bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Can musical transformations be implicitly learned?
Authors: Dienes Zoltan , Longuet‐Higgins Christopher
Published: August 2005

The dominant theory of what people can learn implicitly is that they learn chunks of adjacent elements in sequences. A type of musical grammar that goes beyond specifying allowable chunks is provided by serialist or 12‐tone music. The rules constitute operations over variables and could not be appreciated as such by a system that can only chunk elements together. A series of studies investigated the extent to which people could implicitly (or explicitly) learn the structures of serialist music. We found that people who had no background in atonal music did not learn the structures, but highly selected participants with an interest in atonal music could implicitly learn to detect melodies instantiating the structures. The results have implications for both theorists of implicit learning and composers who may wish to know which structures they put into a piece of music can be appreciated.
Effects of morphosyntactic gender features in bilingual language processing*,**
Authors: Scheutz Matthias J. , Eberhard Kathleen M.
Published: August 2005

A central issue in bilingual research concerns the extent to which linguistic representations in the two languages are processed independently of each other. This paper reports the results of an empirical study and a model stimulation, which provide evidence for the interactive view, which holds that processing is not independent. Specifically, a reading experiment examined whether morpho‐syntactic features associated with lexical representations in a bilinguals' native language, in this case the masculine gender feature associated with the er ending of agentive nouns in German, are automatically activated by the processing of morphologically related representations in their second language, in this case English agentive nouns that end in er. Experimental findings suggest that the German–English bilinguals have a bias to interpret the referents of such nouns as male relative to English monolinguals. Subsequent computational simulation studies with an interactive activation network confirmed that this effect is due to the influence of the morphosyntactic er representation in the bilingual models that is absent in the monolingual models. The results provide evidence for an interactive view of bilingual memory and processing for language learners of age 8 and above.
Mapping relational structure in spatial reasoning
Authors: Gattis Merideth
Published: August 2005

Three experiments investigated whether the similarity of relational structures influences the interpretation of spatial representations. Adults were shown diagrams of hand gestures paired with simple statements and asked to judge the meaning of new gestures. In Experiment 1 the gestures were paired with active declarative statements. In Experiment 2, the gestures were paired with conjunctive and disjunctive relations. Experiment 3 used statements similar to those used in Experiment 1, but eliminated the initial object‐to‐object mapping provided in Experiments 1 and 2. In all three experiments, most participants chose an interpretation that set up a parallel relational structure between the gesture and its meaning: spatial elements were paired with conceptual elements and spatial relations were paired with conceptual relations. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that similarity of relational structures influences spatial reasoning, and have implications for analogical reasoning, diagrammatic reasoning, and language processing.
Moving words: dynamic representations in language comprehension*
Authors: Zwaan Rolf A. , Madden Carol J. , Yaxley Richard H. , Aveyard Mark E.
Published: August 2005

Eighty‐two participants listened to sentences and then judged whether two sequentially presented visual objects were the same. On critical trials, participants heard a sentence describe the motion of a ball toward or away from the observer (e.g., “The pitcher hurled the softball to you”). Seven hundred and fifty milliseconds after the offset of the sentence, a picture of an object was presented for 500 ms, followed by another picture. On critical trials, the two pictures depicted the kind of ball mentioned in the sentence. The second picture was displayed 175 ms after the first. Crucially, it was either slightly larger or smaller than the first picture, thus suggesting movement of the ball toward or away from the observer. Participants responded more quickly when the implied movement of the balls matched the movement described in the sentence. This result provides support for the viewthat language comprehension involves dynamic perceptual simulations.
Reinstatement, floating conclusions, and the credulity of Mental Model reasoning
Authors: Bonnefon Jean‐Franĉois
Published: August 2005

Johnson‐Laird and coworkers' Mental Model theory of propositional reasoning is shown to be somewhere in between what logicians have defined as “credulous” and “skeptical” with respect to the conclusions it draws on default reasoning problems. It is then argued that in situations where skeptical reasoning has been shown to lead to problematic conclusions due to not being skeptical enough, the bolder Mental Model theory will likewise make counterintuitive predictions. This claim is supported by the consideration of two of those situations, namely problems involving reinstatement and floating conclusions. It is discussed how the recent “principle of pragmatic modulation” could be a first step in order to overcome the mild credulity of Mental Model reasoning.
Starting with complex primitives pays off: complicate locally, simplify globally
Authors: Joshi Aravind K.
Published: August 2005

In setting up a formal system to specify a grammar formalism, the conventional (mathematical) wisdom is to start with primitives (basic primitive structures) as simple as possible, and then introduce various operations for constructing more complex structures. An alternate approach is to start with complex (more complicated) primitives, which directly capture some crucial linguistic properties and then introduce some general operations for composing these complex structures. These two approaches provide different domains of locality, i.e., domains over which various types of linguistic dependencies can be specified. The latter approach, characterized as complicate locally, simplify globally (CLSG), pushes non‐local dependencies to become local, i.e., they arise in the basic primitive structures to start with.

The CLSG approach has led to some new insights into syntactic description, semantic composition, language generation, statistical processing, and psycholinguistic phenomena, all these with possible relevance to the cognitive architecture of language. In this paper, we will describe these results in an introductory manner making use of the framework of lexicalized tree‐adjoining grammar (LTAG), a key example of the CLSG approach, thereby describing the interplay between formal analysis on the one hand and linguistic and processing issues on the other hand.
Restricting grammatical complexity
Authors: Frank Robert
Published: August 2005

Theories of natural language syntax often characterize grammatical knowledge as a form of abstract computation. This paper argues that such a characterization is correct, and that fundamental properties of grammar can and should be understood in terms of restrictions on the complexity of possible grammatical computation, when defined in terms of generative capacity. More specifically, the paper demonstrates that the computational restrictiveness imposed by Tree Adjoining Grammar provides important insights into the nature of human grammatical knowledge.
Varieties of crossing dependencies: structure dependence and mild context sensitivity
Authors: Stabler Edward P.
Published: August 2005

Four different kinds of grammars that can define crossing dependencies in human language are compared here: (i) context sensitive rewrite grammars with rules that depend on context, (ii) matching grammars with constraints that filter the generative structure of the language, (iii) copying grammars which can copy structures of unbounded size, and (iv) generating grammars in which crossing dependencies are generated from a finite lexical basis. Context sensitive rewrite grammars are syntactically, semantically and computationally unattractive. Generating grammars have a collection of nice properties that ensure they define only “mildly context sensitive” languages, and Joshi has proposed that human languages have those properties too. But for certain distinctive kinds of crossing dependencies in human languages, copying or matching analyses predominate. Some results relevant to the viability of mildly context sensitive analyses and some open questions are reviewed.
Disfluencies, language comprehension, and Tree Adjoining Grammars
Authors: Ferreira Fernanda , Lau Ellen F. , Bailey Karl G.D.
Published: August 2005

Disfluencies include editing terms such as uh and um as well as repeats and revisions. Little is known about how disfluencies are processed, and there has been next to no research focused on the way that disfluencies affect structure‐building operations during comprehension. We review major findings from both computational linguistics and psycholinguistics, and then we summarize the results of our own work which centers on how the parser behaves when it encounters a disfluency. We describe some new research showing that information associated with misarticulated verbs lingers, and which adds to the large body of data on the critical influence of verb argument structures on sentence comprehension. The paper also presents a model of disfluency processing. The parser uses a Tree Adjoining Grammar to build phrase structure. In this approach, filled and unfilled pauses affect the timing of Substitution operations. Repairs and corrections are handled by a mechanism we term “Overlay,” which allows the parser to overwrite an undesired tree with the appropriate, correct tree. This model of disfluency processing highlights the need for the parser to sometimes coordinate the mechanisms that perform garden‐path reanalysis with those that do disfluency repair. The research program as a whole demonstrates that it is possible to study disfluencies systematically and to learn how the parser handles filler material and mistakes. It also showcases the power of Tree Adjoining Grammars, a formalism developed by Aravind Joshi which has yielded results in many different areas of linguistics and cognitive science.
D‐LTAG: extending lexicalized TAG to discourse
Authors: Webber Bonnie
Published: August 2005

This paper surveys work on applying the insights of lexicalized grammars to low‐level discourse, to show the value of positing an autonomous grammar for low‐level discourse in which words (or idiomatic phrases) are associated with discourse‐level predicate–argument structures or modification structures that convey their syntactic‐semantic meaning and scope. It starts by describing a lexicalized Tree Adjoining Grammar for discourse (D‐LTAG). It then reviews an initial experiment in parsing text automatically, using both a lexicalized TAG and D‐LTAG, and then touches upon issues involved in how lexico‐syntactic elements contribute to discourse semantics. The paper concludes with a brief description of the Penn Discourse TreeBank, a resource being developed for the study of discourse structure and semantics.
Intention, interpretation and the computational structure of language
Authors: Stone Matthew
Published: August 2005

I show how a conversational process that takes simple, intuitively meaningful steps may be understood as a sophisticated computation that derives the richly detailed, complex representations implicit in our knowledge of language. To develop the account, I argue that natural language is structured in a way that lets us formalize grammatical knowledge precisely in terms of rich primitives of interpretation. Primitives of interpretation can be correctly viewed intentionally, as explanations of our choices of linguistic actions; the model therefore fits our intuitions about meaning in conversation. Nevertheless, interpretations for complex utterances can be built from these primitives by simple operations of grammatical derivation. In bridging analyses of meaning at semantic and symbol‐processing levels, this account underscores the fundamental place for computation in the cognitive science of language use.
Generation and evaluation of user tailored responses in multimodal dialogue
Authors: Walker M.A. , Whittaker S.J. , Stent A. , Maloor P. , Moore J. , Johnston M. , Vasireddy G.
Published: August 2005

When people engage in conversation, they tailor their utterances to their conversational partners, whether these partners are other humans or computational systems. This tailoring, or adaptation to the partner takes place in all facets of human language use, and is based on a mental model or a user model of the conversational partner. Such adaptation has been shown to improve listeners' comprehension, their satisfaction with an interactive system, the efficiency with which they execute conversational tasks, and the likelihood of achieving higher level goals such as changing the listener's beliefs and attitudes. We focus on one aspect of adaptation, namely the tailoring of the content of dialogue system utterances for the higher level processes of persuasion, argumentation and advice‐giving. Our hypothesis is that algorithms that adapt content for these processes, according to a user model, will improve the usability, efficiency, and effectiveness of dialogue systems. We describe a multimodal dialogue system and algorithms for adaptive content selection based on multi‐attribute decision theory. We demonstrate experimentally the improved efficacy of system responses through the use of user models to both tailor the content of system utterances and to manipulate their conciseness.
Coherence versus fragmentation in the development of the concept of force
Authors: diSessa Andrea A. , Gillespie Nicole M. , Esterly Jennifer B.
Published: August 2005

This article aims to contribute to the literature on conceptual change by engaging in direct theoretical and empirical comparison of contrasting views. We take up the question of whether naïve physical ideas are coherent or fragmented, building specifically on recent work supporting claims of coherence with respect to the concept of force by Ioannides and Vosniadou [Ioannides, C., & Vosniadou, C. (2002). The changing meanings of force. Cognitive Science Quarterly 2, 5–61]. We first engage in a theoretical inquiry on the nature of coherence and fragmentation, concluding that these terms are not well‐defined, and proposing a set of issues that may be better specified. The issues have to do with contextuality, which concerns the range of contexts in which a concept (meaning, model, theory) applies, and relational structure, which is how elements of a concept (meaning, model, or theory) relate to one another. We further propose an enhanced theoretical and empirical accountability for what and how much one needs to say in order to have specified a concept. Vague specification of the meaning of a concept can lead to many kinds of difficulties.

Empirically, we conducted two studies. A study patterned closely on Ioannides and Vosniadou's work (which we call a quasi‐replication) failed to confirm their operationalizations of “coherent.” An extension study, based on a more encompassing specification of the concept of force, showed three kinds of results: (1) Subjects attend to more features than mentioned by Ioannides and Vosniadou, and they changed answers systematically based on these features; (2)We found substantial differences in the way subjects thought about the new contexts we asked about, which undermined claims for homogeneity within even the category of subjects (having one particular meaning associated with “force”) that best survived our quasi‐replication; (3) We found much reasoning of subjects about forces that cannot be accounted for by the meanings specified by Ioannides and Vosniadou. All in all, we argue that, with a greater attention to contextuality and with an appropriately broad specification of the meaning of a concept like force, Ioannides and Vosniadou's claims to have demonstrated coherence seem strongly undermined. Students' ideas are not random and chaotic; but neither are they simply described and strongly systematic.
Resolving the paradox of the active user: stable suboptimal performance in interactive tasks
Authors: Fu Wai‐Tat , Gray Wayne D.
Published: August 2005

This paper brings the intellectual tools of cognitive science to bear on resolving the “paradox of the active user” [Interfacing Thought: Cognitive Aspects of Human–Computer Interaction, Cambridge, MIT Press, MA, USA]—the persistent use of inefficient procedures in interactive tasks by experienced or even expert users when demonstrably more efficient procedures exist. The goal of this paper is to understand the roots of this paradox by finding regularities in these inefficient procedures. We examine three very different data sets. For each data set, we first satisfy ourselves that the preferred procedures used by some subjects are indeed less efficient than the recommended procedures. We then amass evidence, for each set, and conclude that when a preferred procedure is used instead of a more efficient, recommended procedure, the preferred procedure tends to have two major characteristics: (1) the preferred procedure is a well‐practiced, generic procedure that is applicable either within the same task environment in different contexts or across different task environments, and (2) the preferred procedure is composed of interactive components that bring fast, incremental feedback on the external problem states. The support amassed for these characteristics leads to a new understanding of the paradox. In interactive tasks, people are biased towards the use of general procedures that start with interactive actions. These actions require much less cognitive effort as each action results in an immediate change to the external display that, in turn, cues the next action. Unfortunately for the users, the bias to use interactive unit tasks leads to a path that requires more effort in the long run. Our data suggest that interactive behavior is composed of a series of distributed choices; that is, people seldom make a once‐and‐for‐all decision on procedures. This series of biased selection of interactive unit tasks often leads to a stable suboptimal level of performance.
Establishing conventional communication systems: Is common knowledge necessary?
Authors: Barr Dale J.
Published: August 2005

How do communities establish shared communication systems? The Common Knowledge view assumes that symbolic conventions develop through the accumulation of common knowledge regarding communication practices among the members of a community. In contrast with this view, it is proposed that coordinated communication emerges a by‐product of local interactions among dyads. A set of multi‐agent computer simulations show that a population of “egocentric” agents can establish and maintain symbolic conventions without common knowledge. In the simulations, convergence to a single conventional system was most likely and most efficient when agents updated their behavior on the basis of local rather than global, system‐level information. The massive feedback and parallelism present in the simulations gave rise to phenomena that are often assumed to result from complex strategic processing on the part of individual agents. The implications of these findings for the development of theories of language use are discussed.
A developmental shift in processes underlying successful belief‐desire reasoning
Authors: Friedman Ori , Leslie Alan M.
Published: August 2005

Young children's failures in reasoning about beliefs and desires, and especially about false beliefs, have been much studied. However, there are few accounts of successful belief‐desire reasoning in older children or adults. An exception to this is a model in which belief attribution is treated as a process wherein an inhibitory system selects the most likely content for the belief to be attributed from amongst several competing contents [Leslie, A. M., & Polizzi, P. (1998). Developmental Science, 1, 247–254]. We tested this model with an ‘avoidance false belief task’ in which subjects predict the behavior of a character, who wants to avoid an object but who is mistaken about which of three locations it is in. The task has two equally correct answers—in seeking to avoid the location where she mistakenly believes the object to be, the character might equally go to the location where the object actually is, or to the remaining empty location. However, the model predicts that subjects will prefer one of these answers, selecting the object's actual location over the empty location. This bias was confirmed in a series of five experiments with children aged between 4 and 8 years of age. A sixth experiment ruled out two rival explanations for children's biased responding. Two further experiments found the opposite bias in adults. These findings support one selection model as an account of belief‐desire reasoning in children, and suggest that a different model is needed for adults. The process of selecting contents for mental state attributions shows a developmental shift between 8 years of age and adulthood.
Using movement and intentions to understand simple events
Authors: Zacks Jeffrey M.
Published: August 2005

In order to understand ongoing activity, observers segment it into meaningful temporal parts. Segmentation can be based on bottom‐up processing of distinctive sensory characteristics, such as movement features. Segmentation may also be affected by top‐down effects of knowledge structures, including information about actors' intentions. Three experiments investigated the role of movement features and intentions in perceptual event segmentation, using simple animations. In all conditions, movement features significantly predicted where participants segmented. This relationship was stronger when participants identified larger units than when they identified smaller units, and stronger when the animations were generated randomly than when they were generated by goal‐directed human activity. This pattern suggests that bottom‐up processing played an important role in segmentation of these stimuli, but that this was modulated by top‐down influence of knowledge structures. To describe accurately how observers perceive ongoing activity, one must account for the effects of distinctive sensory characteristics, the effects of knowledge structures, and their interactions.
The use of recognition in group decision‐making
Authors: Reimer Torsten , Katsikopoulos Konstantinos V.
Published: August 2005

Goldstein and Gigerenzer (2002) [Models of ecological rationality: The recognition heuristic. Psychological Review, 109 (1), 75–90] found evidence for the use of the recognition heuristic. For example, if an individual recognizes only one of two cities, they tend to infer that the recognized city has a larger population. A prediction that follows is that of the less‐is‐more effect: Recognizing fewer cities leads, under certain conditions, to more accurate inferences than recognizing more cities. We extend the recognition heuristic to group decision‐making by developing majority and lexicographic models of how recognition information is used by groups. We formally show when the less‐is‐more effect is predicted in groups and we present a study where three‐member groups performed the population comparison task. Several aspects of our data indicate that members who can use the recognition heuristic are, not in all but in most cases, more influential in the group decision process than members who cannot use the heuristic. We also observed the less‐is‐more effect and found that models assuming that members who can use the recognition heuristic are more influential better predict when the effect occurs.
Screening for sexually transmitted diseases in non-traditional settings: a personal view
Authors: Cohen Deborah A , Kanouse David E , Iguchi Martin Y , Bluthenthal Ricky N , Galvan Frank H , Bing Eric G
Published: August 2005

We conducted a literature search to review studies that presented quantitative data on sexually transmitted disease (STD) screening in non-traditional settings in the United States. We examined the studies for evidence of the feasibility of screening, population size reached, acceptability, yield, and potential for contributing to STD control. We found 17 studies in jails, eight in emergency room, five in schools and 15 in other community settings. Jail-based and emergency room-based STD screenings have the highest yields and the largest numbers screened and thus hold significant promise as settings for routine STD screening. More research needs to be done in school and community settings to better identify their potential.
Impact of an effective multidrug-resistant tuberculosis control programme in the setting of an immature HIV epidemic: system dynamics simulation model
Authors: Atun Rifat A , Lebcir Reda , Drobniewski Francis , Coker Richard J
Published: August 2005

This study sought to determine the impact of an effective programme of multidrug resistant tuberculosis control (MDRTB) on a population that is witnessing an explosive HIV epidemic among injecting drug users (IDUs), where the prevalence of MDRTB is already high. A transmission model was constructed that represents the dynamics of the drug-susceptible tuberculosis (DSTB), MDRTB and HIV spread among the adult population of Samara Oblast, Russia: from official notifications of tuberculosis and of HIV infection, estimates of MDRTB derived from surveillance studies, population data from official regional statistics, data on transmission probabilities from peer-reviewed publications and informed estimates, and policy-makers' estimates of IDU populations.

Two scenarios of programme effectiveness for MDRTB were modelled and run over a period of 10 years to predict cumulative deaths. In a population of 3.3 million with a high prevalence of MDRTB, an emerging epidemic of HIV among IDUs, and a functioning directly observed therapy-short course (DOTS) programme, the model predicts that under low cure rates for MDRTB the expected cumulative deaths from tuberculosis will reach 6303 deaths including 1900 deaths from MDRTB at 10 years. Under high cure rate for MDRTB 4465 deaths will occur including 134 deaths from MDRTB. At 10 years there is little impact on HIV-infected populations from the MDRTB epidemic, but as the HIV epidemic matures the impact becomes substantial. When the model is extended to 20 years cumulative deaths from MDRTB become very high if cure rates for MDRTB are low and cumulative deaths in the HIV-infected population, likewise, are profoundly affected.

In the presence of an immature HIV epidemic failure to actively control MDRTB may result in approximately a third more deaths than if effective treatment is given. As the HIV epidemic matures then the impact of MDRTB grows substantially if MDRTB control strategies are ineffective. The epidemiological starting point for these scenarios is present in many regions within the former Soviet Union and this analysis suggests control of MDRTB should be an urgent priority.
Association between the intact foreskin and inferior standards of male genital hygiene behaviour: a cross-sectional study
Authors: O'Farrell Nigel , Quigley Maria , Fox Paul
Published: August 2005

This study was undertaken to determine whether non-circumcised men have inferior standards of genital hygiene behaviour, as measured by reported washing of the whole penis, compared with circumcised men. Male attenders at a sexually transmitted infections (STI) clinic at Ealing Hospital, London had routine STI tests and examinations performed and were asked about the frequency and thoroughness of genital washing. One hundred and fifty non-circumcised and 75 circumcised men were enrolled. Not always washing the whole penis, including retracting the foreskin in non-circumcised men every time they washed (defined as inferior genital hygiene behaviour) was more common in non-circumcised (26%) than circumcised men (4%) (crude odds ratio = 8.43, 95% confidence interval: 2.51–28.3, P<0.001) and those with balanitis (42% and 5%, P=0.036). Circumcised men were more likely than non-circumcised men to wash the genital area more than once a day (37% and 19%, P=0.011). Studies investigating the relationship between male circumcision status and other outcomes, for example HIV infection, should include assessment of genital hygiene.
The prevalence of abnormal cervical cytology in a sexually transmitted diseases clinic
Authors: Kanno M B , Nguyen R H N , Lee E M , Zenilman J M , Erbelding E J
Published: August 2005

Women seeking sexually transmitted disease (STD) services are at high risk of human papillomavirus infections. Cervical cytological screening with Papanicolau staining (Pap smear) is not consistently offered at public STD clinics. We reviewed Pap smear results on a series of 1000 female STD clinic attendees, abstracted demographics, risk behaviours and STD diagnosis from the clinical record and tested for associations with abnormal Pap smear. In all, 5.7% of the satisfactory specimens (56/993) were abnormal; increasing age category, genital warts, and chlamydia infections were independently associated with an abnormal Pap smear in multivariate analysis. Routine Pap smear screening provided satisfactory results in the STD clinic and, where population-based programmes are not available, should be fully integrated into public STD care, (particularly in settings serving younger women).
The impact of syphilis mass treatment one year later: self-reported behaviour change among participants
Authors: Rekart Michael L , Wong Thomas , Wong Elsie , Hutchinson Kylie , Ogilvie Gina
Published: August 2005

In 2000, syphilis mass treatment using oral azithromycin was delivered to at-risk British Columbians during a sex trade-related outbreak. The initiative included education, counselling and referral. This cross-sectional, observational study examines knowledge, attitudes and self-reported behaviour after one year among mass treatment participants compared with eligible non-participants. Participants self-reported positive changes: reduction in sexual partners overall ( P=0.001) and for sex workers ( P<0.01), decrease in unprotected oral sex ( P=0.03), knowledge of asymptomatic syphilis ( P=0.02), positive attitudes to mass treatment ( P=0.02) and to the street nurses ( P=0.01). Increased awareness was associated with increased condom use for vaginal sex overall ( P=0.02) and for sex workers ( P=0.03) and increased condom use for oral sex ( P=0.05). There was no difference in syphilis incidence. Syphilis outbreak interventions that include education, support and referral can result in long-term positive behaviour changes.
Polymerase chain reaction for diagnosis of genital herpes: a missed opportunity?
Authors: Agius E , Arthur G , Mandhyan K , Mercey D
Published: August 2005

This study audited the utilization of herpes simplex virus polymerase chain reaction (HSV PCR) in the investigation of recurrent anogenital ulceration at the Mortimer Market Centre. Clinic guidelines for use of HSV PCR were modified in April 2003 to expand PCR use. Ninety-six case-notes belonging to patients presenting with recurrent anogenital ulceration between 1 April and 16 October 2003 were reviewed and 59 were suitable for inclusion. Details of the investigations carried out at each visit were recorded. HSV PCR was used according to guidelines in eight of the 59 cases studied. This audit showed under-utilization of HSV PCR testing with poor adherence to clinic guidelines when cases of suspected recurrent genital herpes were investigated. This led to under-diagnosis and delay in diagnosis. This audit stresses the importance of informing all clinical staff of the improved sensitivity and relative affordability of HSV PCR compared with HSV tissue culture.
Prevalence and incidence of human papillomavirus infection in women in the USA: a systematic review
Authors: Revzina N V , DiClemente R J
Published: August 2005

A systematic review of studies published in the last decade was conducted to summarize data on the epidemiology of human papillomavirus (HPV) in the USA. A structured protocol was used to screen studies for review. Studies had to meet the following criteria: (1) the study was conducted in the USA, (2) the study population was predominantly adolescent women, (3) the description of the study's methodological and statistical methods is provided, and (4) the prevalence and/or incidence of HPV were clearly stated.

The prevalence of HPV reported in the assessed studies ranged from 14% to more than 90%. The highest prevalence of HPV was identified among women attending sexually transmitted diseases (STD) clinics and college students, identifying them as target populations for prevention interventions. Conversely, the lowest HPV prevalence was among women in the general population. The review also revealed that HPV prevalence in African Americans is understudied, and the results of a few studies in this area are inconclusive.
Is genitourinary medicine meeting the contraception needs of clinic attendees?
Authors: Mahar Faryal , Sherrard Jackie
Published: August 2005

Providing a service that incorporates both sexually transmitted infection (STI) treatment and contraception may provide an opportunity to reduce the spread of infection and unintended pregnancies by identifying women using inadequate contraception. Genitourinary (GU) medicine clinics are well equipped to do this. This study looked at current contraception needs of, and provision where inadequate to, new patients attending a department of GU medicine. Two hundred consecutive new patients ranging in age from 13–60 years were included in the study. Overall 164 (82%) women attending for testing for STIs had no contraceptive needs. In this GU medicine clinic population the majority of attendees were using a reliable form of contraception correctly. Where contraception was inadequate there was discussion of this and documentation of the advice and/or treatment given in the notes of all except one woman. This suggests that for this group of women their attendance at a GU medicine clinic was appropriate to meet their main need, which was related to STIs, and where contraception was inadequate this was managed appropriately within the GU medicine clinic attendance.
Issues related to gay and bisexual men's acceptance of a future AIDS vaccine
Authors: Salazar Laura F , Holtgrave David , Crosby Richard A , Frew Paula , Peterson John L
Published: August 2005

The purpose of this study was to identify the salient issues related to getting a future AIDS vaccine among a high-risk group. In-depth interviews were conducted with 24 White and Black men who have sex with men (MSM). Participants reported that they would need information regarding the vaccine strategy, the clinical trials research, and vaccine attributes. A prerequisite for Black participants was the prior inclusion of Blacks in clinical trials. A high degree of safety and effectiveness, minimal side-effects, high-perceived risk, and affordable cost would promote vaccine acceptance. Barriers were low degree of safety and effectiveness, harsh side-effects, low-perceived risk, perception of a backlash effect, cost, and inconvenience. MSM may not readily get an AIDS vaccine unless they are provided with specific details and the benefits outweigh the costs. Researchers conducting HIV vaccine trials should provide information about the research and insure that samples represent Black men.
Thrombotic thrombocytopaenic purpura in HIV-infected patients
Authors: Miller R F , Scully M , Cohen H , Roedling S , Starke R , Edwards S G , Machin S J
Published: August 2005

Thrombotic thrombocytopaenic purpura (TTP) results from deficiency of von Willebrand factor-cleaving protease (vWF-cp) activity. Eight HIV-infected patients presented with TTP, representing 12.5% of all TTP treated at this centre. In four patients presentation with TTP revealed underlying HIV infection, the other four patients were previously known to be HIV infected, with plasma exchange and highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) all recovered. Normalization of vWF-cp activity was associated with recovery. Relapse occurred in two patients who discontinued HAART against medical advice, suggesting that HIV has a causal role in this condition. Given the clear benefit from HAART in addition to plasma exchange, these data suggest that all patients presenting with TTP should undergo HIV testing.
Feasibility of voluntary counselling and testing services for HIV among pregnant women presenting in labour in Pune, India
Authors: Bharucha K E , Sastry J , Shrotri A , Sutar S , Joshi A , Bhore A V , Phadke M A , Bollinger R C , Shankar A V
Published: August 2005

Factors affecting the eligibility and acceptability of voluntary counselling and rapid HIV testing (VCT) were examined among pregnant women presenting in labour in Pune, India. Of the 6702 total women appearing at the delivery room from April 2001 to March 2002, 4638 (69%) were admitted for normal delivery. The remaining women presented with obstetrical complications, delivered immediately or were detected to be in false labour. Overall, 2818 (61%) of the admitted women had been previously tested for HIV during their pregnancy. If previously seen in the hospital's affiliated antenatal clinic, the likelihood of being previously tested was 89%, in contrast to 27% of women having prenatal care elsewhere. Of the admitted women, 3436 (74.3%) were assessed for their eligibility for rapid HIV VCT in the delivery room. Only 1322 (38%) of these women were found to be in early labour and without severe pain or complications, and therefore eligible for rapid HIV screening in the delivery room (DR). Of those 1322 eligible women, only 582 (44%) consented and were tested for HIV, of whom nine (1.6%) were found to be HIV-infected. Of the 1674 women arriving in the DR with no evidence of previous HIV testing, through this DR screening programme, we identified four women with HIV who could now benefit from treatment with ART. Given the high rates of HIV testing in the antenatal clinic at this site and the challenges inherent to conducting DR screening, alternatives such as post-partum testing should be considered to help reduce maternal to infant transmission in this population.
70/30 Insulin Algorithm Versus Sliding Scale Insulin
Authors: Schoeffler J Megan , Rice Dennis AK , Gresham Douglas G
Published: August 2005

BACKGROUND:

The medical literature supports the fact that sliding scale dosing of insulin is an ineffective means to control blood glucose concentrations. Despite this, many clinicians still use sliding scale insulin (SSI) regimens. A better tool for controlling hyperglycemia is clearly needed.

OBJECTIVE:

To compare the efficacy of an algorithm using 70/30 insulin with traditional SSI dosing for glycemic control in hospitalized patients with type 2 diabetes.

METHODS:

A prospective, cohort, comparative trial was conducted at a 644-bed, 2-hospital, regional referral health system. Patients were screened for enrollment based on orders received in the pharmacy for sliding scale dosing of insulin. Patients were treated either following an algorithm using 70/30 insulin twice daily or traditional SSI dosing as written by the prescribing physician.

RESULTS:

Twenty patients with type 2 diabetes were involved in this pilot trial: 10 were treated with the 70/30 insulin algorithm and 10 received a physician-determined traditional SSI regimen. Patients treated based on the 70/30 insulin algorithm achieved better glycemic control (p = 0.042). No difference between the groups was detected in the average number of insulin units administered, insulin injections, or days patients spent on their respective insulin regimens.

CONCLUSIONS:

Glycemic control with the 70/30 insulin algorithm was superior to traditional SSI dosing.
The Ethnicity of Caste
Authors: Reddy Deepa S
Published: August 2005

The category of "caste" has had a long history both in and out of the Indian subcontinent, one that is frequently intertwined with that of "race." From H. H. Risley's use of late-nineteenth century European race science in anthropometric research, to Max Müeller's articulation of the Aryan theory of race and pan-Africanist expressions of racial solidarity with the lower castes of India, caste has frequently been redefined and politicized by being drawn into wider discourses about race. Informed by this complex history, this essay asks how "race" and "caste" have come to serve as key metaphors of socio-political struggle, illuminating one-another and emerging as potent rhetorical strategies of social critique, particularly in India but increasingly also in more global contexts. I argue that Dalit groups in contemporary India move their concerns into global forums such as the 2001 UN World Conference Against Racism by appropriating ideas about caste and religion that have long been used to mystify the local and "native" inhabitants—ideas that are themselves the subjects of established ethnographic critique. As such, this essay remains aware of the difficulties of bringing anthropological concerns to bear on analyses of on-going political struggle.
Queen of the Chinese Colony: Gender, Nation, and Belonging in Diaspora
Authors: Siu Lok C. D
Published: August 2005

This essay examines the dynamics among diasporic Chinese in Central America and Panama by analyzing a beauty contest and the convention in which it takes place. I argue that diasporic identity and belonging are negotiated through and alongside gender by showing how gender difference is structured into the convention and how the beauty contest, as amicrocosm of the Chinese in this region, reflects the broader social conflicts and cultural transformations of the diaspora. Examining the contestants' performances and the debates they inspired, I illustrate how ethnicity, national difference, immigrant generations, and racial background become key sites where diasporic Chineseness and belonging are negotiated and reworked.
Terror, Aid and Organization: The Haredi Disaster Victim Identification Teams (ZAKA) in Israel
Authors: Stadler Nurit , Ben-Ari Eyal , Mesterman Einat
Published: August 2005

Terror attacks are forms of social and cultural disasters that cause extensive harm to humans and the social order. Yet despite the sudden chaos they wreak and their prevalence during the last decade or so, most societies have only recently created organizational forms that can manage and handle their threatening potential. This article analyzes the relations between terror attacks and the emergence of new organizations specializing in death and disaster. We explore this issue through the case of ZAKA, the Ultra-Orthodox Identification Teams for Victims of Disasters in Israel. This organization sheds light on how in highly complex and bureaucratized countries new types of specialists in death by terror developed. From an anthropological point of view, organizational specialists in death by terror are expected to act proficiently on the basis of existing cultural norms and principles. Such organizational bodies are not only expressions of social responses to the unexpected disorder produced by terror but are also powerful cultural agents that produce new meanings. Concretely, not all organizations gain trust and support from the general public to allow its members to touch, treat and recompose the bodies of the dead, we contend that ZAKA legitimizes its goals and actions through the amalgamation of three unique elements: (a) Given that ZAKA's practices are grounded in Jewish traditions concerning death and burial, the organization use these cultural roots to gain acceptance of treating victims of terror attacks. In this way, the actions of ZAKA volunteers are legitimized since they fulfill central religious (Talmudic) duties concerning death and the treatment of corpses. (b) The organization mixes practices and knowledge from different institutions and bodies such as the police, military or medical organizations. Moreover, ZAKA cooperates with various state organizations that specialize in death events and disasters. This combination not only reinforces the legitimacy of their actions but turns them into social experts for dealing with the victims of terror and mass death. (c) During a terror event the organization deals not only with death but also with aid to, and treatment of, the injured. By giving them social permission to treat, touch and recompose the human flesh, society also sanctions them to touch the very basis of social order: treating the human body and dealing with questions of life and death in the public sphere. We end by offering a number of thoughts about the wider implications of our case study.
Orthodox Hybridities: Anti-Syncretism and Localization in the Evangelical Christianity of Thailand
Authors: Zehner Edwin
Published: August 2005

At the turn of the twenty-first century, evangelicals employ a brand of anti-syncretism that incorporates a substantial amount of hybridity. This creativity inside a framework of seeming inflexibility is one of the things that helps evangelical Christianity localize while "holding its shape." It also enables conversions to be grounded in idiosyncratic experience while enabling those conversions to present as orthodox. Employing interviews with ethnic Thai and Sino-Thai who have converted from Buddhism to Christianity, the article explores two mechanisms of hybridity that can be observed among Thai evangelicals. Hybridities of extension fit locally specific material into frames that are transculturally shared, while hybridities of transition exploit cognitive and terminological overlaps that facilitate a person's movement across otherwise discrete religious boundaries. Together, these orthodox hybridities give evangelical Christianity a feel of the local while preserving converts' sense of being loyal to a transculturally shared set of teachings.
Dialogic Selves: Discursive Strategies in Transcultural Collaborative Autobiographies by Rita and Jackie Huggins and Mark and Gail Mathabane
Authors: Davis Rocío G
Published: August 2005

This article addresses the project of transcultural collaborative autobiographies by Rita and Jackie Huggins and Mark and Gail Mathabane to read how the intersection of racial policies in Australia and the US, and discourses on race and racial relations, affect their personal stories. These texts make significant structural and thematic points in the context of collaborative discourse, illustrating how a particular sense of selfhood evolves and is performed in and through this multilayered dialogue.
From Epitaph to Obituary: The Death Politics of T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound
Authors: Demoor Marysa
Published: August 2005

This essay explores how modernist writers adopted and adapted the epitaph, the obituary, and the memoir. In particular, posthumous homages by Eliot and Pound to Virginia Woolf, Henry James, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, and James Joyce show the two modernist poets reworking traditional memorial genres for their own purposes, by using such age-old salutes to dead colleagues to position themselves and their generation within literary history and the canon.