bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Hyperinsulinemia in individuals with obesity: Role of insulin clearance
Authors: Kim Mee Kyoung , Reaven Gerald M. , Chen Yii‐Der Ida , Kim Eric , Kim Sun H.
Published: November 2015

Objective

Several studies have shown decreased insulin clearance rate (ICR) in individuals with obesity, but it remains unclear whether this is predominately due to obesity‐associated insulin resistance (IR) or obesity itself. This study aimed to clarify the complex interrelationship that exists between obesity, IR, and ICR.

Methods

Healthy volunteers (n = 277) had measurement of IR and ICR using the insulin suppression test (IST). IR was quantified by determining the steady‐state plasma glucose (SSPG) during the IST. ICR was estimated by dividing the insulin infusion rate by the steady‐state plasma insulin concentration. We performed our analysis by stratifying the experimental population into four dichotomous categories, varying in obesity and IR. Obesity was defined as a body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30 kg/m2, and IR was defined as SSPG ≥ 150 mg/dL.

Results

Individuals with obesity had higher fasting insulin compared with individuals without obesity, regardless of IR. ICR was similar between individuals with and without obesity but was higher in insulin resistant individuals compared with insulin‐sensitive individuals. In multivariate analysis, both fasting insulin and SSPG were significantly associated with ICR. No significant relationships were observed between BMI and ICR.

Conclusions

Reduced ICR in obesity is secondary to IR, not excess adiposity.
Do Industrial Tax Abatements Spur Property Value Growth?
Authors: Kang Sung Hoon , Reese Laura , Skidmore Mark
Published: October 2015

Despite ongoing debate regarding the effectiveness of tax abatements, Michigan's Industrial Facilities Tax (IFT) abatement program has been widely and extensively used to boost local economic development. In this article, we estimate the effects of industrial property tax abatements on industrial, residential, and commercial property value growth in the context of regional competition for a panel of 152 communities in the five counties surrounding Detroit from 1983 through 2002. We find that: (1) offering tax abatements yields statistically significant positive impacts on industrial property value growth; (2) the impacts are larger in high tax than in low tax communities; (3) there are positive spillover effects of industrial tax abatements on residential and commercial property value growth; (4) tax abatements offered in competitor communities do not appear to influence own industrial property value growth; and (5) changes in the own as well as competitor property tax rates are important determinants of industrial property value growth. However, the fiscal benefits of tax abatements are quite small as compared with the costs of offering abatements even when spillover benefits to residential and commercial properties are considered.
Point load effect on the buried polyolefin pipes lifetime
Authors: Majer Z. , Hutař P. , Frank A. , Ševčík M. , Zouhar M. , Pinter G. , Náhlík L.
Published: October 2015

Polymer pipe lifetime is conventionally estimated by internal pressure test. However, important for service are also other types of loading as: additional bending, different type of external loading from sand embedding, or effect of the residual stresses. One of the dangerous type of loading is so‐called “point load” caused, for example, by stones in the soil. The present article is focused on the numerical prediction of this effect on the pipe lifetime. For the lifetime estimation of a polymer pipe under point loading, an approach based on combination of numerical calculation and experimental measurements was used. A special numerical algorithm, which optimizes modeled crack front shape according to the real one during simulation of crack propagation, was proposed. Finally, an analytical relationship for the estimation of fracture parameters of propagating crack across the pipe wall crucial for the pipe lifetime estimation is presented in the paper. A significant reduction of the residual lifetime was found for the cracked pipe loaded by additional point load (consideration of indentation effects of stones in the soil) in comparison with pipe loaded by internal pressure only. The approach presented contributes to the safer service of polyolefin pipes. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 56:79–86, 2016. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers
Functionalization of poly(ester‐urethane) surface by radiation‐induced grafting of N‐isopropylacrylamide using conventional and reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer‐mediated methods
Authors: Walo Marta , Przybytniak Grażyna , Barsbay Murat , Güven Olgun
Published: October 2015

The functionalization of poly(ester‐urethane) (PUR) surface was conducted using radiation‐induced grafting. A thermosensitive layer constructed from N‐isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) was introduced onto a polyurethane film and characterized using attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopies and contact angle measurements. Size exclusion chromatography was used to analyse the PUR‐graft‐PNIPAAm copolymers and homopolymers formed in solution. Additionally, reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization was performed in order to obtain PNIPAAm‐grafted surfaces with well‐defined properties. Atomic force microscopy was used to evaluate the surfaces synthesized via conventional and RAFT‐mediated grafting methods. The results of various techniques confirmed the successful grafting of NIPAAm from PUR film. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry
Exploring the communication of oncologists, patients and family members in cancer consultations: development and application of a coding system capturing family‐relevant behaviours (KINcode)
Authors: Laidsaar‐Powell Rebekah , Butow Phyllis , Bu Stella , Dear Rachel , Fisher Alana , Coll Joseph , Juraskova Ilona
Published: October 2015

Background

Family members (FMs) regularly attend oncology consultations. However, limited studies have assessed actual behaviours of oncologists, patients and FMs – particularly during decision‐making. The current study aimed the following: (i) to rigorously develop a family (kin) interaction coding system (KINcode) capturing communication and decision‐making behaviours of FMs and family‐relevant behaviours of oncologists and patients and (ii) to apply KINcode to initial oncology consultations.

Methods

The 80‐item KINcode system was developed and applied to 72 transcripts of audiotaped medical/radiation oncology consultations including an FM, collected as part of two previous studies.

Results

The role of the FM varied considerably within the one encounter, with 33% of FMs assuming three or more roles across the four consultation stages. Whilst most FMs asked treatment decision questions (71%), a minority engaged in other behaviours such as prompting patient questions (4%) or providing information relevant to the decision to the oncologist (18%). Although oncologists rarely initiated interaction with FMs such as in rapport building (18%) or asking FMs questions (25%), they were typically fully responsive to FM questions (90%). Many patients asked their FM a question (42%), but few elicited the FM's decision preferences (4%).

Conclusions

This study provides novel insights into the complex nature of family involvement. The findings highlight potentially positive FM‐focused consultation behaviours such as oncologist responsiveness to family questions and potential areas for improvement such as rapport building, invitation of questions and validation of the family's role. Family‐specific communication skills training should be considered in medical student and professional education settings. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Joint modelling of longitudinal and survival data: incorporating delayed entry and an assessment of model misspecification
Authors: Crowther Michael J. , Andersson Therese M.‐L , Lambert Paul C. , Abrams Keith R. , Humphreys Keith
Published: October 2015

A now common goal in medical research is to investigate the inter‐relationships between a repeatedly measured biomarker, measured with error, and the time to an event of interest. This form of question can be tackled with a joint longitudinal‐survival model, with the most common approach combining a longitudinal mixed effects model with a proportional hazards survival model, where the models are linked through shared random effects. In this article, we look at incorporating delayed entry (left truncation), which has received relatively little attention. The extension to delayed entry requires a second set of numerical integration, beyond that required in a standard joint model. We therefore implement two sets of fully adaptive Gauss–Hermite quadrature with nested Gauss–Kronrod quadrature (to allow time‐dependent association structures), conducted simultaneously, to evaluate the likelihood. We evaluate fully adaptive quadrature compared with previously proposed non‐adaptive quadrature through a simulation study, showing substantial improvements, both in terms of minimising bias and reducing computation time. We further investigate, through simulation, the consequences of misspecifying the longitudinal trajectory and its impact on estimates of association. Our scenarios showed the current value association structure to be very robust, compared with the rate of change that we found to be highly sensitive showing that assuming a simpler trend when the truth is more complex can lead to substantial bias. With emphasis on flexible parametric approaches, we generalise previous models by proposing the use of polynomials or splines to capture the longitudinal trend and restricted cubic splines to model the baseline log hazard function. The methods are illustrated on a dataset of breast cancer patients, modelling mammographic density jointly with survival, where we show how to incorporate density measurements prior to the at‐risk period, to make use of all the available information. User‐friendly Stata software is provided. © 2015 The Authors. Statistics in Medicine Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Comparison of synthetic natural gas production pathways for the storage of renewable energy
Authors: Fendt Sebastian , Buttler Alexander , Gaderer Matthias , Spliethoff Hartmut
Published: October 2015

The production of synthetic natural gas (SNG) to store renewable energy in a chemical energy carrier can be accomplished basically through three main production pathways: the biochemical (biogas upgrade), thermochemical (gasification and synthesis gas upgrade) and electrochemical (‘Power‐to‐Gas’) pathway. The technologies applied in these concepts are described and the three pathways are compared in terms of their state of development, efficiencies, and economics. While the biochemical pathway is already established on a commercial scale, the thermochemical and electrochemical routes are still in the pilot‐plant phase. Biochemical production ofSNGreaches efficiencies in the range of 55–57% but with a potential of above 80%. In comparison, higher efficiencies of up to 70% for the thermochemical pathway are currently expected, with future improvement up to 75%. Electrochemical production achieves efficiencies in the range of 54–60% with expected potential up to 78%. Therefore at the moment the highest efficiencies are given for the thermochemical pathway followed by the electrochemical and biochemical pathways. Economic evaluation is done by comparing specific production costs as well as mean specific investment costs forSNG. Generally speaking, specific production and investment costs decrease with time horizon and increasing scale of the plant. Specific production cost levels in €ct/kWhSNGvary between 5.9 and 13.7 (biochemical), 5.6 and 37 (thermochemical), and 8.2 and 93 (electrochemical). Thus, none of the concepts can compete with today's natural gas prices, but all options are able to provide valuable assistance for a sustainable transition of the energy system.WIREs Energy Environ2016, 5:327–350. doi: 10.1002/wene.189

This article is categorized under:

Bioenergy > Economics and Policy

Energy Systems Economics > Systems and Infrastructure
Gross Examination of the Placenta and Its Importance in Evaluating an Unexplained Intrauterine Fetal Demise
Authors: Jaiman Sunil
Published: October 2015

Placenta, a fascinating multifunctional organ, of fetal origin, plays a pivotal conciliatory role during pregnancy by being intimately connected to the mother and her baby. The importance of placenta is irrefutable, being an exceptional (and easily-accessible) source of information which echoes the intrauterine environment. Placental examination can shed light upon factors pertaining to the current pregnancy and its outcome, guide postpartum management, provide insight into clinical problems (such as seizures, pulmonary hypertension, renal failure) that become evident hours or days after delivery, be predictive of future pregnancies, and even play a role in medico-legal situations. The rhetoric that since most babies are normal so are the placentas, therefore an examination of all placentas may not be warranted, has fallen in disfavor and currently placental examination even for ‘routine’ deliveries is being advocated. Until such time, this becomes an established practice examination of the placenta should certainly be performed in any maternal or fetal complications and stillbirths. The placenta can provide exceedingly-useful information relating to perinatal morbidity and mortality. Furthermore, it has been shown repeatedly that a placental examination is needed to understand the causes of perinatal deaths. In order to derive clinically-useful information from the placenta, meticulous macroscopic examination is the first step. The present article describes indications whereby placental examination is warranted, mentions stepwise gross description of the placental cord, membranes, and the disk and the usefulness of placental examination in perinatal death; a figurative narration and a template for placental grossing are included.
Russia's economic prospects in the Asia Pacific Region
Authors: Fortescue Stephen
Published: October 2015

Russia has declared a priority interest in developing a strong economic relationship with the Asia Pacific Region. There has been considerable internal debate over the best strategic approach to such a relationship. While a policy victory has been won by a strategy focusing on the export into the region of manufactured goods and services, a resource-export strategy is still dominant in practice and funding. Here the prospects of each strategy are assessed. Regarding resource exports, hydrocarbons, copper and iron ore prospects are reviewed, but most detail is provided on the coal sector. That involves an account of infrastructure issues, including a major debate over the expansion of the BAM and TransSiberian railways. The analysis suggests that Russia will struggle both to revitalise the Russian Far East through manufacturing exports to the APR and to replace revenues earned through resource exports to the West through an economic ‘turn to the East’.
Diffusion-flame ignition by shock-wave impingement on a supersonic mixing layer
Authors: Huete César , Sánchez Antonio L. , Williams Forman A. , Urzay Javier
Published: October 2015

Ignition in a supersonic mixing layer interacting with an oblique shock wave is investigated analytically and numerically under conditions such that the post-shock flow remains supersonic. The study requires consideration of the structure of the post-shock ignition kernel that is found to exist around the point of maximum temperature, which may be located either near the edge of the mixing layer or in its interior, depending on the profiles of the fuel concentration, temperature and Mach number across the mixing layer. The ignition kernel displays a balance between the rates of chemical reaction and of post-shock flow expansion, including the acoustic interactions of the chemical heat release with the shock wave, leading to increased front curvature. The analysis, which adopts a one-step chemistry model with large activation energy, indicates that ignition develops as a fold bifurcation, the turning point in the diagram of the peak perturbation induced by the chemical reaction as a function of the Damköhler number providing the critical conditions for ignition. While an explicit formula for the critical Damköhler number for ignition is derived when ignition occurs in the interior of the mixing layer, under which condition the ignition kernel is narrow in the streamwise direction, numerical integration is required for determining ignition when it occurs at the edge, under which condition the kernel is no longer slender. Subsequent to ignition, for the Arrhenius chemistry addressed, the lead shock will rapidly be transformed into a thin detonation on the fuel side of the ignition kernel, and, under suitable conditions, a deflagration may extend far downstream, along with the diffusion flame that must separate the rich and lean reaction products. The results can be helpful in describing supersonic combustion for high-speed propulsion.
Nuclear Power and Japan's Collective Future: Understanding Beliefs About How Nuclear Policies Will Affect Society
Authors: Park Joonha , Bain Paul , Kusumi Takashi
Published: October 2015

Despite ongoing controversies regarding possible directions for the nuclear plants program throughout Japan since the Fukushima disaster, little has been researched about people's belief structure about future society and what may affect their attitudes toward different policy options. Beyond policy debates, the present study focused on how people see a future society according to the assumptions of different policy options. A total of 125 students at Japanese universities were asked to compare a future society with society today in which one of alternative policies was adopted (i.e., shutdown or expansion of nuclear reactors) in terms of characteristics of individuals and society in general. While perceived dangerousness of nuclear power predicted attitudes and behavioural intentions to make personal sacrifices for nuclear power policies, beliefs about the social consequences of the policies, especially on economic development and dysfunction, appeared to play stronger roles in predicting those measures. The importance of sociological dimensions in understanding how people perceive the future of society regarding alternative nuclear power policies, and the subtle discrepancies between attitudes and behavioural intentions, are discussed.
REINTERPRETING THE REINTERPRETATION OF THE REINTERPRETATION OF FAIRCHILD
Authors: Morgan Jonathan
Published: October 2015

FAIRCHILD v Glenhaven Funeral Services Ltd. [2002] UKHL 22; [2003] 1 A.C. 32 was a hard case that made bad law. Now, for the fourth time, an appeal has gone to the highest tribunal, to unravel Fairchild's resulting complications. International Energy Group Ltd. v Zurich Insurance plc. [2015] UKSC 33; [2015] 2 W.L.R. 1471 (“Zurich”) represents “yet another demanding chapter in [that] difficult series of decisions”: at [189], per Lord Neuberger and Lord Reed. Zurich's resolution took seven judges, in four reasoned judgments, 211 paragraphs, or 80 pages of the law reports – some 46,000 words.
TUMULTUOUS CONTROVERSY: POLICE LIABILITY FOR RIOTING
Authors: Morgan Jonathan
Published: October 2015

THE Riot (Damages) Act 1886 rarely looms large in the legal imagination. It is brief and apparently straightforward. Section 2(1) of the Act obliges police authorities to compensate owners whose property has been damaged by “persons riotously and tumultuously assembled together” in their area. There is, notably, no requirement to show that the police were at fault. Two appellate cases on the Act arose from disturbances at the Yarl's Wood detention centre in 2002 (see D.J. Feldman [2010] C.L.J. 433). The London (and nationwide) riots of 2011 have occasioned further consideration.
FORGERIES AND INDEMNITY IN LAND REGISTRATION
Authors: Smith Roger
Published: October 2015

A standard land law problem is that land, or an interest in it, is claimed by two persons, usually as a result of a mistake or fraud of a third party, not worth suing. Both of the claimants are innocent parties. Common law solutions tend to an all-or-nothing approach – one person wins and the other loses. Land registration possesses the significant advantage that compensation (indemnity) may be paid to the losing party. For this to be possible, either a loss must be caused by rectification of the register or there must be a loss which requires rectification to be remedied. So, if the wrong person is registered as proprietor, whoever loses the land (which is likely to turn on the rules for rectification of the register) will be compensated. There has been little litigation on indemnity, but it was established by Re Chowood's Registered Land [1933] Ch. 574 that a purchaser bound by an overriding interest is not entitled to indemnity. Rectification of the purchaser's title recognises existing legal rights to the land and itself causes no loss to the purchaser.
ATTRIBUTING ILLEGALITIES
Authors: Day William
Published: October 2015

THE Supreme Court's decision in Jetivia SA v Bilta (UK) Ltd. (in liquidation) [2015] UKSC 23; [2015] 2 W.L.R. 1168 contains some important developments for the rules of corporate attribution and the defence of illegality.
A new aglaspidid euarthropod with a six-segmented trunk from the Lower Ordovician Fezouata Konservat-Lagerstätte, Morocco
Authors: ORTEGA-HERNÁNDEZ JAVIER , VAN ROY PETER , LEROSEY-AUBRIL RUDY
Published: October 2015

A new euarthropod with an uncommon morphology,Brachyaglaspis singularisgen. et sp. nov., is described from the Early Ordovician (middle Floian) Fezouata biota of Morocco. The presence of a pair of postventral plates, widely attached to each other and located under the posterior-most trunk tergite and the base of the tailspine, indicates a phylogenetic relationship with the enigmatic group Aglaspidida. The overall morphology ofBrachyaglaspismost closely resembles that of the ‘Ordovician-type’ aglaspidids, more specifically the late Cambrian – Early Ordovician genusTremaglaspis. However, the presence of a prominent cephalon and only six trunk tergites in the new genus deviates from the organization of all other known aglaspidid species, notably extending the known range of morphological disparity of the group. A taxonomic revision of this euarthropod group indicates that the most accurate name and authorship combination correspond to Aglaspidida Walcott, 1912.
The knockdown of each component of the cysteine proteinase-adhesin complex ofEntamoeba histolytica(EhCPADH) affects the expression of the other complex element as well as thein vitroandin vivovirulence
Authors: OCÁDIZ-RUIZ RAMÓN , FONSECA WENDY , LINFORD ALICIA S. , YOSHINO TIMOTHY P. , OROZCO ESTHER , RODRÍGUEZ MARIO A.
Published: November 2015

Entamoeba histolyticais the protozoan parasite causative of human amoebiasis, disease responsible for 40 000–100 000 deaths annually. The cysteine proteinase-adhesin complex of this parasite (EhCPADH) is a heterodimeric protein formed by a cysteine protease (EhCP112) and an adhesin (EhADH) that plays an important role in the cytopathic mechanism of this parasite. The coding genes for EhCP112 and EhADH are adjacent in theE. histolyticagenome, suggesting that their expression may be co-regulated, but this hypothesis has not yet been confirmed. Here, we performed the knockdown of EhCP112 and EhADH using gene-specific short-hairpin RNAs (shRNA), and the effect of these knockdowns on the expression of both complex components as well as on thein vitroandin vivovirulence was analysed. Results showed that the knockdown of one of the EhCPADH components produced a simultaneous downregulation of the other protein. Accordingly, a concomitant reduction in the overall expression of the complex was observed. The downregulation of each component also produced a significant decrease in thein vitroandin vivovirulence of trophozoites. These results demonstrated that the expression of EhCP112 and EhADH is co-regulated and confirmed that the EhCPADH complex plays an important role inE. histolyticavirulence.
THE MYSTERY OF TERRITORY
Authors: Tesón Fernando R.
Published: October 2015

This essay argues that the territorial rights of states derive from the property rights of the individuals that make up those states. The argument draws from the Lockean tradition of justification of political powers. Persons in the state of nature have natural rights. Those rights are first-order substantive rights (the right to property), and second-order executive rights (the right to enforce the right to property.) In the social contract, individuals transfer to the state their executive rights, not their substantive rights. The state can thus define the boundaries of property rights and adjudicate property disputes, but does not legitimately own land itself. The article discusses and rejects, for deontic and consequentialist reasons, positions that justify collective and state ownership of territory. Some important consequences follow from the argument: First, no actual state has territorial rights, since no actual state wields delegated powers in land. Second, notwithstanding the preceding conclusion, actual states have an obligation to exercise their (putative) territorial powers consistently with the respect for private property.
HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE PRIORITY OF THE MORAL
Authors: Renzo Massimo
Published: October 2015

The main point of contention between “naturalistic” and “political” theories of human rights concerns the need to invoke the notion of moral human rights (i.e., rights that all human beings have simply by virtue of their humanity) in justifying the system of human rights included in the international practice. Political theories argue that we should bypass the question of the justification of moral human rights and start with the question of which norms and principles should be adopted to regulate the practice. Naturalistic theories, by contrast, claim that a convincing answer to the latter question will have to presuppose some answer to the former. An adequate justification of the system of human rights included in the international practice, according to naturalistic approaches, will ultimately have to rely on some appeal to moral human rights. I call this view the “Priority of the Moral over the Political.” In this essay, I argue that the Priority of the Moral is harder to dismiss than political theories of human rights suggest, and that before we can assess the plausibility of these theories, they need to say more in defense of their claim that they can do without this view. I then consider the two main objections that seem to have motivated many philosophers to abandon the naturalistic approach to the justification of human rights in favor of the political one. I conclude by suggesting that a variant of naturalistic justification, the basic-needs account, has the resources to address these objections.
THE BEARERS OF HUMAN RIGHTS’ DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES FOR HUMAN RIGHTS: A QUIET (R)EVOLUTION?
Authors: Besson Samantha
Published: October 2015

Recent years have seen an increase of interest on the part of human rights theorists in the “supply-side” of human rights, i.e., in the duties or obligations correlative to human rights. Nevertheless, faced with the practically urgent and seemingly simple question of who owes the duties related to international human rights, few human rights theorists provide an elaborate answer. While some make a point of fitting the human rights practice and hence regard states as the sole human rights duty-bearers merely by referring to that practice, others criticize the “state-centric” approach to human rights duty-bearers and expand the scope of the latter to include any international institution beyond the state and even private actors. Curiously, however, even those more expansive accounts of human rights duty-bearers are usually very evasive about why it should be so and especially how it should work. The time has come to broach anew the issue of the bearers of human rights duties, and responsibilities of international institutions in human rights theory, addressing two challenges: focusing on relational and directed human rights duties specifically and not on duties of global justice in general, thereby distinguishing between human rights duty-bearers and other bearers of responsibilities for human rights, on the one hand, and accounting for and justifying the point of international human rights law and practice in this respect, thereby also securing internal arguments for reform, on the other. The essay’s argument is four-pronged. It starts with a few reminders about the relational nature of human rights and the relationship between human rights and duties and what this means for the specification of human rights duties. It then focuses more specifically on the identification of human rights duty-bearers, i.e., states and international institutions of jurisdiction like the European Union (EU), and the allocation of human rights duties to them. The third section of the article is devoted to the concurrent moral responsibilities for human rights that are incurred by other various responsibility-bearers outside institutions of jurisdiction. In the final section, the essay considers the (quiet) revolution potential of the EU’s fast-developing human rights’ duties, and discusses the normative implications of the development of universal international institutions’ human rights duties stricto sensu for international law and politics more generally.
State Constitution Revision: An Exercise in Federalism and Sovereignty
Authors: Myers J. A.
Published: October 2015

Experience with the concepts of federalism and sovereignty is usually limited to readings and lectures, especially in a class of undergraduates. Since these two concepts are the foundation of American governmental structure on all levels, I want to ensure that the students grasp them. I feel that students have a better grasp of information and its application when they can actually use the information themselves. I have developed the following exercise to explore federalism and sovereignty issues: posing a question concerning a state's revision of its constitution to the students as if they were on the state's constitution revision commission. The lively debates and discussions that ensue cover not only the main issues of sovereignty and federalism but encompass the use (and misuse) of executive power, legislative oversight, and commissions—all concepts that are critical to the study of American national, state and local government.

Towards the end of a class focusing on constitutions (and after a class covering the basics of federalism), the stage is set by talking about state constitution revisions and the trend toward simpler “plain English” state constitutions. (Note: This can be adapted for county/city/town charter revisions also.) The class is told that the instructor is the governor of the State of Confusion, and they have been gathered to form the State of Confusion's Constitution Revision Commission. The first section the commission will address at the next meeting is the following:
African Politics at American Colleges and Universities: Topics, Approaches and Readings
Authors: DeLancey Mark , Green December , Menkhaus Kenneth
Published: October 2015

In 1987 we surveyed a number of teachers of African politics in order to examine the topics, theoretical frameworks and textbooks/readings treated in those courses. The information presented below was derived from responses to 42 questionnaires and from analysis of 35 syllabi. Reference is also made to a similar 1978 study.

About three-fourths of the courses reported were defined as “comparative politics” with international relations treated secondarily; the remaining courses combined comparative and international politics. Sixty-five percent of the courses were offered exclusively to undergraduates. Sixty-seven percent concentrated on sub-Saharan Africa, 14% the entire continent, and 19% southern Africa.

Instructors vary widely in their course introduction. The most popular method is historical, but nine spend one to two weeks “setting the scene” of contemporary Africa before the historical overview. Twenty-two percent explicitly address approaches to the study of African politics. Some treat competing approaches to “development” or approaches to the causes and cures of poverty in Africa. This roughly compares to the percent of respondents who indicated a desire to expose students to competing paradigms. Although the low percentage of direct treatment of competing approaches is surprising, the syllabi indicate that many teachers integrate the issue throughout the course.
Teaching Implementation Analysis
Authors: Crotty Patricia McGee
Published: October 2015

Before entering the teaching profession, I served as the administrator of an environmental agency, a lobbyist, and a policy advisor in the state of Pennsylvania. These experiences made me aware of the need for practical suggestions on how to improve bureaucratic effectiveness and measure organizational success. My research interests focus on developing quantitative measures of implementation efforts and applying these measures to administrative agencies. I believe this approach to studying administration will become increasingly important in the future because it concentrates on measuring productivity and can be adapted to the private as well as the public sector.
Updating Microcomputers and Public Policy Analysis
Authors: Nagel Stuart S.
Published: October 2015

The purpose of this brief review is to update the article entitled “Microcomputers and Public Policy Analysis” which appeared in the summer/fall 1985 special symposium issue of the Public Productivity Review on “Microcomputer Applications to Productivity Improvements.”

A lot happened in the three years since early 1985 (when the original article was drafted) and early 1988 (when the current updating review was drafted). The main idea that the 1985 article reported was the development of pioneering software. The logical next step was the inclusion of such software as part of the textbook literature of public administration, business administration, policy analysis, political science, and related fields.

This updating review thus mainly reports the availability of recent textbooks which provide a microcomputer interface regarding the five fields which were emphasized in the original article. Those five software fields most relevant to public productivity are multi-criteria decision making, management science/operations research, statistical analysis, information systems, and computer-assisted instruction.
The Mechanics of Delegate Selection: A Typology
Authors: Rice Daryl H.
Published: October 2015

The effective nomination of presidential candidates has moved from the national conventions themselves into the process of delegate selection. While much has been written on the political causes and effects of this development, less attention has been paid to describing the underlying mechanics of the methods by which political parties in the states now choose their delegations. What follows is a typology, stripped of political considerations, of the methods used in 1988.
Assessing the Advanced Placement Program in American Politics
Authors: Rosati Jerel A.
Published: October 2015

The Advanced Placement (AP) program has been growing rapidly in the last decade. In 1987, a new AP program was begun in American Government and Politics and its impact is beginning to be felt in high schools and colleges across the country. However, there has been no objective assessment of the program communicated and discussed throughout the political science community.

To begin—what is the AP program? The Advanced Placement program offers the equivalent of introductory college courses which may lead to college credit upon satisfactory performance on an AP exam. The AP program is administered by the College Board which contracts with the Educational Testing Service (ETS) to operate the AP examinations. “About 31 percent of American secondary schools currently participate, serving approximately 17 percent of their college-bound students in this way. This use, by both schools and students, has been growing steadily in recent years” (Guide to the AP Program, 1986, p. 4).

The College Board highlights the positive aspects of the AP program for learning, education, and all concerned—students, teachers, and administrators. AP programs are considered part of society's effort to revitalize the educational system in the United States, especially in high schools and higher education. The quality and implications of the AP program are all positively portrayed. Yet, the implementation of the AP program has not been closely examined and publicly discussed.
The “L-Word”: A Short History of Liberalism
Authors: Ball Terence , Dagger Richard
Published: October 2015

Are these good or bad times for liberalism? On the domestic front, after eight years of the Reagan administration and a presidential campaign in which liberalism became “the L-word,” they seem to be bad times indeed. The same can be said of Margaret Thatcher's Britain. But elsewhere, especially in the Communist world, events and regimes seem to be moving in a liberal direction. China after Tiananmen Square presents a notable exception, of course, but the Communist regimes of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe are generally moving towards market economies and a greater concern for individual rights and liberties—two of the hallmarks of liberal societies.

Hence the question: Are these good or bad times for liberalism? To answer, we shall need a broader perspective than a survey of contemporary developments can provide. We shall need to look back, that is, to see what liberalism was in order to understand what it has become. Only then can we assess its current condition and prospects—and appreciate how politics in the United States is largely an intramural debate between different wings of liberalism.

Liberalism did not begin as a self-conscious social and political movement. This is evident in the fact that “liberal” did not enter the vocabulary of politics until the early 1800s, at least a century after what we now call liberalism became an important force in political thought and action.
Welfare Rights in the Liberal Tradition
Authors: Horne Thomas A.
Published: October 2015

It was hardly surprising that John Rawls' argument that a liberal political theory had to include a commitment to welfare rights was quickly countered by Robert Nozick's contention that welfare rights were incompatible with liberalism's devotion to freedom and private property. This controversy over the relationship between state funded welfare and liberty, especially the liberty to acquire property, has been and is still part of the politics of all advanced industrial nations, including America. As a matter of political fact, however, the welfare interpretation of liberalism has been triumphant. Government programs to alleviate suffering, to increase economic opportunities available to the poor, and to redistribute wealth go hand in hand with representation and civil liberties in virtually all of the advanced industrial nations of the West. That this has occurred, I want to argue here, is entirely consistent with the mainstream of the liberal tradition and ought to be presented that way to students.

The distinction between classical or libertarian liberalism and welfare or the new liberalism emerged at the end of the nineteenth century in England. From the start this distinction was politically charged, meant to imply that the welfare measures enacted particularly during the second Gladstone administration represented a treasonous repudiation of the liberal tradition. Herbert Spencer's The Man Versus the State (1884), little read now but enormously influential then, was most important to spreading this view.
“Thinking (and Teaching) Democratically”: A Defense of Ideologies
Authors: Love Nancy S.
Published: October 2015

Ideologies are important in modern politics. This is the standard reason political scientists give for studying them. In this article I provide another rationale for the study of ideologies: to promote democracy. This normative argument has been superceded by empirical ones, in part, because of the pejorative connotations of ideology. Those connotations are, however, based upon a selective history and hence an incomplete definition of the term. By reviewing that history, I recover a positive association between ideology and democracy. In the process, I hope to encourage political theorists to teach political ideologies.

TheOxford English Dictionaryprovides two standard definitions of ideology. The first is descriptive or neutral: ideology is the “science of ideas.” This definition, indeed the word itself, originated with Destutt de Tracy, a French Enlightenment philosopher. The second is critical or deprecatory: ideology is “ideal or abstract speculation” and “unpractical or visionary theorizing.” Napoleon Bonaparte, Tracy's contemporary, first used ideology in this pejorative sense. Both definitions are operative in contemporary political science.

Political scientists who study ideologies as “belief-systems” follow the first definition. For example, standard texts define ideology as “a set of closely related beliefs, or ideas, or even attitudes, characteristic of a group or community” or “a value or belief system accepted as fact or truth by some group.” These texts focus upon the various functions of ideologies, e.g., communication, legitimation, socialization, and especially mobilization.
Teaching Legislative Politics and Policy Making
Authors: Rimmerman Craig A.
Published: October 2015

The study of the American Congress raises compelling issues for both teachers and students in the examination of three interrelated arenas of analysis: Congressional members, Congress as an institution, and the role of Congress in the American political system. Underlying my approach to teaching Congress is a strong emphasis on discussing the role Congress should play in our Madisonian policy process as well as the role of elected representatives in a representative democracy. In many ways, then, a course on Congress or Legislative Politics and Policy making allows the instructor and students to examine the broader operation of the American political system by looking over the shoulders of congressional members as well as Congress as an institution. In doing so, broad structural questions might be addressed: To what extent is a Madisonian framework of government relevant for confronting and solving the policy problems that we currently face and will likely face in the future? What role can (and should) Congress play in addressing issues, such as the deficit, energy and environmental problems, homelessness, education, and covert foreign policy operations? In confronting these questions, I have found that students seek the opportunity to place Congress in an historical context. In doing so, I ask students to examine the three times in this century when Congress has responded to sweeping presidential domestic policy initiatives, including FDR's New Deal (1933-1936), Lyndon Johnson's Great Society programs (1965-1966), and Ronald Reagan's first-term budget and tax cut initiatives (1981).
The Philosophical Roots of the Bill of Rights: The Federalists' and Anti-Federalists' Conceptions of Rights
Authors: Pangle Thomas
Published: October 2015

The overall aim of the seminar on “The Philosophical Roots of the Bill of Rights” was to gain a better understanding of the basic presuppositions and implications of our Constitutional commitments as expressed in the Bill of Rights, especially as viewed from the perspective of the original debates and compromises that led finally to the enactment of the Bill of Rights. That original perspective was, of course, riven by considerable controversy, above all between the Federalists who supported, and the Anti-Federalists who opposed, the ratification of the original Constitution. The latter were the primary instigators of the movement for a Bill of Rights amending the proposed Constitution, but at the end of the day it was the Federalist outlook, articulated above all by Congressman James Madison, that most fully determined the actual character of the rights that were given Constitutional recognition. Still, this very fact, that an eventual compromise was reached which was at least as satisfying to most leading Federalists as it was to the leading Anti-Federalists who had originally insisted on the amendments—points to the very large measure of agreement on fundamental principles that underlay the debates between Federalists and Anti-Federalists.

This agreement on basic moral and political principles becomes most apparent when one contrasts the republicanism of the Americans, the republicanism rooted in a commitment to individual rights, with earlier and alternative forms of republican political theory. This contrast was the theme of the first seminar. I asked the participants to read Plutarch's life of Lycurgus, not only because Plutarch is an author, and this particular short biography is a text, well-known to the American Founders, but even more because the life of Lycurgus contains a vivid and concrete statement of the classical republican ideal that brings out some of the most alien features of that ideal.
Landmarks in the Judicial Interpretation of Civil Rights in America
Authors: Abraham Henry J.
Published: October 2015

Approximately 65 applicants opted for acceptance in this seminar, from whom twenty were ultimately selected. All accepted. They came from seven colleges and thirteen universities, located in ten states; ranked from instructor through professor; ranged in age from 29 to 61; and included seventeen men and three women.

Wisely, the objectives of the four seminars conducted under the program constituted both substantive inquiry and teaching methodology. Consequently, my approach to the examination of “landmarks in the judicial interpretation of civil rights in America” was designed to stress the communicative responsibilities of teaching as well as content matter. All too frequently, the latter suffers because of insufficient attention to the former. I did not utilize video aids in the seminar, but I provided sundry types of exhibits that have proved helpful in my now more than four decades of teaching at the university level.

Although the thrust of the seminar's aims and context was self-evident, it seemed to me that to address the subject matter without an analysis of seminal components of the nature of the judicial process, in general, and the parameters of judicial power, in particular, would be both short-sighted and dysfunctional. Looking back to the seminar now, I am more persuaded than ever that that resolve was appropriate—for, perhaps quite naturally and understandably in view of the deeply felt components of the subject matter, pre-conceived personal, as well as professional commitments, were indubitably in evidence at the threshold. Consequently, the entire first day's attention to an examination of the lines and limits of the judicial role and the postures of individual jurists would serve as seminal background material for the gravamen of the seminar's remaining days.