bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Types of High Self-Esteem and Prejudice: How Implicit Self-Esteem Relates to Ethnic Discrimination Among High Explicit Self-Esteem Individuals
Authors: Jordan Christian H. , Spencer Steven J. , Zanna Mark P.
Published: March 2005

There is increasing recognition that high self-esteem is heterogeneous. Recent research suggests that individuals who report having high self-esteem (i.e., have high explicit self-esteem) behave more defensively to the extent that they have relatively low implicit self-esteem. The current studies test whether individuals with high explicit self-esteem are more likely to discriminate ethnically, as a defensive technique, to the extent that they have relatively low implicit self-esteem. The results support this prediction. Among participants with high explicit self-esteem, all of whom were threatened by negative performance feedback, those with relatively low implicit self-esteem recommended a more severe punishment for a Native, but not a White, student who started a fist-fight. In Study 2, this pattern was not apparent for participants with relatively low explicit self-esteem.
The Relationship Between the Need for Closure and Support for Military Action Against Iraq: Moderating Effects of National Attachment
Authors: Federico Christopher M. , Golec Agnieszka , Dial Jessica L.
Published: March 2005

A variety of studies suggest that a high need for closure—that is, a desire for knowledge that is clear, stable, and unambiguous as opposed to confusing or uncertain—may be associated with greater hostility toward relevant outgroups. Using international attitudes as the context, the authors examine the hypothesis that the relationship between the need for closure and support for military action against Iraq may be moderated by identification with the national ingroup. Specifically, it is expected that this relationship will be moderated by nationalism (i.e., an aggressive form of identification based on a desire for national dominance) but not patriotism (i.e., a more neutral love of one’s country). The data provided a clear pattern of support for this hypothesis and additional analyses indicated that a high need for closure reduced variability about the use of force among the highly nationalistic but not the highly patriotic.
Using Images to Increase Exercise Behavior: Prototypes Versus Possible Selves
Authors: Ouellette Judith A. , Hessling Robert , Gibbons Frederick X. , Reis-Bergan Monica , Gerrard Meg
Published: March 2005

This study investigated the impact of health-related prototypes and possible selves on exercise behavior. In addition, this study examined if these effects might be moderated by individual differences—specifically social comparison (SC) and consideration of future consequences (CFC). One hundred and fifty-two students participated in all three waves of the study—premanipulation, manipulation, and follow-up. As expected, results indicated that individuals who were high on SC and exposed to a prototype manipulation increased their exercise behavior at follow-up. Furthermore, individuals who were future-oriented and exposed to a possible selves manipulation increased their exercise behavior at follow-up. Overall, results revealed that health images have an important impact on health behavior. Implications for behavior change are discussed.
The Role of Different Markers of Linguistic Powerlessness in Persuasion
Authors: Blankenship Kevin L. , Holtgraves Thomas
Published: March 2005

This research examined the unique effects of different markers of linguistic powerlessness (hedges, hesitations, and tag questions) on persuasion. Participants read (Experiment 1) or listened to (Experiment 2) a communication advocating comprehensive exams. Under high message relevance, messages containing powerless markers resulted in less favorable attitudes and more negative perceptions of the message and source than did the control message. This effect occurred in both experiments and was a result of these markers lessening the impact of strong arguments; in Experiment 2, strong arguments were no more persuasive than weak arguments when the message contained any of these markers. Under low message relevance, tag questions improved the persuasiveness of message arguments relative to the control condition. These results demonstrate that the effects of linguistic markers of powerlessness are complex and depend on marker type and processing depth.
The Conversational Basis for the Dilution Effect
Authors: Igou Eric R. , Bless Herbert
Published: March 2005

The impact of diagnostic information on judgments and in decision making is often reduced when additional, nondiagnostic information is presented. This article argues that the diluting impact of nondiagnostic information results in part from rules of everyday communication,which usually grant relevance to presented information.In an experimental test, participants were presented with positive or negative information about a product.Positive diagnostic information resulted in more favorable judgments than negative diagnostic information. This impact of diagnostic information was diluted when nondiagnostic information was added. Most important, the dilution effect was not observed when the applicability of the conversation was experimentally called into question.
Accounting for Ethnic Discrimination
Authors: Verkuyten Maykel
Published: March 2005

This article discusses the ways in which ethnic minority and majority group members account, in an interview context, for the existence of discrimination in Dutch society. Taking a discursive approach, the focus is on the strategies used to describe and explain discrimination.In both groups,certain members were found to use discursive strategies questioning the omnipresence of discrimination and problematizing its causes,whereas others employed devices that made discrimination appear factual, with the Dutch as its main agents. The use of these strategies was examined in relation to subject positions that the participants took up throughout the interview. It is concluded that the discursive strategies used can be understood in relation to the way speakers position themselves within particular discourses. Hence, similar discursive strategies function in different ways in different contexts, and both mainstream and discourse analytical studies on discrimination should not start from a simple majority-minority dichotomy.
Using Labor-Based Industry Complexes for Workforce Development in Missouri
Authors: Peters David J.
Published: March 2005

Application of the industry cluster concept by development agencies is limited because cluster policies benefit economically powerful core regions over periphery regions and are of little use when a region has no competitive industries. To address these limitations, industry complexes can be used as an alternative to traditional cluster approaches. To demonstrate this, 49 labor complexes in Missouri are identified using cluster and discriminant function analyses, and their application to workforce development policy in Missouri is discussed. Labor complexes can be used to assist (a) job placement programs by identifying industries that are similar in labor but dissimilar in primary economic activity, (b) economic development by identifying existing pools of specialized labor for recruitment, and (c) development of customized training and education programs that meet industry demands.
Business Improvement Districts in New York City’s Low-Income and High-Income Neighborhoods
Authors: Gross Jill Simone
Published: March 2005

Business improvement districts (BIDs) have become popular commercial revitalization tools. To date, the literature has focused on the experiences of large BIDs in the wealthiest parts of the city. The author offers qualitative and quantitative data on 41 of New York City’s BIDs in an effort to reveal differences in the form, function, and operating practices of large and small BIDs and the roles they play in urban development processes. Her key findings suggest that large and small BIDs fulfill different development functions. Small BIDs attend to the physical maintenance of an area. Midsized BIDs concentrate on marketing and promotional activities. Large BIDs, in addition to maintenance and promotion, engage in capital improvement activities. BID behavior appears to vary in relation to its resource base, type of commercial property represented, the composition and balance of power among key stakeholders, and the wealth of the community in which it is located.
Consequences From the Redistribution of Urban Poverty During the 1990s: A Cautionary Tale
Authors: Galster George C.
Published: March 2005

Conventional wisdom notwithstanding, the recent spatial redistribution of the urban poor does not necessarily bode well for the future. During the 1990s, the share of metropolitan population living in census tracts with high percentages (more than 40%) of poverty indeed fell significantly, but the shares with 10% to 20% and 20% to 40% poverty rates each rose 1 percentage point. These latter shifts are worrisome because many neighborhoods may have been pushed over their thresholds where poverty concentrations start to create significant external effects for neighbors.
Response to George C. Galster’s “Consequences From the Redistribution of Urban Poverty During the 1990s: A Cautionary Tale”
Authors: Jargowsky Paul A.
Published: March 2005

Galster proposes that the reductions in the concentration of poverty in the United States in the 1990s may have unexpected negative consequences because of nonlinearities in the effect of neighborhood poverty on individual outcomes. Although the hypothesized effect is a theoretical possibility, there is far too much uncertainty in the functional form of neighborhood effects to have any confidence in Galster’s simulations based on coefficients from existing studies. Moreover, the hypothesized effects would apply to children and materialize over time, assuming that all else was equal. Yet, declining neighborhood poverty benefits both adults and children in myriad ways, so that the small hypothesized negative effects on the rates of various social problems, if they in fact exist, are likely to be swamped by the positive direct effects on children and their parents.
“Time to Show Our True Colors”
Authors: Radhakrishnan Smitha
Published: March 2005

Facing marginalization in the political context of the “new South Africa” and lost social and economic privileges under a Black government, South African Indians articulate the need to keep up culture. In so doing, they simultaneously extend the isolation fostered through apartheid and utilize newly available political language to assert a partially disadvantaged minority voice in a distinctly gendered and racialized way. Echoing the spirit of nationalism in colonial India that figured the bourgeois Indian woman as the essence of the national culture, South African Indians reinvent a feminine icon of Indian culture for distinctly political ends. At the individual level, gendered participants in this project of cultural nationalism enact, resist, and reshape its meanings, exposing both the limitations and the possibilities for South African national identities.
Turncoat Bodies
Authors: Tambiah Yasmin
Published: March 2005

In Sri Lanka’s armed conflict, gender, sexuality, and sex work are intermeshed with militarized nationalism. Militarization entrenches gender performances and heteronormative schemes while enabling women to transgress these—whether as combatants or as sex workers. Familiarly, in this nationalist encounter, women are expected to safeguard culture, notably through proper dress and sexual conduct. Sexualactivity that challenges containment arouses anxiety because loyalty to military groupor communal boundary can be compromised. Drawing on three examples—adress codecall by a Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam women’s wing, consequences for a woman alleged to be a sex worker, and the public stripping of an alleged suicide bomber at a military checkpoint—this article explores how gendered behaviors and sexualities marked as culture are constructed and controlled in the interests of militarized, nationalist projects; how women can be both agents and objects of these controls; and the implications for women who refuse to comply.
Exploring the Potential Disadvantages of High Cohesion in Sports Teams
Authors: Hardy James , Eys Mark A. , Carron Albert V.
Published: March 2005

In the present study, a heterogeneous sample of 105 athletes (mean age = 21.4 years) was used to gain insight into the potential negative consequences of high team cohesion. Athletes were asked open-ended questions relating to the potential disadvantages of high task and high social cohesion. It was found that 56% of athletes reported possible disadvantages to high social cohesion, whereas 31% of athletes reported possible disadvantages to high task cohesion. Furthermore, data analyses revealed multiple dimensions of negative consequences for both high task and social cohesion. More specifically, analysis of responses revealed both group- and personal-level consequences. The findings contrast with the popularly held view that high cohesion is always beneficial for teams and team members. It was suggested that future research assess the prevalence and importance of the disadvantages of high cohesion.
Thinking Outside the Black Box
Authors: Gibson Cristina B. , Saxton Todd
Published: March 2005

Despite the widespread involvement of third parties in organizational team decision making, little empirical research has explored the effect of these individuals on team outcomes. Expanding literature on team decision making to include the role of external third parties, this study investigates the effects of the interaction between type of third-party input (direction, devil’s advocacy, or expert advice) and team cultural values heterogeneity on team decision outcomes. Using an experimental design, the authors find that input type interacts with team cultural values heterogeneity on individualism-collectivism to predict decision effectiveness. With no third-party input, teams homogeneous and heterogeneous on individualism-collectivism were equally effective. With devil’s advocacy or expert advice, homogeneous teams were more effective than were heterogeneous teams. However, importantly, when an external third party provided direction, heterogeneous teams were more effective thanwere homogeneousteams. The findings contribute to the theory regardingteam composition and decision making. The article concludes with suggestions for practice and future research.
The Anticipation of a Severe Initiation
Authors: Lodewijkx Hein F. M. , van Zomeren Martijn , Syroit Jef E. M. M.
Published: March 2005

A 2 (anticipated initiation or control) by 2 (male or female) laboratory study (N = 72) sought to delineate factors explaining the effects of severe initiations on group attraction. Building upon Schachter’s affiliation theory, the authors formulated a severity-affiliation-attraction hypothesis (SAAH). SupportingSAAH, an anticipated-initiationconditionincreased participants’level of affiliationtendencyandgroupattractioncompared to a control condition. Also supporting the hypothesis, affiliation tendency significantly mediated the severity-attraction relationship. Interaction effects further indicated that SAAH held only for males, not for females, for whom a mere affiliation-attraction relationship was observed. Results suggest that, contrary to males, the anticipation of a threatening initiation does not appear to be effective in strengthening group attraction via affiliation-related processes for females.
The Primacy of Decision-Action as an Influence Strategy of Violent Gang Leaders
Authors: Porter Louise E. , Alison Laurence J.
Published: March 2005

This study examined the relationship between decisions, actions, and orders as facets of influence, both over criminal events and group members, for 37 leaders of sexually violent gangs. The degree to which decisions, actions, and orders were employed during the offense (quantitative variation), as well as the combinations of these elements (qualitative variation), was examined to evaluate the range of different influence strategies. Two main combinations, or influence strategies, emerged: (a) decision and action and (b) decision and order, suggesting two predominant pathways that emerge with decision making as central to both, with the former path being far more frequent. The results are discussed in terms of the psychological processes involved in influence strategies as a effecting group activity.
Lighten Up: The Citation Dilemma in Qualitative Research
Authors: Gilgun Jane F.
Published: March 2005

The balance between what we learn from research and what others have said about similar topics can pose dilemmas for qualitative researchers. How many citations are enough? How much allegiance do we owe to other scholars and how much to informants’ lived experiences, our theoretical analyses, and the lessons we draw about methods and methodologies from our own experience as researchers? The various reasons we use or do not use citations in writing up results and writing about methods are the topics of this article.
Use of an Audit in Violence Prevention Research
Authors: Erwin Elizabeth Hite , Meyer Aleta , McClain Natalie
Published: March 2005

Auditing is an effective tool for articulating the trustworthiness and credibility of qualitative research. However, little information exists on how to conduct an audit. In this article, the authors illustrate their use of an audit team to explore the methods and preliminary findings of a study aimed at identifying the relevant and challenging problems experienced by urban teenagers. This study was the first in a series of studies to improve the ecological validity of violence prevention programs for high-risk urban teenagers, titled Identifying Essential Skills for Violence Prevention. The five phases of this audit were engaging the auditor, becoming familiar with the study, discussing methods and determining strengths and limitations, articulating audit findings, and planning subsequent research. Positioning the audit before producing final results allows researchers to address many study limitations, uncover potential sources of bias in the thematic structure, and systematically plan subsequent steps in an emerging design.
The Incidental Discovery of Nonpaternity Through Genetic Carrier Screening: An Exploration of Lay Attitudes
Authors: Turney Lyn
Published: March 2005

With advances in genetic medicine, paternity is increasingly being determined by genetic rather than social markers. In this article, the author examines the complex nature of paternity and the way in which it has been constructed socially, legally, and medically. She then presents the results from an empirical study on public attitudes toward genetic testing and paternity. In particular, she examines lay attitudes toward an ethical dilemma posed by the incidental discovery of nonpaternity during the process of genetic testing for a recessively inherited disease. She concludes the article by drawing attention to the potential problems inherent in the intervention of genetic medicine into family relationships.
The Problems With Interviews
Authors: Nunkoosing Karl
Published: March 2005

Despite the popularity of the interview in qualitative research, methodological and theoretical problems remain. In this article, the author critically examines some of these problems for the researcher. He deals with the problems of power and resistance, distinguishing truth from authenticity, the (im)possibility of consent if knowing is a problem for both the interviewer and the interviewee, and the nature and significance of stories and the self. Although it is not always possible to address these problems directly, the author seeks in this article to create a dialogue with all of us for whom the interview is judged to be the appropriate answer to the research question “How can I know...?”
The Experience of Interferon-Based Treatments for Hepatitis C Infection
Authors: Hopwood Max , Treloar Carla
Published: March 2005

Clinical trials of interferon-based treatments for hepatitis C infection show decrements in patients’ health-related quality of life due to side effects of therapy. The impact of side effects on patients’ overall quality of life still remains unclear. To explore this issue, the authors interviewed people living in New South Wales, Australia, who had undergone treatment for hepatitis C. Their aim in this article is to report participants’ experiences of treatment side effects. In Australia, this information is important, because a new interferon-based regimen has been adopted as the mainstay of hepatitis C treatment, and it is predicted that many more people will seek treatment. The authors argue for further qualitative research to enhance knowledge of the impact of this therapy.
Objectivity and Subjectivity in the Ethnographic Method
Authors: Hegelund Allan
Published: March 2005

The author discusses the application of the concepts of objectivity and subjectivity in ethnographic theory and research, and finds that one kind of subjectivity, that of applying a particular perspective to ethnography, is central and inevitable. Today, we acknowledge that objectivity is relative to a given perspective or preunderstanding, but the applied perspective must compete with other perspectives or paradigms in its effectiveness in our understanding and managing of a lived reality. In some situations, where no such fruitful alternative exists, a simple correspondence between word and world can be an acceptable notion of truth. Here, an all-encompassing consensus of what would be objective and subjective can be expected. Thus, the concepts retain a central function without completely altering the meanings they have in everyday and scientific language, although the values traditionally ascribed to the notions have changed to some extent and a more refined conceptualization has been reached.
Illness Representations of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
Authors: Goodman Donna , Morrissey Shirley , Graham Deborah , Bossingham David
Published: March 2005

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic illness that usually follows a fluctuating course and, therefore, can be difficult to diagnose. Consequently, individuals with SLE often hold beliefs about the nature and course of the illness that are at odds with medical opinion. Clearly, a shared understanding of the illness would be beneficial to illness management. In this study, the authors used semistructured interviews and interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore the content of the illness representations held by 36 individuals diagnosed with SLE. They also identified the ways in which these illness representations were generated initially and attempted to determine whether changes occurred over time in these illness representations, as predicted by the self-regulatory model.
Case Study Research: The View From Complexity Science
Authors: Anderson Ruth A. , Crabtree Benjamin F. , Steele David J. , McDaniel Reuben R.
Published: March 2005

Many wonder why there has been so little change in care quality despite substantial quality improvement efforts. Questioning why current approaches are not making true changes draws attention to the organization as a source of answers. The authors bring together the case study method and complexity science to suggest new ways to study health care organizations. The case study provides a method for studying systems. Complexity theory suggests that keys to understanding the system are contained in patterns of relationships and interactions among the system’s agents. They propose some of the “objects” of study that are implicated by complexity theory and discuss how studying these using case methods might provide useful maps of the system. They offer complexity theory, partnered with case study method, as a place to begin the daunting task of studying a system as an integrated whole.
Occupying E.1027
Authors: Rault Jasmine
Published: March 2005

This article deals with the relationship between Le Corbusier and lesser known modern designer and architect Eileen Gray as it plays itself out in Le Corbusier’s fixation on and eventual occupation of Eileen Gray’s first house, E.1027. In 1938 and 1939, Le Corbusier painted eight massive murals in E.1027. Gray was horrified. Her biographer, Peter Adam, describes it in terms of sexual assault: “It was a rape.” What lines of inquiry are opened if one begins to think of Le Corbusier’s proximity, his eventual intimacy with Gray’s house and interiors as enactments of sexual violence? Why this compulsion to see, to mark, and eventually to be inside? The author argues that Gray develops, in her design and architecture, an aesthetic of desire that radically challenges the particular modern movement that Le Corbusier championed and epitomized. One can begin to read the violence toward Gray and E.1027 as covert, perhaps even unconscious, disciplinary responses to the aesthetic, philosophical, and sexual threat that her work represented.
Topophilia and Topophobia
Authors: González Beatriz Muñoz
Published: March 2005

People’s relations with places are frequently saturated with emotions. For places, it is possible to have feelings and bonds similar to those that are established between people and equally ambivalent. The perception that one has of places plays an important role in the production of emotions and, in this sense, the home provokes in those who reside in it, although especially in housewives, both negative and positive emotions. The testimonies given by a group of rural women from southwestern Spain allow me to establish a series of metaphors and antinomies of the home that transform it into a source of both satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Understood in this way, the home is neither a natural and desirable setting for women nor the locus that lays the foundation for their alienation but also a place of creation and of recreation of women; a fortress, prison, a place of conflict and of security.
Plainwork (Writing)
Authors: Walker Linda Marie
Published: March 2005

The interior is vast. The telling of “interiority” is infinite. The Australian writer Gerald Murnane, in his book The Plains, writes “about” this infinity and about the impossibility of making a “work,” in this instance a film, that would somehow show “vastness.” Still, the impossible is possible, in all sorts of imaginative and subtle ways. The Plains is a generative book, both in its subject (the meaning of the plains) and in its relational reach toward other practices; in this regard, it has “infinite” potential in terms of our understanding, and our speaking and writing language, of what “interior” is, and how it can be expressed and taught.
The Motel
Authors: Treadwell Sarah
Published: March 2005

This article proposes that the motel, with its conjunction of mobility and temporary arrest, is activated in the domestic present by the aftereffects of violent national or local occupation. Often described in terms of a temporary and secondary homeliness, the motel might also be entertained as an imagining of everyday life without routine, without closure: the possibilities of mobility disconnected from linear progress and allied instead to chance and desire. The motel is envisioned as an architectural remnant of an often violent longing for distance and freedom that colors colonial and domestic enterprises. Acknowledging Benjamin’s desire for a “heightened graphicness,” this article attempts to read the motel as an interference device, a transgressive architecture that complicates linear accounts of progress, family, and history. The motel as interference device is fabricated in an “image” drawn from various constructions of motel; from Nabokov’s Lolita, Edward Hopper’s Western Motel, Laurie Anderson’s Puppet Motel, and Meaghan Morris’s At Henry Parkes Motel.
Toward a Definition of Interiority
Authors: McCarthy Christine
Published: March 2005

This article examines theoretical aspects that contribute to a definition of interiority. The author argues that interiority is not an absolute condition that depends on a restrictive architectural definition.
Anti-nirvana: Crime, culture and instrumentalism in the age of insecurity
Authors: Hall Steve , Winlow Simon
Published: March 2005

The disintegration of traditional forms of community and social order is one of criminology’s core issues for the twenty-first century. As these forms are replaced by individualism, fragmentation and differentiation in a fluid, unstable culture governed by advanced capitalism’s economic command to consume and discard with increasing rapidity, everyday values and practices are undergoing radical reconfiguration. Here we offer field data from two distinct social groups that are caught up in this process of change: socially incorporated young people in low paid service work, and socially excluded criminal young men from the north east of England. If this set of data is analysed in critical rather than celebratory ways, it suggests that current economic and cultural forces, rather than liberating individuals from repressive structures and traditions, are promoting sufficient atomization, instrumentalism and insecurity in specific locales to threaten social cohesion and further increase the flow of young people into criminality.
Teaching her a lesson: Media misses boys’ rage relating to girls in school shootings
Authors: Klein Jessie
Published: March 2005

An analysis of media coverage of 12 United States school shootings, which took place between 1997 and 2002, shows a previously unnoticed pattern: nearly all the boys who killed in these shootings specifically targeted girls who rejected them, or minimally implied that they acted due to a perceived rejection by a girl. This research highlights the media’s blindness to significant social problems that are hidden behind society’s ‘boys-will-be-boys’ attitude toward harassment of and violence against teenage girls.
Symbolic politics and penal populism: The long shadow of Willie Horton
Authors: Newburn Tim , Jones Trevor
Published: March 2005

There is increasing evidence that, in general terms, much transnational lesson-drawing in criminal justice has been at the symbolic rather than the substantive level. Much of what has been ‘transferred’ has been terminology or rhetoric rather than the technologies and techniques of crime control. That is not to imply that these transfers have been inconsequential, for ‘political rhetoric and official representations of crime and criminals have a symbolic significance and a practical efficacy that have real social consequences. Sometimes “talk” is “action”’ (Garland, 2001: 22). In this article we outline a particular case of lesson-drawing that has had, we argue, a dramatic impact on British penal policy. This case, the defeat of Michael Dukakis in the 1988 US Presidential election, has had a long-lasting impact on electoral politics in the USA but also, we suggest, in the more specific arena of the mediated politics of crime control in the UK.
Poles of market growth?
Authors: Schiller Dan
Published: March 2005

Control over communications is a crucial concomitant of political-economic power. China’s emergence as an important force within the global capitalist system is thus giving rise to a substantially greater presence in the system of international communications. A series of initiatives, briefly inventoried here, aims to win a place for Chinese interests across the entire spectrum of media and telecommunications systems, spanning hardware, software and services. How should we interpret these in the context of China’s rise?

Chinese initiatives in communications and information are best apprehended neither as a developing country’s attempt to redress glaring imbalances in the global communications system, though of course they contain traces of this, nor as a current threat to the global dominance of the United States, though over the long term this might change, much as the US challenged and ultimately unseated British control over international communications. Rather, they are seen here as contributing to the ongoing structural reconfiguration of the political economy of transnational capitalism. The likely outcome is greater, rather than lesser, instability.
Lung function, smoking and mortality in a 26-year follow-up of healthy middle-aged males
Authors: Stavem K. , Aaser E. , Sandvik L. , Bjørnholt J. V. , Erikssen G. , Thaulow E. , Erikssen J.
Published: March 2005

Lung function has been associated with mortality after adjusting for other risk factors; however, few studies have adjusted for physical fitness and reported separate analyses according to smoking status.

In 1972–1975, spirometry, clinical and physiological parameters were recorded in 1,623 apparently healthy males aged 40–59 yrs. After 26 yrs of follow-up, the current authors investigated the association between baseline lung function and mortality, adjusting for smoking, physical fitness and other potential factors.

By 2000, 615 individuals (38%) had died, with 308 (50%) of these deaths from cardiovascular (CV) causes. Forced expiratory volume in one second was a predictor of all-cause mortality (risk ratio (RR) 1.10 per reduction of 10%) after adjusting for smoking, physical fitness, age, systolic blood pressure, body mass index and serum cholesterol. The corresponding multivariate RR was 1.07 for CV causes and 1.34 for respiratory death.

In conclusion, in stratified analyses among current and former smokers, forced expiratory volume in one second % predicted was a strong independent predictor of all-cause mortality and respiratory death among current smokers. Forced expiratory volume in one second % predicted was not associated with mortality among never-smokers.
Adoptive transfer of T-helper cell type 1 clones attenuates an asthmatic phenotype in mice
Authors: Irifune K. , Yokoyama A. , Sakai K. , Watanabe A. , Katayama H. , Ohnishi H. , Hamada H. , Nakajima M. , Kohno N. , Higaki J.
Published: March 2005

T-helper cell type 1 (Th1) cells have been postulated to have a significant role in protective immunity against allergic diseases. However, recent studies using polarised Th1 cells showed conflicting effects on both airway responsiveness and eosinophilic inflammation in a mouse asthma model. The current study explored the effects of adoptive transfer of established Th1 clones on a murine model of atopic asthma.

Mice (BALB/c) were sensitised with ovalbumin (OVA) and challenged with aerosolised OVA (5%, 20 min) for 5 days. Just before starting the first challenge, Th1 clones (5×106·body−1) or PBS alone were injectedviathe tail vein. After assessment of airway responsiveness to methacholine, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was obtained. Histological examination, including morphometric analysis, measurement of cytokines in the BALF and Northern blotting of lung chemokines, was also performed.

Adoptive transfer of Th1 clones showed a significantly increased total number of cells, whereas significantly decreased eosinophils were found in the BALF, when compared with mice with injection of vehicle alone or splenic mononuclear cells. Administration of Th1 clones significantly decreased the infiltration of eosinophils but increased mononuclear cells in the peribronchial area. Goblet cell hyperplasia and peribronchial fibrosis were also suppressed by Th1 clones. The transfer of Th1 cells significantly decreased airway responsiveness. Th1 injection significantly increased interferon gamma in the BALF, but significantly decreased interleukin (IL)-5 and IL-13. Eotaxin mRNA was predominantly expressed in the lungs of asthma model mice, whereas RANTES (regulated on activation, normal T-cell expressed and secreted) predominates in such mice with Th1 transfer.

In conclusion, results suggest that the adoptive transfer of T-helper cell type 1 clones can suppress both lung eosinophilia and airway responsiveness, but increase noneosinophilic inflammation in a mouse model of asthma.
Resting energy expenditure in Duchenne patients using home mechanical ventilation
Authors: Gonzalez-Bermejo J. , Lofaso F. , Falaize L. , Lejaille M. , Raphaël J-C. , Similowski T. , Melchior J-C.
Published: March 2005

Nutritional status is both important and difficult to assess in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), particularly in those requiring mechanical ventilation (MV). The current authors evaluated body composition (bio-impedancemetry), resting energy expenditure (REE; indirect calorimetry) and energy intake in 20 adult patients with DMD using home MV (nocturnal: n = 13; continuous: n = 7) and 12 age-matched healthy controls.

The patients were smaller in height than the controls and had a lower body weight. Most of the reduction in body mass index was accounted for by a reduction in fat free mass (FFM). REE (kJ) was significantly reduced in the patients (4559±853 kJ·24 h−1versus7407±1312 kJ·24 h−1), but the difference disappeared after correction for FFM.

REE and FFM were correlated in both the controls and patients, but less strongly in the latter, the lower strength of the association being due to the patients using continuous MV (REE and FFM uncorrelated). The food intake of the patients was 1.2±0.4 greater than their REE.

This study shows that patients with advanced forms of Duchenne muscular dystrophy have balanced energy intakes and resting energy expenditure.
Vascular endothelial growth factor in pleural effusions of different origin
Authors: Sack U. , Hoffmann M. , Zhao X. J. , Chan K. S. , Hui D. S. C. , Gosse H. , Engelmann L. , Schauer J. , Emmrich F. , Hoheisel G.
Published: March 2005

This study aimed to determine the diagnostic relevance of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the pleural fluid and serum of patients with pleural effusions of different aetiology.

VEGF was quantified in the pleural effusion fluid and serum of 96 patients with malignancies (58 lung cancers (CA) and 38 tumours with secondaries to the lung (TM)), 45 with congestive heart failure (CHF), 28 with tuberculosis (TB), 45 with acute infections (INF), and in the serum of 20 healthy controls.

VEGF pleural effusion concentrations were significantly different in the main diagnostic groups. VEGF was higher in effusions of patients with malignancies (CA as well as TM) in comparison with INF, TB or CHF. In serum, however, high VEGF concentrations indicated CA, TM or INF, but not TB or CHF. Despite significant differences of VEGF levels in different patient groups, receiver-operating characteristic analysis revealed insufficient diagnostic value of VEGF for differential diagnosis of pleural effusions.

In conclusion, vascular endothelial growth factor serum concentration is highly suggestive of the presence of lung disease in general, except for tuberculosis. In effusion fluid, the presence of vascular endothelial growth factor clearly indicates inflammatory or malignant origin. However, for diagnostic use, additional parameters besides vascular endothelial growth factor are mandatory.
Airway inflammation during stable and acutely exacerbated chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Authors: Fujimoto K. , Yasuo M. , Urushibata K. , Hanaoka M. , Koizumi T. , Kubo K.
Published: March 2005

The aim of this study was to clarify the mechanism of increased airway inflammation during an acute exacerbation.

A total of 68 chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients in a stable phase were enrolled and followed-up for 2–3 yrs. Inflammatory cells were analysed, and interleukin (IL)-8, neutrophil elastase, eotaxin, tryptase and RANTES (regulated on activation, normal T-cell expressed and secreted) were measured in sputum, both in a stable phase and during acute exacerbation.

Out of 68 patients, 30 (unstable group) developed an acute exacerbation and expectorated adequate sputum during exacerbation. Thirty-two patients (stable group) did not develop any exacerbation for 2–3 yrs. The number of neutrophils, lymphocytes and eosinophils, and the levels of IL-8, eosinophil cationic protein (ECP), eotaxin and tryptase in sputum obtained from patients in both groups during the stable phase were significantly higher than those from healthy nonsmokers. There were no significant differences in cell analysis and biomarkers between the two groups, but patients in the unstable group showed more severe airflow limitation. In the unstable group, total cells, lymphocytes, neutrophils and eosinophils, and IL-8, neutrophil elastase, ECP and RANTES levels were significantly increased during an exacerbation from values in a stable phase.

These findings suggest that exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease may associate with additional increases in airway inflammation mediated by neutrophils, lymphocytes, eosinophils, interleukin-8 and RANTES.
Phenotypic characterisation of alveolar macrophages and peripheral blood monocytes in COPD
Authors: Pons A. R. , Noguera A. , Blanquer D. , Sauleda J. , Pons J. , Agustí A. G. N.
Published: March 2005

Alveolar macrophages (AM) participate actively in the inflammatory response that characterises chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The present study investigated potential changes in AM phenotypes in patients with COPD.

Using flow cytometry, the surface expression of receptors implicated in phagocytosis (CD44, CD36, CD51, CD61, CD14), antigen-presenting capacity (human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR), costimulatory molecules (CD80, CD86, CD40) and complement receptor type 3 were assessed in AM from 18 patients with COPD, 14 smokers with normal lung function and nine nonsmokers.

When compared to smokers with normal lung function and nonsmokers, the surface expression of HLA-DR and CD80 was lower in AM of patients with COPD. In addition, these patients had a higher percentage of AM with a low level surface expression of CD44. There did not appear to be any difference in the other receptors studied in AM between the three groups. The expression of all these receptors in peripheral blood monocytes also did not differ between groups.

In conclusion, these observations suggest that the cell-mediated immune function of alveolar macrophages can be reduced in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and that this is a local rather than a systemic event.
QT interval dispersion in obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome patients without hypertension
Authors: Dursunoglu D. , Dursunoğlu N. , Evrengül H. , Özkurt S. , Kılıç M. , Fisekci F. , Kuru Ö. , Delen Ö.
Published: March 2005

QT interval dispersion (QTd) reflects inhomogeneity of repolarisation. Delayed cardiac repolarisation leading to the prolongation of the QT interval is a well-characterised precursor of arrhythmias. Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) can cause cardiovascular complications, such as arrhythmias, myocardial infarction, and systemic and pulmonary hypertension. The aim of this study was to assess QTdin OSAS patients without hypertension.

A total of 49 subjects without hypertension, diabetes mellitus, any cardiac or pulmonary diseases, or any hormonal, hepatic, renal or electrolyte disorders were referred for evaluation of OSAS. An overnight polysomnography and a standard 12-lead ECG were performed in each subject. According to the apnoea–hypopnoea index (AHI), subjects were divided into control subjects (AHI <5, n = 20) and moderate–severe OSAS patients (AHI ≥15, n = 29). QTd(defined as the difference between the maximum and minimum QT interval) and QT-corrected interval dispersion (QTcd) were calculated using Bazzet's formula.

In conclusion, the QTcdwas significantly higher in OSAS patients (56.1±9.3 ms) than in controls (36.3±4.5 ms). A strong positive correlation was shown between QTcdand AHI. In addition, a significantly positive correlation was shown between QTcdand the desaturation index (DI). The AHI and DI were significantly related to QTcdas an independent variable using stepwise regression analysis.

The QT-corrected interval dispersion is increased in obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome patients without hypertension, and it may reflect obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome severity.
Procalcitonin and C-reactive protein levels in HIV-positive subjects with tuberculosis and pneumonia
Authors: Schleicher G. K. , Herbert V. , Brink A. , Martin S. , Maraj R. , Galpin J. S. , Feldman C.
Published: March 2005

Pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) and pneumococcal community-acquired pneumonia (PCAP) are common causes of lower respiratory tract infections in HIV-seropositive patients and may have similar clinical and radiological features. This study aimed to assess the value of serum procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in HIV-seropositive patients with pneumonia, and to investigate their potential role in differentiating pneumococcal from mycobacterial infections.

HIV-seropositive patients admitted with pneumonia were evaluated prospectively, 34 with PTB and 33 with PCAP.

All 33 patients in the PCAP group and 20 of 34 patients in the PTB group had elevated PCT levels (>0.1 ng·mL−1). All patients in both groups had elevated CRP levels (>10 mg·L−1). The PTB group had significantly lower CD4 T-lymphocyte counts, lower CRP levels, lower white cell counts, and lower PCT levels than the PCAP group. Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that optimal discrimination between PTB and PCAP could be performed at a cut-off point of 3 ng·mL−1for PCT (sensitivity 81.8%; specificity 82.35%) and 246 mg·L−1for CRP (sensitivity 78.8%; specificity 82.3%).

In conclusion, HIV-seropositive patients with pneumococcal community-acquired pneumonia had significantly higher procalcitonin and C-reactive protein levels than those with pulmonary tuberculosis. A procalcitonin level >3 ng·mL−1and a C-reactive protein level >246 mg·L−1were both highly predictive of pneumococcal infection.
The PREVASC study: the clinical effect of a multifaceted educational intervention to prevent childhood asthma
Authors: Schönberger H. J. A. M. , Dompeling E. , Knottnerus J. A. , Maas T. , Muris J. W. M. , van Weel C. , van Schayck C. P.
Published: March 2005

As asthma is the most common chronic disease in childhood, much attention is directed towards primary prevention. Here, the clinical effectiveness of a multifaceted educational prevention was studied.

A total of 476 high-risk children were recruited during the prenatal period by general practitioners and randomised to either: 1) a control group, receiving usual care; or 2) an intervention group in which families received instruction from nurses on how to reduce exposure of newborns to mite, pet and food allergens, and passive smoking.

A total of 443 infants were followed-up for 2 yrs. At 2 yrs of age, the intervention group (n = 222) had less asthma-like symptoms, including wheezing, shortness of breath and night-time cough, than the control group (n = 221). No significant differences in total and specific immunoglobulin E were found between the groups. During the first 2 yrs of life, the incidence of asthma-like symptoms was similar in both groups; however, subanalysis revealed a significant reduction in the female, but not in the male, intervention group.

In conclusion, the intervention used in this study was not effective in reducing asthma-like symptoms in high-risk children during the first 2 yrs of life, although it was modestly effective at 2 yrs. Follow-up is necessary to confirm whether the intervention can actually prevent the development of asthma.