bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Distinct Clinical, Serological, and Sonographic Characteristics of Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis Based with and without IgG4-Positive Plasma Cells
Authors: Li Yaqiong , Nishihara Eijun , Hirokawa Mitsuyoshi , Taniguchi Emiko , Miyauchi Akira , Kakudo Kennichi
Published: January 2010

Context: IgG4-related sclerosing disease is a new syndrome characterized by high serum IgG4 levels and increased IgG4-positive plasma cells in the involved organs. Recently the first description was made by our group of a subsection of Hashimoto’s autoimmune thyroiditis (HT) patients showing indistinguishable histopathological features with IgG4-related sclerosing disease, which was termed as IgG4 thyroiditis.

Objective: The objective of the study was analysis of the immunophenotypic features of IgG4 in 70 cases of HT patients and to clarify the histopathological and clinical characteristics of the patients with IgG4 thyroiditis.

Design: Thyroid tissue samples were obtained from 70 patients with HT who were treated surgically. Quantitative analyses of the expression of IgG4 and IgG were performed. Statistical analyses of clinical and histopathological parameters were also conducted.

Results: On the basis of immunohistochemistry of IgG4 and IgG4/IgG ratio, the 70 patients with HT were divided into two groups: IgG4 thyroiditis (19 cases) and non-IgG4 thyroiditis (51 cases). Histopathologically, IgG4 thyroiditis showed higher grade of stromal fibrosis, lymphoplasmacytic infiltration, and follicular cell degeneration than non-IgG4 thyroiditis. Moreover, these two groups were also demonstrated to be related with different clinical features, with IgG4 thyroiditis associated more with male gender, rapid progress, subclinical hypothyroidism, more diffuse low echogenicity, and higher level of circulating antibodies.

Conclusions: From both clinical and histopathological aspects, IgG4 thyroiditis and non-IgG4 thyroiditis were demonstrated to be distinct entities. Measuring serum IgG4 concentration provides a useful method of distinguishing IgG4 thyroiditis from non-IgG4 thyroiditis.
Genotype and Tissue-Specific Effects on Alternative Splicing of the Transcription Factor 7-Like 2 Gene in Humans
Authors: Mondal Ashis K. , Das Swapan K. , Baldini Giulia , Chu Winston S. , Sharma Neeraj K. , Hackney Oksana G. , Zhao Jianhua , Grant Struan F. A. , Elbein Steven C.
Published: January 2010

Context: Noncoding single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the TCF7L2 gene are confirmed risk factors for type 2 diabetes, but the mechanism by which they increase risk is unknown.

Objective: We hypothesized that associated SNPs alter TCF7L2 splicing and that splice forms have altered biological roles.

Design: Splice forms and 5′ and 3′ untranslated regions were characterized in sc adipose, muscle, liver, HepG2 cells, pancreas, and islet. Isoform-specific transcript levels were quantified in sc adipose. Alternative splice forms were characterized in HepG2 liver cells under glucose and insulin conditions and in SGBS cells with differentiation. Major isoforms were characterized by transfection.

Setting: The study was conducted at an ambulatory general clinical research center.

Patients: Patients included 78 healthy, nondiabetic study subjects characterized for insulin sensitivity and secretion.

Results: We identified 32 alternatively spliced transcripts and multiple-length 3′ untranslated region transcripts in adipose, muscle, islet, and pancreas. Alternative exons 3a, 12, 13, and 13a were observed in all tissues, whereas exon 13b was islet specific. Transcripts retaining exons 13 and 13a but not total TCF7L2 transcripts were significantly correlated with both obesity measures (P < 0.01) and rs7903146 genotype (P < 0.026) in sc adipose. Insulin (5–10 nm) suppressed all TCF7L2 isoforms in SGBS cells but suppressed exon 13a-containing isoforms most significantly (P < 0.001). The isoform distribution differed throughout SGBS cell differentiation. Isoforms with predicted early stop codons yielded stable proteins of the predicted size, bound β-catenin, and targeted correctly to the nucleus.

Conclusions: Intronic TCF7L2 variants may regulate alternative transcript isoforms, which in turn may have distinct physiologic roles.
Can red flowers be conspicuous to bees?Bombus dahlbomiiand South American temperate forest flowers as a case in point
Authors: Martínez-Harms J. , Palacios A. G. , Márquez N. , Estay P. , Arroyo M. T. K. , Mpodozis J.
Published: January 2010

It has been argued that trichromatic bees with photoreceptor spectral sensitivity peaks in the ultraviolet (UV), blue and green areas of the spectrum are blind to long wavelengths (red to humans). South American temperate forests (SATF) contain a large number of human red-looking flowers that are reported to be visited by the bumblebee Bombus dahlbomii. In the present study, B. dahlbomii's spectral sensitivity was measured through electroretinogram (ERG) recordings. No extended sensitivity to long wavelengths was found in B. dahlbomii. The spectral reflectance curves from eight plant species with red flowers were measured. The color loci occupied by these flowers in the bee color space was evaluated using the receptor noise-limited model. Four of the plant species have pure red flowers with low levels of chromatic contrast but high levels of negative L-receptor contrast. Finally, training experiments were performed in order to assess the role of achromatic cues in the detection and discrimination of red targets by B. dahlbomii. The results of the training experiments suggest that the bumblebee relies on achromatic contrast provided by the L-receptor to detect and discriminate red targets. These findings are discussed in the context of the evolutionary background under which the relationship between SATF species and their flower visitors may have evolved.
Aerodynamic damping during rapid flight maneuvers in the fruit fly Drosophila
Authors: Cheng B. , Fry S. N. , Huang Q. , Deng X.
Published: January 2010

We systematically investigated the effect of body rotation on the aerodynamic torque generation on flapping wings during fast turning maneuvers (body saccades) in the fruit fly Drosophila. A quasi-steady aerodynamic simulation of turning maneuvers with symmetrically flapping wings showed that body rotation causes a substantial aerodynamic counter-torque, known as flapping counter-torque (FCT), which acts in the opposite direction to turning. Simulation results further indicate that FCTs are linearly dependent on the rotational velocity and the flapping frequency regardless of the kinematics of wing motion. We estimated the damping coefficients for the principal rotation axes — roll, pitch, yaw — in the stroke plane frame. FCT-induced passive damping exists about all the rotation axes examined, suggesting that the effects of body rotation cannot be ignored in the analysis of free-flight dynamics. Force measurements on a dynamically scaled robotic wing undergoing realistic saccade kinematics showed that although passive aerodynamic damping due to FCT can account for a large part of the deceleration during saccades, active yaw torque from asymmetric wing motion is required to terminate body rotation. In addition, we calculated the mean value of the damping coefficient at 21.00 ×10−12 N m s based on free-flight data of saccades, which is somewhat lower than that estimated by the simulation results (26.84×10−12 N m s).
Configural processing enables discrimination and categorization of face-like stimuli in honeybees
Authors: Avarguès-Weber A. , Portelli G. , Benard J. , Dyer A. , Giurfa M.
Published: January 2010

We studied whether honeybees can distinguish face-like configurations by using standardized stimuli commonly employed in primate and human visual research. Furthermore, we studied whether, irrespective of their capacity to distinguish between face-like stimuli, bees learn to classify visual stimuli built up of the same elements in face-like versus non-face-like categories. We showed that bees succeeded in discriminating both face-like and non-face-like stimuli and categorized appropriately novel stimuli in these two classes. To this end, they used configural information and not just isolated features or low-level cues. Bees looked for a specific configuration in which each feature had to be located in an appropriate spatial relationship with respect to the others, thus showing sensitivity for first-order relationships between features. Although faces are biologically irrelevant stimuli for bees, the fact that they were able to integrate visual features into complex representations suggests that face-like stimulus categorization can occur even in the absence of brain regions specialized in face processing.
Utility-Maximizing Resource Control: Diffusion Limit and Asymptotic Optimality for a Two-Bottleneck Model
Authors: Ye Heng-Qing , Yao David D.
Published: January 2010

We study a stochastic network that consists of two servers shared by two classes of jobs. Class 1 jobs require a concurrent occupancy of both servers while class 2 jobs use only one server. The traffic intensity is such that both servers are bottlenecks, meaning the service capacity is equal to the offered workload. The real-time allocation of the service capacity among the job classes takes the form of a solution to an optimization problem that maximizes a utility function. We derive the diffusion limit of the network and establish its asymptotic optimality. In particular, we identify a cost objective associated with the utility function and show that it is minimized at the diffusion limit by the utility-maximizing allocation within a broad class of “fair” allocation schemes. The model also highlights the key issues involved in multiple bottlenecks.
The Role of Analogy in the Institutionalization of Sustainability Reporting
Authors: Etzion Dror , Ferraro Fabrizio
Published: January 2010

We study institutional entrepreneurship in an emergent field by analyzing the case of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and its efforts to purposefully institutionalize the practice of sustainability reporting. We suggest that analogies affect institutionalization processes through two mechanisms. In the early stages of institutionalization, analogy operates primarily as a normative mechanism, and adoption is driven mainly by an instrumental logic. This emphasis on similarity to existing institutions stresses conformity and promotes legitimacy. Yet analogies can also have a cognitive effect on institutional design, especially once initial acceptance from the environment has been secured, by directing attention toward incongruences between the emergent institution and its analogical source. Institutional entrepreneurship can spur innovation and departure from existing institutions by highlighting limitations of the analogical source and providing a compelling value-rational argument that underscores the worth of the new institution. This theoretical contribution helps explain how analogies to existing institutional practices can both provide legitimacy to novel institutions and constitute the basis for a creative process of institutional design.
When Callings Are Calling: Crafting Work and Leisure in Pursuit of Unanswered Occupational Callings
Authors: Berg Justin M. , Grant Adam M. , Johnson Victoria
Published: January 2010

Scholars have identified benefits of viewing work as a calling, but little research has explored the notion that people are frequently unable to work in occupations that answer their callings. To develop propositions on how individuals experience and pursue unanswered callings, we conducted a qualitative study based on interviews with 31 employees across a variety of occupations. We distinguish between two types of unanswered callings—missed callings and additional callings—and propose that individuals pursue these unanswered callings by employing five different techniques to craft their jobs (task emphasizing, job expanding, and role reframing) and their leisure time (vicarious experiencing and hobby participating). We also propose that individuals experience these techniques as facilitating the kinds of pleasant psychological states of enjoyment and meaning that they associate with pursuing their unanswered callings, but also as leading to unpleasant states of regret over forgone fulfillment of their unanswered callings and stress due to difficulties in pursuing their unanswered callings. These propositions have important implications for theory and future research on callings, job crafting, and self-regulation processes.
Robin Hood Under the Hood: Wealth-Based Discrimination in Illicit Customer Help
Authors: Gino Francesca , Pierce Lamar
Published: January 2010

This paper investigates whether an employee's perception of customer wealth affects his likelihood of engaging in illegal behavior. We propose that envy and empathy lead employees to discriminate in illicitly helping customers based on customer wealth. We test for this hypothesis in the vehicle emissions testing market, where employees have the opportunity to illegally help customers by passing vehicles that would otherwise fail emissions tests. We find that for a significant number of inspectors, leniency is much higher for those customers with standard vehicles than for those with luxury cars, although a smaller group appears to favor wealthy drivers. We also investigate the psychological mechanisms explaining this wealth-based discriminatory behavior using a laboratory study. Our experiment shows that individuals are more willing to illegally help peers when those peers drive standard rather than luxury cars, and that envy and empathy mediate this effect. Collectively, our results suggest the presence of wealth-based discrimination in employee–customer relations and that envy toward wealthy customers and empathy toward those of similar economic status drive much of this illegal behavior. Implications for both theory and practice are discussed.
Not-Sold-Here: How Attitudes Influence External Knowledge Exploitation
Authors: Lichtenthaler Ulrich , Ernst Holger , Hoegl Martin
Published: January 2010

Employee attitudes with regard to the usefulness of external knowledge may influence a firm's extent of inter-organizational knowledge transactions. Prior research has focused on “not-invented-here (NIH)” tendencies, which refer to negative attitudes in organizations toward the acquisition of knowledge from external sources. In this research, we develop the concept of “not-sold-here (NSH)” tendencies, which result from protective attitudes in firms toward the external exploitation of knowledge, for example, technology licensing. We show conceptually how NSH tendencies develop and how they can influence the extent of outward knowledge transfer. We test five hypotheses regarding antecedents and consequences of NSH tendencies with data from 152 firms spanning multiple industries. The empirical findings show that NSH tendencies exist in organizations and that they constitute a major barrier to the implementation of external knowledge commercialization strategies. The concept of NSH therefore helps explain the varying degrees of activity in external knowledge exploitation, and it contributes to understanding particular microfoundations of dynamic capabilities.
Women's and Men's Career Referents: How Gender Composition and Comparison Level Shape Career Expectations
Authors: Gibson Donald E. , Lawrence Barbara S.
Published: January 2010

This study examines how women's and men's career referents—the people they see as having similar careers—affect career expectations. We raise two questions. First, what is the relative effect of the gender composition and comparison level of career referents on such expectations? Second, what happens to career expectations when women and men identify career referents at the same comparison level? Current research suggests that women have lower career expectations than men because they compare themselves with women who hold lower-level positions than the career referents identified by men. Thus, if women and men identify with career referents at a similar level, their career expectations should be equal. However, this chain of reasoning has not been tested. Using data collected from a large organization, we identify both the specific individuals that women and men perceive as having similar careers and these referents' career levels, defined as their hierarchical level in the firm. The results show that the level of career referents is more important than their gender composition in explaining individuals' career expectations. In contrast to extant explanations, the results show that even when women identify career referents at the same levels as men do, they still exhibit significantly lower career expectations. Drawing on social comparison theory, we speculate that this occurs because men's expectations are bolstered by extreme upward comparisons, whereas women's expectations are dampened, perhaps because they see high-achieving others as representing a less probable goal.
Wardrop Equilibria with Risk-Averse Users
Authors: Ordóñez Fernando , Stier-Moses Nicolás E.
Published: January 2010

Network games can be used to model competitive situations in which agents select routes to minimize their cost. Common applications include traffic, telecommunication, and distribution networks. Although traditional network models have assumed that realized costs only depend on congestion, in most applications they also have an uncertain component. We extend the traffic assignment problem first proposed by Wardrop in 1952 by adding random deviations, which are independent of the flow, to the cost functions that model congestion in each arc. We map these uncertainties into a Wardrop equilibrium model with nonadditive path costs. The cost on a path is given by the sum of the congestion on its arcs plus a constant safety margin that represents the agents' risk aversion. First, we prove that an equilibrium for this game always exists and is essentially unique. Then, we introduce three specific equilibrium models that fall within this framework: the percentile equilibrium where agents select paths that minimize a specified percentile of the uncertain cost; the added-variability equilibrium where agents add a multiple of the variability of the cost of each arc to the expected cost; and the robust equilibrium where agents select paths by solving a robust optimization problem that imposes a limit on the number of arcs that can deviate from the mean. The percentile equilibrium is difficult to compute because minimizing a percentile among all paths is computationally hard. Instead, the added-variability and robust Wardrop equilibria can be computed efficiently in practice: The former reduces to a standard Wardrop equilibrium problem and the latter is found using a column generation approach that repeatedly solves robust shortest path problems, which are polynomially solvable. Through computational experiments of some random and some realistic instances, we explore the benefits and trade-offs of the proposed solution concepts. We show that when agents are risk averse, both the robust and added-variability equilibria better approximate percentile equilibria than the classic Wardrop equilibrium.
A Hybrid Monte Carlo Local Branching Algorithm for the Single Vehicle Routing Problem with Stochastic Demands
Authors: Rei Walter , Gendreau Michel , Soriano Patrick
Published: January 2010

We present a new algorithm that uses both local branching and Monte Carlo sampling in a multidescent search strategy for solving 0-1 integer stochastic programming problems. This procedure is applied to the single-vehicle routing problem with stochastic demands. Computational results show the effectiveness of this new approach to solving hard instances of the problem.

This paper was accepted by former Editor-in-Chief Hani Mahmassani.
A Model and Algorithm for the Courier Delivery Problem with Uncertainty
Authors: Sungur Ilgaz , Ren Yingtao , Ordóñez Fernando , Dessouky Maged , Zhong Hongsheng
Published: January 2010

We consider the courier delivery problem (CDP), a variant of the vehicle routing problem with time windows (VRPTW) in which customers appear probabilistically and their service times are uncertain. We use scenario-based stochastic programming with recourse to model the uncertainty in customers and robust optimization for the uncertainty in service times. Our proposed model generates a master plan and daily schedules by maximizing the coverage of customers and the similarity of routes in each scenario, while minimizing the total time spent by the couriers and the total earliness and lateness penalty. To solve large-scale problem instances, we develop an insertion-based solution heuristic, called master and daily scheduler (MADS), and a tabu search improvement procedure. The computational results show that our heuristic improves the similarity of routes and the lateness penalty at the expense of increased total time spent when compared to a solution of independently scheduling each day. Our experimental results also show improvements over current industry practice on two real-world data sets.
A Time-Space Network Approach for the Integrated Vehicle- and Crew-Scheduling Problem with Multiple Depots
Authors: Steinzen Ingmar , Gintner Vitali , Suhl Leena , Kliewer Natalia
Published: January 2010

This paper discusses the integrated vehicle- and crew-scheduling problem in public transit with multiple depots. It is well known that the integration of both planning steps discloses additional flexibility that can lead to gains in efficiency, compared to sequential planning. We present a new modeling approach that is based on a time-space network representation of the underlying vehicle-scheduling problem. The integrated problem is solved with column generation in combination with Lagrangian relaxation. The column generation subproblem is modeled as a resource-constrained shortest-path problem based on a novel time-space network formulation. Feasible solutions are generated by a heuristic branch-and-price method that involves fixing service trips to depots. Numerical results show that our approach outperforms other methods from the literature for well-known test problems.
Risk-Based Policies for Airport Security Checkpoint Screening
Authors: McLay Laura A. , Lee Adrian J. , Jacobson Sheldon H.
Published: January 2010

Passenger screening is an important component of aviation security that incorporates real-time passenger screening strategies designed to maximize effectiveness in identifying potential terrorist attacks. This paper identifies a methodology that can be used to sequentially and optimally assign passengers to aviation security resources. An automated prescreening system determines passengers' perceived risk levels, which become known as passengers check in. The levels are available for determining security class assignments sequentially as passengers enter security screening. A passenger is then assigned to one of several available security classes, each of which corresponds to a particular set of screening devices. The objective is to use the passengers' perceived risk levels to determine the optimal policy for passenger screening assignments that maximize the expected total security, subject to capacity and assignment constraints. The sequential passenger assignment problem is formulated as a Markov decision process, and an optimal policy is found using dynamic programming. The general result from the sequential stochastic assignment problem is adapted to provide a heuristic for assigning passengers to security classes in real time. A condition is provided under which this heuristic yields the optimal policy. The model is illustrated with an example that incorporates data extracted from the Official Airline Guide (Official Airline Guide. 1998. OAG Business Travel Planner: North American Edition. Official Airline Guides, Bedfordshire, UK).
Does the nature of schools matter? An exploration of selected school ecology factors on adolescent perceptions of school connectedness
Authors: Waters Stacey. , Cross Donna. , Shaw Therese.
Published: January 2010

Background

Connectedness to school is a significant predictor of adolescent health and academic outcomes. While individual predictors of connectedness have been well‐described, little is known about school‐level factors which may influence connectedness. A school's ecology, or its structural, functional, and built aspects, coupled with interpersonal interactions, may also help to enhance adolescent connectedness.

Aim

This study aims to identify school ecological characteristics which predict enhanced connectedness in secondary school.

Sample

Data from 5,159 Grade 8 students (12–13 years) from 39 randomly selected schools were tracked until the end of Grade 9 (13–14 years).

Method

Students' self‐reported school, teacher, and family connectedness, mental health and peer relationships were measured at two time points. Accounting for school‐level clustering, student‐ and school‐level ecological characteristics were modelled on self‐reported school connectedness in Grades 8 and 9.

Results

Students' higher school connectedness in Grades 8 and 9 was influenced by greater levels of family connectedness, fewer classroom and peer problems, less difficult secondary school transition, fewer emotional problems, and greater prosocial skills. Seven school‐level ecological variables were significantly associated with school connectedness after controlling for student‐level predictors. At the school‐level, priority for pastoral care and students' aggregated writing skills scores significantly predicted concurrent and future enhanced connectedness.

Conclusions

Interventions to improve students' school connectedness should address individual student characteristicsandschool functional features such as pastoral care strategies and helping students to achieve greater academic outcomes. Future studies should focus on the cumulative longitudinal influence of school ecological and student‐level predictors of school connectedness.
The Scent of a Woman
Authors: Butler Shane
Published: January 2010

At Aeneid 1.691-94, Venus sets Ascanius down to sleep on a bed of aromatic marjoram; Servius seizes the opportunity to recount the origins of perfume. Revealing that the note is no antiquarian coincidence, this article argues that the Vergilian passage and others in Greek and Latin poetry echo, to important effect, the remarkable tradition of one of antiquity's most famous fragrances. Along the way, an investigation of botanical and medical sources clarifies our picture of how perfume was used, explaining the vicious humor of a passage in Lucretius and suggesting a new solution to a famous interpretive crux regarding Catullus 13.
Roman Spectacle Entertainments and the Technology of Reality
Authors: Hammer Dean
Published: January 2010

Roman spectacle entertainment has attracted substantial scholarly interest because of renewed ways in which politics is seen as culturally enacted. Less attention has been paid to the technologies associated with these spectacles. When discussed, technologies emerge as a manufactured form of manipulation by a knowing elite over a gullible populace that heightened the anticipation of violence or magnified the charisma and prestige of the emperor. I suggest a more paradoxical result. These technologies, in their ability to extract that which is distinct and permanent from the environment, make both nature and humanity transitory, reproducible, and conformable to human desire. What I call technologies of reality produce a tension between the status-affirming function of spectacles and the status-collapsing effects of a new cultural politics as spectacles combined participation with consumption and hierarchic distinction with democratized desire.
Plagiarism or Imitation?: The Case of Abronius Silo in Seneca the Elder's Suasoriae 2.19–20
Authors: McGill Scott
Published: January 2010

Disagreements over whether an author imitated or plagiarized a predecessor are a part of Latin literary history, with Virgil's ancient reception providing striking examples. This article argues that Seneca the Elder's Suasoriae 2.19–20 sets forth another case where a Roman author's perceived textual borrowing was labeled both imitation and plagiarism. The author is Abronius Silo, who adapts a sententia from the declaimer Porcius Latro. In addition, I explore ways of conceptualizing the imitation and plagiarism that appear in Seneca's passage, situate the discussion in the context of Seneca's work and intellectual milieu, and link his ideas and critical practices to those found in Latin literary culture more broadly.
Helen's "Judgment of Paris" and Greek Marriage Ritual in Sappho 16
Authors: Dodson-Robinson Eric
Published: January 2010

The evaluation and judgment of what is most beautiful (κάλλιστον) in Sappho 16 is what John Foley calls a "traditional reference" to the judgment of Paris. By making Helen rather than Paris the judge of what is κάλλιστον, the poem focalizes erotic agency from her perspective. Helen's "judgment of Paris" and her erotic agency should be read in light of the poem's references to archaic Greek marriage. While André Lardinois (2001, 2003) makes a case that Sappho 16 is a wedding song, my reading focuses on unexplored aspects of the poem's relation to the marriage ritual.
Making History Mythical: The Golden Age of Peisistratus
Authors: Zatta Claudia
Published: January 2010

This paper examines the association in Aristotle (Ath. Pol. 16.7) of the mythical Golden Age with the tyranny of Peisistratus and, by means of an array of both iconographic and textual evidence, suggests that Peisistratus made use of Golden Age imagery during his regime. This paper also discusses the tyrant's attempts to relieve the twin problems of overpopulation in the city and lack of cultivation of the countryside, and addresses the overall policy of coordination between astu and chōra.
The Healthy Connections Project: A Community-Based Participatory Research Project Involving Women at Risk for Diabetes and Hypertension
Authors: Harvey Idethia , Schulz Amy , Israel Barbara , Sand Sharon , Myrie Deanna , Lockett Murlisa , Weir Sheryl , Hill Yolanda
Published: January 2010

Background: The Healthy Connections (HC) project was a community health worker (CHW) intervention that built upon existing social networks to encourage African American and Latina women to obtain screening for type 2 diabetes and hypertension.
Objectives: This community-based participatory research (CBPR) project involved identifying and training CHWs, known as HC Advocates (HCAs). The HCAs provided screening through House Parties and shared health information and practical support with members of their social networks and broader networks of individuals.
Methods: Data collection methods included project documentation, participant observation, group interviews, closed-ended surveys, and written examinations to ensure HCAs had the required knowledge and skills to perform their roles. Data collection and analysis incorporated both qualitative and quantitative methods, and used a formative approach that integrated results from key aspects of the project into ongoing decision-making and project activities.
Results: Eight community residents completed training and the required exams to become HCAs. Together, they conducted 124 House Parties, screened 1,428 individuals for high blood pressure and glucose levels, and shared health information with those individuals as well as 218 additional members of HCAs informal social networks. Of those who attended the House Parties, 93% were African American, 4% Latina, 2% non-Hispanics whites, and 1% other racial and ethnic groups.
Conclusion: The HC project demonstrated the potential for using a CBPR approach to develop, implement, and evaluate a CHW intervention designed to reach African American and Latina women at high risk for hypertension and type 2 diabetes. Participation from relevant communities in the design of the intervention and evaluation, with particular attention to recruitment and retention of representatives from communities who face challenges accessing health care, can help to increase involvement of community residents in screening and educational programs aimed at addressing disparities in type 2 diabetes and hypertension.
A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words: Engaging Youth in CBPR Using the Creative Arts
Authors: Yonas Michael A. , Burke Jessica G. , Rak Kimberly , Bennett Antoine , Kelly Vera , Gielen Andrea C.
Published: January 2010

Background: Engaging youth and incorporating their unique expertise into the research process is important when addressing issues related to their health. Visual Voices is an arts-based participatory data collection method designed to work together with young people and communities to collaboratively elicit, examine, and celebrate the perspectives of youth.
Objectives: To present a process for using the creative arts with young people as a participatory data collection method and to give examples of their perspectives on safety and violence.
Methods: Using the creative arts, this study examined and illustrates the perspectives of how community factors influence safety and violence. Visual Voices was conducted with a total of 22 African-American youth in two urban neighborhoods. This method included creative arts-based writing, drawing, and painting activities designed to yield culturally relevant data generated and explored by youth. Qualitative data were captured through the creative content of writings, drawings, and paintings created by the youths as well as transcripts from audio recorded group discussion. Data was analyzed for thematic content and triangulated across traditional and nontraditional mediums. Findings were interpreted with participants and shared publicly for further reflection and utilization.
Conclusion: The youth participants identified a range of issues related to community factors, community safety, and violence. Such topics included the role of schools and social networks within the community as safe places and corner stores and abandoned houses as unsafe places. Visual Voices is a creative research method that provides a unique opportunity for youth to generate a range of ideas through access to the multiple creative methods provided. It is an innovative process that generates rich and valuable data about topics of interest and the lived experiences of young community members.
Understanding Body Image in African American and Caucasian First-Graders: A Partnership with the YMCA
Authors: Davis Dawnavan Scott , Sbrocco Tracy , Williams Janice
Published: January 2010

Background: Research suggests that body dissatisfaction can develop by first grade or 6 years of age. Few studies have examined the relationship between parental body image factors on child body image among this population using a CBPR approach.
Objective: We sought to examine parental influence on body image in African American and Caucasian first-graders through a community-based participatory research (CBPR) partnership with the YMCA of Metropolitan Washington, DC.
Methods: Quantitative data were collected by after-school teachers and academic researchers. Children were administered a silhouette measure to assess body image. Body image and eating behavior measures were given to parents. Correlational and descriptive analyses were employed to examine the association and characteristics of child body image factors.
Results: Participants were 58 child–parent dyads attending YMCA after-school programs in the Washington, DC, area. Descriptive analyses found significant body dissatisfaction among first graders. Only 12.1% of first graders were satisfied with their bodies, and among the 38 children of normal weight, 89.5% were dissatisfied with their current body size. No significant correlations emerged between child body image and parental eating factors. However, correlations did emerge between child and parent body image indices.
Conclusion: Findings from this study were used to develop programming focused on promoting positive body image and self-esteem for young children in YMCA sites in the DC metro area. Additionally, future studies should further delineate body image among young children and the clinical and educational implications of early onset of body dissatisfaction in this population using a CBPR approach.
In Their Own Voices: Rural African American Youth Speak Out About Community-Based HIV Prevention Interventions
Authors: Coker-Appiah Dionne Smith , Akers Aletha Y. , Banks Bahby , Albritton Tashuna , Leniek Karyn , Wynn Mysha , Youmans Selena E. , Parker Donald , Ellison Arlinda , Henderson Stacey , Stith Doris , Council Barbara , Oxendine-Pitt Patricia , Corbie-Smith Giselle
Published: January 2010

Background: The HIV epidemic is a major public health problem in the United States, particularly among rural African American adolescents and young adults.
Objectives: We sought to explore young, rural African American’s perspectives about key programmatic components to consider when designing youth-targeted, community- based HIV prevention interventions.
Methods: We report data from four focus groups with adolescents and young adults aged 16 to 24 ( n = 38) conducted as part of a community-based participatory research (CBPR) project designed to develop multilevel HIV risk reduction interventions in two rural North Carolina communities with high HIV rates. Analysis was performed by academic and community partners using a modified grounded theory approach to content analysis.
Results: Interventions should target preadolescents and early adolescents rather than older adolescents and young adults in an effort to “catch them while they’re young.” Intervention developers should obtain input from local young people regarding critical programmatic components, such as whom to employ as study recruiters and intervention leaders; intervention format and delivery options, acceptable recruitment and intervention locations, and incentive structures. Participants believe selecting community collaborators representing varied community sectors is critical. Important barriers to address included limited transportation, discomfort communicating about sexual issues, lack of community interest in HIV prevention, and unwillingness to acknowledge and address sexual activity among adolescents.
Conclusion: When designing HIV/AIDS prevention interventions, targeting young people, it is important to form academic–community partnerships that ensure young people’s perspectives are integral to the intervention development process.
Piloting Interventions Within a Community-Based Participatory Research Framework: Lessons Learned From the Healthy Environments Partnership
Authors: Strong Larkin L. , Israel Barbara A , Schulz Amy J. , Reyes Angela , Rowe Zachary , Weir Sheryl S. , Poe Cecil
Published: January 2010

Background: Community-based participatory research (CBPR) partnerships experience unique opportunities and dilemmas when implementing pilot interventions.
Objectives: We describe challenges and opportunities associated with conducting a pilot intervention within a longstanding CBPR partnership, lessons learned for use of a participatory process to pilot community interventions, and recommendations to funders on mechanisms for funding pilot interventions to help address these challenges.
Methods: We conducted key informant interviews and convened a group discussion with host organization leaders and project personnel.
Lessons Learned: Findings highlight the opportunities and challenges related to needs and desires of community constituents and the ability of pilot interventions to meet those needs, and the importance of ongoing communication to address anticipated and unanticipated challenges that arise in the context of short-term pilot interventions in community settings.
Conclusion: We suggest several funding mechanisms for supporting the implementation of larger scale interventions following promising pilot efforts in community settings.
A Community-Specific Approach to Cancer Research in Indian Country
Authors: Schroepfer Tracy A. , Matloub Jacqueline , Creswell Paul , Strickland Rick , Anderson Diane M.
Published: January 2010

Background: Health care leaders in a small, rural, American Indian community and university partners used the community-based participatory research (CBPR) method to survey cancer survivors.
Objectives: We sought to provide support for the use of CBPR to generate ideas for how to improve the detection and treatment of cancer in American Indian communities.
Methods: Partners worked together to develop a mail-out survey and send it to the Indian health clinic’s patients who had cancer in the past 5 years. The survey sought information on their experiences with cancer screenings, cancer diagnoses, and accessing and receiving cancer treatment.
Results: Community leaders identified three priority areas for intervention: (1) high incidence of breast cancer; (2) lack of culturally appropriate cancer education; and (3) need for a more in-depth assessment.
Conclusions: CBPR’s partnership principle allowed for results to be viewed within the community’s context, availability of community resources, and relevant cultural beliefs and traditions.
The Origins and Overview of the W. K. Kellogg Community Health Scholars Program
Authors: Griffith Derek M. , Citrin Toby , Jerome Norge W. , Bayer Irene , Mebane Elvira
Published: January 2010

Background: This paper describes the history and components of the W. K. Kellogg Community Health Scholars Program (CHSP). From 1998 to 2007, CHSP trained 46 postdoctoral fellows to develop and enhance skills in working with communities and engage in community-based participatory research (CBPR).
Objectives: The original goal of CHSP was to increase the number of faculty at health professional schools who possess the capacity to carry out CBPR and teaching; however, the goal of the program was revised to highlight the importance of having public health professionals in all professional settings with CBPR knowledge and expertise.
Methods: CHSP was a training program whose design and implementation exemplified the partnership principles at the core of the training it provided. An external participatory evaluation was conducted to strengthen the maturing program. Key program components included a National Advisory Committee, training sites, academic and community mentorship, and a structured Scholar Program Plan.
Conclusion: The CHSP has had an impact on academic institutions, community-based organizations (CBOs), policies relating to research funding and implementation, and professional organizations (e.g., founded the Community-Based Public Health Caucus of the American Public Health Association). As the result of the continued interaction of CHSP alumni and their academic and community mentors and partners, that which began as a training program evolved into much more. Although the CHSP as a discrete program came to an end in 2007, its principles and methods were sustained as it continued as the Community Track of the Kellogg Health Scholars Program in that year.
Food for Life / Comida para la Vida: Creating a Food Festival to Raise Diabetes Awareness
Authors: Lancaster Kristie , Walker Willie , Vance Thomas , Kaskel Phyllis , Arniella Guedy , Horowitz Carol
Published: January 2010

African and Latino Americans have higher rates of diabetes and its complications than White Americans. Identifying people with undiagnosed diabetes and helping them obtain care can help to prevent complications and mortality. To kick off a screening initiative, our community-academic partnership created the “Food for Life Festival,” or “Festival Comida para la Vida.” This article will describe the community’s perspective on the Festival, which was designed to screen residents, and demonstrate that eating healthy can be fun, tasty, and affordable in a community-centered, culturally consonant setting. More than 1,000 residents attended the event; 382 adults were screened for diabetes, and 181 scored as high risk. Fifteen restaurants distributed free samples of healthy versions of their popular dishes. Community residents, restaurateurs, and clinicians commented that the event transformed many of their preconceived ideas about healthy foods and patient care.
Entering into the Fray: Historians of Childhood and Public Policy
Authors: Beatty Barbara , Grant Julia
Published: January 2010

Can historians of childhood inform children’s policy, and if so, how? Spurred by a panel at the 2009 meeting of the Society for the History of Childhood and Youth, this examination of scholarship on orphanages, juvenile delinquency, preschools, and the “boy problem,” suggests that in addressing themes such as agency, social control, children’s rights, and the relationship of the child and the state, many historians have attempted to provide perspective on policy issues. An outgrowth in part of concerns about children’s policy in the 1960s, much research in the history of childhood explores how past policies went awry. In analyzing child abuse and abductions, for instance, historians have drawn attention to how panics are constructed and affect policy, with sometimes problematic consequences. When historians “enter the fray” of child advocacy, as have many of the leading players in the SHCY, their work can be used in unsettling ways when stakeholders seek simplistic solutions to complex problems. At the same time, the authors believe that there are many lessons from the past that can be used to illuminate contemporary conversations about children’s needs and rights and promising policies for bettering their lives.
On an Object Lesson, or Don’t Eat the Evidence
Authors: Carter Sarah Anne
Published: January 2010

Object lessons are a flexible mode of pedagogy that was popular in the second half of the nineteenth century in schoolrooms throughout the United Kingdom and the United States. This category of lesson relied on material things—“objects”—and images to convey information to children about the senses and sense perception as well as about geography, natural history, industry, commodities, and religion. In an ideal object lesson, teachers were to move from the specific to the abstract, starting with the study of a material thing and circling outward to encompass its possible meanings. This short “Object Lesson” emulates this nineteenth-century pedagogy in its focus on a particular material example of this historic classroom practice.
Broadcasting Benevolence: Images of the Child in American, Soviet and NLF Propaganda in Vietnam, 1964–1973
Authors: Peacock Margaret
Published: January 2010

From 1964 to 1973, Soviet, American, and Vietcong propagandists generated incredible numbers of pamphlets, television shows, films, and radio programs that focused on the image of the child. How these depictions of children were created and what functions they performed as symbols of national strength and mobilization are the subjects of this article. Images of youth provide a category of analysis for understanding how these propaganda programs succeeded and sometimes failed in their attempts to win the allegiances of the Vietnamese people. Based on previously unexplored transnational sources, this article examines the contested meanings of the child’s image as a way to understand the conceptual boundaries that were established and transgressed by the Soviet, American, and Vietcong propaganda programs. By comparing and contrasting these programs with each other, this article shows how images of youth served as cultural currency in each side’s efforts to determine what was at stake in the war and what needed to be done to win it. Youth, which played such a central role in articulating and humanizing Soviet, American, and Vietcong policies, took on different meanings when contextualized by the moral and political ambiguities of the Vietnam War.