bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Activation of thegabOperon in an RpoS-Dependent Manner by Mutations That Truncate the Inner Core of Lipopolysaccharide inEscherichia coli
Authors: Joloba Moses L. , Clemmer Katy M. , Sledjeski Darren D. , Rather Philip N.
Published: December 2004

Thegaboperon (gabDTPC) inEscherichia colifunctions in the conversion of γ-aminobutyrate to succinate. One component ofgaboperon regulation involves the RpoS sigma factor, which mediates activation at high cell density. Transposon mutagenesis was used to identify new genes that regulategaboperon expression in rich media. A Tn5tmpinsertion in thehldD(formerlyrfaD) gene increasedgabT::lacZexpression 12-fold. ThehldDgene product, an ADP-l-glycerol-d-mannoheptose-6-epimerase, catalyzes the conversion of ADP-d-glycerol-d-mannoheptose to ADP-l-glycerol-d-mannoheptose, a precursor for the synthesis of inner-core lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Defined mutations inhldE, required for heptose synthesis, andwaaF, required for the addition of the second heptose to the inner core, also resulted in high-levelgabT::lacZexpression. ThehldD,hldE, andwaaFmutants exhibited a mucoid colony phenotype due to production of a colanic acid capsule. However, in thehldD::catbackground, the high-level expression ofgabT::lacZwas independent of the regulatory components for colanic acid synthesis (rcsA,rcsB, andrcsC) and also independent ofmanC(cpsB), a structural gene for colanic acid synthesis. Activation ofgabT::lacZin thehldD::catbackground was dependent on the RpoS sigma factor. ThehldD::catmutation resulted in a sixfold increase in the levels of a translational RpoS-LacZ fusion and had a marginal effect on a transcriptional fusion. This study reveals a stress-induced pathway, mediated by loss of the LPS inner core, that increases RpoS translation andgaboperon expression inE. coli.
Inhibition of cross-bridge formation has no effect on contraction-associated phosphorylation of p38 MAPK in mouse skeletal muscle
Authors: Dentel John N. , Blanchard Samuel G. , Ankrapp David P. , McCabe Laura R. , Wiseman Robert W.
Published: December 2004

Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), in particular p38 MAPK, are phosphorylated in response to contractile activity, yet the mechanism for this is not understood. We tested the hypothesis that the force of contraction is responsible for p38 MAPK phosphorylation in skeletal muscle. Extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles isolated from adult male Swiss Webster mice were stimulated at fixed length at 10 Hz for 15 min and then subjected to Western blot analysis for the phosphorylation of p38 MAPK and ERK1/2. Contralateral muscles were fixed at resting length and were not stimulated. Stimulated muscles showed a 2.5-fold increase in phosphorylated p38 MAPK relative to nonstimulated contralateral controls, and there was no change in the phosphorylation of ERK1/2. When contractile activity was inhibited with N-benzyl- p-toluene sulfonamide (BTS), a specific inhibitor of actomyosin ATPase, force production decreased in both a time- and concentration-dependent manner. Preincubation with 25, 75, and 150 μM BTS caused 78 ± 4%, 97 ± 0.2%, and 99 ± 0.2% inhibition in contractile force, respectively, and was stable after 30 min of treatment. Fluorescence measurements demonstrated that Ca2+ cycling was minimally affected by BTS treatment. Surprisingly, BTS did not suppress the level of p38 MAPK phosphorylation in stimulated muscles. These data do not support the view that force generation per se activates p38 MAPK and suggest that other events associated with contraction must be responsible.
Renal and intestinal transport defects in Slc26a6-null mice
Authors: Wang Zhaohui , Wang Tong , Petrovic Snezana , Tuo Biguang , Riederer Brigitte , Barone Sharon , Lorenz John N. , Seidler Ursula , Aronson Peter S. , Soleimani Manoocher
Published: December 2004

SLC26A6 (PAT1, CFEX) is an anion exchanger that is expressed on the apical membrane of the kidney proximal tubule and the small intestine. Modes of transport mediated by SLC26A6 include Cl−/formate exchange, Cl−/HCO3− exchange, and Cl−/oxalate exchange. To study its role in kidney and intestinal physiology, gene targeting was used to prepare mice lacking Slc26a6. Homozygous mutant Slc26a6−/− mice appeared healthy and exhibited a normal blood pressure, kidney function, and plasma electrolyte profile. In proximal tubules microperfused with a low-HCO3−/high-Cl− solution, the baseline rate of fluid absorption ( Jv), an index of NaCl transport under these conditions, was the same in wild-type and null mice. However, the stimulation of Jv by oxalate observed in wild-type mice was completely abolished in Slc26a6-null mice ( P < 0.05). Formate stimulation of Jv was partially reduced in null mice, but the difference from the response in wild-type mice did not reach statistical significance. Apical membrane Cl−/base exchange activity, assayed with the pH-sensitive dye BCPCF in microperfused proximal tubules, was decreased by 58% in Slc26a6−/− animals ( P < 0.001 vs. wild types). In the duodenum, the baseline rate of HCO3− secretion measured in mucosal tissue mounted in Ussing chambers was decreased by ∼30% ( P < 0.03), whereas the forskolin-stimulated component of HCO3− secretion was the same in wild-type and Slc26a6−/− mice. We conclude that Slc26a6 mediates oxalate-stimulated NaCl absorption, contributes to apical membrane Cl−/base exchange in the kidney proximal tubule, and also plays an important role in HCO3− secretion in the duodenum.
Vascular adaptation to 4 wk of deconditioning by unilateral lower limb suspension
Authors: Bleeker Michiel W. P. , De Groot Patricia C. E. , Poelkens Fleur , Rongen Gerard A. , Smits Paul , Hopman Maria T. E.
Published: December 2004

Physical inactivity or deconditioning is an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. In contrast to exercise, the vascular changes that occur as a result of deconditioning have not been characterized. We used 4 wk of unilateral lower limb suspension (ULLS) to study arterial and venous adaptations to deconditioning. In contrast to previous studies, this model is not confounded by denervation or microgravity. Seven healthy subjects participated in the study. Arterial and venous characteristics of the legs were assessed by echo Doppler ultrasound and venous occlusion plethysmography. The diameter of the common and superficial femoral artery decreased by 12% after 4 wk of ULLS. Baseline calf blood flow, as measured by plethysmography, decreased from 2.1 ± 0.2 to 1.6 ± 0.2 ml·min−1·dl tissue−1. Both arterial diameter and calf blood flow returned to baseline values after 4 wk of recovery. There was no indication of a decrease in flow-mediated dilation of the superficial femoral artery after ULLS deconditioning. This means that functional adaptations to inactivity are not simply the inverse of adaptations to exercise. The venous pressure-volume curve is shifted downward after ULLS, without any effect on compliance. In conclusion, deconditioning by 4 wk of ULLS causes significant changes in both the arterial and the venous system.
Legal Doctrines in Conflict:
Authors: Wiederhold Lutz
Published: December 2004

According to Western legal historians, the closing of the door of Ijtihād shortly after the formation of the law schools resulted in a long period of sterility in Islamic legal thought and rigid adherence to traditional rules in legal practice. But what did Muslim scholars have in mind when they used the term Ijtihād? Do the sources point to any change in Muslim jurists' understanding of the notion of Ijtihād? And if so, is this change entirely the result of theoretical debate? Drawing on a wide variety of legal sources, supplemented by historiographical and prosopographical sources from the Mamluk and Ottoman periods, I attempt to answer these questions by drawing attention to the relationship between the debate on Ijtihād and the social and political circumstances and legal practices of particular Muslim societies.
Taqlīd, Legal Scaffolding and the Scope of Legal Injunctions in Post-Formative Theory:
Authors: Jackson Sherman
Published: December 2004

The controversy surrounding ijtihād and Taqlīd is well-known in modern scholarship. In the present essay, I offer an alternative to the leading views on this crux by treating the issue of scope in the jurisprudential writings of Shihāb al-Dīn al-Qarāfī as a reflection of the manner and direction in which the Islamic legal tradition tended to develop subsequent to the so-called settling down of the four schools of law. At the center of this development stood the highly intricate and spirited institution of Taqlīd, and I posit a causal relationship between the emergence of this institution and Muslim jurists' increased interest in issues such as scope. I also treat the technical aspects of al-Qarāfī's theory and compare it with the theories of a number of his predecessors.
The Social Logic of Taqlīd and the Rise of the Mukhataṣar
Authors: Fadel Mohammad
Published: December 2004

The study of the relationship between ijtihād and Taqlīd has been dominated by an approach that privileges ijtihād over Taqlīd on the assumption that the former is an intellectually superior mode of legal reasoning. By analyzing the role of Taqlīd in regulating the actions of muftīs and judges as discussed by post-6th/12th century jurists of the Mālikī school, I conclude that Taqlīd resulted from the desire to have uniform rules rather than as a result of intellectual stagnation. While ijtihād was individualistic and solipsistic, Taqlīd was the result of group interpretation that provided an objective basis upon which legal decisions and legal rulings could be described as being either substantively correct or incorrect. Viewed in this light, Taqlīd was originally a desire to limit the discretionary power of legal officials, especially those at the bottom of the legal hierarchy. The desire to possess uniform rules found its logical outcome in the legal genre of the mukhtaṣar as it emerged in the 7th/13th century. The mukhtaṣar functioned as the authoritative collection of a legal school's doctrine, and, for that reason, I argue that Islamic law in the age of mukhtaṣars is best understood as a codified Common Law.
The Legitimacy and Nature of Mawlid al-Nabī: (Analysis of a Fatwã)
Authors: Schussman Aviva
Published: December 2004

In 1993 Majallat al-Azhar published a fatwā issued in a response to a question regarding the form and religious legitimacy of the celebration of the Prophet Muhammad's birthday. The question was posed against the background of tension between the need and desire of Muslims to celebrate the festival — which is observed yearly almost everywhere in the Muslim world despite the fact that it includes features that resemble the pagan cult of saints, and the hesitancy or negative attitude of Muslim jurists with regard to the festival. In his response, the muftī confers legitimacy upon the festival within constraints defined by the Prophet's sunna. The vagueness of his answer, its lack of legal specifics, and its reliance on sources that contain popular motifs combine to indicate that the fatwā reflects the concession of a scholar to popular religion. Although the fatwā was intended to educate the public to celebrate the festival on a higher religious level, the muftī's approach to the subject seems to be popular rather than scholarly.
Shaykh Aḥmad Shākir and the Adoption of a Scientifically-Based Lunar Calendar
Authors: Moosa Ebrahim
Published: December 2004

The computation of the Muslim lunar calendar has been a subject of controversy for centuries. In the twentieth century, the debate surfaced again in different parts of the Muslim world. In Egypt, the distinguished jurist Aḥmad Shākir added his voice to the debate by writing a short treatise or risāla in which he argued that a calendar based on crescent sighting should be abandoned in favour of one based on scientific and astronomical computation. After providing some background information on Shākir and the lunar debate in Egypt and elsewhere in the Muslim world, I present an annotated translation of Shākir's treatise.
The Beginnings of the ḥanafī School in Iṣfahān
Authors: Tsafir Nurit
Published: December 2004

This essay, based mainly on two early Iṣfahānī biographical dictionaries, describes the introduction of the ḥanafī school to Iṣfahān. I argue that although schools of ḥadīth had a long history in Iṣfahān, the ḥanafī law school was also represented there from an early date. The ḥanafī legal method was practiced in the town around the middle of the second/eighth century, and ḥadīth on the authority of Abū ḥanīfa, transmitted to Iṣfahānī scholars through Abū ḥanīfa's pupil Zufar b. al-Hudhayl, started to circulate there around the same time. By the beginning of the third/ninth century a significant ḥanafī community had developed in Iṣfahān, and although schools of ḥadīth continued to be influential there, the Iṣfahānī ḥanafī community survived into the fourth/tenth century and was strengthened by the Saljūqs in the fifth/eleventh century and thereafter.
Die Musen Im Dienste Christi: Strategien Der Rechtfertigung Christlicher Dichtung in Der Lateinischen Spätantike
Authors: Gärtner Thomas
Published: December 2004

The present article examines the arguments by which early Christian poets in Late Antiquity justify their attempt to combine Christian content and pagan poetical form. It focuses on the poetologically significant parts of their works, especially the proems. Whereas the earliest poets, i.e.Proba, Prudentius and Orientius, justify Christian poetry by its effects on the poet's personality and in the context of the poet's life, Juvencus prefigures another type of argument which is fully developed in Sedulius' Carmen paschale, according to which Christian poetry is justified by its material and formal qualities. This new type of argument has enormous reception in the Middle Ages and is especially adapted by Hrotsvith of Gandersheim who combines content and form as two coordinates of a more differentiated system.
A View from the Inside
Authors: Dahl Hanne Marlene
Published: December 2004

The Nordic model is often seen as having succeeded in gaining recognition for care-giving work and as embodying a potentially women friendly state model owing to the availability of publicly provided care for the elderly and pre-school children. This simple story neglects one particular group of women - publicly employed home-helpers and the valorization of their care-giving work. Applying Nancy Fraser’s dual theory of justice gives us a normative and analytical tool with which to analyse this group’s situation in relation to recognition and redistribution. Some advances concerning pay and in the professionalization of the home-helper’s work have taken place. These advances hide less flattering developments, such as a general egalitarianism (on pay) insensitive to gendered valorizations, an androcentric perception of work and work-related accidents formerly at play and a New Public Management inspired elite discourse struggling to reduce the home-helper’s work to simple, manual tasks in a discourse of de-professionalization. Overlapping of struggles about redistribution and recognition show that the positive changes identified are merely superficial, since no basic change of the socio-cultural framework has taken place that provides an impetus for future struggles.
Work and Recognition
Authors: Petersen Anders , Willig Rasmus
Published: December 2004

The article deals with the relationship between work and recognition, taking Axel Honneth’s social-philosophical theory of the struggle for recognition as its point of departure. In order to give sociological substance to Honneth’s theory, we turn to three contemporary social theorists - Jean-Pierre Le Goff, Christophe Dejours and Emmanuel Renault. In spite of many differences, their work is united by a critical description of the logic of work and its consequences for individual individuation. These theorists agree that the growth of autonomy, flexibility and mobility has destabilised individual and collective identity formation and has led to an increase in social pathological illnesses such as stress and depression. By juxtaposing these analyses with Honneth’s theory on recognition, we conclude that the contemporary logic of work is unable to provide adequate forms of recognition. Individuals are seemingly caught up in a continual battle for recognition without ever having the possibility of receiving proper respect.
The Return of the Fur Coat: A Commodity Chain Perspective
Authors: Skov Lise
Published: December 2004

This article examines the recent market repositioning of fur from a commodity chain perspective. It explores the transformation of the commodity chains of fur - from hunting to farming, as well as changes from a luxury industry characterized by the distant origins of the material and the expert craftsmanship that went into making the commodity to a designer industry in which exclusivity comes from the creative vision of a talented individual, but where production processes are based on industrial conditions. In addition, the article criticizes Gereffi’s simplistic distinction between producer-driven and buyer-driven commodity chains, and argues that alliances between producer organizations and fashion designers are characteristic of contemporary fashion. This alliance is examined in relation to the marketing organization for the Danish fur auctions, Saga of Scandinavia, which for the past 15 years has adopted the strategy of ‘pushing fur into the trend’.
The Global and the Local
Authors: Mazlish Bruce
Published: December 2004

Most studies of globalization emphasize the economic, political, social or cultural aspects; this article seeks to examine the moral aspect. It attempts to do this by examining the relationship of the global and the local. The thesis advanced is that decisions made on a more global level are likely to be more ‘moral’ than those made on a local level. This generalization is tested in terms of the US and national decisions, such as those concerning slavery and later civil rights. Extrapolation is then made to global decisions. The role of cosmopolitanism is explored. At the end, noting that the global and the local are always entwined, the question is tackled as to the circumstances under which the local or the global is to be most valued.
Conceptualizing social science paradoxes using the diversity and similarity curves model: Illustrations from the work/play and theory novelty/continuity paradoxes
Authors: Ofori-Dankwa Joseph , Julian Scott D.
Published: December 2004

A major challenge that social science researchers face is the development of a framework that conceptualizes paradoxical concepts across different social science disciplines. We propose that researchers use the logic of the diversity and similarity curves (DSC) model to meet this need by conceptualizing the tension, reinforcing cycles, and paradox management elements of Lewis ( Academy of Management Review, 2000, 25, 760-76). We further make a contribution to the paradox literature by highlighting and representing the interwoven nature of dual tensions that exist within paradoxical phenomena. We use the DSC model to capture the interactive effects of dual paradoxes associated with work/play and job stress/task creativity. The DSC model also allows us to represent the interactive effects of different permutations of theory novelty/continuity on perceived theory complexity and theory assimilation. Finally, we discuss the implications of this article for theory and research on paradox conceptualization.
Comparison of MCT Failure Prediction Techniques and Experimental Verification for Biaxially Loaded Glass Fabric-reinforced Composite Laminates
Authors: Welsh Jeffry S. , Mayes J. Steve , Key Christopher T. , McLaughlin Richard N.
Published: December 2004

The inability to accurately predict the onset of failure in modern fabric-reinforced composite materials has hindered the implementation of these materials into the mainstream applications. Excessive qualification and structural testing must be performed on composite members as a result of uncertainty in the performance of the material, resulting in significantly higher expenses associated with these materials. This situation can only be improved through the rigorous development of both improved failure and material response prediction capabilities and improved experimental verification. The current study addresses these issues, as well as explores recent developments in numerical predictions and experimental techniques. A combined numerical investigation of damage initiation mechanics and experimental verification of predicted results for a woven glass–vinyl ester composite material is performed. More specifically, 18-oz biased (5 warp/4 fill rovings) plain weave E-glass–vinyl ester laminate with warp rovings oriented in [0/90]s and [0/90/±45]s configurations are investigated. Experimental data for the E-glass–vinyl ester [0/90]s laminate is summarized in a two-dimensional biaxial failure envelope. The feasibility of using thickness-tapered cruciform specimens for generating the experimental biaxial test data is also addressed. Finally, numerical predictions of failure of the fabric-reinforced laminate are developed and compared against the experimental failure envelope for the cross-ply laminate.
Nondestructive Detection of Internal Delamination by Vibration-based Method for Composite Plates
Authors: Yam L. H. , Wei Z. , Cheng L.
Published: December 2004

A method for locating internal delamination in multilayer composite plates is presented. A finite element method for composite plates is developed to investigate the relationship between delamination and change of modal parameters. The mechanism of the mode-dependent energy dissipation of composite plates is revealed by numerical analysis of delamination-induced variations of modal parameters. Experiments are carried out using piezoelectric actuator and accelerometer to measure the dynamic response to sinusoidal sweep excitation for several cantilever composite plates. The results show that the region of internal delamination in composite plates can be predicted according to the measured acceleration response and the computed modal strain energy.
Delamination Failure Investigation for Out-of-plane Loading in Laminates
Authors: Christensen Richard M. , DeTeresa Steven J.
Published: December 2004

In contrast to failure approaches at the lamina level or the micromechanics level, the present work concerns failure characterization at the laminate level. Specifically, attention is given to the ultimate failure characterization for quasi-isotropic laminates. This is in further contrast to the commonly used approaches for initial damage or progressive damage. It is shown that the analytical failure forms decompose into two modes, one for out-of-plane, delamination-type failure and one for in-plane, fiber-controlled-type failure. The work here is mainly given over to the delamination mode of failure. Experimental results are presented for laminates in this mode of failure. These results are then integrated with the analytical forms to give a simple criterion for delamination failure.
Mutations et débats sur la question religieuse dans l’espace scolaire grec
Authors: Molokotos-Liederman Lina
Published: December 2004

Orthodoxy, as the main reference point with which to look at other religions and social issues, and the legitimation of a religious discourse to the detriment of a historic approach are the main characteristics of religious education in Greece. Recent liberalization steps include the consent given to non-Orthodox instructors to teach religion and the easing of granting exemptions from religious education to students, thus giving an optional aspect to religion classes; these steps indicate a progressive recognition of religious diversity in schools. There are also increasing trends modifying religion classes towards a more historic approach of teaching religion, but always in an implicit hierarchy with Orthodoxy in the foreground.
The Forgotten Factor: The Uneasy Relationship between Religion and Development
Authors: Selinger Leah
Published: December 2004

Religion has been ignored and sidelined in international development theory and strategy, supported by the discourse of social theory during the development era. The dominance of modernization and secularization theories has been key to this marginalization, but if, as recently asserted, we are to recognize the impact and influence of culture on development strategy, we must account for the specific role of religion in this. This article argues that religion is a defining force within culture, and asks if in a postmodern era, where religion seems to be impacting on all areas of society, religion can be addressed; and if so, how this should be managed. By exploring the roots of development and its historical avoidance of religion, the article seeks to determine a course of action that encourages the social significance of religion to be recognized and handled in a constructive manner.
Dead Theorists and Older People: Spencer, Idealist Social Thought and Divergent Prescriptions For Care
Authors: Offer John
Published: December 2004

The years between 1880 and 1910 saw a great deal of discussion of social policy issues, including the circumstances of elderly people.Whilst considerable attention has been paid to proposals for old-age pensions, little has been said on ideas of care and the social theory which nourished them.This article discusses the views on care of Herbert Spencer, and those expressed in the majority and minority reports of the Royal Commission on the Poor Laws of 1909, conventionally described as representing the views of the Bosanquets and the Webbs respectively. Spencer’s concern with ‘filial obligation’ is examined, and the differing emphases on institutional care and compulsion between the Bosanquets and the Webbs are discussed.The theoretical and conceptual roots of these positions are analysed, drawing on recent work which suggests that whereas Spencer’s thought is non-idealist, that of the others is fundamentally idealist, with agreement over social ends, but not the means to their realization.The article clarifies key divergences in social and political principles in thinking about care for older people, with relevance to present-day circumstances.
Having a Laugh and Mucking in Together: Using Social Capital to Explore Dynamics Between Structure and Agency in the Context of Declining and Regenerated Neighbourhoods
Authors: Cattell Vicky
Published: December 2004

This article explores the potential of social capital for understanding social processes involved in neighbourhood decline or regeneration, in social exclusion and inclusion, and for illuminating relationships between structure and agency. Theoretical approaches in the work of Putnam, Jacobs, and Coleman are compared and qualitative neighbourhood case studies used to identify contextual influences on social capital’s sources and forms, and on the strong or weak ties involved. The neighbourhood’s potential as a source of more inclusive and integrative social networks and wider solidarity is addressed. Influences on key sources of social capital – stability, integration, solidarity and tolerance – embrace issues of both structure and agency; relationships can be recursive. Neighbourhood variations in reciprocity and participation underline social capital’s context specificity. Narratives suggest that the neighbourhood’s potential for sustaining inclusive social ties, for social integration, tolerance, solidarity and ‘thin’ (as well as ‘thick’) trust is contingent on certain resources and conditions.They indicate also how local work history is reflected in the organic nature of social capital. Informed by Giddens’ structuration theory, an alternative approach for exploring process is suggested which considers social networks as key mediators in recursive relationships between structures and agency.
Class Identities and the Identity of Class
Authors: Bottero Wendy
Published: December 2004

In rejecting both arguments of the ‘death of class’, and the increasingly minimalist positions of class traditionalists, a newer generation of class theorists have transformed the scope and analytical framework of class analysis: inflating ‘class’ to include social and cultural formations, reconfiguring the causal model that has underpinned class analysis, and abandoning the notion of distinct class identities or groups, focusing instead on individualized hierarchical differentiation. There are problems with transforming ‘class’ in this fashion, although the difficulty lies not in the departures from traditional class theory, but rather in what is retained. The uneasy relationship between older and newer aspects of ‘class’ within renewed class theory means the wider implications of inequality considered as individualized hierarchy (rather than as ‘class’) have not been fully explored.The debate on class identities (an important example of this new form of class analysis) illustrates these difficulties, and shows that issues of hierarchy extend well beyond issues of ‘class’.
Project-Based Learning and the Role of Learning Boundaries
Authors: Scarbrough Harry , Swan Jacky , Laurent Stéphane , Bresnen Mike , Edelman Linda , Newell Sue
Published: December 2004

This paper seeks to analyse the extent to which organizations can learn from projects by focusing on the relationship between projects and their organizational context. The paper highlights three dimensions of project-based learning: the practice-based nature of learning, project autonomy and knowledge integration. This analysis generates a number of propositions on the relationship between the learning generated within projects and its transfer to other parts of the organization. In particular, the paper highlights the ‘learning boundaries’ which emerge when learning within projects creates new divisions in practice. These propositions are explored through a comparative analysis of two case studies of construction projects. This analysis suggests that the learning boundaries which develop around projects reflect the nested nature of learning, whereby different levels of learning may substitute for each other. Learning outcomes in the cases can thus be analysed in terms of the interplay between organizational learning and project-level learning. The paper concludes that learning boundaries are an important constraint on attempts to exploit the benefits of project-based learning for the wider organization.
Derivatives
Authors: Arnoldi Jakob
Published: December 2004

This article examines the financial technology of derivatives. Derivatives are financial products whose values are based on possible fluctuations in the values of underlying assets. Hence derivatives markets are markets that trade in the risks of other markets. In order for derivatives markets to function, forms of prognostication that can assess the possible future fluctuations of the underlying markets are necessary. What such prognostications do, the article argues, is to create information out of future possibilities. Building upon a notion of virtuality derived from Gilles Deleuze, Ulrich Beck and Niklas Luhmann, the article shows how market risks and uncertainties, by means of prognostications, cease to be mere possibilities and instead come to have virtual existence. Through the technology of derivatives, uncertainty and risk can be rendered virtual and be traded. The article suggests that this technology is an example of a new way in which capitalism is now expanding self-referentially as it creates markets out of markets; and of how it is colonizing the future by developing new technologies for ‘hyper-speculation’, that is, speculation not in the possible developments of a given asset but simply in the risk of such speculation.
Locating Cosmopolitanism
Authors: Skrbis Zlatko , Kendall Gavin , Woodward Ian
Published: December 2004

The emerging interdisciplinary body of cosmopolitanism research has established a promising field of theoretical endeavour by bringing into focus questions concerning globalization, nationalism, population movements, cultural values and identity. Yet, despite its potential importance, what characterizes recent cosmopolitanism research is an idealist sentiment that considerably marginalizes the significance of the structures of nation-state and citizenship, while leaving unspecified the empirical sociological dimensions of cosmopolitanism itself. Our critique aims at making cosmopolitanism a more productive analytical tool. We argue for a cosmopolitanism that consists of conceptually and empirically identifiable values and outlooks. While there has been some progress made in this direction in the recent literature on cosmopolitanism, most writing still considers cosmopolitanism as something so delicate that it cannot be measured. Furthermore, in order to appreciate the full currency of the concept, we argue that researchers must not only agree on some common determinants of cosmopolitanism and cosmopolitan dispositions, but also ground their analyses of cosmopolitanism in the context of enduring nation-state structures.
The decline of ecstasy, the rise of ‘binge’ drinking and the persistence of pleasure
Authors: Measham Fiona
Published: December 2004

Recreational drug use has changed rapidly over the last 15 years in the UK. This article considers access, availability and desirability in relation to contemporary recreational drug use, current trends and future indicators, drawing on a range of academic and official studies. The relationship between the decline in self-reported use of cocaine powder and particularly ecstasy pills and an increase in sessional consumption of alcohol is explored. Changes in specific legal and illicit drugs favoured by British young adults reflect not only the ebbs and flows of fashion and taste, but government, local authority and beverage alcohol industry policy. The longer term significance of contemporary patterns of consumption lies in the broader context of socio-economic and cultural change relating to the pursuit of pleasure, the boundaries of leisure, and physical transgression in early 21st century leisure time/space.
Drug use amongst Black and minority ethnic communities in the European Union and Norway
Authors: Fountain Jane , Bashford Jon , Underwood Susan , Khurana Jagjit , Winters Moira , Carpentier Chloé , Patel Kamlesh
Published: December 2004

In several European Union countries, drug use amongst Black and minority ethnic communities is largely unacknowledged, ignored, unrecognized, or hidden by some policy-makers, drug researchers, drug service planners and commissioners, and by some members of some Black and minority ethnic communities themselves. This article presents evidence to support this statement and suggests ways forward to ensure that the knowledge base on drug use amongst these communities is increased, and drug services are accessible to all who need them. Examples of good practice in engaging members of Black and minority ethnic communities in research and with drug services are provided.
Missing links? Problem drug use and social exclusion
Authors: Buchanan Julian
Published: December 2004

In the late 1980s illicit drug use became a major social problem in the UK. Since then policy and practice has largely been shaped by psychological and medical perspectives that emphasize the physiological and psychological nature of dependence. Concerned by the limited impact in reducing the number of problem drug users, in 2000 the government shifted the emphasis away from voluntary treatment by the health and voluntary sector, towards coercive treatment, initially in the form of a Drug Treatment and Testing Order (DTTO). The Criminal Justice Interventions Programme (CJIP), a £447 million programme to ‘direct drug misusing offenders out of crime and into treatment’ (Home Office, 2004a: 29) further illustrates and reinforces this shift. This article argues that this shift in approach is also likely to founder, as it continues to be dominated by a narrow focus individuals and their drug dependence, and fails to adequately address the social context, nature and underlying causes of problem drug use.
Are DTTOs working? Issues of policy, implementation and practice
Authors: Falk Chloe
Published: December 2004

Drug Treatment and Testing Orders (DTTOs) were introduced as community sentences in October 2000 prior to the publication of the results of the three pilot DTTO programmes. This article critically examines the success of DTTOs to date, drawing on published research and practice experience, and argues that they were implemented with little strategic planning or national consensus. Consequently, as probation priorities concentrated on increasing numbers of orders to meet Home Office targets and newly formed multidisciplinary teams were left to implement and run orders, vast and worrying inconsistencies in terms of assessment, sentencing and practice have emerged both within and across areas in England and Wales.
Policing cannabis: Can pragmatism replace policy?
Authors: Ellison Eddie
Published: December 2004

Whether society needs protection against the effects of the cannabis plant is a moot point, but generally politicians have depended upon the ‘thin blue line’ as the bulwark against increased use. For 40 years the author viewed cannabis from within that ‘thin blue line’ and his choice of identified ‘milestones’ along the route of cannabis’s gradual social acceptance reflect an almost total lack of logical planning.
Unscripted motherhood: Lesbian mothers negotiating incompletely institutionalized family relationships
Authors: Hequembourg Amy
Published: December 2004

In this article, I use Cherlin’s notion of incomplete institutionalization as a conceptual tool for understanding the parenting stories of 40 lesbian mothers. Using data gathered from interviews with 40 respondents, I examine these issues within a framework that acknowledges the differences among the respondents based on their trajectories to motherhood. I also address the unique difficulties they face as they negotiate their roles and relationships within their families and the extra layer of problems they experience in their interactions with social institutions, such as the law. My analysis suggests that lesbian-headed families are faced with internal dynamics that are similar to heterosexual stepfamilies, but also different, in that they encounter problems in their interactions with institutions (e.g., schools, the law) due to their incompletely institutionalized status. I present three resilience strategies employed by the respondents, including normalization tactics, second-parent adoptions, and commitment ceremonies. I close with a discussion of the study’s implications, limitations, and directions for further research.
Sex differences in responses to relationship threats in England and Romania
Authors: Brase Gary L. , Caprar Dan V. , Voracek Martin
Published: December 2004

Prior research on sex differences in relationship jealousy and on reactions to third-party rivals has been conducted primarily within the U.S., Central Europe, and Asia. As these effects vary in magnitude across cultures, it is important to investigate both how these patterns differ across a wider range of cultures and the key mediating cultural variables. One hundred and fourteen English and 202 Romanian participants provided their reactions to hypothetical relationship infidelity situations and to various traits that a mate rival could possess. In both samples, males were more upset than females by sexualinfidelity, as compared with emotional infidelity, but this effect was much smaller for the Romanian sample. In line with evolutionary predictions, men were more upset by a rival who had better financial prospects, greater status and prestige, and was physically stronger, whereas women were more upset by a rival with a more attractive body and face. Additional, unpredicted, sex differences in the evaluation of rival traits were also found. Finally, different correlations were found (both across cultures and across sexes) between reported reactions to infidelities and to specific mate rival traits.
Motion Estimation from Image and Inertial Measurements
Authors: Strelow Dennis , Singh Sanjiv
Published: December 2004

Cameras and inertial sensors are each good candidates for autonomous vehicle navigation, modeling from video, and other applications that require six-degrees-of-freedom motion estimation. However, these sensors are also good candidates to be deployed together, since each can be used to resolve the ambiguities in estimated motion that result from using the other modality alone. In this paper, we consider the specific problem of estimating sensor motion and other unknowns from image, gyro, and accelerometer measurements, in environments without known fiducials. This paper targets applications where external positions references such as global positioning are not available, and focuses on the use of small and inexpensive inertial sensors, for applications where weight and cost requirements preclude the use of precision inertial navigation systems.

We present two algorithms for estimating sensor motion from image and inertial measurements. The first algorithm is a batch method, which produces estimates of the sensor motion, scene structure, and other unknowns using measurements from the entire observation sequence simultaneously. The second algorithm recovers sensor motion, scene structure, and other parameters recursively, and is suitable for use with long or “infinite” sequences, in which no feature is always visible.

We evaluate the accuracy of the algorithms and their sensitivity to their estimation parameters using a sequence of four experiments. These experiments focus on cases where estimates from image or inertial measurements alone are poor, on the relative advantage of using inertial measurements and omni directional images, and on long sequences in which the percentage of the image sequence in which individual features are visible is low.
C-space Entropy: A Measure for View Planning and Exploration for General Robot-Sensor Systems in Unknown Environments
Authors: Yu Yong , Gupta Kamal
Published: December 2004

We consider the view planning problem where a range sensor is mounted on a robot mechanism with non-trivial geometry and kinematics. The robot-sensor system is required to explore the environment for obstacles and free space. We present an information theoretical approach in which the sensing action is viewed as reducing ignorance of the planning space, the C-space of the robot. The concept of C-space entropy is introduced as a measure of this ignorance. The next view in the planning process is so chosen that it maximizes the expected reduction of C-space entropy, called the maximal (expected) entropy reduction (MER) criterion. We derive closed-form expressions for expected entropy reduction for an idealized point field-of-view sensor under a Poisson point process model of the environment. We show via simulations and real experiments that the MER criterion is significantly more efficient in sensor-based path planning and exploration tasks than other purely physical space based criteria previously used in the literature.
The scales of justice: balancing neutrality and efficiency in plea-bargaining encounters
Authors: Lee Seung-Hee
Published: December 2004

This article examines how the judge balances the normative obligation of neutrality with the bureaucratic demand for efficiency in recorded plea-bargaining encounters. The analysis demonstrates three kinds of judicial conduct by employing the methodology of conversation analysis. First, the judge displays an attitude or an outlook toward the accused or aspects of the case in an embedded manner. Second, the judge facilitates the bargaining process. The judge organizes an opening and a closing of the bargaining encounters, and elicits bargaining activities from the attorneys. Third, the judge moves the bargainers toward resolution. The judge may overtly suggest a bargaining proposal, subtly intervene in the bargaining positions to show approval or disapproval, and press the bargainers to overcome obstacles. The analysis shows that the judge’s conduct influences the bargaining processes and outcomes. The implication of this article is twofold. On the one hand, justice in plea bargaining is implemented in practice and is shaped by the practical ways in which judges manage their role in the interactions. On the other hand, the judge’s role is shaped by the normative obligation of neutrality as reconciled with the practical demands for efficiency. Therefore, the administration of justice in plea bargaining both shapes and is shaped by the judge’s conduct as balanced between neutrality and efficiency.
Achieving friendly interactions: a study of service encounters between Korean shopkeepers and African-American customers
Authors: Ryoo Hye-Kyung
Published: December 2004

This study presents an in-depth analysis of talk between Korean immigrant shopkeepers and their African-American customers in service encounters. The data were collected through 9 months of fieldwork in Korean immigrant-owned stores. Despite the widely publicized conflict and tension between African Americans and Korean immigrants in service encounters, the results of this study reveal frequent incidents of positive and harmonious encounters between the participants in the stores. The study argues that a disproportionate focus toward the negative and conflictive nature of African American-Korean interactions is evident in existing research in the field. The study claims that there exists an equally positive aspect of interactions between African-American customers and Korean shopkeepers during service encounter interactions that is obscured by prevailing research. This article focuses on describing this positive and friendly aspect of interactions realized through the participants’ use of specific rapport-building strategies.
An integrated approach of quantitative and qualitative analysis in the study of identity in speeches
Authors: Van De Mieroop Dorien
Published: December 2004

Identity is usually analysed by focusing on a single case and scrutinizing relevant text fragments. This approach rules out the possibility of doing research on larger corpora, such as my corpus of 40 speeches. To this end, an integrated approach of both quantitative and qualitative analysis is proposed here. For the quantitative method, pronouns were selected as markers of the three main types of identity in my corpus, namely that of the speaker, the audience and the company the speaker represents, the latter being the focus of this article. This institutional identity construction of the company has the highest frequency in the corpus. In order to get an in-depth insight into the strategies used to build this institutional identity, extremely institutional speeches were selected and qualitative analysis was applied to this sub-corpus. This showed that three main techniques were present here, namely identification, company presentation and the suggestion of excellence.
Women as Agents of Political Violence: Gendering Security
Authors: Alison Miranda
Published: December 2004

This article challenges the idea that women are necessarily more peaceful than men by looking at examples of female combatants in ethno-nationalist military organizations in Sri Lanka and Northern Ireland. Anti-state, ‘liberatory’ nationalisms often provide more space (ideologically and practically) for women to participate as combatants than do institutionalized state or pro-state nationalisms, and this can be seen in the cases of the LTTE in Sri Lanka and the IRA in Northern Ireland when contrasted with loyalist paramilitaries in Northern Ireland. However, the role of the female combatant is ambiguous and indicates a tension between different conceptualizations of societal security, where female combatants both fight against societal insecurity posed by the state and contribute to internal societal insecurity within their ethno-national groups.