bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Stigmatization of ‘psychiatric label’ by medical and non-medical students
Authors: Totic Sanja , Stojiljković Dragan , Pavlovic Zorana , Zaric Nenad , Zarkovic Boris , Malic Ljubica , Mihaljevic Marina , Jašović-Gašić Miroslava , Marić Nadja P.
Published: July 2011

Backround:

Stigmatization of psychiatric patients is present both in the general population and among healthcare professionals.

Aim:

To determine the attitudes and behaviour of medical students towards a person who goes to a psychiatrist, before and after psychiatric rotation, and to compare those attitudes between medical and non-medical students.

Methods:

The study included 525 medical students (second and sixth year of studies) and 154 students of law. The study instrument was a three-part self-reported questionnaire (socio-demographic data, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and a vignette depicting a young, mentally healthy person). The experimental intervention consisted of ascribing a ‘psychiatric label’ to only one set of vignettes. All the vignettes (with or without the ‘psychiatric label’) were followed by 14 statements addressing the acceptance of a person described by vignette, as judged by social distance (four-point Likert scale).

Results:

Higher tendency to stigmatize was found in medical students in the final year, after psychiatric rotation ( Z U = −3.12, p = .002), particularly in a closer relationship ( Z U = −2.67, p = .007) between a student and a hypothetical person who goes to a psychiatrist. The non-medical students had a similar tendency to stigmatize as medical students before psychiatric rotation ( Z U = −0.03, p = .975). Neither gender, nor the size of student’s place of origin or average academic mark was associated with the tendency to stigmatize in our sample. However, student’s elf-esteem was lower in those with a tendency to stigmatize more in a distant relationship (ρ = −0.157, p = .005).

Conclusions:

Psychiatric education can either reinforce stigmatization or reduce it. Therefore, detailed analyses of educational domains that reinforce stigma will be the starting point for anti-stigma action.
A software architecture to ease the development of distributed simulation systems
Authors: Gianni Daniele , D'Ambrogio Andrea , Iazeolla Giuseppe
Published: July 2011

The simulation of modern systems may require an amount of computational resources that might not be available on a single host. Distributed simulation (DS) provides an effective way to scale up for the increased computational requirements. However, using existing DS environments remains the main obstacle to the wide adoption of DS systems, because of their inherent complexity. This complexity can be quantitatively shown by the extra effort that the development of DS systems requires compared to the development of conventional local simulation (LS) systems. In this paper we introduce SimArch, a layered architecture that eases the development of DS systems by enabling simulation developers to effortlessly obtain a DS system or derive a DS system from the equivalent LS one. A reference model is used throughout the paper to illustrate the use of SimArch in the development of DS systems and to prove how the DS development effort is lowered down with respect to the use of a conventional DS environment.
Multiobjective Capital Structure Modeling
Authors: Agarwal Yamini , Iyer K. Chandrashekar , Yadav Surendra S.
Published: July 2011

Capital structure decisions (CSDs) have become complicated in this exceeding competitive business environment. Theories and models of 1950s are unable to incorporate the demands faced by the decision maker. New models are needed to incorporate multiple objectives and constraints. Stakeholders are awfully demanding. Practitioners attempt to innovatively build the capital structures to meet the needs of all stakeholders. Off and on balance sheet exposure contributes to financial commitments. In the light of this background, the present study investigates the Indian corporates for their capital structure choices and builds a goal programming model for CSDs. Capital structure practices in India are studied through a sample of top 500 companies classified in 19 industries over 10 year period (1998-2007). Accounting ratios (67) are used to define the multiple considerations before a decision maker. The study has also explored the relationship of leverage ratio with market capitalization and earnings per share (EPS). Using a questionnaire approach, the premise of multiple objectives for CSD is evaluated. Chief financial officers (CFOs) as respondents are investigated for their goals, priorities, motivations, constraints, and capital structure practices. The study has attempted to develop a goal programming (GP) model for providing satisficing solutions to multiple goals simultaneously by minimizing the deviation from the objective function after assuming that the decision maker is an optimist and does not attempt to satisfy all objectives fully. GP model has been developed and illustrated for CSDs through agriculture-based firm having multiple objectives that are proxied using accounting variables.
Novel poly(glycidyl methacrylate-b-propylene oxide-b-glycidyl methacrylate) derivatives with low cytotoxicity and efficient gene delivery
Authors: Feng Li  , Ming Ma  , Yuan Zhe-Fan , Huang Jing-Yi , Zhuo Ren-Xi
Published: July 2011

Gene therapy has been developed for decades, but is still hampered for general clinical treatment by lack of gene delivery vectors with high transfection efficiency and low cytotoxicity. In this study, well-defined BAB triblock copolymer, poly(glycidyl methacrylate-b-propylene oxide-b-glycidyl methacrylate), P(GMA-b-PO-b-GMA), was prepared via atom transfer radical polymerization and modified by different ratios of ethylenediamine (EDA) and 1-(3-aminopropyl) imidazole (API) to obtain cationic amphiphilic polymers. The difference in the ratio of EDA and API had an influence on pDNA-binding capability, size, and zeta potential of P(GMA-b-PO-b-GMA) derivatives. All the cationic amphiphilic polymers exhibited low cytotoxicity and good transfection activity in comparison with 25 kDa polyethylenimine (PEI) due to their special architecture. The optimal polymer, with 89% API and 11% EDA, showed the highest transfection efficiency among these polymers. Its luciferase expression at N/P ratio of 30 was comparable to that of 25 kDa PEI in a serum-free medium and higher than that of 25 kDa PEI by roughly an order of magnitude in a medium with serum.
Electrospun poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid)/ multiwalled carbon nanotubes composite scaffolds for guided bone tissue regeneration
Authors: Hualin Zhang
Published: July 2011

A series of poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA)/multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) composite scaffolds was prepared by electrospinning for tissue engineering applications. The effect of MWNTs content on the structure and properties of composite scaffolds was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffractrometry (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and universal testing machine (UTM). The attachment ability and viability of rat bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) in the presence of the scaffolds were also investigated. Morphological characterization showed that the addition of different amounts of MWNTs increased the average fiber diameter; for instance, from 717 nm (neat PLGA) to 2193 nm at 1.0% MWNTs. Thermal characterization showed that the incorporation of MWNTs into the PLGA matrix increased the thermal stability of the composite scaffolds. The analysis of mechanical properties of the PLGA/MWNTs composites revealed great improvement over pure PLGA scaffold. The attachment and proliferation of BMSCs were significantly increased in the PLGA/MWNTs scaffolds compared with the PLGA control. Therefore, the PLGA/MWNTs composite scaffolds fabricated by electrospinning may be potentially useful in tissue engineering applications, particularly as scaffolds for bone tissue regeneration.
Nano/microfabrication of three-dimensional device structures using a multilayered mould approach
Authors: Kriama A , Green G , Dobson P , Irthiea I
Published: July 2011

There is growing interest in the development of fabrication techniques to cost effectively mass-produced high-resolution (micro/nano) three-dimensional structures in a range of materials. Biomedical applications are particularly significant. This work demonstrates how to fabricate simultaneously a sacrificial mould having the inverse shape of the desired device structure and also create the desired device structure using electrodeposition techniques. The mould is constructed of many thin layers using a photo-resist material that is dissolvable and sensitive to ultraviolet (UV) light. At the same time the device is created in the emerging mould layers using gold electrodeposition technique. Choosing to fabricate the mould and the three-dimensional structures in multiple thin layers allows for the use of UV light and permits the potential cost-effective realization of three-dimensional curved surfaces, the accuracy and geometric details of which are related to the number of layers used. An example is provided to explain the novel fabrication process and to outline the resulting design and fabrication constraints.
Evaluation of subsurface crack depth during scratch test for optical glass BK7
Authors: Gu W , Yao Z , Li K
Published: July 2011

To get insight into the deformation and fracture behavior of brittle materials during abrasive process, scratch tests with linearly increasing normal load and constant normal load were conducted on BK7 using Vickers indenters. The effect of the applied normal load on the characteristics of surface cracks as well as the square of the scratch depth was found insensitive to the two load conditions discussed here. By taking both scratch and residual depths into consideration, a model of scratch hardness for brittle material was developed. Based on this scratch hardness, the correlation between the depth of the subsurface cracks and the scratch depth was established and was found in general agreement with the experimental results.
Role of fibrinolytic parameters and plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1) promoter polymorphism on premature atherosclerosis in SLE patients
Authors: Bicakcigil M , Tasan DA , Tasdelen N , Mutlu N , Yavuz S
Published: July 2011

Premature atherosclerosis has been recognized as a major co-morbid condition in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of tPA (tissue plasminogen activator) and PAI-1 (plasminogen activator inhibitor) antigen concentrations and 4G/5G polymorphism of the PAI-1 gene on the development of atherosclerosis in SLE patients. One hundred and six SLE patients, 28 Takayasu arteritis (TA) patients and 98 healthy control subjects (HCs) were studied. PAI-1 and tPA antigen levels were measured by ELISA method. PAI-1 gene polymorphism was determined by using allele-specific PCR method. SLE patients had a significantly higher frequency (22.6%) of plaque ( p =  0.01) and higher IMT ( p=0.04) compared with HCs respectively. Only age at disease onset was associated with plaque formation in multivariate regression analysis ( p = 0.001). Plasma tPA ag levels in SLE patients were significantly higher compared with HCs ( p = 0.005) and PAI-1 ag levels were significantly higher compared with TA patients ( p = 0.03). There were no significant differences between study groups in both genotype distribution and allele frequencies of PAI-1 gene, but SLE patients with 4G/4G genotype had higher IMT ( p = 0.02) calcium scoring ( p = 0.006) compared with 4G5G/5G5G genotypes. The present study suggests that measuring fibrinolytic parameters would have little additional benefit beyond traditional and novel risk factors in predicting coronary artery disease (CAD).
The efficacy of romiplostim in the treatment of severe thrombocytopenia associated to Evans syndrome refractory to rituximab
Authors: Gonzalez-Nieto JA , Martin-Suarez I , Quattrino S , Ortiz-Lopez E , Muñoz-Beamud FR , Colchero-Fernández J , Alcoucer-Diaz MR
Published: July 2011

We present a case of a man diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus, associated antiphospholipid syndrome and Evans syndrome, who developed a severe thrombocytopenia refractory to treatment with first-line drugs, cyclophosphamide and rituximab, and who responded to romiplostim with a normalization of the platelet recount, which later enabled a therapeutic splenectomy to be performed.
Namur Citadel, 1695: A Case Study in Allied Siege Tactics
Authors: Lenihan Pádraig
Published: July 2011

The alternative to Vauban’s slow and relatively bloodless sapping — ‘efficiency’ — involved the ‘vigour’ of crude but quick attacks over open ground coupled with very heavy artillery fire. Sieges of Mainz, Bonn, and Namur town by members of the Grand Alliance against Louis XIV were, however, neither ‘vigorous’ nor ‘efficient’. Coehoorn’s ‘new method’ at the siege of Namur citadel in 1695 was novel in the concentration of firepower against a small section of defences artfully chosen as part of an assault plan. Perceptions of his success were inflated: ultimately his plan proved too complex to put into practice, and ‘vigour’ took the citadel.
Sir John Fisher’s Naval Revolution Reconsidered: Winston Churchill at the Admiralty, 1911-1914
Authors: Bell Christopher M.
Published: July 2011

This article challenges claims by revisionist historians that in July 1914 the Royal Navy was on the verge of instituting a ‘naval revolution’ based on the ideas of Admiral Sir John Fisher. Winston Churchill, the first lord of the Admiralty, was not prepared to rely on Fisher’s concept of ‘flotilla defence’ in the North Sea, as revisionists contend. Nor did he wish to send capital ships to distant waters. He increasingly looked to submarines to protect Britain’s interests in the Mediterranean, a secondary theatre, but he still believed that Britain must maintain a preponderance of strength over Germany in capital ships in the North Sea. Churchill’s strategic views were generally conservative. He hoped that new designs or new technologies would one day allow submarines to supplant battleships, and he actively supported measures that might help to make this possible. But there is no evidence that he and his naval advisers were ready to gamble on a radical departure in force structure or naval strategy on the eve of the First World War.
Mobile Sales Force Automation
Authors: Kirmani Afshan
Published: July 2011

Research shows that interaction models determine if designs are exploratory or task oriented in structure. When the business objective defines efficiency as the key goal, the intent and structure remain action oriented. In this article, the author establishes that mobile sales force applications need to focus on efficiency to enable field sales staff to increase their productivity.
Enterprise Applications Can Be Both Feature Rich and Easy to Use
Authors: Moallem Abbas
Published: July 2011

In this article, I review the procedures and techniques used to significantly improve the ease of use of enterprise software applications in the framework of a medium-size company with limited resources. The achievements and lessons learned from applying these techniques to the development process are presented. Then several examples of screens before and after implementing the user-centered design approach and user and market reaction to this achievement are provided.
The Comparative Myocardial Protection by Propofol and Isoflurane in an In Vivo Model of Ischemia Reperfusion
Authors: Asgeri Mehrdad , Ahmadpour Faraz , Negargar Sohrab , Khadra Wiam Z. , Porhomayon Jahan , Nader Nader D.
Published: July 2011

Background. Anesthetic Agents protect the heart from ischemic injury during perioperative period. We evaluated the protective effects of 2 anesagents on myocardial ischemia -reperfusion injury in rabbit models. Methods. 58 anesthetized and mechaniventilated rabbits randomly received isoflurane (ISO) 2%, propofol (PRP), or were observed as the control group for 15 minutes. We applied vascular tourniquet around the left anterior descending artery (LAD). Myocardium was reperfused for 4 hours. Derivative of pressure over time (dP/dTmax), left ventricular pressure (dLVP), isovolumetric relaxation time (Tau), and segment shortening (SS) were measured over the ischemic and non-ischemic regions of left ventricle (LV). Cardiac troponin I (cTnI), tissue concentrations of tumor necrosis factor á (TNFá), myeloperoxidase activity assay (MPO), and tissue malonyl dialdehyde (MDA) concentrations were measured as indices of cellular injury and inflammatory response. Results. dP/dTmax values significantly decreased during ischemia. Following reperfusion, dP/dTmax, dLVP, and Tau remained depressed in the control animals. Both PRP and ISO restored the function of the myocardium globally. Conclusion. Only ISO improved the recovery of the ischemic myocardium during reperfusion. The effects of PRP were global in nature and involved compensatory hypercontractile state in nonischemic regions of the myocardium. Implication. PRP and ISO protect the heart against an ischemic injury, but only ISO preserves the function of the myocardium at the ischemic region. The survival rate of the PRP-treated group versus the ISO-treated group supports the claim that PRP has smaller contribution to recovery from myocardial ischemia.
Lines of flight: everyday resistance along England’s backbone
Authors: Wood Martin , Brown Sally
Published: July 2011

A line of flight is essentially a movement of creativity, a practical act or a way of living that wards off or inhibits the formation of ‘centres’ and stable powers in favour of continuous variation and free action. This article supports the arts-based practice of a documentary film, Lines of Flight, which uses free solo rock climbing in the Pennine region of northern England, to give access to a range of ‘intensely lived experiences’ that can offer a route out of the social, economic and cultural conditions that often subjugate modern society and back to life in its free and wild state. The documentary becomes a presentational line of flight in itself, as it looks to find the conditions for a novel experience in the making, under which a new filmic affect is produced in the here and the now.
Anomie and culture management: reappraising Durkheim
Authors: Johnson Phil , Duberley Joanne
Published: July 2011

This research investigates how recent approaches to culture management have tacitly assimilated Merton’s and Mayo’s reformulations of Durkheim’s theory of anomie.This reformulation legitimates an instrumental focus upon the need for ‘experts’ to regulate the means by which naturalized utilitarian ends are pursued by developing culture management practices that aim to (re)integrate the mal-socialized. In contrast to this technocratic approach, we explore how Durkheim’s original formulation of anomie, far from accepting utilitarian ends as givens, articulated concerns about the unfettering of egoism he saw to be engendered by the classical liberal free market assumptions at the heart of utilitarianism. How this free market ethos, articulated by recent neoliberal discourses, guides the content and processes of post-bureaucratic culture management manoeuvres is then investigated. This article concludes by showing how, from Durkheim’s stance, such managerial processes paradoxically serve to express and propagate the incidence of anomie. In stark contrast, as a means of re-establishing social cohesion as a bulwark against anomie whilst protecting individual freedoms, Durkheim’s communitarian agenda emphasized the need to establish an organic solidarity, knowingly agreed by all on an equal basis, thereby potentially legitimating a more democratic approach to organizational governance that has contemporary relevance.
The skewed few: people and papers of quality in management studies
Authors: Macdonald Stuart , Kam Jacqueline
Published: July 2011

Publication in the top journals of management studies is highly skewed. Very few authors publish in these top journals. They are said to be the best few, on the assumption that skew indicates quality. Yet, skew is natural in any distribution and would occur in the absence of all quality. Peer review is supposed to ensure that this cannot happen, but pressure to publish in top journals puts demands on the peer review system it was never intended to bear. One result is that the skewed few tend to be the same few. We look at how this is arranged. We investigate the citation of the skewed few. We find much self citation, mutual citation and group citation. This behaviour is encouraged by the paramount importance of the journal impact factor. The article looks at how this indicator has been contrived for commercial rather than academic reasons, and considers some of the consequences.
Contacts between general practitioners and migrants without a residence permit and the use of ‘‘urgent’’ medical care
Authors: Goossens M.C.M. , Depoorter Anne Marie
Published: July 2011

Aims: To examine the extent to which general practitioners (GPs) are consulted by migrants without a residence permit (MRP), their use of the government sponsored reimbursement system and the difficulties encountered therewith. To study what hurdles the care recipients (MRP) experience in using healthcare and the reimbursement system. Methods: A written survey of GPs in the Brussels Capital region and semi-structured interviews with MRP in the same area. Bivariate analysis of the GP data (two-sided independent t-test, two-sided Fisher’s exact test). Recording, transcription, coding and categorizing of MRP interviews. Results: Overall GP response rate was 71%. The average number of MRP contacts per month was 1.1 for all, representing 0.26% of all GP contacts. GPs working in community health centres (CHC) 4.4 MRP per month (p = 0.042). The mean probability that the GP will not use the reimbursement programme is 0.66 — there is less non-use in CHC (p = 0.042). The main barrier for GPs is insufficient knowledge of the system, followed by its complex and time consuming paperwork. Barriers experienced by MRP include fear of deportation, lack of funds, insufficient healthcare-related knowledge and communication barriers. Conclusions: Primary care is an active channel in healthcare for MRP, with CHC taking the lead. With the reimbursement system, there should hardly be financial barriers to access the healthcare system. However, due to the high probability of non-use (0.66), this system cannot substantially contribute to lowering financial barriers. The complexity of the system prevents it from being used properly and leads to undesirable alternatives.
A cross-regional comparison of selected European newspaper journalists and their evolving attitudes towards the internet - including a single-country focus on the UK
Authors: MacGregor Philip , Balcytiene Aukse , Fortunati Leopoldina , Nuust Vallo , O'Sullivan John , Roussou Nayia , Salaverría Ramón , Sarrica Mauro
Published: July 2011

This study approaches how journalists in the United Kingdom might compare with individuals working in print journalism in 10 other European countries, to assess role perceptions and beliefs in relation to the internet. The continental Europeans were grouped into north and south, and the UK set was independently compared with each. In all, 270 journalists across 44 newspapers in Europe gave scaled reactions to a questionnaire about their role conceptions, the internet, and the future. It appears the sampled UK journalists, despite some historical conceptions about the distinctively separate evolution of their press, conform strikingly with their European counterparts but in a specific and patterned way: the UK journalists align with their counterparts from the north of Europe but have significant differences to those in the south. The principal ingredient of the division is the degree to which the journalists find the internet useful, positive and a worthwhile extension of their working opportunities. The findings conform in some respects to academic studies taking a historical and cultural approach to comparative journalism.
Between creative and quantified audiences: Web metrics and changing patterns of newswork in local US newsrooms
Authors: Anderson CW
Published: July 2011

How are transformations in newswork intersecting with changes in the monitoring of reader behavior and new technologies of audience measurement? How, in short, are journalistic ‘visions of the audience’ shifting in the online era, and how are they enabling particular editorial practices? This article explores a provocative tension between the now common rhetorical invocation of the news audience as a ‘productive and generative’ entity, and the simultaneous, increasingly common institutional reduction of the audience to a quantifiable, rationalizable, largely consumptive aggregate. The first half of article reviews the literature on the relationship between audience understanding and newsroom practices. The second half of the article is comprised of an ethnographic analysis of the manner by which increasingly prominent and widespread techniques of audience measurement and quantification interact with the newsroom rhetoric of the active, generative audience. The article concludes with some thoughts regarding the role played by audience quantification and rationalization in shifting newswork practices. It argues that the underlying rhetoric of the active audience can be seen as laying the groundwork for a vision of the professional reporter that is less autonomous in his or her news decisions and increasingly reliant on audience metrics as a supplement to news judgment.
Latinas/os and the mainstream press: The exclusions of professional diversity
Authors: Awad Isabel
Published: July 2011

This study assesses mainstream journalism’s diversity measures from the perspective of minority audiences. Specifically, it focuses on Latinas/os’ perceptions of the San José Mercury News, a paper highly regarded for its professional standards and its commitment to cultural diversity. Based on a multi-methodological approach, the study shows Latinas/os’ persistent distrust of the Mercury News and how that distrust is grounded in a problem of representation. This problem of representation cannot be equated — as it is commonly done in journalism — with a mismatch between the paper’s portrayal of Latinas/os and an objective reality. Latinas/os feel excluded from the Mercury News not because reporters fail to cover the community objectively. Rather, a strict compliance with professional standards of objectivity constrain the newspaper’s capacity to represent, and thus to adequately serve, minority audiences. The paper concludes that journalism needs to move away from objectivist notions of representation and of cultural difference.
Gene transfer of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 in the nucleus tractus solitarius improves baroreceptor heart rate reflex in spontaneously hypertensive rats
Authors: Yamazato Masanobu , Ferreira Anderson J , Yamazato Yoriko , Diez-Freire Carlos , Yuan Lihui , Gillies Robert , Raizada Mohan K
Published: July 2011

The renin–angiotensin system (RAS) in the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS) is an important modulator of the baroreceptor heart rate reflex. This study tested the hypothesis that angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) expression is decreased in the NTS of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) and that its gene transfer in this nucleus would lead to beneficial effects on baroreflex function since this enzyme is key in the regulation of the vasoprotective axis of the RAS. ACE2 protein levels and its activity were significantly decreased in the NTS of SHRs compared to normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) control rats. Rats instrumented with radio-telemetry transducers received NTS microinjection of either Lenti-ACE2 (Lentiviral vector-mediated gene transfer of ACE2) or lenti-GFP (green fluorescent protein). The ACE2 gene transfer into the NTS resulted in long-term overexpression of ACE2. This was associated with a 60% increase in heart rate baroreflex sensitivity in the lenti-ACE2 injected SHRs compared with the lenti-GFP injected control SHRs (0.27 ± 0.02 ms/mmHg in lenti-GFP rats vs. 0.44 ± 0.07 ms/mmHg in lenti-ACE2 rats). These observations demonstrate that ACE2 gene transfer overcomes its intrinsic decrease in the NTS of SHRs and improves baroreceptor heart rate reflex.
Energy efficiency parametric design tool in the framework of holistic ship design optimization
Authors: Boulougouris E K , Papanikolaou A D , Pavlou A
Published: July 2011

Recent International Maritime Organization (IMO) decisions with respect to measures to reduce the emissions from maritime greenhouse gases (GHGs) suggest that the collaboration of all major stakeholders of shipbuilding and ship operations is required to address this complex techno-economical and highly political problem efficiently. This calls eventually for the development of proper design, operational knowledge, and assessment tools for the energy-efficient design and operation of ships, as suggested by the Second IMO GHG Study (2009). This type of coordination of the efforts of many maritime stakeholders, with often conflicting professional interests but ultimately commonly aiming at optimal ship design and operation solutions, has been addressed within a methodology developed in the EU-funded Logistics-Based (LOGBASED) Design Project (2004–2007). Based on the knowledge base developed within this project, a new parametric design software tool (PDT) has been developed by the National Technical University of Athens, Ship Design Laboratory (NTUA-SDL), for implementing an energy efficiency design and management procedure. The PDT is an integral part of an earlier developed holistic ship design optimization approach by NTUA-SDL that addresses the multi-objective ship design optimization problem. It provides Pareto-optimum solutions and a complete mapping of the design space in a comprehensive way for the final assessment and decision by all the involved stakeholders. The application of the tool to the design of a large oil tanker and alternatively to container ships is elaborated in the presented paper.
Tax Avoidance
Authors: Kopkin Nolan
Published: July 2011

By using a data set of professional basketball players' free agent contracts from the National Basketball Association (NBA) between the 2001-2002 and 2007-2008 seasons, which has rich data on worker productivity, the author is able to identify the effect that changes in income tax rates have on the labor migration decisions of NBA free agents. After controlling for other observable characteristics of teams, cities, and states, the author finds that an increase in the marginal income tax rate faced by NBA basketball players that play for a given team leads to a decrease in the average skill of the NBA free agents that migrate to that team.
From the Schoolhouse to the Statehouse: Teacher Union Political Activism and U.S. State Education Reform Policy
Authors: Hartney Michael , Flavin Patrick
Published: July 2011

Elementary and secondary education policy making in the U.S. states is heavily influenced by the political bargaining of various actors, with teacher unions one of the most important actors. Yet previous studies that assess the impact of teacher unions on education reform use problematic measures of their direct political influence, instead opting for broader measures of membership or collective bargaining power. By contrast, the authors measure teacher union political activity by calculating the percentage of campaign contributions to candidates for state office that come from teacher unions. Using this measure, the authors find that increased teacher union political activity greatly reduces the chances that states enact reform-oriented education policies such as school choice and performance pay for teachers, while previous measures of teacher union strength bear little relationship to a state's adoption of these reform policies. These findings highlight the importance of paying careful attention to how political influence is operationalized in studies that assess the role organized interests play in shaping U.S. state policies.
Laparoscopic Splenectomy
Authors: Fraser Shannon A. , Bergman Simon , Garzon Jacob
Published: July 2011

Background. New surgical techniques should be formally evaluated for feasibility and safety. As a model for this evaluation, this study examines the authors’ institution’s experience with splenectomy for benign and malignant hematologic disease since the introduction of laparoscopic splenectomy (LS) in 1996. The authors present the evaluation of the recognized surgeon/institutional learning curve using CUSUM (cumulative sum) analysis. Methods. This is a single institution retrospective chart review of consecutive splenectomies for hematologic disease performed between 1996 and 2008. The primary outcome was conversion to open splenectomy. The learning curve for LS was evaluated using CUSUM analysis. Results. A total of 123 splenectomies were performed for benign (51.2%) or malignant (48.7%) hematologic disease. 58% of patients underwent planned LS, with a 21% conversion rate. The surgeon’s overall learning curves for LS, as well as that for malignant disease, were maintained within acceptable conversion thresholds. However, the learning curve for benign disease did cross the unacceptable conversion threshold at case 29. With additional experience, the curve again approached the acceptable conversion threshold. Patients with malignant disease were significantly older ( P = .0004), had larger spleens ( P = .0004), were more likely to undergo open splenectomy ( P = .001), and had longer lengths of stay ( P = .01). However, there was no significant difference in operative time, transfusion requirements, morbidity rates, or mortality rates between patients with benign and malignant disease. Conclusion: LS, for benign or for malignant hematologic disease, is associated with a significant learning curve. This evaluation model illustrates that careful patient selection and ongoing quality assessment is essential when introducing a new technique.
Speaking Faith to Modern Law
Authors: Satkunanandan Shalini
Published: July 2011

Acknowledging the faith that is part of modern law (but that modern law disavows) allows us to provide a more just account of modern law – an account that pays heed to the ways that modern law cannot be reduced to a technical enterprise, is more than a mere exercise of power, and retains a vital connection to justice. The technical cast of modern thinking makes it difficult to speak faith to modern law, but also makes such an endeavor essential.
Reconciliation and Plasticity in a Postcolonial Hawai‘i
Authors: Goldberg-Hiller Jonathan
Published: July 2011

This article asks what might hold together the promises of a future open to indigenous organization and self-governance in postcolonial Hawai‘i. In what ways can past violence and lingering structural inequalities be integrated into contemporary politics and law? I argue that the grand projects of recognition and apology fail to resolve historical violence in forms acceptable to many native Hawaiians because of the constraints of the legal form in both alternatives, a legality that has served as a tool of colonization and subordination. Rather than turn away from the legal form, however, I explore a third philosophical alternative, plasticity, that comprehends the ways in which form destabilizes and reintegrates itself, grasping what Catherine Malabou has called “the interplay between form and itself.” I explore plasticity philosophically and in the context of ongoing plastic political experiments designed to privilege indigenous ontology as a means of reengaging with a different postcolonial legality.
Legality Against Orality
Authors: Bryan Bradley
Published: July 2011

Recent work on political liberalism attempts to find ways to bring divergent cultural practices under a single rubric. This article examines one of the limits of the cultural commensurability of modern liberal legality. It argues that Western forms of evidentiary proof are not amenable to oral history testimony given by indigenous litigants. Current anthropological research on oral history and indigenous culture shows that oral history is not simply a “record” or “chronology” of events, but is a particular cultural practice that draws its members into the fold – and this is an event of its own. Western forms of evidence, however, traditionally treat testimony as “reporting” or as “creating a record” of a prior set of events in time. This article suggests that the distance between these two conceptions of “events” and “record” is significant enough to warrant rethinking the place of traditional trial practices in the treatment of oral history. It also suggests that the Western form of legality is grounded in an understanding of temporality that eschews any other way of thinking about events and their occurrence, a legality oriented against orality.
Hospitable Justice: Law and Selfhood in Shakespeare’s Sonnets
Authors: Curran Kevin
Published: July 2011

This article is concerned with the uses to which Shakespeare put legal subject matter. I focus on three sonnets in which the speaker acknowledges himself as the victim of a crime committed by the young man, but pledges to testify against himself on the young man’s behalf. This strange justice, I argue, belongs to the philosophical tradition of hospitality, exemplified in a range of writings from St. Paul’s Epistles to work by Derrida and Lévinas. Returning Shakespeare’s sonnets to this strand of intellectual history equips us with a set of concepts ideally suited to making sense of the way Shakespeare uses law to reflect upon the nature of selfhood.
Integrated methodology for evaluation of energy performance of the building enclosures: part 3 — uncertainty in thermal measurements
Authors: Thorsell Thomas , Bomberg Mark
Published: July 2011

Thermal performance of building enclosure is typically based on laboratory tests performed on dry materials without consideration of air and moisture movement through the assembly. To address the field performance of the assembly, however, one must combine measurements and hygrothermal modeling. Hygrothermal models are necessary to include effects of climate and in particular the effects of moisture movement on thermal performance. Full-scale testing is necessary to relate findings of the models to actual construction details. The first paper in this series (Bomberg and Thorsell, 2008) introduced a test program that starting with benchmarking of the R-value of the tested wall in standard conditions, examined the effects of air flow on its thermal performance. This test program does not use the average R-values of the wall as it is in the ASTM testing, but measures local thermal resistance in selected places and calculates the average R-values. The second paper in this series (Thorsell and Bomberg, 2008) applied this integrated testing and modeling approach to selected wood framed residential walls, identifying the magnitude of air flow effects on steady-state thermal resistance, as well as demonstrating that the thermal performance of the top of the wall differs from that at the bottom. It also showed a systematic and time dependent shift in thermal performance caused by moisture movement. In this, third paper in the series, we present measurements performed on metal frame walls that introduce additional sources of uncertainty in the experimental results. We end with a discussion on the need of improvements to testing procedures for evaluation of energy performance of building enclosures.
‘Controlled Disruptions’: How Ethnic Organizations Shape White Ethnic Symbolic Identities
Authors: McGhee Hassrick Elizabeth
Published: July 2011

While connecting individual ethnic practices with global identity projects remains challenging, ethnic organizations provide a possible place where the negotiation and enactment of both occur. This article investigates how organized performances and competitions of symbolic white ethnic identity become structurally similar at a global level while also at the same time integrating disruptions at the local level. Specifically, the author argues that a hierarchy of particular Irish step dance practices emerged through controlled disruptions within and among dance academies and regulatory organizations in the social field of Irish step dance, sanctioning modified forms of Irishness believed to be most competitive in Ireland. This article examines the role that organizations play in sanctioning world models and controlling disruptions in the everyday symbolic enactment of Irish identity.
Strangers on the Shore? Racialized Representation, Identity and In/visibilities of Whiteness at the English Seaside
Authors: Burdsey Daniel
Published: July 2011

This article presents an alternative reading of the English seaside – one that centralizes race, specifically the effects of whiteness and racialized notions of belonging and exclusion. It addresses three main issues. First, it provides a theoretical discussion of the racialized production of social space and place, and outlines the implications for minority ethnic groups at the seaside. Second, it offers an examination of the manner in which discourses of whiteness and (neo-)colonial fantasy are reproduced through amusements and other elements of seaside popular culture. Third, it demonstrates the centrality of the seaside to analysing dominant, racialized interpretations of English national identity and demotic responses to contemporary immigration. The article argues that the seaside is an enlightening site for understanding contemporary constructions, manifestations and repercussions of whiteness, and thus provides an important insight into the cultural and spatial politics of race in 21st-century Britain.
Rheumatoid hand surgery: differing perceptions amongst surgeons, rheumatologists and therapists in the UK
Authors: Burke F. D. , Miranda S. M. , Owen V. M. F. , Bradley M. J. , Sinha S.
Published: July 2011

Rheumatoid arthritis is a systemic disease that requires coordinated management by rheumatologists, surgical specialists and therapists working in a multidisciplinary team. Differences of opinion within the team may adversely affect patient care. Our aim was to assess differences in perception about rheumatoid hand surgery between rheumatologists, hand surgeons and hand therapists in the UK. We used a postal questionnaire to assess commonly performed rheumatoid hand operations. For each procedure, respondents rated the most important indication for surgery and scored effectiveness at reducing pain, improving function and aesthetics, and preventing deformity. Statistically significant differences were found between all three groups with regards to expected outcome and main indications for surgery. We concluded that significant differences do exist in the perceptions of rheumatologists, surgeons and therapists. Rheumatoid hand operations require more detailed study, clarifying indications and outcome to allow consistent advice to patients from all members of the multidisciplinary team.
Complex regional pain syndrome type I as a consequence of trauma or surgery to upper extremity: management with intravenous regional anaesthesia, using lidocaine and methyloprednisolone
Authors: Varitimidis S. E. , Papatheodorou L. K. , Dailiana Z. H. , Poultsides L. , Malizos K. N.
Published: July 2011

Complex regional pain syndrome type I (CRPS-I) is a known complication after surgery or trauma to the upper extremity and is difficult to treat. A simple and easily tolerated method of treatment that includes intravenous regional anaesthetic block with lidocaine and methyloprednisolone is presented. One hundred and sixty-eight patients with CRPS-I of the upper extremity were treated in a 5-year period. At the end of treatment 88% of the patients reported minimal or no pain. After a mean follow-up of 5 years (range 28 months to 7 years) complete absence of pain was reported by 92% of patients. The symptoms of the acute phase of the syndrome were reversed. Early recognition and prompt initiation of treatment is very important for the course of the disease as symptoms can be reversible when treatment starts early. Permanent results with a functional upper extremity and very satisfactory pain relief can be anticipated.
Profiling the bronchodilator effects of the novel ultra-long-acting β2-agonist indacaterol against established treatments in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Authors: Vogelmeier Claus , Magnussen Helgo , LaForce Craig , Owen Roger , Kramer Benjamin
Published: July 2011

Indacaterol is a novel, inhaled, ultra-long-acting β2-agonist providing 24-h bronchodilation with once-daily (od) dosing for maintenance use in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This article reviews the bronchodilator properties of indacaterol compared with other treatments used in COPD. Data from five published placebo-controlled studies were reviewed. Two 14-day crossover studies, the first comparing indacaterol 300 µg od with salmeterol 50 µg twice daily (bid), the second comparing indacaterol 150 µg and 300 µg od with tiotropium 18 µg od, assessed forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) at 24 h postdose (trough). Third, a 14-day crossover study evaluated trough FEV1 following indacaterol 300 µg dosed morning or evening compared with salmeterol 50 µg bid. Fourth, a single-dose study of indacaterol 150 and 300 µg measured FEV1 at 5 min postdose compared with salmeterol/fluticasone 50/500 µg and salbutamol 200 µg. Finally, data from a 1-year study with indacaterol 300 µg and formoterol 12 µg bid were examined to determine whether bronchodilation was maintained long term. In the first two studies, indacaterol increased trough FEV1 after 14 days by a statistically significant and clinically relevant margin over placebo; indacaterol had a greater effect than salmeterol and a similar effect to tiotropium. In the third study, indacaterol had the same effect on trough FEV1 whether dosed in the morning or evening. In the fourth study, the onset of the bronchodilator effect of indacaterol was similar to that of salbutamol. In the fifth study, the bronchodilator effect of indacaterol on trough FEV1 was maintained at a significant and clinically relevant level over 52 weeks, whereas the bronchodilator effect of formoterol diminished over time. To conclude, indacaterol is a highly effective bronchodilator that is superior to or at least as effective as other available long-acting bronchodilators for COPD.