bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Description of the Convective Air-Drying of a Food Model by Means of the Fractal Theory
Authors: Chanona P. J.J. , Alamilla B. L. , Farrera R. R.R. , Quevedo R. , Aguilera J. M. , Gutiérrez L. G.F.
Published: August 2003

A slab-shaped model food prepared using glucose solutions and agar as jellifying agent was subjected to drying in an experimental drier. Drying kinetics and surface temperature (ST) distribution along drying were evaluated. When fractal analysis was applied to ST distributions it was possible to observe three stages: the first one, at the beginning of the process, was very short and could not be associated with a fractal dimension. The second one, by far the longest, had a constant value of the fractal dimension of the ST distribution and towards the end of the process, as temperature of the surface of the material tended to homogenise, a final linear stage was found which corresponded to equilibrium conditions. Images of the slab along drying were recorded and showed an increasing heterogeneous appearance as drying proceeds. Grey level intensity plots corresponding to these images also showed an increasing irregularity (higher values of fractal dimension) with drying time. Fractal analysis probed to be a useful tool for describing drying kinetics and for characterising images of samples subjected to dehydration.
In the Shadow of the Object
Authors: Sember Robert
Published: August 2003

Much of the work of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender past has involved finding or creating spaces in which to know ourselves and become known to others. Given the role such spaces play in supporting the formation of identities and communities, “queer geographies”may be said to reflect discontinuities and sympathies between psychic and social spaces, complicating the distinction between public and private. Histories of queer psychic and social forms may be read, therefore, from the geographies in which they were constructed. One of these histories is explored through a close reading of Manhattan’s West Side piers, for many years a well-known gay public sex site that has now been demolished and replaced with a public park. The history of the site surfaced particularly clearly during the first years of the AIDS epidemic, when the disappearance of the site mirrored the devastation experienced by the community.
Intrinsic Information in the Making of Public Space
Authors: Stephen Awoniyi
Published: August 2003

Our lived experience is acted out in space. One of the significant things about our existence in physical space is that we fragment space into meaningful “chunks.” In the process, an inevitable dialectic and a politics have emerged, whereby space has been intellectualized, space-types exist in oppositions, and certain space-types sometimes get privileged to the detriment or demise of others. The public museum serves as a model of public space. As traditional museums experience the challenges of storing and exhibiting physical objects (e.g., challenges of the systematic, mandatory, systemic, logistical, and strategic types), digitization is emerging as a player in the evolution of the public museum. The question of whether human interaction with digitized objects can be a substitute for our interaction with physical objects in physical space is taken up by this article. The article proposes that space-making is effective only to the extent that the process engages such a question in critical dialogue, all with the ultimate goal of taking into account continued cultural vitalization and tacit experiences of human existence.
Before the Rain
Authors: McCarthy Christine
Published: August 2003

According to Engberg, “Humidity is that in-between state. It is the storm pending. The bulging part of weather, all moist and dense, and hanging in a kind of limbo state of being. Like a large droplet of water, it suspends, tremulous in the moment before bursting or evaporating off.” This article explores the interior architecture of humidity. In particular, it draws from an experience of humidity in Darwin, Australia, in early October 2001 before the monsoon season. The article examines how this specific climatic condition produces an architecture independent of building. With humidity, the mechanics of enclosure are independent of what is conventionally understood as architecture as, in humid contexts, “the dialectics of inside and outside multiply with countless diversified nuances.” The article also examines notions of enclosure and intimacy, and considers the architectures of the shadow and of air-conditioning in humid climates. Kristeva’s notion of abjection informs this discussion.
Social Representations of Health and Illness among ‘ Baby–boomers’ in Eastern Canada
Authors: Murray Michael , Pullman Daryl , Rodgers Theresa Heath
Published: August 2003

For several decades, government agencies in the western world have promoted personal responsibility for health and illness. This study explored the extent to which this perspective was integrated into the everyday beliefs about health and illness held by a sample of baby-boomers from eastern Canada. Approximately 150 baby-boomers participated in a series of individual interviews and group discussions. Detailed analysis of their conversation revealed a number of social and personal narratives about the changing character and experience of health and illness. The dominant viewpoint was in terms of lifestyle and personal responsibility. We consider the role of narratives in the construction of social representations of health and illness.
Thresholds of Morbidity among Women in a Peri-Urban Community of Maharashtra, India: Conceptual and Methodological Issues
Authors: Kielmann Karina , Bentley Margaret
Published: August 2003

While data on perceived morbidity often correlate poorly with clinical morbidity, they can provide an indicator for how women’s concepts of health change in the context of larger transitions in gender and health systems. Drawing on multiple sources of data on perceived morbidity among women in a peri-urban settlement of Maharashtra, India, this article examines variations in women’s thresholds for articulating illness conditions. Data on women’s health were collected from married women aged 15–49, using four different instruments: focus group discussion guides; general illness narrative guidelines; individual open-ended questions about morbidity; and a highly structured checklist. Comparing the data and the assumptions underlying these instruments, the article identifies four different thresholds relating to situational, agency, prototypical and dimensional aspects of women’s experience and subsequent reporting of morbidity.
Health in the Context of Growing Old: Social Representations of Health
Authors: Flick Uwe , Fischer Claudia , Neuber Anke , Schwartz Friedrich Wilhelm , Walter Ulla
Published: August 2003

Senior citizens have become a major part of the clientele of general practitioners and home care nurses due to a major demographic transition in most western countries. How do the health concepts in professional practice reflect these trends? Research has largely investigated the health concepts of lay people. This study is focused on the representations of health in old age held by two groups of professionals— general practitioners and nurses—both working in home care with elderly people in two German cities. The results show how health professionals use an extended concept of health, which focuses on the life situation of the old person, on autonomy, self-determination or independence and on how the elderly manage disease and physical restrictions.
Conception of Wellness in Families with a Diabetic Child
Authors: Jutras Sylvie , Morin Pauline , Proulx Ren…e , Vinay Marie Claude , Roy Emmanuelle , Routhier Lysanne
Published: August 2003

Focusing on wellness and adopting perspectives from positive and perceptual psychology, perceptions about health and illness were studied in 55 families with diabetic children, their siblings (8–17 years old) and mothers. Individual interviews were conducted on definitions of wellness, rationale for children’s self-evaluation of wellness, consequences of wellness and definition of diabetes. Content analysis revealed that respondents have a comprehensive definition of wellness focusing on adaptation and performance. Significant role-specific differences emerged. Mothers’ perceptions reflected their role in caregiving and socializing children. Children emphasized school performance and absence of health problems. Siblings focused on harmonious relationships. In accordance with the perspective of positive psychology, adults’ as well as children’s perceptions are congruent with the pursuit of wellness despite chronic illness.
Social Representation of AIDS among Zambian Adolescents
Authors: Joffe H…l»ne , Bettega Nadia
Published: August 2003

This study explores shared thinking about HIV/AIDS among Zambian adolescents. With high numbers affected, the question is how this group represents its risk. Social representations of the origin, spread and risk of HIV/AIDS were gleaned via 60 semistructured interviews with urban 15 to 20 year olds. A systematic analysis revealed a shared picture: AIDS was linked to the West, God and teenage girls; its spread lay beyond the control of adolescent boys and men; and the personal sense of vulnerability was low. The results are discussed in light of their corroboration of the finding that social representations of danger can be identity protective, yet also system justifying. The potential transfer of such findings to psychological theory and to health campaigns is considered.
Beyond Otherness: Controllability and Location in Mental Health Service Clients’ Representations of Mental Health Problems
Authors: Foster Juliet L.H.
Published: August 2003

This paper focuses on a multimethod qualitative study of the social representations of mental health problems held by clients of the mental health services. Clients appear to represent mental health within representational projects, and, in the course of these projects, situate mental health problems at various points within a twodimensional representational structure comprising controllability and location. It will be suggested that the element of Otherness, so integral to public representations of mental ill health, is therefore significantly more complicated in clients’ representations. Similarly, the interaction between these two dimensions suggests that clients move beyond the professional divide between psychosis and neurosis. The implications of these results will be briefly considered.
Concepts and Understandings of Dementia by ‘Gatekeepers’ and Minority Ethnic ‘Service Users’
Authors: Forbat Liz
Published: August 2003

In this article I outline research which seeks to explore the intersections of dementia, ethnicity and family care. My focus is how research that aims to focus on dementia care and ethnicity illuminates the experiences of members of minoritized ethnic groups in accessing statutory services. I reflect on how the intersections of racialized identities and western medical terminology make researching and providing services across racialized boundaries and health/illness a complex procedure. This commentary has direct implications for the care of people with dementia, their family members and for service development within health and social care fields.
Reconsidering the Link between Incumbent Support and Pro-EU Opinion
Authors: Ray Leonard
Published: August 2003

According to some recent work on the attitudes towards European integration, supporters of incumbent parties are generally more pro-European than supporters of opposition parties. However, there are theoretical reasons to expect supporters of governing parties to be skeptical of European integration. Upon closer examination, the relationship between incumbent support and pro-European Union (EU) attitudes is a conditional one, which appears primarily when referendums are held on European topics or during European Parliament (EP) election years. At other times, there is a weak positive relationship between incumbent support and support for the current European Union, but a negative relationship with support for further unification. This suggests that supporters of incumbent parties are not natural advocates for reform of the institutions of the EU.
Ethnography on an Awkward Scale
Authors: Comaroff Jean , Comaroff John
Published: August 2003

In what ways has the movement of anthropology off the reservation, and off the island, challenged the ethnographic practice that has historically been its raison d'être? How has the increasing historicization of the discipline, and its encounters with the variegated effects of globalization, altered its methodological orientations and strategies? How should those orientations and strategies change in proportion to transformations in the social and cultural geographies of the worlds inhabited by our `natives'? Is it possible to `do' ethnography on an awkward scale in multiple dimensions? What are the epistemic implications of these questions for the anthropology of the future? Taking as its point of departure current debates over (i) the relationship between evidence and explanation in the social sciences, and (ii) the relative demands of the local and the global in focusing the ethnographic gaze, this article explores the premises and promises of contemporary ethnography. It invokes recent research on the rise of an `occult economy' in the South African postcolony to argue for a radical expansion of the horizons of ethnographic methodology, for a method simultaneously inductive and deductive, empirical and imaginative.
Being there... and there... and there!
Authors: Hannerz Ulf
Published: August 2003

Multi-site, or multilocal, field work has become increasingly practiced and acknowledged in anthropology since the 1980s. Drawing on several field studies by anthropologists at Stockholm University but particularly on the author's study of the work of news media foreign correspondents, this article identifies differences in practices and assumptions between such work and the classic model of single-site field work as enunciated in the mid-20th century. It discusses the construction of multi-site fields, including the selection of sites; the quality of relationships with informants in such fields; the temporal aspects of field work and of the sites themselves; the dominant types of data in multi-site studies; and the fit between field work and organizational and career circumstances; as well as particular topics dealt with in the foreign correspondent study.
The `Moralities' of Poaching
Authors: Anteby Michel
Published: August 2003

Poaching, usually understood as trespassing in pursuit of game, in the context of the French aerospace factory described in this article, amounts to manufacturing objects on company time and with company materials and tools for personal use. These objects are known as `homers' in English and perruques in French. The account of homers by a French aerospace employee presented in this article is informed by other ethnographic accounts of similar practices. These accounts highlight the cognitive contrast between homers and work but also some practical similarities between homer production processes and more traditional work processes. Competing definitions of unofficial (and by contrast official) work emerge from this analysis. The `moralities' of poaching are therefore multiple and this multiplicity sustains the poaching system.
Framing Photographic Ethnography
Authors: Harper Douglas
Published: August 2003

This article retraces the emergence of visual ethnography before deconstructing the uses of photographic evidence gathered for my book Changing Works: a visual ethnography of industrializing agriculture in 20th-century America. It discusses techniques of visual documentation and argumentation, including the formal properties of pictures, the influence of framing and captioning, and the use of existing photographic archives and how to control their built-in biases. Recognizing that visual information is selected and constructed in distinct ways does not destroy or diminish their worth. Rather, it allows the alert ethnographer to utilize them with more caution and subtlety.
Social Work in the Republic of Ireland
Authors: Skehill Caroline
Published: August 2003

* Summary: This article reports on research carried out into the nature and position of social work in the child protection and welfare system in Ireland. Employing a methodology of a history of the present, this research sought to critically examine the nature and position of social work within the social as a `psy expert'. * Findings: Selected findings relating to the genealogical and archaeological construction of social work discourse in Ireland are provided to illuminate how its particular historical pathways both enabled and constrained its development. It was found that, to some extent, conceptualizations of social work in the context of its space within the social were applicable to the Irish context. However, it was also found that a number of other factors were also significant, implying the need for problematization of existing theories of the social. * Applications: Although some of the findings relate directly to the particular spatial context of Ireland, others are transferable to the UK and international contexts. The research asserts that, while social work represents a diffuse and complex activity, enabled and constrained by its genealogical context, the potential exists in the profession for greater attention to be paid to its archaeological construction. In light of contemporary neo-liberal conditions of governance, the need for such attention is emphasized.
The Linkage of Animal Abuse with Interpersonal Violence
Authors: Piper Heather
Published: August 2003

* Summary: Drawing on relevant literature and research findings, this article questions current assumptions relating to children who sometimes harm animals. The issue was raised in this journal by Bell (2001) who discussed the arguments that individuals who are cruel to animals are more likely to be aggressive towards their partners and children (Arkow, 1995; Ascione, 1996; Hutton, 1983); that children who have been the victims of violence are likely to harm animals, and more likely to be aggressive towards humans later in life (Kellert and Felthouse, 1985; Ressler et al., 1988). These proposed links or cycles of domestic abuse suggest that children who witness such violence later harm animals and eventually humans. The weakest family member usually becomes the ultimate target or scapegoat (O'Hagan and Smith, 1993). The assumption is that victims become perpetrators and are thus predictable and appropriate targets for prior diagnosis. * Findings: These arguments are not easy, but have the potential to prompt moral panic, based in part on journalists' contributions, which rely on inappropriate simplification of selected academic work that supports these links or cycles. Such an over-simplified version can develop an energy of its own or a quasi-autonomous status (Foucault, 1969) that permeates public consciousness and professional practice. * Applications: The article questions this process and the coherence of the arguments, and identifies some limitations for social work practice arising from this problematic and pervasive approach.
Supporting Families and Protecting Children
Authors: Corby Brian C.
Published: August 2003

This article is set in the context of current policy changes in child care social work.Whereas previously, social workers were encouraged to focus mainly on child protection concerns, they are now required to ensure both that all children in need receive proper assessment and support and that children at risk of significant harm are adequately safeguarded. A key consequence of this policy shift is that front-line social workers are being asked to make clearer distinctions at an early stage between these two sets of concerns. This study draws on research into 400 child protection/children in need cases before and after implementing these policy changes. It points to ways in which social workers and their managers can monitor whether the decisions they are making are placing the right emphasis on safeguarding and support.
Towards a Professional Identity and Knowledge Base
Authors: Smith Mark
Published: August 2003

* Summary: In the context of wider debates about the future of social work, it may be timely to reappraise the role of residential child care in the profession. This article raises the question of whether residential child care can achieve a professional identity or status within social work. It outlines the development of services for children and young people in Scotland and highlights some of the tensions apparent in efforts to conceptualize residential child care within the social work knowledge base and identity paradigms. * Findings: The likely setting of registerable qualifications for workers in residential child care at Vocational Qualification (VQ) level calls into question an erstwhile consensus favouring parity with other areas of social work. This may merely expose more fundamental structural and pedagogical differences between residential child care and the social work profession as it has developed. * Applications: Possible routes through which residential child care might achieve a professional identity and knowledge base, and some of the requirements for this to come about, are considered.
Reply to Susanne MacGregor's Response, `We did not Simply Mimic Received Opinion'
Authors: Gambrill Eileen
Published: August 2003

In 2002, I published an article in the Journal of Social Work, in which, based on my experience as an external assessor for the UK's RAE (Research Assessment Exercise), I raised concerns about lack of clarity in criteria used to review research. Susanne MacGregor responded to my original article in a subsequent edition of the Journal of Social Work. This article is a reply to that response.
Deconstructing Dissemination: Dissemination as Qualitative Research
Authors: Barnes Vivienne , CLOUDER Deanne Lynn , Pritchard Jackie , Hughes Christina , Purkis Judy
Published: August 2003

This article offers a critique of dissemination models that are based on technical rationalist ontologies. We argue that such models privilege a particularly narrow set of meaning and in consequence preclude other ways through which we might imagine dissemination acts. Our article therefore seeks to deconstruct dissemination in order to illuminate the ethical, political and communicative issues that lie at the heart of dissemination practices and to offer a range of alternative ways that dissemination might be conceptualized. These issues are illustrated through a series of vignettes that are drawn from research in the fields of education, health and social care. These focus on the everyday features of qualitative research that are more usually discussed in relation to substantive issues of methodology rather than dissemination per se. These vignettes are designed to demonstrate how dissemination is present at the very moment of conceptualizing research and that it continues in ways we have yet to explore well after the formal stages of research are complete.
Risk and Responsibility
Authors: Sampson Helen , Thomas Michelle
Published: August 2003

This article draws on the authors' experiences conducting research on-board cargo vessels as part of a project on Transnational Seafarer Communities. It considers dangerous fieldwork in a hazardous occupational setting. Specific attention is given to the ways in which the ambient risks of particular research sites combine with the situational risks associated with being a female researcher in a male-dominated, rigidly hierarchical setting with a strong occupational culture. It concludes that issues of researcher health and safety are frequently under-emphasized and under-reported in both written and verbal accounts of fieldwork. The article highlights the extent to which gender contributes to situational risk in some research contexts and ambient risk acts to amplify situational risk potentially creating a dangerous environment for fieldworkers. Whilst some risks are immutable, greater steps should be taken at both an institutional and a personal level to minimize the dangers associated with fieldwork.
Geography of Methodological Issues in Research with Children
Authors: Barker John , Weller Susie
Published: August 2003

Over the past decade, there has been an increasing interest in the methodologies used in research with children. Geographers have contributed to the growing body of research that highlights that children are not simply passive objects dependent on adults, but are competent social actors that make sense of and actively contribute to their environment. The growing trend to conceptualize children as social actors has profound implications for geographical research with children, most notably the development of more `inclusive' and participatory research agendas and children-centred methodologies. In this article, we draw upon two ongoing postgraduate research projects with children to discuss our experiences of adopting such innovative children-centred research practices and methodologies. In particular, we focus upon the contribution that a specifically geographical approach can make to the wider interdisciplinary debates about children-centred research. Therefore, we discuss the importance of recognizing the spatiality of research with children, and highlight the significance of the geography of methodological issues, by exploring the significance of both the spaces in which we conduct our research, and the spaces at the centre of our research. We also discuss issues concerning the representation of children in the process of dissemination.
Collaborative Planning in Perspective
Authors: Healey Patsy
Published: August 2003

This article presents a personal review by the author of Collaborative Planning: Shaping Places in Fragmented Societies, published in 1997. It explains how the book came to be written and makes some comments on the various criticisms it has attracted. The first section introduces key experiences that fed into the book followed by a brief summary of the key ideas that underpin its arguments. In reviewing the critiques, the article focuses in particular on the treatment of `context', the emphasis on `process', the use of `social theory', and `power', and the development of `institutionalist' analysis. This is followed by a comment on the normative biases in the work. In conclusion, the author makes a plea for continuing attention to the complexity and diversity of urban governance contexts and the importance for practical action of grasping the particularities of situated governance dynamics.
Planning as Persuasive Storytelling in a Global-Scale Web of Relationships
Authors: Throgmorton James A.
Published: August 2003

This article revisits Throgmorton's 1996 claim that planning can be thought of as a form of persuasive storytelling about the future. It responds to three broad lines of critique, connects the claim to contemporary scholarship about `transnational urbanism' and the `network society,' and revises the author's initial claim. This revision suggests that planners should tell future-oriented stories that help people imagine and create sustainable places. It further argues that, to be persuasive to a wide range of readers, planners' stories will have to make narrative and physical space for diverse locally-grounded common urban narratives. It recognizes that powerful actors will strive to eliminate or marginalize competing stories.
Nursing Leadership: Challenges and Opportunities
Authors: O’Neil Edward , Morjikian Robin
Published: August 2003

The challenges facing nursing both from within and outside the profession are growing. To respond, all dimensions of the profession—education, direct care, and public health—must develop new ways of organizing and delivering their services. To create and manage such transitions will require nurses to develop and deploy new leadership skills. This article reviews what one set of such competencies might comprise and how one program, the Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellows Program, has been built on the development of such skills in nurse leaders.
Developing Nurse Leaders in Health Policy: An Education and Practice Partnership
Authors: Ferguson Stephanie L. , Drenkard Karen N.
Published: August 2003

This article describes the Washington Health Policy Institute and the Health Policy Leadership Program as a leadership and policy partnership to develop nursing leaders who will serve as mentors and role models to effectively lead through internal and external change. The leadership program helps future nurse leaders understand the policy-making process on many fronts—political, economic, social, technological, and international. The challenges facing this nation regarding health care access, quality, and cost are monumental. Only through well-educated and savvy nurse leaders who understand the political realities as well as the agenda-setting and policy formulation processes will health care change occur.
An Analysis of Proposed Federal and Louisiana Policy Regarding Contraceptive Prescription Pill Bills as Equity Issues
Authors: Townsend-Rocchiccioli Judith , George Dana
Published: August 2003

Mandated health plan coverage for prescription contraceptives and contraceptive services are needed at all levels in the United States. The lack of state-mandated health insurance coverage for prescription contraceptives has contributed to critically high rates of unintended pregnancy in the United States and, in particular, the state of Louisiana. Established policy regarding contraceptive prescription guidelines is needed nationally to ensure safe sexual practices and the control of unwanted pregnancy.
The East, Central, and Southern African College of Nursing: A Collaborative Endeavor for Health Policy and Nursing Practice
Authors: Ndlovu Rose , Phiri Margaret Loma , Munjanja Olive K. , Kibuka Sarah , Fitzpatrick Joyce J.
Published: August 2003

This article describes a successful collaborative endeavor among 14 countries in east, central, and southern Africa (ESCA)to form an organization of nurse leaders focused on health policy, nursing and midwifery practices, and health care delivery in the ESCA region. The overall goal of the East, Central, and Southern African College of Nursing (ECSACON)is to improve the health status of the individual countries and the region through cooperative actions. Two specific examples of ECSACON’s work are highlighted: the harmonization project for nursing and midwifery education and the infection prevention and control project.
Medical Malpractice Reform
Authors: Mech Ann
Published: August 2003

Rising malpractice insurance premiums have spurred physicians to engage in protests and work stoppages and have generated calls for Congress to enact legislation to reform medical malpractice litigation by placing a limit on damage awards. A number of states have already passed legislation to limit noneconomic damages in malpractice awards. Congress is also considering capping these so-called pain and suffering awards. This article explores past and current medical malpractice insurance crises and discusses the pros and cons of limiting the amount of money an injured plaintiff can collect.
Medicare Reform: A Daunting Task for the 108th Congress
Authors: Jones Tamara
Published: August 2003

Medicare will face some tough hurdles with its fiscal year 2004 budget, and it is doubtful that there will be much help from the 108th Congress. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services within the Department of Health and Human Services have announced offsets for rising program costs that include a 12.4% increase in beneficiaries’ monthly premiums and a 4.2% cut in physician reimbursement. This article discusses the types and status of Medicare reform legislation debated in past congressional sessions and likely to occur again in the 108th Congress as well as President Bush’s latest proposal for reform.
Effect of Aging on Film Properties of Ethylene-Alpha-Olefin Copolymers
Authors: Mavridisy Harry
Published: August 2003

Film toughness measurements of certain ethylene-alpha-olefin copolymers of high impact strength, show significant aging effects, decreasing with time. In this work we studied the time and temperature dependence of film aging of several copolymers of varying molecular structure. Film aging appears to be associated with the presence of highly branched polymer chains (>30 branches per 1000 carbon atoms). It is speculated that the thermally activated rearrangement of such branched species, over time and under film storage conditions, leads to film aging. Higher film storage temperatures lead to faster aging. It is possible to employ an “accelerated aging” testing protocol to predict longer-term aged data from a short-term test, which would be useful in an industrial production setting.
The Effect of Extrusion Processing Conditions and Polyisobutylene Concentration on the Properties of Polyethylene for Stretch and Cling Film Applications
Authors: Small C. M. , McNally G. M. , Marks A. , Murphy W. R.
Published: August 2003

A range of LLDPE films with polyisobutylene (PIB) content from 2-8% was manufactured using a Killion blown film extrusion system and a cast film extrusion system. The films were aged at 25, 35 and 45 C for up to 28 days, to enable tack (cling) development. The results show that tack, in both blown and cast films, improved significantly with ageing at increased storage temperatures and at higher film blow up ratios. DSC analysis showed only a slight decrease in film crystallinity with increasing PIB concentration. The film tensile modulus, elongation and tear properties in both MD and TD were not significantly affected by an increase in PIB concentration.
Stretch Film Properties - Effects of Equipment and Process Variables
Authors: Wainer Michael V.
Published: August 2003

The stretch film industry has grown at phenomenal rates over the past 6-8 years. During that time, stretch film has evolved from monolayer to three layer and now commonly a five or seven layer product. This film is processed on equipment that varies in size and width along with other technological differences. This paper reviews the stretch film industry, outlines the major stretch film properties, and shows (by a case study comparison of two similar cast systems) how equipment and process variables can affect stretch film properties.
Infections in the Neutropenic Patient— New Views of an Old Problem
Authors: Donowitz Gerald R. , Maki Dennis G. , Crnich Christopher J. , Pappas Peter G. , Rolston Kenneth V.I.
Published: August 2003

Infection in the neutropenic patient has remained a major clinical challenge for over three decades. While diagnostic and therapeutic interventions have improved greatly during this period, increases in the number of patients with neutropenia, changes in the etiologic agents involved, and growing antibiotic resistance have continued to be problematic.

The evolving etiology of infections in this patient population is reviewed by Dr. Donowitz. Presently accepted antibiotic regimens and practices are discussed, along with ongoing controversies.

In Section II, Drs. Maki and Crnich discuss line-related infection, which is a major infectious source in the neutropenic. Defining true line-related bloodstream infection remains a challenge despite the fact that various methods to do so exist. Means of prevention of line related infection, diagnosis, and therapy are reviewed.

Fungal infection continues to perplex the infectious disease clinician and hematologist/oncologist. Diagnosis is difficult, and many fungal infections will lead to increased mortality even with rapid diagnosis and therapy. In Section III, Dr. Pappas reviews the major fungal etiologies of infection in the neutropenic patient and the new anti-fungals that are available to treat them.

Finally, Dr. Rolston reviews the possibility of outpatient management of neutropenic fever. Recognizing that neutropenics represent a heterogeneous group of patients, identification of who can be treated as an outpatient and with what antibiotics are discussed.
Anticoagulation Therapy
Authors: Ginsberg Jeffrey A. , Crowther Mark A. , White Richard H. , Ortel Thomas L.
Published: August 2003

Despite refinements and standardization in the use of anticoagulants, many problems remain for clinicians. Dr. Crowther describes appropriate starting and maintenance doses of warfarin, factors accounting for inter- and intra-observer variability and importantly, the management of the over-anticoagulated patients and bleeding patients. Dr. White compares unfractionated heparin (UFH) and low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) and addresses whether there truly are differences in the efficacy and safety of different LMWH's for both arterial and venous indications. Dr. Ortel discusses the management of the problem patient who requires anticoagulants, the management of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia, the pregnant patient, the obese patient, patients who have renal insufficiency and/or liver disease, patients with malignant disease, and other challenging patient populations.
A Guide to Planning Careers in Hematology and Oncology
Authors: Todd Robert F.
Published: August 2003

Numerous opportunities exist for successful careers in the fields of hematology and oncology. Trainees must choose between dedicated training in one or both disciplines, and between careers in private practice or academic medicine. Individuals who favor academic careers must decide between patient-oriented clinical investigation and laboratory research. This article addresses the factors that influence these decisions and inform trainees about critical elements of the training experience that foster successful career development in academic medicine and private practice. Counsel on employment opportunities is provided along with advice on evaluating the merits of employment offers.
Hematology Grants Workshop
Authors: Ferrara James L.M. , Schmaier Alvin H.
Published: August 2003

The process of writing an NIH grant application is complex and difficult. Understanding critical details of the review process is a key to success. In this article the authors analyze the NIH grant application process from the reviewer’s perspective. They discuss NIH review criteria and highlight the characteristics of successful grant applications. They also suggest specific strategies to improve applications in terms of timeliness, clarity, focus, and independence and cover the key elements to revising an application that is not funded initially.
Drug-resistant tuberculosis in northern Germany: a retrospective hospital-based study of 1,055 patients from 1984 until 1993
Authors: Borchardt J , Kirsten D , Jorres R , Kroeger C , Magnussen H
Published: August 2003

For the past decade, there have been no data on the time course of drug resistant tuberculosis and on risk factors for drug resistance in former West Germany. We reviewed the medical records of all patients with positive cultures for Mycobacterium tuberculosis from 1984 until 1993 in a hospital near Hamburg. Drug-susceptibility testing was performed for isoniazid, rifampicin, ethambutol, and streptomycin, using the modified proportion method. Of 1,055 patients, 9.6% had isolates resistant to one or more drugs. Of the isolates, 5.8% showed resistance to isoniazid or rifampicin and 1.8% to both isoniazid and rifampicin. There was no significant change of the resistance rate during the study period. Twenty six percent of 89 patients from South America, Africa or Asia had isolates resistant to one or more drugs, compared with 7.6% of 799 patients born in Germany (odds ratio (OR) 4.2; 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 2.5-7.3). Among patients born in Germany, 32% of 101 patients with a history of prior anti-tuberculosis drug therapy had resistant organisms, versus 4.2% of 698 patients without prior therapy (OR 10.7; 95% CI 6.1-18.7). Resistance rates for 35 patients, who had been treated within the last 5 yrs, and for 65 patients, who had been treated more than 5 yrs ago, were 57 and 17%, respectively (OR 6.6; 95% CI 2.9-16.6). Our results suggest that there is no increase in the proportion of drug-resistant tuberculosis in our hospital, and that patients with a recent history of antituberculosis drug therapy and patients from South America, Africa, or Asia are at high risk for drug resistance.
Effect of the two tachykinin antagonists, SR 48968 and SR 140333, on cough induced by citric acid in the unanaesthetized guinea pig
Authors: Girard V , Naline E , Vilain P , Emonds-Alt X , Advenier C
Published: August 2003

It is now well-established that sensory nerves stimulation in the airway induces bronchoconstriction and inflammation, but also protective reflexes, such as coughing. These effects are mediated through the release of tachykinins (substance P and neurokinin A) and we have recently shown that SR 48968, a tachykinin NK2-receptor antagonist, inhibited cough induced by citric acid. In this paper, we have studied the effects of SR 48968 administered by aerosol. We have also investigated the effects of SR 140333, a tachykinin NK1-receptor antagonist, and the combination of both SR 48968 and SR140333 to determine whether tachykinin NK1 receptors are involved in cough. Finally, we have studied the combined effects of SR 48968 and salbutamol to find out whether the antitussive effect of SR 48968 is a consequence of the inhibition of bronchoconstriction. Unanaesthetized guinea-pigs were placed in a transparent chamber and exposed to an aerosol of citric acid (0.4 M). The number of coughs was counted by visual inspection and by determination of sounds and pressure variations in the chamber. By the aerosol route, SR 48968 was an efficient antitussive and 16 times more potent than codeine. SR 140333 (0.1-1 mg.kg-1 i.p.) did not exert any antitussive effect but it potentiated the maximal effect induced by SR 48968. Finally, salbutamol, in a dose (0.3 mg.kg-1) which inhibits bronchoconstriction, but not cough induced by citric acid, did not modify the antitussive effect of SR 48968.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Quantitative analysis of parenchymal and vascular alterations in NO2-induced lung injury in rats
Authors: Barth PJ , Muller B , Wagner U , Bittinger A
Published: August 2003

Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), the oxidation product of nitric oxide (NO), is a reactive free radical forming gas, the inhalation of which has been reported to induce severe damage to distal airways. In order to quantify dose and time course of parenchymal and vascular damage, rats were exposed to 5, 10 and 20 ppm NO2 for 3 and 25 days, followed by quantitative histology and morphometry of the lung. Histological investigations of the short-term exposed animals showed structural alterations extending from slight interstitial oedema after exposure to 5 ppm, to epithelial necrosis and interstitial inflammatory infiltration after exposure to 10 ppm, and an additional intra-alveolar oedema after 20 ppm. The pulmonary arteries disclosed no qualitative changes, such as muscularization of intra-acinar vessels. Long-term exposure to 10 ppm and 20 ppm NO2 resulted in emphysema and slight centrilobular interstitial fibrosis. Morphometric analysis revealed the alveolar surface density to be significantly diminished after short-term exposure to 20 ppm NO2 and long-term exposure to 10 and 20 ppm NO2. The medial thickness of pulmonary arteries was significantly increased after short- and long-term exposure to 20 ppm NO2 and long-term exposure to 10 ppm NO2. In the 5 ppm short- and long-term exposure groups the pulmonary arterial medial thickness was significantly decreased compared to controls. Correlation analysis revealed a negative correlation between average medial thickness and alveolar surface density (coefficient of correlation: -0.56). We conclude that the extent of NO2-induced pulmonary parenchymal and vascular alterations are closely related and concentration- and time-dependent.
Capillary pressure estimates from arterial and venous occlusion in intact dog lung
Authors: Corboz M , Sanou S , Grimbert FA
Published: August 2003

We performed pulmonary venous occlusions in order to check the validity of the pulmonary capillary pressure measurements obtained using pulmonary arterial occlusion in the intact animal. The venous and arterial postocclusion pressure profiles were recorded using balloon catheters introduced, respectively, into a left lower lobe vein and into a right pulmonary artery in the anaesthetized open-chest dog. The pressure profiles were fitted by a biexponential function with an early exponential and a late exponential presenting, respectively, a short and a long time constant. We used the zero-time extrapolation of the late slow exponential to obtain an arterial (Pc,ao) and a venous (Pc,vo) estimate of the pulmonary capillary pressure. Each Pc,ao and Pc,vo made it possible to calculate a fractional arterial or venous pressure gradient when referenced to the arteriovenous pressure gradient measured during the occlusion process. In nine dogs, when referenced to the whole lung, the arterial, middle and venous fractional pressure gradients were 37 +/- 11, 10 +/- 6, and 53 +/- 12%, respectively. As the middle fractional pressure gradient is low, we conclude that pulmonary capillary pressure estimates from arterial occlusion are close to the venous occlusion estimates of capillary pressure in the intact dog lung.
Pulmonary function during the first year of life in healthy infants born prematurely
Authors: Merth IT , de Winter JP , Borsboom GJ , Quanjer PH
Published: August 2003

Premature birth is associated with increased respiratory morbidity. We investigated cross-sectionally, in 69 healthy infants who had never had cardiorespiratory problems, whether premature birth is associated with diminished pulmonary function. The study comprised 26 healthy infants born prematurely (PT), median gestational age 32 (26-36) weeks, and 43 healthy controls born full-term (FT), median gestational age 40 (37-42) weeks. Static respiratory system compliance (Crs) was assessed by weighted spirometry, combined with the measurement of the functional residual capacity by closed circuit helium dilution (FRCHe) and with assessment of ventilation distribution from the mixing index (MI). Repeatability of these indices was also assessed. Premature and full-term infants had the same length-corrected FRCHe; their Crs was different, but the difference disappeared when gestational age was taken into account. Mixing index was unrelated to body size and was not different between full-term and premature infants. Crown-heel length and lung volume were not different for any postconceptional age. However, infants born prematurely were smaller and had smaller lung volume at any postnatal age compared to those born at term. Repeatability of the indices was fair. These findings suggest that gestational age < 37 weeks is associated with normal respiratory system mechanics for body size, and normal distribution of ventilation in healthy infants who never had cardiorespiratory problems.