bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Influence of core density, core thickness, and rigid inserts on dynamic characteristics of sandwich panels with polyurethane foam as core
Authors: Sharma Ramesh S , Raghupathy VP
Published: August 2010

The growth in practical applications of sandwich constructions in high performance vehicles, aerospace, marine, automobile, and electronic packaging industries needs a thorough investigation of all vibration modes of the structure. This is to ensure that debonding between facings and core in the through-thickness vibration mode does not occur during service. In the present work, experimental modal analysis on sandwich panels of different densities and core thicknesses have been carried out under three different boundary conditions. The influence of rigid inserts of different volume fractions on the dynamic behavior has also been examined. A non-dimensional parameter representing the ratio of core density and core thickness to face density and face thickness has been established, which correlates excellently with measured fundamental natural frequency. The corresponding mode shapes and modal damping have also been evaluated.
Modern Concepts of Quality and Risk
Authors: Stein William , Asenova Darinka , McCann Claire , Marshall Alasdair
Published: August 2010

This article is about the complex interplay between quality and risk in the context of care for older people in Scotland. We review relevant theoretical literature underpinning the concept of ‘quality’ and its relationship with ‘risk’ to discover a wide range of regulatory challenges related to issues such as an increasing number of older people; intense press scrutiny; private care home provision; and, healthcare professionals increasingly shifting focus from generic care needs towards a personalized approach focusing on the care needs of the ‘individual’. In this environment, risk control must be ‘negotiated’ against resultant impact on the quality of life for individuals. We relate the existing literature to the approach devised by the Care Commission for Scotland to enforce published government standards: the adoption of a modern risk-based approach to regulation involving the use of a risk assessment scoring tool to determine and justify the level of regulatory intervention; and the development of a quality assessment framework that articulates the existing government standards. We conclude that if regulation and quality assurance are to concern themselves more with risk, then this will best occur within the context of integration and simplification rather than increased complexity —; perhaps with a unified set of care principles and quality themes that make direct provision for the management of risk. While this is of specific relevance to the regulator in Scotland, the principles we discuss have application to other parts of the UK and to other countries that face similar challenges.
Law, Morality and Disgust: The Regulation of ‘Extreme Pornography’ in England and Wales
Authors: Johnson Paul
Published: August 2010

The Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 introduced the new offence of ‘Possession of extreme pornographic images’ (section 63) into English law. One aspect of the framework that section 63 uses to determine which images will fall within its scope is explicitly concerned with questions of morality: images must be deemed ‘grossly offensive, disgusting or otherwise of an obscene character’. This article examines some of the justifications for, objections to, and implications of the inclusion of the moral component of section 63 and situates these arguments within long-standing debates about the relationship between law, sexuality and morality. Returning to the influential but much critiqued work of Patrick Devlin, it argues that the framework that section 63 offers for the moral evaluation of extreme images is an imperfect but appropriate method for determining the level of social toleration for the private possession of violent pornographic imagery. After considering some of the arguments made against the moral framework, and in favour of a harm-based approach, it concludes by arguing that the morality component offers both a practical way of evaluating images in relation to contemporary standards of obscenity and provides a protective mechanism for limiting the scope of the law’s application.
‘A Tragedy of Monumental Proportions’: Indigenous Australians and the Sentencing Process
Authors: Douglas Heather , Corrin Jennifer
Published: August 2010

This article explores the tensions between the principles of rehabilitation and community protection in the sentencing of Aboriginal people, especially in the context of dysfunctional and remote Aboriginal communities. In order to explore these tensions, the article draws on the issues raised in a recent Australian case involving the sentencing of nine young Aboriginal men and boys who pleaded guilty to the rape of a 10-year-old girl in a remote Aboriginal community in the far north of Australia. Although many Aboriginal women have called for greater protection for women and children by the criminal justice system, they have argued for community restoration rather than incarceration. This article suggests that, in the context of remote Aboriginal Australia, the focus on victim protection has served to entrench oppression through the continued sentencing preference of incarceration. The article concludes with a call for the decolonisation of justice and explores options by which this might be achieved.
Electoral volatility, competition and third-party candidacies in US gubernatorial elections
Authors: Best Robin E. , Lem Steve B.
Published: August 2010

Third-party participation in plurality elections should be rare, given the low probability of electoral success. In the United States, the entrenched two-party system makes third-party candidacies especially puzzling. We develop a general theory of these candidacies based on the electoral context, focusing on electoral competition and volatility. When electoral competition is either low or high we expect the number of third-party candidates to be high, due to the opportunities to raise attention to policy issues or affect the election outcome. Moderate levels of competition will produce low levels of third-party candidate participation, as there are fewer prospects of drawing votes or attention. Volatility is expected to have a positive effect, since high volatility signals a de-aligned electorate. We evaluate our claims using US gubernatorial elections, 1977—2005. The results support our claims, suggesting that third-party candidacies are shaped by the degree of electoral volatility and competition.
Religion in trauma care: grand narratives and sacred rituals
Authors: Scott Tricia
Published: August 2010

This article outlines major religious practices observed in the UK and discusses how associated spiritual and religious custom and rites should be honoured by emergency practitioners. The article does not intend to be an all encompassing text on religion but to heighten awareness among emergency practitioners about various spiritual and religious considerations affecting patients and families under their care during critical and sometimes life-changing events in their life.
Evaluation of left ventricular hypertrophy in patients requiring permanent pacing
Authors: Alexopoulos Alexandros , Perpinia Anastasia , Michelakakis Nikolaos , Kossyvakis Charalambos , Deftereos Spyridon , Pyrgakis Vlassios
Published: August 2010

Objective: Hypertension may lead to left ventricular hypertrophy, fibrosis and degeneration of the conduction system. Our aim was to study the association of hypertrophy with certain arrhythmias such as complete atrioventricular block (AVB) and symptomatic sick sinus syndrome (SSS) that require implantation of permanent pacemaker.

Methods: We studied 130 patients that had been given a pacemaker because of complete AVB, 130 patients that had been given a pacemaker because of symptomatic SSS and 45 patients without cardiac conduction disturbances. In order to estimate left ventricular hypertrophy, indexes of relative wall thickness (RWT) and left ventricular mass (LVM) were evaluated by echocardiography.

Results: We observed significant association between complete AVB and abnormal values of echocardiographic indexes.

Conclusions: Our results lend further support to the hypothesis that complete AVB is associated with left ventricular hypertrophy. This hypothesis is enhanced by the observation that the majority of patients with complete AVB were hypertensive.
Managing bile acid diarrhoea
Authors: Walters Julian R. F. , Pattni Sanjeev S.
Published: August 2010

Bowel symptoms including diarrhoea can be produced when excess bile acids (BA) are present in the colon. This condition, known as bile acid or bile salt malabsorption, has been under recognized, as the best diagnostic method, the 75Se-homocholic acid taurine (SeHCAT) test, is not available in many countries and is not fully utilized in others. Reduced SeHCAT retention establishes that this is a complication of many other gastrointestinal diseases. Repeated studies show SeHCAT tests are abnormal in about 30% of patients otherwise diagnosed as diarrhoea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome or functional diarrhoea, with an estimated population prevalence of around 1%. Recent work suggests that the condition previously called idiopathic bile acid malabsorption (BAM) is not in fact due to a defect in absorption, but results from an overproduction of BA because of defective feedback inhibition of hepatic bile acid synthesis, a function of the ileal hormone fibroblast growth factor 19 (FGF19). The approach to treatment currently depends on binding excess BA, to reduce their secretory actions, using colestyramine, colestipol and, most recently, colesevelam. Colesevelam has a number of potential advantages that merit further investigation in trials directed at patients with bile acid diarrhoea.
Rapid modification of the insect elicitor N-linolenoyl-glutamate via a lipoxygenase-mediated mechanism on Nicotiana attenuata leaves
Authors: VanDoorn Arjen , Kallenbach Mario , Borquez Alejandro A , Baldwin Ian T , Bonaventure Gustavo
Published: August 2010

Background

Some plants distinguish mechanical wounding from herbivore attack by recognizing specific constituents of larval oral secretions (OS) which are introduced into plant wounds during feeding. Fatty acid-amino acid conjugates (FACs) are major constituents of Manduca sexta OS and strong elicitors of herbivore-induced defense responses in Nicotiana attenuata plants.

Results

The metabolism of one of the major FACs in M. sexta OS, N-linolenoyl-glutamic acid (18:3-Glu), was analyzed on N. attenuata wounded leaf surfaces. Between 50 to 70% of the 18:3-Glu in the OS or of synthetic 18:3-Glu were metabolized within 30 seconds of application to leaf wounds. This heat-labile process did not result in free α-linolenic acid (18:3) and glutamate but in the biogenesis of metabolites both more and less polar than 18:3-Glu. Identification of the major modified forms of this FAC showed that they corresponded to 13-hydroxy-18:3-Glu, 13-hydroperoxy-18:3-Glu and 13-oxo-13:2-Glu. The formation of these metabolites occurred on the wounded leaf surface and it was dependent on lipoxygenase (LOX) activity; plants silenced in the expression of NaLOX2 and NaLOX3 genes showed more than 50% reduced rates of 18:3-Glu conversion and accumulated smaller amounts of the oxygenated derivatives compared to wild-type plants. Similar to 18:3-Glu, 13-oxo-13:2-Glu activated the enhanced accumulation of jasmonic acid (JA) in N. attenuata leaves whereas 13-hydroxy-18:3-Glu did not. Moreover, compared to 18:3-Glu elicitation, 13-oxo-13:2-Glu induced the differential emission of two monoterpene volatiles (β-pinene and an unidentified monoterpene) in irlox2 plants.

Conclusions

The metabolism of one of the major elicitors of herbivore-specific responses in N. attenuata plants, 18:3-Glu, results in the formation of oxidized forms of this FAC by a LOX-dependent mechanism. One of these derivatives, 13-oxo-13:2-Glu, is an active elicitor of JA biosynthesis and differential monoterpene emission.
Continued breathing followed by gasping or apnea in a swine model of ventricular fibrillation cardiac arrest
Authors: Zuercher Mathias , Ewy Gordon A , Hilwig Ronald W , Sanders Arthur B , Otto Charles W , Berg Robert A , Kern Karl B
Published: August 2010

Background

Continued breathing following ventricular fibrillation has here-to-fore not been described.

Methods

We analyzed the spontaneous ventilatory activity during the first several minutes of ventricular fibrillation (VF) in our isoflurane anesthesized swine model of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. The frequency and type of ventilatory activity was monitored by pneumotachometer and main stream infrared capnometer and analyzed in 61 swine during the first 3 to 6 minutes of untreated VF.

Results

During the first minute of VF, the air flow pattern in all 61 swine was similar to those recorded during regular spontaneous breathing during anesthesia and was clearly different from the patterns of gasping. The average rate of continued breathing during the first minute of untreated VF was 10 breaths per minute. During the second minute of untreated VF, spontaneous breathing activity either stopped or became typical of gasping. During minutes 2 to 5 of untreated VF, most animals exhibited very slow spontaneous ventilatory activity with a pattern typical of gasping; and the pattern of gasping was crescendo-decrescendo, as has been previously reported. In the absence of therapy, all ventilatory activity stopped 6 minutes after VF cardiac arrest.

Conclusion

In our swine model of VF cardiac arrest, we documented that normal breathing continued for the first minute following cardiac arrest.
In vitro effects of imatinib mesylate on radiosensitivity and chemosensitivity of breast cancer cells
Authors: Weigel Marion T , Dahmke Linda , Schem Christian , Bauerschlag Dirk O , Weber Katrin , Niehoff Peter , Bauer Maret , Strauss Alexander , Jonat Walter , Maass Nicolai , Mundhenke Christoph
Published: August 2010

Background

Breast cancer treatment is based on a combination of adjuvant chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy effecting intracellular signal transduction. With the tyrosine kinase inhibitors new targeted drugs are available. Imatinib mesylate is a selective inhibitor of bcr-abl, PRGFR alpha, beta and c-kit. The purpose of this study was to determine whether Imatinib has an influence on the effectiveness of radiotherapy in breast cancer cell lines and if a combination of imatinib with standard chemotherapy could lead to increased cytoreduction.

Methods

Colony-forming tests of MCF 7 and MDA MB 231 were used to study differences in cell proliferation under incubation with imatinib and radiation. Changes in expression and phosphorylation of target receptors were detected using western blot. Cell proliferation, migration and apoptosis assays were performed combining imatinib with doxorubicin.

Results

The combination of imatinib and radiotherapy showed a significantly stronger inhibition of cell proliferation compared to single radiotherapy. Differences in PDGFR expression could not be detected, but receptor phosphorylation was significantly inhibited when treated with imatinib. Combination of imatinib with standard chemotherapy lead to an additive effect on cell growth inhibition compared to single treatment.

Conclusions

Imatinib treatment combined with radiotherapy leads in breast cancer cell lines to a significant benefit which might be influenced through inhibition of PDGFR phosphorylation. Combining imatinib with chemotherapy enhances cytoreductive effects. Further in vivo studies are needed to evaluate the benefit of Imatinib in combination with radiotherapy and chemotherapy on the treatment of breast cancer.
Tumor Antigen–Targeted, Monoclonal Antibody–Based Immunotherapy: Clinical Response, Cellular Immunity, and Immunoescape
Authors: Ferris Robert L. , Jaffee Elizabeth M. , Ferrone Soldano
Published: August 2010

Purpose

Tumor antigen (TA) –targeted monoclonal antibodies (mAb), rituximab, trastuzumab, and cetuximab, are clinically effective for some advanced malignancies, especially in conjunction with chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. However, these results are only seen in a subset (20% to 30%) of patients. We discuss the immunologic mechanism(s) underlying these clinical findings and their potential role in the variability in patients' clinical response.

Methods

We reviewed the evidence indicating that the effects of TA-targeted mAb-based immunotherapy are mediated not only by inhibition of signaling pathways, but also by cell-mediated cytotoxicity triggered by the infused TA-targeted mAb. We analyzed the immunologic variables that can influence the outcome of antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) in vitro and in animal model systems. We also analyzed the correlation reported between these variables and the clinical response to mAb-based immunotherapy.

Results

Of the variables that influence ADCC mediated by TA-targeted mAb, only polymorphisms of Fcγ receptors (FcγR) expressed by patients' lymphocytes were correlated with clinical efficacy. However, this correlation is not absolute and is not observed in all malignancies. Thus other variables may be responsible for the antitumor effects seen in mAb-treated patients. We discuss the evidence that triggering of TA-specific cellular immunity by TA-targeted mAb, in conjunction with immune escape mechanisms used by tumor cells, may contribute to the differential clinical responses to mAb-based immunotherapy.

Conclusion

Identification of the mechanism(s) underlying the clinical response of patients with cancer treated with TA-targeted mAb is crucial to optimizing their application in the clinic and to selecting the patients most likely to benefit from their use.
Final Results From a Multicenter, International, Pivotal Study of Romidepsin in Refractory Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma
Authors: Whittaker Sean J. , Demierre Marie-France , Kim Ellen J. , Rook Alain H. , Lerner Adam , Duvic Madeleine , Scarisbrick Julia , Reddy Sunil , Robak Tadeusz , Becker Jürgen C. , Samtsov Alexey , McCulloch William , Kim Youn H.
Published: August 2010

Purpose

The primary objective of this study was to confirm the efficacy of romidepsin in patients with treatment refractory cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL).

Patients and Methods

This international, pivotal, single-arm, open-label, phase II study was conducted in patients with stage IB to IVA CTCL who had received one or more prior systemic therapies. Patients received romidepsin as an intravenous infusion at a dose of 14 mg/m2 on days 1, 8, and 15 every 28 days. Response was determined by a composite assessment of total tumor burden including cutaneous disease, lymph node involvement, and blood (Sézary cells).

Results

Ninety-six patients were enrolled and received one or more doses of romidepsin. Most patients (71%) had advanced stage disease (≥ IIB). The response rate was 34% (primary end point), including six patients with complete response (CR). Twenty-six of 68 patients (38%) with advanced disease achieved a response, including five CRs. The median time to response was 2 months, and the median duration of response was 15 months. A clinically meaningful improvement in pruritus was observed in 28 (43%) of 65 patients, including patients who did not achieve an objective response. Median duration of reduction in pruritus was 6 months. Drug-related adverse events were generally mild and consisted mainly of GI disturbances and asthenic conditions. Nonspecific, reversible ECG changes were noted in some patients.

Conclusion

Romidepsin has significant and sustainable single-agent activity (including improvement in pruritus) and an acceptable safety profile, making it an important therapeutic option for treatment refractory CTCL.
Prognostic Significance of p16INK4A and Human Papillomavirus in Patients With Oropharyngeal Cancer Treated on TROG 02.02 Phase III Trial
Authors: Rischin Danny , Young Richard J. , Fisher Richard , Fox Stephen B. , Le Quynh-Thu , Peters Lester J. , Solomon Ben , Choi Jimin , O'Sullivan Brian , Kenny Lizbeth M. , McArthur Grant A.
Published: August 2010

Purpose

To determine the prognostic importance of p16 and human papillomavirus (HPV) in patients with oropharyngeal cancer treated on a phase III concurrent chemoradiotherapy trial.

Patients and Methods

Patients with stage III or IV head and neck squamous cell cancer were randomly assigned to concurrent radiotherapy and cisplatin with or without tirapazamine. In this substudy, analyses were restricted to patients with oropharyngeal cancer. p16 was detected by immunohistochemistry, and HPV was detected by in situ hybridization and polymerase chain reaction.

Results

Slides were available for p16 assay in 206 of 465 patients, of which 185 were eligible, and p16 and HPV were evaluable in 172 patients. One hundred six (57%) of 185 were p16-positive, and in patients evaluable for both p16 and HPV, 88 (86%) of 102 p16-positive patients were also HPV-positive. Patients who were p16-positive had lower T and higher N categories and better Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status. p16-positive tumors compared with p16-negative tumors were associated with better 2-year overall survival (91% v 74%; hazard ratio [HR], 0.36; 95% CI, 0.17 to 0.74; P = .004) and failure-free survival (87% v 72%; HR, 0.39; 95% CI, 0.20 to 0.74; P = .003). p16 was a significant prognostic factor on multivariable analysis (HR, 0.45; 95% CI, 0.21 to 0.96; P = .04). p16-positive patients had lower rates of locoregional failure and deaths due to other causes. There was a trend favoring the tirapazamine arm for improved locoregional control in p16-negative patients (HR, 0.33; 95% CI, 0.09 to 1.24; P = .13).

Conclusion

HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer is a distinct entity with a favorable prognosis compared with HPV-negative oropharyngeal cancer when treated with cisplatin-based chemoradiotherapy.
Markets: State Franchise Laws, Dealer Terminations, and the Auto Crisis
Authors: Lafontaine Francine , Morton Fiona Scott
Published: August 2010

In fall 2008, General Motors and Chrysler were both on the brink of bankruptcy, and Ford was not far behind. As the government stepped in and restructuring began, GM and Chrysler announced their plan to terminate about 2,200 dealerships. In this paper, we first provide an overview of franchising in car distribution, how it came about, and the legal framework within which it functions. States earn about 20 percent of all state sales taxes from auto dealers. As a result, new car dealerships, and especially local or state car dealership associations, have been able to exert influence over local legislatures. This has led to a set of state laws that almost guarantee dealership profitability and survival—albeit at the expense of manufacturer profits. Available evidence and theory suggests that as a result of these laws, distribution costs and retail prices are higher than they otherwise would be; and this is particularly true for Detroit's Big Three car manufacturers—which is likely a factor contributing to their losses in market share vis-à-vis other manufacturers. After discussing the evidence on the effects of the car franchise laws on dealer profit and car prices, we turn to the interaction of the franchise laws and manufacturers' response to the auto crisis. Last, we consider what car distribution might be like if there were no constraints on organization. We conclude that although the state-level franchise laws came about for a reason, the current crisis perhaps provides an opportunity to reconsider the kind of regulatory framework that would best serve consumers, rather than carmakers or car dealers.
Diagnostics before Prescription
Authors: Rodrik Dani
Published: August 2010

Development economists should stop acting as categorical advocates (or detractors) for specific approaches to development. They should instead be diagnosticians, helping decisionmakers choose the right model (and remedy) for their specific realities, among many contending models (and remedies). In this spirit, Ricardo Hausmann, Andres Velasco, and I have developed a “growth diagnostics” framework that sketches a systematic process for identifying binding constraints and prioritizing policy reforms in multilateral agencies and bilateral donors. Growth diagnostics is based on the idea that not all constraints bind equally and that a sensible and practical strategy consists of identifying the most serious constraint(s) at work. The practitioner works with a decision tree to do this. The second step in growth diagnostics is to identify remedies for relaxing the constraint that are appropriate to the context and take cognizance of potential second-best complications. Successful countries are those that have implemented these two steps in an ongoing manner: identify sequentially the most binding constraints and remove them with locally suited remedies. Diagnostics requires pragmatism and eclecticism, in the use of both theory and evidence. It has no room for dogmatism, imported blueprints, or empirical purism.
Giving Credit Where It Is Due
Authors: Banerjee Abhijit V , Duflo Esther
Published: August 2010

In the last few years, field experiments have emerged as an attractive new tool in the effort to elaborate our understanding of economic issues relevant to poor countries and poor people. By enabling the researcher to precisely control the variation in the data, field experiments allow the estimation of parameters and testing of hypotheses that would be very difficult to implement with observational data. The results of this body of empirical work, in turn, have pushed theory in new directions. Much of this paper illustrates the power of this interplay between experimental and theoretical thinking. Rather than discussing this in the abstract, we focus on one area where the recent empirical work has been particularly exciting and useful—credit. Credit markets in developing countries offer up many facts and puzzles that lead us to build theories based on informational constraints and psychological limitations. The empirical work inspired by these theories, in turn, has generated both support for the theories, which then influenced policy thinking, and new puzzles, which have prompted new efforts to improve the theory. We see the substantive, two-way conversation taking place between theory and data around credit markets in developing economies as a promising template for the field.
Does Hume Hold a Dispositional Account of Belief?
Authors: Marušić Jennifer Smalligan
Published: August 2010

Philosophical theories about the nature of belief can be roughly classified into two groups: those that treat beliefs as occurrent mental states or episodes and those that treat beliefs as dispositions. David Hume's A Treatise of Human Nature seems to contain a classic example of an occurrence theory of belief. Hume defines ‘belief’ as ‘a lively idea related to or associated with a present impression’ (Treatise 1.3.7.5 96). This definition suggests that believing is an occurrent mental state, such as judging, or thinking about something in a particular manner. However, at the same time, a number of Hume's readers claim to find elements in his writings that are suggestive of a dispositional account of belief. Moreover, these elements are sometimes taken as signs of the inadequacy of Hume's account of belief and his dissatisfaction with it. If Hume is not, in fact, wholeheartedly committed to a thoroughgoing occurrence theory of belief, one wonders just who is.
Hume on Relations: Are They Real?
Authors: Inukai Yumiko
Published: August 2010

William James criticizes Hume for failing to adhere to the strictly empiricist method when he postulates discrete constituents of experience — which Hume calls perceptions — thereby making our experience a train of disconnected pieces. James argues that the discontinuity of experience in Hume results in part from his failure to recognize the immediate presence of relations in experience. Emphasizing a continuity and unity of experience, James thus differentiates his empiricism from Hume's as being radical in the sense that it recognizes relations as ‘real’ parts of experience just as are things that are experienced to be so related. This raises a question concerning the experiential status of relations in Hume: is James correct in accusing Hume of failing to notice the experiential reality of relations? Does Hume deny the experiential reality of relations entirely? Or does Hume downplay the experiential reality of relations and come to take them merely as products of the imagination, hence not ‘real,’ for certain theoretical reasons?
Explaining the Disquotational Principle
Authors: Speaks Jeff
Published: August 2010

Questions about the relative priorities of mind and language suffer from a double obscurity. First, it is often not clearwhichmental and linguistic facts are in question: we can ask about the relationship between any of the semantic or syntactic properties of public languages and the judgments, intentions, beliefs, or other propositional attitudes of speakers of those languages. Second, there is an obscurity about what ‘priority’ comes to here.
Recovering What Is Said With Empty Names
Authors: Piccinini Gualtiero , Scott Sam
Published: August 2010

As our data will show, negative existential sentences containing socalledemptynames evoke the same strong semantic intuitions in ordinary speakers and philosophers alike.

(1)

(a) Santa Claus does not exist.

(b) Superman does not exist.

(c) Clark Kent does not exist.

Uttering the sentences in (1) seems tosay something truth-evaluable, to say somethingtrue, and to say somethingdifferentfor each sentence. A semantic theory ought to explain these semantic intuitions.

The intuitions elicited by (1) are in apparent conflict with the Millian view of proper names. According to Millianism, the meaning (or ‘semantic value’) of a proper name is just its referent. But empty names, such as ‘Santa Claus’ and ‘Superman’, appear to lack a referent. If they do, then Millianism entails that they have no meaning.
Foundationalism for Modest Infi nitists
Authors: Turri John
Published: August 2010

We find two main contemporary arguments for the infinitist theory of epistemic justification (‘infinitism’ for short): the regress argument (Klein 1999, 2005) and the features argument (Fantl 2003). I've addressed the former elsewhere (Turri 2009a). Here I address the latter.

Jeremy Fantl argues that infinitism outshines foundationalism because infinitism alone can explain two of epistemic justification's crucial features, namely, that it comes in degrees and can be complete. This paper demonstrates foundationalism's ample resources for explaining both features.

Section II clarifies the debate's key terms. Section III recounts how infinitism explains the two crucial features. Section IV presents Fantl's argument that foundationalism cannot explain the two crucial features. Section V explains how foundationalism can explain the two crucial features. Section VI sums up.
The Explanatory Structure of the Transcendental Deduction and a Cognitive Interpretation of the First Critique
Authors: Edgar Scott
Published: August 2010

Consider two competing interpretations of Kant'sCritique of Pure Reason: theepistemicandcognitiveinterpretations. The epistemic interpretation presents the firstCritiqueas a work of epistemology, but what is more, it sees Kant as an early proponent of anti-psychologism — the view that descriptions of how the mind works are irrelevant for epistemology. Even if Kant does not always manage to purge certain psychological- sounding idioms from his writing, the epistemic interpretation has it, he is perfectly clear that he means his evaluation of knowledge to be carried out independently of psychology. In contrast, the cognitive interpretation presents the firstCritiqueas a description of the operation of human cognitive faculties — sensibility, the understanding, and reason. Whatever else the firstCritiquemight be on this interpretation, it is at least Kant's articulation of a theory of mind.
Measuring years of inactivity, years in retirement, time to retirement, and age at retirement within the Markov model
Authors: Skoog Gary R. , Ciecka James E.
Published: August 2010

Retirement-related concepts are treated as random variables within Markov process models that capture multiple labor force entries and exits. The expected number of years spent outside of the labor force, expected years in retirement, and expected age at retirement are computed—all of which are of immense policy interest but have been heretofore reported with less precisely measured proxies. Expected age at retirement varies directly with a person’s age; but even younger people can expect to retire at ages substantially older than those commonly associated with retirement, such as age 60, 62, or 65. Between 1970 and 2003, men allocated most of their increase in life expectancy to increased time in retirement, but women allocated most of their increased life expectancy to labor force activity. Although people can exit and reenter the labor force at older ages, most 65-year-old men who are active in the labor force will not reenter after they eventually exit. At age 65, the probability that those who are inactive will reenter the labor force at some future time is .38 for men and .27 for women. Life expectancy at exact ages is decomposed into the sum of the expected time spent active and inactive in the labor force, and also as the sum of the expected time to labor force separation and time in retirement.
Nontraditional families and childhood progress through school
Authors: Rosenfeld Michael J.
Published: August 2010

I use U.S. census data to perform the first large-sample, nationally representative tests of outcomes for children raised by same-sex couples. The results show that children of same-sex couples are as likely to make normal progress through school as the children of most other family structures. Heterosexual married couples are the family type whose children have the lowest rates of grade retention, but the advantage of heterosexual married couples is mostly due to their higher socioeconomic status. Children of all family types (including children of same-sex couples) are far more likely to make normal progress through school than are children living in group quarters (such as orphanages and shelters).
Knox meets Cox: Adapting epidemiological space-time statistics to demographic studies
Authors: Schmertmann Carl P. , Assunção Renato M. , Potter Joseph E.
Published: August 2010

Many important questions and theories in demography focus on changes over time, and on how those changes differ over geographic and social space. Space-time analysis has always been important in studying fertility transitions, for example. However, demographers have seldom used formal statistical methods to describe and analyze time series of maps. One formal method, used widely in epidemiology, criminology, and public health, is Knox’s space-time interaction test. In this article, we discuss the potential of the Knox test in demographic research and note some possible pitfalls. We demonstrate how to use familiar proportional hazards models to adapt the Knox test for demographic applications. These adaptations allow for nonrepeatable events and for the incorporation of structural variables that change in space and time. We apply the modified test to data on the onset of fertility decline in Brazil over 1960–2000 and show how the modified method can produce maps indicating where and when diffusion effects seem strongest, net of covariate effects.
Shifting coresidence near the end of life: Comparing decedents and survivors of a follow-up study in China
Authors: Zimmer Zachary , Korinek Kim
Published: August 2010

What we know about transitions in coresidence of elders in China is based on panel data involving survivors. This article examines the tendency to and determinants of shifts in coresidence with adult children among the very old, comparing survivors of an intersurvey period with those who died (decedents). Data come from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey. Baseline and follow-up surveys indicate shifts in coresidence, defined as change from not living with an adult child to living in the same household as an adult child, and the converse. Rates of shifting are adjusted for time to follow-up. Regressions examine predictors of shifts among four groups: baseline coresident and noncoresident survivors and decedents. Decedents and noncoresidents are more likely to shift than survivors and coresidents. Covariates related to physical and material need as well as marital status are the strongest predictors of shift. Thus, the needs of a very old person dominate coresidential shifts and stability, lending support to an altruistic notion of living arrangement decision making. In the end, we conclude that the period nearing the end of life is a time of flux in living situation and that coresidential shifts are underestimated when those who die during a follow-up study are ignored.
Immigrants and natives in U.S. science and engineering occupations, 1994–2006
Authors: Sana Mariano
Published: August 2010

Between 1994 and 2006, the ratio of foreign-born scientists and engineers (FSE) to native scientists and engineers (NSE) doubled. I decompose this change into a migration effect (which accounts for migration in general), a proportional college effect (which accounts for the relative proportions of college graduates among migrant and native workers), and a proportional science and engineering (S&E) effect (which accounts for the relative proportions of S&Es among migrant and native college-educated workers). Results show that the migration effect explains about three-quarters of the increase in FSE/NSE during the entire period under study. The proportional S&E effect, which captures changes in the ratio as a result of immigration of S&Es in excess of what would be expected from general migration alone, was largest in 1995–1998, which were years of sustained economic growth. Conversely, a slower economy coincided with a declining proportional S&E effect after 2000. Increases in the annual cap on H-1B visas, an important avenue of entry for foreign-born S&Es, had little effect on the ratio. In short, during 1994–2006, the association between economic swings and the specific, more than proportional migration of S&Es was much stronger than the association between the latter and changes in the H-1B cap.
Gender scripts and age at marriage in India
Authors: Desai Sonalde , Andrist Lester
Published: August 2010

Research on marriage in developing countries has been somewhat narrow in scope because of both conceptual and data limitations. While the feminist literature recognizes marriage as a key institutional site for the production and reproduction of gender hierarchies, little is known about the processes through which this relationship operates. This article uses data from the newly collected India Human Development Survey 2005 for 27,365 ever-married women aged 25–49 to explore ways in which different dimensions of gender in Indian society shape the decisions regarding age at marriage. We explore the impact of three dimensions of gender: (1) economic factors, such as availability of wage employment, dowry expectations, and wedding expenses; (2) indicators of familial empowerment, such as women’s role in household decision making and access to and control over resources; and (3) markers of gender performance, such as observance of purdah and male-female separation in the household. Results from hierarchical linear models confirm the importance of markers of gender performance but fail to demonstrate a large role for economic factors and familial empowerment.
Social, behavioral, and biological factors, and sex differences in mortality
Authors: Rogers Richard G. , Everett Bethany G. , Onge Jarron M. Saint , Krueger Patrick M.
Published: August 2010

Few studies have examined whether sex differences in mortality are associated with different distributions of risk factors or result from the unique relationships between risk factors and mortality for men and women. We extend previous research by systematically testing a variety of factors, including health behaviors, social ties, socioeconomic status, and biological indicators of health. We employ the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey III Linked Mortality File and use Cox proportional hazards models to examine sex differences in adult mortality in the United States. Our findings document that social and behavioral characteristics are key factors related to the sex gap in mortality. Once we control for women’s lower levels of marriage, poverty, and exercise, the sex gap in mortality widens; and once we control for women’s greater propensity to visit with friends and relatives, attend religious services, and abstain from smoking, the sex gap in mortality narrows. Biological factors—including indicators of inflammation and cardiovascular risk—also inform sex differences in mortality. Nevertheless, persistent sex differences in mortality remain: compared with women, men have 30% to 83% higher risks of death over the follow-up period, depending on the covariates included in the model. Although the prevalence ofriskfactors differs by sex, the impact of those riskfactors on mortality is similar for men and women.
Early teen marriage and future poverty
Authors: Dahl Gordon B.
Published: August 2010

Both early teen marriage and dropping out of high school have historically been associated with a variety of negative outcomes, including higher poverty rates throughout life. Are these negative outcomes due to preexisting differences, or do they represent the causal effect of marriage and schooling choices? To better understand the true personal and societal consequences, in this article, I use an instrumental variables (IV) approach that takes advantage of variation in state laws regulating the age at which individuals are allowed to marry, drop out of school, and begin work. The baseline IV estimate indicates that a woman who marries young is 31 percentage points more likely to live in poverty when she is older. Similarly, a woman who drops out of school is 11 percentage points more likely to be poor. The results are robust to a variety of alternative specifications and estimation methods, including limited information maximum likelihood (LIML) estimation and a control function approach. While grouped ordinary least squares (OLS) estimates for the early teen marriage variable are also large, OLS estimates based on individual-level data are small, consistent with a large amount of measurement error.
Preliminary evidence regarding the hypothesis that the sex ratio at sexual maturity may affect longevity in men
Authors: Jin Lei , Elwert Felix , Freese Jeremy , Christakis Nicholas A.
Published: August 2010

In human populations, variation in mate availability has been linked to various biological and social outcomes, but the possible effect of mate availability on health or survival has not been studied. Unbalanced sex ratios are a concern in many parts of the world, and their implications for the health and survival of the constituent individuals warrant careful investigation. We indexed mate availability with contextual sex ratios and investigated the hypothesis that the sex ratio at sexual maturity might be associated with long-term survival for men. Using two unique data sets of 7,683,462 and 4,183 men who were followed for more than 50 years, we found that men who reached their sexual maturity in an environment with higher sex ratios (i. e., higher proportions ofreproductively ready men) appeared to suffer higher long-term mortality risks than those in an environment with lower sex ratios. Mate availability at sexual maturity may be linked via several biological and social mechanisms to long-term survival in men.
Incarcerating death: Mortality in U.S. state correctional facilities, 1985–1998
Authors: Patterson Evelyn J.
Published: August 2010

Using data from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics and Census Bureau, I estimate death rates of working-age prisoners and nonprisoners by sex and race. Incarceration was more detrimental to females in comparison to their male counterparts in the period covered by this study. White male prisoners had higher death rates than white males who were not in prison. Black male prisoners, however, consistently exhibited lower death rates than black male nonprisoners did. Additionally, the findings indicate that while the relative difference in mortality levels of white and black males was quite high outside of prison, it essentially disappeared in prison. Notably, removing deaths caused by firearms and motor vehicles in the nonprison population accounted for some of the mortality differential between black prisoners and nonprisoners. The death rates of the other groups analyzed suggest that prison is an unhealthy environment; yet, prison appears to be a healthier place than the typical environment of the nonincarcerated black male population. These findings suggest that firearms and motor vehicle accidents do not sufficiently explain the higher death rates of black males, and they indicate that a lack of basic healthcare may be implicated in the death rates of black males not incarcerated.
Pathways to educational homogamy in marital and cohabiting unions
Authors: Schwartz Christine R.
Published: August 2010

There is considerable disagreement about whether cohabitors are more or less likely to be educationally homogamous than married couples. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, I reconcile many of the disparate findings of previous research by conducting a “stock and flow” analysis of assortative cohabitation and marriage. I find that cohabitors are less likely to be educationally homogamous than married couples overall, but these differences are not apparent when cohabiting and marital unions begin. Instead, the results suggest that differences in educational homogamy by union type are driven by selective exits from marriage and cohabitation rather than by differences in partner choice. Marriages that cross educational boundaries are particularly likely to end. The findings suggest that although cohabitors place greater emphasis on egalitarianism than married couples, this does not translate into greater educational homogamy. The findings are also consistent with a large body of research on cohabitation and divorce questioning the effectiveness of cohabitation as a trial marriage.
Monitoring the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Innovations, Lost Opportunities, and Future Potential
Authors: Stein Michael Ashley , Lord Janet E.
Published: August 2010

As the first human rights treaty of the twenty-first century, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) protects some 650 million persons with disabilities. The CRPD also has an opportunity to progressively reconfigure the structure and process of human rights oversight. While the overall framework for monitoring and implementing the CRPD resembles existing core human rights instruments, it has some notable features. The CPRD Committee is endowed with several innovations of significant potential, especially in the breadth of reporting and investigative procedures, thereby offering prospects for other treaty bodies and the human rights system more generally. Accordingly, this article examines the development of the CRPD Committee and assesses its potential for invigorating future United Nations monitoring reforms.
Prosecuting “Evil Cults:” A Critical Examination of Law Regarding Freedom of Religious Belief in Mainland China
Authors: Zhu Guobin
Published: August 2010

Starting with Falun Gong, this article first identifies the meanings of the term “cult” in the context of religious belief and Chinese law, which are characterized by a strong instrumentalist nature. The article then explores the current system of law governing “evil cults,” and examines how the system actually simultaneously protects and restricts the freedom of religious belief. The author observes that the extent and scope of citizens’ religious beliefs have been restricted by law, and further asserts that legislation and regulations against “evil cult” activities should not be used to control and limit citizens’ normal religious life.