bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Political activism as a social work strategy in Africa
Authors: Mmatli Tlamelo
Published: April 2008

English

Africa faces many social, economic and political problems: unemployment, poverty, inequality, illiteracy, homelessness, diseases, human rights abuses, official corruption and civil conflicts. These are structural problems, created through political processes. To prevent or resolve them, African social workers must participate in the political processes determining the life circumstances of their clients.

French

L'Afrique est aux prises avec d'innombrables problèmes sociaux, économiques et politiques tels que le chômage, la pauvreté, les inégalités, l'analphabétisme, le manque de logements, la maladie, la corruption officielle et les conflits civils. Il s'agit de problèmes structurels qui découlent de processus politiques. Afin de prévenir, d'alléger ou de résoudre ce genre de problèmes, les travailleurs sociaux africains doivent prendre part aux processus politiques qui déterminent les conditions de vie de leurs clients.

Spanish>

África se encuentra ante una serie de conflictos: problemas sociales, económicos y políticos, desempleo, pobreza, desigualdad, analfabetismo, falta de vivienda, mala salud, corrupción oficial y conflictos civiles. Estos son problemas estructurales creados a través de procesos políticos. Para prevenir, aliviar o resolver tales problemas, los trabajadores sociales en África deben participar en los procesos políticos que determinan las circunstancias de vida de sus clientes
Genocide and its aftermath
Authors: Kabeera Benon , Sewpaul Vishanthie
Published: April 2008

English

This article describes the experiences of returnees from exile into Kigali, Rwanda and the efforts of the Government of Rwanda (GoR) and the UNHCR to meet the needs of returnees, and to deal with the aftermath of the genocide. Particular attention is paid to the Gacaca courts and the role of social work therein. We identify gaps in services and make recommendations in respect of the refugee phenomenon on the African continent.

French

Cet article décrit l'expérience des exilés qui retournent à Kigali, au Rwanda, ainsi que les efforts du Gouvernement du Rwanda et du Haut Commissariat des Nations Unies pour les réfugiés (UNHCR) pour répondre à leurs besoins et aux séquelles du génocide. L'étude porte une attention particulière aux Juridictions Gacaca et au rôle du travail social dans ce contexte. Elle identifie des lacunes dans les services et formule des recommandations concernant le phénomène des réfugiés sur le continent africain.

Spanish

En este artículo describimos las experiencias de los retornados del exilio en Kigali, Rwanda y los esfuerzos del gobierno de Rwanda (GoR) y la UNHCR para conocer las necesidades de los retornados y tratar con las secuelas del genocidio. Se pone especial atención en los tribunales Gacaca y en el papel del Trabajo Social en ello. Identificamos vacíos en los servicios y hacemos recomendaciones respecto al fenómeno del refugiado en el continente africano.
South African social work education
Authors: Smith Linda
Published: April 2008

English

In the context of ongoing internalized and structural forms of oppression in post-apartheid and post-colonial South Africa, social work education must be critical and engage with structural, modernist analysis and post-modern critical theory. This article explores how students experience a critical conscientization process as part of preparation for praxis which meets social change imperatives.

French

Dans un contexte où les formes d'oppression structurelles et intériorisées de la période post-apartheid et postcoloniale se maintiennent, il est nécessaire que la formation en travail social soit critique et qu'elle fasse place à l'analyse structurelle moderne et à la théorie critique post-moderne. Cette étude explore la façon dont les étudiants font l'expérience, dans leur cheminement pratique, d'un processus de conscientisation critique qui répond aux exigences du changement social.

Spanish

En el contexto de las internalizadas y estructurales formas de opresión actuales en la Sud Africa post-colonial y post-apartheid, la educación en trabajo social debe ser crítica y comprometida con el análisis estructural moderno y con la teoría crítica postmoderna. Este artículo explora cómo los estudiantes experimentan el proceso de concientización crítica como parte de la preparación para la práctica, la cual se enfrenta con los imperativos del cambio social.
Calculated Inequality? Portfolio Benchmarking and Regional Office Property Investment in the UK
Authors: Henneberry John , Roberts Claire
Published: April 2008

The paper explores the reasons for the persistence in the UK of significant relative interregional variations in office property investment in the face of economic theory and empirical evidence that would support its more even spatial distribution. The argument is made from a cultural economy perspective and involves the application to property of a concept drawn from the accountancy literature: calculative practice. UK investment decision-making is distinguished by the primacy attributed to portfolio benchmarking as an influence on investment strategy. The wider logic underpinning property benchmarking is subjected to critical appraisal. Then, evidence is presented that suggests that benchmarking is a self-referential practice which results in convergence and rigidity in fund structures and in the concentration of performance around a bounded range of sub-optimal returns. It is a barrier to the greater geographical diversification of office property investment.
An Evaluation of Lender Redlining in the Allocation of Unsecured Consumer Credit in the US
Authors: Campbell Randall , Roberts Brandon , Rogers Kevin
Published: April 2008

Credit discrimination in the US has been a topic of considerable interest over the past few decades. This paper examines the lending behaviour of a commercial depository institution with respect to unsecured consumer loans in minority versus non-minority US census tracts. In contrast to previous studies, the data include information about applicants' credit scores and marginal exceptions to loan policy. In a logit model of the probability of denial, no evidence of discrimination is found for overall loans or when an application is turned down even when a minimum credit score is reached. The evidence of non-discrimination is not as clear for applications that were approved despite falling short of minimum credit scores or applications that barely met the minimum score but were turned down. The results suggest that future research on lending discrimination should focus on these marginal exceptions to loan policy.
Health at High Speed
Authors: Rains Stephen A.
Published: April 2008

The study reported here explored the broadband digital divide in the context of Internet-based health communication. Inequities in the adoption of broadband technology were examined and the comprehensive model of health information seeking (CMIS) was used to make predictions about the implications of broadband Internet for personal health. Data from a population-based survey conducted by the National Cancer Institute in 2005 ( N = 5,586) were analyzed. Results showed that those who were younger, more educated, and lived in an urban area were more likely to have a broadband Internet connection in their home. Furthermore, consistent with the CMIS, those with a broadband connection were more likely to use the Internet for health-related information seeking and communication than those with a dial-up connection.
Grinding and Characterization of Scrap Rubbers Powders
Authors: Weber Tatiana , Zanchet Aline , Brandalise Rosmary N. , Crespo Janaina S. , Nunes Regina C.R.
Published: April 2008

SBR and EPDM extruded profile scraps are ground under ambient conditions for further utilization in recycling and reclaiming processes. The obtained powders (SBR-r and EPDM-r, respectively) are physically, thermally, and chemically characterized and the results are analyzed as for its suitability for reuse methods. It is possible to obtain powdered SBR and EPDM rubber with irregular shape and high surface roughness. The grinding process has not deteriorated the material. The obtained powder is suitable for utilization in new formulations and in regeneration processes.
On the Potential of Feldspar Sand for Recycled PET/SMRL Composites
Authors: Mousa Ahmad
Published: April 2008

Feldspar is being used herein as a filler for recycled polyethyleneterephtalate/natural rubber (R-PET/SMRL) composites. It is found that stabilization torque derived from the Brabender plasticorder decreases with feldspar loading. This scenario is related to the plate like lamellae structure of the feldspar which acts as an internal lubricant. The state of cure (τmax - τ mi) is found to decrease with feldspar sand as well, which is due to the dilution effect of the feldspar, i.e., the reduction of the mass fraction of rubbery component. The cure time (t90) and the scorch time (t2) of the filled R-PET/ SMRL composites is slightly decreases with filler loading. This is attributable the relative high oxide contents. The mechanical properties such as tensile strength and tensile modulus were increased with filler loading. Such observation reveals that the platy feldspar is able to transfer the stress during the external tensile loading. Thermal properties such as onset crystallization temperature shifts to lower values indicating that feldspar has influenced the crystallization of the R-PET. Thermo-gravimetric analysis reveals that the thermal stability of the composites is facilitated with the feldspar dosages.
Culture and Context: East Asian American and European American Differences in P3 Event-Related Potentials and Self-Construal
Authors: Lewis Richard S. , Goto Sharon G. , Kong Lauren L.
Published: April 2008

Research has demonstrated differences in social and cognitive processes between East Asians and European Americans. Whereas East Asians have been characterized as being more sensitive to situational context and attending more to the perceptual field, European Americans have been characterized as being more focused on the object and being more field independent. The goal of the present experiment was to investigate differences in neural responses to target objects and stimulus context between East Asian Americans and European Americans using a three-stimulus novelty P3 event-related potential design. As hypothesized, European Americans displayed relatively greater target P3 amplitudes, indexing attention to target events, whereas East Asian Americans displayed relatively greater novelty P3 amplitudes, indexing attention to contextually deviant events. Furthermore, the authors found that interdependent self-construal mediated the relationship between culture and the novelty P3. These findings identify a specific pattern of neural activity associated with established cultural differences in contextual sensitivity.
The Relative Efficiency of Land Sector Public Bureaucracies in Ghana
Authors: Hammond Felix , Booth Colin , Proverbs David
Published: April 2008

This article investigates the causes and scale of land-related public service inefficiencies in Ghana. Public choice theorists contend that the primary cause of inefficiency of public service agencies is their tendency to grow excessively. The finding of the study did not support the excessive growth proposition as far as the land-related public service agencies in Ghana are concerned. On the contrary, the evidence suggests that the agencies in question are shrinking in size, with some experiencing deficit budgetary growth rate of approximately −28.71% (Land Title Registry). Large proportions of inefficiencies were rather discovered in nontraditional (hidden) sources, such as insufficient budgets, misallocations of limited funds, and imbalances in the structure of the respective workforces of these agencies. These have led to heightened intensity of rent-seeking activities, inertia, lack of customer care, abuse of procedures, general dearth of professionalism, and considerable delays in the delivery of services.
Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1
Authors: Bradbury Mark D.
Published: April 2008

The Supreme Court applied strict scrutiny to diversification plans for public high school enrollment in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 (2007). Unlike the diversity plan upheld in Grutter v. Bollinger (2003), where law school applicants were potentially denied a benefit, all students in the Seattle plan were awarded a high school seat but perhaps not in their preferred school. Nevertheless, this plan was struck down by the Court as a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, on the grounds that it was not sufficiently narrowly tailored. The question of whether diversity can withstand the other aspect of strict scrutiny, serving a compelling government interest, was not as definitively answered, although the prospects appear dim. A reasonable inference from Parents Involved for public human resource management is that race-conscious diversity plans are not likely to receive constitutional cover from the current Court.
Gender, Distress, and Coping in Response to Terrorism
Authors: Sever Ilana , Somer Eli , Ruvio Ayalla , Soref Erez
Published: April 2008

This study assessed women's vulnerability to the threats of terrorism; 326 Israeli citizens (198 women and 128 men) from cities that were hit hard by terrorist violence were interviewed to identify their level of exposure to terrorist events, symptoms of posttraumatic distress, and coping styles. Although the women were less exposed to terrorist events than were the men, they reported higher levels of indirect and subjective exposure (such as helping survivors or having the sense of a lucky escape). They suffered higher levels of negative mood and posttraumatic distress and reported using coping behaviors, particularly problem-solving strategies, more intensely than did the men. The results are discussed from the sociological and feminist perspectives.
Substance Use and Abuse
Authors: Taylor Annabel
Published: April 2008

This article summarizes the findings of a larger study of factors that are associated with women's reoffending, particularly its link with substance abuse. Primary data were derived from semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 26 women who had been released from Christchurch Women's Prison, New Zealand, prior to 1999. These data were triangulated with interviews with informed experts and with secondary data from the participants' community probation records. The study found an association between substance abuse and women's reoffending, which varied according to the type and level of dependence on substances. The relationship among substance abuse, dependence, and victimization affected the women's entry into offending and ongoing recidivism. Desistance from substance abuse and offending was a process of relapse and recovery affected by different life stages.
Longitudinal myelitis, aseptic meningitis, and conus medullaris infarction as presenting manifestations of pediatric sysemic lupus erythematosus
Authors: Katramados AM , Rabah R , Adams MD , Huq AHMM , Mitsias PD
Published: April 2008

A healthy boy developed subacutely progressive quadriparesis, complicated by sudden paraplegia, fever, and meningeal signs, diagnosed as longitudinal myelitis, aseptic meningitis, and conus medullaris infarction and identified as the presenting manifestations of neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus. Rapid expansion of the conus on serial neuroimaging led to emergent decompressive laminectomy and cord biopsy showing vasculitis and cord infarction. The patient had partial recovery after treatment with high-dose steroids. Increased vigilance is required when pediatric patients develop a similar subacute presentation on the ground of active systemic lupus erythematosus because it may herald the onset of a catastrophic neurological syndrome.
Anti-citrullinated peptide antibodies in lupus patients with or without deforming arthropathy
Authors: Damián-Abrego GN , Cabiedes J , Cabral AR
Published: April 2008

The objective was to study the association of antibodies against cyclic citrullinated peptides (anti-CCP) in patients with lupus articular damage. We studied 34 systemic lupus erythematosus patients (30 women) with ( n = 14) or without ( n = 20) deforming arthropathy. Anti-DNA and arthritis were mandatory inclusion criteria for both groups. As controls, 34 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and nine patients with rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus (rhupus) were included. Anti-CCP and rheumatoid factor were determined by ELISA and nephelometry respectively. All patients had recent x-ray films of the hands that were evaluated according to Sharp’s method. Systemic lupus erythematosus patients had a mean 6.50 ± 0.86 (SD, range 5–8) American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria, rheumatoid arthritis patients met 5.38 ± 0.60 (range 4–6) ACR criteria for rheumatoid arthritis and rhupus patients had 5.78 ± 0.44 (range 5–6) criteria for rheumatoid arthritis and 5.11 ± 0.78 (range 4–6) for systemic lupus erythematosus. Systemic lupus erythematosus patients, with or without deforming arthropathy, had normal serum anti-CCP concentrations. In contrast, rheumatoid arthritis and rhupus patients had 30- and 23-fold higher than normal amounts of anti-CCP ( p < 0.001, both comparisons). Rheumatoid arthritis (97%) and rhupus (100%) patients were more frequently positive for anti-CCP than SLE patients with (7%) or without (5%) deforming arthropathy ( p < 0.001, both comparisons). Patients with lupus deforming arthropathy were more frequently positive for rheumatoid factor (65%) than patients with non-deforming arthritis (15%) ( p = 0.005). Patients with lupus deforming arthropathy had similar frequency of erosions and mean Sharp’s score than rhupus patients. Anti-CCP antibodies do not associate with lupus arthropathy, whether deforming, non-deforming or erosive.
Rapamycin prevents the development of nephritis in lupus-prone NZB/W F1 mice
Authors: Lui SL , Yung S , Tsang R , Zhang F , Chan KW , Tam S , Chan TM
Published: April 2008

Rapamycin is a potent immunosuppressive drug currently used mainly for rejection prophylaxis in renal transplantation. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of rapamycin treatment on the development of nephritis in lupus-prone New Zealand Black/White F1 (NZB/W F1) mice. Twelve-week-old female NZB/W F1 mice were treated with rapamycin (3 mg/kg body weight) or saline once daily by oral gavage for 20 weeks. The severity of nephritis was assessed by clinical and biochemical parameters, renal histology, immunohistochemistry and gene expression studies. Rapamycin treatment markedly reduced proteinuria, improved renal function, decreased serum anti–double stranded DNA antibody levels and diminished splenomegaly. Kidney sections from saline-treated mice showed marked mesangial proliferation, tubular dilation with protein cast deposition and interstitial inflammatory cell infiltration. Rapamycin-treated mice had near normal renal histology, with marked reduction in glomerular immune deposition and the infiltration by T cells, B cells and macrophages. Rapamycin treatment was associated with down-regulation of intra-renal expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) mRNA and protein. We conclude that rapamycin is highly effective in preventing the development of nephritis in NZB/W F1 mice. The beneficial effects of rapamycin are mediated through inhibition of lymphoproliferation and reduced MCP-1 expression.
Accurate Valuation in the Absence of Markets
Authors: Plassmann Florenz , Tideman T. Nicolaus
Published: April 2008

Incomplete markets do not provide accurate information about people's subjective valuations of goods. Knowledge of these subjective valuations is often important, however, for example when compensation payments for damaged or destroyed property are required. We argue that in such cases, an attractive measure of the value of a good is the reservation price of the owner, who is generally the person who values it most highly. If a property is sufficiently unique so that there is no market price that can be used as an approximation, then the only way to learn this subjective reservation price is to have the owner self-assess his property. We describe a mechanism that provides an incentive for the owner to self-assess his property honestly without requiring that the property's value be objectively observable.
Towards Ultra-High Resolution Models of Climate and Weather
Authors: Wehner Michael , Oliker Leonid , Shalf John
Published: April 2008

We present a speculative extrapolation of the performance aspects of an atmospheric general circulation model to ultra-high resolution and describe alternative technological paths to realize integration of such a model in the relatively near future. Due to a superlinear scaling of the computational burden dictated by stability criterion, the solution of the equations of motion dominate the calculation at ultra-high resolutions. From this extrapolation, it is estimated that a credible kilometer scale atmospheric model would require at least a sustained ten petaflop computer to provide scientifically useful climate simulations. Our design study portends an alternate strategy for practical power-efficient implementations of petaflop scale systems. Embedded processor technology could be exploited to tailor a custom machine designed to ultra-high climate model specifications at relatively affordable cost and power considerations. The major conceptual changes required by a kilometer scale climate model are certain to be difficult to implement. Although the hardware, software, and algorithms are all equally critical in conducting ultra-high climate resolution studies, it is likely that the necessary petaflop computing technology will be available in advance of a credible kilometer scale climate model
Acceleration of Fast Multipole Method Using Special-Purpose Computer Grape
Authors: Nguyen Hai Chau  , Kawai Atsushi , Ebisuzaki Toshikazu
Published: April 2008

We have implemented the fast multipole method (FMM) on a special-purpose computer GRAPE (GRAvity piPE). The FMM is one of the fastest approximate algorithms to calculate forces among particles. Its calculation cost scales as O( N), while the naive algorithm scales as O( N2). Here, N is the number of particles in the system. GRAPE is hardware dedicated to the calculation of Coulombic or gravitational forces among particles. GRAPE's calculation speed is 100—1000 times faster than that of conventional computers of the same price, though it cannot handle anything but force calculation. We can expect significant speedup by the combination of the fast algorithm and the fast hardware. However, a straightforward implementation of the algorithm actually runs on GRAPE at rather modest speed. This is because of the limited functionality of the hardware. Since GRAPE can handle particle forces only, just a small fraction of the overall calculation procedure can be put on it. The remaining part must be performed on a conventional computer connected to GRAPE. In order to take full advantage of the dedicated hardware, we modified the FMM using the pseudoparticle multipole method and Anderson's method. In the modified algorithm, multipole and local expansions are expressed by distribution of a small number of imaginary particles (pseudoparticles), and thus they can be evaluated by GRAPE. Results of numerical experiments on ordinary GRAPE systems show that, for large- N systems ( N ≥ 105), GRAPE accelerates the FMM by a factor ranging from 3 for low accuracy (RMS relative force error ~10—2) to 60 for high accuracy (RMS relative force error ~10— 5). Performance of the FMM on GRAPE exceeds that of Barnes—Hut treecode on GRAPE at high accuracy, in case of close-to-uniform distribution of particles. However, in the same experimental environment the treecode outperforms the FMM for inhomogeneous distribution of particles.
Understanding Enterprise
Authors: Salaman Graeme , Storey John
Published: April 2008

The idea of `Enterprise' has been extensively used in recent years as a way to understand the principles underlying the reinvention of organizations and employees. It tends to be used as a counterfactual to `bureaucracy'. However, we argue that while this approach has produced some rich insights, an over-emphasis on the notion of enterprise may exaggerate the reality of change. In this paper we focus on the ways in which top managers mediate the construct. We try to show that enterprises—even those `liberated' from bureaucratic regulation and constraint—need not necessarily be enterprising. This linkage has in the past been asserted but too frequently left unexplored. We suggest that an analysis of enterprising forms of organization requires a more nuanced and a more empirically-based understanding of the ways in which enterprise is interpreted and deployed within organizations which are apparently—on the surface at least—seemingly committed to `achieving enterprise'.
Who's Afraid of Enterprise?: Producing and Repressing the Enterprise Self in a UK Bank
Authors: McCabe Darren
Published: April 2008

This paper explores two discourses that are bound up with `producing' two types of subject in a UK Bank. An enterprise discourse, which stresses responsible, customer focused, team players that use their initiative and a Fordist discourse, which conceives of employees as mechanical beings who repetitively process work. Through attending to the work experiences of back office clerks, the paper considers how the latter discourse `represses' the former. Although distinct, the two discourses share a common bureaucratic rationale and a logic of individualization that represses more collective ways of being or alternative subjectivities that might challenge or question the status quo. Nonetheless, the paper indicates limits to the power that management is able to exercise through enterprise, given the contradictory and flawed approach that was adopted.
Infantilized Adults or Confident Consumers? Enterprise Discourse in the UK Retail Banking Industry
Authors: Nayak Ajit , Beckett Antony
Published: April 2008

In this paper we examine the implications of enterprise discourse within the context of a culture of consumption. Drawing on empirical work on the UK retail banking industry we demonstrate how retail banking in the UK is central to constructing `confident consumers' in a consumerist society and demonstrate how enterprise and consumption have reframed the interaction between banks and the consumer. We identify a rhizomic network that spans across diverse activities and electronic traces, and a variety of data sources and statistical techniques that mediate between the industry players. We argue that there has been a fundamental shift in rationality from `social obligation' to `confident consumers' which leads to a tension between confident consumers and infantilized adults.
A Consulting Diaspora? Enterprising Selves as Agents of Enterprise
Authors: Sturdy Andrew , Wright Christopher
Published: April 2008

While the concept of enterprise identity has been extensively discussed, the active role of individuals in promoting enterprise is less understood. This article presents enterprising selves not simply as a self-disciplinary outcome of power, but as agential, whereby actors support regimes of enterprise, either actively or symbolically. In particular, it explores a neglected group—former management consultants working as change agents within organizations. This `consulting diaspora' is appointed on the basis of the prestige of their former occupation, as well as their enthusiasm for, and skills in, change management. They also embody enterprise through their `personal brand' in the labour market and an anti-bureaucratic, pro-change orientation. However, these characteristics, combined with the perishability of their status, limit the ability of these actors to embed enterprise. Rather, it is through the loss of their novel, enterprising appearance—'going native'—that change is reinforced. Thus, paradoxically, their enterprising nature runs counter to the adoption of techniques of enterprise. This has implications for our understanding of enterprise as organizational change, as well as the promotion of management ideas more generally.
Ruling the virtual world
Authors: Humphreys Sal
Published: April 2008

This article explores governance and control in Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs). It examines areas where tactics of control are mobilized: by developers through design processes, by publishers through community management and legal practices and by players through participatory practices. As people with access to online technologies come to live more of their social lives (and work lives) in online environments, and to construct identities and communities in proprietary spaces, the terms under which they do so become increasingly important. In a context where economic value resides in intellectual property and immaterial labour, and where social networks have economic value extracted from them, the corporate practices which harness this value and the responses of participants become interesting for sociocultural and economic reasons. Using EverQuest and World of Warcraft as case studies, this article traces the flows of power between publishers, developers and players in the networked production of MMOGs.
Do you believe in magic? Computer games in everyday life
Authors: Pargman Daniel , Jakobsson Peter
Published: April 2008

Huizinga's concept of a 'magic circle' has been used to depict computer games and gaming activities as something separate from ordinary life. In this view, games are special (magical) and they only come to life within temporal and spatial borders that are enacted and performed by the participants. This article discusses the concept of a 'magic circle' and finds that it lacks specificity. Attempts to use the concept of a magic circle create a number of anomalies that are problematic. This is not, as has been suggested earlier, primarily a matter of the genre of the game, or a discussion of what an appropriate definition of a 'game' might be. Rather, in this study with hardcore gamers, playing computer games is a routine and mundane activity, making the boundary between play and non-play tenuous to say the least. This article presents an alternative theoretical framework which should be explored further.
Cross-cultural researching: Māori and Pākehā in Te Whakapakari
Authors: Carpenter Vicki M. , McMurchy-Pilkington Colleen
Published: April 2008

This paper focuses on evolving Māori centred qualitative research methods, and the cross-cultural relationship between two researchers who identify respectively as Māori and Pākehā New Zealanders. The researchers discuss methodology issues which surrounded the school based Te Whakapakari research project. The project's aim was to raise the academic achievement of Maori (indigenous New Zealanders) mainstreamed children. The writers discuss their theoretical and personal backgrounds, and the accommodations they each made to meet the goals of the project. The writers argue that the face-to-face aspects ( he kanohi kitea) of the project were integral to the project's success. The qualitative research based project included action research, and Māori-based professional development. A Freirean approach was integral to professional development. The writers worked alongside six teachers and school leaders.
Positivity in qualitative research: examples from the organized field of postmodernism/poststructuralism
Authors: Koro-Ljungberg Mirka
Published: April 2008

This article emphasizes the essential role of positivity, an organized field of knowledge, in qualitative research and how positivity enables and limits qualitative data, design, and research process. First, I describe some possible objects and subjects of knowing in qualitative research and discuss potential conditions of postmodernist/poststructuralist qualitative research. I then illustrate how different systems (such as language and power) within the organized field of postmodernism/poststructuralism regulate approaches to qualitative research and possible methodological functions available to researchers. Throughout the article, I make reference to my own research process focusing on the studies of academic achievement and 'scientific giftedness' to produce an article that blends subjective, empirical, and theoretical ways of knowing.
Punishment and Respect
Authors: Joas Hans
Published: April 2008

Discussions of punishment in the modern era turn on the question of the definition and importance of human rights. To understand this linkage, it is important to examine critically two narratives of the origin and development of modern Western forms of punishment, namely that of the Enlightenment, and that of the process of `disciplination' to be found in the work of Foucault. In this article, I suggest an alternative to both these narratives, namely a Durkheimian attention to the process of the `sacralization of the person' which indicates the importance of reading the development of modern punishment as part of a larger process of `inclusion' in which more and more people were included within the category of human personhood. A focus on the sacrality of the person as central to the notion of punishment also helps us to understand the ambiguity of punishment in the modern era, as well as threats posed to human rights by certain contemporary punishment regimes.
Inhabiting No-Man's Land
Authors: Rosati Massimo
Published: April 2008

This article is a translation of the Editor's Introduction to the new Italian edition of The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. In it, the author maintains that though The Elementary Forms does not suggest how the experience of the sacred could be publicly recovered by citizens of modern democracies, it nonetheless recommends that modernity must remain open, with both courage and humility, to radical self-assessment in light of the centrality of ritual and the sacred to social life. The tentative suggestions to this end in Durkheim's work — the cult of the individual, loyalty towards democratic political values — are the best solutions available to us, though they are part of a way of life that cannot be satisfied either with its present or with its desired state, even when the latter appears fully consistent with its own ideal aspirations. Thus, The Elementary Forms points to the continued need for a more substantial reconsideration of modern Western identity.
Moisture Buffering and its Consequence in Whole Building Hygrothermal Modeling
Authors: Rode Carsten , Grau Karl
Published: April 2008

Moisture absorption and desorption of materials in contact with indoor air of buildings can be used as a passive, i.e., nonmechanical, way to moderate the variation of indoor humidity. This phenomenon, which is recognized as `moisture buffering', could potentially be used as an attractive feature of building products to improve indoor air quality and to save energy. Of interest therefore is to establish a unit to appraise this quality of building products and to investigate the importance of moisture buffering when it is considered in whole building hygrothermal simulation. This paper will illustrate both.

A new test method specifies a protocol for determination of what has recently been termed the Moisture Buffer Value (MBV) of building products. The paper presents the definition of MBV and introduces a test protocol which has been proposed for its experimental determination. The MBV is primarily meant as a value to characterize the ability of building products to moderate the variations of humidity in air which is in contact with the products, since it indicates the rate of flow of moisture over the product's surface when exposed to a certain humidity excitation.

Hygroscopic interaction between air of the indoor climate and materials in the building envelope is taken into account in a model for whole building heat and moisture simulation. By means of an example, it will be investigated if:

1. it is possible to use the benefits of moisture buffering to save energy by reducing the requirement for ventilation if indoor humidity is a parameter for controlling ventilation rate,

2. it is possible to improve the perceived acceptability of indoor air, as judged by the temperature and humidity of the air, by using moisture buffering to control the indoor humidity.

The results of the whole building hygrothermal simulations show that it is possible to rather significantly reduce the amplitudes of indoor relative variation when the moisture buffering effect of building materials is taken into account, compared to a situation with moisture tight interior building surfaces. The modeling also shows some possible benefits on energy consumption if humidity-controlled ventilation is employed, as well some benefit on the indoor acceptability with the hygrothermal quality of indoor air. However, both benefits seem to be somewhat limited in the model room used for analysis.
NOTCH1 extracellular juxtamembrane expansion mutations in T-ALL
Authors: Sulis Maria Luisa , Williams Odette , Palomero Teresa , Tosello Valeria , Pallikuppam Sasikala , Real Pedro J. , Barnes Kelly , Zuurbier Linda , Meijerink Jules P. , Ferrando Adolfo A.
Published: April 2008

Heterodimerization domain (HD) mutations in NOTCH1 induce ligand-independent activation of the receptor and contribute to the pathogenesis of one-third of human T-cell lymphoblastic leukemias (T-ALLs). Here we report a novel class of activating mutations in NOTCH1 leading to aberrant activation of NOTCH1 signaling in T-cell lymphoblasts. These so-called juxtamembrane expansion (JME) alleles consist of internal duplication insertions in the vicinity of exon 28 of the NOTCH1 gene encoding the extracellular juxtamembrane region of the receptor. Notably, structure-function analysis of leukemia-derived and synthetic JME mutants demonstrated that the aberrant activation of NOTCH1 signaling is dependent on the number of residues introduced in the extracellular juxtamembrane region of the receptor and not on the specific amino acid sequence of these insertions. JME NOTCH1 mutants are effectively blocked by γ-secretase inhibitors and require an intact metalloprotease cleavage site for activation. Overall, these results show a novel mechanism of NOTCH1 activation in T-ALL and provide further insight on the mechanisms that control the activation of NOTCH1 signaling.
Overlapping genes in the human and mouse genomes
Authors: Sanna Chaitanya R , Li Wen-Hsiung , Zhang Liqing
Published: April 2008

Background

Increasing evidence suggests that overlapping genes are much more common in eukaryotic genomes than previously thought. In this study we identified and characterized the overlapping genes in a set of 13,484 pairs of human-mouse orthologous genes.

Results

About 10% of the genes under study are overlapping genes, the majority of which are different-strand overlaps. The majority of the same-strand overlaps are embedded forms, whereas most different-strand overlaps are not embedded and in the convergent transcription orientation. Most of the same-strand overlapping gene pairs show at least a tenfold difference in length, much larger than the length difference between non-overlapping neighboring gene pairs. The length difference between the two different-strand overlapping genes is less dramatic. Over 27% of the different-strand-overlap relationships are shared between human and mouse, compared to only ~8% conservation for same-strand-overlap relationships. More than 96% of the same-strand and different-strand overlaps that are not shared between human and mouse have both genes located on the same chromosomes in the species that does not show the overlap. We examined the causes of transition between the overlapping and non-overlapping states in the two species and found that 3' UTR change plays an important role in the transition.

Conclusion

Our study contributes to the understanding of the evolutionary transition between overlapping genes and non-overlapping genes and demonstrates the high rates of evolutionary changes in the un-translated regions.
Coordinated prophylactic surgical management for women with hereditary breast-ovarian cancer syndrome
Authors: Batista Larissa I , Lu Karen H , Beahm Elisabeth K , Arun Banu K , Bodurka Diane C , Meric-Bernstam Funda
Published: April 2008

Background

Women with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations have a substantially increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer compared with the general population. Therefore, prophylactic mastectomy (PM) and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (BSO) have been proposed as risk-reduction strategies for BRCA1/2 mutation carriers. We aimed to assess the feasibility of coordinated PM and BSO in hereditary breast-ovarian cancer syndrome.

Methods

High risk women for breast and ovarian cancer who underwent coordinated PM and BSO were included in this study. Clinical characteristics and surgical and oncologic outcomes were retrospectively reviewed.

Results

Twelve patients underwent coordinated PM and BSO. Ten had history of previous breast cancer. Autologous breast reconstruction was performed in ten patients. The mean age at surgery was 43 (range 34–65). Mean operating time was 9.3 hours (range 3–16) with a mean postoperative hospitalization of 5.4 days (range 4–8). Intraoperatively, there were no major surgical complications. Postoperatively, one patient developed an abdominal wound dehiscence, another reoperation for flap congestion; one had umbilical superficial epidermolysis, and one patient developed aspiration pneumonia. At a mean follow-up of 84 months, 10 of patients were cancer-free. Although no patients developed a new primary cancer, two developed a distant recurrence.

Conclusion

Coordinated PM and BSO is a feasible procedure with acceptable morbidity in selected high-risk patients that desire to undergo surgery at one operative setting.
A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial to investigate the effects of nasal calcitonin on bone microarchitecture measured by high-resolution peripheral quantitative computerized tomography in postmenopausal women — Study protocol
Authors: Richert Laura , Uebelhart Brigitte , Engelhardt Marc , Azria Moise , Rizzoli René
Published: April 2008

Background

Bone microarchitecture is a significant determinant of bone strength. So far, the assessment of bone microarchitecture has required bone biopsies, limiting its utilization in clinical practice to one single skeletal site. With the advance of high-resolution imaging techniques, non-invasive in vivo measurement of bone microarchitecture has recently become possible. This provides an opportunity to efficiently assess the effects of anti-osteoporotic therapies on bone microarchitecture. We therefore designed a protocol to investigate the effects of nasal salmon calcitonin, an inhibitor of osteoclast activity, on bone microarchitecture in postmenopausal women, comparing weight bearing and non-weight bearing skeletal sites.

Methods

One hundred postmenopausal women will be included in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial comparing the effect of nasal salmon calcitonin (200 UI/day) to placebo over two years. Bone microarchitecture at the distal radius and distal tibia will be determined yearly by high-resolution peripheral quantitative computerized tomography (p-QCT) with a voxel size of 82 μm and an irradiation of less than 5 μSv. Serum markers of bone resorption and bone formation will be measured every 6 months. Safety and compliance will be assessed. Primary endpoint is the change in bone microarchitecture; secondary endpoint is the change in markers of bone turnover.

Hypothesis

The present study should provide new information on the mode of action of nasal calcitonin. We hypothezise that - compared to placebo - calcitonin impacts on microstructural parameters, with a possible difference between weight bearing and non-weight bearing bones.

Trial Registration

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00372099
Imp-L2, a putative homolog of vertebrate IGF-binding protein 7, counteracts insulin signaling in Drosophila and is essential for starvation resistance
Authors: Honegger Basil , Galic Milos , Köhler Katja , Wittwer Franz , Brogiolo Walter , Hafen Ernst , Stocker Hugo
Published: April 2008

Background

Insulin and insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) signal through a highly conserved pathway and control growth and metabolism in both vertebrates and invertebrates. In mammals, insulin-like growth factor binding proteins (IGFBPs) bind IGFs with high affinity and modulate their mitogenic, anti-apoptotic and metabolic actions, but no functional homologs have been identified in invertebrates so far.

Results

Here, we show that the secreted Imaginal morphogenesis protein-Late 2 (Imp-L2) binds Drosophila insulin-like peptide 2 (Dilp2) and inhibits growth non-autonomously. Whereas over-expressing Imp-L2 strongly reduces size, loss of Imp-L2 function results in an increased body size. Imp-L2 is both necessary and sufficient to compensate Dilp2-induced hyperinsulinemia in vivo. Under starvation conditions, Imp-L2 is essential for proper dampening of insulin signaling and larval survival.

Conclusion

Imp-L2, the first functionally characterized insulin-binding protein in invertebrates, serves as a nutritionally controlled suppressor of insulin-mediated growth in Drosophila. Given that Imp-L2 and the human tumor suppressor IGFBP-7 show sequence homology in their carboxy-terminal immunoglobulin-like domains, we suggest that their common precursor was an ancestral insulin-binding protein.
Phase II Study of Rituximab Plus Three Cycles of CHOP and Involved-Field Radiotherapy for Patients With Limited-Stage Aggressive B-Cell Lymphoma: Southwest Oncology Group Study 0014
Authors: Persky Daniel O. , Unger Joseph M. , Spier Catherine M. , Stea Baldassarre , LeBlanc Michael , McCarty Matthew J. , Rimsza Lisa M. , Fisher Richard I. , Miller Thomas P.
Published: April 2008

Purpose

To evaluate the effect of rituximab in limited-stage diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), we conducted a multicenter phase II trial combining rituximab with three cycles of CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone; R-CHOP) followed by involved-field radiation therapy (IFRT).

Patients and Methods

Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) study S0014 enrolled patients with newly diagnosed, aggressive, CD20-expressing non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). Patients had limited-stage disease and at least one adverse risk factor as defined by the stage-modified International Prognostic Index (nonbulky stage II disease, age > 60 years, WHO performance status of 2, or elevated serum lactate dehydrogenase). Four doses of rituximab were infused on days −7, 1, 22, and 43, and CHOP was administered on days 3, 24, and 45, followed 3 weeks later by 40 to 46 Gy of IFRT.

Results

Sixty patients with aggressive NHL were eligible. With the median follow-up of 5.3 years, treatment resulted in a progression-free survival (PFS) of 93% at 2 years and 88% at 4 years. Overall survival (OS) was 95% at 2 years and 92% at 4 years. These results were compared with those from a historic group of patients treated without rituximab on S8736, demonstrating PFS of 78% and OS of 88% at 4 years.

Conclusion

In limited-stage DLBCL, the addition of rituximab to three cycles of CHOP plus IFRT met prespecified study criteria of efficacy, with 2-year PFS of at least 84%, meriting further investigation. There is a pattern of continuing relapse with modest survival gains. We hypothesize that such a pattern may be the result of biologic differences between limited- and advanced-stage lymphoma.