bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
cAPK‐phosphorylation controls the interaction of the regulatory domain of cardiac myosin binding protein C with myosin‐S2 in an on‐off fashion
Authors: Gruen Mathias , Prinz Heino , Gautel Mathias
Published: July 2002

Myosin binding protein C is a protein of the myosin filaments of striated muscle which is expressed in isoforms specific for cardiac and skeletal muscle. The cardiac isoform is phosphorylated rapidly upon adrenergic stimulation of myocardium by cAMP‐dependent protein kinase, and together with the phosphorylation of troponin‐I and phospholamban contributes to the positive inotropy that results from adrenergic stimulation of the heart. Cardiac myosin binding protein C is phosphorylated by cAMP‐dependent protein kinase on three sites in a myosin binding protein C specific N‐terminal domain which binds to myosin‐S2. This interaction with myosin close to the motor domain is likely to mediate the regulatory function of the protein. Cardiac myosin binding protein C is a common target gene of familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and most mutations encode N‐terminal subfragments of myosin binding protein C. The understanding of the signalling interactions of the N‐terminal region is therefore important for understanding the pathophysiology of myosin binding protein C associated cardiomyopathy. We demonstrate here by cosedimentation assays and isothermal titration calorimetry that the myosin‐S2 binding properties of the myosin binding protein C motif are abolished by cAMP‐dependent protein kinase‐mediated tris‐phosphorylation, decreasing the S2 affinity from a K
d of ≈5 μM to undetectable levels. We show that the slow and fast skeletal muscle isoforms are no cAMP‐dependent protein kinase substrates and that the S2 interaction of these myosin binding protein C isoforms is therefore constitutively on. The regulation of cardiac contractility by myosin binding protein C therefore appears to be a ‘brake‐off’ mechanism that will free a specific subset of myosin heads from sterical constraints imposed by the binding to the myosin binding protein C motif.
Immunolocalization of cyclooxygenase‐2 in the macula densa of human elderly
Authors: Nantel François , Meadows Emily , Denis Danielle , Connolly Brett , Metters Kathleen M. , Giaid Adel
Published: July 2002

To gain insight into the role of prostanoids in human kidney function, we examined the distribution of cyclooxygenase (COX) 1 and COX‐2 by immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry in human kidneys from adults of various age groups. COX‐1 was detected in the collecting ducts, thin loops of Henle and portions of the renal vasculature. COX‐2 was detected in the renal vasculature, medullary interstitial cells, and the macula densa. In addition, COX‐2 immunoreactivity was noted in afferent arteries and the macula densa of the renal cortex and was more evident in the kidneys of older adults.
Inhibition of infection of incoming HIV‐1 virus by RNA‐cleaving DNA enzyme
Authors: Zhang Xiaoyan , Xu Younong , Ling Hong , Hattori Toshio
Published: July 2002

Nine different DNA enzymes (DzV3‐n, n=1–9) targeting the V3 loop region of HIV‐1 HXB2 were synthesized. One of those, DzV3‐9, efficiently cleaved the target in the conserved sequence in the RNA transcript in vitro. DzV3‐9 was stable in the cells and inhibited replication of both NL432 and SF162 strains in U87 cells expressing CD4 and co‐receptors. The inhibitory effect of DNAzyme on incoming HIV‐1 was also demonstrated with pseudotype virions generated by NL432‐based luciferase reporter genes. Thus, an efficient, stable DNAzyme against a functionally important region of HIV‐1 was identified, and it may be useful for prevention of HIV‐1 infection.
Outcome of 1040 consecutive breech deliveries: clinical experience of a maternity hospital in Turkey
Authors: Erkaya S , Tuncer R.A , Kutlar Ï , Onat N , Erçakmak S
Published: July 2002

Objective: To determine the optimal route of delivery in breech presentation. Method: One‐thousand and forty singleton breech deliveries among a total of 41 785 deliveries that occurred at Zübeyde Hanim Maternity Hospital between 1990 and 1994 were analyzed. Result: The breech deliveries accounted for 2.4% of all deliveries. Of the patients, 572 (56.3%) were delivered vaginally and 468 (43.7%) were delivered by cesarean section. The mean ages of vaginal and cesarean delivery groups were 25.2 and 24.6 years, respectively. Forty‐one (3.9%) of the fetuses had congenital anomaly. The leading congenital anomalies were meningocele in seven and hydrocephalus in six patients. Mullerian anomalies were encountered in 29 (6.1%) patients at cesarean section. Fetal morbidity observed in cesarean deliveries were fracture of the humerus in one and fracture of the femur in one and soft tissue injury in four cases. Fracture of the humerus was observed in two, Erb's paralysis in four, facial paralysis in one and soft tissue injury in 43 fetuses delivered vaginally. The leading causes of puerperal maternal morbidity were genital tract lacerations in vaginal delivery group and wound infection in cesarean delivery group. The overall perinatal mortality of this series was 54.8/1000 (57/1040). The corrected figures for cesarean delivery and vaginal delivery groups were 8.5/1000 (4/467) and 57.9/1000 (32/552), respectively. Conclusion: We favor a selective approach for mode of delivery in patients with breech presentation in order to balance the fetal morbidity associated with vaginal delivery and maternal morbidity and cost associated with cesarean delivery.
Upper genital‐tract screening with hysterosonography in patients receiving donated oocytes
Authors: Lindheim S.R. , Sauer M.V.
Published: July 2002

Objective: To compare the results of sonohysterography (SHG) for imaging of the uterine cavity to hysterosalpingogram (HSG) and hysterscopy (HSC) in order to assess its clinical utility for recipients of donated oocyte. Method: From January 1996 to December 1996, we evaluated all patients (n = 50) referred for ovum donation using SHG and compared the results with HSG obtained within 6 months of SHG. Patients having either an abnormal SHG of HSG underwent HSC for confirmation and treatment. SHG was routinely performed during the early follicular phase using 10 cc saline instilled through an intracervical H‐S catheter with concurrent vaginal sonography. Result: Pathology was observed and confirmed in 19 cases (38%) including polyps (n = 10, 52.6%), submucosal myomas (n = 7, 36.8%), intrauterine adhesions (n = 1, 5.3%) and bicornuate uterus (n = 1, 5.3%). SHG and HSG were concordant in 46 cases (95.8%) of which in 29 (60.4%) a normal cavity was observed, while four studies (8%) did not agree. Two polyps were missed on HSG, while two SHGs incorrectly diagnosed a calcified myoma and an endometrial fold. Using HSC for definitive identification, the accuracy of SHG was 90%, and similar to HSG. Conclusion: SHG appears both sensitive and highly predictive for evaluating pathology of the endometrial cavity and appears to be as effective as HSG. Advantages of SHG include improved imaging or uterine pathology, cost, greater patient comfort and the avoidance of radiation. Routine SHG of recipients uncovered a high incidence of abnormalities in older women and underscores the need to evaluate the uterine cavity prior to ovum donation.
Implementing family planning programs in developing countries: lessons and reflections from four decades of Population Council Experience
Authors: Catley‐Carlson Margaret
Published: July 2002

Over the last three decades, contraceptive prevalence has risen from about 10% to nearly 60% in developing countries, but still about 1 in 4 births in developing countries (outside China) is unwanted. More than 120 million women in these countries who do not want to become pregnant do not use contraceptives. Nearly 600 000 women die each year from pregnancy‐related causes, between 67 000 and 204 000 of them from unsafe abortions. At the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, delegates endorsed the view long advocated by the Population Council: the primary purpose of family planning programs should be to help women avoid unwanted pregnancy and achieve their fertility goals safely. That means, at the very least, that programs should address those reproductive health issues that are directly related to fertility regulation. To meet the Cairo challenge, progress is needed simultaneously on several levels. We need more and better contraceptive technologies that meet the needs of different groups; higher‐quality family planning services; more outreach to underserved groups (such as men and adolescents); programs tailored to local cultures; and measures to address all the factors that prevent women who do not want to become pregnant from using contraceptives. The call for a client‐centered, reproductive health approach to family planning constitutes a critique of programs driven by demographic goals. The new family planning paradigm puts a premium on ‘quality of care’. Unfortunately, many family planning programs still fall substantially short of offering clients reproductive choice and supporting their reproductive health. The Population Council takes the view that contraceptive research and development is an essential component of a multilevel strategy to reduce unwanted fertility safely. New products, used ethically and provided with quality, would be of tremendous benefit to women and men throughout the world. The Population Council has developed, registered, and licensed seven products, including some of the most widely used contraceptives in the world. The Council is also one of the world centers for research on male reproductive physiology and male contraception. New contraceptive methods are only as good as the context in which they are offered. To accelerate the pace of overall fertility decline, governments must adopt policies that reduce the economic and social risks associated with having smaller families, and policies that promote later and planned childbearing.
HIV and women in Thailand: severity and services
Authors: Koetsawang S. , Auamkul N.
Published: July 2002

Thailand has extensive data on the emergence of HIV and aggressive prevention programs to prevent the spread of the disease. The increasing HIV infection among women who desire pregnancy increases the number of HIV‐infected infants. Standard guidelines for HIV testing include that the test should be voluntary, counseling should be given before and after testing, the test results should be kept strictly confidential, AIDS education should be provided for all hospital personnel, and an appropriate hospital policy on AIDS is in place. In HIV positive women decisions about pregnancy termination or continuation is usually made by both husband and wife after counseling about the possibility of perinatal transmission. The current practices in Thailand of patient care, antenatal care, management of labor, breast feeding and contraceptive practice are reviewed.
Invasive carcinoma of the uterine cervix in Iran
Authors: Haghdel M , Ardakany M.S , Zeighami B
Published: July 2002

Objective: To review diagnostic aspects, treatment measures and pathologic findings in patients diagnosed and treated for invasive cervical carcinoma in Shiraz University of Medical Sciences hospitals. Method: The hospital records of all patients admitted to the Shiraz University of Medical Sciences affiliated hospitals (Nemazee and Saadi hospitals) with newly diagnosed carcinoma of the uterine cervix between January 1985 and December 1995, were reviewed. Results: 204 newly diagnosed patients were admitted with invasive cervical carcinoma of which 61 (30%) were in stage I (FIGO), 96 (47%) in stage II, 34 (16.6%) in stage III and 13 (6%) in stage IV of the disease. Of these 204, the given treatments included surgery in 88 patients, internal and external pelvic radiotherapy in 141, both hysterectomy and pelvic radiotherapy in 22, chemotherapy in eight and cryotherapy in one patient. We found significantly positive relations with stage of the disease and chest roentgenogram (P<0.02), intravenous pyelogram (P<0.0002), sigmoidoscopy (P<0.006) and cystoscopy (P<0.0045). Of the total number of pathologic specimens, squamous cell carcinoma was reported in 88% and adenocarcinoma in 11%. Recurrence rates of up to 15.5% for stage II and 5% for stage I were calculated. Among the complications for which hospital admission was required, genito‐urinary complications were the most frequent. Conclusion: The recurrence rate in stage I is lower than the estimated recurrence risk in several other studies which can be due to a real advantage of the center's practice. This may pose the question of indispensability for the advanced and expensive diagnostic paraclinical work‐ups.
Firm characteristics, total quality management, and financial performance
Authors: Hendricks Kevin B , Singhal Vinod R
Published: July 2002

This paper uses a sample of quality award winners to empirically test hypotheses that relate changes in operating income associated with effective implementation of total quality management (TQM) to various firm characteristics. The characteristics examined are firm size, the degree of capital intensity, the degree of diversification, the timing of TQM implementation, and the maturity of the program. We find that smaller firms do significantly better than larger firms. Firms that have won awards from independent award (a proxy for more mature TQM implementation) do significantly better than just supplier award winners. The evidence weakly supports the hypotheses that less capital‐intensive firms do better than more capital‐intensive firms, and more focused firms do better than more diversified firms. Finally, we do not observe any significant differences between the performance of earlier and later implementers of effective TQM.

The key implications of these results are that many organizational characteristics moderate the benefits of TQM implementation. Although not all of these characteristics are controllable by managers, managers must set realistic expectations for the degree of benefits from TQM. The results for size and capital‐intensity validate the importance of TQM practices for smaller firms and environments that are more labor intensive. Investing to achieve a broader, deeper, and more mature TQM implementation (possibly by targeting an independent TQM award) should also result in higher benefits from TQM implementation. Furthermore, the results indicate that it is never too late to invest in TQM.
Hopes for the future of operations management
Authors: Meredith Jack R.
Published: July 2002

Operations Management has a much longer history than our sister functions in business: finance, marketing, accounting, etc. Yet, we still struggle with fewer majoring students, fewer and newer journals, less academic respect, greater student fear, and fewer professors. Yet, most of the physical and human assets in real‐world organizations are still in the operations function and most of the excitement in industry lies in the operations area: TQM, JIT, supply chain management, ERP, mass customization, and so on. This paper will address some hopes for our future regarding practice, teaching, and research.
Process‐technology fit and its implications for manufacturing performance
Authors: Das Ajay , Narasimhan Ram
Published: July 2002

This study investigates the issue of fit between process environment and advanced manufacturing technology, and its impact on manufacturing and business performance. We find that different process environments tend to align advanced manufacturing technology investments in distinct profiles, which are associated with superior performance. Deviations from these ‘ideal’ profiles are shown to have a negative impact on manufacturing performance. The findings also suggest that firms are not fully exploiting the potential afforded by AMT investments to compete in off‐diagonal positions in the Hayes–Wheelwright framework.
Processes with nearly‐sequential routings: a comparative analysis
Authors: Monahan George E , Smunt Timothy L
Published: July 2002

Recent advances in automated technology have made it possible to incorporate many of the benefits of flow lines in the production of low‐to‐medium volume products found in a batch environment. The use of automated technology and cellular manufacturing tends to induce flows that are nearly sequential—the level of flow dominance is high, but it is not as high as the level associated with a pure flow shop. While a number of prior research studies have examined the performance of specific process configurations, such as those associated with cellular manufacturing, group technology and flexible manufacturing systems, ours is the first to analyze the effects of flow dominance in a more general setting. In this paper, we study the effect on process performance of slight departures from purely‐sequential flows. To obtain generalizable results, we use a full factorial simulation experiment to examine both the main and interaction effects of product attributes, such as the number of products and job size, and of process attributes, such as operation‐time variance, setup time, parallel processing capability and flow dominance. Our results provide insights into the performance of a wide variety of batch production processes, including, as special cases, cellular manufacturing, jobs shops, and flow shops. We show that the performance of such systems, as measured by average flow times and flow time variance, can be substantially improved by eliminating even a small number of remaining non‐standard routings, particularly when setup times are moderate‐to‐high or operation‐time variation is low‐to‐moderate.
Order review/release in the absence of adherence to formal scheduling policies
Authors: Philipoom Patrick R , Fry Timothy D
Published: July 2002

In many plants, the performance of shop floor workers is measured by accounting‐based productivity criteria. Such systems encourage workers to maximize their individual performance, often at the expense of total shop performance. One such company, Union Switch & Signal, a manufacturer of railroad equipment, has decided to increase finished goods inventory in an effort to counteract poor due date performance. Management at Union Switch & Signal feel that workers not following priorities contribute significantly to this poor performance. It has been suggested that the controlled release of jobs into the shop, i.e., Order Review/Release (ORR), may provide the operations manager a vehicle for enforcing job priorities when formal dispatching rules are not strictly followed by workers. In this study, two ORR methodologies are studied in regards to their ability to offset the dysfunctional behavior by workers who seek to maximize their own individual productivity. This type of behavior was captured by simulating the phenomenon of ‘cherry picking’. Cherry picking occurs when a job is selected for processing based not on its formal priority but on the difference in standard allowable processing time and actual processing time. Results suggest that at least one ORR methodology is able to reduce the difference in resulting labor productivity while improving overall shop performance.
2′3′cyclic nucleotide 3′phosphodiesterase immunohistochemistry shows an impairment on myelin compaction in hypothyroid rats
Authors: Barradas Penha C. , Ferraz Alessandra S. , Ferreira Andréa A. , Daumas Regina P. , Moura Egberto G.
Published: July 2002

The effects of hypothyroidism on oligodendroglial differentiation and myelination are for the first time studied by immunohistochemical localization of an early oligodendroglial marker, the 2′3′cyclic nucleotide 3′phosphodiesterase (E.C. 3.1.4.37‐CNPase), in developing rats. Two groups received methimazol; one during gestation (H) and another postnatally (PN). One H sub‐group received thyroxine after birth (T). We observed a delay in CNPase expression followed by a decrease in the number of CNPase immunoreactive fibers in both H and PN groups. The T sub‐group was not different from controls. Furthermore, the immunoreactive fibers, in mature hypothyroid animals, showed a continuous pattern of staining in contrast with a discontinuous one in controls.

Myelinogenesis is a highly regulated timed event. CNPase links myelin related proteins to the cytoskeleton also interacting with membrane lipids during extension and wrapping of the oligodendroglial process around the axon (ensheathment phase). In mature myelinated fiber the CNPase is absent from compact myelin sheath, being located only in the inner and outer loops and in paranodal loops. Thus, our data suggest a disorder in myelin compaction and point once more to the post‐natal period as critical for the mechanisms that are thyroid hormone regulated in myelinogenesis.
Differential changes of nicotinic receptors in the ratbrain following ibotenic acid and 192‐IgG saporin lesionsof the nucleus basalis magnocellularis
Authors: Bednar Ivan , Zhang Xiao , Dastranj‐sedghi Ramez , Nordberg Agneta
Published: July 2002

The basal forebrain cholinergic neurons are implicated in the pathogenesis ofneurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease (AD). The nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) have been found to besignificantly afflicted in AD. To study the underlying mechanisms for dysfunction of the basalforebrain cholinergic neurons development of suitable animal models is warranted. In this studywe investigated the effects of bilateral lesions of the nucleus basalis magnocellularis on nAChRs inthe rat brain using the cholinergic system selective immunotoxin 192‐IgG saporin andnon‐selective excitotoxin ibotenic acid. Changes in nAChRs were measured by 3H‐cytisineand 3H‐epibatidine, two ligands with different selectivity for nAChRs subtypes. Inthe parietal cortex of ibotenic acid lesioned rates, the choline acetyltransferase activity (ChAT)was decreased by 24% while no changes were detected in the frontal cortex or hippocampus.Similarly, a 40% decrease was observed in the number of nAChRs labelled by 3H‐cytisine,but not by 3H‐epibatidine, in the parietal cortex, while no changes were found in thefrontal cortex or hippocampus. Although the 192‐IgG saporin induced lesions reduced the ChATactivity in the frontal cortex, parietal cortex and hippocampus by 77, 50 and 21%, respectively, nochanges were observed in the number of nAChRs as studied by 3H‐cytisine or 3H‐epibatidine. The results indicate a difference in vulnerability of the cortical nAChRsubtypes to experimental lesions of the nucleus basalis magnocellularis. The findings in this studysuggest that a major portion of the nAChRs might be located on non‐cholinergic neurons in thebrain.
Childhood sexual abuse. An evaluation of a two-year group therapy in adult women
Authors: Lundqvist G. , Öjehagen A.
Published: July 2002

Twenty-two female psychiatric outpatients with experiences of childhood sexual abuse took part in a two-year group therapy. All completed therapy. At the end of therapy the women’s psychiatric symptoms were reduced and their social interaction and adjustment were improved. They evaluated relationships to their children, partners and friends to be improved.
Seasonal distribution of births in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and elderly depressive patients
Authors: Ptok U. , Papassotiropoulos A. , Maier W. , Heun R.
Published: July 2002

Winter births have been associated with a higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other psychiatric disorders. In the present investigation, this putative association was examined in a sample of gerontopsychiatric patients. An analysis of the quarterly birth rates of 83 patients with AD, 78 elderly depressive patients with an early onset and 74 patients with a late onset of the depressive disorder, 48 patients with both AD and depression (co-morbid patients) and 107 healthy control subjects, revealed no particular seasonal distribution for any of the diagnostic groups. In AD and co-morbid patients, controlling for the ApoE genotype did not change this finding. Logistic regression analysis revealed the expected findings that increasing age and the presence of the ApoE4 allele were associated with a higher risk of dementia. Younger age and female gender were identified as risk factors for a depressive disorder. A winter birth (birth in the first three months of the year) was not associated with any of the diagnostic subgroups.

We concluded that in our sample a seasonal distribution of births was not found to increase the risk for AD or geriatric depression.
Co-morbidity of personality disorders in individuals with substance use disorders
Authors: Verheul R.
Published: July 2002

This review summarizes the recent literature about personality disorders among substance abusers. First, it will be shown that personality disorders are highly prevalent co-morbid conditions among addicted individuals. Second, it is argued that this co-morbidity is likely to be accounted for by multiple complex etiological relationships. Finally, the clinical relevance of routine assessment of (maladaptive) personality traits in individuals admitting for substance abuse treatment will be discussed.
The effects of diazepam on self-informed arousal and sustained attention
Authors: Sierra JC , Buela-Casal G
Published: July 2002

The use of benzodiazepines seems to be associated with a deficit in the levels of arousal and attention during vigil. A number of studies have found residual effects a few hours after the intake of these drugs. This paper assesses the effects of a single dose of 10 mg diazepam on self-informed arousal (as evaluated with the Stanford Sleepiness Scale) and sustained attention (as evaluated with the Toulouse Piéron test) the morning after oral intake (11 hours later). Potential differences in the residual effects of benzodiazepines on men and women were also examined. A sample of 42 healthy young university students (21 female, 21 male) was exposed to three counterbalanced experimental conditions (control, placebo, diazepam). Diazepam only caused a reduction in arousal in women, and this deficit was similar to that caused by the intake of a placebo.
Seasonality of births in affective disorder in an Irish population
Authors: Clarke M , Keogh F , Murphy PT , Morris M , Larkin C , Walsh D , O’Callaghan E
Published: July 2002

Seasonal variation in the births of patients with schizophrenia is a consistently replicated epidemiological finding. Few studies have investigated this phenomenon among patients with a diagnosis of affective disorder. The majority of season of birth studies have employed the chi square test for statistical analysis, a method that has been subject to some criticism. Using a Kolgomorov-Smirnov type statistic, the quarterly birth distribution of 6,646 patients with an ICD 9/10 diagnosis of affective disorder were compared to the general population. Only the births of those individuals with unipolar forms of affective disorder (n = 4,393) differed significantly from the general population, with significant excesses and deficits in the second quarter and fourth quarter respectively. These results were not altered by application of the displacement test. © 1998 Elsevier, Paris
Listing of put options: Is there any volatility effect?
Authors: Chaudhury Mohammed , Elfakhami Said
Published: July 2002

This paper examines the effects of Canadian put option listings on the volatility of the underlying stocks. It also tests whether the “liquidity hypothesis” can explain the cross‐sectional effect, if any, of option listing. According to this hypothesis, option listing enhances the liquidity of the market for the underlying stock, and should lead to a lower variance for the optioned stock. Our results show that Canadian put options are not redundant when it comes to influencing the volatility of the underlying stocks. The evidence shows a decrease in the beta risk following the listing of put option. The evidence also shows a decrease in the variance following earlier put option listings. Cross‐sectionally, we find indirect support for increased liquidity leading to a variance‐ stabilization effect.
EVIDENCE‐BASED DIABETES SCREENING DURING PREGNANCY
Authors: Carr Catherine A.
Published: July 2002

The concept of gestational diabetes was described more than a half century ago and has been studied extensively for more than 30 years. Available data indicate that the prevalence is highly variable, probably reflecting underlying risk factors. In addition, gestational diabetes is not a specific disease, but rather an abnormal laboratory value. Criteria for diagnosis are variable, and there is little agreement about who should be screened, if screening should be selective or universal, or how screening should be performed. Moreover, the most commonly used criteria in the United States differ from the European and World Health Organization standard criteria. This article describes the background for diabetes testing, current evidence for testing and diagnosis in pregnant women, “risks” of diagnosis, and various screening procedures and protocols, using data‐based evidence when available. Midwifery practice recommendations are also made, including examination of risk factors as clinical decisions are made about guidelines.
EVIDENCE‐BASED PRACTICE IN WOMEN'S HEALTH: HORMONE THERAPY FOR WOMEN AT MENOPAUSE
Authors: Rousseau Mary Ellen
Published: July 2002

Women's health providers, especially midwives, must take into account the known benefits and risks, as well as the “unknown,” when recommending the use of hormone therapy for menopausal women, especially as it relates to heart disease, breast cancer, impaired cognition, and osteoporosis. The most recent evidence available from various studies about the benefits and risks of estrogen and hormone therapy at menopause suggests that, although hormone therapy may be protective in some women against heart disease and osteoporosis, evidence is less certain about the benefits of hormone protection against impaired cognition and the risks of breast cancer with use. The clinical approach used by midwives in which individualizing care based on each woman's health status history as well as preferences is highly appropriate for women in the perimenopausal and menopausal period.
Artificial Intelligence
Authors: Berson Josh
Published: November 2020

In March 2016, Microsoft launched a bot, a natural language software automaton, on Twitter under the screen name @TayandYou. “Tay” was an effort to build goodwill with Millennial social media users, but it was also a serious experiment in allowing a software agent to evolve under unconstrained natural‐language input from hundreds of thousands of speakers. The results were not encouraging. Within 24 hours, Tay's maintainers were forced to take the bot offline after a loose cadre of users centered on the 4chan discussion board /pol/ took control of the bot's tone, flooding it with racist, sexist, and right‐wing conspiracy theory messages until Tay started broadcasting variants on those messages to its more than 200,000 followers. Tay is but one example of how language haunts artificial, or machine, intelligence. This entry considers the history of efforts to operationalize language in such a way as to make it amenable to a machine generation. As a rule these efforts start by excluding pragmatics from the set of phenomena that make language distinctive. We address the persistence of the information processing view of language in the face of failures such as Tay and recent critiques from the philosophy of embodied cognition.
Attention (and Joint Attention)
Authors: Haviland John B.
Published: November 2020

Joint attention is a term used to label episodes in which an infant and a caregiver concurrently attend, visually, to an external object, each sharing consciousness of the fact that the other is also attending. It is claimed to be a central element in word learning, by which a child comes to realize that the object in question is named or described by an interlocutor's words. It is also considered an important diagnostic for the child's growing awareness of another's “mind,” capable of attention distinct from the child's own. The complexities of joint attention in human interaction, however, extend well beyond such a static and limited canonical case, to include other sensory modalities, involving attention over sometimes extended time spans, and implying transformations and reconstruals of the “object” attended to, including its possible conjoint and collaborative constitution by multiple participants through different linguistic modalities, including sign language.
Austin, J.L. (John Langshaw)
Authors: Khor Su Yin
Published: November 2020

John Langshaw Austin (1911–1960) was a British philosopher whose work contributed to the understanding of philosophy and language. In his work on language, he is mostly known for his work on
speech acts
. He presented this theory at Harvard University in 1955 as part of the William James Lectures, and subsequently, and portions of it were later published in
How to Do Things with Words
(1962), his most influential work. Specifically, Austin argued that language is used to accomplish actions rather than only making assertions, so‐called performative utterances. Thus, the truth value of an utterance is not the only aspect that is central to meaning making. Austin's theory makes a distinction between different aspects of speech acts: locutionary acts, illocutionary acts, and perlocutionary acts. By analyzing multiple levels of an utterance, Austin's work inspired future generations of linguists who further developed his theories on language and speech acts.
Avoidance
Authors: Basso Ellen B.
Published: November 2020

Descriptions of avoidance practices began with the writings of some of the earliest world travelers. Considerable interest in life in unfamiliar societies involved attempts to understand the reasons for the communicative and social isolation from their subjects of kings and aristocrats. Freud's discussion of “taboo” connected such avoidance practices with behaviors of European neurotics. Early modernist anthropologists such as A.R. Radcliffe‐Brown and Margaret Mead used the technique of participant observation to connect avoidance practices observed among kinsmen in local communities with what they learned were attempts to prevent dangerous speech and behavior among the participants. Scholars of the next generation began studying avoidance in terms of the discursive contexts in which it appeared: narrative, oratory, poetry, joking, impolite abuse, and ritual communications. More language‐focused research now focuses upon the connections between avoidance and other preoccupations of speakers such as honorification and triadic communication, and what happens in these societies when avoidance rules are violated.
Bateson, Gregory
Authors: Stanlaw James
Published: November 2020

Gregory Bateson (1904–1980) was one of the world's most original social scientists of the twentieth century. He made lasting contributions to information theory, animal communication, psychiatry, ecology, culture theory, semiotics, cybernetics, and visual anthropology.
Bilingualism and Multilingualism
Authors: Wei Li
Published: November 2020

Bilingualism and multilingualism in very general terms are about the coexistence and co‐use of two or more languages in and by individuals and communities. Studies of bilingualism and multilingualism have become a well‐established, vast, and highly multidisciplinary field. Researchers have examined the causes and sources of bilingualism and multilingualism, the processes of using and managing multiple languages, and the consequences of bilingualism and multilingualism for the individual and for society. This entry reviews some of the core issues that bilingualism and multilingualism research has explored, beginning with the discussion of the notions of language and language contact. The main body of the entry examines bilingualism and multilingualism as a societal phenomenon and as an individual phenomenon. It concludes with a discussion of multilingualism and language contact in the twenty‐first century.
Code‐mixing and Code‐switching
Authors: Nilep Chad
Published: November 2020

Code‐mixing or code‐switching is the use of more than one language or variety within a single communication event. Various information is signaled by the choice of language or by switching from one variety to another. This may include the structure of the ongoing interaction, the relevant social context, or elements of the speakers' identities highlighted in the interaction. Research on language mixing or code‐switching developed in the mid‐twentieth century, following occasional work on language mixing in the preceding century. Linguists have explored constraints on code‐switching within a sentence, as well as the phonological and grammatical structure of borrowed or switched forms. Work in linguistic anthropology and related fields reveals various ways that language choice and code‐switching signal or create context in interaction. Language users select from their repertoires to highlight elements of identity or to negotiate relevant social roles. Future directions in research include understanding language use in diverse or globalized settings, and challenging views of normative monolingualism against more complex language behavior.
Cognitive Linguistics
Authors: Goddard Cliff
Published: November 2020

Cognitive linguistics is a broad movement in linguistics whose main unifying ideas are to put meaning (= conceptualization) at the center of language description, and to make language description realistic from a cognitive point of view. This entry outlines the major approaches that are relevant to linguistic anthropology, maps out their differences, samples some exemplary work, and discusses current and future trends.
Collection‐based Analysis
Authors: Kendall Tyler
Published: November 2020

Linguistic anthropology and its allied disciplines make use of many kinds of data, including audio and video recordings and written texts. Data collections can vary from formal “corpora” to small datasets, and from public, published resources to data collected by individual researchers for their own use. Regardless of their size or format, data collections are crucial for empirical research. Data collections are comprised of the raw data, annotations, and metadata/mark up. Both qualitative and quantitative methods are useful for collection‐based analysis. This entry reviews types of data collections, types of annotation and mark up, and techniques used for analyzing data collections.
Constituency
Authors: Sobin Nicholas
Published: November 2020

A constituent (also called a phrase) is a sequence of one or more words within a sentence which behaves as a single entity. Constituents are revealed by the various ways that sentences can be manipulated. That is, when word sequences in a sentence can be moved, coordinated with other elements, or substituted for by single words such as pronouns, these manipulations are carried out on constituents rather than on random single words or arbitrary word sequences. This organization of the words of a sentence into a hierarchic, recursive arrangement of constituents/phrases is fundamental to understanding other properties of human language, such as the fact that the speaker of any human language has access to any of infinitely many possible sentences.
Crossing
Authors: Rampton Ben
Published: November 2020

Crossing involves the use of a language or variety that feels anomalously “other” for the participants in an activity, involving movement across quite sharply sensed social or ethnic boundaries, in ways that can raise questions of legitimacy. It has been widely described in multi‐ethnic neighborhoods, as well in the popular culture and mass and new media, and it requires detailed interactional sociolinguistic analysis. Crossing differs from stylization in raising questions about the speaker's right to use the code they have shifted into, and it differs from code‐switching in creating or emerging in moments and activities when the ordinary commonsense world is partially suspended (performance art, games, and interaction rituals). In recent work, it has also been described in classrooms where students are learning the language of a former enemy.
Genre
Authors: Maxwell Judith M.
Published: November 2020

Speaking is a quintessential human practice, as is classification. As one learns a language one learns to identify and classify one's surroundings. One learns which domestic quadrupeds are cats and which are dogs. One also learns what kinds of speaking are sweet talk and baby talk or sass and “lip.” Speakers of all languages identify different kinds of speaking and writing, each kind having its own structural and social properties. Identified types of speech/writing are genres. These may vary from culture to culture, from language group to language group. Popular genres reflect the cultural norms of their period. New genres emerge along with new media; old genres may recede as societal focus shifts.
Interjection
Authors: Brody Mary Jill
Published: November 2020

Interjections constitute a heterogeneous, open class of small words, combinations of words, or conventionally meaningful sounds. They are characterized by their ability to stand alone as a complete utterance and their frequent occurrence in spoken language; they carry context‐sensitive pragmatic meaning and are often associated with emotions and turn taking in conversation. Interjections are found in all languages; while some universals have been noted, most are distinctive in sound and meaning to a particular language. Previously considered as the least important of the parts of speech, in that they are not necessary parts of sentences, interjections have recently become a focus of study, especially in interactive discourse and corpus studies. Interjections are best understood as part of a continuum from natural sound to conventional phrase.
Kinesics and Gesture
Authors: Gilbert Kristin Enola
Published: November 2020

This entry discusses the use of co‐occurring manual gestures that integrate with the verbal modality in co‐present interaction. Omitting this dimension of language from investigation leaves us with an incomplete and impoverished understanding of the sociocultural order and the composite meanings embedded in it. When we communicate we not only use speech but co‐occurring movements of the hands and body. This entry provides an introductory overview of gesture studies from its origins to the present and considers the integration of language and gesture as a sociocultural performance and construction of identity. After an overview of gesture and gesture classifications, I discuss broader dimensions of multimodal semiosis and the communicative resources we bring to bear on the production and reception of the interaction order.
Modernity and Tradition
Authors: Barakos Elisabeth
Published: November 2020

This entry will examine some of the key understandings of the relationship between tradition and modernity in the context of linguistic anthropological enquiries. Focus is placed on the conditions and tensions produced by tradition and modernity, and how these concepts as discursive constructs classify and stratify society, institutions, linguistic practices, and speakers. Exemplifications from minority language contexts are imbedded, and the implications of using the traditional/modern dichotomy for the policy and practice surrounding minority languages and speakers will be discussed. Finally, the current shift to the project of late modernity as a response to rising forces of globalization and neoliberalism are addressed. Its implications for the shifting traditional and modern value allocations to language are detailed and its consequences for new avenues of research discussed.
Mood, Grammatical
Authors: Stanlaw James
Published: November 2020

Grammatical moods are devices languages have – usually in the verbal system – to allow speakers to express certain attitudes toward the contents of sentences (such as belief, certainty, or expectation).
Singing and Song
Authors: Field Garrett
Published: November 2020

The intellectual history of song in linguistic anthropology reveals that often the final step for early twentieth‐century scholars was to publish transcriptions and translations organized through a classification scheme. By midcentury scholars trained in anthropological linguistics still accorded value to transcription and translation but they also conducted formal analysis of song's linguistic features. In the late twentieth century linguistic anthropologists augmented the analysis of language itself with approaches from structural anthropology, symbolic anthropology, and the ethnography of speaking. Twenty‐first‐century scholars have centered attention on connections between speech and song; between singing and language revitalization; and between the singing voice and religious identity.
Narrative
Authors: Dunn Cynthia Dickel
Published: November 2020

Narration is a primary means through which humans make sense of events and construct a stable and coherent sense of self across time. In recent years scholars have shifted from analyzing narratives as monologic, self‐contained texts to examining them as situated interactional practices. In autobiographical narratives, speakers simultaneously represent a past self and enact a current self in relation to both the narrated characters in the story and their interlocutors in the narrating context. Because narratives are sensitive to the cultural contexts in which they are told, they are powerful tools for socializing children and other novices, building communities, and remaking selves in therapeutic contexts. The internet creates a wider audience for sharing personal narratives, thus contributing a broader range of perspectives to the collective narratives of various social groups.
Nation and Nationalism
Authors: Zentz Lauren
Published: November 2020

Conceptualizations of the nation in the current era are intricately intertwined with the formation of modern states. This modern era is furthermore defined by the alignment of nations and states with language, thus the one language/one land/one nation triumvirate that has dominated nation‐state formation in modern times. In this entry I discuss the historical formation of modern nations and their states, and the role that language plays in both. I close with an open‐ended challenge to devote more research to the role that the internet plays in relation to nationalism, given the new challenges and opportunities that it poses to the borders of national communities.
Numbers and Counting
Authors: Chrisomalis Stephen
Published: November 2020

Number systems are the lexical domains concerned with expressing exact quantities in language. Numbers and counting are the linguistic scaffolds of arithmetical practices and higher mathematics. While numeration is a human universal there is a vast cross‐linguistic array of specific structures and frameworks for expressing numbers. Numerical practices and language can help shed light on numerical cognition, but caution must be exercised to avoid ethnocentrism and overgeneralization.
Onomatopoeia
Authors: Nuckolls Janis B.
Published: November 2020

Onomatopoeia are words that exhibit sound symbolism by imitating a range of sensory perceptions, including sounds, movements, and images. Within the English‐speaking world the term “onomatopoeia” has undergone fluctuations in its valorization over time, which have had an effect on current research today. It enjoyed a prestigious rhetorical status during the Renaissance and was part of early pedagogical texts' representations of language, the senses, and nature, where it was construed as a simple transfer from natural to human‐made sounds. During nineteenth‐century debates about the origins of language, however, onomatopoeia lost its status as a legitimate subject for scientific linguistics. Recently, onomatopoeia has begun to emerge from its previously downgraded status as contemporary anthropological linguistic researchers who have studied ideophones, mimetics, and expressives in languages throughout the world have challenged linguistic science's limited conceptions of language, particularly with regard to the Saussurian principle of the arbitrariness of the sign.