bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Photoperiod Modulates the Inhibitory Effect of In Vitro Melatonin on Lymphocyte Proliferation in Female Siberian Hamsters
Authors: Prendergast Brian J. , Yellon Steven M. , Tran Long T. , Nelson Randy J.
Published: April 2009

In Siberian hamsters ( Phodopus sungorus), short days suppress reproductive function and lymphocyte proliferation. To determine whether melatonin influences cell-mediated immunity through a direct action on lymphocyte proliferation, in vitro responsiveness to mitogens and melatonin was assessed in systemic and splenic lymphocytes from adult female Siberian hamsters housed in either long or short days for 13 weeks. Short days provoked reproductive regression and reduced lymphoctye proliferation. Physiological concentrations of melatonin (50 pg/ml) inhibited in vitro proliferation of circulating lymphocytes, whereas higher concentrations ([.greaterequal] 500 pg/ml) were required to inhibit proliferation of splenic lymphocytes. Immunomodulatory effects of melatonin were restricted to lymphocytes from long-day hamsters—in vitro melatonin had no effect on circulating or splenic lymphocytes from females in short days. Responsiveness to melatonin in short-day lymphocytes may be restrained by the already expanded nightly pattern of melatonin secretion in short days. These data support the hypothesis that melatonin acts directly on lymphocytes from long-day hamsters to suppress blastogenesis.
Interaction of the Retina with Suprachiasmatic Pacemakers in the Control of Circadian Behavior
Authors: Yamazaki Shin , Alones Vinessa , Menaker Michael
Published: April 2009

The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is the central circadian pacemaker governing the circadian rhythm of locomotor activity in mammals. The mammalian retina also contains circadian oscillators, but their roles are unknown. To test whether the retina influences circadian rhythms of locomotor behavior, the authors compared the activity of bilaterally enucleated hamsters with the activity of intact controls held in constant darkness (DD). Enucleated hamsters showed a broader range of free-running periods ([.tau]) than did intact hamsters held for the same length of time in DD. This effect was independent of the age at enucleation (on postnatal days 1, 7, or 28). The average [.tau] of intact animals kept in DD from days 7 or 28 was significantly longer than that of intact animals kept in DD from day 1 or any of the enucleated groups. This indicates that early exposure to light-dark cycles lengthens the [.tau] and that the eye is required to maintain this effect even in DD. These data suggest that hypothalamic circadian pacemakers may interact continuously with the retina to determine the [.tau] of locomotor activity. Enucleation caused a large decrease in glial fibrillary acidic protein in the SCN but has no (or slight) effects on calbindin, neuropeptide Y, vasopressin, or vasoactive intestinal polypeptide, which suggests that enucleation does not produce major damage to the SCN, an interpretation that is supported by the fact that enucleated animals retain robust circadian rhythmicity. The presence of an intact retina appears to contribute to system-level circadian organization in mammals perhaps as a consequence of interaction between its circadian oscillators and those in the SCN.
Phase Shift Magnitude and Direction Determine Whether Siberian Hamsters Reentrain to the Photocycle
Authors: Ruby Norman F. , Joshi Nirav , Heller H. Craig
Published: April 2009

Body temperature ( Tb) or activity rhythms were monitored in male Siberian hamsters ( Phodopus sungorus) housed in an LD cycle of 16 h light/day from birth. At 3 monthsof age, rhythms were monitored for 14 days, and then the LD cycle was phase delayed by 1, 3, or5 h or phase advanced by 5 h in four separate groups of animals. Phase delays were accomplishedvia a 1-or 3-h extension of the light phase or via a 5-h extension of the dark phase. The phase advance was accomplished via a 5-h shortening of the light phase. After 2 to 3 weeks, hamsters that were phase delayed by 1 or 3 h were then phase advanced by 1 or 3 h, respectively, via ashortening of the light phase. All of the animals reentrained to phase delays of 1 or 3 h and to a 1-h phase advance; 79% reentrained to a 3-h phase advance. In contrast, only 13% of theanimals reentrained to the 5-h phase advance, 13% became arrhythmic, and 74% free ran for several weeks. After the 5-h phase delay, however, reentrainment was observed in 50% of the animals although half of them required more than 21 days to reentrain. The response to a phase shift couldnot be predicted by any parameter of circadian rhythm organization assessed prior to the phase shift. These data demonstrate that a phase shift of the LD cycle can permanently disrupt entrainment mechanisms and eliminate circadian Tb and activity rhythms. Magnitudeand direction of a phase shift of the LD cycle determine not only the rate but also the probability of reentrainment. Furthermore, the phase of the LD cycle at which the phase shift is made has a marked effect on the proportion of animals that reentrain. Light exposure during mid-subjective night combined with daily light exposure during the active phase may explain these phenomena.
Quantifying Human Circadian Pacemaker Response to Brief, Extended, and Repeated Light Stimuli over the Phototopic Range
Authors: Kronauer Richard E. , Forger Daniel B. , Jewett Megan E.
Published: April 2009

The authors' previous models have been able to describe accurately the effects of extended (5 h) bright-light (>4000 lux) stimuli on the phase and amplitude of the human circadian pacemaker, but they are not sufficient to represent the surprising human sensitivity to both brief pulses of bright light and light of more moderate intensities. Therefore, the authors have devised a new model in which a dynamic stimulus processor ( Process L) intervenes between the light stimuli and the traditional representation of the circadian pacemaker as a self-sustaining limit-cycle oscillator ( Process P). The overall model incorporating Process L and Process P is intended to allow the prediction of phase shifts to photic stimuli of any temporal pattern (extended and brief light episodes) and any light intensity in the photopic range. Two time constants emerge in the Process Lmodel: the characteristic duration for necessary bright-light pulses to achieve their full effect (5-10 min) and the characteristic stimulus-free (dark) interval that can be tolerated without incurring an excessive penalty in phase shifting (30-80 min). The effect of reducing light intensity is incorporated in Process L as an extension of the time necessary for the light pulse to be fully realized (a power-law relation between time and intensity). This new model generates a number of new testable hypotheses, including the surprising prediction that 24-h cycles consisting of8hof darkness and 16 h of only 3.5 lux would be capable of entraining a large fraction of the adult population (45%). Experimental data on the response of the human circadian system to lower light intensities and briefer stimuli are needed to allow for further refinement and validation of the model proposed here.
Seckel Syndrome With Asymptomatic Tonsillar Herniation and Congenital Mirror Movements
Authors: Thapa Rajoo , Mukherjee Kabita
Published: April 2009

Seckel syndrome is a rare genetic disorder of recessive inheritance characterized by prenatal-onset growth retardation, abnormally small head, varying degrees of mental retardation and an unusual ‘‘beak-like’’ protrusion of the nose. Additionally, it is associated with multiple organ system anomalies, including that of the central nervous system. An 8-year-old male child with typical features of Seckel syndrome and asymptomatic cerebellar tonsillar herniation diagnosed by magnetic resonance imaging associated with congenital mirror movements of the upper extremities is described. The child, additionally, had agenesis of the corpus callosum. Previously reported central nervous system anomalies associated with congenital mirror movements include corpus callosal agenesis and cranio-vertebral anomalies, both of which were present in this child. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of congenital mirror movements occurring in association with Seckel syndrome.
Therapy and Monitoring of Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia Type II in Critically Ill Patients During Continuous Venovenous Hemodiafiltration: Comparison of aPTT and Ecarin Clotting Time for Monitoring of r-Hirudin Therapy
Authors: Muhl Elke , Siemens Hans-Joachim , Kujath Peter , Bruch Hans-Peter
Published: April 2009

We conducted a survey of therapy, complications, and monitoring of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) type II in critically ill patients during continuous venovenous hemodiafiltration (CVVHDF). We also compared activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) and ecarin clotting time (ECT) for monitoring recombinant (r)-hirudin therapy. Six patients with HIT type II were treated with r-hirudin and were on CVVHDF due to acute renal failure (blood flow rate 90 ml/hr, dialysate flow rate 1 L/hr, substitution 1 L/hr predilution, acrylonitrile membrane 0.9 m2). The mean duration of CVVHDF was 6.2 ± 3.6 days (range 3-17 days). Diagnosis of HIT was established 5.0 ± 1.5 days (range 3-8 days) after a decrease in the platelet count. Three of six patients had other possible reasons for thrombocytopenia apart from HIT, such as massive transfusion, sepsis, or liver cirrhosis. Three thromboembolic events occurred before the diagnosis of HIT was established, none of them during treatment of HIT with r-hirudin. In all patients the platelet count doubled or increased up to 100/nl within 2.5 ± 0.5 days. The dose-response relationship of r-hirudin and aPTT was not satisfactory ( r = 0.371). In patients receiving CVVHDF with one of two different doses of r-hirudin (1 mg/hr versus 2 mg/hr), there was no difference in aPTT ( p < 0.77) but a significant difference in ECT ( p < 0.001). The correlation between r-hirudin dose and ECT was r = 0.654 ( p < 0.0001). r-Hirudin was safe and effective in the treatment of HIT type II in critically ill patients during CVVHDF. ECT seems to be superior to aPTT for monitoring r-hirudin therapy because it correlates better with the concentrations of r-hirudin.
Steroids and Sepsis: Time for Another Reevaluation
Authors: Kenyon Nicholas J. , Albertson Timothy E.
Published: April 2009

Treatment of sepsis has changed little in the past few decades and the lack of improvement is reflected in the relatively steady mortality rate. Much of the initial disappointment surrounding many of the past multicentered clinical trials in sepsis centers on the use of short-term, high-dose steroids. While recent advances focusing on the interplay between inflammation and coagulation are expected to result in important new treatments in sepsis, rekindled enthusiasm for the role of supraphysiologic-dose steroids is adding to the excitement. Specifically, emerging evidence suggests that moderate-dose glucocorticoids may improve outcomes in septic shock patients, in part, by treating occult adrenal insufficiency. One preliminary study that has sparked considerable interest reported a 30% relative reduction in mortality in sepsis patients treated with modest doses of hydrocortisone for 1 week. It appears clear the role of adrenal insufficiency and steroids in septic shock is deserving of a reevaluation.
On the Transition to Agent-Based Modeling
Authors: Gulyás LáSzló
Published: April 2009

This article studies the effect of different implementation approaches on agent-based computer models. This is accomplished via four reimplementations of a simple model of self-organization. How implementation choices “guide our hands” and lead possibly to implicit assumptions about the modeled system is also demonstrated. Furthermore, the question of what makes a model agent based is studied. An argument is made that agent-based implementation is rather a matter of degree than a binary choice.
Local Governments Online and the Role of the Resident
Authors: Steyaert Jo
Published: April 2009

This article explores the ways municipalities use the Internet as a new medium to interact with residents. Many local governments develop new tools to serve citizens’ needs for information, services, and participation. The Internet is developing fast as a means to realize all this at once, in one “place.” In Flanders, Belgium, there is a trend in electronic services for the government to reduce the citizen to a customer. Such important civic roles as being a voter and being a contributor to policy making are reduced to a minimum. Consequently, local government web sites are primarily one-way streams to the citizen as customer. The interactive possibilities of municipal web sites are neglected. This holds the risk that in future, local authorities will (voluntarily) neglect the democratic possibilities the Internet offers. In this way, they are developing an electronic government shop rather than the electronic community that some have predicted.
Social Psychology
Authors: James Keith
Published: April 2009

The status of technological and scientific skill attainment by American Indian individuals and the science- and technology-related issues faced by Indian communities and cultures are outlined. The potential for unique Indian contributions to science as well as the potential for scientific contributions to Indian well-being are described. Factors that have contributed to science/technology problems and impeded science/technology successes among Indians are reviewed. Some recent Indian science/technology projects that provide model examples of what can work are reviewed.
Social Impacts
Authors: Hunter Christopher D.
Published: April 2009

In the wake of the Littleton, Colorado, shooting tragedy, public attention has again been focused on the problem of potentially harmful Internet content. Many parents and legislators have proposed that commercially available filtering software is the best way to keep children away from the “red light districts of cyberspace” while also protecting the First Amendment. Civil libertarians and others, however, have noted that Internet content filters do not work as advertised, failing to block much dangerous material and also unjustly blocking benign content. The aim of this article is to assess these competing claims by rigorously testing the effectiveness of four popular filtering programs: CYBERsitter, Cyber Patrol, Net Nanny, and Surf Watch. The findings of this study suggest that current support for filtering software should be reconsidered.
Sociology
Authors: Brent Edward , Thompson Alan , Vale Whitley
Published: April 2009

The capacity to explain important elements of social life is central both to the development of sociological theory and to teaching sociology. This research seeks to expand our understanding of sociological explanation through a computational approach. Explanations commonly encountered in introductory sociology texts are used to develop a typology of explanatory forms. A computational strategy that represents sociological knowledge using a combination of frames, semantic networks, and procedural rules is described. It is then demonstrated that this approach can generate the full range of these explanations for all logical combinations of conditions and for the full scope of sociological knowledge. This approach is also shown to be capable of identifying appropriate explanations, assessing the quality of explanations, and generating new insights.
Usability Evaluation of Computer-Assisted Survey Instruments
Authors: Couper Mick P.
Published: April 2009

Computer-assisted interviewing (CAI) has a substantial impact on the way interviewers carry out the task of interviewing. Survey instruments are becoming more complex, necessitating new skills of interviewers. In addition to question wording, the design of CAI instruments is a focus of evaluation and pretesting efforts. This article reports on a variety of research activities related to the usability testing of CAI instruments, focusing both on interviewers (in interviewer-administered surveys) and respondents (in self-administered surveys). The article introduces practices and procedures of usability testing, illustrated with examples from several recent studies in which these methods were applied to the evaluation of computerized survey instruments.
Data Mining
Authors: Hand David J.
Published: April 2009

Data mining is the science of finding unexpected, valuable, or interesting structures in large data sets. It is an interdisciplinary activity, taking ideas and methods from statistics, machine learning, database technology, and other areas. It poses novel challenges, in part arising from the sheer size of modern data sets. Although there is no doubt that it addresses important questions, there are deep issues to be resolved relating to data quality and the nature of inference. Statisticians have an important role to play in resolving these issues.
Bridging the Quantitative-Qualitative Divide
Authors: Bolden Richard , Moscarola Jean
Published: April 2009

Traditional qualitative data analysis software, while greatly facilitating text analysis, remains entrenched in a tradition of semantic coding. Such an approach, being both time-consuming and poor at incorporating quantitative variables, is seldom applied to large-scale survey and database research (especially within the commercial sector). Lexical analysis, on the other hand, with its origins in linguistics and information technology, offers a more rapid solution for the treatment of texts, capable not only of identifying semantic content but also important structural aspects of language. The automatic calculation of word lexicons and rapid identification of relevant text fragments require an integration of both powerful quantitative analysis and search-and-retrieval tools. Lexical analysis is thus the ideal tool for the exploitation of open-text responses in surveys, offering a bridge between quantitative and qualitative analyses, opening new avenues for research and presentation of textual data.
Trust Through Evaluation and Certification?
Authors: Osterwalder Daniel
Published: April 2009

Trust is a common aspiration in information and information technology (IT) security. Typical situations include those in which the intention is to sell security policies, measures, standards, and procedures as promoting security. Trust is mentioned in various lists of criteria and evaluation catalogs on secure IT products and systems as these catalogs aim to achieve reliability (access) and confidentiality (data). What is interesting here is that trust is not considered as a concept but instead in the colloquial sense (with no reflection of the ubiquity of the term) and is considered achievable with the help of technical procedures. Evaluation of IT products and systems and certification of digital signatures should, however, guarantee security that can be quantified and verified. This article explores three main theories in connection with information and IT security: Do evaluation, certification, and standardization serve in creating trust by reducing complexity in such a way that they can be understood and verified by the user?
“But the Computer Said!”
Authors: Saunders-Newton Desmond , Scott Harold
Published: April 2009

There has been a continued expansion of the uses of computer-based tools and techniques in public sector endeavors: from traditional notions of data collection and management (bean counting) to the processing of data into information that supports managerial activities. Advances in technology based on emerging work in decision theory, information science, and cognitive science will allow for use of these computational models in more expansive “advisory” roles to decision makers of all types. To what degree can public sector decision makers use computational models to support or advise decision making? As these new technologies become a routine part of the policy process, will a belief in computer omnipotence tempt public sector decision makers to abdicate personal responsibility for poor choices? The authors explore the choice-related implications associated with the increased use of computer-based models, define possible computer-based decision support models (CBDSMs), and present a typology of credible uses of CBDSMs.
A Report From the Internet2 “Sociotechnical Summit”
Authors: Batteau Allen W.
Published: April 2009

After viewing demonstrations at the Internet2 “Sociotechnical Summit,” the author observes that the range in capability and infrastructure between that of advanced developers and that of beginning users is widening and that in production environments there are inevitably constraints not found in the laboratory, where these applications work so well. These constraints are not just a matter of the “real world” failing to catch up with the laboratory in terms of bandwidth and technical skills; rather, these constraints are inherent in the nature of the processes of production in a complex, diverse world.
Simulation of the Learning of Norms
Authors: Verhagen Harko
Published: April 2009

Multiagent system research tries to obtain predictability of social systems while preserving autonomy at the level of the individual agents. In this article, social theory is called upon to propose a solution to this version of the micro-macro problem. The use of norms and learning of norms is one possible solution. An implementation of norms and normative learning is proposed and evaluated by using simulation studies and measures for the internalizing and spreading of norms. The results of the simulations provide food for thought and further research. Modeling the norm set of the group in accordance with the individual mind-set in absence of other information (i.e., at the beginning of the group-forming process) proves to be a more fruitful starting point than a random set.
Understanding Internet Usage
Authors: Larose Robert , Mastro Dana , Eastin Matthew S.
Published: April 2009

Several studies have applied uses and gratifications to explain Internet usage. Like Bandura’s social-cognitive theory, the uses and gratifications framework explains media use in terms of expected positive outcomes, or gratifications. However, previous uses and gratifications research accounted for little variance in Internet behavior, although there were conflicting results. This research identifies new variables from social-cognitive theory that might further explain Internet usage and resolve inconsistencies in prior research. Measures of self-efficacy and self-disparagement were developed for the domain of Internet behavior. Internet addiction was interpreted as a deficient self-regulation within the social-cognitive framework. Finally, the negative outcomes of online behavior were analyzed for their impact on Internet usage. In a survey of 171 college students, the social-cognitive model explained 60% of the available variance in Internet usage using multiple regression analysis, a significant improvement over prior uses and gratifications research.
Cyberslacking and the Procrastination Superhighway
Authors: Lavoie Jennifer A. A. , Pychyl Timothy A.
Published: April 2009

This study was designed to explore the extent to which time spent online was related to self reports of procrastination. A sample of 308 participants (Mean age = 29.4 years, SD = 12.0, 198 females) from various regions of North America completed a survey posted to the World Wide Web. Data collected included demographic information, attitudes toward the Internet, amount of time spent online (at home, work, and school), trait procrastination, and measures of positive and negative emotion. Results demonstrated that 50.7% of the respondents reported frequent Internet procrastination, and respondents spent 47% of online time procrastinating. Internet procrastination was positively correlated with perceiving the Internet as entertaining, a relief from stress, and paradoxically, as an important tool. Internet procrastination was also positively correlated with trait procrastination and negative emotions. Implications regarding Internet procrastination are discussed in relation to procrastination theory and research as well as Neil Postman’s critique of technology.
Web Surveys
Authors: Heerwegh Dirk , Loosveldt Geert
Published: April 2009

Web surveys generally use some sort of access control to prevent uninvited respondents from taking part in the survey and to prevent multiple completions by the same (invited) respondent. Restriction of survey access can be accomplished in several technically equivalent ways. However, these methods may not be equivalent from a methodological viewpoint. In this article, an exploration of possible effects of access control mechanisms is undertaken. Two different modes of access control were experimentally manipulated. Five hundred respondents were assigned to the automatic login condition. Another 500 respondents were assigned to the manual login condition. It was expected that the automatic login procedure would generate higher response rates but a lower degree of data quality. The results show that using a manual login procedure does not decrease response rates, whereas it does increase the overall degree of data quality.
Perceptions of University Students Regarding the Digital Divide
Authors: Crews Mike , Feinberg Martin
Published: April 2009

This article examines university student perceptions based on area of residence (urban, suburban, and rural) of the digital divide. The results show a medium effect size for the difference in means between the number of times per week urban students access the Internet compared to suburban and rural students. In addition, a medium effect size was found for the difference in means between the perceptions of the students with respect to the item that access to the library can be improved via the Internet in rural areas. Furthermore, the results indicate that there is a medium effect size for the difference in means between the perceptions of the students with regard to the item that social service applications of the Internet are crucial in rural areas. The results also show that students equally perceive the item that rural areas are being left behind with respect to the information superhighway.
Introduction
Authors: Taylor Jacqui
Published: April 2009

This article will present an overview of the way that the Internet is being used to assist psychological research and mediate psychological practice. It will show how psychologists are using the Internet to examine the interactions between people and computers, and highlight some of the ways that this research is important to the design and development of useable and acceptable computer systems. In particular, this introduction will review the research presented at the recent International Conference on Psychology and the Internet held in the United Kingdom. On behalf of the organizing committee, the author would like to thank all psychology researchers and practitioners who presented and participated in the conference. The final part will introduce the eight articles in this special edition, including those from the invited speakers at the conference: Tom Postmes, Pamela Briggs, and Ulf-Dietrich Reips. The eight articles are representative of the breadth of research being conducted on psychology and the Internet: There are two on methodological issues, three on group processes, one on organizational implications, and two on social implications of Internet use.
On the Possibility of Democracy in a Geocoded World
Authors: Curry Michael R.
Published: April 2009

Political redistricting has increasingly been carried out with the aid of geographic information systems (GIS). Concerns about the systems have focused on their misuse, but their critics have failed to see that they raise deeper issues. First, they conceptualize districts as containers in space, where in fact people typically see themselves as belonging in and attached to their neighborhoods. Second, GIS-based geodemographic systems, based on inferred data about individuals and groups, appeal to an inadequate means of theorizing about community and culture. Finally, the availability of these data is increasingly leading to a society in which views are imputed to people who may not believe them, while politicians act as though people have those views, without having good reason to believe that people actually hold them. Together, GIS has been associated with a recasting of the public and the private in ways that render the political much less viable.
The Information Age
Authors: Hedley R. Alan
Published: April 2009

This article examines implications of the information revolution for the global inequalities between North and South. A multidimensional empirical taxonomy of information technology is provided to chart its diffusion throughout the world. Two major conclusions ensue from this analysis: (a) The information revolution is still very much in its beginning stages, and (b) it is limited primarily to the developed nations of the North. Based on past practice, the technical operating features of the Internet, and a content analysis of one Internet discussion group, three possible development scenarios are offered. Although no firm conclusions are possible, analysis of the Internet does reveal that technologically and empirically greater opportunity exists now for the previously excluded (i.e., the South) to participate. However, the question remains as to whether this is sufficient to redress the gross imbalance between North and South.
Information Networking as an Instrument of Sustainable Development
Authors: Funk Karina
Published: April 2009

This report reviews novel initiatives for improving the content of information on sustainable development and novel initiatives for increasing access to this information with an emphasis on outreach to rural areas. Improving information content and improving the outreach of the network are the two key elements of any successful communications project. The combination of communications services and other development activities create an opportunity for co-capacity building in that the implementation of one builds capacity for more successful implementation of the other. The co-capacity building of energy and communications services is considered. Integrating connectivity, content, and capacity-building initiatives in a decentralized network for exchange of information on sustainable development can result in greater progress than can improvement of each of the parts.
Anthropology
Authors: White Douglas R. , Batagelj Vladimir , Mrvar Andrej
Published: April 2009

Five key problems of kinship networks are boundedness, cohesion, size and cohesive relinking, types of relations and relinking, and groups or roles. Approaches to solving these problems include formats available for electronic storage of genealogical data and representations of genealogies using graphs. P-graphs represent couples and uncoupled children as vertices, whereas parent-child links are the arcs connecting nodes both within and between different nuclear families. Using results from graph theory, P-graphs are shown to lend themselves to solutions of the problems discussed. Relinking of families through marriage, for example, can be formally defined as sets of bounded groups that are the cohesive cores of kinship networks, with nodes at various distances from such cores. The structure of such cores yields an analytic decomposition of kinship networks and constituent group and role relationships. The Pgraph and Pajek programs for large network analysis help both to represent kinship networks and their patterns and to solve problems of analysis.
Telecommunications/Multimedia
Authors: Carpenter Edwin H. , Wolfe Fred H. , Ricketts Jennifer , Norvelle Erik
Published: April 2009

Carpenter and his colleagues discussed the process of creating an asynchronous learning experience for postsecondary students that employed a blend of CD-ROM and Internet technology. Whereas this hybrid approach created a superb learning environment, the rapidly evolving software and hardware available for the capture, compression, and reproduction of the educational experiences resulted in many changes in the creation process. This article describes the final version in detail, the difficulties, and the solutions that were reached that led to the finished product. The course was introduced as an experimental class in the fall semester of 1998. To deliver this course, several major innovations and developments were accomplished. The authors created a new multimedia instructional auditorium that functions as a video studio as well as a classroom; found several new approaches to content creation and production; and designed a course that is professional, mature in appearance, and very appealing to their students.
A Computer Simulator for Proportional Representation Systems
Authors: González-Vélez Horacio
Published: April 2009

Computational research can make a contribution to practical politics. In the field of elections, there always has been an attempt to find the “ideal voting system” in terms of perfect fair representation of majorities and minorities in representative bodies. The project described in this article deals with the design and implementation of a proportional representation (PR) vote-tallying structural system (VTSS). The main purpose of this program is to carry out the vote-counting process within a multipost election. The VTSS can be described as a parameter-based multialgorithm system. It includes the single transferable vote, highest average, and greatest remainder voting methods. The last two receive parameters to particularize their execution, emulating well-known PR list systems. Although it was not the main objective, the VTSS has proven to be effective in analyzing and designing PR electoral systems.
Climate-related eutrophication of a small boreal lake in northwestern Ontario: a palaeolimnological perspective
Authors: Moos Melissa T. , Laird Kathleen R. , Cumming Brian F.
Published: April 2009

A palaeolimnological investigation of changes in water quantity and quality in Lake 239, Experimental Lakes Area, in northwestern Ontario indicates marked changes in limnological conditions during the Holocene. Water quantity changes are based on the analysis of diatoms and inferences of lake-level changes from a nearshore sediment core. Changes in water quality are based on the analysis of diatom assemblages and associated quantitative inferences of total phosphorus (TP) from a deep central core, as well as changes in diatom accumulation rates, the proportion of chrysophyte scales to diatoms and changes to organic matter content. Lake levels at least 8 m lower than today were inferred from the nearshore core and were concurrent with an increase in nutrient-rich diatom assemblages, an increase in diatom accumulation and a decrease in the chrysophytes relative to diatoms in the central core. Fragilaria crotonensis and Aulacoseira subarctica were two of the dominant nutrient-rich taxa that contributed to an increase in diatom-inferred TP during the mid Holocene. Results from this study provide strong empirical evidence that water levels much lower than today can dramatically change trophic status, as occurred during the dry mid Holocene, and may provide a good analogue for understanding future impacts of climatic changes due to anthropogenic activities.
Investigations on buried soils and colluvial layers around Bronze Age burial mounds at Bornhöved (northern Germany): an approach to test the hypothesis of `landscape openness' by the incidence of colluviation
Authors: Dreibrodt S. , Nelle O. , Lütjens I. , Mitusov A. , Clausen I. , Bork H.-R.
Published: April 2009

The idea of open landscapes around prehistoric burial mounds is founded on their topographical position and findings of plaggen clots within the hills at some sites. We have investigated the surroundings of four Bronze Age burial mounds at Bornhöved (northern Germany) to test whether this assumed landscape openness enabled soil erosion and colluviation or not. The soils and colluvia within a watershed below the burial mounds were investigated in six large exposures and additional auger cores. The chronology is based on 21 AMS-radiocarbon dates, complemented by charcoal analysis and the content of selected heavy metals in the sediments. Colluvia were deposited in the Late Neolithic (~2500—2200 cal. BC), Roman Emperor Times (~ 250—400 cal. AD), Mediaeval Times (~ AD 600—1400) and Modern Times (~ AD 1800—2000). Our findings indicate that the soil surfaces were protected against soil erosion during the phase of Bronze Age funeral use (~ cal. 1800—600 BC). Either the prehistoric gravediggers practised a well suited form of pasturing to keep the scenery open or the surroundings of the burial mounds were forested at the time of funeral use. The results of charcoal analysis reflect the known succession of woody taxa in the region and underline the great potential of anthracology on colluvial layers for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions apart from traditional archives such as lakes or mires. Bulk radiocarbon dating of organic matter overestimated the time of burial of a buried soil as well as the time of deposition of colluvial layers considerably.
Morava River floodplain development during the last millennium, Strážnické Pomoraví, Czech Republic
Authors: Kadlec J. , Grygar T. , Svétlík I. , Ettler V. , Mihaljevič M. , Diehl J.F. , Beske-Diehl S. , Svitavská-Svobodová H.
Published: April 2009

Floodplain sediments deposited along the lower course of the Morava River (eastern Czech Republic), were studied in the Strážnické Pomoraví region to describe the alluvial history of the river over the last millennium. The sediments exposed in up to 5 m high erosional river banks were analysed using mineral magnetic, geochemical and chemical approaches. The age model of the sedimentary sequences was constructed from radiocarbon dates in association with 206Pb/207Pb and POP (DDT, PCB) analysis and 137Cs activity data. The Cu-trien method was used for stratigraphically correlating these deposits based on the variation of expandable clay minerals in the sediments. The resulting stratigraphic pattern reveals the alluvial history of the currently active river channel system since the end of the first millennium AD. Fine overbank clayey sediments deposited during the `Mediaeval Warm Period' were eroded from cultivated fields newly formed during Mediaeval colonization between 1250 and 1450. These fine deposits are overlain by coarser floodplain sediments of the `Little Ice Age', indicating a change in the sediment source since the sixteenth century AD, and a substantial increase in the sediment load in the second half of twentieth century. The Strážnické Pomoraví floodplain deposits represent a valuable palaeoenvironmental archive of the last millennium, containing records of fluvial processes considerably altered by human activities.
What drives Herbeck? Schizophrenia, immediacy, and the poetic process
Authors: Hens Gregor
Published: April 2009

A poem by the Austrian schizophrenic Ernst Herbeck (1920-91) is examined and evaluated in view of his considerable success as a poet. It is argued that the text’s circumstances of production and Herbeck’s cognitive deficiencies leave little room for creativity, let alone genius. The poem ‘Weihnachten 1967’ is characterized by a peculiar line-by-line approach that is explained in terms of the immediacy hypothesis, according to which schizophrenics’ actions are triggered by the immediate environment (Salzinger et al., 1970). Speech acts may be triggered by preceding words or phrases, leading to an appearance of incohesion. In the case discussed here, the poet takes cues for the extension of his text from the preceding lines only. Depending on their success, he either develops or evades the topic found there, or he attempts to repair a mistake by suggesting a re-analysis in the new line. The obscure and partly private connections within the poem are traced and explained in terms of conceptual frames (Fillmore, 1975).

The discussion of the poem contributes to debates concerning the aesthetic appreciation of Herbeck’s poetry, the nature of schizophrenic speech in terms of cognitive and/or linguistic deficiencies, the evaluation of art brut in general, and the larger debate concerning the intersection of art and pathology.
The language of felt experience: emotional, evaluative and intuitive
Authors: Downes William
Published: April 2009

The problem analysed is how the phenomenology of feelings is linguistically expressed as opposed to simply reported. Three kinds of felt experience are distinguished: emotion and evaluation, which are classed as affect, and intuition, which is the compulsive sense of a non-propositional ‘meaning’. It is argued that these are extra-linguistic semiotic or cognitive systems. Emotions are construals of bodily arousal; evaluations are construals of experiences on scales from positive to negative; and intuitions are construals of properties of language itself. These are said to be sociohistorical. Higher level discourse and lexical resources for expressing affect are presented. Then, drawing from Halliday, Labov, Martin and Lemke, it is suggested that felt experiences are expressed iconically, but either concretely or abstractly. The iconicity is on the dimensions of intensity and prosody, and also intertwines different types of experience. Any linguistic feature that can express this iconicity can be deployed; for example, gradability. Five classes of linguistic realization are discussed. These are exemplified through the analysis of a passage of religious writing, Julian of Norwich’s Showings. The importance of analysing texts as linguistic expressions of complex felt experiences is suggested.
Marketing the voice of authenticity: a comparison of Ming Cher and Rex Shelley
Authors: Gupta Anthea Fraser
Published: April 2009

In 1995 two novels by Singaporean writers were published. Ming Cher’s Spider Boys, a first novel, was published by Penguin in New Zealand, while Rex Shelley’s Island in the Centre was published in Singapore by the regional publisher, Times Books. The marketing of both implied that they were authentic voices of Singapore. The varieties of English used and represented in the two novels are compared to the varieties of English attested in sociolinguistic studies of Singapore. Shelley’s novel represents Singapore English in a way that allows a readership familiar with Singapore to relate the characters to their sociolinguistic setting, and it has a Singaporean readership as its major target. Cher’s novel has a non-Singaporean readership as its primary target and is written throughout in a variety of English that results from Cher’s experiences as a learner of English, mediated by editors. The novels are used to illustrate concepts of authenticity in representation of language and in marketing strategies.
Writing under the influence: Milton and Wordsworth, mind and metre
Authors: McCully C. B.
Published: April 2009

This article suggests, in the spirit of Hayes (1983), that poetic influence can in part be expressible through a series of constraints as these are manifest in metrical filters, devices which essentially define which cadences are metrical for one poet, yet unmetrical for another. Synchronically, metrical filters help to account for the differences between the pentametric lines of Shakespeare, say, and those of Marlowe or John Donne. Diachronically, however, the employment of metrical templates yields challenging insights into how one poet, or group of poets, inherits, and seems to absorb, the metrical cadences of one or more strong precursors. In this instance, the focus of attention is on the literary relationship between Milton and Wordsworth, and the article shows, using a survey from Wordsworth’s mature work, that Wordsworth indeed seems to have inherited Milton’s characteristic intra-linear metrical structures, and employed them in his verse. Misreading, or ‘creative misprision’, may be, as Bloom (1973) suggests, the thematic hallmark of poetic influence, but here, metrically speaking, imitation is clearly the sincerest form of debt.
Describing camp talk: language/pragmatics/politics
Authors: Harvey Keith
Published: April 2009

This article uses literary examples from English-language and French-language postwar fiction to elaborate a descriptive framework for representations of camp talk. The framework is based on four underlying semiotic strategies that produce a variety of surface textual effects (stylistic and pragmatic). The strategies are called Paradox, Inversion, Ludicrism and Parody. The effects they generate range from register play, through puns, to innuendo. The article argues that these effects contribute to the development of fictional representations of homosexual/gay/queer characters in postwar fiction and also to the elaboration of a gay critique of dominant cultural norms and practices. As such, the four strategies may also, it is suggested, underpin other (visual, gestural) semiotic regimes.
From Geordie Ridley to Viz: popular literature in Tyneside English
Authors: Beal Joan C.
Published: April 2009

The existence of a large body of literature in the Tyneside and Northumbrian dialects, dating from the late 18th century and continuing to the present day, testifies to a strong and enduring sense of regional identity closely associated with an acute sense of the differences between these dialects and Standard English/RP. Although much of this literature is conservative in nature and conservationist in intent, more recent examples in the local and popular press attempt to represent the salient features of the modern urban dialect (Geordie).

This article examines extracts from a selection of texts, dating from George (Geordie) Ridley’s The Blaydon Races (1862) to cartoons in the Newcastle local newspaper, The Evening Chronicle(1996-7) and from Viz comic (1998). In the texts examined, semi-phonetic spelling is used to represent features of the Geordie accent. This article demonstrates that, whilst some features of the traditional dialect have been dropped by the more recent writers, others, such as the monophthongal/u:/in words such as ‘ town’, ‘brown’, spelt  are retained, notably in lexical items having referents which are closely bound up with local identity. Features found only in 20th-century texts often indicate very localized shibboleths, distinguishing Geordies from ‘Makkems’ (citizens of Sunderland, about 15 miles south-east of Newcastle).

Recent sociolinguistic research points to a tendency for supra-local norms to replace the more traditional forms indicated by the spellings in dialect literature. This article argues that the prominence of local forms in dialect literature may represent an assertion of local identity in the face of the perceived threat of cultural and linguistic homogenization.
Metaphorical propositions: a rationale
Authors: Crisp Peter
Published: April 2009

This article is an overview of the approach to metaphor analysis expounded in the following three articles. Until now the study of conceptual metaphor has been based mainly on the evidence of invented linguistic examples. Although the great value of the work done within this framework is clear, a more empirically oriented approach will need to engage with metaphorical language in naturally occurring discourse. To study this an explicit analytic procedure is required. Although such a procedure should ultimately provide a new source of evidence for underlying cognitive processes, it will not provide a direct path from linguistic to cognitive reality. When our group classifies an instance of language as metaphorical we thus do not claim that it realizes a psychologically real conceptual metaphor, but only that it provides the linguistic basis for such a realization. In specifying the conceptual metaphorical potential of this linguistic basis, we have found the tools of propositional analysis, as developed by discourse psychology, as well as the concept of cross-domain mapping familiar in cognitive semantics, to be extremely useful. Our approach to metaphor analysis thus has three levels: that of metaphorical language; that of the metaphorical proposition; and that of the cross-domain mapping.