bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Comparison of Two Mice Strains, A/J and C57BL/6, in Caspase-1 Activity and IL-1βSecretion of Macrophage toMycobacterium lepraeInfection
Authors: Kang Tae Jin , Lee Geum Seon , Kim Se Kon , Jin Song Hou , Chae Gue Tae
Published: July 2010

A/J mice were found to have amino acid differences in Naip5, one of the NOD-like receptors (NLRs) involved in the cytosolic recognition of pathogen-associated molecular patterns and one of the adaptor proteins for caspase-1 activation. This defect was associated with a susceptibility toLegionellainfection, suggesting an important role for Naip5 in the immune response also to other intracellular pathogens, such asMycobacterium leprae. In this study, the immune responses of macrophages from A/J mice againstM. lepraewere compared to those of macrophages from C57BL/6 mice. Infection withM. lepraeinduced high levels of TNF-αproduction and NF-κB activation in A/J and C57BL/6 macrophages. Caspase-1 activation and IL-1βsecretion were also induced in both macrophages. However, macrophages from A/J mice exhibited reduced caspase-1 activation and IL-1βsecretion compared to C57BL/6 macrophages. These results suggest that NLR family proteins may have a role in the innate immune response toM. leprae.
On the Polyconvolution with the Weight Function for the Fourier Cosine, Fourier Sine, and the Kontorovich‐Lebedev Integral Transforms
Authors: Xuan Thao Nguyen
Published: July 2010

The polyconvolution with the weight function γ
of three functions f, g, and h for the
integral transforms Fourier sine (Fs), Fourier cosine (Fc), and Kontorovich‐Lebedev (Kiy),
which is denoted by (x), has been constructed. This polyconvolution satisfies the following factorization property , for all
y > 0. The relation of this polyconvolution to the Fourier convolution and the Fourier cosine convolution has been obtained. Also, the relations between the polyconvolution product and others convolution product have been established. In application, we consider a class of integral equations with Toeplitz plus Hankel kernel whose solution in closed form can be obtained with the help of the new polyconvolution. An application on solving systems of integral equations is also
obtained.
Occlusion and Temporomandibular Function among Subjects with Mandibular Distal Extension Removable Partial Dentures
Authors: Creugers N. H. J. , Witter D. J. , Van 't Spijker A. , Gerritsen A. E. , Kreulen C. M.
Published: July 2010

Objective. To quantify effects on occlusion and temporomandibular function of mandibular distal extension removable partial dentures in shortened dental arches.Methods. Subjects wearing mandibular extension removable partial dentures (n=25) were compared with subjects with shortened dental arches without extension (n=74) and with subjects who had worn a mandibular extension removable partial denture in the past (n=19). Subjects with complete dentitions (n=72) were controls. Data were collected at baseline and at 3-, 6-, and 9-year observations.Results. Occlusal activity in terms of reported awareness of bruxism and occlusal tooth wear of lower anterior teeth did not differ significantly between the groups. In contrast, occlusal tooth wear of premolars in shortened dental arches with or without extension dentures was significantly higher than in the controls. Differences amongst groups with respect to signs and symptoms related to temporomandibular disorders were not found. Occlusal support of the dentures did not influence anterior spatial relationship. Occlusal contacts of the denture teeth decreased from 70% for second premolars via 50% for first molars, to 30% for second molars.Conclusions. Mandibular distal extension removable partial dentures in moderate shortened dental arches had no effects on occlusion and temporomandibular function.
Pulmonary Alveolar Microlithiasis: A Case Report with Emphasis on Imaging Findings
Authors: Abdalla Guilherme , Marchiori Edson , Zanetti Gláucia , Mucillo Antonio , Pereira Mariana Leite , Ventura Nina , Martins Pedro , Constantino Carolina Pesce Lamas , Canellas Rodrigo , Brandão Viviane , Varella de Oliveira Romulo
Published: July 2010

Pulmonary alveolar microlithiasis (PAM) is a rare disease characterized by the presence of small calculi in the alveolar space. The authors report a case of a 21-year-old man with a 2-year history of shortness of breath on exertion and dry cough. Physical examination was altered only for crackles at auscultation. Pulmonary function revealed a mild restrictive ventilatory defect and the chest radiograph demonstrated paracardiac confluence of dense micronodular infiltrate. High-resolution CT scan revealed diffuse ground glass attenuation and septal thickening, more pronounced in lower pulmonary regions, with calcifications along the interlobar septa and subpleural regions. A transbronchial lung biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of PAM.
Promoter Variant ofPIK3C3Is Associated with Autoimmunity against Ro and Sm Epitopes in African-American Lupus Patients
Authors: Kariuki Silvia N. , Franek Beverly S. , Mikolaitis Rachel A. , Utset Tammy O. , Jolly Meenakshi , Skol Andrew D. , Niewold Timothy B.
Published: July 2010

ThePIK3C3locus was implicated in case-case genome-wide association study of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) which we had performed to detect genes associated with autoantibodies and serum interferon-alpha (IFN-α). Herein, we examine aPIK3C3promoter variant (rs3813065/-442 C/T) in an independent multiancestral cohort of 478 SLE cases and 522 controls. rs3813065 C was strongly associated with the simultaneous presence of both anti-Ro and anti-Sm antibodies in African-American patients [OR=2.24(1.34–3.73),P=2.0×10−3]. This autoantibody profile was associated with higher serum IFN-α(P=7.6×10−6). In the HapMap Yoruba population, rs3813065 was associated with differential expression ofERAP2(P=2.0×10−5), which encodes an enzyme involved in MHC class I peptide processing. Thus, rs3813065 C is associated with a particular autoantibody profile and altered expression of an MHC peptide processing enzyme, suggesting that this variant modulates serologic autoimmunity in African-American SLE patients.
Magnetic Nanoparticles with Core Shell: Macroscopic Model and Coercive Field
Authors: Hudak O. , Hudak M.
Published: July 2010

There exists nonhomogeneous structure in mechanosynthesized nanoparticles consisting of an ordered core surrounded by the shell. The shell may be structurally and magnetically disordered, or it may be ordered. These nanoparticles are found to be roughly spherical. We formulate the macroscopic model for the description of magnetic properties of nanoparticles with core-shell structure. The case of spheroids oriented in the same direction of polar axes is considered. There exits two coercive fields:HcγandHcψ. They are depending on quantitiesoandx, wherex=V2/(V1−2V2), ando=IF/IS, hereV1is the volume of the nanoparticle, andV2is the volume of the core.IFis the magnetization of the core, andISis the magnetization of the shell. There exists a transition from one type of the coercive field to another, changingxando. We have found qualitative explanation of observed enhancement of coercive field and of itsd-dependence inNiFe2O4nanoparticles.
Cross-Layer Throughput Optimization in Cognitive Radio Networks with SINR Constraints
Authors: Ma Miao , Tsang Danny H. K.
Published: July 2010

Recently, there have been some research works in the design of cross-layer protocols for cognitive radio (CR) networks, where the Protocol Model is used to model the radio interference. In this paper we consider a multihop multi-channel CR network. We use a more realisticSignal-to-Interference-plus-Noise Ratio (SINR)model for radio interference and study the following cross-layer throughput optimization problem: (1) Given a set of secondary users with random but fixed location, and a set of traffic flows, what is the max-min achievable throughput? (2) To achieve the optimum, how to choose the set of active links, how to assign the channels to each active link, and how to route the flows? To the end, we present a formal mathematical formulation with the objective of maximizing the minimum end-to-end flow throughput. Since the formulation is in the forms ofmixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP), which is generally a hard problem, we develop a heuristic method by solving a relaxation of the original problem, followed by rounding and simple local optimization. Simulation results show that the heuristic approach performs very well, that is, the solutions obtained by the heuristic are very close to the global optimum obtained via LINGO.
Clinical Value of Absolute Lymphocyte Counts before Bortezomib-Dexamethasone Therapy in Relapsed Multiple Myeloma Patients
Authors: Song Moo-Kon , Chung Joo-Seop , Joo Young-Don , Lee Sang-Min , Lee Gyeong-Won , Lee Ho-sup , Kim Sung-Hyun , Yun Eun-Young , Seol Young-Mi , Kim Seung-Geun , Shin Ho-Jin , Choi Young-Jin , Cho Goon-Jae
Published: July 2010

A high absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) at diagnosis is known as a surrogate marker of favorable prognosis in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM). Recent studies showed tumor sensitization and enhanced cytotoxicity of bortezomib. We hypothesized that a high ALC before bortezomib treatment would contribute to tumor sensitization and activated cytotoxicity of bortezomib in relapsed MM. Ninety-seven relapsed MM patients who underwent bortezomib-dexamethasone (Vel-Dex) therapy were analyzed. Median follow-up duration was 21 months and median age was 61 years. Complete response (CR) and very good partial response (VGPR) after 2 cycles of Vel-Dex therapy were higher in the high-ALC group (≧1.1 × 109/l) (CR + VGPR 50.0% in the high-ALC group vs. 10.4% in the low-ALC group, p = 0.001), and stable disease (SD) rate was lower in the high-ALC group (SD 11.8% in the high-ALC group vs. 44.8% in the low-ALC group, p < 0.001). In the univariate analysis, the low-ALC group before therapy was associated with shorter progression-free survival (PFS) [hazard ratio (HR), 2.780; 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.703–4.536, p < 0.001]. Multivariate analysis revealed that a low ALC represented an independent predictive factor for PFS (HR 1.937, 95% CI 1.168–3.212, p = 0.010). A low ALC just before Vel-Dex therapy was associated with a poor prognosis in relapsed MM.
Elevated Levels of Methylmalonate and Homocysteine in Parkinson’s Disease, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Authors: Levin Johannes , Bötzel Kai , Giese Armin , Vogeser Michael , Lorenzl Stefan
Published: July 2010

Background/Aims: Increasing evidence suggests that elevated levels of homocysteine (Hcy) and methylmalonate (MMA) may be involved in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases. Methods: The urine levels of MMA and serum levels of Hcy as well as folic acid and vitamin B12 were measured in patients suffering from the distinct neurodegenerative diseases progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Parkinson’s disease (PD), and compared to age- and gender-matched control subjects. Results: We found significantly elevated concentrations of Hcy (PD 15.1, PSP 15.8, ALS 13.9, control 11.2 µmol/l) and MMA (PD 3.7, PSP 3.1, ALS 3.7, control 1.8 mg/g) in all patient groups in comparison with controls. Levels of Hcy and MMA did not differ significantly between the neurodegenerative diseases. Conclusion: Our findings might imply that Hcy and MMA are released as a consequence of neurodegeneration regardless of the underlying cause and serve as surrogate markers of neurodegeneration. Alternatively they might be directly implicated in the pathogenesis of these diseases. Since elevated levels of both Hcy and MMA are neurotoxic, further studies might investigate the effect of vitamin therapy on disease progression.
Back and Face Involvement in Hidradenitis Suppurativa
Authors: Poli Florence , Wolkenstein Pierre , Revuz Jean
Published: July 2010

Background: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) may be associated with face and back lesions which are considered as acne. Objective: To describe the skin lesions of a group of patients with HS. Methods: Twelve patients were selected from a series of 648 patients on the basis of their specific skin lesions. Results: The patients (mostly male) had typical hidradenitis. On their face or back they had one or several of the following skin lesions which are not seen in acne: hypertrophic rope-like bridged scars, raised plaques with multiple carbuncle-like openings or with ulcerations, ‘worm-eaten scars’ and coalescent nodules with round ulcerations. All patients had deep round scars. Several had a pilonidal cyst or large epidermal cysts. Isotretinoin had been used by 7 patients with no effect. Conclusion: Some HS patients have specific lesions of the face and back which are not acne and have to be treated differently.
Diagnostic Performance of an Executive Clock Drawing Task (CLOX) as a Screening Test for Mild Cognitive Impairment in Elderly Persons with Cognitive Complaints
Authors: Forti Paola , Olivelli Valentina , Rietti Elisa , Maltoni Benedetta , Ravaglia Giovanni
Published: July 2010

Background: CLOX, a clock drawing test protocol uniquely sensitive to impairment of executive functions, has been proposed as a screening tool for mild cognitive impairment (MCI), but data about its diagnostic efficiency are lacking. Methods: There are data for 196 subjects, age ≧60 years, referred to a memory clinic for cognitive complaints. After extensive neuropsychological testing, 64 were diagnosed as cognitively normal and 132 with MCI. Results: At standard cutoffs, both CLOX subtests had a fair specificity (CLOX1 72%, CLOX2 92%) but unacceptably low values of sensitivity (CLOX1 54%, CLOX2 28%) and likelihood ratio (CLOX1 1.91, CLOX2 3.59) for MCI. The use of different cutoffs or the combination of CLOX with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) did not statistically increase diagnostic efficiency. Conclusion: CLOX, either alone or in combination with MMSE, is not a useful screening test for MCI in a clinical setting.
Characteristics of Open-Globe Injuries in Northwestern Portugal
Authors: Falcão Manuel , Camisa Elisa , Falcão-Reis Fernando
Published: July 2010

Purpose: We aimed to characterize epidemiologically open-globe injuries and patterns of posttraumatic endophthalmitis in northwestern Portugal. Methods: A retrospective review of 163 inpatients with a diagnosis of traumatic open-globe injury treated at the ophthalmology department of the hospital S. João was performed. Results: No cases were reported in patients wearing proper eye protection. Of the 163 eyes, 76.0% were from male patients. The mean age of the males was significantly lower than that of the females (35.6 vs. 56.0 years; p < 0.001), and 57.1% of the cases resulted from personal accidents. The prevalence of intraocular foreign bodies (IOFBs) was 29.6%; IOFBs are more frequent at work (50%) and with metallic objects (50%). The endophthalmitis incidence was 5.7% with a trend for a higher risk with IOFBs. Laceration due to plants increased this risk. Conclusions: Personal accidents are the most important cause of open-globe injuries. Special relevance should be given to prevention with appropriate eyewear in home chores. Work-related trauma is more associated with IOFB; imaging is fundamental in emergency department evaluation.
Husbands and Wives: An Evaluation of the Emotional Impact of World War Two in Germany
Authors: Vaizey Hester
Published: July 2010

This article examines the impact of World War Two on marriages in Germany. It asks if wartime circumstances could reaffirm and strengthen emotional bonds within the context of the threat of losing one’s loved ones. Historical analysis to date suggests that separations often led to estrangement and a difficult period of re-adjustment after reunion. However, quoting from numerous letters sent between husbands and wives in wartime, this article demonstrates that the chaotic and often life-threatening reality reinforced the desirability of the private sphere. In one typical example, a soldier wrote to his wife ‘I want to sit hand in hand with you this evening and explain everything about the past days. You’ll probably laugh about the sitting hand in hand bit, but right now I can’t think of anything nicer’. This is just one of the many letters used in this article to analyse the impact of war on marital relations.
Peasant Political Mobilization and the 1898 anti-Jewish Riots in Western Galicia
Authors: Unowsky Daniel
Published: July 2010

This article focuses on the anti-Jewish riots that took place in the spring and summer of 1898 in the western counties of the Habsburg province of Galicia, today divided between Poland and Ukraine. More than 5000 Polish peasants and townspeople were arrested, thousands were tried, and many received long prison sentences. An increasingly strident Catholic anti-Semitism, rumor, mass political mobilization, and actions urged and taken by the various levels of the Habsburg state — the central ministries in Vienna; the office of the Galician governor in the provincial capital of Lemberg; military and police forces on the ground; local officials in western Galicia — all affected the outbreak and course of the violence. The article argues that the riots were not simply a manifestation of rural backwardness, but rather should be understood in the context of the arrival of mass politics in the Habsburg countryside.
‘Do not disturb/please clean room’: hotel housekeepers in Greater Toronto
Authors: Liladrie Sirena
Published: July 2010

This study of the experiences of hotel housekeepers in Toronto, who are predominantly immigrant women of colour, reveals the damaging health impact of their work. As the hotel industry in this ‘global city’ has moved upmarket and sought to offer more luxury services to its wealthy customers, hotel housekeeping work has become more physically demanding and burdensome, resulting in the majority of workers experiencing a high degree of pains and injuries. The hotel industry is seen as operating a racialised division of labour, with those at the bottom vulnerable to being discarded as they approach retirement age and their health deteriorates. Finally, an account is given of the impact of unionisation and the hotel workers’ ongoing struggles for change.
Colonialism and the Indigenous present: an interview with Bonita Lawrence
Authors: Rutherford Scott
Published: July 2010

In this interview, a leading scholar of Indigeneity, Bonita Lawrence, discusses some of the crucial issues facing Native people in Canada today. She reflects on the denial of citizenship arising from the Indian Act’s definition of ‘Indianness’ — which, in Lawrence’s words, reduces cultural identity to racial identity. Also examined are the dilemmas of finding common ground between Indigenous struggles against the colonialism of the Canadian settler-state and the anti-racist struggles of Black people and other racialised groups. Exploring the interaction of Black and Indigenous peoples in Canada, it is argued, reveals the limitations of a superficial multiculturalism.
Narratives of power: historical mythologies in contemporary Québec and Canada
Authors: Austin David
Published: July 2010

The official narratives that Canada tells itself about its history and identity facilitate the contemporary exercise of power, determining who is to be regarded as fully belonging and who is alien. While race is excised from these national narratives, it has in fact been central to the formation of Canadian nationhood. The image of the respectable, peaceful, multiculturalism-loving Canadian citizen, descendant of the two founding nations, France and Britain, goes hand in hand with its opposites: the Indigenous ‘Indian’, the Black, the immigrant newcomer and the refugee. This article examines the historical and contemporary variants of these images and the narratives constructed around them, arguing that Canada’s history of colonial violence, slavery and racism has been marginalised through their circulation, and that their continued invocation in public debates on crime, terrorism and immigration is a crucial factor in the perpetuation of racial exclusion. The particular ways in which Québec has conceived its relationship to English Canada add an interesting dimension to this discussion: in the 1960s, Quebecers saw in the political struggles of Africans and African Americans a metaphor for their own identity. But Québec’s own version of a founding national narrative is a tale of innocence and victimhood that conveniently omits the colonisation of Indigenous peoples, the practice of slavery and racial exclusion.
Imperial designs: the Royal Bank of Canada in the Caribbean
Authors: Hudson Peter James
Published: July 2010

Canada’s role in international affairs is generally cast in a favourable light, especially in contrast with the United States. Yet at the beginning of the twentieth century there was a brief period of imperialist rhetoric among the Canadian business elite, the bankers of Toronto and Montreal in particular, who argued the benefits of an annexationist policy for the British West Indies to complement their deepening financial links to the Caribbean region. Focusing on the Royal Bank of Canada, this essay examines this episode in Canadian foreign policy by recounting the history of Canadian banking expansion in the Caribbean while demonstrating the connections between economic and trade policy and the ideologies of Canadian Anglo-Saxonism that shaped the Canadian financial elite’s vision of its role in maintaining the integrity of the British empire. It argues that, rather than being mere ‘surrogates’ to American empire, as Canadian business historians have argued, Canadian bankers were aggressive, active and independent players in the conquest of foreign markets.
Without surrender: an interview with Kari Levitt
Authors: Mills Sean
Published: July 2010

In this interview, development economist Kari Polanyi Levitt, author of Silent Surrender, the influential 1970 study of US corporations in Canada, revisits the political circumstances from which the book emerged, and its reception in various contexts. In English Canada, the book resonated with a spirit of Left nationalism, while the French edition of the book touched on the political unrest in Montreal. In the Caribbean, newly independent governments made use of similar arguments in their bid to regain control of their economies. The ways in which Levitt interacted with these different political movements are discussed, including her work with Caribbean scholars based in Canada.
What’s Left? Canada’s ‘global justice’ movement and colonial amnesia
Authors: Choudry Aziz
Published: July 2010

This article examines the failure of Canada’s larger, Left-leaning NGOs active in global justice networks to properly engage with the struggles of Indigenous peoples. Taking a ‘White progressive economic nationalist’ position that fails to examine Canada’s historical and contemporary exercise of colonialism, such NGOs end up reproducing myths of nation-building, fail to address colonial injustices closer to home and ignore the resources that Indigenous struggles offer in the fight against neoliberalism.
Black learners in Canada
Authors: Hampton Rosalind
Published: July 2010

This article examines the movement for Africentric public schools in Canada, particularly in Montreal, and the controversy it has generated. It is also argued that Black youth would gain significantly from community-based educational programmes that root their learning more closely in the life, experiences and needs of their community.
Is the Healthy Body Gendered? Toward a Feminist Critique of the New Paradigm of Health
Authors: Moore Sarah E.H.
Published: July 2010

A number of sociologists have identified the emergence of a ‘new paradigm’ of health, based on the principle that the National Health Service should seek to prevent ill-health rather than simply treat the sick. The sociology of health promotion that has emerged over the past 15 years has contributed to debates about risk, lifestyle and consumerism, but the gendered nature of what some refer to as the ‘new morality of health’, and in particular its urging of feminine attributes, has largely been neglected. This article provides a critical examination of the ‘new paradigm’ of health and its relationship to femininity. I suggest that femininity involves a certain attitude to the body that we also find in current health policy, and cultural representations of health more generally: that the body is essentially uncontrollable (yet something we should seek to control, as a matter of virtue), that it is a good in and of itself, and that it is synonymous with the self.
DMM assessments of attachment and adaptation: Procedures, validity and utility
Authors: Farnfield Steve , Hautamäki Airi , Nørbech Peder , Sahhar Nicola
Published: July 2010

This article gives a brief over view of the Dynamic-Maturational Model of attachment and adaptation (DMM; Crittenden, 2008) together with the various DMM assessments of attachment that have been developed for specific stages of development. Each assessment is discussed in terms of procedure, outcomes, validity, advantages and limitations, comparable procedures and areas for further research and validation. The aims are twofold: to provide an introduction to DMM theory and its application that underlie the articles in this issue of CCPP; and to provide researchers and clinicians with a guide to DMM assessments.
Transmission of attachment across three generations: Continuity and reversal
Authors: Hautamäki Airi , Hautamäki Laura , Neuvonen Leena , Maliniemi-Piispanen Sinikka
Published: July 2010

We followed a normative Finnish sample of primiparous mothers, fathers, and maternal grandmothers from pregnancy until the child was 3 years old ( N = 32 families). The Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) was used to assess attachment in mothers, fathers and grandmothers during the last trimester of the mother’s pregnancy. The Preschool Assessment of Attachment (PAA) was used to assess attachment in children at 3 years. Forty-seven percent of the 32 grandmother—mother—infant triads had the corresponding attachment classifications. Using EXACON for the analysis of single cells of 3 × 3 contingency tables with type-antitype classifications, and frequency tabulation of the major three-generation combinations, both triads indicating continuity across three generations (B/B/B 22% and A/A/A 19%) and reversal reactions (A/C/A and C/A/C 22%) were found. The results indicated continuity across three generations for Type B and for Type A and alternations from A to C and vice versa for insecure attachment. We discuss the implications of these findings for theory development and clinical work.
Assessing parent—child interaction in the preschool years: A pilot study on the psychometric properties of the toddler CARE-Index
Authors: Künster Anne Katrin , Fegert Jörg Michael , Ziegenhain Ute
Published: July 2010

The purpose of this study was to test the utility of the Toddler CARE-Index, an assessment tool for parent—child interaction among preschool-aged children, for screening of parental sensitivity. The CARE-Index was initially developed for infants and had been adapted for toddlers up to 3 years of age. This study tests its utility for children up to 5.8 years old. Sixty-four children (2.3 to 5.8 years) and their mothers took part in the study and were examined with both the Toddler CARE-Index and the Preschool Assessment of Attachment. The sample comprised two groups, a sample that had come to professional attention ( n = 21) and a normative sample ( n = 43). Analysis of coder agreement showed adequate correspondence among three coders. Test-retest reliability was less robust. Testing validity, there was a significant relation between sensitivity of the mother and attachment security of the child in the total sample as well as in both subsamples. These results are a first step for using the Toddler CARE-Index as an economical and promising instrument for the assessment of parental sensitivity with children beyond toddlerhood in both normative and clinical settings.
Another day older and deeper in therapy: Can the Dynamic-Maturational Model offer a way out?
Authors: Wilkinson Simon R.
Published: July 2010

Patients referred to adolescent psychiatric units have often been in contact with services for many years. When assessing for admission we consider why the previous approaches might have failed and how milieu therapy might be more effective as the priority treatment. We propose that the information provided by an adolescent’s Transition to Adulthood Attachment Interview (TAAI) and the parents’ Adult Attachment Interviews (AAI) leads to an especially productive case formulation. The Dynamic-Maturational Model of attachment and adaptation (DMM) uniquely provides a detailed understanding of an extended range of Type A and Type C strategies with modifiers that are useful for planning the milieu therapy, individual and family work. In addition, this case presentation illustrates the usefulness of understanding the phenomenon of “intruded negative affect”.
Health and Ageing —Challenges for Health Psychology Research
Authors: Stephens Christine , Flick Uwe
Published: July 2010

In the light of ageing populations, three general issues of health and ageing become relevant for research and intervention in health psychology: ageing in the general population, among those who are confronted with frailty and illness, and on the ageing experiences of specific populations. In all of these areas there is a need to understand the factors (such as social engagement) that promote well-being and compression of ageing in community or institutional dwelling elders, while being aware of the impact of ageism, inequalities and exclusion on different people’s access to health related policy resources and health care.
Social Relations and Mortality
Authors: Antonucci Toni C. , Birditt Kira S. , Webster Noah J.
Published: July 2010

Among older adults social relationships influence mortality, but it is less clear how. We examined associations between relationship quality with spouse, child, and best friend and mortality; and whether the associations varied in the presence of chronic illnesses. Survival analyses ( N = 514; 59 percent women aged ≥ 60) revealed sometimes counterintuitive main and buffering effects. Individuals who reported greater negative relationship quality with their children and friends lived longer. Buffering models suggest that relationships may exacerbate the effects of chronic illness on mortality and emphasize the importance of using a more nuanced approach when examining the effects of social relations on mortality.
Mental health service user territories: Enacting ‘safe spaces’ in the community
Authors: Tucker Ian
Published: July 2010

This article develops a conceptualization of ‘space’ that enables in-depth analysis of mental health service user ‘territories’. Driven by the aim to understand how spaces within the framework of ‘community care’ are produced, an approach that draws upon Deleuze and Guattari’s notion of ‘territoriality’ is developed. Through this we see how important it can be for service users to produce ‘safe spaces’ that enable forms of ‘normalized’ activities to be produced, but, crucially, in settings that exist outside completely mainstream settings. Analysing drop-in day centres and home environments (two key sites in community care), the article demonstrates the value of a micro-analysis of the production of space to understanding some of the ways service user experience operates in a spatially distributed sense. This helps to illuminate the impact on identity of existing within ‘community care’.
Struggles online over the meaning of ‘Down’s syndrome’: A ‘dialogic’ interpretation
Authors: Cimini Nicholas
Published: July 2010

Bakhtin’s suggestion that a unified truth demands a ‘multiplicity of consciousnesses’ seems particularly relevant in the ‘globally connected age’. At a time when the DIY/‘punk ethic’ seems to prevail online, and Wikipedia and blogging means that anyone with access to the Internet can enter into public deliberation, it is worth considering the potential for mass communication systems to create meaningful changes in the way that ‘disability’ is theorized. Based on the findings of qualitative research, this study explores competing interpretations of disability, specifically dialogue online over the meaning of Down’s syndrome, from the vantage point of an approach towards language analysis that emanates from the work of the Bakhtin Circle. It will be shown that, suitably revised and supplemented, elements of Bakhtinian theory provide powerful tools for understanding online relations and changes in the notion of disability. It will also be shown that, while activists in the disabled people’s movement have managed to effect modest changes to the way that disability is theorized, both online and in the ‘real world’, there remains a great deal still to be achieved. This study allows us to understand better the social struggles faced by disabled people and the opportunities open to them.
Trust, nostalgia and narrative accounts of blood banking in England in the 21st century
Authors: Wynne Busby Helen
Published: July 2010

Historically, cultural accounts and descriptions of blood banking in Britain have been associated with notions of altruism, national solidarity and imagined community. While these ideals have continued to be influential, the business of procuring and supplying blood has become increasingly complex. Drawing on interview data with donors in one blood centre in England, this article reports that these donors tend not to acknowledge the complex dynamics of production and exchange in modern blood systems. This, it is argued, is congruent with nostalgic narratives in both popular and official accounts of blood services, which tend to bracket these important changes. A shift to a more open institutional narrative about modern blood services is advocated, as blood services face current and future challenges.
‘Becoming accepted’: The complementary and alternative medicine practitioners’ response to the uptake and practice of traditional medicine therapies by the mainstream health sector
Authors: Wiese Marlene , Oster Candice
Published: July 2010

This Australian study sought to understand how practitioners of the traditional systems of what is now termed complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) are responding to the adoption of their traditional medicine therapies by the mainstream health care system, and the practice of these therapies by mainstream health care practitioners. A grounded theory approach was used for this study. In-depth interviews were conducted with 19 participants who were non-mainstream practitioners from five traditional systems of medicine — Traditional Chinese Medicine,Ayurveda, Naturopathy, Homeopathy and Western Herbal Medicine. Four main conceptual categories were identified: Losing Control of the CAM Occupational Domain (the participants’ main concern); Personal Positioning; Professional Positioning (the core category); and Legitimacy.These categories formed the elements of the substantive theory of ‘ becoming accepted’ as a legitimate health care provider in the mainstream health system, which explained the basic social process that the study’s participants were using to resolve their main concern.
Genetic counselling as care of the self
Authors: Leontini Rose
Published: July 2010

Genetic counselling has frequently been described as a disciplinary practice, with the goal of ‘risk reduction’. In this article another dimension to genetic counselling is considered through the Foucauldian theorization on the care of the self. Drawing on narrative analysis, I examine how one informant undergoing genetic counselling interprets the technique of imagining alternative futures learned through counselling, and transforms it into an ethical practice of self-care. The findings suggest that what may begin as a medical issue with implications for one’s health, becomes a meditation over one’s disposition towards life, in a way that is consonant with one’s desires and values.
Reply to Gold and Olin: Antidepressants and the Identity of Persons
Authors: Durà-Vilà Glòria , Durà-Vilà Víctor
Published: July 2010

Gold and Olin (2009) claim that the widespread use of antidepressants is a problem and that neither philosophy nor psychiatry are in a position to provide the conceptual and scientific tools to understand, characterize and, ultimately, solve it. While we agree with their analysis of the problem and the shortcomings of psychiatry to address it, we disagree with their pessimistic assessment of the actual standing of analytical philosophy to do so: we think that the prospects for conceptual help from mainstream Anglo-American philosophy are much more promising than they allow in their paper and we aim to show how this is so.
Transcultural Psychiatry: From Practice to Theory
Authors: Kortmann Frank
Published: July 2010

Psychiatric patients of non-western origin leave treatment against the advice of their clinicians far more often than do their western counterparts. This article presents a theoretical framework for better understanding such clinical cases, developed from examples of psychiatric practice in different cultures. The theory is based on two meanings of the concept of culture, an elaboration of the universality-relativity dichotomy, and a view of the work of mental health care providers as involving three components: (1) building a trusting relationship with the patient; (2) making a diagnosis and treatment plan; and (3) carrying out treatment that is acceptable and meaningful to the patient. The article argues that all psychiatry is transcultural psychiatry, because a cultural gap always exists between the psychiatrist and the patient.
Ethno-Cultural Variations in the Experience and Meaning of Mental Illness and Treatment: Implications for Access and Utilization
Authors: Carpenter-Song Elizabeth , Chu Edward , Drake Robert E. , Ritsema Mieka , Smith Beverly , Alverson Hoyt
Published: July 2010

We conducted a study to investigate how understandings of mental illness and responses to mental health services vary along ethno-racial lines. Participants were 25 African American, Latino, and Euro-American inner-city residents in Hartford Connecticut diagnosed with severe mental illness and currently enrolled in a larger study of a community mental health center. Data were collected through 18 months of ethnographic work in the community. Overall, Euro-Americans participants were most aligned with professional disease-oriented perspectives on severe mental illness and sought the advice and counsel of mental health professionals. African-American and Latino participants emphasized non-biomedical interpretations of behavioral, emotional, and cognitive problems and were critical of mental health services. Participants across the sample expressed expectations and experiences of psychiatric stigma. Although Euro-Americans were aware of the risk of social rejection because of mental illness, psychiatric stigma did not form a core focus of their narrative accounts. By contrast, stigma was a prominent theme in the narrative accounts of African Americans, for whom severe mental illness was considered to constitute private “family business.” For Latino participants, the cultural category of nervios appeared to hold little stigma, whereas psychiatric clinical labels were potentially very socially damaging. Our findings provide further empirical support for differences in symptom interpretation and definitions of illness among persons from diverse ethno-racial backgrounds. First-person perspectives on contemporary mental health discourses and practices hold implications for differential acceptability of mental health care that may inform variations in access and utilization of services in diverse populations.
“Mad, Sick, Head Nuh Good”: Mental Illness Stigma in Jamaican Communities
Authors: Arthur Carlotta M. , Hickling Frederick W. , Robertson-Hickling Hilary , Haynes-Robinson Tammy , Abel Wendel , Whitley Rob
Published: July 2010

Stigma may be an important factor in mental health service seeking and utilization. However, little work on stigma has been conducted in developing nations in the Caribbean, including Jamaica. We explored mental illness stigma in Jamaica by conducting focus groups with 16 community samples. Four overarching conceptual themes are discussed: (1) community members’ definitions of stigma; (2) emotional responses towards those with mental illness, such as fear and love; (3) behavioral responses towards those with mental illness, including avoidance and cautious approach; and (4) perceptions of and beliefs about mental illness, including a distinction between “madness” and “mental illness.”
Ethnic and Clinical Characteristics of a Portuguese Psychiatric Inpatient Population
Authors: Alexandre Joana , Ribeiro Raquel , Cardoso Graça
Published: July 2010

The present study examined the association between ethnicity and clinical characteristics of patients admitted to a psychiatric inpatient unit in Portugal. The only ethnicity-related terms routinely recorded in the medical records were “Black” (mainly from the African Portuguese-speaking countries of Cape Verde, Angola, Guinea, Sao Tome and Mozambique) and “White.” Black immigrants appeared to be over-represented, comprising 19.6% of inpatients; and were younger and more frequently male when compared with White inpatients. They were more frequently diagnosed with schizophrenia and acute or transient psychosis, and less frequently diagnosed with delusional and personality disorders than White inpatients. These results are consistent with previous studies in the US and UK, and highlight the need for more culturally sensitive care in mental health services.
Peer-mentoring undergraduate accounting students: The influence on approaches to learning and academic performance
Authors: Fox Alison , Stevenson Lorna , Connelly Patricia , Duff Angus , Dunlop Angela
Published: July 2010

This article considers the impact of a student peer-mentoring programme (the Mentor Accountant Project, MAP) on first-year undergraduates’ academic performance. The development of MAP was informed by reference to extant literature; it relies on the voluntary services of third-year students who then act as mentors to first-year student mentees in an undergraduate degree programme. The impact of MAP in two Scottish universities is measured by reference to the changes in the approaches to learning and the academic achievement of two groups of students: those who participated in MAP and those who did not. The findings indicate that those first-year students who participated in MAP did not experience the significant decline in their deep and strategic approaches to learning that their non-MAP peers did. Likewise, those first-year students who participated in MAP demonstrated a stronger academic performance in comparison to their non-MAP equivalents. In addition, the MAP scheme appeared to have little impact on the approaches to learning of the third-year participants; and the academic performance of the third-year MAP participants was indistinguishable from that of their non-MAP counterparts. The evidence suggests that participation in MAP is beneficial for first-year students.
Improving learning through meta assessment
Authors: McDonald Betty
Published: July 2010

Meta assessment goes beyond assessment in that it examines not only the elements of assessment but also the necessary and sufficient conditions as well as the needs of the assessment. Meta assessment in education tends to be the domain of course designers, planners and policy makers but rarely that of students. This article examines the role of meta assessment in improving student learning. The sample comprised 50 mathematics students from a tertiary educational institution. Achievement scores from the experimental group (those who did standardized meta-assessment training) on a difficult and an easy teacher-made assignment showed that those students performed better than their untrained counterparts from the control group. Findings from semi-structured interviews demonstrated both the breadth and depth of student understanding. This research fills the gap in the literature by demonstrating in a practical way how students who receive standardized meta-assessment training practise reflection and experience learning advantages. From this work, practitioners could take away sufficient stimulus material for developing additional in-depth questions for meta-assessment training and also some best practices that could be used in training their own students. Practitioners would be in a better position to formulate appropriate assessments for their students, assessments that encourage deep thinking and foster lifelong learning.
Exploring academic misconduct: Some insights into student behaviour
Authors: Perry Bob
Published: July 2010

Academic research and newspaper stories suggest that academic misconduct, including plagiarism, is on the increase. This apparent increase coupled with new internet enterprises selling ‘pass’ papers and customized research are worrying trends. Academic misconduct is deeply harmful in a number of ways by devaluing awards, frustrating academics and demotivating ‘honest’ students. Despite the heightened attention given to it, the entire subject seems to be clouded in uncertainty, not least what students themselves think. This article addresses student attitudes and understandings of academic misconduct. Findings from a study conducted within a large business school indicated that teaching on plagiarism was ineffective and there were many misunderstandings, which had coincided with high levels of unintentional plagiarism, bogus referencing and collusion. First-year students in particular experienced difficulties. As part of this article a theoretical framework for understanding student behaviour is proposed which may suggest various improved learning and teaching strategies.
Investigating the relationship between student engagement and transition
Authors: Vinson Don , Nixon Sarah , Walsh Barbara , Walker Cath , Mitchell Elizabeth , Zaitseva Elena
Published: July 2010

Failure to establish meaningful and effective transition for undergraduates can lead to academic underachievement. Student engagement represents a key component of student success. This study sought to investigate the impact of a bespoke transition programme featuring a wide range of innovative, student-centred activities on enhancing students’ engagement with educationally effective practices through examining student relations with others, learning and the discipline. For the study 104 undergraduates on a Sport Development course at a British university undertook a five-week transition programme. Data were collected via weekly questionnaires and focus groups at the end of weeks 1, 3 and 5. The investigation revealed that transition programmes require a high-intensity, novel and varied timetable supported by a student-centred staff team. Effective transition programmes can enhance students’ engagement with educationally effective practices. Future research should investigate the longer-term impact of such programmes.
Dye-sensitized Solar Cells with Halide-bridged Mixed-valence Cu(I)–Cu(II) Coordination Polymers with Hexamethylenedithiocarbamate Ligand
Authors: Kim Kyung Ho , Okubo Takashi , Tanaka Naoya , Mimura Naoto , Maekawa Masahiko , Kuroda-Sowa Takayoshi
Published: July 2010

The application of halide-bridged mixed-valence Cu(I)–Cu(II) coordination polymers with hexamethylenedithiocarbamate (Hm-dtc) ligand as sensitizing materials for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) with poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) tetramethacrylate (PEDOT-TMA) counter electrode is novel. DSSCs having coordination polymers in comparison with a mononuclear Cu(Hm-dtc)2 complex exhibited better power conversion efficiency because of the high photocurrent density.