bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Lack of effect of ranitidine on gastric luminal pH and mucosal PCO2 during the first day in the ICU
Authors: Jakob S. M. , Parviainen I. , Ruokonen E. , Uusaro A. , Takala J. 
Published: March 2005

Background:  Histamine2 (H2)‐blocking agents can attenuate intragastric CO2‐production by reducing gastric acid secretion and preventing the interaction between H+ and bicarbonate. However, gastric acid production may be impaired in acute circulatory failure due to poor mucosal perfusion, and H2‐blockade could further impair mucosal perfusion.Methods:  Forty patients with acute circulatory and/or respiratory failure, age 61 ± 16 years (mean ± SD), APACHE II score 21 ± 7, and SOFA score 8 ± 3, received randomly either ranitidine, 50 mg (R) or placebo (P) every 8 h. Gastric intraluminal pH (gpH; antimony probe with external reference electrode) and mucosal pCO2 (prCO2, semicontinuous air‐tonometry) were measured during 24 h, and blood gases were taken at 6‐h intervals.Results:  Gastric intraluminal pH was 4.3 ± 2.4 in P and 5.1 ± 1.6 in R (NS). Mean prCO2 was 6.8 ± 2.7 kPa in P and 7.4 ± 2.1 kPa in R, and mucosal‐arterial pCO2 gradient (ΔpCO2) was 2.2 ± 2.9 kPa and 2.4 ± 2.4 kPa, respectively (NS). Within‐patient variabilities of gpH and prCO2 were not influenced by ranitidine. A posthoc analysis revealed that non‐survival in R was associated with a low mucosal pHi after 24 h (P = 0.002). This was explained by a low arterial pH but not by differences in gpH or prCO2.Conclusion:  In acute respiratory and circulatory failure, H2 blockade has an inconsistent impact on gpH and does not reduce variabilities of gpH or prCO2.
EEG spectral entropy, heart rate, photoplethysmography and motor responses to skin incision during sevoflurane anaesthesia
Authors: Seitsonen E. R. J. , Korhonen I. K. J. , Van Gils M. J. , Huiku M. , Lötjönen J. M. P. , Korttila K. T. , Yli‐Hankala A. M. 
Published: March 2005

Background:  Analgesia is a part of balanced anaesthesia, but direct indicators of nociception do not exist. We examined the relationship between motor reactions and physiological variables during skin incision in sevoflurane anaesthesia and hypothesized that nociception could be detected and graded by significant changes in these variables.Methods:  Thirty‐one women scheduled for abdominal hysterectomy participated in the study. Anaesthesia was induced with fentanyl (1 µg kg−1), propofol (1 mg kg−1) and sevoflurane. Skin incision was performed 14 min after induction during 1.6% end‐tidal sevoflurane anaesthesia without neuromuscular blockade. Electrocardiography (ECG), photoplethysmography (PPG) and electroencephalography (EEG) were registered, and a range of variables was computed from these signals. The postincision values, normalized with respect to their preincision values, of movers vs. non‐movers were compared. The variables showing significant differences between movers and non‐movers were used to develop a logistic regression equation for the classification of patients into movers or non‐movers.Results:  Twenty‐six patients were eligible for analysis, and 12 (46%) displayed a motor reaction to skin incision (movers). Many ECG, PPG and EEG‐related variables showed significant differences between the pre‐ and postincision periods. The best classification performance, assessed by leave‐one‐out cross‐validation, between movers and non‐movers was achieved with the combination of response entropy of EEG, RR‐interval and PPG notch amplitude. The corresponding equation yielded 96% correct classification with 90% sensitivity and 100% specificity. The classification performance of any single variable alone was considerably worse.Conclusion:  Combination of information from different sources may be required for monitoring the adequacy of analgesia during anaesthesia.
Delayed emergence process does not result in a lower incidence of emergence agitation after sevoflurane anesthesia in children
Authors: Oh A‐Y. , Seo K‐S. , Kim S‐D. , Kim C‐S. , Kim H‐S. 
Published: March 2005

Background:  Emergence agitation (EA) is more frequent after sevoflurane anesthesia than other inhalational agents but the etiology remains unclear. We investigated whether the EA after sevoflurane anesthesia is related to rapid emergence.Methods:  Eighty‐five patients, aged 1–7 years, undergoing elective urology surgery were studied. After induction, anesthesia was maintained with 2.0–2.5% sevoflurane and 50% N2O. BIS was monitored continuously throughout surgery and emergence. At the end of surgery, the children were randomly assigned to one of two groups: group I, immediate cessation of sevoflurane; or group G, gradual decrease of sevoflurane with the rate of 0.1%·min−1. Emergence agitation score was recorded during recovery.Results:  Times from immediate cessation or start of decrease of sevoflurane to BIS 70, 80, 90 and extubation were significantly longer in group G. The incidence of severe agitation (score ≥3) was not significantly different between group I and group G: which were 35.7% and 32.6%, respectively.Conclusion:  Prolonged recovery did not reduce the incidence of EA following sevoflurane anesthesia in children.
Reactive oxygen species in ovarian physiology
Authors: SUGINO NORIHIRO 
Published: March 2005

Cells living under aerobic conditions always face oxygen paradox. Oxygen is necessary for cells to maintain their lives. However, reactive oxygen species such as superoxide radical ( ), hydroxyl radical (OH−) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) are generated from oxygen and damage cells. Oxidative stress occurs as a consequence of excessive production of reactive oxygen species and impaired antioxidant defense systems. Antioxidant enzymes include: superoxide dismutase (SOD), which is a specific enzyme to scavenge superoxide radicals; copper‐zinc SOD, located in the cytosol; and manganese SOD, located in the mitochondria. Both types of SOD belong to the first enzymatic step to scavenge superoxide radicals.It has been reported that a number of local factors such as cytokines, growth factors and eicosanoids are involved in the regulation of ovarian function, in addition to gonadotropins and ovarian steroid hormones. Since reactive oxygen species are generated and SOD is expressed in the ovary, there is a possibility that reactive oxygen species and SOD work as local regulators of ovarian function. The present review reports that reactive oxygen species and their scavenging systems play important roles in several processes of reproductive physiology, including follicular development, oocyte maturation, ovulation, corpus luteum function and follicular atresia. (Reprod Med Biol 2005; 4: 31– 45)
Policy Instruments and Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Transport in the UK
Authors: ACUTT MELINDA , DODGSON JOHN 
Published: March 2005

‘There is now general recognition that a continuing upward trend in road traffic would not be environmentally or socially acceptable. The need is to find transport policies for the UK and Europe which will be sustainable in the long term.’ Transport and the Environment (Eighteenth Report of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, 1994), para. 14.1.
The Effect of Tax‐Based Savings Incentives on Government Revenue
Authors: RUGGERI GIUSEPPE , FOUGÈRE MAXIME 
Published: March 2005

AbstractThere is an unresolved debate on the effect of tax‐based savings incentives on government revenue. The conventional wisdom on tax‐assisted saving plans (TASPs) holds that they reduce public savings, but may raise national savings by stimulating private savings. Feldstein (1995) has challenged the view that TASPs reduce government revenue. According to Feldstein, ‘some of the increase in personal saving raises the corporate capital stock, and the return on this additional capital raises corporate tax payments’. When the additional corporate income tax revenue is taken into account, ‘the revenue loss associated with IRAs [Individual Retirement Accounts] either is much smaller than has generally been estimated or is actually a revenue gain’.This paper extends Feldstein's analysis to incorporate international considerations, differences in tax structures and alternative values for key parameters. We show that the result presented by Feldstein represents a special case that does not lead to broad generalisations. We also show that, under most conditions, the tenets of conventional wisdom that TASPs reduce government revenue are likely to hold, but that the magnitude of the effect may not be large. Finally, we suggest that the focus of research on the savings effects of TASPs is justifiable in a closed economy, where domestic savings affect domestic investment, but is not useful for policy development in small open economies. JEL classification: H2, H3, H6.
Wage Structures in the Private and Public Sectors in West Germany
Authors: DUSTMANN CHRISTIAN , Van SOEST ARTHUR 
Published: March 2005

AbstractIn this paper, we investigate pay structures in the private and public sectors for West Germany. We commence by describing some basic features of the public sector. We use micro‐data from the German Socio‐Economic Panel for the years 1984–93 to analyse developments and differences in public and private sector wage distributions for both males and females. We break wages down into different education groups and age‐groups, and use regressions to construct conditional wage differentials. Our results differ in many aspects from findings for the UK. For instance, we find that although mean wages are higher in the public sector for both males and females, conditional wages are higher in the private sector for all education groups for males, but higher in the public sector for females. JEL classification: J3.
What Can America Learn from the British Tax System?
Authors: GALE WILLIAM 
Published: March 2005

AbstractThis paper examines elements of British tax policy and discusses their implications for the US, where several recent proposals would mirror aspects of the British system. These include reducing filing requirements under the individual income tax, indexing capital gains for inflation, cutting mortgage interest deductions, enacting a value added tax, and integrating the corporate and personal income taxes. The paper also discusses implications of the poll tax for tax reform. Britain and America have made different choices involving equity, efficiency, simplicity and other goals. These choices offer the chance to help identify the impact of tax policy. JEL classification: H20.
The Possibility of a British Earned Income Tax Credit
Authors: WALKER ROBERT , WISEMAN MICHAEL 
Published: March 2005

AbstractThe possibility of an earned income tax credit, based on the US model, is currently high up the British political agenda. This paper examines the strengths and weaknesses of the current British system of in‐work benefits, before reviewing the effectiveness of the US Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) scheme. The British and US systems are then directly compared in terms of the net income delivered and the effective tax rate (net benefit deduction rate). Although the evidence in favour of a US‐style EITC is weak, two possible variants are considered. The paper concludes that the only future for an EITC is probably as a partial scheme, linked to the amalgamation of in‐work and out‐of‐work benefits, which removes wage subsidisation from the sphere of social security by means of a semi‐individualised tax credit. Even so, the same goals could be achieved through the benefit system. JEL classification: H24, I38.
Tax Law Improvement in Australia and the UK: The Need for a Strategy for Simplification
Authors: JAMES SIMON , WALLSCHUTZKY IAN 
Published: March 2005

AbstractIn both Australia and the UK, programmes are under way to simplify tax legislation by rewriting it. This paper demonstrates that tax simplification is a complicated concept and concludes that sustainable improvement is unlikely to be achieved if reform is limited only to linguistic changes. Tax law is complicated because there are powerful pressures that tend to increase the complexity of modern tax systems and these should also be considered in any simplification programme. In addition, tax simplification may be promoted by the greater use of purposive legislation — that is, legislation drafted in terms of general principles rather than much more comprehensive legislation designed to deal with every likely possibility. The paper examines the progress of the Australian Tax Law Improvement Project and argues that what is needed is a strategy for tax simplification that is incorporated into the process of generating tax policy itself. JEL classification: H20.
The Balance between Specific and Ad Valorem Taxation
Authors: KEEN MICHAEL 
Published: March 2005

AbstractA recurring issue in indirect tax design — most obviously, but not only, for goods traditionally subject to heavy excises — is the appropriate balance between specific and ad valorem taxation. Recent work has developed new perspectives on the issue, which is also one of the oldest in the formal study of public finance. This paper provides a broadly non‐technical account of the central considerations that arise in choosing the balance between specific and ad valorem taxation, reviewing and somewhat extending the lessons of theory and experience. There emerge clear presumptions as to the relative effects of the two kinds of tax on such attributes as price, profits, product quality and variety. But the socially optimal balance between them is likely to be quite sensitive to the characteristics of the market at issue. JEL classification: h21, H22.
Can Housing Wealth Alleviate Poverty among Britain's Older Population?
Authors: HANCOOK RUTH 
Published: March 2005

AbstractThis paper investigates the scope for housing wealth to alleviate poverty among Britain's older population by modelling the potential effect of equity‐release schemes on the net incomes of older homeowners using data from the 1993–94 and 1994–95 Family Expenditure Surveys. We find that for the older population in general, the potential impact of equity release on poverty is limited by the positive association between homeownership and income in later life. The scope for equity release to enhance incomes is restricted mainly to the oldest age‐groups where life expectancy is short. However, it is at these oldest ages that incomes are lowest and although we estimate that equity release cannot provide much benefit to those in the greatest poverty, the additions to income that equity release could bring to some of the oldest homeowners are not insignificant. JEL classification: D31, H55, 132, J14.
Supplementary Pension Coverage in Britain
Authors: BARRIENTOS ARMANDO 
Published: March 2005

AbstractThe 1986 Social Security Act introduced far‐reaching changes to the supplementary pension environment in Britain, encouraging the growth of defined contribution pension plans and especially personal pensions. This paper examines the pattern of supplementary pension coverage of employees in Britain five years after the implementation of the Act, using cross‐sectional data from the Family Resources Survey 1993–94. Two‐thirds of employees in Britain are covered by private contracted‐out pension scheme. Employer‐provided defined benefit pension schemes remain the dominant type of supplementary pension scheme. The growth of personal pension plans is more marked among manual, less‐skilled, workers in smaller establishments. The paper concludes that, in the absence of further pension reform, adverse labour market conditions will exert downward pressure on private pension coverage. JEL classification:I38, J32, J38.
The Role of Revegetation for Rehabilitation of Sodic Soils in Semiarid Subtropical Forest, India
Authors: Tripathi K. P. , Singh Bajrang 
Published: March 2005

AbstractA 40‐year‐old rehabilitated forest developed on a sodic wasteland at Banthra, Lucknow, north India, was studied for the performance of various species in different vegetation strata as well as their overall impact in soil amelioration. The plant communities of the three selected stands (S1, S2, and S3) of this forest were categorized into three vegetation strata: overstory trees, understory trees and shrubs, and a ground layer with scattered herbs and tree seedlings. The three stands contained 44, 19, and 8 species in each stratum, respectively, and three climber species. Importance value index (IVI) and basal area/cover did not show a clear dominance for particular species, and this is identified as a mixed forest with deciduous as well as evergreen species. Therefore, dominant species in each layer were categorized according to an IVI value of 10 and greater than 10% relative basal area. Within each stratum, species richness and plant population density decreased with an increase in plant size. Both species diversity and productivity were relatively high compared to the reference site because of protection from biotic disturbances, which cannot be controlled on the reference site. Creation of new forest on the barren land has contributed significant soil amelioration in the degraded sodic soil of the Indogangetic plains. The soil properties of the three stands did not vary much, although different tree species dominated the stands. Maximum soil amelioration was recorded for total N, followed by mineralized N, available N, and organic carbon contents for the nutritional properties. With regard to chemical properties, exchangeable sodium was greatly reduced in comparison to other properties viz pH, electrical conductivity, cation exchange capacity, and exchangeable Ca content. During 40 years of growth and development of the diverse vegetation in the revegetated forest, microbial C increased to about five times that of the surrounding barren sodic soils. There were no significant changes in soil structure even though the water‐holding capacity of the soil improved to about 53% of the once barren land due to a 7‐fold increase in organic carbon content.
Establishment and Growth of Living Fence Species: An Overlooked Tool for the Restoration of Degraded Areas in the Tropics
Authors: Zahawi R. A. 
Published: March 2005

Abstract Numerous tree species can establish by vegetative means in the tropics. Many are used in agriculture as living fences and in alley cropping and could also be used in a restorational setting. However, little is known about their establishment ability. This study evaluated the establishment ability and cover development of multiple species in three separate field trials in northern Honduras. First, 11 species were evaluated for their ability to establish in a common garden experiment. Second, of the former species, Bursera simaruba and Gliricidia sepium were evaluated for 2 years for their ability to establish vegetatively and develop cover at three deforested sites. Lastly, a study examined whether greater initial stake height and diameter at breast height increased the establishment success and crown development of G. sepium stakes. First, five species, Erythrina berteroana, Erythrina fusca, Jatropha curcas, G. sepium, and B. simaruba, had high establishment success. Others showed promise but may have been planted in the wrong season. Second, establishment for G. sepium was nearly 100% at all sites, whereas B. simaruba ranged from 30–50%. Gliricidia sepium stakes developed more rapidly and attained greater cover than B. simaruba. Dry season planting may increase the establishment success of both species. Lastly, greater initial stake height and diameter at breast height each resulted in greater crown development for G. sepium. The use of living fence species as a restorational tool has been overlooked. Aside from the advantages of planting tree species vegetatively, species can act as seed recruitment foci by attracting seed dispersers and provide shade to improve microclimatic conditions for seedling establishment. The technique described is simple and could have broad application throughout tropical regions.
The Effects of Doubling Limestone Sand Applications in Two Acidic Southwestern Pennsylvania Streams
Authors: Keener A.L. , Sharpe W.E. 
Published: March 2005

Abstract We studied the effects of limestone sand additions in Bear and Rock runs, two chronically and episodically acidified streams in southwestern Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Linn Run, a nearby episodically acidified stream, served as a reference stream. Our objectives were to evaluate the effects of doubling recommended limestone sand amounts on water quality and macroinvertebrates on Bear and Rock runs and to assess substrate changes resulting from limestone sand inundation. Approximately 23 and 6 tonnes of limestone sand were added annually to the headwaters of Bear and Rock runs, respectively, from 1999 to 2001. In 2002, amounts were doubled. Macroinvertebrate communities were assessed from 1999 to 2003 at points above and below the sand additions on Bear Run and Rock Run. Small, plastic substrate samplers were used to assess sand substrate effects. Doubling annual limestone sand amounts resulted in significantly improved pH and acid‐neutralizing capacity; however, total dissolved aluminum increased significantly downstream (α≤ 0.05). Macroinvertebrate density and diversity were not significantly affected, but an increase in acid‐sensitive taxa was observed at a site 3,500 m downstream. Substrate sampler data indicated a significant negative relationship between amount of sand deposited and density of macroinvertebrates. The mixed water quality and benthic macroinvertebrate results were reasonably consistent with earlier work and call into question the use of limestone sand in the restoration of chronically and episodically acidified waters.
Effects of Tree Guards and Weed Mats on the Establishment of Native Tree Seedlings: Implications for Forest Restoration in Hong Kong, China
Authors: Lai P.C. C. , Wong B.S. F. 
Published: March 2005

Abstract The effects of tree guards and weed mats on establishment and growth of native tree seedlings, Thick‐leaved oak (Cyclobalanopsis edithiae (Skan) Schott., Fagaceae), planted in an exposed hillside grassland in Hong Kong, were investigated. The natural regeneration of C. edithiae is poor due to a lack of seed dispersal agents and high seed predation, and therefore, this species is often targeted for forest restoration. The experiment lasted for 3.5 years during which the height, basal diameter, and crown diameter of individual seedlings were measured and survivorship recorded. The use of weed mats alone did not have a significant effect, but a combination of tree guards and weed mats led to a significant improvement in establishment, survivorship, and growth of the seedlings during the experimental period. Initially, the guards promoted rapid height growth of the seedlings, although lateral growth and secondary stem thickening were compromised. After the seedlings grew over the tree guards, the basal diameter and crown diameter increased at a notably faster rate. The combined effect of the tree guard and weed mat on the seedling growth pattern was found to be beneficial and contributed to the high survivorship of the seedlings. Comparing the survivorship data and the costs of various treatments, the use of tree guards in combination with the weed mats was demonstrated to be more cost‐effective than planting the seedlings without tree guards or weed mats. The potential for applying the technique in afforestation programs with native tree species for forest restoration in Hong Kong and other tropical regions is discussed.