bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
“NON SI COLTIVA MAI UN FIORE SENZA PROVOCARE NEL CONTEMPO UN SOGNO.” GENEALOGIE MATRILINEARI DI SCRITTRICI ITALO AMERICANE
Authors: Ranghetti Clara
Published: March 2013

“Nello scrivere”, dice Helen Barolini, “io ri-creo il mio mondo e consegno a me stessa la mia storia”. Questo contributo, in effetti, si pone in ascolto di voci italo americane femminili che mentre scrivono si rigenerano, che attraverso la pagina scritta reclamano genealogie matrilineari e, fiere e caparbie, si riscattano, nelle opere come nella vita, imparando chi sono. Sono testimonianze preziose di nonne e bisnonne, di madri, figlie e nipoti, che in tempi e modi diversi hanno saputo dare spazio ai propri ricordi e al proprio sincero attaccamento di emigrate alla patria lasciata alle spalle in un percorso circolare che le ha unite di generazione in generazione riavviando il ciclo dell'esistenza attraverso lo snodo di memorie familiari ed etniche — insieme alla donna-tartaruga di Barolini è proprio il Cereus di Mary Cappello che sboccia in piena notte ad esprimere al meglio questo concetto: solo chi conosce e accetta il proprio passato può avere un futuro. E lo sanno bene, queste donne, che se il passato è per molti versi inquietante, il presente deve essere comunque vissuto con profonda e consapevole partecipazione. Ecco allora che i percorsi di recupero, i passaggi dolorosi, le prove durissime, e talvolta anche il peso dell'incomunicabilità delle proprie esperienze sono spesso raccontati in prima persona: impliciti i temi dell'introspezione, della discesa/ascesa, dei conflitti e dei confini interiori, fino al rifiuto del mondo patriarcale. Le autrici prendono audacemente la parola e si interrogano senza sconti nè finzioni, sebbene nel loro essere radicate in una memoria culturale viva e sentita, si ritrovino purtuttavia necessariamente, criticamente distanziate. Sì, perché solo così possono compiere, senza sensazionalismi nè protagonismi, un coraggioso processo di maturazione, tentare quindi una propria autorappresentazione, volare infine verso una conquistata autonomia che consenta di lanciare provocatorie interpretazioni di ruolo, alla ricerca, appunto, di una soggettività autentica. E questo risulta essere non solo il più grande valore di questi scritti, ma anche, come spiega Louise DeSalvo, “il più importante progetto emotivo, psicologico, artistico e politico del nostro tempo”.
The Sound of Silence: How Memory Becomes Text in TINA DE ROSA'S Paper Fish
Authors: CarriÈre Melody Boyd
Published: March 2013

Many Italian American women have emphasized the need to break the silence which envelopes their culture by writing about their experiences, thus making themselves heard within the American literary canon. Tina De Rosa's beautiful and complex novel Paper Fish demonstrates the pain of this silence by focusing on an Italian American family that is suffering within a society that views them as “Other.” Carmolina is the girl at the center of the novel, and the relationship she has with her Italian grandmother allows her to achieve independence as a young woman without sacrificing the culture of the past. The following essay examines how the Italian American tradition is preserved through memory and then committed to text through Carmolina's character in Paper Fish. As a third generation Italian American, Carmolina struggles to develop a solid sense of identity despite inhabiting an “in-between space,” a situation that causes anxiety for many children of immigrants because they are part of two different cultures but do not fully belong to either one. In exploring this delicate balance this essay concludes Carmolina achieves a stronger sense of identity not only by learning of her Italian culture but also by inhabiting an authorial role and therefore her memories which are put to text ensures that the immigrant's struggle is not forgotten.
I GIOCHI DELLA MEMORIA SECONDO SANDRA PETRIGNANI
Authors: Parmeggiani Francesca
Published: March 2013

I giocattoli hanno un posto importante nell'opera di Sandra Petrignani: sempre associati ai meccanismi e ai contenuti della memoria, sono protagonisti di un originale e piacevolissimo libretto, Il catalogo dei giocattoli (1988), ma sono anche presenze ricorrenti e complesse nei racconti e romanzi successivi. Sono sí oggetti che mani bambine hanno toccato, usato e trasformato per il proprio piacere ma sono anche veicoli o catalizzatori di esperienze appartenenti a diversi livelli temporali. Per questa ragione Il catalogo dei giocattoli non è un semplice esercizio della memoria che recupera e fissa per sempre l'infanzia felice, né un antidoto alla malinconia del tempo che passa; in esso infatti la scrittrice rivela il potenziale di dolore e di condizionamenti psicologici, comportamentali, sociali e culturali che l'infanzia racchiude. L'analisi di questo testo in relazione ad altre storie e romanzi dell'autrice offre lo spunto per alcune considerazioni sui modi in cui Petrignani svolge la sua scrittura, esperienza che recupera e riattiva il vissuto, per lo più problematico e doloroso piuttosto che gioioso o piacevole, per affrontare il presente.
AMELIA ROSSELLI DOPO LE VARIAZIONI: ANALISI E APPUNTI DI METODO
Authors: Casadei Alberto
Published: March 2013

L'opera di Amelia Rosselli è stata sinora esaminata soprattutto con strumenti linguistici o psicanalitici. Proseguendo alcune sue ricerche, l'autore propone qui una chiave di lettura legata invece alla nuova Cognitive poetics e a una rinnovata analisi stilistica. I singoli tratti ‘marcati’ vengono inquadrati in alcune tendenze più generali, per esempio quelle che portano Amelia Rosselli a distruggere le normali convenzioni spaziotemporali per riconfigurare suoi propri spazi e tempi vitali.

Il confronto con alcune teorie delle neuroscienze non mira quindi a cancellare la specificità poetica, bensì ad aumentare la conoscenza degli ambiti sinora meno sondati della creatività e dell'ispirazione. La nozione di stile può assumere valenze inedite ed essere sondata anche in ambiti lirici decisamente oscuri o apparentemente fuori da ogni regola. Si aprono così prospettive interessanti per ripensare alla nostra stessa concezione del genere lirico.
Vision, Metaphor and the Metaphysical Horizons of Twentieth-Century Hermeticism
Authors: Berberi Viktor
Published: March 2013

This essay represents an attempt to clarify the nature of hermetic metaphor by looking to those moments in the poems of the terza generazione (Piero Bigongiari, Alfonso Gatto, Mario Luzi, and Alessandro Parronchi, among others) that dramatize the work of metaphor itself. Rarely if ever addressed by scholars of hermeticism, these reflexive moments not only shed light on the understanding of the work of metaphor among hermetic poets, but also suggest that we reconsider certain critical assumptions regarding their poetic project. After a discussion of the problem of metaphor and its relationship to metaphysics, I consider specific poems that demonstrate an attitude toward figuration—in broad terms, an impulse to resist “metaphoric fullness” and a consistent skepticism with regard to the ability of figuration to provide transcendence—that, together with a number of other qualities, justifies our speaking of the category of Italian hermeticism.
The Soul of a Stranger: Italy, America, and Italian American Protestants
Authors: Barone Dnnis
Published: March 2013

This essay discusses the complex history of Italian American Protestants, especially during the peak years of immigration. Through the use of a wide variety of sources including spiritual autobiographies, archival material, and Italian American fiction, I argue that Protestantism became a means to negotiate old world and new world ways more than it resulted in the double alienation of rejection by Catholic immigrants and condescension by Anglo-Protestants. Italian American Protestants retained a sense of Italianita at the same time that they became American.
Henry VII and Dante's Dream of a New Golden Age
Authors: Russo Florence
Published: March 2013

Dante's Divine Comedy is an attempt to restore a wayward society through the eradication of cupidity. Cupidity, as represented by the She-wolf, has driven Justice from the world just as it drove the goddess Astraea, Justice, from the Golden Age under Saturn's reign. Just like Virgil whom Dante regards as the quintessential poet of the Pagan Golden Age, for prophesying in the Fourth Eclogue the return of the Saturnian Golden Age under Emperor Caesar Augustus, Dante aspires to be the poet of a Christian Golden Age by championing in the Epistles and the Monarchia the coming of Henry VII of Luxembourg as a novel Saturn to bring back Justice to wayward Italy. Ultimately the Saturnine Henry becomes a coordinate for Dante himself, as the role of the poet and that of the emperor seem to meld as promoters of “civilitas.” Although Henry failed to bring about a new Golden Age on earth, Dante did not give up his dream. Convinced in the civilizing power of poetry, Dante offers a vision of the perfect Christian society in Paradise and becomes the poet of the Christian Golden Age. And he will take his seat in the Celestial Rose next to his Emperor.
«STORIA DI UN'AMICIZIA»: IL SERENO CONGEDO DI PALAZZESCHI ROMANZIERE
Authors: Ghelli Samuel
Published: March 2013

In anni di rinnovato interesse e di grande favore critico nei confronti di Palazzeschi, l'articolo propone una rilettura dell'ultimo romanzo dello scrittore, ancor oggi fra le pagine meno conosciute e frequentate dalla critica. Pur muovendo dalla convinzione che Storia di un'amicizia non possa per invenzione e originalità competere con i migliori risultati del fiorentino, l'articolo mette in luce l'importanza che il romanzo riveste quale compendio dei modi di un'arte consolidata nel tempo. L'impressione è quella di un racconto che senza alcuna pretesa di novità ripropone per l'ultima volta lo stile leggero e beffardo di Palazzeschi, sospeso fra realtà e fantasia, fra il serio e il grottesco, sedotto dal gioco fine a se stesso, come dalla tentazione dell'apologo. Ma Storia di un'amicizia è anche un libro che intende essere il bilancio di un'esistenza umana, in fondo anch'essa divisa fra il dolore e l'allegria e felicemente risolta in una dichiarazione di amore alla vita.
DADI ILLEGGIBILI. IL MALLARMÉ CANCELLATO DI MARIO DIACONO E MARCEL BROODTHAERS
Authors: Boglione Riccardo
Published: March 2013

Nel 1969, due artisti che vivono in diversi continenti e apparentemente senza contatti fra loro, riscrivono, “cancellandolo“, il Coup de dés di Mallarmé, testo considerato all'unanimità fondatore degli esperimenti verbovisuali del 900. Si tratta di Marcel Broodthaers, artista concettuale belga, e Mario Diacono, uno dei più radicali poeti delle neoavanguardie italiane. Questo articolo ricostruisce la curiosa coincidenza e analizza il procedimento di rivitalizzazione del testo francese, attraverso un'apparente negazione, concentrandosi soprattutto sulla strategia diaconiana fondata sulla sostituzione dei versi originali con strisce di colore, di dimensioni e tinte variabili. Il libro di Diacono rientra, da un lato, nell'ampio contesto del risorgimento avanguardista postbellico e della sua intrinseca volontà di disturbare le aspettative del pubblico, dall'altro, nel processo di riscatto “letterario” dell'elemento visuale considerato oramai foriere di informazione estetica quanto quello verbale. La “resignificazione” di Mallarmé diviene dunque allo stesso tempo una messa in pratica sulla possibilità di interpretare i testi (in special modo quelli di “rottura”) ricaricandoli di senso, e un passo verso un'agognata conciliazione fra simbolico e reale, qui assunta in direzione asemantica.
L'IMMAGINARIO TRIESTINO IN SABA: LE PROMENADES DAI COLLI AL MARE
Authors: Bologna Mirco
Published: March 2013

L'articolo intende fare luce sulle relazioni tra Saba e la sua città e sull'eredità di Trieste nella cultura e nella poesia sabiane, allo scopo di definire precisamente l'immagine triestina per come risulta dalla lettura del Canzoniere.

Nella prima parte si fornisce una serie di dati qualitativi e quantitativi sulla presenza del paesaggio di Trieste nella produzione di Saba (con particolare attenzione alla raccolta Trieste e una donna), inclusi scritti privati e discorsi pubblici solitamente tenuti in scarsa considerazione. Sulla base di tali suggerimenti, e di una analisi ravvicinata di alcuni brani, nella seconda è avanzata una proposta di interpretazione dei modi di osservazione della città. Come risulta dalla lettura di molti dei testi del Canzoniere, il tema è svolto attraverso il genere della promenades, con cui il poeta si appropria della sua città, percorrendola ‘dai colli al mare’ e sottoponendola ad un ideale processo di esplorazione e ri-scoperta.
BABILONIE STELLATE. IMMAGINI DELLE METROPOLI AMERICANE NELLA LETTERATURA DI VAGGIO DEGLI ANNI TRENTA
Authors: Meda Ambra
Published: March 2013

Tra gli anni Venti e Trenta del ‘900, lo scenario metropolitano degli Stati Uniti suscita reazioni opposte negli osservatori italiani, che si dividono fra gli estimatori capeggiati dai futuristi, i quali vedono gli skyscrapers come un'incarnazione della modernità, e i detrattori sensibili ad istanze strapaesane, i quali, attraverso la critica ai grattacieli, che dell'America rappresentano la cifra scenografica e il marchio architettonico, intendono accusare più estesamente l'intera cultura che li ha prodotti. Questa seconda tendenza — prevalente nelle riflessioni sugli States elaborate durante il Ventennio fascista — porta i letterati ad elaborare stilemi descrittivi, destinati poi a consolidarsi, che identificano la megalopoli come “nuova Babele“, “fortezza medievale”, “alveare umano“, “giungla d'asfalto”, “regno infernale“, al fine di contrassegnarla come un simbolo del caos e della catastrofe del moderno. Analizzando le rappresentazioni urbane elaborate da autori come Depero, Soldati, Borgese, Cecchi e Ciarlantini, questo studio cerca di dimostrare come il tentativo di contrapporre il modello urbano statunitense allo stile di vita rurale tipico della realtà italiana, non fosse che un modo con cui i nostri umanisti cercavano di opporsi all'avanzata del Progresso, di difendersi dal processo di standardizzazione indotto dalle macchine.
A New Approach to an Old Question: On the Characters of Manzoni's I PROMESSI SPOSI
Authors: Ferri Luigi G.
Published: March 2013

The article engages in the critical debate on the interpretation of the system of characters in Alessandro Manzoni's I promessi sposi (1840). After a summary of some well-known schematic representations of the novel based on the function that the characters have in the development of the story (i.e., Italo Calvino 1973, Franco Fido 1974, Feruccio Ulivi 1974, and Angelo Marchese 1987), the article suggests a different approach to the question, based on the analysis of the occhiello, the illustration embellishing the title page of the 1840 edition of I promessi sposi. The image — based on an original drawing by the painter Francesco Gonin — is interpreted as a metaphorical representation of the relationships among characters developed by Manzoni.

After an analytical description of the illustration, proposing its ideal subdivision into vertical and horizontal axes that serve to connect characters and narrative episodes, the article concludes on the importance of the occhiello as part of the set of engravings that illustrate the novel.
Transgressive Rhetoric and Reactionary Politics: Avant-Gardism, Fascism, and the Language of Purification in Italy
Authors: Ferrari Chiara
Published: March 2013

This article describes the ways in which the transgressive rhetoric of futurism has underpinned the rhetoric of Italian fascism, not only in its early years, as has been more frequently analyzed, but also during the later regime phase (1932–1940). The continued influence of futurism beyond the early “revolutionary” years of fascism has not received equal attention, largely because this period has been identified with reactionary politics and hence is seen as less resonant with futurism's emphasis on the necessity of breaking from traditional political and religious institutions.

It argues that Futurism provided the regime with a vocabulary of regeneration and purification, one that was used both to redefine the ideal fascist man and to imbue the state with a religious dimension. It did so both in a spatial sense, defending a sacred center from a polluted periphery and a temporal one that sought to reclaim a Roman heritage and to project a radical continuity into the future.
I LABIRINTI DELLA GENESI E LA BUSSOLA DELLA DESCRIZIONE. ESERCIZI DI ORIENTAMENTO NEL CANTIERE DEIL QUINTO EVANGELIO
Authors: Santini Wanda
Published: March 2013

Il quinto evangelio di Mario Pomilio (1975) è un romanzo- dossier dalla complessa vicenda elaborativa: il presente contributo intende configurarsi come un primo affondo nelle dinamiche del cantiere autoriale. L'esame della genesi di alcuni passaggi descrittivi dell'opera ha consentito di individuare e descrivere su piccola scala il processo attraverso cui la componente esogenetica dell'avantesto si converte in componente endogenetica — in altre parole, il processo per mezzo del quale materiali documentari di varia provenienza vengono convertiti in componenti del dossier narrativo. Il paradigma ricostruito a partire dalle descrizioni si è rivelato generalizzabile ad altre sezioni del cantiere autoriale, fornendo uno strumento utile ad orientarsi nel laboratorio dello scrittore e valutare criticamente il peso delle relazioni che gli elementi costitutivi del dossier quintoevangelico intrattengono con altri testi.
IL CIMITERO DI PRAGA: The Epistemic Implication between Lies and Reality
Authors: De Benedictis Raffaele
Published: March 2013

This essay focuses on famous conspiracies and cunning forgeries contained in Umberto Eco's Il cimitero di Praga. Its purpose is to bring to the reader's attention the central function conspiracies and forgeries acquire in the entire work, and specifically in connection with the personal gains of the main protagonist, Simonini, and how his attitude in outwitting people, motivated by personal gains, exhibits a sort of Nietzschean will to power. In addition to the historical vicissitudes and the entertaining appeal comparable to a classic 19th century feuilleton novel, which the reader may effortlessly perceive at an ordinary level of reading, Eco uses conspiracies and forgeries to address a deep, epistemic problem staged between linguistic lies and reality. Il cimitero di Praga is a useful tool which makes the reader aware of this epistemic problem flowing between fiction and reality and how such a problem incapacitates the human ability to distinguish the one from the other. It is certainly not the remedy for such a problem and the tragic events which can be directly linked to it. Nonetheless, it enables the reader to comprehend, in an amusing manner, the way in which fiction (lies) can influence and shape life.
IL RESPIRO
Authors: Orsini Lanfranco
Published: March 2013

Lanfranco Orsini vive a Napoli, dove insegna letteratura italiana e latina in un liceo. Tra i suoi libri ricordiamo: «Confessione agli specchi» (racconti); «L'eclisse» (romanzo); «Elegia sul monte Faito» (poesie); «Il silenzio e la voce» (poesie). Ha collaborato e collabora con articoli critici, racconti e poesie a diverse importanti riviste italiane.
Epoxidized natural rubber toughened polylactic acid/talc composites: Mechanical, thermal, and morphological properties
Authors: Akbari Abozar , Jawaid M , Hassan Azman , Balakrishnan Harintharavimal
Published: March 2013

The aim of present study is to develop a toughened polylactic acid/talc composite. Talc and epoxidized natural rubber (ENR-50) were compounded with polylactic acid using counter-rotating twin-screw extruder followed by preparation of samples through injection molding. The effect of silane-treated talc and epoxidized natural rubber on mechanical, thermal, and morphological properties of polylactic acid was investigated. The Young′s and flexural modulus of polylactic acid improved while the impact strength values dropped with increasing talc content (20–30 wt%) indicating that talc increased the stiffness of polylactic acid with a sacrifice in toughness. Subsequently, the blending of epoxidized natural rubber (20 wt%) to polylactic acid/talc (30 wt%) revealed that the impact strength of polylactic acid/talc composites improved 448% with considerable drop in Young’s and flexural modulus. Polylactic acid/talc/epoxidized natural rubber composite contains 60% polylactic acid, 30 wt% talc, and 10 wt% ENR display optimum stiffness and impact strength. Scanning electron micrographs demonstrates that talc agglomerates at higher loadings. Thermogravimetric anlaysis indicated that thermal stability of polylactic acid/talc composite was reduced by the addition of epoxidized natural rubber due to increasing talc agglomeration.
Teachers’ Practices and Beliefs Regarding Teaching Tuning in Elementary and Middle School Group String Classes
Authors: Hopkins Michael T.
Published: March 2013

The purpose of this study was to examine teachers’ practices and beliefs related to the teaching of stringed instrument tuning in elementary and middle school group classes. The aspects examined included the following: (a) teachers’ beliefs about teaching tuning in their string classes, (b) activities teachers used when teaching tuning in string classes, (c) methods for assessing students’ tuning skills, (d) the grade level that tuning instruction begins, (e) the amount of instructional time used for teaching tuning, (f) teachers’ goals for students’ tuning independence, and (g) teacher, program, or school characteristics that affect how and when tuning is taught. Participants ( N = 139) reported that the average time required to develop tuning independence is 4.5 years. The amount of instructional time available and the level of students’ aural skills were the greatest perceived obstacles to developing tuning independence. Significant differences were found in tuning activities, beliefs about students’ tuning abilities, and assessment procedures and were based on participants’ age, teaching experience, and grade levels taught. The findings indicate a need for further development of tuning pedagogy and greater use of formal assessment to determine if students have developed the prerequisite skills for tuning.
Music Student Teachers
Authors: Killian Janice N. , Dye Keith G. , Wayman John B.
Published: March 2013

In this descriptive study, we examined self-reported concerns of 159 music student teachers pre– and post–student teaching, over a period of 5 years. Resulting comments ( N = 867) were analyzed on the basis of (a) stages of teacher concern (focus on self, subject matter [music and teaching], and students) modeled after Fuller and Bown and (b) emerging categories of concern compared with those identified by Madsen and Kaiser. Stages of concern were reliably identifiable across all comments. Teachers, as predicted, began student teaching with more self (56%) and fewer student (4%) comments. Post–student teaching comments resulted in fewer self (33%) and more student (20%) mentions. Categorization of concerns indicated that pre– and post–student teachers shared some concerns (applying knowledge, discipline, confidence) but showed marked differences in other areas (cut out for teaching, information about students, administrative duties). Pre–student teaching categories were similar to those reported by Madsen and Kaiser a decade earlier; post–student teaching comments differed.
Effects of Ratio Strategies Intervention on Knowledge of Ratio Equivalence for Students With Learning Disability
Authors: Hunt Jessica H. , Vasquez Eleazar
Published: March 2013

Students with mathematics learning disabilities have a weak understanding of mathematical concepts that underlie success in Algebra I, such as ratios and proportional reasoning. In this study, researchers used a multiple baseline across participants design to evaluate the effects of a intervention based on a instructional trajectory of how students come to understand ratios through build-up, emergent unit, and unit strategies on performance on a test of ratio equivalence. Student performance during intervention indicated a functional relationship between the instruction and higher scores on a curriculum-based measure across three students. Student use of increasingly sophisticated strategies over the course of the intervention also increased. Results as well as possible implications and future research are discussed.
Residential Segregation, Spatial Mismatch and Economic Growth across US Metropolitan Areas
Authors: Li Huiping , Campbell Harrison , Fernandez Steven
Published: March 2013

Numerous studies have demonstrated the detrimental influence of residential segregation on poor inner-city residents. This study examines the impact of residential segregation on the welfare of populations in US metropolitan areas using economic growth as the indicator. Panel data of US metropolitan areas spanning 25 years, 1980–2005, are used to analyse the effect of segregation on economic growth. The results show that both racial and skill segregation have a negative impact on short- and long-term economic growth, which have increased over time. Further, the negative impact of the variables associated with spatial mismatch is also revealed. The results clearly point to the need for mobility policies that favour non-White households and comprehensive strategies that promote economic opportunities in low-resource communities in the US.
The sentimentalization of the unpleasant: Naturalism, censorship and the British reception of Hermann Sudermann’s The Song of Songs (1909)
Authors: Patterson Anthony
Published: March 2013

This paper begins by exploring the censorship of The Song of Songs (1909), the first English translation of Hermann Sudermann’s Das Hohe Lied (1906).1 While the novel’s British reception is contextualized by the perceived social dangers of sexual representation in foreign literature, the essay demonstrates that Sudermann’s novel not only inscribes a critique of moral censure and the aesthetic idealism that often underpinned it, but also parodies the Naturalist novel which itself was believed to radically challenge sexual reticence in British fiction.
Translating the intellectual in Britain: The Cenotaph yob and other representations of dissent
Authors: Blanchet Béatrice
Published: March 2013

The media coverage of the 2010 British student protests has highlighted the centrality of pervasive discourses on the absence of a culture of dissent in Britain while reviving representations of the intellectual as estranged and alienated from Britishness. Reflections on British exceptionalism entail a selection of chosen pasts and idealized/demonized geographical ‘elsewheres’, which contrast the vision of law-abiding Britain with the insurrectional continent. In an attempt to comprehend the new forms of social protest, debates regarding student ‘riots’ invoked post-revolutionary tropes of identity and otherness in Britain: black-hooded foreigners were regarded as vectors of disorder linked with images of contagion, until a figure of the home-grown intellectual blended multilayered narratives on the nation, its aliens and dissenters.
The Suburban Idea and Its Enemies
Authors: Davison Graeme
Published: March 2013

Late in the twentieth century public opinion began to turn against the Australian suburb, as its enemies began to outnumber its friends. For more than 150 years, Australia was itself a mental suburb of England, taking many of its ideas ready-made from the world’s metropolis, London. This article identifies the main ideological strands of the suburban idea as it first appeared in England—Evangelicalism, Romanticism, Sanitarianism, and Class Prejudice—and examines how they were reproduced, with occasional variations, in the colonial city. Critics of the suburban idea, it is argued, shared many of the tacit assumptions of its friends, differing only in the value they assigned to each component. Anti-suburbanism, even in its contemporary forms, continues to reproduce many features of its nineteenth-century antecedents.
It’s In the Way That You Use It: Attachment and the Dyadic Nature of Humor During Conflict Negotiation in Romantic Couples
Authors: Winterheld Heike A. , Simpson Jeffry A. , Oriña M. Minda
Published: March 2013

In a behavioral observation study with dating couples, we examined (a) how attachment orientations predict humor use and (b) how people respond to their partners’ use of humor. Couples were videotaped while trying to resolve a relationship conflict. Each discussion was rated on several theoretically relevant dimensions. Highly avoidant individuals used more aggressive humor and less affiliative humor during their discussions, whereas highly anxious individuals used more self-defeating humor. Individuals also tailored their humor use to partners who were highly anxious and distressed. Aggressive humor was received more negatively by partners who sought more care. Affiliative humor was favorably received, especially when partners were more distressed, whereas self-defeating humor elicited negative responses from highly distressed partners. Both highly anxious and avoidant individuals reacted unfavorably when they were the recipients of the humor styles they used most often. The implications of these results for our understanding of relationships and humor are discussed.
Three-Dimensional Spatial Compounding of Ultrasound Scans with Weighting by Incidence Angle
Authors: Leotta Daniel F. , Martin Roy W.
Published: March 2013

A three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound imaging system has been used to study spatial compounding of images acquired with different scanhead positions and orientations. A compounding algorithm has been developed that assigns regional weights depending on the local incidence angle of the ultrasound beam. Compound scans were performed of bones in vitro and the shoulder rotator cuff in volunteer subjects. Border measurements (peak value and width) were compiled as a function of ultrasound beam incidence angle and compared for single views and for maximum, mean and weighted mean compounding techniques. The weighted mean produces less variability than that of the maximum and mean for both intensity and border width. The weighted method also demonstrates less blurring of borders than the maximum and mean methods. Surfaces derived from the weighted reconstructions exhibited fewer gaps and fewer spurious connections between surfaces, which could be of particular importance for automated image analysis.
Duct Detection and Wall Spacing Estimation in Breast Tissue
Authors: Huang L. , Donohue K.D. , Genis V. , Forsberg F.
Published: March 2013

The relationship between duct tissue and several types of malignant disease suggests that methods for characterizing duct structures may be useful tools in ultrasonic tissue characterization. This paper presents performance results from ultrasonic phantom experiments and Monte Carlo simulations for detecting and estimating duct wall spacings on the order of those typically found in breast tissue using methods based on the generalized spectrum (GS) and cepstrum. Aperformance comparison demonstrates the advantages of each method and examines the effects of various signal processing options, including a special normalization technique for the GS that effectively whitens the data spectrum and reduces interfering spectral influences with little overall performance loss. Experimental results (for both simulation and phantom) indicate that the GS typically achieves detection rates of over 90% (at 10% false alarm rates) over a broad range of SNR values (3–21 dB). The GS detection performance exceeds that of the cepstrum and exhibits more robustness to noise and signal processing parameters. Simulation results with fixed system effects indicate better estimation performance for cepstral-based methods, while experimental phantom results show the GS estimation performance to be the same or better than the cepstral-based method.
Reconstructive Ultrasound Elasticity Imaging for Renal Transplant Diagnosis: Kidney Ex Vivo Results
Authors: Emelianov S.Y. , Lubinski M.A. , Skovoroda A.R. , Erkamp R.Q. , Leavey S.F. , Wiggins R.C. , O'Donnell M.
Published: March 2013

It may be possible to diagnose and monitor scarring, inflammation and edema in transplant kidney using reconstructive ultrasound elasticity imaging. Kidney elasticity is expected to change dramatically with scar, and to a lesser degree, with acute inflammation and edema. The hypothesis that changes in kidney elasticity can be imaged using a clinical ultrasound scanner was experimentally tested with an ex vivo canine kidney model, and results on a single pair of kidneys are reported in this paper. A cross-linking agent affected kidney elasticity both globally and locally. Elasticity changes were monitored with accurate estimates of internal displacement and strain followed by Young's modulus reconstruction. The results of this study strongly suggest that ultrasound elasticity imaging can detect elasticity changes in complex structures such as the kidney. Moreover, it has the potential to become an important clinical tool for renal transplant diagnosis.
Correlation-Based Correction of Sound Velocity Inhomogeneities Using Delta-Sigma Modulators
Authors: Li Pai-Chi , Huang Jing-Jung , O'donnell Matt
Published: March 2013

Delta-sigma (ΔΣ) modulator based beamformers have been proposed for high-quality ultrasonic imaging. Due to the high sampling rate and single bit data width, the cost and complexity of the receive beamformer can be significantly reduced. It was shown that with proper dynamic focusing controls, equivalent image quality could be achieved with an adequate signal-to-quantization noise ratio (SQNR). In this paper, ΔΣ modulator based beamformers are used for correlation-based phase aberrations correction of sound velocity inhomogeneities in the body. It is shown that the correction can be efficiently implemented at a performance level similar to that of a conventional radio frequency (rf) beamformer. In addition, more than 6 dB contrast improvement is demonstrated. The different dynamic focusing techniques are also investigated in the context of phase aberration correction. It is shown that the single bit dynamic focusing approach does not affect the overall performance of phase aberration correction.
An Adaptive Snake Model for Ultrasound Image Segmentation: Modified Trimmed Mean Filter, Ramp Integration and Adaptive Weighting Parameters
Authors: Chen Chung-Ming , Lu Henry Horng-Shing
Published: March 2013

The snake model is a widely-used approach to finding the boundary of the object of interest in an ultrasound image. However, due to the speckles, the weak edges and the tissue-related textures in an ultrasound image, conventional snake models usually cannot obtain the desired boundary satisfactorily. In this paper, we propose a new adaptive snake model for ultrasound image segmentation. The proposed snake model is composed of three major techniques, namely, the modified trimmed mean (MTM) filtering, ramp integration and adaptive weighting parameters. With the advantages of the mean and median filters, the MTM filter is employed to alleviate the speckle interference in the segmentation process. The weak edge enhancement by ramp integration attempts to capture the slowly varying edges, which are hard to capture by conventional snake models. The adaptive weighting parameter allows weighting of each energy term to change adaptively during the deformation process. The proposed snake model has been verified on the phantom and clinical ultrasound images. The experimental results showed that the proposed snake model achieves a reasonable performance with an initial contour placed 10 to 20 pixels away from the desired boundary. The mean minimal distances from the derived boundary to the desired boundary have been shown to be less than 3.5 (for CNR ≧ 0.5) and 2.5 pixels, respectively, for the phantom and ultrasound images.
An Investigation into the Feasibility of Fetal Lung Maturity Prediction Using Statistical Textural Features
Authors: Prakash K. N. Bhanu , Ramakrishnan A. G. , Suresh S. , Chow Teresa W. P.
Published: March 2013

Fetal lung and liver tissues were examined by ultrasound in 240 subjects during 24 to 38 weeks of gestational age in order to investigate the feasibility of predicting the maturity of the lung from the textural features of sonograms. A region of interest of 64 × 64 pixels is used for extracting textural features. Since the histological properties of the liver are claimed to remain constant with respect to gestational age, features obtained from the lung region are compared with those from liver. Though the mean values of some of the features show a specific trend with respect to gestation age, the variance is too high to guarantee definite prediction of the gestational age. Thus, we restricted our purview to an investigation into the feasibility of fetal lung maturity prediction using statistical textural features. Out of 64 features extracted, those features that are correlated with gestation age and less computationally intensive are selected. The results of our study show that the sonographic features hold some promise in determining whether the fetal lung is mature or immature.
Filter-Based Synthetic Transmit and Receive Focusing
Authors: Li Meng-Lin , Li Pai-Chi
Published: March 2013

Most diagnostic ultrasonic imaging systems perform fixed focusing on transmit and dynamic focusing on receive. Such systems suffer from image quality degradation at depths away from the transmit focal zone. Several dynamic transmit focusing techniques have been previously investigated. Among them, a filter-based, retrospective focusing technique was proposed to increase the length of the transmit focal zone. In this paper, the filter-based technique is extended from dynamic receive focusing to fixed receive focusing. It is shown that the filtering technique with fixed receive focusing can achieve an image quality similar to that of dynamic receive focusing with filtering. The performance of the proposed approach is verified using real ultrasound data. It is shown that the proposed approach with fixed receive focusing requires a longer filter than that with dynamic receive focusing. Nonetheless, system complexity is greatly reduced with synthetic transmit and receive focusing because the dynamic receive focusing circuit is no longer needed.
Feasibility Study of Time-Intensity-Based Blood Flow Measurements Using Deconvolution
Authors: Yeh Chih-Kuang , Wang Sheng-Wuei , Li Pai-Chi
Published: March 2013

Ultrasonic contrast agents have been used to enhance the acoustic backscattered intensity of blood and to assist the assessment of blood flow parameters. One example is the time-intensity method based on the indicator-dilution theory. In this case, a mixing chamber model can be employed to describe the concentration of the contrast agent as a function of time. By measuring the time intensities at both the input and output of the blood mixing chamber, blood flow information can be obtained if proper deconvolution techniques are applied. Note that most deconvolution techniques assume a linear and time invariant (LTI) system for the mixing of the contrast agent with blood. In this paper, the hypothesis that a blood mixing chamber is an LTI system was tested. Several aspects were studied. One aspect was the linear relationship between the concentration of the contrast agent and the backscattered intensity. The other aspect was the dependence of the derived time constants on the concentration. The concept of an effective mixing volume was also introduced and evaluated. Finally, the input and the output time constants were measured and compared to theory under the LTI assumption. Extensive experiments were performed. Two in vitro flow models were constructed and two contrast agents were used. Results indicated that the LTI assumption does not hold and quantitative flow estimation is generally not possible. Nonetheless, the indicator-dilution theory can still be applied if only relative measurements of the flow rate are required.
Spectrum-Analysis and Neural Networks for Imaging to Detect and Treat Prostate Cancer
Authors: Feleppa Ernest J. , Ennis Ronald D. , Schiff Peter B. , Wuu Cheng-Shie , Kalisz Andrew , Ketterling Jeffery , Urban Stella , Liu Tian , Fair William R. , Porter Christopher R. , Gillespie John R.
Published: March 2013

Conventional B-mode ultrasound currently is the standard means of imaging the prostate for guiding prostate biopsies and planning brachytherapy to treat prostate cancer. Yet B-mode images do not adequately display cancerous lesions of the prostate. Ultrasonic tissue-type imaging based on spectrum analysis of radiofrequency (rf) echo signals has shown promise for overcoming the limitations of B-mode imaging for visualizing prostate tumors. This method of tissue-type imaging utilizes nonlinear classifiers, such as neural networks, to classify tissue based on values of spectral parameter and clinical variables. Two- and three-dimensional images based on these methods demonstrate potential for guiding prostate biopsies and targeting radiotherapy of prostate cancer. Two-dimensional images are being generated in real time in ultrasound scanners used for real-time biopsy guidance and have been incorporated into commercial dosimetry software used for brachytherapy planning. Three-dimensional renderings show promise for depicting locations and volumes of cancer foci for disease evaluation to assist staging and treatment planning, and potentially for registration or fusion with CT images for targeting external-beam radiotherapy.
Compounding for a Forward-Viewing Ring-Annular Ultrasound Array System
Authors: Wang Yao , O'Donnell M.
Published: March 2013

The 3-D data set from a forward-viewing ring-annular array opens up opportunities for compounding in both axial and lateral directions. To explore this potential, we performed a simulation study analyzing 3-D ultrasound data from various phantoms. For a vessel phantom, our results indicate compounding could boost contrast to noise ratio (CNR) (up to a factor of 4 in our results) without significant compromise in in-plane image resolution. For an isotropic cyst phantom, axial and lateral compounding performs similarly. Such improvement should be helpful for device guidance with IVUS (Intravascular Ultrasound) in interventional procedures.
Blood Flow Estimation with Harmonic Flash Echo Imaging
Authors: Shi William Tao , Forsberg Flemming , Liu Ji-Bin , Rawool Nandkumar M. , Goldberg Barry B.
Published: March 2013

Blood volume flow estimation remains an important task for the functional evaluation of internal organs. In vivo and in vivo flow estimation has been carried out using Flash Echo Imaging in harmonic mode after the administration of microbubble-based ultrasound contrast agents. The in vitro flow volume rate correlated with the constant replenishment level but less so with the video intensity decay rate. The in vivo volume flow rates obtained in four dogs agreed well with CVI-Q (time domain correlation) based flow measurement. Our experimental results indicate that the volume flow rate can be accurately estimated in vitro and in vivo using harmonic Flash Echo imaging.
Vibro-Acoustography: Quantification of Flow with Highly-Localized Low-Frequency Acoustic Force
Authors: Belohlavek Marek , Asanuma Toshihiko , Kinnick Randall R. , Greenleaf James F.
Published: March 2013

The intersection of two ultrasound beams with slightly different frequencies results in generation of a localized radiation force and stimulates emission of audio signals from targeted objects. Vibro-acoustography uses this phenomenon to probe elastic properties of objects. Vibro-acoustography of contrast microbubbles in degassed water produced quantitative flow measurements from analysis of their acoustic emission. We used a dual-beam transducer generating bursts of 40-kHz vibrations. The vibrations resulted from interference of 3.48-MHz and 3.52-MHz confocal beams intersecting at the center of a thin plastic conduit. We tested flows of 13, 48, 85, and 120 mL/min of contrast microbubbles at concentrations from 1.2 times 105 to 6 times 105 bubbles/mL. The amplitude of the acoustic emission was linear with microbubble concentrations up to a value of 3.6 times 105 bubbles/mL. A replenishment method for microbubble contrast and flow rate analysis was used with radiation force bursts deployed at 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, and 2-second pulsing intervals. The relation between the pulsing intervals and the peak amplitude was fitted by an exponential curve and a rate constant calculated for each tested flow rate. The rate constant values were linearly correlated with the tested flows. The vibro-acoustography method provides objective, quantitative, and highly-localized assessment of flow using contrast microbubbles.
Tissue Motion and Elevational Speckle Decorrelation in Freehand 3D Ultrasound
Authors: Li Pai-Chi , Li Cheng-Yen , Yeh Wen-Chun
Published: March 2013

3D positioning is essential for quantitative volume analysis in 3D ultrasound. Particularly for freehand scanning without an external positioning device, such information must be estimated by analyzing the original 2D images prior to 3D reconstruction. Previous work on freehand 3D positioning has focused on elevational displacement estimation using speckle decorrelation for linear scans. However, the effects of other types of motion have been ignored. Given that all types of motion potentially introduce speckle decorrelation, the accuracy of the elevational displacement estimation is likely to be diminished by the presence of motions of other types. In the present study, simulations were performed to probe the effects of various motions on elevational displacement estimation. In particular, the effects of rotational motions on image correlation are investigated in detail. It is found that these motions significantly affect the estimation results and thus should be taken into account when reconstructing the 3D image. In addition, speckle variations also affect the estimation even when only elevational motion is present. Finally, full motion analysis in freehand scanning may not be possible by only using speckle correlation analysis unless speckle variations can be reduced and the correlation distribution under complex motion can be obtained.
Feasibility Study for Real Time Three Dimensional Doppler Intracardiac Echocardiography
Authors: Light Edward D. , Idriss Salim F. , Lee Warren , Wolf Patrick D. , Smith Stephen W.
Published: March 2013

Using catheter-mounted two-dimensional array transducers, we have obtained real-time three-dimensional color flow and spectral Doppler ultrasound images in phantoms. We have constructed several transducers operating at 5 MHz with up to 137 channels inside a 12 French catheter lumen. The transducer configuration may be side scanning or beveled with respect to the long axis of the catheter lumen. We have also included six electrodes to acquire simultaneous electrocardiograms. We have measured Doppler signals in two phantoms, a string phantom and a pulsatile flow phantom. Using an open chest sheep model, we inserted the catheter into the cardiac chambers to study the utility of in vivo 3D intracardiac Doppler echocardiography.