bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Oxidative Stress Is Associated With Increased Pulmonary Artery Systolic Pressure in Humans
Authors: Ghasemzadeh Nima , Patel Riyaz S. , Eapen Danny J. , Veledar Emir , Al Kassem Hatem , Manocha Pankaj , Khayata Mohamed , Zafari A. Maziar , Sperling Laurence , Jones Dean P. , Quyyumi Arshed A.
Published: March 2014

Oxidative stress contributes to the development of pulmonary hypertension in experimental models, but this association in humans is unknown. We investigated the relationship between pulmonary artery systolic pressure measured by echocardiography and plasma aminothiol oxidative stress markers, with the hypothesis that oxidative stress will be higher in those with pulmonary hypertension. A group of 347 patients aged 65±12 years from the Emory Cardiovascular Biobank underwent echocardiographic assessment of left ventricular ejection fraction and pulmonary artery systolic pressure. Plasma aminothiols, cysteine, its oxidized form, cystine, glutathione, and its oxidized disulphide were measured and the redox potentials (E
h
) of cysteine/cystine and glutathione/oxidized glutathione couples were calculated. Non-normally distributed variables were log transformed (L
n
). Univariate predictors of pulmonary artery systolic pressure included age (
P
<0.001), sex (
P
=0.002), mitral regurgitation (
P
<0.001), left ventricular ejection fraction (
P
<0.001), left atrial size (
P
<0.001), diabetes mellitus (
P
=0.03), plasma L
n
cystine (β=9.53;
P
<0.001), L
n
glutathione (β=−5.4;
P
=0.002), and E
h
glutathione (β=0.21;
P
=0.001). A multivariate linear regression model adjusting for all confounding variables demonstrated that L
n
cystine (β=6.56;
P
=0.007), mitral regurgitation (β=4.52;
P
<0.001), statin use (β=−3.39;
P
=0.03), left ventricular ejection fraction (β=−0.26;
P
=0.003), and age (β=0.17;
P
=0.003) were independent predictors of pulmonary artery systolic pressure. For each 1% increase in plasma cystine, pulmonary artery systolic pressure increased by 16%. This association persisted in the subgroup with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (≥50%) and no significant mitral regurgitation. Whether treatment of oxidative stress will improve pulmonary hypertension requires further study.
Manganese superoxide dismutase in Meloidogyne incognita isolates selected for virulence on Mi-1-carrying tomato: gene expression and enzyme activity
Authors: Molinari Sergio , Molinari Sergio , Rosso Laura
Published: March 2014

Root knot nematodes (Meloidogynespp.) are important pests of a wide range of crops, including tomato. Resistance of tomato to root-knot nematodes is conferred by the single dominant geneMi-1, which currently is present in all commercially available resistant tomato cultivars. However, several resistance-breaking populations are being collected worldwide. Two isolates coming from the same standard population ofMeloidogyne incognita, one selected for virulence againstMi-1(SM1) and the other left avirulent (avr1), have been used in this study. qRT-PCR was used to detect transcript levels of the manganese superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD) gene from (a)virulent pre-parasitic second-stage juveniles (J2). Over-expression of theMn-SODgene was found in the virulent isolate compared with the avirulent counterpart. The enzyme activity of membrane-bound mitochondrial Mn-SOD was assayed in J2 and adult females as the fraction of total SOD activity insensitive to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). J2 fromSM1showed about a two-fold higher enzyme activity than J2 fromavr1; conversely, no difference was found when adult females were tested. Proteins of J2 extracts were separated by n-PAGE on special mini-gels and stained for SOD. One slow migrating and three fast migrating bands were stained. SOD activity of the slow migrating band was H2O2-insensitive and enriched by treatment with the detergent Triton X-100. J2 survival was monitored in suspensions provided or not provided with the cell oxygen radical generator paraquat, at high concentration. Virulent J2 responded to paraquat treatment by increasing life extension with respect to control conditions; by contrast, avirulent J2 suffered major mortality in the presence of paraquat.Mn-SODgene expression is discussed in relation to nematode fitness in oxidative stresses andvirphenotype.
Nutritional substances for mutualistic symbiosis between Busaphelenchus xylophilus and its associated bacterium, Pseudomonas fluorescens GcM5-1A isolate
Authors: Gao Yan , Gao Yan , Yuan Dongju , Gao Yan , Yuan Dongju , Li Ronggui , Gao Yan , Yuan Dongju , Li Ronggui , Guo Daosen , Gao Yan , Yuan Dongju , Li Ronggui , Guo Daosen , Ju Yunwei , Gao Yan , Yuan Dongju , Li Ronggui , Guo Daosen , Ju Yunwei , Lin Feng , Gao Yan , Yuan Dongju , Li Ronggui , Guo Daosen , Ju Yunwei , Lin Feng , Ye Jianling , Gao Yan , Yuan Dongju , Li Ronggui , Guo Daosen , Ju Yunwei , Lin Feng , Ye Jianling , Zhao Boguang
Published: March 2014

Crude extracts of the surface coat (SC) proteins of the pine wood nematode (PWN), Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, and purified flagellin from Pseudomonas fluorescens (GcM5-1A) isolate were bioassayed using symbiontic GcM5-1A and axenic PWNs, respectively. The results showed that the flagellin significantly increased the reproduction of axenic PWN and the SC protein extracts of the PWN promoted GcM5-1A multiplication. The finding is a new step to further elucidate the symbiotic mechanism between the PWN and its associated bacteria and the SC protein function in pine wilt disease.
A Comparative Analysis of Dam Safety Assurance Laws
Authors: Pisaniello John Dean
Published: March 2014

A number of horrific failures of both public and privately owned dams in recent decades has triggered serious concern over the safety of dams throughout the world. However, in Australia, although much Government attention is being devoted to the medium- to large-scale dams, minimal attention is being paid to the serious potential cumulative, catchment-wide problems associated with smaller private dams. The paper determines how to consider addressing hazardous private dam safety issues generally through a comparative analysis of international dam safety policy/law systems. The analysis has identified elements of best and minimum practice that can and do exist successfully to provide deserved assurance to the community of the proper safety management of hazardous private dams at both the individual and cumulative, catchment-wide levels. These elements provide benchmarks that enable ‘appropriate’ legislative arrangements to be determined for different jurisdictional circumstances as illustrated with an Australian policy-deficient case study.
Megadrymus brigalow n.sp. (Insecta: Hemiptera: Heteroptera:
Rhyparochromidae: Drymini), a diminutive new species of seed bug from semi-evergreen vine thicket of the Queensland Brigalow Belt
Authors: CASSIS GERASIMOS , SYMONDS CELIA L.
Published: March 2014

Megadrymus brigalow n. sp., a new species of seed bug, is described from semi-evergreen vine thicket in the Brigalow Belt region of Queensland, Australia. This species has the smallest body in the genus Megadrymus Gross and has a number of vestigial characters.
Thermal properties of carbon nanofiber reinforced high-density polyethylene nanocomposites
Authors: Xu Songbo , Akchurin Aydar , Liu Tian , Wood Weston , Tangpong XW , Akhatov Iskander S , Zhong Wei-Hong
Published: March 2014

Reinforcing polymers with the appropriate nanofillers is an effective way to obtain a variety of enhanced material properties. In this paper, high-density polyethylene nanocomposites reinforced with either pristine or silane-treated carbon nanofibers at various weight percentages (0.5 wt%, 1 wt%, and 3 wt%) were fabricated through melt-mixing and compressive processing. Silane coatings with two thicknesses, 2.8 nm and 46 nm, were applied on the oxidized carbon nanofibers to improve the interfacial bonding between the carbon nanofibers and the matrix. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy demonstrated the dispersion of carbon nanofibers and the strongly improved interfacial adhesion between the carbon nanofibers and high-density polyethylene matrix due to the silane coating. The thermal properties of high-density polyethylene / carbon nanofiber nanocomposites were characterized and compared with those of the neat high-density polyethylene. The measurement results showed that the thermal conductivity of the high-density polyethylene /carbon nanofiber nanocomposites increased with the carbon nanofiber loading. The enhancement of thermal conductivity was not only due to the high thermal conductivity of carbon nanofibers but also due to the interfacial quality between the carbon nanofibers and the high-density polyethylene matrix. The interfacial thermal contact resistance between the carbon nanofibers and the matrix was determined to be in the range of [Formula: see text] to [Formula: see text]. Furthermore, the coefficient of thermal expansion of the nanocomposite was found to be reduced by the incorporation of carbon nanofibers.
A Meta-Analysis of Different Forms of Shared Leadership–Team Performance Relations
Authors: D’Innocenzo Lauren , Mathieu John E. , Kukenberger Michael R.
Published: March 2014

Using 50 effect sizes from both published and unpublished studies (team n = 3,198), we provide meta-analytic support for the positive relationship between shared leadership and team performance. Employing a random effects model, we found that the theoretical foundation and associated measurement techniques used to index shared leadership significantly moderated effect size estimates. Specifically, as compared to studies that conceptualized and employed assessments of overall shared leadership from members (i.e., an aggregation approach), network conceptions and measures of shared leadership evidenced higher effect sizes. Both network density and (de)centralization approaches to the study of shared leadership–performance relations exhibited significant and higher effect sizes than did the aggregation-based studies. Analyses also revealed lower average effect sizes when the sample studied was in the classroom/lab as compared to the field. Task complexity significantly moderated the shared leadership, with lower effect sizes observed with more complex tasks. No significant influence of team task interdependence was observed. We highlight the relative value of employing social network theories and measures as compared to aggregate theories and measures of shared leadership. Directions for future research and application are discussed.
The presentation of celebrity personas in everyday twittering: managing online reputations throughout a communication crisis
Authors: Colapinto Cinzia , Benecchi Eleonora
Published: March 2014

New and social media are powerful new communication platforms capable of underpinning marketing and communication strategies; the new material mediation of interaction creates new sorts of interactional problems which need to be resolved. We intend to provide qualitative research and reflection on social media and their impact on issues pertaining to public relations activities and communication management. This article analyses management of the online reputation of an Olympic athlete, applying a Goffmanian framework regarding self-presentation. After a theoretical component concerning the concept of celebrity, sport sponsorship and crisis management, the authors focus on the uses and misuses of social media, addressing an exploratory research question, that is: how should a celebrity manage a communication crisis caused by misuse of a social media platform?
The effects of 8 weeks of heavy resistance training and branched-chain amino acid supplementation on body composition and muscle performance
Authors: Spillane Mike , Emerson Christamarie , Willoughby Darryn S
Published: March 2014

Purpose: This study determined the effects of 8 weeks of heavy resistance training combined with branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) supplementation on body composition and muscle performance. Methods: Resistance training was performed by 19 non-resistance-trained males (three sets of 8–10 repetitions) four times/week, for 8 weeks, while also ingesting 9 g/day of BCAA or 9 g/day of placebo (PLAC) on the exercise days only (one-half of total dose 30 min before and after exercise). Data were analyzed with separate 2 × 2 analysis of variance (ANOVA) ( p < 0.05). Results: For total body mass, neither group significantly increased with training ( p = 0.593) and also, there were no significant changes in total body water ( p = 0.517). In addition, no training- or supplement-induced ( p = 0.783) changes occurred with fat mass or fat-free mass ( p = 0.907). Upper-body ( p = 0.047) and lower-body strength ( p = 0.044) and upper- ( p = 0.001) and lower-body muscle endurance ( p = 0.013) increased with training; however, these increases were not different between the groups ( p > 0.05). Conclusion: When combined with heavy resistance training for 8 weeks, supplementation with 9 g/day of BCAA 30 min before and after exercise had no preferential effects on body composition and muscle performance.
Getting Ahead of Illness
Authors: Scherer Aaron M. , Scherer Laura D. , Fagerlin Angela
Published: March 2014

Background. Metaphors influence judgments and decisions in nonmedical contexts. Objective. First, to investigate whether describing the flu metaphorically increases an individual’s willingness and interest in getting a flu vaccination, and second, to explore possible mediators and moderators of the effect that metaphors might have on vaccination intentions. Materials and Methods. Three studies, each using a between-subjects manipulation in which the flu was described literally (as a virus) or metaphorically (as a beast, riot, army, or weed), were conducted. A total of 167 psychology undergraduates (study 1) and 300 and 301 online participants (studies 2 and 3, respectively) were included. Studies 1 through 3 examined vaccination behavioral intentions, absolute risk, comparative risk, perceived flu severity, and recent flu and flu vaccination experience. Studies 2 and 3 assessed vaccination e-mail reminder requests and global affect. Study 3 evaluated affective reactions, personal control, and understanding of the flu. Results. Describing the flu metaphorically increased individuals’ willingness to get vaccinated (studies 1–3), while the impact of metaphors on requests to receive an e-mail reminder to get vaccinated was unclear (studies 2 and 3). These results were moderated by vaccination frequency in study 2, such that the effects were found among individuals who occasionally receive flu vaccinations but not among individuals who never or always receive flu vaccinations. Metaphor use did not significantly impact any of the hypothesized mediators: perceived absolute risk, comparative risk, flu severity, affect, personal control, or understanding of the flu. Limitations include convenience samples and measuring behavioral intentions but not actual vaccination behavior. Conclusions. Describing the flu virus metaphorically in decision aids or information campaigns could be a simple, cost-effective way to increase vaccinations against the flu.
Nociception specific supraorbital nerve stimulation may prevent cluster headache attacks: Serendipity in a blink reflex study
Authors: Haane Danielle YP , Koehler Peter J
Published: March 2014

Background

In cluster headache, neuromodulation is offered when patients are refractory to pharmacological prophylaxis. Non-invasive peripheral neuromodulatory approaches are of interest. We will focus on these and particularly on nociception specific, transcutaneous supraorbital nerve stimulation.

Methods

In a study using the nociception specific blink reflex, we made a serendipitous discovery, notably the potential prophylactic effect of bilateral, time contingent, nociception specific, transcutaneous stimulation of the supraorbital nerve.

Results

We report on a case series of seven cluster headache patients, in whom attacks seemed to disappear during repeated stimulation of the supraorbital nerves. Three patients stopped experiencing attacks since study participation.

Conclusions

Bilateral, time contingent, nociception specific, transcutaneous supraorbital nerve stimulation may have a prophylactic effect in episodic and chronic cluster headache. Given its limited side effects and its non-invasive nature, further studies to investigate this potential peripheral neuromodulatory approach for both episodic and chronic cluster headache are warranted.
Cognitive Complaints Correlate With Depression Rather Than Concurrent Objective Cognitive Impairment in the Successful Aging Evaluation Baseline Sample
Authors: Zlatar Zvinka Z. , Moore Raeanne C. , Palmer Barton W. , Thompson Wesley K. , Jeste Dilip V.
Published: March 2014

Objective:

Whether subjective cognitive complaints are suggestive of depression or concurrent cognitive impairment in older adults without dementia remains unclear. The current study examined this question in a large (N = 1000), randomly selected, community-based sample of adults aged 51 to 99 years without a formal diagnosis of dementia (Successful AGing Evaluation [SAGE] study).

Methods:

The modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS-m) measured objective cognitive function, the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ) measured subjective cognitive complaints, and the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) measured depression. Spearman ρ correlations and linear regression models were conducted to examine the relationship among variables in the baseline SAGE sample.

Results:

There was a weak association between TICS-m and CFQ scores (ρ = −.12); however, a moderate to large association was observed for CFQ and PHQ-9 (ρ = .44). Scores on the CFQ were not associated with TICS-m scores (β = −.03, P = .42) after controlling for PHQ-9 and variables of interest, such as age, gender, ethnicity, and physical functioning, while PHQ-9 was significantly associated with CFQ scores (β = .46, P < .001) after controlling for variables of interest.

Conclusions:

Subjective cognitive complaints are more likely related to symptoms of depression rather than concurrent cognitive impairment in a large cross-section of community-dwelling adults without a formal diagnosis of dementia.
Tenofovir, Emtricitabine, and Darunavir/Ritonavir Pharmacokinetics in an HIV-Infected Patient After Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Surgery
Authors: MacBrayne Christine E. , Blum Joshua D. , Kiser Jennifer J.
Published: March 2014

Objective: To determine antiretroviral (ARV) pharmacokinetics in a patient who previously underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery. Case Summary: We describe a 38-year-old Hispanic man who tested positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) 11 months following RYGB surgery. When the patient presented for care of his HIV, his HIV-1 RNA was 146 138 copies/mL (5.20 log) and his CD4 T cell count was 320 cells/mm3 (25%). He was initiated on tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) 300 mg once daily, emtricitabine (FTC) 200 mg once daily, and darunavir/ritonavir (DRV/r) 600/100 mg twice daily. ARV concentrations were similar to historical data. Six months following ARV initiation, HIV-1 RNA was <48 copies/mL and CD4 count had increased to 562 cells/mm3 (39%). Discussion: Bariatric surgery has been successfully performed in obese persons infected with the HIV, but data are limited on ARV drug selection and pharmacokinetics in this group. Optimal suppression of HIV replication requires appropriate concentrations of ARV drugs, and in a patient who has undergone RYGB, this can be challenging not only because of a decreased absorptive surface area but also because of an increased intragastric pH. Conclusion: We found that once daily TDF/FTC and twice daily DRV/r produced trough concentrations similar to historic data in a patient who previously underwent RYGB with virologic suppression and immunologic recovery.
Two-dimensional problem for a thick plate with axi-symmetric distribution in the theory of generalized thermoelastic diffusion
Authors: Sherief Hany H , Hussein Eman M
Published: March 2014

In this work the problem of a thermoelastic thick plate that is of infinite extent and finite thickness with a permeating substance in contact with one of the bounding planes is considered in the context of the theory of generalized thermoelastic diffusion with one relaxation time. The upper surface is taken to be traction free, subjected to a time-dependent thermal shock and the chemical potential, also assumed to be a known function of time. The lower surface of the plate is laid on a rigid foundation, which is thermally insulating. The Laplace and Hankel transform techniques are used. The analytical solution in the transform domain is obtained by using a direct approach. The inverse of the double transform is obtained by using a numerical method based on Fourier expansion techniques. The temperature, displacement, stress and concentration, as well as the chemical potential, are obtained. Numerical computations are carried out and represented graphically.
Shear deformation in beams with negative Poisson’s ratio
Authors: Lim Teik-Cheng
Published: March 2014

This paper evaluates the effect of auxeticity on the extent of shear deformation in isotropic beams. It is herein shown that the ratio of maximum deflection by Timoshenko theory to the maximum deflection by the Euler–Bernoulli theory reduces as the Poisson’s ratio of the beam material becomes more negative. The obtained results suggest that the ratio of shear deformation to bending deformation is lower in auxetic beams than in conventional beams, and that the use of Euler–Bernoulli beam theory for quantifying the deflection in auxetic beams gives lesser deviation from the Timoshenko beam theory than in conventional beams. Specifically, the shear deformation becomes insignificant for square beams with Poisson’s ratio of –1. A set of design equations that allows the use of simpler Euler–Bernoulli beam theory instead of the Timoshenko beam theory for the considered cases are proposed herein to justify the use of the former theory on beam analysis on the basis of reduced shear deformation as the beam’s Poisson’s ratio becomes more negative. The findings obtained herein also suggest that in comparison with conventional beams (of equal Young’s modulus, load distributions, and boundary conditions) the lower shear deformation in auxetic beams translates into smaller transverse deflections and hence better dimensional stability.
Narrative Skills in Young Adults With High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders
Authors: Rollins Pamela Rosenthal
Published: March 2014

In this study, the author investigated narrative performances of 10 high-functioning young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) across personal and storybook narratives. Narratives were elicited with genre-specific procedures and then transcribed and scored using the narrative scoring scheme (NSS). One-tailed paired-sample t tests were conducted on four variables, for which the standard mean difference between the genres (NSS Total Score, Introduction, Conclusion, and Mental States) was large. To avoid inflating Type I error, an alpha of .012 was set. Results indicated that, on average, high-functioning adults with ASD had poorer quality personal narratives for NSS Total Score, Mental States, and Conclusion. This suggests that many high-functioning adults with ASD have difficulty in expressing how they feel and often neglect to conclude and make sense of their experiences in a social context. Telling personal narratives is an important skill for high-functioning adults with ASD because narratives support social interaction and relationships.
A Case of Inappropriate Apolipoprotein E Testing in Alzheimer’s Disease Due to Lack of an Informed Consent Discussion
Authors: Furman Christian D. , Earnshaw Lori A. , Doukas David J. , Farrer Lindsay A. , Friedland Robert P.
Published: March 2014

Background/Objective:

Apolipoprotein E ( APOE) genetic testing is used to assist in the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). Whenever genetic testing is performed, an informed consent process should occur.

Methods:

In this case, a patient with memory loss presented to the neurologist. The neurologist ordered a lumbar puncture (LP). The LP was performed by a neuroradiologist who also ordered APOE genetic testing. The patient received no genetic counseling, nor was an informed consent document offered.

Results:

After the testing was completed, the neurologist faced an ethical dilemma. His solution was to offer the genetic testing to the patient in order to have an informed consent process. It was clear that the patient and her adult children did not want the genetic testing and that they would have been burdened with the results. The neurologist opted not to disclose the results.

Conclusion:

Genetic counseling and a signed informed consent document are required prior to any genetic testing. In this case, neither occurred and it led to an ethical dilemma that was ultimately resolved by the neurologist. As the population ages and AD becomes more prevalent, there is a need to expand the workforce of genetic counselors and educate physicians who commonly treat AD about genetic testing.
Rheumatic heart disease in Tennessee: An overlooked diagnosis
Authors: Choudhury Shahana A , Exil Vernat
Published: March 2014

Rheumatic heart disease, already a major burden in low- and middle-income countries, is becoming an emerging problem in high-income countries. Although acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease have almost been eradicated in areas with established economies, the emergence of this problem may be attributable to the migration from low-income to high-income settings. Between 2010 and 2012, we diagnosed a cluster of rheumatic heart disease cases in children from the Middle Tennessee area. The goal of this report is to increase awareness among clinicians as the incidence and prevalence of acute rheumatic fever remain relatively significant in large US metropolitan areas. Although acute rheumatic fever is seasonal, a high suspicion index may lead to the early diagnosis and prevention of its cardiac complications. Furthermore, screening procedures may be recommended for populations at risk for rheumatic heart disease in endemic areas, and active surveillance with echocardiography-based screening might become very important.
Dynamics and trends in social trust in Ghana
Authors: Asante Richard
Published: March 2014

The problem of lack of social trust (or interpersonal trust) in Africa remains a concern. This article describes and analyses why Ghana faces a challenge of low social trust in spite of the progress made in both political and economic development, especially in the past two decades. Building on the existing body of knowledge, which often points to either economic or non-economic factors as major determinants of social trust, the article argues that the problem of low levels of social trust is anchored to a hybrid of both economic and non-economic factors. The failure of the government to reduce socio-economic inequalities and unemployment along with lack of strong institutions to enforce contracts explains the deficit in social trust in Ghana. The article brings to the fore the importance of structural and historical factors, notably the legacies of the slave trade and colonial rule, and social exclusion as critical to understanding the problem of low social trust. It concludes by highlighting how Ghana could develop social trust among its citizens.
Can international interventions secure the peace?
Authors: Hoeffler Anke
Published: March 2014

The international community uses a number of interventions to make and build peace. How effective are these interventions? What works and what does not? Some of the commonly advocated interventions have been assessed in large- n studies.This article provides an overview of the current knowledge and highlights the uncertainties. Although there is no evidence that development aid helps to prevent wars in general, aid stabilizes post-war situations. There are also a considerable number of studies suggesting that UN Peacekeeping Operations do indeed keep the peace. Although there are fewer studies, there is some emerging evidence that arms embargoes do restrict arms transfers to conflict zones and thus help to make conflicts less deadly. This suggests that internationally binding rules on arms transfers and the use of private military and security services are effective means of conflict management. On the other hand, the evidence arising from the analysis of mediation and sanctions is mixed. They are frequently used third-party interventions, often in conjuncture with other interventions. However, our knowledge about the optimal policy mix of economic, diplomatic and military interventions is still limited.
ZnO nanosheet arrays constructed on weaved titanium wire for CdS-sensitized solar cells
Authors: Wu Cuncun , Wei Lin , Li Yitan , Liu Chang , Jiao Jun , Chen Yanxue , Mei Liangmo
Published: March 2014

Ordered ZnO nanosheet arrays were grown on weaved titanium wires by a low-temperature hydrothermal method. CdS nanoparticles were deposited onto the ZnO nanosheet arrays using the successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction method to make a photoanode. Nanoparticle-sensitized solar cells were assembled using these CdS/ZnO nanostructured photoanodes, and their photovoltaic performance was studied systematically. The best light-to-electricity conversion efficiency was obtained to be 2.17% under 100 mW/cm2illumination, and a remarkable short-circuit photocurrent density of approximately 20.1 mA/cm2was recorded, which could attribute to the relatively direct pathways for transportation of electrons provided by ZnO nanosheet arrays as well as the direct contact between ZnO and weaved titanium wires. These results indicate that CdS/ZnO nanostructures on weaved titanium wires would open a novel possibility for applications of low-cost solar cells.
From Foot Fetish to Hand Fetish: Hygiene, Class, and the New Woman
Authors: Jiang Jing
Published: March 2014

Through an intertextual reading of Xiao Hong's short story “Hands” and other examples culled from the broader print culture of the Republican period, this article traces the rise of a kind of “hand fetish” in modern China and examines the array of cultural meanings embedded in this particular imagination of modern femininity. The hand fetish came in vogue in a time when the woman's body became the site and symbol of modernization and national rejuvenation in the wake of the antifootbinding movement. To a certain extent, women's hands are elevated to the glamorous status from which their now demonized other, the bound feet, have been eternally banished. As the modern replacement of the stigmatized bound feet, hands now emerge as the female body part associated with civilization, progress, hygienic modernity, and glamour and grace of intelligent and independent women who embody the new universal standard of modern beauty.

Despite all the hype about the apparent disparity in meaning attributed to the different parts of the female body, however, I argue that the foot fetish and the hand fetish are related to each other by a hidden continuity or affinity. Women's elegant and dainty hands, much like their bound feet in the past, express an elitist distance from labor and engrave the notion of class within the notion of femininity. But to simply assert that the hand fetish is nothing other than the survival of the old class bias in a new form is to miss the complexity of the picture. What makes the Chinese fetishization of clean and elegant hands particularly fascinating is the extent to which familiar categories of gender and class become “raced” in the process of their rearticulation. Xiao Hong's story alerts us to the operation of what I'd like to call “the logic of internal racialization” in both elite and popular imaginations of modern femininity. While those who want to project an image of being modern are eager to conform to a white ideal of beauty, they fixate their contrastive other in a fragmentary image of blackness. The realization of this logic is partly achieved through frequent invocations of the discourse of hygiene, the scientific arm of racist ideologies, in representations of lower-class women. The discourse of race thus provides the old categories of difference — gender and class — a new language for self-representation, a new aura of legitimacy and respectability, and a new life.
Bright Lights, Big City: Lighting, Technological Modernity, and Ozu Yasujirô's Sono Yo No Tsuma (That Night's Wife, 1930)
Authors: Miyao Daisuke
Published: March 2014

Sono yo no tsuma (That Night's Wife), Ozu Yasujirô's 1930 film, embodied the contradictory discourses of technological modernity in Japan in 1930. The content of the film makes critical comments on the politics and economy of modernizing Japan as a cause of social distress. At the same time, stylistically, the film celebrates, or at least fully appreciates, the arrival of technological modernity by 1930, which enables the spectacles of lights in the form of a new visual medium for a mass-consumer society. Moreover, the motif of hands, which is enhanced by hard lighting throughout the film, positions Sono yo no tsuma at an intersection of technologies of criminal investigation and the modern anxiety and subjectivity of the period. Focusing on the use of lighting, in particular, I argue that the materiality of Sono yo no tsuma deviates from the simple dichotomy of East/West or the geopolitical hierarchy and structural hegemony of center/periphery and places itself in the sensory network of global film culture of the historical point of 1930.
The Darfur Olympics: Global Citizenship and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games
Authors: Hubbert Jennifer
Published: March 2014

The Olympic games have long served as a platform for political debate and ideological expression, and the 2008 Beijing games were no exception. The United States Olympic team selection of “Lost Boy of Sudan” and Team Darfur spokesperson Lopez Lomong as its flag bearer made this eminently visible. This article explores the links between the Olympics and global citizenship through examining how the 2008 Beijing games became an international platform for critiques of China's political and economic relationships with Sudan, in light of the continued civil war ravaging the Darfur region. First, it examines how the critiques of China's role in Darfur mirrored the discursive premises of an international relations theory known as “good international citizenship” that accused China of forsaking its global moral responsibilities in favor of enhancing its private economic concerns, thus exacerbating human rights in Darfur. Second, it examines how China offered a traditional Confucian concept of “harmonious society” as a theory of international relations that stresses nation-state sovereignty or privacy (China's nominal policy of noninterference) and mutual economic development. While on the surface, these two approaches to responsible citizenship differ, this article argues 1) that even as China is critiqued, through the Olympics venue, for its “inadequate” global citizenship in Darfur, the Olympic lens through which it is appraised and found lacking mirrors the very reason it has achieved global prominence — its economic growth and market privatization; and 2) that despite the classic Confucian language of China's own configuration of responsible global citizenship, its model does not merely reflect some essentialist concept of cultural China but rather lays bare the oftentimes opaque global economic coding of the rhetoric of stakeholding in which capitalist market praxis is philosophically configured as a means to the ends of moral governance and progressive change.
Filming the Queerness of Comfort Women: Byun Young-Joo's The Murmuring, 1995
Authors: Kim Jongwoo Jeremy
Published: March 2014

This essay does not concern the history of comfort women per se; rather, it treats disruption and transgression in the discourse of comfort women, as filmmaker Byun Young-Joo sets in motion in The Murmuring (1995). This essay is particularly concerned with Byun's visual language in The Murmuring, which exceeds or is independent of the film's dialogue and narration, spoken to defy and subvert the tyranny of the social norms that regulate gender and sexuality. Although shot when the research on comfort women was inchoate, the critical power of The Murmuring is still unsurpassed because it confronts the difficult but fundamental issue concerning comfort women: the heteronormative desire that sanctioned the violence of wartime sexual slavery. The history of the comfort women has often been written as an indictment of Japan's military imperial ideology, with the goal of recuperating its victims into a semblance of normality, but such normality conforms precisely to the very patriarchal codes that naturalized the institutionalization of Japan's military rape in the first place. Byun's cinematography suggests a recuperation of comfort women, not in the interests of a normalized heterosexuality, but something that might be associated with the queer, a form of defiance aiming to “undo restrictively normative conceptions” of sexuality and gender.

After considering Byun as an icon of transgressive gender and sexuality, this essay delves into her queer camera work and visual narrative structure in The Murmuring. Utilizing the rhetoric of coming out, Byun documents Kang Deok Kyeong's protest against social erasure in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul. In a scene of domestic activities such as cooking, washing, and hairstyling, which are traditionally associated with femininity, Byun critiques the discourse of normalcy surrounding former comfort women who must endlessly negotiate with the social regulations of womanhood. Bodily desires are emphatically configured in Byun's film even in standard interview scenes, and the architectural setting of the former comfort women's residence (the House of Sharing) metaphorically mirrors the psychological state of its inhabitants. Physical interactions between the women of the House of Sharing are shown to challenge the regulations of gender and sexuality, and bodies that resist the silencing in the name of father are hauntingly featured. With an indepth examination of the final scene in which Hong Kang Rim stands naked before Byun's handheld camera, this essay explores the cinematography of the queer and the undoing of gender and sexuality.
Management Insights
Authors: Gorman Michael F.
Published: March 2014

In our monthly Management Insights we highlight—without using technical jargon—the insights and implications for practicing managers that are explored and developed in each article published in the issue.
La participación social de los jóvenes españoles
Authors: Santacreu Fernández Óscar
Published: March 2014

Este trabajo analiza la participación social de los jóvenes españoles, partiendo del concepto de capital social. Utilizando como metodología los modelos estructurales de covarianzas, busca la relación entre las actividades de participación de los jóvenes y factores como la pertenencia a asociaciones y colectivos, el interés que manifiestan por la política, el grado de confianza en la utilidad de la participación política y valores como la solidaridad. También evalúa la influencia de variables externas como el género, la clase social o los estudios. La principal hipótesis que se plantea consiste en que el grado de participación general está mediada principalmente por el interés en la política y por la actividad en ámbitos de participación institucionalizados.
La imagen de los “hechos sociales” en la Sociología
Authors: Alaminos Chica Antonio
Published: March 2014

El artículo expone la dependencia que los investigadores sociales tienen de su representación de la realidad social. Se propone que los investigadores exploren sus “entimemas”: aquellos silogismos incompletos, rellenos de sentido mediante el prejuicio, que condicionan y dirigen la percepción de la realidad. En definitiva, el mismo problema que los pintores deben resolver en su expresión de la realidad. Puntillismo, cubismo, realismo, son proposiones sobre la realidad. El operacionalismo de Lazarsfeld es claramente una “visión puntillista” de la realidad; Los estudios de caso y metodologías cualitativas son “naturalistas”, etc. El texto apuesta por el empleo del “cubismo sintético” como expresión de la realidad social: el método de modelado estructural de covarianzas, triangulado sobre una expresión “colorista-cualitativa” que ancle la dermis y la epidermis social.
Identidad nacional: planteamiento y evaluación de un modelo estructural
Authors: Vicente Canela Antonio Luis , Moreno Ramos María Teresa
Published: March 2014

En el siguiente trabajo tiene como tema la formación de identidades a partir del análisis una serie de variables y la explicación de las mismas mediante el planteamiento de un modelo estructural. De manera más concreta nos hemos centrado en la formación de la identidad nacional, entendida como la identificación con el estado nación, y la relación de este sentimiento con respecto a otras formas de identidad que tienen como base otros ámbitos territoriales y políticos superiores o inferiores, así como con el uso de una u otra lengua en el hogar u otras formas de identidad ligadas a ámbitos culturales o comunitarios diferentes como puede ser la familia, siendo estas últimas formas de identidad propias de unos valores postmodernos.
Participación social: planteamiento y evaluación de un modelo estructural a partir de variables observadas
Authors: Sabariegos Díaz José
Published: March 2014

Una de las cuestiones significativas de la sociología es la participación social. Tal participación se lleva a cabo a través de la interacción entre personas con un objetivo en común. Lo importante no es conocer ese objetivo sino los impulsos que llevan a cada una de las personas a integrarse en un conjunto. Estos impulsos a los que llamaremos variables, estarán relacionados entre sí a veces de manera directa, y otras veces de manera indirecta. En el presente trabajo se tratará de explicar la participación social a través de unas variables escogidas para tal efecto. Tales variables objeto del estudio serán la educación, la clase social, la religión y la ideología.
Elementos para el estudio de la estratificación social en las sociedades avanzadas: estrategias operativas
Authors: Francés García Francisco José
Published: March 2014

El estudio empírico de la posición social de los individuos en las sociedades avanzadas supone un reto investigador, por cuanto las rápidas transformaciones en la estructura y las nuevas pautas de movilidad social hacen aconsejable incorporar variables ausentes en el estudio tradicional de la estructural social. El artículo propone cuatro estrategias operativas para el análisis de la estratificación social, recogiendo enfoques de diverso origen y tradición, y buscando sintetizar los esfuerzos desarrollados hasta el momento.
El retorno de las migraciones circulares: la regulación de las migraciones profesionales
Authors: Alaminos Chica Antonio , López Fernández Cristina , López Monsalve Begoña , Perea Crespo Ignacia , Santacreu Fernández Óscar
Published: March 2014

Nuevamente, reaparece la noción de “migraciones circulares” como procedimiento de racionalización de las migraciones con motivación laboral. Es un concepto que produce tanto reacciones adversas como favorables entre los investigadores. Como tantos propuestas, sus virtudes y defectos dependerán más de cómo se concrete su reglamentación y aplicación práctica que de sus contenidos y potencialidades. Una parte sustantiva de las migraciones corresponde con motivaciones socioeconómicas, asociadas a la movilidad laboral. Para este tipo de migración, la ruptura con los elementos culturales, de vida cotidiana, y con las redes sociales de su país de origen son consecuencias no deseadas de la movilidad. La contribución más visible de su esfuerzo, en las sociedades de origen, son las remesas económicas. Las migraciones circulares proponen que la movilidad incorpore la noción de regreso. Es decir, que la migración suponga un momento de su ciclo vital, donde la restitución al entorno social de origen pueda ser una realidad. Incluyendo las ventajas para una nueva migración posterior. Las consecuencias de esta reestructuración en el horizonte vital de los migrados son importantes. Permite reintegrar a las sociedades de origen capital humano formado y cualificado, con las consecuencias positivas para el desarrollo social y económico en estas sociedades. Mantiene la calidad de vida afectiva y emocional en los migrantes y su entorno familiar. Intensifica la relación entre las dos sociedades y simplifica los problemas que supone la convivencia entre sistemas culturales o religiosos contradictorios. Especialmente referidos a la libertad e igualdad. Son múltiples los ejemplos referidos a la violencia de género, sobre niños, etc., inaceptables en los estados sociales de derecho democráticos que predominan en las sociedades occidentales. Ciertamente el ámbito de aplicación óptimo lo define la migración económica. Este enfoque migratorio excluye otro tipo de migración especialmente importante: la no económica, donde la migración viene motivada por buscar nuevos horizontes vitales, explorar estilos de vida alternativos, persecución política, etc.
La medición del desarrollo social
Authors: Alaminos Chica Antonio , López Monsalve Begoña
Published: March 2014

Los índices de desarrollo han sido durante mucho tiempo objeto de debate, tanto académico como político o social. Es abundante la bibliografía que se ocupa de la noción de desarrollo social, tanto de su significado como de su dependencia histórica y cultural. Presentamos una descripción sintética de los índices más significativos, destacando las dimensiones teóricas así como sus especificidades metodológicas.
Suma Qamaña, vivir bien, el Ethos de la nueva constitución boliviana
Authors: Fernández Hugo
Published: March 2014

Este artículo expone algunos antecedentes que explican por qué se ha introducido la expresión Vivir Bien (Suma Qamaña y sus variantes) en el texto constitucional recientemente aprobado en Bolivia. Entre ellos menciona los sorprendentes resultados electorales obtenidos por Evo Morales, que se sustentan en la emergencia y consolidación del pensamiento indígena, en la clara voluntad de adquirir poder político por parte de las organizaciones indígenas y en la necesidad de cambiar el ordenamiento jurídico existente, empezando por la Constitución. Identifica igualmente algunos elementos que caracterizan la resistencia a estos esfuerzos en el ámbito de las tierras bajas. A la pregunta de por qué era necesario cambiar la Constitución, responde que la anterior pretendía la “integración” de los indígenas despojándoles de su identidad. Por el contrario, la actual se caracteriza por una marcada impronta indígena al tratar los principios, valores y fines del Estado. Es allí donde aparece la expresión Suma Qamaña y otras equivalentes en otras tantas lenguas indígenas, que es necesario leer como el Ethos que inspira a la nueva Constitución y que debe guiar en la construcción del nuevo Estado.
El futuro del maldesarrollo
Authors: Tortosa Blasco José María
Published: March 2014

El concepto de “maldesarrollo” hace referencia a una metáfora, pero a diferencia de “desarrollo”, intenta referirse no a un Buen Vivir que debería buscarse sino a la constatación, primero, del fracaso del programa del “desarrollo” y, segundo, del Mal Vivir que puede observarse en el funcionamiento del sistema mundial y de sus componentes, desde los Estados nacionales a las comunidades locales. Si “desarrollo” implica un elemento normativo (lo deseable), “maldesarrollo” contiene un componente empírico (lo observable) o incluso crítico (lo indeseable).