bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Financial Contracts and the Political Economy of Investor Protection
Authors: Ševčík Pavel
Published: September 2012

This paper studies the joint dynamics of investor protection and economic development in a political economy model with capital accumulation and occupational choice. Less investor protection implies higher costs of external financing for entrepreneurs. This excludes poorer agents from entrepreneurship, increasing the profits of the remaining entrepreneurs. The main determinants of investor protection policy preferences are the agent's net worth and the expected return from entrepreneurship. When the policy is chosen by the simple majority rule, the model generates several implications consistent with the observed variation of investor protection over time and across countries. (JEL D72, E22, E32, G18, G38, J24, L26)
Evidence on the Incidence of Wage Posting, Wage Bargaining, and On-the-Job Search
Authors: Hall Robert E , Krueger Alan B
Published: September 2012

Some workers bargain with prospective employers before accepting a job. Others face a posted wage as a take-it-or-leave-it opportunity. Both modes of wage determination have generated large bodies of research. We surveyed a representative sample of US workers to inquire about the wage determination process at the time they were hired into their current or most recent jobs. A third of the respondents reported bargaining over pay before accepting their current jobs. Almost a third of workers had precise information about pay when they first met with their employers, a sign of wage posting. About 40 percent of workers were on-the-job searchers—they could have remained at their earlier jobs at the time they accepted their current jobs, indicating a more favorable bargaining position than is held by unemployed job-seekers. About half of all workers reported that their employers had learned their pay in their earlier jobs before making the offer that led to the current job. (JEL C83, J31, J52, J64)
Home Equity Lending and Retail Spending: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Texas
Authors: Abdallah Chadi S , Lastrapes William D
Published: September 2012

We estimate how spending in Texas responded to a 1997 constitutional amendment that relaxed severe restrictions on home equity lending. We use this event as a natural experiment to estimate the importance of credit constraints. If households are credit-constrained, such an increase in credit availability will increase their spending. We find that Texas retail sales at the county and state levels increased significantly after the amendment, lending support to the credit-constraint hypothesis. We confirm these findings and refine our interpretation of the estimated aggregate-level responses using household-level data on home equity loans. (JEL D14, E21, G21, G28)
Smoking affects mRNA expression of bone morphogenetic proteins in human periosteum
Authors: Chassanidis C. G. , Malizos K. N. , Varitimidis S. , Samara S. , Koromila T. , Kollia P. , Dailiana Z.
Published: September 2012

Periosteum is important for bone homoeostasis through the release of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) and their effect on osteoprogenitor cells. Smoking has an adverse effect on fracture healing and bone regeneration. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of smoking on the expression of the BMPs of human periosteum. Real-time polymerase chain reaction was performed for BMP-2,-4,-6,-7 gene expression in periosteal samples obtained from 45 fractured bones (19 smokers, 26 non-smokers) and 60 non-fractured bones (21 smokers, 39 non-smokers). A hierarchical model of BMP gene expression (BMP-2 > BMP-6 > BMP-4 > BMP-7) was demonstrated in all samples. When smokers and non-smokers were compared, a remarkable reduction in the gene expression of BMP-2, -4 and -6 was noticed in smokers. The comparison of fracture and non-fracture groups demonstrated a higher gene expression of BMP-2, -4 and -7 in the non-fracture samples. Within the subgroups (fracture and non-fracture), BMP gene expression in smokers was either lower but without statistical significance in the majority of BMPs, or similar to that in non-smokers with regard to BMP-4 in fracture and BMP-7 in non-fracture samples. In smokers, BMP gene expression of human periosteum was reduced, demonstrating the effect of smoking at the molecular level by reduction of mRNA transcription of periosteal BMPs. Among the BMPs studied, BMP-2 gene expression was significantly higher, highlighting its role in bone homoeostasis.
Early micromovement of the Articular Surface Replacement (ASR) femoral component
Authors: Penny J. O. , Ding M. , Varmarken J. E. , Ovesen O. , Overgaard S.
Published: September 2012

Radiostereometric analysis (RSA) can detect early micromovement in unstable implant designs which are likely subsequently to have a high failure rate. In 2010, the Articular Surface Replacement (ASR) was withdrawn because of a high failure rate. In 19 ASR femoral components, the mean micromovement over the first two years after implantation was 0.107 mm (sd 0.513) laterally, 0.055 mm (sd 0.204) distally and 0.150 mm (sd 0.413) anteriorly. The mean backward tilt around the x-axis was -0.08° (sd 1.088), mean internal rotation was 0.165° (sd 0.924) and mean varus tilt 0.238° (sd 0.420). The baseline to two-year varus tilt was statistically significant from zero movement, but there was no significant movement from one year onwards.

We conclude that the ASR femoral component achieves initial stability and that early migration is not the mode of failure for this resurfacing arthroplasty.
Exam Corner – October 2012
Authors: Khanduja V.
Published: September 2012

The FRCS (Tr & Orth) examination has three components: MCQs, Vivas and Clinical Examination. The Vivas are further divided into four sections comprising Basic Science, Adult Pathology, Hands and Children’s Orthopaedics and Trauma. The Clinical Examination section is divided into Upper and Lower limb cases. The aim of this section in the Journal is to focus specifically on the trainees preparing for the exam and to cater to all the sections of the exam. The vision is to complete the cycle of all relevant exam topics (as per the syllabus) in four years.
Correlating the deep inferior epigastric artery branching pattern with type of abdominal free flap performed in a series of 145 breast reconstruction patients
Authors: Molina AR , Jones ME , Hazari A , Francis I , Nduka C
Published: September 2012

INTRODUCTION

The deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flap is currently viewed as the gold standard in autologous breast reconstruction. We studied three-dimensional computed tomography angiography (CTA) in 145 patients undergoing free abdominal flap breast reconstruction to try to correlate deep inferior epigastric artery (DIEA) branching pattern with the type of flap performed and patient outcome. Today, reconstructive breast surgeons have become more experienced in raising DIEP flaps and operative times are becoming more acceptable. However, there remains significant interest in finding ways to aid this challenging dissection.

METHODS

We retrospectively evaluated consecutive patients between January 2007 and August 2008. CTAs were analysed using the Moon and Taylor (1988) classification of the DIEA branching pattern. Data gathered included pre-operative morbidity, type of abdominal wall free flap performed, length of operation, length of stay and complications.

RESULTS

Some 150 breast reconstructions were performed in 145 patients. There were 67 DIEP flaps, 69 MS-2 transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous (TRAM) flaps and 14 MS-1 TRAM flaps (where MS-1 spares the lateral muscle and MS-2 spares both lateral and medial segments). Proportionally more DIEP flaps were performed in patients with a type 2 branching pattern. There was one flap loss (0.67%).

CONCLUSIONS

In this large CTA series, we found a type 1 (single artery) DIEA pattern most frequently, in contrast to the predominance of the type 2 bifurcating pattern observed previously. The higher proportion of DIEP flaps performed in the type 2 pattern patients is consistent with the documented shorter intramuscular course in this group. We have found CTA useful for faster selection of the best hemiabdomen for dissection and flap loss rates in our unit have reduced from 1.5% to 0.67%.
Ureteric stricture: an unusual presentation of metastatic prostate adenocarcinoma
Authors: Jallad S , Turo R , Kimuli M , Smith J , Jain S
Published: September 2012

We describe an unusual case of a prostatic adenocarcinoma presenting with a ureteric stricture secondary to a discrete metastatic lesion. A 76-year-old man presented with a short history of right loin pain. Initial examination was unremarkable, digital rectal examination was normal and prostate specific antigen was within normal range. Computed tomography showed right hydronephrosis and a distal ureteric stricture. A distal ureteric transitional cell carcinoma was thought to be most likely. A nephroureterectomy was carried out and histology revealed a skipped lesion of a metastatic prostate adenocarcinoma. Metastatic lesions to the ureters due to prostate cancer are rare. It was believed to be secondary to a transitional cell carcinoma as there was no evidence initially to suggest prostatic disease as the cause. A prostatic adenocarcinoma should be considered in the differential diagnosis of any lesions in the ureter believed to have a malignant origin.
Improving Core Surgical Training in Plastic Surgery
Authors: Gilleard O , Segaren N , Markeson D , Uppal R , Tavsanoglu Y , Jones M , Leon-Villapalos V , Colville RJI
Published: September 2012

Since the introduction of the European Working Time Regulations (EWTR) and Modernising Medical Careers (MMC), concerns have been raised regarding the quality of early surgical training. Recurring issues include the lack of time spent in the operating theatre and outpatient clinic with increased time spent on service provision. As a means of restoring the quality of early surgical training, the Joint Committee on Surgical Training (JCST) has devised a set of SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time-framed) standards to be met by core surgical trainees (CSTs). These include the following scheduled weekly activities: four half-day sessions (18 hours) supervised in the operating theatre, one half-day session (4.5 hours) in supervised outpatient clinics and two hours of structured teaching.
Innovation, patient safety and a great human being
Authors: Williams Norman
Published: September 2012

There can be few individuals who do not regard the London Olympics as a triumph. The country showed that it had the capacity to deliver the largest and most prestigious international sporting event with tremendous panache, enterprise and efficiency.
Circulating 5α-dihydrotestosterone, abdominal obesity and adipocyte characteristics in women
Authors: Côté Julie A. , Lessard Julie , Mailloux Jacques , Laberge Philippe , Rhéaume Caroline , Tchernof André
Published: September 2012

Background: The association between circulating androgen levels and fat distribution in women has been widely inconsistent among existing studies.

Objective: We sought to investigate the relation between plasma adrenal and gonadal androgen levels and body fat distribution, as well as abdominal adipocyte characteristics.

Methods: Paired omental and subcutaneous adipose tissue samples were surgically obtained from 60 women (age, 47±5 years; body mass index, 26±5 kg/m2) undergoing gynecological surgery. Body composition and fat distribution were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and computed tomography, respectively. Adipocyte diameter, basal lipolysis, and heparin-releasable lipoprotein lipase activity were measured. Steroids were quantified using high-performance gas chromatography and mass spectrometry.

Results: Significant negative associations were found between plasma dihydrotestosterone (DHT) levels and total adiposity (body mass index, r=–0.35, p<0.05; fat mass, r=–0.31, p<0.05) as well as computed tomography assessments of abdominal adiposity (r=–0.30, p<0.05 and r=–0.44, p<0.005 for subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue area, respectively). The association between DHT levels and visceral adipose tissue area was independent of total body fat mass. A significant negative association was also observed between plasma DHT and omental adipocyte diameter (r=–0.27, p<0.05). When expressed as the omental/subcutaneous ratio, heparin-releasable lipoprotein lipase activity was negatively and significantly related to plasma DHT, androstenedione, and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) levels.

Conclusion: Abdominally obese women with large, metabolically active omental adipocytes appear to be characterized by reduced endogenous levels of DHT. The assumption that high androgen levels are associated with an android body fat distribution pattern in women should be critically re-examined.
IGF-I receptor phosphorylation is impaired in cathepsin X-deficient prostate cancer cells
Authors: Kraus Steffen , Fruth Maximilian , Bunsen Thea , Nägler Dorit K.
Published: September 2012

The cysteine-type peptidase cathepsin X is highly upregulated in several cancers and presumably promotes tumor invasion through bypassing cellular senescence. Here, we present first evidence that the underlying mechanism may involve the regulation of the insulin-like growth factor (IGF) system, a well-known activator of proliferating tumor cells. Cathepsin X deficiency leads to a reduced phosphorylation of the IGF-I receptor in response to IGF-I stimulation. In addition, downstream signaling through focal adhesion kinase was also affected. Taken together, our results indicate that cathepsin X is able to assist in IGF signaling, which may be an important progress toward understanding cathepsin X-dependent tumorigenesis.
Spatially Coordinated Kinase Signaling Regulates Local Axon Degeneration
Authors: Chen Mark , Maloney Janice A. , Kallop Dara Y. , Atwal Jasvinder K. , Tam Stephen J. , Baer Kristin , Kissel Holger , Kaminker Joshua S. , Lewcock Joseph W. , Weimer Robby M. , Watts Ryan J.
Published: September 2012

In addition to being a hallmark of neurodegenerative disease, axon degeneration is used during development of the nervous system to prune unwanted connections. In development, axon degeneration is tightly regulated both temporally and spatially. Here, we provide evidence that degeneration cues are transduced through various kinase pathways functioning in spatially distinct compartments to regulate axon degeneration. Intriguingly, glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK3) acts centrally, likely modulating gene expression in the cell body to regulate distally restricted axon degeneration. Through a combination of genetic and pharmacological manipulations, including the generation of an analog-sensitive kinase allele mutant mouse for GSK3β, we show that the β isoform of GSK3, not the α isoform, is essential for developmental axon pruningin vitroandin vivo. Additionally, we identify thedleu2/mir15a/16-1cluster, previously characterized as a regulator of B-cell proliferation, and the transcription factortbx6, as likely downstream effectors of GSK3β in axon degeneration.
A Critical and Cell-Autonomous Role for MeCP2 in Synaptic Scaling Up
Authors: Blackman Melissa P. , Djukic Biljana , Nelson Sacha B. , Turrigiano Gina G.
Published: September 2012

Rett syndrome (Rett) is the leading genetic cause of mental retardation in females. Most cases of Rett are caused by loss-of-function mutations in the gene coding for the transcriptional regulator methyl-CpG binding protein 2 (MeCP2), but despite much effort, it remains unclear how a loss of MeCP2 function generates the neurological deficits of Rett. Here we show that MeCP2 plays an essential and cell-autonomous role in homeostatic synaptic scaling up in response to reduced firing or reduced sensory drive in rat visual cortical pyramidal neurons. We found that acute RNAi knockdown of MeCP2 blocked synaptic scaling within targeted neocortical pyramidal neurons. Furthermore, MeCP2 knockdown decreased excitatory synapse number without affecting basal mEPSC amplitude or AMPAR accumulation at spared synapses, demonstrating that MeCP2 acts cell-autonomously to maintain both excitatory synapse number and synaptic scaling in individual neocortical neurons. Finally, we used a mouse model of Rett to show that MeCP2 loss prevents homeostatic synaptic scaling up in response to visual deprivationin vivo, demonstrating for the first time that MeCP2 loss disrupts homeostatic plasticity within the intact developing neocortex. Our results establish MeCP2 as a critical mediator of synaptic scaling and raise the possibility that some of the neurological defects of Rett arise from a disruption of homeostatic plasticity.
Ionic Current Correlations Underlie the Global Tuning of Large Numbers of Neuronal Activity Attributes
Authors: Zhao Shunbing , Golowasch Jorge
Published: September 2012

Ionic conductances in identified neurons are highly variable. This poses the crucial question of how such neurons can produce stable activity. Coexpression of ionic currents has been observed in an increasing number of neurons in different systems, suggesting that the coregulation of ionic channel expression, by thus linking their variability, may enable neurons to maintain relatively constant neuronal activity as suggested by a number of recent theoretical studies. We examine this hypothesis experimentally using the voltage- and dynamic-clamp techniques to first measure and then modify the ionic conductance levels of three currents in identified neurons of the crab pyloric network. We quantify activity by measuring 10 different attributes (oscillation period, spiking frequency, etc.), and find linear, positive and negative relationships between conductance pairs and triplets that can enable pyloric neurons to maintain activity attributes invariant. Consistent with experimental observations, some of the features most tightly regulated appear to be phase relationships of bursting activity. We conclude that covariation (and probably a tightly controlled coregulation) of ionic conductances can help neurons maintain certain attributes of neuronal activity invariant while at the same time allowing conductances to change over wide ranges in response to internal or environmental inputs and perturbations. Our results also show that neurons can tune neuronal activity globally via coordinate expression of ion currents.
Intervenção educativa sobre hipotermia: uma estratégia de ensino para aprendizagem em centro cirúrgico
Authors: Mendoza Isabel Yovana Quispe , Peniche Aparecida de Cássia Giani
Published: September 2012

Este trabalho trata-se de um estudo quase experimental aplicado em uma intervenção educativa de curta duração aos auxiliares de enfermagem do Centro Cirúrgico, cujos objetivos foram conhecer as características sociais e de formação dos auxiliares de enfermagem; identificar a diferença no conhecimento sobre hipotermia no auxiliar de enfermagem após a intervenção educativa e relacionar as ações de enfermagem às variáveis estudadas. A intervenção educativa foi efetiva, uma vez que a diferença na média das ações de enfermagem foi de 5,35 após a intervenção educativa. Entretanto, não se verificou diferença significativa das ações de enfermagem quando relacionadas às variáveis estudadas. Recomenda-se realizar estudos sobre educação nos profissionais de Enfermagem, baseado na aprendizagem significativa nas diferentes unidades.
Temperatura corporal, índice Aldrete e Kroulik e alta do paciente da Unidade de Recuperação Pós-Anestésica
Authors: Castro Fernanda Salim Ferreira de , Peniche Aparecida de Cássia Giani , Mendoza Isabel Yovana Quispe , Couto Andréa Tamancoldi
Published: September 2012

A alta do paciente da recuperação pós-anestésica (RPA) depende, dentre outros fatores, do retorno à normotermia e do escore alcançado pelo Índice de Aldrete e Kroulik. Sendo assim, o objetivo deste estudo foi verificar a relação entre o Índice de Aldrete e Kroulik e a temperatura corporal dos pacientes. O local de pesquisa foi o Hospital Universitário da Universidade de São Paulo. O cálculo amostral foi determinado por conveniência e foi constituído por 60 pacientes, entre 18 e 60 anos, submetidos à anestesia geral. Foram verificados a temperatura corporal na região timpânica e o Índice de Aldrete e Kroulik do paciente na recepção e alta da recuperação pós-anestésica. Os dados obtidos foram processados pelo pacote estatístico SPSS, com um nível de 5% de significância, e aplicaram-se o teste de Spearman e o teste de Wilcoxon. Conclui-se que não houve correlação significativa entre os dois parâmetros indicativos de alta.
Idosos com alteração cognitiva em contexto de pobreza: estudando a rede de apoio social
Authors: Brito Tábatta Renata Pereira de , Costa Reijane Salazar , Pavarini Sofia Cristina Iost
Published: September 2012

O objetivo deste trabalho foi analisar a estrutura e função das redes de apoio social de idosos com alterações cognitivas, residentes em contexto de alta e muito alta vulnerabilidade social, além de identificar associações entre as características das redes e a capacidade funcional. Os sujeitos estudados foram 38 idosos, residentes em contexto de alta e muito alta vulnerabilidade social, que apresentaram resultado no Mini Exame do Estado Mental abaixo da nota de corte. Todos os cuidados éticos foram observados. Aplicaram-se o Mini Exame do Estado Mental, o Diagrama de Escolta, o Índice de Katz e o Questionário de Pfeffer. Os resultados demonstraram que os idosos avaliados possuem rede social grande, com predomínio de integrantes no círculo interno, porém poucos integrantes desempenham papéis funcionais. Observou-se correlação entre a variável sexo e o número de integrantes das redes sociais. Não foi observada correlação significativa entre as características das redes e a capacidade funcional dos idosos.
Integralidade na percepção dos trabalhadores de uma Unidade Básica de Saúde da Família
Authors: Lima Ísis Fernanda dos Santos , Lobo Fernanda Senna , Acioli Karen Lidiane Bemfica de Oliveira , Aguiar Zenaide Neto
Published: September 2012

O objetivo deste estudo foi identificar a percepção de trabalhadores da saúde acerca do princípio da integralidade. Para isso, participaram de uma pesquisa cinco trabalhadores de uma Unidade Básica de Saúde da Família da região leste da cidade de São Paulo. Optou-se pela abordagem qualitativa por meio de entrevista e análise temática. Emergiram dos discursos três categorias: integralidade como perfil e prática dos profissionais de saúde, com ênfase na humanização do cuidado; integralidade como organização do serviço e do processo de trabalho em saúde e integralidade como integração da unidade com outros serviços de saúde. Em cada dimensão desvela-se a percepção da ausência ou presença desse princípio como norteador da atenção à saúde, problematizando-se os avanços e entraves vivenciados e os desafios da mudança do modelo assistencial.
Experiências alternativas resgatando saberes para os processos de trabalho em saúde
Authors: Oliveira Ana Karla Sousa de , Bezerra Italla Maria Pinheiro , Silva Cesar Cavalcanti da , Lima Neto Eufrásio de Andrade , Silva Ana Tereza Medeiros Cavalcanti da
Published: September 2012

O presente trabalho trata-se de um estudo descritivo de abordagem qualitativa, que objetivou compreender o processo de trabalho de enfermeiros e médicos da Estratégia Saúde da Família (ESF), do município de João Pessoa-PB, e identificar as estratégias e táticas alternativas desenvolvidas. O material foi analisado por meio da técnica de análise de discurso. Evidenciou-se a desarticulação entre os elementos do processo de trabalho aliada à possibilidade de transformação pela superação da invisibilidade dos sujeitos e seus saberes nos serviços de saúde. Conclui-se que as estratégias e táticas alternativas visualizadas constituem embrião para transformação dos processos de trabalho e superação dos modelos de atenção à saúde hegemônicos, demandando problematização contínua de concepções e práticas.
Análise das modificações vocais de repórteres na situação de ruído
Authors: Caldeira Cristina Ribeiro Paiva , Vieira Vanessa Pedrosa , Behlau Mara
Published: September 2012

OBJETIVO: Verificar e comparar a ocorrência das modificações vocais de repórteres e não-repórteres na presença de ruído mascarante. MÉTODOS:Participaram 46 sujeitos, sendo 23 repórteres e 23 não-repórteres (grupo controle), todos com audição normal. Os participantes deveriam ler um trecho de uma matéria de telejornal em três situações de escuta: sem ruído mascarante, com ruído de 50 dB, e com ruído de 90 dB. As narrações foram gravadas e submetidas à avaliação perceptivo-auditiva (realizada por uma fonoaudióloga especialista em voz) e análise acústica (medidas extraídas por meio do Software Voxmetria - CTS Informática). RESULTADOS: Com 50 dB de mascaramento, houve maior aumento nos parâmetros pitch (82,6%), loudness (91,3%) e tensão (82,6%) no grupo controle, quando este foi comparado ao grupo dos repórteres. O mesmo ocorreu com ruído de 90 dB para os parâmetros pitch (95,7%), loudness (100%) e tensão (91,3%). CONCLUSÃO: As consequências negativas do efeito Lombard ocorrem em ambos os grupos, porém, pelas respostas apresentadas, os repórteres demonstram conseguir inibir parcialmente o impacto negativo das situações de ruído, por provável estabilidade da emissão profissional e ativação de outras vias de monitoramento.
Reabilitação de déficits comunicativos pós-acidente vascular cerebral
Authors: Gindri Gigiane , Fonseca Rochele Paz
Published: September 2012

Os processamentos comunicativos discursivo, léxico-semântico, pragmático-inferencial e/ou prosódico podem apresentar-se deficitários após um acidente vascular cerebral. Esses prejuízos demandam métodos e programas de intervenção para uma reabilitação efetiva da comunicação. Neste contexto, o objetivo desta revisão sistemática foi identificar e descrever métodos utilizados para reabilitação neuropsicológica da comunicação de adultos acometidos por lesão cerebrovascular, mais especificamente, abordagens sistematizadas de intervenção para cada um dos processamentos comunicativos. Foram avaliados resumos publicados nos últimos dez anos na base de dados PubMed, utilizando palavras-chave relacionadas aos construtos reabilitação, acidente vascular cerebral (AVC) e comunicação. Para o construto comunicação foram utilizadas, ainda, palavras específicas dos quatro processamentos comunicativos. Inicialmente, foram encontrados 914 abstracts, dos quais, após exclusão dos repetidos, 460 foram analisados. Os critérios de inclusão de abstracts para análise de seus textos completos foram ser estudo empírico, ter a participação de pelo menos um indivíduo adulto pós-AVC, tratar de reabilitação da comunicação, apresentar intervenção para pelo menos um dos quatro processamentos comunicativos, ter avaliação pré e pós-tratamento, estar escrito em inglês, francês ou português, e ter sido publicado nos últimos dez anos. Apenas quatro artigos empíricos cumpriram tais critérios, sendo conduzidos predominantemente com adultos afásicos ou com aprosódia. Assim, tais achados podem ser considerados surpreendentes e alarmantes frente à escassez de estudos sistemáticos de reabilitação de componentes comunicativos. Ressalta-se a necessidade de descrição detalhada de procedimentos de intervenção com objetivos específicos para que estudos possam ser replicados, contribuindo também para a verificação do efeito do tratamento. Sugere-se que propostas de intervenção dos processamentos comunicativos sejam delineadas com bases teóricas e que sejam conduzidos e publicados estudos com este enfoque para verificação de efeito terapêutico.
Briefing: Corporate responsibility in infrastructure
Authors: Kluth Andrew
Published: September 2012

In recent years, civil engineering and related professionals have begun to appreciate that the best projects take into consideration from the outset the impacts that they will have on communities through the whole project lifecycle. This means, implicitly, that projects must be developed taking into consideration the principles of corporate responsibility (CR). In February 2010, the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) sponsored a workshop in London, building on a regional workshop held in the Midlands in 2009, to consider why CR is important to the ICE and its members; to ask what leadership the ICE should provide on CR; and to ask what guidance the ICE should expect on these issues from its members. This briefing reports on the seminar and its outcome.
Unlocking franchising to improve water services: a pilot
Authors: Wall Kevin , Bhagwan Jay , Ive Oliver
Published: September 2012

South African research has found that operations and maintenance partnerships, using the basic principles of franchising, could address many challenges in the operation and maintenance of water services. Franchising provides appropriate training and incentives to on-site personnel, and also offers backup off-site skills. Findings indicate that many opportunities lie in the franchising of suitable elements in the water services value chain, and a selection of these has been modelled. The franchising concept is being piloted with considerable success in the Eastern Cape province. Under the guidance of a franchisor, trainee franchisees are undertaking the cleaning and routine maintenance of the sanitation facilities at 400 schools. Irish Aid is funding the concept development, while the franchisees are paid by the provincial Department of Education from the normal departmental budgets for operation and maintenance. Services delivery has shown such a marked improvement that the Department is requesting rollout to a further 1000 schools.
Forecasting coverage and non-revenue water with Markov process
Authors: Mugisha Silver
Published: September 2012

This study utilises empirical data on service coverage (reflecting network expansion and new connections growth) and billing efficiency of National Water and Sewerage Corporation in Uganda (2003–2010). Markov processes were used to enhance the understanding and visualisation of explanatory factors underlying past trends as a basis for forecasting the future. Specifically, it was found that coverage (involving service up-take) and billing policies (affecting non-revenue water) may be adequate for operational purposes. However, policies can lead to a ‘less-than expected’ rate of exponential growth in the long-run, if attention is not given to associated uncertainties and explanatory factors. Sets of probability transition matrices, which present useful ‘intelligent’ forecasting properties that can be triggers for evaluating and designing infrastructure policy were derived. The study also highlights growth trends that are reminiscent of ‘absorbing’ states; such patterns characterise the achievement of policy objectives.
Briefing: Bridging academia and practice
Authors: Bell Sarah
Published: September 2012

Urban planning and design are both professional and academic disciplines. Relations between academia and the professions are rarely straightforward. Do universities exist primarily to provide basic training to prepare new graduates for the world of work, or to push the boundaries of thinking beyond currently accepted professional wisdom? Are academics leading or following practitioners? Do professional demands constrain or inspire critical and creative teaching and research? These were some of the questions addressed at a round table of academics, practitioners and ‘pracademics’ hosted by Urban Design and Planning at the recent World Planning Schools Congress in Perth, Western Australia (4–8 July 2011).
The Perils of Leukippos: Initiatory Transvestism and Male Gender Ideology in the Ekdusia at Phaistos
Authors: Leitao David D.
Published: September 2012

This article aims to interpret an annual initiation ritual celebrated in Hellenistic Phaistos (Crete), at a festival known as the Ekdusia, in which young men had to put on women's clothes and swear an oath of citizenship before they could graduate from the civic youth corps (the agela) and enter the society of adult male citizens. It begins by reconstructing the ritual and situating it within its historical and social context. It then reviews the two major theories which have been used to explain transvestism in Greek initiation-structuralist and psychological-and attempts to expose their shortcomings. The author remedies the difficulty with the structuralist approach-its focus on abstract symbols divorced from their social context-by understanding the ritual change of clothes (feminine clothes exchanged for masculine clothes) at the Ekdusia in terms of the radical gender segregation in Cretan society and the gradual transition Cretan boys made from feminine spaces to masculine spaces in both city and home. The author remedies the main problem with the psychological approach-its focus on the psychological dynamic between mother and son rather than the motivations of the rite's adult male sponsors-by looking at how adult men, particularly in modern non-Greek societies which hold initiation rites, understand male adolescent development and create rituals in accordance therewith. This comparative model shows how men in gender-segregated societies think of boys as feminine themselves and believe that their masculine development is at risk if they are not rescued from the dangerous feminine realm, and forced to undergo a combination of defeminization and masculinization rituals. Although there is no direct evidence to suggest that Greek men thought of boys' transition rites in this way, the myths told about three different figures named Leukippos, related directly (etiologically) and indirectly to the Ekdusia, reveal this pattern of thought in its full form.
The Arming of Achilleus on Early Greek Vases
Authors: Lowenstam Steven
Published: September 2012

This article is a critique of Friis Johansen's thesis that twelve Greek vases painted between 570 and 550 B.C. depict a first arming in Phthia. Details that Friis Johansen considered representative of domestic settings are shown to appear in other contexts too. Friis Johansen, who based much of his argument on a plate by Lydos depicting Achilleus, Thetis, Peleus, and Neoptolemos, problematically assumed that all the other early vases portraying Achilleus's arming must represent the same scene in Phthia. The appearance of Neoptolemos on Lydos's plate, however, shows that it is a "heroized genre-picture" and depicts no particular moment in myth. It is also questionable for Friis Johansen to contend that the first presentation of armor is depicted if all the details of a picture do not correspond with Homer's description of the second arming. Friis Johansen's final argument, that two Euripidean choruses describing Achilleus's first armor offer no "reasonable grounds for free mythological invention," runs counter to recent Euripidean scholarship. The conclusion of this critique is that it is very unlikely that any of the early vases showing the presentation of armor to Achilleus depict a first arming in Phthia. Instead, an episode loosely connected with Achilleus's arming in Troy is pictured. The examination of these arming scenes and others in which the material of the Homeric poems and vase-paintings overlaps is helpful in reassessing the question of how closely related the epic stories shown on Archaic Greek vases are to those related in the Iliad and Odyssey.
The Seductions of Gorgias
Authors: Porter James I.
Published: September 2012

From the older handbooks to the more recent scholarly literature, Gorgias's professions about his art (not to say about reality) are taken literally at their word: conjured up in all of these accounts is the image of a hearer irresistibly overwhelmed by Gorgias's apagogic and psychagogic persuasions. Gorgias's own description of his art, in effect, replaces our description of it. "His proofs... give the impression of ineluctability" (Schmid-Stählin). "Thus logos is almost an independent external power which forces the hearer to do its will" (Segal). "Incurably deceptive," logos has an "enormous power" that acts upon opinion, which is "easy to change" (Kerferd). Surprisingly, the urge to describe or paraphrase Gorgias's art has caused commentators to overlook the very best witness of it that we have: its enactment, which is to say the performative value of Gorgias's writings, especially the speeches. For if Gorgias's literary remains do nothing else, they demonstrate how one can do things with words without being explicit about what is being done, even if this means contradicting, performatively, what is being said-as for instance in his statements, so unconvincingly made, about the ostensible aims of rhetoric. Was Gorgias persuasive in practice? Was persuasion even the goal? Is logos the solitary arbiter of reality that it is so often made out to be? Through close examination of Gorgias's Helen and parts of On Not-Being, I attempt to show that persuasion is manifestly not the goal of his arguments, which in the first instance are aporetic paradoxes that expose the difficulties of defining the nature of either language or reality, and which in the last instance are instruments of cultural demystification. The only deception at work in Gorgias's writings is that of the self-deception of their audience. It is this that gives these curiously revealing documents of fifth-century Greek culture their "dissuasive," not persuasive, character.
The Public Purchase of Grain on Independent Delos
Authors: Reger Gary
Published: September 2012

Earlier work has tended to view Delos as an entrepôt for the larger Hellenistic grain trade, but during the years of independence (314-167 B.C.) the island relied on the import of grain to satisfy local demand, and this was certainly the more important aspect of the trade in grain, at least from the Delians' point of view. This study explores several issues connected with the local supply of grain. From prices for grain reported in inscriptions and estimates of the local population, the aggregate annual demand for grain is estimated, and the price structure of grain derived; the ratio of wheat and barley prices on Delos is found to differ considerably from that known from Athens and Roman Egypt. The shortage of 282 B.C., assumed by earlier scholars from prices recorded for that year, is shown instead to be a period of atypically low prices. The impact of the sailing season on shipments of grain is explored, and an annual rhythm in grain prices and availability linked to the closure of the sea and the agricultural year is revealed. The Delians tried to reduce the impact of these fluctuations by the public purchase of grain on an irregular basis in the late fourth and third century, as attested through public loans; by the last quarter of the third century they had established a regular sitōnia fund to buy grain for resale at reduced prices. Comparison of funds available, grain prices, and the estimated aggregate demand suggest that the Delian sitōnia was able to cover a significant fraction of local demand; this contrasts with evidence from other cities. Some of the implications of these results for our understanding of the Hellenistic economy are briefly explored.
Ships of State: "Aeneid" 5 and Augustan Circus Spectacle
Authors: Feldherr Andrew
Published: September 2012

In his description of the boat race in the fifth book of the "Aeneid", Vergil's comparison of the ships to chariots can be read not only as an allusion to the Homeric model on which the scene is based but also as part of a larger attempt to recast the episode as a contemporary circus spectacle. Like the Augustan circus, Vergil's boat race offers an image of cosmic and political order. However, beyond its symbolic function the Roman circus also played an active role in realizing the hierarchies it depicted by incorporating its spectators into a unified vision of state and universe. So the boat race too, far from constituting a hiatus in the action of the poem, becomes an instrument for the socialization of those who watch it. The spectacle gives its audience a glimpse of the gods in action and of the leadership of Aeneas himself, whose past accomplishments are reflected in the conduct of the captains. Moreover, the careful organization of internal audiences within the narrative allows every spectator to identify with another figure closer to the center of events and, by extension, invites Vergil's own readers to see themselves as participants in the scene. Thus Vergil uses the model of circus spectacle to bridge the gap separating his audience from the epic past by restaging that past in a form that both was a part of the immediate experience of the contemporary Roman and also provided a crucial context for the constitution of Roman civic life.
"Rest in Violence": Composition and Characterization in "Iliad" 16.155-277
Authors: Hofmeister Timothy P.
Published: September 2012

Rather than isolate Achilles' prayer to Zeus in Book 16 of the "Iliad" from its immediate context, this paper analyzes the passage as an integrated whole. Recent work on the Homeric simile shows that Homer links images by an "associative technique," sometimes in the service of characterization. Additionally, Phillip Stambovsky's study of literary imagery suggests that such imagery often contributes to characterization insofar as it "presentationally depicts" (at a "prediscursive" level of an audience's awareness) important themes of the literary work. I argue that indeed the imagery in the passage of Achilles' prayer dramatizes a great theme connected with his characterization: his indecision between desire for warfare and desire for safety. The elements of the passage repeatedly refigure Achilles' dissonant state of mind. The wolf simile, for example, opposes pure and defiled, to point proleptically to the combat that destroys Patroclus after Achilles dispatches him, the very outcome Achilles wishes to avert through ritual and prayer. The Myrmidon catalogue juxtaposes its first two entries, those of Menesthios and Eudoros, to highlight Eudoros' lack of a human father and alienation from his mother, a scenario which recalls Achilles' experience. Thus the catalogue reconstitutes in a separate fiction Achilles' own personal history in order to expose the sources of conflict there. Finally, the wasp simile, when contextualized according to the characterization of Achilles, also figures oppositions like those Achilles enacts when he urges on the war while at the same time seeking to mitigate its violence. The passage's imagery is itself a vivid narrative depicting Achilles' strenuous attempt to resist the violence of heroic combat as well as his own imminent death within it.
Poetry, Praise, and Patronage: Simonides in Book 4 of Horace's "Odes"
Authors: Barchiesi Alessandro
Published: September 2012

The paper aims at reconstructing the influence of Simonides on a contiguous series of Horatian poems ("Odes" 4.6-9). The starting point is provided by the discovery of new Simonidean fragments published by Peter Parsons and by Martin West in 1992. But the research casts a wider net, including the influence of Theocritus on Horace-and of Simonides on Theoocritus-and the simultaneous and competing presence of Pindar and Simonides in late Horatian lyric. The influence of Simonides is seen in specific textual pointers-e.g., a simile on the death of Achilles in 4.6, the idea of caducity in 4.7-as well as in the composite role-model of Simonides, the immortalizing poet, the flexible praise-singer. Some wider questions are put in perspective: (1) As for Horace's approach to the poetic tradition, the Roman poet is able to glance across whole genealogies of models, without necessarily making a choice, but making the invocation of several predecessors, already linked in a tradition, relevant to his new text. "Odes" 4.7, for instance, features a dialogue of Horace, Homer, Mimnermus and Simonides. The oscillation in modern criticism between an "Alexandrian" and a "classicizing" Horace could be better explained by constructing a complex model of intertextuality: "Pindar" plus "the Pindar in Callimachus"; "Simonides" plus "the Simonides in Theocritus." (2) The dominating influence of Pindar in Book IV could be a part of a richer picture of influence, now difficult to reconstruct since all we have is the four Pindaric books of epinicia, not necessarily the only (and not even the most) widely read choral lyric in antiquity. (3) The reuse of early-classical praise poetry includes references to social constructs and cultural models of patronage, gift exchange, and poetic addressee: they are important in Augustan lyric precisely because they are felt as distant and impossible to recreate, and become a part of Horace's deft and often ironical negotiations with the problem of being a lyric poet in Augustan Rome.
The Body as Argument: Helen in Four Greek Texts
Authors: Worman Nancy
Published: September 2012

Certain Greek texts depict Helen in a manner that connects her elusive body with the elusive maneuvers of the persuasive story. Her too-mobile body signals in these texts the obscurity of agency in the seduction scene and serves as a device for tracking the dynamics of desire. In so doing this body propels poetic narrative and gives structure to persuasive argumentation. Although the female figure in traditional texts is always the object of male representation, in this study I examine a set of images of a female body whose representation ultimately seems to frustrate the narrative strategies for which its depiction was created. What emerges in the fifth century as a rhetorical technique begins in Book 3 of the Iliad as a narrative strategy that uses Helen's cloaked and disappearing body to catalyze plot, and develops in Sappho's fr. 16 into a logic of desire shaped by the movement of Helen's and other bodies in the visual field. Gorgias, in the Encomium of Helen, transforms these depictions of Helen into an argument that is structured by Helen's body, an argument that Helen herself employs in Euripides' Troades, where her own body serves as the anatomy of her argument. These texts all associate Helen's body with a type of persuasive narrative that repeatedly invokes the field of vision, describing physical presence in terms that aim at attracting the eye. At the same time this verbal portraiture disrupts the audience's perspective by depicting bodies as cloaked, mobile, and/or half seen, and by obscuring distinctions between desirer and desired, viewer and viewed. As both subject and object in this viewing process, Helen's body comes to be associated with the double vision of seduction (i.e., the shunting of her body from desiring eye to desired object) and the distracting power of persuasive images, which seduce the mind's eye while eluding the mind's grasp.