bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
When Things Are Better or Worse than Expected: The Medial Frontal Cortex and the Allocation of Processing Resources
Authors: Potts Geoffrey F. , Martin Laura E. , Burton Philip , Montague P. Read
Published: July 2006

Access to limited-capacity neural systems of cognitive control must be restricted to the most relevant information. How the brain identifies and selects items for preferential processing is not fully understood. Anatomical models often place the selection mechanism in the medial frontal cortex (MFC), and one computational model proposes that the mesotelencephalic dopamine (DA) system, via its reward prediction properties, provides a “gate” through which information gains access to limited-capacity systems. There is a medial frontal event-related potential (ERP) index of attention selection, the anterior positivity (P2a), associated with DA reward system input to the MFC for the identification of task-relevant perceptual representations. The P2a has a similar spatio-temporal distribution as the medial frontal negativity (MFN), elicited to error responses or choices resulting in monetary loss. The MFN has also been linked to DA projections to the MFC but for action monitoring rather than attention selection. This study proposes that the P2a and the MFN reflect the same MFC evaluation function and use a passive reward prediction design containing neither instructed attention nor response to demonstrate that the ERP over medial frontal leads at the P2a/MFN latency is consistent with activity of midbrain DA neurons, positive to unpredicted rewards and negative when a predicted reward is withheld. This result suggests that MFC activity is regulated by DA reward system input and may function to identify items or actions that exceed or fail to meet motivational prediction.
Dissociable Neural Mechanisms for Encoding Predictable and Unpredictable Events
Authors: Summerfield Christopher , Mangels Jennifer A.
Published: July 2006

Attention is a necessary condition for the formation of new episodic memories, yet little is known about how dissociable attentional mechanisms for “top-down” and “bottom-up” orienting contribute to encoding. Here, subjects performed an intentional encoding task in which to-be-learned items were interspersed with irrelevant stimuli such that subjects could anticipate the appearance of some study items but not others. Subjects were more likely to later remember stimuli whose appearance was predictable at encoding. Electroencephalographic data were acquired during the study phase of the experiment to assess how synchronous neural activity related to later memory for predictable stimuli (to which attention could be oriented in a top-down fashion) and unpredictable stimuli (which rely to a greater extent on bottom-up attentional orienting). Over left frontal regions, gamma-band activity (25–55 Hz) early (∼150 msec) in the epoch was a robust predictor of later memory for predictable items, consistent with an emerging view that links high-frequency neural synchrony to top-down attention. By contrast, later (∼400 msec) theta-band activity (4–8 Hz) over the left and midline frontal cortex predicted subsequent memory for unpredictable items, suggesting a role in bottom-up attentional orienting. These results reveal for the first time the contribution of dissociable attentional mechanisms to successful encoding and contribute to a growing literature dedicated to understanding the role of neural synchrony in cognition.
Prefrontal Engagement during Source Memory Retrieval Depends on the Prior Encoding Task
Authors: Kuo Trudy Y. , Van Petten Cyma
Published: July 2006

The prefrontal cortex is strongly engaged by some, but not all, episodic memory tests. Prior work has shown that source recognition tests—those that require memory for conjunctions of studied attributes—yield deficient performance in patients with prefrontal damage and greater prefrontal activity in healthy subjects, as compared to simple recognition tests. Here, we tested the hypothesis that there is no intrinsic relationship between the prefrontal cortex and source memory, but that the prefrontal cortex is engaged by the demand to retrieve weakly encoded relationships. Subjects attempted to remember object/color conjunctions after an encoding task that focused on object identity alone, and an integrative encoding task that encouraged attention to object/color relationships. After the integrative encoding task, the late prefrontal brain electrical activity that typically occurs in source memory tests was eliminated. Earlier brain electrical activity related to successful recognition of the objects was unaffected by the nature of prior encoding.
Images of Illusory Motion in Primary Visual Cortex
Authors: Larsen Axel , Madsen Kristoffer H. , Lund Torben E. , Bundesen Claus
Published: July 2006

Illusory motion can be generated by successively flashing a stationary visual stimulus in two spatial locations separated by several degrees of visual angle. In appropriate conditions, the apparent motion is indistinguishable from real motion: The observer experiences a luminous object traversing a continuous path from one stimulus location to the other through intervening positions where no physical stimuli exist. The phenomenon has been extensively investigated for nearly a century but little is known about its neurophysiological foundation. Here we present images of activations in the primary visual cortex in response to real and apparent motion. The images show that during apparent motion, a path connecting the cortical representations of the stimulus locations is filled in by activation. The activation along the path of apparent motion is similar to the activation found when a stimulus is presented in real motion between the two locations.
When Heuristics Clash with Parsing Routines: ERP Evidence for Conflict Monitoring in Sentence Perception
Authors: van Herten Marieke , Chwilla Dorothee J. , Kolk Herman H. J.
Published: July 2006

Monitoring refers to a process of quality control designed to optimize behavioral outcome. Monitoring for action errors manifests itself in an error-related negativity in event-related potential (ERP) studies and in an increase in activity of the anterior cingulate in functional magnetic resonance imaging studies. Here we report evidence for a monitoring process in perception, in particular, language perception, manifesting itself in a late positivity in the ERP. This late positivity, the P600, appears to be triggered by a conflict between two interpretations, one delivered by the standard syntactic algorithm and one by a plausibility heuristic which combines individual word meanings in the most plausible way. To resolve this conflict, we propose that the brain reanalyzes the memory trace of the perceptual input to check for the possibility of a processing error. Thus, as in Experiment 1, when the reader is presented with semantically anomalous sentences such as, “The fox that shot the poacher…,” full syntactic analysis indicates a semantic anomaly, whereas the word-based heuristic leads to a plausible interpretation, that of a poacher shooting a fox. That readers actually pursue such a word-based analysis is indicated by the fact that the usual ERP index of semantic anomaly, the so-called N400 effect, was absent in this case. A P600 effect appeared instead. In Experiment 2, we found that even when the word-based heuristic indicated that only part of the sentence was plausible (e.g., “…that the elephants pruned the trees”), a P600 effect was observed and the N400 effect of semantic anomaly was absent. It thus seems that the plausibility of part of the sentence (e.g., that of pruning trees) was sufficient to create a conflict with the implausible meaning of the sentence as a whole, giving rise to a monitoring response.
On Framing Effects in Decision Making: Linking Lateral versus Medial Orbitofrontal Cortex Activation to Choice Outcome Processing
Authors: Windmann Sabine , Kirsch Peter , Mier Daniela , Stark Rudolf , Walter Bertram , Güntürkün Onur , Vaitl Dieter
Published: July 2006

Two correlates of outcome processing in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) have been proposed in the literature: One hypothesis suggests that the lateral/medial division relates to representation of outcome valence (negative vs. positive), and the other suggests that the medial OFC maintains steady stimulus-outcome associations, whereas the lateral OFC represents changing (unsteady) outcomes to prepare for response shifts. These two hypotheses were contrasted by comparing the original with the inverted version of the Iowa Gambling Task in an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment. Results showed (1) that (caudo) lateral OFC was indeed sensitive to the steadiness of the outcomes and not merely to outcome valence and (2) that the original and the inverted tasks, although both designed to measure sensitivity for future outcomes, were not equivalent as they enacted different behaviors and brain activation patterns. Results are interpreted in terms of Kahneman and Tversky's prospect theory suggesting that cognitions and decisions are biased differentially when probabilistic future rewards are weighed against consistent punishments relative to the opposite scenario [Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. Choices, values, and frames. American Psychologist, 39, 341–350, 1984]. Specialized processing of unsteady rewards (involving caudolateral OFC) may have developed during evolution in support of goal-related thinking, prospective planning, and problem solving.
Cognitive Rehabilitation Interventions for Executive Function: Moving from Bench to Bedside in Patients with Traumatic Brain Injury
Authors: Cicerone Keith , Levin Harvey , Malec James , Stuss Donald , Whyte John
Published: July 2006

Executive function mediated by prefrontally driven distributed networks is frequently impaired by traumatic brain injury (TBI) as a result of diffuse axonal injury and focal lesions. In addition to executive cognitive functions such as planning and working memory, the effects of TBI impact social cognition and motivation processes. To encourage application of cognitive neuroscience methods to studying recovery from TBI, associated reorganization of function, and development of interventions, this article reviews the pathophysiology of TBI, critiques currently employed methods of assessing executive function, and evaluates promising interventions that reflect advances in cognitive neuroscience. Brain imaging to identify neural mechanisms mediating executive dysfunction and response to interventions following TBI is also discussed.
Cognitive Rehabilitation Interventions for Neglect and Related Disorders: Moving from Bench to Bedside in Stroke Patients
Authors: Barrett Anna M. , Buxbaum Laurel J. , Coslett H. Branch , Edwards Emmeline , Heilman Kenneth M. , Hillis Argye E. , Milberg William P. , Robertson Ian H.
Published: July 2006

The spatial neglect syndrome, defined by asymmetric attention and action not attributed to primary motor or sensory dysfunction and accompanied by functional disability, is a major cause of post-stroke morbidity. In this review, we consider the challenges and obstacles facing scientific researches wishing to evaluate the mechanisms and effectiveness of rehabilitation interventions. Spatial neglect is a heterogeneous disorder, for which consensus research definitions are not currently available, and it is unclear which of the deficits associated with the syndrome causes subsequent disability. We review current opinion about methods of assessment, suggest a rational approach to selecting therapies which requires further study, and make systems-level and theoretical recommendations for building theory. We lastly review some creative questions for consideration in future research.
Awareness of Policies and Programmes among Small-scale Industries in India
Authors: Narayana M. R.
Published: July 2006

Small-scale industries (SSIs) have been important for India’s economic development due to their contribution to production, employment, exports, and investments in the private sector. National- and state-level economic reforms since July 1991, and India’s commitments to honouring the disciplines under World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements since January 1995, have added new policies and programmes for promotion, regulation and development of India’s SSIs. Full awareness of the policies and programmes for all the SSIs has been an essential requirement to exploit the opportunities and meet with challenges under these policy regimes. In the light of this requirement, this article analyses the nature and extent of awareness of select policies and programmes under the new policy regimes in India, based on a case study (or sample survey in 2001-2) of 373 manufacturing SSIs in Karnataka State (India). The empirical results: (1) offer evidence for spatial variations in the awareness by policies and programmes and by sector-specific WTO agreements; and (2) imply a policy need for effective awareness programmes as a precondition for equalizing the benefits of new policy regimes for all the SSIs. The results and implications of this case study are of relevance for design and implementation of current and future awareness policies for the SSIs at the national and sub-national levels in India as well as in other developing countries.
Labor Resistance to Pro-market Economic Reforms in Bangladesh
Authors: Nuruzzaman Mohammed
Published: July 2006

Pro-market economic reforms enjoy less social support in most developing countries, including Bangladesh. Labor response to reform policies, in particular, has been quite unfriendly and often violent. This article analyzes labor resistance to pro-market economic reforms in Bangladesh in the decades of 1980s and 1990s. It explores the underlying causes that spurred labor resistance to market-oriented reforms, examines the successes and failures the resistance achieved or recorded and arrives at the conclusion that the spate of labor resistance in the industrial sector in the 1980s and 1990s had the potential to halt or roll back the reform program but it did not succeed due to a host of factors, including workers’ disunity, ideological divide between various trade unions, lack of organizational structure, control of pro-reform national political parties over their respective trade unions, the diminishing influence of leftist trade unions in labor politics and the lack of an alternative leftist political agenda in Bangladesh politics. The leftist failure to organize workers and launch a collective movement against pro-market forces apparently promises a better future for market-oriented reforms in Bangladesh.
Between Promises and Performance
Authors: Rao Badrinath
Published: July 2006

A significant portion of the current debate on secularism has focused on Nehru’s role in conceptualizing and institutionalizing this concept. Supporters of the Nehruvian legacy of secularism applaud him for adopting this policy and for establishing communal harmony. Critics hold Nehru responsible for the problems associated with secularism. This article assesses the significance and consequences of Pandit Nehru’s contributions to secularism by carefully examining the track record of his government in this area. My main argument is that Nehru deserves credit for introducing secularism to a people who were inured to discriminatory, anti-minority views and practices for centuries. However, he failed to institutionalize this policy in the polity and civil society. I posit that though Pandit Nehru faced formidable opposition to his secular policies from Hindu conservatives within the Congress and the Hindu nationalists outside, he could have pursued several, long-term, non-confrontational strategies for institutionalizing secularism. His failure to do so blemished what would otherwise have been an abiding contribution to Indian multiculturalism.
Mechanical Characterization of Thin Film Materials with Nanoindentation Measurements and FE Analysis
Authors: Huang Xiaoqin , Pelegri Assimina A.
Published: July 2006

The quantitative study of mechanical properties at nanoscale is motivated by the increasing demand for miniaturization of engineering and electronic components, development of nanostructured materials, thin film technology, and surface science. There are only a few existing, or projected, technologies for conducting such measurements at nanoscale structures, and nanoindentation is the leading candidate. Finite elements (FE) provide a numerical method to calculate the indentation problem. In this article, the mechanical properties of a thin film material system, namely thermally oxidized silicon grown on silicon substrate, SiO2/Si, is characterized with nanoindentation measurements and calculated via FE analysis. Infinite elements in FE nanoindentation analysis are employed to allow for actual specimen size simulation and produce accurate results. It is concluded that the nanoindentation measurements coupled with the proposed FE analysis provide precise mechanical characterization of the tested thin films. For the featured thermally oxidized silicon grown on silicon substrate, the hardness and the reduced Young’s modulus are directly determined from Berkovich nanoindentation measurements as H 1/4 9.23 0.30 GPa and E 1/4 63.11 0.26 GPa, respectively. From the FE analysis, the following mechanical parameters are obtained: hardness, 10.63 GPa, Young’s modulus, 65.20 GPa, initial yield stress, 6.50 GPa, and Poisson’s ratio, 0.35. A FE analysis of a cube corner nanoindenter is also conducted and the results are compared to the Berkovich simulations.
Dynamic Analysis of Nonlinear Composite Structures under Pressure Wave Loading
Authors: Park Hun , Lee Keejoo , Lee Sung W. , Kim Ki
Published: July 2006

The effect of progressive damages in composite materials is incorporated into a geometrically nonlinear solid shell element formulation to investigate the dynamic response of composite structures under the blast wave pressure loading. The effect of material damages such as fiber failures, matrix cracking, and fiber-matrix shearing failures on the behavior of composite structures is addressed via reducing their stiffness corresponding to detected failures. Two separate failure criteria are used for unidirectional and woven composites. In addition, the strain-rate effect on the material strength is taken into account. For the dynamic formulation, the trapezoidal rule is chosen for the time integration. Various numerical analyses of composite panels are conducted under the static and dynamic loading conditions to validate the effectiveness of the present formulation. The analysis results clearly exhibit the significant effect of material damages on the structural behavior of the composite panels. Also, the analysis results are in good agreement with the available experimental data.
Crystal Structure and Magnetic Properties of BaFe12 xDyxO19 Powders Prepared using Gel Self-propagating Combustion
Authors: Qiu Jianxun , Liang Le , Gu Mingyuan
Published: July 2006

The hexagonal BaFe12 xDyxO19 (x 1/4 0.1-0.5) powders are synthesized by the gel self-propagating combustion technique, which is combined with the sol-gel method and self-propagating combustion synthesis. The changes in heat and weight of dry gel during self-propagating combustion are investigated with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The effects of the molar ratio of citric acid on nitrates (C/N), calcination temperature, and substitution amount of Dy3+ on crystal structure and magnetic properties are studied by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM). In gel self-propagating combustion, the formation temperature of barium ferrite is decreased to 850 C. The changes in crystal structure during calcination are tracked. There is no α-Fe2O3 appearing in the powders when C/N is not less than 1.0. After some Fe3+ has been substituted with Dy3+, the magnetic properties are improved. The specific saturation magnetization reaches a maximum of 58.05 Am2/kg, and coercivity reaches a minimum of 420.33 kA/m with the substitution amount x 1/4 0.2. This substituted barium ferrite can be used as a magnetic recording material.
Congressional Opposition, the Economy, and U.S. Dispute Initiation, 1946-2000
Authors: Brulé David
Published: July 2006

Does congressional opposition constrain the president's conflict behavior in response to poor economic performance? Other research has shown that legislative constraints such as divided government reduce the executive's propensity to initiate conflict. But institutional constraints on democratic leaders may also make them likely to use force abroad when faced with deteriorating domestic conditions. The author argues that legislative constraints on presidential action during periods of economic decline compel the president to pursue alternatives that he can implement without congressional approval to display his leadership skills—including the use of military force abroad. The author examines the interactive effects of congressional opposition and economic performance on the propensity to initiate militarized interstate disputes from 1946 to 2000. The president is more likely to use force in response to economic decline when facing an opposition Congress than during years in which he enjoys partisan support in the legislature.
The Common Priors Assumption
Authors: Fey Mark , Ramsay Kristopher W.
Published: July 2006

In a recent article in this journal, Smith and Stam (2004) call into question the usefulness and applicability of what is know as the common priors assumption in the modeling of countries' strategic behavior in international relations. While the authors of this comment acknowledge that it is possible to incorporate noncommon priors in models of politics in a mathematically consistent fashion, they do not agree with the article's claims regarding the limitations of the common priors approach, which motivate Smith and Stam's rejection of it.
Divergent Beliefs in “Bargaining and the Nature of War”
Authors: Smith Alastair , Stam Allan C.
Published: July 2006

Mark Fey and Kristopher Ramsay (2006) take issue with the presentation of how players' beliefs diverge in “Bargaining and the Nature of War” (Smith and Stam 2004). In that article, the authors constructed a model of bargaining between two nations in which the nations have noncommon priors about the probability with which either nation would eventually prevail, should a war between them continue to a decisive conclusion. The players' divergent beliefs make up one of the fundamental potential causes of war in the model. Fey and Ramsay argue that Smith and Stam's departure from the standard common priors assumption is an unnecessary deviation from convention. The authors disagree, arguing that their different approach to modeling disagreement between rational actors provides a useful way to approach the empirical puzzle they set out to explore, namely, how rational actors with divergent beliefs might settle their disagreements in the context of war.
Anti-Israel Sentiment Predicts Anti-Semitism in Europe
Authors: Kaplan Edward H. , Small Charles A.
Published: July 2006

In the discourse surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, extreme criticisms of Israel (e.g., Israel is an apartheidstate,theIsraelDefenseForcesdeliberatelytargetPalestiniancivilians),coupled with extreme policy proposals (e.g., boycott of Israeli academics and institutions, divest from companies doing business with Israel), have sparked counterclaims that such criticisms are anti-Semitic (for only Israel is singled out). The research in this article shines a different, statistical light on this question: based on a survey of 500 citizens in each of 10 European countries, the authors ask whether those individuals with extreme anti-Israel views are more likely to be anti-Semitic. Even after controlling for numerous potentially confounding factors, they find that anti-Israel sentiment consistently predicts the probability that an individual is anti-Semitic, with the likelihood of measured anti-Semitism increasing with the extent of anti-Israel sentiment observed.
Economic Transactions among Friends
Authors: Mandel David R.
Published: July 2006

Two experiments tested the idea that economic transactions among friends are influenced by a norm of generosity. Whereas a fairness norm ought to promote agreement in offers between buyers and sellers, a generosity norm should promote altruistic disagreements caused by sellers offering lower prices than buyers—a reversal of the well-known endowment effect. Supporting the present account, in both studies, offers among friends showed a reversal of the endowment effect. Moreover, disagreement in buying and selling offers was stronger among friends than among acquaintances, and (in study 2) the perceived generosity of offers, but not their perceived fairness, mediated this effect. Finally, both studies demonstrated that generosity is asymmetric: whereas selling offers among friends were generous by all comparative standards, buying offers were not.
The Indirect Effect of Ethnic Heterogeneity on the Likelihood of Civil War Onset
Authors: Blimes Randall J.
Published: July 2006

This study leverages a statistical model to answer an empirical puzzle: given that popular conventional wisdom and many theories of ethnic conflict suggest that the ethnic composition of a society should influence the probability that a country experiences civil war, why are the results of large- n studies so contradictory? The author argues that confusion over the nature of the relationship between ethnic cleavages and the likelihood of civil war onset stems from a disconnect between ethnic conflict theory and empirical testing. Most studies that test for a relationship between the level of ethnic fractionalization and civil war onset test only for a direct relationship, while theories of ethnic conflict have suggested that ethnic diversity should have an indirect effect of the likelihood of civil war onset. The author uses a heteroskedastic probit model to show that ethnic fractionalization has an indirect effect on the likelihood of civil war onset.
‘Afterwards we can understand what went wrong, but now let’s fix it’: How Situated Work Practices Shape Group Decision Making
Authors: Alby Francesca , Zucchermaglio Cristina
Published: July 2006

The paper proposes an ethnomethodological approach to the study of naturalistic decision making. We present an analysis of design practices in an Internet company, showing that, besides ‘professional design’ of technological systems, designers are continually involved in an activity of maintenance and replanning of these same systems (‘design-in-use’). Through an interaction-based analysis, we describe a serious emergency design-in-use situation. Results show that (1) decision-making activities are not clearly identifiable in ongoing problem-solving action but are embedded in complex work practices; (2) work practices and organizational features shape when, how and which decisions are made, underlying the situated character of the decision-making process; (3) considering the group of designers as unit of analysis allows the complex and distributed nature of decision making in organizations to be described.
Introduction to the Special Issue. Naturalistic Decision Making and Organizational Decision Making: Exploring the Intersections
Authors: Lipshitz Raanan , Klein Gary , Carroll John S.
Published: July 2006

Although naturalistic decision making (NDM) and organizational decision making (ODM) have much in common, they hardly interact. Both NDM and ODM focus on what decision makers actually do in their ‘natural habitats’ and reject the equivalence of decision making with normative economic and statistical reasoning which can be studied in sparse laboratory settings. Linking with ODM would help NDM researchers to include organizational goals, norms, and other aspects of context in their models. Conversely, linking with NDM would provide ODM researchers with detailed descriptions of how individuals and groups perform functions such as decision making, sensemaking, and planning on the basis of pattern matching, story telling and argumentation, and detailed descriptions of the processes through which distributed teams build and maintain shared situation awareness. In the introduction to this special issue we outline the two fields, argue why they should be in closer contact, and summarize the papers contributed to this issue.
Reconsidering Renormalization
Authors: Metlay Grischa
Published: July 2006

Contemporary polemics and scholarship tend to portray post-1980 research universities as exotic, abnormal, or ‘new’ because they embrace private intellectual property. This paper examines this sense of ‘newness’ by comparing two discourses - the university patent policy debates of 1910-39 and the Bayh-Dole debates of 1976-80 - and focuses on the interpretive flexibility of four institutions or tropes: ‘intellectual property’, ‘the university’, ‘the university inventor’, and ‘the public interest’. I argue that ‘intellectual property’ meant roughly the same thing in 1940 and 1980. However, ‘the university’ and ‘the university inventor’ changed subtly to accommodate a dramatic shift in the meaning of ‘the public interest’, which (by 1980) reflected the notion of a nationalized economy and a concern with federal deregulation. This suggests that the ‘newness’ of the contemporary research university has little to do with Merton’s norm of communism.
Whose Mass is it Anyway? Particle Cosmology and the Objects of Theory
Authors: Kaiser David
Published: July 2006

Physicists in different branches of the discipline were puzzled by the problem of mass during the 1950s and 1960s: why do objects have mass? Around the same time, yet working independently, specialists in gravitational studies and in particle theory proposed that mass might arise due to objects’ interactions with a new (and as yet undetected) field. Although the questions they posed and even the answers they provided shared several similarities - and even though both proposals quickly became ‘hot topics’ in their respective subfields - virtually no one discussed one proposal in the light of the other for nearly 20 years. Only after massive, unprecedented changes in pedagogical infrastructure rocked the discipline in the early 1970s did a new generation of physicists begin to see possible links between the Brans-Dicke field and the Higgs field. For the new researchers, trained in different ways than most of their predecessors, the two objects of theory were not only similar - some began to proclaim that they were exactly the same. Charting the histories of these two objects of theory illuminates the complicated institutional and pedagogical factors that helped to produce a new subfield, particle cosmology, which today ranks at the very forefront of modern physics.
Creating a New Object of Government
Authors: Lezaun Javier
Published: July 2006

Since the late 1990s, the European Union (EU) has embarked on an effort to make fully traceable and identifiable every genetically modified organism (GMO) that travels through its territory. New regulations force market operators to record the presence of genetically modified material in foods and feed, and to pass this information along in every transaction, thus creating a continuous paper trail for every bioengineered organism as it moves through the EU market. This new regulatory regime represents a momentous change in the nature of biotechnology governance in Europe, for it enunciates as its fundamental unit a novel bio-legal entity - the ‘transformation event’ meant to identify the particular instance of genetic modification from which each GMO has been developed. This paper describes the processes through which this new regulatory entity acquires a concrete and material meaning and thereby becomes a viable object of governance. Two parallel developments are described in detail: the creation of international rules for attributing to ‘transformation events’ unambiguous names - an instance of ‘bureaucratic nominalism’ - and the creation of detection methods and biometrological chains of custody capable of identifying the fragments of DNA that mark the specificity of each ‘event’. These two interventions involve the creation of infrastructures of referentiality capable of giving the ‘event’ a singular and unambiguous referent. By analysing how a new regulatory category like the ‘transformation event’ becomes an identifiable bio-legal object, I suggest that the governance of biotechnology should be understood as a series of acts of ‘demarcation’, through which the categories and entities enunciated in regulatory texts acquire a material foundation in bureaucratic practices and in the organisms these bureaucracies are expected to oversee.
Carbon/Vinyl Ester Composites for Enhanced Performance in Marine Applications
Authors: Shivakumar Kunigal N. , Swaminathan Gowthaman , Sharpe Mathew
Published: July 2006

The present study describes the processing and mechanical characterization of two different fibers (glass and carbon) and two different fabric architectures (woven roving and stitch bonded) made into composites with Dow Chemical’s Derakane 510A-40, a brominated vinyl ester (VE) resin. Both E-glass and T700 carbon fibers are coated with VE compatible sizing. The composite panels are fabricated by the vacuum assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM), the specimens are machined, and the mechanical tests are conducted as per the accepted test standards. Tension, compression, in-plane shear, and interlaminar shear properties are measured and their associated failure modes are compared with each other. The specific properties of the composites are compared with that of the marine steel. The carbon composites have superior properties, higher specific strength, and specific modulus than the marine steel. The glass composites have higher specific strength but lower specific modulus than marine steel. The glass composites are well suited for constructing ship hulls which are only strength critical. The topside (upper) structures of the ship are stiffness critical. The carbon composites are applicable to both the topside and the hull structures of the ship to reduce the total weight. The straightness of the fiber and the FOE sizing are the possible reasons for the superior performance of the carbon composites. The predicted elastic constants based on the simple micromechanical equations of the composites agree very well with the experimental data.
The Shrink Fit with Plastic Orthotropic Hollow Inclusion
Authors: Baykara C. , Güven U.
Published: July 2006

In the present work, a shrink fit consisting of a linear isotropic hardening hub and a plastic orthotropic hollow inclusion is considered. The orthotropic plastic flow is governed by a particular version (Durban, D. (1986). Radial Stressing of Thin Sheets with Plastic Anisotropy, Int. J. Mech. Sci., 28: 801) of the anisotropic flow rule proposed by Hill, R. (Hill, R. (1979), Theoretical Plasticity of Textured Aggregates, Math. Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc., 85: 179), along with a linear hardening characteristic. The isotropic plastic flow is based on the Tresca’s yield condition and its associated flow rule. In this study, the closed-form expressions for the displacements and the stresses in each of the plastic zones are presented. Some numerical results are given to significantly show the influence of the degree of plastic orthotropy on the interference, the interface pressure, and the elastic-isotropic plastic interface radius.
Ca2+-Dependent Mechanisms of Presynaptic Control at Central Synapses
Authors: Rusakov Dmitri A.
Published: July 2006

Classically, a high-power association relates the neurotransmitter release probability to the concentration of presynaptic Ca2+. Activated by the action potential waveform, voltage-gated Ca2+ channels mediate Ca2+entry into presynaptic terminals. Inside the terminal, Ca2+ ions rapidly bind to endogenous intracellular buffers and could trigger Ca2+ release from internal Ca2+ stores. The resulting space-time profile of free Ca2+ determines the time course and probability of neurotransmitter release through the interaction with molecular release triggers strategically located in the vicinity of release sites. Following a rapid concentration transient, excess Ca2+ has to be removed from the cytosol through the process involving Ca2+ uptake by the endoplasmatic reticulum stores, sequestration by mitochondria, and/or extrusion into the extracellular medium. The ongoing synaptic activity could affect any of the multiple factors that shape presynaptic Ca2+dynamics, thus arbitrating use-dependent modification of the neurotransmitter release probability. Here we present an overview of major players involved in Ca2+-dependent presynaptic regulation of neurotransmitter release and discuss the relationships arising between their actions.
Death Ligands and Autoimmune Demyelination
Authors: Aktas Orhan , Prozorovski Timour , Zipp Frauke
Published: July 2006

Death ligands induce apoptosis, which is a cell suicide program leading mainly to selective elimination of an organism's useless cells. Importantly, the dying cell is an active participant in its own demise (“cellular suicide”). Under physiological conditions, apoptosis is most often found during normal cell turnover and tissue homeostasis, embryogenesis, induction and maintenance of immune tolerance, development of the nervous system, and endocrine-dependent tissue atrophy. However, apoptotic processes have also been suggested to contribute to the pathology of the autoimmune demyelinating disease multiple sclerosis (MS) and its animal model, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. Here, apoptosis plays a double role. On one hand, impaired apoptosis may result in increased numbers or persistence of activated myelinspecific T cells. On the other hand, local tissue damage involves apoptosis of oligodendrocytes and neurons, leading to the clinical symptoms. In this article, an overview is given of the current knowledge of the roles of apoptosis-mediating and immune regulatory death ligands of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) family (TNF, lymphotoxin-beta, OX40L [CD134L], CD154 [CD40L], CD95L, CD70 [CD27L], CD153 [CD30L], 4-1BBL [CD137L], TRAIL, TWEAK, BAFF, GITRL) in the pathogenesis of MS and of their implications for related therapeutic strategies.
Motor Control Programs and Walking
Authors: Ivanenko Yuri P. , Poppele Richard E. , Lacquaniti Francesco
Published: July 2006

The question of how the central nervous system coordinates muscle activity is central to an understanding of motor control. The authors argue that motor programs may be considered as a characteristic timing of muscle activations linked to specific kinematic events. In particular, muscle activity occurring during human locomotion can be accounted for by five basic temporal components in a variety of locomotion conditions. Spatiotemporal maps of spinal cord motoneuron activation also show discrete periods of activity. Furthermore, the coordination of locomotion with voluntary tasks is accomplished through a superposition of motor programs or activation timings that are separately associated with each task. As a consequence, the selection of muscle synergies appears to be downstream from the processes that generate activation timings.
The Laboratory School Protocol
Authors: Wigal Sharon B. , Wigal Timothy L.
Published: July 2006

Objective: ADHD is the most common childhood psychiatric disorder, with impairments seen in home and academic settings. To investigate such impairments in a school-like setting, the laboratory school protocol (LSP) was developed at the University of California, Irvine. Method: This model provides a rigorously controlled environment to examine pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic aspects of responses to treatment. A key principle of this methodology is to exercise tight control of the timing and context of measurements by establishing a cycle of activities repeated across each study day. In addition, the LSP approach has been extended to both younger and older populations than the typically studied school-aged group. This extension requires corresponding modifications in measures to characterize drug efficacy and to allow evaluation of ADHD symptoms in a highly standardized setting. Results: This article provides guidelines for employing the LSP for the assessment of medication effects for both preschool and adolescent/adult populations. Conclusion: The LSP can be modified to form either an Adult Workplace Environment or a Preschool Assessment Laboratory.
Hyperactivity and Attention Problems in a Swiss Sample of School-Aged Children
Authors: Pierrehumbert Blaise , Bader Michel , Thévoz Sara , Kinal Anna , Halfon Olivier
Published: July 2006

Objective: The sensitivity and tolerance regarding ADHD symptoms obviously differ from one culture to another and according to the informants (parents, teachers, or children). This stimulates the comparison of data across informants and countries. Method: Parents and teachers of more than 1,000 school-aged Swiss children (5 to 17 years old) fill in Conners's questionnaires on ADHD. Children who are older than 10 years old also fill in a self-report questionnaire. Results are compared to data from a North American sample. Results: Swiss parents and teachers tend to report more ADHD symptoms than American parents and teachers as far as the oldest groups of children are concerned. Interactions are evidenced between school achievement, child gender, and informants. A relatively low rate of agreement between informants is found. Conclusion: These results strengthen the importance to take into account all informants in the pediatric and the child psychiatry clinic, as well as in the epidemiological studies.
Are ADHD Gender Patterns Moderated by Sample Source?
Authors: Graetz Brian W. , Sawyer Michael G. , Baghurst Peter , Ettridge Kerry
Published: July 2006

Objective: To examine whether ADHD gender patterns with respect to social-demographic characteristics, comorbidity, and impairment vary as a function of service use for emotional or behavioral problems. Method: Two hundred and seventy-nine males and 119 females meeting ADHD symptom criteria identified in a nationally representative sample of Australian youth ages 6 to 17 are stratified according to whether they had attended a service in the previous 6 months. Results: ADHD gender patterns vary across service use on only 2 of the 31 comparisons made. The two exceptions were child's age at interview (females were older than males among service attendees but younger among nonattendees) and depressive disorders (females had higher rates than males among service attendees but lower rates among nonattendees). Conclusion: Systematic differences in methods of case identification rather than sample source may be responsible for the discrepant ADHD patterns found between clinic and community-based studies.
The developmental characteristics of four- and five-year-old pre-schoolers’ drawing: An analysis of scribbles, placement patterns, emergent writing, and name writing in archived spontaneous drawing samples
Authors: Yang Hui-Chin , Noel Andrea M.
Published: July 2006

The drawings of 17 four- to five-year-old children from two points in time, age four and age five were analyzed. At both ages four and five, the most commonly used scribbles were single vertical lines, single horizontal lines, and single curved lines, whereas the two least used scribbles were spiral and circular lines spread out. The subjects in this sample were most likely to use a centered placement pattern and least likely to use horizontal half, two-sided balance, and extended diagonal half placement patterns. They made significant progress in emergent writing skills from age four to five. At age four, only two children wrote their name on the drawings, while there were fourteen children who did this at age five. In addition to writing their own names, the five year olds often added the names of their family members or friends as well as letter-name elements.
Postmodernism and the approach to writing in Irish primary education
Authors: Doyle John
Published: July 2006

In attempting to define postmodernism, many search for a ‘neat central core’ (Beck, 1993) thus attempting to universalize all postmodern theories and operate ‘within the modern obsession with control and reason’ (Slattery, 2000: 137). In this article, I refrain from attempting a universal definition, but instead present an exploration of the most commonly identified features which contribute to a broad understanding of the phenomenon known as postmodernism. Following this exploration, I examine the approach to writing advocated in the Irish Primary curriculum, which incorporates a number of principles that find a resonance in postmodern philosophy. Three of the more significant of these principles are looked at in detail: ‘the process of writing is as important as the product’,‘children will have significant control over the subject of their writing’, and ‘the teacher will act as mentor and guide in the process’.
Mothers’ literacy beliefs: Connections with the home literacy environment and pre-school children’s literacy development
Authors: Weigel Daniel J. , Martin Sally S. , Bennett Kymberley K.
Published: July 2006

This study examined mothers’ beliefs about literacy development, the association of those beliefs with other aspects of the home literacy environment, and connections between parental literacy beliefs and pre-school aged children’s literacy development. Data were collected from 79 mothers and their children over one year, and two profiles of parental literacy beliefs emerged. ‘Facilitative’ mothers believed that taking an active role in teaching children at home would provide opportunities for their children to gain vocabulary, knowledge, and morals. ‘Conventional’ mothers expressed the belief that schools, more than parents, are responsible for teaching children and tended to report many challenges to reading with children. Homes with Facilitative mothers tended to be more literacy enriching than homes of Conventional mothers, and children with Facilitative mothers displayed more advanced print knowledge and interest in reading. These findings have implications for understanding the connections among parental literacy beliefs, home literacy environments, and children’s literacy outcomes.
Do bronchial biopsies represent mast cell density in airways? A stereological study
Authors: Carroll M. L. , Carroll N. G. , James A. L.
Published: July 2006

Endobronchial biopsy specimens may not adequately represent inflammatory cell counts throughout the airway wall. The present study aimed to compare mast cell density in biopsies and airway sections using both stereological and nonstereological methods.

Post mortembiopsies and adjacent transverse sections were obtained from a mean of five proximal airways per case in 10 subjects who had died of nonrespiratory causes. Tryptase-positive mast cells were measured stereologically in 30-μm sections and nonstereologically in 5-μm sections using an optical disector (cells·mm-3) and cell profiles (cells·mm-2), respectively. Reference areas included the inner and total airway wall and to 100 μm below the basement membrane.

Case means, based on four or more biopsy sites, significantly correlated with those on transverse sections for counts over the inner airway wall only, using both stereological and nonstereological methods. Cells·mm-3and cells·mm-2were significantly correlated within all reference areas.

When endobronchial biopsies are obtained from at least four proximal airways per case, inter-subject comparisons of mean mast cell density in the inner airway wall are as well represented by counts on biopsies as they are on transverse sections. This is the case using either three-dimensional, stereological or two-dimensional, nonstereological methods.