bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Reduced intergroup differentiation as a result of self‐categorization in overlapping categories. A quasi‐experiment
Authors: Rehm Jürgen , Lilli Waldemar , van Eimeren Birgit
Published: May 2007

A quasi‐experiment was conducted to examine the effects of self‐categorization in overlapping categories on intergroup differentiation. ‘Old aged women’ was used as the first, ‘sports’ as the additional category. It could be shown that intergroup differentiation was significantly reduced under crossed categorization conditions. Implications for social compensation strategies are discussed.
Priming and communication: Social determinants of information use in judgments of life satisfaction
Authors: Strack Fritz , Martin Leonard L. , Schwarz Norbert
Published: May 2007

Two experiments examined the effects of answering a question about a specific component of life satisfaction on respondents' assessment of their overall satisfaction with life. The results suggest that the use of primed information in forming subsequent judgments is determined by Grice's conversational norms. In general, answering the specific question increases the accessibility of information relevant to that question. However, the effect that this has on the general judgment depends on the way in which the two questions are presented. When the two questions are merely placed in sequence without a conversational context, the answer to the subsequent general question is based in part on the primed specific information. As a result, the answer to the general question becomes similar to that for the specific question (i.e. assimilation). However, this does not occur when the two questions are placed in a communication context. Conversational rules dictate that communicators should be informative and should avoid redundancy in their answers. Therefore, when a specific and a general question are perceived as belonging to the same conversational context, the information on which the answer to the specific question was based is disregarded when answering the general one. This attenuates the assimilation effect. The conditions under which these different processes occur are identified and experimentally manipulated, and the implications of these findings for models of information use in judgment are discussed.
Judgments of relationship satisfaction: Inter‐ and intraindividual comparisons as a function of questionnaire structure
Authors: Schwarz Norbert , Scheuring Bettina
Published: May 2007

Two experiments demonstrate that individuals use an interindividual comparison strategy to evaluate a specific life‐domain if their attention is drawn to only one aspect of that domain, that has either positive or negative evaluative implications. If their attention is drawn to two aspects with opposite implications, however, an intraindividual strategy, based on the comparison of both aspects, is preferred. Whether one or two aspects bearing on a specific domain are salient is, among other conditions, a function of the number of aspects assessed in a questionnaire. Theoretical and methodological implications are discussed.
When a compliance without pressure strategy fails due to a minority dissenter: A case of “behavioral conversion”
Authors: Joule Robert Vincent , Mugny Gabriel , Perez Juan Antonio
Published: May 2007

While a strategy of compliance without pressure (Joule, 1987) had the effect of inducing almost all of a group of smoking subjects to stop smoking first for 18 hours then for 3 days, simply observing someone (an accomplice) break his or her own initial agreement to abstain from smoking for 18 hours was enough to bring about a substantial reduction in the willingness of other subjects to later abstain for 3 days. However, subjects did not follow the lead of the accomplice immediately, and persisted in their agreement to abstain for 18 hours. This pattern of indirect, but not direct influence, suggests that there may be a type of minority influence at work here that represents a sort of behavioral conversion.
Social identity theory: A conceptual and empirical critique from the perspective of a behavioural interaction model
Authors: Rabbie Jacob M. , Schot Jan C. , Visser Lieuwe
Published: May 2007

After a conceptual and methodological critique of Social Identity Theory (SIT), it is argued, in sharp contrast to SIT but consistent with a Behavioural Interaction Model (BIM), that the allocations in the standard Minimal Group Paradigm (MGP) —which provide the main evidence for SIT— can be best reinterpreted as instrumental, rational behaviour aimed at maximizing the economic self‐interests of the subjects rather than efforts on their part to strive for a positive social identity as SIT has claimed. Explicit social categorization appears to be only one of the many unit‐forming factors which may affect allocations within and between group boundaries in the MGP.

Group polarization effects indicate that groups, guided by their perceived interdependence on the recipients of their allocations seem more rational and effective than their individual members prior to the group discussion in maximizing their economic outcomes.

Finally, it is concluded that BIM provides probably a more parsimonious explanation of all the usualfindings obtained by the standard MGP than SIT.
Preconditions for explanation in social psychology
Authors: Moscovlcl Serge
Published: May 2007

The paper starts by outlining a general perspective in social psychology. It may turnout that social constructivism, the perspective outlined in the early sixties is one of the major contributions of European social psychology to social sciences in general. Whatever its fate, some particular points are made: a)physics is not the only model we have to follow b) the existing ways of explanation can and must be upgraded c) more complex theories are required d) changes in methodological and statistical criteria are expected in order to deal with new and complex phenomena. Nevertheless the main problem today is description and not explanation. That is the discovery and observation of a wider range of new social phenomena. How successful we will be in this endeavour decides if social psychology becomes a major science or not.
Relocating attributional phenomena within a language‐cognition interface: The case of actors' and observers' perspectives
Authors: Semin G. R. , Fiedler K.
Published: May 2007

Two studies are reported which apply a language based model to the actor‐observer domain in attribution theory. This model distinguishes between four classes of interpersonal terms (descriptive action verbs, interpretive action verbs, state verbs, and adjectives) that have been shown to mediate different cognitive inferences. An adaptation of this language based model suggests that actor‐observer differences can be understood as differential language conventions used by actors and observers. This hypothesis finds support in the first study where subjects were asked to give free descriptions to a number of social events. A second study examined the more specific implications of this general case by replicating an experiment reported by Nisbett et al. (1973). The same language based conventions are shown to be used by actors and observers in this more specific case. The implications of these findings are drawn out with special reference to the influence of culture on cognitive processes.
Nigel Lawson's tent: Discourse analysis, attribution theory and the social psychology of fact
Authors: Potter Jonathan , Edwards Derek
Published: May 2007

The general aim of this paper is to show some of the limitations of the attribution theory approach to ordinary reasoning when compared to a discourse analytic alternative. Three central shortcomings with attribution theory are documented, each stemming from the method of presenting subjects with factual vignettes from which they are required to draw inferences: (a) its asocial and unexplicated notion of information; (b) its realist view of linguistic description; (c) its constrained account of participants' activity. These paws are illustrated in practice through a discourse analytic study of the management of factual versions in a political dispute (over a controversial briefing between a British politician, Nigel Lawson, and a group of journalists). Specifically, it focuses on ‘consensus information’, examining the way notions of consensus are used when warranting and undermining versions. Two features of consensus accounts are examined: (a) consensus across a group of observers of an event; (b) corroboration between independent individuals. In each case, the rhetorical organization of factual accounts is documented by analysing both the way the consensus is constructed and the way it is undermined or discounted. The analysis explores how the ‘facts of the matter’, rather than existing as criteria for the resolution of disputation, were themselves part and parcel of the disputation itself: In attribution theory terms, the clear distinction between ‘consensus information’ and the attributions which flow from it becomes unworkable. It is suggested that the analysis provides an exemplar for a discourse orientated social psychology of fact.
Affective influences on individual and group judgments
Authors: Forgas Joseph P.
Published: May 2007

Do emotional states influence the social judgments made by groups and individuals? Based on affect‐cognition theories and research on group judgmental shifts, we predicted that group discussion will enhance positive mood effects on judgments, but inhibit affectively‐based distortions in dysphoric moods. Positive, neutral and negative moods were induced using audiovisual presentations. Individual and group consensus judgments of nine person categories on three judgmental dimensions (evaluation, competence and self‐confidence) were obtained in two experimental sessions separated by a two‐week interval. Results showed that individuals made more positive judgments when happy, and more negative judgments when sad than did controls. Group discussion resulted in a further polarization of positive judgments, and the attenuation of negative judgments. The findings are interpreted as evidence for the important role affect plays in mediating both individual cognitive processes and interactive social behaviours. The implications of the results for contemporary affect‐cognition theories and models of group behaviour are considered.
Children's understanding of the self‐presentational strategies of ingratiation and self‐promotion
Authors: Benne Mark , Yeeles Caroline
Published: May 2007

Eight‐ and eleven‐year‐olds' explanations for the self‐presentational behaviour of story characters provided clear support for a predicted shift between these ages from understanding in terms of psychological to understanding in terms of interpersonal processes. However, a prediction that the strategy of self‐promotion would be better understood than that of ingratiation was not supported.
Conservatism and the comprehension of implausible text
Authors: McAllister Pamela O. , Anderson Anthony
Published: May 2007

An experiment on the comprehension of, and memory for, texts of varying degrees of plausibility is reported. Previous studies on conservatives' art preferences (concerning poetry and music) showed that they favoured works of art that were conventional and relatively simple; this was explained in terms of conservatives' generalised intolerance of ambiguity. The present study sought to extend the previous research by examining conservatives'and non‐conservatives' memory of and preferences for texts of varying plausibility. When plausibility is disrupted, texts recount strange, unexpected and ambiguous sequences of actions and events. It was found that conservative subjects' memory for texts of varying plausibility was similar to that of non‐conservatives when overall recall is considered, but there was a greater tendency for conservatives to import inferences (novel propositions which had not been present in the original text) into their recall protocols and to distort their recall (although the latter effect is only marginally significant). They also showed much stronger preferences for plausible over implausible texts compared to non‐conservatives. These results accord well with the previous findings on art preferences, and were explained in terms of the conservatives seeking to avoid or minimise ambiguity.
The attribution of aggression and grief to body movements: The effect of sex‐stereotypes
Authors: De Meijer Marco
Published: May 2007

Forty‐two adult subjects, 21 male and 21 female, were asked to rate 16 distinct movement expressions as to their expressiveness of aggression and grief. Each movement expressed anger or grief at one of four levels of diagnosticity. Of each movement two performances were selected, one by a male, the other by a female encoder. With higher levels of diagnosticity, higher ratings were given. The male encoder was rated higher in aggression than the female with movements at a high or moderate level of aggression, and lower than the female with movements at the lowest levels of diagnosticity. The female encoder was rated higher in grief than the male at all levels of diagnosticity.
Social categorization and person memory: The pervasiveness of race as an organizing principle
Authors: Hewstone Miles , Hantzi Alexander , Johnston Lucy
Published: May 2007

Two studies investigated the pervasiveness of race as a social categorization and whether the organization of information around racial categories is sensitive to contextual factors. Both studies measured accentuation effects (more intra‐ than inter‐race errors) and own‐group bias (fewer confusions between own‐ than other‐group members) in person memory, using the paradigm developed by Taylor, Fiske, Etcoff and Ruderman (1978). Experiment 1 studies the generalization of these effects across ethnic group membership (black/white) and topic (categorization‐relevant/irrelevant) in a 2 × 2 [× 4] between‐subject design, with type of error as a repeated measure. There was a highly significant accentuation effect, which was not affected by either topic or group membership. Experiment 2, using white subjects only, manipulated anticipated future interaction/no interaction, which affected overall accuracy/error rate, but not the strong accentuation effect. Neither study found any support for an own‐group bias. Results are discussed in terms of the automaticity of race as a basis for social categorization.
Briefly induced belongingness to self and preference
Authors: Feys Jos
Published: May 2007

The hypothesis was tested that mere ownership of an object ( in casu an abstract symbol)is a sufficient condition to enhance its attractiveness. The evidence was obtained through experimental manipulation of belongingness rather than in a quasi‐experimental context as was the case with the name letter effect, a preference for letters occurring in the own name above not‐own name letters which has been presented as the first evidence supporting the mere ownership hypothesis. Alternative explanations for the present results in terms of stimulus complexity and mere exposure are briefly presented en ruled out.
Persuasion, reactance, and judgments of interpersonal appeal
Authors: Wright Rex A. , Wadley Virginia G. , Danner Maria , Phillips Priscilla N.
Published: May 2007

Female undergraduates were or were not exposed to an opinion statement that threatened to a greater or lesser degree their freedom to make an independent assessment of the relative attractiveness of two males. Measures of perceived attractiveness and choice indicated a persuasion effect among subjects exposed to the mild statement and contrary opinions indicative of reactance among subjects exposed to the strong statement.
Post‐dicting eyewitness accuracy: Confidence, decision‐times and person descriptions of choosers and non‐choosers
Authors: Sporer Siegfried Ludwig
Published: May 2007

This study sought to investigate the utility of several variables to post‐dict eyewitness identifcation accuracy in target‐present and target‐absent line‐ups in a staged‐event paradigm. The incident involved an altercation between an experimenter and a confederate who a empted to take away the slide projector needed for an ongoing laboratory experiment. Sixty‐two subject‐witnesses were called back to the laboratory one week after the incident, purportedly to answer some additional questions about the laboratory experiment. They were asked to provide a description of the intruder and to indicate whether or not they thought they would be able to identify the target (pre‐decision confidence). Next, they saw a video line‐up with or without the target present. Using choice of a line‐up member as a mediating variable, with choosers post‐decision confidence (r = 0.58) and decision‐time (r = −0.43) were strongly related to the accuracy of this choice while pre‐decision confidence was not. For non‐choosers, no meaningful relationship between these variables and identifcation accuracy was observed. There was also some evidence that the number of descriptors was significantly related to identifcation accuracy (r = 0.28). Results are discussed in terms of the importance of choice as a mediating variable for post‐dieting identification decisions in studies using both target‐present and target‐absent line‐ups. Forensic implications of confidence and decision‐time as verbal and non‐verbal indicators for the post‐hoc assessment of identifcation accuracy are stressed.
Ingroup bias and the ‘black sheep’ effect: Assessing the impact of social identification and perceived variability on group judgements
Authors: Marques José M. , Robalo Elisabete M. , Rocha Susana A.
Published: May 2007

Two studies compared the relative strength of motivational assumptions drawn from SIT (e.g. Tajfel, 1978) and memory‐based assumptions drawn from the differential familiarity hypothesis (Linville, Fischer and Salovey, 1989) in explaining ingroup bias and the black sheep effect (Marques, 1986, 1990). In Study 1, 15 subjects estimated member distributions and gave overall ratings of an ingroup and two outgroups. In Study 2, 42 subjects performed similar tasks for ingroup or outgroup, and evaluated likeable and unlikeable group members. Results showed, first, that overall group ratings account better for ingroup bias than do central tendencies of group distributions. In addition, likeable and unlikeable ingroup members were, respectively, upgraded and downgraded relative to their outgroup counterparts. Finally, whole ingroup ratings as well as judgements of likeable and unlikeable ingroup members proved more independent from variability and central tendency of underlying distributions than did similar outgroup judgements. Results are discussed in light of motivational and knowledge‐based determinants of group judgements.
Mood and the perception of unusual people: Affective asymmetry in memory and social judgments
Authors: Forgas Joseph P.
Published: May 2007

Does good and bad mood have a different influence on our perceptions of typical and atypical people? In this experiment, people in happy, sad or neutral moods recalled, and formed impressions of high‐ or low‐prototypical characters. We expected an asymmetric mood effect on memory, with better recall of typical targets that require simplified, schematic processing in positive mood, but greater negative mood effects on atypical targets that require more detailed and inferential processing. Subjects (N = 66) an audio‐visual mood induction in an allegedly separate experiment, before recalling, and forming impressions about people who were consistent or inconsistent with familiar prototypes within their social milieu. We found the predicted mood‐congruent bias in judgments, that was significantly greater for non‐typical than for typical people. We also found evidence for positive‐negative mood asymmetry in memory, with better recall of typical people in positive mood, and atypical people in negative mood. The findings are discussed in terms of contemporary multi‐process models of affect and cognition (Forgas, 1992), and the implications for everyday affective influences on social judgments and stereotyping are considered.
Awareness of the influence as a determinant of assimilation versus contrast
Authors: Strack Fritz , Schwarz Norbert , Bless Herbert , Kübler Almut , Wänke Michaela
Published: May 2007

In the present study, subjects had to generate an evaluative judgment about a target person on the basis of his behaviour that had both positive and negative implications. In a previous phase of the study that was ostensibly unrelated to the judgment task, the relevant trait categories were primed. Subsequently, half of the subjects were reminded of the priming episode. Consistent with earlier research (e.g. Lombardi, Higgins and Bargh, 1987; Newman and Uleman, 1990) that used memory of the priming events as a correlational measure, a contrast effect was found under the ‘reminding’ condition and assimilation resulted when subjects were not reminded of the priming episode. This pattern of results is interpreted as the consequence of corrective influences.
The effects of intergroup discrimination and social values on level of self‐esteem in the minimal group paradigm
Authors: Chin Matthew G. , McClintock Charles G.
Published: May 2007

The proposition that individuals engage in intergroup discrimination to increase or maintain positive social identity and a high level of self‐esteem has received some empirical support. An attempt was made to extend prior findings by evaluating whether intergroup allocation behaviour consistent with subjects' social values would lead to higher self‐esteem than inconsistent allocation behaviour. More specifically, it was predicted that competitive subjects' self‐esteem will be higher following discriminatory choices than fair choices and prosocial subjects' self‐esteem will be higher following fair choices than discriminatory choices. It was also predicted that after subjects were constrained to make discriminatory choices, competitors' self‐esteem would be higher than prosocials' self‐esteem and after subjects were constrained to make fair choices, prosocials' self‐esteem would be higher than competitors' self‐esteem. Experiment I supported the first of these predictions when a measure of personal self‐esteem was used as a dependent variable. Experiment 2 attempted to extend the generality of the findings of Experiment 1 by defining and measuring self‐esteem in collective terms. The expected prior pattern of results did not occur again. Constraining subjects to make discriminatory choices increased their collective self‐esteem regardless of their social values.
The informative functions of research procedures: Bias and the logic of conversation
Authors: Bless Herbert , Strack Fritz , Schwarz Norbert
Published: May 2007

Conversational rules of everyday communication are applied to the interaction between experimenters and subjects. According to these rules, contributions to a communication should be informative, relevant, true, and unambiguous. It is assumed that subjects determine the pragmatic meaning of instructions and questions on the basis of these rules and the provided context. In contrast to most natural settings, standardized experimental procedures rarely allow for an interactive determination of pragmatic meaning and often preclude feedback as a corrective device. As a consequence, subjects are required to rely heavily on general rules, and even subtle cues may become informationally loaded. The information extracted from context cues may often not be intended by the experimenter. Thus subjects may infer more than they are supposed to, resulting in discrepancies between the experimenter's intended and subjects' inferred meaning of the instructions. If researchers are not sensitive to the information provided by verbal and non‐verbal context cues, their interpretation of research results may be based on biased data. Evidence from different research domains is reported to support the presented assumptions and their implications for bias avoiding strategies are discussed.
Aligned electrospun nanofibers specify the direction of dorsal root ganglia neurite growth
Authors: Corey Joseph M. , Lin David Y. , Mycek Katherine B. , Chen Qiaoran , Samuel Stanley , Feldman Eva L. , Martin David C.
Published: May 2007

Nerve injury, a significant cause of disability, may be treated more effectively using nerve guidance channels containing longitudinally aligned fibers. Aligned, electrospun nanofibers direct the neurite growth of immortalized neural stem cells, demonstrating potential for directing regenerating neurites. However, no study of neurite guidance on these fibers has yet been performed with primary neurons. Here, we examined neurites from dorsal root ganglia explants on electrospun poly‐L‐lactate nanofibers of high, intermediate, and random alignment. On aligned fibers, neurites grew radially outward from the ganglia and turned to follow the fibers upon contact. Neurite guidance was robust, with neurites never leaving the fibers to grow on the surrounding cover slip. To compare the alignment of neurites to that of the nanofiber substrates, Fourier methods were used to quantify the alignment. Neurite alignment, however striking, was inferior to fiber alignment on all but the randomly aligned fibers. Neurites on highly aligned substrates were 20 and 16% longer than neurites on random and intermediate fibers, respectively. Schwann cells on fibers assumed a very narrow morphology compared to those on the surrounding coverslip. The robust neurite guidance demonstrated here is a significant step toward the use of aligned, electrospun nanofibers for nerve regeneration. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res, 2007
Visualization and integration of quantum topological atoms by spatial discretization into finite elements
Authors: Rafat M. , Popelier P. L. A.
Published: May 2007

We present a novel algorithm to integrate property densities over the volume of a quantum topological atom. Atoms are grown outward, starting from a sphere centered on the nucleus, by means of a finite element meshing algorithm. Bond critical points and ring critical points require special treatment. The overall philosophy as well as intricate features of this meshing algorithm are given, followed by details of the quadrature over the finite elements. An effort has been made to design a streamlined and compact algorithm, focusing on the core of challenges arising in tracing the electron density's gradient vector field. The current algorithm also generates a new type of pictures that can be a Graphical User Interface. Excellent integration errors, L(Ω), are obtained, even for atoms with (narrow) tails or sharp corners. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem 2007
Evaluation of the Ortho‐Clinical Diagnostics Vitros ECi Anti‐HCV test: comparison with three other methods
Authors: Watterson Jeannette M. , Stallcup Paulina , Escamilla David , Chernay Patrick , Reyes Alfred , Trevino Sylvia C.
Published: May 2007

After observing a high incidence of low positive hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody screens by the Ortho‐Clinical Vitros ECi test (Orthoclinical Diagnostics, Raritan, NJ), we compared results against those obtained using another chemiluminescent analyzer, as well as two U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)‐approved confirmatory methodologies. To ascertain the true anti‐HCV status of samples deemed low‐positive by the Ortho‐Clinical Vitros ECi test, we tested samples using the ADVIA Centaur HCV screen test (Siemens Medical Solutions Diagnostics), the Chiron recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBA) test (Chiron Corp., Emeryville, CA), and the Roche COBAS Amplicor HCV qualitative test (Roche Diagnostics, Indianapolis, IN) in a series of studies. Of 94 specimens positive by Vitros ECi, 19% were observed to be negative by Centaur. A separate study of 91 samples with signal‐to‐cutoff (s/co) values less than 8.0 showed that all but one was negative for HCV ribonucleic acid (RNA). In comparison with RIBA, 100% (77) samples positive by the Vitros ECi test with s/co values less than 12.0 were negative or indeterminate by RIBA. A final study comparing all four methods side‐by‐side showed 63% disagreement by Centaur for Vitros ECi low‐positive samples, 75% disagreement by RIBA, and 97% disagreement by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In conclusion, the Ortho‐Clinical Vitros ECi Anti‐HCV test yields a high rate of false‐positive results in the low s/co range in our patient population. J. Clin. Lab. Anal. 21:162–166, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Prevalence of high antibody titers of pertussis in Turkey: reflection of circulating microorganism and a threat to infants
Authors: Esen Berrin , Coplu Nilay , Kurtoglu Demet , Gozalan Aysegul , Akin Levent
Published: May 2007

Acute pertussis infection among adults can cause its transmission to the larger population, especially to infants and young children, who can develop severe disease. In order to determine an age‐dependent pertussis immune response, anti‐pertussis toxin (PT) antibody was detected by the indirect enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method in serum samples from 2,085 healthy subjects ranging in age from 6 months to ≥60 years. Also included in the evaluation were responses to a questionnaire including sociodemographic characteristics, vaccination, and infection history. Titers of 50–99 ELISA units (EU)/mL and of ≥100 EU/mL were accepted as indicative for recent exposure or infection. In addition, 30 EU/mL was estimated to be a sufficient titer in women of childbearing age to protect their newborns until administration of their first dose of pertussis vaccine. After the age of 4–5 years, presence of high‐titered antibodies that increase with age might be a reflection of circulating infection and indicate the magnitude of the threat to infants. According to the questionnaires, in the groups younger than 15 years old, three to four doses of diphtheria toxoid‐whole cell pertussis‐tetanus toxoid (DwPT) were administered in 47.2 to 77.4%, 91.2 to 100.0%, and 83.5 to 100.0% of participants in Diyarbakir, Samsun, and Antalya, respectively. In addition, up to half of the expectant mothers we studied lacked a sufficient level of estimated antibody titers. To protect infants from life‐threatening pertussis infection, improving vaccination coverage to ensure herd immunity and uniformly establishing coverage throughout the country are essential. Furthermore, revaccination with acellular vaccine for schoolchildren as well as for the households of pregnant women is recommended. J. Clin. Lab. Anal. 21:154–161, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Comparison of immunoradiometric assays for determination of thyroglobulin: a validation study
Authors: Tortajada‐Genaro L.A. , Cózar M.P. , Moreno Frigols J.L. , Romero de Avila C.
Published: May 2007

In this study we compared and validated commercial immunoradiometric assays (IRMA) to determine thyroglobulin (Tg) levels in serum. From a set of 440 samples, 68 were selected to calculate the validation parameters and the clinical performance of the assays. The commercial kits evaluated were the Tg‐CTK (DiaSorin), IRMAZenco Tg (ZenTech), and SELco‐Tg (Medipan). We found that 21% of the collected samples were in the critical range of concentration. Detection limits were calculated as being below 3 µg/L. Intra‐ and inter‐reproducibility were lower than 3.1% and 9.2%, respectively. Dilution and recovery studies provided quantitative determinations. Correlation regression coefficients from the results of the methods were obtained. The determined concentrations were compared with the clinical evidence of disease. Variation in the 125‐iodine‐labeled antibody concentration and control charts showed the robustness of the methods. Analysis time and the simplicity of the methods were also evaluated. Reliable Tg determination is important for monitoring patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC), controlling other thyroid diseases, and assessing the quality of imaging techniques. A strategy for verification and comparison based on analytical parameters and clinical performance is proposed. J. Clin. Lab. Anal. 21:147–153, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Risk analysis of coronary heart diseases in Korean adults by using the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III
Authors: Lee Yong‐Wha , Min Won‐Ki , Lee Woochang , Chun Sail , Park Hyosoon , Lee Do‐Hoon , Lee You Kyoung
Published: May 2007

The National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP ATP III), updated in 2001, quantified the risk factors and made it possible to assess risks for metabolic syndrome (MS) and coronary heart diseases (CHD). Many reported the prevalence of MS by NCEP ATP III in Orientals but few did risk analysis of CHD. We investigated the risk of CHD in Korean adults and the distribution of population for therapeutic lifestyle change (TLC) and drug therapy according to the NCEP ATP III guidelines. Based on ATP III risk factors, estimates of the 10‐year risk for CHD on 16,383 Koreans and the distributions of population for the TLC and additional drug therapy by sex and age were calculated. High‐, intermediate‐, and low‐risk groups were 8.1%, 24.1%, and 67.8%, respectively; 12.1% (high‐, intermediate‐, and low‐risk groups: 32.0%, 45.1%, and 6.0%, respectively) needed TLC and 6.1% (high‐, intermediate‐, and low‐risk groups: 39.4%, 16.6%, and 1.3%, respectively) needed additional drug therapy. The groups with higher risk needed more TLC and drug therapy. In the same age group, the rates of high risk in men showed a 1.0–6.6 fold increase compared with those in women. In Koreans, those who needed TLC and drug therapy were substantially lower than those in Americans. J. Clin. Lab. Anal. 21:178–182, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Turbidimetric carbamazepine immunoassay on the ADVIA® 1650 and 2400 analyzers is free from interference of antihistamine drugs hydroxyzine and cetirizine
Authors: Datta Pradip , Dasgupta Amitava
Published: May 2007

A recent report indicates that hydroxyzine and its active metabolite cetirizine interfere with the particle‐enhanced turbidimetric inhibition immunoassay (PENTINA) carbamazepine assay. We studied potential interference of hydroxyzine and cetirizine with the turbidimetric carbamazepine immunoassay on ADVIA® 1650 and ADVIA 2400 (Bayer Diagnostics, Tarrytown, NY) analyzers. Aliquots of drug‐free serum pools were supplemented with various concentrations of hydroxyzine and cetirizine representing therapeutic, moderate toxic, as well as very toxic concentrations. These samples were assayed by the turbidimetric carbamazepine immunoassay on two analyzers. To study the interference in presence of the analyte, aliquots of a serum pool prepared from patients receiving carbamazepine were further supplemented with various amounts of hydroxyzine and or cetirizine and apparent carbamazepine concentrations were measured again in order to compare with the value of original pool. No apparent carbamazepine concentration was observed when aliquots of drug‐free serum were supplemented with hydroxyzine or cetirizine. Moreover, in the carbamazepine pool, the original carbamazepine concentration compared well when aliquots of this serum pool were further supplemented with hydroxyzine or cetirizine. We conclude that the turbidimetric carbamazepine immunoassay is free from interference of hydroxyzine and cetirizine. J. Clin. Lab. Anal. 21:188–192, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Mechanical properties of femoral cortical bone following cemented hip replacement
Authors: Ni G.X. , Lu W.W. , Chiu P.K.Y. , Wang Y. , Li Z.Y. , Zhang Y.G. , Xu B. , Deng L.F. , Luk K.D.K.
Published: May 2007

Femoral bone remodeling following total hip replacement is a big concern and has never been examined mechanically. In this study, six goats underwent unilateral cemented hip hemiarthroplasty with polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) bone cement. Nine months later animals were sacrificed, and the femoral cortical bone slices at different levels were analysed using microhardness testing and microcomputed tomography (micro‐CT) scanning. Implanted femurs were compared to contralateral nonimplanted femurs. Extensive bone remodeling was demonstrated at both the proximal and middle levels, but not at the distal level. Compared with the nonimplanted side, significant decreases were found in the implanted femur in cortical bone area, bone mineral density, and cortical bone hardness at the proximal level, as well as in bone mineral density and bone hardness at the middle level. However, no significant difference was observed in either variable for the distal level. In addition, similar proximal‐to‐distal gradient changes were revealed both in cortical bone microhardness and bone mineral density. From the mechanical point of view, the results of the present study suggested that stress shielding is an important mechanical factor associated with bone adaptation following total hip replacement. © 2007 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 25:1408–1414, 2007
Local self‐government vs. national responsibility
Authors: Morlan Robert L.
Published: May 2007

Controversy continues in democratic countries over the extent to which municipal home rule is compatible with concerns for nationwide equality of services. Denmark has undertaken a sweeping reorganization of local government—an 80 percent reduction in the number of units—in large part to expand home rule.
Financing public transportation
Authors: Zimmerman Joseph F.
Published: May 2007

Single Urban Fund, urban mass transit assistance, no fare/low fare concepts, direct and indirect aid to transit systems (both public and private) to help meet operating costs—all are part of the problems and the solutions for financing public transportation.
The federal election commission: Origins and early activities
Authors: David Paul T.
Published: May 2007

Issues of campaign finance have been central among the issues with which recent reformers have concerned themselves. The Federal Election Commission opened shop in 1975, was under attack in the courts, was ordered reconstituted by the U. S. Supreme Court (and has been), and has managed to undertake its charge to administer the Federal Election Campaign Act.
Public‐private enterprise brings new help to cities
Authors: Ball Rex M.
Published: May 2007

Private enterprise techniques, working in conjunction with public initiative, provide the most viable solution—sometimes the only one—for the job of rebuilding cities. But it is necessary to provide for corporate profits to make the combination successful. Several cities have tried it.
State‐local relations: The state mandate irritant
Authors: Zimmerman Joseph F.
Published: May 2007

The so‐called Dillon's Rule is the source of conflicts in state‐local relations in New York and other states. From the point of view of local officials one of the chief irritants of the control system is the “state mandate” which in many cases may more properly be called a “state restraint.” It may be statutory, constitutional or administrative. Not all mandates mean additional costs.
Controlled/living free‐radical copolymerization of 4‐(azidocarbonyl) phenyl methacrylate with methyl acrylate under 60Co γ‐ray irradiation
Authors: Zheng Haiting , Hua Daoben , Bai Ruke , Hu Keliang , An Lijia , Pan Caiyuan
Published: May 2007

A new vinyl acyl azide monomer, 4‐(azidocarbonyl) phenyl methacrylate, has been synthesized and characterized by NMR and FTIR spectroscopy. The thermal stability of the new monomer has been investigated with FTIR and thermal gravimetry/differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA), and the monomer has been demonstrated to be stable below 50 °C in the solid state. The copolymerizations of the new monomer with methyl acrylate have been carried out at room temperature under 60Co γ‐ray irradiation in the presence of benzyl 1H‐imidazole‐1‐carbodithioate. The results show that the polymerizations bear all the characteristics of controlled/living free‐radical polymerizations, such as the molecular weight increasing linearly with the monomer conversion, the molecular weight distribution being narrow (<1.20), and a linear relationship existing between ln([M]0/[M]) and the polymerization time. The data from 1H NMR and FTIR confirm that no change in the acyl azide groups has occurred in the polymerization process and that acyl azide copolymers have been obtained. The thermal stability of the polymers has also been investigated with TG/DTA and FTIR. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 2609–2616, 2007
Synthesis of poly(acrylic acid)‐block‐poly(L‐valine) hybrid through combined atom transfer radical polymerization, click chemistry, and nickel‐catalyzed ring opening polymerization methods
Authors: Sinaga A. , Ravi P. , Hatton T. A. , Tam K. C.
Published: May 2007

A new hybrid amphiphilic system between a polyacrylic acid (PAA) synthetic segment, and a hydrophobic β‐sheet forming peptide segment, poly(L‐valine) (PLVAL) was synthesized using a combination of Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization, Click Chemistry, and Nickel catalyzed ring opening of L‐valine N‐carboxyanhydride. This is the first reported use of Click Chemistry as an intermediary step for the ω‐amino functionalization of polymers to obtain macroinitiators that are free from deactivating or interfering molecules to be used in subsequent Ni‐catalyzed ring opening reaction. The efficiency of the end‐group functionalization in the macroinitiator is about 90%. Three different PAA‐b‐PLVAL hybrid copolymers with molecular weight range of 8000–15,000 and Mw/Mn <1.3 had been prepared by varying the monomer to macroinitiator ratio. In addition, the highest achievable molecular weight in the copolymerization was found to be limited by the solubility of the growing chains. This combined synthetic approach can potentially be extended for the synthesis of a multitude of other peptide hybrid systems, and hence will be of interest in the preparation of peptide hybrid systems. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 2646–2656, 2007
Catalyzed chain growth of polyethylene on magnesium for the synthesis of macroalkoxyamines: Application to the production of block copolymers using controlled radical polymerization
Authors: Godoy Lopez Ricardo , Boisson Christophe , D'Agosto Franck , Spitz Roger , Boisson Fernande , Gigmes Didier , Bertin Denis
Published: May 2007

A synthetic method for the production of polyethylene (PE) chains carrying alkoxyamine end‐group has been proposed first by successfully reacting the well‐known 2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperidine‐N‐oxyl (TEMPO) and N‐(2‐methyl‐2‐propyl)‐N‐(1‐diethylphosphono‐2,2‐dimethylpropyl)‐N‐oxyl (commonly called SG1) stable radicals with dipolyethylenylmagnesium compounds to give PE‐TEMPO and PE‐SG1. Since the homolytic cleavage of these two macroalkoxyamines for the production of block copolymers using controlled radical polymerization would require temperatures higher than 160 °C, two original new nitroxides (4‐[(2,2‐dimethyl‐4‐(N‐tert‐Butyl‐N‐(1‐diethoxyphosphoryl‐2,2‐dimethylpropyl)aminoxy)‐4‐n‐butoxycarbonyl)butanoyloxyl]‐2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperidinyl‐1‐oxy, DD1) and 4‐[(2,2‐dimethyl‐4‐(N‐tert‐Butyl‐N‐(1‐diethoxyphosphoryl‐2,2‐dimethylpropyl)aminoxy)‐4‐phenyl) butanoyloxyl]‐2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperidinyl‐1‐oxy, DD2) containing a TEMPO moiety and incorporating an SG1‐based alkoxyamine (cleavage temperature: 60 °C) were then synthesized. NMR analyses showed that the resulting PE‐DD1 and PE‐DD2 were obtained using this functionalization strategy though with low to moderate yields (from 17% to 40%). PE‐DD2 (40% functionalization) was used under controlled radical polymerization conditions of n‐butyl acrylate. SEC analyses together with 1H NMR analysis showed that a poly(ethylene‐b‐n‐butyl acrylate) block copolymer was produced and that the polymerization proceeded under control. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 2705–2718, 2007
Stochastic multi‐player pursuit–evasion differential games
Authors: Li Dongxu , Cruz Jose B. , Schumacher Corey J.
Published: May 2007

Autonomous aerial vehicles play an important role in military applications such as in search, surveillance and reconnaissance. Multi‐player stochastic pursuit–evasion (PE) differential game is a natural model for such operations involving intelligent moving targets with uncertainties. In this paper, some fundamental issues of stochastic PE games are addressed. We first model a general stochastic multi‐player PE differential game with perfect state information. To avoid the difficulty of multiplicity of the players, we extend the iterative method for deterministic multi‐player PE games to the stochastic case. Starting from certain suboptimal solutions with an improving property, the optimization based on limited look‐ahead can be used for improvement. The process converges when this improvement is applied iteratively. Furthermore, we introduce a hierarchical approach that can determine a valid starting point of the iterative process. As a basis for multi‐player games, stochastic two‐player PE games are also addressed. We also briefly discuss the games with imperfect state information and propose a suboptimal approach from a practical point of view. Finally, we demonstrate the usefulness and the feasibility of the method through simulations. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Structural and electrochemical studies of annealed LiNiVO4 thin films
Authors: Reddy M. V. , Pecquenard B. , Vinatier P. , Levasseur A.
Published: May 2007

We prepared stoichiometric lithium nickel vanadate amorphous thin films by using r.f. magnetron sputtering under controlled oxygen partial pressure. The amorphous films were heated at various temperatures, 300–600 °C, for 8 h. The as‐deposited and annealed thin films were characterized by Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy, nuclear reaction analysis, Auger electron spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The electrochemical behavior of the various films was studied by the galvanostatic method. The cells were tested in a liquid electrolyte at room temperature, with lithium metal used as the counter and reference electrode. The best electrochemical storage value was obtained with the thin film annealed at 300 °C, which showed superior capacity and small capacity loss during cycling. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Molecular characterization of the PEX5 gene encoding peroxisomal targeting signal 1 receptor from the methylotrophic yeast Pichia methanolica
Authors: Ito Takashi , Fujimura Shuki , Matsufuji Yoshimi , Miyaji Tatsuro , Nakagawa Tomoyuki , Tomizuka Noboru
Published: May 2007

In this study, we describe the molecular characterization of the PEX5 gene encoding the peroxisomal targeting signal 1 (PTS1) receptor from the methylotrophic yeast Pichia methanolica. The P. methanolica PEX5 (PmPEX5) gene contains a open reading frame corresponding to a gene product of 646 amino acid residues, and its deduced amino acid sequence shows a high similarity to those of Pex5ps from other methylotrophic yeasts. Like other Pex5ps, the PmPex5p possesses seven repeats of the TPR motif in the C‐terminal region and three WXXXF/Y motifs. A strain with the disrupted PEX5 gene (pex5Δ) lost its ability to grow on peroxisome‐inducible carbon sources, methanol and oleate, but grew normally on glucose and glycerol. Disruption of PmPEX5 caused a drastic decrease in peroxisomal enzyme activities and mislocalization of GFP–PTS1 and some peroxisomal methanol‐metabolizing enzymes in the cytosol. Expression of the PmPEX5 gene was regulated by carbon sources, and it was strongly expressed by peroxisome‐inducible carbon sources, especially methanol. Taken together, these findings show that PmPex5p has an essential physiological role in peroxisomal metabolism of P. methanolica, including methanol metabolism, and in peroxisomal localization and activation of methanol‐metabolizing enzymes, e.g. AOD isozymes, DHAS and CTA. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.