bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Philosopher's corner
Authors: Guinier D.
Published: June 2007

One of the two methods described has points in common with that of Starcenko L. P. (1959) who based his principle on a basic-property of transcendental numbers, namely that the fractional part of a logarithmic set of r prime numbers guaranties completely uniformly (0.,1.) distributed sequences of pseudo-random numbers O (e
(Log
N
(k))**3
)+1 for k=1,2,...rOur original method also generates uniform random sequences of real numbers in the interval (0., 1.). It uses a set of real numbers of 54-bit precision mantissa issued from the approximation of independent quotients from randomly chosen integers as dividends and their associated prime numbers as divisors.

An aperiodic method

: In practice, no period caused by irrationality or error-rounding of the numbers used should be encountered.

A faster method

: Because the method works only by the use of floating-point additions and subtractions, it provides a better velocity than congruential methods which use integer multiplications and modular reductions.

A transportable method

: Since the implementation of real numbers in double precision follows the same IEEE standard for binary floating-point arithmetic, this method should give the same results for all sequences and be qualified as transportable.
A fast uniform astronomical random number generator
Authors: Guinier D.
Published: June 2007

The present method generates machine-independent uniform random sequences of real numbers in the interval (0.,1.) excluding 1. It uses a set of up to 1024 independent multiplicative congruential generators working with:•
modulii
which are chosen prime numbers whose values have been fixed according to the positive 31-bit positive integer arithmetic available and in the form of 2.P'+1, where P's are also primes.•
multipliers
which are selected from one of their corresponding primitive elements as multipliers to achieve each full cycle independently.

The "astronomical" maximum periodicity can be considered as infinite: O (10
6021
)

; it can be adjusted if required by the user in the sequential version RAN01 or statistically reaching the maximum in the improved
"stagger"
version DAN01.

An "acceptable" composite period is estimated to be O (10
189
)

for a set of only 32 of such independent generators: this fact could find a nice application in the realization of efficient hash-functions in smart cards.An implementation in structured FORTRAN 77 shows very good results in terms of statistical proprieties, velocity and periodicity.
Viruses and worms - What can they do?
Authors: Kurzban S.
Published: June 2007

"Computer viruses" have received a lot of attention lately. In fact, the best-known "viruses" have not been viruses at all, but "worms," programs that spread through networks instead of modifying programs. Both viruses and worms reproduce themselves and defensive measures have focused on stopping or slowing their spread. But that is only one tack you can take. Preventing or limiting the effect of the harm that their components can cause is another. Still other measures are specific to known viruses. Ultimately, though, there is no defense better than a comprehensive security strategy that embraces user education, crisis-response teams, and technologically sound security measures including, but not limited to, those that relate specifically to the threats posed by viruses and worms.
Security auditing - fear of detection -vs- fear of detecting
Authors: Neugent B.
Published: June 2007

It's amazing how far technology has come since the invention of the Frankenstein monster. Not long ago I read about a prototype of a new kind of secure personal computer (PC). This machine was so secure that, for one user, it could generate 135 million bytes of audit data per day. My first reaction on reading this was to think that any actual information hidden in that audit data would certainly be secure.
Microcomputer software piracy and the law
Authors: Richards T. , Chan R.
Published: June 2007

The recent U. S. Supreme Court case BV Engineering v. UCLA copyright infringement litigation illustrates a continuing problem related to software protection (10). The microcomputer software market continues to expand and technology changes at the same time methods of software protection become obsolete and fail to protect developer's interests. With a steady increase in the size and complexity of software, software costs have become a major concern to the user. As a result, the incentive may not be to develop or purchase new software but instead to steal another's creations and infringe upon another's intellectual endeavors (8). Protection of software from unauthorized use has become a major issue of every software developer. This causes a heated battle among software developers, software lock busters and software users. The dispute is over whether users may or may not make copies of their purchased or leased software.
A response to criticisms of a virus detection scheme
Authors: Joseph M. J.
Published: June 2007

In their recent paper Davida, Desmedt, and Matt [Davi89, p.313] state that there are many unanswered questions concerning the design of the virus detection scheme presented in [Jose88]. Included in their discussion are 3 specific criticisms of this virus detection scheme. However, 2 of these criticisms are completely unfounded, and can mislead the reader who is unfamiliar with the basic hardware design of the detection mechanism.
Authentication, confidentiality, and integrity extensions to the XNS protocol suite
Authors: Housley R.
Published: June 2007

The Xerox Network Systems (XNS) architecture[1] includes all of the security features found in today's most popular protocol suites. In addition, XNS provides strong authentication at the beginning of each conversation. Authentication is the verification that both entities in a conversation are the ones claimed.[2] The Authentication Protocol[3] provides authentication in such a way that no passwords are ever transmitted on the network.
Inter-organization computer networks: indications of shifts in interdependence
Authors: Hart P. , Estrin D.
Published: June 2007

As firms increasingly adopt inter-organization computer networks (IONs) to improve coordination, researchers must be concerned about the long term impact of IONs on organizational relationships. This paper reports on an exploratory study of the use of IONs in design and manufacturing activities in the semiconductor industry. We identify the potential interactions between firms that can be facilitated by IONs, and focus on the implications for customer and producer interdependence. Our analysis suggests that the long term impacts of IONs are not technologically determined, and that their use ought to be regarded differently than those of other media.
The rapport multimedia conferencing system
Authors: Ahuja S. R. , Ensor J. Robert , Horn David N.
Published: June 2007

This paper describes the design and initial implementation of the Rapport multimedia conferencing system, which supports interactive, real-time, distributed conferences among two or more users. Using computers connected by data and voice networks, this system creates an environment in which many sorts of meetings can take place, including telephone conversations, discussions among colleagues, and lectures. Rapport provides new opportunities for meetings, allowing a user to interact with distant colleagues and to participate in several conferences concurrently at his or her workstation. The system allows many existing computer programs to be used, unmodified, within its conferencing environment. Thus computer-generated data and displays are available to the conferees for manipulation and editing, enhancing the exchange of information during meetings. Although Rapport does not encourage a particular methodology of meeting conduct, such specialized support can be built using Rapport.

The paper outlines Rapport's conference abstraction and the model on which it is based — the “virtual meeting room.” It then presents an overview of Rapport's architecture, discusses the system's environmental requirements, and concludes by mentioning some of our plans for future work with Rapport.
Problems in modelling tasks and task views
Authors: Mazer Murray S.
Published: June 2007

We present the rudiments of a new theory of tasks and task views. The motivating idea is essentially as follows: in an environment in which several organizational agents cooperate to accomplish a common task, each of the agents need only know its own part of the task — this is the agent's task view. The underlying computer system may take responsibility for coordinating the actions among the different views. We discuss what task views are and why they are interesting. We also consider consistent task specification based on partial orderings of task actions and the problems involved. The major issues are the expressiveness of action conditions, tractable satisfaction of action conditions, and tractable testing for task consistency. Our notion of task consistency leads us to consider, among other things, the “expressiveness versus tractability” tradeoff encountered in knowledge representation, planning work, and a recent proposal for specification and refinement of office procedures.
Cost benefit analysis of information systems: a survey of methodologies
Authors: Sassone Peter G.
Published: June 2007

Cost justification has become one of the most important factors influencing the pace of business automation, particularly end user computing. The primary difficulty in cost justification is the evaluation of benefits. This paper identifies and discusses eight methodologies which have evolved to quantify the benefits of information systems. These are: decision analysis, cost displacement/avoidance, structural models, cost of effectiveness analysis, breakeven analysis, subjective analysis, time savings times salary, and the work value model.
Knowledge based document classification supporting integrated document handling
Authors: Eirund Helmut , Kreplin Klaus
Published: June 2007

An experimental office system currently being developed at Olivetti research integrates two major requirements of office work: content based document retrieval and mail distribution. In this system documents are described and classified by their semantic structure that provides access to abstract concepts contained in the document. The derivation of the semantic structure of a document supports both an efficient retrieval by content and an intelligent mail filtering through document semantics. A knowledge based classification system automatically generates the conceptual description of a document to be inserted into the system by means of content analysis, and associates the document to an appropriate predefined type. The classification system closes the gap between electronic document entry systems and processing of (semi-) structured document content.
Market automation: self-regulation in a distributed environment
Authors: Miller Ross M.
Published: June 2007

Initial studies of the stock market crash of October 1987 indicate that insufficient linkages between related securities markets, exacerbated by computerized trading, can lead to market instability. This paper examines how the market mechanism can be made more “intelligent,” so that it can provide much of the stabilization currently left to the computer-driven arbitrage activities of independent traders while at the same time enhancing market liquidity. This intelligent market mechanism employs techniques derived from concurrent control theory to link markets together in a way that effectively creates new, synthetic securities markets that coexist with current securities markets. This mechanism permits continuous trade in all markets so that the stabilizing activities of arbitrage occur as a direct by-product of the basic operation of the market mechanism. When the speed of communication between markets is fast relative to the pace of trading, this mechanism will operate so that at the operational level it is completely transparent to traders in the market, giving the appearance of a single, fully-linked free market system. This mechanism and the principles upon which it is based have broader applications to computerized markets in manufacturing and the service industries beyond financial markets.
38 Offices
Authors: Panko Raymond R.
Published: June 2007

There is considerable interest within office automation for the creation of methodologies to describe the needs of offices and build tools to support those needs. Most of the analysis, design, and implementation methodologies, however, involve only a single type of support — the creation of tools to automate procedures found in the office. Although the procedures to be supported are generally less well structured than the procedures supported by classic data processing, the focus is still on procedures.

These procedurally-oriented methodologies are likely to work extremely well in only one kind of office, which the author and Sprague have called the Type I department [10]. There is another general category of offices, Type II, that handles the firm's nonroutine information processing chores. Examples are the offices of top executives, the offices of line managers, legal departments, and engineering departments. In these offices, procedures exist, but immediately jumping from functional analysis and goals to the analysis of procedures is not likely to be helpful. First, the procedures in these offices are usually few, so their automation is not likely to bring extensive gains. Second, the strategies that Type II offices do need are likely to be professionally complex and nonprocedural. To strong a procedural focus in a methodology could blind analysts to the real needs of the office.

Two studies were conducted in an attempt to test a broader analysis methodology that the author had earlier proposed to study Type II offices as well as Type I offices. While it was concluded that there were differences in Type I and Type II office support, it was found that people in both kinds of offices tended to pick mundane applications. A major goal for the future should be to find ways to help office principals articulate more visionary goals that can be made possible because of computer support.

Type II offices present a major problem to designers of office methodologies. The traditional procedural analysis skills taught in systems analysis and office analysis methodologies are not likely to be central to the needs of the office. The strategies that must be designed and supported, rather, are likely to depend very heavily on the professional content of the work being done in that office. It is possible that the office analyst in the future will be less a driving force in the design of support systems than a catalyst to help users define their own needs — just as designers of decision support systems are increasily helping managers define their own data needs [13]. Critical success factors and external contribution analysis are likely to be only preludes to comprehensive methodologies to help office principals define their goals and strategies.
Determining computer support requirements
Authors: Harris Sidney E. , Brightman Harvey J.
Published: June 2007

In this research paper, we discuss a design methodology for determining computer support system needs. We were aware that research work is communications-oriented and highly cognitive in nature, it was necessary to define a profile of the tasks that characterize the key elements of research work. The researcher then selects those tasks that constitute bottlenecks in completing the various research activities. In addition, the modes of support which are essential in completing the tasks are evaluated along several dimensions — quality, timeliness, dependability, reliability, and cost. This procedure allowed us to define the primary tasks that are consistent barriers in the completion of research work and the modes and nature of support which are inadequately provided as support service capabilities. The design methodology approach was implemented and evaluated using the research faculty at Georgia State University.
Distributed software personnel when, how and why?
Authors: Webster Roger
Published: June 2007

It is obvious that as computer technology moves more and more towards distributed processing - a centralized EDP support structure will not be effective. The future of computer processing will utilize distributed microcomputing technology. As depicted in Figures 1, 2, and 3, the future computer processing environments will have microcomputers connected to minicomputers and minis connected to mainframes. Complete computer networking, microcomputers on every executive's desk, relational data structures and office automation will dominate the business environment.

The majority of the action in computer information processing will be taking place on the desk tops of executives in the “interactive office”. The imminent question will not be “Should EDP distribute software personnel” - but, “When do I distribute and how do I divide the information systems responsibilities?”
Officeaid
Authors: Lee Alison , Woo Carson C. , Lochovsky Frederick H.
Published: June 2007

Document management is a major activity in an office. Documents are created, edited, distributed, and stored. While facilities for managing electronic documents exist, they are often poorly integrated. In this paper, the design and implementation of an integrated document management system - Officeaid - is described. In the design, four major objectives were considered: develop effective and useful man-machine interfaces, provide integrated facilities, utilize data base management techniques, and provide support for different types of data.
The design of Star's Records Processing
Authors: Purvy Robert , Farrell Jerry , Klose Paul
Published: June 2007

Xerox' Star Professional Workstation is distinguished by a graphic user interface committed to the What-you-see-is-what-you-get design philosophy. The system promotes a see / point / push-a-button style of interaction with immediate feedback, in marked contrast to more familiar programming or command-language interfaces.

Star's Records Processing feature integrates traditional data processing functionality into this user model. Normal Star documents may contain fields and tables. Star record files have their structure defined by copying the field structure of a regular document. Multiple output formats are provided for a record file by giving it a document with each desired format. Such a document may format multiple records in a tabular array, or present each record's data in a new copy of the formatting document. Data is transferred between documents and records wherever fields have matching names (“field lading”); non-matching fields may be given a fill-in rule which allows summary data to be computed. Queries are expressed in an exemplary fashion, by entering desired values and ranges of values into a copy of a record (a “filter”).

Common uses of the data in a record file are encapsulated in a “view”, which specifies the subset of the file's records to be considered, the order in which they are to be presented, and the document to be used to format them. An arbitrary number of views may be associated with a record file; each may have its own index, but the underlying records are stored only once.

Common records processing functions are provided at a high-level user interface: Moving a document, a folder of documents, or another record file to a record file adds records to the file. Moving a record file to a printer causes the current view of the record file to be printed.

Benefits include an economy of concepts and effort for user and implementor alike, along with the synergy of a unified environment. The approach seems to extend easily to a number of new domains. However, increased efforts are required to produce a coordinated design and implementation throughout the whole system, and acceptable performance may be harder to achieve.
Office Information Systems research and development projects in Europe (Invited)
Authors: Naffah Najah
Published: June 2007

In Europe most research projects in the area of Office Information Systems are concentrated around public communication services and transmission networks. Very few projects exist in what we call the Automated Office of the Future.

In the first category, known as TELEMATIQUE, we find the videotex services, which consist of data banks connected to public networks and offering access to residential users through their color TV sets. A second service, called TELETEX, will start soon in different European countries to replace the present telex service with some kind of communicating word processors. All these projects are sponsored by the PTT and operate according to a set of standards elaborated by the CCITT.

On the other hand, true Office Information Systems projects, which are tailored to the private users and organizations needs, are very rare. Some manufacturers are working on new word processors combining data processing and text processing, with voice input for command, and voice output for signalling.

Local networks have been built in different research centers and have been produced by local manufacturers and distributed on national basis (e.g., Cambridge Ring in England, Danube in France, and Cobus in Switzerland). While manufacturers as ICL, Thomson, Siemens, Olivetti are announcing products with many components imported from the U.S., the research community has been very active in exploring new approaches for O.I.S.

Under the sponsorship of the CEC, a group of researchers from France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, U.K., are working on the interconnection of Heterogeneous message systems, where the most difficult problems reside in the naming strategy to adopt, the conversion between message format, the high level protocols to implement.

Two research centers in Switzerland and in France, have been building workstations for the office. The first one has produced a portable personnel computer with text editor (Smaky - Ecole Polytechnique de Lausanne), and the second has built a sophisticated workstation with many integrated services (Burovlseur of the Kayak project - INRIA, France). In addition, a complete prototype of O.I.S. is under development in this project.

Other work is undertaken by different research centers on issues related to O.I.S. (Queen Mary College - London; GMC, HMI and the University of Hamburg - Germany; INRIA, IMAG, SUPELEC, UPS - France .... ).

In this presentation, we will give a summary of the work that has been accomplished and the future of some of the projects.
How do people organize their desks? (Extended Abstract)
Authors: Malone Thomas W.
Published: June 2007

In this paper, I describe a series of case studies of how professional and clerical office workers organize the information in their desks and offices. Then I discuss a number of implications of these results for designing natural and convenient office information systems.

Two principal claims are made: (1) A very important function of desk organization is to
remind
the user of things to do, not just to help the user
find
desired information. Failing to support this function can seriously impair the usefulness of electronic office systems, and explicitly facilitating it can provide an important advantage for automated office systems over their non-automated predecessors. (2) The cognitive difficulty of categorizing information is an important factor in explaining how people organize their desks. Computer-based systems can help with this difficulty by: (a) doing as much
automatic classification
as possible (e.g., based on access dates), and by (b) including untitled “piles” of information arranged by physical location as well as explicitly titled and logically arranged “files”.
Evaluation of offices (Panel Session)
Authors: Harless William
Published: June 2007

The purpose of this panel is two-fold: 1) To clarify some of the social and behavioral issues in the evaluation of office information systems (OIS); and 2) to promote interaction between a few of the leading social and computer scientists in the field of OIS.

Inherent in the OIS setting is the direct association of non-technical people with sophisticated computer terminals. In the early stages this meant clerical staff using word processors. But currently OIS implementors are focusing on decision making processes of “knowledge workers” (including executives). By doing so these implementors find themselves face-to-face with the complex sociological, psychological, and technological problems of person-machine interaction. Issues abound - some subtle, some not so subtle, and social scientists are gathering in scores to get involved in the movement.
Message files
Authors: Tsichritzis D. , Christodoulakis S.
Published: June 2007

Consider an office information system and the messages which circulate within it. We will assume for the purpose of this paper that the messages are text messages in machine readable form. We are interested in designing a message filing capability which has the following characteristics:

1) It can deal with a wide variety of messages

2) It can retrieve the messages in a flexible manner

3) It provides a simple and uniform interface to the user

4) It can be implemented efficiently for a large volume of messages

We define messages as consisting of a
header
and a
body
[Kirstein]. The header contains formatted data representing the most important characteristics of the messages, e.g., sender, date, destination, etc. The body is text consisting of a series of words. We will denote by
A
0
,
A
1
,. . .
A
n
the attributes of the header.
A
0
is a special attribute which contains a unique system-wide identifier for the message. The body will be denoted as an attribute B of type text. A particular message will be represented as (
a
0
,
a
1
. . .
a
0
,
b
). All messages do not have to be of the same type. Each type of message, however, is represented by a set of attributes and a body. In the two extreme cases we have the message type (
A
0
,
B
), i.e., documents and (
A
0
,
A
1
,. . . ,
A
n
), i.e., records. Forms as messages can be represented as (
A
0
. . . ,
A
n
,
B
) with the additional stipulation that the values of A's are dispersed within B.
A modelling tool for office information systems
Authors: Lebensold J. , Radhakrishnan T. , Jaworski W. M.
Published: June 2007

Application of ABL, Alternative Based Language, to modelling office information systems is described. This language is powerful for the description of parallelisms and is amenable to stepwise refinement. After studying the different OIS modelling tools, we propose eight requirements of a good modelling tool and examine how well ABL fulfills these requirements. Some capabilities of the ABL environment and user interface are demonstrated. We present the ABL description of an order processing office.
Hepatocyte nuclear factor-4 mediates apolipoprotein A-IV transcriptional regulation by fatty acid in newborn swine enterocytes
Authors: Leng Shuangying , Lu Song , Yao Ying , Kan Zhisheng , Morris Gabriel S. , Stair Brad R. , Cherny Mathew A. , Black Dennis D.
Published: June 2007

Hepatocyte nuclear factor-4α (HNF-4α) regulates transcription of several genes involved in lipid metabolism, including that of apolipoprotein (apo) A-IV, which is tightly regulated by lipid absorption and enhances enterocyte chylomicron secretion. Studies were performed to define the role of HNF-4α in the regulation of apo A-IV gene transcription by dietary fatty acid in neonatal swine small intestine. HNF-4α mRNA was expressed in liver > intestine > kidney in suckling, weanling, and weaned pigs. Jejunal HNF-4α mRNA and protein and apo A-IV and swine microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP) large subunit mRNA expression were induced in parallel in 2-day-old swine by a 24-h high-fat intraduodenal infusion. In IPEC-1 cells, incubation with oleic acid (OA) resulted in coordinate induction of both HNF-4α, apo A-IV, and MTP mRNA, similar to that observed in vivo. When HNF-4α expression was driven by doxycycline by using the TET-On system in the absence of OA to observe the effect of HNF-4α directly on apo A-IV and MTP mRNA levels in the absence of other factors that might be concomitantly induced by fatty acid absorption, apo A-IV and MTP expression were increased. In luciferase reporter gene assays in IPEC-1 cells using apo A-IV/C-III intergenic region constructs, TET-On-regulated HNF-4α expression without OA increased luciferase activity, and incubation with OA did not further increase activity. These data suggest that acute induction of the apo A-IV and MTP genes by dietary lipid in newborn intestine occurs, at least in part, via ligand-independent transactivation by HNF-4α that is itself induced by a lipid-mediated mechanism.
Limb-specific differences in flow-mediated dilation: the role of shear rate
Authors: Nishiyama Steven K. , Walter Wray D. , Berkstresser Kimberly , Ramaswamy Murali , Richardson Russell S.
Published: June 2007

We sought to examine flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD) in both the arm [brachial artery (BA)] and lower leg [popliteal artery (PA)] of 12 young, healthy subjects. Vessel diameter, blood velocity, and calculated shear rate were determined with ultrasound Doppler following a suprasystolic cuff occlusion (5 min) in both the BA and PA and an additional reduced occlusion period (30–120 s) in the BA to more closely equate the shear stimulus observed in the PA. The BA revealed a smaller diameter and larger postischemic cumulative blood velocity [area under curve (AUC)] than the PA, a combination that resulted in an elevated postcuff cumulative shear rate (AUC) in the BA (BA: 25,419 ± 2,896 s−1·s, PA 8,089 ± 1,048 s−1·s; P < 0.05). Thus, when expressed in traditional terms, there was a tendency for the BA to have a greater FMD than the PA (6.5 ± 1.0 and 4.5 ± 0.8%, respectively; P = 0.1). However, when shear rate was experimentally matched (PA: 4.5 ± 0.8%; BA: −0.4 ± 0.4%) or mathematically normalized (PA: 6.8 × 10−4± 1.6 × 10−4%Δ/s−1·s; BA: 2.5 × 10−4± 0.4 × 10−4%Δ/s−1·s), the PA revealed a greater FMD per unit of shear rate than the BA ( P < 0.05). These data highlight the importance of assessing the shear stimulus to which each vessel is exposed and reveal limb-specific differences in flow-mediated dilation.
Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase Activity Is Essential for Vasodilation During Blood Flow Recovery but not for Arteriogenesis
Authors: Mees Barend , Wagner Shawn , Ninci Elena , Tribulova Silvia , Martin Sandra , van Haperen Rien , Kostin Sawa , Heil Matthias , de Crom Rini , Schaper Wolfgang
Published: June 2007

Objective—

Arteriogenesis is the major mechanism of vascular growth, which is able to compensate for blood flow deficiency after arterial occlusion. Endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) activity is essential for neovascularization, however its specific role in arteriogenesis remains unclear. We studied the role of eNOS in arteriogenesis using 3 mouse strains with different eNOS expression.

Methods and Results—

Distal femoral artery ligation was performed in eNOS-overexpressing mice (eNOStg), eNOS-deficient (eNOS
−/−
) mice, and wild type (WT) controls. Tissue perfusion and collateral-dependent blood flow were significantly increased in eNOStg mice compared with WT only immediately after ligation. In eNOS
−/−
mice, although tissue perfusion remained significantly decreased, collateral-dependent blood flow was only decreased until day 7, suggesting normal, perhaps delayed collateral growth. Histology confirmed no differences in collateral arteries of eNOStg, eNOS
−/−
, and WT mice at 1 and 3 weeks. Administration of an NO donor induced vasodilation in collateral arteries of eNOS
−/−
mice, but not in WT, identifying the inability to vasodilate collateral arteries as main cause of impaired blood flow recovery in eNOS
−/−
mice.

Conclusions—

This study demonstrates that eNOS activity is crucial for NO-mediated vasodilation of peripheral collateral vessels after arterial occlusion but not for collateral artery growth.
Disruption of Planar Cell Polarity Signaling Results in Congenital Heart Defects and Cardiomyopathy Attributable to Early Cardiomyocyte Disorganization
Authors: Phillips Helen M. , Rhee Hong Jun , Murdoch Jennifer N. , Hildreth Victoria , Peat Jonathan D. , Anderson Robert H. , Copp Andrew J. , Chaudhry Bill , Henderson Deborah J.
Published: June 2007

The
Drosophila scribble
gene regulates apical-basal polarity and is implicated in control of cellular architecture and cell growth control. Mutations in mammalian
Scrib
(
circletail
;
Crc
mutant) also result in abnormalities suggestive of roles in planar cell polarity regulation. We show that
Crc
mutants develop heart malformations and cardiomyopathy attributable to abnormalities in cardiomyocyte organization within the early heart tube. N-Cadherin is lost from the cardiomyocyte cell membrane and cell–cell adhesion is disrupted. This results in abnormalities in heart looping and formation of both the trabeculae and compact myocardium, which ultimately results in cardiac misalignment defects and ventricular noncompaction. Thus, these late abnormalities arise from defects occurring at the earliest stages of heart development. Mislocalization of Vangl2 in
Crc/Crc
cardiomyocytes suggests Scrib is acting in the planar cell polarity pathway in this tissue. Moreover, double heterozygosity for mutations in both
Scrib
and
Vangl2
can cause cardiac defects similar to those found in homozygous mutants for each gene but without other major defects. We propose that heterozygosity for mutations in different genes in the planar cell polarity pathway may be an important mechanism for congenital heart defects and cardiomyopathy in humans.
Sex Differences in Schizophrenia
Authors: Chu Chung-Chou , Abi-Dargham Annisse' , Ackerman Bette , Cetingok Maummer , Klein Helen E.
Published: June 2007

Demographic and clinical characteristics of 275 schizophrenics consecutively admitted to seven hospitals were examined. Males were younger than females when first hospitalized, diagnosed and treated. Psychiatrists rated on two rating scales by using a structured interview to compare the symptomatology. Female schizophrenics were more agitated, inappropriate, silly, irrelevant, over-talkative, and exhibiting more flight of ideas, while male schizophrenics were more slowed, hypoactive, grandiose, withdrawn, and showing more blocking, auditory hallucinations and poor communications. Katz Adjustment Scales were rated by the patients and their relatives. Female schizophrenics were perceived by relatives to be more helpless and withdrawn-depressed than male schizophrenics.
Characteristics of a Rural Area Community Mental Health Programme County Caroni
Authors: Maharaj Krishna , Parasram Rampersad
Published: June 2007

The paper describes characteristics and trends in a rural area Community Mental Health programme. Research done by the mental health team supports some of the previously held notions on alcoholism and dispels some myths about parasuicide and suicide. Education at all levels continues to be an important preventative measure in the fight against drug abuse. The effort to set up an Alcohol and Referral Center is partly thwarted by poor community resources. The mental health team has had to enlist the support of service organizations in their educational programmes. More work needs to be done in the area of psychogeriatrics, rehabilitation and family life. The need for closer links between governmental agencies and the community is emphasized.
Help-Seeking Preference of College Students in Urban China After the Implementation of the "Open-Door" Policy
Authors: Kam Weng Boey
Published: June 2007

A sample of 466 college students (228 males, 238 females) in urban China completed a questionnaire to indicate their help-seeking preferences with respect to 8 types of problem. The results indicated that our subjects, particularly male students, preferred to rely on their own in resolving their problems, although this self-reliant tendency was less obvious for problems of future employment and severe psychological distress. When help was sought, the tendency to rely on parents was found to be stronger among females than males. Male students were more likely than their female counterparts to seek help from friends and psychiatric consultation. Nevertheless, there was still great reluctance among the college students to use mental health services, particularly psychiatric consultation. Lack of credibility of the professionals was a barrier more negative than stigmatization which prevented students from seeking psychiatric consultation. Moral rather than psychosocial attribution of psychiatric illness was most predictive of the tendency to use mental health services. Findings inconsistent with those reported in other Chinese communities are discussed.
The Relationship of Causal Beliefs and Contact With Users of Mental Health Services To Attitudes To the 'Mentally Ill'
Authors: Read John , Law Alan
Published: June 2007

Programmes to destigmatise 'mental illness' have traditionally been based on the 'mental illness is an illness like any other' metaphor and have been largely unsuccessful. By measuring attitudes towards, and etiology beliefs about, 'mental illness' before and after a series of four undergraduate lectures presenting the psychosocial causes of, and solutions to, severe mental health problems, this study (a) replicated previous studies demonstrating a relationship between biogenetic causal beliefs and negative attitudes towards 'mental patients'; (b) found that following the lectures attitudes improved, particularly around the key variables of dangerousness and unpredictability; and (c) demonstrated that amount of contact with people who had received psychiatric treatment was an even stronger predictor of positive attitudes than acceptance of a psychosocial perspective.
Quality of Life and New Antipsychotics in Schizophrenia Are Patients Better Off?
Authors: Awad A. George , Voruganti Lakshmi N.P.
Published: June 2007

The recent introduction of several antipsychotic medications has raised expectations for better pharmacological management of schizophrenia. Although conventional and new neuroleptics (Risperidone, Olanzapine, Seroquel and soon to be released Ziprasidone) are generally comparable in terms of efficacy; the new antipsychotic medications possess a better side-effects profile and are overall, much better tolerated. The reintroduction of Clozapine as an effective antipsychotic for treatment refractoriness has also improved management for a segment of the schizophrenic population who failed to respond adequately to other antipsychotic medications. Such increased benefits from new antipsychotic medications come with a higher acquisition cost that has somewhat strained the historically low psychiatric budgets. The question then was whether the expected benefits of the new antipsychotics can offset the high cost of these medications in the long-term. In that context, quality of life assessment has provided a tool for the comparative analysis of new and conventional antipsychotic medications, particularly regarding their impact on functional status and satisfaction. In a recently concluded study, we demonstrated that the new antipsychotic medications are subjectively much better tolerated and have a more favourable impact on quality of life compared with conventional neuroleptics. The ultimate question is whether such favourable benefits can translate in the future into better compliance with medications and improved long-term outcomes.
Therapeutic Relationships and Quality of Life: Association of Two Subjective Constructs in Schizophrenia Patients
Authors: McCabe Rosemarie , Röder-Wanner Ute-Ulrike , Hoffmann Karin , Priebe Stefan
Published: June 2007

Subjective quality of life is an important criterion in outcome evaluation that has been well-researched in psychiatry. By comparison, the therapeutic relationship which may also be subjectively assessed has been relatively neglected as an outcome criterion although it has predictive power in relation to outcome. This exploratory study investigated subjective quality of life and therapeutic relationships in first-admission (N = 90) and long-term (N=168) schizophrenia patients, each at two points of time. The follow-up period was 9 months for the first-admission sample and 1.5 years for the long-term sample. A significant relationship was found between global assessments of quality of life and therapeutic relationships in long-term, but not in first-admission patients. This finding was consistent at both assessments, suggesting that therapeutic relationships may become more central to quality of life in long-term care situations and that patients' views of this relationship are increasingly embedded in their overall appraisal of life.
The Impact of the Interviewer-Interviewee Relationship On Subjective Quality of Life Ratings in Schizophrenia Patients
Authors: Kaiser Wolfgang , Priebe Stefan
Published: June 2007

Subjective quality of life (SQOL) ratings are usually based on interviews. This study examined in which way patients' ratings differ depending on whom they are interviewed by. SQOL was assessed in 78 schizophrenia patients in an out patient clinic and in sheltered living arrangements. Using patients randomly allocated to two interview situations: one group was interviewed by external researchers, the other group by their case managers. On average, more favourable ratings were elicited by case managers. Some of the differences were statistically significant and substantial in size. Yet, opposing differences were also found regarding some life domains in one group. It may be concluded that a significant impact of the interviewer-interviewee relationship on SQOL ratings may exist, but that it is not consistent, unidirectional and uniform regarding life domains and across different settings and samples.
Meltblown Structures Formed by a Robotic and Meltblowing Integrated System: Impact of Process Parameters on Fiber Orientation and Diameter Distribution
Authors: Farer Raoul , Seyam Abdelfattah M. , Ghosh Tushar K. , Grant Eddie , Batra Subhash K.
Published: June 2007

In a previous publication, we described a novel system that forms three-dimensional (3D) structures on 3D molds and two-dimensional (2D) structures on a rotating drum through proper integration of a laboratory scale meltblown unit with a small die and a six-axis robot. In this paper, we investigate the impact of take-up speed. die-to-collector distance (DCD). polymer throughput rate. and attenuating air pressure on the fiber orien tation and diameter distribution of 2D structures formed by the system. We introduce a new parameter, the fiber stream approach angle, which can be precisely controlled by the robot, and discuss its impact on the meltblown structure. In the experimental range studied, fiber orientation and diameter distribution are significantly impacted by the parameters. Among these parameters. the fiber stream approach angle shows the highest effect on fiber orientation distribution.
The Control of Carding Wastes
Authors: Bogdan J.F.
Published: June 2007

Carding wastes can be reduced on the average by about one-half (23/4 % of lap weight) without lowering yarn appearance or yarn strength. Flat strips and motes and fly comprise about 3/4 of the total carding wastes; it is in the control of these wastes that the greatest saving is realized.
Cotton Fiber Length Distribution— An Important Quality Factor
Authors: Wakeham Helmut
Published: June 2007

Recent cotton processing studies conducted by Textile Research Institute have demonstrated that the presence of a large number of short fibers in cotton causes appre ciable increases in processing wastes, excessively uneven rovings and yarns, less efficient spinning, and weaker yarns than would otherwise be expected. The present paper outlines various methods of measuring fiber length distribution and of indicating ex cessive quantities of short fibers in the sample.

Four case histories demonstrating the inferior quality of cottons containing excessive quantities of short fibers are described. These show the effects of improper drying prior to ginning, overprocessing during cleaning, and microbiological attack (cavitoma). In all cases the importance of fiber length distribution as a cotton quality factor is emphasized.
Nutrition Support of the Diabetic Patient
Authors: Sunyecz Lisa A. , Cicci Anita J. , Mirtallo Jay M.
Published: June 2007

Diabetes, as the component of the past medical history of individuals requiring nutrition support, poses specific problems to the clinician managing the patient. Besides an exaggerated glucose response to nutritional intervention, diabetics may have conditions or treatments that increase the morbidity and mortality associated with nutrition support therapy. As such, nutritional intervention should only be considered in patients for whom therapy is appropriately indicated. Then, the caloric dose, rate, and route of enteral and parenteral nutrition needs to be determined precisely. Glucose homeostasis along with etiologies and clinical manifestations of hyper- and hypoglycemia are to be clearly understood before initiating any nutritional support therapy in the diabetic. Without such, confusion may arise in determining the etiology of glucose problems occurring in patients from all the possible variables that influence the final serum glucose concentration in the patient. A cautious approach to initiating nutrition support is recommended, starting with low flow rates (10 to 20 mL/h for enteral nutrition and 40 mL/h for parenteral nutrition) and gradual incremental increases (in the 10- to 20-mL/h/d range) based on careful observation of blood glucose concentrations. A goal for tolerance should be established for each patient at the beginning of therapy, specifically, acceptable peak and trough glucose concentrations. This provides an extremely good template for adjusting the route (subcutaneous or intravenous) or type (intermittent vs continuous infusion) of insulin therapy. When the nutrient dose is stabilized at the optimal rate and insulin requires no further adjustment, transition of the patient to more appropriate, chronic therapy such as long-acting insulin or oral hypoglycemics is desired. The management of the diabetic patient on nutrition support is a challenge for even the most experienced individual. The potential for complications is abundant. A cautious, conservative approach is recommended with particular attention to minimizing the sources of both glucose and insulin administration.
Mechanical reproduction and the world of the colonial artist
Authors: Mitter Partha
Published: June 2007

The article analyses the revolutionary impact of the processes of mechanical reproduction on artistic production and formation of modern identity in colonial India. Mechanical reproduction, with endless repeatability as its chief characteristic, turned India into an ‘iconic society’. It affected the elite as much as the underclass, as elite artists vied with artisans to capture the greatly expanding market in cheap prints. Mechanical reproduction arrived in India in two basic forms: as a source for European masterpieces for Indian artists to copy, and as inexpensive images available even to the poorest. Unlike in the West, the printed image in India rivalled painting, thereby challenging its aura of authenticity. As the pioneering printmaking firms, Calcutta Art and the Poona Chitrashala Press show, mechanical prints helped forge the Indian nation by creating a common visual culture. However, the very nature of mass reproduction itself contributed to the weakening and diluting of the monolithic character of elite nationalism.