bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Inherited legal systems and effective rule of law: Africa and the colonial legacy
Authors: Joireman Sandra Fullerton
Published: August 2008

The question of whether particular types of legal institutions influence the effectiveness of the rule of law has long been answered with conjecture. Common law lawyers and judges tend to believe that the common law system is superior. This opinion is based on the idea that the common law system inherited from the British is more able to protect the rights of the individual than civil law judicial systems. Quite the opposite point of view can be found in lawyers from civil law countries, who may view the common law system as capricious and disorganised. This paper compares the effectiveness of the rule of law in common law and civil law countries in Africa, through a cross-national statistical comparison using Freedom House and Political Risk Services data. The comparison reveals that common law countries in Africa are generally better at providing ‘rule of law’ than are civil law countries.
Transmission belt for transnational capital or facilitator for development? Problematising the role of the state in the Maputo Development Corridor
Authors: Söderbaum Fredrik , Taylor Ian
Published: August 2008

This article problematises the role of the state in what is claimed to be the ‘flagship’ of the South African Spatial Development Initiative (SDI) programme, the Maputo Development Corridor (MDC). The purpose is to assess to what extent the state is best understood as a ‘transmission belt’ for transnational capital or as a ‘facilitator’ for development. The study reveals several flaws in the MDC which reinforce the role of the state as a transmission belt for transnational capital, rather than as a facilitator for development. For instance, the neo-liberal market fundamentalism and big-bang approach inherent in the MDC spells ‘jobless growth’. Similarly, the notion that ‘good governance is less government’, implies that the state is to a large extent reduced to an ‘investment promotion agency’. Having said this, the MDC does contain several novel and positive features, and its problematic aspects can be overcome through some strategic changes in the MDC approach. These may be summarised as a heavier focus on ‘development’, a more pro-active state, and more comprehensive and inclusive governance structures.
Understanding Melayu (Malay) as a Source of Diverse Modern Identities
Authors: Reid Anthony
Published: August 2008

This article attempts to bring together recent literature about the typology of nationalism, with the ways in which ‘Malay’ or ‘Melayu’ have been used as the core of an ethnie or a nationalist project. Different meanings of ‘Melayu’ were salient at different times in Sumatra, in the Peninsula and in the eastern Archipelago, and the Dutch and British used their respective translations of it very differently. Modern ethno-nationalist projects in Malaysia and Brunei made ‘Melayu’ a contested and often divisive concept, whereas its translation into the hitherto empty term ‘Indonesia’ might have provided an easier basis for territorial, or even ultimately civic, nationalism in that country.
The Search for the ‘Origins’ of Melayu
Authors: Andaya Leonard Y.
Published: August 2008

Based on linguistic, archaeological, and historical evidence, this essay describes the environment that produced the culture associated with the ‘Melayu’, or the Malays. It also argues that Melayu ethnicity was never predetermined but was contested on both sides of the Straits of Melaka.
A History of an Identity, an Identity of a History: The Idea and Practice of ‘Malayness’ in Malaysia Reconsidered
Authors: A. B. Shamsul
Published: August 2008

This article is a critique of ethnicity theories based on essentialism – the idea that ethnic traits are innate (essences) both in the individual and the ‘ethnie’ as a social group – which have been adopted, wittingly or unwittingly, by historians in mainstream Malaysian historiography in their effort to explain the formation of ‘Malay-Malayness’ as a social identity. It proposes instead that Malay ethnicity is not innate but rather learned or constructed, and Malay-Malayness has been created as a result of intersecting historical, cultural and social factors at a particular moment in a culture's life and history. Indeed, Malay-Malayness has been constructed by a colonial historiography and subsequently adopted uncritically by most historians in postcolonial Malaysia, both Malays and non-Malays.
The Dynamics of Resistance and Emulation in Makassarese History
Authors: Cummings William
Published: August 2008

This article situates historical struggles for supremacy in early modern Makassar within a framework of intrafamily rivalry in which cooperation and competition coexisted. Through a reading of two texts, it examines the connections between resistance and emulation in a society that viewed social and political relationships within the structuring context of kinship. These contradictory impulses produced tensions fostering cycles of alliance and rivalry characteristic of centre–periphery dynamics in South Sulawesi.
Phased activity in Heterorhabditis megidis infective juveniles
Authors: DEMPSEY C. M. , GRIFFIN C. T.
Published: August 2008

The infectivity of Heterorhabditis megidis infective juveniles (IJs) increases during storage in water. We investigated whether this change can be related to other features of the IJs' behaviour. IJs were stored in water for 4 weeks at 20 °C, and the following parameters were assessed at intervals: infectivity for Galleria mellonella, dispersal in sand, host-finding on agar, and the percentage of IJs active in water. In addition, the behaviour of the IJs in water was described using 7 categories. Immediately after emerging from the host cadaver, IJs were highly active (99% of IJs in water were active and 65% displayed ‘waving’, the normal method of forward movement). Maximum responsiveness to host volatiles in an agar plate assay was recorded on day 2 (69% of IJs moved from the point of application and 44% of all IJs in the agar arena moved towards a host) and maximum dispersal in sand (5·8 cm) on day 0. These tendencies declined gradually with age, while infectivity underwent a significant increase from 11 nematodes per insect on day 0 to 38 nematodes per insect on day 9. Three phases could be distinguished in the behaviour of H. megidis IJs: an initial dispersal phase, during which infectivity was low; an infective phase, during which dispersal tendency was declining, and a third phase during which all behaviours (dispersal, infectivity and activity) were declining. Over the 4-week storage period, infectivity of H. megidis IJs was correlated (R2 = 0·83) with the percentage time IJs engaged in ‘head thrusting’ (a behaviour that resembles penetration). There is no evidence that the observed increase in infectivity of H. megidis strain UK211 could be accounted for by a generally greater level of motor activity, nor by an increase in responsiveness to volatile host cues, and it is suggested that it is due to an increased tendency to attempt penetration.
Restricted genetic and antigenic diversity of Plasmodium falciparum under mesoendemic transmission in the Venezuelan Amazon
Authors: TAMI A. , GRUNDMANN H. , SUTHERLAND C. , MCBRIDE J. S. , CAVANAGH D. R. , CAMPOS E. , SNOUNOU G. , BARNABÉ C. , TIBAYRENC M. , WARHURST D. C.
Published: August 2008

The study of genetic diversity in malaria populations is expected to provide new insights for the deployment of control measures. Plasmodium falciparum diversity in Africa and Asia is thought to reflect endemicity. In comprehensive epidemiological surveys reported here the genetic and antigenic structure of P. falciparum in the Venezuelan Amazon were studied over a 2-year period. DNA polymorphisms in glutamate-rich protein (GLURP), merozoite-surface protein 1 (MSP1) and MSP2 genes, in a multicopy element (PfRRM), all showed low diversity, 1 predominant genotype, and virtually no multi-clonal infections. Moreover, linkage disequilibrium was seen between GLURP, MSP1 and MSP2. Specific antibody responses against MSP1 and MSP2 recombinant antigens reflected the low genetic diversity observed in the parasite population. This is unexpected in a mesoendemic area, and suggests that the low diversity here may not only relate to endemicity but to other influences such as a bottleneck effect. Linkage disequilibrium and a predominant genotype may imply that P. falciparum frequently propagates with an epidemic or clonal population structure in the Venezuelan Amazon.
The Neglected Controversy Over Metaphysical Realism
Authors: McGowan Mary Kate
Published: August 2008

In what follows, I motivate and clarify the controversy over metaphysical realism (the claim that there is a single objective way that the world is) by defending it against two objections. A clear understanding of why these objections are misguided goes a considerable distance in illuminating the complex and controversial nature of m-realism. Once the complex thesis is defined, some objections to it are considered. Since m-realism is such a complex and controversial thesis, it cannot legitimately be treated as inevitable unless, of course, there are no viable alternatives to it. For this reason, a brief defense of non-realist metaphysics is offered. Since m-realism is both controversial and substantive, a commitment to it requires both explicit recognition and sustained defense.
Hume on Induction: A Genuine Problem or Theology's Trojan Horse?
Authors: Boulter Stephen J.
Published: August 2008

In this paper I offer a straight solution to Hume's problem of induction by defusing the assumptions on which it is based. I argue that Hume's problem only arises if we accept (i) that there is no necessity but logical necessity, or (ii) that it is unreasonable to believe that there is any form of necessity in addition to logical necessity. I show that Hume's arguments in favour of (i) and (ii) are unsound. I then offer a suggestion as to how the weakness of his arguments has escaped detection. Finally, having claimed that there remains a surmountable problem with inductive arguments, I end by characterising that problem and a possible approach to its solution.
The Simple View of Colours and the Reference of Perceptual Terms
Authors: Anna Gabriele De
Published: August 2008

This essay deals with the problem of the status of colours, traditionally considered as the paradigmatic case of secondary qualities: do colours exist only as aspects of experience or are they real properties of objects, existing independently of human and animal perception? Recently, John Campbell has argued in favour of the simple view of colours, according to which colours are real properties of objects. I discuss the place of Campbell's position in a debated which was started by John Mackie and continued by John McDowell, and defend it from a criticism due to Michael Smith. I conclude that the simple view is a philosophically credible position. Subsequently, I consider an alleged contradiction between the simple view and semantic externalism pointed out by Jim Edwards. I suggest that a supporter of the simple view may consistently maintain semantic externalism, if she also accepts epistemological externalism about the canonical warrant of perceptual judgements.
Some More Thoughts About Thought and Talk: Davidson and Fellows on Animal Belief
Authors: Beisecker David
Published: August 2008

Donald Davidson's argument that non-linguistic creatures lack beliefs rests on two premises: (1) to be a believer, one must have the concept of belief, and (2) to have the concept of belief, one must interpret the utterances of others. However, Davidson's defense of these premises is overly compressed and unconvincing. In a recent issue of Philosophy, Roger Fellows provides new arguments for these premises. In this paper, I explain why I'm not persuaded by Fellows' attempt to bolster Davidson's line of reasoning and cast doubt on Davidson's and Fellows' overall strategy of attaching special significance to the concept of belief.
Seasonality of suicide in Singapore: data from the equator
Authors: PARKER G. , GAO F. , MACHIN D.
Published: August 2008

Background. Studies in the northern and southern hemispheres consistently identify seasonal patterns in suicidal deaths. In many such studies, bimodal yearly peaks have been described for females as against unimodal ones for males. The current study examines the monthly variation in suicidal deaths in Singapore to determine if any seasonal patterns exist in an equatorial region.

Methods. Monthly suicidal death data over the decade 1989–98 were examined for the whole sample and for gender- and age-specific subgroups. Both von Mises' distribution and harmonic analysis techniques were used to interpret the data.

Results. Among the 2013 male and 1382 female suicides, there was minimal variation in patterning of suicidal deaths. We found a weak suggestion of a later peak for the females in mid-May as opposed to mid-February for the males, and the peaks for those less than 25 years of age were 5–6 months later than for the older age groups. The magnitude of all peaks was, however, very small suggesting chance variation. The harmonic analyses confirmed that patterning was ‘randomly' rather than ‘seasonally' determined.

Conclusion. In an equatorial region, there was no evidence of any ‘seasonal' patterning of suicidal deaths.
Life events and depression in a community sample of siblings
Authors: RIJSDIJK F. V. , SHAM P. C. , STERNE A. , PURCELL S. , McGUFFIN P. , FARMER A. , GOLDBERG D. , MANN A. , CHERNY S. S. , WEBSTER M. , BALL D. , ELEY T. C. , PLOMIN R.
Published: August 2008

Background. The overall aim of the GENESiS project is to identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for anxiety/depression, and to examine the interaction between these loci and psychosocial adversity. Here we present life-events data with the aim of clarifying: (i) the aetiology of life events as inferred from sibling correlations; (ii) the relationship between life events and measures of anxiety and depression, as well as neuroticism; and (iii) the interaction between life events and neuroticism on anxiety/depression indices.

Methods. We assessed the occurrence of one network and three personal life-event categories and multiple indices of anxiety/depression including General Health Questionnaire, Anhedonic Depression, Anxious Arousal and Neuroticism in a large community-based sample of 2150 sib pairs, 410 trios and 81 quads. Liability threshold models and raw ordinal maximum likelihood were used to estimate within-individual and between-sibling correlations of life events. The relationship between life events and indices of emotional states and personality were assessed by multiple linear regression and canonical correlations.

Results. Life events showed sibling correlations of 0·37 for network events and between 0·10 and 0·19 for personal events. Adverse life events were related to anxiety and depression and, to a less extent, neuroticism. Trait-vulnerability (as indexed by co-sib's neuroticism, anxiety and depression) accounted for 11% and life events for 3% of the variance in emotional states. There were no interaction effects.

Conclusions. Life events show moderate familiality and are significantly related to symptoms of anxiety and depression in the community. Appropriate modelling of life events in linkage and association analyses should help to identify QTLs for depression and anxiety.
No evidence of increased risk for schizophrenia or bipolar affective disorder in persons with aneuploidies of the sex chromosomes
Authors: MORS O. , MORTENSEN P. B. , EWALD H.
Published: August 2008

Background. Several case reports and reviews have suggested an increased incidence of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder among persons with sex chromosome aneuploidies, but this observation may have been caused by biased sampling.

Methods. The 1122 individuals with sex chromosome aneuploidies registered in the Danish Cytogenetic Central Register were screened in the Danish Psychiatric Central Register for admissions with schizophrenia or bipolar affective disorder. Both registers are population based and have existed since 1968 and 1969 respectively. Relative risks were calculated for schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder and either schizophrenia or bipolar disorder combined as one phenotype. Since hospitalization for a psychiatric disorder increases the probability that a cytogenetic examination is performed, the relative risks could be inflated, and they were therefore adjusted accordingly.

Results. Aneuploidies of the X or Y chromosomes were not associated with an increased risk of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. The occurrence of the combined phenotype including both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder was significantly reduced among persons with Turner's syndrome and significantly increased among individuals with the 47, XYY karyotype.

Conclusions. This population-based study did not find evidence supporting the presence of risk alleles for schizophrenia or bipolar disorder on the X chromosome or the pseudoautosomal region on the Y chromosome. The findings of an increased risk for the combined phenotype to XYY males and the reduced risk for persons with Turner's syndrome are interesting but difficult to explain with present neurobiological knowledge and inconsistent with the other findings of the study.
Duration of untreated psychosis: a critical examination of the concept and its importance
Authors: NORMAN ROSS M. G. , MALLA ASHOK K.
Published: August 2008

Background. The concept of duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) has recently attracted much interest because of its possible relationship to treatment outcome and implications for preventive efforts with reference to psychotic disorders, especially schizophrenia. In this paper we review critically the literature concerning the concept and its importance.

Methods. Articles concerned with measuring DUP and those that have been suggested to provide indirect or direct evidence of the effect of DUP on treatment outcome are reviewed.

Results. Evidence thus far suggests that DUP may be related to ease of reducing psychotic symptoms once treatment begins for first episode patients, but there is no evidence of a relationship to likelihood of relapse. There has been little investigation of the relationship of DUP to other long-term outcomes such as negative symptoms and cognitive functioning neither have the possible confounds of DUP been widely investigated or controlled.

Conclusions. It is important that there should be more thorough investigations of DUP, its correlates, and the extent to which it does mediate any advantages of earlier intervention.
Face processing in schizophrenia: defining the deficit
Authors: WHITTAKER J. F. , DEAKIN J. F. W. , TOMENSON B.
Published: August 2008

Background. Abnormalities of face affect naming and face recognition occur in schizophrenia but it is not clear whether the deficits reflect wider underlying impairments of perception, memory, language or executive function.

Method. Twenty-six patients with schizophrenia were compared with 23 healthy volunteers on neuropsychological tests and tests of face and affect processing. Face and non-face tests were compared at four levels of processing: visuo-spatial perception, recognition memory, language and naming, and executive function. We examined relationships with drug dose, duration of illness and pre-morbid and current IQ.

Results. Patients and controls did not differ in estimated pre-morbid IQ but current IQ was 12 points lower in patients. At each level of processing there were correlated deficits of face and non-face processing in the patients that were mostly independent of IQ decline. Impaired face and non-face visuo-spatial function and recognition performance were generally correlated with drug dose. Impairments in naming face emotions were correlated with other non-face naming tasks independently of drug dose. Patients performed less well than controls in classifying faces by emotion while ignoring identity and this was associated with poorer performance in Wisconsin Card Sorting.

Conclusions. The pattern of results suggests that deficits in face processing reflect three wider neuropsychological impairments: a drug-related impairment of visual imagery, and disease-related impairments of semantic retrieval and executive function.
Stratum-specific likelihood ratios of two versions of the General Health Questionnaire
Authors: FURUKAWA T. A. , GOLDBERG, D. P. , RABE-HESKETH S. , ÜSTÜN T. B.
Published: August 2008

Background. In other branches of epidemiology, stratum specific likelihood ratios (SSLRs) have been found to be preferable to fixed best threshold approaches to screening instruments. This paper presents SSLRs of GHQ-12 and GHQ-28 and compares the SSLR method with the traditional optimal threshold approach.

Methods. Random effects meta-analysis and meta-regression were used to obtain pooled estimates of SSLRs of the two questionnaires for the 15 centres participating in the WHO study of Psychological Problems in General Health Care. We illustrated the use of SSLRs by applying them to random samples of patients from centres with different backgrounds.

Results. For developed and urban centres, the estimates of SSLRs were homogeneous for 10 out of 12 strata of the GHQ-12 and GHQ-28. For other centres, the overall results, which were heterogeneous for six out of 12 strata, were deemed the currently available best estimates. When we applied these results to centres with different prevalences of mental disorders and backgrounds, the estimates matched the actually observed closely. These examples showed how the SSLR approach is more informative than the traditional threshold approach.

Conclusions. Those working in developed urban settings can use the corresponding SSLRs with reasonable confidence. Those working in non-urban or developing areas may wish to use the overall results, while acknowledging that they must remain less certain until further research can explicate heterogeneity. These SSLRs have been incorporated into nomograms and spreadsheet programmes so that future researchers can swiftly derive the post-test probability for a patient or a group of patients from a pre-test probability and GHQ score.
Stability and change in milder psychiatric disorder over 7 years in a birth cohort
Authors: PAYKEL E. S. , HAYHURST H. , ABBOTT R. , WADSWORTH M.
Published: August 2008

Background. Relatively little is known regarding stability or change over time in milder psychiatric disorder identified in epidemiological studies.

Methods. Data were analysed on 2890 subjects from the 1946 British birth cohort study. Psychiatric disorder was identified at age 36 years using the Present State Examination Index of Definition and 7 years later at age 43 using a symptom scale, employing a threshold to give identical 6% prevalence of disorder. Predictors were derived from recent social data and information collected earlier in childhood and younger adulthood.

Results. Over 7 years, there was considerable movement between case and non-case status. Only 1·7% of the sample satisfied case criteria at both points. Approximately two-thirds of cases at age 36 had fallen below case levels at age 43 and two-thirds of cases at age 43 were new cases. Most onsets and remissions were between definite case and non-case levels, rather than around the threshold. The strongest predictors of onset and remission were recent demographic, social and life stress variables, and earlier reported nervous disorder, with contributions from parental social background, and life history variables in adolescence.

Conclusions. There is considerable change over 7 years in milder psychiatric disorder, with around two-thirds of it episodic or fluctuating and one-third chronic. Recent social variables are strong predictors of change or chronicity, with some lasting contributions from childhood social setting and earlier life history.
The neuroendocrinology of chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia
Authors: PARKER A. J. R. , WESSELY S. , CLEARE A. J.
Published: August 2008

Background. Disturbance of the HPA axis may be important in the pathophysiology of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and fibromyalgia. Symptoms may be due to: (1) low circulating cortisol; (2) disturbance of central neurotransmitters; or (3) disturbance of the relationship between cortisol and central neurotransmitter function. Accumulating evidence of the complex relationship between cortisol and 5-HT function, make some form of hypothesis (3) most likely. We review the methodology and results of studies of the HPA and other neuroendocrine axes in CFS.

Method. Medline, Embase and Psychlit were searched using the Cochrane Collaboration strategy. A search was also performed on the King's College CFS database, which includes over 3000 relevant references, and a citation analysis was run on the key paper (Demitrack et al. 1991).

Results. One-third of the studies reporting baseline cortisol found it to be significantly low, usually in one-third of patients. Methodological differences may account for some of the varying results. More consistent is the finding of reduced HPA function, and enhanced 5-HT function on neuroendocrine challenge tests. The opioid system, and arginine vasopressin (AVP) may also be abnormal, though the growth hormone (GH) axis appears to be intact, in CFS.

Conclusions. The significance of these changes, remains unclear. We have little understanding of how neuroendocrine changes relate to the experience of symptoms, and it is unclear whether these changes are primary, or secondary to behavioural changes in sleep or exercise. Longitudinal studies of populations at risk for CFS will help to resolve these issues.
Late-onset depression: genetic, vascular and clinical contributions
Authors: HICKIE I. , SCOTT E. , NAISMITH S. , WARD P. B. , TURNER K. , PARKER G. , MITCHELL P. , WILHELM K.
Published: August 2008

Background. Neuropsychiatric research needs to examine the relationships between aetiological, genotypic and clinical risk factors and behavioural phenotypes. These relationships can now be examined in older patients with depressive disorders.

Methods. Key behavioural features, clinical and vascular risk factors and putative genotypes for late-onset neurodegenerative disorders and/or vascular disease were recorded in 78 older patients with depression (mean age = 54·9 years, S.D. = 14·1) and 22 healthy control subjects (mean age = 55·5 years, S.D. = 9·6).

Results. Two or more vascular risks were more common in older patients (65% v. 26% of control subjects, P < 0·01), and in patients with late-onset disorders (82% v. 57% in patients with early-onset disorders, P < 0·05). Patients with late-onset depression had a higher prevalence of the homozygous or heterozygous forms of the C677T mutation of the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase enzyme (MTHFR)(74% v. 48% in patients with early-onset disorders, P < 0·05). In a multivariate model, only presence of the MTHFR gene mutation predicted late-onset depression (odds ratio = 3·8, 95% CI = 1·1–12·9). Neither apolipoprotein E epsilon 4 or epsilon 2 was associated with depression, late-onset depression, cognitive impairment, or psychomotor change. Patients with apolipoprotein E epsilon 4 were less likely to have psychotic forms of depression.

Conclusions. Patients with late-onset depression had an increased rate of the C677T MTHFR gene mutation and other vascular risk factors. This suggests that a proportion of these patients may have genetically-determined and/or other vascular aetiologies. Patients at risk of these disorders may be assisted by currently-available preventative strategies.
A 25-year longitudinal, comparison study of the outcome of depression
Authors: BRODATY H. , LUSCOMBE G. , PEISAH C. , ANSTEY K. , ANDREWS G.
Published: August 2008

Background. There is still a relative paucity of information about the long-term course of depression.

Methods. Consecutive patients admitted to a teaching hospital psychiatry unit with symptoms of depression, previously assessed at 6 months and 2, 5 and 15 years after index admission, were reviewed at 25 years (N = 49, including eight informants of deceased probands, of an original 145 with major depression (DEPs)). Prospective psychiatric (N = 22) and retrospective surgical (N = 50) control groups assessed after 25 years were used for comparison.

Results. A further decade of follow-up confirmed the chronicity of depression. Of depressed patients (DEPs) followed for the full 25-year-period only 12% of the 49 original DEPs recovered and remained continuously well, 84% experienced recurrences, 2% experienced an unremitting course and another 2% died by suicide. Note that in the first 15-year-period 6% (9/145 DEPs) committed suicide, a further 38 died and 32 were lost to follow-up. They experienced an average of three episodes of depression over the 25 years. In the decade since the 15-year follow-up, 27% improved in clinical outcome (including four of five previously chronically depressed patients), 55% remained unchanged and 18% worsened; and the number of episodes per year declined. Patients initially diagnosed with neurotic or endogenous depression had similar long-term outcomes. The criteria for a current DSM-III-R disorder were met by 37% of DEPs, including 11% with depression or dysthymia. On the global assessment of functioning scale 78% of the DEPs had some impairment compared to 62% of psychiatric controls and 40% of surgical controls.

Conclusion. Even after 25 years, severe depressive disorders appear to have poor long-term outcomes. Patients with chronic outcomes over 15 years can improve when followed over longer periods.
A twin study of genetic and environmental influences on suicidality in men
Authors: FU Q. , HEATH A. C. , BUCHOLZ K. K. , NELSON E. C. , GLOWINSKI A. L. , GOLDBERG J. , LYONS M. J. , TSUANG M. T. , JACOB T. , TRUE M. R. , EISEN S. A.
Published: August 2008

Background. Previous studies that have examined genetic influences on suicidal behaviour were confounded by genetic vulnerability for psychiatric risk factors. The present study examines genetic influences on suicidality (i.e. suicidal ideation and/or suicide attempt) after controlling for the inheritance of psychiatric disorders.

Methods. Sociodemographics, combat exposure, lifetime DSM-III-R major depression, bipolar disorder, childhood conduct disorder, adult antisocial personality disorder, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, drug dependence, alcohol dependence and lifetime suicidal ideation and attempt were assessed in 3372 twin pairs from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry who were assessed in 1987 and 1992. Genetic risk factors for suicidality were examined in a multinomial logistic regression model. Additive genetic, shared environmental and non-shared environmental effects on suicidality were estimated using structural equation modelling, controlling for other risk factors.

Results. The prevalence of suicidal ideation and suicide attempt were 16·1% and 2·4% respectively. In a multinomial regression model, co-twin’s suicidality, being white, unemployment, being other than married, medium combat exposure and psychiatric disorders were significant predictors for suicidal ideation. Co-twin’s suicidality, unemployment, marital disruption, low education attainment and psychiatric disorders (except childhood conduct disorder) were significant predictors for suicide attempt. Model-fitting suggested that suicidal ideation was influenced by additive genetic (36%) and non-shared environmental (64%) effects, while suicide attempt was affected by additive genetic (17%), shared environmental (19%) and non-shared environmental (64%) effects.

Conclusions. There may be a genetic susceptibility specific to both suicidal ideation and suicide attempt in men, which is not explained by the inheritance of common psychiatric disorders.
Acculturation and suicide: a case–control psychological autopsy study
Authors: LEE C.-S. , CHANG J.-C. , CHENG A. T. A.
Published: August 2008

Background. The relationships between acculturation and suicide were investigated in East Taiwan.

Methods. Psychological autopsy interviews were conducted for consecutive suicides from two native Taiwanese groups (Atayal and Ami) (N = 30 for each group); each of them was matched with two controls for age, sex and area of residence. The Taiwan Aboriginal Acculturation Scale was used to measure the extent of acculturation.

Results. A lower degree of social assimilation was significantly associated with a higher risk of suicide in the Atayal and the male groups. In multivariable regression analysis, a significant effect of low social assimilation on the risk of suicide was found in Atayal and in men, even after controlling for the effects of ICD-10 depressive episode and emotionally unstable personality disorder. Meanwhile, there was a significant trend across low, moderate and high social assimilation on suicide risk in Atayal and in men.

Conclusions. For the native Taiwanese, the stress from rapid acculturation into the main Chinese society is crucial to their mental health. It might be reduced through targeted social and educational programmes.
Genetic and environmental influences on premenstrual symptoms in an Australian twin sample
Authors: TRELOAR S. A. , HEATH A. C. , MARTIN N. G.
Published: August 2008

Background. We aimed to explore the prevalence and factor structure of premenstrual symptoms in a sample of Australian twins; to investigate phenotypic associations between reported premenstrual symptoms, personality and reproductive dimensions; and to identify the relative contributions of genes and environment to premenstrual symptoms and the extent of genetic and environmental covariation with the personality trait Neuroticism and lifetime major depression.

Method. Seven hundred and twenty female twin pairs (454 monozygotic and 266 dizygotic) from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council Twin Register reported on experience of 17 premenstrual symptoms during the previous 12 months. In the same questionnaire twins also responded to questions on symptom states, and personality dimensions including neuroticism. Interview data enabling diagnosis of lifetime history of DSM-IV major depression were also available. We fitted univariate and multivariate genetic models to the data.

Results. Most frequently reported symptoms were breast tenderness/pain and bloating/weight gain, followed by affective symptoms. Twelve-month prevalence was 2·4% for the combination of symptoms and functional interference meeting a very rough approximation of DSM-III-R criteria for late luteal dysphoric disorder. Principal factor analysis identified a single premenstrual (PMS) factor. Additive genetic influences (44% of total variance) were identified for PMS. Although we found genetic correlations of 0·62 between reported PMS and neuroticism, and 0·70 with lifetime major depression, 39% of the genetic variance of PMS was not explained by these factors.

Conclusions. Our findings support the existence of genetic influences on premenstrual symptoms, but we were unable to distinguish between liability to symptom experience and symptom reporting. Retrospective reporting may have contributed to our finding that PMS genes were shared in part with neuroticism and liability to lifetime major depression.
The clinical epidemiology of hysteria: vanishingly rare, or just vanishing?
Authors: AKAGI HIROKO , HOUSE ALLAN
Published: August 2008

Vanish 1. intr. To disappear from sight or become invisible, esp. in a rapid and mysterious way (Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, 1972).

There is a well-known view that hysteria has virtually disappeared in the Western world. There are two versions of this argument: one is that there was never a clinical disorder that coincided with the diagnosis, and hysteria has now been reconstructed as something else (e.g. Micale, 1993). The other is that hysteria did exist but has now become much rarer than it was (most famously, Veith, 1965). According to this view, hysteria is to be found in patients from developing countries, but in Western countries it is ‘virtually a historical curiosity’ (BMJ 1976). It is the latter view that is – in our experience – most commonly held by our colleagues in general psychiatry. Yet, this opinion is not shared by those who are involved in the clinical care of patients with neurological disorders: ‘to a psychiatrist who sees patients on the medical and surgical services of a general hospital, it appears that hysteria remains a rather common phenomenon’ (Brownsberger, 1966). A number of descriptions from liaison psychiatry services support this opinion (Akagi & House, 2001). There are good reasons why it might be difficult to judge just how common (or rare) hysteria really is. Epidemiology depends on reliable case definition, case ascertainment and selection of a suitable population to study (Neugebauer et al. 1980), and each of these poses problems in the study of hysterical disorders.
Genetic and environmental contributions to cannabis dependence in a national young adult twin sample
Authors: LYNSKEY M. T. , HEATH A. C. , NELSON E. C. , BUCHOLZ K. K. , MADDEN P. A. F. , SLUTSKE W. S. , STATHAM D. J. , MARTIN N. G.
Published: August 2008

Background. This paper examines genetic and environmental contributions to risk of cannabis dependence.

Method. Symptoms of cannabis dependence and measures of social, family and individual risk factors were assessed in a sample of 6265 young adult male and female Australian twins born 1964–1971.

Results. Symptoms of cannabis dependence were common: 11·0% of sample (15·1% of men and 7·8% of women) reported two or more symptoms of dependence. Correlates of cannabis dependence included educational attainment, exposure to parental conflict, sexual abuse, major depression, social anxiety and childhood conduct disorder. However, even after control for the effects of these factors, there was evidence of significant genetic effects on risk of cannabis dependence. Standard genetic modelling indicated that 44·7% (95% CI = 15–72·2) of the variance in liability to cannabis dependence could be accounted for by genetic factors, 20·1% (95% CI = 0–43·6) could be attributed to shared environment factors and 35·3% (95% CI = 26·4–45·7) could be attributed to non-shared environmental factors. However, while there was no evidence of significant gender differences in the magnitude of genetic and environmental influences, a model which assumed both genetic and shared environmental influences on risks of cannabis dependence among men and shared environmental but no genetic influences among women provided an equally good fit to the data.

Conclusions. There was consistent evidence that genetic risk factors are important determinants of risk of cannabis dependence among men. However, it remains uncertain whether there are genetic influences on liability to cannabis dependence among women.
Acts of control in schizophrenia: dissociating the components of inhibition
Authors: BADCOCK J. C. , MICHIE P. T. , JOHNSON L. , COMBRINCK J.
Published: August 2008

Background. Inhibitory deficits have been frequently reported in schizophrenia. Such deficits are usually associated with activities of prefrontal cortex and related networks. An understanding of intentional inhibitory control requires knowledge of how actions are planned and initiated and the components involved in stopping these actions.

Methods. Patients with schizophrenia, a psychosis comparison group and a healthy control group participated in a visual choice reaction time (go) task and attempted to inhibit their responses to the go task when an auditory ‘stop’ signal was heard.

Results. Schizophrenia patients demonstrated significantly slower response execution but the estimated speed of inhibition was not significantly different from that of healthy controls. Both patient groups were impaired in their ability to inhibit a response across a range of stop-signal delays. The poorer performance of schizophrenia patients only was related to a difficulty in reliably triggering the inhibitory response.

Conclusions. Impaired response inhibition is not unique to schizophrenia. However, the nature of their problem is markedly different from that of other psychopathological groups. Possible neural mechanisms underpinning difficulties in triggering inhibitory responses and in the voluntary initiation of actions in schizophrenia are considered.
Dopamine transporter availability in symptomatic depressed patients with seasonal affective disorder and healthy controls
Authors: NEUMEISTER A. , WILLEIT M. , PRASCHAK-RIEDER N. , ASENBAUM S. , STASTNY J. , HILGER E. , PIRKER W. , KONSTANTINIDIS A. , KASPER S.
Published: August 2008

Background. During recent years hypotheses about the pathophysiology of seasonal affective disorder/winter type (SAD) have focused monoaminergic mechanisms. There is substantial evidence that serotonergic systems play an important role. The potential role of catecholaminergic pathways has not been fully explored.

Methods. Eleven drug-free, symptomatic depressed patients with SAD and 11 healthy age- and gender-matched healthy controls were invited to participate in a 123Iβ-CIT single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) study to assess striatal density of dopamine transporters (DATs). The cerebellum was used as reference region. Ratios were calculated between mean counts in left and right striatum and cerebellum. These ratios minus 1 represent specific/non-displaceable binding and are assumed to be directly related to DAT availability at the time of binding equilibrium.

Results. Displaceable 123Iβ-CIT binding in the area corresponding to the left striatum was significantly reduced in SAD patients compared to healthy controls (10·49±0·91 v. 11·95±1·54, respectively; 2-tailed P = 0·017, Mann–Whitney U test).

Conclusions. These data suggest reductions in the availability of striatal DAT binding sites in untreated symptomatic depressed SAD patients. It remains unclear whether these reductions represent a primary defect or an attempt to overcome a state of possible lowered dopamine availability in the synaptic cleft during a depressive episode of SAD. However, these findings provide evidence that brain dopaminergic systems may be involved in the pathophysiology of SAD.
Good-bye to the problem of evil, hello to the problem of veracity
Authors: COOPE CHRISTOPHER MILES
Published: August 2008

I start from Mill's words about Mansel and the problem of evil. In this
dispute Mansel has generally been thought to have come off worst. However, Mansel
was clearly right to this extent: that what would make a man a good man would not
be the same as what made God good. This is because, quite generally, what makes
something good of its kind, where we can talk about goodness at all, varies with the
kind. With Aristotle we must say: the criteria are fixed by the thing's ergon, or at
least by something analogous. On this account, it would seem that God must be
perfect, since as an intelligent agent He does supremely well what is in the nature of
an intelligent agent to do. This seems to lead to the right solution to the problem of
evil. But Mill also had something useful to contribute. He saw that there would be a
consequent difficulty in regard to revelation. This difficulty seems to be severe and
insufficiently discussed.
Insufficient reason in the ‘new cosmological argument’
Authors: DAVEY KEVIN , CLIFTON ROB
Published: August 2008

In a recent article in this journal, Richard Gale and Alexander Pruss
offer a new cosmological proof for the existence of God relying only on the Weak
Principle of Sufficient Reason, W-PSR. We argue that their proof relies on
applications of W-PSR that cannot be justified, and that our modal intuitions simply
do not support W-PSR in the way Gale and Pruss take them to.
9/11, Afghanistan, and Iraq: The Response of the New York Theatre
Authors: Carlson Marvin
Published: August 2008

Clearly the attacks of 11 September 2001 served as a defining moment in the contemporary American political, social, or cultural imagination, and led directly to the invasion of Afghanistan and the far more controversial invasion of Iraq. Both wars were brief, the modest forces of these countries quickly capitulating to the overwhelming military superiority of Western forces, headed by the United States. On 1 May 2003, President George Bush announced victory and the end of the war in Iraq. Although the much more difficult and complex problems of occupation and pacification clearly will continue for some time, 1 May may be taken to have marked an end of a major phase in the crisis that was initiated on 9/11.
Looking White, Acting Black: Cast(e)ing Fredi Washington
Authors: Black Cheryl
Published: August 2008

In October 1926 a leading African-American newspaper, the Pittsburgh Courier, featured adjacent photographs of two young women with a provocative caption: “White Actresses Who Open with Robeson and Bledsoe on Broadway during Week.” The actresses featured were Lottice Howell, starring with Jules Bledsoe in the musical play Deep River, and Edith Warren, starring with Paul Robeson in the drama Black Boy. In reporting this latest bit of integrated casting, however, the Courier was wrong on two counts. First, they misidentified the photographs, identifying Howell as Warren and Warren as Howell; and second, they misidentified Warren, whose real name was Fredi Washington, as “white.” Washington (who dropped the stage name during previews) was, by self-identification, Negro, or, in the language of the Savannah official who recorded her birth in 1903, “colored.”
The Political Afterlife of Eleonora Duse
Authors: Mather Christine C.
Published: August 2008

Eleonora Duse (1858–1924), international star, national treasure, and patriotic Italian died in Pittsburgh in April 1924. Those involved in the memorializing process contended for control of her body, attempting to interpolate her renown in competing narratives of national pride and the universality of art. Duse died at a turning point for Italy, the year Mussolini's Fascists became the majority party. For Mussolini and the Fascists, Duse's death became the occasion for a pageant of Italian pride through a series of carefully orchestrated ceremonies. At the same time, the theatre community tried to establish an artistic narrative more akin to the ideals Duse expressed in life. In the end, nationalist motifs dominated the memorial discourse. Duse's own assertions of the importance of spirit over corporeality became an ironic footnote to a story in which the actress's body stood in for the nation.
Dark Thoughts about [Theatre] History
Authors: Scott Virginia
Published: August 2008

Coetzee's nameless speaker, known only as “Mother,” is accused by her son of an excess of righteousness, and so might I be if I were to agree with her, at least in part, about that gang of thugs. Nonetheless, my hope for the future of the discipline does include the possibility that Clio will escape from the particular thug responsible for jargon and gibberish. Actually, nothing arouses darker thoughts in those of us who believe in lucid and stylish prose than sentences like “what is at stake here is the possibility that the cultural presence of the actor in theatre and in theatre history is delimited by material representational practices generated within a particular discursive site, and subject to the constraints of what can be enunciated about the self's contingent existence.” This may be perfectly clear to others, but I read it as a signal to a choir within which I do not sing, and I stop reading—a pity, since the topic is especially interesting to me and the author has important things to say. But, as Terry Eagleton says in his new book After Theory (the one presently receiving an international drubbing), “you can be difficult without being obscure.”