bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
National and Regional Economic Consequences of Swiss Defense Spending
Authors: Bernauer Thomas , Koubi Vally , Ernst Fabio
Published: June 2009

The effects of defense spending on economic performance and, in particular, on economic growth have been studied extensively in the literature. The empirical findings have been ambiguous so far, partly reflecting the econometric difficulties involved in the estimation of this relationship. The authors study the implications of Swiss defense spending for economic growth and unemployment in Switzerland, using both national aggregate and cross-sectional (cantonal) data. Such analysis may be more informative than similar analyses that rely on time series for individual countries (due to spurious time effects) or averages for different countries (due to strong cross country variation in country characteristics). The findings indicate that although defense spending has had a positive effect on the rate of economic growth of Switzerland in the presence of an external threat (Cold War), the distribution of defense spending across cantons has not contributed to the dispersion of cantonal growth rates. Nonetheless, cantons in which military employment is a large share of total employment have enjoyed lower and more stable unemployment rates. These findings suggest that in order to uncover the full implications of defense spending, it is necessary to go beyond the defense spending—growth nexus. The findings seem relevant for many other countries because the allocation of national defense employment and spending is rarely uniform across the regions of any country.
The International Military Intervention Dataset: An Updated Resource for Conflict Scholars
Authors: Pickering Jeffrey , Kisangani Emizet F.
Published: June 2009

As major wars have become uncommon over recent decades and the efficacy of economic sanctions is questioned, foreign military intervention seems to have become increasingly prevalent on the international scene. Military intervention has also gained a degree of moral legitimacy, as it is now often launched for humanitarian ends rather than simply to further the intervener's strategic or material interests. Despite the apparent increase in the use of foreign military intervention as a policy tool in recent years, the quantitative international conflict literature continues to operate without either a comprehensive or a current inventory of foreign military interventions. The authors attempt to fill this gap by updating Pearson & Baumann's International Military Intervention (IMI) dataset from 1989 to 2005. IMI has a number of attributes that should make it attractive to quantitative international conflict scholars. One is that it is one of a small handful of interstate conflict datasets that attempts to discern the motives behind state uses of force. Also, its substantive coverage is broad, allowing researchers to separate out and focus on the forms of intervention (supportive, hostile, humanitarian, territorial, etc.) that are relevant to their research. As a preliminary validity test of the updated data, the authors analyze patterns of Cold War and post-Cold War military intervention in the IMI collection to see if they correspond with conventional wisdom on real world events.
Textile Heart Valve Prosthesis: The Effect of Fabric Construction Parameters on Long-term Durability
Authors: Heim F. , Gupta Bhupender S.
Published: June 2009

The rapid development and success of percutaneous vascular surgery over the last two decades, with the now common stent graft implantation, make this non-invasive technique attractive today even for heart valve replacement. Less traumatic for the patient and also less time consuming, this technique is however in its infancy and restricted to advanced age or terminally ill patients. A major requirement for the use of the method is that the heart valve prosthesis is flexible enough to be folded into the lumen of a small diameter catheter. A standard material used for the construction of arterial grafts and which could also be suitable for engineering heart valve prosthesis is polyester textile fabric. However no data is available in the published technical literature on the long-term durability of this or any other fabric used as a heart valve. The purpose of this research is to study the long-term fatigue behavior of woven polyester fabrics of different yarn and construction factors. In the novel in vitro technique used, a fabric specimen is subjected to combined flexural and tensile fatigue generated by fluid flow under physiological heart valve working conditions. The results obtained show how flexural properties change with fatigue time, which reflects directly on the suitability of a given fabric in such devices. The results also show trends that one can use to develop criteria for designing a fabric most highly suited for use in heart valve application.
Gray Relational Analysis Approach for the Optimization of Process Setting in Textile Calendering
Authors: Kuo Chung-Feng Jeffrey , Tu Hung-Min
Published: June 2009

Calenders are mainly applied in fabric surface processing to improve the surface gloss. This paper proposes an advanced quality control strategy for calendering, employing the gray relational analysis based on Taguchi method to plan a series of calendering experiments, setting the robust process parameters for calender. Our study focused on the use of gray relational analysis to deal with a fundamental limitation of the standard Taguchi approach in respect of optimization problems having multiple quality characteristics. The quality characteristics included reflectance, water vapor permeability, and color difference of calendered fabrics. In order to estimate the optimization parameters with multiple quality characteristics, gray relational analysis was also incorporated to set quality characteristics as reference sequences and decide the optimal parameter combinations. The results showed that the calendered qualities were greatly improved and effectively determined the process parameters through this study.
Modeling of Yarn Cross-Section in Plain Woven Fabric
Authors: Gong R.H. , Ozgen B. , Soleimani M.
Published: June 2009

This paper presents models of yarn cross-sectional shape in plain woven fabric. Various yarn and fabric parameters, including fiber type, yarn count, yarn twist factor, and cover factor, were used as control factors to produce fabrics with known properties. New algorithms were successfully developed from the real fabric images to create realistic yarn models. The fabric images were obtained through the synchrotron technique which provides high-quality yarn and fabric cross-sectional views without disturbing the yarn and fabric structure. The changes in the shape of yarn cross-section along the yarn were examined. The yarn cross-section was modeled by elliptical and polynomial curves. The approach can be expanded for 3D modeling of woven fabrics.
Ultraviolet Protection Factor of Gray-state Plain Cotton Knitted Fabrics
Authors: Stankovic Snezana B. , Popovic Dusan , Poparic Goran B. , Bizjak Mateja
Published: June 2009

The protection provided by clothing against ultraviolet (UV) radiation has been the subject of considerable recent research. However, a lack of investigations concerned with the influence of yarn properties on UV protection capabilities of fabrics seems to be present. This study investigated the influence of yarn twist and surface geometry on these properties of fabrics. The gray-state plain cotton knitted fabrics were produced from yarn differing in twist level under controlled conditions, so as to obtain as similar as possible construction of the fabrics. These plain knitted (single jersey) fabrics were spectrophotometrically assessed and UV protection factor was calculated. The results obtained indicated that yarn twist to a great extent influenced the UV protection properties of the knitted fabrics through the influence on yarn compactness and surface properties, which in turn influenced the open porosity of the fabric. The results were also interpreted as the consequences of minimal differences between knitted fabrics' construction (different stitch density), which could not be avoided because of the yarn twist differences.
Ties That Blind
Authors: Price Douglas B. , Hyle Adrienne E. , Jordan Kitty V.
Published: June 2009

Interviews with 17 African American students and 19 White students were employed to examine interracial relations at a predominantly White community college campus. Seen through the lens of Granovetter's strength of ties theory, the interview findings revealed that strong intraracial ties and the absence of weak interracial ties inhibited communication between White and African American students, perpetuating the feelings of racial discomfort that students brought with them to the college campus. These findings illuminate the need for higher education to intentionally deconstruct racial discomfort through an analysis of the social structures that perpetuate the status quo of uncomfortable race relations.
“It Was Just That I Was Afraid”
Authors: Cox Rebecca D.
Published: June 2009

This article considers the risk of failing college and how the fear of failure shapes students' behavior. Drawing on a semester-long study of students and instructors in a community college English composition course, this analysis highlights the potential for students to undermine their own educational goals in the absence of active intervention from the college, especially from course instructors.
Online Education and Organizational Change
Authors: Garza Mitchell Regina L.
Published: June 2009

An in-depth case study examined faculty and administrator perceptions of how online education affected the organizational culture of a large, suburban community college. Findings suggest that in addition to structural and procedural changes, online education had an impact on faculty and administrator roles, teaching and learning (in both online and face-to-face settings), and the community of students and faculty members who comprise the college. The result was a new perception of the organization itself.
Predictors of Transfer to 4-Year, For-Profit Institutions
Authors: Sheldon Caroline Q.
Published: June 2009

Logistic regression was employed to determine whether student transfer to for-profit, 4-year colleges (as opposed to other 4-year colleges) is a function of students' social background characteristics, the students' academic experiences at the community college, and the transfer context of the community college attended (i.e., the overall transfer rate of students from the community college and the distance of the community college from a public university). Study results, based on records for 613,595 California community college students who transferred to 4-year institutions between July 2000 and June 2004, indicate that the strongest predictors of transfer to for-profit institutions include part-time enrollment, age, and grade point average. However, students of color were more likely to transfer to for-profit institutions than White students, and students attending community colleges with lower overall transfer rates were also more likely to transfer to the for-profit sector. Finally, students who used the community college transfer center were less likely to transfer to 4-year, for-profit universities.
The Political Economy of Fiscal Federalism and the Dilemma of Constructing a Developmental State in Nigeria
Authors: Aiyede Emmanuel Remi
Published: June 2009

The relationship between federalism and development needs to be investigated in the context of values of governance and state—society relations, especially citizenship. This helps to uplift the discourse on the African state by situating it within the historiography and political economy of federalism. This article explores the institutional and political foundations of the fundamentally distributive orientation of Nigeria's fiscal federal system: the values that underlie governance and the character of state—society relations expressed in the demarcation of fiscal federalism from citizenship privileges and duties. It argues that a fragmented citizenship sustains predatory rule, which undermines the developmental content of federalism.
Which Characteristics of Civil Society Organizations Support What Aspects of Democracy? Evidence from Post-communist Latvia
Authors: Uhlin Anders
Published: June 2009

This article reconsiders the argument that civil society promotes democracy. Both the independent variable of civil society and the dependent variable of democracy are disentangled. Several hypotheses on what characteristics of civil society organizations (CSOs) promote what aspects of democracy are tested using survey data including 500 CSOs in post-communist Latvia. The regression analysis shows that organizational characteristics (such as the field of activity, extent of political activities, and number of members) have a stronger effect on democracy than have relational characteristics (such as the degree of open recruitment and autonomy). Certain characteristics of CSOs can be supportive of some democratic functions but constitute obstacles to other aspects of democracy. It is possible to distinguish between an advocacy civil society, which is vital for the institutional aspects of democracy through performing the functions of interest articulation and checking state power, and a recreational civil society, which may strengthen democracy through the fostering of support for democratic values and increasing individual capacity for political participation.
Islam, Jihadism, and Depoliticization in France and Germany
Authors: Boukhars Anouar
Published: June 2009

Pressures from within (Islam) and without (globalization and European integration) have made Germans and the French feel apprehensive about their national identity and culture. Both countries are visibly struggling to defuse the potentially explosive mix of nationalism and fear of the Muslim “stranger,” while defining citizenship for their marginalized and disenfranchised immigrants. The issue is no longer the building of “defensive citadels” of “Frenchness” or “Germanness,” particularly since Germany has finally come to grips with the reality that the Gastarbeiter (guest workers) are there to stay. The challenge for Germany and France today is to define what kinds of values are essential for their countries' secular model of society and what kinds are negotiable.
Strategic Anticipation and Adjustment: Ex Ante and Ex Post Information in Explaining Sanctions Outcomes
Authors: Chan Steve
Published: June 2009

The outcomes of economic sanctions should not be explained by ex ante information that has already been discounted by the interested parties when they decided to initiate or resist economic coercion. Therefore, contrary to much of the existing literature, only ex post information becoming available after the occurrence of sanctions should explain their results. This logic of strategic anticipation and selection applies to interstate interactions generally, such as those pertaining to the success of deterrence policy and the outbreak of war.
Moving Android
Authors: Alač Morana
Published: June 2009

Social robotics studies embodied technologies designed for social interaction. This paper examines the implied idea of embodiment using as data a sequence in which practitioners of social robotics are involved in designing a robot's movement. The moments of learning and work in the laboratory enact the social body as material, dynamic, and multiparty: the body-in-interaction. In describing subject—object reconfigurations, the paper explores how the well-known ideas of extending the body with instruments can be applied to a technology designed to function as our surrogate.
Drug Evaluation and the Permissive Principle
Authors: Abraham John , Davis Courtney
Published: June 2009

Pharmaceuticals are not permitted on to the market unless they are granted regulatory approval. The regulatory process is, therefore, crucial in whether or not a drug is widely prescribed. Regulatory agencies have developed standards of performance that pharmaceuticals are supposed to meet before entering the market. Regulation of technologies is often discussed by reference to the precautionary principle. In contrast, this paper develops the concept of the `permissive principle' as a way of understanding the departure of regulators' practices from standards of drug efficacy to which regulatory agencies themselves subscribe. By taking a case study of antidepressant regulation in the UK and the USA, the mechanisms of permissive regulatory practices are examined. An STS methodology of both spatial (international) and temporal comparisons of regulatory practices with regulatory standards is employed to identify the nature and extent of the permissive regulation. It is found that the permissive principle was adopted by drug regulators in the UK and the USA, but more so by the former than the latter. Evidently, permissive regulation, which favours the commercial interests of the drug manufacturer, but is contrary to the interests of patients, may penetrate to the heart of regulatory science. On the other hand, permissive regulation of specific drugs should not be regarded as an inevitable result of marketing strategies and concomitant networks deployed by powerful pharmaceutical companies, because the extent of permissive regulation may vary according to the intra-institutional normative commitments of regulators to uphold their technical standards against the commercial interests of the manufacturer. Likely sociological factors that can account for such permissive regulatory practices are `corporate bias', secrecy and excessive regulatory trust in the pharmaceutical industry in the UK, political expediency and ideological capture in the USA, combined in both countries with some regulatory deference to the clinical autonomy of the psychiatry profession.
Active Compounds and Atoms of Society
Authors: Wenzel Geissler P. , Prince Ruth J.
Published: June 2009

This paper examines a sequence of investigations in parasitology, botany, pharmacology, psychometrics and ethnopsychology focused on Kenyan village children's knowledge of medicinal herbs. We follow this work of making and ordering of knowledge, showing that the different disciplinary perspectives on bodies, medicines, knowledges, children and cultures produced by this research all sought the foundation of knowledge in reference to objective reality, and that they aimed to make the world known in the specific form of distinct and comparable entities with individual properties and capacities. Based on subsequent ethnographic observations of healing in the same village, we outline a different, contrasting modality of knowing, which places ontology above epistemology. Medicinal knowledge and its transformational capacity are here not located within entities but between them; not in objective reality but in effects; `to know' means `to come together' with the implication of having an effect on one another. We use this ethnographic sketch of a different form of knowing as a foil against which to contrast the imaginary that had shaped our previous research. Beyond the stark contrast between herbal village healing and pharmacological laboratory analysis, we expand our argument by moving from natural science to social science, from studies of plants and substances to those of humans, minds and cultures; from laboratories to ethno-psychological tests, cultural models, and eventually econometrics. We suggest that by reiterating a particular scientific imaginary, remaking humans (and non-human beings) as known things, a specific notion of man and a related political economy of knowledge is naturalized. Looking back at our involvement with this sequence of research, we realize that, contrary to our intentions, our inclusion as `social scientists' into a multidisciplinary scientific project may have exacerbated rather than mitigated its potentially problematic effects.
Report From a National Tobacco Dependence Survey of Psychiatric Nurses
Authors: Sharp Daryl L. , Blaakman Susan W. , Cole Robert E. , Evinger James S.
Published: June 2009

BACKGROUND: Persons with mental illness smoke proportionately more cigarettes and die earlier than the general population. Yet compared with other clinicians, psychiatric professionals have intervened slowly with smoking patients. To assess psychiatric nurses' perspectives concerning tobacco dependence interventions, the American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA) Tobacco Dependence Task Force surveyed email-accessible APNA members (N = 1,365). OBJECTIVES: This paper reports survey results and implications for psychiatric nursing. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis of a 29-item online survey conducted in early 2008. RESULTS: Most nurses asked if patients smoked but fewer advised against smoking, referred to cessation resources, or delivered intensive interventions. Nurses referred to resources if they felt motivated, knowledgeable, and/or confident in their skills and rated highly their patients' ability and/or motivation to quit smoking. Workplace characteristics were related to nurses' behaviors. Nursing curricula lack tobacco dependence content. CONCLUSIONS: Findings will guide efforts to support nurses in reducing/eliminating smoking by their patients through practice, education, research, and policy initiatives.
Mental Health Patients' Experiences of Being Misunderstood
Authors: Gaillard Laura M. , Shattell Mona M. , Thomas Sandra P.
Published: June 2009

BACKGROUND: Mental health patients describe “being understood” as an experience that evokes feelings of importance, worthiness, and empowerment. However, the experience of “being misunderstood” is more prevalent in patients' relationships with health care providers. Negative consequences such as vulnerability, dehumanization, and frustration reveal that being misunderstood has the potential to damage or destroy therapeutic relationships. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this secondary analysis was to examine mental health patients' experiences of being misunderstood. STUDY DESIGN: Data consisted of transcripts from 20 interviews with community-dwelling adults with mental illness, which were analyzed using an existential phenomenological approach. RESULTS: Four figural themes expressed the experiences of being misunderstood: protection from vulnerability, an object to be fixed, treated like a child, and relentless frustration. CONCLUSIONS: Nurses and other caregivers can use the findings of this study to promote understanding, strengthen therapeutic relationships, and improve the quality of mental health care.
Changes in Lipid Profile by Vegetable Oil Blends Rich in Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Rats with Hypercholesterolemia
Authors: Ramadan M.F. , Afify Amer M.M. , El-Saadany S.S. , Abd El-Fatah El-Masry R. , El-Said Awad A.
Published: June 2009

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of different blended vegetable oils having different levels and profiles of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) on hypercholesterolemia by analyzing the changes in lipid profile in high-cholesterol diet fed rats. Three vegetable oils (soy oil, sunflower oil, and the nonconventional flaxseed oil) were blended to obtain blends rich in PUFA. Thirty albino rats were used over the 2-month period. The animals were divided into five groups, wherein group 5 represents negative control, where rats were fed basal diet, while rats in group 4 received high cholesterol diet and served as positive controls. The other three groups were fed hypercholesterolemic diet (1% cholesterol + 0.25% colic acid) supplemented with blended oils. Generally, rats fed blended oils showed significantly lower levels of total cholesterol (TC), triacylglycerol (TG), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol as well as higher levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, in comparison with animals fed high-cholesterol diet and cholesterol-free diet. Thus, oil blends under study may be useful formulations for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia. In addition to improving the lipid profile by lowering TC, total TG, and total LDL and increasing HDL, blending of vegetable oils can result in an economic advantage of lower prices.
Improvement of Quality of Gluten-free Layer Cakes
Authors: Ronda F. , Gómez M. , Caballero P.A. , Oliete B. , Blanco C.A.
Published: June 2009

The development and study of new gluten-free foods of high quality that are suitable for people with celiac disease is necessary since there is increasing frequency of people who have been found to be allergic to proteins in wheat flour. Rice is one of the most used cereals in these special foods elaborations. However, replacement of wheat flour by rice flour usually leads to a noticeable decrease in the quality of the products discussed in this study. This work studied the individual and combined influence of xanthan gum (XAN), emulsifier, pregelatinizated starch, and transglutaminase on quality of rice yellow layer cake (YLC) by means of a systematic study based on a two-level half-fractional factorial experimental design. Size and shape, texture, color, crumb grain profile and sensory acceptance were evaluated in YLC. XAN, white egg proteins, and emulsifier showed significant positive effects on volume, texture and crumb grain characteristics. The feasibility of rice YLC reaching acceptable levels of customer satisfaction was demonstrated.
Influence of Extraction Time and Different Sage Varieties on Sensory Characteristics of a Novel Functional Beverage by RSM
Authors: Özcelik B. , Karadag A. , Cinbas T. , Yolci P.
Published: June 2009

An optimized formulation was developed for the preparation of an `ice-sage tea' which might be considered to be a new healthy functional product and designed as an alternative to other cold-served drinks in the market. A central composite design was used for modeling of the experiment with two independent variables (extraction time and blending ratios of two different sage varieties: Salvia officinalis (SO) and Salvia sclarea (SC)). Flavor profile of this novel product was developed using descriptive sensory analysis techniques; consumer acceptability of the product was also tested. Blending SO with SC was expected to increase the positive health effects of this novel product, while there was a limit for its concentration at increased extraction times. According to the evaluation of experienced panelists, blending common sage SO with SC did not reduce the overall likeability of this novel product at low extraction times. Statistically, just two models for astringency and overall impression were found to be acceptable by taking into consideration their regression coefficient and probability values. On the other hand, consumer test results showed that the samples prepared by blending SO with SC up to 25% might increase the likeability scores of the product when compared to the product without SC.
Improvement of Water Barrier Property of Rice Starch-chitosan Composite Film Incorporated with Lipids
Authors: Bourtoom T. , Chinnan M.S.
Published: June 2009

This study investigated the effect of lipid types (oleic acid, palm oil, and margarine) and their concentrations (0, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50wt%) on the water vapor permeability (WVP), tensile strength (TS), percentage of elongation at break (%E), and structure of emulsified rice starch-chitosan composite film. The influence of rice starch-chitosan composite film incorporated with lipids in controlling the moisture transfer in moisture-sensitive products was determined by wrapping a low aw-type cracker product in rice starch-chitosan composite film. TS and WVP of rice starch-chitosan composite film decreased with the addition of lipids, whereas %E increased in these films. Addition of lipids significantly raised film yellowness for composite films. The results showed that films added with oleic acid gave higher L*, b*, and chroma values but lower a* value than margarine and palm oil, respectively. The lower transparency of the films was noticed when a greater amount of lipid was incorporated (p < 0.05). Oleic acid-incorporated films provided the films with smoother surface and higher values of TS and %E but lower WVP than margarine and palm oil, respectively. Wrapping cracker samples in the rice starch-chitosan composite film incorporated with oleic acid could maintain the hardness and provide longer shelf life and lower moisture content than synthetic polyvinyl chloride film (PVC) and unwrapped (reference) crackers, respectively.
Qualitative and Textural Changes in Fresh Okra Pods (Hibiscus esculentus L.) under Modified Atmosphere Packaging in Perforated Film Packages
Authors: Rai D.R. , Balasubramanian S.
Published: June 2009

Improper post-harvest handling and storage under room temperature lead to high loss of moisture resulting in loss of strength and development of flaccidity in okra tissues, apart from the loss of its characteristic green color. In this study, different weights of freshly harvested okra pods (Hibiscus esculentus L.) were stored at 15°C and 75% relative humidity packaged under modified atmosphere (MAP) in 35 μm thick polypropylene film packages to assess the effect of different in-pack gaseous compositions of O2 and CO2 on the properties of okra. During storage, the normal freshness indicators of okra namely, the bright green color and ease of snapping at the tip served as the prominent qualitative and textural parameters, indicative of the acceptability of okra. Results indicated that an in-pack gaseous range for O2 (6.3-8.4%) and CO2 (10.7-11.8%) under MAP resulted in maintenance of green color and β-carotene in the pericarp, and ascorbic acid in the seeds as well as other qualitative parameters. Further, the texture analysis of okra at the pre-determined snapping point at the tip and also along the longitudinal portion showed that MAP stored okra were snapping easily at the tips and had a very slight increase in the other mechanical properties which were considered to be within acceptable limits.
Analysis of Domains in Selected Plant and Animal Food Proteins - Precursors of Biologically Active Peptides - In Silico Approach
Authors: Iwaniak A. , Dziuba J.
Published: June 2009

In silico methods are useful tool in protein structure-functional relationships analysis. BIOPEP and InterPro databases were applied to analyze the presence of bioactive fragments in the domains occurring in the sequences representing the major groups of proteins. Domains found in the proteins analyzed had mostly transporting (bovine β-lactoglobulin), immunoglobulin-like (chicken connectin), alpha-amylase inhibitor (a/β-wheat gliadin), calcium binding (chicken myosin) functions, or allowed straightly to assign the protein to an appropriate superfamily (bovine casein). It confirmed the thesis about the existence of the functional relations between the structure (sequence) and the domains with identified conformation. Amongst the domains present in the protein sequences we revealed the presence of fragments with the activities: antihypertensive, opioid, dipeptidylpeptidase IV inhibitors, immunomodulating, and neuropeptides. In the chicken connectin within the immunoglobulin-like domain we found immunomodulating fragments. InterPro analysis did not reveal the existence of any domains in a soybean globulin. It can be explained by the lack of the key structure information helpful in the defining the structure-function relationships. As the number of information in the applied databases will continue to increase we can expect to find stronger relationships between bioactivity of fragments encrypted in proteins and the functionality of domains. This might allow in the future to find evolutionary similarity between different origin food proteins - sources of bioactive peptides.
Note. Sugar, Moisture Contents, and Color of Chestnuts during Different Storage Regimes
Authors: Chenlo F. , Moreira R. , Chaguri L. , Torres M.D.
Published: June 2009

Color, moisture and sucrose, glucose and fructose contents of chestnuts (Castanea sativa Mill.) at several initial states (whole and undried; whole, peeled, and partially air-dried, with or without prior sucrose treatment; peeled, broken, and undried or partially air-dried) were monitored for 11 months during storage under various conditions (unpacked, packed in plastic bags at ambient pressure, or vacuum packed) and temperature (at room temperature, 3°C or -18°C). Moisture content decreased considerably in all cases except in those of packed whole peeled chestnuts without sucrose treatment and stored at room temperature or 3°C. Chestnuts stored for 2 months in contact with the atmosphere had moisture contents of only ∼4% of their dry weight. After 4 months storage, sucrose content had fallen (in some cases to zero) in all samples except in broken chestnuts dried to a 2% moisture content and conventionally stored whole unpeeled chestnuts (in which sucrose content rose slightly). Glucose and fructose contents generally peaked after 1-2 months of storage, and by month 4 returned to initial or lower levels. Sugar content was hardly affected by initial moisture or sugar contents except when moisture content had been reduced to 2%. Color changes were least during storage in air or at 3°C.
Stress among Shanghai University Students
Authors: Honglin Chen  , Wong Yu-Cheung , Ran Mao-Sheng , Gilson Christie
Published: June 2009

• Summary: College stress and psychological well-being have been widely recognized in the academic literature. The present study describes the relationship between college stress, coping strategy and psychological well-being. A quantitative approach has been undertaken to evaluate the differences among 342 students in six universities in Shanghai. Differences of college stress, psychological well-being and coping strategy with reference to gender, year of study, etc., have been explored in turn.

• Findings: The study has proved that psychological well-being has a negative relationship with college stress and positive coping strategies have significant buffering effects on psychological health problems. Male students reported higher level of stress, worse psychological well-being, and having less inclination towards using positive coping strategies. Students studying in Science subjects scored higher in personal hassle. Students from private colleges reported highest level of academic hassle while Year 2 students had the highest level of stress and lowest level of psychological well-being compared to students studying in other years.

• Applications : Efficient coping strategies should be cultivated within the different college cohorts in various situations. Intervention should be given to the high-risk college students groups. School social workers shall play an important role in cultivating proper coping strategies to future college students.
Social Workers' Ability to Assess How Clients Experience Investigation Sessions — With and Without the ASI
Authors: Engström Christer
Published: June 2009

• Summary: Two groups of social workers ( n = 19, n = 13) carried out two different forms of assessment session, one involving an ASI (Addiction Severity Index) interview ( n = 40) and one without ( n = 43). After the sessions the social workers were requested to assess both the clients' experience and their own experience of the session. The clients also reported their own experience of the sessions.

• Findings: The results show that the social workers' assessment of the clients' experience differs from the clients' own assessments regarding the sub-scales of alliance and the clients' sense of own competence. However, no difference was observed between the social workers' assessment and the clients' negative experiences of the sessions. The results show the importance of asking the clients for their views when testing new ways of working. This will provide a more balanced picture as social workers are inclined to perceive the negative aspects and misjudge other experiences. The two different forms of session, with or without the ASI, did not affect the social workers' assessment of the clients' experience of the sessions.

• Applications : Testing of new methods of working in social work.
Social Work Supervision
Authors: Noble Carolyn , Irwin Jude
Published: June 2009

• Summary: This article identifies important challenges facing social work supervision as a result of the social, political and economic changes that have characterized the last two decades in most Western countries. In response a re-positioning of the critical tradition in the scholarship and practice of social work has been proffered by several authors (for example, Allan et al., 2003; Dominelli, 2002) as a means of addressing and counteracting the more negative challenges facing social work emanating from these changes. We argue that this critical re-positioning can also be applied to similar challenges facing practice supervision.

• Findings: As the social work landscape has to contend with a more conservative and fiscally restrictive environment, so too has practice supervision become more focused on efficiency, accountability and worker performance often at the expense of professional and practice development. In addition, current research has identified a crisis in the probity of practice supervision where many practitioners cite disillusionment and despair, as well as lack of opportunity to stop and critically reflect on practice situations as another challenge in this changed climate.

• Application: As a significant site of practice, a critically informed supervision praxis has the potential to emerge as a site for modelling social change strategies associated with the critical social work tradition.
Fifty Years on
Authors: Rapaport Joan , Manthorpe Jill
Published: June 2009

• Summary: Fifty years ago a Royal Commission report was published that has had an enduring legacy in mental health policy and practice in England and Wales. Known as the Percy Report, after the man who chaired this Royal Commission on the Law Relating to Mental Illness and Mental Deficiency, the Report made a series of recommendations, most of which were adopted and enacted in the Mental Health Act 1959. This article draws on parliamentary records and debates of the time to consider the context of the Royal Commission. It sets out the recommendations, particularly in respect of hospital admission and community care, and considers them in light of commentary about policy and practice in mental health services in the ensuing 50 years.

• Findings: The Royal Commission's recommendations for wider local authority responsibilities and resources to implement community care services for people with mental illness were not adopted with consequences for the role of social work in mental healthcare.

• Application: The article concludes that it is simplistic to portray the Royal Commission report as progressive or reactionary but that one lesson from history may be that practitioners and other stakeholders should continue to contribute to policy debates at national levels since such discussions shape services and practices for long periods.
Identity, community, and justice: locating Amartya Sen's work on identity
Authors: Qizilbash Mozaffar
Published: June 2009

Amartya Sen's recent works on identity have emerged at the same time as a much wider and growing literature on the topic across the disciplines of politics, philosophy, and economics. This article outlines some of Sen's claims and attempts a partial elucidation of their relationship to some strands in the relevant literatures on identity, community, and justice. It thereby frames Sen's works in such a way as to facilitate comparisons with other views on identity and multiculturalism, community, justice, and recognition which feature in this volume and the relevant literatures. Framing Sen's work in this way also helps to clarify Sen's position in relation to those of Bhikhu Parekh and certain communitarian thinkers.
The fog of identity
Authors: Sen Amartya
Published: June 2009

Personal identity and social identity are two very different concepts and the idea of getting them together, as Bhikhu Parekh proposes, within an integrated bundle of some `overall identity' raises serious questions of coherence. Personal identity demands the `sameness' of a person (Who is this guy? Am I still the same person that I was ten years ago?). Social identity is focused instead on our social affiliations, such as identifying with others with, say, the same nationality, or the same religion, or same political partnership. We can make reasoned choices about our priorities in social affiliation. Those who want to make our social affiliation a matter of `discovery' rather than of choice may frighten us by saying that we would lose our overall identity if we were to choose to affiliate differently (for example as an Indian and not just as a Hindu, or as British and not just as a Muslim). To understand that there is no threat to personal identity involved in such choices is important both for clarity of analysis and for standing up against the herd behaviour of identity politics.
Recognition: personal and political
Authors: Baldwin Thomas
Published: June 2009

Recognition plays a central role in international affairs and in moral and political theory. Hegel noted the connections between these two contexts, and this article explores Hegel's approach with reference to the work of two political philosophers (Honneth and Rawls) and debates in international law. The conclusion is that while recognition has a constitutive role in international affairs, it has a different role in moral and political theory: morality is the evaluative recognition of the significance of individual autonomy.
Liberalism and intellectual property rights
Authors: Breakey Hugh
Published: June 2009

Justifications for intellectual property rights are typically made in terms of utility or natural property rights. In this article, I justify limited regimes of copyright and patent grounded in no more than the rights to use our ideas and to contract, conjoined at times with a weak right to hold property in tangibles. I describe the Contracting Situation plausibly arising from vesting rational agents with these rights. I go on to consider whether in order to provide the best protection for the voluntary activities and consensual interactions occurring within the Contracting Situation, it might be appropriate or even necessary to move to institutions qualitatively similar to copyright and patent. I conclude that in at least some circumstances limited regimes of copyright and patent may be defendable solely on the basis of these very basic rights.
Advance Care Planning: An opportunity for person-centred care for people living with dementia
Authors: Exley Catherine , Bamford Claire , Hughes Julian , Robinson Louise
Published: June 2009

Many people want to be able to plan ahead, so that if in the future they cannot make decisions or do things, their wishes will be known. This is called Advance Care Planning (ACP). Although it is part of official NHS policy (NHS End of Life Care Planning), ACP is hardly ever done, and it may become more difficult once a person has memory problems. In the UK, there is very little research into ACP. By the time someone has signs of dementia, families often become involved. We are uncertain how this affects ACP and the views of the person with dementia, particularly with the new Mental Capacity Act which allow families to comment on health, as well as financial, issues. Our study will be exploring the area of ACP, especially in dementia, by

• looking at the experience of other countries through a systematic review of the existing literature;

• finding out what people who have carried out ACP in this country think through interviews and focus groups;

• considering what factors might help professionals to encourage the process of ACP in practice; and

• looking at how ACP might be done better for people with dementia.

The ultimate aim of our study is to produce guidance on ACP for both people with dementia, their families and health care professionals.
Palliative and end of life care of dementia at home is feasible and rewarding
Authors: Treloar Adrian , Crugel Monica , Adamis Dimitrios
Published: June 2009

Even though palliative care of dementia and care at home are key NHS priorities, services that set out specifically to support palliative care of dementia at home are virtually non-existent. We studied a novel service that has supported many people with advanced dementia at home through till death. Key factors for success include the right equipment, expertise around relevant medication, food, and social care needs, as well as understanding and support for funding care commissioning and informal care. The study revealed blockages to accessing support as a result of poor understanding of the needs of advanced dementia care as well as organizational prejudice. We demonstrate that good, home based palliative care of dementia can be achieved with very positive outcomes. Bereavement may be helped by the process of caring at home till death. Given that the Audit Commission has cited home care of advanced dementia as good value for money, it is of grave concern that services to support people with advanced dementia at home are not available.
Improving end of life care for the person with dementia
Authors: Evans Gillie
Published: June 2009

Drawing on the experience of looking after 50 patients with dementia, this paper describes a practical approach by one GP to making a difference for people with dementia in care homes especially at the end of life. Included is the use of advance care plans and enhanced annual reviews drawing on GSF prognostic indicator guidance. Using case studies, the following topics are discussed: pain assessment, end of life care, emergency situations, hospital admission avoidance, swallowing difficulties, acute agitation and cardiopulmonary arrest. The forms and protocols which have been developed to support decision making in these situations, along with details of the website on which they can be found, are discussed. The potential benefits of significant event meetings and a GP practice to care home alignment model are also outlined.
Let someone else decide?
Authors: Meller Anne E. , Caplan Gideon A.
Published: June 2009

This paper outlines the development of an advance care planning service, in partnership with general practitioners, specialists and facility staff that supports Nursing Home (NH) residents with dementia and their families. The aim of the service is to put a process in place whereby treatment options for residents, who have lost decision-making ability, can be considered in advance of any further episodes of illness. A 10 step plan was developed to implement Advance Care Planning within high level residential aged care facilities. Issues that arose during the course of the project are also discussed. The legal context for substitute decision-making is explained. Issues such as when to have these conversations, how to approach families, are discussed