bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
634. LATHYRUS VESTITUS
Authors: Kenicer Gregory , Norton Sylvia
Published: December 2008

Summary Lathyrus vestitus Nuttall ex Torrey & Gray, a common perennial Lathyrus from western North America, is described and illustrated.
From housing wealth to well‐being?
Authors: Searle Beverley A. , Smith Susan J. , Cook Nicole
Published: December 2008

The positive health effects of owner‐occupation, compared to renting, are well documented. But home ownership is itself heterogeneous, as is the health profile of its incumbents, and this is less well recognised. Drawing from a mixed‐methods study, which includes 150 qualitative interviews with a cross‐section of UK mortgage holders, this paper examines the health implications of a definitive feature of owned housing: its role as a financial tool. In particular, we ask whether there is anything about the process of accumulating wealth into housing or spending from this resource, that enhances well‐being (or that adds to psycho‐social stress). This question is timely, coming at the end of a long‐wave of house‐price appreciation, in a setting where it is easy to borrow from housing wealth, under a policy regime that looks increasingly to owned homes as an asset base for welfare. The answer casts light on whether, in what circumstances, to what extent, and by what mechanism, home ownership – the dominant housing tenure of the English‐speaking world – might enhance the well‐being of individuals, communities and societies.
Hyperhomocysteinaemia in HIV‐infected patients: determinants of variability and correlations with predictors of cardiovascular disease
Authors: Guaraldi G , Ventura P , Garlassi E , Orlando G , Squillace N , Nardini G , Stentarelli C , Zona S , Marchini S , Moriondo V , Tebas P
Published: December 2008

Objective

We evaluated hyperhomocysteinaemia (HHcy) in a cohort of HIV‐infected patients in order to assess its relation to cardiovascular risk (CVR) and identify determinants of HHcy variability.

Methods

Cross‐sectional observational study. HIV‐infected patients on stable highly active antiretroviral therapy (ART) were evaluated for the presence of the metabolic syndrome, lipodystrophy and traditional CVR factors. Plasma homocysteine levels were measured using high‐performance liquid chromatography.

Results

Five hundred and sixty‐seven patients (38% female) with a median age of 44 years were included in the study. Homocysteine (Hcy) was significantly higher in patients with the metabolic syndrome and lipodystrophy. No significant association was found between Hcy levels and the use of ART. However, Hcy was associated with higher blood pressure, waist circumference and waist‐to‐hip ratio, total lean body mass, visceral adipose tissue (VAT), VAT/total adipose tissue, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA‐IR), triglycerides, high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol, apolipoprotein A1, B, and creatinine. All 10‐year CVR assessment scores were significantly associated with Hcy. In a multivariate regression model, systolic blood pressure, vitamin supplementation and HOMA‐IR were significantly and independently related to Hcy.

Conclusions

Hcy is elevated in HIV‐infected patients and is significantly associated with increased CVR. Measurement of Hcy might be useful in identifying particularly high‐risk populations at whom therapeutic interventions could be targeted.
2. NO ROOM FOR GOD? HISTORY, SCIENCE, METAPHYSICS, AND THE STUDY OF RELIGION
Authors: GREGORY BRAD S.
Published: December 2008

Despite widespread beliefs to the contrary within the secular intellectual culture of the modern academy, scientific findings are not necessarily incompatible with religious truth claims. The latter include claims about the reality of God as understood in traditional Christianity and the possibility of divinely worked miracles. Intellectual history, philosophy, and science's own self‐understanding undermine the claim that science entails or need even tend toward atheism. By definition a radically transcendent creator‐God is inaccessible to empirical investigation. Denials of the possibility or actual occurrence of miracles depend not on science itself, but on naturalist assumptions that derive originally from a univocal metaphysics with its historical roots in medieval nominalism, which in turn have deeply influenced philosophy and science since the seventeenth century. The metaphysical postulate of naturalism and its correlative empiricist epistemology constitute methodological self‐limitations of science—only an unjustified move from postulate to assertion permits ideological scientism and atheism. It is entirely possible that religious claims consistent with the empirical findings of the natural and social sciences might be true. Therefore historians of religion not only need not assume that atheism is true in their research, but they should not do so if they want to understand religious people on their own terms rather than to impose on them an undemonstrated and indemonstrable ideology. Exhortations to critical thinking apply not only to religious views, but also to uncritically examined secular ideas and assumptions, however widespread or institutionally embedded.
3. HISTORIOGRAPHY WITHOUT GOD: A REPLY TO GREGORY1
Authors: FØRLAND TOR EGIL
Published: December 2008

This reply aims both to respond to Gregory and to move forward the debate about God's place in historiography. The first section is devoted to the nature of science and God. Whereas Gregory thinks science is based on metaphysical naturalism with a methodological corollary of critical‐realist empiricism, I see critical, empiricist methodology as basic, and naturalism as a consequence. Gregory's exposition of his apophatic theology, in which univocity is eschewed, illustrates the fissure between religious and scientific worldviews—no matter which basic scientific theory one subscribes to. The second section is allotted to miracles. As I do, Gregory thinks no miracle occurred on Fox Lakes in 1652, but he restricts himself to understanding the actors and explaining change over time, and refuses to explain past or contemporary actions and events. Marc Bloch, in his book The Royal Touch: Sacred Monarchy and Scrofula in England and France, is willing to go much further than Gregory. Using his superior medical knowledge to substitute his own explanation of the phenomenon for that of the actors, Bloch dismisses the actors’ beliefs that they or others had been miraculously cured, and explains that they believed they saw miraculous healing because they were expecting to see it. In the third section, on historical explanation, I rephrase the question whether historians can accommodate both believers in God and naturalist scientists, asking whether God, acting miraculously or not, can be part of the ideal explanatory text. I reply in the negative, and explicate how the concept of a plural subject suggests how scientists can also be believers. This approach may be compatible with two options presented by Peter Lipton for resolving the tension between religion and science. The first is to see the truth claims of religious texts as untranslatable into scientific language (and vice versa); the other is to immerse oneself in religious texts by accepting them as a guide but not believing in their truth claims when these contradict science.
THE PHILONIC DISTINCTION: GERMAN ENLIGHTENMENT HISTORIOGRAPHY OF JEWISH THOUGHT
Authors: WESTERKAMP DIRK
Published: December 2008

Leon Roth's famous question “Is there a Jewish philosophy?” has been the subject of an ongoing controversial debate. This paper argues that the concept of a Jewish philosophy—in the sense of an allegedly continuous philosophical tradition stretching from antiquity to early modernity—was created by German Enlightenment historians of philosophy. Under competing models of historiography, Enlightenment philosophy construed a continuous tradition of Jewish thought, a philosophia haebraeorum perennis, establishing a controversially discussed order of discourse and a specific politics of historiography. Within this historiography, historical and systematical paradigms, values, and patterns kept shifting continuously, opening up perspectives for different, even contradictory accounts of what Jewish philosophy was (and is). With Hegel and his successors, this specific discourse came to a close. Hegel attacks “Jewish thought” as a form of metaphysics of substance—a critique countered by several thinkers who can be referred to as “Jewish Hegelians” (E. Fackenheim). The Jewish Hegelians fully accepted, however, Hegel's account of the “Philonic distinction”: the difference between substance and subject within the conception of the one. This calls attention to the idea that not only the role of the “mosaic distinction” (J. Assmann), the distinction between true and false in religion, should be examined more closely, but also the consequences of the “Philonic distinction” between identity and difference in monotheistic concepts of deity.
Dimensions of Atypical Forms of Employment in Thessaloniki, Greece
Authors: GIALIS STELIOS , KARNAVOU ELEUTHERIA
Published: December 2008

Post‐Fordist reconstitutions in economy and society are positively related with the expansion of atypical employment. This article argues that many of the claims that an increase in atypical forms promotes less rigid labour markets rely on narrow readings of official statistics and also underestimate different local labour realities. Drawing upon case studies in Thessaloniki's Labour Inspectorates and industrial enterprises, it highlights the fact that Greek labour markets, which are already flexible enough, have been rearranged to accommodate new use patterns for atypical forms, both traditional and modern. A controversially expanding trend towards part‐time and temporary work and non‐agricultural self‐employment is discussed. This trend is traced to trades, sectors, industries and firms that have developed distinct patterns in the exploitation of atypical employment within the context of locally constituted social and regulatory practices that interact with globalized capital accumulation procedures. The expansion of atypical employment is examined along two interpretative lines, the one focusing on the effect of recent reforms on small industrial enterprises, the other analysing post‐Fordist, flexible socio‐spatial restructurings.

Les reconstitutions post‐fordistes en matière d'économie et de société sont bien liées à l'essor d'un emploi atypique. De nombreuses affirmations selon lesquelles une multiplication de formes atypiques favorise des marchés du travail moins rigides reposent sur des lectures étriquées des statistiques officielles, tout en sous‐estimant les diverses réalités locales du travail. À partir d'études de cas issues des Inspections du travail et d'entreprises industrielles de Thessalonique, il est mis en évidence que les marchés du travail grecs, déjà suffisamment flexibles, ont été remodulés en fonction de nouveaux schémas d'utilisation adaptés à des formes atypiques, tant traditionnelles que modernes. Est analysée ici une tendance discutable à l'accroissement du travail temporaire, du temps partiel et de l'emploi indépendant non‐agricole. Cette tendance est repérée dans les métiers, secteurs, industries et entreprises qui ont élaboré des schémas distincts d'exploitation d'un emploi atypique dans le cadre de pratiques réglementaires et sociales établies localement qui interagissent avec les procédures mondialisées d'accumulation du capital. L'essor d'un emploi atypique est étudié selon deux axes interprétatifs, l'un s'attachant à l'incidence des réformes récentes sur les petites entreprises industrielles, l'autre analysant les restructurations socio‐spatiales flexibles post‐fordistes.
Mega‐projects in New York, London and Amsterdam
Authors: FAINSTEIN SUSAN S.
Published: December 2008

Recently we have witnessed the mounting of very large development projects (mega‐projects) in European and American cities. There is a striking physical similarity among the schemes and also a convergence embodied in private‐sector involvement and market orientation. They differ, however, as to whether they provide affordable units and tie together physical and social goals. This article investigates new mega‐projects in New York, London, and Amsterdam. The dissimilarities among them indicate the extent of variability in contemporary property capitalism. The comparison shows that public‐private partnerships can provide public benefits, but also shows that these large projects are risky for both public and private participants, must primarily be oriented toward profitability, and produce a landscape that does not encourage urbanity. Whether the gains from increased competitiveness are spread throughout the society depends on the size of the direct governmental commitment to public benefits. This is greatest in the Netherlands, where the welfare state, albeit shrunken, lives on; it is least in the United States, where the small size of national expenditures on housing and social welfare means that low‐income people must depend almost wholly on trickle‐down effects to gain from new development.

Les très grands projets d'aménagement (mégaprojets) se multiplient dernièrement dans les villes d'Europe et d'Amérique. On est frappé par une similarité physique entre les programmes, mais aussi par une convergence observable dans l'implication du secteur privé et dans une orientation‐marché. Ils diffèrent pourtant par leur capacité ou non à procurer des unités accessibles financièrement et à associer des objectifs physiques et sociaux. L'article étudie de nouveaux mégaprojets à New‐York, Londres et Amsterdam. Les divergences entre eux indiquent l'étendue de la variabilité du capitalisme immobilier contemporain. La comparaison établit que les partenariats public‐privé peuvent produire des bénéfices publics, et montre aussi que ces grands projets sont risqués pour les participants publics et privés, qu'ils doivent surtout rechercher la rentabilité et qu'ils génèrent un paysage peu favorable à l'urbanité. La répartition, sur toute la société, des gains tirés d'une compétitivité accrue dépend de l'ampleur de l'engagement direct des gouvernements à l'égard des bénéfices publics. Le cas le plus flagrant est celui des Pays‐Bas, où l'État‐providence subsiste, bien que diminué; le plus limité est celui des États‐Unis, où la faible ampleur des dépenses nationales de logement et de protection sociale signifie que les populations à bas revenu dépendent presque totalement des effets de propagation pour bénéficier d'un nouvel aménagement.
The New Mega‐Projects: Genesis and Impacts
Authors: ORUETA FERNANDO DIAZ , FAINSTEIN SUSAN S.
Published: December 2008

Critiques of urban renewal and large‐scale developments were prominent in the period 1960–80. In particular, they emphasized the negative environmental and social consequences of these schemes and especially attacked them for displacing low‐income and ethnically different populations. In the 1980s and 1990s, we saw a decline in such projects in many places, responding to popular protest and intellectual dissent, along with a new emphasis on preservation. More recently, however, we see the revival of mega‐projects, often connected with tourism and sports development and incorporating the designs of world‐famous architects. Frequently these are on landfill or abandoned industrial sites. The symposium for which this is an introduction shows the growing convergence of North American and European projects. This convergence is visible in their physical form, their financing, and in the role played by the state in a world marked by neoliberalism. At the same time, the new projects do display a greater environmental sensitivity and commitment to urbanity than the modernist schemes of an earlier epoch.

Dans la période 1960–1980, les critiques sur les aménagements à grande échelle et les grandes rénovations urbaines étaient fréquentes. Elles soulignaient notamment les conséquences environnementales et sociales néfastes de ces programmes, en leur reprochant en particulier de déplacer les populations à faible revenu ou d'appartenance ethnique différente. Dans les années 1980 et 1990, ces projets se sont faits plus rares dans bien des endroits, répondant à la contestation populaire et au désaccord des intellectuels, parallèlement à une préoccupation nouvelle pour la préservation. Dernièrement, pourtant, les mégaprojets ont réapparu, souvent associés à un aménagement touristique ou sportif et intégrant des créations d'architectes de renommée mondiale. Ils se situent fréquemment sur le site d'anciennes décharges ou usines abandonnées. Le symposium dont ce texte sert d'introduction montre la convergence croissante des projets nord‐américains et européens, convergence que l'on constate dans leur forme physique, leur financement et dans le rôle que joue l'État dans un monde empreint de néolibéralisme. En même temps, les nouveaux projets affichent une sensibilitéà l'environnement et un engagement vis‐à‐vis de l'urbanité plus marqués que les programmes modernistes antérieurs.
Old Mega‐Projects Newly Packaged? Waterfront Redevelopment in Toronto
Authors: LEHRER UTE , LAIDLEY JENNEFER
Published: December 2008

The mega‐project is experiencing revived interest as a tool for urban renewal. The current mode of large‐scale urban development is, however, different from its predecessor in so far as its focus is flexible and diverse rather than singular and monolithic. However, the diversity that the new approach offers, we argue, forecloses upon a wide variety of social practices, reproducing rather than resolving urban inequality and disenfranchisement. Further, we suggest that the diversity of forms and land uses employed in these mega‐projects inhibits the growth of oppositional and contestational practices. The new mega‐project also demonstrates a shift from collective benefits to a more individualized form of public benefit. The article is based on Toronto's recent waterfront development proposals, which we identify as an example of a new paradigm of mega‐project development within the framework of the competitive city. Its stated but paradoxical goal is to specialize in everything, allowing for the pretence that all interests are being served while simultaneously re‐inscribing and reinforcing socioeconomic divisions. Our findings are centred on four areas: institutional change; the importance of mega‐projects to global interurban competition; the exclusive nature of public participation processes; and the increasing commodification and circumscription of urban public space.

Le mégaprojet connaît un regain d'intérêt en tant qu'outil de rénovation urbaine. Le mode actuel d'aménagement urbain à grande échelle diffère toutefois de son prédécesseur dans la mesure où son orientation est souple et diverse, au lieu d'être unique et monolithique. Cependant, à notre avis, la diversité qu'offre la nouvelle approche exclut une grande variété de pratiques sociales, puisqu'elle reproduit, plutôt qu'elle ne résout, l'inégalité urbaine et la privation de droits. De plus, la diversité dans les formes et les utilisations de l'espace de ces mégaprojets empêche le développement de pratiques d'opposition ou de contestation. En outre, le mégaprojet révèle un décalage des bénéfices collectifs vers une forme plus individualisée de bénéfice public. Les propositions récentes d'aménagement du front de mer de Toronto sont identifiées comme typiques d'un nouveau paradigme du mégaprojet d'aménagement dans le cadre de la ville compétitive. Son objectif affiché, quoique paradoxal, est d'être spécialisé en tout, ce qui permet de prétendre que tous les intérêts sont pris en compte, tout en réimplantant et en renforçant les divisions socio‐économiques. Nos résultats portent sur quatre aspects: la transformation des institutions, l'importance des mégaprojets dans la concurrence interurbaine mondiale, la nature exclusive des processus de participation publics, ainsi que l'accentuation de la marchandisation et des délimitations de l'espace public urbain.
Slipped lips: onset asynchrony detection of auditory‐visual language in autism
Authors: Grossman Ruth B. , Schneps Matthew H. , Tager‐Flusberg Helen
Published: December 2008

Background:  It has frequently been suggested that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have deficits in auditory‐visual (AV) sensory integration. Studies of language integration have mostly used non‐word syllables presented in congruent and incongruent AV combinations and demonstrated reduced influence of visual speech in individuals with ASD. The aim of our study was to test whether adolescents with high‐functioning autism are able to integrate AV information of meaningful, phrase‐length language in a task of onset asynchrony detection.

Methods:  Participants were 25 adolescents with ASD and 25 typically developing (TD) controls. The stimuli were video clips of complete phrases using simple, commonly occurring words. The clips were digitally manipulated to have the video precede the corresponding audio by 0, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, or 14 video frames, a range of 0–500ms. Participants were shown the video clips in random order and asked to indicate whether each clip was in‐synch or not.

Results:  There were no differences between adolescents with ASD and their TD peers in accuracy of onset asynchrony detection at any slip rate.

Conclusion:  These data indicate that adolescents with ASD are able to integrate auditory and visual components in a task of onset asynchrony detection using natural, phrase‐length language stimuli. We propose that the meaningful nature of the language stimuli in combination with presentation in a non‐distracting environment allowed adolescents with autism spectrum disorder to demonstrate preserved accuracy for bi‐modal AV integration.
Agriculture and the new challenges for photosynthesis research
Authors: Murchie E. H. , Pinto M. , Horton P.
Published: December 2008

Contents

Summary
532

I.
Introduction
533

II.
World demand and future food production
533

III.
Photosynthesis from an agricultural perspective
533

IV.
Routes to improving the mechanism of photosynthesis
535

V.
Photosynthesis in the field: potential and actual rates
537

VI.
Optimization of photosynthesis as a highly dynamic responsive process
539

VII.
Principles governing dynamic responses of photosynthesis to the environment
539

VIII.
The chloroplast as sensor and integrator – photoacclimation of photosynthesis
544

IX.
Concluding remarks: crops for future climates
546

References
548
ALS‐linked P56S‐VAPB, an aggregated loss‐of‐function mutant of VAPB, predisposes motor neurons to ER stress‐related death by inducing aggregation of co‐expressed wild‐type VAPB
Authors: Suzuki Hiroaki , Kanekura Kohsuke , Levine Timothy P. , Kohno Kenji , Olkkonen Vesa M. , Aiso Sadakazu , Matsuoka Masaaki
Published: December 2008

A point mutation (P56S) in the vapb gene encoding an endoplasmic reticulum (ER)‐integrated membrane protein [vesicle‐associated membrane protein‐associated protein B (VAPB)] causes autosomal‐dominant amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. In our earlier study, we showed that VAPB may be involved in the IRE1/XBP1 signaling of the unfolded protein response, an ER reaction to inhibit accumulation of unfolded/misfolded proteins, while P56S‐VAPB formed insoluble aggregates and lost the ability to mediate the pathway (loss‐of‐function), and suggested that P56S‐VAPB promoted the aggregation of co‐expressed wild‐type (wt)‐VAPB. In this study, a yeast inositol‐auxotrophy assay has confirmed that P56S‐VAPB is functionally a null mutant in vivo. The interaction between P56S‐VAPB and wt‐VAPB takes place with a high affinity through the major sperm protein domain in addition to the interaction through the C‐terminal transmembrane domain. Consequently, wt‐VAPB is speculated to preferentially interact with co‐expressed P56S‐VAPB, leading to the recruitment of wt‐VAPB into cytosolic aggregates and the attenuation of its normal function. We have also found that expression of P56S‐VAPB increases the vulnerability of NSC34 motoneuronal cells to ER stress‐induced death. These results lead us to hypothesize that the total loss of VAPB function in unfolded protein response, induced by one P56S mutant allele, may contribute to the development of P56S‐VAPB‐induced amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
The up‐regulation of BACE1 mediated by hypoxia and ischemic injury: role of oxidative stress and HIF1α
Authors: Guglielmotto Michela , Aragno Manuela , Autelli Riccardo , Giliberto Luca , Novo Erica , Colombatto Sebastiano , Danni Oliviero , Parola Maurizio , Smith Mark A. , Perry George , Tamagno Elena , Tabaton Massimo
Published: December 2008

While it is well established that stroke and cerebral hypoperfusion are both significant risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease, the molecular link between ischemia and amyloid precursor protein processing has only been recently established. Specifically, hypoxia significantly increases β‐site APP cleaving enzyme (BACE1) gene transcription through the over‐expression of hypoxia inducible factor 1α, resulting in increased BACE1 secretase activity and amyloid‐β production. In this study, we significantly extend these findings both in vitro, in differentiated SK‐N‐BE neuroblastoma cells, and in vivo, in rats subjected to cerebral ischemia, showing that hypoxia up‐regulates BACE1 expression through a biphasic mechanism. The early post‐hypoxic up‐regulation of BACE1 depends on the production of reactive oxygen species mediated by the sudden interruption of the mitochondrial electron transport chain, while the later expression of BACE1 is caused by hypoxia inducible factor 1α activation. The involvement of reactive oxygen species released by mitochondria in the BACE1 up‐regulation was confirmed by the complete protection exerted by complex I inhibitors such as rotenone and diphenyl‐phenylen iodonium. Moreover, the oxidative stress‐mediated up‐regulation of BACE1 is mediated by c‐jun N terminal kinase pathway as demonstrated by the protection exerted by the silencing of c‐jun N‐terminal kinase isoforms 1 and 2. Our study strengthens the hypothesis that oxidative stress is a basic common mechanism of amyloid‐β accumulation.
Meanings of staying healthy in a context where others developed burnout – phenomenological‐hermeneutic interpretation of healthcare personnel’s narratives
Authors: Gustafsson Gabriella , Strandberg Gunilla
Published: December 2008

Burnout has become a major problem in many industrialized countries, but not everyone at the same work place develops burnout. The present paper aimed to illuminate meanings of staying healthy in a context where others developed burnout as narrated by healthcare personnel. Interviews were conducted with 20 healthcare personnel and were interpreted using a phenomenological‐hermeneutic method. The result shows that the meanings of staying healthy are to be rooted in an outlook on life perceiving its many‐sidedness and the strengths and weaknesses of oneself and others with forbearance. One is striving to shoulder responsibility for oneself and for others and is also receptive towards the circumstances of life, striving to judge the possibilities of being and acting in order to attempt to influence things in what is believed to be the right direction. Being able to let go of injustice and look after oneself with a clear conscience is also revealed as meanings of staying healthy. In conclusion, forbearance with life’s many‐sidedness seems to pervade one’s experiences, judgements and actions in life when dealing with one’s reality, and thus, it is interpreted as essential for staying healthy in a context where others developed burnout. This study is ethically approved.
Determination of Dynamic Modulus of Syntactic and Particulate Foams by a Non‐Destructive Approach
Authors: Woldesenbet E. , Mylavarapu P.
Published: December 2008

Abstract:  Developments in aviation posed requirement of lightweight, high strength and highly damage‐tolerant materials. Sandwich‐structured composites fulfilling these requirements have become the first choice for many aerospace applications as well as structural components for ground transport and marine vessels. Sandwich composites are a special class of composite materials which are widely used because of their high specific strength and high bending stiffness. Syntactic foams, which are hollow particle‐filled core materials used in sandwich composites, have recently emerged as attractive material for applications requiring low weight, low moisture absorption and high insulation properties. Quasi‐static and dynamic properties of these syntactic foams are commonly determined though various destructive techniques such as quasi‐static compression and split Hopkinson pressure bar testing. However, there is a need for characterising these materials non‐destructively in the field. The present study focuses on the prediction of dynamic Young's modulus using ultrasonic testing in various types of hollow particle‐reinforced syntactic foam and solid particulate composites. Hollow particle‐filled syntactic foams and solid particulate composites are fabricated with three different volume fractions of 10%, 30% and 60%. Longitudinal and shear wave velocities are used for calculating the dynamic modulus. Effect of longitudinal attenuation behaviour along with longitudinal and shear wave velocities on the varying density and volume fraction of syntactic foams is also discussed.
The ‘British Space’: World‐Empire‐Continent‐Nation‐Region‐Locality: A Historiographical Problem
Authors: Robbins Keith
Published: December 2008

What ‘British history’ may be taken to mean is complex. No simple solution to getting it ‘in focus’ exists. On one level, given the global impact of Britain since 1800, culturally and commercially, and the existence of ‘English‐speaking Peoples’, it is an aspect of ‘world history’ and cannot be understood without this wide‐ranging context. That manifested itself most specifically in the expansion of the British Empire, its consolidation and subsequent disintegration. ‘Great Britain’ and ‘Greater Britain’, for some minds, constituted the ‘whole’. Yet, however global the mindset of policy‐makers (and perhaps people) became, the history of the British Isles could not be detached from that of the European continent. ‘Isolation’ could only ever be ‘relative’. On another level, looking inwards, the ‘British Space’ has embraced a multiplicity of overlapping, interlinked, yet distinct nations, regions and localities. Sometimes such identities have been forged or strengthened in opposition to ‘Britishness’, sometimes they have coexisted contentedly with it. At whatever level, the ‘British space’ is inherently a contested one.
What Is Patronage? A Critical Reexamination
Authors: Bearfield Domonic A.
Published: December 2008

Despite a long and storied history, patronage and the functions it plays in American politics and public administration are still very much a mystery. This paper examines how patronage has been used and understood in American political science and public administration. The author calls for a reexamination of the concept based on developments found in the field of anthropology. In an effort to generate future scholarship, the author introduces a typology of patronage styles based on this reexamination.
Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation Maintained by Nonpulmonary Vein Sources Can Be Predicted by Dominant Frequency Analysis of Atriopulmonary Electrograms
Authors: YOKOYAMA ERIKO , OSAKA TOSHIYUKI , TAKEMOTO YOSHIO , SUZUKI TOMOYUKI , ITO ATSUSHI , KAMIYA KAICHIRO , KODAMA ITSUO
Published: December 2008

Introduction: Increasing evidence suggests that high‐frequency excitation in the pulmonary vein (PV) plays a dominant role in the maintenance of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF). However, in a certain population of patients, AF remains inducible after PV isolation (PVI). We sought to clarify whether dominant frequency (DF) analysis of atriopulmonary electrograms can predict paroxysmal AF maintained by non‐PV sources.

Methods and Results: Sixty‐one patients with paroxysmal AF (aged 59 ± 12 years) were studied. Before PVI, bipolar electrograms during AF were recorded simultaneously from three PV ostia, the coronary sinus (CS), and the septum and free wall of the right atrium (RA). DF was obtained by fast Fourier transform (FFT) analysis. AF was rendered noninducible after PVI in 39 of the 61 patients (noninducible group), but was still inducible in the remaining 22 (inducible group). Among the six recording sites, the highest DF was documented in the PV in all of the patients in the noninducible group; the maximum DF among the three PVs (PV‐DFmax) was higher than that among the CS and two RA sites (atrial DFmax; 7.2 ± 1.0 Hz vs 5.8 ± 0.7 Hz, P < 0.0001). In contrast, the highest DF was documented in the CS or RA in 45.5% of the patients in the inducible group; PV‐DFmax was comparable with atrial DFmax (6.6 ± 0.8 Hz vs 6.6 ± 0.6 Hz). AF inducibility after PVI was predicted by a PV‐to‐atrial DFmax gradient of <0.5 Hz, with a sensitivity of 90.9% and a specificity of 89.7%.

Conclusion: Paroxysmal AF maintained by non‐PV sources can be predicted by the PV‐to‐atrial DF gradient.
A Novel Method for Sinus Node Modification and Phrenic Nerve Protection in Resistant Cases
Authors: RUBENSTEIN JASON C. , KIM MICHAEL H. , JACOBSON JASON T.
Published: December 2008

This is a case report of inappropriate sinus tachycardia in a patient who had a previous unsuccessful endocardial ablation, which had been limited due to concerns of phrenic nerve injury. The patient required a repeat ablation that utilized a novel combined epicardial and endocardial approach for sinus node modification and simultaneous protection of the phrenic nerve via an epicardial balloon.
Insights into Energy Delivery to Myocardial Tissue during Radiofrequency Ablation through Application of the First Law of Thermodynamics
Authors: BUNCH T. JARED , DAY JOHN D. , PACKER DOUGLAS L.
Published: December 2008

The approach to catheter‐based radiofrequency ablation of atrial fibrillation has evolved, and as a consequence, more energy is delivered in the posterior left atrium, exposing neighboring tissue to untoward thermal injury. Simultaneously, catheter technology has advanced to allow more efficient energy delivery into the myocardium, which compounds the likelihood of collateral injury. This review focuses on the basic principles of thermodynamics as they apply to energy delivery during radiofrequency ablation. These principles can be used to titrate energy delivery and plan ablative approaches in an effort to minimize complications during the procedure.
Being Explicit about Culture: Māori, Neoliberalism, and the New Zealand Parliament
Authors: GERSHON ILANA
Published: December 2008

ABSTRACT In this article, I explore how people use the culture concept in legislatures to understand the minorities they legislate for and about. I focus on recent debates in the New Zealand parliament over whether the indigenous Māori are a cultural group or a racial group. A Westminster parliament system encourages these debates, in which political parties argue that Māori are either cultural or racial but not both. For the ruling Labour Party and its allies, Māori are cultural; for their opposition, the National Party and its allies, Māori are a racial group. This division is possible only because of the legislators’ neoliberal assumptions about identity categories. To complicate these political divisions, Māori MPs currently belong to political parties from all parts of the political spectrum, and their effectiveness as culture bearers in a parliamentary context can disrupt the terms of this debate.
State Making, Knowledge, and Ignorance: Translation and Concealment in Mexican Forestry Institutions
Authors: MATHEWS ANDREW S.
Published: December 2008

ABSTRACT  Officials in the Mexican environmental protection agency, the Secretaria de Medio Ambiente, Recursos Naturales y de Pesca (SEMARNAP), deploy representations of agropastoral fires set by rural people to find urban allies, whereas officials and rural people in Oaxaca avoid mentioning fire and firewood cutting. Rigorous fire and firewood regulations are largely unenforced, producing official ignorance of burning and firewood cutting, partially because of the absence of fire and firewood forms within SEMARNAP and partially because of collusion and collaboration at the state level. This is compared with official knowledge of logging in indigenous forest communities in the state of Oaxaca to argue that official knowledge can be the product not of state‐imposed projects of legibility but, rather, of alliances and entanglements between the state and politically powerful interlocutors. Practices of silencing and concealment are not the result of inadequate Mexican forestry institutions but are inherent to the process of knowledge production.
Shared Social Fields: Evolutionary Convergence in Prehistory and Contemporary Practice
Authors: KOHL PHILIP L.
Published: December 2008

ABSTRACT  In this article, I distinguish between evolutionary and historical perspectives on the past, adopting the concept of “social fields” to argue for a macrohistorical interpretation of the archaeological record. The unit of analysis is not an archaeological culture or civilization but social groups inextricably involved with other groups in weblike interconnections in which technologies are diffused and modified by other groups caught up in these same processes. Such interconnections can best be traced archaeologically by examining the spread of technologies and subsistence practices. Other macrohistorical perspectives on the past, such as world systems analysis, often demand too much of the archaeological record and are used anachronistically. Prehistory documents the ever‐increasing participation of groups in social fields that ultimately converge. I conclude by emphasizing the need for a perspective on the past that emphasizes its shared nature in which all peoples have contributed and benefited from interactions with their neighbors.
Phase Evolution and Microwave Dielectric Properties of (1−x)ZnAl2O4−xMg2TiO4 Ceramics
Authors: Lei Wen , Lu Wen‐Zhong , Liu Dan , Zhu Jian‐Hua
Published: December 2008

(1−x)ZnAl2O4−xMg2TiO4 microwave dielectric ceramics were synthesized using the solid‐state reaction. The variation of the microstructures, phase compositions, and microwave dielectric properties of the (1−x)ZnAl2O4−xMg2TiO4 ceramics with the amount of Mg2TiO4 have been investigated. It can be observed from the XRD results that a single‐phase solid solution is formed in the (1−x)ZnAl2O4−xMg2TiO4 (x=0.1) ceramics, however, with the increase of x value, second‐phase MgTi2O5 and MgTiO3 appear in the (1−x)ZnAl2O4−xMg2TiO4 ceramics between the range of 0.21≤x≤0.8 and 0.9≤x≤1.0, respectively. As the amount of Mg2TiO4 increases, the ɛr value of the (1−x)ZnAl2O4−xMg2TiO4 ceramics increases almost linearly from 9.1 to 14.1, the Q×f value decreases initially, and then increases rapidly until it attains a maximum value of 256 810 GHz in the (1−x)ZnAl2O4−xMg2TiO4 (x=0.92) ceramics, while the τf value changes slightly and remains at −(65±5) ppm/°C. When the 6 mol% CaTiO3 and 5 mol% SrTiO3 were added to the (1−x)ZnAl2O4−xMg2TiO4 (x=0.21), respectively, their τf value was successfully controlled within the range of −10≤τf≤10 ppm/°C, while the Q×f value reduced considerably.
Evolution with Temperature of Crystalline and Amorphous Phases in Porcelain Stoneware
Authors: Martín‐Márquez Jorge , De la Torre Angeles G. , Aranda Miguel A. G. , Rincón Jesús Ma , Romero Maximina
Published: December 2008

Porcelain stoneware tile is a ceramic building material characterized by high technological properties, especially regarding water absorption, chemical and frost resistance, bending strength and abrasion resistance. Because mineralogy is one of the main factors affecting the mechanical properties of porcelain stoneware, a complete determination and quantification of the mineral and amorphous phases is of special importance in the study of porcelain stoneware tiles. In the present work, a reference industrial composition (50% kaolinitic clay, 40% feldspar, and 10% quartz) of porcelain stoneware tiles fired at different temperatures (400°–1400°C) was characterized by X‐ray powder diffraction combined with quantitative full‐phase analysis using the Rietveld method, including amorphous content. The green composition contained albite, microcline, and muscovite as fluxing agents, which start to decompose at low temperatures (400°–800°C range) and are completely dissolved above 1200°C. The mullite phase is formed from 1100° to 1230°C and at the latter temperature, quartz particles start to dissolve. Studies of mineralogical evolution have revealed that the high heating rate (45°–50°C/min) required in ceramic tile manufacture leads to significant differences in comparisons with whiteware ceramics fired at a lower heating rate (10°C/min). Thus, the formation of mullite in porcelain stoneware occurs at higher temperatures (1100°C) whereas the transformation of β‐quartz to β‐cristobalite does not take place. The experimental results of this study show that qualitative mineralogical analysis, based on the intensity of a particular diffraction peak for each crystalline phase, is a suitable methodology to obtain preliminary knowledge of mineralogical changes with temperature.
BiScO3 Doped (Na0.5K0.5)NbO3 Lead‐Free Piezoelectric Ceramics
Authors: Sun Xueyi , Chen Jun , Yu Ranbo , Sun Ce , Liu Guirong , Xing Xianran , Qiao Lijie
Published: December 2008

Lead‐free potassium sodium niobate‐based piezoelectric ceramics (1−x)(Na0.5K0.5)NbO3–xBiScO3 (KNN–BS) (x=0∼0.05) have been prepared by an ordinary sintering process. Single perovskite phase of KNN–BS exhibits an orthorhombic symmetry at x<0.015 and pseudocubic symmetry at x>0.02, separating by a MPB at 0.015≤x≤0.02. Piezoelectric and ferroelectric properties are significantly enhanced in the MPB, which are as follows: piezoelectric constant d33=203 pC/N, planar coupling coefficient kp=0.36, remnant polarization Pr=24.4 μC/cm2. These solid solution ceramics look promising as a potential lead‐free candidate materials.
Water Vapor Corrosion Behavior of Scandium Silicates at 1400°C
Authors: Hong Zhiliang , Cheng Laifei , Zhang Litong , Wang Yiguang
Published: December 2008

The corrosion behavior of scandium silicates with different scandia contents were investigated in an atmosphere of 50%H2O–50%O2 water vapor with a total pressure of 1 atm at 1400°C. The weight changes of scandium silicates as a function of annealing time were recorded to illustrate the corrosion behavior of these materials. The phases of as‐prepared and corroded materials were compared by using X‐ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The results indicate that the water vapor does not corrode the scandium disilicate. The weight gain during corrosion is attributed to the hydroxylation of free scandia.
Flexural Properties of PAN‐ and Pitch‐Based Carbon Fibers
Authors: Naito Kimiyoshi , Tanaka Yoshihisa , Yang Jenn‐Ming , Kagawa Yutaka
Published: December 2008

The flexural properties of ultrahigh tensile strength polyacrylonitrile‐based (T1000GB), ultrahigh modulus pitch‐based (K13D), and high ductility pitch‐based (XN‐05) carbon fibers have been investigated using a three‐point bending test at various span lengths ranging from 200 to 1500 μm. The flexural modulus and flexural strength of these carbon fibers were measured at room temperature. The fracture surfaces under bending were examined using a high‐resolution scanning electron microscope to identify the origin of the failure. Statistical distributions of the flexural strength (maximum flexural stress at 200 μm span length) were then characterized. The Weibull modulus for the T1000GB, K13D, and XN‐05 fibers were calculated to be 11.7, 11.8, and 11.7, which is higher than those obtained from the tensile test.
Deguelin inhibits retinal neovascularization by down‐regulation of HIF‐1α in oxygen‐induced retinopathy
Authors: Kim J. H. , Kim J. H. , Yu Y. S. , Shin J. Y. , Lee H.‐Y. , Kim K.‐W.
Published: December 2008

Retinal neovascularization is the most common cause of blindness; Retinopathy of pre‐maturity (ROP) for children and diabetic retinopa‐thy for young age group. ROP still remains as the most serious cause of vision loss in children. We provided that deguelin significantly reduces retinal neovascularization in a mouse model of ROP. Deguelin never affected the transcriptional activity of hypoxia inducible factor (HIF)‐1α, however, reduced HIF‐1α expression, which led to the decrease of vascular endothelial growth factor expression. Deguelin effectively suppressed endothelial cell proliferation without cytotoxic effect under therapeutic concentration range. In addition, deguelin demonstrated no reduction or retardation in normal retinal development and no retinal toxicity. These data suggest deguelin is a potent inhibitor of retinal neovascularization and may be applied in the treatment of other vasoproliferative retinopathies.
Effect of cyclic tensile load on the regulation of the expression of matrix metalloproteases (MMPs ‐1, ‐3) and structural components in synovial cells
Authors: Raïf El Mostafa
Published: December 2008

Synovial cells are reported to colonize synthetic ligament scaffolds following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction but the process leading to ligamentization is poorly understood. The present study investigated the effect of cyclic tensile strain on the expression of genes involved in matrix remodelling in bovine synovial cells seeded onto an artificial ligament scaffold. Synovial cells were seeded and cultured on polyester scaffolds for 3 weeks and subsequently subjected to cyclic tensile strain of 4.5% for 1 hr at frequency of 1 Hz. Changes in the levels of expression of genes for major ligament components (type I and type III collagen) and also metalloproteinases (MMP‐1 and MMP‐3), and TIMP‐1 were examined using RT‐PCR. Additionally, metalloproteinase activity was measured using both zymography and collagenase assays. The gene expression of MMP‐3 transcripts in the loaded group was almost 3‐fold that observed in control group but no differences were observed in other transcripts. Consistent with these findings, MMP‐3 activity increased by 85% under mechanical stimulus, and MMP‐1 activity showed no changes. Over expression of MMP‐3 under cyclic tensile load may mediate the proteolysis of certain substrates surrounding the ligament scaffold. This will play a critical role in facilitating cell migration, proliferation and tissue remodelling by breaking down the provisional tissue formed by the synovium, and by generating factors that induce angiogenesis and chemotactic cell migration.