bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Immigration and Mothering
Authors: Moon Seungsook
Published: April 2004

Despite the increase of middle-class people among Asian immigrants to the United States over the past three decades,research has paid little attention to these women. Focusing on women’s paid employment, prior research also tends to overlook the significance of mothering to the analysis of gender relations in immigrant families. By bringing together the literatures on gender and immigration and on mothering in families of color,this article examines how immigration and gender ideology,mediated by a family’s economic situation and the employment prospects for educated women of color,shape the organization of mothering and how each pattern of mothering affects the power dynamics underlying the gender division of labor in immigrant families. Three distinct arrangements of mothering emerge from in-depth interviews with middle-class Korean immigrant women collected from suburbs in New York State: (1) shared mothering based on transnational,transgenerational,and nuclear family networks; (2) isolated and privatized mothering; and (3) mothering after retreat from full-time employment.
Understanding the Gender Gap in Small Business Success
Authors: Bird Sharon R. , Sapp Stephen G.
Published: April 2004

The authors explore how urban versus rural community location shapes the extent to which various individual, relational, and structural factors affect the gender gap in small business success. Building on previous research on gender and small business success, gender queuing theories, and gendered organization/institution theories, they develop a place-specific theory of the gender gap in small business success. The findings, based on small business data collected in urban and rural Iowa (1995 and 1997), support queuing arguments and raise questions about the effectiveness of crowded-sector explanations. They indicate that the gender gap in small business success operates such that men-owned businesses are more successful in both urban and rural settings but that men-owned businesses are even more successful than women-owned businesses in urban than rural communities. The authors discuss the causes and consequences of the gender gap in small business success in rural and urban places and identify key issues for further research.
Moderating Contradictions of Feminist Philanthropy
Authors: Ostrander Susan A.
Published: April 2004

Philanthropy is typically hierarchically constructed with an imbalance of power between funders and grantees. While this seems inherent in philanthropic relationships where funders inevitably control resources that grantees need, some women’s funds have sought to construct less hierarchical and thus more feminist relationships with the organizations they support. Based on many years of insider access to a local women’s fund, this article describes and explains the organization’s efforts to develop interactive dialogues with its grantees, which led to a change in grants guidelines that were more inclusive of women’s methods of community organizing. A small survey of women’s community groups, done as background to this research, provides data on challenges and obstacles these groups face when seeking monies to support their work. Some attention is given to implications for general theories of organizations, for funder-grantee dialogues leading to increased accountability in philanthropy, and for support of women’s community organizations.
Promising and Contested Fields
Authors: Chow Esther Ngan-Ling , Zhang Naihua , Wang Jinling
Published: April 2004

This article is a review of the rise and development of women’s studies and the sociology of women/gender, two interrelated academic fields in China. Informed by the sociology of knowledge, the authors analyze how historical and sociopolitical factors such as the legacy of Marxism, state/party control, economic reform, political upheavals, local conditions, and global influences have greatly shaped what and how women’s and gender issues are studied and the resultant characteristics and knowledge production of the two fields in China. Specifically, the authors examine the dynamic process of knowledge development in sociology of women/gender in terms of its academic positioning, standpoint, content, research methodology, curriculum transformation, and teaching in China. Finally, the authors demonstrate how the characteristics and issues shared by the two fields have evolved in a dynamic interplay between Chinese Marxism and feminism.
The Influence of Yarn Structure and Processing Conditions on the Laminate Quality of Stampformed Carbon and Thermoplastic Polymer Fiber Commingled Yarns
Authors: Thomanny Urs I. , Ermanni Paolo
Published: April 2004

Laminates with unidirectional (UD) fiber orientation of three different commingled yarns, comprising poly(amide-12) and poly(butylene-terephthalate) fibers blended with stretch broken carbon fibers (CF), were produced at different processing conditions. The achieved laminate quality was evaluated by means of void content measurement, mechanical testing along and transverse to the fiber direction, and optical microscopy. It was found that - under the investigated processing conditions - the cooling/consolidation time is not sufficiently long to obtain laminates with satisfactorily low void content, unless a commingled yarn with exceptionally intimate blending quality is employed. Incomplete fiber impregnation resulted in a drastic decrease of transverse tensile strength as compared with values obtained for compression-molded reference laminates. Stamp forming of carbon and poly(butylene-terephthalate) fiber commingled yarn with extraordinary degree of commingling delivered laminates with as low void contents as 1% at some processing conditions, but fiber-matrix adhesion was not satisfactory. Nevertheless, the presented carbon and poly(butylene-terephthalate) fiber commingled yarn offers great potential to be successively processed by stamp forming, as the interfacial adhesion problem is expected to be solved by using optimized fiber sizing.
Management of Acute and Chronic Sinusitis in Adult Patients
Authors: Conry John M. , Castanheira Damary
Published: April 2004

Sinusitis is a highly prevalent illness in the United States resulting in significant sinus discomfort and pain. Diagnoses of sinusitis are typically based on patients’clinical presentations but are complicated because numerous microbiologic etiologies exist (viruses, bacteria, fungi). Along with its diagnosis, sinusitis should be classified as acute or chronic on the basis of the duration of symptoms. It is important to differentiate acute from chronic sinusitis because their etiologies and treatments may differ. Patients who present with symptoms of acute sinusitis for at least 1 week after an acute viral illness are appropriate candidates for antibiotics. Antibiotic choices should be based on local resistance patterns and patients’ characteristics, but a 2-week course of first-line antibiotics (eg, amoxicillin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole) is usually sufficient. Compared to that of acute sinusitis, the management of chronic bacterial sinusitis is more complicated and controversial. Chronic sinusitis may be medically or surgically managed. Medical therapy of chronic bacterial sinusitis should consist of a prolonged course of antibiotics (4 to 6 weeks). Broad-spectrum antibiotics should be used, covering Staphylococcus aureus, • -lactamase-producing organisms, and in certain situations anaerobes. Adjunctive therapy with saline nasal spray, nasal decongestants, and inhaled nasal corticosteroids may be helpful for certain patients with acute or chronic sinusitis.
Corticosteroids in Solid Organ Transplantation: Update and Review of the Literature
Authors: Smith Lonnie
Published: April 2004

Corticosteroids have been a constant in immunosuppressive regimens since the beginning of solid organ transplantation. Although the use of corticosteroids allowed the advancement of transplantation in the early years, this came at the price of numerous adverse events for patients. As the survival of transplanted organs has risen over the past several years, increasing attention has been focused on the management of long-term complications. Many of these long-term complications are directly related to the toxicities of immunosuppressive agents. Due to these toxicities, we have seen a resurgence in immunosuppressive protocols that utilize regimens designed to minimize these long-term complications. This has been accomplished by avoiding, reducing or withdrawing one or more medications from the multi-drug regimens. Corticosteroids, with their plethora of side affects, have been of major interest to the transplant community in terms of minimizing side affects by limiting exposure.
Current Management Issues Associated with Community-Acquired Pneumonia
Authors: Cregin Regina G.
Published: April 2004

Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a significant cause of morbidity, mortality, and increased cost. Despite numerous managementguidelines, CAP continues to existas a challenge to the learned clinician. Due to a lack of sensitive diagnostic testing, causative pathogens are often not identified, making most therapy empiric. Increasing levels of bacterial resistance to available antimicrobials worldwide has been implicated in driving up the costs of treatment and adversely effecting clinical outcomes. Pharmacists can be part of the solution by encouraging appropriate antimicrobial selection based on resistance patterns in their communities and ensuring appropriate vaccines are employed to prevent CAP.
Insulin Delivery Devices
Authors: Stewart Kristine M. , Wilson Mary F. , Rider Joan M.
Published: April 2004

More than 6million Americans require daily injections of insulin. Insulin therapy, using the vial and syringe method, can be complicated and time consuming. Insulin pens were introduced in the United States in 1987 and have simplified insulin administration for many patients. Continuous Subcutaneous Insulin Infusion (insulin pumps or CSII) is being utilized to achieve and maintain tight glycemic control for personswith Diabetes Mellitus (DM). CSII therapy has existed since the 1960s. These insulin delivery devices provide improvements in flexibility, convenience, and freedom for patients-with diabetes. These devices may also help promote dosing accuracy and often improve compliance. CSII uses only rapid acting insulin, which has more reliable and predictable absorption. Gone are the days of sliding scales and feeding times to match the insulin delivery systems. This article focuses on insulin pen therapy and other alternative methods of delivering insulin including insulin pump therapy.
Newer Treatment Strategies for the Management of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
Authors: Cornell Susan , Briggs Amber
Published: April 2004

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a multiorgan, metabolic disease associated with multiple microvascular and macrovascular complications. The incidence of type 2 diabetes is growing at an alarming rate. Achieving and maintaining near-normal blood glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin levels (A1C) are of the utmost importance. Existing treatment options for managing type 2 diabetes, which have primarily included sulfonylureas and biguanides, are insufficient at achieving these treatment goals alone, particularly if used long term. The need to explore newer and better treatment options that provide longer lasting glucose control and at the same time focus on targeting cardiovascular risk factors to minimize and prevent the serious complications associated with this multifaceted disease becomes quite obvious.
An Overview of Diabetic Nephropathy
Authors: Nesbitt Kenyetta N.
Published: April 2004

Diabetic nephropathy is a complication of type 1 and type diabetes mellitus and the leading cause of end-stage renal disease in the United States. The health care system spends billions of dollars every year to treat end-stage renal disease patients. Health care providers must address diabetic nephropathy. The American Diabetes Association set forth recommendations for early detection to slow the progression of renal disease and treatment guidelines for patients with diabetes along with hypertension and diabetic nephropathy. Routine screening and treatment are the key to ending the trend of patients with diabetic nephropathy progressing to end-stage renal disease. Glycemic and blood pressure control is important for managing diabetic nephropathy. Angiotensinconverting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers have become drugs of choice for treating diabetic nephropathy, based on clinical studies showing they slow the progression of renal disease. Whether protein restrictions are necessary in patients with diabetic nephropathy is being debated.
Anticoagulation in the Elderly
Authors: Dowd Mary B.
Published: April 2004

Oral anticoagulation has been shown to provide great benefit in preventing and treating thromboembolic disorders. The challenges of oral anticoagulation management in the elderly involve balancing the risks of bleeding versus the benefits of a life-saving treatment. Due to the complex nature of warfarin, therapy must be individualized with frequent monitoring, re-education, and adjustments based on concurrent illness and drug therapy. This review focuses on the use of warfarin, including indications, dosing recommendations, drug and dietary interactions, and reversal of anticoagulation. Methods to determine bleeding risks in this population and barriers that interfere with the prescribing of warfarin are discussed. Strategies to improve patient outcome and reduce adverse events are provided to assist clinicians in their decision-making skills. The potential advantages of anticoagulation clinics are summarized with regards to coordinating the care and minimizing the risks of anticoagulant therapy. The role of new-generation anticoagulants is also discussed as to their place in therapy.
Preventing Falls in the Elderly: The Role of the Pharmacist
Authors: Keys Patricia A. , Tress Dianne R.
Published: April 2004

Falls are a common and often devastating occurrence for the elderly in home and institutional settings. The physical, psychological, and economic consequences of falls are significant. Elderly patients at highest fall risk usually have a number of predisposing conditions contributing to that risk. Medications are frequently associative factors in falls in the elderly. The overall number of medications prescribed is often as important as the choice of drug in determining potential for falls. The medications most often implicated in falls are antipsychotics, sedative-hypnotics, antidepressants, type I antiarrhythmics, anticonvulsants, narcotics, and other medications with significant anticholinergic side effects. The literature regarding medications and fall risk is conflicting and difficult to interpret and apply. Confounding variables contributing to this ambiguity include pharmacokinetic factors, range of doses administered, coexisting medical problems, differences in patient care settings, study duration, and outcomes measured. Strategies and considerations for pharmacist assessment of medication-related fall risk are presented.
The Pharmacological Approach of Behavioral Disturbances in Dementia
Authors: Maher Robert L.
Published: April 2004

Behavioral and psychological symptoms in dementia (BPSD) are often overlooked due to the main focus of treating or preventing cognitive decline symptoms. Almost two-thirds of patients with dementia will develop some type of noncognitive symptoms that include symptoms such as wandering, agitation, sexually inappropriate behaviors, physical and verbal aggression, uncooperativeness, and “sun-downing.” Psychological symptoms include depression, anxiety, delusions, hallucinations, and suspiciousness/paranoia. Worsening of these symptoms can lead to caregiver burden and is one of the major reasons for patients with dementia to be institutionalized. A major drawback of treating these symptoms pharmacologically is that the response rate is low with the current available therapies such as antipsychotics, anxiolytics, and antidepressants. In addition, all of these therapeutic classes have drawbacks due to side effect profiles. This article provides an overview of the current recommendations for pharmacological approaches for the treatment of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia.
Human Holistic and Energetic Responses Following a Tornado
Authors: Slater Victoria E.
Published: April 2004

After an F-4 tornado destroyed a large section of our town, I gave 50 complementary energy treatments to tornado victims. I discovered that the same energetic, physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual disruption occurred in people directly and indirectly exposed to the tornado, and that the damage did not repair spontaneously over time. This article describes the energetic damage people sustained from the tornado and their physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual responses. It also describes the energetic treatment that effectively eliminated the trauma, returning the tornado victim to a stable state. The article concludes with clinical and research implications and relates the treatment of the tornado victims to holistic nursing. The treatment holds promise for victims of posttraumatic stress disorder.
Parents’ Positioning and Distracting Children During Venipuncture
Authors: Cavender Kim , Goff Melinda D. , Hollon Ellen C. , Guzzetta Cathie E.
Published: April 2004

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of parental positioning and distraction on the pain, fear, and distress of pediatric patients undergoing venipuncture. An experimental-comparison group design was used to evaluate 43 patients (20 experimental and 23 comparison) who were 4 to 11 years old. Experimental participants used parental positioning and distraction. All participants rated their pain and fear; parents and child life specialists (CLS) rated the child’s fear, and CLS rated the child’s distress. Self-reported pain and fear were highly correlated (p < .001) but not significantly different between the two groups. Fear rated by CLS (p < .001) and parents (p = .003) was significantly lower in experimental participants. Although no difference was found in distress between the two groups, a significant time trend was discovered (p < .001). The parental positioning-distraction intervention has the potential to enhance positive clinical outcomes with a primary benefit of decreased fear. Further research is warranted.
Valuing Volunteers: An Economic Evaluation of the Net Benefits of Hospital Volunteers
Authors: Handy Femida , Srinivasan Narasimhan
Published: April 2004

The use of volunteers in hospitals has been an age-old practice. This nonmarket community involvement is a distinctive aspect of North American life. Hospitals may be attracted to increase the use of volunteers, both to provide increased quality of care and to contain costs. Hospitals rely on the use of professional administrators to use the donated time of volunteers efficiently. This study examines the benefits and costs of volunteer programs and derives an estimate of the net value of volunteer programs that accrue to the hospitals and volunteers. In particular, the costs and benefits to hospitals are detailed. Using 31 hospitals in and around Toronto and surveying hospital volunteer administrators, hospital clinical staff members, and volunteers themselves, a striking pay-off for hospitals was found: an average of $6.84 in value from volunteers for every dollar spent—a return on investment of 684%. Civic and community participation is indeed valuable.
Race Equality Policies at Work: Employee Perceptions of the ‘Implementation Gap’ in a UK Local Authority
Authors: Creegan Chris , Colgan Fiona , Charlesworth Richard , Robinson Gil
Published: April 2004

This article examines employee perceptions of the implementation of a local authority race equality plan in the United Kingdom. It explores the way in which the changed landscape of local authorities in the 1990s affected the implementation of race equality policies. We seek to shed light on black and ethnic minority people’s experiences of their treatment within organizations in the context of the appearance of ‘institutional racism’ on the UK public agenda. We do so whilst recognizing the complex interplay of race and gender in perceptions and experiences of organizational inequalities. The analysis focuses on employee perceptions of the culture of the authority and of the performance, ownership and efficacy of the race equality plan. The article highlights the importance of exploring and understanding workforce perceptions of equal opportunities policies.
Temporary Employment and Employability: Training Opportunities and Efforts of Temporary and Permanent Employees in Belgium
Authors: Forrier Anneleen , Sels Luc
Published: April 2004

‘Lifetime employability’ is often put forward as an alternative to lifetime employment with the same employer. At first sight, temporary employment relations and employability go hand in hand. Temporary employment is less dramatic when it is linked to a higher employability. Opponents, however, claim that temporary employment and employability are at odds. They argue that both employers and temporary employees may be faced with dilemmas relating to the enhancement of employability through training. In this article, we deal with this question. We study the training efforts of temporary and permanent employees as well as the training opportunities offered by their respective employers. Moreover, we differentiate between different groups of temporary employees. We study this in the Belgian institutional setting. The results indicate that, although temps do largely take responsibility for their own training, they get fewer opportunities to enhance their employability than do permanent employees.
Employment Flexibility in Spain and its Impact on Transitions to Adulthood
Authors: Golsch Katrin
Published: April 2004

In contemporary societies, the growing need for flexibility and its impact on labour markets are highly debated. The deregulation of labour markets has led to a growing proportion of workers in various atypical employment relationships, such as temporary jobs. In this respect Spain stands out, from a European perspective, as a country that has experienced a fast and intense shift from one of the most rigid employment protection systems to a highly flexible labour market with an extraordinarily high proportion of temporary employees. The Spanish labour market is highly segmented with ‘insiders’ in permanent positions, and ‘outsiders’ (unemployed and inactive) and work-insecure employees in temporary posts, particularly among youth. This article attempts to gauge the impact of increasing flexibility on transitions to adulthood in Spain. Using the Spanish European Community Household Panel, the analysis concentrates on three interrelated transitions: labour market entry, first marriage and first parenthood. Previous contributions have well elaborated the repercussions of non-employment. What makes this study distinct is the particular focus on precarious employment relationships and individuals’ perception of job security. The results give a first indication that the type of employment relationship and the perception of job security seem to matter in the studied transition processes.
State Restructuring and Union Renewal: The Case of the National Union of Teachers
Authors: Carter Bob
Published: April 2004

All sections of state employment have undergone radical restructuring since the 1980s, giving rise to a debate about the actual and necessary responses of public sector unions. Much of this debate has concerned the possibility of union renewal prompted by the tendency of New Public Management to decentralize employment relations. This article combines an examination of secondary works with a case study to evaluate the extent to which the largest of the teachers’ unions, the National Union of Teachers, has been subject to this process. It concludes that while many of the conditions for renewal appear to be in place, there is no crisis of unionism and evidence points to a traditional pattern of relations between local associations of the union and LEAs being resilient.
The Crisis of Civil Service Trade Unionism: A Case Study of Call Centre Development in a Civil Service Agency
Authors: Fisher Michael
Published: April 2004

This article examines why and how management in a British civil service agency have sought to respond to the Modernising Governmentagenda of the present Labour government, by seeking to apply Taylorist principles of work organization to a complex form of administrative casework. This has led to the establishment of a call centre within the agency for the first time. The article discusses the response to this of the main trade union within the agency, the positive and cooperative nature of which is argued to be founded in the historic character of management–union relations within the agency, and in the ‘high-quality’ form that call centre working has so far assumed.The reasons for this are identified as having their origins primarily in a number of potentially temporary technical limits to the further realization of a Taylorist decomposition of call handling tasks.The persistence of these limits is argued to have compelled management to preserve complex working and employment terms that they may otherwise have sought to challenge and change.The article concludes by arguing that trade unionism in the agency is in crisis: a crisis consisting of a too uncritical understanding of the potential that the further development of call centre working has to enhance the degradation and devaluation of staff labour.
Conceptual Problems as Obstacles to Progress in Political Science
Authors: Johnson James
Published: April 2004

When they assess competing theories political scientists typically rely exclusively and naively on criteria of empirical performance. They have correspondingly little to say about conceptual problems and seem generally unaware of the extent to which their assessments of empirical performance are parasitic on conceptual commitments. This, in turn, hinders their ability to both persuasively conduct and critically assess substantive research. I use four decades of research on political culture as a vehicle for demonstrating how conceptual problems pose obstacles to progress in political science.
What is a Problem?
Authors: Osborne Thomas
Published: April 2004

By way of a selective comparison of the work of Georges Canguilhem and Henri Bergson on their respective conceptions of ‘problematology’, this article argues that the centrality of the notion of the ‘problem’ in each can be found in their differing conceptions of the philosophy of life and the living being. Canguilhem’s model, however, ultimately moves beyond or away from (legislative) philosophy and epistemology towards the question of ethics in so far as his vitalism is a means of signalling the refusal of the supposition that all of the dimensions of life are or might be in our possession. Michel Foucault’s project, though directed for the most part to very different subject-matter, worked out a similar logic in the historical problematology of the sciences of ‘man’ and mentalities of government and power; and the results were equally ethical in so far as Foucault’s nominalist historical problematology entailed the refusal of any idea that all of the dimensions of our anthropological ‘essence’ are, or could be, likewise, in our possession.
Water as Solvent in Polyimide Synthesis: Thermoset and Thermoplastic Examples
Authors: Chiefari John , Dao Buu , Groth Andrew M. , Hodgkin Jonathan H.
Published: April 2004

A combination of increasingly stringent environmental legislation and economic competition is driving industrial processes further and further towards the three “E”s of chemical manufacture: economy, efficiency and environmental impact. In this paper, we present a novel aqueous method for the synthesis of polyimides. The products resulting from this process perform similarly, through both qualitative and quantitative comparisons, to those conventionally produced using high boiling dipolar aprotic solvent. This highly efficient one-pot method potentially provides economic advantage through low solvent cost and environmental impact benefit from the manageable aqueous waste.
Synthesis and Properties of Unsaturated Poly(Urethane-Imide)s
Authors: Oprea Stefan
Published: April 2004

Unsaturated poly(urethane-imide)s were prepared by the reaction of unsaturated polyurethane prepolymers with maleic anhydride. The polyurethane prepolymers were synthesized by the reaction of 4,4′-methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) with unsaturated polyesters having a molecular weight of about 500 or with a mixture of unsaturated and saturated polyesters having a molecular weight of about 2000. The unsaturated polyurethane prepolymers reacted with maleic anhydride until the evolution of carbon dioxide ceased to yield unsaturated poly(urethane-imide)s. These polymers exhibited improved solubility in organic solvents and formed flexible films showing fairly good stress-strain properties. Compared to conventional polyurethanes based on MDI and poly(ethylene glycol adipate) these polymers exhibited better thermal stabilities due to the presence of the imide groups.
Polyimide Nanocomposites Prepared with a Novel Aromatic Surfactant
Authors: Delozier D. M. , Orwoll R. A. , Cahoon J. F. , Ladislaw J. S. , Smith J. G. , Connell J. W.
Published: April 2004

Montmorillonite clays modified with 1,5-bis(3-aminophenoxy)-3-oxapentane dihydrochloride (BAOD) were used in the preparation of polyimide/organoclay hybrid films. Organoclays with varying surface charge based upon BAOD were prepared and examined for their dispersion behavior in the polymer matrix. Initial evaluation was performed by preparing high molecular weight poly(amide acid) solutions in the presence of the organoclays at a 3 wt% loading. Films were cast and subsequently heated to 300 °C to cause imidization. The resulting nanocomposite films were characterized by transmission electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction. It was found that the clay's cation exchange capacity (CEC) played a key role in determining the extent of dispersion in the polyimide matrix. Considerable dispersion was observed in nanocomposite films prepared from organoclays possessing medium and high CECs. One organoclay that dispersed well was further evaluated in nanocomposite films at weight loadings of 5 and 8%. The nanocomposite films were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, and thin-film tensile testing. High levels of clay dispersion were achieved even at the higher clay loadings. Mechanical testing of these films showed that the moduli of the materials increased with increasing clay concentration, but the strength and elongation were generally adversely affected.
New Silicon-Containing Poly(Imide-Amide)s
Authors: Hamciuc Elena , Bruma Maria , Schulz Burkhard , Köpnick Thomas
Published: April 2004

New aromatic silicon-containing poly(imide-amide)s have been synthesized by solution polycondensation of various aromatic diamines having ether bridges between phenylene rings with a diacid chloride containing silicon. These polymers are easily soluble in polar amidic solvents such as N-methyl-pyrrolidinone or dimethylformamide and can be cast into thin flexible films or coatings from such solutions. They show high thermal stability, with an initial decomposition temperature above 410°C and a glass transition temperature in the range of 251-285°C. Very thin polymer films deposited by the spincoating technique onto silicon wafers showed a smooth, pinhole-free surface in atomic force microscopy investigations.
Synthesis and Properties of PMR Matrix Resins of Poly(Pyrrolone-Benzimidazole)s
Authors: Yan-Feng Li , Hai-Xia Yang , Lin-Cheng Zhou , Shi-Yong Yang , Jin-Gang Liu , Ai-Jun Hu , Lin Fan
Published: April 2004

PMR type of poly(pyrrolone-benzimidazole) copolymers (PPBI) were synthesized by the polycondensation of monoethyl ester of cis-5-norbornene-endo-2,3-dicarboxylic acid (NE), diphenyl-isophthalate (DPIP), diethyl ester of 4,4′-oxydiphthalic acid (ODPE) and 3,3′-diaminobenzidine (DAB) or 3,3′,4,4′-tetraamindiphenyl ether(TAD) in a mixing solution of anhydrous ethyl alcohol and N -methylpyrrolidone (NMP) under different temperature and pressure procedures. The resulting resin solution showed an excellent solubility in polar organic solvents and good stability at room temperature, while the corresponding PPBI molded powder and molded plate could be prepared by undergoing amidation, imidization, cyclization and crosslinking reactions when the reaction temperature would be increased from 150 to 350°C, especially, the crosslinking structure formed by the reverse Dials-Alder reaction at 270-290°C under 2.5-3.5 MPa pressure displayed by the pressure meter. The chemical reactions and properties of the resulting PPBI molded powders and molded plates were studied by means of FT-IR, TGA, DMA methods, and the results indicate that the PPBI materials obtained hold excellent thermal stability and processability, the initial decomposition temperature > 600°C and its T g defined by the peak temperature in tan δ curve from the DMA method is 448°C (DAB) or 423°C (TAD) for PPBI-20 molded plate.
Hydrolytic Stability of Some Thermoplastic Poly(Ether-Urethane-Urea)s
Authors: Vlad Stelian
Published: April 2004

Two thermoplastic poly(ether-urethane-urea)s were synthesized from isophorone diisocyanate, hexamethylene diamine, and polyethylene glycol as macrodiol. The molecular weight of the macrodiol was 2000 g mol−1. The polymers have been characterized by means of transmission electron microscopy, 1H-NMR, infrared spectroscopy, and other techniques. The hydrolytic stability of these materials was investigated under in vitro condition using Ringer's solution and phosphate-buffered saline. The stability of these series was compared with a poly(ether-urethane) prepared from isophorone diisocyanate, polyethylene glycol and 1,4-butanediol. The in vitro study revealed possible use of poly(ether-urethane-urea)s for long-term biomedical applications.
Viscometric Study of Poly(Ester Urethane) Solutions: 3 Influence of Chemical Structure on the Conformational Transition
Authors: Ioan Silvia , Cojocaru Irina , MacOcinschi Doina , Filip Daniela
Published: April 2004

This article presents a comparative study of the intrinsic viscosity of segmented poly(ester urethane)s obtained from aromatic diisocyanates with poly(ethylene glycol)adipate and thiodiglycol or diethylene glycol as chain extenders, using a multistep polyaddition process. The data allow the determination of changes in the conformation of the polyurethanes in N,N-dimethyl formamide at 20-45 °C, which are discussed in relation to the behavior of the poly(ethylene glycol)adipate in the same solvent and as a function of the soft and hard segment composition.
Thermal Degradation Behavior of Polymer Blends Based on Poly(Ester Urethane)s
Authors: Filip D. , Vlad S.
Published: April 2004

Thermal degradation behavior of blends based on a poly(ester urethane) and poly(ether sulfone) with or without poly(urethane sulfone) taken as a compatibilizer was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis under dynamic conditions. The theoretical mass loss curves were compared with the experimental ones in order to see the influence of blending on the thermal stabilities. The resulting data together with analysis of activation energies demonstrated that the presence of polysulfone caused a rise in thermal stability, interactions appear during degradation and the compatibilizer influences the thermal behavior of the studied blends.
An Introduction towards a Culture of Non-Simultaneity?
Authors: Brose Hanns-Georg
Published: April 2004

There are three different concepts and analytical aspects of social time in contemporary western societies that are referred to in this article: (1) the different tempos of social processes and (2) the varying time horizonsof ‘socially expected durations’ (Merton, 1986). It is argued that due to spatial, technological and socio-economic changes a third, more fundamental evolution of temporality is emerging: (3) an increasing simultaneityof events in our ‘world at reach’ (Schutz and Luckmann, 1983). The different tempos and time-scopes being causes and effects of this phenomenal simultaneity. An increase in simultaneitynecessarily provokes an increase in non-simultaneity.‘Classical’ mechanisms of temporal ordering of non-simultaneousevents are sequencing and linear processing. It is claimed, that these mechanisms, typical of industrial modernity, are complemented by efforts and exigencies of coping with complexity in a simultaneous mode. It is assumed that the abilities of actors and social systems of parallel and simultaneous processing are enhanced but after all remain limited. Therefore, a growing realm of non-simultaneity remains open to meaningful interpretation. This is what significance an emerging culture of nonsimultaneityhas.
Television and the Collapse of Memory
Authors: Hoskins Andrew
Published: April 2004

There is a certain evanescence to contemporary experience. A shortening of temporal horizons, diminishing attention spans, and a saturation of time and place, are all said to be characteristics of our mediated age. A key consequence of these ‘emerging new structures of temporality’ (Huyssen, 1995: 253) is a transformation in our relationship with the past. ‘Memory’ is in itself a contradictory experience of time as it does not involve the retrieval of some past moment but, rather, an assembling of a view of that past moment, in and from the present. The media, however, intervene in this process by often constructing a view of the world as a perpetual and pervasive present through the real time lens of television news. In this article I suggest there has occurred a ‘collapse’ in memory with reference to three pivotal media events: The 1991 Gulf War; the catastrophe of 11 September 2001; and the 2003 Iraq War, as markers of a transformation of the relationship between television, the present, and the past.
Regulatory Spaces and Interactions: An Introduction
Authors: Lange Bettina
Published: April 2004

This special issue draws together four contributions to debates about legal regulation.1They focus on space and interactions as key constituents of regulatory dynamics. The articles advance analysis of legal regulation also on the basis of new empirical data. Two contributions discuss novel forms of regulation, such as meta-regulation and the reform of health and safety regulation in Thailand. Two further articles examine the challenges faced by traditional state regulation through new tasks of systemic risk management, such as facilitating law and science interactions and ensuring animal disease control. The authors share a commitment to a range of fundamental values informing regulation, such as respect for animal welfare, the protection of the health and safety of workers, visions of justice which involve redistributive values and a concern with context-sensitive, proceduralized law which operates with a reflexive awareness of its own limitations. The first part of this introduction outlines space and interactions as key themes in the literature on legal regulation while the second part highlights the contribution of the articles in this area.
The Economization of Politics: Meta-Regulation as a Form of Nonjudicial Legality
Authors: Morgan Bronwen
Published: April 2004

Recent developments in regulatory reform strategies increasingly focus on controlling the process of regulation itself, rather than regulating social and individual action directly. This article explores the reflexive systematization of regulatory policy by focusing on institutions and processes that embed regulatory review mechanisms deploying economic rationality into the every-day routines of governmental policy-making. It explores both the social logic underlying this phenomenon of ‘meta-regulation’, and its political implications, primarily in relation to a particular instance of meta-regulation established in Australia in the 1990s. The social logic of meta-regulation is characterized as an instance of nonjudicial legality, situated at the inter-section of two trends - an increasing legalization of politics and a growing reliance on nonjudicial mechanisms of accountability. The political implications can be summed up as an ‘economization’ of regulatory politics. Meta-regulation excludes competing ways of understanding regulatory policy choices, causing bureaucrats to ‘translate’ aspects of social welfare that previously may have been expressed in the language of need, vulnerability or harm into the language of market failures or market distortion. This process tends to silence certain critical modes of demanding justice, particularly those that rely on moral or distributive values.
Trans-Science, Trans-Law and Proceduralization
Authors: Paterson John
Published: April 2004

The notion that the risk problems confronting contemporary society are trans-scientific in character - that is, that while they can be posed to science, they cannot be solved by science alone - has gained currency since Alvin Weinberg coined the term over thirty years ago. His prescription in such circumstances - that recourse must be had to legal procedures in order to find an answer - perhaps invests law with more ability than it actually possesses to deal with such issues. What is it about law that ensures that such problems are not also trans-legal? This article considers this question by examining the relationship between science and law, between the realms of the factual and of the normative, in order to determine what happens when the two come into contact, or communicate, in the context of regulation or of litigation. Focusing on this crucial interface leads to the conclusion that traditional - formal and substantive - paradigms of law are ill adapted to cope with risk issues and that a procedural orientation of law is preferable. The question is then to choose among the leading alternatives available: Habermas’s procedural paradigm based on the theory of communicative action or Teubner’s reflexive law based on the theory of autopoiesis.
Commonwealth Degrees from Class to Equivalence: Changing to Grade Point Averages in the Caribbean
Authors: Bastick Tony
Published: April 2004

British Commonwealth universities inherited the class system for classifying degrees. However, increasing global marketization has brought with it increasing demands for student exchanges, particularly with universities in North America. Hence, Commonwealth universities are considering adopting grade point averages (GPAs) for degree classification more closely corresponding with those used in U.S. universities. Linking to U.S. inflationary systems threatens to severely devalue Commonwealth degrees unless their own grade inflation is recognized and contained. This article describes the North American GPA systemand how market-driven teaching creates the grade inflation it is experiencing. This is compared with grade inflation in a Caribbean Commonwealth university in the process of changing to a common GPA system. The article notes the inability of the U.S. accreditation system to halt grade inflation and recommends that Commonwealth universities changing to GPA systems consider refocusing marketing pressures away from teaching and consider various European alternatives for protecting their degree standards.
Your Culture, My Classroom, Whose Pedagogy? Negotiating Effective Teaching and Learning in Brazil
Authors: Crabtree Robbin D. , Sapp David Alan
Published: April 2004

This article explores the cross-cultural teaching and learning environment of a graduate course in a master’s degree programin teaching English to speakers of other languages (MA-TESOL) offered by a U.S. university in Brazil. The authors analyze the experience of a U.S. professor teaching diverse adult students in Brazil to illustrate and further illuminate what is known about teacher immediacy, communication accommodation, and cross-cultural adjustment. They also raise ethical and pedagogical concerns related to international education endeavors. In this case study of teacher praxis, critical and feminist pedagogical theories are used in conjunction with intercultural communication theory in the development of a culturally flexible pedagogy appropriate to cross-cultural learning environments like this one. Although the context is Brazil and the professor and researcher are from the United States, the broad conceptual strokes of the analysis may be applicable to other intercultural teaching and learning contexts.
Development of Commercially Viable Compliant Mechanisms Using the Pseudo-Rigid-Body Model: Case Studies of Parallel Mechanisms
Authors: Mattson Christopher A. , Howell Larry L. , Magleby Spencer P.
Published: April 2004

Analysis and synthesis of compliant mechanisms has recently been the subject of significant study in the research community. This focus has led to a number of design approaches for developing compliant mechanisms. This paper describes the value of using the Pseudo-Rigid-Body Model (PRBM) to design compliant mechanisms for commercial products. Application of the PRBM is illustrated through the development of two parallel mechanisms: a bicycle derailleur and parallel-motion bicycle brakes. The PRBM allows compliant mechanisms to be modeled and analyzed as rigid-body mechanisms and significantly reduces the complexity of analysis. Mechanisms with straightforward properties are used to demonstrate the use of the PRBM to design commercially viable compliant mechanisms for required motion and force-deflection characteristics.
A Meso-Electro-Mechanical Model for PMN-PT-BT Ceramics Behavior
Authors: Fan Jinghong
Published: April 2004

A three-dimensional, meso-electro-mechanical model has been formulated for description of PMN-PT-BT ceramics. Unlike the experimentally fit models and phenomenological models which are based on state variables and/or empirical relationships, this fully coupled, computational mesomechanics model for polycrystalline PMN-PT-BT ceramics is developed based on considerations of constitutive behavior of single crystals. Specifically, domain wall nucleation and evolution rate equations are proposed in this work to describe the nonlinear hysteresis behavior of these ceramics near the phase transition temperature with maximum permittivity. Comparisons of hysteresis loops under different temperature conditions between testing results and the present simulation show good agreement. Effects of compressive stresses on relationships of strain versus electric field are also discussed.
High-Field Characterization of Piezoelectric and Magnetostrictive Actuators
Authors: Pomirleanu Radu , Giurgiutiu Victor
Published: April 2004

High-field theoretical and experimental analysis of piezoelectric and magnetostrictive actuators is presented. First, the analysis of a piezoelectric stack actuator (PiezoSystems Jena PAHL 120/20) is described. A theoretical model based on the linear theory of piezoelectricity is developed. Extensive experiments were conducted, aimed at lowfrequency dynamic electro-mechanical behavior characterization. Curve fitting procedures are used to adjust the model coefficients for various load levels. Through comparison with experimental data, the model is adjusted to include nonlinear terms related to higher losses on the unloading cycle. Second, the impedance analysis of a magnetostrictive actuator (Etrema AA140J025) is described. Linear piezomagnetism is assumed, as an approximation to nonlinear magnetostrictive behavior about a bias point. Low-field and high-field impedance measurements were performed, revealing left shifting of the actuator resonance as the power is increased. Model tuning of the impedance model on the experimental data showed material parameters trends similar with those reported in the literature. Although the numerical values developed during this phenomenological study are particular for the actuators under consideration, the characterization approach can be extended to analysis of other actuators of this type.