bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Combining Antiangiogenics to Overcome Resistance: Rationale and Clinical Experience
Authors: Moreno Garcia Victor , Basu Bristi , Molife L. Rhoda , Kaye Stan B.
Published: May 2012

Antiangiogenic therapies are now well established in oncology clinical practice; however, despite initial optimism, the results of late-phase trials, especially in the adjuvant setting, have largely proved disappointing. In the context of metastatic disease, resistance to antiangiogenic agents arises through a range of mechanisms, including the development of alternative angiogenic pathways. One of the proposed strategies to overcome this resistance is to combine antiangiogenic agents with different mechanisms of action. Early-phase clinical trials assessing the tolerability and efficacy of different combinations of antiangiogenic drugs, including those that target the VEGF pathway or the angiopoietins, as well as vascular disrupting agents, are increasing in number. An example of this strategy is the combination of sorafenib and bevacizumab, which has elicited major responses in different tumor types, including ovarian carcinoma and glioblastoma. However, overlapping and cumulative toxicities pose a real challenge. This review summarizes the preclinical rationale for this approach and current clinical experience in combining antiangiogenic therapies. Clin Cancer Res; 18(14); 3750–61. ©2012 AACR.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration Approval: Ruxolitinib for the Treatment of Patients with Intermediate and High-Risk Myelofibrosis
Authors: Deisseroth Albert , Kaminskas Edvardas , Grillo Joseph , Chen Wei , Saber Haleh , Lu Hong L. , Rothmann Mark D. , Brar Satjit , Wang Jian , Garnett Christine , Bullock Julie , Burke Laurie B. , Rahman Atiqur , Sridhara Rajeshwari , Farrell Ann , Pazdur Richard
Published: April 2012

On November 16, 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted full approval to ruxolitinib, (Jakafi; Incyte Corp.), an inhibitor of the Janus kinases 1 and 2, for the treatment of patients with intermediate- or high-risk myelofibrosis, including primary myelofibrosis, postpolycythemia vera myelofibrosis, and postessential thrombocythemia myelofibrosis. This approval was based on the results of 2 large randomized phase III trials that enrolled patients with intermediate-2 or high-risk myelofibrosis and compared ruxolitinib with placebo (study 1) or best available therapy (study 2). The primary efficacy endpoint was the proportion of patients who experienced a reduction in spleen volume of ≥35% at 24 weeks (study 1) or 48 weeks (study 2). The key secondary endpoint in study 1 was the proportion of patients who experienced a ≥50% improvement from baseline in myelofibrosis total symptom score at 24 weeks. The results of these studies showed that a greater proportion of patients treated with ruxolitinib experienced a ≥35% reduction in spleen volume as compared with those treated with placebo (42% vs. 1%, P < 0.0001) or best available therapy (29% vs. 0%, P < 0.0001). A greater proportion of patients in study 1 experienced a ≥50% reduction in the myelofibrosis total symptom score during treatment with ruxolitinib than with placebo (46% vs. 5%, P < 0.0001). Ruxolitinib treatment was associated with an increased incidence of grades III and IV anemia, thrombocytopenia, and neutropenia. This is the first drug approved for myelofibrosis. Clin Cancer Res; 18(12); 3212–7. ©2012 AACR.
Clinical Significance of Increased Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factor Vav3 Expression in Human Gastric Cancer
Authors: Lin Kai-Yuan , Wang Lu-Hai , Hseu You-Cheng , Fang Chia-Lang , Yang Hsin-Ling , Kumar K.J. Senthil , Tai Chein , Uen Yih-Huei
Published: April 2012

Although gastric cancer is one of the most common malignancies worldwide, little is known on the molecular process of its development and progression. This study investigates the involvement of guanine nucleotide exchange factor Vav3 in tumor progression and in the prognosis of human gastric cancer. The two patient cohorts in this study consisted of 167 gastric cancer cases from 1997 through 2001, documenting pathologic and clinical factors, as well as the clinical outcomes. Immunohistochemistry, reverse transcription PCR, immunoblotting, and immunofluorescence were used to examine Vav3 expression in tumor and nontumor pairs of gastric tissues and gastric cell lines. Small hairpin RNA (shRNA) technology was used to study the effects of Vav3 knockdown on the growth and spread of gastric cancer cells. Finally, xenograph proliferation was used to study the tumor growth. Overexpression of Vav3 was associated with the depth of invasion (P = 0.0004), nodal status (P = 0.0260), distant metastasis (P = 0.0003), stage (P = 0.0002), and vascular invasion (P = 0.0286); and correlated with poor disease-free survival (P < 0.0001). Multivariate Cox regression analysis shows that overexpression of Vav3 is an independent prognostic marker for gastric cancer (P = 0.033). Disrupting the expression of Vav3 using shRNA technology inhibited gastric cancer cell growth, spread, and xenograph proliferation. This study suggests that overexpression of Vav3 can be a useful marker for predicting the outcome of patients with gastric cancer and that Vav3 targeting can represent a potential modality for treating gastric cancer. Mol Cancer Res; 10(6); 750–9. ©2012 AACR.
Sudden Cardiac Arrest and Death Following Application of Shocks From a TASER Electronic Control Device
Authors: Zipes Douglas P.
Published: May 2012

Background—

The safety of electronic control devices (ECDs) has been questioned. The goal of this study was to analyze in detail cases of loss of consciousness associated with ECD deployment.

Methods and Results—

Eight cases of TASER X26 ECD–induced loss of consciousness were studied. In each instance, when available, police, medical, and emergency response records, ECD dataport interrogation, automated external defibrillator information, ECG strips, depositions, and autopsy results were analyzed. First recorded rhythms were ventricular tachycardia/fibrillation in 6 cases and asystole (after ≈30 minutes of nonresponsiveness) in 1 case. An external defibrillator reported a shockable rhythm in 1 case, but no recording was made. This report offers evidence detailing the mechanism by which an ECD can produce transthoracic stimulation resulting in cardiac electrical capture and ventricular arrhythmias leading to cardiac arrest.

Conclusions—

ECD stimulation can cause cardiac electrical capture and provoke cardiac arrest resulting from ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation. After prolonged ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation without resuscitation, asystole develops.
Aldosterone Inhibits Antifibrotic Factors in Mouse Hypertensive Heart
Authors: Azibani Feriel , Benard Ludovic , Schlossarek Saskia , Merval Regine , Tournoux François , Fazal Loubina , Polidano Evelyne , Launay Jean-Marie , Carrier Lucie , Chatziantoniou Christos , Samuel Jane-Lise , Delcayre Claude
Published: May 2012

The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system is involved in the arterial hypertension-associated cardiovascular remodeling. In this context, the development of cardiac fibrosis results from an imbalance between profibrotic and antifibrotic pathways, in which the role of aldosterone is yet not established. To determine the role of intracardiac aldosterone in the development of myocardial fibrosis during hypertension, we used a double transgenic model (AS-Ren) of cardiac hyperaldosteronism (AS) and systemic hypertension (Ren). The 9-month–old hypertensive mice had cardiac fibrosis, and hyperaldosteronism enhanced the fibrotic level. The mRNA levels of connective tissue growth factor and transforming growth factor-β1 were similarly increased in Ren and AS-Ren mice compared with wild-type and AS mice, respectively. Hyperaldosteronism combined with hypertension favored the macrophage infiltration (CD68
+
cells) in heart, and enhanced the mRNA level of monocyte chemoattractant protein 1, osteopontin, and galectin 3. Interestingly, in AS-Ren mice the hypertension-induced increase in bone morphogenetic protein 4 mRNA and protein levels was significantly inhibited, and B-type natriuretic peptide expression was blunted. The mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist eplerenone restored B-type natriuretic peptide and bone morphogenetic protein 4 levels and decreased CD68 and galectin 3 levels in AS-Ren mice. Finally, when hypertension was induced by angiotensin II infusion in wild-type and AS mice, the mRNA profiles did not differ from those observed in Ren and AS-Ren mice, respectively. The aldosterone-induced inhibition of B-type natriuretic peptide and bone morphogenetic protein 4 expression was confirmed in vitro in neonatal mouse cardiomyocytes. Altogether, we demonstrate that, at the cardiac level, hyperaldosteronism worsens hypertension-induced fibrosis through 2 mineralocorticoid receptor-dependent mechanisms, activation of inflammation/galectin 3–induced fibrosis and inhibition of antifibrotic factors (B-type natriuretic peptide and bone morphogenetic protein 4).
Conceptualizing the Right of Children to Adaptable Education
Authors: Almog Shulamit , Perry-Hazan Lotem
Published: May 2012

The contention put forward here is that a conceptualization of the right to adaptable education, derived from international human rights law, may be a key factor in interpreting and reviving the notion of multiculturalism in education. We will begin by analyzing two interrelated dimensions of the right to adaptable education: adaptability to the children’s circles of cultural affiliations and adaptability to the children’s preferences. We will continue by describing the need to balance between the right to adaptable education and other features of the right to education - available education, accessible education and acceptable education - as well as with parental rights and social interests. We will conclude by suggesting that the right to adaptable education, as it is defined by international human rights law, can be employed both as a safeguard against denying children educational rights by using the pretext of multiculturalism and as a means for furnishing the notion of multiculturalism with honed, multilayered relevance.
Doxastic Voluntarism: A Sceptical Defence
Authors: Frederick Danny
Published: May 2012

Doxastic voluntarism maintains that we have voluntary control over our beliefs. It is generally denied by contemporary philosophers. I argue that doxastic voluntarism is true: normally, and insofar as we are rational, we are able to suspend belief and, provided we have a natural inclination to believe, we are able to rescind that suspension, and thus to choose to believe. I show that the arguments that have been offered against doxastic voluntarism fail; and that, if the denial of doxastic voluntarism is part of a strategy to defeat scepticism, it is inept, because knowledge presupposes doubt.
Skepticism and the Liberal/Conservative Conceptions of Perceptual Justification
Authors: Vahid Hamid
Published: May 2012

Although it is widely recognized that perceptual experience confers justification on the beliefs it gives rise to, it is unclear how its epistemic value should be properly characterized. Liberals hold, and conservatives deny, that the justification conditions of perceptual beliefs merely involve experiences with the same content. The recent debate on this question has, however, seen further fragmentations of the positions involved with the disputants seeking to identify intermediate positions between liberalism and conservatism. In this paper, I suggest a framework to account for the differences and similarities of the positions within the liberalism/conservatism debate. More importantly, I suggest that, instead of focusing on one particular species of conservatism, we should recognize varieties of conservatism. My conclusion is that no theory of justification need be conservative or liberal tout court. Whether a theory of justification is liberal or conservative depends on which dimension of evaluation is taken to be salient. The implications of this finding for the liberalism/conservatism debate are then investigated.
The Saint and Siren
Authors: O’Neil Deborah , Rey Terry
Published: April 2012

For at least 125 years, the cult of St Philomena has enjoyed tremendous popularity in and around the northern Haitian seaside village of Bord de Mer de Limonade, just ten kilometers east of Cape Haitian, the country’s second largest city. Though periodically suppressed by the Catholic Church hierarchy because of freewheeling syncretism between the saint and the maritime Vodou spirit Lasyrenn (The Siren), devotion to St Philomena thrives in Bord de Mer, whose shrine attracts hundreds of pilgrims each week and thousands during her early September feast day celebrations. This paper explores the history and present of devotion to St Philomena and Lasyrenn in Bord de Mer, arguing that the association of the two spiritual beings amounts to a popular liberation hagiography that flouts ecclesial and state authority while anchoring and asserting local Haitian identity and feminine power.

Depuis au moins 125 ans, le culte de sainte Philomène a connu une énorme popularité autour du village côtière du nord d’Haïti de Bord de Mer de Limonade, une dizaine de kilomètres à l’est du Cap-Haïtien, deuxième ville du pays. Bien que périodiquement réprimée par la hiérarchie catholique à cause du syncrétisme licencieux entre le saint et l’esprit maritime vodouisant Lasyrenn (La Sirène), la dévotion à sainte Philomène prospère dans le village, où son sanctuaire attire des centaines de pèlerins chaque semaine et des milliers au cours du jour de sa fête chaque 5 septembre. Cet article explore l’histoire et le présent de la dévotion à sainte Philomène et Lasyrenn à Bord de Mer, postulant que l’association entre ces deux êtres spirituels donne lieu à une hagiographie populaire de libération qui bafoue l’autorité ecclésiale et de l’État tout en retenant et en affirmant l’identité locale haïtienne et une sorte de pouvoir féminin.
Nonconvergence/Improper Solution Problems With the Correlated-Trait Correlated-Method Parameterization of a Multitrait–Multimethod Matrix
Authors: Dumenci Levent , Yates Phillip D.
Published: May 2012

Estimation problems associated with the correlated-trait correlated-method (CTCM) parameterization of a multitrait–multimethod (MTMM) matrix are widely documented: the model often fails to converge; even when convergence is achieved, one or more of the parameter estimates are outside the admissible parameter space. In this study, the authors explore the potential contributions of two factors to the occurrence of nonconvergence and inadmissible solutions: (a) the minimum number of indicators per factor and (b) the deviation of the MTMM matrix from the CTCM model beyond sampling variability. Analyses of two published occupational preference data sets involving six traits and five methods and a simulation study show that the probability of obtaining problematic solutions diminishes as the minimum number of indicators per factor increases. Also, isolating factors contributing to model misfit beyond sampling variability reduces the probability of obtaining problematic solutions by one half. The implications of these findings for choosing a measurement design that improves the probability of achieving a proper solution in the analysis of an MTMM matrix using the CTCM parameterization are discussed.
The Bibliometrics of Vocabulary Acquisition: An Exploratory Study
Authors: Meara Paul
Published: May 2012

This paper presents a bibliometric analysis of the research literature on L2 vocabulary acquisition published in 2006. The paper uses a methodology known as Inclusive Author Co-citation. The method uses the pattern of citations appearing in a body of research papers to generate a map of an area of research. These maps reveal ‘hidden colleges’ within a subject field.

The analysis presented here is based on citation data for 101 authors who are significantly cited in the 2006 literature. The analysis identifies four research clusters in the data. The two principle clusters – accounting for 96% of the data – are a psycholinguistic cluster dominated by de Groot, Kroll and David Green, and a mainstream vocabulary cluster dominated by Nation and Laufer. The two clusters are largely self-contained, with very dense patterns of connections between the members of the individual clusters. The analysis identifies only a small number of links between these two clusters. The network dissolves into 30 smaller clusters if the main players are removed from the analysis.

The analysis broadly supports intuitive analyses of the L2 vocabulary acquisition literature, but provides some new objective data which supports these intuitions. The paper also suggests that co-citation analysis of this sort might provide a way of mapping changes in the discipline over time.
Second Language Vocabulary Growth
Authors: Webb Stuart Alexander , Chang Anna Ching-Shyang
Published: May 2012

The vocabulary knowledge of 166 English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners in Taiwan was measured annually over a five year period using a bilingual version of the Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT) ( Nation, 1983 , 1990 ; Schmitt, Schmitt, and Clapham, 2001 ). The five years of data collection involved English language instruction in high school and university. Test scores were examined according to the amount of English language instruction the participants received. The results indicated that one group of participants learned as few as 18 words in one year, while another group learned as many as 430 words. The findings also revealed that in the final year of the study only 47% of the participants had mastered the 1,000 word level, and 16% had mastered the 2,000 word level. The results suggest that vocabulary learning within the institution could be greatly improved. Key features of a vocabulary learning plan within institutions are outlined.
Narco-Propaganda in the Mexican “Drug War”
Authors: Campbell Howard
Published: May 2012

Organized crime and drug-related violence are major threats to the Mexican state and civil society. An anthropological study of the narco-propaganda (orchestrated acts of violence, videos, graffiti, signs and banners, blogs, narcocorridos, and control of the mass media) wielded by Mexican drug “cartels” suggests that, rather than just a form of criminal behavior, it is the quasi-ideological expression of criminal organizations that, along with their police, military, and politician allies, control vast territories and have taken on many functions of the state. These organizations should therefore be treated analytically as political entities and their narco-propaganda as a powerful new form of political discourse.

El crimen organizado y la violencia causada por el tráfico de drogas constituyen grandes amenazas para la sociedad civil y el estado Mexicano. Un estudio antropológico de la narco-propaganda—que incluye actos de violencia premeditados con el fin de comunicar un mensaje particular, videos, grafiti, carteles y mantas, blogs, narcocorridos, y control de ciertos medios de comunicación—producida por los carteles Mexicanos sugiere que más allá de constituir una forma de comportamiento criminal, ellos son una expresión cuasi-ideológica de las organizaciones criminales que, junto a sus aliados dentro de la policía, el ejército y el gobierno, controlan vastos territorios tomando para sí muchas de las funciones tradicionalmente asociadas con el estado. Por lo tanto estas organizaciones delictivas deberían de ser tratadas analíticamente como entidades políticas y su narco-propaganda como una nueva y poderosa forma de discurso político.
The Effect of US Troop Deployment on Host States’ Foreign Policy
Authors: Machain Carla Martinez , Morgan T. Clifton
Published: May 2012

Major powers often deploy troops abroad with the consent of host states. The stated aim of these deployments is often both to protect the host state and to foster stability in the region. Drawing from an extension of Palmer and Morgan’s two-good theory of foreign policy, the authors explore some of the (perhaps unintended) effects of troop deployments abroad on the foreign policies of the host states. In particular, the authors focus on the effects of US deployments. The authors argue that as the number of US troops deployed to a host state increases, we should expect the host state to reduce its own troop levels, be more likely to initiate militarized interstate disputes, and be less likely to be the target of interstate disputes. The authors test these hypotheses using data on US troop deployments abroad from 1950 to 2005 and discuss implications that their findings may have for US foreign policy.
Diabetes Buddies
Authors: Rotheram-Borus Mary Jane , Tomlinson Mark , Gwegwe Margaret , Comulada W. Scott , Kaufman Neal , Keim Marion
Published: May 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to test the feasibility and acceptability of a mobile phone–based peer support intervention among women in resource-poor settings to self-manage their diabetes. Secondary goals were to evaluate the intervention’s effectiveness to motivate diabetes-related health choices.

Methods

Women with diabetes (n = 22) in Cape Town, South Africa, participated in a 12-week program focused on providing and applying knowledge of health routines to manage diabetes. Women were linked with a buddy via a mobile phone for support and were questioned daily about a health behavior via text message. Women were assessed at recruitment and then 3 and 6 months later by a trained interviewer using a mobile phone for data collection. The women were evaluated on technology uptake, reduction of body mass index, blood glucose levels, and increases in positive coping and general health-seeking behaviors.

Results

Women exchanged 16 739 text messages to buddies and received 3144 texts from the project. Women responded to 29% of texted questions (n = 1321/14 582). Women attended at least 9 of 12 possible intervention sessions; a third attended all 12 sessions (n = 8/22). Between baseline and 3 months, women increased their sleep and reported a higher level of positive action and social support coping, yet blood glucose increased by 3.3 points. From 3 to 6 months, spiritual hope decreased and diastolic blood pressure increased. One year later, the 22 women continue to attend meetings.

Conclusions

Mobile phones are an easy and reliable way to provide peer support and disseminate health messages. Both positive and negative changes were observed in this pilot study.
Prevention Education Effects on Fundamental Memory Processes
Authors: Ames Susan L. , Krank Marvin , Grenard Jerry L. , Sussman Steve , Stacy Alan W.
Published: April 2012

This study evaluated effects of a key session from a nationally recognized drug abuse prevention program on basic memory processes in 211 high-risk youth in Southern California. In a randomized, between-subject design, the authors manipulated assignment to a Myth and Denial program session and the time of assessment (immediate vs. 1-week delay). The authors examined program decay effects on memory accessibility and judgment errors. Those participants exposed to the program session generated more myths and facts from the program than those in the control group, suggesting that even a single program session influenced students’ memory for program information and this was retained at least 1 week and detectable with indirect tests of memory accessibility. However, consistent with basic research perspectives, participants in the program-delayed assessment group erroneously generated more fact-related information from the session to the prompt “It is a myth that_____” than the participants in the program immediate assessment group; that is, they retained more facts as myths. These types of program effects, anticipated by basic memory theory, were not detected with a traditional judgment task in the present sample. The results suggest that basic science approaches offer a novel way of conceptually recasting prevention effects to more completely understand how these effects may operate. Implications for program evaluation and conceptualization are discussed.
Trends in political television fiction in the UK: Themes, characters and narratives, 1965–2009
Authors: van Zoonen Liesbet , Wring Dominic
Published: May 2012

British television has a long tradition of broadcasting ‘political fiction’ if this is understood as telling stories about politicians in the form of drama, thrillers and comedies. We identify and discuss three genres in which UK political TV fiction has been shaped throughout the decades: comedy, thriller and drama. We examine the characters, themes and narratives in these genres and assess whether they invite political engagement from their audiences. Across time and genre, the main characters turn out to be mostly plain men of uncertain age – around 40 or over – somewhat grumpy, somewhat clumsy and hardly ever in full control of their situation. The dominant themes across time and genre link closely to these types of main characters: in most thrillers they are overwhelmed by sinister outside forces or inside political machinations. The narrative of the political machinery that exerts its inescapable corruption over all individual politicians runs strongly through the three genres across the whole time period. A further similarity across time and genre is that most series are firmly linked to real-life politics. It is this particular aspect that produces their potential relevance for affecting people’s political understandings, judgements and engagement.
Attitudes of international music students from East Asia toward US higher education institutions
Authors: Choi Jin Ho
Published: April 2012

Nine National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) accredited universities in the United States (US) with the greatest populations of international students were surveyed to identify the status of East Asian international students’ attitudes toward their schools. Among East Asian international music students at US higher education institutions, the results indicated that the professor’s reputation, scholarships, and the program’s reputation were perceived as the most influential factors impacting the program choice; a good relationship with professors, good feedback from professors, and emotional stability were perceived as the most influential factors impacting academic success; and the professor’s teaching, the professor’s expertise, and the improvement of musical skills were perceived as the most influential factors impacting students’ satisfaction levels. The most problematic issues reported were the language barrier and the cultural differences between their host and home countries. In addition, many of the East Asian international music students in this study noted financial difficulties. Recommendation and conclusion are provided for US institutions and East Asian international students.
Time estimation: Musical training and emotional content of stimuli
Authors: Panagiotidi Maria , Samartzi Stavroula
Published: April 2012

In this study we investigated the effect of musical training and emotional content of stimuli on time estimation. Eighty students aged 12 to 15 years were equally divided into two main groups (musicians, non-musicians) based on whether they had formal music education or not. The participants took part in a music listening task and were asked to estimate the duration of a happy or a sad song. The results showed that: musical training affects temporal perception by allowing individuals to make more accurate estimations of time durations; the emotional content of the song affects time estimation, especially in the case of non-musicians; non-musicians overestimate the duration of sad songs while they underestimate the duration in the case of happy songs. These results emphasize the close relationship between time estimation, musical training, and emotion.
Bringing the Worker Back in
Authors: Cook Maria Lorena
Published: May 2012

This collection of “new studies of work” from Mexico represents one of several directions in research on labor and work in Latin America in recent years. Although firm-level, national, and transnational studies remain important, this research stream centers on individual workers, their web of relationships, and the reconfiguration of spaces of work, identities, and processes.
Attitudes of Older Adults Regarding Disclosure of Complementary Therapy Use to Physicians
Authors: Arcury Thomas A. , Bell Ronny A. , Altizer Kathryn P. , Grzywacz Joseph G. , Sandberg Joanne C. , Quandt Sara A.
Published: April 2012

Many older adults use complementary therapies in health self-management but do not disclose this use to their physicians. This article examines factors affecting disclosure of complementary therapy use and considers ethnic and gender differences in disclosure. It is based on a systematic qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews conducted with 62 African American and White adults aged 65 and older. Twenty-three of the 39 older adults who acknowledge using complementary therapies disclose this to their physicians. Themes leading to disclosure are believing that physicians are supportive and the importance of sharing information. Themes for not disclosing complementary therapy use include physicians’ negative views, complementary therapy use affecting physicians’ incomes, and the need to protect cultural knowledge. African American women were least likely to disclose use. Disclosure by older adults to their physicians is a complex decision process. Medical encounters, including decisions regarding information to disclose, are embedded in broader social structures.
The Discourse of Parent Involvement in Special Education
Authors: Lai Yuan , Vadeboncoeur Jennifer A.
Published: May 2012

Parent involvement is acknowledged as a crucial aspect of the education of students with special needs. However, the discourse of parent involvement represents parent involvement in limited ways, thereby controlling how and the extent to which parents can be involved in the education of their children. In this article, critical discourse analysis (CDA) was used to examine the discourse of parent involvement in excerpts from policy documents and interviews from a larger study on immigrant Chinese Canadian mothers’ involvement in the education of their children with disabilities. Contrasting policy documents and interviews, the discourse of parent involvement positioned mothers as over- or underinvolved, subordinate, and inexpert.
Theory and application of multi-mode vibration control systems
Authors: Ma Rujian , Luo Xiaobing
Published: April 2012

The theoretical analysis of vibration control of multiple-degree-of-freedom structures with multi-mode vibration control systems is presented in this article. A new method of parameter optimization of the multiple-tuned mass damper system was proposed in order to obtain the best control effect, where the minimum of the dynamic magnification factor is used as the optimal objective. The numerical examples of parameter optimization indicate that optimal parameters can be obtained for the multiple-degree-of-freedom system to get satisfactory control effects. The application of the theory is used for the vibration control simulation of an offshore platform. The results indicate that reasonable control effects can be obtained by controlling the first mode and the control effects increase about 10% in average when the first two modes are controlled simultaneously.
Effects of engine operating parameters on diesel low-temperature combustion with split fuel injection
Authors: Sarangi Asish K , Garner Colin P , McTaggart-Cowan Gordon P , Davy Martin H , Wahab Emad , Peckham Mark S
Published: April 2012

This paper shows that a split-fuel-injection strategy can achieve robust, near-zero smoke and nitrogen oxide emissions at reduced exhaust gas recirculation levels under low-temperature combustion conditions. The overall objective of the work was to investigate the sensitivity (in terms of the engine emissions and the fuel economy) of a 50:50 (by mass) split-injection strategy to variations in the key engine operating parameters. Experiments were performed at operating conditions corresponding to a gross indicated mean effective pressure of 500 kPa at an engine speed of 1500 r/min in a 0.51 l single-cylinder high-speed direct-injection diesel engine. The paper presents the effects of different relative fuel injection timings at a variable intake oxygen mass fraction (10.5% and 12%) at a constant intake pressure (120 kPa, absolute) on the smoke, total hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions with the split-main-injection strategy. The effects of a variable fuel injection pressure (90 MPa and 110 MPa) on diesel low-temperature combustion with split injection are also reported, as are the effect of an increased intake pressure (150 kPa, absolute). The combined effects of the operating parameters and the fuel injection timing on the smoke, nitrogen oxide, total hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions and the gross indicated specific fuel consumption are described. For selected operating conditions, the cycle-resolved spray and combustion processes are visualized together with the flame temperature measurement using two-colour optical pyrometry to understand the combustion phenomena occurring in the split-injection strategy. The results of the optical studies show that different low-temperature combustion operating conditions producing similarly low levels of ‘engine-out’ smoke emissions have substantially different histories of soot formation and soot oxidation. An increase in the intake oxygen mass fraction reduced the total hydrocarbon emissions and the gross indicated specific fuel consumption at a given intake pressure, while a higher intake pressure reduced them further. Although significant soot formation took place from the second injection event, the majority of the soot was subsequently oxidized because of a slightly higher flame temperature and slightly higher oxygen concentration than in single-injection high-exhaust-gas-recirculation low-temperature combustion. A higher injection pressure did not have any significant effect on the emissions and the gross indicated specific fuel consumption.
Hunting stability analysis of a railway vehicle system using a novel non-linear creep model
Authors: Cheng Yung-Chang
Published: April 2012

A non-linear creep model that considers non-constant creep coefficients that vary as a function of vehicle speed is derived using Hertz contact theory, Kalker’s linear theory and a heuristic non-linear creep model. The proposed model is created by modifying the heuristic non-linear creep model by adding a linear creep moment and the semi-axis lengths in the non-linearity of the saturation constant. In this paper, the vehicle is modeled by a system with 28 degrees of freedom, taking into consideration the lateral displacement, vertical displacement, roll angle and yaw angle of each wheelset, the truck frames and car body. To analyze the respective effects of the major system parameters on the vehicle dynamics, the 28 degree-of-freedom (DOF) system is reduced to a 25-DOF model, by excluding designated subsets of the system parameters. The accuracy of the present analysis is verified by comparing a six-DOF system and the current numerical results with results in the literature. The effects of suspension parameters of a vehicle on the critical hunting speeds evaluated by the currently proposed model, the traditional non-linear creep model and the linear creep model are illustrated. In most cases, the obtained results show that the critical hunting speed evaluated using the new non-linear creep model is greater than that derived using the traditional non-linear creep model. Additionally, the critical hunting speed evaluated using the linear creep model is higher than that evaluated using the currently proposed non-linear creep model.
Insect and arachnid colonization on the Storbreen glacier foreland, Jotunheimen, Norway: Persistence of taxa suggests an alternative model of succession
Authors: Vater Amber E
Published: April 2012

This article investigates colonization patterns of invertebrates on recently deglaciated terrain (Storbreen, Jotunheimen, Norway) and their implications for primary succession theory. Taxa were collected using 243 pitfall traps across a 250 yr chronosequence of six age zones. Distribution and abundance were analysed, communities were mapped, classified using TWINSPAN (Two-Way INdicator SPecies ANalysis), and ordinated using NMS (Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling). Thirty-one of the 72 recorded taxa colonised terrain deglaciated within 20 years, some carnivorous taxa and vagrants preceding the establishment of vegetation. Most taxa persisted during succession with little or no evidence of replacement change for the first 150 years. Taxa continued to accumulate throughout the succession but most reached maximum abundance after 62–152 years. The change in dynamics after 152 years is attributed to increased competition between invertebrate taxa rather than a response to vegetation succession. Insect communities on the glacier foreland are interpreted as a continuum of variability: six weak communities identified within 20 years of deglaciation develop within 150 years into two loose communities of persistent taxa. The colonization process can be appropriately described as an ‘addition’ rather than ‘succession’, while persistence of taxa rather than replacement change provides the basis of an alternative model of insect succession.
‘It was my thought … he made it a reality’: Normalization and responsibility in athletes’ accounts of performance-enhancing drug use
Authors: Pappa Evdokia , Kennedy Eileen
Published: May 2012

Despite the widespread interest in athletes’ use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) in track and field, the voices of the athletes who use banned substances have seldom been heard. Interviews with competitive athletes were conducted to explore their relationship to doping. Two themes emerged from the interviews. Firstly, the athletes presented doping as a normalized part of competitive sport, inevitably involving the participation of coaching staff. Secondly, and in contrast to the first theme, athletes maintained that they alone were responsible for the decision to use PEDs. The study supports the ‘networked athlete’ explanation of PED use, while highlighting the individualist explanation of doping offered by the athletes themselves. Foucault’s concept of governmentality is used to explain this contradiction, by suggesting that athletes’ internalization of responsibility for doping is part of the art of governing competitive sport.
Introduction to the mechanics and design of undamageable materials
Authors: Voyiadjis George Z , Kattan Peter I
Published: April 2012

In this work proposed damage variables that are examined in the framework of continuum damage mechanics are used to illustrate the new concept of an undamageable material. This type of material is derived theoretically in this work with exact nonlinear stress–strain relationships. Such a material may undergo deformation with zero damage, i.e. maintain a zero value for the damage variable in the context of continuum damage mechanics. The theoretical formulation is presented in the hope that in the future, the manufacturing of such a material may be realized. The proposed undamageable material is a type of hyperelastic material similar to the Mooney–Rivlin material. It is hoped that this work will open the way for new areas of research in materials science.
Policy Instruments for Sustainable Development at Rio +20
Authors: Damon Maria , Sterner Thomas
Published: May 2012

Twenty years ago, governments gathered for the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro. The “Rio Declaration” laid out several principles of sustainable development, including the central role of policy instruments. In this article, we take stock of where we stand today in implementing sound and effective environmental policy instruments throughout the world, particularly in developing and transitional economies. We argue that, as our experience with market-based environmental policies has deepened over the past two decades, so has the ability to adapt instruments to complicated and heterogeneous contexts—but we are only just beginning, and the need to be further along is dire. One key factor may be that economists have not yet meaningfully accounted for the importance of political feasibility, which often hinges on risks to competitiveness and employment, or on the distribution of costs rather than on considerations of pure efficiency alone.
Measuring and Improving the Performance of Health Service Networks
Authors: Hammerschmidt Maik , Falk Tomas , Staat Matthias
Published: April 2012

Health maintenance organizations (HMOs) have intensified their efforts to establish network-like structures with service partners who are responsible for different functions along the health value chain. To calculate the potential value and cost benefits of service production within health care networks and to improve performance in such networks, the authors propose a two-step benchmarking approach. While the first step is concerned with measuring and comparing service provider performance, the second step relates to a contact program that disseminates the lessons learned during the benchmarking process. Across two empirical studies with general practitioners and specialty physicians, the authors identify in a first step tremendous overspendings and provide suggestions on cost reductions that could be achieved without threatening output levels. With regard to the second step, the authors find that detailing efforts based on the results of performance measurement helped physicians to improve their performance. Through detailing, the hub was able to inform network partners about the benchmarking results and to reveal performance gaps in their current resource utilization patterns. In addition, the authors show that managers of HMOs should seek out physicians with smaller practices and high-referral (i.e., risk-averse) physicians as targets for detailing, who are especially responsive to these initiatives.
Securitizing images: The female body and the war in Afghanistan
Authors: Heck Axel , Schlag Gabi
Published: April 2012

Referring to the recent ‘visual turn’ in Critical Security Studies, the aim of this article is threefold. First, by taking the concept of visual securitization one step further, we intend to theorize the image as an iconic act understood as an act of showing and seeing. This turn to the performativity of the visual directs our attention to the securitizing power of images. Second, this article addresses the methodological challenges of analysing images and introduces an iconological approach. Iconology enables the systematic interpretation of images as images by also taking their social embeddedness into account. In the third part of this article we apply this theoretical and methodological framework to analyse a cover of the TIME magazine published in summer 2010. The cover shows a young Afghan woman whose ears and nose were cut off accompanied by the headline: ‘What happens if we leave Afghanistan’. This cover image not only provoked a heated debate in the USA about the (ab)use of images in order to legitimize the continuity of the war in Afghanistan, but shows how gender and the body are visually securitized.
‘Cancer doesn’t have an age’: Genetic testing and cancer risk management in BRCA1/2 mutation-positive women aged 18–24
Authors: Werner-Lin Allison , Hoskins Lindsey M. , Doyle Maya H. , Greene Mark H.
Published: May 2012

Increasingly, 18–24-year-old women from hereditary breast/ovarian cancer (HBOC) families are pursuing genetic testing, despite their low absolute risks of breast and ovarian cancer and the fact that evidence-based management options used with older high-risk women are not generally available. Difficult clinical decisions in older carriers take on substantially more complexity and value-laden import in very young carriers. As a result, many of the latter receive highly personal and emotionally charged cancer risk information in a life context where management strategies are not well defined. We analyzed 32 in-depth interviews with BRCA1/2 mutation-positive women aged 18–24 using techniques of grounded theory and interpretive description. Participants described feeling vulnerable to a cancer diagnosis but in a quandary regarding their care because evidence-based approaches to management have not been developed and clinical trials have not been undertaken. Our participants demonstrated a wide range of genetic and health literacy. Inconsistent recommendations, surveillance fatigue, and the unpredictability of their having health insurance coverage for surgical risk-reducing procedures led several to contemplate risk-reducing mastectomy before age 25. Parents remained a primary source of emotional and financial support, slowing age-appropriate independence and complicating patient privacy. Our findings suggest that, for 18–24-year-olds, readiness to autonomously elect genetic testing, to fully understand and act on genetic information, and to confidently make decisions with life-long implications are all evolving processes. We comment on the tensions between informed consent, privacy, and the unique developmental needs of BRCA1/2 mutation-positive women just emerging into their adult years.
Connoisseurship and Its Potential in Matters of Copyright
Authors: Kee Joan
Published: May 2012

Among the most persistent and difficult problems in the field of copyright law is determining whether copying has actually occurred. This article responds to this challenge by proposing that judges and juries consider practices used in disciplines revolving around the close and methodical viewing of visual objects. Of special interest is connoisseurship, long employed by art historians, curators, and collectors to adjudicate the origins, provenance, and authenticity of art. Mindful of law’s emphasis on the spoken and written word, this article focuses especially on the visual analyses of Otto Pächt and Hans Sedlmayr, two art historians whose foundational status in the discipline of art history stems from the extent to which they attempted to systematically translate the experience of looking into words. The article concludes with a brief test case drawn from the high-profile 2005 dispute between architects Thomas Shine and David Childs over the latter’s alleged infringement of the former’s design.
Dynamic modelling and response analysis of closed high-speed press system
Authors: Zheng Enlai , Jia Fang , Zhang Zhisheng , Shi Jinfei
Published: April 2012

It is necessary to establish a dynamic model to predict and evaluate the dynamic performance of closed high-speed press system during design procedure, when it is impossible to carry out the test of prototype. In this work, a dynamic model for the closed high-speed press system is developed to predict and evaluate its dynamic performance. Unlike in previous models where the press frame is considered to be a single mass and the effects of the transmission mechanism and complex frame structure are neglected, the present model can be used to analyze the dynamic response of a multi-body vibration-impact system treating it as a coupled one. The simulation results reveal that the dynamic responses of press under piling condition include a transient impact and a free vibration process. The vibration acceleration and velocity curves of the upper beam of the closed high-speed press decrease with the increasing speed of rotation. In contrast, vibration acceleration and velocity curves of the lower beam of the press increase with the increasing rotation speed. The experimental results demonstrate that the dynamic model proposed herein is consistent with the actual working state of the closed high-speed press and the validity of the dynamic model is verified.