bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Bending Behavior of Hybrid-Actuated Piezoelectric Sandwich Beams
Authors: Raja S. , Sreedeep R. , Prathap G.
Published: September 2004

The finite element analysis is presented for hybrid-actuated piezoelectric sandwich beam structures. The hybrid actuation is modelled by incorporating a transversely polarized, d31-based extension actuation lamina and an axially polarized, d15-based shear actuation lamina. Further the bending behavior of sandwich beams are evaluated for various boundary conditions with segmented actuators. The active stiffening effect is assessed through bending deflection behavior. The extension and shear actuators are collocated as well as noncollocated along the length of beam to see the combined actuation effort. It is observed that for the clamped-free case, the actuation effect is augmented with collocated actuators; however this trend is not followed in the other cases. Interestingly, the non-collocated actuators show better cumulative actuation effort for different boundary conditions except in the hinged-hinged case, where shear actuation appears to be predominant. As extension and shear actuations have distinctive features, both can be employed in a non-collocated fashion for better control action.
Shape Memory Alloy in Tension and Compression and its Application as Clamping Force Actuator in a Bolted Joint: Part 2 — Modeling
Authors: Ghorashi Mehrdaad , Inman Daniel J.
Published: September 2004

The mathematical modeling of a bolted joint with a Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) actuator ring is presented. In this way, phase transformation, constitutive and displacement compatibility equations are used. The obtained model is utilized to show how the application of the SMA actuator ring in the bolted joint can help the joint to recover a significant amount of its lost clamping force. The model is run using the experimental data obtained for the Ni-55.7%wt Ti SMA in the companion paper (Part 1). The mechanical properties of SMA are calculated using the mentioned equations and compared to the experimental findings. It is observed that the final clamping force obtained theoretically is close to the measured value. The proposed method can, therefore, be a starting point in order to perform the analysis and design of bolted joints with SMA actuator rings.
Shape Memory Alloy in Tension and Compression and its Application as Clamping-Force Actuator in a Bolted Joint: Part 1 — Experimentation
Authors: Hesse Tobias , Ghorashi Mehrdaad , Inman Daniel J.
Published: September 2004

In recent years, there have been some endeavors in order to characterize and model Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) behavior both in tension and compression. However, the one-dimensional behavior of SMA has been mostly studied for the case of wire elements subjected to tension. The objective of this paper is to analyze the behavior of Ni-55.7% wt Ti SMA in tension, compression, and at various temperatures. The effects of cycling, annealing, and friction on the mechanical behavior of this material in compression are discussed as well and, where applicable, compared to those of tension. The compressed SMA rings are finally used as clamping-force actuators in loosed bolted joints. In the second part of this paper, the experimental findings are compared with the theoretical counterparts.
Dynamic Responses of Zeolite-based ER Fluid Sheared between Two Concentric Cylinders
Authors: Tian Yu , Meng Yonggang , Wen Shizhu
Published: September 2004

A Zeolite-based ER fluid was sheared in a cup-bob unit under stepwise electric field excitation. The shear stress of the ER fluid, electric current and the applied electric potential during the transient phase were recorded simultaneously with a data-acquisition system. The experiment results show that there exists a delay time of approximately 0.3 ms in shear stress following the change in electrical potential. The delay time corresponded to the time needed for the charging and the discharging of the ER fluid cell at the moments of field-on and field-off respectively, and was not influenced by the field strength and the shear rate. This result implies that the shear resistance of ER fluid does not change in the polarization and de-polarization processes. With the increase in shear rate, transient periods of stress build up and decay occurred at the switching on and switching off moments following an exponential pattern. The response time of ER fluid is discussed in the context of the designing of ER devices.
Identifying Damage Location with Admittance Signatures of Smart Piezo-Transducers
Authors: Naidu A. S. K. , Soh C. K.
Published: September 2004

Modal analysis-based damage detection techniques that use only the first few modes are not sensitive to incipient damages. The alternative of using the conventional methods to extract natural frequencies and mode shapes for higher modes is also a difficult task. In this paper, the electromechanical (E/M) impedance method integrated with a finite element (FE) model is presented as a means for damage location identification using the higher modes. Damage location is identified by correlating the changes in natural frequencies at the higher modes with the corresponding mode shapes of the undamaged structure. The natural frequency shifts of the structure are obtained from the shifts in the peaks of the E/M admittance signatures of smart piezo-transducers bonded on to the host structure. The mode shapes are obtained from the equivalent FE model of the undamaged structure. Numerical and experimental investigations of the proposed method are presented.
Topology Optimization of Smart Structures Using a Homogenization Approach
Authors: Buehler Markus J. , Bettig Bernhard , Parker Gordon G.
Published: September 2004

Engineers are often required to design mechanical structures to meet specific loading conditions. Topology optimization automates the process of finding an optimal structural design, allowing for size, shape, and topology variations. For a given set of boundary conditions and design specifications, an optimal structure is computed, based on a formulated cost function. In this paper, the optimization considers not only the distribution of conventional material, but also simultaneously the distribution of active piezoelectric material within the domain. In the formulation of the topology optimization problem, a microstructure consisting of smart as well as conventional material is used. Instances of the microstructure occur in a rectangular grid and cover the design domain. Since the microstructure is defined parametrically, the density of each material can be controlled individually at each point. This enables us to formulate the problem of finding an optimal material distribution as a parameter optimization problem. A homogenization approach is used to find and use effective material properties for the limiting case of an infinitely small microstructure. Several numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the application of the method to find structures that maximize the deflection at a point when the piezoelectric material is activated.
Fabrication of Pb(Nb,Ni)O3-Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 Piezoelectric Ceramic Fibers by Extrusion of a Sol-Powder Mixture
Authors: Qiu Jinhao , Tani Junji , Yanada Naoki , Kobayashi Yoshimasa , Takahashi Hirofumi
Published: September 2004

A study on the fabrication of Pb(Nb,Ni)O3-Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PNN-PZT) piezoelectric ceramic fibers by extrusion of a powder-sol mixture is presented. The process using extrusion of a powder-sol mixture was first applied to the fabrication of PZT fibers and its advantages were discussed in the former study. In this study, the process is applied to the fabrication of PNN-PZT fibers, and the conditions of the process, such as the viscosity adjustment of sol, the additives for suppressing hydrolysis reaction in the preparation of sol, the mixture ratio of powder and sol, and the sintering temperature, were investigated. The PNN-PZT sol functions as a binder during extrusion, but it changed into PNN-PZT crystalline during sintering so that the removal process of additives before sintering was not required. Green fibers with a diameter of about 250 mm were successfully extruded from the mixture of PNN-PZT sol and powder, with a sol to powder ratio between 1: 5 and 1: 8 (molar ratio). The microstructure, dielectric property and piezoelectric property of the fabricated fibers are investigated and compared with those of the fibers fabricated from a powder and organic binder mixture. The results show that the fibers sintered at 1200°C have good microstructure and exhibit competitive performance as the bulk material.
On the Kinematics of Deformations with Small Strain and Moderate Rotation
Authors: De Tommasi Domenico
Published: September 2004

In this paper we discuss kinematical issues of the theory of deformations resulting in a small strain accompanied by a moderate rotation. Here, by assuming appropriate measures of rotation and strain which are motivated by a scheme of approximation, we attempt to formulate a theory of small strains and moderate rotations which is consistent and independent of approximation procedures. Within this theory, we establish the characterizations of rigid and homogeneous deformations with reference to a three-dimensional continuous body.
On Essential and Non-Essential Descriptions of Multilattices
Authors: Parry G. P.
Published: September 2004

I exhibit conditions necessary and sufficient for a crystal multilattice description to be “non-essential”, and give a procedure which yields the “essential” description.
The (−1) Cosserat Eigenfunctions for Spherical Geometry with Application to Poroelasticity
Authors: Kucher V. A. , Markenscoff X. , Paukshto M. V.
Published: September 2004

The bases of the Cosserat eigenfunctions for the (−1) subspace are obtained for the inner and outer boundary value problems of traction for a sphere. The method is useful for the solution of poroelastic problems of general pressure dependence p (r, τ) in the presence of a spherical cavity as well as thermoelastic problems due to non-harmonic heat sources. An example of application to poroelastic solid containing a spherical cavity under radially dependent pore pressure is presented.
Post-Buckling Behavior of Nonlinear Elastic Beams and Three-Dimensional Frames Using the Theory of a Cosserat Point
Authors: Nadler B. , Rubin M. B.
Published: September 2004

The theory of a Cosserat point for rods has been developed to formulate the numerical solution of problems for nonlinear elastic rod and beams. This theory is fully nonlinear and can be used to model dynamic problems with large deformations and rotations. One objective of this paper is to show that this theory can be used to accurately predict the lateral buckling load and the three-dimensional post-buckling response of a cantilever beam with rectangular cross-section. The theory of a Cosserat point for homogeneous deformations is also used to formulate the theory of a flexible Cosserat joint which connects a finite set of beams at arbitrary orientations in three-space. Using this Cosserat joint and the Cosserat points for beam elements it is possible to formulate the numerical solution of problems of three-dimensional frames which are constructed by connecting beams by joints. A simple two-dimensional frame is considered, and both in-plane and out-of-plane large deformations are analyzed to test the Cosserat theory.
Influence Functions of a Point Force for Multiply Connected Kirchhoff Plates
Authors: Melnikov Yu. A.
Published: September 2004

A modified version of the classical method of functional equations is developed for accurate evaluation of the response to a transverse point concentrated force for multiply connected Kirchhoff plates. The resolving potentials are built, in this version, with the aid of Green functions of the biharmonic equation for regions of standard shape. The importance of having readily computable representations of such Green functions is emphasized. Since the observation and the source points in the resolving potentials occupy different sets, the boundary value problems to consider reduce to some functional (integral) equations with relatively smooth kernels. It is shown that not only the deflection function, but also the stress components caused by a transverse point force, are accurately computable within this approach.
Asymptotic Model of a Nonlinear Adaptive Elastic Rod
Authors: Figueiredo Isabel , Trabucho Luis
Published: September 2004

In this paper we apply the asymptotic expansion method to obtain a nonlinear adaptive elastic rod model. We first consider the model of Cowin and Hegedus with later modifications, and with a remodeling rate equation depending nonlinearly on the strain field and for a thin rod whose cross section is a function of a small parameter. Based on the asymptotic expansion method for the elastic case, we prove that, when the small parameter tends to zero the solution of the nonlinear adaptive elastic rod model converges to the leading term of its asymptotic expansion. Moreover, we show that this term is also the solution of a well-known simplified adaptive elastic model, with generalized Bernoulli-Navier equilibrium equations and a remodeling rate equation whose driving mechanism is the strain energy per unit volume, in good agreement with some of the models used in practice.
Advantages and Limitations on Processing Foods by UV Light
Authors: Guerrero-Beltr·n J. A. , Barbosa-C·novas G. V.
Published: September 2004

Fresh food products can be processed using UV light as a germicidal medium to reduce the food-borne microbial load. Water has been treated with UV light to obtain drinking water for quite some time. Pumpable fruit and vegetable products are generally very suitable for processing by UV light to reduce the microbial load. Today, most of these products are pasteurised to obtain microbiologically safe and nutritious products. However, pasteurisation can change the taste and flavour of such products because of the temperature and processing time. Juices from different sources can be treated by exposure to UV light at different doses. On the other hand, variables such as flow rate, exposure time, type of fruit product, juice colour and juice composition, among other variables, need to be studied to obtain fruit products with reduced microbial load, increased shelf life and adequate sensory and nutritional characteristics. Reduction of microbial load through UV light application as a disinfection medium for food products other than liquids is also being studied. Moreover, UV technology could be a source for pasteurisation of liquids, or disinfection of solid foods as an alternative technology, instead of thermal treatment or application of antimicrobial compounds.
Osmotic Dehydration and Freezing as Combined Processes on Apple Preservation
Authors: Bunger A. , Moyano P. C. , Vega R. E. , Guerrero P. , Osorio F.
Published: September 2004

Combined processes effects of osmotic dehydration in sucrose solutions and freezing on apple cubes preservation were analysed. Two multifactorial experimental designs, in two levels, were conducted consecutively to quantify the effects of the following factors: temperature, osmotic dehydration time, concentration of the osmotic medium and freezing rate. The response variables considered were: sensory evaluation, colour, texture, water activity ( aw) and reducing and total sugars. The first experimental design selected fast freezing as the best process to preserve texture and colour of the fruit. From the second experimental design, under fast freezing, were obtained the following optimal levels: 55 ºBx for the concentration of the osmotic medium, 35 ºC for the syrup temperature and 60 min for the osmotic dehydration time. A test of acceptability was performed under these conditions with 80 potential consumers on a 7-point hedonic scale, which gave 93% acceptance. Glass transition temperature (Tg') of the maximally cryoconcentrated liquid was –41.89 ºC for the product processed under optimum conditions. Significant correlations ( P= 0.05) were found between sensory and instrumental responses.
Effect of Kappa-Carrageenan on the Gelation of Horse Mackerel (T. Murphyi) Raw Paste Surimi-Type
Authors: Ortiz J. , Aguilera J. M.
Published: September 2004

Gelation of fresh (unfrozen) raw surimi-type paste (RS paste) from horse mackerel ( T. murphyi) was studied in the presence of-carrageenan (0.5, 1, 2% C) and KCl (0.5-2%) as a substitute for NaCl. Gelation was traced by measuring the storage modulus (G) during heating-cooling cycles. Variations in G during the heating stage of the mixed system RS-C characterised the presence of a phase separation in this stage due to C solubilitation (at about 50°C) as well as to RS gelation (35-80°C) in the mixture. It was also observed that when C was added as a single ingredient, it inhibited RS gelation as a function of its concentration (2%). Nevertheless, during the cooling stage, the final G value for the RS-2% C mixed system was greatly increased. This reinforcing would be caused by further (cold) C gelation in the mixture. It is theorised that C might act by forming ‘packed’ microgels within the RS protein gel network, which is favoured upon application of a moderate (40°C, 60min) thermal treatment rather than when an extreme (90°C, 20min) treatment is applied. On the other hand, although KCl enhanced gelation of the 2% C solution, addition of this salt to the RS-2% C mixture did not improve its gelation. Rheological information was complemented with observation of the resulting structures by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM).
Colour and Moisture Changes during the Manufacture of Iberian Dry-Cured Ham Caused by Some Biotic and Abiotic Factors
Authors: Sanabria C. , Martín-Alvarez P. J. , Carrascosa A. V.
Published: September 2004

The effects of some biotic (pig-rearing system and muscle location) and abiotic factors (processing time and drying location) on colour ( L*, a* and b*) and moisture changes during the manufacture of Iberian ham were studied. The levels of L* (from 27.14 to 44.44), a* (from 6.10 to 19.84) and b* (from 2.18 to 8.72) parameters, and moisture (from 31.71 to 75.04) decreased ( p 0.05) as processing time increased. L*, a* and b* were strongly influenced by muscle location and their values were smaller ( p 0.05) in semimembranosus than in biceps femoris, as occurred with moisture. The rearing system produced differences ( p 0.05) in a* at the first stage and in L* and b* at the final stage of processing. Drying location, probably in association with natural climatic conditions, caused differences ( p 0.05) at only the final stage of processing in a* and b* parameters. The variations in colour parameters were mainly affected by rearing system and muscle location.
Grid Network Monitoring in the European Datagrid Project
Authors: Primet Pascale Vicat-Blanc , Harakaly Robert , Bonnassieux Franck
Published: September 2004

A Grid Network monitoring and performance measurement infrastructure is a key component of a large-scale Grid. Requirements for network monitoring with respect to Grid operations as well as performance characteristics and their relevance to Grid context have to be carefully identified before realizing such a system. In this paper we analyze the main issues raised by the design, development, integration in a Grid middleware and deployment of a network monitoring infrastructure in a real Grid environment. Then we present the details of the architecture we proposed in the context of the European DataGRID project and the MapCenter tool we developed to vizualize the Grid status in real time and to give access to our measurement infrastructure.
Fault Tolerance in Message Passing Interface Programs
Authors: Gropp William , Lusk Ewing
Published: September 2004

In this paper we examine the topic of writing fault-tolerant Message Passing Interface (MPI) applications. We discuss the meaning of fault tolerance in general and what the MPI Standard has to say about it. We survey several approaches to this problem, namely checkpointing, restructuring a class of standard MPI programs, modifying MPI semantics, and extending the MPI specification. We conclude that, within certain constraints, MPI can provide a useful context for writing application programs that exhibit significant degrees of fault tolerance.
Performance Evaluation of Linear Algebra Routines
Authors: Caron E. , Desprez F. , Quinson M. , Suter F.
Published: September 2004

In this paper we presents a tool for the dynamic forecast of performance of linear algebra routine as well as communication between clusters. FAST (Fast Agent’s System Timer) is a software package allowing client applications to obtain an accurate forecast of routine needs in terms of completion time, memory space, and number of communication, as well as current system availability. FAST relies on existing low-level software packages, i.e. network and host monitoring tools, and some of our developments in sequential and parallel computational routines modeling. The FAST internals and user interface are presented, as well as experimental results and validation on different applications.
Composition of Message Passing Interface Applications over MPICH-G2
Authors: Cotronis Yiannis
Published: September 2004

Coupling grid applications requires code modification and high S/W engineering effort. We propose the Ensemble methodology in which message passing components are developed separately and applications, whether regular, irregular, SPMD or MPMD, are composed without component modification. Composed applications are pure Message Passing Interface programs running on MPICH-G2. We demonstrate our approach by developing two simplified atmospheric and ocean components, which may run on their own or coupled together (climate model) in any required configuration depending on geography or other design issues.
Building and Using a Fault-Tolerant MPI Implementation
Authors: Fagg Graham E. , Dongarra Jack J.
Published: September 2004

In this paper we discuss the design and use of a fault-tolerant MPI (FT-MPI) that handles process failures in a way beyond that of the original MPI static process model. FTMPI allows the semantics and associated modes of failures to be explicitly controlled by an application via a modified functionality within the standard MPI 1.2 API. Given is an overview of the FT-MPI semantics, architecture design, example usage and sample applications. A short discussion is given on the consequences of designing a fault-tolerant MPI both in terms of how such an implementation handles failures at multiple levels internally as well as how existing applications can use new features while still remaining within the MPI standard.
UK e-Science Programme: Next Generation Grid Applications
Authors: Hey Tony , Trefethen Anne E.
Published: September 2004

In November 2000, the government announced a new e-Science initiative in the UK with some £120m funding. In this paper we describe a range of the applications that are now on-going within the e-Science Programme and we detail one of the focuses of the e-Science Core Programme, that of building a UK e-Science Grid. We briefly discuss some of the middleware development activities in the UK and indicate where they sit in the international scene.
A Performance Analysis Tool for Interactive Applications on the Grid
Authors: Wismüller Roland , Bubak Marian , Funika Włodzimierz , Baliś Bartosz
Published: September 2004

The use of the Grid for interactive applications imposes new requirements on tools supporting performance analysis, which are not well addressed by tools available in the area of parallel and distributed programming. The two most important demands are an on-line mode of operation, and the ability to measure user-defined, application-specific metrics, such as, for example, the response time of a specific user interaction. The paper starts with an analysis of these requirements, which is based on real-world applications developed in the European CrossGrid project. The most important feature of these applications is the presence of a person in the main computing loop, who inspects intermediate results and controls the further behavior of the application. Based on the results of the requirements analysis, a new performance analysis tool G-PM is currently being implemented. The paper outlines the main ideas as well as some design details of GPM, with a focus on the concept of user-defined metrics, the possible problems of this concept, and some of its implementation aspects.
Configuring Large High-Performance Clusters at Lightspeed: A Case Study
Authors: Papadopoulos Philip M. , Papadopoulos Caroline A. , Katz Mason J. , Link William J. , Bruno Greg
Published: September 2004

Over a decade ago, the TOP500 list was started as a way to measure supercomputers by their sustained performance on a particular linear algebra benchmark. Once reserved for the exotic machines and extremely well-funded centers and laboratories, commodity clusters now make it possible for smaller groups to deploy and use high performance machines in their own laboratories. This paper describes a weekend activity where two existing 128-node commodity clusters were fused into a single 256-node cluster for the specific purpose of running the benchmark used to rank the machines in the TOP500 supercomputer list. The resulting metacluster sits on the November 2002 list at position 233. A key differentiator for this cluster is that it was assembled, in terms of its software, from the NPACI Rocks open-source cluster toolkit as downloaded from the public website. The toolkit allows non-cluster experts to deploy and run supercomputer-class machines in a matter of hours instead of weeks or months. With the exception of recompiling the University of Tennessee’s Automatically Tuned Linear Algebra Subroutines (ATLAS) library with a recommended version of the GNU C compiler, this metacluster ran a “stock” Rocks distribution. Successful first-time deployment of the fused cluster was completed in a scant 6 h. Partitioning of the metacluster and restoration of the two 128-node clusters to their original configuration was completed in just over 40 min.

This paper describes early (pre-weekend) benchmark activities to empirically determine reasonably good parameters for the High Performance Linpack (HPL) code on both Ethernet and Myrinet interconnects. It fully describes the physical layout of the machine, the description-based installation methods used in Rocks to re-deploy two independent clusters as a single cluster, and gives the benchmark results that were gathered over the 40-h period allotted for the complete experiment. In addition, we describe some of the on-line monitoring and measurement techniques that were employed during the experiment. Finally, we point out the issues uncovered with a commodity cluster of this size.

The techniques presented in this paper truly bring supercomputers into the hands of the masses of computational scientists.
A Simple MPI Process Swapping Architecture for Iterative Applications
Authors: Sievert Otto , Casanova Henri
Published: September 2004

Parallel computing is now popular and mainstream, but performance and ease of use remain elusive to many end-users. There exists a need for performance improvements that can be easily retrofitted to existing parallel applications. In this paper we present MPI process swapping, a simple performance enhancing add-on to the MPI programming paradigm. MPI process swapping improves performance by dynamically choosing the best available resources throughout application execution, using MPI process over-allocation and real-time performance measurement. Swapping provides fully automated performance monitoring and process management, and a rich set of primitives to control execution behavior manually or through an external tool. Swapping, as defined in this implementation, can be added to iterative MPI applications and requires as few as three lines of source code change. We verify our design for a particle dynamics application on desktop resources within a production commercial environment.
Romancing the Gop
Authors: Clifton Brett M.
Published: September 2004

Despite the increasing involvement of interest groups and social movement organizations in the American political system over the past few decades, only recently has some attention been given to understanding how their activities affect political parties. To investigate the relationship between parties and groups, I examine the interactions between the Christian Coalition and the Republican Party. Relying on 17 interviews with national Republican and Christian Coalition officials, and a mail survey of 423 Republican county chairs, I argue that the Christian Coalition has used electoral mobilization and policy expertise more than financial clout to influence the party. These results have important ramifications for the relationship between groups and political parties.
The Impact of Electoral Rules on Factional Competition in the Democratic South, 1919–48
Authors: Grynaviski Jeffrey D.
Published: September 2004

This article investigates the influence of electoral rules on the factional systems that emerge in the primaries of a one-party political system. It shows that at the state level, especially in gubernatorial primaries, Key (1949) is correct that Southern states did not typically follow the Duvergerian logic that for single-member districts there should be two competitors in plurality-rule primaries and three or fewer competitors in majority-rule with runoff primaries. However, it is found that Southern counties and parishes did satisfy the expectations of institutionalists. The latter finding is novel and important because it would seem to imply some form of political communication or organization that structured elections at the local level.
Analysing Structures of Party Preference in Electronic Voting Data
Authors: Laver Michael
Published: September 2004

In the 2002 Irish general election, 138,011 voters cast their ballots electronically. Election officials published full sets of electronic ballots, including candidate rankings. This article analyses these unique electronic voting data. The intention is to explore a range of features of Irish voting behaviour and draw more general inferences about the structure of voter preferences. The results reveal that most voters rank very few candidates; that the level of ‘pure’ party voting is relatively low; that many Irish voters seem in practice to use the single transferable vote electoral system as a form of ‘disapproval’ voting; and that the pattern of rankings recorded dramatically underlines the traditional ‘Fianna Fáil versus the rest’ characterization of Irish party politics.
Measuring Party Linkage across Districts
Authors: Moenius Johannes , Kasuya Yuko
Published: September 2004

In this article we suggest improved measures of ‘party linkage’ across districts. The degree of party linkage, defined as the extent to which parties are uniformly successful in winning votes across districts, is an important but neglected issue in the party politics literature. It is particularly important in understanding the nature of national-level party system formation. Our suggested indices build on the measure of party linkage introduced by Cox (1999), which he named the party system ‘inflation index’ since it measures the inflation from the district-level to the national-level party system size that occurs in the process of party system aggregation. Our measures improve on Cox by making it more intuitive, introducing an appropriate weighting scheme, and suggesting a subnational-level measurement of party linkage. We examine the properties and the usefulness of our measures by numerical simulation and by empirical application to data from Italy, India, Germany, and the United States.
The Communist Party of Russia
Authors: Wegren Stephen K.
Published: September 2004

Using survey data from 800 rural households in Russia, this article examines and compares characteristics of the rural Communist supporter and the non-Communist supporter along economic and social dimensions. The analysis shows that significant differences do not exist between these two cohorts, suggesting that it will be difficult for Communist candidates to exploit the misery of the market in future elections. If the Communist Party, as the strongest opposition party, has weaknesses in its rural base of electoral support, the implication for the party system is that it is likely to remain weak, power will remain vested in the Kremlin, and parties will find it difficult to balance executive influence.
The Mutual Contagion Effect of Legal and Party Quotas
Authors: Meier Petra
Published: September 2004

This article examines the use of legal and party gender quotas in the Belgian electoral process during the second half of the 1990s. It is argued that the parallel use of both types of quotas entails a particular contagion effect. The development of legal and party measures in Belgium indicates that the issue of gender-balanced participation in political decision-making is a political struggle in which legal measures serve as a benchmark for parties attempting to outperform each other in meeting the standard set. At the same time, this competitiveness paved the way for a new law on gender quotas. This mutual contagion effect creates a dynamic that has opened up the political forum to women more than would have been the case if only party or legal quotas had been applied, because their parallel use makes political players apply more far-reaching measures than they otherwise would.
Meta-Evaluation: Discovering What Works Best in Welfare Provision
Authors: Ashworth Karl , Cebulla Andreas , Greenberg David , Walker Robert
Published: September 2004

Numerous programmes designed to encourage welfare recipients to move into work and off benefit have been evaluated in the United States. Many have randomly assigned potential participants into ‘experimental’ and ‘control’ groups to generate unbiased estimates of the effectiveness of the programmes. The results of the evaluations have been selectively influential in shaping policy developments on both sides of the Atlantic, but a thorough understanding of the diversity of experience has been lacking. Applying meta-analysis techniques to a specially constructed database of evaluations in over 50 US sites, this article reports on the first programme-level, systematic meta-evaluation of welfare-to-work programmes. The results confirm the superiority of approaches that prioritize immediate work over human-capital investment but reveal that caseload characteristics and local environment can be equally important as or even more important than programme design. The article concludes with a discussion of the potential and limitations of meta-evaluation.
Views of Health in the Lay Sector: A Compilation and Review of How Individuals Think about Health
Authors: Hughner Renée Shaw , Kleine Susan Schultz
Published: September 2004

The way lay people think about health and wellness influences their health and wellness-related behaviors. This article integrates and synthesizes the research conducted to understand lay health worldviews. We identify 18 themes that capture the findings about lay health worldviews. The themes fall into four categories: definitions of health, explanations for health, external and/or uncontrollable factors impinging on health, and the place health occupies in people’s lives. The results lead to the observation that lay health worldviews - or health styles - are not understood in depth, particularly in US populations. Variation across the themes underscores the need for further descriptive research designed to understand consumers’ ways of thinking about health and how the many changes in the professional and folk sectors affect lay worldviews. This has implications with respect to understanding consumers’ health care behaviors and developing more effective communication strategies.
Children’s Asthma Experience and the Importance of Place
Authors: Rudestam Kirsten , Brown Phil , Zarcadoolas Christina , Mansell Catherine
Published: September 2004

Asthma is increasing dramatically among poor, inner-city children. Fourteen children with, and twelve without, asthma were interviewed and observed to examine how children with asthma understand their illness and how the asthma experience shapes their sense of place. Quantitative data showed no difference in objective preferences for particular places, but qualitative analysis showed important differences. We identified eight place-related themes, and on seven there were clear differences between children with and without asthma - offering freedom, being aesthetically pleasing, being comfortable, nature of social contact, being isolating, being familiar and being safe. Children experienced asthma as an interruption in daily life that influences time spent outside, being active and being with friends. Children with asthma are more sensitive to places that are ‘dirty’ or contain asthma triggers, are less likely to explore new or people-free places and emphasize family interactions, while children without asthma emphasize friendships and are sensitive to neighborhood violence.
Managing Safety and Risk: The Experiences of People with Parkinson’s Disease who Use Alternative and Complementary Therapies
Authors: Low Jacqueline
Published: September 2004

In this article I focus on how individuals living with Parkinson’s disease manage safety and risk in their participation in alternative and complementary health care. I take a qualitative approach in this research, using semi-structured interviews and grounded theory techniques as means of generating and analysing data. My analysis centres on how these informants construct certain therapies as risk free and therefore safe, and others as risky and thus, inherently unsafe. I discuss the knowledge bases these informants draw on in their evaluations and describe the social contexts in which these assessments take place. While there is a substantial literature on risk in general, as well as the risk society, there has been less interest in micro-level analysis of risk. This article therefore contributes to knowledge through its focus on management of safety and risk in individuals’ health-seeking behaviour.
Constructing Agency in Treatment Decisions: Negotiating Responsibility in Cancer
Authors: Bishop Felicity L. , Yardley Lucy
Published: September 2004

People belonging to cancer patient support groups participated in focus groups concerning their experiences of orthodox and complementary medicine. Their accounts of treatment decisions for cancer were analysed through discourse analysis. Accounts of both complementary and orthodox medicine addressed an ideological dilemma concerning the positioning of individuals as active or passive. Active positions were congruent with the everyday value of autonomy and responsible individuality, but conflicted with the established expertise of the medical profession in cancer and entailed being accountable for one’s health. Passive positions reversed this situation. Complementary medicine provided an opportunity for people with cancer to negotiate active positions in a limited domain of health care. The responsibility for health associated with taking active treatment decisions was problematic in accounts of both orthodox and complementary medicine.
Moral Argumentation in Talk about Health and Old Age
Authors: Jolanki Outi
Published: September 2004

This study examines the ways in which people aged 90 or over construct and negotiate meanings of health in research interviews. Detailed analyses of two interview cases illustrate the flow of these negotiations within interviews, and how the interviewees balance different moral arguments. First, the interviewees try to manage the face-threat posed by the questioning about health. Second, their health accounts move on the axis of advocating good health and activity and conceding impaired health and diminished activity. They apply various rhetorical devices to challenge the traditional discourse of old age as decline. On the other hand, aligning oneself with the category of ‘old’ makes ill-health and inactivity legitimate, but brings along other kinds of moral obligations. Finally, the results are discussed in relation to cultural discourses of old age and health, and their moral implications.
Risk Ritual and the Management of Control and Anxiety in Medical Culture
Authors: Crawford Robert
Published: September 2004

Medical culture in advanced technological societies is characterized by an abundance of warnings about health hazards, along with an equally abundant flow of prescriptive advice for protecting individuals against them. Knowledge of health hazards also defines living and working environments and has spawned a politics of regulatory control. These features of contemporary health consciousness and action, along with deepening insecurities in the larger body politic, precipitate a spiral of anxiety and control. The spiral disrupts the presumed security derived from medical knowledge and medically informed behaviors and threatens to erode the boundaries of sanctioned action for health protection. In the context of the volatile political economy of health, the spiral, with its excesses of anxiety and demands for unauthorized controls, elicits efforts to contain it. I explore the symbolic dimensions of risk, what I call ‘risk ritual’ - the prevailing form of managing this troublesome contradiction.
Assessing the Prevalence of Depression in Punjabi and English Primary Care Attenders: The Role of Culture, Physical Illness and Somatic Symptoms
Authors: Bhui Kamaldeep , Bhugra Dinesh , Goldberg David , Sauer Justin , Tylee Andre
Published: September 2004

Previous studies exploring the prevalence of depression among South Asians reported inconsistent findings. Research artefacts due to sampling bias, measurements errors and a failure to include ethnographic methods may all explain this. We estimated the prevalence of depression, and variations of prevalence with culture, cultural adaptation, somatic symptoms and physical disability in a cross-sectional primary care survey of Punjabi and English attendees. We included a culture specific screening instrument, culturally adapted the instruments and offered bilingual interviews. We found that, compared with their English counterparts, depressive diagnoses were more common among Punjabis, Punjabi women, Punjabis with physical complaints and, contrary to expectation, even Punjabis with low scores for somatic symptoms.
Do South African Former Detainees Experience Post-Traumatic Stress? Circumventing the Demand Characteristics of Psychological Assessment
Authors: Kagee Ashraf
Published: September 2004

Most research on persons subjected to physical or psychological torture for political reasons has framed this experience as traumatic, with the sequelae approximating the diagnostic criteria of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Yet, critiques of the trauma model have called attention to the fact that PTSD represents a Western conceptualization of the concerns of persons who have survived stressful experiences. In order to determine whether symptoms of traumatization are salient psychiatric phenomena for South African former detainees, semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 20 respondents who were detained and tortured for political reasons during the apartheid era. Interviews were transcribed and analysed for thematic content using a grounded theory approach. Results showed that although the main concerns expressed were unrelated to traumatization, participants also indicated that they experienced symptoms of post-traumatic stress. These data suggest that although too great a focus on traumatic responses may be misplaced, it remains important to consider the possibility that former detainees may exhibit symptoms of this nature. Consequently, critiques of the trauma discourse as a Western phenomenon need to be tempered with evidence of the lived reality of psychological sequelae experienced by this population.
Authority, Dialogue and Polyphony in Psychiatric Consultations: A Latvian Case Study
Authors: Skultans Vieda
Published: September 2004

This article explores the impact of economic liberalization on psychiatric theory and practice in Latvia. Through a close reading of four psychiatric consultations it examines the way in which contradictions between a market economy, its attendant philosophy of unlimited individual opportunity and the implementation of these ideas in the lives of individuals are negotiated by psychiatrists and their patients. It examines the uses of psychological and somatic vocabularies and questions their claimed connections to an enlarged sense of agency or its denial.
Sell a Book and Cook a Dog: Misery, Memory and Space from Siberian Camps to Apartheid
Authors: van Dongen Els
Published: September 2004

In this article, the life story of a Polish woman in South Africa is used to illustrate that stories of exile are ‘matter out of place’ in host countries. Space is a central category in both the story of exiles and in the collective history of receiving countries, but it has different emotional, social, cultural and political meanings. Sometimes stories of exile are denied a place in the social memory of a society. Therefore, recollection and making sense of experienced misery in foreign contexts is often a difficult and lonely undertaking. The article links the story to macro-political processes and attempts to answer questions regarding the consequences of the lack of meaningful space for exiles to remember. Collective and national memories and ceremonies are often exclusive and offer no place for ‘alien’ memories. Therapeutic repertoires often fail to address the emotional value of communal sharing a socio-cultural and (meta) physical space. It is argued that because the state does not take responsibility for providing a (symbolic) space for the mourning and reconciliation of people whose memories are out of place, transcultural psychiatry – its subsystem – will have to reflect on how to provide such a space.
A Psychiatrist in Cultural Transition: Personal and Professional Dilemmas
Authors: Goldner-Vukov Mila
Published: September 2004

This article describes the author’s personal and professional dilemmas, encountered as a psychiatrist in the process of migration from Central Europe to New Zealand. The dilemmas include: (i) personal experiences in the stages of migration, (ii) struggles within the author’s own multi-ethnic community, (iii) biculturalism, (iv) the unexpected seriousness of psychopathology, and (v) the tendency for overidentification. Professionals in a cultural transition shouldbe aware that personal and professional challenges are interconnected. The concepts of loyalty, relational ethics and existential humanism were valuable in the resolution of these dilemmas.
Public Service Broadcasting, Popular Entertainment and the Construction of Trust
Authors: Biltereyst Daniel
Published: September 2004

Studies on the transformiation of pu-blic service broadcasting tend to stress the negative influence of working in a com petitive-multichannel environment and speculate about the loss of a unique identity in terms of civic responsibility. This article criticizes this view for using a perspective rooted in a rational enlightenment ideal; for its usual modernist distrust of popular culture/programnmning; and for failing to theorize public service broadcasting into a wider societal context of changing symbolic power. Inspired by social capital and trust studies, this article indicates how some public service broadcasting companies try to construct an Laura of trust, which includes a feeling of quality, reliability, honesty, competence and good intentions. In this article, I concentrate upon the overall prograrrumming strategies, generic choices and. discourses through which some public service broadcasting organizations position themselves as central trustful institutions in a risk society