bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Single‐ and Multiple‐Dose Pharmacokinetics of Pioglitazone in Adolescents With Type 2 Diabetes
Authors: Christensen Michael L. , Meibohm Bernd , Capparelli Edmund V. , Velasquez‐Mieyer Pedro , Burghen George A. , Tamborlane William V.
Published: September 2005

This study assessed the single‐ and multiple‐dose pharmacokinetics of 3 doses (15 mg, 30 mg, and 45 mg) of pioglitazone in 36 adolescents with type 2 diabetes. Blood samples were obtained over a 48‐hour interval after the first dose (day 1) and over a 72‐hour interval after the last dose (day 15) of pioglitazone and were assayed for pioglitazone and active metabolites (M‐III and M‐IV). Pioglitazone systemic exposure increased dose dependently but was less than dose proportional during multiple dosing. The median peak pioglitazone concentration occurred at 2 hours. The mean half‐life was 8 to 9 hours for pioglitazone and 24 to 32 hours for M‐III and M‐IV, with similar values at each dose level. During multiple dosing, accumulation for pioglitazone was negligible, but it reached 2.5‐ to 3.0‐fold for M‐III and M‐IV. The sustained total serum concentration of active compounds during multiple dosing provides the basis for once‐daily dose administration of pioglitazone in adolescents.
Pharmacokinetics of Micafungin in Healthy Volunteers, Volunteers With Moderate Liver Disease, and Volunteers With Renal Dysfunction
Authors: Hebert Mary F. , Smith Helen E. , Marbury Thomas C. , Swan Suzanne K. , Smith William B. , Townsend Robert W. , Buell Donald , Keirns James , Bekersky Ihor
Published: September 2005

Micafungin is an antifungal agent metabolized by arylsulfatase with secondary metabolism by catechol‐O‐methyltransferase. The objectives of this study were to estimate the pharmacokinetic parameters and plasma protein binding of micafungin in volunteers with moderate hepatic dysfunction (n = 8), volunteers with creatinine clearance <30 mL/min (n = 9), and matched controls (n = 8 and n = 9, respectively). Single‐dose micafungin pharmacokinetics were estimated using noncompartmental techniques. There was a statistically lower area under the observed micafungin concentration‐time curve (AUC) from time 0 to infinity for subjects with moderate hepatic dysfunction as compared to control subjects (97.5 ± 19 μg•h/mL vs 125.9 ± 26.4 μg•h/mL, P = .03), although there was no difference in micafungin weight‐adjusted clearance (10.9 ± 1.7 mL/h/kg vs 9.8 ± 1.8 mL/h/kg, P = .2). The difference in area under the concentration‐time curve may be explained by the differences in body weight between subjects and controls. Renal dysfunction did not alter micafungin pharmacokinetics.
Pharmacokinetics of Anthocyanins and Ellagic Acid in Healthy Volunteers Fed Freeze‐Dried Black Raspberries Daily for 7 Days
Authors: Stoner Gary D. , Sardo Christine , Apseloff Glen , Mullet Dan , Wargo Wayne , Pound Vickie , Singh Alpana , Sanders James , Aziz Robeena , Casto Bruce , Sun XiaoLi
Published: September 2005

Eleven subjects completed a clinical trial to determine the safety/tolerability of freeze‐dried black raspberries (BRB) and to measure, in plasma and urine, specific anthocyanins‐cyanidin‐3‐glucoside, cyanidin‐3‐sambubioside, cyanidin‐3‐rutinoside, and cyanidin‐3‐xylosylrutinoside, as well as ellagic acid. Subjects were fed 45 g of freeze‐dried BRB daily for 7 days. Blood samples were collected predose on days 1 and 7 and at 10 time points postdose. Urine was collected for 12 hours predose on days 1 and 7 and at three 4‐hour intervals postdose. Maximum concentrations of anthocyanins and ellagic acid in plasma occurred at 1 to 2 hours, and maximum quantities in urine appeared from 0 to 4 hours. Overall, less than 1% of these compounds were absorbed and excreted in urine. None of the pharmacokinetic parameters changed significantly between days 1 and 7. In conclusion, 45 g of freeze‐dried BRB daily are well tolerated and result in quantifiable anthocyanins and ellagic acid in plasma and urine.
How First‐Time‐in‐Human Studies Are Being Performed: A Survey of Phase I Dose‐Escalation Trials in Healthy Volunteers Published Between 1995 and 2004
Authors: Buoen Camilla , Bjerrum Ole J. , Thomsen Mikael S.
Published: September 2005

First‐time‐in‐human studies are small, time‐lagged dose‐escalation studies including volunteer subjects evaluating safety and tolerability. There is little consensus in the design of a first‐time‐in‐human study, and it is difficult to get an overview of studies performed. One hundred five studies comprising 3323 healthy volunteers published in the 5 major clinical pharmacology journals since 1995 were analyzed. The average trial was placebo controlled, double blind including 32 subjects at 5 dose levels but with great variation in cohort size and dose‐escalation method. The parallel single‐dose design was the most common design, with the crossover designs being more frequent in the early publications. Despite discussions on the optimization of phase I trials, little seems to be happening. The development of study designs and evaluation methods for cancer trials is extensive, but formal statistically based methods and more scientific study designs are unusual in phase I dose‐escalation trials in healthy volunteers.
Sensitivity of Intravenous and Oral Alfentanil and Pupillary Miosis as Minimally Invasive and Noninvasive Probes for Hepatic and First‐Pass CYP3A Activity
Authors: Kharasch Evan D. , Walker Alysa , Hoffer Christine , Sheffels Pamela
Published: September 2005

This investigation determined the ability of alfentanil miosis and single‐point concentrations to detect various degrees of CYP3A inhibition. Results were compared with those for midazolam, an alternative CYP3A probe. Twelve volunteers were studied in a randomized 4‐way crossover, targeting 12%, 25%, and 50% inhibition of hepatic CYP3A. They received 0, 100, 200, or 400 mg oral fluconazole, followed 1 hour later by 1 mg intravenous midazolam and then 15 μg/kg intravenous alfentanil 1 hour later. The next day, they received fluconazole, followed by3mg oral midazolam and 40 μg/kg oral alfentanil. Dark‐adapted pupil diameters were measured coincident with blood sampling. Area under the plasma concentration‐time curve (AUC) ratios (fluconazole/control) after 100,200, and 400 mg fluconazole were (geometric mean) 1.3*, 1.4*, and 2.0* for intravenous midazolam and 1.2*, 1.6*, and 2.2* for intravenous alfentanil (* significantly different from control), indicating 16% to 21%, 31% to 36%, and 43% to 53% inhibition of hepatic CYP3A. Single‐point concentration ratios were 1.5*, 1.8*, and 2.4* for intravenous midazolam (at 5 hours) and 1.2*, 1.6*, and 2.2* for intravenous alfentanil (at 4 hours). Pupil miosis AUC ratios were 0.9, 1.0, and 1.2*. After oral dosing, plasma AUC ratios were 2.3*, 3.6*, and 5.3* for midazolam and 1.8*, 2.9*, and 4.9* for alfentanil; plasma single‐point ratios were 2.4*, 4.5*, and 6.9* for midazolam and 1.8*, 2.9*, and 4.9* for alfentanil, and alfentanil miosis ratios were 1.1, 1.9*, and 2.7*. Plasma concentration AUC ratios of alfentanil and midazolam were equivalent for detecting hepatic and first‐pass CYP3A inhibition. Single‐point concentrations were an acceptable surrogate for formal AUC determinations and as sensitive as AUCs for detecting CYP3A inhibition. Alfentanil miosis could detect 50% to 70% inhibition of CYP3A activity, but was less sensitive than plasma AUCs. Further refinements are needed to increase the sensitivity of alfentanil miosis for detecting small CYP3A changes.
Coadministration of Lansoprazole and Naproxen Does Not Affect the Pharmacokinetic Profile of Methotrexate in Adult Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis
Authors: Vakily Majid , Amer Fouad , Kukulka Michael J. , Andhivarothai Nupun
Published: September 2005

Drugs prescribed for rheumatoid arthritis are often associated with gastrointestinal toxicity, and proton pump inhibitors may be coadministered for gastroprotection. In this open‐label study, the effect of lansoprazole 30 mg qd and naproxen 500 mg bid on the pharmacokinetic profile of methotrexate was investigated. Twenty‐seven adult rheumatoid arthritis patients on stable oral methotrexate doses (7.5–15 mg/week) for a minimum of 3 months were enrolled. Methotrexate pharmacokinetics were assessed on days −1 (methotrexate alone) and 7 (methotrexate with lansoprazole and naproxen). Pharmacokinetics of methotrexate and 7‐hydroxymethotrexate were not altered by coadministration of methotrexate with lansoprazole and naproxen; point estimates and 90% confidence intervals for the peak plasma concentration and area under the plasma concentration‐time curve of methotrexate and 7‐hydroxymethotrexate were within the 0.80 to 1.25 boundaries. Therefore, coadministration of naproxen and lansoprazole for 7 days does not affect the pharmacokinetic profile of low doses of methotrexate.
Aging and Clinical Pharmacology: Implications for Antidepressants
Authors: Lotrich Francis E. , Pollock Bruce G.
Published: September 2005

The elderly frequently have changes in pharmacokinetics, sensitivity to medications, homeostatic reserve (ability to tolerate physiological challenges), exposure to multiple medications, and adherence. All of these age‐associated factors can potentially influence total exposure to medication, adverse effects, and subsequent treatment outcome. Most clinical trials are performed with healthy, younger adults. Extrapolating the results of these trials to the elderly may be inappropriate, particularly for the antidepressant treatment of depression. The authors review these age‐associated differences and discuss their implications for antidepressant use in older adults.
Lumiracoxib Does Not Affect the Ex Vivo Antiplatelet Aggregation Activity of Low‐Dose Aspirin in Healthy Subjects
Authors: Jermany J. , Branson J. , Schmouder R. , Guillaume M. , Rordorf C.
Published: September 2005

This randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled study evaluated the pharmacodynamic effects of concomitant low‐dose aspirin and lumiracoxib in healthy subjects. Participants received lumiracoxib 400 mg once daily (n = 14) or placebo (n = 14) for 11 days, with concomitant low‐dose aspirin (75 mg once daily) from days 5 to 11. Ex vivo pharmacodynamic assessments included assays of platelet aggregation and urinary thromboxane and prostacyclin metabolite profile. Arachidonic acid—stimulated platelet aggregation was reduced from 76.3% on day 4 to 4.8% on day 11 in the placebo group and from 75.8% on day 4 to 5.1% on day 11 in the lumiracoxib group. Collagen‐induced platelet aggregation was reduced from 77.5% on day 4 to 52.8% on day 11 in the placebo group and from 79.5% on day 4 to 55.9% on day 11 in the lumiracoxib group. Urinary thromboxane and prostacyclin were unaffected by lumiracoxib. In conclusion, concomitant lumiracoxib did not interfere with the cyclooxygenase‐1‐mediated antiplatelet effects of low‐dose aspirin.
Compatibility and Thermal Stability of EPDM-NBR Elastomer Blends
Authors: Botros S. H. , Tawfic M. L.
Published: September 2005

Ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber (EPDM) is blended with nitrile rubber (NBR). The morphology of this blend is improved by the addition of modified EPDM in small amounts. The intrinsic viscosity, permittivity measurements, and scanning electron microscopy revealed improved compatibility of these rubbers. Mechanical properties after thermal aging of the blends containing modified EPDM show positive deviation from the additive rule. Of all EPDM-NBR blend ratios investigated, the 25/75 blend ratio compatibilized with aminated epoxidized EPDM, shows the best mechanical properties, heat resistance, and stability against UV irradiation.
A Study on the Compatibility of NR-EPDM Blends Using Electrical and Mechanical Techniques
Authors: Abou-Helal M. O. , El-Sabbagh S. H.
Published: September 2005

Systematic electrical and physicomechanical studies have been carried out on natural rubber (NR) blended with synthetic rubber ethylene-propylene diene monomer (EPDM) as non-polar rubber. The permittivity ("0) and dielectric loss ("00) of this blend have been measured over a wide range of frequencies (42 Hz-5 MHz) at room temperature (25 C). Compatibility of NR-EPDM can be enhanced by the addition of compatibilizers, such as polybutadiene (BR), chlorinated rubber, chloro-sulfonated polyethylene (SPE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and graft copolymerization of EPDM with metallic anhydride [EPDM-g-MAH]. The compatibility results obtained from the dielectric measurements are comparable with those obtained from the calculation of the strain energy, fatigue, mechanical failure tests, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results obtained reveal that the addition of a small percentage of compatibilizers can improve the compatibility of such a blend to some extent.
Blends of Epoxy and Epoxidized Novolac Resins
Authors: Unnikrishnan K. P. , Thachil Eby Thomas
Published: September 2005

The effect of the addition of two types of epoxidized novolac resins separately to cold-set bisphenol-A-based epoxy resin has been investigated in this study. Bisphenol A epoxy resins containing 2.5-20 wt% of epoxy novolac are cured in the presence of a polyamide hardener and tested for thermal and mechanical properties, hardness, water absorption, etc. Blends containing 10-15 wt% of epoxy novolac show substantial improvement in properties, such as tensile strength, elongation, and energy absorbed to break. The novolac derived from p-cresol is better than that based on phenol in enhancing the properties. The property profiles of these blends imply a toughening action by the novolac epoxies. The blends also exhibit improved thermal stability compared to the neat resin.
Tensile and Flexural Properties of Hollow Glass Bead-filled ABS Composites
Authors: Liang Ji-Zhao
Published: September 2005

Hollow glass beads (HGBs) are a new kind of filler in rubber, plastics, and coating industries for the production of light, sound, or thermal insulation products with their smooth surface and stiffness. The tensile properties and flexural strength of acrylnitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer (ABS) filled with HGBs have been measured at room temperature to identify the effects of the particle contents on these properties. The mean diameter of the beads is 70 mm. The surface of the particles are pretreated with a silane coupling agent. The results show that the Young’s modulus increases approximately linearly with the increase in volume fraction (f) of the HGB. When f is <5%, the tensile yield stress increases and then decreases with increasing f. When f is <15%, the tensile strength at break of the composites increases with the increase of f and then it remains roughly constant. Similarly, the tensile fracture strain of the composites increases when f is <5%, and then it decreases with increasing f. Furthermore, the flexural strength increases with an increase of f, and the relationship between them is consistent in a quadratic equation. The improvement of the tensile and flexural properties of the composite may be attributed to the smooth spherical surface and good interfacial bonding between the ABS matrix and the hollow beads.
To change the world, to celebrate life
Authors: May Todd
Published: September 2005

For those of us for whom philosophy is not merely a parlor game but a way to conceive and to change our lives, there is a struggle to be faced. If we forsake the intolerable aspects of our world in order to celebrate what is beautiful in it, we risk endorsing that intolerability. Alternatively, if we jettison the celebration of life for world-changing, we join the ranks of the many revolutions of the last century that killed their own. This article suggests that if we articulate the point of intersection between Merleau-Ponty’s concept of the flesh and Foucault’s concept of power - i.e. the body - we may be able to develop a conception of ourselves that embraces both ends of this seeming dilemma.
Where do white people come from? A Foucaultian critique of Whiteness Studies
Authors: McWhorter Ladelle
Published: September 2005

Over the past 15 years we have seen the rise of a field of inquiry known as Whiteness Studies. Two of its major tenets are (1) that white identity is socially constructed and functions as a racial norm and (2) that those who occupy the position of white subjectivity exercise ‘white privilege’, which is oppressive to non-whites. However, despite their ubiquitous use of the term ‘norm’, Whiteness Studies theorists rarely give any detailed account of how whiteness serves to normalize. A case is made here that we can only understand how whiteness normalizes if we place the development of white racial subject positions within the context of the development of normalizing biopower that Foucault describes in his work through the 1970s. Once that context is provided, it becomes clear that a larger problem exists in Whiteness Studies, one evident in the use of the concept of ‘white privilege’. Whiteness Studies theorists have not thoroughly critiqued the juridical conception of power that they have inherited from traditional political theory; as a result, they cannot get away from psychological accounts of the origins of racism, even though they usually state very clearly that they believe racism is an institutional phenomenon and racist subject positions are formed within networks of power. If Whiteness Studies is to accomplish both its analytical and its political goals, its theorists need to pay close attention to Foucault’s work on biopower.
Confessions of the soul
Authors: Bernauer James
Published: September 2005

The article studies Foucault’s treatment of religious culture and some theological responses to his approach. Foucault examined some modern practices as exhibiting a ‘Christianization-in-depth’, as, for example, in the extension of confession as a continuing practice in recent and current political culture. Confessions of faith characterize both fascism and communism and the confessional form of the latter showed extensive debt to the legacy of eastern Christian practices. The Soviet hermeneutics of the self contrasted with the western form because the self-knowledge of the former is not a western confession of desires and movements of the soul but, rather, coming to a clarity in grasping how one is regarded in the eyes of others. The continuing vitality of religious forms in contemporary experience shows itself in American apocalyptic creeds. Foucault’s critical analysis aids a self-understanding in three areas of religious activism: self-denial; the envisioning of sexuality; the aspirations toward community and friendship.
Foucault on tragedy
Authors: Cutrofello Andrew
Published: September 2005

Foucault never presented a systematic history of tragedy, but reflections on the relationship between tragedy and the will to truth are scattered throughout his writings. Given the Nietzschean inspiration of his work, this is not surprising. Yet Foucault rarely referenced The Birth of Tragedy, preferring to draw on Nietzsche’s later genealogical writings. In this paper I highlight the importance of The Birth of Tragedy for understanding Foucault’s entire corpus, suggesting that it can be read as a sustained consideration on the political significance of the madness of Orestes from Aeschylus to Racine.
Is early Foucault a historian? History, history and the analytic of finitude
Authors: Han-Pile Béatrice
Published: September 2005

This paper is an exploration of the theme of history in The Order of Things, with a view to clarifying the relation between history and philosophy in Foucault’s early work. I argue that Foucault introduces, beyond the Hegelian distinction between res gestae (past deeds) and historia rerum gestarum(the history of past deeds), a third meaning for the notion: History (capitalized) as our current historical a priori or épistémè, succeeding Order in the Classical age. I show that methodologically speaking, this commits early Foucault to a revised form of transcendental idealism. I then examine the complex relation between History and Man, established by chapters VII and IX as the ground of our current épistémè. This involves an analysis of the theme of the origin in chapter IX, which in turn allows the core of this relation to be formally identified as the possibility of shifting from the empirical to the transcendental in order to distinguish between two forms of temporality, primordial and derived. I then argue that because Foucault still belongs to the very épistémè he is trying to describe, the content of this distinction is and must remain obscure. However, I also show that his liminary position allows him a unique insight into the problems generated by the grounding of History in Man, and examine the impact of his criticism of anthropology on his characterization of History. Finally, I draw out the consequences of these analyses for Foucault’s methodology by arguing that the latter is best characterized as a form of ‘transcendental history’, meant to de-anthropomorphize the analytic of finitude while retaining its demand for a shift from the post hoc to the a priori (in a revised sense).
Philosophy as a way of life
Authors: Flynn Thomas
Published: September 2005

Michel Foucault surveyed the history of Western philosophy in terms of the Delphic ‘Know thyself’ and the Socratic ‘care of the self’. The former generates academic philosophy as we know it today whereas the latter conceives of philosophy as a ‘way of life’. At issue are competing notions of ‘truth’ and the philosophical relevance of the discursive/nondiscursive domains. Comparing this account with a similar but distinct reading of the same Greek texts by Greco-Roman historian Pierre Hadot, I underscore the ‘existentialist’ tenor of this distinction and assess the challenges and liabilities of pursuing philosophy as a ‘way of life’.
Experiences of the self between limit, transgression, and the explosion of the dialectical system
Authors: Nigro Roberto
Published: September 2005

Bataille and Blanchot figure among the authors who influenced Foucault the most. In this article we show how close Foucault was to these authors and to what extent his proximity to them permitted him to deviate from the prevailing university culture, i.e from those great philosophical machines called Hegelianism and phenomenology. The questions we pose are the following: How important were these experiences for Foucault? How did he receive them? How did he transform their theoretical stakes?

In the first part of this article we argue that the encounter with Bataille’s work and Blanchot’s was for Foucault a kind of experience of the self. In Bataille and Blanchot, experience has the function of wrenching the subject from itself: it is a project of desubjectivation and of destruction of the notion of the foundational subject and system in philosophy.

The second part focuses on the contemporary experience of the death of God. According to Foucault, such an experience discloses the limitless reign of the Limit. We show how the work of Bataille, his discovery of the categories of irreversible expenditure, death, sacrifice, excess, limit, negativity pushes the (Hegelian) system beyond its limit.

In the third part we take into account the literary experience of Blanchot. According to Foucault, Blanchot’s work focuses on the disappearance of the subject: the being of language emerges in the exclusion of the subject. How is it possible to have a language stripped of dialectics?
Foucault and the problem of the subject
Authors: McGushin Edward
Published: September 2005

This paper examines the relevance of Foucault’s later work to debates in contemporary Continental philosophy concerning the problem of the subject. It shows that Foucault shifts attention away from the history of metaphysics and the metaphysics of the subject to an analysis of the concrete forms of institutional practice and embodiment that shape philosophical discourses. As a result, we are able to see this debate in a different light. In particular, we can grasp the deconstruction of the subject, especially as it is articulated by Critchley and Derrida, in the context of a genealogy of philosophy as care of the self and spiritual exercise. The paper concludes by arguing that Foucault’s work forces us to understand philosophical concepts and problems - and the problem of the subject in particular - in light of the contexts of power, knowledge and subjectivity within which they function and against which they struggle.
Local Model of Interaction for Haptic Manipulation of Rigid Virtual Worlds
Authors: Constantinescu Daniela , Salcudean Septimiu E. , Croft Elizabeth A.
Published: September 2005

In this paper we propose a local model of rigid body interaction that provides users with convincing kinesthetic feedback while they manipulate a virtual tool within a rigid multibody virtual world. The virtual tool can be a rigid object or a linkage. The local model can interface a haptic device to any virtual environment simulation that provides the contact position, the contact normal direction, and the penetration depth of the virtual tool into the virtual world at the virtual tool contacts. The local model includes a proxy of the virtual tool that embeds an approximation of its geometry and of its dynamics, and that eliminates force discontinuities at model updates via proxy deformation. In addition, the model includes active and predicted virtual tool contacts. Predicted contacts are used to maintain force continuity and to better constrain users to tight virtual spaces. Experiments performed within a planar virtual world demonstrate that, compared to prior local models of rigid body interaction, the proposed model enables users to feel stiffer contacts and improves users' perception of free space in locally cluttered virtual environments.
Africana studies and the research collective
Authors: Santiago-Valles W. F.
Published: September 2005

The Black radical tradition, identified in Cedric Robinson’s work, provides a rich resource for the future challenges of Africana studies. Its model of emancipatory research, conducted by small groups of scholars closely linked to social movements, has roots not only in the North American tradition, but also in the Caribbean, which is focused on here. The concept of ‘praxis’ captures such an approach, suggesting ways in which activist-intellectuals can produce knowledge that connects with struggles against racial capitalism and highlight their global interconnectedness.
Containing Containers: Attention to the ‘Innerface’ and ‘Outerface’ of Groups in Secure Institutions
Authors: Carlyle Jo-anne , Evans Chris
Published: September 2005

In this paper we argue that work with groups in forensic settings highlights key elements of the relational processes at the ‘outerface’ of the group, as well as within the group. Drawing on Bion's idea of containment we explore the triadic aspects that are fundamental to group and systems work and examine the specific quality of attention that this requires of the group therapist/analyst.
‘They Said Nothing to Anyone’: The Fear and Silence of the Women at the Empty Tomb (Mk 16.1-8)
Authors: Miller Susan
Published: September 2005

In Mark’s gospel a group of women is mentioned for the first time at the crucifixion of Jesus. These women are the last remaining followers of Jesus who are faithful to him after the twelve male disciples have fled at his arrest. At the end of the gospel, however, they run away from the tomb, terrified to pass on the news of the resurrection. In Mark’s apocalyptic world-view the women’s struggle between faith and fear reflects the eschatological conflict between the old and the new age. The gospel ends bleakly with the silence of the women, but earlier accounts, such as that of the woman with the flow of blood who overcomes her fear to confess her faith, act as an encouragement to Mark’s audience to speak in the context of persecution. Mark’s gospel itself is testimony that the women’s silence does not hinder the announcement of the new creation.
Tender Competence and the Authority of Systematic Theology
Authors: de Haardt Maaike
Published: September 2005

This is the result of a two year theological reflection on the religious and social activities of Catholic women’s organisations. The organisations are found to be active in the area of human rights and particularly women’s rights, as expressed in a critique of society and the Church, and in campaigning or working in the field of social concern. The background to their work is a view of the image of God in all people, which I have compared with the feminist principle of Imago Dei. I find in the activities of these women’s organisations, which are inclined to be marginalized as they deal with day to day issues, Norvene West’s principle of ‘tender competence’ which describes their importance for a theological agenda and helps make them visible to theological reflection.
Feminist Identities: Negotiations in the Third Space
Authors: English Leona M.
Published: September 2005

This article presents two cases of women doing development work for civil society organizations in the Global South. The author uses the cases to explicate the relationship of global civil society, development work, feminism, and Christianity. The case studies were collected through life history interviews with the participants. The cases, interpreted in light of the ‘third space’ cultural theory of Homi Bhabha, destabilize the fixed identity of these women as ‘development workers’, ‘feminists’, ‘Western’, and ‘Christian’.
Clusters, Adaptation and Extroversion
Authors: Tappi Deborah
Published: September 2005

Over recent decades, clusters like industrial districts have increasingly attracted attention in economic debate. The study of clusters, particularly in the Italian literature, highlights the inadequacy of the mainstream body of explanation to provide a theory of the emergence and transformation over time of these clusters. Evolutionary theory seems to provide an adequate framework for the study of clusters. The paper applies an evolutionary perspective to the study of clusters by analysing an empirical case-study on the accordion cluster of Marche (Italy). The study of development of this cluster as an evolutionary self-organizing process will be proposed. The main concern of the paper is to highlight how the cluster analysed undertook the structural transformation which led its production from a very traditional style of manufacture to a technologically intensive one. The focus will be on the degree of continuity and complementarity between the capabilities, skills and knowledge accumulated or the trajectory exploited within the cluster over time and the new trajectory explored. By doing so, the paper analyses a particular transformation phase of the cluster under observation, that is the phase which led the cluster to a transformation in the composition of its production activity. Across this phase the paper identifies some key actors whose presence affected the possibility for the cluster to undertake the transformation. The relevance of these actors is related to their role within the internal production chain as well as to their external networking.
Cluster Absorptive Capacity
Authors: Giuliani Elisa
Published: September 2005

This article provides a firm-centred interpretation of why some industrial clusters forge ahead and others lag behind. It argues that the dynamic growth of a cluster depends on its absorptive capacity and therefore on the capacity of firms to absorb external knowledge and diffuse it into the intra-cluster knowledge system. This article speculates on the relationship existing between the heterogeneity of firms’ knowledge bases with both intra- and extra-cluster knowledge systems. It concludes by illustrating that a conceptual link exists between firm-level knowledge bases, the cluster absorptive capacity and its potential for growth.
Systematic Evolutionary Studies of Regional Restructuration
Authors: Holmén Magnus , McKelvey Maureen
Published: September 2005

From a focus on technological change, this article deals with the issue of how to systematically study regional restructuration. The article aims to study regional restructuration as a case of general economic transformation in an evolutionary economics perspective. However, such open-ended types of analyses are inherently complex. In order to remediate the difficulties of empirical studies and to allow for a more structured comparison of different frame-works, the article outlines and applies a ‘research tool’ to the specific issue of regional restructuration. While such a tool is not a framework, it is intended to more readily compare different theories and frameworks with empirical studies.

The tool treats change as involving novelty, renewal and destruction of actors and activities. These changes take place across four different dimensions: technology, organizations, interactions and economic value. The article ‘tests’ the tool by analysing three case-studies of regional restructuration at the municipality and country levels. The issue under scrutiny is how the restructuring of regional industries and technologies takes place, especially as linked to the emergence of new technologies. There are two cases of information technology in West Sweden and one case of biotechnology in Sweden.

Three issues relating to the empirical findings are discussed. (1) The tool can help to structure empirical material to analyse complex processes of change over time. This is illustrated, for example, by the changes across dimensions of what is internal and external to regional restructuration. (2) The processes of technological development and of economic exploitation overlap but are differentiated from each other. Hence, a clearer distinction is needed between technology concepts and economic concepts such as ‘products’, ‘industries’, ‘economic growth’ and ‘regional development’. (3) In emerging technologies, there is clear evidence of the interdependencies between new, old and exit during regional restructuration. These three concluding remarks highlight the need for additional research to link empirical material to theoretical considerations of evolutionary processes.
A Review on Damage Mechanisms, Models and Calibration Methods under Various Deformation Conditions
Authors: Lin J. , Liu Y. , Dean T. A.
Published: September 2005

The development of microdamage under the deformation conditions of high temperature creep, cold metal forming, superplastic forming, and hot metal forming has been reviewed and discussed, and typical constitutive equations developed to model the individual damage mechanisms are summarized. Based on the microstructural analysis of the key damage features for metallic materials under a wide range of deformation conditions, a set of schematic diagrams is designed to illustrate the major types of damage mechanisms. This helps researchers and engineers to understand the major cause of failure of materials under different deformation conditions and to select simple and appropriate mechanism-based damage equations to predict the damage evolution. Further discussions are carried out on the dominant damage mechanisms in hot metal forming conditions and it is concluded that the dominant damage mechanism can be ‘grain boundary (creep-type) damage’ or ‘plasticity-induced (ductile) damage’ depending on the material microstructure and deformation rate. In the case of grain boundary damage in hot forming, the shape of microdefects is different from those in high temperature creep and superplastic forming although all of those result in intergranular failure of materials. Furthermore, damage calibration techniques for different conditions of plastic deformation are summarized and discussed.
Numerical Simulation for High Strain Rate Failure Process of Unidirectional SiCf-Al Composites
Authors: Zhou Yuanxin , Mahfuz Hassan , Jeelani Shaik
Published: September 2005

This paper presents an analytical approach which combines the modified shear-lag model and Monte Carlo simulation technique to simulate the high strain rate tensile failure process of unidirectional SiC fiber-reinforced metal matrix composites. In the model, the strength of the fiber elements is randomly allocated by the Monte Carlo method, the elastic-plastic properties of the matrix elements and the friction after the interfaces breakage are definitely allocated. Using this model, the deformation, damage and failure process of the SiCf -Al is simulated on the microscopic level, the tensile stress-strain relationship is well predicted. The relationship between mechanical properties of the composites and the original fiber, in situ fiber, interface strength, and fiber strength distribution is discussed. The analysis also shows that, compared with the experimental results, the simulated results using in situ parameters of fiber arrive at good correlation while those using original parameters have much difference (the predicted strength is obviously higher than the experimental strength).
The Connection between Microstructural Damage Modeling and Continuum Damage Modeling for Eutectic Sn-Pb Solder Alloys
Authors: Sharma P. , Dasgupta A. , Cuddalorepatta G.
Published: September 2005

Researchers resort to a wide range of simplified representations at the continuum scale, to model creep-fatigue damage in viscoplastic heterogeneous materials, such as Sn-Pb eutectic solders, caused by thermomechanical and mechanical cyclic loading (e.g., due to power cycling, environmental temperature cycling, vibration, etc.). Typically, in macroscale phenomenological damage models, the cyclic damage is assumed to depend on some loading parameter, such as cyclic strain range, work dissipation per cycle, partitioned strain range, partitioned work dissipation per cycle, cyclic entropy changes, cyclic stress range, integrated matrix creep, etc. In many instances, some of these variables are weighted with a factor to account for rate-dependent effects. The task of finding the best damage metric is difficult because of complex microstructural interactions between cyclic creep and cyclic plasticity due to the high homologous temperature under operating conditions. In this study, we use insights obtained from microstructural and more mechanistic modeling to identify the most appropriate macroscale damage metrics. The microstructural models are based on such phenomena as grain boundary sliding, blocking of grain boundary sliding by second-phase particles, volumetric and grain boundary surface diffusion, void nucleation, void growth, and plastic collapse of cavitating grain boundaries. As has been demonstrated in the literature, micro-structural models suggest that fatigue damage caused by cyclic plasticity should correlate well with either of the two most commonly used damage indicators: cyclic strain range and plastic work dissipation per cycle. This study, however, demonstrates that in the case of damage dominated by cyclic creep, microstructural models developed by the authors indicate closer correlation of fatigue damage with creep work dissipation per cycle, than with cyclic creep strain range.
Reinforcement Learning for RoboCup Soccer Keepaway
Authors: Stone Peter , Sutton Richard S. , Kuhlmann Gregory
Published: September 2005

RoboCup simulated soccer presents many challenges to reinforcement learning methods, including a large state space, hidden and uncertain state, multiple independent agents learning simultaneously, and long and variable delays in the effects of actions. We describe our application of episodic SMDP Sarsa(λ) with linear tile-coding function approximation and variable λ to learning higher-level decisions in a keepaway subtask of RoboCup soccer. In keepaway, one team, “the keepers,” tries to keep control of the ball for as long as possible despite the efforts of “the takers.” The keepers learn individually when to hold the ball and when to pass to a teammate. Our agents learned policies that significantly outperform a range of benchmark policies. We demonstrate the generality of our approach by applying it to a number of task variations including different field sizes and different numbers of players on each team.
How Hierarchical Control Self-organizes in Artificial Adaptive Systems
Authors: Paine Rainer W. , Tani Jun
Published: September 2005

Diverse, complex, and adaptive animal behaviors are achieved by organizing hierarchically structured controllers in motor systems. The levels of control progress from simple spinal reflexes and central pattern generators through to executive cognitive control in the frontal cortex. Various types of hierarchical control structures have been introduced and shown to be effective in past artificial agent models, but few studies have shown how such structures can self-organize. This study describes how such hierarchical control may evolve in a simple recurrent neural network model implemented in a mobile robot. Topological constraints on information flow are found to improve system performance by decreasing interference between different parts of the network. One part becomes responsible for generating lower behavior primitives while another part evolves top-down sequencing of the primitives for achieving global goals. Fast and slow neuronal response dynamics are automatically generated in specific neurons of the lower and the higher levels, respectively. A hierarchical neural network is shown to outperform a comparable single-level network in controlling a mobile robot.
Instabilities in Biaxially Loaded Rectangular Membranes and Spherical Balloons Made of Compressible Isotropic Hyperelastic Materials
Authors: Batra R. C.
Published: September 2005

We analyze homogeneous deformations of a rectangular rubberlike membrane loaded by equal normal tensile dead loads on the edges, and of a spherical rubber balloon inflated by a constant pressure. The rubber is modeled as an isotropic compressible hyperelastic material. Three material models, namely the harmonic, the generalized Blatz-Ko, and the St Venant-Kirchhoff models, are employed. It is found that Treloar's instability, i.e. the occurrence of unequal principal stretches in a square membrane under equal normal dead loads, is not admissible in the harmonic and the St Venant-Kirchhoff materials, but is admissible in some Blatz-Ko materials. For each one of the three materials, the pressure-radius relation for the inflation of a spherical balloon does not exhibit the non-monotonicity seen for a Mooney-Rivlin material.
Heat Conduction and Controlled Deformations in Incompressible Isotropic Elasticity
Authors: Dunwoody J. , Ogden R. W.
Published: September 2005

For incompressible isotropic elastic heat conducting solids we examine the classes of universal deformations that are controllable under homothermal conditions and, in respect of a general law of heat conduction, determine the members of these classes that can support non-homothermal temperature fields. It is shown, in particular, that in some cases the values of the components of the (Cauchy) stress tensor T necessary for the satisfaction of the equilibrium equation ▿·T = 0 in the homothermal problem are retained in the corresponding non-homothermal problem to within an additive constant. These observations have implications for the design of experiments in which a material is subject to a temperature gradient since it is of value to know in advance that a specific deformation can be controlled in the presence of a suitable temperature gradient. The temperature may then be obtained as the solution of the steady state heat equation.
Complex Variable Solutions for Inhomogeneous and Laminated Elastic Plates
Authors: England A. H. , Spencer A. J. M.
Published: September 2005

A procedure has been developed in previous papers for constructing exact solutions of the equations of linear elasticity in a plate (not necessarily thin) of inhomogeneous isotropic linearly elastic material in which the elastic moduli depend in any specified manner on a coordinate normal to the plane of the plate. The essential idea is that any solution of the classical thin plate or classical laminate theory equations (which are two-dimensional theories) generates, by straightforward substitutions, a solution of the three-dimensional elasticity equations for the inhomogeneous material. In this paper we formulate this theory in terms of complex potentials. It is shown that the displacement and stress in the inhomogeneous material can be expressed in terms of four complex potentials that are analytic functions of ζ = x + i y. Expressions for stress and moment resultants are derived in terms of these complex potentials. As examples we solve the problems of biaxial stress in an infinite plate and of an in-plane point force in an infinite plate and at the boundary of a semiinfinite plate. We also formulate the general boundary-value problem for a half-plane and develop a procedure to determine the complex potentials for an inhomogeneous plate in terms of the complex potentials for the corresponding plane-strain problem.
Asymptotic Properties of Solutions to Nonlinear Possibly Degenerated Parabolic Equations in Unbounded Domains
Authors: Rionero S.
Published: September 2005

The nonlinear diffusion equation u t = δ F ( u) is studied in exterior domains under Dirichlet boundary conditions. Asymptotic stability criteria for the steady states are proved. A criterion of pointwise asymptotic stability for the porous medium and horizontal filtration equations is obtained.
Comparison of Incompressible Elastic Strain Energy Functions over the Attainable Region of Invariant Space
Authors: Currie P. K.
Published: September 2005

Within the theory of isothermal, homogeneous, isotropic, nonlinear elasticity, the selection of the appropriate form for the strain energy function is still an issue. Over the years, a number of proposals have been made for specific strain energy functions, some based on experimental data, others based on mathematical elegance or specific theoretical constraints. Because of differing formulations, it is difficult to compare strain energy functions. In this paper, methods first introduced by Haines and Wilson are used to compare incompressible strain energy functions, and these methods are applied to a number of models from the literature, including six which have been correlated with the 1944 data of Treloar. Comparison is made easier by the fact that the value of the strain energy function is relevant only over a limited region of invariant space, known as the attainable region. The comparison shows that four of the models predict similar strain energy functions up to moderate strains, but that they do not reproduce all of the characteristics of the original experimental data.
The Authoring of School: Between the Official and Unofficial Discourse
Authors: De Haan Mariëtte
Published: September 2005

Theoretically the paper addresses the question of how official and unofficial discourses are related and what function the unofficial register serves for the official one. It draws on the idea of ‘underlife’ and the heterogeneity of discourse in order to show how the unofficial discourse can be a productive tool for students to both distance themselves from school and negotiate school identities in order to create new, and (for students) more compatible, forms of ‘school’. Institutional settings do not automatically produce the institutional scripts, positions and norms they are associated with; rather, they need to be authored by participants who ‘instantiate’ these scripts, positions and norms. This paper focuses on how students author school (the official) but at the same time produce alternative discourses (the unofficial). A data set of transcribed student group talk in a multi-ethnic classroom in the Netherlands is used for the analysis.