bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Influences of seasonal flooding on macroinvertebrate abundance in wetland habitats
Authors: NECKLES HILARY A. , MURKIN HENRY R. , COOPER JAMES A.
Published: May 2006

SUMMARY. 1. We studied the effects of seasonal flooding on macro‐invertebrate abundance by manipulating water regime and detrital level within three contiguous experimental marshes in Manitoba, Canada, over 2 years. One area was seasonally flooded (standing water present through midsummer) with emergent vegetation left undisturbed throughout the study, one was semipermanently flooded (standing water present through the ice‐free season) with the vegetation left undisturbed, and one was seasonally flooded with the vegetation harvested at the end of the first summer.

2. Abundances of frequent macroinvertebrate taxa were compared between the seasonally flooded‐undisturbed treatment area and each of the other areas.

3. Densities of total invertebrates and of the dominant taxa (Cladocera, Ostracoda and Culicidae) were reduced dramatically by a year of semipermanent flooding, despite high levels of paniculate organic food resources and low populations of predators. Densities were not reduced by lowering the availability of detritus under seasonally flooded conditions.

4. Taxa unaffected by water regime included Dytiscidae, Corixidae, Chironomidae, Ceratopogonidae and Ephydridae.

5. Semi‐permanent flooding may have eliminated environmental cues necessary for oviposition, embryonic development and hatch among dominant taxa. High invertebrate densities in temporary waters may be more dependent upon life history traits of resident fauna than upon habitat features such as food availability or predation pressure.
Different colonization patterns of two closely related stream insects (Austrosimulium spp.) following disturbance
Authors: DOWNES BARBARA J. , LAKE P.S.
Published: May 2006

SUMMARY.

In many streams, blackfly larvae rapidly colonize scoured surfaces, then decline in numbers as other species are still increasing. Such a colonization pattern may be generated by species that seek disturbed substrata because they prefer scoured surfaces having low epilithon cover (i.e. they are opportunists) or because of lowered faunal densities (i.e. they are fugitives), but this has rarely been tested.

In the Acheron River, south‐eastern Australia, the larvae of the blackfly Austrosimulium torrentium show the typical pattern of increase and decline whereas A. victoriae shows a different pattern of more gradual increase.

An experiment showed that A. torrentium, consistent with its colonization pattern, responded strongly to treatments that mimicked the effects of disturbance; it colonized bricks with few other animals present regardless of epilithon cover and therefore is potentially a fugitive species. A. victoriae did not respond convincingly to treatments, which is also consistent with its colonization pattern.

Blackfly larvae of both species preferentially colonized bricks that were in fast‐moving water. Hence, A. torrentium only responded to the densities of other fauna when bricks occurred in currents greater than approximately 30 cm s−1.

Whilst epilithon cover did not affect abundance of blackfly larvae, it did affect attachment positions. In one experimental treatment, epilithon was reduced on one half of the top surfaces of bricks. More than 50% of larvae on these bricks were attached to the epilithon‐reduced halves.

Our results show that functional feeding or taxonomic groups do not necessarily contain ecologically equivalent taxa; colonization patterns may provide a more useful way of categorizing species for the purposes of modelling these assemblages.
Effects of temperature, age and body size on moulting and growth in the freshwater amphipods Gammarus fossarum and G. roeseli
Authors: PÖCKL MANFRED
Published: May 2006

1. The total body length, cephalic length, wet weight and dry weight was measured in juveniles, males and females of Gammarus fossarum and G. roeseli kept in the laboratory. Numbers of flagellar segments on the first and second pairs of antennae of G. fossarum and G. roeseli were quantitatively related to body size and in stars. The addition of segments cannot be used to identify particular instars of individuals or to determine their ages in natural populations.

2. At experimental temperatures ranging from 3.8 to 20.2°C, the number of moults, duration of intermoults, maturation times and specific growth rates were studied from birth in isolated specimens. Sexual maturity was reached after 9 or 10 moults, at a mean wet weight of c. 5mg for females and c. 7mg for males of G. fossarum, and at c. 10 mg for females and c. 13 mg for males of G. roeseli. At 3.8°C neither species reached sexual maturity within 550 days.

3. The mean interval between moults was observed from birth to sexual maturity and was linearly related to moult number and exponentially related to age. The relationship between each intermoult interval, or the maturation time, and the experimental water temperature was described by a power function. Maturation times increased from 96 days at 20.2°C to 355 days at 7.9°C in G. fossarum, and 85 days to 403 days in G. roeseli.

4. Over the range 3.8–20.2°C there was a log—log relationship between temperature and specific growth rates. Growth was maximal at 20.2°C in newborn animals as well as in small sexually mature animals; interspecific differences were highly significant.

5. Increase in body wet weight of G. fossarum and G. roeseli fed ad libitum on a constant mixture of autumn‐shed, naturally decaying, tree leaves and aquatic macrophytes was followed to senescence and death. The instantaneous or specific growth rate was maximal near birth, at c. 7.98% wet weight day−1 in G. fossarum and 9.03% in G. roeseli. At ≥12°C, growth conformed to a logistic curve; maximum absolute increments in weight occurred about half‐way through a life span of 280–300 days at 20°C, 380–420 days at 16°C and 550–600 days at 12°C. Some individuals lived longer than 850 days at ≤12°C. The wet weight at birth was 0.112mg for G. fossarum and 0.123mg for G. roeseli. Asymptotic mean body weights of males and females were, respectively, 61 and 41 mg for G. fossarum and 87 and 58 mg for G. roeseli. However, G. roeseli reached the inflection point of the logistic curve significantly faster than G. fossarum. In the latter species, growth and maturation were relatively faster at temperatures below 12°C, whereas they were faster in G. roeseli at 16–20°C. Thus G. fossarum is adapted to summer‐cool streams and G. roeseli is adapted to summer‐warm streams.
The RCE: a Riparian, Channel, and Environmental Inventory for small streams in the agricultural landscape
Authors: PETERSEN ROBERT C.
Published: May 2006

1. The Riparian, Channel and Environmental (RCE) Inventory has been developed to assess the physical and biological condition of small streams in the lowland, agricultural landscape. It consists of sixteen characteristics which define the structure of the riparian zone, stream channel morphology, and the biological condition in both habitats.

2. The inventory is based on the view that in landscapes where non‐point source pollution and agriculture dominate, the environmental condition of small streams can be assessed by an appraisal of the physical condition of the riparian zone and stream channel. It is assumed that disturbance of this physical structure is a major cause for reduction of stream biological structure and function. This assumption is supported by a case study using fifteen Italian stream locations in which the RCE was found to be positively correlated to the benthic macroinvertebrate community as measured by the Extended Biotic Index (r = 0.80, P < 0.001) and the Shannon Diversity Index (r = 0.73; P < 0.001).

3. The inventory is designed for quick use to cover a large number of streams in a short period of time. When used it generates a numerical score which can be used to compare the physical and biological condition between different streams within a region. The numerical score is divided into five, colour‐coded classes to facilitate use in streammonitoring programmes and to allow comparison with biological indices.
Littoral flow rates within and around submersed macrophyte communities
Authors: LOSEE RICHARD F. , WETZEL ROBERT C.
Published: May 2006

The magnitude and range of water flow rates were measured within and adjacent to plant beds at different depths and among different dominant submersed plant species in the littoral zones of two lakes with contrasting morphometry.

 There was very little variability in within‐bed flow rates, either for locations within or among beds. However, when significant differences occurred in within‐bed flow rates, the higher rates occurred predominately near the bottom of the Scirpus subterminalis bed where the plant surface area to water volume ratio was lowest.

 Factors such as bed depth and dominant species had little effect on within‐bed flow rate variance. Flows external to the plant beds were dissipated within 10–15 cm of the outer plant‐bed boundary even under severe external flow‐rate conditions (flow rate ∼ 30cms−1).

 The mean within‐bed flow rate was 0.07cms−1 and individual experiment means ranged from 0.03 to 0.46cms−1. These flow rates resulted in estimates of laminar flow boundary layer thickness, 1 mm from the leading edge of the leaf, ranging from 9.1 to 2.3mm. These estimates are much larger than submersed macrophyte leaf thicknesses themselves (<1 mm).
Stream community structure in relation to spatial and temporal variation: a habitat templet study of two contrasting New Zealand streams
Authors: SCARSBROOK MIKE R. , TOWNSEND COLIN R.
Published: May 2006

The physical characteristics of two contrasting streams, and habitat types within these streams, are described in terms of a two‐dimensional physical habitat templet in which disturbance frequency and the availability of spatial refugia are the temporal and spatial axes.

 It is predicted that habitats experiencing a high disturbance frequency and low refuge availability will be characterized by a low invertebrate species diversity, a low biomass of epilithic algae and particulate organic matter and a community made up of mobile, weedy species. Habitats having a low disturbance frequency and high refuge availability will be characterized by a diverse community containing sedentary and specialist species, with high algal and particulate organic matter levels.

 A lower median substrate particle size and higher shear stress regime in Timber Creek were indicative of a higher disturbance frequency than in the Kyeburn. Substrate diversity was lower in Timber Creek than in the Kyeburn and indicated that the availability of refugia was lower in Timber Creek. In both streams, pools were found to have a higher disturbance frequency and lower availability of refugia than riffles.

 Invertebrate species diversity, the biomass of epilithic algae and particulate organic matter and the representation of sedentary species, filter feeders and shredders were higher in the more temporally stable and spatially heterogeneous Kyeburn. The community of Timber Creek, frequently disturbed and having low refuge availability, had a high proportion of mobile and weedy species, with the highly mobile, generalist‐feeding Deleatidium spp. (Ephemeroptera; Leptophlebiidae) being the most dominant organisms.

 The predictions made about stream community structure and species characteristics in relation to disturbance frequency and the availability of spatial refugia are generally supported. Now a larger scale investigation is required to test the generality of the predictions. We conclude that the habitat templet approach offers a sound framework within which to pose questions in stream ecology.
Factors affecting litter processing by Anisocentropus kirramus (Trichoptera: Calamoceratidae) from an Australian tropical rainforest stream
Authors: NOLEN J.A. , PEARSON R.G.
Published: May 2006

Larvae of the caddisfly Anisocentropus kirramus are common leaf shredders in rainforest streams in tropical Queensland. Laboratory experiments were undertaken to examine the effects of (a) differences in leaf species, age and degree of conditioning, (b) leaf preferences, (c) temperature and (d) larval stage on processing of leaf litter by A. kirramus.

 Leaf species (five tested), age (fresh v senescent) and condition (conditioned in stream v unconditioned) each had a significant effect on the amount of leaf material that was processed. For most species, conditioned leaves were processed faster but for one species unconditioned leaves were processed faster. Senescent leaves were processed more rapidly than green leaves in three species but not in the other two. Given a choice of leaf types A. kirramus actively selected leaves that were processed faster; no preference was shown between two different ‘fast’ leaves.

 Processing occurred at all temperatures tested (10, 18 and 25°C), with the processing rate increasing with temperature. Younger instar larvae processed leaves at a greater rate per unit body weight (up to 343% day−1) than older instars. Final instar (5) larvae were capable of processing some tough leaves that younger instars did not process.

 In rainforest streams, processing of leaves by A. kirramus takes place throughout the year. Its ability to process green leaves is important because of the high input of fresh green leaves into tropical streams, and because of the severe depletion of the supply of conditioned leaves and fine detritus after floods.
Filamentous algal communities related to pH in streams in The Trossachs, Scotland
Authors: KINROSS J.H. , CHRISTOFI N. , READ P.A. , HARRIMAN R.
Published: May 2006

A survey of acidified streams in the Loch Ard area of The Trossachs, Scotland, was carried out between 1986 and 1988, to determine the influence of physical and chemical factors on the distribution of benthic algae. Samples were taken on thirty‐five occasions from fifteen sites on ten streams. Forty‐nine operational taxa of filamentous algae were distinguished. Relative abundance of taxa in samples was scored on a seven‐point scale. Estimates of standing crop were made by pigment extraction and ash‐free dry weight (AFDW) determination from biomass developed on artificial substrata.

 No evidence was found for seasonality in standing crop, nor for an increase in standing crop with a decrease in pH. Seasonality in relative abundance was evident for few taxa. Species richness and diversity were highly correlated with pH and correlated chemical variables.

 Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) carried out using the CANOCO program ordinates species and sites and relates them directly to environmental variables. The most important variable was found to be pH (or an acidification‐related variable that is highly correlated with pH), with percentage forest cover and total oxidized nitrogen being of secondary importance. The effect of subdividing the data set, using data based on presence‐absence as well as estimated relative abundance, was tested. A comparison of the effects on the distribution of site and species values on the pH vector showed that the results are robust, confirming the value of this semi‐quantitative sampling method for use with a difficult algal group. It was possible to infer pH from algal community structure using CANOCO.

 The pH ranking of species derived from CCA revealed that larger cell diameter taxa do not predominate at low pH, implying that reduction of invertebrate grazing was not an important determinant of algal community composition.
Production and turnover ofHyalella aztecain central Ontario, Canada compared with other regions
Authors: FRANCE R.L.
Published: May 2006

Hyalella azteca(Amphipoda) inhabiting macrophyte beds in eight Canadian Shield lakes were sampled during the ice‐free seasons of 1984 and 1985. These amphipods were found to be predominantly univoltine in contrast to suggestions from a previous study.

 Annual production determined by the size‐frequency method ranged from 1.21 to 2.77g dry wt m−2year−1, and are the highest rates recorded for this species in temperate waters.

 Turnover rates (P/B ratios) ranged from 2.27 to 3.48 and are among the lowest values that have been measured. A synthesis of these data indicates that H.aztecaturnover rates increase sigmoidally with degree‐days above 5°C.
Ecological effects of river ice break‐up: a review and perspective
Authors: SCRIMGEOUR GARRY J. , PROWSE TERRY D. , CULP JOSEPH M. , CHAMBERS PATRICIA A.
Published: May 2006

1. Abiotic disturbances strongly modify spatial and temporal patterns of lotic ecosystem community structure and function. Such effects are produced because disturbances alter organic matter, nutrient and contaminant dynamics and the distribution and abundance of bacterial, algal, macroinvertebrate and fish communities.

2. River ice break‐up is a seasonal disturbance in rivers at high altitudes and latitudes world‐wide and is characterized, in part, by large increases in current velocity, stage, water temperature, concentrations of suspended materials and substrate scouring.

3. These abiotic factors are likely to have important effects on primary producers, consumers, and food‐web dynamics of river biota. Despite the potential importance of river ice break‐up on community structure and function, detailed information describing the magnitude of their effects and underlying causal mechanisms is scarce.

4. The objective of this paper is to provide a hydrological and ecological review and perspective on the potential effects of ice break‐up on lotic ecosystems. Specifically, the potential importance of break‐up on water temperature, river sediments and geomorphology, riverine energy sources, contaminants, and its effects on river biota and food‐web dynamics are evaluated.
Life history plasticity of Nemoura trispinosa (Plecoptera: Nemouridae) along a permanent‐temporary water habitat gradient
Authors: WILLIAMS D. DUDLEY , WILLIAMS NANCY E. , HOGG IAN D.
Published: May 2006

1. The life history of the small herbivorous stonefly Nemoura trispinosa Claassen was studied in a variety of small springs in southern Ontario, Canada. Nymphs generally were able to tolerate a wide range of environmental conditions and were found in 78% of habitats sampled, although population densities differed markedly.

2. Life‐cycle patterns varied from a univoltine, slow seasonal type to a univoltine, fast seasonal type with extended egg development. In one, highly stable, spring the life cycle was semivoltine. Inter‐year variation was studied for 5 years in one spring and was found to be low relative to among‐spring variation.

3. Differences in the life history traits of N. trispinosa populations from our spring series were most probably an expression of phenotypic plasticity rather than of genetic differentiation.

4. Maximum annual water temperature was the factor most influential on nymphal growth rate (non‐linear relationship), whereas range in generation time was related to the degree of habitat permanence.
Growth, production and losses of phytoplankton in the lowland River Spree: carbon balance
Authors: KÖHLER JAN
Published: May 2006

1. Phytoplankton carbon assimilation and losses (exudation, dark carbon losses) as well as oxygen release and dark community respiration were measured regularly for 2 years at four stations along the lower Spree (Germany). Carbon balance of river phytoplankton was estimated using measured assimilation, metabolic losses and variations in algal carbon along a stretch of river.

2. The light/dark bottle method was modified to simulate vertical mixing.

3. Waxing and waning of phytoplankton populations dominated the load of particulate organic carbon as well as the oxygen budget of the river.

4. Phytoplankton assimilated 310–358 g C m−2 yr−1. A mean value of 586 mg C m−3 day−1 was fixed in photosynthesis, with 16.7 mg C being exuded during the day and 20.1 mg lost at night. The measured dark respiration was equivalent to only 28% of the daily gross oxygen production of the plankton community. Phytoplankton washed from upstream lakes and reservoirs was not measurably damaged by turbulent transport.

5. In spring, 18–22% of assimilated carbon was used for net biosynthesis of phytoplankton along the river course. At this time, the carbon balance of this part of the Spree was dominated by autochthonous net production. During summer, however, total carbon losses exceeded the intensive carbon assimilation. The decline of algal biomass along the river course in summer was not explicable by measurable physiological losses. The importance of sedimentation and grazing losses is discussed.
The influence of water chemistry on the enzymatic degradation of leaves in streams
Authors: JENKINS CINDY C. , SUBERKROPP KELLER
Published: May 2006

1. Aquatic hyphomycetes degrade leaf litter in both softwater and hardwater streams. During growth on leaves, these fungi secrete an array of extracellular polysaccharidases that are differentially affected by pH. Hydrolytic enzymes exhibit acidic pH optima, whereas pectin lyases have neutral to alkaline pH optima.

2. Enzyme activities associated with microbial communities colonizing yellow poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) leaves submerged in an acidic (pH 6.3), softwater stream were compared with those occurring in an alkaline (pH 8.2), hardwater stream. In addition to pH differences, the hardwater stream had higher nutrient concentrations and higher temperatures than the softwater stream. Conditions in the hardwater stream favoured greater microbial growth, fungal activity, rates of leaf breakdown and softening. However, activities of hydrolytic enzymes (xylanase, endocellulase, galacturonanase) were lower in the hardwater stream than in the softwater stream. Consequently, activities of these hydrolytic enzymes were not good indicators of leaf breakdown in these streams.

3. In contrast, the activities of pectin lyase were higher in the hardwater stream than in the softwater stream, corresponding to the greater rates of leaf breakdown and softening that occurred in the hardwater stream. These results support previous findings that pectin lyase is closely associated with the softening and maceration of leaf detritus and suggest that pectin degradation is a key process in the initial stages of leaf breakdown.
Digital imaging of patterns of dental wear to diagnose bruxism in children
Authors: RESTREPO C. , PELÁEZ A. , ALVAREZ E. , PAUCAR C. , ABAD P.
Published: May 2006

Summary.  Objective.  The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the area, perimeter, and form (D factor and fractal dimension) of the dental wear among bruxist and nonbruxist children with mixed dentition in order to determine if the dental wear may be used as criteria to diagnose bruxism.

Methods.  The children were 8 to 11 years old and were classified as bruxist or nonbruxist, according to anxiety level and temporomandibular disorders. Dental casts of the upper arch were obtained for the bruxist (n = 24) and the control (n = 29) group. The dental wear was measured in digital format and processed automatically. The complete and pathological dental wear was compared between the two groups, using the Student's t‐test and Mann–Whitney test.

Results.  Statistically significant differences were observed between the two groups, with a higher area, perimeter, and more irregular form of the pathological dental wear among the bruxist group. Regarding complete dental wear, differences were only significant for the D factor (an un‐dimensional quantitative parameter which produces a relation between the area and the perimeter of an object).

Conclusion.  Digital imaging of dental wear may be used as criteria to diagnose bruxism in children with mixed dentition after making an analysis of the area, perimeter, and irregularity of the form of pathological dental wear.
Trends and predictors of aggressive therapy for clinical locally advanced prostate carcinoma
Authors: DENBERG THOMAS D. , GLODÉ L. MICHAEL , STEINER JOHN F. , CRAWFORD E. DAVID , HOFFMAN RICHARD M.
Published: May 2006

OBJECTIVE

To determine the patterns and predictors of aggressive local therapies for patients with clinically advanced (cT3) prostate carcinoma, as the USA National Cancer Institute considers external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) to be the most appropriate treatment for these patients, and currently there is less evidence supporting the use of radical prostatectomy (RP).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We used the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) cancer registries to identify patients diagnosed with cT3 disease between 1995 and 2001. Sociodemographic and clinical data included patient age, race/ethnicity, marital status, SEER registry, year of diagnosis, tumour stage and grade, and treatment. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify significant predictors of receiving (i) RP vs EBRT, (ii) any aggressive local treatment (RP or EBRT) or no treatment.

RESULTS

Between 1995 and 2001, the proportion of men receiving aggressive local therapy for cT3 disease increased by 11% (58.4% to 69.4%), with a 20% increase in EBRT (40.3% to 60.2%) but a decline by half in RP (18.1% to 9.3%). Younger age was the strongest predictor of receiving RP rather than EBRT, and younger age with being married being a predictor of receiving aggressive local therapy (adjusted relative risk for marriage 1.33, 95% confidence interval 1.18–1.87). Black men were significantly less likely than non‐Hispanic white men to receive aggressive therapy, with a relative risk of 0.56 (0.45–0.69).

CONCLUSION

By 2001, 70% of patients with cT3 disease were receiving aggressive local therapy, with EBRT 6.5 times more common than RP. Clinical trials are needed to rigorously assess the effects of different local treatment strategies on clinical outcomes in men with cT3 prostate carcinoma.
An audit of implanted penile prostheses in the UK
Authors: AGRAWAL VINEET , RALPH DAVID
Published: May 2006

Associate Editor

Michael G. Wyllie

Editorial Board

Ian Eardley, UK

Jean Fourcroy, USA

Sidney Glina, Brazil

Julia Heiman, USA

Chris McMahon, Australia

Bob Millar, UK

Alvaro Morales, Canada

Michael Perelman, USA

Marcel Waldinger, Netherlands

OBJECTIVE

To assess whether the outcome of implanting penile prostheses is related to the number of prostheses implanted by surgeons, as several reports showed that the outcome of a urological procedure is directly related to the experience of the surgeon.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective audit of 413 penile prostheses implanted over a 2‐year period in the UK by 76 surgeons.

RESULTS

About 80% of the surgeons implanted only one or two prostheses per year, usually of the malleable type, and usually on patients in the private sector. Only four surgeons implanted >20 prostheses per year. The overall revision rate for implantation in the UK, at 24%, is far higher than the worldwide average.

CONCLUSIONS

Guidelines are needed on the number of prostheses a surgeon should implant per year so that revision rates will decline to more acceptable levels and patients will be offered a genuine choice of product.
Inhibition of the canonical Wnt signaling pathway by apolipoprotein E4 in PC12 cells
Authors: Caruso Alessandra , Motolese Marta , Iacovelli Luisa , Caraci Filippo , Copani Agata , Nicoletti Ferdinando , Terstappen Georg C. , Gaviraghi Giovanni , Caricasole Andrea
Published: May 2006

We examined the effect of the three human isoforms of apolipoprotein E (ApoE2, ApoE3, and ApoE4) on the canonical Wnt signaling pathway in undifferentiated PC12 cells. Addition of recombinant ApoE4 reduced Wingless‐Int7a‐stimulated gene expression at concentrations of 80 and 500 nm. Recombinant ApoE2 and ApoE3 were virtually inactive. Recombinant ApoE4 also inhibited Wnt signaling when combined with very low density lipoproteins (VLDLs) or in cells over‐expressing the low density lipoprotein receptor‐related protein, LRP6. In contrast, the enforced expression of LRP5 unmasked an inhibition by ApoE2 and ApoE3, which, however, were less effective than ApoE4 in inhibiting Wnt signaling. We also transfected PC12 cells with constructs encoding for the three human ApoE isoforms to examine whether endogenously expressed ApoE isoforms could modulate the Wnt pathway. Under these conditions, all three ApoE isoforms were able to inhibit Wnt signaling, although ApoE4 showed the greatest efficacy. Only the conditioned medium collected from cultures transfected with ApoE4 induced a significant inhibition of Wnt7a‐stimulated gene expression, confirming that ApoE4 has an extracellular action that is not shared by the other ApoE isoforms. We conclude that ApoE4 behaves as an inhibitor of the canonical Wnt pathway in a context‐independent manner.
PATRON‐CLIENT RELATIONSHIPS IN SOUTHERN ITALY*
Authors: GRAZIANO LUIGI
Published: May 2006

Political clientelism in Southern Italy has shown great persistence and capacity for conditioning the entire Italian political development. Accounting for these characteristics, clientelism is better understood as the product of the incomplete capitalistic rationalization of the Southern economy. Throughout the 19th century in Sicily, the feudo remained the basis of the economic and social structure, while in the continental South the feudal system disintegrated more quickly and widely. The resulting different models of social relationships within the Mezzogiorno, make it meaningful for our purposes to distinguish between two types of clientele, which may be termed clientela mafiosa and Neopolitan clientele.

The second part of the article is concerned with the dynamics of the clientelistic system in post‐1945 Southern Italy and more generally with the relationship between clientelism and political development. The transition from the clientelism of the notables to political party‐directed patronage is studied both at the local level and in the context of the whole South. It is then argued that clientelism is a very poor tool for political development since it has two effects on the social structure and the political process: these effects will be called disorganic integration and exclusivism.
THE POWERS THAT BE AND THE POWERS THAT DO: AN “ECONOMIC” APPROACH
Authors: BEACKON S.G. , GOODIN R.E.
Published: May 2006

Rational choice models of bargaining power are usually held to justify the pluralist methodology of decision analysis. This paper rejects this view and argues that such models are able to combine the pluralists’ concern with overt behaviour and the operationalizability of the concept of power with their critics’ emphasis upon the systemic or structural features of power and its cognates. We overcome charges of conservative bias which tend to be directed at rational choice theories by deriving from the model reasons why a rational actor would object to concentrations of power within his community. A theory which provides us with a measure of power which is at least notionally empirical and is capable of determining why, and to what extent moral sensibilities are offended by power concentrations would, we feel, enable the discipline to throw off the straitjacket which has constrained the analysis of power over the past two decades.
THE DISTRIBUTION OF SEATS IN THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AFTER DIRECT ELECTIONS: A SIMULATION STUDY *
Authors: RATTINGER HANS , ZÄNGLE MICHAEL , ZINTL REINHARD
Published: May 2006

This article presents an overview of a project designed to simulate the distribution of seats in the European Parliament after the first direct elections in 1978. First, the data base and some basic assumptions are described which pertain to electoral systems, voter behavior, and realignments in party systems. Some illustrative results of simulation runs are summarized which proceed from voter preferences as expressed in the most recent national general elections in the nine member countries of the European Community. These findings are analyzed for individual parties and parliamentary fractions as well as with the chances for forming majority coalitions in mind. Finally, the effects of some likely shifts in voting patterns are considered assuming that current national electoral systems will be applied in 1978.
SITUATION‐SPECIFIC VERSUS ACTOR‐SPECIFIC APPROACHES TO INTERNATIONAL BARGAINING
Authors: JÖNSSON CHRISTER
Published: May 2006

This article illuminates the existing gap between situation‐specific and actor‐specific approaches to the study of international bargaining. According to game‐theoretically inspired situation‐specific models, situational factors determine the playing and outcome of bargaining games regardless of who the actors are. Actor‐specific models, on the other hand, focus on actor idiosyncrasies as explanatory variables. Certain actors or groups of actors are assumed to negotiate in characteristic ways. Examples of hypotheses derived from each of the two approaches are given, and the lack of rigid empirical tests by which these hypotheses could be validated, invalidated, or modified is noted. The thesis of this article is that the gap between situation‐specific and actor‐specific approaches could, and should, be bridged, and that this requires better coordination than hitherto of theoretical and empirical research in the field of international bargaining. One possible synthesis of actor‐specific and situation‐specific models, based upon the findings of an empirical study of Soviet negotiating behavior, is suggested.
Causes of Negotiation ‘Failure’*
Authors: UNDERDAL ARILD
Published: May 2006

Noting that international negotiations occasionally fail to tap the full integrative potential of the issues in question, the author discusses four major obstacles to negotiation success: uncertainty, inaccurate information, process‐generated stakes, and politically inadequate models for the design of substantive solutions. In a final section, the author briefly considers three pieces of ‘political technology’ that research in political science can contribute towards overcoming these obstacles.
Decline of Class Voting or Change in Class Voting? Social Classes and Party Choice in Denmark in the 1970s
Authors: ANDERSEN JØRGEN GOUL
Published: May 2006

The article criticizes stratification measures of social class and class voting, demonstrating that they may produce biased images of the relationship between social class and party choice. Firstly, it is argued that the conventional ‘Alford index of class voting’ is typically not comparable, neither over time nor across countries. Applying a materialist concept of social class, the author then concludes that class voting in Denmark has in fact increased, although Denmark is generally listed as the ‘prototypical’ evidence of the opposite. This difference in perception is due to significant changes in class behaviour which are concealed by stratification measures of social class.
Urban Hierarchies and Municipal Finances*
Authors: HANSEN TORE
Published: May 2006

The article examines how and to what extent municipal finances are affected by a city's position in an urban hierarchy. A distinction is made between collective and individual services on the one hand, and job‐ and residence‐related services on the other. It is hypothesized that job‐related collective services are more affected by a city's centrality than other services, and that residence‐related individual services are least affected. By and large, the results of the analyses lend support to this hypothesis, although they are inconclusive as to the difference between job‐ and residence‐related collective services. Altogether, the analysis demonstrates the importance of taking a city's centrality into consideration when assessing its financial problems.
Urban System Theory, and Urban Policy and Expenditures in England and Wales*
Authors: NEWTON K.
Published: May 2006

ABSTRCT

Urban systems theory offers a useful and potentially powerful way of analysing public policy and service expenditures, a research field which, in the past, has lacked in general theory and good empirical results. It is hypothesized that just as cities which play an important role in the national urban system provide a wide range of specialized and expensive goods and services in the private sector, so also will they tend to spend heavily on a range of public services and amenities. Following recent theoretical developments, the presence of the headquarters of major companies is used as a measure of the importance of English and Welsh cities in the national urban system, and this measure is related to service expenditures. The results strongly support the hypothesis, and suggest that levels of service expenditure, particularly on what are termed indivisible services, are related to the general characteristics of an urban system, rather than directly to the concentration of business headquarters.
Distributive Struggle and Economic Development in the 1970s in Developed Capitalist Countries*
Authors: PALOHEIMO HEIKKI
Published: May 2006

The intensity of the distributive struggle is an important determinant in explaining cross‐national differences in unemployment and inflation during the economic crisis of the 1970s. Unemployment is analysed as a result of corporate actions to counter the falling rate of profit. In countries with a high level of distributive struggle, the reduction of the labour force has been the main method of coping with problems of profitability. In countries with a low level of distributive struggle, other methods have also been used. Production costs have been stabilized by means of moderate incomes policy and by revaluing the currency. As a result of these policy differences, both the rates of unemployment and inflation were moderate in countries with a low level of distributive struggle, while countries with a high level faced severe problems of unemployment and inflation.
Political‐Economic Interdependence and the Management of Economic Crisis
Authors: LEHNER FRANZ , KEMAN HANS
Published: May 2006

This article takes up some crucial problems raised in the contributions to this issue and discusses them theoretically in order to show some avenues for further research. The article reconsiders the impact of a high political‐economic interdependence on policy‐making and suggests some new questions for public policy analysis. More specifically, the importance of structural arrangements and of the complex relationship between structural arrangements, types of policies and policy‐outcomes is stressed. Finally, some avenues for further research are outlined.
Security‐related Effort in Western Democracies: Towards a Comparative Political Economy of Defence*
Authors: KAMMLER HANS
Published: May 2006

The life expectancy of all political systems depends, among other factors, on the ability to resist military pressure and other means of coercion, that is, to mount and sustain a sufficient ‘security‐related effort’(SRE). Yet over the last decades, SRE in the West has increasingly fallen short of what is required, especially vis‐à‐vis the main systemic competitor, the Soviet bloc. This trend can be explained by the interplay of two kinds of long‐term change in Western societies. The first is the gradual penetrating and remoulding of their structures by capitalism, replacing both threat and integrative relations by exchange as a social organizer and thus delegitimizing the military (and other means of organized coercion), and at the same time rendering war much more destructive and costly by harnessing modern science and technology to the design and production of weaponry. The second process is the diffusion of representative, subsequently democratized, systems of government: decision‐making by representative assemblies generates, via the mechanism of log‐rolling, allocative decisions biased towards providing private goods (e.g. by tax reductions), merit goods, and transfer payments, and consequently disfavouring public goods such as deterrence of potential aggressors.
Mass voting behaviour: the factors that influenced the conservative vote during the 1981 Greek general election
Authors: LIMBERES Nickolas Michael
Published: May 2006

Abstract. This paper examines voting preferences of Greeks during the 1981 general election, based on a public opinion survey. The sample (N = 598) includes three heterogeneous target groups (professionals, labourers and rurals) which represent a broad spectrum of the Greek society. It is hypothesized that Greece is undergoing social and political changes. These changes are measured with an empirical model constructed to employ three sets of indicators. The first set measured the degree and direction of influence on the 1981 conservative vote by objective conditions. The second set measured the degree and direction of the influence of subjective conditions on the same vote. The third set measured the degree and direction of influence of values and issues also on the same vote. The results indicate that both objective and subjective conditions were less important than values and issues. Thus, the influence of some objective factors (such as income or sex) on the conservative vote was either low or inverse. Similarly, the conservative influence of subjective factors (such as family and school) was weak. Instead, modern values and issues are becoming influential.
Neocorporatism and the ‘happiness index’, or what the trade unions get for their cooperation
Authors: CASTLES FRANCIS G.
Published: May 2006

Abstract. In concluding a recent analysis of the conditions for trade union wage restraint, Colin Crouch asks ‘what neocorporatist unions gain for their members in exchange for restraint?’. An attempt to answer this question is made, first by examining a range of policy outcomes which may be regarded as measures of possible union gains, and, second, by analyzing the problem in terms of indexes measuring possible trade‐offs between union objectives. It is suggested that an analysis in these latter terms offers a far more cogent explanation of trade union wage restraint than can be provided by looking at policy outcome measures separately.
Centrifugal forces and collective decision‐making: The case of the Dutch cabinet*
Authors: ANDEWEG RUDY B.
Published: May 2006

Abstract. In political science the field of cabinet decision‐making is still largely terra incognita, and there is no theoretical framework to help us interpret the available material in a meaningful way. As a first step, this article suggests that cabinet decision‐making is structured by two sources of disagreement: the departments headed by the cabinet ministers, and the parties or factions these ministers represent. After a brief overview of different combinations of departmental and political heterogeneity in different countries, the Dutch cabinet is examined in more detail. It is characterized by strong departmental heterogeneity and more recently by political heterogeneity as well. Various attempts to contain these centrifugal forces ‐ recognition of the cabinet, a strong position for the Prime Minister and for the Minister of Finance, cabinet committees, and an Inner Cabinet ‐ have not been successful. This could be because political and departmental heterogeneity are mutually reinforcing. However, there is also some evidence that, in the Dutch case at least, these centrifugal forces are counterbalancing, or even completely unrelated to each other.
Positional power and political influence in the Federal Republic of Germany
Authors: HOFFMANN‐LANGE URSULA
Published: May 2006

Abstract. Methods of elite identification measure different aspects of power in societies. The relationship between the positional and the decisional methods was studied empirically, using data from a 1981 West German elite survey. In this survey, respondents determined through the positional method were asked to name their interaction partners for (political) issues in which they were actively involved. The results show that incumbency of an elite position is a crucial precondition for becoming politically influential. Only a small number of legislators, journalists, and academics who did not hold an elite position were mentioned as key influentials. The same data were also used to determine the denser part of the West German elite network which was made up of 559 core decision‐makers. The sector composition of this elite circle underlines the intermediating role of political leaders and senior civil servants.
The policy impact of party programmes and government declarations in the Federal Republic of Germany
Authors: HOFFERBERT RICHARD I. , KLINGEMANN HANS‐DIETER
Published: May 2006

Abstract. How well do party programmes and statements of government intent anticipate policy priorities across the history of a modern parliamentary democracy? This article examines the operation of a coalition government in the Federal Republic of Germany from its founding in 1949 through 1987. We analyze relationships between the electoral programmes of governing parties and central government policy priorities. We also examine the linkage function of ‘government declarations’, which are formal statements of intent offered by the leader of each in‐coming government. Content analyses of party programmes and government declarations are fitted to variations on a model of cabinet government in order to predict spending shares. The level of explanatory power of party programmes is rather impressive. But likewise, the capacity of the minor coalition partner, the Free Democrats, to extract ‘blackmail’is much higher than expected. The analyses are fitted to three lines of inquiry: democratic theory, comparative policy analysis, and coalition theory/research.
Patterns of political socialization in a social democratic culture: The case of Norway *
Authors: BARTHELEMY MARTINE
Published: May 2006

Abstract. The survey results presented in this article and based on a sample of 616 Norwegians from 12 to 16 years old focus upon adolescents’attitudes towards the political system and the partisan/ideological dimensions of their political universe. A unique model of political socialization is revealed, the components of which determine a national consensus embracing community symbols and the totality of basic political and representative institutions, a ‘passive’political and ideological affiliation and a structuring social cleavage, all of which derive from Norwegian history.
The selection of party chairmen in Austria: A study in intra‐party decision‐making
Authors: MÜLLER WOLFGANG C. , METH‐COHN DELIA
Published: May 2006

Abstract. Recent party research has neglected the analysis of internal party organizations. Taking the central question of how party leaders are selected to study an aspect of intra‐party decision‐making, we carry out a detailed analysis of the regulations and practice of party chairman selection procedure in the Austrian parties over the post‐war period. Although the methods of selection are similar ‐ and similarly oligarchical ‐ the implementation of these formal rules is found to differ both according to the degree of oligarchy exercised in the selection process, and in the priority structure given to the electoral, intra‐party and parliamentary arenas in emphasizing the qualities a leader should have. As traditional party identification declines and the party leader becomes more important for electoral success, the differentiation between the parties increases. We develop an explanation for these differences in terms of a configuration of party characteristics, which may also be useful for examining other aspects of intra‐party decision‐making.