood. 2003;102:2555-2561)
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for the treatment of depression
Authors: Martin José Luis R. , Barbanoj Manuel J. , Schlaepfer Thomas E. , Thompson Elinor , Pérez Víctor , Kulisevsky Jaime 
Published: June 2003

BackgroundRepetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) may be useful in the treatment of depression but results from trials have been inconclusive to date.AimsTo assess the efficacy of rTMS in treating depression.MethodWe conducted a systematic review of randomised controlled trials that compared rTMS with sham in patients with depression. We assessed the quality of design of all studies and conducted a metaanalysis of data from trials with similar rTMS delivery.ResultsWe included a total of 14 trials. The quality of the included studies was low. Pooled analysis using the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression showed an effect in favour of rTMS compared with sham after 2 weeks of treatment (standardised mean difference=–0.35; 95% CI –0.66 to –0.04), but this was not significant at the 2-week follow-up (standardised mean difference= — 0.33; 95% CI —0.84 to 0.17).ConclusionsCurrent trials are of low quality and provide insufficient evidence to support the use of rTMS in the treatment of depression.
The Aberfan disaster: 33-year follow-up of survivors
Authors: Morgan Louise , Scourfield Jane , Williams David , Jasper Anne , Lewis Glyn 
Published: June 2003

BackgroundExperiencing life-threatening events often contributes to the onset of such psychiatric conditions as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Children can develop PTSD; however, there is controversy over whether PTSD symptoms decrease or persist over time.AimsTo examine the long-term effects of surviving the 1966 Aberfan disaster in childhood.MethodSurvivors (n=41) were compared with controls (n=72) matched for age and background. All were interviewed using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview, measures of current health and social satisfaction, and the General Health Questionnaire. The survivor group also completed the Impact of Event Scale to assess current levels of PTSD.ResultsNineteen (46%; 95%CI 31–61) survivors had had PTSD at some point since the disaster, compared with 12 (20%; 95% CI 10–30) controls (OR=3.38 (95% CI 1.40–8.47)). Of the survivors, 12 (29%; 95% CI 15–43) met diagnostic criteria for current PTSD. Survivors were not at a significantly increased risk of anxiety, depression or substance misuse.ConclusionsTrauma in childhood can lead to PTSD, and PTSD symptoms can persist for as long as 33 years into adult life. Rates of other psychopathological disorders are not necessarily raised after life-threatening childhood trauma.
Childhood trauma and hallucinations in bipolar affective disorder: preliminary investigation
Authors: Hammersley Paul , Dias Anton , Todd Gillian , Bowen-Jones Kim , Reilly Bernadette , Bentall Richard P. 
Published: June 2003

BackgroundStrong evidence exists for an association between childhood trauma, particularly childhood sexual abuse, and hallucinations in schizophrenia. Hallucinations are also well-documented symptoms in people with bipolar affective disorder.AimsTo investigate the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and other childhood traumas and hallucinations in people with bipolar affective disorder.MethodA sample of 96 participants was drawn from the Medical Research Council multi-centre trial of cognitive–behavioural therapy for bipolar affective disorder. The trial therapists recorded spontaneous reports of childhood sexual abuse made during the course of therapy. Symptom data were collected by trained research assistants masked to the hypothesis.ResultsA significant association was found between those reporting general trauma (n=38) and auditory hallucinations. A highly significant association was found between those reporting childhood sexual abuse (n=15) and auditory hallucinations.ConclusionsThe relationship between childhood sexual abuse and hallucinations in bipolar disorder warrants further investigation.
Relevance of plasma D-dimer measurement in patients with acute peripheral vertigo
Authors: Fattori Bruno , Ursino Francesco , Cristofani Renza , Galetta Fabio , Nacci Andrea 
Published: June 2003

The aetiopathogenesis of acute unilateral peripheral vestibular dysfunction (APV), also known as vestibular neuritis, is still debated: the principal cause is viral infection with vascular factors second in importance.Plasmatic D-dimer, considered a plasmatic index of hypercoagulation, was measured in a group of 45 APV patients and in a group of 25 patients suffering from Ménière’s disease. Measurements were taken both during the acute stage and after a four to six week period of pharmacological washout. The mean D-dimer levels were significantly higher than those measured in the controls both during the acute phase (301 SD161 vs 202 SD113 ng/mL) and after follow up (304 SD211 vs 192 SD111 ng/mL) (p = 0.008). Moreover, during the acute stage 23 of the APV patients (51.1 per cent) had plasmatic D-dimer levels above the upper normal limit (i.e.: <300 ng/mL), compared to four of those with Ménière’s disease (16 per cent).Our results lead us to postulate	an involvement of the haemostatic system in APV.
Retroauricular skin flap and primary Z-plasty for donor site closure in partial ear reconstruction
Authors: Horch Raymund E. , Schipper Joerg , Laszig Roland 
Published: June 2003

Helical rim defects are noticeable and may well need reconstruction, especially in men. A method for reconstructing this type of defect together with primary donor site closure by Z-plasty is described.To close partial helical rim defects, a retroauricular caudally based rotational skin flap is performed to cover a conchal cartilage graft from the same ear that is harvested first and sutured into place to remodel the helical rim. To primarily close the donor site defect a retroauricular Z-plasty was developed which easily allowed primary closure of the donor site.The technique described here is straightforward, safe and reproducible. The Z-plasty approach for closing the donor site is useful, since the slight disturbance of the hairline is well hidden retroauricularly. This technique can be considered as a single-stage repair modality for the reconstruction of helical rim defects within primary donor site closure.