bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Evolution of Recurrent Asthma Event Rate Over Time in Frailty Models
Authors: Duchateau Luc , Janssen Paul , Kezic Iva , Fortpied Catherine 
Published: November 2004

Summary
To model the time evolution of the event rate in recurrent event data a crucial role is played by the timescale that is used. Depending on the timescale selected the interpretation of the time evolution will be entirely different, both in parametric and semiparametric frailty models. The gap timescale is more appropriate when studying the recurrent event rate as a function of time since the last event, whereas the calendar timescale keeps track of actual time. We show both timescales in action on data from an asthma prevention trial in young children. The frailty model is further extended to include both timescales simultaneously as this might be most relevant in practice.
Personal Income Distribution and Market Structure
Authors: Benassi Corrado , Cellini Roberto , Chirco Alessandra 
Published: November 2004

Abstract
Income distribution affects market demand and its elasticity, and, as a consequence, the optimal behaviour of firms and market equilibrium. This paper focuses on the effects of income polarization, and presents a model where ± for any unimodal density function describing income distribution of the consumers ± income polarization leads to market concentration, i.e., to a smaller number of firms able to survive in the long run, provided that the firms' fixed costs are sufficiently low.
On the Effectiveness of Growth- Enhancing Policies in a Model of Growth Without Scale Effects
Authors: Arnold Lutz G. 
Published: November 2004

Abstract
Standard R&D growth models have two disturbing properties: the presence of scale effects (i.e., the prediction that larger economies grow faster) and the implication that there is a multitude of growth-enhancing policies. Recent models of growth without scale effects, such as Segerstrom's (1998), not only remove the counterfactual scale effect, but also imply that the growth rate does not react to any kind of economic policy. They share a different disturbing property, however: economic growth depends positively on population growth, and the economy cannot grow in the absence of population growth. The present paper integrates human capital accumulation into Segerstrom's (1998) model of growth without scale effects. Consistent with many empirical studies, growth is positively related not to population growth, but to investment in human capital. And there is one way to accelerate growth: subsidizing education.
Explorations in open space. The World Social Forum and cultures of politics*
Authors: Keraghel Chloé , Sen Jai 
Published: November 2004

We are living through a time of the rise of dramatically new politics, including civil politics, at local, national, transnational, and global levels, and new global networks among refugees, migrants, and religious groups. One of the most prominent manifestations of world civil politics is the World Social Forum, which held its first world meeting in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in January 2001. Based on issue analysis and diagnosis, the Forum aims to encourage the formulation of alternative proposals and strategies to neo‐liberal “pensée unique” and to all forms of fundamentalism. The dramatic growth in numbers attending the world event – from around 25,000 in 2001 to over 100,000 in 2004 – attests to the relevance of the Forum to people all over the world.While it calls itself “Social”, the Forum is a fundamentally political idea and promotes a specific vocabulary, grammar, and culture of politics. We call for a wide‐ranging, critical, and insistently plural exploration of the idea and concept of “open space” as a political‐cultural concept, focusing on the Forum and its self‐defined culture(s) of politics. In these terms, the Forum represents both an important experiment and something of a paradox. On the one hand, it offers a rich vision of an “open space” for movements that challenge empires and celebrate diversity and plurality. On the other hand, the open space is circumscribed by a specific conception of politics and a specific ideological orientation. Is multiplicity sustainable within and in relation to a single, “unique” larger idea? Can the culture of “open space” politics operate coherently both within the Forum and in its relations with the world it seeks to change?
The Social Forums as an ideal model of convergence
Authors: Pleyers Geoffrey 
Published: November 2004

Alternative globalisation activists, who are opposed to cultural uniformity, promote respect for difference as one of their main values. In order to blend this appreciation of diversity with the various factions of the movement, activists have created a new ideal convergence model: the Social Forums. Three main characteristics apply: an inclusive atmosphere with respect for diversity, the organisation of “open spaces”, and the non‐deliberative nature of meetings. Though activists aim to live by these principles, the model remains no less ideal, because this way of acting it out expresses the values of alternative globalisation utopias and is impossible to recreate in real‐world meetings, which is a result both of the behaviour of the parties involved and of structural limitations inherent to the model.Rather than an organisation that encompasses all factions of the alternative globalisation movement, World Social Forums provide platforms for debate and flexible coordination allowing activists to work together in an environment respectful of differences. However, certain aspects of the expansion of these World Social Forums–their increasing size, the growing burden of their organisation, their institutionalisation or internal shortcomings in their democratic process – may pose a threat.
Prediction of pregnancy by intrauterine insemination using CASA estimates and strict criteria in patients with male factor infertility
Authors: Shibahara Hiroaki , Obara Hiromi , Ayustawati  , Hirano Yuki , Suzuki Tatsuya , Ohno Akiko , Takamizawa Satoru , Suzuki Mitsuaki 
Published: November 2004

SummaryThis study was performed to predict pregnancy by intrauterine insemination (IUI) using computer‐aided sperm analysis (CASA) estimates and strict criteria in patients with male factor infertility. IUI was performed in 682 cycles on 160 male factor infertile patients. Semen examinations were carried out by CASA and strict criteria before and after sperm preparation using continuous‐step density gradient centrifugation. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves were constructed for assessment of the effectiveness of each individual parameter in predicting pregnancy by IUI. A clinically acceptable threshold was calculated when sensitivity plus specificity were maximum. The average cycle of IUI performed was 4.3 ± 2.4. Pregnancy rate per cycle and per patient were 7.2% (49/682) and 28.1% (45/160), respectively. Using ROC curve, it was shown that normal sperm morphology assessed by the strict criteria before sperm separation and five parameters after sperm separation including rapid, progressive motility, average path velocity (VAP), curvilinear velocity (VCL), and straight line velocity (VSL) were able to predict pregnancy by IUI. Correlation between sperm parameters and pregnancy outcome was examined by the logistic regression model. In a multivariate analysis normal morphology before sperm separation ≥15.5% [odds ratio (OR) = 2.2, p = 0.02], rapid after sperm separation ≥25.5% [OR = 3.9, p = 0.029], and VCL after sperm separation ≥102.65 μm/sec [OR = 3.2, p = 0.002] were the parameters of predictive value for pregnancy outcome. Adjustment of the model for female age, female infertility factors, and the methods of ovulation induction did not change this finding, and the final model still had the same covariates. Pregnancy rates per cycle according to the number (0, 1, 2 and 3) of variables satisfied with the three parameters were 0% (0/110), 1.6% (3/183), 9.7% (21/217) and 15.1% (23/151), respectively. Three semen parameters including normal morphology before sperm separation, rapid and VCL after sperm separation were identified as predictors of pregnancy by IUI. These variables would be helpful when counselling patients before they make the decision to proceed with in vitro fertilization (IVF)/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)‐ET.
Enhanced inducible nitric oxide synthase expression and nitrotyrosine accumulation in experimental granulomatous hepatitis caused by Toxocara canis in mice
Authors: Fan C.‐K. , Lin Y.‐H. , Hung C.‐C. , Chang S.‐F. , Su K.‐E. 
Published: November 2004

SUMMARY The involvement of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and nitrotyrosine (NT) in pathogenesis of toxocaral granulomatous hepatitis (TGH) in a murine host was quantitatively determined by biochemical, parasitological, pathological, and immunohistochemical assessments in a 42‐week investigation. Mice were sacrificed for serum collection and histological processing as well as acid–pepsin digestion of the liver in a larval recovery study. Significantly increased levels of total serum NO were found in the trial, indirectly suggesting iNOS activation in the liver. iNOS reactivity was predominantly observed in infiltrating leucocytes in lesions and normal and apocrine‐like cholangiocytes; in contrast, hepatocytes and multinucleated giant cells showed negative cytoplasmic staining in TGH. Strong iNOS‐like reactivity was also detected on the body wall of larvae. The locations of NT reactivity were nearly identical to those of iNOS expression; infiltrating leucocytes or cholangiocytes stained for iNOS were also stained for NT in TGH. Enhanced iNOS expression, but not invading larvae (r = 0·256, P = 0·211), seemed to play a certain role in pathological damage in TGH due to a significant correlation between iNOS expression and serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels (r =0·593, P = 0·021) in the trial. Our present results indicate a potential therapeutic strategy for treatment of GH caused by other nematodes through manipulation of iNOS expression.
Learning ‘Peace Talk’ in Northern Ireland: Peer Mediation and Some Conceptual Issues Concerning Experiential Social Education
Authors: Moffat Chris 
Published: November 2004

Experiential learning is often seen as a central component of social education and pastoral programmes such as peer mediation; but the precise nature of experience as an educational, social and pedagogic/cultural process in schools is complex. This paper uses the notion of experiential learning to explore the impact of a peer mediation programme in a transforming integrated school in Northern Ireland. The programme was intended to mainstream the involvement of pupils in the process of creating a more integrated school ethos and was implemented by youth workers working as members of the school staff.The paper begins with a review of the theoretical basis of experience as educational. This is followed by an interpretative review of the results of a survey of pupils' attitudes to peer mediation and semi‐structured interviews with pupils and school and project staff about their perception of the impact of the programme on ideas of social learning. One issue is the extent to which developing pupils' capacity for interactive dialogue can be seen as an experiential process, like learning a foreign language – hence ‘peace talk’. Another is the process by which the perception of peer mediation training as ‘experiential’ constituted an enabling ‘pedagogic discourse’ which legitimized the programme for teachers and affirmed its beneficial impact on pupils.
Bone marrow necrosis in a patient with acute promyelocytic leukemia during re‐induction therapy with arsenic trioxide
Authors: Ishitsuka Kenji , Shirahashi Akihiko , Iwao Yasuhiro , Shishime Mikiko , Takamatsu Yasushi , Takatsuka Yoshifusa , Utsunomiya Atae , Suzumiya Junji , Hara Syuji , Tamura Kazuo 
Published: November 2004

Abstract:Arsenic trioxide (As2O3) therapy at a daily dose of 0.15 mg/kg was given to a 60‐yr‐old Japanese male with refractory acute promyelocytic leukemia. White blood cell (WBC) of 6.6 × 103/μl increased to 134 × 103/μl following the administration of As2O3. Daily hydroxyurea (HU), and 6‐mercaptopurine (6‐MP) were added on days 7 and 19, respectively. Both HU and 6‐MP were discontinued on day 28, when WBC declined to 54.0 × 103/μl. He developed unexplained fever and profound cytopenia requiring multiple blood products transfusions. Bone marrow examination on day 42 revealed massive necrosis. Pharmacokinetics confirmed a mean maximum plasma arsenic concentration (Cpmax) and a half‐life time (t1/2) of 6.9 μm and 3.2 h, respectively, in the therapeutic range. This is the first case of bone marrow necrosis after standard‐dose As2O3 therapy.
1513A/C polymorphism in the P2X7 receptor gene in chronic lymphocytic leukemia: absence of correlation with clinical outcome
Authors: Nückel Holger , Frey Ulrich H. , Dürig Jan , Dührsen Ulrich , Siffert Winfried 
Published: November 2004

Abstract:Purinergic P2X7 receptors are ligand‐gated cation channels expressed on the cells of the immune and hemopoietic system which have been shown to mediate the ATP‐induced apoptotic death of monocytes, macrophages and lymphocytes. A common single nucleotide polymorphism within the P2X7 gene has been described in exon 13 (1513A/C), the gene products encoding fully active and non‐functional proteins. We genotyped the P2X7 1513A/C polymorphism using DNA from 111 patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and 97 healthy controls using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification followed by Hha1 restriction analysis. We found no significant difference in allele frequency between CLL patients and controls. Time periods from diagnosis to initiation of chemotherapy, a surrogate marker for disease progression, were not different in patients displaying the combined 1513A/C and C/C or the 1513A/A genotype (P = 0.97). Similar results were observed in a subgroup analysis of prognostically more favorable CD38‐negative and ZAP‐70‐negative CLL patients. In conclusion, our data do not support a role of the P2X7 genotype as a prognostic marker in B‐cell CLL.
Tailored therapy of adult acute leukaemia in Jehovah's Witnesses: unjustified reluctance to treat
Authors: Laszlo Daniele , Agazzi Alberto , Goldhirsch Aron , Cinieri Saverio , Bertolini Francesco , Rabascio Cristina , Pruneri Giancarlo , Calabrese Liliana , Cocquio Angela , Martinelli Giovanni 
Published: November 2004

Abstract:Treatment of acute leukaemia in adult Jehovah's Witnesses (JW) is challenging because of ‘a priori’ refusal of most physicians to apply diagnostic and therapeutic procedures to haematological abnormalities resembling acute leukaemia. Rejection of blood transfusions by individuals of this faith is usually blamed to justify this attitude, thus leading to severe personal, medical and psychological distress related to the lack of care. We therefore intended to verify whether a standard (tailored) chemotherapy, without the use of prophylactic blood product transfusions, could be applied during treatment of acute leukaemia under such circumstances. Eleven consecutive JW adult patients with acute leukaemia, all of whom had been denied care in other institutions, were treated at the European Institute of Oncology (EIO) in Milan, Italy. Five had acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) (one bcr/abl positive), six had acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) with immunophenotype and/or cytogenetic intermediate‐high risk features, except one patient with acute promyelocytic leukaemia (APML). Standard induction chemotherapy [cytosine arabinoside (ARA‐C) and daunorubicin (DNR) for AML, vincristine (VCR), DNR and prednisone (PDN) for ALL, all‐trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and DNR for APML] with the antracycline dose of at least 30 mg/sqm were used. All patients experienced severe anaemia after induction chemotherapy despite erythropoietin. Median haemoglobin nadir for patients with ALL and AML was 4.5 g/dL (range 1.3–6.9) and 5.1 g/dL (range 2.6–6.8), respectively. Median platelet nadir counts for all patients was 14.5 × 109)/L (range 1–24). One patient died during induction probably due to haemorrhage. Four of five patients with ALL achieved a complete remission (CR) (including the bcr/abl case) while among patients with AML only the one with APML achieved CR. Three patients (APML = 1 and ALL = 2) are still alive and disease‐free. This small series of adult patients with leukaemia illustrates difficulties in treating patients who are practising JW, yet nevertheless provides a significant argument against the prejudicial decision leading to evasion of treatment in these patients.
Artefacts in oral incisional biopsies in general dental practice: a pathology audit
Authors: Seoane J , Varela‐Centelles PI , Ramírez JR , Cameselle‐Teijeiro J , Romero MA 
Published: November 2004

Objectives:  To investigate the artefacts in oral biopsies taken by general dental practitioners (GDP) and oral and maxillofacial surgeons (O&MF) and to assess the concordance of clinical and pathological diagnoses.Design:  Cross‐sectional investigation.Setting:  Primary care and hospital practice.Material and methods:  A total of 354 randomly selected oral biopsy samples studied by the same pathologist.Main outcome measures:  Clinical and pathological diagnoses – prevalence and location of surgical handling artefacts: crush, splits, haemorrhage and fragmentation.Results:  Artefacts identified in GDPs biopsies: crush 27.1%; haemorrhage 19.8%; splits 11.3%; and fragmentation 6.2%. O&MSs biopsies showed: crush 10.2%; splits 13%; fragmentation 2.3%; and haemorrhage 8.5%. No differences in split or fragmentation were identified between GDPs and O&MSs. Crush (χ2 = 16.76; P = 0.000) and haemorrhage (χ2 = 9.31; P = 0.003) were more frequently identified in GDPs biopsies. Concordance between clinical and pathological diagnoses was excellent ( > 0.75) for both groups in all disorders considered.Conclusions:  The elicited clinical knowledge, the quality of the samples sent to the pathologists seem to suggest the advisability for the GDPs to perform diagnostic biopsies.
Dentine structure and mineralization in hypocalcified amelogenesis imperfecta: a quantitative X‐ray histochemical study
Authors: Sánchez‐Quevedo MC , Ceballos G , García JM , Luna JD , Rodríguez IA , Campos A 
Published: November 2004

Objective:  This study was undertaken in order to establish the structural and mineralization pattern of the response of dentine to alterations in enamel in hypocalcified amelogenesis imperfecta (AI).Design:  The images and data obtained with scanning electron microscopy and electron probe X‐ray microanalysis in enamel and dentine specimens from control and affected teeth were compared in this study.Patients and methods:  We compared 46 fragments of permanent teeth from patients with clinically diagnosed hypocalcified AI and 20 normal permanent teeth. All specimens were prepared for electron probe X‐ray microanalysis.Results:  Dentine is characterized by thickening of the peritubular dentine and partial obliteration of the dentinal tubules that does not give rise to a compact sclerotic cast. In dentine, calcium levels were significantly higher in teeth with clinically hypocalcified AI in relation with control teeth (P < 0.001).Conclusions:  Dentine is affected in hypocalcified AI increasing mineralization (narrower tubules and higher content of calcium) in response to enamel disorder.
Analysing Perceived Downside Risk: the Component Value‐at‐Risk Framework
Authors: Hallerbach Winfried G. , Menkveld Albert J. 
Published: November 2004

Abstract Multinational companies face increasing risks arising from external risk factors, e.g. exchange rates, interest rates and commodity prices, which they have learned to hedge using derivatives. However, despite increasing disclosure requirements, a firm's net risk profile may not be transparent to shareholders. We develop the ‘Component Value‐at‐Risk (VaR)’ framework for companies to identify the multi‐dimensional downside risk profile as perceived by shareholders. This framework allows for decomposing downside risk into components that are attributable to each of the underlying risk factors. The firm can compare this perceived VaR, including its composition and dynamics, to an internal VaR based on net exposures as it is known to the company. Any differences may lead to surprises at times of earnings announcements and thus constitute a litigation threat to the firm. It may reduce this information asymmetry through targeted communication efforts.
The Comovement of US and UK Stock Markets
Authors: Engsted Tom , Tanggaard Carsten 
Published: November 2004

Abstract US and UK stock returns are highly positively correlated over the period 1918–99. Using VAR‐based variance decompositions, we investigate the nature of this comovement. Excess return innovations are decomposed into news about future dividends, real interest rates, and excess returns. We find that the latter news component is the most important in explaining stock return volatility in both the USA and the UK and that stock return news is highly correlated across countries. This is evidence against Beltratti and Shiller's (1993) finding that the comovement of US and UK stock markets can be explained in terms of a simple present value model. We interpret the comovement as indicating that equity premia in the two countries are hit by common real shocks.
Diversity and locus specificity of chicken MHC B class I sequences
Authors: Livant E. J. , Brigati J. R. , Ewald S. J. 
Published: November 2004

SummaryThe major histocompatibility complex B (MHC B) region in a standard haplotype of Leghorn chickens contains two closely linked class I loci, B‐FI and B‐FIV. Few sequences of B‐FI alleles are available, and therefore alleles of the two loci have not been compared with regard to sequence diversity or locus specificity. Here, we report eight new B‐Fα1/α2‐coding sequences from broiler chicken MHC B haplotypes, and a unique recombinant between the two B‐F loci. The new sequences were combined with existing B‐F sequences from Leghorn and broiler haplotypes for analysis. On the basis of phylogenetic analysis and conserved sequence motifs, B‐F sequences separated into two groups (Groups A and B), corresponding to B‐FIV and B‐FI locus, respectively. Every broiler haplotype had one B‐F sequence in Group A and the second B‐F sequence, if it existed, clustered in Group B. Group B (presumptive B‐FI locus) sequences identified in broiler haplotypes resembled the human MHC class I HLA‐C locus in their distinctive pattern of allelic polymorphism. Compared with B‐FIV, B‐FI alleles were less polymorphic and possessed a conserved locus‐specific motif in the α1 helix, but nevertheless demonstrated evidence of diversifying selection. One B‐FIα1/α2‐coding nucleotide sequence was completely conserved in four different broiler haplotypes, but each allele differed in the exon encoding the α3 domain.