bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Value of Inservice Degrees: teachers' long‐term perceptions of their impact
Authors: Cope Peter , Inglis Bill , Riddell Sheila , Sulhunt Omar
Published: June 2007

Teachers' long‐term perceptions of the impact of two inservice degree courses were surveyed by distributing a questionnaire to those who had graduated between 2 and 11 years previously. The majority of responses indicated that the degree courses had been perceived to have had a significant effect on the thinking, confidence and promotion prospects of the teachers who had participated in them. The value of degree courses of a theoretical rather than an instrumental nature is discussed in the light of restricted funding for INSET. It is concluded that these types of inservice degree may not produce immediately quantifiable effects on the classroom practice of the teachers involved but that their long‐term consequences for the confidence and professionalism of teachers make them a worthwhile investment for the education service.
Community Participation? The Establishment of ‘City's’ Parents' Centre[1]
Authors: Vincent Carol
Published: June 2007

There is a current trend in education, apparent in several Western nations, towards decentralisation and redistribution of power to parents and the wider community. Many such initiatives focus on encouraging school‐based management. This paper, however, examines an area‐based innovation: a Parents' Centre established by a local education authority (LEA) which aims to involve parents more closely in the education service. It explores the nature of that involvement through a careful appraisal of the concept of participation. Those concerned with the Centre's establishment share an apparent consensus over its aims, yet competing priorities are to be found working within that agreement. This paper concludes that these submerged differences stem from varying constraints operating on the different groups involved in the Centre, and on the LEA as a whole. These ensure that the opportunities for participation open to parents are of a limited kind.
Integration, Education and Rights[1]
Authors: Lewis Ann
Published: June 2007

The integration into ordinary schools of children with special educational needs (SEN) has been seen as a fundamental right by some writers. This paper examines government statistics relating to the education of children with SEN and looks specifically at attempts to extrapolate measures of integration from these statistics. The limitations to measures of ‘integration’ which focus on end products (e.g. placement or statement decisions) are explored. The focus of the paper then moves to examine more broadly the rights of children with SEN and the rights of those children's parents. Parents' rights are explored under four subheadings: formal assessment, appeals, non‐statemented special provision, and participation in the National Curriculum. One of the strategies that may increase integration is the focus on parental rights concerning school preferences for their children. It is concluded that the exercise of these rights will be counter‐productive unless ordinary schools are willing and able to meet the educational needs of all children.
Side by Side: a more appropriate form of peer interaction for infant pupils?
Authors: Dowrick Nick
Published: June 2007

This study explores the possibility that 6 and 7 year‐old pupils might learn more through associative than through collaborative peer interaction. Thirteen dyads worked in both modes at a series of tasks involving the completion and modelling of simple number sentences. High order talk tended to be more frequent in the associative mode, principally as a result of more frequent and more closely monitored disagreement. Task performances were little different in the two modes. Post‐test learning appeared to be greater after associative interaction, particularly for lower attaining dyads, who struggled to cope with the demands of collaboration, and at the simpler tasks, at which partners could interact with more understanding and confidence. It is concluded that associative interaction merits further attention, while suggestions are made for the enhancement of collaboration.
Conceptual and Methodological Flaws in the Evaluation of the ‘First’ British Reading Recovery Programme
Authors: Hall Kathleen
Published: June 2007

This paper is a response to Anna Wright's (1992) evaluation of a Reading Recovery programme in Surrey which was published in a previous issue of British Educational Research Journal. It argues that the evaluation was too narrowly conceived, poorly conducted and insufficiently tentative in its final comment, and, above all, did not produce maximally useful evidence. Some pointers to the way forward are offered.
Some Sink, Some Float: National Curriculum assessment and accountability
Authors: Abbott Dorothy , Broadfoot Patricia , Croll Paul , Osborn Marilyn , Pollard Andrew
Published: June 2007

This article considers the Government's stated aims of introducing to British primary schools an assessment process which would be simultaneously criterion‐referenced, formative, moderated, related to progression and evaluative. Accountability, which has provided the main rationale for the process, presupposes reliability. In 1991, as part of the Bristol Primary Assessment, Curriculum and Experience (PACE) research, the same Standard Assessment Task (SAT) was observed in use in three Year 2 classrooms in different local education authorities (LEAs), providing a case study through which the reliability of the system is assessed. It is suggested that the variations in the circumstances and experience of teachers and children were so marked that the system is seriously flawed. The SAT discussed, Science 1 (Sinking and Floating), was dropped from the 1992 programme after severe criticism: the article questions whether this was the right response and discusses some of the wider issues raised.
Seven Types of Creativity: looking for insights in data analysis
Authors: Sanger Jack
Published: June 2007

This paper is a preliminary attempt to address the issue of what has been called the ‘research imagination’. It argues that much of what we count as research does little to foster innovative ways of handling the issue of data analysis. It adopts a position of anarchic disenchantment with the rigidity and conservatism which constrain research activity. Research, it is argued, like other forms of literature, can enlighten, destabilise and enhance critical discourse. To do so requires a reflexivity concerning its own operations and frames of reference. Some practical suggestions on how to be more innovative in research are offered as a starting point.

It may be said that the business of analysis is to progress from poetical to prosaic, from intuitive to intellectual knowledge; evidently these are just the same sort of opposites, in that each assumes the other is also there. (Empson, 1930)
Learning Mathematics in Groups with Computers: reflections on a research study
Authors: Hoyles Celia , Healy Lulu , Pozzi Stefano
Published: June 2007

This paper traces a methodology for analysing groupwork with computers, together with some of the findings. The theoretical underpinning of the research is outlined along with how this theory informed the design of the study. In order to make explicit the research process, reflections on the project revolve around a detailed description of how the data were analysed and the phases through which the analysis progressed. This includes how decisions were made in order to cope with large qualitative data sets, the choice of appropriate quantitative techniques, and how qualitative and quantitative methods were combined. Advantages and limitations of this analysis are considered, and finally generalisations on the role of groupwork with computers in mathematics education are explored.
Whatever Happened to Good Advice? Service and inspection after the Education Reform Act
Authors: Evans John , Penney Dawn
Published: June 2007

The 1988 Education Reform Act (ERA) changed dramatically the relationships between central government, local education authorities (LEAs) and teachers in state schools in England and Wales. This report focuses on the nature of these changes, particularly those between LEAs and teachers, and considers their consequences for the ‘quality’ of the curriculum that schools can provide. Albeit tentatively, the analysis suggests that changes in the relationships between central government, LEAs and schools represent an extension of the central state's ideological powers of surveillance and centralised control over schools, rather than a move towards participatory democracy and the improvement in educational standards in schools. To illustrate this, the report addresses (i) the ‘effects’ of ERA legislation on the ‘dynamic’ of inspection, advice and in‐service education and training (INSET) support, and how this complex relationship is perceived by teachers in schools; and (ii) The Schools Act 1992, and the relationships between the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) inspections, in‐service support and curriculum provision. The analysis calls on data gathered during the 1992‐93 academic year as part of an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) research project investigating the impact of the ERA on the provision of physical education (PE) and sport in schools.
Gender Issues in Groupwork—a case study involving with with computers
Authors: Pryor John
Published: June 2007

The paper reports my work as a teacher researcher on the Economic and Social Research Council funded project, ‘Groupwork with Computers’. It looks at intervention strategies that were adopted to promote gender equality and explores briefly other gender issues that emerged from the study. Data were gathered by interviewing pupils and colleagues and by classroom observation. It addresses the concerns of those teachers who find that despite their sensitivity to gender as an issue, the expected benefits do not necessarily accrue. It suggests that a greater emphasis on collaborative groupwork might in these circumstances be a fruitful path to pursue, in particular by encouraging children, and especially boys, to focus on their partners as well as the task.
Students' Motivational Traits in Science: a cross‐age study
Authors: Trumper Ricardo
Published: June 2007

This paper reports the results of a cross‐age study dealing with high school students' motivational traits in science. Students' motivational traits in science were explored by a questionnaire whose items were written to correspond to four motivational patterns: achievement, curiosity, conscientiousness and sociability. The major findings of this study are: (1) most students may be assigned to one or a combination of two motivational traits in science; (2) most students may be categorised as ‘sociable'; (3) students' ‘sociability’, ‘curiosity’ and ‘conscientiousness’ motivations in science do not undergo any substantial change in secondary school; (4) more boys than girls may be categorised as ‘achievers’ in junior high school but the gap narrows and even reverses in senior high school; (5) more boys than girls from grade 8 to 10 may be categorised as ‘curious’, but the relationship becomes equal in grade 11; (6) more girls than boys may be categorised as ‘conscientious’ throughout all the grades; and (7) girls and boys may be almost equally categorised as ‘sociable’ throughout all the grades.
Children With and Without ‘Additional Educational Needs’ at Key Stage 1 in Six Inner City Schools—teaching and learning processes and policy implications
Authors: West Anne , Sammons Pam
Published: June 2007

This paper is based on case‐studies of six English inner‐city infant schools and focuses on teaching and learning processes in Year 2 classes. It is concerned in particular with children with ‘additional educational needs'—operationalised here in terms of those with special educational needs (not necessarily statemented) and English language needs. Teachers’ aims are examined, as are their grouping strategies. In terms of provision made, teachers indicated that more individual attention and time was required for children with special educational needs and with English language needs. The findings are discussed in terms of the adequacy of provision for all children in inner city schools with their mixed social and linguistic intakes, and related policy implications. Theoretical implications of the findings are also examined.
National Curriculum Assessments and Programmes of Study: validity and impact
Authors: Wiliam Dylan
Published: June 2007

This paper has been written as a contribution to the debate about the possible directions that might be taken in the light of the current review of the role of assessment in the National Curriculum of England and Wales. The paper is presented in two parts. The first part outlines a theoretical framework—a simplified version of the four‐facet framework proposed by Samuel Messick—within which the relative demands of evidential and consequential aspects of validity can be considered. The second section presents a selection of issues which will need to be addressed (either explicitly or implicitly) in order to illustrate how the four‐facet model can be applied to the analysis of issues that need to be resolved. The selected issues are not intended to be representative of all the issues that will need to be addressed, but do illustrate the use of the theoretical framework presented in part 1 in a variety of contexts. It is also intended that the framework here will be relevant to all assessments, not just those related to the National Curriculum of England and Wales.
Professionals Under Pressure: the administration of special education in a changing context
Authors: Vincent Carol , Evans Jennifer , Lunt Ingrid , Young Pam
Published: June 2007

This paper explores the role of professionals employed in the special education section of local education authorities (LEAs). Its examination of the political, cultural and financial contexts in which decision‐making occurs is illustrated by data collected in interviews with LEA personnel in five local authorities. The first section of the paper examines the nature and effects of professional control in special education. Depoliticisation, individualisation and a concentration on technical solutions are seen as the main outcomes of professional control. The second section of the paper analyses the discourses which underpin professional notions of special education. The paper argues that it is the nature of these discourses which renders special education vulnerable to incursions by recent public sector reforms; namely managerialism and the concomitant shift towards rule‐based decision‐making. It concludes that the dominant discourses in special education are ill‐equipped to penetrate beyond procedural issues and consider more fundamental questions about the future nature of education for all children.
Education in a Post‐modern Horizon: voices from Latin‐America
Authors: Buenfil‐Burgos Rosa Nidia
Published: June 2007

We are witnessing today the all‐embracing undermining of the absolute character of the foundations of Enlightenment thought. This has had effects on different fields of knowledge, and the educational field is not an exception. The consequences produced by this process of ‘erosion’ of foundations is, of course, different in the so‐called First, Second and Third World countries. The way in which the post‐modern condition has been conceptualised by some scholars in Third World countries, particularly in the educational field circumscribes the scope of this paper. This paper illustrates: (1) the more generalised meanings of the term ‘post‐modernity’ in Latin America; (2) the modern/post‐modern debate in the educational field held by some influential educational theoreticians; (3) my own position concerning post‐modernity as a horizon of intelligibility and as an existential condition; and (4) my own remarks about some of the effects that the post‐modern horizon offers to and demands from those concerned with education.
Science Education for Environmental Education? Primary Teacher Perspectives and Practices
Authors: Littledyke Michael
Published: June 2007

This article presents the results of a survey of primary managers and teachers to assess the relationships between experience, attitudes and practice in science and environmental education. Analysis, from a concerns theory perspective, shows that science, by virtue of its high National Curriculum status, has progressed to collaborative and refocusing concerns with substantial management support, whilst environmental education, in spite of perceived importance, remains at the status of personal concerns, due to insufficient pragmatic management support and pressure to cover National Curriculum subject content. Four broad groups of attitudes towards science and environmental education are identified which highlight the relationship between experience, attitudes, practices and views of science and corresponding practices and attitudes relating to environmental issues and education. The significance of this to science and environmental education is discussed.
The Discourses of Social Justice in Schools
Authors: Griffiths Morwenna
Published: June 2007

In this article I argue that it is possible to use and then build on contemporary theoretical and practical discourses surrounding issues of social justice in order to improve matters in schools. The research method is based in philosophical educational research: developing and generating theory in an iterative process of theorising in relation to specific practical circumstances and their problems. The argument shows that theoretical underpinnings of social justice need not be liberal‐humanist, just as practical strategies need not be couched in the language of 1980s‐style equal opportunities. It describes a method of formulating, in collaboration with practitioners, a set of theoretically informed social justice principles for managing schools. It then shows how these draw on, and contribute to, a set of discursive constructions related to social justice and its improvement.
The Success and Failure of Positive Action to Mitigate the Effects of an All‐male Senior Management Team in a Secondary School
Authors: Coldron John , Boulton Pam
Published: June 2007

This article considers the effectiveness of an initiative in a secondary school taken to mitigate the effects of an all‐male senior management team. We draw up a partial balance sheet of its successes and failures. Chief among its successes was the effect such a wholehearted and positive action had on the women staff in the school and among its failures the problematic nature of an action that went so counter to established structures and processes. We conclude that this local action was of considerable value.
Changes in Patterns of Teacher Interaction in Primary Classrooms: 1976‐96
Authors: Galton Maurice , Hargreaves Linda , Comber Chris , Wall Debbie , Pell Tony
Published: June 2007

For the past two decades there has been persistent controversy regarding the effectiveness of the different teaching methods used in the English primary classroom. One of the earliest studies of the primary classroom, the ORACLE study, described the typical behaviours of teachers and pupils. Since that time there have been various interventions designed ‘to change the way that primary teachers teach’. The research reported here evaluates the success of these interventions by replicating the work of 20 years ago by using the same observation methods in some of the same schools.
Homework and Attainment in Primary Schools
Authors: Farrow Steve , Tymms Peter , Henderson Brian
Published: June 2007

An analysis of data relating to homework in the final year of primary school is reported in the core areas of mathematics, English and science. Information was available on achievement levels, attitudes, developed ability, cultural capital and sex. Widespread variation in reported homework frequency emerged in the core subjects in primary schools, as did significant differences between girls and boys for mathematics and reading. The findings indicated that the highest test scores were achieved by those pupils who reported doing homework ‘once a month’ in each of the core subjects. Homework reported more frequently than ‘once a month’ was generally associated with lower attainment. Multilevel models that controlled for important variables did not lend support to the ‘more is better’ view of homework. Our contention is that the assumptions about the value of homework (largely derived from secondary school practice and experience) should not be automatically ‘grafted on’ to primary practice. More serious consideration should be given to the nature and frequency of homework setting in primary schools.
Comparing New Theory with Prior Beliefs: Market Civilization and the Democratic Peace
Authors: Mousseau Michael
Published: June 2007

Stuart Bremer counseled against the falsificationist convention of testing new models against the null hypothesis of no model. Instead, new models should be compared against prior beliefs, and theories should compete, whenever possible, on a field of equivalent test conditions. This article applies Stuart Bremer's notion of comparative theory testing by comparing a new model of contract norms with the prior institutionalist model of democratic peace. On a field of equivalent test conditions it is found that the hypothesis for contract norms (that the democratic peace is contingent upon economic development) is thousands of times more likely to be true than the hypothesis for institutionalist theory (that democracy pacifies all dyads regardless of economic conditions). Democracy appears to be a significant force for peace only in dyads that are above the median income: the richest 45%. The results indicate that scholars of war should update the widespread prior belief that democracy, alone, causes peace.
New Dimensions in Gompertzian Growth
Authors: Bajzer Željko , Vuk-Pavlović Stanimir
Published: June 2007

The Gompertz function was formulated to represent an actuarial curve, yet it often fits growth of organisms, organs and tumors. Despite numerous attempts, no consensus has been forged about the biological foundation of the broad applicability of the model. Here we revisit the Gompertzian notion of the “power to grow” and equate it with growth fraction. Aside from conferring biological interpretability to the model, this approach allows leading to the possibility of exploring the behavior of Gompertzian growth with fractal kinetics. Significantly, we found that empirical models such as the logistic model, the von Bertalanffy model and the von Bertalanffy Richards model, together with the originative Gompertz model, are special cases of Gampertzian growth in fractal space. This finding permits an analysis of the growth kinetics of tumors which might affect model based design of Chemotherapy protocols.
Referring patients to counsellors in primary care: Qualitative investigation of general practitioners’ perceptions
Authors: Cocksedge Simon , May Carl
Published: June 2007

Despite growing evidence of the effectiveness of counselling in primary care, questions arise concerning the role of general practitioners in the referral process. This involves both liaison with counsellors and the management of people who do not wish to see counsellors. Respondents (n=23) in this qualitative study of general practitioners’ perceptions were clear about which patients should be referred to counsellors, based on guidelines. Additionally, these doctors perceived their role and skills as negotiating with their patients about referral to a counsellor, and managing patients who are either waiting to see a counsellor or who prefer not to see a counsellor. These doctors feel inadequately trained in managing this latter group, whose outcome they perceive as unclear. Despite this, respondents accept a role in ongoing support for their patients with consequent training issues for doctors and opportunities for liaison and mentoring by counsellors.
The challenges of designing and piloting a system for measuring the impact of counselling provided by a national voluntary agency
Authors: Mistral Willm , Jackson Annabel , Brandling Janet , McCarthy-Young Liz
Published: June 2007

This paper describes the issues, processes and difficulties encountered and solutions proposed when introducing an evaluation system into a large and complex voluntary organisation providing counselling and relationship support services. The organisation Relate has 2,000 counsellors in over 600 locations operated by a network of 81 Relate Centres, and over 140,000 people use its services annually. The present project arose from a need clearly identified at a Mental Health Foundation conference in 1993, for a common measure to evaluate ‘talking’ therapies; to identify ways of measuring costs and benefits; and to assess the skills and competencies of therapists.

This project set out to (1) identify and pilot a validated scale that could demonstrate the value of Relate; (2) develop and pilot a further measure of Relate's work, broader than the validated scale, in order to foster organisational learning and develop good practice. The pilot encountered a range of methodological challenges, and it is believed that recognition of these might smooth the way for any other similar organisation planning to develop an ongoing system for evaluation of counselling and relationship support.
The Tyranny of Transparency
Authors: Strathern Marilyn
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACTWhat might an academic and a social anthropologist have to say about ‘making the invisible visible’? Taking its title from a paper by Tsoukas (‘The Tyranny of Light’), the result is a short excursus into the social world of accountability. Techniques for assessing, auditing and evaluating institutions are often defended on the grounds of transparency. What is interesting about this case is that in a social world where people are conscious of diverse interests, such an appeal to a benevolent or moral visibility is all too easily shown to have a tyrannous side—there is nothing innocent about making the invisible visible. How are we to understand such deliberate striving for transparency when it is applied, for instance, to research and teaching in higher education? This experimental account tries to avoid simply adding more visibility and more information.
Memories are Made of This: Temporality and practitioner research
Authors: Brown Tony , Roberts Lorna
Published: June 2007

This article sets out to examine the nature of time and how it is constructed within reflective teacher research. The article is motivated on the one hand by a belief in evolving identity but on the other acknowledges a world where such identities are collapsing into interweaving discourses where notions of such evolution are not tenable. It draws on a classic debate between Gadamer and Habermas concerned with how we experience our living in the present, either as a ‘being in the world’, or as an ‘endgainer’ aspiring to a new structural framework within which life will be unconstrained by reifications of oppressive relations. After questioning the notion of human agency these views presuppose, the article pursues a resolution offered by Ricoeur and his subsequent work on the close relation between time and the stories we tell about it. Some work arising from a course for teachers is described in which attempts are made to reconcile practice with descriptions of it. In particular, issues of the teachers working with their own earlier writings are discussed. It is suggested that such writings can be used to form a reflective/constructive narrative layer that feeds whilst growing alongside the life it seeks to portray.
A new hierarchy of integrable systems associated to Hurwitz spaces
Authors: Kokotov A , Korotkin D
Published: June 2007

In this paper, we introduce a new class of integrable systems, naturally associated to Hurwitz spaces (spaces of meromorphic functions over Riemann surfaces). The critical values of the meromorphic functions play the role of ‘times’. Our systems give a natural generalization of the Ernst equation; in genus zero, they realize the scheme of deformation of integrable systems proposed by Burtsev, Mikhailov and Zakharov. We show that any solution of these systems in rank 1 defines a flat diagonal metric (Darboux–Egoroff metric) together with a class of corresponding systems of hydrodynamic type and their solutions.
Intraductal carcinoma is the precursor of carcinoma ex pleomorphic adenoma and is often associated with dysfunctional p53
Authors: Ihrler S , Weiler C , Hirschmann A , Sendelhofert A , Lang S , Guntinas‐Lichius O , Arnold G , Zietz C , Harrison J D
Published: June 2007

Aims:  Although intraductal carcinoma has been demonstrated in intracapsular carcinoma ex pleomorphic adenoma (CEPA), the morphological and genetic stages of transformation of pleomorphic adenoma (PA) to CEPA are not fully understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the morphology of intracapsular CEPA.

Methods and results:  The largest series of intracapsular CEPA studied was subject to immunohistochemical double‐staining to detect p53 protein and cellular proliferation in different types of cell combined with mutational analysis of the p53 gene in laser‐microdissected material. Intraductal carcinoma with high‐grade cellular atypia and frequent accumulation of p53 protein was found in 15/19 cases. Purely intraductal carcinoma was found in eight cases. Mutation of p53 was found in 7/19 cases, of which it was found in intraductal carcinoma in 5/15 cases.

Conclusions:  The frequent demonstration of intraductal carcinoma indicates that this preinvasive lesion is likely to be a constant feature in the malignant transformation of PA to CEPA. It appears to be a feature of CEPA developing from both primary and recurrent PA. The combined immunohistochemical and genetic data show that 14/19 cases of CEPA and 11/15 cases with intraductal carcinoma showed genetic or morphological evidence of dysfunctional p53, indicating that this is an early event in malignant transformation.
Observational and Experimental Evidence for the Function of Tail Flicking in Eurasian Moorhen Gallinula chloropus
Authors: Randler Christoph
Published: June 2007

Tail movements such as wagging, flicking or pumping are reported from many bird species but their adaptive functions remain poorly understood. To investigate whether tail flicking functions as an alarm signal, either to predators or neighbouring birds, or as a signal of submission to conspecifics, I observed this behaviour in moorhen in a natural context, and conducted playback experiments using vocalizations of predators, conspecifics and heterospecifics. I found positive relationships between flicking and vigilance and nearest neighbour distance, and negative relationships between flicking and moorhen flock size and total flock size. Moorhen at the edge of a flock flicked at a higher rate. Single moorhen flicked more often compared with individuals in groups, both in single‐ and mixed‐species flocks, and there was a tendency that single moorhen flicked more often than single moorhen within a mixed‐species flock. Moorhen responded differently to conspecific and predator calls. While in both cases vigilance increased, tail flick rate was higher during predator playbacks and lower during conspecific playbacks. Furthermore, moorhen remained rather motionless when conspecific calls were played back, but not during predator calls, and, moorhen resumed to a baseline level of tail flicking more quickly after the playback of conspecific calls. Taken together, the results suggest that flicking may be considered as a honest signal of vigilance directed towards ambushing predators.
Metabolic syndrome is not associated with markers of subclinical atherosclerosis, serum adiponectin and endogenous androgen concentrations in Japanese men with Type 2 diabetes
Authors: Fukui M. , Ose H. , Kitagawa Y. , Kamiuchi K. , Nakayama I. , Ohta M. , Obayashi H. , Yamasaki M. , Hasegawa G. , Yoshikawa T. , Nakamura N.
Published: June 2007

Aims  Metabolic syndrome is characterized by its association with certain cardiovascular disease risk factors. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between metabolic syndrome and markers of subclinical atherosclerosis, serum adiponectin and endogenous androgen concentrations in Japanese men with Type 2 diabetes.

Methods  Using the 2005 International Diabetes Federation (IDF) definition, we assessed the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in 424 consecutive men with Type 2 diabetes aged 40–75 years in a cross‐sectional study. We compared characteristics including ultrasonographic carotid atherosclerosis markers, pulse‐wave velocity (PWV), and serum adiponectin, free testosterone, and dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEA‐S) concentrations in diabetic patients with and without the metabolic syndrome.

Results  The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in Japanese men with Type 2 diabetes was 46.9%. Men with the metabolic syndrome had higher urinary albumin excretion rate than those without. Carotid intima‐media thickness (0.97 ± 0.26 vs. 0.91 ± 0.18 mm), plaque score [3.3 (1.5–8.1) vs. 3.8 (1.3–6.2)], PWV (1818 ± 331 vs. 1749 ± 331 cm/s) and ankle‐brachial index (1.10 ± 0.14 vs. 1.08 ± 0.16) did not differ significantly between patients with and without the metabolic syndrome. Similarly, serum adiponectin [3.70 (2.06–6.09) vs. 4.65 (3.09–7.02) µg/ml], free testosterone (36.4 ± 10.7 vs. 34.7 ± 11.1 pmol/l), and DHEA‐S concentrations (3.29 ± 1.83 vs. 3.17 ± 1.63 µmol/l) did not differ significantly between groups,

Conclusions  The metabolic syndrome, as defined by the IDF, is not significantly associated with subclinical atherosclerosis markers, serum adiponectin, or endogenous androgen concentrations in Japanese men with Type 2 diabetes.
Distribution of neurons expressing tyrosine hydroxylase in the human cerebral cortex
Authors: Benavides‐Piccione Ruth , DeFelipe Javier
Published: June 2007

Since the very first detailed description of the different types of cortical interneurons by Cajal, the tremendous variation in the morphology, physiology and neurochemical properties of these cells has become apparent. However, it still remains unclear whether all types of interneurons are present in all cortical areas and species. Here we have focused on tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)‐immunoreactive cortical interneurons, which although only present in certain species, are particularly abundant in the human neocortex. We argue that this type of interneuron is more widespread in the human neocortex than in any other species examined so far and that, therefore, it is probably involved in a larger variety of cortical circuits. In addition, notable regional variation can be seen in relation to these interneurons. These differences further emphasize the variability in the design of microcircuits between cortical areas and species, and they probably reflect an evolutionary adaptation of cortical circuits to particular functions.
A comparative U–Th–Pb (zircon–monazite) and 40Ar–39Ar (muscovite–biotite) study of shear zones in northern Victoria Land (Antarctica): implications for geochronology and localized reworking of the Ross Orogen
Authors: DI VINCENZO G. , CAROSI R. , PALMERI R. , TIEPOLO M.
Published: June 2007

Mylonitic granites from two shear zones in northern Victoria Land (Antarctica) were investigated in order to examine the behaviour of the U–Th–Pb system in zircon and monazite and of the 40Ar–39Ar system in micas during ductile deformation. Meso‐ and micro‐structural data indicate that shear zones gently dip to the NE and SW, have an opposite sense of shear (top‐to‐the‐SW and ‐NE, respectively) and developed under upper greenschist facies conditions. In situ U–Pb dating by laser‐ablation inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry of zircon areas with well‐preserved igneous zoning patterns (c. 490 Ma) confirm that granites were emplaced during the Early Cambrian to Early Ordovician Ross–Delamerian Orogeny. Monazite from the Bier Point Shear Zone (BPSZ) mainly yielded U–Th–Pb ages of c. 440 Ma, in agreement with in‐situ Ar laserprobe ages of syn‐shear muscovite and with most Ar ages of coexisting biotite. The agreement of ages derived from different decay schemes and from minerals with different crystal‐chemical features suggests that isotope transport in the studied sample was mainly controlled by (re)crystallization processes and that the main episode of ductile deformation in the BPSZ occurred at c. 440 Ma. Cathodoluminscence imaging showed that zircon from the BPSZ contains decomposed areas with faint relics of oscillatory zoning. These areas yielded a U–Pb age pattern which mimics that of monazite but is slightly shifted towards older ages, supporting previous studies which suggest that ‘ghost’ structures may be affected by inheritance. In contrast, secondary structures in zircon from the Mt. Emison Shear Zone (MESZ) predominantly consist of overgrowths or totally recrystallized areas and gave U–Pb ages of c. 450 and 410 Ma. The c. 450‐Ma date matches within errors most monazite U–Th–Pb ages and in‐situ Ar ages on biotite aligned along the mylonitic foliation. This again suggests that isotope ages from the different minerals are (re)crystallization ages and constrains the time of shearing in the MESZ to the Late Ordovician. Regionally, results indicate that shear zones were active in the Late Ordovician–Early Silurian and that their development was partially synchronous at c. 440 Ma, suggesting that they belong to a shear‐zone system formed in response to ∼NE–SW‐directed shortening. Taking into account the former juxtaposition of northern Victoria Land and SE Australia, we propose that shear zones represent reactivated zones formed in response to stress applied along the new plate margin as a consequence of contractional tectonics associated with the early stages (Benambran Orogeny) of the development of the Late Ordovician–Late Devonian Lachlan Fold Belt.
Setup of a High-Speed Optical System for the Characterization of Flow Instabilities Generated by Cavitation
Authors: Cervone Angelo , Bramanti Cristina , Torre Lucio , Fotino Domenico , d’Agostino Luca
Published: June 2007

The present paper illustrates the setup and the preliminary results of an experimental investigation of cavitation flow instabilities carried out by means of a high-speed camera on a three-bladed inducer in the cavitating pump rotordynamic test facility (CPRTF) at Alta S.p.A. The brightness thresholding technique adopted for cavitation recognition is described and implemented in a semi-automatic algorithm. In order to test the capabilities of the algorithm, the mean frontal cavitating area has been computed under different operating conditions. The tip cavity length has also been evaluated as a function of time. Inlet pressure signal and video acquisitions have been synchronized in order to analyze possible cavitation fluid-dynamic instabilities both optically and by means of pressure fluctuation analysis. Fourier analysis showed the occurrence of a cavity length oscillation at a frequency of 14.7Hz, which corresponds to the frequency of the rotating stall instability detected by means of pressure oscillation analysis.
Community Forestry in Theory and Practice: Where Are We Now?
Authors: Charnley Susan , Poe Melissa R.
Published: June 2007

Community forestry refers to forest management that has ecological sustainability and local community benefits as central goals, with some degree of responsibility and authority for forest management formally vested in the community. This review provides an overview of where the field of community forestry is today. We describe four case examples from the Americas: Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Bolivia. We also identify five hypotheses embedded in the concept of community forestry and examine the evidence supporting them. We conclude that community forestry holds promise as a viable approach to forest conservation and community development. Major gaps remain, however, between community forestry in theory and in practice. For example, devolution of forest management authority from states to communities has been partial and disappointing, and local control over forest management appears to have more ecological than socioeconomic benefits. We suggest ways that anthropologists can contribute to the field.
Anthropology and Militarism
Authors: Gusterson Hugh
Published: June 2007

Anthropologists’ selections of topics and field sites have often been shaped by militarism, but they have been slow to make militarism, especially American militarism, an object of study. In the high Cold War years concerns about human survival were refracted into debates about innate human proclivities for violence or peace. As “new wars” with high civilian casualty rates emerged in Africa, Central America, the former Eastern bloc, and South Asia, beginning in the 1980s anthropologists increasingly wrote about terror, torture, death squads, ethnic cleansing, guerilla movements, and the memory work inherent in making war and peace. Anthropologists have also begun to write about nuclear weapons and American militarism. The “war on terror” has disturbed settled norms that anthropologists should not assist counterinsurgency campaigns, and for the first time since Vietnam, anthropologists are debating the merits of military anthropology versus critical ethnography of the military.
A New View of the Coupling of the Sun and the Heliosphere
Authors: Zurbuchen Thomas H.
Published: June 2007

The structure of the global heliospheric field reflects the physical properties of the low corona. The implied connections between solar and heliospheric evolution have been analyzed by a powerful multisatellite solar and heliospheric observatory that includes the Ulysses and the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft. This coordinated investigation yielded unprecedented observational opportunities. Some of these results confirmed predictions by models based on time-stationary conditions of the corona at its lowest energy state. However, there are results that exhibit important contradictions to these models, and limit their applicability, pointing to the importance of photospheric dynamics and small-scale field emergence for the structure of the heliospheric field. The interpretation of these data provides challenges to our understanding of the physics of the energy transport from the convective layers of the Sun into the heliosphere and motivates new theoretical approaches to the evolution of the heliospheric field.
Statistical Properties of Exoplanets
Authors: Udry Stéphane , Santos Nuno C.
Published: June 2007

Since the detection a decade ago of the planetary companion of 51 Peg, more than 200 extrasolar planets have been unveiled, mostly by radial-velocity measurements but also in a few cases by photometric transit observations or in microlensing experiments. They present a wide variety of characteristics such as large masses with small orbital separations, high eccentricities, period resonances in multiplanet systems, etc. Meaningful features of the statistical distributions of orbital parameters for giant planets or of parent stellar properties have emerged. We discuss them in the context of the constraints they provide for planet-formation models, and in comparison to Neptune-mass planets in short-period orbits recently detected by radial-velocity surveys. Finally, the role of radial-velocity follow-up measurements of transit candidates is emphasized. Planetary physical parameters are determined, bringing important constraints for inner planet structure models.
Theory of Star Formation
Authors: McKee Christopher F. , Ostriker Eve C.
Published: June 2007

We review current understanding of star formation, outlining an overall theoretical framework and the observations that motivate it. A conception of star formation has emerged in which turbulence plays a dual role, both creating overdensities to initiate gravitational contraction or collapse, and countering the effects of gravity in these overdense regions. The key dynamical processes involved in star formation—turbulence, magnetic fields, and self-gravity—are highly nonlinear and multidimensional. Physical arguments are used to identify and explain the features and scalings involved in star formation, and results from numerical simulations are used to quantify these effects. We divide star formation into large-scale and small-scale regimes and review each in turn. Large scales range from galaxies to giant molecular clouds (GMCs) and their substructures. Important problems include how GMCs form and evolve, what determines the star formation rate (SFR), and what determines the initial mass function (IMF). Small scales range from dense cores to the protostellar systems they beget. We discuss formation of both low- and high-mass stars, including ongoing accretion. The development of winds and outflows is increasingly well understood, as are the mechanisms governing angular momentum transport in disks. Although outstanding questions remain, the framework is now in place to build a comprehensive theory of star formation that will be tested by the next generation of telescopes.
Nanotechnology Applications in Cancer
Authors: Nie Shuming , Xing Yun , Kim Gloria J. , Simons Jonathan W.
Published: June 2007

Cancer nanotechnology is an interdisciplinary area of research in science, engineering, and medicine with broad applications for molecular imaging, molecular diagnosis, and targeted therapy. The basic rationale is that nanometer-sized particles, such as semiconductor quantum dots and iron oxide nanocrystals, have optical, magnetic, or structural properties that are not available from molecules or bulk solids. When linked with tumor targeting ligands such as monoclonal antibodies, peptides, or small molecules, these nanoparticles can be used to target tumor antigens (biomarkers) as well as tumor vasculatures with high affinity and specificity. In the mesoscopic size range of 5–100 nm diameter, nanoparticles also have large surface areas and functional groups for conjugating to multiple diagnostic (e.g., optical, radioisotopic, or magnetic) and therapeutic (e.g., anticancer) agents. Recent advances have led to bioaffinity nanoparticle probes for molecular and cellular imaging, targeted nanoparticle drugs for cancer therapy, and integrated nanodevices for early cancer detection and screening. These developments raise exciting opportunities for personalized oncology in which genetic and protein biomarkers are used to diagnose and treat cancer based on the molecular profiles of individual patients.
Immunoglobulin Somatic Hypermutation
Authors: Teng Grace , Papavasiliou F. Nina
Published: June 2007

The immunoglobulin (Ig) repertoire achieves functional diversification through several somatic alterations of the Ig locus. One of these processes, somatic hypermutation (SHM), deposits point mutations into the variable region of the Ig gene to generate higher-affinity variants. Activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) converts cytidine to uridine to initiate the hypermutation process. Error-prone versions of DNA repair are believed to then process these lesions into a diverse spectrum of point mutations. We review the current understanding of the molecular mechanisms and regulation of SHM, and also discuss emerging ideas which merit further exploration.
Atomic-Level Simulation of Ferroelectricity in Oxides: Current Status and Opportunities
Authors: Phillpot Simon R. , Sinnott Susan B. , Asthagiri Aravind
Published: June 2007

Atomic-level simulations are providing powerful insights into the properties of ferroelectric materials. In particular, we illustrate the effect of the strong coupling among the dipole moment, strain, and microstructure (both physical and chemical) in thin films, nanostructures, superlattices, and solid solutions of ferroelectrics. We assess the domain of validity of the atomic-level approach relative to other theoretical and computational approaches. We identify the strengths and weaknesses of the current generation of interatomic potentials and suggest strategies for improving their performance. We also identify application areas in which atomic-level simulation promises to play an important role.