bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Surgical and radiological management of uterine fibroids – a UK survey of current consultant practice
Authors: Taylor Alexander , Sharma Malini , Tsirkas Panos , Arora Rohit , Di Spiezio Sardo Attilio , Mastrogamvrakis George , Buck Lucie , Oak Mac , Magos Adam 
Published: April 2005

Background.  The aim of this study was to determine the current surgical and radiological management of uterine fibroids by consultants working in the UK.Methods.  A structured questionnaire was posted to all 1439 UK consultants. Non‐responders were sent one reminder. The main outcome measures were surgical route and technique used for myomectomy, and the use and availability of uterine artery embolization (UAE).Results.  Eight hundred fifty‐two (59%) consultants replied. Seven hundred thirty‐five (86%) admitted to regular sessions of gynecologic surgery, and 75% of this group performed open myomectomy, 16% laparoscopic myomectomy, and 66% hysteroscopic myomectomy. Open myomectomy: Forty‐one percent of consultants performed open surgery on uteri equivalent to 12‐week gestational age or less, 87% prescribed preoperative gonadotrophin‐releasing hormone agonists (GnRHa) in order to reduce surgical bleeding, with 35% using myomectomy clamps, 23% tourniquets, and 19% vasoconstrictors. Laparoscopic myomectomy: The largest uterine size the majority would attempt was equivalent to a 12‐week gestation, 58·6% used preoperative GnRHa, 21% used intraoperative vasoconstrictors, and 1·4% tourniquets in order to minimize bleeding. Hysteroscopic myomectomy: As with laparoscopic myomectomy, the largest uterine size the majority would attempt was equivalent to a 12‐week pregnancy. Blood transfusion: Twenty per cent, 10%, and 7% reported the need for blood transfusion in up to 10% of patients undergoing open, laparoscopic, or hysteroscopic myomectomy, respectively. UAE: Fifty‐one percent have access to UAE and 40% have referred at least one patient in 2001.Conclusions.  Open and hysteroscopic myomectomy are frequently utilized in contrast to laparoscopic myomectomy. The reported rate of blood transfusion appears low. Although UAE is widely available, the majority of patients are still managed surgically.
How we do it: Application of LigasureTM Vessel Sealing System in patients undergoing total laryngectomy and radical neck dissection
Authors: Prokopakis E.P. , Lachanas V.A. , Karatzanis A.D. , Benakis A.A. , Velegrakis G.A. 
Published: April 2005

Keypoints• The LigasureTM Vessel Sealing System (LVSS) provides haemostasis by denaturating collagen and elastin from the vessel wall and surrounding connective tissue.• LVSS is efficient for ligation of vessels of up to 7 mm in diameter, and these seals can withstand a minimum of three times normal systolic pressure.• LVSS delivers a precise amount of energy, according to the grasped tissue's density resulting in limited thermal injury to adjacent tissues.• We report the efficacy of the LVSS device in a case series of total laryngectomy and radical neck dissection procedures. LVSS has proved a reliable device, providing safe and time‐saving haemostasis during these procedures.
A laboratory and clinical evaluation of single‐use instruments for tonsil and adenoid surgery
Authors: Tomkinson A. , Phillips P. , Scott J.B. , Harrison W. , De Martin S. , Backhouse S.S. , Temple M. 
Published: April 2005

Objectives:  To compare the quality and consistency of single‐use adenotonsillectomy instruments available in the UK with reusable instruments and examine their performance in a clinical setting.Design:  A laboratory assessment of each reusable instrument created a detailed specification for the respective single‐use equivalent. A surveillance system monitored the performance of a selected set of specified single‐use instruments.Setting:  Single‐use instruments were withdrawn shortly after their introduction in 2001. Persisting concerns from the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee led to an investigation into the feasibility of continuing to use such instruments.Main outcome measures:  The numbers of instruments from each set judged as unacceptable or as good as the original. The number and cause of instrument failure during clinical surveillance.Results:  Between 40% and 93% of the instruments on each set were as good as the original and between 0% and 40% of the instruments were unacceptable from six sets of steel and one set of polymer instruments. 4151 procedures were monitored between 1 February 2003 and 31 March 2004 using a total of 41 376 instruments. Problems were reported with 335 (0.8%) instruments, 46% attributable to instrument design, 14% to poor design control and 13% to instruments escaping quality control systems. Following correction of the faults, between 1 January 2004 and 31 March 2004 the problem rate fell to 0.4%.Conclusions:  High quality single‐use instruments for tonsil and adenoid surgery are available in the UK. Some companies offered inferior instruments not fit for their purpose. The procurement, introduction and subsequent clinical approval of single‐use instruments requires a radically different approach to that currently applied to the purchase of reusable surgical equipment. Careful monitoring of their introduction is essential.
Malnutrition and Child Labor
Authors: Genicot Garance 
Published: April 2005

AbstractIn pre‐industrial and developing economies, it is common to find (i) entire families, including children, working together in family farms or urban factories; and (ii) a positive link between a person's consumption and her productivity. This paper argues that there is a natural reason for the concurrence of (i) and (ii). As a rule, households are characterized by intra‐household altruism: an increase in the income of an individual increases the consumption of all household members. Hence, when an employer pays an adult worker a high wage to enhance her productivity, part of it ends up augmenting her children's consumption and productivity. One way for the employer to prevent this leakage and internalize the externality is to employ the children as well. This explains the higher incidence of family labor in poor societies where (ii) is more likely to be true.
Should Governments Subsidise Inward Foreign Direct Investment?
Authors: Skaksen Mette Rose 
Published: April 2005

AbstractWhat happens when a government has incentives to subsidise inward FDI when labour markets are imperfectly competitive? Contrary to the traditional assumption in the literature, we allow the production in the multinational firm to either complement or substitute for local production. A new result is that the wage in the host country may decrease when production is moved to this country. The reason is that the union in the host country internalises product market externalities between the firms. Furthermore, it is shown that when a single country subsidises inward FDI, total world welfare might increase.
The Triple Inefficiency of Uncoordinated Environmental Policies
Authors: Hoel Michael 
Published: April 2005

AbstractWhen pollution is transboundary and there is international trade, a domestic inefficiency may arise in addition to the well‐known inefficiencies at the international level. More precisely, there will be a Nash equilibrium in which each country chooses a policy that gives it lower welfare than would otherwise be possible given the emission levels of all countries. However, there will also be a Nash equilibrium in which each country chooses tradable emission quotas as its policy instrument to achieve its desired level of emissions. In this Nash equilibrium, welfare in each country is maximised given the emission levels of all countries.
GLOBALIZATION OF CAPITAL MARKETS AND THE ASIAN FINANCIAL CRISIS
Authors: Kim E. Han 
Published: April 2005

This article has three basic aims: (1) to analyze the impact of the opening of their capital markets on the economies of host countries; (2) to investigate the causes of the Asian financial crisis; and (3) to evaluate the likely effects of the South Korean government's recent attempts to restructure its corporate sector.Although the recent Asian financial crisis has led some to question the merits of open capital markets and to call for regulatory restraints on capital flows across international borders, the scientific evidence suggests that the opening of stock markets to foreign investors has been largely beneficial for emerging economies. On average, stock market liberalization has been accompanied by increases in stock prices and reductions in stock return volatility, reductions in inflation, and reductions in the rate of currency depreciation.Much of the blame for the Asian currency crises is assigned to Asian policymakers' futile attempts to defy market forces by trying to maintain their currencies at artificially high levels. But a more fundamental cause of Asia's economic problems has been the widespread value destruction by Asian corporations, which has led to a lower value for the overall economy and weakened the banking sector. The government‐directed banking systems and weak corporate governance structures (including managerial incentives to increase size and market share at the expense of shareholders) that characterize most Asian economies have resulted in systematic overinvestment, bloated payrolls, and sharp declines in corporate profitability.While applauding most of the Korean government's recent measures to reform the economy, the article expresses skepticism about the government‐mandated restructuring of the chaebol known as the “big deal.” Rather than trying to direct the process of restructuring, Korean policymakers should limit their efforts to improving the market mechanism by increasing competition in the markets for capital, corporate control, and goods and services. The Korean market for corporate control transactions could be greatly improved by increasing the efficiency of bankruptcy proceedings and by allowing hostile takeovers by foreign as well as domestic investors. To increase the productivity of capital, Asian companies should seek to realign managerial with shareholder interests by tying compensation to measures of value creation like EVA.
WHICH CAPITALISM? LESSONS FORM THE EAST ASIAN CRISIS
Authors: Rajan Raghuram G. , Zingales Luigi 
Published: April 2005

As a result of the Asian crisis, relationship‐based economic systems are now under attack for corruption and inefficiency. Yet, until recently, they were held up as an alternative (and in some respects superior) form of capitalism to the arm's‐length, market‐based, Anglo‐Saxon systems of the U.S. and the U.K.What went wrong? This paper suggests that relationship‐based systems work well when contracts are poorly enforced and capital is scarce. Power relationships substitute for contracts, and can achieve better outcomes than a primitive contractual system. But a relationship‐based system suppresses the price system and the signals it provides. As a result, relationship‐based systems are likely to misallocate capital when presented with large external capital inflows. Since the external capital comes from arm's length investors who typically have few contractual rights or little power in a relationship system, and since these investors are aware of the potential for misallocation, they rationally choose to maintain control over borrowers by keeping their claims short term. Thus, the contact between the two systems creates a fragile hybrid that, while mutually beneficial to relationship borrowers and arm's length investors in normal times, is excessively prone to shocks.Where do we go from here? The authors suggest that while there may be some short‐term benefits for emerging economies from reverting to the pure relationship‐based system, in the long run such economies will be held back unless they develop the greater disclosure, contract enforcement, and competition of the arm's‐length system. The current Asian crisis may be the most opportune moment for these economies to effect the transition between systems.
THE ACTIVE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND ITS EFFECT ON THE PERFORMANCE OF THE LARGE PUBLICLY TRADED CORPORATION
Authors: MacAvoy Paul W. , Millstein Ira M. 
Published: April 2005

In recent years, boards of directors have become more active and independent of management in pursuing shareholder interests. But, up to this point, there has been little empirical evidence that active boards help companies produce higher rates of return for their shareholders. In this article, after describing the new board activism, the authors argue that past failures to document an association between independent boards and superior corporate performance can be explained by two features of the research: its concentration on periods prior to the 1990s (when most boards were largely irrelevant) and its use of unreliable proxies (such as a minimum percentage of outside directors) for a well‐functioning board.The authors hypothesize that an independent and resourceful board takes steps that require management to increase earnings available to investors. To test this hypothesis, the performance of a sample of large U.S. corporations was examined over the period 1991‐1995 using two proxies for the “professionalism” of each company's board: (1) the letter grades (A+ to F) assigned by CalPERS for corporate governance; and (2) a “presence” or “absence” grade based on three key indicators of professional board behavior. Both of these governance metrics were associated in statistically significant ways with superior corporate performance, as measured by earnings in excess of cost of capital and net of the industry average. While acknowledging that such results do not prove causation, the authors conclude that, in the first half of the 1990s, corporations with active and independent boards added significantly more value for shareholders than those with passive, “rubber‐stamp” boards.
THE CASE FOR AN INDONESIAN CURRENCY BOARD
Authors: Culp Christopher L. , Hanke Steve H. , Miller Merton H. 
Published: April 2005

In February 1998, after consulting one of the authors of this article, President Suharto and his Economic and Monetary Resilience Council advocated the establishment of a fixed‐rate currency board system in which the Indonesian rupiah would be backed by and convertible into U.S. dollars as a reserve currency. But the proposal, after being criticized by both the IMF and the U.S. government, was dropped.This article presents the case for currency boards in the context of Indonesia. The authors argue that the popular objections to currency boards–including those offered in the preceding article as well as those used by the IMF in the case of Indonesia—are based on a number of prevalent misconceptions. Contrary to the claims of critics, currency boards can be set up even in countries lacking foreign currency reserves; they can be designed to insulate their workings from political pressure; and, through the creation of a network of international branch banks and other market mechanisms, they can function without a “political” lender of last resort.
CAPITAL MARKETS AND DEMOCRACY
Authors: Brenner Reuven 
Published: April 2005

Many countries have democracy's forms, but without capitalism's content. Instituting the right to vote while keeping capital markets closed is a prescription for stagnation and preservation of the status quo. It raises hopes but does not bring prosperity. Instead, it perpetuates a powerful elite, creates the seeds for political turmoil, and thus brings democracy itself into disrepute.Whether a democracy succeeds is said to depend on its system of checks and balances—that is, on the effectiveness of its mechanism for correcting mistaken policies. For example, extending the vote could be inimical to prosperity if there are no rules and institutions that serve to constrain government spending. Among the most important of these institutions are open and well‐functioning capital markets. In case after case, the liberalization of financial markets has been accompanied by impressive economic growth and higher standards of living—even in countries that we would not recognize as democracies. Indeed, as the example of Hong Kong suggests, the establishment of open capital markets is not only by itself a fairly reliable prescription for prosperity—but more free and democratic institutions are likely to follow as a consequence.
IMPLEMENTING ECONOMIC CAPITAL IN AN INDUSTRIAL COMPANY: THE CASE OF MICHELIN
Authors: Tierny Jacques , Smithson Charles 
Published: April 2005

Economic capital (also referred to as “risk capital” or “risk‐based capital”) is the amount of capital, generally in the form of equity or equity equivalents, that is necessary to provide an adequate cushion against lower‐than‐expected operating results. Over the last two decades, the concept has taken root among banks, particularly in determining the amount of capital needed to protect against financial distress in the event of unexpectedly large credit losses.Michelin is in the vanguard of industrial companies that are beginning to apply economic capital concepts. The company uses an option‐pricing approach that effectively allows the market to identify the level of economic capital that is expected to maximize corporate value. Michelin has also begun the process of attributing economic capital to individual business units and activities. By so doing, the company is able to use a single, company‐wide hurdle rate for all projects and business units. Thus, instead of raising the discount rate when evaluating riskier projects and businesses, management assigns them larger amounts of economic capital (and, hence, a higher charge for use of that capital).The use of economic capital to evaluate ongoing activities and contemplated investments makes it more likely that decisions will translate into increased shareholder value. A case in point is outsourcing. As illustrated in an example analyzing the company's decision to sell but continue sourcing from a textile factory, outsourcing decisions typically reduce a firm's required amount of economic capital—and thus an analysis based on the use of economic capital provides a more realistic picture of the expected value added from such transactions.
The Discount Rate in Emerging Markets: A Guide
Authors: Sabal Jaime 
Published: April 2005

There is considerable controversy about the correct discount (or “hurdle”) rate to use when performing valuations of investments in real assets in emerging markets. The topic is particularly relevant because of the growing need to evaluate privatizations, direct private acquisitions, and greenfield investments in new productive facilities throughout the world.This article argues that the traditional practitioners' approach of building a country risk premium into the discount rate is generally inappropriate, mainly because country risk is not the same for all projects nor is it totally systematic. Moreover, there is no reason for the discount rate to be closely related to the spread on the government bonds of the country concerned. The author also points out that, in determining the appropriate discount rate, what is important is not the segmentation of the market, but the extent to which the investor is locally or globally diversified. The article accordingly reviews a selected group of models for calculating discount rates for both segmented and integrated markets. Adjustments to the valuation procedure are also suggested for cases in which investors are not well diversified or the investment is illiquid.
Transmission Barriers for Bovine, Ovine, and Human Prions in Transgenic Mice
Authors: Scott Michael R. , Peretz David , Nguyen Hoang-Oanh B. , DeArmond Stephen J. , Prusiner Stanley B. 
Published: April 2005

ABSTRACT
Transgenic (Tg) mice expressing full-length bovine prion protein (BoPrP) serially propagate bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) prions without posing a transmission barrier. These mice also posed no transmission barrier for Suffolk sheep scrapie prions, suggesting that cattle may be highly susceptible to some sheep scrapie strains. Tg(BoPrP) mice were also found to be susceptible to prions from humans with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD); on second passage in Tg(BoPrP) mice, the incubation times shortened by 30 to 40 days. In contrast, Tg(BoPrP) mice were not susceptible to sporadic, familial, or iatrogenic CJD prions. While the conformational stabilities of bovine-derived and Tg(BoPrP)-passaged BSE prions were similar, the stability of sheep scrapie prions was higher than that found for the BSE prions but lower if the scrapie prions were passaged in Tg(BoPrP) mice. Our findings suggest that BSE prions did not arise from a sheep scrapie strain like the one described here; rather, BSE prions may have arisen spontaneously in a cow or by passage of a scrapie strain that maintains its stability upon passage in cattle. It may be possible to distinguish BSE prions from scrapie strains in sheep by combining conformational stability studies with studies using novel Tg mice expressing a chimeric mouse-BoPrP gene. Single-amino-acid substitutions in chimeric PrP transgenes produced profound changes in incubation times that allowed us to distinguish prions causing BSE from those causing scrapie.
Characterization of a Recombinant Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Designed To Enter Cells via the IL13Rα2 Receptor of Malignant Glioma Cells
Authors: Zhou Guoying , Roizman Bernard 
Published: April 2005

ABSTRACTMalignant glioma tumor cells in situ exhibit on their surfaces the interleukin 13 (IL-13) receptor designated IL13Rα2. To target herpes simplex virus 1 to this receptor, we constructed a recombinant virus (R5111) in which the known heparan sulfate binding sites in glycoproteins B and C were deleted and IL-13 was inserted into both glycoproteins C and D. We also transduced a baby hamster kidney cell line lacking the known viral receptors (J1-1) and Vero cells with a plasmid encoding IL13Rα2. The J1-1 derivative (J-13R) cell line is susceptible to and replicates the R5111 recombinant virus but not the wild-type parent virus. We report the following. (i) Expression of IL13Rα2 was rapidly lost from the surface of transduced cells grown in culture. The loss appeared to be related to ligands present in fetal bovine serum in the medium. None of the malignant glioma cell lines cultivated in vitro and tested to date exhibited the IL13Rα2 receptor. (ii) Soluble IL-13 but not IL-4 or IL-2 blocked the replication of R5111 recombinant virus in J-13R cells. (iii) The endocytosis inhibitor PD98059 blocked the replication in J1-1 cells of a mutant lacking glycoprotein D (gD−/−) but not the replication of R5111 in the J-13R cells. We conclude that R5111 enters cells via its interaction with the IL13Rα2 receptor in a manner that cannot be differentiated from the interaction of wild-type virus with its receptors.