bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Baseball and society in the Caribbean
Authors: Zimbalist Andrew
Published: April 2013

[First paragraph]The Tropic of Baseball: Baseball in the Dominican Republic. Rob Ruck. Westport CT: Meckler, 1991. x + 205 pp. (Cloth n.p.)Trading with the Enemy: A Yankee Travels Through Castro's Cuba. TomMiller. New York: Atheneum, 1992. x + 338 pp. (Cloth US$ 24.00)Read Bart Giamatti's Take Time for Paradise (1989) or any of the other grand old game sentimentalists and you'11 discover that baseball somehow perfectly reflects the temperament of U.S. culture. This match, in turn, accounts for basebali's enduring and penetrating popularity in the United States. Read Ruck and Miller and you'11 learn that baseball is more popular and culturally dominant in the Dominican Republic and Cuba than it is to the north. The suppressed syllogism affirms that U.S. and Caribbean cultures hold intimate similarities. If that is true, this Caribbeanist has been out to lunch; then again, no one ever accused economists of having acute cultural sensibilities.
Adjusting lenses: discourse, power, and identity, at home and abroad
Authors: Palmié Stephan
Published: April 2013

[First paragraph]Schwarze Freiheit lm Dialog: Saint-Domingue 1791 - Haiti 1991. C. Herrmann Middelanis (ed.). Bielefeld: Hans Koek, 1992. 62 pp. (Paper n.p.)Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn. Karen McCarthy Brown. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991. x + 405 pp. (Cloth US$ 24.00, Paper US$ 13.00)Caribbean New York: Black Immigrants and the Politics of Race. Philip Kasinitz. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1992. xv + 280 pp. (Cloth US$ 39.95, Paper US$ 13.95)Ever since the first truly free nation of the Americas emerged from the agony of the Haitian Revolution, the western part of Hispaniola has been subject to torturous exertions of the European and American imagination. If, by reappropriating their own persons, the Haitians withheld a prime object of capitalist desire, their defiance was answered, in part, by the symbolic objectification of Haiti - this time not by merchants and empire-builders, but by philosophes, literati, and artists "organic" to various European and American regimes, anciens as well as nouveaux. Part of this was pragmatically motivated. The mere existence of Haiti spelled an immediate threat to the stability of New World polities predicated on the exploitation of unfree black labor. If slave revolts were endemic to the region, the events after 1791 seemed to exemplify the pandemic potential of black insurrection in its most virulent forms. Moreover, though direct connections to the events in St. Domingue could rarely be substantiated, the outbreaks of violence in Grenada, Demerara, Louisiana, St. Vincent, and Jamaica in the mid-1790s, and the subsequent proliferation (of real as well as imagined) plots in Cuba, Virginia, and Trinidad lent additional weight to fears aboutthe contagious nature of libertarian ideas (cf. Genovese 1979 and Geggus 1989 for rather different assessments of the reality behind such perceptions). Hence the frantic attempts to establish a cordon sanitaire between the source of revolutionary disease and those slave populations still uncontaminated - a course of action which may well represent one of the first instances of genuinely international information control. Yet slaveholders' recensions of the Haitian Revolution as symptomatic of a morbid process in need of containment did not exhaust its semantic potential.
Making sense of the native Caribbean
Authors: Hulme Peter
Published: April 2013

Critique of recent attempts to make sense of the history and anthropology of the native Caribbean. These works are based on the writings of Columbus and his companions and assume that there were 2 tribes: the Arawaks and Caribs. Author argues however that much work is needed to untangle the complex imbrication of native Caribbean and European colonial history.
Shamans, shepherds, scientists, and others in Jamaican fiction
Authors: Johnson Joyce
Published: April 2013

Study of the evolution of the character of the Obeah practioner in a selection of novels set in Jamaica and written in the late 19th and 20th c. Author relates the changing image of the Obeah practioner to changes in social outlook and demonstrates one way in which literature responds to changing social relationships. Portraits of the Obeah practioner became increasingly complex as fiction was placed in an historical revisionist framework.
Kago Buku : notes by captain Kago from Tabiki Tapahoni River, Suriname, written in Afaka script
Authors: Dubelaar C.N. , Pakosie André
Published: April 2013

The Afaka script is an indigenous syllabic script designed in the early 20th c. Ndjuka is the only creole language in the world with its own script. The 19 Kago texts (1920-30) that are transcribed, translated, and explained here offer much material for the study of syllabic scripts and Maroon societies.
Goodby Columbus and all that: history and textual criticism
Authors: Ruiz Teofilo F.
Published: April 2013

[First paragraph]Columbus. FELIPE FERNANDEZ-ARMESTO. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. xxvii + 218 pp. (Cloth US$ 16.95, Paper US$ 6.99)The Worlds of Christopher Columbus. WILLIAM D. PHILLIPS, JR. & CARLA RAHN PHILLIPS. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992. xii + 322 pp. (Cloth US$ 27.95)In Search of Columbus: The Sources for the First Voyage. DAVID HENIGE. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1991. xiii + 359 pp. (Cloth US$ 29.95)Columbus and the Golden World of the Island Arawaks: The Story of the First Americans and Their Caribbean Environment. D.J.R. WALKER. Kingston, Jamaica: Ian Randle, 1992. 320 pp. (Cloth US$ 12.95)By the time this review appears in print, the Quincentenary celebrations and/or deprecations of the event will be slowly fading into most welcomed oblivion. There will be, of course, the unavoidable local commemorations of specific events: the discovery of such and such island, the anniversary of some European misdeed, the struggle for the valley of Mexico; but the collective remembrance of the Encounter/Discovery will have been allowed to run its course. In truth, after a veritable flood of publications, seminars, operas, protests, and ghastly movies, one is not too sorry to see the whole affair put safely away for another century. If there is any consolation to this continuous process of recovered memories and history, it is that a good number of sensible and scholarly works have been published - including some of those reviewed here - which demolish the idealization and glorification of the Atlantic enterprise and set the history of the Encounter/Discovery within a proper historical context.
The politics of publication: Bartolomé de las Casas's 'the devastation of the Indies'
Authors: Adorno Rolena
Published: April 2013

[First paragraph]The Devastation of the Indies: A Brief Account. BARTOLOMÉ DE LAS CASAS. Translated by Herma Briffault. Introduction by Bill M. Donovan. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992. 138 pp. (Paper US$ 11.95)The 1992 Johns Hopkins University Press publication of Bartolom� de las Casas's The Devastation of the Indies: A Brief Account has been, I am told, a commercial success. Regrettably, it is a scholarly failure. The translation - a reprint of a 1974 version - is so inaccurate that it barely deserves to go by the name, and the introductory essay that accompanies it repeats the old clich�s and familiar misunderstandings that one commonly reads about Las Casas's life and work. The shortcomings of both the translation and the introduction could have been overcome by a deeper engagement with Las Casas's works and greater attention to basic information about sixteenth-century Spanish history.
Neither sweet nor nutritious
Authors: Hagelberg G.B.
Published: April 2013

[First paragraph]Sugar. GEORGE C. ABBOTT. London: Routledge, 1990. xv + 396 pp. (Cloth £45.00)The Making of a Sugar Giant: Tate and Lyle 1859-1989. PHILIPPE CHALMIN. Translated by Erica Long-Michalke. London: Harwood Academie Publishers, 1990. xvii + 782 pp. (Cloth US$ 57.00 or £32.00)Sugar has about as many facets as there are faces to a sucrose crystal: binder, bulking agent, cariogenic factor, chemical, colorant, commodity, energy source, fermentation substrate, flavor enhancer, medication, preservative, stabilizer, sweetener, and texture modifier are aspects that immediately come to mind. Millions of people and billions of dollars are employed worldwide in the production and marketing of what has become one of the basic foodstuffs of humanity. In the Caribbean and elsewhere, sugar has been the mortar in the building of nations. Sugar is a field of inquiry for all kinds of professionals outside the industry - natural and social scientists; bankers, civil servants, politicians, and trade unionists; journalists and librarians; doctors, engineers, food technologists, and nutritionists - and there has long been a need for an overview that answers their questions (or suggests where answers may be found) and provides a conceptual frame of reference, something along the lines of the outstanding but now dated The World's Sugar: Progress and Policy by Vladimir P. Timoshenko & Boris C. Swerling (1957) or the International Sugar Council's The World Sugar Economy: Structure and Policies (1963).
Decentralization, Imperialism, and Ottoman Sovereignty in the Arab Lands before 1914
Authors: Atçıl Abdurrahman
Published: April 2013

Before the First World War, Shakīb Arslān’s political views and polemic against the Ottoman Administrative Decentralization Party was primarily based on his and his family’s experiences in the politics of Mount Lebanon since 1861. His contacts with Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī and Muḥammad ʿAbduh did not inspire him to adopt a pan-Islamist or reformist stance. When he became involved in politics at the Ottoman imperial level after 1911, he called for strengthening Ottoman central control in the Arab lands. He interpreted the demands of decentralization and autonomy as the desire to establish a political system along the lines of the special administration in Mount Lebanon, which he viewed as an invitation to increase of European influence. He therefore accused those who promoted decentralization of dishonesty and treason. His essential motive at this time was to preserve and justify the strength and control of the Ottoman center. His view of Islam as a political unifier did not have a reformist edge, but was designed as a counterpoise to the idea of Arab exclusivity.
Muḥammad Jamīl Bayhum and the Woman Question
Authors: Zachs Fruma
Published: April 2013

This article sheds light on Muḥammad Jamīl Bayhum’s (1887–1978) activities and vision, and his historiographical writings on women which have received little scholarly attention. In this respect it is not a comparative study of Bayhum’s interpretations or the historical reality of women’s lives but rather a re-assessment of Bayhum’s historical oeuvres, and his synthesis of women’s history. The article examines the ways in which Bayhum’s historical writings, which were part of his political and national vision, contributed to constructing a local Muslim and Arab historiography of women during the 20th century. It presents Bayhum as an advocate of women’s social and political rights, who favored the recognition of women as citizens (or their counterpart in modern Lebanese and Arab societies), both during the period of French colonialism and in the post-colonial era.
Days like Nights Indeed?
Authors: Peled-Shapira Hilla
Published: April 2013

This paper deals with the methods which the Kurdish-Iraqi expatriate poet Buland Akram al-Ḥaydarī (1926 Baghdad–1996 London) used to express his experiences and feelings of exile as the representative of an entire generation of writers, and describes the relationship between intellectuals and the regime in Iraq in the mid-20th century. It analyzes the manner in which these methods contribute to the dissemination of his message in the process of literary communication. The main artistic method which will be examined is that of patterns and themes of time in his poems and their meanings, based on the collection Khuṭuwāt fī l-ghurba (Steps in Exile), in addition to other artistic devices found in his other works, in order to show how they contribute to understanding the evolution of ways of expression in Modern Iraqi literature versus Classical Arabic compositions. The paper consists of three sections: an introduction to cultural life in Iraq in the mid-20th century and the exile experienced by leftist writers; the unique artistic devices used by al-Ḥaydarī in his poems; and a comparison between expressions of time in Classical Arabic poetry and in the works of al-Ḥaydarī and his contemporaries, as a result of their relations with the regime.
The Last Almohads: Universal Sovereignty between North Africa and the Crown of Aragon
Authors: Fancy Hussein
Published: April 2013

Abstract

Grounded in Romance, Latin, and Arabic archival sources, this article traces the journey of the last Almohad princes, the sons of the caliph Abū Dabbūs, from North Africa into the realms of the Crown of Aragon and back to North Africa again. It aims not only to repair two halves of a curious and little known history but also argues that the disciplinary boundaries that have divided the study of Iberia and North Africa have had enduring consequences on the interpretation of the relationship between these regions. From the Crown of Aragon’s alliance with Abū Zayd, the last Almohad governor of Valencia, to its attempt to restore the sons of Abū Dabbūs to the throne in North Africa, this essay argues that the Aragonese kings asserted their aspirations to imperial authority not against but rather over and through the legacy of Almohads. An appendix includes a new edition of an extraordinary bilingual charter from the Archives of the Crown of Aragon (ACA) in Barcelona.
“The Types of Wisdom Are Two in Number”: Judah ibn Tibbon’s Quotation from the Iḥyā’ ‘ulūm al-Dīn
Authors: Pearce S.J.
Published: April 2013

Abstract

The present study bears out an early twentieth-century suggestion that the twelfth-century Andalusi physician, translator, merchant and lexicographer Judah ibn Tibbon quoted directly from the Iḥyā’ ‘ulūm al-dīn, the theological magnum opus of Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī, in the ethical will he wrote to his son Samuel. In addition to demonstrating, through a consideration of lexicographical evidence, that a sentence from that summa was indeed quoted, in Hebrew translation, in the text of the ethical will, the present article will set that quotation into its context as a part of the Tibbonid drive toward literal, word-for-word translation from Arabic into Hebrew. It will further consider the significance of the authorial decision by Judah ibn Tibbon, who fled Granada for Provence following the advent of Almohad rule in Iberia to include, alongside Andalusi sources, direct quotation from al-Ghazālī, a text that formed part of the intellectual underpinning of the Almohad movement.
Ablation, thermal stability/transport and mechanical investigations of modified nanokaolinite impregnated acrylonitrile butadiene rubber composites
Authors: Iqbal Nadeem , Sagar Sadia , Khan Mohammad Bilal , Rafique Hafiz Muhammad
Published: April 2013

Modified nanokaolinite was uniformly dispersed in acrylonitrile butadiene rubber using dispersion kneader and two roller mixing mill. In order to evaluate ablation characteristics of the fabricated composites, high-temperature ablation testing was carried out. The peak incorporation of nanoclay in the rubber matrix has enhanced the ablation resistance up to 97% and reduced the temperature elevation at the back face of the nanocomposite up to 51% during the 200s oxy–acetylene flame exposure on the surface of the ablator. Thermogravimetric and differential thermal analyses elucidate the thermal endurance improvement with increasing filler contents in the polymer matrix. Thermal conductivity and thermal impedance of the composite specimens were evaluated on the domestically manufactured thermal conductivity measuring apparatus. It is scrutinized that the former property reduced up to 49% at and the subsequent characteristic of the rubber composite is elevated up to 43% at 373 K with the 30 wt% incorporation of the nanoclay into the base rubber composition. Mechanical properties of the acrylonitrile butadiene rubber composite specimens were significantly enhanced with increasing filler introduction into the host matrix. Porous char morphology, polymer pyrolysis and composition of the ablated samples were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy analyses.
Hail impact damage behaviors of glass fiber reinforced epoxy filled with nanoclay
Authors: Dolati Sh , Fereidoon A , Sabet AR
Published: April 2013

In this paper, the influence of nanoclay on the hail impact damage resistance of glass fibre/epoxy composites under single and repeated high-velocity hail impact has been investigated. The damage extension was investigated to gain insight into the damage behaviors of the composite materials in the presence of nanoclay. Nanocomposite specimens containing nanoclay in 0, 0.5, 1.5 and 3 (wt%) were prepared by liquid-state mixing method using a high shear homogenizer. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy analysis confirmed intercalation and exfoliation of the nanoclay in the epoxy resin matrix used. Woven roving fabric with ±45° stacking sequence showed highest resistance to damage for composite laminates under high-velocity hail impact. Glass fiber/epoxy containing nanoclay resulted in smaller damage area and higher strength. The existence of nanoclay in the epoxy matrix induced the transition of failure mechanisms of glass fiber/epoxy laminates during the high-velocity hail impact test. Addition of 1.5wt% clay proved to be an optimized value with the highest damage resistance.
Novel EDA p.Ile260Ser Mutation Linked to Non-syndromic Hypodontia
Authors: Yang Y. , Luo L. , Xu J. , Zhu P. , Xue W. , Wang J. , Li W. , Wang M. , Cheng K. , Liu S. , Tang Z. , Ring B.Z. , Su L.
Published: April 2013

Hypodontia, a tooth developmental disease, can affect chewing and pronunciation. Mutations in the ectodysplasin-A ( EDA) gene can lead to both X-linked hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia (XLHED) and non-syndromic hypodontia (NSH). However, the mechanism by which these 2 related but different disorders are caused by the distinct mutations in EDA is unknown. In this study, we identified a novel missense mutation (c.779 T>G) in a Chinese family with NSH via a direct sequencing approach. This mutation results in an Ile260Ser substitution in the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) homology domain. Homology modeling suggests that this alteration may induce a conformational change in the hydrophobic center of the TNF homology domain. Furthermore, by exploring systematic 3D conformation analysis and calculation of residue relative solvent accessibility (RSA) for all the reported mutated amino acid sites on EDA’s TNF homology domain, we found that the site mutations at the interior may be linked to XLHED, while those at the surface are more likely to be associated with NSH. These findings may aid in the discovery of unidentified functionally significant mutation sites in the EDA gene and provide a new way to clarify the mechanisms by which the XLHED and NSH phenotypes arise from mutations in the same gene.
Homozygous and Compound Heterozygous MMP20 Mutations in Amelogenesis Imperfecta
Authors: Gasse B. , Karayigit E. , Mathieu E. , Jung S. , Garret A. , Huckert M. , Morkmued S. , Schneider C. , Vidal L. , Hemmerlé J. , Sire J.-Y. , Bloch-Zupan A.
Published: April 2013

In this article, we focus on hypomaturation autosomal-recessive-type amelogenesis imperfecta (type IIA2) and describe 2 new causal Matrix metalloproteinase 20 ( MMP20) mutations validated in two unrelated families: a missense mutation p.T130I at the expected homozygous state, and a compound heterozygous mutation having the same mutation combined with a nucleotide deletion, leading to a premature stop codon (p.N120fz*2). We characterized the enamel structure of the latter case using scanning electron microscopy analysis and microanalysis (Energy-dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy, EDX) and confirmed the hypomaturation-type amelogenesis imperfecta as identified in the clinical diagnosis. The mineralized content was slightly decreased, with magnesium substituting for calcium in the crystal structure. The anomalies affected enamel with minimal inter-rod enamel present and apatite crystals perpendicular to the enamel prisms, suggesting a possible new role for MMP20 in enamel formation.
Investing for Prosperity: Skills, Infrastructure and Innovation
Authors: Besley Timothy , Coelho Miguel , Van Reenen John
Published: April 2013

What policies and institutions are needed to sustain long-run growth in the UK? We describe an optimistic story of the UK economy over the past 30 years. From the late 1970s, the UK reversed a century of relative decline in terms of per capita GDP with our main counterparts in the US, France and Germany. A key factor behind this improvement was an array of policy changes including an expansion of higher education and greater competition in product and labour markets. However, major weaknesses with respect to long-run investment in human capital, infrastructure and innovation remain. These are hampered by problems of short-termism and policy risk. We propose a series of radical reforms to address these problems: such as more flexibility in schooling with a new focus on disadvantage; a new architecture for national infrastructure decisions and more competition in banking.
Long-Term Growth in Europe: What Difference does the Crisis Make?
Authors: Crafts Nicholas
Published: April 2013

OECD projections for European countries imply that the crisis will have no long-term effect on trend growth. An historical perspective says this is too optimistic. Not only is the legacy of public debt and its requirement for fiscal consolidation unfavourable but the experience of the 1930s suggests that much needed supply-side reforms are now less probable – indeed policy may well become less growth friendly. Whereas the 1940s saw the Bretton Woods agreement and the Marshall Plan pave the way for the ‘Golden Age’, it is unlikely that anything similar will rescue Europe this time around.
Has the Expansion of Higher Education Led to Greater Economic Growth?
Authors: Holmes Craig
Published: April 2013

There is an enduring belief by UK policymakers that a large higher education sector is an important driver of long-run economic growth, which has been part of the narrative since the Robbins Report. Back then, there was plenty of conjecture and assumption, but strikingly little concrete evidence to support such a belief. This paper asks whether the evidence base has strengthened in the 50 years since it was published. It looks at a number of different growth equation specifications and, using international education data, attempts to draw out the contribution of both the number of, and the growth in, graduates since the 1960s. There are three main findings. Firstly, many growth relationships, including those estimated elsewhere in the literature, are quite sensitive to the countries included – which often depends on the variables used – and time period of analysis. I argue that, given these issues, growth equations should always be treated with caution. Secondly, and remembering this caveat, neither the increase nor the initial level of higher education is found to have a statistically significant relationship with growth rates both in the OECD and worldwide. This result is robust to numerous different specifications. Thirdly, there is some evidence, consistent with the existing literature, that levels of technical skills at the end of compulsory education matter. The employment of higher level technical skills (proxied by the number of employed researchers in an economy) is also a strong predictor of growth. This gives a possible mechanism linking the output of (some) of the higher education sector with economic growth. However, it does not imply that mass higher education necessarily leads to higher growth. This depends on the skills produced by an expanding tertiary sector and their utilisation (or underutilisation) in the jobs available to increasing numbers of graduates.
Can Intangible Investment Explain the UK Productivity Puzzle?
Authors: Goodridge Peter , Haskel Jonathan , Wallis Gavin
Published: April 2013

This paper investigates whether intangibles might explain the UK productivity puzzle. We note that since the recession: (a) firms have upskilled faster than before; (b) intangible investment in R&D and software has risen whereas tangible investment has fallen; and (c) intangible and telecoms equipment investment slowed in advance of the recession. We have therefore tested to see if: (a) what looks like labour hoarding is actually firms keeping workers who are employed in creating intangible assets; and (b) the current slowdown in TFP growth is due to the spillover effects of the past slowdown in R&D and telecoms equipment investment. Our main findings are: (a) measured market sector real value added growth since the start of 2008 is understated by 1.6 per cent due to the omission of intangibles; and (b) 0.75 per cent per annum of the TFP growth slowdown can be accounted for by the slowdown in intangible and telecoms investment in the early 2000s. Taken together intangible investment can therefore account for around 5 percentage points of the 16 per cent productivity puzzle.
Has the Growth of Real GDP in the UK Been Overstated Because of Mismeasurement of Banking Output?
Authors: Oulton Nicholas
Published: April 2013

If official figures overstated the growth of banking output in the UK in the recent boom, does this mean that GDP growth was overstated too? The answer is no. It is truer to say that if banking output was overstated then the output of some other industry or industries must have been understated, leaving GDP relatively unaffected. The reason is that the Office for National Statistics measures the real growth of GDP primarily from the expenditure side. And from the expenditure side most of the problematic part of banking output drops out since it constitutes intermediate consumption not final expenditure. Consequently, the effect of any mismeasurement of banking output on GDP growth in the boom of 2000–7 is likely to have been small; GDP growth might have been overstated by about 0.1 per cent per annum.
From Grexit to Growth: On Fiscal Multipliers and how to End Recession in Greece
Authors: Christodoulakis Nicos
Published: April 2013

Three years after the implementation of the Adjustment Programme for Greece, public debt remains at unsustainable levels. Despite recent improvements in meeting deficit targets and the fact that the risk of exit from the Euro Area has subsided, growth is still missing and unemployment has surpassed 25 per cent, causing major social tensions. The paper argues that a critical parameter of such failure was that the Programme grossly underestimated the adverse effects that fiscal correction might have on growth. Fiscal multipliers are found to be significant in the Euro Area so that fiscal cuts had strong and permanent Keynesian effects, rather than a transitive and minor downturn as initially assumed. In light of this, the paper argues that policies should now concentrate on enhancing growth and by relaxing fiscal targets allow the multipliers to raise activity as the only route to safeguard the exit from recession and ensure sustainability of debt.
Secondary Onlay Free Flap Reconstruction of Glossectomy Defects following Initial Successful Flap Restoration
Authors: Rihani Jordan , Lee Thomas , Ducic Yadranko
Published: April 2013

Patients who undergo tongue reconstruction over time may develop gradual worsening of dysarthria and dysphagia secondary to flap atrophy. At our institution, these patients undergo a secondary flap onlay procedure for augmentation of the neotongue. We review a total of 11 patients with total glossectomy defect who underwent secondary tongue augmentation with secondary onlay free flap consisting of radial forearm free flap (n = 6) and rectus free flap (n = 5). There was improvement in swallowing in 7 of 11 patients. Five (45.4%) patients achieved gastric tube independence. Seven (63.6%) patients achieved a varying degree of oral intake. All patients achieved tracheostomy independence. Dysarthria was improved in all patients. There were no flap failures. Therefore, a secondary onlay flap technique is feasible and may improve dysphagia and dysarthria to achieve gastric tube and tracheostomy independence in total glossectomy patients with delayed tongue atrophy.
Practical Guide to Understanding the Need for Clinical Practice Guidelines
Authors: Neely J. Gail , Graboyes Evan , Paniello Randal C. , Sequeira Sunitha M. , Grindler David J.
Published: April 2013

With recent changes in the landscape of health care, clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) have proliferated. Attitudes about guidelines differ considerably, forming 2 competing viewpoints with considerable tension between them. Some feel CPGs are unneeded or are efforts to create automated “cookie cutter” medical practice; at best, they are perceived as suggestions that may be altered by experience. Others feel they are mandates that must be followed to the letter. This article attempts to explain how and why we have arrived at this point and to explain the origins of the differing viewpoints. We begin by describing the 2 viewpoints and proceed to define the origin of medicine as a profession and to chronicle the evolution of health insurance, medical education, and scientific methods for evaluating evidence.
Global Civil Society and International Society
Authors: Mitrani Mor
Published: April 2013

The use of the concept of “global civil society” (GCS) acknowledges the intensifying role of non-state civic actors in world politics and expresses the emergence of a unique social sphere transcending national boundaries. Extensive literatures strive to suggest conceptualizations and assessments of the actual and desired effects of GCS. Nevertheless, relatively little attention has been given to the interplay between the emerging sphere of a GCS and the traditional sphere of international or interstate interactions. This article examines the idea of GCS through an exploration of the conceptual interplay between the notions of GCS and the interstate system. It presents a typology of three possible ideal-type relations: (1) GCS as replacement of statist features of the international system; (2) GCS as opposition to the state system; and (3) GCS as subsidiary organ to the international society. From a perspective informed by the English School of international relations theory, the article argues that the enhanced role of GCS in world politics is a result of international society’s attempts to adapt interstate rules and practices to the context of globalization.
Effect of chromium (VI) exposure on antioxidant defense status and trace element homeostasis in acute experiment in rat
Authors: Kotyzová Dana , Hodková Anna , Bludovská Monika , Eybl Vladislav
Published: April 2013

Occupational exposure to hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) compounds is of concern in many Cr-related industries and their surrounding environment. Cr(VI) is a proven toxin and carcinogen. The Cr(VI) compounds are easily absorbed, can diffuse across cell membranes, and have strong oxidative potential. Despite intensive studies of Cr(VI) pro-oxidative effects, limited data exist on the influence of Cr(VI) on selenoenzymes thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx)—important components of antioxidant defense system. This study investigates the effect of Cr(VI) exposure on antioxidant defense status, with focus on these selenoenzymes, and on trace element homeostasis in an acute experiment in rat. Male Wistar rats (130–140g) were assigned to two groups of 8 animals: I. control; and II. Cr(VI) treated. The animals in Cr(VI) group were administered a single dose of K2Cr2O7 (20 mg /kg, intraperitoneally (ip)). The control group received saline solution. After 24 h, the animals were sacrificed and the liver and kidneys were examined for lipid peroxidation (LP; thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) concentration), the level of reduced glutathione (GSH) and the activities of GPx-1, TrxR-1, and glutathione reductase (GR). Samples of tissues were also used to estimate Cr accumulation and alterations in zinc, copper, and iron levels. The acute Cr(VI) exposure caused an increase in both hepatic and renal LP (by 70%, p < 0.01 and by 15%, p < 0.05, respectively), increased hepatic GSH level and GPx-1 activity, and decreased renal GPx-1 activity. The activity of GR was not changed. A significant inhibitory effect of Cr(VI) was found on TrxR-1 activity in both the liver and the kidneys. The ability of Cr(VI) to cause TrxR inhibition could contribute to its cytotoxic effects. Further investigation of oxidative responses in different in vivo models may enable the development of strategies to protect against Cr(VI) oxidative damage.
Synthesis and preparation of sulfonated hyperbranched poly(aryl ether ketone)–sulfonated linear poly(aryl ether ketone) blend membranes for proton exchange membranes
Authors: Wang Hui , Pang Jinhui , Zhou Fugui , Zhang Haibo , Jiang Zhenhua , Zhang Shuling
Published: April 2013

A novel series of sulfonated hyperbranched poly(aryl ether ketone)s (S-HPAEKs) was synthesized based on different post-sulfonation reactions of fluoro-terminated hyperbranched poly(aryl ether ketone). Moreover, the blend membranes of S-HPAEKs with sulfonated linear poly(aryl ether ketone) (S-LPAEK) (S-HPAEK/S-LPAEK) were prepared for proton exchange membrane. All the blends could be cast into tough membranes. The structure of S-HPAEKs was characterized and the thermal stability, water uptake, and proton conductivity of S-HPAEK/S-LPAEK membranes were investigated. The results showed that S-HPAEK/S-LPAEK membranes possessed good thermal stability, better water uptake, and good proton conductivity compared with the S-LPAEK membrane, and their properties depended on the ion exchange capacity and the content of S-HPAEK in the blend membranes.
Evaluation of cast creep occurring during simulated clubfoot correction
Authors: Cohen Tamara L , Altiok Haluk , Wang Mei , McGrady Linda M , Krzak Joseph , Graf Adam , Tarima Sergey , Smith Peter A , Harris Gerald F
Published: April 2013

The Ponseti method is a widely accepted and highly successful conservative treatment of pediatric clubfoot involving weekly manipulations and cast applications. Qualitative assessments have indicated the potential success of the technique with cast materials other than standard plaster of Paris. However, guidelines for clubfoot correction based on the mechanical response of these materials have yet to be investigated. The current study sought to characterize and compare the ability of three standard cast materials to maintain the Ponseti-corrected foot position by evaluating cast creep response. A dynamic cast testing device, built to model clubfoot correction, was wrapped in plaster of Paris, semi-rigid fiberglass, and rigid fiberglass. Three-dimensional motion responses to two joint stiffnesses were recorded. Rotational creep displacement and linearity of the limb-cast composite were analyzed. Minimal change in position over time was found for all materials. Among cast materials, the rotational creep displacement was significantly different ( p < 0.0001). The most creep displacement occurred in the plaster of Paris (2.0°), then the semi-rigid fiberglass (1.0°), and then the rigid fiberglass (0.4°). Torque magnitude did not affect creep displacement response. Analysis of normalized rotation showed quasi-linear viscoelastic behavior. This study provided a mechanical evaluation of cast material performance as used for clubfoot correction. Creep displacement dependence on cast material and insensitivity to torque were discovered. This information may provide a quantitative and mechanical basis for future innovations for clubfoot care.
Experimental and computer simulation validation of ultrasound phase interference created by lateral inhomogeneity of transit time in replica bone: marrow composite models
Authors: Langton Christian M , Wille Marie-Luise
Published: April 2013

The measurement of broadband ultrasound attenuation in cancellous bone for the assessment of osteoporosis follows a parabolic-type dependence with bone volume fraction, having minima values corresponding to both entire bone and entire marrow. Langton has recently proposed that the primary attenuation mechanism is phase interference due to variations in propagation transit time through the test sample as detected over the phase-sensitive surface of the receive ultrasound transducer. This fundamentally simple concept assumes that the propagation may be considered as an array of parallel ‘sonic rays’. The transit time of each ray is defined by the proportion of bone and marrow propagated, being a minimum (tmin) solely through bone and a maximum (tmax) solely through marrow, from which a transit time spectrum, may be defined describing the proportion of sonic rays having a particular transit time.

The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that there is a dependence of phase interference upon the lateral inhomogeneity of transit time by comparing experimental measurements and computer simulation predictions of ultrasound propagation through a range of relatively simplistic solid:liquid models.

From qualitative and quantitative comparison of the experimental and computer simulation results, there is an extremely high degree of agreement of 94.2%–99.0% between the two approaches. This combined experimental and computer simulation study has successfully demonstrated that lateral inhomogeneity of transit time has significant potential for phase interference to occur if a phase-sensitive receive ultrasound transducer is implemented as in most commercial ultrasound bone analysis devices.
‘Copyleft’ Reconsidered
Authors: Zhu Chen Wei
Published: April 2013

This article calls for a re-examination, from a Relational Contract Theory perspective, of the ‘copyleft’ agreement, which mandates the source code of publicly released software to be perpetually shared with the public. It deals with standard-form copyleft licences such as the GNU General Public Licence, whose legal enforceability has often been a subject of debate. From the viewpoint of classical contract law, these licences would lack affirmatively expressed consent from the licensees and would thus be unlikely to be legally binding. There are two alternatives to this classical contractual view. The first is the neoclassical contract approach as represented in Easterbrook’s ruling in ProCD v Zeidenberg, which attempts to re-engineer the legitimisation of standard-form information product licensing schemes with the goal of maximising individual utility gains. The second alternative is a (Ian) Macneilian relational approach, which is endorsed by this article but has remained conspicuously absent from the existing legal literature.
The meaning of receiving help from home nursing care
Authors: Moe Aud , Hellzen Ove , Enmarker Ingela
Published: April 2013

The aim of this study was to illuminate the meaning of receiving help from home nursing care for the chronically ill, elderly persons living in their homes. The study was carried out in Norway. Data were collected by narrative interviews and analysed by phenomenological hermeneutic interpretations. Receiving help from home nursing care sometimes meant ‘Being ill and dependent on help’. Other times it meant ‘Being at the mercy of help’. It could also mean ‘Feeling inferior as a human being’. Sometimes help was given by nurses who were respectful and proficient at caring for an elderly person, while at other times nurses seemed to be incompetent and worked with a paternalistic attitude without respect for privacy. Receiving help also meant elderly persons wanted to be regarded and approached as equal human beings, supported in the courage to meet challenges in life.
What Are Temporary Networks and When Are They Useful?
Authors: Pérez-Nordtvedt Liliana , O’Brien Ross , Rasheed Abdul A.
Published: April 2013

When change occurs unpredictably and the time to react is compressed, organizations have to quickly obtain resources they do not readily have. In those situations, organizations are likely to reach out to their long-term networks (LTNs) or to activate dormant networks (DNs). But, what happens when the organization’s activities frequently change locations or when the resources needed fluctuate frequently? We argue that under such conditions, the organization can benefit by forming temporary networks (TNs) and renewing, reconfiguring, creating, aligning, and directing the TN’s resources. TNs are those that are formed quickly and last a short period of time. We label the dynamic capability to form TNs and manage TNs’ resources as temporary network development capability (TNDC) and suggest that it is a special kind of relational capability. We argue that experience with weak-ties networks, swift trust, unpredictable change experience, skill specificity and reputation help in the development of TNDC.
Operative Treatment of Chronic Irreparable Achilles Tendon Ruptures With Large Flexor Hallucis Longus Tendon Transfers
Authors: Rahm Stefan , Spross Christian , Gerber Fabienne , Farshad Mazda , Buck Florian M. , Espinosa Norman
Published: April 2013

Background:

Transfer of the flexor hallucis longus (FHL) tendon aims to restore function and relieve pain in chronic Achilles tendon (AT) disease. The goal of the present study was to investigate the clinical and radiographic outcomes of FHL transfer to the AT and to compare the transtendinous technique to the transosseous technique. We hypothesized that the type of technique would have a notable impact on outcome.

Methods:

Forty patients (42 ankles) were retrospectively reviewed and divided into group 1 (transtendinous technique, 22 patients/24 ankles) and group 2 (transosseous technique, 18 patients/18 ankles). Outcome parameters included the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society (AOFAS) hindfoot score, Victorian Institute of Sports Assessment-Achilles (VISA-A) score, Foot Function Index (FFI), and Short Form-36 (SF-36) scores. Magnetic resonance imaging of the lower leg was performed preoperatively to assess muscle quality and fatty infiltration. Postoperatively, isokinetic plantar flexion strength was assessed using a Con-Trex dynamometer.

Results:

In group 1 (follow-up, 73 months; age, 52 years), the AOFAS score improved from 66 points to 89 points ( P < .001) with average values for the VISA-A of 76 points, FFI-D pain 15%, and FFI-D function 22%. In group 2 (follow-up, 35 months; age, 56 years), the AOFAS score increased from 59 points to 85 points ( P < .001) with mean values for the VISA-A 76 points, FFI-D pain 25%, and FFI-D function 24%. At follow-up, the average SF-36 score in group 1 was 66% and in group 2 was 77%. Isokinetic testing at 30 deg/s in group 1 revealed notable weakness in the operated ankle averaging 54.7 N·m (75% of normal), and in group 2 the average was 58.2 N·m (77% of normal). No statistically significant differences were found between the groups.

Conclusion:

The hypothesis was disproved. Both techniques for FHL transfer to AT, intratendinous and transosseous, provided good to excellent clinical and functional outcome in the treatment of irreparable AT disease.

Level of Evidence:

Level III, retrospective comparative series.
Cultural workers in-the-making
Authors: Ashton Daniel
Published: April 2013

This article explores the situated practices through which higher education students understand ‘becoming’ cultural workers. Drawing on research with a media production studio operated by a UK higher education institution, this article examines how students understand themselves as nascent industry professionals and workers ‘in-the-making’ and connects this with critical debates on cultural workforce issues. This article reveals that while the studio as a work-based learning environment can equip students with industry-relevant skills and perspectives, there can be a distance and disconnect with cultural workforce issues of insecurity and working conditions. In response, this article examines how higher education can offer potentially productive spaces and opportunities for reflecting on these issues.
Mana Taonga and the public sphere: A dialogue between Indigenous practice and Western theory
Authors: Schorch Philipp , Hakiwai Arapata
Published: April 2013

Recent re-conceptualizations of the ‘public sphere’ facilitated a much needed shift in thinking about identity politics ‘from a substance … to a movement’ (Weibel and Latour, 2007). This laid the foundation for dissolving the ‘emanatist vision’ (Bourdieu, 1990) of self-explanatory and perpetual systems and structures towards the interrogation of actions and performances that simultaneously constitute and are affected by such wider socio-political realities. Most academic contributions, however, remain on a normative or theoretical level without offering empirical insights.

This article introduces Mana Taonga as an Indigenous Māori concept of cultural politics embedded in current museum practice at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (Te Papa). It creates a dialogue between Indigenous Māori practice and Western theory leading to a refined understanding of performative democracy within a museum as forum, or public sphere. The authors argue that a specific museum offers a particular place, space and empirical reality to interrogate seemingly universal concepts such as ‘culture’ and ‘politics’ by blending theoretical notions with an awareness of institutional contexts and practices.
Affine arithmetic for assessing the uncertainty propagation on steady-state probabilities of Markov models owing to uncertainties in transition rates
Authors: Rocco S Claudio M
Published: April 2013

This article proposes the use of affine arithmetic as an alternative approach for assessing the effects of uncertainties of transition rates on the steady-state probabilities for each possible state of a system represented by a Markov model. Affine arithmetic is an extension of interval arithmetic, able to track “the dependency between variables throughout calculations” and to provide strict bounds. Several examples illustrate the proposed approach. Results are compared with other approaches, such as interval arithmetic, Monte Carlo simulation or solving linear systems of simultaneous equations.