bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Dental conditions in inpatients with schizophrenia: A large-scale multi-site survey
Authors: Tani Hideaki , Uchida Hiroyuki , Suzuki Takefumi , Shibuya Yumi , Shimanuki Hiroshi , Watanabe Koichiro , Den Ryosuke , Nishimoto Masahiko , Hirano Jinichi , Takeuchi Hiroyoshi , Nio Shintaro , Nakajima Shinichiro , Kitahata Ryosuke , Tsuboi Takashi , Tsunoda Kenichi , Kikuchi Toshiaki , Mimura Masaru
Published: August 2012

Background

Clinical relevance of dental caries is often underestimated in patients with schizophrenia. The objective of this study was to examine dental caries and to identify clinical and demographic variables associated with poor dental condition in patients with schizophrenia.

Methods

Inpatients with schizophrenia received a visual oral examination of their dental caries, using the decayed-missing-filled teeth (DMFT) index. This study was conducted in multiple sites in Japan, between October and December, 2010. A univariate general linear model was used to examine the effects of the following variables on the DMFT score: age, sex, smoking status, daily intake of sweets, dry mouth, frequency of daily tooth brushing, tremor, the Clinical Global Impression-Schizophrenia Overall severity score, and the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale for Geriatrics score.

Results

523 patients were included in this study (mean ± SD age = 55.6 ± 13.4 years; 297 men). A univariate general linear model showed significant effects of age group, smoking, frequency of daily tooth brushing, and tremor (all p’s < 0.001) on the DMFT score (Corrected Model: F(23, 483) = 3.55, p < 0.001, R2 = 0.42) . In other words, older age, smoking, tremor burden, and less frequent tooth brushing were associated with a greater DMFT score.

Conclusions

Given that poor dental condition has been related with an increased risk of physical co-morbidities, physicians should be aware of patients’ dental status, especially for aged smoking patients with schizophrenia. Furthermore, for schizophrenia patients who do not regularly brush their teeth or who exhibit tremor, it may be advisable for caregivers to encourage and help them to perform tooth brushing more frequently.
Prescribing Data in General Practice Demonstration (PDGPD) project - a cluster randomised controlled trial of a quality improvement intervention to achieve better prescribing for chronic heart failure and hypertension
Authors: Williamson Margaret , Cardona-Morrell Magnolia , Elliott Jeffrey D , Reeve James F , Stocks Nigel P , Emery Jon , Mackson Judith M , Gunn Jane M
Published: August 2012

Background

Research literature consistently documents that scientifically based therapeutic recommendations are not always followed in the hospital or in the primary care setting. Currently, there is evidence that some general practitioners in Australia are not prescribing appropriately for patients diagnosed with 1) hypertension (HT) and 2) chronic heart failure (CHF). The objectives of this study were to improve general practitioner’s drug treatment management of these patients through feedback on their own prescribing and small group discussions with peers and a trained group facilitator. The impact evaluation includes quantitative assessment of prescribing changes at 6, 9, 12 and 18 months after the intervention.

Methods

A pragmatic multi site cluster RCT began recruiting practices in October 2009 to evaluate the effects of a multi-faceted quality improvement (QI) intervention on prescribing practice among Australian general practitioners (GP) in relation to patients with CHF and HT. General practices were recruited nationally through General Practice Networks across Australia. Participating practices were randomly allocated to one of three groups: two groups received the QI intervention (the prescribing indicator feedback reports and small group discussion) with each group undertaking the clinical topics (CHF and HT) in reverse order to the other. The third group was waitlisted to receive the intervention 6 months later and acted as a “control” for the other two groups.

De-identified data on practice, doctor and patient characteristics and their treatment for CHF and HT are extracted at six-monthly intervals before and after the intervention. Post-test comparisons will be conducted between the intervention and control arms using intention to treat analysis and models that account for clustering of practices in a Network and clustering of patients within practices and GPs.

Discussion

This paper describes the study protocol for a project that will contribute to the development of acceptable and sustainable methods to promote QI activities within routine general practice, enhance prescribing practices and improve patient outcomes in the context of CHF and HT. Trial registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR), Trial # 320870.
An open real-time tele-stethoscopy system
Authors: Foche-Perez Ignacio , Ramirez-Payba Rodolfo , Hirigoyen-Emparanza German , Balducci-Gonzalez Fernando , Simo-Reigadas Francisco-Javier , Seoane-Pascual Joaquin , Corral-Peñafiel Jaime , Martinez-Fernandez Andres
Published: August 2012

Background

Acute respiratory infections are the leading cause of childhood mortality. The lack of physicians in rural areas of developing countries makes difficult their correct diagnosis and treatment. The staff of rural health facilities (health-care technicians) may not be qualified to distinguish respiratory diseases by auscultation. For this reason, the goal of this project is the development of a tele-stethoscopy system that allows a physician to receive real-time cardio-respiratory sounds from a remote auscultation, as well as video images showing where the technician is placing the stethoscope on the patient’s body.

Methods

A real-time wireless stethoscopy system was designed. The initial requirements were: 1) The system must send audio and video synchronously over IP networks, not requiring an Internet connection; 2) It must preserve the quality of cardiorespiratory sounds, allowing to adapt the binaural pieces and the chestpiece of standard stethoscopes, and; 3) Cardiorespiratory sounds should be recordable at both sides of the communication. In order to verify the diagnostic capacity of the system, a clinical validation with eight specialists has been designed. In a preliminary test, twelve patients have been auscultated by all the physicians using the tele-stethoscopy system, versus a local auscultation using traditional stethoscope. The system must allow listen the cardiac (systolic and diastolic murmurs, gallop sound, arrhythmias) and respiratory (rhonchi, rales and crepitations, wheeze, diminished and bronchial breath sounds, pleural friction rub) sounds.

Results

The design, development and initial validation of the real-time wireless tele-stethoscopy system are described in detail. The system was conceived from scratch as open-source, low-cost and designed in such a way that many universities and small local companies in developing countries may manufacture it. Only free open-source software has been used in order to minimize manufacturing costs and look for alliances to support its improvement and adaptation. The microcontroller firmware code, the computer software code and the PCB schematics are available for free download in a subversion repository hosted in SourceForge.

Conclusions

It has been shown that real-time tele-stethoscopy, together with a videoconference system that allows a remote specialist to oversee the auscultation, may be a very helpful tool in rural areas of developing countries.
Biodistribution of co-exposure to multi-walled carbon nanotubes and nanodiamonds in mice
Authors: Wei Qi , Zhan Li , Juanjuan Bi , Jing Wang , Jianjun Wang , Taoli Sun , Yi’an Guo , Wangsuo Wu
Published: August 2012

In this work, technetium-99 (99mTc) was used as the radiolabeling isotope to study the biodistribution of oxidized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (oMWCNTs) and/or nanodiamonds (NDs) in mice after intravenous administration. The histological impact of non-radiolabeled oMWCNTs or NDs was investigated in comparison to the co-exposure groups. 99mTc-labeled nanomaterials had high stability in vivo and fast clearance from blood. After a single injection of oMWCNTs, the highest distribution was found in the lungs, with lower uptake in the liver/spleen. As for NDs injected alone, high distribution in the liver, spleen, and lungs was observed right after. However, uptake in the lungs was decreased obviously after 24 h, while high accumulation in the liver or spleen continued. After co-injection of oMWCNTs and NDs, oMWCNTs significantly affected the distribution pattern of NDs in vivo. Meanwhile, the increasing dose of oMWCNTs decreased the hepatic and splenic accumulation of NDs and gradually increased lung retention. On the contrary, the NDs had no significant effects on the distribution of oMWCNTs in mice. Histological photographs showed that oMWCNTs were mainly captured by lung macrophages, and NDs were located in the bronchi and alveoli after co-administration. oMWCNTs and NDs had different modes of micro-cells. In conclusion, the behavior and fate of NDs in mice depended strongly on oMWCNTs, but NDs had a small influence on the biodistribution and excretion pattern of oMWCNTs.
Birth in Brazil: national survey into labour and birth
Authors: do Carmo Leal Maria , da Silva Antônio Augusto Moura , Dias Marcos Augusto Bastos , da Gama Silvana Granado Nogueira , Rattner Daphne , Moreira Maria Elizabeth , Filha Mariza Miranda Theme , Domingues Rosa Maria Soares Madeira , Pereira Ana Paula Esteves , Torres Jacqueline Alves , Bittencourt Sonia Duarte Azevedo , D’orsi Eleonora , Cunha Antonio JLA , Leite Alvaro Jorge Madeiro , Cavalcante Rejane Silva , Lansky Sonia , Diniz Carmem Simone Grilo , Szwarcwald Célia Landmann
Published: August 2012

Background

Caesarean section rates in Brazil have been steadily increasing. In 2009, for the first time, the number of children born by this type of procedure was greater than the number of vaginal births. Caesarean section is associated with a series of adverse effects on the women and newborn, and recent evidence suggests that the increasing rates of prematurity and low birth weight in Brazil are associated to the increasing rates of Caesarean section and labour induction.

Methods

Nationwide hospital-based cohort study of postnatal women and their offspring with follow-up at 45 to 60 days after birth. The sample was stratified by geographic macro-region, type of the municipality and by type of hospital governance. The number of postnatal women sampled was 23,940, distributed in 191 municipalities throughout Brazil. Two electronic questionnaires were applied to the postnatal women, one baseline face-to-face and one follow-up telephone interview. Two other questionnaires were filled with information on patients’ medical records and to assess hospital facilities. The primary outcome was the percentage of Caesarean sections (total, elective and according to Robson’s groups). Secondary outcomes were: post-partum pain; breastfeeding initiation; severe/near miss maternal morbidity; reasons for maternal mortality; prematurity; low birth weight; use of oxygen use after birth and mechanical ventilation; admission to neonatal ICU; stillbirths; neonatal mortality; readmission in hospital; use of surfactant; asphyxia; severe/near miss neonatal morbidity. The association between variables were investigated using bivariate, stratified and multivariate model analyses. Statistical tests were applied according to data distribution and homogeneity of variances of groups to be compared. All analyses were taken into consideration for the complex sample design.

Discussion

This study, for the first time, depicts a national panorama of labour and birth outcomes in Brazil. Regardless of the socioeconomic level, demand for Caesarean section appears to be based on the belief that the quality of obstetric care is closely associated to the technology used in labour and birth. Within this context, it was justified to conduct a nationwide study to understand the reasons that lead pregnant women to submit to Caesarean sections and to verify any association between this type of birth and it’s consequences on postnatal health.
Reproducibility and age-related changes of ocular parametric measurements in rabbits
Authors: Riau Andri K , Tan Neil YS , Angunawela Romesh I , Htoon Hla M , Chaurasia Shyam S , Mehta Jodhbir S
Published: August 2012

Background

The rabbit is a common animal model for ophthalmic research, especially corneal research. Ocular structures grow rapidly during the early stages of life. It is unclear when the rabbit cornea becomes mature and stabilized. We investigated the changes of keratometry, refractive state and central corneal thickness (CCT) with age. In addition, we studied the intra- and inter-observer reproducibility of anterior chamber depth (ACD) and anterior chamber width (ACW) measurements in rabbits using anterior segment-optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT).

Results

The growth of New Zealand White rabbits (n = 16) were monitored from age 1 to 12 months old. Corneal keratometric and refractive values were obtained using an autorefractor/keratometer, and CCT was measured using an AS-OCT. Keratometry and CCT changed rapidly from 1 to 7 months and appeared to be stabilizing after 8 months. The reduction of corneal curvature was approximately 1.36 diopter (D)/month from age 1 to 7 months, but the change decelerated to 0.30 D/month from age 8 to 12 months. An increase of 10 μm/month in CCT was observed from age 1 to 7 months, but the gain was reduced to less than 1 μm/month from age 8 to 12 months. There was a hyperopic shift over the span of 12 months, albeit the increase in spherical equivalent was slow and gradual. Rabbits of random age were then selected for 2 repeated ACD and ACW measurements by 2 independent and masked observers. Bland-Altman plots revealed a good agreement of ACD and ACW measurements inter- and intra-observer and the ranges of 95% limit of agreement were acceptable from a clinical perspective.

Conclusions

Corneal keratometry, spherical equivalent refraction and CCT changed significantly during the first few months of life of rabbits. Young rabbits have been used in a large number of eye research studies. In certain settings, the ocular parametric changes are an important aspect to note as they may alter the findings made in a rabbit experimental model. In this study, we have also demonstrated for the first time a good between observer reproducibility of measurements of ocular parameters in an animal model by using an AS-OCT.
The relationship between sex life satisfaction and job stress of married nurses
Authors: Lee Hsiu-Hui , Lung For-Wey , Lee Pei-Rong , Kao Wei-Tsung , Lee Yu-Lan
Published: August 2012

Background

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among work stress, sex life satisfaction, and mental health of married nurses. Demographic information, work stress, sex life satisfaction, sexual desire and mental health measured using the Chinese Health Questionnaire, data were collected from 100 married nurses in Taiwan.

Findings

Sex life satisfaction and age were negatively correlated, but sex life satisfaction and sexual desire were positively correlated. The mental health of over-committed nursing staff was not affected. Higher reward for effort was positively correlated with sex life satisfaction.

Conclusions

No matter whether job stress was high or low, receiving a higher reward for effort led to better sex life satisfaction, which had a satisfying positive effect on the nurses' lives. To improve nursing care quality at the hospital, nursing administrators should assist nurses in confronting work stress via positive adjustment, which is associated with the nurses’ sexual harmony, and quality of life.
Progress of genome wide association study in domestic animals
Authors: Zhang Hui , Wang Zhipeng , Wang Shouzhi , Li Hui
Published: August 2012

Domestic animals are invaluable resources for study of the molecular architecture of complex traits. Although the mapping of quantitative trait loci (QTL) responsible for economically important traits in domestic animals has achieved remarkable results in recent decades, not all of the genetic variation in the complex traits has been captured because of the low density of markers used in QTL mapping studies. The genome wide association study (GWAS), which utilizes high-density single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), provides a new way to tackle this issue. Encouraging achievements in dissection of the genetic mechanisms of complex diseases in humans have resulted from the use of GWAS. At present, GWAS has been applied to the field of domestic animal breeding and genetics, and some advances have been made. Many genes or markers that affect economic traits of interest in domestic animals have been identified. In this review, advances in the use of GWAS in domestic animals are described.
Salinity dependence of complex conductivity of unconsolidated and consolidated materials: Comparisons with electrical double layer models
Authors: Weller Andreas , Slater Lee
Published: August 2012

We examined the dependence of imaginary conductivity ([Formula: see text]) on pore fluid conductivity ([Formula: see text]) for an extensive database of 67 samples acquired from twelve independent studies. We compared fitting of functions describing the salinity dependence of [Formula: see text] for two models of the electrical double layer (EDL) polarization, both of which predict asymptotic behavior of [Formula: see text] at high [Formula: see text]. We define these models as the diffuse layer polarization (DLP) and Stern layer polarization (SLP) models based on the physical description of the salinity dependence of the surface polarization. We also examined the database for evidence of a high salinity decrease in [Formula: see text] not predicted by either model. The dependence of [Formula: see text] on [Formula: see text] prior to the polarization plateau predicted by both models approximates a simple empirical power law with an average exponent of 0.34. The salinity dependence predicted by the DLP model adequately describes most data sets. A fitting parameter representing the high salinity [Formula: see text] asymptote is strongly correlated ([Formula: see text]) with pore normalized specific surface ([Formula: see text]). The SLP model describes well the observations when a recently proposed additive polarization term representing the contribution of the protons is included. In this case, the SLP model provides an excellent fit to the data sets, including a low salinity asymptote (in log-log conductivity space) seen in some samples. Predicted values of the fitting parameters of the SLP model generally are consistent with the values expected based on the theory; the fitting parameter describing the high salinity asymptote of the SLP model is also strongly correlated ([Formula: see text]) with [Formula: see text]. The SLP and DLP models neglect a high salinity decrease in the polarization that is observed in numerous data sets from independent studies. New data acquired on a sandstone sample demonstrate that this high salinity decrease is likely not attributable to the limited phase accuracy of earlier measurements.
Electroconductive π-Junction Au Nanoparticles
Authors: Kanehara Masayuki , Takeya Jun , Uemura Takafumi , Murata Hideyuki , Takimiya Kazuo , Sekine Hikaru , Teranishi Toshiharu
Published: August 2012

The fabrication of printed electronic circuits using solution-based electroconductive materials at low temperature is essential for the realization of modern printed electronics including transistors, photovoltaic cells, and light-emitting devices. Despite the progress in the field of semiconductor solution materials, reliable electrodes are always fabricated by a vacuum deposition process resulting in only partially solution-processed devices. In this paper, we show that planar phthalocyanine-conjugated Au nanoparticles (NPs) significantly improve the interparticle-carrier-transport properties. The deposition of a solution of the Au NPs under ambient conditions results in an electroconductive metallic thin film without further post-treatment. Maximum conductivity reaches >6600 S cm−1 and the conductivity remains unchanged for at least 1 year under ambient conditions. The all-solution-processed organic field-effect transistor (OFET) fabricated under ambient conditions exhibits mobility values as high as 2 cm2 V−1 s−1, the value of which is comparable to OFET devices having vacuum-deposited Au electrodes.
Enantioselective Addition of Diethylzinc to Aldehydes Catalyzed by (S)-1-Alkyl-2-(arylamino)methylpyrrolidine
Authors: Hosoda Naoya , Ito Hiroki , Takimoto Tatsuya , Asami Masatoshi
Published: August 2012

Several chiral diamines, (S)-1-alkyl-2-(arylamino)methylpyrrolidine, were used as chiral catalysts for the enantioselective addition of diethylzinc to aldehydes. The best results were obtained by employing 0.15 equiv of (S)-2-anilinomethyl-1-benzylpyrrolidine, and chiral secondary alcohols were obtained with high enantiomeric excesses (up to 94% ee).
An occult aldosterone-producing adenoma initially presenting as hyperosmolar hyperglycaemic state
Authors: Kuo Feng-Chih , Hung Yi-Jen , Hsieh Chang-Hsun , Hsiao Fone-Ching
Published: August 2012

Aldosterone-producing adenoma (APA), one of the most common causes of primary hyperaldosteronism, is clinically characterized by hypertension, increased sodium retention, increased potassium excretion and altered glucose metabolism. APA can also manifest in the form of hyperosmolar hyperglycaemic state (HHS), which is a life-threatening acute diabetic complication. Infection and inadequate fluid replacement are the common precipitating and predisposing factors for the occurrence of HHS. Here, we report a case of occult APA with the initial presentation of HHS, in which an unusually rapid correction of diabetes was observed after correct diagnosis and surgical resection of the APA. To our knowledge, this is the first case with such manifestations and outcome.
Single-stranded microRNA mimics
Authors: Chorn Guillaume , Klein-McDowell Molly , Zhao Lihong , Saunders Matthew A. , Flanagan W. Michael , Willingham Aarron T. , Lim Lee P.
Published: August 2012

miRNAs are ∼22-nt RNAs that bind to the Argonaute family of proteins and have important regulatory roles in plants and animals. Here, we show that miRNAs exhibit targeting activity in cells when delivered as single strands that are 5′-phosphorylated and that contain 2′-fluoro ribose modifications. Length preferences, chemical modification sensitivity, and genome-wide seed-based targeting all suggest that this activity is Ago-based. Activity could be enhanced by annealing of segmented passenger strands containing non-nucleic acid spacers. Furthermore, screening of randomly generated sequences identified pyrimidine rich 3′ cassette sequences that increased single strand activity. These results provide an initial step in the development of single-stranded miRNA mimics for therapeutic use.
Mechanistic characterization of the 5′-triphosphate-dependent activation of PKR: Lack of 5′-end nucleobase specificity, evidence for a distinct triphosphate binding site, and a critical role for the dsRBD
Authors: Toroney Rebecca , Hull Chelsea M. , Sokoloski Joshua E. , Bevilacqua Philip C.
Published: August 2012

The protein kinase PKR is activated by RNA to phosphorylate eIF-2α, inhibiting translation initiation. Long dsRNA activates PKR via interactions with the dsRNA-binding domain (dsRBD). Weakly structured RNA also activates PKR and does so in a 5′-triphosphate (ppp)–dependent fashion, however relatively little is known about this pathway. We used a mutant T7 RNA polymerase to incorporate all four triphosphate-containing nucleotides into the first position of a largely single-stranded RNA and found absence of selectivity, in that all four transcripts activate PKR. Recognition of 5′-triphosphate, but not the nucleobase at the 5′-most position, makes this RNA-mediated innate immune response sensitive to a broad array of viruses. PKR was neither activated in the presence of γ-GTP nor recognized NTPs other than ATP in activation competition and ITC binding assays. This indicates that the binding site for ATP is selective, which contrasts with the site for the 5′ end of ppp-ssRNA. Activation experiments reveal that short dsRNAs compete with 5′-triphosphate RNAs and heparin for activation, and likewise gel-shift assays reveal that activating 5′-triphosphate RNAs and heparin compete with short dsRNAs for binding to PKR's dsRBD. The dsRBD thus plays a critical role in the activation of PKR by ppp-ssRNA and even heparin. At the same time, cross-linking experiments indicate that ppp-ssRNA interacts with PKR outside of the dsRBD as well. Overall, 5′-triphosphate-containing, weakly structured RNAs activate PKR via interactions with both the dsRBD and a distinct triphosphate binding site that lacks 5′-nucleobase specificity, allowing the innate immune response to provide broad-spectrum protection from pathogens.
Multilevel Simulations of Health Delivery Systems: A Prospective Tool for Policy, Strategy, Planning, and Management
Authors: Park Hyunwoo , Clear Trustin , Rouse William B. , Basole Rahul C. , Braunstein Mark L. , Brigham Kenneth L. , Cunningham Lynn
Published: August 2012

Computer simulations are effective tools for addressing enterprise transformation in terms of alternative organizational policies, operating procedures, and allocations of resources. We present a multilevel approach to computationally model health delivery enterprises. This approach is illustrated by its application to an employer-based prevention and wellness program. The decision of interest in this application concerns the design of prevention and wellness programs that are self-sustaining and provide a positive return on investment for the overall enterprise. The nature of this decision is shown to have enormous implications for how delivery services are organized.
Smoking Cessation and Its Predictors: Results from a Community-Based Pharmacy Tobacco Cessation Program in New Mexico
Authors: Khan Nasreen , Anderson Joe R , Du Juan , Tinker Dale , Bachyrycz Amy M , Namdar Rocsanna
Published: August 2012

BACKGROUND:

The New Mexico Pharmaceutical Care Foundation received funding through the Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Program (TUPAC) to provide support for pharmacist-delivered tobacco cessation services. The goal of the program was to increase the availability of tobacco cessation services to residents of New Mexico. Program outcomes are presented, using data from the first 2 fiscal years.

OBJECTIVE:

To assess tobacco quit rates among smokers who participated in the community pharmacist–based program and identify the predictors of quitting at the end of a 6-month program.

METHODS:

Pharmacists, who had received Rx for Change training, provided tobacco cessation services. Patients were scheduled for an initial visit and then were seen at regularly scheduled follow-up visits at 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months from the initial visit. Data collected at the initial visit included demographics, smoking history, and readiness for quitting. Smoking status was collected at each of the follow-up visits. Data were analyzed using SAS (SAS Institute) and STATA (StataCorp LP) statistical software. Tobacco quit rates were calculated at 1, 3, and 6 months. Multivariate regression analysis was performed to assess predictors of quitting. Standard errors were adjusted for repeated observation.

RESULTS:

Data were available for 346 participants. The average quit rate at the end of 6 months was 25%. Significant predictors of quitting were high confidence levels in quitting at baseline, individuals who had first cigarettes at least 30 minutes after waking up, first cessation attempt, and nonwhite patients.

CONCLUSIONS:

A smoking cessation program delivered through trained community pharmacists with prescriptive authority is an effective approach to reducing smoking. Further research should be conducted to compare the effectiveness of pharmacists with that of other providers of tobacco cessation services.
“The Negro Problem”: Two Catholic Journalistic Debates over the Equality of Blacks
Authors: Slawson Douglas J.
Published: August 2012

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, there were two printed debates among Catholics over the issue of equality for blacks. These exchanges sandwiched the establishment of Jim Crow, the first occurring just as the South committed itself to that policy, and the second after legalized segregation was firmly in place. They offer a window into the thinking of Catholics both North and South about the place of African Americans in society and the church. This article situates the debates in their contexts, presents their content, teases out their meanings, and demonstrates the retreat from the call for full social equality that occurred in some quarters of Catholic thought.
“Up against a Stone Wall”: Women, Power and the National Catholic Community Houses
Authors: Petit Jeanne
Published: August 2012

This article is about the rise and fall of the National Catholic Community Houses, institutions created by the National Catholic War Council (NCWC) and run by Catholic laywomen. It explores how Catholic laywomen sought to take advantage of the opportunities the post World War I era offered to create viable national institutions, and the forces outside and within their church that undermined their efforts. They faced three interrelated problems that ultimately caused the project to fail. First, while the bishops and priests of the NCWC did willingly support the creation of women-run institutions, they stopped far short of the idea of making them women-controlled institutions. Second, although the women who ran the houses had ambitions that they would take their place as equals in the world of social work, their defensive attitudes undermined their efforts to build useful networks with both non-Catholic social workers and Catholic women religious who had far greater experience in the field. Finally, Catholic laywomen struggled to run these national institutions within local dioceses and parishes where priests and bishops aggressively protected their territory. The combination of these factors meant that Catholic laywomen who ran the National Catholic Community Houses were continually running into stone walls.
Confronting the Heresy of “The Mythical Body of Christ”: The Life of Dr. Arthur Falls
Authors: Rice Lincoln R.
Published: August 2012

Arthur Grand Pré Falls (1901–2000) possessed a profound notion of the Catholic Church as the mystical body of Christ that included people of all races, and he fought for this vision of the church through his actions and words. Falls was a black Catholic medical doctor and founder of the Catholic Worker in Chicago, who dedicated his life to trying to integrate Chicago’s Catholic hospitals and schools as well as create a more racially just society in the Chicago area. Falls was involved in a number of historic, but often forgotten, movements that worked towards a more integrated church and society and often played a key role in these movements.
Perspectives on Religious Life Today
Authors: Kennelly Karen M. , Berger Robert C. , Liptak Dolores , Carbonneau Robert E.
Published: August 2012

Apostolic Religious Life in America Today: A Response to the Crisis , edited by Richard Gribble, C.SC., and Prophets in Their Own Country: Women Religious Bearing Witness to the Gospel in a Troubled World , by Sandra M. Schneiders, I.H.M., offer two different perspectives on contemporary religious life. The editors of American Catholic Studies decided it would benefit readers if we invited four distinguished scholars to review both books. We were pleased that two of our reviewers are women religious; one is a priest in a religious community, and our fourth reviewer is a Christian Brother. Recent actions by church authorities in both Rome and the United States have only increased the relevance of these reviews for our readers.
“Take a ‘poon , pig”: Property, Class, and Common Culture in Maria Edgeworth’s “Simple Susan”
Authors: Manly Susan
Published: August 2012

This article explores the politics of Edgeworth’s “Simple Susan” ( The Parent’s Assistant , 1800). While not unequivocally radical in tendency, Edgeworth’s tale is, I argue, far from complacently conservative in its representation of class. Through a network of allusions to popular May-day customs, unenclosed commons and bardic culture, Edgeworth suggests the importance of rejecting the extortions supposedly justified by established law and landlordism in favour of a more accountable, open and negotiable form of authority – one that recognises folk culture as an important repository and transmitter of history and the grievances of those without property as worthy of note.
Peculiar Dearness: Sentimental Commerce in Maria Edgeworth’s “The Bracelets”
Authors: Robinson Fiona
Published: August 2012

This article explores the didactic ambiguities of Maria Edgeworth’s story, “The Bracelets.” Tracing the course of the protagonist’s trials at a girls’ school, the essay reveals the tale’s problematic “lesson” of gender-specific limitation on ambition and achievement. Edgeworth suggests that while such limitation is intrinsic to femaleness, it requires educational enforcement as part of feminine inculcation. The sentimental economy governing the school’s feminine society is also investigated as it relates to Edgeworth’s didactic purpose. The system’s workings pose a seemingly insurmountable challenge to the otherwise intelligent protagonist; her inability to master sentimental commerce and femininity itself devalues her scholarly achievements, calling into question her self-regard and right to ambition.
Treasure to Trash, Trash to Treasure: Dolls and Waste in Italian Children’s Literature
Authors: Mazzoni Cristina
Published: August 2012

Dolls are linked to trash and/or feces in Italian literature as early as Straparola’s fairy tale, “La poavola” (1550s). This bond recurs more regularly in Italian children’s stories produced by women writers between the late 19 th and the late 20 th centuries—a time of increased social and psychological preoccupation with waste. Texts such as Contessa Lara’s Il romanzo della bambola (1896), Morante’s Le straordinarie avventure di Caterina (1942/1959), Pitzorno’s La bambola dell’alchimista (1988) and La bambola viva (1994), and Ziliotto’s La bambola, la pazza (1993) represent dolls and trash as, among other things, the otherness fundamental to the formation of the protagonist’s identity.
Mourning A Series of Unfortunate Events
Authors: Nguyen Kim Hong
Published: August 2012

Through an analysis of the popular, yet controversial children’s book series, A Series of Unfortunate Events , this paper considers the rhetorical construction of mourning and its relationship to post-9/11 discourses about grief. This essay argues that the series challenges conventionalized understandings of mourning as externalizations of preemption, prevention, readiness, and revenge. Rather, mourning occurs by way of coming to terms with one’s specific, personal, and perhaps publicly untranslatable relationship with loss, and by risking the continued propensity for hurt that comes with social and political participation--with all lived experience.
New Miseries in Old Attire: Nuclear Adolescent Novels Published in the United States in the 1980s
Authors: Hager Tamar
Published: August 2012

This paper addresses a group of novels on nuclear war written especially for adolescents which were published in the United States throughout the 1980s. Investigating the political, social and literary shifts, which eventuated in turning nuclear war into a proper subject for young people, the paper goes on to scrutinize how nuclear weaponry and war were represented by these literary texts. What themes and literary strategies were employed by authors of adolescent literature in integrating the nuclear issue? What were the political attitudes they endorsed, making nuclear war suitable for the young? By a close reading of Lynn Hall’s If Winter Comes (1984), and James Douglass Forman’s Doomsday Plus Twelve (1986), the paper demonstrates how American nuclear fiction for the young actually failed to oppose official pro-nuclear policies, conveying tolerance for and even indirect approval of the nuclear status quo.
Women and Work in the Philadelphia Almshouse, 1790–1840
Authors: Bourque Monique
Published: August 2012

This essay examines women’s presence in the almshouse of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the early republic. Welfare institutions were dependent on poor women’s labor in two vital ways: first, institutions required a cheap and flexible workforce in order to operate with reasonable efficiency, and women provided much of that labor, particularly in household functions within the institution. Second, making labor a fundamental part of the relief process allowed administrators to argue that public funds were being used responsibly to ameliorate poverty without promoting a permanently dependent population. While the Philadelphia almshouse maintained a manufactory from 1807 into the 1880s, an industrial factory model was not feasible for almshouse manufacture: the necessity of providing for inmates as a public institution, and the flexibility demanded in effective employment of able-bodied paupers, rendered the almshouse manufactory ineffectual as an urban manufacturing enterprise.

Administrators probably never expected to extract enough labor from the inmates for the institution either to turn a profit or to become self-sufficient, but antebellum administrators maintained that labor had moral value. Administrators’ treatment of women’s work in the institution reflected ambivalence about women’s role in an industrializing economy, concern about women’s employment in industrial production, and unease about the moral threat posed by poor women as members of (and contributors to) a permanent underclass. Focusing on women’s particular connections to these institutions as inmates and workers can shed further light on the influence of local relationships in the welfare process, and on the gendered nature of poverty in the early republic.
Survival Strategies of Poor White Women in Savannah, 1800–1860
Authors: Lockley Tim
Published: August 2012

Poor white women had a particularly challenging experience in antebellum Savannah since they were female in a patriarchal society and poor members of the ‘superior race’ that had numerous legal and social advantages. This articles explores the multiple ingenious survival strategies adopted by poor white women in Savannah, including marriage, employment, crime and charity. It ultimately argues that poor white women exploited their racial privileges to the full by taking advantage of legal loopholes and lax law enforcement to earn money, while at the same time earning the sympathy and financial support of elite white men and women via benevolent organisations. Poor white women were able to survive in slave societies because they had significant racial privileges that could not be denied.
“Driven to the Commission of This Crime”: Women and Infanticide in Baltimore, 1835–1860
Authors: Hemphill Katie M.
Published: August 2012

In 1838, Baltimore Coroner John I. Gross penned an open letter noting an “alarming increase” of infanticide in the city and pleading for a solution. In the discussion that followed, contributors voiced varied opinions regarding the motives underlying infanticide and the best means of reducing its occurrence, but were largely united in portraying the female infanticide in middle-class terms. Coroner's inquest records reveal that most of the women suspected of and arrested for infanticide throughout the antebellum period were in fact poor and often racially and socially marginalized. Infant mortality, while universally common, was particularly prevalent in working-class communities, and the process by which infant deaths were determined to be “suspicious” and worthy of investigation were biased against the poor. Yet, inquest proceedings cannot be contained within a simple narrative of social control. The poor were active participants in inquests, both as witnesses and as jurors, and they brought to the proceedings their own knowledge of the persons involved as well as their own ideas about moral economies of reproduction. Poor women accused of infanticide defended themselves (among other ways) by appropriating the middle-class narratives of seduction to disclaim their responsibility in infanticide cases and displace it onto male villains. In doing so, they attempted to garner public sympathy and undermine the justness of the proceedings against them. They did so with remarkable success, as no women were convicted of infanticide in Baltimore during the middle third of the nineteenth century.
Poor Mothers, Stepmothers, and Foster Mothers in Early Republic and Antebellum Charleston
Authors: Murray John E.
Published: August 2012

Between 1790 and 1860, over two thousand children spent part of their lives in the Charleston Orphan House. Just over half of these children were brought to the Orphan House by their mothers, who in most cases had recently been widowed. An unknown share of children lived with female relations and even strangers before entering the institution. Letters written by and for these women illustrate the course of their lives and those of their children prior to coming to the Orphan House. Three relationships characterized the women who sought relief from the Orphan House: strangers who had brought orphaned or abandoned children into their homes temporarily, whom I call foster mothers; women of some blood or legal relationship to the child that was short of motherhood, whom I call stepmothers; and mothers who had borne and raised these young ones. Although it is clear that the mothers themselves enjoyed the closest bonds with their children, it is also clear that even unrelated women felt and acted in a loving way towards their charges.
Women on the Edge: Life at Street Level in the Early Republic
Authors: Main Gloria L.
Published: August 2012

The port cities of the early republic were creatures of a dynamic but volatile international economy, highly susceptible to sudden shocks and the ups and downs of unpredictable business cycles. Because the urban job market depended on long-distance trade, employment and wages rose and fell with the level of commerce. City inhabitants strove to ride the crests and cushion the shocks, but how well did they do, for themselves and for each other? These are never easy questions to answer, but this is particularly the case for women and children, white and black, bound and free.

Researchers interested in more comprehensive coverage of the poorer ranks of urban society have turned to the records of public and private institutions such as almshouses, workhouses, orphanages, hospitals, churches, schools, jails and penitentiaries, and courts of all kinds, including, as we shall see below, those convened by coroners.

Women performed critical functions in the economies of early American cities, but female members of all classes found themselves disadvantaged by both the law and the market, where coverture, marginal jobs, and low wages forced their dependency on men. Yet, even when fully employed, men of the “working poor” did not earn enough to support their families. As a result, most poor families relied on the earnings of mothers and children to get by.

Despite their near-invisibility in the records of the times, it is women’s lives at street level that the papers in this issue portray.
Poor Women and the Boston Almshouse in the Early Republic
Authors: Herndon Ruth Wallis
Published: August 2012

This essay argues that, during the period 1795–1817, the Boston Almshouse was a female space organized around the lives of poor women. Through quantitative and qualitative analysis of Boston Almshouse records, supplemented with Boston town records, newspapers, and related documents, the author shows the centrality of women to the institution. Even though men had official responsibility for the Almshouse, women’s concerns shaped its structure and rhythms. First, even though more men than women passed through the Almshouse doors, women always constituted a majority of its residents. Second, most Almshouse women had been born within fifty miles of Boston; Boston and its Almshouse were part of their known world. Most Almshouse men, in contrast, were born outside the U.S.; the Almshouse was an unfamiliar place in an unfamiliar city. Third, the functions of the Almshouse were women’s work, not men’s work. The duties that more prosperous women performed individually in private homes, poor women performed communally in the Almshouse: preparing food, making and washing clothing and bedding, birthing and raising children, nursing the sick, tending the handicapped, laying out the dead. Finally, many female inmates used the Almshouse to anchor their families during crises specific to women’s lives: in the last stages of pregnancy; when their children were sick; when their husbands died or were unable to provide the necessities of life through their labor; and when illness and weakness rendered women vulnerable in old age. Four mini-biographies of Almshouse women, reconstructed from available documents, illustrate the potential of the Almshouse to create a real community of support for poor women
Torah in Triclinia : The Rabbinic Banquet and the Significance of Architecture
Authors: Klein Gil P.
Published: August 2012

The recent ‘spatial turn’ in Jewish Studies has inspired a broad range of inquiries into the built environment of late antique Palestine and its rabbinic perception. In these inquiries architecture frequently figures as either a framework of social relations, archaeological evidence, or a literary metaphor. By illuminating the merits of merging these different perspectives, this article suggests an integrative way to consider architecture in the context of rabbinic Judaism. Its direct object of investigation is the rabbinic banquet and the hall in which it often took place – the traqlin (from the Latin triclinium). The banqueting traditions of the Roman banquet – the convivium - and its elaborate space are clearly evident in the rabbis’ accounts of reclining in social and religious gatherings. Through the examination of convivial passages from the Mishnah, the Tosefta and Leviticus Rabbah in view of Graeco-Roman material, as well as through the analysis of two triclinia from Sepphoris and their iconography, this article seeks to demonstrate the significance of architecture in the development of rabbinic creativity and self-understanding. One of its central claims is that a space such as the banquet hall has much to teach us about the way in which art, dialogue and literature may inform each other in the dynamics of a rabbinic institution.
Jews from Rus’ in Medieval England
Authors: Kulik Alexander
Published: August 2012

The paper provides new data for the presence of Jews from Rus’ in medieval England and contextualizes this presence based on the evidence of contacts between England and Rus’, as well as on the known patterns of Jewish migration between Rus’ and Western Europe and between England and the continent. Knowledge of a Slavic language as demonstrated by Jews from Rus’ in England is witness to Slavic proficiency of remarkable range, from mastering tabooed obscene lexica to literacy in Church Slavonic. The English Cyrillic-Hebrew abecedarium, the earliest piece of evidence, which documents not only political and commercial, but also cultural contacts between England and Rus’, enriches our understanding of the models of Jewish intercultural mediation in the Middle Ages and demonstrates that the wandering and multilingual Jews were thus not only the chief transmitters of Arabic learning in Latin Europe, but may also have been the first attested teachers of Slavic literacy in the West.