bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Experiences of College-Age Youths in Families With a Recessive Genetic Condition
Authors: Hern Marcia J. , Beery Theresa A. , Barry Detrice G.
Published: April 2006

Growing up in a family with a recessive genetic condition can trigger questions about progeny effect. This study explored perceptions of family hardiness and information sharing by 18- to 21-year-olds about genetic risk. Semistructured interviews, the Family Hardiness Index (FHI), and a Family Information Sharing Analog Scale (FISAS) were used. Participants included 11 youths who had relatives with hemophilia and 4 with sickle cell anemia. Findings revealed seven themes: assimilating premature knowledge; caring for others, denying self; cautioning during development; experiencing continual sickness; feeling less than; magnifying transition experiences; and sustaining by faith. There was no significant correlation between total FHI and FISAS. However, there was a statistically significant difference in FISAS between genetic condition variance. Specifically, higher hardiness was found and information sharing correlated among college youths in families with hemophilia. Additional research can lead to nursing interventions to provide genetic information to youths in families for illness variance.
Highlights From the 7th International Family Nursing Conference: Plenary Address: Conversations in Context
Authors: Greenwood Sallie , Wright Trish , Nielsen Helen
Published: April 2006

Over 10 years, a number of nurse educators at the Waikato Institute of Technology (WINTEC) have worked collaboratively across primary health, cultural safety, and child and family health domains of the nursing curriculum. They share a common philosophy underpinned by notions of diversity and health equity. The philosophy informs their theoretical inquiry, practice and research interests, and pedagogical concerns. This article outlines some key aspects of their practice as nurse educators and researchers committed to the needs of their specific region in the central North Island of Aotearoa New Zealand. They begin by situating themselves within the region, its people, and influences before moving into a consideration of the wider political and policy environment. They consider the destabilizing effects of cultural safety education and the tension between biculturalism and multiculturalism in their context. Finally, they reflect on how these ideas inform their work with postgraduate child and family nurses.
Families and Withdrawal of Life-Sustaining Therapy
Authors: Wiegand Debra Lynn-McHale
Published: April 2006

As the science progresses related to families participating in the process of withdrawal of life-sustaining therapy (LST), it is important to assess research accomplishments, identify gaps in the knowledge and ways to build on the science, and suggest new directions for future research. Research-based articles related to families participating in the process of withdrawal of LST were obtained by conducting computer-assisted searches and analyzing references lists. A grid was developed that included key variables from each of the studies. A second grid was developed and included the subthemes that evolved from the analysis. Eleven studies were reviewed and analyzed. Themes that evolved include illness context, family context, and family and health care provider interactions. Important information has been discovered about the family decision-making process and helpful health care provider interactions. Additional research focused on withdrawal of LST is needed to understand important concepts, develop instruments, and test interventions.
Using National Incident-Based Reporting System Murder Data to Evaluate Clearance Predictors
Authors: Addington Lynn A.
Published: April 2006

One limitation with the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program’s Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR) is its failure to indicate whether a particular murder has been cleared. As a result, researchers using the SHR must rely on proxy measures to study clearance at the national level. Currently, the UCR Program is undergoing a large-scale conversion from its traditional summary system and SHR to the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). One benefit of NIBRS is that it enables law enforcement agencies to report incident-level clearance information. Although NIBRS provides a new and important source of clearance information, researchers have largely ignored these data. The present study provides an initial examination of the NIBRS murder clearance data. Specifically, these data are used both to evaluate clearance predictors and to assess the validity of the proxy clearance measures previously used with the SHR.
Canadian Homicide
Authors: Salfati C. Gabrielle , Dupont France
Published: April 2006

Recent literature suggests that different styles of homicide will most appropriately be reflected in the different types of behaviors committed by offenders at a crime scene. These distinctions, it has been proposed (e.g., Salfati, 2000), can best be understood using an instrumental and expressive thematic framework for the way the offender acts at the crime scene. Multidimensional analysis was carried out on the crime-scene actions derived from 75 Canadian single-offender, single-victim homicides, with the aim to replicate these earlier studies. A multivariate structure resulted, encompassing both hypothesized styles. Results are discussed in terms of implications for cross-national similarities and differences in the thematic structure of homicide and explorations regarding future avenues for research regarding crime-scene classification.
On Dynamic Tax Reform with Regime Switching
Authors: Chang Wen-ya , Tsai Hsueh-fang
Published: April 2006

This article investigates the effect of tax reform from the viewpoint of regime switching and finds that, following a tax-reform announcement with constant government spending, the key factor determining the adjustment patterns of consumption and capital is the relative extent of the tax-reform-induced “substitution effect” versus the tax-reform-induced “savings-investment effect.” Furthermore, if a rise in government spending is associated with an announcement of tax-financing change, then a crowding-in, a partial crowding-out, or an over-crowding-out effect may be exhibited prior to a government financing change. At the instant of regime switching, consumption exhibits a discontinuous fall to ensure the optimality condition.
Cognition, Incentives, and Public Governance
Authors: Garzarelli Giampaolo
Published: April 2006

The second-generation theory (SGT) of fiscal federalism, which draws upon contemporary economic and industrial organization theory, hitherto focuses only on the negative benefits of public decentralization: the potentially superior ability to align perverse incentives vis-à-vis the centralized governance alternative. The SGT neglects the positive benefits of decentralization (mistake-ridden learning, flexibility, and option discovery), although the limitations of organization theory do not justify such neglect. By likening intergovernmental grants to incomplete contracts, this work shows that the SGT can include the laboratory nature of decentralization.
Recommendations From an International Expert Panel on the Use of Neoadjuvant (Primary) Systemic Treatment of Operable Breast Cancer: An Update
Authors: Kaufmann Manfred , Hortobagyi Gabriel N. , Goldhirsch Aron , Scholl Suzy , Makris Andreas , Valagussa Pinuccia , Blohmer Jens-Uwe , Eiermann Wolfgang , Jackesz Raimund , Jonat Walter , Lebeau Annette , Loibl Sibylle , Miller William , Seeber Sigfried , Semiglazov Vladimir , Smith Roy , Souchon Rainer , Stearns Vered , Untch Michael , von Minckwitz Gunter
Published: April 2006

Neoadjuvant (primary systemic) treatment is the standard treatment for locally advanced breast cancer and a standard option for primary operable disease. Because of new treatments and new understandings of breast cancer, however, recommendations published in 2003 regarding neoadjuvant treatment for operable disease required updating. Therefore, a second international panel of representatives of a number of breast cancer clinical research groups was convened in September 2004 to update these recommendations. As part of this effort, data published to date were reviewed critically and indications for neoadjuvant treatment were newly defined.
Educating Undergraduate Medical Students About Oncology: A Literature Review
Authors: Gaffan Judith , Dacre Jane , Jones Alison
Published: April 2006

Purpose

This article is a review of the literature regarding teaching oncology to undergraduate medical students.

Methods

MEDLINE, Psychinfo, ERIC, TIMELIT, EMBASE, CINAHL and the Cochrane CENTRAL Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) were searched, using the search terms cancer, oncology, education, undergraduate, and teaching.

Results

The main findings can be summarized as follows: the involvement of patients in teaching is popular with students and portfolio learning is a successful way of involving patients; the use of standardized patients to teach breast examination improves students' performance in clinical assessment; the use of silicone models to teach breast examination improves students' sensitivity for detecting breast lumps; computer aided learning modules have a role, but are not superior to other types of learning; learning about cancer screening and prevention increases students' knowledge, improves their self rated skills, and changes their behavior; and cancer patients have an important role to play in teaching undergraduate communication skills.

Conclusion

We have found 48 articles on undergraduate teaching in oncology. Oncology teachers should consider adopting the evidence based approaches outlined in this review, and there should be more emphasis on educational research within the field of oncology.
Assessment of Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha Blockade As an Intervention to Improve Tolerability of Dose-Intensive Chemotherapy in Cancer Patients
Authors: Monk J. Paul , Phillips Gary , Waite Ross , Kuhn John , Schaaf Larry J. , Otterson Gregory A. , Guttridge Denis , Rhoades Chris , Shah Manisha , Criswell Tamara , Caligiuri Michael A. , Villalona-Calero Miguel A.
Published: April 2006

Purpose

Maintaining dose-intensity with chemotherapeutic agents is hindered by a number of adverse effects including asthenia/fatigue. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is one of the cytokines responsible for the fatigue and cachexia associated with malignancies. We used etanercept (TNF-decoy receptor) to maintain dose-intensity of weekly docetaxel.

Patients and Methods

Initially, 12 patients with advanced malignancies were randomly assigned to either docetaxel 43 mg/m2weekly alone (cohort A) or the same docetaxel dose plus etanercept 25 mg subcutaneously twice weekly (cohort B). Subsequently, higher doses of docetaxel in combination with etanercept were evaluated. Pharmacokinetics (PKs), nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) activation, and intracellular cytokines levels were measured. Patients completed weekly questionnaires quantifying asthenia/fatigue.

Results

Twenty-nine of 36 intended docetaxel doses during the first cycle were delivered in cohort A, and 35 of 36 doses were delivered in cohort B (P = .055). Three cohort B patients received additional cycles in the absence of disease progression or severe toxicity, whereas no patients from cohort A received additional cycles. Escalation to docetaxel 52 mg/m2weekly with etanercept resulted in neutropenia, not fatigue, as the limiting adverse effect, and the addition of filgrastim permitted the maintenance of dose-intensity in additional patients. Patients randomly selected to receive etanercept/docetaxel self-reported less fatigue (P < .001), and docetaxel PKs show no relevant influence of etanercept. NF-κB activation and increased expression of TNF-α were associated with increments in docetaxel dose. Antitumor activity was noticed exclusively in patients receiving etanercept.

Conclusion

The addition of etanercept is safe and had no impact on docetaxel concentrations. The significant improvement in tolerability and the trend toward preservation of dose-intensity suggests further exploration of TNF blockade as an adjunct to cancer therapies.
Duration of Adjuvant Chemotherapy for Colon Cancer and Survival Among the Elderly
Authors: Neugut Alfred I. , Matasar Matthew , Wang Xiaoyan , McBride Russell , Jacobson Judith S. , Tsai Wei-Yann , Grann Victor R. , Hershman Dawn L.
Published: April 2006

Purpose

In randomized trials, patients with stage III colon cancer who received 6 months of fluorouracil (FU)-based adjuvant chemotherapy had better survival than patients who did not. However, little is known about the predictors of, or the survival associated with, duration of chemotherapy in the community.

Patients and Methods

The linked Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare database was used to identify individuals ≥ 65 years of age diagnosed with stage III colon cancer between 1995 and 1999. We used logistic and Cox proportional hazards regression models to analyze factors associated with early discontinuation of FU-based chemotherapy among these elderly colon cancer patients.

Results

Among 1,722 patients who received 1 to 7 months of FU-based chemotherapy, older age, being unmarried, and having comorbid conditions were associated with receiving less than 5 months of treatment. Among the 1,579 patients who survived ≥ 8 months, the 1,091 (69.1%) who received 5 to 7 months of treatment had lower overall (hazard ratio [HR], 0.59; 95%, CI 0.49 to 0.71) and colon cancer-specific (HR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.43 to 0.66) mortality than the 488 (30.9%) who received 1 to 4 months of treatment.

Conclusion

More than 30% of elderly patients who initiated FU-based chemotherapy for stage III colon cancer and survived for at least 8 months discontinued treatment early. Mortality rates among such patients were nearly twice as high as among patients who completed 5 to 7 months of treatment. If the association we observed between duration of treatment and survival is confirmed, additional investigation is warranted to determine whether dose-intensity, cumulative dose, or other factors related to receipt of full adjuvant treatment are responsible.
Phase II Study of Gemcitabine and Oxaliplatin in Combination With Bevacizumab in Patients With Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Authors: Zhu Andrew X. , Blaszkowsky Lawrence S. , Ryan David P. , Clark Jeffrey W. , Muzikansky Alona , Horgan Kerry , Sheehan Susan , Hale Kelly E. , Enzinger Peter C. , Bhargava Pankaj , Stuart Keith
Published: April 2006

Purpose

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a vascular tumor with poor prognosis. Given the reported activity of gemcitabine and oxaliplatin (GEMOX) in HCC and the potential benefits of targeting the vascular endothelial growth factor pathway with bevacizumab (B), a phase II study of GEMOX-B was undertaken to define efficacy and toxicity profiles in HCC patients.

Patients and Methods

Eligible patients had pathologically proven measurable unresectable or metastatic HCC. For cycle 1 (14 days), bevacizumab 10 mg/kg was administered alone intravenously on day 1. For cycle 2 and beyond (28 days/cycle), bevacizumab 10 mg/kg was administered on days 1 and 15, gemcitabine 1,000 mg/m2 was administered as a dose rate infusion at 10 mg/m2/min followed by oxaliplatin at 85 mg/m2 on days 2 and 16.

Results

Thirty-three patients were enrolled and 30 patients were assessable for efficacy. The objective response rate was 20%, and 27% of patients had stable disease. Median overall survival was 9.6 months (95% CI, 8.0 months to not available) and median progression-free survival (PFS) was 5.3 months (95% CI, 3.7 to 8.7 months); the PFS rate at 3 and 6 months was 70% (95% CI, 54% to 85%) and 48% (95% CI, 31% to 65%), respectively. The most common treatment-related grade 3 to 4 toxicities included leukopenia/neutropenia, transient elevation of aminotransferases, hypertension, and fatigue.

Conclusion

GEMOX-B could be safely administered with close monitoring and had moderate antitumor activity for patients with advanced HCC. The high 6-month PFS rate is encouraging, and this regimen is worthy of further investigation.
Regulation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase p44 ERK activity during anoxia/recovery in rainbow trout hypodermal fibroblasts
Authors: Ossum Carlo G. , Wulff Tune , Hoffmann Else K.
Published: April 2006

It is well known from various mammalian cells that anoxia has a major impact on the mitogen-activated protein kinase ERK, but a possible similar effect in fish cells has not been investigated. Here we characterise a p44ERK-like protein in the rainbow trout cell line RTHDF and study the effect of (i) serum stimulation, (ii) sodium azide (chemical anoxia) and removal of azide (recovery) and (iii) anoxia (PO2<0.1%) and recovery. During both chemical and true anoxia p44ERK was inhibited and recovery resulted in robust reactivation of p44ERK activity, far above the initial level. The inhibition was secondary to activation of p38MAPK and the increase was MEK dependent, as SB203580 inhibited the dephosphorylation during anoxia and the presence of PD98059 inhibited phosphorylation of p44ERK during recovery. In addition, we demonstrated that the reactivation of p44ERK during recovery also was dependent on reactive oxygen species and a PP1/PP2A-like phosphatase.
Tensilin-like stiffening protein fromHolothuria leucospilotadoes not induce the stiffest state of catch connective tissue
Authors: Tamori Masaki , Yamada Akira , Nishida Naoto , Motobayashi Yumiko , Oiwa Kazuhiro , Motokawa Tatsuo
Published: April 2006

The dermis of sea cucumbers is a catch connective tissue or mutable connective tissue that exhibits large changes in mechanical properties. A stiffening protein, tensilin, has been isolated from the sea cucumber Cucumaria frondosa. We purified a similar protein, H-tensilin, from Holothuria leucospilota, which belongs to a different family to C. frondosa. H-tensilin appeared as a single band with an apparent molecular mass of 34 kDa on SDS-PAGE. No sugar chain was detected. Tryptic fragments of the protein had homology to known tensilin. H-tensilin aggregated isolated collagen fibrils in vitro in a buffer containing 0.5 mol l–1 NaCl with or without 10 mmol l–1 Ca2+. The activity of H-tensilin was quantitatively studied by dynamic mechanical tests on the isolated dermis. H-tensilin increased stiffness of the dermis in the soft state, induced by Ca2+-free artificial seawater, to a level comparable to that of the standard state, which was the state found in the dermis rested in artificial seawater with normal ionic condition. H-tensilin decreased the energy dissipation ratio of the soft dermis to a level comparable to that of the standard state. When H-tensilin was applied on the dermis in the standard state, it did not alter stiffness nor dissipation ratio. The subsequent application of artificial seawater in which the potassium concentration was raised to 100 mmol l–1increased stiffness by one order of magnitude. These findings suggest that H-tensilin is involved in the changes from the soft state to the standard state and that some stiffening factors other than tensilin are necessary for the changes from the standard to the stiff state.
Fluorescence measurements of serotonin-induced V-ATPase-dependent pH changes at the luminal surface in salivary glands of the blowflyCalliphora vicina
Authors: Rein Julia , Zimmermann Bernhard , Hille Carsten , Lang Ingo , Walz Bernd , Baumann Otto
Published: April 2006

Secretion in blowfly salivary glands is induced by the neurohormone serotonin and powered by a vacuolar-type H+-ATPase (V-ATPase)located in the apical membrane of the secretory cells. We have established a microfluorometric method for analysing pH changes at the luminal surface of the secretory epithelial cells by using the fluorescent dye 5-N-hexadecanoyl-aminofluorescein (HAF). After injection of HAF into the lumen of the tubular salivary gland, the fatty acyl chain of the dye molecule partitions into the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane and its pH-sensitive fluorescent moiety is exposed at the cell surface. Confocal imaging has confirmed that HAF distributes over the entire apical membrane of the secretory cells and remains restricted to this membrane domain. Ratiometric analysis of HAF fluorescence demonstrates that serotonin leads to a reversible dose-dependent acidification at the luminal surface. Inhibition by concanamycin A confirms that the serotonin-induced acidification at the luminal surface is due to H+ transport across the apical membrane via V-ATPase. Measurements with pH-sensitive microelectrodes corroborate a serotonin-induced luminal acidification and demonstrate that luminal pH decreases by about 0.4 pH units at saturating serotonin concentrations. We conclude that ratiometric measurements of HAF fluorescence provide an elegant method for monitoring V-ATPase-dependent H+transport in the blowfly salivary gland in vivo and for analysing the spatiotemporal pattern of pH changes at the luminal surface.
Efficient RNA 5′-adenylation by T4 DNA ligase to facilitate practical applications
Authors: Wang Yangming , Silverman Scott K.
Published: April 2006

We describe a simple procedure for RNA 5′-adenylation using T4 DNA ligase. The 5′-monophosphorylated terminus of an RNA substrate is annealed to a complementary DNA strand that has a 3′-overhang of 10 nucleotides. Then, T4 DNA ligase and ATP are used to synthesize 5′-adenylated RNA (5′-AppRNA), which should find use in a variety of practical applications. In the absence of an acceptor nucleic acid strand, the two-step T4 DNA ligase mechanism is successfully interrupted after the adenylation step, providing 40%–80% yield of 5′-AppRNA after PAGE purification with few side products (the yield varies with RNA sequence). Optimized reaction conditions are described for 5′-adenylating RNA substrates of essentially any length including long and structured RNAs, without need for sequestration of the RNA 3′-terminus to avoid circularization. The new procedure is applicable on the preparative nanomole scale. This 5′-adenylation strategy using T4 DNA ligase is a substantial improvement over our recently reported adenylation method that uses T4 RNA ligase, which often leads to substantial amounts of side products and requires careful optimization for each RNA substrate. Efficient synthetic access to 5′-adenylated RNA will facilitate a range of applications by providing substrates for in vitro selection; by establishing a new protocol for RNA 5′-capping; and by providing an alternative approach for labeling RNA with 32P or biophysical probes at the 5′-terminus.
Arrested yeast splicing complexes indicate stepwise snRNP recruitment during in vivo spliceosome assembly
Authors: Tardiff Daniel F. , Rosbash Michael
Published: April 2006

Pre-mRNA splicing is catalyzed by the spliceosome, a macromolecular machine dedicated to intron removal and exon ligation. Despite an abundance of in vitro information and a small number of in vivo studies, the pathway of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) in vivo spliceosome assembly remains uncertain. To address this situation, we combined in vivo depletions of U1, U2, or U5 snRNAs with chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) analysis of other splicing snRNPs along an intron-containing gene. The data indicate that snRNP recruitment to nascent pre-mRNA predominantly proceeds via the canonical three-step assembly pathway: first U1, then U2, and finally the U4/U6•U5 tri-snRNP. Tandem affinity purification (TAP) using a U2 snRNP-tagged protein allowed the characterization of in vivo assembled higher-order splicing complexes. Consistent with an independent snRNP assembly pathway, we observed high levels of U1–U2 prespliceosomes under U5-depletion conditions, and we observed significant levels of a U2/U5/U6/Prp19-complex mature splicing complex under wild-type conditions. These complexes have implications for the steady-state distribution of snRNPs within nuclei and also reinforce the stepwise recruitment of U1, U2, and the tri-snRNP during in vivo spliceosome assembly.
Effects of Long-term Androgen Administration on Breast Tissue of Female-to-Male Transsexuals
Authors: Slagter Margrita H. , Gooren Louis J.G. , Scorilas Andreas , Petraki Constantina D. , Diamandis Eleftherios P.
Published: April 2006

Our aim was to examine the effects of androgen administration on breast tissue histology of female-to-male transsexuals and to study the immunohistochemical expression of three human tissue kallikreins, hK3 (PSA), hK6, and hK10. We studied 23 female-to-male transsexuals who were treated with injectable testosterone for 18-24 months. We also used 10 control female breast tissues. All tissues were fixed in buffered formalin, embedded in paraffin, and examined by hematoxylin-eosin staining and immunohistochemical staining for PSA, hK6, and hK10. Females treated with androgens exhibited similar involutionary changes as those seen in breast of menopausal women, such as marked reduction of glandular tissue, involution of the lobuloalveolar structures, and prominence of fibrous connective tissue, but presence of only small amounts of fat tissue. Fibrocystic lesions were generally not observed. In immunohistochemistry, in control breast tissues, we found moderate to strong cytoplasmic immunoexpression of hK6 and hK10 in the epithelial ductal and lobuloalveolar structures, but myoepithelial cells were negative. Luminal secretions were also positive. In menopausal breast, the immunoexpression of hK6 and hK10 was weaker and focal. No control case showed immunoexpression for PSA. In female-to-male transsexuals, one case showed focal PSA cytoplasmic immunoexpression in the epithelium of moderately involuting lobules. Long-term administration of androgens in female-to-male transsexuals causes marked reduction of glandular tissue and prominence of fibrous connective tissue. These changes are similar to those observed at the end-stage of menopausal mammary involution. (J Histochem Cytochem 54:905-910, 2006)
A metaphor in search of a source domain: The categories of Slavic aspect
Authors: Janda Laura A.
Published: April 2006

I propose that human experience of matter provides the source domain for the metaphor that motivates the grammatical category of aspect in Russian. This model is a version of the universal TIME IS SPACE metaphor, according to which SITUATIONS ARE MATERIAL ENTITIES, and, more specifically, PERFECTIVE IS A DISCRETE SOLID OBJECT versus IMPERFECTIVE IS A FLUID SUBSTANCE. The contrast of discrete solid objects with fluid substances reveals a rich array of over a dozen properties; the isomorphism observed between those properties and the complex uses of aspect in Russian is compelling. This model presents a more finely articulated account of Russian aspect than feature analysis can achieve. Although some of these properties overlap significantly with the count versus mass distinction often associated with aspect, the properties provide more detail and ground the metaphor to concrete experience. Properties of matter can be divided into three groups: inherent properties such as edges, shape, and integrity (which correspond to inherent situation aspect); interactional properties such as juxtaposition, dynamism, and salience (which correspond to discourse phenomena of aspect); and human interactional properties such as graspability and impact (which correspond to pragmatic phenomena of aspect). The interactional and human interactional properties can be used to motivate subjective construal, whereas the inherent properties serve as default motivators. The model will be demonstrated in detail using Russian data, followed by a survey comparing Russian with the other Slavic languages, which will show that deviations consist of either non-implementation of a given property, or the implementation of an inherent (default) property in place of an interactional or human interactional property. This model will be contrasted with a brief discussion of a selection of non-Slavic languages. The specific metaphor in this model does not apply beyond Slavic, but perhaps it will encourage investigation into the source domain of aspect in other languages. There appears to be a correlation between the relatively heavy morphological investment Slavic languages make in nominal individuation and the individuation of situations presented in this metaphorical model.
Conceptual blending and the interpretation of relatives: A case study from Greek
Authors: Nikiforidou Kiki
Published: April 2006

This article examines instances of the pu relative construction in Modern Greek in which the semantic role of the head is underspecified by the syntax. Such cases include sentences whose nominal head corresponds to some complement of the relative clause predicate and sentences in which the head does not have any sort of syntactic relationship with the relative. The latter, which are characteristic of oral, informal discourse, have been completely ignored in the previous literature, which has defined relatives on the basis of exclusively structural criteria. It is argued that a unified account of the pu-construction (including gapped and gapless relatives) can be achieved if we analyze it as a conventional instruction for a particular kind of conceptual integration. Semantic and pragmatic factors influencing successful construal (one which leads to the construction of a unique blend) are systematically examined. The lack of a clear cut-off point in acceptability for such utterances tallies with the conclusion reached here, namely that the constraints governing such uses are constraints on interpretability.
Quantitative measures of subjectification: A variationist study of Spanish salir(se)
Authors: Aaron Jessi Elana , Cacoullos Rena Torres
Published: April 2006

By confronting variable use, the variationist method can reveal patterns of
subjectification of grammatical morphemes. Applying this method to the analysis
of salir(se)  ‘go out’ variation in Mexican Spanish oral data, we
conclude that subjectification is manifested structurally in the tendency for
middle-marked salirse  to co-occur with first-person singular or
referents close to the speaker, positive polarity and the past tense. Further
comparative dialectal and diachronic data indicate the origins of the
se -marked form in physical spatial deviation. Usage of
the form then extends to situations that denote deviation from social norms. We
thus propose that the locus of subjectification of this counter-expectation
marker is an increasingly speaker-based construal of expectation. This semantic
change appears to proceed via absorption of contextual meaning in the frequently
occurring + de 

‘from’ construction.
Assessing the SSTH and GTVH: A view from cognitive linguistics
Authors: Brône Geert , Feyaerts Kurt
Published: April 2006

Despite its strong cognitive orientation in recent years, humor research still has paid relatively little attention to the paradigm of Cognitive linguistics (CL), which in light of its dynamic view on cognitive and semantic aspects of language in use, seems to provide an adequate framework for the analysis of humor. With regard to the “cognitive construal” of human experience as one of the basic notions of CL, this paper describes for three types of humorous texts in what ways construal operations are exploited, combined, and embedded in humorous discourse, as well as the way in which they relate to the achievement of humorous effects. It is demonstrated, accordingly, that CL contributes to a holistic account of humor as a highly marked and complex, yet structurally not irregular kind of language use. In this respect, this contribution is particularly critical about the category of Logical Mechanisms, defined in the GTVH as humor-specific operations that guide the process of incongruity resolution in humor interpretation. Instead, the present account advocates a prototype model of construal operations, in which incongruity and resolution appear as two perspectives of the same cognitive construal.
Victor Raskin on jokes
Authors: Davies Christie
Published: April 2006

Victor Raskin's clear delineation of the differences between humorous and bone fide serious communication and his systematic formal account of how jokes work was not only a major contribution to linguistics but also made possible revolutionary advances in other areas of the social sciences of humor. It was Raskin's account of the fictional, conventional, and mythical scripts used in jokes that freed us from the earlier tendentious and misleading analyses of jokes in terms of “stereotypes.” The General Theory of Verbal Humor enables us more easily to explain, transform, unpack, and compare quite disparate kinds of jokes from elephant jokes to Polish jokes and to explain how and why jokes have evolved over time. Raskin's contribution to humor scholarship has been that of a master.
Script opposition and logical mechanism in punning
Authors: Hempelmann Christian F.
Published: April 2006

Based on a larger project on punning, this paper outlines the application of the General Theory of Verbal Humor to imperfect puns. The aim is to illustrate the intricate mechanisms of this seemingly simple joke type. Application necessitates the expansion and further formalization of the linguistic tools available for the description and explanation of humor, in this case centrally the knowledge resources for script opposition and logical mechanism. This elaboration of the GTVH is possible, because of its explicitly theory-based and formalized nature. Key results are the distinction of punning and wordplay, as well as verbal and referential humor.
Incongruity in humor: Root cause or epiphenomenon?
Authors: Veale Tony
Published: April 2006

Humor and incongruity appear to be constant bedfellows, for at the heart of every joke one can point to some degree of absurdity, illogicality, or violation of expectation. This observation has lead many theories of humor to base themselves around some notion of incongruity or opposition, most notably the semantic-script theory (or SSTH) of Raskin and the subsequent general theory (or GTVH) of Attardo and Raskin. But correlation does not imply causality (a reality used to good effect in many successful examples of humor), and one should question whether incongruity serves a causal role in the workings and appreciation of humor or merely an epiphenomenal one. It remains a key question for humor researchers as to whether listeners react to incongruities by constructing humorous interpretations, or whether they collaboratively create these incongruities as a result of opportunistically constructing humorous interpretations.
Cross-language comedy in Shakespeare
Authors: Delabastita Dirk
Published: April 2006

This paper presents a typology and brief overview of the humorous scenes in Shakespeare’s plays which derive their comic energy from bilingual and / or translation-based situations. To begin with, four different subtypes of the polyglot pun are distinguished. Two of those turn out to be productive in Shakespeare’s works. The paper then considers the standard expectations associated with the ‘‘normal’’ script of interlingual translation and indicates how in a variety of Shakespearean scenes the breaking of these expectations contributes to producing effects of comic incongruity.
Humor and translation—an interdiscipline
Authors: Zabalbeascoa Patrick
Published: April 2006

This paper calls for greater attention from researchers into the nature of humor translation as an interdisciplinary area that should be of interest to translation and humor studies. It includes a brief review of the complexity of translation and the problems posed by traditional approaches. The paper introduces a number of parameters that may be of assistance in developing joke typologies for translators or translation scholars. A model is presented for structuring joke-types according to binary branching. An attempt is then made to combine the model with ideas and concepts put forward in Attardo (2002). The result is a binary branch tree for the 6 Knowledge Resources and the hierarchical structure that Attardo claims they have. One important conclusion is that sameness, or similarity, may have little to do with funniness, and, if this is so, it is going to create a dilemma for translators wishing to achieve equivalent effect.
Self-reported use of humor by hospitalized pre-adolescent children to cope with pain-related distress from a medical intervention
Authors: Goodenough Belinda , Ford Jennifer
Published: April 2006

This study addresses a measurement gap on the humor-pain interface in pre-adolescent children. 57 hospitalized children aged 6–12 years who had undergone a medical intervention completed measures of pain intensity and unpleasantness (Colored Analogue Scale), general pain coping style (Pain Coping Questionnaire), humor coping—creation, general, and painspecific (child version of the Multidimensional Sense of Humor Scale, and a new measure, the Sydney Children’s Hospital Humor Coping Scale for Children). The results supported predictions that (a) use of pain-specific humor-coping would be positively associated with an adaptive problemfocused coping style, and (b) an emotion-focused pain coping style would be inversely related to use of humor coping. Results also supported the hypothesis that humor coping would be more strongly (and inversely) related to ratings of pain unpleasantness rather than sensory intensity. The data provide preliminary evidence for the reliability and validity of the Sydney Children’s Hospital Humor Coping Scale for Children.
Humor appreciation and latency of comprehension
Authors: Cunningham William A. , Derks Peter
Published: April 2006

The relation between humor appreciation and comprehension difficulty has been described as an inverted U function. That is, when a joke is too easy or too hard to understand it will be less funny than a joke of intermediate difficulty. Humor appreciation might, however, be a kind of expert skill. Then the easier it is to get a joke for the experienced language user the funnier the joke will be. Two experiments found the relation between the latency of recognizing a message as a joke and the funniness of that joke to be primarily negative and linear. There was no evidence of an inverted U with this material. Funnier material was reacted to more quickly than less funny material providing some evidence for the expert skill hypothesis. Some jokes congruent with male gender stereotypes, however, resulted in higher humor ratings by females but did not affect recognition latency. This finding suggests the possibility of an implicit structural and a more explicit content factor in humor appreciation.
Worlds in worlds: Assigning inferences to subdomains
Authors: Bailin Alan
Published: April 2006

This article examines the question of when inferences we make from a text apply to a conceptual subdomain and not the main conceptual domain of the text. In the process of understanding a text, we make these determinations all the time, easily, intuitively. This would suggest underlying principles, rather than ad hoc judgments or a wide set of disparate factors. It is such underlying principles that this article investigates. The framework proposed here allows us to account not only for instances in which a space builder is crucial to assigning propositions to subdomains, but also for cases where there is no such explicit mechanism. It allows us to account in a systematic way for the fact that certain linguistic terms can function as space builders at certain times but not at others, as well as providing ways of understanding more complex phenomena related to metaphor and equivocation.
Biology, semiotics, complexity: An experiment in interdisciplinarity
Authors: Hodge Bob , Caballero Lorena
Published: April 2006

This paper uses some recent ideas in biology as
starting point to explore analogous concepts and tendencies in semiotics and
biology, leading to reflections on interdisciplinarity itself within the
framework of theories of chaos and complexity. It sees affinities between the
biological concept of species and the semiotic category of discipline. It finds
many suggestive parallels with semiotics from the recently emerging synthesis of
evolution and development (‘Evo-Devo’), built around the discovery of ‘homeobox’
genes which are present in many very different lineages, opening up
possibilities for ‘deep’ homologies between species, and providing a powerful
model for semiotic homology.
Projection in Interaction and Projection in Grammar
Authors: Auer Peter
Published: April 2006

In this paper, I argue that there are fundamental common features shared by interaction and grammar that suggest some kind of interdependence between the two and a nonautonomy of the language faculty; one of these fundamental common features is that of ‘projectability’. Human interaction rests on the possibility of projection; the grammars of human languages provide interlocutors with sedimentated and shared ways of organizing them.

Empirical evidence for this view comes from structural homologies between action projection and grammatical projection. In particular, it is shown (on the basis of conversational examples from German) that in both cases: (1) the strength of the projective force can vary; (2) emerging gestalts can be framed by weakly projecting introductions; (3) projections can be interrupted; (4) full gestalts can be expanded; and (5) projections can be abandoned.

The projectability of syntactic as well as sequence structures suggests an approach to syntax that takes into account the temporal unfolding of speech in time. It also suggests looking at the indeterminate areas between syntax and conversational structure in which the borderline between grammar and interaction can only be drawn on an ad hoc basis.
Cyclic Linearization of Syntactic Structure
Authors: Fox Danny , Pesetsky David
Published: April 2006

This paper proposes an architecture for the mapping between syntax and phonology – in particular, that aspect of phonology that determines the linear ordering of words. We propose that linearization is restricted in two key ways. (1) the relative ordering of words is fixed at the end of each phase, or ‘‘Spell-out domain’’; and (2) ordering established in an earlier phase may not be revised or contradicted in a later phase. As a consequence, overt extraction out of a phase P may apply only if the result leaves unchanged the precedence relations established in P. We argue first that this architecture (‘‘cyclic linearization’’) gives us a means of understanding the reasons for successive-cyclic movement. We then turn our attention to more specific predictions of the proposal: in particular, the effects of Holmberg’s Generalization on Scandinavian Object Shift; and also the Inverse Holmberg Effects found in Scandinavian ‘‘Quantifier Movement’’ constructions (Rögnvaldsson (1987); Jónsson (1996); Svenonius (2000)) and in Korean scrambling configurations (Ko (2003, 2004)). The cyclic linearization proposal makes predictions that cross-cut the details of particular syntactic configurations. For example, whether an apparent case of verb fronting results from V-to-C movement or from ‘‘remnant movement’’ of a VP whose complements have been removed by other processes, the verb should still be required to precede its complements after fronting if it preceded them before fronting according to an ordering established at an earlier phase. We argue that ‘‘cross-construction’’ consistency of this sort is in fact found.
Re: CycLin and the role of PF in Object Shift
Authors: Bobaljik Jonathan David
Published: April 2006

This volume’s two target articles explore novel approaches to word order alternations, especially Scandinavian Object Shift. They share the common perspective that aspects of linear order long considered the exclusive purview of syntax may be better understood if the burden of explanation is split between phonological and syntactic modules. The two articles differ substantially, however, in how this general hunch plays out, in particular in the amount of the explanation that is attributed to extra-syntactic factors. Fox and Pesetsky’s ‘‘Cyclic Linearization’’ model (hereafter F&P, CycLin) is compatible with familiar syntactic models, and can be seen as a filter running (cyclically) on the output of syntactic derivations. F&P suggest that their proposal can explain various heretofore stipulated conditions on syntactic operations as consequences of the architecture of their system and a single axiom about linearization. Erteschik-Shir’s proposal in ‘‘Sound Patterns of Syntax’’ (hereafter E-S) is more radical, in the sense that far less of the familiar syntax is retained; where for CycLin movement is still a syntactic process, on E-S’s view a good deal of traditionally syntactic movement must be rethought in linear, rather than hierarchical terms. Both articles are largely exploratory and leave many of the details still to be spelled-out. To engage the ideas on specifics, then, will involve to some degree making some educated guesses about what ancillary assumptions the relevant authors might condone. I will therefore restrict myself to a few comments at a general level, though it will be impossible to do justice to these authors’ ideas in the allotted space.
Some Remarks on Fox and Pesetsky: ‘‘Cyclic Linearization of Syntactic Structure’’
Authors: Diesing Molly
Published: April 2006

Fox and Pesetsky (F&P) make the claim that certain constraints on Object Shift and Quantifier Movement in Scandinavian can be explained within their model of the mapping between syntax and phonology. Among the salient features of this model are: Spell-out occurs phase-by-phase (as in recent work by Chomsky 2000, 2001a,b), and linearization relations established at each Spell-out point must be preserved (F&P’s property of Order Preservation). As F&P demonstrate quite elegantly, this system enforces successive cyclicity in wh-movement, in that non-successive-cyclic derivations will result in an ordering contradiction (violating Order Preservation). Thus, the ‘‘cyclicity’’ of successive cyclicity is shifted to being a by-product of the cyclic spelling-out process. One might still ask why Spell-out itself is cyclic, but this is certainly a welcome simplification.
Comments on Erteschik-Shir’s article
Authors: Hellan Lars
Published: April 2006

The article to my mind rightly emphasizes the importance of prosodic and discourse-dynamic factors. Applied to the Norwegian phenomena, these factors may be rendered as:

(1)

a. A pronoun is incorporated in a prosodic domain P only if its referent is included in the discourse-dynamic domain GIVEN relative to the proposition being expressed.

b. Adverbial elements that can occur right-adjacent to a category C, can also occur right-adjacent to the cluster C+pron+ when this cluster is a prosodic domain.
Remarks on cyclic linearization and order preservation
Authors: Müller Gereon
Published: April 2006

The goal of this paper is to compare the approach to order preservation in Fox & Pesetsky (2005) with the approach I develop in Müller (2000) on the basis of Williams (1999, 2003) and an earlier study of mine. I will proceed as follows. In section 2, I briefly sketch main features of Fox & Pesetsky’s (2005) analysis. Against this background, I discuss some of the properties of the approach developed in Müller (2000) in section 3. In section 4, the two approaches are compared. Section 5 draws a conclusion.