bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Transphyseal Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Using Mesenchymal Stem Cells
Authors: Babb John R. , Ahn Jae I. , Azar Frederick M. , Canale S. Terry , Beaty James H.
Published: March 2008

Background

Conventional techniques for reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament in skeletally immature patients risk potential iatrogenic growth disturbance because of drilling across the physis. Animal models have demonstrated mixed results regarding growth disturbances from soft tissue grafts across the physis.

Hypothesis

Mesenchymal stem cells derived from bone marrow may be effective in preventing growth arrest after intraarticular anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

Study Design

Controlled laboratory study.

Material and Methods

The anterior cruciate ligament was removed from 15 skeletally immature rabbits, which were divided into 3 groups: 5 rabbits (group 1) had only drilling of tunnels through the distal femoral and proximal tibial physes 5 (group 2) underwent drilling of the tunnels and reconstruction with an extensor digitorum communis autograft; and 5 (group 3) had drilling and reconstruction with an extensor digitorum communis autograft that had been seeded with mesenchymal stem cells. Radiographs were obtained every 3 weeks, and the animals were sacrificed 3 to 20 weeks after surgery. The surgically treated and contralateral control knees were salvaged, and each knee was examined grossly, radiographically, and histologically.

Results

A bone bridge spanned the physis in all nongrafted knees (group 1) by 3 weeks after surgery. In group 2, the extensor digitorum communis autograft seemed to slow but not prevent the development of bony bridges and angular deformities. In contrast, the mesenchymal stem cell-seeded grafts (group 3) appeared to provide a marked protective effect against growth arrest and angular deformity.

Conclusion

The results of this study suggest that angular deformity and growth arrest that occur after drilling across the physis during anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction can be prevented or minimized by implanting mesenchymal stem cells onto the transphyseal soft tissue graft.

Clinical Relevance

These results may facilitate the development of strategies to prevent growth disturbances of the physis with intra-articular reconstructive procedures in pediatric patients.
Arthroscopic Reconstruction of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament Using Bone-Patellar Tendon-Bone Autograft
Authors: Lebel Benoit , Hulet Christophe , Galaud Bertrand , Burdin Gilles , Locker Bruno , Vielpeau Claude
Published: March 2008

Background

Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction surgery and technique have changed over the past decade.

Hypothesis

Modern arthroscopic management of an anterior cruciate ligament tear using patellar tendon autograft offers a high Patient satisfaction rate and good clinical results over the long term. However, it may be associated with osteoarthritis changes over time.

Study Design

Case series; Level of evidence, 4.

Methods

In 1992, a prospective computerized database of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction was established. Since that time, 101 anterior cruciate ligament arthroscopic reconstructions performed at our institution have been observed. Inclusion criteria were as follows: reconstruction with bone-patellar tendon-bone graft, a minimum 10-year follow-up, a standardized operative procedure, and no previous anterior cruciate ligament repair or associated ligament lesions. Before surgery, the mean age of the patients was 28.8 years ± 8.3 (mean ± SD). The follow-up assessment was established using the International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) 2000 form and quantitative laxity testing with a KT-1000 arthrometer. The joint space narrowing assessment used the IKDC score with a 30° posteroanterior weightbearing view.

Results

Mean follow-up was 11.6 ± 0.8 years. Nine graft ruptures occurred. The satisfaction rate was excellent (90%). Seventy Patients (74%) were still actively participating in sports. The mean subjective IKDC 2000 score was 90.5 ± 8.8 points. The IKDC score was statistically correlated to laxity, time from injury, and osteoarthritis development at final follow-up. Ninety-one percent of Patients were graded A or B according to the overall IKDC score. The radiological assessment reported osteoarthritis development in 17.8% of patients, and 39% showed radiological changes. Osteoarthritis was correlated with body mass index ( P = .01) and age at follow-up ( P = .006). In a selected population without meniscus and articular cartilage injury, an osteoarthritis rate of only 8% was found.

Conclusion

Arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction using bone-patellar tendon-bone autograft resulted in high Patient satisfaction levels and good clinical results after 10 years. Moreover, a high percentage of patients remained involved in sports activities, and anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction protected their meniscus from a secondary tear. However, knee osteoarthritis developed in 17.8% of patients so treated.
Bone Bruises Associated with ACL Rupture
Authors: Viskontas Darius G. , Giuffre Bruno M. , Duggal Naven , Graham David , Parker David , Coolican Myles
Published: March 2008

Background

Different patterns of bone bruising are seen on magnetic resonance imaging in acute anterior cruciate ligament ruptures. These patterns may relate to the mechanism of injury.

Hypothesis

There is a correlation between the mechanism of anterior cruciate ligament injury and bone bruise patterns on magnetic resonance imaging.

Study Design

Cohort study; Level of evidence, 2.

Methods

Data regarding the mechanism of anterior cruciate ligament rupture were collected prospectively on patients who had anterior cruciate ligament reconstructions. Inclusion criteria included a clear history of mechanism, magnetic resonance imaging within 6 weeks of injury, and no previous knee injury. Patients were divided into noncontact and contact mechanism groups. Bone bruise frequency, location, depth, and intensity were analyzed using magnetic resonance imaging and correlated with the mechanism of injury.

Results

Two hundred fifty-six patients were identified; 100 met the inclusion criteria, 86 were in the noncontact mechanism group, and 14 were in the contact mechanism group. The proportion of bone bruises in the lateral compartment in both groups was higher ( P < .001) than in the medial compartment. Bone bruising was more frequent, deeper, and more intense in the non-contact group, with frequency ( P = .019) and intensity ( P < .001) scores reaching significance at the lateral tibial plateau. Medial compartment bone bruising was seen more frequently than previously reported, particularly in the noncontact group.

Conclusion

The noncontact mechanism appears to cause more severe bone bruising in both the medial and lateral compartments.
Analysis of Interobserver and Intraobserver Variability in the Diagnosis and Treatment of SLAP Tears Using the Snyder Classification
Authors: Gobezie Reuben , Zurakowski David , Lavery Kyle , Millett Peter J. , Cole Brian J. , Wamer Jon J. P.
Published: March 2008

Background

Superior labral anterior posterior lesions are a relatively rare entity, and classification as a basis for selection of treatment has remained a point of controversy.

Hypothesis

There will be substantial interobserver and intraobserver variability in the diagnosis and treatment of superior labral anterior posterior tears by experienced arthroscopic specialists.

Study Design

Cohort study (diagnosis), Level of evidence, 2.

Methods

Compact discs containing 22 video vignettes of approximately 15 seconds duration were sent to the membership of the Arthroscopy Association of North America, American Shoulder and Elbow Society, and AOSSM. Each surgeon was asked to review the vignettes, classify the superior labral anterior posterior lesion type, and provide a treatment recommendation for each vignette. Seventy-three expert surgeons responded to the solicitation with a completed analysis. The same CD-ROM was re-sent to each of these 73 surgeons at a minimum of 12 months after the first viewing to obtain data on intraobserver reliability. Seventeen of the 73 surgeons returned this second CD-ROM with a complete analysis. Demographic data were also obtained from each surgeon. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the data, and 95% confidence intervals were established for each superior labral anterior posterior type (I-IV) with regard to diagnosis and treatment decision.

Results

The 22 vignettes analyzed by 73 surgeons resulted in 1606 responses. Several significant trends were noticed with regard to diagnosis and treatment from the responses: (1) surgeons had difficulty distinguishing type III lesions from type IV lesions, (2) the treatment of type III lesions is much more variable than that of any other subtype, and (3) surgeons had difficulty distinguishing normal shoulders from type II superior labral anterior posterior tears. No relationship was identified between correct treatment decisions based on diagnosis and any of the demographic factors analyzed. Our analysis of intraobserver variability showed only moderate agreement. The analysis of interobserver variability improved significantly when the diagnoses were analyzed based on treatment decision.

Conclusions

There is substantial interobserver and intraobserver variability among experienced shoulder arthroscopic specialists with regard to diagnosis and treatment of superior labral anterior posterior tears. Intraobserver agreement using the Snyder classification indicated only moderate agreement. Analysis of interobserver agreement based on treatment decisions results in superior concordance among experienced surgeons for the diagnosis of superior labral anterior posterior lesions.
Fidelity of Gamma-Glutamyl Transferase (GGT) in Differentiating Skeletal Muscle From Liver Damage
Authors: Rosales Xiomara Q. , Chu Mary-Lynn , Shilling Christopher , Wall Cheryl , Pastores Gregory M. , Mendell Jerry R.
Published: March 2008

This study tested the hypothesis that gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) can be used as a reliable biomarker to distinguish skeletal muscle from liver damage. Twenty-eight Duchenne muscular dystrophy subjects with proven dystrophin gene mutations were enrolled. Included were 14 ambulatory and 14 nonambulatory patients with approximately half of each cohort taking corticosteroids. Twenty normal males served as controls. Initial blood samples for serum GGT and creatine kinase were taken between 8AM and 9AM and redrawn 8 hours later to test for variability. Between blood draws, subjects resumed normal activities in a play environment or could leave the clinic. Not a single duchenne muscular dystrophy patient showed a GGT outside the control range at any time point, while creatine kinase levels were 14 to 200 times normal. Validation of this finding is essential for management of patients with muscle disorders exposed to potentially hepatotoxic drugs for clinical management or monitoring subjects participating in clinical trials.
Risk Factors for Severe Inter-Sibling Violence
Authors: Khan Roxanne , Cooke David J.
Published: March 2008

The perpetration of severe inter-sibling violence (SISV) remains a largely unexplored area of family violence. This article describes an investigation of risk factors for intentional SISV perpetration. A sample of 111 young people under the care of the Scottish criminal justice or welfare systems was studied. A SISV perpetration interview schedule was developed to measure the influence of 43 potential predictor variables. The Buss and Perry Aggression Questionnaire and Levenson's Self-Report Psychopathy Scale were also employed in this exploratory analysis.
Changing Policy and Practice in the Child Welfare System Through Collaborative Efforts to Identify and Respond Effectively to Family Violence
Authors: Banks Duren , Landsverk John , Wang Kathleen
Published: March 2008

The Greenbook provides a roadmap for child welfare agencies to collaborate and provide effective responses to families who are experiencing co-occurring child maltreatment and domestic violence. A multisite developmental evaluation was conducted of six demonstration sites that received federal funding to implement Greenbook recommendations for child welfare agencies. Surveys of child welfare caseworkers show significant changes in several areas of agency policy and practice, including regular domestic violence training, written guidelines for reporting domestic violence, and working closely and sharing resources with local domestic violence service providers. Case file reviews show significant increases in the level of active screening for domestic violence, although this increase peaks at the midpoint of the initiative. These findings, coupled with on-site interview data, point to the importance of coordinating system change activities in child welfare agencies with a number of other collaborative activities.
Age and labour market commitment in Germany, Denmark, Norway and Sweden
Authors: Hult Carl , Edlund Jonas
Published: March 2008

This study examines age differences in non-financial employment commitment in two types of `exit cultures'. Germany and Denmark represent the `early'-exit culture where early retirement has become the norm. Sweden and Norway represent the `late'-exit culture where labour market activity until advanced age is more common. The categorization of countries corresponds to the time for data collection (1997). The main question is whether suggested differences in exit culture are manifested in age differences in non-financial employment commitment.

The claim that age differences in commitment relate to exit culture received some support. In the two early-exit countries, the probability for men to display low employment commitment was found to increase at the age of 43—54. Also women in these countries dropped in commitment but first at 55+. In the two late-exit countries there was no important loss in commitment related to the middle or old age groups.
Disability employment penalties in Britain
Authors: Berthoud Richard
Published: March 2008

Economic disadvantage is an increasingly important component of the social position of disabled people.This article uses a large-scale and detailed survey of disabled people as an empirical platform for a discussion of their employment outcomes. It is well-established that disabled people vary in the nature and severity of their impairments, but the shape of the relationship between disability and employment cannot be predicted unambiguously from theory, and has been subject to little analysis. A new measure of `disability employment penalties', taking account of other influences on labour market position, encourages a broader view of disadvantage across distinct social constructs including gender and ethnicity.
Corruption in the post-Soviet workplace: the experiences of recent graduates in contemporary Ukraine
Authors: Round John , Williams Colin C. , Rodgers Peter
Published: March 2008

While Ukraine was bestowed market economy status by the European Union in 2005 its labour market still endures many structural problems. By exploring the experiences of young graduate employees this article highlights the difficultly in obtaining work within Ukraine's labour market and the problems they face once they have secured employment. Rather than seeing the development of a transparent labour market the collapse of the command economy has seen a relatively closed system develop. The article demonstrates how many jobs are secured through the use of connections or the demanding, and payment, of bribes.The situation does not improve once graduates obtain long-term employment. Interviewees discuss the lack of job security, the informal payment of wages and the lack of legal protection from corrupt employer practices. The article has broader resonance outside of the Ukrainian case study as the discussion of workplace corruption highlights how the issue is concerned with much more than simply cash based transactions and how those that endure it are likely to turn to the informal economy for employment.
A Split Jewish Diaspora: Its Dramatic Consequences II*
Authors: Edrei Arye , Mendels Doron
Published: March 2008

The article deals with the consequences of the split Diaspora that was described in Part I of this study (published in JSP 16.2 [2007]: 91-137). This second part demonstrates that the gap between western Jews and eastern ones continued and even widened in the early Middle Ages. The Jews in the west either converted to Christianity or remained biblical Jews. The latter were more agreeable to the Christian environment in Latin Europe, but at the moment the Rabbinic Law and lore started to arrive in Europe, the friction between Christians and Jews increased dramatically. Also, this study shows that the Jews living in the Byzantine Empire underwent the same processes that were experienced by their brethren in Latin Europe due to lack of communication with Rabbinic Judaism. In both Greek and Latin Europe, the Rabbinic revolution arrived circa the ninth century. This article also discusses various reactions to the earlier part of the study and thus add some useful information, clarify and strengthen some of their arguments in part I.
The Alexandrinus Text of 4 Maccabees*
Authors: Adams Marcus P.
Published: March 2008

This article examines textual variants in the text of 4 Maccabees as presented in Codex Alexandrinus. The speci“c variant trends from Alexandrinus discussed in this study relate to the portrayal of the abilities of the Torah and reason, the diminished rewards the martyrs receive, how the torturers and torture acts are described, how the martyrs' direct speech about these torture acts is presented, and the manner in which the mother of the martyrs is domesticated. Rather than providing an etiology for these variants by attributing them to scribal intentionality, this study seeks to show that the reader of Alexandrinus would be more likely to give assent to the author's thesis, namely, that pious reason is the supreme master of the passions because of the manner in which the martyrs and their tortures are depicted. Additionally, Alexandrinus provides its reader with a more vivid picture of the training the Torah provides and with a more domesticated representation of the martyrs' mother. This article is thus focused on how the text of Alexandrinus would affect its reader differently than today's eclectic text.
Imagining Numbers: Risk, Quantification, and Aviation Security
Authors: Salter Mark B.
Published: March 2008

Aviation security is a vital but under-studied component of contemporary security. This article uses the Foucauldian notion of a ` dispositif of security' to understand how policies, practices, and institutions of aviation security are arranged to surveil, police, and control mobile populations. Moving beyond sovereign accounts of law or disciplinary descriptions of incarceration, the analysis of the dispositif demonstrates the ever-expanding areas of life that are colonized by `security' and `risk'. I argue that the general strategy of quantification and the specific tactic of the expert panel both illustrate how the invocation of risk allows for new and expanding security practices, and also masks the depoliticization of the airport and civil aviation.
Extrajudicial Killing as Risk Management
Authors: Kessler Oliver , Werner Wouter
Published: March 2008

This article analyses legal aspects of the `war on terror'. It argues that, by making recourse to a semantic of risk, danger and, in particular, precaution, the `war on terror' blurs crucial political and legal categories of public and private, of peace and war, of combatants and civilians, thus redefining the relationship between political responsibility, time and security. As a consequence, the extrajudicial killing of individuals becomes a form of risk management that takes place beyond established mechanisms of accountability.
Designer Security: Control Society and MoMA's SAFE: Design Takes On Risk
Authors: Lacy Mark
Published: March 2008

This article suggests that Gilles Deleuze's writings on societies of control provide useful insights on changing configurations of biopower in contemporary societies. However, far from the dystopias depicted in many popular visions of the future, such as the films THX 1138 and Minority Report, societies of control are being shaped by the work of designers, creating the potential for an `ecology of control' that can become `benignly' woven into our lives. MoMA's exhibition SAFE: Design Takes On Risk is a fascinating introduction to designers' responses to risk and insecurity around the planet, along with work that interrogates critically our obsessions with risk, control, and insecurity. SAFE illustrates an emerging synergy between designers and policymakers that makes possible the intensification of control society through products of `communectivity' (such as the ironic `Homeland Security Blanket') and designer security. Indeed, `designing in' protection and `designing out' insecurity are mantras that are increasingly important to contemporary discourses of security in risk-obsessed states. The article expresses the author's concern that discourses of design and security suppress anxiety about the ethico-political consequences of control society, along with broader issues of security politics, at the same time as they install new policy initiatives and `synergies' through the desire to design out insecurity.
I'll Show Them: The Social Construction of (In)Competence in Survivors of Childhood Brain Tumors
Authors: Boydell Katherine M. , Stasiulis Elaine , Greenberg Mark , Greenberg Corin , Spiegler Brenda
Published: March 2008

Multimodal therapy for the treatment of childhood cancer has resulted in increased survival rates, yet as growing cohorts of children mature, late effects are becoming apparent. Specifically, brain tumor survivors tend to have poor social skills, peer relationship problems, academic difficulties, and delayed college entry. This article addresses findings specific to the unique experience of childhood cancer survivors as they transition from adolescence to adulthood. Qualitative methods involving focus groups and in-depth interviews with 14 childhood cancer survivors and 22 family members were used. The dialectic of incompetence/competence pervaded all narratives. Contradictory concepts of integration/ isolation, realistic/unrealistic goals, and the need for special help/no help were underscored by respondents. The struggle to deal with these contradictory factors led to the simultaneous resistance and acceptance of feelings of competence.
User-Centered Policy Evaluations of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act
Authors: Jaeger Paul T.
Published: March 2008

The author examines user-centered evaluations of e-government Web sites for compliance with a policy related to persons with disabilities: the requirements of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. Although Section 508 requires that federal e-government sites offer equal access to all users, research indicates that inaccessibility is still prevalent. User-centered evaluation approaches offer a vital way to discover areas of inaccessibility on Web sites related to the requirements of Section 508. Following an overview of accessibility, Section 508, and e-government sites, the goals of evaluation and various approaches to evaluating e-government sites are analyzed. The author then focuses on methods and issues in user-centered evaluations of e-government that measure accessibility, and considerations for universal design and future studies. Sample instruments and example data from a 2006 study of e-government accessibility are included to illustrate methods and issues. Evaluating e-government Web sites can ultimately prove quite informative in ascertaining compliance with laws intended to promote accessibility.
Caregivers' Experiences at Home With a Ventilator-Dependent Child
Authors: Wang Kai-Wei Katherine , Barnard Alan
Published: March 2008

With advancing technology and transformation in health care delivery, more chronically ventilator-dependent children are being discharged to home. Pediatric home health care aims to increase the quality of life of patients and families, decrease cost and duration of hospital stay, and promote community participation in health care delivery. The authors aimed to describe and identify the qualitatively different experiences of primary caregivers who support ventilator-dependent children at home. Through phenomenographic inquiry 17 primary caregivers described their experiences through interviews that were later analyzed using accepted qualitative methods. Seven categories of description and an outcome space were identified, with findings highlighting the unique experience of this group and providing insight into their personal, social, and collective experiences. Outcomes reveal the significant and distinctive nature of understanding and have implications for clinical practice development, health education, policy formulation, social support, and future research in pediatric home health care.
Context-Sensitive Cognitive-Behavioral Supports for Young Children With TBI
Authors: Feeney Timothy J. , Ylvisaker Mark
Published: March 2008

This study produced a second replication of an investigation of the effects of a multicomponent cognitive-behavioral intervention on the challenging behavior of young children with growing behavioral concerns after traumatic brain injury (TBI). The participants were two young elementary-age children with escalating behavior problems after severe TBI. Single-subject reversal designs were used to document the effects of the combined behavioral, cognitive, and executive function intervention on the following: frequency and intensity of aggressive behaviors and amount of work accomplished. The intervention included integrated components of positive behavior supports, cognitive supports (e.g., graphic organizers), and an executive function routine (goal-plan-do-review). Results included reduced frequency and intensity of challenging behaviors and increased quantity of work completed. These two successful single-subject experiments replicated four previously published single-subject experiments demonstrating the potential for successfully treating behavior disorders in young children with TBI using a support-oriented intervention that combines behavioral, cognitive, and executive function components.
Maryland Statewide PBIS Initiative
Authors: Barrett Susan B. , Bradshaw Catherine P. , Lewis-Palmer Teri
Published: March 2008

There is growing interest in positive behavior supports among state departments of education and local school systems as an efficient and effective strategy for addressing students' increasing and intensifying discipline needs. Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is one whole-school prevention strategy that alters the school environment by creating improved systems (e.g., discipline, reinforcement, and data management) and procedures (e.g., collection of office referral data, training, team-based decision making) to promote positive changes in student and teacher behaviors. This article describes a statewide systems approach to the implementation of PBIS. An overview of the PBIS Maryland multilevel implementation model is presented with a focus on school- and district-level structures that support implementation. Preliminary results are presented from the state's summative and formative evaluation being conducted in 467 schools trained in PBIS. The evaluation findings suggest that the state has developed an efficient statewide structure for promoting high-fidelity implementation of PBIS.
Validation of the Contextual Assessment Inventory for Problem Behavior
Authors: Carr Edward G. , Ladd Mara V. , Schulte Christine F.
Published: March 2008

Problem behavior is a major barrier to successful community integration for people with developmental disabilities. Recently, there has been increased interest in identifying contextual factors involving setting events and discriminative stimuli that impact the display of problem behavior. The authors previously developed the Contextual Assessment Inventory and evaluated it for efficiency, comprehensiveness, comprehensibility, and reliability. This study further evaluated this inventory with respect to convergent and predictive validity. Convergent validity was examined for 17 participants with developmental disabilities through a review of community residence log entries that included a record of the contextual events associated with each episode of problem behavior. Predictive validity was evaluated for a subset of 5 participants through direct observation of contextual events. Results indicated that the inventory had both convergent and predictive validity. Implications for extending contextual assessment and using such information to develop intervention strategies are explored.
Systems Change With School-Wide Positive Behavior Supports
Authors: Mass-Galloway Robin L. , Panyan Marion V. , Smith Carl R. , Wessendorf Suana
Published: March 2008

This study reports evaluation data from the statewide School-Wide Positive Behavior Supports (SWPBS) initiative in Iowa. The study shows initial positive results over a 3-year period. The School-Wide Evaluation Tool, Team Implementation Checklist, and office discipline referral data were monitored to assess progress. Suggestions for connecting these implementation efforts to intensive individual supports are proposed.
Information sharing and idea generation in peer to peer online communities: The case of `DIALOGOI'
Authors: Chalkiti Kalotina , Sigala Marianna
Published: March 2008

This paper provides a case study illustrating how information sharing, knowledge creation and learning processes might be fostered in the tourism industry via the peer to peer virtual community of DIALOGOI of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE). Primary data were collected through observation of postings on DIALOGOI (desk study) and questionnaires administered to community participants. The primary data collection of the research paper found that: the virtual community promoted information sharing and idea generation; and members geographically dispersed and working for different sectors managed to communicate asynchronously thus initiating both a social network and yielding usable information which can develop into knowledge once applied in a business context. This research could not comment on the knowledge creation potential of the community as information needs to be applied in a business context to become usable. The authors therefore propose further longitudinal studies of the virtual community.
`I have great desires to look beyond my world': trajectories of information and communication technology use among Ghanaians living abroad
Authors: Burrell Jenna , Anderson Ken
Published: March 2008

Using an ethnographic approach, this study sought to understand how the personal aspirations and social landscapes of Ghanaians living in London shaped their use of a constellation of new information and communication technologies (ICTs) such as camcorders, digital cameras, the internet and mobile phones. Two trajectories of ICT use were discovered among the individuals interviewed. One trajectory fit with the expected transnational practices of cultural continuity and `looking homeward'. This was evident in the way that ICTs such as camcorders supplemented or were incorporated into Ghanaian social events held in London. A second trajectory was evident when Ghanaians enrolled the internet in attempts to realize migratory aspirations, using it to explore the world, broadly searching for opportunities, information, contacts and new ideas. The use of the internet for these exploratory activities revealed how ICTs are relevant to the migration experience beyond attempts to maintain a connection with the homeland.
Social networks and cellphone use in Russia: local consequences of global communication technology
Authors: Lonkila Markku , Gladarev Boris
Published: March 2008

Despite the rapid expansion of cellphone use, academic research has paid little attention to mobile telecommunications in Russia. This article examines the adoption and use of cellphones among young Russian adults through social network data and qualitative interviews conducted in St Petersburg in 2003. The study describes the role of personal networks in the purchasing decision, depicts the practices and social rules of cellphone use and investigates the differences between cellphone and landline phone connections. The results are discussed with reference to social consequences such as the individualizing and controlling effects of cellphone use in post-Soviet Russia.
The digital divide and the theory of optimal slack
Authors: Newholm Terry , Keeling Kathy , McGoldrick Peter , Macaulay Linda , Doherty Joanne
Published: March 2008

The digital divide and exclusion from the knowledge society have become important subjects of government policy. This article compares online communities located in two UK housing estates. Both have relatively high levels of computer literacy but also significant numbers of novices and non-users. It is argued that one estate is achieving a higher level of inclusion because it combines teamwork with optimal levels of organizational slack. Further, this article discusses the optimal conditions for creating an information and communication technology (ICT) learning community and hence contribute to the debate on how best to overcome the digital divide. The possible implications of the findings are explored in terms of policy initiatives.
`Living Flesh': Animal—Human Surfaces
Authors: Broglio Ron
Published: March 2008

While historically animal art served cultural ends toward appropriating and domesticating animals, contemporary art considers the possibility of meeting animals outside of human terrains and outside of cultural ideas about human and animal subjectivity. In such art the relationship between canvas as surface and animal body as surface undoes historical appropriation of the animal. The work of artists Olly and Suzi provides a test case for breaching the divide between human worlding and the `poor in world' or mere surface lives of the animal as explicated by Martin Heidegger. The artists' paper spread out as surface between the animal and the artists creates a contact zone between the surface lives of animals and the work of art. What develops is a productive site for pidgin language that counters human interiority as the space of rational thought.
Romantic Automatism: Art, Technology, and Collaborative Labor in Cold War America
Authors: Turner Fred
Published: March 2008

In the wake of the Second World War, John Cage, Robert Rauschenberg and other members of the New York art world helped transform popular understandings of what it might mean for human beings to work alongside information machines. This article shows how. Drawing on archival research, interviews and a survey of secondary sources, it follows Cage and Rauschenberg from Black Mountain College into their 1960s collaboration with engineers from Bell Laboratories in an organization called Experiments in Art and Technology (or E.A.T.). It then shows how, in 1970, at a Manhattan mansion packed with electronic media and christened `Automation House', E.A.T. modeled a fusion of artistic collaboration and automated labor for the captains of American industry. In the process, the article concludes, E.A.T. helped set the stage for a re-imagining of computing in the workplace as a bohemian practice and of computers as tools for creative, peer-to-peer collaboration.
Caught between Dispensations: Heterogeneity in Early Netherlandish Painting
Authors: Powell Amy
Published: March 2008

This article considers the generic and temporal heterogeneity of a painting titled Holy Family, made by the Antwerp painter Joos van Cleve around 1515. Hans Belting has used Joos's hybrid painting, in which a still life appears before the Virgin and Child, to illustrate where `the era before art' ends and the era of art proper begins, placing the genre of religious icon and the genre of still life on opposing sides of the line separating the medieval from the modern world. It is to Belting's compelling account of the painting that this article responds by asking what is lost in the drawing of such periodizing lines.
Seeing/Loving Animals: André Bazin's Posthumanism
Authors: Fay Jennifer
Published: March 2008

French film theorist André Bazin was fascinated by films in which humans and animals are framed together, especially in circumstances in which the presence of one signals the endangerment of the other. By putting Bazin and two films he admired ( Kon Tiki and Umberto D) in conversation with Jacques Derrida's writing on the animal and Walter Benjamin's infrahuman optics, this article argues that Bazin's commitments to cinematic realism and the recurrence in his writing of human/animal propinquity signal a distinctly posthumanist ethics. Jacques Perrin's Winged Migration realizes Bazin's interest in a cinema that de-centers and even absents the human. It may also be a film that answers Derrida's call that we not just look at animals, but feel ourselves seen by them.
Using Public Relations Strategies to Prompt Populations at Risk to Seek Health Information: The Hanford Community Health Project
Authors: Thomas Gregory D. , Smith Stephen M. , Turcotte Joseph A.
Published: March 2008

The Hanford Community Health Project (HCHP) addressed health concerns among “downwinders” exposed to releases of radioactive iodine (I-131) from the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in the 1940s and 1950s. After developing educational materials and conducting initial outreach, HCHP had to decide whether to apply its limited resources to an advertising or public relations approach. The decision to apply public relations strategies was effective in driving awareness of the risk communication message at the community level, reinvigorating the affected community, and ultimately increasing the number of people who sought information about their risk of exposure and related health issues. HCHP used a series of communication tools to reach out to local and regional media, medical and health professionals, and community organizations. The campaign was successful in increasing the number of unique visitors to HCHP Web site and educating and activating the medical community around the releases of I-131 and patient care choices.
Partnering With Libraries to Promote Walking Among Community-Dwelling Adults: A Kingston Gets Active Pilot Pedometer-Lending Project
Authors: Ryder Holly H. , Faloon Kathryn J. , Lévesque Lucie , McDonald Deanna
Published: March 2008

Most adults do not walk enough to obtain health benefits. Pedometers have been successfully utilized to motivate and increase walking. Given that libraries are a place where community members seek health resources, they are a logical setting for increasing community accessibility to pedometers. The purpose was to examine the feasibility of lending pedometers to library patrons to increase walking. In five Canadian public libraries, 90 pedometers were made available for 6 months. A total of 41 library patrons (33 women, 8 men, age range 18 to 65 or older) completed a survey about their walking patterns and pedometer use. More than 330 loans were made. Chisquare analysis found significant associations between walking and motivation to walk more (p < .05), walking and goal setting (p < .05), and motivation to walk more and setting a walking goal (p < .001). Results provide preliminary evidence that lending pedometers through local libraries is an effective, low-cost approach to enhance walking in community members.
Harnessing Complexity: Taking Advantage of Context and Relationships in Dissemination of School-Based Interventions
Authors: Butler Helen , Bowes Glenn , Drew Sarah , Glover Sara , Godfrey Celia , Patton George , Trafford Lea , Bond Lyndal
Published: March 2008

Schools and school systems are increasingly asked to use evidence-based strategies to promote the health and well-being of students. The dissemination of school-based health promotion research, however, offers particular challenges to conventional approaches to dissemination. Schools and education systems are multifaceted organizations that sit within constantly shifting broader contexts. This article argues that health promotion dissemination needs to be rethought for school communities as complex systems and that this requires understanding and harnessing the dynamic ecology of the sociopolitical context. In developing this argument, the authors draw on their experience of the dissemination process of a multilevel school-based intervention in a complex educational context. Building on this experience, they argue for the need to move beyond conventional dissemination strategies to a focus on active partnerships between developers and users of school-based intervention research and offer a conceptual tool for planning dissemination.
Contextualized Approach to Language and Literacy (Project CALL)
Authors: Culatta Barbara , Hall Kendra , Kovarsky Dana , Theadore Geraldine
Published: March 2008

In a federally funded early literacy project, various instructional activities were embedded into an array of classroom contexts to provide supplemental literacy instruction and to contrast children's engagement and participation in different contexts and participant structures. The study was conducted with English- and Spanish-speaking children from four Head Start classrooms. In a crossover project design, children were trained on similar sets of rhyme and letter targets at different times. Three-way ANOVAs with rhyme and letter difference scores as the dependent variables revealed a significant time-of-test effect for rhyming and significant Time × Order × Set interactions for rhyme and letter generation. Children performed better on trained than untrained targets. Observations of children revealed growth in performance and spontaneity of rhyme skills in classroom contexts. Qualitative analyses documented high levels of engagement, illustrating the value of varying activities and contexts for instruction. Both groups demonstrated their ability to gain from concrete instruction and interactive participation.
Rhyming and Vocabulary
Authors: Stadler Marie A. , Watson Maggie , Skahan Sarah
Published: March 2008

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effect of lexical restructuring on children's phonological awareness. Thirty-three preschool children were assessed for vocabulary skills and ability to detect rhyme. Results supported the lexical restructuring theory because expressive vocabulary abilities were correlated with rhyming ability. However, children's ability to detect rhyme was not affected by neighborhood density (i.e., words from dense neighborhoods contain many similar sounding neighbors such as cat, bat, etc.). These findings provide important information for those who serve children at risk for reading failure.
Outlier Aversion in Subjective Evaluation
Authors: Lee Jungmin
Published: March 2008

The quality of subjective performance evaluation is dependent on the incentive structures evaluators face. Figure skating competitions provide a unique opportunity to study subjective evaluation. Using scoring data from World Figure Skating Championships between 2001 and 2003, I test for the existence of “outlier aversion” in which subjective evaluators avoid submitting outlying judgments. I find that judges manipulate scores to achieve a targeted level of agreement with the other judges. Agreement may not be a good criterion for the validity of an evaluation system, consistent with the recent applied psychology and management literature.
Earnings, Performance, and Nationality Discrimination in a Highly Competitive Labor Market as An Analysis of the English Professional Soccer League
Authors: Pedace Roberto
Published: March 2008

This article tests for the existence of nationality discrimination in the English professional soccer league. Although wage equations have typically been used by labor economists to identify discrimination, the approach may be plagued by unobserved productivity characteristics that are correlated with race and ethnicity, resulting in biased estimates of discrimination. This paper utilizes a "market test" approach to determine the existence of nationality discrimination. The results provide some evidence that players from South America may receive preferential labor market treatment, but this is only evident in the Premier (or highest) division of the league. In addition, this labor market discrimination appears to be a rational response from owners who observe increased attendance with a larger presence of South American players.
Proliferation is not increased in airway myofibroblasts isolated from asthmatics
Authors: Ward J. E. , Harris T. , Bamford T. , Mast A. , Pain M. C. F. , Robertson C. , Smallwood D. , Tran T. , Wilson J. , Stewart A. G.
Published: March 2008

Airway mesenchymal cells, such as myofibroblasts and airway smooth muscle cells, contribute to inflammation, airway remodelling and hyperresponsiveness in asthma by excessive proliferation and inflammatory mediator production.

Using endobronchial biopsies obtained from both nonasthmatic and asthmatic subjects,in situproliferation was assessed by immunostaining for cyclin D1. The number of immunoreactive cells increased with asthma severity and was restricted to the epithelium and subepithelial connective tissue. Despite increases in smooth muscle area, cyclin D1 was not detected in cells in intact muscle bundles.

Biopsy-derived cell cultures were characterised as predominantly myofibroblasts, and were assessed to determine whether proliferation and cytokine production varied with asthma status. Cell enumeration showed that basal proliferation was similar in cells from nonasthmatics and asthmatics, and mitogenic responses to fibroblast growth factor-2, thrombin or serum were either reduced or unchanged in cells from asthmatics. Interleukin (IL)-1-dependent granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor and IL-8 release was increased in cell supernatants from asthmatics.

Thus, increased rates of cellular proliferation identifiedin situin the asthmatic airway occurred outside the expanded smooth muscle compartment. Although reduced proliferative responses were observed in cultured myofibroblasts from asthmatics, the increased cytokine production by these cells suggests that this contributes to and may perpetuate ongoing inflammation in asthma.