bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The New Constitution for India
Authors: Clokie H. McD.
Published: May 2006

Without question, the most important legislation passed in 1935 by the British Parliament was the Government of India Act which received the royal assent on August 2, 1935. This statute has numerous claims to careful study by political scientists. On a purely quantitative scale, the Act has two obvious grounds for distinction. It will serve for some years as the fundamental law for one-fifth of the world's population; and it will operate—if all goes well—over the entire subcontinent of India. In the second place, though one hesitates to offer this as a recommendation, the new statute is by all odds the most enormous constitution in the world. In comparison with its bulk, the most notoriously extensive American constitutions (e.g., those of Oklahoma and California) pale into insignificance. The Government of India Act of 1935 contains 478 sections occupying exactly 300 pages, together with a further 130 pages of schedules. But perhaps it should be explained that the new act really contains two constitutions: one for India (210 pages plus schedules) and one for Burma (90 pages plus schedules).
Legislative Control over Administration: Congress and the W.P.A.
Authors: Huzar Elias
Published: May 2006

Under our Constitution, the national administration is an agent of the people acting through the Congress and the President. The legislature determines policies, establishes or authorizes the creation of administrative agencies, appropriates funds for their work, and attempts to control their operations by directions and limitations before and checks after the administration acts. But the establishment of controls at once effective and not unduly restrictive has become increasingly difficult as the business of government, legislative as well as administrative, has expanded and become more technical. Consultation with and advice to administrative agencies by citizens and their organizations are important, but they supplement rather than supplant legislative control, which remains the principal means for supervising the administration. The standard works on public administration discuss methods of control, but do not deal in detail with this relation between legislatures and particular agencies. The present analysis of congressional control of the Work Projects Administration has been undertaken in the belief that “case studies” may be useful for verification, modification, or contradiction of general propositions about legislative control of administration.
Emerging Problems in Public Administration
Authors: Wallace Henry A.
Published: May 2006

Thoughtful men cannot long be associated with government without beginning to ask questions, both as to the technique of administration and the underlying policies with which these techniques must reckon. It is good, therefore, that those in the government service who are most interested in public administration should meet from time to time with the professors and publicists who also are interested. I wish to do my part, therefore, in helping in the baptismal ceremonies for this new society which has in it so much promise. To the non-governmental members of the society I wish to pass on the observation which my father made when he came as Secretary of Agriculture to Washington in 1921. Leaving Iowa, he shared to some extent the widespread public opinion that government servants are both clock-watchers and chair-warmers. Within a few months he had completely changed his ideas and told me that he would like to bring some government men back with him into business because they were so exceedingly clear-thinking and efficient.

While we in the United States have not as yet so completely recognized public service as a career as they have in England or France, and while there is undoubtedly great room for improvement, I am nevertheless convinced that nowhere in the world will you find a better group of earnest, hard-working, efficient men and women than those who are engaged in American public service, whether it be on the local or the national level. Of course, by taking thought they can improve their service, and that, I take it, is the object of this organization.
Philadelphia's Earned Income Tax
Authors: Anderson William , Carter Edward W. , Shils Edward B.
Published: May 2006

The city of Philadelphia is tapping a new source of revenue for $18,000,000 in 1940. Events leading to its adoption have their basis in the past ten years of financial distress. These events were not peculiar to Philadelphia. They may be found in one form or another as budgetary problems in many leading municipalities of the nation. Outstanding among the factors causing distress in Philadelphia was a 25 per cent decline in the assessed valuation of real property since the peak year 1931. This represented over a billion dollars of valuation and a loss of $20,000,000 in current real estate tax levy. Since current real estate has been the chief source of the city's annual income, the decline resulted in curtailment of essential city services and reduction of personnel.

For some years, curtailment of services, reduction in personnel, and the fortunate receipt of large annual sums from delinquent taxes enabled the city to survive the difficulties of the depression. However, the point was reached when these factors no longer sufficed to balance the budget. They were followed by more doubtful financial expedients, namely, overestimating of yearly receipts, floating of current deficits by means of temporary loans, and short-changing of sinking funds through excessive valuation of sinking-fund assets.
A List System with Single Candidate Preference
Authors: Gosnell Harold F.
Published: May 2006

This article is not intended as a criticism of the objectives of proportional representation. The election of the New York City council in 1937 and the seven Cincinnati council elections under the Hare system of proportional representation have undoubtedly resulted in the improvement of the caliber of the legislative bodies in those cities. The aim of this article is to suggest certain rules which may secure some of the advantages of the Hare system without a long and costly count.
Geographic and Other Scientific Techniques for Political Science
Authors: Boggs S. Whittemore
Published: May 2006

In the times of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, there were no world problems, and there never had been; nor were any anticipated. But today the range of subject-matter dealt with in international conferences and treaties and by the United Nations, its commissions and the specialized agencies, is almost as all-inclusive as the domestic legislation of any nation, and the problems in some respects are even more complicated. Mankind did not plan it that way. Science and technology have given new meaning to the Chinese proverb, “All people are your relatives; therefore expect troubles from them.”

The greatest evils that afflict and threaten mankind spring from political conflict. The lag of the social sciences behind the physical and biological sciences is in part responsible for these unprecedented problems and for two indescribable world wars in a generation. The fear of other's bombs and ideas has led many nations to enter political struggles that had developed into a state of war in distant regions, impoverishing the whole human race and squandering the patrimony of the world's unborn generations. And the fear of more horrendous wars is strongest among those best equipped to wage them.
The Influence of the Tennessee Valley Authority on Government in the South
Authors: Ray Joseph M.
Published: May 2006

Recent observers have offered evidence that social and economic change is coming to the South more rapidly than to other sections of the country. There can be little doubt in the minds of those who know the region that TVA has played a prominent part in effecting the transformation. The effect of the operations and activities of TVA has been quite as marked upon the governments as upon the society and economy of the region.

We should not lose sight of the fact that TVA has had substantial effect upon government throughout the country, and indeed throughout the world. This effect is not restricted to its power, engineering, and atomic energy achievements. TVA's resource-use activities, while designed primarily for the Valley region, are in many respects transferable to other areas. For present purposes, however, we are concerned only with the effect of TVA on Southern governments.

Much has been written about TVA, and especially about its “grass roots” approach to the problems entrusted to its stewardship. The writings of Clapp, Durisch, Lilienthal, and Satterfield have copiously documented this aspect of the Authority's influence upon the nation's governmental establishments. There yet remains, however, the task of a forthright assessment of the effect of TVA upon governmental institutions and processes. What changes have come to Valley governments which might not have come had there been no TVA? What are those governments now, in matters of structure, program, techniques, competence, vision, and relationships, that they might not have become if the great Valley experiment had never been undertaken?
The Value of the Hoover Commission Reports to the Educator
Authors: Redford E. S.
Published: May 2006

The Hoover Commission Reports were not written for the educator and his students. The audience was broader and the objective was immediate reform. Nevertheless, the educator must pause at this milepost and take stock. The reports are thrust upon him as inescapable materials for analysis in class and seminar rooms; they record in considerable measure the state of achievement in the development of administrative science; they challenge an examination now of the directions and scope of educational motive forces in the next phase of university education in public administration.

Most teachers of public administration probably found the reports of the President's Committee on Administrative Management and of the Attorney General's Committee on Administrative Procedure to be very valuable aids in teaching. The publication of the Report with Special Studies and the Final Report provided a considerable body of material in convenient form for teacher and student use, and the over-all summary of the Committee on Administrative Management even provided material which could be used in introductory courses in American government. Also, these earlier reports dealt with problems at the growing points in the study of public administration and offered basic points of view around which discussion could be centered.
The Semantics of Political Science
Authors: Perry Charner
Published: May 2006

That an animal, presumably a cousin of the simians and certainly very similar to them, has developed societies in which millions and even hundreds of millions of individuals live and act together in orderly relation to each other is one of the astounding facts of history; and an impartial observer would hardly be surprised if the incredibly intricate network of cooperation, overstrained, should suddenly tear apart.

The aggregation of men into huge organized groups is, of course, relatively recent. For a million years or longer men or near-men lived an animal-like existence, scattered in small groups. It was not until fifteen or twenty thousand years ago that men, perhaps as a consequence of unprecedented pressure from the environment, organized groups of any considerable size; it is only within the last three or four thousand years that large-scale societies have existed; and it is only in the last three or four hundred years that complex orderly interplay and interaction among individuals and subgroups in societies have been developed.
V. The Teacher of Government
Authors: Allen Ethan P.
Published: May 2006

These are days when the individual who would devote himself to the study and teaching of political science stands upon the threshold of new and exciting adventures and a lot of very hard work. His mind and his enthusiasms must be keyed to the great possibilities for constructive advancement to be found in a period of social transition. There are those among us who insist with great cogency that we should turn back to the achievements of the “wisdom of the ages” and find there the insight and answers to our current perplexities. Incisive as were the achievements of the great minds of the past, as right as were their prescriptions for their own times and difficulties, few among us would defend the proposition that all wisdom and all understanding reside solely with those who have given us our foundations. Much remains to be uncovered amidst the back-wash of a world-wide revolution. The teacher of political science must balance the wisdom of the past against present possibilities for the greater understanding and clearer insight into political institutions to be found in the quickening imagination of the contemporary scene. We must cut new paths. We must produce our Einstein. Perhaps we have, and are now ready for our own Manhattan Project. But to do this we must face squarely and honestly at least six major problems in this postwar period: (1) graduate preparation; (2) community leadership; (3) teaching load; (4) research; (5) salaries; and (6) academic freedom.

Diverse are the interests of those who are now preparing to enter the profession at the college or university level.
American Individualism: Fact and Fiction
Authors: Mason Alpheus T.
Published: May 2006

For two generations American political and economic life has been moving swiftly toward “bigness,” toward monolithic organization. We live by, in, and among bigger and bigger corporations, bigger and bigger unions, bigger and bigger governments. On all sides individual freedom and responsibility have shrunk. Absorbed into organizations bigger than himself, the American tends to be overpowered by these organizations, whether of industry, labor or agriculture. And whatever his orientation, he must operate in and under an ever-expanding multilateral network of occupational and governmental regulation.

In the shadow of such manifold giantism modern men—practically all of them employees who rate themselves “middle class”—seem but puny figures. Man's own handiwork has become a Frankenstein monster, destroying his initiative and individuality. In the grip of forces he has created, helpless single-handed to control, he suffers from loneliness, from not belonging, from impersonality. Millions who live in great cities, hundreds of thousands employed in assembly-line factories and organized in industrial unions, thousands of stockholders who can only endorse management's policies governing “their” billion dollar corporation —all these experience frustration, helplessness.
Research in the Political Process
Authors: Garceau Oliver
Published: May 2006

A discipline, like an individual, may in some measure be known by the dilemmas it keeps, or more properly by the manner in which it keeps them.

A central conceptual controversy, probably inescapable for political scientists because of their disciplinary heritage, is that involved in perceiving uniformities in behavior, describing recurring patterns, identifying the determinants and yet reconciling this effort and its underlying premises about the roots of behavior with the liberal, democratic faith in man's individual capacity to determine his own ends, to think rationally and to reach individual and creative decisions. On this faith rests the political structure of rights, the machinery of the democratic electorate, the party system and the values of the constitutional democratic state whose political process we are concerned to describe and analyze. Cultural anthropologists, social psychologists of many disciplinary schools, hard-boiled “realists” in political science, have recently drawn back from determinist or whole-heartedly relativist positions. Some are concerned that political science, in a fresh enthusiasm for empirical research, may become so engrossed with uniformities and determinants that it will obscure or abandon the normative commitments of a democratic polity.
Judicial Review in Modern Constitutional Systems
Authors: Deener David
Published: May 2006

The problem of guarding the constitution is fundamental in any political system. If the term “constitution” is given a very broad definition, such dictatorial devices as powerful secret police and special tribunals for the safety of the state may be regarded as means for the protection of the “constitution” of a totalitarian regime. However, western democracy does not rely upon repressive means for safeguarding the constitution, except in times of crisis when use is made of martial law, the state of siege, and constitutional dictatorship. For normal times, western democracy has developed constitutional means of protection that essentially resemble ordinary legal and political processes, such as the amending process, special deliberative bodies, and judicial review.

This study is concerned with judicial review as a means of guarding against legislative encroachments on the constitution. The acceptance of judicial review in national constitutional systems will be traced historically, with emphasis upon twentieth-century developments. Some attention will be given to the historical background of judicial review and to its theory and practice under various modern constitutions, but no systematic treatment of these subjects is attempted.
Problems of World Order in the Light of Recent Philosophical Discussion
Authors: Hocking William Ernest
Published: May 2006

Political problems, domestic or international, always involve us in psychological and philosophical issues; but they tend to develop whatever psychology or philosophy they need for their own purposes rather than to borrow from the formidable and not always luminous stock pile of professional literature in these subjects. This tendency to be one's own philosopher is entirely justified, for the simple reason that philosophy is always arising from experience, showing an inductive as well as a deductive side—and that the political experience of mankind is prolific in comment on the nature of man and of the world man lives in. Thomas Hobbes, for example, is a political writer whose contributions to psychology have not yet been fully appreciated.

At the same time, there are recent advances in both psychology and philosophy of which political science ought to enjoy the consequences. If any light is thrown on the nature of the human individual, that light is directly pertinent to political science. Enquiries into the nature of human association are similarly relevant.
Tyranny and Self-Knowledge: Critias and Socrates in Plato'sCharmides
Authors: Stern Paul
Published: May 2006

Thinkers such as Derrida and Levinas locate the source of the totalitarian tyrannies of our century in totalizing thought, the view that claims the whole is perfectly explicable. Their response maintains that there is no determinate knower and thus no access to enduring intelligibles. This response, however, subverts any claims to political truth, leaving no principles as a basis for political judgment. Plato'sCharmidesprovides a corrective of this difficulty. In this dialogue, Socrates discusses self-knowledge with Critias, who advocates a tyranny founded precisely on a claim of comprehensive knowledge and control. Socrates responds to this theory-based tyranny with a view of the elusiveness of self-knowledge that denies Critias' claim to know the human good with the precision necessary to establish his error-free society. But furthermore, this elusiveness is itself intelligible; possessing a discernible structure, it can substantiate specific political principles. Thus, Plato shows how we might resist such tyranny without subverting the very principles that allow us to judge it unjust.
Veto Players and Law Production in Parliamentary Democracies: An Empirical Analysis
Authors: Tsebelis George
Published: May 2006

This article investigates hypotheses generated by the veto players' theory. The fundamental insight of this theory is that an increase in the number of veto players (for all practical purposes, in parliamentary systems the number of parties in government) and their ideological distance from one another will reduce the ability of both government and parliament to produce significant laws. In addition, the number of significant laws increases with the duration of a government and with an increase in the ideological difference between current and previous government. These propositions are tested with legislative data (both laws and government decrees) on working time and working conditions identified in two legislative sources: the NATLEX computerized database in Geneva (produced by the International Labour organization) and Blanpain'sInternational Encyclopedia for Labour Law and Industrial Relations.The data cover fifteen West European countries for the period 1981–91. The evidence corroborates the proposed hypotheses.
Political Responses to Pain and LossPresidential Address, American Political Science Association, 1998
Authors: Jennings M. Kent
Published: May 2006

Although manifestations of pain and loss phenomena are treated in various parts of the discipline, the focus is seldom on pain and loss as a distinctive form of political experience or as one that offers a broad canvas on which the workings of the political process can be depicted. By contrast, this article makes four arguments: (1) pain and loss experiences cut to the core of everyday lives and frequently infuse them with politics; (2) responses to pain and loss events occupy a prominent place in the domains of public opinion and issue activism; (3) these events and responses have some unique properties; and (4) major research questions can be organized around the study of pain and loss phenomena.
Political Confederation
Authors: Crémer Jacques , Palfrey Thomas R.
Published: May 2006

This article extends the spatial model of voting to study the implications of different institutional structures of federalism along two dimensions: degree of centralization and mode of representation. The representation dimension varies the weight between unit representation (one state, one vote) and population-proportional representation (one person, one vote). Voters have incomplete information and can reduce policy risk by increasing the degree of centralization or increasing the weight on unit representation. We derive induced preferences over the degree of centralization and the relative weights of the two modes of representation, and we study the properties of majority rule voting over these two basic dimensions of federalism. Moderates prefer more centralization than extremists, and voters in large states generally have different preferences from voters in small states. This implies two main axes of conflict in decisions concerning political confederation: moderates versus extremists and large versus small states.
A Nation of Organizers: The Institutional Origins of Civic Voluntarism in the United States
Authors: Skocpol Theda , Ganz Marshall , Munson Ziad
Published: May 2006

We challenge the widely held view that classic American voluntary groups were tiny, local, and disconnected from government. Using newly collected data to develop a theoretically framed account, we show that membership associations emerged early in U.S. history and converged toward the institutional form of the representatively governed federation. This form enabled leaders and members to spread interconnected groups across an expanding nation. At the height of local proliferation, most voluntary groups were part of regional or national federations that mirrored the structure of U.S. government. Institutionalist theories suggest reasons for this parallelism, which belies the rigid dichotomy between state and civil society that informs much current discussion of civic engagement in the United States and elsewhere.
The Meaning and Measure of Policy Metaphors
Authors: Schlesinger Mark , Lau Richard R.
Published: May 2006

The apparent ability of the American public to form coherent assessments of policy options—while being largely ignorant of political institutions, actors, and ideology—remains a persistent puzzle for political science. We develop a theory of political decision making that helps resolve this puzzle. We postulate that both the public and political elites comprehend complex policies in part through “reasoning by policy metaphor,” which involves comparisons between proposed alternative policies and more readily understood social institutions. Using data from 169 intensive interviews, we test claims about metaphorical reasoning for a particularly complex policy domain: health care reform. We demonstrate that our hypothesized policy metaphors are coherent to both elites and the general public, including the least sophisticated members of the public. We further show that elites and the public share a common understanding of the relevant policy metaphors, that metaphorical reasoning differs from other forms of analogic reasoning, and that metaphorical cognition is distinct from ideological orientation.
Buying Supermajorities in Finite Legislatures
Authors: Banks Jeffrey S.
Published: May 2006

I analyze the finite-voter version of the Groseclose and Snyder vote-buying model. I identify how the optimal coalition size varies with the underlying preference parameters; derive necessary and sufficient conditions for minimal majority and universal coalitions to form; and show that the necessary condition for minimal majorities found in Groseclose and Snyder is incorrect.
Vote Buying, Supermajorities, and Flooded Coalitions
Authors: Groseclose Tim , Snyder James M.
Published: May 2006

In a recent paper, Banks (2000), adopting the framework of our model (Groseclose and Snyder 1996), derives several new and noteworthy results. In addition, he provides a counterexample to our proposition 4. Here we explain the error in our proposition but note that we can correct it easily if we invoke an additional assumption: In equilibrium the winning vote buyer constructs a nonflooded coalition, that is, she does not bribe every member of her coalition. We conclude with a brief discussion of the substantive implications of Banks's proposition 1; we note that it provides additional support for our general claim that minimal winning coalitions should be rare in a vote-buying game.
The Political Economy of Expenditures by the Peruvian Social Fund (FONCODES), 1991–95
Authors: Schady Norbert R.
Published: May 2006

The Peruvian Social Fund (FONCODES) was created by President Alberto Fujimori in 1991 with the stated objectives of generating employment, alleviating poverty, and improving access to social services. This article uses province-level data on monthly expenditures, socioeconomic indicators, and electoral outcomes to analyze political influences on the timing and geographic distribution of FONCODES expenditures between 1991 and 1995. I reach three main conclusions. First, these expenditures increased significantly before national elections. Second, FONCODES projects were directed at provinces in which the marginal political effect of expenditures was likely to be largest. Third, these projects favored the poorest provinces, which suggests that the program also had a redistributive function. The results are robust to a large number of specifications and controls. The Peruvian data support predictions made in the literature on political business cycles as well as the literature on political influences on the allocation of discretionary funds.
Value Pluralism and Liberal Political Theory
Authors: Galston William A.
Published: May 2006

Building on suggestions by Isaiah Berlin, a number of thinkers have elaborated a moral theory of value pluralism. Berlin himself believed that value pluralism was consistent with liberalism, which he understood as a political theory giving great weight to the value of negative liberty. Theorists led by John Gray have argued, however, that Berlin's pluralist stance toward values is not consistent with his commitment to liberalism. Gray's critique has triggered a wide-ranging theoretical debate, and the purpose of this article is to assess that debate. I sketch the essentials of value pluralism and explore its implications for liberal political theory. I conclude that Gray's argument modifies our understanding of liberal democracy but does not drive a wedge between value pluralism and liberal democratic theory. Nevertheless, it underscores the importance of prudence and attention to specific circumstances when using liberal democratic norms to guide the reform of illiberal institutions.
Cluster-Based Early Warning Indicators for Political Change in the Contemporary Levant
Authors: Schrodt Philip A. , Gerner Deborah J.
Published: May 2006

We use cluster analysis to develop a model of political change in the Levant as reflected in the World Event Interaction Survey coded event data generated from Reuters between 1979 and 1998. A new statistical algorithm that uses the correlation between dyadic behaviors at two times identifies clusters of political activity. The transition to a new cluster occurs when a point is closer in distance to subsequent points than to preceding ones. These clusters begin to “stretch” before breaking apart, which serves as an early warning indicator. The clusters correspond well with phases of political behavior identified a priori. A Monte Carlo analysis shows that the clustering and early warning measures are not random; they perform very differently in simulated data sets with similar statistical characteristics. Our study demonstrates that the statistical analysis of newswire reports can yield systematic early warning indicators, and it provides empirical support for the theoretical concept of distinct behavioral phases in political activity.
When the Party Breaks Up: Exit and Voice among Japanese Legislators
Authors: Kato Junko
Published: May 2006

In exploring the conflicts between individual interests and the conditions that facilitate the disintegration of a political party, this article modifies the exit, voice, and loyalty framework developed by Hirschman. The utility of that framework is examined using the recent change in Japan, that is, the demise of the so-called 1955 system, in which the predominant conservatives confined the socialists to the status of a major but perennial opposition party. The quantitative analysis focuses on the split of the Japanese Liberal Democratic Party and the internal dispute in the Democratic Socialist Party of Japan. These cases provide an interesting comparison of how individual characteristics and contextual conditions affect members' decisions to exercise exit and voice. At the same time, they illuminate how party-level changes have been influenced by intraparty factors.
From Abe Fortas to Zoë Baird: Why Some Presidential Nominations Fail in the Senate
Authors: Krutz Glen S. , Fleisher Richard , Bond Jon R.
Published: May 2006

Why, given a strong presumption of success, do some presidential nominations fail? Of 1,464 important nominations from 1965 to 1994, less than 5% failed. Ninety-four percent of failures were rejected or withdrawn before reaching the floor, suggesting that opponents are most effective during prefloor stages. We propose a theoretical framework based on the notion that policy entrepreneurs pursue their goals within the context of a presumption of success. Logit analysis tends to support the theory that entrepreneurs can alter the presumption of success and defeat a nomination if they (1) identify negative information about a nominee to provide a rationale for changing the presumption and (2) expand the conflict through committee hearings and the media. Presidential resources—high public approval and efforts to signal that the nomination is a high priority—increase the chances of confirmation. Contrary to previous research, divided government has no independent effect on the fate of nominations.
Coordination, Moderation, and Institutional Balancing in American Presidential and House Elections
Authors: Mebane Walter R.
Published: May 2006

Voters have been coordinating their choices for president and House of Representatives in recent presidential election years, with each voter using a strategy that features policy moderation. Coordination is defined as a noncooperative rational expectations equilibrium among voters, in which each voter has both common knowledge and private information about the election outcome. Stochastic choice models estimated using individual-level NES data from 1976–96 support coordination versus a model in which voters act nonstrategically to moderate policy. The empirical coordinating model satisfies the fixed-point condition that defines the common knowledge expectation voters have about the outcome in the theoretical equilibrium. The proportion of voters who split their ticket in order to balance the House with the president has been small but large enough to affect election outcomes. Moderation has usually been based on voters' expectations that the president will be at least an equal of the House in determining postelection policy.
Sodium Nitrite‐Catalyzed Oxybromination of Aromatic Compounds and Aryl Ketones with a Combination of Hydrobromic Acid and Molecular Oxygen under Mild Conditions
Authors: Zhang Guofu , Liu Renhua , Xu Qing , Ma Lixin , Liang Xinmiao
Published: May 2006

A novel and efficient catalytic system for the oxybromination of aromatic compounds and aryl ketones utilizing a combination of aqueous hydrobromic acid and molecular oxygen in the presence of sodium nitrite under mild conditions has been developed. The newly developed catalytic system utilizes cheap and readily available reactants, exhibits high bromine atom economy and releases only innocuous water as the by‐product.
Synthesis of Novel Bisphosphine‐Containing Polymers and Their Applications as Bidentate Ligands for Nickel(0)‐Catalyzed Cross‐Coupling Reactions
Authors: Lu Yong , Plocher Elizabeth , Hu Qiao‐Sheng
Published: May 2006

The efficient synthesis of two examples of a new type of ferrocene‐based bisphosphine‐containing polymers and their application as bidentate ligands for Ni(0)‐catalyzed cross‐coupling reactions of aryl chlorides with arylboronic acids, and aryl fluorides with Grignard reagents are described. Our study may provide a new family of bisphosphine‐containing polymers that are readily accessible and potentially useful in transition metal catalysis.
Silica‐Based Mesoporous Organic–Inorganic Hybrid Materials
Authors: Hoffmann Frank , Cornelius Maximilian , Morell Jürgen , Fröba Michael
Published: May 2006

Mesoporous organic–inorganic hybrid materials, a new class of materials characterized by large specific surface areas and pore sizes between 2 and 15 nm, have been obtained through the coupling of inorganic and organic components by template synthesis. The incorporation of functionalities can be achieved in three ways: by subsequent attachment of organic components onto a pure silica matrix (grafting), by simultaneous reaction of condensable inorganic silica species and silylated organic compounds (co‐condensation, one‐pot synthesis), and by the use of bissilylated organic precursors that lead to periodic mesoporous organosilicas (PMOs). This Review gives an overview of the preparation, properties, and potential applications of these materials in the areas of catalysis, sorption, chromatography, and the construction of systems for controlled release of active compounds, as well as molecular switches, with the main focus being on PMOs.
Kennwerte eines künstlich verdichteten schwachbindigen Bodens
Authors: Rückert Horst
Published: May 2006

Für die Planung von Erdbauwerken werden die Werte der Zusammendrückbarkeit, der Wasserdurchlässigkeit und der Scherfestigkeit des eingebauten Bodens benötigt. Bei den vorgenommenen Untersuchungen werden von einem schwachbindigen Boden, der im Proctorgerät künstlich verdichtet wurde, diese Bodenkenngrößen im Labor bestimmt. Die Ermittlung erfolgte für den gesättigten Zustand des Bodens. Die Werte der Bodenkenngrößen werden in Abhängigkeit vom Einbauwassergehalt des Bodens und von der Verdichtungsarbeit des Bodens dargestellt. Außerdem werden Abhängigkeiten zwischen den Kenngrößen aufgezeigt. (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
In Silico Classification of hERG Channel Blockers: a Knowledge‐Based Strategy
Authors: Dubus Elodie , Ijjaali Ismaïl , Petitet François , Michel André
Published: May 2006

The blockage of the hERG potassium channel by a wide number of diverse compounds has become a major pharmacological safety concern as it can lead to sudden cardiac death. In silico models can be potent tools to screen out potential hERG blockers as early as possible during the drug‐discovery process. In this study, predictive models developed using the recursive partitioning method and created using diverse datasets from 203 molecules tested on the hERG channel are described. The first model was built with hERG compounds grouped into two classes, with a separation limit set at an IC50 value of 1 μm, and reaches an overall accuracy of 81 %. The misclassification of molecules having a range of activity between 1 and 10 μM led to the generation of a tri‐class model able to correctly classify high, moderate, and weak hERG blockers with an overall accuracy of 90 %. Another model, constructed with the high and weak hERG‐blocker categories, successfully increases the accuracy to 96 %. The results reported herein indicate that a combination of precise, knowledge management resources and powerful modeling tools are invaluable to assessing potential cardiotoxic side effects related to hERG blockage.
Hyperchromatic cytometry principles for cytomics using slide based cytometry
Authors: Mittag Anja , Lenz Dominik , Gerstner Andreas O. H. , Tárnok Attila
Published: May 2006

Background:

Polychromatic analysis of biological specimens has become increasingly important because of the emerging new fields of high‐content and high‐throughput single cell analysis for systems biology and cytomics. Combining different technologies and staining methods, multicolor analysis can be pushed forward to measure anything stainable in a cell. We term this approach hyperchromatic cytometry and present different components suitable for achieving this task. For cell analysis, slide based cytometry (SBC) technologies are ideal as, unlike flow cytometry, they are non‐consumptive, i.e. the analyzed sample is fixed on the slide and can be reanalyzed following restaining of the object.

Methods and Results:

We demonstrate various approaches for hyperchromatic analysis on a SBC instrument, the Laser Scanning Cytometer. The different components demonstrated here include (1) polychromatic cytometry (staining of the specimen with eight or more different fluorochromes simultaneously), (2) iterative restaining (using the same fluorochrome for restaining and subsequent reanalysis), (3) differential photobleaching (differentiating fluorochromes by their different photostability), (4) photoactivation (activating fluorescent nanoparticles or photocaged dyes), and (5) photodestruction (destruction of FRET dyes). Based on the ability to relocate cells that are immobilized on a microscope slide with a precision of ∼1 μm, identical cells can be reanalyzed on the single cell level after manipulation steps.

Conclusion:

With the intelligent combination of several different techniques, the hyperchromatic cytometry approach allows to quantify and analyze all components of relevance on the single cell level. The information gained per specimen is only limited by the number of available antibodies and sterical hindrance. © 2006 International Society for Analytical Cytology
Automated neurite labeling and analysis in fluorescence microscopy images
Authors: Xiong Guanglei , Zhou Xiaobo , Degterev Alexei , Ji Liang , Wong Stephen T. C.
Published: May 2006

Background:

To investigate the intricate nervous processes involved in many biological activities by computerized image analysis, accurate and reproducible labeling and measurement of neurites are prerequisite. We have developed an automated neurite analysis method to assist this task.

Methods:

Our approach can be considered as automated with certain user interaction in setting initial parameters. Single and connected centerlines along neurites are extracted. The computerized method can also generate branching and end points. Owing to its multi‐scale flexibility, both thick and thin neurites are simultaneously detected.

Results:

We employ the relative neurite length difference (defined as the difference between the lengths obtained by automated and manual analysis divided by the total length of the latter) and neurite centerline deviation (defined as the area of the regions enclosed by different paths between automated and manual analysis divided by the total length of the former) to evaluate the performance of our algorithm, which is of great interest in neurite analysis. The average of the relative length difference is about 0.02, while the average of the centerline deviation is about 2.8 pixels. The probabilities of the distributions being the same from the Kolmogorov‐Smirnov (KS) test of the automatic and manual results are 99.79%. The KS test also shows no significant bias between different observers based on the proposed new validation scheme.

Conclusions:

With the accurate and automated extraction of neurite centerlines and measurement of neurite lengths, the proposed method, which greatly reduces human labor and improves efficiency, can serve as a candidate tool for large‐scale neurite analysis beyond the capability of manual tracing methods. © 2006 International Society for Analytical Cytology
Recent advances in craniofacial morphogenesis
Authors: Chai Yang , Maxson Robert E.
Published: May 2006

Craniofacial malformations are involved in three fourths of all congenital birth defects in humans, affecting the development of head, face, or neck. Tremendous progress in the study of craniofacial development has been made that places this field at the forefront of biomedical research. A concerted effort among evolutionary and developmental biologists, human geneticists, and tissue engineers has revealed important information on the molecular mechanisms that are crucial for the patterning and formation of craniofacial structures. Here, we highlight recent advances in our understanding of evo–devo as it relates to craniofacial morphogenesis, fate determination of cranial neural crest cells, and specific signaling pathways in regulating tissue–tissue interactions during patterning of craniofacial apparatus and the morphogenesis of tooth, mandible, and palate. Together, these findings will be beneficial for the understanding, treatment, and prevention of human congenital malformations and establish the foundation for craniofacial tissue regeneration. Developmental Dynamics 235:2353–2375, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The dominance of fear over hope in the life of individuals and collectives
Authors: Jarymowicz Maria , Bar‐Tal Daniel
Published: May 2006

We address the question why fear dominates hope in the life of individuals and collectives on the basis of the accumulated knowledge in the psychology, neurology and sociology of emotions. This knowledge suggests thatfear, as primary emotion, is grounded in the experienced present and based on the memorized past, processed both consciously and unconsciously, causes freezing and conservatism, and sometimes leads to pre‐emptive aggression.Hope, in contrast, as a secondary emotion, involves cognitive activity, which requires anticipation and the search for new ideas and thus is based on complex processes of creativity and flexibility. Therefore, hope is often preceded and inhibited by spontaneous, automatically activated and faster fear. Fear and hope can each become a collective emotional orientation, and as such organize society's views and direct its actions. Societies involved in intractable conflict are dominated by a collective fear orientation. This orientation is functional for society's coping with the stressful and demanding situation—but it may serve as a psychological obstacle to any peace process, once it starts. The case of the collective fear orientation in the Jewish Israeli society is presented as an example. The article ends with a presentation of a particular approach, suggesting that individuals and collectives can overcome their fear with much determination, and establish an orientation of hope which allows change in situations dominated by fear. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Social relations and cognitive development: the influence of conversation type and representations of gender
Authors: Psaltis Charis , Duveen Gerard
Published: May 2006

While the productive role of social interaction between peers in promoting cognitive development has been clearly established, the communicative processes through which this is achieved have not been clearly identified. This paper reports a study in which 184 children aged between of 6.5 to 7.5 years were presented with a Piagetian task of conservation of liquid. Both male and female non‐conservers worked with a conserving partner in either same or mixed‐sex dyads, thus creating four different pair types. The pairs were asked to discuss their conflicting answers and agree upon a joint response. Cognitive progress was assessed by pre‐ to post‐test gains. The results indicated that the type of conversation established during the interaction was strongly related to the outcome. The results also indicate that the gender composition of the pairs influenced the type of conversation which occurred and the outcome measures. These results are discussed in relation to the general model of socio‐cognitive conflict, and highlight the role of representations and expectations of gender in the way in which the conflict is expressed and resolved in conditions of aligned or conflicting knowledge and gender asymmetries. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Working under cover: performance‐related self‐confidence among members of contextually devalued groups who try to pass
Authors: Barreto Manuela , Ellemers Naomi , Banal Serena
Published: May 2006

This paper experimentally examines the effects of passing (versus revealing) a contextually devalued identity on performance‐related self‐confidence. An experimental scenario was developed on the basis of the results of a pilot study. Studies 1 and 2 (total N = 255) experimentally manipulate passing versus revealing a contextually devalued identity, to an ingroup or an outgroup partner. The results show that, although passing makes participants believe that their partner has more positive expectations of them, it also undermines performance‐related self‐confidence. Moreover, the results show that negative self‐directed affect (i.e., guilt and shame) mediated the negative effect of passing on performance‐related self‐confidence. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.