bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Reversible posterior leuko‐encephalopathy in children with sickle cell disease
Authors: Khademian Zarir , Speller‐Brown Barbara , Nouraie Seyed‐Medhi , Minniti Caterina P.
Published: November 2008

Children with sickle cell disease (SCD) have high risk of neurologic morbidity and mortality, such as strokes, silent infarcts and TIA's. A retrospective review of magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic resonance angiography identified eight children with radiological and clinical characteristics of reversible posterior encephalopathy (RPLS). These patients had no evidence of previous cerebral infarcts or vasculopathy. Three have died during the 5‐year follow up; one developed a stroke and one a conditional TCD. RPLS needs to be considered in the differential diagnosis of children with SCD that present with acute neurological changes, especially if they are already been hospitalized. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2009;52:373–375. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Digital PCR: a powerful new tool for noninvasive prenatal diagnosis?
Authors: Zimmermann Bernhard G. , Grill Simon , Holzgreve Wolfgang , Zhong Xiao Yan , Jackson Laird G. , Hahn Sinuhe
Published: November 2008

Recent reports have indicated that digital PCR may be useful for the noninvasive detection of fetal aneuploidies by the analysis of cell‐free DNA and RNA in maternal plasma or serum. In this review we provide an insight into the underlying technology and its previous application in the determination of the allelic frequencies of oncogenic alterations in cancer specimens. We also provide an indication of how this new technology may prove useful for the detection of fetal aneuploidies and single gene Mendelian disorders. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Conceptualizing personality disorders from a general model of personality functioning: antisocial personality disorder and the five‐factor model
Authors: Gudonis Lauren C. , Miller Drew J. , Miller Joshua D. , Lynam Donald R.
Published: November 2008

Research suggests that personality disorders (PDs) can be conceptualized as constellations of traits from a general model of personality functioning. This research examined the ability of the five‐factor model (FFM) to conceptualize antisocial PD (APD). Participants consisted of 481 21 to 22‐year‐old men and women who were part of the Lexington Longitudinal Study. APD was assessed by the degree of resemblance to an expert‐generated APD FFM prototype, using the FFM count approach, and through the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS). FFM APD was related to childhood delinquency, substance use, aggression, risky sexual behaviour, externalizing disorder symptoms, psychopathy, education and employment. The profile of these relations was very similar in shape and magnitude to results obtained using the DIS. There was also a high degree of predictive overlap between the assessments. Results were not due to personality pathology generally. These results offer support for the FFM understanding of the PDs more generally, and APD specifically. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Comparative proteome analysis of three mouse lung adenocarcinoma CMT cell lines with different metastatic potential by two‐dimensional gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry
Authors: Zhang Kelan , Wrzesinski Krzysztof , Stephen J. Fey , Larsen Peter Mose , Zhang Xumin , Roepstorff Peter
Published: November 2008

Metastasis is a lethal attribute of a cancer and presents a continuing therapeutic challenge. Metastasis is a highly complex process and more knowledge about the mechanisms behind metastasis is highly desirable. Isogenic CMT cell lines were selected from a spontaneous mouse lung adenocarcinoma and characterized in vivo to have different metastatic potential. In this study, the comprehensive protein expression profiles of three of these CMT cell lines at passage 5, 15 and 35 were analyzed by 2‐DE separation followed by MS identification. As a result, 82 and 40 unique proteins were found to be significantly up‐ or down‐regulated between cell lines with different metastatic potential at passages 5 and 15, respectively. These proteins were identified by MS and most of them have previously been reported to be related to cancer development and/or metastasis. Bioinformatics analysis indicated that several of the proteins were involved in proteasome, cell‐cycle and cell‐communication pathways. Among them, some keratins, 14‐3‐3 proteins and 26S proteasome proteins were identified and their aberrant expression may be directly or indirectly involved in cancer development and metastasis. In conclusion, our comprehensive 2‐DE‐based proteomics studies revealed some candidate proteins, protein families and signaling pathways, which might be important in cancer development and metastasis.
Proteomic analysis reveals protein changes within layer 2 of the insular cortex in schizophrenia
Authors: Pennington Kyla , Dicker Patrick , Dunn Michael J. , Cotter David R.
Published: November 2008

Abnormalities in the size and activity of the insular cortex (IC), a brain region involved in auditory hallucinations and language, have been previously found in brain imaging studies in schizophrenia. In addition, cortical layer 2 has been shown to be abnormal in many brain regions in schizophrenia. In this study, 2‐D DIGE was used to quantitatively analyse protein expression in schizophrenia and control cases (n = 15/group) in microdissected layer 2 IC tissue. Proteomic analyses revealed 57 significantly differentially expressed (p<0.05) protein spots in schizophrenia. Validation of differential expression of two of the proteins differentially expressed was subsequently confirmed using Western blotting. This work provides evidence of abnormal protein expression in layer 2 of the IC in schizophrenia, supporting previous work of reduced neuronal size in this cortical layer in the IC. Over half of proteins abnormally expressed in this study have not been reported previously in proteomic studies investigating schizophrenia or neurodegenerative disorders. Proteins found to be abnormally expressed appear to collectively impact on neuronal plasticity through roles in neurite outgrowth, cellular morphogenesis and synaptic function.
Anomalous melting behavior of cyclohexane and cyclooctane in poly(dimethyl siloxane) precursors and model networks
Authors: Wu Jinrong , McKenna Gregory B.
Published: November 2008

Building on previous observations of anomalous melting behavior of solvents in polyisoprene, we have expanded our insight into the melting behavior of organic solvents in polymers and polymer networks through a calorimetric investigation of cylcohexane and cyclooctane in poly(dimethyl siloxane) (PDMS) precursors and model networks. The results are contrary to general expectations. Besides deviations between the predictions of the Flory‐Huggins model and observed melting point depression of the small molecule organics, it is found that the melting point depression of cyclohexane in model networks is lower than that in the uncrosslinked precursors and unaffected by the molecular weight between crosslinks, which is not consistent with the general observation that higher crosslinking density leads to greater melting point depression. We interpret the observed phenomenon in terms of phase separation. In the case of cyclooctane, it exhibits a double melting peak in the model networks with high molecular weight between crosslinks. Furthermore, the heats of fusion of both cyclohexane and cyclooctane decrease with increasing polymer volume fraction which violates the underlying assumption that the heat of fusion of solvent in the polymer is the same as that in the bulk for both the Flory‐Huggins model and the Gibbs‐Thomson equation. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 46: 2779–2791, 2008
Twinkling fractal theory of the glass transition
Authors: Wool Richard P.
Published: November 2008

In this paper we propose a solution to an unsolved problem in solid state physics, namely, the nature and structure of the glass transition in amorphous materials. The development of dynamic percolating fractal structures near Tg is the main element of the Twinkling Fractal Theory (TFT) presented herein and the percolating fractal twinkles with a frequency spectrum F(ω) ∼ ωdf–1 exp −|ΔE|/kT as solid and liquid clusters interchange with frequency ω. The Orbach vibrational density of states for a fractal is g(ω) ∼ ωdf–1, where df = 4/3 and the temperature dependent activation energy behaves as ΔE ∼ (T2 − T). The key concept of the TFT derives from the Boltzmann population of excited states in the anharmonic intermolecular potential between atoms, coupled with percolating solid fractal structures near Tg. The twinkling fractal spectrum F(ω) at Tg predicts the correct dynamic heterogeneity behavior via the spatio‐temporal thermal fluctuation autocorrelation relaxation function C(t). This function behaves as C(t) ∼ t−1/3 (short times), C(t) ∼ t−4/3 (long times) and C(t) ∼ t−2 (ω < ωc), which were found to be in excellent agreement with published nanoscale AFM dielectric force fluctuation experiments on a glassy polymer near Tg. Using the Morse potential, the TFT predicts that Tg = 2Do/9k, where Do is the interatomic bonding energy ∼ 2–5 kcal/mol and is comparable to the heat of fusion ΔHf. Because anharmonicity controls both the thermal expansion coefficient αL and Tg, the TFT uniquely predicts that αL×Tg ≈ 0.03, which is found to be universal for a broad range of glassy materials from Pyrex to polymers to glycerol. Below Tg, the glassy structure attains a frustrated nonequilibrium state by getting constrained on the fractal structure and the thermal expansion in the glass is reduced by the percolation threshold pc as αg ≈ pcαL. The change in heat capacity ΔCp = CpL–Cpg at Tg was found to be related to the change in dimensionality from Df to 3 in the Debye approximation as the ratio CpL/Cpg = 3/Df, where Df is the fractal dimension of the glass. For polymers, the TFT describes the molecular weight dependence of Tg, the role of crosslinks on Tg, the Flory‐Fox rule of mixtures and the WLF relation for the time‐temperature shift factor aT, which are traditionally viewed in terms of Free‐Volume theory. The TFT offers new insight into the behavior of nano‐confined glassy materials and the dynamics of physical aging. It also predicts the relation between the melting point Tm and Tg as Tm/Tg = 1/[1−pc] ≈ 2. The TFT is universal to all glass forming liquids. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 46: 2765–2778, 2008
Spectral time moment analysis of microgel deswelling. Effect of the heating rate
Authors: Streletzky Kiril A. , Mckenna John T.
Published: November 2008

Microgel nanoparticles were synthesized in aqueous solutions of neutral polymer hydroxypropylcellulose (HPC) through the self‐association of amphiphilic HPC molecules and the subsequent cross linking at room temperature. Dynamic Light Scattering was used to study the transport properties of HPC microgels below and above the volume phase transition. Highly nonexponential, multimodal microgel spectra were observed and successfully analyzed by spectral time moment analysis. This article expands earlier results and focuses on the effect of the heating rate on microgel deswelling. During the fast heating two identified microgel modes with apparent hydrodynamic radii (RH) of 25–30 nm and 400–650 nm collapse into one mode with RH = 100–150 nm. This indicates the shrinkage of microgel size distribution and an apparent decrease in the radius of larger microgels. During the slow heating, however, both microgel‐identified modes remain present above Tc. Although equally represented below the transition, the dominance of larger microgels' mode increases almost two fold with rising temperature above 40°C. Moreover, RH for this mode increases from 250–300 nm to about 800–850 nm with a multi‐step temperature change from 40 to 42.5°C, indicating the growth (and not shrinkage) of microgels. The second mode is represented by the temperature independent RH, but its contribution goes down from about 50% to less than 10%. © 2008Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 46: 2792–2802, 2008
Moderate and vigorous exercise programs in children with asthma: Safety, parental satisfaction, and asthma outcomes
Authors: Weisgerber Michael , Webber Kathryn , Meurer John , Danduran Michael , Berger Stuart , Flores Glenn
Published: November 2008

Background

Previous research suggests that physical activity programs may improve fitness and reduce symptoms in children with asthma, but few studies have included severe asthmatics and focused on safety and parental satisfaction with the programs.

Objective

To examine safety, parental satisfaction, and pre‐ to post‐intervention changes in symptoms and quality of life (QOL) in a pilot study of the impact of vigorous physical activity (swimming) and moderate‐intensity activity (golf) on inner‐city children with asthma.

Design/Methods

Children with asthma (7–14 years old) residing in Milwaukee's highest asthma prevalence zip codes were randomized to a 9‐week swimming or golf program. Pre‐ and post‐intervention data were obtained on safety, parental satisfaction, asthma symptoms, quality of life, and urgent asthma physician visits.

Results

Twenty‐eight children in the swimming group and 17 in the golf group completed the program. Combined group analysis (N = 45) revealed that only six symptom exacerbations occurred during 1,125 person‐sessions of swimming and golf (all resolved with bronchodilator therapy), 92% of parents were very or extremely satisfied with the program, and post‐exercise decreases were observed in asthma symptom severity scores (9.3–7.3, P < 0.001), improved parental QOL (4.9–5.4, P < 0.001), and reduced urgent physician visits for asthma (1.3–0.2 visits per person, P = 0.04). The study lacked sufficient power to perform intergroup comparisons.

Conclusions

Findings from this pilot study indicate that vigorous (swimming) and moderate‐intensity (golf) physical activity programs are well‐tolerated, safe, and achieve high parental satisfaction. Participants and parents reported reduced childhood asthma symptoms and physician office visits and improved parental QOL. These findings suggest a potentially beneficial role for moderate to vigorous physical activity in childhood asthma. Pediatr. Pulmonol. 2008; 43:1175–1182. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Six‐minute walk test in obese children and adolescents: Reproducibility and validity
Authors: Morinder Gunilla , Mattsson Eva , Sollander Clara , Marcus Claude , Larsson Ulla Evers
Published: November 2008

Background and Purpose. The six‐minute walk test (6MWT) is increasingly used in clinical practice. The aims of this study were to determine the reproducibility of the 6MWT in obese children and adolescents, to describe walking capacity in this population and compare the results with values from normal‐weight children (known group validity), and, finally, to describe the correlation between distance walked and estimated maximum oxygen uptake (VO2max). Methods. Reproducibility was determined by a test–retest design and known group validity by a comparative design. The 6MWT was first test–retested in 49 obese children (30 boys, 19 girls, 8–16 years, body mass index [BMI] 24.9–52.1 kg?m−2). Then, for validation, 250 obese children (126 boys, 124 girls, 8–16 years, BMI 23.2–57 kg/m2) and 97 normal‐weight children (48 boys, 49 girls, 8–16 years, BMI 13.3–23.2 kg·m−2) performed the 6MWT. The obese children also performed a sub‐maximal bicycle ergometry test. Results. In the test–retest, the obese children walked 571 m the first test and 57 m the second (p = 0.578). The measurement error (Sw) was 24 m, coefficient of variation (CV): 4.3% and the intraclass correlation (ICC1:1): 0.84. Repeatability was 68 m, and limits of agreement were +71 and −65 m. In comparison mean (standard deviation), six‐minute walk distance (6MWD) in the obese children was 571 m (65.5), and in the normal‐weight children, 663 m (61.1) (p < 0.001). The correlation between 6MWD and estimated VO2max (r = 0.34) was low. Conclusions. The 6MWT showed good reproducibility and known group validity, and can be recommended for use in clinical practice in the studied population. To evaluate individual outcomes after intervention, the 6MWD needs to change by >68 m to be statistically significant. The 6MWD performed by obese children averaged 86% of the distance normal‐weight children walked. In obese children, the correlation between 6MWD and estimated VO2max was low, hence the 6MWT cannot substitute a bicycle ergometry test. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Spectral properties and thermoluminescence of codoped PbWO4:(Mo,Y) and PbWO4:(F,Y) crystals
Authors: Xie Jian‐jun , Shi Ying , Yuan Hui , Cheng Hao‐hong , Wu Wei‐ping , Liao Jing‐ying
Published: November 2008

Lead tungstate, PbWO4 single crystals codoped with Mo6+/F– and Y3+ ions were grown using the modified Bridgman method. Optical transmission, X‐ray excited luminescence, photoluminescence, ultrashort pulsed X‐ray excited fluorescent lifetime and thermoluminescence have been investigated. Compared to pure PbWO4, the codoped PbWO4:(Mo,Y) and PbWO4:(F,Y) crystals exhibit improved transmittance in the short‐wavelength region. Luminescence and light‐yield measurements demonstrated that Mo6+/F– and Y3+ codoping could enhance the luminescence of PbWO4 and reduce slow decay components. Doped Mo6+ and F– ions in PbWO4 were tentatively considered to occupy W and O sites, while Y3+ ions codoped in PbWO4:Mo/F mostly occupy Pb sublattice sites. The second excitation peak at 335 nm, which is the second effective excitation for the enhanced blue‐green emission in as‐grown PbWO4:(Mo,Y) and PbWO4:(F,Y) crystals, should be related to MoO42– groups and O vacancies (VO). Thermoluminescence glow curve measurement between RT and 400 °C provides complementary information about trapping states and the effect of Y3+ ion codoping resulting in the reduction of stable and temporary hole centers. Further work is needed to explain the doping and energy‐transfer mechanism. (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Application of experimentally determined inelastic mean free path and surface excitation parameter in Ni to Monte Carlo simulation of reflection electron energy loss spectrum
Authors: Nagatomi T. , Goto K.
Published: November 2008

The Monte Carlo (MC) simulation of reflection electron energy loss spectroscopy (REELS), in which energy losses by surface excitations were taken into account in addition to the bulk excitation, was developed. For the inelastic mean free path (IMFP), the surface excitation parameter (SEP), and the differential SEP (DSEP) required for the MC simulation as input data, those absolutely determined from absolute experimental REELS spectra were employed. The REELS spectra were simulated by using the present MC simulation for primary electrons of 300–3000 eV irradiated onto Ni. The simulated REELS spectra showed an excellent agreement with the experimental spectra, confirming that the MC simulation describes well the energy loss processes of electrons in the near surface region. The comparison of the spectra simulated with and without surface excitations has revealed that surface excitations play an important role in energy loss processes of electrons near surface region. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Security benchmarks of OSGi platforms: toward Hardened OSGi
Authors: Parrend P. , Frenot S.
Published: November 2008

OSGi platforms are extensible component platforms, i.e. they support the dynamic and transparent installation of components that are provided by third party providers at runtime. This feature makes systems built using OSGi extensible and adaptable, but opens a dangerous attack vector that has not been considered as such until recently. Performing a security benchmark of the OSGi platform is therefore necessary to gather knowledge related to the weaknesses it introduces as well as to propose enhancements. A suitableVulnerability Patternis defined. The attacks that can be performed through malicious OSGi components are identified. Quantitative analysis is then performed so as to characterize the origin of the vulnerabilities and the target and consequences of the attacks. The assessment of the security status of the various implementations of the OSGi platform and of existing security mechanisms is done through a metric we introduce, theProtection rate(PR). Based on these benchmarks, OSGi‐specific security enhancements are identified and evaluated. First recommendations are given. Then evaluation is performed through the PR metric and performance analysis. Lastly, further requirements for building secure OSGi platforms are identified. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Nanocolumnar Preferentially Oriented PSZT Thin Films Deposited on Thermally Grown Silicon Dioxide
Authors: Sriram S , Bhaskaran M , Mitchell A , Mitchell DRG , Kostovski G
Published: November 2008

We report the first instance of deposition of preferentially oriented, nanocrystalline, and nanocolumnar strontium-doped lead zirconate titanate (PSZT) ferroelectric thin films directly on thermal silicon dioxide. No intermediate seed or activation layers were used between PSZT and silicon dioxide. The deposited thin films have been characterised using a combination of diffraction and microscopy techniques.
Do Twin Boundaries Always Strengthen Metal Nanowires?
Authors: Zhang Yongfeng , Huang Hanchen
Published: November 2008

It has been widely reported that twin boundaries strengthen nanowires regardless of their morphology—that is, the strength of nanowires goes up as twin spacing goes down. This article shows that twin boundaries do not always strengthen nanowires. Using classical molecular dynamics simulations, the authors show that whether twin boundaries strengthen nanowires depends on the necessary stress for dislocation nucleation, which in turn depends on surface morphologies. When nanowires are circular cylindrical, the necessary stress of dislocation nucleation is high and the presence of twin boundaries lowers this stress; twin boundaries soften nanowires. In contrast, when nanowires are square cylindrical, the necessary stress of dislocation nucleation is low, and a higher stress is required for dislocations to penetrate twin boundaries; they strengthen nanowires.
Frying Stability of Canola Oil Blended with Palm Olein, Olive, and Corn Oils
Authors: Farhoosh Reza , Esmaeilzadeh Kenari Reza , Poorazrang Hashem
Published: November 2008

The fatty acid composition, peroxide value (PV), acid value (AV), iodine value (IV), total tocopherols (TT) content, and total phenolics (TP) content of canola oil (CAO), palm olein oil (POO), olive oil (OLO), corn oil (COO), and the binary and ternary blends of the CAO with the POO, OLO, and COO were determined. The blends were prepared in the volume ratios of 75:25 (CAO/POO, CAO/OLO, CAO/COO) and 75:15:10 (CAO/POO/OLO, CAO/POO/COO). The CAO and its blends were used to fry potato pieces (7.0 × 0.5 × 0.3 cm) at 180 °C. During the frying process, the total polar compounds (TPC) content, AV, oil/oxidative stability index (OSI), and color index (CI) of the CAO/blends were measured. In general, frying stability of the CAO was significantly (P < 0.05) improved by the blending, and the frying performance of the ternary blends was found to be better than that of the binary blends.
Physiologic Alterations in the Murine Model after Nasal Fungal Antigenic Exposure
Authors: Khalid Ayesha N. , Woodworth Bradford A. , Prince Anthony , Quraishi Sadeq A. , Antunes Marcelo B. , Long Fenella H.A. , Bolger William E. , Chiu Alexander G. , Palmer James N. , Cohen Noam A.
Published: November 2008

Objective

To determine whether a recently developed murine model of fungus‐induced sinonasal inflammation demonstrated alterations in ciliary activity and expression of inflammatory cytokines.

Study Design

A prospective randomized controlled study of rhinosinusitis after fungal antigenic sensitization was performed with intraperitoneal aspergillus antigen injection followed by intranasal antigen challenge for 4 weeks. Saline solution was used in a parallel fashion for control animals.

Subjects and Methods

Six mice were used to validate the model. Additional 15 mice were used for ciliary beat frequency (CBF) analysis and cytokine expression with multiplex technology. Mean values for degree of inflammation, secretory hyperplasia, CBF, and cytokine expression were compared.

Results

Histologic analyses demonstrated dense chronic inflammation in aspergillus‐challenged animals versus sparse inflammatory cells in controls. Significant differences in mean of aspergillus‐challenged versus control animals were observed in degree of inflammation (P < 0.01), secretory hyperplasia (P < 0.01), CBF (P < 0.00002), IL‐1α (P < 0.0002), IL‐1β (P < 0.0003), IL‐4 (P < 0.02), TNF‐α (P < 0.02), and RANTES (P < 0.01).

Conclusion

Alteration in baseline CBF accompanied by increased expression of specific inflammatory cytokines was observed in aspergillus‐challenged mice.
The Relationship between Chronic Otitis Media‐Induced Hearing Loss and the Acquisition of Social Skills
Authors: Bidadi Sanam , Nejadkazem Mohammad , Naderpour Masoud
Published: November 2008

Objective

To investigate the effects of hearing loss caused by chronic otitis media (COM) on acquiring social skills.

Subjects and Methods

A case‐control study of 90 patients, including patients with COM, age range 15–30 years, was conducted in the otorhinolaryngology ward of Tabriz University Hospital. Social skills were assessed with a social skills questionnaire.

Results

Social skill scores were found to be lower in hearing‐impaired COM patients compared with the control group (P < 0.001). Social skill disabilities in patients with bilateral COM were more severe than in patients with unilateral COM and the controls (P < 0.001). Correlation between social skills score and degree of hearing loss was significantly negative (P = 0.014, rho = −0.314). These data indicate an inverse relationship between hearing loss and social skills.

Conclusion

Social skills and educational level of COM patients are affected because of hearing impairment. This study suggests that COM has effects on social development and education.
Relationship between Voice Quality and Vocal Nodule Size
Authors: Shah Rahul K. , Engel Samuel H. , Choi Sukgi S.
Published: November 2008

Objective

To determine the effect of vocal nodule size on voice in pediatric patients.

Study Design

Vocal nodules were graded according to a validated grading scale by three pediatric otolaryngologists.

Subjects and Methods

Patients evaluated from 2003 to 2007 with a diagnosis of vocal nodules were included.

Results

Forty patients (21 female) with a mean age of 7.5 years were identified. Vocal nodules were rated as grade 1 (17 patients), grade 2 (15 patients), and grade 3 (8 patients). Pitch range was reduced in patients with larger nodules (P = 0.001). There was no statistical association between nodule grade and fundamental frequency abnormality, perturbation, shimmer, decreased respiratory support, air loss, or significant muscle tension.

Conclusions

Voice characteristics in patients with vocal nodules were evaluated. Other than pitch reduction, objective and subjective voice measurements are not statistically different in varying vocal nodule sizes; however, many of the measures did show a trend towards significance. Vocal rehabilitation is complex in children with nodules and may not directly correlate with vocal nodule size.
Clinical Characteristics of External Auditory Canal Cholesteatoma in Children
Authors: Yoon Yeo‐Hoon , Park Chan Hee , Eung‐Hyub Kim , Park Yong Ho
Published: November 2008

Objective

The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics of pediatric external auditory canal cholesteatoma (EACC).

Methods

Chart review of nine children with EACC between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2007 was performed with subsequent analysis of etiologic factors, associated symptoms, otoscopic findings, imaging features, and treatment outcomes.

Results

The average age of patients was 10.3 years (range 6–15 years). Five patients were girls and four were boys. There was greater incidence of EACC on the right side (eight of nine patients). Otorrhea and hearing impairment were the most common presenting symptoms. The inferior wall of the external auditory canal was most commonly involved. Five patients underwent cholesteatoma removal under general anesthesia. Surgical procedures were performed in four patients. No recurrence except in one patient was found during the follow‐up period.

Conclusions

Pediatric EACC is reported as a rare condition, but its low occurrence may be due to underreporting. Early diagnosis and treatment is essential in the management of pediatric EACC.
Comparative perspectives on Communist successor parties in Central-Eastern Europe and Eurasia
Authors: Kuzio Taras
Published: November 2008

The article builds on Ishiyama’s (1998) seminal study of Communist successor parties [Ishiyama, J.T., 1998. Strange bedfellows: explaining political cooperation between communist successor parties and nationalists in Eastern Europe. Nations and Nationalism 4(1), 61e85] by providing the first comparative study of the fate of Communist successor parties in Eurasia and Central-Eastern Europe. The article outlines four paths undertaken by Communist parties in former Communist states: those countries that rapidly transformed Communist parties into center-left parties; countries that were slower at achieving this; countries with imperial legacies; and Eurasian autocracies. The fate of successor Communist parties is discussed within the parameters of previous regime type, political opposition in the Communist era and the nationality question.
The diets of ungulates from the hominid fossil-bearing site of Elandsfontein, Western Cape, South Africa
Authors: Stynder Deano D.
Published: November 2008

The dietary regimes of 15 ungulate species from the middle Pleistocene levels of the hominid-bearing locality of Elandsfontein, South Africa, are investigated using the mesowear technique. Previous studies, using taxonomic analogy, classified twelve of the studied species as grazers (Redunca arundinum, Hippotragus gigas, Hippotragus leucophaeus, Antidorcas recki, Homoiceras antiquus, Damaliscus aff. lunatus, Connochaetes gnou laticornutus, Rabaticerus arambourgi, Damaliscus niro, Damaliscus sp. nov., an unnamed “spiral horn” antelope and Equus capensis), one as a mixed feeder (Taurotragus oryx) and two as browsers (Tragelaphus strepsiceros and Raphicerus melanotis). Although results from mesowear analysis sustain previous dietary classifications in the majority of cases, five species were reclassified. Three species previously classified as grazers, were reclassified as mixed feeders (H. gigas, D. aff. lunatus and R. arambourgi), one previously classified as a grazer, was reclassified as a browser (the “spiral horn” antelope), and one previously classified as a mixed feeder, was reclassified as a browser (T. oryx). While current results broadly support previous reconstructions of the Elandsfontein middle Pleistocene environment as one which included a substantial C3 grassy component, the reclassifications suggest that trees, broad-leaved bush and fynbos were probably more prominent than what was previously thought.
Borderlands and the “biblical hurricane”: Images and Stories of Latin American Rhythms of Life
Authors: Carrasco Davíd
Published: November 2008

Macondo was already a fearful whirlwind of dust and rubble being spun about by the wrath of the biblical hurricane when Aureliano skipped eleven pages so as not to lose time with facts he knew only too well, and he began to decipher the instant that he was living, deciphering it as he lived it, prophesying himself in the act of deciphering.
Home Sweet Home? The ‘culture of exile’ in mid-Victorian popular song
Authors: Eva Phil
Published: November 2008

We all know the foreigner who survives with a tearful face turned towards the lost homeland. Melancholy lover of a vanished space, he cannot, in face, get over his having abandoned a period of time. The lost paradise is a mirage of the past that he will never be able to recover. (Kristeva 1991, p. 9)
‘Gospel Boogie’: white southern gospel music in transition, 1945–55
Authors: Wolfe Charles
Published: November 2008

It has become a truism to say that most forms of traditional music in the American South were to some extent ‘commercialised’ by the end of the 1920s: certainly this is true of fiddle and instrumental traditions, country singing, the blues and jazz. By the middle of the Depression most of these musics had gained access to the mass media, either through phonograph records or radio. Throughout the Depression amateur musicians gave way to semi-professional, and then fully professional, musicians who spent most of their time playing music. While these changes meant erosion of regional styles and dilution of tradition, they also meant an improvement in the quality of musicianship, more creativity, more experimentation and an expansion of audience. However, some forms of traditional southern music did not follow this pattern. White gospel music is one. White southern gospel music - and the term here specifically excludes Sacred Harp music, church music, hymns - has for too long been linked to white country music and seen as a sub-category of that music. Yet in many ways, white gospel music had little in common with mainstream country, and when it emerged as a genre of its own in the days before the Second World War, it followed a development pattern that is very distinct from that of country or any of its sub-genres. This becomes even more obvious as we begin to make cautious, tentative inroads into the serious study of this brand of music which has attracted millions of Southerners and Midwesterners. The question that I want to explore is just what happened in the 1940s to cause white gospel suddenly to make serious inroads into American pop music in general.
Analysing popular music: theory, method and practice
Authors: Tagg Philip
Published: November 2008

Popular music analysis-why? One of the initial problems for any new field of study is the attitude of incredulity it meets. The serious study of popular music is no exception to this rule. It is often confronted with an attitude of bemused suspicion implying that there is something weird about taking ‘fun’ seriously or finding ‘fun’ in ‘serious things’. Such attitudes are of considerable interest when discussing the aims and methods of popular music analysis and serve as an excellent introduction to this article.
Count Basie and the piano that swings the band
Authors: Tucker Mark
Published: November 2008

In late 1932, after a run of hard luck on tour – jobs that evaporated, buses that broke down, and money that ran out – the Kansas City orchestra of Bennie Moten headed for Camden, New Jersey to record for Victor. The session produced ten sides, among them a piece bearing the leader's name: ‘Moten Swing’. Guitarist and trombonist Eddie Durham had come up with the arrangement in Philadelphia not long before, constructing a series of brass and reed riffs over the chord changes of Walter Donaldson's hit song of 1930, ‘You're Driving Me Crazy’. The opening of ‘Moten Swing’ featured the band's pianist, William ‘Bill’ Basie.
Musica mizrakhit: ethnicity and class culture in Israel
Authors: Halper Jeff , Seroussi Edwin , Squires-Kidron Pamela
Published: November 2008

Expressive forms of culture offer a look into changing social phenomena that have not yet crystallised into clear patterns or accepted categories. Accepting the view that music is embedded in the wider culture system, we use a particular form of it – popular music – as a means of investigating class and ethnicity in Israeli society. At the same time we attempt to deepen the understanding of the place music plays in society, and of societal influences on music.
The when, where, and who of pop lyrics: the listener's prerogative
Authors: Murphey Tim
Published: November 2008

That we identify with those around us, whether in novels, movies, poetry, songs, the news or on the street, is natural. To a certain extent we mirror what we perceive, but we also perceive it in our own ways and make it fit, to a certain extent, our concept of the world. However, we, and the things we communicate, are also moulders. How much we mould and how much we mirror is difficult to discern, and of course problematic in something like objective news reporting.
New gold dawn: the traditional English breakfast show in 1989
Authors: Garner Ken
Published: November 2008

‘Radio’ records have always been with us. And breakfast show records, as the first two golden oldies above testify, have formed a major subset of these. Cynics will know why. Radio's peak audience has always been breakfast time, so airplay then can ‘break’ your record, leading to the obvious course of action, flatter the breakfast dj's self-importance by singing about him. But in Britain in 1989 things have changed. Nowadays it seems the best way to get breakfast airplay for a new record is to slag off radio djs ruthlessly. There have always been ‘anti-radio’ records. But few can have enjoyed the recent chart and airplay success of both The Reynolds Girls and The Beatmasters. Both records are riddled with contradictions. Both were written by men in their thirties, yet address a disgruntled teenage audience: The Reynolds Girls appearing to speak for twelve-year-old Yazz fans; The Beatmasters apparently voicing the protest of excluded hip-hop fans. Yet, despite articulating distinct objections to airplay policy, both records were almost certainly bought, in large numbers, by radio listeners. They turn up on the same radio shows. Why not? A hit is a hit.
‘Everybody's Lonesome for Somebody’: age, the body and experience in the music of Hank Williams
Authors: Leppert Richard , Lipsitz George
Published: November 2008

Houston Baker locates the blues at the crossroads of lack and desire, at the place where the hurts of history encounter determined resistance from people who know they are entitled to something better (Baker 1984, pp. 7, 150). Like the blues singers from whom he learned so much, Hank Williams (1923 to 1953) spent a lot of time at that particular intersection. There he met others whose own struggles informed and shaped his music. Williams's voice expressed the contradictions of his historical moment – post Second World War America – a time when diverse currents of resistance to class, race and gender oppressions flowed together to form a contradictory, but nonetheless real, unity of opposites. Standing at a crossroads in history, at a fundamental turning point for relationships between men and women, whites and blacks, capital and labour, Williams's songs about heartbreak and failed personal relations indentified the body and the psyche as crucial terrains of political struggle in the post-war era.
Cantando la cama vacía: love, sexuality and gender relationships in Dominican bachata
Authors: Hernandez Deborah Pacini
Published: November 2008

Several patterns emerge in bachata's discussions of love, sex and relationships with women. There is little sense of place in the songs – rarely is a specific place name mentioned or invoked, in marked contrast to other Caribbean musical genres associated with listeners of rural origins, in which place names are constantly invoked for affective purposes. The people in bachata songs do not seem to exist anywhere – except the bar, which, I suggest, is a metaphor for the urban shantytown itself. Neither is there a sense of movement, of going anywhere. There is no imagery of journey, or travel, unlike other musics, such as Brazilian popular music or US country music, in which the road and trucks figure prominently. People are neither being pulled or pushed anywhere – out of home, into home, out of work, into work.

Life, as expressed in bachata songs, seems fragmentary and lacks coherence – and in that sense, these songs are thoroughly modern. The songs as texts are vignettes, brief snapshots – bites, to use contemporary jargon – that evoke salient parts of events or situations, rather than descriptive narratives that carefully develop a story over time and place. (The only exceptions are the double entendre songs, in which narrative is more a necessity as a framework for the word play than an end in itself.)

Bachata songs focus on the pain of losing a woman, but the difficulties of city life are implicitly to blame. Given that both men and women experience this pain, it seems odd that bachateros express no sense of solidarity with women, of shared social and economic trouble, as can sometimes be found in rock songs, for example, where singers invoke the power of love to overcome economic hardship or social prejudice. Bachata expresses a strong sense of vulnerability, betrayal, alienation and despair; yet the songs' anger is directed not at those above – the middle and upper classes – who have indeed betrayed and abandoned the poor as a class: instead, men's wrath is directed below, to a group of people – women – even more vulnerable to exploitation than men themselves. As we have seen, in bachata women are often portrayed as the aggressors and men as victims. Yet men certainly know that even if they can no longer control women as they once may have, in the modern world men clearly exercise more power over their lives than women. Men can, in fact, afford the luxury of expressing vulnerability to emotional pain. Women are the silent ones; their voices are not heard, although their presence can nevertheless be felt intensely. These unresolved tensions, between owner and property, aggressor and victim, voice and silence, freedom and control, order and chaos, are all symbolically explored in bachata.
‘The constant companion of man’: Separate Development, Radio Bantu and music
Authors: Hamm Charles
Published: November 2008

It is a common argument by now that the modern mass media and the music they disseminate have been ‘used by economically and politically powerful interests within the state to support the capitalist relations of production and to legitimise the social, economic and political organisation of society’ (Tomaselli et al. 1986, p. 19). Criticism directed more specifically at radio has focused chiefly on capitalist societies in which there are multiple channels of entertainment and information. A recent issue of the present journal devoted to radio, for instance, was concerned only with the UK, Canada, and the USA (Popular Music, 9/2, 1990). Little critical attention has been focused on the use of radio to ‘legitimise the social, economic and political organisation of society’ in countries in which the state assumes full control over programming and transmission.
Israeli rock, or a study in the politics of ‘local authenticity’
Authors: Regev Motti
Published: November 2008

In recent years, pop/rock has ceased being an exclusive Anglo-American phenomenon. Local styles of rock might be found today in many countries, styles which merge local traditions with the rock aesthetic. Some products of these styles are distributed successfully in the USA and Britain under the large title of ‘ethnic pop’ (sometimes ‘world music’). The work on the emergence of these local styles tends to stress their ‘authenticity’ in one way or another: in the way they reflect political resistance, in the way they express cultural change (Szemere 1983; Fiori 1984; Vila 1987; Duran 1989; Siriyuvasak 1990; Bright 1986; Manuel 1988; Frith 1989). In addition, much of the work tends to be descriptive – there are hardly any attempts to theorise the emergence of pop/rock and its becoming ‘local authentic’ music. One salient exception is the work of Wallis and Malm (1984). They describe a two-way flow of musical elements, in which local or national music cultures both contribute to and pick up from an emerging body of music which they calltranscultural. Anglo-American pop/rock is the nucleus of transcultural music. The simultaneous convergence of its influence, of access to music industry technologies, of local music culture and of the will to create something different explains, according to Wallis and Malm, the first stage of transculturation in the countries they studied.
Dressed for success: Sweden from Abba to Roxette
Authors: Burnett Robert
Published: November 2008

Roxette is surely one of the most successful new Euro-bands to arrive in recent years. Sales of the 1988 album ‘Look Sharp’ are over 6 million units, while the 1991 album ‘Joyride’ has already surpassed that mark making it one of the biggest selling albums of the year around the world. Still Roxette has a long way to go before reaching the hundreds of millions its Swedish predecessor Abba sold over their twelve-year-long career. While Roxette are dressed for success into the nineties they most certainly learned their career moves from Abba. This is a topic we shall have cause to return to but first I would like to discuss the transnational music companies and their European strategies. Then I shall examine recent developments and changes in the Swedish market-place before returning to a concluding look at different career models of Swedish pop stars.
Austropop: popular music and national identity in Austria
Authors: Larkey Edward
Published: November 2008

The diffusion of rock and popular music from the US and British mass entertainment industries since the 1950s has had a profound impact on the music traditions world-wide. Several generations of youth have been socialised to the musical accompaniment of rock and roll music of the 1950s, the ‘beat music’ of the 1960s, the so-called ‘psychedelic’ or ‘underground’ rock music of the 1970s, disco, punk and new wave music in the 1970s and 1980s. It has resulted in the transplantation of these ‘foreign’ styles into music cultures with small groups of fan communities for rock and roll, country and western, blues, punk, reggae and others which were previously unheard of there before their introduction. In addition, domestic traditions have been profoundly affected by the diffusion of these new music styles and have integrated some of their musical, technical and other components into their own repertoires. TheSchlagermusic in the German-speaking countries has been one of the most prominent in this respect, adapting syncopated rhythm but modifying its harmonic attributes in order to maintain its own prominence and cultural legitimacy in the music culture. Even thevolkstümlicheor folk-like music, a commercialised genre of traditional folk music, has undergone changes as a result of the diffusion of the newer forms of popular music. A third type of impact upon music tradition is that of ‘transnational’ or ‘transcultural’ styles. When imported musical and cultural innovations are mixed with domestic styles and traditions, these new styles and conventions are ultimately created. These, in turn, form a primary thrust in the cultivation and development of innovations in musical traditions, which eventually evolve into changes in the cultural identity of the particular country.
Prince: harmonic analysis of ‘Anna Stesia’
Authors: Hawkins Stan
Published: November 2008

Musically, it (Lovesexy) is probably the most complex and unconventional body of work he (Prince) has ever produced. The dense undergrowth of twists and disjunctures to which even the most structured songs are subjected brings to mind once again the extended jam rehearsal technique Prince has always favoured. (Hill 1989, p. 210)
Música sertaneja and migrant identity: the stylistic development of a Brazilian genre
Authors: Reily Suzel Ana
Published: November 2008

Música sertaneja could be considered the Brazilian counterpart to American ‘country’ music. What defines the genre is not its rhythmic patterns, which vary considerably, but a performance style involving duplas (duos) singing in parallel thirds to the accompaniment of a guitar and a viola. Having developed out of southeastern traditional genres, it is the popular musical style that most appeals to migrants from these regions now living in the industrial centres of Greater São Paulo. Although today música sertaneja is primarily an urban phenomenon, the style also reaches audiences throughout the rural areas of central and southeastern Brazil.