bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Conducting field research in a primary school setting: Methodological considerations for maximizing response rates, data quality and quantity
Authors: Trapp Georgina , Giles-Corti Billie , Martin Karen , Timperio Anna , Villanueva Karen
Published: June 2011

Background:

Schools are an ideal setting in which to involve children in research. Yet for investigators wishing to work in these settings, there are few method papers providing insights into working efficiently in this setting.

Objective:

The aim of this paper is to describe the five strategies used to increase response rates, data quality and quantity in the TRansport Environment and Kids (TREK) project.

Setting:

The TREK project examined the association between neighbourhood urban design and active transport in Grade 5–7 school children ( n = 1480) attending 25 primary schools in metropolitan Perth, Western Australia during 2007.

Method:

Children completed several survey components during school time (i.e. questionnaire, mapping activity, travel diary and anthropometric measurements) and at home (i.e. pedometer study, parent questionnaire).

Results:

Overall, 69.4% of schools and 56.6% of children agreed to participate in the study and, of these, 89.9% returned a completed travel diary, 97.8% returned their pedometer and 88.8% of parents returned their questionnaire. These return rates are superior to similar studies. Five strategies appeared important: (1) building positive relationships with key school personnel; (2) child-centred approaches to survey development; (3) comprehensive classroom management techniques to standardize and optimize group sessions; (4) extensive follow-up procedures for collecting survey items; and (5) a specially designed data management/monitoring system.

Conclusion:

Sharing methodological approaches for obtaining high-quality data will ensure research opportunities within schools are maximized. These methodological issues have implications for planning, budgeting and implementing future research.
Effects of Streptococcus mutans on Dendritic Cell Activation and Function
Authors: Butcher J.P. , Malcolm J. , Benson R.A. , Deng D.M. , Brewer J.M. , Garside P. , Culshaw S.
Published: June 2011

Despite existing preventive and therapeutic measures, caries remains a ubiquitous infectious disease. Vaccine studies suggest that an adaptive immune response, culminating in effective antibody production, may reduce an individual’s susceptibility to caries. However, the efficacy of the immune response elicited by mutans streptococci in the oral cavity remains controversial. A greater understanding of the early stages of the adaptive immune response to cariogenic bacteria may potentially assist therapeutic targeting and design. We therefore sought to characterize dendritic cell (DC) activation and antigen presentation following Streptococcus mutans exposure. We found that S. mutans up-regulated DC expression of co-stimulatory molecules and MHCII in vitro and that DCs effectively processed and presented exogenously administered antigen. These DCs effectively initiated T-cell proliferation, but this was abrogated by live bacteria. The in vitro DC activation effects were not mirrored in vivo, where DCs in draining lymph nodes did not mature following oral exposure to S. mutans. Analysis of these data provides a model for studying antigen uptake from the oral cavity and evidence that, in vitro, S. mutans activates dendritic cells, a critical event for initiating adaptive immunity.
Finite element modeling of woven fabric tearing damage
Authors: Ping Wang  , Qian Ma  , Baozhong Sun  , Hong Hu  , Bohong Gu
Published: June 2011

In this paper we report the tear damage of woven fabric from experimental investigation and finite element analysis (FEA). Tongue-tearing behaviors of two plain and two twill-woven fabrics were tested to obtain the tearing load— displacement curves and tearing damage photographs. The tearing damage was also analyzed from a FEA approach based on the microstructure model of the woven fabrics. The tearing damage evolution and tearing load—displacement curves were obtained and compared with those in experiments. Good agreements were found. From the analyses of tearing damage evolution in FEA, the stress distribution in the tearing delta zone was visually displayed in order to find the design principle of the high tearing strength fabric. The factors that influence the tearing strength, such as the friction among warp and weft yarns, weaving structure, and weaving density, were also discussed.
Moisture management and thermal absorptivity properties of double-face knitted fabrics
Authors: Supuren Gamze , Oglakcioglu Nida , Ozdil Nilgun , Marmarali Arzu
Published: June 2011

Double face fabrics are used to ensure better clothing comfort in sports and active wears. High moisture transfer properties of these fabrics affect their comfort properties and make them more functional. In this study, in order to investigate the moisture management properties of the double face fabrics, a special knitting structure, which has different or same yarn combinations in the face and back sides, was used. The selected yarns were cotton—cotton, cotton—polypropylene, polypropylene—cotton and polypropylene—polypropylene for face and back sides respectively. Moisture management properties and the changes of the thermal absorptivity values, which determine the warm-cool feeling, of the produced fabrics were determined and statistically analyzed. All measurements were done both in dry and wet conditions. The results indicate that, the polypropylene (inner)-cotton (outer) fabric has better moisture management property, provides high levels of comfort and can be preferred for summer, active and sports wear.
Design and verification of fabric surface softness testing system
Authors: Kuo Chung-Feng Jeffrey , Lin Wen-Tsung , Su Te-Li
Published: June 2011

This study developed a testing system for fabric surface softness based on the sled method. The system is compact, lightweight, portable and convenient to use. The device can be installed on the sueding machine as an on-line real-time testing system for fabric surface softness, thus improving the response efficiency of the process parameters of the sueding machine. Moreover, it can be used to construct a database of these parameters, store different fabric types, process quality requirements and reproduce processing at the same quality, in order to automatically, rapidly and accurately calibrate the parameters.

This study applied the Taguchi method on the process parameters of the sueding machine to analyze the interaction between parameters, design the orthogonal array according to actual needs, and process the grinded fabric on-line. It also measured the testing system and plotted the Signal-to-Noise (S/N) ratio response table based on the S/N calculated for the parameter combinations. In the table, the larger S/N ratios represent a better quality characteristic and smaller variation. Hence, the main effect of the control factors and the optimum factor level can be obtained. After determining the optimal combination of process parameters, the process and measuring experiment of the reference group was conducted with these control factors to verify the results. It was proven that the device can obtain the maximum surface softness, and effectively and accurately test the surface softness of finished fabrics.
Bending behavior of multilayered and multidirectional stitched aramid woven fabric structures
Authors: Bilisik Kadir
Published: June 2011

The aim of this study was to experimentally determine the bending behavior of developed multilayered and multistitched ballistic structures which could affect the comfort for the wearer. For this reason, the bending rigidity test was conducted on all developed multilayered and multistitched ballistic structures after the impact test.

Fabric density and crimp ratio influenced the bending rigidity of single layer fabric. On the other hand, the bending rigidities of multilayered and multistitched ballistic structures depended on the number of fabric layers and stitching directions. Generally, multilayered four directional stitched ballistic structures showed the highest bending rigidity compared to the two and one directional stitching. Multilayered and multistitched ballistic structures showed high bending rigidity compared to multilayered and unstitched ballistic structures. This indicated that the number of stitching directions affected the bending rigidity of the developed ballistic structures. In addition, multilayered and multistitched structures showed a low order of bending curvatures compared to the multilayered unstitched structure. On the other hand, after all structures were impacted by one type of projectile but varied speeds, multistitched structures had low conical depth compared to those of the unstitched structures. This was because stitching increased the bending rigidity of the ballistic structures and reduced the structural deformation to the out-of-plane direction. It could not, however, be easily formed and it could decrease the ballistic comfort to the wearer.
Theodicy at the margins: New trajectories for the problem of evil
Authors: Scott Mark Stephen Murray
Published: June 2011

Traditional theological approaches to the problem of evil seek to reconcile the reality of evil with divine goodness and omnipotence. Recent work in theodicy, however, has expressed deep dissatisfaction with theoretical "solutions" that operate in abstraction from real life situations of suffering. In this article I sketch a new category in theodicy that offers fresh perspectives on a theologically and philosophically stalled issue. Rather than formulate the problem of evil in global, abstract terms, theodicies at the margin formulate it in terms of particular, concrete situations of oppression. It draws from the theoretical resources of black, liberation, and feminist theology in particular to construct theodicies that speak to these marginalized groups in their irreducible particularity.
Discursive Positioning in a Fifth-Grade Writing Lesson
Authors: Collins Kathleen M.
Published: June 2011

In this article the author draws on the concept of positioning to examine how language is used during one particular fifth-grade writing lesson to construct both the lesson and the participants. The author’s analysis of the classroom interactions makes visible how participants colluded to position one student in particular, Larnell, as a “bad, bad boy,” and worked to ultimately exclude him from the classroom community. The study has implications for understanding the social construction of school failure and resistance, particularly as they relate to the overrepresentation of black males in special education and exclusionary disciplinary settings.
Early understanding of the functions of print: Parent–child interaction and preschoolers’ notating skills
Authors: Leyva Diana , Reese Elaine , Wiser Marianne
Published: June 2011

Preschoolers’ ability to produce, read, and use written marks (notating skills) reflects an early understanding of the functions of print. The relation between preschoolers’ notating skills and parents’ level of assistance when notating, talk about the purpose of writing, and elaborative talk was examined. Sixty preschoolers played a grocery-list task, where they produced, decoded, and used notations for problem-solving. Then, parents and children played the grocery-list task together and discussed a past event. Children with better notating skills had parents who provided more assistance when notating and used more elaborative talk, but did not talk more about the purpose of writing. Findings suggest the role of parental talk styles and level of assistance in preschoolers’ understanding of the functions of print.
Perceived motivational climates and self-reported emotional and behavioural problems among Norwegian secondary school students
Authors: Stornes Tor , Bru Edvin
Published: June 2011

This study investigates the relationship between perceived motivational climates and self-reported emotional and behavioural problems (EBP: symptoms of depression, lack of on-task-orientation and disruptive behaviour), among 1171 Norwegian 8th grade secondary school students from 65 school classes. Statistical analyses showed significant associations between scores for motivational climates and EBP. Generally, perceptions of a mastery climate were associated with less reported EBP, whereas, on the other hand, perceptions of a performance climate were associated with more reported EBP. However, associations were relatively moderate and primarily identified at the individual level. The highest amount of variance was accounted for in scores for on-task-orientation, and for this variable a significant class-level association with scores for mastery climate was also computed.
The prevalence of cyberbullying among adolescents: A case study of middle schools in Serbia
Authors: Popović-Ćitić Branislava , Djurić Sladjana , Cvetković Vladimir
Published: June 2011

Cyberbullying has become widespread, and is generating growing concerns as it affects students and school climates in general. The objective of this article is to investigate the prevalence of cyberbullying among Serbian adolescents. Special emphasis was placed on gender differences regarding different forms of cyberbullying and victimization. In this study, 387 middle school students from five state schools in Belgrade were surveyed in order to obtain information about the prevalence of cyberbullying and victimization. The results show that most of the students used the Internet on a daily basis and that almost all of them possess their own mobile telephones. On average, 10% of students aged 11- to 15-years-old reported that they have cyberbullied others online, whilst 20% of them were victims of cyberbullying. The most common types of victimization reported by students were denigration and harassment, and most of the cyberbullying took the form of harassment. There were significant gender differences in cyberbullying, with male students reporting higher levels of bullying others and being victimized by cyberbullies than females. Implications for prevention and intervention are presented.
An international exploratory investigation of students’ perceptions of stressful life events: Results from Greece, Cyprus, and the United States
Authors: Leontopoulou Sophie , Jimerson Shane R. , Anderson Gabrielle E.
Published: June 2011

The present exploratory study examined student perceptions of the stressfulness and incidence of life events across three countries—Greece, Cyprus and the United States. The participants include 378 6th-grade elementary school students. Students in the United States completed the ‘What Do You Think?’ questionnaire and its translated Greek form ‘Esy Ti Pistevis?’ in Greece and Cyprus to share their perceptions of stressful life events. Marked cross-cultural similarities were revealed regarding the life events students reported as most stressful. Events reported as most stressful included those that signified personal and irreversible loss, such as losing a parent, going blind, and academic retention. In addition, events characterized as socially taboo (e.g. being caught in theft, wetting in class), and poor academic performance (e.g. getting a poor report card) were also stressful for most children cross-culturally. These same events were the least common experienced among the students surveyed in the study. The results and limitations of this study are discussed.
The role of school psychologists in child protection and safeguarding
Authors: Woods Kevin , Bond Caroline , Tyldesley Kath , Farrell Peter , Humphrey Neil
Published: June 2011

Child protection and safeguarding are important aspects of work for all professionals working with children. The current article outlines the international context of school psychologists’ work in relation to child protection and safeguarding and describes the United Kingdom context in more detail. Given the relatively recent broadening of the UK legislative focus, to include safeguarding in addition to child protection, a review of current practice is needed. A UK survey was commissioned and undertaken in order to identify the current and potential contributions of school psychologists in relation to child protection and safeguarding. This mixed methods survey included an initial focus group with school psychologists, a questionnaire survey of all school psychology services in the UK, and site visits to four selected school psychology services. The research found that school psychologists undertake a wide range of child protection and safeguarding work at universal, targeted and specialized levels. This work includes partnership with a wide variety of other professionals. Future development of school psychology’s role in child protection and safeguarding in the UK is discussed, and implications for school psychologists in other countries are considered.
Community-Based Translation of the Diabetes Prevention Program’s Lifestyle Intervention in an Underserved Latino Population
Authors: Ruggiero Laurie , Oros Susan , Choi Young Ku
Published: June 2011

Purpose

The objective was to take prevention from the clinic to the community by including a high-risk group and working with the community to tailor, enhance, deliver, and evaluate a community-based version of the Diabetes Prevention Program’s (DPP) clinic-based lifestyle intervention.

Methods

This was a nonrandomized prospective study using a single-group design. Study eligibility included a screening glucose value in the normal to prediabetes range with no current diagnosis of diabetes, overweight, not pregnant nor planning to become pregnant during study period, aged 18 to 65, Latino, living in the study target communities, and no reported medical restrictions related to the program goals. A total of 69 individuals participated. The Healthy Living Program (HLP) was based on the DPP’s 1-year intensive lifestyle program, was tailored and enhanced for a Latino community, and was delivered by community health workers. Anthropometric and paper and pencil measures were administered to examine program outcome at 6 months and 12 months.

Results

In general, results indicate statistically significant improvements in anthropometrics and many behavioral outcomes, particularly at 6 months. Participants demonstrated forward movement through the stages of change during the program.

Conclusions

Results support the effectiveness of the intervention and show that delivery of the translated version of the DPP’s lifestyle intervention in the community by community residents holds promise as one strategy to reach people at increased risk of developing diabetes. Use of this translation model, including collaboration with community health workers, offers diabetes educators an opportunity to extend their reach into underserved communities.
Social uses of interpersonal communication technologies in a complex media environment
Authors: Petrič Gregor , Petrovčič Andraž , Vehovar Vasja
Published: June 2011

This article investigates the patterns of social use of interpersonal communication technologies that can be discerned in today’s complex media environment, in which people have many channels available for interpersonal communication. The article starts with a comprehensive review of the comparative uses and gratification research of interpersonal communication media. It argues that these studies are efficient in answering questions such as why one device is preferred over another, but the approach they take is less suitable for an analysis of the patterns of actual use of interpersonal communication devices. While they build on various typologies of motives for media use, based upon psychological theories of motivations and needs, this article proposes that a valid typology of actual social uses of interpersonal media should be based on a social action theory in order to find general patterns of social use of interpersonal communication devices. Hence, this article follows recent developments of the uses and gratification approach which suggest treating social use as a social action and finds a fruitful starting point in Habermas’s typology of social action. From this, a typology of social uses of communication devices is derived, allowing a general and comprehensive, yet condensed empirical insight into the social uses of contemporary interpersonal communication technologies within a nationwide sample. Using various statistical techniques, an assessment is made of how five communication channels (i.e. mobile phone, short text messages, telephone, face-to-face and the Internet) are employed for four social uses, i.e. informational-cooperative, strategic, relational and expressive.
Randomized Trial of Risk Information Formats in Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Advertisements
Authors: Aikin Kathryn J. , O’Donoghue Amie C. , Swasy John L. , Sullivan Helen W.
Published: June 2011

Background. Federal regulations specify that print advertisements for prescription drugs and biological products must provide a true statement of information “in brief summary” about each advertised product’s “side effects, contraindications, and effectiveness.” Some of the current approaches to fulfilling the brief summary requirement, although adequate from a regulatory perspective, result in ads that may be difficult to read and understand when used in consumer-directed promotion. Objective. To explore ways in which the brief summary might be improved. Design. The authors conducted an experimental study that examined 300 consumers’ (mall visitors ever told that they were overweight) understanding of and preference for 4 different brief summary formats: traditional (a plain-language version of the risk sections from professional labeling), question and answer (Q&A; with headings framed in the form of questions), highlights (a summary section from revised professional labeling), and prescription drug facts box (similar to the current over-the-counter drug facts label). Results. The format had several effects. For instance, participants who viewed the drug facts format were better able to recall risks ( P < .01) and reported greater confidence to perform the tasks ( P < .01) than those who saw the traditional format. Differences in preference were noted; for example, the drug facts format was ranked highest, followed by the Q&A format, the traditional format, and finally the highlights format, P < 0.001. Conclusions. Taken together, these data suggest that the traditional method of conveying information in the brief summary is neither the most comprehensible nor the most preferred by consumers. These data provide policy makers and researchers with important information regarding the role of format in consumers’ understanding of the brief summary.
Using Second Life to Teach About Marketing in Second Life
Authors: Halvorson Wade , Ewing Mike , Windisch Lydia
Published: June 2011

There are compelling reasons for educators to consider incorporating virtual worlds (VWs) in their marketing curriculum. That said, the ways in which VWs can be implemented into the teaching curriculum are many and varied. This article reports on two studies in which notionally similar graduate classes are taught about marketing in Second Life (SL). The degree of student and instructor immersion is intentionally varied: One class is taught entirely in SL, by a technically expert instructor, while novice/intermediate instructors teach the second class in an interactive tutorial setting. Taken together, these studies offer marketing educators insights into developing “full” and “lite” approaches to teaching in SL, thereby lowering the barrier to uptake of the technology by catering to a broader spectrum of both instructor and student competencies, interests, and abilities.
The International Burden of Migraine Study (IBMS): Study design, methodology, and baseline cohort characteristics
Authors: Payne Krista A , Varon Sepideh F , Kawata Ariane K , Yeomans Karen , Wilcox Teresa K , Manack Aubrey , Buse Dawn C , Lipton Richard B , Goadsby Peter J , Blumenfeld Andrew M
Published: June 2011

Objective: To describe a survey methodology to evaluate headache characteristics and burden and to present baseline characteristics for the international cohort of survey participants.

Methods: A targeted, web-based methodology was used to recruit and survey subjects with migraine in 10 countries. Based on reported symptoms, subjects meeting ICHD-2 criteria for migraine were included; eligible subjects were classified as chronic (≥ 15 headache days per month) or episodic (< 15 headache days per month). Outcomes included sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, resource utilization, disability, health-related quality of life, anxiety, depression and productivity.

Results: Of 23,312 survey respondents, 11,897 were eligible and 9715 (81.7%) completed the survey; subjects were 81.5% female; 5.7% ( n = 555) had chronic migraine.

Conclusions: This is the first large international cohort of persons with chronic and episodic migraine studied using a web-based approach, a methodology well suited to the study of the burden of migraines.
The changing life-world of a Chinese village: Land, economic practice, and community change
Authors: Cheung Siu-Keung
Published: June 2011

Research into traditional Chinese society engages Chinese villages as a legitimate field for investigation. By looking into the life-world of Da Shu, a village in the New Territories of Hong Kong SAR, this article challenges a research approach that views the Chinese village as a temporal other to the contemporary world. This article demonstrates how the life-world of a Chinese village interplays with the changing historical context. The study examines the economic life that revolves around land and the overall community practices at different times. The study suggests that the life-world of this Chinese village is a historical congeries that involves varying interplays of people with varying dominant rules of time. The subjectivity of people on the ground is always imbued with remarkable historical voices and practices.
Can railway station design reduce the risk of a terrorist attack or the impact of an incident?
Authors: Jones M
Published: June 2011

Railway stations can, in a great number of cases, be classified as ‘Crowded Places’ and therefore represent attractive potential targets for terrorists. The principles of Situational Crime Prevention which centre on delay, detect, deter, and deflect remain the basis upon which counter terrorist security is based aiming to make a station more difficult or unwelcoming for a terrorist to operate within, or reducing the impact of an incident, should it occur. The use of the Operational Requirement (OR) process is highly recommended to ensure that cost-effective, relevant, and proportionate physical security measures are implemented. This approach is described here and represents current best practice. This article seeks to identify how design can be used to reduce the risk and impact of a terrorist attack using explosive devices and how elements of a station design can contribute to this, while at the same time enhancing overall crime prevention.
Time accurate modelling of the secondary air system response to rapid transients
Authors: Gallar L , Calcagni C , Llorens C , Pachidis V
Published: June 2011

The amount of air drawn by the secondary air system (SAS) from the main gas path, although necessary, impairs the engine performance because it does not contribute to engine thrust. In order to quantify and minimize this pernicious effect, the usual practice is to model the air system with one-dimensional network solvers where the net nodes represent the various components of the system. For usual engine transients, it is sufficient to analyse the system performance with a quasi-steady approach because the time constant of the air system is two orders of magnitude smaller than the turbomachinery characteristic time. Nonetheless, the rapid changes that occur during certain transient or failure scenarios – particularly shaft failure events – call for a different approach to calculate the air system performance and the fluctuations of the turbomachinery endloads. However, there is no such approach available in the open literature to predict the transient response of the system. For steady-state conditions, the differential equations that govern the fluid evolution are not time discretized and thus can be solved in a relatively straightforward fashion. Moreover, unlike during transients, the flow is not supposed to reach sonic conditions anywhere within the network and, more importantly, flow reversal is not expected to occur.

The aim of this study is to develop a model for gas turbine SAS dynamics capable of tackling the sudden changes in the flow properties that occur within the system in the rapid transient scenarios. The whole system is initially broken down into a series of chambers of a finite volume connected by pipes that are initially modelled in isolation and then interconnected. The single-component models and their assembly are successfully validated against numerical and experimental data. The resultant modular tool constitutes a baseline into which further improvements and modifications can be integrated in subsequent works.

The usefulness of the computational tool is demonstrated through the analysis of the flow evolution within the SAS and the subsequent turbine endload during a shaft failure event.
Grey-box modelling of a non-linear aerodynamic system using genetic algorithms
Authors: Rahideh A , Shaheed M H
Published: June 2011

This investigation presents a grey-box modelling approach for an experimental non-linear aerodynamic test rig, a twin-rotor multi-input-multi-output system (TRMS), using genetic algorithms (GAs). The dynamic equations of the system in terms of two degrees of freedom are developed using Newtonian method. The measurable parameters of the system are then measured and the rest are estimated using physical knowledge of the system. In order to improve the accuracy of the model, the estimated parameters are retuned using a GA-based optimization approach. For the sake of fast convergence, the estimated parameters are utilized as the initial populations of the GA. The performances of the white- and grey-box models are compared with respect to each other to validate the enhanced performance of the grey-box approach. The process is suitable for precise modelling of other non-linear systems to be used for the development of sophisticated controllers. However, it is noted that the model parameters are optimally found offline based on the real data recorded from the TRMS and when being used in control they will be static.
Hybrid adaptive ascent flight control for a flexible launch vehicle
Authors: LeFevre B D , Jha R
Published: June 2011

For the purpose of improving trajectory tracking performance of a launch vehicle under adverse flight conditions, this article describes the development of a hybrid adaptive ascent flight control architecture. The hybrid adaptive control approach augments linear feedback signals with contributions from both direct and indirect adaptive control elements. In addition, signal filters are incorporated into the feedback loop to prevent harmful interaction between the flight control system and structural bending modes. The performance of the hybrid adaptive flight controller is compared to that of a typical gain-scheduled linear feedback controller in a high-fidelity Ares I ascent simulator obtained from the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. Results from simulations which consider nominal flight conditions show that the hybrid adaptive controller is able to maintain a tracking error magnitude that is comparable to or lower than its classical proportional–integral–derivative (PID) counterpart for the vast majority of the ascent phase. However, when a 10 per cent thrust reduction is applied to the first-stage rocket motor, the PID controller experiences significantly elevated error that diverges rapidly at the end of the simulation. In contrast, the hybrid adaptive controller steadily maintains a tracking error magnitude that is frequently 50 per cent or less of the corresponding PID value during the latter stages of ascent.
In vitro testing of the deformation pattern and initial stability of a cementless stem coupled to an experimental femoral head, with increased offset and altered femoral neck angles
Authors: Wik T S , Enoksen C , Klaksvik J , Østbyhaug P O , Foss O A , Ludvigsen J , Aamodt A
Published: June 2011

The ability to vary femoral offset and neck angles in total hip arthroplasty increases the amount of flexibility in the mechanical reconstruction of the hip joint. The present study investigates the changes in strain pattern and bone–implant micromotion caused by increased femoral offset in combination with retroversion or reduced neck–shaft angle, made possible by a large experimental femoral head. A cementless femoral stem was inserted in 10 human cadaver femurs. Three femoral head configurations were tested: the standard situation, an increased offset combined with retroversion, and increased offset combined with reduced neck–shaft angle. The femurs were loaded in a hip simulator that was able to reproduce the conditions that correspond to one-legged stance and stair climbing. There was a statistically significant increase in strain for the experimental head at several strain gauge rosettes compared to the standard head. The largest significant increase in strain was 14.2 per cent on the anterior side of the femur. The largest mean total point motion was 44 µm in the distal coating area for the configuration with increased femoral offset and retroverted neck axis. The clinical relevance of the changes in strain distribution is uncertain. The femoral stem showed excellent initial stability for all test situations.
A hip simulator study of metal-on-metal hip joint device using acetabular cups with different fixation surface conditions
Authors: Li C X , Hussain A , Kamali A
Published: June 2011

In vitro wear data for hip joint devices reported in the literature vary in a wide range from one simulator study to another sometimes for the same type of device tested under identical physiological testing conditions. We hypothesized that non-bearing surface condition of the testing components could be an important factor affecting the simulator wear results. To confirm this hypothesis, fifteen 50 mm metal-on-metal hip resurfacing devices with identical bearing specifications were tested in a ProSim hip wear simulator for 5 million cycles. The heads were standard Birmingham Hip Resurfacing (BHR) heads; whilst the pairing acetabular cups were identical to the standard BHR cup except their different back surface conditions, including: (a) off-the-shelf products after removing the hydroxyapatite (HA) coating; (b) semi-finished products without HA coating; and (c) purposely-made cups without cast-in beads and HA coating. Results showed that the different back surfaces of the cups used indeed caused significantly large variations in the gravimetrically measured wear loss. We postulated that materials loss from the non-bearing surface of the testing components could contribute to the gravimetrically measured wear loss during a wear simulator test both directly and indirectly. The results presented in this paper pertain to In vitro wear simulator study and have little clinical relevance to the performance of any implant in vivo.
Transfer, Transformation, and Rhetorical Knowledge
Authors: Brent Doug
Published: June 2011

This article traces the uncomfortable relationship between writing studies and the concept of learning transfer. First it reviews three stages in the changing attitudes toward learning transfer in writing theory that is influenced by rhetorical genre studies, activity theory, and situated learning. Then it reviews learning transfer theory itself, an area that is seldom explicitly referred to in writing studies. The article concludes with a synthesis that brings transfer theory to bear on writing studies, suggesting directions for developing research and pedagogical practices related to business and technical communication.
Losing by Expanding
Authors: Spinuzzi Clay
Published: June 2011

Third-generation activity theory (3GAT) has become a popular theoretical and methodological framework for writing studies, particularly in technical communication. 3GAT involves identifying an object, a material or problem that is cyclically transformed by collective activity. The object is the linchpin of analysis in the empirical case. Yet the notion of object has expanded methodologically and theoretically over time, making it difficult to reliably bound an empirical case. In response, this article outlines the expansion of the object, diagnoses this expansion, and proposes an alternate approach that constrains the object for case-study research in writing studies.
Hybrid input shaping to suppress residual vibration of flexible systems
Authors: Yavuz Hakan , Mıstıkoğlu Selçuk , Kapucu Sadettin
Published: June 2011

This paper presents a hybrid input shaping method to eliminate residual vibration of multi-mode flexible systems. This method, initially designed for one degree of systems, is modified to apply on linear and nonlinear multi-mode systems. In this method, firstly the flexible system is uncoupled using modal analysis method, and then the parameters of the decoupled system are used to shape the command template signal. A ramp plus ramped cycloid plus ramped versine is proposed as the command template signal to be preshaped. The template function is preshaped to yield zero residual vibration for point to point motion and then the resulting trajectory is convolved with a sequence of two impulses to obtain a twice shaped input. The proposed method is applied to eliminate residual vibration of a linear multimass and flexible joint manipulator types of systems. Simulation results show that the oscillations are considerably decreased with a high degree of robustness in the presence of system parameters uncertainty.
A new vibration approach of an elastic oval cylindrical shell with varying circumferential thickness
Authors: Ahmed Mousa Khalifa
Published: June 2011

A new vibration behavior is presented for an elastic oval cylindrical shell having circumferentially variable thickness with complex radius of curvature of an isotropic and orthotropic material. Based on the framework of the Flügge’s shell theory, the transfer matrix approach and the Romberg integration method, the governing equations of motion that have variable coefficients are formulated and solved. The analysis is formulated to overcome the mathematical difficulties related to mode coupling which comes from variable curvature and thickness of shell. The vibration equations of the shell are reduced to eight first-order differential equations in the circumferential coordinate, and by using the transfer matrix of the shell, these equations can be written in a matrix differential equation. The proposed model is adopted to get the vibration frequencies and the corresponding mode shapes for symmetric and anti-symmetric modes of vibration. The sensitivity of the frequency parameters and the bending deformations to the shell geometry, ovality parameter, thickness ratio, and orthotropic parameters corresponding to different types of vibration modes of shells is investigated.
An early case of neuromyelitis optica: on a forgotten report by Jacob Lockhart Clarke, FRS
Authors: Jarius S , Wildemann B
Published: June 2011

We discuss a forgotten report by the famous British neuroanatomist, neuropathologist and neurologist Jacob Augustus Lockhart Clarke (1817–1880) about a 17-year-old girl with bilateral optic neuritis and longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis. This report, which appeared in 1865, i.e. 15 years prior to Wilhelm Erb’s much-cited paper on the coincidence of optic neuritis and acute myelitis, represents the first known account of a case of Devic’s syndrome or neuromyelitis optica in the English-language medical literature.
Effect of vitamin D3 supplementation on peripheral B cell differentiation and isotype switching in patients with multiple sclerosis
Authors: Knippenberg Stephanie , Smolders Joost , Thewissen Mariëlle , Peelen Evelyn , Tervaert Jan Willem Cohen , Hupperts Raymond , Damoiseaux Jan
Published: June 2011

Background: Vitamin D has been proposed as a promoter of immune homeostasis in multiple sclerosis (MS). During the past decade, the focus of the effects of vitamin D has been on dendritic cells and on T cells. Since there is an increasing interest in the role of B cells in the pathophysiology of MS, we studied the role of vitamin D on B cells in vivo in patients with MS.

Objective: We explored the effects of 12 weeks high-dose vitamin D3 supplementation on peripheral B cell differentiation, immunoglobulin production and levels of B cell activating factor (BAFF) in 15 patients with MS.

Methods: Circulating B cell subsets were characterized by flow cytometry. Plasma immunoglobulin levels were assessed by nephelometry. Plasma BAFF levels were assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Results: Although a significant increase serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D was induced, we found no significant shift in B cell differentiation, isotype switching, or plasma BAFF levels.

Conclusion: In patients with MS, supplementation of high doses vitamin D3 does not have substantial effects on phenotypic markers of B cell differentiation in circulating B cells. Future studies may unravel more subtle changes in the B cell compartment, either in the circulation or in the central nervous system.
Cerebellar dysfunction, cognitive flexibility and autistic traits in a non-clinical sample
Authors: Ridley Nicole J. , Homewood Judi , Walters Jenny
Published: June 2011

Cerebellar dysfunction and impaired cognitive flexibility are key features of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). However, despite the increasing interest in subclinical autism, no research has yet examined the relationship between these signs and autistic traits in the wider population. This study used the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) questionnaire to assess autistic traits in university students enrolled in either systems-oriented or humanities degree programmes. Participants also completed a battery of motor tasks designed to assess cerebellar function, and subscales from the Delis–Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS) battery. Students enrolled in systems-oriented degrees had on average higher AQ scores than students enrolled in humanities degrees. The data showed a significant correlation between autistic traits and motor function scores, as well as between autistic traits and verbal set-shifting ability, as assessed on the D-KEFS. These data provide support for the autistic spectrum hypothesis, in indicating that key cognitive, neurological and behavioural features of autism carry over into non-clinical populations.
Flexibility in young people with autism spectrum disorders on a card sort task
Authors: Reed Phil , Watts Helen , Truzoli Roberto
Published: June 2011

Adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have shown deficits in switching between rules governing their behaviour, as have high-functioning children with ASD. However, there are few studies of flexibility in lower-functioning children with ASD. The current study investigated this phenomenon with a group of low-functioning children with ASD compared to a mental-age-matched comparison group. The ASD group learned an initial discrimination task as quickly as the matched comparison group, but when the rule governing the discrimination was shifted, the comparison group learned the task with fewer errors, and made the discrimination more quickly than the groups with ASD. These findings suggest that low-functioning children with ASD do display the predicted deficits in extra-dimensional shift.
Transfer, hybridization and analogy in L2 usage: the case of Estonian object marking
Authors: Ehala Martin
Published: June 2011

The article presents the results of a quantitative study of Estonian object marking by L2 speakers with Russian as their L1 ( N = 91). A written production task was used to obtain the data. This task consisted of a coherent Estonian text where the informants needed to fill the blanks left for the direct objects. The data revealed large-scale variability: informants did not only transfer Russian features to Estonian L2. There was also evidence for analogical extension of productive patterns of Estonian object case assignment and compromise forms. This indicates that direct transfer of L1 patterns is just one and not the major source of L2 innovations. Apart from this, L2 productive patterns, universal cognitive preferences and analogical extension of error patterns are in part responsible for the non-standard forms found. The article argues that all these phenomena rely on analogy in the broadest sense, and therefore it is to be assumed that analogy is the main mechanism behind contact-induced phenomena in L2 usage and that copying, replication and pivot-matching are all specific manifestations of the same analogical mechanism.
Women workers in the apparel sector
Authors: Ruwanpura Kanchana N.
Published: June 2011

The early 1980s lead to a flurry of analysis regarding the role of women workers in the apparel sector. These incipient feminist interventions tended to hone in on the economic status of women workers to the exclusion of understanding the multiple ways in which their social and cultural lives was also transformed through this process. This research lacuna was primarily filled through the works of cultural and social anthropologists. The past three decades’ academic debates then have witnessed an intellectual and scholarly transition from the economic to the cultural, alongside strident calls for ethical corporate codes in the apparel sector. This journey, however, has not necessarily had an abiding focus on feminist concerns to do with the gendered nature of work itself.
Time machines and virtual portals
Authors: Graham Mark
Published: June 2011

It is frequently argued that the ‘digital divide’ is one of the most significant development issues facing impoverished regions of the world. Yet, even though the term is inherently spatial, there have been no sustained efforts to examine the geographic assumptions underlying discourses of the ‘digital divide.’ This article traces the history of the term, reviewing some of its tangible effects and placing a focus on the temporal and spatial assumptions underpinning ‘digital divide’ discourses. Alternative formulations of the ‘digital divide’ are offered which take into account the hybrid, scattered, ordered and individualized nature of cyberspaces.
Research with experimental games
Authors: Jackson Cecile
Published: June 2011

Experimental methods in general, and games in particular, are increasingly significant in development economics, but have had rather a limited and partial engagement with anthropology. Given the multidisciplinary character of development studies, it is timely to consider the potential of experimental games for multi-methods development research. Here I give a brief account of experimental economics and key games, for newcomers, followed by a critical discussion of the game methods as applied in a large and influential set of cross-cultural studies by (predominantly) anthropologists working with evolutionist paradigms. I conclude with a wider reflection on core assumptions in the experimental approach which need re-thinking from a broader base in social theory.
The Agahozo-Shalom youth village
Authors: Schimmel Noam
Published: June 2011

This article profiles the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village in Rwanda, a holistic response to the needs of Rwandan orphns. It places particular emphasis on the positive impact of the Village or orphans who survived the genocide and explores their unique circumstances and the social challenges and distinct vulnerabilities they face. It examines the philosophy, educational values, practical challenges of the Village and the full range of programmes it offers and the various ways in which the Village enables the healing, rehabilitation and empowerment of orphans enabling them to integrate into Rwandan society and benefit from and contribute to Rwanda’s development.