bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Personal characteristics associated with consistency of recall of depressed or anhedonic mood in the 13‐year follow‐up of the Baltimore Epidemiologic Catchment Area Survey
Authors: Thompson R. , Bogner H. R. , Coyne J. C. , Gallo J. J. , Eaton W. W.
Published: December 2004

Objective:  Our study addressed two primary questions: (1) How reliable is long‐term recall of lifetime history of episodes of depressed mood? (2) What characteristics are associated with consistent recall of this history?

Method:  Psychiatric symptoms were assessed in a population‐based longitudinal survey of 1498 persons twice, in 1981 and 1994. Respondents whose reports of history of depressed affect were discordant after a 13‐year follow‐up interval were compared with those whose reports were concordant.

Results:  Absence of a reported history of episode of depressed mood was more consistently recalled than presence of such an episode. The kappa of reported lifetime history of episode of depressed mood was 0.32. Several personal characteristics predicted consistency of recall.

Conclusion:  If assessment of past episodes of depressed mood is used as guide for identifying cases at risk for depression, account must be taken of the personal factors that might influence recall.
Subthreshold depression as a risk indicator for major depressive disorder: a systematic review of prospective studies
Authors: Cuijpers P. , Smit F.
Published: December 2004

Objective:  In order to examine whether the incidence of major depressive disorder (MDD) is increased in subjects with subthreshold depression, or sD (clinically relevant depressive symptoms, without meeting criteria for a full‐blown MDD), we conducted a review of prospective studies examining the incidence of MDD in subjects with sD.

Method:  A systematic literature search was conducted. For all studies, the relative risk of developing MDD was calculated, based on person‐years.

Results:  Twenty studies (23 comparisons) were found, based on community samples, general medical patients and high‐risk subjects. Most comparisons showed that subjects with sD had a consistently larger chance of developing MDD. The studies differed considerably in the definition of sD, the recency (occurrence of the last sD) and the in‐/exclusion of lifetime MDD.

Conclusion:  The incidence of MDD in subjects with sD is larger than in subjects without sD. Otherwise, the concept of sD is too broad to be used. In future studies, some consensus should be reached regarding the definition of sD.
High neuroticism and depressive temperament are associated with dysfunctional regulation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenocortical system in healthy volunteers
Authors: Zobel A. , Barkow K. , Schulze‐Rauschenbach S. , Von Widdern O. , Metten M. , Pfeiffer U. , Schnell S. , Wagner M. , Maier W.
Published: December 2004

Objective:  Elevated neuroticism, depressive temperament and dysfunctional regulation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenocortical (HPA) system are considered as risk factors for unipolar depression. An interaction of these vulnerability factors was suggested, but controversially discussed. In absence of other informative studies we set out for a replication test and for elucidation of the underlying mechanism.

Method:  Ninety‐two subjects recruited in the community‐performed assessments of personality and temperament as well as measurement of HPA function with the dexamethasone/corticotropin‐releasing hormone (Dex/CRH) test.

Results:  Cortisol levels subsequent to Dex/CRH challenge were associated with neuroticism; high‐neuroticism subjects revealed a higher HPA activation. This difference was mainly because of male subjects ≥25 years. A similar relationship was observed for depressive temperament.

Conclusion:  This constellation may propose that HPA dysregulation is the endocrinological basis for neuroticism and depressive temperament; this result supports the view that distinct personality factors and HPA vulnerability interact in mediating depression.
Pleasurable auditory hallucinations
Authors: Sanjuan J. , Gonzalez J. C. , Aguilar E. J. , Leal C. , van Os J.
Published: December 2004

Objective:  The focus in auditory hallucination (AH) research is usually on the negative impact of the experience itself. There are practically no studies on whether voices can be perceived as pleasurable. The aim of the present study was to assess the frequency of voices as a pleasurable experience in a psychotic patient population.

Method:  A total of 160 patients with AHs (89 schizophrenia and 17 other psychoses) were assessed with the psychotic symptom rating scale (PSYRATS) for AHs, including an added item on whether the experience was pleasurable.

Results:  Twenty‐eight patients (26%) reported the voices as a pleasurable experience and 10 of them did so frequently. Pleasurable hallucinations showed negative associations with amount and intensity of distress, degree of negative content and loudness. Positive associations were apparent with chronicity and perceived control over the voices.

Conclusion:  Pleasurable hallucinations can be detected in a substantial proportion of patients, and cross validated with existing instruments.
Amisulpride augmentation of clozapine: an open non‐randomized study in patients with schizophrenia partially responsive to clozapine
Authors: Munro J. , Matthiasson P. , Osborne S. , Travis M. , Purcell S. , Cobb A. M. , Launer M. , Beer M. D. , Kerwin R.
Published: December 2004

Objective:  Treatment options are very limited for individuals with schizophrenia resistant to clozapine. We tested the hypothesis that amisulpride augmentation would lead to an improvement in these patients.

Method:  This was an open non‐randomized study. Thirty‐three patients with sub‐optimal response to clozapine were commenced on amisulpride in addition to clozapine. Clinical status was evaluated at baseline, 3 and 6 months using the Positive And Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS), Global Assessment Scale (GAS), Calgary Depression Scale, Calgary Anxiety Scale and various side effect rating scales.

Results:  Twenty‐eight subjects completed 6 months treatment on clozapine and amisulpride. There was a statistically significant improvement in the mean scores for PANSS, SANS and GAS at follow‐up and no significant changes in side effect ratings.

Conclusion:  Co‐administration of amisulpride, in a group of patients partially or non‐responsive to clozapine, may lead to a substantial improvement in positive and negative symptoms, without worsening the side effect burden.
Hypofrontality in schizophrenia: a meta‐analysis of functional imaging studies
Authors: Hill K. , Mann L. , Laws K. R. , Stephenson C. M. E. , Nimmo‐Smith I. , McKenna P. J.
Published: December 2004

Objective:  Hypofrontality is not a well‐replicated finding in schizophrenia either at rest or under conditions of task activation.

Method:  Studies comparing whole brain and frontal blood flow/metabolism in schizophrenic patients and normal controls were pooled. Voxel‐based studies were also combined to examine the pattern of prefrontal activation in schizophrenia.

Results:  Whole brain flow/metabolism was reduced in schizophrenia to only a small extent. Resting and activation frontal flow/metabolism were both reduced with a medium effect size. Duration of illness significantly moderated resting hypofrontality, but the moderating effects of neuroleptic treatment were consistent with an influence on global flow/metabolism only. Pooling of voxel‐based studies did not suggest an abnormal pattern of activation in schizophrenia.

Conclusion:  Meta‐analysis supports resting hypofrontality in schizophrenia. Task‐activated hypofrontality is also supported, but there is little from voxel‐based studies to suggest that this is associated with an altered pattern of regional functional architecture.
Does duration of untreated psychosis bias study samples of first‐episode psychosis?
Authors: Friis S. , Melle I. , Larsen T. K. , Haahr U. , Johannessen J. O. , Simonsen E. , Opjordsmoen S. , Vaglum P. , McGlashan T. H.
Published: December 2004

Objective:  While findings are contradictory, many studies report that long Duration of Untreated Psychosis (DUP) correlates with poorer outcome in first episode psychosis. In an outcome study of first‐episode psychosis, we compared the patients who refused to participate in a follow‐along with those who consented to estimate the importance of this factor in sample recruitment bias. Our questions were: (i) What is the percentage of refusers? (ii) Are there systematic differences between refusers and consenters on DUP and/or other admission variables? (iii) What is the risk of refusal for different values of DUP?

Method:  In an unselected group of consecutively admitted patients we compared follow‐along refusers and consenters on the following admission variables: sex, age, diagnostic group, substance abuse, being in‐patient, coming from an early detection site and DUP. We conducted a logistic regression analysis with refusal as the outcome variable.

Results:  Ninety‐three of 397 patients (23%) were refusers. In univariate analyses the only significant difference was found for DUP. The median DUP for consenters was 10 weeks and for refusers 32 weeks. DUP remained significant when all independent variables were controlled for.

Conclusion:  DUP was significantly related to risk for refusal. For tests of the impact of DUP on outcome, this may introduce a type II error bias.
Studies with Synthetic Peptides of 80 kDa Human Sperm Antigen (80 kDa HSA)
Authors: Vernekar Vandana J. , Bandivdekar A. H. , Raghavan Vijaya P. , Kamada M. , Koide S. S.
Published: December 2004

Problem:  The 80 kDa human sperm antigen (HSA) is a sperm‐specific and conserved antigen, capable of inducing immunological infertility. Partial N‐terminal amino acid sequences of 80 kDa HSA (Peptide NT) and its peptides obtained by digestion with endoproteinase Lys‐C (peptides 1–4) and endoproteinase Glu‐C (peptides 5–6) did not show any sequence homology with reported known proteins deposited in the Gen‐Bank. These sequenced peptides were synthesized and conjugated to key hole limpet haemocyanin (KLH) and evaluated for its antifertility effects. The present communication describes the characterization of these peptides and their antibodies.

Method of study:  Peptides NT, 1, 2, 3 and 4 were synthesized and conjugated to KLH. Antibodies to KLH conjugated peptides were raised in rabbits by active immunization and the antibody titer was determined by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using sperm extract coated wells. The binding specificity of the synthetic peptides or purified 80 kDa HSA to their antibodies was assessed in the presence of various doses of respective synthetic peptides or 80 kDa HSA. The binding specificity was further confirmed by Western blot analysis. Antipeptide antibodies were also checked for sperm agglutinating activity, in‐vitro.

Results:  Active immunization of rabbits elicited significant antibody titers against the synthetic peptides, except for peptide 3. Antipeptide antibodies specifically recognized the native protein in an ELISA and induced in‐vitro agglutination of human, rat and monkey sperm. In addition, Western blot analysis showed that these antipeptide antibodies specifically bind to the 80 kDa HSA band of the sperm extract.

Conclusion:  Synthetic peptides of 80 kDa HSA are immunogenic and antibodies raised against these peptides recognize the native protein detected by ELISA, Western blot analysis. In addition, they possess sperm agglutinating activity. These findings suggest that they are promising candidates in the development of immunocontraceptives.
Reduced voluntary activation of human skeletal muscle during shortening and lengthening contractions in whole body hyperthermia
Authors: Martin Peter G. , Marino Frank E. , Rattey Jodie , Kay Derek , Cannon Jack
Published: December 2004

This study examined the effect of whole body hyperthermia on the voluntary activation of exercised and non‐exercised skeletal muscle performing a series of lengthening and shortening contractions. Thirteen subjects exercised on a cycle ergometer at 60% of maximal oxygen consumption until voluntary exhaustion in ambient conditions of ∼40°C and 60% relative humidity. Before and immediately following the cycle protocol, subjects performed a series of 25 continuous isokinetic shortening and lengthening maximal voluntary contractions (MVCs) of the leg extensors and forearm flexors. Voluntary activation for shortening and lengthening contractions for the forearm and leg was assessed prior to and following the 25 MVCs by superimposing a paired electrical stimulus to the femoral nerve and the biceps brachii during additional MVCs. Exercise to exhaustion increased rectal temperature to 39.35 ± 0.50°C. Voluntary activation remained unchanged following the prehyperthermia endurance set of shortening and lengthening maximal contractions in both the forearm flexors and leg extensors. Similarly, voluntary activation remained at prehyperthermic levels for the single MVCs immediately following the cycle trial. However, by the time of completion of the posthyperthermia endurance contractions, voluntary activation had declined significantly by 5.87 ± 7.56 and 8.46 ± 9.26% in the shortening and lengthening phases, respectively, for the leg extensors but not for the forearm flexors. These results indicate that the central nervous system (CNS) reduces voluntary drive to skeletal muscle performing both shortening and lengthening contractions following exercise‐induced hyperthermia. The reductions in voluntary activation were only observed following a series of dynamic movements, indicating that the CNS allows for initial and brief ‘re‐activation’ of skeletal muscle following exercise‐induced hyperthermia.
Visfatin: A Protein Secreted by Visceral Fat That Mimics the Effects of Insulin
Authors: Fukuhara Atsunori , Matsuda Morihiro , Nishizawa Masako , Segawa Katsumori , Tanaka Masaki , Kishimoto Kae , Matsuki Yasushi , Murakami Mirei , Ichisaka Tomoko , Murakami Hiroko , Watanabe Eijiro , Takagi Toshiyuki , Akiyoshi Megumi , Ohtsubo Tsuguteru , Kihara Shinji , Yamashita Shizuya , Makishima Makoto , Funahashi Tohru , Yamanaka Shinya , Hiramatsu Ryuji , Matsuzawa Yuji , Shimomura Iichiro
Published: December 2004

Fat tissue produces a variety of secreted proteins (adipocytokines) with important roles in metabolism. We isolated a newly identified adipocytokine, visfatin, that is highly enriched in the visceral fat of both humans and mice and whose expression level in plasma increases during the development of obesity. Visfatin corresponds to a protein identified previously as pre–B cell colony-enhancing factor (PBEF), a 52-kilodalton cytokine expressed in lymphocytes. Visfatin exerted insulin-mimetic effects in cultured cells and lowered plasma glucose levels in mice. Mice heterozygous for a targeted mutation in the visfatin gene had modestly higher levels of plasma glucose relative to wild-type littermates. Surprisingly, visfatin binds to and activates the insulin receptor. Further study of visfatin's physiological role may lead to new insights into glucose homeostasis and/or new therapies for metabolic disorders such as diabetes.
Observation of Large Water-Cluster Anions with Surface-Bound Excess Electrons
Authors: Verlet J. R. R. , Bragg A. E. , Kammrath A. , Cheshnovsky O. , Neumark D. M.
Published: December 2004

Anionic water clusters have long been studied to infer properties of the bulk hydrated electron. We used photoelectron imaging to characterize a class of (H
2
O)

n

–
and (D
2
O)

n

–
cluster anions (
n
≤ 200 molecules) with vertical binding energies that are significantly lower than those previously recorded. The data are consistent with a structure in which the excess electron is bound to the surface of the cluster. This result implies that the excess electron in previously observed water-cluster anions, with higher vertical binding energies, was internally solvated. Thus, the properties of those clusters could be extrapolated to those of the bulk hydrated electron.
AN APPLICATION OF FIRST-ORDER LOGIC TO THE STUDY OF RECOGNIZABLE LANGUAGES
Authors: SILVA PEDRO V.
Published: December 2004

A variation of first-order logic with variables for exponents is developed to solve some problems in the setting of recognizable languages on the free monoid, accommodating operators such as product, bounded shuffle and reversion. Restricting the operators to powers and product, analogous results are obtained for recognizable languages of an arbitrary finitely generated monoid M, in particular for a free inverse monoid of finite rank. As a consequence, it is shown to be decidable whether or not a recognizable subset of M is pure or p-pure.
THE GLOBALS OF SOME SUBPSEUDOVARIETIES OF $\mathsf{DA}$
Authors: ALMEIDA J. , ESCADA A.
Published: December 2004

Let [Formula: see text] be the pseudovariety of all finite monoids whose principal right ideals have a unique generator, let [Formula: see text] be its dual, and let [Formula: see text]. Using the word problem for free pro-[Formula: see text] monoids, it is shown that the bilateral semidirect product [Formula: see text] is local, where [Formula: see text] denotes the pseudovariety of all finite semilattices. The global of the pseudovariety where [Formula: see text] is also computed and it is shown that this join is not local.
THE GROUPS OF RICHARD THOMPSON AND COMPLEXITY
Authors: BIRGET JEAN-CAMILLE
Published: December 2004

We prove new results about the remarkable infinite simple groups introduced by Richard Thompson in the 1960s. We give a faithful representation in the Cuntz C⋆-algebra. For the finitely presented simple group V we show that the word-length and the table size satisfy an n log n relation. We show that the word problem of V belongs to the parallel complexity class AC1 (a subclass of P), whereas the generalized word problem of V is undecidable.

We study the distortion functions of V and show that V contains all finite direct products of finitely generated free groups as subgroups with linear distortion. As a consequence, up to polynomial equivalence of functions, the following three sets are the same: the set of distortions of V, the set of Dehn functions of finitely presented groups, and the set of time complexity functions of nondeterministic Turing machines.
IDEMPOTENT POINTLIKE SETS
Authors: HENCKELL KARSTEN
Published: December 2004

In this paper we answer a question posed by John Rhodes: "What are the aperiodic-idempotent-pointlike subsemigroups of S?" Answer: Precisely those aperiodic-pointlike subsemigroups that are idempotents, i.e. EPlA(S)={X|X≤E=E2∈PlA(S)}. In the proof we define, for a given variety V (closed under n-tuple expansion) and a given relation R:S-V∈V computing the V-pointlike subsets of S, an "improved" relation R(n):S-V(n) that computes the V-idempotent-pointlike subsemigroups of S. Consequently, for any W with decidable membership problem W ⓜ A is decidable.
REFLEXIVE RELATIONS, EXTENSIVE TRANSFORMATIONS AND PIECEWISE TESTABLE LANGUAGES OF A GIVEN HEIGHT
Authors: VOLKOV M. V.
Published: December 2004

Straubing deduced from Simon's theorem that monoids of reflexive relations as well as monoids of order preserving extensive transformations generate the pseudovariety of [Formula: see text]-trivial monoids. We refine these results by showing that each pseudovariety in Simon's hierarchy of [Formula: see text]-trivial monoids is generated by a single relation/transformation monoid. From this and from some results by Blanchet–Sadri we obtain a complete solution of the finite basis problem for Straubing's monoids.
ON SEMIGROUPS WHOSE IDEMPOTENT-GENERATED SUBSEMIGROUP IS APERIODIC
Authors: DELGADO MANUEL , FERNANDES VÍTOR H. , MARGOLIS STUART , STEINBERG BENJAMIN
Published: December 2004

We show that if S is a finite semigroup with aperiodic idempotent-generated subsemigroup and H is a pseudovariety of groups, then the sequence of iterated H-kernels of S stops at the idempotent-generated subsemigroup if and only if each subgroup of S belongs to the wreath product closure of H. Applications are given to Mal'cev products.
CONTEXTUAL OBJECTIVITY AND THE QUANTUM FORMALISM
Authors: GRANGIER PHILIPPE
Published: December 2004

The "new orthodoxy" of quantum mechanics (QM) based on the decoherence approach requires many-worlds as an essential ingredient for logical consistency, and one may wonder what status to give to all these "other worlds." Here we advocate that it is possible to build a consistent approach to QM where no other worlds are needed, and where the quantum formalism appears as a consequence of requiring the enumerability of physical properties. Such a quantization hypothesis is closely related to indistinguishability, and is deeply inconsistent with classical physics.
EVANESCENT WAVES AND SUPER-RESOLUTION EFFECTS
Authors: BEN-ARYEH Y.
Published: December 2004

The super-resolution effects obtained by monochromatic evanescent waves are related to many photon momentum cooperative effects reducing the propagation wavelength inversely proportional to the photon momentum number and increasing the resolution far beyond the Rayleigh criterion. The quantization of such monochromatic waves is made in momentum space using a special dispersion relation.
MINIMUM OUTPUT ENTROPY OF A GAUSSIAN BOSONIC CHANNEL
Authors: GIOVANNETTI VITTORIO , MACCONE LORENZO , GUHA SAIKAT , LLOYD SETH , SHAPIRO JEFFREY H. , YEN BRENT J.
Published: December 2004

The entropy at the output of a Bosonic channel is analyzed when coherent fields are randomly added to the signal. Coherent-state inputs are conjectured to provide the minimum output entropy. Supporting physical and mathematical evidence is provided.
AN ANATOMY OF A QUANTUM ADIABATIC ALGORITHM THAT TRANSCENDS THE TURING COMPUTABILITY
Authors: KIEU TIEN D.
Published: December 2004

We give an update on a quantum adiabatic algorithm for the Turing noncomputable Hilbert's tenth problem, and briefly go over some relevant issues and misleading objections to the algorithm.
FROM TRANSMISSIVE TO INTERACTIVE MODEL IN COMMUNICATION AND LEARNING
Authors: ROSSI PIER GIUSEPPE
Published: December 2004

This special issue gives us the chance to focus on meaningful interaction fields, which are not only possible, but also often necessary. Our aim is to point out many relevant similarities in our disciplines, in spite of the relative different languages and theories we use. Moreover, we would like to find the areas where new instruments and technologies are necessary, to give a new energy to a quite immobile research. Even if this research seems quite far from quantum information, we will try to show you that your questions are closer to what we are studying. Thanks to an extremely specific approach, special issue points out relevant themes, also for humanities faculties. We will consider the relation between communication models and learning/teaching ones; both in communication and in learning, the transmissive model has changed into the interactive model. The methods and technologies we have are not always satisfactory. That is why this special issue seems so interesting to us.
THE QUANTUM SUPERPOSITION PRINCIPLE JUSTIFIED IN A NEW NON-ARISTOTELIAN FINITARY LOGIC
Authors: SRINIVASAN RADHAKRISHNAN
Published: December 2004

In the proposed non-Aristotelian finitary logic (NAFL), truths for formal propositions can exist only with respect to axiomatic theories, essentially as temporary axiomatic declarations in the human mind. An undecidable proposition P in a consistent NAFL theory T is true/false with respect to T if and only if it has been axiomatically declared as true/false by virtue of its provability/refutability in an interpretation T* of T. In the absence of any such axiomatic declarations, P is in a superposed state of 'neither true nor false' and the consistency of T requires the existence of a non-classical model for T in which P&¬P is the case. Here T* is an axiomatic NAFL theory that, like T, resides in the human mind and acts as the 'truth-maker' for (a model of) T. Quantum superposition is justified by identifying 'axiomatic declarations' for the truth/falsity of P (by virtue of its provability/refutability in T*) with 'measurement' in the real world. NAFL also explains and de-mystifies the phenomenon of entanglement. NAFL severely restricts classical infinitary reasoning, but possibly provides sufficient machinery for a consistent axiomatization of quantum mechanics.
MACROSCOPIC ENTANGLEMENT
Authors: VITALI DAVID , TOMBESI PAOLO
Published: December 2004

We show how collective vibrational modes of two distant mirrors of an optical Fabry–Perot cavity can be entangled by the light bouncing between them. Such an entanglement can be demonstrated even at the macroscopic level of vibrational modes with an effective mass of the order of milligrams.
SOLVING (n×n) LINEAR EQUATIONS WITH PARAMETERS COVARIANCES
Authors: CHARNSETHIKUL PEERAYUTH
Published: December 2004

The aim of this paper is to propose numerical models and methods for solving (n×n) linear equations, AX=b where parameters in the matrix A and the vector b are random and correlated. In case of a probabilistic b and a deterministic A, the amount of second order co-variances computation is equivalent to solving the (n×n) problem sequentially n times with additional efforts of performing a Cholesky factorization plus a symmetric matrix multiplication of size n×n while the complexity for kth order correlation can be proven to be O(nk+1). For randomness in both A and b with an assumption of multidimensional Gaussian distribution, two systems of linear equations with size n2(n+1) and n(n+1)/2 are derived and can be solved sequentially to obtain the desired statistical parameters up to the second order of X. Both approaches are coded as Matlab M-files, complied and run to test their efficiency. For higher order correlation with non-Gaussian distribution, an approximation scheme is proposed. Two applications in optimization are discussed.
SHOCK WAVE COSMOLOGY INSIDE A BLACK HOLE: THE CASE OF NON-CRITICAL EXPANSION
Authors: SMOLLER JOEL , TEMPLE BLAKE
Published: December 2004

We derive and analyze the equations that extend the results in [20,21] to the case of non-critical expansion k≠0. By an asymptotic argument we show that the equation of state [Formula: see text] plays the same distinguished role in the analysis when k≠0 as it does when k=0: only for this equation of state does the shock emerge from the Big Bang at a finite nonzero speed — the speed of light. We also obtain a simple closed system that extends the case [Formula: see text] considered in [20,21] to the case of a general positive, increasing, convex equation of state p=p(ρ).
The Globalization of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity
Authors: Robbins Joel
Published: December 2004

▪ Abstract  Pentecostal-charismatic Christianity (P/c), the form of Christianity in which believers receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit, is rapidly spreading and can be counted as one of the great success stories of the current era of cultural globalization. Literature on P/c presents a paradoxical picture of the cultural dynamics accompanying its spread. Many scholars argue that P/c is markedly successful in replicating itself in canonical form everywhere it spreads, whereas others stress its ability to adapt itself to the cultures into which it is introduced. Authors thus use P/c to support both theories that construe globalization as a process of Westernizing homogenization and those that understand it as a process of indigenizing differentiation. This review argues that approaches to P/c globalization need to recognize that P/c posesses cultural features that allow it, in most cases, to work in both ways at once. After considering definitional and historical issues and explanations for P/c's spread, the review examines how P/c culture at once preserves its distinctness from the cultures into which it comes into contact and engages those cultures on their own terms. Also discussed are the conceptions that allow P/c to establish locally run and supported institutions in a wide range of settings. A final section considers the nature of the culture P/c, in its homogenizing guise, introduces, examining that culture's relation to modernity and its effects on converts' ideas about gender, politics, and economics.
Anthropology and Circumcision
Authors: Silverman Eric K.
Published: December 2004

This chapter reviews the anthropology of male and female circumcision over the past century. After surveying classic sociocultural and psychodynamic interpretations of male circumcision, I shift to the biblical and Jewish rite, focusing on gender symbolism and counter-hegemonic practice within European-Christian society. The chapter then reviews the relationship between male circumcision in sub-Saharan Africa and reduced rates of HIV. Next, I address female circumcision, focusing again on symbolism but especially on highly impassioned debates over cultural relativism and human rights, medical complications, criticism and imperialism, and female agency versus brute patriarchy. What are the moral, political, and scientific obligations of anthropology to a cultural practice that is increasingly vilified in Western popular culture and jurisprudence? Should anthropology advocate eradication, contextualize Western opposition, or critique one's own bodily practices? Finally, I critically analyze the growing movement to ban the medical and ritual circumcision of infant boys in the West.
The Body Beautiful: Symbolism and Agency in the Social World
Authors: Reischer Erica , Koo Kathryn S.
Published: December 2004

The prominence of the body in popular culture has prompted intense academic interest in recent decades. Seeking to overturn a naturalistic approach to the body as a biological given, this broad literature redefines the body as a sociocultural and historical phenomenon. Within anthropology, two primary theoretical orientations toward the body have emerged: the body as “symbol” and the body as “agent.” This review article provides an overview of these dominant theoretical approaches in the context of recent scholarship on body ideals and, in particular, the body beautiful. The review explores also the body beautiful as a primary site for the construction and performance of gender, and specifically of femininity, with examples drawn from the abundant literature on women's bodies.
Thinking About Cannibalism
Authors: Lindenbaum Shirley
Published: December 2004

The discourse of cannibalism, which began in the encounter between Europe and the Americas, became a defining feature of the colonial experience in the New World, especially in the Pacific. The idea of exoticism, like that of the primitive, is also a Western construct linked to the exploring/conquering/cataloguing impulse of colonialism. We now live in a world where those we once called exotic live among us, defining their own identities, precluding our ability to define ourselves in opposition to “others” and to represent our own culture as universal. This chapter reviews anthropological approaches to cannibalism and suggests that we may now be in a position to exorcise the stigma associated with the notion of the primitive. If we reflect on the reality of cannibal practices among ourselves as well as others, we can contribute to dislodging the savage/civilized opposition that was once essential to the formation of the modern Western self and Western forms of knowledge.
The World in Dress: Anthropological Perspectives on Clothing, Fashion, and Culture
Authors: Hansen Karen Tranberg
Published: December 2004

Clothing research has attracted renewed interest in anthropology over the past two decades, experiencing a florescence that had been kept within bounds by reigning theoretical paradigms. The works have been influenced by general explanatory shifts in anthropology, which inform disparate bodies of clothing research that otherwise have little unity. The most noticeable trend is a preoccupation with agency, practice, and performance that considers the dressed body as both subject in, and object of, dress practice. The turn to consumption as a site and process of meaning making is evident also in clothing research. Dress has been analyzed, by and large, as representing something else rather than something in its own right, although new efforts to reengage materiality suggest that this approach is changing. Little work has been done on clothing production issues, though some scholars examine the significance of dress in the context of the entire economic circuit and the unequal relationships between its actors.
Christianity in Africa: From African Independent to Pentecostal-Charismatic Churches
Authors: Meyer Birgit
Published: December 2004

▪ Abstract  Taking as a point of departure Fernandez's survey (1978), this review seeks to show how research on African Independent Churches (AICs) has been reconfigured by new approaches to the anthropology of Christianity in Africa, in general, and the recent salient popularity of Pentecostal-Charismatic Churches (PCCs) in particular. If the adjectives “African” and “Independent” were once employed as markers of authentic, indigenous interpretations of Christianity, these terms proved to be increasingly problematic to capture the rise, spread, and phenomenal appeal of PCCs in Africa. Identifying three discursive frames—Christianity and “traditional religion,” Africa and “the wider world,” religion and politics—which organize(d) research on AICs and PCCs in the course of the past 25 years, this chapter critically reviews discussions about “Africanization,” globalization and modernity, and the role of religion in the public sphere in postcolonial African societies.
Language Birth and Death
Authors: Mufwene Salikoko S.
Published: December 2004

▪ Abstract  Since the late 1980s, language endangerment and death have been discussed as if the phenomena had no connection at all with language birth. More recently the phenomena have been associated almost exclusively with the intense and pervasive economic globalization of same period, a process that some authors have reduced too easily to the McDonaldization phenomenon. Moreover, the relation of globalization to different forms of colonization has been poorly articulated. As a matter of fact, little of the longer history of population movements and contacts since the dawn of agriculture has been invoked in the literature on language endangerment to give some broader perspective on the mechanisms of language birth and death and on the ecological factors that bear on how they proceed. This review aims to remedy these shortcomings in our scholarship.
Language Revitalization and New Technologies: Cultures of Electronic Mediation and the Refiguring of Communities
Authors: Eisenlohr Patrick
Published: December 2004

▪ Abstract  Recently, language activists and linguists have begun using new technologies in projects aimed at revitalizing the practice of lesser-used languages. This review explores related work, emphasizing how practices of electronic mediation enabled by such technologies both shape and are informed by linguistic ideologies, which in turn crucially influence the possible revived use or abandonment of linguistic varieties. New technologies are treated as part of cultures of electronic mediation, connecting sociocultural valuations to mediated discourse. Their use often has important political implications, given that projects of language revitalization are often linked to claims of ethnolinguistic recognition. Finally, because documentation of lesser-used languages using digital technologies also results in the production of new cultural objects to be stored, displayed, and circulated, attention is also focused on the forms of sociality sustained by the creation and exchange of such electronic artifacts.
Music and the Global Order
Authors: Stokes Martin
Published: December 2004

▪ Abstract  Often music is used as a metaphor of global social and cultural processes; it also constitutes an enduring process by and through which people interact within and across cultures. The review explores these processes with reference to an anthropological and ethnomusicological account of globalization that has gathered pace over the last decade. It outlines some of the main ethnographic and historical modes of engagement with persistent neoliberal and other music industry–inspired global myth making (particularly that associated with world music), and argues for an approach to musical globalization that contextualizes those genres, styles, and practices that circulate across cultural borders in specific institutional sites and histories.
The Peopling of the New World: Perspectives from Molecular Anthropology
Authors: Schurr Theodore G.
Published: December 2004

▪ Abstract  A number of important insights into the peopling of the New World have been gained through molecular genetic studies of Siberian and Native American populations. These data indicate that the initial migration of ancestral Amerindian originated in south-central Siberia and entered the New World between 20,000–14,000 calendar years before present (cal yr BP). These early immigrants probably followed a coastal route into the New World, where they expanded into all continental regions. A second migration that may have come from the same Siberian region entered the Americas somewhat later, possibly using an interior route, and genetically contributed to indigenous populations from North and Central America. In addition, Beringian populations moved into northern North America after the last glacial maximum (LGM) and gave rise to Aleuts, Eskimos, and Na-Dené Indians.
Social Status and Health in Humans and Other Animals
Authors: Sapolsky Robert M.
Published: December 2004

▪ Abstract  Dominance hierarchies exist in numerous social species, and rank in such hierarchies can dramatically influence the quality of an individual's life. Rank can dramatically influence also the health of an individual, particularly with respect to stress-related disease. This chapter reviews first the nature of stress, the stress-response and stress-related disease, as well as the varieties of hierarchical systems in animals. I then review the literature derived from nonhuman species concerning the connections between rank and functioning of the adrenocortical, cardiovascular, reproductive, and immune systems. As shown here, the relationship is anything but monolithic. Finally, I consider whether rank is a relevant concept in humans and argue that socioeconomic status (SES) is the nearest human approximation to social rank and that SES dramatically influences health.
The Archaeology of Ancient State Economies
Authors: Smith Michael E.
Published: December 2004

▪ Abstract  This review addresses methods and theories for the archaeological study of ancient state economies, from the earliest states through the Classical period and beyond. Research on this topic within anthropological archaeology has been held back by reliance on simple concepts and an impoverished notion of the extent of variation in ancient state economies. First I review a long-standing debate between scholars who see similarities with modern capitalist economies (modernists and formalists) and those who see ancient economies as radically different from their modern counterparts (primitivists and substantivists). I suggest that the concept of the level of commercialization provides an avenue for transcending this debate and moving research in more productive directions. Next I review work on the traditional archaeological topics of production and exchange. A discussion of the scale of the economy (households, temple and palace institutions, state finance, cities and regional systems, and international economies) reveals considerable variation between and within ancient states. I review key topics in current archaeological political economy, including commercial exchange, money, property, labor, and the nature of economic change, and close with suggestions for future research.
Early Dispersals of Homo from Africa
Authors: Antón Susan C. , Swisher, III Carl C.
Published: December 2004

▪ Abstract  The worldwide distribution of our species, Homo sapiens, has its roots in the early Pleistocene epoch. However, evidence has been sufficient only in the past decade to overcome the conventional wisdom that hominins had been restricted to Africa until about 800,000 years ago. Indeed, the idea that hominin dispersal was technologically mediated, and thus must correlate with changes in stone tool technology seen at the Olduwan/Acheulean transition, has proven to be a persuasive hypothesis despite persistent claims for an early Pleistocene hominin presence outside Africa. We review multiple recent lines of evidence that suggest hominin dispersals from Africa in the earliest Pleistocene, if not the latest Pliocene, correlated with the appearance of hominins typically referred to as Homo erectus (sensu lato) who carried with them an Oldowan tool technology. Changes in body plan and foraging strategy are likely to ultimately underlie these dispersals.
Cultural Differences in Access to Care
Authors: Snowden Lonnie R. , Yamada Ann-Marie
Published: December 2004

As high-profile reviews have appeared and international interest has grown, sophisticated studies of the U.S. population continue to document racial and ethnic disparities in initiation of mental health care and in continuity of care. Many explanations focus on cultural factors: trust and treatment receptiveness, stigma, culturally distinctive beliefs about mental illness and mental health, culturally sanctioned ways of expressing mental health–related suffering and coping styles, and client preferences for alternative interventions and treatment-seeking pathways, as well as unresponsive programs and providers. The research itself has become more rigorous and informative, but it continues to lack theoretical focus and does not yet yield cumulative findings. Too few studies have addressed community and regional differences or differences between mental health treatment programs and systems, or considered mental health-related policies that are very likely linked to disparities. Theoretically well-formulated studies on representative samples can provide a comprehensive explanation of access disparities in cultural and culture-related terms that inform a broad-based plan of remedial intervention.
Psychology, Psychologists, and Public Policy
Authors: McKnight Katherine M. , Sechrest Lee , McKnight Patrick E.
Published: December 2004

Evidence-based policy is being encouraged in all areas of public service ( Black 2001 ). Unprecedented federal legislation reflects a faith in science “as a force for improved public policy” ( Feuer et al. 2002 ). The objective of evidence-based policy is to use scientific research to drive decision making. Thus, the link between social science research and public policy seems to be a natural one. The purpose of this chapter is to address how psychological science in general, and clinical psychology in particular, can be of use to public policy makers. We discuss how psychological science can be relevant and applicable to informing policy, and we describe the role clinical scientists might play in generating, disseminating, and implementing that information. We also note distinct limitations on the usefulness of psychological research in driving public policy. We discuss some pitfalls and recommend areas where clinical psychology might best serve public policy.
Positive Psychology in Clinical Practice
Authors: Lee Duckworth Angela , Steen Tracy A. , Seligman Martin E.P.
Published: December 2004

Positive psychology is the scientific study of positive experiences and positive individual traits, and the institutions that facilitate their development. A field concerned with well-being and optimal functioning, positive psychology aims to broaden the focus of clinical psychology beyond suffering and its direct alleviation. Our proposed conceptual framework parses happiness into three domains: pleasure, engagement, and meaning. For each of these constructs, there are now valid and practical assessment tools appropriate for the clinical setting. Additionally, mounting evidence demonstrates the efficacy and effectiveness of positive interventions aimed at cultivating pleasure, engagement, and meaning. We contend that positive interventions are justifiable in their own right. Positive interventions may also usefully supplement direct attempts to prevent and treat psychopathology and, indeed, may covertly be a central component of good psychotherapy as it is done now.
The Cleansing Capacity of the Atmosphere
Authors: Prinn Ronald G.
Published: December 2004

The atmosphere is a chemically complex and dynamic system that interacts significantly with the land, oceans, and ecosystems. Most trace gases emitted into the atmosphere are removed by oxidizing chemical reactions involving ozone and the hydroxyl free radical. The rate of this self-cleansing process is often referred to as the oxidation capacity of the atmosphere. Without this process, atmospheric composition and climate would be very different from what we observe today. The fundamental chemistry involved and the influence of human activity on oxidation capacity are reviewed. Both the current measurements designed to determine rates of oxidation and evidence for changes in oxidizing capacity over recent decades are critically discussed.
THE ROLE OF CARBON CYCLE OBSERVATIONS AND KNOWLEDGE IN CARBON MANAGEMENT
Authors: Dilling Lisa , Doney Scott C. , Edmonds Jae , Gurney Kevin R. , Harriss Robert , Schimel David , Stephens Britton , Stokes Gerald
Published: December 2004

▪ Abstract  Agriculture and industrial development have led to inadvertent changes in the natural carbon cycle. As a consequence, concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases have increased in the atmosphere and may lead to changes in climate. The current challenge facing society is to develop options for future management of the carbon cycle. A variety of approaches has been suggested: direct reduction of emissions, deliberate manipulation of the natural carbon cycle to enhance sequestration, and capture and isolation of carbon from fossil fuel use. Policy development to date has laid out some of the general principles to which carbon management should adhere. These are summarized as: how much carbon is stored, by what means, and for how long. To successfully manage carbon for climate purposes requires increased understanding of carbon cycle dynamics and improvement in the scientific capabilities available for measurement as well as for policy needs. The specific needs for scientific information to underpin carbon cycle management decisions are not yet broadly known. A stronger dialogue between decision makers and scientists must be developed to foster improved application of scientific knowledge to decisions. This review focuses on the current knowledge of the carbon cycle, carbon measurement capabilities (with an emphasis on the continental scale) and the relevance of carbon cycle science to carbon sequestration goals.