bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Distribution of Power and Military R&D
Authors: Koubi Vally , Lalman David
Published: March 2007

Military technology plays an important role for national security and the international distribution of power. Yet it has received little formal attention in the literature. This article aims at filling this gap. We build a dynamic model that links the properties of military technology races (intensity and persistence) to the characteristics of the international environment (the distribution of power) and the types of weapons under development. The model is also used to discuss the implications of military technology races for power transition, the incentives countries may have to engage in arms control agreements and the circumstances under which it pays to engage in deception strategies. We find that the intensity of military R&D is higher when a dominant nation faces a potential challenger than under conditions of actual competition. The intensity of weapons development and also the speed of power transition depend on whether the challenger can be ‘intimidated’ through aggressive weapon development or not. We also find that when the stakes associated with the development of a weapon are high, then the optimal policy is to underplay one’s own success and exaggerate foreign accomplishments (threats).
Why and how do Political Actors Pursue Risky Reforms?
Authors: Vis Barbara , van Kersbergen Kees
Published: March 2007

Why and how do political actors pursue risky welfare state reforms, in spite of the institutional mechanisms and political resistance that counteract change? This is one of the key puzzles of contemporary welfare state research, which is brought about by the absence of a complete account that identifies both the cause and causal mechanisms of risky reforms. In this article we offer a remedy for this lacuna. Prospect theory teaches us that political actors will only undertake risky reforms if they consider themselves to be in a losses domain, that is when their current situation is unacceptable. Next, we discuss the strategies that political actors use to avoid the blame associated with risky reforms. These provide the causal mechanisms linking cause and effect. The sudden outburst of risky reforms in formerly ‘immovable’ Italy provides an empirical illustration of our account.
Stability in Spatial Voting Games with Restricted Preference Maximizing
Authors: Bräuninger Thomas
Published: March 2007

Spatial models of simple majority rule voting suggest that stable decisions are not likely to exist under normal circumstances. Yet this instability result stands in contrast to the stability observed in experiments. This article examines the effect of relaxing the assumption that voting is costless by requiring a proposal to be a finite distance closer to a member’s ideal point than the pending proposal before it is regarded as attractive. Using the concept of the epsilon-core the article estimates the minimal decision costs that guarantee stable outcomes. It shows that the minimal costs are equal to the minimal finagle radius (Wuffle et al., 1989) and that the epsilon-core contains the finagle point which is close to the center of the yolk. While the analytical model establishes that the minimal costs are smaller than the yolk radius, computational simulations of majority voting by committees of size 3 to 101 suggest that this is a weak upper bound, only, as the ratio of minimal costs to the yolk radius usually is small and decreases as committee size approaches infinity.
Bargaining for Costs of Convergence in the Exchange-Rate Mechanism II
Authors: Fahrholz Christian H.
Published: March 2007

The Exchange-Rate Mechanism II (ERM II) is a Maastricht convergence criterion with which Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) must comply before they are admitted to the European Monetary Union (EMU). However, EMU accession is not a ‘free lunch’ as it entails so-called costs of convergence. Starting from the point of view that these new members of the European Union (EU) are in fact credibly committed to joining the EMU for political reasons - that is, ensuring political stability in CEECs - it is demonstrated that CEECs are able to pass some costs of convergence on to current EMU members: CEECs will under identifiable conditions threaten to halt the entire enlargement process by putting their exchange-rate regimes and, as a result, political stability at risk. In line with this rationale, the entire process of transition within ERM II, can be modelled as a two-stage threat game, which may be solved by a Rubinstein bargaining solution.
‘War on terrorism’ as a discursive battleground: Serbian recontextualization of G.W. Bush's discourse
Authors: Erjavec Karmen , Volčič Zala
Published: March 2007

In different parts of the world the 9/11 terrorist attacks have been localized and negotiated by mainstream media and in other public discourses in rather diverse ways. This article explores how young Serbian intellectuals recontextualized G.W. Bush's ‘war on terrorism’ discourse in order to legitimize, retroactively, Serbian violence against Muslims in Bosnia and Kosovo during the 1990s. We go beyond Bernstein's concept of recontextualization, defined as representation of social events, and extend it to the notion of relocation of a discourse from its original context/practice to its appropriation within another context/practice. Our analysis shows that the informants recycle and appropriate the discourse of ‘the war on terrorism’ by using an analogy. They equate the attacks on the WTC and the Pentagon with the former Yugoslav wars and they position and represent former Yugoslav Muslims as terrorists. Our informants continue to use the same principle of exclusion, celebrated by the US administration, extending the group of the ‘good’ (‘we’) to cover all ‘Western/European/Christians’, including the Serbs. The ‘evil’ (‘other’) group is represented as the ‘they’ group, encompassing all the ‘non-Western/non-European/non-Christian/Muslims’. Informants also appropriate the discourse by extending the meaning of the word ‘terrorism’ to all the violent acts carried out by Muslims regardless of the specificities of different politicalhistorical contexts.
Accounts of violence from Arabs and Israelis on Nightline
Authors: Buttny Richard , Ellis Donald G.
Published: March 2007

The North American network, ABC-Television, broadcast the news-panel program, Nightline, from Jerusalem during the beginning days of the Second Intifada. One of the main themes of this discussion was the violence, pain and trauma – the civilians killed or wounded, the military's actions, and how it all started. Even the horrible facts of violence must be told or narrated and discussed for their morality, causes, consequences, responsibility and political ramifications. In this sense, violence is discursive. How violence gets told, how versions get constructed or contested, is our focus. Participants used the communicative practices of invoking membership categories and activity terms and formulating events in support of their evaluative viewpoint. These membership categories were often presented by the use of conflicting positionings in referencing persons or events. The ‘conflict’ between descriptive terms draws attention to something problematic. Talk of violence also makes relevant reports of affect/feeling. In reporting violence, affect/feeling is reconstructed by participants as both a consequence and a cause of action, to intensify a condition, to raise moral issues, as an obstacle to be overcome, as a shorthand condition to ascribe of another to invite a telling of the events, or to ascribe as an opponent's political strategy. Such discursive uses of affect/feeling help to make concrete the human costs of violence. In addition, the panelists' answers were designed not only for the interviewer or fellow panelists, but to multiple audiences, including millions of TV viewers in the USA.
The meanings of ‘risk’: a view from corpus linguistics
Authors: Hamilton Craig , Adolphs Svenja , Nerlich Brigitte
Published: March 2007

In the past, some confusing claims about the meaning of ‘risk’ have been made in the sociology of risk literature. In this article we present and discuss some empirical data from linguistic corpora that elucidate what risk means in ordinary language. This might provide social scientists with a firmer ground on which to base future statements pertaining to the meaning of risk. After a discussion of the problem, we analyse the word ‘risk’, as both noun and verb, with recourse to three corpora containing over a hundred million contemporary English words. We examine whether or not the meaning of ‘risk’ is stable and consistent across a variety of social contexts to test the commonplace view that ‘risk’ is at times manipulated in ideological ways. Data from the corpora, and the methods of corpus linguistics, therefore suggest ways of reconsidering claims about the meaning(s) of ‘risk’.
Mrs Goldberg's rebuttal of Butt et al.
Authors: Bar-Lev Zev
Published: March 2007

This Article consists of two attempts to ‘turn language back on itself’ and ‘examine the very reality’ created by an ‘elite’, in the customary way of critical discourse analysis. But the ‘elites’ examined are academic researchers, in their own research into CDA. The first such academic researchers are Butt et al., in their article ‘Grammar - The First Covert Operation of War’, published in Discourse & Society. In examining their article, I suggest that the authors are guilty of the same rhetorical excesses of which they accuse George W. Bush - although more flagrantly and unjustifiably so. Where it is at least possible to argue that demonization and self-righteousness are legitimate as rhetorical tools for leaders, surely they do not belong in academic research? The second such academic researcher is Paul Chilton, whose article ‘Do Something! Conceptualising Responses to the Attacks of 11 September 2001’, published in the Journal of Language & Politics, also criticizes President Bush. My analysis of this article relates the metaphors that Chilton criticizes in Bush's rhetoric to the metaphor-based theory of political discourse proposed by George Lakoff in Moral Politics. It concludes that CDA, while worthy of praise for striking out into interesting new domains of research, neglects the full spectrum of political belief at its own peril.
Patterns of metaphor use in reconciliation talk
Authors: Cameron Lynne J.
Published: March 2007

In a violent world, reconciliation between perpetrators and victims offers an alternative to revenge or retaliation. In such discourse, participants must make extended efforts to explain themselves to, and to understand, the Other. This article investigates emergent patterns of metaphor in reconciliation talk between an IRA bomber and victim, recorded over two and a half years. The analysis starts from identification of linguistic metaphors and works recursively between levels of discourse, revealing how micro-level negotiation of metaphors contributes to emergent macro-level metaphor systems. Metaphors frame the reconciliation process as A JOURNEY, as CONNECTION, as CHANGING A DISTORTED IMAGE and as LISTENING TO THE OTHER'S STORY. The metaphors vary in their lexicogrammatical patterns and in the degree to which they are extended and developed. Contrasting metaphors are shown to be particularly valuable, as is ‘symbolic literalization’ in which the use of words across metaphor, metonymy and the literal creates useful indeterminacy.
The neurotoxicity of alcohol
Authors: Harper Clive
Published: March 2007

Patterns of drinking are changing throughout the world and in many countries this will be detrimental to the health and welfare of the local population. Even uncomplicated alcoholics who have no specific neurological or hepatic problems show signs of regional brain damage and cognitive dysfunction. Many of these changes are exaggerated and other brain regions damaged in patients who have additional vitamin B1 (thiamine) deficiency (Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome). Quantitative neuropathology techniques and improvements in neuroimaging have contributed significantly to the documentation of these changes but mechanisms underlying the damage are not understood. A human brain bank targeting alcohol cases has been established in Sydney, Australia and provides fresh and frozen tissue for alcohol researchers. The tissues can be used to test hypotheses developed from structural neuropathological studies or from animal models and in vitro studies. Identification of reversible pathological changes and preventative medical approaches in alcoholism should enhance rehabilitation and treatment efforts, thereby mitigating debilitating morbidities and reducing mortality associated with this universal public health problem.
Trigeminally-mediated health effects of air pollutants: sources of inter-individual variability
Authors: Shusterman D
Published: March 2007

Trigeminal (ocular and nasal) irritation comprises the dominant symptom complex in so-called ‘problem buildings’. Imputed etiologic agents in indoor air include extremes of temperature and humidity, the presence of volatile organic compounds, combustion products (including tobacco smoke), ozone (from office machines), and products of indoor air chemistry. In addition to producing primary irritation, mucosal irritants trigger a variety of secondary reflex symptoms, such as nasal congestion, rhinorrhea, and sinus pressure, and may predispose to infection in the form of sinusitis and otitis media. Marked variability in self-reported sensitivity to indoor air pollutants has been observed, with females, younger individuals, and people with allergies reporting more symptoms. We report on a series of experiments designed to uncover demographic patterns of ‘nasal irritant sensitivity’, as well as potential mechanism(s) involved in observed chemesthetic variability.
Early lead exposure increases the leakage of the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier, in vitro
Authors: Shi Lewis Zhichang , Zheng Wei
Published: March 2007

The cell type constructing the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier (BCB) is entirely different, ie, endothelia in BBB and epithelia in BCB. Nonetheless, both barriers share a common character - the tight junctions (TJ) between adjacent cells. This study investigated the consequence of lead (Pb) exposure on the tightness of BCB. In an in vitro BCB transwell model, using immortalized choroidal epithelial Z310 cells, we found that early exposure to Pb (prior to the formation of tight barrier) at 5 and 10 μM, significantly reduced the tightness of BCB, as evidenced by a 20% reduction in transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) values ( P <0.05), and >20% increase in the paracellular permeability of [14C]sucrose ( P <0.05). Exposure to Pb after the formation of tight barrier, however, did not cause any detectable barrier dysfunction. RT-PCR and Western blot analyses on typical TJ proteins revealed that Pb exposure decreased both the mRNA and protein levels of claudin-1, with the membrane-bound claudin-1 more profoundly affected than cytosolic claudin-1. Pb exposure, however, had no significant effect on ZO1 and occludin. These data suggest that Pb exposure selectively alters the cellular level of claudin-1, which, in turn, reduces the tightness and augments the permeability of tight blood-CSF barrier. The immature barrier appears to be more vulnerable to Pb toxicity than the mature, well-developed, brain barrier, the fact possibly contributing to Pb-induced neurotoxicity among young children.
Neurosensory effects of chronic human exposure to arsenic associated with body burden and environmental measures
Authors: Otto D , Xia Y , Li Y , Wu K , He L , Telech J , Hundell H , Prah J , Mumford J , Wade T
Published: March 2007

Exposure to arsenic in drinking water is known to produce a variety of health problems, including peripheral neuropathy. Auditory, visual and somatosensory impairment have been reported in Mongolian farmers living in the Yellow River Valley, where drinking water is contaminated by arsenic. In the present study, sensory tests, including pinprick and vibration thresholds, were administered to 320 residents with well-water arsenic levels, ranging from non-detectable to 690 μg/L. Vibration thresholds in the second and fifth fingers of both hands were measured using a vibrothesiometer. Drinking water, urine and toenail samples were obtained to assess arsenic exposure and body burden. Regression analyses indicated significant associations of pinprick scores and vibration thresholds with all arsenic measures. Vibration thresholds were more strongly associated with urinary than water or nail arsenic measures, but odds ratios for decreased pinprick sensitivity were highest for the water arsenic measure. Results of the current study indicate neurosensory effects of arsenic exposure at concentrations well below the 1000 μg/L drinking water level specified by NRC, and suggest that non-carcinogenic end-points, such as vibration thresholds, are useful in the risk assessment of exposure to arsenic in drinking water.
Neurobehavioral alterations in rats exposed to acrylonitrile in drinking water
Authors: Rongzhu L , Suhua W , Guangwei X , Fangan H , Ziqiang C , Fusheng J , Kacew S
Published: March 2007

This study was carried out on rodents, to explore the neurobehavioral effects of acrylonitrile (AN) administered in drinking water. Thirty, male, Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups: two exposure groups (50 and 200 ppm AN), and one control group (tap water without AN). Three tests, including the open field test, rotarod test and spatial water maze, were applied to evaluate locomotor activities, motor co-ordination and learning and memory, respectively, prior to initiation of the treatment, and at Week 4, 8 and 12 postexposure. There were no consistent changes in the open field test, except for locomotion and grooming episodes. In the rotarod test, AN significantly decreased the latencies to fall in a dose and time-dependent manner. In the spatial water maze test, rats exposed to AN for 12 weeks had significantly more training times and longer escape latencies than control animals. These findings indicate that oral exposure to AN induces neurobehavioral alterations in rats.
Risk assessment of dietary exposure to methylmercury in fish in the UK
Authors: Maycock B J , Benford D J
Published: March 2007

Risk assessment of chemicals in food is generally based upon the results of toxicological studies in laboratory animals, allowing for uncertainties relating to interspecies differences, human variability, and gaps in the database. Use of quantitative human data is preferable if available, as in the example of methylmercury. Methylmercury is a neurotoxic environmental contaminant, for which fish is the main source of dietary exposure. Human data from poisoning incidents and epidemiological studies have been used by expert committees to derive a guideline intake level for methylmercury, based on the susceptibility of the most sensitive lifestage, the developing fetus.

In the UK, an expert group of nutritionists and toxicologists was formed to review the benefits and risks associated with fish consumption. A formal risk–benefit analysis was not possible because the nutritional data were not sufficiently quantitative. The Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT), therefore, modified the risk assessment approach to derive different guideline intake levels for different subgroups of the population. The COT opinion was used to provide targeted advice on how much fish can be consumed without undue risk from the contaminants.

Consumption by adults of one weekly portion (140 g) of shark, swordfish or marlin, would lead to an exceedance of the guideline intake for methylmercury of 40–90%, set to protect the developing fetus, without considering intake from the rest of the diet. Pregnant women and women who may become pregnant within 1 year were, therefore, advised to avoid consumption of these species. Intakes in other adults would be within a higher guideline intake, set to protect groups of the population other than the developing fetus. However, consumption by children of one weekly portion of these species could lead to an exceedance of this guideline intake by up to 60%, without considering intake from the rest of the diet. It was, therefore, advised that consumption of these species by children should be avoided.
Cyanide: critical issues in diagnosis and treatment
Authors: Baud F J
Published: March 2007

The concern of a terrorist attack using cyanide, as well as the gradual awareness of cyanide poisoning in fire victims, has resulted in a renewed interest in the diagnosis and treatment of cyanide poisoning. The formerly academic presentation of cyanide poisoning must be replaced by more useful knowledge, which will allow emergency physicians and rescue workers to strongly suspect cyanide poisoning at the scene. Human cyanide poisonings may result from exposure to cyanide, its salts, or cyanogenic compounds, while residential fires are the most common condition of exposure. In fire victims, recognition of the cyanide toxidrome has been hampered by the short half-life in blood and poor stability of cyanide. In contrast, carboxyhemoglobin, as a marker of carbon monoxide poisoning, is easily measured and long-lasting. No evidence supports the assumption of the arbitrary fixed lethal thresholds of 50% for carboxyhemoglobin, and 3 mg/L for cyanide, in fire victims. Preliminary data, drawn when comparing pure carbon monoxide and pure cyanide poisonings, suggest that a cyanide toxidrome can be defined considering signs and symptoms induced by cyanide and carbon monoxide, respectively. Prospective studies in fire victims may provide value in clarifying signs and symptoms related to both toxicants. Cyanide can induce a lifethreatening poisoning from which a full recovery is possible. A number of experimentally efficient antidotes to cyanide exist, whose clinical use has been hampered due to serious side effects. The availability of potentially safer antidotes unveils the possibility of their value as first-line treatment, even in a complex clinical situation, where diagnosis is rapid and presumptive.
Manganese does not alter the severe neurotoxicity of MPTP
Authors: Baek S Y , Kim Y H , Oh S O , Lee C-R , Yoo C I , Lee J H , Lee H , Sim C S , Park J , Kim J-W , Yoon C S , Kim Y
Published: March 2007

We utilized a mice model of Parkinsonism: (1) to evaluate 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced neurotoxicity; and (2) to evaluate whether manganese (Mn) exposure can affect MPTP-induced neurotoxicity. A 2 × 3 experimental design (MPTP ×± Mn) was as follows: SS, MPTP(-) × Mn(-); SLMn, MPTP(-) × low Mn(+); SHMn, MPTP(-) × high Mn(+); MpS, MPTP(+) × Mn(-); MpLMn, MPTP(+) × low Mn(+); MpHMn, MPTP(+) × high Mn(+). We administered MPTP (30 mg/kg per day) to male C57BL/6 mice intraperitoneally, once a day for 5 days. Subsequently, mice were treated with either 2 or 8 mg/kg of MnCl2.4H2O intraperitoneally, once a day for 3 weeks.

Blood and striatal Mn levels were elevated in the Mnexposed groups. The number of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-immunoreactive (ir) neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta were decreased significantly in the MPTP-exposed groups. The densities of TH-ir axon terminals in caudate-putamen (CPU) were significantly decreased in the MPTP-treated groups. However, Mn treatment did not affect MPTP neurotoxicity. The densities of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-ir astrocytes in the CPU or globus pallidus were significantly increased in the MPTP-treated groups. Concentrations of dopamine in the striatum were decreased significantly in the MPTP-exposed groups only, but Mn had no effect.
Cholinesterase and monoamine oxidase activity in relation to mercury levels in the cerebral cortex of wild river otters
Authors: Basu N , Scheuhammer A M , Evans R D , O'Brien M , Chan H M
Published: March 2007

Mercury (Hg) is a global pollutant that is neurotoxic to many mammalian species. The present study was conducted to determine if the bioaccumulation of Hg by wild river otters ( Lontra canadensis) could be related to variations in the activities of key neurochemical enzymes. River otters were collected from Ontario and Nova Scotia (Canada) during the trapping seasons, spanning 2002-2004, and their brains were dissected into the cerebral cortex and cerebellum. The activities of cholinesterase (ChE) and monoamine oxidase (MAO) were measured from each sample and correlated with concentrations of brain Hg from the same animal. Significant negative correlations were found between concentrations of brain Hg and ChE (total Hg: r= -0.42; MeHg: r= -0.33) and MAO (total Hg: r= -0.31; MeHg: r= -0.42) activity in the cerebral cortex. The scatterplots relating concentrations of brain Hg and enzyme activity in the cerebral cortex were wedge-shaped, and could be fitted with quantile regression modeling, suggesting that Hg may act as a limiting factor for ChE and MAO activity. No relationships were found in the cerebellum. These data suggest that environmentally relevant concentrations of Hg may influence the activities of ChE and MAO in the cerebral cortex of river otters, and by extension, other fish-eating mammals.
Metal transporters in intestine and brain: their involvement in metal-associated neurotoxicities
Authors: Bressler Joseph P , Olivi Luisa , Cheong Jae Hoon , Kim Yongbae , Maerten Alex , Bannon Desmond
Published: March 2007

The transport of essential metals and other nutrients across tightmembrane barriers such as the gastrointestinal tract and blood-brain barrier is mediated by specific transport mechanisms. Specific transporters take up metals at the apical surface and export them at the basolateral surface, and are involved in their intracellular distribution. Transporters for each of the major essential metals, calcium, iron and zinc, have been identified. These transporters also mediate the transport of non-essential metals across tight membrane barriers. For example, the intestinal iron transporter divalent metal transporter 1 mediates the uptake of lead and cadmium. The levels of essential metals are strictly regulated by transporters. When dietary levels of essential metals are low, levels of the corresponding transporters increase in the intestine, after which there is a greater potential for increased transport of toxic metals. In the brain, the strict regulation of metals prevents injury that potentially would result from oxidative damage induced by the essential metals iron, copper and zinc. Indeed, the oxidative damage found in neurodegenerative diseases is likely to be due to higher levels of these metals. Involvement of intracellular transporters for copper and zinc has been shown in animal models of Alzheimer's disease, raising the possibility that higher levels of iron, zinc and copper might be due to a disruption in the activity of transporters. Accordingly, exposure to toxicants that affect the activity of transporters potentially could contribute to the aetiology/progression of neurodegenerative diseases.
Personality, mental distress, and subjective health complaints among persons with environmental annoyance
Authors: Österberg K , Persson R , Karlson B , Eek F Carlsson , Ørbæk P
Published: March 2007

The aim of this study was to assess possible early determinants of idiopathic environmental intolerance (IEI), contributing to an integrated model for the development of IEI. Questionnaires concerning personality traits, current mental distress, subjective health complaints, work load and satisfaction, and options for recovery, were given to 84 persons from the general population attributing annoyance to (i) chemicals/smells (smell-annoyed (SA) n= 29); (ii) electrical equipment (electrically annoyed (EA) n= 16); and (iii) both smells and electricity (generally annoyed (GA) n= 39), but otherwise healthy and in active work. Compared to referents ( n= 54), the EA and GA groups showed strongly elevated scores on 5/6 scales within the trait anxiety/neuroticism personality dimension, while the SA group had a slight elevation on only one anxiety scale. Current mental distress and subjective health complaints scores were generally elevated in the EA and GA groups, but only partially in the SA group. Higher proportions of the EA, GA, and SA groups reported low satisfaction with their work situation, including more frequent fatigue after work and a higher, and often unfulfilled, need for recovery. The findings suggest that trait anxiety is prominent already at prodromal stages of IEI, possibly indicating that trait anxiety facilitates the acquisition of attribution of health complaints to environmental factors.
Neurologic symptoms in licensed pesticide applicators in the Agricultural Health Study
Authors: Kamel F , Engel L S , Gladen B C , Hoppin J A , Alavanja M CR , Sandler D P
Published: March 2007

Exposure to high levels of many pesticides has both acute and long-term neurologic consequences, but little is known about the neurotoxicity of chronic exposure to moderate pesticide levels. We analysed cross-sectional data from 18 782 Caucasian, male, licensed pesticide applicators, enrolled in the Agricultural Health Study from 1993 to 1997. Applicators provided information on lifetime pesticide use, and 23 neurologic symptoms typically associated with pesticide intoxication. Increased risk of experiencing ≥10 symptoms during the year before enrollment was associated with cumulative pesticide use, personally mixing or applying pesticides, pesticide-related medical care, diagnosed pesticide poisoning, and events involving high personal pesticide exposure. Greatest risk was associated with use of organophosphate and organochlorine insecticides. Results were similar after stratification by pesticide use during the year before enrollment, or exclusion of applicators with a history of pesticide poisoning, or high-exposure events. Use of pesticide application methods likely to involve high personal exposure was associated with greater risk. Groups of symptoms reflecting several neurologic domains, including affect, cognition, autonomic and motor function, and vision, were also associated with pesticide exposure. These results suggest that neurologic symptoms are associated with cumulative exposure to moderate levels of organophosphate and organochlorine insecticides, regardless of recent exposure or history of poisoning.
The Copenhagen School on Tour in Kyrgyzstan: Is Securitization Theory Useable Outside Europe?
Authors: Wilkinson Claire
Published: March 2007

The article argues that the theoretical framework presented by the Copenhagen School is currently unsuited to empirical studies outside the West owing to two factors. First, the presence of the ‘Westphalian straitjacket’ has prevented explicit interrogation of the normative concepts underlying the framework: there is a presumption that European understandings of society and the state are universal. Second, the centrality of the speech-act for securitization to the exclusion of other forms of expression, such as physical action, results in the theoretical framework producing a Westernized description of a given situation. The extent to which these factors limit the utility of the concepts of securitization and societal security in a non-Western setting is illustrated through the case of the overthrow of the government in Kyrgyzstan in March 2005. This example forms an empirical critique to highlight how theoretical shortcomings result in a simplified and Westernized description of the situation that does not take into account the specific local socio-political context. The article concludes that if the Copenhagen School’s theoretical framework is to be considered suitable for universal application, future theoretical developments must explicitly address the issues discussed to enable progress in escaping International Relations’ Westphalian straitjacket.
Liberal Hubris? Virtual Peace in Cambodia
Authors: Richmond Oliver P. , Franks Jason
Published: March 2007

The article examines the nature of the peace that exists in Cambodia by critiquing the ‘liberal peace’ framework. The authors claim that, despite the best efforts of international donors and the NGO community, liberal peacebuilding in Cambodia has so far failed in many of its key aims. The liberal peacebuilding project in Cambodia has been modified by a combination of local political, economic and social dynamics, international failings, and the broader theoretical failings of the liberal peacebuilding process. There have been some important successes, but serious doubts remain as to whether this project has been or can be successful, not least because of the ontological problem of whether the liberal peace is at all transferable. This raises the question of what type of peace has actually been built. The authors argue that the result of international efforts so far is little more than a virtual liberal peace.
The UN and the Use of Force: A Marriage Against Nature
Authors: Tardy Thierry
Published: March 2007

This article addresses the issue of the interaction between the UN and the concept of the use of force, arguing that the UN has, since its inception, suffered from the gap between the theoretical aspects of its mandate regarding the use of force and the reality of international politics. The first part looks at the dual nature of the UN, being the product of both a liberal and a realist approach to international relations, and the way that nature constrains the organization in using force. The second part illustrates the article’s theme using the example of peace operations, which are at the heart of the conceptual ambiguity of the UN relationship with the use of force. In the early 1990s, the use of force within peace operations characterized the changing nature of such operations, as well as the gap between idealized peace-keeping and the reality of the field. Finally, the third part sheds light on the way the UN has dealt with recent developments regarding the use of force. Looking at the ‘responsibility to protect’ and at the Iraq case, it analyses the increasing difficulty for the UN of squaring the principles of its Charter with the evolutions of norms of interventions and threats to international and individual security.
Laying the Foundations of Democracy? Reconsidering Security Sector Reform Under UN Auspices in Kosovo
Authors: Bernabéu Irene
Published: March 2007

This article explores the relationship between security sector reform (SSR) and democratic transition in post-conflict contexts, drawing on Kosovo as a case. The study focuses in particular on the justice sector in Kosovo, reviewing the ways in which security, the rule of law and democracy have been intertwined. The article first outlines the context of the international mission in Kosovo, before proceeding to consider how the objectives, needs and constraints of different actors have influenced the reform of the security institutions and the democratization process. Thereafter, it discusses the concepts of SSR and democratic transition, briefly reviewing the UN discourse and record in SSR-related activities. Finally, it explores the interplay of these factors in the Kosovo justice sector reform process. The main finding stemming from this analysis is that not only do SSR and democratization agendas interfere with each other, but measures adopted to cope with security challenges related to the post-conflict context can also affect them both. Furthermore, this finding demonstrates that a well-developed UN theoretical discourse is still not matched by the reality of UN practices in the field.
On Exactitude in Disciplinary Science: A Response to the Network Manifesto
Authors: Salter Mark B.
Published: March 2007

In that Empire, the Art of Cartography attained such Perfection that the map of a single Province occupied the entirety of a City, and the map of the Empire, the entirety of a Province. In time, those Unconscionable Maps no longer satisfied, and the Cartographers Guilds struck a Map of the Empire whose size was that of the Empire, and which coincided point for point with it. The following Generations, who were not so fond of the Study of Cartography as their Forebears had been, saw that that vast Map was Useless, and not without some Pitilessness was it, that they delivered it up to the Inclemencies of Sun and Winters. In the Deserts of the West, still today, there are Tattered Ruins of that Map, inhabited by Animals and Beggars; in all the Land there is no other Relic of the Disciplines of Geography. (Borges, 1998: 325)
Note. Colonisation of Bench Cover Materials by Salmonella typhimurium
Authors: Teixeira P. , Lima J. C. , Azeredo J. , Oliveira R.
Published: March 2007

Due to the increasing requirements of food safety, it is of utmost importance to know the mechanisms that can determine the occurrence of the phenomenon commonly assigned by cross contamination, which can be expressed by the transference of harmful substances or microorganisms to the human food chain. This is particularly susceptible during food preparation, because it can occur by the transference of the pathogen microorganisms from food to the surfaces where they had been prepared, and from there to foods initially not contaminated, therefore initiating the cycle. This study attempted to investigate the colonisation by Salmonella typhimurium ATCC 13311 of marble and granite, two materials commonly used as bench covers in kitchens of many countries. These materials were selected because there is a lack of studies in the literature about their ability for bacterial colonisation. In addition, the colonisation of stainless steel (SS) 304, a material usually studied, was also analysed in terms of comparison. Surface hydrophobicity and roughness were determined in order to explain the differences in the extent of adhesion. The results showed that SS was the material with a greater extent of colonisation by S. typhimurium, followed by marble and, almost to the same extent, by granite. S. typhimurium adheres to a greater extent to the most hydrophobic material and to the material with roughest surface.
Effect of Probiotic, Prebiotic and Synbiotic Follow-up Infant Formulas on Iron Bioavailability in Rats
Authors: Pérez-Conesa D. , López G. , Ros G.
Published: March 2007

The effect of functional ingredients-supplemented diets on iron bioavailability and the section of the large intestine involved with this effect was investigated in rats. The diets consisted of seven powder follow-up infant formulas containing probiotics ( Bifidobacterium bifidum and Bifidobacterium longum), prebiotics (galactooligosaccharides (4'-GOS) at 1.2, 5 and 10%) or synbiotics (bifidobacteria and 4'-GOS at 1.2, 5 and 10%) that were administered to weanling rats over 30 days. Iron balancing (mineral apparent absorption and retention ratios) was carried out in three periods of 72h each. Results showed that the administration of any of the test diets increased the apparent iron absorption or retention in any of the periods, however only 10% prebiotic and synbiotic diets significantly (P<0.05) increased apparent iron absorption and retention during the three periods of mineral balancing when compared to the control group. A linear regression study demonstrated that the stimulation of iron absorption took place mainly in the colon portion of the gut, since the parameters iron absorption, crypt depth of proximal colon and pH colon content showed a multiple linear relationship (R2=0.56). We concluded that 10% prebiotic and synbiotic diets were the diets most prone to improving iron bioavailability in the colons of rats.
Effect of 1-Methylcyclopropene on Fruit Quality and Physiological Disorders in Yali Pear (Pyrus bretschneideri Rehd.) During Storage
Authors: Fu L. , Cao J. , Li Q. , Lin L. , Jiang W.
Published: March 2007

The effects of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) on the fruit quality and physiological disorders in Yali pear ( Pyrus bretschneideri Rehd.) after harvest were researched. The fruit was exposed to 0, 0.01, 0.1, 0.2 or 0.5 μL/L 1-MCP for 24h, or exposed to 0.2 μL/L 1-MCP for 0, 12, 24 or 48h. Thereafter, the fruit was stored at 20°C and 85–95% RH. Pears treated with 1-MCP maintained higher firmness and soluble solids content than those of the control fruit. The incidence and index of core browning (CB) in Yali pears was reduced by 91% and 97% by 1-MCP treatment 100 days after storage, respectively. The occurrence of black and withered stems in Yali pears was also reduced by 59% by 1-MCP 32 days after storage. The 1-MCP treatment had an inhibitory effect on ethylene production and respiration rate in the pears. The activities of antioxidant enzymes (catalase, superoxide dismutase and peroxidase) were all significantly higher in 1-MCP-treated pears than in the control fruit. The beneficial effect of 1-MCP on improving postharvest quality and reducing physiological disorders in Yali pears might be due to its ability to increase the antioxidant potential as well as to delay fruit ripening and senescence. The 1-MCP is recommended to control Yali pear disorders during storage.
Effect of High Temperature Treatments on Growth of Penicillium spp. and their Development on ‘Valencia’ Oranges
Authors: Nunes C. , Usall J. , Manso T. , Torres R. , Olmo M. , García J. M.
Published: March 2007

The effect of time (up to 24h) and temperature (40 to 55°C) has been evaluated on in vitro growth of Penicillium digitatum and Penicillium italicum on potato dextrose agar plates or on ‘Valencia’ oranges ( Citrus sinensis), previously inoculated with those pathogens. The effect of treatment on the fruit quality parameters has also been evaluated. In vitro, at 40 and 45°C, an exposure of 24h was required to inhibit subsequent mycelial growth of both pathogens during incubation for 1 week at 25°C. However, at 50 and 55°C, only 18 or 9h (6h for P. digitatum), respectively, were needed to achieve the same effect on both pathogens. Inoculated fruit was exposed for 18h at 40°C then stored for 5 days at 5°C plus 7 days at 20°C, and the experiment was repeated at three locations and over two fruit seasons. This curing regime controlled both pathogens effectively. Concerning quality changes, after cold storage (5°C), treated fruits showed a significant reduction in acid content and a slight delay on skin yellowing, on softening, and on weight losses, compared to the control fruits. These results suggest that the curing treatment could be a non-chemical alternative to the postharvest fungicides now used to control citrus green and blue moulds.
Identification and Characterisation of Anthocyanins from Wild Mulberry (Morus Nigra L.) Growing in Brazil
Authors: Hassimotto N. M.A. , Genovese M. I. , Lajolo F. M.
Published: March 2007

Anthocyanin pigments from the wild mulberry ( Morus nigra L.) growing in Brazil, were extracted with methanol/water/acetic acid (70:30:5v/v), and the crude methanolic extract (CME) was cleaned up by polyamid solid-phase extraction (SPE). Two major anthocyanins were isolated by paper chromatography, and their chemical structures were identified by spectral analyses, HPLC/DAD and mass spectroscopy. Information from HPLC profiles, saponification and acid hydrolysis of the mulberry anthocyanins showed that the two major pigments were cyanidin-3-glucoside (ca. 71% of the total) and cyanidin-3-glucosylrhamnoside (ca. 19% of the total), with no cinnamoyl groups. The CME (at 10μM gallic acid equivalent), neutral flavonoids (NF) and acidic flavonoids (AF) eluate from SPE (at 1μM GAE), showed a higher antioxidant activity than quercetin and synthetic antioxidant (butyrate hydroxytoluene (BHT)) at 10μM, by the β-carotene bleaching method.
Note. Speciation of Arsenic in Licorice Confectionery Products and Estimation of Health Risks
Authors: Signes A. , Burló F. , Casinos T. , Carbonell-Barrachina A. A.
Published: March 2007

Total-arsenic (T-As) and arsenic (As) species were determined by HPLC-HG-AAS in ten different confectionery products: nine throat pearls and an industrial licorice extract. The Spanish legislation sets a maximum total-As content in confectionery products at 0.1mg/g. T-As concentrations were above the permitted maximum limit (mean of 0.219±0.008mg/g). All As was present in the form of toxic inorganic species. The daily consumption of licorice-confections in Spain is 1.1g and leads to a daily intake of inorganic-As of 0.23mg (0.2% of the tolerable daily intake of inorganic As for a teenager). These experimental results proved that even though high total-As concentrations were found in licorice throat pearls and that all the As found was present as inorganic species, no significant risks for health are expected just by considering this As source.
Gloss and Colour of Dark Chocolate During Storage
Authors: Pastor C. , Santamaría J. , Chiralt A. , Aguilera J. M.
Published: March 2007

The appearance of chocolate is greatly affected by bloom, which occurs during storage under unfavourable conditions. This phenomenon develops due to different causes, such as poor tempering, addition of incompatible fats, incorrect cooling methods, warm or fluctuating storage temperature, etc. The effect of storage temperature (4, 20, 25 and 30°C) on gloss (60 and 85° angle) and colour (CIE L *a *b *) of dark chocolate bars was analysed throughout 30 days of storage. Three kinds of dark chocolate were studied: two from the same brand containing 99 and 70% cocoa, and a third one from another brand, containing 70% cocoa. Gloss change of chocolate throughout storage time followed a similar pattern in all cases: a decrease until an asymptotic value is reached, which is exacerbated at higher storage temperatures. The influence of temperature was related to the difference between storage temperature and the melting range of cocoa fat. Only when the visual fat bloom reaches a relevant level is the colour of the product affected. Changes in both optical parameters were highly-position dependant within the same sample.
Note. Microbial Changes During the Salting Process of Traditional Pickled Chinese Cabbage
Authors: Ji Feng-Di , Ji Bao-Ping , Li Bo , Han Bei-Zhong
Published: March 2007

Changes in microflora during salting Chinese cabbage were studied, with special attention given to the effects of salt concentration, time and temperature of the process. Total mesophilic aerobic bacteria (TMAB), bacterial endospores (B. endospores), lactic acid bacteria (LAB), Enterobacteriaceae and fungi were used as control parameters. LAB accounted for 0.1-1% of total bacteria. Best process conditions for highest undesirable microbial inhibition were: salt 8% (w/v), temperature 15°C, and salting time 8h. High levels (>105 cfu/g) of TMAB and Enterobacteriaceae were found in the whole salting time, and 90% of TMAB was identified as Gram negative. The levels of fungi, LAB and B. endospores after 12h of the salting process were lower than 104, 103 and 102 cfu/g, respectively.
Thin Layer Drying Process of Some Leafy Vegetables under Open Sun
Authors: Sobukola O. P. , Dairo O. U. , Sanni L. O. , Odunewu A. V. , Fafiolu B. O.
Published: March 2007

Open sun drying experiments in thin layers of crain-crain (CC), fever (FV) and bitter (BT) leaves grown in Abeokuta, Nigeria were conducted. The drying process took place in the falling rate period and no constant rate period was observed from the drying curves. Eight thin layer mathematical drying models were compared using the multiple determination coefficients (R2), reduced chi-square (χ2) and root mean square error (RMSE) between the observed and predicted moisture ratios. Accordingly, Midilli et al. model satisfactorily described the drying curves of the three leaves with R2 of 0.9980, χ2 of 2.0×10-4 and RMSE of 1.09×10-2 for CC leaves; R2 of 0.9999, χ2 of 2×10-6 and RMSE of 1.11×10-3 for FV leaves; and R2 of 0.9998, χ2 of 1.9×10-5 and RMSE of 3.3×10-3 for BT leaves. The effective diffusivity was found to be 52.91×10-10, 48.72×10-10 and 43.42×10-10 m2/s for CC, BT and FV leaves, respectively.