bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Smoking Knowledge, Attitudes, Behavior, and Associated Factors Among Chinese Male Surgeons
Authors: Yao Tingting , Ong Michael , Lee Anita , Jiang Yuan , Mao Zhengzhong
Published: February 2009

Background

The purpose of this study was to understand and assess the smoking knowledge, attitudes, behavior, and associated factors among Chinese male surgeons.

Methods

A total of 823 Chinese male surgeons from six cities in China participated in a survey of smoking knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors in 2004. This study presents descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses of factors associated with the respondents’ smoking behavior and smoking cessation activity.

Results

The current smoking prevalence for Chinese male surgeons was 45.2, and 42.5% of respondents reported having smoked in front of their patients. Few of the respondents always asked patients about their smoking status (25%) or advised smokers to quit smoking (27.2%). Logistic regression models found that current smoking status was significantly associated (P < 0.05) with the surgeons’ knowledge of the harms of active and passive smoking and their attitudes toward smoke‐free hospitals and health role modeling by physicians. Smoking in front of patients was significantly associated (P < 0.05) with the respondents’ knowledge of active smoking harms, attitudes toward smoke‐free hospitals, and cigarette consumption. The surgeons’ smoking cessation activity was significantly associated (P < 0.05) with their knowledge about the harms of active smoking, their rates of advising patients to quit smoking, and their knowledge of the harms of passive smoking.

Conclusions

Male surgeons have the highest smoking prevalence among Chinese physicians. They should actively participate in tobacco control training and education to improve their knowledge and attitudes toward smoking, which will improve their own smoking behavior and smoking cessation practices. Only by engaging all parts of the health care system, including surgeons, can China make headway against its tobacco epidemic.
Social Policies in Uruguay: A View from the Political Dimension of Community Psychology
Authors: Rodríguez-Ferreyra Alicia
Published: February 2009

This paper approaches social policy (SP) from the political perspective considered by Montero (Critical psychology: An introduction, Sage, London, pp 231–244, 1997; Community, Work and Family 1(1):65–78, 1998; Introducción a la Psicología Comunitaria. Desarrollo, conceptos y procesos, Paidos, Buenos Aires, pp 89–114, pp 255–284, 2004; Hacer para transformar. El método en la Psicología Comunitaria, Paidos, Buenos Aires, pp 229–256, 2004) as a paradigmatic dimension of community psychology. The field of SP, the characteristics of certain SPs and the role of SP in the production and reproduction of the subjectivities of those subject to them in Uruguay are described and an analysis given of the challenge posed by going from a compensatory or palliative to a transformative mode of SP. It is proposed that identification of, and understanding and intervention in, psychosocial processes in the field are the keys to maximising the likelihood of SPs assuming a transformative character. Psychosocial aspects and participatory processes implicit in the relationship between the State and civil society are discussed. Finally, some orientations for community psychological intervention in this field of action are proposed.
Complete obstetric brachial plexus palsy: Surgical improvement to recover a functional hand
Authors: Maillet Marie , Romana Claudia
Published: February 2009

Objective

Complete obstetrical brachial plexus palsy remains a difficult situation for the child and his/her family. The quality of spontaneous reinnervation is rarely good and always leads to a non-sensitive and non-functional hand, even if abduction of the shoulder and elbow flexion do spontaneously recover. The aim of this study was to assess the results from nerve reconstruction in cases of complete palsy and to demonstrate the effect of a change in surgical technique on the outcome of hand function.

Methods

Thirty pediatric patients with complete obstetric brachial plexus palsy were operated on in our department between 1987 and 2003. Twenty-five of these patients were clinically reviewed and evaluated by a physiotherapist and a surgeon (not the surgeon who performed the surgery). Functional assessment was based on the Gilbert shoulder score, the Gilbert–Raimondi score for elbow function and the Raimondi hand score. All children underwent a nerve reconstruction as graft and/or intra- or extra-plexual neurotization. Our neural surgical strategy changed between 1995 and 1996 to one that addresses the function of the hand and the wrist. A secondary surgical intervention was required in 18 cases. The most frequent procedures were a radial rotation osteotomy and a tendon transfer restoring wrist extension.

Results

Mean follow-up was 7 years and 10 months. Among children operated on with the first surgical strategy—the pre-1995–1996 period—hand function was good in three cases, satisfactory in four cases and unsatisfactory in one case. Among children for whom the second surgical strategy was used—1995–1996 and later—hand function was good or very good in eight cases, satisfactory in four cases and unsatisfactory in two cases. When the 25 patients were assessed for shoulder function, the functional result was good or very good in 12 cases, satisfactory in seven cases and unsatisfactory in six cases. In terms of elbow function, the results were good or very good in 14 cases, satisfactory in eight cases and unsatisfactory in three cases. All hands recovered sensation to a certain degree.

Conclusion

The surgical results are encouraging in terms of shoulder and elbow function, but not as good for hand function. With the change in neural surgical strategy in 1995–1996, when more focus was placed on the hand (second surgical strategy), the results on hand function improved relative to those obtained with the first surgical strategy. It must also be noted that hand recovery requires more time, which may partially explain why functional results are not as good for the hand as for the shoulder and elbow. These results demonstrate that early surgical exploration is useful in complete obstetrical brachial plexus palsies and that there is a need for neural reconstruction of the lower trunk.
The beneficial effect of fructose and glucose on in vitro maturation and the fertilization of porcine oocytes
Authors: Tsujii H. , Lee J. H. , Hossain M. S. , Tareq K. M. A. , Hamano K. , Sawada T.
Published: February 2009

Purpose

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of supplementing fructose in the culture medium on in vitro maturation (IVM), in vitro fertilization (IVF), and metabolism of porcine oocytes.

Methods

Porcine oocytes were matured in vitro in modified North Carolina State University 37 medium (NCSU‐37) and then supplemented with either glucose (5.5 mM), fructose (5.5 mM), or glucose (2.75 mM) plus fructose (2.75 mM). The maturation and fertilization of oocytes, and the incorporation and oxidation of 14C‐glucose, 14C‐fructose, and 14C‐methionine in oocytes at different stages of development were examined.

Results

The supplementation of glucose plus fructose significantly promoted (P < 0.05) oocytes germinal vesicle break down (GVBD), maturation to metaphase II (MII), penetration by spermatozoa, and male pronuclear formation compared with glucose. The incorporation and oxidation of 14C‐methionine into the oocyte significantly increased (P < 0.05) with glucose plus fructose supplementation than glucose. A significantly higher (P < 0.05) rate of incorporation and oxidation was achieved with 14C‐fructose compared to 14C‐glucose.

Conclusions

Glucose plus fructose supplementation improved maturation, penetration by spermatozoa, male pronuclear formation, and energy metabolism by porcine oocytes.
A physiological role of contractions in hatched mouse blastocysts
Authors: Niimura Sueo , Sato Junko
Published: February 2009

Purpose

Using mouse blastocysts with implantation delayed for 7 days (dormant blastocysts) and time‐lapse videomicrography, we examined the physiological role of contractions in hatched blastocysts.

Methods

The degree and number of contractions in dormant blastocysts were analyzed in images recorded for 48 h of culture, and compared with those in dormant blastocysts in which implantation was induced (activated blastocysts), and dormant blastocysts cultured with estrogen or progesterone.

Results

Activated blastocysts exhibited a significantly smaller number of weak contractions and a significantly larger number of strong contractions, compared with dormant blastocysts. Furthermore, the numbers of weak and strong contractions in dormant blastocysts cultured with estradiol‐17β were significantly less frequent or more frequent than those in dormant blastocysts cultured with progesterone and those cultured without steroids. Expression of estrogen receptor mRNA was also detected in dormant blastocysts by the method of reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction.

Conclusion

These results suggested that activated blastocysts enhance the contractions as a preparation for the implantation, and that the enhanced contractions in those serve as a physical stimulation for maternal recognition of pregnancy.
Suborganellar localization of plastidic type I signal peptidase 1 depends on chloroplast development
Authors: Shipman Rebecca L. , Inoue Kentaro
Published: February 2009

Plastidic type I signal peptidase 1 (Plsp1) is necessary for proper chloroplast development although its mode of action is not completely understood. Here, we demonstrate by immunoblotting and electron microscopy immunolocalization that Plsp1 is evenly distributed in the envelope and thylakoids of developing chloroplasts in meristems, whereas it is mainly located in thylakoids of developed chloroplasts in leaf mesophyll. This localization pattern corresponded to accumulation of transcripts for Plsp1 substrates in the envelope and thylakoids, translocon at the outer‐envelope‐membrane of chloroplasts 75 (Toc75) and oxygen‐evolving complex subunit 33 (OE33), respectively. Furthermore, developing chloroplasts processed Toc75 more efficiently than did developed chloroplasts. These findings help establish the rationale for multiple localizations of Plsp1.
Increased portion size leads to a sustained increase in energy intake over 4 d in normal-weight and overweight men and women
Authors: Kelly Mary T. , Wallace Julie M. W. , Robson Paula J. , Rennie Kirsten L. , Welch Robert W. , Hannon-Fletcher Mary P. , Brennan Sarah , Fletcher Adrian , Livingstone M. B. E.
Published: February 2009

Large food portions may be facilitating excess energy intake (EI) and adiposity among adults. The present study aimed to assess the extent to which EI and amounts of foods consumed are influenced by the availability of different-sized food portions. A randomised within-subject cross-over, fully residential design was used, where forty-three (twenty-one men and twenty-two women) normal-weight and overweight adults were randomly allocated to two separate 4 d periods where they were presented with either ‘standard’ or ‘large’ food portions of the same foods and beverages. The main outcome measures were the amount of food (g) and EI (MJ) consumed throughout each study period. Mean EI over 4 d was significantly higher on the large portion condition compared with the standard condition in the total group (59·1 (sd 6·6) v. 52·2 (sd 14·3) MJ; P = 0·020); men and women increased their EI by 17 % (10 (sd 6·5) MJ; P < 0·001) and 10 % (4 (sd 6·5) MJ; P = 0·005) respectively when served the large food portions relative to the standard food portions. The increased intakes were sustained over the 4 d in the large portion condition with little evidence of down-regulation of EI and food intake being made by subjects. Increased food portion size resulted in significant and sustained increases in EI in men and women over 4 d under fully residential conditions. The availability and consumption of larger portions of food may be a significant factor contributing to excess EI and adiposity.
WORKSHOP ISLAND 3 ALGEBRAIC ASPECTS OF INTEGRABILITY
Authors: Feigin Misha , Korff Christian , Strachan Ian
Published: February 2009

As did the very first ISLAND workshop, ISLAND 3 took place on the Hebridean island of Islay, providing a beautiful and serene surrounding for the meeting which ran for over four days. Building on the success of the previous meetings, ISLAND 3 saw the largest number (so far) of participants coming from countries all over the world. A complete list can be found below.
FINITE-GAP INTEGRATION OF THE SU(2) BOGOMOLNY EQUATIONS
Authors: BRADEN H. W. , ENOLSKI V. Z.
Published: February 2009

The Atiyah–Drinfeld–Hitchin–Manin–Nahm (ADHMN) construction of magnetic monopoles is given in terms of the (normalizable) solutions of an associated Weyl equation. We focus here on solving this equation directly by algebro-geometric means. The (adjoint) Weyl equation is solved using an ansatz of Nahm in terms of Baker–Akhiezer functions. The solution of Nahm's equation is not directly used in our development.
BÄCKLUND TRANSFORMATIONS FOR NON-COMMUTATIVE ANTI-SELF-DUAL YANG–MILLS EQUATIONS
Authors: GILSON CLAIRE R. , HAMANAKA MASASHI , NIMMO JONATHAN J. C.
Published: February 2009

We present Bäcklund transformations for the non-commutative anti-self-dual Yang–Mills equations where the gauge group isG=GL(2) and use it to generate a series of exact solutions from a simple seed solution. The solutions generated by this approach are represented in terms of quasi-determinants and belong to a non-commutative version of the Atiyah–Ward ansatz. In the commutative limit, our results coincide with those by Corrigan, Fairlie, Yates and Goddard.
Application of the law of diminishing returns to estimate maintenance requirement for amino acids and their efficiency of utilization for accretion in young chicks
Authors: DARMANI KUHI H. , KEBREAB E. , LOPEZ S. , FRANCE J.
Published: February 2009

Suitability of the monomolecular equation, specifically re-parameterized for analysing energy balance data, has recently been investigated in broilers and turkeys. In the current study, this equation was applied to literature data from growing chicks fed crystalline amino acid (AA) diets, in order to provide estimates for AA requirements for maintenance, body-weight gain and protein accretion. Non-linear regression was used with the data to estimate parameters and combine them to determine other biological indicators. The predictive ability of the model was evaluated with reference to model behaviour when fitting the data, biologically meaningful parameter estimates and statistical performance. The model estimated the maintenance requirements for valine, threonine and lysine to be in the range 80–111, 96–109 and 52–209 mg/kg of liveweight/day, respectively, depending on the response criterion. Requirements for maintenance were in good agreement with values reported previously. Average efficiency of recovering AAs in whole body protein, between maintenance and four×maintenance, was in the reported range of 0·80–1·0 and greatest at low intakes and decreasing as intakes increase.
Estimates of relative yield potential and genetic improvement of wheat cultivars in the Mediterranean region
Authors: SENER O. , ARSLAN M. , SOYSAL Y. , ERAYMAN M.
Published: February 2009

Information about changes associated with advances in crop productivity is essential for understanding yield-limiting factors and developing new strategies for future breeding programmes. National bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) yields in Turkey have risen by an average of 20·8 kg/ha/year from 1925 to 2006. Annual gain in yield attributable to agronomic and genetic improvement averaged c. 11·6 kg/ha/year prior to 1975, but is now averaging c. 15·1 kg/ha/year. In the Mediterranean region, however, the wheat yield trend line (10·9 kg/ha/year) is c. 0·38 lower than that of Turkey. In order to understand whether such a trend was due to the cultivars released over the years, 16 bread wheat cultivars, commonly grown in the region and representing 23 years of breeding, introduction and selection (from 1976 to 1999), were grown in a randomized complete block design with three replicates across 2 years. Data were collected on maturation time, plant height, spike length, spikelet number/spike, grain number/spike, grain weight/spike, 1000 seed weight, harvest index and grain yield. None of the measured plant traits showed any historical cultivar patterns; therefore, the increase in grain yield could not be attributed to a single yield component. Several physiological traits changed during two decades of cultivar releases in the Mediterranean region that led to a genetic gain in grain yield of about 0·5% per year. Years of data and the present field study in the Mediterranean region suggested that the genetic improvement in wheat seemed inadequate and should be reinforced with modern agricultural management practices as well as technological innovations.
Canal wall cholesteatoma following canalplasty
Authors: Martinez Del Pero M , Donnelly N , Antoun N , Axon P
Published: February 2009

Introduction:

Bony canalplasty is a common otological procedure performed to widen a narrow ear canal. The aim of this report is to describe two unusual patients who presented with a canal wall cholesteatoma many years after bony canalplasty.

Cases:

Two patients, aged 28 and 52 years, are presented. Both underwent canalplasty, 14 and 17 years before re-presenting with cholesteatoma evident through posterior canal wall defects. Both patients underwent exploration of the mastoid cavities and cartilage reconstruction of the canal walls. There was no recurrence at 24 and three month follow-up examinations (variously), hearing was preserved in both cases, and the patients suffered no early complications.

Conclusions:

The most frequent long-term complication of canalplasty is re-stenosis of the external auditory canal. The importance of sealing any inadvertently opened mastoid air cells, in order to avoid the late complication reported, is emphasised.
Win the match and vote for me: the politicisation of Ghana's Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko football clubs
Authors: Fridy Kevin S. , Brobbey Victor
Published: February 2009

There is a common perception in Ghana that Accra Hearts of Oak is the soccer club of the National Democratic Congress, and Kumasi Asante Kotoko that of the New Patriotic Party. In this paper we explore the roots of these perceptions by examining the social history of these two clubs specifically, and the Ghanaian soccer league system in general, with an eye for the actors, practices and events that injected political airs into purportedly ‘apolitical’ athletic competitions. With this social history clearly defining the popularly perceived ‘us’ versus ‘them’ of the Hearts/Kotoko rivalry, we analyse on the basis of a modest survey some of the assumptions these widely held stereotypes rely upon. We find that ethnicity and location matter both in terms of predicting one's affinity for a given soccer club and partisan inclinations. These factors do not, however, completely dispel the relationship between sports and politics as spurious. Though not conclusive, there is enough evidence collected in the survey to suggest that one's preferred club, even when controlling for ethnicity and location, does have an effect on one's partisan leanings, or perhaps vice versa. This finding highlights the independent role that often-understudied cultural politics can play.
To ‘midwife’ – and abort – a democracy: Mauritania's transition from military rule, 2005–2008
Authors: N'Diaye Boubacar
Published: February 2009

The 3 August 2005 military coup was Mauritania's best opportunity to turn the page on decades of the deposed quasi-military regime's destructive politics. This article critically analyses relevant aspects of the transition that ensued in the context of the prevailing models of military withdrawal from politics in Africa. It also examines the challenges that Mauritania's short-lived Third Republic faced. It argues that the transition process did not escape the well-known African military junta leader's proclivity to manipulate transitions to fulfil suddenly awakened self-seeking political ambitions, in violation of solemn promises. While there was no old-fashioned ballot stuffing to decide electoral outcomes, Mauritania's junta leader and his lieutenants spared no effort to keep the military very much involved in politics, and to perpetuate a strong sense of entitlement to political power. Originally designed as an ingenious ‘delayed self-succession’ of sorts, in the end, another coup aborted Mauritania's democratisation process and threw its institutions in a tailspin. This only exacerbated the challenges that have saddled Mauritania's political system and society for decades – unhealthy civil-military relations, a dismal ‘human rights deficit’, terrorism, and a neo-patrimonial, disastrously mismanaged economy.
A Partition of Contingency? Public Discourse in Bengal, 1946–1947
Authors: ROY HAIMANTI
Published: February 2009

The historiography on the Partition of Bengal has tended to see it as a culmination of long-term trends of Hindu and Muslim communalism within the province. This essay offers a counter-narrative to the ‘inevitability’ of the Partition by focusing on Bengali public discourse in the months leading up to the Partition. The possibility of a division generated a large-scale debate amongst the educated in Bengal and they articulated their views by sending numerous letters to leading newspapers, district political and civic organizations and sometimes published pamphlets for local consumption. A critical examination of these public debates for and against Partition reveals the countdown to August 1947 as a period of multiple possibilities. Rather than being pre-determined, the stands for a separate or a United Bengal were contingent in nature. Understanding the genesis provides the starting point and the necessary corrective to evaluate India's path to post-colonial nationhood.
Trypanosoma caninum n. sp. (Protozoa: Kinetoplastida) isolated from intact skin of a domestic dog (Canis familiaris) captured in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Authors: MADEIRA M. F. , SOUSA M. A. , BARROS J. H. S. , FIGUEIREDO F. B. , FAGUNDES A. , SCHUBACH A. , DE PAULA C. C. , FAISSAL B. N. S. , FONSECA T. S. , THOMA H. K. , MARZOCHI M. C. A.
Published: February 2009

An unknown Trypanosoma species was isolated from an axenic culture of intact skin from a domestic dog captured in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which was co-infected with Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis. Giemsa-stained smears of cultures grown in different media revealed the presence of epimastigotes, trypomastigotes, spheromastigotes, transitional stages, and dividing forms (epimastigotes or spheromastigotes). The highest frequency of trypomastigotes was observed in RPMI (15·2%) and DMEM (9·2%) media containing 5% FCS, with a mean length of these forms of 43·0 and 36·0 μm, respectively. Molecular analysis by sequential application of PCR assays indicated that this trypanosome differs from Trypanosoma cruzi and T. rangeli when specific primers were applied. On the other hand, a PCR strategy targeted to the D7 domain of 24sα rDNA, using primers D75/D76, amplified products of about 250 bp in that isolate (stock A-27), different from the amplification products obtained with T. cruzi and T. rangeli. This organism differs from T. cruzi mainly by the size of its trypomastigote forms and kinetoplasts and the absence of infectivity for macrophages and triatomine bugs. It is also morphologically distinct from salivarian trypanosomes reported in Brazil. Isoenzyme analysis at 8 loci demonstrated a very peculiar banding pattern clearly distinct from those of T. rangeli and T. cruzi. We conclude that this isolate is a new Trypanosoma species. The name T. caninum is suggested.
Mobility analysis of complex joints by means of screw theory
Authors: Yu Jingjun , Dai Jian S. , Zhao Tieshi , Bi Shusheng , Zong Guanghua
Published: February 2009

In structural design of current complex mechanisms or robots like parallel kinematic machines (PKMs), surgical robots, and reconfigurable robots, there commonly exist some functional modules called complex joints (CJs). Each of them, consisting of several simple pairs and essentially a mechanism, plays the same and more important roles as simple joints in kinematics and dynamics. However, as the primarily important aspect in mechanism analysis, the type and mobility of these CJs are far from familiarity. Therefore, this paper aims at addressing the type and mobility of CJs. For this purpose, the concept and classification of CJs are first discussed, an effective method to analyze the mobility characteristics of these CJs is then developed based on the equivalent screw system. The advantage of this method is that it reveals mobility characteristics by using equivalent transformations of kinematic pair screw (KP-screw) and constraint screw (C-screw) systems. With this method, the mobility characteristics of some concrete CJs are obtained correspondingly.
OPTIMAL PRICING AND PRODUCTION POLICIES OF A MAKE-TO-STOCK SYSTEM WITH FLUCTUATING DEMAND
Authors: Gayon Jean-Philippe , Talay-Değirmenci Işılay , Karaesmen Fikri , Örmeci E. Lerzan
Published: February 2009

We study the effects of different pricing strategies available to a production–inventory system with capacitated supply, which operates in a fluctuating demand environment. The demand depends on the environment and on the offered price. For such systems, three plausible pricing strategies are investigated: static pricing, for which only one price is used at all times, environment-dependent pricing, for which price changes with the environment, and dynamic pricing, for which price depends on both the current environment and the stock level. The objective is to find an optimal replenishment and pricing policy under each of these strategies. This article presents some structural properties of optimal replenishment policies and a numerical study that compares the performances of these three pricing strategies.
Can input explain children's me-for-I errors?
Authors: KIRJAVAINEN MINNA , THEAKSTON ANNA , LIEVEN ELENA
Published: February 2009

English-speaking children make pronoun case errors producing utterances where accusative pronouns are used in nominative contexts (me do it). We investigate whether complex utterances in the input (Let me do it) might explain the origin of these errors. Longitudinal naturalistic data from seventeen English-speaking two- to four-year-olds was searched for 1psg accusative-for-nominative case errors and for all 1psg preverbal pronominal contexts. Their caregivers' data was also searched for 1psg preverbal pronominal contexts. The data show that the children's proportional use of me-for-I errors correlated with their caregivers' proportional use ofmein 1psg preverbal contexts. Furthermore, the verbs that children produced in me-error utterances appeared in complex sentences containingmein the input more often than verbs that did not appear in me-for-I errors in the children's speech. These findings are discussed in the context of current explanations for children's case marking errors.
Evidence for the continued existence of Abraxas Lake, Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica during the Last Glacial Maximum
Authors: Gibson John A.E. , Paterson Kristina S. , White Camille A. , Swadling Kerrie M.
Published: February 2009

Evidence is provided from a sediment core from saline Abraxas Lake, Vestfold Hills, that indicates that the lake existed through the Last Glacial Maximum. It can therefore be concluded that at least part of the Vestfold Hills also remained ice-free through the Last Glacial Maximum, or at most was covered by a thin, non-erosive cold-based ice sheet. The evidence for the continued existence of Abraxas Lake includes a 14C date that significantly predates the Last Glacial Maximum (though this cannot be considered direct proof of the existence of the lake prior to the Last Glacial Maximum); the presence of saline porewater throughout the core, including in compacted sediments deposited during the glacial period, which implies that the lake obtained its salt prior to any Holocene marine highstand; and the occurrence of marine-derived fauna from the onset of significant biological activity late in the Pleistocene. The occurrence of ice-free land in the Vestfold Hills and similar oases suggests that the margin of the polar ice cap did not reach far beyond its current position at the Last Glacial Maximum, at least in regions now occupied by these oases.
The oocyte activation and Ca2+oscillation-inducing abilities of mouse and human dead (sonicated) spermatozoa
Authors: Yazawa Hiroyuki , Yanagida Kaoru , Hayashi Shoutaro , Sato Akira
Published: February 2009

In ICSI procedures, it is well known that the selection of viable (live) spermatozoa and certain types of immobilization prior to injection is very important for obtaining successful results, but unfortunately there are rare situations when only immotile spermatozoa are available (such as in severe asthenozoospermia or necrozoospermia). In such cases, failure of oocyte activation after ICSI often occurs and may be due to the lack of SOAF (sperm-borne oocyte activating factor) activity. In order to investigate the SOAF activities of dead spermatozoa, mouse and human spermatozoa were immobilized (killed by sonication), maintained in THF medium for varying time intervals (up to 72 h) and then injected into mature unfertilized mouse oocytes. Injected mouse oocytes were examined for their activation, development into blastocysts and Ca2+responses by imaging and confocal laser scanning microscope. The rates of oocyte activation, blastocyst development and normal patterns of Ca2+oscillation from the killed-sperm-injected oocytes decreased gradually in accordance with the maintenance interval between sonication and injection. For injection with mouse sonicated spermatozoa, the rate of normal Ca2+oscillations declined first (after a 3 h maintenance interval) and then blastocyst development was gradually obstructed (after approx. 10 h). The oocyte activation-inducing ability of dead spermatozoa was maintained for a relatively long period, but began to decline after 20 h. The activation rates and Ca2+response of the oocytes that were injected with human sonicated spermatozoa decreased earlier than those injected with mouse spermatozoa. Although the oocyte activation-inducing ability was maintained for a relatively long time after the death of the spermatozoa, embryo development into blastocysts and the rate of normal Ca2+oscillations declined after a short maintenance interval between sonication and injection. The Ca2+response seemed to be the most sensitive indicator for the evaluating the SOAF activity of dead (killed) spermatozoa.
Attempted Homicide
Authors: Duff R. A.
Published: February 2009

Criminal attempts, it is often said, are crimes of intention. While many complete crimes can be committed recklessly, criminal attempts require “purposive conduct”; in attempts “the intent is the essence of the crime.” But what kind of intention is required; what must be intended, or purposed, by someone who is to be guilty of a criminal attempt?
Dworkin on the Foundations of Liberal Equality
Authors: Neal Patrick
Published: February 2009

Ronald Dworkin's Tanner Lectures, “Foundations of Liberal Equality,” have hardly elicited comment within the academic political theory community. This is surprising for a number of reasons. First, Dworkin is widely taken to be one of the leading liberal theorists in the English-speaking world, and “Foundations” is a major statement (120 pages in length) involving reflection upon issues of principle that are at the center of contemporary scholarly debate among liberals. Secondly, “Foundations” introduces a number of ideas and concepts that are new in Dworkin's corpus and that serve to illuminate and clarify some of his wdely discussed earlier works, especially the famous article “Liberalism,” which sparked so much argument over the idea of neutrality and its place within liberal political theory. Finally, the lectures are interesting because of the approach they take to the matter of “defending liberalism,” an approach that departs in interesting and significant ways from those presently pursued by other leading liberal thinkers, notably John Rawls and Joseph Raz.
Organizations and Agency
Authors: Ouyang Guangwei , Shiner Roger A.
Published: February 2009

Much recent work in applied legal and political theory has been preoccupied with the problem of the moral status of business organizations and corporations, and of the nature of their agency and personality. On the one hand, moral rights, such as rights to freedom and autonomy, are paradigmatically ascribed to natural, human persons; moral responsibility analogously seems therefore paradigmatically applicable to individuals. Organizations seemingly have no will or mind, no human feelings such as pleasure, pain, shame, and remorse. How can the language of rights and responsibility be applicable to them? On the other hand, it seems to be a fact that business organizations often do things that we human beings do—make deals, sign contracts, cause harm, and issue apologies. In ordinary and in legal discourse all the time we hear such things as, “Miller's Pulp Mill is responsible for its corrupt environmental practice”; “Philip Cosmetics Ltd. has the right to advertise its products”; and “Sunligt Co. is accountable for its irresponsible behavior.” How then are we to understand the attributions of organizational agency, personality, and responsibility that these statements presuppose? Are the predicates in these statements to be taken as having the same intension, or the same force, as similar ones predicated on natural persons? Or are the predications to be seen as extensions of meaning, justified or not? Or as exotic metaphors with no factual implications?
Authorities and Persons
Authors: Marmor Andrei
Published: February 2009

In this article I want to support a certain conception of legal authority. The question I want to address is this: Is it possible to attribute legal authority to a given norm if its authority does not derive from the authority of someone who has issued that norm? Basically, I will try to defend here a negative answer to this question, espousing a personal conception of authority.
Reply to a Comment on “The Appeals Process as a Means of Error Correction”
Authors: Shavell Steven
Published: February 2009

In his interesting comment on my recent article, “The Appeals Process as a Means of Error Correction,” Edward Schwartz makes two criticisms of my analysis. The criticisms have essentially to do with my assumption that an appeals court judge will base his or her decisions only on what happened at trial, and not on any inference that can be drawn from the fact that an appeal was brought. Before explaining why I do not find Schwartz's criticisms problematic, it will be helpful for me to restate the main features of the model that I examined in the article.
Introduction to Issues 2 and 3: Symposium on Consent in Sexual Relations
Authors: Alexander Larry
Published: February 2009

Legal and social norms regarding gender relations have undergone dramatic changes in the past 25 years. The changes have come about largely because of the confluence of changing economic and technological realities, the unfolding of the norm dictating equal treatment of individuals, the sexual revolution and its corollaries of improved contraception and legal abortion, the rise of women as a self-conscious group and a presence in the academy, and the interrelations of all of these factors. As men and women have come to share dormitories and workplaces, and as the old mores governing sex—and male-female relations in general—have broken down, there has been struggle and uncertainty over what norms should apply to sexual relations.
Comment: Rationality, Hedonism, and the Case for Paternalistic Intervention
Authors: West Robin
Published: February 2009

Let us take, as a starting assumption, the Benthamic understanding of the point of law: We should make laws that will increase the overall happiness of the people whose lives are affected by them. But how should we go about doing that? And more particularly, what role, if any, should our held desires play in the task of ascertaining the content of our happiness? And when, if ever, should we defer to the desires of the affected masses, and when should we not, in determining what will or will not promote happiness? The classical, or “hedonic,” utilitarians of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries suggested a number of answers to these related questions, of which I will mention two.
Alchemies of the Mind:Transmutation and Misrepresentation
Authors: Elster Jon
Published: February 2009

At least since the French moralists—Montaigne, Pascal, La Rochefoucauld, La Bruyère—it has been a commonplace that people can fool themselves as well as others about their beliefs and motivations. In this article, I consider some mechanisms oftransmutation(deceiving oneself) andmisrepresentation(deceiving others), and their impact on behavior. (I refer to these collectively astransformations.) I argue that deception and self-deception are not merely ex post rationalizations of behavior whose real motive and explanation are found elsewhere, but that they have independent causal and explanatory power. If people, that is, did not fool themselves or others about why they do what they do they would act differently. The reason is that deception and self-deception take place underconstraintsthat prevent us from offering totally opportunistic or self-serving rationalizations of what we do. There is aconsistency constraintthat is induced by the costs of being seen (by oneself or others) as offering inconsistent justifications for one's behavior, and animperfection constraintdiat is induced by the costs of being seen (by oneself or others) as offering justifications that are too blatantly self-serving.
Jurisprudence as Practical Philosophy
Authors: Postema Gerald J.
Published: February 2009

Nowhere has H.L.A. Hart's influence on philosophical jurisprudence in the English-speaking world been greater than in the way its fundamental project and method are conceived by its practitioners. Disagreements abound, of course. Philosophers debate the extent to which jurisprudence can or should proceed without appeal to moral or other values. They disagree about which participant perspective—that of the judge, lawyer, citizen, or “bad man”—is primary and about what taking up the participant perspective commits the theorist to. However, virtually unchallenged is the view that jurisprudence is fundamentally interpretive or “hermeneutic”; that it takes for its subject a certain kind of social practice, constituted by the behavior and understandings of its participants; that its task is to explain this practice and its relations to other important social practices; and that it can properly be explained only by taking full account of participant understandings. It is, perhaps, some measure of the hegemony of Hart's influence that Ronald Dworkin mounts his fundamental challenge to Hart's positivism squarely from within this jurisprudential orthodoxy. Dworkin may have exceeded the limits of the method as Hart conceived it, but, as Stephen Perry has argued, “the seeds of Dworkin's strong version of inter-pretivism were sown by Hart himself.”
A NOTE ON DEMAND AND SUPPLY FACTORS IN MANUFACTURING OUTPUT ASYMMETRIES
Authors: Korenok Oleg , Mizrach Bruce , Radchenko Stanislav
Published: February 2009

In a Markov switching framework, we show that the duration of recessions is significantly shorter than the duration of expansions in 11 manufacturing sectors, and in aggregate durables and manufacturing output. We find two leading indicators, consumer expectations and the term spread, act as important demand-driven forces behind asymmetry.
THE DYNAMICS OF WEALTH INEQUALITY IN A SIMPLE RAMSEY MODEL: A NOTE ON THE ROLE OF PRODUCTION FLEXIBILITY
Authors: García-Peñalosa Cecilia , Turnovsky Stephen J.
Published: February 2009

It has been shown that the Ramsey growth model with agents that differ in their initial wealth endowments is compatible with a wide range of distributional outcomes, yet it is difficult to characterize under which circumstances the distribution of wealth becomes more or less unequal. In this note, we characterize the steady state distribution of wealth and compare it to the initial distribution, obtaining analytical conditions for one to be more skewed than the other. We show that whether wealth inequality increases or decreases during the transition to the steady state depends on simple and intuitive conditions on parameter values. Standard values for these parameters indicate that it is more likely that wealth inequality decreases as the economy accumulates capital.
Children’s and parents’ perceptions of the determinants of children’s fruit and vegetable intake in a low-intake population
Authors: Kristjansdottir Asa Gudrun , De Bourdeaudhuij Ilse , Klepp Knut-Inge , Thorsdottir Inga
Published: February 2009

Objective

To study the differences between children’s self-reports and parents’ reports on environmental determinants of fruit and vegetable intake among 11-year-old children in the European country with the lowest reported consumption. A second objective was to examine the observed variance in fruit and vegetable intake among the children.

Design

A cross-sectional survey was performed in Iceland as a part of the Pro Children cross-Europe survey. Children’s usual fruit and vegetable intake and its determinants were assessed through self-reports from the children (n963) and their parents’ reports.

Results

Children reported lower availability and accessibility of fruits at home than did their parents, while the reports of children and parents for vegetables were more in agreement. A larger proportion of the observed variance in children’s fruit and vegetable intake could be explained by the child’s perception than by the parent’s perception of determinants. The strongest determinants for fruit and vegetable intake according to the children’s reports were availability at home, modelling, demanding family rule and knowledge of recommendations. The strongest modelling determinant for fruit was the father’s fruit intake while for vegetables it was eating vegetables together with the family.

Conclusion

Eleven-year-old children should be asked themselves what determines their fruit and vegetable intake. However, children reported determinants in the physical and social environment, of which the parents are a part, as an important determinant for their intake. Interventions aiming to increase fruit and vegetable intake among children must therefore target the parents.
The δ18O of dissolved O2 as a tracer of mixing and respiration in the mesopelagic ocean
Authors: Levine Naomi Marcil , Bender Michael L. , Doney Scott C.
Published: February 2009

The isotopic composition of dissolved oxygen in the mesopelagic ocean is a unique tracer of respiration and transport. New δ18O of O2 data from the tropical South Atlantic oxygen minimum zone are presented and compared to global δ18O data. The δ18O variability in oxygen poor waters is attributed to differences in physical and biogeochemical processes. Simple respiration‐transport models show that both isopycnal diffusion and advection must be properly considered when interpreting oxygen isotope signatures along an isopycnal surface. We estimate rates of respiration and oxygen isotope fractionation for the study region using a two‐dimensional (2‐D) isopycnal and 1‐D diapycnal model. Estimated respiration rates are consistent with previous studies. However, to account for observed δ18O values at low [O2], model solutions need to invoke either very low [O2] that have not been observed in the South Atlantic or an isotope effect that is lower than values measured in the laboratory or euphotic zone.
Oceanic sources, sinks, and transport of atmospheric CO2
Authors: Gruber Nicolas , Gloor Manuel , Mikaloff Fletcher Sara E. , Doney Scott C. , Dutkiewicz Stephanie , Follows Michael J. , Gerber Markus , Jacobson Andrew R. , Joos Fortunat , Lindsay Keith , Menemenlis Dimitris , Mouchet Anne , Müller Simon A. , Sarmiento Jorge L. , Takahashi Taro
Published: February 2009

We synthesize estimates of the contemporary net air‐sea CO2 flux on the basis of an inversion of interior ocean carbon observations using a suite of 10 ocean general circulation models (Mikaloff Fletcher et al., 2006, 2007) and compare them to estimates based on a new climatology of the air‐sea difference of the partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) (Takahashi et al., 2008). These two independent flux estimates reveal a consistent description of the regional distribution of annual mean sources and sinks of atmospheric CO2 for the decade of the 1990s and the early 2000s with differences at the regional level of generally less than 0.1 Pg C a−1. This distribution is characterized by outgassing in the tropics, uptake in midlatitudes, and comparatively small fluxes in thehigh latitudes. Both estimates point toward a small (∼ −0.3 Pg C a−1) contemporary CO2 sink in the Southern Ocean (south of 44°S), a result of the near cancellation between a substantial outgassing of natural CO2 and a strong uptake of anthropogenic CO2. A notable exception in the generally good agreement between the two estimates exists within the Southern Ocean: the ocean inversion suggests a relatively uniform uptake, while the pCO2‐based estimate suggests strong uptake in the region between 58°S and 44°S, and a source in the region south of 58°S. Globally and for a nominal period between 1995 and 2000, the contemporary net air‐sea flux of CO2 is estimated to be −1.7 ± 0.4 Pg C a−1 (inversion) and −1.4 ± 0.7 Pg C a−1 (pCO2‐climatology), respectively, consisting of an outgassing flux of river‐derived carbon of ∼+0.5 Pg C a−1, and an uptake flux of anthropogenic carbon of −2.2 ± 0.3 Pg C a−1 (inversion) and −1.9 ± 0.7 Pg C a−1 (pCO2‐climatology). The two flux estimates also imply a consistent description of the contemporary meridional transport of carbon with southward ocean transport throughout most of the Atlantic basin, and strong equatorward convergence in the Indo‐Pacific basins. Both transport estimates suggest a small hemispheric asymmetry with a southward transport of between −0.2 and −0.3 Pg C a−1 across the equator. While the convergence of these two independent estimates is encouraging and suggests that it is now possible to provide relatively tight constraints for the net air‐sea CO2 fluxes at the regional basis, both studies are limited by their lack of consideration of long‐term changes in the ocean carbon cycle, such as the recent possible stalling in the expected growth of the Southern Ocean carbon sink.
Transformation textures in post‐perovskite: Understanding mantle flow in the D″ layer of the Earth
Authors: Walte N. P. , Heidelbach F. , Miyajima N. , Frost D. J. , Rubie D. C. , Dobson D. P.
Published: February 2009

Deformation and texture formation in (Mg, Fe)SiO3 post perovskite (ppv) is a potential explanation for the strong seismic anisotropy that is found in the D″ layer of the Earth. However, different experimental approaches have resulted in different lattice preferred orientations (LPO) in deformed ppv that have led to ambiguity in the interpretation of deformation in the lowermost mantle. Here, we show that deformation of the analogue substance CaIrO3 during a phase transformation from perovskite to ppv leads to a transformation texture that differs from the CaIrO3 ppv deformation texture but resembles the results from ppv deformation experiments in diamond anvil cells. Assuming material spreading parallel to the core‐mantle boundary, our results predict a widespread shear wave splitting with fast horizontal S‐waves, which is compatible with seismic studies. Downwelling material that undergoes a phase transformation may develop a transformation texture that would locally result in vertically polarized fast S‐waves.