bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
THE VALUE OF PRIVATE INFORMATION IN MONOPOLY*
Authors: SAAK ALEXANDER E.
Published: April 2008

We investigate a basic question about a monopoly with incomplete information: when does the seller have an incentive to allow potential buyers to acquire more private information about their tastes for the seller's product? Under plausible conditions such as log‐concave density of willingness‐to‐pay and convex marginal cost, the seller prefers that the paying customers be well informed as a group but be left in the dark regarding their individual tastes.
DUTCH GENRE PAINTING AS RELIGIOUS ART: GABRIEL METSU'S ROMAN CATHOLIC IMAGERY
Authors: HEDQUIST VALERIE
Published: April 2008

Gabriel Metsu's reputation rests on his popular genre imagery; however, the Dutch artist also produced religious paintings with Roman Catholic symbolism. Archival documents, personal and professional relationships, and a small number of paintings confirm a close engagement with the Dutch Roman Catholic community from his youth in Leiden to his maturity in Amsterdam. Metsu's connections with Roman Catholic painters, poets, and priests in the Netherlands provided the cultural context for his religious art. Moreover, contemporary devotional publications and reproductive engravings after Italian art established iconographic and compositional solutions evident in Metsu's traditional religious scenes and in his genre imagery.
BIOETHICS IN CHINA
Authors: LI EN‐CHANG
Published: April 2008

Historically, the preconditions for the emergence of bioethics in China. were political reforms and their applications. The Hanzhong Euthanasia Case and the publication of Qiu Ren‐zong's academic work Bioethics played a significant role in the development of bioethics in China. Other contributory factors include the establishment of the Chinese Society of Medical Ethics/Chinese Medical Association (C.M.A), the publication of the Journal of Chinese Medical Ethics, and the teaching and education of bioethics in China. Major achievements of bioethics in China include the establishment of ethics committee and ethics review system, active international communication and cooperation among the academic circles, and the successful management of the 8th World Congress of Bioethics in Beijing in 2006. Chinese bioethics focus on native Chinese realities and conditions, absorb the international research achievements in relevant fields, and combine international ideas with traditional Chinese doctrines. Admittedly, there are still some aspects to be improved, yet bioethics has attracted a lot of attention from the core leadership in China and has gained sound financial support, which augers well for its further development. This article also briefly introduces the development of bioethics in Hong Kong and Taiwan, China.
Productivity Growth and Organizational Learning
Authors: Stokke Hildegunn E.
Published: April 2008

A new specification of the sources of productivity growth is offered. Motivated by the lack of innovation and technology adoption in backward economies, a third channel of growth related to organizational structure, work ethics, and discipline in the production process (for simplicity called organizational learning) is suggested. The suggested specification generates new insights about the dominating source of growth during the development process: organizational learning in backward economies, technology adoption in middle‐income economies, and innovation in developed economies. This adds to the current understanding of development as a transition from technology adoption to innovation. Numerical simulations of the Thai catch‐up process since 1965 illustrate the importance of organizational learning. A counterfactual experiment shows how investments in secondary education contribute to the move from organizational learning to adoption of more advanced foreign technology.
Delayed diagnosis of HIV infection and late initiation of antiretroviral therapy in the Swiss HIV Cohort Study
Authors: Wolbers M , Bucher HC , Furrer H , Rickenbach M , Cavassini M , Weber R , Schmid P , Bernasconi E , Hirschel B , Battegay M ,   the Swiss HIV Cohort Study
Published: April 2008

Objectives

To investigate delayed HIV diagnosis and late initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in the Swiss HIV Cohort Study.

Methods

Two sub‐populations were included: 1915 patients with HIV diagnosis from 1998 to 2007 and within 3 months of cohort registration (group A), and 1730 treatment‐naïve patients with CD4≥200 cells/μL before their second cohort visit (group B). In group A, predictors for low initial CD4 cell counts were examined with a median regression. In group B, we studied predictors for CD4<200 cells/μL without ART despite cohort follow‐up.

Results

Median initial CD4 cell count in group A was 331 cells/μL; 31% and 10% were <200 and <50 cells/μL, respectively. Risk factors for low CD4 count were age and non‐White race. Homosexual transmission, intravenous drug use and living alone were protective. In group B, 30% initiated ART with CD4≥200 cells/μL; 18% and 2% dropped to CD4 <200 and <50 cells/μL without ART, respectively. Sub‐Saharan origin was associated with lower probability of CD4 <200 cells/μL without ART during follow‐up. Median CD4 count at ART initiation was 207 and 253 cells/μL in groups A and B, respectively.

Conclusions

CD4<200 cells/μL and, particularly, CD4<50 cells/μL before starting ART are predominantly caused by late presentation. Earlier HIV diagnosis is paramount.
Tuberculosis–HIV co‐infection: policy and epidemiology in 25 countries in the WHO European region
Authors: Lazarus JV , Olsen M , Ditiu L , Matic S
Published: April 2008

Objectives

The aims of this study were to collect and review tuberculosis (TB)–HIV data for Europe and to provide an overview of current health policies addressing co‐infection.

Methods

We collected reported cases of TB–HIV from the 25 most affected member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) European region. Countries were also asked whether they had implemented health policies covering collaborative TB–HIV activities and what their main achievements, obstacles and needs were in addressing TB–HIV.

Results

Twenty countries reported registering a total of 6925 TB–HIV cases in 2005. Among TB patients tested, 3.3% were found to be HIV‐positive, up from 2.1% in 2004. The male‐to‐female ratio was 2.7:1. The largest percentage of co‐infections were reported in people aged 25–34 years (47.8%). Recommended TB–HIV policies have been implemented in many of the countries.

Conclusions

Case‐finding has improved in many countries and the reported incidence of TB–HIV is increasing in the European region, particularly among young adults, although it remains low compared to other parts of the world. Strengthened coordination of existing TB and HIV services is still needed.
The expression of E‐selectin and chemokines in the cultured human lymphatic endothelium with lipopolysaccharides
Authors: Sawa Yoshihiko , Tsuruga Eichi
Published: April 2008

This study investigated the expression of selectins and chemokines in cultured human lymphatic endothelial cells stimulated with lipopolysaccharides. In microarray, vascular cell adhesion molecule‐1 and intercellular adhesion molecule‐1 gene expressions in the lymphatic endothelium with lipopolysaccharides did not change at 0.5 h but increased two‐ to three‐fold at 12 h, whereas E‐selectin increased 10‐fold at 0.5 h and 68‐fold at 12 h compared with untreated cells. The E‐selectin mRNA and protein increased in the lymphatic endothelial cells with lipopolysaccharides at more than two‐fold levels compared with human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Induction of Cys‐Cys chemokine ligand 2, 3, 5, 7, 8 and 20 mRNAs in the lymphatic endothelial cells with lipopolysaccharides was detected in microarray and real‐time PCR. The Cys‐Cys chemokine ligand 2, 5 and 20 mRNA amounts in cells with high concentration lipopolysaccharides were larger in the lymphatic endothelial cells than in human umbilical vein endothelial cells. The Cys‐Cys chemokine ligand 3 and 8 mRNAs were not detected in human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Induction of Cys‐X‐Cys chemokine ligand 1, 3, 5, 6 and 8 mRNAs was detected in the lymphatic endothelial cells with lipopolysaccharides. The Cys‐X‐Cys chemokine ligand 3, 5 and 8 mRNA amounts in cells with high concentration lipopolysaccharides were larger in the lymphatic endothelial cells than in human umbilical vein endothelial cells. In conclusion, it was demonstrated that the cultured human lymphatic endothelial cells express E‐selectin and phagocyte‐attractive chemokine genes.
Loyalty, naivety and powerlessness among Norwegian retail bank customers
Authors: Berg Lisbet
Published: April 2008

The quantitative analysis presented in this paper builds on a qualitative focus group study of mobility among bank customers. The main finding from the focus group study was that mobile bank customers had a reflective – often critical − relation to their banks, while the immobile bank customers had an unreflective – often trusting – relation to their banks. The study also resulted in a typology identifying different bank customer orientations. In the present paper, this typology has been operationalized and modified for further quantitative estimation and investigation. Nine different bank orientations are distinguished, and the results indicate that at least two of three bank customers do not regularly monitor their banking terms and conditions. In other words, it is reasonable to believe that the ordinary bank customer is not acting as expected according to the theory of well‐functioning market mechanisms.

Resourceful consumers, with high incomes and education levels, tend to be more financially oriented than others. When people with meagre financial resources tend to end up in the more unfavourable banks, this is not solely a result of the banks’ own discrimination of the poor; it is also due to the fact that people with high incomes and education levels are more likely to monitor their banking conditions than people with low incomes, irrespective of whether or not they have bank loans.

The quantitative material analysed was collected in February 2007 by computer‐assisted telephone interviews. One thousand randomly selected respondents answered the questions.
Short‐term impact of a voluntary health intervention on overall vs. preventive healthcare consumption
Authors: Maynard Leigh J.
Published: April 2008

Healthtrac Rewards is a US‐based, workplace wellness intervention promoting healthy behaviour through voluntary self‐reporting of participants' dietary habits, physical activity and medical concerns. Monthly financial incentives encourage either primary participation or secondary participation requiring additional interaction with Healthtrac personnel. Using data from 17 533 eligible employees, the purpose of the study was to determine whether Healthtrac participants consumed fewer healthcare services, as measured by 2004 medical claim costs or numbers of procedures, relative to non‐participants. High‐cost individuals tended to self‐select into the programme. Costs were 22–27% greater among participants after controlling for other factors. Participants consumed more preventive care, however, which was correlated with reduced future procedures. The secondary intervention was more effective than the primary intervention, suggesting a priority on increasing intensity of involvement vs. basic enrolment.
Temporal lobe epilepsy surgery and the quest for optimal extent of resection: A review
Authors: Schramm Johannes
Published: April 2008

Summary

The efficacy of surgery to treat drug‐resistant temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) has been demonstrated in a prospective randomized trial. It remains controversial which resection method gives best results for seizure freedom and neuropsychological function. This review of 53 studies addressing extent of resection in surgery for TLE identified seven prospective studies of which four were randomized. There is considerable variability between the intended resection and the volumetrically assessed end result. Even leaving hippocampus or amygdalum behind can result in seizure freedom rates around 50%. Most authors found seizure outcome in selective amygdalohippocampectomy (SAH) to be similar to that of lobectomy and there is considerable evidence for better neuropsychological outcome in SAH. Studies varied in the relationship between extent of mesial resection and seizure freedom, most authors finding no positive correlation to larger mesial resection. Electrophysiological tailoring saw no benefit from larger resection in 6 of 10 studies. It must be concluded that class I evidence concerning seizure outcome related to type and extent of resection of mesial temporal lobe structures is rare. Many studies are only retrospective and do not use MRI volumetry. SAH appears to have similar seizure outcome and a better cognitive outcome than TLR. It remains unclear whether a larger mesial resection extent leads to better seizure outcome.
Biomarkers of Inflammation and Malnutrition Associated with Early Death in Healthy Elderly People
Authors: Carriere Isabelle , Dupuy Anne‐Marie , Lacroux Annie , Cristol Jean‐Paul , Delcourt Cécile ,   the Pathologies Oculaires Liées à l'Age Study Group
Published: April 2008

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether malnutrition and biomarkers of inflammation predict all‐cause, cancer, and cardiovascular mortality in healthy elderly subjects.

DESIGN: Population‐based study, prospective cohort.

SETTING: Sète, on the French Mediterranean coast.

PARTICIPANTS: Five hundred and fifty‐three men and 888 women aged 60 and older from the Pathologies Oculaires Liées à l'Age cohort free of known comorbidities.

MEASUREMENTS: Plasma levels of cholesterol, albumin, transthyretin (TTR), C‐reactive protein (CRP), and alpha 1‐acid glycoprotein (AAG) were measured at baseline. To investigate the risks of 5‐year (early) and 5‐ to 9‐year (late) mortality, hazard ratios (HR) were evaluated using Cox models.

RESULTS: In men, early death was associated with high CRP and AAG and low albumin and TTR. In women, early death was associated with high AAG, low TTR and low cholesterol. For late death, the only significant association was with CRP in men. A synergistic effect was observed between biomarkers of inflammation and malnutrition. In men, the adjusted HR of early death was 4.98 (95% confidence interval (CI)=2.25–11.01) for both CRP in the highest quartile and albumin in the lowest. In men, this risk was greatest for both AAG in the highest quartile and TTR in the lowest (HR=6.86, 95% CI=3.20–14.71). In women, this risk was greatest for both AAG in the highest quartile and TTR in the lowest (HR=4.64, 95% CI=1.79–12.05). Cancer mortality was greater for high CRP and AAG and for low albumin and TTR in men but not in women.

CONCLUSION: Biomarkers of inflammation and malnutrition together predict early mortality. In healthy elderly subjects, TTR and AAG could be helpful in identifying elderly subjects at higher risk of death.
Randomized, Placebo‐Controlled Trial of the Cognitive Effect, Safety, and Tolerability of Oral Extended‐Release Oxybutynin in Cognitively Impaired Nursing Home Residents with Urge Urinary Incontinence
Authors: Lackner Thomas E. , Wyman Jean F. , McCarthy Teresa C. , Monigold Melinda , Davey Cynthia
Published: April 2008

OBJECTIVES: Determine the cognitive effect, safety, and tolerability of oral extended‐release oxybutynin in cognitively impaired older nursing home residents with urge urinary incontinence.

DESIGN: Randomized, double‐blinded, placebo‐controlled trial.

SETTING: Twelve skilled nursing homes.

PARTICIPANTS: Fifty women aged 65 and older with urge incontinence and cognitive impairment.

INTERVENTION: Four‐week treatment with once‐daily oral extended‐release oxybutynin 5 mg or placebo.

MEASUREMENTS: Withdrawal rates and delirium or change in cognition from baseline at 1, 3, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days after starting treatment using the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM), Mini‐Mental State Examination (MMSE), and Severe Impairment Battery (SIB). The Brief Agitation Rating Scale, adverse events, falls incidence, and serum anticholinergic activity change with treatment were also assessed.

RESULTS: Participants' mean age ±standard deviation was 88.6±6.2, and MMSE baseline score was 14.5±4.3. Ninety‐six percent of subjects receiving oxybutynin (n=26) and 92% receiving placebo (n=24) completed treatment (P=.50). The differences in mean change in CAM score from baseline to all time points were equivalent between the oxybutynin and placebo groups. Delirium did not occur in either group. One participant receiving oxybutynin was withdrawn because of urinary retention, which resolved without treatment. Mild adverse events occurred in 38.5% of participants receiving oxybutynin and 37.5% receiving placebo (P=.94).

CONCLUSION: Short‐term treatment using oral extended‐release oxybutynin 5 mg once daily was safe and well tolerated, with no delirium, in older female nursing home participants with mild to severe dementia. Future research should investigate different dosages and long‐term treatment.
Engagement in Multiple Steps of the Advance Care Planning Process: A Descriptive Study of Diverse Older Adults
Authors: Sudore Rebecca L. , Schickedanz Adam D. , Landefeld C. Seth , Williams Brie A. , Lindquist Karla , Pantilat Steven Z. , Schillinger Dean
Published: April 2008

OBJECTIVES: To assess engagement in multiple steps of the advance care planning (ACP) process 6 months after exposure to an advance directive. In this study, ACP is conceptualized similarly to the behavior change model.

DESIGN: Descriptive study.

SETTINGS: County general medicine clinic in San Francisco.

PARTICIPANTS: One hundred seventy‐three English or Spanish speakers, aged 50 and older (mean 61) given a standard (12th‐grade reading level) and an easy‐to‐read (5th‐grade reading level) advance directive.

MEASUREMENTS: Six months after exposure to two advance directives, self‐reported ACP contemplation; discussions with family, friends discussions with clinicians; and documentation were measured. Associations were examined between ACP steps and between subject characteristics ACP engagement.

RESULTS: Most participants (73%) were nonwhite and 31% had less than a high school education. Sixty‐one percent contemplated ACP, 56% discussed ACP with family or friends, 22% discussed ACP with clinicians, and 13% documented ACP wishes. Subjects who had discussed ACP with their family or friends were more likely to discuss ACP with their clinicians (36% vs 2%, P<.001) and document ACP wishes (18% vs 4%, P=.009) than those who had not. Latinos and subjects with less than a high school education discussed ACP more often with family or friends (P<.06) and clinicians (P<.03) than other ethnic groups and subjects with more education.

CONCLUSIONS: ACP involves distinct steps including contemplation, discussions, and documentation. The ACP paradigm should be broadened to include contemplation and discussions. Promoting discussions with family and friends may be one of the most important targets for ACP interventions, and literacy‐ and language‐appropriate advance directives may help reverse patterns of sociodemographic disparities in ACP.
Amount of Social Contact and Hip Fracture Mortality
Authors: Mortimore Edward , Haselow Dirk , Dolan Melissa , Hawkes William G. , Langenberg Patricia , Zimmerman Sheryl , Magaziner Jay
Published: April 2008

OBJECTIVES: To study the association between amount of social contact and mortality after hip fracture in elderly participants.

DESIGN: Prospective cohort.

SETTING: Community residents of Baltimore, Maryland.

PARTICIPANTS: Six hundred seventy‐four elderly participants.

MEASUREMENTS: Amount of telephone and direct personal contact between participants and their relatives and friends and mortality up to 2 years after fracture.

RESULTS: No social contact with friends during the 2 weeks before the fracture was associated with a five times greater risk of death over 2 years than daily contact with friends during the 2 weeks before the fracture (hazard ratio (HR)=5.04, 95% confidence interval (CI)=2.75–9.23). Participants with less than daily contact were also at greater risk of dying, although the CI spanned 1 (HR=1.76, 95% CI=0.99–3.13). Participants who had no contact with family members prefracture were more than twice as likely to die as those who communicated daily during the 2 weeks before fracture (HR=2.26, 95% CI=1.36–3.77). Participants who had less than daily contact were also more than twice as likely to die (HR=2.55, 95% CI=1.65–3.94).

CONCLUSION: This study suggests that lower social contact before hip fracture is associated with poorer survival after 2 years.
Chief Resident Immersion Training in the Care of Older Adults: An Innovative Interspecialty Education and Leadership Intervention
Authors: Levine Sharon A. , Chao Serena H. , Brett Belle , Jackson Angela H. , Burrows Adam B. , Goldman Laura N. , Caruso Lisa B.
Published: April 2008

Chief residents (CRs) play a crucial role in training residents and students but may have limited geriatrics training or formal preparation for their CR role. A 2‐day off‐site chief resident immersion training (CRIT) addressed these challenges. Objectives were to foster collaboration between disciplines in the management of complex older patients, increase knowledge of geriatrics principles to incorporate into teaching, enhance leadership skills, and help CRs develop an achievable project for implementation in their CR year. Three cohorts totaling 47 trainees and 18 faculty mentors from 13 medical and surgical disciplines participated over 3 successive years. The curriculum, developed and taught by a multidisciplinary team, featured an interactive surgical case, mini‐lectures on geriatrics topics, seminars to enhance teaching and leadership skills, and one‐on‐one mentoring to develop a project in geriatric care or education. Evaluation included pre‐ and postprogram tests and self‐report surveys and two follow‐up surveys or interviews. In 2006 and 2007, scores on a 12‐item objective knowledge test increased significantly (P<.001) from before to immediately after CRIT. Self‐report knowledge and confidence in teaching geriatrics also increased significantly (P<.05) in all formally covered topics. Mean enhancement of CR skills was 4.3 (1=not at all, 5=very much). Eleven months after CRIT, all but five CRs had implemented at least part of their action projects. CRs reported improved care of older patients, better leadership skills, more and better geriatrics teaching, and more collaboration between disciplines. A 2‐day interactive program for CRs can increase institutional capacity regarding geriatrics teaching and care of elderly patients across medical specialties.
A Root Awakening: Vocabulary Instruction for Older Students with Reading Difficulties
Authors: Ebbers Susan M. , Denton Carolyn A.
Published: April 2008

There is reliable evidence that new vocabulary is primarily acquired through wide independent reading. However, struggling readers tend to avoid reading, resulting in limited word encounters and inadequate vocabulary growth, and they often have difficulties inferring the meanings of new words from context. While there are no clear solutions to the problem of vocabulary acquisition for older students with reading difficulties, there are instructional approaches that have some evidence of effectiveness for this population. We describe the research base and promising practices related to three aspects of vocabulary instruction: (1) creating a verbal learning environment that fosters word consciousness, (2) selecting and teaching specific words, and (3) teaching an independent word learning strategy through a combination of contextual and morphemic analysis. These instructional approaches are grounded in overarching principles recognized by researchers as being characteristic of effective instruction for students with learning difficulties, including explicit instruction, promoting cognitive and collaborative engagement, and providing many opportunities for practice, including distributed practice, with teacher feedback. Finally, we discuss the possibilities inherent in a cross‐content schoolwide approach to vocabulary instruction at the secondary level. We conclude with a call for additional research examining the effectiveness of instructional approaches to vocabulary development for secondary school students with reading difficulties, including a schoolwide collaborative model.
What Determines Homeland Security Spending? An Econometric Analysis of the Homeland Security Grant Program
Authors: Prante Tyler , Bohara Alok K.
Published: April 2008

The distribution of State Homeland Security Grants has been characterized as pork barrel spending, where political considerations and not terrorism risk are determining the allocation each state receives. Using revealed preference analysis, we test this claim. From 2004 to 2006, measures of terrorism risk are found to be positive determinants of funding while measures of political influence and party affiliation of elected officials show no positive relationship with grant funding. These results are not compatible with the assertion that funding is distributed due to political factors.
Gestión de la flexibilidad e inspección del trabajo en el mundo latino
Authors: PIORE Michael J. , SCHRANK Andrew
Published: April 2008

Los autores estudian la función de la inspección del trabajo en el marco del resurgimiento de la ordenación del mercado laboral. Distinguen entre el modelo latino, en el que los inspectores pueden amoldar las normas a las necesidades de las empresas, y el planteamiento bastante más inflexible de los Estados Unidos. En el modelo latino las normas labor ales pueden conciliarse con la flexibilidad económica y los inspectores pueden convertirse en la fuerza de choque de una campaña en pro del trabajo decente. Para evitar que hay a comportamientos arbitrarios, habrá que renovar la cultura interna de la inspección, exponer y sistematizar el conocimiento tácito en el que se fundan las decisiones de los inspectores y hacer nuevos estudios sobre la relación entre las normas del trabajo y las prácticas que aplican las empresas.
Fijación del salario mínimo en los países en desarrollo. Deficiencias y soluciones
Authors: SAGET Catherine
Published: April 2008

Es bien sabido que una minoría considerable de países en desarrollo tiene unos salarios mínimos demasiado altos o demasiado bajos. La autora se vale de varios métodos de medición para comparar los niveles reales que alcanzan en unos países y otros. Por otra parte, averigua si el salario mínimo es efectivo, es decir, si cumple su función de umbral salarial del mercado de trabajo. Después estudia los factores institucionales que dan lugar a dichos valores extremos y las soluciones que permitirían fijar el salario mínimo en un nivel más idóneo y eficaz.
The use of a linear oscillating device in periodontal treatment: a review
Authors: Guentsch Arndt , Preshaw Philip M.
Published: April 2008

Background: The Vector™ system is an ultrasonic instrument that was introduced in 1999, and treatment outcomes with Vector have been compared with those achieved with the “gold standard” of scaling and root planing with Gracey curettes as well as conventional ultrasonic scalers. The aim of this paper is to review the existing literature regarding the Vector™ method.

Material and Methods: This review is based on a MEDLINE search of the use of Vector up to January 2008 (focused on in vitro findings, periodontal treatment, peri‐implantitis therapy, clinical and microbiological data, and patient considerations). The MEDLINE search identified 128 papers, of which 18 were found to be relevant to this review. A hand search of the periodontal literature over the same period resulted in identification of a further 10 relevant papers.

Conclusion: Vector™ used for treatment of chronic periodontitis results in clinical and microbiological outcomes comparable to those achieved by manual instrumentation and conventional ultrasonic instruments. Vector™ is less efficient when removing large masses of calculus, however, and cannot be recommended for the treatment of peri‐implantitis. Vector may be particularly useful in periodontal maintenance care as it is well tolerated by patients and results in less removal of cementum than other instruments.
The Ubiquitin E3 Ligase MARCH7 is Differentially Regulated by the Deubiquitylating Enzymes USP7 and USP9X
Authors: Nathan James A. , Sengupta Soma , Wood Stephen A. , Admon Arie , Markson Gabriel , Sanderson Chris , Lehner Paul J.
Published: April 2008

Protein modification by one or more ubiquitin chains serves a critical signalling function across a wide range of cellular processes. Specificity within this system is conferred by ubiquitin E3 ligases, which target the substrates. Their activity is balanced by deubiquitylating enzymes (DUBs), which remove ubiquitin from both substrates and ligases. The RING‐CH ligases were initially identified as viral immunoevasins involved in the downregulation of immunoreceptors. Their cellular orthologues, the Membrane‐Associated RING‐CH (MARCH) family represent a subgroup of the classical RING genes. Unlike their viral counterparts, the cellular RING‐CH proteins appear highly regulated, and one of these in particular, MARCH7, was of interest because of a potential role in neuronal development and lymphocyte proliferation. Difficulties in detection and expression of this orphan ligase lead us to search for cellular cofactors involved in MARCH7 stability. In this study, we show that MARCH7 readily undergoes autoubiquitylation and associates with two deubiquitylating enzymes – ubiquitin‐specific protease (USP)9X in the cytosol and USP7 in the nucleus. Exogenous expression and short interfering RNA depletion experiments demonstrate that MARCH7 can be stabilized by both USP9X and USP7, which deubiquitylate MARCH7 in the cytosol and nucleus, respectively. We therefore demonstrate compartment‐specific regulation of this E3 ligase through recruitment of site‐specific DUBs.
Classification of Runoff in Headwater Catchments: A Physical Problem?
Authors: Hauhs Michael , Lange Holger
Published: April 2008

Life on earth depends on water and where running water occurs on earth, there is life. Nevertheless, existing modelling approaches in hydrology almost completely neglect the biological aspects of water flow. We claim that ignoring biological behaviour and interaction in catchment runoff modelling is too restrictive, and that computational theories can be used to formalise behaviour and interaction and model the biological impact on runoff. To demonstrate this, starting with a general classification of catchment behaviour, as documented in runoff data, we will use symbolic dynamics to quantify randomness and complexity in the time series. This approach shows that runoff records from very different catchments show common behaviour. This behaviour can be fitted to a one‐parametric curve, stratified into three regions. In this manner, it becomes possible to represent and classify types of interactive behaviour that cannot be generated algorithmically. This suggests that physically based catchment models do not properly represent all types of interactive behaviour, and that signatures of biological interaction are present in runoff data.
Social Geographies of Education: Looking Within, and Beyond, School Boundaries
Authors: Collins Damian , Coleman Tara
Published: April 2008

Schools have received less attention from geographers than institutions such as the clinic and the hospital – despite the fact that, for most people, encounters with sites of medicine are rarer than encounters with sites of education. Indeed, schools are central to the geographies of children and young people, and to the organization of much family life. Moreover, they play a central role in shaping social identities. In this article, we provide an introduction to, and review of, the literature that takes seriously the sociospatial dimensions of schooling. Our discussion is organized around two central themes: first, the organization of school space, and the ways in which it is implicated in issues of power, and the reproduction of preferred identities; second, the linkages between schools and broader communities, and what these tell us about the values and aspirations attached to schooling. In both respects, we suggest, schools are places of considerable social and political significance.
Geomorphology Fluid Flow Modelling: Can Fluvial Flow Only Be Modelled Using a Three‐Dimensional Approach?
Authors: Hardy R. J.
Published: April 2008

The application of numerical models to gain insight into flow processes is becoming a prevalent research methodology in fluvial geomorphology. The advantage of this approach is that models are particularly useful for identifying emergent behaviour in the landscape where combinations of processes act over several scales. However, there are a wide range of available models and it is not always apparent that methodological approach should be chosen. The decision about the amount of process representation required needs to be balanced against both the spatial and temporal scales of interest. In this article, it is argued that in order to gain a complete, high resolution process understanding of flow within the fluvial system a full three‐dimensional modelling approach with a complete physical basis is required.
Gendered Geographies of High‐Tech Regional Economies
Authors: James Al
Published: April 2008

Over the last two decades, as part of a ‘cultural turn’, an expansive research agenda has developed in economic geography around the sociocultural dynamics of regional learning and innovation processes underpinning high‐tech regional development. At the same time within the subdiscipline, there has also emerged a substantial research agenda around cultural economies of gender. For the most part, these two research streams have proceeded separately from one another. Recently, however, a number of scholars have begun to challenge this intellectual divide. In parallel with similarly motivated research literatures in organizational psychology, management studies and human relations, scholars have explored how different dimensions of high‐tech regional economic development are fundamentally and unavoidably gendered. This article offers a summary introduction to this nascent research agenda, focused on three phenomena widely documented in the regional literature as supporting intra‐ and interfirm learning and innovation processes, but whose attendant gendered social relations and gender divisions have yet to be fully analysed and understood, namely, (i) processes of worker mobility, labour ‘churning’ and their brokering by different labour market intermediaries; (ii) venture capital financing, entrepreneurship and firm start‐up; and (iii) the origins and implications of (masculinist) corporate cultures for firms’ absorptive capacities. By way of conclusion, the article outlines some interesting directions in which future research in this area might usefully develop in order to contribute to a broader project around holistic regional (socio)economic development.
The Development of a Novel Cooking Method (Alternate Roasting with Its Own Fat) for Chicken to Improve Nutritional Value
Authors: Kim J.H. , Park H.G. , Kim J.H. , Jung H. , Kim J.K. , Oh S.S. , Shin D.H. , Lim E.J. , Kim Y.J.
Published: April 2008

ABSTRACT:  The goal of this study was to develop a novel cooking method for fried meat products, to improve their nutritional value, and to provide superior taste and texture. We used the fat derived from each individual meat source during radiant heat roasting (alternate roasting with its own fat: AROF) without deep‐fat frying (DFF), first without any air flow and subsequently with an exposure to air flow. We then compared these roasted chicken samples to breaded fried chicken samples that were deep‐fat fried in 3 types of fat: soybean oil (SB), partially hydrogenated soybean oil (PSB), and lard. The final fat contents of both the skin and lean parts of the AROF samples of chicken were less than half of those of the DFF groups. The total trans‐fatty acids (TFA) contents were significantly lower in the AROF samples compared to the DFF samples. The cholesterol levels of the samples did not show any significant differences among the tested groups, except for the sample fried in lard, which was significantly higher. Moreover, the sensory evaluation results showed that the crispy texture of the AROF samples was not significantly different from that of the DFF samples (P < 0.05); the AROF samples had higher scores for the characteristic fried flavor and for overall acceptability (P < 0.05). This study shows the potential value of products prepared by AROF, which can successfully replace DFF methods used for chicken and other meat products and improve their nutritional value.
Changes in Broiler Breast Fillet Tenderness, Water‐Holding Capacity, and Color Attributes during Long‐Term Frozen Storage
Authors: Lee Y.S. , Saha A. , Xiong R. , Owens C.M. , Meullenet J.F.
Published: April 2008

ABSTRACT:  Freezing is the most common and efficient way to maintain the quality of poultry products for long periods of time. However, tougher texture, discoloration, and drying have been reported as a result of long‐term frozen storage. The impact of freezing on the tenderness, water‐holding capacity, and color of broiler breast fillets was investigated for up to 8 mo. A total of 160 birds were deboned at either 2 or 6 h postmortem (PM). All deboned left fillets were frozen and stored at –18 °C for up to 8 mo, while the corresponding right fillets were assessed for texture approximately 24 h after deboning as a control measurement without any freezing treatment. Tenderness was measured by the Meullenet–Owens razor shear. Thaw loss, cooking loss, moisture content, color, and muscle shape profiles were also evaluated. No difference in tenderness was observed during the first 2 mo compared to the control (0 mo), but significantly decreased between 2 and 4 mo. The 8‐mo‐old fillets were the least tender, with a 31.5% increase in shear energy between 4 and 8 mo. Moisture content of cooked meat gradually decreased, showing a significant drop between 2 and 6 mo of storage, while thaw and cooking loss consistently increased over the entire storage period. The color of the frozen fillets tended to be darker, redder, and less yellow than the control, with increased storage duration. The results suggest that for optimal tenderness, frozen broiler breast fillets are best consumed within 2 mo of freezing.
Thermal Transitions and Extrusion of Glycerol‐Plasticized Whey Protein Mixtures
Authors: Hernandez‐Izquierdo V.M. , Reid D.S. , McHugh T.H. , De J. Berrios J. , Krochta J.M.
Published: April 2008

ABSTRACT: The effects of glycerol and moisture contents on the thermal transitions of whey protein isolate (WPI) powder–glycerol–water mixtures were studied. Mixtures with ratios of 100:0, 70:30, 60:40, and 50:50 WPI:glycerol on a dry basis (db) were preconditioned to 0.34 ± 0.01 (25.4 ± 0.4 °C) and 0.48 ± 0.02 (25.9 ± 2.2 °C) water activity. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed the existence of an endothermic peak starting at 148.3 ± 0.7 °C for 100% WPI preconditioned to a water activity of 0.34 ± 0.01. The onset temperature of this peak decreased with addition and increase of glycerol content, as well as with the increase in water activity from 0.34 ± 0.01 to 0.48 ± 0.02. An additional endothermic transition, important for extruding the mixtures into flexible sheets, occurred in mixtures containing 50% glycerol db, preconditioned to 0.48 ± 0.02 water activity. The onset temperature of the peak was 146 ± 2.0 °C. Whey protein‐based sheets containing 45.8%, 48.8%, and 51.9% glycerol db were obtained using a Haake–Leistritz corotating twin‐screw extruder. All samples were obtained at a screw speed of 250 rpm and a final barrel‐temperature profile of 20, 20, 20, 80, 110, and 130 °C. Melt temperature at the time of sheet formation was 143 to 150 °C. Average thickness of the sheets was 1.31 ± 0.02 mm. Samples with 45.8% glycerol db had significantly higher tensile strength (TS) than samples with higher glycerol contents. Also, as glycerol concentration increased, sheet elastic modulus (EM) decreased significantly (P≤ 0.05). Extrusion of whey protein‐based sheets is an important step toward extrusion of thinner edible films for food wraps, layers, or pouches.
Critical Health Psychology: Developing and Refining the Approach
Authors: Crossley Michelle
Published: April 2008

This article outlines the need for a critical health psychology and how this approach was originally formulated as a challenge to mainstream health psychology. Critical health psychology articulates the need for a more reflexive approach – one that is able to analyse the complex moral, emotional, ethical and political issues underpinning peoples’ experiences of health and illness. This article discusses how critics have responded to the development of critical health psychology, to debates regarding what actually constitutes a critical approach, and finally, to how critical approaches might be refined in future research.
Colonialism and Psychology of Culture
Authors: Okazaki Sumie , David E. J. R. , Abelmann Nancy
Published: April 2008

There has long been a criticism that scholarship devoted to the study of cultural variation in psychology has too easily ascribed the observed differences between different societies to essentialized notions of ‘culture’ while paying less attention to historical forces that shape these differences. In this paper, we argue that the conceptual frameworks of cross‐cultural and cultural psychology should allow for analysis of how major geopolitical events and historical processes bear on people's lives. Specifically, we point to colonialism, a discussion that has been less attended to in psychology, and argue that colonialism and its legacies exert a powerful influence on many worldwide populations. Analysis of colonialism and its legacies necessarily calls for attention to its prominent ideological cornerstones: race and ‘culture’, which are also central concepts in psychology as a global discipline. In psychology, colonialism has primarily been engaged in two ways: the study of the colonial impact on individuals; and the consideration of the colonial impact on the discipline and practice of psychology in formerly colonized nation states. We review this engagement and introduce examples of scholarship from each. This paper challenges the field to pay greater attention to sociopolitical discourses and historical contexts and, in turn, to theorize culture in ways that are responsive to the fluidity and complexity of social lives.
Reflecting on Six Decades of Selective Exposure Research: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities
Authors: Smith Steven M. , Fabrigar Leandre R. , Norris Meghan E.
Published: April 2008

For over 60 years, researchers have explored the validity of the selective exposure hypothesis, which states that people will seek out consonant, and avoid dissonant, information. In early cognitive dissonance‐based research, selective exposure received mixed support. More recently, researchers have begun to delineate the factors that regulate the occurrence of selective exposure in a multitude of contexts. In this review, we discuss a number of such moderators as well as the ebb and flow of research over the years. We propose that many of these factors can be conceptualized as influencing capacity and/or motivations to process information, and we discuss how this framework can help categorize past, and suggest future, moderators. Finally, we highlight that other research domains should be considered when exploring selective exposure effects, and that researchers should consider how findings from the selective exposure literature can fruitfully be applied to other domains.
The State of the Story in Personality Psychology
Authors: Woike Barbara A.
Published: April 2008

Personality psychologists have been studying narratives for decades. Their work offers significant insights into the meaning of the stories people tell. This article highlights some historical antecedents as well as the latest research findings from the growing area of personality psychology that focuses on narrative approaches. First, narrative research in personality shows that imaginative stories reveal enduring implicit motivations linked to affect, thought, and behavior. Second, autobiographical stories play a significant role in self‐development and personal identity formation. The narration of one's story is a process influenced over the life span by age‐related capacities and various psychological needs that occur in social and cultural contexts.
When the University Went ‘Pop’: Exploring Cultural Studies, Sociology of Culture, and the Rising Interest in the Study of Popular Culture
Authors: Clark Lynn Schofield
Published: April 2008

This article examines why the study of popular culture has taken off as a subject of university course offerings and as a topic of scholarly inquiry since the 1980s. Placing the current explorations of popular culture in historical context, the article argues that popular culture's study and studies in the sociology of culture can illuminate many of the classic concerns that animate sociology and related fields, such as the social organization and power of institutions, debates about public life and the formation of public opinion, concerns about the relationship between consumption, social status, and politics of the privileged elite, and the role of media in the development of social movements and in individual and subcultural understandings. The article considers how popular cultural studies are currently shaping the study of social life, and concludes by considering trends that might be encouraged among students and emergent scholars seeking to study in this area.
Early Industrial Psychology: A Very Brief and Highly Selective History
Authors: Vinchur Andrew J.
Published: April 2008

This essay provides a brief overview of the historical contributions of early industrial psychology to organizational studies. A description of present‐day industrial–organizational psychology is first presented. Factors both inside and outside psychology that influenced the development of industrial psychology are discussed, followed by the history of industrial psychology in the early years of the twentieth century. In the USA, initial activity in industry by psychologists was in advertising; however, employee selection then became the major focus. Reflecting their training in experimental psychology, early industrial psychologists favored a quantitative, scientific approach to selection that emphasized empirical verification of the effectiveness of their interventions. Part of finding a niche for their scientific approach to organizations was debunking pseudoscientific approaches to selection such as character analysis.
The Recurrence of Violence
Authors: Wydra Harald
Published: April 2008

This article examines the recurrence of violence in the contemporary world based on the premise that states can use their monopoly of violence not only for preserving the life of their citizens but also for the sake of terror and annihilation. This ambiguous nature of the use of violence derives from the fact that the legal order of the state is a function of concrete acts of bloodshed and killing. The state bases the law on violence because authorities fear the psychological attraction that bloodshed has on the human imagination. The contagious character of violence, however, is not based on man's innate potential for aggression. Rather, it depends on the nature of the reciprocity of social relations. Violent conflict often feeds on negative social communication such as hatred and desire for vengeance. Yet, faced with the inevitable recurrence of violence humans have the capacity to act on the spiral of vengeance. One possible way to pacify violence is to transform the destructive, negative reciprocity of retaliation into the creative, positive reciprocity of active non‐violence.