bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Neoliberal Infections and the Politics of Health: Resurgent Tuberculosis Epidemics in New York City and Lima, Peru
Authors: Smith-Nonini Sandy
Published: September 2009

This chapter is based on a comparative study of two epidemics of resurgent tuberculosis (TB)—in New York City and Lima, Peru. The study was carried out through a series of open-ended, in-depth interviews carried out between January and June 1999, with health workers, academic observers, and public health officials involved with TB control. The two case studies highlight the role of neoliberal economics in contributing to TB epidemics, and the ways in which political and economic interests, both locally and internationally, shaped the response of local governments to the re-emergence of TB, contributing in both cases to a delay in the funding of necessary treatment and prevention programs, and the spread of drug-resistance.
Bureaucratic Aspects of International Health Programs
Authors: Foster George M.
Published: September 2009

The stated goals of World Health Organization-supported behavioral research are applied: to contribute to planning and policy decision-making, and to improve health care delivery methods. The evidence suggests the organization is getting less for its behavioral research dollar than it ought to; much research has been of poor quality, and researchers often appear more concerned with research design elegance than with practical application of results. In their grant applications, behavioral scientists conform to the expectations of research committees, stressing quantitative methods and slighting the qualitative approaches that often are more productive in providing operational information. Research on organization policies and programs is viewed as irrelevant and perhaps even threatening. To improve the quality and utility of WHO-sponsored behavioral research, this book suggests a workshop of organization personnel and short-term consultants and temporary advisors with prior experience, to evaluate past research and to recommend modified research support procedures for higher quality, operationally-useful results.
Editors’ introduction
Authors: Thomas Chantal , Trachtman Joel P
Published: September 2009

This introductory chapter begins with a brief discussion of the major themes of this book, which provides a comprehensive, nuanced, and varied view of the position of developing countries in the WTO legal system. It then offers a broad overview of current themes in the discourse on the WTO and developing countries. An overview of the subsequent chapters is presented.
Trade and Development
Authors: Finger J Michael
Published: September 2009

In the Uruguay Round, developing countries behaved as full partners rather than as supplicants in the system. This step forward has, however, been reversed by outrageous mismanagement of the hangover of the Uruguay Round — the “implementation problem” and the “imbalance” of the Uruguay Round outcome. This chapter begins by summarizing Hudec's analysis of the GATT's first four decades—how we got to the Uruguay Round. It then reviews the Uruguay Round and since. It concludes that from the perspective of the GATT/WTO system supporting development and poverty reduction, we are back where we were in 1987, or worse.
Developing Countries, the Doha Round, Preferences, and the Right to Regulate
Authors: Trachtman Joel P
Published: September 2009

In Developing Countries in the GATT Legal System, Robert Hudec argued against preferential and nonreciprocal treatment for developing countries. He did so on the basis of a nuanced combination of economic, political, and legal analysis that showed that this treatment would not benefit developing countries. It is a testament to Hudec's work that his analytical insights seem fresh today, over twenty years later. However, the WTO, established in 1995, is a more complex enterprise than the GATT that Hudec discussed, and the world has changed since Hudec first wrote Developing Countries. This chapter argues that the rise of Brazil, China, and India, among other developing countries, has changed the power constellation in international trade.
Robert Hudec and the Theory of International Economic Law
Authors: Trubek David M , Cottrell Patrick
Published: September 2009

This chapter outlines some general principles about the role of law in the world economy, shows how Hudec anticipated them in his work on trade, and demonstrates how these principles can help us deal with contemporary issues in international economic law. It shows that Hudec's general analysis can still be used to deal with current issues in the area of trade and development, in the operation of councils and committees in the WTO and their potential for opening more policy space for developing countries, and even for understanding the role of law in the EU.
Access to Justice in the WTO
Authors: Nordström Håkan , Shaffer Gregory
Published: September 2009

The current dispute settlement system of the WTO creates a particular challenge for WTO Members with limited exports because litigation costs are more or less independent of the commercial stakes involved in a dispute. Small Members with small trade stakes may therefore find it too costly to pursue legitimate claims. Reviewing the aims and practices of small-claims procedures at the national and supranational level, this chapter analyzes whether a similar institution could be introduced at the WTO. It makes a prima facie case that the current dispute settlement system effectively discriminates against small claims and hence owners of small claims, and thus, in particular, against least-developed countries, small-island economies, and low-income developing countries. It explains what small-claims procedures are at the national level, what purpose they serve, how they are organized in different jurisdictions involving alternative design features, and what challenges they have faced. The chapter also explores the issues raised by adding a small-claims procedure in the WTO context and indicates specific design features that could address them.
With a Little Help From Our Friends?
Authors: Busch Marc L , Reinhardt Eric
Published: September 2009

This chapter explains why and discusses what might be done to minimize the negative impact of third parties on effective use of dispute settlement by developing countries. The chapter proceeds as follows. First, it discusses what the DSU (Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes) allows by way of third-party participation. Second, it elaborates a hypothesis on how third parties shape rulings, conditional on the fact that they first undermine early settlement, and then turn to our findings. Third, it looks at the evidence concerning third-party participation in cases filed by poor complainants. The chapter concludes by examining the various proposals for reforming third-party rights under the DSU and how these might bear on developing countries, in particular.
Economic Development and the World Trade Organization
Authors: Lee Yong-shik
Published: September 2009

The regulatory framework for international trade currently represented by the WTO affects the ability of developing countries to adopt trade related development policies. It has previously been examined how the current regulatory framework for international trade facilitates the economic development of developing countries. This examination revealed the inadequacy of the current system. Alternative provisions were proposed, intended to facilitate economic development, including Development-Facilitation Tariff (DFT) and Development-Facilitation Subsidy (DFS). The need for a new regulatory treatment of development facilitation was thus reasoned, tentatively called the “Agreement on Development Facilitation” (ADF), as well as the necessity to create a new body within the WTO to oversee trade and development issues, namely “the Council for Trade and Development” (the Development Council). This chapter, reiterating the need for the ADF and the Development Council, provides a more detailed account of the possible elements of the ADF, including DFT and DFS and the role of the proposed Council.
Trade and Competition Policy in the Developing World
Authors: Gifford Daniel J , Kudrle Robert T
Published: September 2009

This chapter examines the possible expansion of the jurisdiction of the WTO to include competition issues. First, it focuses on the developing nations, asking whether, and to what extent, such an expansion would further the welfare of the developing nations or would further the combination of domestic interests that are ascendant in their governments and governing institutions. Second, following from the first point, it distinguishes between welfare and institutionalized national interests, recognizing that it is the latter that effectively determine a nation's objectives. Third, it identifies differences between the developing nations and their developed counterparts that may be likely to affect their approaches toward an international competition regime. Fourth, it identifies differences in established competition policies among the developed nations, and explores how these differences may affect the position of the developed nations toward the establishment of an international competition regime.
1 Social Capital and Organizational Embeddedness
Authors: Small Mario Luis
Published: September 2009

Standard models of social capital have said little about how actors form the ties that generate social capital. This chapter proposes a model based on three assumptions: Actors may form ties either purposely or non‐purposely; forming either purposely or non‐purposely depends on the context of social interaction; and the context of interaction can be shaped significantly by routine organizations. The model theorizes how organizations can affect not only the formation of ties but also the trust they exhibit, the obligations they carry, and the resources they exchange. The model discusses not merely social but also organizational ties. The chapter concludes by explaining why childcare centers are an especially strategic site to explore this model, and identifying the book’s four major data sources: a national survey of mothers of young children, a survey of childcare centers in New York City, an in‐depth interview study of about 65 mothers in New York, and in‐depth case studies of 23 centers in the city.
2 Childcare Centers and Mothers’ Well‐Being
Authors: Small Mario Luis
Published: September 2009

Using national data on mothers of young children, this chapter examines whether mothers who enrolled their children in centers thereby enlarged their own social networks, particularly the number of friends they reported. It also asks whether these networks improved mothers’ wellbeing. Results are consistent with expectations: mothers who patronized childcare centers tended to make new friends there, and making friends in centers was strongly and robustly associated with lower material hardship and mental hardship.
4 Weak and Strong Ties
Authors: Small Mario Luis
Published: September 2009

This chapter examines the closeness of the friendships that mothers tended to make in centers—that is, whether they were generally weak or strong ties. Using national survey data, it finds that most mothers who made friends in centers made close friends, not merely acquaintances. However, deeper probing based on in‐depth interviews finds that the friendships were close, or intimate, in two different senses. Some mothers made standard intimate ties, family‐like relations that served as sources of all‐around support. These relations exhibited the characteristics that network sociologists have associated with “strong” ties. Other mothers made compartmentally intimate ties, relations that, violating expectations of some network theorists, were both strong and domain‐specific, with talk, conversation, and activity strictly limited to the domain of families, children, and the center. The chapter shows that compartmentally intimate ties were made possible because the organizational context, through the institutions shaping interactions in the centers, performed much of the work required to sustain strong relations, while providing a focus of activity.
7 Organizational Ties and Neighborhood Effects
Authors: Small Mario Luis
Published: September 2009

This chapter examines which childcare centers were likely to exhibit those organizational ties that provided resources useful to mothers. The chapter pays special attention to neighborhood context, examining whether childcare centers tended to be more or less connected when located in poor neighborhoods. It finds that many actors played a role in the prevalence of organizational ties, including parents, powerful external non‐profit organizations, and the state. In addition, using survey data on nearly 300 childcare centers in New York City, it finds that childcare centers tended to have more, not fewer connections if they were located in high poverty areas.
8 Extensions and Implications
Authors: Small Mario Luis
Published: September 2009

This chapter contrasts the organizational embeddedness perspective to the standard social capital perspective. It argues for a focus not merely on structure and position but also on context, everyday interaction, and routine organizations. After summarizing the mechanisms by which childcare centers brokered social and organizational ties, the chapter specifically examines the operation of these mechanisms in other organizations studied by social scientists, including neighborhood restaurants, hair salons, prisons, churches, grocery stores, and bathhouses. The chapter concludes by discussing the implications of the embeddedness perspective for three critical questions in the study social inequality: how people find jobs, how they acquire health insurance, and how they respond to conditions in their neighborhoods.
Artifacts in Behavioral Research
Authors: Rosenthal Robert , Rosnow Ralph L. , Alan E. Kazdin
Published: September 2009

This book is really three-books-in-one, dealing with the topic of artifacts in behavioral research. It is about the problems of experimenter effects which have not been solved. Experimenters still differ in the ways in which they see, interpret, and manipulate their data. Experimenters still obtain different responses from research participants (human or infrahuman) as a function of experimenters' states and traits of biosocial, psychosocial, and situational origins. Experimenters' expectations still serve too often as self-fulfilling prophecies, a problem that biomedical researchers have acknowledged and guarded against better than have behavioral researchers; e.g., many biomedical studies would be considered of unpublishable quality had their experimenters not been blind to experimental condition. Problems of participant or subject effects have also not been solved. Researchers usually still draw research samples from a population of volunteers that differ along many dimensions from those not finding their way into our research. Research participants are still often suspicious of experimenters' intent, try to figure out what experimenters are after, and are concerned about what the experimenter thinks of them. That portion of the complexity of human behavior that can be attributed to the social nature of behavioral research can be conceptualized as a set of artifacts to be isolated, measured, considered, and, sometimes, eliminated. This book examines the methodological and substantive implications of sources of artifacts in behavioral research and strategies for improving this situation.
1 Perspective: Artifact and Control
Authors: Boring Edwin G.
Published: September 2009

This chapter examines the concept of artifact in the context of J. S. Mill's logic of causal inquiry and four conventional uses of the term control in experimental research with human subjects.
6 Interpersonal Expectations: Effects of the Experimenter's Hypothesis
Authors: Rosenthal Robert
Published: September 2009

Artifacts not directly associated with the interaction between the experimenter and the research subjects include interpreter and observer biases, whereas interactional artifacts include biosocial biasing effects, psychosocial biasing effects, situational biasing effects, modeling biasing effects, and experimenter expectancy effects. This chapter discusses examples of each type in studies with humans or animals, presents estimates of the magnitude of such biases, and discusses a model of the mediation of experimenter expectancy effects and further implications beyond the laboratory.
7 The Conditions and Consequences of Evaluation Apprehension
Authors: Rosenberg Milton J.
Published: September 2009

On the assumption that many research subjects are apprehensive about how they will be evaluated, this chapter describes the circumstances in which this source of artifacts seems most and least apt to occur.
7 Experimenter Modeling
Authors: Rosenthal Robert
Published: September 2009

This chapter discusses an “attribute” of the experimenter which, like those considered just before, is also defined in terms of the particular experiment being conducted. That attribute is the performance of the experimenter himself of the same task he sets his subjects. For some experiments, this experimenter attribute will be a more enduring characteristic, such as intelligence or authoritarianism. For other experiments, this attribute will be a less enduring one, such as an opinion on a timely public issue, though such less enduring attributes may often be related to more enduring ones. When there is a significant relationship between the experimenter's own performance of the particular task he requires of his subjects and the performance he obtains from his subjects, we may speak of an experimenter's “modeling” effect. The evidence for this effect comes from the literature of survey research, clinical psychology, and laboratory experiments.
9 Human Subjects
Authors: Rosenthal Robert
Published: September 2009

The evidence presented up to this point that the expectancy of the experimenter may in part determine the results of his research has been at least somewhat equivocal. Some of the evidence has been anecdotal. Some has required the untenable assumption that the expectancy of the experimenter, and not some correlated variable, had led to the effects observed. The most clear-cut evidence for the effects of the experimenter's expectancy, therefore, must come from experiments in which experimenters are given different expectancies. Of the studies examined, that by Stanton and Baker (1942) comes closest to meeting this requirement of the experimental induction of an expectancy. That study does require, however, the assumption that experimenters will expect the subjects to answer correctly the items being presented. The same assumption is required to interpret the case of Clever Hans as an experiment in expectancy effects. This chapter describes experiments that appear to be fairly straightforward tests of the hypothesis of the effects of the experimenter's expectancy on his research results.
11 Subject Set
Authors: Rosenthal Robert
Published: September 2009

This chapter discusses various subject sets as they complicate the effects of the experimenter's expectancy. The experiments described have served in part to extend the generality of the effects of the experimenter's expectancy. More particularly they have shown the combined effects of the experimenter's expectancy and the subject's set or his perception of the demand characteristics of the experimental situation. The examination of such joint effects is only just now being mapped out for inquiry. But from what data there are—both quantitative and qualitative—the conclusion seems warranted that what is in the head of the subject and in the head of the experimenter can unintentionally affect the results of psychological research.
12 Early Data Returns
Authors: Rosenthal Robert
Published: September 2009

In the last few chapters the effects of the experimenter's expectancy on his subjects' responses was considered. This chapter reverses the direction of the predictions and considers the effects of the subjects' responses on the experimenter's expectancy. Except in the most exploratory of experimental enterprises, the experimenter's expectancies are likely to be based upon some sort of observed data. These data need not have been formally acquired. They may derive from quite casual observations of behavior made by the experimenter himself or even by another observer.
14 Structural Variables
Authors: Rosenthal Robert
Published: September 2009

This chapter addresses the following questions: Are there some experimenters who, more than others, unintentionally affect the results of their research? Are there some subjects who, more than others, are susceptible to the unintentional influence of their experimenter's expectancy? The answers to these questions should increase our general understanding of the effects of the experimenter's expectancy and perhaps provide us with some clues to the effective control of these effects. In addition, the answers to these questions may suggest to us whether the unintentional influence processes under study are facilitated by factors similar to those that facilitate the more usually investigated processes of social influence.
16 Communication of Experimenter Expectancy
Authors: Rosenthal Robert
Published: September 2009

This chapter addresses the question: How does the experimenter inform his subject what it is he expects the subject to do? Data from several studies including the leisurely analysis of films suggests that no gross errors are responsible. Experimenters do not tell their subjects in words or even in any obvious gestures what it is they expect from them. Errors of observation and of recording, although they do occur, occur so rarely as to be trivial to any explanation of experimenter expectancy effects.
17 The Generality and Assessment of Experimenter Effects
Authors: Rosenthal Robert
Published: September 2009

This chapter begins with a discussion of the generality of experimenter effects. It presents more formal definitions of certain operating characteristics of the experimenter. It then considers the “real” world of research, with experimenters conducting experiments that, because of differences in subject sampling, instrumentation, and procedure, cannot reasonably be compared directly to any other experiments.
18 Replications and Their Assessment
Authors: Rosenthal Robert
Published: September 2009

This chapter discusses replication. The crucial role of replication is well established in science generally. The undetected equipment failure, the rare and possibly random human errors of procedure, observation, recording, computation, or report are known well enough to make scientists wary of the unreplicated experiment. When we add to the possibility of the random “fluke,” common to all sciences, the fact of individual organismic differences and the possibility of systematic experimenter effects in at least the behavioral sciences, the importance of replication looms larger still to the behavioral scientist.
20 Experimenter Behavior
Authors: Rosenthal Robert
Published: September 2009

In Chapter 19, some techniques for the control of experimenter expectancy effects were suggested which depended on the determination of experimenter behavior, expectancy, and other attributes before the data collection process began. This chapter considers some related controls which, however, depend on the determination of experimenter behavior, expectancy, and other attributes during and after the data collection process.
23 Expectancy Control Groups
Authors: Rosenthal Robert
Published: September 2009

The previous chapter discussed strategies which attempt to minimize experimenter expectancy effects. This chapter discusses a strategy which essentially attempts to maximize experimenter expectancy effects by the employment of “expectancy control groups”.
1 Introduction
Authors: Rosenthal Robert , Rosnow Ralph L.
Published: September 2009

This short chapter defines volunteer bias and provides empirical evidence of the reliability of volunteering for research participation.
2 Characteristics of the Volunteer Subject
Authors: Rosenthal Robert , Rosnow Ralph L.
Published: September 2009

This chapter gives some empirically-based conclusions about the characteristics of the subject who volunteers for participation in behavioral research, including gender, birth order, sociability, extraversion versus introversion, approval need, and so on.
3 Situational Determinants of Volunteering
Authors: Rosenthal Robert , Rosnow Ralph L.
Published: September 2009

This chapter gives some empirically-based conclusions about situational factors that may influence the extent of volunteering, including material incentives, the nature of the task, normative expectations, public versus private commitment, recruiter characteristics, task importance, personal interest in the task, organizational and institutional bonds, and expectations of favorable evaluations.
4 Implications for the Interpretation of Research Findings
Authors: Rosenthal Robert , Rosnow Ralph L.
Published: September 2009

This chapter presents an ethical dilemma when societal and scientific imperatives collide. It also covers the threat to the robustness of generalizations and the threat to inferred causality.
6 An Integrative Overview
Authors: Rosenthal Robert , Rosnow Ralph L.
Published: September 2009

This chapter presents a model and implications for dealing with artifacts by concentrating on the intervening steps in a theorized causal chain from sources of uncontrolled task-orienting cues to their resulting artifacts.
7 Summary
Authors: Rosenthal Robert , Rosnow Ralph L.
Published: September 2009

This chapter sums up the preceding discussions and conclusions.
The Perfection of Giving
Authors: Penner Hans H.
Published: September 2009

This chapter begins with the story of Phusati, who after many aeons of rebirths, would become the mother of Gotama, following her marriage to Sanjaya, son of a king named Sivi. It then details the life of the future Buddha, Vessantara and how he mastered all the required perfections and was reborn in Tushita heaven, from where in due course he would descend into his mother's womb and become known as Gotama.
Enlightenment and Liberation
Authors: Penner Hans H.
Published: September 2009

This chapter details Buddha' enlightenment and liberation. At the time of the full-moon night in April/May the future Buddha went toward the tree of enlightenment along a road the gods had prepared with celestial perfumes and flowers; celestial choruses poured forth heavenly music and shouts of acclaim. Gotama seated himself cross-legged at the east side of the tree of enlightenment, known as “the Bodhi tree,” facing the east. The future Buddha had mastered the strict isolation from sensual pleasures and unwholesome states of living for six years. Given this form of life, he began the fourfold set of meditations that he learned from Alara, with the belief that they would become the foundation for gaining wisdom concerning sickness, old age, and death as well as liberation from rebirth.
The Buddha Begins to Teach
Authors: Penner Hans H.
Published: September 2009

This chapter details the start of Buddha's teaching. Buddha was approached by merchants who sought refuge and the teaching. They asked that he accept them as lay disciples and became the first laypersons in the world to be followers of the Buddha.
The Buddha Becomes a Wonder-Worker
Authors: Penner Hans H.
Published: September 2009

This chapter begins with details of Buddha's arrival at Uruvela. At that time three brothers, all of them ascetics, were living there. One of the brothers was the leader and guide of five hundred matted-hair ascetics, the second brother was leader of three hundred, and the third was the head of two hundred ascetics. The chapter also describes how as the community of monks grew in size, so did the possibility of misunderstanding as the monks discussed the Doctrine among themselves and with other ascetic groups. One day Buddha decided that it was time to clarify two issues: the first concerned wrong views; the second point had to do with the learning and use of the Doctrine.
The Buddha Meets a King and Two Brilliant Ascetics
Authors: Penner Hans H.
Published: September 2009

This chapter details Buddha's meeting with King Bimbisara and two ascetics, Sariputta and Moggallana. After a stay at Bodh-Gaya, the place of his enlightenment, the Buddha decided to take a large number of monks to Rajagaha, the capital city of Magadha. When he finally arrived there he settled near the town in the pleasure garden known as the Bamboo Grove, near a sacred shrine. Rajagaha was the seat of the famous king of Magadha named Bimbisara. The king was told of the Buddha's arrival and decided to visit the Buddha with a vast number of Magadha, Brahmins, and householders. Together with the 250 renouncers, Sariputta and Moggallana also headed for the Bamboo Grove to meet the Buddha.
The Buddha Receives a Gift and Befriends a King
Authors: Penner Hans H.
Published: September 2009

This chapter begins with details of the departure of Buddha and the community of monks from Kapilavatthu for Rajagaha. On the trip back they stayed at Anupiya, the very first town the Buddha visited after he renounced the world of the householder. It then describes how Bhaddiya, Anuruddha, Ananda, Bhagu, Kimbila, and Devadatta, old friends who had always played together, together with Upali the barber, headed out of town to catch up with the Buddha. It also shows details the friendship between the King Pasenadi and Buddha.
Meeting a Murderer, a Visit Home, and a Quick Trip to Heaven
Authors: Penner Hans H.
Published: September 2009

This chapter details Buddha' meeting with the murderer, Angulimala, who after hearing the Doctrine spoken by the Buddha vowed to abstain from violence forever and became a monk. It describes Buddha's visit to his father, Suddhodana, who was very ill and near death. It also describes Buddha's flight beyond the triple world to Tushita, the heavenly abode of his mother.
Once the Buddha Was a Universal Monarch
Authors: Penner Hans H.
Published: September 2009

This chapter focuses on Buddha telling Ananda the history of Kusinara, a town close to his birthplace. He then informs Ananda that he was once King Mahasudassana, a wheel-turning monarch, a cosmic king, a righteous king who had conquered the four quarters of the cosmos and chose this very town.
The Quest for the Historical Buddha
Authors: Penner Hans H.
Published: September 2009

The quest for the historical Buddha is a quest for the “original” or “authentic” meaning of Buddhism. This quest is the “received tradition” in the Western study of Buddhism. There are two major problems with this tradition: the first is the problem of evidence, the second is making semantic sense out of the notion of “original” or “authentic” meaning. This chapter investigates both the “received tradition” and the two problems.
The Great Agent
Authors: Penner Hans H.
Published: September 2009

This chapter restores a very important mythical figure to his rightful place alongside the legends of the Buddha. They are both called “Great Agents,” great conquerors and renouncers. They both have the thirty-two marks of a “Great Agent.” They come together in a unique appearance as Sandha and Metteyya at the end of our age. Emphasis on literal meaning prevents us from making the mistake of translating the meaning of Universal Monarchs and other Great Agents as symbolic representations of “real” kings and persons. As Davidson put it,“nothing, no thing, makes sentences and theories true [i.e., meaningful].” A comparison of the Great Agents demonstrates that it is the oppositions that reveal the differences between them. The one, a renouncer, the other a conqueror, both share an ascetic liminality. The chapter closes with the suggestion that the Bodhisattva, another great mythical figure of Mahayana Buddhism, may bring about a unity or synthesis of the two figures.
The use of fluorescent probes in cell-counting procedures
Authors: Peterson Daniel A.
Published: September 2009

This chapter describes the use of fluorescent probes in cell-counting procedures. The theoretical and practical considerations for using fluorescent probes in quantitative analysis are presented along with a worked example using the optical fractionator procedure. It demonstrates the advantages of fluorescent probes for optical sectioning and the preservation of section thickness that results from the preparative methodology making staining with fluorescent probes particularly useful for the implementation of the optical fractionator procedure. It also describes the limitations of fluorescent probes and cautions about their analysis. The chapter concludes with a summary of the advantages and disadvantages of using fluorescent probes for quantitative stereology. When properly applied, fluorescent probes are ideally suited to the three-dimensional sampling requirements of the optical fractionator procedure.
Number in electron microscopy: estimation of total number of synapses in the main regions of human neocortex
Authors: Nyengaard Jens R. , Dorph-Petersen Karl-Anton , Tang Yong
Published: September 2009

Significant disagreements exist among previous morphometric studies of synapse number in relation to memory deficits associated with aging and diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. There may be a number of methodological reasons for these conflicting results including lack of unbiased sampling design; use of two-dimensional sampling and model-based methods; reporting of densities; and ignorance of postmortem changes. This chapter describes a design-based stereological approach that can overcome these problems.
The number of microvessels estimated by an unbiased stereological method applied in a brain region
Authors: Løkkegaard Annemette
Published: September 2009

The microvascular network provides the means by which tissues exchange nutrients and are supplied with oxygen. The microvascular network is crucial for the function of tissues and organs, and the structure and density of the microvascular network is closely related to the metabolic demand and function of the tissue. This chapter presents a stereological description of the structure of vascular networks. It discusses the estimation of the number of microvessels using a disector/Cavalieri type sampling scheme.
Section introduction
Authors: Evans Stephen M. , Nyengaard Jens R.
Published: September 2009

This chapter discusses the importance of estimates of length and surface area in providing information regarding the transfer of material and information. It presents a brief outline of the theory and some basic methodology of estimators of surface area, given the relationship between surface and length estimators.
Length estimation of nerve fibers in human white matter using isotropic, uniformly random sections
Authors: Tang Yong , Nyengaard Jens R.
Published: September 2009

This chapter begins with a discussion of length estimation. It then presents an example involving the estimation of the total length of the myelinated nerve fibers in the white matter of the human brain using isotropic, uniformly random (IUR) sections.
Virtual test systems for estimation of orientation-dependent parameters in thick, arbitrarily orientated sections exemplified by length quantification of regenerating axons in spinal cord lesions using isotropic, virtual planes
Authors: Larsen Jytte Overgaard , Voneuler Mia , Janson Annmarie
Published: September 2009

Global spatial sampling is a sine qua non for design-based estimation of surface area and curve length and local spatial sampling is required for design-based estimation of particle surface and volume as well as for estimation of spatial distribution. Virtual test systems — where the random rotation of the stereological probe is made within volume probes of thick physical sections after sectioning by the use of computer-assisted microscopy — ensure correct spatial sampling in a uniform sample of tissue sectioned in the most convenient sectioning direction. This chapter describes the basic principles governing virtual test systems. The concept is completely general and all kinds of test probes suited for their intended purposes can be implemented. It provides an in-depth description of length estimation using virtual test systems, and a worked example of length quantification of regenerating axons in rat spinal cord lesions using isotropic, virtual planes.
Spatial distribution
Authors: Evans Stephen M.
Published: September 2009

The human brain is made up of an ordered three-dimensional array of smaller units, for example, the vertical and horizontal organization of neurons in the cerebral cortex. Knowledge of the structural relationship of these small units should provide more insight into brain function as a whole and how it doesn't function in pathological states. This chapter describes a method that can directly measure three-dimensional point patterns from measurements done on one section. The method is based on the nucleator principle where the probability that a point in three-dimensional space is hit by the probe is known. One of the unique features of the nucleator is that in one section the three-dimensional distance can be measured from a typical point to everything else that is observable in the section. That is to say, it is possible to estimate the variation of events, in this case the number of points, as a function of distance, that is, the three-dimensional spatial distribution of the points.
Sexual health interventions should be subject to experimental evaluation
Authors: Bonell Chris , Bennett Rebecca , Oakley Ann
Published: September 2009

This chapter argues that evaluating the effectiveness of sexual health promotion is necessary to promote the use of beneficial interventions, to prevent the deployment of harmful interventions, and to maximize the cost-effectiveness of programmes of sexual health promotion. Experimental evaluations of sexual health promotion should include process evaluations, and allocation may often be of clusters rather than individuals. Sexual health promotion interventions that are not amenable to experimental evaluation, because of political or practical problems, should not be totally ignored by researchers and policy-makers. Where experimental designs cannot be used, other evaluation methods must suffice.
The role of randomized controlled trials in assessing sexual health interventions
Authors: Ross David A. , Wight Daniel
Published: September 2009

This chapter focuses on the role of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of behavioural sexual health interventions in developing countries. It argues that, whenever feasible, well-conducted RCTs are the best method to evaluate the health and behavioural effects of such interventions. The appropriate use of designs such as cluster randomized trials makes it feasible to use experimental methods in the evaluation of a wide variety of sexual health interventions. The dichotomy between advocates and detractors of experimental evaluation designs has often stemmed from both groups ignoring the simple fact that both RCTs and non-RCTs can provide useful and valid information.
Using theories of behaviour change to develop and evaluate sexual health interventions
Authors: Sutton Stephen
Published: September 2009

This chapter discusses the role of theory in the development and evaluation of health behaviour interventions, focusing on sexually transmitted infection (STI). First, it outlines the rationale for using theories of behaviour change. It then describes one theoretical approach — the theory of reasoned action — and shows how the theory can be used to guide the development of an intervention. Although the discussion focuses on this particular theory, most of the comments are also applicable to other theories of behaviour change. Finally, the chapter provides a detailed discussion of a number of problems and issues that arise when using theories of behaviour change as the basis for behavioural interventions.
Stages in the development and evaluation of complex interventions
Authors: Nazareth Irwin
Published: September 2009

This chapter explores a framework for the design and evaluation of complex interventions for sexual health. It includes a detailed description of the sequential phases for the development of a randomized controlled trial (RCT), using a model that, until recently, was only applied to drug evaluations. The use of such an approach to the evaluation of interventions in sexual health is discussed, with special reference to an RCT of a behavioural intervention to prevent sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among minority ethnic women from Texas, USA. The approach is also illustrated by a hypothetical intervention to involve general practice nurses in the management of chlamydia trachomatis. Finally, some of the practical difficulties encountered in following this phased approach to the development of complex intervention trials are discussed.
Choice of experimental design
Authors: Bird Sheila
Published: September 2009

This chapter considers the strengths and limitations of a range of evaluation study designs, focusing on the consumer principle of randomization. Although much of the chapter is devoted to randomized controlled trials (RCTs), non-randomized studies such as disease registries and cohort studies are included because of their importance in the evaluation of cost-effectiveness. The chapter also considers issues of informed consent that are relevant to choice of experimental design, and the need for database linkage to overcome informative loss to follow-up that might otherwise undermine randomized allocation.
Cluster randomized trials of sexual health interventions
Authors: Hayes Richard
Published: September 2009

The randomized controlled trial (RCT) has become one of the fundamental tools of medical research. In particular, evidence from RCTs is now recognized as a ‘gold standard’ for the evaluation of new health interventions. In RCTs of drugs and vaccines, the products to be compared are usually allocated randomly to individual subjects. Individual randomization may also be appropriate for some RCTs of sexual health interventions. In many cases, however, it may be more appropriate to allocate randomly entire clusters of individuals to each condition. For example, depending on the design of the intervention, trials of behavioural programmes could employ randomization of schools, villages, or entire districts. Such trials are referred to as cluster randomized trials (CRTs). This chapter begins by discussing the rationale for employing the CRT design to evaluate sexual health interventions. Such trials require special methods for their design and analysis that differ from those used in standard individually randomized trials, and these methods are briefly discussed. Finally, the chapter considers some of the limitations and disadvantages of this study design.
Biological, behavioural and pyschological outcome measures
Authors: Cowan Frances M. , Plummer Mary
Published: September 2009

This chapter discusses the general points to consider when selecting outcomes for determining sexual risk reduction. It considers the attributes, limitations, measurement, and interpretation of various biological, behavioural, psychological, and other outcome measures of sexual risk reduction. The choice of outcome measures used to assess intervention effectiveness will depend on logistical as well as scientific factors. Biological outcome measures have several advantages over behavioural and cognitive measures. Biological measures are not prone to reporting bias, and thus may provide more valid data than self-reported measures. In addition, interventions that have been shown to reduce rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) or unintended pregnancy are likely to carry more weight with policy-makers than those that have only been shown to change sexual behaviour or cognitions.
The value of systematic reviews of the effectiveness of sexual health interventions
Authors: Shepherd Jonathan , Harden Angela
Published: September 2009

This chapter brings together the results of experimental evaluations of sexual health intervention in the form of systematic reviews. It explores the extent to which systematic reviews are reliable and useful, and their relevance to the field of sexual health. The chapter makes extensive use of examples from a programme of work on evidence-based health promotion undertaken at the Evidence Informed Policy and Practice Information and Coordinating Centre (EPPI-Centre) at the Social Science Research Unit, University of London Institute of Education. It concludes with a subjective summary of the value of systematic reviews of sexual health promotion, and outlines some recommendations for the conduct of systematic reviews of the promotion of sexual health and health promotion in general.
Cell-mediated delivery systems
Authors: Dobrenis Kostantin
Published: September 2009

Diseases that involve the central nervous system (CNS) pose one of the most difficult challenges in human therapy. Cell-mediated therapy (CMT) is a uniquely complex and powerful approach that offers an unparalleled advantage. This chapter reviews work in the area of CMT with a bias towards understanding the critical mechanisms that underlie successful CMT for CNS storage disease. It highlights the advantages offered by employing cells as the therapeutic agent.
Clinical aspects and diagnosis
Authors: Wraith J. Edmond
Published: September 2009

The lysosomal storage disorders, like many other metabolic and genetic diseases, show a remarkably variable clinical phenotype. In some patients, the presentation may be in the neonatal period with hydrops fetalis, whereas in others, even with the same enzyme deficiency, onset may be late into adult life. This chapter describes the clinical signs and symptoms in general, and then concentrates on a few selected disorders that illustrate more specific modes of presentation.
Defects in transmembrane proteins
Authors: Ioannou Yiannis A.
Published: September 2009

This chapter discusses defects in transmembrane proteins. Topics covered include the endosomal/lysosomal v-ATPase, Niemann–Pick C disease, Batten disease, Salla disease, Danon disease, cystinosis, and mucolipidosis type IV. A theme beginning to emerge from studies of transmembrane proteins is the apparent complexity of their regulation and function(s). Disease pathogenesis is not caused simply by abnormal accumulation of metabolites. A fact that is often overlooked is that these proteins exhibit a symport or antiport activity in order to power transport. The importance of this activity and the consequences of disrupting it have not been addressed. However, these activities almost certainly balance and regulate the activity of the v-ATPase to maintain the delicate electrochemical gradient across the endosomal/lysosomal membranes.
Health event data
Authors: Staines A. , Järup L.
Published: September 2009

This chapter serves as guide to those setting out to analyze large health-related datasets. It focuses on European systems, especially in the UK and the Scandinavian countries, although many of the issues are applicable to other industrialized countries. A wide range of spatial data sources are available for epidemiological analysis. New and powerful methods of handling spatial data, including GIS and Bayesian multi-level modelling, have made sophisticated and complex analyses possible. To make effective use of these approaches, epidemiologists must be aware of the details of the data with which they propose to work, and of the specific problems and limitations of routinely collected health data, which often form the core of spatial analysis.