bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Dehydration of clastic sediments in subduction zones: Theoretical study using thermodynamic data of minerals
Authors: Li Ying , Massonne Hans‐Joachim , Willner Arne , Tang Hong‐Feng , Liu Cong‐Qiang
Published: October 2008

Pseudosections for two sediments and one basalt calculated in the system K2O–Na2O–CaO–MgO–FeO–Fe2O3–Al2O3–TiO2–SiO2–H2O for the P–T range 10 to 35 kbar, 300 to 900°C give useful insights into the amount of H2O released from oceanic crust in subduction zones. In cold subduction zones (20 kbar–300°C to 35 kbar–500°C) hydrous minerals storing 3 to 4 wt% H2O are still present in metasediments at depths of 120 km. In the same environment, metabasite releases 1 wt% H2O in the depth range 100 to 120 km, but 4.5 wt% H2O is transported to greater depths. In hot subduction zones (300°C hotter than the cold subduction zone at 100 km depth), dehydration events of metasediments in the depth range 50 to 80 km correspond to the breakdown of chlorite and paragonite. In the calculations no further water is released at greater depths because the modal content of phengite, the only hydrous mineral phase at these depths, remains almost constant. For the same P–T path, metabasite shows continuous dehydration between 40 and 80 km releasing almost 3 wt% H2O. At 120 km depth less than 0.4 wt% of H2O remains. In an average modern subduction zone (∼6°C/km) most dehydration of sediments occurs at depths of 70 to 100 km and that of basalts at depths of 80 to 120 km. Only 1.3 wt% H2O in metasediments and 1.6 wt% H2O in metabasalt has the potential to be subducted to depths greater than 120 km. The dehydration behavior of sediments concurs with the generally held idea that subduction zone fluids are most effectively transported to great depths by cold subduction. In hot subduction zones, such as those characteristic of early Earth, most H2O carried by oceanic crust is liberated at depths less than 120 km and, thus, would not contribute to island‐arc magmatism.
Fatigue crack initiation in hardened medium carbon steel due to manganese sulphide inclusion clusters
Authors: TEMMEL C. , KARLSSON B. , INGESTEN N.‐G.
Published: October 2008

Forged steel generally suffers from strong fatigue anisotropy. This anisotropy is more pronounced in standard sulphur (SS) steels (typically 0.04 wt percent) with a dense manganese sulphide (MnS) population as compared with low sulphur (LS) steels (down to 0.004 wt percent or less). Anisotropy due to MnS arises because of the flattened shape which sulphides obtain upon a forging operation. The higher grade of anisotropy in SS materials is attributed to the occurrence of sulphide clusters that are exclusive to these materials. It is shown that the prediction of fatigue limit with respect to conventionally recorded inclusion size is highly non‐conservative when it concerns cluster‐affected material, but only when the clusters are oriented perpendicular to the loading axis. Fatigue failures occurred at stresses much lower than expected. An interaction of the single sulphide within one cluster and an interaction of the clusters within the test volume are believed to cause the inferior fatigue performance.
Effect of elevated PEEP on dynamic variables of fluid responsiveness in a pediatric animal model
Authors: RENNER JOCHEN , GRUENEWALD MATTHIAS , MEYBOHM PATRICK , HEDDERICH JUERGEN , STEINFATH MARCUS , SCHOLZ JENS , BEIN BERTHOLD
Published: October 2008

Background:  Previous studies have demonstrated that stroke volume variation (SVV), pulse pressure variation (PPV) and global end‐diastolic volume (GEDV) can be used to predict the response to fluid administration. Currently, little information is available whether application of different levels of positive end‐expiratory pressure (PEEP), especially in infants and neonates, affects their ability to predict fluid responsiveness. The aim of our study was to assess the effect of increasing PEEP levels on the predictive value of SVV, PPV and GEDV with respect to fluid responsiveness.

Methods:  Stroke volume variation and PPV were monitored continously in 22 anesthetized piglets during changing PEEP levels (5 and 10 cmH2O) both before and after fluid loading (FL). GEDV was measured by transpulmonary thermodilution; cardiac output and stroke volume (SV) were measured by pulmonary artery thermodilution. A positive response to FL was defined as ≥15% increase in SV.

Results:  Fluid loading induced significant changes in all hemodynamic variables except of heart rate and systemic vascular resistance. At PEEP 5 cmH2O, SVV, PPV and GEDV significantly correlated with volume induced percentage change in SV, whereas at PEEP 10 cmH2O, this correlation was abolished for PPV. As assessed by receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, SVV and GEDV, independent of PEEP level applied, were the best predictors of a positive response to FL [area under the curve: SVV = 0.88; GEDV = 0.80].

Conclusions:  In this pediatric animal model, SVV and GEDV were sensitive and specific predictors of fluid responsiveness during increasing PEEP levels.
Near‐infrared spectroscopy correlates with continuous superior vena cava oxygen saturation in pediatric cardiac surgery patients
Authors: RANUCCI MARCO , ISGRÒ GIUSEPPE , DE LA TORRE TERESA , ROMITTI FEDERICA , CONTI DANIELA , CARLUCCI CONCETTA
Published: October 2008

Background:  Cerebral regional oxygen saturation (rSO2) measured with near‐infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has a well‐proven clinical utility. A goal‐oriented treatment based on the rSO2 resulted in a significant reduction in major morbidity and in a shortening of postoperative hospital stay in patients undergoing coronary revascularization. In this study, we have compared the values of superior vena cava saturation (ScvO2) continuously measured with a Pediasat catheter and the corresponding NIRS rSO2 values obtained during cardiac operations in pediatric patients.

Methods:  This was a prospective observational study enrolling fifteen pediatric patients (age: 6 days–7 years) undergoing cardiac operations. ScvO2 data obtained with the Pediasat during the operation were compared with simultaneously recorded NIRS rSO2 values.

Results:  One hundred and seventeen matched sets of data were obtained during the operation. ScvO2 continuously measured with the Pediasat was significantly correlated with the corresponding NIRS rSO2 values. However, there was a constant positive bias (ScvO2 values were higher than NIRS rSO2 values) of 5.6%, with a precision of 10.4%. Time‐related percentage changes of NIRS rSO2 were significantly correlated with the corresponding ScvO2 percentage changes. A decrease in ScvO2 is predictive for a decrease in rSO2 with a sensitivity of 73.7% and a specificity of 85.7%.

Conclusions:  The continuous measurement of ScvO2 values obtained by the Pediasat may provide useful information about the metabolic conditions of the brain during cardiac operations in pediatric patients if considered as percentage changes. Absolute values of ScvO2 tend to overestimate the correspondent rSO2 values.
Successful treatment of extensive splanchnic arterial and portal vein thrombosis associated with ulcerative colitis
Authors: Di Fabio F. , Obrand D. , Satin R. , Gordon P. H.
Published: October 2008

Venous and arterial thromboembolism is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC). Arterial thrombosis of the splanchnic region is a rare event with a very high mortality rate. Furthermore, it represents a challenging complication since it tends to be overlooked and misinterpreted as a clinical exacerbation of UC. We present the case of a 62‐year‐old female with pancolonic UC complicated by an extensive arterial thrombosis involving the aorta, the celiac trunk, the hepatic, gastric and splenic arteries and the superior mesenteric artery. A thrombosis of the splenic vein extending into the proximal portal vein was also present. The patient was successfully treated by a combined interventional‐radiological and surgical treatment. We discuss the rationale behind our management of this case and review the literature on splanchnic arterial thrombosis associated with UC.
Colonic tattooing in laparoscopic surgery – making the mark?
Authors: Yeung J. M. C. , Maxwell‐Armstrong C. , Acheson A. G.
Published: October 2008

Objective  Laparoscopic surgery for colorectal cancer is now widespread. Small lesions in the colon can be difficult to palpate and with lack of tactile sensation, it is essential to accurately localize them preoperatively. This is a review article on current methods of tattooing including the use of different agents and associated complications.

Aim  To review current techniques in preoperative tumour localization and methods used for colonic tattooing including agents used, dosage and potential complications.

Method  A literature search (Medline and Pubmed) was performed with manual cross referencing of all articles related to colonic tattooing.

Results  Methods for localizing colonic tumours for laparoscopic resection include preoperative barium enema examination, CT colonography and intraoperative colonoscopy. The most effective method is, however, by tattooing with India ink performed endoscopically before surgery.

Conclusion  India ink is a reliable method of marking tumour location within the colon as prelude to laparoscopic resection. Surgeons must, however, be aware of potential complications associated with this technique.
Morbidity and mortality after closure of loop ileostomy
Authors: Saha A. K. , Tapping C. R. , Foley G. T. , Baker R. P. , Sagar P. M. , Burke D. A. , Sue‐Ling H. M. , Finan P. J.
Published: October 2008

Background  A temporary loop ileostomy is commonly used to protect low pelvic anastomoses. Closure is associated with morbidity and mortality. This study investigated patterns of complications after loop ileostomy closure and factors associated with morbidity and mortality.

Method  A review was performed of patients who underwent loop ileostomy closure between 1999 and 2005.

Results  Three hundred and twenty‐five patients underwent closure of loop ileostomy. Reasons for primary surgery were: anterior resection for cancer (n = 160, 49%), ileal pouch‐anal anastomosis (n = 114, 35%), diverticular disease (n = 25, 8%), Crohn’s colitis (n = 4, 1%) and other conditions (n = 22, 7%). Overall mortality was 2.5% (n = 8) and morbidity was 22.8% (n = 74). Thirty‐two patients (10%) developed small bowel obstruction, of whom seven required operative intervention. Overall, the re‐operation rate in this series was 28 patients (8.6%).

Thirteen (4%) patients had an anastomotic leak of whom 12 patients had re‐operation. Preoperative anaemia was significantly associated with leakage (Hb < 11 g/dl; n = 65, P = 0.033). The leakage rate was lower after a stapled anastomosis than a hand‐sutured anastomosis (4/203 vs 9/122; P = 0.039). Hypo‐albuminaemia (albumin < 34 g/l) was significantly associated with mortality (n = 46, P < 0.001).

Conclusions  Loop ileostomy closure is associated with morbidity and mortality. Anaemia and hypo‐albuminaemia may be associated with poor outcome.
How and Why Has Teacher Quality Changed in Australia?
Authors: Leigh Andrew , Ryan Chris
Published: October 2008

International research suggests that differences in teacher performance can explain a large portion of student achievement. Yet little is known about how the quality of the Australian teaching profession has changed over time. Using consistent data on the academic aptitude of new teachers, we compare those who have entered the teaching profession in Australia over the past two decades. We find that the aptitude of new teachers has fallen considerably. Between 1983 and 2003, the average percentile rank of those entering teacher education fell from 74 to 61, while the average rank of new teachers fell from 70 to 62. We find that two factors account for much of the decline: a fall in average teacher pay (relative to other occupations) and a rise in pay differentials in non‐teaching occupations.
Leaving Home: What Economics Has to Say about the Living Arrangements of Young Australians
Authors: Cobb‐Clark Deborah A.
Published: October 2008

Like their counterparts elsewhere, more young Australians than ever are delaying the move to establish residential independence from their parents. This paper reviews the developing economics literature surrounding young people's decisions to continue living in their parents' homes in order to begin to assess the causes and consequences of this decision. In particular, co‐residence with parents appears to be an important form of intergenerational support for young adults. It is important to understand the extent to which young people rely on this form of support as they complete their education, enter the labour market and establish themselves as independent adults. Specific attention is paid to the ways in which Australian income support, education and housing policies may influence these patterns.
Globalisation, Growth and Crises: The View from Latin America
Authors: Edwards Sebastian
Published: October 2008

In this paper I analyse the role of openness and globalisation in Latin America's economic development. The paper is divided into two distinct parts: I first (Sections 2 to 4) provide an analysis of 60 years of the region's economic history, that go from the launching of the Alliance for Progress by the Kennedy administration in 1961, to the formulation and implementation of the market oriented reforms of the Washington Consensus in the 1990s and 2000s. I conclude that Latin America's history has been characterised by low growth, high inflation and recurrent external crises. In Section 5 I deal formally with the costs of crises and I estimate a number of variance component models of the dynamics of growth. I find that external crises have been more costly in Latin America than in the rest of the world. I also find that the cost of external crises has been inversely related to the degree of openness.
“A Sacred Duty”: Red Army Women Veterans Remembering the Great Fatherland War, 1941–1945
Authors: Markwick Roger D.
Published: October 2008

Some 500,000 women fought with the Red Army in the Great Fatherland War, 1941‐1945. Based on a selection of women veterans’ memoirs published since the demise of the Soviet Union, this article looks at what these women choose to remember about the war, and how, and equally what they choose to forget or remain silent about. The paper seeks to illuminate shared or disparate collective and individual memory and experiences. A particular objective of the paper is to assess the degree to which these written recollections coincide with or deviate from the predominant patriotic, heroic, masculine paradigm of the Great Fatherland War and its historiography. The overall objective of the paper is to humanise the female faces behind the masculine mask of the Red Army at war against Nazism.
Australian POW in German Captivity in the Second World War
Authors: Monteath Peter
Published: October 2008

When history has taken an interest in the Australian POW experience in the Second World War, the focus has been largely on those in Japanese captivity, where suffering was immense and mortality rates high. Popular culture has reinforced the perception that those who fell into German hands had it easy, living fairly comfortable existences punctuated with adventurous episodes, typically in the form of escape attempts. This essay seeks to correct the misperceptions arising from the “Colditz myth” by examining the Australian experience of captivity in Germany, drawing on both Australian and German sources. Two aspects of that experience are highlighted, namely the experience of work, as it was required of the vast majority of POW, and that of the strange phenomenon of “holiday camps”.
Temperament and Migration Patterns in Finland
Authors: Jokela Markus , Elovainio Marko , Kivimäki Mika , Keltikangas-Järvinen Lüsa
Published: October 2008

Migration is a central determinant of population dynamics and structure. We examined whether three major temperament traits—sociability, emotionality, and activity—predicted migration propensity, selective urban-rural migration, and migration distance in a 9-year prospective study in Finland. The participants were Finnish women and men (N = 1,733) ages 15 to 30 years at baseline. The home municipality's position on the urban-rural continuum was assessed on the basis of the municipality's population density. We found that high sociability predicted migration to urban areas and longer migration distances. High activity increased general migration propensity (including migration to both urban and rural areas). High emotionality increased the likelihood of leaving the home municipality and decreased migration distances, but was not associated with selective urban-rural migration. These data suggest that temperament predicts the self-selection of environments on a demographic scale and may be relevant in understanding population dynamics.
Looking While Unhappy
Authors: Isaacowitz Derek M. , Toner Kaitlin , Goren Deborah , Wilson Hugh R.
Published: October 2008

Recent findings that older adults gaze toward positively valenced stimuli and away from negatively valenced stimuli have been interpreted as part of their attempts to achieve the goal of feeling good. However, the idea that older adults use gaze to regulate mood, and that their gaze does not simply reflect mood, stands in contrast to evidence of mood-congruent processing in young adults. No previous study has directly linked age-related positive gaze preferences to mood regulation. In this eye-tracking study, older and younger adults in a range of moods viewed synthetic face pairs varying in valence. Younger adults demonstrated mood-congruent gaze, looking more at positive faces when in a good mood and at negative faces when in a bad mood. Older adults displayed mood-incongruent positive gaze, looking toward positive and away from negative faces when in a bad mood. This finding suggests that in older adults, gaze does not reflect mood, but rather is used to regulate it.
The Comparative Mind-Set
Authors: Xu Alison Jing , Wyer Robert S.
Published: October 2008

Stimulating people to state a preference for one of two commercial products can increase their willingness to purchase not only one of these products, but also other products in a totally unrelated domain. However, willingness to make a purchase in a given domain (e.g., computers) can also be increased by asking individuals (a) to indicate which of two stimuli in a different domain (e.g., vacation packages) they dislike more, (b) to compare the relative attractiveness of wild animals, (c) to compare the animals with respect to physical attributes, and (d) to estimate how similar one object is to another. Moreover, the effects generalize to decisions about dating partners, as well as consumer products. In short, making any type of comparative judgment appears likely to give rise to a comparative-judgment mind-set and, therefore, to influence decisions in subsequent situations.
Both Predator and Prey
Authors: Löw Andreas , Lang Peter J. , Smith J. Carson , Bradley Margaret M.
Published: October 2008

This research examined the psychophysiology of emotional arousal anticipatory to potentially aversive and highly pleasant outcomes. Human brain reactions (event-related potentials) and body reactions (heart rate, skin conductance, the probe startle reflex) were assessed along motivational gradients determined by apparent distance from sites of potential punishment or reward. A predator-prey survival context was simulated using cues that signaled possible money rewards or possible losses; the cues appeared to loom progressively closer to the viewer, until a final step when a rapid key response could ensure reward or avoid a punishing loss. The observed anticipatory response patterns of heightened vigilance and physiological mobilization are consistent with the view that the physiology of emotion is founded on action dispositions that evolved in mammals to facilitate survival by dealing with threats or capturing life-sustaining rewards.
More Intelligent, More Dependable Children Live Longer
Authors: Deary Ian J. , Batty G. David , Pattie Alison , Gale Catharine R.
Published: October 2008

The associations of childhood intelligence and dependability with adult mortality were examined in 1,181 people who were representative of the Scottish nation. Participants were born in 1936 and were followed for mortality from 1968 through early 2003. Higher intelligence and greater dependability were independent, significant predictors of lower mortality: With both factors entered together, the hazard ratio (HR) was 0.80 (95% confidence interval, CI: 0.65–0.99, p = .037) per standard deviation increase in intelligence and 0.77 (95% CI: 0.63–0.94, p = .009) per standard deviation increase in dependability. Children in the lower half of the distributions for intelligence and dependability were more than twice as likely to die compared with those who scored in the top half for both these measures (HR = 2.82; 95% CI: 1.81–4.41). Studied together for the first time in a representative sample, these two psychological variables are independent life-course risk factors for mortality. It is important to discover the mechanisms by which they influence survival.
Realism and Illusion in Americans' Temporal Views of Their Life Satisfaction
Authors: Lachman Margie E. , Röcke Christina , Rosnick Christopher , Ryff Carol D.
Published: October 2008

We examined actual and perceived trajectories of change in life satisfaction in a national sample of 3,793 adults, ages 24 to 74 at baseline, who provided retrospective, present, and prospective ratings on two occasions 8 to 10 years apart. There was little actual change in satisfaction ratings, but there were age differences in anticipated change, with young adults expecting things to improve and older adults expecting decline. When we compared the actual (present) ratings with corresponding past or future ratings, older adults showed more temporal realism (retrospective and anticipatory ratings matched actual levels) than did young and middle-aged adults; in other words, young and middle-aged adults showed greater illusion (retrospective and prospective ratings overestimated or underestimated actual levels). At all ages, however, temporal realism was associated with more adaptive current functioning than was illusion. We discuss these findings from a life-span developmental perspective on motivational shifts from growth to maintenance and consider the implications of accuracy in evaluating the past and future.
Constructing Emotion
Authors: Lindquist Kristen A. , Barrett Lisa Feldman
Published: October 2008

This study examined the hypothesis that emotion is a psychological event constructed from the more basic elements of core affect and conceptual knowledge. Participants were primed with conceptual knowledge of fear, conceptual knowledge of anger, or a neutral prime and then proceeded through an affect-induction procedure designed to induce unpleasant, high-arousal affect or a neutral affective state. As predicted, only those individuals for whom conceptual knowledge of fear had been primed experienced unpleasant core affect as evidence that the world was threatening. This study provides the first experimental support for the hypothesis that people experience world-focused emotion when they conceptualize their core affective state using accessible knowledge about emotion.
Individual Differences in Delay Discounting
Authors: Shamosh Noah A. , DeYoung Colin G. , Green Adam E. , Reis Deidre L. , Johnson Matthew R. , Conway Andrew R.A. , Engle Randall W. , Braver Todd S. , Gray Jeremy R.
Published: October 2008

Lower delay discounting (better self-control) is linked to higher intelligence, but the basis of this relation is uncertain. To investigate the potential role of working memory (WM) processes, we assessed delay discounting, intelligence ( g), WM (span tasks, 3-back task), and WM-related neural activity (using functional magnetic resonance imaging) in 103 healthy adults. Delay discounting was negatively correlated with g and WM. WM explained no variance in delay discounting beyond that explained by g, which suggests that processes through which WM relates to delay discounting are shared by g. WM-related neural activity in left anterior prefrontal cortex (Brodmann's area 10) covaried with g, r = .26, and delay discounting, r = -.40, and partially mediated the relation between g and delay discounting. Overall, the results suggest that delay discounting is associated with intelligence in part because of processes instantiated in anterior prefrontal cortex, a region known to support the integration of diverse information.
Exploring the Cold-to-Hot Empathy Gap in Smokers
Authors: Sayette Michael A. , Loewenstein George , Griffin Kasey M. , Black Jessica J.
Published: October 2008

Many decisions related to cigarette smoking require people in an affectively neutral, or “cold,” state to predict how they will feel or behave when in a craving, or “hot,” state. Research in other domains has revealed that individuals in cold states often underestimate the impact of being in a hot state on their own future behavior. In a study testing whether this is true of cigarette craving, 98 smokers were assigned to one of three conditions: hot (during a high-craving first session, they made predictions about a high-craving state in a second session), cold (during a low-craving first session, they made predictions about a high-craving state in a second session), and comparison (they experienced a high-craving session only). As predicted, in contrast to smokers in the hot group, smokers in the cold group underpredicted the value they would place on smoking during the second session. Results support the existence of a cold-to-hot empathy gap in smokers and help to explain diverse aspects of tobacco addiction.
Can Cross-Group Friendships Influence Minority Students' Well-Being at Historically White Universities?
Authors: Mendoza-Denton Rodolfo , Page-Gould Elizabeth
Published: October 2008

Past research has demonstrated the negative impact of race-based rejection sensitivity (RS-race) on institutional belonging and satisfaction among minority-group students in predominantly White universities. Given research documenting the benefits of cross-group friendship for intergroup attitudes, we tested whether friendships with majority-group peers would attenuate the effects of RS-race within these contexts. In a longitudinal study of African American students (Study 1), cross-group friendships with majority-group peers buffered students high in RS-race from lack of belonging and dissatisfaction at their university. An experimental intervention (Study 2) that induced cross-group friendship replicated the findings and established their specificity for minority-group students. We discuss implications for efforts toward diversifying educational settings.
Memory for Syntax Despite Amnesia
Authors: Ferreira Victor S. , Bock Kathryn , Wilson Michael P. , Cohen Neal J.
Published: October 2008

Syntactic persistence is a tendency for speakers to reproduce sentence structures independently of accompanying meanings, words, or sounds. The memory mechanisms behind syntactic persistence are not fully understood. Although some properties of syntactic persistence suggest a role for procedural memory, current evidence suggests that procedural memory (unlike declarative memory) does not maintain the abstract, relational features that are inherent to syntactic structures. In a study evaluating the contribution of procedural memory to syntactic persistence, patients with anterograde amnesia and matched control speakers reproduced prime sentences with different syntactic structures; reproduced 0, 1, 6, or 10 neutral sentences; then spontaneously described pictures that elicited the primed structures; and finally made recognition judgments for the prime sentences. Amnesic and control speakers showed significant and equivalent syntactic persistence, despite the amnesic speakers' profoundly impaired recognition memory for the primes. Thus, syntax is maintained by procedural-memory mechanisms. This result reveals that procedural memory is capable of supporting abstract, relational knowledge.
What's Sex Got to do with it? A Family-Based Investigation of Growing up Heterosexual during the Twentieth Century
Authors: Meah Angela , Hockey Jenny , Robinson Victoria
Published: October 2008

This paper explores findings from a cross-generational study of the making of heterosexual relationships in East Yorkshire, which has interviewed women and men within extended families. Using a feminist perspective, it examines the relationship between heterosexuality and adulthood, focussing on sexual attraction, courtship, first kisses, first love and first sex, as mediated within family relationships, and at different historical moments. In this way, the contemporary experiences of young people growing up are compared and contrasted with those of mid-lifers and older adults who formed heterosexual relationships within the context of the changing social and sexual mores of the 1960s/1970s, and the upheavals of World War Two.
Soft authority: ecologies of infection management in the working lives of modern matrons and infection control staff
Authors: Crawford Paul , Brown Brian
Published: October 2008

This paper discusses the role of modern matrons and their work in the reduction of health care acquired infections. Based on in‐depth interviews with 10 matrons in a health care trust in the UK Midlands region, we explore how they construe their working lives and their view of the powers they have to enhance cleanliness and reduce infection. Despite claims in policy documents that modern matrons would have considerable authority, participants felt their control over the environment was limited, and could be accomplished only through reflecting, communicating and liaising. The lack of formal structures of accountability and personal authority meant that participants could be characterised as working in what Courpasson calls a ‘soft bureaucracy’. Moreover, in the light of limited power to command cleanliness, participants described their role in terms of reflexive work upon themselves and their interpersonal environment, involving self‐scrutiny of their activity, channelling information, empowering, facilitating and remodelling the emotional environment of care delivery. This aligns with accounts of the self in the workplace from Anthony Giddens and Nikolas Rose where it is seen as a reflexive project. We explore why the project of the self seems to have eclipsed the managerial role as the major focus of matrons’ work.
Mapping the field of medical sociology: a comparative analysis of journals
Authors: Seale Clive
Published: October 2008

A comparative keyword analysis of the content of nine leading journals is used to suggest potential new directions for medical sociology. The major British and American journals in sociology and medical sociology tend to publish authors based in their own countries, contrasting with the internationalism of other social science disciplines relevant to health, althoughSociology of Health and Illnessis an exception to this. Medical sociology journals on both sides of the Atlantic focus on individual experience more than general sociology journals, which focus more on social systems levels of analysis. While journal contents reveal British medical sociology to be relatively atheoretical when compared with British general sociology journals, American medical sociology appears relatively apolitical on the same comparison with American general journals. American journals of sociology publish more quantitative studies than their British equivalents, more studies concerning race and other social divisions in American society, and less work drawing on social constructionist perspectives or that is engaged with social theory. Analysis of health and health care at societal and global levels and a deeper engagement with the political and public issues that concern non‐sociologists represents a possible future for a medical sociology that is internationally relevant and outward looking.
What are health identities and how may we study them?
Authors: Fox Nick J. , Ward Katie J.
Published: October 2008

This paper draws together findings from studies of health and identity to develop a model of health identities, based upon Deleuze and Guattari's approach to understanding the relationship between self, body and society. The model is used to inform a methodology for the empirical study of identities in relation to health and the body. Using a sample interview transcript, the methodology of analysis is demonstrated. The application of the model and the methodology for studying health identities are discussed.
Towards a sociology of disease
Authors: Timmermans Stefan , Haas Steven
Published: October 2008

We argue for a sociology of health, illness, and disease. Under the influence of Talcott Parsons, the social study of health began as medical sociology and then morphed into sociology of health and illness, focusing largely on the social aspects of health‐related topics. Social scientists have been reluctant to tackle disease in its physiological and biological manifestations. The result is an impoverishment of sociological analysis on at least three levels: social scientists have rarely made diseases central to their inquiries; they have been reluctant to include clinical endpoints in their analysis; and they have largely bracketed the normative purpose of health interventions. Consequently, social scientists tend to ignore what often matters most to patients and health care providers, and the social processes social scientists describe remain clinically unanchored. A sociology of disease explores the dialectic between social life and disease; aiming to examine whether and how social life matters for morbidity and mortality and vice versa. Drawing from specific advances in science and technology studies and social epidemiology, we point to ways that sociologists can participate as health researchers.
‘I've never ever let anyone hold the kids while they've got ciggies’: moral tales of maternal smoking practices
Authors: Holdsworth Clare , Robinson Jude E.
Published: October 2008

Smoking in the home is, potentially, the next frontier in tobacco control in the developed world. As smoking regulations in public space are extended, attention is turning to private spaces and the contribution of parental, particularly maternal, smoking to children's health and socio‐economic inequalities in family health. Yet relatively little is known about mothers’ smoking practices within the home and the social meanings of smoking that are constructed by these practices. In this paper we explore how mothers who smoke construct moralities of their smoking behaviour, particularly in relation to where and with whom they smoke. Drawing on in‐depth Biographic Narrative Interpretative Method, in interviews with 12 smoking mothers, and their partners, we consider how these moral tales involve comparisons with other smokers and the importance of community endorsement of smoking practices, particularly around children. We also consider the role of children in the home and how children are actively involved in the regulation of smoking behaviours. Finally, we consider the implications of these moral tales for interventions around smoke‐free homes.
Medical dominance and strategic action: the fields of nursing and psychotherapy in the German health care system
Authors: Luzio Gaia di
Published: October 2008

The paper seeks to identify and explain shifts in dominance relationships between the medical profession and allied health professions in Germany, taking the occupational fields of nursing and psychotherapy as examples. It suggests an actor‐based perspective which focuses on the strategic interplay between collective actors in the fields in question, namely professional associations and unions, state actors, sickness funds, universities, polytechnics and associations of work organisations. It considers the context of governance of the German health care system and an awareness of a changed demand. The thesis is that the interplay between the actors has led to a small reduction of medical dominance. It is examined whether changes in governance structures of the health care system have led to a more favourable context for shifts in the dominance relationships. Moreover, the possible effects of the recent re‐organisation of health provision are considered. Based on an empirical investigation using the method of document analysis, the paper shows that there has been a small reduction of medical dominance which is essentially the outcome of the interrelated strategic actions of various collective actors in the fields. A public perception of a new kind of health care demand has facilitated this development.
‘Health is not a man's domain’: lay accounts of gender difference in life‐expectancy in Russia
Authors: Pietilä Ilkka , Rytkönen Marja
Published: October 2008

The substantial gender difference in life‐expectancy is among the key characteristics of current health crisis in Russia. Despite a relatively large body of epidemiological literature on gender difference, there is little empirical research on the gendered meanings of health among Russian lay people. This study aims to enhance understanding of gendered meanings of health by analysing lay accounts of the gender gap in life‐expectancy on the basis of 29 interviews with Russians aged 15–81. The analysis showed that gender difference was largely attributed to structural conditions and changes in Russian society and, to a lesser extent, to behavioural factors. Another important conclusion drawn from the analysis was that talk about gender included very few alternatives to conventional gender relations, or negotiation of their effects on health and illness. We interpret these findings to reflect, first, the culturally weak role of the individual in Russian discourses of health that are still largely focused on the role of government as primarily responsible for public health. Secondly, it seems that there are few alternatives to conventional discourses of gender in post‐Soviet Russia; the gender relations in people's understanding appear to be static and persistent despite recent profound social changes.
The surrogate marker and its discontents: pluralism in immunity maintenance among HIV‐infected persons in Taiwan
Authors: Lew‐Ting Chih‐Yin , Chen Li‐Hsin
Published: October 2008

Immunity has emerged as a popular health concept across different cultures, in particular concerning persons with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Attentiveness to immune status is encouraged and governed by a powerful clinical and public health surveillance system where two surrogate markers, CD4 counts and viral load, are chosen to monitor not only the effects of the biomedical intervention ART (antiretroviral treatment) but also individuals’ effort in adherence and improving lifestyle practices. By interviewing 103 HIV participants, we delineate the reality they encountered while living with these two markers. We explore how they, in response to the doctrine surrounding the markers, shaped their peculiar immunological literacy and beliefs, and tactics for enhancing immunity. We found that the assumed validity of CD4 counts in health surveillance was challenged. The participants’ conceptualisation of immunity was largely pluralistic, characterised by a blending of biomedical knowledge and Chinese health concepts and worldviews, strongly reflecting idiosyncrasy and eclecticism rather than universalism in reasoning about these markers and their relevance to immune status and overall wellbeing. Living with clinical markers is becoming a common experience in daily life; their meanings, their impacts on laypersons, and the utility claimed for them by the biomedical community, need further scrutiny.
Shifting blame/selling health: corporate social responsibility in the age of obesity
Authors: Herrick Clare
Published: October 2008

This paper examines how and why health has become a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy for the global food and drink industry (FDI) in the context of current governmental and public calls to address mounting obesity rates. It argues that, despite the current prominence of health within CSR, there has not been a reciprocal interest by those adopting sociological approaches to the study of health and illness in the implications of this strategic uptake of health or in the viability and legitimacy of the state's own public health role. This omission is addressed through an empirical exploration of three contentions: first, that health and wellbeing may be used to secure brand value and consumer goodwill at a time when mounting obesity rates demand new levels of accountability from the FDI. Secondly, that the food industry, through CSR, may promote a narrow epidemiological understanding of obesity, shifting blame from ‘foods’ to ‘diet’ and from ‘diet’ to ‘sedentarism’. Thirdly, that CSR reporting and its associated practices have enabled the food industry to assume some responsibility for obesity prevention, thereby problematising the state's role in addressing its own ‘public health’ crisis.
Is ‘NAFTA Plus’ an Option in the North American Agrifood Sector?
Authors: Meilke Karl , Rude James , Zahniser Steven
Published: October 2008

With the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) nearly complete, there are concerns that the easy gains in efficiency have been achieved and that additional steps towards the economic integration of the member countries are required. This poses a distinct challenge to the NAFTA governments, since the agreement did not create trinational institutions with the supranational authority to facilitate the deepening of the new trading environment. In any initiative to further the economic integration of the NAFTA countries, agriculture will be a difficult sector in which to make progress. However, at an aggregate level, the support provided directly to agricultural producers by the NAFTA governments is similar, as are tariffs at an aggregate level. All three countries have devised income support programmes that contain a countercyclical element. In each of these areas, as well as in the operation of ‘green box’ programmes that are consistent with the member countries’ obligations to the World Trade Organization, cooperation and consultation among the NAFTA members would seem crucial if they are to achieve greater integration in the agrifood sector. This article examines the opportunities and challenges facing the NAFTA members as they seek further integration in the agrifood sector.
Bilateral Free Trade Agreements and Customs Unions: The Impact of the EU Republic of South Africa Free Trade Agreement on Botswana
Authors: McDonald Scott , Walmsley Terrie
Published: October 2008

The EU has indicated that after 2008 its trade relationships with developing countries will be dominated by the development of preferential trade agreements. Although not a consequence of the Cotonou Agreement, the free trade agreement between the EU and the Republic of South Africa (EU RSA FTA) was clearly one of the first fruits of this approach to trade relationships. However, there is no evidence that the design of the EU RSA FTA incorporated a comprehensive general equilibrium evaluation of the agreement for either the signatories or the other southern African nations. The analyses reported here indicate that while the EU RSA FTA may substantially benefit the signatories, there are appreciable negative impacts for other states, especially the Republic of South Africa's immediate neighbours. Moreover, the analyses indicate that the structural adjustments for African economies signalled by the FTA are substantial, which implies that there will be substantial economic costs associated with the FTA.
FINITE SAMPLE EFFECTS OF PURE SEASONAL MEAN SHIFTS ON DICKEY–FULLER TESTS: A SIMULATION STUDY
Authors: DA SILVA LOPES ARTUR C. B.
Published: October 2008

In this paper, it is demonstrated by simulation that, contrary to a widely held belief, pure seasonal mean shifts—i.e. seasonal structural breaks which affect only the seasonal cycle—really do matter for Dickey–Fuller long‐run unit root tests. Both size and power properties are affected by such breaks but using thet‐sig method for lag selection induces a stabilizing effect. Although most results are reassuring when thet‐sig method is used, some concern with this type of breaks cannot be disregarded. Further evidence on the poor performance of thet‐sig method for quarterly time series in standard (no‐break) cases is also presented.
The Consequences of Issuing Convertible Bonds: Dilution and/or Financial Restructuring?
Authors: Gillet Roland , De La Bruslerie Hubert
Published: October 2008

Historically, most convertible bond (CB) issues have been converted to equity sooner or later. The announcement of a CB issue will bring about a future dilution of the firm's capital, and is often followed by a drop in share price. However, a CB issue by itself creates future value for the shareholders if it enables the firm to make profitable investments. It can also issue a positive signal regarding the restructuring of the firm's financial liabilities and its attempts to optimise its financial structure. These positive effects, if they occur, will develop gradually after the issue, and cannot be identified by a simple short‐term event analysis of a CB issue announcement. In this paper, we test the significance of the dilution effect, coupled with a possible value creation effect, using data from the French stock market. We introduce a comparison between dilutive convertibles and non‐dilutive exchangeable bonds. By integrating different corrections and by selecting a window of analysis over a longer period after the announcement of the issue, we show that the negative cumulative average abnormal returns generally observed in previous studies become non‐significant. This absence of global incidence is indicative of large differences in individual behaviour by issuers of CBs, and leads us to take into account the strategic choices linked to the issue of a CB. Two goals, often described as ‘investment financing’ or ‘financial restructuring’, may exist when issuing, and may appear to explain the size of the abnormal returns.
The Sophisticated and the Simple: the Profitability of Contrarian Strategies
Authors: Dissanaike Gishan , Lim Kim‐Hwa
Published: October 2008

A variety of variables have been used to form contrarian portfolios, ranging from relatively simple measures, like book‐to‐market, cash flow‐to‐price, earnings‐to‐price and past returns, to more sophisticated measures based on the Ohlson model and residual income model (RIM). This paper investigates whether: (i) contrarian strategies based on RIM perform better or worse than those based on the Ohlson model; (ii) contrarian strategies based on more sophisticated valuation models (e.g. Ohlson and RIM) perform much better than the relatively simpler ranking variables that have been used so extensively in the finance literature. Given that the RIM and Ohlson models require greater information inputs and technical know‐how, and make different implicit assumptions on future abnormal earnings, it is important to ascertain if they offer significantly greater contrarian profits to outweigh the increased costs that they entail. Indeed, our surprising finding is that simple cash flow‐to‐price measures appear to do almost as well as the more sophisticated alternatives. One would have expected the sophisticated models to significantly outperform the simple cash flow to price model for the reasons given by Penman (2007).