bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Anatomical Properties of the Arcuate Fasciculus Predict Phonological and Reading Skills in Children
Authors: Yeatman Jason D. , Dougherty Robert F. , Rykhlevskaia Elena , Sherbondy Anthony J. , Deutsch Gayle K. , Wandell Brian A. , Ben-Shachar Michal
Published: May 2011

For more than a century, neurologists have hypothesized that the arcuate fasciculus carries signals that are essential for language function; however, the relevance of the pathway for particular behaviors is highly controversial. The primary objective of this study was to use diffusion tensor imaging to examine the relationship between individual variation in the microstructural properties of arcuate fibers and behavioral measures of language and reading skills. A second objective was to use novel fiber-tracking methods to reassess estimates of arcuate lateralization. In a sample of 55 children, we found that measurements of diffusivity in the left arcuate correlate with phonological awareness skills and arcuate volume lateralization correlates with phonological memory and reading skills. Contrary to previous investigations that report the absence of the right arcuate in some subjects, we demonstrate that new techniques can identify the pathway in every individual. Our results provide empirical support for the role of the arcuate fasciculus in the development of reading skills.
A Scheme to Identify Loops from Trajectories of Oceanic Surface Drifters: An Application in the Kuroshio Extension Region
Authors: Dong Changming , Liu Yu , Lumpkin Rick , Lankhorst Matthias , Chen Dake , McWilliams James C. , Guan Yuping
Published: May 2011

When a drifter is trapped in an eddy, it makes either a cycloidal or a looping trajectory. The former case takes place when the translating speed is larger than the eddy spinning speed. When the background mean velocity is removed, drifter trajectories make loops. Thus, eddies can be detected from a drifter trajectory by identifying looping segments. In this paper, an automated scheme is developed to identify looping segments from Lagrangian trajectories, based on a geometric definition of a loop, that is, a closing curve with its starting point overlapped by its ending point. The scheme is to find the first returning point, if it exists, along a trajectory of a surface drifter with a few other criteria. To further increase the chance that detected loops are eddies, it is considered that a loop identifies an eddy only when the loop’s spinning period is longer than the local inertial period and shorter than the seasonal scale, and that at least two consecutive loops with the same polarity that stay sufficiently close are found. Five parameters that characterize an eddy are estimated by the scheme: location (eddy center), time (starting and ending time), period, polarity, and intensity. As an example, the scheme is applied to surface drifters in the Kuroshio Extension region. Results indicate that numbers of eddies are symmetrically distributed for cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies, mean eddy sizes are 40–50 km, and eddy abundance is the highest along the Kuroshio path with more cyclonic eddies along its southern flank.
A Fuzzy Logic Method for Lightning Prediction Using Thermodynamic and Kinematic Parameters from Radio Sounding Observations in South Korea
Authors: Kuk Bongjae , Kim Hongil , Ha Jongsung , Lee Hyokeun , Lee Gyuwon
Published: May 2011

Lightning is one of the most troubling weather phenomena for weather forecasters at space centers. In this study, proximity sounding and lightning data were used to evaluate the utility of thermodynamic and kinematic parameters for forecasting lightning prior to launch operations. Various parameters from 4138 radio sounding observations at five sites and cloud-to-ground (CG) stroke data from the Korea Meteorological Administration’s Lightning Detection Network (KLDN) over South Korea during 2004–09 were used. To support launch operations, forecasts of the total membership function for lightning (TMF) were derived from the combination of membership functions of selected thermodynamic and kinematic parameters with each objective weight using a fuzzy logic algorithm. The forecast skill of TMF was evaluated by computing several skill statistics, which include probability of detection (POD), false alarm rate (FAR), percent correct (PC), critical success index (CSI), and the true skill statistic (TSS). The lightning forecasting method for Gwangju, South Korea (site nearest to the Naro Space Center), was found to have a POD of 0.68, an FAR of 0.45, a PC of 0.76, a CSI of 0.44, and a TSS of 0.47.
Serving inland rural communities through university clinics
Authors: Allan Julaine , Pope Rod , O’Meara Peter , Higgs Joy , Kent Jenny
Published: May 2011

Aim: To effectively provide clinical placements for students and increase healthcare options for rural communities, an investigation of university clinics was conducted.

Method: This project adopted a consultative inquiry strategy and involved two processes: (1) a review of literature; and (2) interviews with existing health sciences clinic staff.

Results: Low income population groups are more likely to find student-provided services acceptable and have a reliable demand for these services if they are accessible. University clinics reporting high client numbers had a consistent flow of low income clients with chronic problems. Private healthcare providers were often unable to meet the demand from this group. However, multiple methods and flexibility of delivery that fitted in with local services were required rather than single point of access clinics.

Discussion: University clinics are an effective way of providing clinical placements for students and some healthcare for rural communities. Key aspects of the community context that make a university clinic viable are the degree of disadvantage in a community, the population density (or dispersion), the workforce available to supply health services in the public and private sectors, and the types of services that are demanded by policy or lobby groups and not yet supplied.
Cyber-management of people with chronic disease: A potential solution to eHealth challenges
Authors: Laakso E-Liisa , Armstrong Kylie , Usher Wayne
Published: May 2011

The evolving eHealth agenda presents a range of potential opportunities for the management and prevention of chronic disease. This paper identifies issues and barriers to the uptake of eHealth and describes a strategy ( Healthy Outcomes for Australians© – HOFA) for creating a central knowledge filter and cyber space method for tracking health determinants through an interactive, social media platform. Discussion will be directed towards presenting contemporary interactive cyber platforms that are aimed at harnessing social media (Web 2.0) technologies in preparation for delivering effective early 21st century health care.
Rights to Food with a Human Face in the Global South
Authors: Rahim Aminur
Published: May 2011

This article seeks to dispel the popular myth surrounding the food crises which precipitated food riots in the global South in 2008. Arguing from a structural and historical perspective, the article suggests that global hunger is a deep-rooted crisis that is embedded in the social and structural variables associated within the nation-state that places a restraint on the self-regulating capacity of nation-states in the South. Internationalizing the food crisis, however, will do more harm to the south’s agricultural transformation and rural development. The article argues for integrated rural development that will increase output growth through an institutional, technological, and marketing strategy.
Perceived Intergroup Difference as an Organizing Principle of Intercultural Attitudes and Acculturation Attitudes
Authors: van Osch Yvette M. J. , Breugelmans Seger M.
Published: May 2011

The present article forwards perceived intergroup difference as an organizing principle for both intercultural attitudes and acculturation attitudes. A study among 5,824 majority Dutch and five minority groups revealed that the position of a group on a dimension of perceived intergroup difference organized scores on a wide range of measures of intercultural attitudes and acculturation attitudes. Minority groups that were perceived by majority members as being more different from themselves received less support for multiculturalism, were seen as more threatening, were stereotyped as less warm and competent, were seen to adopt mainstream culture less and to maintain ethnic culture more, and showed more discordance between majority and minority preferences of acculturation strategies; minority groups that perceived themselves as more different from majority Dutch were more in favor of multiculturalism, held stronger ethnic identities, adopted mainstream culture less, and maintained minority culture more. The authors conclude that perceived intergroup difference may be an important organizer of intergroup relations in culturally diverse societies.
Electrical Implications of Corrosion for Osseointegration of Titanium Implants
Authors: Gittens R.A. , Olivares-Navarrete R. , Tannenbaum R. , Boyan B.D. , Schwartz Z.
Published: May 2011

The success rate of titanium implants for dental and orthopedic applications depends on the ability of surrounding bone tissue to integrate with the surface of the device, and it remains far from ideal in patients with bone compromised by physiological factors. The electrical properties and electrical stimulation of bone have been shown to control its growth and healing and can enhance osseointegration. Bone cells are also sensitive to the chemical products generated during corrosion events, but less is known about how the electrical signals associated with corrosion might affect osseointegration. The metallic nature of the materials used for implant applications and the corrosive environments found in the human body, in combination with the continuous and cyclic loads to which these implants are exposed, may lead to corrosion and its corresponding electrochemical products. The abnormal electrical currents produced during corrosion can convert any metallic implant into an electrode, and the negative impact on the surrounding tissue due to these extreme signals could be an additional cause of poor performance and rejection of implants. Here, we review basic aspects of the electrical properties and electrical stimulation of bone, as well as fundamental concepts of aqueous corrosion and its electrical and clinical implications.
Environmentally Influenced Urbanisation: Footprints Bound for Town?
Authors: Morinière Lezlie
Published: May 2011

Over the past 30 years, urbanisation has been a prominent phenomenon and various drivers have been proposed to explain it. Very few have suggested that the degradation of the rural environment was one of them. This paper explores the human–environment interface by focusing on the portrayal of these concepts within scholarly literature. A systematic literature review was conducted and 147 articles were examined to determine the direction of the link between the environment and human mobility, and if urbanisation was featured. The results demonstrate that equal attention is paid to both directions of the environment–mobility link. Of the articles reviewed, 40 per cent focus on urbanisation, but 93 per cent of those portray urbanisation as a forcing on the environment, rather than an impact of environmental degradation. The lack of support for environmentally influenced urbanisation can be explained by coupled system complexity, disciplinary research and the silence of those most likely to endure environmental change. Understanding these relationships is paramount to the promotion of adaptation without eroding resilience or further degrading environments.
Spatial Variations in US Poverty
Authors: Wang Man , Kleit Rachel Garshick , Cover Jane , Fowler Christopher S.
Published: May 2011

Because poverty in rural and urban areas of the US often has different causes, correlates and solutions, effective anti-poverty policies depend on a thorough understanding of the ruralness or urbanness of specific places. This paper compares several widely used classification schemes and the varying magnitudes of poverty that they reveal in the US. The commonly used ‘metropolitan/non-metropolitan’ distinction obscures important socioeconomic differences among metropolitan areas, making our understanding of the geography of poverty imprecise. Given the number and concentration of poor people living in mixed-rural and rural counties in metropolitan regions, researchers and policy-makers need to pay more nuanced attention to the opportunities and constraints such individuals face. A cross-classification of the Office of Management and Budget’s metro system with a nuanced RUDC scheme is the most effective for revealing the geographical complexities of poverty within metropolitan areas.
CSCC Review Series Essay: Education Abroad in the U.S. Community Colleges
Authors: Yi Zhang
Published: May 2011

This article—the first in the Council for the Study of Community Colleges (CSCC) Review Essays Series—reviews the literature concerning education-abroad opportunities for community college students. The article examines the benefits accrued to students through overseas study, briefly notes the history of education-abroad programs, and summarizes what is known about community college participation in these programs. Recommendations for overcoming the barriers that limit this participation are presented.
Integrating Basic Skills and Career-Technical Instruction: Findings From a Field Study of Washington State’s I-BEST Model
Authors: Wachen John , Jenkins Davis , Van Noy Michelle
Published: May 2011

The federal government and private foundations for education have established postsecondary credential completion as a national imperative. Washington State’s Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) model was developed to increase the rate at which basic skills students advance to and succeed in college-level occupational programs, and quantitative research on the model provides evidence of its effectiveness. This study shares findings on the implementation of the I-BEST model and provides lessons for practitioners and policy makers in other states.
Changelings: Transformative Perceptions of San José’s Street Children, 1965-1981
Authors: Aldebot-Green Scarlett
Published: May 2011

Between 1965 and 1981, Costa Ricans changed their perceptions of which characteristics they thought defined appropriate urban childhoods. By 1981, the model of a modern, urban Costa Rican child was that of a child who attended school, did not work on the streets, and played in specifically designated places. Children who did not fit this mold began, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, to be viewed as dangerous to society and as evidencing social pathology. Whereas children who worked on the streets during the 1960s were considered part of the urban landscape, and their childhoods, though difficult, were not perceived as deviant, these same children, two decades later, were viewed as marginal and problematic. To trace this change, this article focuses on the changing perceptions about children on the streets that writers for and public contributors to La Nación, one of the preeminent Costa Rican newspapers, show during the sixteen-year period under analysis.
Networks, cultural capital and creative labour in the British independent television industry
Authors: Lee David
Published: May 2011

This article examines the significance of networking practices as a means of finding work and developing a career in the British independent television production sector (ITPS). The findings are based on qualitative research carried out between 2005 and 2006, based on in-depth interviews with 20 freelancers working in the ITPS. The article studies the importance of networking not only as a mode of finding work, but also a mechanism of exclusion, favouring individuals with high levels of cultural and social capital. Drawing on sociological theories of networks such as those of Granovetter and Burt, the article considers the emergence of new patterns of hierarchy and discrimination within the ITPS, in a context where formal recruitment procedures are often bypassed in favour of network relationships. It also examines the implications for television workers of the discursive shift towards networking, where the ‘networkextender’ is presented as the ideal within contemporary management discourse.
Desirable people: Identifying social values through celebrity news
Authors: Gorin Valérie , Dubied Annik
Published: May 2011

In this article, we define the notion of ‘celebrity news’, emphasizing the fact that the portrayal of film stars embodies the imitable and the inimitable and, consequently, points towards values. In that context, we discuss the results of a thematic content analysis of a wide corpus of the daily and weekly European, French-speaking printed media to reveal which values are highlighted in celebrity news; we also compare these results with the contemporary values which emerge from recent European and global surveys of values. We then compare the various types of printed media. Finally, we focus on a specific aspect emerging from the main content analysis: the ‘meltdown’ or ‘fall from grace’, which records the decline of a star figure. Such narratives are good examples of syncretism in values, in which very contradictory attributes in celebrities are made to coexist, yet in which the subversive aspect of such a confrontation is passed over. We conclude by showing that the widespread negotiation of different values perceptible in reporting on celebrity figures is a sign of an era of change and re-evaluation, and therefore deserving of study.
Towards ethnography of television on the internet: A mobile strategy for exploring mundane interpretive activities
Authors: Hine Christine
Published: May 2011

This article aims to expand on the currently popular practice of conducting ethnographic studies of individual online fan groups to find other ways of using the internet ethnographically for television studies. The example of the Antiques Roadshow is used to explore a strategy for ethnographic attention to the diversity of mundane engagements with a particular television text via the internet. The development of this strategy draws on recent thinking on the constitution of ethnographic field sites, focusing on conceptualization of the field as a made object, and development of multi-sited approaches as appropriate forms of engagement with contemporary culture. This strategy also builds on recent debates about the significance of ‘found’ digital data for social research. Potential problems with this approach include loss of depth and contextualizing information, and the risk of only focusing on that data which is easily found by dominant search engines. These problems can be offset to some extent by increased focus on reflexivity, and by allowing the field site to spill out beyond the internet as the ethnographer finds it necessary and useful in order to explore particular practices of meaning-making.
Double-pass clustering technique for multilingual document collections
Authors: Kishida Kazuaki
Published: May 2011

It is often necessary to categorize automatically multilingual document sets, in which documents written in a variety of languages are included, into topically homogeneous subsets, such as when applying an automatic summarization system for multilingual news articles. However, there have been few studies on multilingual document clustering to date. In particular, it is not known whether clustering techniques are effective in medium- or large-scale multilingual document sets. For scalability, techniques should be based on dictionary-based translation and a single- or double-pass clustering algorithm. This article reports on experiments of applying multilingual document clustering to medium-scale sets of English, French, German and Italian documents (Reuters news articles). The results show that the double-pass algorithm has a positive effect in the case that each document is translated. On the other hand, the cluster translation strategy in which clusters obtained by applying a clustering algorithm to each language document set are translated has almost no effect. Also, translation disambiguation techniques can improve, but only slightly, the effectiveness of clustering.
Constructing the structure underlying open access practices
Authors: Jingfeng Xia
Published: May 2011

This article applies a structuralist perspective to examine open access (OA) practices. Anthropologist Lévi-Strauss’s culinary triangle model is adopted to streamline a whole OA process from repository content accumulation to OA article consumption. By constructing the conceptual relationship of three OA activities, namely archiving, searching and citation, the article argues that content accumulation constitutes the success of the OA movement. The OA process is perceived as a continuum along which each type of scholar’s activity has an impact on, and is also influenced by, other activities. Constructing the structure underlying OA practices will help better recognize the history, present status and future direction of the open access movement.
Modelling ancient Chinese time ontology
Authors: Qing Zou  , Park Eun G.
Published: May 2011

Temporal information is one of the essential components in many domains, especially those related to history. Up until the twentieth century, the Chinese used a lunisolar calendar with the title of an Emperor and a reign period to express temporal information. When describing a historical event in Chinese history, it is inadequate to use existing time ontologies as presented in the traditional Chinese way of thinking to capture and encode time. To date, no attention in the field has been given to modelling ancient Chinese time. In this paper, we identify the problems encountered when modelling Chinese time resulting from the distinctive nature of a non-western time scale. We design a new model of temporal information with combined approaches, which are more appropriate for Chinese dynasties, emperors, and reign periods, and apply the OWL-Time ontology onto the ancient Chinese lunisolar calendar. This approach can also be applied to other ancient time-keeping methods in non-western time scales.
Normativity and interpretation: Korsgaard’s deontology and the hermeneutic conception of the subject
Authors: Fristedt Peter
Published: May 2011

In this article, I ask whether Korsgaard’s ethics can be reconciled with a hermeneutic understanding of the human subject. Hermeneutics, inspired by Nietzsche, has traditionally been skeptical about the notion that moral principles have authority over us. But Korsgaard’s account of normativity as grounded in self-consciousness and its reflective distance from beliefs and desires is strikingly similar to Gadamer’s description of human beings as distant and ‘free’ from their environment. The question hermeneutics poses to deontology is how a finite subject can be bound unconditionally by principles, when our understanding of them is always historically mediated and partial. I argue that Gadamer’s notion of the subject matter of understanding (the Sache) allows us to see that we understand our principles as interpretations of fully determined principles. What binds us is the principle that we are always revising our way toward, but whose content we never completely determine.
Is it cohesion or diversion? Domestic instability and the use of force in international crises
Authors: Sirin Cigdem V.
Published: May 2011

This study asserts that cohesionary — rather than diversionary — motives primarily influence the propensity of political leaders to use external force in international crises in times of domestic turmoil. Specifically, I contend that mass violence leads political leaders to engage in cohesionary tactics to achieve and maintain social order in their country for political survival. Employing random effects probit analyses with International Crisis Behavior (ICB) data for 139 countries from 1918 to 2005, I find that increased mass violence is more likely than other forms of domestic problems (be it an economic downturn or government instability) to instigate the external use of force during international crises. I also find that the impact of mass violence on the external use of force is contingent on ethno-religious heterogeneity and regime type.
Effective partnership working in music education: Principles and practice
Authors: Hallam Richard
Published: May 2011

Successful partnerships between policy makers and deliverers, providers and recipients can be both strategic and operational. Partnerships can operate in several different ways at the same time. Joint programmes achieve more than each organization or individual can achieve separately. The impact on children and young people can be profound if the quality of musical experiences provided is high; and there is benefit to young people, their families, musicians and teachers, the whole school and the community. Effective partnership working takes account of context; requires good communication, time, leadership, mutual trust, clarity of roles and responsibilities, and the support of senior management. Training needs must be identified and addressed. Planning, monitoring and evaluation are crucial and a shared ethos and sense of purpose are essential. The article draws on evidence for effective partnership working in music education and concludes that young people can access a more meaningful and worthwhile music education programme if the strengths of different partners are effectively harnessed and deployed. Practical suggestions are offered.
Using technology to engage third-age (retired) leisure learners: A case study of a third-age MIDI piano ensemble
Authors: Pike Pamela D.
Published: May 2011

Census data from the USA and other countries project that people over the age of 65 are expected to account for one-fifth of the population by 2030 and will double to 88.5 million people by 2050. Retirees (third-age) are pursuing lifelong-learning activities as they search for meaning and purpose during the post-professional years. Many third-aged students have returned to music study as a means of developing new or neglected musical skills. Researchers have noted important physiological, educational and social benefits of group music study. The purpose of this project was to conduct a qualitative case study of a successful third-age MIDI ensemble (founded in 2002) to explore the benefits experienced by these subjects ( N = 35) and to discover why these students return to the program year after year. Data from this eight-year case study has been triangulated through regular field visits, videos of classes and performances, subject questionnaires, and in-depth interviews. Constant-comparative analysis was employed and broad themes that emerged included: student satisfaction through engagement with the technology; musical growth as a result of the technology and ensemble music; improved technical and musical skills; and increased confidence in both use of the technology and in its musical application. This successful group might serve as a model for future third-age MIDI programs.
Internet skills in developing countries: how much do we know?
Authors: James Jeffrey
Published: May 2011

There is widespread agreement that skills are a major determinant of Internet use in developing countries. There is much less discussion however of what such skills actually comprise and how they are best measured. This paper addresses these and other issues in an attempt to say what is known about Internet skills in developing countries and what still needs to be understood.
Can cloud computing bridge the digital divide in South African secondary education?
Authors: Le Roux C.J.B. , Evans N.
Published: May 2011

Cloud computing is a relatively new concept that holds significant promises for the future development and delivery of computer resources to secondary or basic education in South Africa, especially in schools most affected by the digital divide. The aim of this paper is to briefly review the extent to which cloud computing applications and services currently used by secondary education systems in developed countries around the world can be used to help breach the digital divide that currently exists in the secondary (basic) education sector in South Africa. The authors believe that South Africa has the required technology and skills to bridge the digital divide in secondary education and by doing so set the pace for the rest of the African continent. All it lacks is the political will and determination to do so.
Effects of acute alcohol intoxication on automated processing: evidence from the double-step paradigm
Authors: Vorstius Christian , Radach Ralph , Lang Alan R
Published: May 2011

Reflexive and voluntary levels of processing have been studied extensively with respect to possible impairments due to alcohol intoxication. This study examined alcohol effects at the ‘automated’ level of processing essential to many complex visual processing tasks (e.g., reading, visual search) that involve ongoing modifications or reprogramming of well-practiced routines. Data from 30 participants (16 male) were collected in two counterbalanced sessions (alcohol vs. no-alcohol control; mean breath alcohol concentration = 68 mg/dL vs. 0 mg/dL). Eye movements were recorded during a double-step task where 75% of trials involved two target stimuli in rapid succession (inter-stimulus interval [ISI] = 40, 70, or 100 ms) so that they could elicit two distinct saccades or eye movements (double steps). On 25% of trials a single target appeared. Results indicated that saccade latencies were longer under alcohol. In addition, the proportion of single-step responses and the mean saccade amplitude (length) of primary saccades decreased significantly with increasing ISI. The key novel finding, however, was that the reprogramming time needed to cancel the first saccade and adjust saccade amplitude was extended significantly by alcohol. The additional time made available by prolonged latencies due to alcohol was not utilized by the saccade programming system to decrease the number of two-step responses. These results represent the first demonstration of specific alcohol-induced programming deficits at the automated level of oculomotor processing.
Polanyi and the Role of Tradition in Scientific Inquiry
Authors: Mitchell Mark T.
Published: May 2011

A characteristic of the modern mind is a disdain for tradition. Polanyi argues that neglecting the role of tradition leads to philosophical incoherence as well as moral and political chaos. Polanyi’s postcritical philosophy represents an attempt to show how tradition plays a vital role in the process of discovery. Ultimately, a coherent account of the sciences, as well as the humanities, is only possible when tradition is acknowledged as indispensable.
Cerebral Hirano-like Bodies in an Alpaca (Vicugna pacos)
Authors: Melidone R. , Keating J. H. , Pfannl R. , Alroy J.
Published: May 2011

A 14-year-old female alpaca ( Vicugna pacos) was presented with a 1-week history of lethargy and anorexia and a 2-day history of recumbency, trembling, and hypothermia. There were no significant gross findings on postmortem examination. Hematoxylin and eosin–stained sections of brain demonstrated the presence of intracytoplasmic crystalline eosinophilic rod-shaped inclusions, mainly in the hippocampal pyramidal cells. Immunohistochemical staining for synuclein, tau protein, ubiquitin, and smooth muscle actin was negative. All inclusions were positive with phosphotungstic acid hematoxylin. Ultrastructurally, the inclusions were multilamellar and filamentous with longitudinal herringbone pattern and cross-sectional latticelike structure. The combination of hematoxylin and eosin appearance, special stains, immunostaining, and ultrastructural findings was consistent with Hirano-like bodies. The Hirano-like bodies were highly unlikely to be the cause of the neurologic signs experienced by this alpaca. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of spontaneous cerebral Hirano-like bodies in an alpaca.
Potential applications of silk sericin, a natural protein from textile industry by-products
Authors: Aramwit Pornanong , Siritientong Tippawan , Srichana Teerapol
Published: May 2011

Silk is composed of two major proteins, fibroin (fibrous protein) and sericin (globular, gumming protein). Fibroin has been used in textile manufacturing and for several biomaterial applications, whereas sericin is considered a waste material in the textile industry. Sericin has recently been found to activate the proliferation of several cell-lines and has also shown various biological activities. Sericin can form a gel by itself; however, after mixing with other polymers and cross-linking it can form a film or a scaffold with good characteristics that can be used in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. Sericin is proven to cause no immunological responses, which has resulted in a more acceptable material for biological applications.
Solitary Tumefactive Demyelinating Lesions in Children
Authors: Morin Marie-Paule , Patenaude Yves , Sinsky Anna B. , Banwell Brenda , Sébire Guillaume
Published: May 2011

Solitary tumefactive demyelination is rare in children, and the diagnosis is often conferred after brain biopsy. The authors report 3 children with solitary tumefactive demyelination and provide clinical and paraclinical clues to aid the clinician in reaching a diagnosis using a noninvasive approach.
Effect of CFRP Sheet Length on the Behavior of HSC Continuous Beam
Authors: Kadhim M.M.A.
Published: May 2011

This article is focused on the behavior of the high strength concrete continuous beam strengthened with carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheet with different CFRP sheet lengths. Three full-scale continuous beams are analyzed under two points load, and the data of analysis are compared with the experimental data provided by other researchers. ANSYS V.11 program is used in finite element analysis, and the results obtained from analysis give good agreement with experimental data with respect to load–deflection curve, ultimate strength, and the crack patterns. The length of CFRP sheet is changed in the negative and positive regions. The results showed that the ultimate strength of the beam was reached when the value of Lsheet/ Lspan reaches 1.0, and when the value decreases, the ultimate strength of beam also decreases a little (1.4%), but when it decreases less than 0.6, the ultimate strength also decreases a lot (15%).
Effect of Iron Phosphate Glass on the Physico-mechanical Properties of Jute Fabric-reinforced Polypropylene-based Composites
Authors: Dey K. , Sharmin N. , Khan R. A. , Nahar S. , Parsons A.J. , Rudd C.D.
Published: May 2011

Jute fabric (hessian cloth)-reinforced polypropylene (PP)-based composites (30 wt% fiber) were prepared by compression molding. Tensile strength (TS), tensile modulus (TM), bending strength (BS), bending modulus (BM), and impact strength (IS) of the composites were found to be 28, 280, 31, 440 MPa, and 18 kJ/m2, respectively. Iron phosphate glass powder (5 wt%) was added (as filler) onto jute fabrics by hand lay-up technique and then PP-based composites were fabricated. The mechanical properties of the jute + glass-reinforced PP-based composites (30 wt% fiber) were found to increase significantly compared to that of jute + PP composite. Degradation tests of the composites were performed up to 6 months in soil medium at ambient conditions and reported slow degradation of mechanical properties of jute + glass composite over jute composite.
Hormesis, resveratrol and plant-derived polyphenols: some comments
Authors: Chirumbolo Salvatore
Published: May 2011

Hormesis is a dose–response phenomenon, usually present in plants and animals, characterized by a low-dose stimulation and high-dose inhibition, often resulting in typical U-shaped or J-shaped curves. Hormesis has become an interesting model for toxicology and risk assessment, as it has been described for several nature-derived phytochemicals but also because this adaptive response to stressors might hide an underlying more general behaviour of cell towards low doses.
Physician Assistant and Nurse Practitioner Utilization in Academic Medical Centers
Authors: Moote Marc , Krsek Cathleen , Kleinpell Ruth , Todd Barbara
Published: May 2011

The purpose of this study was to collect information on the utilization of physician assistants (PAs) and nurse practitioners (NPs) in academic health centers. Data were gathered from a national sample of University HealthSystem Consortium member academic medical centers (AMCs). PAs and NPs have been integrated into most services of respondent AMCs, where they are positively rated for the value they bring to these organizations. The primary reason cited by most AMCs for employing PAs and NPs was Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education resident duty hour restrictions (26.9%). Secondary reasons for employing PAs and NPs include increasing patient throughput (88%), increasing patient access (77%), improving patient safety/quality (77%), reducing length of stay (73%), and improving continuity of care (73%). However, 69% of AMCs report they have not successfully documented the financial impact of PA/NP practice or outcomes associated with individual PA or NP care.
Moderating Islamism in Indonesia
Authors: Tomsa Dirk
Published: May 2011

This article analyzes why, how and to what extent Indonesia’s once staunchly Islamist Prosperous Justice Party (Partai Keadilan Sejahtera; PKS) has become more moderate through its participation in democratic procedures. It also examines how this moderation process has affected the party’s electoral performance and the overall quality of democracy in Indonesia. It is argued that PKS has indeed become more moderate and that this moderation has, after initial electoral success, now posed some serious challenges to the party’s organizational coherence. The article concludes by highlighting that moderation is a process that is neither linear nor unreservedly positive for democratization.
Measuring the Impact of Police Discretion on Official Crime Statistics: A Research Note
Authors: Boivin Rémi , Cordeau Gilbert
Published: May 2011

This article examines the effect that collective bargaining had on official crime statistics compiled between 1998 and 2009 in Montreal, Canada. Police officers collectively decided to reduce their use of record-discretion on two occasions, to increase administrative workload and pressure their employers. Considerable increases of recorded assaults and mischief were observed, despite no apparent variation of reported infractions measured by calls for service. Recorded and reported car thefts and burglaries displayed no significant variation. Results suggest that observed variations can be explained in terms of temporary differential treatment of specific incidents rather than increases of reported criminality or proactive police activity. This research challenges the reliability of official statistics as measures of crime and demonstrates that external circumstances can influence police recording practices.
Parties heed (with caution)
Authors: vanHeerde-Hudson Jennifer , Fisher Justin
Published: May 2011

Despite comprehensive reform ( Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act) and recent review (Phillips Review in 2007) of party finance in Britain, public opinion of party finance remains plagued by perceptions of corruption, undue influence from wealthy donors, carefree and wasteful spending and, more generally, from the perception that there is just ‘too much money’ in politics. In this article we argue that knowledge of and attitudes to party finance matter, not least because advocates of reform have cited public opinion as evidence for reform. However, because attitudes to party finance are part of a broader attitudinal structure, opinion-led reforms are unlikely to succeed in increasing public confidence. Using data generated from YouGov’s online panel (N=2,008), we demonstrate that the public know little of the key provisions regulating party finance and attitudes to party finance can be explained along two underlying dimensions – Anti-Party Finance and Reformers. As such, we consider whether parties and politicians should be freed from the constraints of public opinion in reforming party finance.
High school journalism and the making of young citizens
Authors: Schofield Clark Lynn , Monserrate Rachel
Published: May 2011

This article examines how involvement in high school journalism contributes to socialization into citizenship and, most crucially, to the development of a collective sensibility. Recent work by W Lance Bennett (2008), Zukin and his colleagues (2006), and Sara-Ellen Amster (2006) provides an interpretive lens for considering young people’s experiences with journalism and with citizenship. Interviews with 45 high school journalists from 19 different schools are analyzed, highlighting emerging definitions of citizenship as reflected in how young people discuss their work as student journalists. The study suggests that participation in the culture of high school journalism can provide young people with opportunities to develop the skills and experiences necessary for civic engagement, including the experience of collective decision-making. This study also argues that some young people come to understand the costs of engaged citizenship after negative experiences with their school’s administration, as such experiences reveal differing understandings of the roles of authority, journalism, and collective responsibility within the high school community that its high school journalism is meant to serve.
Media generated news waves - catalysts for discursive change: The case study on drug issues in Estonian print media
Authors: Paimre Marianne , Harro-Loit Halliki
Published: May 2011

Journalistic discourse influences the public agenda and shapes the discourse as well as social and political lives. Journalism studies distinguish between mediated scandal, media hype, news waves and media events — approaches that help to understand why the phenomena of media gives extraordinary space, time and attention to certain events or topics. The steady flow of everyday news does not generally allow for the introduction of issues that are unknown to the public or require either a specific vocabulary or prior knowledge. Intensive media coverage can however act as a catalyst by directing the public attention to new social issues. This article examines how the press intensively reported the high profile arrest of Estonian drug traffickers in Thailand, initially emotively and subjectively, but in doing so raised public awareness and shaped the social drug discourse in Estonia.
Obituary for the newspaper? Tracking the tabloid
Authors: Rowe David
Published: May 2011

Discussing newspapers in the 21st century commonly entails a narrative of impending extinction arising from technological, demographic, and cultural change. This article reports on research into three Australian newspapers (two broadsheet, one tabloid) that is concerned, in the first instance, with the concept of ‘tabloidization’, and the proposition that identifiable tabloid properties, such as the simplification and spectacularization of news, are increasingly characteristic of contemporary newspapers. Adaptive changes to newspaper design, style, and content in the interests of survival and renewal are addressed through quantitative content analysis in tracking formal changes to newspapers, and qualitative research through interviews with journalists in exploring their everyday negotiation of the role and trajectory of newspapers. These questions of industrial context, textual form, occupational practice, professional ideology, and politico-cultural judgment are raised in seeking to understand the dynamics of the shifting forms and contested readings of contemporary newspapers through a critically reflexive analysis of tabloidization discourse and process.
Young children’s ICT experiences in the home: Some parental perspectives
Authors: O'Hara Mark
Published: May 2011

This small-scale study focuses on young children’s reported information and communication technology (ICT) experiences in the home and the role of parents in providing technological opportunities, recognition and support. The children of the parents involved were all enrolled in nursery and reception classes (4—5 years of age) in two settings (referred to hereafter as Stafford School and Hill School). The term home is used here to denote any context in children’s lives beyond the school/nursery environs whilst the interpretation of ICT is equally broad and inclusive in nature and encompasses any technology associated with the handling and electronic transmission of information and/or its use in controlling the operations of machines and other devices (HMI, 1989). In this context therefore ICT would include such things as telephones, televisions, video, audio recorders, CD and DVD players, CD-ROMs, programmable toys, games consoles, radios and, of course, computers. The study found that differences in the incidence and availability of ICT in the children’s homes could be subtle on occasion and were the result of a number of factors. Children might have ‘access’ to certain technologies in that they were present in their home environments but this did not necessarily mean that children were always able and/or allowed to ‘use’ those technologies. It supports the arguments made by Marsh and others elsewhere (Marsh, 2004; Marsh et al., 2005) that young children are already in possession of ICT knowledge and competences when they arrive in nursery and reception classes partly as a result of varying levels of parental intervention and modelling as well as being in the process of acquiring new knowledge, skills and attitudes. The study also argues that parents’ involvement with ICT was often characterized by conscious but sometimes uncertain efforts to limit opportunities and access to ICT in the perceived best interests of the children (Clarke, 2006).
Word Finding Difficulties
Authors: German Diane J. , Schwanke Jan Heath , Ravid Ruth
Published: May 2011

This study considered the efficacy of a differentiated approach to vocabulary instruction for learners with word-finding difficulties (WFD) in the speech and language pathologist’s room. Using a pretest–posttest design to study treatment outcomes, 10 second graders with WFD received first semantic-based vocabulary instruction (S) and then semantic- and phonological-based vocabulary instruction (S & P). The S instruction focused on teaching only the semantic properties of words, whereas the S & P vocabulary instruction focused on teaching both semantic and phonological properties of words. Lexical factors of words taught were studied in reference to their influence on vocabulary instruction. Greater expressive language normalized gains were revealed for learners with WFD following the S & P approach to instruction as compared to the S approach. Phonotactic probability influenced success; learners found words consisting of common phoneme sequences easier to learn. Thus, for learners with WFD, expressive language learning was enhanced when form-based strategies were added to the semantic-based teaching paradigm.
Perceptions of Trust in the Boardroom: A Conceptual Model
Authors: Migliore Laura-Ann , Horton DeClouette Anshila
Published: May 2011

The theoretical framework for a comprehensive trust model is presented using McAllister’s affect- and cognitive-based trust model and Siegrist, Earle, and Gutscher’s trust—confidence—cooperation model as the foundation. The enhanced model includes cognitive and affective domains of personality, culture, motivation, reliability, competence, and intuition (as a latent variable) to measure perception of trust between two individuals. The model applies the intercognition of self-leadership for improving trust and building effective relationships within boards of directors. Furthermore, the authors consider the multiplicity of board of director roles and how such complexity affects formation and maintenance of optimal trust.