bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
,,Heim nach Dameschek". Jerusalem als Ursprung und Verschiebung in der deutsch-jüdischen Literatur vor 1948
Authors: Leuenberger Stefanie
Published: July 2006

Examining the depiction of Jerusalem in German-Jewish literature between 1848 and 1948, this essay explores the occupation of real places by the imagination. The work with the old myths as well as the invention of new ones about Jerusalem expressed the negotiation of cultural identity and the German-Jewish situation in an era that saw the far-reaching modernization of Judaism. In the tension between the force of descent and the horizon of self-invention, some authors created the space for the ,,invention of a tradition" in modernity.
The Role of an International Facilitating Service for Conflict Resolution
Authors: Kelman Herbert
Published: July 2006

The large numbers of deadly conflicts between ethnic and other identity groups around the world call for more extensive and systematic applications of interactive problem-solving methods of conflict resolution. This article urges the conflict-resolution community to explore the necessity, value, and feasibility of establishing a new international and largely non-governmental organization or consortium devoted to monitoring such conflicts as they evolve and ready to help prevent, de-escalate, and resolve them through the use of interactive problem-solving techniques. The approach to conflict resolution envisaged by the author for this organization is based on direct communication, in a non-official context, between politically influential members of the communities in conflict. The article presents a model of the organization and its three components and concludes with a series of research questions to help determine (1) whether the proposed concept of an international facilitating service ought to be pursued and, if so, (2) how best to define its structure and functions so that it can make a unique contribution to international conflict resolution in constructive interaction with other non-governmental, governmental, and intergovernmental organizations devoted to peacemaking, peacekeeping, developmental aid, humanitarian assistance, human rights, and reconciliation.
How Creating "Communities of Learning" and "Common Cultures" Fosters Collaboration: The e-Parliament, the Israeli Settlements Project, and the Mexican Negotiation Skills Training Workshop
Authors: Waters Nancy , Hackley Susan , Woodside Sarah
Published: July 2006

This article examines three innovative efforts initiated by the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School to promote conflict resolution on an international scale: the e-Parliament, the Israeli Settlements Project, and the Negotiation Skills Training Program in Mexico. These projects achieve successful collaboration and coordination by creating "communities of learning" and "common cultures" among the many actors involved. The article analyzes the critical components of successful collaboration and coordination in multi-party situations that are incorporated shared decision-making and responsibility, meaningful participation, joint commitment, and reciprocity.
Mediating Rights-Based Conflicts: Making Self-Determination Negotiable
Authors: Babbitt Eileen
Published: July 2006

How can the international community more effectively prevent self-determination conflicts from escalating to violence? The most useful way is to make such conflicts "negotiable," rather than standing by while minority groups and governments square off against each other. To do this, the international community must (1) understand what causes the parties to choose violence; (2) understand the dynamics that make such conflicts intractable, including the rights claims; and (3) design interventions that create more favorable conditions for minority groups and governments to negotiate rather than fight. Drawing upon the analysis of two major self-determination conflicts, this paper argues that such interventions should: include a clearer statement from official international bodies about the conditions under which secession will be deemed acceptable under international law; provide a mediated process in which minority groups and governments can convene to discuss their concerns and interests; and foster collaboration between official and non-official third parties in these negotiations to draw upon the strengths of both in assisting minority groups and governments to work through their differences.
Shifting Heuristics in the Sociological Approach to Professional Trustworthiness
Authors: Olgiati Vittorio
Published: July 2006

The aim of this article is to raise social-scientific awareness about the growing disenchantment with basic assumptions about the progressive outcomes of western-styled ‘modernity’ and ‘modernization’ and how western society is standing up to such a disquieting historical trajectory and facing the challenge of other emerging models. As there is no doubt that only a substantial cultural change could counteract the trend, the article deals with that part of the western epistemic community that embodies the highest cultural capital, namely learned professions, by asking what theoretical and practical limits are they reaching? Are they accountable for the ongoing general situation? Are their knowledge, commitment and performance socially adequate? If not, do professional work, action and trustworthiness require new analytical, social and moral foundations? A plausible answer to these questions seems to be offered by the abandonment of traditionally dominant formal-rational methodology, a return to the concept of substantive rationality and the appraisal of the multidisciplinary advancements provided by sociology of science. In this respect, the analysis stresses the limits of dominant sociological approaches to professions, by centring on the notion of status-role and by enlightening the pivotal importance of the indeterminacy of knowledge as primary professional traits of professionalism. Consequently, it suggests the need for a radical theoretical revision of common views about sources, forms and degrees of socioprofessional reliability, trustworthiness and confidence, given the fact that such a revision is anyhow required in practice by the new trajectories of the profession power–knowledge nexus in the age of the risk–knowledge society.
Regulation and Trust in Action
Authors: Schepers Rita
Published: July 2006

This article addresses the question of how problem doctors are defined and dealt with at the hospital level, where the possibility to observe practice is at its highest. Some general problems of the Belgian hospital scene impeding regulation of doctors in hospitals are discussed. Further, two large, prominent Flemish hospitals are studied in more detail. Although there are many similarities between the hospitals, they also differ in crucial aspects. In the first hospital, the relationship between the main representative body of hospital doctors and the hospital management was discordant and a culture of collaboration was absent. This meant that doctors could not be relied on to report problems about colleagues. The hospital management seemed therefore more inclined to develop objective indicators, which could be used independently of the doctors' collaboration. In the second hospital, on the contrary, structural and cultural factors contributed to good working relationships between doctors and management. With respect to regulation, there was a long-standing culture of openness with respect to reporting problems among doctors as well as nurses. For doctors, there was a certain guarantee that the problems would be dealt with by other doctors. Nurses, however, were critical about the feedback they received although they admitted that the situation was improving.
Trust as a Criterion and Heuristic Approach to Sociopolitical Consultation
Authors: Langer Andreas
Published: July 2006

This article deals with the impact of economic-orientated reforms of the welfare state and social administration on professional services. Trust in professionalism is connected with new institutional economic approaches of professional action. In particular, the principal–agent theory is applied to the relationship between social worker, social service organization and service user in order to concentrate on incentive-oriented problems and asymmetric information in trust-based performances. The main thesis proposed here says that professionals have dual accountabilities: they deal with two distinct principals of organizations. New public management approaches introduce incentive and sanction systems of explicit contracts between social worker and employment agency. Concerning the interaction between social worker and service user, there is a dominance of particular, social and psychic incentive and sanction systems of the organization based on trust. The analytical instrument ‘dual-principal– agent model’ demonstrates that trust – as criterion of professional practice – offers a new approach for shaping recommendations on the institutional level. This article gives an analytical and theoretical foundation for economic-orientated institutional ethics in the discussion of professionalism.
Perceived external prestige and internal respect: New insights into the organizational identification process
Authors: Fuller Jerry Bryan , Hester Kim , Barnett Tim , Frey Len , Relyea Clint , Beu Danielle
Published: July 2006

The group engagement model (Tyler & Blader, 2003) suggests that identification with one's organization is based not only on the individual's evaluation of the status of the organization (i.e. perceived external prestige), but also the individual's evaluation of their own status within the organization (i.e. perceived internal respect). Using data drawn from three different sources (subordinates, supervisors, and company records), results from a sample of healthcare employees ( n = 205) provide support for the core relationships proposed in the group engagement model and extend the model by showing that prestige and respect have different antecedents. The perceived status of the organization's employees, the organization's perceived success in achieving its goals, the visibility of the organization, and the status level of the individual employee were all associated with perceived external prestige. The results also indicate that visibility within the organization, perceived opportunities for growth, and participation in decision-making were all related to perceived respect. Further, prestige and respect were directly related to organizational identification, but only indirectly related to organization-supportive behavior. These results extend the group engagement model in that we utilize a form of supportive behavior that focuses upon constructive change (i.e. voice behavior; Van Dyne & LePine, 1998), rather than the helpful, but status quo maintaining behavior.
Tourism’s Forward and Backward Linkages
Authors: Cai Junning , Leung PingSun , Mak James
Published: July 2006

This article proposes linkage analysis as a complement to the traditional tourism-impact analysis to examine tourism’s economic imprints on a destination’s economy. The starting point of tourism-impact analysis is final demand; impact analysis measures the direct and indirect impacts of tourist spending on the local economy. The starting point of linkage analysis is the tourism sector; the analysis examines the strengths of the inter-sectoral forward (FL) and backward (BL) relationships between the tourism sector and the nontourism industries. The FL measures the relative importance of the tourism sector as supplier to nontourism industries in the economy, whereas the BL measures its relative importance as demander. Directly applying conventional linkage analysis to tourism is not straightforward because tourism is not a defined industry. Thus, we develop a methodology to calculate tourism’s forward and backward linkages using national, regional, or local input-output tables and demonstrate its utility by applying it to Hawaii.
Economic Impact Studies: Instruments for Political Shenanigans?
Authors: Crompton John L.
Published: July 2006

Most economic impact studies are commissioned to legitimize a political position rather than to search for economic truth. Often, this results in the use of mischievous procedures that produce large numbers that study sponsors seek to support a predetermined position. Examples are selected primarily from the reports of ostensibly expert consultants that illustrate 10 of these mischievous procedures: including local residents; inappropriate aggregation; inclusion of time-switchers and casuals; abuse of multipliers; ignoring costs borne by the local community; ignoring opportunity costs; ignoring displacement costs; expanding the project scope; exaggerating visitation numbers; and inclusion of consumer surplus. The political payoff of these shenanigans is discussed.
Reflections on Measuring Recreation and Travel Spending
Authors: Stynes Daniel J. , White Eric M.
Published: July 2006

This article reviews problems encountered in using visitor surveys to measure travel spending. Lack of consistency in question wording, spending categories, and units of analysis makes it difficult to compare results across studies. Spending results can be quite sensitive to a number of data-handling issues, in particular, the treatment of outliers, contaminants, and missing spending data. It is recommended that spending averages be estimated for narrowly defined visitor segments so they can be validated with engineering approaches and common sense. Further research evaluating alternative designs for measuring spending is needed to address a host of methodological issues.
Collecting and Using Visitor Spending Data
Authors: Wilton James J. , Nickerson Norma Polovitz
Published: July 2006

Visitor spending is a necessary component of economic-impact analysis, but detailed expenditure categories rarely are reported and used as tools for marketing and policy decisions. This article shows that spending by visitors attracted to Montana’s natural resources accounted for 76% of traveler spending in the state. Average daily spending by visitors primarily attracted to fishing was the highest per-group per-trip expenditure ($1,641.26) and the longest length of stay (9.3 nights), with fishing outfitters and guides receiving the largest share of these visitors’ dollars. Visitors attracted to Glacier National Park had the highest total contribution of dollars to the state. Implications of the study suggest that conservation of Montana’s natural resources is paramount to a thriving tourism industry. Policies and regulations related to waterways, mountain view sheds, and open space need to reflect the important economic contribution of what attracts visitors to the state.
The Economic Impacts of Tourism: A Special Issue
Authors: Tyrrell Timothy J. , Johnston Robert J.
Published: July 2006

Economic impact analysis is a broad category of analytic methods including some of the most common tools for travel and tourism planning. The consensus of recent work appears to be that economic impact analysis can be an important element of the tourism planner’s toolbox but also can be subject to considerable risk of misuse and misinterpretation. This article highlights many of the issues involved in the appropriate use and interpretation of economic impact analysis and summarizes the contributions of articles included in this special issue. These articles address a wide range of topics, including the measurement of benefits and costs, modeling of indirect and induced impacts, and the testing, validation, and use of impact estimates.
An Assessment of Visitor Expenditure Methods and Models
Authors: Frechtling Douglas C.
Published: July 2006

There has been a great deal of research devoted to estimating visitor expenditures in countries, regions, cities, and other areas as related to specific events. Such estimates are essential for producing comprehensive estimates of tourism’s economic benefits in an area. This review of methods used to estimate visitor expenditures applies definitions of relevant concepts developed by the World Tourism Organization (WTO) to promote standardization and quality in tourism statistics. Three contexts are identified for visitor-expenditure studies: occasion, venue, and time frame. Occasion recognizes the visitor-expenditure studies that have focused on annual visitor expenditures in a study area in contrast to those focusing on visitor expenditures associated with a given event. The latter occasion raises a number of issues regarding what constituted qualified visitors and qualified expenditures. Relevance, coverage, and accuracy principles are applied from the literature to assess 11 methods and models. Guidance is provided for selecting valid approaches by occasion.
Progress in Tourism Satellite Account Implementation and Development
Authors: Libreros Marion , Massieu Antonio , Meis Scott
Published: July 2006

This article reviews the worldwide implementation of tourism satellite accounts (TSA) at the national level to examine the experiences of countries with TSA projects and to identify the problems encountered by those implementing the new 2001 international standard. The study is based on results from responses to a metadata survey sent to national tourism administrations and central statistical offices in 62 countries. The results reveal that an increasing number of countries are developing a TSA following the approach of the UNWTO Tourism Satellite Account: Recommended Methodological Framework (TSA-RMF). Nevertheless, a number of variations exist in the implementation of the TSARMF standard, including the extent of coverage of all forms of visitor consumption and tourism supply as well as differences in the interpretation and treatment of certain key concepts such as business travel, value added, and gross domestic product. These variations limit, for now, the comparability of TSA results between countries.
Economic Impact of Elderly Amenity Mobility in Southern China
Authors: Ma Ambrose , Chow Nelson W. S.
Published: July 2006

No studies have been conducted to examine the economic consequences of elderly seasonal residents in Chinese society, despite the growing movement of amenity-seeking elderly people from Hong Kong to mainland China in the past decade. This study evaluates the economic impact of elderly amenity seekers on the local economies of a community in the Pearl River Delta and the original community of Hong Kong. Community surveys and participant observation were used to collect data, and equations were formulated to calculate the economic impact. The findings show that the expenditure of the respondents generated a substantial economic impact on the local economy of the host community but had a nonnegligible adverse economic impact on Hong Kong. The expenditure patterns and levels of the respondents varied greatly from those of retiree in-migrants in Western societies. Strategies for inducing elderly amenity seekers to communities and for conducting further studies are suggested.
The Impact of Stress and Support on Nursing Assistant Satisfaction With Supervision
Authors: Noelker Linda S. , Ejaz Farida K. , Menne Heather L. , Jones James A.
Published: July 2006

This research applies a stress-and-social-support conceptual model to investigate the effects of personal and facility characteristics, job-related and personal stressors, and social support in the workplace on nursing assistant (NA) satisfaction with supervision. Survey data are from in-person interviews with 338 NAs employed at 22 skilled nursing facilities. Structural equation modeling was used to determine the model's goodness of fit. Results show that personal stressors (family, financial, and health concerns) have the greatest impact on satisfaction with supervision. Positive support in the workplace attenuated the effects of job-related stressors on the outcome. Findings suggest NAs'personal stressors require careful attention from supervisory and human resources staff because they directly affect worker satisfaction with supervision. Employee Assistance Programs and training for supervisors in team building, communication, and motivational skills are needed to promote more positive relationships with and among NAs.
Health Literacy and Social Support Among Elderly Medicare Enrollees in a Managed Care Plan
Authors: Lee Shoou-Yih D. , Gazmararian Julie A. , Arozullah Ahsan M.
Published: July 2006

This study examined health literacy, social support, and their relations to health status and health care use among older adults. The survey design and data were from a project that examined the prevalence of low health literacy among community-dwelling Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in a national managed care organization. Results indicate that compared to the high health literacy group, enrollees with low health literacy were more likely to receive medical information support and health reminder support. However, they were less likely to receive tangible support for their health care needs. In both health literacy groups, medical information support and health reminder support were associated with lower physical health and mental health status. Tangible support was associated with higher physical and mental health status. Health reminder support was associated with more doctor visits and a lower likelihood of hospitalization in the high health literacy group. Implications for reducing the adverse health consequences of low health literacy among older adults are discussed.
Ethnic print media in the multicultural nation of Canada
Authors: Ojo Tokunbo
Published: July 2006

This article explores the social and cultural roles of ethnic print media in the country within the prism of Canada’s multicultural policy. Specifically, the article examines how the ethnic groups are framed in the mainstream national media in Canada and then examines how these ethnic media are [re]constructing their own identities in contrast to their framed identities in the mainstream national print media such as the Globe and Mail, National Post and Toronto Sun. In exploring the overall socio-political impacts of these ethnic print media on the social fabrics and cultural identity in Canadian society, Montreal Community Contact, an ethnic newspaper of the black community in Montreal, is used as a case study.
Geo-ethnic storytelling
Authors: Lin Wan-Ying , Song Hayeon
Published: July 2006

This article investigates the content of ethnic media to better understand their roles in contemporary immigrant communities under the forces of globalization, population diversity, and new communication technologies. Drawing upon communication infrastructure theory (CIT), we argue that globalization is always experienced in the local context. We thus investigate the extent to which the ethnic press tells geo-ethnic stories, which are culturally relevant and locally vital information to immigrants in the host society. We analyzed 51 ethnic newspapers in the Asian and Latino neighborhoods of Los Angeles. The findings showed that these print media outlets in new immigrant communities were very diverse, ranging from small mom-and-pop businesses, to medium-and large-sized enterprises. In terms of the nature of news stories, we found that the news coverage in the ethnic press included a large amount of news related to the home country, in contrast to a relatively small number of geoethnic stories that are essential to community building.
Competing discourses of community
Authors: Guzmán Isabel Molina
Published: July 2006

Based on a critical analysis of the news coverage and editorial content regarding the Elián González international custody case in The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald, this article explores the ideological tensions between local general-market and Latino news outlets during moments of increased social crisis. Specifically, it documents the newspapers’ relationship with each other and analyzes the competing discourses of ethnic, community and national identity embedded in the journalistic texts. The study suggests that, as US ethnic and racial demographics continue shifting in its major cities, particular attention must be paid to the dynamic role of the ethnic media. Examining the production of meanings in ethnic and general-market news coverage in relation to one another presents an opportunity for rethinking the role of journalism in public negotiations over constructs of community, national identity, and ethnic and racial difference.
User involvement in the provision of HIV services: some lessons learned from a user group in an HIV treatment centre in London
Authors: Giannakopoulou Christina , Fakoya Ade , Aina Charles , Campbell Tomás
Published: July 2006

In recent years attention has been focused on the greater participation of health service users in the identification of health service need, service design and delivery and service evaluation. This approach attempts to improve communication between health professionals and the health communities they serve in order to deliver more effective services. The establishment of user groups in HIV services has been one approach by which clinicians have attempted to establish ways that service users could help in the improvement of clinical services. This research article describes the process in the involvement of a user group in an east London HIV service. It describes the challenges that faced both the service users and the clinical staff and it analyses the factors that led to the discontinuation of the user group. The article discusses factors and challenges that must be addressed before meaningful user involvement in HIV services can be established
Effect of HIV/AIDS on the control environment
Authors: Coetzee Philna
Published: July 2006

Objective: The management of organizations is responsible for risk management and control systems. HIV/AIDS could be a great threat in the achievement of strategic business objectives, implicating a great concern for management. Management needs to understand this possible risk. This study aims to identify the effect that HIV/AIDS could have on the different elements of the control environment

Methodology: The archival research method was used. It was established that no formal research was conducted to date on the effect of HIV/AIDS on the control environment as a whole. Various studies have included the effect of HIV/AIDS on certain factors of the control environment. These studies will be discussed briefly to identify relevant findings

Results: The study indicated that the disease could affect various aspects of the control environment, namely: competency of the workforce (e.g. productivity, quality of work, absenteeism, loss of skills and knowledge, training and recruitment, etc.); organizational structure (e.g. increase use of technology labour, disruption of processes, level of employees affected by the disease); human resource (HR) policies and practices (e.g. legislation applicable, prevention and awareness programmes, compensation and benefits)

Research limitation: HIV/AIDS is a relatively new potential risk to organizations. Knowledge of the disease is limited. HIV/AIDS is also a very sensitive issue as people fear the disease and do not like to discuss its existence. Government determined that it should be a non-notifiable disease and the disease is currently greatly stigmatized. The databases of companies investigated by other research studies were not developed to gather all the relevant information

Conclusion: Management should be aware that HIV/AIDS poses a possible risk to organizations. Data on the effect of HIV/AIDS should be gathered and used in the decision-making process on how to manage this risk. To be able to fulfil this duty, management first has to determine: whether HIV/AIDS is a risk; the relevant cost involved that the disease is costing the organization; how to control these costs
Planning to Keep the Doors Open for Moral Communities
Authors: Hoch Charles
Published: July 2006

How do we plan for collective decision-making without sacrificing the benefits of democratic pluralism to planning demands for rational consensus or precision? Seymour Mandelbaum argues that we adopt and promote open moral communities. Using ideas of political theorist James Bohman, I review and critique Mandelbaum’s emphasis on critical irony and communitarian sensibility as these take for granted the important role planning plays helping us coordinate and cope with social complexity in modern societies. We can take Mandelbaum’s critical insight that we enliven and improve the quality of public deliberation using a robust pluralism. However, binding that pluralism together will take more than respectful reciprocity and civic virtue, it requires that we do plans and planning to help guide collective decisions in an increasingly complex and interdependent world. Planning and plan-making play an important role coordinating these complex relationships. I offer two brief planning examples - one fitting Mandelbaum’s ideal and another that does not to show how a plan can still offer practical guidance even as the deliberations that frame it fail.
Reading (Conservation Subdivision) Plans
Authors: Hamin Elisabeth M.
Published: July 2006

This article argues that literary theory, exemplified by an approach authored by Seymour Mandelbaum in 1990, when adapted assists in understanding the complex process of translating land-use bylaw into project design. Literary theory thus addresses the recent resurgence in planning interest in design. The technique is used to follow the implementation of one particular design idea (conservation subdivision design) as legislated in one particular place (Amherst, Massachusetts) and applied to one particular residential development. The substantive analysis demonstrates that conservation subdivision design, at least in this case, fails to achieve some of the theorized ideal goals, and instead achieves different outcomes. Sources for distortion are theorized, and the application of literary theory to planning process is discussed.
Coherentist Theories of Planning are Possible and Useful
Authors: Donaghy Kieran P. , Hopkins Lewis D.
Published: July 2006

Mandelbaum argued against the possibility of a complete general theory of planning set out along the lines of a generalist, a priori, covering-law model. In this article we draw on Miller and Hurley to elaborate a coherentist approach to planning theories that achieves some of the aspirations Mandelbaum sought for a general theory. We argue that this perspective is more inclusive, vis-à-vis what can count as theory for planning, and widens the circle of intellectual conversations in which productive disagreements on points of theory can be sustained. We show how the coherentist approach is useful in focusing the attention of planning theorists on productive inquiry. Finally, by analogy, we argue that a coherentist attitude toward how plans can and should be made and used in particular situations is more useful than the traditional approach of comprehensive plans.
Rethinking Youth Justice: Comparative Analysis, International Human Rights and Research Evidence
Authors: Goldson Barry , Muncie John
Published: July 2006

Derived from a more ambitious international youth justice research project, this article aims to critically interrogate the direction of contemporary youth justice policy in England and Wales and the political priorities that underpin it. By rethinking youth justice on the basis of comparative analysis, international human rights and research evidence, we challenge the current policy trajectory and offer an alternative formulation: a youth justice with integrity.
Is Diversion the Appropriate Emphasis for South African Child Justice?
Authors: Stout Brian
Published: July 2006

Diversion is central to the aim of achieving a South African child justice regime that is compliant with constitutional and international obligations. Future plans for South African child justice are dependent on large numbers of child offenders being diverted. This article presents research suggesting that although diversion from court in South African child justice improves the treatment of many children, it will continue to exclude large numbers of children from the most progressive interventions. The research suggests that the practice of diversion will exclude persistent and serious offenders, and raises questions about whether it is appropriate for advocates of reform to place such an emphasis on diversion.
A quest for dialogue in international broadcasting
Authors: Zöllner Oliver
Published: July 2006

This article analyses German public diplomacy efforts via international broadcasting to the Arab world post-9/11. After defining the field’s major relevant concepts and models and pointing out the conceptual convergence of public relations and public diplomacy, the article presents a critical analysis of the requirements of dialogue drawing on Habermas’s (1984) Theory of Communicative Action. For the time being, the question whether Germany’s broadcast public diplomacy in the Arab world is based on ‘dialogue’, as has been posited by the main protagonists, needs to be answered cautiously. What is visible is a determination of Deutsche Welle to at least present a quest for dialogue as a projection of the country’s national values, policies, self-image and underlying myth. The invocation of ‘dialogue’ via DW may reflect a reassertion of the very self-image Germany feels most comfortable with: that of the Open-minded Society of Consensus as the country’s grand narrative.
US public diplomacy in the Arab world
Authors: el-Nawawy Mohammed
Published: July 2006

This study surveyed a convenience sample of Arab college students in five Arab countries regarding their perceptions of the news credibility of two US-sponsored networks targeting Arab audiences: Radio Sawa and Television Alhurra. To assess the credibility of these networks, the students were asked to use a 12-item credibility scale developed by Gaziano and McGrath. The study found no correlation between the respondents’ frequency of listening to Radio Sawa and their perception of its news as credible. Moreover the study revealed that the students’ attitudes toward US foreign policy had worsened slightly since they started listening to Radio Sawa and watching Alhurra. Many respondents stated that if the US desires to improve its image in the Arab world, it should leave Iraq and adopt an even-handed policy on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Results of this study show the need for the US administration to acknowledge that no matter how savvy its public diplomacy efforts in the Middle East, they will be ineffective in changing Arab public opinion if that public is dissatisfied with US policies on the ground.
The Communication Rights in the Information Society (CRIS) Campaign
Authors: Thomas Pradip
Published: July 2006

Social movement theories offer useful conceptual and analytical tools to the study and research of global media reform movements. This article is a critical analysis of the Communication Rights in the Information Society (CRIS) campaign. It explores its successes and blind-spots in the light of social movement theory, in particular resource mobilization theory (RMT), and offers practical directions for the movement to move on from where it is to where it ought to be.
Pencils and Photos as Tools of Communicative Research and Praxis
Authors: Singhal Arvind , Rattine-Flaherty Elizabeth
Published: July 2006

The present article analyzes the communication for social change activities of Minga Perú, a non-governmental organization in the Peruvian Amazon. Minga Perú broadcasts a popular radio program, Bienvenida Salud (Welcome Health), in the Amazonas, and carries out several community-based empowerment activities for local women. The authors’ data-collection procedures in the Peruvian Amazon included ordinary communicative tools, such as pencils and photographs. The respondents, comprising children and women, used these tools to ‘visually’ record their perceptions of Minga Perú contributions to reproductive health, gender equality and social change in the Peruvian Amazon. The authors argue that pencil sketches and photos represent important tools for communication research and praxis, providing an alternative to ‘textocentrism’ - the privileging of text, writing and the lettered word as a mode of comprehension and expression. However, in recognizing the value of visuals as an alternative mode of expression, the authors also point out that sketches, paintings and photographs are socially and technically constructed. That is, visual frames, by their very nature privilege the photographer’s point of view.
Middle Region Phenomena And Globalization
Authors: Dresner Eli
Published: July 2006

The objective of this article is to apply the theoretical framework of Joshua Meyrowitz’s No Sense of Place to the domain of contemporary world politics. In the first section, several of Meyrowitz’s main theses are reviewed and the notions of middle region and sidestage are defined. In the second section, Meyrowitz’s conceptualization is shown to be applicable to the contemporary global political system, and in the third section the notions of middle region and sidestage are used to analyse several types of phenomena in the world political arena. Among the examples discussed are: political expression that addresses distinct audiences at the same time, the manoeuvring of local representatives of international NGOs between the intra-and international arenas, and the ‘War against Terrorism’ as a hybrid exertion of force.
A strategy of robust parameter design for multiple responses
Authors: Kuhnt Sonja , Erdbrügge Martina
Published: July 2006

In this article, we provide a strategy for the simultaneous optimization of multiple responses. Cases are covered where a set of response variables has finite target values and depends on easy to control as well as on hard to control variables. Our approach is based on loss functions, without the need for a predefined cost matrix. For each element of a sequence of possible weights assigned to the individual responses, settings of the easy to control parameters are determined, which minimize the estimated mean of a multivariate loss function. The estimation is based on statistical models, which depend only on the easy to control variables. The loss function itself takes the value zero, if all responses are on target with zero variances. In each case, the derived parameter settings are connected to a specific compromise of the responses, which is graphically displayed to the engineer by so called joint optimization plots. The expert can thereby gain valuable insight into the production process and then decide on the most sensible parameter setting. The proposed strategy is illustrated with a data set from the literature and new data from an up to date application.
Efficient Bayesian sampling inspection for industrial processes based on transformed spatio-temporal data
Authors: Little John , Goldstein Michael , Jonathan Philip
Published: July 2006

Efficient inspection and maintenance of complex industrial systems, subject to degradation effects such as corrosion, are important for safety and economic reasons. With appropriate statistical modelling, the utilization of inspection resources and the quality of inferences can be greatly improved. We develop a suitable Bayesian spatio-temporal dynamic linear model for problems such as wall thickness monitoring. We are concerned with problems where the inspection method used collects transformed data, for example minimum regional remaining wall thicknesses. We describe how the model may be used to derive efficient inspection schedules by identifying when, where and how much inspection should be made in the future.
Classification of longitudinal profiles based on semi-parametric regression with mixed effects
Authors: Pfeifer Christian
Published: July 2006

A semi-parametric model is applied in order to model counts of letters for the federal Austrian postal system. Random coefficients are introduced into the splined variable of the semi-parametric regression model to describe heterogeneity of the temporal effect. Pfeifer and Seeber propose estimates for random coefficients to classify post offices by a hierarchical cluster algorithm. In this article, we apply two model based approaches for classification. It turns out here that both the hierarchical and the model based approach are useful for explorative cluster analysis.
Regression models for pretest/posttest data in blocks
Authors: Singer Julio M , Nobre Juvêncio S , Sef Henry C
Published: July 2006

We consider regression models with no intercepts to analyse pretest/posttest data from a dental study conducted under an experimental design involving a blocked factorial structure with two within individual factors. The proposed models accommodate block effects, heteroscedasticity, nonlinear relations between pretest and posttest measures and repeated measures. We compare multiplicative lognormal and gamma models to additive normal models fitted via generalized linear models methodology for repeated measures. Alternatively, we consider standard linear mixed models methodology to fit lognormal models, an option that facilitates modelling the within subjects covariance structure.
Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Synovial Joint and Articular Cartilage Formation
Authors: PACIFICI MAURIZIO , KOYAMA EIKI , SHIBUKAWA YOSHIHIRO , WU CHANGSHAN , TAMAMURA YOSHIHIRO , ENOMOTO‐IWAMOTO MOTOMI , IWAMOTO MASAHIRO
Published: July 2006

Abstract:  Synovial joints and articular cartilage play crucial roles in the skeletal function, but relatively little is actually known about their embryonic development. Here we first focused on the interzone, a thin mesenchymal cell layer forming at future joint sites that is widely thought to be critical for joint and articular cartilage development. To determine interzone cell origin and fate, we microinjected the vital fluorescent dye DiI at several peri‐joint sites in chick limbs and monitored the behavior and fate of labeled cells over time. Peri‐joint mesenchymal cells located immediately adjacent to incipient joints migrated, became part of the interzone, and were eventually found in epiphyseal articular layer and joint capsule. Interzone cells isolated and reared in vitro expressed typical phenotypic markers, including GDF‐5, Wnt‐14, and CD‐44, and differentiated into chondrocytes over time. To determine the molecular mechanisms of articular chondrocyte formation, we carried out additional studies on the ets transcription factor family member ERG and its alternatively spliced variant C‐1‐1 that we previously found to be expressed in developing avian articular chondrocytes. We cloned the human counterpart of avian C‐1‐1 (ERGp55Δ81) and conditionally expressed it in transgenic mice under cartilage‐specific Col2 gene promotor‐enhancer control. The entire transgenic mouse limb chondrocyte population exhibited an immature articular‐like phenotype and a virtual lack of growth plate formation and chondrocyte maturation compared to wild‐type littermate. Together, our studies reveal that peri‐joint mesenchymal cells take part in interzone and articular layer formation, interzone cells can differentiate into chondrocytes, and acquisition of a permanent articular chondrocyte phenotype is aided and perhaps dictated by ets transcription factor ERG.
Paget's Disease of Bone and Genetic Disorders of RANKL/OPG/RANK/NF‐κB Signaling
Authors: WHYTE MICHAEL P.
Published: July 2006

Abstract:  Identification of the RANKL/OPG/RANK/NF‐kB (receptor activator of nuclear factor κ‐B ligand / osteoprotegerin) signaling pathway as the major regulatory system for osteoclastogenesis began with discovery of these ligands and receptors in the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily. Subsequently, genetically altered mice revealed physiologic roles for these proteins in bone biology. However, full appreciation of their significance for the human skeleton came from clinical characterization of several extremely rare, heritable disorders followed by discovery of their genetic bases. Familial expansile osteolysis (FEO) is an autosomal dominant disorder featuring constitutive activation of RANK due to an 18‐bp tandem duplication in its gene (TNFRSF11A). A similar, 27‐bp duplication causes what has been called a familial form of early‐onset Paget's disease of bone (PDB2). Expansile skeletal hyperphosphatasia (ESH) is allelic to FEO and PDB2 and involves a 15‐bp tandem duplication in TNFRSF11A. Autosomal recessive inheritance of deactivating mutations of the gene encoding OPG (TNFRSF11B) causes most cases of juvenile Paget disease. These disorders feature high bone turnover, deafness during early childhood, “idiopathic external lysis” of adult teeth, and sometimes focal lesions in appendicular bones that mimic active PDB. Biochemical markers indicate rapid skeletal remodeling. In FEO, osteolysis progresses to fat‐filled bone rather than to osteosclerosis. Antiresorptive therapy with bisphosphonates can be effective for each disorder.
Circulating Cells with Osteogenic Potential
Authors: KHOSLA SUNDEEP , EGHBALI‐FATOURECHI GUITI Z.
Published: July 2006

Abstract:  While osteoclast lineage cells are clearly present in the peripheral circulation, whether there is a comparable pool of circulating osteoblast lineage cells has remained controversial. Using assays requiring adherence to plastic (as originally described by Friedenstein and colleagues for bone marrow stromal cells over four decades ago), several studies have shown that plastic adherent cells with osteogenic potential are, indeed, present in the circulation of a number of species, but at extremely low concentrations. Work from a number of independent groups over the past decade has also identified a population of nonadherent bone marrow cells with osteogenic potential. Since these nonadherent cells may be much more likely to access the peripheral circulation than plastic adherent cells, we tested for the presence of circulating osteoblast lineage cells in humans using flow cytometry to identify cells in the peripheral blood expressing bone‐related proteins. Our findings indicate that these cells are present in the circulation in significant numbers, are markedly increased in the peripheral blood of adolescent boys going through the growth spurt, and may also increase following fractures. These circulating osteogenic cells express bone‐related proteins, can mineralize in vitro, and form bone in vivo. The identification of these osteogenic cells in peripheral blood opens up new questions regarding the possible role of these cells in bone remodeling, in fracture repair, and possibly in vascular calcification.
Understanding Parathyroid Hormone Action
Authors: PARTRIDGE NICOLA C. , LI XIN , QIN LING
Published: July 2006

Abstract:  In addition to regulating serum calcium and stimulating bone resorption, parathyroid hormone (PTH) is known to stimulate bone formation under certain conditions. The mechanisms behind this counterintuitive anabolic action are largely unknown. We have set out to identify PTH‐regulated genes that might be responsible for each of these contrasting effects of the hormone. This article describes our work on a select number of those genes.