bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Local Planning and National Environmental Assessment Procedures: The Developer's Mitigated Role in Disjointed Negotiation Processes
Authors: Pinho Paulo
Published: July 2002

Brief analyses are made of both the Portuguese planning system and the project environmental impact assessment (EIA) system. Major trends in planning practice are characterised and the scope for bargaining processes is critically addressed. The procedural and institutional separation between these systems is emphasised. A contrast is made between the localised nature of planning practice and the independent centralised approach to environmental assessment in Portugal. In this context, a case study of the planning application for a large tourism development condominium, involving the preparation of an environmental assessment, is presented. A contradictory framework for bargaining emerges out of this case. The search for scientific evidence to support the decision-making process is impaired by changing environmental arguments throughout a long administrative process. Diverging local development interests versus national conservation interests are explored and a strong case for a collaborative approach is justified. Finally, evidence is gathered to support the view that the separation between the planning system and the EIA system create a disjointed framework for bargaining, in which the developer is bound to perform a difficult and somehow secondary mitigated role.
Monitoring Russia's Experience with Housing Allowances
Authors: Struyk Raymond J. , Puzanov Alexander S. , Lee Lisa A.
Published: July 2002

The implementation of housing allowances is an integral part of Russia's programme of systematic rent increases on state and municipal rental units which began in 1994. Because housing allowances constitute the country's first income-tested programme, its performance transcends the housing sector. Rents are being increased in steps to cover full operating costs by the beginning of the next century. The first increases were modest in real terms, and a housing allowance programme was to be operational in each city when rents rose. This paper reports the results of an initial assessment of the programme in two cities. The assessment focuses on the extent to which income-eligible households know about the programme, their participation rates and their experience in becoming recipients. Survey results show quite low but increasing participation rates and knowledge about the programme. While both are in part explainable by the low average benefit levels at this stage in the programme of rent increases, they also clearly call for greater effort by local and national administrations to inform the population.
Gender Differences in Housing Demand
Authors: Skaburskis Andrejs
Published: July 2002

This study examines the effect of gender differences in household formation, tenure choice, housing expenditure and location in Vancouver and Toronto. It shows that the continuing increase in women's income prospects and career orientation will reduce family formation, fertility and divorce rates, and change housing demand in ways that will affect the growth and character of large Canadian cities. Without in-migration, the demand for rental housing will decline while the demand for inner-city condominiums will grow substantially as women's income prospects approach those of men's. The proportion of non-family households will continue to increase, but the demand for single-family suburban houses will continue to grow as the increase in income raises the propensity of both men and women, family and non-family, to buy suburban houses. The main reduction will be in the demand for higher-density suburban housing. The elimination of differences in employment opportunity and career outlook between men and women may prompt a more generous immigration policy that will make cities culturally more diverse. These conclusions are developed and illustrated by using the 1991 Census Public Use Micro Data Files.
Entry to Home-ownership in Germany: Some Comparisons with the United States
Authors: Clark W.A.V. , Deurloo M.C. , Dieleman F.M.
Published: July 2002

New research on migration, mobility and housing tenure choice using the concept of the life-course is providing an enriched analysis of the context within which housing choices are made and of the demographic and economic variables which are critical determinants of the decisions to move and to change tenures. The availability of panel series data for the US and Germany allows cross-national comparisons of the migration and tenure choice processes. There are substantial differences in the rates of mobility and the rates of moves of households from the rental sector to ownership, especially for couples, but the results confirm the overall similarities in the mobility and tenure choice processes despite the differing government commitments to housing policy. The models show that it is primarily couples and families who make the transition to ownership and that income and number of earners are important in both contexts and German households have even higher incomes before they make the transition to ownership. At the same time, the tax benefits in Germany have also made it possible for families with relatively lower incomes to move to the ownership sector.
Managing the Changing Political Environment in Urban Waterfront Redevelopment
Authors: Gordon David L. A.
Published: July 2002

Political issues in urban waterfront redevelopment projects are examined in this paper, based upon case studies in New York, London, Boston and Toronto. The perspective of the redevelopment agency is adopted when considering techniques for managing the changing political environment over the decades that it takes to implement these projects. The specific issues which are addressed include start-up politics, managing changes in political leadership, allocation of benefits and managing relations with residents and local government. Effective waterfront redevelopment agencies take a long-term approach towards management of their political environment.
The Changing Post-apartheid City: Emergent Black-owned Small Enterprises in Johannesburg
Authors: Rogerson C.M. , Rogerson J.M.
Published: July 2002

This paper is concerned with the post-apartheid city and the changing racial complexion of small enterprises developing in the inner city of Johannesburg, South Africa's most important urban centre. South Africa's new democratic government has identified the support and upgrading of small enterprises owned by blacks as a priority policy issue. Earlier research highlights a long tradition of negative official policy attitudes towards black business development in South Africa's central-city areas as part of urban planning under apartheid. Against this background, the paper investigates aspects of the emergent black small enterprise economy in post- apartheid Johannesburg. The results are presented from a recently completed survey of small black enterprises operating in the Johannesburg inner city and of a series of in-depth interviews undertaken with key institutional actors dealing with the city commercial property market. Overall, the findings point to the important and changing role of the inner city as incubator for developing black small enterprises in post- apartheid South Africa.
The Determinants of Housing Tenure Choice in Ibadan, Nigeria
Authors: Arimah Ben C.
Published: July 2002

This paper estimates housing tenure choice models for the Ibadan housing market in Nigeria. The empirical analysis based on a logit regression model reveals that the key determi- i-nants of the probability of home-ownership are: income, the investment motive for home-ownership, number of children in the house, gender of the head of household, stage in family life-cycle, length of stay in the city and access to land on the basis of ethnic qualification. Access to institutional sources of housing finance is selective and, as such, has not been effective in enhancing home-ownership across the city.
Polarisation, Public Housing and Racial Minorities in US Cities
Authors: Carter William H. , Schill Michael H. , Wachter Susan M.
Published: July 2002

Cities in the US have become home to an increasing concentration of poor households, disproportionately composed of racial and ethnic minorities. In the US, poor and minority populations are overrepresented in public housing, mostly located in central cities. Racial and ethnic minorities in American public housing are, for the most part, composed of native-born households whereas in Europe they are more likely to be foreign-born. After a description of this concentration of poor and minority populations in public housing, we examine the effect of public housing on neighbourhood poverty rates in central cities. We construct a longitudinal database (1950-90) for four large cities-Boston, Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia—and examine the relationship between the location of public housing and changes in neighbourhood poverty rates. We find that in each city, one or more of the variables relating to the existence of public housing is significantly related to increases in neighbourhood poverty rates in succeeding decades.
Institutions in British Property Research: A Review
Authors: Ball Michael
Published: July 2002

This paper surveys approaches to the study of institutions, as used in recent commercial property research in Britain. Institutional analysis can be approached from mainstream economics, power, structure-agency and structures of provision methodologies. Each is elaborated and evaluated. Important differences arise between them, which are related primarily to issues of theory and method rather than over whether institutions matter. Any particular piece of analysis has to make assumptions, and here it is true that many economic models have only limited, stylised institutional behaviour. Those that wish for more institutional input, however, have to demonstrate the greater explanatory power of doing so.
Territorial Competition and Property Market Process: An Exploratory Analysis
Authors: D'Arcy Eamonn , Keogh Geoffrey
Published: July 2002

This paper argues that the emerging research on territorial competition should be supplemented by an explicit consideration of the role of real property, and property market process, in shaping urban competitiveness. The competitive position of urban areas depends directly on the existing stock of property and the flow of new or modified buildings. Equally important, however, are the institutional form and structure of the property market, and the process by which economic pressures for change are translated into property market activity. Evidence from six contrasting European cities demonstrates marked differences in the institutional environment of their respective property markets. These differences are explored in terms of their potential significance for the determination of urban competitiveness. The illustrative case studies provide a schedule of property market characteristics which can be used to inform explanations of urban economic change and to support the design of policies for territorial competition.
An Application of the Frontier Price Concept in Spatial Equilibrium Analysis
Authors: Ishikawa Toshiharu , Toda Masao
Published: July 2002

The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the usefulness of the concept and method of the frontier price curve which has received little attention in the field of spatial economics. A number of problems are solved using this method. First, the characteristics of representative spatial free-entry solutions can be differentiated in a clear and rational way. Secondly, the link between the social welfare levels and all the spatial solution s is now simply explained, and a welfare-maximising equilibrium solution can be easily obtained. Finally, a decrease in the freight rate has an interesting, unconventional effect of expanding the market area.
Where Youth Live: Economic Effects of Urban Space on Employment Prospects
Authors: O'Regan Katherine M. , Quigley John M.
Published: July 2002

This paper synthesises a series of empirical analyses investigating the role of urban space in affecting minority employment outcomes. It broadens the focus beyond transport and the 'friction of space' and expands the data available for spatial research. The empirical analyses share a common framework linking 'access' to youth labour market performance. The first set of results is based on aggregate data relating access to employment outcomes for black youth at the metropolitan level. Access is broadly defined to include traditional measures of geographical distance, as well as measures of social isolation or social access. Metropolitan areas in which the black poor are more spatially isolated are also found to have higher black youth unemployment rates. The second body of evidence relies on the same type of metropolitan measures, combined with individual data on youth living with at least one parent. When individual and family characteristics are controlled for, and white and Hispanic youth are also considered, metropolitan measures of social access exert distinguishable effects upon youth employment—youth living in urban areas in which they have less residential contact with whites or the non-poor are less likely to be employed. The final piece of analysis links the individual records of such youth to tract-level measures of access, both social (neighbourhood composition variables) and geographical (job-access measures). This is accomplished through the creation of a unique data set at the Bureau of the Census. Again, after controlling for individual and family characteristics, the residential conditions of youth affect their employment. Ceteris paribus, youth living in census tracts with fewer employed adults, with fewer whites, and which are further from jobs are less likely to be employed. Results suggest that the overall effects of space on employment outcomes are substantial, explaining 10-40 per cent of the observed racial differences in employment in four urban areas examined. Of this 'spatial' effect, the bulk arises from social/informational measures; job access appears to play a much smaller role. However, when measured more precisely, at the census-tract level, job access does have a significant effect on youth employment. This effect is less important than other spatial influences. Spatial influences are less important in explaining outcomes than are differences in human capital.
First-time Home-ownership in the Family Life Course: A West German-Dutch Comparison
Authors: Mulder Clara H. , Wagner Michael
Published: July 2002

The transition to first-time home-ownership is made at increasingly younger ages in both West Germany and the Netherlands. This trend is stronger in the Netherlands than in Germany, however. There are also marked differences between the two countries in the extent to which first-time home-ownership is connected with events in the family life course (marriage and childbirth) and the availability of resources from the parental family. These differences can be understood in terms of differences in house prices, housing policy (subsidies and other regulations) and other differences in the legal and financial systems.
Urban Decline and the New Social and Ethnic Divisions in the Core Cities of the Italian Industrial Triangle
Authors: Petsimeris Petros
Published: July 2002

This paper examines the new social division of the city cores in the metropolitan areas of Milan, Turin and Genoa. The changing structure and location of social and ethnic groups are analysed using census data from 1981 and 1991. Special emphasis is given to the relationships between de-urbanisation and social polarisation; and between urban economic restructuring and new forms of distribution or social groups. Contrary to theories of population de-urbanisation which suggest an associated decrease in social polarisation, the analysis presented in this paper demonstrates increasing levels of social division of space.
The Effects of Land Policy: Quantity as well as Quality is Important
Authors: Needham Barrie , Verhage Roelof
Published: July 2002

Most studies of land policy, in the abstract and when applied to a country and to comparisons between countries, use a theoretical framework which is derived, ultimately, from Ricardo's land price theory. This is used to predict the effects and the incidence of the costs and benefits which result from applying land policy instruments. This article begins by comparing land policy in Israel and the Netherlands in that way. Both countries have a highly sophisticated and integrated set of land policy instruments. However, some very important differences between the effects of applying those instruments in the two countries cannot be explained within that framework. In particular, in the Netherlands, the development value of land is low and development gains small-in stark contrast with Israel. A supplementary framework is needed, and this is given by the stock adjustment model applied to housing. With this, the difference between the two countries can be explained as being the result of differences in the way the instruments are applied to influence the amount of housing supplied. The Ricardian theory and the stock adjustment model can be combined into one framework that relates land policy to housing production. The key variable in this relationship is the type of land development process that dominates in a country. Whether this process is carried out by a private or a public body can affect the volume of production, and hence the price, of housing. This adds a new element to the discussion about the relationships between planning, land supply and house prices.
Shortage, Priority and Urban Growth: Towards a Theory of Urbanisation under Central Planning
Authors: Sjoberg Örjan
Published: July 2002

Extending previous work on urbanisation under central planning, this paper sets out from the economics of shortage to develop a model of urban growth in socialist societies. Implying a focus on the effects of investments on employment and hence urban growth, this model also takes the propensity of producers to hoard labour into account. Such behaviour, it is argued, generates continued employment expansions over and above that created by the original decision to invest. Furthermore, and unlike earlier work in this tradition, an attempt is made to account for regionally differentiated outcomes within individual economies. To this end, the notion of priority is introduced. The resulting model-delineating archetypal 'landscapes of priority'—not only captures the typical sequence of urbanisation experienced by many, if not most, of the former socialist states of Europe and Asia, but also indicates from where the economies in transition from central planning have to proceed.
Reforming China's Institutional Environment for Urban Infrastructure Provision
Authors: Wu Weiping
Published: July 2002

Rapid urbanisation in the reform period has resulted in a very high demand for basic urban infrastructure in China. Improving its provision by the public sector is a challenge as problems persist in the form of unmet demand, deficiencies in cost recovery and inadequate maintenance. Institutional hurdles, particularly the lack of organisational and financial autonomy for the providers of urban infrastructure, are in part to blame. Urban construction authorities have yet to rid themselves of political interference and overlapping responsibilities. But measures have been taken to reform the institutional environment. Specifically, increasingly decentralised central-local fiscal relations are allowing municipalities an unprecedented degree of freedom for resource mobilisation through a wide range of mechanisms that greatly expand extra-budgetary revenue. A case study of Shanghai's reform efforts shows that results can be immediate and promising.
On Minimum Rents: Part 2, A Modern Interpretation
Authors: Evans Alan W.
Published: July 2002

The idea that there might be some minimum rent below which a land-owner would not let to any tenant was put forward by Marx, but with little supporting argument. In this paper, it is shown that the modern concepts and analysis of transaction costs and monitoring costs can explain why such a minimum rent might exist. Further, that risk and uncertainty, coupled with the fact that tenancies are usually for some years, also provide an explanation for the reluctance of land- and property-owners to let at minimal rents. Some empirical evidence is cited, particularly the substantial rents which have to be paid to lay telecommunication cables across private land.
China's Urban Transformation: Patterns and Processes of Morphological Change in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou
Authors: Gaubatz Piper
Published: July 2002

New urban and economic development are transforming the fundamental nature and structure of China's cities. The distinctive patterns wrought by overlaying socialist ideals on the pre-1949 city are giving way to new forms reflecting the country's dynamic economic, social and political conditions. This article provides an analysis of the patterns and processes of change in urban form in contemporary Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Analysis of these rapidly changing cities highlights both the regional variation in urban development in China and the emergence of common trends in development and form. The article focuses on patterns of land-use specialisation, circulation and building height, and processes of planning, urban renewal and privatisation of the real estate market.
Regulatory and Organisational Responses to Restructured Housing Association Finance in England and Wales
Authors: Walker Richard M. , Smith Robert S. G.
Published: July 2002

Risk was shifted from government to housing associations during the late 1980s producing a very different operating environment for associations based around competition. Critical in this has been an increased emphasis on financial management. The paper explores the impacts of these changes through an examination of the Welsh regulator's (Housing for Wales) responses and through changing management and organisation within associations. The policy responses by Housing for Wales indicate an increasing emphasis on social policy regulatory objectives, though within a very interventionist framework, which works to limit the ability of associations financially to plan their future. Innovations in housing associations are also examined to highlight organisational responses to the new environment. These innovations have focused on the, often uncritical, importation of private-sector management practices including telephone-based housing management services, demonstration projects and moves towards core-periphery organisational models. Current evidence in these underresearched areas indicates a changing culture within the sector towards a more business-like ethos emanating from the market-led system in which associations now operate, whilst indicating that there is substantial outstanding knowledge about the changing nature of housing associations.
Equal Access? Travel Behaviour Change in the Century Freeway Corridor, Los Angeles
Authors: van Hengel Drusilla , DiMento Joseph , Ryan Sherry
Published: July 2002

Construction and operation of the Century Freeway (1-105) created problems for and presented opportunities to the socioeconomically diverse south Los Angeles County area. Early decisions regarding the interstate facility effected economic decline of the area, encouraging disinvestment and forcing dislocation of residents. However, construction and operation provided job and housing opportunities in a depressed area, relieved urban congestion on arterial streets and other highways and provided a direct route to Los Angeles International Airport. In this study, travel behaviour benefits to local residents are analysed. We report modest changes in routes taken to work and shopping, general satisfaction with time and money savings associated with the system and impressive subsistence travel-time decreases for automobile trips. However travel-time benefits are not shared equally across ethnic groups and geographical locations. We discuss these findings in the context of higher percentages of central city-area residents reporting that the Century is not a route to work for them.
Attitudes, beliefs, and mathematics achievement of German and Japanese high school students
Authors: Randel Bruce , Stevenson Harold W. , Witruk Evelin
Published: July 2002

A total of 1487 eleventh grade students in Leipzig (Germany) and Sendai (Japan) were given a test of basic concepts and operations in high school mathematics and a questionnaire involving beliefs, attitudes, and practices related to mathematics, their own abilities, and their psychological adjustment. Large differences were found between the two countries in the students’ performance. The lower scores of the German students are attributed to three major areas of difference. Compared to Japanese students, German students were less critical of themselves and their academic ability, held lower standards for their performance, and were less likely to attribute excellence in performance to studying. Students in both countries expressed few indications of maladjustment. When differences were found the indices of maladjustment were more common among German than among Japanese students. Boys obtained higher scores on the mathematics test than girls, were more likely to spend more time studying mathematics, and placed more importance on going to college than did girls. The poor performance of the German students appears to be attributable to the same kinds of beliefs and attitudes as those found in prior studies of US students, who also have received low scores on tests of mathematics achievement.
Development of children’s knowledge about the mental world
Authors: Flavell John H.
Published: July 2002

This article is a survey of research on the childhood acquisition of knowledge about the mind, especially work done during the past two decades under the heading of theory-of-mind development. It begins with a history of research in this area. This is followed by a brief summary of principal theories and findings. The article concludes with some guesses about future research in this exciting area of cognitive development.
Depressed mood in Chinese children: Development significance for social and school adjustment
Authors: Chen Xinyin , Li Bo-shu
Published: July 2002

Children’s socioemotional problems have been largely neglected in Chinese collectivistic cultures. The purpose of the study was to examine contributions of depressed mood to social and school adjustment in Chinese children. A sample of children in the People’s Republic of China, initially aged 12 years, participated in this two-year longitudinal study. Data concerning depressed mood, and social and academic performance were obtained from multiple sources including self-reports, peer assessments, teacher ratings, and school records. It was found that depressed mood was stable over the two years. Moreover, depression contributed negatively to later social and school achievement and positively to the development of adjustment difficulties. These results suggest that depressed mood is a significant phenomenon in social and psychological development in Chinese children and thus deserves attention from parents, teachers and professionals.
Adolescents’ nonverbal emotional expressions during negotiation of a disagreement with their mothers: An attachment approach
Authors: Becker-Stoll Fabienne , Delius Andrea , Scheitenberger Stephanie
Published: July 2002

The present study investigates the influence of attachment representation on adolescents’ nonverbal behaviour during an observed mother-adolescent interaction task. In a follow-up of the Regensburg longitudinal study, 43 (of the original 51 participating families) 16-year-old adolescents and their mothers were observed in a short revealed differences task. Ekman and Friesen’s (1978) facial expression descriptions were used in the second-by-second analysis of the adolescents’ facial expressions. The analysis assessed emotional states (anger, sadness, surprise, uneasiness, joy, smiling), manipulators or adapters as signs of tension (biting of lips, biting nails), emblems, and eye contact. Concurrently, adolescents were given the Adult Attachment Interview to assess their attachment representations using Kobak’s Adult-Attachment-Interview Q-sort. Results showed a significant relationship between adolescent attachment representation and adolescent nonverbal facial expression during the interaction task. Attachment security was related to open and positive expression of emotion, whereas dismissive attachment style was associated with communication inhibiting behaviour. The results are congruent with attachment theory claiming that coherent emotional appraisals of one’s own attachment history is a prerequisite to open emotional expression and communication of one’s feelings to others.
When mothers turn a visual story into a verbal one for their children: Previewing helps with the telling, conversing, and remembering
Authors: White Sonya , Low Jason
Published: July 2002

Children’s ability to recall text stories coherently and the ways in which this skill unfolds in the context of parent-child interaction have been receiving increasing research attention over the last several years. However, mothers’ ability to turn a purely visual story into a verbal one and the implications for their children’s independent story recall have not been studied. The present experiment investigated how mothers constructed a verbal story from a wordless storybook with their preschool children. A significant aim was to examine whether the narrative structure of mothers’ story productions may be affected by previewing. We also analysed the effects of this between-subjects manipulation on the narrative structure of children’s independent story recall. Results indicated that previewing helped mothers to tell more coherent stories and helped them to invite their children to collaborate in the story construction. Children of mothers who previewed the story also had superior cued story recall. Implications and constraints of the data are discussed.
Facial and Verbal Measures of Children’s Emotions and Empathy
Authors: Strayer Janet , Roberts William
Published: July 2002

The relation between children’s emotional expressions and their reported experience of emotions is relevant to multicomponent models of both emotion and empathy development. Children ( N 73) in three age groups (5-, 9-, and 13-year-olds) participated in a study of their facial and verbal responses to emotionally evocative videotapes. Children were unobtrusively videotaped while they watched these stimuli, and their facial expressions were coded. Children were also interviewed to determine the emotions they attributed to stimulus persons and to themselves. There was significant but modest convergence between facial and verbal measures of emotion, an important finding given the paucity of independent research in this area. In addition, two nonconvergent indices of empathy derived from facial and verbal measures showed some functional similarities in their relations with other variables. On the basis of similar results from other laboratories, we argue that efforts to find converging measures of emotion and empathy should be redirected to study the semi-independent development of facial and verbal emotional responses to the same events.
Quantitation of the Cancer Process in C57BL/6J, B6C3F1 and C3H/HeJ Mice
Authors: Goldsworthy Thomas L. , Fransson-Steen Ronny
Published: July 2002

This study examines growth alterations in liver foci and tumor development as a basis for the different susceptibility in hepatocarcinogenes is found among different strains of mice. Male C57, B6C3F 1, and C3H mice treated with a single dose (1 mg/kg) of N, N-diethylnitrosamine (DEN) at 15 days of age and followed up to 12 months displayed a strain-dependent (C3H > B6C3F1 > C57) increase in incidence, number, volume fraction, and size of foci and macroscopic lesions (masses). DEN-treated mice exhibited a time-dependent increase in foci size but not in foci number. Phenobarbital (PB) treatment (500 ppm) in the drinking water starting 2 weeks after DEN-initiation did not affect the incidence or number of masses and foci. In all 3 strains, the bromodeoxyuridin e labeling index in foci correlated with foci growth, supporting the major role of cell proliferation in foci growth. Measurements of apoptosis by morphological criteria with H&E staining suggest that intrafocal apoptosis may be a late event preventing foci growth and possibly also promoting focal cell selection, whereas extrafocal apoptosis may facilitate clonal growth by removing adjacent normal cells. The onset of conversion of foci to masses also correlated with strain susceptibility to hepatocarcinogenesis .
Application of Genetically Altered Models as Replacement for the Lifetime Mouse Bioassay in Pharmaceutical Development
Authors: Alden Carl , Smith Peter , Morton Dan
Published: July 2002

The international pharmaceutical regulatory academic and industrial toxicology communities are collaborating to improve the efficiency and effectivenes s of cancer hazard identification based on dramatic improvements in our understanding of the cancer process. Guidelines emanating from the International Conference on Harmonization provide for use of in vivo alternatives. Standard practices utilizing lifetime rat and mouse studies are recognized as seriously flawed with over 80% false positive rates. Furthermore, tobacco, the most important human carcinogen commercialized by industry, is negative in these traditional lifetime studies. The lifetime mouse bioassay is generally recognized in pharmaceutical development as not adding value in safety assessment. An international consortium under the aegis of ILSI has recently completed an evaluation of alternative mouse cancer models. Transgenic models are less expensive, use fewer animals and take less time than traditional lifetime bioassays. These alternative models have now been sufficiently evaluated to be considered useful in the safety assessment plan for pharmaceuticals in development. Specifically for example, the rasH2 appears useful in detecting nongenotoxic as well as genotoxic rodent tumorigens with improved concordance with human response. The p53+/- heterozygous mouse apparently identifies hormonal carcinogenic mechanisms, immunosuppressive carcinogens, and genotoxic carcinogens. The TG:AC predicts for rodent tumorigens applied topically. Recent experiences at FDA, CPMP, and MHW indicate that with good planning and agency interactions, regulatory acceptability can be anticipated.
New Deal: The Experience and Views of Clients in One Pathfinder City (Sheffield)
Authors: Hoogvelt Ankie , France Alan
Published: July 2002

An early cohort of New Deal clients (18–24 year olds) was interviewed on three separate occasions, before, during and after their experience on the New Deal Welfare to Work programme. The objective success of their participation in the programme in terms of job - and employability outcomes was evaluated against their backgrounds, views and subjective experience of the programme. The backgrounds, experience and achievements of this group are further contrasted with that of a separate group of `disengaged' young people who had refused to go on the programme.
Creativity: a reaffirmation of its place in early childhood education
Authors: Prentice Roy
Published: July 2002

At a time when early years educators feel under increasing pressure from the government to adopt more formal approaches to learning, this article sets out to reaffirm the importance of developing each child's creative capacity to the full. The point is made that through the application of creative capacity a vital dimension of human intelligence is demonstrated. It is argued that creative growth is too often hampered by misunderstandings that continue to distort the relationship between creativity and education. Issues that are vital to the development of understanding about the nature of creativity are made explicit and the conditions most likely to promote creative thought and action are identified. In the interest of clarity the term ‘early years’ will be applied to children between the ages of three and eight in diverse educational settings.
Gender Comparison in Alcoholics with Concurrent Social Phobia: Implications for Alcoholism Treatment
Authors: Randall Carrie L. , Thomas Suzanne E. , Thevos Angelica K.
Published: July 2002

The present study compares male and female alcoholics with concurrent social phobia (N = 110) enrolled in an alcohol treatment study. Groups were compared using demographics, social phobia symptoms and severity, and psychiatric variables. Results showed that females reported higher fear ratings than males on some social phobia measures, although for the most part, the genders were more similar than different on social phobia symptoms and severity. There was a high occurrence of psychiatric comorbidity, especially for females. Females also reported more distress than males in family and social functioning. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for treatment for individuals with concurrent alcoholism and social phobia.
Lofexidine for Opiate Detoxification: Review of Recent Randomised and Open Controlled Trials
Authors: Strang John , Bearn Jenny , Gossop Michael
Published: July 2002

The objective of this article was to review the data from recently published trials of lofexidine in the treatment of opiate withdrawal, with particular attention to evidence on efficacy, side‐effects (particularly hypotension), and the acceptability of this new treatment to the patient population. The authors reviewed data contained within peer‐reviewed published reports of clinical trials of lofexidine compared with detoxification using reducing doses of the opiate agonist methadone or the alpha‐adrenergic agonist clonidine. Five published reports of clinical trials of lofexidine have been identified from peer‐reviewed journals in the eight years between 1990 and 1998‐all published within the last three years. Three of the reports compare lofexidine with clonidine, while the remaining two compare it with methadone detoxification. The three comparisons with clonidine find lofexidine to be similar in its moderating effect on the withdrawal syndrome, but without the same extent of problems with hypotension. Comparisons with methadone show a more rapid resolution of withdrawal symptoms with lofexidine—particularly with the accelerated 5‐day lofexidine protocol. Such problems of hypotension as were encountered with lofexidine were adequately managed with dose reduction. Acceptability of the treatment to the patient (as measured by retention in treatment) appears to be greater with lofexidine than clonidine, although possibly less than with methadone. Lofexidine is an alpha‐2 adrenergic agonist that is increasingly used in the management of opiate withdrawal—notably in the UK. The available data indicate that it is a useful new addition to the armamentarium of the clinician. Future studies should explore its application with improved protocols and in new treatment settings. This article reviews the recent advances in the study of lofexidine as a new treatment for opiate detoxification. It examines the background of the development and introduction of lofexidine into the U.K., with data on the extent to which it is now used in the U.K. in the treatment of opiate addiction.1 A review is then provided of the published evidence on the use of lofexidine in the management of opiate detoxification, mainly concentrating on the data from recent double‐blind randomised trials. Finally, the possible future role of lofexidine in this field is considered.
Mitochondrial Oxidative Stress Plays a Key Role in Aging and Apoptosis
Authors: Sastre Juan , Pallardó Federico V. , Viña José
Published: July 2002

Harman first suggested in 1972 that mitochondria might be the biological clock in aging, noting that the rate of oxygen consumption should determine the rate of accumulation of mitochondrial damage produced by free radical reactions. Later in 1980 Miquel and coworkers proposed the mitochondrial theory of cell aging. Mitochondria from postmitotic cells use O2 at a high rate, hence releasing oxygen radicals that exceed the cellular antioxidant defences. The key role of mitochondria in cell aging has been outlined by the degeneration induced in cells microinjected with mitochondria isolated from fibroblasts of old rats, especially by the inverse relationship reported between the rate of mitochondrial production of hydroperoxide and the maximum life span of species. An important change in mitochondrial lipid composition is the age‐related decrease found in cardiolipin content. The concurrent enhancement of lipid peroxidation and oxidative modification of proteins in mitochondria further increases mutations and oxidative damage to mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in the aging process. The respiratory enzymes containing the defective mtDNA‐encoded protein subunits may increase the production of reactive oxygen species, which in turn would aggravate the oxidative damage to mitochondria. Moreover, superoxide radicals produced during mitochondrial respiration react with nitric oxide inside mitochondria to yield damaging peroxynitrite. Treatment with certain antioxidants, such as sulphur‐containing antioxidants, vitamins C and E, or the Ginkgo biloba extract EGb 761, protects against the ageassociated oxidative damage to mtDNA and the oxidation of mitochondrial glutathione. Moreover, the EGb 761 extract also prevents changes in mitochondrial morphology and function associated with aging of the brain and liver.
An Essential Role for CD44 Variant Isoforms in Epidermal Langerhans Cell and Blood Dendritic Cell Function
Authors: Weiss Johannes M. , Sleeman Jonathan , Renkl Andreas C. , Dittmar Henning , Termeer Christian C. , Taxis Sabine , Howells Norma , Hofmann Martin , Köhler Gabriele , Schöpf Erwin , Ponta Helmut , Herrlich Peter , Simon Jan C.
Published: July 2002

Upon antigen contact, epidermal Langerhans cells (LC) and dendritic cells (DC) leave peripheral organs and home to lymph nodes via the afferent lymphatic vessels and then assemble in the paracortical T cell zone and present antigen to T lymphocytes. Since splice variants of CD44 promote metastasis of certain tumors to lymph nodes, we explored the expression of CD44 proteins on migrating LC and DC. We show that upon antigen contact, LC and DC upregulate pan CD44 epitopes and epitopes encoded by variant exons v4, v5, v6, and v9. Antibodies against CD44 epitopes inhibit the emigration of LC from the epidermis, prevent binding of activated LC and DC to the T cell zones of lymph nodes, and severely inhibit their capacity to induce a delayed type hypersensitivity reaction to a skin hapten in vivo. Our results demonstrate that CD44 splice variant expression is obligatory for the migration and function of LC and DC.
The Human Arp2/3 Complex Is Composed of Evolutionarily Conserved Subunits and Is Localized to Cellular Regions of Dynamic Actin Filament Assembly
Authors: Welch Matthew D. , DePace Angela H. , Verma Suzie , Iwamatsu Akihiro , Mitchison Timothy J.
Published: July 2002

The Arp2/3 protein complex has been implicated in the control of actin polymerization in cells. The human complex consists of seven subunits which include the actin related proteins Arp2 and Arp3, and five others referred to as p41-Arc, p34-Arc, p21-Arc, p20-Arc, and p16-Arc (Arp complex). We have determined the predicted amino acid sequence of all seven subunits. Each has homologues in diverse eukaryotes, implying that the structure and function of the complex has been conserved through evolution. Human Arp2 and Arp3 are very similar to family members from other species. p41-Arc is a new member of the Sop2 family of WD (tryptophan and aspartate) repeat–containing proteins and may be posttranslationally modified, suggesting that it may be involved in regulating the activity and/or localization of the complex. p34-Arc, p21-Arc, p20-Arc, and p16-Arc define novel protein families. We sought to evaluate the function of the Arp2/3 complex in cells by determining its intracellular distribution. Arp3, p34-Arc, and p21-Arc were localized to the lamellipodia of stationary and locomoting fibroblasts, as well to Listeria monocytogenes assembled actin tails. They were not detected in cellular bundles of actin filaments. Taken together with the ability of the Arp2/3 complex to induce actin polymerization, these observations suggest that the complex promotes actin assembly in lamellipodia and may participate in lamellipodial protrusion.
Ezrin Is an Effector of Hepatocyte Growth Factor–mediated Migration and Morphogenesis in Epithelial Cells
Authors: Crepaldi Tiziana , Gautreau Alexis , Comoglio Paolo M. , Louvard Daniel , Arpin Monique
Published: July 2002

The dissociation, migration, and remodeling of epithelial monolayers induced by hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) entail modifications in cell adhesion and in the actin cytoskeleton through unknown mechanisms. Here we report that ezrin, a membrane–cytoskeleton linker, is crucial to HGF-mediated morphogenesis in a polarized kidney-derived epithelial cell line, LLC-PK1. Ezrin is a substrate for the tyrosine kinase HGF receptor both in vitro and in vivo. HGF stimulation causes enrichment of ezrin recovered in the detergent-insoluble cytoskeleton fraction. Overproduction of wild-type ezrin, by stable transfection in LLC-PK1 cells, enhances cell migration and tubulogenesis induced by HGF stimulation. Overproduction of a truncated variant of ezrin causes mislocalization of endogenous ezrin from microvilli into lateral surfaces. This is concomitant with altered cell shape, characterized by loss of microvilli and cell flattening. Moreover, the truncated variant of ezrin impairs the morphogenic and motogenic response to HGF, thus suggesting a dominant-negative mechanism of action. Site-directed mutagenesis of ezrin codons Y145 and Y353 to phenylalanine does not affect the localization of ezrin at microvilli, but perturbs the motogenic and morphogenic responses to HGF. These results provide evidence that ezrin displays activities that can control cell shape and signaling.
Drosophila Kelch Is an Oligomeric Ring Canal Actin Organizer
Authors: Robinson Douglas N. , Cooley Lynn
Published: July 2002

Drosophila kelch has four protein domains, two of which are found in kelch-family proteins and in numerous nonkelch proteins. In Drosophila, kelch is required to maintain ring canal organization during oogenesis. We have performed a structure–function analysis to study the function of Drosophila kelch. The amino-terminal region (NTR) regulates the timing of kelch localization to the ring canals. Without the NTR, the protein localizes precociously and destabilizes the ring canals and the germ cell membranes, leading to dominant sterility. The amino half of the protein including the BTB domain mediates dimerization. Oligomerization through the amino half of kelch might allow cross-linking of ring canal actin filaments, organizing the inner rim cytoskeleton. The kelch repeat domain is necessary and sufficient for ring canal localization and likely mediates an additional interaction, possibly with actin.