bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Possible Role of Platelet GluR1 Receptors in Comorbid Depression and Cardiovascular Disease
Authors: Chen Hu
Published: August 2009

The exact nature of the comorbidity between cardiovascular disease (CVD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) is poorly understood. The proposed mechanisms include various biochemical and molecular pathways as well as health behaviors such as physical inactivity. One possible link between MDD and CVD is increased platelet activity and blood viscosity. Recently, it was discovered that platelets express functional subtype of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptors, for example, glutamate receptor 1 (GluR1). Here, I propose that this type of AMPA receptor could play a role in comorbid MDD and CVD, and antidepressants may interfere with platelet activation via direct or indirect effects on platelet GluR1 phosphorylation. Testing this hypothesis could provide a novel view on the pathobiological mechanisms of comorbid MDD and CVD. With respect to the recently discovered role of AMPA receptors in regulating platelet activation and thrombosis, it appears that the information about the putative effects of psychoactive AMPA-modifying drugs on platelet AMPA receptors would be critical in evaluating the putative effects of such drugs on CVD.
A Reduced‐Complexity Mixer Linearization Scheme
Authors: Warr Paul A. , Potter Alan M.
Published: August 2009

Measurement results
of the signals emanating from both IF and LO
ports of a double balanced mixer are presented,
and, thus, it is shown that the linearization of
the output in a down‐converting mixer by the
summation of the IF signal and the signal
emanating from the LO or RF port is feasible.
Feedforward‐based architectures for the
linearization of down‐conversion mixers are
introduced that exploit this phenomenon, and
linearity performance results of the frequency
translation of both two‐tone and TETRA‐modulated
signals are presented. This technique employs
only a single mixer and hence overcomes the
complexity of other mixer linearization schemes.
The overall processing gain of the system is
limited by the level of wanted signal present in
the error signal.
On the Necessary and Sufficient Condition for a Set of Matrices to Commute and Some Further Linked Results
Authors: De La Sen M.
Published: August 2009

This paper investigates the necessary and sufficient condition for a set of (real or complex) matrices to commute. It is proved that the commutator [A, B] = 0 for two matrices A and B if and only if a vector
v(B) defined uniquely from the matrix B is in the null space of a well‐structured matrix defined as the Kronecker sum A ⊕ (−A∗), which is always rank defective. This result is extendable directly to any countable set of commuting matrices. Complementary results are derived concerning the commutators of certain matrices with functions of matrices f(A) which extend the well‐known sufficiency‐type commuting result [A, f(A)] = 0.
Stability Analysis of Discrete Hopfield Neural Networks with the Nonnegative Definite Monotone Increasing Weight Function Matrix
Authors: Li Jun , Diao Yongfeng , Li Mingdong , Yin Xing
Published: August 2009

The original Hopfield neural networks model is adapted so that the weights of the resulting network are time varying. In this paper, the Discrete Hopfield neural networks with weight function matrix (DHNNWFM) the weight changes with time, are considered, and the stability of DHNNWFM is analyzed. Combined with the Lyapunov function, we obtain some important results that if weight function matrix (WFM) is weakly (or strongly) nonnegative definite function matrix, the DHNNWFM will converge to a stable state in serial (or parallel) model, and if WFM consisted of strongly nonnegative definite function matrix and column (or row) diagonally dominant function matrix, DHNNWFM will converge to a stable state in parallel model.
Properties of Specialist Fibres and Bragg Gratings for Optical Fiber Sensors
Authors: Canning John
Published: August 2009

The advent of optical fibres based on air holes running along their entirety opens up new directions in addressing various properties relevant to sensing, including the temperature/strain challenge of optical fibre sensors. This paper looks at the measurement challenges associated with temperature and strain, examines the potentially unique functionality structured fibre designs with and without gratings open up, and briefly describes some current research directions within conventional fibre and grating technologies.
Dronedarone
Authors: Patel Chinmay , Yan Gan-Xin , Kowey Peter R.
Published: August 2009

Amiodarone is the most effective antiarrhythmic drug for maintaining sinus rhythm for patients with atrial fibrillation. Extra-cardiac side effects have been a limiting factor, especially during chronic use, and may offset its benefits. Dronedarone is a noniodinated benzofuran derivative of amiodarone that has been developed for the treatment of atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter. Similar to amiodarone, dronedarone is a potent blocker of multiple ion currents, including the rapidly activating delayed-rectifier potassium current, the slowly activating delayed-rectifier potassium current, the inward rectifier potassium current, the acetylcholine activated potassium current, peak sodium current, and L-type calcium current, and exhibits antiadrenergic effects. It has been studied for maintenance of sinus rhythm and control of ventricular response during episodes of atrial fibrillation. Dronedarone reduces mortality and morbidity in patients with high-risk atrial fibrillation, but may be unsafe in those with severe heart failure. This article will review evidence of safety and effectiveness of dronedarone in patients with atrial fibrillation.
Wearable Forest Clothing System: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction
Authors: Kobayashi Hiroki , Ueoka Ryoko , Hirose Michitaka
Published: August 2009

Wearable Forest is a garment that bioacoustically interacts with distant wildlife in a remote forest through a networked remote-controlled speaker and microphone. It expresses the unique bioacoustic beauty of nature and allows users to interact with a forest in real time through a network to acoustically experience a distant forest soundscape, thus merging humans and nature without great environmental impact. This novel interactive sound system can create a sense of unity between users and a remote soundscape, enabling users to feel a sense of belonging to nature even in the midst of a city. This paper describes the theory of interaction between the Human and the Biosphere through the design process of the Wearable Forest concept.
Re-Visioning the Interface: Technological Fashion
Authors: Ryan Susan Elizabeth
Published: August 2009

This paper elucidates two positions (the positivist and the critical) that inform the creative design of technological fashion. On the one side is the instrumentalist trend toward the minimized or disappearing interface. On the other, some theorists and artists suggest that increased invisibility presents social and ethical concerns (such as invasiveness and control) when networking and communication devices are involved.

The positivist side has roots in modernist design. Positivist designers create responsive and controllable fabrics using shape-changing polymers, e-textiles, and nano-scale electronics to resolve clumsy and prohibitive problems of hardware vs. body. The critical side draws upon archetypal ideas about technology and the body that are familiar from literature and science fiction, and includes writers and media artists who emphasize the intractable or mechanic nature of technological clothing to enhance, rather than erase, the body. The paper concludes that both positions must be considered as the field of technological fashion moves forward.
Experimental Interaction Unit: Commodities of Mass Destruction
Authors: Vikram Anuradha
Published: August 2009

This paper describes several projects by the now-defunct Experimental Interaction Unit that use product design, software engineering, and digital networking to uncover collective behaviors that contribute to systems of social control. Biology and human behavioral studies are essential aspects of this critique. Experimental Interaction Unit's projects from 1996 to 2001 represent subversive use of technology to reveal unrecognized aspects of human interaction with networks, such as how telematic distance psychologically absolves individuals from taking responsibility for their actions. The fear of vulnerability to terrorist actions, including biological warfare and electronic interference, is exploited in these works, in order to expose the ways in which security is promised in exchange for control.
Souvenirs du monde des montagnes
Authors: Scherrer Camille , Pilet Julien , Lepetit Vincent , Fua Pascal
Published: August 2009

This paper describes a particular book called Souvenirs du monde des montagnes, which draws its iconography from the history of a Swiss mountain family from 1910 to 1930. By simply dipping into the first few pages, the reader will be lost between real and virtual universes, wonder about the evolution of the images' meanings, and question an object's true content. This setup, developed using state-of-the-art computer vision technology, offers unprecedented freedom: we can make technological references disappear to place the user in fruitful turmoil between visible and hidden meanings. The shadow of a bird flies over the pages, foxes' lanterns light up the text, paper mountains emerge. once the last page has been turned, the reader will never look at books in the same way again.
Robust Kernel Principal Component Analysis
Authors: Huang Su-Yun , Yeh Yi-Ren , Eguchi Shinto
Published: August 2009

This letter discusses the robustness issue of kernel principal component analysis. A class of new robust procedures is proposed based on eigenvalue decomposition of weighted covariance. The proposed procedures will place less weight on deviant patterns and thus be more resistant to data contamination and model deviation. Theoretical influence functions are derived, and numerical examples are presented as well. Both theoretical and numerical results indicate that the proposed robust method outperforms the conventional approach in the sense of being less sensitive to outliers. Our robust method and results also apply to functional principal component analysis.
Classification of Correlated Patterns with a Configurable Analog VLSI Neural Network of Spiking Neurons and Self-Regulating Plastic Synapses
Authors: Giulioni Massimilian , Pannunzi Mario , Badoni Davide , Dante Vittorio , Del Giudice Paolo
Published: August 2009

We describe the implementation and illustrate the learning performance of an analog VLSI network of 32 integrate-and-fire neurons with spike-frequency adaptation and 2016 Hebbian bistable spike-driven stochastic synapses, endowed with a self-regulating plasticity mechanism, which avoids unnecessary synaptic changes. The synaptic matrix can be flexibly configured and provides both recurrent and external connectivity with address-event representation compliant devices. We demonstrate a marked improvement in the efficiency of the network in classifying correlated patterns, owing to the self-regulating mechanism.
Selective Population Rate Coding: A Possible Computational Role of Gamma Oscillations in Selective Attention
Authors: Masuda Naoki
Published: August 2009

Selective attention is often accompanied by gamma oscillations in local field potentials and spike field coherence in brain areas related to visual, motor, and cognitive information processing. Gamma oscillations are implicated to play an important role in, for example, visual tasks including object search, shape perception, and speed detection. However, the mechanism by which gamma oscillations enhance cognitive and behavioral performance of attentive subjects is still elusive. Using feedforward fan-in networks composed of spiking neurons, we examine a possible role for gamma oscillations in selective attention and population rate coding of external stimuli. We implement the concept proposed by Fries (2005) that under dynamic stimuli, neural populations effectively communicate with each other only when there is a good phase relationship among associated gamma oscillations. We show that the downstream neural population selects a specific dynamic stimulus received by an upstream population and represents it by population rate coding. The encoded stimulus is the one for which gamma rhythm in the corresponding upstream population is resonant with the downstream gamma rhythm. The proposed role for gamma oscillations in stimulus selection is to enable top-down control, a neural version of time division multiple access used in communication engineering.
Making the Error-Controlling Algorithm of Observable Operator Models Constructive
Authors: Zhao Ming-Jie , Jaeger Herbert , Thon Michael
Published: August 2009

Observable operator models (OOMs) are a class of models for stochastic processes that properly subsumes the class that can be modeled by finite-dimensional hidden Markov models (HMMs). One of the main advantages of OOMs over HMMs is that they admit asymptotically correct learning algorithms. A series of learning algorithms has been developed, with increasing computational and statistical efficiency, whose recent culmination was the error-controlling (EC) algorithm developed by the first author. The EC algorithm is an iterative, asymptotically correct algorithm that yields (and minimizes) an assured upper bound on the modeling error. The run time is faster by at least one order of magnitude than EM-based HMM learning algorithms and yields significantly more accurate models than the latter. Here we present a significant improvement of the EC algorithm: the constructive error-controlling (CEC) algorithm. CEC inherits from EC the main idea of minimizing an upper bound on the modeling error but is constructive where EC needs iterations. As a consequence, we obtain further gains in learning speed without loss in modeling accuracy.
On Blind Separability Based on the Temporal Predictability Method
Authors: Xie Shengli , Zhou Guoxu , Yang Zuyuan , Fu Yuli
Published: August 2009

This letter discusses blind separability based on temporal predictability (Stone, 2001 ; Xie, He, & Fu, 2005 ). Our results show that the sources are separable using the temporal predictability method if and only if they have different temporal structures (i.e., autocorrelations). Consequently, the applicability and limitations of the temporal predictability method are clarified. In addition, instead of using generalized eigendecomposition, we suggest using joint approximate diagonalization algorithms to improve the robustness of the method. A new criterion is presented to evaluate the separation results. Numerical simulations are performed to demonstrate the validity of the theoretical results.
The Parson, the Parson's Wife, and the Coming of the Revolution to Pownalborough, Maine
Authors: Leamon James S.
Published: August 2009

Anglican preacher Rev. Jacob Bailey and his wife, Sally, posed a triple threat to leaders of the American Revolution in the town of Pownalborough, a threat that was religious, political, and social. Forced to leave in 1779, they left behind the lingering question of who the real revolutionaries actually were.
Aerosol Effects on Intensity of Landfalling Hurricanes as Seen from Simulations with the WRF Model with Spectral Bin Microphysics
Authors: Khain A. , Lynn B. , Dudhia J.
Published: August 2009

The evolution of a superhurricane (Katrina, August 2005) was simulated using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF; version 3.1) with explicit (nonparameterized) spectral bin microphysics (SBM). The new computationally efficient spectral bin microphysical scheme (FAST-SBM) implemented to the WRF calculates at each time step and in each grid point the size distributions of atmospheric aerosols, water drops, cloud ice (ice crystals and aggregates), and graupel/hail. The tropical cyclone (TC) evolution was simulated during 72 h, beginning with its bypassing the Florida coast (27 August 2005) to its landfall just east of New Orleans, Louisiana (near the end of 29 August). The WRF/SBM was used to investigate the potential impact of aerosols ingested into Katrina’s circulation during its passage through the Gulf of Mexico on Katrina’s structure and intensity. It is shown that continental aerosols invigorated convection largely at TC periphery, which led to its weakening prior to landfall. Maximum weakening took place ∼24 h before landfall, just after its intensity had reached its maximum. The minimum pressure increased by ∼15 hPa, and the maximum velocity decreased up to 15 m s−1. Thus, the model results indicate the existence of another (in addition to a decrease in the surface fluxes) mechanism of weakening of TCs approaching the land. This mechanism is related to effects of continental aerosols involved in the TC circulation. It is shown that aerosols substantially affect the spatial distribution of cloudiness and hydrometeor contents. The evolution of lightning structure within the TC is calculated and compared with that in Katrina. The physical mechanisms of aerosol-induced TC weakening are discussed.
Spatial Variation and Trends in PDSI and SPI Indices and Their Relation to Streamflow in 10 Large Regions of China
Authors: Zhai Jianqing , Su Buda , Krysanova Valentina , Vetter Tobias , Gao Chao , Jiang Tong
Published: August 2009

Time series of the average annual Palmer drought severity index (PDSI) and standardized precipitation index (SPI) were calculated for 483 meteorological stations in China using monthly data from 1961 to 2005. The time series were analyzed for 10 large regions covering the territory of China and represented by seven river basins and three areas in the southeast, southwest, and northwest. Results show that the frequencies of both dry and wet years for the whole period are lower for southern basins than for the northern ones when estimated by PDSI but very similar for all basins when calculated by SPI. The frequencies of dry and wet years calculated for 5- and 15-yr subperiods by both indices show the upward dry trends for three northeastern basins, Songhuajiang, Liaohe, and Haihe; a downward dry trend for the northwest region; a downward wet trend for the Yellow River basin; and an upward wet trend for the northwest region. Trend detection using PDSI indicates statistically significant negative trends for many stations in the northeastern basins (Songhuajiang, Liaohe, Haihe, and Yellow) and in the middle part of the Yangtze, whereas statistically significant positive trends were found in the mountainous part of the northwest region and for some stations in the upper and lower Yangtze. A moderately high and statistically significant correlation between the percentage of runoff anomaly (PRA) and the annual average PDSI and SPI was found for six large rivers. The results confirm that PDSI and SPI indices can be used to describe the tendency of dryness and wetness severity and for comparison in climate impact assessment.
Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Response to Idealized Freshwater Forcing over the Western Tropical Pacific
Authors: Wu Lixin , Sun Yan , Zhang Jiaxu , Zhang Liping , Minobe Shoshiro
Published: August 2009

The coupled ocean–atmosphere responses to idealized freshwater forcing in the western tropical Pacific are studied using a fully coupled climate model. The model explicitly demonstrates that freshwater forcing in the western tropical Pacific can lead to a basinwide response with the pattern resembling the Pacific decadal oscillation. In the tropics, a negative (positive) freshwater forcing over the western tropical Pacific decreases (increases) sea surface height locally, and sets up a positive (negative) zonal pressure gradient anomaly, which accelerates (decelerates) the meridional overturning circulation and equatorial surface westward flow. This leads to an intensification (reduction) of meridional heat divergence and vertical cold advection, and thus a development of La Niña (El Niño)–like responses in the tropics. The tropical responses are further substantiated by the positive Bjerknes feedback, and subsequently force significant changes in the extratropical North Pacific through atmospheric teleconnection. The local freshwater response also reinforces the imposed forcing, forming a positive feedback loop. Applications to Pacific climate changes are discussed.
Climatic Impact of Global-Scale Deforestation: Radiative versus Nonradiative Processes
Authors: Davin Edouard L. , de Noblet-Ducoudré Nathalie
Published: August 2009

A fully coupled land–ocean–atmosphere GCM is used to explore the biogeophysical impact of large-scale deforestation on surface climate. By analyzing the model sensitivity to global-scale replacement of forests by grassland, it is shown that the surface albedo increase owing to deforestation has a cooling effect of −1.36 K globally. On the other hand, forest removal decreases evapotranspiration efficiency and decreases surface roughness, both leading to a global surface warming of 0.24 and 0.29 K, respectively. The net biogeophysical impact of deforestation results from the competition between these effects. Globally, the albedo effect is dominant because of its wider-scale impact, and the net biogeophysical impact of deforestation is thus a cooling of −1 K. Over land, the balance between the different processes varies with latitude. In temperate and boreal zones of the Northern Hemisphere the albedo effect is stronger and deforestation thus induces a cooling. Conversely, in the tropics the net impact of deforestation is a warming, because evapotranspiration efficiency and surface roughness provide the dominant influence. The authors also explore the importance of the ocean coupling in shaping the climate response to deforestation. First, the temperature over ocean responds to the land cover perturbation. Second, even the temperature change over land is greatly affected by the ocean coupling. By assuming fixed oceanic conditions, the net effect of deforestation, averaged over all land areas, is a warming, whereas taking into account the coupling with the ocean leads, on the contrary, to a net land cooling. Furthermore, it is shown that the main parameter involved in the coupling with the ocean is surface albedo. Indeed, a change in albedo modifies temperature and humidity in the whole troposphere, thus enabling the initially land-confined perturbation to be transferred to the ocean. Finally, the radiative forcing framework is discussed in the context of land cover change impact on climate. The experiments herein illustrate that deforestation triggers two opposite types of forcing mechanisms—radiative forcing (owing to surface albedo change) and nonradiative forcing (owing to change in evapotranspiration efficiency and surface roughness)—that exhibit a similar magnitude globally. However, when applying the radiative forcing concept, nonradiative processes are ignored, which may lead to a misrepresentation of land cover change impact on climate.
A Numerical Study on the Atmospheric Circulation over the Midlatitude North Pacific during the Last Glacial Maximum
Authors: Yanase Wataru , Abe-Ouchi Ayako
Published: August 2009

The dynamics of the atmospheric circulation change over the midlatitude North Pacific under the boundary conditions during the last glacial maximum (LGM) have been studied by atmospheric general circulation models (GCMs) with different ocean feedbacks. Three boundary conditions in the LGM were different from those of the present day (PD): ice sheet with elevated topography and high albedo, atmospheric CO2 concentration, and insolation. The ocean component was treated as follows: a full-circulation ocean with dynamical and thermal ocean feedback [coupled general circulation model (CGCM)]; a slab ocean only with thermal feedback used to calculate the surface heat balance [slab ocean GCM (SGCM)]; and no ocean feedback by fixing sea surface temperature (SST) with pure atmospheric dynamics (AGCM). Both CGCM and SGCM simulated a weakened Pacific high pressure system in boreal summer during the LGM compared to the PD and an intensified Aleutian low pressure system in winter. Both in summer and winter, therefore, the lower-tropospheric circulation during the LGM showed midlatitude North Pacific cyclonic anomalies (NPCAs).

To understand the dynamics determining the NPCAs, the sensitivity of the atmospheric response to the three boundary conditions were examined using the SGCM. It was shown that the high albedo of the ice sheet over North America was the dominant factor behind the NPCAs in both summer and winter. The ocean thermal feedback in winter played an essential role in the formation of the NPCA through SST change, while the ocean thermal feedback in summer and ocean dynamical feedback played secondary roles in the intensification of the NPCA. Possible mechanisms were inferred from the common features related to the NPCA formation in the experiments. In summer, the midlatitude NPCA was associated with the reduced land–ocean contrast of diabatic heating between the North Pacific and North America, which is consistent with theoretical studies on the mechanism for formation of subtropical high pressure systems. In winter, on the other hand, the anomaly of the SST gradient at midlatitude is thought to result in the NPCA through the modulation of heat and momentum transport in the storm track.

The small (large) sensitivity of the NPCA formation to the ocean feedbacks in summer (winter) explains the strong (weak) consistency among the previous GCM experiments. Since the NPCAs are consistent with some geological records, the present study should be informative in understanding the actual dynamics of the LGM climate change.
On Sea Surface Salinity Skin Effect Induced by Evaporation and Implications for Remote Sensing of Ocean Salinity
Authors: Yu Lisan
Published: August 2009

The existence of a cool and salty sea surface skin under evaporation was first proposed by Saunders in 1967, but few efforts have since been made to perceive the salt component of the skin layer. With two salinity missions scheduled to launch in the coming years, this study attempted to revisit the Saunders concept and to utilize presently available air–sea forcing datasets to analyze, understand, and interpret the effect of the salty skin and its implication for remote sensing of ocean salinity.

Similar to surface cooling, the skin salinification would occur primarily at low and midlatitudes in regions that are characterized by low winds or high evaporation. On average, the skin is saltier than the interior water by 0.05–0.15 psu and cooler by 0.2°–0.5°C. The cooler and saltier skin at the top is always statically unstable, and the tendency to overturn is controlled by cooling. Once the skin layer overturns, the time to reestablish the full increase of skin salinity was reported to be on the order of 15 min, which is approximately 90 times slower than that for skin temperature. Because the radiation received from a footprint is averaged over an area to give a single pixel value, the slow recovery by the salt diffusion process might cause a slight reduction in area-averaged skin salinity and thus obscure the salty skin effect on radiometer retrievals. In the presence of many geophysical error sources in remote sensing of ocean salinity, the salt enrichment at the surface skin does not appear to be a concern.
Continuing Commentary: Emotions of Guilt and Shame: Towards Historical and Intercultural Perspectives on Cultural Psychology
Authors: Shi-xu
Published: August 2009

Cultural psychology, as one of the youngest, yet fastest growing social sciences, has been explored in most parts of the world and approached from a great diversity of angles. What must be continuously researched in the theory, method and critique of cultural psychology, however, are historical, intercultural and political perspectives. To take up this thesis seriously, the present commentary illustrates the fundamentally historical, intercultural and political nature of cultural affect, cognition and behaviour. It concludes with the suggestion of an inbetween cultural and cultural political stance that the critical-intellectual cultural psychologist takes.
Geocentric Dead Reckoning in Sanskrit- and Hindi-Medium School Children
Authors: Mishra Ramesh C. , Singh Sunita , Dasen Pierre R.
Published: August 2009

A linguistic and cognitive process that has received scant attention in mainstream developmental psychology is the use of a geocentric frame of spatial reference, which amounts to using a large-scale orientation system (such as cardinal directions) in describing and encoding the location of objects on table space, inside a room. As part of a larger cross-cultural study of the development of this process, in India, Indonesia and Nepal, we present here a study on the possible implications of using a geocentric frame of reference in developing an accurate dead-reckoning skill. Children aged 11 to 15 years in two types of schools in Varanasi, India, who were known from a pretest to use a geocentric frame in language and cognition, were blindfolded, spun around and led blindfolded to a second room. A majority of them were able to keep track of cardinal directions despite these disorienting procedures. They were interviewed about the processes and sources of their skill.
Conscious and Non-Conscious Representation in Social Representations Theory: Social Representations from the Phenomenological Point of View
Authors: Daanen Paul
Published: August 2009

Verheggen and Baerveldt’s (2007) recent paper critiques the concept of ‘sharedness’ in Social Representations Theory (SRT). However, these arguments against sharedness are themselves founded upon an implicit argument against the role of ‘representation’ in SRT. This constitutes what I call the phenomenological critique of SRT. From a discussion of Heidegger’s phenomenology one can better understand Verheggen and Baerveldt’s argument. By concentrating on anchoring and objectification, the notion of ‘representation’ can be conceived as both a ‘conscious’ and a ‘non-conscious’ account of meaning. A Heideggerian phenomenological approach can unify the conscious and non-conscious elements of SRT into a common framework. Such phenomenological appreciation of SRT can contribute to a theory of meaning for cultural psychology.
Psychometric Evaluation of the Health Information Orientation Scale
Authors: DuBenske Lori L. , Burke Beckjord Ellen , Hawkins Robert P. , Gustafson David H.
Published: August 2009

The Health Information Orientation Scale (HIOS) was developed from a need to briefly assess information orientation in a health context and underlying reasons for information seeking or avoidance. Using data from a larger longitudinal study of informal cancer caregivers, this study examines psychometric properties of the HIOS, including confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), reliability and construct validity through associations with information competence, coping and distress. CFA supported two conceptually unique factors: Information Engagement and Information Apprehension. Each factor demonstrated adequate reliability and construct validity, providing promising findings regarding Information Engagement and Information Apprehension, specific to a health context.
Personal Meanings, Values and Feelings Relating to Physical Activity and Exercise Participation in Female Undergraduates
Authors: Bulley Catherine , Donaghy Marie , Payne Andrew , Mutrie Nanette
Published: August 2009

Understanding was sought of the ways that female students understand and feel about physical activity and exercise participation, to inform effective and ethical intervention. Sixteen women participated in semi-structured interviews which were analysed thematically, using QSR NUD*IST 4. Physical activity and exercise proved emotive topics and meant different things to different people. Some women associated physical activity and exercise with enjoyment, or achieving their goals. Others saw exercise in particular as a duty, associated with feelings of guilt and inadequacy. Findings supported the value of promoting realistic goals, and careful choice of activities according to individual preferences.
The Role of Individual and Familial Protective Factors in Adolescents’ Diet Control
Authors: Piko Bettina F. , Brassai László
Published: August 2009

This study examines a conceptual model linking individual cognitive-behavioral and familial influences to adolescents’ poor diet control as a health-risk behavior. A cross-sectional survey collected data from students enrolled in the secondary schools of the Middle Transylvanian Region, Romania ( N = 1977). Self-administered questionnaires were used for data collection. Logistic regression analyses revealed that future-orientation, self-regulation, life purpose, parenting style and parental support were all significant protective factors against adolescents’ poor diet control. While both individual and familial variables act as protection for girls and younger adolescents, for boys and older adolescents, only parental variables are significant.
Life Impact of Urologic Pain Syndromes
Authors: Hatchett Lena , Pat Fitzgerald Mary , Potts Jeannette , Winder Abigail , Mickelberg Keith , Barrell Ted , Kusek John W.
Published: August 2009

In order to explore the personal experience of chronic urologic pain we asked patients to journal in their own words their daily symptoms and the effects of those symptoms on home/family life, working life and social life. Journal responses were independently reviewed by three researchers and major themes summarized following an inductive approach. Three major themes were identified concerning symptoms, personal and interpersonal effects of symptoms and related role limitations. Fatigue emerged as a newly recognized symptom that may benefit from treatment. Role limitations are mediated by potentially modifiable personal and interpersonal effects currently not addressed in urologic pain treatment paradigms.
Change in Airflow among Patients with Asthma Discussing Relationship Problems with Their Partners
Authors: Schmaling Karen B. , Afari Niloofar , Hops Hyman , Barnhart Scott , Buchwald Dedra
Published: August 2009

This study examined the covariation of negative emotions with airflow among 48 persons with asthma and their partners as they discussed relationship problems. Measures included self-reported questionnaires, airflow and behavior coded from videotaped discussions. Significantly increased self-reported hostility and statistically but not clinically significant declines in airflow were found post- versus pre-discussion. Self-reported responses to asthma symptoms of more anger and less loneliness predicted lower post-discussion airflow after accounting for pre-discussion airflow. The use of effort-independent measures of airflow and autonomic nervous system monitoring may inform future research regarding the physiological mechanisms through which mood and behavior affect airflow.
How Do Social Norms Impact HIV Sexual Risk Behavior in HIV-Positive Men Who Have Sex with Men?
Authors: Miner Michael H. , Peterson John L. , Welles Seth L. , Jacoby Scott M. , Simon Rosser B.R.
Published: August 2009

This study examines mediation of the association between social norms and unsafe sexual behavior. Self-report data were collected from 675 HIVinfected men enrolled in a study exploring interventions for HIV risk behavior. Unsafe sex included any unprotected anal sex with HIVnegative or HIV status unknown partners in the last three months. Norms for condom use indirectly influenced unsafe sex through condom self-efficacy and/or safer sex intentions. Additionally, sexual behavior discontrol influenced unsafe sex regardless of other individual or social factors. Our results suggest that interventions consider the combined effects of condom self-efficacy, safer sex intentions and sexual behavior control.
Living with Ankylosing Spondylitis
Authors: Hamilton-West Kate E. , Quine Lyn
Published: August 2009

Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) is a potentially debilitating chronic condition that necessitates a biopsychosocial approach for successful long-term management. However, the psychosocial consequences of AS are not well understood. In this study patients ( N = 68) reported impacts of AS across a wide range of life domains; negative impacts included physical effects of AS, changes in mood or personality, effects on social life and relationships with friends and family, low self-esteem, stigma and worry about the future; positive impacts included increased exercise, feelings of achievement and empathy, stronger relationships, slower pace of life and a more positive perspective. Implications for treatment are discussed.
La montura aciaga del arcipreste Juan Ruiz
Authors: Hidalgo José Manuel
Published: August 2009

This article proposes a new semantic implication for the Archpriest Juan Ruiz´s mule when he enters the Guadarrama mountains. The aim of this study is to examine the nature of this animal figure within the context of the demonic elements that surround the pilgrimage, the four serranas, and the fictitious character of the Archpriest. This interpretation uncovers the illicit relations that clerics had with their concubines, who, according to their sociocultural significance and descriptions of them in Medieval sermons and folklore, entered into the realm of the diabolical after their death. This new reading not only reflects the sharp and lively hermeneutics of the Libro de buen amor , but it also proposes a reconsideration of the physical and moral person of the Archpriest. Consequently, the Archpriest´s historical figure, parts of his geographical journey, and the loss of his mule can be approached and dissected beyond a mere historical analysis.
La vida inquieta de Manuel Reina
Authors: Almansa José Andújar
Published: August 2009

The critics usually consider Manuel Reina (1856-1905) a transitional author between nineteenth-century poetry and Spanish modernism. A thorough analysis of his most important work La vida inquieta (1894), published two years before Rubén Dario’s Prosas profanas , reveals, however, an innovation in aesthetics that makes him a significant forerunner. Reina contributes to turn-of-the-century Spanish poetry a renovation of the sensibility in terms of “art for art's sake,” the quest for ideal beauty, and an image of the poet as the hero for such an ideal. But the newly proclaimed faith in beauty also conveys consciousness of an emerging crisis arising from the very heart of modernity that Reina expressed through the emblematic title of his book: vida inquieta or spiritual uneasiness, doubts, spleen and complex states of mind.
Nuevas versiones de lo femenino en La Fiesta del Chivo, El paraíso en la otra esquina y Travesuras de la Niña Mala
Authors: Henighan Stephen
Published: August 2009

This article argues that most of the female characters in the early novels of the Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa conform either to the category of a sex object, or a “sexy mother figure.” Beginning in the late 1980s, however, the construction of images of femaleness and maleness in Vargas Llosa’s novels becomes more complex. The article assesses in detail the construction of the strong female protagonists of the novels La Fiesta del Chivo (2000), El paraíso en la otra esquina (2003) and Travesuras de la Niña Mala (2006). It contends that Vargas Llosa at first finds it necessary to desexualize his female protagonists in order to enable them to act in the public sphere. This desexualization is partly overcome in the second of the three novels and disappears in the third. The article evaluates how these developments are related to the construction of maleness in Vargas Llosa’s later novels.
The Insulin Immunoassay After 50 Years: A Reassessment
Authors: Blumenthal Stanley
Published: August 2009

In 1960 Berson and Yalow published a method for the radioimmunoassay (RIA) of plasma insulin based on the concept that the extent to which unlabeled insulin displaces labeled insulin from anti-insulin antibody is proportional to the concentration of unlabeled insulin. The RIA for insulin has greatly increased knowledge of the physiology of glucose homeostasis and of the diverse causes of diabetes mellitus. Beyond this, the insight on which the RIA—or, more broadly, the competitive protein-binding assay—is based has provided the means to measure nanomolar or picomolar concentrations of a vast array of compounds in plasma and tissues. Directly or indirectly, the RIA has profoundly affected every branch of medicine. This essay reviews the ideas that were current in the medical research community when Berson and Yalow began their work and the observations and reasoning process that led them to their seminal discovery.
Genetic Counseling for Thalassemia in the Islamic Republic of Iran
Authors: Strauss Bernard S.
Published: August 2009

The response of groups to pressing medical problems cannot be predicted on theoretical grounds. An example is the program for the control of β-thalassemia in Iran, a country with a tradition of inbreeding and a conservative religious culture, and in which thalassemia is common. Thalassemia is largely treatable, but the treatment is lifelong and onerous and creates a serious economic burden for the individual family and for the national health budget. The genetics are simple, and inexpensive screening tests are available to identify carriers. An Iranian program requiring mandatory premarital screening was started in 1997, and between 1998 and 2005 the laws of the country were modified to permit abortion of affected fetuses. The story of this effort indicates how a country with a social system very different from that of the United States responded to a medical problem with significant ethical overtones. The Iranian experience supports the optimistic view that societies can react to pressing problems with pragmatic rather than theoretical solutions.
Revisiting the Beginning of Bioethics: The Contribution of Fritz Jahr (1927)
Authors: Goldim José Roberto
Published: August 2009

Van Rensselaer Potter is usually credited with coining the term bioethics and with founding this field. However, the rediscovery of the article “Bioethics: A Panorama of the Human Being’s Ethical Relations with Animals and Plants,” published in 1927 by Fritz Jahr in the German magazine Kosmos , necessitates a revision of this history of the foundation of bioethics. While Potter made significant contributions to this field, the importance of Jahr to the founding of bioethics should be recognized.
The Avoidance of Human Suffering
Authors: Connelly Julia E.
Published: August 2009

Suffering is frequent among patients, and it is common for physicians to attempt to avoid contact with individuals who are dying, debilitated, or in pain. Both patients and physicians are harmed when this happens: patients feel abandoned, resulting in unnecessary suffering, and physicians miss moments of meaning and renewal through direct connection. Ernest Gaines’s novel A Lesson Before Dying is not a medical story, yet one character, Grant Wiggins, behaves like a physician when he tries to avoid direct, personal contact with Miss Emma, a community member who is suffering. This novel illuminates the tendency of human beings (including physicians) to try to avoid suffering, and the realization of this tendency can provide opportunities for ongoing medical education to help students, residents, and faculty members recognize their discomfort about suffering and learn to address it appropriately.
Homage to Robert Hooke (1635–1703): New Insights from the Recently Discovered Hooke Folio
Authors: Gest Howard
Published: August 2009

Microorganisms were first observed by Robert Hooke and Antoni van Leeuwenhoek between 1665 and 1678. In 1665, Hooke published Micrographia , which depicted the details of 60 objects as seen in the microscope. One chapter was devoted to the microfungus Mucor , the first microbe observed by the human eye. Leeuwenhoek, despite having no scientific training, became the first to observe protozoa, red blood cells, the sperm cells of animals, and bacteria, which he described in numerous letters to the Royal Society of London. In 1677, Hooke became Secretary of the Royal Society and, in the same year, confirmed some of Leeuwenhoek’s discoveries. The discovery in 2006 of more than 650 pages of Hooke’s missing records (the “Hooke Folio”) allows us to verify the proceedings of Royal Society meetings and promises to be an important new source of Hooke’s views on the renaissance of science in the 17th century.
Henry James’s “The Ambassadors”: The Promise to Lonely Adolescents that There Will Be a Future
Authors: Young Barbara
Published: August 2009

Adolescence is a lonely time for all of us, as we shift our emotional attachment from our parents to our own autonomous selves and to those people outside our families who will be essential to our emotional growth. Perhaps because Henry James’s novel The Ambassadors (1903) deals so masterfully with this subject, it promised the author that there would be a future beyond her senior year in college. The novel has two protagonists: a young American who has arrived at his maturity in Paris, and a middle-aged man who lives in a gray, ungratifying world because he has missed the opportunity to complete his unfolding into an independent sexual being. For background material, James called upon two periods from his own life: his unhappy adolescence, which he overcame by making a life for himself as a writer in England, and his continuing emotional growth at the time he wrote the novel, at the age of 56. The author deals with both adolescence itself and with the ways in which we use the coping skills and creative strengths we developed in adolescence to enrich our lives and sustain ourselves at times of crisis.
I Was a Mole in an IRB
Authors: Weisse Allen B.
Published: August 2009

The need to ensure the maximal safety of patients participating in clinical research has led to a number of regulations and oversight measures. None of these has had a more profound effect on the way such research is carried out in the United States than the establishment of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) system. While the individual rights of patients must be respected and confidentiality assured, such official scrutiny may actually inhibit the ability of physicians to initiate and conduct clinical research, thus defeating, at times, the very purpose of this research: the ultimate improvement in patient care. The experiences of one physician attempting to operate under this system and later taking part in administering it as an IRB member may offer some insights into both positive and negative aspects of the system.
Some Remarks on the Yogasūtra
Authors: Ferraz Marcus Sacrini A.
Published: August 2009

In this article are discussed some problems raised by T. S. Rukmani regarding the Yogasūtra . According to Rukmani, yoga is not a coherent logical system. After stating the general goals of the yoga system, interpretations of some passages of the Yogasūtra are formulated, and the defense is given that one must at least acknowledge the necessity of more exegetical investigation before judging the logical incoherence of the text. Finally, the problematic doctrine of living liberation in Yogasūtra is exposed.