bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Characteristics of Summer Convective Systems Initiated over the Tibetan Plateau. Part I: Origin, Track, Development, and Precipitation
Authors: Yaodong Li , Yun Wang , Yang Song , Liang Hu , Shouting Gao , Fu Rong
Published: March 2008

Summer convective systems (CSs) initiated over the Tibetan Plateau identified by the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) deep convection database and associated Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) precipitation for 1998–2001 have been analyzed for their basic characteristics in terms of initiation, distribution, trajectory, development, life cycle, convective intensity, and precipitation. Summer convective systems have a dominant center over the Hengduan Mountain and a secondary center over the Yaluzangbu River Valley. Precipitation associated with these CSs contributes more than 60% of total precipitation over the central-eastern area of the Tibetan Plateau and 30%–40% over the adjacent region to its southeast. The average CS life cycle is about 36 h; 85% of CSs disappear within 60 h of their initiation. About 50% of CSs do not move out of the Tibetan region, with the remainder split into eastward- and southward-moving components. These CSs moving out the Tibetan Plateau are generally larger, have longer life spans, and produce more rainfall than those staying inside the region. Convective system occurrences and associated rainfall present robust diurnal variations. The midafternoon maximum of CS initiation and associated rainfall over the plateau is mainly induced by solar heating linked to the unique Tibetan geography. The delayed afternoon–late night peak of rainfall from CSs propagating out of this region is a combined outcome of multiple mechanisms working together. Results suggest that interactions of summer Tibetan CSs with the orientation of the unique Tibetan geography and the surrounding atmospheric circulations are important for the development, intensification, propagation, and life span of these CSs.
Understanding the Effects of Convective Momentum Transport on Climate Simulations: The Role of Convective Heating
Authors: Song Xiaoliang , Wu Xiaoqing , Zhang Guang Jun , Arritt Raymond W.
Published: March 2008

A simplified general circulation model (GCM), consisting of a complete dynamical core, simple specified physics, and convective momentum transport (CMT) forcing, is used to understand the effects of CMT on climate simulations with a focus on the role of convective heating in the response of circulation to the CMT forcing. It is found that the convective heating dominates the meridional circulation response and dynamical processes dominate the zonal wind response to the CMT forcing in the tropics; the simplified model reproduces some of the key features of CMT-induced circulation changes observed in the full GCM in the tropics. These results suggest that the CMT-induced zonal and meridional circulation changes in the tropics in the full GCM are dominated by dynamical processes and the convective heating, respectively. Inclusion of the CMT in the model induces a marked change in convective heating, which negatively correlates with the change in vertical velocity, indicating the existence of CMT-induced convective heating–circulation feedback. The sensitivity experiment with the removal of mean convective heating feedback demonstrates that the convective heating affects the response of the meridional circulation to the CMT forcing through the CMT-induced convective heating–circulation feedback.
Between Preachers and Warriors
Authors: Jackson Sherman A.
Published: March 2008

Even among those who actively pursue greater public recognition for Islam as a way of life, the Muslim world is not a monolith. Failure to recognize this leads to an unnecessary swelling of the ranks of those whom the West takes as enemies. Professor Amitai Etzioni suggests that this myopia can be overcome via a distinction between those he refers to as Preachers versus those he refers to as Warriors. I see considerable evidence in favor of Professor Etzioni's thesis, both contemporaneously and historically, and his thesis opens up much needed space within which to reconsider America's relationship with the Muslim world. Still, the impoverished language with which we have become accustomed to discussing Islam in the West makes it difficult to hold these possibilities in relief and keep them from being overcome by what Professor Etzioni refers to as “Multiple Realism Deficiency Disorder (MRDD).”
Child Personality in Slovenia and Russia
Authors: Knyazev Gennady G. , Zupančič Maja , Slobodskaya Helena R.
Published: March 2008

The present study compares structure, mean trait levels, and development of child personality in Slovenia and Russia, using parent and self-reports on the Inventory of Child Individual Differences. Evidence for the Five Factor Model of child and adolescent personality structure is demonstrated across age groups, genders, and countries. In comparison with Russians, Slovenian children are rated higher on Extraversion, Conscientiousness, and Openness. Some of the differences are observed even among toddlers, and these differences increase over age, suggesting that they do not arise solely in the process of socialization. Cultural differences are more pronounced for parent reports than for adolescent self-reports, suggesting that a part of these differences may reflect cultural influences on parent ratings.
Evaluating the Social Value of Charitable Organizations: A Conceptual Foundation
Authors: Polonsky Michael Jay , Grau Stacy Landreth
Published: March 2008

Charities are becoming more businesslike in their quest to address competitive pressures and funding reductions. However, this shift may have unintended consequences. For example, the best-marketed charities are not necessarily the ones with the greatest potential for social benefit. There is currently no mechanism that attempts to evaluate the social value of charities. Borrowing from social investing and corporate social responsibility literature, the authors argue that despite the difficulties inherent in this task, there are several issues that must be considered to assess a charity's social value, and each stakeholder will consider some dimensions of social value differently. Assessing a charity's social value has several ethical and policy implications, especially given the level of governmental and foundational support for charity organizations.
Studying Sexualities for a Better World? Ten Years of Sexualities
Authors: Plummer Ken
Published: March 2008

This article introduces a special edition of the journal Sexualities to celebrate its tenth anniversary. It reviews the development of the journal and inspects its contents over this time. It looks at topics covered, concepts developed and political implications. A final section considers some possible future areas for analysis and research.
The Soldier and the Terrorist: Sexy Nationalism, Queer Violence
Authors: Kuntsman Adi
Published: March 2008

An Israeli soldier, praised for killing terrorists in their homes, and adored as a gay prince charming; a Palestinian gay man called either a lying terrorist or a cute Arab boy with an almond ass; an Abu-Ghraib prisoner, whose naked body, pornographically mediated and distributed by the media generates a homosexual rape fantasy of all Arabs in-the-name-of-Israeli-security. These images were collected during my ethnography of a Russian-Israeli GLBT community, in the community's website. My analysis of the website's publications and discussions focuses on the ways violence, sexuality and nationhood intertwine in immigrants' sense of belonging to the country that is officially defined by the state policy — and indeed perceived by many immigrants themselves — as their home. I examine how masculinities become synecdoches of nation, and how homosexual fantasies work to create attachment to one's national home and hatred towards those defined as its enemies.
Gay Asian Sexual Health in Australia: Governing HIV/AIDS, Racializing Biopolitics and Performing Conformity
Authors: Yue Audrey
Published: March 2008

This article critically examines how the public health governance of HIV/AIDS has constructed the racialized biopolitics of the gay Asian Australian community. The old biopolitics of health that excluded the Asian at the turn of the 19th century is now eclipsed by a new biopolitics that foregrounds the racialized body as a site of inclusion. The new biopolitics has emerged from within policy innovations in Australia's multicultural sexual health programs. Since the mid-1990s, the diversity of Asian communities was recognized in various AIDS councils through the employment of ethno-specific social workers, carers and peer-to-peer educators. This article problematizes how diasporic gay Asian sexuality has emerged in queer, mainstream and modern Australia through such a viral politic of containment. These policies, I argue, have paradoxically contributed to the production of a new queer Asian Australian body aesthetics that has enabled the conditions of possibilities for new sexual subjects.
Prevalence and trends in overweight and obesity among children and adolescents in Denmark
Authors: Matthiessen Jeppe , Velsing Groth Margit , Fagt Sisse , Biltoft-Jensen Anja , Stockmarr Anders , Andersen Jens Strodl , Trolle Ellen
Published: March 2008

Aim: To study the current prevalence and trends in overweight and obesity among children and adolescents in Denmark from 1995 to 2000—2002. Methods: Cross-sectional national dietary surveys were conducted in 1995 and 2000—2002. The analysis was based on two random population samples from the Danish civil registration system. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated from self-reported height and weight for 1,026 and 1,152 children and adolescents (4—18 years), who participated in 1995 and 2000—2002, respectively. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was defined according to the international age and gender-specific child BMI cut-off points. In the statistical analysis, overweight and obesity were included in the prevalence of overweight. Results: Mean BMI increased significantly between 1995 and 2000—2002 for all combinations of age groups (4—6, 7—10, 11—14 and 15—18 years) and genders. Prevalence of overweight increased between survey years for boys and girls for all age groups (4—6, 7—10, 11—14 and 15—18 years), although formal statistical significance was not reached (p>0.05). When all children and adolescents (4—18 years) were analysed, the prevalence of overweight rose significantly from 10.9% (95% confidence interval (CI) 9.0—12.8) to 14.4% (95% CI 12.5—16.3) between 1995 and 2000— 2002 (p=0.01), whereas the increase in the prevalence of obesity did not reach significance (1995, 2.3% (95% CI 1.3—3.3) vs. 2000—2002, 2.4% (95% CI 1.6—3.3); p=0.74). Conclusions: The present study revealed a significant increase from 1995 to 2000—2002 in mean BMI for boys and girls for all age groups and a significant increase in the prevalence of overweight when all Danish children and adolescents (4—18 years) were analysed.
Partner violence and health: Results from the first national study on violence against women in Norway
Authors: Nerøien Astrid Irene , Schei Berit
Published: March 2008

Background: Violence against women has long been considered a hidden health burden. Questions about violence have not been included in health surveys; hence, little is known about prevalence and the consequences for health in the general population. No national study has been conducted in Norway. Aims: To estimate the prevalence of partner violence in Norway and the relationship between victimization and somatic health and depression and anxiety and post-traumatic stress symptoms. Methods: Data collection was performed by Statistics Norway. Among a random sample of women aged 20—55 years, 2,407 women returned the questionnaire (63.3%), of whom 2,143 were ever-partnered. Selected demographic characteristics were obtained from registers. Results: In total, 26.8% of 2,143 ever-partnered women had experienced any violence by their partner during their lifetime, and 5.5% in the year before the study. Low educational level, being unmarried, separated or divorced, currently being unemployed, receiving social security benefits and having no children were significantly associated with reporting partner violence. Exposure to partner violence was associated with poor health, depressive and post-traumatic stress symptoms, gynaecological complaints, injuries, and disability, and remained so after controlling for age, education, unemployment, relationship break-up and low economic status. Conclusions: Partner violence is common and was associated with a range of somatic and mental health problems. Thus, violence against women by their partners is an important public health concern.
Cancer and the risk for taking early retirement pension: A Danish cohort study
Authors: Carlsen Kathrine , Oksbjerg Dalton Susanne , Frederiksen Kirsten , Diderichsen Finn , Johansen Christoffer
Published: March 2008

Aims: The purpose of this study was to determine the risk for taking early retirement pension (ERP) in cancer survivors who were working at the time of diagnosis. Methods: We conducted a nationwide and population based cohort study including 44,905 persons aged 30—60 years diagnosed with selected cancers in the period 1981—2000 and 211,562 randomly sampled cancer-free controls. Information on socioeconomic status, demography and physical and psychiatric comorbidity was obtained from Danish administrative registries. Results: We analyzed the risk for ERP adjusted for known risk factors and found that cancer patients has an excess risk of ERP compared to cancer-free controls (RR, 1.60; 95% CI, 1.55—1.65 and RR, 1.55; 95% CI, 1.46—1.65 for women and men, respectively). The observed risk factors for taking ERP were late age, dissimilated disease, manual job, sickness leave the year before taking ERP, physical and psychological comorbidity, low education and low income. Three risk categories were identified (high, medium and low) by cancer site and we found that in the high risk category, people diagnosed with leukemia, prostate cancer or ovary cancer had a more than two-fold increased risk for ERP and the risk remained increased with up to 8 years of follow-up. Conclusions: We observed a significantly increased risk for taking early retirement up to 8 years after the cancer diagnosis and that the magnitude of the risk was dependent of cancer sites.
Deliberative democracy and intelligent design: The ruling in Kitzmiller v. Dover
Authors: Burtt Brian
Published: March 2008

The Federal District Court decision in Kitzmiller v. Dover halted a school board's attempts to introduce an `intelligent design' account of human origins into science classrooms as an alternative to evolution. The judge's opinion judged the Board members' actions by implicit standards of deliberative democratic discourse, which this article explicates through reference to Rawls's Political Liberalism and Gutmann and Thompson's Democracy and Disagreement.The judge argued that, by their actions in this circumstance, intelligent design advocates did not adhere to these standards. He further argued that it would be impossible for them to do so, because intelligent design is a relabeling of creationism, which has repeatedly failed to meet considered judgments of the definition of science.
Clinical Assessment of Motor Imagery After Stroke
Authors: Malouin Francine , Richards Carol L. , Durand Anne , Doyon Julien
Published: March 2008

Objective . The aim of this study was to investigate: (1) the effects of a stroke on motor imagery vividness as measured by the Kinesthetic and Visual Imagery Questionnaire (KVIQ-20); (2) the influence of the lesion side; and (3) the symmetry of motor imagery. Methods. Thirty-two persons who had sustained a stroke, in the right (n = 19) or left (n = 13) cerebral hemisphere, and 32 age-matched healthy persons participated. The KVIQ-20 assesses on a 5-point ordinal scale the clarity of the image (visual scale) and the intensity of the sensations (kinesthetic scale) that the subjects are able to imagine from the first-person perspective. Results. In both groups, the visual scores were higher ( P = .0001) than the kinesthetic scores and there was no group difference. Likewise, visual scores remained higher than kinesthetic scores irrespective of the lesion side. The visual scores poststroke were higher ( P = .001) when imagining upper limb movements on the unaffected side than those on the affected side. When focusing on the lower limb only, however, the kinesthetic scores were higher ( P = .001) when imagining movements of the unaffected compared to those on the affected side. Conclusions. The vividness of motor imagery poststroke remains similar to that of age-matched healthy persons and is not affected by the side of the lesion. However, after stroke motor imagery is not symmetrical and motor imagery vividness is better when imagining movements on the unaffected than on the affected side, indicating an overestimation possibly related to a hemispheric imbalance or a recalibration of motor imagery perception.
Evaluation of time profile reconstruction from complex two-color microarray designs
Authors: Fierro Ana C , Thuret Raphael , Engelen Kristof , Bernot Gilles , Marchal Kathleen , Pollet Nicolas
Published: March 2008

Background

As an alternative to the frequently used "reference design" for two-channel microarrays, other designs have been proposed. These designs have been shown to be more profitable from a theoretical point of view (more replicates of the conditions of interest for the same number of arrays). However, the interpretation of the measurements is less straightforward and a reconstruction method is needed to convert the observed ratios into the genuine profile of interest (e.g. a time profile). The potential advantages of using these alternative designs thus largely depend on the success of the profile reconstruction. Therefore, we compared to what extent different linear models agree with each other in reconstructing expression ratios and corresponding time profiles from a complex design.

Results

On average the correlation between the estimated ratios was high, and all methods agreed with each other in predicting the same profile, especially for genes of which the expression profile showed a large variance across the different time points. Assessing the similarity in profile shape, it appears that, the more similar the underlying principles of the methods (model and input data), the more similar their results. Methods with a dye effect seemed more robust against array failure. The influence of a different normalization was not drastic and independent of the method used.

Conclusion

Including a dye effect such as in the methods lmbr_dye, anovaFix and anovaMix compensates for residual dye related inconsistencies in the data and renders the results more robust against array failure. Including random effects requires more parameters to be estimated and is only advised when a design is used with a sufficient number of replicates. Because of this, we believe lmbr_dye, anovaFix and anovaMix are most appropriate for practical use.
Characterization of phenylpropanoid pathway genes within European maize (Zea mays L.) inbreds
Authors: Andersen Jeppe Reitan , Zein Imad , Wenzel Gerhard , Darnhofer Birte , Eder Joachim , Ouzunova Milena , Lübberstedt Thomas
Published: March 2008

Background

Forage quality of maize is influenced by both the content and structure of lignins in the cell wall. Biosynthesis of monolignols, constituting the complex structure of lignins, is catalyzed by enzymes in the phenylpropanoid pathway.

Results

In the present study we have amplified partial genomic fragments of six putative phenylpropanoid pathway genes in a panel of elite European inbred lines of maize (Zea maysL.) contrasting in forage quality traits. Six loci, encoding C4H, 4CL1, 4CL2, C3H, F5H, and CAD, displayed different levels of nucleotide diversity and linkage disequilibrium (LD) possibly reflecting different levels of selection. Associations with forage quality traits were identified for several individual polymorphisms within the4CL1,C3H, andF5Hgenomic fragments when controlling for both overall population structure and relative kinship. A 1-bp indel in4CL1was associated within vitrodigestibility of organic matter (IVDOM), a non-synonymous SNP inC3Hwas associated with IVDOM, and an intron SNP inF5Hwas associated with neutral detergent fiber. However, theC3HandF5Hassociations did not remain significant when controlling for multiple testing.

Conclusion

While the number of lines included in this study limit the power of the association analysis, our results imply that genetic variation for forage quality traits can be mined in phenylpropanoid pathway genes of elite breeding lines of maize.
Linking the ovarian cancer transcriptome and immunome
Authors: Rapberger Ronald , Perco Paul , Sax Cornelia , Pangerl Thomas , Siehs Christian , Pils Dietmar , Bernthaler Andreas , Lukas Arno , Mayer Bernd , Krainer Michael
Published: March 2008

Background

Autoantigens have been reported in a variety of tumors, providing insight into the interplay between malignancies and the immune response, and also giving rise to novel diagnostic and therapeutic concepts. Why certain tumor-associated proteins induce an immune response remains largely elusive.

Results

This paper analyzes the proposed link between increased abundance of a protein in cancerous tissue and the increased potential of the protein for induction of a humoral immune response, using ovarian cancer as an example. Public domain data sources on differential gene expression and on autoantigens associated with this malignancy were extracted and compared, using bioinformatics analysis, on the levels of individual genes and proteins, transcriptional coregulation, joint functional pathways, and shared protein-protein interaction networks. Finally, a selected list of ovarian cancer-associated, differentially regulated proteins was tested experimentally for reactivity with antibodies prevalent in sera of ovarian cancer patients.

Genes reported as showing differential expression in ovarian cancer exhibited only minor overlap with the public domain list of ovarian cancer autoantigens. However, experimental screening for antibodies directed against antigenic determinants from ovarian cancer-associated proteins yielded clear reactions with sera.

Conclusion

A link between tumor protein abundance and the likelihood of induction of a humoral immune response in ovarian cancer appears evident.
The Orphan Nuclear Receptor, NOR-1, a Target of β-Adrenergic Signaling, Regulates Gene Expression that Controls Oxidative Metabolism in Skeletal Muscle
Authors: Pearen Michael A. , Myers Stephen A. , Raichur Suryaprakash , Ryall James G. , Lynch Gordon S. , Muscat George E. O.
Published: March 2008

β1–3-Adrenoreceptor (AR)-deficient mice are unable to regulate energy expenditure and develop diet-induced obesity on a high-fat diet. We determined previously that β2-AR agonist treatment activated expression of the mRNA encoding the orphan nuclear receptor, NOR-1, in muscle cells and plantaris muscle. Here we show that β2-AR agonist treatment significantly and transiently activated the expression of NOR-1 (and the other members of the NR4A subgroup) in slow-twitch oxidative soleus muscle and fast-twitch glycolytic tibialis anterior muscle. The activation induced by β-adrenergic signaling is consistent with the involvement of protein kinase A, MAPK, and phosphorylation of cAMP response element-binding protein. Stable cell lines transfected with a silent interfering RNA targeting NOR-1 displayed decreased palmitate oxidation and lactate accumulation. In concordance with these observations, ATP production in the NOR-1 silent interfering RNA (but not control)-transfected cells was resistant to (azide-mediated) inhibition of oxidative metabolism and expressed significantly higher levels of hypoxia inducible factor-1α. In addition, we observed the repression of genes that promote fatty acid oxidation (peroxisomal proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator-1α/β and lipin-1α) and trichloroacetic acid cycle-mediated carbohydrate (pyruvate) oxidation [pyruvate dehydrogenase phosphatase 1 regulatory and catalytic subunits (pyruvate dehydrogenase phosphatases-1r and -c)]. Furthermore, we observed that β2-AR agonist administration in mouse skeletal muscle induced the expression of genes that activate fatty acid oxidation and modulate pyruvate use, including PGC-1α, lipin-1α, FOXO1, and PDK4. Finally, we demonstrate that NOR-1 is recruited to the lipin-1α and PDK-4 promoters, and this is consistent with NOR-1-mediated regulation of these genes. In conclusion, NOR-1 is necessary for oxidative metabolism in skeletal muscle.
Evidence that γ-Aminobutyric Acid Is Part of the Neural Circuit Mediating Estradiol Negative Feedback in Anestrous Ewes
Authors: Bogusz Adrienne L. , Hardy Steven L. , Lehman Michael N. , Connors John M. , Hileman Stanley M. , Sliwowska Joanna H. , Billings Heather J. , McManus Christina J. , Valent Miroslav , Singh Sushma R. , Nestor Casey C. , Coolen Lique M. , Goodman Robert L.
Published: March 2008

Seasonal anestrus in ewes is driven by an increase in response to estradiol (E2) negative feedback. Compelling evidence indicates that inhibitory A15 dopaminergic (DA) neurons mediate the increased inhibitory actions of E2 in anestrus, but these neurons do not contain estrogen receptors. Therefore, we have proposed that estrogen-responsive afferents to A15 neurons are part of the neural circuit mediating E2 negative feedback in anestrus. This study examined the possible role of afferents containing γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and nitric oxide (NO) in modulating the activity of A15 neurons. Local administration of NO synthase inhibitors to the A15 had no effect on LH, but GABA receptor ligands produced dramatic changes. Administration of either a GABAA or GABAB receptor agonist to the A15 increased LH secretion in ovary-intact ewes, suggesting that GABA inhibits A15 neural activity. In ovariectomized anestrous ewes, the same doses of GABA receptor agonist had no effect, but combined administration of a GABAA and GABAB receptor antagonist to the A15 inhibited LH secretion. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that endogenous GABA release within the A15 is low in ovary-intact anestrous ewes and elevated after ovariectomy. Using dual immunocytochemistry, we observed that GABAergic varicosities make close contacts on to A15 neurons and that A15 neurons contain both the GABAA-α1 and the GABAB-R1 receptor subunits. Based on these data, we propose that in anestrous ewes, E2 inhibits release of GABA from afferents to A15 DA neurons, increasing the activity of these DA neurons and thus suppressing episodic secretion of GnRH and LH.
Hormonal Regulation of Suppressors of Cytokine Signaling (SOCS) Messenger Ribonucleic Acid in the Arcuate Nucleus during Late Pregnancy
Authors: Steyn Frederik J. , Anderson Greg M. , Grattan David R.
Published: March 2008

Prolactin stimulates tuberoinfundibular dopamine neurons in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus, mediated by signal transducer and activator of transcription 5b (STAT5b). During late pregnancy, these neurons become unresponsive to prolactin, with a loss of prolactin-induced activation of STAT5b and decreased dopamine secretion. Suppressors of cytokine signaling (SOCS) proteins inhibit STAT-mediated signaling, and SOCS mRNAs are specifically elevated in the arcuate nucleus during late pregnancy. We hypothesized that changes in circulating ovarian steroids during late pregnancy might induce expression of SOCS mRNAs, thus disrupting STAT5b-mediated prolactin signaling. Rats were ovariectomized on d 18 of pregnancy and treated with ovarian steroids to simulate an advanced, normal, or delayed decline in progesterone. Early progesterone withdrawal caused an early increase in prolactin secretion, and increased SOCS-1 and -3 and cytokine-inducible SH2-containing protein (CIS) mRNA levels in the arcuate nucleus. Prolonged progesterone treatment prevented these changes. To determine whether ovarian steroids directly alter SOCS mRNA levels, estrogen- and/or progesterone-treated ovariectomized nonpregnant rats were acutely injected with prolactin (300 μg sc) or vehicle. SOCS-1 and -3 and CIS mRNA levels in the arcuate nucleus were significantly increased by estrogen or prolactin, whereas progesterone treatment reversed the effect of estrogen. Results demonstrate that estrogen and prolactin can independently induce SOCS mRNA in the arcuate nucleus and that this effect is negatively regulated by progesterone. This is consistent with the hypothesis that declining progesterone and high levels of estrogen during late pregnancy induce SOCS in the tuberoinfundibular dopamine neurons, thus contributing to their insensitivity to prolactin at this time.
The Sky Is Falling: Risk, Safety, and the Avian Flu
Authors: Squier Susan
Published: March 2008

The rhetoric of risk and safety has shaped, and unfortunately limited, our contemporary reservoir of responses to H5N1, the avian flu virus. This essay turns to an old children's story, “The Story of Chicken-Licken,” to recover the folk wisdom obscured with the development of industrial poultry farming. Both the risk of a transspecies outbreak of high pathogen avian flu and the measures promised to ensure our safety in such a crisis are culturally constructed, reflecting the racialized, scientized, and commodified nature of contemporary chicken farming.
Surrogate Supervisors: Railway Spotters and the Origins of Workplace Surveillance
Authors: Luff Jennifer
Published: March 2008

Labor spies, the furtive agents working undercover and reporting on workers in American factories and mines, have long fascinated labor historians. This essay finds their forerunners in nineteenth-century railway spotters, undercover agents posing as passengers who rode American trains and streetcars surreptitiously observing conductors. Railway spotting started out not to thwart worker militancy but to curb conductors' fare thefts, which were prolific. In the 1850s, aspiring detective Allan Pinkerton devised and marketed spotting to railroads and streetcar corporations eager to maximize fare collection in a nascent service-sector industry. Their robust craft solidarity enabled conductors to build strong unions, but fare theft was a solitary, secretive act not sanctioned in conductors' workplace moral economy. Thus conductors individually contended with spotters on their cars but proved unable to devise a collective strategy to combat them. Meanwhile Pinkerton sent a railway spotter to infiltrate the Molly Maguires in the Pennsylvania coalfields in the 1870s, and railway spotting spawned labor spying. Spotting led conductors to mistrust their passengers, but labor spies, in the guise of workers, bred suspicion and undermined solidarity among workers. Labor espionage quickly spread across American industry, while fare collection technologies gradually replaced spotters. Historians have treated labor espionage as a straightforward example of employers' drive for workplace control, but the spotter phenomenon shows how a repressive management technique grew out of a more nuanced negotiation between workers and employers of a complex workplace problem.
The Recasualization of Blue-Collar Workers: Industrial Temporary Help Work's Impact on the Working Class
Authors: Van Arsdale David
Published: March 2008

This article derives from participant observation research of temporary help work—a kind of work that has grown exponentially in recent decades and now employs millions of workers both in the United States and globally. More specifically, between 1999 and 2003, I spent a significant amount of time going out on temporary jobs and waiting for work with unemployed and underemployed workers at temporary agency sites in Syracuse, New York. This article chronicles this experience and highlights the perspectives of temporary workers I came to know through the course of my research. These workers are primarily men who identify themselves as blue-collar workers. They turn to temporary help as a means to finding a full-time job. They almost never find a full-time job through temping, however, and instead become dependant on the low-wage temporary jobs dispatched by the agencies. In the wake of large-scale industrial production, temporary help work has become a popular form of employment for poor and working-class communities. Unfortunately, this article shows that the social, psychological, and economic ramifications of doing this kind of work are not so new; they are in fact reminiscent of the social problems experienced by casual workers a decade ago—poverty, transient living, and a loss of working-class pride. Now, at the turn of the millennium, one of the most popular forms of work, temporary help, is in fact casualizing the lives of blue-collar workers in the United States.
Functionalized single-wall carbon nanotube-based gas sensor
Authors: Baratto C , Atashbar M Z , Faglia G , Sberveglieri G
Published: March 2008

In this paper – which was first presented at the 5th IEEE Conference on Sensors in Daegu, Republic of Korea, October 2006 – an improvement of the gas-sensing properties of the single-wall carbon nanotube (SWNT) by functionalizing its surface is reported upon. SWNTs were functionalized with sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), which improved the gas-sensing properties of the SWNTs. Solutions of SWNTs were deposited on the alumina substrate prepatterned with Pt contacts and heater to form the sensors. The morphology of the SWNT films were characterized by atomic force microscope (AFM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) imaging, and their gas-sensing properties were studied using a voltamperometric technique. The sensors' sensitivity was tested in the presence of O3 (70–350 ppb), NO2 (0.1–5 ppm), CO (500 ppm), and NH3 (5 ppm) diluted in humid air (50 per cent relative humidity (RH)). The working temperature was varied in the range 20 °C–70 °C. The sensors showed an appreciable response to low concentrations of 70 ppb of ozone and 100 ppb of NO2, while showing virtually no response to CO and NH3.
Book Reviews
Authors: Lev Benjamin
Published: March 2008

In Book Reviews, we review an extensive and diverse range of books. They cover theory and applications in operations research, statistics, management science, econometrics, mathematics, computers, and information systems. In addition, we include books in other fields that emphasize technical applications. However, we do not review software. To submit a book for review, please send it to me at the above address. Although we cannot review all books because of space limitations, we do list all books that we receive.

We commission all book reviews and do not accept unsolicited reviews. To become a reviewer, please send me your name, address, and specific areas of expertise. We encourage readers to suggest books for review or to ask publishers to send copies of such books.

The authors or editors of books we review in this issue are Charu Chandra, Janis Grabis, Levent Kandiller, and Anita Schobel.
Coca-Cola Enterprises Optimizes Vehicle Routes for Efficient Product Delivery
Authors: Kant Goos , Jacks Michael , Aantjes Corné
Published: March 2008

In 2004 and 2005, Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE)—the world's largest bottler and distributor of Coca-Cola products—implemented ORTEC's vehicle-routing software. Today, over 300 CCE dispatchers use this software daily to plan the routes of approximately 10,000 trucks. In addition to handling nonstandard constraints, the implementation is notable for its progressive transition from the prior business practice. CCE has realized an annual cost saving of $45 million and major improvements in customer service. This approach has been so successful that Coca-Cola has extended it beyond CCE to other Coca-Cola bottling companies and beer distributors.
Procurement Risk Management (PRM) at Hewlett-Packard Company
Authors: Nagali Venu , Hwang Jerry , Sanghera David , Gaskins Matt , Pridgen Mark , Thurston Tim , Mackenroth Patty , Branvold Dwight , Scholler Patrick , Shoemaker Greg
Published: March 2008

Supply chain risks related to product demand, component cost, and availability uncertainties can have a significant impact on a manufacturing company's revenue and profits. The Procurement Risk Management (PRM) Group at Hewlett-Packard (HP) developed and implemented a mathematical model, business process, and software to measure and manage supply chain risks on the procurement side. In 2006, the software-enabled business process helped HP to manage over $7 billion in spending; this resulted in material-cost savings of $128 million. Over the past six years, HP has realized more than $425 million in cumulative cost savings using the PRM approach.
Introduction: 2007 Franz Edelman Award for Achievement in Operations Research and the Management Sciences
Authors: Denton Brian , Sodhi ManMohan S.
Published: March 2008

This special issue of Interfaces is devoted to the finalists of the 36th annual competition for the Franz Edelman Award for Achievement in Operations Research and the Management Sciences, the profession's prestigious award for the practice of operations research. Brian Denton, chair of the competition, and ManMohan S. Sodhi, editor of this special issue, provide an overview of the competition and introduce the finalists.
Hyperlegality
Authors: Hussain Nasser
Published: March 2008

In this essay, I offer a reading of recent antiterrorism legislation in the United Kingdom that draws away from a more traditional understanding of emergency as a response to a specific crisis, such as an attack or invasion, through the temporary suspension of rights for the sake of restoring public order. Instead, I draw attention to the structural shifts in governance that these laws represent, and to their intensely bureaucratic nature—to classifications and special commissions, to the inchoate determinations of danger and the large and precise powers that such determinations trigger. I illuminate these current legal developments in Britain by reaching back into Britain's own colonial past. The innovations and enduring legacies of a colonial governmentality, I suggest, offer a valuable resource for understanding the larger significance of specific antiterrorism legislations.
Hijacked Airplanes: May They Be Shot Down?
Authors: Hörnle Tatjana
Published: March 2008

The article examines whether force against a hijacked airplane is permissible if uninvolved passengers are killed. It takes a recent ruling by the German Federal Constitutional Court as its starting point, but addresses the relevant issues on a more general level with arguments drawn from moral philosophy, criminal law theory and constitutional theory, and political philosophy. The author concludes that a private individual who applies deadly force against the plane would commit a criminal wrong but should be excused. If, however, state officials act to protect the lives of other citizens, protective rights stand against defensive rights. Because such conflicts cannot be resolved within a discourse about rights, it is legitimate to save the greater number of persons.
Nucleofection Mediates High-Efficiency Stable Gene Knockdown and Transgene Expression in Human Embryonic Stem Cells
Authors: Hohenstein Kristi A. , Pyle April D. , Chern Jing Yi , Lock Leslie F. , Donovan Peter J.
Published: March 2008

High-efficiency genetic modification of human embryonic stem (hES) cells would enable manipulation of gene activity, routine gene targeting, and development of new human disease models and treatments. Chemical transfection, nucleofection, and electroporation of hES cells result in low transfection efficiencies. Viral transduction is efficient but has significant drawbacks. Here we describe techniques to transiently and stably express transgenes in hES cells with high efficiency using a widely available vector system. The technique combines nucleofection of single hES cells with improved methods to select hES cells at clonal density. As validation, we reduced Oct4 and Nanog expression using siRNAs and shRNA vectors in hES cells. Furthermore, we derived many hES cell clones with either stably reduced alkaline phosphatase activity or stably overexpressed green fluorescent protein. These clones retained stem cell characteristics (normal karyotype, stem cell marker expression, self-renewal, and pluripotency). These studies will accelerate efforts to interrogate gene function and define the parameters that control growth and differentiation of hES cells.

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest is found at the end of this article.
Asymptomatic giardiasis-more prevalent in refugees than in native inhabitants of the city of Nis, Serbia
Authors: Miladinovic-Tasic Natasa , Tasic Suzana , Kranjcic-Zec Ivana , Tasic Gordana , Tasic Aleksandar , Tasic Ivan
Published: March 2008

Giardiasis is a parasitic infection of the digestive tract, most commonly occurring in closed communities such as schools, kindergartens, prisons, and campuses. The civil war in the former Yugoslav republics and in Kosovo caused a large number of refugees to take shelter in the territory of Serbia. Such large numbers of refugees could be accommodated only in the collective centers. Our aim was to examine the differences in the prevalence of asymptomatic giardiasis among 122 refugees from the former Yugoslav republics who lived in the collective centers in Nis, Serbia, and 241 native Nis inhabitants. Conventional microscopic examination (CME) of three stool samples with or without concentration technique and the enzyme immunoassay (EIA) methods were used. The CME method of three stool samples is considered the gold standard in our statistical survey. Asymptomatic giardiasis is found in 7 refugees (5.7%) using the EIA method, while using the CME (3 samples) Giardia duodenalis (G. duodenalis) was detected in 6 persons (4.9%). Using the EIA method and the CME (3 samples) G. duodenalis was detected in only 1 person in the population group of native inhabitants (0.4%). Asymptomatic giardiasis was more prevalent in the population group of refugees accommodated in collective centers than in native inhabitants in the Nis municipality, Serbia.
Language Arts and Arithmetic Achievement, and Specifically Related Perceptual Skills
Authors: Rosner Jerome
Published: March 2008

This study explored the correlates between auditory and visual perceptual skills, and primary grade reading and arithmetic achievement. Three sets of scores–Stanford Achievement Test, a visual perceptual test (VAT), and an auditory perceptual test (AAT) were compared. Partial correlations were calculated for AAT and achievement, controlling on VAT; and for VAT and achievement, controlling on AAT. Results indicated that AAT scores account for significantly more of the variance in the language arts subtest scores than do the VAT; the reverse was true in accounting for the variance in arithmetic scores. It is suggested that learning to read depends heavily upon auditory skills, and that primary arithmetic achievement depends heavily on visual-motor skills. Pedagogical implications of these data are discussed, in terms of choosing optimally effective instructional programs for primary grade children based upon the strengths and deficits of their perceptual skills.
Brief Notes: Statistical Power Analysis and Research Results
Authors: Cohen Jacob
Published: March 2008

I was most pleased by the recent publication by Brewer, “On the Power of Statistical Tests in the American Educational Research Journal” 1972, and understandably delighted with his heavy reliance, in accomplishing his survey, on my power handbook ( Cohen, 1969 ). I strongly agree with his stress on the importance of power analysis. Further, his survey’s confirmation of my finding of a decade ago ( Cohen, 1962 ; 1965 ) that the neglect of power analysis results in generally low power is very useful, although not surprising. Unfortunately, however, some conceptual errors in the article may seriously mislead educational researchers, and undermine our shared goal of promulgating power analysis. Hence, this note.
Learning Games and Student Teams: Their Effects on Classroom Process
Authors: DeVries David L. , Edwards Keith J.
Published: March 2008

This study examines the effects of using a learning game (EQUATIONS), student teams, and the games-teams combination on classroom process variables in seventh grade mathematics classes for a four-week period. Using the game created greater student peer tutoring, less perceived difficulty, and greater satisfaction with the class. Using student teams positively altered classroom process by creating greater student peer tutoring, and greater perceived mutual concern and competitiveness in the classroom. The games-teams combination resulted in greater peer tutoring than either games or teams alone. The results are interpreted using a structural theory of games and of teams.
Contingency Management in the Schools: How Often and How Well Does it Work?
Authors: Thompson Marion , Brassell William R. , Persons Scott , Tucker Richard , Rollins Howard
Published: March 2008

Studies of the application of behavior modification to the classroom rarely report the failure rate or the degree of success relative to appropriate control groups. In the present study, fourteen teachers were trained to use a contingency management program emphasizing the reinforcement of appropriate conduct while minimizing attention to inappropriate conduct. Changes in teacher and student behaviors from a three week baseline period to a three week period following program implementation were compared with changes in control classes over the same period. Twelve of fourteen experimental classrooms improved dramatically as a result of the program with fewer disruptions and higher task involvement. There were no reliable changes in control classes. These data indicate that contingency management works extremely well for many teachers.
Mirror, Mirror ....
Authors: Mitra Shib K.
Published: March 2008

From time to time, we will carry candid observations on the American educational research scene, provided by our colleagues from other lands. These are not systematic studies of comparative nature, but they will nevertheless serve as a mirror for our self-examination. It is a coincidence that the series is introduced by a researcher from one of the oldest civilizations on earth.
Certain Determinants of Academic Expectancies among Southern and Non-Southern Teachers
Authors: Long Barbra H. , Henderson Edmund H.
Published: March 2008

Academic expectancies of teachers for hypothetical children entering school were investigated among 120 teachers who rated stimulus children on the probability of learning to read in the first grade. Race, class, readiness test scores, activity, and attention of children were varied in a factoral design, with the latter three repeated measures. Background of teacher (Southern or not) was a sixth independent variable. Results showed significant effects for test scores, activity, and attention and six significant interactions. It was concluded that expectancies of teachers are influenced strongly by both test scores and classroom behavior, and that such effects may be either realistic or prejudiced.
The Inequality of Educational Opportunity in the Southwest: An Observational Study of Ethnically Mixed Classrooms
Authors: Jackson Gregg , Cosca Cecilia
Published: March 2008

This study assesses teacher behaviors as a factor in the quality of educational opportunity afforded students of different ethnic groups within the schools of the Southwest United States. Observers visited 494 classrooms. They used a slightly modified Flanders interaction coding system to code teacher verbal behaviors with reference to the ethnicity of the student to whom each behavior was directed. The results indicate a number of statistically significant, substantial, and pedagogically important disparities in the teacher behaviors that are directed toward Mexican American and Anglo students. Twenty-two teacher, student, classroom, and school characteristics were also investigated for their possible association with these disparities; a few significant relationships were found.