bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Folate, Vitamin B12, Homocysteine, and Depressive Symptoms in a Population Sample of Older Chinese Adults
Authors: Ng Tze‐Pin , Feng Lei , Niti Mathew , Kua Ee‐Heok , Yap Keng‐Bee
Published: April 2009

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the independent associations between folate, B12, and homocysteine levels and depressive symptoms in older adults.

DESIGN: Cross‐sectional study.

SETTING: Resident population in southeast Singapore.

PARTICIPANTS: Six hundred sixty‐nine community‐living noninstitutionalized Chinese adults aged 55 and older.

MEASUREMENTS: Laboratory values of folate, vitamin B12, and homocysteine were examined for their independent relationships with depressive symptoms (Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) score ≥5).

RESULTS: Respondents with depression (n=178) had lower mean serum folate concentrations (21.5 nmol/L) than those without (n=491, 24.0 nmol/L, P=.04). There was a linear relationship between descending quartiles of folate concentrations and increasing odds of association with depressive symptoms, independent of other risk factors (demographic, psychosocial, alcohol and smoking, chronic morbidity, functional status, nutritional risk, albumin, anemia, depression‐inducing medications, use of antidepressants and vitamin supplements), including B12 and homocysteine (P for trend=.02). The odds ratio (OR) of association between low folate (lowest quartile: <14.6 nmol/L) and depressive symptoms independent of other risk factors, including homocysteine and B12, was 1.72 (95% confidence interval (CI)=1.11–2.66). Vitamin B12 across a range of values did not show a linear association, but B12 deficiency (<180 pmol/L) appeared to be significantly associated with depressive symptoms (OR=2.68, 95% CI=1.20–6.00), independent of folate and homocysteine.

CONCLUSION: Decreasing and low levels of serum folate and deficient levels of B12 were associated with greater risk of depressive symptoms in older Chinese adults.
Equity at the Intersection: Public Administration and the Study of Gender
Authors: Bearfield Domonic A.
Published: April 2009

While gender has emerged as an important research subject, the development of a feminist theory has been slow. This paper calls for a commitment to the development of a feminist theory of public administration. As part of this development, the author argues that the field also must embrace research focused on the intersection of multiple identity categories such as race and class.
Promoting Participation? An Examination of Rulemaking Notification and Access Procedures
Authors: Woods Neal D.
Published: April 2009

This study documents state implementation of mechanisms designed to promote public participation in agency rulemaking. Many scholars have questioned the effectiveness of such mechanisms, arguing that they fail to encourage greater participation or that increased participation does not affect the substance of administrative rules. Using data from a unique survey of state administrators, the author employs multivariate analyses to assess the relationship between these measures and the perceived influence of external actors. The results suggest that critics may understate the importance of public notification and access procedures. These devices are associated with increases in the impact that a wide variety of actors are perceived to have on the content of agency rules.
Conversations with a Polish populist: Tracing hidden histories of globalization, class, and dispossession in postsocialism (and beyond)
Authors: KALB DON
Published: April 2009

Building on the work of Jonathan Friedman and of Andre Gingrich and Marcus Banks, I explain the rise of populist, neonationalist sensibilities in Poland as a set of defensive responses by working‐class people to the silences imposed by liberal rule. I trace in detail a sequence of all‐around dispossessions experienced by Polish working‐class sodalities since 1989, when activists with substantial legitimacy among organized workers had claimed de facto and de jure control over assets crucial for working‐class reproduction. “Democratization” and “markets” were shrewd legal ways by which the new liberal capitalist state reappropriated and recentralized those assets from local constituencies. Meanwhile, the reputation of workers, whose fights with the party‐state had been essential for regaining national sovereignty and establishing parliamentary democracy, was systematically annihilated in the public sphere by discourses of “internal orientalism.”[postsocialism, dispossession, class, neonationalism, populism, neoliberalism, globalization, privatization, Europe]
Emulating and/or embodying the ideal: The gendering of temporal frameworks and Islamic role models in Shi‘i Lebanon
Authors: DEEB LARA
Published: April 2009

In this article, I discuss two of the major temporal frameworks that pious Shi‘i Muslims in Lebanon draw on, as seen through the example of the Battle of Karbala, its annual commemoration during Ashura, and the work that the religious figures Imam Husayn and Sayyida Zaynab do in linking history to the contemporary moment. I suggest that, to fully understand how these two temporalities work, it is necessary to attend to the ways in which they are differently gendered. I conclude by proposing explanations for that gendering that take into account both the Ashura history itself and contemporary local and transnational political contingencies. [temporality, gender, Islam, Shi‘ism, narrative, role models, transnationalism]
The soul freed of cares? Islamic prayer, subjectivity, and the contradictions of moral selfhood in Minangkabau, Indonesia
Authors: SIMON GREGORY M.
Published: April 2009

In this article, I explore conceptions and individual experiences of Islamic prayer among Minangkabau people in Indonesia, describing their role in the constitution of selfhood and moral subjectivity. I show how prayer serves as an arena in which the contradictions between conflicting visions of moral selfhood may be engaged, ideally promising reconciliation and transcendence but also inviting experiences of failure. I argue that a rich ethnographic account of Islam's role in constituting selves and subjectivities must address not only the logic and coherence of particular discursive traditions and practices but also the experiential tensions that are central to their application and embodiment. [Islam, prayer, subjectivity, self, morality, Indonesia, Minangkabau]
Outside the glass case: The social life of urban heritage in Kyoto
Authors: BRUMANN CHRISTOPH
Published: April 2009

Recent anthropological and other literature tends to assume that the uses of heritage in modern societies lead to the falsification, petrification, desubstantiation, and enclosure of the things and practices so designated. Yet two traditions of Japan's ancient capital Kyoto—the historic town houses(kyô‐machiya)that have found a new appreciation since the 1990s and the Gion matsuri, one of the most famous festivals of the nation—contradict these assumptions. Their well‐documented histories are not widely distorted; they are not forever fixed but allowed to evolve; they are valued not only for their traditionality but also for other, substantive qualities; and their appreciation is not dominated by a concern for social boundaries. This is influenced by the urban, relatively sophisticated and cosmopolitan background of both traditions, as it is in parallel cases elsewhere. Greater attention to the perspectives of their carriers, however, will very likely show that the social uses of other traditions too are more complex than the standard assumptions lead one to believe. [Japan, cultural heritage, invention of tradition, vernacular architecture, festivals, urban anthropology]
Anticipating and inhabiting institutional identities
Authors: CARR SUMMERSON
Published: April 2009

Rather than simply silencing or excluding actors, contemporary U.S. institutions commonly assign ways of speaking to the identities they forge and, therefore, preestablish ways of hearing the people who have come to inhabit them. Although institutional power is thereby reinscribed when “subalterns speak,” people can also inhabit such identities, and speak from these designated locales, in politically efficacious ways. Examining the rhetorical practices of clients and social workers at one institutional site, I highlight the process ofanticipatory interpellation—reading how one is hailed as a particular kind of institutional subject and responding as such. [anticipatory interpellation, language, performativity, politics, representation, social work]
Divination, media, and the networked body of modernity
Authors: SEREMETAKIS C. NADIA
Published: April 2009

In this article, I shed light on linkages among neoliberalism, technology, modernity, postmodernity, and cultural practice. I analyze divination, for example, evil‐eye exorcism and coffee‐cup reading, and related involuntary gestures of the body as practices of holistic, embedded, multisensory exchange in Greece. I show how involuntary gestures refract and register the impact of the social nervous system on the individual and become the media that, in turn, enable the reading of that nervous system. The concept of the “nervous system” originated with Michael Taussig as the sensorial somatic registration of both everyday life and the effects of the social structure. In this study, it is descriptive of involuntary gestures of the body as a form of intersubjective communication that is not part of the mass media apparatus or of dominant public culture. [divination, (post)modernity, media, body, involuntary gestures, sensory exchange, remediation]
Nuri's testimony: HIV/AIDS in Indonesia and bare knowledge
Authors: BOELLSTORFF TOM
Published: April 2009

As an epidemic that has emerged since the 1980s, still has no cure, and may bear no symptoms, HIV/AIDS is powerfully linked to questions of knowledge. In this article, I explore intersections of HIV/AIDS and knowledge by drawing from ethnographic and activist work with an HIV/AIDS nonprofit organization in Indonesia that focuses on gay men and warias (roughly, male transvestites). In particular, I look at testimony, a form of knowledge production differing from confession in that it emphasizes form over content. Examining testimony with regard to persons living with AIDS, I show how it produces a “bare” or “asymptomatic” knowledge that may cast light on broader dynamics of epistemology, selfhood, and belonging. [HIV/AIDS, Indonesia, gay men, transgenderism, knowledge, emotion, nonprofit organizations]
A new form of collaboration in cultural anthropology: Matsutake worlds
Authors: CHOY TIMOTHY K. , FAIER LIEBA , HATHAWAY MICHAEL J. , INOUE MIYAKO , SATSUKA SHIHO , TSING ANNA
Published: April 2009

Experiments in collaboration open new investigative possibilities for cultural anthropologists. In this report, we use our research on matsutake mushrooms to show the promise of collaborative experiments for ethnographers of scale making, global connection, and human–nonhuman relations. Anna Tsing introduces. Mogu Mogu (Timothy Choy and Shiho Satsuka) argue that the mushroomic figure of mycorrhizal life illuminates workings of capital and power, nature and culture. Lieba Faier examines contingency—through the effect of weather and bugs on matsutake production—as a form of self‐positioning that emerges from local understandings of connection. Michael Hathaway uses postcolonial science studies to examine the transnational production, flow, and transformation of scientific knowledge about matsutake. Miyako Inoue discusses the anthropological subject that emerges through the kind of collaboration envisioned and practiced by the Matsutake Worlds Research Group. [collaboration, postcolonial science studies, multisited ethnography, naturecultures, contingency, knowledge production]
Bodo sp., a Free‐Living Flagellate, Expresses Divergent Proteolytic Activities from the Closely Related Parasitic Trypanosomatids
Authors: D'AVILA‐LEVY CLAUDIA M. , VOLOTÃO ALINE C. C. , ARAÚJO FERNANDA M. , DE JESUS JOSÉ B. , MOTTA MARIA CRISTINA M. , VERMELHO ALANE B. , SANTOS ANDRÉ L. S. , BRANQUINHA MARTA H.
Published: April 2009

ABSTRACT. We report the characterization of cell‐associated and extracellular peptidases of Bodo sp., a free‐living flagellate of the Bodonidae family, order Kinetoplastida, which is considered ancestral to the trypanosomatids. This bodonid isolate is phylogenetically related to Bodo caudatus and Bodo curvifilus. The proteolytic activity profiles of Bodo sp. were determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate‐polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis containing co‐polymerized gelatin, casein, hemoglobin, or bovine serum albumin as substrates. The enzymatic complex degraded gelatin better in acidic pH, and under these conditions four proteolytic bands (120, 100, 90, and 75 kDa) were detected in the cellular or extracellular extracts. Two peptidases (250 and 200 kDa) were exclusively detected with the substrate casein. All these enzymes belong to the serine peptidase class, based on inhibition by aprotinin and phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride. This is the first biochemical characterization of peptidases in a free‐living Bodo sp., potentially providing insight into the physiology of these protozoa and the evolutionary importance of peptidases to the order Kinetoplastida as some of these enzymes are important virulence factors in pathogenic trypanosomatids.
Cervical restoration and the amount of soft tissue coverage achieved by coronally advanced flap: A 2‐year follow‐up randomized‐controlled clinical trial
Authors: Santamaria Mauro Pedrine , Da Silva Feitosa Daniela , Nociti Francisco Humberto , Casati Marcio Zaffalon , Sallum Antonio Wilson , Sallum Enilson Antônio
Published: April 2009

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the 2‐year follow‐up success of the treatment of gingival recession associated with non‐carious cervical lesions by a coronally advanced flap (CAF) alone or in combination with a resin‐modified glass ionomer restoration (CAF+R).

Material and Methods: Sixteen patients with bilateral Miller Class I buccal gingival recessions, associated with non‐carious cervical lesions, were selected. The defects received either CAF or CAF+R. Bleeding on probing (BOP), probing depth (PD), relative gingival recession (RGR), clinical attachment level (CAL) and cervical lesion height (CLH) coverage were measured at the baseline and 6, 12 and 24 months after the treatment.

Results: Both groups showed statistically significant gains in CAL and soft tissue coverage. The differences between groups were not statistically significant in BOP, PD, RGR and CAL, after 2 years. The percentages of CLH covered were 51.57 ± 17.2% for CAF+R and 53.87 ± 12.6% for CAF (p>0.05). The estimated root coverage was 80.37 ± 25.44% for CAF+R and 83.46 ± 20.79% for CAF (p>0.05).

Conclusion: Within the limits of the present study, it can be concluded that both procedures provide acceptable soft tissue coverage after 2 years, with no significant differences between the two approaches.
Suspected infections in children treated for ALL
Authors: Hafsteinsdóttir Sólveig , Jónasson Kristján , Jónmundsson Guðmundur K , Kristinsson Jón R , Jónsson Ólafur Gísli , Alfreðsdóttir Inga Huld , Cilio Corrado , Wiebe Thomas , Haraldsson Ásgeir
Published: April 2009

Aim:  The aim of our study was to get epidemiological information on bacterial infections in children treated for ALL and to analyse which patients have an enhanced infection risk.

Methods:  Episodes of suspected or confirmed infections were evaluated during the first 12 months of treatment for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL).

Results:  The number of patients was 73 (43 boys). The median age was 4.6 years. A total of 179 episodes occurred, varying from none in six patients to eight in one. Bacteria were cultured in 57 episodes (31.8%), the most common being coagulase‐negative staphylococci. The number of episodes fell significantly with increasing age for suspected and confirmed infections (p < 0.001 and p = 0.03). The proportion of confirmed infections was significantly higher (p < 0.001) in the first episodes. The average number of suspected infections was higher in girls than in boys (p = 0.03), but confirmed infections were not.

Conclusion:  Most of the serious infections occur early in the treatment and the number of suspected and confirmed infections falls with age. Suspicion of infection is more likely in girls, but the number of confirmed infections is equal in both sexes. Coagulase‐negative staphylococcus was most commonly isolated, highlighting the importance of careful handling of central venous devices.
Motor performance in 5‐year‐old preschool children with developmental speech and language disorders
Authors: Müürsepp Iti , Ereline Jaan , Gapeyeva Helena , Pääsuke Mati
Published: April 2009

Aim:  The aim of the study was to evaluate motor performance in 5‐year‐old children with mild‐to‐moderate developmental speech and language disorders (DSLD) in comparison of age‐ and gender‐matched healthy children.

Materials and methods:  A total of 32 DSLD children and 45 control group (CG) children participated in our study. The children were examined for dexterity skills and gross motor function through vertical jumping performance, maximal isometric strength of the leg extensors and isometric hand‐grip strength.

Results:  Dexterity skills did not differ significantly in the measured groups, but DSLD children performed more poorly in gross motor tasks. DSLD children demonstrated significantly lower vertical jumping height compared to CG children. DSLD girls had lower isometric strength of the leg extensors compared to all other measured groups. The hand‐grip strength was greater in CG boys compared to all other measured groups. No significant differences in this parameter were observed between CG girls and DSLD children, although DSLD girls’ result was the lowest.

Conclusion: In children with mild‐to‐moderate DSLD, the lag of gross motor development is clearly evident; however, they do not differ from CG children in dexterity skills. DSLD girls had more affected gross motor function compared to DSLD boys.
Urban paediatric trauma due to stab wounds: an Israeli hospital experience
Authors: Abu‐Kishk Ibrahim , Vaiman Michael , Eshel Gidon , Lotan Gad
Published: April 2009

Objective:  To assess the incidence and types of stab wounds to hospitalized children and adolescents.

Subjects:  The sample consisted of patients, age 6–18 years, who were admitted to our hospital with sustained injury between 1991 and 2007.

Results:  In total, 83 patients were admitted as a result of penetrating (n = 51) and superficial (n = 32) injuries. Eighty‐two were hospitalized, and one was declared dead upon arrival. Only 11 patients were hospitalized during the 1991–2000 period, and 71 during the 2001–2007 period. Ten patients were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU); 23 patients were operated (hospital mortality = 0).  Evacuation time (time from injury to hospital) was 10 min (mean time; maximum 35 min).

Conclusion:  This study found higher rates of hospitalization compared with those over a decade ago. These rates reflect not only changes in hospitalization trends and/or population growth in the hospital area but also an increase of urban violence. Israeli hospitalization system deals with paediatric trauma effectively, being well trained because of permanent terrorist activity.
Intracerebroventricular injection of L‐aspartic acid and L‐asparagine induces sedative effects under an acute stressful condition in neonatal chicks
Authors: YAMANE Haruka , ASECHI Mari , TSUNEYOSHI Yousuke , KURAUCHI Isao , DENBOW D. Michael , FURUSE Mitsuhiro
Published: April 2009

The present study was conducted to clarify the central functions of L‐aspartic acid (Asp) and L‐asparagine (Asn) during an acute stressful condition in chicks. Intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of Asp and Asn (0.84 µmol) attenuated the vocalization that normally occurs during social separation stress. Asp decreased the time spent in active wakefulness and induced sedation. Asn had a similar effect to Asp, although somewhat weaker. However, i.c.v. injection of Asp and Asn further enhanced plasma corticosterone release under social separation stress. Taken together, the i.c.v. injection of Asp and Asn has sedative effects under an acute stressful condition, which does not involve the hypothalamic‐pituitary‐adrenal axis.
The effects of inclusion levels of urea‐treated potato pulp silage in concentrate and roughage sources on finishing performance and carcass quality in cull beef cows
Authors: SUGIMOTO Masahito , SAITO Waka , OOI Motoki , SATO Yukinobu , SAITO Toshiro
Published: April 2009

An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of inclusion levels of potato pulp silage in concentrate (0, 15, 30 or 45%; on a dry matter basis) and roughage sources (rice straw or wheat straw) on finishing performance and carcass quality of cull beef cows. Sixteen Japanese Black (Wagyu) mature cull cows (490 ± 31 kg of BW) were used in this experiment. Increasing the levels of potato pulp silage in concentrate and roughage sources did not significantly affect feed intake in cows. In addition, the final body weight, daily gain and feed : gain ratio were not influenced by the inclusion levels of potato pulp silage in concentrate and the type of roughage. Increasing the inclusion levels of potato pulp silage in concentrate would probably decrease the marbling score. The L* values of the longissimus muscle (LM) tended to respond quadratically (P = 0.078) as the inclusion levels of potato pulp silage in concentrate increased, and was lowest for cows fed the concentrate which included 30% potato pulp silage. The a* and b* values of the LM and fat color were not affected by the inclusion levels of potato pulp silage in concentrate. No effects of roughage sources on finishing performance were observed.
Variety diversity effect on the chemical composition and dry matter degradation characteristics of residue and by‐products of oil palm fruits
Authors: BAMIKOLE Musibau Adungbe , IKHATUA Uamai Julius
Published: April 2009

The materials palm press fibre (PPF), palm calyx (PCL) and palm oil sludge (POS) obtained from three varieties of oil palm: dura, oleifera and tenera were investigated for the effect of variety on their nutritive value. Analysis of proximate composition, cell wall fractions, some mineral concentration as well as in‐situ dry matter degradation in the rumen of steers were carried out. Significant effects of materials (i.e. PPF, PCL and POS) as well as variety (i.e. dura, oleifera and tenera) were noticed in all the parameters studied except sodium (Na) and organic matter (OM) components. Crude protein (CP) values in all the varieties were lowest in PCL (3.15–5.48%) and highest in POS (9.02–10.02%), while crude fibre (CF) values were highest in PCL (33.00–46.19%) and lowest in POS (3.15–5.48%). The upper and lower values respectively for CP and CF in the materials were in most cases for the tenera variety. The cell wall fractions (NDF, ADF, Lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose) were all higher in PCL and lowest in POS. In the three varieties, POS had highest concentration of Mg (0.117–0.231 g/100 g), K (1.21–2.33 g/100 g) and Cu (75.07–87.34 mg/kg) but lowest content of Ca (0.016–0.089 g/100 g) while PPF had lowest concentration of Mg (0.031–0.039 g/100 g) and Cu (20.96–22.28 mg/kg). Iron (Fe, mg/kg) values were generally high, but highest in PCL (2015.41–4042.16). Dry matter degradability and effective degradability values were best in POS irrespective of the variety and least in PCL. Among the three varieties, dry matter degradation characteristics of tenera were the best and oleifera the least. Generally the residue and by‐products irrespective of the variety of oil palm they are obtained from can be ranked for their nutritive value as POS > PPF > PCL, while nutritive ranking based on variety is tenera > dura > oleifera. Conclusively, POS and PPF from any variety of oil palm could be adopted directly as feed resources for ruminant livestock, while PCL will require hydrolytic nutritive value enhancement treatment. Ruminant livestock will however be at an advantage if materials from tenera variety are fed.
Effect of fortifying concentrate supplement with fibrolytic enzymes on nutrient utilization, milk yield and composition in lactating goats
Authors: BALA Prokasananda , MALIK Raman , SRINIVAS Bandla
Published: April 2009

Thirty lactating Beetle‐sannen crossbred goats were randomly divided into 3 groups based on first fortnight milk yield, and then adjusted to body weights to study the effect of fibrolytic enzyme supplementation on digestibility and milk production. Goats in the control group (C) were fed 500 g of concentrate supplement (CS) without exogenous fibrolytic enzymes (control; CG) or CS fortified with cellulase and xylanases @ of 4000 and 12500 (EG1) or 8000 and 18 750 IU/kg (EG2), respectively. CS was offered in two equal proportions just after milking at 7 and 17 h. After feeding CS, goats were fed 1200 g of wheat straw as roughage in two equal parts at 08.00 and 18.00 hours. Milk yield was studied for 3½ months. Milking was done by hand. Changes in body weight were also recorded. After a preliminary period of 60 days of feeding, a 7‐day digestibility trial was conducted in two intervals with 5 animals from each group at a time. The increase in either wheat straw or NDF intake due to the enzyme mixture was only 3%. There was significant improvement (P < 0.05) in the diet digestibility of DM, OM, CP, NDF, ADF and total carbohydrates (TC) between the control and EG1 and EG2 goats. Improvements were greater (P < 0.05) in the latter group. Microbial protein (MBP) was estimated based on purine derivatives and creatinine excreted in spot urine samples. MBP increased about 10 and 15% in EG1 and EG2, but these values were statistically invalid. Phenomenally milk yield, fat and SNF were significantly (P < 0.001) changed with progression of lactation. On a temporal basis, fortnightly changes in FCM yield of this study could be grouped as 1 month each of first and last and 1½ of middle phase of lactation. Repeated measure analysis showed 180 to 260 mL/day of higher FCM and 16 to 20 g/day of higher SNF yield (P < 0.001) in EG2 than control or even EG1 during 5 to 7th fortnight. However, no significant impact (P > 0.05) was noticed on TF. Feed intake, g/kg FCM yield was also 7% less in EG2 than either CG or EG1. The study concluded that apart from increased digestibility, fortification of CS with cellulase and xylanases enzymes improved FCM yield in the last quarter of lactation in goats, and improved body weights by 5% (P > 0.05). While the digestibility of the diet was higher in EG1 and EG2, the impact on FCM and SNF yield was noticed only on EG2. Our study indicated that CS of lactating goats may be fortified with 8000 and 18 500 IU/kg CS in the last quarter of lactation.
Low‐Income Mothers’ Private Safety Nets and Children’s Socioemotional Well‐Being
Authors: Ryan Rebecca M. , Kalil Ariel , Leininger Lindsey
Published: April 2009

Using longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Well‐being Study (N = 1,162) and the National Evaluation of Welfare‐to‐Work Strategies (N = 1,308), we estimate associations between material and instrumental support available to low‐income mothers and young children’s socioemotional well‐being. In multivariate OLS models, we find mothers’ available support is negatively associated with children’s behavior problems and positively associated with prosocial behavior in both data sets; associations between available support and children’s internalizing and prosocial behaviors attenuate but remain robust in residualized change models. Overall, results support the hypothesis that the availability of a private safety net is positively associated with children’s socioemotional adjustment.
The Social Construction of Marital Commitment
Authors: Ellen Byrd Stephanie
Published: April 2009

This paper articulates a theoretical framework for understanding how individuals orient themselves toward marital commitment. Using a life history interview methodology and interpretive framework, it examines the orientations toward marital commitment for a sample of women and men, single and married, between the ages of 28 and 35 (N = 75). Specifically, it elaborates a multidimensional view of marital commitment with attention to two multifaceted components, one value rational and the other practical. Borrowing concepts from exchange and identity models of commitment, it analyzes interpretive processes involved in their construction. Some preliminary comments on the role social position plays in shaping constructions of marital commitment are articulated and the implications of this model discussed.
A Weak Embrace: Popular and Scholarly Depictions of Single‐Parent Families, 1900 – 1998
Authors: Usdansky Margaret L.
Published: April 2009

The growth of single‐parent families constitutes one of the most dramatic and most studied social changes of the 20th century. Evolving attitudes toward these families have received less attention. This paper explores depictions of these families in representative samples of popular magazine (N= 474) and social science journal (N= 202) articles. Critical depictions of divorce plummeted between 1900 and 1998, a trend stemming not from any increase in favorable depictions but from the virtual disappearance of normative debate. Such de facto acceptance did not extend to nonmarital childbearing, however, depictions of which were almost as likely to be critical at the century’s end as at its beginning. These trends illustrate Americans’ ambivalent embrace of single‐parent families as a reality but not an ideal.
Assisting Parents and In‐Laws: Gender, Type of Assistance, and Couples’ Employment
Authors: Chesley Noelle , Poppie Kyle
Published: April 2009

We use 1995 MIDUS data (n = 2,085) to assess whether the gender gap in help persists across different types of help (unpaid task assistance, emotional support, financial assistance) to parents and in‐laws. We also examine whether joint employment patterns influence levels of help. Persistent gender differences are identified in levels of emotional support to parents and in‐laws: Women spend more time than men giving this help. There are no gender differences in levels of unpaid task assistance or financial assistance to parents or in‐laws. Individuals in single‐earner couples, however, provide greater levels of unpaid task assistance to in‐laws and financial assistance to parents than individuals in dual‐earner couples. Furthermore, financial assistance to parents is positively linked to work hours.
Competition for Resources: A Reexamination of Sibship Composition Models of Parental Investment
Authors: Lee Kristen Schultz
Published: April 2009

The predictions of resource dilution and sibship gender composition models of educational investment are tested using the Japanese Nationwide Survey on Families (N = 6,985). Japan is an important case because of its postindustrial economy, coupled with high levels of dependence on parental investment to attend a university and persisting gender inequality in educational attainment. In previous between‐family analyses of educational attainment in Japan, boys were found to drain resources from their sisters. The within‐family, multilevel models of parental educational investments in this analysis show that girls with college‐educated brothers fare better than their peers without brothers. An alternative model incorporating the educational investments received by brothers in the same family is proposed.
How Does Premarital Cohabitation Affect Trajectories of Marital Quality?
Authors: Tach Laura , Halpern‐Meekin Sarah
Published: April 2009

We investigate the link between premarital cohabitation and trajectories of subsequent marital quality using random effects growth curve models and repeated measures of marital quality from married women in the NLSY‐79 (N = 3,598). We find that premarital cohabitors experience lower quality marital relationships on average, but this is driven by cohabitors with nonmarital births. Premarital cohabitors without nonmarital births report the same marital quality as women who did not cohabit before marriage. Nonmarital childbearing is more strongly associated with lower subsequent marital quality for White women than for Black or Hispanic women. Marital quality declines at similar rates for all couples regardless of cohabitation or nonmarital childbearing status. These findings are robust to numerous alternative model specifications.
Divorce and the Divine: The Role of Spirituality in Adjustment to Divorce
Authors: Krumrei Elizabeth J. , Mahoney Annette , Pargament Kenneth I.
Published: April 2009

This study examined the role of three spiritual responses to divorce for psychological adjustment: appraising the event as a sacred loss/desecration, engaging in adaptive spiritual coping, and experiencing spiritual struggles. A sample of 100 adults (55% female) was recruited through public divorce records. Most appraised their divorce as a sacred loss/desecration (74%), experienced spiritual struggles (78%), and engaged in adaptive spiritual coping (88%). Appraisals of sacred loss/desecration and spiritual struggles were tied to higher levels of depression. Adaptive spiritual coping was tied to greater posttraumatic growth. Spiritual coping and struggles each contributed uniquely to adjustment beyond parallel forms of nonspiritual coping and struggles and mediated links between viewing the divorce as a sacred loss/desecration and depression.
Shakespeare and Performance
Authors: Love Genevieve
Published: April 2009

The field of Shakespeare performance criticism, also called stage‐centered criticism, was founded about 30 years ago on the insistence that critical insights about Shakespeare's plays can best be drawn – indeed, at the extreme, should only be drawn – from performance, rather than from their written forms. Determined to transcend, confront, or illustrate the speciousness of a ‘stage versus page’ battle to which this basic assertion gave rise, some more recent performance critics, influenced by poststructuralist theory and performance studies, have sought productive ways of connecting procedures for meaning‐making on all sides of theatrical production – those of the theatrical practitioners who craft performances, those of the audiences who respond to them, and those of the performance critics who write about them. This essay begins by diagnosing performance criticism's characteristic mood – an affective ‘state of the field’. Both across its history and within different moments of that history, I suggest, performance criticism has moved between the celebration of plenitude and the mourning of loss. After framing performance criticism transhistorically through this lens of live presence and ephemeral disappearance, the essay sketches the field's development chronologically, structuring this sketch around two questions: What have performance critics thought themselves to be doing to performance (imagining it? documenting it?). And what have performance critics thought performances to be doing to the meanings of plays (discovering them? creating them?).
Ecocriticism, Ecomimesis, and the Romantic Roots of Modern Ethical Consumption
Authors: Carducci Vince
Published: April 2009

Increased awareness of the topic of environmental sustainability has prompted development in literary studies of the research area known as ecocriticsm, which studies the relationship of literature and the environment. One of the prime areas of ecocritical research is the British Romantic period and its embrace of nature. This research is also known as green Romanticism or Romantic ecology. Timothy Morton's 2007 book Ecology without Nature: Rethinking Environmental Aesthetics is a noteworthy critical analysis of the field. This article reviews Morton's analysis, especially his concept of ecomimesis and the vocabulary he employs to outline its attributes. It also situates ecomimesis in the larger field of media studies. Finally, the article takes up Morton's critique of the relationship between Romanticism and consumerism to suggest another area of research: the Romantic roots of modern ethical consumption.
MicroRNA‐23b mediates urokinase and c‐met downmodulation and a decreased migration of human hepatocellular carcinoma cells
Authors: Salvi Alessandro , Sabelli Cristiano , Moncini Silvia , Venturin Marco , Arici Bruna , Riva Paola , Portolani Nazario , Giulini Stefano M. , De Petro Giuseppina , Barlati Sergio
Published: April 2009

Urokinase‐type plasminogen activator (uPA) and c‐met play a major role in cancer invasion and metastasis. Evidence has suggested that uPA and c‐met overexpression may be coordinated in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In the present study, to understand whether the expression of these genes might be coregulated by specific microRNAs (miRs) in human cells, we predicted that Homo sapiens microRNA‐23b could recognize two sites in the 3′‐UTR of uPA and four sites in the c‐met 3′‐UTR by the algorithm pictar. The miR‐23b expression analysis in human tumor and normal cells revealed an inverse trend with uPA and c‐met expression, indicating that uPA and c‐met negative regulation might depend on miR‐23b expression. Transfection of miR‐23b molecules in HCC cells (SKHep1C3) led to inhibition of protein expression of the target genes and caused a decrease in cell migration and proliferation capabilities. Furthermore, anti‐miR‐23b transfection in human normal AB2 dermal fibroblasts upregulated the expression of endogenous uPA and c‐met. Cotransfection experiments in HCC cells of the miR‐23b with pGL4.71 Renilla luciferase reporter gene constructs, containing the putative uPA and c‐met 3′‐UTR target sites, and with the pGL3 firefly luciferase‐expressing vector showed a decrease in the relative luciferase activity. This would indicate that miR‐23b can recognize target sites in the 3′‐UTR of uPA and of c‐met mRNAs and translationally repress the expression of uPA and c‐met in HCC cells. The evidence obtained shows that overexpression of miR‐23b leads to uPA and c‐met downregulation and to decreased migration and proliferation abilities of HCC cells.
Hepatoprotective Activity of Polyherbal Formulation (Normeta®) in Oxidative Stress Induced by Alcohol, Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Iron in Rats
Authors: Patere Shilpa N. , Saraf Madhusudan N. , Majumdar Anuradha S.
Published: April 2009

Abstract:  In recent years, oxidative stress has been implicated in the pathophysiology of a large number of diseases or disorders which are initiated and/or exacerbated by pro‐oxidants such as various drugs including alcohol and food additives. The present study was carried out to evaluate the effects of oral treatment with polyherbal formulation Normeta® (2 ml and 4 ml/kg) on hepatic damage induced by alcohol 10–30% (blood alcohol was maintained at levels between 150 and 350 mg/dl), thermally oxidized oil (polyunsaturated fatty acids) (15% of diet) and carbonyl iron (1.5–2% of diet) for 30 days in rats. In vitro studies with 1, 1‐Diphenyl, 2‐Picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), Nitric oxide and Ferric chloride (Fe+3 ions) showed that Normeta® possesses antioxidant and metal chelating activity. Alcohol, polyunsaturated fatty acids and iron feeding produced an increase in serum levels of iron, serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase and decrease in serum proteins. It was also associated with elevated lipid peroxidation (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances) and disruption of antioxidant defence mechanism in liver, decreased body weight and increased liver to body weight ratio. Oral administration of Normeta® along with alcohol, polyunsaturated fatty acids and iron decreased the serum iron, serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase levels and increased serum protein levels. The levels of liver thiobarbituric acid reactive substances were decreased and the activities of antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase and catalase were increased. Improvement in body weight and liver to body weight ratio was also observed. The effects of Normeta® on physico‐metabolic parameters were comparable with silymarin. This indicates that Normeta® has favourable effect in bringing down the severity of hepatotoxicity.
High‐Frequency Nursing Diagnoses Following Same‐Day Knee Arthroscopy
Authors: Flanagan Jane , Jones Dorothy
Published: April 2009

PURPOSE.  The purpose of this study was to determine the acceptability and feasibility of two screening tools at 12 and 72 hr postoperatively, and to determine the high‐frequency, high‐risk nursing diagnoses encountered by patients at 12 and 72 hr postoperatively following a same‐day outpatient arthroscopy.

METHOD.  This study utilized a nonexperimental descriptive correlational design with pre‐ and posttest measures.

FINDINGS.  High‐frequency problems were identified on the evening of surgery and at 72 hr postoperatively.

CONCLUSIONS.  Findings suggest that the screening tools were feasible and acceptable ways to determine high‐frequency problems in this population.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE.  There is a continued need for nursing contact and support by telephone post same‐day surgery to guide individuals through the process of healing.
Detection of a transit by the planetary companion of HD 80606
Authors: Fossey Stephen J. , Waldmann Ingo P. , Kipping David M.
Published: April 2009

We report the detection of a transit egress by the ∼3.9-Jupiter-mass planet HD 80606b, an object in a highly eccentric orbit (e∼ 0.93) about its parent star of approximately solar type. The astrophysical reality of the signal of variability in HD 80606 is confirmed by observation with two independent telescope systems and checks against several reference stars in the field. Differential photometry with respect to the nearby comparison star HD 80607 provides a precise light curve. Modelling of the light curve with a full eccentric-orbit model indicates a planet/star-radius ratio of 0.1057 ± 0.0018, corresponding to a planet radius of 1.029RJ for a solar-radius parent star; and a precise orbital inclination of , giving a total transit duration of 12.1 ± 0.4 hours. The planet hence joins HD 17156b in a class of highly eccentric transiting planets, in which HD 80606b has both the longest period and most eccentric orbit. The recently reported discovery of a secondary eclipse of HD 80606b by the Spitzer Space Observatory permits a combined analysis with the mid-time of primary transit in which the orbital parameters of the system can be tightly constrained. We derive a transit ephemeris of Ttr= HJD (2454876.344 ± 0.011) + (111.4277 ± 0.0032) ×E.
DETERMINATION OF OIL POINT PRESSURE FOR MELON SEEDS
Authors: TUNDE‐AKINTUNDE T.Y.
Published: April 2009

The oil point pressure of melon seed oil at different processing conditions, i.e., preheating moisture content (6.6, 8.3, 10.0 and 12.0% wet basis [w.b.]), heating temperature (70, 85, 100 and 115C) and heating time (15, 20, 25 and 30 min), was determined. The postheating moisture content increased with an increase in preheating moisture content and decrease in heating temperature and time. The oil point pressure obtained varied from 0.84 MPa for a moisture content of 6.6% (w.b.) heated for 30 min at 100C to 2.05 MPa for a moisture content of 12.0% (w.b.) heated for 15 min at 70C. The oil point pressure increased with increase in preheating moisture content and decreased as the heating temperature and time increased from 70 to 100C and from 15 to 25 min, respectively. A further increase in heating temperature to 115C and heating time to 30 min, however, increased the oil point.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

Melon seeds are one of the commonly available oilseeds with a high oil content, and their high oil content makes them valuable for oil production. The optimization of the expression process through the identification of the oil point pressure of melon seeds is necessary for the effectiveness/efficiency of the process. The maximum oil point pressure (2.05 MPa) was obtained from the lowest value of heating temperature (70C) and time (15 min) and the highest moisture content (12.0% wet basis), while the minimum value (0.84 MPa) was from high heating temperatures and time and the lowest preheating moisture content. These indicate that reduced heat treatment of melon seeds increases the pressure required for expression, thus reducing process efficiency and increasing production cost.
Rove beetles (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) in Neotropical riverine landscapes: characterising their distribution
Authors: GUTIÉRREZ‐CHACON CATALINA , ZÚÑIGA MARIA DEL CARMEN , VAN BODEGOM PETER MICHIEL , CHARÁ JULIÁN , GIRALDO LINA PAOLA
Published: April 2009

Abstract. 

The diversity and ecology of Staphylinidae in the Neotropical region has been poorly investigated, especially in riverine landscapes where these beetles are among the dominant organisms. Therefore, the relation between the occurrence of Staphylinidae and environmental variables was investigated in riverine systems of Southwest and Central Colombia.

Samples were collected between 1984 and 2006 following standardised methods for biological sampling and water quality evaluation. Water quality indexes were calculated and six microhabitats were surveyed: riparian vegetation (light traps), sediments (surber net), rock, macrophytes and litter (manually).

The 1834 collected individuals belonged to seven subfamilies and 17 genera. The most frequent genera wereThinodromus, StenusandPhilonthus.Among all measured environmental variables, microhabitat explained to most extent the distribution patterns of the rove beetles. Preference to riparian vegetation was found for the family as a whole but preferences by subfamilies differed strongly. Steninae were absent in the riparian vegetation and showed close association to macrophytes. Oxytelinae and Staphylininae were frequently collected in riparian vegetation and litter, respectively. Although water quality and altitude were only of secondary importance to the Staphylinidae distribution, the tolerance of Steninae to waters of poorer quality and its concentration in the altitudinal range of 1001–1500 m a.s.l. is highlighted.

Preferences to certain microhabitats found for some Staphylinidae taxa supply more evidence to the habitat‐specialisation of these beetles, representing an important contribution to both their ecological characterisation and to the fauna of riverine systems in the Neotropical region.