bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Brain Areas Selective for Both Observed and Executed Movements
Authors: Dinstein Ilan , Hasson Uri , Rubin Nava , Heeger David J.
Published: June 2007

When observing a particular movement a subset of movement-selective visual and visuomotor neurons are active in the observer's brain, forming a representation of the observed movement. Similarly, when executing a movement a subset of movement-selective motor and visuomotor neurons are active, forming a representation of the executed movement. In this study we used an fMRI-adaptation protocol to assess cortical response selectivity to observed and executed movements simultaneously. Subjects freely played the rock–paper–scissors game against a videotaped opponent, sometimes repeatedly observing or executing the same movement on subsequent trials. Numerous brain areas exhibited adaptation (repetition suppression) during either repeated observations or repeated executions of the same movement. A subset of areas exhibited an overlap of both effects, containing neurons with selective responses for both executed and observed movements. We describe the function of these movement representation areas in the context of the human mirror system, which is expected to respond selectively to both observed and executed movements.
Frontoparietal Activation With Preparation for Antisaccades
Authors: Brown Matthew R. G. , Vilis Tutis , Everling Stefan
Published: June 2007

Several current models hold that frontoparietal areas exert cognitive control by biasing task-relevant processing in other brain areas. Previous event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have compared prosaccades and antisaccades, which require subjects to look toward or away from a flashed peripheral stimulus, respectively. These studies found greater activation for antisaccades in frontal and parietal regions at the ends of long (≥6 s) preparatory periods preceding peripheral stimulus presentation. Event-related fMRI studies using short preparatory periods (≤4 s) have not found such activation differences except in the frontal eye field. Here, we identified activation differences associated with short (1-s) preparatory periods by interleaving half trials among regular whole trials in a rapid fMRI design. On whole trials, a colored fixation dot instructed human subjects to make either a prosaccade toward or an antisaccade away from a peripheral visual stimulus. Half trials included only the instruction and not peripheral stimulus presentation or saccade generation. Nonetheless, half trials evoked stronger activation on antisaccades than on prosaccades in the frontal eye field (FEF), supplementary eye field (SEF), left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), intraparietal sulcus (IPS), and precuneus. Greater antisaccade response-related activation was found in FEF, SEF, IPS, and precuneus but not in DLPFC or ACC. These results demonstrate greater preparatory activation for antisaccades versus prosaccades in frontoparietal areas and suggest that prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex are more involved in presetting the saccade network for the antisaccade task than generating the actual antisaccade response.
Contribution of Individual Retinal Ganglion Cell Responses to Velocity and Acceleration Encoding
Authors: Thiel Andreas , Greschner Martin , Eurich Christian W. , Ammermüller Josef , Kretzberg Jutta
Published: June 2007

We investigate the capability of turtle retinal ganglion cell (RGC) ensembles to simultaneously encode multiple aspects of visual motion: speed, direction, and acceleration of moving patterns. Bayesian stimulus reconstruction reveals that the instantaneous firing rates of RGCs contain information about all of these stimulus properties. Stimulus velocity is mainly encoded by steady-state firing rates, whereas acceleration can be reconstructed from transient components in RGC activity induced by abrupt velocity changes. Therefore neurons in higher brain areas may in principle extract information about changing velocity from the instantaneous firing activity of RGCs, without the need to compare responses to present velocities to previous ones. However, reconstruction requires the estimation of a combined acceleration and velocity signal, indicating that RGC ensembles signal both properties simultaneously. In accordance with this conclusion, combined velocity/acceleration sensitivity enhances the similarity of artificial spike trains to experimental data by 50% compared with the case of pure velocity tuning. Decoding of motion direction in addition to speed and acceleration requires direction-sensitive cells, which generate higher firing rates for one of the motion directions and therefore show asymmetric velocity tuning. By dividing the entire ensemble of simultaneously recorded cells into one group of direction-sensitive cells and one group with symmetric tuning, we demonstrate that the population of direction-sensitive cells encodes a combination of motion speed, acceleration, and direction. However, estimation of velocity and acceleration is improved by including the larger group of RGC responses that are sensitive to speed but not to motion direction.
Curcumin (1,7-bis(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1, 6-heptadiene-3,5-dione) Blocks the Chemotaxis of Neutrophils by Inhibiting Signal Transduction through IL-8 Receptors
Authors: Takahashi Masafumi , Ishiko Takatoshi , Kamohara Hidenobu , Hidaka Hideaki , Ikeda Osamu , Ogawa Michio , Baba Hideo
Published: June 2007

We investigated the impact of curcumin on neutrophils. Chemotactic activity via human recombinant IL-8 (hrIL-8) was significantly inhibited by curcumin. Curcumin reduced calcium ion flow induced by internalization of the IL-8 receptor. We analyzed flow cytometry to evaluate the status of the IL-8 receptor after curcumin treatment. The change in the distribution of receptors intracellularly and on the cell surface suggested that curcumin may affect the receptor trafficking pathway intracellulary. Rab11 is a low molecular weight G protein associated with the CXCR recycling pathway. Following curcumin treatment, immunoprecipitation studies showed that the IL-8 receptor was associated with larger amounts of active Rab11 than that in control cells. These data suggest that curcumin induces the stacking of the Rab11 vesicle complex with CXCR1 and CXCR2 in the endocytic pathway. The mechanism for antiinflammatory response by curcumin may involve unique regulation of the Rab11 trafficking molecule in recycling of IL-8 receptors.
The Performance of the Higher-Order Radiation Condition Method for the Penetrable Cylinder
Authors: Yilmaz Bülent
Published: June 2007

We have considered the scattering of a plane wave by a penetrable acoustic circular cylinder. The boundary conditions are continuity of the total pressure and the total velocity. The wave speed and density of the target are different from that of the surrounding medium. We investigated the performance of higher-order SRCs up toL4operator in two dimensions. We assume that in the rectangular Cartesian system of axes,(x,y,z), thezaxis coincides with the axis of the cylinder and an incident wave propagates in a direction perpendicular to thezaxis. All the field quantities are then independent ofz. Numerical results are added to present the change of the module of the total field and the magnitude of the far field with respect toθ.
Level Set Method for Positron Emission Tomography
Authors: Chan Tony F. , Li Hongwei , Lysaker Marius , Tai Xue-Cheng
Published: June 2007

In positron emission tomography (PET), a radioactive compound is injected into the body to promote a tissue‐dependent emission rate.
Expectation maximization (EM) reconstruction algorithms are iterative techniques which estimate the concentration coefficients
that provide the best fitted solution, for example, a maximum likelihood estimate. In this paper, we combine the EM algorithm with a level set approach.
The level set method is used to capture the coarse scale information and the discontinuities of the concentration coefficients.
An intrinsic advantage of the level set formulation is that anatomical information can be efficiently incorporated and used in an easy and natural way.
We utilize a multiple level set formulation to represent the geometry of the objects in the scene. The proposed algorithm can be applied to any PET configuration, without major modifications.
Efficient Computation of Shortest Paths in Networks Using Particle Swarm Optimization and Noising Metaheuristics
Authors: Mohemmed Ammar W. , Sahoo Nirod Chandra
Published: June 2007

This paper presents a novel hybrid algorithm based on particle swarm optimization (PSO) and noising metaheuristics for solving the single-source shortest-path problem (SPP) commonly encountered in graph theory. This hybrid search process combines PSO for iteratively finding a population of better solutions and noising method for diversifying the search scheme to solve this problem. A new encoding/decoding scheme based on heuristics has been devised for representing the SPP parameters as a particle in PSO. Noising-method-based metaheuristics (noisy local search) have been incorporated in order to enhance the overall search efficiency. In particular, an iteration of the proposed hybrid algorithm consists of a standard PSO iteration and few trials of noising scheme applied to each better/improved particle for local search, where the neighborhood of each such particle is noisily explored with an elementary transformation of the particle so as to escape possible local minima and to diversify the search. Simulation results on several networks with random topologies are used to illustrate the efficiency of the proposed hybrid algorithm for shortest-path computation. The proposed algorithm can be used as a platform for solving other NP-hard SPPs.
Minimizing Banking Risk in a Lévy Process Setting
Authors: Gideon F. , Mukuddem-Petersen J. , Petersen M. A.
Published: June 2007

The primary functions of a bank are to obtain funds through deposits from external sources and to use the said funds to issue loans. Moreover, risk management practices related to the withdrawal of these bank deposits have always been of considerable interest. In this spirit, we construct Lévy process-driven models of banking reserves in order to address the problem of hedging deposit withdrawals from such institutions by means of reserves. Here reserves are related to outstanding debt and acts as a proxy for the assets held by the bank. The aforementioned modeling enables us to formulate a stochastic optimal control problem related to the minimization of reserve, depository, and intrinsic risk that are associated with the reserve process, the net cash flows from depository activity, and cumulative costs of the bank's provisioning strategy, respectively. A discussion of the main risk management issues arising from the optimization problem mentioned earlier forms an integral part of our paper. This includes the presentation of a numerical example involving a simulation of the provisions made for deposit withdrawals via treasuries and reserves.
Distribution of Roots of Polynomial Congruences
Authors: Shparlinski Igor E.
Published: June 2007

For a primep, we obtain an upper bound on the discrepancy of fractionsr/p, whererruns through all of roots modulopof all monic univariate polynomials of degreedwhose vector of coefficients belongs to ad-dimensional boxℬ. The bound is nontrivial starting with boxesℬof size|ℬ|≥pd/2+ɛfor any fixedɛ<0and sufficiently largep.
Robustness of Transmultiplexed Images
Authors: Sypka Przemyslaw , Ziólko Mariusz
Published: June 2007

Transmultiplexation changes the parallel transmission into a serial
transmission. Integer-to-integer filters ensure the perfect reconstruction. The paper presents
a suitable serialization method which improves the robustness of images transmitted by
a transmultiplexer system. The solution is based on blocks of sizes adequate to separation
filter orders, used in detransmultiplexation. The proposed
method results directly from the detransmultiplexation algorithm. An example of a four-channel
transmultiplexer system, equipped with integer filters, is presented and analyzed to illustrate
the suggested method. A simple and effective filter design method is also presented.
Asymptotic Delay Analysis for Cross-Layer Delay-Based Routing in Ad Hoc Networks
Authors: Jacquet Philippe , Meraihi Naimi Amina , Rodolakis Georgios
Published: June 2007

This paper addresses the problem of the evaluation of the delay distribution via analytical means in IEEE 802.11 wireless ad hoc networks. We show that the asymptotic delay distribution can be expressed as a power law. Based on the latter result, we present a cross-layer delay estimation protocol and we derive new delay-distribution-based routing algorithms, which are well adapted to the QoS requirements of real-time multimedia applications. In fact, multimedia services are not sensitive to average delays, but rather to the asymptotic delay distributions. Indeed, video streaming applications drop frames when they are received beyond a delay threshold, determined by the buffer size. Although delay-distribution-based routing is an NP-hard problem, we show that it can be solved in polynomial time when the delay threshold is large, because of the asymptotic power law distribution of the link delays.
Altered Expression of the Early Mitotic Checkpoint Protein, CHFR, in Breast Cancers: Implications for Tumor Suppression
Authors: Privette Lisa M. , González Maria E. , Ding Lei , Kleer Celina G. , Petty Elizabeth M.
Published: June 2007

Checkpoint with FHA and Ring Finger (CHFR) is hypothesized to mediate a delay in cell cycle progression early in mitosis in response to microtubule stress, independent of the spindle assembly checkpoint. As a potential regulator of cell cycle progression, CHFR naturally becomes an interesting target for understanding cancer cells. In recent years, there has been increasing evidence supporting the role of CHFR as a tumor suppressor, most of which report loss of expression, occasionally due to promoter hypermethylation, in cancers compared with patient-matched normal tissues. We studied both a panel of breast cancer cell lines as well as primary tissue samples from breast cancer patients to investigate CHFR as a relevant tumor suppressor in breast cancer and to determine whether CHFR expression was associated with clinical and pathologic variables. We report that 41% of cell lines and 36% of patient samples showed low or negative CHFR protein expression or staining. In addition, lack of CHFR detection was associated with increased tumor size and weakly correlated with estrogen receptor–negative tumors from patients. To study the effects of low CHFR expression in vitro, we stably expressed a short hairpin RNA construct targeting CHFR in two lines of immortalized human mammary epithelial cells. Notably, decreased CHFR expression resulted in the acquisition of many phenotypes associated with malignant progression, including accelerated growth rates, higher mitotic index, enhanced invasiveness, increased motility, greater aneuploidy, and amplified colony formation in soft agar, further supporting the role of CHFR as a tumor suppressor in breast cancer. [Cancer Res 2007;67(13):6064–74]
Stroke Mortality in Belgrade, Serbia: Age, Period, and Cohort Analyses
Authors: Pekmezovic Tatjana , Tepavcevic Darija Kisic , Jarebinski Mirjana , Kostic Milica , Bumbasirevic Ljiljana
Published: June 2007

Objective: To assess the age, period, and cohort effects on stroke mortality in Belgrade, Serbia, between 1989 and 2003. Methods: Mortality data for stroke events were obtained from the Municipal Institute of Statistics. The age- and gender-specific mortality rates were calculated for the cohorts of individuals born between 1904–1908 and 1964–1968. Results: In males, the average mortality rate increased from 80.9/100,000 in 1989–1993 to 111.3/100,000 in 1994–1998, and decreased slightly to 101.8/100,000 in 1999–2003. A similar pattern was observed among females. Stroke mortality risk was strongly related to age in both genders. This age effect was present for both genders, independent of the cohort or time period. The majority of the successive generations in Belgrade had an increased risk of death from stroke in the recent cohorts especially among females. Conclusions: Our results suggest the need to improve efforts in the primary and secondary prevention of stroke.
Political Elite Circulation: Implications for Leadership Diversity and Democratic Regime Stability in Ghana
Authors: Svanikier Johanna Odonkor
Published: June 2007

This article proposes that elite theory is at the heart of understanding political conflict in Africa. A case study of Ghana analyses the historical origins of elite conflict in Ghana before and after independence. The article links high levels of political elite circulation resulting from the transformation of traditional social structures with high levels of political elite differentiation and instability in the post-colonial era. Since 1992 Ghana's new liberal democratic regime has flourished. There are indications that there is a gradual increase in unity amongst competing political elites. Diversity amongst political elites has resulted in greater representation at the leadership level. These factors may explain the sustained period of political stability and the gradual deepening of liberal democracy in Ghana.
The Challenge Facing British Unions
Authors: McCarthy W.E.J.
Published: June 2007

In the last two decades, British unions have developed in sharply contrasting directions. The forties were years of growth in membership, in power, and in prestige. In the fifties, each one of these developments was halted or re versed. Today, the unions face three major problems: the problem of membership growth, the problem of membership communication and control, and the problem of their relations with the government and the community. The 1962 Trades Union Congress showed some signs that the movement might be making a concerted attempt to tackle these problems, but it is still too early to tell. Essentially, the will to tackle their own difficulties must come from each individual union involved.
Culture Change and the Planner
Authors: Garvan Anthony N.B.
Published: June 2007

City planning possesses abundant observed data, a body of theory, and a genuine experimental technique, at tributes which constitute the minimum bases of a science. The deficiencies of city planning as a science are faults of applica tion, not of structure. The failure of city planning to develop into a science probably rests on the fact that the theorist of planning may speculate on ideals but the planner confronts the cultural realities which restrict the building and rebuilding of cities. The impact of planning measures on the customs of people has often been denied because to admit it would raise complex questions of cultural interrelationships. A more real istic approach would recognize the existing cultural framework and the effect of changing it. In this way, objectives could be openly and frankly stated and the implications of changes could be estimated in costs and benefits. Planned changes of cities and rural areas are now Western civilization's most ex tensive cultural change. For these plans to work culturally and to be judged culturally, researchers in the social sciences and humanities must, at the least, be accorded equality with the elected politician and the legal jurist in the making of decisions: they must be allowed to act as well as to talk.—Ed.
Diplomatic Rapport between Africa and the United States
Authors: Mennen Williams G.
Published: June 2007

Africa's march to independence in the years since World War II has caused extensive reorganization of Depart ment of State diplomatic machinery to meet Africa's challenge. The United States was fortunate, however, to have had a group of Foreign Service officers with particular interest in Africa who foresaw many of the changes that Africa's emergence would bring. This foresight has helped the United States to de velop a high degree of diplomatic rapport with the nations of Africa, and rapport has been strengthened through the efforts of many individual American representatives. The basis on which rapport has been built is found in a set of objectives and beliefs shared by Africans and Americans alike. These objec tives and beliefs include a desire for freedom, independence, and human dignity and a common interest in improving con ditions of life.
Unmet and Future Needs
Authors: Glover E. Elizabeth , Reid Joseph H.
Published: June 2007

Cultural and economic changes have had an im pact on the American family that has resulted in new problems in child welfare. Aid to Families with Dependent Children, the nation's basic child welfare program, is failing to meet even minimum physical needs of children and their parents. The number of children under eighteen with working mothers, and with disorganized and inadequate parents, requires that day- care programs be established for children of all ages. Home maker programs should be expanded and protective services provided on state-wide bases under public administration. All states need additional services for unmarried parents, especially for nonwhites and poor whites. The number of children in foster care is rising; socioeconomic and cultural factors demand a re-evaluation of long-held assumptions regarding foster- family and group care. Methods of child care need to be studied systematically. A nationwide pattern for financing child welfare services is necessary to eliminate divided and confused responsibility among federal and state, public and private bodies. The shortage of professional and nonprofessional per sonnel in child welfare is critical. Unmet needs in child welfare services can be filled when these services are perceived in terms of basic national policy.
The Handicapped Child
Authors: Gardipee Charles R.
Published: June 2007

The physically or mentally handicapped child has special needs because of his handicap. Many services have been developed with the objective of assisting the child to attain the greatest amount of self-sufficiency as an adult. Medical-care services are a necessary part of these services. The Crippled Children Services programs provide specialized medical services for handicapped children. These programs need re-evaluation. Although they provide care for a signifi cant number of handicapped children, they fail to include many children whose handicapping conditions can be effectively treated and whose families cannot afford specialized care. In creased recognition must be given to the needs of the handi capped for social, vocational, recreational, and custodial serv ices. A greater share of our national wealth must be directed into services for the handicapped so that they may attain the greatest possible level of self-sufficiency. A major priority should be placed on research into the causes of the disabling defects of childhood so that adequate preventive measures may be developed.
Guardianship: Every Child's Right
Authors: Weissman Irving
Published: June 2007

Basic guarantees of American law for protection of the person against unauthorized control by others, respect for the dignity and rights of the individual, and effective par ticipation in community life are safeguarded for the child by a special protective status and protective relationship. In his status as a minor, the child is deprived of self-determination and self-management. The guardian, whether parent, adoptive parent, or judicially appointed person, represents the child's rights and interests in a personal relationship with the child. Studies show, however, that this protective law is almost com pletely neglected in the actual practice of courts and community social agencies serving children, despite mounting evidence of the effect of improper guardianship in child neglect, abuse, exploitation, nonsupport, running away, falling into trouble with the law, and so on. The United States Children's Bureau has made a start toward corrective legislation and practices by suggesting principles and language for legislation which defines and distinguishes key terms at law and clarifies authority and professional relationships with children.
South Asia Studies: A History
Authors: Brown W. Norman
Published: June 2007

South Asia consists of India, Pakistan, Ceylon, Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim, and Afghanistan. Until the Second World War, the study of this area was almost entirely restricted to humanistic subjects as taught by professors of Sanskrit in American universities. Since the 1920's, the humanistic schol ars dealing with South Asia had felt that social science subjects should also be added, but had not succeeded in getting an ex panded program into the American educational system. The Second World War made it evident that social science subjects should be added. After the war, the large foundations assisted in establishing South Asia centers which expanded South Asian studies by adding the study of modern languages of the area and social science subjects. A Joint Committee of the Ameri can Council of Learned Societies and the Social Science Re search Council was established in 1949, which published a re port in 1951, "Southern Asia Studies in the United States: A Survey and Plan." Its recommendations were in course of time all implemented. The United States federal government began to support South Asia studies by instituting a foreign language fellowship program. The latest development of South Asia studies has been the establishment of the American Institute of Indian Studies in India, which is supported by United States counterpart funds in India and by a grant from the Ford Foundation. Further necessary developments of South Asia studies are outlined in the rest of the paper.
Political Integration and Political Development
Authors: Weiner Myron
Published: June 2007

The integration problems faced by new nations should be viewed as part of an historical process of political de velopment through which Western political systems have gone as well. It is during the transitional phase of political develop ment, as governments begin to assume or attempt to assume more functions, that integration problems become most acute. The most common integration problems involve problems of na tional identity, territorial control, the establishment of norms for the handling of public conflict, the relationship between gov ernors and the governed, and the problems of organizing indi viduals for the achievement of common purposes. The major options available to governments faced with integration prob lems are explored.
Is Containment Moral?
Authors: Fleming D.F.
Published: June 2007

The Dulles idea that nonalignment in the Cold War is immoral voiced the view that all the world must choose between the pure white of our cold-war crusade and the total evil of Soviet communism. This absolutist doctrine failed to convince any nonaligned people and had to be abandoned. Even our allies condemned its rigidity. However, its propa gation and failure inevitably raised the issue of the morality of our containment policy. Was it moral to go to the other side of the earth to build many-sided hostile walls around the two largest peoples in the world; to deplete our own economy and society dangerously by nearly a trillion dollars of cold-war military expenditures, while verging upon international finan cial bankruptcy; to proscribe all revolutions in the world, lest they turn Communist, and ally ourselves with socially oppres sive and obsolete groups everywhere; to ignore the mounting evidence of social evolution and achievement in Communist lands; to maneuver the Congress into giving four blank checks for world war; and to violate both the United Nations and Or ganization of American States (OAS) charters as well as the oldest rules of international law? Is it moral, also, to force corrupt governments on the people of South Vietnam and to inch toward a nuclear war on China, in order to maintain our selves in the trap of deep involvement around China's frontiers? Will the acute dangers created by our encirclement rings, to those living in the rings and to those outside, boomerang upon us? Will President Johnson's proclamation of Pax Americana end in an involuntary Fortress America?
A Report on Judicial Ethics
Authors: Thoron Gray
Published: June 2007

While the ethics of the American judiciary cover a broad spectrum, both good and bad, the general over-all level of judicial ethical performance is relatively high. Most judges are honest and honorable. Where dissatisfaction is apparent, it is far more frequently directed at judicial competence than at judicial integrity and ethics. Corruption, dishonesty, sus ceptibility to political pressure, and other ethical lapses are, however, not unknown, and on very rare occasions have been extremely bad. The ethical obligations of the judiciary extend far beyond the basic essentials of honesty, impartiality, and fairness. Judges must not only avoid evil or wrongdoing, but must also avoid any appearance or suspicion of impropriety, both on the bench and in private life. Selected ethical prob lems are identified together with some of the areas where significant ethical lapses are to be found. While our judiciary has done well in meeting its ethical obligations, improvement is still needed. The best assurance for high ethical perform ance comes from insistence upon outstanding integrity from those selected for judicial office.
The Ombudsman: Tribune of the People
Authors: Reuss Henry S. , Anderson Stanley V.
Published: June 2007

The Ombudsman is an agent of parliament who receives and may investigate citizens' grievances against bu reaucracy. His powers are to recommend, to publicize, and to report to parliament. The institution began in Sweden and has been adopted or considered by many other countries. There is widespread interest in the Ombudsman because the institu tion meets a general need in modern, industrialized nations for a means of resolving citizens' unique, individual problems with a depersonalized administration. The courts, which are slow and costly, do not provide adequate means of redressing citi zens' personal grievances. In the United States, congressmen have an Ombudsmanlike role in investigating and trying to solve constituents' problems. But this job—called "casework" on Capitol Hill—is so burdensome that it interferes with con gressmen's more important legislative and policy-making func tions. Congressman Reuss has proposed establishing an Ad ministrative Counsel, inspired by the Ombudsman, to take over a part of the "casework," thereby lightening the burden on con gressmen and aiding citizens more effectively. The Chairman of the Administrative Conference may also function as a kind of Ombudsman. California and other states and cities are considering establishment of Ombudsmen.
A Preface to Violence
Authors: Wolfgang Marvin E.
Published: June 2007

Violence is generally viewed as some form of physical injury inflicted on others. A brief review of the articles in this volume suggests that the public fear of violence may be greater than the actual amount of violent behavior. Assaultive crimes and other forms of violence are summarized. The dominant, middle-class society morally denounces vio lence, perhaps partly because of a general principle which characterizes every established political power and the need to uphold nonviolence as a means of discouraging attacks against that power. The thesis of a "subculture of violence" is briefly outlined and refers to a system of norms and values set apart from the dominant nonviolent culture and which expect or require the use of violence in many kinds of social relationships.
Violence and the Masculine Ideal: Some Qualitative Data
Authors: Toby Jackson
Published: June 2007

Given the family structure common in urban industrial societies, it is less easy for boys to grow up confident of their fundamental masculinity than for boys in the extended families of preliterate societies. One response to doubts about masculinity is compulsive masculinity: an exaggerated in sistence on characteristics differentiating males from females. Superior strength and a readiness to exhibit it obviously fill the specifications. This analysis explains why violence, though punishable by law and condemned by custom, nevertheless remains a clandestine masculine ideal in Western culture. The assumptions of this ideal are mostly explicitly formulated in certain subcultures within the larger culture—and especially among those segments of the population unable to wield sym bolic power. Excerpts from a tape-recorded interview with an imprisoned armed robber illustrate these assumptions.
Implications of Laboratory Studies of Aggression for the Control and Regulation of Violence
Authors: Walters Richard H.
Published: June 2007

Laboratory studies of imitative behavior indicate that observation of aggressive social models, either in real life or in fantasy productions, increases the probability that the observers will behave in an aggressive manner if the model is rewarded or does not receive punishment for aggressive behav ior. On the other hand, punishment administered to an aggres sive model decreases the probability that imitation will occur. The permanence of effects of exposure to models is, however, still in doubt. Studies of the effects of rewarding aggression indicate that aggressive habits may be developed and main tained through intermittent rewards and may be generalized to situations other than those in which they are learned. The effects of punishing aggression are complex, since, while punish ment may suppress a response, the punitive agent can function as an aggressive model whose behavior may be imitated by the recipient of aggression. Nevertheless, there is good evidence that anticipation of punishment is an important factor in the regulation of aggression. Widely prevalent hypotheses con cerning the displacement of aggression, the cathartic effects of vicarious or direct participation in aggressive activity, and the association between frustration and aggression are brought into question by the research findings of the past few years.
Violence in Prison
Authors: Conrad John P.
Published: June 2007

Although many factors contribute to the estab lishment of a violent culture in American prisons, the incidence of violent acts is extremely low. Staff efficiency and the nearly universal expectation of release upon good behavior have offset the factors which theoretically would indicate high incidence of violence. Activity programs as well as concerted efforts to create a correctional milieu have also been effective in keeping the incidence of violence at a low level.
Scientific Personnel and the Professions
Authors: Mills Thomas J.
Published: June 2007

Current interest in the migration of professional scientific and technical personnel is largely keyed to economic growth and development. Numbers of scientists, engineers, and physicians now emigrating to the United States are substantial and increasing. They now constitute an appreciable percentage of the annual increment to these professions. Their foreign origins include the traditional western European sources, particularly the United Kingdom and Germany; Canada; and, to an increasing extent, Asia. About 5 to 10 per cent of those currently engaged in each of these occupations are apparently of foreign origin in the sense of foreign birth and training, although the majority of these scientists and engineers are now American citizens. By such yardsticks as educational attainment in terms of degrees held, membership in the National Academy of Sciences, and Nobel laureates, the foreign-origin professionals compare very favorably with the native-born.
The Role of the State Department in the Administration and Enforcement of the New Immigration Law
Authors: Schwartz Abba P.
Published: June 2007

The Secretary of State and, by delegated authority, the Administrator of the Bureau of Security and Consular Affairs in the Department of State are responsible for the administration and enforcement of the immigration laws as they relate to the issuance or denial of visas to applicants overseas. That responsibility is established in the 1952 Immigration Law (McCarran-Walter Act) and remains unchanged in the 1965 Immigration Law. The major changes in the 1965 Law require the issuance of visas to persons in newly defined preference categories, each within specified ceilings applied on a hemispheric basis, and within a limitation of 20,000 to all applicants, preference and nonpreference, from any one foreign state. These and other changes required the State Department to establish new controls to comply with the new law. The controls are enforced through the State Department's Visa Office in Washington which is the backstop and link with the consuls abroad who actually issue the visas. While the major accomplishment of the new law is the removal of the discriminatory national-origins quota system, unrelated provisions have caused unanticipated difficulties which the Congress will be required to examine if injustices are to be avoided, particularly to applicants in the nonpreference category.
Reproductive Performance and Reproductive Capacity in Less Industrialized Societies
Authors: Roberts G.W.
Published: June 2007

The high-fertility regions of the world include Asia (without the Soviet Union), the Far East, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Together these regions support about 70 per cent of the world's population. Crude birth rates as high as 60 have been reported for some populations, while at the other end of the scale there are countries with rates in the 30's. Mainland China, India, and Pakistan all have very high birth rates. There is some variation in Africa, with very high rates being recorded for the northern and western regions. Variations are also evident in Latin America and the Caribbean. There is evidence of declines in a few of the regions being con sidered. In fact, in the case of Latin America, two of the coun tries—Argentina and Uruguay—are entering a phase of low fertility. Differentials of a wide variety are encountered in these populations, but the patterns vary, and they do not always take the form associated with European populations. Many sociocultural elements, such as marriage, customs, religion, and general value systems, have been identified as significant in sustaining high fertility, and attempts have been made to reduce this association to statistical form. Another line of investiga tion of high fertility aims at a resolution of the levels into mathematical and statistical components.
Population and Food Supply1
Authors: Taeuber Conrad
Published: June 2007

Hunger continues to be an ever-present com panion of many millions of people. Although the farmers of the world have grown more food, they have not grown enough more to correct the serious undernutrition which has long existed in many countries. Since the end of World War II, food production has increased about as rapidly as world population, but it increased more rapidly in the richer, better-fed countries, while the poorer countries lagged behind. Two-thirds of the world's 3.3 billion people live in countries with national average diets which are nutritionally inadequate. The diet-deficient countries generally have high rates of population growth, about 2.1 per cent per year compared with about 1.3 per cent per year in the diet-adequate areas. In recent years the gap in available food supplies per person between the rich and the poor countries has been widening rather than narrow ing. A growing share of the increase of population in the less developed countries is being sustained by food shipments from the developed regions, especially North America. The possibilities of increasing food production are very large, and they are primarily dependent on increasing the yields of crops and of livestock. New methods, new strains of plants, im proved methods of cultivation, greatly increased use of fertiliz ers, and greater and more effective use of water are major elements in increasing yields. Nonconventional sources of food may in the future add significantly to available food supplies. In many countries, institutional changes are neces sary in order to enable farmers to benefit directly from in creased production and to make available the information, credit, tools, and supplies needed to increase yields. Rising educational levels are an essential element in programs for such increases.
On Mexican National Character
Authors: Maccoby Michael
Published: June 2007

Mexican authors have limited their discussions of national character to the mestizo population of the central plateau. Their analyses are overburdened with a self-denigra tive view of Mexican national character, stressing inferiority feelings stamped by the Conquest. More recently, Mexican psychoanalysts have focused on the Conquest and subsequent revolutionary upheavals as generators of conflict between the sexes, which they see as the most crucial determinant of Mexi can psychopathology. The Mexican male tries to impose a patriarchal ideal, but he is constantly undermined by resentful women. Attempting to act with an authority he does not feel, the male assumes an exaggerated role of masculinity ( machismo), but the female, especially the mother, holds the real power in the family. Although empirical study confirms the existence of this pattern, it also shows that these writers ignore the large percentage of Mexicans who are well adapted to their society and have character traits common to peasants throughout the world. Furthermore, socioeconomic factors which contribute to maladaptive character structures are un derplayed. In Mexico, the clash between high ideals and the reality of a developing society intensifies feelings of inferiority, with the result that Mexicans undervalue their creative aspects and the progress they have made since the semifeudal society crumbled with the 1910 Revolution.
A New Orientation in American Government
Authors: Gross Bertram M. , Springer Michael
Published: June 2007

The variety of approaches and subjects in this volume reflects the information explosion in social indicators. Current expansion of social indicator activity has been given impetus by: (1) the growing awareness of the contributions and limitations of economic information; (2) the implementa tion of the Planning-Programming-Budgeting System within the federal government; and (3) specific proposals for in creased utilization of social information, such as the Technol ogy Commission's call for social accounting, annual Social Reports of the President, and a "Full Opportunity and Social Accounting Act." Normative concerns require that our "data system" remain unsystematic, with promotion of both multiple sources and dissonance. Furthermore, the development and use of social information should not be thought of solely in executive agency terms—there is a creative role for Congress in this area.
Individual and Group Values
Authors: Williams Robin M.
Published: June 2007

Because values, defined as generalized criteria of desirability, are deeply involved in all of the specialized areas treated in this volume, much of the needed analysis is implicit in other articles. There remains a need to render explicit the first-order tasks for making data on values a viable part of societal self-awareness and self-direction, in an age of Great Societies. Values are important causal compo nents in individual conduct and in the functioning of social systems. To develop adequate indicators for the needed analysis will require major efforts and much ingenuity. Yet practicable methods already are available for the systematic empirical study of values. Because of the lack in the past of standardized measures and comprehensive reporting, the existing data are scanty, fragmentary, and diffuse. Yet cau tious and imaginative use of existing information has added to our knowledge of distinctive value patterns in the United States, and some illuminating comparisons have been made with other societies. Better data and more explicit analysis of value problems will enhance effectiveness of goal-achievement, widen the scope of awareness in decision-making, and provide enhanced capacities for sensing limits and hazards in current societal trends and policies. That new problems thereby will be created is inevitable, and not undesirable.
The Mass Media—A Need for Greatness
Authors: Fontaine André
Published: June 2007

United States mass media are probably the world's greatest, and in excellent health, more mature and more responsible today than fifty years ago. But they are not good enough because: (1) People do not believe what they read; (2) the media do not have enough or the right kind of information; (3) editors need more power; and (4) there are large gaps in knowledge of the impact that the media have on the audiences. Once these shortcomings have been remedied, the media can face the really difficult questions of the times: (1) To what extent has newsmen's reportage only of the dramatic distorted readers' concepts of reality? (2) To what extent has media's exploitation of violence made violence prevalent? (3) To what extent have media contributed to increase in promiscuity and the cheap ening of sex? (4) To what extent have the media contributed to the popularity of extremism and the devil theory of international relations?
The Present Viability of NATO, SEATO, and CENTO
Authors: Duffy A.E.P.
Published: June 2007

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO), and the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) were consid ered necessary in the postwar period to protect member-coun tries from Communist aggression and conspiracy. Subsequent developments have not always reflected the tidiness of inflexible and implacable confrontation, however. Thus, the viability of this postwar structure of alliances is raised ever more insist ently. Do NATO, SEATO, and CENTO serve any longer the interests of the West? Or has the time now arrived for their complete reappraisal? The view gains ground in western Europe that there is now considerable diversity in the Com munist world, and that a policy of positive coexistence should be pursued in the tackling of common problems with such coun tries as are ready to do so. In this fluid situation, a policy of movement is desirable, especially in Europe, where economic as well as political initiatives on behalf of a reconstructed NATO can provide pointers for the continued viability of CENTO and SEATO. The pending renegotiation of the NATO Pact can provide such economic initiatives. It can also provide the model of a self-supporting security system under the Soviet-American nuclear balance.
Fissures in the Eastern European Bloc
Authors: Pounds Norman J.G.
Published: June 2007

The Bloc was never as "monolithic" as many have suggested, and its disintegration has not gone as far as some would like to think. The gradual development of its "monolithic" character and the role of terror in maintaining its unity down to Stalin's death are summarized in this paper. Then the post-Stalin era, in which elements of Stalinism re mained in spite of progressive liberalization, is discussed. The limits of the possible in this liberalization process were set by the Polish and Hungarian revolts. This period was also marked by an intensive drive toward collectivization and industrialization. The changes effected in the 1960's spring in part from the gradual acceptance of polycentrism and in part from West Europe's economic challenge and East Europe's failure to measure up to it. The attempt to introduce a greater degree of economic unity and centralized planning into East Europe has failed, and the lead in the opposition to Khrushchev's policy was taken by Romania. The outward signs of division are numerous, but the northern states remain united in opposition to West Germany and dependent on the Soviet alliance. In each of the countries, the party remains in firm control. There are clearly limits beyond which disintegration of the alliance cannot go.