bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Feedback driven instruction-set extension
Authors: Kastens Uwe , Le Dinh Khoi , Slowik Adrian , Thies Michael
Published: November 2005

Application specific instruction-set processors combine an efficient general purpose core with special purpose functionality that is tailored to a particular application domain. Since the extension of an instruction set and its utilization are non-trivial tasks, sophisticated tools have to provide guidance and support during design. Feedback driven optimization allows for the highest level of specialization, but calls for a simulator that is aware of the newly proposed instructions, a compiler that makes use of these instructions without manual intervention, and an application program that is representative for the targeted application domain.In this paper we introduce an approach for the extension of instruction sets that is built around a concise yet powerful processor abstraction. The specification of a processor is well suited to automatically generate the important parts of a compiler backend and cycle-accurate simulator. A typical design cycle involves the execution of the representative application program, evaluation of performance statistics collected by the simulator, refinement of the processor specification guided by performance statistics, and update of the compiler and simulator according to the refined specification. We demonstrate the usefulness of our novel approach by example of an instruction set for symmetric ciphers.
Flattening statecharts without explosions
Authors: Wasowski Andrzej
Published: November 2005

We present a polynomial upper bound for flattening of UML statecharts. An efficient flattening technique is derived and implemented in SCOPE---a code generator targeting constrained embedded systems. Programs generated with this new technique are both faster and smaller than those produced by non-flattening code generators. Our approach scales well for big models and exhibits good properties with respect to memory usage, automatic analysis of worst-case reaction time and automatic validation of memory safety.
Plasmid Segregation Mechanisms
Authors: Ebersbach Gitte , Gerdes Kenn
Published: November 2005

Bacterial plasmids encode partitioning (par) loci that ensure ordered plasmid segregation prior to cell division. par loci come in two types: those that encode actin-like ATPases and those that encode deviant Walker-type ATPases. ParM, the actin-like ATPase of plasmid R1, forms dynamic filaments that segregate plasmids paired at mid-cell to daughter cells. Like microtubules, ParM filaments exhibit dynamic instability (i.e., catastrophic decay) whose regulation is an important component of the DNA segregation process. The Walker box ParA ATPases are related to MinD and form highly dynamic, oscillating filaments that are required for the subcellular movement and positioning of plasmids. The role of the observed ATPase oscillation is not yet understood. However, we propose a simple model that couples plasmid segregation to ParA oscillation. The model is consistent with the observed movement and localization patterns of plasmid foci and does not require the involvement of plasmid-specific host-encoded factors.
Death by association: BH3 domain-only proteins and liver injury
Authors: Baskin-Bey E. S. , Gores G. J.
Published: November 2005

Apoptosis, a prominent form of cell death, is a prime feature of many acute and chronic liver diseases. Apoptosis requires mitochondrial dysfunction, which is regulated by proteins of the Bcl-2 family. Whether or not a cell should live or die is controlled by the interaction of multidomain Bcl-2 proteins with proapoptotic BH3 domain-only proteins of this family. Current models suggest multidomain, antiapoptotic Bcl-2 proteins prevent mitochondrial dysfunction by sequestering and/or preventing activation of its proapoptotic relatives. BH3-only proteins initiate cell death by neutralizing and or ligating multidomain prosurvival Bcl-2 proteins. Thus BH3 domain-only proteins are paramount in the apoptotic process as exemplified by the role of the BH3 domain-only protein Bid in liver injury. In this concise review, we will focus on how these BH3 domain-only proteins are regulated in the cell, their association with the Bcl-2 family of proteins, and finally, current information regarding their involvement in liver cell apoptosis and injury.
New Noninvasive Method for Assessment of Left Ventricular Rotation
Authors: Helle-Valle Thomas , Crosby Jonas , Edvardsen Thor , Lyseggen Erik , Amundsen Brage H. , Smith Hans-Jørgen , Rosen Boaz D. , Lima João A.C. , Torp Hans , Ihlen Halfdan , Smiseth Otto A.
Published: November 2005

Background—

Left ventricular (LV) torsion is due to oppositely directed apical and basal rotation and has been proposed as a sensitive marker of LV function. In the present study, we introduce and validate speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) as a method for assessment of LV rotation and torsion.

Methods and Results—

Apical and basal rotation by STE was measured from short-axis images by automatic frame-to-frame tracking of gray-scale speckle patterns. Rotation was calculated as the average angular displacement of 9 regions relative to the center of a best-fit circle through the same regions. As reference methods we used sonomicrometry in anesthetized dogs during baseline, dobutamine infusion, and apical ischemia, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tagging in healthy humans. In dogs, the mean peak apical rotation was −3.7±1.2° (±SD) and −4.1±1.2°, and basal rotation was 1.9±1.5° and 2.0±1.2° by sonomicrometry and STE, respectively. Rotations by both methods increased (
P
<0.001) during dobutamine infusion. Apical rotation by both methods decreased during left anterior descending coronary artery occlusion (
P
<0.007), whereas basal rotation was unchanged. In healthy humans, apical rotation was −11.6±3.8° and −10.9±3.3°, and basal rotation was 4.8±1.7° and 4.6±1.3° by MRI tagging and STE, respectively. Torsion measurement by STE showed good correlation and agreement with sonomicrometry (
r
=0.94,
P
<0.001) and MRI (
r
=0.85,
P
<0.001).

Conclusions—

The present study demonstrates that regional LV rotation and torsion can be measured accurately by STE, suggesting a new echocardiographic approach for quantification of LV systolic function.
Interaction between the Brewer–Dobson Circulation and the Hadley Circulation
Authors: Salby Murry L. , Callaghan Patrick F.
Published: November 2005

Interannual changes of the stratospheric circulation are studied in relation to coherent changes of the tropospheric circulation. Emerging over the winter pole is a clear signature of adiabatic warming and anomalous downwelling. Reflecting an intensification of the Brewer–Dobson circulation, the signature of anomalous downwelling extends from stratospheric levels into the troposphere. Compensating for it at subpolar latitudes is a signature of adiabatic cooling and anomalous upwelling. Equally coherent, the signature of anomalous upwelling occupies the same levels as the signature of anomalous downwelling. Inside the tropical troposphere, anomalous cooling is replaced by anomalous warming. It reflects an intensification of organized convection and the Hadley circulation, one that accompanies the intensification of the Brewer–Dobson circulation.

These signatures of anomalous vertical motion represent changes that operate coherently in the stratosphere and troposphere. They share major features with the Arctic Oscillation. Extending across the tropopause, they couple the stratosphere and troposphere through a transfer of mass. By modifying vertical motion inside the Tropics, anomalous upwelling influences organized convection. Support for this interpretation comes from anomalous divergence in the tropical upper troposphere; it is shown to vary coherently with anomalous downwelling in the Arctic stratosphere. Exhibiting analogous behavior are changes of the tropical tropopause. Coupled to stratospheric changes, these variations of the tropical circulation act to organize convection about the equator, favoring a split ITCZ. They reflect as much as 40% of the interannual variance of tropical divergence, representing an important complement to ENSO.

Much of the covariance between the polar stratosphere and the tropical troposphere is concentrated at periods shorter than 5 yr. Included is variability that is associated with the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) in the tropical stratosphere. Also included is biennial variability, which accompanies the QBO in the polar stratosphere. These stratospheric variations involve the same time scales as biennial variability in the tropical troposphere, which likewise influences convection.
From Oceans to Farms: The Value of a Novel Statistical Climate Forecast for Agricultural Management
Authors: McIntosh Peter C. , Ash Andrew J. , Smith Mark Stafford
Published: November 2005

The economic value of seasonal climate forecasting is assessed using a whole-of-chain analysis. The entire system, from sea surface temperature (SST) through pasture growth and animal production to economic and resource outcomes, is examined. A novel statistical forecast method is developed using the partial least squares spatial correlation technique with near-global SST. This method permits forecasts to be tailored for particular regions and industries. The method is used to forecast plant growth days rather than rainfall. Forecast skill is measured by performing a series of retrospective forecasts (hindcasts) over the previous century. The hindcasts are cross-validated to guard against the possibility of artificial skill, so there is no skill at predicting random time series. The hindcast skill is shown to be a good estimator of the true forecast skill obtained when only data from previous years are used in developing the forecast.

Forecasts of plant growth, reduced to three categories, are used in several agricultural examples in Australia. For the northeast Queensland grazing industry, the economic value of this forecast is shown to be greater than that of a Southern Oscillation index (SOI) based forecast and to match or exceed the value of a “perfect” category rainfall forecast. Reasons for the latter surprising result are given. Resource degradation, in this case measured by soil loss, is shown to remain insignificant despite increasing production from the land. Two further examples in Queensland, one for the cotton industry and one for wheat, are illustrated in less depth. The value of a forecast is again shown to match or exceed that obtained using the SOI, although further investigation of the decision-making responses to forecasts is needed to extract the maximum benefit for these industries.
The Relationship between Wind Speed and Precipitation in the Pacific ITCZ
Authors: Back Larissa E. , Bretherton Christopher S.
Published: November 2005

The relationship between wind speed and precipitation in the Pacific ITCZ is analyzed using 4 yr of daily Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) and Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Microwave Imager (TMI) satellite passive microwave retrievals averaged over 2.5° boxes. Throughout the ITCZ, at high-column relative humidities (conditions under which deep convection is likely to occur), faster winds are associated with substantially more precipitation, explaining a small, but highly statistically significant fraction of daily rainfall variability. The slope of this relationship varies geographically and rapidly increases as the atmosphere becomes moister. Analysis of other data sources, including vector mean winds computed from QuikSCAT and area-averaged radar-derived precipitation estimates from Kwajalein Island, shows that the wind speed–precipitation correlation is robust.

This relation provides a test of large-scale forecast models and insight into conceptual models of deep convection. The observed increases in precipitation are much greater than evaporation changes associated with the increased wind speed; this implies a convergence feedback by which evaporation induces moisture convergence that feeds increases in precipitation. The authors study whether the 40-yr ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-40) and NCEP–NCAR reanalysis show the observed wind speed–precipitation correlation and explore mechanisms for convergence feedback using column-integrated moist static energy budgets computed from the reanalyses.
Composite Singular Value Decomposition Analysis of Moisture Variations Associated with the Madden–Julian Oscillation: ERA-40 Analysis
Authors: Weare Bryan C.
Published: November 2005

The role of moisture variations in the initiation of Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) variability is reexamined through composite singular value decomposition (CSVD) analyses using the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) 40-yr Re-Analyses (ERA-40) data. The CSVD analyses at various time lags are carried out to discern the complex space–time relationships between convection identified using outgoing longwave radiation and 1000-hPa divergence, 850-hPa specific humidity, and surface evaporation. The most striking difference from the earlier analyses using NCEP–NCAR reanalysis data is that the observed relations between 20–100-day filtered OLR and ∇ · V1000 anomalies are weaker and less significant in the current analyses. On the other hand, both analyses show increasing low-level moisture near and to the east of the developing convection. Thus, both results imply that moisture preconditioning of convective events is not totally driven by boundary layer moisture convergence.
Testing the Fidelity of Methods Used in Proxy-Based Reconstructions of Past Climate
Authors: Mann Michael E. , Rutherford Scott , Wahl Eugene , Ammann Caspar
Published: November 2005

Two widely used statistical approaches to reconstructing past climate histories from climate “proxy” data such as tree rings, corals, and ice cores are investigated using synthetic “pseudoproxy” data derived from a simulation of forced climate changes over the past 1200 yr. These experiments suggest that both statistical approaches should yield reliable reconstructions of the true climate history within estimated uncertainties, given estimates of the signal and noise attributes of actual proxy data networks.
US Working-Class/Poverty-Class Divides
Authors: Adair Vivyan C.
Published: November 2005

In arguing for more finely nuanced and inclusive understandings of class in the USA, I write as a ‘poverty-class scholar’ articulating an identity, experience, marginality, and concomitant consciousness and epistemology distinct from that of working-class academics. Both in and out of academe, representations of working-class identity are juxtaposed against and, thus, reinforce the ‘otherness’ of poor women who are positioned as boundary markers, demarcating the unacceptable and illegal ‘others’ of the working class. Concomitantly, in claiming to speak for and then neglecting these differences, working-class scholarship allows for the cooptation, erasure and mis-representation of poor women and children. Ultimately, I argue that only by including theories generated ‘from experience outward,’ that expose and critique the differential impact of class on women’s lives without claiming an uncontestable authenticity, can we begin to understand the operations of class as it is lived, theorized and contested in contemporary society.
Raising the ‘Meritocracy’
Authors: Gillies Val
Published: November 2005

Theories of ‘individualization’ and ‘risk’ have shifted attention away from the material and structural roots of inequality and sanctioned a psychologized view of class distinctions in terms of personal qualities. This article will demonstrate how the association of disadvantage with a particular form of subjectivity is operationalized and institutionalized through a contemporary focus on childrearing practices. Discourses of ‘social exclusion’ construct working-class families as lacking in personal skills and moral responsibility, destined to transfer disadvantage to their children in a ‘cycle of deprivation’.This view underpins the current UK policy focus on parenting, characterized by state efforts to regulate and control the way children are brought up. Drawing on qualitative research with parents across a wide range of social backgrounds, this article will show how such an approach fails to recognize the socially and materially grounded nature of childrearing.
Working-Class Identities in the 1960s
Authors: Savage Mike
Published: November 2005

This article reports a secondary analysis of the fieldnotes collected by Goldthorpe, Lockwood, Bechhofer and Platt as part of their studies of affluent workers in Luton in the early 1960s. I argue that the ideal type distinction between power, prestige and pecuniary images of society, elaborated by Lockwood, fails to recognize that money, power and status were often fused in the statements and attitudes of the workers they interviewed. I show that most respondents had a keen sense that dominant social classes existed. I go on to argue that the hesitations evident in the fieldnotes when respondents were asked about class were not due to defensiveness so much as fundamental differences in the way that the researchers and the workers thought about class. The central claim that respondents sought to elaborate was their ordinariness and individuality; findings which, when compared with recent research, suggest considerable continuities in popular identities.
The Making of Class and Gender through Visualizing Moral Subject Formation
Authors: Skeggs Bev
Published: November 2005

This article explores how white working-class women are figured as the constitutive limit – in proximity – to national public morality. It is argued that four processes: increased ambivalence generated by the reworking of moral boundaries; new forms of neo-liberal governance in which the use of culture is seen as a form of personal responsibility by which new race relations are formed; new ways of investing in one’s self as a way of generating exchange-value via affects and display; and the shift to compulsory individuality are reshaping class relations via the making of the self. By showing and telling themselves in public white working-class women are forced to display their ‘lack’ of moral value according to the symbolic values generated by the above processes. It is a no-win situation for them unless we shift our perspective from exchange-value to use-value.
Where is the Post-socialist Working Class?
Authors: Stenning Alison
Published: November 2005

In reflecting on two recent popular representations of Poland’s working-class communities and ongoing work in one particular community in southern Poland, this article explores a range of literatures that locate working-class communities in both socialism and post-socialism. It draws attention to the dualities of representation of these working-class communities and seeks to explain these representations, connecting the specificities of the post-socialist world to wider social and economic shifts. Building on the ‘new working-class studies’ and other recent interpretations of working-class lives and cultures, it invokes alternative accounts of working-class lives after socialism, which move beyond the dualities identified, and seeks to reinscribe class as important in the discourses and materialities of post-socialism, East and West.
The Roles of Self-Efficacy, Peer Interactions and Attitudes in Bully-Victim Incidents
Authors: Andreou Eleni , Vlachou Anastasia , Didaskalou Eleni
Published: November 2005

This study examines the relationship between both bullying and victimization (as a whole and in its different forms) and: (a) self-efficacy measures; (b) peer-interactions and (c) attitudes towards bullying and victimization. It also examined whether bully/victims are a distinct group in terms of the above-mentioned variables. The sample consisted of 448 4th to 6th grade primary education pupils (206 girls, 242 boys). The results of the study clearly indicate that self-efficacy measures, peer interactions and attitudes are associated with both bullying and victimization. In particular: (a) high self-efficacy for aggression is associated with both bullying and victimization, whereas high-self efficacy for assertion and for intervening in bully/victim situations is associated with lower scores on physical victimization for boys and girls respectively; (b) higher scores on positive interactions with peers are associated with lower scores on victimization and (c) higher scores on pro-bully attitudes are associated with higher scores on both bullying and victimization. Bully/victims seem to be a distinct group in terms of their strong pro-bully attitudes and their lack of positive interactions. They are also found to be similar to bullies with respect to self-efficacy for aggression but similar to victims with respect to self-efficacy for assertion. The results of the study are discussed in terms of their implications for school practice and intervention policy.
Countercontrol
Authors: Carey Timothy A. , Bourbon W. Thomas
Published: November 2005

Skinner introduced the term ‘countercontrol’ in 1953. Even though Skinner suggested that the consequences of counter-control could range from noncompliance to physical aggression very little research has been conducted into the phenomenon. In the present two studies a total of 1046 primary school students in Australia and New Zealand completed a questionnaire about countercontrol. The 70 teachers of these students also completed questionnaires. Approximately 10 percent of the students surveyed reported engaging in countercontrol frequently. Variations in countercontrol were associated with student variables such as gender and school satisfaction. The student reports of countercontrol were not related to any teacher variables measured in the study. The results of these studies are discussed in terms of the implications for behavioural programs in schools.
Examination Anxiety
Authors: Gregor Astrid
Published: November 2005

This research investigated factors affecting examination anxiety and aimed to increase schools’ understanding of this topic. The study was a school-based initiative, evaluating intervention strategies to help secondary pupils with the self-management of their examination anxiety. The study compared the effects of a range of approaches on participants’ performance in the GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) examinations, on their self-reported examination anxiety and on their behaviour. Intervention strategies had previously been trialled in a smaller group pilot study. Data suggest that interventions using cognitive behavioural approaches combined with relaxation helped pupils to improve their examination performance in Maths. Findings also suggest an interaction between pre-anxiety level and performance, suggesting that it is not minimal, but optimal anxiety which leads to better examination performance. Results encourage the view that school-based programmes using mixed interventions may be effective in the prevention of excessive examination anxiety and in the improvement of examination performance if compared to single interventions, but show variations depending on the curriculum subject. There is evidence from the literature that Maths anxiety in particular may have considerable life impact, and that levels of Maths anxiety have been shown to predict later career choices in American adolescents.
Towards a Political Economy of Hemispheric Relations
Authors: Nef Jorge
Published: November 2005

Conceptual frameworks on inter-American relations based on conservative ‘realism’ and liberal ‘complex interdependency’ have lacked a capacity to explain and understand – and above all, predict – the dynamics in regional interactions. A common epistemological and ideological problem emerges from a distinctly ethnocentric perspective. This essay attempts to bridge this analytical gap by presenting a systemic, historical and structural model for policy analysis, looking at policy-making and coalition building in the hemisphere (the Americas) as a whole. It examines transnational alliances and conflict-management modes around two fundamental policy options, ‘Pentagonism’ and ‘Trilateralism’ and the effects on inter- and intra-coalition conflict for the region.
Latin American Globalization in Historical Perspective
Authors: Stavig Ward
Published: November 2005

This article places the current era of globalization in its larger historical perspective by looking at present trends through the lens of the first wave of globalization in the 16th and 17th centuries and the second wave that extended from the middle of the 19th century through the First World War or even until the crisis of modern capitalism known as the great depression. It draws special attention to issues of forced and free labor, forced and free migration, the efforts to rip apart traditional ways of life and resistance to these efforts by the oppressed, and the unequal distribution of wealth due to national and international class interests and the need to keep the wage bill low in the developing world.
The Empire Strikes Out?
Authors: Black Jan Knippers
Published: November 2005

For much of the developing world, concerned now with the implications of a ‘New American Century’ – presumably all around the world this time – Latin America has much to teach. Since the colonies of the western hemisphere, from Mexico south, emerged from that status to become independent states, what has cast them as a region has been their vulnerability to domination and exploitation. The lament of South America’s great liberator, Simón Bolívar, has been echoed by nationalists across two centuries: ‘The United States seems destined by Providence to plague Latin America with misery in the name of liberty.’
Globalization,Maquilas, NAFTA, and the State
Authors: Landau Saul
Published: November 2005

This article examines the latest wave of neoliberalism and globalization through its impact on border regions of the US and Mexico, especially the urban sprawl and squalor that has resulted from the manufacturing centers in Mexico known as maquilas. The maquilas , typically non-Mexican owned, take advantage of cheap Mexican labor and proximity to the US markets to find a niche in the new globalization. However, the pollution, corruption, violence, heavy-handed control of labor, and vulnerability to even cheaper labor in Asia has caused a wide array of very serious problems for the peoples who left their homes in other parts of Mexico and who actually work in the maquilas. These workers in the globalized world live lives quite different from the ‘promised land’ that was supposed to be achieved through further globalization and neoliberalism.
Is There Any Room for Latin America in US Foreign Policy?
Authors: Vilas Carlos M.
Published: November 2005

All through the Cold War US foreign policy approached Latin America and the Caribbean through the lens of the East–West confrontation. With the implosion of the Soviet bloc – and the Soviet Union – this approach became outdated. Since then, US foreign policy towards the region has moved through several regional goals, from promoting economic hemispheric integration under the aegis of neoliberal economic policies to fostering so-called market democracies together with fighting drug trafficking. In the aftermath of 9/11, fighting terrorism in the region became the central objective of the US government approach to the rest of the world, with most of policy resources addressed toward regions and actors quite far away from the western hemisphere. While shifting concerns from US foreign policy-makers can be interpreted as downgrading Latin America from a previous higher position in the US government agenda, they can also be understood as enlarging the room for Latin American countries to advance alternative development strategies more in tune with the demands of their populations as well as building or strengthening intra-Latin America agreements at both government and civil society levels – as long as they are not seen by the US government as obstacles to its war against terrorism.
The Jungle and the Village: Discourses on Crime and Deviance in Rural North India
Authors: Wardhaugh Julia
Published: November 2005

Within both Indian and western discourses the jungle is a space to be feared. The village is alternately idealized and patronized, but generally deemed to be more orderly than the jungle, if less ‘civilized’ than the city. This article explores discourses on both jungle and village in North India and concludes with an exploration of competing perspectives on social order in one particular Indian village.
Interrogating Stereotypes: Exploring the Princely States in Colonial Orissa
Authors: Pati Biswamoy
Published: November 2005

This article lays foundations for further critical examination of the problems of exploitation created by a feudal system that rested in the lap of colonialism and has been romanticized and even depicted as ‘modern’. It indicates that the despotic rule of the princely states of Orissa under British colonial alliances impacted heavily upon the day-to-day lives of common people and led to protest movements. This is only discovered if one rebalances scholarship in this field so that analysis focuses on the people governed under such regimes, rather than solely the rulers themselves. Colonial, nationalist as well as sources of the Prajamandal Movement and oral evidence collected from interviews, have been explored for this article. Some of the typical confrontationist points are delineated to interrogate constructs of post-orientalist orientalism that tend to romanticize the princely rulers and in turn gloss over the despotic order in these enclaves.
The ‘New American Cultural Sociology’
Authors: McLennan Gregor
Published: November 2005

This article critically examines the structure and content of the ‘New American Cultural Sociology’, through an engagement with the recent writings of its main representative, Jeffrey Alexander. Alexander’s project to retool sociology and cultural studies alike is coherent and ambitious, and his transition from theory scholar to public intellectual makes an assessment of that project additionally necessary. I argue, however, that while it gives a necessary jolt to conventional thinking around culture and meaning, major weaknesses and problems can be identified in each of the three main levels of analysis: the articulation of the theoretical programme of cultural sociology, its application in substantive cultural exploration, and its emerging political ideology of civil society multiculturalism. Overall, the key theme of the critique is that Alexander’s long-standing concern, and talent, for ‘multidimensional’ social theory is heavily compromised by his equally strong inclination towards excessive culturalism and idealism.
The New Visibility
Authors: Thompson John B.
Published: November 2005

This article examines the characteristics of a new form of visibility which has become a pervasive feature of the modern world and which is linked to the development of communication media. With the development of the media, the visibility of individuals, actions and events is severed from the sharing of a common locale: one no longer has to be present in the same spatial-temporal setting in order to see the other or to witness an action or event. The rise of this new form of mediated visibility has transformed the relations between visibility and power. Thanks to mediated visibility, political rulers are able to appear before their subjects in ways and on a scale that never existed previously. Skilful politicians exploit this to their advantage; with the help of their PR consultants and communications advisers, they seek to create and sustain a basis of support by managing their visibility in the mediated arena of modern politics. But mediated visibility is a double-edged sword: it also creates new risks for political leaders, who find themselves exposed to new kinds of dangers. Hence the visibility created by the media becomes the source of a new and distinctive kind of fragility. However much political leaders try to manage their visibility, they cannot completely control it: mediated visibility can slip out of their grasp and can, on occasion, work against them.
A.N. Whitehead, Information and Social Theory
Authors: Halewood Michael
Published: November 2005

This article introduces the work of A.N. Whitehead and analyses his relevance to contemporary social theory. It demonstrates how a range of authors have recently utilized the work of Whitehead across a range of topics and holds that there is a need for a general introduction to his work that will open up his ideas and possible impact to a wider readership. White-head’s work is introduced through a discussion of his critique of the philosophical and scientific conceptions of substance and materiality, which led to the establishment of nature as passive, external and distinct from the human or social realm. The article further analyses some of the consequences of this position, such as viewing all data or information about the world as inert. This leads to Whitehead’s argument that the retention of these ‘outdated’ conceptions has contributed to contemporary misconceptions of the status of objects within science, for example – genes. I suggest that Whitehead offers much to social theory especially in terms of re-thinking the natural/social distinction and moving beyond linguistic and discursive production to a theory of genuine construction that can incorporate both materiality and subjectivity.
Towards a Critical Anthropology of Voice
Authors: Giulianotti Richard
Published: November 2005

While it features regularly in anthropological literature, the concept of voice is rarely elaborated by way of definition or substantive application. In this article I develop a critical anthropological theorization of voice with reference to the ideas of Hymes, Bernstein, Bourdieu, Foucault and Bakhtin. I extend these conceptual claims substantively, by focusing on the relationship of cultural politics, phatic communion and globalization processes to voices that are shaped by class, regional and national identities. To illuminate a critical anthropological theorization of voice, I examine the politics of Scottish popular culture. In particular, I focus on the cultural politics of Scottish football and on the deterritorialized voices of expatriate Scottish football supporters.
Violence Performed and Imagined
Authors: Juris Jeffrey S.
Published: November 2005

The Battle of Genoa has become an iconic sign of wanton destruction, evoking images of tear gas, burning cars, and black clad protestors hurling stones and Molotov cocktails at advancing lines of heavily militarized riot police. In this article, I explore the complex relationship between performative violence and mass-mediated constructions of violence during the anti-G8 protests in Genoa. Performative violence is a specific mode of communication through which activists seek to produce social transformation by staging symbolic rituals of confrontation. Young militants enact performative violence in order to generate radical identities, while producing concrete messages challenging global capitalism and the state. At the same time, dominant media frames reinterpret the resulting images as random acts of senseless violence, undermining activists more generally. I further argue that the prevailing ‘diversity of tactics’ ethic reflects the broader networking logics associated with anti-corporate globalization movements themselves.
The Transformation of the Alevi Collective Identity
Authors: Göner Özlem
Published: November 2005

This article examines the transformation of the Alevi identity—an important religious and/or cultural minority in Turkey—since the 1980s. It suggests a shift in the Alevi identity from repression to expression which parallels the Turkish state's shifting relationship with minorities from the early moment of nation-state formation to its efforts to enter the EU. The changing nature of the struggle between the Alevi community and the Turkish state and the implications of this change for the conceptualization of the Alevi collective identity are the major concerns of this article. The articulation of a social movement to the emerging postmodern condition based on identity politics, and the terms and the limits of expression of a collective identity in a global multicultural environment are examined through the transformation of the Alevi identity. This article suggests that Alevism, appearing as a potentially counter-hegemonic social movement due to the difference-repressive nature of the Turkish state, finds a space for expression in the dominant public sphere as a result of the changing global environment and the attitude of the Turkish state towards difference. At the same time, though, it loses its counterhegemonic character, limits its difference and becomes accommodated to the global discourse of multiculturalism.
Globalizing Bombay Cinema
Authors: Mehta Monika
Published: November 2005

This article examines the changing relations between Bombay cinema and the Indian state in a global context. In 1998, the Indian state recognized film as an industry. This dramatic shift in state policy occurred during the same period as two other noteworthy developments. First, the Bombay film industry produced and successfully distributed what the Indian state and the audiences approvingly referred to as ‘family films’. Second, Indian diasporic communities emerged as valued audiences in Bombay's box-office figures and as desired investors in the Indian state's political, economic, and cultural plans. By examining this historical conjuncture, I seek to show how processes of globalization contribute to the (re)production of Hindi commercial cinema, the Indian state and family.
Addressing Mental Plurality
Authors: Boag Simon
Published: November 2005

Strongly partitive accounts deviate radically from the common view of a single, unified knower or self within each ‘person’, proposing instead an account of multiple knowers. This view is justified by consideration of mental conflict, and objections, including the view that conflict does not require strong partitioning, that there exists a tension between ‘persons’ and ‘parts’, and the problem of homunculi, are found not to hold. However, the problems of proposing partitioning ad hoc and ad libitum are genuine concerns that any account of mental plurality must address. The realist account of cognition, proposing that cognition is a relation between subject and object terms existing independently of the cognitive relation, provides a conceptual basis for evaluating strongly partitive accounts. On this view, any account of knowers, either singular or plural, must be capable of specifying their intrinsic qualities. Pears’s account is found to be problematic here since it fails to meet this logical requirement. Maze’s account is found to satisfy this requirement, providing in-principle means of characterizing the multiple knowers.
Human Kinds and Looping Effects in Psychology
Authors: Brinkmann Svend
Published: November 2005

Recent work in the historiography of psychology has suggested that the discipline must be seen as involved in the constitution of its own subject matter. Two questions arise. First, what does this tell us about the subject matter of psychology? Second, how should we understand and investigate the processes through which such ‘making up people’ occurs? This article addresses these questions by arguing, first, that psychological categories refer to human rather than natural kinds. In contrast to natural kinds, human kinds can exert effects on themselves. Then two different approaches to the ‘looping effect of human kinds’ are sketched: a Foucauldian analytics of the techne of psychology, and a hermeneutic understanding of humans as self-interpreting beings. It is argued that Foucault’s perspective, while rich in its critical potentials, lacks an adequate understanding of those values and meanings which are a part of human practical life.
Culture, Essentialism, Immigration and Representations of Gender
Authors: Mahalingam Ramaswami , Leu Janxin
Published: November 2005

Our paper explores whether a combination of intersectionality and hybridity perspectives will be sufficient to develop a feminist gender psychology of immigrant women that escapes the pitfalls of gender essentialism. Analyses of interviews with Indian immigrant women and self-descriptions of Filipina mail-order brides (MOBs) suggest that intersections of identity can ironically contribute to the essentialization of ‘self’ as well the ‘other’. We argue that essentialist representations among these women mask the role of power between various social intersections of gender. The various modes and contingencies of essentialist idealized representations may be interpreted as psychological strategies employed by Asian immigrant women to locate displaced identity within a transnational and postcolonical history. Further, we argue that the cultural psychological study of gender should examine the costs and benefits of such idealized representations.
Writing the Learning Organization
Authors: Amidon Stevens R.
Published: November 2005

The marginalization of business writing as a discipline has been traced to a lack of research and to the that many in the field teach in business departments that do not value the work of scholars in English studies. One way out of this position may be an act of disciplinary border crossing—aligning the field of business writing with progressive voices in business and management. This article describes a framework structured around key theoretical concepts from Senge’s The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization (1995). Senge’s text is surprisingly rhetorical, and I examine the associated framework in terms of its potential for invigorating both teaching and research in business writing, thereby building ethos for the profession.
Crime and Punishment
Authors: Kim Young “Sally” K. , Smith Amy K.
Published: November 2005

Service organizations often use various types of penalties without fully understanding the effects on customers’ evaluations. Because customers’ responses to penalties are usually negative, it is important for service organizations to properly administer and manage penalties. However, little is currently known about how customers view such “punishments.” This study develops an integrated framework to explain customers’ responses to penalties based on concepts from attribution theory, social justice theory, and expectancy disconfirmation. The study examines the effects of penalty attributes (severity, flexibility, adequacy of an explanation), attributions (i.e., causal inference), perceived justice, disconfirmation, and emotion on customers’ evaluations of penalties imposed by service organizations. This research uses a cross-sectional survey design and collects data online using the critical incident technique. The results show that penalty attributes, attributions, perceived justice, and negative emotion have significant effects on customers’ responses to penalties. The study provides useful guidelines to help service organizations manage penalties.
Cocreating Customer Value Through Hyperreality in the Prepurchase Service Experience
Authors: Edvardsson Bo , Enquist Bo , Johnston Robert
Published: November 2005

This article develops a new model depicting how organizations can help customers test out and experience a service prior to purchase and consumption or use. When customers buy a new car, for instance, they are allowed to test-drive it to get the feel of it. When customers wish to purchase services, it can be more difficult to provide customers with a “test drive.” In some service situations, service organizations can and do provide “test drives,” but it is suggested that such experiences take place in a simulated setting. This article introduces the notion of hyperreality, the simulated reality of a service experience. It also introduces the concept of the “experience room,” the place where the simulated experience takes place. Based on the existing literature, the authors apply six dimensions of experience rooms to demonstrate how organizations can cocreate value, in conjunction with the customer, through hyperreality in a preservice experience.
Multistakeholder Evaluation of Condominial Sewer Services
Authors: Nance Earthea B.
Published: November 2005

A multistakeholder evaluation procedure is presented to address the many challenges in evaluating the performance of condominial sewer projects in Brazil. Condominial sewerage is a promising appropriate technology that is coproduced by users and public agencies, but little is known about project performance. This article shows that multistakeholder evaluation is more appropriate to the research setting than evaluations based on a single stakeholder’s perspective, is more reliable than the use of expert judgments alone, and provides more information than recommended sewer performance indicators. The author argues that the perspectives of multiple stake-holders should be included in project evaluations. The multistakeholder approach presented is a workable solution to the condominial sewer evaluation problem.
Making Educational Accountability More Democratic
Authors: Ryan Katherine E.
Published: November 2005

Educational accountability is a fundamental right of citizens in a democratic society serving the public interest. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 holds states, school districts, public officials, educators, parents, and students accountable through auditable performance standards. At the same time, the lack of discussion about how to decide what educational outcomes should be typifies a climate of control. This article proposes making educational accountability more democratic by constructing democratic accountability within the context of a local school and/or district as a democratic conversation. The foundations of democratic accountability, the meaning of democratic accountability, and how its meaning is constructed (including accountability for what and to whom and how it is implemented) are outlined.
Revisiting the Retrospective Pretest
Authors: Hill Laura Griner , Betz Drew L.
Published: November 2005

The purpose of the present study was to examine a common practice in some areas of program evaluation, the retrospective pretest, and to present recommendations regarding its use. The authors review literature to emphasize first, that bias is likely in both prospective and retrospective ratings, and second, that under some circumstances, retrospective pretests may introduce greater bias than traditional pretests. The authors examined data from 100 participants who attended a family program at 15 sites. Results supported the hypothesis that items on which parents were asked to endorse socially desirable parenting behaviors resulted in greater discrepancies between prospective and retrospective ratings. Effect sizes calculated from prospective ratings were comparable with published effect sizes from research trials of the same program. The authors conclude that replacing traditional with retrospective pretests does not eliminate bias. They recommend traditional pretests for examination of program effects and retrospective pretests for examination of subjective experiences of program-related change.
An experimental investigation of the phenomenology of delusional beliefs in people with Asperger syndrome
Authors: Abell Frances , Hare Dougal Julian
Published: November 2005

There is evidence that Asperger syndrome is associated with delusional beliefs. Cognitive theories of delusions in psychosis literature propose a central role for impaired theory of mind ability in the development of delusions. The present study investigates the phenomenology of delusional ideation in Asperger syndrome. Fortysix individuals with Asperger syndrome participated and were found to have relatively high levels of delusional ideation, primarily grandiose or persecutory. Factors associated with delusional belief were anxiety, social anxiety and self-consciousness, but not theory of mind ability or autobiographical memory. The findings indicate that delusional belief is a prominent feature in Asperger syndrome, but do not support a mentalization based account. A preliminary cognitive model of delusions in Asperger syndrome is proposed and the theoretical and clinical implications of the findings are discussed.