bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Middle Latency Auditory-Evoked Fields Reflect Psychoacoustic Gap Detection Thresholds in Human Listeners
Authors: Rupp André , Gutschalk Alexander , Uppenkamp Stefan , Scherg Michael
Published: September 2004

The resolution of the temporal processing in the primary auditory cortex (PAC) was studied in human listeners by using temporal gaps of 3, 6, 10, and 30 ms inserted in 100-ms noise bursts. Middle latency auditory-evoked fields (MAEFs) were recorded and evaluated by spatio-temporal source analysis. The dependency of the neurophysiological activation at about 37 ms (P37m) on the temporal position of the gap was investigated by inserting silent periods 5, 20, and 50 ms after noise burst onset. The morphology of the waveforms evoked by the gap showed that the MAEFs were largely determined by the on-response to the noise burst following the gap. The comparison of the source waveforms revealed two major effects: 1) the amplitudes of the MAEFs increased with longer gap durations and 2) the amplitudes increased with the length of the leading noise burst. When the gap was inserted after 50 ms, a significant deflection of the collapsed left and right hemisphere data was observed for all gap durations. The P37m amplitude failed to reach significance for the shortest gap duration of 3 ms when the gap occurred after 20 and 5 ms. These neuromagnetically derived minimum detectable gap responses closely resembled psychoacoustic thresholds obtained from the same subjects (leading noise burst, 50 ms: 2.4 ms; 20 ms: 3.2; and 5 ms: 5.3 ms). The correspondence between psychoacoustic thresholds and the cortical activation indicates that the recording of MAEFs provides an objective and noninvasive tool to assess cortical temporal acuity.
Contribution of Force Feedback to Ankle Extensor Activity in Decerebrate Walking Cats
Authors: Donelan J. M. , Pearson K. G.
Published: September 2004

Previous investigations have demonstrated that feedback from ankle extensor group Ib afferents, arising from force-sensitive Golgi tendon organs, contributes to ankle extensor activity during the stance phase of walking in the cat. The objective of this investigation was to gain insight into the magnitude of this contribution by determining the loop gain of the positive force feedback pathway. Loop gain is the relative contribution of force feedback to total muscle activity and force. In decerebrate cats, the isolated medial gastrocnemius muscle (MG) was held at different lengths during sequences of rhythmic contractions associated with walking in the other three legs. We found that MG muscle activity and force increased at longer muscle lengths. A number of observations indicated that this length dependence was not due to feedback from muscle spindles. In particular, activity in group Ia afferents was insensitive to changes in muscle length during the MG bursts, and electrical stimulation of group II afferents had no influence on the magnitude of burst activity in other ankle extensors. We concluded that the homonymous positive force feedback pathway was isolated from other afferent pathways, allowing the use of a simple model of the neuromuscular system to estimate the pathway loop gain. This gain ranged from 0.2 at short muscle lengths to 0.5 at longer muscle lengths, demonstrating that force feedback was of modest importance at short muscle lengths, accounting for 20% of total activity and force, and of substantial importance at long muscle lengths, accounting for 50%. This length dependence was due to the intrinsic force-length property of muscle. The gain of the pathway that converts muscle force to motoneuron depolarization was independent of length. We discuss the relevance of this conclusion to the generation of ankle extensor activity in intact walking cats. These findings emphasize the general importance of feedback in generating ankle extensor activity during walking in the cat.
Suppression of Visually and Memory-Guided Saccades Induced by Electrical Stimulation of the Monkey Frontal Eye Field. I. Suppression of Ipsilateral Saccades
Authors: Izawa Yoshiko , Suzuki Hisao , Shinoda Yoshikazu
Published: September 2004

When a saccade occurs to an interesting object, visual fixation holds its image on the fovea and suppresses saccades to other objects. Electrical stimulation of the frontal eye field (FEF) has been reported to elicit saccades, and recently also to suppress saccades. This study was performed to characterize properties of the suppression of visually guided (Vsacs) and memory-guided saccades (Msacs) induced by electrical stimulation of the FEF in trained monkeys. For any given stimulation site, we determined the threshold for electrically evoked saccades (Esacs) at ≤50 μA and then examined suppressive effects of stimulation at the same site on Vsacs and Msacs. FEF stimulation suppressed the initiation of both Vsacs and Msacs during and about 50 ms after stimulation at stimulus intensities lower than those for eliciting Esacs, but did not affect the vector of these saccades. Suppression occurred for ipsiversive but not contraversive saccades, and more strongly for saccades with larger amplitudes and those with initial eye positions shifted more in the saccadic direction. The most effective stimulation timing for suppression was about 50 ms before saccade onset, which suggests that suppression occurred in the efferent pathway for generating Vsacs at the premotor rather than the motoneuronal level, most probably in the superior colliculus and/or the paramedian pontine reticular formation. Suppression sites of ipsilateral saccades were distributed over the classical FEF where saccade-related movement neurons were observed. The results suggest that the FEF may play roles in not only generating contraversive saccades but also maintaining visual fixation by suppressing ipsiversive saccades.
A Neuronal Correlate of the Precedence Effect Is Associated With Spatial Selectivity in the Barn Owl's Auditory Midbrain
Authors: Spitzer Matthew W. , Bala Avinash D. S. , Takahashi Terry T.
Published: September 2004

Sound localization in echoic conditions depends on a precedence effect (PE), in which the first arriving sound dominates the perceived location of later reflections. Previous studies have demonstrated neurophysiological correlates of the PE in several species, but the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. The present study documents responses of space-specific neurons in the barn owl's inferior colliculus (IC) to stimuli simulating direct sounds and reflections that overlap in time at the listener's ears. Responses to 100-ms noises with lead-lag delays from 1 to 100 ms were recorded from neurons in the space-mapped subdivisions of IC in anesthetized owls (N2O/isofluorane). Responses to a target located at a unit's best location were usually suppressed by a masker located outside the excitatory portion of the spatial receptive field. The least spatially selective units exhibited temporally symmetric effects, in that the amount of suppression was the same whether the masker led or lagged. Such effects mirror the alteration of localization cues caused by acoustic superposition of leading and lagging sounds. In more spatially selective units, the suppression was often temporally asymmetric, being more pronounced when the masker led. The masker often evoked small changes in spatial tuning that were not related to the magnitude of suppressive effects. The association of temporally asymmetric suppression with spatial selectivity suggests that this property emerges within IC, and not at earlier stages of auditory processing. Asymmetric suppression reduces the ability of highly spatially selective neurons to encode the location of lagging sounds, providing a possible basis for the PE.
Connexins: Gaps in Our Knowledge of Vascular Function
Authors: Figueroa Xavier F. , Isakson Brant E. , Duling Brian R.
Published: September 2004

Gap junctions are common features in the vasculature, long thought to provide a pathway for cell-cell signaling. Emerging understanding of the gap-junctional proteins (connexins) and new tools for their investigation now offer the opportunity to explore the vital role that the gap junctions may play in cardiovascular homeostasis and pathophysiology.
Voltage-Gated Potassium Channels in Cell Proliferation
Authors: Pardo Luis A.
Published: September 2004

It is commonly accepted that cells require K+channels to proliferate. The role(s) of K+channels in the process is, however, poorly understood. Cloning of K+channel genes opened the possibility to approach this problem in a way more independent from pharmacological tools. Recent work shows that several identified K+channels are important in both physiological and pathological cell proliferation and open a promising pathway for novel targeted therapies.
Moving Forward: Mechanisms of Chemoattractant Gradient Sensing
Authors: Franca-Koh Jonathan , Devreotes Peter N.
Published: September 2004

Cells use an internal compass to sense the direction of chemoattractant gradients. This is used to bias pseudopod extension at the front of the cell and to orient cell polarization. Recent studies have highlighted the important roles played by phosphoinositide-3,4,5-triphosphate and small G proteins, but many questions remain.
Atrial Ionic Remodeling Induced by Atrial Tachycardia in the Presence of Congestive Heart Failure
Authors: Cha Tae-Joon , Ehrlich Joachim R. , Zhang Liming , Nattel Stanley
Published: September 2004

Background—

Atrial fibrillation (AF) and congestive heart failure (CHF) produce discrete forms of atrial ionic remodeling. The in vivo effects of atrial tachycardia (AT) remodeling are altered by CHF. This study evaluated underlying mechanisms at the level of ionic remodeling.

Methods and Results—

We studied 4 groups of dogs: (1) unpaced controls (CTLs); (2) CHF caused by 2-week ventricular tachypacing (VTP, 240 bpm); (3) AT (400 bpm ×7 days); and (4) CHF+AT (2-week VTP with AT for the last 7 days). CHF and CHF+AT groups equally increased left atrial pressure. AF duration was increased in all paced groups. Effective refractory period (ERP) was decreased by 42% in AT versus CTL but by only 24% in AT+CHF versus CHF. CHF reduced L-type Ca
2+
(
I
Ca
), transient-outward (
I
to
), and the slow delayed-rectifier (
I
Ks
) currents while increasing the Na
+
-Ca
2+
exchanger (
I
NCX
) and not affecting the inward-rectifier (
I
K1
) current. AT reduced
I
to
and
I
Ca
while increasing
I
K1
and leaving
I
Ks
unaltered. The addition of AT to CHF failed to alter
I
to
,
I
Ks
, or
I
NCX
beyond the effect of CHF alone, decreased
I
Ca
slightly compared with CHF alone, but had smaller effects on
I
Ca
and
I
K1
compared with AT alone. Thus, CHF+AT, as would occur in a CHF patient who develops AF, produced an ionic remodeling pattern different from that of CHF or AT alone and from what would have been predicted from additive effects of CHF and AT.

Conclusions—

The presence of CHF alters AT-induced ionic remodeling. Thus, the ionic remodeling caused by cardiac arrhythmias in the presence of cardiac pathology is not necessarily predictable from the effects of either alone, with important potential implications for understanding the pathophysiology of arrhythmias in the diseased heart.
Electrocardiographic Features of Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Dysplasia/Cardiomyopathy According to Disease Severity
Authors: Nasir Khurram , Bomma Chandra , Tandri Harikrishna , Roguin Ariel , Dalal Darshan , Prakasa Kalpana , Tichnell Crystal , James Cynthia , Jspevak Phillip , Marcus Frank , Calkins Hugh
Published: September 2004

Background—

The purpose of this study was to systematically study diagnostic and prognostic electrocardiographic (ECG) characteristics of arrhythmogenic right ventricle dysplasia/cardiomyopathy (ARVD/C).

Methods and Results—

The patient population included 50 patients with ARVD/C (27 males, 23 females; mean age 38±15 years). We also analyzed the ECG of 50 age- and gender-matched normal control subject and 28 consecutive patients who presented with right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) tachycardia. Right bundle-branch block (RBBB) was present in 11 patients (22%). T-wave inversions in V
1
through V
3
were observed in 85% of ARVD/C patients in the absence of RBBB compared with none in RVOT and normal controls, respectively (
P
<0.0001); epsilon waves were seen in 33%, and a QRS duration ≥110 ms in V
1
through V
3
was present in 64% of patients. Among those without RBBB, our newly proposed criterion of “prolonged S-wave upstroke in V
1
through V
3”
≥55 ms was the most prevalent ECG feature (95%) and correlated with disease severity and induction of VT on electrophysiological study. This feature also best distinguished ARVD/C (diffuse and localized) from RVOT.

Conclusions—

A prolonged S-wave upstroke in V
1
through V
3
is the most frequent ECG finding in ARVD/C and should be considered as a diagnostic ECG marker.
Effects of a Novel Platelet Nitric Oxide Donor (LA816), Aspirin, Clopidogrel, and Combined Therapy in Inhibiting Flow- and Lesion-Dependent Thrombosis in the Porcine Ex Vivo Model
Authors: Vilahur Gemma , Segalés E. , Salas E. , Badimon L.
Published: September 2004

Background—

Acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), or aspirin, plus clopidogrel is becoming the standard antithrombotic treatment in people with coronary disease. Novel approaches such as the use of platelet-selective nitric oxide (NO) donors may provide additional protection against thrombosis. We evaluated the antithrombotic properties of a novel platelet-selective NO donor (LA816) administered alone and in combination with ASA, clopidogrel, or ASA+clopidogrel.

Methods and Results—

Thrombogenicity was measured in the porcine experimental model and assessed as platelet-thrombus formation in the ex vivo Badimon perfusion chamber. Pigs were randomly divided into 4 groups: (1) placebo control, (2) clopidogrel, (3) ASA, and (4) ASA+clopidogrel (ASA and clopidogrel were given orally, 10 mg · kg
−1
· d
−1
for 3 d). The animals were anesthetized, heparinized, and catheterized, and the Badimon perfusion chamber was placed in an extracorporeal shunt. After baseline perfusions, all animal groups received the intravenous infusion of LA816 for 2 hours. Platelet aggregation, blood pressure, and heart rate also were evaluated during the experiments. LA816, clopidogrel, and ASA+clopidogrel produced a reduction of ≈45% on thrombus mass versus placebo control perfusions (
P
<0.05). Combined treatment of oral ASA+clopidogrel and intravenous LA816 produced a significant further reduction of 25% in platelet deposition (70% from placebo controls;
P
<0.0001). LA816 intravenous treatment did not modify blood pressure or heart rate.

Conclusions—

Acute NO donation with LA816, without modifying hemodynamic parameters, provides the same inhibitory effect as that obtained with chronic treatment with clopidogrel+ASA. Moreover, LA816 provides platelet inhibitory effects in addition to those of the combined blockade of cyclooxygenase and P2y(12) receptor.
Antibodies From Preeclamptic Patients Stimulate Increased Intracellular Ca
2+
Mobilization Through Angiotensin Receptor Activation
Authors: Thway Theingi M. , Shlykov Sergiy G. , Day Mary-Clare , Sanborn Barbara M. , Gilstrap Larry C. , Xia Yang , Kellems Rodney E.
Published: September 2004

Background—

Preeclampsia is a serious disorder of pregnancy characterized by hypertension, proteinuria, edema, and coagulation and vascular abnormalities. At the cellular level, abnormalities include increased calcium concentration in platelets, lymphocytes, and erythrocytes. Recent studies have shown that antibodies directed against angiotensin II type I (AT
1
) receptors are also highly associated with preeclampsia.

Methods and Results—

We tested the hypothesis that AT
1
receptor–agonistic antibodies (AT
1
-AAs) could activate AT
1
receptors, leading to an increased intracellular concentration of free calcium and to downstream activation of Ca
2+
signaling pathways. Sera of 30 pregnant patients, 16 diagnosed with severe preeclampsia and 14 normotensive, were examined for the presence of IgG capable of stimulating intracellular Ca
2+
mobilization. IgG from all preeclamptic patients activated AT
1
receptors and increased intracellular free calcium. In contrast, none of the normotensive individuals had IgG capable of activating AT
1
receptors. The specific mobilization of intracellular Ca
2+
by AT
1
-AAs was blocked by losartan, an AT
1
receptor antagonist, and by a 7-amino-acid peptide that corresponds to a portion of the second extracellular loop of the AT
1
receptor. In addition, we have shown that AT
1
-AA–stimulated mobilization of intracellular Ca
2+
results in the activation of the transcription factor, nuclear factor of activated T cells.

Conclusions—

These results suggest that maternal antibodies capable of activating AT
1
receptors are likely to account for increased intracellular free Ca
2+
concentrations and changes in gene expression associated with preeclampsia.
Two-State Membrane Potential Fluctuations Driven by Weak Pairwise Correlations
Authors: Benucci Andrea , Verschure Paul F.M.J. , König Peter
Published: September 2004

Physiological experiments demonstrate the existence of weak pairwise correlations of neuronal activity in mammalian cortex (Singer, 1993). The functional implications of this correlated activity are hotly debated (Roskiesetal., 1999).Nevertheless, it is generally considered a wide spread feature of cortical dynamics. In recent years, another line of research has attracted great interest: the observation of a bimodal distribution of the membrane potential defining up states and down states at the single cell level (Wilson & Kawaguchi, 1996; Steriade, Contreras, & Amzica, 1994; Contreras & Steriade, 1995; Steriade, 2001). Here we use a theoretical approach to demonstrate that the latter phenomenon is a natural consequence of the former. In particular, we show that weak pairwise correlations of the inputs to a compartmental model of a layer V pyramidal cell can induce bimodality in its membrane potential. We show how this relationship can account for the observed increase of the power in the γ frequency band during up states, as well as the increase in the standard deviation and fraction of time spent in the depolarized state (Anderson, Lampl, Reichova, Carandini, & Ferster, 2000). In order to quantify the relationship between the correlation properties of a cortical network and the bistable dynamics of single neurons, we introduce a number of new indices. Subsequently, we demonstrate that a quantitative agreement with the experimental data can be achieved, introducing voltage-dependent mechanisms in our neuronal model such as Ca2+- and Ca2+-dependent K+ channels. In addition, we show that the up states and down states of the membrane potential are dependent on the dendritic morphology of cortical neurons. Furthermore, bringing together network and single cell dynamics under a unified view allows the direct transfer of results obtained in one context to the other and suggests a new experimental paradigm: the use of specific intracellular analysis as a powerful tool to reveal the properties of the correlation structure present in the network dynamics.
Principal Components Analysis Competitive Learning
Authors: López-Rubio Ezequiel , Ortiz-de-Lazcano-Lobato Juan Miguel , Muñoz-Pérez José , Gómez-Ruiz José Antonio
Published: September 2004

We present a new neural model that extends the classical competitive learning by performing a principal components analysis (PCA) at each neuron. This model represents an improvement with respect to known local PCA methods, because it is not needed to present the entire data set to the network on each computing step. This allows a fast execution while retaining the dimensionality-reduction properties of the PCA. Furthermore, every neuron is able to modify its behavior to adapt to the local dimensionality of the input distribution. Hence, our model has a dimensionality estimation capability. The experimental results we present show the dimensionality-reduction capabilities of the model with multisensor images.
Insect-Inspired Estimation of Egomotion
Authors: Franz Matthias O. , Chahl Javaan S. , Krapp Holger G.
Published: September 2004

Tangential neurons in the fly brain are sensitive to the typical optic flow patterns generated during egomotion. In this study, we examine whether a simplified linear model based on the organization principles in tangential neurons can be used to estimate egomotion from the optic flow. We present a theory for the construction of an estimator consisting of a linear combination of optic flow vectors that incorporates prior knowledge about the distance distribution of the environment and about the noise and egomotion statistics of the sensor. The estimator is tested on a gantry carrying an omnidirectional vision sensor. The experiments show that the proposed approach leads to accurate and robust estimates of rotation rates, whereas translation estimates are of reasonable quality, albeit less reliable.
A Temporal Stability Approach to Position and Attention-Shift-Invariant Recognition
Authors: Li Muhua , Clark James J.
Published: September 2004

Incorporation of visual-related self-action signals can help neural networks learn invariance. We describe a method that can produce a network with invariance to changes in visual input caused by eye movements and covert attention shifts. Training of the network is controlled by signals associated with eye movements and covert attention shifting. A temporal perceptual stability constraint is used to drive the output of the network toward remaining constant across temporal sequences of saccadicmotions and covert attention shifts. We use a four-layer neural network model to perform the position-invariant extraction of local features and temporal integration of invariant presentations of local features in a bottom-up structure. We present results on both simulated data and real images to demonstrate that our network can acquire both position and attention shift invariance.
Neural Network Uncertainty Assessment Using Bayesian Statistics: A Remote Sensing Application
Authors: Aires F. , Prigent C. , Rossow W. B.
Published: September 2004

Neural network (NN) techniques have proved successful for many regression problems, in particular for remote sensing; however, uncertainty estimates are rarely provided. In this article, a Bayesian technique to evaluate uncertainties of the NN parameters (i.e., synaptic weights) is first presented. In contrast to more traditional approaches based on point estimation of the NN weights, we assess uncertainties on such estimates to monitor the robustness of the NN model. These theoretical developments are illustrated by applying them to the problem of retrieving surface skin temperature, microwave surface emissivities, and integrated water vapor content from a combined analysis of satellite microwave and infrared observations over land.

The weight uncertainty estimates are then used to compute analytically the uncertainties in the network outputs (i.e., error bars and correlation structure of these errors). Such quantities are very important for evaluating any application of an NN model.

The uncertainties on the NN Jacobians are then considered in the third part of this article. Used for regression fitting, NN models can be used effectively to represent highly nonlinear, multivariate functions. In this situation, most emphasis is put on estimating the output errors, but almost no attention has been given to errors associated with the internal structure of the regression model. The complex structure of dependency inside the NN is the essence of the model, and assessing its quality, coherency, and physical character makes all the difference between a blackbox model with small output errors and a reliable, robust, and physically coherent model. Such dependency structures are described to the first order by the NN Jacobians: they indicate the sensitivity of one output with respect to the inputs of the model for given input data. We use a Monte Carlo integration procedure to estimate the robustness of the NN Jacobians. A regularization strategy based on principal component analysis is proposed to suppress the multicollinearities in order to make these Jacobians robust and physically meaningful.
Testing for and Estimating Latency Effects for Poisson and Non-Poisson Spike Trains
Authors: Ventura Valérie
Published: September 2004

Determining the variations in response latency of one or several neurons to a stimulus is of interest in different contexts. Two common problems concern correlating latency with a particular behavior, for example, the reaction time to a stimulus, and adjusting tools for detecting synchronization between two neurons. We use two such problems to illustrate the latency testing and estimation methods developed in this article. Our test for latencies is a formal statistical test that produces a p-value. It is applicable for Poisson and non-Poisson spike trains via use of the bootstrap. Our estimation method is model free, it is fast and easy to implement, and its performance compares favorably to other methods currently available.
Perception of Shared Visual Space: Establishing Common Ground in Real and Virtual Environments
Authors: Kelly Jonathan W. , Beall Andrew C. , Loomis Jack M.
Published: September 2004

When people have visual access to the same space, judgments of this shared visual space (shared vista) can facilitate communication and collaboration. This study establishes baseline performance on a shared vista task in real environments and draws comparisons with performance in visually immersive virtual environments. Participants indicated which parts of the scene were visible to an assistant or avatar (simulated person used in virtual environments) and which parts were occluded by a nearby building. Errors increased with increasing distance between the participant and the assistant out to 15 m, and error patterns were similar between real and virtual environments. This similarity is especially interesting given recent reports that environmental geometry is perceived differently in virtual environments than in real environments.
Why Presence Occurs: Evolutionary Psychology, Media Equation, and Presence
Authors: Lee Kwan Min
Published: September 2004

Despite the intense interest in the phenomena of presence, there have been limited attempts to explain the fundamental reason why human beings can feel presence when they use media and/or simulation technologies. This is mainly because previous studies on presence have focused on “what” questions—what are the causes and effects of presence?—rather than the “why” question. The current paper tries to solve this problem by providing an elaborated—and probably controversial—account of the fundamental presence-enabling mechanism. More specifically, it explains the modularity of human minds, and proposes that human beings can feel presence due to the automatic application of two types of causal reasoning modules—folk-physics modules for knowing about physical causation, and folk-psychology modules for knowing about social causation—when they respond to mediated and/or simulated objects. Finally, it explains the media-equation phenomena (in which media or computer users feel physical or social presence) according to the modularity argument.
Examining Virtual Busts: Are Photogrammetrically Generated Head Models Effective for Person Identification?
Authors: Bailenson Jeremy N. , Beall Andrew C. , Blascovich Jim , Rex Christopher
Published: September 2004

We examined the effectiveness of using 3D, visual, digital representations of human heads and faces (i.e., virtual busts) for person identification. In a series of 11 studies, participants learned a number of human faces from analog photographs. We then crafted virtual busts from those analog photographs, and compared recognition of photographs of the virtual busts to the original analog photographs. We demonstrated that the accuracy of person identification using photographs of virtual busts is high in an absolute sense, but not as high as using the original analog photographs. We present a paradigm for comparing the similarity, both structural (objectively similar in shape) and subjective (subjectively in the eyes of a viewer) of virtual busts to analog photographs, with the goal of beginning the discussion of a uniform standard for assessing the fidelity of digital models of human faces.
Bio-divinity and Biodiversity: Perspectives on Religion and Environmental Conservation in India
Authors: Tomalin Emma
Published: September 2004

Religious environmentalists argue that religious traditions teach that the Earth is sacred and that this has traditionally served to exert control over how people interact with the natural world. However, while the recognition of "bio-divinity" is a feature of many religious traditions, including Hinduism, this is to be distinguished from religious environmentalism which involves the conscious application of religious ideas to modern concerns about the global environment. Religious environmentalism is a post-materialist environmental philosophy that has emerged from the West and has its roots in the eighteenth century European "Romantic Movement." Using the example of sacred grove preservation in India, this paper assesses the extent to which claims that Hinduism is environmentally friendly are the product of an elite middle-class environmentalist ideology and hence of little relevance to the majority of Hindus. However, the fact that discourses about sacred grove preservation have become common within discussions about the conservation of biodiversity in India might suggest that religious environmentalism does have a broader relevance. While religious institutions have, on the whole, paid little attention to environmental issues in India, one area where ecological causes have made an impact is within Hindu nationalist groups such as the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). This paper concludes with a discussion of the similarities between the historicist strategies of the Hindu Right and religious environmentalism, and discusses the anti-Tehri dam campaign where representatives of both have been involved in protest activity to protect the River Ganges.
Religious Development: C. P. Tiele's Paradigm of Science of Religion
Authors: Molendijk Arie
Published: September 2004

This essay explores C. P. Tiele's fundamental notion of religious development and, in a certain respect, it complements my earlier paper on his concept of religion, which he ultimately locates "in the innermost depths of our souls" (Numen 46 [1999]). The present article argues that the mere possibility of an interrelated, comparative study of religions (in the plural) is founded on the idea of a developmental history of religion (in the singular). To Tiele, this history testifies to the fact that the changing and transient forms of religion are ultimately inadequate expressions of the infinite in us. Thus, his "science" ties in perfectly with his liberal Protestantism. I start with some remarks on the use of the concept of religious development in the nineteenth century, then I outline Tiele's basic assumptions (with special reference to his 1874 article on the laws of development), and, finally, I scrutinize the first series of the Gifford Lectures (1896–1898), which epitomize his later views on religious development. It is shown that developmental thinking in early Dutch science of religion did not originate primarily in Darwinian thought but in German idealism. Moreover, one has to keep in mind that Tiele's developmental views met severe criticism among his successors. For instance, Gerardus van der Leeuw rejected the whole idea of religious progress because it did not comply with the unique and absolute character of religious experience. Thus, contrary to Eric Sharpe's suggestion, evolutionism was not dominant in Dutch religious studies throughout the period between the wars.
Limiting Regional Electricity Sector Integration and Market Reform
Authors: van den Hoven Adrian , Froschauer Karl
Published: September 2004

Recent decades have witnessed liberal reforms in electricity policy in Western countries and an emerging literature with prominent perspectives on how to analyze such reforms. Some analysts viewWestern countries as replicating the policy models of Britain and the United States, the first nations to adopt liberal reforms; others see European Union and North American Free Trade Agreement countries as subjected to regional electricity sector integration by supranational regional agreements. The authors challenge those views, arguing that national interests have limited domestic electricity market reforms in France and Canada despite their participation in regional electricity market integration projects. By examining surplus-producing acceleration in building nuclear and hydroelectric plants, initiatives to secure export access as part of regional market integration, and the ability to limit the effects of market access reciprocity domestically, this comparative analysis of France and Canada demonstrates that national interests can prevail in the intergovernmental formulation and domestic implementation of electricity policy.
Antipartyism and Third-Party Vote Choice
Authors: Bélanger Éric
Published: September 2004

The effect of antiparty sentiment on voting behavior is examined comparatively using recent individual-level electoral survey data from Canada, Britain, and Australia. The author distinguishes two dimensions of antipartyism: the rejection of traditional major-party alternatives (specific antiparty sentiment) and of political parties per se (generalized antiparty sentiment). He argues that disaffected voters in these countries are attracted to third or minor parties and support them to voice antiparty sentiments. The results show that in general, third parties benefit from specific antiparty sentiment at the mass level. The rejection of party politics per se, in contrast, brings citizens to abstain, unless some third parties—antiparty parties such as the Reform Party in Canada and One Nation in Australia—electorally mobilize generalized antiparty feelings. The results also indicate that compulsory voting in Australia affects disaffected voters’ behavior; in particular, those who reject all party alternatives would be more likely to abstain if they had the choice.
From Socialism to Social Democracy
Authors: Samuels David
Published: September 2004

Luis Inácio Lula da Silva’s victory in Brazil’s 2002 presidential election brought to power Latin America’s largest leftist party, the Workers’Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores [PT]). The PTwon because it moved to the center, and voters regarded this shift as credible. The party’s transformation is puzzling, because political scientists do not expect strategic flexibility in “mass bureaucratic” parties, which the PT resembles. Although exogenous factors are important, the key to understanding the party’s strategic adaptation lies with its internal institutions, which generate substantial leadership accountability. The weight of pragmatists in the rank and file grew in the 1990s following the party’s success in subnational executive elections and its consequent need to demonstrate results in office. These rank-and-file members could influence the party’s direction because of the party’s internally democratic institutions. The PT’s transformation reveals that strategic flexibility can emerge in mass parties even when the leadership lacks autonomy.
Systemic Barriers to Quitting Smoking among Institutionalised Public Mental Health Service Populations: A Comparison of Two Australian Sites
Authors: Lawn Sharon J.
Published: September 2004

Background: This article reports the findings from a comparative study investigating smoking behaviours among institutionalised psychiatric populations from a sociological perspective.

Method: The study involved participant observation of two separate Australian sites between 1999 and 2002, the second site serving to generalise the findings from the first site.

Discussion and conclusions: Systemic barriers to quitting were identified, emanating from the mental health system in general. Cigarettes were identified as the currency by which economic, social and political exchange took place between participants who described an enculturation process that involved complex processes of reinforcement to smoke. Once entered into, escape from the smoking culture of the settings appeared to be extremely difficult for clients and staff.
The Burden of Social Phobia in a Brazilian Community and its Relationship with Socioeconomic Circumstances, Health Status and Use of Health Services: The Bambui Study
Authors: Vorcaro C. M. R. , Rocha F. L. , Uchoa E. , Lima-Costa M. F.
Published: September 2004

Aims: Social phobia in the environment of poverty and major social inequalities, as observed in most developing countries, has received little attention. This population-based study was carried out in a poor community in Brazil (15,000 inhabitants), aiming at determining the prevalence of social phobia and its associated factors.

Method: The Composite International Diagnostic Interview was applied in a random sample of 1037 residents aged 5 18 years.

Results: The 1-month, 1-year and lifetime prevalence of social phobia were 7.9, 9.1 and 11.8%, respectively. One-month social phobia was independently associated with age (45-64 years), marital status (divorced/separated), worse socioeconomic indicators (family income and education), number of months worked, worse health status and use of health services and medications.

Conclusion: There was an important burden of social phobia in the study community, due to its high prevalence (similar or superior to those observed in most developed countries), and due to its association with worse health status and use of health services and medications. The strong association between social phobia and socioeconomic circumstance, even in a small and poor community, is certainly a reflex of the major social inequalities in Brazil.
Culture-Sensitive Counselling, Psychotherapy and Support Groups in the Orthodox-Jewish Community: How they Work and How they are Experienced
Authors: Loewenthal Kate Miriam , Rogers Marian Brooke
Published: September 2004

Background: There is political and scientific goodwill towards the provision of culture-sensitive support, but as yet little knowledge about how such support works and what are its strengths and difficulties in practice.

Aims: To study groups offering culture-sensitive psychological and other support to the strictly orthodox Jewish community in London.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews with service providers, potential and actual users from the community, and professionals serving the community. Interviews asked about the aims, functioning and achievements of 10 support groups.

Results: Thematic analysis identified seven important themes: admiration for the work of the groups; appreciation of the benefits of culture-sensitive services; concerns over confidentiality and stigma; concerns over finance and fund-raising; concerns about professionalism; the importance of liaison with rabbinic authorities; need for better dissemination of information.

Conclusions: The strengths and difficulties of providing culture-sensitive services in one community were identified. Areas for attention include vigilance regarding confidentiality, improvements in disseminating information, improvements in the reliability of funding and attention to systematic needs assessment, and to the examination of efficacy of these forms of service provision.
Social Welfare Policy: Social Rehabilitation of Psychiatric Patients in Urban china
Authors: Sevigny Robert
Published: September 2004

Background: The background of this paper is an empirical research on social rehabilitation of psychiatric patients in a large urban city in China during the post-Mao period, the Beijing Psychiatric Rehabilitation Research. Another aspect of this background is an exchange with Chen Sheying, a colleague interested in social services for the elderly in China. The underlying assumption of this paper is the multiple similarities between those two areas.

Objectives: The first objective of this paper is to present a contextual analysis of the development of psychiatric rehabilitation in urban China and a second objective is to stress the similarities between psychiatric rehabilitation and social services to the elderly.

Material: The material presented, while referring mainly to the general context of psychiatry and rehabilitation around that period, includes some data from the Beijing research. There are five analytical dimensions: (1) epistemological choices and research paradigms; (2) rehabilitation as an idea; (3) rehabilitation as a social, political and cultural matter; (4) factors of change in the recent history of China; and, finally, (5) mental illness as a personal experience.

Discussion: This presentation leads to a discussion about the multiple similarities between the social welfare of two vulnerable categories of people (i.e. psychiatric patients and the elderly). It also offers, in the specific field of mental illness, a general interpretation of the rapid social changes in urban China.

Conclusion: The conclusion is that psychiatric and ageing services are both a product of interaction among various cultural and social-political-economic factors. Any social welfare intervention or policy should be based on a thorough understanding of the five dimensions referred to earlier, including the traditional Chinese familism and structural dimensions of the post-Mao ‘economic state’ orientation.
Re-Thinking Acute Psychiatric Inpatient Care
Authors: Norton Kingsley
Published: September 2004

Background: Reports of low staff morale and high levels of patient complaints suggest that acute psychiatric wards are not achieving their full therapeutic potential.

Aims: This paper reviews some of the ‘therapeutic milieu’ literature to identify ways of construing ward functioning so as to maximise therapeutic and minimise destructive processes within inpatient units.

Method: Relevant papers are reviewed, providing an understanding that permits the inpatient clinician to consider and apply the pertinent concepts.

Results: Five key therapeutic functions of the ward environment are identified - containment, support, structure, involvement and validation. Four destructive processes are described, relating to: the isolated patient; group phenomena; the contribution of staff; and structural manifestations in the ward.

Conclusions: The inpatient ward can be construed as a ‘whole’, embodying a range of therapeutic functions, which may need rapid deployment and dismantling, as dictated by changes in ward conditions. The ‘ward-as-a-whole’ construct complements individualised models of patient care and the practical implications of such thinking could engender a greater sense of agency and job satisfaction in staff.
A Multilevel Multivariate Analysis of Factors Affecting Homicide Clearances
Authors: Litwin Kenneth J.
Published: September 2004

There exist two competing perspectives regarding the factors affecting homicide clearances. Black’s theory of law (1976) argues that police may use some discretion in clearing homicide cases based on the social characteristics of victims and the areas in which the crime occurs. Conversely, Marvin Wolfgang (1958), Gottfredson and Hindelang (1979), and David Klinger (1997) argue that homicide is the most serious crime and all police work equally diligently to clear every case, regardless of who the victim is or where the crime occurs. Hierarchical generalized linear modeling (HGLM) of multilevel Chicago data from 1989 to 1991 are used to test the competing hypotheses. Consistent with previous research, results indicate a lack of support for Black’s theory of law in the context of homicide clearances, with a few noticeable exceptions. Cases with Latino victims are less likely to be cleared by arrest than those with White victims and cases are more likely to be cleared in communities with higher homeowner rates. However, these results may be more indicative of the extent of useful witness information provided to police than it is of police discretion.
Investigating the Connections Between Race, Illicit Drug Markets, and Lethal Violence, 1984-1997
Authors: Ousey Graham C. , Lee Matthew R.
Published: September 2004

Many scholars have speculated that the dramatic rise of homicide rates in the late 1980s and their subsequent decline in the 1990s was driven by the expansion and contraction of illegal drug markets and/or law enforcement attempts to regulate these markets. However, the empirical evidence to this end is limited in important ways. This analysis extends prior research and provides evidence of the following: (1) Change in drug market indicators are positively associated with change in both Black and White homicide rates in large U.S. cities between 1984 and 1997. (2) This relationship is substantially stronger for Blacks than for Whites. (3) The socioeconomic moderators of the drug-market/violence link vary by race, with racial inequality being especially important for Blacks and resource deprivation being especially important for Whites. The main implications of the analysis are that the drug-market/ lethal violence connection is much more complex than previously thought, and that simplistic theoretical accounts of the drug market-violence nexus need additional development.
A Test of Gottfredson and Hirschi’S General Theory of Crime in African American Adolescents
Authors: Vazsonyi Alexander T. , Crosswhite Jennifer M.
Published: September 2004

Considerable empirical support exists for The General Theory of Crime. However, little work has been completed on members of minority populations in the United States. The current investigation examined whether low self-control predicted deviance in a sample of African American adolescents (n = 661; 55.1 percent female; mean age = 15.7 years). Confirmatory Factor Analyses provided evidence that the low self-control measure was a valid and reliable multidimensional scale in this sample, for both males and females. In addition, low self-control explained between 8.4 percent and 13.0 percent of the variance in male deviance measures and between 4.0 percent and 8.4 percent in female deviance. Follow-up z-tests by sex indicated fewdifferences in the relationships between low self-control and deviance. In addition, comparative analyses by race between African American and Caucasian adolescent males provided evidence of similarity in the importance of self-control. Findings support the cross-cultural validity of the General Theory of Crime, particularly for male adolescents and to a lesser extent for female youth.
An Exception to the Exception: Second-Generation Korean American Church Participation
Authors: Kim Henry H. , Pyle Ralph E.
Published: September 2004

First-generation Korean Americans are characterized by nearly universal church membership and the highest levels of Protestant affiliation of all immigrant groups. However, most second-generation Korean Americans are not church members, and their departure from their parents’ immigrant churches has been referred to as a “silent exodus”. Various studies anecdotally propose reasons for the second-generation departure, yet no in-depth analysis has examined the context of second-generation Korean American church-stayers. The authors present an analysis of the only independent second-generation Korean American church in the state of Michigan. Participant observation and in-depth interviews are used to assess the importance of religious beliefs, inter-generational relations, and cultural factors insofar as they are associated with this church’s membership. The findings of this exploratory study suggest that religious internalization is a significant factor explaining church participation for second-generation Korean Americans.