bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Reducing Nonresponse by SMS Reminders in Mail Surveys
Authors: Virtanen Vesa , Sirkiä Timo , Jokiranta Virve
Published: August 2007

This article describes experiments of using the short message services (SMS) of mobile telephone systems in efforts to reduce nonresponse in mail surveys. SMS may provide a new tool for increasing the efficiency of the data collection process in self-administered surveys. Such experiments were feasible in Finland because nearly everyone in the country has a mobile phone. In addition, nearly all mobile phones are listed in a publicly accessible database that contains all telephone numbers. The tests focused on potential differences between an experimental group (those sent an SMS reminder) and a control group (those sent the standard postcard reminder). Statistically significant differences were found between these respondent groups. The results were very encouraging, indicating that SMS reminders lowered the nonresponse rate more efficiently than traditional postcard reminders did. Besides practical questions concerning the use of SMS reminders, this article also discusses the related advantages and disadvantages.
Swallowing disturbance due to isolated vagus nerve involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus
Authors: Yu K.-H. , Yang C.-H. , Chu C.-C.
Published: August 2007

Neuropsychiatric lupus is a well-recognized complication of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and encompasses a wide variety of neurological manifestations. Although isolated cranial nerve involvement is rare, it can cause significant morbidity and disability. This report describes a case with isolated vagus nerve involvement as the principal sign of central nervous system involvement. A 30-year-old female with SLE had one short course of lupus-associated psychosis in December 2001. In August 2002, the patient suffered from progressive swallowing difficulty, developed a transient episode of hypercapnic respiratory failure and required nasogastric tube feeding due to isolated vagus nerve involvement. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a subtle but distinct brainstem lesion over the ponto-medullary junction, near the location of the vagus nerve nuclei. The patient completely recovered three weeks later following treatment with intravenous dexamethasone. This report also discusses the differential diagnosis of this rare condition. Lupus (2007) 16, 746—749.
Clinical manifestations and coronary artery disease risk factors at diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus: data from an international inception cohort
Authors: Urowitz M.B. , Gladman D. , Ibañez D. , Fortin P. , Sanchez-Guerrero J. , Bae S. , Clarke A. , Bernatsky S. , Gordon C. , Hanly J. , Wallace D. , Isenberg D. , Ginzler E. , Merrill J. , Alarcon G. , Steinsson K. , Petri M. , Dooley M.A. , Bruce I. , Manzi S. , Khamashta M. , Ramsey-Goldman R. , Zoma A. , Sturfelt G. , Nived O. , Maddison P. , Font J. , van Vollenhoven R. , Aranow C. , Kalunian K. , Stoll T. , Buyon J.
Published: August 2007

Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC) comprises 27 centres from 11 countries. An inception cohort of 918 SLE patients has been assembled according to a standardized protocol between 2000 and 2006. Clinical features, classic coronary artery disease (CAD) risk factors, as well as other potential risk factors were collected. Of the 918 patients 89% were females, and of multi racial origin. Less than half the patients were living in a permanent relationship, 58% had post secondary education and 51% were employed. Eight percent had family history of SLE. At enrolment, with at mean age of diagnosis of 34.5 years, a significant number of patients already had CAD risk factors, such as hypertension (33%) and hypercholesterolemia (36%). Only 15% of the patients were postmenopausal, 16% were current smokers and 3.6% had diabetes at entry to the SLICC-RAS (Registry for Atherosclerosis). A number of patients in this multi-racial, multi-ethnic inception cohort of lupus patients have classic CAD risk factors within a mean of 5.4 months from diagnosis. This cohort will be increased to 1500 patients to be followed yearly for 10 years. This will provide a unique opportunity to evaluate risk factors for accelerated atherosclerosis in SLE. Lupus (2007) 16, 731—735.
Peripheral vascular disease in systemic lupus erythematosus
Authors: Bhatt SP , Handa R. , Gulati GS , Sharma S. , Pandey RM , Aggarwal P. , Ramakrishnan L. , Shankar S.
Published: August 2007

With increasing longevity of lupus patients, peripheral vascular disease (PVD) has become an important cause of morbidity. With no systematic study of PVD in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), this study was undertaken to define the frequency and spectrum of PVD in SLE and factors affecting such an occurrence. All medium-sized peripheral arteries of bilateral upper and lower extremities were studied in 50 SLE patients using Doppler ultrasonography. PVD was defined clinically as one or more of intermittent claudication, absent/unequal pulses, gangrene or ischemic ulcers and sub-clinically as asymptomatic patients with Doppler abnormalities, with ≥50% reduction in diameter considered hemodynamically significant. Mean (SD) age of the patients was 31.6 (10.1) years. Forty-one percent were hypertensive. Dyslipidemia was found in 62%. Fifteen (30%) had Raynaud's phenomenon. Fourteen (28%) patients had PVD, of whom three had positive markers for antiphospholipid antibody (aPL) and six were asymptomatic. Ischemic ulcers were seen in eight (16%), gangrene in three (6%), femoral artery plaques in two (4%), stenosis in four (8%) and intermittent claudication in none. Dyslipidemia was found to independently affect occurrence of PVD (OR = 5.37, [95% CI 1.05—27.5], P = 0.05). The causes of PVD overlap significantly and further studies are needed to ascertain the relative contribution of each. Lupus (2007) 16, 720—723.
Oral health and the masticatory system in juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus
Authors: Fernandes EGC , Savioli C. , Siqueira JTT , Silva CAA
Published: August 2007

Our objectives were to evaluate the oral health and the masticatory system of 48 juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus (JSLE) patients and to compare them with 48 healthy children and adolescents. Demographic data, clinical manifestations and therapies of JSLE were reviewed. The DMFT index (DMFTI), the plaque (PI) and the gingival bleeding (GI) indices, dental relationship, facial profile, clinical dysfunction and mandibular mobility indices were evaluated. The two groups were homogeneous regarding age, gender, Brazilian social-economic class and dental decay index ( P > 0.05). Of note, the medians of the PI and the GI were higher in JSLE patients than in controls (61.5 versus 38.10, P = 0.003 and 26.0 versus 15.95, P = 0.014; respectively). Likewise, a linear statistical correlation was evidenced between the JSLE duration and the GI ( P = 0.017, r = 0.11), cumulative dose of prednisone and the PI ( P = 0.01, r = 0.385) and cumulative dose of prednisone and the GI ( P = 0.001, r = 0.471). The clinical dysfunction and mandibular mobility indices were higher in JSLE patients versus controls ( P = 0.002, P = 0.025). Moreover, the median of the mandibular mobility index was higher in JSLE patients who used at least one immunosuppressive than on those who did not use this medication ( P = 0.0001). These results suggest that JSLE patients had an inadequate oral hygiene, higher incidence of gingivitis and temporomandibular joint dysfunction. Lupus (2007) 16, 713—719.
Prevalence of endometriosis in women with systemic lupus erythematosus and Sjögren's syndrome
Authors: Matorras R. , Ocerin I. , Unamuno M. , Nieto A. , Peiró E. , Burgos J. , Expósito A.
Published: August 2007

Endometriosis is associated with a number of immunologic alterations. It has been suggested that autoimmune disorders could be more frequent in patients with endometriosis. The aim of this study is to ascertain whether the prevalence of two well-known autoimmune diseases [systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and Sjögren's syndrome (SS)] is increased in women with endometriosis. The clinical charts of four different populations assisted at the same hospital were manually revised: (i) SLE population ( n = 120), (ii) SS ( n = 22), (iii) endometriosis ( n = 342) and (iv) control population ( n = 501 consecutive unselected asymptomatic women). Among SLE women, the prevalence of endometriosis was 1.67% (2/120), similar to the 4.39% prevalence of the control group (22/501), the OR being 0.37 [95%CI 0.09—1.59]. Among SS women, the prevalence of endometriosis was 9.09 (2/22), also similar to the control group OR 2.17 [95%CI 0.48—9.90]. In the same way, when comparing endometriosis cases with asymptomatic women, similar frequencies of SLE (0.58% and 0.2%) and SS were found (0% and 0%). Women with endometriosis do not have an increased prevalence of SLE or SS. Lupus (2007) 16, 736—740.
After the Security Dilemma: The Challenges of Insecurity in Weak States and the Dilemma of Liberal Values
Authors: Sørensen Georg
Published: August 2007

The security dilemma — which raises the imminent risk of war between sovereign states — has always been considered the core issue of international relations. But, the security dilemma is in decline. Interstate war is no longer the supreme concern on the international security agenda. Instead, new dilemmas have emerged, in particular the insecurity dilemma and the associated value dilemma. The insecurity dilemma poses a looming risk of violent domestic conflict in weak states. The related value dilemma concerns the ambiguous content of core liberal values. Negative liberty is autonomy, self-determination and the ability to act unimpeded by others. The promotion of negative liberty calls for non-intervention. Positive liberty is removal of the obstacles that stand in liberty's way: oppression, poverty, ignorance and tyranny. The promotion of positive liberty calls for intervention. Emphasizing negative liberty creates grave problems; emphasizing positive liberty creates grave problems of a different kind. Compromises between intervention and non-intervention must always be troubled and uneasy, because they involve trade-offs between liberal values that are all desirable. There is no clear path to a more liberal world order.
A Journey into the Bleeding City
Authors: Kumar Manasi
Published: August 2007

This article unfolds rubric-by-rubric the orgy of violence that shook the city of Ahmedabad postearthquake and riots. Informed by psychoanalytic ideas on the origins and vicissitudes of violence, hatred, evil, envy, notions of otherness, repudiation of femininity, and borrowing insights from cultural studies and trauma theory, the paper maps the recent sociopolitical turmoil in the city. Against the backdrop of the two disasters—2001earthquake and 2002 riots—the paper traces and explores the psychic composition of the recent violence in Ahmedabad with a view to deepen the discourse on communal trauma. One question that remains central to the proposed research is how does the communal dimension of trauma emerge as one of its distinctive clinical signatures? The research develops this question by exploring the memories (or forgettings) of violence in one form of narratives from both the Hindu and Muslim communities to those who were either witness or victims of it. The methodology included exploring and evolving ideas around memories of urban and sectarian violence through case studies and using recent literature and commentaries on both these events. Through an exploration of the psychodynamics of the survivor syndrome, collective memory, pathological mourning, the paper develops an understanding of the communal dimension of violence in the cultural setting of Ahmedabad. Drawing understandings from the psychoanalytic conceptions of traumatic memory, gradations of temporality and its impact on remembering and reconstructing of traumatic events, group dynamics, origins and impact of fundamentalist ideology—the article examines the radical gaps and disruptions, precursors of traumatic and violent experiences in the Indian sociopolitical terrain. The article aspires to keep up the verve to problematise and critique politically loaded categories like politics of traumatic memory as seen in PTSD, victims–survivor debate, and trauma from within-and-without (external reality). A key concern alongside is to evolve possibilities of anchoring the clinical significance of the narratives through elaboration on the processes of mourning, and thereby relocating individual losses in their own life contexts. The questions that haunt the city are: will the violence merely linger in the individual memory or be part of a collective depository? How would the city locate its victims and how would it look at the guilty?
Changing Trends of Cultural Values in Advertising
Authors: Gupta Amitava Sen , De Sonali
Published: August 2007

Four hundred advertisements published in Bengali periodicals in four different time periods, 1947–48, 1977–72, 1991–92 and 2004–05, were content analysed to determine whether advertising appeals concerning cultural values had changed during these years. Jewellery, cosmetics, garments and banking were the four categories of products/services used in the study. In view of the repetitive appearance of advertisements in the periodicals and the multiplicity of products and available periodicals, a multistage sampling was adopted. Content analysis was done manually by three coders following the procedure laid down by Krippendroff (1980). Findings suggest that advertising trends relating to traditional values and focus on the collective (a cultural tradition), had changed over the years. Traditional values were replaced by trends of modernisation and westernisation and priority to the individual over the collective. The reasons and implications of these findings have been discussed.
ERPImplementationBasedonASPModel
Authors: Singh N.P.
Published: August 2007

InthisarticletheauthorreviewesASPERPs,ERPimplementationsbasedontheASPmodelduring2000–05withrespecttogenerations,categoriesandtypesofASPs,pricingmodelsandtrendanalysis.Basedonacriticalanalysisoffacts,ithasbeenseenthatASPimplementationsareveryspecifictotheuserindustry,totheregion,tothefeaturesoftheERPproduct,totheneedsoftheorganizationandtothecriticalityoftheapplicationtotheorganization.Theauthortestedthesehypothesesbasedoncaseanalysis.Furtherhestudiedpricingmodelsandcostofimplementationinthelongrun.Itwasseenthatimplementationstrategiesdonoteffectthecostofimplementationsincethevaluechainislongandeachchainhasitsownstructure.Infact,itisspecifictoanorganizationandvendors.
Technical Call Centres
Authors: D'Cruz Premilla , Noronha Ernesto
Published: August 2007

Views on call centres as work systems represent a dichotomy. While, on the one hand, call centres are seen as conforming to an engineering or mass service model, on the other hand, they are described as high commitment service organizations. Technical call centres, studied as part of a larger qualitative study on experiences of working in call centres, back offices and medical transcription in Mumbai and Bangalore, India, were found to resemble high commitment service organizations. Task complexity, variety and autonomy were distinguishing factors in technical call centre jobs, the presence of which promoted employee well-being and satisfaction. At the same time, the emotional labour required by front-line service work remained an important part of the job profile. The emergence of cross-cultural interactions in call centre work, stemming from the contemporary outsourcing trend, is highlighted.
Development of Organizational Change Questionnaire
Authors: Mishra Bijaya , Bhaskar A. Uday , Khurana Amulya
Published: August 2007

Organizational change, in the present study has been conceptualized as changes which happen within an organization as a response to internal and external environmental changes. By taking this perspective into account, this article aims at developing a questionnaire to measure the employees' perception of change in the organization. This was achieved by collecting primary data from 10 IT organizations. A pool of 52 [Part A (27) and Part B (25)] items was formulated and tested on a sample of randomly selected 213 executives from these 10 IT organizations. Reliability and validity of the scale were duly established. The final scale consists of 41 [Part A (20) and Part B (21)] items, with a 6-point Likert type format.
Team Effectiveness and Its Measurement
Authors: Singh Anup K. , Muncherji Nina
Published: August 2007

A team is a building block of any organization. Consequently, effective teams are a pre-requisite for organizational success. Different groups of people perceive criteria and measures of team effectiveness differently. There are objective as well as perceived measures of team effectiveness. Team effectiveness is a multi-faceted phenomenon. It is important that scholars and practitioners develop a comprehensive and holistic perspective on team effectiveness. We propose a functional approach to team effectiveness that focuses on five team functions: team objectives and integration, decision-making, managing meetings, implementing decisions and creating a healthy climate. It is argued that one needs to pay attention on all these five functions and strike a balance among them to make a team effective.
Walking the Talk: How Participatory Interview Methods Can Democratize Research
Authors: Salmon Amy
Published: August 2007

In this article, the author explores the importance of participatory, respectful, and community-specific approaches to research relationships across differences in social location and experience. Drawing on transcripts from group interviews with 6 young Aboriginal mothers from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside who had experienced substance use during pregnancy and fetal alcohol syndrome/fetal alcohol effects, she discusses three practical strategies used in her doctoral research to address the empirical and methodological implications of this work: the provision of honoraria, collaborating with community leaders in participant recruitment, and the use of shared analysis in group interviews. Shared analysis in the group interviews was integral to supporting policy analysis that challenges the privatization of mothering and substance use. Group interviews can benefit both the participants and the research, support womens' agency, and democratize the research process while mitigating the potential for the misrepresentation and appropriation of women's experiences.
The Incorporation of the HIV/AIDS Identity Into the Self Over Time
Authors: Baumgartner Lisa M.
Published: August 2007

In the mid-1990s HIV/AIDS transitioned from a terminal illness to a chronic disease because of medical advances. In this qualitative study the author examines how people incorporate the HIV/AIDS identity into their selves at three points in time. Findings demonstrate a five-component process, including diagnosis, postdiagnosis turning point, immersion, post-immersion turning point, and integration. In addition, the disclosure process corresponds to a particular component of incorporation. The author makes comparisons with the incorporation process of other chronic illness. Findings augment the literature on HIV/AIDS, chronic illness, and identity and have practical implications for HIV/AIDS educators.
The Origin of Epistemic Structures and Proto-Representations
Authors: Chandrasekharan Sanjay , Stewart Terrence C.
Published: August 2007

Organisms across species use the strategy of generating structures in their environment to lower cognitive complexity. Examples include pheromones, markers, color codes, etc. We provide a model of how such structures originate, and present a simulation where organisms with only reactive behavior learn, within their lifetime, to add such structures to their world to lower cognitive load. This implementation is then extended to show that the same underlying process could generate internal traces of the world (memories) in an internal environment. This model provides a novel account of the origin of internal representations. Further, as both external and internal traces are generated using the same mechanism, the model shows how an extended mind could be implemented. Also, as the stored internal traces develop entirely out of actions, these action components could be activated implicitly. This feature explains the origin of enactable and action-oriented mental content, suggested by recent experiments.
The Supreme Court and Morality Policy Adoption in the American States
Authors: Patton Dana
Published: August 2007

Morality policy studies are generally constructed around the theoretical perspective of democratic responsiveness, whereby factors such as religious affiliation of citizens, public opinion, and partisanship affect adoption. The author expands morality policy theory to include the U.S. Supreme Court. She creates a measure of the “constitutional context” state legislators are faced with when debating morality policy proposals and develops a series of hypotheses regarding its effect on morality policy adoption. She tests these hypotheses by employing an event history model of state abortion policy adoptions from 1973 to 2000. The results indicate that the constitutional context has a significant effect on abortion policy adoption; however, its effect is conditioned by the state political environment.
Economic Voting and Political Sophistication
Authors: Gomez Brad T. , Wilson J. Matthew
Published: August 2007

The authors reply here to Godbout and Bélanger's critique of their work on political sophistication and economic voting. Principally, the authors stress the importance of using contemporaneous economic assessment and candidate preference measures in assessing their relationship. They also emphasize the empirical support for their key contentions that less sophisticated citizens tend not to credit/blame government for their own economic circumstances, and that more sophisticated citizens tend to focus on actors other than the president when attributing responsibility for the national economy. Finally, the authors stress the variety of contexts, both outside the United States and outside the domain of economic voting, in which their theory has found support.
The Effects of Campaign Spending in State Supreme Court Elections
Authors: Bonneau Chris W.
Published: August 2007

Electoral competition has been an important subject of political science research over the past several decades. This article examines the effects of campaign spending on electoral competition in state supreme court elections. Specifically, the author addresses the question, How do campaign expenditures affect the performance of incumbents in supreme court elections? The author finds that, just like elections to Congress and state legislatures, electoral competition in state supreme court elections can be understood by looking at characteristics of the candidates, the state and electoral context, and institutional arrangements.
The Political Economy of Nontariff Trade Barriers in Emerging Economies
Authors: Drope Jeffrey M.
Published: August 2007

This article examines the counterpoint to recent economic reform programs: policies that potentially defy the reform process. Policy “reversal” is particularly evident in the area of trade liberalization where nations reduced tariffs while simultaneously introducing nontariff barriers (NTB), particularly the widespread antidumping (AD) measure. This research seeks to identify the determinants of these new “postliberalization” trade policies by combining dominant interest group approaches with more state-centered explanations in an examination of two vigorous NTB users, South Africa and Mexico. The results of nested probit analyses suggest that private interests dominate the process in Mexico, while both interests and the state's overall strategic development objectives shape trade policy outcomes in South Africa.
Exposure to European Union Policies and Support for Membership in the Candidate Countries
Authors: Elgün Özlem , Tillman Erik R.
Published: August 2007

This article examines the relative merits of competing explanations of public support for European Union membership in thirteen Central and Eastern European candidate countries. While noneconomic factors—attitudes toward domestic politics and feelings of social identity—have a consistently strong effect, the impact of human capital is contingent on exposure to the distributive consequences of European integration. The results of an ordered logit analysis of Candidate Country Eurobarometer data are consistent with these predictions. These results suggest a revision of theories of EU support to account for the role of exposure to the consequences of integration in shaping utilitarian judgments.
Revitalizing Urban Research
Authors: Sharp Elaine B.
Published: August 2007

This article lays out an argument that if the urban politics field has become marginalized, it is because the field has neglected to develop a contemporary, theoretically grounded version of cultural explanation to go along with its attention to institutions and political economy. The article introduces such a theoretical framework. It then shows how taking cultural explanation seriously could bring the study of urban politics closer to themes that are energizing the American and comparative politics fields. The article concludes with an acknowledgment of a remaining challenge—conceptualizing how race and ethnicity relate to the new conceptualization of unconventional versus traditional subcultures in the United States
Concept Analysis of Religiosity
Authors: Bjarnason Dana
Published: August 2007

Although much has been written about the importance of assessment and intervention related to the patient's spiritual or religious needs, there is little understanding of the influence that the health care provider's religiosity has on the care they deliver to patients. This concept analysis of religiosity uses Rodger's evolutionary methodology to begin to develop an understanding about the definition of religiosity in health care in order to provide a basis for continued exploration of the articulation between patient and provider religiosity, particularly as it relates to nursing. This review found that there are many instruments for assessing and measuring religiosity and that they are used in varying ways. There is considerable consistency related to a definition of religiosity that includes religious affiliation, religious activity, and religious belief.
Improving Symptom Management at the End of Life in the Home Care Environment
Authors: Childress Susan B. , Christensen Anne R.
Published: August 2007

Symptom management for terminal or end-of-life patients in the home environment is an important quality-of-life issue. Providers in home care have a responsibility to evaluate the quality of their symptom management and make changes as necessary to meet patient needs and national guidelines. This article explores some of the specific challenges seen in the home care environment and makes suggestions for addressing these challenges.
The Value of Common Perspectives in Self-Reported Appraisals
Authors: Schoorman F. David , Mayer Roger C.
Published: August 2007

This article uses the work of Smircich and Chesser on direct and meta-perspectives (i.e., points of view) to test the correspondence between self-reported and supervisory ratings of performance. Results from two field studies indicate a higher level of self-supervisor rating correlation when using a common perspective. Similar results were obtained using an alternative measure of rating correspondence. The results provide evidence that researchers using self-reports of performance as surrogates for archival performance data should ask respondents for their supervisor's assessment of their performance rather than for their own assessment. The practical implications of these results for field research are discussed.
A New Partial Finite Element Model for Statics of Sandwich Plates
Authors: Kant Tarun , Pendhari Sandeep S. , Desai Yogesh M.
Published: August 2007

A new partial discretization formulation with four-noded bi-linear finite elements (FEs) has been developed in this study for flexural analysis of sandwich plates. Partial discretization results in solution of a two-point boundary value problem (BVP) governed by a system of coupled first-order ordinary differential equations (ODEs). Mixed degrees of freedom, displacements (u, v, w), and transverse stresses (τxz, τyz, σz) are the dependent variables and thus continuity of transverse stresses and displacements are implicitly enforced in the present formulation. Numerical investigations on symmetric and unsymmetric sandwich plates are performed and presented, involving both validation and solution of new problems.
“I expected something else”
Authors: Buchanan Stefanie Everke
Published: August 2007

This article investigates German interactions with Australia both as an abstract space and as a concrete place. Germans have a long history of migration to Australia, which continues through to the present. For the most recent migrants, their relationship with and knowledge of Australia began long before their arrival in the country, often through new media such as the Internet. These Germans built up a set of assumptions about their destination that sometimes was in stark contrast with what they encountered upon arrival. Their abstract knowledge found its way into concrete interactions with the new surroundings. The resulting settlement patterns of Germans in Melbourne correspond to shifts in migration patterns in their contrast between Assisted Passage and more recent migration. Despite the relatively wide distribution of German-born residents of Melbourne, awareness of fellow Germans and engagement in networks continues.
The Geography of Girl Watching in Postwar Montreal
Authors: Wallace Aurora
Published: August 2007

The visual landscape of urban life in 1960s Montreal helped to give rise to a new practice of gazing at women, which complicates many of the taken-for-granted notions about the place of women in cities. Through the interrelated systems of visual representation—fashion, newspaper journalism, architecture, and the city itself—“girl watching” emerges as a practice intimately bound to the space of the city and the discourses of social relations embedded within it. In the process of normalizing and “naturalizing” the appearance of women in city space, an argument is made for the possibility that these spaces were subsequently opened up for other uses by women.
Shifting proximities
Authors: Qureshi Karen
Published: August 2007

Perceptions and feelings of belonging and non-belonging, security and insecurity post-9/11 among multi-ethnic news audiences interviewed in Edinburgh are bound up with perceptions of nearness to and remoteness from places, people and threatening events. People's senses of physical, cultural and emotional closeness and distance oscillate as a consequence of different push-and-pull factors encountered in the course of their face-to-face and mediated interactions. National government policy and news media play major roles in constructing senses of closeness or separation. Also significant in the formation of relative senses of proximity are local authorities' responses to diversity, as well as lived experiences. News audience members actively attempt to assert some control over their senses of `belonging-security'.
Shifting securities in Northern Ireland
Authors: Herbert David
Published: August 2007

Drawing on interviews conducted between September 2004 and April 2006, this article examines the interaction between perceptions of security generated within Northern Ireland and those shaped by the international media concerning 'global terrorism' post 9/11. It offers insights into a society where security concerns are shifting from large-scale political violence to the consequences of social separation and paramilitary-related criminality. It argues that the local conflict provides frames which shape attitudes to the media (typologically and sceptically), and that Northern Irish society sheds light on the effects of long-term exposure to heightened security concerns and transnational media.
Citizenship under siege in the brave new Europe
Authors: Hintjens Helen M.
Published: August 2007

This commentary piece reflects on the range of contributions to this Special Issue, considering the ways in which the European context fails to offer more inclusionary notions of citizenship in the current era. A long-term decline in state legitimacy in Europe and in the UK cannot be offset by the intensified policing of insecurity that is known as the War on Terror. The Global Social Justice movement is considered as an alternative framework for what security might mean in the absence of state violence. The importance of diasporic identities to such movements comes across in the research project that underpins this Special Issue. States in Europe and the British state, which is focused on here, are experiencing what can be called a 'beseiged legitimacy'. The relative disbelief in official accounts of events by many citizens, such as those interviewed by researchers involved in this Special Issue, combines with a global economy that increasingly resembles a casino.
A media education perspective
Authors: Nohl Arnd-Michael
Published: August 2007

This contribution introduces, from a media education perspective, two concepts which may be useful for further theoretical reflection upon the rich empirical material provided in the other articles of this special issue. The first concept, 'cultures of media practice', refers to habitualized patterns of media practice collectively shared by members of a specific social group. The articles provide many examples of such cultures of media practices, including different 'experiential spaces' such as gender, ethnicity, social class and generation. The second concept, 'media- bildung', covers fundamental changes which people undergo in their attitude towards the subject-matter covered by the media and/or the media itself. In the contributions to this special issue such processes of 'media- bildung'can be identified along with processes of media learning in which people acquire new knowledge and/or develop new skills without transforming their orientations.
From `The Me Decade' to `The Me Millennium'
Authors: Tyler Imogen
Published: August 2007

Claims that consumer-orientated and media-saturated cultures have given rise to `a new narcissism' have been repeatedly asserted within social and cultural criticism for the past 40 years. Within cultural studies there has been a recent proliferation of accounts of the rise of narcissism in analyses of consumer culture, celebrity culture and new media. Returning to key influential accounts of `cultural narcissism' that emerged in social criticism and popular media in the 1970s, this article interrogates the claim that narcissism is the pathology of our time. Focusing on the sexual and racial politics of narcissism, it demonstrates how narcissism acquired its meaning and force as a critical term through its stigmatizing attribution to specific sexual and social groups. The central argument is that the contentious cultural and political history of narcissism needs to be acknowledged within contemporary theoretical accounts of `cultural narcissism' and `media narcissism'.
Nation, identity and the fascination with forensic science in Sherlock Holmes and CSI
Authors: Harrington Ellen Burton
Published: August 2007

Although the popular television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation presents cutting-edge images and laboratory techniques, it reiterates the reassuring ideological message and the glorification of the man of science that typify Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. While the Holmes stories use reassuring, formulaic narratives to consolidate a normative national identity and counter increasing disenchantment with empire, CSI replays a similar sort of procedural detective story to reassure viewers with the fantasy that the United States can be secured amidst threats of violence and terrorism, that individual identity, as well as national identity, can be fixed and scientifically assured.
The `other media' — alternative communications in Israel
Authors: Katz Yaron
Published: August 2007

This article discusses the alternative media system that has developed in Israel as a means to offset the limited variety of communications means that serve special-interest groups. It explores the role of alternative means within society and explains the debate on the new policy of awarding franchises to special-interest channels. Taking into account the means that have developed outside of the mainstream media, it is fair to say that alternative media are well established as an integral part of the communications system. While the government has long objected to media services that serve special-interest groups and advocated for a common culture, the current policy — of approving special-interest programing and services through the mainstream media — can be seen as an understanding that cultural identity is in need and can be well served through new media services.
Energy Efficiency Networks in Eastern Europe and Capacity Building for Urban Sustainability: The Experience of Two Municipal Networks
Authors: Nakova K.
Published: August 2007

This paper presents the activities in the field of energy efficiency of two municipal networks — Municipal Energy Efficiency Network EcoEnergy in Bulgaria and Regional Network for Efficient Use of Energy and Water Resources (RENEUER) in south eastern Europe and their experiences in three key aspects — capacity building, network sustainability and information dissemination and the transferability of the results.
Exploring the Use of Tools for Urban Sustainability in European Cities
Authors: Jensen J.O. , Elle M.
Published: August 2007

This paper outlines the main findings from case studies analysed within the Practical Evaluation Tools for Urban Sustainability (PETUS) project, about the practical use of tools for sustainable urban development in European cities. The paper looks across 60 case studies and identifies the main drivers for using tools, the benefits gained by using them and discusses why, in general, there is limited use of available tools. The main question raised by the PETUS project was, `why are so few tools for urban sustainability being used, when so many are available?' Recent years have shown a growing number of theoretical tools to assess and evaluate urban sustainability. However, experience also shows that only a few of such tools are being used in practice. The paper outlines the motivations for actors to use tools, the benefits achieved and the barriers for using tools. From this, different possibilities for improvements in the use of tools are discussed.
The Development of a Practical Evaluation Tool for Urban Sustainability
Authors: Jones P. , Patterson J.
Published: August 2007

Sustainability is deeply rooted in the built environment and is inherently holistic reaching across environmental, social and economic issues at local and global scales. There is therefore a need for cross disciplinary working to ensure a sustainable approach. Although industry and government recognise the need to develop a more sustainable approach the built environment, it is slow to be achieved in practice.

This paper describes the development and operation of a computer based interactive guidance system that assists with the incorporation of sustainability in built environment policies, plans, programmes and projects allowing all stakeholders to be involved. PETUS was informed by the needs of practice and designed and developed to provide a mechanism for cross disciplinary working for sustainability.
Imagining the Family
Authors: Burr Vivien , Jarvis Christine
Published: August 2007

Social work theory and research is increasingly exploring conceptions of the family and the child and the possibilities for recognizing and responding to the `voice' of young people. Media images of the family are likely to contribute to society's conception of what a family is or should be, but often fail to represent the diversity of living arrangements that actually exist today. Focusing on the popular cult TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer we argue that this is an example of popular culture that explores both the advantages and the dangers of non-normative family forms, specifically the non-genetic or `chosen' family. We argue that Buffy endorses a non-hierarchical, `democratic' vision of the family (Giddens, 1992), with relationships between friends at its centre and offers a representation of young people that includes personal agency, reflecting the real choices, tensions and conflicts for people living in today's changing family. We argue that popular cultural forms such as Buffy can generate `interactive social worlds' (Plummer, 1995) that are central to the dissemination of new social practices. Implications of this analysis for social work are outlined, in terms of re-conceptualizing the notion of `family' and of innovations in practice and research.
Long Distance Parental Caregivers' Experiences with Siblings
Authors: Roff L.L. , Martin S.S. , Jennings L.K. , Parker M.W. , Harmon D.K.
Published: August 2007

Increasing numbers of middle-aged adults provide long-distance care for their parents, yet relatively few studies have addressed their experiences. Particularly neglected themes include siblings' communication and division of labor when one or more live at a distance from the parent. The researchers interviewed 22 adult children (10 women and 12 men) aged 37 to 65. Participants were members of sibling groups numbering two to seven. Using open-ended questions, the researchers addressed aspects of caregiving including: coordination of care, division of labor, distant siblings' views of caregiving activities, and caregiving and sibling relationships. The researchers used QSR Nu*dist software to assist with coding and analysis of the qualitative data. The study showed different experiences and expectations of hometown siblings compared with long distance siblings. Participants' perceptions of their siblings' caregiving competencies, willingness to care, financial ability to help, and personal relationships with the parent affected caregiving decision making and division of labor.
Simulation of the Effect of Temperature Variation on Damage Detection in a Long-span Cable-stayed Bridge
Authors: Xu Zhao-Dong , Zhishen Wu
Published: August 2007

Damage detection based on structural dynamic characteristics, such as natural frequencies and mode shapes, is an important area of research. Obtaining accurate structural dynamic characteristics is perhaps the most challenging aspect of this research. In particular, changes in environmental temperature, due to seasonal weather or radiation from sunshine, will lead to changes in the dynamic characteristics of structures. In this study, the effects of change in environmental temperature on the frequencies and mode shape curvatures of a cable-stayed bridge are analyzed considering seasonal temperature difference (a uniform temperature difference) and sunshine temperature difference (an asymmetric temperature difference). Changes in dynamic characteristics due to temperature variation are compared to changes in dynamic characteristics due to damage of girders and cables in a cable-stayed bridge. Guidelines are presented in this study to explain how frequencies and mode shape curvatures change due to average and asymmetric temperature variations in the cable-stayed bridge. An important conclusion is that changes in dynamic characteristics of the bridge due to damage in girders or cables may be smaller than changes in dynamic characteristics due to variations in temperature. Suggestions are given to prevent changes in dynamics of the bridge due to damage from being submerged in changes in dynamics due to temperature effects.
Structural Health Monitoring of CFRP Strengthened Bridge Decks Using Ambient Vibrations
Authors: Lee Luke S. , Karbhari Vistasp M. , Sikorsky Charles
Published: August 2007

In order to localize and quantify the effects of externally bonded carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites on a deteriorating reinforced concrete (RC) bridge structure, a vibration based monitoring approach is implemented. Modal data, including mode shapes of the deck slab, are extracted under the output-only configuration using time domain decomposition (TDD) techniques from ambient vibration tests conducted prior to rehabilitation, and at periodic intervals over a period of about two years after rehabilitation. Damage indices and fractional stiffness changes are determined by bay to enable assessment of CFRP rehabilitation effectiveness and response changes as a function of time.
The Treatment of Depression and Anxiety Within the Context of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Authors: Addy Karen B. E.
Published: August 2007

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is estimated to be the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. This progressive condition is characterized by airflow obstruction causing symptoms such as fatigue and breathlessness. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidelines for management of this disease include pulmonary rehabilitation through exercise. However, this approach can be difficult because it increases symptoms in the short term. In addition, many COPD sufferers have comorbid psychological problems, such as depression and fear of activity, that may further complicate treatment. This case illustrates the treatment of a 75-year-old COPD sufferer with comorbid depression and anxiety. It highlights psychological methods that may help to reduce the impact of COPD on quality of life.
A Patient With Bipolar Illness and Her Neuropsychological Signature
Authors: Scott Albert J. , Cleary Michael J.
Published: August 2007

This article describes a case study in which neuropsychological assessment was carried out on a 30-year-old, previously diagnosed, bipolar female to determine existence of specific deficits in cognitive function. The patient, whose mood cycles were 12 hours to 24 hours, was subsequently evaluated 8 hours per day for 5 consecutive days (a complete work week of neuropsychological assessment). Neuropsychological results showed motor slowing, right hemispheric dysfunctioning, and memory problems during depressive periods and attentional and executive problems during hypomanic and manic periods. The most normal performance was found during euthymic periods. In addition, left and right hemi visual neglect, aphasia, and sensorimotor problems were present across all mood states. Treatment implications are subsequently described.