bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Circulating Mononuclear Cells in the Obese Are in a Proinflammatory State
Authors: Ghanim Husam , Aljada Ahmad , Hofmeyer Deborah , Syed Tufail , Mohanty Priya , Dandona Paresh
Published: September 2004

Background—

In view of the increase in plasma concentrations of proinflammatory mediators tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and C-reactive protein (CRP) in obesity, we investigated whether peripheral blood mononuclear cells (MNC) from obese subjects are in a proinflammatory state.

Methods and Results—

MNC were prepared from fasting blood samples of obese (n=16; body mass index [BMI]=37.7±5.0 kg/m
2
) and normal-weight control (n=16; BMI=23.8±1.9 kg/m
2
) subjects. Nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) binding to DNA in nuclear extracts was elevated (
P
<0.05) and the inhibitor of NFκB-β (IκB-β) was significantly lower (
P
<0.001) in the obese group. Reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction revealed elevated levels of migration inhibitor factor (MIF), IL-6, TNF-α, and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) mRNA expression in the obese subjects (
P
<0.05). Plasma concentrations of MIF, IL-6, TNF-α, MMP-9, and CRP were also significantly higher. Plasma glucose, insulin, and free fatty acids (FFAs) were measured, and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was calculated. Plasma FFA concentration related significantly to BMI, IL-6, and TNF-α mRNA expression and plasma CRP levels but not to HOMA-IR. On the other hand, the inflammatory mediators were significantly related to BMI and HOMA-IR.

Conclusions—

These data show (1) for the first time that MNC in obesity are in a proinflammatory state with an increase in intranuclear NF-κB binding, a decrease in IκB-β, and an increase in the transcription of proinflammatory genes regulated by NF-κB; (2) that plasma FFAs are a modulator of inflammation; and (3) that insulin resistance is a function of inflammatory mediators.
Circulating Endothelial Cell Count as a Diagnostic Marker for Non–ST-Elevation Acute Coronary Syndromes
Authors: Quilici Jacques , Banzet Nathalie , Paule Philippe , Meynard Jean-Baptiste , Mutin Murielle , Bonnet Jean-Louis , Ambrosi Pierre , Sampol José , Dignat-George Françoise
Published: September 2004

Background—

Shedding of endothelial cells from damaged endothelium into the blood occurs in a variety of vascular disorders. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the utility of circulating endothelial cell (CEC) count as a diagnostic marker of non–ST-elevation acute coronary syndromes (ACSs).

Methods and Results—

CEC counts were determined immediately (H0), 4 hours (H4), and 8 hours (H8) after admission in 60 patients with documented non–ST-elevation ACS and 40 control patients with no evidence of coronary artery disease. A total of 32 patients in the ACS group had elevated CEC counts (>3 cells/mL) in relation to early admission and single-episode chest pain. Patients from the control group had normal CEC counts. The interval between the chest pain episode and elevation was significantly shorter for CEC than troponin I. No correlation was found between the 2 markers. Interestingly, a subgroup of ACS patients with initially normal troponin I levels had high CEC counts, thus allowing early diagnosis in 30% more cases. At H0, the mean area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was significantly higher with the CEC count than with the troponin I level. At H4 and H8, the combined use of CEC and troponin was significantly better as a marker of ACS than CEC alone or troponin I alone.

Conclusions—

This study demonstrates that CEC count can be used as an early, specific, independent diagnostic marker for non–ST-elevation ACS. A combined strategy using CEC count and troponin I level could provide an effective diagnostic tool.
Red Wine Polyphenolic Compounds Strongly Inhibit Pro-Matrix Metalloproteinase-2 Expression and Its Activation in Response to Thrombin via Direct Inhibition of Membrane Type 1–Matrix Metalloproteinase in Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells
Authors: Oak Min-Ho , El Bedoui Jasser , Anglard Patrick , Schini-Kerth Valérie B.
Published: September 2004

Background—

Regular consumption of moderate amounts of red wine is associated with a reduced risk of coronary disease. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) that participate in extracellular matrix degradation have been involved in atherosclerotic plaque growth and instability. The present study examined whether red wine polyphenolic compounds (RWPCs) inhibit activation of MMP-2, a major gelatinase, in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs).

Methods and Results—

Expression of pro-MMP-2 was assessed by Western and Northern blot analyses; MMP-2 activity was assessed by zymography and cell invasion by a modified Boyden’s chamber assay. High levels of pro-MMP-2 and low levels of MMP-2 activity were found in conditioned medium from unstimulated VSMCs. Thrombin induced cell-associated pro-MMP-2 protein expression and MMP-2 activity in conditioned medium of VSMCs. The stimulatory effect of thrombin on MMP-2 activation was prevented by RWPCs in a concentration-dependent and reversible manner. Thrombin markedly increased cell-associated membrane type 1 (MT1)–MMP activity, the physiological activator of pro-MMP-2, and this response was not affected by RWPCs. However, addition of RWPCs directly to MT1-MMP abolished its metalloproteinase activity in a reversible manner. Finally, matrix invasion of VSMCs was stimulated by thrombin, and this response was prevented by RWPCs as efficiently as a broad-spectrum MMP inhibitor.

Conclusions—

The present findings demonstrate that RWPCs effectively inhibit thrombin-induced matrix invasion of VSMCs, most likely by preventing the expression and activation of MMP-2 via direct inhibition of MT1-MMP activity. The inhibitory effect of RWPCs on the activation of pro-MMP-2 and matrix degradation might contribute to their beneficial effects on the cardiovascular system.
Possible Association of Heart Failure Status With Synthetic Balance Between Aldosterone and Dehydroepiandrosterone in Human Heart
Authors: Nakamura Shota , Yoshimura Michihiro , Nakayama Masafumi , Ito Teruhiko , Mizuno Yuji , Harada Eisaku , Sakamoto Tomohiro , Saito Yoshihiko , Nakao Kazuwa , Yasue Hirofumi , Ogawa Hisao
Published: September 2004

Background—

Aldosterone is produced not only in the adrenal gland but also in the extra-adrenal tissues, including failing human heart. This study examined the production of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in human heart and elucidated the possible physiological significance.

Method and Results—

Using left ventricular tissues obtained at autopsy, reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction followed by Southern blot analysis revealed the gene expressions of CYP17. By measuring plasma aldosterone and DHEA levels at the coronary sinuses and aortic roots during cardiac catheterization, we found that DHEA but not aldosterone was secreted from control subjects (
P
<0.0001 and
P
=0.74, respectively), whereas aldosterone but not DHEA was secreted from patients with heart failure (
P
=0.0017 and
P
=0.67, respectively). To examine the significance of DHEA, we measured myocyte cell sizes and the gene expression of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), using a neonatal rat cardiocyte culture system. We found that DHEA (10
−8
mol/L) significantly inhibited the increase in myocyte cell sizes and BNP mRNA levels upregulated by endothelin-1 (
P
=0.031 and
P
<0.0001, respectively).

Conclusions—

CYP17 gene expression and production of DHEA were demonstrated in human control heart. Also, we found that cardiac production of DHEA was suppressed in failing heart. We postulated that DHEA and/or its metabolites exert a cardioprotective action through antihypertrophic effects.
Budgetary and Financial Management Reforms in Korea: Financial Crisis, New Public Management, and Fiscal Administration
Authors: Ha Yeon-Seob
Published: September 2004

The financial crisis of 1997 has led to a reassessment of the role of the Korean public sector and its management policies. The public sector reforms under the Kim Dae-jung government (1998-2003) were part of a broader movement toward a more market-oriented economy and lower government debt. One of the core programs of the Korean public sector reform has been the restructuring of budgetary and financial management systems. This article shows that budgetary and financial management reforms during the Kim Dae-jung administration were mostly limited to an emphasis on improving technical efficiency in the delivery of public services through the adoption of market-type mechanisms and several minor improvements in the arrangements for flexible financial management.
Contributions of African Americans to the Field of Psychology
Authors: Black Sheila R. , Spence Susie A. , Omari Safiya R.
Published: September 2004

This article highlights the contributions of African Americans to the field of psychology with a focus on the struggles of early African American psychologists, the rise of Afrocentrism, and recent theoretical models developed by African American psychologists. The conclusion of this work is that psychology is much richer because of the contributions of African American psychologists.
African American Students, the Academic Ethic, and GPA
Authors: Pino Nathan W. , Smith William L.
Published: September 2004

This article aims to contribute to the debate about Black-White educational achievement and engagement by investigating how the academic ethic is configured for White and Black students and which variables are significantly related to GPA. Students at a medium-size state university in the Southeast were surveyed concerning their attitudes and behaviors about learning. A variety of factors were assessed for their influence on GPA, and students who possessed an “academic ethic” were more likely to have higher GPAs. A higher percentage of Blacks had an academic ethic than Whites, but Blacks also had lower GPAs than Whites. Regression models with GPA as the dependent variable were different for Blacks and Whites. Implications for future research will be discussed.
From the Scandal to the Holocaust in Israeli Education
Authors: Porat Dan A.
Published: September 2004

This article follows the changing representation of the Holocaust in Israeli history education from the 1950s to the 1990s. Up until the late 1960s the representation of the Holocaust in Israeli education was marginalized. Contrary to the widely-held assumption that the Holocaust became a central topic of teaching following the 1961 Eichmann trial, this article argues that as a result of the Eichmann trial Israeli educationalists actively resisted the incorporation of the Holocaust into the teaching of history. The major change in Holocaust representation came with the rise of the Likud to power in the late 1970s. Since the 1980s, the Holocaust has become a key topic of identification in Israeli education.
Feeling Good about Ourselves
Authors: Silvera David H. , Seger Charles R.
Published: September 2004

The “better-than-average” effect, the tendency for people to view themselves as above average on positive characteristics but belowaverage on negative characteristics, is an important manifestation of the motive for self-enhancement. The present research examined whether the better-than-average effect occurred in Norway, a country with strong norms for modesty, and whether the same association between unrealistically positive self-appraisals and self-esteem would be observed in Norway and the United States. Seventy-six American and 102 Norwegian participants were asked to rate the favorability and self-descriptiveness of 42 personality traits, and these ratings were used to generate a self-enhancement index. Norwegians showed significantly less self-enhancement bias than did Americans, and Norwegians showed no association between self-esteem and self-enhancement bias.
What is Good Psychotherapy?
Authors: Walsh Russell
Published: September 2004

This article addresses philosophical and methodological issues with regard to the question, “What is good psychotherapy?” Applying the ideas of Richard Bernstein, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and other philosophers to the problem of discerning good psychotherapy, the author explores the conflict between foundationalism and the dynamic, interpersonal, and value-laden character of psychotherapy. The distinction between scientific knowledge, technical knowledge, and practical knowledge is also introduced, and implications with respect to the empirically validated treatment and manualized psychotherapy movements are discussed. An alternative is offered to the “good psychotherapy” question as currently posed, and examples of qualitative research exploring the meaning of “good therapy” as understood by specific therapists and clients are provided.
Psychiatric Fraud and Force: A Critique of E. Fuller Torrey
Authors: Szasz Thomas
Published: September 2004

E. Fuller Torrey is the most prominent advocate of forced psychiatric treatment in the United States today. He regards the use of coerced therapy as so medically and socially important that it justifies deceiving the patient. The author presents a critical review of Torrey’s propagandizing for the increased use of psychiatric force and fraud in “treating mental illness,” noting that in the past, Torrey had condemned these very practices. In his book The Death of Psychiatry, Torrey agreed with Szasz’s criticism of the concept of mental illness and opposition to involuntary psychiatric interventions and the insanity defense. He was invited to respond to this article but did not.
The Kalyanamitra and the Client-Centered Psychotherapist
Authors: Wickramasekera Ian E.
Published: September 2004

The author presents an analysis of the similarities and differences between the role of a kalyanamitra (spiritual friend) in Vajrayana Tibetan Buddhism and the role of a psychotherapist in client-centered psychotherapy. The common ground between both traditions is explored by elucidating Buddhist perspectives on the three necessary and sufficient conditions of client-centered psychotherapy (congruence, positive regard, and empathic understanding). The differences are also discussed in terms of the directive nature of the mind/body techniques that are taught within the teacher-student relationship in Vajrayana. The author concludes with an integration of the general points of agreement concerning topics such as empathy, self-actualization, and self-deception.
Good Fences Make Good Neighbours? A Comparison of Conflict-Regulation Strategies in Postwar Bosnia
Authors: Caspersen Nina
Published: September 2004

This article compares the effectiveness of the consociational and the integrative approach in fostering stability in postwar Bosnia. Whereas the ethnic groups in Lijphart’s consociational model constitute the basic units on which the political structure is built, the political structure in Horowitz’s integrative model transcends ethnic divisions. The Dayton Agreement that ended the war in Bosnia contains elements of both approaches, and the balance between them has been changing in the course of its implementation. Bosnia constitutes a very suitable case for a comparison of the effect on stability of the two approaches: elements of each approach can be isolated and their effects compared, and the interplay between the approaches and the effect of international involvement can also be analysed. An international dimension and the phase of (de)escalation of the conflict are variables missing from both approaches, but it is important to include them when analysing a postwar situation. Owing to the deep divisions in the population, the numerical balance between the groups and the maximalist objectives of the dominant parties, the consociational model has been more effective in fostering stability in Bosnia. Currently, a change to an integrative structure seems premature, but a mix of the approaches has been demonstrated to be able to foster moderation.
Armed Conflict, 1989–2003
Authors: Eriksson Mikael , Wallensteen Peter
Published: September 2004

The global number of armed conflicts continued to decline in 2003. A total of 29 conflicts in 22 countries were active in 2003, as against 31 conflicts in 23 countries in 2002. This is the lowest level of armed conflict since the early 1970s. The probability that any particular country was involved in a conflict has never been lower since the early 1950s. Five of the conflicts active in 2003 reached the level of war. A total of 229 armed conflicts in 148 countries have been recorded for the period after World War II (1946–2003). Of these, 116 conflicts in 78 countries were active in the period after the end of the Cold War (1989–2003). Most conflicts are internal: only seven interstate armed conflicts were recorded in the period 1989–2003, of which two were still active in 2003. The measurement of armed conflict is mainly based on news reporting, and it suffers from national and cultural biases. But the scrutiny of armed conflict is becoming more intense, and new sources of information are emerging. For this reason, we have increasing confidence in our data.
What Precipitates Change in Cultural Diversity Awareness during a Multicultural Course
Authors: Brown Elinor L.
Published: September 2004

Teacher educators embrace the messages that “classroom teachers must be multicultural” and “teacher educators are charged with nurturing multicultural tenets.” However, most teacher educators indicate that student resistance substantially impedes the success of both. This study investigated the relationship between instructional methodology and changes in resistance to cultural diversity sensitivity among Caucasian teacher education students in a required junior-level cultural diversity course. Both empirical and qualitative instruments were used to examine the importance of instructional methodology. The Cultural Diversity Awareness Inventory (CDAI) was used as a pretest and posttest empirical measure; and reflective journals, field experience reports, and research projects were examined to investigate incremental changes. The study results indicated that the message can precipitate some change in cultural diversity sensitivity, but the methodology used to reduce resistance and nurture and reinforce the message has a greater influence.
The Current Position of UK House Prices
Authors: Barrell Ray , Kirby Simon , Riley Rebecca
Published: September 2004

House price inflation in the UK has been particularly high in recent years. This has led to much discussion concerning the future path of house price growth. Whether the future scenario involves a moderation or instead a sharp correction in house prices has important implications for the short to medium path of household consumption expenditure.
Britain's Productivity Gap with the United States and Europe: A Historical Perspective
Authors: Broadberry Stephen , O'Mahony Mary
Published: September 2004

Since the mid-1990s, an almost universal belief has developed amongst economic commentators that the United States has undergone a productivity miracle and that European economies are now suffering from chronic sclerosis. As a result, the ‘American model’ dominates the agenda of policy towards growth and productivity performance in Britain. This paper urges caution here, given the disappointing experience of earlier British growth policies based on borrowing from the fashionable economy of the moment, including the Japanese and German economies during the 1970s and 1980s, and the American economy (again) during the 1950s and 1960s. A historical perspective suggests that: (1) successful productivity performance requires a stable institutional framework for long-term investments in human and physical capital, which the European model has been particularly good at providing over the last half century; (2) a country is constrained by its geography, so that copying without adaptation to local circumstances is rarely a good policy; (3) it is important to pay attention to the different sectors of the economy when formulating policy.
The Pact is Dead: Long Live the Pact
Authors: Begg Iain , Schelkle Waltraud
Published: September 2004

The ECOFIN Council decision of November 2003 that noted the existence of ‘excessive deficits’ in France and Germany but did not impose sanctions on these two governments was widely interpreted as sounding the death-knell for the Stability and Growth Pact. A ruling by the European Court of Justice on 13 July 2004 annulled this decision, paving the way for reform of fiscal policy coordination in the Euro Area. This article examines what caused the difficulties that have arisen, reviews and appraises a range of proposals for reform of EMU's fiscal policy rules and suggests a way forward.
Social Networks: Their Role in Access to Financial Services in Britain
Authors: Meadows Pamela , Ormerod Paul , Cook William
Published: September 2004

Almost one in ten adults in Britain do not use mainstream financial services. Most of them are not in paid employment. However, most people without paid work have accounts. Two hypotheses have been put forward: (i) reluctance by financial institutions to serve low-income customers; and (ii) information failure on the part of non-consumers. Using two different data sources, we find that non-consumers of financial services are distinguishable from consumers only by belonging to social networks where financial services usage is relatively low. As social networks play a key role in transmitting information, this supports the information failure hypothesis.
Beyond Paradigm: Resisting the Assimilation of Phronetic Social Science
Authors: Schram Sanford F.
Published: September 2004

David Laitin uses Bent Flyvbjerg’s Making Social Science Matter as a surrogate manifesto on behalf of the Perestroika movement’s campaign for methodological pluralism in political science. After an overview of Perestroika, I note my own vision for the movement, outline the most significant features of Flyvbjerg’s call for a revived social science, and provide a critique of Laitin’s attempt to assimilate Flyvbjerg’s analysis to his own vision for an improved political science. I conclude with a word about the potential of Perestroika to build on Flyvbjerg’s insights to promote what I call “post-paradigmatic” social science.
Capital Punishment and the Mentally Retarded Offender
Authors: Tobolowsky Peggy M.
Published: September 2004

In Atkins v. Virginia, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the execution of mentally retarded offenders is constitutionally prohibited by the Eighth Amendment—a holding directly opposite to the conclusion it reached on this issue 13 years previously in Penry v. Lynaugh. This article examines the specific holdings in these two landmark decisions dealing with mentally retarded capital offenders as well as the roles they play in the evolution of the Supreme Court’s capital punishment jurisprudence.
Prioritization of Emergency Network Traffic Using Ticket Servers: A Performance Analysis
Authors: Beard Cory C. , Frost Victor S.
Published: September 2004

Broadband packet networks must dynamically recognize some network flows, such as those that deal with disaster response, military operations, or emergencies, as having greater importance than others. An architecture of geographically distributed ticket servers has been proposed to issue importance tickets to identify the priority that a flow should be given in the current dynamic network context. Here the potential viability of such an architecture is studied with respect to the performance requirements of ticket servers, network overhead that would be added, and the severity of longer connection setup times. A hybrid simulation approach is used. Network and ticket server performance are modeled using prototype results combined with analytical techniques for networks of queues. Two scenarios are studied—a hurricane event and an office building bombing event—and ticket server performance requirements and connection setup delays were not found to be prohibitive to the successful implementation of such an architecture.
‘A Memorable Wedding’
Authors: Gömöri George
Published: September 2004

The wedding of Frederick of Pfalz to Elizabeth Stuart in 1613 was one of the great public events in the reign of James I. Much was written about it in a number of languages; this essay investigates the poetic reception in English, Latin and other languages represented in the anthologies edited for or soon after this occasion. Special interest is paid to texts which hail Frederick as a Protestant hero whose future deeds might redraw the map of Europe, shattering the existing Catholic supremacy.
Conservative at the Crossroads
Authors: Kroll Joe Paul
Published: September 2004

This essay addresses the question of whether Thomas Mann and his major political work, Reflections of a Non-Political Man (1918), have a place in the intellectual heritage of the movement commonly known as the ‘Conservative Revolution’. It describes how Thomas Mann, during the Great War and the ensuing German revolution, found himself in a dilemma characteristic of the bourgeois conservatism of that time. Whilst many of his contemporaries increasingly radicalized their position, this essay argues that Mann’s irony was not only a literary device, but led him towards a moderate political position which, although it was not fully articulated until after the war, can be traced to Reflections. Drawing on Reflections and Mann’s correspondence and diaries of that period, as well as on previous scholarship both on Mann and on German conservatism, this essay argues that not only was and is Mann unsuitable for appropriation by the extreme right, but that the very concept of the ‘Conservative Revolution’ should be reconsidered.
Are Norwegians European?
Authors: Sabo Anne G.
Published: September 2004

This article makes a case for Norway’s European identity by highlighting the history of Norwegian bohemians, i.e. those authors and artists who have rejected their homeland’s social norms and customs for being oppressive, narrow-minded and puritanical, and who have ventured south to continental Europe in the name of artistic, intellectual, social and sensual freedom. Upon their return, these bohemians have effected change in Norway, establishing a bit of European decadence in their motherland. Cafés keep popping up, urban nightlife is booming, people’s attitudes to alcohol, sexuality and pornography have become much more liberal, and the church’s authority on morals has greatly diminished.
‘Nu, Nu and Nu’
Authors: Teodorescu Jeanine
Published: September 2004

Nu (Non) , a volume of critical essays, was Eugène Ionesco’s first publication in Romania in 1934. In this work he reveals contempt for Romanian literature, literary politics and, indirectly, politics itself. At the same time Ionesco the critic already displays his unique characteristics: humour, spontaneity, playfulness, recalcitrance and theatricality. His views on literary criticism and its extra-aesthetical motives would remain influential for his French career as a playwright and essayist. In Non, Ionesco’s contradictory spirit demolishes traditional values and respected literary figures. The iconoclast enjoys overthrowing hierarchies and challenging the Romanian literary milieu; he demonstrates that any point of view can be valid when writing a critical essay. Non is also interspersed with journal entries in which Ionesco mischievously analyses his own motives as a critic. Later, in France, Ionesco will continue to write journals, a literary form for which he already demonstrates affinity in Romania. Non, with its ferocious criticism of Romanian literati, presages the tragicomical playwright, novelist and journal-writer, Eugène Ionesco.
Individual Beliefs and Collective Beliefs in Sciences and Philosophy: The Plural Subject and the Polyphonic Subject Accounts
Authors: Bouvier Alban
Published: September 2004

The issue of knowing what it means for a group to have collective beliefs is being discussed more and more in contemporary philosophy of the social sciences and philosophy of mind. Margaret Gilbert’s reconsideration of Durkheim’s viewpoint in the framework of the plural subject’s account is one of the most famous. This has implications in the history and the sociology of science—as well asin the history and sociology of philosophy—although Gilbert only outlined them in the former fields and said nothing about the latter. Symmetrically but independently, a historian of science, Mara Beller, has recently challenged Kuhn’s conception of the role of consensus in sciences in a brilliant analysis by carefully studying the history of Copenhagen School of Quantum Mechanics. Not only does she show the role of disagreement and controversies (doubting whether there was any collective belief characteristic in this group of physicists), but she even shakes up the very idea of individual beliefs. Each scientist (Heisenberg, Bohr, etc.) could be seen as divided into several selves. This paper contends that these two conceptions open important new horizons in several domains, especially if they are linked together. The paper assesses this claim in the light of empirical examples like the Vienna Circle, Copenhagen School, and, eventually, Cartesian philosophy.
Heidegger Made Simple (and Offensive)
Authors: Agassi Joseph
Published: September 2004

Christopher Rickey (rightly) presents Heidegger as a devout mystic who viewed the Nazi Party as the sacred vessel of a divine message—even though, the author adds, his religion is secular and so it has no divinity and no immortal soul. Rickey sees him as a utopian. This makes some sense: the unique in the Shoah involves the unique descent of a highly cultured, enlightened nation to the rock bottom of barbarism. Ricky’s text belies his effort to exonerate Heidegger.
Show Down in Center City
Authors: Feffer Andrew
Published: September 2004

This article details the city of Philadelphia’s plans to celebrate the American Bicentennial and its heritage as the nation’s birthplace, while debuting a revitalized downtown. The author characterizes the celebration as an example of marginally successful local boosterism. However, in tying the public spectacle to the reconstruction of Philadelphia’s “Center City”, civic leaders did more than just promote their own brand of heritage tourism. In attempting to refashion the civic space of the city and reconstitute local citizenship, Philadelphia officials inadvertently precipitated a strong and highly visible public reaction against the substance of redevelopment lasting from 1974 until the early 1980s. The vendors war and the struggles that followed the show down in Center City succeeded in symbolically and substantively transforming the political culture of the city, moving to center stage issues of spatial discrimination, access to public space, and citizenship that had long been ignored by city government and remained latent in the rhetoric of local protest movements.
The Elite Class Background of Wang Shuo and His Hooligan Characters
Authors: Yao Yusheng
Published: September 2004

The Cultural Revolution provided a unique environment for children of the political elite to develop a new kind of hooliganism and a youth counterculture that contradicted Mao’s aim to empower them for making revolution. The author challenges a view commonly held by Western commentators and scholars that Wang Shuo is a writer of “common man” fiction by highlighting the aristocratic background of his Cultural Revolution-era hooligan characters. In the post-Mao era, these former aristocratic youth hooligans tried to adapt to the new environment of growing commercialism and materialism. Some successfully joined the new elite through legal or illegal means, while those who failed to do so became marginalized and even impoverished. The author argues that it was the latter who felt the need to develop to perfection the skill of fast talk and an irreverent, knowing, and playful attitude, which helped them to maintain a sense of superiority. Glorified byWang Shuo in his stories and commentary, the hooligan characters captured the imagination of many Chinese, especially the younger generations who feel marginalized and alienated, by legitimizing their desires and frustrations and by subverting the dominant ideology and culture.
Addressing Bullying in Schools
Authors: Rigby Ken
Published: September 2004

Bullying in schools is now regarded as an important social problem which schools need to address. However, recent evaluations of existing anti-bullying programs have not indicated a high level of success in the reduction of bullying. This article seeks to critically examine the theoretical perspectives that have been adopted in explaining the prevalence of bullying and their implications for the work of schools. Five different theoretical perspectives are identified and examined. Each is shown to have some empirical support and to have influenced the thinking adopted by schools and actions undertaken in addressing bullying. However, none can claim to provide a complete explanation for bullying behaviour in schools, nor form the basis for a comprehensive approach to the problem. It is suggested that educators recognize both the strengths and limitations of existing theoretical perspectives.
Psychological and Social Predictors of Suicidal Ideation among Young Adolescents
Authors: Kirkcaldy Bruce D. , Eysenck Michael W. , Siefen Georg R.
Published: September 2004

Although there is an enormous amount of literature demonstrating socio-psychological determinants of suicide and self-injurious behaviour among adults or clinical samples of children and adolescents, there is a scarcity of studies focussing on non-clinical adolescent samples. The current study examined associations between self-reported data on self-image, physical and psychological health and suicidal cognitions, self-injurious behaviour and suicidal intent in a large representative sample of German high-school students. Almost 1000 German adolescents (aged 14-18 years) were administered a comprehensive series of questionnaires aimed at assessing anxiety-depression, trait addiction, smoking and drinking behaviour, physical ill-health reports and self-perception of self-image, parental acceptance and educational attainment. Several statements were incorporated to assess self-injury and suicidal ideation. An attempt was made to identify risk and offer preventative factors of adolescent suicide. Suicidal ideation is significantly more endorsed among female than male adolescents: twice as many female adolescents tend to have wishes about being dead or have contemplated suicide than males. Girls also tended to have implemented significantly more self-destructive behaviour than boys. Over one-third of the variance observed in subjective reported suicidal ideation was explained by the socio-psychological variables. The common general significant predictor was anxiety-depression, and for males the specific somatic factor was general colds. In contrast, females displayed several specific significant determinants of suicidal ideation, including educational threat and the somatic variable, circulatory ailments. Conversely, tiredness, social problems and maternal rejection were statistically significant predictors of suicidal ideation but again the direction of impact was opposite to what was anticipated.
Future Orientation among Caucasian and Arab-American Adolescents
Authors: Mirza Saima A. , Somers Cheryl L.
Published: September 2004

Future orientation in adolescents is an important concept to study because of its relations with academic performance and success levels. This study examined adolescents’ realism about childrearing and their perceptions of others’ approval of teen pregnancy to examine their association with future orientation. Participants were 476 high school-aged adolescents (122 males and 354 females), aged 14-20. They were 82 percent Caucasian and 18 percent Middle-Eastern. Among the 392 Caucasian-American students there were 105 males and 287 females, aged 14-19, grades 9-12. Among the 84 Arab-American students (17 males, 67 females), students ranged from 14-20 years old, grades 9-12. Variation by gender, race and academic performance levels was also examined. Generally, results confirmed hypotheses. Also, realism and future orientation varied by an interaction between race, gender and academic level, but there were no significant differences in perception of others’ approval of adolescent pregnancy. Implications for researchers, school personnel and parents are discussed.
Religion and Emotional Compensation: Results from a Prospective Study of Widowhood
Authors: Brown Stephanie L. , Nesse Randolph M. , House James S. , Utz Rebecca L.
Published: September 2004

Based on recent applications of attachment theory to religion, the authors predicted that the loss of a spouse would cause widowed individuals to increase the importance of their religious/spiritual beliefs. This hypothesis was examined using the Changing Lives of Older Couples sample from which preloss measures of religiosity were available for widowed individuals and matched controls. A total of 103 widowed individuals provided follow-up data, including reports of religious beliefs and grief, at 6 months, 24 months, and 48 months after the loss. Results indicated that widowed individuals were more likely than controls to increase their religious/spiritual beliefs. This increase was associated with decreased grief but did not influence other indicators of adjustment such as depression. Finally, insecure individuals were most likely to benefit from increasing the importance of their beliefs. Results are discussed in terms of the potential value of applying psychological theory to the study of religion.
The Correspondence between Attachment to Parents and God: Three Experiments Using Subliminal Separation Cues
Authors: Birgegard Andreas , Granqvist Pehr
Published: September 2004

Attachment theoretical studies have increased our understanding of the socioemotional foundations for religious development. However, because these studies have been correlational and based on self-reports, they are vulnerable to concerns of self-presentation bias and lack of basis for causal inference. Three subliminal stimulation experiments were therefore performed, where activation of the attachment system was attempted by way of unconsciously administered separation stimuli. In Experiments 1 and 3 (N = 29 and 89), the separation stimulus alluded to God, and in Experiment 2 (N = 47), it alluded to mother. Responses were moderated by perceived attachment history with parents in all experiments. Participants with secure histories increased in religious attachment behaviors, whereas those with insecure histories decreased following attachment system activation compared with control stimulation. There also were suggestions of experimental group increase in proximity seeking in relation to God. The main conclusion supports correspondence between internal working models of parents and God.
The Role of Intergenerational Relations in the Association between Life Stressors and Depressive Symptoms
Authors: Weinstein Maxine , Glei Dana A. , Yamazaki Ai , Ming-Cheng Chang
Published: September 2004

This study investigates the association between intergenerational relations and depressive symptoms of older adults in Taiwan. Using data from two waves of the Surveys of Health and Living Status of the Elderly in Taiwan, a population-based sample of adults aged 60 and older, the links between intergenerational relations between parents and their adult children, life stressors (major life events and daily hassles), and depressive symptoms are examined. The authors find that higher reports of exposure to stressors—both daily hassles and major life events—are associated with higher levels of psychological distress. Intergenerational ties with children appear to have only a modest effect on levels of depressive symptoms that depends on both the kind of stressor and the aspect of the parent-child relationship
Support Groups Helping Women Through Pregnancies after Loss
Authors: Côté-Arsenault Denise , Freije Marsha Mason
Published: September 2004

Pregnancies following perinatal loss are full of fears and anxieties. Standards of care or interventions are not generally available, however support groups exist across the country. This study explored several pregnancy-after-loss support groups. Data were collected through participant observation of meetings, individual interviews, questionnaires, and artifacts. Five paradoxes were identified reflecting conflicts between common cultural expectations and the women’s own perspectives about pregnancy: birth/death, pregnancy equals/does not equal baby, head/heart, public/private, and hope/fear. According to participants, the groups helped members recognize their commonalities, remember their earlier babies who died, develop caring relationships, and learn new coping skills. Key outcomes included “making it through” their pregnancies, finding ways to reconcile the cultural paradoxes, and relating better with their current, live babies.
Living with Dementia Yields a Heteronomous and Lost Existence
Authors: Svanström Rune , Dahlberg Karin
Published: September 2004

The purpose of this study was to investigate the lived experience of dementia for spouses where one of them is diagnosed as having dementia. The study has been conducted using a phenomenological approach. Unstructured interviews were chosen in order to investigate the informants’ lived experiences of dementia, both for the person with dementia and for his or her spouse. The essence of the phenomenon, the lived experience of dementia, is that the persons with dementia and their spouses live in a heteronomous existence in which they are lost and are strangers in their own world. The result of this is a life without coherence and a new but unknown meaning that can make them feel uncertain and puts them in a quandary. Whatever those with dementia and their spouses do, they have no real influence over their situation, which leads to feelings of awkwardness, perplexity, and futility.
Infant Health of Mothers with Multiple Sclerosis
Authors: Gulick Elsie E. , Johnson Shanda
Published: September 2004

Controversy surrounds whether mothers with multiple sclerosis (MS) who wish to breast-feed their infants should forgo breast-feeding in order to resume immunomodulating therapy following birth even though breast-feeding has not been shown to have deleterious effects on these mothers. Knowledge of potential health benefits to infants through breast-feeding could influence health care providers to encourage mothers with MS who wish to breast-feed to do so. This study of 140 breast-feeding and 35 non-breast-feeding mothers with MS identifies the type and prevalence of illnesses experienced by their infants during the first 6 postpartum months and at 9 months and 12 months. Significantly more non-breast-fed than breast-fed infants experienced otitis media, lower respiratory illness, constipation, milk intolerance, and allergy during the 1st year. Study results support the need to encourage mothers with MS who wish to breast-feed their infants to do so and to delay immunomodulating therapy until breast-feeding cessation.
Adolescent-Parent Verbal Conflict
Authors: Beaumont Sherry L. , Wagner Shannon L.
Published: September 2004

A total of 94 adolescents (M age = 14.2 years) participated in 20-minute hypothetical conflict discussions with either their mothers or fathers (24 daughter-mother, 22 son-mother, 25 daughter-father, 23 son-father dyads). Audiotaped conversations were coded for speakers’ conversational style (overlaps between turns, simultaneous speech, and successful interruptions) and hostile emotional expressions (i.e., disgust/contempt). Adolescents used a conversational style that included more overlaps, simultaneous speech and successful interruptions than their parents, with the greatest differences in styles found for adolescents and their mothers. Adolescents’ and parents’ conversational styles and expressions of disgust were analyzed in modeling procedures in an attempt to predict selfreported perceptions of adolescent-parent conflict. Results revealed that adolescents’ rates of disgust were positively predicted from both the degree of difference in the adolescent’s and parent’s conversational styles and from the parent’s rates of disgust expressions. In turn, adolescents’ expressions of disgust were found to positively predict adolescents’ perceptions of levels of relationship conflict with their parents.
Societal Security, Refugees and Criminology: Discourses in Tandem
Authors: King Jackie
Published: September 2004

This article seeks to apply mainstream criminological discourses to refugee policy, using Australia’s refugee policy as a case study. Notions of security, ethnicity, race, social exclusion and xenophobia are all well established within various criminological discourses. This article aims to show that the use of similar discourses in both the criminological and refugee spheres is increasingly prevalent and helps to justify restrictive refugee practices within the context of societal security.
The What Works Debate: Keeping a Human Perspective
Authors: Atkinson David
Published: September 2004

This article, arising from the author’s long experience of work in the probation service, was inspired by Peter Raynor’s (2003) article ‘ Evidence-based practice and its critics’. It argues that the antipathy many probation staff have towards the What Works agenda is not necessarily a rejection of cognitive behavioural methods in themselves. Rather, in the politically driven rush to produce ‘results’, it suggests that there has been a failure to take proper account of the importance of the individual and his or her complex needs. This is the probation officer’s traditional strength and, it is argued, is something that Raynor’s article fails to fully appreciate.
Applying the Findings of the Liverpool Desistance Study in Probation Practice: Views from the Front-Line 2
Authors: Court David
Published: September 2004

In this second response to Maruna et al’s work, the author draws comparisons with Farrall’s (2003) research, and focuses in particular on the implications of both studies for assessment, report writing and effective case management.
Stepchildren’s Perceptions of the Contradictions in Communication with Stepparents
Authors: Baxter Leslie A. , Braithwaite Dawn O. , Bryant Leah , Wagner Amy
Published: September 2004

This interpretive study, framed in relational dialectics theory, sought to identify stepchildren’s perceptions of the contradictions that animate communication with the stepparent in their household of primary residence. In-depth interviews were conducted, producing 802 pages of double-spaced interview transcripts, which were analyzed inductively for commonly experienced contradictions of stepchild-stepparent communication. Three underlying contradictions were identified. First, stepchild-stepparent communication was perceived to be characterized by a dialectic of integration, characterized by both closeness and distance. Second, stepchild-stepparent communication was perceived to be characterized by a dialectic of parental status, in which the stepparent was, and was not, granted legitimacy in a parent role. Third, stepchild-stepparent communication was perceived to be animated by a dialectic of expression in which both candor and discretion were featured.
Obstacles to Ethnic Diversity in Marital Research: On the Failure of Good Intentions
Authors: Karney Benjamin R. , Kreitz Melissa A. , Sweeney Kara E.
Published: September 2004

Despite a consensus that marital research would benefit from more ethnically diverse samples, most marital research continues to address samples composed primarily of middle-class Whites. The goal of the current study was to identify reasons that attempts to recruit ethnically diverse samples may fall short. Analyses of data from couples responding to solicitations to participate in a longitudinal study of newly-weds revealed that, relative to White couples: (i) non-White couples were less likely to respond than would be expected given their representation in the local population; (ii) non-White, and especially Black, couples were more likely to be excluded by eligibility criteria; and (iii) non-White, and especially Asian, couples were less likely to participate after being told they were eligible. These results suggest directions for new procedures to address diversity at every stage of the sampling process.