bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Drillknicken einfach‐symmetrischer Stahlstützen mit erzwungener Drehachse
Authors: Gosowski Bronisław
Published: September 2008

Dargestellt wird die Lösung des elastischen räumlichen Stabili‐tätsproblems von einfach‐symmetrischen I‐Stahlstützen mit erzwungener Drehachse – gelegen in der Symmetrieebene des Querschnitts und parallel zur Stützenlängsachse. Dabei wurden einfeldrige Stützen mit elastischen Punktbindungen in Längsrichtung auf Verdrehung und auf Verwölbung hin untersucht. Die Punktbindungen wurden in den Berechnungsmodellen unter Anwendung der Distributionsrechnung erfasst. Die Druckkraft sowie das Biegemoment, das in der Symmetrieebene des Querschnitts wirkt, bilden die Stützenlast. Bei Stützen mit festem Biegemoment und beliebigen Lagerungsbedingungen an den Stützenenden wurde die Stabilität in geschlossener Form gelöst. Für die Lösungen von Stützen mit beliebigem Biegemoment und festgelegten Lagerungsbedingungen an den Stützenenden wurde das Bubnow‐Galerkin ‐Verfahren genutzt. Die Lösungen werden im vorliegenden Beitrag an Rechenbeispielen veranschaulicht, in denen die kritischen Lasten der elastischen Drillknickung bei erzwungener Drehachse für längsversteifte Stahlstützen ermittelt werden. Die Berechnungen wurden unter Anwendung selbst ausgearbeiteter EDV‐Programme durchgeführt.

Des weiteren werden im Beitrag die durchgeführten experimentellen Untersuchungen gebogener und gedrückter, quer‐ und längsversteifter I‐Stützen beschrieben, an denen die kritischen Lasten der elastischen räumlichen Knickung ermittelt wurden. Diese Untersuchungen stellen eine experimentelle Überprüfung der theoretischen, mittels approximativer Methode hergeleiteten Lösung dar. Der Beitrag wird mit allgemeinen Anmerkungen und praktischen Schlussfolgerungen abgeschlossen.
In vitro Starch Digestibility and Nutritionally Important Starch Fractions in Processed Roots and Tubers
Authors: Ahmed Faiyaz , Urooj Asna
Published: September 2008

In view of the nutritionally important starch fractions it has become essential to generate data on starch digestibility of commonly used foods. The present investigation was aimed at evaluating the effect of processing on the nutritionally important starch fractions and the extent of in vitro starch digestibility in six roots and tubers commonly consumed in the Indian cuisine, using controlled enzymatic digestion with pancreatin and amyloglucosidase. The samples were subjected to open‐pan and pressure cooking. Rapidly available glucose (RAG) was also measured to derive a starch digestion index (SDI), a measure of the relative rate of starch digestion. The total starch and amylose content in the raw samples ranged from 41% (w/w) to 80% (w/w) (dry basis) and 0.91 to 26.80% (w/w) (dry basis), respectively. Pressure cooking of roots and tubers significantly (p<0.05) decreased the amylose content. The levels of the individual starch fractions varied depending on the cooking method and were characteristic for each sample. Processing significantly influenced the various starch fractions in yam and knollkohl. The SDI of samples subjected to the two cooking methods was only different for beet root and radish. Radish and carrot contained the highest dietary fiber content. The simple in vitro measurement of starch fractions could serve as a tool for characterizing dietary carbohydrates with respect to their digestion in the intestine.
Novel Nanoporous Superabsorbent Hydrogel Based on Poly(acrylic acid) Grafted onto Salep: Synthesis and Swelling Behavior
Authors: Pourjavadi Ali , Soleyman Rouhollah , Barajee Ghasem Rezanejade
Published: September 2008

Hydrogels of poly(acrylic acid) grafted onto salep with excellent water absorption and water retention abilities under neutral conditions were successfully synthesized for the first time and employed for different applications. The effect of reaction variables to achieve maximum swelling capacity was investigated. In our procedure, ammonium persulfate (APS) as a water‐soluble initiator and methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) as a suitable crosslinking agent were used and the best synthesis conditions described. The structure of the final product was confirmed by Fourier‐transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy SEM and TGA analysis and a mechanism for superabsorbent hydrogel formation was also suggested. The study of the surface morphology of hydrogels using SEM showed a highly nanoporous and cellular structure for the sample obtained under optimized condition. Furthermore, several factors which influence the water uptake of hydrogels, such as pH of water, sensitivity to salt solutions and solvent mixtures were examined.
Influence of Lipids Isolated from Soybean Seed on Different Properties of Cassava Starch
Authors: Radhika Gopinathan S. , Shanavas Salim , Moorthy Subramoney N.
Published: September 2008

The effect of lipids isolated from soybean seeds on the properties of cassava starch was investigated. Both polar and non‐polar lipid fractions were complexed with starch and the physicochemical and rheological properties were examined. The FTIR spectra of the complexed starches showed all the absorption bands characteristic of native starch with an extra minor peak at 2355 cm‐1.The complexes prepared using the polar lipid fraction in diethyl ether as solvent exhibited a swelling volume of 32.5 mL/g compared to 36.9 mL/g for petroleum ether as solvent. A similar effect was observed with the non‐polar fraction. The apparent amylose content of the complexes was found to be lowered as a result of complexation. Total and soluble amylose contents and water‐binding capacity of the complexes were higher while their enzyme digestibility was noticeably lowered. The peak viscosity of the complexes was suppressed as a result of complexation. The polar layer exhibited a greater influence on the viscometric properties of the complexes with a higher breakdown ratio and hence higher stability. When compared to native starch, the percentage light transmittance of the complexes was noticeably reduced. The results indicate a considerable influence of the isolated lipid fractions on starch properties which can be useful in food and industrial applications.
Using memes and memetic processes to explain social and conceptual influences on student understanding about complex socio‐scientific issues
Authors: Yoon Susan
Published: August 2008

This study investigated seventh grade learners' decision making about genetic engineering concepts and applications. A social network analyses supported by technology tracked changes in student understanding with a focus on social and conceptual influences. Results indicated that several social and conceptual mechanisms potentially affected how and why ideas were taken up in the learning system of the classroom. Mechanisms included copying or memetic processes such as “do as the smart students do” and friendship selection. Study outcomes are compared with the broader literature on memes and memetic processes to reveal general evolutionary ideas such as the development of prestige, identity versus problem‐solving strategies, extended phenotypes, and memeplexes. Educational implications for this research are also addressed. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 900–921, 2008
Assessing the toxicity of TBBPA and HBCD by zebrafish embryo toxicity assay and biomarker analysis
Authors: Hu Jun , Liang Yong , Chen Minjie , Wang Xiaorong
Published: September 2008

Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) are two of the most widely used brominated flame retardants (BFRs). The biological toxicity effect of TBBPA and HBCD was studied by means of zebrafish embryo toxicity assays in combination with three biomarkers, including superoxide dismutase (SOD), lipid peroxidation, (LPO), and heat shock protein (Hsp70). The standard zebrafish embryo assay showed that high concentrations of TBBPA (≥0.75 mg/L) can cause lethality or malformation. For HBCD within the concentration range (0.002–10 mg/L), no endpoint was observed. Furthermore, SOD activities of zebrafish embryos exposed to TBBPA were increased with the increasing concentrations. SOD activities in the group treated by HBCD showed an increase followed by a decline. Regardless of TBBPA or HBCD, LPO were increased along with the increase of the concentration. The change pattern of Hsp70 levels was the same with LPO. All these results showed that TBBPA and HBCD could cause oxidative stress and Hsp70 overexpression, inducing acute toxicity to zebrafish embryo in a short‐term exposure. The study also indicates that the zebrafish embryo assay in combination with the biomarkers is effective in aquatic environmental toxicology and risk assessment. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol, 2009.
Endoscopic Parathyroidectomy: Why and When?
Authors: Henry Jean‐François , Sebag Frédéric , Cherenko Mariya , Ippolito Giuseppe , Taieb David , Vaillant Josiane
Published: August 2008

Background

In recent years, several new minimally invasive techniques for parathyroidectomy (MIP) have been developed. There was a rapid worldwide acceptance of mini‐open procedures by most surgeons. However, the use of an endoscope remains debatable. This study was designed to determine the role of preoperative imaging studies in the decision‐making for using an endoscope during MIP.

Methods

All patients with sporadic primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) and candidate for MIP underwent localizing studies. MIP was proposed only for patients in whom a single adenoma was localized by both ultrasonography and sestamibi scanning. Three locations were described: (1) posterior to the two superior thirds of the thyroid lobe; (2) at the level of or below the inferior pole of the thyroid lobe but in a plane posterior to it; (3) at the level of or below the tip of the inferior pole of the thyroid lobe but in a superficial plane. In locations 1 and 2, the nerve was considered to be at risk and an endoscopic lateral approach was indicated. In location 3, a mini‐open approach was indicated.

Results

Of the 165 patients operated on for PHPT in 2006, 86 underwent MIP. According to the results of imaging studies, 39 patients presented an adenoma in location 1, 21 in location 2, and 26 in location 3. In locations 1 and 2, 59 patients (1 false‐positive) had an adenoma that was located posteriorly, in close proximity to the nerve; all were cured. In location 3, 25 patients (1 false‐positive) presented an inferior parathyroid adenoma superficially located; all were cured. There was no transient or permanent laryngeal nerve palsy.

Conclusions

In patients who are candidates for MIP, we recommend the use of the endoscope for the resection of parathyroid adenomas that are located deeply in the neck.
Enzymes used in molecular biology: a useful guide
Authors: Rittié Laure , Perbal Bernard
Published: September 2008

Since molecular cloning has become routine laboratory technique, manufacturers offer countless sources of enzymes to generate and manipulate nucleic acids. Thus, selecting the appropriate enzyme for a specific task may seem difficult to the novice. This review aims at providing the readers with some cues for understanding the function and specificities of the different sources of polymerases, ligases, nucleases, phosphatases, methylases, and topoisomerases used for molecular cloning. We provide a description of the most commonly used enzymes of each group, and explain their properties and mechanism of action. By pointing out key requirements for each enzymatic activity and clarifying their limitations, we aim at guiding the reader in selecting appropriate enzymatic source and optimal experimental conditions for molecular cloning experiments.
Maternal heart disease and pregnancy outcome: A single‐centre experience
Authors: Stangl Verena , Schad Johanna , Gossing Gabriele , Borges Adrian , Baumann Gert , Stangl Karl
Published: August 2008

Background:

Maternal and neonatal complication rates are increased in pregnant women with heart disease. Cardiac risk assessment may be improved by defining low and high‐risk groups.

Aims:

To analyze pregnancy risks in low and high‐risk women with cardiovascular diseases.

Methods and results:

Pregnancy outcomes were analyzed in 93 consecutive women with heart disease, monitored in a single‐centre cohort between 1996 and 2006. Women were classified according to pre‐defined risk predictors as high‐risk (left ventricular [LV] ejection fraction <50%, NYHA class>II or cyanosis, peak LV outflow gradient >60 mmHg) or low‐risk (not meeting these criteria). Mean age was 28.1±5.7 years. 81.7% presented with congenital, 10.8% with acquired heart disease, and 7.5% with myocardial diseases. Severe maternal complications developed in 12.9% of all women: 6.5% heart failure, 3.2% arrhythmias, and 2.2% thrombotic complications. Maternal mortality was 1.1%. Women at high‐risk (24.7%) had a 6.1‐fold higher maternal complication rate and a 6.1 times higher foetal/neonatal event rate (abortion and stillbirth). 64.7% of the high‐risk women delivered prematurely, before the 37th week, compared to 16.4% in the low‐risk group.

Conclusions:

Despite pronounced clinical variability of congenital and acquired heart diseases, a small number of risk conditions can effectively characterize women in whom pregnancy is associated with appreciably increased maternal and foetal risk.
Multiple Options: The World of the Fifteenth-Century Church
Authors: Van Engen John
Published: August 2008

Any historical period called “late” is headed for interpretive trouble, and one called “late medieval” is probably doomed. Periodization is an artifice, as we know, yet also an art. Historians have entirely reconceived “late antiquity” over the past generation, transforming Roman decadence into an imperial and Christian culture three centuries long embracing the whole Mediterranean world, creative in its culture and foundational for societies that followed. But what of “late medieval”? In most textbooks the term comes paired still with “decline.” Humanists and Reformers first created the artifice of a “middle time,” a dismissive gesture toward the thousand years that separated them from the golden ages of antiquity and/or the early church. Nineteenth-century scientific historians introduced art into this artifice by dividing that amorphous millennium into semi-coherent sub-periods: “early” (400–1000), “high” (1000–1300), and a rump called “late” (1300–1500). Church history entered importantly into the characterizations, with the “late” period traditionally told as a series of catastrophes beginning with destructive confrontations between Pope Boniface VIII (d. 1303) and King Philip the Fair. The storyline for the two centuries that followed, whether treated as deepening darkness (traditional) or as an overripe autumn (Huizinga), depended on what came before and after. Early in the twentieth century, church historians introduced ecumenical and even ironic reversals: Catholic scholars, looking to their own reforms, conceded late medieval deviance and the need sometimes for reform; Protestant scholars, looking to a reform born of strength rather than decline, found a late Middle Ages full of flourishing religiosity and even modernizing initiatives. Others, skeptical of the Reformation as marking any decisive turn toward modernity (vs. Hegel), delighted in finding all manner of cults, relics, prophecies, and zealots still among these new Protestants. Oberman and McGinn by contrast have reconceived the fields of theology and mysticism, Huizinga's autumnal evanescence becoming a golden harvest. All the same—and this only a bit overstated—many Reformation histories still essentially start the world anew in the 1520s, now speaking German, and too many medieval histories still close their story with fourteenth-century “decline,” an apocalyptic onslaught of plague, revolt, schism, and war.
Interpreting the Dutch Great Awakening (1749–1755)
Authors: van Lieburg Fred
Published: August 2008

In 1754, the Scottish minister John Gillies (1712–1796) published a collection of historical accounts concerning “remarkable periods of the success of the Gospel.” Its composer was a spider in a web of correspondents in Europe and North America who believed they were living in an extraordinary time of revival in Christianity. Collective conversions and signs of repentance and faith were reported from all parts of the world and placed in a large eschatological perspective. After the Protestant Reformation—the climax of church history since the New Testament—a great decline had set in comparable to the Middle Ages. The “Great Awakening” seemed to recapture the spirit of the first Pentecost and offered prospects for a further extension of God's Kingdom. By means of missionary work among the heathen peoples, the Gospel would reach the ends of earth. Finally, after the collective conversion of the Jews and a millennium of peace, the time would come for the Lord of the Church to appear on the clouds of heaven to gather the harvest of all times.
“Though Their Skin Remains Brown, I Hope Their Souls Will Soon Be White”: Slavery, French Missionaries, and the Roman Catholic Priesthood in the American South, 1789–1865
Authors: Pasquier Michael
Published: August 2008

On August 21, 1861, Bishop Auguste Marie Martin of Natchitoches, Louisiana, issued a pastoral letter “on the occasion of the War of Southern Independence.” In it, Martin argued that slavery was “the manifest will of God.” It was the will of God for Catholics to continue “snatching from the barbarity of their ferocious customs thousands of children of the race of Canaan,” the cursed progeny of Noah. It was also the obligation of Catholics to repudiate abolitionists for “upset[ting] the will of Providence” and misusing “His merciful plans for unrighteous actions.” Father Napoleon Joseph Perché, coadjutor of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, submitted his approval of Martin's pastoral statement by printing it in the Catholic newspaper Le Propagateur Catholique. Three years later, the Roman Congregation of the Index issued a statement condemning the opinions espoused by Martin and approved by the French ecclesiastical leadership of New Orleans. The Index was Pope Pius IX's organization in charge of censoring ideas deemed unacceptable to Catholic doctrine. The Index argued against Martin's proposition “that there exists a natural difference between negroes and whites,” and that God sanctioned slavery as a means of redeeming Africans.
The Secular Beyond: Free Religious Dissent and Debates over the Afterlife in Nineteenth-Century Germany
Authors: Weir Todd
Published: August 2008

Toward the end of the first third of the nineteenth century, German writers began to favor a new metaphor for the afterlife: “das Jenseits” (“the Beyond”). At first glance, the emergence of such a term may appear to have little bearing on our understanding of the history of religious thought. However, as the late historian Reinhart Koselleck maintained, the study of semantic changes can betray tectonic shifts in the matrix of ideas that underpin the worlds of politics, learning, and religion. Drawing on Koselleck's method of conceptual history, the following essay takes the popularization of “the Beyond” as a point of departure for investigating secularization and secularism as two linked, yet distinct, sources of pressure on the fault lines of nineteenth-century German religious thought.
The anatomy and systematic position of the theropod dinosaurChilantaisaurus tashuikouensisHu, 1964 from the Early Cretaceous of Alanshan, People's Republic of China
Authors: BENSON ROGER B. J. , XING XU
Published: August 2008

There is little consensus on the systematic position of the colossal theropod dinosaurChilantaisaurus tashuikouensisfrom the Cretaceous (Aptian–?Albian or Upper Cretaceous) Ulansuhai Formation of Inner Mongolia, which has been recovered as a derived member of both Allosauroidea and Spinosauroidea by numerical phylogenetic analyses. Redescription of the type material ofC. tashuikouensisreveals an unusual combination of morphological features that render determination of its systematic position problematic. It possesses anatomical features that have been proposed as synapomorphies of Neotetanurae: a preacetabular fossa on the ilium, and a wedge-shaped cross-section of the shaft of the third metatarsal. It also shares some features with specific allosauroid taxa: a pronounced ulnar epicondyle on the humerus, and a prominent medial shelf bounding the preacetabular fossa on the ilium (also present in tyrannosauroids). However, it lacks some features that are present in all other allosauroids: a marked depression on the anterior surface of the distal humerus adjacent to the ulnar condyle, and a humerus that is less than 0.4 times the length of the femur; it furthermore possesses a tibial astragalar facet that is approximately 10% of the tibial length, which suggests a more basal position within Tetanurae.Chilantaisaurusshares certain features with some spinosauroids: an enlarged and elongated first manual ungual, and a suprastragalar buttress that has been modified to a vertical ridge, but these characters are not unique to spinosauroids. A highly reduced fourth trochanter may be an autapomorphy ofChilantaisaurus, as has previously been suggested, or unite the taxon with Coelurosauria in an entirely novel grouping. On the basis of these observations it is likely thatChilantaisaurusis a neotetanuran, but unlikely that it is an allosauroid.Chilantaisaurusmay belong to an alternative lineage of very large theropods that continued into the Cretaceous from the diversification of basal neotetanurans during the Middle Jurassic.
In vitro study investigating post neck surgery haematoma airway obstruction
Authors: Carr E R M , Benjamin E
Published: September 2008

Objectives:

To investigate whether the possible pressure produced by a haematoma in the neck would be sufficient to directly compress the trachea to the point of airway obstruction.

Study design:

In vitro study.

Methods:

Varying pressures were applied over the second and third cartilaginous rings of 10 pig tracheas in vitro and the anterior–posterior compression was measured.

Results:

At pressures of 257 mmHg, equivalent to the maximum possible pressure in the neck (i.e. systolic blood pressure), there was an average compression of 20.8 per cent of the original anterior–posterior tracheal diameter.

Conclusions:

This study suggests that the pressures in haematomas observed after neck surgery would not be sufficient to cause airway obstruction due to direct pressure on the trachea. Therefore, the most likely cause of airway obstruction would be supraglottic oedema secondary to venous obstruction.
Allergic fungal sinusitis with extensive bone erosion of the clivus presenting with diplopia
Authors: Reitzen S D , Lebowitz R A , Jacobs J B
Published: September 2008

Objective:

We report a case of allergic fungal sinusitis causing bone erosion and diplopia.

Case report:

A 43-year-old man presented with a four-month history of increased nasal congestion and progressive diplopia. Clinical examination revealed bilateral nasal polyposis and a right lateral gaze deficit, consistent with a VIth cranial nerve palsy. Computed tomography of the paranasal sinuses demonstrated a large sellar mass with extensive bony erosion and both supra- and infra-sellar extension. An endoscopic approach to the sphenoid sinus, clivus and posterior cranial fossa with image guidance was performed, enabling surgical treatment involving nasal polypectomy, wide marsupialisation of the sphenoid sinus and removal of the extensive allergic fungal mucin. The patient awoke from anaesthesia with complete resolution of his diplopia.

Conclusion:

Otolaryngologists should be aware that approximately 20 per cent of patients with allergic fungal sinusitis demonstrate paranasal sinus expansion and bone erosion involving surrounding anatomical structures. Such patients may have clinical findings involving the orbit and cranial vault.
Retrospective study of 116 patients with non-organic voice disorders: efficacy of mental imagery and laryngeal shaking
Authors: Voerman M S , Langeveld A P M , van Rossum M A
Published: September 2008

Objective:

To report the short- and long-term results of two techniques (mental imagery and manual shaking of the larynx) in patients with non-organic dysphonia or aphonia.

Design:

Retrospective review of patient records, plus follow-up survey (questionnaire).

Setting:

Academic teaching hospital.

Patients:

One hundred and sixteen patients with moderate to severe non-organic dysphonia or aphonia.

Outcome:

Cure (i.e. normal voice) and improved voice quality, judged by clinicians and patients.

Results:

One hundred (86 per cent) of the 116 patients were cured. Ninety-four (81 per cent) patients regained their normal voice within one therapy session. The follow-up survey revealed that 43 of the 87 (49 per cent) patients who responded had not had a relapse since therapy ended. Of those patients suffering relapse, 15 successfully applied mental imagery in order to retrieve their voice, compared with three patients who applied shaking of the larynx.

Conclusion:

Mental imagery, combined if necessary with manual therapy, is an effective therapeutic technique in patients with non-organic voice disorders.
A cluster randomized controlled trial of cognitive behaviour therapy for common mental disorders in patients with advanced cancer
Authors: Moorey S. , Cort E. , Kapari M. , Monroe B. , Hansford P. , Mannix K. , Henderson M. , Fisher L. , Hotopf M.
Published: September 2008

Background

Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) has been shown to reduce psychological morbidity in people with cancer, but no randomized controlled trial (RCT) exists in palliative care. We aimed to determine whether home care nurses could be taught to deliver basic cognitive behavioural techniques and so reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Method

Clinical nurse specialists (CNSs) at St Christopher's Hospice were randomly allocated to receive training in CBT or continue their usual practice. At the end of the trial, nurses were rated on the Cognitive Therapy First Aid Rating Scale (CTFARS) for CBT competence. Home care patients who scored as possible cases on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) entered the trial. Participants received home care nursing visits. Assessments were carried out at baseline, 6, 10 and 16 weeks.

Results

Eight nurses received CBT training and seven continued practice as usual. The mean CTFARS scores were 35.9 for the CBT nurses and 19.0 for the controls (p=0.02). A total of 328 patients (54%) were possible cases and 80 entered the trial; most of those excluded were too ill to participate. There was an interaction between group and time: individuals receiving CBT had lower anxiety scores over time [coefficient −0.20, 95% confidence interval (CI) −0.35 to −0.05, p=0.01]. No effect of the training was found for depression.

Conclusions

It is possible to conduct a randomized trial of psychological interventions in palliative care but there is considerable attrition from physical morbidity and mortality. Nurses can learn to integrate basic CBT methods into their clinical practice. This training may be associated with better outcomes for symptoms of anxiety.
Delaying dispreferred responses in English: From a Japanese perspective
Authors: TANAKA HIROKO
Published: August 2008

This article employs conversation analysis to explore the interpenetration of grammar and preference organization in English conversation in comparison with a previous study for Japanese. Whereas varying the word order of major syntactic elements is a vital grammatical resource in Japanese for accomplishing the potentially universal task of delaying dispreferred responses to a range of first actions, it is found to have limited utility in English. A search for alternative operations and devices that conversationalists deploy for this objective in English points to several grammatical constructions that can be tailored to maximize the delay of dispreferred responses. These include the fronting of relatively mobile, syntactically “non-obligatory” elements of clause structure and the employment of various copular constructions. A close interdependence is observed between the rudimentary grammatical resources available in the two languages and the types of operations that are respectively enlisted for the implementation of the organization of preference.
The poetics of stance: Text-metricality, epistemicity, interaction
Authors: LEMPERT MICHAEL
Published: August 2008

This article examines the text-metrical (“poetic”) organization of epistemic stance-taking in discourse, focusing on epistemic stance in a form of argumentation, Tibetan Buddhist ‘debate’ (rtsod pa) at Sera Monastery in India. Emergent text-metrical structures in discourse are shown to reflexively map utterance-level propositional stance into larger-scale, fractionally congruent models of interactional stance. In charting the movement from epistemic stance to interactional stance by way of poetic structure, the article argues for and clarifies the place of poetics in the study of stance.
Coherent discourse solves the pronoun interpretation problem
Authors: SPENADER JENNIFER , SMITS ERIK-JAN , HENDRIKS PETRA
Published: September 2008

Many comprehension studies have shown that children as late as age 6 ; 6 misinterpret object pronouns as co-referring with the referential subject about half the time. A recent review of earlier experiments testing children's interpretation of object pronouns in sentences with quantified subjects (Elbourne, 2005) also suggests that there is a ‘Pronoun Interpretation Problem’. In contrast, two experiments addressing English children's pronoun production (Bloom, Barss, Nicol & Conway, 1994; de Villiers, Cahillane & Altreuter, 2006) show almost perfect usage. The aim of this study is to verify this asymmetry between pronoun production and pronoun comprehension for Dutch, and to investigate the effects of coherent discourse and topicality on pronoun production and comprehension. Employing a truth-value judgment task and an elicited production task, this study indeed finds such an asymmetry in 83 Dutch children (age range 4 ; 5–6 ; 6). When object pronouns were clearly established as the topic of the target sentence, the Pronoun Interpretation Problem dissolved entirely. These results are compatible with the asymmetrical grammar hypothesis of Hendriks & Spenader (2005/2006) and suggest, contrary to many previous claims, that children are highly proficient at using pragmatic clues in interpretation.
Explaining the Contemporary Alignment of Race and Party: Evidence from California's 1946 Ballot Initiative on Fair Employment
Authors: Chen Anthony S. , Mickey Robert W. , Van Houweling Robert P.
Published: September 2008

Why do most African Americans and other racial liberals vote Democratic, whereas most racial conservatives—largely whites—vote Republican? To what extent is this alignment of race and party attributable to the strategic choice of GOP elites to take the party in a racially conservative direction during the mid-1960s? This paper exploits a little-known ballot initiative in postwar California to shed light on the question. Proposition 11, as it was known, would have outlawed discrimination in employment if it had passed. Instead, it failed by more than a two-to-one margin. Drawing on archival and statistical evidence, including the ecological analysis of precinct-level election returns, we find that Republican voters were much more likely than Democratic voters to oppose Proposition 11, despite Republican Governor Earl Warren's well-known support for fair employment practices (FEP) legislation. We conclude that many Republican voters tended strongly toward racial conservatism well before Republican elites decided to pursue racially conservative policies in the mid-1960s. We suggest that the emergence of the contemporary alignment of race and party may have been less contingent on elite strategy and more structurally determined than the conventional wisdom allows.
Synaptic vesicle dynamics in mouse rod bipolar cells
Authors: WAN QUN-FANG , VILA ALEJANDRO , ZHOU ZHEN-YU , HEIDELBERGER RUTH
Published: September 2008

To better understand synaptic signaling at the mammalian rod bipolar cell terminal and pave the way for applying genetic approaches to the study of visual information processing in the mammalian retina, synaptic vesicle dynamics and intraterminal calcium were monitored in terminals of acutely isolated mouse rod bipolar cells and the number of ribbon-style active zones quantified. We identified a releasable pool, corresponding to a maximum of ≈35 vesicles/ribbon-style active zone. Following depletion, this pool was refilled with a time constant of ≈7 s. The presence of a smaller, rapidly releasing pool and a small, fast component of refilling was also suggested. Following calcium channel closure, membrane surface area was restored to baseline with a time constant that ranged from 2 to 21 s depending on the magnitude of the preceding Ca2+ transient. In addition, a brief, calcium-dependent delay often preceded the start of onset of membrane recovery. Thus, several aspects of synaptic vesicle dynamics appear to be conserved between rod-dominant bipolar cells of fish and mammalian rod bipolar cells. A major difference is that the number of vesicles available for release is significantly smaller in the mouse rod bipolar cell, both as a function of the total number per neuron and on a per active zone basis.
INTRODUCTION TO MACROECONOMIC DYNAMICS SPECIAL ISSUE: INEQUALITY
Authors: Townsend Robert M.
Published: August 2008

This special issue features inequality. This is a subject that rightly draws immediate attention from both the profession and the popular press. The numbers themselves are intrinsically interesting, if not disturbing. There is, on the one hand, great variety in the distribution of earnings and an enormously right-skewed distribution of wealth. On the other hand, there is absolute and relative poverty. In developing countries there are extremes coexisting on both ends of the distribution. But developing economies also feature growth with time-varying levels of inequality. Macroeconomic growth, stability, and social policies seem correlated with poverty reduction in some instances.
Dosimetric changes induced by positional uncertainty of cutout in electron radiotherapy
Authors: Chow James C.L. , Grigorov Grigor N. , Ross Kathryn
Published: August 2008

Dosimetric changes caused by the positional uncertainty of centring a small electron cutout to the machine central beam axis (CAX) of the linear accelerator (linac) were investigated. First, six circular cutouts with 4 cm diameter were made with their centres shifted off from the machine CAX for 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 mm using the 6 × 6 cm2 applicator. Then, the percentage depth doses (PDDs) at the machine CAX and cutout centre were measured using the 4, 9 and 16 MeV clinical electron beams produced by a Varian 21 EX linac. The cross- and in-line axis beam profiles were measured at depth of maximum dose (dm) and source-to-surface distance equal to 100 cm using a scanning water tank system and diode detector. When the cutout centre was shifted away from machine CAX for the electron beam with low energy of 4 MeV, the dm, depths of the 80 (R80) and 90% (R90) depth dose at the machine CAX had no significant change (<0.1 mm). For higher energies of 9 and 16 MeV beams, the dm were reduced with 0.45 and 1.63 mm per mm off-axis shift between the cutout centre and the machine CAX, respectively. The R80 and R90 were reduced with 0.7 mm per mm off-axis shift for both energies. When there was a 4 mm off-axis shift, the relative output factors for the 4, 9 and 16 MeV beams were reduced with 0.8, 1.6 and 0.5%, respectively. The isodose coverage of the in-line axis beam profile was reduced when the cutout centre was shifted away from machine CAX. It is important for radiation oncologists, dosimetrists, therapists and physicists to note such dosimetric changes in the electron radiotherapy to the patient, because such positional uncertainty is unavoidable in fabricating an electron cutout in the mould room.
A randomized crossover study evaluating two immobilization devices for prostate cancer treatment
Authors: Sexton T. , Rodrigues G. , Bauman G. , Harriman-Duke J. , Kron T. , Yartsev S.
Published: August 2008

Purpose: To compare the Combifix® immobilization device with a conventional double-leg cushion in terms of patient comfort, therapist feedback and systematic/random error outcomes.

Materials and Methods: This prospective block-randomised crossover study enrolled 18 high-risk prostate cancer patients who received whole pelvic plus prostate radiotherapy. Treatment consisted of a prostate boost with one immobilization device followed by whole pelvic radiation using the other device. Our primary endpoints were device ease-of-use and patient comfort. Secondary endpoints included treatment time and systematic/random error assessments.

Results: While our patients found both devices equally comfortable and easy to use, the therapists preferred the leg cushion for ease of set-up (p = 0.04). Patient treatment time was similar for the two devices. In terms of electronic portal imaging (EPID)-based isocentre shifts, statistically, but not clinically, significant differences in systematic and random errors between the two devices exist in the superior–inferior directions (p ≤ 0.05).

Conclusions: No clinically important advantage was seen with the Combifix® device versus our standard double-leg cushion in terms of patient/therapist preference, patient comfort, and bony pelvic immobilization. However, this research project confirmed the feasibility of mounting a small single-institution randomised crossover technology assessment related to a practical radiotherapy issue.
Porcine circoviruses: a minuscule yet mammoth paradox
Authors: Ramamoorthy Sheela , Meng Xiang-Jin
Published: September 2008

Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) is the primary causative agent for porcine circovirus-associated disease (PCVAD). PCVAD has been the cause of considerable economic losses to the pork industry worldwide. The disease is primarily characterized by wasting, enlarged lymph nodes, jaundice and weight loss in affected weanling pigs. Several other complex syndromes involving reproductive failure, enteritis, pneumonia and necrotizing dermatitis have also been associated with PCV2 infection. Lymphoid depletion, which is the hallmark lesion of PCVAD, predisposes the host to immunosuppression. Disease progression is further complicated by co-infections with other bacterial and viral pathogens. Despite the availability of effective vaccines for the last 2 years, newly emerging strains of the virus have been reported to cause more severe outbreaks in parts of the USA and Canada. While knowledge of the biology and pathogenesis of PCV2 has progressed considerably over the last 12 years since the disease was recognized, many questions still remain to be answered.
Decriminalising Queer Sexualities in India: A Multiple Streams Analysis
Authors: Sharma Alankaar
Published: September 2008

Against a historical and contemporary backdrop of queer sexualities in India, this paper discusses certain approaches towards agenda setting using the Multiple Streams policy framework (Kingdon, 1984; Zahariadis, 1999) to change Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code that criminalises non-normative sexual activities. The paper attempts to map the path of legal challenge to Section 377 and focus on the process of agenda setting as a crucial step in the campaign towards social policy change. It then examines some of the current trends and developments that, if used efficaciously through agenda setting, may result in a unique policy window opportunity.
Reform of the tax on reversions of excess pension assets
Authors: PANG GAOBO , WARSHAWSKY MARK
Published: September 2008

This study quantifies the possible consequences to stakeholders of reforms to the excise tax on reversions of excess pension assets. Under the US Pension Protection Act (PPA) of 2006, funding in defined benefit (DB) plans is likely to improve significantly. Many plans may become overfunded over time, owing to the shortfall amortizations mandated by the PPA, as well as to precautionary contributions by sponsors and to plan investment returns. This analysis shows that a more moderate excise tax rate together with a reasonable funding threshold for asset reversions would not only enable sponsors to spend the excess funds on other corporate needs, thereby lowering the cost of sponsorship of DB plans, but also would open a considerable revenue source for the government, with only a small increase in bankruptcy cost for the PBGC. Plan participants could also gain in an alternative reform, which would require a partial transfer of excess assets to them along with a still-lower reversion tax rate. These findings also hold for plan sponsors with various degrees of risk tolerance or only making the PPA-required minimum contributions.
Footnotes aren't enough: the impact of pension accounting on stock values
Authors: CORONADO JULIA , MITCHELL OLIVIA S. , SHARPE STEVEN A. , BLAKE NESBITT S.
Published: September 2008

Recent research has suggested that companies with defined benefit (DB) pensions are sometimes significantly misvalued by the market. This is because the measures of pension cost and pension net liabilities embedded in financial statements can provide a very misleading picture of pension finances, if taken at face value. The more pertinent information on pension finances is relegated to footnotes, which may not receive much attention from portfolio managers. Dramatic swings in the financial conditions of large DB plans around the turn of the decade focused attention on pension accounting practices, and growing dissatisfaction with current accounting standards has prompted the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) to launch a project revamping DB pension accounting. Arguably, the increased attention should have made investors wise to the informational problems, thereby eliminating systematic mispricing in recent years. We test this proposition and conclude that investors continued to misvalue DB pensions, inducing sizable valuation errors in the stock of many companies. Our findings suggest that FASB's current reform efforts could substantially aid the market's ability to value firms with DB pensions.
Gender, Candidate Portrayals and Election Campaigns: A Comparative Perspective
Authors: Kittilson Miki Caul , Fridkin Kim
Published: September 2008

In the United States, research suggests that men and women candidates are covered differently by the press. However, few studies compare press coverage of candidates cross-nationally. Systematic comparison of newspaper coverage of male and female candidates during election campaigns in Australia, Canada, and the United States may help illuminate the conditions that exacerbate or dampen gender differences in candidate portrayals. Given the sharp focus on candidates in American campaigns and the relatively lower percentage of women in the Congress, we expect to find the greatest disparities in men's and women's press coverage in the United States. Our findings suggest that across these three democracies, candidates are often portrayed in terms of long-standing gender stereotypes. These gender differences have important implications for voters' perceptions of candidates and may shape widely shared attitudes toward women's role in the political arena.
Framing Condi(licious): Condoleezza Rice and the Storyline of “Closeness” in U.S. National Community Formation
Authors: Alexander-Floyd Nikol G.
Published: September 2008

Using an interdisciplinary integration of insights from Black studies, the study of women and gender in politics, and narrative analysis, I examine the politics of representation animating the political career of Condoleezza Rice. I analyze variants of the dominant storyline of “closeness” that frame discussions of her as a political actor, specifically in light of what it reveals about the gender, race, and class dynamics embedded in imaginings of community within contemporary public discourse. I show how the dominant storyline of closeness paradoxically works both to create and undermine the U.S. national narrative of color(difference)-blind integration. My central argument throughout is that Rice signifies the liminality of Blacks in general and Black women in particular and that this liminality is contrary to the triumph of integration she is said to represent.
Women's Representation on High Courts in Advanced Industrialized Countries
Authors: Williams Margaret S. , Thames Frank C.
Published: September 2008

Recent scholarship increasingly considers the representation of women in cross-national legislatures, often examining how the characteristics of the countries in a particular region affect the representation of women in these elected bodies. No studies have examined the representation of women on the high courts in a cross-national context. We attempt to fill this void by collecting an original data set of women's participation on high courts in the countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) from 2006 to 2007. Using this data, we examine how institutional choices of judicial selection and structural factors within the country affect women's representation. We find that the variation in women's participation on these courts, from 0% on some to 60% on others, is affected by the prestige of the court, the method of selection, and the tradition of and importance placed upon women's participation within the country. Our results suggest that choices made during the design of high courts can influence the representative nature of the institution.
What Does the Rising Tide of Women in Executive Office Mean?
Authors: Tripp Aili Mari
Published: September 2008

Americans came the closest they ever had to nominating a female presidential candidate in 2008, yet the possibility of a woman president in the end remained elusive. However, in recent years a number of other countries have seen women claim the presidency for the first time: in Argentina, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Chile, Finland, India, and Liberia. Women have also become chancellor in Germany and prime minister in countries like Moldova, Ukraine, and Mozambique. Since 2000, 27 female leaders have assumed national office as president or prime minister. It has always been difficult to generalize about women heads of state and government because there have been so few of them, but the recent rise in women executives has opened up new possibilities for comparative scholarship (see the longitudinal study by Farida Jalalzai, “Women Rule: Shattering the Executive Glass Ceiling,” in the June 2008 issue of Politics & Gender). Much of the existing literature on the subject has looked, for example, at attitudes toward women in executive position and at the media's focus on women executives' personal characteristics, their emotional state, clothing, domestic abilities, and the way they negotiate their family relations.
Chancellor Angela Merkel—A Sign of Hope or the Exception That Proves the Rule?
Authors: Wiliarty Sarah Elise
Published: September 2008

Recently there has been an extraordinary increase in female political leaders across the globe. In addition to Chile, Finland, Germany and Liberia—considered in this issue—Ukraine, Argentina, India, and several other countries have recently inaugurated their first female executives. A closer examination, however, reveals that female executives are not exactly poised to take over the world. Most of the new female executives are not running geopolitically powerful countries. In that sense, Angela Merkel is not a typical exemplar of the new female executive. Merkel is the only woman leading a Group of Eight (G8) country. She is also the only female head of state in NATO and the only female head of state in the European Union.