bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Coping with urban flooding: a study of the 2009 Kurnool floods, India
Authors: Ramachandraiah C
Published: October 2011

This paper describes the flooding of Kurnool town in Andhra Pradesh, India, in October 2009 and explains how several factors combined to cause one of the worst floods in 100 years. Several areas were submerged in more than 30 feet of water and it took more than three days for the water to recede completely from the town. Drawing on official information and on the responses of affected people, the paper discusses the situation during and after the floods, especially around water and sanitation services, the distribution of relief materials and the post-flood recovery process. Based on this information, the paper proposes several recommendations that are relevant to the policy framework to handle urban floods in similar situations.
Analyzing urban layouts – can high density be achieved with good living conditions?
Authors: Patel Shirish B
Published: October 2011

The purpose of this paper is to present a new form of chart, which clarifies the inter-relationships between six fundamental urban design parameters that affect the quality and character of any urban layout. These parameters are: built-up area per capita; public ground area per capita (which includes streets and parks); plot factor (the ratio of land area given over to private development to land area available for public use, including that needed for circulation and area available for sport, recreation and public amenities (schools, hospitals, public toilets); floor space index (ratio of built-up area to buildable plot area); net density (population divided by the sum of all buildable plot areas); and gross density (population divided by total area). Mapping these six parameters in a chart shows the complicated trade-offs between one desirable feature and another, including combinations that show that higher densities do not necessarily mean small accommodation and inadequate public space – but they do mean high-rise, and there are severe limits on how high densities can go. The paper also plots diagrams that show the values of these parameters for existing localities in New York, Mumbai (including Dharavi) and Delhi. These diagrams are examples. With more data and more diagrams we might reach a better understanding of what particular values or combinations of values for these parameters we should aim for when designing a new development or modifying an old one. We might also understand the values or combinations of values that we should avoid.
Implementing urban participatory climate change adaptation appraisals: a methodological guideline
Authors: Moser Caroline , Stein Alfredo
Published: October 2011

This paper provides conceptual and methodological guidelines for researchers seeking to undertake an urban participatory climate change adaptation appraisal (PCCAA), illustrated with examples from appraisals in Mombasa (Kenya) and Estelí (Nicaragua). It highlights the importance of hearing local people’s voices regarding incrementally worsening and often unrecorded severe weather. The conceptual framework distinguishes between the analysis of asset vulnerability and the identification of asset-based operational strategies, and sets out a number of methodological principles and practices for undertaking a PCCAA. This PCCAA addressed five main themes: community characteristics; severe weather; vulnerability to severe weather; asset adaptation; and institutions supporting local adaptation. For each of these, it identified potential tools for eliciting information, illustrated by examples from Mombasa and Estelí.
Developing urban waste management in Brazil with waste picker organizations
Authors: Fergutz Oscar , Dias Sonia , Mitlin Diana
Published: October 2011

In Brazil’s large cities, more than half a million people survive by collecting and selling solid waste. Most face very poor working conditions and have very low incomes as the intermediaries to whom they sell pay low prices. Their activities are even considered illegal in some nations. But the waste pickers save city governments money, contribute to cleaner cities and reduce the volume of waste that has to be dumped (by up to 20 per cent). After describing the waste pickers and the city and national associations they have created, this paper describes the recycling industry and gives some examples of better methods of recycling. These include waste picker cooperatives that can sell the materials they collect direct to industries and that have partnerships with city governments who provide access to wastes, better prices and facilities to improve working conditions (including transferring the recycling from dumps to recycling centres).
Industry, Labour and the State
Authors: Chakravarty Deepita , Bose Indranil
Published: October 2011

Despite the pursuit of similar industrial policies during the post-1990s, Indian states have revealed divergent outcomes in industrial growth. Such divergence suggests different levels of policy implementation which itself is a result of the interplay of formal and informal institutions, historically shaped. We try to ex-plain this divergence in the context of the evolution of state–business relations in West Bengal, a coastal state in Eastern India, and unique among Indian states not only by virtue of being ruled by a Leftist regime for an uninterrupted 34 years (1977—May, 2011), but also by having witnessed a turnaround of sorts in the outlook of the former government towards private capital within this period. Our findings suggest that it is the peculiarity of institutional behaviour that determines the policy outcomes in the state. The rigidities in political as well as economic institutions in the state are prompting us to look at West Bengal as a classic case of ‘institutional stickiness’ leading to ‘path dependency’.
Testing for Simultaneity
Authors: Orji Anthony , Mba Peter N.
Published: October 2011

This work studied the relationship between foreign private investment (FPI), capital formation and economic growth. Given the likely simultaneity between FPI, capital formation and growth, we used the two-stage least squares (2SLS) method of estimation to examine the nexus between these variables using Nigerian data. We found that foreign private investment has a negative impact on capital formation in Nigeria. We also found that both foreign private investment and capital formation, in addition to other factors, significantly determine economic growth in Nigeria. The study finds that the long-run impact of capital formation, and foreign private investment on economic growth is larger than their short-run impact. There is, thus, a long-run equilibrium relationship among the variables as the error correction term is significant, but the speed of adjustment is small in both models. The 2SLS estimates are very close to the OLS estimates suggesting that OLS estimates are consistent and unbiased. Hence, endogeneity was not a problem in the estimated models. There is, therefore, no simultaneity between GDP growth and capital formation model. These findings, therefore, have some policy implications as discussed in the work.
Infrastructure and Economic Growth
Authors: Enimola Sam S.
Published: October 2011

This article analyzed theoretically and empirically the influence of infrastructure investment on economic growth in Nigeria from 1980–2006. The study employed the use of vector error correction estimate (VECM). The variables were found to be stationary at order 1, and there exists a long-run equilibrium relationship between the dependent and the explanatory variables. However, the two variables for infrastructure show a steadily declining rate on the long run as shown by the result of the variance decomposition and impulse response functions. It is suggested that the government should intensify their efforts in mobilising more resources towards the provision and improvement of basic infrastructure.
Road Transport Infrastructure and Economic Growth in India
Authors: Tripathi Shruti , Gautam Vikash
Published: October 2011

Creation of road transport infrastructure, through its direct and indirect effects, has a bearing on sustainability of growth and overall development of a country. It provides knowledge spillovers resulting from the whole agglomerated area via network dynamic externalities. The models based on cost or production function that incorporate infrastructure but simply assume a positive effect are no longer satisfactory to take to the data, because they ignore any feedback effect. In this article, therefore, we have twin objectives: first, we examine whether road transport infrastructure has a long-run equilibrium relationship with the macroeconomic variables such as output, employment and gross private capital formation or not. Second, we use vector autoregression (VAR) approach to analyse the impact of road transport infrastructure on macroeconomic variables. The elasticities that are estimated in the VAR model differ from the production function elasticities, as they incorporate feedback effect between the variables in the model, as opposed to the ‘ceteris paribus’ elasticities which are estimated in production function studies.
Institutional Actors, Learning and Agency
Authors: Anwar Nausheen H.
Published: October 2011

This article argues that conventional approaches to infrastructure reform in developing countries underestimate the agency of local actors and organisations in assisting small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) to surmount problems. It uses case study material based on Sialkot’s City Package Project to illustrate how state initiatives combined with SMEs’ efforts engendered a group-based coordination process for an endogenous solution to upgrade infrastructure. This process generated social benefits for the entire industrial district. By using ideas from the learning-centred approach, this article analyses the micro-processes and institutional arrangements of building state–SME relations for solving infrastructure problems. It concludes by reflecting on the need to rethink the strategic role of actors and institutions for SMEs’ infrastructure needs in industrial and regional development.
Advanced Processing of Collocated Acceleration Signals in Symmetric Beam-Like Structures With Applications to Damage Detection in a Propeller
Authors: Georgiou Ioannis T.
Published: October 2011

It is found that ensembles of collocated experimental acceleration signals induced by impulses applied sequentially over the surface of beam-like structures are characterized by fast-decaying POD-modal energy spectra. Governed by a power law, this type of quite fast decay directly reflects high level of spatio-temporal coherence. Collocated ensembles of acceleration signals at various locations are governed by identical POD modes representing normal modes of vibration. Thus, collocated measurements of impulse-induced acceleration signals furnish a physics-carrying spatially distributed sensing of free dynamics. In view of this fact, three accelerometers were placed on strategic locations on an aircraft propeller to acquire collocated databases and thus we obtained an optimal reduced modal characterization of impulse-induced free dynamics. Quite interesting from the standpoint of size of damage detection, it is found that the first POD mode is quite sensitive to a small defect located at one of the propeller tips. Damage size sensitivity is distributed and depends on the sensor-defect relative distance. It is enhanced considerably in regimes of initial wave-vibration transients. Using the POD modal structure, damage indices are introduced and computed at the first-POD energy level. Accurate estimates for dissipation factor are obtained via the non-linear dynamics return map notion.
Team Formation in Concurrent Engineering Using Group Technology (GT) Concepts
Authors: Aleisa Esra , Suresh Nallan C , Li Lin
Published: October 2011

Concurrent engineering (CE) has emerged as an essential design principle that facilitates rapid and efficient product development that is necessary to survive in today’s fiercely competitive environment. However, the lack of tools that address design team formulation and proper design task assignment in CE has made its application an immense challenge. In this article we explicitly address this issue by pointing out the relevance of its structure to cell-formation problem in cellular manufacturing (CM) and group technology. Particularly, interdisciplinary CE teams will be formulated as multifunctional machine-cells that process similar parts, in our case, design tasks requiring involvement of similar individuals. The fruitful marriage of the two disciplines, concurrent engineering and cellular manufacturing, opens the path towards utilizing the ample existing efficient algorithms of cellular manufacturing to concurrent engineering rather than re-inventing the wheel in developing methods in this respect. The paper in-hand also incorporate sequences (or routing in cellular manufacturing) to create work teams that can conduct similar tasks commonly known as work packages in a smoother manner that avoids unnecessary back and forth alterations and overlapping. In addition, to enable solving the task assignment problem in reasonable time for relatively larger problems, the developed framework integrates a fuzzy ART algorithm proven efficient in cellular manufacturing literature. The article also provides an illustrative example on executing the methodology on a design example and highlights its implications on task team assignments.
Are Public Universities of Bangladesh Cost Efficient? An Empirical Evidence
Authors: Mamun Shamsul Arifeen Khan
Published: October 2011

This article empirically estimates a stochastic cost function and thereby estimates local economies of scale and cost-efficiency measures of the public universities in Bangladesh. A flexible quadratic cost function, an unbalanced panel dataset and the maximum likelihood estimation technique have been used in the study. The empirical results show that though the public universities have very high relative efficiency measures, they are scale inefficient.
The Determinants of Inflation in Sri Lanka
Authors: Bandara Ranjith
Published: October 2011

A high and sustained economic growth in conjunction with low inflation is the central objective of macroeconomic policy formulation in both developed and developing countries. Further, studying inflationary processes is an important issue in the current scenario as it allows policy-makers to achieve monetary and economic targets. However, it is not an easy task, especially in developing coun-tries, where economic processes are highly unstable and volatile. The situation in Sri Lanka is not exceptional. Therefore, understanding the behaviour of inflation is vital for the policy-makers in macroeconomic management as Sri Lanka is currently moving into new era of economic development. This article investigates the determinants of inflation in Sri Lanka during 1993–2008, a period which was characterized by upward and downward trends in the economy. Vector auto-regressive (VAR) models were used to find out appropriate explanations for inflation with accompanied application of Granger Causality Tests. The overall findings of estimated VAR models imply that the money supply, exchange rate and the GDP have information which helps in exploring the behaviour of the inflation in Sri Lanka.
The Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) Agreement and Agriculture in South Asia
Authors: Hirimuthugodage Dilani
Published: October 2011

One of the main objectives of the World Trade Organization (WTO) is to facilitate world’s trade and production. It enforces legally binding multilateral agreements on trade in goods, services and trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights. The Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) Agreement was implemented to regulate standards of Intellectual Property (IP) regulations in WTO member countries. Being a member of the WTO and a signatory to the TRIPs Agreement, it was compulsory for Sri Lanka and five other South Asian countries (Bangladesh, Nepal, the Maldives, India and Pakistan) to formulate its IP regulations to comply with the TRIPs Agreement. According to the agreement, by 2006 India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and by 2013 Bangladesh and Nepal have to provide legal protection to plant varieties and farmers’ traditional knowledge via patents or by an effective sui generis system or by both. All of the above six countries have during the past 15 years implemented or drafted several acts to comply with the TRIPs Agreement. Sri Lanka has passed the Intellectual Property Rights Act No. 36 of 2003 to comply with the TRIPs Agreement. However, this Act does not provide protection for plant varieties and farmers’ traditional knowledge as it does not allow patenting of plants. Due to several reasons such as lack of demand from civil society, a poor legal system, lack of properly established institutional system, etc,. Sri Lanka was unable to build an effective intellectual property rights regime complying with the agreement, especially for the agricultural sector. Further, due to a delay in establishing rules and regulations to comply with the agreement, the Sri Lankan agricultural sector faces several difficulties in international trade and it has also lost a number of opportunities to use its own plant varieties for the benefit of future generations. The article suggests several techniques and methods that could be followed in implementing intellectual property rights in agriculture in order to promote investments and accelerate trade especially in Sri Lanka. And also it suggests the importance of having a regional centre to manage intellectual property rights effectively among South Asian countries.
‘National’ citizenship in the UK? Education and naturalization policies in the context of internal division
Authors: Kiwan Dina
Published: October 2011

Over the last 10 years in the UK, there have been various citizenship policy developments in the domains of education and naturalization. These developments can be contextualized in relation to the UK government’s concern with promoting the significance of ‘national’ (or state-level) citizenship, against a backdrop of perceived internal division — namely devolution and immigration — as well as policy attempts to promote community cohesion in the wake of security threats. Drawing on the UK context, I make two key arguments regarding the relation between education and naturalization. The first is that discourses of naturalization are framed in educative terms. Second, I examine naturalization and education policy in the UK’s multination context of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. I illustrate that policymakers’ conceptions of ‘successful’ citizenship integration are currently based on limited conceptions of both citizenship and learning. I propose that social constructivist conceptions of learning provide a more productive framework for understanding citizenship, learning for citizenship and integration.
Living in Arizona
Authors: Altheide David L. , Johnson John M.
Published: October 2011

Two sociologists reflect on nearly 4 decades of living in Arizona, which has emerged as a center of reactionary politics. Draconian immigration policies are contextualized with a gun culture, demographic shifts, and a mass media emphasis on fear. Comparisons with the national crime and social control agenda are offered.
The Hate Narrative Against Public Employees, Educators, and Unions
Authors: Goodall H. L. (Bud)
Published: October 2011

This essay provides a rhetorical and narrative analysis of the hate narrative directed at public employees, educators, and unions by right wing Republican leaders and spokespersons. It locates specific political issues within a broader framework that depicts those of us on the left who are gainfully employed in professions, careers, and jobs that are in the public interest as enemies of capitalism, liberty, and freedom. The success of this right wing narrative cannot be denied but it may be resisted if those of us who are negatively affected by it get behind a core message that emphasizes the democratic ideal of the public good.
“A Well-Regulated Faculty …”
Authors: Lincoln Yvonna S.
Published: October 2011

Calls for accountability, long the focus of stewardship for public monies and public employment in institutions of higher education, have now exceeded their original purposes. The growing “managerialism” and corporatization of public universities had created an “audit culture,” one effect of which is to regulate the use of faculty time away from teaching, research, service and student advising and toward multiple, and often overlapping, reporting requirements. Several examples from three separate states are offered as brief examples of the restrictions created by institutions and legislatures on the freedom to teach, as well as academic freedom more broadly. I argue that increasing calls for accountability as well as legislative regulations on teaching and student challenges to teaching effectively abridge long-standing faculty rights and absorb critical time for thinking, teaching, research and even public service the traditional missions of a university.
Anything Can Happen and Does
Authors: St. Pierre Elizabeth Adams
Published: October 2011

Using the work of Michel Foucault and Gilles Deleuze, the author discusses the shift from sovereign to disciplinary to control societies, all of which exist today simultaneously. Freedom is described differently, but is possible, in each kind of society. The recent failure of the economic sector in Western control societies may or may not indicate a loosening of their neoliberal values, structures, and practices, but recent revolutions in the Mideast encourage multiple analyses of freedom-work, which, given the kind of society, may be grand, large-scale revolutions and also small, everyday practices of resistance.
The Political Paranoid in Contemporary Politics
Authors: Dimitriadis Greg
Published: October 2011

In this brief essay, I take up Hofstadter’s The Paranoid Style in American Politics (1964) to discuss key social and psychic energies at work across the United States today. Although they have longstanding roots in the United States, these paranoid tendencies have only intensified in recent years. I see this in two, intertwined ways–new social and psychic vulnerabilities as well as the rise of so-called “eliminationist” rhetoric.
Effects of gas carbonitriding process on surface characteristics of new hot working tool steel
Authors: Fares M L , Talhi A , Chaoui K , Touhami M Z
Published: October 2011

Gaseous carbonitriding effects on improvement of surface characteristics of new hot working tool steel close to as either chromium AISI H11 or AISI H13 are investigated. Experimental results are related to three aspects: formed layers, microstructure and obtained precipitates. The formed layers are characterised by their basic properties, which are thickness, depth, formed phases, hardness and wear resistance. Microstructure and the diffusion mechanism suggested that high temperature gas carbonitriding process has the potential of improving the mechanical properties with shorter processing time. The arrangement of carbonitrides, nitrides, chromium oxides and retained austenite and Fe3C carbides allowed obtaining tool performance from the moderate low mass. Microstructural characterisations were performed by metallographic techniques, electron dispersive energy, X-ray diffraction techniques, optical and scanning electron microscopy and glow discharge optical electron spectroscopy. The mechanical properties were assessed mainly by standard hardness and wear tests.
Surface modification of hollow carbon fibres using plasma treatment
Authors: Chih Y K , Hwang J , Kou C S , Chuang C C , Hu J L , Lee J M , Chang S C , Row L C , Cheng S H , Chen J P
Published: October 2011

A plasma treatment is developed to modify the surfaces of micrometre sized hollow carbon fibres. After oxidisation and activation, hollow carbon fibres exhibit pores on the outer surfaces. With a further treatment in a mixed plasma of CH4–H2 at 3000 W for 2 h, many cavities of about 3–5 μm in size are formed by plasma etching on the outer and inner surfaces. Nanoscale whiskers are uniformly distributed inside the cavities by plasma deposition. The ID/ IG Raman ratio increases from 2·09 to 5·93 after the plasma treatment, suggesting that graphite crystallite size has been reduced from 2·11 to 0·74 nm. The nanoscale whiskers are disorder graphite and are aligned inside the micrometre scale cavities. A whisker/cavity structure is generated on the outer and inner surfaces of the hollow carbon fibres.
Spectrally selective Al/AlN/Al/AlN tandem solar absorber by inline reactive ac magnetron sputtering
Authors: Chen C W , Chen D Y , Hsu C Y , Chang Y H , Hou K H
Published: October 2011

Spectrally selective Al/AlN/Al/AlN tandem solar absorbers were deposited onto soda lime glass substrates using inline ac magnetron sputtering in a reactive atmosphere containing argon and nitrogen. To achieve a reproducible and homogenous deposition process, the deposition of multilayer Al/AlN/Al/AlN films under different process conditions was investigated. Two main variables, ac power and the speed of substrate movement in the chamber, were varied in the ranges of 1–10 kW and 10·47–31·4 mm s−1 respectively to obtain films with high absorption and low emittance. The effects of film thickness of different layers and deposition conditions on the optical performance of selective coatings were also studied. Structural features and surface morphology of the films were investigated by X-ray diffraction and field emission scanning electron microscopy analyses respectively. In the present study, tandem solar absorber films deposited onto glass substrate with optimised sputtering parameters can consistently achieve solar absorptance α of 0·864 and thermal emittance ϵ of 0·03 at 80°C.
Bioactive glass coatings: A review
Authors: Sola A , Bellucci D , Cannillo V , Cattini A
Published: October 2011

Bioactive glasses, discovered by Hench and co-workers at the end of the 1960s, are among the most promising biomaterials for bone repair and reconstruction, mainly thanks to their high bioactivity index. Unfortunately, due to their brittleness and relatively poor mechanical properties, their clinical applications are limited to non-load bearing implants. However, bioactive glasses can be successfully employed as coatings on bioinert metallic substrates, in order to combine high bioactivity with mechanical strength. After a brief introduction to the main properties of biomaterials and bioactive glasses, the present paper provides an overview of the different approaches and available techniques to realise bioactive glass coatings, with a particular emphasis on thermal spray, which is nowadays one of the most popular coating procedures.
Amino surface modification of Fe3O4/SiO2 nanoparticles for bioengineering applications
Authors: Khosroshahi M E , Ghazanfari L
Published: October 2011

The purpose of this research was to synthesise Fe3O4/SiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) modified by amine groups for bioengineering applications. Magnetic iron oxide NPs were prepared via coprecipitation. The NPs were then modified with a thin layer of amorphous silica, as described by Stober. The particle surface was then terminated with amine groups. The results showed that smaller particles can be synthesised by decreasing the NaOH concentration, which, in the present case, corresponded to 35 nm using 0·9M NaOH at 750 rev min−1 with a specific surface area of 41 m2 g−1. For uncoated Fe3O4 NPs, the results showed an octahedral geometry with saturation magnetisation range of 80–100 emu g−1 and coercivity of 80–120 Oe for particles between 35 and 96 nm respectively. The Fe3O4/SiO2 NPs with 50 nm particle size demonstrated a magnetisation value of 30 emu g−1. The stable magnetic fluid contained well dispersed Fe3O4/SiO2/3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane NPs, which indicated fast magnetic response.
Gaseous carburising of self-passivating Fe–Cr–Ni alloys in acetylene–hydrogen mixtures
Authors: Christiansen T L , Hummelshøj T S , Somers M A J
Published: October 2011

Gaseous carburising of self-passivating Fe–Cr–Ni alloys in acetylene–hydrogen was investigated for temperatures up to 823 K. Acetylene–hydrogen gas mixtures allow both the activation of the surface and the subsequent carburising at a high and adjustable carburising potential. For relatively low temperatures, carbon stabilised expanded austenite develops, which has high hardness, while retaining the corrosion performance of the untreated alloy; for relatively high temperatures, Cr based carbides develop, and eventually, the material deteriorates by metal dusting corrosion.
Study of Sylvilagusrabbit TRIM5α species-specific domain: how ancient endoviruses could have shaped the antiviral repertoire in Lagomorpha
Authors: de Matos Ana Lemos , van der Loo Wessel , Areal Helena , Lanning Dennis K , Esteves Pedro J
Published: October 2011

Background

Since the first report of the antiretroviral restriction factor TRIM5α in primates, several orthologs in other mammals have been described. Recent studies suggest that leporid retroviruses like RELIK, the first reported endogenous lentivirus ever, may have imposed positive selection inTRIM5αorthologs of the European rabbit and European brown hare. Considering that RELIK must already have been present in a common ancestor of the leporid generaLepus,SylvilagusandOryctolagus, we extended the study of evolutionary patterns of TRIM5α to other members of the Leporidae family, particularly to the genusSylvilagus. Therefore, we obtained theTRIM5αnucleotide sequences of additional subspecies and species of the three leporid genera. We also compared lagomorph TRIM5α deduced protein sequences and establishedTRIM5αgene and TRIM5α protein phylogenies.

Results

The deduced protein sequence of Iberian hare TRIM5α was 89% identical to European rabbit TRIM5α, although high divergence was observed at the PRYSPRY v1 region between rabbit and the identified alleles from this hare species (allele 1: 50% divergence; allele 2: 53% divergence). A high identity was expected between theSylvilagusandOryctolagusTRIM5α proteins and, in fact, theSylvilagusTRIM5α was 91% identical to theOryctolagusprotein. Nevertheless, the PRYSPRY v1 region was only 50% similar between these genera. Selection analysis of Lagomorpha TRIM5α proteins identified 25 positively-selected codons, 11 of which are located in the PRYSPRY v1 region, responsible for species specific differences in viral capsid recognition.

Conclusions

By extending Lagomorpha TRIM5α studies to an additional genus known to bear RELIK, we verified that the divergent species-specific pattern observed between theOryctolagusandLepusPRYSPRY-domains is also present inSylvilagusTRIM5α. This work is one of the first known studies that compare the evolution of the antiretroviral restriction factor TRIM5α in different mammalian groups, Lagomorpha and Primates.
Domesticity beyond Sentiment: Edith Wharton, Decoration, and Divorce
Authors: Fraiman Susan
Published: October 2011

Fraiman's essay challenges the usual conflation—generally unquestioned in discussions of nineteenth-century U.S. culture—of domestic preoccupations with sentimental views of family and femininity. It does so by turning to Edith Wharton, whose devotion to houses and interior design was evident both in her first publication, The Decoration of Houses (1897), and in her home the Mount, built in keeping with Decoration's vision. Yet Wharton's house-love, far from celebrating sentimental attachments, may be seen as the opposite: an expression of unhappiness in her marriage, anticipating her eventual divorce in 1913. The Mount was carefully designed to provide Wharton with her own quarters, segregated from her husband's as well as from the public rooms below. Withdrawing there to write, she developed as a professional novelist not by fleeing the domestic but rather by claiming a second order of privacy within the private sphere. The Decoration of Houses offers another example of domestic space reimagined to resist rather than embrace familial ties. Fraiman links the book's fifty-six photographs of immaculate, museum-like rooms to a fantasy of home purged of literal and emotional mess—purged, indeed, of people altogether. The book's seeming hostility to family life is all the more striking in contrast to a rival design manual, Clarence Cook's The House Beautiful (1877), whose sentimental sketches of husbands, wives, babies, and tea kettles insist that marriage and domesticity are happily inseparable. Examining Wharton's revisionary, extramarital domesticity, Fraiman invites scholars on the Left to own this much maligned category as one available for various ideological ends.
The Production of Nativity in Early Syrian Immigrant Literature
Authors: Rana Swati
Published: October 2011

Rana's essay reads two pioneering works by Syrian immigrant writers, Ameen Rihani's The Book of Khalid (1911) and Abraham Rihbany's A Far Journey (1914), that inaugurate Arab American fiction and autobiography, respectively. She shows how both texts proliferate myths of origin, attributions of kinship, and figurations of birth and rebirth, constructing a literary discourse of immigrant nativity—what Rana understands as the production of belonging by immigrants. Although Rihani and Rihbany cannot claim to have been born in the United States, they nonetheless imagine ways of “going native,” conceiving an American nativity that is subject to the modifications of their immigrant status. She positions these marginalized texts in relation to the canonical mainstream of American literature, showing how they adapt American transcendentalism and Anglo-American Protestantism in the course of their production of nativity. In these works, a remarkable literary structure of Orientalism emerges, characterized not so much by the binary teleology of “East” and “West” as by the typological circularity of these constructs. Ultimately, this essay reveals how early Syrian immigrants have contributed to the vexed proximity of the Middle East and the United States, proposing that we explore the broader archive of immigrant Americanism that subtends, but also redefines, the terms of American hegemony.
“Simply by Reacting?”: The Sociology of Race and Invisible Man's Automata
Authors: Selisker Scott
Published: October 2011

This essay considers Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man (1952) from the standpoint of its influential depiction of African Americans as automata. Through Ellison's other writings, including his review of Gunnar Myrdal's An American Dilemma (1944) and his unpublished drafts of Invisible Man, the essay links the political concerns of the novel with Ellison's and others' resistance to a midcentury ideology of scientism. This scientism, which characterizes both the sociological construction of the so-called “Negro problem” and Ellison's representation of a scientifically oriented Communist Party, takes on its literary expression through Ellison's satirical use of the automaton. The novel repeatedly stages the ethical and ontological dilemma in which viewers are momentarily uncertain whether they are looking at a person or an automaton, which the essay links with Ellison's numerous discussions of African American political views as “reactions” rather than actions in their own right. For Ellison, Myrdal and the novel's Communist Brotherhood share a perspective limited by a “scientific” distance from, and instrumental treatment of, African Americans. This link, the essay argues, recasts the novel's anti-Communism as primarily a resistance to scientism at the same time that it foregrounds a new set of historical contexts through which to see one of the novel's main series of motifs.
“If You Want to Know the Truth”: Fair Use, Authenticity, and J. D. Salinger
Authors: Pecchenino Daniel
Published: October 2011

In this essay, Pecchenino uses Salinger's 1986 lawsuit against his unauthorized biographer, Ian Hamilton, and Random House, Inc. (over Hamilton's use of quotations from Salinger's personal and previously unpublished letters) to explore the highly interpretive natures of U.S. copyright and privacy laws and to show how these complexly interrelated areas of legal discourse manifest themselves in Salinger's fiction. The two opposed rulings in the case (district and appellate courts) reveal the twin purposes of copyright law: to provide the public with great art through the granting of limited monopoly rights to artists, and also to protect art (and by extension, artists) from unfair uses by the public. These two aims, which we might loosely categorize as public and private, find useful analogues in Lionel Trilling's concepts of “sincerity” and “authenticity.”

The essay then turns to Salinger's fiction, arguing that the abundance of letters quoted verbatim in his texts acknowledges the power of the personal epistle to reveal a character's authentic self. Simultaneously, Salinger's most famous character, Holden Caulfield, exhibits a deep anxiety over the act of revealing anything to anyone, in part because once he expresses himself, he is no longer in charge of what people may do with that information. Salinger's lawsuit then can be read as a protection not only of his privacy, but of his authenticity, a twentieth-century creation that is becoming a twenty-first-century obsession.
Electrocatalytic Activity for Oxygen Reduction Reaction of Pseudomorphic Pt Monolayer Prepared Electrochemically on a Au(111) Surface
Authors: Kondo Toshihiro , Song Chunli , Hayashi Naoko , Sakurai Takara , Shibata Masayo , Notsu Hideo , Yagi Ichizo
Published: October 2011

Electrocatalytic activity for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) of pseudomorphic Pt monolayer prepared electrochemically on a Au(111) surface was investigated and compared with that of a single-crystal Pt(111) electrode.
Ammonolysis of HTiNbO5–n-Propylamine Intercalation Compound
Authors: Masubuchi Yuji , Yamakami Chihiro , Motohashi Teruki , Kikkawa Shinichi
Published: October 2011

The ammonolysis reaction to form (Ti,Nb)N was enhanced by the use of HTiNbO5–n-propylamine intercalation compound as a starting material and compared with that for a simple mixture of TiO2 and Nb2O5. The ammonolysis product formed at 1200 °C was a superconductor (Tc = 15 K) with a rock-salt crystal structure having many structural defects along the stacking direction of the intercalation compound.
Morphological Variation of Peptide-synthetic Hybrid Block Copolymer Assemblies in Nonaqueous Media
Authors: Koga Tomoyuki , Koike Masato , Kamiwatari Soichi , Higashi Nobuyuki
Published: October 2011

In this communication, we demonstrate that significantly different aggregation morphologies are readily generated from a simple poly(γ-benzyl l-glutamate)/polystyrene hybrid block copolymer in nonaqueous media. These nanostructural variations were governed basically by both the solubility of each block to solvents and the character of the polypeptide block such as helix rod–coil transition.
Non-Attendance Rates in ENT Clinics Following the Implementation of 'Choose and Book'
Authors: Elloy MD , Nogueira C , Sama A
Published: October 2011

Traditionally, general practitioners (GPs) would write a referral letter to a hospital consultant requesting an appointment. The choice of hospital and specific consultant was left to the expertise of the GP. This referral would be vetted by the consultant and prioritised into a routine or urgent appointment. However, in 2005 a new system, called 'Choose and Book', was introduced. Once the patient and GP had agreed that a hospital consultation was required, the GP completed a referral letter and provided the patient with a code to access a telephone or internet booking system. This allowed patients to choose both the hospital they would attend and the consultant by whom they would be seen. Booking rules were constructed to ensure that appropriate consultations were offered.
Clinically led Commissioning: the Role of the Colleges and Specialty Associations
Authors: Horrocks Michael , Johnson Christine
Published: October 2011

Probably the most warmly received element of NHS reform in England has been the move towards clinically led commissioning. The challenge for the colleges and specialty associations will be to ensure that existing professional guidance and support mechanisms are used and further developed to support clinicians wishing to be involved in the commissioning process. The Royal College of Surgeons and the Royal College of General Practitioners have been working together in recent months to identify how best to assure this for surgery.
Surgery in the US: Where are we now and Where are we Going?
Authors: Delaney Conor P
Published: October 2011

To understand surgery in the United States requires a basic understanding of healthcare delivery in the US. While one often sees comparisons of healthcare between countries, it is more appropriate to compare the US with the continent of Europe. Models of delivery of care range from large cities with high population density and large highquality hospitals with multiple subspecialties, to areas in the centre and west of the country where patients may have to travel several hundred miles to reach a small hospital with little capability for specialty care. Furthermore, each of the 50 states has different laws, different state governments and slightly different models, priorities and payment structures for care.
Clinically Led Commissioning: Maximising Opportunity, Mitigating Risk
Authors: Poole Simon
Published: October 2011

Clinical leadership in commissioning is of course not a new idea and some might assert that the proposal to form clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) is an inevitable evolution and an opportunity for achieving better patient outcomes. A number of professional bodies, including the BMA and royal colleges, support greater involvement of clinicians in management decisions, and last month saw the publication of further evidence demonstrating the advantages of involving clinical managers in health service design.
'So exactly what does a Vice-Dean do?'
Authors: Mudford Lawrence
Published: October 2011

The election is over. You have survived the counting of the ballot papers in the Council room and the accompanying tachycardia, the congratulatory handshakes and the train journey home knowing that you have a new title and role in the Faculty. You are feeling mellow and excited at the same time as you enter the front door and then comes the killer question from one of the children – 'So exactly what does a Vice-Dean do?'
Order out of chaos in surgical training?
Authors: Williams Norman
Published: October 2011

I write this newsletter in the aftermath of the deplorable riots that took place in the major cities of our country this summer. Now that the riots have been quelled and the perpetrators dealt with by the courts we hear a cacophony of voices offering advice as to the causes of this violent upheaval. While I hesitate to draw parallels between this civil unrest and matters surgical, the clamour of voices proffering advice reminds me of the response to the health service reorganisation and, in particular, medical training and education.
National Selection into General Surgery: A Pilot Study
Authors: Lamont PM , Griffiths G , Cochrane L
Published: October 2011

General surgery training in England ceased to run through to completion of training from specialty training level one (ST1) as of August 2010. Instead, a second competitive interview to enter ST3 has been introduced. As a result, up to 180 ST3 vacancies in general surgery should become available for recruitment each year in England, according to figures obtained from Medical Specialty Training (England), the successor to Modernising Medical Careers (MMC) (personal communication). The general surgery specialist advisory committee (SAC) was asked in 2008 by MMC to consider how best to appoint to these ST3 posts. Experience from other surgical specialties has shown that a national selection process offers the potential to recruit the best core surgical trainees.
Functional outcome of staged bilateral knee replacements
Authors: Gabr A , Withers D , Pope J , Santini A
Published: October 2011

INTRODUCTION

The aim of this study was to compare the functional outcome between the first and second knee replacement in patients undergoing staged bilateral total knee arthroplasty.

METHODS

We identified 64 patients who had bilateral knee replacements and had at least one year of postoperative outcome studies. Data on pain scores, walking ability, use of walking aids, range of movement, instability, muscle strength, WOMAC® (Western Ontario and McMaster Universities) scores, SF-12 (Short Form 12) scores, American Knee Society radiological scores and length of hospital stay (LOS) were recorded. The difference in data between the first and second knee was assessed.

RESULTS

Groups remained statistically comparable between the first and second operation. Four outcomes showed a significant difference between the second and first knee. The mean score for postoperative walking ability was 4.83 (second knee) vs 4.51 (first knee) (p=0.03). The mean score for postoperative walking aid requirement was 5.73 (second knee) vs 5.46 (first knee) (p=0.01). The mean postoperative SF-12 score was 54.26 (second knee) vs 52.45 (first knee) (p=0.04). The mean LOS was 4.73 days (second knee) vs 6.16 days (first knee) (p=0.05). All other data comparisons were statistically insignificant.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients have a reduced LOS and continue to improve after the second procedure with regards to walking ability, use of walking aids and psychological wellbeing.
Are general paediatric surgery outcomes comparable between district general hospital and regional referral centres?
Authors: Prieto MC Hart , Jones PA
Published: October 2011

INTRODUCTION

This study recorded the complication rates for general paediatric surgery undertaken in our district general hospital (DGH) and compared them with the limited amount of data published in this field. There has been a gradual diminution in the numbers of general paediatric surgeons throughout the UK. The Royal College of Surgeons of England has produced guidelines to safeguard the provision of paediatric surgery in DGHs. There are minimal data on the acceptable outcomes and complication rates for elective general paediatric operations.

METHODS

The following operations undertaken by the paediatric urologist in our unit between November 2006 and May 2010 were scrutinised: orchidopexy, laparoscopy for undescended testes, herniotomy and circumcision. The results were compared to those in the literature and current guidelines. Complications were recorded via audit records, clinic letters or records of attendance at the accident and emergency department.

RESULTS

A total of 306 paediatric operations (125 orchidopexies, 28 laparoscopies, 41 herniotomies and 51 circumcisions) were undertaken over the 42-month study period. Only 4.5% of cases experienced post-operative complications. The majority of these were testicular atrophy and infection. There were no intra-operative complications.

CONCLUSIONS

In our DGH the complication rates for general paediatric operations compare favourably with those set out by the literature and guidelines, which support the training and delivery of general paediatric surgery within DGHs.