bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Globalization of Economic Production and International Migration
Authors: Sanderson Matthew , Utz Rebecca
Published: March 2009

This article empirically investigates the relationship between the globalization of economic production and international migration by focusing on the case of Mexico. We describe undocumented Mexican migration to the US in the context of global economic restructuring and review previous studies. We then apply a multilevel modeling technique to retrospective data gathered by the Mexican Migration Project in order to test whether the density of manufacturing operations in Mexican communities explains variation in individuals' odds of making an undocumented migration to the US in the previous five years. The analysis indicates that higher densities of manufacturing operations are associated with lower odds of undocumented migration, net of controls. Moreover, this effect is stronger in Mexican communities located in northern border states. We discuss the findings in the context of previous research and elaborate on potential future research directions.
African Ethics, Health Care Research and Community and Individual Participation
Authors: Jegede Samuel
Published: March 2009

This article discusses the appropriateness of western bioethics in the African setting. It focuses on the decision-making process regarding participation in health research as a contested boundary in international bioethics discourse. An ethnomethodological approach is used to explain African ethics, and African ethic is applied to the decision-making process in the African community. An HIV/AIDS surveillance project is used as a case study to explore the concept of communitarianism. The article argues that what exists in Africa is communal or social autonomy as opposed to individual autonomy in the West. As a result, applying the western concept of autonomy to research involving human subjects in the African context without adequate consideration for the important role of the community is inappropriate. It concludes that lack of adequate consideration for community participation in health research involving human subjects in Africa will prevent proper management and lack truly informed consent.
Effects of Alkali Proteases on Dyeing Properties of Various Proteinous Materials with Natural Dyes
Authors: Akçakoca Kumbasar E. Perrin , Atav Riza , Bahtiyari M. Ibrahim
Published: March 2009

In this research, four different protein based textile materials (sheep, goat and Angora rabbit wools and silk) were dyed with sumac and the effects of proteases on their dyeing properties were investigated. According to the experimental results, it was observed that these protein based fibers could be dyed evenly with high light and washing fastnesses by using sumac as a natural dye. Furthermore, it was found that the enzymatic treatment before dyeing did not have an important effect on the dyeing results of sheep wool, goat wool and silk, but for angora wool the color yield of dyed samples increased approximately 20—30 % according to the enzyme type. Moreover in this study angora fibers, treated and untreated with enzymes, were dyed with tannin based plants like myrobalan fruit, oak bark and gall nut, and it was found that the enzymatic treatment increased the dye uptake significantly.
Determination of the Convergent Point in the Rotor-spun Composite Yarn Spinning Process
Authors: Yang Rui-Hua , Wang Shan-Yuan
Published: March 2009

According to the laws of fluid mechanics (mass conservation and momentum conservation), a mathematical model has been established to determine the convergent point of the filament yarn and the staple fiber. Using the speeds and the linear densities of, respectively, the filament yarn, the staple fiber and the composite yarn, the convergent point could be determined easily by the model. Tension of each component of the system could be controlled by adjusting the convergent point.
Whole Grain and Legume Acceptability Among Youths With Type 1 Diabetes
Authors: Gellar Lauren , Rovner Alisha J. , Nansel Tonja R.
Published: March 2009

Purpose

This pilot study investigated the acceptability of whole grain and legume foods in youths with type 1 diabetes and determined demographic and behavioral factors associated with their acceptability.

Methods

Youths with type 1 diabetes (7.0 to 16.9 years) were recruited during a diabetes camp and completed self-report measures of food acceptability, eating behaviors, and demographics. An overall acceptability score for whole grains and for legumes was calculated as the sum of foods in each category rated as either “tried and liked” or “not tried and willing to try.” Correlations of whole grain and legume acceptability with demographic characteristics were examined.

Results

One hundred twenty-eight youths participated (70% females, mean age 11.6 ± 2.3 years). Whole grain foods with the highest acceptability were corn bread (85% tried/ liked and 11% willing to try) and whole wheat bread (72% tried/liked and 3% willing to try). Total whole grain acceptability was negatively associated with days per week of fast food consumption (r = —0.21; P < .02) and living in an urban environment (r = −0.24; P < .01). Chili with beans (66% tried/liked and 8% willing to try) and baked beans (57% tried/liked and 19% willing to try) were the legume-containing foods with the highest acceptability. There were no significant associations between demographic factors and total legume acceptability.

Conclusions

These findings demonstrate the variability in acceptability among whole grains and legumes in youths with type 1 diabetes and the importance of addressing acceptability when counseling youths or designing nutrition interventions to improve consumption of these foods.
Old friends and new friends: Their presence at substance-use initiation
Authors: Kiesner Jeff , Fassetta Erica
Published: March 2009

This study was conducted to test whether the presence of new friends at moments of substance-use initiation differs across substances, and whether individuals tend to initiate substance use, across different substances, either with a new friend or with an old friend. Participants were 419 Italian high school students (41% female). Results showed that the presence of a new friend at the moment of substance-use initiation varied across different substances. New friends were least often present when an individual first tried cigarettes, and were most often present the first time an individual tried marijuana. Substance-use initiation in the co-presence of both an old friend and a new friend was almost exclusively linked to higher levels of substance use (marijuana and hard alcohol) and non-existent with tobacco use. However, results showed a clear tendency for individuals to initiate substance use either with a new friend or with an old friend. Results are discussed in terms of extending peerinfluence research to include transitions in peer relations as important moments for peer influence.
The Swedish Left's Memory of the International Brigades and the Creation of an Anti-Fascist Postwar Identity
Authors: Scott Carl-Gustaf
Published: March 2009

The article looks at Sweden as an example of how popular memory of the International Brigades in Western Europe has been shaped more frequently by the Left's postwar political needs than by historical realities. Like elsewhere in Western Europe, the International Brigades' legacy in Sweden was principally informed by the Left's eagerness to embrace an anti-fascist identity after the Second World War. In the Swedish case, this has led to a sanitized historical account of the Swedish Brigadistas ' experiences in Spain that ultimately does the former volunteers' memory a considerable disservice.
The effects of an 'exercise and education' programme on exercise self-efficacy and levels of independent activity in adults with acquired neurological pathologies: an exploratory, randomized study
Authors: Haworth Jo , Young Carolyn , Thornton Everard
Published: March 2009

Objective: To evaluate the effects of an exercise and education programme on primary outcomes of exercise efficacy and activity levels; and on secondary outcomes including quality of life, mood and physical disability.

Design: Randomized, single blind trial.

Setting: Specialist neurosciences centre.

Participants: Forty-four patients with acquired neurological pathologies. Interventions: Twenty-one participants undertook a four-week exercise and education programme alongside standard follow-up care. Twenty-three participants underwent standard follow-up care alone.

Outcome measures: Primary outcome measures included the Exercise Efficacy Scale and Human Activity Profile. Secondary outcomes were evaluated by the Short Form 36 Health Survey, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, UWIST Mood Adjective Checklist, Motricity Index, Frenchay Arm Test, Rivermead Mobility Index, 10-metre timed walk and a visual analogue scale. Data were collected at baseline and at 6, 12 and 24 weeks.

Results: At six weeks, significant improvements in exercise efficacy were found following the treatment but not the control (P= 0.001). Moderate improvements in activity levels were noted for both study groups with no between-group differences. Short Form 36 `physical health' and `general health' domains showed trends towards increased positive change following the intervention, but these did not reach significant levels. Mood, physical impairment and physical disability remained unchanged within either study group. Longer term follow-up revealed that the improvements noted in exercise self-efficacy, activity levels and quality of life were maintained.

Conclusions: The intervention resulted in improved exercise efficacy and may positively influence the physical and general health dimensions of health-related quality of life.
The Kass Council and the Politicization of Ethics Advice
Authors: Briggle Adam
Published: March 2009

The borders between science, ethics and politics are important areas of public life and academic inquiry. One of the most significant border zones are federal advisory bodies tasked with bringing scientific and ethical knowledge to bear on matters of public concern. This paper uses the President's Council on Bioethics during Leon Kass' tenure as Chair as a case study to investigate the norms governing the interface between expert knowledge and democratic decision-making. It first introduces the Kass Council and examines legitimation, politicization and their relationships within federal advisory bodies. The paper then evaluates the Kass Council using the standards derived from this conceptual normative investigation. Three case studies of the Kass Council provide evidence that charges of politicization were sometimes accurate, while at other times they were mischaracterizations.
What Does it Mean that PRIMES is in P?
Authors: Miller Boaz
Published: March 2009

In August 2002, three Indian computer scientists published a paper entitled `PRIMES is in P' online. It presents a `deterministic algorithm' which determines in `polynomial time' if a given number is a prime number. The story was quickly picked up by the general press, and by this means spread through the scientific community of complexity theorists, where it was hailed as a major theoretical breakthrough. This is despite scientists regarding the media reports as vulgar popularizations. When the paper was published in a peer-reviewed journal only 2 years later, the three scientists had already received wide recognition for their accomplishment. Current sociological theory challenges the ability to clearly distinguish on independent epistemic grounds between distorted and non-distorted scientific knowledge. It views the demarcation lines between such forms of presentation as contextual and unstable. In my paper, I challenge this view. By systematically surveying the popular press coverage of the `PRIMES is in P' affair, I argue — against the prevailing new orthodoxy — that distorted simplifications of scientific knowledge are distinguishable from non-distorted simplifications on independent epistemic grounds. I argue that in the `PRIMES is in P' affair, the three scientists could ride on the wave of the general press-distorted coverage of their algorithm, while counting on their colleagues' ability to distinguish genuine accounts from distorted ones. Thus, their scientific reputation was unharmed. This suggests that the possibility of the existence of independent epistemic standards must be incorporated into the new SSK model of popularization.
A few laced genes: women's standpoint in the feminist ancestry of Dorothy E. Smith
Authors: Smythe Deirdre
Published: March 2009

This article looks at the feminist activism of particular women in the ancestry of the eminent Canadian sociologist, Dorothy E. Smith, and at the archival data that confirm the traces of their influence found in her theory-building. Using the method of interpretative historical sociology and a conceptual framework drawn from Marx called the `productive forces', the article examines the feminist theology of her Quaker ancestor, Margaret Fell, and the militant suffrage activism of her mother and her grandmother, Dorothy Foster Place and Lucy Ellison Abraham, respectively. The article argues that the household labour of the remarkable women in her family line became a `productive force' that facilitated her imagining of the feminist theory, `the standpoint of women'.
The social, cosmopolitanism and beyond
Authors: Schillmeier Michael
Published: March 2009

First, this article will outline the metaphysics of `the social' that implicitly and explicitly connects the work of classical and contemporary cosmopolitan sociologists as different as Durkheim, Weber, Beck and Luhmann. In a second step, I will show that the cosmopolitan outlook of classical sociology is driven by exclusive differences. In understanding human affairs, both classical sociology and contemporary cosmopolitan sociology reflect a very modernist outlook of epistemological, conceptual, methodological and disciplinary rigour that separates the cultural sphere from the natural objects of concern. I will suggest that classical sociology — in order to be cosmopolitan — is forced (1) to exclude non-social and non-human objects as part of its conceptual and methodological rigour, and (2) consequently and methodologically to rule out the non-social and the non-human. Cosmopolitan sociology imagines `the social' as a global, universal explanatory device to conceive and describe the non-social and non-human. In a third and final step the article draws upon the work of the French sociologist Gabriel Tarde and offers a possible alternative to the modernist social and cultural other-logics of social sciences. It argues for a inclusive conception of `the social' that gives the non-social and non-human a cosmopolitan voice as well.
The Effect of Detection Feature Type on Excitations Bred for Active Sensing in Structural Health Monitoring
Authors: Olson C.C. , Overbey L.A. , Todd M.D.
Published: March 2009

We have shown that damage detection sensitivity in a structural health monitoring application may be improved by tailoring the excitation via evolutionary algorithms. An improved excitation will be specific to a given application, but prior to this work the role of the features used for damage detection on the input optimization process was unknown. We explore the effect of several detection features on the excitation selected by the optimization. Specifically, we examine three features that are derived from a state-space formulation. In addition, we test detection features based on the residual errors between an autoregressive model and observed data. We show that excitations that have been optimized for a particular feature may still improve sensitivity if another feature is employed, even though optimal classes of solutions for each feature. State-space features that make use of time-dependent correlations tend to select chaotic excitations for improved sensitivity. This contrasts with the single- and multi-tone inputs preferred for the autoregressive features and one version of prediction error. Overall, we provide evidence that damage detection sensitivity can be significantly improved by tailoring the input to match the application and, furthermore, that the optimization routine used to find tailored excitations is general in its application.
Structural Health Monitoring of Composites Using Integrated and Flexible Piezoelectric Ultrasonic Transducers
Authors: Kobayashi Makiko , Wu Kuo-Ting , Li Song  , Jen Cheng-Kuei , Ad Nezih
Published: March 2009

Two types of ultrasonic sensors are presented for structural health monitoring (SHM) and non-destructive testing (NDT) of graphite/epoxy (Gr/Ep) composites of thickness ranging from 1 mm to 12.7 mm. These piezoelectric film-based sensors are fabricated using a sol-gel spray technique. The center operation frequency of these sensors ranges from 1.3 MHz to 14.5 MHz. For the first sensor type, piezoelectric films of thickness ≥30 μm were deposited directly onto planar and curved Gr/Ep composites surfaces as integrated sensors. Ultrasonic signals propagating in a distance of more than 300 mm have been obtained. Anisotropy of 08 and 908 cross ply Gr/Ep composite is measured and delamination detected. For the second sensor type, piezoelectric films are coated onto a 50 μm thick polyimide membrane as flexible sensors that may be attached to a host composite structure with planar or curved surfaces. An induction type non-contact method for the interrogation of the Gr/Ep composites using integrated sensors is also presented.
Self-Organized Aggregation Triggers Collective Decision Making in a Group of Cockroach-Like Robots
Authors: Garnier Simon , Gautrais Jacques , Asadpour Masoud , Jost Christian , Theraulaz Guy
Published: March 2009

Self-amplification processes are at the origin of several collective decision phenomena in insect societies. Understanding these processes requires linking individual behavioral rules of insects to a choice dynamics at the colony level. In a homogeneous environment, the German cockroach Blattella germanica displays self-amplified aggregation behavior. In a heterogeneous environment where several shelters are present, groups of cockroaches collectively select one of them. In this article, we demonstrate that the restriction of the self-amplified aggregation behavior to distinct zones in the environment can explain the emergence of a collective decision at the level of the group. This hypothesis is tested with robotics experiments and dedicated computer simulations. We show that the collective decision is influenced by the available spaces to explore and to aggregate in, by the size of the population involved in the aggregation process and by the probability of encounter zones while the robots explore the environment. We finally discuss these results from both a biological and a robotics point of view.
Balancing Population- and Individual-Level Adaptation in Changing Environments
Authors: Paenke Ingo , Yaochu Jin  , Branke Jürgen
Published: March 2009

This article examines the interdependency of population-level adaptation (evolution) and individual-level adaptation (learning). More specifically, we assume a trade-off between the two means of adaptation, that is, a higher individual-level adaptation can only be achieved with a reduced population level adaptation and vice versa. This trade-off is apparent in computational evolutionary systems, and there is also evidence that it exists in nature. As we show, despite this considered trade-off, there exist environments in which a combined adaptation scheme is optimal. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the optimal adaptive behavior produced by a particular distribution of population- and individual-level adaptation depends on the environmental dynamics. Finally, we verify that the optimal balance (i.e., an optimal learning effort) can emerge from evolution when there is a trade-off between reproduction and lifetime.
Clinical Reasoning for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Practitioners: The Mindful Formulation
Authors: Havighurst Sophie S. , Downey Laurel
Published: March 2009

This article outlines a systematic approach to the formulation of clinical problems for practitioners working with children and their families. Whilst assessments in child and adolescent mental health often use a range of theoretical and practical approaches for data collection, there are relatively few resources to assist the clinician in integrating this information to develop a formulation that leads to a well considered intervention plan. The formulation approach presented here was designed to assist in training child and adolescent clinicians in a method that facilitates the process of understanding complex cases. This is done by examining the patterns of strength and difficulty identified during an assessment and systematically providing an explanation for these using `the Four Ps' — predisposing, precipitating, perpetuating, and protective factors — to structure the clinician's thinking. Interventions that address patterns of strength and difficulty for each of the `Four Ps' are recommended when working with complex clients. This formulation approach may take more time than merely summarizing the case, but the benefits are a more comprehensive understanding of the client. This means that problems often associated with working with complex cases can be identified and addressed, reducing the risk of drop out, poor engagement or treatment failure.
Longitudinal Relations among Perceived Autonomy Support from Health Care Practitioners, Motivation, Coping Strategies and Dietary Compliance in a Sample of Adults with Type 2 Diabetes
Authors: Julien Etienne , Senécal Caroline , Guay Frédéric
Published: March 2009

The purpose of this study was to test the causal ordering among perceived autonomy support from health care practitioners, motivation, coping strategies and compliance to dietary self-care activities. Using a cross-lagged panel model, we investigate how these variables relate to one another over a one-year period. A total of 365 adults with Type 2 diabetes participated in the study. Results suggest that autonomous motivation and active planning are reciprocally related over time, and that prior autonomous motivation is related to the extent participants subsequently comply with their diet. Results are discussed in light of Self-determination Theory and the coping perspective.
The newspaper as political antagonist
Authors: Phelan Sean
Published: March 2009

The 2003 political conflict over the ownership of the country's foreshore and seabed, which followed a June 2003 Court of Appeal ruling, was regarded by many New Zealanders as a defining moment in the evolution of the country's post-colonial relationship between the Crown and Maori. This article examines how the conflict was discursively constructed in the first editorial on the issue by New Zealand's four biggest-selling daily newspapers, all of which asserted their strong support for the Government's promise to quickly introduce legislation that would reinstate the status quo assumption of Crown ownership. My analysis shows how the editorials established an antagonistic discursive frontier between `national' and `Maori' interests. This was mainly done by constituting the conflict through a culturally available set of discursive assumptions that were prejudicial to nominal Maori perspectives and foreclosed open-minded assessment of the Court's ruling.
New methods, old problems: A sceptical view of innovation in qualitative research
Authors: Travers Max
Published: March 2009

Qualitative research has to market itself aggressively, both because academic publishers face more pressures to sell books, and because of the competitive funding climate where one often has to demonstrate methodological innovation as a condition for obtaining a grant. This article considers how social theorists have understood the issue of `newness' and the pursuit of innovation as a cultural problem. It explores the issue in qualitative research through examining how we accomplish and recognize `newness' in the texts we read and produce as academics, which include publisher's catalogues and grant applications, and through considering technological advances such as internet ethnography and video analysis.
Multiple text analysis in narrative research: visual, written, and spoken stories of experience
Authors: Keats Patrice A.
Published: March 2009

Using multiple means of expressing stories about observations, ideas, emotions, and activities can expand a researcher's opportunity to better understand the complex narrative participants construct about how they experience life events. This article includes a description of three types of narrative texts (written, spoken, and visual) and an analysis process that includes a variety of readings for each type of text as well as a relational reading for a combination of texts. A narrative research study is used to illustrate the model. Discussion includes the challenges and benefits of using multiple texts in narrative research and suggests other forms of research design where multiple texts may be appropriate.
`Indigenous people don't have boundaries': reborderings, fire management, and productions of authenticities in indigenous landscapes
Authors: Sletto Bjørn
Published: March 2009

Participatory mapping has allowed indigenous groups to produce and to varying degrees distribute counter-representations of indigenous landscapes, including boundaries that delineate `their' lands from those of the state and other indigenous groups. Through counter-mapping, indigenous groups thus continue to produce boundaries that are, in many ways, products of historical struggles and tensions within indigenous communities, and which also attempt to reconfigure relations with a plethora of state agencies and other external actors. Thus such cartographic representations must be understood as contested, formalized representations that to varying degrees reflect (re)constructions of boundaries that assume different symbolic meanings in different social and historical contexts. Similarly, the power of state boundaries is contingent on fractures in state power, including contestations and conflicts of interest between and within state agencies. As in the case of the Gran Sabana, Venezuela, more invisible boundaries often have greater potential to perpetuate state influence in indigenous landscapes. This paper draws on the literature in postmodern geopolitics and Gramscian perspectives on state power to grapple with the social production of boundaries and relations of power in indigenous landscapes, and to critique the traditional binary posited between state (hegemonic) and indigenous (`counter') maps.
Out of Darkness, Light
Authors: Berger Ben
Published: March 2009

Most scholarly interpretations of Hannah Arendt's political writings account for her idiosyncratic understanding of politics and freedom in one of two ways. They interpret Arendt's more sensational claims about politics either literally or figuratively, but not in both ways. This essay proposes a new interpretation of Arendt's political writings based on a neglected, dichotomous pattern of metaphors in her collected works. That pattern, once mapped, yields insights into the meaning, applications, and limitations of Arendt's controversial political ideals and rhetoric. Neither a wholly literal nor a wholly figurative interpretation will do; I propose a reading that makes use of both strategies and gives Arendt her due while acknowledging her challenges.
The Meaning of Charity in Locke's Political Thought
Authors: Lamb Robert , Thompson Benjamin
Published: March 2009

The recent `religious turn' within Locke scholarship has stressed the need to understand his theological commitments when approaching his political thought. One area of interpretation that has been completely transformed by this heightened sensitivity to the religious roots of Locke's thought is his account of property ownership which, it is claimed, contains a `right to charity' — a subsistence entitlement that trumps established ownership rights. However, this increasingly accepted interpretive claim has been made without significant attention to the way in which charity is deployed throughout Locke's writing. The aim of this article is to try and get to grips with Locke's various usages of the term and determine whether the concept he deploys is a consistent one. After discussion of the uncertain role charity plays in his account of property, we examine how it is defined in the Essay Concerning Human /nderstanding, and then turn to the crucial position it occupies in his theological corpus. Though Locke's understanding of charity seems fraught with ambiguities, the reason for these ambiguities relate to his configuration of charity as a disposition rather than a mere act , a configuration linked inextricably to his account of toleration.
Minimally Invasive Surgical Technique in Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Learning Curve
Authors: Kashyap Shankar N. , Van Ommeren Jan Willem , Shankar Sushma
Published: March 2009

Clinical experience of learning a new technique of minimally surgery for total knee arthroplasty is presented. Close monitoring of the technique, pitfalls, learning tips, and tricks are discussed. A “learning phase” is identified as approximately 10 months or 21 knee replacements using minimally invasive technique. It took 50 operations before the surgical time equaled the open technique. There was no incidence of increased complications during the learning phase. Functional results such as stair climbing, walking distance, and walking with aids was significantly better after minimally invasive technique than after standard technique.
Physical Activity and Fitness in African Americans: Implications for Cardiovascular Health
Authors: Zoeller Robert F.
Published: March 2009

The prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD), obesity, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and physical inactivity is significantly higher in African Americans. The higher prevalence of these important risk factors is thought to be largely responsible for the higher CVD mortality rate in blacks. Limited evidence suggests that the aerobic power of African Americans may be inherently lower than that of whites. This apparent deficiency may be explained, in part, by differences in muscle oxidative capacity but is poorly understood. Studies have shown a lower prevalence of overweight/obesity, the metabolic syndrome, and insulin resistance with higher levels of physical activity/fitness. Training studies have shown that increasing physical activity and/or fitness positively affects metabolic risk factors, body composition, and insulin sensitivity. The few studies of African Americans suggest that they respond to exercise training in a manner similar to whites. Controlling blood pressure of hypertensive blacks at levels comparable with that of whites could result in more than 7000 fewer deaths from CVD. Physical fitness has been shown to be negatively associated with blood pressure in African Americans, but results from interventional studies have been equivocal. Some evidence suggests that increased physical activity and/or fitness may reduce the blood pressure response to submaximal exercise and other stressors in African Americans. Blacks have higher levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and lower levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides, and small dense low-density lipoprotein particles. Studies suggest that the blood lipid response to exercise training is similar between African Americans and whites. There may be an intensity threshold of 75% of age-predicted maximal heart rate to elicit significant changes in HDL-C. More research is needed to explore the association between physical activity/fitness and CVD risk factors in this population.
Stencil graffiti in urban waterscapes of Buenos Aires and Rosario, Argentina
Authors: Kane Stephanie C.
Published: March 2009

Stencil graffiti is an illegal, multi-vocal, visual urban discourse that alters the texture of street experience through inventive juxtaposition of mass-mediated and local imagery. Like street artists and neighborhood assemblies working in a variety of genres, stencil-makers compose public evidence of powerful trans-boundary imaginaries that are at the same time part of a uniquely Argentinean cultural formation. This analysis is based on over 300 digital photographic examples collected by the author in 2007 post-crisis Argentina, where the flourishing of artistic dissent is shaped by vibrant immigrant traditions, widespread poverty, and the recent political history of military dictatorship followed by an economic collapse that radicalized youth and the middle class. Building on Gell's argument that art objects, and the places that form part of their causal milieu, share social agency with the artists that produce them, this article shows how stencils confront institutional power by expanding the semiotic range of two aquatic spaces: a neighborhood fountain in Buenos Aires and a national riverfront monument in Rosario. The focus is on developing an approach towards understanding the active role of public waterscapes in the cultural and political performance of collective memory and social change.
Displacement and stigma: The social-psychological crisis of the deportee
Authors: Brotherton David C. , Barrios Luis
Published: March 2009

The phenomenon of forced repatriation for non-citizens has grown exponentially since the passing of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 and the Patriot Act of 2001. This development is the `natural' result of the three wars on the globalized `other': the war on drugs, the war on terrorism, and the war on the immigrant (see Brotherton and Kretsedemas, 2008). Based on five years of ethnographic study (2002—7) with Dominican deportees in both the Dominican Republic and the United States we set out to answer two questions: how do Dominican deportees fare when they return to their `homeland' after living most of their lives in the United States? And how are deportees reacted to by different levels of Dominican society after being labeled by the public media as criminals and as anti-social elements? In our analysis of the data we found that the crisis of subjectivity of the deportee hinged around two prominent themes: the twin notions of place and displacement and the experience of stigmatization. We concluded that almost regardless of how long the deportee had lived in the United States the stain of a criminal past on his or her identity was permanent. Furthermore, the majority felt that despite their `freedom' they were still `doing time' in a world to which flock thousands helped by these same deportees to get the most out of their (tourist) time (Kempadoo, 1999).
Elevated antiphospholipid antibody titers and adverse pregnancy outcomes: analysis of a population-based hospital dataset
Authors: Nodler James , Moolamalla Surjit R , Ledger Elizabeth M , Nuwayhid Bahij S , Mulla Zuber D
Published: March 2009

Background

The primary objective of this study was to determine if elevated antiphospholipid antibody titers were correlated with the presence of preeclampsia/eclampsia, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), placental insufficiency, and a prolonged length of stay (PLOS), in women who delivered throughout Florida, USA.

Methods

Cross-sectional analyses were conducted using a statewide hospital database. Prevalence odds ratios (OR) were calculated to quantify the association between elevated antiphospholipid antibody titers and four outcomes in 141,286 women who delivered in Florida in 2001. The possibility that the relationship between elevated antiphospholipid antibody titers and the outcomes of preeclampsia/eclampsia, placental insufficiency, and PLOS, may have been modified by the presence of SLE was evaluated in a multiple logistic regression model by creating a composite interaction term.

Results

Women with elevated antiphospholipid antibody titers (n = 88) were older, more likely to be of white race and not on Medicaid than women who did not have elevated antiphospholipid antibody titers. Women who had elevated antiphospholipid antibody titers had an increased adjusted odds ratio for preeclampsia and eclampsia, (OR = 2.93 p = 0.0015), SLE (OR = 61.24 p < 0.0001), placental insufficiency (OR = 4.58 p = 0.0003), and PLOS (OR = 3.93 p < 0.0001). Patients who had both an elevated antiphospholipid antibody titer and SLE were significantly more likely than the comparison group (women without an elevated titer who did not have SLE) to have the outcomes of preeclampsia, placental insufficiency and PLOS.

Conclusion

This exploratory epidemiologic investigation found moderate to very strong associations between elevated antiphospholipid antibody titers and four important outcomes in a large sample of women.
When is it time for reverse transcription to start and go?
Authors: Mougel Marylène , Houzet Laurent , Darlix Jean-Luc
Published: March 2009

Upon cell infection by a retrovirus, the viral DNA polymerase, called reverse transcriptase (RT), copies the genomic RNA to generate the proviral DNA flanked by two long terminal repeats (LTR). A discovery twenty years ago demonstrated that the structural viral nucleocapsid protein (NC) encoded by Gag is an essential cofactor of reverse transcription, chaperoning RT during viral DNA synthesis. However, it is only recently that NC was found to exert a control on the timing of reverse transcription, in a spatio-temporal manner. This brief review summarizes findings on the timing of reverse transcription in wild type HIV-1 and in nucleopcapsid (NC) mutants where virions contain a large amount of newly made viral DNA. This brief review also proposes some explanations of how NC may control late reverse transcription during Gag assembly in virus producer cells.
Microparticle-induced release of B-lymphocyte regulators by rheumatoid synoviocytes
Authors: Messer Laurent , Alsaleh Ghada , Freyssinet Jean-Marie , Zobairi Fatiha , Leray Isabelle , Gottenberg Jacques-Eric , Sibilia Jean , Toti-Orfanoudakis Florence , Wachsmann Dominique
Published: March 2009

Introduction

In the present study, we investigated the ability of microparticles isolated from synovial fluids from patients with rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis to induce the synthesis and release of key cytokines of B-lymphocyte modulation such as B cell-activating factor, thymic stroma lymphopoietin, and secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor by rheumatoid fibroblast-like synoviocytes.

Methods

Microparticles were analyzed in synovial fluids from patients with rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, microcristalline arthritis, and reactive arthritis. In addition, microparticle release after activation from various cell lines (CEM lymphocyte and THP-1 cells) was assessed. Microparticles were isolated by differential centrifugation, and quantitative determinations were carried out by prothrombinase assay after capture on immobilized annexin V. B cell-activating factor, thymic stroma lymphopoietin, and secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor release was evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Results

Microparticles isolated from synovial fluids obtained from rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis patients or microparticles derived from activated THP-1 cells were able to induce B cell-activating factor, thymic stroma lymphopoietin, and secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor release by rheumatoid arthritis fibroblast-like synoviocytes. Conversely, CEM-lymphocytes-derived microparticles generated by treatment with a combination of PHA, PMA and Adt-D did not promote the release of B cell-activating factor but favored the secretion of thymic stroma lymphopoietin and secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor by rheumatoid arthritis fibrobast-like synoviocytes. However, microparticles isolated from actinomycin D-treated CEM lymphocytes were not able to induce B cell-activating factor, thymic stroma lymphopoietin, or secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor release, indicating that microparticles derived from apoptotic T cells do not function as effectors in B-cell activation.

Conclusions

These results demonstrate that microparticles are signalling structures that may act as specific conveyors in the triggered induction and amplification of autoimmunity. This study also indicates that microparticles have differential effects in the crosstalk between B lymphocytes and target cells of autoimmunity regarding the parental cells from which they derive.
Assessment of cardiac output changes using a modified FloTrac/Vigileo™ algorithm in cardiac surgery patients
Authors: Senn Alban , Button Danny , Zollinger Andreas , Hofer Christoph K
Published: March 2009

Introduction

The FloTrac/Vigileo™ (Edwards Lifesciences, Irvine, CA, USA) allows pulse pressure-derived cardiac output measurement without external calibration. Software modifications were performed in order to eliminate initially observed deficits. The aim of this study was to assess changes in cardiac output determined by the FloTrac/Vigileo™ system (FCO) with an initially released (FCOA) and a modified (FCOB) software version, as well as changes in cardiac output from the PiCCOplus™ system (PCO; Pulsion Medical Systems, Munich, Germany). Both devices were compared with cardiac output measured by intermittent thermodilution (ICO).

Methods

Cardiac output measurements were performed in patients after elective cardiac surgery. Two sets of data (A and B) were obtained using FCOA and FCOB in 50 patients. After calibration of the PiCCOplus™ system, triplicate FCO and PCO values were recorded and ICO was determined in the supine position and cardiac output changes due to body positioning were recorded 15 minutes later (30° head-up, 30° head-down, supine). Student's t test, analysis of variance and Bland-Altman analysis were calculated.

Results

Significant changes of FCO, PCO and ICO induced by body positioning were observed in both data sets. For set A, ΔFCOA was significantly larger than ΔICO induced by positioning the head down. For set B, there were no significant differences between ΔFCOB and ΔICO. For set A, increased limits of agreement were found for FCOA-ICO when compared with PCO-ICO. For set B, mean bias and limits of agreement were comparable for FCOB-ICO and PCO-ICO.

Conclusions

The modification of the FloTrac/Vigileo™ system resulted in an improved performance in order to reliably assess cardiac output and track the related changes in patients after cardiac surgery.
TLR4/MyD88/PI3K interactions regulate TLR4 signaling
Authors: Laird Michelle H W , Rhee Sang Hoon , Perkins Darren J , Medvedev Andrei E , Piao Wenji , Fenton Matthew J , Vogel Stefanie N
Published: March 2009

TLRs activate immune responses by sensing microbial structures such as bacterial LPS, viral RNA, and endogenous “danger” molecules released by damaged host cells. MyD88 is an adapter protein that mediates signal transduction for most TLRs and leads to activation of NF-κB and MAPKs and production of proinflammatory cytokines. TLR4-mediated signaling also leads to rapid activation of PI3K, one of a family of kinases involved in regulation of cell growth, apoptosis, and motility. LPS stimulates phosphorylation of Akt, a downstream target of PI3K, in wild-type (WT) mouse macrophages. LPS-induced phosphorylation of Akt serine 473 was blunted in MyD88−/− macrophages and was completely TLR4-dependent. MyD88 and p85 were shown previously to co-immunoprecipitate, and a YXXM motif within the Toll-IL-1 resistance (TIR) domain of MyD88 was suggested to be important for this interaction. To test this hypothesis, we compared expressed MyD88 variants with mutations within the YXXM motif or lacking the TIR domain or death domain and measured their capacities to bind PI3K p85, MyD88, and TLR4 by co-immunoprecipitation analyses. The YXXM → YXXA mutant MyD88 bound more strongly to p85, TLR4, and WT MyD88 than the other variants, yet was significantly less active than WT MyD88, suggesting that sustained interaction of MyD88/PI3K with the TLR4 intracellular “signaling platform” negatively regulates signaling. We propose a hypothetical model in which sustained PI3K activity at the membrane limits the availability of the PI3K substrate, thereby negatively regulating signaling.
Phase III Study of Gefitinib Compared With Intravenous Methotrexate for Recurrent Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck
Authors: Stewart J. Simon W. , Cohen Ezra E.W. , Licitra Lisa , Van Herpen Carla M.L. , Khorprasert Chonlakiet , Soulieres Denis , Vodvarka Pavel , Rischin Danny , Garin Avgust M. , Hirsch Fred R. , Varella-Garcia Marileila , Ghiorghiu Serban , Hargreaves Laura , Armour Alison , Speake Georgina , Swaisland Alan , Vokes Everett E.
Published: March 2009

Purpose

To compare survival in patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) treated with gefitinib 250 or 500 mg/day or standard methotrexate.

Patients and Methods

Four hundred eighty-six patients with recurrent SCCHN were randomly assigned to oral gefitinib 250 mg/day, gefitinib 500 mg/day, or methotrexate 40 mg/m2 intravenously weekly. Primary end point was overall survival, secondary end points were objective response rate (ORR), safety, symptom improvement, and quality of life (QOL). Exploratory end points included association of efficacy with epidermal growth factor receptor gene copy number and other biomarkers.

Results

Neither gefitinib 250 nor 500 mg/day improved overall survival compared with methotrexate (hazard ratio [HR], 1.22; 95% CI, 0.95 to 1.57; P = .12; and HR, 1.12; 95% CI, 0.87 to 1.43; P = .39, respectively). In the gefitinib 250 mg/day, 500 mg/day, and methotrexate groups, respectively, median overall survival was 5.6, 6.0, and 6.7 months; ORRs (Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors) were 2.7%, 7.6% and 3.9%, with no statistically significant difference between either gefitinib arm and methotrexate. No unexpected adverse events were observed, except for tumor hemorrhage-type events with gefitinib (8.9%, gefitinib 250 mg/day; 11.4%, gefitinib 500 mg/day; 1.9%, methotrexate). QOL improvement rates (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Head & Neck total score) were 13.4%, 18.0%, and 6.0% for gefitinib 250 mg/day, 500 mg/day, and methotrexate, respectively.

Conclusion

In patients with recurrent or metastatic SCCHN, while responses with gefitinib were seen, neither gefitinib 250 nor 500 mg/day improved overall survival compared with methotrexate. With the exception of tumor hemorrhage–type events with gefitinib, the adverse event profiles were generally consistent with those previously observed.