bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Computed Tomography Analysis of Airway Dimensions and Lung Density in Patients with Sarcoidosis
Authors: Handa Tomohiro , Nagai Sonoko , Hirai Toyohiro , Chin Kazuo , Kubo Takeshi , Oga Toru , Niimi Akio , Matsumoto Hisako , Ito Yutaka , Takahashi Kenichi , Watanabe Kizuku , Izumi Takateru , Mishima Michiaki
Published: August 2008

Background: It was previously reported that visual scores of the lung opacities were associated with lung function in patients with sarcoidosis. However, there are no reports on the evaluation of airway dimensions or lung density by computed tomography (CT) in sarcoidosis patients. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate whether airway dimensions and lung densities assessed by CT associate with pulmonary function in patients with sarcoidosis. Methods: CT scanning was performed in 43 sarcoidosis patients and lung densities were measured using in-house software. Means and standard deviations of lung density, kurtosis and skewness of lung density histograms were calculated. Tracheal area and airway wall area/total airway area (WA%) of the right apical bronchus were also measured. Pulmonary function tests were performed on the same day. Results: Increased standard deviation of lung density and decreased kurtosis and skewness of lung density histograms were all associated with decreased total lung capacity, vital capacity and diffusion capacity. Increased standard deviation of lung density was also associated with decreased percentages of forced expiratory volume in 1 s and peak expiratory flow (%PEF). There was a positive correlation between tracheal area corrected by body surface area and %PEF, and negative correlation between WA% and %PEF. Stepwise regression analysis showed that increased standard deviation of lung density and decreased tracheal area were independently associated with lower %PEF. Conclusions: Thus, in sarcoidosis, densitometric parameters reflect restrictive lung function impairment. In addition to parenchymal lesions, it is concluded that the luminal area of the central airways also affects PEF.
Private Rule-Making and the Politics of Accountability: Analyzing Global Forest Governance
Authors: Chan Sander , Pattberg Philipp
Published: August 2008

Private rule-making features prominently on the research agenda of International Relations scholars today. The field of forest politics in particular has proven to be a lively arena for experimenting with novel policies (for example, third party certification and labeling) and procedures (for example, power-sharing in stakeholder bodies). This article focuses on the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), one of the earliest and most institutionalized private certification schemes, in order to assess the role and relevance of accountability politics for global forest governance. Specifically, we ask three related questions: first, what role did a deepening accountability crisis and the resulting reconstruction of accountability play in the formation of the FSC? Second, how is accountability organized within the FSC? And finally, what accountability outcomes emerge as a result of the FSC's policies and operations? The article closes with some reflections about the limitations of private-based accountability in global environmental politics.
Civil Society, Corporate Accountability and the Politics of Climate Change
Authors: Newell Peter
Published: August 2008

This article uses the lens of accountability to explore the shifting strategies of a range of civil society groups in their engagement with key actors in the global regime on climate change. It first reviews traditional strategies aimed at increasing the ‘public accountability’ of governments and UN bodies for agreed actions on climate change. This approach is then compared with the growing tendency to pursue the accountability of private corporations with respect to climate change. These strategies aim, among other things, to promote ‘civil regulation’: that is, governance of the private sector through civil society oversight. The final part of the article reflects on the possibilities and limitations of civil society actors performing such accountability roles in the contemporary politics of climate change and suggests key challenges for future climate advocacy. It argues that success in enhancing the accountability of public and private actors on the issue of climate change has been highly uneven and reflects both the effectiveness of the strategies adopted and the responsiveness of the target actors and institutions.
Accountability of Networked Climate Governance: The Rise of Transnational Climate Partnerships
Authors: Bäckstrand Karin
Published: August 2008

Public-private partnerships (PPP) have been advanced as a new tool of global governance, which can supply both effective and legitimate governance. In the context of recent debates on the democratic legitimacy of transnational governance, this paper focuses on accountability as a central component of legitimacy. The aim of this paper is to map transnational climate partnerships and evaluate their accountability record in terms of transparency, monitoring mechanisms and representation of stakeholders. Three types of partnerships are identified with respect to their degree of public-private interaction: public-private (hybrid), governmental and private-private. Most of the climate partnerships have functions of advocacy, service provision and implementation. None are standard setting, which indicates that governmental actors are less willing to “contract out” rule-setting authority to private actors in the climate change. Some partnerships, such as the World Summit on Sustainable Development climate partnerships and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects represent “new” modes of hybrid governance with high degree of public-private interaction. However, many partnerships, not least the voluntary technology agreements such as the APP, rest on “old” form of governance based on the logic of lobbying, corporatism, co-optation and interstate bargaining. Private (business-to business) climate partnerships are to varying degrees geared toward quantitative targets in the Kyoto Protocol. The accountability record is higher for hybrid climate partnerships, such as the CDM, due to extensive reporting and monitoring mechanisms, while lower for the governmental networks, such as voluntary technology agreements. Partnerships do not necessarily replace or erode the authority of sovereign states, but rather propels the hybridization and transformation of authority that is increasingly shared between state and nonstate actors.
Culture and Science/Technology: Rethinking Knowledge, Power, Materiality, and Nature
Authors: Epstein Steven
Published: August 2008

Sociologists of science and technology mostly have not engaged directly with the sociology of culture, and most sociologists of culture have been slow to extract the implications for their own work of studies of scientific authority and technological production. In this article, the author analyzes how sociologists of science and technology in fact have performed cultural analyses. The author argues that recent moves to extend studies of science and technology “outward” beyond formal scientific settings have created new possibilities for interchange with the sociology of culture, particularly around studies of material culture, classification, cultural cartography, scientific citizenship, epistemic cultures, and civic epistemologies. The author concludes that the sociology of science and technology holds important lessons for sociologists of culture because of its focus on a key source of cultural authority, its attention to material objects, and its commitment to rethinking divides between the instrumental and the expressive and between nature and culture.
Culture and Movements
Authors: Polletta Francesca
Published: August 2008

Thirty years ago, social movement scholars treated culture as just so much noise in structuralist theories of mobilization. Since then, they have become highly attuned to cultural processes, probing how people come to interpret their grievances as political, how culture sets the terms of strategic action, and when movements succeed in changing the rules of the institutional game. The result has been better theories of movements' emergence and impacts but also important insights into culture. In particular, movement analyses have shed light on two questions that have long exercised sociologists of culture. How does culture constrain practical action? Under what conditions does culture serve not to reproduce the status quo but to challenge it? After a brief review of movement scholars' evolving perspectives on culture, the article focuses on movement studies that have contributed to theorizing broader dynamics of cultural innovation and constraint.
Culture and Organization Theory
Authors: Morrill Calvin
Published: August 2008

Culture has become a legitimate concern and part of the basic conceptual toolkit in much of contemporary organization theory. This article historically traces the contested place of culture in organization theory—from acultural rationalist theorizing at the turn of the twentieth century; to the accidental “discovery” of shop floor culture by human relations scholars in the 1920s; to mid-twentieth-century explorations of informal and institutionalized relations in organizations; to present-day approaches that blend concepts from organizational culture frameworks, neoinstitutional analysis, sociology of culture, and social movement theory. This historical backdrop provides a context for raising several research questions relevant to organizational change, boundaries, and deviance. In closing, the author suggests that an analytic nexus between culture, power, and agency is emerging in contemporary organization theory that ultimately may yield a theory of society.
Culture and the Sociology of Sexuality: It's Only Natural?
Authors: Moon Dawne
Published: August 2008

This article locates six themes in the overlap between the sociology of culture and the sociology of sexuality, highlighting both institutionalized and discursive forms of power. These themes include (1) works that develop or problematize economic metaphors in the study of sexuality; (2) studies of commercial sex that problematize cultural assumptions about sex, money, and morality; (3) explorations of “nonsexual”-seeming institutions, which can reproduce or challenge hierarchies of race and gender as they transmit sexual norms; (4) considerations of the sexual underpinnings of citizenship and personhood; (5) analyses of mass-mediated discourses of sexual personhood; and (6) critiques of sociology itself, as reproducing discursive power by neglecting to problematize certain assumptions about sexuality. The article ends by considering sociology's relationship to humanities-based queer theory, arguing that sociologists should bring analyses of emotions and feelings rules into our considerations of how people develop a sense of self through social interactions.
The Teacher: Bureaucrat or Professional?
Authors: Anderson James G.
Published: August 2008

This article is a reply to the preceding "Comment". The author is Re search Professor of Educational Administration, Research Center, New Mexico State University.
Six Studies on the Prediction of Administrative Behavior
Authors: McIntyre Kenneth E.
Published: August 2008

Reporting on six investigations into the prediction of the administrative behavior of elementary school principals, the author discusses statistical predictions, clinical predictions, and predictions from in-basket per formance. The provocative question "Whither?" asks where we go from here in the study of predicting administrative behavior as an alternative to reliance on whatever "blend of horoscopy, physiognomy, and rhabdomancy we happen to employ." The author is Professor of Educational Administration, University of Texas.
The Public School Administrator Views the Catholic School-or Does He?
Authors: Farquhar Robin H.
Published: August 2008

The research reported in this article sought to determine the effects of the existence of Catholic schools upon the operation of public schools, as perceived by public school superintendents and principals in "medium-sized" U. S. cities. Twenty-three such effects are identified and perceptions of them are related to one another and to selected personal and situational variables. A major conclusion reached is that public school administrators tend to be neither familiar with nor in terested in Catholic schools, and the implications of this observation for policy, research, and training are examined. The author is Associate Director, University Council for Educational Administration and As sistant Professor, Ohio State University.
What Does Teaching Do to Teachers?
Authors: McArthur John T.
Published: August 2008

Studies of people-processing organizations invariably concentrate on the clients of such organizations. It is equally interesting to consider the staff of these organizations. Does working in such an organization re shape the ideologies and attitudes of the staff? Should we pay more at tention to the process of socialization of "those who socialize"? This ar ticle reports a longitudinal study that monitored a group of Australian secondary teachers from their final year of training into their initial year of teaching. It replicates previous studies in North America and England that employed the Pupil Control Ideology Form and other measures of teachers' attitudes toward pupils to examine the phenomenon of begin ning teacher socialization. The results of the study confirm in an Austra lian context the general thrust of earlier studies: that beginning teachers experience an ideological shift from idealism to realism during their ini tial teaching experience.

John T. McArthur is Head of Area of Educational Administration, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
A review of parental involvement in sex education: The role for effective communication in British families
Authors: Turnbull Triece , van Wersch Anna , van Schaik Paul
Published: August 2008

A review of recent literature (2000—2006) has been undertaken to investigate the role of sex education within the family context, in order to engage with the problems of sexual health in British society. The findings which emerged were categorized under the following five themes: (1) Parental roles regarding sex education; (2) The importance of effective communication in the family; (3) Parent—child interaction: differences in gender and communication style; (4) Content of sex education; and (5) Parents as primary sexual educators. The findings highlighted the importance of communication, and showed a tendency of children and adolescents wanting to learn about sexual matters from their parents. Studies on communication of sexual issues emphasized the role of gender, psychological factors and family dynamics in the effectiveness of sex education. Although the majority of communication on sexual subjects has been found to come from the mother, boys feel that the content is mainly steered towards the experience of girls. Consequently, boys use other sources (peers, the media and the Internet) to educate themselves about sexual related issues. Even though parents want to talk to their children about topics related to sexual behaviours, they feel embarrassed, uncomfortable and have neither the skills nor the knowledge to do so. A need for sex and relationship education (SRE) parent programmes has been identified to ensure that the information being taught at school can be reinforced in the family home. Thoughts for enhancing SRE within the family are presented.
PRESIDENT REAGAN'S MANDATE FROM THE 1980 ELECTIONS
Authors: HIBBS DOUGLAS A.
Published: August 2008

This article presents evidence from statistical data, statistical models, and electoral surveys indicating strongly that the substantial victory of Reagan and the Republicans in 1980 was the predictable consequence of poor economic performance under Carter and the Democrats and did not represent an ideological “shift to the right” by the electorate. The latter part of the article discusses the implications of this conclusion for public support for the Reagan administration's social and economic program, and for the Republican party's political prospects in 1982 and 1984.
UNEMPLOYMENT AND PARTISANSHIP
Authors: McIVER JOHN P.
Published: August 2008

Evidence supporting the Schlozman and Verba hypothesis that unemployment leads to abandonment of affiliation with the incumbent party is questioned in light of the Niemi et al. critique of partisan recall data. The 1974-1976 CPS National Election Panel provides more appropriate data for testing the hypothesis. Support for the hypothesis is not as strong as Schlozman and Verba's analysis would suggest. However, the panel data do lend some credence to the proposition that job loss will lead to erosion of political support for the incumbent party.
GUBERNATORIAL POPULARITY IN NINE STATES
Authors: COHEN JEFFREY E.
Published: August 2008

Three models of popularity of executives were tested on governors in nine states. The three models are policy reactions, political predispositions, and generalized attitudes. Some support for all three was found, but strong and uniform support was found for the general attitudes model. Findings here are reconciled with the dominant policy reactions model.
SENIORITY IN THE HOUSE
Authors: COVER ALBERT D.
Published: August 2008

Many authors have noted the long-term trend toward an “aging” of the U.S. House of Representatives as members have increased re-election attempts and re-election successes. Recently, however, the long-term trend has been reversed. A common explanation for this reversal is that members have become disaffected with congressional careers. This article focuses on a neglected factor that complements disaffection in explaining the shift towards a more junior House. The long-term trend toward careerism in the House left that institution with comparatively small junior classes in the 1950s and 1960s. Thus, subsequent senior classes could not continue to grow as easily as they had in the past. Projections indicate that the trend toward a more junior House will continue in the foreseeable future.
DECLINE IN MUNICIPAL VOTER TURNOUT
Authors: KARNIG ALBERT K. , WALTER B. OLIVER
Published: August 2008

Voter turnout has declined in elections at all levels of American government. Though much research has been devoted to understanding diminished turnout in national contests, there has been scant attention to factors affecting local electoral participation. In this study, we examine both cross-sectionally and longitudinally the impact on turnout of adopting a reformed plan of government and non-partisanship. Evidence from elections in the 1930s, 1960s, and 1970s suggests that council-manager government and nonpartisanship do, as hypothesized, impede municipal voter turnout.
GAINING GROUND
Authors: COPELAND GARY W. , MEIER KENNETH J.
Published: August 2008

This research provides a statistical estimation of the impact of the Medicaid and WIC programs on the infant mortality rate in the United States. These programs are designed to improve the health of poor people by increasing access to traditional medical care and by improving the nutritional values of diets. Using a quasi-experimental, time-series analysis, program impacts are estimated for all infants, white infants, and nonwhite infants. The results suggest that these federal programs are responsible for a 20,000 to 35,000 annual reduction in infant deaths.
THE THEORY OF THE BUDGETARY PROCESS IN AN ERA OF CHANGING BUDGETARY ROLES FY48-FY84
Authors: MALACHOWSKI JAMES , BOOKHEIMER SAMUEL , LOWERY DAVID
Published: August 2008

The dominant theory of the budgetary process (Fenno, 1966; Wildavsky, 1964) emphasized stable budgetary roles in the making of incremental choices over time. But while the traditional theory has been unusually successful, at least two major problems have developed over the last decade. First, recent empirical research has reconsidered the role of partisanship in the budgetary process. And second, more recent descriptive analyses of the appropriations process have suggested that the institutional roles identified by Fenno and Wildavsky changed to a considerable degree during the 1970s. What, then, is the status of the traditional theory of the budgetary process? We analyze this question by updating Fenno's analysis of the tie period FY48 through FY84 and examining both the changing nature of institutional roles and the influence of partisanship in the play of those roles over time. The analysis is used to reinterpret the traditional theory—especially the traditional interpretations of the roles of advocate, guardian, and appeals court as well as the influence of partisanship—in light of events that have occurred since the original development of Wildavsky and Fenno's model.
PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTMENTS TO THE SUPREME COURT
Authors: KING GARY
Published: August 2008

Three articles, published in the leading journals of three disciplines over the last five decades, have each used the Poisson probability distribution to help describe the frequency with which presidents were able to appoint United States Supreme Court Justices. This work challenges these previous findings with a new model of Court appointments. The analysis demonstrates that the number of appointments a president can expect to make in a given year is a function of existing measurable variables.
MEASURING STATE POLITICAL IDEOLOGY
Authors: HOLBROOK-PROVOW THOMAS M. , POE STEVEN C.
Published: August 2008

The study of American politics at the state level has, in recent years, been held back by the lack of sufficient data to operationalize key concepts. In this article we assess survey, policy, and roll-call measures that may be used to operationalize one such concept, state political ideology. Each of these measures performed well on reliability and validity tests. However, on balance the roll-call measures performed best on these tests, and scored highest in terms of practicality and ease of use. This leads us to recommend the roll-call measures of state political ideology as the best alternative at this time. We do, however, emphasize that all the measures tested here performed reasonably well, and that they should be used when theoretical concerns so dictate.
I OWE IT ALL TO ME
Authors: WILCOX CLYDE
Published: August 2008

This article provides the first step toward a fuller understanding of candidates' contributions and loans to their own campaigns by developing a set of measures of this activity and describing candidates' investments during the 1984 election cycle. Few incumbents make these investments, and those who do are usually able to repay these loans during the campaign. Most competitive nonincumbents do make investments, with the median amount of approximately $20,000 for competitive House nonincumbents who do invest. While this figure is not large, the real importance of candidates' investments may be their value as seed money, which provides vital start-up funds.
Small and Medium-Sized Companies in Belgilum
Authors: Pahlawan-Martens Paula
Published: August 2008

Paula Pahlawan-Martens is a researcher with the European Association of National Productivity Centres in Brussels, Belgium. Small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) constitute an essential part of the industrial and commercial structure of Belgium by their number, diversity, and their presence in all sectors of activity. They have more than ever an important role to play in economic recovery through their great potential of employment and innovation and the flexibility which enables them to adapt more easily than large firms to a changing economic and social environment. However, they are faced with difficulties, some of which are specific to their small size, such as their difficult access to capital, to technology and information, and the inadequate structure and legislation concerning small firms. The paper examines some statistical considerations on SMEs, the Institute of the Middle Classes, and the promotion policy of SMEs in Belgium.
Technology Licensing and the Small and Medium-Sized Firm
Authors: Lowe J. F. , Crawford N. K.
Published: August 2008

Julian Lowe and Nicholas Crawford, of the Department at the University of Bath, England, carried out the research for this paper with the help of finance from the Leverhulme Trust. The position of small and medium-sized firms with respect to new product development presents an interesting paradox. There is a growing emphasis in their role in employment generation but success in this can only come about through having a suitable flow of new products with which to enter new markets. While in some industries such firms have shown remarkable skill in the areas of both innovation and invention, it is unlikely that they will be able to rely solely on their own resources for the generation of new products. One possible solution might be for small and medium firms to rely to an extent on bought-in technology and manufacture innovative products under license and it is this which is the central theme of this paper.
Value Systems, Strategies and the Performance of Small and Medium-Sized Firms
Authors: Bamberger Ingolf
Published: August 2008

Ingolf Bamber is Professor of Management and Director of the Department "Strategie & Structures" of the Institut de Gestion de Rennes, University of Rennes, France. He is the initiator and co-ordinator of an international research project on "the value systems of small and medium-sized firms' managers and their impact on the strategic behaviour and the performance of their firms". Research teams from 7 European countries are participating in the empirical investigation whose pretest is in progress. The article describes the theoretical and methodological bases of the project. It treats, especially, the possibilities and the problems of measurement of values, objectives and strategies, gives an overview on empirical studies in the field of SME and describes the research design, the methodology chosen as well as the fundamental hypotheses of the project.
Clinical and financial analysis of an acute palliative care unit in an oncological department
Authors: Mercadante S , Intravaia G , Villari P , Ferrera P , David F , Casuccio A , Mangione S
Published: August 2008

The aim of this article is to describe the clinical activity and medical intervention of an acute model of palliative care unit (APC), as well as the reimbursement procedures and economic viability. A sample of 504 patients admitted at an APC in 1 year was surveyed. Indications for admission, pain and symptom intensity, analgesic treatments, procedures, instrumental examinations and modalities of discharge were recorded. For each patient, tariff for reimbursement was calculated according to the existent disease related grouping (DRG) system. The mean age was 62 years, and 246 patients were males. The mean hospital stay was 5.4 days. Pain control was the most frequent indication for admission. All patients had laboratory tests and several instrumental examinations. Almost all patients were prescribed one or more opioids at significant doses, and different routes of administration, as well as medication as needed. 59 patients received blood cell transfusions and 34 interventional procedures. Only 40 patients died in the unit, 11 of them being sedated at the end of life. Treatment efficacy was considered optimal and mild in 264 and 226 patients respectively. A mean of 3019 euros for admission was reimbursed by the Health Care System. APCs are of paramount importance within an oncological department, as they provide effective and intensive treatments during the entire course of disease, providing a simultaneous and integrated approach. Our findings also suggest both a cost and quality incentive for oncological departments to develop APC.
Continued study of the psychometric properties of the McGill quality of life questionnaire
Authors: Henry M , Huang LN , Ferland MK , Mitchell J , Cohen SR
Published: August 2008

The McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire (MQOL) is a widely used tool that has been specifically developed to measure the quality of life of patients facing a life-threatening illness. Preferably, a self-report instrument has an equal number of items worded positively and negatively. However, all the psychological scales of the MQOL are worded so that a high score is negative, whereas the existential scales are worded so that a high score is positive. The goal of this study was to investigate the influence of MQOL item formatting on patient responses. In order to do so, a modified version of the questionnaire was distributed to and completed by 205 patients in two oncology clinics. The modified version had an equal amount of items worded in a positive direction and negative direction in each of the domains. Results of this study were found to be different from those of other studies: the loading of the items was partly based on scale direction. These changes support the idea that the MQOL formatting has some impact on patient responses. However, factors were also determined by content. Given that MQOL has been widely used and the original formatting provides conceptually clearer subscales, we suggest maintaining the original format, keeping in mind the effect of formatting when interpreting scores.
Making the most of routine data in palliative care research – a case study analysis of linked hospital and mortality data on cancer and heart failure patients in Scotland and Oxford
Authors: Hanratty B , Goldacre M , Griffith M , Whitehead M , Capewell S
Published: August 2008

The research base of palliative care is growing rapidly, but despite methodological advances, some of the practical challenges of working with people at the end of life will persist. This means that analysis of routine data is arguably more important in studying palliative care than it is in other aspects of health services research. End-of-life researchers have been using the high-quality linked data from cancer registries for many years. This paper explores the value of a less well-known resource for palliative care research: linked mortality and hospital activity data. Two case studies are presented using information from Scotland (population 5.1 million) and the former Oxford region of England (population 2.5 million). The advantages and limitations of linked hospital and mortality data for research and service planning in palliative care are drawn out through analyses investigating hospital bed utilisation by people with cancer and heart failure and the influence of social deprivation on the use of hospital services in the last year of life. The use of such data deserves a higher profile.
Codes politiques
Authors: Padioleau Jean
Published: August 2008

"It is customary to say that the scientist's ultimate aim is to predict and control. This is a summary statement that psycholoigsts frequently like to quote in characterizing their own aspirations. Yet curiously enough, psychologists rarely credit the human subjects in their experiments with having similar aspirations. It is as though the psychologist were saying to himself, 'I, being a psychologist, and therefore a scientist, am performing this experiment in order to improve the prediction and control of certain human phenomena; but my subject, being merely a human organism, is obviously propelled by inexorable drives welling up within him, or else he is in gluttonous pursuit of sustenance and shelter.' " G.A. Kelly, A theory of personality, New York, W.W. Norton, 1963, p. 5.
Feminist Theory of the Dressed Female Body
Authors: Tyner Keila E. , Ogle Jennifer Paff
Published: August 2008

The purpose of this analysis was to synthesize diverse theoretical positions advanced within contemporary feminist literature on the dressed female body and to consider the varied ways in which these theoretical positions may have bearing on the field of textiles and clothing. Feminist perspectives of the dressed body are discussed as related to (a) modern feminist readings of the body, (b) postmodern feminist readings of the body, (c) feminist musings about the possibility of the body as a vehicle for empowerment, and (d) feminist perspectives on ambivalence and the body. Throughout the discussion, feminist theories of the dressed body are compared and situated with respect to broader feminist ideologies and assumptions. Concluding this work, suggestions are provided for future applications of feminist theory of the dressed body to textiles and clothing scholarship.
CYP2A6 activity in a healthy Spanish population: effect of age, sex, smoking, and oral contraceptives
Authors: Sinues B , Fanlo A , Mayayo E , Carcas C , Vicente J , Arenaz I , Cebollada A
Published: August 2008

This study was performed to assess the influence of age, sex, smoking, and contraceptive use on CYP2A6 activity. In the metabolism of caffeine, the conversion of 1,7 dimethylxanthine (17X) to 1,7 dimethiylurate (17U) is catalyzed primarily by CYP2A6. CYP2A6 phenotype was determined by the urinary ratio 17U:17X in the interval of 4–5 h after caffeine intake in 179 healthy white Spaniards (102 women and 76 men). There were 99 non-smokers and 80 smokers. Among women, 26 were taking oral contraceptives. The age was the most important predictive factor of CYP2A6 activity ( P < 0.001) with older subjects having higher activity. The influence of the gender was more modest ( P = 0.07) with women exhibiting borderline increased values of the CYP2A6 marker than men. Tobacco smoking did not affect CYP2A6 activity. However, the CYP2A6 marker resulted to be strongly related to the use of oral contraceptives. The women users of oral contraceptives had higher values of CYP2A6 marker than both women not taking oral contraceptives and men ( P < 0.001 in both comparisons). The results indicate that age, oral contraceptive use, and possibly gender should be controlled in epidemiological studies dealing with CYP2A6 activity and its relationship with xenobiotics exposure and genetic or pathological factor.
Melittin-induced [Ca2+]i increases and subsequent death in canine renal tubular cells
Authors: Liu SI , Cheng HH , Huang CJ , Chang HC , Chen WC , Chen IS , Hsu SS , Chang HT , Huang JK , Chen JS , Lu YC , Jan CR
Published: August 2008

The effect of melittin on cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) and viability is largely unknown. This study examined whether melittin alters Ca2+ levels and causes Ca2+-dependent cell death in Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells. [Ca2+]i and cell death were measured using the fluorescent dyes fura-2 and WST-1 respectively. Melittin at concentrations above 0.5 μM increased [Ca2+]i in a concentration-dependent manner. The Ca2+ signal was reduced by 75% by removing extracellular Ca2+. The melittin-induced Ca2+ influx was also implicated by melittin-caused Mn2+ influx. After pretreatment with 1 μM thapsigargin (an endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ pump inhibitor), melittin-induced Ca2+ release was inhibited; and conversely, melittin pretreatment abolished thapsigargin-induced Ca2+ release. At concentrations of 0.5–20 μM, melittin killed cells in a concentration-dependent manner. The cytotoxic effect of 0.5 μM melittin was nearly completely reversed by prechelating cytosolic Ca2+ with BAPTA. Melittin at 0.5–2 μM caused apoptosis as assessed by flow cytometry of propidium iodide staining. Collectively, in MDCK cells, melittin induced a [Ca2+]i rise by causing Ca2+ release from endoplasmic reticulum and Ca2+ influx from extracellular space. Furthermore, melittin can cause Ca2+-dependent cytotoxicity in a concentration-dependent manner.
IL-1β as a determinant in silica-induced cytokine responses in monocyte-endothelial cell co-cultures
Authors: Herseth JI , Refsnes M , Låg M , Hetland G , Schwarze PE
Published: August 2008

Alveolar macrophages and endothelial cells are both involved in lung inflammation and remodeling of lung alveolar structures. In the present study, monocytes (precursors for macrophages) were exposed to crystalline silica and examined for pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine responses in non-contact co-cultures with endothelial cells. The time courses for silica-induced release of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-8 both from co-cultures and monocyte mono-cultures showed an early peak at 5–10 h, almost no response at 20 h, and a strong increase at 43 h. At 43 h, co-cultures also showed strongly increased IL-6 levels. Steady-state levels of mRNA roughly exhibited the same pattern of early up-regulation and reduced levels at 20 h. Compared with monocyte mono-cultures, silica induced a strong release of IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-8, but not of TNF-α, after 43 h in co-cultures, whereas at 5 and 10 h a significant difference was only observed for the silica-induced IL-8 response. An antagonist to the IL-1 receptor strongly reduced IL-6 and IL-8 levels, whereas antibodies to TNF-α increased the levels of IL-1β and IL-8. Thus, IL-1β is suggested to be an important triggering factor that determines the silica-induced release of several of the other cytokines in this co-culture system.
Synergistic action of sodium selenite and N-acetylcysteine in acetaminophen-induced liver damage
Authors: Yalçın SS , Bilgili A , Onbaşılar İ , Eraslan G , Özdemir M
Published: August 2008

Acetaminophen (AAP) is a commonly used analgesic and antipyretic drug; however, when used in high doses, it causes fulminant hepatic necrosis in both humans and experimental animals. In this study, we investigated whether selenium (Se) and N-acetylcysteine (NAC), alone or in combination, are protective against AAP toxicity in mice. At the beginning of the experiment, blood samples were taken from 10 of 350 mice. Then, the remaining mice were randomly allocated into four groups, each consisting of 35 animals. The 1st group received a single administration of AAP by gavage at a dose of 600 mg/kg-bw, p.o. The 2nd group (AAP-Se) was treated with sodium selenite (0.5 mg Se/kg-bw, p.o.) one hour after ingestion of AAP. The 3rd group (AAP-NAC) ingested AAP, 1.5 h later followed by NAC (500 mg/kg-bw, p.o.). The 4th group (AAP-Se-NAC) was given sodium selenite and NAC, 1 and 1.5 h after administration of AAP, respectively. From each group, blood samples of seven mice for each time point were taken at 4, 8, 24, and 48 h after AAP toxicity. Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels were measured. Compared with AAP group, the levels of ALT were lower after AAP ingestion in AAP-NAC, AAP-Se, and AAP-Se-NAC groups at the 8th hour. ALT, AST, and LDH levels in AAP-Se-NAC group were 50% of the levels of other groups starting form the 4th hour of toxicity. It is concluded that protection against AAP hepatotoxicity using a combination of Se and NAC is better than that found with either agent alone.
Time-Spaces of In/dependence and Dis/ability
Authors: Schillmeier Michael
Published: August 2008

The article highlights the temporal construction of everyday spaces that make up the societal relevance of in/dependences and dis/abilities. Employing an account of empirical philosophy, the article links self-conducted empirical research with philosophical ideas. Introducing Heidegger's notion of `time-space', the proposed view tries to avoid bifurcating in/dependences and dis/abilities a priori as the effect of given realities. Rather, they appear as highly fragile mediations of heterogeneous elements that make up the times and spaces of emerging in/dependences and dis/abilities. With special reference to `visual disability', I explore how ordinary acts of `dealing with money' and `going shopping' configure multiple `blind' times and spaces of in/dependence and dis/ability.
Time, Cycles and Tempos in Social-ecological Research and Environmental Policy
Authors: Wood Charles H.
Published: August 2008

The execution of successful social-ecological research and the formulation of effective environmental policies crucially depend on a deep knowledge of the temporal complexity of the interactions between social and biophysical systems. To promote a keener awareness of the relevance of time, cycles, and tempos, this study assembles examples drawn from a range of disciplines to delineate the ways temporality enters into human behavior, resource management, and the conduct of social-ecological research. Anthropological and historical studies document the culturally embedded temporal subjectivities that shape the way humans exploit or conserve natural resources. Analyses of environmental policy show how temporal considerations enter into intervention strategies via such concepts as discount rates, property rights and the precautionary principle. The centrality of temporal assumptions is further evidenced by the time-dependent foundations of disciplinary specializations. The likelihood of temporal mismatches between the specializations that participate in interdisciplinary research and between the scientific findings and environmental policy can be mitigated by giving attention to temporal grain, temporal fallacy and temporal extent.
Internet Use and Time Use
Authors: Kenyon Susan
Published: August 2008

Scholars are beginning to question the impacts of the Internet for the conceptualization of time and time use. However, discussion in terms of the impacts of the Internet for multitasking has been absent from this debate. Multitasking has, until recently, been a forgotten dimension of time-use research. The phenomenon has long been recognized as important, yet it is only in the past decade that time-use researchers have begun seriously both to record and analyse related data. Such studies have shown that a more fully informed understanding of the true extent of time use and activity participation can emerge through the consideration of multitasking. This, in turn, can present a more accurate picture upon which measures of change in time use can be assessed. This article is concerned with an exploratory discussion of the impact of the inclusion of multitasking data upon perception of change in time use as a result of Internet use. Following theoretical discussion, the article presents evidence from a longitudinal, diary-based panel study with around 100 participants and a questionnaire survey with 1000 participants. The article explores the prevalence of multitasking and reveals clear implications of Internet use for the same. In conclusion, those seeking to understand the influence of Internet use upon time use must include multitasking in their analysis if they are to avoid an incomplete and potentially misleading account of time use (and change therein) in the information age.
Understanding Event-based Business Networks
Authors: Hedaa Laurids , Törnroos Jan-Åke
Published: August 2008

This article deals with the temporality in business networks. Marketing as networks approach stresses interaction processes and interdependence among actors noting that business markets are mainly socially constructed. The approach has increased our understanding of business marketing but further attention for theory development and empirical validation is needed. Theoretical foundations of the approach are conceptually analysed here, taking time and timing into particular consideration. A model of event networks is developed as an approach to understand temporality in business networks. The event network perspective is exemplified using practical cases. It is argued that extensions of network theory, methods and models can be approached using connected events as a base.
Special Tribunal for Lebanon
Authors: Serra Gianluca
Published: August 2008

The commentary provides an overview on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and engages significant international legal issues such as the exceptional character of its legal basis and the potential implications on the level of statutory authority, the hybrid nature of the Tribunal (a mix between national and international courts), and the challenges related to the exercise of its jurisdiction over the crime of terrorism. Attention is also paid to the political rationale behind the creation of the Tribunal.
Book Review Essay: The Paradox of Race and Capital Punishment
Authors: Breslin Beau
Published: August 2008

Too often Americans speak primarily to themselves when the topic turns to the death penalty. Because the United States is the last of the industrialized Western countries to retain the death penalty, we often think of it as a purely American phenomenon. But it does impact the international community in significant ways, especially given the reality that many of the nation's trading partners and closest allies refuse to extradite criminal suspects who may face the death penalty in the United States. Indeed, the political, economic, and moral ramifications of America's experiment with death will continue to have profound consequences on that country's position in the international community. What is more, those consequences become even more serious—even more heightened—when one factors in the controversial issue of race. It is, therefore, incumbent on scholars and commentators from the United States and around the world to broaden the conversation about race and capital punishment, to become more cognizant of how race impacts America's death row. The inclusion of this article in the International Criminal Justice Review is meant to contribute to that effort.
Addressing Self-Injury in the School Setting
Authors: Shapiro Sandra
Published: August 2008

A growing number of students presenting with nonlethal self-injury has recently captured the attention of school nurses. The purpose of intentional self-harm is aimed at reducing emotional distress. This is not a new phenomenon, but what is alarming is the increasing incidence of self-injurious behavior among adolescents. This behavior is raising many questions for school staff. School nurses, along with guidance department staff, are searching for information and direction needed to address this behavior. School nurses, educated about self-injury, can serve as resources for other school staff members. Prevention strategies for all adolescents can be developed as well as strategies targeted at groups of at-risk adolescents. Because mental health care is critical for the treatment of self-injury, referral and early access to counseling is an important role for school nurses. In addition, a plan that includes educating staff members and parents can be developed. Included in this comprehensive plan is developing a protocol to be used to guide the care of adolescents who self-injure.
The Effects of an Infant-Feeding Classroom Activity on the Breast-feeding Knowledge and Intentions of Adolescents
Authors: Walsh Audrey , Moseley Jane , Jackson Winston
Published: August 2008

This study examined the impact of an infant-feeding classroom activity on the breast-feeding knowledge and intentions of adolescents living in Nova Scotia, Canada. One hundred twenty-one students attending two high schools were administered one pretest and two posttest questionnaires. Students were arbitrarily assigned to a control or intervention group. The intervention group partook in a 60-minute classroom activity on infant feeding. Findings indicated that students in the intervention group demonstrated significantly greater breast-feeding knowledge at Posttest 1 and at 10 weeks postintervention. Students in the intervention group reported a significantly greater intention toward breast-feeding their own future children; an increase was sustained at 10 weeks. These findings suggest that adolescents’ knowledge of and intention toward breast-feeding may be positively influenced during their teen years. School nurses are well positioned to support and encourage the inclusion of breast-feeding content in school curricula to enhance adolescents’ knowledge and intentions toward breast-feeding.