bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Discrimination at Work: Comparing the Experiences of Foreign-trained and Locally-trained Engineers in Canada
Authors: George Usha , Chaze Ferzana
Published: April 2014

Cet article présente un compte-rendu des résultats d’une étude sur la discrimination que les ingénieurs formés à l’international subissent au Canada. Trois cents de ces derniers et deux cents diplômés au Canada ont participé à une enquête pour identifier la relation entre la race, la compétence linguistique et le lieu de formation d’une part, et l’accès à l’emploi dans le génie d’autre part. En plus d’évaluer les cas où les candidats ont trouvé un emploi dans leur domaine de qualification, nous avons cherché à comprendre comment ceux formés à l’international perçoivent la discrimination. Nos résultats montrent qu’il y a bel et bien une relation entre, d’une part, race, ethnicité et ce qui les trahit – la formation à l’étranger – et, d’autre part, la capacité de s’assurer un emploi en tant qu’ingénieur, ainsi que ce qui est perçu comme une discrimination. Dans le cas des nouveaux immigrants, nous avons constaté à quel point là où ils ont étudié permet de prédire s’ils pourront trouver du travail dans leur domaine du génie, quand des études au pays donnent considérablement plus de chances d’en obtenir un que des diplômes étrangers. L’évidence montre aussi que la race et l’ethnicité jouent un grand rôle quand un ingénieur postule un emploi en même temps que d’autres qui ont reçu leur formation au Canada.
The Status of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Canada
Authors: Sciban Lloyd
Published: April 2014

Cet article présente à quel point la Médecine traditionnelle chinoise (MTC) a bien sa place au Canada. On peut voir comment elle fait partie des tendances et à quel point elle est largement institutionalisée. Les Canadiens font de plus en plus appel à la médecine alternative. De plus, la MTC est une forme importante de traitement dans divers hôpitaux, elle est considérablement commercialisée, elle est couverte par plusieurs plans d’assurance santé, elle est soumise aux régulations imposées par le gouvernement de quatre provinces et par le fédéral, elle a ses propres agences de réglementation et établissements d’enseignement, et on en donne des cours dans le système public d’éducation. Sa présence va sans doute s’étendre du fait que cette institutionalisation continue de mettre l’accent sur les valeurs fondamentales de la MTC.
Essentiels, fiables et invisibles : Les travailleurs agricoles migrants latino-américains au Québec vus par la population locale
Authors: Bélanger Danièle , Candiz Guillermo
Published: April 2014

In the province of Québec, the number of foreign temporary workers has increased by 40% between 2000 and 2010, with 30,307 entries in 2010.The foreign seasonal workers employed in the agricultural sector, most of them coming from Mexico and Guatemala, contribute towards this increase. The research on the situation in Quebec, and anywhere else in Canada and in other countries, show the precarious and vulnerable situation connected with the status of the temporary low skill worker. In this article, we analyse the standpoint of local communities on the migrant temporary farm workers in terms of social representations. We base our analysis on twenty interviews conducted in 2012, in a rural area close to Quebec City, with key actors belonging to one or the other of the following categories: municipal elected officials, business owners, service providers (public or private) and residents locally active as citizens. The results show that migrants are seen as vital and essential labour, as ideal workers of higher quality than other farm workers, and as an “invisible” population. The interviews indicate that the social construction of these migrants stem from a process of positive racialization, from cultural differentiation, as well as from social and spatial exclusion. We discuss the close relation between the programs’ structure that manages the employment and the residence of these migrants, on the one hand, and on the other hand, how the local actors view those same migrants.
‘Not Giving Up on Life’: A Holistic Exploration of Resilience among a Sample of Immigrant Canadian Women
Authors: Rashid Ruksana , Gregory David
Published: April 2014

Nous étudions les expériences d’immigrées et leur cheminement avant et après leur arrivée au Canada, tout en mettant l’accent sur leur résilience alors qu’elles ont dû faire face à d’énormes défis au cours de leur relocalisation. Les immigrées récentes ont été confrontées à un grand nombre de ces défis lors de leur installation et au risque d’impact négatif qui y est lié. Il était important d’en tenir compte en se concentrant sur la manière dont les participantes ont surmonté l’adversité et montré leur force de résistance. Nous nous sommes servis d’une méthodologie qualitative comprenant des entrevues (n=14) centrées sur la personne et faites en profondeur avec cinq immigrées récentes au Canada qui avaient le statut d’immigrantes (autres que réfugiées). Nous avons soumis l’ensemble des données qualitatives à une analyse thématique. Ces données ont fait ressortir trois thèmes dominants, soit : la vie avant de venir au Canada, un voyage soumis à des conditions stressantes et la résilience, à savoir tenir quoiqu’il arrive. Notre étude élargit de deux manières la documentation sur cette force de résistance chez les immigrés. Tout d’abord, elle va au-delà de l’exploration de l’expérience post-migratoire et prend en considération la vie de ces femmes avant et après leur migration afin de permettre une compréhension plus holistique de leur résilience. Ensuite, elle examine comment ces femmes ont acquis cette dernière au sein de leur couple et de leur famille. Comprendre la résilience d’immigrées, c’est aussi appréhender leur vie avant leur arrivée au Canada, la solidité de leur mariage et la force de résistance de leur famille. Enfin, nous avons aussi suggéré des recherches à venir.
Education, Employment, and Income Polarization among Aboriginal Men and Women in Canada
Authors: Gerber Linda M.
Published: April 2014

Les Autochtones, hommes et femmes de 25 à 44 ans, ont considérablement progressé dans les domaines de l’éducation, de l’emploi et du revenu. Un niveau de scolarité élevé, un travail à temps plein et un vrai salaire ont permis à des Amérindiens, des Métis et des Inuits des deux sexes de combler le déficit qui les séparait des Non-Autochtones. Mais les conditions de vie ont stagné et se sont détériorées au bas de l’échelle sociale. Il en résulte une inégalité qui augmente sensiblement au sein des populations amérindiennes et inuites : cette polarisation n’est pas aussi marquée parmi les Métis – qui sont les moins désavantagés des trois. Bien que les femmes obtiennent un meilleur niveau scolaire que les hommes, l’écart de revenu entre les sexes persiste chez les Amérindiens et les Métis – mais pas chez les Inuits. Collectivement, les Autochtones restent aux niveaux les plus bas d’après la plupart des indicateurs socio-économiques. Certes, dans chacun de ces groupes identitaires plusieurs ont fait des progrès remarquables en éducation supérieure, dans les emplois à plein temps et pour les salaires – mais en laissant effectivement loin derrière eux ceux qui se retrouvent en bas de l’échelle économico-sociale. Alors que ceux qui s’identifient dans les recensements comme des Indiens d’Amérique du Nord font déjà partie des Autochtones les plus désavantagés, la situation des femmes est encore pire que celle des hommes. Elles se retrouvent au dernier échelon et souffrent d’une discrimination multiple, due à la race, à l’ethnicité (l’identité autochtone) et au sexe.
Oil Spill(over)s: Linkages in Petroleum Product Pricing Policies in West African Countries
Authors: David Antonio C. , El Harrak Mohamed , Mills Marshall , Ocampos Lorraine
Published: April 2014

The volatility in international oil prices has important implications for policies that determine national retail prices of petroleum products. This paper addresses a number of issues regarding petroleum product pricing in Western Africa emphasizing international spillovers that may limit the ability of policymakers to adopt first best policies. We use panel unit root rests and long-run modelling based on vector error correction models to assess links and convergence in petroleum product prices across countries. Our results indicate that in general over the long-run there is convergence in prices across countries. Furthermore, the estimation results for models including gasoline and diesel prices suggest the presence of economically important spillovers with long run multipliers varying significantly according to the country groupings and econometric specifications considered. In contrast, the econometric results for kerosene prices not only indicate a weaker link between prices across countries, but also a much slower adjustment to equilibrium. In light of these important spillovers, the need to better coordinate pricing and tax policies towards petroleum products at the regional level becomes apparent.
The Dynamics of Involuntary Commercial Banks’ Reserves in Trinidad and Tobago
Authors: Primus Keyra , Birchwood Anthony , Henry Lester
Published: April 2014

This paper examines the dynamics of excess liquidity in a small open energy producing economy, namely Trinidad and Tobago. The banking system in that country has persistently recorded high excess liquidity. For example, during 2010, excess reserves increased by six times what it was three years earlier. This has posed serious challenges for the Central Bank given the market based style of monetary policy adopted. We argue that an accumulation of excess reserves beyond prudential levels can be offsetting to monetary policy. To estimate the dynamics of involuntary excess reserves we use a two-step procedure. The first step employs Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) to examine how liquidity needs impact on the holding of precautionary excess reserves. The GMM model reveals that commercial banks hold excess reserves for precautionary purposes. Second, we employ impulse response functions to explore the dynamic effects of increased government expenditure on involuntary reserves held by commercial banks. The generalized impulse responses, obtained from a Vector Error Correction (VEC) model, show that government expenditure leads to sustained elevation of involuntary reserves.
Infant Mortality in Uruguay: The Effect of Socioeconomic Status on Survival
Authors: Jewell R. Todd , Martinez Jose , Triunfo Patricia
Published: April 2014

This paper analyzes infant mortality in a unique and highly-detailed data set from Uruguay. A duration model is employed to estimate the relationships between infant mortality and socioeconomic status at the individual, household, and community level. Our results indicate that the most important predictors of infant survival in the first year of life are a full gestational period, mother’s educational attainment, marital status (a proxy for family wealth), and the type of hospital used for delivery. We also find that the region where the mother resides (a proxy for community wealth), whether or not the delivery was a multiple delivery, and the gender of the infant are strong predictors of infant mortality in Uruguay. In light of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, the results presented in this paper suggest that policies designed to increase women’s education and to decrease out-of-wedlock births can substantially improve infant health in less-developed countries.
Empirical Investigation on the Impact of Microcredit on Women Empowerment in Urban Peninsular Malaysia
Authors: Al-Mamun Abdullah , Wahab Sazali Abdul , Mazumder Mohammad Nurul Huda , Su Zhan
Published: April 2014

The main goal of this study was to assess the impact of participation in Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia’s (AIM) microcredit program on the empowerment among urban low-income women in Peninsular Malaysia. To attain the above mentioned objective, this study utilized a cross-sectional design using stratified random sampling method to examine whether or not participation in AIM’s microcredit program improved urban low-income clients’ role in household decision making, helped the clients achieve economic security, gain more control over resources and family decisions, improve their ability to go outside to work and improve their level of legal awareness. Findings of this study revealed that participation in AIM’s microcredit program generated a positive and significant impact on women’s empowerment in Urban Peninsular Malaysia. The results suggest that AIM should, therefore, focus on increasing the outreach by targeting urban low-income women. The policy makers should focus on establishing a supportive regulatory environment to promote sustainable development of all microcredit organizations in urban Malaysia.
Incidence of Poverty and Level of Socio-Economic Deprivation in India
Authors: Khan Jabir Hasan , Hassan Tarique , Shamshad Shamshad
Published: April 2014

The present paper aims to analyze the spatial variations in the incidence of poverty and level of deprivation in India. The causal relationship between poverty rate (dependent variable) and twenty five selected socio-economic variables (independent variables) of deprivation has been also taken into account. The state/union territory has been taken as the smallest unit of study. The entire research work is based on secondary sources of data. The study reveals that the level of poverty is low in northern and southern states of India, and it is high in central-eastern states extending from the state of Maharashtra in the west to the state of Bihar in the east. The level of deprivation is high in the states extending from Rajasthan in the west to Orissa in the east, medium level in the southern, north-western and north-eastern states and it is low in the northern and southern most states of India.
Promoting Manufactuiring to Accelerate Economic Growth and Reduce Growth Volatility in Africa
Authors: Elhiraika Adam B. , Aboubakar Ousman , Muhammad Kamaludeen
Published: April 2014

This paper investigates the role of economic transformation in the form of increased manufacturing share in aggregate output in accelerating growth and reducing growth volatility in Africa. Using cross-section time series data from 50 African countries, the paper examines the key determinants of growth in the share of manufacturing output in aggregate output and its relationship with real GDP growth and growth volatility. Results of system GMM estimation indicate that real GDP growth and domestic investment are among the key drivers of growth in the share of manufacturing output in total output and that growth in the latter has, in turn, the potential to raise GDP growth and reduce growth volatility. It is therefore argued that African countries should pursue effective strategies, including industrial policies and institutional reforms, to promote manufacturing and other innovative activities as a means to accelerate economic growth and diversification, and enhance employment creation.
Media Development and Political Stability: An Analysis of Sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Roy Sanjukta
Published: April 2014

This paper takes a holistic look at the media sector and establishes that press freedom along with reach reduces political instability. Greater reach of media furthers the cause of a free press. It generates an informed populace and increases government responsiveness. The hypothesis is supported by multiple econometric specifications and the results remain robust.
Determinants of Fertility at the Macro Level: New Evidence for Latin America and the Caribbean
Authors: Amarante Verónica
Published: April 2014

This article analyses the factors associated with the decline of fertility in Latin America. Based on the microeconomic approach to fertility determinants, we use macro panel data for Latin American and Caribbean countries for the period 1960-2000. We estimate fertility determinants and test for the robustness of alternative specifications and different assumptions about the exogeneity of child mortality. Our results indicate that differences in fertility rates in time and among countries in the region in this period are mainly related to women’s education and, to a lesser extent, to GDP evolution and the process of urbanization.
The Case for Moderate Gun Control
Authors: DeGrazia David
Published: April 2014

In addressing the shape of appropriate gun policy, this essay assumes for the sake of discussion that there is a legal and moral right to private gun ownership. My thesis is that, against the background of this right, the most defensible policy approach in the United States would feature moderate gun control. The first section summarizes the American gun control status quo and characterizes what I call “moderate gun control.” The next section states and rebuts six leading arguments against this general approach to gun policy. The section that follows presents a positive case for moderate gun control that emphasizes safety in the home and society as well as rights whose enforcement entails some limits or qualifications on the right to bear arms. A final section shows how the recommended gun regulations address legitimate purposes, rather than imposing arbitrary restrictions on gun rights, and offers concluding reflections.
Beneficence, Justice, and Health Care
Authors: Kelleher J. Paul
Published: April 2014

This paper argues that societal duties of health promotion are under-written (at least in large part) by a principle of beneficence. Further, this principle generates duties of justice that correlate with rights, not merely “imperfect” duties of charity or generosity. To support this argument, I draw on a useful distinction from bioethics and on a somewhat neglected approach to social obligation from political philosophy. The distinction is that between general and specific beneficence; and the approach from political philosophy has at times been called equality of concern . After clarifying the distinction and setting out the basis of the equality of concern view, I argue that the result is a justice-based principle of “specific” beneficence that should be reflected in a society’s health policy. I then draw on this account to criticize, refine, and extend some prominent health care policy proposals from the bioethics literature.
Resolving the Conflict: Clarifying ‘Vulnerability’ in Health Care Ethics
Authors: Martin Angela K. , Tavaglione Nicolas , Hurst Samia
Published: April 2014

Vulnerability has been extensively discussed in medical research, but less so in health care. Thus, who the vulnerable in this domain are still remains an open question. One difficulty in their identification is due to the general criticism that vulnerability is not a property of only some, but rather of everyone. By presenting a philosophical analysis of the conditions of vulnerability ascription, we show that these seemingly irreconcilable understandings of vulnerability are not contradictory. Rather, they are interdependent: they refer to the same concept with different likelihoods of manifestation. We argue that the general vulnerability of living beings relies on their having certain types of interests. In health care, those individuals are particularly vulnerable who are more likely to have these interests unjustly considered. They should be afforded special protection in order to receive what is due to everyone, but which they are likely to fail to receive.
Aporia, and: Elegy for the Road, and: Without Title
Authors: Oroño Tatiana
Published: April 2014

Acclaimed novelist and short-story writer Jean Thompson (The Year We Left Home) guest-edits this issue of prose and poetry. As she writes in her introduction, "The thing that gives me hope for the enterprise of writing is the incredible variety and vigor of the terrain." With poets ranging from Erin Belieu to the Uruguayan Tatiana Orono, and stories that move from the eerie (Peter Rock's dreamlike story of a mysterious stalker, "Go-Between") to the comic (Elizabeth McCracken's story "Hungry," about an overweight young girl) to the tragic (Dan Chaon's "What Happened to Us," about a family transformed by fostering a disturbed child), Thompson's issue celebrates writers as they "grapple or dance with the world we live in, reflect or distort it, embrace or escape it." The issue also features Jesse Lee Kercheval's Plan B essay about learning to play the accordion ("Welcome to Hell"), and an exploration of Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities by John Domini.
Fathers Never Answer, and: Someone Asks, What Makes This Poem American?, and: Energy Policy
Authors: Belieu Erin
Published: April 2014

Acclaimed novelist and short-story writer Jean Thompson (The Year We Left Home) guest-edits this issue of prose and poetry. As she writes in her introduction, "The thing that gives me hope for the enterprise of writing is the incredible variety and vigor of the terrain." With poets ranging from Erin Belieu to the Uruguayan Tatiana Orono, and stories that move from the eerie (Peter Rock's dreamlike story of a mysterious stalker, "Go-Between") to the comic (Elizabeth McCracken's story "Hungry," about an overweight young girl) to the tragic (Dan Chaon's "What Happened to Us," about a family transformed by fostering a disturbed child), Thompson's issue celebrates writers as they "grapple or dance with the world we live in, reflect or distort it, embrace or escape it." The issue also features Jesse Lee Kercheval's Plan B essay about learning to play the accordion ("Welcome to Hell"), and an exploration of Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities by John Domini.
Free Checking!, and: Chicken Brick'n, and: Smote
Authors: Kimbrell James
Published: April 2014

Acclaimed novelist and short-story writer Jean Thompson (The Year We Left Home) guest-edits this issue of prose and poetry. As she writes in her introduction, "The thing that gives me hope for the enterprise of writing is the incredible variety and vigor of the terrain." With poets ranging from Erin Belieu to the Uruguayan Tatiana Orono, and stories that move from the eerie (Peter Rock's dreamlike story of a mysterious stalker, "Go-Between") to the comic (Elizabeth McCracken's story "Hungry," about an overweight young girl) to the tragic (Dan Chaon's "What Happened to Us," about a family transformed by fostering a disturbed child), Thompson's issue celebrates writers as they "grapple or dance with the world we live in, reflect or distort it, embrace or escape it." The issue also features Jesse Lee Kercheval's Plan B essay about learning to play the accordion ("Welcome to Hell"), and an exploration of Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities by John Domini.
Sappho 16
Authors: Leatham Kent
Published: April 2014

Acclaimed novelist and short-story writer Jean Thompson (The Year We Left Home) guest-edits this issue of prose and poetry. As she writes in her introduction, "The thing that gives me hope for the enterprise of writing is the incredible variety and vigor of the terrain." With poets ranging from Erin Belieu to the Uruguayan Tatiana Orono, and stories that move from the eerie (Peter Rock's dreamlike story of a mysterious stalker, "Go-Between") to the comic (Elizabeth McCracken's story "Hungry," about an overweight young girl) to the tragic (Dan Chaon's "What Happened to Us," about a family transformed by fostering a disturbed child), Thompson's issue celebrates writers as they "grapple or dance with the world we live in, reflect or distort it, embrace or escape it." The issue also features Jesse Lee Kercheval's Plan B essay about learning to play the accordion ("Welcome to Hell"), and an exploration of Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities by John Domini.
Reunion
Authors: White Mike
Published: April 2014

Acclaimed novelist and short-story writer Jean Thompson (The Year We Left Home) guest-edits this issue of prose and poetry. As she writes in her introduction, "The thing that gives me hope for the enterprise of writing is the incredible variety and vigor of the terrain." With poets ranging from Erin Belieu to the Uruguayan Tatiana Orono, and stories that move from the eerie (Peter Rock's dreamlike story of a mysterious stalker, "Go-Between") to the comic (Elizabeth McCracken's story "Hungry," about an overweight young girl) to the tragic (Dan Chaon's "What Happened to Us," about a family transformed by fostering a disturbed child), Thompson's issue celebrates writers as they "grapple or dance with the world we live in, reflect or distort it, embrace or escape it." The issue also features Jesse Lee Kercheval's Plan B essay about learning to play the accordion ("Welcome to Hell"), and an exploration of Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities by John Domini.
Introduction
Authors: Thompson Jean
Published: April 2014

Acclaimed novelist and short-story writer Jean Thompson (The Year We Left Home) guest-edits this issue of prose and poetry. As she writes in her introduction, "The thing that gives me hope for the enterprise of writing is the incredible variety and vigor of the terrain." With poets ranging from Erin Belieu to the Uruguayan Tatiana Orono, and stories that move from the eerie (Peter Rock's dreamlike story of a mysterious stalker, "Go-Between") to the comic (Elizabeth McCracken's story "Hungry," about an overweight young girl) to the tragic (Dan Chaon's "What Happened to Us," about a family transformed by fostering a disturbed child), Thompson's issue celebrates writers as they "grapple or dance with the world we live in, reflect or distort it, embrace or escape it." The issue also features Jesse Lee Kercheval's Plan B essay about learning to play the accordion ("Welcome to Hell"), and an exploration of Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities by John Domini.
Nature Walk
Authors: Dau Stephen
Published: April 2014

Acclaimed novelist and short-story writer Jean Thompson (The Year We Left Home) guest-edits this issue of prose and poetry. As she writes in her introduction, "The thing that gives me hope for the enterprise of writing is the incredible variety and vigor of the terrain." With poets ranging from Erin Belieu to the Uruguayan Tatiana Orono, and stories that move from the eerie (Peter Rock's dreamlike story of a mysterious stalker, "Go-Between") to the comic (Elizabeth McCracken's story "Hungry," about an overweight young girl) to the tragic (Dan Chaon's "What Happened to Us," about a family transformed by fostering a disturbed child), Thompson's issue celebrates writers as they "grapple or dance with the world we live in, reflect or distort it, embrace or escape it." The issue also features Jesse Lee Kercheval's Plan B essay about learning to play the accordion ("Welcome to Hell"), and an exploration of Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities by John Domini.
The Rink Girl
Authors: Brazaitis Mark
Published: April 2014

Acclaimed novelist and short-story writer Jean Thompson (The Year We Left Home) guest-edits this issue of prose and poetry. As she writes in her introduction, "The thing that gives me hope for the enterprise of writing is the incredible variety and vigor of the terrain." With poets ranging from Erin Belieu to the Uruguayan Tatiana Orono, and stories that move from the eerie (Peter Rock's dreamlike story of a mysterious stalker, "Go-Between") to the comic (Elizabeth McCracken's story "Hungry," about an overweight young girl) to the tragic (Dan Chaon's "What Happened to Us," about a family transformed by fostering a disturbed child), Thompson's issue celebrates writers as they "grapple or dance with the world we live in, reflect or distort it, embrace or escape it." The issue also features Jesse Lee Kercheval's Plan B essay about learning to play the accordion ("Welcome to Hell"), and an exploration of Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities by John Domini.
A Christmas Letter
Authors: Hellenga Robert
Published: April 2014

Acclaimed novelist and short-story writer Jean Thompson (The Year We Left Home) guest-edits this issue of prose and poetry. As she writes in her introduction, "The thing that gives me hope for the enterprise of writing is the incredible variety and vigor of the terrain." With poets ranging from Erin Belieu to the Uruguayan Tatiana Orono, and stories that move from the eerie (Peter Rock's dreamlike story of a mysterious stalker, "Go-Between") to the comic (Elizabeth McCracken's story "Hungry," about an overweight young girl) to the tragic (Dan Chaon's "What Happened to Us," about a family transformed by fostering a disturbed child), Thompson's issue celebrates writers as they "grapple or dance with the world we live in, reflect or distort it, embrace or escape it." The issue also features Jesse Lee Kercheval's Plan B essay about learning to play the accordion ("Welcome to Hell"), and an exploration of Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities by John Domini.
Song of Myself
Authors: Wallace Ronald
Published: April 2014

Acclaimed novelist and short-story writer Jean Thompson (The Year We Left Home) guest-edits this issue of prose and poetry. As she writes in her introduction, "The thing that gives me hope for the enterprise of writing is the incredible variety and vigor of the terrain." With poets ranging from Erin Belieu to the Uruguayan Tatiana Orono, and stories that move from the eerie (Peter Rock's dreamlike story of a mysterious stalker, "Go-Between") to the comic (Elizabeth McCracken's story "Hungry," about an overweight young girl) to the tragic (Dan Chaon's "What Happened to Us," about a family transformed by fostering a disturbed child), Thompson's issue celebrates writers as they "grapple or dance with the world we live in, reflect or distort it, embrace or escape it." The issue also features Jesse Lee Kercheval's Plan B essay about learning to play the accordion ("Welcome to Hell"), and an exploration of Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities by John Domini.
Whose Joke Is It Anyway?: Originality and Theft in the World of Standup Comedy
Authors: Pate George
Published: April 2014

Standup comedian Carlos Mencia has become infamous for his alleged joke-stealing. Outrage from the standup community, and a recent spate of legal arguments about copyright’s ability to protect comedians, have raised the issue of originality in standup comedy. These arguments about originality, however, all focus on literary originality—the originality of the joke. This essay places literary originality in relationship to performance originality, or the relative originality of comedians’ styles. A comedian’s style often defines her market share at least as much as her original content, yet most explorations of theft among comedians ignore style entirely. Style—consistent patterns of embodied practices—is just as vulnerable to theft as content. A number of legal cases suggest that style also can be protected from illicit appropriation, even though style is not, legally speaking, property. The law, in short, recognizes and protects style and content separately and equally, a distinction that also proves useful in theoretical considerations of literary originality and performance originality.
Revitalizing Japanese American Internment: Critical Empathy and Role-Play in the Musical Allegiance and the Video Game Drama in the Delta
Authors: Roxworthy Emily
Published: April 2014

The incorporation of interactive technology into the memorialization of the World War II incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans enables those with no prior connection to this history to role-play the internment experience. This essay compares the author’s digital role-playing game Drama in the Delta with the Broadway-bound musical Allegiance , arguing that the shared impulse to use performance to walk in internees’ shoes threatens to eclipse historical understanding with an uncritical form of empathy.
Neoliberal Scandals: Foxconn, Mike Daisey, and the Turn Toward Nonfiction Drama
Authors: Steen Shannon
Published: April 2014

This essay uses two performance scandals—the 2010 worker suicides at the Foxconn factories in Shenzhen, China, and the discovery of fictionalized material in Mike Daisey’s The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs —to consider the different modalities of neoliberalism’s theatrical life. These modalities form a central set of techniques through which neoliberalism is activated, through which it moves from ideology to material reality.
Prostitutes, Nuns, Actresses: Breaking the Convent Wall in Seventeenth-Century Venice
Authors: Bhasin Christine Scippa
Published: April 2014

While the tradition of convent theatre in various parts of early modern Italy has been well-documented, this essay seeks to elucidate the heretofore unsurveyed performance tradition by nuns in seventeenth-century Venice. Just around the corner from opera houses and carnival performances in the piazza, female monastics performed sacred and secular plays, often written by secular male playwrights and dedicated to specific nuns, before diverse audiences. the particular case of a convent for repentant prostitutes known as the “Convertite,” on the historical reality of prostitutes turned nuns-as-actresses.
SIDEWAYS! : Navigating the Material(ity) of Print Culture
Authors: Hughes Linda K.
Published: April 2014

This essay conceptualizes the massive materiality of Victorian print culture both as a counterpart to the modern city (dynamic, multi-centered, unpredictable, rife with local formations) and as a discursive web. Lateral “sideways” navigation across genres, texts, and successive pages or issues helps to uncover print’s spatio-temporal convergences. Illustrative examples include adverts for Dickens’s Our Mutual Friend across the publishing titles he controlled, notices or silences about Dickens’s and Gaskell’s serial fiction in Sunday papers, and the mutually reinforcing fame of Hood’s “The Song of the Shirt” and Dickens’s Christmas Carol .
In vitro protective effects of Scutellaria litwinowii root extract against H2O2-induced DNA damage and cytotoxicity
Authors: Shojaee Sousan , Parhiz Hamideh , Eshaghi Ameneh , Emami Seyed Ahmad , Asili Javad , Behravan Javad , Mosaffa Fatemeh
Published: April 2014

Background: Despite the wide range of investigations on the therapeutic potentials of herbal extracts in cancer cell lines, there is not usually enough data on their probable effects on normal cells. Recently, both anti-tumoral and anti-oxidant properties of Scutellaria litwinowii extracts have been reported on different cancer cell lines. In the present study, the possible protective effects of S. litwinowii root extracts against cytotoxicity and DNA damage induced by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) on normal cells were investigated using MTT and Comet assays, respectively.

Methods: A method of sequential extraction with solvents of different polarities was used to generate methanolic, de-fatted, and dichloromethane fractions. Both MTT and Comet assays were performed here to assess, respectively, changes in cell viability and levels of DNA damage from H2O2. In a pre-treatment regimen, test materials were applied to the cells prior to H2O2 treatment, while in a co-treatment protocol, cells were treated simultaneously with H2O2 and extracts.

Results: In the co-treatment studies, only methanolic extract at 1,000 μg/mL (p<0.001) imparted a significant protective effect as shown in the MTT assay. Pre-treatment of cells for 24 h with different concentrations of the test materials did not lead to any significant protection. Results from the Comet assays in the co-treatment studies suggested a significant (p<0.01) protective effect of the test materials against DNA damage caused by H2O2. However, in the pre-treatment studies, only methanolic extract at ≥500 μg/mL showed a protective effect (p<0.01).

Conclusions: Considering the probable high levels of phenolic and flavonoid compounds in the methanolic extract, these compounds may impart the noted protective effects of the S. litwinowii root through the scavenging of free radicals.
Toward a comprehensive definition of oxidation state (IUPAC Technical Report)
Authors: Karen Pavel , McArdle Patrick , Takats Josef
Published: April 2014

A generic definition of oxidation state (OS) is formulated: “The OS of a bonded atom equals its charge after ionic approximation”. In the ionic approximation, the atom that contributes more to the bonding molecular orbital (MO) becomes negative. This sign can also be estimated by comparing Allen electronegativities of the two bonded atoms, but this simplification carries an exception when the more electronegative atom is bonded as a Lewis acid. Two principal algorithms are outlined for OS determination of an atom in a compound; one based on composition, the other on topology. Both provide the same generic OS because both the ionic approximation and structural formula obey rules of stable electron configurations. A sufficiently simple empirical formula yields OS via the algorithm of direct ionic approximation (DIA) by these rules. The topological algorithm works on a Lewis formula (for a molecule) or a bond graph (for an extended solid) and has two variants. One assigns bonding electrons to more electronegative bond partners, the other sums an atom’s formal charge with bond orders (or bond valences) of sign defined by the ionic approximation of each particular bond at the atom. A glossary of terms and auxiliary rules needed for determination of OS are provided, illustrated with examples, and the origins of ambiguous OS values are pointed out. An electrochemical OS is suggested with a nominal value equal to the average OS for atoms of the same element in a moiety that is charged or otherwise electrochemically relevant.
High accuracy plutonium mass determination by controlled-potential coulometry
Authors: Ruas Alexandre , Leguay Nicolas , Sueur Romain , Vedel Nicolas , Dalier Vincent , Moisy Philippe
Published: April 2014

Controlled-potential coulometry is an assay method for determining the quantity of a given element from the measurement of a quantity
of electricity. This method has the advantage of not being related to a chemical standard, having an extremely high trueness and
reproducibility, and using low sample amounts. Nowadays, equipments intended to carry out coulometry with high trueness (typically
uncertainties close to 0.1%) is seldom encountered. In order to arrive to such low uncertainties, the whole process, from the
preparation of the sample test to thestorage of the material had to be refined. The qualification of the method was carried out thanks
to the use of EQRAIN standard solutions. The coulometric proportioning of plutonium coming from pure solutions (without interfering
elements) was extended to the proportioning of plutonium in the presence of uranium, which makes the technique not only a method of
choice for standard solution certification but also appropriate for carrying out precise analyses assessments of different processes
used in nuclear medium.
The invariance of current energy fourier spectrum of discrete real signals on finite intervals
Authors: Ponomarev V. A. , Ponomareva O. V.
Published: April 2014

Digital spectral analysis of signals based on DFT has a number of advantages. However, the transition from analog to digital methods and techniques is accompanied by a number of undesirable effects. Signals in each subject area usually have their own specifics. Therefore, it is necessary to study these effects in applications of spectral Fourier analysis. Such research is important for three reasons. Firstly, DFT properties are accurate, have their own specificity and significantly differ from the properties of the Fourier transform of continuous signals. Secondly, signals in each subject area have their own specificity. Thirdly, researchers often have prevailing knowledge in some particular domain, rather than in the field of digital signal processing techniques. As a result, in practice, some of the processes and effects arising in applications of digital spectral analysis, unfortunately, escape the attention of researchers which can result in erroneous conclusions. The paper deals with the problems of measuring Fourier spectrum of signals in the base of discrete exponential functions. Methods and algorithms of sliding measurements of energy Fourier spectrum of signals on finite intervals were described. The invariance of current energy Fourier spectrum to moving discrete real signals (which are not periodic) were investigated. The authors identify a new effect of digital spectral analysis — the effect of non-invariance of the current energy Fourier spectrum. Theoretical and practical results of analysis of invariance of current energy Fourier spectrum of tonal components are shown. The conducted studies allow us: — to see in a new light the measurement results on finite intervals of current Fourier spectrum and the current energy Fourier spectra of signals; give a numerical estimate of the non-invariance of the current energy Fourier spectrum of real tonal components. — to increase the effectiveness of digital spectral analysis in its many applications, in particular, for solving the problems on detection and identification of hidden periodicities in such subject areas as radar, vibroacoustic diagnostics, passive sonar, biomedicine, etc.
Parametric and Nonparametric Statistical Methods for Genomic Selection of Traits with Additive and Epistatic Genetic Architectures
Authors: Howard Réka , Carriquiry Alicia L , Beavis William D
Published: April 2014

Parametric and nonparametric methods have been developed for purposes of predicting phenotypes. These methods are based on retrospective analyses of empirical data consisting of genotypic and phenotypic scores. Recent reports have indicated that parametric methods are unable to predict phenotypes of traits with known epistatic genetic architectures. Herein, we review parametric methods including least squares regression, ridge regression, Bayesian ridge regression, least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO), Bayesian LASSO, best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP), Bayes A, Bayes B, Bayes C, and Bayes Cπ. We also review nonparametric methods including Nadaraya-Watson estimator, reproducing kernel Hilbert space, support vector machine regression, and neural networks. We assess the relative merits of these 14 methods in terms of accuracy and mean squared error (MSE) using simulated genetic architectures consisting of completely additive or two-way epistatic interactions in an F2 population derived from crosses of inbred lines. Each simulated genetic architecture explained either 30% or 70% of the phenotypic variability. The greatest impact on estimates of accuracy and MSE was due to genetic architecture. Parametric methods were unable to predict phenotypic values when the underlying genetic architecture was based entirely on epistasis. Parametric methods were slightly better than nonparametric methods for additive genetic architectures. Distinctions among parametric methods for additive genetic architectures were incremental. Heritability, i.e., proportion of phenotypic variability, had the second greatest impact on estimates of accuracy and MSE.
A Genome-Wide Screen for Sporulation-Defective Mutants inSchizosaccharomyces pombe
Authors: Ucisik-Akkaya Esma , Leatherwood Janet K , Neiman Aaron M
Published: April 2014

Yeast sporulation is a highly regulated developmental program by which diploid cells generate haploid gametes, termed spores. To better define the genetic pathways regulating sporulation, a systematic screen of the set of ~3300 nonessential Schizosaccharomyces pombe gene deletion mutants was performed to identify genes required for spore formation. A high-throughput genetic method was used to introduce each mutant into an h90 background, and iodine staining was used to identify sporulation-defective mutants. The screen identified 34 genes whose deletion reduces sporulation, including 15 that are defective in forespore membrane morphogenesis. In S. pombe, the total number of sporulation-defective mutants is a significantly smaller fraction of coding genes than in S. cerevisiae, which reflects the different evolutionary histories and biology of the two yeasts.
Knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding the Pap test among women in northeastern Brazil
Authors: Albuquerque Carla Lorenna Ferreira de , Costa Marla da Paschoa , Nunes Felipe Moreira , Freitas Roberto Wagner Junior Freire de , Azevedo Paulo Roberto Medeiros de , Fernandes Jose Verissimo , Rego Juciane Vaz , Barreto Humberto Medeiros
Published: April 2014

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: The Papanicolaou (Pap) test has been shown to be effective in preventing cervical cancer. However, both the national and international literature shows that Pap testing has not reached the level of coverage desired. The objective of this study was to assess women's knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding the Pap test and to investigate whether there are any associations between these three factors and the women's sociodemographic characteristics. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional descriptive study conducted in Floriano, Piauí. METHODS : The study was conducted among 493 women between November 2009 and December 2010. A questionnaire with precoded questions was sed, and the responses were analyzed in terms of appropriateness in relation to the Pap test. RESULTS : The degrees of adequacy of knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding the Pap test were 36.7%, 67.2% and 69.6%, respectively. Among the main barriers against testing, absence of symptoms and a sense of embarrassment were the most notable. CONCLUSIONS: Women who visit doctors periodically had the most appropriate practices regarding the Pap test, but their knowledge of the procedure was poor. This suggests that these women were not receiving adequate information about the benefits of periodic testing.
Patent blue and air as an alternative for resection of nonpalpable breast lesions: a case series
Authors: Vieira Sabas Carlos , Alves Viviane Carvalho , Oliveira Tayna Cristinne Barros de , Ibiapina Jacira Oliveira , Soares Emmyle Cristyne Alves , Crisanto Marcus Luciano Lopes de Paiva
Published: April 2014

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: Use of mammography for breast cancer screening has resulted in a significantly increased number of patients with nonpalpable radiological findings that need histopathological study for better management. The present study evaluated an alternative to excision of nonpalpable breast lesions, using injection of patent blue (CAS 3536-49-0) dye and air. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cohort study of 64 consecutive patients at a private clinic in the city of Teresina (Piauí), between January 2009 and December 2010. METHODS : The patients had received mammographic diagnoses of nonpalpable breast lesions classified as BI-RADS 3, 4 and 5, with indication of histopathological study. They underwent stereotaxy and/or ultrasound-guided injection of patent blue, for marking and subsequent excision of the lesion. RESULTS : The patients' mean age was 47.7 years. Nodes accounted for 53.1% of the breast abnormalities; microcalcifications, 37.5%; and complex cysts, 9.4%. In 89.1% of cases, the lesions were BI-RADS 4; 7.8% were BI-RADS 5 and 3.1% were BI-RADS 3. The histopathological findings were benign in 70.3% of the cases; atypical hyperplasia, 9.4%; and malignant, 20.3%. Among the malignant cases, 53.8% were carcinoma in situ and 46.2%, invasive carcinoma. The percentage of malignancy was 0% in BI-RADS 3 lesions; 14.3% in BI-RADS 4 and 100% in BI-RADS 5. In the cases of malignancy, the margins were clear in 92.3%. Reoperation to widen the margins was required in one patient. CONCLUSION: Excision of nonpalpable breast lesions marked with patent blue and air was possible in all cases.