bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Unity and diversity in disorders of cognitive coordination
Authors: Phillips William A. , Silverstein Steven M.
Published: July 2008

Studies of aging and autism as outlined by Bertone, Mottron, & Faubert (Bertone et al.) and by Faubert & Bertone suggest that disorders of cognitive coordination involving impairments of dynamic gestalt grouping and context-sensitivity may be common to several different disorders. We agree that such studies may shed light on these processes and their neuronal bases. However, we also emphasize that dynamic grouping and context-sensitivity can fail in various ways, and that, although the underlying pathophysiology may often involve NMDA-receptor malfunction, many different malfunctions are possible, and each of these may result from any one of a number of different etiologies.
Imagine imaging neural activity in crying infants and in their caring parents
Authors: Laureys Steven , Goldman Serge
Published: July 2008

Soltis' paper contains little data on the underlying neural substrate of the discussed signal function of early infant crying – probably because there is amazingly little known about it. We here discuss the interest of functional neuroimaging as an objective measurement of brain activity in (1) early infants during crying and (2) parents hearing their offspring cry.
Let's not forget about sensory consciousness
Authors: Seth Anil K. , Edelman David B. , Baars Bernard J.
Published: July 2008

The metacognitive stance of Smith et al. (2003) risks ignoring sensory consciousness. Although Smith et al. rightly caution against the tendency to preserve the uniqueness of the human mind at all costs, their reasoned stance is undermined by a selective association of consciousness with high-level cognitive operations. Neurobiological evidence may offer a more general, and hence more inclusive, basis for the systematic study of animal consciousness.
From an undifferentiated cry towards a modulated signal
Authors: Lehtonen Johannes
Published: July 2008

The colic cry as a signal of undifferentiated vigour, and not a disease, is good news. This hypothesis also has neurobiological perspectives. Feeding increases the pain threshold of the infant and has an effect on its brain functions. These may contribute, by neurobiological mechanisms, to the gradual decline in the tendency for excessive crying during the first months of life.
Continuity, displaced reference, and deception
Authors: Cronk Lee
Published: July 2008

Falk's contribution to a continuity theory of the origins of language would be complemented by an account of the origins of displaced reference, a key characteristic distinguishing human language from animal signaling systems. Because deception is one situation in which nonhumans may use signals in the absence of their referents, deception may have been the starting point for displaced reference.
The complexity of human sharing
Authors: Smith Eric Alden
Published: July 2008

Although an excellent review, the target article displays a bias in favor of reciprocity-based explanations and against alternatives. Tolerated scrounging is more subtle and pervasive than portrayed here. Costly signaling need not be limited to public displays and generalized sharing. The theoretical basis for extensive sharing and other forms of collective action remains unresolved, and standard reciprocity-based explanations are insufficient.
Insights from Ifaluk: Food sharing among cooperative fishers
Authors: Sosis Richard
Published: July 2008

The fish-sharing patterns on Ifaluk Atoll underscore several limitations of the explanations of food sharing offered by Gurven and suggest that non-foraging labor activities may provide insights into reciprocity and punishment relevant for understanding food-sharing patterns. I also argue that future food-sharing studies should focus on signaling rather than resource holding potential (RHP).
Infant colic: Re-evaluating the adaptive hypotheses
Authors: Maestripieri Dario , Durante Kristina M.
Published: July 2008

Colic may allow infants to obtain additional investment from their parents. The lack of clear fitness costs of colic and of differences in condition between colicky and non-colicky infants is inconsistent with the hypotheses that colic is an honest signal of need or vigor. These and other characteristics of colic, however, are consistent with the hypothesis that colic is a manipulative signal.
Cognitive constraints on reciprocity and tolerated scrounging
Authors: Stevens Jeffrey R. , Cushman Fiery A.
Published: July 2008

Each of the food-sharing models that Gurven considers demands unique cognitive capacities. Reciprocal altruism, in particular, requires a suite of complex abilities not required by alternatives such as tolerated scrounging. Integrating cognitive constraints with comparative data from other species can illuminate the adaptive benefits of food sharing in humans.
Infant crying in context
Authors: Nader Rami , Job Elizabeth A. , Badali Melanie , Craig Kenneth D.
Published: July 2008

Our focus has been on the role of early cry as a commanding source of information about infant pain and distress that requires interpretation by an adult caregiver. Its inherent ambiguity may offer an adaptive advantage, as resolution requires adult presence and scrutiny of other behavioral, physical, and contextual factors.
Chimpanzees are not proto-hominins and early human mothers may not have foraged alone
Authors: Fuentes Agustín
Published: July 2008

Modeling the evolution of human behavior, including language, is a complex but important undertaking. The over-reliance on chimpanzees as models to assess basal hominin patterns and the implicit assumption that hominin mothers did not have significant assistance in caring for young weaken this model for the emergence of language from mother-infant vocal interactions.
The details of food-sharing interactions – their cost in social prestige
Authors: Zahavi Amotz
Published: July 2008

I agree with Gurven that costly signaling can explain food-sharing phenomena. However, costly signaling may also explain the role of food sharing in deterring rivals. Details of food-sharing interactions may reveal gains and losses in the social prestige of the interacting parties. The evolutionary models of kin selection and of reciprocal altruism are unstable and should be avoided.
Nonmarket cooperation in the indigenous food economy of Taimyr, Arctic Russia: Evidence for control and benefit
Authors: Ziker John
Published: July 2008

Empirical data on food sharing in native Dolgan, Nganasan, and Nenets communities in Siberia provide evidence for hunter control over big game and fish, as well as likely benefits of inter-household sharing. Most food sharing occurs with kin and, thus, kin-selection-based nepotism cannot be ruled out. Reciprocal interhousehold sharing at meals occurs less often. Social context is discussed.
Beyond prosody and infant-directed speech: Affective, social construction of meaning in the origins of language
Authors: King Barbara J. , Shanker Stuart
Published: July 2008

Our starting point for the origins of language goes beyond prosody or infant-directed speech to highlight the affective, multimodal, and co-constructed nature of meaning-making that was likely present before the split between African great apes and hominins. Analysis of vocal and gestural caregiving practices in hominins, and of meaning-making via gestural interaction in African great apes, supports our thesis.
Tolerated reciprocity, reciprocal scrounging, and unrelated kin: Making sense of multiple models
Authors: Gurven Michael
Published: July 2008

Four models commonly employed in sharing analyses (reciprocal altruism [RA], tolerated scrounging [TS], costly signaling [CS], and kin selection [KS]) have common features which render rigorous testing of unique predictions difficult. Relaxed versions of these models are discussed in an attempt to understand how the underlying principles of delayed returns, avoiding costs, building reputation, and aiding biological kin interact in systems of sharing. Special attention is given to the interpretation of contingency measures that critically define some form of reciprocal altruism.
Trickle-up phonetics: A vocal role for the infant
Authors: Locke John L.
Published: July 2008

Falk claims that human language took a step forward when infants lost their ability to cling and were placed on the ground, increasing their fears, which mothers assuaged prosodically. This claim, which is unsupported by anthropological and psychological evidence, would have done little for the syllabic and segmental structure of language, and ignores infants' own contribution to the process.
Developmental changes of infant cries – the evolution of complex vocalizations
Authors: Wermke Kathleen , Friederici Angela D.
Published: July 2008

The signal functions of infant crying cannot be understood properly without due attention to their ontogenetic development. Based on our own research on the development of infant cries, we argue that the controversies in cry literature will not be solved by static models, but that progress will made only when considering ontogenetic changes in interpreting cry data.
Affective prosody: Whence motherese
Authors: Monnot Marilee , Foley Robert , Ross Elliott
Published: July 2008

Motherese is a form of affective prosody injected automatically into speech during caregiving solicitude. Affective prosody is the aspect of language that conveys emotion by changes in tone, rhythm, and emphasis during speech. It is a neocortical function that allows graded, highly varied vocal emotional expression. Other mammals have only rigid, species-specific, limbic vocalizations. Thus, encephalization with corticalization is necessary for the evolution of progressively complex vocal emotional displays.
On the utility of an evolutionary approach to infant crying
Authors: Wood Rebecca M.
Published: July 2008

Soltis' analysis of signal functions of young infants' cries stimulates testable questions regarding abuse, neglect, and infanticide. Nevertheless, his evolutionary perspective oversimplifies the cry event, and does little to promote developmental analysis of crying during infancy. Studies of the cry in its behavioral and developmental context are needed if we are to understand the proximate causes of optimal and suboptimal care.
Colic and the early crying curve: A developmental account
Authors: Zeifman Debra M.
Published: July 2008

The hypothesis that excessive early infant crying evolved to reduce the risk of withdrawal of parental care is disputed on the grounds that excessive infant crying is irritating and imposes fitness losses rather than gains. Alternative explanations for the early crying curve that take into account development on the part of the infant and the emerging infant-caregiver bond are proposed.
The developmental mechanisms and the signal functions of early infant crying
Authors: Soltis Joseph
Published: July 2008

The majority of the commentaries focused on excessive crying and colic and included two major themes: the consideration of proximate physiological mechanisms, and challenges to my interpretation of the signal functions of early infant crying amount. I initially concluded that none of the competing signaling hypotheses enjoyed strong support, but I nevertheless favored the signaling vigor hypothesis above the signaling need and manipulation hypotheses. Consideration of the neurobiological causation of the n-shaped crying curve and further evidence and argumentation concerning the potential signal functions, however, do not allow for the elevation of any one of these hypotheses above the others, and it remains the case that none are strongly supported. Taken together, however, the target article and commentary do provide a solid foundation for further research. In the target article, I also proposed a model of how infant cry acoustics can influence patterns of care and abuse. Commentary has enriched this model by including the consideration of developmental changes in cry acoustics across early infancy, and by further integrating the cry signal with other modalities of communication and with later development. I trust that the foregoing will show that the joint pursuit of the proximate mechanisms and the potential signal functions of early infant cry amount and cry acoustics should prove fruitful. Before embarking on my reevaluation, however, I begin this response by addressing the issue of consciousness in evolutionary accounts of signaling.
Putting infants in their place
Authors: Spurrett David , Dellis Andrew
Published: July 2008

The interests of mother and infants do not exactly coincide. Further, infants are not merely objects of attempted control by mothers, but the sources of attempts to control what mothers do. Taking account of the ways in which this is so suggests an enriched perspective on mother-infant interaction and on the beginnings of conventionalized signaling.
Language from gesture
Authors: Wilcox Sherman
Published: July 2008

The hypothesis that language began as a multimodal, gestural complex finds support in data from spoken languages on the connection between intonation and gesture, as well as from the process by which intonation becomes codified into grammar. Also, data from signed languages show a similar process at work, in which gestural elements become incorporated as intonation and conventionalized as grammatical markers.
The “putting the baby down” hypothesis: Bipedalism, babbling, and baby slings
Authors: Falk Dean
Published: July 2008

My responses to the observations and criticisms of 26 commentaries focus on the coregulated and affective nature of initial mother/infant interactions, the relationship between motherese and emergent linguistic skills and its implication for hominin evolution, the plausibility of the “putting the baby down” hypothesis, and details about specific neurological substrates that may have formed the basis for the evolution of prelinguistic behaviors and, eventually, protolanguage.
Seniors' experiences of client-centred residential care
Authors: EALES JACQUIE , KEATING NORAH , DAMSMA ANNITA
Published: July 2008

The philosophy concerning long-term care for frail seniors has shifted from a provider-driven, medical model toward a more client-centred, social model. While this philosophy emphasises the decision-making abilities of clients and respect for their values and preferences, evidence suggests that there are difficulties in understanding and implementing the philosophy. Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with residents of adult family living and assisted living programmes in western Canada to better understand the elements that residents themselves felt were integral to client-centred care.

Three main themes emerged from the data analysis: (1) the physical setting, people within the setting, and the community were important areas of expression of residents' values and preferences; (2) the decision about where to live influenced whether the residential care environment was congruent with residents' values and preferences; (3) contentment resulted when there was a good fit between preferences and experiences, reflecting the essence of residents' perspective of client-centred care. Choices among models of care, appropriate staffing levels and training, and recognition of family contributions may improve the practice of client-centred care.
Sustaining the self in later life: supporting older people in the community
Authors: TANNER DENISE
Published: July 2008

This paper emanates from a small-scale qualitative study, currently in progress, looking at the implications for older people of decisions made by a social services department that they are ineligible for service provision. While the operation of eligibility criteria in the UK has been shown to exclude an increasing number of prospective users from receiving a service, little is known about how those refused a service contend with their difficulties or the implications these strategies have for them. The paper focuses on themes that have emerged during the first phases of the study in relation to how older people endeavour to manage their ‘unmet need’. It is suggested that a key integrative theme concerns their efforts to maintain a positive sense of self indicating, it is argued, the need for processes involved in the seeking, receiving and giving of help to be managed in a way that sustains the sense of self of the older person.
Understandings of successful ageing in the context of migration: the case of Iranian immigrants in Sweden
Authors: TORRES SANDRA
Published: July 2008

Gerontological inquiries into understandings of successful ageing have been culture-specific. This means that they have only been studied in the specific cultural settings that have given them their meaning. Understandings of successful ageing that are simultaneously influenced by two cultures have yet to be studied. This study is based on a newly-designed culturally-relevant theoretical framework for the study of successful ageing, and focuses on the context of migration where culture of origin and host culture meet. Interviews based on vignettes have been conducted with 30 Iranian immigrants in Sweden in order to reveal if, and how, the pre- and post-migration understandings of successful ageing differ. The findings show that cultural contexts determine how the construct in question is understood and that migration between different cultures can challenge these understandings.
Marital relations in late adulthood, throughout the retirement process
Authors: KULIK LIAT
Published: July 2008

The study investigated marital relations among a sample of 569 Israeli participants at three stages of late adulthood: remote pre-retirement (seven to ten years prior to retirement), near-retirement (up to two years prior to retirement), and post-retirement (up to two years after retirement). The following variables were examined: spousal resources, marital power relations, quality of marriage, and division of household tasks. The study attempted to determine whether there were differences in marital relations during the three life stages, and whether those differences were evident for men and women. The findings reveal that for both men and women, marital relations were more intensive in remote pre-retirement than in the two subsequent stages. In addition, division of feminine household tasks was found to be more egalitarian at later stages of marital life. However, similarities were revealed in most aspects of power relations as well as in spousal resources and performance of masculine household tasks during the three life stages examined. Several gender-based differences were also noted in all three stages. Specifically, the men tended to report an advantage in financial and social resources, as well as in emotional hardiness. With respect to power relations, the men also showed a greater tendency to make major decisions, whereas the women tended to make minor decisions and contributed more toward strengthening the family.
Gerotranscendence and different cultural settings
Authors: AHMADI LEWIN FERESHTEH
Published: July 2008

Within the framework of an international research project aimed at studying the impact of different cultural settings on gerotranscendent development, six groups of older people distinguished by religiosity and cultural origin were studied. A life history approach, followed by thematic semi-structured interviews, was applied. One of the objectives was to inquire about the possible impact of religion, conceived of as a cultural setting, on development towards gerotranscendence. The findings of this inquiry gave rise to two hypotheses as to the relationship between gerotranscendence and religiosity. The first hypothesis is that the internalisation of mystical-type ideas in individuals' ways of thinking is probably a factor involved in the development of a gerotranscendent view of life. In other words, whether individuals practice their ‘religion’ in a spiritual, nonorganisational way, or in an organisational way, may play a role for development towards gerotranscendence. The second hypothesis is that certain characteristics, such as the secular and individualistic features of modern societies, may delay development towards gerotranscendence.
HISTORY AND HISTORICAL SOCIOLOGY: DIVERGENT PATHS IN THE STUDY OF AGEING
Authors: Phillipson Chris
Published: July 2008

Pat Thane. Old Age in English History: Past Experiences, Present Issues.
Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2000. 536 pp. £25.00 ISBN 0-19-820382-9.

John Macnicol. The Politics of Retirement in Britain, 1878-1948.
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1998. 425 pp, £47.50, ISBN 0-52162273- 5.

Research on the history of old age has been an important area of scholarship
in gerontology over the past two decades. From the impetus provided by
Laslett's work in the 1960s and 1970s, historical research had opened out by
the 1980s into what Stearns and Van Tassel viewed as a ‘promising and
provocative subfield of social history’ (1986: ix).
Autonomy and the relationship between nurses and older people
Authors: MCCORMACK BRENDAN
Published: July 2008

Autonomy is considered to be one of the central ethical principles of health care practice and as such is a significantly relevant concept for health care practitioners. With the many political and ideological drivers that challenge the way health care for older people is currently delivered, it is important to consider how the autonomy of older people is facilitated in everyday practice. In this paper I challenge the dominant understanding of autonomy as ‘individualism’. Through research undertaken with nurses who work with older people, it identifies the conflicts that arise between an individualistic understanding of autonomy set alongside an emphasis on ‘person-centred’ practice.

Data were collected by recording ‘naturally occurring’ conversations between nurses, patients and associated practitioners. Primary nurses recorded conversations occurring between them and four patients throughout their hospital stay. In addition, a recognised expert gerontological nurse and a community nurse specialist participated as a means of testing out initial themes generated by the primary nurses. A total of 14 case studies were recorded. The data were analysed using principles of conversation analysis and thematic analysis set within a hermeneutic interpretive framework. In order to illuminate presentations of autonomy in practice, focus group discussions with nurses and older people were used as part of the interpretative process. I discuss the factors that prevented the operationalisation of an individualised rights-based concept of autonomy for older people. Issues including information-giving, the conversation style of nurses, internal and external constraints and patients' competence to decide are considered. In addition, the role of families in decision-making is addressed. The paper ends with a discussion of an alternative view of autonomy based on ‘interconnectedness’ in the nurse-patient relationship. This perspective is not based on either the patient or nurse being the ‘final arbiter’ of decisions, but is instead set within a framework of negotiation.
Conceptual frameworks and emancipatory research in social gerontology
Authors: WILSON GAIL
Published: July 2008

It is argued that conflicts arise in social gerontology because conceptual frameworks are not sufficiently developed. Taking a broad definition of conceptual frameworks that includes political awareness, I argue that the theoretical works of Anne Phillips and Nancy Fraser have much to offer when applied to social gerontology. It is, however, essential first to theorise later life in terms of difference and diversity and the potential for conflict between concepts. The main argument is that when researching a devalued group such as elders, the political aspects of research cannot be ignored even when researchers aim to be ‘apolitical’, and that research will be helped by considering the politics of equality under the headings of: universalism and particularism; convergence and recognition; cultural valorisation and redistribution; and redress and transformation. These categories are not completely separate and may overlap. Just as aspects of disadvantage are complex and interact, so are the remedies or theorisations that can be deployed.
Retirement migration and transnational lifestyles
Authors: GUSTAFSON PER
Published: July 2008

Research on international retirement migration has so far focused on quantitative measures of migration, migrants' wellbeing, reasons for migration and consequences of migration in the receiving areas, while paying scant attention to the transnational experiences of the migrants. Research on transnational forms of living, on the other hand, has largely ignored the life projects of retirees. This paper tries to bridge that gap, by investigating experiences of transnational mobility, multiple place attachment and cultural differences among Swedish retirees pursuing seasonal migration between Sweden and Spain. Qualitative interviews were made with 46 respondents who spent at least three months per year in each country. The analysis of the interviews produced three ideal-typical transnational lifestyles: translocal normality, multilocal adaptation and routinised sojourning. These lifestyles reflect different strategies for managing cultural difference, but also different forms and aspects of place attachment and different ideals of mobility.
Social gerontology in Germany: historical trends and recent developments
Authors: SCHARF THOMAS
Published: July 2008

Mirroring the development in the social sciences as a whole, social
gerontology has been characterised by an increasing
internationalisation in recent years. While the English language remains the prime
medium for communication, there is a rapidly expanding research
literature published in other major world languages. This raises
practical difficulties for researchers lacking the relevant linguistic skills
to engage with the findings of research published in languages other
than English. It is within this context that this Ageing Update
addresses the current state of social gerontology in Germany. Drawing
primarily upon sources published in the German language between
1997 and 2000, the article provides an overview of the historical
development of research on social and behavioural aspects of ageing in
Germany. It then proceeds to address some of the main themes and
trends associated with what, by any measure, is a substantial amount
of recent research. This analysis offers a basis for illustrating, in a short
concluding section, the significant strengths and some areas of apparent
weaknesses in the current state of German social gerontology.
Self-assessment in performance
Authors: Daniel Ryan
Published: July 2008

This article examines the issue of self-assessment of musical performance and the role of the learner in this process, with particular reference to the Australian context. Initially, traditional methods of assessment are discussed and references made to alternative methodologies in action. Following this, the rationale for and structure of a new method of self-critical assessment is outlined. The initial trial is discussed along with the evaluative questionnaire. The resultant data are then analysed and discussed, as are the implications for adopting and for developing this method.
Instrumental learning: is an early start a key to success?
Authors: Jørgensen Harald
Published: July 2008

The question of when it is convenient to start with vocal and instrumental lessons is a much-debated issue. This article studies a group of conservatoire students and looks at the relationship between their current level of vocal and instrumental performance and the age when they started formal lessons. It concludes that, for the whole student population, those with highest grades started earlier. Looking at separate instruments, however, we see both a positive and a negative relationship between an early start and a high level of performance in the conservatoire. Additionally, there are large differences between students. The findings are discussed in the context of expertise theory.
Raising standards in performance
Authors: Davis Robert , Pulman Mark
Published: July 2008

Over the past few years, instrumental performance has been subject to considerable research in this journal and elsewhere. A great deal of this research has concentrated on the practice strategies and individual lessons, which most students undertake in preparing as performers. Little has been done on raising standards of performance on a larger scale within the context of a large music department. This article describes the outcomes of a two-year programme undertaken with undergraduates at Barnsley College. It looks specifically at the scope for curriculum changes over that period and the way the various individual aspects of performance lessons are brought together through a weekly class which focuses on the demands of a public performance and the strategies required to prepare for that event.
Gender and achievement in music education: the view from the classroom
Authors: Wright Ruth
Published: July 2008

This article originates from a research project investigating the effects of gender on achievement in music education in one secondary school. The study showed a correlation between gender and achievement in music with some surprising insights into possible causes of male under-achievement in education at Key Stages 3 (11–14 years) and 4 (14–16 years) generally. It is argued that because of national testing and school performance tables, the debate on male under-achievement in this country may have become so focused on core subjects that a very important link in the argument is being overlooked – a link provided by music and the other creative arts.
Preface
Authors: Harris Jay M.
Published: July 2008

With this issue of the AJS Review, I bring my editorship to a close. I am proud to present this special issue to the Review's readership. It marks a change from the normal patterns of the Review, in that this issue consists entirely of articles solicited by the editors, revolving around the broad theme of the reverberations of the Bible in modern Hebrew literature and culture.
Modern Midrash: The Biblical Canon and Modern Literature
Authors: Shaked Gershon
Published: July 2008

Canonization of the Bible resulted from a consensus of those to whom it was addressed and a ruling group of religious elites that established its sanctity. They declared that “Torah was given to Moses at Sinai” and valued it above and beyond its literary value. The process of canonization was not a simple one. Several books were included only after struggles among various pressure groups. For example: “At first, Proverbs, Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes were considered non-canonical because they consisted of parables, but later the men of the Great Assembly interpreted them.” (ءAvot dءRabbi Natan, 1). Further: “The sages wished to exclude Ecclesiastes because it contained inconsistencies, but they included it because it begins and ends with teachings of Torah” (Shabbat, 30:b).
“And a Small Boy Leading Them”:
Authors: Aschkenasy Nehama
Published: July 2008

Each of the three childhood stories, S. Y. Agnon's “Bayaעar ūvaעir” [In the Forest and in the Town] (1939), Amos Oz's Panter bamartef [Panther in the Basement] (1995), and Aharon Appelfeld's Layish (1994), offers a child protagonist who inhabits two parallel landscapes: his own environment and the biblical universe. These child protagonists relive a biblical experience, but the degree to which the respective writers make them participants in evoking the biblical sphere is different in each story. These stories exhibit distinctly different paradigms of the art of embedding the biblical text in a modern, secular narrative and of the status it is given within it. In Agnon's tale, the scriptural intertext is inseparable from a dense network of Judaic master texts, discoursing with and commenting on each other. In Oz's novella, the biblical arena is the ancient parallel of present-day reality, the admired yet challenged national epic that mirrors and informs current political and territorial aspirations. In Appelfeld's novella, the biblical pattern is a remote, foreboding myth, not fully recognized by the actors in the modern tale yet powerful enough to hover over them and determine their destiny.
The Figure of Moses in Modern Hebrew Poetry
Authors: Shaked Malka
Published: July 2008

From its inception in the Enlightenment to this day, modern Hebrew poetry conveys a deep connection to the Bible that manifests itself in a variety of ways. An in-depth understanding of this connection—including its various expressions in content and language, its causes, its purposes, and its manifestations in all the literary genres, in each generation and for each individual writer—would require extensive research that could profitably occupy a large number of scholars. Nonetheless, even with the limited research that I have conducted, focusing on the place of the Bible in Hebrew poetry from the generation of national renaissance to the present time, the substantial anthology of poems that I am preparing for this purpose demonstrate clearly that modern Hebrew poetry constantly returns to the Bible, and that the Bible's oft-lamented decline in stature in Israeli society is nowhere to be seen.
Jew, Zionist, Hebrew, or Israeli?
Authors: Shacham Chaya
Published: July 2008

The life story of Jacob, one of the longest and most complex of the Bible narratives, is a mine for the imagination of modern writers. Hebrew writers of poetry and prose have been drawn to Jacob's biblical tale and have made it the overt or latent intertext in their work.
Biblical Allusions in Modern and Postmodern Hebrew Literature
Authors: Balaban Avraham
Published: July 2008

Hebrew authors of the 1960s and 1970s used the biblical context to hint at their protagonists' religious yearnings, to invest their texts with additional levels of meaning, and to amplify the significance of their plots. In the Hebrew “postmodernist” fiction of the late 1980s and the 1990s, however, biblical allusions are less commonly found, and their functions have fundamentally changed. To examine these different functions, let us first juxtapose two novels, Avram Heffner's Allelim [Alleles], a typical example of the “postmodernist” trend, and Amos Oz's Menuha Nekhona [A Perfect Peace], a representative novel of the Israeli “modernist” school.
From Myth to History
Authors: Yehoshua A. B.
Published: July 2008

If we were to unravel the foundation of Jewish identity into its primary components, we would discover that beyond the religious commandments, beyond the various national sentiments, beyond the sense of belonging and connection to the Land of Israel and the Hebrew language, beyond certain historical and family memories that uniquely determine the Jewish identity of each individual, the common basis of all Jewish identities, in their various dosages and strengths, comprises several fundamental stories—stories that have shed any clear indicia of historical time and place and have become myths, metastories, which can no longer be changed, only interpreted. These myths, such as the binding of Isaac (the akedah), the story of the exodus and other bible stories, the stories of the destruction of the Temple (and recently, in a certain sense, the Holocaust), have become the infrastructural components of Jewish consciousness and identity, both religious and secular. They have served for millennia as effective ingredients in the preservation of the identity of many Jews, scattered among various lands and continents, in the midst of various peoples and religions and assorted civilizations, and for centuries without being specifically dependent on the clear historical context of a defined territory or language. These myths are the most primary basis for the existence of diaspora Jewish identity, which makes possible the preservation of Jewish identity “outside history,” in the famous phrase of Gershon Scholem, notwithstanding the terrible toll that this existence has taken on the Jewish people in the end. The power of these myths lies in the fact that one's connection to them can be immediate, in all places and at all times, and beyond their original linguistic form; this connection finds succinct expression in the sentence, “In every generation, a person is obligated to regard himself as if he himself left Egypt.”
Erratum
Authors: Sinkoff Nancy
Published: July 2008

A typographic error appears on page 295 of “The Maskil, the Convert, and the עAgunah: Joseph Perl as a Historian of Jewish Divorce Law,” by Nancy Sinkoff, in the November 2003 issue of AJS Review [2003:27(2), pp. 281–299]. In the indented paragraph from Joseph Perl's manuscript, the original Hebrew phrase “vekhatav”—which is noted in footnote 61 as appearing in the text itself—was elided, leaving an underline with no text. The passage containing the missing Hebrew phrase follows in its entirety:
Habitat and nest site characteristics of Olrog's Gull Larus atlanticus breeding at Bahía San Blas, Argentina
Authors: YORIO PABLO , RÁBANO DANIEL E. , FRIEDRICH PABLO
Published: July 2008

Olrog's Gull Larus atlanticus is a vulnerable species endemic to the Argentine Atlantic coast. We present information
on new breeding colonies, update information on known colonies, and describe habitat and nest site characteristics of
Olrog's Gulls breeding at Bahía San Blas, southern Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. Information was obtained
during the 1998 breeding season. We recorded four colonies on islets, with a total population size of 305 pairs.
Colonies were located on open ground, partly bordered by vegetation. The two colonies at Islote Arroyo Jabalí Oeste
were located more than 150 m from the high tide line, while the two colonies at Banco Nordeste were placed only a
few metres from the high tide mark (1-6 m). Most nests were located more than a metre away from low Atriplex
patagonica bushes (20-30 cm high) and herbaceous species, although a few nests were a few cm from vegetation.
Nests were built on vegetation debris, on low herbaceous vegetation, and on gravel and sand. All nests at the four
colonies were built with vegetation debris, mainly Spartina densiflora and some Salicornia sp. Mean external and
internal diameters of nests were 40.57 ± 5.14 and 19.71 ± 2.21 cm, respectively. Gulls nested in discrete groups at
relatively high densities, which ranged between 0.62 and 1.1 nests/m2. Nest occupation and number of eggs per nest
varied among colonies. Kelp Gulls Larus dominicanus were observed nesting in close proximity to all colonies. Further
studies are needed to assess habitat partitioning between these two species, particularly considering that they nest in
association at all breeding locations in coastal Argentina and that Kelp Gulls have shown an important population
increase in recent decades.
Coercions in a polymorphic type system
Authors: LUO ZHAOHUI
Published: July 2008

We incorporate the idea of coercive subtyping, a theory of abbreviation for dependent type theories, into the polymorphic type system in functional programming languages. The traditional type system with let-polymorphism is extended with argument coercions and function coercions, and a corresponding type inference algorithm is presented and proved to be sound and complete.
Curry-style type isomorphisms and game semantics
Authors: DE LATAILLADE JOACHIM
Published: July 2008

Curry-style system F, that is, system F with no explicit types in terms, may be viewed as a core presentation of polymorphism from the point of view of programming languages.

This paper gives a characterisation of type isomorphisms for this language using a game model, whose intuitions come from both the syntax and the game semantics universe. The model is composed of an untyped part to interpret terms, a notion of arena to interpret types and a typed part to express the fact that an untyped strategy σ plays on an arenaA.

By analysing isomorphisms in the model, we prove that the equational system corresponding to type isomorphisms for Curry-style system F is the extension of the equational system for Church-style isomorphisms with a new, non-trivial equation: ∀X.AA[∀Y.Y/X] ifXappears only positively inA.
On the building of affine retractions
Authors: SCHUBERT ALEKSY
Published: July 2008

A simple type σ is retractable to a simple type τ if there are two termsCσ→τandDτ→σsuch thatD○Cλx.x. The retractability of types is affine if the termsCandDare affine, that is, when every bound variable occurs in them at most once in the scope of its declaration. This paper presents a system that derives affine retractability for simple types. It also studies the complexity of constructing these affine retractions. The problem of affine retractability is NP-complete even for the class of types over a single type atom and having limited functional order. In addition, a polynomial algorithm for types of orders less than three is presented.
An optimal control approach to a posteriori error estimation in finite element methods
Authors: Becker Roland , Rannacher Rolf
Published: July 2008

This article surveys a general approach to error control and adaptive mesh
design in Galerkin finite element methods that is based on duality principles
as used in optimal control. Most of the existing work on a posteriori error
analysis deals with error estimation in global norms like the ‘energy norm’
or the L2 norm, involving usually unknown ‘stability constants’. However, in
most applications, the error in a global norm does not provide useful bounds
for the errors in the quantities of real physical interest. Further, their sensitivity
to local error sources is not properly represented by global stability constants.
These deficiencies are overcome by employing duality techniques, as
is common in a priori error analysis of finite element methods, and replacing
the global stability constants by computationally obtained local sensitivity
factors. Combining this with Galerkin orthogonality, a posteriori estimates
can be derived directly for the error in the target quantity. In these estimates
local residuals of the computed solution are multiplied by weights which
measure the dependence of the error on the local residuals. Those, in turn,
can be controlled by locally refining or coarsening the computational mesh.
The weights are obtained by approximately solving a linear adjoint problem.
The resulting a posteriori error estimates provide the basis of a feedback process
for successively constructing economical meshes and corresponding error
bounds tailored to the particular goal of the computation. This approach,
called the ‘dual-weighted-residual method’, is introduced initially within an
abstract functional analytic setting, and is then developed in detail for several
model situations featuring the characteristic properties of elliptic, parabolic
and hyperbolic problems. After having discussed the basic properties
of duality-based adaptivity, we demonstrate the potential of this approach by
presenting a selection of results obtained for practical test cases. These include
problems from viscous fluid flow, chemically reactive flow, elasto-plasticity, radiative
transfer, and optimal control. Throughout the paper, open theoretical
and practical problems are stated together with references to the relevant literature.
Some new results and current challenges in the finite element analysis of shells
Authors: Chapelle Dominique
Published: July 2008

This article, a companion to the article by Philippe G. Ciarlet on the mathematical
modelling of shells also in this issue of Acta Numerica, focuses on
numerical issues raised by the analysis of shells.

Finite element procedures are widely used in engineering practice to analyse
the behaviour of shell structures. However, the concept of ‘shell finite
element’ is still somewhat fuzzy, as it may correspond to very different ideas
and techniques in various actual implementations. In particular, a significant
distinction can be made between shell elements that are obtained via the
discretization of shell models, and shell elements – such as the general shell
elements – derived from 3D formulations using some kinematic assumptions,
without the use of any shell theory. Our first objective in this paper is to give
a unified perspective of these two families of shell elements. This is expected
to be very useful as it paves the way for further thorough mathematical
analyses of shell elements. A particularly important motivation for this is the
understanding and treatment of the deficiencies associated with the analysis
of thin shells (among which is the locking phenomenon). We then survey these
deficiencies, in the framework of the asymptotic behaviour of shell models. We
conclude the article by giving some detailed guidelines to numerically assess
the performance of shell finite elements when faced with these pathological
phenomena, which is essential for the design of improved procedures.
Geometric aspects of the theory of Krylov subspace methods
Authors: Eiermann Michael , Ernst Oliver G.
Published: July 2008

The development of Krylov subspace methods for the solution of operator
equations has shown that two basic construction principles underlie the most
commonly used algorithms: the orthogonal residual (OR) and minimal residual
(MR) approaches. It is shown that these can both be formulated as
techniques for solving an approximation problem on a sequence of nested subspaces
of a Hilbert space, an abstract problem not necessarily related to an
operator equation. Essentially all Krylov subspace algorithms result when
these subspaces form a Krylov sequence. The well-known relations among
the iterates and residuals of MR/OR pairs are shown to hold also in this
rather general setting. We further show that a common error analysis for
these methods involving the canonical angles between subspaces allows many
of the known residual and error bounds to be derived in a simple and consistent
manner. An application of this analysis to compact perturbations of
the identity shows that MR/OR pairs of Krylov subspace methods converge
q-superlinearly when applied to such operator equations.
Data mining techniques
Authors: Hegland Markus
Published: July 2008

Methods for knowledge discovery in data bases (KDD) have been studied for
more than a decade. New methods are required owing to the size and complexity
of data collections in administration, business and science. They include
procedures for data query and extraction, for data cleaning, data analysis,
and methods of knowledge representation. The part of KDD dealing with
the analysis of the data has been termed data mining. Common data mining
tasks include the induction of association rules, the discovery of functional
relationships (classification and regression) and the exploration of groups of
similar data objects in clustering. This review provides a discussion of and
pointers to efficient algorithms for the common data mining tasks in a mathematical
framework. Because of the size and complexity of the data sets,
efficient algorithms and often crude approximations play an important role.
Empirically Grounded Clinical Interventions
Authors: Salkovskis Paul
Published: July 2008

This issue sees the introduction of another journal section. I have been aware for some time of both the importance and strength of systematic reviews, meta-analyses and other published aspects of what has come to be termed “evidence based medicine” (EBM) and “evidence based mental health” (EBMH). At the same time, there is a co-existing uneasiness that something was missing, and that EBM promised more than it was able to deliver. There is a sense of scientific sterility that goes with this approach. It does not seem to be a complete formula for making sense of the existing literature, and it falls far short of what is needed for the scientific development of our ability to understand and treat psychological distress. This unease is increased by the way in which it appears that EBMH approaches provide definitive answers, an algorithm against which current science and clinical practice is to be weighed.