bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Patient information in otorhinolaryngology: a prospective audit
Authors: Henney Scott , Rakhra Simren
Published: May 2011

Objectives

The aim of patient information is to involve patients in their condition and their treatment. The literature states that good information can improve medical outcomes, reduce patient anxiety and that patients want access to it. We wanted to calculate the provision of written patient information to ENT day-case patients, measure information recall and patient satisfaction.

Design

A prospective audit cycle. The first cycle of the audit studied patients receiving current practice, where verbal information was provided but written patient information was not routine. Following a departmental drive towards provision of written patient information, a second cycle was audited. A question naire on admission to the ward on the day of surgery was used to measure outcomes.

Setting

The ENT Department of a UK university teaching hospital.

Main outcome measures

The number of patients receiving written patient information, the rate of recall of complications and patient satisfaction with the information provided.

Participants

One hundred patients undergoing day-case surgery were included. The first cycle of the audit studied 50 consecutive patients, receiving current practice. The second cycle, following implementation of change, studied a further 50 consecutive patients.

Results

Following a departmental drive towards provision of patient information, 64% of patients received written patient information improving the rate of recall of the majority of complications from 24% to 52%. There was no significant difference in patient satisfaction between groups.

Conclusions

Written patient information leaflets are a useful tool to improve recall of information given to patients, in order to facilitate informed consent.
Use of Anticholinergic Drugs and Cholinesterase Inhibitors and Their Association with Psychological Well-Being Among Frail Older Adults in Residential Care Facilities
Authors: Teramura-Grönblad Mariko , Muurinen Seija , Soini Helena , Suominen Merja , Pitkälä Kaisu H
Published: May 2011

Background

Drugs with anticholinergic properties have harmful effects among frail older people and they may antagonize the effects of cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEIs). However, their association with psychological well-being has not been studied.

Objective:

To determine (1) the prevalence of the use of anticholinergic drugs, ChEIs, or their combination among older adults in residential care facilities and their association with psychological well-being, and (2) the association of anticholinergic drugs with an individual's psychological well-being.

Methods:

In 2007, all older adults (N = 1475) living in residential care facilities in the cities of Helsinki and Espoo, Finland, were assessed in a cross-sectional study. A trained nurse retrieved data on demographic factors, regularly administered medications, and diagnoses from medical charts. Psychological well-being was assessed using 6 questions concerning life satisfaction, zest for life, plans for the future, feeling needed, and feeling depressed or lonely, and a psychological well-being score was created (range 0-1).

Results:

Residents taking anticholinergic drugs (n = 613) were significantly younger, used more drugs, and were more often on ChEIs compared with nonusers (n = 862). There was no significant difference in Charlson comorbidity index, stage of cognition, or dependence on activities of daily living between the users or nonusers of anticholinergic drugs. The anticholinergic drug users had significantly lower psychological well-being scores compared with the nonusers. Of the participants, 10.7% used ChEIs and anticholinergic drugs concomitantly. In logistic regression analysis where age, sex, comorbidities, and use of ChEIs were used as covariates, lower psychological well-being was associated with the use of anticholinergic drugs (OR 1.40; 95% CI 1.00 to 1.94; p = 0.048).

Conclusions:

Concomitant use of anticholinergic drugs and ChEIs is common among older adults. The use of anticholinergic drugs is associated with poor psychological well-being.
The Evolution of Diabetes Care in the Rural, Resource-Constrained Setting of Western Kenya
Authors: Pastakia Sonak D , Karwa Rakhi , Kahn Charles B , Nyabundi Jak S
Published: May 2011

BACKGROUND:

The initial focused effort on addressing the HIV pandemic in ***sub-Saharan Africa has helped set the groundwork for addressing many of the other areas of the health-care system requiring support in resource-constrained settings. With the growing prevalence of diabetes in this setting, the US Agency for International Development—Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare Partnership (USAID-AMPATH) has begun developing infrastructure to meet the growing need for diabetes care.

OBJECTIVE:

To describe the evolution of diabetes care in the rural, resource-constrained setting of western Kenya and to analyze preliminary data on the current status of glucose control of patients.

METHODS:

Through partnerships, USAID-AMPATH has facilitated the provision of basic modalities of diabetes care, including reliable stocks of insulin, hemoglobin A1c (A1C) testing, and point-of-care glucose-testing supplies.

RESULTS:

Through the introduction of A1C testing, the poor quality of diabetes care was revealed, as the average A1C for the clinic population was 10.4%, with insulin-dependent patients constituting the majority of individuals with markedly elevated A1C levels. To address this, a contextualized electronic medical record and a cell phone-based home glucose monitoring program were created to improve glycemic control, which has led to significant reductions in A1C levels.

CONCLUSIONS:

Through the inclusion of clinical data within the electronic medical record, there is an ongoing effort to research various aspects of diabetes care in this understudied population, with the goal of addressing many of the unanswered questions surrounding diabetes care in sub-Saharan Africa. The lessons learned from this pilot program will be used to create sustainable infrastructure for diabetes care in partnership with the Kenyan government and will serve as a model for similar programs.
The Rise of African Studies (USA) and the Transnational Study of Africa
Authors: Martin William G.
Published: May 2011

Among Africanists, one of the remarkable events of 1957 was the founding of the African Studies Association. Commentaries on the association's history are slight and understandably celebratory. Exploration of archival and related sources, however, reveals considerable uncertainty and struggle over the construction of the field in the 1950s and 1960s. Those sources range across changing continental, colonial, and racial boundaries and reveal racialized relationships among U.S. scholars and especially foundation officials, British scholars and colonial officials, and, in unexpected ways, scholars in Africa and particularly South Africa. This essay traces the interplay of these forces and the demise of the transnational study of Africa in this period—and points briefly toward today's uncertain future for the study of Africa.
Raoul Peck'sLumumbaandLumumba: La mort du prophète: On Cultural Amnesia and Historical Erasure
Authors: Barr Burlin
Published: May 2011

This article examines two films by Raoul Peck—Lumumba: La mort du prophèle(1992) andLumumba(2000) that offer vastly divergent methods for remembering, memorializing, and meditating on the life and death of Patrice Lumumba. Peck succeeds in creating films that do more than preserve or resuscitate a historical record. The earlier film in particular performs analytic historical work as it delves into the conflicted historical record in which Lumumba is remembered. Peck uses an experimental and confrontational approach to reveal the ongoing forms of cultural censorship that have attempted to erase Lumumba and his legacy.
Do Ethnic Groups Retain Homogenous Preferences in African Politics? Evidence from Sierra Leone and Liberia
Authors: Batty Fodei
Published: May 2011

It is frequently argued that ethnic groups across Alrica retain homogenous preferences stemming from a sense of collective identity and shared destiny, and that they unvaryingly prefer the same outcomes in zero-sum competitions for scarce resources. This article presents results from comparative field surveys examining these claims in Sierra Leone and Liberia following postconflict elections. In contradiction with conventional expectations, the results show corroboration on several issues across voters from several ethnic groups as well as heterogeneity in preferences among voters from the same ethnic groups in both countries. The implications for democratization and conflict resolution in Africa are discussed. E-mail:fbatty@colgate.edu
Farm Intensification and Milk Market Expansion in Meru, Tanzania
Authors: Hillbom Ellen
Published: May 2011

In Meru, Tanzania, technological and institutional change has turned milk into one of the most reliable and important sources of income for smallholder households. Decades of increased population density have caused land scarcity, leading smallholders to intensity their fanning methods and land use, including introducing stall-fed exotic breeds of dairy cows. Meanwhile, a growing urban and rural demand has resulted in a significant market expansion for milk and increasing cash incomes for smallholders. Both farm intensification and market expansion are bottom-up processes of change driven primarily by smallholders. These factors make the livestock sector in Meru an interesting example of broad-based agricultural development.
“A School in the Interior” African Studies: Engagement and Interdisciplinary
Authors: Ambler Charles
Published: May 2011

This article explores the intellectual traditions of African studies, focusing on the central principles of interdisciplinarity and commitment to social and racial justice. Tracing the origins of the field to late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century African is t intellectuals such as Edward Blyden, it investigates these traditions historically and in the context of contemporary practice. Against the backdrop of concerns for the future of area studies, the author finds a vibrant field—both inside and beyond its traditional boundaries.
The Negotiations of Nigerian Seamen in the Transition from Colonialism to Independence: Smuggling to Make Ends Meet
Authors: Schler Lynn
Published: May 2011

This article examines the economic and cultural opportunities Nigerian seamen exploited in the context of their work and travels throughout the colonial era, and the impact of decolonization on their livelihoods and self-conception. During the colonial era, Nigerian seamen resisted colonial categorizations of them as a cheap and docile source of labor for British shipping companies, and maneuvered to supplement low wages through smuggling enterprises. The processes of decolonization and the transition to independence, though initially greeted with enthusiasm, resulted in the loss of their economic independence and ultimately their vocational identities as seamen.
Democracy and Peace in the Age of Globalization: Old Problems, New Challenges for Africa
Authors: Selassie Bereket Habte
Published: May 2011

This article considers the impact of globalization on peace and democracy, especially in Africa. Peace is essential for orderly life and democracy is the paramount political value of our epoch. Are democracy and globalization compatible? They can be under certain conditions. Can globalization guarantee peace? Yes, if it can help in addressing the problems of poverty. The Constitutive Act of African Union enjoins African leaders to promote and protect human and peoples' rights and to consolidate democratic insiiuilions and culture. It also requires the promotion of peace, security and stability in the continent. The conclusion: Globalization must be controlled and global institutions democratized.
The Politics of Government Expenditures in Tanzania, 1999–2007
Authors: Weinstein Laura
Published: May 2011

What allocation strategy do hegemonic party regimes pursue in order to increase their level of electoral support? Although the literature has established that targeting resources to marginally supportive districts is the most effective distributive strategy for competitive democracies, it has not been possible to make a clear prediction about the best strategy for hegemonic party regimes. This article seeks to address this puzzle by examining the patterns by which expenditures were distributed by the Tanzanian ruling party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), across the country's 114 mainland districts from 1999 through 2007. Overall, this study finds that CCM targeted expenditures toward those districts that elected the party with the highest margin of victory.
Suffering and Death among Early American Roentgenologists: The Power of Remotely Anatomizing the Living Body in Fin de Siècle America
Authors: Goldberg Daniel S.
Published: May 2011

This manuscript has two aims. First, I extend the historiography on early American roentgenology that demonstrates that dozens of early adopters knowingly suffered intense pain, mutilation, and death for the sake of the X-ray. The objective is to pinpoint as precisely as possible when and to what extent the roentgenologists knew of the life-threatening risks of X-ray exposure. Second, I articulate a partial explanation for their behavior that is rooted in the social power of remotely anatomizing the living body in fin de siècle American scientific and medical culture.
"In the Last Stages of Irremediable Disease": American Hospitals and Dying Patients before World War II
Authors: Abel Emily K.
Published: May 2011

After a brief discussion of early- and mid-nineteenth-century hospitals, this article focuses on the years between 1880 and 1939, when those facilities underwent a major transformation and the proportion of hospital deaths steadily increased. During both periods, private hospitals refused admission to many seriously ill people and discharged others when death approached. City hospitals dumped poor patients with advanced disease on chronic care facilities and especially on almshouses. With each transfer, the quality of care sharply declined. And trips from one institution to another often inflicted additional suffering; some accelerated death.
Men of Dreams and Men of Action: Neurologists, Neurosurgeons, and the Performance of Professional Identity, 1920-1950
Authors: Gavrus Delia
Published: May 2011

In the 1930s and 1940s, neurosurgeons and clinical neurologists engaged in a fierce exchange on the scope of their specialties. Neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield's rhetoric of therapeutic superiority had a strong impact both on the Rockefeller Foundation's support for his institute and on the self-fashioning of neurologists. Neurologists articulated their identity in spirited performances at the meetings of specialist societies, their response shifting from a combative approach to a focus on internal organization. In light of the neurosurgeons' discourse, by the 1950s a new generation of neurologists created a revisionist narrative that inaccurately portrayed the clinical neurologists of the past as having been uninterested in therapeutics.
Bioequivalence: The Regulatory Career of a Pharmaceutical Concept
Authors: Carpenter Daniel , Tobbell Dominique A.
Published: May 2011

Generic drugs cannot be marketed without regulatory and clinical demonstration of "bioequivalence." The authors argue that the concept of "bioequivalence" is a joint regulatory and scientific creation, not purely a technical concept, and not purely a legal concept. It developed at the interstices of networks of pharmacologists, regulators, food and drug lawyers, and American and European policy makers interested in "generic" drugs. This article provides a situated perspective on the history of bioequivalence, which emphasizes the shaping role of the state upon scientific processes, networks of regulators and scientists, and the centrality of transnational dynamics in the formation of drug regulatory standards.
Race and Racism in the Experiences of Black Male Resident Assistants at Predominantly White Universities
Authors: Harper Shaun R. , Davis Ryan J. , Jones David E. , McGowan Brian L. , Ingram Ted N. , Platt C. Spencer
Published: May 2011

Recent research has shown a nexus between active out-of-class engagement and the accrual of unique race/gender-specific educational outcomes among Black male undergraduates. Yet, rarely explored are the racialized experiences of those who become actively engaged and assume leadership positions on campuses where racial diversity is low, hence the purpose of this study. Focus group interviews were conducted with 52 Black male Resident Assistants (RAs) at six large, predominantly White universities. Racist stereotypes and racial microaggressions, the complexities associated with “onlyness” in the RA position, and heightened scrutiny from White supervisors are among the findings reported in this article. Also offered are implications for addressing racial toxins that dissuade Black male student leadership in residence halls and other out-of-class engagement venues.
Commonalities and Differences Among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual College Students: Considerations for Research and Practice
Authors: Dugan John P. , Yurman Lauren
Published: May 2011

This study explores the appropriateness of collapsing lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) college students into a single category in quantitative research designs as well as the nature of their engagement with the collegiate environment. Data were collected as part of a national study and represent a total of 980 LGB self-identified college students from 52 colleges and universities. Results suggest that LGB students are more similar than they are different across 13 dimensions of the collegiate experience.
Testing the Factorial Invariance of the Black Racial Identity Scale Across Gender
Authors: Lott Joe L.
Published: May 2011

Given that over 50 studies have been published using the Black Racial Identity Scale (BRIAS), the study of its dimensions and structural components are important to understanding Black people and the evolution of Black racial identity theory. Unconstrained and constrained confirmatory factor analysis models were estimated across males and females to test the hypothesis that Black men and Black women will respond similarly on the BRIAS. Findings suggest that items on the BRIAS scales are not invariant across groups through interpreting fit indexes and the Lagrange multiplier test. The results of this study supports past research that found inconsistent psychometric qualities of the BRIAS.
Singing in a Foreign Land: An Exploratory Study of Gospel Choir Participation Among African American Undergraduates at a Predominantly White Institution
Authors: Strayhorn Terrell L.
Published: May 2011

Though relatively little research has focused on the use of spiritual resources, previous research has found that traditional cultural practices and spiritual resources may contribute to persistence, although no studies, to date, focus on the role that gospel choir involvement plays in the success of Black collegians at PWIs. Using data collected via semistructured interviews with 21 African American undergraduate gospel choir members, three themes emerged that relate to the perceived benefits of participating in such groups: establishing a sense of belonging, developing ethnic identity, and nurturing resilience. Findings hold significant implications for future practice, theory, and research on Black student engagement and college student success.
Does Nativity Status Matter in the Relationship between Perceived Racism and Academic Performance of Asian American College Students?
Authors: Yoo Hyung Chol , Castro Kimberly S.
Published: May 2011

The moderation effect of nativity status on the relationship between perceived racism and academic performance of Asian American college students was investigated. We hypothesized that perceived racism would negatively correlate with academic performance and that this relationship would be stronger for US-born students compared to foreign-born students. Results found that nativity status moderated the perceived racism–academic performance link, but not in the expected direction. There was a trend of perceived racism increasing the academic performance of US-born students, while decreasing the academic performance of foreign-born students. It appears immigration characteristics are important in understanding the experience of racism and academic performance of Asian American college students.
Risk and Protective Factors Contributing to Depressive Symptoms in Vietnamese American College Students
Authors: Han Meekyung , Lee Mary
Published: May 2011

With the demographic shifts the United States faces, understanding the contributing factors to mental well-being among minority college students is crucial. This study examines the roles of parental and peer attachment, intergenerational conflict, and perceived racial discrimination on depressive symptoms while also analyzing the mediational role of sense of coherence (SOC) on depressive symptoms in Vietnamese American college students. Results from 134 Vietnamese American students surveyed showed that higher levels of parental and peer attachment predicted lower depressive symptoms; SOC partially mediated the effect of parental attachment on depressive symptoms; and SOC played a full mediational role via perceived racial discrimination on depressive symptoms. These findings provide implications for interventions targeting Vietnamese American students at institutions of higher education.
Student Perceptions of the Hip Hop Culture’s Influence on the Undergraduate Experience
Authors: Wessel Roger D. , Wallaert Kerry A.
Published: May 2011

This study sought to determine how identification and engagement with the hip hop culture influenced the educational experiences of undergraduate students at a Midwestern, predominately White university by interviewing 11 students who self-identified as being immersed in the hip hop culture. Through a qualitative, phenomenological investigation, the hip hop culture was found to have a positive impact on the collegiate experiences of undergraduates specifically as it related to socialization, personal expression through language and clothing, goals, and cultural appreciation of college students.
Le nerf de la guerre. Finances et métissage des expéditions françaises de la première guerre des Renards (1715–1716)
Authors: Mourin Samuel
Published: May 2011

Financing is one of the three main problems encountered by armies, together with supply and recruitment. When funds are insufficient, as they often are, it may be necessary to find alternative financial, tactical, and technical expedients in order to continue waging war. Such was the case in New France, where financial constraints were particularly acute during the campaigns against Amerindians. Indeed, during the Fox Wars of the early eighteenth century, the shortage of funds was so severe as to impact directly the nature of military operations. This article examines the expeditions launched from Montréal toward the Fox territories in present-day Wisconsin in 1715 and 1716. It shows how lack of funds elicited a creative response from colonial authorities, resulting in a culturally syncretistic method of warfare, adapted both to the physical environment of North America and to the Native art of waging war.
Anatomy of a Slave Insurrection: The Shipwreck of the Vautour on the West Coast of Madagascar in 1725
Authors: Bialuschewski Arne
Published: May 2011

Basé sur les manuscrits des Archives départementales de La Réunion et de la Hispanic Society of America, cet article analyse une insurrection d'esclaves sur le navire le Vautour sur la côte ouest de Madagascar en 1725. Il identifie un certain nombre de facteurs qui ont contribué à la perte du vaisseau, démontrant en quoi le succès de l'insurrection sur le Vautour a inspiré d'innombrables révoltes d'esclaves, ce qui a conduit à un changement dans la traite des esclaves pratiquée par les Français entre l'ouest et l'est de Madagascar .
L'observatoire d'Ambohidempona à Madagascar (1888–1923): Pouvoir jésuite et science coloniale
Authors: Combeau-Mari Evelyne
Published: May 2011

The Astronomic Observatory of Ambohidempona embodies both in architectural and in functional terms the very expression of Jesuit power in the Malagasy capital. This study examines the degree to which a scientific institute focusing on research in meteorology and astronomy became a power locus in the colonial context. The key interest lies in the period chosen for study, 1889–1923. Jesuit work in Madagascar considerably predates that of the colonizers (1896), because it was motivated by the struggle against Protestants, who were already well implanted. The study shows that the Observatory, by means of its double identity—Jesuit and scientific—was placed at the heart of a network of knowledge production and collaborative projects, which had local, national, and international ramifications.
Friend and Foe Revisited
Authors: Jaenen Cornelius J.
Published: May 2011

L'ouvrage pionnier Friend and Foe, publié en 1976, est le résultat de plusieurs années de recherches originales, révolutionnaires pour l'époque. Dans le présent article, l'auteur réexamine ses principales conclusions à la lumière des travaux ultérieurs, conduits dans ce domaine par lui et par d'autres historiens. L'argument principal mis en avant dans l'ouvrage semble être demeuré défendable, y compris la thèse selon laquelle l'expérience de contact était, en grande partie, une expérience de dépendance mutuelle, plutôt qu'une situation de ce que l'on a ensuite appelé "middle ground." Cet article conclut sur une brève évaluation des thèses de l'ouvrage dans le cadre de l'analyse du paratexte fournie par Genette .
Saigon: Une métropole touristique?
Authors: Demay Aline
Published: May 2011

Under French colonization, large colonial cities inevitably became tourist destinations. Colonial guidebooks recommended them for their botanical gardens, their theaters, and their "native quarters." They were used as showcases for French Overseas Territories, but we may wonder if they really had a tourist function and if they became tourist metropolises. What part did they play, and what influence did they have on the tourist sector of a colony? This is what this article seeks to examine by conducting a case study of Saigon between 1898 and 1939. Besides evaluating the tourist function of Saigon, this study proposes ways of analyzing the relationship between colonizers and colonized in terms of tourism, using French and even European tourists as an indicator of this relationship.
Les défis procéduriers d'un commerçant de La Rochelle en Acadie: Nicolas Denys, 1636–1684
Authors: Landry Nicolas
Published: May 2011

This article is in no way an attempt to present a biographical sketch of French entrepreneur Nicolas Denys in Acadia during the seventeenth century. Instead, it seeks to give him a more appropriate place within the business historiography of colonial Acadia and New France. The objective was to approach the topic by examining three aspects of Denys's career: the attacks from his opponents, the consequences of the numerous trials he was involved in, and finally, the administrative inconsistencies of the French authorities that also contributed to his bankruptcy.
French Bankers in Revolutionary Mexico: Exploring the Limits of Informal Empire, 1917–1928
Authors: Oñate Abdiel
Published: May 2011

Les banques modernes émergèrent au Mexique dans les années 1860, pendant l'empire français de Maximilien de Habsbourg (1862 -1867), une des conquêtes impériales commanditées par Napoléon III, et à partir de ce moment-là, les banquiers français jouèrent un rôle dominant dans le développement du Mexique. Pendant les décennies précédant la Révolution mexicaine, les banques françaises financèrent la modernisation du pays, et une d'entre elles, la Banco Nacional de México, fonctionna comme banque centrale du Mexique. La Révolution mexicaine détruisit l'ancien régime et mit fin à la domination française des marchés du crédit mexicain. En 1920, le Président Alvaro Obregón, dans le but d'initier la reconstruction économique du pays, réorganisa tout le système monétaire et bancaire du Mexique; le Crédit Foncier se retrouva non conforme à la nouvelle législature et fut donc liquidé, causant une grande perte financière aux investisseurs français. Les puissants banquiers parisiens ou le gouvernement français ne purent rien faire. Après 1920, la France cessa de jouer le rôle principal dans le secteur financier du Mexique. A partir d'archives mexicaines et françaises, cet article raconte l'histoire du Crédit Foncier Mexicain, une banque française qui opéra au Mexique pendant et après la Révolution mexicaine de 1910, et montre comment sa liquidation, en 1928, illustre la fin de l'hégémonie française en Amérique latine, notamment au Mexique, un pays où les banques françaises avaient dominé les marchés du crédit et des finances pendant un demi-siècle. Cette étude nous permet d'explorer les limites de l'impérialisme informel dans le contexte d'un pays non-colonial tel que le Mexique.
"A sign that we are related to you": The Transatlantic Gifts of the Hurons of the Jesuit Mission of Lorette, 1650–1750
Authors: Vélez Karin
Published: May 2011

En 1674, un missionnaire jésuite de Nouvelle France, Pierre-Joseph-Marie Chaumonot, a reconstruit la célèbre relique Catholique italienne, la Sainte Maison de Lorette, pour ses Hurons convertis. Cela lui a gagné une place dans les livres d'histoire et a fait de lui un personnage exceptionnel. Cet article défend la thèse que le Jésuite ne fut pas seul dans l'accomplissement de cette mission mais que les Hurons eux-mêmes contribuèrent largement à la dévotion à Lorette en Nouvelle France. Entre 1670 et 1720, les Hurons de la mission jésuite de Lorette envoyèrent au moins cinq colliers de wampum à des communautés Catholiques de part et d'autre de l'Atlantique. Le présent article examine les conditions de réception de ces cadeaux, en particulier par l'église de Notre Dame de Foye à Dinant, en Belgique, par la cathédrale de Chartres, en France, et par la mission de Sault-St.-Louis, ou Kahnawake, au Canada. Déjà au dix-huitième siècle, dans l'empire français, l'expression "Lorette" en était venue à désigner ces Hurons exotiques plutôt que la Sainte Maison apportée d'Italie par les Jésuites. Le partage de la religion Catholique avait transformé des étrangers en membres d'une même famille.
Les pouvoirs publics métropolitains face à la Dépression: La Conférence économique de la France métropolitaine et d'Outre-Mer (1934–1935)
Authors: Saul Samir
Published: May 2011

With the Depression eroding France's foreign trade, government authorities felt compelled to convene an imperial conference in order to seek solutions based on the consolidation of economic ties with the Empire. Inspiration came partly from the conference held in Ottawa in 1932 by Great Britain and its Dominions. The aim of the Paris gathering was to promote increased exports to the colonies as a substitute to foreign markets lost during the downswing. Likewise, importers were encouraged to buy from the colonies, rather than from foreign countries, thereby raising the purchasing power of the colonial population and its ability to import French goods. Although the program to institute a coordinated imperial economy appeared logical in principle, its implementation was complicated by economic realities and the non-complementary character of the metropolitan and the colonial economies.
"Il sera important de me mander le détail de toutes choses": Knowledge and Transatlantic Communication from the Sulpician Mission in Canada, 1668–1680
Authors: Pearson Timothy G.
Published: May 2011

Missionnaires en Nouvelle-France, les prêtres de la Compagnie de Saint-Sulpice ont produit énormément d'informations et une importante correspondance, échangée entre le Canada et la France sous le régime français. Cet article poursuit un double but: il s'agit de montrer, d'une part, comment cette institution religieuse a collecté et disséminé des connaissances sur la colonie et, d'autre part, de démontrer comment le supérieur général, Louis Tronson (1676–1699), a utilisé son réseau en Nouvelle-France afin de gagner en faveur et en influence à la cour de France. Ainsi à travers le cas de la mission sulpicienne de Kenté, située sur la côte nord du Lac Ontario, se révèle sous un jour nouveau le rôle joué par les institutions religieuses comme celle de Saint-Sulpice dans la formation et l'administration d'un Atlantique français au dix-septième siècle.
Solidarité nationale et captivité coloniale
Authors: Mabon Armelle
Published: May 2011

After the debacle of June 1940, many French soldiers were imprisoned. While the combatants from metropolitan France left for Germany, those from the colonies were sent to frontstalags throughout occupied France. Welfare services and support organizations were solicited to assist this group materially and to give them moral support. This captivity in metropolitan regions led to an unexpected rapprochement with the French population, especially since the actions of the Resistance managed to intensify under the cover of these organizations, facilitating the escape and transfer to the Maquis of these prisoners from the colonies. This is perfectly illustrated by the commitment of the great ethnologist Germaine Tillion. Even the Vichy government recognized all the benefits they could derive from these privileged contacts and sought to use this collective solidarity to spread a colonialist propaganda about the "subjects" of the empire fallen into the hands of enemies whose nationalistic positions they especially feared .
The Black Blocs Ten Years after Seattle: Anarchism, Direct Action, and Deliberative Practices
Authors: Dupuis-Déri Francis
Published: May 2011

The Black Blocs made a spectacular entrance into the Movement for Global Justice on 30 November 1999 at the "Battle of Seattle," when they smashed the windows of McDonald's, Nike, Gap, and a few banks. In April 2009, almost ten years later, a Black Bloc is involved in skirmishes with police at Strasbourg during the NATO Summit. The aim of this article, which is largely based on interviews with militants, analyses of their discourses, and first-hand observations of demonstrations, is to identify how the Black Bloc tactic originated and spread, and to understand the political factors that led activists to adopt it. Three intrinsically political questions are addressed: (1) Who should determine the plan of action within a group of militants? (2) Who should determine the plan of action during a demonstration? (3) Who should determine the criteria to assess the effectiveness of the actions taken by a social movement and speak on its behalf? To answer these questions, the notion of "respect for a diversity of tactics" and the links between the Black Blocs and other militant organizations (both radical and reformist) as well as other blocs (the "Tute Bianche" or White Overalls and the Pink Blocs) are discussed.
Impartiality and Disability Discrimination
Authors: Bognar Greg
Published: May 2011

Cost-effectiveness analysis is the standard analytical tool for evaluating the aggregate health benefits of treatments and health programs. According to a common objection, however, its use may lead to unfair discrimination against people with disabilities. Since the disability discrimination objection is seldom articulated in a precise way, I first provide a formulation that avoids some implausible implications. Then I turn to the standard defense of cost-effectiveness analysis and argue that it does not succeed. But this does not settle the question of whether the use of cost-effectiveness analysis leads to unfair discrimination. Rather, it shows that the controversy should be approached in a different way. Thus, I conclude by outlining an alternative strategy for answering the question.
Board Oversight of Community Benefit: An Ethical Imperative
Authors: Magill Gerard , Prybil Lawrence D.
Published: May 2011

Board oversight of community benefit responsibility in tax-exempt organizations in the nonprofit health care sector is attracting considerable attention. Scrutiny by the IRS and other official bodies has led to stricter measures of compliance with the community benefit standard. But stricter compliance does not sufficiently engage the underlying ethical imperative for boards to provide effective oversight—an imperative that recent research suggests has not been sufficiently honored. This analysis considers why there is a distinctively ethical imperative for board oversight, the organizational nature of the imperative involved, and practical ways to fulfill its obligations. We adopt an organizational ethics paradigm to illuminate the constituent components of the ethical imperative and to clarify emerging benchmarks as flexible guidelines. As these emerging benchmarks enhance board oversight of community benefit they also can shed light on what it means to be a virtuous organization.
Early Stopping of Clinical Trials: Charting the Ethical Terrain
Authors: Malmqvist Erik , Juth Niklas , Lynöe Niels , Helgesson Gert
Published: May 2011

The decision to terminate a clinical trial earlier than planned is often described as ethically problematic, but it is rarely systematically analyzed as an ethical issue in its own right. This paper provides an overview of the main ethical considerations at stake in such decisions and of the main tensions between these considerations. Arguments about informed consent and the impact of early stopping on research and society are explored. We devote particular attention to a familiar conflict that arises with special urgency when early data suggest that the experimental treatment is superior. Should the trial be stopped so that participants in the control group will not be allocated a seemingly inferior treatment, or should it continue in pursuit of evidence conclusive enough to improve the care of future patients? We scrutinize three ways to address this problem. Rather than dissolving the tension, they represent different trade-offs between the respective welfare interests of subjects and future patients.
The Cultural Moral Right to a Basic Minimum of Accessible Health Care
Authors: Menzel Paul T.
Published: May 2011

(1) The conception of a cultural moral right is useful in capturing the social-moral realities that underlie debate about universal health care. In asserting such rights, individuals make claims above and beyond their legal rights, but those claims are based on the society's existing commitments and moral culture. In the United States such a right to accessible basic health care is generated by various empirical social facts, primarily the conjunction of the legal requirement of access to emergency care with widely held principles about unfair free riding and just sharing of costs between well and ill. The right can get expressed in social policy through either single-payer or mandated insurance. (2) The same elements that generate this right provide modest assistance in determining its content, the structure and scope of a basic minimum of care. They justify limits on patient cost sharing, require comparative effectiveness, and make cost considerations relevant. They shed light on the status of expensive, marginally life extending, last-chance therapies, as well as life support for PVS patients. They are of less assistance in settling contentious debates about screening for breast and prostate cancer and treatments for infertility and erectile dysfunction, but even there they establish a useful framework for discussion. Scarcity of resources need not be a leading conceptual consideration in discerning a basic minimum. More important are the societal elements that generate the cultural moral right to a basic minimum.
The British Library of Information in New York: A Tool of British Foreign Policy, 1919-1942
Authors: Lincove David A.
Published: May 2011

The British Library of Information supported British interests in the United States by providing reference information and government documents explaining official British positions on domestic, imperial, and foreign affairs. The library also gathered information on American public opinion and politics and communicated with influential Americans throughout the country, thus contributing to the Foreign Office's analysis of American affairs. These efforts were part of a broader program of national publicity to ensure British political and economic competitiveness in the expanding environment of propaganda after World War I. The library model revealed conflicts in British information policy early in World War II.
A Good Social Work: Women's Clubs, Libraries, and the Construction of a Secular Society in Utah, 1890-1920
Authors: Stauffer Suzanne M.
Published: May 2011

After the renunciation of polygamy, Mormon women formed secular women's clubs as a means of collaborating with non-Mormon women in the construction of a shared secular society. Their common goal was the establishment and maintenance of the mainstream American social order. Activity in these clubs extended women's sphere into the public realm through socially acceptable public activities such as the temperance cause, civic improvements, political reform movements, and child welfare. The women campaigned for public support of libraries as institutions that would construct, preserve, and transmit American culture, educate the young, strengthen the home and family, and reform society.
D'Annunzio e le immaginifiche combustioni: L'estetica del fuoco tra mimesis e poesis
Authors: Boccali Renato
Published: May 2011

This paper explores the function of image production in literature by means of the element of fire. Gabriele D'Annunzio's The Flame of Life is explored via the images described by the main character, Stelio Effrena. The poet is inspired by the visual memory of the Venetian coloristic tradition and creates an immense crucible of fire wherein words, images, and sensations fuse together to produce an effect of synesthesia in the public. The subtle alchemy of Effrena's technique shapes the instantaneous poetic intuition by an extension of perception. In this sense, the poet becomes the high priest of the new religion of Beauty.
African Plots in Italian Children's Literature: Eugenio Cherubini's Pinocchio in Affrica
Authors: Truglio Maria
Published: May 2011

In Eugenio Cherubini's 1903 sequel to Collodi's masterpiece, illustrated by G. G. Bruno, the headstrong puppet swims to Africa to find riches. Published during Italy's emigration crisis, and in the shadow of failed colonial campaigns, Pinocchio in Affrica plays out issues central to the state's legitimacy. Targeting a precisely defined audience, the book plots these issues using a structure (home-away-home), moral (hard work and obedience), and protagonist that offer a comforting predictability. Cherubini's novel creates a familiar space in which readers could simultaneously indulge and disown illicit fantasies, and find more satisfying meaning in events that were humiliating to them.
From Pirandello's Humor to Eco's Double Coding: Ethics and Irony in Modernist and Postmodernist Italian Fiction
Authors: Martino Loredana Di
Published: May 2011

It is often believed that postmodernist irony is associated only with a poetics of relativism and does not carry an ethical message. In this paper I will argue that Vattimo's philosophy of weak thought, and Eco's theory of the postmodernist irony shed new light on the relationship between irony and social commitment, and contradict both the view of postmodernism as divorced from ethics, and the idea that there was a radical break between modernism and postmodernism. Ultimately, I will support the notion of a continuum of irony as a form of ethical commitment from modernism to today.
Mundus imago laurae : Il sonetto petrarchesco "Per mezz'i boschi" e la "modernità" del Canzoniere
Authors: Küpper Joachim
Published: May 2011

Ascribing the lyrical I a specific view is one of the most prominent features of Petrarch's Canzoniere . From a modern standpoint, this view can be seen as "subjective": the speaker in the poems continually claims to "see" his beloved, Laura. I will try to reconcile this modern reading with a more historical approach. By referring to relevant theological texts, I will show that Petrarch assigns Laura a position traditionally held by the Christian God, always present in his creations. The medieval topos of liber naturae is thus utilized to express an attitude which may be read as anticipating modern autonomy and secularism.
Theatrical Space in Luchino Visconti's Le notti bianche (1957)
Authors: Hennessey Brendan
Published: May 2011

Luchino Visconti's fame as a filmmaker tends to eclipse his prolific activity on the stage where over the course of three decades, he established himself as a major figure in postwar Italian theater. In his 1957 film, Le notti bianche , the influence of this work in the theater is undeniable. By mixing the theatrical tradition of the chamber play with the Kammerspielfilme of German silent film, Visconti created a unique marriage between theater and cinema to tell Dostoyevsky's tale of love and longing. While often considered a minor film, this article reconsiders Le notti bianche at the crossroads between dramatic arts.
The Pleasures of Reading: Boccaccio's Decameron and Female Literacy
Authors: Serafini-Sauli Judith
Published: May 2011

This paper considers the Decameron in the context of female literacy in Boccaccio's society. The theories about education of women, particularly as expressed in the conduct books of the time, indicate a general reluctance to teach women to read, largely for fear of the erotic influence that certain texts might exercise. A consideration of some of these tenets is utilized to reframe aspects of the Decameron , to illuminate some of Boccaccio's narrative strategies, and to give further interpretation to the dedication of his work to the idle ladies.
Verbal Montage and Visual Apostrophe: Zanzotto's "Filò" and Fellini's Voce della luna
Authors: Luzzi Joseph
Published: May 2011

This essay explores how a technique indelibly associated with film, montage, finds a literary mode of expression and how the literary figure of the apostrophe achieves cinematic form. I show how Andrea Zanzotto's Leopardian text "Filò" (1976), written during his collaboration with Federico Fellini on the film Casanova (1976), creates patterns of "verbal montage" that show how poetry can partake of cinematic modes of expression. My subsequent analysis of Fellini's film La voce della luna (1990) considers how the rhetorical figure of apostrophe--and a poet often associated with it, once again Giacomo Leopardi--becomes central to Fellini's critique of postmodern consumer culture.
The Intertextual Short Play: An Example Using Verga's Cavalleria rusticana and Capuana's Il piccolo archivio
Authors: Boselli Stefano
Published: May 2011

The brevity of the short play allows presenting multiple works during the same evening, and intertextuality can materialize right in front of the audience. This article uses Verga's Cavalleria rusticana and Capuana's Il piccolo archivio to explore the tension between tremendous success and almost complete invisibility in theatrical verismo . Rather than accepting the shortcomings of verist theories, later adaptations, or past context as definitive closure, the author proposes ideas for future productions to employ the richness of available materials for a contextualized performance.