bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Poverty, Energy, and Resource Use in Developing Countries
Authors: Kammen Daniel M. , Kirubi Charles
Published: June 2008

Energy poverty affects poor communities and poor nations far more severely, and more directly, than in developed nations. Poor rural communities are particularly vulnerable, and the poor globally spend by far the largest percentage of income on energy. To make matters worse, record‐high oil prices combined with sharp decline in foreign exchange earnings are key processes influencing the energy sector in Africa. These increases cause tremendous local hardships, but can be used to steer development decisions toward renewable energy technologies. At the same time, breaking up of public monopolies and liberalizing generation and distribution provides an opportunity for a new approach to rural electrification. Given the right incentives and institutional framework, a new set of players (e.g., private entrepreneurs, cooperatives, nongovernmental organizations, and communities) are likely to emerge and dominate reformed rural electricity markets in the future. Through technological and institutional “leap‐frogging,” Africa stands to gain significantly by augmenting current initiatives with experience and lessons recently gained in South Asia and Latin America. In these regions, a number of remarkable recent strides to seed and grow rural electricity markets while stimulating and encouraging private investments. Examples of innovative regulatory tools to address poverty include licensing, standards and guidelines, metering, tariffs, transmission charges, and performance‐based contracting for energy services.
Housing and Health
Authors: Rauh Virginia A. , Landrigan Philip J. , Claudio Luz
Published: June 2008

The importance of adequate housing for the maintenance of health and well‐being has long been a topic of scientific and public health policy discussion, but the links remain elusive. Here we explore the role of the residential environment in the etiology of illness (specifically asthma) and the persistence of socioeconomic health disparities. Housing conditions, shaped by social forces, affect exposure to physical and chemical “toxicants,” thereby translating social adversities into individual illness and population health disparities. We discuss the mediating role of housing in determining health outcomes at multiple levels (social–structural, neighborhood, and individual family). To date, little attention has been paid by most environmental health scientists to the social–structural conditions underlying gross inequities in the distribution of toxic exposures, with even less attention to the processes whereby these social conditions may directly affect susceptibility to the toxic exposures themselves. This chapter goes beyond traditional medical and environmental science models to incorporate a range of social and physical determinants of environmental pollutions, illustrating how these conditions result in health and illness. We focus here on childhood asthma as an example of a serious public health problem that has been associated with low income, minority status, and characteristics of the home environment. We end the chapter with a discussion of the environmental justice movement and the role of housing as a potential agent of change and focus of interventions aimed to reduce the harmful effects of environmental pollutants.
Eliminating Lymphatic Filariasis
Authors: Streit Thomas , Lafontant Jack Guy
Published: June 2008

Among infections closely associated with poverty, lymphatic filariasis (LF) is a study in contrasts. It is both a consequence of and a contributor to poverty. Although rarely fatal, it is recognized as a leading global cause of lifelong disability as well as significant personal, social, and economic burdens coincident with disease. Infection is often considerably more prevalent in communities than the number of cases of overt pathology for which LF is best known (lymphedema, elephantiasis, and hydrocele). With an estimated 120 million to 130 million affected persons in 83 countries and 1.25 billion persons living in areas at risk, in some countries LF may be expanding its range, whereas in others, with economic development, it has disappeared with little if any targeted intervention. The transmission cycle is relatively inefficient, yet an association with pockets of deepest poverty remains tenacious. Thanks to scientific advances in diagnostic tools, and particularly in control strategies focused on large‐scale drug donation and mass drug distribution programs, scientists and policy makers now consider LF eliminable. Together with new approaches for morbidity control, a hopeful tone surrounds a disease problem that as recently as two decades ago could easily have been categorized as among the most neglected of neglected diseases. Continued progress toward global LF elimination will require solutions to potential obstacles in the most challenging—that is, the poorest—endemic settings. This chapter reviews progress toward LF elimination and some of the remaining challenges from a perspective in Haiti, the only least developed country of the Americas.
Malaria and Poverty
Authors: Teklehaimanot and Paola Mejia Awash
Published: June 2008

Malaria is one of the most important challenges to global public health. African countries south of the Sahara bear today the heaviest burden of malaria. The relationship between poverty and malaria has long been recognized but its paths are multiple and complex. Recent studies suggest that causality works both ways, trapping communities in reinforcing cycles of poverty and disease. If malaria is to be controlled or eventually eliminated, the social and economic conditions that fuel malaria transmission need to be addressed. At the same time, malaria control should be seen as a poverty reduction strategy.
Introduction
Authors: Culbert Jennifer L. , Sarat Austin
Published: June 2008

The essays in this issue, “Killing States: Lethal Decisions/Final Judgments,” reflect on the exercise of state violence and the decisions taken to employ its lethal force. In so doing, these essays raise questions about our “state” in the broadest sense of the word, for they inquire about our condition or way of being at this moment. The subject areas of the essays vary widely. Several essays focus on the legitimacy of the state's violence; others ask how legitimacy as a concept may be applied to acts of violence at all. The demands of witnessing this violence are also examined, and we are invited to consider the impact of the state's violence on parties who are not usually understood or appreciated to be the targets of this violence. While the subject areas vary, taken together the essays in this issue suggest that to condemn the state's decision to use lethal force is not simply a matter of abolishing the death penalty or—to take another notable example of the killing state—demanding that the state engage only in just wars (publicly declared and justified). Altering the state's use of violence does nothing to change the essential relationship of the killing state to violence. To change that relationship we must attend to the killing state of mind, one that is not just a social or psychological condition but also a moral commitment and/or a philosophical position.
The Innocuousness of State Lethality in an Age of National Security
Authors: Wagner-Pacifici Robin
Published: June 2008

This essay performs an ethnography of recent documents of state lethality in the public domain: The National Security Strategy of the United States of America (2002, 2006), The 9/11 Commission Report (2004), and the National Strategy for Victory in Iraq (2005). The analysis first engages an exegesis of Max Weber's sociological theory of the state, a theory that aims to yoke violence and legitimacy to the means and ends of statecraft. Weber's theory is then used to uncover the rhetorical strategies of representing and redeploying grounds for lethal state action in the documents here under investigation. Among the terms of and for violent action, the legitimacy of preemptive war, the redefinition of victory, and the redefinition of the United States as historically reactive and defensive are examined.
The Child in the Broom Closet: States of Killing and Letting Die
Authors: Povinelli Elizabeth A.
Published: June 2008

This essay examines two modes, qualities, and dynamics of lethality in contemporary late liberal societies: the state of killing and letting die. Using contemporary debates in Australia over indigenous health and welfare and new federal security laws, the essay explores contemporary social life at the catachresis of what appears to be a Schmittian strong state and a Foucauldian biopolitical state. The essay is particularly interested in the future redemptive, the catastrophic sublime, and the ethics of empathy on which these two forms of killing depend. The purpose is to understand, on the one hand, how the crossing of these two forms of killing euthanize thinking about forms of dying that are cruddy, chronic, and cumulative, and, on the other hand, a new form of ethics that refuses late liberal imaginaries of the future redemptive, the catastrophic sublime, and the ethics of empathy.
Open Secrets, or The Postscript of Capital Punishment
Authors: Reichman Ravit Pe'er-Lamo
Published: June 2008

This essay asks not how literature imagines the death penalty, but how it doesn't—and what this narrative resistance can tell us about our culture's relationship to capital punishment. With the abolition of public executions in England in 1868 (and the last public execution in the United States in 1930), the public had to imagine, rather than witness directly, the death sentences carried out by its government. This essay argues that, in fact, the public did not imagine such concealed violence—that instead, one witnesses a narrative turn away from direct representation of the death penalty. Tracing this suppression, it proposes that the euphemistic, elided language that comes to describe executions constitutes the birth of a cultural secret. In positing the secret not simply as a theme in literature but as a literary form, the essay shows how it shapes two works that both evoke and avoid the death penalty: Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar and Albert Camus' The Stranger. The desire to witness expressed in these narratives finds its legal iteration in lawsuits brought by journalists seeking to televise executions—petitions that courts have routinely rejected. A close look at the stakes of such cases reveals a shift from the language of desire to that of rights, as well as courts' unswerving trust in the ability of representation to fully transmit a political reality.
No Mercy
Authors: Sitze Adam
Published: June 2008

This essay offers a rereading of Cesare Beccaria's 1764 On Crimes and Punishments, the text usually considered the intellectual origin of the movement to abolish the death penalty. It argues that the singularity of Beccaria's text consists in the way it problematizes not only the sovereign right to kill but also the sovereign right of clemency. Only by reading Beccaria's text from this standpoint, the essay concludes, can we grasp the internal limits of the abolitionist theory and practice that inherits its problematic from Beccaria.
Caveolin-1-dependent β1 integrin endocytosis is a critical regulator of fibronectin turnover
Authors: Shi Feng , Sottile Jane
Published: June 2008

β1 integrins are major cell surface receptors for fibronectin. Some integrins, including β1 integrins, are known to undergo constitutive endocytosis and recycling. Integrin endocytosis/recycling has been implicated in the regulation of cell migration. However, the mechanisms by which integrin endocytosis/recycling regulates cell migration, and other biological consequences of integrin trafficking are not completely understood. We previously showed that turnover of extracellular matrix (ECM) fibronectin occurs via receptor-mediated endocytosis. Here, we investigate the biological relevance of β1 integrin endocytosis to fibronectin matrix turnover. First, we demonstrate that β1 integrins, including α5β1 play an important role in endocytosis and turnover of matrix fibronectin. Second, we show that caveolin-1 constitutively regulates endocytosis of α5β1 integrins, and that α5β1 integrin endocytosis can occur in the absence of fibronectin and fibronectin matrix. We also show that downregulation of caveolin-1 expression by siRNA results in marked reduction of β1 integrin and fibronectin endocytosis. Hence, caveolin-1-dependent β1 integrin and fibronectin endocytosis plays a critical role in fibronectin matrix turnover, and may contribute to abnormal ECM remodeling that occurs in fibrotic disorders.
Phosphorylation of AFAP-110 affects podosome lifespan in A7r5 cells
Authors: Dorfleutner Andrea , Cho YoungJin , Vincent Deanne , Cunnick Jess , Lin Hong , Weed Scott A. , Stehlik Christian , Flynn Daniel C.
Published: June 2008

AFAP-110 is an actin-binding and -crosslinking protein that is enriched in Src and phorbol ester (PE)-induced podosomes. In vascular smooth muscle cells endogenous AFAP-110 localized to actin stress fibers and, in response to treatment with phorbol-12,13-dibutyrate (PDBu), to actin-rich podosomes. Since PEs can activate PKCα, AFAP-110 is a substrate of PKCα and PKCα–AFAP-110 interactions direct podosome formation, we sought to identify a PE-induced phosphorylation site in AFAP-110 and determine whether phosphorylation is linked to the formation of podosomes. Mutational analysis revealed Ser277 of AFAP-110 to be phosphorylated in PE-treated cells. The use of a newly generated, phospho-specific antibody directed against phosphorylated Ser277 revealed that PKCα activation is associated with PE-induced AFAP-110 phosphorylation. In PDBu-treated A7r5 rat vascular smooth muscle cells, immunolabeling using the phospho-specific antibody showed that phospho-AFAP-110 is primarily associated with actin in podosomes. Although mutation of Ser at position 277 to Ala (AFAP-110S277A) did not alter the ability of AFAP-110 to localize to podosomes, overexpression of AFAP-110S277A in treated and untreated A7r5 cells resulted in an increased number of cells that display podosomes. Video microscopy demonstrated that AFAP-110S277A expression correlates with an increased number of long-lived podosomes. Therefore, we hypothesize that AFAP-110 phosphorylation and/or dephosphorylation is involved in the regulation of podosome stability and lifespan.
In migrating cells, the Golgi complex and the position of the centrosome depend on geometrical constraints of the substratum
Authors: Pouthas François , Girard Philippe , Lecaudey Virginie , Ly Thi Bach Nga , Gilmour Darren , Boulin Christian , Pepperkok Rainer , Reynaud Emmanuel G.
Published: June 2008

Although cells migrate in a constrained 3D environment in vivo, in-vitro studies have mainly focused on the analysis of cells moving on 2D substrates. Under such conditions, the Golgi complex is always located towards the leading edge of the cell, suggesting that it is involved in the directional movement. However, several lines of evidence indicate that this location can vary depending on the cell type, the environment or the developmental processes. We have used micro contact printing (μCP) to study the migration of cells that have a geometrically constrained shape within a polarized phenotype. Cells migrating on micropatterned lines of fibronectin are polarized and migrate in the same direction. Under such conditions, the Golgi complex and the centrosome are located behind the nucleus. In addition, the Golgi complex is often displaced several micrometres away from the nucleus. Finally, we used the zebrafish lateral line primordium as an in-vivo model of cells migrating in a constrained environment and observe a similar localization of both the Golgi and the centrosome in the leading cells. We propose that the positioning of the Golgi complex and the centrosome depends on the geometrical constraints applied to the cell rather than on a precise migratory function in the leading region.
PKCγ mutations in spinocerebellar ataxia type 14 affect C1 domain accessibility and kinase activity leading to aberrant MAPK signaling
Authors: Verbeek Dineke S. , Goedhart Joachim , Bruinsma Laurie , Sinke Richard J. , Reits Eric A.
Published: June 2008

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 14 (SCA14) is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by mutations in the neuronal-specific protein kinase C gamma (PKCγ) gene. Since most mutations causing SCA14 are located in the PKCγ C1B regulatory subdomain, we investigated the impact of three C1B mutations on the intracellular kinetics, protein conformation and kinase activity of PKCγ in living cells. SCA14 mutant PKCγ proteins showed enhanced phorbol-ester-induced kinetics when compared with wild-type PKCγ. The mutations led to a decrease in intramolecular FRET of PKCγ, suggesting that they `open' PKCγ protein conformation leading to unmasking of the phorbol ester binding site in the C1 domain. Surprisingly, SCA14 mutant PKCγ showed reduced kinase activity as measured by phosphorylation of PKC reporter MyrPalm-CKAR, as well as downstream components of the MAPK signaling pathway. Together, these results show that SCA14 mutations located in the C1B subdomain `open' PKCγ protein conformation leading to increased C1 domain accessibility, but inefficient activation of downstream signaling pathways.
The mitochondrial targeting sequence tilts the balance between mitochondrial and cytosolic dual localization
Authors: Regev-Rudzki Neta , Yogev Ohad , Pines Ophry
Published: June 2008

Dual localization of proteins in the cell has appeared in recent years to be a more abundant phenomenon than previously reported. One of the mechanisms by which a single translation product is distributed between two compartments, involves retrograde movement of a subset of processed molecules back through the organelle-membrane. Here, we investigated the specific contribution of the mitochondrial targeting sequence (MTS), as a cis element, in the distribution of two proteins, aconitase and fumarase. Whereas the cytosolic presence of fumarase is obvious, the cytosolic amount of aconitase is minute. Therefore, we created (1) MTS-exchange mutants, exchanging the MTS of aconitase and fumarase with each other as well as with those of other proteins and, (2) a set of single mutations, limited to the MTS of these proteins. Distribution of both proteins is affected by mutations, a fact particularly evident for aconitase, which displays extraordinary amounts of processed protein in the cytosol. Thus, we show for the first time, that the MTS has an additional role beyond targeting: it determines the level of retrograde movement of proteins back into the cytosol. Our results suggest that the translocation rate and folding of proteins during import into mitochondria determines the extent to which molecules are withdrawn back into the cytosol.
ArabidopsisSPIRAL2 promotes uninterrupted microtubule growth by suppressing the pause state of microtubule dynamics
Authors: Yao Maki , Wakamatsu Yoshinori , Itoh Tomohiko J. , Shoji Tsubasa , Hashimoto Takashi
Published: June 2008

SPIRAL2 (SPR2) of Arabidopsis thaliana is a microtubule-associated protein containing multiple HEAT repeats that are found only in the plant lineage. We show that SPR2 and SP2L, their closest Arabidopsis homolog, are expressed in various tissues with partially overlapping patterns, and spr2-sp2l double mutants exhibit enhanced right-handed helical growth. Fusion to green fluorescent protein (GFP) expressed under the control of the native regulatory elements showed that both SPR2 and SP2L were localized to cortical microtubules, mainly in particles of various sizes. Along the microtubule, the GFP-fused forms also distributed partly at the plus ends. In the spr2-mutant background, cortical microtubules were less dynamic, and the pause state – in which microtubules undergo neither growth nor shrinkage – increased at the plus ends. The continuous plus-end tracking of GFP-EB1 was occasionally interrupted in the mutant cells. Recombinant SPR2 protein promoted microtubule polymerization, and bound to microtubules with an N-terminal segment that contained two HEAT repeats as well as to those with a C-terminal region. In vitro analyses of microtubule dynamics revealed that SPR2 and SP2L suppressed the pause state at microtubule ends, thereby leading to enhanced microtubule growth. We propose that the SPR2-family proteins act on the pause state to facilitate a transition to microtubule growth.
Induction Effects of Ritonavir: Implications for Drug Interactions
Authors: Foisy Michelle M , Yakiwchuk Erin M , Hughes Christine A
Published: June 2008

Objective:

To review the literature on the induction effects of ritonavir on the cytochrome P450 enzyme system and glucuronyl transferase and identify resultant established and potential drug interactions.

Data Sources:

Primary literature was identified from MEDLINE (1950–April 2008), EMBASE (1988–April 2008) and International Pharmaceutical Abstracts (1970–April 2008) using the search terms ritonavir, cytochrome P450 enzyme system, enzyme induction, glucuronyl transferase, and drug interactions. Additionally, relevant conference abstracts and references of relevant articles were reviewed.

Study Selection and Data Abstraction:

All English-language articles and abstracts identified were reviewed.

Data Synthesis:

Ritonavir is a well-known inhibitor of the metabolism of numerous medications that are substrates of the CYP3A and CYP2D6 pathways. It also exhibits a biphasic, time-dependent effect on P-glycoprotein of inhibition followed by induction. Numerous pharmacokinetic studies suggested that ritonavir induces cytochrome P450 enzymes 3A, 1A2, 2B6, 2C9, and 2C19, as well as glucuronyl transferase. Additionally, several case reports described clinically significant subtherapeutic effects of drugs metabolized by these isoenzymes when coadministered with ritonavir. Both therapeutic and boosting doses of ritonavir appear to induce these enzymes: however, most of the studies of low-dose ritonavir involved a second protease inhibitor such as lopinavir, darunavir, or tipranavir. It is, therefore, difficult to distinguish the relative effects of additional medications unless well-designed, 3-way studies are conducted.

Conclusions:

At both therapeutic and boosting doses, ritonavir exhibits a clinically relevant induction effect on numerous drug-metabolizing enzymes. A decrease or loss of therapeutic effect may be observed when ritonavir is coadministered with medications that are substrates for these enzymes. It is important for clinicians to be aware of drugs potentially impacted by ritonavir therapy to Identify and manage these interactions.
Pharmaceutical Care in Community Pharmacies: Practice and Research in Estonia
Authors: Volmer Daisy , Vendla Kaidi , Vetka Andre , Bell J Simon , Hamilton David
Published: June 2008

Objective:

To describe practice and research related to pharmaceutical care In Estonia following the country's restoration of independence from Russia in 1991.

Findings:

The transition from a Soviet to a free market economy has Impacted the healthcare and pharmacy systems in Estonia. Following independence, ownership of community pharmacies was transferred from the Stale government to individual pharmacists. However, pharmacy ownership is no longer restricted to pharmacists and recent years have seen the emergence of large pharmacy chains. The number of community pharmacies in Estonia increased from 270 in 1992 to 523 in 2007. In addition to dispensing, Estonian pharmacies retain a focus on compounding of extemporaneous products and supply of herbal medications. Research into pharmaceutical care has addressed topics including pharmaceutical policy and the quality of pharmacy services provided at community pharmacies.

Discussion:

There has been limited pressure to date from the governmental Institutions and patient organizations to Introduce extended pharmaceutical services. However, the trend toward providing health services in primary care will create greater responsibilities and new opportunities for community pharmacists. Recent inclusion of clinical pharmacy and interprofessional learning In the undergraduate pharmacy curriculum will help ensure ongoing development of the profession and high-quality pharmacy services in the future.

Conclusions:

Pharmaceutical care services in Estonian community pharmacies have become more patient-oriented over the past 17 years. However, community pharmacies continue to retain a focus on traditional roles.
Stability of Sunitinib in Oral Suspension
Authors: Navid Fariba , Christensen Robbin , Minkin Patton , Stewart Clinton F , Furman Wayne L , Baker Sharyn
Published: June 2008

Background:

Sunitinib Is a novel, oral, multitargeted tyrosine kinase Inhibitor with antiangiogenic and antitumor activity. No liquid formulation of sunitinib malate is commercially available for pediatric administration.

Objective:

To prepare extemporaneously an oral liquid formulation of sunitinib malate from commercially available capsules and study its chemical and physical stability in suspension at room temperature and under refrigeration at 4 °C.

Methods:

Six Independent samples were prepared by mixing the contents of 3 sunitinib malate capsules (each equivalent to 50 mg of sunitinib) with 15 mL of a 1:1 mixture of Ora-Plus; Ora-Sweet solution to yield a final concentration of 10 mg/mL Suspensions were stored in amber plastic bottles with child-resistant caps. Three samples were refrigerated at 4 °C and 3 were stored at room temperature. Aliquots from each bottle were obtained on days 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 14, 21, 30, and 60 and diluted to a final concentration of 300 ng/mL with 500 ng/mL of clozapine in 50% acetonttrile. Sunitinib concentrations were then measured by a liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry assay validated in our laboratory.

Results:

At room temperature and under refrigeration at 4 °C, sunitinib in a 10-mg/mL suspension of sunitinib malate with Ora-Plus:Ora-Sweet 1:1 maintained greater than 96% of its initial concentration for 60 days, Visual appearance (color and consistency) and odor of drug suspension remained unchanged during the study.

Conclusions:

Sunitinib is stable in an oral suspension prepared from commercially available capsules for at least 60 days al room temperature and refrigeration at 4 °C. This liquid formulation is better suited for administration to children and adults with cancer who cannot swallow sunitinib capsules.
Zonisamide Concentrations During Pregnancy
Authors: Oles Karen S , Bell William L
Published: June 2008

Objective:

TO describe a series of serum concentrations of zonisamide in a pregnant woman.

Case Summary:

A 30-year-old woman with primary generalized tonic–clonic seizures and myoclonic jerks was taking zonisamide 200 mg daily as her sole antiepileptic agent when she conceived. She continued on zonisamide throughout her pregnancy. The zonisamide concentrations ranged between 7.5 μg/mL and 17 μg/mL during pregnancy, with the exception of a 4.4-μg/mL concentration at 27 weeks postconception. Following this lower concentration, the zonisamide dose was increased to 300 mg/day at week 29. She had an uneventful pregnancy, with only occasional myoclonic jerks, and delivered at 41 weeks. At 42 weeks, white taking zonisamide 300 mg/day, her concentration was 20.8 μg/mL

Discussion:

A single report from Japan reviewed 26 cases of prenatal exposure to zonisamide. Twenty-two offspring were exposed to zonisamide monotherapy; 4 were exposed to polytherapy. During the first trimester, 2 pregnant women on zonisamide and at least one other antiepileptic medication had serum concentrations of 6.1 μg/mL and 6.2 μg/mL; 2 of the Infants had teratogenic effects. Teratogenicity has also been reported in animals. There are no other published data regarding zonisamide concentrations during pregnancy.

Conclusions:

The change in zonisamide serum concentrations in a pregnant woman suggests an increase in clearance at the end of the second trimester.
University students' achievement goals and approaches to learning in mathematics
Authors: Cano Francisco , Berbén A. B. G.
Published: June 2008

Background Achievement goals (AG) and students' approaches to learning (SAL) are two research perspectives on student motivation and learning in higher education that have until now been pursued quite independently.

Aims This study sets out: (a) to explore the relationship between the most representative variables of SAL and AG; (b) to identify subgroups (clusters) of students with multiple AG; and (c) to examine the differences between these clusters with respect to various SAL and AG characteristics.

Sample The participants were 680 male and female 1st year university students studying different subjects (e.g. mathematics, physics, economics) but all enrolled on mathematics courses (e.g. algebra, calculus).

Method Participants completed a series of questionnaires that measured their conceptions of mathematics, approaches to learning, course experience, personal 2 × 2 AG, and perceived AG.

Results SAL and AG variables were moderately associated and related to both the way students perceived their academic environment and the way they conceived of the nature of mathematics (i.e. the perceptual‐cognitive framework). Four clusters of students with distinctive multiple AG were identified and when the differences between clusters were analysed, we were able to attribute them to various constructs including perceptual‐cognitive framework, learning approaches, and academic performance.

Conclusio This study reveals a consistent pattern of relationships between SAL and AG perspectives across different methods of analysis, supports the relevance of the 2 × 2 AG framework in a mathematics learning context and suggests that AG and SAL may be intertwined aspects of students' experience of learning mathematics at university.
A Preliminary Assessment of Police Officers' Knowledge and Perceptions of Persons With Disabilities
Authors: Modell Scott J. , Mak Suzanna
Published: June 2008

Individuals with developmental disabilities are 4 to 10 times more likely to become crime victims than individuals without disabilities (D. Sobsey, D. Wells, R. Lucardie, & S. Mansell, 1995). Victimization rates for persons with disabilities is highest for sexual assault (more than 10 times as high) and robbery (more than 12 times as high). There are a number of factors related to individuals' with disabilities susceptibility to interactions with the criminal justice system. In addition to these factors, many significant barriers exist, both real and perceived, that limit investigation and prosecution of these cases. How police officers perceive and understand disability play significant roles in how these cases develop and evolve. The purpose of this study was to assess police officer knowledge and perceptions of persons with disabilities.
Effects of Conversational Versus Technical Language on Treatment Preference and Integrity
Authors: Jarmolowicz David P. , Kahng SungWoo , Ingvarsson Einar T. , Goysovich Richard , Heggemeyer Rebecca , Gregory Meagan K.
Published: June 2008

Problem behaviors present a significant challenge for individuals with developmental disabilities and their caregivers. Interventions based on behavioral principles are effective in treating problem behaviors; however, some caregivers have difficulty adhering to treatment recommendations. Treatment adherence may be affected by the technical nature of behavioral terminology. Research suggests that caregivers better understand and are more comfortable with interventions described in conversational language; however, the effects of technical language on treatment implementation are unknown. In the current investigation, implementation of a behavioral treatment was monitored after caregivers were given either a technical or conversational description of the intervention. Implementation was more accurate when the treatment description was written in conversational language, suggesting that clinicians should write behavioral plans in conversational language.
Successful Aging in a 70-Year-Old Man With Down Syndrome: A Case Study
Authors: Krinsky-McHale Sharon J. , Devenny Darlynne A. , Gu Hong , Jenkins Edmund C. , Kittler Phyllis , Murty Vundavalli V. , Schupf Nicole , Scotto Luigi , Tycko Benjamin , Urv Tiina K. , Ye Lingling , Zigman Warren B. , Silverman Wayne
Published: June 2008

The authors present a case study of a 70-year-old man with Down syndrome (“Mr. C.”) who they followed for 16 years and who does not exhibit declines in cognitive or functional capacities indicative of dementia, despite having well-documented, complete trisomy 21. The authors describe the age-associated changes that occurred over 16 years as well as provide detailed information regarding Mr. C.'s health and genetic status. To further emphasize Mr. C.'s successful aging, the authors compared his longitudinal performance profile with that of 2 peers of comparable level of intellectual functioning: 1 similar-aged man with clinical Alzheimer's disease and a younger man who was healthy. The authors present potential explanations for the phenotypic variability observed in individuals with Down syndrome.
A Comparison of Low IQ Scores From the Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale— Third Edition
Authors: Umphress Thomas B.
Published: June 2008

Twenty people with suspected intellectual disability took the Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales (RIAS; C. R. Reynolds & R. W. Kamphaus, 1998) and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—3rd Edition (WAIS-III; D. Wechsler, 1997) to see if the 2 IQ tests produced comparable results. A t test showed that the RIAS Composite Intelligence Index scores were significantly higher than WAIS-III Full Scale IQ scores at the alpha level of .01. There was a significant difference between the RIAS Nonverbal Intelligence and WAIS-III Performance Scale, but there was no significant difference between the RIAS Verbal Intelligence Index and the WAIS-III Verbal Scale IQ. The results raise questions concerning test selection for diagnosing intellectual disability and the use of the correlation statistic for comparing intelligence tests.
Disease, demography, and the Debr Solution: stolen lives and broken promises, 1946 to 2006 and back to 1966
Authors: Lionnet Franoise
Published: June 2008

This essay will focus first on the 2006 chikungunya epidemic, then on the 1960s adoption policies that became part of the package of solutions put in place by Michel Debr, the then dput of Reunion, as a means of dealing with the twinned problems of population explosion and unemployment
in the department. Reunion Island is the fourth, least visible, most isolated of the four original dpartements d'Outre-mer. Reunion seems to become significant and visible in public discourse only when it is the site of catastrophic natural, medical or political events. This DOM's challenge
in the areas of health, life and equality in the face of risk must be grasped on its own terms and within its own contexts, not through the lens of Republican universalism.
DOM: dpartements part entire ou entirement part?
Authors: Dracius Suzanne
Published: June 2008

The principal theme of this study is a set of French policies that emerged following the year 2000, marked, for us Domiens, in large part, by the lively national debate on slave history and on the role unilaterally determined to be a positive one of French colonization, culminating
in a law, since repealed, that was baptized the Law of Shame, vaunting the so-called positive aspects of colonization. This debate saw Martinique, singular little department that it is, resolutely drawing a line of demarcation between itself and the rest of France. For it must be said: Antilleans
who live in the hexagon are often assumed to be and thus assimilated as immigrants. The assimilation issue thus alive and rankling. But all this is the product not simply of policy, but of poetics as well. These issues raise grave questions with regard to the place of Antillean literary arts
within the sacrosanct ambit of French Belles Lettres.
La Valse des OM
Authors: De Souza Pascale
Published: June 2008

The March 19th 1946 law on departmentalization represents a milestone in the evolution not only of the linkages between France and its four old colonies but of the relations among the DOMs and between the latter and the territories which were not granted a similar status. Since the
50th anniversary of this law which revealed a certain aging of the notion of DOM, a wind of change has blown over the French overseas world, stoked by a wish among French politicians to revisit colonial history. Despite the efforts made by legislators both in metropolitan and overseas France,
the opposing tendencies of a search for a common identity on the one hand and recognition for local specificities on the other hand continue to weaken the stability of the whole. One may argue that many of the challenges currently facing overseas France derive from an initial ambiguous positioning
in the 1946 law and of reforms since passed. An analysis of the impact of civil servants on economic development, of regional isolation resulting from immigration laws, of conflicts of interest between France and its overseas world and of tensions among within the French overseas world reveal
that despite (or because of ?) multiple reforms, the liaisons between metropolitan France and its overseas remain just as unstable as they are dangerous.
A nation of entrepreneurs? Television, social change and the rise of the entrepreneur
Authors: Boyle Raymond , Magor Maggie
Published: June 2008

This article examines the ways that the media, and television in particular, represent a particular aspect of the business landscape: entrepreneurship. It looks at the extent to which a more entrepreneurial television industry in the United Kingdom has extended the scale and scope of
the range of representations relating to entrepreneurship on the small screen. This research also tries to capture whether such representations are helping to create a climate of opinion within which ideas about entrepreneurial activity are becoming increasingly legitimised and indeed normalised
within society. Is this process an example of television reacting to broader cultural, economic and political shifts in society? Or does it tell us more about television's fixation with evolving forms and formats in an increasingly commercial digital environment?
Disgust, pleasure and the failure of the liberal democratic model: tabloid talk, media capital and emotional citizenship
Authors: Wahl-Jorgensen Karin
Published: June 2008

This article examines widely circulating discourses on tabloid newspapers, analyzing what they tell us about dominant models of citizenship and their problems. Drawing on data from a Mass Observation Archive survey of ordinary people's views of media and democracy, the article demonstrates
that there are only a limited number of ways to talk about popular journalism. What I here call tabloid talk is informed by a liberal democratic model of citizenship and denounces the sensationalist content of the popular press that is seen to undermine serious and rational public debate.
Tabloid talk is used by respondents as a strategy to distance themselves from the newspapers, showing them off as good citizens. It also empowers them to critique the content of the newspapers. However, tabloid talk fails to explain audiences engagement with the popular press and therefore
does not account for effective responses to media content.
Performing protest in Jamaica: the mass media as stage
Authors: Johnson Hume Nicola
Published: June 2008

Contemporary citizen activism, especially street protests and demonstrations, can hardly be imagined without the mass media to amplify and sustain its message as well as mobilise a following and encourage support. The attendance of news media at the site of protest campaigns also exerts a powerful influence on their overall functioning and management and particularly on the performance of protestors. Using empirical data from Jamaica and drawing on aspects of Douglas Kellner's (2003) work on media spectacle, I explore this acute interdependence between popular protest and popular media; the varied and multiple ways in which the news media, particularly television, are integral to the performance of protest in Jamaica, how protestors manoeuvre themselves, and deploy spectacle to secure their interests within the media spotlight. Conversely, I explore the media's coverage and treatment of protest and protestors and what impact, if any, this may have on how protestors are driven to perform them.
Revisiting the networked production of the 2003 Little League World Series: narrative of American innocence
Authors: White Ryan E , Silk Michael L , Andrews David L
Published: June 2008

While many (popular) cultural studies focus on the discursive construction, and dominant meanings created in and through events, shows and individuals, there has been a relative dearth of studies that examine the production practices of those who create these mediated entities. As such,
this project seeks to help fill the relative void left in production practice studies, by critically evaluating the 2003 Little League World Series (LLWS). We will argue that the cultivation of this event was part of a wider (un)spoken social and political project to position the United States
as a country which was to be exalted as a space of widespread diversity, acceptance of difference, and to be revered for its inherent greatness (Ferguson 2004). Further, through our critique of the veritable meaning makers for the LLWS, this project aims to illuminate the power they have in
reifying particular in this case overwhelmingly positive understandings of those who hold political sway at particular moments in time. This article concludes by looking back at the 2003 American socio-political moment through a 2007 lens, a time when the republic is unquestionably more wary
towards the Bush Presidency, the War in Iraq, and the government more generally.
The future of public service broadcasting in Community law
Authors: Saldaa Mercedes Muoz
Published: June 2008

State and community authorities face up to the task of redefining the legal framework affecting European television services, with the challenge of adopting a configuration capable of assimilating the multiple requirements consequent on the complex nature of television. Communitarian Law has participated in this process, proposing a new perspective built on the definition of television services as general economic interest services. European jurisprudence in audiovisual matters has to address the consequences of incorporating this regulation alongside national laws. Competitiveness between operators, control of possible exceptions, the redefinition of the public service mission these are some of the consequences of the Communitarian perspective. Although the Communitarian perspective has benefits and drawbacks, its contributions allow the construction of a more stable television model, producing new market regulation, and, above all, with the aim of protecting citizen interest.
A feminist political economic understanding of the relations between state, market and civil society from Beijing to Tunis
Authors: Lee Micky
Published: June 2008

By focusing on the area of women/gender, telecommunications and new ICTs, this article examines the complex interplay between the state, the market and civil society from the Fourth UN World Conference on Women to the World Summit on Information Society. By adopting a feminist political economic perspective, it is asserted that the mainstream approach to civil society falls short of acknowledging unbalanced power relations between the three parties. The UN and the state both endorse a version of the information society that is conducive to neoliberal capitalism. This article argues that civil society should be given more power in future UN international conventions.
Reviews
Authors: Colby Dean , Prez Francisco Seoane , Shade Leslie Regan
Published: June 2008

Communication Revolution: Critical Junctures and the Future of Media, Robert W. McChesney (2007)New York: The New Press, 301 pp., 9781595582072 (hbk), 25.00

The Pursuit of Public Journalism: Theory, Practice, and Criticism, Tanni Haas (2007)New York and London: Routledge, 193 pp., 0415978246 (hbk), 95; 0415978254 (pbk), 24.95

Knowledge Workers in the Information Society, Edited by Catherine McKercher and Vincent Mosco (2007)Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 350 pp., 9780739117804 (hbk), 68.00; 9780739117811 (pbk), 34.95
Modification of Fagus sylvatica (L.) with 1,3-dimethylol-4,5-dihydroxyethylene urea (DMDHEU): Part 1. Estimation of heat adsorption by the isosteric method (Hailwood-Horrobin model) and by solution calorimetry
Authors: Dieste Andrés , Krause Andreas , Militz Holger
Published: June 2008

The differential heat of adsorption (ΔH

s
) of Fagus sylvatica wood modified with 0.8 M, 1.3 M, and 2.3 M solution of 1,3-dimethylol-4,5-dihydroxyethylene urea (DMDHEU) was determined at different equilibrium moisture contents (EMCs) by both the isosteric method, using the Hailwood-Horrobin model at 20, 30, and 40°C and by solution calorimetry. Both methods revealed that at 1% EMC, the 2.3-M modified wood releases approximately double the amount of energy as does unmodified wood. At EMC below approximately 5%, DMDHEU-modified wood appears to be more hygroscopic than unmodified wood, indicating that more OH groups are available for adsorption. The bulking effect of the cell wall and the increase of OH groups caused by the modification with DMDHEU are probably the reason for this observation. As expected, higher EMC led to a reduction of ΔH

s
.
Crosstalk between the AMP-activated kinase and insulin signaling pathways rescues murine blastocyst cells from insulin resistance
Authors: Louden Erica , Chi Maggie M , Moley Kelle H
Published: June 2008

Maternal insulin resistance results in poor pregnancy outcomes. In vivo and in vitro exposure of the murine blastocyst to high insulin or IGF1 results in the down-regulation of the IGF1 receptor (IGF1R). This in turn leads to decreased glucose uptake, increased apoptosis, as well as pregnancy resorption and growth restriction. Recent studies have shown that blastocyst activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) reverses these detrimental effects; however, the mechanism was not clear. The objective of this study was to determine how AMPK activation rescues the insulin-resistant blastocyst. Using trophoblast stem (TS) cells derived from the blastocyst, insulin resistance was recreated by transfecting with siRNA to Igf1r and down-regulating expression of the protein. These cells were then exposed to AMPK activators 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide riboside and phenformin, and evaluated for apoptosis, insulin-stimulated 2-deoxyglucose uptake, PI3-kinase activity, and levels of phospho-AKT, phospho-mTor, and phospho-70S6K. Surprisingly, disrupted insulin signaling led to decreased AMPK activity in TS cells. Activators reversed these effects by increasing the AMP/ATP ratio. Moreover, this treatment increased insulin-stimulated 2-deoxyglucose transport and cell survival, and led to an increase in PI3-kinase activity, as well as increased P-mTOR and p70S6K levels. This study is the first to demonstrate significant crosstalk between the AMPK and insulin signaling pathways in embryonic cells, specifically the enhanced response of PI3K/AKT/mTOR to AMPK activation. Decreased insulin signaling also resulted in decreased AMPK activation. These findings provide mechanistic targets in the AMPK signaling pathway that may be essential for improved pregnancy success in insulin-resistant states.