bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
After Effect of Seen Movement: Evidence for Peripheral and Central Components
Authors: Anstis S. M. , Moulden B. P.
Published: July 2007

Three experiments showed that the movement after-effect (MAE) contains both peripheral and central components. In Experiment I, the left eye viewed a sectored disc rotating to the left, and the right eye viewed a disc rotating to the right, on corresponding retinal areas. Result: when each eye in turn then viewed a stationary disc, the left eye saw a MAE to the right, and the right eye a MAE to the left. These MAEs must be peripheral.

In Experiment II, it was arranged that the movement information was shared out between the eyes, using a ring of lights which were switched on and off to give rotating phi movement. It was arranged that each eye on its own saw a random flashing oscillation but the two eyes together saw rotation anticlockwise. Result: a clockwise MAE was seen, which must be central.

In Experiment III, the switching programme was modified to arrange that now each eye on its own saw rotation clockwise, but the two eyes together saw rotation anticlockwise. Result: a clockwise MAE was seen, which must be central. (Peripheral MAEs from each eye on its own would have been anticlockwise.)
Guessing Behaviour and the Sperling Store
Authors: Holding Dennis H.
Published: July 2007

Recall of briefly exposed letters was measured by whole report and partial report procedures. The cues for partial report were presented in advance, or in random, constrained or non-random sequences; the degree of statistical constraint determined subject accuracy in guessing the cues. The results indicate that the amount of letter recall is largely dependent upon both sequential and spatial guessing accuracy. It is suggested that the data are adequately explained by cue anticipation, the visual storage hypothesis receiving no support.
Digit Size in Short-Term Memory
Authors: Holding Dennis H.
Published: July 2007

In the course of an experiment requiring the recall of 7-digit sequences it was noted that errors appeared more likely in lists composed of the larger digits. Sub-sequent analysis confirmed that, with immediate recall, there was a significant association between error frequency and mean digit size. When recall was delayed by an unfilled interval of 6 sec., the effect was abolished. However, interfering with rehearsal by interpolating a task of motor memory may tend to reinstate the effect.
A Re-Examination of the Value of the Olfactory Power Law Exponent
Authors: Mitchell M. J. , Gregson R. A. M.
Published: July 2007

The exponent value of the psychophysical power law for olfactory intensity is re-examined by olfactometric methods over two levels of standard stimulus and two types of magnitude estimation procedure. Neither the method of measurement nor the level of the standard significantly influenced the exponent. A value of 0.80 was obtained, not significantly different from a value of 0.72 determined by category scaling methods by the same authors (1968). Both values are considerably greater than previous exponents reported by other workers; the present authors attribute the differences between studies to the degree of stimulus control available in the different methods of stimulus presentation.
Use of State and Transitional Information
Authors: Roby Thornton B. , Lyons Teresa
Published: July 2007

The problem concerned relative human ability to digest information describing the state of the environment (σ) or state transitions (τ). The task required the summing or differencing of symbolically presented σ or τ information items. In the first study, subjects were presented σ or τ information in mixed order and σ or τ queries at variable intervals. A second study entailed uniform translation from σ to τ or τ to σ modes. The chief results were: (a) acquisition across modes—τ—σ or σ-τ—is more difficult than within mode acquisition; (b) τ—σ acquisition is superior to σ-τ acquisition; (c) both number of elements and number of phases or levels within elements add to task difficulty; and (d) the relative advantage of σ over τ acquisition decreases with an increasing number of presented items. It is suggested that the results may be explained in part by the comparative economy of state information storage for normal decision making tasks.
The Amount Seen in Brief Exposures
Authors: Holding Dennis H.
Published: July 2007

The experiments reported are a series of attempts to test the consequences of assuming that a subject exposed to briefly presented tachistoscopic information does not have access to a visual image. The partial report procedure is examined under several conditions with the letter row cues immediately following stimulus exposure, and at different levels of cue delay.

The results of eye movement monitoring, and of instructing subjects where to look, agree with the guessing data of a previous experiment in showing a sharp decline in the number of letters correctly reported when the subject is looking at the wrong row, in conformity with the anticipative selection hypothesis. The result of varying the subject's uncertainty about what is to be reported is to vary the slope of the delay curve; with the implication that inefficient strategies of rehearsal, rather than visual image decay, are responsible for the reported delay effects.
Attention in Transcription Skill
Authors: Shaffer L. H.
Published: July 2007

Two viewpoints of attention are compared: one assumes restrictions in a central processor and the other restrictions on simultaneous activity in networks of processes. The distinction between central and distributed processing may not be strongly testable but the distinction between simultaneous and consecutive processing, for different processing functions, is. An analysis of data from a study on learning to type shows very clearly that simultaneous processing of stimulus input and response output is possible.
Adaptation to Displaced Vision: Reafference is a Special Case of the Cue-Discrepancy Hypothesis
Authors: Moulden Bernard
Published: July 2007

Subjects were exposed to a prismatically displaced view of their actively-moved right hand which was optically “stopped”; they achieved as much adaptation in this condition as in one in which they were allowed full “reafferent” stimulation. This provides further evidence against Held's “reafference“ hypothesis.
An Analysis of Overshadowing and Blocking
Authors: Mackintosh N. J.
Published: July 2007

In classical aversive conditioning experiments, rats do not always learn about all aspects of a compound stimulus predicting shock. A strong stimulus may overshadow a weaker one; and pretraining on one component may block learning about a second component. These results have been explained either by appealing to a notion of selective attention, or by assuming that learning about one component is a function of prior response strength to the entire compound of which it forms a part. In Experiment I, overshadowing was demonstrated on the first trial of conditioning, i.e. before either component had acquired any response strength. In Experiment II, pretraining on one component resulted in complete failure to learn about a second component during compound training, but did not prevent additional learning about the first component. Both results were interpreted as supporting an attentional analysis of blocking and overshadowing.
Adaptation to Displaced Vision: Evidence for Prolonged After-Effects
Authors: Lackner James R. , Lobovits Daniel
Published: July 2007

It was found that brief periods of exposure to visual rearrangement elicit aftereffects that are still of considerable magnitude 24 h later. Despite the existence of these after-effects, visuomotor coordination does not appear to be disrupted between test periods, suggesting that these after-effects may be similar to some of the recently described situation-dependent visual after-effects.
The Locus of Maximum Weighting within Attentive Fields: An Empirical Investigation
Authors: Wilson A. E. , Harper D. W.
Published: July 2007

Fixation within a modified Poggendorff display was used to assess Pressey's hypothesized construct of attentive fields. In Experiment I the results for fixating near the bottom of the display supported the predictions based on Pressey's construct; however, results from fixating near the top of the display were more easily explained by a tilt effect noted by Zajac (1957).

Experiment II and III replicated the first experiment and obtained independent measures of the tilt effect. After the tilt effect was subtracted from the Poggendorff scores, the prediction based upon the attentive field construct was supported in the top fixation condition; however, only Experiment II provided support for the prediction in the bottom fixation condition.
The Changing Pattern of Perceptual Analytic Strategies and Response Selection with Practice in a Two-Choice Reaction time task
Authors: Fletcher Ben (C) , Rabbitt P. M. A.
Published: July 2007

In the experiment reported here the primary hypothesis proposed, which was supported by the data, was that subjects performing a two-choice self-paced serial RT task would learn to change their strategy of perceptual analysis of signals presented to them as they became progressively more practised. Early in practice each signal is identified as a particular state of the display and an appropriate response is then made. Well practised subjects, however, select their responses by reference to the change or constancy between successive displays. This strategy implies that the assumptions made by the generally accepted simple S-R connectionist model of two-choice serial RT may be quite misleading, since the choice of any particular response must be determined not only by the display state but also by what the previous response had been.
On the Construction and Maintenance of Expectancies
Authors: McLean John P. , Shulman Gordon L.
Published: July 2007

Reaction time techniques were used to examine the role of attention in the construction and maintenance of expectancies. In Experiment I, a primed letter matching task, expectancies were observed through a delay (cost) in responding to misprimed letter arrays. A secondary probe task was interpolated between prime and array letters on some of the trials, with attentional demands inferred from delayed responding to probes. By varying the amount of time between onset of the prime and either a probe or letter array, it was found that there is attentional involvement (as reflected in probe inhibition) prior to the observation of expectancies (as reflected in letter matching cost). It was also found that the interpolation of an attention-demanding probe task did not entirely disrupt primed expectancies. Experiment II found that an expectancy persists even when an interpolated distractor task signals that the expectancy is no longer valid. These expectancies were found to decay as a function of time. The implications of these results for attention allocation and memory activation views of expectancy were discussed.
Mental Imagery and the Distinction between Primary and Secondary Memory
Authors: Richardson John T. E.
Published: July 2007

Previous research has shown that the imageability of stimulus material affects the secondary memory (SM) component of free recall, but not the primary memory (PM) component, and that a negative recency effect is only observed for material of high imageability. It was found that interactive imagery instructions affected the SM component, but not the PM component; separative imagery instructions led to an increased PM component and a reduced SM component. A negative recency effect can be observed in an initial, delayed recall test. However, it is removed by imagery mnemonic instructions. This supports the idea that the negative recency effect is caused by the fact that subjects do not normally image the last few words presented in a free-recall task.
Noun Animacy and the Passive Voice: A Developmental Approach
Authors: Harris Margaret
Published: July 2007

Line drawings of simple situations, in which the animacy of both actor and acted-upon was systematically varied, were presented to children aged between five and 10 years and to adults. Their task was to describe what was happening in each picture. When the actor was more animate than the acted-upon the pictures were invariably described in the active voice whereas pictures in which the acted-upon was more animate than the actor were frequently described using a passive. When the animacy of the two elements was equal a smaller number of passives was produced mainly in response to pictures depicting two inanimates. The size of the animacy difference between actor and acted-upon was also found to influence passive production. In the more animate acted-upon condition most passives were produced to describe pictures of an inanimate actor and human acted-upon. This pattern of responses is seen as providing support for a view of the passive as a syntactic form which allows thematisation of an acted-upon when it is of greater importance to the speaker than the actor.
Discrimination of Polymorphous Stimulus Sets by Pigeons
Authors: Lea S. E. G. , Harrison S. N.
Published: July 2007

Pigeons were trained to perform a visual discrimination between stimulus sets in which the presence of any two of three positive features made a stimulus positive, while any two of three negative features made it negative (there were thus three different positive and three different negative stimuli). After training, the birds were exposed to test stimuli that contained either all three positive or all three negative features. In Experiment I three pigeons were successfully trained by a successive method, and subsequently responded to the test stimuli as though they were positive or negative respectively. In Experiment II four pigeons were trained by a simultaneous method. Three learned the discrimination and generalized appropriately to the test stimuli, but they showed no preference between positive test and positive training stimuli, nor any consistent difference in speed of response to them; and similar results were found for negative stimuli. It is argued from this that the pigeons learned to respond to the stimuli as patterns (configurations of features) rather than to the constituent features, but that they generalized to the test stimuli by using the common features. The experiments show that pigeons could in principle learn to discriminate natural polymorphous classes (such as “pigeon” or “person”) without using any single feature, but neither the present experiments nor earlier ones demonstrating discriminations of such natural classes establish that pigeons make use of polymorphous concepts in the same way as people.
On the Time Constants of Tachistoscopes
Authors: Mollon J. D. , Polden P. G.
Published: July 2007

The time constants of commercially available, electronic tachistoscopes are shown to be much poorer than is widely assumed. When a band near the centre of the visible spectrum is isolated, the output of a typical tachistoscope lamp takes approximately 18 ms to reach 90% of its asymptotic value; the time to decay to 10% is also typically 18 ms and we demonstrate conditions under which the decaying trace remains visually effective against a dark field for more than 40 ms after the nominal offset of the lamps.

Many reports of tachistoscopic experiments published in the last two decades must be quantitatively in error; and we provide examples of experiments where qualitative conclusions may have been drawn invalidly.
Effects of Partial Symmetry, Exposure Time, and Backward Masking on Judged Goodness and Reproduction of Visual Patterns
Authors: Howe Edmund S.
Published: July 2007

Six experiments investigated the effects of partial symmetry in visual patterns on judgement of pattern goodness, immediate memory, and learning. In Experiments 1—III pattern goodness ratings were substantially inter-correlated among a self-paced test condition and two conditions producing moderate to severe stimulus degradation (brief tachistoscopic exposure, and backward masking): the less the partial symmetry in a pattern, the lower was the judged goodness of the pattern. In Experiments IV and V immediate reproduction of patterns was observed respectively following exposures of 5–5000 ms, and backward masking. Correct reproduction improved with degree of partial symmetry. Concordant results were found in a free recall learning task (Experiment VI). Correlations between goodness and learning and memory performance for discrete patterns were always substantial. The results strongly suggest that pattern goodness can be appraised reliably and accurately with information processing times too short to permit pattern encoding in short-term visual memory. Evaluation of pattern goodness must therefore rest upon early (precategorical) processing of symmetry features.
The Effects of Graphemic and Phonemic Similarity between Targets and Masks in a Backward Visual Masking Paradigm
Authors: Naish Peter
Published: July 2007

Experiments using a backward visual masking technique are described, in which the second (mask) stimulus is itself masked by a third stimulus, thus rendering guessing strategies, about target/mask relationships, difficult for subjects. Word-word and word-non-word sequences are used for the first two stimuli and it is shown that when the second stimulus resembles the first, either physically or phonologically, the severity of masking of the first is reduced. However, the target is not better reported when the mask word is semantically related to it. Consideration is given to the levels at which interaction between target and mask might occur.
Cognitive Arithmetic: Evidence for Right Hemispheric Mediation in an Elementary Component Stage
Authors: Katz Albert N.
Published: July 2007

Earlier studies involving the lateralization of arithmetic abilities have provided evidence for both right and left hemisphere superiorities. It is argued here that part of this inconsistency could be due to the complexity of the arithmetic computations which have been examined. The present studies examined a subprocess shown to be involved in more complex tasks, such as subtraction. The subprocess is the identification of which of two numbers is greater, and was tested by the flashing of a pair of digits to either the left or right visual field. Errors, reaction-times to make a decision, and examination of hand × visual field interactions all indicated that this subprocess is mediated by the right hemisphere. Correlational analysis was used to identify the operations underlying the observed lateralization of this ability. This analysis indicated that an operation indexed by the spatial order in which the digits were presented was effective in the right hemisphere but not the left hemisphere. Speculations on the nature of these operations were presented.
On Knowing the Meaning of Words We are Unable to Report Confirmation of a Guessing Explanation
Authors: Williams P. C. , Parkin A. J.
Published: July 2007

This experiment investigated Allport's (1977) claim that normal subjects can be induced to make semantic errors of the type characterised by “deep dyslexia”. The procedure followed that used by Allport except that a subject based control for the chance level of semantic errors was included. The results replicated the original finding by producing a semantic error rate of 12·7%. It was shown, however, that this rate was not significantly higher than the calculated chance rate of 11·5%. It was concluded, therefore, that the semantic error rates reported by Allport can be accounted for in terms of a guessing artefact and thus they bear no relevance to the problem of deep dyslexia.
Preclinical Safety and Pharmacokinetics of Recombinant Human Factor XIII
Authors: Ponce Rafael A. , Visich Jennifer E. , Heffernan Jane K. , Lewis Kenneth B. , Pederson Susan , Lebel Elen , Andrews-Jones Lydia , Elliott Glenn , Palmer Thomas E. , Rogge Mark C.
Published: July 2007

Factor XIII (FXIII) is a thrombin-activated protransglutaminase responsible for fibrin clot stabilization and longevity. Deficiency in FXIII is associated with diffuse bleeding and wound-healing disorders in humans. This report summarizes results from several studies conducted in adult cynomolgus monkeys ( M. fascicularis) to evaluate the safety and pharmacokinetics of recombinant human factor XIII A2 dimer (rFXIII). Intravenous slow bolus injection of rFXIII resulted in the expected formation of the heterotetramer rA2cnB2, prolonged circulating half-life (5–7 days), and increased plasma transglutaminase activity. Recombinant FXIII was well tolerated as a single dose up to 20 mg/kg rFXIII (2840 U/kg), as repeated daily doses up to 6 mg/kg (852 U/kg) for 14 days, and as 3 repeated doses of 8 mg/kg (1136 U/kg) separated by 14 days. Overt toxicity occurred after a single intravenous injection of ≥ 22.5 mg/kg rFXIII (3150 U/kg), or with 2 doses of =12.5 mg/kg (1775 U/kg) administered within 72 hours. The rFXIII-mediated toxicity was expressed as an acute systemic occlusive coagulopathy. Evaluation of plasma samples from dosed animals demonstrated formation of cross-linked fibrin/fibrinogen oligomers and higher-order protein aggregates, which are hypothesized to be responsible for the observed vessel occlusion and associated embolic sequelae. These results demonstrate that rFXIII-mediated toxicity results from exaggerated pharmacological activity of the molecule at supraphysiological concentrations. The absence of observed toxicological effect with repeated intravenous doses up to 8 mg/kg (1136 U/kg) was used to support an initial clinical dose range of 0.014 to 0.35 mg/kg (2–50 U/kg).
PTHrP and PTH/PTHrP Receptor 1 Expression in Odontogenic Cells of Normal and HHM Model Rat Incisors
Authors: Kato Atsuhiko , Suzuki Masami , Karasawa Yayoi , Sugimoto Tetsuro , Doi Kunio
Published: July 2007

Parathyroid hormone related peptide (PTHrP) was discovered as a causative factor of humoral hypercalcemia of malignancy (HHM). We examined PTHrP and its receptor (PTHR1) expression patterns in odontogenic cells in normal and HHM model rat incisors. Nontreated nude rats serving as the normal control and HHM model rats produced by implantation of PTHrP-expressing tumor (LC-6) cells were prepared. HHM rats fractured its incisor, and histopathologically, restrict population of odontoblasts showed findings classified as “shortening of high columnar odontoblasts” and “dentin niche.” The incisors were immunostained against PTHrP and PTHR1. In normal rats, PTHrP and PTHR1 colocalized in ameloblasts, cementoblasts, and odontoblastic cells from mesenchymal cells to columnar odontoblasts. In high columnar odontoblasts, PTHrP solely expressed. In the HHM animals, although the expression patterns were identical to those of the normal rats in normal area, the shortened high columnar odontoblasts maintained PTHR1 expression and dentin niche comprising odontoblastic cells expressed both proteins. In the HHM model, the protein expression patterns changed in the odontoblastic cells with histological anomalies, and thus direct relations between the anomalies and PTHrP/PTHR1 axis are suggested.
Anatomical Localization of Cartilage Degradation Markers in a Surgically Induced Rat Osteoarthritis Model
Authors: Wancket Lyn M. , Baragi Vijay , Bove Susan , Kilgore Kenneth , Korytko Peter J. , Guzman Roberto E.
Published: July 2007

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative disease characterized by an irreversible loss of articular cartilage. Although surgically induced animal OA models are commonly used in drug efficacy assessment, degradation of type II collagen, an important component of articular cartilage is not routinely evaluated. Here, the medial meniscectomy surgical model (MMT) in Lewis rats was evaluated for proteoglycan loss with toluidine blue staining and collagen degradation with immunohistochemical staining for a collagen cleavage C-neoepitope, using a novel anti-type II collagen neoepitope antigen (TIINE) antibody. Femorotibial joints were collected for histology at 0 (no surgery), 3, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, and 42 days postsurgery. Following MMT surgery, the medial tibial articular cartilage had proteoglycan matrix loss by day 3 that reached subchondral bone by days 28–42. Femoral cartilage damage occurred by day 14. TIINE staining was present at basal levels in growth plates and articular cartilage of all joints while all MMT-treated animals had increased intensity and area of staining in erosions that colocalized with proteoglycan loss. The MMT model produces a progressive pattern of cartilage damage resembling human OA lesions, making it useful, when evaluated with cartilage biomarkers, for assessing changes in cartilage degradation.
Pelvic rotations: a pelvic phantom study
Authors: Foss O. A. , Klaksvik J. , Benum P. , Anda S.
Published: July 2007

Background: Radiographic measurements made on standard pelvic radiographs are commonly used in studying conditions related to the hip joints. Effects caused by variations in pelvic orientation may be a source of error in comparing measurements between sequential radiographs.

Purpose: To define and characterize parameters able to measure rotational differences separately around two axes and altered radiographic focusing along two axes when sequential standard anteroposterior (AP) pelvic radiographs are compared.

Material and Methods: A pelvic phantom was constructed based on direct three-dimensional measurements of five defined landmarks in a pelvic model. Two ratios, the vertical and transversal rotation ratios, were defined using radiographs of the phantom. The phantom was radiographed in 33 different orientations and with 16 different radiographic focuses using a specially constructed tilt table. On each radiograph, measurements were made and the two rotation ratios were calculated using a measurement program.

Results: Linear correlations between pelvic rotations around one axis and the corresponding rotation ratio were found with almost no influence of simultaneous rotation around the other axis. Also, linear correlations were found between altered radiographic focusing along one axis and the non-corresponding rotation ratio.

Conclusion: Rotational differences around two axes or altered radiographic focusing along two axes can be measured independently. Effects caused by rotations cannot be distinguished from effects caused by altered radiographic focusing.
The last frontier: GATS
Authors: Barlow Maude
Published: July 2007

A global agreement currently being negotiated will allow corporations to take over the world's public services ‐whether people want it or not. If implemented, it will spell the end of the public sector.
Governance, institutional reform & the state: international financial institutions & political transition in Africa
Authors: Campbell Bonnie
Published: July 2007

This article argues that certain aspects of the institutional reforms which seek to achieve good governance, by treating political institutions and processes as manageable and essentially technical issues, seems instead to have contributed to the narrowing of political space and to the informalisation of politics. The argument is illustrated with reference to the recent experience of political transition in Côte d'Ivoire. The text analyses the compatibility between the institutional reforms introduced at the recommendation of the Bretton Woods institutions and the economic austerity which has resulted from recent decisions on the one hand, and on the other, the conditions necessary for the broadening of political space — the very issue on which depends the success of the transition itself. On the basis of the several observable current trends, the article concludes by raising the possibility that the transition may well result not only in the mere prolonging of past modes of political and economic regulation, but also in a gradual shifting away from a liberal pluralist model based on a participatory and inclusive ideal of politics, to an authoritarian one based on a technocratic ideal, likely to give rise to strategies of division and exclusion.
Illicit dumping of toxic wastes breach of human rights
Authors: Madava Tinashe
Published: July 2007

Illicit dumping of hazardous, toxic and dangerous products and wastes in developing countries adversely affects the human rights of peoples to health and life. The 57th session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights has condemned the practice universally.
Landmines: a worse fate still to come?
Authors: Wright Steve
Published: July 2007

As the number of countries joing the ban on anti‐personnel mines slowly rises, Landmine Action hasbeen investigating the weapons being stockpiled and invented to replace those banned. It seems that Governments, the military and manufacturers have not learned from the problems with landmines. They are stockpiling and quietly developing alternative mines that may be inhumane, dangerous and, in some cases, potentially as lethal as the weapons they are supposed to replace.

As most of this work is happening in secret, there is a compete lack of public awareness of the potential problems. Yet this is not futuristic, space age weaponry ‐ some of these systems will be ready for action within the next couple of years, others are already in use.
A window on Africa: an interview with adotey bing, director of the Africa centre, London
Authors: Mohan Giles
Published: July 2007

The Africa Centre has long been a focus for political and cultural activities coming out of the continent. Originally established by the diplomatic missions of newly independent African states, its remit was to provide a forum for Africans in London, particularly students, as well as giving a voice to various political positions that were not being widely aired. Since then the fortunes of the Africa Centre have waxed and waned as the economic and political welfare of its original constituents has declined. It continues under the directorship of Dr. Adotey Bing who took over in 1995. Among his current concerns are focusing the mission of The Centre and securing long term funding which will permit some forward planning for the first time in its history. On 8 October 2001 Giles Mohan (GM) of the ROAPE editorial working group interviewed Adotey Bing (AB).
The tunnel at the end of the light
Authors: Lemarchand René
Published: July 2007

For those of us old enough to remember what in the 1960s was known as ‘the Congo crisis’ ‐ soon to become the ‘endless crisis'‐ the tragic singularity of the present conjuncture is perhaps less apparent than some of the contributions to this special issue on the Congo might suggest. No one who lived through the agonies of the Congo's improvised leap into independence ‐ followed by the swift collapse of the successor state and the break‐up of the country into warring fragments ‐ can fail to note the analogy with the dismemberment of the Mobutist state in the wake of the 1998 civil war. Then as now the former Belgian colony was faced with a crisis of statelessness of huge proportions. The challenges confronting the international community today are in a sense remarkably similar to what they were in the early 1960s. How to reconstruct a broken‐backed polity, how to rebuild an army reduced to a rabble by the emergence of armed factions, how to revitalise basic human services, ensure a minimum of security and economic self‐sustenance; in short, how to restore the legitimacy, territorial integrity and internal sovereignty of the state, such are the daunting challenges facing the international community. This is not meant to suggest that history repeats itself, only that historical perspectives can offer important clues to an understanding of the present.
Soweto and its aftermath
Authors: Mafeje Archie
Published: July 2007

The student revolt that flared up in Soweto in June 1976 was a clear indication of the extent of mass resistance to oppression and exploitation under apartheid. Yet the revolt posed a number of important questions for a revolutionary strategy in South Africa, especially in terms of its implications for an alliance of workers and students and for its relation with the liberation movements. This article assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the strategy adopted by the student movement inside the country and raises questions about the relevance of the current strategies of the various exiled liberation movements to the changing conditions in the country.
The workers' struggle in South Africa
Authors: Fine Bob
Published: July 2007

Since the early 1970s a new wave of independent non‐racial trade unionism has grown up inside South Africa. It has organised well over 250,000 black workers, built up its own cadres of trained and accountable officials and shops stewards, won scores of recognition agreements with managements, conducted numerous and often successful strike actions, and has significantly improved the wages and conditions of its members. These unions have quietly emerged as a major force for change inside the country.
The marxist conception of class: political and theoretical elaboration in the African and Africanist context
Authors: Copans Jean
Published: July 2007

This paper is concerned with the problem of ‘exporting’ key terms and conceptual frameworks to Africa from Western societies where they were developed and to an understanding of which they were designed. It follows the historical journeys of the notions of classand class struggle — through their application by Marx and ‘classical’ Marxists, by African leaders of political movements, by the early generations of African writers, by ‘neo‐Marxist’ Africanists. It explores contemporary analyses of pre‐capitalist and today's capitalist societies and explores the paradox that the familiar classes associated with ‘classical’ capitalism are quantitatively under‐represented and that other classes that are often seen as mere ‘legacies’ are preponderant in African society. The working out of the political significance of the class structure has been inhibited by the purveyors of theory: ‘neither African political leaders nor Africanists’ really operate as what Gramsci called ‘organic intellectuals’. So ‘class’ remains an imported, ‘luxury’ item.
The primitive accumulation of capital in a neo‐colony: the Nigerian case
Authors: Iyayi Festus
Published: July 2007

The relevance of the primitive accumulation of capital to the experience of the neo‐colonies is explored by Iyayi for the case of Nigeria. He concludes that the classic understanding of this process requires expansion it if is to take account of situations where indigenous capital remains weak and lacks possibilities for accumulation through exploitation of external, less developed markets. Iyayi contends that while an attempt was made in Nigeria to foster indigenisation through legislative means, in practice the fundamental method of approaching this goal has been corruption. Indeed he suggests that corruption in such circumstances becomes the logical, if not the only, means through which primitive accumulation proceeds.
The military as revolutionary vanguard: a critique
Authors: Beckman Bjorn
Published: July 2007

The crisis of Nigerian ruling class politics in the wake of a collapsing oil economy has made sections of the Left pin their hopes to a left military intervention. This essay is a critique of such positions. It is particularly concerned with recent attempts to offer scientific justification for attributing a leading revolutionary role to the military. The essay also discusses the theoretical backing provided by soviet writers for such ‘military vanguardism’. Beckman argues that the left‐militarists fail to identify the social and political forces and conditions that can sustain such revolutionary military role. There is a neglect of class analysis and an incorrect identification of contradictions in society. There is an idealist understanding of the state and the basis of political power. There is a deficient grasp of the nature of imperialist domination and the extent to which antagonistic class relations have been firmly entrenched. Politically, Beckman argues, military vanguard theories divert attention from the primary task of building democratic political organisations capable of giving a democratic content and direction to the national revolutionary process. Not only are they diversionary, they pose a direct threat to that critical task. Despite protestations of the contrary, military vanguardism invites adventeurism, for which the left as a whole may have to pay dearly. The present disarray of the Ghanaian left and the suppression of democratic organisations in that country is a case in point.
Power in the name of Jesus
Authors: Marshall Ruth
Published: July 2007

One of the remarkable recent trends in Nigeria has been the rise to religious and social prominence of the ‘charismatic’ or ‘Pentecostal’ Christian movement. In little more than a decade, thousands of new churches and evangelical groups have cropped up in the cities and towns of the south. Those established earlier, either by US and British missionaries or Nigerians, are experiencing an unprecedented revival. While research continues on the dizzying multitude of ‘indigenous’ new religious movements, still focused for the large part on the ‘Aladura’ churches of western Nigeria, very little has appeared in the literature on this new wave of Christian churches. Because of the strong links between these churches and their US or British brethren, as well as the marked increase of this type of Christianity throughout the continent, many scholars and religious leaders are tempted to view the rise of these churches solely from the point of view of their foreign origins and connections. Although the concern often expressed about the infiltration of what is seen as a pernicious US doctrine serving as a vehicle for the promotion of the ‘New Religious Right's’ political agenda for the continent may be justified in some contexts, in the southern cities of Nigeria, the ‘politics’ of these churches are of a different sort.
US aid to AIDS in Africa
Authors: Turshen Meredeth
Published: July 2007

WHO estimates that 6 million Africans have been injected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and that 1.16 million cases of AIDS had occurred among adults and children in sub‐Saha‐ran Africa by 1991. These are cumulative figures for ten years, including cases and deaths. AIDS is the only disease for which cumulative figures are published; every other disease is reported annually and new cases are separated from that year's death toll. Although I do not wish to minimize the problem of AIDS in Africa, one should note that the effect of cumulative reporting is to amplify the problem.
HIV/AIDS in eastern and Southern Africa
Authors: Akeroyd Anne V
Published: July 2007

This article reviews some recent key books on HIV/AIDS in Africa. It does so by examining the debates relating to the extent and possible future development of HIV/AIDS referring to the discussions about demographic, economic and social impacts in especially eastern and southern Africa. It explores the so‐called doomsday scenarios and addresses themes linked to the important and increasing attention being paid to the gendered aspects of HIV/AIDS.
Sudan: between radical restructuring and deconstruction of state systems
Authors: Kok Peter
Published: July 2007

Commonly perceived as the Sudan's ‘southern problem’, what is now the oldest conflict in Africa has developed dimensions that are concealed in that narrow formulation. Among these are a) a generalized confrontation between centre and periphery in a state marked by gross iniquities in access to power and resources, b) a conflict over the legitimacy of the current fundamentalist regime in Khartoum, c) a parallel conflict over the legitimacy of the leadership of the southern liberation movement, and d) an intensifying struggle over diminishing resources among ethnic groups in various parts of the country. In the South itself, the conflict has split the liberation movement and has brought the issue of separation to the forefront of the political debate.
‘To seek happiness’: development in a West African village in the Era of democratisation
Authors: Rudebeck Lars
Published: July 2007

This article examines what democracy means to a people who have no direct word for it in their own language. It sets one village's experience of Guine‐Bissau's first multi‐party elections in the historic context of the struggle for independence, the failures of the one‐party state, the difficulties caused by structural adjustment. It sets this experience against theories of democracy as an ideal or as sets of formal arrangements and argues that whilst the latter may have been successfully implemented, democracy will be poorly rooted unless it leads to palpable socio‐economic progress. There are still many problems to be overcome, not least with the lack of resources available to the state, before this is likely to be achieved. This article follows others by Rudebeck: ‘Kandjadja, Guinea‐Bissau, 1976–1986: Observations on the Political Economy of an African village’ (ROAPENo. 41) and ‘The Effects of Structural Adjustment in Kandjadja, Guinea‐Bissau’ (ROAPENo. 49) ‐ which have sought to understand the impact of wider politcal and economic forces on this one village over time. This article is a continuation of that story.
Reconstructing the Congo
Authors: Collins Carole J.L.
Published: July 2007

This follow‐up to ‘The Congo is Back!’ in the June issue of ROAPE(No. 72) focuses on the ADFL's (Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of the Congo) economic project and plans for reconstruction; Western and African governmental and private sector responses to the Congo's economic prospects; how Kabila's ongoing dispute with the UN over human rights abuses during the ADFL advance may affect these; and how civil society is faring in the new period.
Culture, environment & the enemies of complexity
Authors: Englund Harri
Published: July 2007

This article assesses recent debate regarding dimensions of post‐cold war conflict in Africa. It reviews the populist, and influential assertion that the ‘coming anarchy’, in Africa and elsewhere, is the result increasingly of clashes between cultures rather than states, and that these nation states necessarily give rise to primordial ethnicities. There continues to be a view that Africa's ills lie with overpopulation, environmental degradation and ethnic conflict. In contrast to the travel writing of authors like Kaplan nuanced perspectives challenging conventional wisdom can be underpinned by the force of anthropology and contemporary debates, relating to the new ecology and critiques of power.
Observations on some theories of current agrarian change
Authors: Kayatekin Serap
                      Ayse
Published: July 2007

This article deals with the main theoretical approaches to the agrarian question in Globalising Food: Agrarian Questions and Global Restructuringedited by D Goodman and M J Watts. I argue that the approach proposed by the Actor‐Network Theory (ANT), although offering valuable insights, is problematic. The tradition of (agrarian) political economy, however, is still a rich source that can accommodate the concerns of ANT in particular, and postmodernism in general, as is the case with several articles in this volume. Class, in this effort, should remain a category of central importance. I conclude by noting the relevance and the absence from this volume of household level analysis as well as an analysis of food security.
Sudan: international responses to war in the Nuba mountains
Authors: Bradbury Mark
Published: July 2007

More than a decade of war in the Nuba mountains between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M) is threatening the way of life and very existence of the Nuba people. Responsibility for the tragedy in the Nuba mountains lies squarely in the hands of successive Sudanese governments who are accused of human rights atrocities, creating famine conditions, war crimes and even genocide. The silence that surrounds the plight of the Nuba, however, also attests to the failure of the international community to secure protection and assistance for war‐affected populations in Sudan's civil war.
Rwanda & the media: imagery, war & refuge
Authors: Karnik Niranjan S
Published: July 2007

This article critically examines The New York Timesphotojournalistic coverage of Rwanda from 1989 through the events of 1994. It shows which stories were left out (French/South African arms sales, Belgian colonial heritage, and World Bank/IMF interventions) and which errors were retained (tribalism as causation, dark continent/exoticisation theories). The images that the media projected to the United States public show the multiple ways in which agency remains unproblematised especially with regard to gender and stigmatisation. Through these images, the rhetorics of journalism frame much of our understanding of global events and consequently our responses to them. Finally, this article ends by making an argument for using critical social theories to engage the media and politicians for change.
No factories, no problems: the logic of neo‐liberalism in Egypt
Authors: Mitchell Timothy
Published: July 2007

Neo‐liberalism is a success of the political imagination. Its achievement is a double one. It makes the window of political debate uncommonly narrow and at the same time promises from this window a prospect without limits. On the one hand it frames public discussion within the elliptic language of neo‐classical economics. The condition of the nation and its collective well being are pictured only in terms of how it is adjusted in gross to the discipline of monetary and fiscal balance sheets. On the other, neglecting the actual concerns of any concrete local or collective community, it encourages the most exuberant dreams of private accumulation — and a chaotic reallocation of collective resources.
Book notes
Authors: Love Roy , Bush Ray , Szeftel Morris
Published: July 2007

Comprehending and Mastering African Conflicts: the Search for Sustainable Peace and Good Governance
(1999), edited by Adebayo Adedeji, Zed Books in Association with the Africa Centre for Development and Strategic Studies.

Marxist Modern: An Ethnographic History of the Ethiopian Revolution (1999), by Donald L Donham, University of California Press, James Currey.

Transnational Social Policies: the New Development Challenges of Globalisation (1999), edited by Daniel Morales-Gomez, Earthscan, London.

Regionalisation in Africa: Integration and Disintegration (1999), edited by Daniel C Bach, James Currey, Indiana University Press.
The tensions shaping the emergence of standard bodies: The case of a national health informatics standards body
Authors: BUNDUCHI RALUCA , GRAHAM IAN , SMART ALISON , WILLIAMS ROBIN
Published: July 2007

This study applies New Institutional theory to identify the social processes shaping the emergence of a standard setting body. Meyer and Rowan’s classification of the mechanisms that lead to the creation of institutional rules—relational networks, degree of collective organisation and leadership—is applied to a health informatics private standard consortia operating in the UK. The study identifies a number of conflicts within the institutional contexts within which the standard body operates. Such conflicts undermine the institutionalised rules that frame the emergence of the standard body and lead to the erosion of the institutionalised standardisation practice.