bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Collaborating in a competitive world: musicians’ working lives and understandings of entrepreneurship
Authors: Coulson Susan
Published: April 2012

Recent interest in ‘creative’ work practices has been brought about by organizational restructuring and the emergence of the creative industries as an economic power. Drawing on research with musicians in the North East of England, this article explores musicians’ understandings of their working lives within the new entrepreneurial agenda. Musicians are shown to be enterprising in pursuing a musical calling in a difficult market and of particular interest is the extent to which they see themselves as entrepreneurs, whether they equate being self-employed with being entrepreneurial, and what relevance contemporary notions of individual enterprise have for those whose working lives are embedded in the essentially co-operative music world. Networking is regarded as an essential entrepreneurial skill and the concept of ‘active networking’ is introduced to help investigate what can be learnt about musicians’ understanding of entrepreneurship through applying this model.
Professional call centres, professional workers and the paradox of the algorithm: the case of telenursing
Authors: Russell Bob
Published: April 2012

Although the professional call centre has been theorized, little empirical work has been carried out on this form of service delivery. The existing literature fails to distinguish adequately between professional call centres and professionals who work in call centres. In this study of telehealth it is shown that a centre which exhibits the features of a professional call centre does not overcome problems associated with this type of labour process. Ambiguities over the use of skill in a system that requires the deployment of computer algorithms gives rise to conflicts over monitoring, performance evaluation and the use of time. Conflict over the appropriation of technique may be exacerbated in professional call centres although this has not been reported upon in the call centre or telehealth literature.
Work beyond employment: representations of informal economic activities
Authors: Williams Colin C , Nadin Sara
Published: April 2012

For much of the previous century, the informal sector was largely represented as a residue of a previous mode of production confined to marginal populations and gradually disappearing due to the inevitable and natural shift towards the formal economy across the globe. Over the past quarter of a century, however, articles published in Work, Employment and Society have been at the forefront of re-reading the informal sector. This article reveals how this body of literature has shown informal economic activities to be a persistent and ubiquitous feature of the economic landscape, mapped the complex and variable dynamics of formal and informal work in different populations, transcended simplistic universal structure/agency explanations for the persistence of informal work by developing context-bound understandings, and challenged the formal/informal dichotomy which represents the formal and informal sectors as separate hostile worlds. The article concludes by highlighting some possible future directions for research on this topic.
Aeroelastic numerical approach of a wing based on the finite element and boundary element methods
Authors: Dehkordi Iman Roohi , Shahverdi Hossein , Nobari Ali S , Khalili Arezoo
Published: April 2012

The aim of this study is to provide a coupled finite element–boundary element method approach for aeroelastic investigations in incompressible flow fields. Hence, an efficient and applicable tool for aeroelastic response computations is developed which uses boundary element method to solve flow fields and finite element method to analyze structural domains. In unsteady flow solution, the potential flow assumptions are considered, while the small deformations are assumed in structural dynamics behavior. Both solution procedures are tightly related by a boundary interface in a sequential coupling procedure. To illustrate the performance of aerodynamic solver for computation of three-dimensional unsteady flow configurations, lift response of a wing–body combination is computed and validated with available results in literature. Also, two test cases are presented that illustrate the accuracy of the developed tool for aeroelastic response analysis in comparison with available experimental results.
Discrimination and Categorization of Actions by Pigeons
Authors: Asen Yael , Cook Robert G.
Published: April 2012

Recognizing and categorizing behavior is essential for animals (e.g., during mate selection, courtship, and avoidance of predators). In a study examining if and how animals classify different actions, a go/no-go procedure was used to train 4 pigeons to discriminate among “walking” and “running” digital animal models (each portrayed from 12 different viewpoints). Action discrimination acquired for two models significantly transferred to six novel animal models moving in novel and biomechanically characteristic ways. Randomization of frame order in the animated sequences, stimulus inversion, and static presentation all disrupted this discrimination, whereas changes in the direction and speed (both increases and decreases) of the actions did not. These results suggest that the pigeons discriminated the behaviors on the basis of generalized recognition of the models’ sequence of poses across time and provide the best evidence yet that animals use action categories to identify contrasting behavioral units.
Instrumentality Boosts Appreciation
Authors: Converse Benjamin A. , Fishbach Ayelet
Published: April 2012

We propose that in social interactions, appreciation of a helper depends on that helper’s instrumentality: The more motivated one is to accomplish a goal, and the more one perceives a helper as able to facilitate that goal, the more appreciation one will feel for that helper. Four experiments supported this instrumentality-boost hypothesis by showing that beneficiaries felt more appreciation of their helpers while they were receiving help toward an ongoing task than after that task was completed or after the helper was deemed no longer instrumental. This finding held for both the positive side of appreciation (gratitude) and the negative side (feelings of indebtedness) and also across a range of relationships (complete strangers, newly acquainted partners, and friends). This pattern of appreciation is counterintuitive for helpers, and so a mismatch arises between the time courses of beneficiaries’ experienced appreciation and helpers’ expectations of appreciation.
A Short-Term Testing Effect in Cross-Language Recognition
Authors: Verkoeijen Peter P. J. L. , Bouwmeester Samantha , Camp Gino
Published: April 2012

Taking a memory test after an initial study phase produces better long-term retention than restudying the items, a phenomenon known as the testing effect. We propose that this effect emerges because testing strengthens semantic features of items’ memory traces, whereas restudying strengthens surface features of items’ memory traces. This novel account predicts that a testing effect should be observed even after a short retention interval when a language switch occurs between the learning phase and the final test phase. We assessed this prediction with Dutch-English bilinguals who learned Dutch Deese-Roediger-McDermott word lists through restudying or through testing (retrieval practice). Five minutes after this learning phase, they took a recognition test in Dutch (within-language condition) or in English (across-language condition). We observed a testing effect in the across-language condition, but not in the within-language condition. These findings corroborate our novel account of the testing effect.
Supercritical and real gas Brayton cycles operating with mixtures of carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons
Authors: Invernizzi Costante M , van der Stelt Teus
Published: April 2012

Closed Brayton gas and supercritical cycles operating with mixtures of carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons, in particular mixture with a low content (5–15%) of benzene, were studied. Totally, supercritical cycles and condensation cycles were looked at and a comparison was made with pure carbon dioxide cycles with a minimal temperature around 40–50 °C (typical minimum temperatures of air cooled radiators). First and second law cycle efficiencies were considered and analysed. Critical point calculations of several mixtures were performed by means of an accurate model for the thermodynamic properties and compared with experimental data from literature. For the cycle calculations, a simpler model with classical mixing rules was used because the results were in sufficient agreement. The cycles operating with mixtures showed lower maximum pressures and higher cycle efficiencies compared to the pure carbon dioxide cycles. Taken into account, the high global warming potential of fluorinated fluids and the high flammability and high volume expansion ratios of comparable Rankine toluene cycles, mixtures of carbon dioxides and hydrocarbons exposed promising features.
A combined pollen and δ18OSphagnum record of mid-Holocene climate variability from Dürres Maar (Eifel, Germany)
Authors: Kühl Norbert , Moschen Robert
Published: April 2012

In this study we investigate pollen and oxygen isotopes of moss cellulose from the peat bog ‘Dürres Maar’ in the Eifel low mountain range, Germany (450 m a.s.l.) to quantitatively infer mid-Holocene climate change for the period between ~7000 and 3800 cal. BP. Pollen was analysed on the same samples from which Sphagnum leaves were isolated to extract cellulose for the determination of its oxygen isotope composition (δ18O Sphagnum). To quantitatively estimate January and July temperature and annual precipitation from the pollen data, we applied a probabilistic indicator taxa method (‘pdf-method’). The pollen-based reconstructions indicate July temperatures ~1°C higher around 6000 cal. BP than after ~5500 cal. BP, which is consistent with a ~1‰ decrease in δ18O Sphagnum during the same period. While the pollen-based climate reconstructions indicate little variability in summer temperature after ~5500 cal. BP, winter temperature shows several pronounced cold excursions of ~2–4°C in this period, which was likely accompanied by changes in precipitation patterns. Test reconstructions leaving out specific taxa indicate that not only larger climate trends, but also relatively small-scale climate variability can robustly be reconstructed with the pdf-method. This is of particular importance for reliable reconstructions of climate variability not only during the Holocene, but also in former interglacials, for which archives are rare and pollen is often the only suitable proxy in terrestrial records. The stable isotope values agree with the reconstructions based on pollen for the time between ~4500 and 3500 cal. BP, but not for the period before 4500 cal. BP. We explain this difference by atmospheric circulation patterns being different in the mid and late Holocene, respectively.
Island ecosystem and biodiversity dynamics in northeastern Australia during the Holocene: Unravelling short-term impacts and long-term drivers
Authors: Proske Ulrike , Haberle Simon G
Published: April 2012

Vegetation changes of tropical Lizard Island (Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, Australia) over the last 8000 years are derived from palaeoenvironmental analysis of a 475 cm long sediment core. During early-Holocene sea-level rise, flooding of the continental shelf and thus isolation of Lizard Island, the pollen record shows the gradual establishment of a mangrove forest paralleled by contraction of the near-coastal palm and grass-dominated vegetation. Subsequently, mid-Holocene relative environmental stability supported a diverse, Rhizophora-dominated mangrove and open, mixed sclerophyll vegetation inland. Around 6000 years ago, a profound disturbance of the mangrove is recorded by a siliciclastic layer and we hypothesise that this deposit documents the impact of a storm or cyclone. Postevent environmental conditions were strongly altered with enhanced estuarine conditions supporting a Sonneratia and Bruguiera-dominated mangrove forest. During late-Holocene sea-level fall and stabilisation, progradation and contraction of the mangrove forest was paralleled by the expansion of a palm-dominated swamp. Freshwater taxa continued to dominate the record, however, a distinct disturbance signal from anthropogenic activity is recorded in the last century. Although Sonneratia dominated the post-event mangrove, late-Holocene environmental instability led to the extinction of this genus on the island. Local environmental changes in the freshwater swamp and rainforest also led to the loss of Arenga and Ilex from the island’s ecosystems. Our record implies that long-term ecosystem and biodiversity change on Lizard Island is: (a) primarily reflected in the spatial extent of the island’s vegetation communities and the species dominance within them and (b) driven by an interplay between climate, sea-level and potentially human activity. In addition, a short-term impact provoked the reconfiguration of the mangrove, potentially causing long-term ecosystem instability and thus impacting on mangrove biodiversity development on the Great Barrier Reef islands.
Postglacial vegetation dynamics of western Tierra del Fuego
Authors: Fontana Sonia L , Bennett KD
Published: April 2012

The southern fringes of the South American landmass provide a rare opportunity to examine the development of moorland vegetation with sparse tree cover in a wet, cool temperate climate of the Southern Hemisphere. We present a record of changes in vegetation over the past 17,000 years, from a lake in extreme southern Chile (Isla Santa Inés, Magallanes region, 53°38.97S; 72°25.24W), where human influence on vegetation is negligible. The western archipelago of Tierra del Fuego remained treeless for most of the Lateglacial period; Lycopodium magellanicum, Gunnera magellanica and heath species dominated the vegetation. Nothofagus may have survived the last glacial maximum at the eastern edge of the Magellan glaciers from where it spread southwestwards and established in the region at around 10,500 cal. yr BP. Nothofagus antarctica was likely the earlier colonizing tree in the western islands, followed shortly after by Nothofagus betuloides. At 9000 cal. yr BP moorland communities expanded at the expense of Nothofagus woodland. Simultaneously, Nothofagus species shifted to dominance of the evergreen Nothofagus betuloides and the Magellanic rain forest established in the region. Rapid and drastic vegetation changes occurred at 5200 cal. yr BP, after the Mt Burney MB2 eruption, including the expansion and establishment of Pilgerodendron uviferum and the development of mixed Nothofagus-Pilgerodendron-Drimys woodland. Scattered populations of Nothofagus, as they occur today in westernmost Tierra del Fuego may be a good analogue for Nothofagus populations during the Lateglacial in eastern sites.
Exploring public discourses about emerging technologies through statistical clustering of open-ended survey questions
Authors: Stoneman Paul , Sturgis Patrick , Allum Nick
Published: April 2012

The primary method by which social scientists describe public opinion about science and technology is to present frequencies from fixed response survey questions and to use multivariate statistical models to predict where different groups stand with regard to perceptions of risk and benefit. Such an approach requires measures of individual preference which can be aligned numerically in an ordinal or, preferably, a continuous manner along an underlying evaluative dimension – generally the standard 5- or 7-point attitude question. The key concern motivating the present paper is that, due to the low salience and “difficult” nature of science for members of the general public, it may not be sensible to require respondents to choose from amongst a small and predefined set of evaluative response categories. Here, we pursue a different methodological approach: the analysis of textual responses to “open-ended” questions, in which respondents are asked to state, in their own words, what they understand by the term “DNA.” To this textual data we apply the statistical clustering procedures encoded in the Alceste software package to detect and classify underlying discourse and narrative structures. We then examine the extent to which the classifications, thus derived, can aid our understanding of how the public develop and use “everyday” images of, and talk about, biomedicine to structure their evaluations of emerging technologies.
Time Pressure Affects Process and Performance in Hidden-Profile Groups
Authors: Bowman Jonathan M. , Wittenbaum Gwen M.
Published: April 2012

In the present experiment, members of three-person groups read information about two hypothetical cholesterol-reducing drugs and collectively chose the better drug under high or low time pressure. Information was distributed to members as a hidden profile such that the information that supported the better drug was unshared before discussion. Correct solution of the hidden profile required members to pool their unshared knowledge. Some groups discussed the drug information from memory (memory condition). Others kept the drug information during discussion, accessing sheets that either indicated which pieces of information were shared and unshared (informed access condition) or did not (access condition). Low time pressure groups chose the better drug more often than high time pressure groups, particularly when groups had access to information. Groups in the informed access condition chose the correct drug more often than groups in the memory and access conditions. Memory groups showed the typical discussion bias favoring shared over unshared information, whereas groups with access to information during discussion reversed this bias. This effect was stronger under low than high time pressure.
Race, Rhetoric, and Technology
Authors: Haas Angela M.
Published: April 2012

This article engages disciplinary (and interdisciplinary) conversations at the intersections of race, rhetoric, technology, and technical communication and offers a case study of curriculum development that supports disciplinary inquiry at these complex interstices. Specifically, informed by a decolonial framework, this article discusses the status of cultural and critical race studies in technical communication scholarship; tentative definitions of race, rhetoric, and technology; the cultural usability research conducted and located accountability in the process of designing a graduate course that studies rhetorics of race and technology; and the implications of this inquiry for the discipline, field, and practices of technical communication.
Sodium Benzoate–Rich Beverage Consumption is Associated With Increased Reporting of ADHD Symptoms in College Students
Authors: Beezhold Bonnie L. , Johnston Carol S. , Nochta Kathleen A.
Published: April 2012

Objective: Sodium benzoate, a common additive in popular beverages, has recently been linked to ADHD. This research examined the relationship between sodium benzoate–rich beverage ingestion and symptoms related to ADHD in college students. Method: College students ( N = 475) completed an anonymous survey in class in fall 2010. The survey assessed recent intake of a noninclusive list of sodium benzoate–rich beverages and ADHD-related symptoms using a validated screener. Results: Sodium benzoate–rich beverage intake was significantly associated with ADHD-related symptoms ( p = .001), and significance was retained after controlling for covariates. Students scoring ≥4 on the screener (scores that may be consistent with ADHD; n = 67) reported higher intakes (34.9 ± 4.4 servings/month) than the remainder of the sample (16.7 ± 1.1 servings/month). Conclusion: These data suggest that a high intake of sodium benzoate–rich beverages may contribute to ADHD-related symptoms in college students and warrants further investigation.
Biplanar MRI for the assessment of the spinal cord in multiple sclerosis
Authors: Weier Katrin , Mazraeh Jilla , Naegelin Yvonne , Thoeni Alain , Hirsch Jochen G , Fabbro Thomas , Bruni Nicole , Duyar Hüseyin , Bendfeldt Kerstin , Radue Ernst-Wilhelm , Kappos Ludwig , Gass Achim
Published: April 2012

Objective:

To investigate the entire spinal cord (SC) of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with biplanar MRI and to relate these MRI findings to clinical functional scores.

Methods:

Two hundred and two patients (140 women, 62 men 24–74 years, Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) scores 0–7.5) were investigated clinically and with biplanar MRI. Sagittal and axial proton density weighted (PDw) and T2 weighted (T2w) images of the whole SC were obtained employing parallel imaging. Data were analyzed by consensus reading using a standardized reporting scheme. Different combinations of findings were compared to EDSS scores with Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient (ρ).

Results:

The combined analysis of sagittal and axial planes demonstrated slightly differing results in 97/202 (48%) patients. There were 9% additional lesions identified, leading to a higher lesion count in 28% of these patients, but also rejection of equivocal abnormality leading to a lower lesion count in 11% of patients. Considering both sagittal and axial images, SC abnormalities were found in 167/202 (83%) patients. When compared with EDSS scores, the combination of focal lesions, signs of atrophy and diffuse abnormalities showed a moderate correlation (ρ=0.52), that precludes its use for individual patient assessment.

Conclusion:

Biplanar MRI facilitates a comprehensive identification, localization, and grading of pathological SC findings in MS patients. This improves the confidence and utility of SC imaging.
Object–verb and verb–object in Basque and Spanish monolinguals and bilinguals
Authors: Barreña Andoni , Almgren Margareta
Published: April 2012

The aim of this article is to analyse the acquisition of object–verb/verb–object word order in Spanish and Basque by monolinguals (L1), early simultaneous bilinguals (2L1) and successive bilinguals, exposed to their second language before ages 5–6 (child L2). In this study, the second language (child L2) is acquired naturalistically, in a preschool setting with no formal instruction for the Basque L2 speakers and by environmental contact for the Spanish L2 speakers. Spanish and Basque are differentiated by their canonical word order as subject–verb–object and subject–object–verb, respectively. In Spanish, the subject–verb–object order is predominant (almost exclusive) in narrative contexts, whereas in Basque, both object–verb and verb–object word orders are possible in these contexts for pragmatic reasons, with a similar use in everyday language. The productions of a few L1 and 2L1 subjects are analysed longitudinally within the 1;06–3;00 age span. Cross-sectional data from 49 subjects who developed a child L2 are analysed at ages 5 and 8. The results reveal that the bilingual children apply the same syntactic patterns as the monolinguals in their respective languages independently of 2L1 or child L2 acquisition.
The effect of immigration, acculturation and multicompetence on personality profiles of Israeli multilinguals
Authors: Dewaele Jean-Marc , Stavans Anat
Published: April 2012

The present study investigates the link between immigration, multilingualism, acculturation and personality profiles (as measured by the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire) of 193 residents in Israel. Participants born in Israel tended to score higher on Emotional Stability than those born abroad. Participants with one immigrant parent (but not two) scored higher on Cultural Empathy, Open-mindedness and Social Initiative. Participants who had become dominant in Hebrew as a foreign language scored lower on Emotional Stability than Hebrew L1-dominant participants. The number of languages known by participants was not linked to their personality profile. A high level of use of various languages was linked to significantly higher scores on Cultural Empathy and Open-mindedness. Gender and age were also linked to personality profiles. Advanced knowledge of more languages and frequent use of more languages were linked to higher levels of Social Initiative and Open-mindedness, while advanced knowledge of more languages was also linked to higher levels of Cultural Empathy. These findings confirm that some personality traits are shaped by individuals’ linguistic history, degree of multilingualism and a combination of social and biographical factors.
Evaluating community outcomes of participation in community arts: A case for civic dialogue
Authors: Kelaher Margaret , Berman Naomi , Dunt David , Johnson Victoria , Curry Steve , Joubert Lindy
Published: April 2012

VicHealth’s Community Arts Development Scheme (CADS) funded three community arts organizations to work with people from marginalized or disadvantaged communities, to provide opportunities for personal and community development through the arts. This article investigates how CADS engages the public in thinking about and discussing social issues and, more generally, the role of community arts practice in promoting civic dialogue. A mixed method approach was used. Interviews were conducted with community organizations in contact with the three CADS organizations to study to what extent this contact had promoted civic dialogue. Audience surveys were used to measure the extent of similar effects in audiences of CADS performance. The interview and survey data indicated that the arts organizations were successful in engaging the community in civic dialogue by provoking and contributing to discussion of challenges faced within communities.
Antecedents and consequents of a mobile website’s interactivity
Authors: Coursaris Constantinos K. , Sung Jieun
Published: April 2012

The value proposition of mobile technology for education is expected to grow as forecasts speak of mobile internet users exceeding desktop internet users by 2014. A key concern for higher education administrators will be how to implement a mobile website that attracts and retains students in its use. To answer this question, a scenario-based study of 288 USA college students was conducted involving two wireframes of a mobile website design varying only in its degree of interactivity. A PLS-based data analysis offered support for the positive effects of interactivity on the perceived usefulness, ease of use, and enjoyment of the university’s mobile website, which in turn positively influenced their intention to use it. The measurement model offered high explanatory power (47% of the variance in the behavioral intention to use the university’s mobile website was explained by its three antecedents). Implications for both theory and practice are also discussed.
Frequency response curves of a spindle bearings system with non-linear and non-smooth terms
Authors: Gao S-H , Nong S-L , Meng G , Xu W-B
Published: April 2012

This article presents results of vibrations of spindle system subjected to non-linear and non-smooth ball bearing stiffness. The averaging method, an approximate analytical technique, is applied directly to the non-linear and non-smooth differential equations of motion which ultimately leads to approximate analytical expressions for the frequency response relations of the system. The effects of ball bearing clearance and spindle structural damping on the frequency response curves are investigated. Hardening-type non-linear behaviours are observed in the ranges of base excitation frequency ω near the first, second and third natural frequencies. Crossing and breaking frequency response curves are also observed due to the non-linear and non-smooth properties of ball bearing stiffness. These solutions are clear indications that significant non-linear and non-smooth phenomena are of fundamental importance in the study of spindle bearing system. They also provide direct insight into the relationship between the system parameters and vibration characteristics of the system.
Reactivity controlled compression ignition combustion on a multi-cylinder light-duty diesel engine
Authors: Curran Scott J , Hanson Reed M , Wagner Robert M
Published: April 2012

Reactivity controlled compression ignition is a low-temperature combustion technique that has been shown, both in computational fluid dynamics modeling and single-cylinder experiments, to obtain diesel-like efficiency or better with ultra-low nitrogen oxide and soot emissions, while operating primarily on gasoline-like fuels. This paper investigates reactivity controlled compression ignition operation on a four-cylinder light-duty diesel engine with production-viable hardware using conventional gasoline and diesel fuel. Experimental results are presented over a wide speed and load range using a systematic approach for achieving successful steady-state reactivity controlled compression ignition combustion. The results demonstrated diesel-like efficiency or better over the operating range explored with low engine-out nitrogen oxide and soot emissions. A peak brake thermal efficiency of 39.0% was demonstrated for 2600 r/min and 6.9 bar brake mean effective pressure with nitrogen oxide emissions reduced by an order of magnitude compared to conventional diesel combustion operation. Reactivity controlled compression ignition emissions and efficiency results are compared to conventional diesel combustion operation on the same engine.
Dynamic model of a two-cylinder four-stroke internal combustion engine and vibration treatment
Authors: Karabulut Halit
Published: April 2012

Engine vibrations of large amplitude are caused by inertial effects of the piston–crankshaft mechanism and gas forces, and are transmitted to the chassis of a vehicle in the form of periodically varying forces through the engine mounts. Both the engine vibrations and mount forces may be minimized by designing proper engine components and mounts, which requires a dynamic simulation of the engine. In this study, a three degree of freedom dynamic model, enabling the simultaneous treatment of the piston–crankshaft mechanism and engine block, was devised for a two-cylinder four-stroke engine. Periodic and temporary variations of crankshaft speed, the variation of torque and power with speed, torsional and translational vibrations of the engine block, and the variation of mount forces with respect to the damping and stiffness coefficients of the mounts were studied. The torsional and translational vibrations of the engine block were found to be mainly affected by the combustion gas force and inertia force of the reciprocating masses, respectively. A simple relation has been obtained to determine the position and mass of counterweights used for eliminating the vertical vibration of the block.
How did I get here? The social process of accessing field sites
Authors: Bondy Christopher
Published: April 2012

At the same time that research tells us of empirical conditions, the process of conducting research illuminates underlying social conditions as well. By considering the differing approaches necessary in multiple research sites, this article argues that access, as a continually negotiated process, reflects localized socially embedded conditions and practices. From the initial access the researcher has to a site, to the repeated negotiations necessary to remain in the field, this article demonstrates that the researcher must be constantly aware of, and respond to, these conditions and practices if he or she wishes to remain in a particular setting. Based on a broader study of minority children in two different communities in Japan, this article also considers the approaches taken to minority issues as a contributing factor in accessing field sites. Finally, it argues that the process of research should be considered in conjunction with the empirical outcomes of research.
The relationship between three well-characterized polymorphisms of the angiotensin converting enzyme gene and lung cancer risk: a case-control study and a meta-analysis
Authors: Gao Min , Wang Yuli , Shi Yuzhi , Liu Dan , Liang Yin , Yu Yan , Zhaobin Jiahui , Zhu Lili , Jin Shoude
Published: April 2012

Background and objective:

The gene encoding angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) is a promising candidate for lung cancer. We aimed to assess three well-characterized polymorphisms of the ACE gene (A-240T, I/D, A2350G) and lung cancer in Chinese people, and complete a meta-analysis of the association of I/D polymorphism with lung cancer.

Methods and results:

In our case-control study, a total of 684 patients with lung cancer and 602 age-matched controls were recruited. Genotyping was performed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and ligase detection reactions (LDR) techniques. Single-locus analysis indicated that carriers of the A-240T allele had a significantly increased risk for lung cancer under additive (odds ratio (OR)=1.2; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.02–1.42; P=0.027) and recessive (OR=1.8; 95% CI: 1.24–2.63; P=0.002) models, and that DD genotype carriers were 1.97 times more likely to develop lung cancer (95% CI: 1.25–3.11; P=0.004) compared with those with the I allele under the recessive model. However, no significance was observed in further haplotype analysis ( P>0.05). In a meta-analysis of ACE gene insertion-deletion (I/D) polymorphism from six studies with 1183 lung cancer patients and 1065 controls, we failed to detect any significant association (overall OR=1.09; 95% CI: 0.84–1.41). A low probability of publication bias was observed.

Conclusions:

Our results suggest that ACE gene A-240T polymorphism might be a genetic marker for the development of lung cancer in Chinese people.
Rapid serial visual presentation: An approach to design
Authors: Witkowski Mark , Spence Robert
Published: April 2012

A familiar action in the physical world is the riffling of a book’s pages in order to gain, in a very short time, some idea about its content. That action is appropriately termed rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP). A computational embodiment of RSVP can provide such a variety of possible image presentation modes and flexibility of control as to offer a powerful tool to support a wide range of tasks involving the presentation of a collection of images. Those images can be conventional pictures (e.g. the Mona Lisa), the current image of a television channel, a frame of a video recording, the layout of a letterhead or page, a line drawing, a logo or the layout and shape of some text as in a motorway sign. Although our understanding of RSVP is not complete, sufficient experimental evidence and application experience is now available to lead to a useful set of guidelines for the interaction designer interested in exploiting its potential. These guidelines relate to six specific areas of design: the design style, the rate at which images are presented, image size on screen, the value of user control, image density on screen and image overlap. In this paper those guidelines are presented and justified by experimental evidence, much of it, unsurprisingly, emerging from the nature of human visual processing. In formulating the guidelines we fully acknowledge the importance, in a practical application, of aesthetic considerations; likewise, we take account of the need to minimise constraints on the creativity of the interaction designer. While RSVP addresses a specific class of tasks, we suggest that the principles discussed in this paper will have a broader relevance to image presentation techniques.
Doing and learning action research in the neo-liberal world of contemporary higher education
Authors: Greenwood Davydd J
Published: April 2012

Understanding how action research can be practiced, taught, and learned in contemporary universities requires understanding the dominant structures that organize higher education in the 21st century. This article presents the neo-liberal and Taylorist structures affecting higher education and then places the practice and study of action research in this context to outline ways action research could contribute to an improved future for higher education.
Shaping and Cutting the Media Agenda
Authors: Colistra Rita
Published: April 2012

This monograph examines television reporters’ perceptions of how sources both within and outside the media attempt to influence news content and coverage decisions and to what degree they are successful. Using structural equation modeling and original data from a national web survey of television reporters, this research explores how market size, extramedia, organizational, and within-media forces influence television news content from a comprehensive perspective. The study also attempts to advance theory with the development and expansion of agenda cutting, and by updating the literature for agenda building and frame building as well as the social control of the newsroom.
Views From a Small Pacific Island
Authors: Hale Michael , McCool Judith , Bullen Chris , Nosa Vili
Published: April 2012

Background and aims. Tobacco smoking is a significant public health issue in Niue, a small Western Pacific nation where 31% of males and 16% of females smoke, and smoking initiation is still occurring at high levels among young people. There is evidence of political support for stronger tobacco control measures in Niue with ratification of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2005 and the Niue Tobacco Control Bill 2007 currently in discussion. However, more information is needed about how best to implement tobacco control measures in Niue. The aim of this research was to identify key contextual factors for progressing effective tobacco control in Niue. Methods. Twelve in-depth interviews were conducted with health, tobacco control, and public health professionals selected purposively from both Niue and New Zealand. A semistructured interview format was used and a qualitative thematic analysis undertaken to explore common and divergent viewpoints. Results. Significant progress in tobacco control is feasible in Niue, but outside technical assistance will be needed as there is very limited capacity to undertake all that needs to be done. Key steps will include developing a comprehensive tobacco control plan that will adopt a health promotion paradigm. This will include the building of strong cross-sectoral political support and community engagement to ensure local contextual knowledge guides the development of interventions. Capacity building throughout will be vital. Conclusion. A comprehensive health promotion approach that draws on outside technical assistance for support and capacity when needed is recommended to advance tobacco control in Niue.
Effective Global Health Promotion Achievements, Tools, and Strategies Used in the Americas Over the Past Decade
Authors: Rice Marilyn E.
Published: April 2012

There have been numerous international commitments made by governments from around the world to promote health and prevent illness and disease. As globalization increases our interdependence with both positive and negative effects, the World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organization (its Regional Office for the Americas), have responded to ever increasing mandates from their member countries by developing responses to support governments in promoting health and incorporating upstream approaches into their policies, programs and activities. This article highlights some of the most important of these political declarations that have direct impact on health education and promotion ranging from the Alma Ata Declaration on Primary Health Care in 1978 to the Rio Declaration on the Social Determinants of Health in 2011. Additionally, emphasis is placed on identifying and providing examples of the application of specific tools, strategies and approaches to facilitate fulfillment of these mandates; ones that should be useful for health education and promotion practitioners everywhere. It closes by raising some of the challenges that health education and promotion will face in the future given the current trends in the world today.
An Introduction to Informal Media Economies
Authors: Lobato Ramon , Thomas Julian
Published: April 2012

This special issue of Television and New Media showcases current research on informal media production and distribution networks. Situated partly or wholly outside regulated, consolidated, and policy-governed audiovisual industries, the networks studied here include video circuits in West Africa, new media infrastructures in the Caribbean, user-driven streaming sites, and transnational VHS piracy. Together, these accounts provide glimpses of what may be best described as an interlocking set of informal media economies: zones of unmeasured and unevenly regulated media production and exchange, which articulate with conventional media systems in unpredictable ways.
Evidences and Controversies About Recurrence of Diabetic Foot Osteomyelitis
Authors: Aragón-Sánchez Javier
Published: April 2012

Recurrence is one of the most worrying issues when dealing with diabetic foot osteomyelitis (DFO). In accordance with expert opinion in other areas of bone infection, it is accepted that very late relapse of apparently successfully treated osteomyelitis is not uncommon. However, the physiopathology of infections in large bones secondary to hematogenous osteomyelitis, infected prostheses, and open fractures is quite different from what is seen in the feet of patients with diabetes. The anatomy of the bones, the mechanism of infection and alterations in host defenses that are frequently seen in patients with diabetes may condition the onset, clinical course, and outcomes. Apparent eradication, disappearance of inflammatory signs, wound healing, bone healing based on image studies, and no recurrences during follow-up are common terms used for defining the success of therapy for DFO. Failure of initial surgical treatment, readmission to hospital, and new episodes of infection at the same or a contiguous site are considered as recurrence of osteomyelitis. Theoretically, bacteria living in the bone could be the source of clinical recurrence, but is it possible to obtain complete healing while bacteria remain alive in the bone in the feet of patients with diabetes? Can these bacteria grow and spread from the bone to the skin after years of healing? In the author’s opinion, this type of long-term recurrence of DFO has not been well documented in the medical literature. It is the aim of this illustrated guide to review the evidence and controversies regarding the recurrence of DFO.
Founder-CEOs, External Board Appointments, and the Likelihood of Corporate Turnaround in Declining Firms
Authors: Abebe Michael A. , Angriawan Arifin , Ruth Derek
Published: April 2012

This study explored the role of strategic leadership in declining firms by empirically examining CEOs’ founder status and extensiveness of external board of director appointments as predictors of the likelihood of successful turnaround. The authors used the resource dependence and board interlock literatures to develop their hypotheses. Their analysis of data collected from a matched pair of 82 turnaround and bankrupt U.S. firms indicate that the extensiveness of CEOs’ external board appointments significantly increase the likelihood of turnaround. Contrary to the authors’ prediction, there was no significant relationship between founder status and likelihood of turnaround. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
Actual Versus Perceived Generational Differences at Work
Authors: Lester Scott W. , Standifer Rhetta L. , Schultz Nicole J. , Windsor James M.
Published: April 2012

As the amount of generational diversity increases among today’s workforce, a common topic of conversation is how to handle differences between generational cohorts. But to what extent do generations believe they are different and to what extent are generations actually different? This study examines this question. Using generational cohort theory as a theoretical underpinning, this study considers 15 work-related concepts and the degree to which workers personally value them. Subjects also provide their perceptions of how much they believe Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y value these items. Results reveal the differences subjects perceive among the generations significantly outnumber the actual value differences individuals reported. The authors discuss both actual and perceptual differences in detail and theorize why the nature of these actual differences may lead to generational misconceptions. By doing so, this study provides a meaningful contribution to the discussion of generational diversity and its impact on the workplace.
The optimization and fabrication of high electron mobility transistors integrated with microstructure
Authors: Shi Weili , Xue Chenyang , Tan Zhenxin , Tian Xuedong , Tang Jianjun , Liu Jun , Xiong Jijun
Published: April 2012

In this paper, trench-gate high electron mobility transistors, which have three channel directions with micro-cantilevers, have been design and fabricated. The action of the trench-gate direction on the sensitivity of the microstructure has been considered based on high electron mobility transistors as sensitive units which are located at the root of the micro-cantilever. The microstructure has been fabricated by using the process of dry and wet etching a GaAs substrate. Through selecting suitable material and appropriate mask layout, the high electron mobility transistors have been protected as sensitive units.
Truly Enactive Emotion
Authors: Hutto Daniel D.
Published: April 2012

Any adequate account of emotion must accommodate the fact that emotions, even those of the most basic kind, exhibit intentionality as well as phenomenality. This article argues that a good place to start in providing such an account is by adjusting Prinz’s (2004) embodied appraisal theory (EAT) of emotions. EAT appeals to teleosemantics in order to account for the world-directed content of embodied appraisals. Although the central idea behind EAT is essentially along the right lines, as it stands Prinz’s proposal needs tweaking in a number of ways. This article focuses on one—the need to free it from its dependence on teleosemantics. EAT, so modified, becomes compatible with a truly enactivist understanding of basic emotions.
Emotions, Existential Feelings, and Their Regulation
Authors: Stephan Achim
Published: April 2012

This article focuses on existential feelings. To begin with, it depicts how they differ from other affective phenomena and what type of intentionality they manifest. Furthermore, a detailed analysis shows that existential feelings can be subdivided, first, into elementary and nonelementary varieties, and second, into three foci of primary relatedness: oneself, the social environment, and the world as such. Eventually, five strategies of emotion regulation are examined with respect to their applicability to existential feelings. In the case of harmful existential feelings, it turns out that none seems fitting except one, attentional deployment.
Psychiatric Classification and Subjective Experience
Authors: Cooper Rachel
Published: April 2012

This article does not directly consider the feelings and emotions that occur in mental illness. Rather, it concerns a higher level methodological question: To what extent is an analysis of feelings and felt emotions of importance for psychiatric classification? Some claim that producing a phenomenologically informed descriptive psychopathology is a prerequisite for serious taxonomic endeavor. Others think that classifications of mental disorders may ignore subjective experience. A middle view holds that classification should at least map the contours of the phenomenology of mental illness. This article examines these options. I conclude that it is not true that phenomenology is a logical prerequisite for classification, nor even that classification should necessarily respect phenomenological boundaries, but that detailed phenomenological examination can sometimes inform classification.