bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Re-Establishing a Dialectic of Madness
Authors: Cohen Carl I.
Published: August 2007

Historical evidence indicates that until the seventeenth century, a dialectical conception of madness existed; it combined the elements of loss of reason and idiocy with prophecy and clairvoyance. The onset of the Age of Reason marked the end of man's communication with madness and the accompanying dissolution of the dialectic - madness became solely a symbol of opprobrium and the insane were herded off into houses of confinement.

Because mad people are returning to the streets again, it is important that we begin to explore the potential benefits that can be derived from re-establishing our communications with madness, i.e. reconstituting the dialectic. An examination of the formerly valued aspects of madness can serve as a useful point of departure.
Cultural Conceptions and the Role of the Psychiatrist in Germany and America
Authors: Townsend J. Marshall
Published: August 2007

Matched samples of mental hospital staff and high school students completed mental health questionnaires in Germany and America. The results were factor analysed. One factor concerned the role of the psychiatrist. The role of the psychia trist in each culture seems to reflect basic cultural conceptions of mental disorders. Reference to two earlier papers indicates that patients, staff, and public share these basic conceptions and these conceptions affect patient-staff relationships.
Deception and Self-Deception in Shamanism and Psychiatry
Authors: Warner Richard
Published: August 2007

The author argues that both shaman and psychiatrist are obliged to use a degree of self- deception in assuming their roles. The shaman must rationalize his use of trickery to impress his patients, and the psychiatrist deceives himself that his psychotherapeutic techniques have specific healing properties in the face of evidence which suggests that he often merely mobilizes the general effects of placebo and suggestion. Shaman and psychiatrist appear to use the same mental mechanisms in deceiving themselves. Inadequate method and theory may be supported by reference to personal experience and unrelated data or defended by circular reasoning or comparison with an even more inadequate system. The practitioner may also allow his perception of his abilities to be moulded by social consensus.
Male Predominance Among Palauan Schizophrenics
Authors: Kauders Frank R. , MacMurray James P. , Hammond Kenric W.
Published: August 2007

Data gathered in a three-month field study of known schizophrenics in the Palau Islands reveal a 4:1 ratio of males versus females. It is postulated that relatively rapid sociocultural changes over the last two decades have loosened traditional external restraints on behaviour, destabilised male role and gender identities, and created an environment which has been particularly schizophrenogenic for males. Statistical analysis of the age distribution of the schizophrenics is used to support the hypothesis. Evidence is also presented indicating that the gender distribution is not artifactual.
Attitudes of Israeli Arabs Towards the Mentally Ill
Authors: Shurka Esther
Published: August 2007

A sample of 91 Israeli Arab subjects were interviewed in a structured, closed-item questionnaire about their attitudes towards former mental patients. The results indicated the predominance of negative attitudes towards intimate relationships with such patients and towards their work potential. The respondents did not appear to have a clear idea about the dangers posed by former mental patients; this suggested a generally ambiguous attitude towards the patients and the policy of institutionalization. Educational level and religion (Moslem or Christian) were found to affect attitudes significantly, with the more highly educated and/or Christian respondents expressing less negative attitudes.
Context-sensitive assessment of modern languages in primary (elementary) and early secondary education: Scotland and the European experience
Authors: Johnstone Richard
Published: August 2007

Although much more limited in scope and intensity than second language (L2) immersion, MLPS (Modern Languages at Primary School; known elsewhere as FLES, Foreign Languages at Elementary School) is being extensively implemented across the European Union as a reflection of national and European Commission (EC) policies. Despite an increase of research interest in the area, issues of MLPS assessment have not been widely addressed. There are good reasons for developing such assessments:

• gauging the return on a massive public investment;

• feedback to parents and the public;

• informing national policy development;

• self-evaluation at the level of institutions, departments, teachers and learners.

There are, however, major problems at present in doing so across schools:

• variability of context;

• embeddedness of children’s language in a flow of events;

• their relative lack of cultural knowledge;

• unfamiliarity of teachers with concepts of L2 testing;

• lack of consensus concerning what MLPS proficiency might mean.

Examples are given from Scotland of how some of these problems were addressed in the pilot phase of the national MLPS initiative of the early to mid-1990s, leading to the development of more comprehensive and standardized assessments in the national Assessment of Achievement Programme (AAP) intended for the late 1990s and early years of the twenty-first century.
The assessment of a foreign language at the end of primary (elementary) education
Authors: Edelenbos Peter , Vinjé Marja P.
Published: August 2007

The National Assessment Programme in Education (PPON) measures the level of performance on school subjects at the end of Dutch primary (elementary) education. Two assessments, in 1991 and 1996, of English as a foreign language have been conducted. This article reports on the outcomes of both assessments with regard to listening, reading and word knowledge. There is a slight decrease in pupils’ performances when the outcomes of the 1996 assessment are compared to the 1991 assessment. Large differences in performance exist between pupils from higher and lower social levels. Boys outperform girls. Time emerges as a rather stable and significant variable in foreign language teaching and learning. The assessments have provided important insights into the possibilities and limitations of foreign language teaching and learning.
Language for Specific Purposes assessment criteria: where do they come from?
Authors: Douglas Dan
Published: August 2007

Typically in assessment of Language for Specific Purposes (LSP), test content and methods are derived from an analysis of the target language use (TLU) situation. However, the criteria by which performances are judged are seldom derived from the same source. In this article, I argue that LSP assessment criteria should be derived from an analysis of the TLU situation, using the concept of indigenous assessment criteria (Jacoby, 1998). These criteria are defined as those used by subject specialists in assessing communicative performances of both novices and colleagues in academic, professional and vocational fields. Performance assessment practices are part of any professional culture, from formal, gatekeeping examination procedures, to informal, ongoing evaluation built into everyday interaction. I suggest a procedure for deriving assessment criteria from an analysis of the TLU situation and explore problems associated with doing so, recommending a ‘weak’ indigenous assessment hypothesis to assist in the development of LSP test assessment criteria and guide interpretations of test performance.
ESL/EFL instructors' practices for writing assessment: specific purposes or general purposes?
Authors: Cumming Alister
Published: August 2007

A fundamental difference emerged between specific and general purposes for language assessment in the process of my interviewing 48 highly experienced instructors of ESL/EFL composition about their usual practices for writing assessment in courses in universities or immigrant settlement programs. The instructors worked in situations where English is either the majority language (Australia, Canada, New Zealand) or an international language (Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand). Although the instructors tended to conceptualize ESL/EFL writing instruction in common ways overall, I was surprised to find how their conceptualizations of student assessment varied depending on whether the courses they taught were defined in reference to general or specific purposes for learning English. Conceptualizing ESL/EFL writing for specific purposes (e.g., in reference to particular academic disciplines or employment domains) provided clear rationales for selecting tasks for assessment and specifying standards for achievement; but these situations tended to use limited forms of assessment, based on limited criteria for student achievement. Conceptualizing ESL/EFL writing for general purposes, either for academic studies or settlement in an English-dominant country, was associated with varied methods and broad-based criteria for assessing achievement, focused on individual learners’ development, but realized in differing ways by different instructors.
The eye of the beholder: authenticity in an embedded assessment task
Authors: Spence-Brown Robyn
Published: August 2007

Authenticity is now firmly established as a central concern in test design and test validation (Bachman, 1990). However, there is disagreement about what authenticity is and about the degree of authenticity that can realistically be achieved. This article explores the theoretical and practical issues surrounding authenticity in course-based assessment, drawing on data from a university-level Japanese language course in Australia. It examines a teaching and assessment activity based around interviewing native speakers outside the classroom, which was designed to optimize authenticity. Using tapes that students made of the interview for assessment and retrospective interviews, the study examines various dimensions of authenticity and reveals a wide diversity in individual experiences. The article argues that the addition of an assessment dimension fundamentally changes the nature of a task, and thus compromises authenticity. It further suggests that authenticity must be viewed in terms of the implementation of an activity, not its design, and examines the various factors that affect the degree of authenticity experienced by individual students. The implications of this diversity for the validity of the activity are discussed.
Validating self-reported language proficiency by testing performance in an immigrant community: the Wellington Indo-Fijians
Authors: Shameem Nikhat
Published: August 2007

The Wellington Indo-Fijians are recent immigrants to New Zealand, having arrived in the country after the 1987 Fiji military coups. A performance test was developed and implemented to validate self-reported first language proficiency of 35 teenagers in this immigrant community. The main drawback of self-report studies is the likelihood of gathering inaccurate data, particularly if the first language, like Fiji Hindi in this community, is preliterate and perceived by the community members as a lower-status, less useful language than English. The performance test consisted of an oral interview, a listening comprehension test and a vocabulary test. The results of the performance test correlated strongly with the self-report data, thereby demonstrating the validity of the self-report scale. Significant differences between oral performances and self-reports as well as general trends in data suggested, however, that the respondents were often reporting their oral Fiji Hindi ability at a level higher than their judged level of performance.
Differences in native-language skills, foreign-language aptitude, and foreign-language grades among high-, average-, and low-proficiency foreign-language learners: two studies
Authors: Sparks Richard L. , Artzer Marjorie , Ganschow Leonore , Siebenhar David , Plageman Mark , Patton Jon
Published: August 2007

Two studies examined the extent to which there would be differences in native language skills, foreign-language aptitude, and final foreign-language grades among high-school students completing a second year of a foreign-language course and identified as high-, average-, and low-proficiency learners. Oral and written proficiency measures in Spanish, French, and German were designed and administered by trained evaluators. The first study involved 60 females who attended a private, single-sex suburban high school; the second involved a coeducational population of 36 students in a suburban public2 school. Results showed overall differences among the three proficiency groups on native-language and foreign-language aptitude measures. Most group differences were between high- and lowproficiency learners, although high vs average and average vs low groups differed on some measures. There were also group differences in final grades at end of both first-year and second-year foreign-language courses. Discriminant analyses showed that two testing measures in the first study and one testing measure in the second study were significant in distinguishing the three groups. Conclusions and implications about connections among foreign-language proficiency and native-language skills, foreign-language aptitude, and end-of-year grades are presented.
A latent variable approach to listening and reading: testing factorial invariance across two groups of children in the Korean/English Two-Way Immersion Program
Authors: Bae Jungok , Bachman Lyle F.
Published: August 2007

This study investigated the factorial distinctness of two receptive language skills, reading and listening, and the equivalence of factor structure across two groups using simultaneous multigroup covariance structure analyses. The subjects were two groups of students from grades two, three and four, enrolled in the Korean/English Two-Way Immersion Program in the Los Angeles Unified School District: Korean-American students and non-Korean-American students, all learning Korean as a primary/foreign language. The analyses were based on data from tests of listening and reading in Korean. The results indicate the following: 1) the two receptive skills are factorially separable, 2) a two-factor model with listening and reading factors applies across the two groups of learners, 3) the correlation between the listening and reading factors was high and the same across the two groups, 4) the variation in levels of listening and reading proficiency differed across the groups, 5) with the exception of one listening test task, the degree to which the listening and reading test tasks measured listening and reading ability was the same across the two groups, and 6) the test task type that had the highest factor loadings for both groups was one which presented test takers with a set of passages (listening or reading), each of which was followed by comprehension questions. The study also makes a methodological contribution in that it investigated the nature of the two receptive language skills in a latent variable framework, using simultaneous analyses of two groups of young children, and also demonstrated a way to detect measurement invariance as a critical prerequisite to achieve validity of inferences based on measures.
Systematic effects in the rating of second-language speaking ability: test method and learner discourse
Authors: Upshur John A. , Turner Carolyn E.
Published: August 2007

Major differences exist in two approaches to the study of second-language performance. Second-language-acquisition (SLA) research examines effects upon discourse, and is typically unconcerned with scores. Language-testing (LT) research investigates effects upon scores, generally without reference to discourse. Within a general framework of test taking and scoring, we report research from these two fields as it relates to questions of systematic effects on second-language tests. We then examine findings incidental to a test-development project.

The findings were consistent with LT research into systematic effects of task and rater on ratings, and with SLA research into systematic effects of task on discourse. Using empirically derived scales as indicators of salient features of discourse, we infer that task type influences strategies for assessing language performance. Explanations for these joint findings are not afforded by either standard LT or SLA perspectives. There is no theory of method to explain how particular aspects of method affect discourse, how those discourse differences are then reflected in ratings and how task features influence the basis for judgement. We conclude that a full account of performance testing requires a paradigm that incorporates relationships that are not specified in either the major language-testing research tradition or the tradition of second-language-acquisition research.
The relative importance of persons, items, subtests and languages to TOEFL test variance
Authors: Brown James Dean
Published: August 2007

The purpose of this project was to explore the relative contributions to TOEFL score dependability (which is analogous to classical theory reliability) of various numbers of persons, items, subtests, languages and their various interactions. To these ends, three research questions were formulated: (1) What are the characteristics of the distributions, and how high are the classical theory reliability estimates for the whole test and its subtests? (2) For each of the 15 languages, what are the relative contributions to test variance of persons, items, subtests and their interactions? (3) Across all 15 languages, what are the relative contributions to test variance of persons, items, subtests and languages, as well as their various interactions?

The study sampled 15 000 test takers, 1000 each from 15 different language backgrounds, from the total of 24 500 participants in the TOEFL generic data set which itself was a sample from the May 1991 worldwide administration of the TOEFL. The test was administered under normal operational conditions and included all three subtests: (1) Listening Comprehension, (2) Structure and Written Expression, and (3) Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension.

The analyses included descriptive statistics, classical theory reliability estimates, and a series of generalizability studies conducted to isolate the variance components due to persons, items, subtests and languages, and their effects on the dependability of the test. Unlike previous research, the results here indicate that, when considered in concert with other important sources of variance (persons, items and subtests), language differences alone account for only a very small proportion of TOEFL test variance. These results should prove useful to test developers and researchers interested in the relative effects of such factors on test design.
Assessment of dysarthric speech: a case for a combined perceptual and physiological approach
Authors: Theodoros Deborah , Murdoch Bruce , Horton Sue
Published: August 2007

Traditionally, the assessment of dysarthric speech has mainly involved the use of perceptual evaluation measures. The inherent inadequacies of this method of assessment have resulted in the development of a range of instrumental assessment techniques to provide more objective analyses of the underlying physiological impairments of the speech apparatus in individuals with a dysarthric speech disturbance. The aim of the current study was to highlight the importance of a combined approach to the assessment of dysarthria with reference to two case studies of individuals with dysarthric speech: a 32-year-old adult who suffered a severe closed head injury and a nine-year-old child who experienced a cerebrovascular accident involving the basilar artery. Each subject was assessed using a battery of perceptual and physiological techniques. The results for each case indicated that instrumental measures were effective in identifying the severity and nature of the underlying physiological impairments in the various subsystems of the speech mechanism, and highlighted the importance of verifying perceptual judgements with instrumental measures. The results are discussed in relation to the value of a combined perceptual and physiological approach in determining an accurate evaluation and diagnosis of the dysarthric speech impairment and in defining appropriate treatment goals.
Cultural Nationalism, Westward Expansion and the Production of Imperial Landscape: George Catlin’s Native American West
Authors: John Gareth E.
Published: August 2007

In this paper I approach artist George Catlin’s landscape paintings and descriptions of 1830s Native America as a constituent component of an ambivalent imperialist iconography that depicted American westward expansion and Indian policy during the first half of the nineteenth century. Drawing upon iconological theory, I explore the multiple and often conflicting meanings encoded in Catlin’s work to show how his descriptions and images of the northern plains asserted his vision of the western landscape as Indian country, projecting a naturalistic, ‘scientific’ and purportedly authentic view of what was perceived as a rapidly fading scene. Although he claimed for his art an authenticity and naturalism drawn directly from nature, Catlin was profoundly influenced by a set of artistic and literary conventions propounded by those arguing for a distinctive national culture. Indeed, the American landscape and the Indian were symbols linking textually and aesthetically the natural environment and its aboriginal people to romantic notions of morality, exceptionality, and a national racial heritage. But while celebrating and promoting the Indian subject, nationalists painted a spectral picture of the Indians’ future complicit with Jacksonian policy designed to rid eastern lands of Native Americans. Catlin’s landscape paintings and descriptions problematically reproduced this irreconcilable tension in early nineteenth-century cultural nationalism and ultimately contributed to an imperial discourse on the Native American West: one that in Catlin’s works ambivalently contained its own critique, questioning the effects of westward expansion and Indian policy.
Tourism, ethnic memory and the other-directed place
Authors: Hoelscher Steven
Published: August 2007

In the crucible of the frontier the immigrants were Americanized, liberated, and fused into a mixed race. (Frederick Jackson Turner ‘The significance of the frontier in American history’, 1893)

Throughout the years, descendants of the original settlers have carefully nurtured their Swiss customs, and today the village welcomes all visitors with the warmth of Old World charm and Swiss hospitality. (Promotional brochure, New Glarus, Wisconsin, 1993)
Justice in Space? The restitution of property rights in Tallinn, Estonia
Authors: Feldman Merje
Published: August 2007

This paper examines the social conflicts accompanying the restitution of residential property to those who owned it prior to the Soviet occupation of Estonia in 1940. As restitution re-establishes private property rights over residential space which has been in public ownership and used by renters for the last half-century, it is laden with conflicts between renters and owners. These conflicts centre on the question of whether or not restitution is socially just. This paper analyses the arguments for and against restitution, drawing on evidence from the local press over the 1990s, and then utilizes Lefebvre’s concept of the abstraction of space to theorize the current social conflicts in Tallinn. I argue that, even though the conflicts involve issues of ethnicity and citizenship by juxtaposing owners and renters from different ethnic groups and different countries, these conflicts are not over ethnicity and citizenship as such but stem from a fundamental contradiction between the use and ownership of space. By imposing the abstract order of private property rights onto lived space, restitution represents the abstraction of space.
Berlin, cultural metropolis: Changes in the cultural geography of Berlin since reunification
Authors: Grésillon Boris
Published: August 2007

Since the fall of the Wall and the reunification of Germany in 1990, the landscape of Berlin’s cultural institutions has been transformed into an unstable and still-shifting geographical structure in which both the reassertion of early twentieth-century patterns and the active construction of new cultural centres may be observed. The paper traces the evolution of Berlin’s cultural landscape over the past decade and questions the future of Germany’s capital city as a European cultural metropolis.
The Utility of Fortifications in Early Modern Europe: Italian Princes and Their Citadels, 1540-1640
Authors: Parrott David
Published: August 2007

Considerable attention has been given to the development of new and more sophisticated styles of fortification which spread across early modern Europe, and to the assumed impact of such developments on the character of war and international relations. However, by taking at face value the rhetoric of impregnability attached to massive fortification projects, historians have missed the essential point that fortresses could succeed in their defensive purpose only in conjunction with field armies able to relieve the garrison placed under siege. This essential lesson was ignored by rulers of second- and third-rank states, who constructed fortifications to project both military effectiveness and dynastic status but without incurring the huge and unsustainable additional costs of maintaining an effective field army. The result of such fortification projects - seen in case studies of the Farnese citadel at Piacenza, the Gonzaga at Casale-Monferrato and the dukes of Savoy at Pinerolo - was to undermine an earlier diplomacy based on a careful balancing of the major powers and their interests in Italy. Strategically placed citadels held by rulers without effective field armies presented both an enticement and a danger to the governments of France and Habsburg Spain. The result was a series of pre-emptive strikes which established garrisons of French or Spanish troops within these citadels, often to prevent the other major power doing the same thing, and a drastic curtailment of the freedom of the respective Italian princes.
Germans, Ukrainians and Jews: Ethnic Politics in Heeresgebiet Süd June-December 1941
Authors: Anderson Truman O.
Published: August 2007

This article examines the attitude of a particular German command, the rear area of Army Group South, toward the ethnic Ukrainian and Jewish populations within its jurisdiction during the first six months of the German-Soviet war. Using German and Soviet records, the author argues that the command held a positive view of Ukrainians and extended them privileges denied to other Soviet ethnic groups. This mindset contrasted with that of Hitler and other key Nazi leaders, but existed side by side with a general willingness to facilitate the extermination of Soviet Jews.
Noble Romans and Regenerated Citizens: The Morality of Conscription in Napoleonic Italy, 1800-1814
Authors: Broers M. G.
Published: August 2007

Conscription in the history of Napoleonic Europe has been well studied in recent years, particularly in terms of resistance to it, and its place in the process of the creation and modernization of state bureaucracies. This article approaches the subject from the rather different angle of ideology and cultural history. Drawing on archival research, it centres on the subjective aims and prejudices that influenced French officials in the Kingdom of Italy and the imperial departments of Italy. It traces French attempts to coerce the Italian upper classes into military service, and the impact of this on the policy of ralliement.
Why Was the Red Baron's Fokker Painted Red? Decoding the Way Aeroplanes Were Painted in the First World War
Authors: Harvey A. D.
Published: August 2007

When one turns one's thoughts to the role of aviation in the First World War, it is probable that almost the first image to cross one's mind is of gaily painted biplanes wheeling and soaring in a breathtaking dogfight. Red, yellow and harlequin-liveried Fokkers and Albatroses represent a kind of counter-symbol to the drabness of the mud-caked khaki and field-grey uniforms crowding the trenches below, just as the fighter pilot's `lonely impulse of delight', as Yeats phrased it, seems to oppose itself to the negation of individualism involved in the mass warfare of Verdun and the Somme.1 Inconvenient details, such as the fact that the pilots of the gaily painted aircraft also wore uniforms, and that the practice of painting aircraft in bright colours coincided with the development of aerial tactics that emphasized cooperative action, tend to be overlooked.2 It is possible, however, that approaching this subject with too much enthusiasm for symbolic interpretation may be unwise. This article will argue that, though there is something substantive to decode in the bright paintwork, not all displays of symbolism are best understood primarily in terms of the symbols displayed.
The Phantom Barrier: Ostwallbau 1944-1945
Authors: Noble Alastair
Published: August 2007

The Ostwall is an all-embracing label for the defences constructed or strengthened in eastern Germany during the final months of the Second World War. Other than their failure to halt the Red Army in 1945 little is known about the fortifications. Key background issues such as the scale of the enterprise, the composition of the labour force and the factors governing the construction process have hitherto remained unexplored. Militarily, the Ostwall was unsuccessful but it had considerable significance in determining public mood and highlighted the extent of Party power during the final period of the Third Reich.
Training Transfer: An Integrative Literature Review
Authors: Burke Lisa A. , Hutchins Holly M.
Published: August 2007

Given the proliferation of training transfer studies in various disciplines, we provide an integrative and analytical review of factors impacting transfer of training. Relevant empirical research for transfer across the management, human resource development (HRD), training, adult learning, performance improvement, and psychology literatures is integrated into the review. We synthesize the developing knowledge regarding the primary factors influencing transfer—learner characteristics, intervention design and delivery, and work environment influences—to identify variables with substantive support and to discern the most pressing gaps. Ultimately, a critique of the state of the transfer literature is provided and targeted suggestions are outlined to guide future empirical and theoretical work in a meaningful direction.
Integrative Literature Review: Human Capital Planning: A Review of Literature and Implications for Human Resource Development
Authors: Zula Kenneth J. , Chermack Thomas J.
Published: August 2007

The shift in the U.S. economy from a manufacturing powerhouse to a service-driven economy has placed a great emphasis on human capital planning within organizations in order to remain competitive in a new global economy. The link between critical business strategy and the successful implementation of strategy has been well documented in the literature. This article examines the literature surrounding human capital, human capital planning, and the implications for human resource development (HRD). The results of the review and synthesis of the literature are provided, and the implications for HRD scholars and practitioners are reported in detail. The research reports an in-depth justification and rationale for the incorporation of human capital planning into practice and research to determine the impact on HRD interventions and organizational performance through the use of a model and process for human capital planning.
Theory Framework for Applied Disciplines: Boundaries, Contributing, Core, Useful, Novel, and Irrelevant Components
Authors: Swanson Richard A.
Published: August 2007

Most applied disciplines are attempting to make significant advancements in articulating the theoretical foundation of their fields of study. The theory discussions and theory research in most applied disciplines are not held together in a manner that allows interpretation and integration. This article presents a holistic theory framework for applied disciplines to help scholars and practitioners create and critique the theory of an applied discipline as well as the contributing, core, useful, novel, and irrelevant theory components within it. Each of the six components in the framework are described and illustrated through relevant theory examples. The role that each component plays in advancing the theory and practice in an applied discipline is also examined.
An Examination of Interracial Contact:The Influence of Cross-Race Interpersonal Efficacy and Affect Regulation
Authors: Combs Gwendolyn M. , Griffith Jakari
Published: August 2007

The ability of employees to interact cooperatively and collaboratively is the fulcrum of competitive advantage for organizations operating in pluralistic environments. Contact theory suggests several conditions under which effective interpersonal relationships across racial, ethnic, and cultural groups may occur. Research examining the contact hypothesis has been mixed. The explanation of this inconsistency in the research generally centers on procedural rather than cognitive aspects of the interactions. This article discusses the contact hypothesis with respect to social cognitive functioning of interaction participants. We propose that positive outcomes from application of the contact hypothesis may be influenced by the individual employees' level of cross-race interpersonal efficacy and affect regulation. An investigation of the influence of cross-race interpersonal efficacy and affect regulation may lead to a more developed theoretical understanding of the variance currently associated with the application of the contact hypothesis.
Outcome and prognostic factors of lung cancer patients admitted to the medical intensive care unit
Authors: Adam A. K. , Soubani A. O.
Published: August 2007

The aim of the present study was to assess the outcome of lung cancer patients who were admitted to a medical intensive care unit (MICU) and to identify the measurable predictors of their MICU outcome.

The retrospective study took place at the MICUs of a university-affiliated medical centre and involved adult lung cancer patients admitted to the MICU between January 1998 and October 2005.

A total of 139 lung cancer patients were included during the study period. The mean age±sdat MICU admission was 64.2±10.2 yrs (48% males, 52% females). In total, 96 (69%) patients had nonsmall cell lung cancer, 18 (13%) patients had small cell lung cancer, and one patient had mesothelioma. The MICU mortality was 22% (31 patients), while the in-hospital mortality was 40% (56 patients). Sixty-eight (49%) patients required mechanical ventilation (MV), with MICU mortality of 38% and in-hospital mortality of 53%. The independent predictors of poor MICU outcome were: the need for MV; Acute Physiology And Chronic Health Evaluation III and Simplified Acute Physiology Score III scores; the use of vasopressors; positive blood cultures; high serum lactate; two or more organ system failures; and the need for adult cardiac life support. On multivariate analysis, only the need for vasopressors and the presence of two or more organ system failures predicted poor MICU outcome.

The present study shows that the medical intensive care unit outcome of lung cancer patients is better than previously reported. Intensive care and mechanical ventilation should not be considered futile care in this patient population. While there were no absolute predictors of mortality, the need for vasopressors and the presence of two or more organ system failures predicted poor medical intensive care unit care.
Magnetic resonance-compatible-spirometry: principle, technical evaluation and application
Authors: Eichinger M. , Puderbach M. , Smith H-J. , Tetzlaff R. , Kopp-Schneider A. , Bock M. , Biederer J. , Kauczor H-U.
Published: August 2007

The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility and accuracy of a novel magnetic resonance-compatible (MRc)-spirometer. The influence of body posture, magnetic resonance (MR)-setting and image acquisition on lung function was evaluated. Dynamic MR imaging (dMRI) was compared with simultaneously measured lung function.

The development of the MRc-spirometer was based on a commercial spirometer and evaluated by flow-generator measurements and forced expiratory manoeuvres in 34 healthy nonsmokers (17 females and 17 males, mean age 32.9 yrs). Mean differences between forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC) were calculated and a sample paired t-test and Bland–Altman plots were generated. A total of 11 subjects underwent different subsequent MRc-spirometric measurements to assess the influence of the components of the MR system on lung function.

The mean (95% confidence interval) difference of FEV1and FVC between the two systems was 0.004 (-0.04–0.04) L and 0.018 (-0.05–0.09) L, respectively. In the subgroup analysis, an influence of the MR-system on FEV1was found. FEV1correlated well with the dMRI measurement of the apico-diaphragmatic distance-change after the first second of forced expiration (r = 0.72).

In conclusion, magnetic resonance-compatible-spirometry is feasible, reliable and safe. The magnetic resonance-setting only has a small influence on simultaneously measured forced expiratory volume in one second. Dynamic magnetic resonance imaging measurements correlate well with simultaneously acquired lung function parameters.
Cholecystectomy in Sweden 2000 – 2003: a nationwide study on procedures, patient characteristics, and mortality
Authors: Rosenmüller Mats , Haapamäki Markku M , Nordin Pär , Stenlund Hans , Nilsson Erik
Published: August 2007

Background

Epidemiological data on characteristics of patients undergoing open or laparoscopic cholecystectomy are limited. In this register study we examined characteristics and mortality of patients who underwent cholecystectomy during hospital stay in Sweden 2000 – 2003.

Methods

Hospital discharge and death certificate data were linked for all patients undergoing cholecystectomy in Sweden from January 1st 2000 through December 31st 2003. Mortality risk was calculated as standardised mortality ratio (SMR) i.e. observed over expected deaths considering age and gender of the background population.

Results

During the four years of the study 43072 patients underwent cholecystectomy for benign biliary disease, 31144 (72%) using a laparoscopic technique and 11928 patients (28%) an open procedure (including conversion from laparoscopy). Patients with open cholecystectomy were older than patients with laparoscopic cholecystectomy (59 vs 49 years, p < 0.001), they were more likely to have been admitted to hospital during the year preceding cholecystectomy, and they had more frequently been admitted acutely for cholecystectomy (57% Vs 21%, p < 0.001). The proportion of women was lower in the open cholecystectomy group compared to the laparoscopic group (57% vs 73%, p < 0.001). Hospital stay was 7.9 (8.9) days, mean (SD), for patients with open cholecystectomy and 2.6 (3.3) days for patients with laparoscopic cholecystectomy, p < 0.001. SMR within 90 days of index admission was 3.89 (3.41–4.41) (mean and 95% CI), for patients with open cholecystectomy and 0.73 (0.52–1.01) for patients with laparoscopic cholecystectomy. During this period biliary disease accounted for one third of all deaths in both groups. From 91 to 365 days after index admission, SMR for patients in the open group was 1.01 (0.87–1.16) and for patients in the laparoscopic group 0.56 (0.44–0.69).

Conclusion

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is performed on patients having a lower mortality risk than the general Swedish population. Patients with open cholecystectomy are more sick than patients with laparoscopic cholecystectomy, and they have a mortality risk within 90 days of admission for cholecystectomy, which is four times that of the general population. Further efforts to reduce surgical trauma in open biliary surgery are motivated.
Effects of a community-based healthy heart program on increasing healthy women's physical activity: a randomized controlled trial guided by Community-based Participatory Research (CBPR)
Authors: Pazoki Raha , Nabipour Iraj , Seyednezami Nasrin , Imami Seyed Reza
Published: August 2007

Background

Cardiovascular disease remains the leading killer of women in most developed areas of the world. Rates of physical inactivity and poor nutrition, which are two of the most important modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease in women, are substantial. This study sought to examine the effectiveness of a community-based lifestyle-modification program on increasing women's physical activity in a randomized trial guided by community-based participatory research (CBPR) methods.

Methods

A total of 335 healthy, 25–64 years old women who had been selected by a multiple-stage stratified cluster random sampling method in Bushehr Port/I.R. Iran, were randomized into control and intervention groups. The intervention group completed an 8-week lifestyle modification program for increasing their physical activity, based on a revised form of Choose to Move program; an American Heart Association Physical Activity Program for Women. Audio-taped activity instructions with music and practical usage of the educational package were given to the intervention group in weekly home-visits by 53 volunteers from local non-governmental and community-based organizations.

Results

Among the participants, the percentage who reported being active (at lease 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity for at least 5 days a week, or at least 20 minutes of vigorous physical activity for at least three days a week) increased from 3% and 2.7% at baseline to 13.4% and 3% (p < 0.0001) at the ending of the program in the intervention and control groups, respectively. The participants in the intervention group reported more minutes of physical activity per week (mean = 139.81, SE = 23.35) than women in the control group (mean = 40.14, SE = 12.65) at week 8 (p < 0.0001). The intervention group subjects exhibited a significantly greater decrease in systolic blood pressure (-10.0 mmHg) than the control group women (+2.0. mmHg). The mean ranks for posttest healthy heart knowledge in the intervention and control groups were 198.91 and 135.77, respectively (P < 0.0001).

Conclusion

An intervention based on CBPR methods can be effective for the short-term adoption of physical activity behavior among women. The development of participatory process to support the adequate delivery of lifestyle-modification programs is feasible and an effective healthcare delivery strategy for cardiovascular community health promotion.

Trial Registration

ACTRNO12606000521527
Lack of association between the Serotonin Transporter Promoter Polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) and Panic Disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Blaya Carolina , Salum Giovanni A , Lima Maurício S , Leistner-Segal Sandra , Manfro Gisele G
Published: August 2007

Background

The aim of this study is to assess the association between the Serotonin Transporter Promoter Polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) and Panic Disorder (PD).

Methods

This is a systematic review and meta-analysis of case-control studies with unrelated individuals of any ethnic origin examining the role of the 5-HTTLPR in PD according to standard diagnostic criteria (DSM or ICD). Articles published in any language between January 1996 and April 2007 were eligible. The electronic databases searched included PubMed, PsychInfo, Lilacs and ISI. Two separate analyses were performed: an analysis by alleles and a stratified analysis separating studies by the quality of control groups. Asymptotic DerSimonian and Laird's Q test were used to assess heterogeneity. Results of individual studies were combined using the fixed effect model with respective 95% confidence intervals.

Results

Nineteen potential articles were identified, and 10 studies were included in this meta-analysis. No statistically significant association between 5-HTTLPR and PD was found, OR = 0.91 (CI95% 0.80 to 1.03, p = 0.14). Three sub-analyses divided by ethnicity, control group quality and Agoraphobia comorbidity also failed to find any significant association. No evidence of heterogeneity was found between studies in the analyses.

Conclusion

Results from this systematic review do not provide evidence to support an association between 5-HTTLPR and PD. However, more studies are needed in different ethnic populations in order to evaluate a possible minor effect.
A role for TNF in limiting the duration of CTL effector phase and magnitude of CD8 T cell memory
Authors: Singh Anju , Suresh M
Published: August 2007

It is known that TNF-α (TNF) exerts distinct tissue-protective or -destructive effects in the pathogenesis of T cell-dependent immunopathology, depending on the context and amount of cytokine produced. To better understand the cellular mechanisms underlying the regulation of T cells by TNF, we have analyzed the role of TNF in regulating various facets of the antigen-specific CD8 T cell response to lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) in mice. We show that expansion and differentiation of virus-specific effector CD8 T cells and LCMV clearance are not dependent on TNF. Instead, we demonstrate that TNF limits the duration of the effector phase of the CD8 T cell response by regulating apoptosis and not proliferation of effector cells in vivo. We further show that attenuation of effector cell apoptosis induced by TNF deficiency led to a substantial increase in the number of virus-specific memory CD8 T cells without affecting their function. The enhancement in the number of memory CD8 T cells in TNF-deficient (TNF−/−) mice was not associated with up-regulation of IL-7Rα or Bcl-2 in effector cells, which indicated that TNF might limit differentiation of memory cells from IL-7Rlo effector cells. Collectively, these data are strongly suggestive of a role for TNF in down-regulating CD8 T cell responses and the establishment of CD8 T cell memory during an acute viral infection. These findings further our understanding of the regulation of CD8 T cell homeostasis and have implications in vaccine development and clinical use of anti-TNF therapies to treat T cell-dependent, inflammatory disorders.
Stroke mortality in a teaching hospital in South Western Nigeria
Authors: Komolafe M A , Ogunlade O , Komolafe E O
Published: August 2007

Stroke, a major cause of morbidity and mortality, is on the increase and with increasing mortality. Our retrospective review of all stroke admissions from 1990-2000 show that cerebrovascular disease accounted for 3.6% (293/8144) of all medical admissions; it has a case fatality rate of 45% with the majority (61%) occurring in the first week; the mean age of stroke deaths was 62 years (standard deviation-13); and severe as well as uncontrolled hypertension is the most important risk factor. Community-based programmes aimed at early detection and treatment of hypertension, in addition to screening for those with high risk factors, should be put in place.