bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Falls in the elderly: what can be done?
Authors: Akyol A. D.
Published: May 2007

Aim:  This article gives information about falls in the elderly.

Background:  The evaluation of an older patient who has fallen includes a focused history with an emphasis on medications, risk factors and physical examination. The article also discusses the aetiology and prevention of falls.

Conclusion:  Risk factors for falls in the elderly include increasing age, medication use, cognitive impairment and sensory deficits. To reduce the incidence of patient falls, clinicians and researchers have developed a variety of risk assessment tools to aid in the identification of patients at greater risk of falling.
Two approaches to nursing: a study of Iranian nurses
Authors: Emami A. , Nasrabadi A. N.
Published: May 2007

Background:  Studying nurses’ experience from a sociocultural perspective can contribute to improving knowledge and understanding in this field.

Purpose:  To describe and compare three different groups of Iranian nurses’ experiences of their profession.

Methods:  The study was conducted in Iran and Sweden. The data were collected from semi‐structured telephone interviews and analysed with latent content analysis. The participants were three groups of registered nurses (RNs) (21 persons). All RNs were born and grew up in Iran. The first group (A) were educated and had worked in Iran but were now working and living in Sweden. The second group (B) were educated and worked in Sweden. The third group (C) were educated and worked in Iran.

Findings:  The nurses in Sweden worked with a patient‐orientated approach while nurses in Iran worked with a task‐orientated approach. Nurses in all three groups explained that they suffered from stress, had a heavy workload, were underpaid and understaffed. The findings showed that RNs working with a patient‐orientated approach, experienced work satisfaction to a greater extent than RNs working with a task‐orientated approach, although other aspects also influenced the nurses’ situation considerably.
A profession under threat? An exploratory case study of changes in Norwegian public health nursing
Authors: Clancy Anne
Published: May 2007

Background:  The first courses for public health nurses in Norway were held in the 1920s−1930s. In 1957, the Act regulating public health nursing was passed. Norwegian public health nurses have a primary role in promoting health and preventing illnesses. Their role has changed with a changing society. This article shows some of the challenges the nurses have faced. It focuses on collaboration, tasks, leadership and authority/status.

Aims:  The study’s intentions are exploratory. It looks into how the nurses experience their changing role.

Methods:  A single case with an embedded design is the method chosen; the case is ‘Changes in the role of the Norwegian public health nurse during the period 1984–2005’. Document analysis and interviews are sources of evidence.

Findings:  The findings show that public health nurses’ visibility seems to be an important issue. There are some divergences between relevant literature on the nurses’ professional status and the views of the nurses in the study. Several other public health professionals have lost tasks and formal positions of authority.

Conclusion:  The nurses interviewed still feel that they are a respected and trusted profession despite being less visible. A recent study among parents who frequent local clinics confirms their important role. Can the nurses’ lack of visibility have undesired outcomes? A profession that is unassuming, not visible and that fights silent battles may have problems being heard when it tries to promote issues concerning family health. Further studies are indicated.
The nurse’s role in day surgery: a literature review
Authors: Gilmartin J. , Wright K.
Published: May 2007

Aim: This paper reports a literature review to synthesize the evidence on day surgery, demonstrating its usefulness for innovative nurses.

Background: Day surgery growth has developed rapidly in recent years. Such a rapid growth has triggered a shift in nursing roles and interventions. Nursing roles are taking shape within modern day surgical units but have not been widely reviewed in developing countries.

Methods: The RCN library, BNI, CINAHL and Medline databases were searched using the terms ‘day surgery and technological advantages’, ‘financial/economic benefits’, ‘patient experiences/satisfaction’, ‘day surgery/international comparisons’, ‘day surgery and developing countries’. Only papers in the English language from 1990 to 2005 were reviewed, with a predominantly adult focus. The papers examined mainly used research techniques and some opinion papers, policy documents and textbooks were examined for additional information.

Findings: The key strengths of day surgery are cost‐effectiveness, increased patient satisfaction and low infection rates. Patients indicated that effective information provision and psychological preparation helped them cope with the experience. The use of music, story telling and distraction reduced pre‐operative anxiety. Contrastingly, the deficits included poor information giving and psychological preparation resulting in high anxiety levels. Many patients encountered variable pain and nausea management and education strategies.

Conclusion: This review highlights the importance of adequate preparation and continuous psychological support for patients undergoing day surgery. The challenges faced by practitioners involved with innovation are also emphasized.
Acculturation and socialization: voices of internationally educated nurses in Ontario
Authors: Sochan A. , Singh M.D.
Published: May 2007

Background:  This paper describes a study that explores the experiences of internationally educated nurses (IENs) in their efforts to gain entry to practice as Registered Nurses (RNs) in the province of Ontario, Canada.

Aim:  The aim was to uncover, in part, the issues related to professional nursing credentialling.

Methods:  This study was guided by a biographical narrative (qualitative) research methodology. A convenience sample of 12 IEN students volunteered for this study representing the Philippines, Mainland China, Korea, Ukraine and India.

Findings:  The findings were that the IENs progress through a three‐phase journey in their quest for licensure in Ontario. These phases include: (1) hope – wanting the Canadian dream of becoming an RN in Ontario; (2) disillusionment – discovering that their home‐country nursing qualifications do not meet Ontario RN entry to practice; and (3) navigating disillusionment – living the redefined Canadian dream by returning to nursing school to upgrade their nursing qualifications.

Conclusions:  Professional regulatory nursing bodies and nursing educators, as well as practising nurses, must be aware of the potentially confusing and unpleasant processes IENs go through as they qualify for the privilege of practising nursing in Ontario.
Integrated Environmental and Financial Performance Metrics for Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management
Authors: Thomas Simon , Repetto Robert , Dias Daniel
Published: May 2007

This paper introduces a new measure, based on a study by Trucost and Dr Robert Repetto, combining external environmental costs with established measures of economic value added, and demonstrates how this measure can be incorporated into financial analysis. We propose that external environmental costs are relevant to all investors: universal investors are concerned about the scale of external costs whether or not regulations to internalise them are likely; mainstream investors need to understand external costs as an indication of future regulatory compliance costs; and SRI investors need to evaluate companies on both financial and social performance. The paper illustrates our new measure with data from US electric utilities and illustrates how the environmental exposures of different fund managers and portfolios can be compared. With such measures fund managers can understand and control portfolio‐wide environmental risks, demonstrate their environmental credentials quantitatively and objectively and compete for the increasing number of investment mandates that have an environmental component.
Norwegian Petroleum Wealth and Universal Ownership
Authors: Gjessing Ola Peter Krohn , Syse Henrik
Published: May 2007

How useful are universal owner arguments for a large, diversified investor such as Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM)? This article presents concrete issues, such as climate change and corruption, which can be analysed using universal owner arguments. However, it also discusses potential weaknesses of this argumentative strategy. The article includes a general background to Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global – now one of the world’s largest funds – and concludes that such a fund could utilise universal owner insights in its work as an active owner by (1) addressing both companies and standard setters on issues of portfolio‐wide, long‐term importance; (2) respecting a division of labour between different actors in the market place; and (3) taking part in collaborative arrangements, both within organised networks and informally between investors.
Why Lower Drug Prices Benefit Institutional Investors: an application of universal ownership theory
Authors: Lippman Steve , Rosan Daniel E. , Seitchik Adam
Published: May 2007

Changes in prescription drug prices have broad ripple effects across the diverse portfolios that most institutional investors hold. Lower prices cut into pharmaceutical company profits, but improve the overall productivity and profitability of other investable sectors of the economy. This paper considers the net impact of cuts in drug prices on investor portfolios. We find that falls in pharmaceutical company profits resulting from price cuts would be largely if not fully offset by a combination of health plan cost‐savings and increases in consumer spending power. Furthermore, falling drug prices benefit investors through the dynamic benefits from a healthier workforce with greater access to prescription drugs. We conclude that, from the perspective of the broadly diversified “universal investor”, support for lower drug prices is consistent with a fiduciary duty to seek attractive long‐term returns at the portfolio level. Strategies for shareholder activism should be expanded, including engagement with corporate health care purchasers and advocacy for public policy reform.
MORAL PSYCHOLOGY AND THE UNITY OF THE VIRTUES
Authors: Wolf Susan
Published: May 2007

The ancient Greeks subscribed to the thesis of the Unity of Virtue, according to which the possession of one virtue is closely related to the possession of all the others. Yet empirical observation seems to contradict this thesis at every turn. What could the Greeks have been thinking of? The paper offers an interpretation and a tentative defence of a qualified version of the thesis. It argues that, as the Greeks recognized, virtue essentially involves knowledge – specifically, evaluative knowledge of what matters. Furthermore, such knowledge is essentially holistic. Perfect and complete possession of one virtue thus requires the knowledge that is needed for the possession of every other virtue. The enterprise of trying to reconcile the normative view embodied in this conception of virtue with empirical observation also serves as a case study for the field of moral psychology in which empirical and normative claims are often deeply and confusingly intertwined.1
WHAT IS ANIMALISM?
Authors: Johansson Jens
Published: May 2007

One increasingly popular approach to personal identity is called ‘animalism.’ Unfortunately, it is unclear just what the doctrine says. In this paper, I criticise several different ways of stating animalism, and put forward one formulation that I find more promising.
WHY I HAVE NO PLANS TO RETIRE: IN DEFENCE OF MODERATE PROFESSIONAL COMPLACENCY
Authors: Lenman James
Published: May 2007

Smilansky argues that realistic assumptions justify the conclusion that far more members of a given service profession than we might previously have supposed would best serve that profession by leaving it. I argue that on more realistic assumptions no such conclusion is forthcoming.
LOGIC AND GRAMMAR
Authors: Slater Hartley
Published: May 2007

I have written a number of articles recently that have a rather remarkable character. They all point out trivial grammatical facts that, at great cost, have not been respected in twentieth century Logic. A major continuous strand in my previous work, with this same character, I will first summarise, to locate the kind of fact that is involved. But then I shall present an overview of the more recent and more varied points I have made, which demonstrate the far larger extent of basic grammar that has been overlooked or suppressed. I end with some remarks about how this phenomenon can have arisen – principally through logicians not being attentive enough to their own language, and occupying themselves, instead, with often quite imaginary languages.
Effects of different substance misuse in genital reflexes of paradoxical sleep deprived male rats
Authors: ANDERSEN MONICA L. , PERRY JULIANA C. , PAPALE LIGIA A. , TUFIK SERGIO
Published: May 2007

As psychostimulants are widely abused, their neurochemical and behavioral effects have been extensively studied for many years. Our previous data demonstrate that paradoxical sleep deprivation (PSD) enhances drug‐induced penile erection and ejaculation. PSD in association to drugs of abuse like cocaine potentiated genital reflexes in male rats. In this sense, the present study investigated if three substances abused by young people – such as Δ9‐tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9THC), alcohol and caffeine – had any significant effect on the genital reflexes in PSD rats. The results indicated that PSD induced erection in 50% of the rats and 20% ejaculated. In addition, there was no significant alteration in the number of animals exhibiting genital reflexes neither on the frequency of these behaviors when challenged with Δ9‐THC or alcohol or caffeine after 96 h of PSD. These findings show that Δ9THC, alcohol and caffeine when administrated isolated did not produce alterations in genital reflexes in the PSD male rats.
Reduced‐bias tail index estimation and the jackknife methodology
Authors: Gomes M. Ivette , Miranda Cristina , Viseu Clara
Published: May 2007

In the context of regularly varying tails, we first analyze a generalization of the classical Hill estimator of a positive tail index, with members that are not asymptotically more efficient than the original one. This has led us to propose alternative classical tail index estimators, that may perform asymptotically better than the Hill estimator. As the improvement is not really significant, we also propose generalized jackknife estimators based on any two members of these two classes. These generalized jackknife estimators are compared with the Hill estimator and other reduced‐bias estimators available in the literature, asymptotically, and for finite samples, through the use of Monte Carlo simulation. The finite‐sample behaviour of the new reduced‐bias estimators is also illustrated through a practical example in the field of finance.
Toward the Exact WKB Analysis of the PII Hierarchy
Authors: Nishikawa Yukihiro
Published: May 2007

We develop the exact WKB analysis of the PII hierarchy introduced by Gordoa et al. [5] in this paper; our particular interest is in the relation between the Stokes geometry of a higher order Painlevé equation in the hierarchy and that of its underlying Lax pair. An important observation is that Stokes curves of the Painlevé equation may cross, reflecting the higher order character of the equation, and in a neighborhood of the crossing point an unexpected degeneracy of the Stokes geometry of the Lax pair may occur along a curved ray emanating from the crossing point.
Syntax and Syncretisms of the Person Case Constraint
Authors: Adger David , Harbour Daniel
Published: May 2007

Abstract. The Person Case Constraint is frequently concomitant with Case Syncretism. We provide a syntax‐driven account of both phenomena that relies on the dual role thatφ‐features play in selecting and in Case‐licensing argument DPs. The account differs from other syntactic approaches to the PCC in the role it affords the applicative head in the Case system and in the attention it pays to the syntactic structures that feed morphology and therefore induce syncretism.
Local identities, global connections: affinities to English among students at the Freie Universität Berlin
Authors: ERLING ELIZABETH J.
Published: May 2007

ABSTRACT:  This paper examines a specific group of English users in Germany: students studying English at the Freie Universität Berlin. The first section outlines the various domains in which these students encounter English in their daily lives, both within and outside university, as they make and maintain intercultural connections. This analysis suggests that, at least among these university students, English‐German bilingualism seems to be the norm. The second section of this paper shows how students' proficiency in English plays a role in their creation, or re‐creation, of local, national, European and global identities. What is more, in this small community of students, it seems that the ability to use English is intricately tied in with the (re)definition of what it means to be German, or at least an educated, urban German. Although they constitute a small community, these students' uses of and attitudes towards English highlight some general trends of globalization and provide some insights into the evolving role of English in Europe.
English in Germany: contact, spread and attitudes
Authors: HILGENDORF SUZANNE K.
Published: May 2007

ABSTRACT:  The majority of studies examining English in Germany have been rather narrow in focus, addressing largely the phenomenon of Anglicisms in the German language. In the late 1980s, however, scholars began looking beyond Anglicisms to consider the broader topic of the English language in the German context. This paper presents a qualitative, macrosociolinguistic profile of English in the largest of the German‐speaking countries, and also Europe's most powerful economy, the Federal Republic of Germany. Utilizing Kachru's world Englishes model as a theoretical framework, this study examines the following issues for a more comprehensive understanding of the impact of English in Germany today: the history of contact, the functional range of English, and the attitudes associated with the language.
“Frenglish” for sale: multilingual discourses for addressing today's global consumer
Authors: MARTIN ELIZABETH
Published: May 2007

ABSTRACT:  Advertisers address French consumers through English using a blend of text, illustrations, and music soundtracks to create a positive emotional response. Emerging from this analysis is a consumer for whom a ‘glocal’ identity is reinforced through advertising discourse. Using multimodal techniques, advertisers create a panoply of border‐crossing experiences, encouraging their audiences to view these messages from their own cultural perspective. Also highlighted are various efforts on the part of the French government to limit the public's exposure to English (e.g., 1994 Toubon Law) as well as the industry's reaction to such intervention. Although some may argue that the omnipresence of English in French advertising is more of a “cultural and linguistic invasion” than a rich display of linguistic creativity and whimsical expression, evidence suggests that English in this context is often refashioned as a simple form of entertainment, and that the French linguistic and cultural identity remains very much intact.
Swedish–English language mixing
Authors: SHARP HARRIET
Published: May 2007

ABSTRACT: This paper reports on the results of a corpus‐based micro‐level analysis of Swedish–English language mixing in the spoken discourse of two distinct domains where the speakers regularly and frequently use English in intranational contexts of communication. The first domain is the transactional spoken discourse of business executives in the Swedish shipping industry, while the second domain is the interactional casual conversation of young adults (19–25 years old). The study shows that the language mixing differs strikingly in the two domains – both from a quantitative and a qualitative perspective. In these separate domains, speakers do not use English to the same extent, nor do they incorporate the same types of English constituent or use the same language mixing strategies. It is concluded that the language mixing in these domains is principally the result of a conscious use of English as an auxiliary language for specific purposes in the discourse, rather than the result of occasional, unintentional lapses into English.
RETURNS TO SCALE AND REGIONAL GROWTH: THE STATIC‐DYNAMIC VERDOORN LAW PARADOX REVISITED*
Authors: McCombie John S. L. , Roberts Mark
Published: May 2007

ABSTRACT It has long been an article of faith amongst regional economists that increasing returns to scale are necessary to explain the punctiform location of economic activity and population. However, there is no consensus in the empirical literature over whether returns to scale are constant or increasing. A notable example of this lack of agreement is provided by the static‐dynamic Verdoorn law paradox. While the dynamic Verdoorn law (specified using growth rates) yields estimates of substantial increasing returns to scale, the static Verdoorn law (specified using log‐levels) indicates only the presence of constant returns to scale. In this paper, we explain the static‐dynamic Verdoorn law paradox by showing that estimates of returns to scale obtained using the static law are subject to a spatial aggregation bias, which biases the estimates towards constant returns to scale. We illustrate our arguments by means of simulation exercises. The results obtained hold general lessons for applied economic analysis using spatial data.
LIFE‐CYCLE CHANGES IN CONSUMPTION BEHAVIOR: AGE‐SPECIFIC AND REGIONAL VARIATIONS*
Authors: Wakabayashi Masayo , Hewings Geoffrey J. D.
Published: May 2007

ABSTRACT:  While research conducted over the last two decades has pointed to the important role played by household consumption in regional economic models, little attention has been directed to the consumption impacts associated not only with income changes, but also life‐cycle changes. Using Japanese data, this paper explores some of the implications of life‐cycle changes on consumption behavior using a modified AIDS (Almost Ideal Demand System) estimation system. Testing is directed to differences in age‐specific consumption behavior and the potential differences in consumption by age and province.
“Grabbing Hand” or “Helping Hand”?: Corruption and the Economic Role of the State
Authors: HOPKIN JONATHAN , RODRÍGUEZ‐POSE ANDRÉS
Published: May 2007

This article seeks to disentangle which features of government intervention are linked to corruption and which are not, by distinguishing between the government roles of regulator, entrepreneur, and consumer. It finds that the degree of regulation of private business activity is the strongest predictor of corruption, and that high levels of public spending are related to low levels of corruption. There is no evidence of direct government involvement in production having any bearing on corruption. It is concluded that advanced welfare capitalist systems, which leave business relatively free from interference while intervening strongly in the distribution of wealth and the provision of key services, combine the most “virtuous” features of “big” and “small” government. This suggests that anti‐corruption campaigners should be relaxed about state intervention in the economy in general, but should specifically target corruption‐inducing regulatory systems.
SARS in Canada and China: Two Approaches to Emergency Health Policy
Authors: LAWSON JAMES , XU FENG
Published: May 2007

China and Canada addressed the transnational 2003 SARS outbreak within a common, multilevel network of public‐health expertise. The two countries deployed distinct public‐health strategies, and faced distinct levels of resistance. This article addresses this comparison. During this epidemic “state of exception,” both countries adopted emergency policy instruments and overall policy styles. However, Chinese emergency boundary policing corresponded better to everyday experience than did hospital‐based screening in Canada, and China's policing targeted collectivities where Canada emphasized individual case tracking. While Canadian efforts were smaller in scale and faced infrastructural deficiencies, prior campaigns to address endemic health problems formed a basis for compliant popular subject positions. Power/resistance relations and their cultivation during endemic conditions must become the center of analyzing effective approaches to emergency planning.
Reining in the Bureaucrats: Democratic Transition and Administrative Procedural Reform in Korea
Authors: BAUM JEEYANG RHEE
Published: May 2007

How do civilian presidents control their bureaucracies after taking over from an authoritarian regime? To answer this question, I develop a “reining in” theory of delegation. I argue that presidents who faces intrabranch conflict over policy issues and cannot appoint—and dismiss—freely will solve their delegation problems through administrative procedure acts (APAs) and related laws. While some scholars argue that APAs are tools for preserving the status quo, I find that APAs help presidents change policy. Building on the delegation literature from economics, my theory represents a more general argument than prior theories for why presidents support APAs. I test the theory through a case study of South Korea's first civilian government (post‐1961), under President Kim Young Sam. Kim initiated an APA to rein in a professionalized civil service that opposed his policy preferences. Strict procedural requirements designed to keep tabs on bureaucratic activities enhanced Kim's control over his bureaucracy.
Political Control for China's State‐Owned Enterprises: Lessons from America's Experience with Hybrid Organizations
Authors: KOPPELL JONATHAN G. S.
Published: May 2007

China's reform of state‐owned enterprises (SOEs) is intended to liberate the companies from bureaucratic control that hinders their management. Discussions of SOE reform, however, downplay the policy consequences. Can SOEs be “free” to succeed economically while some political control is maintained? Surprisingly, American experience with hybrid organizations—government‐created companies that straddle the line between public and private—offers some precedent for managing the balance between political control and enterprise independence. Three strategies are derived for China. First, welfare functions must be stripped from SOEs and replaced by policy objectives compatible with commercial purposes. Second, reducing financial dependence on SOEs will remove a barrier to rational control. Third, and most importantly, a robust regulatory framework for control must be developed as a substitute for the weakened administrative linkages. The emerging control infrastructure rooted in state asset commissions is likely to prove ineffective for its blurring of ownership, administration, and regulation.
Analysing the Capitalist State in Post‐Socialism: Towards the Porterian Workfare Postnational Regime
Authors: DRAHOKOUPIL JAN
Published: May 2007

This article starts by dealing with the methodological problems involved in analysing the state in post‐socialism and proposes a solution that is subsequently employed in the analysis. It then describes the transformation of the state in the Czech Republic after the fall of Communism in 1989. It investigates the role of the state in the mutual constitution of the state project and the dynamic of capitalist accumulation. It proposes a periodization of dominant state projects and dominant accumulation strategies with respect to their functional adequacy in relation to socio‐economic reproduction. I argue that, in the late 1990s, the Czech Republic experienced a crisis of a specific post‐socialist state regime, or, as I call it, ‘the Klausian welfare national state’. This regime co‐constituted a specific growth dynamic called Czech capitalism, which, however, failed to reproduce itself. A state form that is emerging from the search for an alternative is described as the ‘Porterian workfare postnational regime’ (PWPR). This development marks a moment of convergence in the Visegrad‐Four region. After a period of distinctive national projects, we are witnessing a relative convergence towards the PWPR.

Cet article commence par les problèmes de méthodologie que pose l’analyse de l’Etat postsocialiste, avant de proposer une solution elle‐même appliquée à l’analyse qui suit. Il décrit ensuite la transformation de l’Etat, en République tchèque, après la chute du communisme en 1989. Ce faisant, il examine le rôle de l’Etat dans l’élaboration commune du projet étatique et dans la dynamique d’accumulation capitaliste. Une périodisation des projets étatiques dominants et des principales stratégies d’accumulation est proposée en fonction de leur pertinence fonctionnelle par rapport à la reproduction socioéconomique. Vers la fin des années 1990, la République tchèque a subi une crise spécifique à un régime d’Etat postsocialiste que j’appelle ‘l’Etat national klausien de protection sociale’. Ce système a bâti conjointement une dynamique de croissance particulière, le capitalisme tchèque, qui n’a toutefois pas assuré sa reproduction. De la recherche d’alternatives, émerge une forme d’Etat désignée comme le ‘régime postnational porterien d’allocation conditionnelle’ (PWPR,Porterian Workfare Postnational Regime). Cette évolution marque une convergence dans la région des quatre pays de Visegrad: passée une période de projets nationaux distincts, on assiste à un relatif rapprochement dans le sens du PWPR.
Visually impaired people with learning difficulties: their education from 1900 to 1970 – policy, practice and experience
Authors: French Sally
Published: May 2007

Accessible summary

 This paper looks back at the education of people with learning difficulties from 1900 to 1970 who are blind or have very little sight.

The information was taken from printed documents and from six detailed interviews with people with learning difficulties who are blind or have very little sight.

The paper shows that people with learning difficulties who were blind or had very little sight often had no education at all and that the education they did receive did not usually meet their needs.

People with learning difficulties were sometimes placed in schools for children who were blind or had very little sight where they were bullied and abused.

It is hoped that this paper will add to the growing history of people with learning difficulties which is based on their own experiences.

The information in this paper is taken from a large study on the history of education of people who are blind or have very little sight in Britain.

By means of documentary evidence and six in‐depth interviews, this paper traces policy and practice relating to the education of visually impaired children with learning difficulties from 1900 to 1970. It reveals that if visually impaired children with learning difficulties were given an education at all, their needs were not usually met and they were frequently subjected to an oppressive and abusive institutional regime. By giving visually impaired people with learning difficulties the opportunity to voice their experiences, it is hoped that this paper will add to the growing oral history of people with learning difficulties and further their empowerment. The data for this paper was extracted from a study of the history of education of visually impaired children in Britain.
Older parents of people who have a learning disability: perceptions of future accommodation needs
Authors: Davys Deborah , Haigh Carol
Published: May 2007

Accessible summary

This study looked at where parents think people who have a learning disability may live when parents are not able to give support at home.

The study showed that parents were not satisfied with services and that they worry about the future and getting older.

Parents feel that supporting a son or daughter who has a learning disability is a difficult job but they want to give support for as long as possible.

Parents are worried about what the brothers and sisters of people with a learning disability may have to do in the future.

This study is important to people who have a learning disability because parents will not always be here to help.

The aim of this qualitative study was to provide an insight into the perceptions of older parents of learning disabled people on the future accommodation needs of their adult children. Semi‐structured interviews were used to seek parental awareness of residential options available, concerns in relation to future accommodation and the preferred accommodation options for their offspring. Four couples who shared the family home with an adult who has a learning disability took part in the study and data were analysed using a step‐by‐step form of content analysis as described by Burnard [Nurse Educ Today11 (1991) 461]. Emergent themes from transcripts were then organized into main categories. The results of this study suggest that older parents are dissatisfied with both statutory and private services, that they have concerns for their nondisabled children and their own ageing. Being a parent to a person who has a learning disability is seen to be a difficult task and yet parents may want to provide support at home for as long a possible. Of the parents who participated in this study, three couples wanted to maintain their adult child at home for as long as possible and the parents who were actively seeking accommodation outside the family home expected to be involved in all aspects of their daughter's care for the long‐term future.
Continuity of functional‐somatic symptoms from late childhood to young adulthood in a community sample
Authors: Steinhausen Hans‐Christoph , Winkler Metzke Christa
Published: May 2007

Background:  The goal of this study was to assess the course of functional‐somatic symptoms from late childhood to young adulthood and the associations of these symptoms with young adult psychopathology.

Methods:  Data were collected in a large community sample at three different points in time (1994, 1997, and 2001). Functional‐somatic symptoms were represented by nine self‐reported items of the Youth Self Report (YSR) or the Young Adult Self Report (YASR). Only definite expressions of these symptoms were counted.

Results:  Definite functional‐somatic symptoms across time ranged between 1.0 and 2.6% for dizziness, 3.0 and 6.7% for overtiredness, 1.0 and 2.9% for aches and pains, 5.6 and 8.3% for headaches, 1.2 and 1.9% for nausea, 2.5 and 3.0% for stomach‐ache, and .2 and .8% for vomiting. In general, symptoms were more common in females at various times. In high‐scoring subjects there was a significantly higher chance of functional‐somatic symptoms persisting across time.

Conclusions:  Functional‐somatic symptoms in childhood and adolescents can be easily identified in the community. In high‐scoring subjects they tend to persist from childhood to adulthood.
Activation of the extrinsic caspase pathway in cultured cortical neurons requires p53‐mediated down‐regulation of the X‐linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein to induce apoptosis
Authors: Tun Christina , Guo Weiqun , Nguyen Huy , Yun Bomy , Libby Randell T. , Morrison Richard S. , Garden Gwenn A.
Published: May 2007

Cultured cortical neurons exposed to the Human Immunodeficiency Virus gp120 coat protein undergo apoptosis involving activation of both caspase‐8 and caspase‐9. Additionally, gp120‐mediated neuronal apoptosis requires the pro‐apoptotic transcription factor p53. As caspase‐8‐induced apoptosis does not typically require p53, we examined the possibility of a novel role for p53 in caspase‐8 activation initiated by gp120. We observed that gp120 treatment of cultured cortical neurons induced caspase‐8 activity and Bid cleavage independently of p53, but induction of caspase‐3 enzymatic activity required p53 expression. These findings suggested the possibility that p53 down‐regulates a caspase‐3 inhibitor. We observed high‐level expression of the caspase‐3/9 inhibitor X‐linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP) in cultured cortical neurons. Adenoviral expression of p53 or induction of endogenous p53 by camptothecin treatment reduced XIAP protein in neurons. Infection with a p53 expressing adenovirus increased expression of the mRNA for Omi/HtrA2, a protease that cleaves and inactivates XIAP. These findings suggest that p53 regulates neuronal apoptosis, in part, by suppressing the anti‐apoptotic protein XIAP via transcriptional activation of Omi/HtrA2.
Characterization and modeling of monocyte‐derived macrophages after spinal cord injury
Authors: Longbrake Erin E. , Lai Wenmin , Ankeny Daniel P. , Popovich Phillip G.
Published: May 2007

Spinal cord injury (SCI) elicits a neuroinflammatory reaction dominated by microglia and monocyte‐derived macrophages (MDM). Because MDM do not infiltrate the spinal cord until days after injury, it may be possible to control whether they differentiate into neuroprotective or neurotoxic effector cells. However, doing so will require better understanding of the factors controlling MDM differentiation and activation. Our goal was to develop anin vitromodel of MDM that is relevant in the context of SCI. This tool would allow future studies to define mechanisms and intracellular signaling pathways that are associated with MDM‐mediated neuroprotection or neurotoxicity. We first characterized SCI‐induced cytokine expression in MDM using laser capture microdissection and real‐time PCR. Based on this data, we assessed which easily procurable primary macrophage subset would mimic this phenotypein vitro. We established the baseline and inductive potential of resident peritoneal, thioglycollate‐elicited peritoneal and bone marrow‐derived macrophages (BMDM) at the molecular, cellular and functional level. Of these cells, only BMDM retained the phenotypic, molecular and functional characteristics of MDM that infiltrate the injured spinal cord. Thus, peripheral macrophages should not be used interchangeablyin vitroto model the functional consequences of the MDM response elicited by SCI.
Factors affecting nest predation on forest songbirds in North America
Authors: THOMPSON FRANK R.
Published: May 2007

Nest predation is an important factor in the ecology of passerines and can be a large source of mortality for birds. I provide an overview of factors affecting nest predation of passerines in North America with the goal that it may provide some insight into the ecology and management of woodland birds in the United Kingdom. Although several factors influence productivity, nest success is perhaps the most widely measured demographic characteristic of open‐cup‐nesting birds, and nest predation is usually the largest cause of nest failure. The identity of predator species, and how their importance varies with habitat and landscape factors, must be known for managers and scientists to design effective conservation plans and place research on nest predation in the appropriate context. Recent studies using video surveillance have made significant contributions to our understanding of the relative importance of different predator taxa in North America. Spatial and temporal variation in nest predation can be better understood when landscapes are placed in a biogeographical context and local habitat and nest‐site effects are placed in a landscape context. Low productivity resulting from high nest predation is one of several potential causes of bird population declines in North America and the UK. Although the ‘forest fragmentation paradigm’ from the eastern US may not apply directly to the UK, thinking about avian demographics from a multiscale perspective, and consideration of factors affecting nest predation with knowledge of the dominant predator species, may provide insight into population declines.
Children's Participation Rights: Voicing Opinions in Inpatient Care
Authors: LeFrancois Brenda A.
Published: May 2007

Children's participation rights, embedded within legislation and policies, are increasingly becoming important in terms of their meaningful implementation in mental health practice. This paper explores ways that adolescents within an inpatient unit voice their opinions, based on participant observation, interviews and the analysis of documents. The voices of patients were encouraged only within the parameters of a specific form, content, time and place. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the culture of participation within CAMHS.
A Survey of Anti‐Depressant Prescribing Practice and the Provision of Psychological Therapies in a South London CAMHS from 2003–2006
Authors: Perera Alfred , Gupta Priya , Samuel Rani , Berg Birgit
Published: May 2007

A survey was conducted in a South London CAMHS before and after the publication and implementation of NICE guidelines of 2005 for the treatment of depression in children and adolescents. The results for 2006 indicate that 28% of cases were receiving medication without psychological therapy. Of those prescribed medication, 96% were receiving a prescription for fluoxetine. Of those receiving psychological therapy most received cognitive behaviour therapy whilst none received interpersonal therapy. Although 72% of cases were receiving medication with psychological therapy this falls short of the 100% expectation of the NICE guidelines. Other services are encouraged to survey young people receiving ant‐depressant medication against the NICE guidelines.
Fissures in the rock: rethinking pride and shame in the moral terrains of Uluru
Authors: Waitt Gordon , Figueroa Robert , McGee Lana
Published: May 2007

Joint management strategies of national parks are extending the pedagogical arm of reconciliation. We explore how this process is operating in Uluru–Kata Tjuta National Park. Through our concept of moral terrains, we examine whether the embodied knowledge derived from travelling, witnessing, climbing, walking, touching and being touched by Uluru opens moral gateways between indigenous and non‐indigenous people. Our argument relies upon ethnographic materials derived from semi‐structured interviews conducted around photographs taken by recently returned non‐indigenous metropolitan Australians. Our results explore how moral gateways are either opened or closed through the emotions of pride and shame.
William Jessop and the River Trent: mobility, engineering and the landscape of eighteenth‐century ‘improvement’
Authors: Revill George
Published: May 2007

This paper considers relationships between landscape, transport technology and mobility in order to explore how the making of landscape, engineering practice and geographical knowledge are mutually constituted in landscapes of improvement. It examines work by the engineer William Jessop (1745–1814) and focuses specifically on his plans to make the River Trent navigable in the period 1781–91. The paper adopts metaphors of region, fluid and network from the sociology of mobility. It argues that these metaphors usefully inform the study of transport technologies and their related practices and knowledges, in the context of landscape as a mode of governance.
Moving things along: the conduits and practices of divestment in consumption
Authors: Gregson Nicky , Metcalfe Alan , Crewe Louise
Published: May 2007

This paper provides a geographical analysis of divestment. Drawing on two years of intensive qualitative research with households, we explore empirically the range of conduits that figure in household divestment, showing how surplus and excess things are routinely moved through specific conduits. We argue that, rather than focusing on the trajectories of things in divestment, it is practices of divestment that merit attention, and that divestment itself is also a practice. Further, we argue that divestment practices are about trying to constitute a normative around surplus and excess things; that they connect up to the reproduction of particular consumption practices and to the meta practice of consumption. The paper also considers the relation between divestment practice and the question of disposal. We argue that, as well as paying attention to conduits, connectivities and the work of the return, there is a need to focus on placings and practices, that not only have the potential to act‐back but which are always acting‐back.
Understanding the Popular Appeal of Fascism, National Socialism and Soviet Communism: The Revival of Totalitarianism Theory and Political Religion
Authors: Ehret Ulrike
Published: May 2007

This article surveys the historical literature on totalitarianism and ‘political religion’ since 1990 that has little in common with the Cold War interpretation of the personalised and total rule of Hitler and Stalin. Inspired by cultural history, researchers have instead revived ‘political religion’ theory as an analytical tool to explain the popular appeal and the success of totalitarian movements. Against the background of some general considerations and controversies about the applicability of ‘political religion’ theory to such diverse phenomena as Fascist Italy, anti‐clerical National Socialism and anti‐religious Soviet Communism, this survey evaluates recent scholarship on the sacralisation of the language and rites of totalitarian movements and the effects this had on their success as well as their willingness to use excessive violence against their political opponents. The author argues that the revived ‘political religion’ theory can offer a useful multi‐dimensional access to the workings of totalitarian movements as long as it does not abandon a historical and political context. The article closes with a glance at Islamic fundamentalism and the ‘war on terror’ of the United States and their allies, a conflict that is increasingly associated with a new totalitarianism and politicised religion.
Helicobacter pylori Stimulates a Mixed Adaptive Immune Response with a Strong T‐Regulatory Component in Human Gastric Mucosa
Authors: Goll Rasmus , Gruber Franz , Olsen Trine , Cui Guanglin , Raschpichler Gabriele , Buset Magne , Asfeldt Anne M. , Husebekk Anne , Florholmen Jon
Published: May 2007

Background:  Host factors play an important role in the pathophysiology of Helicobacter pylori infection and development of gastritis and related disease. The established opinion is that the T‐cell‐mediated immune response to H. pylori infection is of Th1 type. Our earlier immune cell phenotype studies indicate a mixed Th1–Th2 profile of the effector cells. Therefore, an extensive adaptive and regulatory cytokine gene expression profile was conducted by quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR).

Materials and Methods:  Biopsies from gastric mucosa of 91 patients diagnosed as H. pylori negative, H. pylori positive with gastritis, or H. pylori positive with peptic ulcer were obtained by endoscopy. Gene expressions of nine cytokines and CagA status were measured by qPCR.

Results:  All cytokine genes showed higher expression levels in the presence of H. pylori when compared to H. pylori‐negative samples (fold increase: IL8: × 11.2; IL12A: × 2.4; TNF‐α: × 5.2; IFN‐γ: × 4.3; IL4: × 3.6; IL6: × 14.7; and IL10: × 6.7). Patients infected with CagA‐positive strains had higher expression of IL1‐β and IL18 compared to patients infected with CagA‐negative strains (× 1.6 for IL1‐β and × 2.0 for IL18). Patients with duodenal ulcer had a lower antral Th1/Th2 ratio than other H. pylori‐positive patients.

Conclusions:  The cytokine profile of H. pylori‐infected gastric mucosa shows a mixed Th1–Th2 profile. Furthermore, a high IL10 expression may indicate that also regulatory T cells play a role in the chronic phase of H. pylori infection.