bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Simple, Rapid and Sensitive Semimicro Method for the Measurement of Cyanide in Blood
Authors: Vesey C J , McAllister H , Langford R M
Published: February 2014

Conventional methods do not meet the clinical need for rapid cyanide measurements. We report a procedure which can provide a result in 10 min. It should be of particular interest to laboratories serving cardiac or renal units which use the hypotensive agent sodium nitroprusside, and burns units to which fire victims may be admitted suffering the effects of HCN from inhaled smoke. A sample of blood (100 μL) is mixed with H3PO4, containing a surfactant, and the HCN is trapped in an alkaline mixture of 1,2-dinitrobenzene and 4-nitrobenzaldehyde in 2-methoxyethanol. The catalytic action of cyanide, which produces purple 2-nitrophenylhydroxylamine, is stopped with acetone after 6 min. The absorbance measured at 560 nm shows a linear relationship with the cyanide concentration, but the slope varies with the ambient temperature. Since KCN added to both 50 mmol/L NaOH and blood gives similar assay results, any inaccuracy arising from changes in temperature can be avoided by running standards at the same time as the blood sample.
Investigating Measurement Invariance in Computer-Based Personality Testing
Authors: Egberink Iris J. L. , Meijer Rob R. , Tendeiro Jorge N.
Published: February 2014

A popular method to assess measurement invariance of a particular item is based on likelihood ratio tests with all other items as anchor items. The results of this method are often only reported in terms of statistical significance, and researchers proposed different methods to empirically select anchor items. It is unclear, however, how many anchor items should be selected and which method will provide the “best” results using empirical data. In the present study, we examined the impact of using different numbers of anchor items on effect size indices when investigating measurement invariance on a personality questionnaire in two different assessment situations. Results suggested that the effect size indices were not influenced by using different numbers of anchor items. The values were comparable across different number of anchor items used and were small, which indicate that the effect of differential functioning at the item and test level is very small if not negligible. Practical implications are discussed and we discuss the use of anchor items and effect size indices in practice.
Anisotropic networking of carbon black in glass/epoxy composites using electric field
Authors: Gungor Sila , Bakis Charles E
Published: February 2014

This investigation explores the manipulation of carbon black particles for tailoring the electrical properties of unidirectional glass fiber reinforced epoxy composites. Carbon black particles were anisotropically networked along the through-thickness direction of glass/epoxy composite plates using an alternating current electric field applied during curing of the composite, with the objective of maximizing the electrical conductivity through the thickness. Anisotropic networking was observed microscopically and was quantified by measuring the DC electrical conductivity of the cured glass/epoxy composite material in the three principal directions. The effects of carbon black amount, electric field strength, and electric field frequency on the anisotropic conductivity are elucidated using a parametric investigation. It is shown that the through-thickness conductivity can be increased by a factor of roughly 104 relative to the case with no conductivity tailoring and can be of the same order of magnitude as the transverse and longitudinal in-plane conductivities, which are improvements well beyond the studies published until now. Moreover, for the first time, it is shown that the through-thickness conductivity of unidirectional glass/epoxy composites containing carbon black can exceed the in-plane transverse conductivity by selecting appropriate electric field parameters during processing.
Characterizing vibration damping response of composite laminates containing silica nanoparticles and rubber particles
Authors: Huang Chien-Yang , Tsai Jia-Lin
Published: February 2014

This research aims to characterize the damping properties of fiber/epoxy composites containing different degrees of silica nanoparticles and rubber particles. Conventionally, adding rubber particles into fiber/epoxy composites would lead to dramatic reduction of stiffness although the vibration damping could be improved accordingly. In order to enhance the damping properties of the fiber composites without sacrificing the stiffness, silica nanoparticles together with rubber particles were introduced into the epoxy resin through the sonication process. The epoxy resin was then treated as matrix and impregnated into the fiber layer by means of the vacuum hand lay-up process to form the composite laminates. The vibration damping as well as the flexural stiffness of the fiber composite was measured using the forced vibration technique together with the half-power method. In addition, the vibration damping of the composite laminates, consisting of silica nanoparticles and rubber particles, was characterized using the micromechanical analysis. The repeated unit cell with the fibers displaying randomly in the matrix was employed to represent the microstructures of the unidirectional composites. The loss factor as well as the moduli obtained from the micromechanical analysis were regarded as the effective properties homogenizing within the fiber composites. In conjunction with the modal shapes, the vibration damping of the composite laminates with stacking sequence of [0]10, [90]10, [±45]2s, and [90/0]2s was calculated using the finite element analysis. Experimental results indicated that with the incorporation of the silica nanoparticles together with the rubber particles, the reduction of flexural stiffness of fiber composites, especially for the [90]10 laminates, was diminished while the damping properties of laminates were improved. Moreover, it was found that the effect of the particles in the [0]10 laminates is relatively minimal. The vibration damping responses of composites laminates obtained using the micromechanical analysis together with the modal analysis exhibit an agreement with the experimental data.
Clustering of acoustic emission signals collected during drilling process of composite materials using unsupervised classifiers
Authors: Heidary Hossein , Karimi Navid Zarif , Ahmadi Mehdi , Rahimi Abdolreza , Zucchelli Andrea
Published: February 2014

Conventional methods of analysis for drilling of composite materials usually study the amount of damaged area, thrust force, and effective parameters. However, these methods do not provide the investigator with sufficient information about drilling mechanisms. In the current investigation, a procedure for diagnosing different drilling mechanisms based on the analysis of the signals of acoustic emission is presented. According to the number of time domain acoustic emission parameters, using multi-variable methods of analysis is unavoidable. In this work, unsupervised pattern recognition analyses (fuzzy C-means clustering) associated with a principal component analysis are the tools that are used for the classification of the recorded acoustic emission data. After classification of acoustic emission events, the resulting classes are correlated with the different drilling stages and mechanisms. Acoustic emission signal analysis provides a better discrimination of drilling stages than mechanic-based analyses.
The Accord, the labour market and the economy
Authors: Hancock Keith
Published: February 2014

This article discusses the economic circumstances and effects of the Accord, noting always the difficulty of reaching firm conclusions because of counterfactual uncertainties. The article traces the interaction between the Accord and economic conditions, especially in the years 1983–1991. After the inflation of the early 1980s had abated somewhat, other economic changes, especially the devaluation of the Australian dollar, complicated the task of economic management. Stagnation of real wages made the task of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) in holding unions to the Accord more difficult. There was an inherent tension in the Accord during the years 1983–1991 in that it required the federal arbitration tribunal to ‘sign on’ to wage policies negotiated between the ACTU and the government. For several years the tribunal delivered outcomes that were sufficiently acceptable to the Accord partners; but by the late 1980s the tension increased and in 1991 the centralised wage-fixing system collapsed. The article discusses the forces on the union and the employer side which led to this result. The article tentatively concludes that the Accord did assist macro-economic management in the 1980s, first by helping to bring price and wage inflation under a measure of control and second by averting wage pressures which might otherwise have developed in the later years of the decade. It finds no evidence to support claims that the productivity effects of the Accord were beneficial.
Comparison of Ringer’s solution with 0.4% glucose or without in intraoperative infusion regimens for the prevention of hypoglycemia in juvenile pigs
Authors: Keibl C , Kerbl M , Schlimp C J
Published: February 2014

Juvenile pigs are prone to hypoglycemia, nevertheless they are commonly used in preclinical studies. The optimal perioperative fluid management with crystalloid solutions in such settings has not yet been studied. The aim of the current study was to correlate the perioperative fluid administration of Ringer’s solution, with and without the addition of a minimal amount of glucose (0.4% glucose) to the blood glucose, and the incidence of perioperative hypoglycemia in 20 juvenile pigs (31.7 ± 5.2 kg) undergoing surgery for approximately one hour. Infusion of Ringer’s solution without glucose (group Ri, n = 10) led to a significant decrease of the serum blood glucose level from 105.7 ± 27.1 mg/dL at baseline compared with 87.8 ± 31.7 mg/dL post surgery. The pigs (50%) in group Ri were observed to be hypoglycemic (<72 mg/dL). The second group received Ringer’s solution containing a final concentration of 0.4% glucose (group Ri-Glu, n = 10) and showed a significant increase in blood glucose level from 104.4 ± 15.8 mg/dL at baseline compared with 122.3 ± 14.3 mg/dL post surgery. No animal in group Ri-Glu was observed to be hypoglycemic. In conclusion, we showed that even minor changes in perioperative crystalloid fluid management significantly influence blood glucose levels. In order to avoid hypoglycemia in juvenile pigs we recommend adding a minimal amount of glucose (0.4% final concentration) to the Ringer’s solution given perioperatively during surgery of approximately one hour.
Post-partum hemorrhage and malpractice claims: What can we learn from the findings of placental examination and endometrial curettage? A retrospective analysis of surgical pathology reports
Authors: Marchetti Daniela , Vellone Valerio , Dhimitri Ollga , Fulcheri Ezio
Published: February 2014

Objective

This study reviews the surgical pathology reports of post-partum hemorrhages to support clinicians in malpractice litigation and, potentially, to enhance pregnancy-related diagnoses.

Study design

This work is a retrospective study of surgical pathology reports of term pregnancies between January 2000 and January 2012 selected from the Surgical Pathology database of the I.R.C.C.S Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria San Martino-IST (Istituto Nazionale per la Ricerca sul Cancro, Genoa).

Results

Ninety-five revision reports were identified (0.22% “placenta accrete,” 0.46% “non-accreta placental tissue retention,” and 0.31% “no placental fragments retention”). Secondary post-partum hemorrhages occurred in 0.3%, and primary PPH occurred in 0.05%, regardless of the group examined. Both types of PPH were most often associated with vaginal deliveries (58%). The most frequent endometrial finding was post-partum endometritis (43%). The entire placenta was submitted to the pathologist in 22/95 cases (23%). Hypermaturity and/or villous immaturity were the main histological patterns.

Conclusions

This review supports the hypothesis that the pathological placenta abnormalities observed, rather than underlying myometrium abnormalities, may underlie the contractile failure and the incomplete removal of the placenta. For these reasons, the authors emphasized the importance of investigating the placenta in cases of complicated deliveries not associated with PPH to support clinicians in malpractice claims.
Dyeing of polyethylene terephthalate fibers with a disperse dye in supercritical carbon dioxide
Authors: Cardozo-Filho Lucio , Mazzer Helen Ronin , Santos Jose Celso , Andreaus Jürgen , Feihrmann Andresa Carla , Beninca Cristina , Cabral Vladimir Ferreira , Zanoelo Everton Fernando
Published: February 2014

A 24 factorial design of experiments complemented with a central point was performed to examine the influence of operating factors on color strength and color fastness of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibers dyed with the Disperse Orange 30 dye in supercritical CO2. The effects of temperature, pressure, dyeing time and mass ratio between the dye and PET introduced in the dyeing chamber ( α ratio) were considered. An additional set of kinetic results of color strength was obtained at the optimum condition in terms of pressure at the already presented temperatures and α ratios. A significant statistical effect of all the investigated factors on the color was observed, but except for the temperature, the influence of the same variables on wash fastness was negligible ( p < 0.05). The color results expressed in terms of K/ S from 2.4 to 21.8 revealed that the use of supercritical CO2 as a solvent for the dye is a rapid and reliable alternative procedure for dyeing of PET fibers with the Disperse Orange 30 dye. The results of wash fastness currently obtained (i.e. 4.69 ± 0.18) support the use of ScCO2.
The role of criminal actors in local governance
Authors: Abello-Colak Alexandra , Guarneros-Meza Valeria
Published: February 2014

The paper argues that understanding the ways in which criminals interact with state and non-state actors is crucial to construct a more accurate picture of how local governance arrangements are unfolding in urban policy-making in Latin America. Based on the experience of Medellin, Colombia, it is discussed that alongside decades of violence, rapid urbanisation and economic liberal reforms, the local state has built capacity for service provision and new governance arrangements. But this capacity has not weakened criminal actors’ operations and interactions with society and state actors. By focusing on the neighbourhood level, the paper demonstrates the existence of different strategies that have allowed criminals to benefit from governance arrangements, originally created to promote participatory democracy and urban development. The paper calls for studies to incorporate the role of criminals in contexts where boundaries between illegal and legal spheres of action, and formal and informal arrangements are continuously blurred.
From Passive to Radical Revolution in Venezuela’s Populist Project
Authors: Brading Ryan
Published: February 2014

In December 2001, Hugo Chávez and others changed Venezuela’s Bolivarian revolutionary project, which consisted of replacing a corrupt and elitist constitution with a fair and popular one, into a radical one. In its early stages the project corresponded to what Gramsci called a “passive revolution.” Attempts by opposition forces to crush the construction of a new populist hegemony (a coup in April 2002 and an indefinite strike in December 2002) were met with popular mobilization that reaffirmed Chávez’s hegemonic project. The radical revolution consisted of social programs designed to alleviate the suffering of the poor and consolidated a new hegemonic structure among Venezuela’s lower classes. The concept of “radical revolution” provides a theoretical alternative for assessing the extent to which a political project can be described as populist.

En diciembre de 2001, Hugo Chávez y otros cambiaron el proyecto revolucionario bolivariano de Venezuela, que consistía en reemplazar una constitución corrupta y elitista por una justa y popular, por uno radical. En sus primeras etapas, el proyecto correspondió a lo que Gramsci definiera como una “revolución pasiva.” Intentos por fuerzas de la oposición para frenar la construcción de una nueva hegemonía populista (un golpe de estado en abril de 2002 y una huelga indefinida en diciembre de 2002) se encontraron con una movilización popular que reafirmó el proyecto hegemónico de Chávez. La revolución radical consistió en programas sociales concebidos para aliviar el sufrimiento de los pobres y consolidó una nueva estructura hegemónica entre las clases inferiores de Venezuela. El concepto de “revolución radical” proporciona una alternativa teórica para evaluar la medida en que un proyecto político puede ser descrito como populista.
Privatization of Military Capability Has Gone Too Far
Authors: Camacho Paul R.
Published: February 2014

This article is a response to Lindy Heinecken’s “Outsourcing Public Security: The Unforeseen Consequences for the Military Profession.” Heinecken asks the question of whether privatization in our armed forces has gone too far. The position taken here is that it has. This article proceeds with a discussion of Heinecken’s work noting that much of the literature claiming the benefits of privatization is problematic and often fails to note obvious issues such as the externalization of costs, transaction costs, and contract oversight costs. These arguments are often conspicuously absent or ignored even when they are evident in the citations referenced and in some cases the literature supporting privatization comes dangerously close to circular referencing. Following this, a number of questions of increasingly broader perspective are posed that ask about and challenge readers to consider the consequences of the privatization assault on the public space and its consequences. While the text has endeavored to remain focused on military and security issues, a wider angle has been adopted in the endnotes.
Interactive education in public administration (1)
Authors: Alford John , Brock Jonathan
Published: February 2014

Schools of public policy and administration are increasingly adopting interactive case teaching (long used in business schools) as one of their primary pedagogical methods – not least because of its usefulness in both stimulating engagement by students and helping them turn that engagement into learning. This article and its companion piece (Interactive education in public administration (2): Strategies for teachers) acknowledge and explain this usefulness, but go beyond cases to also include other forms of what we call teaching ‘objects’. Starting with an outline of the educational rationale of interactive teaching, this article explains the nature of ‘objects’, how they enhance learning, their relevance specifically to public policy and administration, and what distinguishes good from poor objects. It focuses primarily on why teaching objects are used. The companion article sets out how to use them, laying out strategies for instructors.
Values and Decisions
Authors: Todt Oliver , Luján José Luis
Published: February 2014

The relevance of scientific knowledge for science and technology policy and regulation has led to a growing debate about the role of values. This article contributes to the clarification of what specific functions cognitive and noncognitive values adopt in knowledge generation and decisions, and what consequences the operation of values has for policy making and regulation. For our analysis, we differentiate between three different types of decision approaches, each of which shows a particular constellation of cognitive and noncognitive values. Our objectives are to present a structured analysis of the varying functions that different kinds of values can adopt, as well as the value-related tensions and trade-offs they give rise to. We argue that the operation of noncognitive values in scientific knowledge generation, policy, and regulatory decision making can be understood as an enabling factor, rather than a limiting one.
The responsibility for the other and The Responsibility to Protect
Authors: Toumayan Alain
Published: February 2014

This article analyses various ways to articulate the ethical investigations of French philosopher Emmanuel Levinas with the doctrine of the responsibility to protect. In response to genocide and mass atrocity, an imperative to understand responsibility in a broader and more forceful way entails in both cases a new and analogous revision of the related concepts of identity and sovereignty. A basic complementarity of Levinas’ ethics with the responsibility to protect is ascertained: while Levinas’ ethical investigations can indeed bring a philosophical basis to the responsibility to protect, the latter can, in a limited way, be construed as practical policy implications of the former.
Cultural nationalism and liberal values: An elusive synthesis
Authors: Gerson Gal , Rubin Aviad
Published: February 2014

In this article, we critically analyse the scholarly advocacy of nationalism recently offered by scholars such as Will Kymlicka, Neil MacCormick and David Miller. Their overall position is that basing nationality on culture rather than descent or religion would make nationalism compatible with liberalism. Synthesising nationalism and liberalism, according to this perspective, renders liberalism applicable in a world where nationalism is a reality, and addresses the flaws that communitarians have found in liberalism. Relying on earlier critiques of this position, we contend that the tacit character of national culture places political authority on a basis that is not universally visible and debatable. It accordingly conflicts with the strong constitutionalist element in liberalism. We argue, moreover, that the outlook offered by cultural nationalist authors seems to prize the determination of choice and deliberation by forces that cannot be reduced to verbal analysis. This new advocacy of nationalism thus suffers from some of the flaws that have made nationalism suspect to liberals since its inception.
Finding God in Global Politics
Authors: Maddox Marion
Published: February 2014

The literature on religion and international politics has expanded in reaction to the events iconically known as ‘9/11’, said to cast doubt on the ‘secularisation thesis’, which dominated the social sciences’ approach to religion until the 1980s. The four books under review begin by assessing the secularisation premise, before amassing data to demonstrate the ways in which ‘religion’ (however conceived) influences or is suppressed by governments, inflames or mediates conflicts, shapes voter attitudes and political cultures, and so on. With one exception, the authors devote little attention to defining ‘religion’ or to delineating what differentiates it from other categories such as ‘politics’, ‘culture’, or ‘ethnicity’. What ‘religion’ refers to, and how it relates to the ‘secular’, has been the subject of detailed, technical debate within the discipline of religious studies since 1962, but this literature is largely invisible in the four reviewed texts. The result is an enormous body of data which will overturn many enduring stereotypes; but whose usefulness is, in some cases, limited by the fact that the studies ultimately demonstrate that researchers tend to find what they go looking for.
Dedifferentiated chondrosarcoma: An aggressive variant of chondrosarcoma
Authors: Bharath Gangadhara , Burrah Rajaram , Shivakumar Kuppuswamy , Manjunath Suraj , Bhanumathi Rao
Published: February 2014

Dedifferentiated chondrosarcomas are a rare and aggressive subtype of chondrosarcoma with a bimorphic pattern on histopathology. Rib is a rare site of dedifferentiated chondrosarcoma. Diagnosis of this subtype preoperatively can be challenging. Treatment options for dedifferentiated chondrosarcoma are limited because they are chemoresistant, and therefore adequate surgery forms the main stay of treatment. We present our experience with a dedifferentiated chondrosarcoma of the rib, and discuss the management of this rare entity.
Pryce type I sequestration: No mosquito shooting
Authors: Barik Ramachandra , Patnaik Amar Narayan , Malempati Amaresh Rao , Nemani Lalita
Published: February 2014

We report a case of a 40-year-old woman with congenital dual arterial supply to an otherwise normal left lower lobe, causing hyperperfusion lung injury. In addition to near normal pulmonary arterial supply, the lower lobe of the left lung received a systemic arterial supply from the descending thoracic aorta. The patient was successfully managed by surgical ligation of the systemic arterial supply without lobectomy. We discuss when to defer lobectomy in Pryce type I sequestration.
Partial aortic root replacement for aneurysm of the right sinus of Valsalva
Authors: Osada Hiroaki , Kyogoku Masahisa , Fujino Takahisa , Nakajima Hiroyuki
Published: February 2014

An aneurysm of the sinus of Valsalva is clinically rare, and its operative indications and procedures are controversial. We herein report the rare case of a 68-year-old woman with severe right ventricular outflow tract obstruction caused by an aneurysm of the right sinus of Valsalva. We performed partial aortic root reconstruction using a bovine pericardial patch, and aortic valve replacement. Although this case provides evidence that these are suitable surgical techniques for treatment of aneurysm of the sinus of Valsalva, total aortic root replacement should have been chosen based on the pathological finding of aortic medial and valve degeneration.
Using a technology-organization-environment framework to investigate the factors influencing e-business information technology capabilities
Authors: Yeh Chi-Hung , Lee Gwo-Guang , Pai Jung-Chi
Published: February 2014

One key focus of the business community is determining how to combine information technology capability (IT capability) with business strategies. However, most of these studies have been based on a conceptual framework or researched the performance of e-businesses from a strictly technological point of view. This study sought to identify the factors that influence e-business IT capability using a technology-organization-environment framework. The subjects of this study were IT department heads in 1,000 large companies in Taiwan. Structural equation modeling was used to verify the validity of the research hypotheses. Results show that the key factors influencing e-business IT capability are as follows: IT maturity, IT infrastructure, IT human resources, support from top management, partnership quality, and competitive pressure. IT capability significantly affects the implementation of IT strategies. The results of this study could serve as important reference data for companies seeking to develop IT capability in the expansion of e-business.
Subsistence Entrepreneurship, Value Creation, and Community Exchange Systems
Authors: Viswanathan Madhu , Echambadi Raj , Venugopal Srinivas , Sridharan Srinivas
Published: February 2014

We study subsistence entrepreneurship, defined as entrepreneurial actions undertaken by individuals living in poverty. Subsistence entrepreneurs are important elements of the global economy. By virtue of being poor themselves and co-locating in the same community as their customers living in poverty, subsistence entrepreneurs create value for their customers more effectively than outside entities. We suggest that this marketing exchange (micro-level phenomenon) leads to the building of a community-level exchange system that is unique and inimitable (meso-level phenomenon). Viewing through the theoretical lens of social capital, we develop insights gleaned from qualitative interviews with subsistence entrepreneurs. Community marketing systems that arise out of micro-level interactions between subsistence entrepreneurs and their customers form the glue holding the so-called “informal economy” together in subsistence economies.
Mycophenolate mofetil improves neurological function and alters blood T-lymphocyte subsets in rats with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis
Authors: Zhu Zhengyu , You Wei , Xie ZhaoHong , Wang Ping , Liu Zhen , Wang Cunfu , Bi JianZhong
Published: February 2014

Objective

This study evaluated the clinical and pathological effects of the immunosuppressive agent mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) in rats with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE; a model of multiple sclerosis [MS]).

Methods

EAE rats were randomly divided into 4 groups: model alone ( n = 7); low- or high-dose MMF (20 and 30 mg/kg per day, respectively, n = 6 each) orally for 14 days; methylprednisolone (20 mg/kg per day, n = 6) injected once daily for 3 days. Six normal Wistar rats served as controls. Clinical signs and histopathological findings were evaluated 14 days after treatment started.

Results

Oral administration of high-dose MMF significantly ameliorated the course of EAE in rats: cumulative clinical scores were lower and weight loss was less than in rats receiving methylprednisolone. The ameliorated disease course was associated with alleviation of histopathological signs of EAE. Treatment increased the blood proportion of CD8+, CD4+CD25+ and CD4+CD45RA+ T cells, with a concomitant reduced proportion of CD4+ T cells and ratio of CD4+ to CD8+ T cells, compared with EAE model alone rats.

Conclusions

MMF may have pharmacological potential in MS treatment and these findings may help in understanding the pathophysiological mechanism of MS.
Streptococcus iniae in Gilthead Seabream (Sparus aurata, L.) and Red Porgy (Pagrus pagrus, L.)
Authors: Aamri F. El , Caballero M. J. , Real F. , Acosta F. , Déniz S. , Román L. , Padilla D.
Published: February 2014

Streptococcosis caused by Streptococcus iniae has become one of the most serious marine and freshwater aquatic diseases in the past decade, causing large losses in farmed and wild fish worldwide. In this study, we performed an ultrastructural study of major lesions in gilthead seabream Sparus aurata and red porgy Pagrus pagrus experimentally infected with the S. iniae IUSA-1 strain, isolated in a natural outbreak in Spain in the mentioned species. The transmission electron micrographs revealed the resistance of this pathogen inside the phagosome, indicating that the macrophage may provide a significant bacterial reservoir for continuing infection, disease dissemination, and tissue injury by crossing the blood-brain barrier.
A half-hearted romance? A diagnosis and agenda for the relationship between economic geography and actor-network theory (ANT)
Authors: Müller Martin
Published: February 2014

This paper examines the relationship of actor-network theory (ANT) and economic geography, arguing that there has been a rather restrictive, sometimes ambiguous reading of ANT literature. It reviews three major lines of reception in economic geography around the themes of topological space, translation and performativity. Subsequently, the paper problematizes conflicting interpretations of ‘network’ and ‘power’ as central ANT terms. In an attempt to open up new avenues of engagement with ANT, it finally sketches an agenda around three themes that are of relevance both for economic geography and for human geography more broadly: hybridity, desire and fluidity.
A direct approach for modeling ion-exchange residual stress distribution in glass
Authors: Ma Lifeng , Sun Kun
Published: February 2014

In this article, we propose a direct approach to model the residual stress in glass due to ion exchange. Rather than employing the traditional thermal strain analogy approach in literature, the nominal residual strain distribution due to ion exchange is addressed with direct analysis of ion-exchange volume change first. Then, based on the principle of superposition, the residual stress in ion-exchanged glass is then formulated with a direct approach in the framework of elasticity, and a complete solution for residual stress distribution is obtained with consideration of the asymmetric ion molar concentration distribution. Finally, a simple example is provided to demonstrate the validity of the fundamental formulations proposed in this article.
Critical political economy and the critique of comparative capitalisms scholarship on capitalist diversity
Authors: Bruff Ian , Ebenau Matthias
Published: February 2014

This introduction to the special issue focuses on the rise to dominance in debates on capitalist diversity of approaches which take institutions as their starting point, rather than the wider social relations in which institutions sit and are constituted by. However, although this is part of broader trends across the social sciences over the last three decades, the self-marginalisation of critical political economy perspectives from these debates was also a factor, as was the declining dialogue between critical political economy researchers rooted in different geographical and philosophical traditions. Echoing the influence on the emergent Conference of Socialist Economists of German-language debates on the state in the 1970s, we call for renewed dialogue between researchers from different linguistic and intellectual backgrounds in the name of a renewed critique of dominant comparative capitalisms (CC) approaches. In so doing, we emphasise the range of alternative perspectives that can be offered through such dialogues and critiques, and thus the significant potential for further collaboration and advances in our understanding of capitalist diversity.
Neo-pluralist political science, economic sociology and the conceptual foundations of the comparative capitalisms literatures
Authors: Bruff Ian , Hartmann Eva
Published: February 2014

In this paper, we critically assess two of the key conceptual foundations for the comparative capitalisms (CC) literatures, neo-pluralist political science and economic sociology, in order to identify more clearly the deep intellectual roots of these literatures. Principally, we focus on how the strengths of neo-pluralism and economic sociology – their attention to detail in considering the huge range of ‘types’ of capitalism that exist across the world – come at a high price. Put briefly, the redefinition of ‘capitalism’ as ‘the economy’ concentrates research agendas on the specific political and social conditions found across the world, leaving ‘the economy’ relatively untouched. In consequence, ‘capitalist diversity’ is quickly, and often silently, equated to ‘political diversity’ or ‘social diversity’. As such, a key weakness of CC scholarship, identified by various authors in this Capital & Class special issue – that it does not provide a satisfactory theoretical understanding of capitalist societies – is a problem that runs deeper than the limitations that can be observed in contemporary debates. The implications of our argument are discussed in the conclusion.
Comparative analysis of capitalism from a regulationist perspective extended by neo-Gramscian IPE
Authors: Bieling Hans-Jürgen
Published: February 2014

Over time, the comparative analysis of capitalism has moved beyond the strict confines of the narrow varieties of capitalism (VoC) framework. In this sense, it is possible to observe an emergent post-VoC discussion that goes beyond the static design and methodological nationalism that can be found in a strictly comparative and institutionalist account of capitalism. So far, however, the post-VoC discussion has been barely able to address important politico-economic and societal themes and issues. For the most part, assertions about time-diagnostic characterisations of the current state of capitalism, the causes and processes of specific crisis dynamics inherent to this current form of capitalism, and the asymmetrical forms of international networks or formative transnational power relations, remain weak or chaotic. In order to overcome these existing deficiencies, this paper argues from an analytical perspective that situates itself in regulation theory and allows itself to be characterised as an extended neo-Gramscian international political economy (IPE) approach.
Capitalist diversity and variety: Variegation, the world market, compossibility and ecological dominance
Authors: Jessop Bob
Published: February 2014

This article critiques the institutionalist literature on varieties of capitalism and the more regulationist comparative capitalisms approach. It elaborates the alternative concept of variegated capitalism and suggests that this can be studied fruitfully through a synthesis of materialist form analysis and historical institutionalism within a world-market perspective. It highlights the role of institutional and spatiotemporal fixes that produce temporary, partial, and unstable zones of stability (and corresponding zones of instability) within the limits of the crisis-prone capital relation, and illustrates this from the crisis of crisis-management in the Eurozone crisis.
Varieties of capitalism or varieties of relationships of forces? Outlines of a historical materialist policy analysis
Authors: Kannankulam John , Georgi Fabian
Published: February 2014

Our article focuses on a question that is at the core of comparative capitalisms (CC) scholarship and historical materialist state theory: What is an appropriate theory of institutions in capitalism? How can we conceptualise institutions in relation to the fundamental contradictions and power relations of capitalism? Starting from the social foundations of institutions, the aim of this article is to show how institutional complementarity and institutional change can be explained through analysing shifting relationships of social forces. With our newly developed method of a ‘historical materialist policy analysis’, in which we have integrated insights of CC approaches, we seek to show how an empirical investigation of relationships of forces can be operationalised. This is briefly illustrated in an analysis of the constellation of forces in the current Euro crisis.
Transformation and crisis in Central and Eastern Europe: A combined and uneven development perspective
Authors: Hardy Jane
Published: February 2014

This article elaborates a theory of combined and uneven development that takes the dimensions of spatiality, labour and institutions seriously. Drawing on this conceptual framework, an account is given of the way the 2007–2008 crisis was inflected in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The integration of these countries with the global economy has taken place in different ways through trade, investment and finance. This has not only been a source of unevenness within and between them, but has also determined the form and severity with which they have experienced the crisis. The combined and uneven development perspective is therefore able to provide a rich and more dynamic account of economic development and the transmission of the crisis. Further, rather than labour being treated as one among many institutions, it is privileged in its potential role of instigating deep social change.
Economic surplus and capitalist diversity
Authors: Weiss Oliver
Published: February 2014

This paper develops a theoretical critique of the varieties of capitalism (VoC) approach from the perspective of ideas sourced from Marxian political economy. In particular, the concept of economic surplus as formulated by Paul Baran is used to question the social ontology implicit in VoC, which, it is argued, is severely constrained by its imprecise definitions of both capitalism itself and capitalist diversity as a specific phenomenon. The result of these two failures is that VoC’s theoretical apparatus is unable to perceive the true significance of capitalist diversity, and is thus likewise incapable of telling us anything new about capitalism itself. In this way, key aspects of the institutionalist take on capitalist diversity are questioned, and an alternative analytical approach based on the labour theory of value is put forward.
The UK: Less a liberal market economy, more a post-imperial one
Authors: Coates David
Published: February 2014

This article adds a new element to the growing critique of the original varieties of capitalism (VoC) distinction between liberal and coordinated market capitalisms by questioning the usefulness of the liberal market economy (LME) category itself. It demonstrates that many of the distinguishing features of the LME category are – in the US and UK cases at least – best explained by those economies’ external global and hegemonic role, rather than by their internal institutional complementarities. Imperialism holds the key to liberalism – a key demonstrated here by a detailed examination of the UK case. The lessons for the study of comparative capitalisms are major: a total setting aside of the LME/CME distinction, and a return to the building of a global understanding of capitalism which is more than the sum of its individual parts. In order to understand LMEs, you need to understand imperialism; and to understand imperialism, you have to engage again with a revitalised Marxism.
The silent treatment of class domination: ‘Critical’ comparative capitalisms scholarship and the British state
Authors: Gallas Alexander
Published: February 2014

This article is a meta-critique, from an Althusserian and Poulantzasian perspective, of critical accounts of the British state. It is based on a ‘symptomatic reading’ of key texts written by Andrew Gamble, Colin Hay and Chris Howell, which demonstrates that they misconstrue the dynamics of capitalism and the effects of state interventions and class conflict. Against this backdrop, the article outlines an approach to state analysis based on the concept of ‘capitalist class domination’, which avoids the tendency of both critical political science and comparative capitalisms scholarship to substitute the study of specific aspects of capitalism for the analysis of capitalism as a structured whole.
Varieties of contestation: The comparative and critical political economy of ‘excessive’ demand
Authors: Bailey David J. , Shibata Saori
Published: February 2014

This paper agrees with much of the current criticism, especially from Marxist perspectives, which argues that the varieties of capitalism (VoC) approach over-emphasises the degree of harmony and mutual benefit, as well as the absence of class tension and exploitation, within contemporary capitalist relations. It also, however, criticises many of these Marxist critiques on the grounds that they too willingly accept that relations of domination and exploitation are constitutive of contemporary capitalism. In contrast, the present paper draws on alternative positions within the heterodox Marxist tradition to highlight the contestation that invariably disrupts attempts to structure relations of exploitation and domination. Rather than varieties of capitalism, or varieties in capitalism, therefore, we might be better served by seeking to map varieties of contestation. These arguments are developed with reference to empirical sketches of patterns of contestation in Japan and the UK. These are two countries typically considered alternative types of market economy, but instead considered here to evince contrasting patterns of contestation.
Analysis of Pitching Velocity in Major League Baseball Players Before and After Ulnar Collateral Ligament Reconstruction
Authors: Jiang Jimmy J. , Leland J. Martin
Published: February 2014

Background:

Ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) reconstructions are relatively common among professional pitchers in Major League Baseball (MLB). To the authors’ knowledge, there has not been a study specifically analyzing pitching velocity after UCL surgery. These measurements were examined in a cohort of MLB pitchers before and after UCL reconstruction.

Hypothesis:

There is no significant loss in pitch velocity after UCL reconstruction in MLB pitchers.

Study Design:

Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3.

Methods:

Between the years 2008 to 2010, a total of 41 MLB pitchers were identified as players who underwent UCL reconstruction. Inclusion criteria for this study consisted of a minimum of 1 year of preinjury and 2 years of postinjury pitch velocity data. After implementing exclusion criteria, performance data were analyzed from 28 of the 41 pitchers over a minimum of 4 MLB seasons for each player. A pair-matched control group of pitchers who did not have a known UCL injury were analyzed for comparison.

Results:

Of the initial 41 players, 3 were excluded for revision UCL reconstruction. Eight of the 38 players who underwent primary UCL reconstruction did not return to pitching at the major league level, and 2 players who met the exclusion criteria were omitted, leaving data on 28 players available for final velocity analysis. The mean percentage change in the velocity of pitches thrown by players who underwent UCL reconstruction was not significantly different compared with that of players in the control group. The mean innings pitched was statistically different only for the year of injury and the first postinjury year. There were also no statistically significant differences between the 2 groups with regard to commonly used statistical performance measurements, including earned run average, batting average against, walks per 9 innings, strikeouts per 9 innings, and walks plus hits per inning pitched.

Conclusion:

There were no significant differences in pitch velocity and common performance measurements between players who returned to MLB after UCL reconstruction and pair-matched controls.
A just judgement? Considerations on Ronald Srigley’s Camus’ Critique of Modernity
Authors: Sharpe Matthew
Published: February 2014

This paper responds critically to Ronald Srigley’s groundbreaking 2011 study Albert Camus’ Critique of Modernity. Srigley’s book reasserts Camus’ credentials as a deeply serious thinker, whose literary and philosophical oeuvre was dedicated to rethinking modernity on the basis of critical reassessments of the West’s entire premodern heritage. Yet we challenge whether Camus was ever, even in his final writings, so uncompromisingly anti-modern as Srigley contends. Srigley’s attempt to present Camus as committed to a return to the Greeks, on the basis of a total critique of modernity as deleteriously post-Christian, forces him to occlude important distinctions in Camus’ thought: those between unity and totality, rebellion and revolution. By contrast, we compare Camus’ defence of modern rebellion with Blumenberg’s argument in The Legitimacy of the Modern Age: finding justification for this rebellion in the deep problem faced by Christian theology of resolving the ‘problem of evil’. Finally, we suggest that Srigley overplays the extent of Camus’ ‘Hellenic’ critique of the Christian heritage (notably its ethical commitment to protecting the weak), in contrast to Christian theodicy and eschatology, which serve to rationalize avoidable suffering.
Against prophecy and utopia
Authors: Kelly Mark GE
Published: February 2014

In this essay, I take as a starting point Foucault’s rejection of two different ways of thinking about the future, prophecy and utopianism, and use this rejection as a basis for the elaboration of a more detailed rejection of them, invoking complexity-based epistemic limitations in relation to thinking about the future of political society. I follow Foucault in advocating immanent political struggle, which does not seek to build a determinate vision of the future but rather focuses on negating aspects of the current conjuncture. I extend this argument into an ethical register, arguing that the same arguments apply mutatis mutandis to our personal lives. I conclude by engaging with Jacques Lacan’s account of subjectivity, and the interpretation of its political import furnished by Yannis Stavrakakis, drawing from these additional supports for my position, in particular the rejection of utopianism as an attempt to avoid limitation by the real.