bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Influence of adult attachment style on the perception of social and non-social emotional scenes
Authors: Vrtička Pascal , Sander David , Vuilleumier Patrik
Published: May 2012

Attachment theory describes how people emotionally bond with others, utilize their social interactions to regulate affective needs, and how they differ in their attachment style. However, it remains unknown whether anxious or avoidant attachment is linked to more general differences in emotional processing for negative and positive stimuli, and whether such differences depend on stimulus content. Here we tested how social or non-social positive or negative emotional scenes were rated for pleasantness, arousal, and control, as a function of individual attachment style, in a sample of 54 female participants. Our results show that avoidant attachment was associated with a selective reduction of pleasantness ratings for positive social images, whereas anxious attachment was associated with higher arousal and lower control ratings for negative social images, besides higher arousal ratings for all remaining stimulus categories. These findings reveal that adult attachment style is associated with differences in the perception of emotion-laden stimuli, even when unfamiliar and not directly attachment-related, and such differences may also affect positive scenes, particularly when they contain social information, rather than just socially negative or threatening information. In addition, our results support the notion that anxious attachment is not only associated with hyperactivating tendency during the appraisal of social threat, but may also involve an ambivalence influencing the judgments of both positive and negative information.
Distinguishing features in scoring L2 Chinese speaking performance: How do they work?
Authors: Jin Tan , Mak Barley
Published: May 2012

For Chinese as a second language (L2 Chinese), there has been little research into distinguishing features (Fulcher, 1996; Iwashita et al., 2008) used in scoring L2 Chinese speaking performance. The study reported here investigates the relationship between the distinguishing features of L2 Chinese spoken performances and the scores awarded by raters to the performances using holistic scoring. Seven distinguishing features – representing four major categories of Pronunciation, Fluency, Vocabulary and Grammar in the L2 Chinese speaking construct – were employed. An L2 Chinese speaking test was developed to assess the overall communicative ability in L2 spoken Chinese within an academic context. Speech samples of 66 candidates on the speaking test (i.e. 9 minutes’ speech length for each candidate) were analyzed in terms of the seven distinguishing features, with correlations and standard multiple regression being employed. Results showed that, first, each of the seven distinguishing features was significantly correlated to the scores, producing large or medium effect sizes; second, 79% and 77% of the variance in the scores could be explained by the distinguishing features (incorporating word tokens and word types respectively) in two regression analyses. The current study has established a link between distinguishing features and scores, contributing empirical evidence of candidate performance to the validation of assessing speaking proficiency in the L2 Chinese context.
The provision of human resources and employment advice to small and medium-sized enterprises: The role of small and medium-sized practices of accountants
Authors: Jarvis Robin , Rigby Mike
Published: May 2012

Small and medium-sized practices (SMPs) are often identified as a main provider of human resources and employment advice to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), but little is known about the nature of this involvement. This article explores this gap in knowledge. It examines the type of support provided and resources used by SMPs and how this support role sits alongside core SMP competencies. Nineteen interviews were carried out. The study found an emphasis upon employment procedures and contracts in the support given. The support offered and the resources used were related to the size of SMP. The trust established during the provision of traditional accountancy services was the main reason that SMEs approached their accountant in search of human resources and employment support. The article provides an important insight into understanding how SMEs are supported in this area and indicates several areas where further research is required.
Language switching and language competition
Authors: Macizo Pedro , Bajo Teresa , Paolieri Daniela
Published: May 2012

This study examined the asymmetrical language switching cost in a word reading task (Experiment 1) and in a categorization task (Experiment 2 and 3). In Experiment 1, Spanish–English bilinguals named words in first language (L1) and second language (L2) in a switching paradigm. They were slower to switch from their weaker L2 to their more dominant L1 than from L1 to L2. In Experiment 2 and 3, high vs. low English proficiency bilinguals decided whether a word visually presented in their L1 or L2 referred to an animate or to an inanimate entity. In this case, bilinguals did not show asymmetrical cost when they switched between languages. These results suggest that inhibitory processes in bilingual processing as indexed by the asymmetrical language switching cost are only observed when L1 and L2 lexical representations compete for selection (e.g. word naming task). In addition, L2 proficiency did not influence the absence of asymmetrical switching cost.
Non-native Japanese listeners’ perception of vowel length contrasts in Japanese and Modern Standard Arabic (MSA)
Authors: Tsukada Kimiko
Published: May 2012

This study aimed to compare the perception of short vs. long vowel contrasts in Japanese and Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) by four groups of listeners differing in their linguistic backgrounds: native Arabic (NA), native Japanese (NJ), non-native Japanese (NNJ) and Australian English (OZ) speakers. The NNJ and OZ groups shared the first language (L1), but differed in their familiarity with Japanese. In both Japanese and MSA, vowel length is phonemic. In contrast, vowel duration plays a more limited (although not insignificant) role in English. Of interest was the discrimination accuracy of NNJ listeners who learned Japanese as a second (L2) or foreign language in adulthood. As expected, the NA and NJ groups discriminated their L1 contrasts more accurately than all the other groups, but the NNJ listeners showed a significant shift in their perceptual behaviour and outperformed the OZ listeners who have no knowledge of Japanese in discriminating the Japanese vowel length contrasts. Furthermore, NNJ was the only group who did not differ in their discrimination accuracy for the Arabic and Japanese stimuli. Taken together, the results obtained in this study suggest that NNJ learned to discriminate Japanese vowel length contrasts to some extent, but the learning did not carry over cross-linguistically to the processing of vowel length contrasts in an unknown language.
Interpretation of Chinese overt and null embedded arguments by English-speaking learners
Authors: Zhao Lucy Xia
Published: May 2012

It has been proposed that external interfaces are vulnerable to residue optionality, whereas pure syntax and internal interfaces are acquirable in second language (L2) acquisition (Sorace, 2005, 2011; Sorace and Filiaci, 2006). The proposal was tested in this article through the interpretation of overt and null embedded arguments in L2 Chinese grammars. The article identifies two types of null elements in Chinese: Øziji and Øtopic. Øziji is a purely syntactic category, whereas Øtopic is a syntax–discourse interface category. Being a D-pronoun, ta ‘he/him’ can refer to either the matrix subject or a discourse entity in the embedded argument position. Its interpretation involves lexicon–syntax and syntax–semantics internal interfaces. Results from a picture judgment task showed that external interfaces were acquired as well as pure syntax and internal interfaces, which supports the claims of Ivanov, 2009; Iverson et al., 2008; Kraš, 2008; Rothman, 2007, 2009; Slabakova and Ivanov, 2011. In addition, Øtopic was acquired at different states in different sentence positions. This supports the claim that interface categories should not be considered holistically (Yuan, 2010). The article further speculates that cross-linguistic influence and the nature of the possible positive evidence may have contributed to the difference here in terms of representation and/or processing.
Grammatical gender in L2: A production or a real-time processing problem?
Authors: Grüter Theres , Lew-Williams Casey , Fernald Anne
Published: May 2012

Mastery of grammatical gender is difficult to achieve in a second language (L2). This study investigates whether persistent difficulty with grammatical gender often observed in the speech of otherwise highly proficient L2 learners is best characterized as a production-specific performance problem, or as difficulty with the retrieval of gender information in real-time language use. In an experimental design that crossed production/comprehension and online/offline tasks, highly proficient L2 learners of Spanish performed at ceiling in offline comprehension, showed errors in elicited production, and exhibited weaker use of gender cues in online processing of familiar (though not novel) nouns than native speakers. These findings suggest that persistent difficulty with grammatical gender may not be limited to the realm of language production, but could affect both expressive and receptive use of language in real time. We propose that the observed differences in performance between native and non-native speakers lie at the level of lexical representation of grammatical gender and arise from fundamental differences in how infants and adults approach word learning.
Spanish and English word-initial voiceless stop production in code-switched vs. monolingual structures
Authors: López Verónica González
Published: May 2012

The present study examines the production outcomes of late second language (L2) learners in order to determine if the mechanisms that allow the creation of phonetic categories remains available during the lifespan, as the Speech Language Model (SLM) claims. In addition, the study focuses on the type of interaction that exists between the first language (L1) and L2 phonological subsystems. Given the participants’ proficiency level, L1 influence on the L2 is expected, while a bidirectional L1–L2 interaction is unlikely. The main tool used to examine language interaction and category development is VOT (voice onset time) production in monolingual and code-switched (CS) sentences. Participants, then, serve as their own control against which production in CS sentences is compared. The results confirm the availability of L2 phonetic category formation for late L2 learners, while different patterns of L1–L2 uni- and bidirectional interaction indicate that different places of articulation may pose various levels of difficulty in terms of ease and pace of acquisition.
Establishment of an animal model of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in rabbits
Authors: Lu S , Pan S , Wang C , Hu K , Hong T
Published: May 2012

Objective:

This study was undertaken to establish an animal model of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in rabbits.

Methods:

Ten New Zealand white rabbits weighing 2573±330 g were used in this study. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation was established in these animals through cannulation of the right carotid artery and jugular vein for arterial perfusion and venous return. The components of the perfusion circuit were specially designed. Arterial blood pressure was measured with a blood pressure meter through cannulation of the right femoral artery. The heart rate and blood gas parameters were also monitored by electrocardiography and a blood gas analyzer (Radiometer ABL800, Bronshøj, Denmark), respectively.

Results:

The rabbit model of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation was established successfully. The hemodynamic and blood gas parameters were changed within an acceptable range during the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation process. The specially designed miniature membrane oxygenator was sufficient to meet the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation needs in this animal model.

Conclusion:

The rabbit model of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation established through right carotid artery and jugular vein cannulation is feasible, easily operated and economical. It is an ideal model for further research of the pathophysiology and organ protection offered through the application of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.
Accordion effect in a thin-strut coronary stent
Authors: Aung SM , Demir AS , Boztosun B
Published: May 2012

Longitudinal compression (accordion effect) of modern thinner-strut stents has been recently recognised. We report a typical case of longitudinal stent compression caused by a post-dilatation balloon.
Novel methods of myocardial protection and de-airing for complex descending aortic aneurysm surgery
Authors: White LY , Rowe A , Campbell J , Mitchell IM
Published: May 2012

A 64-year-old male who had previously undergone an aortic valve replacement and replacement of the ascending aorta presented with an 8 cm descending aortic aneurysm. A left thoracotomy was required to allow replacement of the aorta. However, due to longitudinal as well as transverse expansion, visualisation of the aortic arch was compromised, preventing cross-clamping of the proximal aorta. Cardiopulmonary bypass and deep hypothermic circulatory arrest were, therefore, required. An unusual method of cardioplegia delivery was used for myocardial protection, utilising a Foley catheter under direct vision as an alternative to more expensive percutaneous peripheral endoclamp devices. We also describe an unusual cardiopulmonary bypass circuit, with the dual use of a left atrial cannula for venting and also for re-establishing perfusion during de-airing.
Comparison of the effects of pulsatile cardiopulmonary bypass, non-pulsatile cardiopulmonary bypass and off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting on the respiratory system and serum carbonyl
Authors: Bayram H , Erer D , Iriz E , Zor M Hakan , Gulbahar O , Ozdogan ME
Published: May 2012

Background:

We aimed to investigate the effects of off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), pulsatile cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), and non-pulsatile CPB techniques on oxidative stress and the respiratory system in the current study.

Materials and Methods:

The patients were allocated into three different groups according to perfusion techniques, as follows: off-pump CABG group (n=10); pulsatile CPB (n=11); and non-pulsatile CPB group (n=11). Serum carbonyl level was measured and a pulmonary function test was performed preoperatively and postoperatively.

Results:

The postoperative increase in the carbonyl level was significantly lower in the off-pump CABG group compared to the other two groups, while there was no significant difference between the pulsatile and non-pulsatile CPB groups with respect to carbonyl levels. Arterial partial pressure of oxygen, forced expiratory volume in one second, and forced vital capacity were significantly higher in the off-pump CABG group compared to other two groups in the postoperative period.

Conclusion:

We found that off-pump CABG had less negative effects on oxidative stress and the respiratory system compared to pulsatile CPB and non-pulsatile CPB techniques. Additionally, there was no significant difference between pulsatile and non-pulsatile CPB.
The Influence of Time and Adaptation on Health State Valuations in Patients With Spinal Cord Injury
Authors: Edelaar-Peeters Yvette , Putter Hein , Snoek Govert J. , Sluis Tebbe A. R. , Smit Christof A. J. , Post Marcel W. M. , Stiggelbout Anne M.
Published: May 2012

Objectives: One of the explanations for the difference between health state utilities elicited from patients and the public—often provided but seldom studied—is adaptation. The influence of adaptation on utilities was investigated in patients with spinal cord injury. Methods: Interviews were held at 3 time points (T1, after admission to the rehabilitation center; T2, during active rehabilitation; T3, at least half a year after discharge). At T1, 60 patients were interviewed; 10 patients withdrew at T2 and T3. At all time points, patients were asked to value their own health and a health state description of rheumatoid arthritis on a time trade-off and a visual analogue scale. The Barthel Index, a measure of independence from help in activities of daily living, and the adjustment ladder were filled out. Main analyses were performed using mixed linear models taking the time-dependent covariates (Barthel Index and adjustment ladder) into account. Results: Time trade-off valuations for patients’ own health changed over time, even after correction for gain in independence from help in activities of daily living, F(2, 59) = 8.86, P < 0.001. This change was related to overall adaptation. Both a main effect for adaptation, F(87, 1) = 10.05; P = 0.002, and an interaction effect between adaptation and time, F(41, 1)= 4.10, P = 0.024, were seen for time trade-off valuations. Valuations given for one’s own health on the visual analogue scale did not significantly change over time, nor did the valuations for the hypothetical health state. Conclusion: Patients’ health state valuations change over time, over and above the change expected by the rehabilitation process, and this change is partly explained by adaptation. Experience with a chronic illness did not lead to change in valuations of hypothetical health states.
Information Distortion in Physicians’ Diagnostic Judgments
Authors: Kostopoulou Olga , Russo J. Edward , Keenan Greg , Delaney Brendan C. , Douiri Abdel
Published: May 2012

Background: Information distortion suggests that people change the evaluation of new information to support an emerging belief. The present study was designed to measure the extent to which physicians distort incoming medical information to support an emerging diagnosis. Design: Data were collected via an anonymous questionnaire. The experimental group (102 physicians) read 3 patient scenarios, each with 2 competing diagnoses. Physicians first read information that favored 1 of the 2 diagnoses (the “steer”). They then rated a series of neutral cues that favored neither diagnosis. At each cue presentation, respondents rated the extent to which cues favored either diagnosis and updated the strength of their diagnostic belief. After the neutral cues in the third scenario, respondents rated cues that opposed the initial steer. A control group (36 physicians) rated all the cues in random order and not within scenarios, thus providing unbiased baseline ratings for calculating distortion in the experimental group. Results: Distortion was statistically significant ( P < 0.001) and was associated with the strength of belief in the leading diagnosis. Physicians with over 10 years in practice distorted less than their less experienced counterparts ([Formula: see text] = 1.04 v. [Formula: see text] = 1.78, P < 0.05). Having developed an initial diagnostic leaning consistent with the steer, 56% of physicians remained committed to it after receiving the conflicting cues. Distortion was strongly associated with commitment to the steer (odds ratio, 1.4; 95% confidence interval, 1.03–1.79; P = 0.03). Limitations: Physicians did not elicit information; therefore, the authors cannot estimate the size of distortion in tasks involving information search. Conclusions: Distortion could partly explain commitment of physicians to an early diagnosis. Both distortion and strength of initial diagnostic belief seem to decline after 10 years in family medicine.
Cooperative Security: Grand Strategy Meets Critical Theory?
Authors: Payne Rodger A.
Published: May 2012

Major powers are frequently urged to embrace grand strategies tied to particular International Relations theories. In the case of United States foreign policy, scholars generally analyse a well-known set of strategic choices – primacy, selective engagement, offshore balancing, collective security and cooperative security – favoured by relatively mainstream realist and liberal thinkers in International Relations. This article explores the evolution of cooperative security as an idea from its clear ties to liberal and neoliberal international relations theory to its current understanding in world politics, which is surprisingly consistent with many emancipatory ideals of critical International Relations theory. Cooperative security no longer merely implies multilateralism, negotiation and arms control. Rather, security is now more frequently described as indivisible, and genuine cooperation is said to require shared decision-making and consensual practices. Non-governmental organisations are more and more granted a voice in security discussions, as are international institutions. While weapons and warfare remain important security concerns, the cooperative security agenda today includes ideas associated with human security, including environmental calamity, global inequality and hunger.
International Relations, Irrelevant? Don’t Blame Theory
Authors: Reus-Smit Christian
Published: May 2012

It is now commonplace to bemoan our field’s lack of practical relevance, and to blame this sorry situation on our penchant for ever-more abstract theorising over the analysis of real-world phenomena. This article challenges this rendition of the problem. Not only is the theory versus relevance thesis difficult to sustain empirically, there are good reasons to believe that even the most abstract forms of metatheory are relevant to sound practical knowledge. More than this, though, the theory versus relevance thesis misconstrues the problem. The obstacle to practical relevance is not theoretical abstraction, but a series of other disciplinary problems: our lack of any real interest in the nature of politics as a distinctive form of human action (which so animated early scholars in the field); the loss of the field’s early practical intent; the sadly too common bifurcation of explanatory and normative inquiry; and the disappearance of the figure of the international public intellectual.
‘The World Is Too Much with Us’: Reification and the Depoliticising of Via Media Constructivist IR
Authors: Barder Alexander D. , Levine Daniel J.
Published: May 2012

International Relations’ constructivist turn – that body of approaches emerging in the late 1980s/early 1990s in which international outcomes were held to be predicated upon complex social arrangements, rules, norms, institutions, language and culture – emerged from a unique historical and intellectual moment. Initially, this theoretical turn was deeply committed to reflexivity and circumspection: since events were held to be contingent and theorists were bound up in them, the obligation to sustained critical self-reflection was central to the project. That commitment would not last, however. By the mid-1990s, it had given way to a ‘middle ground’ (or via media) position, which aligned itself with dominant materialist and rationalist methodologies and epistemologies. We wish to examine that moment of realignment: how it happened, and what it might mean. We argue that having imbibed a degree of the free-floating optimism that was ‘in the air’ in the 1990s, via media constructivism’s leading scholars came to believe that it was no longer necessary to problematise the historicity and contingency of their own historical moment and philosophical horizons. The post-Cold War ‘world’, we hold – or, at any rate, one account of it – was ‘too much with’ via media constructivism: selectively constraining its reflexive impulses and critical tools in ways that, however unintentionally, provided cover for particular normative and ideological configurations. To move past this, we argue that via media constructivists need a sustainably critical ethos: one which ‘repoliticises’ international theory by unmasking its hidden ideological and political starting points.
War Experiences/War Practices/War Theory
Authors: Sylvester Christine
Published: May 2012

This article challenges International Relations to turn its view of war around and start not with states, militaries, strategies, conventional security issues or weapons, and not with the common main aim of establishing causes of war. The challenge is to conceptualise war as a subset of social relations of experience, on the grounds that war cannot be fully apprehended unless it is studied up from people who experience it in myriad ways and not only down from abstract places of International Relations theory. To study war as experience requires that the body come into focus as a unit that has war agency and is also a prime target of war violence. It also requires exploration of the concept of experience. Using an exemplary texts approach, the article briefly reminds us where the field is in its war concerns, before noting work on contemporary wars conducted under the flag of feminist International Relations, where experience and bodies have always been front and centre, and where a social war studies emphasis is developing. The discussion then raises definitional complexities that must be addressed and suggests areas where various International Relations traditions could collaborate with feminist International Relations and fields like anthropology to study the social relations of war.
IR Theory as International Practice/Agency: A Clinical-Cynical Bourdieusian Perspective
Authors: Hamati-Ataya Inanna
Published: May 2012

Adopting a reflexive, praxeological understanding of science that rejects the objectivist epistemic antinomy of theory and practice, this article offers two complementary Bourdieusian readings of International Relations theory that specifically aim to conceptualise the structural position of ‘periphery’ scholars, as well as their extant and potential ‘space of possibilities’ in the discipline. Grounded in a sociological appraisal of International Relations, the ‘clinical’ approach objectivates International Relations as a field of international practice wherein the production of theoretical knowledge results from the meeting of different socio-academic habitus and their associated positions with the objective structures of International Relations and the international system. It highlights the relation between International Relations theory and the structural (dis)positions of its authors, the conditions that allow some theories to be objectively possible, meaningful, structuring representations of the world, and the structural constraints imposed on International Relations theorists. The ‘cynical’ approach suggests how a ‘clinical’ understanding of International Relations can help marginalised, ‘periphery’ scholars make sense of their ‘space of possibilities’ within the discipline, and develop a praxeological, reflexive attitude that could turn them into efficient international agents capable of promoting different scholarly perspectives. More specifically, the article argues that their non-native habitus is a potentially subversive capital – and hence a potential agency of structural change.
European Foreign Policy Research Reconsidered: Constructing an ‘Ideal Power Europe’ through Theory?
Authors: Cebeci Münevver
Published: May 2012

This article attempts to criticise European foreign policy research from within, portraying how some of its scripts are privileged and how they construct an ‘ideal power Europe’ meta-narrative. It argues that European foreign policy researchers engage in such construction through, firstly, assuming that the EU is post-sovereign/post-modern; secondly, naming the EU as a model; and, finally, conceptualising the Union as a normative power. The article scrutinises European foreign policy research through a deconstruction of its texts and displays how certain knowledge about the EU and European foreign policy is produced and reproduced. It further reveals how the ‘ideal power Europe’ meta-narrative contributes to the dominative dimension of European foreign policy.
Financial Crisis, Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy in the Production of Knowledge about the EU
Authors: Ryner Magnus
Published: May 2012

Although the financial/Eurozone crisis has profound effects on the EU, European integration scholarship failed to even recognise that there might be a problem. This article argues that this is due to the highly orthodox nature of European integration scholarship and the blind-spots that inhere in its instrumentalist basic code. It makes the case for a heterodox recasting of the production of knowledge about the EU, and argues that post-Keynesian, post-Marxist and neo-Weberian political economy can make significant contributions in that regard.
Towards a Radical Concept of Praxis: Imperial ‘common sense’ Versus the Post-modern Prince
Authors: Gill Stephen
Published: May 2012

This article argues for a radical conception of praxis in international relations. By praxis is meant those forms of critical theoretical and practical activity that are not only linked to understanding, explaining and acting in international relations but also transforming those relations to help constitute a more ethical, just and sustainable world order. The argument is developed as follows: (1) discussion of theoretical perspectives, and how they constitute dominant paradigms of International Relations in the West, particularly in the USA. Such dominant paradigms are shaped by a liberal ontology, opposed to Marxism and critical theory. (2) A critique of ‘imperial common sense’ that is bound up with US supremacy in an unjust world of deepening crises, growing inequality, social dislocations and unsustainable accumulation. Here my argument involves a dialectical strategy that critically addresses the nature, self-evidence and global influence of mainstream American International Relations. (3) A discussion of how new forms of praxis are emerging, seeking to develop radical alternatives that are sober, imaginative, sustainable and politically and ethically credible – in the multiple, diverse and new forms of political agency reflected in the figure of the ‘post-modern Prince’. The article concludes by outlining elements of a radical research agenda to address significant intellectual, ethical and public policy issues in the emerging world order.
Measuring Treatment Motivation in Secure Juvenile Facilities
Authors: Van der Helm G. H. P. , Wissink I. B. , De Jongh T. , Stams G. J. J. M.
Published: May 2012

The present study examined the validity and reliability of the Adolescent Treatment Motivation Questionnaire (ATMQ) in a sample of 264 adolescents in Dutch secure juvenile facilities. Confirmatory factor analysis of a single-factor model of “treatment motivation” showed a close fit to the data, indicating construct validity of the ATMQ. Concurrent validity was supported by significant relations between treatment motivation and living group climate. Internal consistency reliability in terms of Cronbach’s alpha was good (.84). The ATMQ proved to be insensitive to the tendency to provide socially acceptable or desirable answers, which supports discriminant validity, and was unrelated to sex, age, and self-reported aggression of the adolescents. The ATMQ is a parsimonious instrument (11 items) enabling future research on treatment motivation in secure juvenile facilities.
The Role of Trait Anxiety in Reducing the Relationship Between Childhood Exposure to Violence/Victimization and Subsequent Violent Behavior Among Male Delinquent Youth
Authors: Jencks Jennifer W. , Burton David L.
Published: May 2012

In this project, the authors examined the relationship trait anxiety has on incarcerated male adolescents’ progression from childhood exposure to violence/victimization to violent behavior. Self-report survey data were analyzed to determine the youth’s levels of trait anxiety, how the degree of childhood trauma was related to their level of anxiety, as well as whether their level of anxiety affected the relationship between trauma and subsequent frequency and severity of their delinquent acts using a moderation analysis. Anxiety significantly decreased the relationship between victimization and the commission of violence ( F = 15.93, p < .001).
Hydroclimatology of the US Intermountain West
Authors: Wise Erika K.
Published: May 2012

The semi-arid US Intermountain West is characterized by complex hydroclimatic variability, influenced both by topography and by atmosphere and ocean processes operating over a large range of time and space scales. Understanding climate–hydrology interactions has become increasingly important as demands on water resources grow from both within and beyond the region, particularly in light of projected climate changes. This paper reviews key atmospheric and oceanic controls that impact the Intermountain West’s water supply, how those controls vary over multiple timescales, the tree-ring record of hydroclimatic variability in the region, projected climate change impacts, and research needs for the future. Water availability in the Intermountain West is largely influenced by interrelated atmospheric features that include the strength and position of the Pacific subtropical high, the intensity and geographic location of the Aleutian low, the latitude of the westerly storm track, and teleconnections such as the Pacific North American pattern and the El Niño−Southern Oscillation system. The tree-ring record of pre-instrumental conditions in the Intermountain West indicates that there have been droughts in the past that were more severe than those experienced in the historical record. Climate model projections of future moisture-related changes, including decreased snowpack and changing seasonality of precipitation, may exacerbate strain on the region’s water supply. Advances in climate modeling and in our understanding of climate variability over multiple time and space scales would improve capacity for water resource management in the Intermountain West.
Reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome induced by adrenaline
Authors: Palma Jose-Alberto , Fontes-Villalba Ariadna , Irimia Pablo , Garcia-Eulate Reyes , Martinez-Vila Eduardo
Published: May 2012

Introduction: Reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome (RCVS) is characterized by acute severe thunderclap headaches and evidence of multifocal, segmental, reversible vasoconstrictions of the cerebral arteries. Several precipitating factors have been identified and reported, including the use of recreational substances or sympathomimetic drugs and the postpartum state.

Case description: Here we present the case of a woman who developed RCVS after the administration of adrenaline (epinephrine) in the setting of an anaphylactic reaction during antibiotic allergy testing.

Discussion: To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of RCVS following the administration of exogenous adrenaline. This case contributes to the understanding of the physiopathological mechanisms underlying reversible cerebral vasoconstriction.
Asset Ownership and Egalitarian Decision Making in Dual-headed Households in Ecuador
Authors: Deere Carmen Diana , Twyman Jennifer
Published: May 2012

Most studies of household decision making focus on the factors associated with women’s ability to make decisions autonomously. This paper is concerned with egalitarian decision making, defined as where both men and women consider that they themselves make decisions jointly, and where they agree that their spouses participate in decisions in a similar fashion. We offer evidence that in Ecuador women’s command over resources is associated with egalitarian decision making among couples. Women’s share of couples’ wealth is positively and significantly associated with the likelihood of joint decision making regarding their decision to work and to spend income.

JEL classification: J16; D13; D31; 054
The Growth Imperative
Authors: Hahnel Robin
Published: May 2012

There are compelling reasons to believe there is an unhealthy growth imperative inherent in private enterprise market systems that threatens the environment. Unfortunately, many who criticize a dysfunctional growth imperative fail to make a compelling case. This article argues that too often ecological and Marxist economists fail to answer crucial parts of skeptics’ arguments and instead assume their conclusions, and offers an alternative defense of the unhealthy growth imperative hypothesis based on perverse incentives, institutional biases, and endogenous preference formation.

JEL codes: 044, 030, 013
Is There a Tendency for the Rate of Profit to Fall? Econometric Evidence for the U.S. Economy, 1948-2007
Authors: Basu Deepankar , Manolakos Panayiotis T.
Published: May 2012

The law of the tendential fall in the rate of profit has been at the center of theoretical and empirical debates within Marxian political economy since the publication of volume III of Capital. An important limitation of this literature is the relative paucity of modern econometric investigations of the behavior of the rate of profit. The central objective of this paper is to remedy this lacuna. We investigate the properties of the profit rate series utilizing the methods of time series econometrics. The evidence suggests that the rate of profit is non-stationary. We also specify a test of Marx’s law of the tendential fall in the rate of profit with a novel econometric model that explicitly accounts for the counter-tendencies and their time series properties. We find weak evidence of a long-run downward trend in the general profit rate for the U.S. economy for the period 1948-2007.

JEL Codes: B51, C22, E11.
Ethos and symbolic violence among women of science: An empirical study
Authors: Cerroni Andrea , Simonella Zenia
Published: May 2012

While scientific challenges raise relevant debates about the ethics of science, the scientific ethos, shattered by post-Mertonian studies, has received neither due attention nor further conceptualizations in view of the transition to knowledge society. On the contrary, in our investigation of Italian women scientists, it appears to have survived as a reference for scientists, even if the context has changed. Indeed, the ethos of scientists is no longer conceivable as exclusive, but is instead seen as open and dynamic in interaction with other symbolic references. Therefore, instead of scientific ethos, it is preferable to speak of scientific habit, including the individual symbolic universe and the social practices linked to the scientific role. In so doing, other habits come into focus and interact. In particular, we investigated the interaction between the scientific habit and the gender habit. We argue for a conflict between two such habits and for the existence of a symbolic violence suffered by women scientists. Lastly, a new dimension of the scientific ethos is defined which is not included in the Mertonian definition: a scientific responsibility among scientists in society. Such a picture could shape a new perspective of re-gendering science in society from the standpoint of women’s experience as scientists in the knowledge society.
Concepts and measurement: Ontology and epistemology
Authors: Goertz Gary , Mahoney James
Published: May 2012

This article discusses some ontological and epistemological differences in qualitative and quantitative approaches to concepts and measurement. Concept formation inevitably raises the issue of ontology because it involves specifying what is inherent and important in the empirical phenomenon represented by a concept, e.g. ‘What is democracy?’ Qualitative researchers adopt a semantic approach and work hard to identify the intrinsic necessary defining attributes of a concept. Quantitative scholars adopt an indicator-latent variable approach and seek to identify good indicators that are caused by the latent variable. Concepts and measurement also raise epistemological issues about the nature and quality of knowledge. In quantitative analyses, the challenges of knowledge generation are closely linked to ‘error’, understood as the difference between an estimated value and a true value. By contrast, in qualitative analyses the challenges of knowledge generation are more closely linked to ‘fuzziness’, understood as partial membership in a conceptual set.
Qu’est-ce que le corporatisme? Conceptualisation et opérationnalisation du méso-corporatisme
Authors: Benoit Maude
Published: May 2012

The ambiguity of concepts is a constant obstacle faced by political scientists. Some of the most popular concepts are characterized by their imprecision and their use in very different contexts of study. This article analyses one of these equivocal notions: corporatism. Following Goertz ( Social Science Concepts: A User’s Guide), a conceptualization of meso-corporatism is constructed and operationalized through the case of agriculture in Quebec, Canada. This exercise highlights the theoretical, empirical and comparative contributions of conceptual analysis to scientific inquiry.
‘Legalization’ in international relations: A conceptual analysis
Authors: Bélanger Louis , Fontaine-Skronski Kim
Published: May 2012

In 2000, International Organization published a special issue on the theme of ‘legalization in world politics’ which laid the foundation for a very influential research programme on international cooperation and the role of institutions in international affairs. The most enduring legacy of the special issue is the operationalization of the concept of ‘legalization’ itself, which is defined as a combination of three dimensions: obligation, precision and delegation. After deconstructing the initial concept, this research presents a systematic evaluation of the concept of legalization, taking stock of a decade-long history of empirical use. It then proposes a new concept structure by questioning the levels of substitutability and independence originally assigned to each of the three initial dimensions.
Méthodologie d’analyse conceptuelle appliquée: Comment définir le concept de ‘partenariat public–privé’ dans une perspective juridique et transdisciplinaire?
Authors: McCann Julie , Thiboutot Martin
Published: May 2012

The increasing use of public–private partnerships (PPP) as a means of delivering public services or constructing public infrastructures draws growing interest in the legal community. The ambiguity and lack of consensus surrounding the content of PPP as a concept, leads the researcher to refer to various disciplinary sources. Widely encouraged in law, transdisciplinarity often suffers methodological insufficiencies when comes the time to define transdisciplinary concepts. The authors revisit the interpretation methods developed by the courts, and propose a complementary conceptual analysis framework. The developed framework is then applied to the emerging concept of public–private partnership, as it is used and defined in various disciplines. The paper demonstrates the feasibility and desirability to provide a transdisciplinary perspective to legal concepts.
Medical waste management at the Oncology Institute of Vojvodina: possibilities of successful implementation of medical waste regulation in Serbia
Authors: Gavrancic Tatjana , Simic Aleksandar , Gavrancic Brane
Published: May 2012

Implementation of National waste management strategy, which included most of Healthcare facilities (HCF) in Serbia, began in 2009. The present study aimed to evaluate the medical waste management strategy protocol at Oncology Institute of Vojvodina, which is the first institution in Vojvodina and one of the first institutions in Serbia which has implemented the recomended medical waste management protocol. Segregation, storage, transportation and treatment were all evaluated and that was all performed according to National strategy. Biohazard generation rate was 0,17 kg/bed/day, which correspods with values in the HCF in Eastern Europe. The results show that the methods for safe management of medical waste are acceptable, affordable, and economically justifable to accomplish the reduction in the financial costs in HCF business, and can serve as representative of proper medical waste management practice for other HCF.
Impact on carbon footprint: a life cycle assessment of disposable versus reusable sharps containers in a large US hospital
Authors: Grimmond Terry , Reiner Sandra
Published: May 2012

Hospitals are striving to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Targeting supply chain points and replacing disposable with reusable items are among recommendations to achieve this. Annually, US hospitals use 35 million disposable (DSC) or reusable sharps containers (RSC) generating GHG in their manufacture, use, and disposal. Using a life cycle assessment we assessed the global warming potential (GWP) of both systems at a large US hospital which replaced DSC with RSC. GHG emissions (CO2, CH4, N2O) were calculated in metric tons of CO2 equivalents (MTCO2eq). Primary energy input data was used wherever possible and region-specific conversions used to calculate the GWP of each activity. Unit process GHGs were collated into manufacture, transport, washing, and treatment and disposal. The DSC were not recycled nor had recycled content. Chemotherapy DSC were used in both systems. Emission totals were workload-normalized per 100 occupied beds-yr and rate ratio analyzed using Fisher’s test with P ≤0.05 and 95% confidence level. With RSC, the hospital reduced its annual GWP by 127 MTCO2eq (-83.5%) and diverted 30.9 tons of plastic and 5.0 tons of cardboard from landfill. Using RSC reduced the number of containers manufactured from 34,396 DSC annually to 1844 RSC in year one only. The study indicates sharps containment GWP in US hospitals totals 100,000 MTCO2eq and if RSC were used nationally the figure could fall by 64,000 MTCO2eq which, whilst only a fraction of total hospital GWP, is a positive, sustainable step.
Dripping behavior of burning polymers under UL94 vertical test conditions
Authors: Wang Yong , Jow Jinder , Su Kenny , Zhang Jun
Published: May 2012

This article studied the dripping behavior of eight polymers under UL94 vertical test conditions. The results suggested two different dripping behaviors: Type I, dripping with uniform- and small-sized drops with the short first dripping time, and Type II, dripping with irregular- and large-sized drops with the long first dripping time. Polymers of Type I dripping had dominant decomposition mechanism of random-chain scission, low activation energy of viscous flow, and high ratio of effective heat of combustion to heat of gasification. Otherwise, Type II dripping dominates. The surface tension at ambient temperature and the melt flow index at processing temperatures were not as important to dripping as expected. It was found that talc could convert the dripping of low-density polyethylene from Type I to Type II at a critical talc loading level of 20 wt%, which was ascribed to the reduction in the burning rate and the formation of an integral residue. Finally, a generalized model was presented, and a derived correlation showed that the drop mass was a power law function of the dripping time.