bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Child Development in Rural China: Children Left Behind by Their Migrant Parents and Children of Nonmigrant Families
Authors: Wen Ming , Lin Danhua
Published: December 2011

Using recent cross‐sectional data of rural children aged from 8 to 18 in Hunan Province of China, this article examines psychological, behavioral, and educational outcomes and the psychosocial contexts of these outcomes among children left behind by one or both of their rural‐to‐urban migrant parents compared to those living in nonmigrant families. The results showed that left‐behind children were disadvantaged in health behavior and school engagement but not in perceived satisfaction. The child’s psychosocial environment, captured by family socioeconomic status, socializing processes, peer and school support, and psychological traits, were associated with, to varying extent, child developmental outcomes in rural China. These influences largely remain constant for the sampled children regardless of their parents’ migrant status.
Development in Children’s Interpretation of Pitch Cues to Emotions
Authors: Quam Carolyn , Swingley Daniel
Published: December 2011

Young infants respond to positive and negative speech prosody (A. Fernald, 1993), yet 4‐year‐olds rely on lexical information when it conflicts with paralinguistic cues to approval or disapproval (M. Friend, 2003). This article explores this surprising phenomenon, testing one hundred eighteen 2‐ to 5‐year‐olds’ use of isolated pitch cues to emotions in interactive tasks. Only 4‐ to 5‐year‐olds consistently interpreted exaggerated, stereotypically happy or sad pitch contours as evidence that a puppet had succeeded or failed to find his toy (Experiment 1) or was happy or sad (Experiments 2, 3). Two‐ and 3‐year‐olds exploited facial and body‐language cues in the same task. The authors discuss the implications of this late‐developing use of pitch cues to emotions, relating them to other functions of pitch.
The Development of Communicative and Narrative Skills Among Preschoolers: Lessons From Forensic Interviews About Child Abuse
Authors: Hershkowitz Irit , Lamb Michael E. , Orbach Yael , Katz Carmit , Horowitz Dvora
Published: December 2011

This study examined age differences in 299 preschoolers’ responses to investigative interviewers’ questions exploring the suspected occurrence of child abuse. Analyses focused on the children’s tendencies to respond (a) at all, (b) appropriately to the issue raised by the investigator, and (c) informatively, providing previously undisclosed information. Linear developmental trends characterized all types of responding. When the types of prompts were considered, 3‐ to 4‐year‐olds responded slightly more informatively to specific (directive) recall prompts than to open‐ended prompts whereas children aged 5 and older were more responsive to open‐ended recall prompts. The findings suggest that even 3‐year‐olds can provide information about experienced events when recall processes are activated, although the ability to provide narrative responses to open‐ended recall prompts only becomes reliable later in development.
Social Judgments and Emotion Attributions About Exclusion in Switzerland
Authors: Malti Tina , Killen Melanie , Gasser Luciano
Published: December 2011

Adolescents’ social judgments and emotion attributions about exclusion in three contexts, nationality, gender, and personality, were measured in a sample of 12‐ and 15‐year‐old Swiss and non‐Swiss adolescents (N = 247). Overall, adolescents judged exclusion based on nationality as less acceptable than exclusion based on gender or personality. Non‐Swiss participants, however, who reflected newly immigrated children to Switzerland, viewed exclusion based on nationality as more wrong than did Swiss participants and attributed more positive emotions to the excluder than did Swiss participants. Girls viewed exclusion in nationality and personality contexts as less legitimate than did boys, and they attributed less positive emotions to excluder target in the nationality context than did boys. The findings extend existing research on exclusion by focusing on both emotion attributions as well as judgments and by investigating exclusion in a sample that included a recent immigrant group.
THE FUTURE OF NETWORK GOVERNANCE RESEARCH: STRENGTH IN DIVERSITY AND SYNTHESIS
Authors: LEWIS JENNY M.
Published: December 2011

The popularity and scope of network governance research and practice continues to expand from its divergent foundations, assumptions and methodological positions. This paper introduces a symposium of papers on this substantial sub‐field by first summarizing the sprawling research endeavour that comprises it. The main theoretical and empirical approaches that have been used to guide it to date are then briefly described, emphasizing recent debates about interpretivism and decentring. Next, it suggests that a robust and interesting future for network governance requires diversity, rather than adherence to a single approach. It is argued that more sophisticated approaches for examining network governance are fashioned through a synthesis of ideas and methods to create an analysis of networks as networks. This is especially the case where some formal analysis of network structure is used in concert with an interpretive examination of action and process. Finally, the papers in the symposium are introduced.
NETWORK GOVERNANCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT: CONFLICT AND COOPERATION
Authors: ROBINS GARRY , BATES LORRAINE , PATTISON PHILIPPA
Published: December 2011

In this article we propose structural preconditions for effective network governance, including network structures that can facilitate effective coordination of action (such as relational and structural embeddedness), and agreement among network actors about goals and actions. We illustrate circumstances in which these preconditions do not seem to be met through a case study of environmental governance of a major water resource – the Swan River in Western Australia. This governance system, since changed by legislation, did not exhibit embeddedness among its constituent organizations, and crucial relations involved contestation, with organizations apparently pursuing different goals. This paper demonstrates how advanced social network methods can be used to analyse a networked governance system.
DEMOCRATIC SUBJECTIVITIES IN NETWORK GOVERNANCE: A Q METHODOLOGY STUDY OF ENGLISH AND DUTCH PUBLIC MANAGERS
Authors: JEFFARES STEPHEN , SKELCHER CHRIS
Published: December 2011

Network forms of governance enable public managers to exercise considerable agency in shaping the institutions through which government interacts with citizens, civil society organizations and business. These network institutions configure democratic legitimacy and accountability in various ways, but little is known about how managers‐as‐designers think about democracy. This Q methodology study identifies five democratic subjectivities. Pragmatists have little concern for democracy. Realists regard networks as one of a number of arenas in which the politics is played out. Adaptors identify the potential for greater inclusiveness. Progressive Optimists think that network governance will fill the gap between the theory and practice of representative democracy, while Radical Optimists focus on its potential for enabling direct dialogue. Institutional design alone is not sufficient to enhance the democratic possibilities of governance networks. The choice of public manager is also salient. Adaptors or, preferably, Progressive or Radical Optimists should be selected for this role.
Political Economy Aspects of Climate Change Mitigation Efforts
Authors: Mathys Nicole A. , de Melo Jaime
Published: December 2011

Regardless of the policies used to mitigate climate change, a positive and relatively high price of carbon will have to be established, with slow convergence across regions, leading to huge rents up to capture, way beyond those that have been fought over in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)‐based international trading system. The paper explores the political‐economy, feasibility and desirability implications of the two main alternatives, a carbon tax and a cap‐and‐trade (CAT) system. Having the same concerns, CAT systems in the EU and the US have accounted for different outcomes in each case. Likely leakages under foreseeable carbon prices are estimated to be small and not of an order of magnitude justifying the special allowances sought across a wide spectrum of industries. The experience of the EU and US reviewed here suggests that mitigation is likely to continue to be carried out under a CAT, provided permits are distributed for free to the lobbies whose support is necessary to get adoption of mitigation policies. This quota mechanism, long‐used to allocate scarcity in the international trading system both nationally and internationally, would end up with the most powerful receiving the quotas rents, giving them the leverage and resources to maintain allocation schemes favourable to them.
PRODUCTIVITY AND THE DENSITY OF HUMAN CAPITAL*
Authors: Abel Jaison R. , Dey Ishita , Gabe Todd M.
Published: December 2011

ABSTRACT We estimate a model of urban productivity in which the agglomeration effect of density is enhanced by a metropolitan area's stock of human capital. Estimation accounts for potential biases due to the endogeneity of density and industrial composition effects. Using new information on output per worker for U.S. metropolitan areas along with a measure of density that accounts for the spatial distribution of population, we find that a doubling of density increases productivity by 2–4 percent. Consistent with theories of learning and knowledge spillovers in cities, we demonstrate that the elasticity of average labor productivity with respect to density increases with human capital. Metropolitan areas with a human capital stock one standard deviation below the mean realize no productivity gain, while doubling density in metropolitan areas with a human capital stock one standard deviation above the mean yields productivity benefits that are about twice the average. These patterns are particularly pronounced in industries where the exchange of information and sharing of ideas are important parts of the production process.
THE EFFECTS OF ZONING IN SPATIAL COMPETITION
Authors: Hamoudi Hamid , Risueño Marta
Published: December 2011

ABSTRACT This paper considers a location model to illustrate the effect of zoning on competition. A planner is in charge of designing a city in a circular space where firms and consumers are located on different sides. With this type of market configuration, equilibrium in location under concave transport costs is proved. Then, a welfare function with different weights attached to consumer and firm surpluses is introduced to highlight zoning regulation as an influential competition policy tool. Depending on the regulator's political profiles and the demand, it is shown that zoning can lead to strong, weak, or moderate competition.
MIGRATION OF THE HIGHLY EDUCATED: EVIDENCE FROM RESIDENCE SPELLS OF UNIVERSITY GRADUATES*
Authors: Haapanen Mika , Tervo Hannu
Published: December 2011

ABSTRACT We examine the inter‐regional migration of university graduates from 1991 to 2003 in Finland. The results show that time matters: two‐years before and during the graduation year the hazard rates of migration increase, and then decrease thereafter. Although university graduates are particularly mobile, we find that most of them do not move from their region of studies within 10 years after graduation. The out‐migration, i.e., brain drain, is much higher among graduates in the more peripheral universities than in the growth centers (Helsinki in particular). Migration is also substantially more likely for those studying away from the home region than for those studying at home.
SOCIAL POLICY AS REGIONAL POLICY: MARKET AND NONMARKET FACTORS DETERMINING REGIONAL INEQUALITY
Authors: Silveira‐Neto Raul M. , Azzoni Carlos R.
Published: December 2011

ABSTRACT We decompose the recent changes in regional inequality in Brazil into its components, highlighting the role of spatially blind social programs. We aggregate personal income micro data to the state level, differentiating nine income sources, and assess the role of these components in the observed changes in regional inequality indicators. The main results indicate that the largest part of the recent reduction in regional inequality is related to the dynamics of the market‐related labor income, with manufacturing and services favoring deconcentration. Labor income in agriculture, retirement and pensions, and property rents and other sources favored concentration. The social programs Bolsa Família and Benefícios de Prestação Continuada are responsible for more than 24 percent of the reduction in inequality, although they account for less than 1.7 percent of the disposable household income. Such positive impact on regional concentration is impressive, since the goals of the programs are clearly nonspatial.
The economic cost of brain disorders in Europe
Authors: Olesen J. , Gustavsson A. , Svensson M. , Wittchen H.‐U. , Jönsson B. ,   on behalf of the CDBE2010 study group,   the European Brain Council
Published: December 2011

Background and purpose:  In 2005, we presented for the first time overall estimates of annual costs for brain disorders (mental and neurologic disorders) in Europe. This new report presents updated, more accurate, and comprehensive 2010 estimates for 30 European countries.

Methods:  One‐year prevalence and annual cost per person of 19 major groups of disorders are based on ‘best estimates’ derived from systematic literature reviews by panels of experts in epidemiology and health economics. Our cost estimation model was populated with national statistics from Eurostat to adjust to 2010 values, converting all local currencies to Euros (€), imputing cost for countries where no data were available, and aggregating country estimates to purchasing power parity–adjusted estimates of the total cost of brain disorders in Europe in 2010.

Results:  Total European 2010 cost of brain disorders was €798 billion, of which direct health care cost 37%, direct non‐medical cost 23%, and indirect cost 40%. Average cost per inhabitant was €5.550. The European average cost per person with a disorder of the brain ranged between €285 for headache and €30 000 for neuromuscular disorders. Total annual cost per disorder (in billion € 2010) was as follows: addiction 65.7; anxiety disorders 74.4; brain tumor 5.2; child/adolescent disorders 21.3; dementia 105.2; eating disorders 0.8; epilepsy 13.8; headache 43.5; mental retardation 43.3; mood disorders 113.4; multiple sclerosis 14.6; neuromuscular disorders 7.7; Parkinson’s disease 13.9; personality disorders 27.3; psychotic disorders 93.9; sleep disorders 35.4; somatoform disorder 21.2; stroke 64.1; and traumatic brain injury 33.0.

Conclusion:  Our cost model revealed that brain disorders overall are much more costly than previously estimated constituting a major health economic challenge for Europe. Our estimate should be regarded as conservative because many disorders or cost items could not be included because of lack of data.
Combined brain voxel‐based morphometry and diffusion tensor imaging study in idiopathic Restless Legs Syndrome patients
Authors: Rizzo G. , Manners D. , Vetrugno R. , Tonon C. , Malucelli E. , Plazzi G. , Marconi S. , Pizza F. , Testa C. , Provini F. , Montagna P. , Lodi R.
Published: December 2011

Background and purpose:  The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of abnormalities in the brain of patients with restless legs syndrome (RLS) using voxel‐based morphometry and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).

Methods:  Twenty patients and twenty controls were studied. Voxel‐based morphometry analysis was performed using statistical parametric mapping (SPM8) and FSL‐VBM software tools. For voxel‐wise analysis of DTI, tract‐based spatial statistics (TBSS) and SPM8 were used.

Results:  Applying an appropriate threshold of probability, no significant results were found either in comparison or in correlation analyses.

Conclusions:  Our data argue against clear structural or microstructural abnormalities in the brain of patients with idiopathic RLS, suggesting a prevalent role of functional or metabolic impairment.
Predisposing factors of pituitary hemorrhage
Authors: Liu Z.‐H. , Tu P.‐H. , Pai P.‐C. , Chen N.‐Y. , Lee S.‐T. , Chuang C.‐C.
Published: December 2011

Background and purpose:  The clinical features of pituitary adenomas were retrospectively analyzed, focusing on the factors that contribute to the development of pituitary hemorrhage. Although many causes of pituitary adenoma hemorrhage have been identified, it is difficult to distinguish which conditions are truly causative. We determined the independent variables that contribute to pituitary hemorrhage in pituitary adenoma.

Methods:  Two hundred and eighty‐eight consecutive patients diagnosed as pituitary adenoma were enrolled. These patients underwent tumor removal through endoscopic transsphenoidal approach. The subjects were divided into hemorrhagic and non‐hemorrhagic groups, based on magnetic resonance images and histological findings. The predisposing factors were reviewed in the medical records for all patients. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to assess the relationships between variables of pituitary adenoma hemorrhage.

Results:  We investigated 81 patients in whom hemorrhage from pituitary adenoma occurred. The incidence of pituitary hemorrhage was 28.1% (81/288). The predisposing factors surveyed for pituitary hemorrhage were significantly associated with macroadenoma, non‐functional adenomas, anticoagulation therapy, end‐stage renal disease, dopamine agonist treatment, and underlying malignant disease (all P < 0.05). Sex, age, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and previous radiation therapy were not related to pituitary hemorrhage.

Conclusions:  In this pooled cohort, the predisposing factors of pituitary adenoma characteristic for pituitary hemorrhage were macroadenoma and non‐functional adenoma. Patients who received dopamine agonist and anticoagulation therapy are implicated as precipitating factors. Underlying end‐stage renal disease and malignant disease are also factors that contribute to pituitary adenoma hemorrhage.
Sulfosalt melts and heavy metal (As‐Sb‐Bi‐Sn‐Pb‐Tl) fractionation during volcanic gas expansion: the El Indio (Chile) paleo‐fumarole
Authors: HENLEY R. W. , MAVROGENES J. , TANNER D.
Published: December 2011

High‐sulfidation vein gold deposits such as El Indio, Chile, formed in fracture arrays <1000 m beneath paleo‐solfatara in volcanic terranes. Stable isotope data have confirmed a predominance of magmatic vapor during the deposition of arsenic‐rich sulfide–sulfosalt assemblages in this deposit. These provide a unique opportunity to analyze the processes and products of high‐temperature volcanic gas expansion in fractures that form the otherwise inaccessible infrastructure deep inside equivalent present‐day fumaroles. We provide field emission scanning electron microscope and LA‐ICP‐MS micro‐analytical data for the wide range of heavy, semi‐metals and metalloids (arsenic, antimony, bismuth, tin, silver, gold, tellurium and selenium) in the complex pyrite‐enargite‐Fe‐tennantite assemblages from Copper Stage mineralization in the El Indio deposit. These data document the progressive fractionation of antimony and other heavy metals, such as bismuth, during crystallization from a sulfosalt melt that condensed from expanding vapor at about 15 MPa (150 bars) and >650°C following higher temperature vapor deposition of crystalline pyrite and enargite. The sulfosalt melt aggressively corroded the earlier enargite and pyrite and hosts clusters of distinctive euhedral quartz crystals. The crystallizing sulfosalt melt also trapped an abundance of vugs within which heavy metal sulfide and sulfosalt crystals grew together with K‐Al silicates and fluorapatite. These data and their geologic context suggest that, in high‐temperature fumaroles on modern active volcanoes, over 90% of the arsenic content of the primary magmatic vapor (perhaps 2000 mg kg−1) was precipitated subsurface as sulfosalt. Subsurface fractionation may also account for the range of exotic Pb‐Sn‐Bi‐Se sulfosalts observed in fumarole sublimates on active volcanoes such as Vulcano, Italy, as well as on extra‐terrestrial volcanoes such as Maxwell Montes, Venus.
Meta Analysis of the Association between MTHFR C677T Polymorphism and the Risk of Congenital Heart Defects
Authors: Yin Meng , Dong Lingyan , Zheng Jinghao , Zhang Haibo , Liu Jinfen , Xu Zhiwei
Published: December 2011

Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) polymorphism C667T has been associated with congenital malformation; this common missense mutation in the MTHFR gene may reduce enzymatic action, and may be involved in the etiology of congenital heart defects (CHD). The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship of the MTHFR C677T polymorphism with the risk of CHD in children with CHD and their parents by meta‐analysis. Studies were identified by searching electronic literature for papers before 2011, focusing on MTHFR C667T and the risk of CHD. All data were analyzed using the fixed effects model in Cochrane Review Manager 5.1.1. Twenty eligible case‐control and family‐based studies were included. Overall analysis yielded pooled odds ratios (OR) of 1.55 (95%CI 1.25–1.93), 1.84 (95%CI 1.23–2.74) and 1.20 (95%CI 0.94–1.54) for fetal, paternal and maternal MTHFR TT genotypes in case‐control studies, respectively, but yielded a summarized OR of 0.9 (95%CI 0.97–1.12) in family‐based studies. Our results suggested that the fetal and paternal MTHFR C667T gene may be associated with an increased occurrence of CHD. Further larger studies should be performed to investigate the interaction between maternal genetic polymorphism, folic acid intake and hyperhomocysteinemia, and the development of CHD.
Sensitivity and precision of adverse effects search filters in MEDLINE and EMBASE: a case study of fractures with thiazolidinediones
Authors: Golder Su , Loke Yoon K.
Published: December 2011

Background:  Search filters have been developed in MEDLINE and EMBASE to help overcome the challenges of searching electronic databases for information on adverse effects. However, little evaluation of their effectiveness has been carried out.

Objectives:  To measure the sensitivity and precision of available adverse effects search filters in MEDLINE and EMBASE.

Methods:  A case study systematic review of fracture related adverse effects associated with the use of thiazolidinediones was used. Twelve MEDLINE search strategies and three EMBASE search strategies were tested.

Results:  Nineteen relevant references from MEDLINE and 24 from EMBASE were included in the review. Four search filters in MEDLINE achieved high sensitivity (95 or 100%) with an improved level of precision from searches without any adverse effects filter. High precision in MEDLINE could also be achieved (up to 53%) using search filters that rely on Medical Subject Headings. No search filter in EMBASE achieved high precision (all were under 5%) and the highest sensitivity in EMBASE was 83%.

Conclusions:  Adverse effects search filters appear to be effective in MEDLINE for achieving either high sensitivity or high precision. Search filters in EMBASE, however, do not appear as effective, particularly in improving precision.
Activation of transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 evokes nociception through substance P release from primary sensory neurons
Authors: Nakamura Yoki , Une Yujiro , Miyano Kanako , Abe Hiromi , Hisaoka Kazue , Morioka Norimitsu , Nakata Yoshihiro
Published: December 2011

J. Neurochem.(2012)120, 1036–1047.

To examine mechanisms underlying substance P (SP) release from primary sensory neurons in response to activation of the non‐selective cation channel transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1), SP release from cultured rat dorsal root ganglion neurons was measured, using radioimmunoassay, by stimulating TRPA1 with allyl isothiocyanate (AITC), a TRPA1 agonist. AITC‐evoked SP release occurred in a concentration‐ and time‐dependent manner. Interestingly, p38 mitogen‐activated protein kinase (p38) inhibitor SB203580 significantly attenuated AITC‐evoked SP release. Thein vivoeffect of AITC‐evoked SP release from primary sensory neurons in mice was evaluated. Hind paw intraplantar injection of AITC induced nociceptive behaviors and inflammation (edema, thermal hyperalgesia). AITC‐induced thermal hyperalgesia and edema were inhibited by intraplantar pre‐treatment with either SB203580 or neurokinin‐1 receptor antagonist CP96345. Moreover, intrathecal pre‐treatment with either CP96345 or SB203580 inhibited AITC‐induced nociceptive behaviors and thermal hyperalgesia. Immunohistochemical studies demonstrated that intraplantar AITC injection induced the phosphorylation of p38 in mouse dorsal root ganglion neurons containing SP. These findings suggest that activation of TRPA1 evokes SP release from the primary sensory neurons through phosphorylation of p38, subsequent nociceptive behaviors and inflammatory responses. Furthermore, the data also indicate that blocking the effects of TRPA1 activation at the periphery leads to significant antinociception.
Varying Responses of Northeastern North American Amphibians to the Chytrid Pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis
Authors: GAHL MEGAN K. , LONGCORE JOYCE E. , HOULAHAN JEFF E.
Published: December 2011

Abstract:  Chytridiomycosis, caused by Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), is widespread among amphibians in northeastern North America. It is unknown, however, whether Bd has the potential to cause extensive amphibian mortalities in northeastern North America as have occurred elsewhere. In the laboratory, we exposed seven common northeastern North American amphibian species to Bd to assess the likelihood of population‐level effects from the disease. We exposed larval wood frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus) and postmetamorphic frogs of six other species to two different strains of Bd, a northeastern strain (JEL404) and a strain that caused die‐offs of amphibians in Panama (JEL423), under ideal in vitro growth conditions for Bd. Exposed American toads (Anaxyrus americanus) all died; thus, this species may be the most likely to die from Bd‐caused disease in the wild. Both Bd strains were associated with mortalities of wood frogs, although half the metamorphs survived. The Bd strain from Panama killed metamorphic green frogs (L. clamitans), whereas the northeastern strain did not, which means novel strains of Bd may lead to death even when local strains may not. No mortality was observed in four species (bullfrogs [L. catesbeianus], northern leopard frogs [L. pipiens], spring peepers [Pseudacris crucifer], and blue‐spotted salamanders [Ambystoma laterale]) and in some individuals of green frogs and wood frogs that we exposed. This finding suggests these six species may be Bd vectors. Our results show that systematic exposures of amphibian species to Bd in the laboratory may be a good first step in the identification of species susceptible to Bd‐caused declines and in directing regional conservation efforts aimed at susceptible species.
Correlates of Bushmeat Hunting among Remote Rural Households in Gabon, Central Africa
Authors: FOERSTER STEFFEN , WILKIE DAVID S. , MORELLI GILDA A. , DEMMER JOSEFIEN , STARKEY MALCOLM , TELFER PAUL , STEIL MATTHEW , LEWBEL ARTHUR
Published: December 2011

Abstract:  Hunted wild animals (i.e., bushmeat) are a main source of protein for many rural populations in the tropics, and the unsustainable harvest of these animals puts both human food security and ecosystem functioning at risk. To understand the correlates of bushmeat consumption, we surveyed 1219 households in 121 rural villages near three newly established national parks in Gabon. Through the surveys we gathered information on bushmeat consumption, income, and material assests. In addition, we quantified land cover in a 5‐km radius around the village center and distance of the village center to the nearest park boundary. Bushmeat was not a source of income for most households, but it was the primary animal protein consumed. Ninety‐seven percent of households consumed bushmeat at least once during a survey period of 12 days. Income or wealth, land cover, distance of village to the nearest park boundary, and level of education of the head of the household were among the factors that significantly related to the likelihood of consuming any of the 10 most commonly consumed species of bushmeat. Household size was the predictor most strongly associated with quantities of bushmeat consumed and was negatively related to consumption. Total bushmeat consumption per adult male equivalent increased as household wealth increased and decreased as distance of villages to park boundaries increased. Bushmeat consumption at the household level was not related to unit values (i.e., price estimates for a good that typically does not have a market value; estimates derived from willingness to sell or trade the good for items of known price) of bushmeat or the price of chicken and fish as potential substitutes. The median consumption of bushmeat at the village level, however, was negatively related to village mean unit values of bushmeat across all species. Our results suggest that a lack of alternative protein sources motivated even the wealthiest among surveyed households to consume bushmeat. Providing affordable, alternative protein sources to all households would likely reduce unsustainable levels of bushmeat consumption in rural Gabon.
A New Context‐Based Approach to Assess Marine Mammal Behavioral Responses to Anthropogenic Sounds
Authors: ELLISON W.T. , SOUTHALL B.L. , CLARK C.W. , FRANKEL A.S.
Published: December 2011

Abstract: Acute effects of anthropogenic sounds on marine mammals, such as from military sonars, energy development, and offshore construction, have received considerable international attention from scientists, regulators, and industry. Moreover, there has been increasing recognition and concern about the potential chronic effects of human activities (e.g., shipping). It has been demonstrated that increases in human activity and background noise can alter habitats of marine animals and potentially mask communications for species that rely on sound to mate, feed, avoid predators, and navigate. Without exception, regulatory agencies required to assess and manage the effects of noise on marine mammals have addressed only the acute effects of noise on hearing and behavior. Furthermore, they have relied on a single exposure metric to assess acute effects: the absolute sound level received by the animal. There is compelling evidence that factors other than received sound level, including the activity state of animals exposed to different sounds, the nature and novelty of a sound, and spatial relations between sound source and receiving animals (i.e., the exposure context) strongly affect the probability of a behavioral response. A more comprehensive assessment method is needed that accounts for the fact that multiple contextual factors can affect how animals respond to both acute and chronic noise. We propose a three‐part approach. The first includes measurement and evaluation of context‐based behavioral responses of marine mammals exposed to various sounds. The second includes new assessment metrics that emphasize relative sound levels (i.e., ratio of signal to background noise and level above hearing threshold). The third considers the effects of chronic and acute noise exposure. All three aspects of sound exposure (context, relative sound level, and chronic noise) mediate behavioral response, and we suggest they be integrated into ecosystem‐level management and the spatial planning of human offshore activities.
An Examination of Irigaray's Commitment to Transcendental Phenomenology inThe Forgetting of AirandThe Way of Love
Authors: Van Leeuwen Anne
Published: December 2011

Although sexual difference is widely regarded as the concept that lies at the center of Luce Irigaray's thought, its meaning and significance is highly contested. This dissensus, however, attests to more than merely the existence of a recalcitrant conceptual ambiguity. That is, Irigaray's discussion of sexual difference remains fraught not because she leaves this concept undefined but because the centrality of sexual difference in fact marks a complex and unstable nexus of phenomena that shift throughout her work. Consequently, if Irigaray is indeed the preeminent thinker of sexual difference, this is not in virtue of her recurrent appeal to a monolithic, readily digestible concept but rather somehow despite the absence of precisely this gesture. In this paper, I will attempt to elucidate the peculiar preeminence of sexual difference in Irigaray's work by identifying her persistent, though largely unexamined, commitment to transcendental phenomenology. Indeed, I attempt to show that the complex of phenomena of sexual difference emerges inL'oubli de l'airandThe Way of Loveas a modulation of Heidegger's own revision of transcendental phenomenology. In this sense, the peculiar preeminence of sexual difference does not mark the centrality of a concept but Irigaray's amplification of this Heideggerian gesture.
Living Politically: An Irigarayan Notion of Agency as a Way of Life
Authors: Rozmarin Miri
Published: December 2011

This paper formulates Luce Irigaray's notion of agency as a political way of life. I argue that agency, within an Irigarayan framework, is both the outcome and the condition of a political life, aimed at creating political transformations. As Irigaray hardly addresses the topic of agency per se, I suggest understanding Irigaray's textual style as implying specific “technologies of self” in the Foucauldian sense, that is, as self‐applied social practices that reshape social reality, one's relations to oneself, and enhance one's freedom and pleasures in these relations. This interpretation aims to extract concrete transformative practices, which, by shaping one's sense of self in relation to others, create oneself as a free and active subject.
Criminal Violence and Democratization in Central America: The Survival of the Violent State
Authors: Cruz José Miguel
Published: December 2011

Why does Nicaragua have less violent crime than Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras? All these countries underwent political transitions in the 1990s. Many explanations point to the legacies of war, socioeconomic underdevelopment, and neoliberal structural reforms. However, these arguments do not fully explain why, despite economic reforms conducted throughout the region, war-less Honduras and wealthier Guatemala and El Salvador have much more crime than Nicaragua. This article argues that public security reforms carried out during the political transitions shaped the ability of the new regimes to control the violence produced by their own institutions and collaborators. In the analysis of the crisis of public security, it is important to bring the state back. The survival of violent entrepreneurs in the new security apparatus and their relationship with new governing elites foster the conditions for the escalation of violence in northern Central America.
Beyond Orthodoxy: Asserting Latin America's New Strategic Options Toward the United States
Authors: Russell Roberto , Tokatlian Juan Gabriel
Published: December 2011

This essay explores the possibility that Latin America may deploy new strategic options in its relations with Washington at the beginning of the twenty-first century. It starts by evaluating what have been the five major foreign policy models of the region with regard to Washington since the end of the Cold War. It proceeds by evaluating the recent dynamics of Latin American insertion into world affairs. Then it introduces three new alternatives for handling U.S. Latin American relations in the coming years. It concludes by pointing out the importance of understanding the scope of the hemispheric challenges for both the region and Washington.
Parental Control and Junk‐Food Consumption: A Mediating and Moderating Effect Analysis1
Authors: KARIMI‐SHAHANJARINI AKRAM , RASHIDIAN ARASH , MAJDZADEH REZA , OMIDVAR NASRIN , TABATABAI MAHMOUD GHAZI , SHOJAEEZADEH DAVOOD
Published: December 2011

This cross‐sectional study examined the mediating effect of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the moderating role of perceived parental control within the context of adolescents' junk‐food consumption. Adolescents (N = 739) were selected using a cluster‐stratified randomized sampling method. Social cognitions, perceived parental control, and junk‐food consumption were assessed through self‐administered questionnaires. Results revealed both direct and indirect effect of perceived parental control within TPB. Additionally, impact of intention was not moderated by perceived parental control. TPB explained 28% and 12% of the variance in intention and junk‐food consumption, respectively. This study identified somewhat both the why and how of junk‐food consumption in Iranian female adolescents.
Short‐run and long‐run dynamics of farm land allocation: panel data evidence from Denmark1
Authors: Arnberg Søren , Hansen Lars Gårn
Published: December 2011

This study develops and estimates a dynamic multi‐output model of farmers’ land allocation decisions that allows for the gradual adjustment of allocations that can result from crop rotation practices and quasi‐fixed capital constraints. Estimation is based on micro‐panel data from Danish farmers that include acreage, output, and variable input utilization at the crop level. Results indicate that there are substantial differences between the short‐run and long‐run land allocation behaviour of Danish farmers and that there are substantial differences in the time lags associated with different crops. To our knowledge, this is the first dynamic micro‐model of land allocation estimated on data from the temperate climate zone. Since similar farming conditions are found in northern Europe and parts of the United States and Canada, this result may be of wider interest.
Do rainfall conditions push or pull rural migrants: evidence from Malawi
Authors: Lewin Paul A. , Fisher Monica , Weber Bruce
Published: December 2011

This article uses nationally representative data from Malawi's 2004/05 Integrated Household Survey (IHS2) to examine whether rainfall conditions influence a rural worker's decision to make a long‐term move to an urban or another rural area. Results of a Full Information Maximum Likelihood regression model reveal that (1) rainfall shocks have a negative association with rural out‐migration, (2) migrants choose to move to communities where rainfall variability and drought probability are lower, and (3) rainfall shocks have larger negative effects on the consumption of recent migrants than on the consumption of long‐time residents.
Pollen counts and suicide rates. Association not replicated
Authors: Woo J. M. , Gibbons R. D. , Rogers C. A. , Qin P. , Kim J. B. , Roberts D. W. , Noh E. S. , Mann J. J. , Postolache T. T.
Published: December 2011

Woo JM, Gibbons RD, Rogers CA, Qin P, Kim JB, Roberts DW, Noh ES, Mann JJ, Postolache TT. Pollen counts and suicide rates. Association not replicated.

Objective:  To replicate a previously reported association between pollen counts and county suicide rates in the continental United States, across space and time.

Method:  The authors evaluated the relationship between airborne pollen counts and suicide rates in 42 counties of the continental United States, containing a pollen‐counting station participating in the Aeroallergen Monitoring Network in the United States (N = 120 076 suicides), considering years’ quarter, age group, sex, race, rural/urban location, number of local psychiatrists, and median household income, from 1999 to 2002. The county‐level effects were broken into between‐county and within‐county.

Results:  No within‐county effects were found. Between‐county effects for grass and ragweed pollen on suicide rates lost statistical significance after adjustment for median income, number of psychiatrists, and urban vs. rural location.

Conclusion:  Future research is necessary to reappraise the previously reported relationship between pollen levels and suicide rates that may have been driven by socioeconomic confounders.
Digital image analysis: a review of reproducibility, stability and basic requirements for optimal results
Authors: RIBER‐HANSEN RIKKE , VAINER BEN , STEINICHE TORBEN
Published: December 2011

Riber‐Hansen R, Vainer B, Steiniche T. Digital image analysis: a review of reproducibility, stability and basic requirements for optimal results. APMIS 2012; 120: 276–89.

Digital image analysis (DIA) is increasingly implemented in histopathological research to facilitate truly quantitative measurements, decrease inter‐observer variation and reduce hands‐on time. Originally, efforts were made to enable DIA to reproduce manually obtained results on histological slides optimized for light microscopy and the human eye. With improved technical methods and the acknowledgement that computerized readings are different from analysis by human eye, recognition has been achieved that to really empower DIA, histological slides must be optimized for the digital ‘eye’, with reproducible results correlating with clinical findings. In this review, we focus on the basic expectations and requirements for DIA to gain wider use in histopathological research and diagnostics. With a reference to studies that specifically compare DIA with conventional methods, this review discusses reproducibility, application of stereology‐based quantitative measurements, time consumption, optimization of histological slides, regions of interest selection and recent developments in staining and imaging techniques.
Modelling the impact of hen harrier management measures on a red grouse population in the UK
Authors: New Leslie F. , Buckland Stephen T. , Redpath Stephen , Matthiopoulos Jason
Published: December 2011

Human‐wildlife conflict is one of the greatest barriers to effective conservation. The recovery of the hen harrier Circus cyaneus in the United Kingdom has been limited due to illegal persecution, a consequence of the raptors’ predation on the economically valuable game‐bird, the red grouse Lagopus lagopus scoticus. To improve management of the system it is necessary to understand the interactions between the two species in their broader community context. We therefore developed a multi‐species model in which the life history and interactions of each of the two bird species are described through linked process models. This model was fit to population data using a Bayesian state–space framework and used to investigate the effectiveness of a conflict–mitigation technique known as diversionary feeding, in which harrier nests are provided with food in an attempt to reduce consumption of grouse chicks. To explore the utility of diversionary feeding we specified four scenarios in which 1) harriers were absent from the system, 2) there was no diversionary feeding of harriers, 3) only a portion of the harrier nests were provided with diversionary food and 4) all nests were provided with diversionary food. The results from fitting the model under the different scenarios were used to determine the strength of harriers’ impact on grouse density, as well as the effectiveness of diversionary feeding. Given the lack of information on other grouse predators and only two years of data on supplementary feeding, our results need to be implanted with caution. However, we found theoretical support for the hen harriers’ suppression of grouse cycle amplitude and average density. Furthermore, our results suggest that on grouse estates where diversionary feeding is the only active management, diversionary feeding is only marginally successful and not sufficient to mitigate the consequences of hen harrier predation on red grouse chicks.
Dispersal and diversity – unifying scale‐dependent relationships within the neutral theory
Authors: May Felix , Giladi Itamar , Ziv Yaron , Jeltsch Florian
Published: December 2011

The response of species diversity to dispersal capability is inherently scale‐dependent: increasing dispersal capability is expected to increase diversity at the local scale, while decreasing diversity at the metacommunity scale. However, these expectations are based on model formulations that neglect dispersal limitation and species segregation at the local scale. We developed a unifying framework of dispersal–diversity relationships and tested the generality of these expectations. For this purpose we used a spatially‐explicit neutral model with various combinations of survey area (local scale) and landscape size (metacommunity scale). Simulations were conducted using landscapes of finite and of conceptually infinite size. We analyzed the scale‐dependence of dispersal‐diversity relationships for exponentially‐bounded versus fat‐tailed dispersal kernels, several levels of speciation rate and contrasting assumptions on recruitment at short dispersal distances. We found that the ratio of survey area to landscape size is a major determinant of dispersal–diversity relationships. With increasing survey‐to‐landscape area ratio the dispersal–diversity relationship switches from monotonically increasing through a U‐shaped pattern (with a local minimum) to a monotonically decreasing pattern. Therefore, we provide a continuous set of dispersal–diversity relationships, which contains the response shapes reported previously as extreme cases. We suggest the mean dispersal distance with the minimum of species diversity (minimizing dispersal distance) for a certain scenario as a key characteristic of dispersal–diversity relationships. We show that not only increasing mean dispersal distances, but also increasing variances of dispersal can enhance diversity at the local scale, given a diverse species pool at the metacommunity scale. In conclusion, the response of diversity to variations of dispersal capability at spatial scales of interest, e.g. conservation areas, can differ more widely than expected previously. Therefore, land use and conservation activities, which manipulate dispersal capability, need to consider the landscape context and potential species pools carefully.
Emerging applications of nanomedicine in dermatology
Authors: Saraceno Rosita , Chiricozzi Andrea , Gabellini Massimo , Chimenti Sergio
Published: December 2011

Background

Nanotechnology is a new branch of engineering consisting of the usage of nanoscale particles (100 nm and smaller). Nanomedicine is the application of nanoscale technologies for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes in medicine. Nanodermatology, nanotechnology applied to dermatology, represents one of the most advanced field for which an increasing interest, both economic and scientific, is rising.

 The skin is the first point of contact for a whole host of nanomaterials, ranging from topical preparations, articles of clothing and household products, to sporting goods and industrial manufactured goods.

 Applications of nanomedicine in dermatology include new direction in medical diagnosis, monitoring and treatment. Gold nanoparticle, quantum dots and magnetic nanoparticles are used in non‐invasive nanoimaging of high‐resolution dermoscopy, microscopy, nanopunch, and spectroscopy, offering advanced diagnostic and therapeutic modalities.

 Nanotherapeutics has been considered in immunotherapy, genetherapy, and drug therapy. In drug therapy, because of size reduction or encapsulation of drug particles, the therapeutic potential of water insoluble and unstable drugs improve, and also facilitate the delivery of small molecules across blood, skin, nails, and pilosebaceous unit.

Aims

To review therapeutic applications and benefits of nanomedicine in esthetic dermatology, treatment of malignancies, and inflammatory skin diseases.