bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Nebivolol improves diastolic dysfunction and myocardial remodeling through reductions in oxidative stress in the transgenic (mRen2) rat
Authors: Ma Lixin , Gul Rukhsana , Habibi Javad , Yang Ming , Pulakat Lakshmi , Whaley-Connell Adam , Ferrario Carlos M. , Sowers James R.
Published: March 2012

Angiotensin II contributes to myocardial tissue remodeling and interstitial fibrosis through NADPH oxidase-mediated generation of oxidative stress in the progression of heart failure. Recent data have suggested that nebivolol, a third-generation β-blocker, improves diastolic dysfunction by targeting nitric oxide (NO) and metabolic pathways that decrease interstitial fibrosis. We sought to determine if targeting NO would improve diastolic function in a model of tissue renin-angiotensin system overactivation. We used the transgenic (TG) (mRen2)27 rat, which overexpresses the murine renin transgene and manifests insulin resistance and left ventricular dysfunction. We treated 6- to 7-wk-old TG (mRen2)27 rats and age-matched Sprague-Dawley control rats with nebivolol (10 mg·kg−1·day−1) or placebo via osmotic minipumps for a period of 21 days. Compared with Sprague-Dawley control rats, TG (mRen2)27 rats displayed a prolonged diastolic relaxation time and reduced initial filling rate associated with increased interstitial fibrosis and left ventricular hypertrophy. These findings were temporally related to increased NADPH oxidase activity and subunits p47 phox and Rac1 and increased total ROS and peroxynitrite formation in parallel with reductions in the antioxidant heme oxygenase as well as the phosphorylation/activation of endothelial NO synthase and PKB/Akt. Treatment with nebivolol restored diastolic function and interstitial fibrosis through increases in the phosphorylation of 5′-AMP-activated protein kinase, Akt, and endothelial NO synthase and reductions in oxidant stress. These results support that targeting NO with nebivolol treatment improves diastolic dysfunction through reducing myocardial oxidative stress by enhancing 5′-AMP-activated protein kinase and Akt activation of NO biosynthesis.
Investigation of Antimicrobial Activity and Statistical Optimization ofBacillus subtilisSPB1 Biosurfactant Production in Solid-State Fermentation
Authors: Ghribi Dhouha , Abdelkefi-Mesrati Lobna , Mnif Ines , Kammoun Radhouan , Ayadi Imen , Saadaoui Imen , Maktouf Sameh , Chaabouni-Ellouze Semia
Published: March 2012

During the last years, several applications of biosurfactants with medical purposes have been reported. Biosurfactants are considered relevant molecules for applications in combating many diseases. However, their use is currently extremely limited due to their high cost in relation to that of chemical surfactants. Use of inexpensive substrates can drastically decrease its production cost. Here, twelve solid substrates were screened for the production ofBacillus subtilisSPB1 biosurfactant and the maximum yield was found with millet. A Plackett-Burman design was then used to evaluate the effects of five variables (temperature, moisture, initial pH, inoculum age, and inoculum size). Statistical analyses showed that temperature, inoculum age, and moisture content had significantly positive effect on SPB1 biosurfactant production. Their values were further optimized using a central composite design and a response surface methodology. The optimal conditions of temperature, inoculum age, and moisture content obtained under the conditions of study were 37°C, 14 h, and 88%, respectively. The evaluation of the antimicrobial activity of this compound was carried out against 11 bacteria and 8 fungi. The results demonstrated that this biosurfactant exhibited an important antimicrobial activity against microorganisms with multidrug-resistant profiles. Its activity was very effective againstStaphylococcus aureus,Staphylococcus xylosus,Enterococcus faecalis,Klebsiella pneumonia, and so forth.
Differences in Surface Marker Expression and Chondrogenic Potential among Various Tissue-Derived Mesenchymal Cells from Elderly Patients with Osteoarthritis
Authors: Alegre-Aguarón Elena , Desportes Paula , García-Álvarez Felícito , Castiella Tomás , Larrad Luis , Martínez-Lorenzo María José
Published: March 2012

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are self-renewing, multipotent cells that could potentially be used to repair injured cartilage in diseases such as osteoarthritis (OA). In this study we used bone marrow, adipose tissue from articular and subcutaneous locations, and synovial fluid samples from 18 patients with knee OA to find a suitable alternative source for the isolation of MSCs with high chondrogenic potential. MSCs from all tissues analysed had a fibroblastic morphology, but their rates of proliferation varied. Subcutaneous fat-derived MSCs proliferated faster than bone marrow- and Hoffa’s fat pad-derived MSCs, while synovial fluid-derived MSCs grew more slowly. CD36 and CD54 expression was similar across all groups of MSCs with several minor differences. High expression of these surface markers in subcutaneous fat-derived MSCs was correlated with poor differentiation into hyaline cartilage. Synovial fluid-derived MSCs presented a relatively small chondrogenic differentiation capacity while Hoffa’s fat pad-derived MSCs had strong chondrogenic potential. In conclusion, MSCs from elderly patients with OA may still display significant chondrogenic potential, depending on their origin.
Ureteral Stent Exchange under Fluoroscopic Guidance Using the Crochet Hook Technique in Women
Authors: Kawahara Takashi , Ito Hiroki , Terao Hideyuki , Yamashita Yuzo , Tanaka Katsuyuki , Ogawa Takehiko , Uemura Hiroji , Kubota Yoshinobu , Matsuzaki Junichi
Published: March 2012

Purpose: We developed a method for ureteral stent exchange in female patients under fluoroscopic guidance using a crochet hook technique (CHEX). Patients and Methods: A total of 45 female patients (51 stents) underwent exchange of ureteral stents. In these patients, 21 ureteral stents were exchanged using CHEX. All procedures were carried out with the patients under conscious sedation. At the time of the procedures, we extracted the ureteral stent from the external urethral orifice using CHEX under fluoroscopic guidance and inserted the new stent under fluoroscopic guidance without cystoscopy. Results: 20 of the 21 stents (95.2%) were successfully exchanged. Ureteral stent exchange using CHEX was unsuccessful in 1 patient, including migration to the ureter. Conclusions: Ureteral stent exchange using a crochet hook is easy, safe and cost-effective. This technique was also easy to learn.
Sound, Space and Moral Soundscapes in Ruyijun zhuan and Chipozi zhuan
Authors: Stevenson Mark
Published: March 2012

This paper employs methods from phenomenology, anthropology and literary criticism to theorise the deployment of sound in two early works of erotic fiction from sixteenth-century China: Ruyijun zhuan ([The tale of ] The Lord of Perfect Satisfaction) and Chipozi zhuan (A tale of an infatuated woman). After assessing the significance of the two novels in relation to problems of gender ideology in the period, as well as the treatment of sound, noisiness and gender in two Tang dynasty works, the paper demonstrates how almost all occurrences of non-verbal or involuntary sounds in the novels are attached to the moral positioning of their women protagonists in relation to gender norms. While not performing a full content analysis of the novels' soundscapes, moral or otherwise, a select number of examples are used to illustrate how a focus on sound, as a sign of both external moral threat and the inner person, adds to our understanding of erotic fiction from the late Ming (1520-1644). While they employ aurality in radically different ways, the two novels show how aural events share a similar function in governing women's sexuality.
Comportements De Toilettage Et Activation Chez Le Rat Blanc
Authors: Feyereisen Pierre , Blondiau Charles
Published: March 2012

Nous avons observé les comportements de toilettage (grattage, léchage de la fourrure et lavage du museau), ainsi que les autres comportements spécifiques (exploration, immobilité, alimentation) chez 8 rats mâles, de souche Wistar, pendant leur période d'activité. Nous avons mené trois expériences : I, introduction du rat en cage étrangère; II, humidification du pelage; III, introduction d'un objet et diffusion d'un bruit. L'introduction en cage étrangère provoque une augmentation de la durée de l'exploration; la durée des grattages est réduite, celle des lavages de museau accrue. L'humidification du pelage provoque une augmentation de la durée des léchages de la fourrure aux dépends de celle des états d'immobilité. L'introduction d'un objet dans la cage habituelle déclenche une augmentation de l'activité exploratoire, sans modification systématique des autres comportements; par contre, la diffusion d'un bruit provoque une augmentation de l'activité exploratoire, moins nette que dans le cas précédent, mais s'accompagnant d'une augmentation de la durée des léchages de la fourrure et des lavages du museau. On constate ainsi que les stimulations n'ont pas le même effet sur toutes les composantes du toilettage : l'augmentation de la durée de l'exploration réduit la durée du grattage, mais non celle des lavages du museau. En cage habituelle, ces composantes étaient cependant positivement corrélées. Ces résultats invitent à analyser les relations entre le toilettage et l'exploration, ainsi que les différences entre les composantes du toilettage. ;
Snake Species Discrimination and the Role of Olfactory Cues in the Snake-Directed Behavior of the California Ground Squirrel
Authors: Hennessy David F. , Owings Donald H.
Published: March 2012

This experiment had two objectives. One was to seek evidence for greater caution by California ground squirrels (Spermophilus beccheyi) when interacting with venomous rattlesnakes (Crotalus viridis), their most important snake predator, than when interacting with nonvenomous gopher snakes (Pituophis nielanoleucus), their second-most important snake predator. The second was to examine the role of olfaction in mediating snake-directed behavior by these squirrels, since many squirrel-snake encounters occur in burrows where visual cues are unavailable. In an illuminated room, we videotaped the responses by eight freely moving ground squirrels to the two snake species; the snakes were presented in large, transparent plastic bags that were either sealed (odor unavailable) or perforated (odor available). The results confirmed our predictions that the squirrels should behave more cautiously toward rattlesnakes than toward gopher snakes, and that olfaction is an important mediator of snake-directed behavior. Although the squirrels approached the two snake species equally often, they attended more to the rattlesnake than to the gopher snake, but remained farther away from the rattlesnake. When snake odor was available, the squirrels spent more time attending to the snakes, approached the snakes more frequently, approached the snakes in elongate postures more often and sand kicked more at the snakes. We proposed the following. i. The antipredator strategy of snake harassment by California ground squirrels is sensitive to risk, exhibiting attenuation where risk is higher. 2. Olfaction is likely to be even more important during squirrel-snake encounters in the dark, especially in burrows. 3. The ability to recognize snakes on the basis of odor may not depend on prior experience with snakes, and may circumvent difficulties associated with visual detection of snakes.
Combat in the Fiddler Crabs Uca Pugilator and U. Pugnax: a Quantitative Analysis
Authors: Hyatt Gary W. , Salmon Michael
Published: March 2012

The aggressive behavior of two temperate species of fiddler crabs (Uca pugilator and U. pugnax) was studied in the field. Most of the fights wer between Residents (crabs owning burrows) and Wanderers seeking to displace them, though less commonly, fighting occurred between Residents occupying adjacent burrows. Over 400 fights were observed in each species. The two species showed differences in the sequences of acts performed during fights. Uca pugnax also performed two acts never observed in U. pugilator. Wanderers were rarely successful in displacing Residents of the same size or larger, but they won a small percentage of fights when they were larger than the Resident. Uca pugilator Wanderers select Residents that are slightly smaller, but we found no evidence for size selection in U. pugnax. Strongly motivated Wanderers repeatedly performed a key act (Downpush), which was also strongly correlated with successfully displacing Residents. Combat duration and number of acts were not related to temperature, the time of day, or the time in relation to low tide. However, the incidence of fighting increases in the early afternoon. Most of the fights occur within 1-3 hours after low tide. Differences between the species in the tempo and length of fights were observed. An hypothesis, based upon habitat differences and the value of burrows as a resource, is presented to account for these differences. We compared our data to CRANE'S (1967) for U. rapax, a tropical species. There are some important differences between her findings and ours, even though U. pugnax is closely related to U. rapax. We suggest that at least one of her opinions on the significance of aggression in tropical fiddlers is in conflict with evolutionary theory. Some of her other ideas do not apply to temperate species, where climatic factors may be responsible for behavioral convergence. Our data also indicate that the differences and similarities between species are sufficiently provocative to warrant further comparative studies.
Color Preferences in Quail Chicks: Generalization of the Effects of Genetic Selection
Authors: Joseph K. Kovach
Published: March 2012

Japanese quail (C. coturnix japonica) were artificially selected for early preferences of blue over red and red over blue. Subjects were drawn from the 2nd and 8th generations of the selected lines and were tested for color choices by five different color pairs, in addition to the blue-red pair used for selection. Eight generations of selection for choices between blue and red modified choice responses to all color combinations. Maximum preferences were not shown in the selected choices between blue and red, but in the choice of green over red in the subjects from the line selected for preference of blue and in the choice of yellow over blue in the subjects from the line selected for preference of red.
Flehmen in the Ring-Tailed Lemur (Lemur Catta)
Authors: Keith Bailey
Published: March 2012

Male ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) show a stereotyped sequence of behaviour when investigating the genital scent of conspecific females. The scent is first lapped with the tip of the tongue. The male then gives a rapid, sneeze-like inspiration, at the same time turning his head and hriefly retracting the upper lip. There follows a prolonged gape, during which the mouth is held half open and the tongue flattened against the lower teeth. Finally, the rhinarium is often licked. The whole cycle may then be repeated. This behaviour is considered to be an example of flehmen. Its purpose may be to transport non-volatile substances to and from the vomeronasal organ, a specialised chemoreceptor. A functional model of this process is outlined.
Dunnocks Discriminate Between the Songs of Familiar Individuals Without Directional Cues
Authors: Langmore
Published: March 2012

Playback experiments have demonstrated that many species of birds discriminate between the songs of neighbours and strangers, and also that they discriminate between familiar songs played from their usual location and from the opposite direction. The mechanism underlying this discrimination could be true recognition of individuals, or association of familiar songs with familiar locations. Here I used playbacks to test whether dunnocks (Prunella modularis) can discriminate between two classes of familiar songs; songs of neighbours and songs of co-males (males who share a territory in a polyandrous or polygynandrous group). Resident males tolerate co-males on their territory but defend their territories vigorously against intrusions from neighbours. Dunnocks approached the songs of neighbours significantly more than the songs of co-males, and they responded more quickly to the songs of neighbours than co-males. Responses to neighbours' songs were the same whether they were played from the centre of the territory or the boundary shared with the neighbour. This indicates that the mechanism underlying discrimination in dunnocks is not simply habituation to familiar songs from familiar directions. Dunnocks may either have true recognition of individuals, or they might have a precise ability to range songs which enables them to habituate to familiar songs when they are sung from both a familiar direction and a familiar distance.
COMMON FEATURES AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN NURSE GRUNTING OF DOMESTIC PIGS (SUS SCROFA): A MULTI-PARAMETRIC ANALYSIS
Authors: Schon Peter-Christian , Puppe Birger , Gromyko Tatjana , Manteuffel Gerhard
Published: March 2012

The nursing vocalisation of domestic pigs was investigated with respect to common features and individual differences. The sow's repeated grunting during nursing can be regarded as a contact call and a signal of the mother to start and synchronise the suckling behaviour of the piglets. Analyses in the time domain revealed the gross structure of the call, whereas in the frequency domain the fine structure of single grunts was investigated. Three parameter groups with parameter vectors extracted from single grunts centred around the maximum of the grunting rate were used for classification of frequency patterns. The parameter vectors were compared by a discriminant function analysis. The main results are: (1) a strong correlation in the time course of the nurse grunting between the sows; (2) an individual frequency pattern of the single grunts as demonstrated by the discriminant analysis with erroneous discriminations of less than 1.6% if an optimum set of features of the amplitude spectrum was included. Thus, it can be concluded that a common structure of the time course of the nurse grunting is the typical inter-individual characteristic of the vocalisation. Individual differences between sows occurred in the absolute grunting rate, however. Major individual differences were found in the frequency pattern of the single grunts and were expressed over the whole frequency range of a grunt. Hence, based on the parameter groups 'whole amplitude spectrum' and 'cepstrum', individual sows could well be distinguished whereas this was not the case using only single features of the amplitude spectra. Taken together, the results show that there is a species-typical pattern in the nurse grunting that could be recognised by all piglets, and an individual label that could be used to discriminate the own mother from other nursing sows.
AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF COLLECTIVE PERFORMANCE AT A FORAGING TASK IN TONKEAN MACAQUES
Authors: Drapier  , Ducoing A.M. , Thierry
Published: March 2012

The exchange of information regarding the environment is continuous within social groups of non-human primates. As an outcome, knowledge and decisions are socially distributed. However, we lack evidence regarding the processes through which collective achievements are produced. The study aimed to analyze group performance in Tonkean macaques (Macaca tonkeana) in an experimental foraging task. Eight young individuals were used as subjects. They were released in a 1-acre wooded area during 5-min tests either singly or in subgroups of two, three or four individuals. They had to discover a fruit, whole or in scattered portions. The fruit was to be found either alone or in company of a snake. Results showed that subgroups located baited spots generally sooner than single individuals. The number of spots visited until finding the incentives was weaker as the number of subjects increased. Snake presence could increase finding latency and induce more cohesion among individuals. The balance between competition and snake effects appeared to differ between sexes. Performances improved through conspecifics' visual monitoring, stating the role of information transmission in the foraging task. While subjects behaved selfishly and did not actively communicate, subgroups proved to be effective information units and everyone of their members obtained benefits from them. Cognitive performances occurred in situation, they should be assessed simultaneously at the individual and group levels.
NEST PROVISIONING IN THE MUD-DAUBER WASP SCELIPHRON LAETUM (F. SMITH): BODY MASS AND TAXA SPECIFIC PREY SELECTION
Authors: Elgar Mark , Jebb Matthew
Published: March 2012

The mud dauber wasp Sceliphron laetum (F. Smith) lays a single egg in a mud chamber that is provisioned almost exclusively with orb-weaving spiders. In Madang, Papua New Guinea, the wasps provision their chambers with between three and nine spiders that weigh between 0.01 and 0.28 g and are from at least twelve species. The number of spiders placed in each chamber is negatively correlated with the mean mass of each spider. A field experiment revealed that females cease provisioning after capturing a certain mass of spiders, rather than simply filling each chamber to its volumetric capacity. Furthermore, the wasps select different spider species according to the provisioning sequence. In general, wasps avoid provisioning the early larval instar with species of Gasteracantha, perhaps because the newly emerged wasp larvae cannot penetrate the hard integuments of these spiders.
How to Keep It Real
Authors: Day Matthew
Published: March 2012

Over the last decade or so, an enormous amount of energy has been spent arguing whether the religion category is a legitimate tool for academic inquiry. This essay begins with the assumption that there are other, more interesting projects to pursue than talking about “religion.” By taking Bruno Latour’s work in the field of science studies as a model of what interesting work in our field might look like, the article advocates an approach which abandons the search for what is really going on behind the exceptional beings, experiences and insights that the conventional study of “religion” emphasizes. Instead, it sketches a scholarly agenda whereby attention would be paid to the labor required to make the gods and spirits real actors in a collective.
Functionalism Since Hempel
Authors: Segal Robert A.
Published: March 2012

It is usually assumed that, as an approach to religion, or to culture in general, functionalism is passé. Functionalism has been superseded by structuralism, poststructuralism, and postmodernism. Yet the appeal of functionalism as an explanation of the existence or persistence of religion has meant the continuing appearance of functionalist works on religion, which hail mainly from the social sciences. This article focuses on the philosophical problems posed by functionalism. Some of those problems are hoary. Others, while already recognized, were presented in their classic form in 1959 by Carl Hempel. Only those social scientists with philosophical proclivities were ever affected by Hempel’s challenge. Their unanimous response has been to try to meet the challenge, and the fate of functionalism has been assumed to rest with the response to Hempel. This article presents responses by philosophers themselves to Hempel. It concentrates on the response by Robert Cummins, who defends functionalism in biology and, by implication, social science by recharacterizing it—and in turn making Hempel’s challenge irrelevant. What a functionalist approach to religion guided by Cummins’ depiction of functionalism would look like is offered.
Distinctions, Differentiations, Ontology, and Non-humans in Theories of Religion
Authors: Stausberg Michael
Published: March 2012

This essay has four main parts. (1) Reviewing previous theories of religion, it suggests that it may be helpful not to conflate, a priori, the notions of (the) religious on the one hand and religion\s on the other, and that it may be useful to explore concepts such as (the) sacred and transcendence as independent yet related to the business of theorizing religion. (2) Distinguishing social/cultural from biological/genetic evolution, it outlines the occurrence of three processes/stages of the evolution of religious affairs and religions(s), here called attributive, structural, and functional differentiation respectively. While the first two processes/stages occurred in the remote and ancient past respectively, the third process/stage is typical of modernities and has by now globalized. (3) The article argues that recent criticisms of the validity of the category of religion are informed by a reverse sui generis approach characterized by a tacit claim that religion is an anomaly, by virtue of its supposedly being inherently different from similar concepts. The article suggests that John Searle’s philosophy may throw light on the mode of existence (ontology) of religion as an example of social and institutional reality, as an intentionality- and observer-relative yet real and empowering structure. (4) In the final section, the article engages some lines of thinking of Bruno Latour’s interpretation of Actor-Network-Theory, in particular the category of non-humans and the importance of things (objects) for social reality, including religion.
Why does semantics matter to the study of religion?
Authors: Penner Hans H.
Published: March 2012

Beware of meaning! Meaning is not an entity. It does not refer to anything. This essay is an attempt to describe Donald Davidson's theory of semantics. It took Davidson some time to realize that his truth conditional theory of meaning entailed a radical repudiation of traditional correspondence and coherence theories of meaning. We now have a third theoretical alternative in semantics. In this theory "truth" is left undefined. It is essential that you grasp firmly the fact that truth does not refer, or, "connect-up" anything that makes a sentence true. That is the work of epistemology, or perhaps psycho-neurology. The first theoretical task, therefore, is to describe truth, or meaning, as "convention-T". The second principle, the principle of charity, provides an explanation for testing the theory. The third principle, the principle of holism, provides the theoretical framework for truth-conditions and charity. The theory provides new and powerful refutations of relativism and the notion that semantics must be reduced to the function of the brain, sensations, specific stimuli, and the like. It also provides warrants for denying that religion is "symbolic" of experience of the numinous, the sacred, or other "given" foundations of what might be described as "religious experience". Davidson's theory has important, if not radical, consequences for the study of religion. The essay briefly describes a few of these.
In defense of "the Religion school": A response to Anthony J. Blasi
Authors: Segal Robert A.
Published: March 2012

Anthony Blasi (1995) argues that many scholars of religious studies misconstrue the sociology of religion, if not the whole social scientific study of religion. So zealous are these scholars to reject an apologetical, nonreductive approach to religion that they fail to recognize an approach to religion that is nonreductive yet nonapologetical: the approach of interpretive sociology of religion, as represented by the symbolic interactionist school of sociology. The scholars Blasi most castigates are the members of what he labels "the Religion school of thought". Because he cites but two persons in his essay- Thomas Ryba and me - it is hard to see on what basis he claims that this school even exists. Two citations do not a school make. Moreover, the essay of mine which he cites never even appeared in Religion, and Ryba's essay, which did appear in Religion, is only a long, and by no means uncritical, review of a book of mine. I will, then, forgo discussing the four planks of the Religion school's credo that Blasi extricates from what is really Ryba's summary, not endorsement, of my own position. Instead, I will focus on the three kindred issues that Blasi discusses most fully: interpretation versus explanation, empirical versus nonempirical, and explaining versus explaining away.
Lesslie Newbigin: A Postmodern Missiologist?
Authors: Weston Paul
Published: March 2012

Particularly through his study of the postcritical philosophy of Michael Polanyi, Lesslie Newbigin engaged in a critique of postmodernity and a Christian postmodern apologetics before postmodernity ever "arrived" in contemporary missiological thought. The purpose of this article, says British missiologist Paul Weston, is to explore Newbigin's engagement with postmodern thought, to discover the roots that lie behind it, and to suggest as well two facets of Newbigin's thinking that merit renewed attention in the context of postmodernity. First, says Weston, Newbigin can be shown to have developed a missiological approach that effectively anticipates many of the questions raised by contemporary postmodern perspectives. Secondly, the way in which Newbigin harnesses this approach to the practice of mission can be said to be both appropriate and applicable within a postmodern environment.
Theology and Mission Between Neocolonialism and Postcolonialism
Authors: Rieger Joerg
Published: March 2012

In this article Joerg Rieger writes about the historical connection between colonialism and mission, and the connection between neocolonialism and mission in the present situation of globalization. Thinking on mission today, he argues, does not always see the subtle connection between mission and neocolonialism, even though it has recognized and renounced the former colonialism. While mission as "outreach" and "relationship" have some positive aspects, they can easily be tainted with neocolonial attitudes. In contrast, Rieger advocates an understanding of mission as "inreach," by which one approaches the other as truly other, and opens oneself to be changed in the encounter. A dialogical approach to mission – indeed a "multilogical" approach is "no longer optional but essential to the future of both mission and theology."
Testament in Mission: The Use of the New Methodological and Hermeneutical Reflections
Authors: Nissen Johannes
Published: March 2012

After several introductory reflections, this article attempts to categorize the various ways of using the New Testament as a foundation for the church's missionary activity. Here the author argues that interpreters of the New Testament should avoid a "double reductionism," while aiming at a multidimensional interpretive approach. The Bible is not a single book with a single understanding of mission. Rather, it offers a variety of perspectives on what mission might look like. In a third part the author offers several hermeneutical observations, suggesting that "linear" hermeneutics should be replaced by a hermeneutics of conversation. To counteract the absolutizing of our own situation and experience, it is necessary to stimulate a cross-cultural missiological hermeneutics.
The Self of Mission
Authors: Poitras Edward W.
Published: March 2012

Drawing on his experience as a missionary in Korea for over three decades, Edward W. Poitras reflects on the way a person expands him or herself as he or she encounters the culture in which he or she works as truly "other." A complete identification with the culture, of course, is never possible. Nevertheless, the authentically open person is changed in profound and life-giving ways. Poitras speaks of this change happening in three stages. At first the missionary works for others; then he or she identifies with the local culture. Eventually, however, the self is discovered within the local community; identity is received from it, as a gift. Such a development, says Poitras, is profoundly biblical in orientation, and is at the heart of the theology of mission.
Seeing the Other Whole
Authors: Anderson Herbert
Published: March 2012

If the gospel is authentically to be preached in today's fragmented and globalized world, Christians need to develop an attitude of profound regard for one another in all their difference and diversity, and a profound regard for those with whom they share the Christian message. Such a basic, transforming attitude Herbert Anderson calls in this article a habitus for globalization. The foundational question for Christians, he says, is what attitude we take toward the "Other." The Other can be understood in three ways: as not me, as not like me, or as like me but different from me. In this era of globalization, however, an understanding of the Other in the third sense--as what Anderson calls the "proximate Other"--is perhaps most fruitful, most challenging and holds the most theological potential. When we see the Other "whole" we are called out of our narrowness and into God's way of seeing the world. In order to unpack what a habitus for globalization might consist, Anderson reflects on four characteristics that it evidences: a sense of wonder in the presence of the Other, the practice of hospitality toward the Other, a sense of recognition of the Other's uniqueness, and a life lived in commitment to genuine reconciliation despite injustice and lack of understanding. Christian mission is carried out with a firm conviction of the basic interconnectedness of all things, and the promise of ultimate human and cosmic integrity.
St. Paul and Culture
Authors: King Fergus
Published: March 2012

In this article, Fergus King examines the writings of St. Paul, particularly the letters to the Romans and the Galatians and the first letter to the Corinthians, in an attempt to discern Paul's attitude toward culture. Taking issue with H. R. Niebuhr's identification of Paul with his "Christ and culture in paradox" paradigm, King argues that Paul's--and by implication, Christians'-- attitude toward culture is--and should be--complex and flexible. Paul's criteria regarding the acceptability of such cultural practices as eating food offered to idols and Jewish circumcision are, first, soteriological and, second, pastoral. The question of the suitability of cultural practices for Christians is not an abstract one, but one that must be answered in the concrete context of Christian life: Does a cultural practice or value diminish faith in Christ? Does a practice or value place obstacles before one's own faith, or the faith of others? Rather than thinking in terms of a universally applicable principle, King suggests that the Christian attitude toward culture should be shaped in relation to human salvation and authentic community life.
The Cross and the Flag
Authors: Szippl Richard F.
Published: March 2012

China has always occupied a special place in the history of Christian Missions. The second half of the nineteenth century was a time of especially intense missionary interest in China that coincided with a rapid overseas economic, military, and political expansion of the Western world. Conventionally, there have been two approaches to the question of the relationship between Christian missions and Western expansion. One paints missionaries as the vanguard of Western colonization, while the other stresses the detached idealism of the missionaries. In fact, the relationship between Christian missions and Western expansionism is a complicated one. This article considers this problematic relationship from a diplomatic perspective based on the views of Max von Brandt, a veteran German diplomat and expert in East Asian affairs at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries. Retiring from diplomatic service after thirty-three years in East Asia, Brandt served as an adviser to the German Foreign Office, and wrote a dozen books and over a hundred periodical articles on East Asian and other topics. The article briefly sketches Brandt's involvement with the mission question as a diplomat, and then analyses his writings on the subject. It shows how complicated the relationship between Christian missions and the policies of the Western governments really was. On the one hand, as the German envoy in China, Brandt promoted the German government protection of Catholic missionaries and intervened with the Chinese government repeatedly for the safety and security of Western missionaries when it suited the basic aims of government policy. At the same time, however, Brandt's diplomatic reports and later writings clearly reveal a basically negative appraisal of the effects of missionary activity. From Brandt's diplomatic perspective, Christian missions in China were both boon and bane.
Biocomposites from dwarf-green Brazilian coconut impregnated with cashew nut shell liquid resin
Authors: Barreto ACH , Júnior AEC , Freitas JEB , Rosa DS , Barcellos WM , Freire FNA , Fechine PBA , Mazzetto SE
Published: March 2012

The dwarf-green coir fibers treated with sodium hydroxide 10% produced the best set of properties of the biocomposites generated: greater roughness and exposure of intrafibrillar cavities, providing better adhesion with the matrix, higher rigidity, increased resistance to traction and better interface properties, making them better as structural materials. The best results reported in the thermal behavior of biocomposite fibers were found in fibers treated with sodium hydroxide 10%. These showed a single stage of decomposition, which occurs at a higher temperature (300°C). It was observed that the natural fibers were more resistant to the action of the microorganisms due to the presence of more lignin and hemicellulose, while fibers treated with 5 and 10% sodium hydroxide showed different degradation degree.
The Alignment of CEC/DEC and NAEYC Personnel Preparation Standards
Authors: Chandler Lynette K. , Cochran Deborah C. , Christensen Kimberly A. , Dinnebeil Laurie A. , Gallagher Peggy A. , Lifter Karin , Stayton Vicki D. , Spino Margie
Published: March 2012

This article describes the process for alignment of the personnel preparation standards developed by the Council for Exceptional Children and Division for Early Childhood with the standards developed by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. The results identify areas of convergence across the two sets of standards and areas that were primarily addressed through only one set of standards. Areas of nonalignment may constitute specialized knowledge and skills within the disciplines of special education, early childhood special education and early intervention, and early childhood education. This standards alignment can be used by states and university and college personnel preparation programs to develop blended programs that highly qualified early childhood professionals to meet the needs of all children in a variety of settings.
Addition laws of failure probability and their applications in reliability analysis of structural system with multiple failure modes
Authors: Wei Pengfei , Lu Zhenzhou , Tian Longfei
Published: March 2012

Compared with the methods solving failure probability of the structural system with multiple failure modes, those solving failure probability of a single failure mode are simpler and more well-developed, thus in order to employ the latter to establish the former, the addition laws of the failure probability are derived mathematically by use of the basic principles of probability theory. In the derived addition laws, the failure probability of the structural system with n failure modes is expressed as a combination of the failure probabilities of 2 n−1 single failure modes. Therefore, the failure probability of the structural system with multiple failure modes can be solved by the well-developed methods for the failure probability of a single failure mode. After reviewing the boundary theories, such as the second-order boundary, the third-order boundary, and the linear programming based boundary for analyzing the failure probability of the structural system with multiple failure modes, the derived addition laws are applied to evaluate several former order joint failure probability involved in those boundary theories. Additionally, a new small-scale linear programming based boundary theory which can sufficiently reduce the scale of the linear programming model involved is proposed. Two numerical examples, including a series and a parallel structural system, are employed to demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of proposed techniques.
Party competence perceptions and the party identification of African Americans
Authors: Mangum Maruice
Published: March 2012

This research examines the effects of party competence perceptions on African–Americans’ party identification. Using ordinary least squares regression to analyse data taken from the 1996 National Black Election Study, I regress African–Americans’ party identification and feeling thermometers for Democrats and Republicans on items that measure African–American assessments of the political parties’ ability to handle certain issues. The results indicate that those matters of race and economics influence party identification. Moreover, party competence perceptions influence partisanship more than party identification. Unlike the literature suggesting that individual factors are not significant, I find that individual life circumstances do influence African–Americans’ party identification.
An Atypical Approach to Graduation from the LDC Category: The Case of Bangladesh
Authors: Bhattacharya Debapriya , Borgatti Lisa
Published: March 2012

From the creation of the category in 1971, the number of least developed countries (LDCs) has almost doubled to account for 48 members by 2011. Only three countries have managed to exit from the category thus far, and two more are in the pipeline. The recognition of the difficulty of leaving the category is entrenched in the overarching goal of the Fourth UN Conference on LDCs, which specifically calls for halving the number of LDCs within the next decade. The existing asymmetries between the entrance and the graduation criteria have favoured inclusion. Of the three exit criteria, those countries that have graduated, or are in the process of doing so, have all met the low-income exit threshold. This study argues for a graduation path that is not linked to income performance, rather on human capital development. In so doing, it identifies a different, non-conventional route to graduation. Bangladesh makes a good example for it as it is through the development of its human capital assets that it could (a) stop being an LDC and (b) accelerate its rate of economic and income growth. If the appropriate human capital enforcement policies are implemented in the coming 22 years, Bangladesh could meet the graduation thresholds by 2027, graduate out of the LDC group in 2033 and keep all the benefits linked to the LDC status until 2036. At the domestic level, actions aimed at leaving the LDC category have to be framed by, and within, a national employment-generating strategy. The article concludes with specific policy recommendations, particularly related to human capital development, for nearing the estimated graduation date.

JEL: O10, O29, O53
Where to begin? Grappling with how to use participant interaction in focus group design
Authors: Belzile Jacqueline A , Öberg Gunilla
Published: March 2012

Participant interaction is said to be the hallmark of the focus group method, but a number of studies suggest that the defining feature of the method is virtually absent in most focus group research. Our meta-analysis of this debate over participant interaction in the focus group literature suggests that absence of interaction data reflects a philosophical position, rather than neglect. Participant interaction is treated differently in different types of research, reflecting a tacit division between researchers who view the participants primarily as individuals sharing held truths and those who view them as social beings co-constructing meaning while in the focus group. We question the habit of making assumptions about the ‘proper’ use of participant interaction and call for further reflection on its role and usage in light of the aim of each study. We argue that the treatment of participant interaction needs to be a conscious and explicit design decision – one clearly rooted in a theoretical perspective and best suited to the research purpose. While exploring this issue, we discuss how a researcher’s lens affects how they deal with the interaction of participants, what they view as strengths and limitations of the method, and what kinds of results they end up with. We provide an overview of alternative approaches to participant interaction, offer strategies from different disciplines for analysing interaction, and propose a continuum of use demonstrating a range of options for when to use interaction.
“Thinking Outside the Pack”
Authors: Gauthier Alain P. , Snelling Susan J. , King Michael
Published: March 2012

Introduction. It is estimated that tobacco use kills more than 5 million people annually; it is the leading cause of preventable deaths. Recent public health interventions have likely contributed to a steady decline in rates of smoking over the past decade. Nevertheless, innovative and cost-effective approaches to smoking cessation remain a public health priority. The purpose of this study was to profile physically active smokers. Method. Data from the Canadian Community Health Survey 2007-2008–Ontario Sharing File were used. Responses from 41,800 persons aged 12 years and older were assessed to compare (a) the sociodemographic characteristics of physically active smokers to physically active nonsmokers in Ontario and (b) the types of leisure-time physical activities that are more commonly practiced among active Ontario smokers to active nonsmokers. Results. Pearson χ2 and independent samples t tests revealed that active smokers were more likely to be male, younger, single, and less educated and to have lower income than active nonsmokers. Active smokers were also more likely to report inexpensive, low-intensity, and solitary leisure-time physical activities. Conclusion. Our findings have important implications for physical activity promotion among smokers. Physical activity interventions for smokers need to be tailored differently than for nonsmokers.