bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Goodness‐of‐fit testing of a weak memoryless property of life distributions
Authors: Ahmad Ibrahim A. , Alwasel Ibrahim A. 
Published: September 2004

SummaryA life distribution is said to have a weak memoryless property if its conditional probability of survival beyond a fixed time point is equal to its (unconditional) survival probability at that point. Goodness‐of‐fit testing of this notion is proposed in the current investigation, both when the fixed time point is known and when it is unknown but estimable from the data. The limiting behaviour of the proposed test statistic is obtained and the null variance is explicitly given. The empirical power of the test is evaluated for a commonly known alternative using Monte Carlo methods, showing that the test performs well. The case when the fixed time point t0 equals a quantile of the distribution F gives a distribution‐free test procedure. The procedure works even if t0 is unknown but is estimable.
A general inverse sampling scheme and its application to adaptive cluster sampling
Authors: Mohammad Salehi M.  , Seber George A.F. 
Published: September 2004

SummaryNot having a variance estimator is a seriously weak point of a sampling design from a practical perspective. This paper provides unbiased variance estimators for several sampling designs based on inverse sampling, both with and without an adaptive component. It proposes a new design, which is called the general inverse sampling design, that avoids sampling an infeasibly large number of units. The paper provide estimators for this design as well as its adaptive modification. A simple artificial example is used to demonstrate the computations. The adaptive and non‐adaptive designs are compared using simulations based on real data sets. The results indicate that, for appropriate populations, the adaptive version can have a substantial variance reduction compared with the non‐adaptive version. Also, adaptive general inverse sampling with a limitation on the initial sample size has a greater variance reduction than without the limitation.
Approximating the difference of two t‐variables for all degrees of freedom using truncated variables
Authors: Willink R. 
Published: September 2004

SummaryA scaled t‐distribution is used to approximate the distribution of a linear combination of two independent t‐variables for any number of degrees of freedom, and in particular for low degrees of freedom where moments do not exist. The approximation is the method‐of‐moments solution to the analogous problem with truncated t‐variables. The approximation exists for all degrees of freedom, is very accurate for more than two degrees of freedom, and performs as well as other approximations of this form when they exist.
Corrected proof of the result of ‘A prediction error property of the Lasso estimator and its generalization’ by Huang (2003)
Authors: Rosset Saharon , Zhu Ji 
Published: September 2004

SummaryThe Lasso achieves variance reduction and variable selection by solving an ℓ1‐regularized least squares problem. Huang (2003) claims that ‘there always exists an interval of regularization parameter values such that the corresponding mean squared prediction error for the Lasso estimator is smaller than for the ordinary least square estimator’. This result is correct. However, its proof in Huang (2003) is not. This paper presents a corrected proof of the claim, which exposes and uses some interesting fundamental properties of the Lasso.
Making the most of the best: Formulating a knowledge management strategy for a government advisory body
Authors: Osborne Matthew 
Published: September 2004

‘Well, there seems to be a growing consensus among companies doing knowledge management that the correct focus should be neither on the individual nor the enterprise, but instead on some grouping of people who share common context, stories and passion, around a subject’ (Larry Prusak).1What do you get when some 20 people meet every three or four months, each one at the top of their respective fields and from different organisations and with different backgrounds, in different cities around Australia? In the case of the Family Law Council you get scintillating intellectual pyrotechnics, sharing of insights and even, in a typically understated Australian way, passion.The Family Law Council (the Council) is a government advisory body. Advisory bodies have two primary functions: to provide expert and representative advice in an increasingly specialised and complex social environment; and to open up channels of communication between government and the people (Hughes 1995).This article examines how the tools and analytical techniques of knowledge management (KM) can add value to the two primary functions of the Council. Drawing on the conceptual framework of KM, and on the basis that the Council forms a knowledge system, this article will examine the workings of the Council. It will look at its statutory role, environmental background and logistics, in order to propose a KM strategy adapted to its specific circumstances. And it will, where appropriate, illustrate points with discussions based on methodologies and case studies from the flourishing academic field of KM.
International Evidence on the Stability of the Optimizing IS Equation*
Authors: Kara Amit , Nelson Edward 
Published: September 2004

AbstractWe provide international evidence on the issue of whether the optimizing IS equation is more stable than a backward‐looking alternative. This evidence consists of estimates of IS equations on quarterly data for the UK and Australia, both for the full sample of the last 40 years and for the period following major monetary policy shifts in 1979–80. Results suggest the parameters in the optimizing IS equations are more empirically stable than those of the backward‐looking alternative. The use of dynamic general equilibrium modelling in empirical work does deliver material benefits, in the form of equations more suitable for policy analysis.
Evaluating New‐Keynesian Models of a Small Open Economy*
Authors: Giordani Paolo 
Published: September 2004

AbstractWe suggest a strategy to evaluate members of a class of New‐Keynesian models of a small open economy. As an example, we estimate a modified version of the model in Svensson [Journal of International Economics (2000) Vol. 50, pp. 155–183] and compare its impulse response and variance decomposition functions with those a structural vector autoregression (VAR) model. The focus is on responses to foreign rather than to domestic shocks, which facilitates identification. Some results are that US shocks account for large shares of the variance of Canadian variables, that little of this influence is due to real exchange rate movements, and that Canadian monetary policy is not adequately described by a Taylor rule.
ImaginingThe Sociological Imagination: the biographical context of a sociological classic
Authors: Brewer John D. 
Published: September 2004

AbstractCharles Wright Mills's arguments inThe Sociological Imaginationare very popular and this paper focuses on the biographical context in which his programmatic statements were occasioned. This breaks new ground by locatingThe Sociological Imaginationand earlier programmatic statements in the professional and personal travails that motivated them. This approach is adopted in order to display the intersection between biography and sociology in Mills's life and career, a feature that he made a central part of sociology's promise. The paper utilizes this approach to reflect on the reasons whyThe Sociological Imaginationbecame so popular and was able to transcend Mills's general unpopularity at the time of his death; and as part of the explanation of why the dismissal of the book on its publication contrasts with the contemporary view, enabling it to transpose successfully to a time significantly different than at its writing.
Signal crimes and signal disorders: notes on deviance as communicative action1
Authors: Innes Martin 
Published: September 2004

AbstractIn this paper a ‘signal crimes’ perspective is outlined in an effort to unpack the relationships between experiences of crime and disorder, and perceptions of criminogenic risk. Grounded in symbolic interactionist sociology, and developing a social semiotic understanding of risk perception, it is a perspective that focuses upon processes of social reaction and the ways in which people interpret and define threats to their security. It is proposed that people interpret the occurrence of certain incidents as ‘warning signals’ about the levels of risk to which they are either actually or potentially exposed. These signals tend to take the form of signal crimes and/or signal disorders and are important in terms of how social space is symbolically constructed.
Socio‐historical paths of the male breadwinner model – an explanation of cross‐national differences1
Authors: Pfau‐Effinger Birgit 
Published: September 2004

AbstractIt is often assumed that in the historical transformation to modern industrial society, the integration of women into the economy occurred everywhere as a three‐phase process: in pre‐modern societies, the extensive integration of women into societal production; then, their wide exclusion with the shift to industrial society; and finally, their re‐integration into paid work during the further course of modernization. Results from the author's own international comparative study of the historical development of the family and the economic integration of women have shown that this was decidedly not the case even for western Europe.Hence the question arises: why is there such historical variation in the development and importance of the housewife model of the male breadwinner family? In the article, an explanation is presented. It is argued that the historical development of the urban bourgeoisie was especially significant for the historical destiny of this cultural model: the social and political strength of the urban bourgeoisie had central societal importance in the imposition of the housewife model of the male breadwinner family as the dominant family form in a given society. In this, it is necessary to distinguish between the imposition of the breadwinner marriage at the cultural level on the one hand, and at the level of social practice in the family on the other.
Appliances and their impact: the ownership of domestic technology and time spent on household work
Authors: Bittman Michael , Rice James Mahmud , Wajcman Judy 
Published: September 2004

AbstractEver since the appearance of Vanek's pioneering article in 1974, there has been a controversy about whether ‘labour saving’ domestic appliances actually save labour time. Vanek argued that time spent in housework had barely changed since 1926, despite the diffusion of practically every known domestic appliance over this period. Gershuny and Robinson challenge Vanek's ‘constancy of housework’ thesis, arguing that, between 1965 and 1985, domestic technology has significantly reduced the weekly hours of women's routine housework. Although there is much talking past each other, none of the protagonists in this dispute have any direct data about which households own or do not own domestic appliances. Instead, they all rely on the passage of the years as a proxy for ownership of domestic appliances, since a higher proportion of contemporary households now own domestic appliances. The Australian 1997 Time Use Survey (Australian Bureau of Statistics 1998b) is rare among official surveys, as it simultaneously provides detailed information on time spent in housework and an inventory of household appliances. The analysis of this data show that domestic technology rarely reduces women's unpaid working time and even, paradoxically, produces some increases in domestic labour. The domestic division of labour by gender remains remarkably resistant to technological innovation.
The expression of NMDA receptor 1 is associated with clinicopathological parameters and prognosis in the oral squamous cell carcinoma
Authors: Choi S.‐W. , Park S.‐Y. , Hong S.‐P. , Pai H. , Choi J.‐Y. , Kim S.‐G. 
Published: September 2004

Background:  Glutamate activates the N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate (NMDA) receptors and this receptor is involved in the proliferation and migration of various tumour cells in vitro. However, the relationship between NMDA receptor expression and clinical parameters in cancer patients is unclear. Therefore, NMDA receptor 1 (NMDAR1) expression along with its clinical significance was examined in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).Methods:  Eighty‐one tumour specimens from OSCC patients were used to determine the NMDAR1 expression level by immunohistochemical staining. The control was obtained from a matched normal adjacent mucosa. The cases were considered to be positive if reactivity was displayed in >25% of the cells.Results:  The NMDAR1 reactivity was positive in 50 of 81 cases, while it was negative in the control. NMDAR1 expression was significantly associated with a lymph node metastasis (P = 0.008), the tumour size (P < 0.001), and the cancer stage (P = 0.034). The patients whose tumours expressed NMDAR1 had a significantly poorer survival than the patients who were NMDAR1‐negative (log‐rank = 6.45, d.f. = 1, P = 0.011).Conclusions:  The NMDAR1 overexpression was significantly associated with the prognosis‐related factors. Therefore, it might be one of the prognostic markers of OSCC.
Effects of arecoline, safrole, and nicotine on collagen phagocytosis by human buccal mucosal fibroblasts as a possible mechanism for oral submucous fibrosis in Taiwan
Authors: Shieh Dean‐Hwa , Chiang Lien‐Chai , Lee Chien‐Hung , Yang Yi‐Hsin , Shieh Tien‐Yu 
Published: September 2004

Background:  Oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) is associated with the betel quid chewing habit, and 86% of betel quid chewers in Taiwan are also smokers. Arecoline and safrole are major principles in the composition of betel quid, and nicotine is the main toxic ingredient of cigarettes.Methods:  To explore the pathogenesis of OSF, flow cytometry was used to compare collagen phagocytosis by fibroblasts from the normal and the OSF region of the same 15 OSF patients.Results:  The results indicated that heterogeneity of fibroblasts existed because collagen phagocytosis by fibroblasts from the normal region was higher than from the OSF region in the same patient. The percentage of phagocytic cells was significantly inhibited by 10, 25 and 50 μg/ml arecoline, safrole and nicotine in normal fibroblast cultures, respectively, and the percentage of phagocytic cells was significantly reduced by 25, 25 and 50 μg/ml arecoline, safrole and nicotine in OSF fibroblast cultures, respectively. Collagen phagocytosis by fibroblasts exhibited prominent dose‐dependent inhibition as the concentration of arecoline, safrole, and nicotine increased. Besides, nicotine had a synergistic effect on arecoline‐ or safrole‐inhibited collagen phagocytosis.Conclusions:  The present study concludes that even in the same person, the collagen phagocytosis by fibroblasts is different between normal and OSF region. The deficiency in collagen phagocytosis by fibroblasts of the lesion might participate in the pathogenesis of OSF. Arecoline, safrole and nicotine, which are released in saliva during BQ chewing plus cigarette smoking, inhibit collagen phagocytosis by fibroblasts in a dose‐dependent manner and may induce OSF formation in Taiwan's patients.
Expression patterns of integrins on pleomorphic adenoma and adenoid cystic carcinoma: study on specimens and in vitro investigation of the effects of extracellular matrix on the expression of these adhesion molecules
Authors: Lourenço S. V. , Kapas S. , Williams D. M. , Leite K. , Araújo V. C. 
Published: September 2004

Background:  Pleomorphic adenoma (PA) and adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) are neoplasms of distinct behaviour, showing similar origin, cell components and marked presence of extracellular matrix (ECM). Interactions between cells and ECM are important in the biology of tumours, being partially mediated by integrins. This study investigated these interactions on PA and ACC using paraffin‐embedded tissue and an in vitro model of these conditions.Methods:  Expression of integrins in paraffin‐embedded samples was assessed by immunohistochemistry. Cells from PA and ACC were characterized using immunofluorescence, and integrin patterns of expression were investigated on cells cultivated on different ECM proteins.Results:  Luminal cells of both PA and ACC were more intensely positive for integrins than myoepithelial cells. In vitro studies revealed that PA cells expressed more integrins than ACC cells regardless the ECM protein present.Conclusions:  This study revealed particular patterns of integrin expression in both specimens and in vitro models of PA and ACC. This might prove useful for a better understanding of the biology of these lesions.
Increased mast cell density and protease content in actinic cheilitis
Authors: Rojas I. G. , Martínez A. , Pineda A. , Spencer M. L. , Jiménez M. , Rudolph M. I. 
Published: September 2004

Background:  Actinic cheilitis (AC) is a pre‐malignant lesion caused by ultraviolet (UV) radiation and characterized by epithelial and connective tissue alterations. Mast cells (MCs), key contributors to solar elastosis in murine UV‐irradiated skin, were characterized in order to assess their potential contribution to connective tissue degeneration in AC.Methods:  Actinic cheilitis (n = 15) and normal lip (n = 8) biopsies were stained immunohistochemically for tryptase and enzymehistochemically for chymase to determine MC density and protease content. MC subpopulations (i.e. MCT containing only tryptase, and MCTC containing chymase and tryptase) and their distribution were also determined.Results:  Mast cells and their proteases were increased in AC as compared with normal lip (P < 0.0001), and appeared degranulated especially around elastotic areas. MCT predominated over MCTC in AC and normal lip (P < 0.05). However, in AC MCT were increased in the epithelium/connective junction and connective area (P < 0.05), while in normal lip MCT predominated in connective and submucosal areas (P < 0.05).Conclusion:  The results suggest that increased MC density and protease content may contribute to elastosis formation in AC. In addition, changes in MCT distribution may favor AC malignization.
Self-Governance and Community
Authors: Benewick Robert , Tong Irene , Howell Jude 
Published: September 2004

This article has three objectives: 1) to assess the contribution of villager self-government to the development of community councils in urban China; 2) to discuss whether there are lessons to be learned from the experiments in urban community councils relevant to the building of rural communities; and 3) most importantly, to raise theoretical issues common to both villager self-government and urban community councils. In fulfilling these three aims, this article will further understanding of the expansion of grassroots democracy and increasing citizens’ participation in China. The article’s comparative approach will incorporate an analysis of the institutionalization of the ‘Four Democracies’ at the village level and the extent to which they are also being implemented in the different and varying circumstances of the urban experiments and environments. We are interested in whether the villagers’ committees and residents’ committees, especially the latter in their restyled community status, are training grounds for citizenship. The different human landscapes of village and community, however, will have a profound effect on the nature and exercise of citizenship.
Ethnic Classification Writ Large
Authors: Mullaney Thomas S. 
Published: September 2004

Like other forms of state-led demographic enterprises, the PRC-era Ethnic Classification Project, or minzu shibie, was an inventive process of social engineering, not simply an attempt at neutrally reflecting primordial qualities of the non-Han social sphere. The engineering of the categories depended upon three main factors. First, it required a particular form of taxonomic enthusiasm — a “will to classify” — committed to the division of the non-Han social realm into mutually exclusive categories of identity. Second, it required a taxonomic methodology with which to undertake this division. Finally, it required the power necessary to calibrate the social world with newly formed theoretical categories — to make these new categories “stick” at the local level. The first two of these factors were holdovers from the Republican period, whereas the final factor was something unique to the PRC. PRC researchers inherited a distinct brand of nation-statist, taxonomic enthusiasm from their Republican predecessors, as well as a selection of potent taxonomic methods — linguistics-based ethnic categorization being the most significant. Consequently, the classificatory schema produced by PRC researchers bore the distinct imprint of taxonomic work advanced by scholars in the 1930s and 1940s. Despite this unmistakable Republican pedigree, the Ethnic Classification Project would not have been possible without the unprecedented participation and power of the newly centralized Communist state.
After chronic myelogenous leukemia: tyrosine kinase inhibitors in other hematologic malignancies
Authors: Wadleigh Martha , DeAngelo Daniel J. , Griffin James D. , Stone Richard M. 
Published: September 2004

AbstractTyrosine kinases phosphorylate proteins on tyrosine residues, producing a biologic signal that influences many aspects of cellular function including cell growth, proliferation, differentiation, and death. Constitutive or unregulated activity through mutation or overexpression of these enzymes is a common pathologic feature in many acute and chronic leukemias. Inhibition of tyrosine kinases represents a strategy to disrupt signaling pathways that promote neoplastic growth and survival in hematologic malignancies and likely in other neoplasias as well. This review focuses on tyrosine kinases that have been implicated in the pathogenesis of hematologic diseases other than chronic myelogenous leukemia and discusses the evidence for the use of small molecules to target these kinases.
Molecular analysis of a large cohort of patients with the hyper immunoglobulin M (IgM) syndrome
Authors: Lee Wen-I , Torgerson Troy R. , Schumacher Michael J. , Yel Leman , Zhu Qili , Ochs Hans D. 
Published: September 2004

AbstractThe hyper immunoglobulin M (IgM) syndrome (HIGM), characterized by recurrent infections, low serum IgG and IgA, normal or elevated IgM, and defective class switch recombination and somatic hypermutation, is a heterogenous disorder with at least 5 distinct molecular defects, including mutations of the genes coding for the CD40 ligand (CD40L) and IKK-gamma (NEMO) genes, both X-linked; and mutations of CD40, activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AICDA), and uracil-DNA glycosylase (UNG), associated with autosomal recessive HIGM syndromes. To investigate the molecular basis of HIGM, we determined the prevalence of mutations affecting these 5 genes in a cohort of 140 patients (130 males and 10 females). Those patients without a molecular diagnosis were subsequently evaluated for mutations of the following genes: inducible CO-stimulator molecule (ICOS), ICOS ligand (ICOSL), and if male, Bruton tyrosine kinase (Btk) and SLAM-associated protein (SAP/SH2D1A). We found mutations of CD40L in 98 males; AICDA in 4 patients (3 males, 1 female); UNG in one adult male; and Btk in 3 boys. Of the remaining 25 males, one infant with hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia had a mutation of NEMO. None of the remaining 33 patients (24 males/9 females) had mutations affecting CD40, ICOS, ICOSL, or SH2D1, and are best classified as common variable immune deficiency (CVID), although other genes, including some not yet identified, may be responsible.