bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Examining the Link between Neighborhood Cohesion and School Outcomes: The Role of Support Coping among African American Adolescent Girls
Authors: Plybon Laura E. , Edwards Lorraine , Butler Deborah , Belgrave Faye Z. , Allison Kevin W.
Published: October 2003

Using data from a sample of 84 urban, female, African American adolescents (mean age = 11.86 years), the present investigation examines neighborhood cohesion and parent and adult social support coping, singly and cooperatively, as resources for school achievement outcomes. Results support previous findings that positive perception of the neighborhood is directly and positively related to increased feelings of school self-efficacy and higher grades. Parent support coping predicted increased school self-efficacy. Furthermore, as neighborhood cohesion increased, the use of adult support coping increased. Further analyses demonstrated that students who were failing reported an increased use of teacher support coping as compared to students with passing grades. The authors discuss the implications of these findings in regard to mentoring programs.
Revitalizing the Xianyuan (Worthy Ladies) Tradition
Authors: Qian Nanxiu
Published: October 2003

One particularly neglected facet of the generally neglected 1898 Reform Movement in China is the role of women. Chinese and Western scholars have tended to portray the campaign primarily as a male-led, Western-oriented enterprise in which Chinese women were largely silent and submissive, com-pliant rather than contentious. This article suggests, by contrast, that Chinese women participated in the 1890s reforms as active organizers and sophisticated thinkers. They had their own agenda, agency, organizations, and specific strategies for forming a new Chinese womanhood and for national strengthening. Their approach to reform drew substantially on Chinese traditions of learning with antecedents as early as the Wei-Jin period (220-420); it also reflected more recent traditions of women's literary culture and community in the Yangzi delta during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. These open-minded and self-confident women reformers enthusiastically embraced new Western knowledge and attracted effective help from Western allies, both male and female.
Gender Dimensions of Support for Elderly in Vietnam
Authors: Friedman Jed , Knodel John , Cuong Bui The , Anh Truong Si
Published: October 2003

Although women and the elderly are assumed to be disadvantaged in much of the world, systematic empirical studies of gender differences in well-being among the elderly are rare. This article examines gender differences in elderly support and socio-economic well-being in Vietnam using census and survey data. Sources of support examined include work, nonfamilial support, and especially familial support including living arrangements. The authors consider the gender of the support recipient and provider. Substantial regional differences in the patriarchal/patrilineal family system, manifested in the wide regional variation in coresidence with married sons rather than daughters, make Vietnam a particularly interesting context for the study. The receipt of intergenerational transfers shows little variation across gender once the mediating effect of marital status differences is controlled. Gender differences in economic well-being, as measured by household wealth and self-perceptions of economic satisfaction, are modest, especially when marital status and age are controlled.
Role-Specific Control, Personal Meaning, and Health in Late Life
Authors: Krause Neal , Shaw Benjamin A.
Published: October 2003

The purpose of this study is to develop and empirically evaluate a latent variable model that examines the relationships among role-specific control, personal meaning, and health in late life. It is hypothesized that older adults with high levels of role- specific control are likely to develop a deep sense of personal meaning. This conceptual scheme further specifies that elderly people who derive a sense of meaning will, in turn, enjoy better health than older adults who are unable to find meaning in life. Data from a nationwide survey of older people provide support for this theoretical rationale.
The Politics of Belonging and Intercultural Health Care
Authors: Kirkham Sheryl Reimer
Published: October 2003

Belonging was one of the recurrent themes in an ethnography examining the social context of intergroup health care relations. Certain people, both patients and health care providers, were constructed as belonging in the social fabric of health care, whereas some were left on the mar-gins and constructed as Other. In this article, the theme of belonging is explored through a multi-layered analysis of the contexts of intergroup health care encounters. The macropolitics of belonging are situated in the larger societal setting, replete with practices that mark Other. Evidences of such Othering is then traced through organizational contexts, drawing on the exemplars of visiting hour policy, integration of alternative therapies, and provision of language ser-vices. Intergroup interactions are then reanalyzed in light of micropolitics at the individual nurse-patient level. The overall picture presented is one of a range of social, political, historical, and economic forces reproduced in everyday intercultural health care encounters.
Implications of Extracurricular Activity Participation During Adolescence on Positive Outcomes
Authors: Zaff Jonathan F. , Moore Kristin A. , Papillo Angela Romano , Williams Stephanie
Published: October 2003

The present study was conducted to determine if participation in extracurricular activities predicts multiple positive outcomes such as attending college, voting in national and regional elections, and volunteering for community and religious organizations. From analyses of the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988, a nationally representative survey of students, our results suggest that consistent participation in extracurricular activities from 8th grade through 12th grade predicts academic achievement and prosocial behaviors in young adulthood. This finding remains after accounting for control and individual, parent, peer, and school process variables. Both research and policy implications are discussed.
Focus-Group Methodology in Research with Incarcerated Women: Race, Power, and Collective Experience
Authors: Pollack Shoshana
Published: October 2003

Feminist researchers have found focus groups to be valuable for understanding collective experiences of marginalization, developing a structural analysis of individual experiences, and challenging taken-for-granted assumptions about race, gender, sexuality, and class. These benefits are in contrast to individual interviews, which may lend themselves to privatized and individualistic accounts of gendered experiences and which risk reproducing colonizing relationships and discourses. This study used both individual interviews (life-history methodology) and focus-group interviews to examine the effects of marginalization and oppression on Black Canadian women's lawbreaking. Combining these two methodologies may be particularly fruitful in cross-cultural and/or cross-racial research and in contexts such as correctional institutions, where issues of power and disclosure are amplified.
Predicting the Psychosocial Effects of Interpersonal Partner Violence (IPV)
Authors: Bogat G. Anne , Levendosky Alytia A. , Theran Sally , Von Eye Alexander , Davidson William S.
Published: October 2003

Women's (N = 205) IPV experiences were assessed during their pregnancies, in the year before their pregnancies, and with their previous partners. The study explored whether psychosocial indicators and severity of violence could be predicted from a woman's continuity and history of IPV. Two 4-group classifications—partner (IPV experiences across partners) and time (history of IPV experiences)—and one 2-group classification (IPV or no IPV in the past 6 months) were compared. Both four-group classifications accounted for more variance than did the two-group. Within the four-group classifications, most of the significant differences on psychosocial out-comes and severity of IPV were between the no IPV and chronic IPV groups (IPV experiences with two partners and across three different time periods). However, the groups that also fared poorly were those who experienced recent IPV and continuity of IPV across time with their current partners.
Cross-Validation of the Self-Appraisal Questionnaire with a Maximum-Security Psychiatric Population
Authors: Villeneuve David B. , Oliver Neil , Loza Wagdy
Published: October 2003

The Self-Appraisal Questionnaire (SAQ) is a 72-item, self-report measure designed to predict recidivism, supervision violations, and related behaviors among non-mentally disordered Canadian federal offenders. In the present article, the authors demonstrate that the SAQ maintains satisfactory predictive validity on cross-validation with a high-risk correctional psychiatric sample.
Impression Management Strategies and Performance in Information Technology Consulting
Authors: Sosik John J. , Jung Dong I.
Published: October 2003

This study examined the extent to which subordinates’ and superiors’ perceptions of the five basic impression-management strategies of ingratiation, self-promotion, intimidation, exemplification, and supplication were associated with the self-awareness and performance of 83 information technology consulting managers. Self-awareness was operationalized by categorizing managers as over-estimators, underestimators, in-agreement/poor, or in-agreement/good based on the difference between the manager’s and his or her subordinates’ rating of the manager’s charismatic leadership. Results of multivariate analysis of covariance indicated that according to subordinates, overestimators used less ingratiation and exemplification and more intimidation than underestimators or those in-agreement. According to superiors, overestimators used more intimidation than underestimators and in-agreement/poor managers, whereas in-agree-ment/poor managers used more supplication and less exemplification than underestimators and in-agreement/good managers. In-agreement/good managers outperformed overestimators and in-agreement/poor managers.
Technological Teleology and the Theory of Technology Enactment
Authors: Garson G. David
Published: October 2003

Jane Fountain's book, Building the Virtual State: Information Technology and Institutional Change, uses the International Trade Data System (ITDS) as its leading case in support of technology enactment theory and in refutation of technological determinist theory. An examination of the ITDS case in the years since the termination of Fountain's coverage in 1999 shows the case to be of a different nature than presented in the book. The weaknesses of technology enactment as social science theory are compensated by its descriptive/prescriptive uses for practitioners and researchers interested in public sector information technology implementation.
Investigating the Differential Effectiveness of a Batterer Treatment Program on Outcomes for African American and Caucasian Batterers
Authors: Buttell Frederick P. , Pike Cathy K.
Published: October 2003

Objective: This study (a) evaluated a batterer intervention program (BIP) by investigating changes in psychological variables (i.e., truthfulness, violence, lethality, control, alcohol use, drug use, and stress-coping abilities) between pretreatment and posttreatment assessments in a sample of court-mandated batterers and (b) investigated the differential effectiveness of this same BIP for African American and Caucasian batterers. Method: The study employed a one-group pretest/posttest design, with 12-month follow-up data, to investigate changes in Domestic Violence Inventory (DVI) scores among 91 men, 57% African American, court ordered into a BIP. Results: Analysis indicated that (a) court-ordered batterers demonstrate significant changes, in the desired direction, on psychological variables related to domestic violence, as a result of participation in a court-mandated BIP and (b) there was no significant difference in changes on these psychological variables between African American and Caucasian batterers. Conclusion: Implications of the findings for enhancing intervention efforts with court-ordered batterers were discussed.
Conceptualizing the Harm done by Rape
Authors: Wasco Sharon M.
Published: October 2003

Based on a review of theory and evidence, this article highlights the limitations of trauma response models and applications of posttraumatic stress to characterize the experiences of women who are raped. There are two primary problems with trauma response theories. First, traditional notions of trauma are likely too narrow to accurately capture the complexities of women's experiences of sexual violence in a gendered society. Second, the symptoms emphasized by clinical applications of the trauma model may legitimate one sociocultural manifestation of distress while excluding others. Alternative conceptualizations are presented to stimulate more ecologically grounded and culturally inclusive study of sexual violence. Using the rape of women as an example, this article illustrates the limitations of Western views of trauma and encourages researchers and practitioners to expand notions of survivors' responses to painful events.
In Search of Lincoln's Perfect List
Authors: Wielhouwer Peter W.
Published: October 2003

A key element in winning elections, according to many practitioners, is successfully identifying citizens for targeted campaign communications, and a central tactic for implementing that strategy is through personal-contact campaigning. This article first integrates academic and practitioner perspectives into theoretical arguments about targeted campaigning. Then, using the 1956 to 1998 National Election Studies, the analysis shows that voter registration and age have become increasingly important as criteria for campaign contacts, that contacting rates among urban, sub-urban, and rural areas have equalized, and that campaigns continue to target party regulars, people predisposed to vote, and those who are more socially and economically integrated into their communities. The analysis also compares major party grassroots strategies and their changes over time. The results suggest that recent patterns in personal-contact campaigning may no longer exacerbate American participatory inequalities to the degree found in earlier periods.
What Effect, if any, does Soy Protein have on Breast Tissue?
Authors: Fleming R M
Published: October 2003

Differences in breast tissue can be determined using breast-enhanced scintigraphy test (BEST) imaging. Minimal work in vivo has been done previously to determine the effects of soy protein on breast tissue. The authors' earlier work demonstrated reduction in inflammatory changes in breast tissue. This work was conducted to examine the effect of daily soy protein consumption on a larger group of women over the course of 1 year. Sixty-four premenopausal women were studied after initial BEST imaging evaluation revealed fibrocystic changes of the breast. Women were asked to consume a medical-grade soy protein on a daily basis, making no other dietary or lifestyle changes during that time. Each woman underwent BEST imaging 1 year later with the results compared to the initial findings. Women and their physicians reported a subjective reduction in both breast tenderness and fibrocystic disease (FCD). There was a nonstatistical reduction in both the average and maximal count breast activity following 1 year of daily soy consumption. There was a statistically significant reduction ( P< .01) in variability of tissue activity following 1 year of soy protein treatment. This is the first in vivo study looking at the effect of soy protein on breast tissue health. The findings are promising and showed both objective and subjective findings consistent with a reduction in fibrocystic disease of the breast. Further research is needed to confirm these findings in a greater number of women and to determine if soy protein has the same beneficial effect in atypia and breast cancer.
Individual and Institutional Predictors of School Disorder
Authors: Welsh Wayne N.
Published: October 2003

Using survey responses from 5,203 students, this article explores the effects of school climate (e.g., clarity and fairness of rules) and individual student characteristics (e.g., age, sex, race, and dimensions of bonding) on two different measures of school disorder: students' self-reported Offending and less serious Misconduct at school. Between-school factors and within-school factors were examined using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) techniques. Schools varied significantly on both measures of disorder, but individual-level variables explained greater portions of variance in Offending than Misconduct. School climate variables explained a larger percentage of variance in Misconduct. Implications for theory and prevention are discussed.
Toward a Professional Community for Social Justice
Authors: Calderwood Patricia E.
Published: October 2003

In response to a call for educators to work for social justice, this article introduces an argument for developing a novel community of practice: a transprofessional community for social justice. Some features of community, profession, and social justice work that suggest basic elements of such a professional community are explored, including possible areas of resistance to a core orientation toward social justice within professional activity. Professional education's place within this framework, including suggestions for how to support educators entering into the professional community for social justice, is addressed.
Antineoplastic Effects of Partially HLA-Matched Irradiated Blood Mononuclear Cells in Patients With Renal Cell Carcinoma
Authors: Strair Roger K. , Schaar Dale , Medina Daniel , Todd Mary B. , Aisner Joseph , DiPaola Robert S. , Manago Jacqueline , Knox Beth , Jenkinson Amanda , Senzon Rachelle , Baker Christina , Dudek Liesel , Ciardella Marie , Kuriyan Mercy , Rubin Arnold , Lattime Edmund C.
Published: October 2003

Purpose: Vaccines, cytokines, and other biologic-based therapies are being developed as antineoplastic agents. Many of these agents are designed to induce an autologous immune response directed against the malignancy. In contrast, hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation is being developed as a form of allogeneic immunotherapy. This study tests the tolerance and antineoplastic activity of sequential infusions of partially HLA-matched allogeneic blood mononuclear cells (obtained from relatives) when administered outside of the context of a hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation. The cells are irradiated to prevent graft-versus-host disease.

Patients and Methods: Fifteen patients with relapsed or refractory malignancies for which no standard therapy was available were enrolled onto a clinical trial designed to assess the tolerability and antineoplastic effects of irradiated partially HLA-matched blood mononuclear cells obtained from relatives.

Results: There was disease regression in three patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma during treatment. There was disease progression in six patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma and two patients with metastatic melanoma during treatment. There was no change in disease state in several other patients.

Conclusion: Irradiated allogeneic blood mononuclear cells administered outside the context of hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation may induce disease responses in patients with relapsed or refractory malignancies. Transfusion of irradiated allogeneic blood mononuclear cells should be developed further as a novel therapeutic antineoplastic approach.
A Phase I Study of Irinotecan As a 3-Week Schedule in Children With Refractory or Recurrent Solid Tumors
Authors: Vassal Gilles , Doz Francois , Frappaz Didier , Imadalou Karima , Sicard Evelyne , Santos Alexandre , O’Quigley John , Germa Caroline , Risse Marie-Laure , Mignard Dominique , Pein Francois
Published: October 2003

Purpose: A phase I study was performed to determine the maximum-tolerated dose (MTD) and safety profile of irinotecan (CPT-11) administered as a single intravenous infusion every 3 weeks in children with recurrent or refractory solid tumors.

Patients and Methods: Eighty-one patients were enrolled, including 48 less heavily, and 33 heavily pretreated patients (cranial irradiation and/or high-dose chemotherapy). Children received CPT-11 as a 120-minute infusion at doses ranging from 200 to 720 mg/m2. The dose-limiting toxicities (DLT) on first cycle were determined in both cohorts.

Results: One hundred twenty-two cycles and 81 cycles were administered in less heavily, and heavily pretreated patients, respectively. The primary DLT was delayed diarrhea in less heavily pretreated patients, and neutropenia in heavily pretreated patients. MTD was 600 mg/m2 in both cohorts. Grade 3 to 4 neutropenia occurred in 33% and 38% of cycles in less heavily, and heavily pretreated patients, respectively. Grade 3 to 4 nonhematologic toxicities included nausea/vomiting (7% and 4% of cycles in less heavily, and heavily pretreated patients, respectively), asthenia (7% and 4% of cycles, respectively), and delayed diarrhea (6% and 2.5% of cycles, respectively). Four partial responses at 600 mg/m2 (high-grade glioma, neuroblastoma, medulloblastoma, and rhabdomyosarcoma) and 21 minor responses and stable diseases were observed. Pharmacokinetic analysis of CPT-11 and SN-38 was performed in 77 patients. The mean ± standard deviation (SD) CPT-11 plasma clearance was 20.7 ± 9.5 L/h/m2 (range, 5 to 54). The mean ± SD SN-38 metabolic ratio was 1.5% ± 1.1% (range, 0.15% to 5.55%).

Conclusion: The recommended phase II dose of CPT-11 in a 3-week schedule is 600 mg/m2 in less heavily, and heavily pretreated children with solid tumors.
Long-Term Psychological Impact of Carrying a BRCA1/2 Mutation and Prophylactic Surgery: A 5-Year Follow-Up Study
Authors: van Oostrom Iris , Meijers-Heijboer Hanne , Lodder Litanja N. , Duivenvoorden Hugo J. , van Gool Arthur R. , Seynaeve Caroline , van der Meer Conny A. , Klijn Jan G.M. , van Geel Bert N. , Burger Curt W. , Wladimiroff Juriy W. , Tibben Aad
Published: October 2003

Purpose: To explore long-term psychosocial consequences of carrying a BRCA1/2 mutation and to identify possible risk factors for long-term psychological distress.

Patients and Methods: Five years after genetic test disclosure, 65 female participants (23 carriers, 42 noncarriers) of our psychological follow-up study completed a questionnaire and 51 participants were interviewed. We assessed general and hereditary cancer-related distress, risk perception, openness to discuss the test result with relatives, body image and sexual functioning.

Results: Carriers did not differ from noncarriers on several distress measures and both groups showed a significant increase in anxiety and depression from 1 to 5 years follow-up. Carriers having undergone prophylactic surgery (21 of 23 carriers) had a less favorable body image than noncarriers and 70% reported changes in the sexual relationship. A major psychological benefit of prophylactic surgery was a reduction in the fear of developing cancer. Predictors of long-term distress were hereditary cancer-related distress at blood sampling, having young children, and having lost a relative to breast/ovarian cancer. Long-term distress was also associated with less open communication about the test result within the family, changes in relationships with relatives, doubting about the validity of the test result, and higher risk perception.

Conclusion: Our findings support the emerging consensus that genetic predisposition testing for BRCA1/2 does not pose major mental health risks, but our findings also show that the impact of prophylactic surgery on aspects such as body image and sexuality should not be underestimated, and that some women are at risk for high distress, and as a result, need more attentive care.
Energy budget of hepatocytes from Antarctic fish (Pachycara brachycephalumandLepidonotothen kempi) as a function of ambient CO2: pH-dependent limitations of cellular protein biosynthesis?
Authors: Langenbuch M. , Pörtner H. O.
Published: October 2003

Scenarios of rising CO2 concentration in surface waters due to atmospheric accumulation of anthropogenic CO2, or in the deep sea due to anticipated industrial dumping of CO2, suggest that hypercapnia (elevated partial pressure of CO2) will become a general stress factor in aquatic environments, with largely unknown effects on species survival and well being, especially in cold and deep waters. For an analysis of CO2 effects at the cellular level, isolated hepatocytes were prepared from two representatives of the Antarctic fish fauna, Pachycara brachycephalum and Lepidonotothen kempi. Correlated changes in energy and protein metabolism were investigated by determining the rates of oxygen consumption at various levels of PCO2, of intra- and extracellular pH, and after inhibition of protein synthesis by cycloheximide. A decrease in extracellular pH (pHe) from control levels (pHe 7.90) to pHe 6.50 caused a reduction in aerobic metabolic rate of 34-37% under both normocapnic and hypercapnic conditions. Concomitantly, protein biosynthesis was inhibited by about 80%under conditions of severe acidosis in hepatocytes from both species. A parallel drop in intracellular pH probably mediates this effect. In conclusion, the present data indicate that elevated PCO2 may limit the functional integrity of the liver due to a pronounced depression in protein anabolism. This process may contribute to the limits of whole-animal tolerance to raised CO2levels.
Effect of coronary perfusion on the basal performance, volume loading and oxygen consumption in the isolated resistance-headed heart of the troutOncorhynchus mykiss
Authors: Agnisola C. , Petersen L. , Mustafa T.
Published: October 2003

Basal performance, volume loading response and oxygen consumption were determined in a resistance-headed preparation of the isolated trout heart. Two groups of hearts were used: the +CF group, in which the coronary vascular tree was perfused with a flow directly related to the pressure generated by the heart, and the -CF group, in which the coronary flow was set to zero. As a criterion for setting basal performance, the atrial input pressure was set in order to induce the ventricle to produce a cardiac output of 15 ml min-1 kg-1. Once basal conditions were obtained, the preparation was perfused for 30 min, and atrial and aortic pressure, cardiac output, heart rate, coronary pressure and coronary flow were determined at 5 min intervals. At the onset of perfusion, there was no difference in the basal performance between the two groups: the same preload was necessary to get the same cardiac output in both perfusion groups. None of the other performance parameters determined were different. However, after only 5 min of perfusion,the -CF hearts displayed significant adjustments, with increased atrial preload and ventricular preload (mean atrial pressure), and a significant decrease in cardiac output. At the end of the 30 min basal perfusion period,hearts were challenged with a stepwise increase in preload in order to obtain maximal stroke work (volume loading). The effect of coronary perfusion on the heart's response to volume loading was highly significant: the stroke work-preload relationship was significantly shifted towards higher preload values in the -CF group. Also, the maximal work produced by the heart under the experimental conditions used was lower in the -CF group. Rate of oxygen consumption of the heart increased significantly with volume loading, from a basal value of approximately 20 μl O2 min-1g-1 to approx. 40 μl O2 min-1g-1, but was not significantly affected by the absence of coronary perfusion. Mechanical efficiency under basal conditions was approximately 17%,but was not affected by either volume loading or coronary perfusion. Taken as a whole, these data represent direct evidence of the effect of coronary perfusion on the mechanical performance of the trout heart, but also show that these effects are limited by significant self-adjustments that occur in the heart.
Chemosensory tuning to a host recognition cue in the facultative specialist larvae of the mothManduca sexta
Authors: del Campo Marta L. , Miles Carol I.
Published: October 2003

Larvae of Manduca sexta are facultative specialists on plants in the family Solanaceae. Larvae reared on solanaceous foliage develop a strong preference for their host; otherwise, they remain polyphagous. The host-specific recognition cue in potato foliage for Manduca larvae is the steroidal glycoside, indioside D. Two pairs of galeal taste sensilla, the lateral and medial sensilla styloconica, are both necessary and sufficient for the feeding preferences of host-restricted larvae. We conducted electrophysiological tip recordings from sensilla of solanaceous or wheat germ diet-reared larvae. For each animal, recordings of the responses to indioside D, glucose, tomatine and KCl were compared. All responses included both phasic and tonic portions. The sensilla styloconica of solanaceous-reared larvae were tuned to indioside D, defined as maintaining a high sensitivity to indioside D, while showing lower sensitivity to other plant compounds. Half of the sensillar neurons of solanaceous-reared larvae were `tuned' to indioside D,whereas those of wheat germ diet-reared larvae were not. The different responses between the two types of animals were a result of changes of individual receptor cells' responses in the sensilla. Feeding on solanaceous foliage therefore appears to result in a modification of the physiological responses of individual taste receptor cells that causes them to be tuned to the host-recognition cue indioside D. We propose that this tuning is the basis for the host-restricted larvae's strong behavioral preferences for solanaceous foliage.
Mechanosensory-induced behavioural gregarization in the desert locustSchistocerca gregaria
Authors: Rogers Stephen M. , Matheson Thomas , Despland Emma , Dodgson Timothy , Burrows Malcolm , Simpson Stephen J.
Published: October 2003

Desert locusts show an extreme form of phenotypic plasticity, changing between a cryptic solitarious phase and a swarming gregarious phase that differ in many aspects of behaviour, physiology and appearance. Solitarious locusts show rapid behavioural phase change in response to tactile stimulation directed to the hind femora. Repeatedly touching as little as one quarter of the anterior (outer) surface area of a hind femur produced full behavioural gregarization within 4 h. Solitarious locusts have approximately 30% more mechanosensory trichoid sensilla on the hind femora than do gregarious locusts but have similar or fewer numbers of sensilla elsewhere on the legs. Tactile stimulation of a hind femur in solitarious locusts that had been restrained so that they could not move their legs failed to induce any behavioural gregarization. Patterned electrical stimulation of metathoracic nerve 5, which innervates the hind leg, however, produced full gregarization in restrained locusts. Our data show for the first time that the gregarizing signal combines both exteroceptive and proprioceptive components, which travel in both nerves 5B1 and 5B2, and provides us with a powerful experimental method with which to elicit and study neuronal plasticity in this system. Acetic acid odour, a strong chemosensory stimulus that activates the same local processing pathways as exteroceptive stimuli, failed to elicit behavioural gregarization,suggesting an early segregation in the central nervous system of the mechanosensory signals that leads to gregarization.
The ontogenetic scaling of hydrodynamics and swimming performance in jellyfish (Aurelia aurita)
Authors: McHenry Matthew J. , Jed Jason
Published: October 2003

It is not well understood how ontogenetic changes in the motion and morphology of aquatic animals influence the performance of swimming. The goals of the present study were to understand how changes in size, shape and behavior affect the hydrodynamics of jet propulsion in the jellyfish Aurelia aurita and to explore how such changes affect the ontogenetic scaling of swimming speed and cost of transport. We measured the kinematics of jellyfish swimming from video recordings and simulated the hydrodynamics of swimming with two computational models that calculated thrust generation by paddle and jet mechanisms. Our results suggest that thrust is generated primarily by jetting and that there is negligible thrust generation by paddling. We examined how fluid forces scaled with body mass using the jet model. Despite an ontogenetic increase in the range of motion by the bell diameter and a decrease in the height-to-diameter ratio, we found that thrust and acceleration reaction scaled with body mass as predicted by kinematic similarity. However, jellyfish decreased their pulse frequency with growth,and speed consequently scaled at a lower exponential rate than predicted by kinematic similarity. Model simulations suggest that the allometric growth in Aurelia results in swimming that is slower, but more energetically economical, than isometric growth with a prolate bell shape. The decrease in pulse frequency over ontogeny allows large Aurelia medusae to avoid a high cost of transport but generates slower swimming than if they maintained a high pulse frequency. Our findings suggest that ontogenetic change in the height-to-diameter ratio and pulse frequency of Aurelia results in swimming that is relatively moderate in speed but is energetically economical.
Pressure and film thickness in a trochoidal hydrostatic gear pump
Authors: Paffoni B
Published: October 2003

In this paper, a vector analysis is used to describe precisely the geometry of a hydrostatic gear pump from which full general parametric equations are deduced. A detailed kinematic analysis is made and theoretical solutions for sliding and mean velocity are obtained. The solution of the statically indeterminate system of multiple contacts between teeth is obtained. From this result, a thorough analysis in terms of sliding and mean speed, input torque, pressure contact and elastohydrodynamic film thickness is presented.
Justice in higher education
Authors: Kupfer Antonia
Published: October 2003

English

Normative philosophical theories of justice can provide valuable solutions for problems of justice in higher education. In this article the author presents three categories of explanation for the under-representation of women students in sciences, mathematics and engineering, and of female professorships in every subject. Against the background of philosophical theories of justice, the arguments of natural difference, discrimination and selection process will be evaluated. This analysis leads to a practical model, which might serve to end injustice in higher education.
Health and employment: towards a New Deal
Authors: Easterlow Donna , Smith Susan J.
Published: October 2003

English

This article draws on lay perspectives to question some assumptions underpinning the government’s New Deal for people with long-term illness or disability in Britain. Tracing out the interaction between health and employment trajectories, interviewees challenge the idea that over-generous benefits pave the route to non-employment. They also question the emphasis on matching skills to jobs as a pathway back to work. People experiencing ill-health do not lack the incentive to work and they are likely to be forced, rather than lured, into pensions and onto benefits. The New Deal aims to enhance labour supply, but the problems people experience are more about the organisation of work and the limited demand for their skills.
Preventing disease or helping the struggle for emancipation: does professional public health have a future?
Authors: Connelly Jim , Emmel Nick
Published: October 2003

English

The professional practice of public health can be understood to derive from two contrasting models – one which emphasises epidemiology and evidence from randomised trials and sees effective preventive treatments and interventions as its major purpose, the other which derives its methods from critical social science and sees empowerment, materialist analysis, and emancipatory action as its main purpose. These two models are compared and contrasted, and a case for their synthesis is argued in the face of a misconceived redefinition of public health made recently by the UK Secretary of State for Health.
Tezosentan in the Treatment of Acute Heart Failure
Authors: Tovar John M , Gums John G
Published: October 2003

OBJECTIVE:

To evaluate the pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, clinical efficacy, and tolerability of tezosentan, a new intravenous endothelin (ET)-1 receptor antagonist.

DATA SOURCES:

Literature was identified through a MEDLINE search (1990–June 2003) using the search terms endothelin-1, heart failure, RITZ, and tezosentan. References listed in articles and abstracts from scientific meetings were also used.

STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION:

English-language literature reporting controlled animal and human clinical studies was reviewed to evaluate the pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, therapeutic use, and adverse effects of tezosentan. Clinical trials selected for inclusion were limited to those with human subjects and included data from animal studies if human data were not available.

DATA SYNTHESIS:

Tezosentan is a dual ET-1 receptor antagonist that has demonstrated efficacy in improving cardiac index and reducing pulmonary capillary wedge pressure in patients with acute, decompensated heart failure. Following infusion, tezosentan's plasma concentration approaches steady-state within the first 6 hours, with a relatively small volume of distribution (17 L) and clearance (39 L/h) that are dose independent. Tezosentan is excreted almost entirely unchanged via the bile (>95%), with the rest (<5%) excreted in the urine. Elimination can be explained by a biphasic profile that has a rapid elimination phase (half-life 6 min) followed by a slow phase (half-life 3 h) that accounts for distribution from tissues. The adverse event profile is significant for a higher incidence of headaches, nausea, and hypotension compared with placebo.

CONCLUSIONS:

Phase II and III clinical trials have rendered mixed results for the efficacy and tolerability of tezosentan. A dose optimization trial yet to be published and an ongoing Phase III registration study will provide valuable data regarding the efficacy and tolerability benefits, as well as the morbidity and mortality, of tezosentan. Until then, tezosentan's role in the treatment of patients with acute heart failure will remain unclear.
Mycophenolate Pharmacokinetics in Early Period Following Lung or Heart Transplantation
Authors: Ensom Mary HH , Partovi Nilufar , Decarie Diane , Ignaszewski Andrew P , Fradet Guy J , Levy Robert D
Published: October 2003

BACKGROUND:

The available pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic data on mycophenolic acid (MPA), the pharmacologically active metabolite of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), are derived largely from renal transplant patients, not thoracic transplant recipients.

OBJECTIVE:

To evaluate, in a pilot study, the pharmacokinetics of MPA at 3 different times in the early period (up to the first 9 mo) following lung or heart transplantation.

METHODS:

Nine patients were entered into this open-label study. Upon administration of a steady-state morning MMF dose, blood samples were collected at 0, 20, 40, 60, and 90 minutes and at 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 hours after the dose at 3 times (denoted as sampling periods 1, 2, and 3) in the early posttransplant period. Total MPA concentrations were measured by a validated HPLC method with ultraviolet detection and followed by ultrafiltration of pooled samples for unbound MPA concentrations. Pharmacokinetic parameters (maximal concentration [Cmax], dose-normalized Cmax, time to Cmax, minimum concentration, predose concentration, AUC, dose-normalized AUC, free fraction, free AUC) were calculated by traditional noncompartmental methods.

RESULTS:

Patient characteristics included 7 men and 2 women, 5 lung and 4 heart transplant recipients, mean ± SD age 53 ± 11 years, and weight 77 ± 14 kg. All patients were receiving prednisone and cyclosporine (with the exception of 2 pts. on tacrolimus during sampling periods 2 and 3). Sampling periods 1, 2, and 3 occurred on posttransplant days 15 ± 13, 56 ± 33, and 125 ± 73, respectively. No significant differences were found between sampling periods in any pharmacokinetic parameter. Drug exposure as evaluated by AUC was 39.95 ± 44.86, 25.24 ± 25.68, and 43.96 ± 38.67 μg•h/mL during sampling periods 1, 2, and 3, respectively, (p > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS:

As of September 26, 2003, this is the first study to systematically evaluate MPA pharmacokinetics in thoracic transplant recipients at 3 different time points during the early posttransplant period. Wide interpatient variability in MPA pharmacokinetics was observed, thus emphasizing the need to individualize dosing of MMF and to further evaluate important pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic parameters and endpoints that impact on clinical outcomes. Further studies involving more patients and pharmacodynamic outcomes are underway to help identify optimal MMF strategies.
Captive supplies and the spot market price of fed cattle: The plant‐level relationship
Authors: Schroeter John R. , Azzam Azzeddine
Published: October 2003

Numerous articles in the agricultural economics literature investigate the empirical relationship between the spot market price of fed cattle and the volume of packers' precommitted, or “captive,” supplies of cattle. In this article, we use an extensive data set on the cattle procurement activities of four large packing plants in the Texas Panhandle from early 1995 through mid‐1996 to examine this relationship at the plant‐level. We find evidence to support the hypothesis that plants that anticipate near‐term future deliveries of captive supply cattle that are high relative to their regional‐market rivals' degrees of reliance on captive supplies tend to pay spot market prices that are below average. The effect, while statistically significant, is relatively small in magnitude, however. [EconLit citations: Q130, L200] © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Agribusiness 19: 489–504, 2003.
Mean spillover effects in agricultural prices: The case of Greece
Authors: Apergis Nicholas , Rezitis Anthony
Published: October 2003

This article investigates the behavior of agricultural input prices, agricultural output prices, and retail food prices using the cointegration/error–correction methodology. The findings support “cost push” and “demand pull” theories, because disequilibrium at the input level is transmitted to the retail level, and vice versa, through the output level. The estimated error–correction coefficients and price responses indicate, first, imperfect price transmission among agricultural input, output, and retail food prices, and second, that agricultural output prices are more flexible than agricultural input and retail food prices. [EconLit citations: Q110; Q130]. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Agribusiness 19: 425–437, 2003.
Ocean liner shipping: Organizational and contractual response by agribusiness shippers to regulatory change
Authors: Stewart Hayden G. , Inaba Fred S.
Published: October 2003

The Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 1998 (OSRA) promotes changes in international ocean liner shipping. An important policy issue attendant to the passage of OSRA is the Act's likely impact on the international competitiveness of the sectors that depend upon ocean shipping. Thus, to establish how freight rates and other logistical costs of using ocean liner services are now determined, this study examines emerging methods of organization and contracting among exporters of food and forest products. We find that, although many shippers negotiate private contracts with carriers, many others utilize a third‐party agent to negotiate a rate with a carrier on their behalf. This article also identifies differences between two key types of third‐party agents. Finally, given that a shipper in this trade does not contract directly with a carrier, this article explains the shipper's conditional choice about which type of agent to use. [EconLit citations: L140, L980, Q130]. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Agribusiness 19: 459–472, 2003.
The reconfiguration of post‐Soviet food industries: Evidence from Ukraine and Moldova
Authors: Gorton Matthew , White John , Chernyshova Svetlana , Skripnik Alexander , Vinichenko Tatiana , Dumitrasco Mikhail , Soltan Galina
Published: October 2003

The 1990s witnessed widespread changes in the nature of food supply chain actors, government policies, and markets in the successor states of the Soviet Union. These changes have resulted in a more differentiated set of actors, but there is relatively little empirical knowledge on the reconfiguration of food processors and their relationships with agricultural processors. This article attempts to deal with this gap by researching structures and procurement relationships in the Ukraine and Moldova. Enterprise level survey data on the food‐processing sector in Moldova and the Ukraine reveals a diverse set of actors. Cluster analysis is employed to better characterize these different groups of processors. A three‐cluster solution is adopted, and the main characteristics, supply patterns, and dynamics of each cluster are further analyzed. [EconLit citations: L660, L100]. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Agribusiness 19: 409–424, 2003.
Neuzeitlicher Schadstofftrend: Polycylische aromatische Kohlenwasserstoffe (PAK) in aquatischen und terrestrischen Sedimenten
Authors: Hellmann Hubert
Published: October 2003

Die in aquatischen Sedimenten Deutschlands, Englands, Finnlands und der USA in kleineren, mittleren und sehr großen Binnenseen, in Ästuarien und in terrestrischen Sedimenten ermittelten Konzentrationen polycyclischer aromatischer Kohlenwasserstoffe (PAK) wurden in Form von 10 Trendkurven über den Zeitraum 1800 bis 1990 dargestellt. Die Segmente der Bohrkerne waren hinsichtlich der Deposition datiert. Zur Vereinheitlichung der Ergebnisse wird der Trend überwiegend des Leitparameters Fluoranthen abgebildet. Es zeigt sich bis ins 19. Jahrhundert ein überregional konstanter Background in Höhe von CFluo = 10…50 μg/kg. Danach folgt ein starker Konzentrationsanstieg, der bei den aquatischen Sedimenten im Zeitintervall 1940 bis 1965, bei im einzelnen sehr unterschiedlichen Fluoranthen‐Werten zwischen 90 μg/kg und 2400 μg/kg, ein Maximum erreicht. In mehreren Regionen folgte dem Maximum ein mehr oder weniger deutlicher Rückgang, der bei den untersuchten terrestrischen Sedimenten und einem Ästuar sowie in abgelegenen Waldseen Finnlands zu fehlen scheint. Die Trendkurven enthalten den atmosphärischen Eintrag der PAK über den Luftstaub und fallweise den Runoff über die Flüsse. Die Sedimentprofile spiegeln daher die Entwicklung der Luftverschmutzung mit pyrogenen Schadstoffen über mehr als ein Jahrhundert wider. In Flüssen können Sedimentprofile wegen unregelmäßiger und wenig repräsentativer Sedimentation nur sehr eingeschränkt genutzt werden.