bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
MAP kinase-mediated phosphorylation of distinct pools of histone H3 at S10 or S28 via mitogen- and stress-activated kinase 1/2
Authors: Dyson Mark H. , Thomson Stuart , Inagaki Masaki , Goto Hidemasa , Arthur Simon J. , Nightingale Karl , Iborra Francisco J. , Mahadevan Louis C.
Published: May 2005

ERK and p38 MAP kinases, acting through the downstream mitogen- and stress-activated kinase 1/2 (MSK1/2), elicit histone H3 phosphorylation on a subfraction of nucleosomes – including those at Fos and Jun – concomitant with gene induction. S10 and S28 on the H3 tail have both been shown to be phospho-acceptors in vivo. Both phospho-epitopes appear with similar time-courses and both occur on H3 tails that are highly sensitive to TSA-induced hyperacetylation, similarities which might suggest that MSK1/2 phosphorylates both sites on the same H3 tails. Indeed, on recombinant histone octamers in vitro, MSK1 efficiently phosphorylates both sites on the same H3 tail. However, sequential immunoprecipitation studies show that antibodies against phosphorylated S10-H3 recover virtually all this epitope without depletion of phosphorylated S28-H3, and vice versa, indicating that the two phospho-epitopes are not located on the same H3 tail in vivo. Confocal immunocytochemistry confirms the clear physical separation of the two phospho-epitopes in the intact mouse nucleus. Finally, we used transfection-based experiments to test models that might explain such differential targeting. Overexpression and delocalisation of MSK1 does not result in the breakdown of targeting in vivo despite the fact that the ectopic kinase is fully activated by external stimuli. These studies reveal a remarkable level of targeting of S10 and S28 phosphorylation to distinct H3 tails within chromatin in the interphase mouse nucleus. Possible models for such exquisite targeting are discussed.
HLA-DR- and CD11c-positive Dendritic Cells Penetrate beyond Well-developed Epithelial Tight Junctions in Human Nasal Mucosa of Allergic Rhinitis
Authors: Takano Ken-ichi , Kojima Takashi , Go Mitsuru , Murata Masaki , Ichimiya Shingo , Himi Tetsuo , Sawada Norimasa
Published: May 2005

The epithelial barrier of the upper respiratory tract plays a crucial role in host defense. In this study, to elucidate whether there is antigen monitoring by dendritic cells (DCs) beyond the epithelial tight-junction barrier in allergic rhinitis, we investigated the expression and function of tight junctions and characterized DCs in the epithelium of nasal mucosa from patients with allergic rhinitis. In reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, mRNAs of tight-junction proteins occludin, JAM-1, ZO-1, and claudin-1, −4, −7, −8, −12, −13, and −14 were detected in the nasal mucosa. Occludin, JAM-1, and ZO-1 were colocalized in the uppermost layer in the pseudostratified epithelium of the nasal mucosa, whereas claudin-1, −4, and −7 were found throughout the epithelium. In freeze-fracture replicas of the nasal mucosa, continuous tight-junction strands formed well-developed networks. Epithelial barrier function measured by a dye tracer was well maintained in occludin-positive tight junctions in the epithelium of the nasal mucosa. HLA-DR- and CD11c-positive DCs expressed claudin-1 and penetrated beyond occludin in the epithelium of the nasal mucosa with, but not without, allergic rhinitis. These results indicate that DCs may easily access antigens beyond epithelial tight junctions in the human nasal mucosa of allergic rhinitis.
Localization of Cytochrome P450 CYP2S1 Expression in Human Tissues by In Situ Hybridization and Immunohistochemistry
Authors: Saarikoski Sirkku T. , Wikman Harriet A.-L. , Smith Gillian , J. Wolff C. Henrik , Husgafvel-Pursiainen Kirsti
Published: May 2005

CYP2S1 is a recently discovered dioxin-inducible member of the cytochrome P450 superfamily. It has been shown to be involved in the metabolism of some aromatic hydrocarbons as well as retinoic acid, suggesting a role in biotransformation of both exogenous and endogenous compounds. In this study, we used mRNA in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry to investigate the cellular localization of CYP2S1 in various human tissues using tissue microarrays. High expression levels were observed mainly in epithelial cell types, especially in the epithelia frequently exposed to xenobiotics. In the respiratory tract, the expression was strong in nasal cavity, bronchi, and bronchioli, whereas it was low in the alveolar lining cells. Similarly, CYP2S1 was highly expressed in the epithelial cells throughout the gastrointestinal tract. Strong epithelial expression was also observed in uterine cervix, urinary bladder, and skin. In many exocrine glands (e.g., adrenal gland and pancreas), secretory epithelial cells showed moderate to strong expression levels. In the liver, the expression was low. CYP2S1 was highly expressed in epithelial cells that are major targets for carcinogen exposure and common progenitor cells to tumor development. Indeed, we found strong CYP2S1 expression in many tumors of epithelial origin.
Customer Orientation in the Context of Development Projects: Insights from the World Bank
Authors: Talukdar Debabrata , Gulyani Sumila , Salmen Lawrence F.
Published: April 2005

Approximately half of the world's current population lives in poverty, and more than 90% of those people live in developing countries with limited access to basic social and economic amenities. Mired in such widespread poverty, developing countries thus appear to offer little opportunity for the traditional role of marketing to facilitate the monetized exchange of private goods. However, as this synthesized review of the practice of customer orientation at the World Bank shows, fundamental marketing principles and practices play an important role in incorporating the voice and interest of the poor in the provision of public goods that are designed to improve their quality of life and standard of living. This role for marketing in developing economies helps create the necessary socioeconomic infrastructure to facilitate the emergence of vibrant exchange markets for private goods in which the traditional role of marketing plays out. This article helps develop a better appreciation of a typically overlooked dimension in marketing's relationship to society in developing countries.
Discrimination in the Consumer Marketplace: A Response to Harris, Henderson, and Williams
Authors: Oyler Randall L.
Published: April 2005

The article is a critique of Harris, Henderson, and Williams's study that attempts to measure the amount of consumer racial profiling in the consumer retail environment. The author concludes that though the purpose of the study is worthwhile, the study's methodology, which was to review the results of 81 federal court cases, is flawed. The methodology fails to correlate the number of legal complaints with the number of actual incidents of discrimination, and it fails to recognize that allegations made in a lawsuit are not proof that discrimination has occurred. Despite these flaws, the author notes that the study highlights important questions for further study and debate.
Evolution versus Tradition in Marketing Systems: The Hong Kong Food-Retailing Experience
Authors: Ho Suk-Ching
Published: April 2005

By examining the Hong Kong food-retailing experience spanning the past five decades, this article demonstrates how the forces of evolution and tradition drive the development of the industry to the state it is today. It illustrates how the three major players—consumers, marketers, and government entities—within the aggregate marketing system environment interact in ways that shape the structure of the food-retailing system across time. The author argues that when significant economic and social consequences are at stake, public policy must be called into play as a check and balance to companies. The author emphasizes the need to develop context-sensitive approaches to policy implementation on the part of both the government and firms to ensure that the system can maximally operate to serve the needs of the broader society.
Identification of three novel mutations in the dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase gene associated with altered pre-mRNA splicing or protein function
Authors: Van Kuilenburg André B.P. , Meinsma Rutger , Beke Eva , Bobba Barbara , Boffi Patrizia , Enns Gregory M. , Witt David R. , Dobritzsch Doreen
Published: April 2005

Dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) is the initial and rate-limiting enzyme in the catabolism of the pyrimidine bases uracil and thymine, as well as of the widely used chemotherapeutic drug 5-fluorouracil (5FU). Analysis of the DPD gene (DPYD) in two patients presenting with complete DPD deficiency and the parents of an affected child showed the presence of three novel mutations, including one splice site mutation IVS11+1G→T and the missense mutations 731A→C (E244V) and 1651G→A (A551T). The G→T mutation in the invariant GT splice donor site flanking exon 11 (IVS11+1G→T) created a cryptic splice site within exon 11. As a consequence, a 141-bp fragment encoding the aminoacid residues 400–446 of the primary sequence of the DPD protein was missing in the mature DPD mRNA. Analysis of the crystal structure of pig DPD suggested that the E244V mutation might interfere with the electron flow between NADPH and the pyrimidine binding site of DPD. The A551T point mutation might prevent binding of the prosthetic group FMN and affect folding of the DPD protein. The identification of these novel mutations inDPYDwill allow the identification of patients with an increased risk of developing severe 5FU-associated toxicity.
Activation of Early Silent Synapses by Spontaneous Synchronous Network Activity Limits the Range of Neocortical Connections
Authors: Voigt Thomas , Opitz Thoralf , de Lima Ana Dolabela
Published: May 2005

During the early development of neocortical networks, many glutamatergic synapses lack AMPA receptors and are physiologically silent. We show in neocortical cultures that spontaneous synchronous network activity is able to convert silent synapses to active synapses by the incorporation of AMPA receptors into synaptic complexes throughout the network within a few minutes. To test the effect of synaptic activation on the connectivity of neuronal populations, we created separated neuronal networks that could innervate each other. We allowed outgrowing axons to invade the neighboring network either before or after the onset of synchronous network activity. In the first case, both subnetworks connected to each other and synchronized their activity, whereas in the second case, axonal connections failed to form and network activity did not synchronize between compartments. We conclude that early spontaneous synchronous network activity triggers a global AMPAfication of immature synapses, which in turn prevents later-arriving axons from forming afferent connections. This activity-dependent process may set the range of corticocortical connections during early network development before experience-dependent mechanisms begin elaborating the mature layout of the neocortical connections and modules.
Endogenous Activation of Kainate Receptors Regulates Glutamate Release and Network Activity in the Developing Hippocampus
Authors: Lauri Sari E. , Segerstråle Mikael , Vesikansa Aino , Maingret Francois , Mulle Christophe , Collingridge Graham L. , Isaac John T. R. , Taira Tomi
Published: May 2005

Kainate receptors (KARs) are highly expressed throughout the neonatal brain, but their function during development is unclear. Here, we show that the maturation of the hippocampus is associated with a switch in the functional role of presynaptic KARs. In a developmental period restricted to the first postnatal week, endogenousl-glutamate tonically activates KARs at CA3 glutamatergic synapses to regulate release in an action potential-independent manner. At synapses onto pyramidal cells, KARs inhibit glutamate release via a G-protein and PKC-dependent mechanism. In contrast, at glutamatergic terminals onto CA3 interneurons, presynaptic KARs can facilitate release in a G-protein-independent mechanism. In both cell types, however, KAR activation strongly upregulates inhibitory transmission. We show that, through the interplay of these novel diverse mechanisms, KARs strongly regulate the characteristic synchronous network activity observed in the neonatal hippocampus. By virtue of this, KARs are likely to play a central role in the development of hippocampal synaptic circuits.
Sexual Abuse and Drinking and Drug Use: Implications for Prevention
Authors: Watts W. David , Ellis Ann Marie
Published: May 2005

Based on a survey of adolescent females in grades seven through twelve in a suburban school system, the relationship between drinking, drug use, and sexual abuse is examined. Using a holistic approach to adolescent deviant behavior, connections between family, peer, psychosocial factors and drug use and delinquency are explored. Girls who report sexual molestation are more likely to have used a number of drugs, different from the prevalence profile of the larger sample. Significant correlations for younger girls between sexual molestation and delinquency are also reported. Implications for school based drug prevention programs are discussed.
Competition or Noncompetition: Its Impact on Interpersonal Relationships in a Computer-Assisted Learning Environment
Authors: Yu Fu-Yun
Published: May 2005

The study explored the differential effects of intra-group cooperation with and without inter-group competition on interpersonal relationships in a CAI environment in Taiwan. Six classes of fifth-grade students (a total of 192) randomly selected from one primary school in Taipei were randomly assigned to two treatment conditions. Interpersonal relationships among participants were collected via a written post-session, self-report questionnaire measuring subject perceptions toward their own dyad, and other dyads. According to the collected data, statistically significant differences were found between the two treatment conditions in subject perceptions toward their own dyad as well as other dyads. In addition, subjects in the cooperation without inter-group competition condition tended to have better perceptions toward both their own dyad and other dyads than subjects in the cooperation with inter-group competition condition.
Age and Awareness of Finitude in Developmental Gerontology
Authors: Marshall Victor W.
Published: May 2005

In developmental theory, awareness of finitude is held to initiate processes of disengagement, self-focusing, and life-review. Age has been assumed to be inversely related to awareness of finitude, and employed in testing these conceptions. Rather then being a simple inverse function of age, awareness of finitude is an estimate based on social-comparison processes. These data demonstrate the weaknesses inherent in any attempt to substitute age as a measure of awareness of finitude. Selected aspects of reminiscence are examined in relation to awareness of finitude in illustration of the fruitfulness of a direct use of awareness of finitude as a variable in relation to developmental aspects of aging.
The Memorial Base for the Picture-Reversal Effect
Authors: Mclaughlin John P. , Sabsevitz Jill C. , Hutwelker Elizabeth A. , Muller Emily J.
Published: May 2005

Right-handed subjects preferred paintings containing cues that suggested left-to-right (LTR) motion over their mirror-reversed versions when the versions were presented successively back-to-back. The preference disappeared when other pairs requiring judgment were interpolated between the versions and also when intervals filled with patterned or nonpatterned stimuli were interpolated. The preference was restored when subjects considered definitions of abstract terms during a visually blank interval. These data suggest that the important information in the memory trace upon which the preference effect depends is geometric.
Psychosocial Aspects of Living with Cancer: A Review of the Literature
Authors: Freidenbergs Ingrid , Gordon Wayne , Hibbard Mary , Levine Linda , Wolf Carol , Diller Leonard
Published: May 2005

Up until several years ago, little systematic effort was directed at developing an empirically based understanding of issues pertinent to psychosocial aspects of living with cancer. Recently, however, increased interest has been focused on this topic. This manuscript reviews over 100 articles, papers, and books written between 1960 and 1980 on the psychosocial impact of cancer on the adult patient and on methods of psychosocial treatment providing a “state of the art” appraisal of the area. A methodological critique of the research studies is provided as well.
Information Retrieval Technology in Education
Authors: Gratch Bonnie G.
Published: May 2005

Microcomputer technology has had a tremendous effect on the way information and research in education can be retrieved. Since the early 1960's and the availability of online computer searching of the ERIC database, about thirty U.S.-produced databases specifically oriented to educators have become available. Microcomputer technology makes direct access possible to these databases by anyone with a microcomputer, modem, and printer. Such direct access means that educators who have not had the opportunity to use library computer search services may now conduct their own online, interactive searches of the vast body of published literature and other products of educational research and practice. This article identifies and describes many of the educational databases and the information retrieval companies that offer information search services for educators.
Sludge, Biosolids, and the Propaganda Model of Communication
Authors: Rampton Sheldon
Published: May 2005

The Water Environment Federation's elaborate effort to rename sewage sludge as “biosolids” is an example in practice of the “propaganda model” of communications, which sees its task as indoctrinating target audiences with ideas favorable to the interests of the communicators. The propaganda model assumes that members of the public are irrational and focuses therefore on symbolic and emotional aspects of communication. This approach to communicating arouses public resentment rather than trust. In place of a “propaganda model,” public officials should adopt a “democratic model,” which assumes that audiences are rational and intellectually capable of meaningful participation in decision-making.
The Ethics of Referral and Intervention with Non-Life Threatening Suicide Attempts by Overdose of Medication and Ingestion of Harmful Substances
Authors: Fitchette Barbara
Published: May 2005

Most suicide attempts by ingestion of substances (including medication overdoses, drinking household or industrial cleaning products, etc.) are not lethal. In fact, many are never reported and there is no medical intervention—the attempter may simply feel “bad” for a while and not seek medical help. In many instances, a minimal intervention may be useful (such as inducing vomiting), although a lethal or harmful outcome is unlikely. In Canada, all major cities have a Poison Information Centre to provide advice concerning cases of potential accidental or intentional poisoning. This article presents data from calls to a Poison Information Centre where callers requested information concerning the dangers and lethality, after they had ingested substances which they thought could be harmful in a possible suicide attempt. We compare information given and referrals made in the case of poisoning in which there was danger of harmful consequences with reactions to cases where the type and quantity of substance ingested was assessed as having no danger for potentially harming the person. In many instances, persons who do not need medical intervention are referred to an emergency room because the possible “overdose” was considered to be a suicide attempt. We discuss the views of key informants (medical personnel, medical/legal experts, front-line suicide prevention workers, a “chronic” suicide attempter) and conclude by discussing the possible benefits and harm from such referrals and, particularly, the ethical issues involved in referring for medical treatment an individual who does not need medical interventions and whose suicide attempt was not potentially harmful.
Population Health Care Practices: An Epidemiologic Study of the Immediate Effects of a Universal Health Insurance Plan
Authors: Munan Louis , Vobecky Josef , Kelly Anthea
Published: May 2005

In an analysis of self-perceived utilization of health services by a population, no major change in the use of such services has been noted in the period immediately following a universal health insurance plan as compared to the period immediately preceding its introduction. Among the variables analyzed are medical consultations, hospitalizations, and drug consumption. Plausible explanations lie in the consistency of health care habits, in population perceptions of the real availability of such services, in underreporting of events that depend upon memory, in a time overlap inherent in the study design, and also in the unwillingness or incapacity of a satiated or saturated health care system to respond to demands placed upon it. Data collected later in the history of the development of the health insurance plan might reveal greater differences than have here been reported under conditions where major financial barriers to health care access are absent.
Harm Reduction: An Emerging New Paradigm for Drug Education
Authors: Duncan David F. , Nicholson Thomas , Clifford Patrick , Hawkins Wesley , Petosa Rick
Published: May 2005

Harm reduction is a new paradigm now emerging in the field of drug education. This strategy recognizes that people always have and always will use drugs and, therefore, attempts to minimize the potential hazards associated with drug use rather than the use itself. The rationale for a harm reduction strategy is presented, followed by an example of the kind of needs assessment which may be needed for planning a harm reduction strategy.
A Field-Work Case in the Teaching of Clinical Psychiatry
Authors: Volkan Vamik D. , Hawkins David R.
Published: May 2005

This paper describes the teaching program developed at the University of Virginia in which observation and treatment of a hospitalized mental patient provide the focus for the learning experience of residents without previous training in psychiatry. The performance of each resident vis-à-vis a patient is reviewed by the group, which also engages in learning as a group through preceptorship and didactic techniques. The dynamics of the group itself are put to use in elucidating psychiatric principles. The case of a young schizophrenic with the delusion of “an influencing machine” is described to indicate the manner in which a patient under treatment may exemplify phenomena with which the learner must become acquainted, the meaning of which he is encouraged to weigh with increasing insight, so that he will be guided into good therapeutic practices.
Bottle Feeding and Ideology in Colonial Malaya: The Production of Change
Authors: Manderson Lenore
Published: May 2005

Considerable attention has been paid to the correlation between high infant morbidity and mortality rates and the increased incidence of bottle feeding. The shift from prolonged breast feeding to a mixed regime or the exclusive use of sweetened condensed milk or infant formula has been related to the promotional activities of milk companies, and typically has been presented as a relatively recent development in Third World countries. However, the marketing of tinned and powdered milk only partially explains the increased use of these products.

In colonial Malaya, condensed milk was marketed from the late 19th century. Infant formula was available from the turn of the century and was widely advertised, first in the English-language press and later also in the vernacular presses. At the same time, other social and cultural factors served to discourage breast feeding. There were changes in ideas regarding ideal body weight for both women and infants, and regarding infant care and diet; these ideas were presented in the mass media. In addition, maternal and child health clinics, established in the 1920s to reduce the high infant mortality rate, both propagated popular beliefs about infant weight and supplied milk and educated women to artificially feed their infants. Industry, the media, and health services all promoted, if not always intentionally, bottle feeding rather than breast feeding. Bottle feeding as an ideal, if not a reality, was thus well established before the intensive promotion of milk products by multinational corporations that followed the political independence of the colony.
“Voluntary” User Fees in Buenos Aires Hospitals: Innovation or Imposition?
Authors: Lloyd-Sherlock Peter , Novick Diego
Published: May 2005

Voluntary user fees in hospitals in Buenos Aires, which operate outside official controls, have not featured in other studies of health care in Argentina. After providing a historical overview of different hospital funding sources, the authors focus on the activity of cooperadoras—the organizations responsible for levying voluntary fees. Using detailed data from two case-study hospitals and more general financial sources, they assess the importance of these fees, identifying sharp variations between different hospitals, serious problems of under-reporting, and potential abuses. The authors also examine the means by which fees are levied and the degree of coercion involved. Voluntary fees are not a particularly successful funding strategy: the income they generate is variable; they are almost entirely unregulated; and they sometimes conflict with other, more legitimate funding sources. Most importantly, their voluntaristic aspect is largely notional: most patients are heavily pressured to make payments. The main motivation for continuing with voluntary fees is to avoid the political fallout that would probably result from introduction of a formal user fees policy.
Making Meaning of Life Events: Theory, Evidence, and Research Directions for an Alternative Model
Authors: O'Connor Mary-Frances
Published: May 2005

Utilizing cognition, emotion, and psychotherapy research, theoretical and empirical evidence on adjustment to negative life events is reviewed. Two models of adjustment to negative life events are developed: the return-to-baseline model and the meaning-making model. The return-to-baseline model utilizes time and the return to a pre-event level of negativity, while the meaning-making model uses cognitive restructuring, increasing positive emotion, increasing regulation of negative emotion, and decreasing autonomic arousal. Meaning-making is a bridge from the negative emotion caused by negative life events to positive emotion through cognitive restructuring. Throughout the article new directions in adjustment research are suggested and the implicit uses of the return-to-baseline model in current research are uncovered.
Play, Logic and Reality
Authors: Vandenberg Brian
Published: May 2005

“Child's play” is a phrase that is used to describe something that is easy or of little consequence. Little wonder that the topic of play has been a relatively neglected area of research. Recent efforts, however, have begun to examine the role of play in human adaptation, with promising results. However, this research still contains pejorative assumptions about play that are deeply rooted in our culture. The following article will provide a brief overview of several major lines of research that have been aimed at identifying the adaptive value of play. Problems and assumptions in this research will then be explored in order to more fully grasp the limitations of our current view of play. Finally, alternative perspectives will be offered that hopefully will provide new meanings and contexts for understanding play.
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross and the Tradition of the Private Sphere: An Analysis of Symbols
Authors: Klass Dennis
Published: May 2005

Assuming that Kubler-Ross' denial-to-acceptance schema has been adopted by the public on symbolic, not scientific terms, the paper analyzes the symbol “acceptance” and shows how that symbol is part of a strong American tradition of symbols of the private sphere. The paper shows that “acceptance” is created as a symbol to oppose the organized technology of modern medical systems; the paper shows that the tradition of the private sphere rose in the American Victorian period as a response to organized technology. The paper ends by questioning the rejection of technology as an adequate basis for a cultural death symbol. The first part of the paper is an analysis of Kubler-Ross' work and the second part is a sociology of knowledge of her work.
Development and Content of Socio-Technological Instructional Modules
Authors: Liao Thomas T.
Published: May 2005

This paper reports on an NSF-supported project to develop Socio-Technological Instructional Modules for use with college students. Each module or case study focuses on a particular national socio-technological problem of current and future importance.

The modules were field-tested with freshmen engineering students as well as nonengineering undergraduates and continuing education students in technology and society courses. To satisfy these audiences, each module consists of a Student Reading which provides basic background information for all students. The Instructors' Guide, besides providing suggestions for using support materials such as audio-visual materials and computer programs, contains engineering or technical extensions and sociological extensions.
Paracosms and the Development of Fantasy in Childhood
Authors: MacKeith Stephen A.
Published: May 2005

The paper studies the development of fantasy in “normal” children. It is concerned with content and structure, rather than process. The writers sought to delineate the development of various types of imaginary activity during three successive age-periods, viz. 3–6 years, 7–12 and 13–18. For this, they have drawn evidence from sources of three kinds. One uncommon sort of imaginative activity was selected for intensive study. This is the “paracosm,” i.e., the spontaneous, but maintained and elaborated “private world.” Sixty-four examples of this were collected, and were analysed with reference, in each case, to the circumstances and personality of the subject.
The World Health Report 2000: World Health Organization Health Policy Steering off Course—Changed Values, Poor Evidence, and Lack of Accountability
Authors: Ollila Eeva , Koivusalo Meri
Published: May 2005

The World Health Report 2000 on health systems has raised concerns about its political biases, its methods and indicators, and its lack of reliable data. Tracing the origins of the Report, this article argues that it counteracts many of the concerns that gave rise to preparation of the Report in the first place. The mutually agreed-upon value-base, expressed in the Health for All strategy, has been largely abandoned. The Report includes contradictory messages, and many of its recommendations are not evidence-based. Furthermore, the ranking of countries according to their health systems' performance is not useful for health-policy-making, even if the methods and data could be improved. Because the member states and governing bodies of the WHO were not consulted during the production of the Report, the WHO secretariat has not received a mandate to change the value-base of the WHO's health policy or the aims of the Report. The WHO should return to its mandate as a normative intergovernmental U.N. agency on health.
Drug Benefits in Health Insurance
Authors: Muller Charlotte
Published: May 2005

Benefits for drugs are becoming an integral component of health insurance plans in the United States, with 52.1 per cent of the population carrying some form of coverage for drugs by 1971. This paper describes the basic features of several plans currently being offered in the United States and Canada, and evaluates the various methods of administering them, including rationale for specifying benefits, and methods of reimbursement, cost-control, and distribution. Financing of drug costs through insurance should permit additional control of quality and utilization, although the correlation of drug use with total patient diagnosis and medical care for purposes of reviewing and improving utilization is impeded by the wide variation in compliance found among the population. Some mechanisms for controlling utilization include limiting quantities and refills, requiring copayments by the patient, prescribing generically, and influencing physicians to prescribe less frequently. Provisions for drug benefits in a recently proposed national health insurance scheme are briefly discussed.
Horticulture and the Maintenance of Social Complexity in Late Woodland Southeastern New England
Authors: Benison Chris
Published: May 2005

Macrobotanical data from several southeastern New England sites are reviewed to provide a framework for examining changing social organization during the Late Woodland (ca. a.d. 800–1600). This article argues that the degree to which incipient maize horticulture entailed shifts in social complexity has not been well-defined by researchers. Minimally, introduction of maize into traditional economies gave rise to comparatively more complex relationships between resident late prehistoric groups and local environmental regimes. A gradually increasing commitment to economic systems which included maize and other seed-bearing plants led to increased levels of complexity in labor organization and land-use practices. Changing perceptions of cultural “belongingness,” prompted by competition for lands suitable for cultivation, influenced how local groups conceived and expressed intra-and intergroup sociopolitical identities. Such shifts in perceptions of sociopolitical differences in late prehistory are traceable in ideological structures reflected in mortuary patterning represented in the regional archaeological record.
Effects of an Online Visual Procedure on Task Completion, Time, and Attitude
Authors: Bradshaw Amy C. , Johari Abbas
Published: May 2005

Although substantial literature exists regarding learning with visuals, most consider text the primary channel with varying amounts of visuals explored as a secondary channel. This study considered the effectiveness of visuals-only procedural guides versus visuals plus added text, using visuals as the primary channel and using visuals developed from screen shots to eliminate the need to create a visual, stand-in vocabulary. There was no difference in the level of successful task completion between treatment groups. The time required to complete the task was measured and there were significant differences in the amount of time required by treatment group, age, and sex. Both treatment groups responded favorably to the procedures on a follow-up attitude questionnaire. Implications of the study and suggestions for further research are discussed.
“How Will You be Remembered after You Die?” Gender Discrimination after Death Twenty Years Later
Authors: Moremen Robin D. , Cradduck Cathy
Published: May 2005

Obituaries in four major metropolitan newspapers (the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, the Miami Herald, and the New York Times) are examined for gender differences and compared to a study conducted over twenty years ago by Kastenbaum, Peyton, and Kastenbaum. Not unlike the original study, men receive significantly more obituaries than women in each of the four papers, their obituaries are longer (except for the Miami Herald), and they are accompanied by significantly more photographs (except for the Miami Herald). The greatest evidence of bias is found in the New York Times, where men receive 7.69 times (4.02 times in the original study) as many obituaries as women, even when controlling for more male deaths in New York City. Average ages at death suggest a possible cohort effect. Period effects, gender effects of obituary editors, and decision-making rules are discussed. The results are explained within the context of continued gender discrimination in the workplace and the home.
Late Onset Panic Disorder: Evidence from a Study of Patients with Chest Pain and Normal Cardiac Evaluations
Authors: Beitman Bernard D. , Kushner Matt , Grossberg George T.
Published: May 2005

In the context of administering psychiatric diagnostic interviews to cardiology patients with chest pain and no evidence of coronary artery disease, the authors found twenty-seven patients over the age of sixty-five, nine (33%) of whom fit panic disorder criteria. Their mean age of onset was sixty-two (SD = 23 years). Only two patients reported onset of panic disorder earlier than age sixty-two. All nine were widows while the comparison group of non-panic subjects over age sixty-five included only seven of eighteen (40%) who were widows. These findings suggest panic disorder may be prevalent in older patients with chest pain and no evidence of coronary artery disease and that panic disorder may begin later in life.
Economic Miracle for What?: State and Workers' Health in South Korea
Authors: Park Chan-Ung
Published: May 2005

This article is a study of the state's role in workers' health in South Korea during the period of the 1950s to 1980s in which South Korea achieved its economic success through a series of economic development plans. The state's role in the protection of workers' health will be examined by investigating the historical development of two main welfare state programs, workers' compensation and national health insurance, as the pillars of state policies on workers' health. In contrast to the state's direct intervention in economic development, I will argue, the key characteristics of both workers' compensation and national health insurance are the state's minimal organizational and financial costs and the relative autonomy of firm managers. Also, the state first restricted the scope of beneficiaries to the core group of manufacturing and mining workers and then gradually expanded it over a long period of time. I will argue that such features suggest a strong dependence on business by the Korean welfare state programs that contradicts the image of a strong state that the scholars of East Asian states often claim.
Experimental Techniques for Investigating the Contribution of Pictorial Balance to the Creation and Perception of Visual Displays
Authors: Locher Paul J.
Published: May 2005

This literature review describes a variety of experimental techniques that can be used to assess the contribution of compositional balance to the construction and perception of artworks and visual displays. Findings are presented which demonstrate the usefulness of these techniques for subjecting philosophical writings about balance and art composition to empirical scrutiny.
Young Adults' Knowledge of the Strength of Different Alcoholic Beverages
Authors: Martin Christopher S. , Liepman Michael R. , Nirenberg Ted D. , Young Christopher M.
Published: May 2005

Providing information about the strength of different alcoholic beverages is a common component of alcohol abuse prevention programs. However, little is known about drinkers' knowledge of the strength of different alcoholic beverages. In the present study, 113 young adult drinkers responded to a questionnaire concerning the alcohol content of different types of malt beverages (beers, malt liquors), wines, fortified wines (port, sherry), and distilled spirits. The results indicated rates of correct responses well below 50 percent for each type of alcoholic beverage, with a substantial proportion of subjects either overestimating or underestimating alcohol content. Not a single subject reported correct alcohol content values for all four beverage types. There was a trend towards less accurate estimates of the alcohol content of malt beverages compared to the other beverage types. Womens' estimates of strength were less accurate than those of men. The results are discussed in terms of prevention of alcohol abuse.
Attitudes Toward Suicide: Past, Present and Future
Authors: Stillion Judith M. , Stillion Bethany D.
Published: May 2005

This article maintains that it is important to understand how any given society views the act of suicide. It traces the forces that have shaped attitudes toward suicide in the Western world, documenting the change from viewing suicide as a sin to viewing it as a mental health problem. It also discusses recent methods of assessing attitudes toward suicide, including both normed and non-normed approaches. Finally, it calls for new types of research in the area of attitudes toward suicide that will permit finer-grained analyses of this most complex human behavior.
An Interactive Computer-Based Conferencing System to Accommodate Students' Learning Process
Authors: Saiedian Hossein
Published: May 2005

We describe an integrated computer-based conferencing and mailing system as a tool to encourage students to more actively participate in class discussions. The system is called ICMS (Integrated Conferencing and Mail System). It provides a bulletin board that serves as a communication medium for the students and the instructor. An analysis of why students do not actively engage in class discussions is given. We then proceed to explain how the ICMS system can successfully alleviate this problem. Furthermore, we discuss how the ICMS system can serve as a tool to improve a student's critical thinking and as a guide to self-evaluation. Other unintended but positive consequences of the ICMS system are described. We conclude that the ICMS system can play an effective role in students' learning process.
The Role of Affective Processes in Reading Time and Time Experience during Literary Reception
Authors: Láaszlóa Jáanos , Cupchik Gerald C.
Published: May 2005

The present study was aimed at the study of affective and emotional processes in reading action-oriented and experience-oriented literary narratives using reading time and time estimation measures. The study was designed to test hypotheses about the story types mentioned above and about the relation between the emotional appeal of each story-type and the time measures. Structural affects, which are predominant in action-oriented stories, accelerated reading; whereas empathy and identification with characters' emotions as well as the presence of the self-related emotions that are characteristic of experience-oriented stories slowed reading time. Action-oriented texts lead to a shorter duration of both reading time and episode time, whereas experience-oriented texts result in an expansion of time experience.
Social Class and Chronic Illness
Authors: Conover Patrick W.
Published: May 2005

This paper traces a three-stage history of theorization on the causal relationship between social class and chronic illness, focusing in particular on the contributions of Kadushin and Mechanic. Five areas of agreement between Kadushin and Mechanic are presented as a basis for further analysis: (1) the importance of data from the National Health Survey; (2) the necessity for controlling for age as an important variable; (3) the more severe measures of chronic diseases, as shown by criteria of activity limitation or work loss, are clearly class related, with the greatest magnitude of change between the lowest income category and the next highest category; (4) there are no data from other studies that can be counted as opposing the above evidence; (5) there is agreement that it is more likely that persons will accurately report more severe episodes of chronic illness than less severe episodes. Two central research questions are then addressed: What is the true shape of the relationship between socioeconomic status and chronic disease? What are the most reasonable of the possible causes of this relationship? Analysis of new material from the National Health Survey is presented in answer to these questions. The utility of these data for this purpose is defended. Certain relationships are noted: For whites and non-whites, with age adjusted or not adjusted, there is a strong relationship between income and measures of chronic disease. With a threefold division of the income category, the magnitude of the differences between income levels is large. These relationships hold over a wide range of specific chronic diseases. The conclusion is drawn that Kadushin's hypothesis of overreaction to illness by the lower classes is of little significance. More study is needed of the downwardly mobile effects of chronic illness. The effects of poor health and low socioeconomic status are presumed to be circular.
Genre Categorization and its Effect on Preference for Fiction Books
Authors: Piters Ronald A. M. P. , Stokmans Mia J. W.
Published: May 2005

In the domain of cultural products, sets of products categorized together on the basis of perceived similarities constitute a genre. When studying the process of genre categorization, any item can be viewed as the prototype of a genre plus a list of variations. The more an item resembles the prototype, the more this item is viewed as typical of the genre. The present study focuses on the extent to which the categorization of a fiction book cover by genre helps to single out the most preferred book. It is hypothesized that the typicality of a specific genre, identified by a book's front cover, affects the preference for that book. In an experimental setting, frequent and infrequent readers ( N = 32) were asked to judge the typicality and to state their preference for thirteen book covers from two different genres (literature and mystery). The results show that 77 percent of all covers were classified correctly as to genre. Furthermore, the more representative a book was for a particular genre, the greater the preference for the book.
Death Anxiety and Threat Appeals: Toward a Practical Application in the Context of Health Promotion
Authors: Henley N. , Donovan R. J.
Published: May 2005

Health promoters frequently use death threat appeals (e.g., “Quit smoking or you'll die”) to persuade people to adopt healthy behaviors. The practical application of this study was to determine whether any interaction exists between levels of death anxiety and the relative persuasiveness of death vs. non-death threat appeals. The possibility that people with high death anxiety would respond more to death threat appeals than to non-death threat appeals was not supported. People with high death anxiety responded similarly to both death and non-death threats. However, people with high death anxiety responded more than people with low death anxiety to both death and non-death threats, suggesting that death anxiety has a similar function to trait anxiety. The level of fear aroused by the appeals was also measured. Greater death anxiety was found to correlate with greater fear arousal and greater response. The strongest correlation was between fear arousal and response.
Successful Management of a Patient with Pseudomalabsorption of Levothyroxine
Authors: Kubota Sumihisa , Fukata Shuji , Matsuzuka Fumio , Kuma Kanji , Miyauchi Akira
Published: May 2005

Pseudomalabsorption of levothyroxine is a factitious disorder. Despite the administration of large doses of levothyroxine, patients with this disorder show hypothyroidism due to noncompliance. These patients are different from the patients with simple noncompliance in that they have a psychiatric disorder. Because their psychological identities are rooted in their being a “patient,” they go to great lengths to become and stay a patient. We report a case of pseudomalabsorption of levothyroxine. A 28-year-old woman was referred to us because she was believed to have unusual malabsorption of levothyroxine. We diagnosed the patient as having this factitious disorder, and as treatment, had her visit a hospital twice a week to take medicine under the observation of nurses so that she would not lose her status as a “patient.” Her serum free T4 level normalized during three years with twice weekly dosing of thyroxine after hospital discharge. Our approach could be a therapeutic choice for this intractable disorder. To our knowledge, this is the first report of successful management of a patient with pseudomalabsorption of levothyroxine.