bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Indigenous Psychologies: The Meaning of the Concept and its Assessment: Introduction
Authors: Adair John G. , Díaz‐Loving Rolando
Published: July 2007

La signification des concepts de psychologie indigoène et d'indigoénisation, les processus par lesquels ils se réalisent, est exploré dans les quatres premiers articles de ce numéro spécial. Les concepts sont examinés tout d' abord à partir des perspectives plus larges de la psychologie sociale des sciences (Adair) et la psychologie interculturelle (Poortinga), ainsi que dans deux applications concrètes des approches de psychologie indignée au Mexique (Díaz‐Loving) et en Corée (Kim, Park, et Park). Dans la seconde partie, trois articles rendent compte des recherches empiriques évaluant l'ampleur du développement indignée en Turquie, ex‐URSS, au Venezuela, et Porto‐Rico. Cette introduction au numéro spécial résume quelques uns des points communs et des différences dans les contributions.

The meaning of the concepts of indigenous psychologies and of indigenisation, the process by which they are achieved, are explored within the first four articles of this special issue. The concepts are examined initially in the abstract from the broader perspectives of the social psychology of science (Adair) and cross‐cultural psychology (Poortinga), and in two concrete applications of indigenous psychology approaches in Mexico (Díaz‐Loving) and Korea (Kim, Park, & Park). In the second part of this special issue, three articles report on empirical research assessing the extent of indigenous development that has occurred in Turkey, the former USSR, Venezuela, and Puerto Rico. This introduction summarises some of the commonalities and differences among the contributions.
Indigenisation of Psychology: The Concept and its Practical Implementation
Authors: Adair John G.
Published: July 2007

Le concept, souvent mal compris, de psychologie indigoène est examiné dans une perspective de méta‐discipline, qu'autorise une étude de psychologie sociale interculturelle. On discutera de l'accent mis sur un aspect comme étant inexact dans les faits, théoriquement trompeur et politiquement dangereux.

The often misunderstood concept of indigenous psychologies is examined from the meta‐discipline perspective afforded by a social‐psychological study of the science. Motivation underlying the indigenisation movement, semantic difficulties with the concept, and models for indigenisation of the discipline are examined. The commonly accepted building‐block approach is of increasing numbers of indigenous contributions leading to an emerging indigenous psychology. An alternative, but often overlooked approach, is of autochthonous discipline development leading to increasing numbers of seasoned researchers creatively pursuing culturally relevant research. Both approaches are intertwined and necessary for a more encompassing definition and understanding of the indigenisation process. An overview of the required elements for this broader definition indicate the need for simultaneous pursuit of research in the local culture and autochthonous discipline development, demands that can place the researcher in an essential tension.
Different Psychologies?
Authors: Poortinga Ype H.
Published: July 2007

Les mouvements d'indigénisation constituent une initiative positive pour deux raisons étroitement liées. La première est de rendre la psychologie pertinente aux sociétés non euro‐américaines; la seconde, de révéler le caractère ethnocentrique de la psychologie euro‐américaine, y compris la psychologie interculturelle. Les questions étudiées, les méthodes et les instruments employés, aussi bien que les inférences auxquelles ils ménent dans la plupart des études du comportement sont en effet centrés sur la mentalité et les intérets des Occidentaux. Cependant, on peut se demander si la littérature actuelle sur l'‘indigénisation sert mieux les sociétés auxquelles elles est destinée que la psychologie interculturelle “traditionnelle”. La littérature consacrée à l'indigénisation semble exploiter dans une trop grande mesure les différences interculturelles, et nier, au contraire, des invariants importants du fonctionnement psychologique des différentes cultures.

Indigenisation movements are a most welcome development for two interrelated reasons. The first is to make psychology relevant to non‐Euroamerican societies. The second reason is to show up the ethnocentricity in contemporary Euroamerican psychology, including cross‐cultural psychology. The topics studied, the concepts and instruments used, and the inferences drawn in most behavioural research are centred on Western views and interests. However, it can be questioned whether the current literature on indigenisation serves the societies for which it is intended much better than “traditional” cross‐cultural psychology. The indigenisation literature seems to capitalise too much on cross‐cultural differences in behaviour and to negate important invariances in psychological functioning across cultures. Such a one‐sided emphasis is argued to be factually incorrect and theoretically misleading.
The Search for Indigenous Psychologies: Data From Turkey and the Former USSR
Authors: Öngel Üstün , Smith Peter B.
Published: July 2007

On a analysé le contenu de 152 articles du Turkish Journal of Psychology et de 261 articles de la revue Soviet Psychology dans le but d'évaluer le degré d' «indigénisation» des psychologies turque et soviétique. Il est apparu que la psychologie turque ne présentait aucune tendance à l'indigénisation vu que les théories et perspectives nord‐américaines y étaient largement exploitées. Par contre, on a constaté que la psychologie soviétique était l'un des rares exemples de psychologie indigéne.

Articles in the Turkish Journal of Psychology (n= 152), and in the journal Soviet Psychology (n = 261) were content analysed to determine the degree of indigenisation in Turkish and Soviet psychology. The results indicated that there was no tendency towards indigenisation in Turkish psychology, and North American theories and perspectives were widely used. Soviet psychology was found to be one of the rare examples of an indigenous psychology.
‘Situating’ Simulation to Model Human Spatio‐Temporal Interactions: An Example Using Crime Events
Authors: Groff Elizabeth R
Published: July 2007

Many social phenomena have a spatio‐temporal dimension and involve dynamic decisions made by individuals. In the past, researchers have often turned to geographic information systems (GIS) to model these interactions. Although GIS provide a powerful tool for examining the spatial aspects of these interactions, they are unable to model the dynamic, individual‐level interactions across time and space. In an attempt to address these issues, some researchers have begun to use simulation models. But these models rely on artificial landscapes that do not take into account the environment in which humans move and interact. This research presents the methodology for ‘situating’ simulation through the use of a new modeling tool, Agent Analyst, which integrates agent‐based modeling (ABM) and GIS. Three versions of a model of street robbery are presented to illustrate the importance of using ‘real’ data to inform agent activity spaces and movement. The successful implementation of this model demonstrates that: (1) agents can move along existing street networks; (2) land use patterns can be used to realistically distribute agent's homes and activities across a city; and (3) the incidence and pattern of street robberies is significantly different when ‘real’ data are used.
Modeling Moving Geospatial Objects from an Event‐based Perspective
Authors: Hornsby Kathleen Stewart , Cole Stephen
Published: July 2007

In this paper, the dynamic happenings or occurrents experienced by entities in a geospatial domain, are modeled aseventsand from an analysis of these events, we show how meaningful information about the movement of objects can be abstracted. The semantics of moving objects are captured based on different events, for example, specialized events, such asdeparture,arrival,orunexpected destination events.The paper presents an approach for abstracting patterns of movement from event sequences based on key attributes: object identity, event description, and event location. A set of eight possible event pattern types are distinguished and discussed in the paper. From these patterns, three notable patterns of events are presented, i.e. identifiable trends of movement that are worthy of further attention or perhaps intervention. Two of these patterns,repeatingandcollocating, capture particular kinds of movement within a traversal ortransitof a domain by a single moving object, such as a zigzag movement or reversal of direction, while areiteratingpattern of events corresponds to a movement pattern associated with multiple objects and describes, for example, convergence in a region. The inclusion of events in the data model provides a foundation for distinguishing particular semantics of movement based on patterns of events, providing a basis for querying different kinds of events as well as providing a foundation for developing automated event notification systems.
Comparison of Techniques for Visualising Fire Behaviour
Authors: Black Julian , Arrowsmith Colin , Black Michael , Cartwright William
Published: July 2007

During every Australian summer fires are common in the south‐eastern region of the continent. The combined forces of climate, topography and vegetation make Victoria in particular, one of the most fire prone regions on earth (DSE 2003). Throughout its history, Victoria has seen a number of devastating bushfires, including Black Friday 1939, Ash Wednesday 1983, and more recently in the northeast of the State in 2003. The loss of life combined with the damage caused to land and property results in a heavy cost to the community. In Victoria, two of the organizations involved in fire management are the Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) and the Country Fire Authority (CFA). Both use fire ‘meters’ to determine potential fire behaviour given certain conditions. Values for temperature, wind speed, fuel load and vegetation type are input and a numerical estimate of fire danger given. There are a number of different meters used for different locations and environmental types. The most common meter used in Victoria is the McArthur Meter (CSIR0 2001b). The output data from this meter is numerical, and provides no spatial representation of fire danger. This paper looks at a variety of techniques used to visualise the numerical output from the McArthur Forest Fire Danger Meter. The article outlines the different models used by fire managers to simulate a fire situation, to assess future scenarios and for decision making involving fire management. Particular emphasis is placed on the McArthur Forest Fire Danger Meter as this is commonly used by fire departments in Australia. The article then focuses on geographical visualisation and a number of techniques employed to convey spatial information are discussed. The article then goes on to describe the fire simulation prototypes created for a study, a visualisation proof‐of‐concept product for organizations involved in managing bushfires in Australia. Finally, results from the evaluation of the prototype are presented.
Malaysia – Trade Policy Review 2006
Authors: Ramasamy Bala , Yeung Matthew
Published: July 2007

The Trade Policy Review (TPR) is an important document for small open economies like Malaysia. It provides an outsider perspective of its trade policies and implementation. In this paper we provide an update of the Malaysian economy emphasising the degree of competitiveness vis‐à‐vis other Asian counterparts. We also discuss the issue of regional and bilateral trading agreements involving Malaysia with a focus on the services sector. Finally, we briefly consider the issue of tariff protection – an issue raised by many commentators of the TPR.
More or Less Ambition in the Doha Round: Winners and Losers from Trade Liberalisation with a Development Perspective
Authors: Bouët Antoine , Mevel Simon , Orden David
Published: July 2007

What is at stake in the standoff and suspension of the Doha Round of trade talks? What impact would an agreement based on greater or lesser levels of ambition have on developing countries, whose economies are relatively dependent on agriculture? Using the MIRAGE computable general equilibrium model of the global economy, in this article we compare different scenarios for the Doha agricultural and NAMA negotiations, taking real numbers from the proposals on the table from the United States (US) and the European Union (EU) in December 2005. The results for both scenarios demonstrate the high stakes for successful completion of this negotiation given the positions articulated by the countries involved. A cooperative reform outcome by the US and the EU – based on the most ambitious components of their negotiating proposals – delivers noticeably more benefits than an unambitious outcome. We measure the degree of ambition in each scenario by the construction of a Mercantilist Trade Restrictiveness Index and focus the analysis on the impacts on developing countries.
The World Trade Organisation's Doha Cotton Initiative: A Tale of Two Issues
Authors: Anderson Kym , Valenzuela Ernesto
Published: July 2007

Four West African nations have demanded that the WTO's Doha Development Agenda include a Cotton Initiative that involves two issues: cutting cotton subsidies and tariffs, and assisting farm productivity growth in Africa. This paper provides estimates of the potential economic impacts of (a) complete or partial removal of cotton subsidies and import tariffs globally and (b) cotton productivity growth through the adoption of genetically modified (GM) cotton varieties. Use is made of the GTAP database and global economic model to address both these issues. On Doha, our results confirm that for cotton – unlike for other agricultural subsidies and tariffs – it is subsidy reductions rather than tariff cuts that would make by far the largest impact. For Sub‐Saharan Africa the potential gains are huge relative to the effects on that region of reforming other merchandise trade policies. And they could be more than doubled if that reform provided the cash for farmers to take advantage of the biotechnology revolution and adopt GM cotton varieties. But those potential gains, and the affordability of switching to costly GM seed, depend crucially on the extent to which high‐income countries are willing to lower domestic support to their cotton farmers.
One language, multi‐layered identities: English in a society in transition, South Africa
Authors: KAMWANGAMALU NKONKO M.
Published: July 2007

ABSTRACT:  Studies of language and identity have traditionally focused on how individuals or groups use language to negotiate, construct, manage or project their social identities. What seems to have attracted very little attention, though, is how, in a given society, a language is assigned not one but multiple identities at various times in its social history. In this paper I examine the latter issue, with a focus on English in a society in transition, South Africa. In particular, I argue that besides its identity as a global language and as we‐code and they‐code in the sense of Gumperz (1982), in South Africa English carries other identities: it is an ideological we‐code, a pragmatic we‐code and a naturalized we‐code. I describe these multiple identities of the language along with their social history in South Africa, and consider their consequences for the indigenous African languages.1
Broadening the boundaries of the Expanding Circle: English in Uzbekistan
Authors: HASANOVA DILBARHON
Published: July 2007

ABSTRACT: The sociopolitical and economic changes that have taken place in Eastern Europe, the Balkans and Central Asia since the downfall of the Soviet Union have greatly expanded the number of English users in Uzbekistan. In view of the increasing role of English in different domains, this paper aims to illustrate the role and functions of English with regard to its users and uses in this formerly Soviet country. The study usedKachru's (1985)framework of functional allocation of English within the sociocultural context of Uzbekistan as a framework to examine the instrumental, interpersonal and imaginative functions of English in this country. The findings of the study show that, while English has not achieved deep social penetration in Uzbekistan, its roles and functions in educational and social domains have been increasing rapidly due to the favorable attitudes of Uzbek people toward English and the unique role of English in the international arena.
English in product advertisements in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain
Authors: GERRITSEN MARINEL , NICKERSON CATHERINE , VAN HOOFT ANDREU , VAN MEURS FRANK , NEDERSTIGT ULRIKE , STARREN MARIANNE , CRIJNS ROGIER
Published: July 2007

ABSTRACT:  This paper reports on a quantitative investigation into the occurrence of English in product advertisements in Dutch‐speaking Belgium, French‐speaking Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain. For each country six issues of Elle in 2004 were collected and all ads of half a page or larger were analyzed, for a total of 2,384 different ads. More than two‐thirds of those ads contained one or more English words. The actual occurrence of English was low, since 90 per cent of the ads with English were partly in English and partly in the local language, and only 13 per cent of the total amount of the text in those ads was in English. English was especially used for advertising products that can be associated with modernity. Our results regarding the amount of English used and the position of English in the ad do not completely corroborate those of other studies. This could indicate an increase in the use of English in product ads, but it could also be due to the fact that we applied a different research method than had been previously used. The countries we investigated differ considerably in the amount of English used. These differences shed new light on earlier theoretical studies that have compared European countries on the use and status of English.
Outsourced call centers and English in the Philippines
Authors: FRIGINAL ERIC
Published: July 2007

ABSTRACT:  The influx of outsourced call centers from the United States to the Philippines since the late 1990s has paved the way for the creation of thousands of jobs for Filipino professionals who are able to communicate in English and provide telephone‐based customer services to American customers. The Philippines has become one of the major centers for outsourcing because of its tradition of bilingual education, affinity to the American culture, and cheap labor market. This study examined the effectiveness of micro language policies of a US‐owned call center relative to the variety of English spoken in the Philippines in preparing Filipino professionals to work in outsourced call centers. The relationship between ESL proficiency and success in delivery of support was also analyzed by comparing English communication and transaction monitoring scores of Filipino customer service representatives (N = 74) collected for over a period of seven months in 2003–4. Although the initial English scores of participants were below the expected level of proficiency set by the call center company, assessment data indicated that with proper training and effective language‐based programs, the participants exhibited improvement in English during transactions. ESL proficiency, however, only accounted for 10 per cent of the variability in the transaction monitoring scores of the participants.
THE COMMODIFICATION OF THE DANISH DEFENCE FORCES AND THE TROUBLED IDENTITIES OF ITS OFFICERS
Authors: Skærbæk Peter , Thorbjørnsen Stefan
Published: July 2007

The accounting literature has given much attention to the New Public Management and attempts at making the government's performances auditable while influencing the core working of the public sector. This paper contributes to this debate by demonstrating how particular accounting devices participate in the definition of the identities of the officers in the Danish Defence. It shows how the definition of the officers' identities is complex and dynamic and does not necessarily have outcomes of stability and closure. Applying Actor‐Network Theory we demonstrate how their identities are caught up in processes of continual or never ending reconfigurations. The major implication is that the occupational identity of the Danish officers is subject to attempts of being defined as ‘a manager’ in the period 1989‐2006. The paper demonstrates how accounting devices participated in defining a hybrid identity of the officers as ‘warrior’ and ‘manager’ and that officers in different spaces and times experienced problems with the hybrid identity.
PERFORMANCE AUDIT OF AUSTRALIAN PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS: LEGITIMISING GOVERNMENT POLICIES OR PROVIDING INDEPENDENT OVERSIGHT?
Authors: English Linda M.
Published: July 2007

Performance auditing in a New Public Management (NPM) setting presents auditorsgeneral with significant challenges in problematising and auditing [effectiveness]. The literature suggests that in providing guidance as to how NPM policies should be implemented, some state audits have developed as a means of legitimising policy implementation, rather than providing independent opinion about whether policies have been implemented effectively and public money spent appropriately. In the context of public private partnerships (PPPs), what constitutes ‘effective’ oversight remains contested. This paper presents Australian evidence about the focus and extent of state audit oversight of PPP projects. It investigates the use by auditors‐general of processes established in PPP policies to frame performance audit investigations to determine whether Australian auditors‐general have critically evaluated the effectiveness of the implementation of PPP projects.
Asymmetric Information and the Transmission Mechanism of Monetary Policy
Authors: Neyer Ulrike
Published: July 2007

This paper analyses the consequences of asymmetric information in credit markets for the monetary transmission mechanism. It shows that asymmetric information can not only reinforce but can also weaken or overcompensate the effects of the standard interest rate channel. Crucial is that informational problems lead to an external finance premium that can be positive or negative for marginal entrepreneurs. Tight money may lead to an increase in the absolute value of this premium, implying that there is a credit channel of monetary policy, but its working direction is ambiguous.
Impact of Central Bank Intervention during Periods of Speculative Pressure: Evidence from the European Monetary System
Authors: Stix Helmut
Published: July 2007

This paper studies the effects of Banco de Espanna and Banque de France interventions during the 1992-93 European Monetary System crises. In particular, a Markov Switching model is estimated where interventions influence the probabilities of transition between a calm and a turbulent regime. Furthermore, we analyze the impact of intervention on the expected rate of realignment. On balance, the results are consistent with the view that publicly known interventions but not secret interventions increased both the probability of switching to the turbulent regime as well as the expected realignment rate.
The spatial tuning of steady state pattern electroretinogram in multipie sclerosis
Authors: Falsini Benedetto , Porrello Giovanni , Porciatti Vittorio , Fadda Antonello , Salgarello Tommaso , Piccardi Marco
Published: July 2007

In normal subjects, the steady‐state electroretinograrn in response to contrast reversing gratings (PERG), is spatially band‐pass tuned in amplitude, with a maximum at intermediate spatial frequencies and an attenuation at lower and higher ones. The amplitude attenuation at low spatial frequencies is believed to reflect centre‐surround antagonistic interactions in the receptive fields of inner retinal neurons. The aim of this study was to evaluate the PERG spatial tuning in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients without a previous optic neuritis history. Steady‐state PERGs in response to counterphase‐modulated (8 Hz) sinusoidal gratings of variable spatial frequency (0.6, 1.0, 1.4, 2.2 and 4.8 c/deg), were recorded from 18 patients with definite or probable MS and no history of optic neuritis (ON‐). Nine of them had no signs of subclinical optic nerve demyelination (asymptomatic) in either eye, while nine had symptoms or signs of optic pathways involvement (symptomatic) in one or both eyes. Results were compared with those obtained from 10 MS patients with a previous history of optic neuritis (ON+) in one or both eyes, as well as from 21 age‐matched controls. The amplitudes and phases of the responses' 2nd harmonics were measured. Compared with the controls, asymptomatic ON‐ patients showed selective losses in mean PERG amplitudes at medium and high (1.0–4.8 c/deg) spatial frequencies. Symptomatic ON‐patients and ON+ patients had reductions in mean PERG amplitudes, with respect to controls, involving the whole spatial frequency range, but with greater losses at medium‐high (1.0–4.8 c/deg) than at lower spatial frequencies. In all patients' groups, the average PERG spatial tuning function differed significantly from that of the controls, assuming a low‐pass instead of the normal band‐pass shape. The PERG phase was delayed in ON+ but not in ON‐ patients, as compared to controls. However, the phase delay was independent of spatial frequency. In both ON‐ and ON+ patients, losses in PERG amplitude and spatial tuning tended to be associated with corresponding abnormalities in perimetric sensitivity, visual acuity, colour vision and transient visual evoked potential (WP) latency. The results indicate that abnormalities of the spatial tuning of steady‐state PERG can be found in MS patients without either optic neuritis or signs of subclinical optic nerve demyelination. These changes may reflect a retinal dysfunction, developing early in the course of MS, due to a loss of specific subpopulations of inner neurons, changes in lateral interactions of their receptive fields, or both.
Astroglial and neuronal proteins in cerebrospinal fluid as markers of CNS involvement in Lyme neuroborreliosis
Authors: DoteVall Leif , Hagberg Lars , Karlsson Jan‐Erik , Rosengren Lars E.
Published: July 2007

Is Lyme neuroborreliosis, even in its early phase, a parenchymatous disorder in the central nervous system (CNS), and not merely a meningitic process? We quantified cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of four nerve and glial cell marker proteins in Lyme neuroborreliosis patients with pretreatment durations of 7–240 days. AH 23 patients had meningo‐radiculitis, and six had objective signs of encephalopathy. Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAp) pretreatment levels in CSF, and the light subunit of neurofilament protein (NFL) levels were related to clinical outcome and declined significantly after treatment (P < 0.001 and P < 0.01, respectively). NFL was detectable in 11 out of 22 patients, and pre‐and post‐treatment NFL levels were associated with the duration of neurological symptoms within 100 days prior to treatment. Neuron‐specific enolase (NSE) concentrations also decreased after therapy (P < 0.001), while CSF levels of glial S‐100 protein remained unchanged. The pretreatment duration of disease was related to postinfectious sequelae. GFAp, NSE and NFL levels in CSF are unspecific indicators of astroglial and neuronal involvement in CNS disease. The findings in the present study are in agreement with the hypothesis that early and late stages of Lyme neuroborreliosis damage the CNS parenchyma.
Regional differences in diffusion abnormality in cerebral white matter lesions in patients with vascular dementia of the Binswanger type and Alzheimer's disease
Authors: Hanyu H. , Imon Y. , Sakurai H. , Lwamoto T. , Takasaki M. , Shindo H. , Kakizaki D. , Abe K.
Published: July 2007

We investigated changes in water diffusion in the cerebral white matter of 14 patients with vascular dementia of the Binswanger type (VDBT) and ten patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) with periventricular hyperintensity (PVH) lesions using diffusion‐weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and studied the pathophysiological differences between white matter lesions found in these two conditions. Apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) in the anterior and posterior white matter and the genu and splenium of the corpus callosum were significantly higher in both groups of patients than in the 12 age‐matched controls, and ADC values in VDBT and AD groups were almost the same. ADC ratios, defined as diffusion restricted perpendicular to the direction of nerve fibers, were also significantly higher in the patients than in the control subjects. However, there were regional differences in ADC ratios in the two conditions, with ratios in VDBT being higher in the anterior portions of the white matter but ratios in AD were higher in the posterior portions. The diffusion‐weighted MRI technique may be useful in the differential diagnosis of VDBT and AD with white matter lesions.
Chronic axonal sensory and autonomic polyneuropathy without motor involvement: a new ‘chronic inflammatory neuropathy?’
Authors: Cavaletti Guido , Santoro Patrizia , Agostoni Elio , Zincone Alessandra , Gori Chiara , Frattola Lodovico , Tredici Giovanni
Published: July 2007

We report the case of a woman with axonal sensory and autonomic neuropathy lasting several months who improved in association with steroid administration. During the course of her disease and in the follow‐up, the patient underwent repeated cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) examinations, neurophysiological somatic, autonomic nervous system studies and sural nerve biopsy. Clinical and laboratory assessments demonstrated the occurrence of a monophasic, chronic sensory and autonomic neuropathy. A sural nerve biopsy suggested an axonopathy. After a progressive worsening of symptoms lasting about 6 months, steroid treatment was started and within 6 months a complete recovery, with normalization of the CSF findings, was observed. Although the ‘chronic inflammatory neuropathies’ are still debated entities, the features of this chronic, exclusively sensory and autonomic neuropathy are new, and the occurrence of a high protein level in the CSF, together with the favorable outcome associated with steroid treatment, suggests that our case might be another variant in this debated area.
The use of botulinum toxin type A in children with cerebral palsy: a retrospective study
Authors: Delgado Mauricio R.
Published: July 2007

The dosage and safety of botulinum toxin type A (BTX‐A) treatments in 104 children with cerebral palsy were examined in a retrospective chart review of a 2‐year period at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. Almost all of the BTX‐A injections were to the muscles of the lower limbs. The average dose of BTX‐A was 8–9 Ukg body weight and the interval between injections averaged 3–5 months. The average total amount of BTX‐A injected at a single visit ranged from 146 to 186 U. The safety record for these treatments was excellent, with only 14 adverse events reported in 257 patient injection visits. The most commonly reported adverse event was muscle weakness, which is related to the pharmacology of BTX‐A treatment
The effect of botulinum toxin type A injections on the natural history of equinus foot deformity in paediatric cerebral palsy patients
Authors: Koman L. Andrew , Smith Beth Paterson , Tingey Craig T. , Mooney James F. , Slone Stacey , Naughton Michelle J.
Published: July 2007

Neuromuscular blockade with botulinum toxin type A (BTX‐A) injections was employed to manage equinus foot deformity in the lower extremities of paediatric cerebral palsy patients. The patients were followed to evaluate the effect of the blockade on lower extremity function and to determine the effect of treatment on the need for tendo‐Achilles lengthening (TAL) surgery. The average length of follow‐up was 3.4 years. Of the 48 patients, 17 (35%) responded to treatment witbin 6 months of initiation of therapy, as determined by a Physician Rating Scale of gait. Overall, 25 (52%) of the 48 patients underwent TAL surgery during the follow‐up period, including eight patients who responded to the BTX‐A treatment. The average age of the patients at the time of surgery was 7 years. This age compares favourably with the age at surgery reported in the recent literature. There were no significant differences by responder status, age, or gender in those patients who did and did not require TAL surgery. No adverse events relating to BTX‐A were reported. These results indicate that patients who respond to BTX‐A treatment have improved physical functioning and gait, and are able to sustain these results long term.
Objective measurement of clinical findings in the use of botulinum toxin type A for the management of children with cerebral palsy
Authors: Boyd Roslyn N. , Graham H. Kerr
Published: July 2007

Clinicians use a range of clinical and objective measures to quantify the positive and negative features (impairments) of the upper motor neurone syndrome. These measures play an important role in the assessment and selection of suitable candidates for intervention and monitoring of outcome. Intervention strategies often focus on the positive features; however, outcome may be more contingent upon the severity of the negative features. The clinical protocol for patient selection and treatment used by our multidisciplinary team is presented, together with details of the assessment procedure. Measurement tools in routine use are described, including: the Modified Ashworth Scale, the Modified Tardieu Scale (‘R1’), muscle length by joint range of motion ‘R2’, three‐dimensional gait analysis, assessments of strength by the Medical Research Council Scale, Selective Motor Control, the Gross Motor Function Measure and the Observational Gait Scale. Three case studies of children with cerebral palsy who underwent botulinum toxin type A treatment as part of their management of gait disorder are presented, a 2‐year‐old girl with mild hemiplegia (‘true equinus’), a 3‐year‐old boy with moderate hemiplegia (‘apparent equinus’) and a 6‐year‐old girl with diplegia, where a targeted approach was used to treat a distal problem and resulted in correction Of a proximal problem.
Medium‐term response characterisation and risk factor analysis of botulinum toxin type A in the management of spasticity in children with cerebral palsy
Authors: Boyd Roslyn N. , Graham Judith E. A. , Nattrass Gary R. , Graham H. Kerr
Published: July 2007

We prospectively studied the medium‐term effects of botulinum toxin type A (BTX‐A) treatment in 197 children with cerebral palsy. Between one and four target muscles were selected according to functional goals and biomechanical assessments, and were injected at multiple sites with BTX‐A (BOTOX®). The mean total dose administered was 10.5 U BOTOX®/Vkg body weight. In 37% of treatment episodes, children were safely treated with high doses, 12–16 Ukg body weight. Significant improvements were seen in the Modified Ashworth and Tardieu scales at 3 and 12 weeks post‐injection, and in muscle length, as determined by joint range of motion, at 3,12 and 24 weeks post‐treatment. Significant improvements in gait were noted using the Modified Physicians' Rating Scale, and joint kinematics and kinetics. Forty‐five per cent of children were subsequently managed by repeated BTX‐A injections, 17% proceeded to single‐level soft tissue surgery and 38% proceeded to multi‐level surgery after mean intervals of 12.8, 16.4 and 173 months, respectively. Side effects were noted in 10 children (6.2% of total treatment occasions) and included local pain (1.2%), bruising (0.7%), temporary generalised weakness (0.3%), temporary incontinence (1.2%) and pneumonia (1.2%). In summary, BTX‐A was safe and effective in the management of spasticity in children with cerebral palsy. Side effects were infrequent, usually minor and self‐limiting.
Botulinum toxin type A treatment of cerebral palsy: an integrated approach
Authors: Molenaers Guy , Desloovere Kaat , Eyssen Marijke , Decaf Jos , Jonkers Ilse , Cock Paul De
Published: July 2007

We have applied a multilevel approach to the management of spasticity associated with cerebral palsy (CP). All of the following factors are important in forming an integrated strategy for botulinum toxin type A (BTX‐A) therapy: the timing of injections, patient selection, multilevel BTX‐A treatment, optimal dosage and injection technique, follow‐up treatment and objective measurements of functional outcome. Data on all these factors are presented here. CP patients had a mean age of 6.5 years (n = 315), and the dose of BTX‐A (BOTOX®) ranged from 2 to 29 U/kg body weight (n= 156). The combination of muscles injected in our multilevel approach differed for patients with diplegia, hemiplegia and quadriplegia: patients with hemiplegia received injections in the gastrocnemius and medial hamstrings; this combination was extended to the adductors for patients with diplegia and quadriplegia (n= 156). For patients with quadriplegia, muscles in a three‐level (gastrocnemius, medial hamstrings, adductors and iliopsoas) or two‐level (excluding the gastrocnemius) combination were also frequently injected. The duration of effect of BTX‐A treatment was mainly determined by follow‐up treatment consisting of: serial casting, day and night orthoses and physiotherapy. No major side effects of BTX‐A were reported. This integrated approach appears to prolong the duration of BTX‐A treatment, resulting in a duration of about 1 year between injections.
Use of spasmography to assess the effects of botulinum toxin type A in patients with lower‐limb spasticity
Authors: Link Andrea , Kabus Christian , Haas Judith
Published: July 2007

Lower‐limb spasticity is one of the main features of advanced multiple sclerosis (MS), and botulinum toxin type A (BTX‐A) is known to be effective in the treatment of lower‐limb spasticity. Two hundred randomly selected MS outpatients were analysed for spasticity using clinical scores. Of the 200 randomly selected MS outpatients, 23% had marked or severe spasticity. Hence, the aims of this study were to investigate the effect of BTX‐A injections in MS patients with lower‐limb spasticity refractory to conventional treatment, and to evaluate the new method of spasmography for analysing muscle tone. Fifteen MS patients (mean MS duration, 11.2 years) with spasticity of the lower limbs were injected with BTX‐A (BOTOX®) into the affected muscles. A control group of 15 healthy volunteers was analysed by spasmography. In the 15 MS patients, the Modified Ashworth Scale scores for the left and right legs were significantly lower than baseline values (P < 0.05) at 3 and 6 weeks post‐treatment. At 6 weeks post‐treatment, the spasmography measures (n= 12) of mean muscle tone and mean maximum muscle tone of both legs in passive mode were significantly reduced (P < 0.05) compared with baseline. The time to walk 10 m (n = 9) was significantly reduced compared with baseline (P < 0.05) at 3 and 6 weeks post‐treatment. No adverse events were reported for any patients treated with BTX‐A. These data indicate that BTX‐A is effective and safe in the treatment of lower‐limb spasticity, and that spasmography is a useful method for assessing therapeutic intervention in Spasticity.
Blood‐based neurochemical diagnosis of vascular dementia: a pilot study
Authors: Bibl Mirko , Esselmann Hermann , Mollenhauer Brit , Weniger Godehard , Welge Volker , Liess Michael , Lewczuk Piotr , Otto Markus , Schulz Jörg B , Trenkwalder Claudia , Kornhuber Johannes , Wiltfang Jens
Published: July 2007

Blood‐based tests for the differential diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are under intensive investigation and have shown promising results with regard to Aβ40 and Aβ42 peptide species in incipient AD. Moreover, plasma Aβ40 was suggested as an independent cerebrovascular risk factor candidate. These considerations prompted us to analyse a total of 72 plasma samples in vascular dementias (VAD, n = 15), AD with cerebrovascular disease (AD with CVD, n = 7), AD (n = 15), Parkinson’s disease and Parkinson’s disease dementia (PD/PDD, n = 20) and 15 patients with depression that served as controls (DC) for distinct plasma amyloid‐beta (Aβ) peptide patterns. For the analysis of plasma we used immunoprecipitation followed by the quantitative Aβ‐SDS‐PAGE/immunoblot. For comparison, CSF tau and Aβ1–42 analyses were performed. The major outcome was an increase in Aβ1–40 in plasma of VAD paralleled by a decrease in the ratio of Aβ1–38/Aβ1–40. The ratio Aβ1–38/Aβ1–40 in plasma enabled contrasts of beyond 85% and 80% for discriminating VAD from DC and all other patients, respectively. In CSF, we confirmed the typical CSF biomarker constellation of increased tau and diminished Aβ1–42 levels for AD. The diagnostic accuracy of plasma Aβ1–38/Aβ1–40 for VAD resembled the accuracy of CSF biomarkers for AD. From the presented results, we consider the ratio of plasma Aβ1–38/Aβ1–40 peptides to be a blood‐based biomarker candidate for VAD.
Effects of zinc on SN56 cholinergic neuroblastoma cells
Authors: Ronowska Anna , Gul‐Hinc Sylwia , Bielarczyk Hanna , Pawełczyk Tadeusz , Szutowicz Andrzej
Published: July 2007

Zinc is a trace element necessary for proper development and function of brain cells. However, excessive accumulation of zinc exerts several cytotoxic effects in the brain. The aim of this work was to see whether cytotoxic effects of zinc are quantitatively correlated with changes in acetyl‐CoA metabolism. The zinc levels up to 0.20 mmol/L caused concentration‐dependent inhibition of pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) activity that correlated with the increase in trypan blue‐positive fraction and the decrease in cultured cell number (r = 0.96,p = 0.0001). Chronic exposure of cells to 0.15 mmol/L zinc decreased choline acetyltransferase and aconitase activities, cytoplasmic acetyl‐CoA and whole cell ATP level by 38%, 57%, 35%, and 62%, respectively but caused no change in mitochondrial acetyl‐CoA level and activities of other enzymes of glycolytic and tricarboxylic acid cycle.dl‐α‐lipoamide when added simultaneously with zinc to cultured cells or their homogenates attenuated its chronic or acute suppressive effects. In homogenates of chronically Zn‐treated cells, lipoamide overcame PDH but not aconitase inhibition. Presented data indicate that acute‐transient elevation of zinc caused reversible inhibition of PDH, aconitase activities and acetyl‐CoA metabolism, which when prolonged could lead to irreversible enzyme inactivation yielding decrease in cell viability and secondary suppression of their cholinergic phenotype.
Islamic banking and finance: postcolonial political economy and the decentring of economic geography
Authors: Pollard Jane , Samers Michael
Published: July 2007

A significant trend in global finance over the last 15 years has been the rapid growth of Islamic banking and finance (IBF), which has gathered momentum to become a significant feature of the financial landscape in the twenty‐first century. This paper explores the increasingly ‘Western’ character of IBF and has two key aims. First, we address the remarkably under‐theorized status of IBF by considering how various economic geographical and social theories might conceptualize its development. Second, and emerging from our reservations with these literatures, we argue that IBF exposes some of the limits of Western‐centred readings of economic geographies and we chart a path towards a postcolonial political‐economic geography. Postcolonial critiques are useful in two senses. First they provide a different set of lenses for understanding IBF as a self‐consciously ‘other’ set of economic and social practices and second, they push us to reconsider or ‘provincialize’ our understandings of normative, hegemonic economic practices and knowledges, including ‘conventional’ banking and finance. In essence, the growth of IBF is a stimulus for economic geographers to consider how, for what purposes and from where they theorize – a task that is long overdue.
Stories around food, politics and change in Poland and the Czech Republic
Authors: Smith Joe , Jehlička Petr
Published: July 2007

This study of the politics of food production/consumption in Poland and the Czech Republic brings together food and post‐socialist studies. The food stories explored in the paper, relating to packaging, restaurant dining, self‐provisioning and the emergence of an organic food sector, open up the politics of everyday life in these significant cases. We show that there are diverse responses to ‘transition’ that are resistant or alternative to dominant narratives of linear progression towards Western ‘normality’. This finding is of wider significance at a time when debates about globalization and sustainability are promoting searches for alternative economic forms and practices.
Fluvial geomorphology and semiotics: a Wittgensteinian perspective of the ‘divide’ between human and physical geography
Authors: Couper Pauline
Published: July 2007

This paper presents a broadly realist, pragmatist view of geography, drawing on the work of Wittgenstein to consider the role of language in the divide between human and physical geography. The possibility that we may have ideas that are structured similarly but expressed differently is illustrated through the application of Peircean semiotics to a hierarchy of geomorphological processes in a river system. The resulting ‘scalar semiotic fluvial hierarchy’ allows some of the criticisms of hierarchy to be addressed, and offers geomorphologists a framework for understanding multiple cross‐scale process interactions. Finally, the implications of a Wittgensteinian perspective for geography are considered.
Costa Rica's Payment for Environmental Services Program: Intention, Implementation, and Impact
Authors: SÁNCHEZ‐AZOFEIFA G. ARTURO , PFAFF ALEXANDER , ROBALINO JUAN ANDRES , BOOMHOWER JUDSON P.
Published: July 2007

Abstract:  We evaluated the intention, implementation, and impact of Costa Rica's program of payments for environmental services (PSA), which was established in the late 1990s. Payments are given to private landowners who own land in forest areas in recognition of the ecosystem services their land provides. To characterize the distribution of PSA in Costa Rica, we combined remote sensing with geographic information system databases and then used econometrics to explore the impacts of payments on deforestation. Payments were distributed broadly across ecological and socioeconomic gradients, but the 1997–2000 deforestation rate was not significantly lower in areas that received payments. Other successful Costa Rican conservation policies, including those prior to the PSA program, may explain the current reduction in deforestation rates. The PSA program is a major advance in the global institutionalization of ecosystem investments because few, if any, other countries have such a conservation history and because much can be learned from Costa Rica's experiences.