bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Living with Dysarthria: Evaluation of a Self-Report Questionnaire
Authors: Hartelius Lena , Elmberg Marie , Holm Rebecca , Lövberg Ann-Sofie , Nikolaidis Stiliani
Published: November 2007

The study describes an effort to evaluate the speech difficulties as perceived by individuals with dysarthria. A self-report questionnaire, Living with Neurologically Based Speech Difficulties (Living with Dysarthria), was answered by 55 individuals with varying types and degrees of dysarthria. Results show that both type and degree of subjectively perceived communicative difficulties varied. Degree of communicative difficulties was not related to age, gender, diagnosis, disease duration or employment status in this group. Generally, the overriding problems were related to restrictions in communicative participation, possibilities to actively take part in work and studies and to express one’s personality were particularly affected. Communication was also affected by emotions and by the number and familiarity of people present in communicative encounters. The dominating speech difficulties were related to reduced speech rate and a need for repetition as a consequence of misunderstandings. A statistically nonsignificant difference was found between the higher mean of the group with moderate dysarthria compared to the groups with severe and mild dysarthria, indicating that severity of dysarthria does not necessarily predict extent of perceived communicative difficulties. It is concluded that systematic subjective reports should always be included in the assessment of individuals with acquired dysarthria.
Aerodynamic Assessment of Young Women’s Voices as a Function of Oral Contraceptive Use
Authors: Gorham-Rowan Mary , Fowler Linda
Published: November 2007

Objective: To examine possible differences in glottal airflow parameters according to oral contraceptive (OC) use. Subjects and Methods: The participants included 16 women, 20–24 years of age. Eight women were taking a triphasic OC; the remaining 8 women were not taking any form of oral contraception (NOC). All participants were recorded on days 7 and 14 of their menstrual cycle. Three repetitions of the sustained vowel /a/ were obtained using a circumferentially vented respiratory face mask connected to a wide-band pressure transducer. Measures of peak flow, minimum flow, alternating flow, fundamental frequency (F₀) and relative sound pressure level were obtained. Results: A multivariate analysis of variance with sound pressure level as a covariate revealed no significant effect of day of recording upon the dependent measures. As a group, the OC women exhibited significantly higher F₀, peak and alternating flow rates compared to the NOC women. Removal of data outliers from the OC women resulted in similar airflow rates for both groups. Conclusion: The findings from this preliminary study did not support the use of glottal airflow measures to distinguish OC women from NOC women. Differences in F₀ findings may reflect hormonally mediated changes in laryngeal tissue and warrant further investigation.
Integrating the Acoustics of Running Speech into the Pure Tone Audiogram: A Step from Audibility to Intelligibility and Disability
Authors: Corthals Paul
Published: November 2007

Background/Aims: The aim of the present study is to construct a simple method for visualizing and quantifying the audibility of speech on the audiogram and to predict speech intelligibility. The proposed method involves a series of indices on the audiogram form reflecting the sound pressure level distribution of running speech. The indices that coincide with a patient’s pure tone thresholds reflect speech audibility and give evidence of residual functional hearing capacity. Patients and Methods: Two validation studies were conducted among sensorineurally hearing-impaired participants (n = 56 and n = 37, respectively) to investigate the relation with speech recognition ability and hearing disability. Results: The potential of the new audibility indices as predictors for speech reception thresholds is comparable to the predictive potential of the ANSI 1968 articulation index and the ANSI 1997 speech intelligibility index. The sum of indices or a weighted combination can explain considerable proportions of variance in speech reception results for sentences in quiet free field conditions. The proportions of variance that can be explained in questionnaire results on hearing disability are less, presumably because the threshold indices almost exclusively reflect message audibility and much less the psychosocial consequences of hearing deficits. Conclusion: The outcomes underpin the validity of the new audibility indexing system, even though the proposed method may be better suited for predicting relative performance across a set of conditions than for predicting absolute speech recognition performance.
Clinical Implementation of Laryngeal High-Speed Videoendoscopy: Challenges and Evolution
Authors: Deliyski Dimitar D. , Petrushev Pencho P. , Bonilha Heather Shaw , Gerlach Terri Treman , Martin-Harris Bonnie , Hillman Robert E.
Published: November 2007

High-speed videoendoscopy (HSV) captures the true intracycle vibratory behavior of the vocal folds, which allows for overcoming the limitations of videostroboscopy for more accurate objective quantification methods. However, the commercial HSV systems have not gained widespread clinical adoption because of remaining technical and methodological limitations and an associated lack of information regarding the validity, practicality, and clinical relevance of HSV. The purpose of this article is to summarize the practical, technological and methodological challenges we have faced, to delineate the advances we have made, and to share our current vision of the necessary steps towards developing HSV into a robust tool. This tool will provide further insights into the biomechanics of laryngeal sound production, as well as enable more accurate functional assessment of the pathophysiology of voice disorders leading to refinements in the diagnosis and management of vocal fold pathology. The original contributions of this paper are the descriptions of our color high-resolution HSV integration, the methods for facilitative playback and HSV dynamic segmentation, and the ongoing efforts for implementing HSV in phonomicrosurgery, as well as the analysis of the challenges and prospects for the clinical implementation of HSV, additionally supported by references to previously reported data.
Regional Citrate Anticoagulation for Single-Needle Hemodialysis: A Prospective Clinical Study
Authors: Gubensek Jakob , Buturovic-Ponikvar Jadranka , Ponikvar Rafael
Published: November 2007

Aim: Regional citrate anticoagulation protocol for single-needle hemodialysis was tested prospectively for safety and efficacy. Methods: 15 chronic dialysis patients at risk of bleeding were included. 4 % trisodium citrate (200 ml/h), calcium-free dialysate and 1 mol/l calcium chloride (7 ml/h) were used. After dialysis the antithrombotic effect in the circuit was assessed visually (grade 5, no clotting, to 1, total occlusion) and serum citrate was measured. Results: Of 32 dialyses performed, 94% were uneventful and in 2 cases (6%) there was severe (ionized calcium ≤0.8 mmol/l) but asymptomatic hypocalcemia. Mean anticoagulation score after dialysis was 4.8 ± 0.7 for the arterial bubble trap, 4.6 ± 0.8 for the dialyzer and 4.8 ± 0.7 for the venous bubble trap. Serum citrate after dialysis was 158 ± 60 µmol/l. Conclusion: Regional citrate anticoagulation in single-needle dialysis is safe and efficient.
Strategy for the Surgical Management of Insulinomas: Analysis of 52 Cases
Authors: Liu Hong , Peng Chenghong , Zhang Suzhan , Wu Yulian , Fang Heqing , Sheng Hongwei , Peng Shuyou
Published: November 2007

Aim: The goal of this retrospective study was to analyze the strategy for the surgical management of insulinomas. Methods: From May 2000 to October 2006, the medical records of 52 patients with insulinomas were retrospectively studied. Results: All tumors were localized precisely by imaging techniques combined with intraoperative palpation. Forty-eight patients with benign lesions underwent surgical treatment: 41 patients open and 7 patients laparoscopic procedures. Four patients with malignant insulinomas underwent tumor resection; 3 of them underwent metastatic lesion and/or lymph node dissection. There were no discrepancies regarding operation time, blood loss, and complication rate between open enucleation and laparoscopic surgery. The mean hospital stay was 11.8 ± 3.4 days after laparoscopic surgery, shorter than the 17.0 ± 6.0 days after the open approach. Twenty-two complications occurred in 17 patients (32%) following resection. On follow-up, 86% of the patients were free from symptoms, and surgical cure was achieved in 95% of the patients with benign insulinomas. Conclusions: The choice of the surgical strategy for the treatment of pancreatic insulinomas depends on size and location of the tumor and the risk of malignancy. The optimal surgical procedure is key to prevent postoperative complications. The laparoscopic approach is safe and feasible for patients with benign tumors located in body or tail of the pancreas.
Observations on Concussion
Authors: Pearce J.M.S.
Published: November 2007

The word ‘concussion’ has several meanings and applications that are controversial. This paper attempts to trace the historical origins and evolution of the descriptive classifications of concussive head injuries. It is suggested that head injuries should be described on the available evidence of the severity and duration of altered consciousness, traumatic amnesia and, when present, the variably associated neurological, physiological and imaging signs. The word concussion reflects an overenthusiastic trend in medical labelling. Since our understanding of types of brain injury and their symptoms and sequelae has advanced, the term should be abandoned.
Increased Prevalence of Microangiopathic Brain Lesions among Siblings of Patients with Lacunar Stroke
Authors: Leistner Stefanie , Huebner Norbert , Faulstich Andreas , Ludwig Daniela , Rees Maren , Marx Peter , Langer Bettina , Nikolova Alexandrina , Hartmann Andreas , Koennecke Hans-Christian
Published: November 2007

Background: Family and twin studies suggest predisposing genetic factors in stroke. Lacunar infarcts represent a homogeneous phenotype, which is a prerequisite for genetic analyses. Applying an affected sib -pair analysis, we prospectively assessed the prevalence of microangiopathic brain lesions (MBL) and associated risk factors among siblings of patients with lacunar stroke. Methods: Index patients fulfilled clinical criteria of a lacunar stroke in combination with a corresponding MBL on CT or MRI. Siblings were characterized as affected if MBL demonstrated on MRI. The prevalence of MBL was compared with population prevalence data extracted from other studies. Results: From 784 patients screened, 81 index patients with lacunar stroke and 97 siblings were recruited, of which 42% were identified as affected. Compared with data from unselected historical controls and stratified by age groups, prevalence was between 2 and 5 times higher. Conclusions: Our results indicate that genetic stroke studies are feasible even in subtypes of ischemic stroke. The high prevalence of MBL among siblings of patients with lacunar infarct might suggest a familial aggregation. However, due to the small sample size these results need to be interpreted with caution and require confirmation by planned genetic analyses.
Four SNPs on Chromosome 9p21 in a South Korean Population Implicate a Genetic Locus That Confers High Cross-Race Risk for Development of Coronary Artery Disease
Authors: Shen Gong-Qing , Li Lin , Rao Shaoqi , Abdullah Kalil G. , Ban Ji Min , Lee Bok-Soo , Park Jeong Euy , Wang Qing K.
Published: November 2007

Objective—

Recent genome-wide association studies have identified 4 SNPs on chromosome 9p21 associated with CAD (rs10757274 and rs2383206) and myocardial infarction (MI: rs2383207 and rs10757278) in White populations in Northern Europe and North America. We aimed to determine whether this locus confers significant susceptibility to CAD in a South Korean population, and thus cross-race susceptibility to CAD.

Methods and Results—

We performed a case-control association study with 611 unrelated CAD patients and 294 normal controls from South Korea. Allelic associations of SNPs and SNP haplotypes with CAD were evaluated. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to adjust effects of clinical covariates. We found that 4 SNPs on chromosome 9p21 were associated with susceptibility to CAD in a South Korean population. The association remained significant after adjusting for significant clinical covariates (
P
=0.001 to 0.024). We identified one risk haplotype (GGGG;
P
=0.017) and one protective haplotype (AAAA;
P
=0.007) for development of CAD. Further analysis suggested that the SNPs probably confer susceptibility to CAD in a dominance model (covariates-adjusted
P
=0.001 to 0.024; OR=2.37 to 1.54). This represents the first study that expands association of these 9p21 SNPs with CAD beyond White populations.

Conclusion—

Chromosome 9p21 is an important susceptibility locus that confers high cross-race risk for development of CAD.
Treatment Pathways, Resource Use, and Costs of Endovascular Coiling Versus Surgical Clipping After aSAH
Authors: Wolstenholme Jane , Rivero-Arias Oliver , Gray Alastair , Molyneux Andrew J. , Kerr Richard S.C. , Yarnold Julia A. , Sneade Mary
Published: November 2007

Background and Purpose—

The International Subarachnoid Aneurysm Trial (ISAT) reported that endovascular coiling yields better clinical outcomes than surgical clipping at 1 year. The high cost of the consumables associated with the endovascular coiling procedure (particularly the coils) led health care purchasers to conclude that coiling was a more costly procedure overall. To examine this assumption and provide evidence for future policy, accurate and comprehensive data are required on the overall resource usage and cost of each strategy.

Methods—

We provide detailed results of patient treatment pathways, resource utilization, and costs up to 24 months postrandomization for endovascular and neurosurgical treatment of aSAH. We report data on costs related to initial and subsequent procedures (ward days, ITU, equipment, staff, consumables, etc), adverse events, complications, and follow up. The data are based on a subsample of all patients randomized in ISAT, containing all patients across 22 UK centers (n=1644).

Results—

There was a nonsignificant difference −£1740 (−£3582 to £32) in the total 12-month cost of treatment in favor of endovascular treatment. Endovascular patients had higher costs than neurosurgical patients for the initial procedure, for the number and length of stay of subsequent procedures, and for follow-up angiograms. These were more than offset by lower costs related to length of stay for the initial procedure. In the following 12- to 24-month period, costs for subsequent procedures, angiograms, complications, and adverse events were greater for the endovascular patients, reducing the difference in total per patient cost to −£1228 (−£3199 to £786) over the first 24 months of follow-up.

Conclusions—

No significant difference in costs between the endovascular and neurosurgery groups existed at 12- or 24-month follow up.
Experimental Model of Lacunar Infarction in the Gyrencephalic Brain of the Miniature Pig
Authors: Tanaka Yukitaka , Imai Hideaki , Konno Kenjiro , Miyagishima Takaaki , Kubota Chisato , Puentes Sandra , Aoki Takeo , Hata Hidekazu , Takata Kuniaki , Yoshimoto Yuhei , Saito Nobuhito
Published: November 2007

Background and Purpose—

Lacunar infarction accounts for 25% of ischemic strokes, but the pathological characteristics have not been investigated systematically. A new experimental model of lacunar infarction in the miniature pig was developed to investigate the pathophysiological changes in the corticospinal tract from the acute to chronic phases.

Methods—

Thirty-five miniature pigs underwent transcranial surgery for permanent anterior choroidal artery occlusion. Animals recovered for 24 hours (n=7), 2 (n=5), 3 (n=2), 4 (n=2), 6 (n=1), 7 (n=7), 8 (n=2), and 9 days (n=1), 2 weeks (n=2), 4 weeks (n=3), and more than 4 weeks (n=3). Neurology, electrophysiology, histology, and MRI were performed. Seven additional miniature pigs underwent transient anterior choroidal artery occlusion to study muscle motor-evoked potentials and evaluate corticospinal tract function during transient anterior choroidal artery occlusion.

Results—

The protocol had a 91.4% success rate in induction of internal capsule infarction 286±153 mm
3
(mean±SD). Motor-evoked potentials revealed the presence of penumbral tissue in the internal capsule after 6 to 15 minutes anterior choroidal artery occlusion. Total neurological deficit scores of 15.0 (95% CI, 13.5 to 16.4) and 3.4 (0.3 to 6.4) were recorded for permanent anterior choroidal artery occlusion and sham groups, respectively (
P
<0.001, maximum score 25) with motor deficit scores of 3.4 (95% CI, 2.9 to 4.0) and 0.0 (CI, 0.0 to 0.0), respectively (
P
<0.001, maximum score 9). Histology revealed that the internal capsule lesion expands gradually from acute to chronic phases.

Conclusions—

This new model of lacunar infarction induces a reproducible infarct in subcortical white matter with a measurable functional deficit and evidence of penumbral tissue acutely.
Handicap and Its Determinants of Change in Stroke Survivors
Authors: Lo Raymond S.K. , Cheng Joanna O.Y. , Wong Eric M.C. , Tang Wai Kwong , Wong Lawrence K.S. , Woo Jean , Kwok Timothy
Published: November 2007

Background and Purpose—

Stroke, a major health issue affecting the elderly, limits their participation in society. The aim of this study was to investigate changes in stroke survivors’ handicap levels and to identify their determinants in the subacute phase from 3 months to 1 year.

Methods—

Data were collected from a prospective cohort of 303 Chinese stroke survivors with the use of questionnaires, including the Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living–Chinese Version (IADL-CV), Barthel Index, Chinese Mini-Mental State Examination, Chinese Geriatric Depression Scale, and the Chinese version of the London Handicap Scale.

Results—

A total of 297 and 268 patients were successfully followed up at 6 and 12 months, respectively. Whereas IADL remained unchanged throughout, we found an improvement in Barthel Index but a deterioration in the Chinese Geriatric Depression Scale score at 12 months. Multilevel modeling revealed improvements in the mobility and social integration handicap domains and a deterioration in the orientation domain at 12 months. Overall handicap remained unchanged. At 12 months, depression was most significantly and independently associated with poststroke handicap, and advanced old age alone (>80 years) was associated with clinically significant deterioration in handicap.

Conclusions—

Even though IADL remained static at 1 year, mobility and social integration handicap dimensions can be improved in the early community phase after stroke. Nonphysical factors such as depression were confirmed to be significantly associated with handicap. Rehabilitation should target the high-risk group of very elderly stroke survivors who were 4 times more likely to deteriorate in handicap.
Change in Hemostatic Markers After Recombinant Tissue-Type Plasminogen Activator Is Not Associated With the Chance of Recanalization
Authors: Martí-Fàbregas Joan , Borrell Montserrat , Cocho Dolores , Martínez-Ramírez Sergi , Martínez-Corral Mercè , Fontcuberta Jordi , Martí-Vilalta Josep-Lluis
Published: November 2007

Background and Purpose—

We evaluated the association between recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator recanalization and change in hemostatic markers.

Methods—

We studied 40 patients. Recanalization was measured with transcranial Doppler. We evaluated the change in markers of coagulation (fibrinogen) and fibrinolysis (thrombin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor and α
2
-antiplasmin) in patients with ischemic stroke treated with recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator. Samples were obtained before and 90 minutes after recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator infusion.

Results—

The analyses (2-way analysis of variance) showed that the change in the value of each marker did not depend on the vascular patency status.

Conclusion—

From a practical point of view, the measurement of these hemostatic markers is probably not useful for predicting recanalization.
Evolution of Neurological, Neuropsychological and Sleep-Wake Disturbances After Paramedian Thalamic Stroke
Authors: Hermann Dirk M. , Siccoli Massimiliano , Brugger Peter , Wachter Karen , Mathis Johannes , Achermann Peter , Bassetti Claudio L.
Published: November 2007

Background and Purpose—

The clinical features and natural course of paramedian thalamic stroke is poorly known. The aim of this study was to characterize the evolution of neurological, neuropsychological, and sleep–wake deficits after paramedian thalamic stroke.

Methods—

Forty-six consecutive patients, aged 48.4±16.6 years, were studied. Fourteen had bilateral, 16 left-sided, and 16 right-sided lesions. Assessment included neurological examinations, estimation of sleep needs, formal neuropsychological tests (n=27), and polysomnographies (n=31). Functional outcome was followed up over 1 year in 31 patients with the modified Rankin Scale and Barthel index.

Results—

Oculomotor palsy (76% of patients), mild gait ataxia (67%), deficits of attention (63%), fluency and error control (59%), learning and memory (67%), and behavior (67%) were common in the acute stroke phase. Outcome was excellent with right-sided infarcts but mostly incomplete with bilateral and left-sided lesions. This was mainly related to persistent frontal lobe-related and cognitive deficits found in 100% bilateral and 90% left-sided, but only 33% right-sided strokes. Initially, hypersomnia was present in all patients associated with increased stage 1 sleep, reduced stage 2 sleep, and reduced sleep spindles. Sleep needs improved in patients with bilateral and almost disappeared with unilateral lesions after 1 year. Sleep architecture remained abnormal with the exception of sleep spindles that increased.

Conclusions—

Whereas neurological deficits and hypersomnia recover to large extent in patients with paramedian thalamic stroke, the frontal lobe-related and cognitive deficits, which are mainly linked with bilateral and left-sided lesions, often persist. As such, stroke outcome is better in right-sided than bilateral or left-sided infarcts.
Predictors of Rehemorrhage After Treatment of Ruptured Intracranial Aneurysms
Authors: Johnston S. Claiborne , Dowd Christopher F. , Higashida Randall T. , Lawton Michael T. , Duckwiler Gary R. , Gress Daryl R.
Published: November 2007

Background and Purpose—

The primary purpose of intracranial aneurysm treatment is to prevent rupture. Risk factors for rupture after aneurysm treatment have not been clearly established, and the need to completely occlude aneurysms is debated.

Methods—

The Cerebral Aneurysm Rerupture After Treatment (CARAT) study is an ambidirectional cohort study of all patients with ruptured intracranial aneurysms treated with coil embolization or surgical clipping at 9 high-volume centers in the United States from 1996 to 1998. All subjects were followed through 2005, and all potential reruptures were adjudicated by a panel of 3 specialists without knowledge of the initial treatment or aneurysm characteristics. Degree of aneurysm occlusion post-treatment was evaluated as a predictor of nonprocedural rerupture in univariate Kaplan–Meier analysis (log-rank test) and in a Cox proportional-hazards model after adjustment for potential confounders and censoring at time of retreatment.

Results—

Among 1001 patients during a mean of 4.0 years follow-up, there were 19 postprocedural reruptures; median time to rerupture was 3 days and 58% led to death. The degree of aneurysm occlusion after treatment was strongly associated with risk of rerupture (overall risk: 1.1% for complete occlusion, 2.9% for 91% to 99% occlusion, 5.9% for 70% to 90%, 17.6% for <70%;
P
<0.0001 in univariate and multivariable analysis). Overall risk of rerupture tended to be greater after coil embolization compared with surgical clipping (3.4% versus 1.3%;
P
=0.092), but the difference did not persist after adjustment (
P
=0.83).

Conclusions—

Degree of aneurysm occlusion after the initial treatment is a strong predictor of the risk of subsequent rupture in patients presenting with subarachnoid hemorrhage, which justifies attempts to completely occlude aneurysms.
Empire and Nation in Comparative Perspective: Frontier Administration in Eighteenth-Century China
Authors: Perdue Peter C.
Published: November 2007

R. Bin Wong espouses the principle of symmetry in comparative analysis.35 If we are to view China through European eyes, we should equally view Europe through Chinese eyes. This leads him to develop new perspectives on both regions. What is a major focus of attention in one society may only be a minor key in another. Even though the repertory of human perceptions, administrative structures, or economic modes of production is finite, different forms take prominence in different places. What happens if we apply, even crudely, the principle of symmetry to the Qing-Ottoman comparison? An Ottoman administrator looking at the Qing would find much that was strangely familiar. The Mongolian jasak confirmed lands by the Qing look very much like yurts, "summer and winter pasturelands the limits of which were determined and were entered in the imperial registers. "36 The "feudatories" of the early Qing [sanfan] were large-scale timars. Both were grants of large territories to provincial military rulers in return for service to the state. And coerced population movements [sürgün] were prominent features of the Ottoman and Qing states.37 Both of these states, during times of expansion and conquest, chose analogous methods of controlling the newly incorporated populations. For administering conquered nomads, it was convenient to
Prophets and Profits: Gendered and Generational Visions of Wealth and Value in Senegalese Murid Households1
Authors: Buggenhagen Beth Anne
Published: November 2007

This paper analyzes the disjuncture between the projected prosperity of male migrant traders of the Murid Sufi order and the actual ability of these traders to maintain the social relations that engender wealth. I focus on an exchange of bridewealth that ultimately resulted in a collapsed marriage to show how households are made and unmade across time and space by diasporic practices. I aim to show how two decades of neoliberal reform in Senegal have had unintended consequences for the prospects of social production. The movement of male traders into transnational trade networks to shore up a stagnant local economy and to reproduce the social and moral order has unanticipated consequences for women's authority. Women claim male earnings not only to run the household, but also to finance the family ceremonies-baptisms, marriages and funerals-and the social payments that accompany these occasions. Women also seek commodities obtained through male trade to exchange in life-cycle rituals. For women, foreign commodities, rather than undermining the production of blood ties, are the very means of making those ties a social fact. In Murid families, the rejuvenation of domestic rituals through access to male earnings abroad sets in motion the production of women-headed households and ultimately of lineages.
Of Spirit Possession and Structural Adjustment Programs: Government Downsizing, Education and Their Enchantments in Neo-Liberal Kenya
Authors: Smith James H.
Published: November 2007

This article analyzes a case of possession by spirit familiars (majini) among female students of a primary school in the Taita/Taveta District of Kenya. I explore the symbolic and historical significance of majini among the people of Taita (Wataita), examining in particular the homology among local conceptions of majini and local conceptions of money. I argue that the idea of majini has long reflected the discontents of the particular modernity that emerged in late colonial and post-colonial Taita society: in particular, the social fact of local reliance on the money earned in urban labor markets and acquired from cash crop production. Then, as now, social criticism about commercial exchange and the atrophy of relations and obligations of blood was framed in terms of gender conflict, just as debates about appropriate gender roles reflected local preoccupation with broader social-cultural transformations. I end by arguing that, if majini once expressed the insufficiencies and cruelties of modernity's articulations, the recent possession incidents speak to the unmaking of Taita modernity in the wake of global transformations associated with economic liberalization.
Useful Foils: Lessons Learned From Jews in John Wyclif's Call for Church Reform
Authors: Levy Ian Christopher
Published: November 2007

As an ardent advocate for Church reform in the late fourteenth century, John Wyclif found in Jewish history and practices a wealth of material upon which to draw when chastising the present Christian clerical class. Wyclif likens modern friars and prelates to the Jews of the Bible, and concludes that in their avarice and zeal for unscriptural human traditions they have in fact have proven themselves even greater enemies of Christ than the Jews themselves. Though Jews are consistently used as foils, they are not the recipients of gratuitous epithets. Noteworthy is the fact that Wyclif most often employs the term perfidia when speaking of Christian clerics rather than Jews. When he does speak of avarice, treachery, and murder on the part of the Jews those occasions are largely limited to the clerical class, and then in an effort to admonish the Christian clergy of his own day. As Wyclif read the New Testament accounts of Christ and the apostles, thereby forming his vision of an ideal Church, so he read of their adversaries and accepts them as the model for all who oppose his idealized Church.
The first English and the first Dutch printer's manual: a comparison
Authors: Janssen Frans A.
Published: November 2007

Joseph Moxon's Mechanick exercises on the whole art of printing (1683-4) and David Wardenaar's Beschrijving der boekdrukkunst (1801) are the oldest printer's manuals for their respective language areas, whereby it must be noted that the English manual was disseminated in printed form, while the Dutch work has only been preserved in manuscript (annotated edition: 1982, 2nd edn. 1986). More than a century separates these two manuals, but the geographical distance is limited as Moxon (who spent some years in the Dutch printing world) regularly refers to Dutch techniques and practices. Except correspondences between the two manuals there are also many differences, the result amongst other things of the various backgrounds of the authors. Moxon - gentleman-printer and 'encyclopedian' - offers a purely technical description of the art of printing, while his Dutch colleague-employee (compositor, later overseer) - also attends to socio-economic aspects. Both the differences as well as the correspondences of the two manuals lead to the conclusion that a printer's manual does not reflect 'a definite' reality, which implies a warning with respect to the use made of this type of source by book historians.
Aristotle, Dynamics and Proportionality
Authors: Gregory Andrew
Published: November 2007

What ought we to make of Aristotle's apparently disparate comments on bodies in motion? I argue that Aristotle is concerned with a higher level project than dynamics and that is the establishment of a coherent theory of change in general. This theory is designed to avoid the paradoxes and infinities that Aristotle finds in Eleatic, Heraclitean and atomist accounts, notably in relation to comparatives such as 'quicker' and 'slower'. This theory relies on a broad application of proportionality to all types of change, not merely those we would label 'dynamics'. To support this I argue that Aristotle denied the existence of the void and the possibility of instantaneous change, and that he could accommodate 'threshold' changes within his scheme. If this is so, then the aims of Aristotle's comments on motion become more comprehensible, and it will be understandable why Aristotle was more concerned with the application of proportionality in general rather with the investigation of specific cases in dynamics.
The Impact of Ockham's Reading of the Physics On the Mertonians and Parisian Terminists
Authors: Goddu André
Published: November 2007

This article summarizes Ockham's interpretation of Aristotle's categories, showing how his account of connotative concepts introduced a revision in the Aristotelian doctrine about the relation between mathematics and physics. The article shows that Ockham's account influenced William of Heytesbury, John Dumbleton, and Nicholas Oresme to re-interpret disciplinary relations and disciplinary boundaries. They did so, however, in ways compatible with other basic principles of Aristotelian philosophy of nature; nevertheless, their modifications of the Aristotelian account of mathematics stimulated later philosophers to construct robust theories of mathematics compatible with modern mathematical physics.
The Relationship between Personality and Religion among Undergraduate Students in Germany
Authors: Francis Leslie J. , Ziebertz Hans-Georg , Lewis Christopher Alan
Published: November 2007

A sample of 311 undergraduate students in Germany completed German translations of the short form Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire together with the Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity. The data demonstrated that psychoticism is fundamental to individual differences in religiosity, while religiosity is independent of both extraversion and neuroticism. These findings are consistent with those from a series of studies employing the same measure of religiosity among school pupils, students and adults in the UK.
On the Relationship between Religiosity and Life Meaningfulness
Authors: Halama Peter
Published: November 2007

Both psychologists of religion and psychologists dealing with meaning in life confirm interaction between religiosity and life meaningfulness. This study deals with the question of which dimensions or aspects of religion are related to a sense of life meaningfulness. 104 students of Catholic grammar schools (aged 17 to 19) were given a set of questionnaires containing measures of meaningfulness (Personal Meaning Index and Life Meaningfulness Scale) and different religiosity dimensions (internal, external, quest, significance, orthodoxy, mature religiosity). Correlation analysis of religion dimension scores and all individual items within these dimensions with meaning measures showed that connecting religiosity with life meaningfulness involves: considering religion as very important in one's own life, active effort to transfer religious beliefs into daily behaviour and decisions, commitment to religious beliefs and activities, and receiving support and reassurance from religion.
Recent Movements in Pastoral Theology
Authors: De Jong Van Arkel Jan
Published: November 2007

The article maps the major trends and movements in the field of pastoral care and counselling and pastoral theology during the last ten years as they are reflected in publications. The areas which receive focused attention are the influence of and response to postmodern culture; renewed interest in ethical problems and the way these are attended to; the phenomenal contributions by feminist and womanist pastoral theologians; the much more prominent use of theological language rather than psychological jargon; renewed interest in the importance of pastoral anthropology; the recurring theme of spirituality; the attention given to the communal and contextual aspects of pastoral work; the effort to recognise the importance of making provision for congregational pastoral counselling; and the new emphasis on narrative and outcomes-based models of pastoral counselling. A model is proposed for pastoral work which recognises four distinct forms of care: mutual care, pastoral care, pastoral counselling and pastoral therapy.
Philosophische Und Theologische Grundprobleme Beim Verstehen Des Südafrikanischen Versöhnungsprozesses
Authors: Wüstenberg Ralf K.
Published: November 2007

In this article the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is evaluated against three main criticisms. The first concerns the conception of truth underlying the work of the TRC. The second concerns the difficult issue of reconciliation and its concomitant manifestations of amnesty and forgiveness. The third criticism concerns the question about the nature of the justice established through the work of the TRC. This is then theologically evaluated with reference to the work of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Dietrich Ritschl.
Africism. a Response To the Onomastic Plight of African Religion
Authors: Lugira Aloysius M.
Published: November 2007

For many centuries the autochthonal religion of African peoples have been subjected to a variety of misnomers. This has resulted in the fact of the marginalization of the religions ofAfricans. This paper aims at sensitizing the reader about the issue in order to help check the perpetuation of such marginalization of the religion ofAfrica. In our time, notable personalities and institutions interested in world religions and interreligious dialogue, have expressed the need of an appropriately consolidated and objective designation for the autochthonal religion of Africa. This paper submits that an objectively and creatively established name can be arrived at by a geo-ontological approach. As we turn a new leaf in a new millennium, Africism is hereby submitted as the appropriately consolidated and objective name of the essence and manifestations of the autochthonal religion of Africa.
Mapping Current South African Jesus Research: the Schweitzerstrasse, the Wredebahn and Cultural Bundubashing
Authors: Craffert Pieter F.
Published: November 2007

Wright'.s well-known distinction between the Schweitzerstrasse (the third questers) and the Wredebahn (the Jesus Seminar) in historical Jesus research is supplemented by a third approach, referred to as cultural bundubashing, which describes an interpretive, interdisciplinary and cross-cultural approach to historiography. An analytical distinction is made between these three trends which, like the roads in South Africa: toll roads (the Wredebahn), alternative routes (the Schweltzerstrasse) and off-road travelling (cultural bundubashing), offer divergent driving experiences, alternative perspectives on the same scenery and often unique features and scenes. Current South African contributions to historical Jesus research are mapped according to this grid.
The Seduction of Self-Control: Hermas and the Problem of Desire
Authors: Wudel B. Diane
Published: November 2007

In both narrative passages and ethical precepts, the early Christian text The Shepherd of Hermas places great emphasis on the virtue of enkrateia, self-control or self-restraint. At the same time, surprisingly erotic elements appear, beginning with an opening scene in which Hermas observes a woman of beauty and character emerging from her bath. Epithumia, desire, is immediately problematized. Though the text?s continuing interplay between motifs of desire and self-restraint at times seems clumsy, one can argue that it is nevertheless coherent and linked to the text?s depiction of masculinity. In the end, The Shepherd of Hermas seems to narrate the key task in Christian self-formation not as the suppression or repression of desire, but as the exercise of techniques of self scrutiny that lead to the seductions of self-control, the luxuriousness of virtue, the manly surrender to holy desire.
Current Debates On Biblical Hermeneutics in South Africa and the Postcolonial Matrix1
Authors: Punt Jeremy
Published: November 2007

Postcolonial studies would seem to offer many advantages for academic and other discourses within and about post-apartheid South African society, including new, broad hermeneutical perspectives for biblical studies. Indeed, a number of current scholarly debates in South African biblical studies are related to the postcolonial paradigm: the tension between African versus Western readings, 'ordinary' versus 'trained' readings, and nationalist versus hybridical readings. juxtaposing some postcolonial biblical-critical voices and these debates is valuable in accounting for many of the important concerns that postcolonial readings raise, showing the significance and value of postcolonial studies, but is also important in the renewed attention to an appropriate ethics of interpretation in the biblical studies guild.
The Attitudes of University Students towards Non-native Speakers English Teachers in Hong Kong
Authors: Ling Cheung Yin , Braine George
Published: November 2007

■ Although non-native speakers (NNS) English teachers have taught alongside native speaker (NS) teachers for centuries, studies on the effectiveness of NNS teachers, their self-perceptions, or the attitudes of students towards these teachers, have only been conducted recently. Most of these studies have been conducted in the USA in ESL contexts. However, the majority of students worldwide learn English in foreign language (EFL) contexts, and, consequently, most English teachers work in such contexts too. This paper reports on a study conducted in Hong Kong which investigated the attitudes of university students towards their NNS English teachers. The students were queried through a questionnaire and interviews. On the whole, the students had a favorable attitude towards their NNS English teachers, although some shortcomings were indicated. Third (final) year students appeared to have a more favorable attitude than first year students. The reasons for the students' attitudes are discussed.
Power and Disagreement
Authors: Walkinshaw Ian
Published: November 2007

■ This paper reports on a study of disagreement strategies used by Japanese learners of English (JLEs) studying at language schools in New Zealand. The study stemmed from an observation that JLEs were unwilling to express disagreements in exchanges with high-power (+P) interlocutors, possibly due to the threat of face-loss and the consequences of offending a +P interlocutor.

Two questions were considered:

(1) How did the JLEs perceive power distance between themselves and native speakers (NSs), and how did this affect their selection of disagreement strategies with NS interlocutors?

(2) How might their perception of power distance affect how they learned disagreement strategies?

Data was collected from 12 JLEs using a discourse completion task, a series of role-plays and a weekly task sheet. The data revealed that, though the participants were capable of disagreeing with power-equals, they were reluctant to disagree with +P interlocutors. In symmetrical exchanges they employed extended, relatively complex disagreeing strategies, but in power-unequal exchanges they often used short, previously-internalized strategies. The JLEs regarded teachers as power-unequal interlocutors, and consequently they often avoided classroom disagreements, potentially reducing their opportunities to learn and rehearse approaches to disagreement.
Motivational Orientations in Under-researched FLL Contexts
Authors: Bradford Annette
Published: November 2007

■ This study explores Indonesian university students' motivational orientations toward learning English as a foreign language. 168 students responded to a questionnaire concerning their reasons for choosing to study English. Factor analysis of the data revealed 11 independent orientations. This supports discourse arguing for a multi-factorial view of orientations in foreign language learning. The lack of correlation between the orientations, and the contextual bias of their definitions, imply that larger motivational subsystems are not valid in this context. The students strongly endorsed orientations pertaining to pragmatic reasons for studying English, and were almost neutral toward identifying with native English speakers. Comparison of these findings with those reported previously in Asia revealed significant, but incomplete, overlap.
Support for Foreign Language Listeners
Authors: Chang Anna Ching-Shyang , Read John
Published: November 2007

■ The assessment of listening comprehension in a second language has received relatively little attention until recently. This study investigated the effectiveness of providing different types of listening support for learners in a foreign language environment with a low level of English proficiency. The research was conducted with 140 students taking an English listening course at a college in Taiwan. The participants took sections of a listening test under four different conditions. Two of the conditions provided support in the form of either a set of pictures or a written background text. The third condition was a repetition of the test input, whereas the fourth one was simply no type of support. After the test, the participants completed a short questionnaire and some of them were also interviewed. According to the results, repeating the input was the most effective treatment, followed by having visual and textual support. However, the limits of the learners' English competence meant that all of the types of support could improve their comprehension only to a certain degree. Nevertheless, the provision of appropriate support may motivate foreign language learners to improve their listening proficiency by making adequate comprehension more attainable for them.
Association Meeting Participation: A Test of Competing Models
Authors: Lee Myong Jae , Back Ki-Joon
Published: November 2007

Understanding association meeting participation is increasingly important to destination marketers and meeting planners. This study develops and tests three competing models of conference participation. Using structural equation modeling, the results reveal that all three models provide theoretical bases for understanding meeting participation behavior. A fuller understanding of meeting participation is achieved by adding two domain-specific variables: destination image and past experience.
Channel Performance in Multichannel Tourism Distribution Systems
Authors: Pearce Douglas G. , Taniguchi Mei
Published: November 2007

This article addresses the issue of channel performance in multichannel tourism distribution systems involving a mix of direct and indirect channels. It focuses on one major component of channel performance, net revenue generated. The article outlines a comprehensive and systematic methodology for measuring net revenues across multiple distribution channels, discusses the challenges involved and suggests how these might be overcome. The empirical results for a range of attractions and accommodation businesses in New Zealand are then analyzed. These show substantial variations may occur in net revenue across the different channels. Differences are found in the structure of channel costs with staff costs being particularly important. The managerial implications of the results obtained are discussed.