bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Automated Extraction of Shallow Erosion Areas Based on Multi-Temporal Ortho-Imagery
Authors: Wiegand Christoph , Rutzinger Martin , Heinrich Kati , Geitner Clemens
Published: May 2013

In several areas of the Alps, steep grassland is characterized by shallow erosions. These erosions represent a hazard through the increased availability of unconsolidated material in steep locations, loss of soil and impaired landscape aesthetics. Generally, the erosions concern only small areas but sometimes occur in large numbers. Remote sensing technologies have emerged as suitable tools to study the spatio-temporal changes of these eroded areas. The detection of such eroded areas is often done by manual digitalization of aerial photographs, which is labour-intensive and includes a certain risk of subjectivity. In this study we present a methodological tool that allows the automatic classification of shallow erosions on the basis of orthophoto series. The approach was carried out within a test site in the inner Schmirn Valley, Austria. The study covers both the detection of erosion areas and a multi-temporal analysis of the geomorphological changes. The presented approach is an appropriate tool for detecting shallow erosions and for analysing them in multi-temporal terms. The multi-temporal analysis revealed one period of higher increases in eroded areas compared to shrinking during the other periods. However, the analysis of the change of all single erosions indicates that in each study period there was both increase and decrease of erosion areas. The differences in the rates of increase between the observation years are most likely due to the irregular occurrence of events that encourage erosion. In contrast, the rates of decrease are almost constant and suggest a continuous rate of recovery.
A Stratified Acoustic Model Accounting for Phase Shifts for Underwater Acoustic Networks
Authors: Wang Ping , Zhang Lin , Li Victor
Published: May 2013

Accurate acoustic channel models are critical for the study of underwater acoustic networks. Existing models include physics-based models and empirical approximation models. The former enjoy good accuracy, but incur heavy computational load, rendering them impractical in large networks. On the other hand, the latter are computationally inexpensive but inaccurate since they do not account for the complex effects of boundary reflection losses, the multi-path phenomenon and ray bending in the stratified ocean medium. In this paper, we propose a Stratified Acoustic Model (SAM) based on frequency-independent geometrical ray tracing, accounting for each ray’s phase shift during the propagation. It is a feasible channel model for large scale underwater acoustic network simulation, allowing us to predict the transmission loss with much lower computational complexity than the traditional physics-based models. The accuracy of the model is validated via comparisons with the experimental measurements in two different oceans. Satisfactory agreements with the measurements and with other computationally intensive classical physics-based models are demonstrated.
Development and Testing of a Decision Making Based Method to Adjust Automatically the Harrowing Intensity
Authors: Rueda-Ayala Victor , Weis Martin , Keller Martina , Andújar Dionisio , Gerhards Roland
Published: May 2013

Harrowing is often used to reduce weed competition, generally using a constant intensity across a whole field. The efficacy of weed harrowing in wheat and barley can be optimized, if site-specific conditions of soil, weed infestation and crop growth stage are taken into account. This study aimed to develop and test an algorithm to automatically adjust the harrowing intensity by varying the tine angle and number of passes. The field variability of crop leaf cover, weed density and soil density was acquired with geo-referenced sensors to investigate the harrowing selectivity and crop recovery. Crop leaf cover and weed density were assessed using bispectral cameras through differential images analysis. The draught force of the soil opposite to the direction of travel was measured with electronic load cell sensor connected to a rigid tine mounted in front of the harrow. Optimal harrowing intensity levels were derived in previously implemented experiments, based on the weed control efficacy and yield gain. The assessments of crop leaf cover, weed density and soil density were combined via rules with the aforementioned optimal intensities, in a linguistic fuzzy inference system (LFIS). The system was evaluated in two field experiments that compared constant intensities with variable intensities inferred by the system. A higher weed density reduction could be achieved when the harrowing intensity was not kept constant along the cultivated plot. Varying the intensity tended to reduce the crop leaf cover, though slightly improving crop yield. A real-time intensity adjustment with this system is achievable, if the cameras are attached in the front and at the rear or sides of the harrow.
Museums, Diasporas and the Sustainability of Intangible Cultural Heritage
Authors: Naguib Saphinaz-Amal
Published: May 2013

This article is about the work of museums in constructing the intangible cultural heritage of migration and diasporas. I address the cultural dimension of sustainability and examine what happens to living traditions in migratory contexts, in particular, in contexts of international migrations, and consider different participatory approaches used by museums. I propose that collaborative projects drawing upon the principles of ecomuseology and what I describe as participation by endowment may provide new ways of involving groups of immigrant background. I limit the discussion to questions tied to the intangible cultural heritage of migration to Europe and argue that by recording, documenting, safeguarding and keeping the intangible heritage of diasporas alive, museums contribute in promoting self-esteem among these populations and social cohesion in society.
Special Issue: Enhancing Sustainable Performance in Organizational and Inter-Institutional Systems
Authors: Winch Graham , Bianchi Carmine
Published: May 2013

Sustainability is not just for Christmas… it’s for life. Sustainable solutions, whether sought in terms of business strategies, social policies, or the exploitation of natural resources have to serve organizations and communities in the long term, sometimes very long term, as well as the short term. Static analysis is unlikely to be able to evaluate candidate solutions fully, and is more likely to focus on the short-term future to the detriment of the longer-term. Sustainable solutions are more likely to be developed from studies based on deep analysis using systems approaches, and from system dynamics (SD) approaches in particular.
Developing Topic-specific Search Filters for PubMed with Click-through Data
Authors: Li J. , Lu Z.
Published: May 2013

Objectives: Search filters have been developed and demonstrated for better information access to the immense and ever-growing body of publications in the biomedical domain. However, to date the number of filters remains quite limited because the current filter development methods require significant human efforts in manual document review and filter term selection. In this regard, we aim to investigate automatic methods for generating search filters.

Methods: We present an automated method to develop topic-specific filters on the basis of users’ search logs in PubMed. Specifically, for a given topic, we first detect its relevant user queries and then include their corresponding clicked articles to serve as the topic-relevant document set accordingly. Next, we statistically identify informative terms that best represent the topic-relevant document set using a background set composed of topic irrelevant articles. Lastly, the selected representative terms are combined with Boolean operators and evaluated on benchmark datasets to derive the final filter with the best performance.

Results: We applied our method to develop filters for four clinical topics: nephrology, diabetes, pregnancy, and depression. For the nephrology filter, our method obtained performance comparable to the state of the art (sensitivity of 91.3%, specificity of 98.7%, precision of 94.6%, and accuracy of 97.2%). Similarly, high-performing results (over 90% in all measures) were obtained for the other three search filters.

Conclusion: Based on PubMed click-through data, we successfully developed a high-performance method for generating topic-specific search filters that is significantly more efficient than existing manual methods. All data sets (topic-relevant and irrelevant document sets) used in this study and a demonstration system are publicly available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/CBBresearch/Lu/downloads/CQ_filter/
Feasibility of Feature-based Indexing, Clustering, and Search of Clinical Trials
Authors: Boland M. R. , Miotto R. , Gao J. , Weng C.
Published: May 2013

Background: When standard therapies fail, clinical trials provide experimental treatment opportunities for patients with drug-resistant illnesses or terminal diseases. Clinical Trials can also provide free treatment and education for individuals who otherwise may not have access to such care. To find relevant clinical trials, patients often search online; however, they often encounter a significant barrier due to the large number of trials and in-effective indexing methods for reducing the trial search space.

Objectives: This study explores the feasibility of feature-based indexing, clustering, and search of clinical trials and informs designs to automate these processes.

Methods: We decomposed 80 randomly selected stage III breast cancer clinical trials into a vector of eligibility features, which were organized into a hierarchy. We clustered trials based on their eligibility feature similarities. In a simulated search process, manually selected features were used to generate specific eligibility questions to filter trials iteratively.

Results: We extracted 1,437 distinct eligi -bility features and achieved an inter-rater agreement of 0.73 for feature extraction for 37 frequent features occurring in more than 20 trials. Using all the 1,437 features we stratified the 80 trials into six clusters containing trials recruiting similar patients by patient-characteristic features, five clusters by disease-characteristic features, and two clusters by mixed features. Most of the features were mapped to one or more Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) concepts, demonstrating the utility of named entity recognition prior to mapping with the UMLS for automatic feature extraction.

Conclusions: It is feasible to develop feature-based indexing and clustering methods for clinical trials to identify trials with similar target populations and to improve trial search efficiency.
Availability and prescription practice of anti-malaria drugs in the private health sector in Yemen
Authors: Bin Ghouth Abdulla Salim
Published: May 2013

Introduction: Although the government of Yemen changed the national policy for treating malaria in November 2005 from chloroquine to combination drugs in the form of artesunate + sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) as first line and lumefantrine + artemether as second line treatment for uncomplicated malaria, clinicians in public and private health facilities continued to prescribe chloroquine because their knowledge about the new treatment policy was poor. Methodology: A non-randomized trial of pre- and post-evaluation of the training and reporting interventions about prescription behaviors and availability of anti-malaria drugs among clinicians and pharmacists in the private sector in three governorates in Yemen  was conducted. Results: Adherence of clinicians in the private sector to the new national guidelines for anti-malaria drugs improved from 21% in pre-intervention period to 38% after the intervention for artesunate + SP being prescribed as the first-line treatment.  Prescription of lumefantrine + artemether as the second-line anti-malaria treatment was also improved from 18% before the intervention to 22% post-intervention. Unfortunately the combination of halofantrine + SP continued to be frequently prescribed by clinicians in Sana'a city (18%). Artesunate + SP and quinine are increasing their marketing significantly from 8% in the pre-intervention period to 22% post-intervention (P-value 0.001). Conclusions: The study provides evidence of usefulness of the training intervention on the national guidelines for malaria treatment. Additionally, the involvement of private health-care providers in reporting procedures will promote the rational prescription and availability of anti-malaria drugs.
Sweet’s syndrome: a very rare association with pulmonary tuberculosis
Authors: Karmakar Partha Sarathi , Sherpa Pasang Lahmu , Ray Achintya Narayan , Saha Bikram Kr. , Santra Tuhin , Saha Sanchita , Chakrabarti Indranil
Published: May 2013

Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection is a common infection in developing countries, including India. It can induce several cutaneous reactions such as erythema nodosum, and erythema induratum; however, association of tuberculosis with Sweet’s syndrome (also known as acute febrile neutrophilic dermatosis) is extremely rare. Here we present an interesting case of sputum-positive pulmonary tuberculosis with Sweet’s syndrome. A 55-year-old female who was receiving a regimen of four antitubercular drugs (isoniazid, rifampicin, pyrazinamide, ethambutol- HRZE) for six weeks for sputum-positive pulmonary tuberculosis developed new onset high-grade fever for 15 days along with multiple reddish brown plaques and nodules involving the face as well as all four limbs of the body. Histopathology of the skin lesion was suggestive of Sweet’s syndrome. The patient responded well to immunosuppressive steroid therapy.
First molecular-based detection of mucocutaneous leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania major in Iran
Authors: Alborzi Abdolvahab , Pouladfar Gholam R , Ghadimi Moghadam Abdolkarim , Attar Armin , Drakhshan Nima , Khosravi Maharlooei Mohsen , Kalantari Mohsen
Published: May 2013

Mucocutaneous leishmaniasis, which mostly occurs in the New World, is mainly associated with Leishmania braziliensis and to a lesser degree L. panamensis and L. amazonensis infections. Primary mucosal leishmaniasis is very rare in Iran in spite of high prevalence of cutaneous and visceral leishmanisis. A nine-year-old boy had cutaneous leishmaniaisis for five years involving the left side of his face; he then developed swelling and ulceration of the lip and left side buccal mucosa five months before hospital admission. He had severe swelling of the lower lip and there was ulceration and bleeding of the buccal mucosa. Direct smear revealed leishman bodies and nested PCR confirmed the presence of kinetoplast DNA of L. major in the oral mucosal specimen. The patient received amphotericin B deoxycholate 1 mg/kg/day for one month. The lip and face inflammatory reaction disappeared to nearly normal after one month of therapy. The patient was discharged with ketoconazole (5mg/kg/day) for six weeks. To our knowledge, this is the first report of mucocutaneous leishmaniasis caused by L. major in Iran.
Successful switch to oral therapy with doxycycline in the case of an actinomycotic hepatic abscess
Authors: Petrache Diana , Popescu Gabriel-Adrian
Published: May 2013

A 72-year-old female was admitted with the symptoms of malaise, loss of appetite, upper right quadrant pain, fever, and sweats, which had been present for last 7 days. CT-scan of the abdomen revealed a hypodense mass in the right liver lobe; histopathological examination of the biopsy specimen yielded a diagnosis of actinomycotic abscess. Treatment with intravenous ampicillin for 8 weeks followed by a course of oral doxicycline for 28 weeks resulted in the complete resolution of the abscess.
Community-acquired CTX-M-15-type ESBL-producing Escherichia coli meningitis: a case report and literature review
Authors: Elaldi Nazif , Gozel Mustafa Gokhan , Kolayli Fetiye , Engin Aynur , Celik Cem , Bakici Mustafa Zahir , Vahaboglu Haluk
Published: May 2013

In this report, a case of community-acquired acute bacterial meningitis (CA-ABM) caused by CTX-M-15-producing Escherichia coli in an elderly male patient was presented in the light of literature. Cultures of cerebrospinal fluid, blood, ear discharge, and stool samples yielded CTX-M-15-producing E. coli in-vitro, which was resistant to the extended-spectrum cephalosporins and ciprofloxacin and susceptible to imipenem, meropenem and amikacin. Meningitis was treated with parenteral meropenem plus parenteral and intraventricular amikacin administration. Since bacterial meningitis is a life-threatening infection, empiric antibiotic therapy with carbapenem can be started before the culture results are obtained, mainly in areas where the ESBL epidemiology is well known.
Travail vivant, subjectivité et coopération : aspects philosophiques et institutionnels
Authors: Hamraoui Éric
Published: May 2013

Partant de l’analyse des concepts marxiens de travail vivant et de coopération, pensés en lien avec la question de la subjectivité, nous tentons de définir les formes d’atteinte de la vie au cœur de l’activité de travail, variant selon les configurations historico-économiques. Cette recherche nous conduit à différencier les étapes d’un processus allant de l’exploitation de la vie à l’organisation de son épuisement dans l’univers contemporain du travail, en passant par sa contention dans le système tayloriste de production. La généalogie ici établie s’appuie sur les approches conceptuellement différenciées de la phénoménologie de la vie de Michel Henry (1922-2002) et de l’analyse anthropologique et institutionnelle développée par Sidi Mohammed Barkat. La première met en avant l’idée de « ruine de la vie » pour caractériser l’époque actuelle. La seconde y voit à l’œuvre une entreprise de déni de la vie intimement liée à la stimulation de la vitalité des individus afin d’augmenter la performance du système économique.
Activités marginales : le manœuvre du bâtiment
Authors: Andrade de Barros Vanessa , Faleiro dos Santos Paulo Henrique
Published: May 2013

Comprendre le contexte dans lequel est engendrée et reproduite la marginalisation de la catégorie des manœuvres dans le bâtiment, aussi bien que ses implications psychosociales, est l’objectif de cet article. Il s’appuie sur une recherche réalisée dans une entreprise du bâtiment à Belo Horizonte, au Brésil. La condition de manœuvre concentre un ensemble de caractéristiques tenues comme négatives, empêchant la formation d’une image de soi et d’une identité positive pour ceux qui en portent les stigmates. La discrimination de cette catégorie joue un rôle important aussi sur le plan de l’organisation collective : elle affaiblit ou même annule la cohésion de ce groupe social. Nous avons observé enfin une considérable contradiction entre les discours des ouvriers du bâtiment quand ils parlent de leur activité à travers le prisme dépréciatif du sens commun et les discours qui partent de leur expérience et de l’analyse du travail réel de ces professionnels.
Les notions de tâche, prétâche et travail dans la théorie de Pichon-Rivière
Authors: Fabris Fernando
Published: May 2013

Il n’est pas évident de distinguer la « tâche » du « travail » en suivant la perspective de Pichon-Rivière, car ces deux notions prennent, dans ce cadre conceptuel, une place fondamentale. La tâche est l’acheminement d’un groupe ou d’un individu vers ses objectifs ; c’est à la fois une praxis et une trajectoire à caractère multidimensionnel et dialectique. Le travail, de même que la tâche, est une activité permettant d’organiser les subjectivités individuelles et collectives, mais ces deux notions comportent également des différences importantes. La prétâche est une forme de subjectivité (penser, sentir et agir) opposée à celle de la tâche : elle exprime une résistance au changement. Alors que le travail, tout en étant souvent aliénant et reproducteur de l’inégalité sociale, constitue fréquemment et de manière paradoxale un espace de renforcement de l’identité et de satisfaction des besoins de reconnaissance et de réalisation personnelle et sociale, ce qui le rapproche de la tâche, activité, par définition, salutaire.
Le travail en crèche à partir de l'invisible
Authors: Ulmann Anne-Lise
Published: May 2013

Cet article présente le travail des professionnelles de la petite enfance dans deux crèches. À partir d’une démarche de type ethnographique, il montre les tensions vécues silencieusement par ces femmes et questionne leurs conséquences tant sur leur santé que sur leur fonctionnement avec les enfants. Observateur impliqué mais aussi interlocuteur de ces professionnelles, l’auteur s’appuie sur ce qu’il voit et éprouve pour instaurer une réflexion conjointe avec elles sur les dimensions éthiques de situations en apparence ordinaires.
« L'école en souffrance » : recherche-action sur les situations de travail à risque pour la santé mentale en milieu scolaire
Authors: Maranda Marie-France , Viviers Simon , Deslauriers Jean-Simon
Published: May 2013

Cette recherche-action conduite dans deux écoles de niveau secondaire au Québec (lycées) s’est appuyée sur une enquête de psychodynamique du travail réalisée avec des enseignants, des professionnels de l’éducation, des membres du personnel de soutien et de direction. L’objectif était d’analyser la souffrance et les stratégies défensives individuelles et collectives puis d’identifier des situations à risque pour la santé mentale au travail. Un deuxième volet visait l’accompagnement du milieu scolaire dans une prise de conscience des effets délétères de l’organisation du travail et la nécessité d’agir en prévention primaire (à la source), pour la santé et la sécurité du travail.
Le formateur sait-il de quoi il parle ?
Authors: Bremond Capucine
Published: May 2013

Nous avons répondu à une demande pour former des tuteurs. Cette demande insistait sur la nécessité de participer au développement de compétences et d’explorer une définition du tutorat. Nous avons abordé cette formation avec notre double casquette, enseignant spécialisé en sciences de l’éducation et chercheur en analyse des interactions. Cette double casquette allait de pair avec une vision de la formation où le formateur, acteur parmi d’autres, n’amène pas son savoir comme expert. Ce que nous voulons examiner ici c’est comment le formateur peut être tiraillé entre une conception de l’apprentissage socioconstructiviste, qui le positionne en humilité, et des injonctions qui le situent en expert détenant une partie essentielle du savoir. L’expertise est inscrite dans les fondements de la relation entre les acteurs de l’apprentissage. Une pratique socioconstructiviste supposerait non seulement que les « apprenants » participent activement à la formation mais aussi que le formateur ne reste pas maître de la situation d’échange dans laquelle il s’inscrit, second aspect rarement acté dans le contexte actuel, voire peut-être même impratiquable. Qu’attend-on du formateur ? Maître ou acteur ? Si le formateur doit participer à concentrer le potentiel formatif des situations plutôt que se positionner en maître de la formation, il occupe une place nourrie par des enjeux sociaux et relationnels. Nous pensons que, même s’il le souhaitait, il ne pourrait être un simple médiateur des savoirs.
Le travail, essence de l'homme ? Qu'est-ce que le travail ?
Authors: Enriquez Eugène
Published: May 2013

Dans ce texte, l’auteur se demande si le travail est l’essence de l’homme. Sa réponse est négative. Bien d’autres attributs : le langage, le loisir, la religion, la guerre... entrent dans la constitution de l’humain. Néanmoins le travail a pris une large place dans la vie de l’homme dans nos sociétés modernes. Or qu’est-ce que le travail ? L’auteur tente de fournir une réponse à cette question et évoque les conditions à respecter pour que le travail ne soit plus le signe le plus évident de l’aliénation humaine.
Neuroimmune Dysregulation in HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders
Authors: McGuire Jennifer L. , Douglas Steven D.
Published: May 2013

CME Educational Objectives

1.

Identify three of the major cells involved in cellular immune dysregulation in HIV.

2.

Discuss monocyte activation in central nervous system (CNS) HIV.

3.

Discuss CD8+ T-lymphocyte activation in CNS HIV.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a global epidemic, directly infecting approximately 0.8% of people in the world, and indirectly affecting countless others.
1
Chronic immune activation, measured by cell proliferation, metabolic activity, or changed chemokine/cytokine or proteome profiles, is a hallmark of progressive HIV infection and predicts systemic disease progression more accurately than plasma viral load.
2,3
The neuropathophysiology of HIV infection appears to be driven in part by this chronic peripheral immune activation, resulting in an independent central immune dysregulation involving alteration in macrophage, T-lymphocyte, B-lymphocyte, microglial, and/or astrocyte functional capabilities.
Psychopharmacological Treatment of Patients with HIV/AIDS
Authors: Ferrando Stephen J.
Published: May 2013

CME Educational Objectives

1.

Apply knowledge of the epidemiology and complex differential diagnosis of psychiatric disorders in HIV to the selection of psychopharmacological agents.

2.

Know and apply understanding of drug-drug and drug-disease interactions in prescribing psychiatric medications to HIV/AIDS patients.

3.

Utilize understanding of the considerable research literature concerning psychopharmacological treatment in HIV/AIDS.

Knowledge of psychopharmacology is critical to the management of patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, due to the prevalence of pre-morbid psychopathology and substance use disorders (SUDs); HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND); somatic symptoms such as pain and fatigue, and neuroendocrine problems, all of which impact quality of life.
Peer Instruction of First-Year Nurse Anesthetist Students: A Pilot Study of a Strategy to Use Limited Faculty Resources and Promote Learning
Authors: Szlachta Jodie
Published: May 2013

A peer-instruction model was used to introduce the fundamental concepts and skills in an introductory nurse anesthetist course as an innovative teaching strategy to efficiently use simulation and faculty resources and promote learning. However, no studies have evaluated whether a peer-instruction model compared with faculty instruction facilitates learning in first-year nurse anesthetist students. The purpose of this prospective, posttest-only, true experimental pilot study was to determine whether a difference was noted in learning outcomes between first-year nurse anesthetist students who received peer instruction and those who received faculty instruction. Perceptions of peer learners and peer instructors about the benefits, limitations, and overall level of satisfaction of a peer-instruction teaching model were also examined. No statistically significant difference in learning outcomes was found between groups, which supports the use of the model. Perceptions of nurse anesthetist students were generally positive regarding the use of a peer-instruction model. [
J Nurs Educ.
2013;52(6):355–359.]
Oh, the Things You Will Learn: Taking Undergraduate Research to the Homeless Shelter
Authors: August-Brady Michele , Adamshick Pamela
Published: May 2013

Teaching research to undergraduate students has been described as a challenge. This article describes how a small group of students participated in a service-learning research project that culminated in the development of an educational intervention for volunteers who staff homeless shelters in the local community. By interacting with the homeless population and the volunteer staff who provide their care, students developed a greater understanding of the needs of the homeless, recognized some mental health disorders, and interacted with volunteer staff to assess their educational needs. Students were able to learn the research process through their participation in this collaborative project. The students’ learning exceeded typical outcomes, as they displayed leadership skills and advocacy in areas of social justice and made compassionate connections with this vulnerable population. These students also forged new territory for future students who will be working with homeless populations and those who minister to them. [
J Nurs Educ
. 2013;52(6):342–345.]
Preoperative Factors Predicting the Surgical Response of Bilateral Lateral Rectus Recession Surgery in Patients With Infantile Exotropia
Authors: Yam Jason C. S. , Chong Gabriela S. L. , Wu Patrick K. W. , Wong Ursula S. F. , Chan Clement W. N. , Ko Simon T. C.
Published: May 2013

Purpose:

To determine the preoperative factors affecting the efficacy in bilateral lateral rectus recession surgery for infantile exotropia.

Methods:

This was a retrospective study of 50 patients with infantile exotropia who had bilateral lateral rectus recession surgery correction with more than 1 year of follow-up. Preoperative parameters influencing the response of the surgery were obtained and evaluated using multiple regression analysis including age at onset, age at surgery, interval between onset and surgery, preoperative deviation, refractive error, anisometropia, amount of surgery performed, presence of A- or V-pattern, and preoperative phase of exotropia. The response to surgery was defined as the change in deviation divided by the amount of the surgery.

Results:

Thirty-two (64%) and 24 (48%) patients had successful outcome at 6 weeks and 1 year postoperatively, respectively. The mean response to surgery was 1.79 ± 0.63 prism diopters (PD)/mm recession at 6 weeks and 1.58 ± 0.75 PD/mm recession at 1 year postoperatively. Exotropic drift was 5.12 ± 7.27 PD at 6 weeks and 8.02 ± 6.81 PD at 1 year postoperatively. Pre-operative deviation was correlated with the response of surgery at 6 weeks (β = 0.342,
P
= .020) and 1 year (β = 0.391,
P
= .007) postoperatively.

Conclusions:

Surgical response decreases over time due to the exotropic drift. Larger preoperative distance deviation was associated with larger surgical response. Both the exotropic drift and the preoperative deviation should be considered in applying the surgical dose in infantile exotropia.

[J Pediatr Ophthalmol Strabismus 2013;50(4):245–250.]
Kontemporêre literatuurteorie en die studie en onderrig van die Afrikaanse letterkunde
Authors: Du Plooy H.
Published: May 2013

The scene of contemporary literary theory is complex and diverse. This article is concerned with the methodological implications of different theoretical approaches especially in the teaching of Afrikaans literature. The development of different literary theories is discussed to indicate the importance and necessity of theoretical training. After putting forward possible ways of using theory in practical teaching, it is suggested that a theoretical framework suited to the scope and diversity of Afrikaans literature should be developed.
J.M. Coetzee’s Life and Times of Michael K and Foe as Postmodernist Allegories
Authors: O’Connell L.
Published: May 2013

J.M. Coetzee is een van die kontemporêre skrywers vir wie postmodernistiese allegoric ’n bruikbare metafoor geword het. Sy verhale karteer die geaardheid, implikasies en gevolge van die misbruik van mag, en die mite van kolonialisme word ontleed en onthul. Life and Times of Michael K kan op die universele sowel as op die spesifiek Suid-Afrikaanse vlak geinterpreteer word. Michael K word die simbool van die mens se persoonlike vryheid, persoonlike identiteit en waardigheid. Sy stryd om vryheid is ironies in die lig van die feit dat die oorlog waaraan hy probeer ontkom, geveg word juis om minderheidsgroepe inspraak in hulle toekoms te verseker. Foe ondersoek die verhouding van vertelling en gebeure, waarheid en fiksie. Friday se stilte word ’n manifestasie van die eksistensiële niet. Soos dit in hierdie roman ontplooi, is dit die taak van die skrywer om die gemeenskap aan homself te openbaar, sodat die spraaklose weer resonasie gegee word.
Religion and the Literary Critic
Authors: Potter A. M.
Published: May 2013

In a recent article Jonathan Culler, condemned out of hand any use of religious terminology to define literature, seeing this as part of the destructive processes so-called “religion” has brought to American life. The article is an attempt to refute Culler by indicating, through an analysis of William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying, that an attempt to reject all religion as being destructive or quaintly anachronistic (as Culler ultimately does) seriously limits the capacity of the literary critic to explore works of literature. Evidence is brought forward to suggest that while Faulkner rejects the hypocritically pious type of religion as does Culler, he, unlike Culler, seems to be aware that religion is a much broader and deeper concept than this, exploring in an extremely positive way a type of experience universally accepted as religious, which has about it none of the qualities which Culler rejects.
Die mutasie van feit tot fiksie: die faksionele kode in 'Die jonkmanskas' van Koos Prinsloo
Authors: Botha R.
Published: May 2013

Documentary realism is a marked characteristic of Afrikaans literature in the eighties. This article looks critically at the techniques used by the author of the story “Die jonkmanskas” in his attempts to present an external, factual realm within a fictional framework. The term faction is defined in this article as documentary realism, where the text, through the agency of specific narrative techniques, transforms the document, or documentary material, into a new type of narrative material altogether. Particular attention is paid to autobiographical insertions, as well as techniques of authentication of this story. A metafictional system of control, which marks the text as a typically post-modernist, self-referential one, is developed through an intrinsic network of factional cross-references.
Some problems of writing historiography in Southern Africa
Authors: Gray S.
Published: May 2013

In this article, the author has come to the conclusion that the established literary definitions no longer serve to define the nature of the South African literary system, and that current literary criteria are no longer functional in determining the merit of a South African literary text. Not only do the traditional categories of Afrikaans, White English, and Black English texts have to be reconsidered, but the concept of the “true” South African writer has to be revaluated. Historiography, therefore, is not a science that demands rigid adherence to fixed categories or rules, but an art that needs to address the structural imbalance that plagues our literary system today.
Die struktuur van die tekskode: die strukturele organisasie van 'Die jonkmanskas' van Koos Prinsloo
Authors: Botha R.
Published: May 2013

A unique quality of literature is that the text system is not just an instrument for conveying a literary message; the structure of the system is in itself meaningful. This article will closely examine the structural organisation and the functional significance of Koos Prinsloo’s short story “Die Jonkmanskas” . “Die jonkmanskas” is a story with a complex structure, written in the postmodernist idiom, and originated from three distinct stories. These embedded stories simultaneously work as commentaries, parodies and corrective devices, so that the ultimate interpretation of “Die jonkmanskas” is also determined through its structural code. An important aspect of this short story, which is highlighted by the structural code, is the interaction between the author’s text, the narrator’s text and the character’s text. In this [pseudo] autobiography the distinction between the actual author, the abstract author and the narrator is gradually erased, because time and again the narrator changes his role from character to narrator to author.
St. Teresa van Avila: sentrale figuur in die werk van Cussons en Van Wyk Louw
Authors: Van Vuuren H.
Published: May 2013

A central poem in Van Wyk Louw’s Tristia (1962), is “H. Teresa van Avila flap uit” (literally translated: “Saint Teresa of Avila talks too much/babbles uncontrollably”. This article illustrates how intertextual reading helped to clarify the poem. Teresa of Avila’s The way of perfection (a translation of the Spanish work El Camino de la Perfección, 1573) is the intertext of the Van Wyk Louw poem. In the last section of the article it is shown how the figure of St. Teresa of Avila is central not only to Van Wyk Louw’s Tristia (1962), but also to the oeuvre of Sheila Cussons, which underlines a strong intertextuality between these two Afrikaans oeuvres.
Simbolisme: ’n poging tot deflniering
Authors: Van der Elst J.
Published: May 2013

In this article an attempt is made to establish a framework within which one can define or describe Symbolism as a literary phenomenon. As is the case with most literary movements one cannot reach a final definition or conclusion on Symbolism because it has many manifestations in different countries with different literary artists - so many men, so many minds. It is, however, possible to identify some common trends in the works of many symbolist poets and prose-writers. These trends are outlined in this article. The following also serves as an introduction to a special issue of Literator on Symbolism and its occurrence in the literary works of D.J. Opperman, Totius, N.P. van Wyk Louw and other Afrikaans literary artists. This special issue forms part of a comprehensive investigation into the incidence of Symbolism in the Afrikaans literary tradition undertaken by the Departement Afrikaans-Nederlands of the PU for CHE under the supervision of prof. D.H. Steenberg and with financial assistance of the Human Sciences Research Council.
Verskyningsvorme van die Simbolisme in die ouer Afrikaanse vertelkuns
Authors: Roos H.
Published: May 2013

As the Symbolist movement has primarily been linked to the poetic mode, the association of symbolism with prose writing, and particularly with traditional Afrikaans prose, raises many questions, From the writings of older critics it appears that whereas they did identify symbolic patterns in the work of contemporaries, the presence of a specific Symbolist influence is either not recognized at all, or played down and evaluated negatively. However, several of the early authors themselves, e.g. Leipoldt, Grosskopf and Marais, referred to, or admitted to being influenced by the great 19th-century Symbolist poets. The most marked example of Symbolist writing is evident in the short stories of Marais (“Die Reënbul”) and Van Melle (Denker kom kyk). In all the cases where the symbolist influence can be traced, several common characteristics are evident: the authors remained outside the mainstream of traditional Afrikaans prose writing, the lyrical tone and a decadent mood dominate, and in these early works signs of the innovative “Sestiger” prose are already evident.
Van Wyk Louw Simbolis?
Authors: Van Rensburg F. I.J.
Published: May 2013

In this article the question is posed whether one is justified in associating N.P. van Wyk Louw’s work with Symbolism as seen in terms of its being a historical art movement. At first sight some of the main characteristics of his work seem incompatible with the overall spirit of Symbolism. A close look is taken at these characteristics. They are weighed against typical characteristics of Symbolism. A number of common traits are discovered. Following this, a study of Van Wyk Louw’s utterances in his prose works is undertaken to establish the extent of his knowledge of the works of Symbolists and of Symbolism as such, The unfolding history of his contact with their work and with Symbolism is traced. Some revealing relations are uncovered. Having established a number of definite Symbolist traits in his work, his poetical oeuvre is projected against the set of fundamental characteristics of Symbolism as a phenomenon identified by S. Dresden in his book Symbolisme (1980). Seen at against this background, the range of symbolist features in his work shows up clearly. The conclusion reached is that Van Wyk Louw so thoroughly absorbed those characteristics of Symbolism that corresponded with his own creative personality that they have blended almost imperceptibly with the rest of his oeuvre, thereby creating the impression that they are fully native to his work.
Simboliek in Totius se werk
Authors: Cloete T. T.
Published: May 2013

Totius’ works are not symbolic in the sense that they exhibit any affinity with or influence by the European Symbolism of the time. Nevertheless, much that is symbolic is found in his works. Although he was inclined to interpret the images and symbols in his own poems at times, and even wrote allegorical poems, he also wrote really good symbolic poems. It emerged that the symbol has something universal, to such an extent that it is even possible to compile dictionaries of symbols, and the very fact that one can compile a dictionary of symbols, is sufficient proof that a symbol is not something particular but rather general. Many of the symbols used by Totius can be explained in the terms in which De Vries and Cirlot described these and similar symbols. However valuable symbols may be in poetry, the merit of a poem lies in much more than in the symbol(s) occurring in it. Thus the symbolic poems by Totius are not automatically better than the poems which are less heavily symbolic. However, some of his best poems do constitute excellent symbolic poetry.
Karakterskepping in die rolprent Cry Freedom - ’n analise
Authors: Human H.
Published: May 2013

This article looks critically at the aspect of charactarisation in the film Cry Freedom. A model is introduced for the analysis of characterisation in feature films. The model analyses the main characters in the film as symbols of the intended message. The aim is to determine the meaning of the message and to place the response to the film in perspective. Particular attention is paid to the following aspects of the process of character creation: character formation, character revelation and character development. The author comes to the conclusion that the main character in the film is the scriptwriter Donald Woods, and not the black activist, Steve Biko as has generally been accepted.
La Chute: teks en intertekstuele verhoudinge
Authors: Snyman E.
Published: May 2013

This article aims at making an intertextual analysis of Albert Camus’ second-last work of prose. La Chute, with the question of how meaning is structured by the act of reading as its point of departure. Based on the theories of Julia Kristeva and Jonathan Culler on intertextuality, the article tries to point out to what extent a knowledge of other texts influences the way in which the reader receives La Chute. Attention is given to the different ways in which other texts, first-person narratives, the Bible, Dante’s Inferno, Camus’ L ’Homme Révolté and the social-cultural context of the twentieth century, are integrated in La Chute. The degree to which a knowledge of these other texts and contexts is necessary for reading La Chute is also touched upon.
Semiotiese fokus op die gedig as estetiese teken-objek
Authors: Van der Merwe C. , Snyman N. J.
Published: May 2013

In this article the poem “Sitate per pos” by Lina Spies is decoded according to semiotic premises, inter aha Peirce’s triad of icon, symbol and index. The following relations are examined: the symbol-object relation according to findings of Van Zoest; the index-object relation where indexes respectively referring to external reality, intertextuality and the intratext itself are differentiated; the icon-object relation based on Peirce’s assertion that iconicity is founded on a likeness relation and Eco’s view that iconicity can also be based on observation and convention. The decoding process indicates that informative iconicity takes precedence. Iconicity lends semantic validity to sounds within the context of the poem. Siegel’s exposition of syntactic iconicity is applied on poetic syntactic patterns and ungrammaticality. Signs on a higher level of semantic signification are examined in terms of metaphoric iconicities. The investigation demonstrates that a metaphoric icon can also fulfil the function of a lexical interpretant due to the simultaneous generation of intra- and intertexts. The informative power of material icons and super icons within the structural coherence of the poem is highlighted.
Die dramatiese discours in Pas de deux van Hugo Claus
Authors: Vaughan R.
Published: May 2013

Drama is action, verbal drama is speech action, and the dramatic text is subject to a similar set of rules as that governing the extra-literary communication situation. Dramatic irony, the very essence of drama itself, is generated by a dual, mutually interactive process of communication, whereby the audience is “written into” the text in a way distinguishing it from other literary genres, and by a systematic flouting of the rules governing communication. Pas de deux demonstrates the peculiar duality of dramatic discourse by its complex exploitation of the breakdown/non-breakdown of Grice’s Co-operative Principle-. communication/non-communication becomes reversible and, therefore, mutually constitutive concepts “releasing meaning” and conveying the “ideology” of this play.
On Foucault’s idea of an epistemic shift in the 17th century and its significance for Baroque scholarship
Authors: Scholz B. F.
Published: May 2013

In this article it is argued that the significance of Foucault’s view of history does not lie so much in the concept of epistemes, as in his emphasis on radical discontinuity as a historiographic principle. His programme also challenges literary history, the question inter alia being how discontinuity affects periodization. This question is situated among other questions of periodization. It is argued that in Foucault’s view the a priori of dispersion and the construction of a vertical series of series should govern periodization. Three fruitful implications of Foucault’s views for Baroque scholarship are discussed in the end, viz. that it allows the colligation of phenomena up till now viewed in isolation, the reinterpretation of phenomena already accounted for and the extension of our knowledge of the cultural matrix of the Baroque.
Foucault and Shakespeare’s pedants, dotards and drunks
Authors: Gouws J.
Published: May 2013

Foucault’s claim that the Renaissance organised knowledge in terms of the episteme of resemblance can be challenged in principle and on empirical grounds. I argue that the empirical challenge can be delivered, first, by pointing to three Shakespeare scenes in which the use of analogy as a means of presenting knowledge is repudiated; and, second, by pointing to alternative ways of organising knowledge: classical authority, logic and rhetoric. The “theoretical” challenge must be delivered by questioning Foucault’s presuppositions.
Oor referensie en (tersyde) oor representasie
Authors: Viljoen H.
Published: May 2013

This article attempts to define the notion of representation by means of a critique of the reception of the film Fiela se kind (Fiela’s child), based on the novel with the same name by Dalene Matthee. It shows how historical facts become subjected to different norms within the fictional space of the novel (and the film) and how the meaning of both is not primarily dependent on the correspondence to historical reality, but is influenced by filmic and novelistic coding, the horizon of expectations of the audience and the social symbolic value of certain places like the farmhouse.
The representation of ideology: Orwell’s (re)reading of ‘Boys’ Weeklies’
Authors: De Lange A. M.
Published: May 2013

The aim of this paper is to unmask the underlying assumptions of Orwell’s reading strategy in order to illustrate that texts written from a conscious and specific ideological perspective is much more vulnerable to ideological “unmasking” than texts which do not have such a specific ideological bias. A number of key aspects with regard to commitment, ideology and representation are identified and used as criteria for a critical reading of “Boys’ Weeklies”, one of Orwell’s most famous essays.