bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Rationale of Rationality
Authors: Weesie Jeroen , Snijders Chris , Buskens Vincent
Published: April 2009

Our research starts from the assumption that actors use a single decision theory to guide them on how to behave in all possible one-shot two-person encounters. To address which decision theories perform well, we let 17 theories compete in a large number of randomly selected symmetric 2 × 2 games. It turns out that the decision theory that optimizes its own payoff under the assumption that the other actor behaves randomly wins by a small margin. Second, we study the `evolution of rationality.' In a quasi-biological setup where more successful strategies generate more offspring, the decision theory that always plays the behavior that belongs to the risk-dominant Nash equilibrium emerges as the long-term survivor from an initially mixed pool of decision theories. We also confront the decision theories with human experimental data. The decision theory that always aims for the highest possible payoff for itself performs best against humans.
Developing a Measure of Stigma by Association With African American Adolescents Whose Mothers Have HIV
Authors: Mason Sally , Berger Barbara , Ferrans Carol Estwing , Sultzman Vickey , Fendrich Michael
Published: April 2009

Objectives: African American urban adolescents are one of the fastest growing groups of children affected by their mother’s HIV status. These children experience HIV stigma by association with their HIV-positive mothers. Stigma may contribute to adverse outcomes for these teens. Methods: The authors describe a multistage process of scale construction, cognitive interviewing, and pilot testing to develop a measure reflecting an African American adolescent’s experience of HIV stigma when mother has HIV. Results: The resulting measure has 23 items with good reliability. An additional item suggested by qualitative data will be added to the measure and used in further testing. Conclusions: Potential uses of the measure are discussed. Intervention approaches for reducing stigma’s impact among HIV-affected African American adolescents are briefly outlined.
Efficacy of Adjunct In-Home Coaching to Improve Outcomes in Parent—Child Interaction Therapy
Authors: Timmer Susan G. , Zebell Nancy M. , Culver Michelle A. , Urquiza Anthony J.
Published: April 2009

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to test whether increasing the exposure to coaching by adding an in-home component to clinic-delivered Parent—Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) will increase the speed of parenting skill acquisition and show greater improvements in children’s behaviors and parental stress. Methods: Seventy-three parent—child dyads participating in clinic-based PCIT are randomly assigned to an adjunct PCIT or Social Support treatment group. The sample of children is 58% male and ranges in age from 1.7 to 8.2 years. Results: Analyses show that participation in adjunct PCIT services is associated with greater use of positive verbalizations and leads to improvement on measures of parent functioning. Conclusions: The meaning of these findings with respect to change and the process of treatment is discussed.
Reflexive Professionalism as a Second Generation of Evidence-Based Practice
Authors: Otto Hans-Uwe , Polutta Andreas , Ziegler Holger
Published: April 2009

This article refers sympathetically to the thoughtful debates and positions in the Research on Social Work Practice ( RSWP; Special Issue, July, 2008 issue) on “What Works? Modernizing the Knowledge-Base of Social Work.” It highlights the need for empirical efficacy and effectiveness research in social work and appreciates empirical rigor demanded by leading proponents of an evidence-based social work practice. Yet it argues that these high standards of evolution are based on a methodological conceptualization of impact, which might be less than appropriate for social work. We propose a refashioning of efficacy and effectiveness research in social work that focuses on explaining and understanding of causal mechanism. We suggest a second generation of evidence-based practice, which is substantiated in the concept of reflexive professionalism.
Nonlinear Viscoelastic Solids—A Review
Authors: Wineman A.
Published: April 2009

Elastomers and soft biological tissues can undergo large deformations and exhibit time dependent behavior that is characteristic of nonlinear viscoelastic solids. This article is intended to provide an overview of the subject of nonlinear viscoelastic solids for researchers who are interested in studying the mechanics of these materials. The article begins with a review of topics from linear viscoelasticity that are pertinent to the understanding of nonlinear viscoelastic behavior. It then discusses the topics that enter into the formulation of constitutive equations for isotropic, transversely isotropic and orthotropic nonlinear viscoelastic solids. A number of specific forms of constitutive equations have been proposed in the literature and these are discussed. Attention is restricted to constitutive equations that are phenomenological rather than molecular in origin. The emphasis is then on nonlinear single integral finite linear viscoelastic and Pipkin—Rogers constitutive equations, the latter containing the quasi-linear viscoelastic model used in biomechanics of soft tissue. Expressions for the Pipkin—Rogers model are provided for isotropy, transverse isotropy and orthotropy.

The constitutive equations are then applied to the description of homogeneous triaxial stretch and simple shear histories. The special case of uniaxial stretch histories is analyzed in detail. There is a discussion of the deviation from linear behavior as nonlinear effects become important. Non-homogeneous deformations are considered next. The combined tension and torsion of a solid cylinder on an incompressible, isotropic nonlinear viscoelastic solid is discussed in detail because of its importance in experiments involving viscoelastic materials. A large number of solutions to boundary value problems have appeared in the literature and many of these are summarized. The article concludes with comments about interesting topics for further research.
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Authors: Talaei Ali , Mokhber Naghmeh , Abdollahian Ebrahim , Mohammad Reza Fayyazi Bordbar  , Salari Elham
Published: April 2009

Objective: Because there have been a few studies on the prevalence of ADHD in Iran, assessment of its prevalence seems to have a great impact on the physicians approach toward its diagnosis and management. Method: This study listed all the schools in Mashhad and chose 12, including 24 classes and 714 students by stratified cluster sampling. A total of 72 children were selected randomly for pilot study. Their parents and teachers filled the 10-item Conners’ questionnaire for ADHD separately. Clinical interview was based on DSM-IV criteria. Students with the total scores higher than the cut-off point 23 were selected for interview. Results: A total of 109 students out of 714 schoolboys had ADHD (15.27% ± 2.64%). The subgroups’ prevalence rates were as follows: attention deficit (AD) = 4.62%, hyperactive impulsive (HI) = 5.32%, and combined type (CT) = 5.32%. Conclusion: Frequency of ADHD among Iranian schoolboys is more than that in many countries. (J. of Att. Dis. 2010; 13(4) 386-390)
Symptom Prevalence of ADHD in a Community Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Program
Authors: McAweeney Mary , Rogers Nikki L. , Huddleston Carole , Moore Dennis , Gentile Julie P.
Published: April 2009

Objective: ADHD is a common comorbid condition with substance use disorder. This study seeks to examine the discrepancy in the prevalence rate between those previously diagnosed with ADHD and those diagnosed while in treatment. It is hypothesized that clients with ADHD would have earlier unsuccessful terminations from treatment than non-ADHD clients and that the ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS Version 1.1) would be a reliable predictor. Method: Participants ( N = 87) are admitted to a publicly funded 28-day residential treatment program. All participants are screened with the ASRS and participate in a clinical assessment evaluation. Results: A significant difference is found between the clinical record rate of 3.44% and the 43.68% rate found during treatment. The ASRS significantly predicts ADHD. Conclusions: The use of the ASRS is recommended and should be incorporated into standard intake assessment protocols. Careful diagnostic interviews are urged to determine if clients in residential treatment have ADHD.
Atomoxetine's Effect on Societal Costs in Sweden
Authors: Myrén Karl-Johan , Thernlund Gunilla , Nylén Åsa , Schacht Alexander , Svanborg Pär
Published: April 2009

Objective: To compare societal costs between patients treated with atomoxetine and placebo in Sweden. Method: Ninety-nine pediatric ADHD patients were randomized to a 10-week double-blind treatment with atomoxetine ( n = 49) or placebo ( n = 50). All parents received four sessions of psycho-education. Parents filled out a resource utilization questionnaire covering the 10 weeks prior to treatment and the 10-week on-treatment period. Published unit costs/prices were used to calculate costs. Results: Mean on-treatment costs in the atomoxetine group (SEK [Swedish Krona] 4,558) were significantly lower compared with placebo (SEK 7,684) after adjusting for baseline costs and site ( p = .007). All 99 patients entered an open atomoxetine extension phase. Both groups had numerical reductions in direct and indirect costs while on atomoxetine treatment during the extension phase. The atomoxetine medication costs were offset by the reductions in direct nonmedical and indirect costs. Conclusions: These data provide preliminary evidence that atomoxetine together with parental psycho education reduces nonmedication costs associated with ADHD in Sweden. (J. of Att. Dis. 2010; 13(6) 618-628)
Virginal Facades
Authors: Ozyegin Gul
Published: April 2009

Charged with personal, societal and legal significance, the hymen, as a fold of flesh, has the power to rule the sexual identities of unmarried women in Turkey. This article examines the forms and associated meanings of contemporary challenges to virginity rules among educationally advantaged, upwardly mobile young women. The article demonstrates that in the process of negotiating often contradictory expectations of their sexual behavior, young women cultivate purposefully ambiguous identities related to their state of virginhood. The author calls these identities ` virginal facades' and explores their complex and contradictory implications. The author highlights an important normative shift from a focus on the physical reality of virginity to a focus on the moral expression of virginity, and emphasizes the intricate connection between social class and women's sexuality experienced by some young women as sexual guilt.
Pluralism and the Interpretation of Women's Human Rights
Authors: Alvarez Silvina
Published: April 2009

Since conflicts of human rights can be translated into conflicts of values, this article looks into the sources and extension of value pluralism for a better understanding of the sort of conflicts of human rights that women face in multicultural contexts. Furthermore, a proper understanding of personal autonomy as a founding value underlying individual rights can contribute to an interpretation of women's human rights that takes account of both their untouchable core as well as their contextual meaning. As conflicts of fundamental rights most often take place in a scenario of strong pluralism, the article considers cases of conflicts of rights in multicultural societies focusing on the overlapping values to be balanced. Religious freedom, education, neutrality, equality or toleration are some of the issues to be addressed: all of these are important and should be evaluated considering their further implications for women as well as for the other individuals involved.
Palimpsests
Authors: Maioli Francesca
Published: April 2009

This article analyses Jeanette Winterson's Written on the Body, discussing its use of the female body as a text and, more specifically, as a palimpsest. The article aims to demonstrate that the novel's genderless narrator uses the beloved's body as a palimpsest since in trying to celebrate it, s/he is unable to depict it as it is and merely inscribes a set of meanings onto it. The female body is described through two major sets of images: as a landscape, via a colonial language, and as a diseased body, via an anatomical language. The article discusses this particular use of the female body as a traditional way of describing it, which is confirmed by the novel's wide use of literary references from canonical texts. The novel, then, appears to be positioned outside a feminist or lesbian tradition, since it is not able to represent the female body in a new and fertile way and draws too much on an all-male literary tradition, configuring itself as a palimpsest just like the body it is trying to describe.
Gender and Sustainable Consumption
Authors: Vinz Dagmar
Published: April 2009

The debate about sustainability and gender at the international level is characterized by a strong presence of international women's networks from the South. However, in Agenda 21 — the UNCED programme for sustainability in the 21st century — the situation of women in the North is barely visible. Nevertheless, Agenda 21 recommends that all states pursue strategies of sustainability at national and local levels. Therefore, it is necessary to contribute to the sustainability debate from a Northern feminist perspective. This article discusses relevant contributions from feminist scholars in Germany and looks at the arguments that have been brought forward in the context of developing a strategy of sustainable development in Germany from a gender perspective. Second, results of gender studies in relevant fields of sustainability are discussed, using the distinction between explicit and implicit gender aspects. Finally, research perspectives for developing concepts of linking socioecological transformation with empowerment are presented as a specific feminist claim to sustainability.
Party Preferences and Economic Voting in Turkey (Now That the Crisis Is Over)
Authors: Başlevent Cem , Kirmanoğlu Hasan , Şenatalar Burhan
Published: April 2009

The purpose of this study is to re-examine the factors that shape party preferences in Turkey by estimating an individual vote intention function. The economic variables in the empirical model are items that can be used to test the conventional `economic voting' hypotheses, i.e. whether individuals' economic evaluations about the past or the near future affect their party choice. In an earlier article, based on data from 2002, evidence was found in favour of these hypotheses. Those who had been affected adversely by the economic crisis of 2001 were found to be very unlikely to vote for the incumbent parties of the time. In the present article, we focus on comparing the characteristics of the intended voters of the currently ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) with those of other parties. According to multinomial logit estimates, those who make the more optimistic evaluations about the state of the economy are more likely to vote for the AKP. There is also an obvious increase in the number of AKP voters who support Turkey's European Union membership.
Measuring the Professionalization of Political Campaigning
Authors: Gibson Rachel K. , Römmele Andrea
Published: April 2009

This article develops and tests a new multidimensional index — CAMPROF — that is designed to measure and compare parties' use of professionalized campaign techniques during elections. Based on the extant literature, we identify and operationalize the essential components of this new form of campaigning to create a 30-point index that is applied to the case of the 2005 German federal election. The results show the CAMPROF Index to be: (1) successful in capturing variance in parties' engagement in professionalized campaigning, and (2) capable of producing rankings that correspond to a priori expectations about how well the parties would perform. The findings are significant in that they provide preliminary confirmation of the Index's capacity to measure the concept of professionalized campaigning as well as providing new insights into the party-level dynamics that may be driving the current wave of campaign modernization. The opportunities and challenges involved in wider application of the measure to cross-national research are discussed.
Patrons Against Partisans
Authors: Pappas Takis S.
Published: April 2009

Patronage is an enduring feature of contemporary politics and may well develop in modern, mass organized and ideological political parties. This article approaches patronage in an analytical way, and seeks to explore its micro-foundations and logic of development. As the case of Greece's socialist party suggests, patronage is the deliberate outcome of choices made by political actors at the sub-party level in their pursuit of power. Three particular actors are identified and their relations analysed: the party leader, the party organization and the party officeseekers, who are further distinguished into `patrons' and `partisans'. Patronage is likely to develop when a party leader is able to exercise control of both the party organization and the appointments for public office; in this case, even ideologically motivated partisans are expected to turn into self-interested patrons. Finally, some interesting implications for further research are pointed out.
Clientelism Versus Ideology
Authors: Epstein Daniel J.
Published: April 2009

Although aggregate data on party competition in Brazil seem hopeful, unsettling trends appear in state-level party systems in the years of the consolidation of Brazilian democracy (the period this article examines extends through the 2002 elections), such as instability and fragmentation, which exceed the extent of problems apparent at the national level. These hamper the informational role parties can play for voters picking from a large number of candidates. While other possible explanations shed little light on these problems, a hypothesis about clientelistic party-building strategies may explain the patterns in party competition across states. Such strategies depend on the distribution of selective benefits, such as patronage or vote-buying, to attract candidates, elicit votes and gain office for the party. Clientelistic party-building strategies provide no extra-material incentive for party cohesion, and may stymie the development of a stable competitive system. Furthermore, it is through clientelism that party clans exercise hegemony over the local political system in some states, promoting an undemocratic monopoly on power.
The Rise and Fall of the Argentine Centre—Left
Authors: Medina Juan Abal
Published: April 2009

This article analyses the inner workings of the Argentinian Frente Grande party at the height of its political and electoral development. It is based on the assumption that parties are not singular actors, but diverse organizations with complex internal operations. From that perspective, in order to identify the causes of both its rapid growth and current crisis, the article examines the distribution of power, styles of leadership and formal and informal rules of the Frente Grande. Starting from conceptual frameworks recently suggested in the literature, this article explains the Frente's institutionalization attempts and the resilience of its leadership. The article also considers the impact of the party's original organizational characteristics on its subsequent development.
On the Non-Autonomy of the Virtual
Authors: Malpas Jeff
Published: April 2009

Much contemporary talk of virtual 'worlds' proceeds as if the virtual could somehow be considered as in competition with or as an alternative to the world of the 'nonvirtual' or the 'everyday'. This article argues that such a contrast is fundamentally mistaken, and that the virtual is not autonomous with respect to the everyday, but is rather embedded within it, and an extension of it.
Claiming a Stake in the Videogame
Authors: Thornham Helen
Published: April 2009

This article explores the rationalizations and normalizations adult gamers offer in their justifications of both gaming 'itself', and the possession of a videogame console. While there has been a proliferation in research on the videogame recently in terms of what Kerr et al. describe as the 'productive use of new media' (in their 2006 article 'New Media — New Pleasures?' p. 64), which includes issues relating to gender, pleasure, production and gameplay as well as more ethnographic research relating to young people and games, there has been a significant gap in research around adult gamers. This article is the result of four years' ethnographic research, which followed 11 participant gaming households (along with the questionnaire of over 100 respondents), recording, interviewing and observing them prior to, during and after gameplay. Included in this demographic are all-female and all-male households, mixed gender, sexuality and ethnicity, and diverse geographical intake from Northern Ireland to southern England. Throughout my research and this article, I argue the political and social necessity of including gamers and their discourses into research on gaming in order to better understand the significance of gaming and gaming discourses on our social and political lives.
Radiohead's Managerial Creativity
Authors: Morrow Guy
Published: April 2009

This article will explore the way in which Radiohead have been managerially creative through their use of new media technologies. The band released their seventh album In Rainbows on the 10 October 2007 as a digital download for which consumers chose their own price: beginning at nothing. The issue of whether this example presents a model for other artists to bypass established record labels will be explored. This article will also use this discussion to look more broadly at how artist managers create marketing strategies that involve new technologies and in doing so it will address various issues concerning the future management and control of the five key income stream groups stemming from contemporary music in the digital age. While Radiohead are in a position to be able to control all of their own income streams, they have only gotten into this position as a result of the old system.
Mobile TV
Authors: Orgad Shani
Published: April 2009

This article explores how mobile television is being constructed and understood, focusing on four concepts used in contemporary public debate to discuss the technology, namely 'TV in your pocket', 'TV anytime, anywhere', 'TV on the go', and 'Enhanced TV'. Drawing on an analysis of industry reports, conference proceedings, websites, academic studies, press coverage, results of trials, advertisements and expert interviews, we examine the ways in which experts involved in the production, marketing, delivery and analysis of mobile TV regard this emergent technology. It is argued that mobile TV is constructed by these experts as a novel technological and cultural experience and form, while at the same time the rhetoric of novelty is paralleled with a continuous emphasis on the new medium's relation to familiar technological worlds. The article concludes by offering an explanation for this new/old articulation of mobile TV.
Teaching Button-Pushing versus Teaching Thinking
Authors: Huang Edgar
Published: April 2009

Using content analysis and survey, this study examines how the teaching of thinking skills and that of technological skills have been balanced in US new media programs to produce both employable graduates and life-long learners. Findings show that most programs have balanced the two skill sets but that more effort should be made to integrate the teaching of both skill sets in individual courses to give students an expedited, holistic learning experience.
Cross-Media (Re)Production Cultures
Authors: Erdal Ivar John
Published: April 2009

Complex media organizations contain a number of different journalistic cultures, and the introduction of convergence and cooperation across media platforms poses a number of challenges related to this. This article looks at production cultures in an integrated news broadcasting organization. What happens when convergence strategies meet the web of inter-organizational subcultures associated with television, radio and the web? One significant development is that of new journalistic hierarchies related to increased reuse of content in news production processes. One of the main arguments for cross-media journalism from a management perspective is that spending fewer resources on republishing and updating news makes it possible to channel resources towards doing 'real journalism'. As a result, old hierarchies are supplemented by new ones. One of them is the emerging division between those reporters being given more time to research their own stories and do 'real journalism', those working mainly with updating or developing news stories that are already made, and those reproducing content for a different platform.
Total serum bilirubin does not affect vascular reactivity in patients with diabetes
Authors: Yeh Susie Yim , Doupis John , Rahangdale Shilpa , Horr Samuel , Malhotra Atul , Veves Aristidis
Published: April 2009

Abstract

Bilirubin may have a major role in the prevention of cardiovascular disease based on recent data regarding its anti-oxidant properties. We determined the relationship between total serum bilirubin and vascular reactivity in a large cohort of individuals with diabetes, a disease associated with known oxidant stress. We studied 302 individuals: 52 controls, 37 with type 1 diabetes, 213 with type 2 diabetes. High-resolution ultrasound was used to measure flow-mediated dilation (FMD; endothelium-dependent) and nitroglycerin-induced dilation (NID, endothelium-independent) of the brachial artery. Laser Doppler perfusion imaging was used to measure microvascular reactivity in the forearm skin before and after iontophoresis of acetylcholine (endothelium-dependent) and sodium nitroprusside (endothelium-independent). Bilirubin levels were higher in the type 2 diabetes group (0.71 ± 0.34 mg/dl) compared to controls (0.56 ± 0.26 mg/dl, p < 0.0001). A weak inverse correlation was observed between bilirubin and FMD ( r = –0.125, p = 0.032) and skin endothelium-dependent vasodilation ( r = –0.157, p = 0.019). In multivariate analyses, however, these correlations were not statistically significant. There is no association between bilirubin levels and vascular reactivity in the macro- and microcirculation of individuals with diabetes. Bilirubin, therefore, does not correlate with predictors of cardiovascular risk in the diabetic population.
Community trial of home-based exercise therapy for intermittent claudication
Authors: Mouser Matthew J , Zlabek Jonathan A , Ford Catherine L , Mathiason Michelle A
Published: April 2009

Abstract

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a common disease, and intermittent claudication (IC) is a life-changing symptom. Exercise therapy has been demonstrated to be an effective treatment for IC in a supervised setting; however, most insurance carriers do not reimburse for exercise therapy. As a result, non-supervised programs have largely replaced supervised programs, despite limited evidence of their benefit. In this retrospective study of the results of our routine care, we analyzed the outcomes of a structured 6-month home-based exercise program for IC. A total of 120 patients with PAD and IC were enrolled in a home-based exercise program. Forty-one patients fulfilled program requirements, for a 34.2% completion rate. Those who completed the program demonstrated an 86.4% improvement in their initial claudication distance and a 19.8% improvement in their absolute claudication distance. No patient factors identified those who did not complete the program versus those who completed the program and thus attained the observed benefit. We did observe that 47% of those who did not complete the program dropped-out by not keeping their follow-up appointment. Although patients who completed our program improved from baseline, it was less dramatic than reported in studies of supervised programs. The design of home-based programs should include mechanisms that maximize compliance in returning for follow-up appointments.
Cell therapies for therapeutic angiogenesis: back to the bench
Authors: Sieveking Daniel P , Ng Martin KC
Published: April 2009

Abstract

The discovery, over a decade ago, of endothelial progenitor cells that are able to participate in neovascularization of adult tissue has been greeted enthusiastically because of the potential for new cell-based therapies for therapeutic angiogenesis. Since that time, an ever-growing list of candidate cells has been proposed for cardiovascular regeneration. However, to date, pre-clinical and clinical studies evaluating the therapeutic potential of various cell therapies have reported conflicting results, generating controversy. Key issues within the field of cell therapy research include a lack of uniform cellular definitions, as well as inadequate functional characterization of the role of putative stem/progenitor cells in angiogenesis. Given the mixed results of initial clinical studies, there is now a scientific imperative to understand better the vascular biology of candidate cells in order to better translate cell therapy to the bedside. This review will provide a translationally relevant overview of the biology of candidate stem/progenitor cells for therapeutic angiogenesis.
A rare case of leiomyosarcoma arising from a femoral vein tributary: a case report
Authors: Paraskevas Nikolaos , Castier Yves , Dauge Marie-Christine , Alsac Jean-Marc , Francis Fady , El Batti Salma , Lesèche Guy
Published: April 2009

Abstract

Primary vascular tumours are very rare. Most cases are leiomyosarcomas usually arising from large veins such as the inferior vena cava. Involvement of major veins in the limbs is uncommon and of small veins or tributaries extremely uncommon. We report a case of leiomyosarcoma originating from a tributary of the femoral vein in a 55-year-old woman.
The beneficial effects of breastfeeding on microvascular function in 11- to 14-year-old children
Authors: Khan Faisel , Green Fiona C , Forsyth J Stewart , Greene Stephen A , Newton David J , Belch Jill JF
Published: April 2009

Abstract

Infant feeding practices have an impact on health in later life, although the evidence for its effects on cardiovascular health is not so clear. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between breastfeeding in infancy and vascular function in later childhood. Infant feeding data, together with demographic and clinical information, were obtained prospectively from a cohort of children from birth until 2 years of age. Vascular function was assessed in 159 children, now aged 11–14 years, by measuring their skin microvascular responses to iontophoretic administration of the endothelium-dependent vasodilator acetylcholine. Endothelial function was significantly better in children who had been breastfed than in those who had received infant milk formula ( p = 0.001), after adjustment for potential confounding factors. Linear regression showed that acetylcholine responses were significantly related to the duration of breastfeeding ( r = 0.30, p = 0.006). The risk of later cardiovascular disease may be reduced by exclusively breastfeeding during infancy. These findings have potential public health implications, and support policies aimed at promoting breastfeeding.
Implementation of a patient safety incident management system as viewed by doctors, nurses and allied health professionals
Authors: Travaglia Joanne F. , Westbrook Mary T. , Braithwaite Jeffrey
Published: April 2009

Incident reporting systems have become a central mechanism of most health services patient safety strategies. In this article we compare health professionals' anonymous, free text responses in an evaluation of a newly implemented electronic incident management system. The professions' answers were compared using classic content analysis and Leximancer, a computer assisted text analysis package. The classic analysis identified issues which differentiated the professions. More doctors commented on lack of feedback following incidents and evaluated the system negatively. More allied health staff found that the system lacked fields necessary to report incidents. More nurses complained incident reporting was time consuming. The Leximancer analysis revealed that while the professions all used the more frequently employed concepts (which described basic components of the reporting system), nurses and allied health shared many additional concepts concerned with actual reporting. Doctors applied fewer and more unique (used only by one profession) concepts when writing about the system. Doctors' unique concepts centred on criticism of the incident management system and the broader implications of safety issues, while the other professions' unique concepts focused on more practical issues. The classic analysis identified specific problems needing to be targeted in ongoing modifications of the system. The Leximancer findings, while complementing the classical analysis results, gave greater insight into professional groups' attitudes that relate to use of the system, e.g. doctors' relatively limited conceptual vocabulary regarding the system was consistent with their lower incident reporting rates. Such professional differences in reaction to healthcare innovations may constrain inter-disciplinary communication and cooperation.
`Islands' and `doctor's tool': the ethical significance of isolation and subordination in UK community pharmacy
Authors: Cooper R.J. , Bissell P. , Wingfield J.
Published: April 2009

Empirical ethics research is increasingly valued in offering insights into how ethical problems and decision-making occur in healthcare. In this article, the findings of a qualitative study of the ethical problems and decision-making of UK community pharmacists are presented, and it is argued that the identified themes of pharmacists' relative isolation from others and their subordination to doctors are ethically significant. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 23 community pharmacists in England, UK. Analysis of interviews revealed that isolation involved separation of pharmacists from their peers, other healthcare professionals, patients and customers. Such isolation is argued to be inimical to ethical practice — impeding ethical discourse as understood by Habermas, resulting in a form of anomie that inhibits the transmission of professional values, leading to a lack of proximity between pharmacist and patient or customer that may impede ethical relationships and resulting, psychologically, in less ethical concern for those who are less close. Pharmacists' subordination to doctors not only precipitated some ethical problems but also allowed some pharmacists to shift ethical responsibility to a prescribing doctor, as in the case of emergency hormonal contraception. The emergence of atrocity stories further supports a culture of subordination that may cause ethical problems. The study has implications for community pharmacy practice in terms of supervision issues, developments such as prescribing responsibilities and how ethical values can be taught and communicated. The potential for isolation and subordination in other healthcare professions, and resultant ethical problems, may also need to be addressed and researched.
Oncology clinicians' accounts of discussing complementary and alternative medicine with their patients
Authors: Broom Alex , Adams Jon
Published: April 2009

The profile of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has risen dramatically over recent years, with cancer patients representing some of the highest users of any patient group. This article reports the results from a series of in-depth interviews with oncology consultants and oncology nurses in two hospitals in Australia. Analysis identifies a range of self-reported approaches with which oncology clinicians discuss CAM, highlighting the potential implications for patient care and inter-professional dynamics. The interview data suggest that, whilst there are a range of consultant approaches to CAM, `risk' is consistently deployed rhetorically as a key regulatory strategy to frame CAM issues and potentially direct patient behaviour. Moreover, `irrationality', `seeking control', and `desperation' were viewed by consultants as the main drivers of CAM use, presenting potential difficulties for effective doctor—patient dialogue about CAM. In contrast, oncology nurses appear to perceive their role as that of CAM and patient advocate — an approach disapproved of by the consultants on their respective teams, presenting implications for oncology teamwork. CAM education emerged as a contentious and crucial issue for oncology clinicians. Yet, while viewed as a key barrier to clinician—patient communication about CAM, various forms of individual and organizational resistance to CAM education were evident. A number of core issues for clinical practice and broader work in the sociology of CAM are discussed in light of these findings.
Realizing Planning's Emancipatory Promise: Learning From Regime Theory To Strengthen Communicative Action
Authors: Irazábal Clara
Published: April 2009

This article informs communicative action theory with insights from urban regime theory. The synthesis proposes a model of planning that is more comprehensive in its treatment of the linkages between planning and governance and helps advance the creation of network power, emancipatory knowledge, empowering subjectivities, and spaces of solidarity. The article then discusses the merits of these insights in the context of a categorization of planning into traditional, democratic, advocacy, and incremental approaches.
Resisting Neoliberalization: Communicative Planning or Counter-Hegemonic Movements?
Authors: Purcell Mark
Published: April 2009

This article argues that existing critiques of communicative planning become more salient when we consider the challenges posed by neoliberalization, which is understood here to mean the ongoing project to install market logics and competitive discipline as hegemonic assumptions in urban politics and policy-making. I develop how neoliberalization, by its normal operation, produces important legitimacy problems that must be managed. Overcoming these legitimacy problems necessitates decision-making practices that do not fundamentally challenge existing power relations but still confer a high degree of political legitimacy. The article presents existing critiques of Habermasian ideals to argue that communicative and collaborative planning, insofar as they follow these ideals, provide an extremely attractive way for neoliberals to maintain hegemony while ensuring political stability. The article argues therefore that communicative and collaborative approaches are not well-suited to confronting neoliberalization. More promising instead are radical counter-hegemonic mobilizations whose goal is not to neutralize power relations, but to transform them.
Theoryless Planning
Authors: Talvitie Antti
Published: April 2009

The article begins unconventionally and experientially — with memories that became the wellspring for the author's doubts about the scientific basis of (transport) planning. These memories form an essential substrate for the formal presentation which offers a scientific approach to (transport) planning that is experiential rather than positivist. The transition from the informal to the formal presentation is via a short history of planning. The article proposes a planning process and technique, which is `beyond postmodernism'. This theoryless planning model takes the almost incomprehensible web of associations in the human unconscious as its starting point, and patterns it as a modern psychoanalytic process and technique for individuals and groups. A glossary of key terms is included.
Haemorrhagic bullous Streptococcus pneumoniae cellulitis in type 2 diabetes mellitus
Authors: Hakeem Lukman M , Urolagin Mahantesh , Bhattacharyya Diptendu N , Campbell Ian W , Griffiths Gareth
Published: April 2009

Although Streptococcus pneumoniae is the most common cause of community-acquired bacterial pneumonia, its involvement in skin infection is notably infrequent. Typically, patients with pneumococcal cellulitis have a background of alcohol abuse, diabetes or immunosuppression due to an underlying chronic illness. In contrast to other common bacterial infections patients often require surgical interventions and prolonged hospitalisations due to tissue necrosis, suppurative complications and bacteraemia. Early recognition and aggressive management is vital in reducing morbidity and mortality. We describe a case of a diabetic patient who presented with haemorrhagic bullous pneumococcal cellulitis and required vascular surgical intervention due to peripheral vascular disease and extensive tissue necrosis. Br J Diabetes Vasc Dis 2008;8:75—79
Review: Maximising the therapeutic potential of glucagon-like peptide-1 in type 2 diabetes
Authors: Irwin Nigel , Moodley Marc , Flatt Peter R
Published: April 2009

Tight control of blood glucose levels is fundamental for delaying or preventing the progression of metabolic complications in type 2 diabetes. Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), secreted from the L-cells of the distal small intestine and colon in response to feeding, promotes insulin production and secretion, reduces glucagon secretion, delays gastric emptying and induces satiety. However, native GLP-1 is rapidly degraded by dipeptidyl peptidase (DPP) 4 reducing its therapeutic utility. Two approaches have been adopted to extend duration of action, namely enzyme-resistant GLP-1 mimetics and DPP 4 inhibitors which additionally promote insulin release by GIP. Clinical trials of incretin-based therapies have shown good efficacy in improving glycaemic control in type 2 diabetes. These therapies can be added to metformin or thiazolidinediones in order to target efects of insulin secretion as well as insulin action. However, incretin therapies also show potential when combined with approaches that increase insulin by endogenous (via sulphonylureas) or exogenous routes. Synergistic actions of incretin therapies with sulphonylureas on pancreatic beta-cells are also potentially advantageous. Incretin therapies can reduce hypoglycaemia since GLP-1 increases glucose sensing of both insulin and glucagon-secreting cells. Br J Diabetes Vasc Dis 2009; 9: 44—52
Increased arterial stiffness in normoglycaemic offspring of newly diagnosed, never treated type 2 diabetic and impaired glucose tolerance parents
Authors: Rahman Sayeeda , Aziz Al-Safi Ismail  , Shaiful Bahari Ismail  , Nyi Nyi Naing  , Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman
Published: April 2009

Arterial stiffness has been used to demonstrate vasculopathy in adults with diabetes but studies on arterial stiffness in offspring of diabetic patients are scarce, and no study has been reported in the offspring of parents with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT). In this study arterial stiffness in normoglycaemic offspring (n=30) of parents with type 2 diabetes, normoglycaemic offspring (n =30) of IGT parents and 30 age and sex-matched normoglycaemic offspring of normoglycaemic parents was investigated. Arterial stiffness was assessed by pulse wave velocity (PWV) and augmentation index (AI) using SphygmoCor. Significantly higher PWV was noted in offspring of type 2 diabetes than in offspring of normoglycaemic parents (6.94±0.9 vs. 6.33±0.7 m/s, p= 0.010). Offspring of type 2 diabetes parents also demonstrated significantly higher PWV than IGT offspring (6.94±0.9 vs. 6.43±1.1, p=0.021). Significantly higher AI was observed in offspring of type 2 diabetes and IGT parents than progeny of normoglycaemic parents (105.62±14.2 vs. 96.42±7.7, p=0.001; 104.98±11.1 vs. 96.42±7.7%, p=0.004, espectively). The study demonstrated that normoglycaemic offspring of newly diagnosed, never treated type 2 diabetes and IGT parents had increased arterial stiffness. Such increases in arterial stiffness revealed early manifestations of preclinical vasculopathy and potentially increased risk for development of macrovascular diseases in the normoglycaemic offspring. Br J Diabetes Vasc Dis 2009;9: 65—68.
Wireless Sensor Networks for Strain Monitoring during Steel Bridges Launching
Authors: Chacón R. , Guzmán F. , Mirambell E. , Real E. , Oñate E.
Published: April 2009

In this paper, an experimental test performed on a hybrid steel plate girder was subjected to concentrated loads at the end of an unstiffened panel is presented. This load was intended to produce a typical reaction of the piers while launching steel girders in bridges. In this test, strain measurements were taken with conventional pre-wired gauges as well as with newly developed wirelessly connected strain-measuring system. Both measurements were carefully compared and the accuracy of the developed system was demonstrated. Results were also compared with numerical simulations deployed with FE models and on such a basis; the reliability of the developed wireless system was proven. Finally, suggestions of potential research trends in this area are provided.
Vertical Displacement Measurements for Bridges Using Optical Fiber Sensors and CCD Cameras — A Preliminary Study
Authors: Chan Tommy H. T. , Ashebo Demeke B. , Tam H.Y. , Yu Y. , Chan T.F. , Lee P.C. , Perez Gracia Eduardo
Published: April 2009

Bridge managers all over the world are always looking for simple ways to measure bridge vertical displacements for structural health monitoring. However, traditional methods to obtain such data are either tedious or expensive. There is a need to develop a simple, inexpensive, and yet practical method to measure bridge vertical displacements. This paper proposes two methods using either optical fiber (FBG) sensors or a charge-coupled-device (CCD) camera, respectively, for vertical displacement measurements of bridges. The FBG sensor method is based on the measured horizontal strains together with the identified curvature functions obtained by a self-developed FBG Tilt sensor. CCD cameras use a large number of pixels to form an image. The CCD camera method utilizes image processing techniques for pixel identification and subsequent edge detection. A preliminary study to validate the proposed methods in laboratory was presented. The tests include applying the methods to determine the vertical displacements separately for a concrete beam and a steel beam under various loadings. The comparisons include their installations, costs, degrees of accuracy, external factors affecting the measurement, etc. It was concluded that both methods could be used for vertical displacement measurement, and they could be complementary with one another. It was suggested to further improve the two methods developed and a successful outcome will not only help to solve an important problem for bridge management, but also prepare the way for better structural health monitoring techniques.
A Nonlinear Acoustic Technique for Crack Detection in Metallic Structures
Authors: Dutta Debaditya , Sohn Hoon , Harries Kent A. , Rizzo Piervincenzo
Published: April 2009

A crack detection technique based on nonlinear acoustics is investigated in this study. Acoustic waves at a chosen frequency are generated using an actuating lead zirconate titanate (PZT) transducer, and they travel through the target structure before being received by a sensing PZT wafer. Unlike an undamaged medium, a cracked medium exhibits high acoustic nonlinearity which is manifested as harmonics in the power spectrum of the received signal. Experimental results also indicate that the harmonic components increase nonlinearly in magnitude with increasing amplitude of the input signal. The proposed technique identifies the presence of cracks by looking at the two aforementioned features: harmonics and their nonlinear relationship to the input amplitude. The effectiveness of the technique has been tested on aluminum and steel specimens. The behavior of these nonlinear features as crack propagates in the steel beam has also been studied.