bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
An objective structured clinical examination to evaluate health historian competencies
Authors: Lee Stacy J. , Wilkinson Susan L. , Battles James B. , Hynan Linda S. 
Published: March 2003

BACKGROUND : Post‐donation information events in the blood‐collection process account for the majority of errors reported to the FDA. An eight‐station objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) based on information reported after donation was developed as a competency examination for health historians. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS : The OSCE measured two individual skill components: history‐taking technique (HXE) and ability to record and interpret a medical history (HXI). Donor historians at the Hoxworth Blood Center, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, were examined (n = 56). RESULTS : In general, staff performance was acceptable, but several areas for improvement were identified. Of particular concern were the deferrals associated with the malaria scenarios. The overall reliability score was greater than 0.8 for the total OSCE and HXI. Using the cut score of 0.9, or 90 percent, 10 subjects would not have passed the exam based on the HXE score and one person would not have demonstrated competency based on the HXI score. CONCLUSION : An OSCE is a reliable, valid, and practical method for assessing continued competency in health historians. This form of competency assessment and subsequent retraining may reduce the incidence of errors in information reported after donation and should be further studied as a suitable national standard for assessing competency.
Lapsed donors: an untapped resource
Authors: Schreiber George B. , Glynn Simone A. , Damesyn Mark A. , Wright David J. , Tu Yongling , Dodd Roger Y. , Murphy Edward L. ,   Retrovirus Epidemiology Donor Study
Published: March 2003

BACKGROUND : There is a clear need for methods to recruit and retain donors without compromising blood safety. Although prior studies report lower viral prevalence rates in repeat donors than those in first‐time donors, it is unknown if this relationship holds after a lapse of several years between donations. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS : A total of 6.4 million allogeneic donations collected at five US blood centers from 1991 through 1998 were classified by donation history (first‐time vs. repeat) and by length of time between donations (lapsed interval length). The prevalence of HCV, HIV, and HBsAg was compared by donation history and lapsed interval length. The relationship between lapsed interval length and donor demographics was explored. RESULTS : Repeat donors who delayed their return for over 5 years were significantly less likely to test positive for a viral infection than were first‐time donors. The likelihood of a positive test result appeared to increase steadily with lapsed interval length for HCV and HBsAg, but not for HIV. Younger, less educated, and nonwhite donors were less likely to return than others. CONCLUSIONS : Recruitment of donors who have not returned for several years could be an effective way to increase the blood supply while preserving blood safety. Understanding the relationship of donor demographics to return behavior is important for recruitment efforts.
Impact of changes in viral marker screening assays
Authors: Sharma Usha K. , Stramer Susan L. , Wright David J. , Glynn Simone A. , Hermansen Sigurd , Schreiber George B. , Kleinman Steven H. , Busch Michael P. ,   for the Retrovirus Epidemiology Donor Study
Published: March 2003

BACKGROUND : Monitoring the performance of routinely used infectious disease serologic tests is necessary to evaluate their effectiveness in identifying true‐positive units and erroneously disqualifying safe blood donors. METHODS : With two large screening test data sets collected between 1991 and 1998 and between 1997 and 2000, the impact of changes in screening assays for HIV, HCV, and HBsAg was analyzed with regard to the prevalence of confirmed‐positive, indeterminate, and confirmed‐negative results and the deferral of donors with an indeterminate or negative results (donor loss). RESULTS : The prevalence of indeterminate results and donors loss increased significantly in the 6 months after introduction of an HIV‐1/2 EIA. A second‐generation HCV EIA increased the detection of confirmed‐positive donations in repeat donors (p < 0.001) and increased the prevalence of indeterminate donations. Implementation of a third‐generation HCV EIA resulted in a significant decrease in indeterminate results in first‐time donors. Nonspecific test results increased when HBsAg test kits from a different manufacturer were introduced or different lots of HIV antibody screening test kits from the same manufacturer were used. CONCLUSION : Introduction of newly licensed versions of assays, switching kit manufacturers, and lot‐to‐lot variations have an impact on rates of deferrals of safe donors as well as sensitivity of routine screening. Before considering changes in screening tests, blood centers should be aware of, and evaluate, the potential impact on donor loss.
Evaluation of a transcription‐mediated amplification‐based HCV and HIV‐1 RNA duplex assay for screening individual blood donations: a comparison with a minipool testing system
Authors: Candotti Daniel , Richetin Aline , Cant Barbara , Temple Jillian , Sims Cate , Reeves Ian , Barbara John A.J. , Allain Jean‐Pierre 
Published: March 2003

BACKGROUND : NAT was introduced for HCV RNA in 1999 to screen blood donations and improve the safety of the blood supply. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS : The performance of a NAT multiplex for HCV and HIV‐1 RNA based on transcription‐mediated amplification (TMA) was assessed with various sensitivity panels and by screening 50,000 serologically unscreened, first‐time donor plasma samples. Results were compared with a routine NAT screening for HCV RNA by RT‐PCR in pools of 96 plasma samples. RESULTS : The TMA multiplex 95 percent sensitivity ranged between 22 and 54 IU per mL for HIV‐1 and 15 and 20 IU per mL for HCV RNA. The rate of test failure was 8.6 percent but decreased to 4.7 percent when results of two critical periods of equipment malfunction were excluded. Test failure was related to human error, minute control contamination, and insufficient mixing of reagents at the extraction stage. All 31 repeatedly reactive samples (0.06%) were seropositive for HCV (29) or HIV‐1 (2) and contained RNA detectable by discriminatory TMA and confirmatory RT‐PCR, indicating 100 percent specificity. A direct comparison of TMA in individual samples and RT‐PCR in plasma pools was possible on 27 HCV RNA‐containing samples. Twenty‐six samples were detected in plasma pools; the lack of detection of 1 sample was due to an identification error at the pooling stage. CONCLUSION : The HCV and HIV‐1 multiplex NAT had high specificity and sensitivity.
Emission Ratiometry for Simultaneous Calcium and Action Potential Measurements with Coloaded Dyes in Rabbit Hearts: Reduction of Motion and Drift
Authors: KONG WEI , WALCOTT GREGORY P. , SMITH WILLIAM M. , JOHNSON PHILIP L. , KNISLEY STEPHEN B. 
Published: March 2003

Simultaneous Ca and AP Emission Ratiometry. Introduction: Optical measurements of the cardiac calcium transient (Ca) and transmembrane action potential (AP) may be performed simultaneously with emission ratiometry to lessen motion artifacts and photobleaching effects. We examined changes in emission spectrum in perfused rabbit hearts coloaded with Rh237 and a green‐emitting Ca dye (Fluo‐4 or Oregon Green BAPTA 1) to determine wavelength bands for emission ratiometry and to test whether ratiometry reduces motion artifacts and drift.
Methods and Results: A 488‐nm laser illuminated hearts while a spectrofluorometer collected fluorescence from 489 to 838 nm at 1 kHz. Ratiometry with the Ca‐ and AP‐insensitive emission band 663 to 685 nm (IS) as denominator and the Ca‐sensitive band 510 to 532 nm as numerator lessened motion artifacts, which was quantified as a 1.4‐fold increase in relative amplitude of the Ca

(P < 0.05)

. Ratiometry with the AP‐sensitive band 772 to 794 nm as denominator and the IS as numerator produced a 1.7‐fold increase in relative amplitude of the AP

(P < 0.05)

. The ratiometry decreased photobleaching‐dependent drift by a factor of

0.6 (P < 0.05)

for Ca and 0.45

(P < 0.05)

for AP.
Conclusion: Simultaneous Ca and AP emission ratiometry reduces motion artifacts and drift in hearts with coloaded dyes.
Breath‐hold Three‐dimensional Lung Perfusion Imaging and Pulmonary Angiography after Contrast Administration1
Authors: Wielopolski P.A. , Hicks S. G. , De Bruin H. G , Oudkerk M. 
Published: March 2003

SummaryWe introduce a new combined approach using contrast‐enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that may lead to a better sensitivity and specificity in staging pulmonary embolism (PE). A short protocol involving the application of two breath‐hold three‐dimensional (3D) pulse sequences and contrast agent injection is proposed and assessed on 35 patients following a consensus for anticoagulant therapy treatment under the suspected presence of PE. The protocol considers first the application of a 3D lung perfusion scan (MRPP) with high temporal and moderate spatial resolution to obtain volumetric parenchymal perfusion/ enhancemerit patterns to help localise segmental and sub‐segmental perfusion defects. Secondly, a high resolution 3D pulmonary MRA scan (MRPA) is performed to visualise the entire thoracic vasculature and to permit the inspection of each vessel separately. Multiplanar reformation of the MRPP data made it possible to evaluate the extent of any perfusion defect in all planes. Although a wide range of diffuse perfusion defects on MRPP were observed, PE could be ruled out after a careful inspection of the MRPA data. Perfusion abnormalities with a clear wedge appearance predicted the appearance of PE on MRPA subsequently confirmed with conventional pulmonary arteriography. We feel that this combined protocol provides a better insight to the localisation of PE than the MRPA alone and may play an important role in the assessment of patients with respiratory complications.
Can Histories Be True? Narrativism, Positivism, and the “MetaphoricalTurn”
Authors: Lorenz Chris 
Published: March 2003

Narrativism, as represented by Hayden White and Frank Ankersmit, can fruitfully be analyzed as an inversion of two brands of positivism. First, narrativist epistemology can be regarded as an inversion of empiricism. Its thesis that narratives function as metaphors which do not possess a cognitive content is built on an empiricist, “picture view” of knowledge. Moreover, all the non‐cognitive aspects attributed as such are dependent on this picture theory of knowledge and a picture theory of representation. Most of the epistemological characteristics that White and Ankersmit attribute to historical narratives therefore share the problems of this picture theory.The article's second thesis is that the theories of narrative explanation can also fruitfully be analyzed as inversions of positivist covering‐law theory. Ankersmit's brand of narrativism is the most radical in this respect because it posits an opposition between narrative and causal modes of comprehension while simultaneously eliminating causality from narrativist historical understanding. White's brand of narrativism is more of a hybrid than is Ankersmit's as far as its theory of explanation is concerned; nevertheless, it can also be fruitfully interpreted as an inversion of covering‐law theory, replacing it by an indefinite multitude of explanatory strategies.Most of the striking characteristics of both White's and Ankersmit's narrativism pre‐suppose positivism in these two senses, especially their claim that historical narratives have a metaphorical structure and therefore no truth‐value. These claims are had to reconcile with the factual characteristics of debates by historians; this problem can be tracked down to the absence in “metaphorical&rdquo; narrativism of a conceptual connection between historical narratives and historical research.
Bias in Historical Description, Interpretation, and Explanation
Authors: Mccullagh C. Behan 
Published: March 2003

Debates among historiansshow that they expect descriptions of past people and events, interpretations of historicalsubjects, and genetic explanations of historical changes to be fair and not misleading. Sometimesunfair accounts of the past are the result of historians' bias, of their preferring one accountover others because it accords with their interests. It is useful to distinguish history that ismisleading by accident from that which is the result of personal bias; and to distinguish personalbias from cultural bias and general cultural relativity.This article explains what fairdescriptions, interpretations, and explanations are like in order to clarify the senses in which theycan be biased. It then explains why bias is deplorable, and after noting those who regard it asmore or less inevitable, considers how personal bias can be avoided. It argues that it is notdetachment that is needed, but commitment to standards of rational inquiry.Some mightthink that rational standards of inquiry will not be enough to avoid bias if the evidence availableto the historian is itself biased. In fact historians often allow for bias in evidence, and evenexplain it when reconstructing what happened in the past.The article concludes bynoting that although personal bias can be largely avoided, cultural bias is not so easy to detect orcorrect.
Comparative Historiography: Problems and Perspectives
Authors: Lorenz Chris 
Published: March 2003

Just like history, historiography is usually written and analyzed within one spatio‐temporal setting, traditionally that of a particular nation‐state. As a consequence, historiography tends to localize explanations for historiographical developments within national contexts and to neglect international dimensions. As long as that is the case, it is impossible to assess the general and specific aspects of historiographical case studies. This forum, therefore, represents a sustained argument for comparative approaches to historiography.First, my introduction takes a recent study in Canadian historiography as a point of departure in order to illustrate the problems of non‐comparative historiography. These problems point to strong arguments in favor of comparative approaches. Second, I place comparative historiography as a genre in relation to a typology that orders theories of historiography on a continuum ranging from general and philosophical to particular and empirical. Third, I put recent debates on the “fragmentation” of historiography in a comparative perspective. Worries among historians about this fragmentation—usually associated with the fragmentation of the nation and the advent of multiculturalism and/or postmodernism—are legitimate when they concern the epistemological foundations of history as a discipline. As soon as the “fragmentation” of historiography leads to—and is legitimated by—epistemological skepticism, a healthy pluralism has given way to an unhealthy relativism. As comparison puts relativism in perspective by revealing its socio‐historical foundations, at the same time it creates its rational antidote.Fourth, I summarize the contributions to this forum; all deal—directly or indirectly—with the historiography of the Second World War. Jürgen Kocka's “Asymmetrical Historical Comparison: The Case of the German Sonderweg” examines the so‐called “special path” of Germany's history. Daniel Levy's “The Future of the Past: Historiographical Disputes and Competing Memories in Germany and Israel” offers a comparative analysis of recent historiographical debates in Germany and Israel. Sebastian Conrad's “What Time is Japan? Problems of Comparative (Intercultural) Historiography” analyzes the conceptual linkage between Japanese historiography and specific interpretations of European history. Richard Bosworth's “Explaining ‘Auschwitz’ after the End of History: The Case of Italy” charts in a comparative perspective the changes since 1989 in Italian historiography concerning fascism. All four articles support the conclusion that next to the method of historical comparison is the politics of comparison, which is hidden in the choice of the parameters. Analyses of both method and politics are essential for an understanding of (comparative) historiography.
Dividends, Asymmetric Information, and Agency Conflicts: Evidence from a Comparison of the Dividend Policies of Japanese and U.S. Firms
Authors: Dewenter Kathryn L. , Warther Vincent A. 
Published: March 2003

ABSTRACTWe compare dividend policies of U.S. and Japanese firms, partitioning the Japanese data into keiretsu, independent, and hybrid firms. We examine the correlation between dividend changes and stock returns, and the reluctance to change dividends. Results are consistent with the joint hypotheses that Japanese firms, particularly keiretsu‐member firms, face less information asymmetry and fewer agency conflicts than U.S. firms, and that information asymmetries and/or agency conflicts affect dividend policy. Japanese firms experience smaller stock price reactions to dividend omissions and initiations, they are less reluctant to omit and cut dividends, and their dividends are more responsive to earnings changes.
The Dynamics of Discrete Bid and Ask Quotes
Authors: Hasbrouck Joel 
Published: March 2003

ABSTRACTThis paper presents an empirical microstructure model of bid and ask quotes that features discreteness, random costs of market making, and ARCH volatility effects. Applied to intraday quotes at 15‐minute intervals for Alcoa (a randomly chosen Dow stock), the results show that quote exposure costs contain stochastic components that are persistent and large relative to the deterministic intraday “U” components. Analysis of the filtered estimates of the system suggest that bid and ask costs contain common components, and that these costs reflect risk as proxied by ARCH variance forecasts.
Strategic Trading in a Dynamic Noisy Market
Authors: Vayanos Dimitri 
Published: March 2003

ABSTRACTThis paper studies a dynamic model of a financial market with a strategic trader. In each period the strategic trader receives a privately observed endowment in the stock. He trades with competitive market makers to share risk. Noise traders are present in the market. After receiving a stock endowment, the strategic trader is shown to reduce his risk exposure either by selling at a decreasing rate over time or by selling and then buying back some of the shares sold. When the time between trades is small, the strategic trader reveals the information regarding his endowment very quickly.
Careers and Survival: Competition and Risk in the Hedge Fund and CTA Industry
Authors: Brown Stephen J. , Goetzmann William N. , Park James 
Published: March 2003

ABSTRACTInvestors in hedge funds and commodity trading advisors (CTAs) are concerned with risk as well as return. We investigate the volatility of hedge funds and CTAs in light of managerial career concerns. We find an association between past performance and risk levels consistent with previous findings for mutual fund managers. Variance shifts depend upon relative rather than absolute fund performance. The importance of relative rankings points to the importance of reputation costs in the investment industry. Our analysis of factors contributing to fund disappearance shows that survival depends on absolute and relative performance, excess volatility, and on fund age.
That Old‐Time Religion: Efficiency, Benchmarking, and Productivity
Authors: Tinsley Gooden Susan , McCreary Samuel Michael 
Published: March 2003

Books Reviewed:M. Berman, Productivity in Public and Nonprofit Organizations: Strategies and TechniquesPatricia Keehley, Steven Medlin, Sue MacBride, and Laura Longmire, Benchmarking for Best Practices in the Public Sector: Achieving Performance Breakthroughs in Federal, State and Local AgenciesDavid N. Ammons, Municipal Benchmarks: Assessing Local Performance and Establishing Community Standards
Cross Pressures of Accountability: Initiative, Command, and Failure in the Ron Brown Plane Crash
Authors: Romzek Barbara S. , Ingraham Patricia Wallace 
Published: March 2003

Contemporary political rhetoric and management reforms have highlighted accountability issues for government. A troubling feature associated with these management reforms is a gap between the expectations of management reform and the reality of the American culture of accountability. This culture gap is likely to be particularly evident in organizations that are structured around principles of command and control, such as the military. This article explores the cross pressures individuals face when they are urged to demonstrate initiative and obedience to command while operating within a web of accountability relationships that represent several different behavioral standards against which their performance can be judged.To conduct this research, the authors interviewed members of the Accident Investigation Board appointed by Major General Ryan, Commander of the United States Air Force Europe (USAFE), to investigate the April 1996 crash in Croatia of the military transport plane carrying United States Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown and his party of distinguished visitors. These personal interviews were supplemented with the official reports of the Accident Investigation Board and transcripts of testimony before the Board. Based on these data, we analyze the accountability dynamics involving the various military officials associated with the “mishap flight.” We find that while institutional rhetoric and managerial conditions encouraged entrepreneurial behavior and initiative, the administrative reality still emphasized a risk‐averse, rules‐oriented approach to accountability when things went wrong.
The Practice of Deliberative Democracy: Results from Four Large‐Scale Trials
Authors: Weeks Edward C. 
Published: March 2003

The goal of deliberative democracy is to revitalize civic culture, improve the nature of public discourse, and generate the political will necessary to take effective action on pressing problems. While there exists a fairly substantial amount of literature on the desired features of a deliberative democracy, there is little empirical research on the practical feasibility of convening a large‐scale public deliberative process.This article describes a model of deliberative democracy which offers a practical opportunity for all citizens to participate, provides citizens extensive information about the nature of the policy problem, engages citizens in the same problem‐solving context as elected officials, and uses rigorous methods. The practical feasibility of this model is assessed through four large‐scale implementations, each addressing controversial and politically charged issues in cities ranging in population from 100,000 to 400,000. The conclusion from these trials is that it is possible to convene a large‐scale public deliberative process that enables local governments to take effective action on previously intractable issues.
Coming and Going: On the State Monopolization of the Legitimate “Means of Movement”
Authors: Torpey John 
Published: March 2003

Following the imagery of “expropriation” used by Marx to describe the process of capitalist development and by Weber to characterize states'monopolization of the legitimate use of violence, I argue that modern states have also “expropriated the legitimate means of movement” and monopolized the authority to determine who may circulate within and cross their borders. Against this background, we should reconsider the metaphor of “penetration” typically used to discuss the enhanced capacity of modern states relative to their predecessors, and instead think of states as “embracing” populations, identifying persons unambiguously in order to control their movements and to distinguish members from nonmembers. The vagabond is by definition a suspect. —Daniel Nordman (1987)