bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Mid-sagittal anatomy in late-onset schizophrenia
Authors: SACHDEV PERMINDER S. , BRODATY HENRY
Published: July 2002

Background. Of the midline brain structures, abnormalities have been demonstrated in the corpus
callosum and cerebellum in young schizophrenic patients. Whether similar abnormalities are also
present in late-onset schizophrenia (LOS) is not known.

Methods. The mid-sagittal cross-sectional areas of brain regions, in particular the corpus callosum
and cerebellum, on magnetic resonance imaging were examined in a group of patients with late-onset schizophrenia (N=25) and contrasted with two comparison groups – early-onset schizophrenia
(EOS) (N=2524) and healthy volunteers (NC) (N=2530) matched for age and gender.

Results. While the mean corpus callosum area in the LOS group was smaller than in the EOS (by
10·2%) and NC (by 6·2%) groups, the three groups did not differ statistically in the corpus callosum
area or the corpus callosum to cerebrum ratios. The cross-sectional cerebellar areas or the
cerebellum: cerebrum ratios also did not differ across the groups. The brainstem was smaller in the
schizophrenic groups because of smaller cross-sectional areas of the pons, a statistically significant
difference which could not be accounted for by any gross lesions on visual inspection.

Conclusion. We found no abnormality in the mid-sagittal area of the corpus callosum and
cerebellum in our early- or late-onset schizophrenia subjects. The significance of the finding of a
smaller pontine cross-sectional area is unclear and speculation on it awaits independent replication
using a volumetric measure.
Noise in a minimal regulatory network: plasmid copy number control
Authors: Paulsson Johan , Ehrenberg Måns
Published: July 2002

1. Introduction 2

2. Plasmid biology 3

2.1 What are plasmids? 3

2.2 Evolution of CNC: cost and benefit 4

2.3 Plasmids are semi-complete regulatory networks 6

2.4 The molecular mechanisms of CNC for plasmids ColE1 and R1 6

2.4.1 ColE1 7

2.4.2 R1 7

2.5 General simplifying assumptions and values of rate constants 9

3. Macroscopic analysis 11

3.1 Regulatory logic of inhibitor-dilution CNC 11

3.2 Sensitivity amplification 12

3.3 Plasmid control curves 13

3.4 Multistep control of plasmid ColE1: exponential control curves 14

3.5 Multistep control of plasmid R1: hyperbolic control curves 16

3.6 Time-delays, oscillations and critical damping 18

4. Mesoscopic analysis 20

4.1 The master equation approach 20

4.2 A random walker in a potential well 23

4.3 CNC as a stochastic process 24

4.4 Sensitivity amplification 26

4.4.1 Single-step hyperbolic control 26

4.4.2 ColE1 multistep control can eliminate plasmid copy number variation 28

4.4.3 Replication backup systems – the Rom protein of ColE1 and CopB of R1 29

4.5 Time-delays 30

4.5.1 Limited rate of inhibitor degradation 30

4.5.2 Precise delays – does unlimited sensitivity amplification always reduce plasmid losses? 32

4.6 Order and disorder in CNC 33

4.6.1 Disordered CNC 34

4.6.2 Ordered CNC: R1 multistep control gives narrowly distributed interreplication times 34

4.7 Noisy signalling – disorder and sensitivity amplification 37

4.7.1 Eliminating a fast but noisy variable 38

4.7.2 Conditional inhibitor distribution: Poisson 39

4.7.3 Increasing inhibitor variation I: transcription in bursts 40

4.7.4 Increasing inhibitor variation II: duplex formation 41

4.7.5 Exploiting fluctuations for sensitivity amplification: stochastic focusing 44

4.7.6 A kinetic uncertainty principle 45

4.7.7 Disorder and stochastic focusing 46

4.7.8 Do plasmids really use stochastic focusing? 47

4.8 Metabolic burdens and values of in vivo rate constants 48

5. Previous models of copy number control 49

5.1 General models of CNC 49

5.2 Modelling plasmid ColE1 CNC 49

5.3 Modelling plasmid R1 CNC 52

6. Summary and outlook: the plasmid paradigm 53

7. Acknowledgements 56

8. References 56

This work is a theoretical analysis of random fluctuations and regulatory efficiency in genetic
networks. As a model system we use inhibitor-dilution copy number control (CNC) of the
bacterial plasmids ColE1 and R1. We chose these systems because they are simple and well-characterised but also because plasmids seem to be under an evolutionary pressure to reduce
both average copy numbers and statistical copy number variation: internal noise.
Paying for Social Rights
Authors: SJÖBERG OLA
Published: July 2002

The expansion of ‘social duties’ has been a prominent feature in the
development of social policy and the welfare state. Drawing on unique
time-series data in the database of SCIP (Social Citizenship Indicators
Project), this article describes and analyses the development of ‘social
duties’, primarily in the form of taxes and social insurance contributions,
in eighteen countries from 1930 to 1990. In focus are the institutional
and longitudinal variation in the increase and change in these duties and
how they have been distributed among employers, the insured and state
authorities.
Gennady Estraikh, Soviet Yiddish: Language
planning and linguistic development. (Oxford modern
languages and literature monographs.) Oxford: Clarendon;
New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Pp. x, 217. Hb $70.00.
Authors: King Robert D.
Published: July 2002

Soviet Yiddish occupies a special place in Yiddish
linguistics. It is different from klal-Yiddish
– ‘rule’-Yiddish, or normative Yiddish
– in having certain orthographic peculiarities and
a quite striking oddness in the spelling of words of Hebrew-Aramaic
origin. These differences, which were ideologically driven
and enforced by the Soviets, are plain to see and visually
startling even to neophyte readers of ordinary Yiddish.
The older British spellings gaol, kerb,
and tyre for jail, curb, and
tire convey something of the effect to the American
English speaker.
EEG complexity and performance measures of creative thinking
Authors: Mölle Matthias , Marshall Lisa , Wolf Britta , Fehm Horst L. , Born Jan
Published: July 2002

The electroencephalogram (EEG) was used because of its dimensional complexity to establish a differentiation of divergent versus convergent thought, considered fundamental modes of cortical processing. In 28 men, the EEG was recorded while solving tasks of divergent and convergent thinking and during mental relaxation. The EEG during divergent thought was compared between subjects achieving high versus low performance scores on this type of task. The dimensional complexity of the EEG was greater during divergent thinking than during convergent thinking. While solving tasks of divergent thinking, subjects with high performance scores had a lower EEG dimension than did subjects with low scores, in particular over frontal cortical areas. The changes were not reflected in single frequency bands of conventional EEG analysis. Based on Hebb's view of neuron assemblies as functional processing units, the higher EEG complexity during divergent than convergent thinking could be the result of the concurrent activation of a greater number of independently oscillating processing units.
The many ways to distribute distributed representations
Authors: Burton A. Mike
Published: July 2002

Distributed representations can be distributed in very many ways. The specific choice of representation for a specific model is based on considerations unique to the area of study. General statements about the effectiveness of distributed models are therefore of little value. The popularity of these models is discussed, particularly with respect to reporting conventions.
Neural mechanism for the magical number 4: Competitive interactions and nonlinear oscillation
Authors: Usher Marius , Cohen Jonathan D. , Haarmann Henk , Horn David
Published: July 2002

The aim of our commentary is to strengthen Cowan's proposal for an inherent capacity limitation in STM by suggesting a neurobiological mechanism based on competitive networks and nonlinear oscillations that avoids some of the shortcomings of the scheme discussed in the target article (Lisman & Idiart 1995).
Sympathetic nervous system and pain: A clinical reappraisal
Authors: Blumberg Helmut , Hoffmann Ulrike , Mohadjer Mohsen , Scheremet Rudolf
Published: July 2002

The target article discusses various aspects of the
relationship between the sympathetic system and pain. To this
end, the patients under study are divided into three groups.
In the first group, called “reflex sympathetic dystrophy”
(RSD), the syndrome can be characterized by a triad of autonomic,
motor, and sensory symptoms, which occur in a distally generalized
distribution. The pain is typically felt deeply and diffusely, has an
orthostatic component, and is suppressed by the ischemia test. Under
those circumstances, the pain is likely to respond to sympatholytic
interventions. In a second group, called “sympathetically
maintained pain” (SMP) syndrome, the principal symptoms are
spontaneous pain, which is felt superficially and has no orthostatic
component, and allodynia. These symptoms, typically confined to the
zone of a lesioned nerve, may also be relieved by sympathetic blocks.
Since the characteristics of the pain differ between RSD and SMP, the
underlying kind of sympathetic–sensory coupling may also vary
between these cases. A very small third group of patients exhibits
symptoms of both RSD and SMP. The dependence or independence of
pain on sympathetic function reported in most published studies seems
to be questionable because the degree of technical success of the
block remains uncertain. Therefore, pain should not be reported as
sympathetic function independent until the criteria for a complete
sympathetic block have been established and satisfied.
Neural models of development and learning
Authors: Grossberg Stephen
Published: July 2002

I agree with Quartz & Sejnowski's (Q&S's)
points, which are familiar to many scientists. A number of models with
the sought-after properties, however, are overlooked, while models
without them are highlighted. I will review nonstationary learning,
links between development and learning, locality, stability, learning
throughout life, hypothesis testing that models the learner's
problem domain, and active dendritic processes.
Detecting deception
Authors: Gergen Kenneth J.
Published: July 2002

I find three major shortcomings in Mele's account.
First, verbal ambiguities suggest that the analysis is irrelevant to
self-deception and/or that the traditional conception is subtly
reinstated. Second, the data offer no means of establishing the
superiority of the present account. Finally, as political rhetoric,
Mele's proposal not only operates to disqualify others, but
establishes science as their judge.
Hypnotic responding and self-deception
Authors: Kirsch Irving
Published: July 2002

As understood by neodissociation and sociocognitive theorists,
hypnotic responses are instances of self-deception. Neodissociation
theory matches the strict definition of Sackeim and Gur (1978) and
sociocognitive theory matches Mele's looser definition. Recent
data indicate that many hypnotized individuals deceive themselves into
holding conflicting beliefs without dissociating, but others convince
themselves that the suggested state of affairs is true without
simultaneously holding a contrary belief.
LTP: Memory, arousal, neither, both
Authors: Shors Tracey J. , Matzel Louis D.
Published: July 2002

The neurophysiological phenomenon of LTP (long term
potentiation) is considered by many to represent an adequate mechanism
for acquiring or storing memories in the mammalian brain. In our
target article, we reviewed the various arguments put forth in support
of the LTP/memory hypothesis. We concluded that these arguments were
inconsistent with the purported data base and proposed an alternative
interpretation that we suggested was at least as compatible with the
available data as the more widely held view. In doing so, we attempted
to illustrate that the inadequacy of present experimental designs did
not permit us to distinguish between equally viable hypotheses. In
the four years since we wrote the first draft of our target article,
hundreds of additional studies on LTP have been published and their
results have been incorporated into current theories about memory. A
diverse group of commentators responded to our target article with
their own theories of how memories might be stored in the brain, some
of which rely on LTP. Some commentators doubted whether memories can
be stored through modifications of synaptic strength. Some assert that
it will never be possible to understand the neural mechanisms of
memory; still others remain hopeful that we will accomplish some
semblance of a resolution, provided we appreciate LTP's role in a
subset of seemingly amorphous memory systems. In summary, although it
is commonly written that “LTP is a memory storage device,”
the divergence of views among the commentators suggests, at least as
strongly as our target article, that such conviction is unwarranted
and fails to acknowledge both the lack of consensus regarding the role
of LTP in memory and the complexity of the phenomenon of memory
itself.
A role for ovarian hormones in sexual differentiation of the brain
Authors: Fitch Roslyn Holly , Denenberg Victor H.
Published: July 2002

Historically, studies of the role of endogenous hormones in
developmental differentiation of the sexes have suggested that
mammalian sexual differentiation is mediated primarily by testicular
androgens, and that exposure to androgens in early life leads to a
male brain as defined by neuroanatomy and behavior. The female brain
has been assumed to develop via a hormonal default mechanism, in
the absence of androgen or other hormones. Ovarian hormones have
significant effects on the development of a sexually dimorphic
cortical structure, the corpus callosum, which is larger in male than
in female rats. In the females, removal of the ovaries as late as Day
16 increases the cross-sectional area of the adult corpus callosum.
Treatment with low-dose estradiol starting on Day 25 inhibits this
effect. Female callosa are also enlarged by a combination of daily
postnatal handling and exogenous testosterone administered prior
to Day 8. The effects of androgen treatment are expressed early in
development, with males and testosterone-treated females having
larger callosa than control females as early as Day 30. The effects of
ovariectomy do not appear until after Day 55. These findings are more
consistent with other evidence of a later sensitive period for ovarian
feminization as compared to androgenic masculinization.
To normalize or not to normalize for overall size?
Authors: Aboitiz Francisco
Published: July 2002

I discuss Fitch & Denenberg's argument that no
correction for brain size is needed when assessing callosal size.
Morphometric criteria may not be sufficient to determine whether
corrections are needed. Functional studies of callosal transfer will
ultimately specify whether corrections for size are necessary in each
case.
The prior question: Do human primates have a theory of mind?
Authors: Gordon Robert M.
Published: July 2002

Given Heyes's construal of “theory of mind,”
there is still no convincing evidence of theory of mind in
human primates, much less nonhuman. Rather than
making unfounded assumptions about what underlies human social
competence, one should ask what mechanisms other primates have and
then inquire whether more sophisticated elaborations of those might
not account for much of human competence.
The orderly output constraint is not wearing any clothes
Authors: Fowler Carol A.
Published: July 2002

The orderly output constraint (OOC) is extraneous. Talkers
“speak in lines” in its absence. Further, there is no
perceptual motivation for an OOC; perceivers ignore the linearity
between F2 at consonant-vowel onset and F2 in the vowel. In any
case, the analogy with bat and barn owl localization systems
underlying the theory is extreme, Sussman et al.'s
comments to the contrary notwithstanding.
Basic capacities can be modified or circumvented by deliberate practice: A rejection of talent accounts of expert performance
Authors: Ericsson K. Anders
Published: July 2002

To make genuine progress toward explicating the relation
between innate talent and high levels of ability, we need to consider
the differences in structure between most everyday abilities and
expert performance. Only in expert performance is it possible to
show consistently that individuals can acquire skills to circumvent
and modify basic characteristics (talent).
Words, concepts, and entities: With enemies like these, I don't need friends
Authors: Millikan Ruth Garrett
Published: July 2002

A number of clarifications of the target article and some
corrections are made. I clarify which concepts the thesis was intended
to be about, what “descriptionism” means, the difference
between “concepts” and “conceptions,” and
why extensions are not determined by conceptions. I clarify the meaning of “substances,” how one knows what inductions
to project over them, the connection with “basic level
categories,” how it is determined what substance a given
substance concept is of, how equivocation in concepts occurs, and
the role of language in the conception of substances. Finally,
I clarify exactly why I said that concepts of individuals, real kinds,
and stuffs have “a common structure,”
Females' desire for status cannot be measured using male definitions
Authors: Benenson Joyce F.
Published: July 2002

The development of physical traits and the formation of
alliances are two important means of attaining status for both sexes.
The types of physical traits and alliances that are linked with
status, however, differ for the two sexes. Sex differences in the
characteristics that lead to the acquisition of status must be
considered before concluding that females are less concerned than
males with status.
Playing with words, working with concepts, testing ideas
Authors: Zanker J. M.
Published: July 2002

Gold & Stoljar's attempt to disentangle the body-mind
problem in time for the end of the decade of the brain deserves praise
for its diligence and courage in moving onto the treacherous ground of
interdisciplinary discourse. In making their point, they should not
have stopped half-way: a more clearly defined experimental paradigm
seems necessary to solve this exciting and substantial problem.
Applying the implicit-explicit distinction to development in children
Authors: Ruffman Ted
Published: July 2002

This commentary focuses on how Dienes & Perner's
(D&P's) claims relate to aspects of development. First,
I discuss recent research that supports D&P's claim that
anticipatory looking in a false belief task is guided by implicit
knowledge. Second, I argue that implicit knowledge may be based on
exposure to regularities in the world as D&P argue, but equally,
it may sometimes be based on theories that conflict with real world
regularities. Third, I discuss Munakata et al.'s notion of graded
representations as an alternative to the implicit-explicit distinction
in explaining dissociations in infancy.
Relation of working memory to off-line and real-time sentence processing in children with
specific language impairment
Authors: MONTGOMERY JAMES W.
Published: July 2002

In this study we examined the influence of working memory on the off-line and real-time
sentence comprehension/processing of children with specific language impairment (SLI). A
total of 12 children with SLI, 12 normally developing children matched for chronological age
(CA), and 12 children matched for receptive syntax (RS) completed three tasks. In the working
memory task, children recalled as many words as possible under three processing load conditions
varying in the number of mental operations (i.e., no load, single load, dual load). In the off-line
comprehension task, children listened to linguistically nonredundant and redundant sentences. In
the real-time sentence processing task, children monitored sentences for the occurrence of a
target word appearing at the beginning, middle, or end of a test sentence and pushed a response
pad as quickly as possible upon hearing the target. In the memory task, SLI children recalled
fewer words in the dual-load condition relative to CA peers, who showed no condition effect.
The SLI and RS groups performed similarly overall; however, both groups recalled fewer words
in the dual-load condition than in the other conditions. In the off-line task, the SLI group
comprehended fewer sentences of both types relative to the CA controls and fewer redundant
sentences relative to themselves and to the RS controls. A significant correlation between
working memory and sentence comprehension was found for the SLI group and control groups.
For the on-line task, between-group analyses revealed that the SLI group yielded an overall
slower word recognition reaction time than the CA and RS groups. Working memory and
sentence processing were not correlated for any group. Results were interpreted to suggest that
SLI children have a more limited functional working memory capacity than their CA peers.
Children with SLI also appear to have greater difficulty managing their working memory
resources relative to both age peers and younger children when performing a conventional
off-line sentence comprehension task but not a real-time sentence processing task.
The influence of family, school, and community on bilingual preference: Results from a
Louisiana/Québec case study
Authors: CALDAS STEPHEN J. , CARON-CALDAS SUZANNE
Published: July 2002

This case study examines the shifting bilingual preference of three French/English
bilingual children over a three-year period. It also clarifies the distinction between the many
often misleading terms used to refer to bilingual preference (i.e., a bilingual's language
choice). The children's fluctuating bilingual preference is accounted for in terms of three
contextual domains: home, school, and community. The home domain was predominantly
French-speaking, while the community domain shifted between predominantly English-speaking
Louisiana and French-speaking Québec. The 10-year-old identical twin girls were in a
French immersion program in Louisiana during the entire three-year period; their 12-year-old
brother was not. A new, domain-sensitive longitudinal measure – the bilingual preference
ratio (BPR) – was created and applied for each child using 36 months of weekly tape
recordings of mealtime conversations. BPR fluctuations indicate that the greatest effect on the
children's language preference was community immersion in the target language.
However, the twins' markedly greater preference for speaking French at home in
Louisiana is attributed to the influence of French immersion at school.
Sur les immeubles fuchsiens et leur type de quasi-isométrie
Authors: BOURDON MARC
Published: July 2002

On étudie une large classe d'immeubles à courbure strictement négative. Deux aspects sont surtout développés : la construction de réseaux dans leur groupe d'automor-phismes, et l'étude de leur type de quasi-isométrie à travers la dimension conforme de Pansu de leur bord.
On a syntactically defined invariant of symbolic dynamics
Authors: KRIEGER WOLFGANG
Published: July 2002

A partially ordered set that is invariantly associated to a subshift is constructed. A property of subshifts, also an invariant of topological conjugacy, is described. If this property is present in a subshift then the constructed partially ordered set is a partially ordered semigroup (with zero). In the description of these invariants the notion of context is instrumental.
Expansive geodesic flows in manifolds with no
conjugate points
Authors: RUGGIERO RAFAEL O.
Published: July 2002

Let $M$ be a compact Riemannian manifold with no
conjugate points such that its geodesic flow is expansive. We show that there exists a local product
structure in the unit tangent bundle of the manifold which is invariant under the
geodesic flow.
In particular, we have that the set of closed geodesics is dense and that the flow is topologically
transitive.
Languages, equicontinuity and attractors in cellular automata
Authors: KŮRKA PETR
Published: July 2002

We consider three related classifications of cellular
automata: the first is based on the complexity of languages
generated by clopen partitions of the state space, i.e. on the
complexity of the factor subshifts; the second is based on
the concept of equicontinuity and it is a modification of the
classification introduced by Gilman [9]. The third one
is based on the concept of attractors and it refines the
classification introduced by Hurley [16]. We show
relations between these classifications and give examples of
cellular automata in the intersection classes. In particular, we
show that every positively expansive cellular automaton is
conjugate to a one-sided subshift of finite type and that every
topologically transitive cellular automaton is sensitive to
initial conditions. We also construct a cellular automaton with
minimal quasi-attractor, whose basin has measure zero, answering
a question raised in Hurley [16].
A class of unique ${\bi g}$-measures
Authors: HULSE PAUL
Published: July 2002

We consider $g$-measures for the one-sided shift
on a sequence space.
We give a condition which guarantees that
the $g$-measure is unique and
has a Bernoulli natural extension.
Regulatory Federalism: EU Environmental Regulation in Comparative Perspective
Authors: Kelemen R. Daniel
Published: July 2002

This article analyzes the development of environmental regulation in the European Union from the perspective of comparative federalism. It presents a theory of regulatory federalism that explains how the basic institutional structures of federal-type polities shape the development of regulatory policy. The article assesses the theory by systematically comparing the development of environmental regulation in the EU, the US, Canada and Australia. The analysis suggests that the EU's institutional structure encourages the development of a US-style pattern of regulation, characterized by detailed, non-discretionary rules and a litigious approach to enforcement.
The Institutional Design of EMU: A Democratic Deficit?
Authors: Verdun Amy
Published: July 2002

The introduction of the euro is accompanied by an independent European Central Bank (ECB) which is solely responsible for monetary policy in the euro zone. No European institution will be introduced to flank the ECB. This particular institutional design is problematic. This article argues that Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) suffers moderately from a democratic deficit. However, the case of Germany illustrates that it is not the independence of the ECB that should be cause for concern, but the absence of specific domestic features and a government. It is unclear which political authority will be held responsible if EMU leads to an uneven distribution of costs and benefits across the euro zone. Economic literature suggests that under EMU distortions could well occur and that a different design could deal better with these imperfections. The historical process leading to EMU explains the reasons for its particular design. Although imperfect, EMU is an improvement over the pre-EMU status quo in which Germany de facto dominated monetary policy. Nevertheless, the design of EMU remains suboptimal.
External Shocks, Conflict and Learning as Interactive Sources of Change in U.S. Security Policy
Authors: Thomas Gerald B.
Published: July 2002

Scholars studying the processes that lead to significant alterations in public policies have identified two major sources of change: policy-oriented conflict and policy-oriented learning. Many investigations of specific cases of consequential policy change also suggest that “shocks” from outside the policy subsystem, (that is, the specific political arena where a policy issue is formulated and implemented) are often necessary for significant policy change to occur. Rather than being competing explanations of policy change, this paper argues that external shocks, conflict, and learning often interact to generate windows of opportunity which enable policies to be significantly altered. These perspectives on policy change are then qualitatively applied to recent changes in U.S. national security policy which have allowed formerly secret spy satellite technology to be used in commercial data gathering systems. The final part discusses the implications of this research for the theory of policy change and for U.S. national security policy.
Lifestyles of belief: narrative and culture in a retirement community
Authors: BIGGS SIMON , BERNARD MIRIAM , KINGSTON PAUL , NETTLETON HILARY
Published: July 2002

This paper examines the culture and narratives occurring in a purpose-built
retirement community. It is argued that in order to understand the effects that
such a community can have on wellbeing, it is necessary to analyse the
interaction of a variety of interweaving narratives used to sustain a secure
micro-cultural base. These narratives include formal representations, daily life
as experienced by tenants and imaginative associations within community
culture. Retirement communities for older people have been represented as
containing the positive features of both residential care and neighbourhood
life. They have also been criticised as promoting exclusivity and negative
attitudes to outsiders. Tenants reported experiences of a high level of
interdependence and peer support. They saw the community as a positive
alternative to nursing homes, continued residence in their local neighbourhoods and reliance on family support. It was found that this retirement
community was perceived to have a positive effect on wellbeing which was
attributed to peer culture and was sustained by imaginative narratives of
miracle and progress. However, certain groups were excluded from this
dominant reading.
Combating loneliness: a friendship enrichment programme for older women
Authors: STEVENS NAN
Published: July 2002

Research indicates that friendship contributes to wellbeing in later life in various ways: through the provision of companionship in daily life, support during stressful transitions, sustainment of identity under changing circumstances and adaptation to old age. However not all older people have friends available who fulfil these different functions. In order to promote wellbeing and reduce loneliness, an educational programme on friendship enrichment for older women has been developed and implemented in the Netherlands. The friendship programme's main goal is empowerment; it helps women clarify their needs in friendship, analyse their current social network, set goals in friendship and develop strategies to achieve goals. Reduction of loneliness, when present, is also an important goal of the programme. A study that followed 40 participants during the year after the programme demonstrates that a majority succeeded in developing new, or improving existing, friendships and in significantly reducing their loneliness. They also reported changes related to the self and social behaviour. Limitations of the research design, reflection on the feasibility of reducing loneliness through a single type of intervention, and possible applications of the programme's design to other areas, are presented in the discussion.
‘The changes and chances of this mortal life’: aspects of ageing in the fiction of Stanley Middleton
Authors: HEPWORTH MIKE
Published: July 2002

Sociological research shows that individuals attempt to make sense of the meaning of the ageing process in the course of conversations with other people. The social construction of ageing is therefore an interactive process during which ideas and beliefs about ageing are negotiated and exchanged. Novels are a rich and easily accessible source of data on the social construction of the meaning of ageing during the course of social interaction and this paper explores the imaginative contribution of the English novelist Stanley Middleton to our awareness of these subtle processes. It is suggested that Middleton's fiction provides a particularly rewarding example of the contribution of the novelist to our understanding of the origins of the experience of growing older as a product of social interaction.
Expectations and attitudes affecting
patterns of informal care in farming
families in Northern Ireland
Authors: HEENAN DEIRDRE
Published: July 2002

Recent research in Northern Ireland examining the needs and circumstances
of informal carers has highlighted the personal and financial costs of caring. In
this paper it is argued that these studies have taken no account of the
particular expectations and attitudes towards informal care that exist within
farm families. In these families there is a strong expectation that care for older
relatives will take place almost entirely within the family. The reputation of
the farm family within the local community is strongly dependent on their
treatment of the older generation. Help from the state and the voluntary sector
is extremely limited. Rather than being described as burdensome and difficult,
these family arrangements are described as beneficial for everyone involved. It
is argued that expectations and attitudes towards care within farm families are
significantly different from those in non-farm families and policy makers and
practitioners must take account of this in the context of care in the community.
What's the use of International Relations?
Authors: NICHOLSON MICHAEL
Published: July 2002

This article discusses some controversies over the relations of the academic discipline of International Relations to policy. The article argues that, while our ultimate goal may be to have some impact on the world, the immediate goals can be more abstract. International Relations consists, and should consist, of a set of Lakatosian Research Programmes, some conflicting, some complementary, which range from the abstract to the directly policy-relevant. Effective intervention in social systems depends on analyses in more than commonsense terms. The article looks sceptically on recent disciplinary history, doubting both the supposed positivist hegemony and the supposed novelty of normative debate.
Sovereignty and freedom: Immanuel Kant's liberal internationalist ‘legacy’
Authors: FRANCESCHET ANTONIO
Published: July 2002

This article explores a fundamental division among contemporary liberal internationalists regarding the relationship between state sovereignty and the goal of freedom. The article suggests that, in spite of his popular status among a wide variety of contemporary liberal international theorists, Immanuel Kant's political philosophy is an extraordinarily ambiguous ‘legacy’ because of the dualistic doctrine of state sovereignty to which he subscribed. Kant's thought is committed to state sovereignty while providing the grounds for a profound critique of its existence. The reason that sovereignty is ambiguous in Kant's political theory is that it is justified by his bifurcated understanding of human freedom.
Ideology and the Cold War
Authors: WOHLFORTH WILLIAM C.
Published: July 2002

Scholars interested in international relations theory and history are indebted to
Mark Kramer for his splendid review of new historical evidence on the role of ideas
and power during the Cold War. I agree with Kramer that new evidence by itself
never settles learned debates such as the one he reviews. However, the sharper the
debate, the bigger the potential payoff from fresh evidence. Toward that end, I have
three comments.
The New Security Dilemma: divisibility, defection and disorder in the global era
Authors: CERNY PHILIP G.
Published: July 2002

Traditionally, the central problematic of the Westphalian states system has been how to counteract the so-called ‘security dilemma’, the tendency for states in a context of uncertainty to defect from cooperative arrangements if they perceive other states' security preparations as threatening (misperception; arms racing). As the states system became more centralized and the number of major players declined in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the nondivisibility of benefits—the dangers of potential defection (world wars; nuclear annihilation)—grew while states' incentives to defect increasingly necessitated control from the centre. The end of the Cold War, however, has reflected not a further centralization (nondivisibility) of benefits in the international system but (1) an increasing divisibility of benefits in a globalizing world economy and (2) the declining effectiveness of interstate mechanisms at preventing defection not only by states (‘defection from above’) but also by non-state, sub-state and trans-state actors (‘defection from below’). In this ‘new security dilemma’, the range of incentives grows for the latter to defect from the states system itself—unless coopted through the increased availability of divisible benefits. Furthermore, attempts to impose security from above (intervention) can create backlashes which interact with complex globalization processes to create new sources of uncertainty: overlapping and competing cross-border networks of power, shifting loyalties and identities, and new sources of endemic low-level conflict. In this context, emerging mechanisms of stabilization will be uneven, characterized by structural tensions and suboptimal performance.
‘Where are we going?’ International Relations and the voice from below
Authors: HILL CHRISTOPHER
Published: July 2002

They tell us that the Pharoahs built the pyramids. Well, the Pharoahs didn't lift their little fingers. The pyramids were built by thousands of anonymous slaves . . . and it's the same thing for the Second World War. There were masses of books on the subject. But what was the war like for those who lived it, who fought? I want to hear their stories.

Writing about international relations is in part a history of writing about the people. The subject sprang from a desire to prevent the horrors of the Great War once again being visited upon the masses and since then some of its main themes have been international cooperation, decolonisation, poverty and development, and more recently issues of gender.
The CNN effect: can the news media drive foreign policy?
Authors: ROBINSON PIERS
Published: July 2002

During the 1980s the proliferation of new technologies transformed the potential of the news media to provide a constant flow of global real-time news. Tiananmen Square and the collapse of communism symbolised by the fall of the Berlin Wall became major media events communicated to Western audiences instantaneously via TV news media. By the end of the decade the question was being asked as to what extent this ‘media pervasiveness’ had impacted upon government – particularly the process of foreign policy making. The new technologies appeared to reduce the scope for calm deliberation over policy, forcing policy-makers to respond to whatever issue journalists focused on. This perception was in turn reinforced by the end of the bipolar order and what many viewed as the collapse of the old anti-communist consensus which – it was argued – had led to the creation of an ideological bond uniting policy makers and journalists. Released from the ‘prism of the Cold
War’ journalists were, it was presumed, freer not just to cover the stories they wanted but to criticise US foreign policy as well. The phrase ‘CNN effect’ encapsulated the idea that real-time communications technology could provoke major responses from domestic audiences and political elites to global events.
‘Redneck religion and shitkickin' saviours?’: Gram Parsons, theology and country music
Authors: Grimshaw Michael
Published: July 2002

The country singer Gram Parsons (1946-73) has in the last decade been increasingly cited as a seminal influence upon the development of contemporary alt.country and the roots/americana revivial. This article critiques Parsons and his music within the realm of contextual theology, using him as a bridge to examine the wider issue of what a theology of country music might entail. Both Parsons and Country Music in general are strongly religious in language, ethos and culture, yet the theology articulated both explicitly and implicitly is not evangelical as those outside the genre and culture might assume. Rather, the theology of country music involves a gospel of liminality, a theology of redemptive transgression that is expressed in ‘white spirituals’ where the song is a locus of grace. The article asks if Parsons was a locus of grace; are his songs those of liminal presence; does country music employ a theology of redemptive transgression?
Principle of high accuracy for the nonlinear theory of the
acceleration of electrons in a vacuum by lasers at relativistic
intensities
Authors: HORA H. , HOELSS M. , SCHEID W. , WANG J.W. , HO Y.K. , OSMAN F. , CASTILLO R.
Published: July 2002

Acceleration of electrons by lasers in a vacuum was
considered impossible based on the fact that plane-wave
and phase symmetric wave packets cannot transfer energy
to electrons apart from Thomson or Compton scattering or
the Kapitza–Dirac effect. The nonlinear nature of
the electrodynamic forces of the fields to the electrons,
expressed as nonlinear forces including ponderomotion or
the Lorentz force, permits an energy transfer if the conditions
of plane waves in favor of the beams and/or the phase symmetry
are broken. The resulting electron acceleration by lasers
in a vacuum is now well understood as “free wave
acceleration”, as “ponderomotive scattering”,
as “violent acceleration”, or as “vacuum
beat wave acceleration”. The basic understanding
of these phenomena relates to an accuracy principle
of nonlinearity for explaining numerous discrepancies
on the way to the mentioned achievement of “vacuum
laser acceleration”, which goes beyond the well-known
experience of necessary accuracy in both modeling and experimental
work experiences among theorists and experimentalists in
the field of nonlinearity. From mathematically designed
beam conditions, an absolute maximum of electron energy
per laser interaction has been established. It is shown
here how numerical results strongly (both essentially and
gradually) depend on the accuracy of the used laser fields
for which examples are presented and finally tested by
the criterion of the absolute maximum.
Path planning for non-holonomic vehicles: a potential viscous fluid field
method
Authors: Louste C. , Liégeois A.
Published: July 2002

This paper deals with the path planning of non-holonomic vehicles on an
uneven natural terrain. It uses the properties of incompressible viscous fluid fields. The full configuration is considered including position and orientation. Lanes are computed instead of a single path. Bounds on curvature and constraints on initial and final orientations are also addressed. By using the Keymeulen/Decuyper fluid method and adding friction forces in the Stokes' equations, the shortest paths or the minimum energy ones can be found, even on an uneven terrain. In addition, in order to satisfy the kinematics and dynamics constraints of a non-holonomic robot a local variation of the shear constraint is used to control the upper bound of the trajectory curvature. Adding small corridors at the departure and destination also satisfies initial and final orientation requirements.
A wall-climbing robot for labelling scale of oil tank's volume
Authors: Xu Zeliang , Ma Peisun
Published: July 2002

A Wall-Climbing Robot (WCR) with magnetic tracks is presented in this paper. The robot is designed for labeling the scale of oil tank.5 The Wall-Climbing Robot (WCR) uses a permanent magnet sucker as its sucking mode, and a track as its moving mode. We designed an elastic brace mechanism, a load-scatter mechanism and parallelogram mechanism to improve the robot's adaptability on the steel wall surface. The control system utilizes two-level computer control systems, achieving control of the robot's moving track and processing data collected by the robot.
Dynamic Analysis of
Parallel Manipulators under the Singularity-Consistent Parameterization
Authors: Nenchev D. N. , Bhattacharya S. , Uchiyama M.
Published: July 2002

Based on the singularity-consistent parameterization framework, we
analyze motion at direct kinematics singularities for a broad class of parallel
manipulators. It will be shown that taking into account the instantaneous motion
direction of the output link, additional insight can be gained for the
possibility to move through such singularities. We argue that direct kinematics
singularities should be analyzed over the dual space which, in turn, involves
the state of the passive joints. We perform such an analysis based on the
conditioning of the equation of motion. It is shown that, depending on the
instantaneous motion direction, at certain direct kinematics singularities it is
possible to obtain a consistent solution in terms of torque. This implies that
in combination with the continuity of the singularity-consistent inverse
kinematic solution, motion through such direct kinematics singularities is
feasible.
Quadruped Free Gait Generation Based on the Primary/Secondary Gait
Authors: Bai Shaoping , Low K. H. , Zielinska Teresa
Published: July 2002

A free gait algorithm is proposed utilizing a new method of gait generation called primary/secondary gait. The primary gait is a fixed sequence of leg transfers with modified leg-end kinematic limits according to the obstacle presence, while the secondary gait is a flexible gait which is generated to adjust the leg-end position. The primary gait is generated considering the following four constraints: stability constraint, kinematic constraint, sequential constraint and neighboring constraints. Primary gait parameters are modified by the influence of the obstacle. Normally, the machine tends to move with the primary gait. When the primary gait cannot move the vehicle, the secondary

gait is adopted to serve as a complement of the primary gait. With the proposed primary/secondary gait, it is expected to improve the efficiency of free gait generation while maintaining the mobility of the vehicle. Simulation results are given to

demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed methodology.
Navigation of a mobile robot by locally optimal trajectories
Authors: Djath Kokou , Siadet Ali , Dufaut Michel , Wolf Didier
Published: July 2002

This paper proposes a navigation system for a non-holonomic mobile robot. The
navigation is based on a “look and move” approach. The aim is to define intermediate points called sub-goals through which the robot must pass. This algorithm is particularly suitable for navigation in an unknown environment and obstacle avoidance. Between two successive sub-goals, a shortest path planning solution is adopted. We
have adopted the “Dubins' car” because of the environment perception sensor, a 180° laser scanner. In order to minimize the calculation time, the theoretical results of shortest path are approximated by simple equations. The navigation algorithm proposed can be used either in a structured or unstructured environment. In this context the local map construction is based on the segmentation of a structured environment; so for an unstructured environment, a suitable algorithm must be used instead.
A composite adaptive output feedback tracking controller for robotic manipulators
Authors: Zergeroglu E. , Dixon W. , Haste D. , Dawson D.
Published: July 2002

This paper provides a solution to the composite adaptive output feedback tracking control problem for robotic manipulators. The proposed controller utilizes an update law that is a composite of a gradient update law driven by the link position tracking error and a least squares update law driven by the prediction error. In order to remove the controller's dependence on link velocity measurements, a linear filter and a new prediction error formulation are designed. The controller provides semi-global asymptotic link position tracking performance. Experimental results illustrate that the proposed controller provides improved link position tracking error transient performance and faster parameter estimate convergence in comparsion to the same controller using a gradient update law.