bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Democratic Insect: Productive Swarms
Authors: Dubois Page
Published: November 2009

How does the insect swarm serve as a figure for humanity? In recent formulations by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, the swarm buzzes for the anonymous multitude, achieving creative solutions to humankind's problems “through collective and distributed techniques of problem solving without centralized control or the provision of a global model.” Such a vision constructs a benign and beneficent swarm that, although it lacks differentiation and specificity, accomplishes democracy without sovereignty. Achille Mbembe points out, nonetheless, that the swarm can have a more sinister and deadly aspect.

The ancient Greeks used the figure of the swarm to connote an anonymous and undifferentiated mass of human beings. Achilles' army of Myrmidons in the Iliad are at least antlike, perhaps even metamorphosed ants, ants become warriors. In the classical period, the comic poet Aristophanes uses the insect swarm of wasps to embody his crowd, his chorus of furious, cantankerous, militant, and class-conscious jurors. Such a swarm is depicted with affection even as Aristophanes seems to deplore their manipulation by demagogues. Their “becoming-animal” offers a riotous, exhilarating line of flight from the decorum of nouveau riche Athenian society, a form of politics as the demos, the people, demand their part. But the philosopher Plato removes the sting from the wasps and represents docile and obedient bees, model citizen-workers, and even cicadas, transformed from human beings who once loved the muses into tattletales for the gods; the swarm becomes an instrument of antidemocratic, philosophical espionage.
Reinhabiting the Body Politic: Habit and the Roots of the Human
Authors: Heiner Brady Thomas
Published: November 2009

Among the principal demands of contemporary political theory and practice is to determine habitable alternatives to (1) the violent and falsely two-sided dynamic of sovereignty and (2) the modern equation of the unitary, self-governing entity with the human itself. This essay contributes to this effort by conducting a genealogy of the political anthropology at the root of sovereignty, focusing on the notion of habit. It argues that the anthropology of sovereignty is deeply entrenched in a form of Christian metaphysics, which crystallizes in St. Augustine's conception of habit. Under Augustine's self-examining gaze, habit comes to be construed as the symptom of man's metaphysical “fallenness” into a state of “entanglement in the multitude”: an inhuman structure of ontological constriction at the heart of the human. By tracing the genealogy of sovereignty back to the early Christian discourse of the human soul's struggle to master the “habits of this life,” the author calls attention to an alternative conception of habitual bodily being that gives expression to the latter's fundamental ambi-valence. The habitual body of the multitude is read as an ontological structure of disposedness that both limits and opens, contracts and dilates. Habit, in this expansive sense, can be redirected not only to refashion the routines through which we inhabit our shared habitats but also to transform the rituals through which we inhabit truth. The essay argues that, as the variable amplitude of existence, habit is the common structure through which humanity must grasp its future.
Toward an Analysis of the Corporate Ego: The Case of Richard Hakluyt
Authors: Turner Henry S.
Published: November 2009

This essay examines the problem of the corporation as an “artificial person” and as a form of political organization in the early modern period, using Richard Hakluyt's Principal Navigations (1598–1600) to explore models of collective, corporate narration and competing images of group formation in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It turns to the work of Freud in order to propose an analysis of the “corporate ego,” joining Beyond the Pleasure Principle (1920) and Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego (1921) with the work of the sociologist of science Bruno Latour and the critic Roland Barthes in order to suggest ways of thinking and writing about impersonal institutional structures. The essay has been written in the voice of Freud, as a hypothetical lost lecture from the Introductory Lectures on Psycho-analysis; its main goal is to model how we might replace key political concepts such as the “state,” the “human,” and the “person” with those of the “network,” the “assemblage,” and the process of “translation.”
Sovereignty and the Form of Formlessness
Authors: Armstrong Nancy , Tennenhouse Leonard
Published: November 2009

This essay argues that sovereignty, both the form of government and the law it constitutes, can be understood in terms of what it keeps out and at bay—namely, historically specific forms of formlessness. Assuming that formlessness does indeed have a form, the authors see it emerging in Jacobean tragedy whenever something happens to the body of the legitimate monarch and poses a threat to culture itself, endangering kinship along with the metaphysics of kingship. In Hobbes's Leviathan, sovereignty is no longer immanent in nature and the order of the universe itself but is a purely cultural or, in Hobbes's phrase, “artificial” thing. Hobbes designs the figure of Leviathan to render unthinkable the possibility of a many-headed body politic. Rather than set Hobbes in opposition to Locke and Defoe, who together arguably inaugurate the Enlightenment, the authors contend that such modern notions of self-sovereignty are defensive formations, responding to the same pressure of the multitude that shapes Leviathan.
“Terrorists Are Human Beings”: Mapping theu.s. Army's “Human Terrain Systems” Program
Authors: Hill Mike
Published: November 2009

This article puts an emerging war doctrine archive through the paces of its philosophical analogues. Establishing in the first part of the article the “weaponizing of culture” (a now-common U.S. military phrase), which is occurring autogenically, that is, within and without the remnants of the liberal representative state, the author argues that war is now a fully operational part of the organizational work that terms like community, culture, and humanity are now doing (and doing differently than before). War in the sense invoked here is activated at various levels of intensity and visibility (think Katrina, the Patriot Act, Wall Street) as a civil or civilian war within the United States that is everywhere present but is hardly recognizable as such. In addressing one essential area of governmentality—demographics—the author makes the case for a change in liberal governmental reason that is evident in the U.S. Census 2000, concluding that demography has taken a uniquely post–civil rights turn in the unprecedented context of a coming U.S. white minority. Categorical self-identification within the permeable race and ethnic categories that the state now endorses paradoxically releases it from whatever previous civil-rights obligations the state may have had. In unpacking how this process works—call it autogenic violence at the level precisely of “recognition”—this article revisits Habermas's reliance on a juridically grounded base for intersubjectivity. Habermas extends the appeal for liberal international law to an updated endorsement of Kant's quest for perpetual cosmopolitan peace. With the problem of history and the relationship between temporality and the “cultural” disciplines such as philosophy in mind, the author updates Habermas's updating of Kant in a context of perpetual war that neither figure is willing to imagine.
Adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system-based intelligent power management strategies for fuel cell/battery driven unmanned electric aerial vehicle
Authors: Karunarathne L , Economou J T , Knowles K
Published: November 2009

Intelligent power management (IPM) strategy is presented to control the fuel cell (FC)/battery-powered hybrid unmanned electrical aerial vehicle propulsion system. The IPM system shares the propulsion power demand between two power sources, by allowing the FC system to operate in maximum net power output. The IPM system, which manages FC system power output according to battery state of charge and load power variations, is based on the adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). This power controller optimizes compressor motor voltage as a function of FC stack current density. The ANFIS-based controller estimation parameters, mean (
Life cycle cost modelling as an aircraft design support tool
Authors: Thokala P , Scanlan J , Chipperfield A
Published: November 2009

This article summarizes the work that has been carried out as part of the FLAVIIR project, a 5-year research programme looking at technologies for future unmanned air vehicles (UAVs). This is a UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council funded project sponsored by BAE systems. A framework to estimate the life cycle cost of UAVs is presented. The acquisition costs are estimated using a hierarchical structure and a discrete simulation model is used to estimate the maintenance and operation costs. The architecture to estimate the life cycle cost and the associated models are described. A framework is presented in which the cost models developed can be integrated into the design process to facilitate the comparison between different configurations. It is then demonstrated how this framework can be used to perform trade-off analysis and cost-based optimization.
Modelling for couplings of an airframe—propulsion integrated hypersonic vehicle with engine safety boundaries
Authors: Yao Z-H , Bao W , Chang J , Yu D , Tang J
Published: November 2009

A model for coupled dynamics of an airframe—propulsion integrated hypersonic air-breathing flight vehicle with various engine safety boundaries, called HIT-HAV (Harbin Institute of Technology), was developed to analyse the couplings among flight dynamics, aerodyna-mics, propulsion, and control. These engine safety boundaries included inlet unstart boundary, burner wall temperature limitation, burner lean fuel combustion boundary, rich fuel combustion boundary, and so on. All these engine safety boundaries were considered in modelling the HIT-HAV. The validity and practicability of the model were verified by comparing with a full-scale generic hypersonic vehicle. By simulating the HIT-HAV model, the conclusion was drawn that due to the couplings among flight dynamics, aerodynamics, propulsion, and control, the airframe—propulsion integrated hypersonic air-breathing flight vehicle may operate, beside the normal operation mode, near some safety boundaries and may even exceed them, which may cause a failure flight. A hypersonic air-breathing flight vehicle's un-safety operation mode could be avoided by limiting the fuel supply, which has been verified in simulations. This paper indicates that for an airframe—propulsion integrated hypersonic air-breathing flight vehicle with various engine safety boundaries, as there were various relevant operation modes requested by various engine safety boundaries, an independent flight control and propulsion control in the traditional sense would fail to satisfy the hypersonic air-breathing flight and hence a multi-mode control design should be the focus of future research.
Sliding-mode control for staring-mode spacecraft using a disturbance observer
Authors: Wu S N , Sun X Y , Sun Z W , Wu X D
Published: November 2009

This article studies the attitude control problem for spacecraft staring-mode observation. The staring mode of spacecraft is initially presented, and its advantages for observation are analysed. Then, based on the dynamic equation and kinematic equation using error quaternion and angular velocity error, a sliding-mode controller is designed to improve control effect, which prolongs observation time and enhances observation precision. Afterwards, a disturbance observer is devised and included in this proposed controller to reduce inherent chattering of sliding-mode control and to improve the stability of the spacecraft platform. Besides, the convergence of the proposed disturbance observer is proved theoretically. Finally, simulations are performed, and the results demonstrate that the proposed controller has quicker response, better robustness to uncertainty of spacecraft inertia parameters and external disturbance, and effectively weakens the chattering.
Design and manufacture of the DEMON unmanned air vehicle demonstrator vehicle
Authors: Fielding J P , Mills A , Smith H
Published: November 2009

This article will describe the design process, final design, and manufacture of the DEMON unmanned air vehicle (UAV) flying demonstrator aircraft. This is one of the main activities of the multi-University FLAVIIR programme.

FLAVIIR's aim is to develop technologies that will allow development of future UAVs. It is vital that these technologies be integrated and demonstrated at higher technology readiness levels than are usual in the University sector. One means of achieving this is to use a number of technology demonstrators, culminating in the DEMON demonstrator. A particularly challenging requirement is that the vehicle must demonstrate an entire flight cycle, without the use of conventional flying control surfaces.

This article will describe some of the technologies developed by partner Universities, and their integration into DEMON.

The vehicle has a novel configuration and uses advanced composite construction in a vehicle some 3 m long and weighing 80 kg. It is powered by a small gas turbine and utilizes sophisticated thrust-vectoring devices. A novel feature is the use of an auxiliary gas turbine that provides compressed air for some of the fluidic control devices.

This article gives details of the innovative manufacturing and assembly methods used for the DEMON. The vehicle is expected to fly shortly.
Adaptive sliding mode backstepping control for attitude tracking of flexible spacecraft under input saturation and singularity
Authors: Xiao B , Hu Q-L , Ma G
Published: November 2009

This article presents non-linear and adaptive sliding mode control (SMC) design for attitude tracking of flexible spacecraft in situations when there exist uncertainties, external disturbances, and input saturation constraints. In this approach, the function approximation technique is employed to represent the disturbances and uncertainties with finite combinations of some basis functions. Based on the backstepping technique, an adaptive SMC law for attitude tracking is first derived. In the closed-loop system, the roll angle, angle of pitch, and yaw angle trajectories asymptotically follow the reference output trajectories. To cope with the limitations of control saturation, a modified control design is given, and the stability of the closed-loop system is also verified. An additional updating law is employed for the derivative of singularity-free attitude tracking law as well, in which the possible singularity problem of the estimated control gains in the existing adaptive control schemes can be removed. Numerical simulation is conducted for the attitude tracking of a flexible spacecraft, and the results demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the control strategy.
Non-linear programming for filter management in a fluid power system with uncertainty
Authors: Nie S L , Hu Z , Li Y P , Huang G H
Published: November 2009

In this study, non-linear programming for filter management in a fluid power system is developed for the assessment of filter allocation and replacement strategies in a fluid power system (FPS). The developed model can effectively tackle uncertainties existing as interval values and fuzzy sets, through introducing independent control variables and L- R fuzzy numbers into the interval non-linear programming (INP) framework. Moreover, in the modelling formulation, the service life of the pump and the cost of filter maintenance are included in the objective function to reflect the effect of strategies. The developed method is applied to the filter management of an FPS with a bypass filtration system. The results indicate that reasonable solutions have been generated. Not only can they help identify optimal filter allocation and replacement strategies to control the contamination of FPSs, but also they can provide decision makers more information regarding trade-offs among system cost, certainty and safety in comparison with the INP model.
On the synthesis of spatial revolute—revolute—spherical—cylindrical motion generators with prescribed coupler loads
Authors: Russell K , Shen Q , Lee W-T , Sodhi R S
Published: November 2009

This work extends the concepts and methodologies of Shen et al. for the synthesis of spherical four-bar motion generators to the synthesis of spatial revolute—revolute—spherical—cylindrical (RRSC) motion generators with applied coupler loads. A constraint that includes coupler loads and driver static torques for the RRSC mechanism is formulated using the principle of virtual work. This constraint is combined with the conventional constraints for the R—R and C—S dyads to form a non-linear optimization problem from which RRSC mechanism solutions are calculated that approximate prescribed coupler poses and satisfy prescribed driver static torques for given coupler loads. The formulated RRSC coupler load and driver static torque constraint are also incorporated in a simplified RRSC motion generation model to form a simplified non-linear optimization problem for calculating RRSC mechanism solutions. This work demonstrates both the conventional and simplified non-linear optimization problems.
Nothing is as Practical as a Good Theory: Bowen Theory and the Workplace — a Personal Application
Authors: Chambers Megan F.
Published: November 2009

Bowen Family Systems Theory is most commonly used to understand and predict family process. It is also applied to other potentially intense relationship systems, especially the workplace. It has been used by workplace consultants and by individuals to understand, and to manage, their own workplace functioning. This paper will draw from several key Bowen concepts to analyse common workplace dilemmas and to suggest responses that may assist the functioning of the individual and the system. The author's own experience as a manager in a child and adolescent mental health programme will be used as the case study to illustrate the theory's application.
Interactive Family Music Therapy: Untangling the System
Authors: McIntyre Joanne
Published: November 2009

Interactive Family Music Therapy can have a unique role to play when working as part of a multidisciplinary team by demonstrating a capacity to ‘surprise’ a client/patient when they least expect it. It provides a positive shared experience that can add to multidisciplinary assessment and treatment planning. This article will illustrate the role Interactive Family Music Therapy has at Redbank House and includes case material.
Do Pharmaceutical Marketing Activities Raise Prices? Evidence from Five Major Therapeutic Classes
Authors: Capella Michael L. , Taylor Charles R. , Campbell Randall C. , Longwell Lance S.
Published: November 2009

The impact of direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising of prescription drugs on consumers has become the focus of considerable debate. Given rising health care costs, the question whether DTC advertising and other forms of promotion increase the price of prescription drugs is particularly important. This study uses data on name brand drugs in five major therapy classes marketed in the United States during 2001–2005 to test the effect of DTC advertising and other promotional variables on the price elasticity of demand. The predictions of two competing theories on the economic effects of advertising are used as a basis for forming the hypotheses. The data indicate that, in general, there is not a significant relationship between DTC advertising and price elasticity in these five categories. Given the inverse relationship between elasticity of demand and price, the findings do not support the position that consumers pay higher prices as a result of DTC advertising in the pharmaceutical industry.
An Unsettled Matter of Life and Death: A Public Policy and Marketing Commentary on Life Insurance Settlement
Authors: Gabel Terrance G. , Scott Clifford D.
Published: November 2009

Life insurance settlement (LIS) is a US$15 billion global industry and is expected to grow tenfold or more by 2040. It involves the controversial practice of investors acquiring the life insurance policies of living people and then receiving the proceeds of the policy after the death of the insured. This article examines LIS exchange and consumption from a consumer-focused public policy and marketing perspective. The authors find that the vast potential of LIS to meaningfully expand consumer choice has yet to be fully realized as a result of (1) LIS consumers often being inherently at a high risk of experiencing vulnerability, (2) inconsistent and inadequate industry regulation, and (3) ethically or legally questionable industry marketing practices. Public policy recommendations are formulated with a view toward facilitating regulatory reform that benefits both LIS consumers and ethical LIS marketers.
Betrayed by the Buzz? Covert Content and Consumer–Brand Relationships
Authors: Ashley Christy , Leonard Hillary A.
Published: November 2009

Brands are increasingly sponsoring online communications that do not identify their commercial source as a way to break through advertising clutter and to circumvent consumer cynicism toward traditional advertising. The results of lab studies indicate that these covert actions decrease trust in and commitment to brand users and that this effect is strongest when the brand user's emotional connection to the brand is threatened. Thus, use of covert marketing campaigns to overcome challenges with advertising may be done at the expense of the strongest consumer–brand relationships. Given the potential for loss of trust in and commitment to a brand in an environment in which brand relationships hold high value, brand marketers may have an incentive to discontinue covert marketing efforts without policy intervention. Alternatively, marketers could go to greater lengths to cover their tracks, which could have important implications for policy and consumer welfare.
Eating with a Purpose: Consumer Response to Functional Food Health Claims in Conflicting versus Complementary Information Environments
Authors: Naylor Rebecca Walker , Droms Courtney M. , Haws Kelly L.
Published: November 2009

Marketers of food products have recently introduced a variety of “functional foods” that promise consumers improvements in targeted physiological functions. However, despite the proliferation of functional food health claims promising more than basic nutrition, little is known about consumer responses to these claims, particularly in information environments in which inconsistent information may be available about the efficacy of a particular functional ingredient. Across two studies, the authors demonstrate that consumers with lower health consciousness are particularly sensitive to conflicting information about the validity of a functional food health claim; specifically, the presentation of conflicting (versus complementary) information significantly lowers their likelihood of choosing a functional over a nonfunctional food. In contrast, consumers with higher health consciousness do not reduce their likelihood of choosing a functional food when confronted with conflicting information. The authors demonstrate that this effect is driven by a confirmatory bias to believe the functional food health claim on the part of more health conscious consumers. The authors discuss implications for the successful marketing of functional foods and for public policy makers and consumers.
Daily, Week-Part, and Holiday Patterns in Consumers’ Caloric Intake
Authors: Khare Adwait , Inman J. Jeffrey
Published: November 2009

The authors predict and demonstrate daily, week-part, and holiday patterns in consumers’ caloric intake using a national food consumption panel data set. They show that daily caloric intake is characterized by intermeal carryover effects, such that balancing between a preceding and a subsequent meal is stronger when both the meals are from the same day than from adjoining days. They also show that panelists’ caloric intake on weekends and holidays is systematically different from their intake on weekdays and nonholidays. Additional analyses reveal that the panelists are similar in their daily bracketing behavior and, to some extent, in their holiday bracketing behavior, but in terms of week-part bracketing behavior, panelists in the 25–35 age group, panelists in the 30-plus body mass index group, and panelists from professional heads of households show a large increase in weekend intake.
Qualified Health Claims on Package Labels
Authors: Bone Paula Fitzgerald , France Karen Russo
Published: November 2009

Qualified health claims arising from the landmark 1999 Pearson v. Shalala ruling were predicted to be in widespread use, either filling an important consumer information void or misleading the masses. Yet the results from the current content analysis, which examines more than 1200 instances in which qualified health claims could have been made, reveal that qualified health claims are relatively uncommon on product packages. Indeed, these claims are less common than their consumer-equivalent structure–function claims and are significantly overshadowed by structure–function claims for which little scientific evidence exists.
Healthy Dads, Healthy Kids
Authors: Marsiglio William
Published: November 2009

Far too many babies and children in the United States today struggle with myriad conditions that negatively affect their emotional, mental, and physical health. We initially see this tragedy in the high rates of infantmortality and low birth weight babies and then in the discouragingly high numbers of youth who are obese, get pregnant, contract a sexually transmitted infection, smoke, binge drink, abuse drugs, develop an eating disorder, or attempt suicide. Sadly, when young people look at adult men they often find poor role models who are ill-equipped to help them avoid or correct unhealthy behaviors.
Challenges for a Global Sociology
Authors: Burawoy Michael
Published: November 2009

The idea of a national sociology may appear strange to U.S. sociologists accustomed to thinking of their sociology as universal, but fromoutside the United States our sociology can look quite provincial, expressing the peculiarities of our exotic society. Indeed, each nation has its own distinctive field of sociology–we can define the features of a French, German, English, Indian, South African, Russian, Brazilian, Portuguese, or Chinese sociology. It isn't surprising that sociologists have produced distinctive national sociologies, given that sociology has always been bound by the nation–state and defined national society as its basic unit of analysis.
Turkey, Islam, and the EU
Authors: Dixon Jeffrey C.
Published: November 2009

After the September 11th attacks on the United States, more than a few Americans came to believe that Islam andWestern Christianity were embroiled in a battle over fundamental differences–a “clash of civilizations,’ so to speak. But this rhetoric was neither new nor particular to the United States. Across the Atlantic for some time, in fact, it has been used in the debate over the proposed entry of Turkey, a Muslim country, into the European Union (EU).
Ending the War on the War on Terror
Authors: Deflem Mathieu
Published: November 2009

Thwarting Enemies at Home and Abroad: How to Be a Counter-intelligence Officer By William R. Johnson Georgetown University Press, 2009 (1987) 236 pages

Under Construction: Making Homeland Security at the Local Level By Kerry B. Fosher University of Chicago Press, 2009 288 pages
Adoption, White Women, and the Keeping of Culture
Authors: Brienza Casey
Published: November 2009

Culture Keeping: White Mothers, International Adoption, and the Negotiation of Family Difference By Heather Jacobson Vanderbilt University Press, 2008 216 pages

Call Me Okaasan: Adventures in Multicultural Mothering Edited by Suzanne Kamata Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing, 2009 224 pages

Kimchi & Calamari By Rose Kent Har perCollins, 2007 240 pages
Learning from the Inside Out
Authors: Galardi Tasha
Published: November 2009

“The criminal no longer seems a totally unsociable being, a sort of parasitic element, a strange and unassimilable body,” Emile Durkheim wrote. And after nearly 10 hourswithmy Inside classmates, I've come to learn that he's right.
The Role of EGFR Inhibition in the Treatment of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
Authors: Ray Mandira , Salgia Ravi , Vokes Everett E.
Published: November 2009

The identification of certain molecular mechanisms underlying lung carcinogenesis and progression has led to the development of targeted agents against different families of growth factors and receptors. The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is one such target for therapeutic exploitation. Inhibition of EGFR downstream signaling can be accomplished through two primary mechanisms: (a) the direct blocking of intracellular kinase activity with small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) (e.g., gefitinib, erlotinib) and (b) the blocking of EGFR ligand binding using antibodies directed against the extracellular domain of the receptor (e.g., cetuximab). Resistance to available EGFR-targeted treatments has emerged as a substantial clinical issue in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Several novel agents with the potential to overcome such resistance are currently in clinical development, including irreversible EGFR TKIs, monoclonal antibodies, and TKIs directed against multiple signaling pathways. Here we discuss the clinical application of the currently available EGFR-targeted agents in NSCLC, the underlying mechanisms of resistance, and the novel agents in clinical development that may overcome resistance.
Therapeutic Horticulture in Clinical Depression: A Prospective Study
Authors: Gonzalez Marianne Thorsen , Hartig Terry , Patil Grete Grindal , Martinsen Egil W. , Kirkevold Marit
Published: November 2009

Clinically depressed persons suffer from impaired mood and distortion of cognition. This study assessed changes in depression severity and perceived attentional capacity of clinically depressed adults (N = 18) during a 12-week therapeutic horticulture program. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Attentional Function Index (AFI) were administered at baseline, twice during (4 and 8 weeks), and immediately after the intervention (12 weeks), and at a 3-month follow-up. Experiences of being away and fascination related to the intervention were measured at 4, 8, and 12 weeks. The mean BDI score declined 9.7 points from pretest (27.3) to posttest (p < .001) and were clinically relevant (ΔBDI ≥ 6) for 72% of the cases. The mean AFI score increased 10.2 points from pretest (68.8) to posttest (p = .06). The greatest change in BDI and AFI scores occurred in the initial weeks of the intervention. The reduction in BDI scores remained significant and clinically relevant at the 3-month follow-up (N = 16). The decline in depression severity during the intervention correlated strongly with the degree to which the participants found that it captured their attention. Therapeutic horticulture may decrease depression severity and improve perceived attentional capacity by engaging effortless attention and interrupting rumination.
Effects of Aging and Cyclosporin A on Collagen Turnover in Human Gingiva
Authors: Gagliano N , Costa F , Tartaglia G.M , Pettinari L , Grizzi F , Sforza C , Portinaro N , Gioia M , Annoni G
Published: November 2009

Background:

We aimed at characterizing the aging gingiva analyzing: i) collagen content and turnover in human gingival tissues and fibroblasts obtained from healthy young and aging subjects. ii) the effect of cyclosporin A administration in human cultured gingival fibroblasts obtained from aging compared to young subjects.

Methods:

Morphological analysis was performed on haematoxylin-eosin and Sirius red stained paraffin-embedded gingival biopsies from young and aging healthy subjects. The expression of the main genes and proteins involved in collagen turnover were determined by real time PCR, dot blot and SDS-zymography on cultured young and aging gingival fibroblasts, and after cyclosporin A administration.

Results:

Our results suggest that in healthy aged people, gingival connective tissue is characterized by a similar collagen content and turnover. Collagen turnover pathways are similarly affected by cyclosporin A treatment in young and aging gingival fibroblasts.

Conclusions:

Cyclosporin A administration affects gingival collagen turnover pathways in young and aging fibroblasts at the same extent, suggesting that during aging cyclosporin A administration is not related to relevant collagen turnover modifications.
Stokes’s First Example
Authors: Kowalenko Victor
Published: November 2009

Ch. 2 reviews the derivation of the complete asymptotic expansion for a related func-tion of the error function, which was the first example ever of the Stokes phenomenon. It is shown
that the asymptotic method used to derive the expansion, namely the well-known method of iter-ation that is applied to differential equations, introduces an infinity into the remainder and hence,
is improper. As a consequence, the concept of an equivalence statement is introduced, while reg-ularisation is defined as the removal of the infinity in an asymptotic series in order to make its
remainder summable. The analysis continues by demonstrating that the asymptotic expansion for
the variant of the error function changes form at special rays of discontinuity and across specific
sectors of the complex plane, which are now called Stokes lines and sectors respectively.
Dingle’s Rules and Theory of Terminants
Authors: Kowalenko Victor
Published: November 2009

Dingle’s rules for deriving the changing forms of an asymptotic expansion as a result
of the Stokes phenomenon are introduced. Of these rules only Nos. 1, 7 and 8 are necessary
for the analysis in later chapters. Then with the aid of these rules his theory of terminants is
presented, which is important because the asymptotic expansions of a multitude of mathematical
functions can be approximated for large values of the summation index by these divergent series
whose coefficients possess gamma function growth. There are basically two types of terminants,
each possessing different properties according to Dingle’s rules. Meaningful values for both types
of terminants are obtained by Borel summation, which is shown to be a method of regularising
asymptotic series.
Extension of Borel Summation
Authors: Kowalenko Victor
Published: November 2009

In order to demonstrate that it is regularisation and not Borel summation which is
responsible for yielding meaningful values to asymptotic series, the gamma function in both types
of generalised terminants is now replaced by the functionf(pk+q)in this chapter. Then the regu-larised values for both types of series are determined by assuming that f(s)is a Mellin transform.
These appear in Propositions 6 and 7. Although both types of series are different from generalised
terminants, the proofs of the propositions are nonetheless based on the exposition in the preceding
chapter. Consequently, the regularised values are referred to as extended Borel-summed forms.
The chapter concludes by considering a complicated example of a Type II series, where the coef-ficients can be expressed as the Mellin transform of the product of the Bessel functionJ
ν
(x)and
the Macdonald function Kν
(x). As there is no special function equivalent to this asymptotic series,
the MB-regularised forms for the regularised value are derived with the aid of the general theory
in Ch. 7. Then a numerical study of both the extended Borel-summed and MB-regularised forms
is carried out with the index νset equal to 1/3 and -3/5 and for large and small values of|z| over
the principal branch. Once again, the Borel-summed and MB-regularised forms yield identical
regularised values for the series.
Conclusion
Authors: Kowalenko Victor
Published: November 2009

In the final chapter a summary of the major issues surrounding this work is presented
together with a discussion of the main results. The conclusion begins by relating the discovery
of the Stokes phenomenon in the terms of the concepts appearing in this book plus the subse-quent developments over the next sesquicentenary or so. It then proceeds to explain why these
developments have been unsuccessful in providing a satisfactory explanation of the phenomenon.
This is attributed to the fact that they have not employed the important concepts of equivalence
and regularisation, which are crucial for obtaining meaningful values from each component se-ries in a complete asymptotic expansion. Such values have been referred to as regularised values
throughout this work. Then the two main techniques of regularising a divergent series, viz. Borel
summation and MB-regularisation, are discussed and compared with each other. It is pointed
out that the former is responsible for the behaviour of an asymptotic expansion as it experiences
the Stokes phenomenon, while the latter produces broader sectors over which an asymptotic ex-pansion is valid. Not only do the broader sectors overlap one another, there is no evidence of
discontinuities across specific rays as there is with Borel-summed forms for the regularised value
of an asymptotic series. Furthermore, the concept of regularisation allows us to go beyond Borel
summation and consider asymptotic series whose coefficients are not dependent upon the gamma
function. Finally, the ramifications of this work on the subject of asymptotics are addressed.
Subject Index
Authors: Kowalenko Victor
Published: November 2009

Full Text Available.
Normal Fetal Anatomy and Development
Authors: Kozuma Shiro
Published: November 2009

Normal fetal anatomy and development have been widely investigated with the development of
various ultrasound fetal diagnoses, including estimation of gestational age, detection of fetal anomalies and
evaluation of fetal growth. Our knowledge of fetal development, therefore, has been established through
understanding of sectional images of the fetal body or organs obtained by two-dimensional ultrasound.
Although three-dimensional ultrasound has been widely accepted for clinical use in antenatal care recently, a
powerful tool of three-dimensional ultrasound has not yet been fully utilized. Recent advances of threedimensional
ultrasound provide us with a distinct aspect of fetal anatomy and development. This chapter
gives a clue to the entry into the new world of the fetus.
J-Net System: A New Paradigm for Artificial Neural Networks Applied to Diagnostic Imaging - Application
Authors: Grossi Enzo , Buscema Massimo
Published: November 2009

In this chapter we show how the ability of the J-Net system to extract the pictures composing it
from an image, on the basis of the brightness, can have important medical applications. Two examples are
shown: hidden arterial stenosis discovery in Digital Subtraction Angiography (DSA) and lung nodule characterization
according to the benign or malignant feature.

First example: the popliteal artery is a relatively short vascular segment of the leg but is affected by a unique
set of pathologic conditions. The most common of these conditions, is the narrowing or stenosis of the artery
due to atherosclerosis. The clinical manifestations, imaging appearances, and treatment options associated
with these pathologic conditions differ significantly. Consequently, the radiologist should be familiar with
these conditions to direct imaging for accurate diagnosis and treatment and to prevent loss of limb. A standard
DSA in a patient with popliteal artery stenosis showed just one stenosis, while after processing with J-Net, a
second stenosis, which was invisible to human eye emerged bottom-up. At surgical intervention there was the
confirmation that the patient was actually having another stenosis which was not visible at DSA.

Second example: the solitary lung nodule is a common radiological abnormality that is often detected incidentally.
Although most solitary pulmonary nodules have benign causes, many represent early malignant lung
cancers. Initial evaluation with Computed Tomography often results in non-specific findings, in which case
nodules are classified as indeterminate and require further evaluation to exclude malignancy. In uncertain
situations growth rate assessment remains still the only practical approach.

In order to verify this assumption we have used images published by a group of researchers in a top quality
scientific journal regarding two cases in which only after two-three years it was possible to diagnose a malignant
lung cancer, while at Time 0 the picture did not allow for an accurate and differential cancer diagnosis.
J-Net applied to time 0 image was able to show how the image would have changed its pattern at time 1, delineating
the cancer’s pattern of spread that would have occurred later on. J-Net seems to capture slight
brightness intensities changes due to initial limphoangiogenesis spread driving microscopic peritumoral infiltration
in malignant lung nodules.
IFAST: Implicit Function as Squashing Time for EEG Analysis* - Theory
Authors: Buscema Massimo , Maria Rossini Paolo , Grossi Enzo , Babiloni Claudio
Published: November 2009

This chapter presents the innovative use of special types of Artificial Neural Networks assembled
in a novel methodology, capable of compressing the temporal sequence of EEG data into spatial invariants.
The spatial content of the EEG voltage recorded from 19 channels along 60 seconds is extracted by a stepwise
procedure using ANNs (SEMEION©). The core of the procedure is that the ANNs do not classify individuals
by directly using the EEG data as an input. Rather, the data inputs for the classification are the
weights of the connections within a non linear Auto-Associative ANN trained to generate the recorded EEG
data. These connection weights represent an optimal model of the peculiar spatial features of the EEG patterns
at scalp surface. The classification based on these weights is then performed by a supervised ANN. Half
of the EEG database is used for the ANN training and the remaining EEG database serves for the automatic
classification phase (testing). The best results distinguishing between mild Alzheimer patients and Mild Cognitive
Impairment patient were equal to 92.33%. The comparative results obtained with the best method so far
described in the literature, based on blind source separation and Wavelet pre-processing, were 80.43% ( p <
0.001). These results confirmed the working hypothesis and represent the basis for research aimed at integrating
spatial and temporal information content of the EEG.
IFAST: Implicit Function as Squashing Time for EEG Analysis - Application
Authors: Maria Rossini Paolo , Buscema Massimo , Grossi Enzo
Published: November 2009

It has been shown that a new procedure (Implicit Function as Squashing Time, IFAST) based on
Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) is able to compress eyes-closed resting electroencephalographic (EEG)
data into spatial invariants of the instant voltage distributions for an automatic classification of mild cognitive
impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) subjects with classification accuracy of individual subjects
higher than 92%. In this chapter the method has been applied to distinguish individual normal elderly (Nold)
vs. Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) subjects, an important issue for the screening of large populations at
high risk of AD. Eyes-closed resting EEG data (10-20 electrode montage) were recorded in 171 Nold and in
115 amnesic MCI subjects. The data inputs for the classification by IFAST were the weights of the connections
within a non linear auto-associative ANN trained to generate the instant voltage distributions of 60-s artifact
free EEG data. The most relevant features were selected and coincidently the dataset was split into two
halves for the final binary classification (training and testing) performed by a supervised ANN. The classification
of the individual Nold and MCI subjects reached 95.87% of sensitivity and 91.06% of specificity
(93.46% of accuracy). These results indicate that IFAST can reliably distinguish eyes-closed resting EEG in
individual Nold and MCI subjects, and may be used for large-scale periodic screening of large populations at
risk of AD and personalized care.
Microsurgery: Instruments and Techniques
Authors: Angeles Aller Maria , Arias Jaime
Published: November 2009

Microsurgery is characterized by the use of an operating microscope. It is associated with the use of fine microsurgical instruments. The microsurgical instruments correspond with the fundamental phases that make up a surgical operation, that is, incision, hemostasis, dissection and sutures. This chapter describes these surgical times, placing particular emphasis on microsurgical techniques. In microsurgery, the material used is equally important as how it is used with a correct technique.
Liver Anatomy
Authors: Lorente Laureano , Aller Maria-Angeles , Arias Jaime
Published: November 2009

In this chapter we describe the anatomy of the multilobed liver of the rat and mouse.
Traditional gross anatomy divides the liver into four lobes: the middle, left lateral, right lateral
and caudate, as well as the caudate process, which is found between the two aforementioned latter
lobes. The study of the hepatic hilum with the operating microscopy makes it possible to observe
that each of the four hepatic lobes and the caudate process have arterial and portal vascularization
as well as individualized biliary drainage. By microdissection, the most frequent variations that
these vascular and biliary structures present can be detected in the hepatic hilum. In addition,
obtaining vascular casts allows for the study of the anatomical distribution of the hepatic venous
system.
Portal Surgery: Portosystemic Shunts and Portal Hypertension
Authors: Aller Maria-Angeles , Mendez Marta , Nava Maria-Paz , Lopez Laudino , Curras Diana , de Paz Ana , Arias Jorge-Luis , Arias Jaime
Published: November 2009

The most frequently used experimental models for portal microsurgery are those
achieved through portal systemic shunts and partial portal vein ligation. Portacaval shunts are
appropriate techniques for microsurgical training but also for researching chronic hepatic
insufficiency and particularly hepatic encephalopathy. Portal hypertension by triple partial portal
vein ligation, is associated with a low-grade inflammatory response at the splanchnic (enteropathy
and liver steatosis) and systemic levels.
Hepatectomies
Authors: Aller Maria-Angeles , Lorente Laureano , Prieto Isabel , Arias Jaime
Published: November 2009

Hepatectomies in the rat can be improved using microsurgical techniques. The
distribution variations of the vascular and biliar lobular branches of the liver are observed under
magnification with an operating microscope and, therefore their dissection, ligation and section
are more accurate. The vascularization and bile drainage of the caudate process, a liver sector
located between the right lateral and caudate lobes can be identified using microsurgery. Removal
of two-thirds (70%) of the liver represents the most valuable animal model of liver regeneration.
The viability of the animal’s evolution after different types of subtotal hepatectomies depends on
an effective identification of these vascular and biliary branches. Microsurgery also permits the
use of various techniques for creating an anhepatic rat.
Contributors
Authors: Arias Jaime
Published: November 2009

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