bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Integrative Basic Sciences: Change in Mental Status
Authors: Crane Erika , Clark Jeff
Published: October 2008

This case discussion is part of the Integrating Basic Science Into Clinical Teaching Initiative. It examines the presentation of altered mental status and describes the underlying physiology, which explains the basic laboratory findings in an attempt to reach a diagnosis. This article describes a 13-year-old boy who presented to the emergency department with altered mental status after being found unconscious and alone in an abandoned building. He was unresponsive to painful and verbal stimuli, with otherwise normal findings on physical examination. Basic laboratory studies, including arterial blood gas, electrolytes, and serum osmolality, were obtained. The case discussion uses fundamentals of anatomy to build a focused differential diagnosis. The laboratory studies are interpreted using basic physiologic principles, including acid-base balance, anion gap, and osmolar gap, to determine the most likely cause of this patient's altered mental status. Subsequent investigation confirms a diagnosis of ethanol toxic effects. An understanding of electrolyte and acid-base physiology allows the clinician to use basic laboratory studies to build a focused differential diagnosis for altered mental status. This case discussion demonstrates how basic science principles of anatomy and physiology can be applied in clinical settings.
Parental Satisfaction, Efficacy, and Adverse Events in 54 Patients Treated With Cantharidin for Molluscum Contagiosum Infection
Authors: Cathcart Shelley , Coloe Jacqueline , Morrell Dean S.
Published: October 2008

Objective To study the efficacy, tolerability, and parental satisfaction of cantharidin in a patient population at a pediatric dermatology referral center.

Methods Chart review was completed for 110 patients who presented with molluscum infection and were treated with cantharidin. A total of 54 were available for follow-up by telephone interview regarding adverse effects, parental satisfaction, and overall clearance of the infection.

Results Of those who were reachable, 96% improved after treatment with cantharidin. Parental satisfaction was 78%. Patients received an average of 2.2 treatments irrespective of outcome. Overall, 46% of patients experienced adverse events, including pain, pruritus, secondary infection, brisk immune response, and temporary hypopigmentation and 9% experienced an adverse event that they classified as severe.

Conclusions The results contribute to the data supporting cantharidin as a safe and effective treatment of molluscum contagiosum. Compared with other treatments, it appears to be equally effective and well-tolerated and should be considered a potential front-line treatment.
The Evolution of the Financial Crisis of 2007—8
Authors: Barrell Ray , Davis E. Philip
Published: October 2008

The financial crisis that started in August 2008 has reached a climax in the autumn of 2008 with a wave of bank nationalisations across North America and Europe. Although banking crises are not uncommon, this is the largest since 1929–33. This paper discusses the build-up to the crisis, looking at the role of low real interest rates in stimulating an asset price bubble. That bubble was stocked by financial innovation and increases in lending. New financial products were not stress tested and have failed in the downturn. After discussing the bubbles we look at the collapse of the complex asset structure, and then put the crisis in the context of the literature. The paper concludes with a discussion of policy implications of the crisis, and advocates a significant improvement in the regulatory structure.
Risk Management and the Costs of the Banking Crisis
Authors: Honohan Patrick
Published: October 2008

The 2007–8 banking crisis in the advanced economies has exposed deficiencies in risk management and prudential regulation approaches that rely too heavily on mechanical, albeit sophisticated, risk management models. These have aggravated private and economic losses. While fiscal costs were at first limited, it remains to be seen to what extent the taxpayer will be protected. Policymakers and bankers need to recognise the limitations of rules-based regulation and restore a more discretionary and holistic approach to risk management.
THE WORLD ECONOMY
Authors: Holland Dawn , Barrell Ray , Fic Tatiana , Gottschalk Sylvia , Hurst Ian , Liadze Iana , Orazgani Ali
Published: October 2008

Over the past few weeks, the global financial system has appeared on the brink of collapse, as mounting bank losses and a lack of banking liquidity have resulted in a wave of collapsing financial institutions across Europe and the US. While the immediate threat to the financial system appears to have been averted, the continuing deleveraging process, declining asset prices and heightened uncertainty regarding the viability of financial institutions have sharply reduced the willingness and ability of banks to lend to each other and to other borrowers, and at the same time reduced the willingness of borrowers to increase their levels of debt. As the events of recent weeks have unfolded, it has become increasingly clear that the fallout from the financial market crisis will continue to restrict bank lending severely for at least the next several months, pushing the world's major economies into recession. As a consequence, growth in the OECD economies next year is projected to be the weakest since 1982, with output forecast to rise by just 0.4 per cent.
Influence of Taranabant, an Orally Active, Highly Selective, Potent Cannabinoid‐1 Receptor (CB1R) Inverse Agonist, on Ethinyl Estradiol and Norelgestromin Plasma Pharmacokinetics
Authors: Schwartz Jules I. , Dunbar Stephanie , Yuan Jinyu , Li Susie , Miller Deborah L. , Rosko Kim , Johnson‐Levonas Amy O. , Lasseter Kenneth C. , Wagner John A.
Published: October 2008

Taranabant, an orally active, potent, and highly selective CB‐1 receptor inverse agonist, is being developed for the treatment of obesity. This randomized, placebo‐controlled, multiple‐dose, crossover study evaluated the effect of taranabant on the pharmacokinetics of ethinyl estradiol and norelgestromin in healthy women receiving ≥3 months of therapy with oral contraceptives. Nineteen participants with normal menstrual cycles received oral contraceptives on days 1 to 21 during 2 consecutive contraceptive cycles. Participants received taranabant 6 mg/day or placebo on days 1 to 21 of each contraceptive cycle. Plasma samples were collected predose and 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, and 24 hours postdose on day 21 of each cycle for determination of AUC0–24 h and Cmax of ethinyl estradiol and norelgestromin. Lack of a clinically important effect was declared if the 90% confidence intervals for the geometric mean ratio of AUC0–24 h and Cmax in the absence and presence of taranabant were contained within the predefined bounds of (0.8, 1.25). The geometric mean ratios and 90% confidence intervals of ethinyl estradiol and norelgestromin, respectively, were 0.93 (0.87, 1.00) and 1.02 (0.96, 1.09) for AUC0–24 h and 0.95 (0.88, 1.01) and 0.95 (0.88, 1.01) for Cmax. In summary, coadministration of multiple‐dose taranabant 6 mg with oral contraceptives did not lead to clinically meaningful alterations in the pharmacokinetic profiles of ethinyl estradiol or norelgestromin.
Paradoxical Patterns of Part-Time Employment in Denmark?
Authors: Lind Jens , Rasmussen Erling
Published: October 2008

Part-time employment in Denmark has undergone some interesting longitudinal changes, which differ considerably from the experiences of other countries. As such, an analysis of part-time employment in Denmark may cast new light on the usual explanations of part-time employment and their underlying premises. The article focuses on the level and composition of part-time employment to present key areas of disagreement with the traditional understanding of part-time work. The article shows that the traditional gender and age distribution has become less pronounced as have the negative implications often associated with part-time employment. In Denmark, part-time employment has increasingly become a `youth phenomenon', the distinctive gender patterns could disappear totally in the near future, and the often portrayed employer strategies of using part-timers as `cheap labour' has less currency in a tight labour market with a growing focus on committed service and `knowledge' workers.
Why and How are Some Strikes More Successful than Others? Evidence from the Korean Banking Sector
Authors: Choi Chung-Il
Published: October 2008

The research explores, through a case study of four strikes in the Korean banking sector, how organizational learning in trade unions affects the effectiveness of mobilization. The sector has undergone massive restructuring since the national financial crisis in 1997. The Korean Financial Industrial Union (KFIU) organized four strikes between 1998 and 2003 against the restructuring in order to protect employees' jobs. Evidence from these four strikes suggests that the union was able to achieve more successful outcomes at strikes when it conducted organizational learning through internal democracy, leading to, for example, adjustments of overall norms and changes in organizational structure. Organizational learning increased the strategic capacity of the union, thereby facilitating more effective mobilization of resources and opportunities.
Renewed Trade Union Militancy in Belgium? An Analysis Based on Expenditure from the Strike Fund (CWK/ACV) during the Period 1974—2004
Authors: Martens Albert , Pulignano Valeria
Published: October 2008

Measurement of workers' militancy has proved empirically to be a difficult task in Belgium. There are diverse traditional indicators and parameters but the interpretations of their extent and national effects are arguable. This article uses the expenditure of the `strike fund' in order to elaborate a measure of workers' militancy in Belgium. The strike fund data provided valuable information on the cross-sectoral level of workers' militancy and, thereby, confirmed some evidence with regard to the evolution of workers' combativeness. The case of Belgium is interesting. Since the 1980s, the numbers of strike days have fallen while the level of union membership has remained one of the highest in Europe. Is the decline of strikes in Belgium an irreversible process? Analysis of the national sector-based data on the strike funds suggests caution in predicting the withering away of strikes. Likewise, new forms of `proletarianization' are developing as the manifestation of a newly emergent industrial conflict.
Community Unions in Japan: Similarities and Differences of Region-based Labour Movements between Japan and Other Industrialized Countries
Authors: Suzuki Akira
Published: October 2008

This article examines organizational characteristics of Japanese community unions and analyses similarities and differences in the organizational forms and activities of community unionism between Japan and other industrialized countries. The article first outlines the conceptual framework of community unionism based on the literature review of studies on cases in the US, Canada, Australia and the UK, and then examines to what extent the framework is applicable to the Japanese case. Although there are some common features, one of the important differences of community unionism between Japan and other industrialized countries is the weakness of coalition-building between community unions and community-based organizations in Japan compared to other countries. The article argues that the forms of community unionism are mediated by civil societal and institutional contexts of labour movements, and that the relative underdevelopment of civil society and industrial relations institutions (liberal union recognition procedures) in Japan explains the difference in the forms.
Patterns of Contract Motives and Work Involvement in Temporary Work: Relationships to Work-Related and General Well-Being
Authors: Bernhard-Oettel Claudia , Isaksson Kerstin , Bellaagh Katalin
Published: October 2008

Temporary work is characterized by heterogeneity, and contract motives and work involvement are believed to differentiate temporary workers, which may explain their divergence in terms of subjective well-being. Applying a person-oriented approach using questionnaire data from a sample of Swedish temporary workers ( N = 184), this study identified six patterns, characterized by distinct combinations of voluntary and involuntary contract motives and work involvement. While controlling for demo-graphics, comparative analyses found differences between these patterns in terms of work-related and general well-being. These findings indicate that knowledge about temporary work and its various consequences is enhanced by considering whole patterns instead of single variables in a person-oriented approach.
On Iris Young's subject of inclusion
Authors: Falbo Marina
Published: October 2008

Young proposes an extremely important definition of social groups, which champions the flexible nature of the concept over attempts to freeze and fix the content of groups' identity on a cultural basis. Young shows an increasing disaffection with claims for groups' legislative presence that results in the abandoning of an essential definition of groups and the promotion of an analytical one. This entails that social groups remain the instruments to acknowledge and reproduce patterns of injustices, yet mechanisms to enhance effective inclusion of marginalized groups do not depend on political mobilization around groups' shared backgrounds. This increasing rejection of social groups as privileged instruments of political mobilizations leads me to elaborate an Arendtian `inessential coalition', viewed as the development of Young's reworking of the concept of social groups.
Free speech or equal respect?
Authors: Tate John William
Published: October 2008

This article looks at liberalism as a political tradition encompassing competing and, at times, incommensurable values. It looks in particular at the potential conflict between the values of free speech and equal respect. Both of these are foundational values for liberalism, in the sense that they arise as normative ideals from the very inception of the liberal tradition itself. Yet from the perspective of this tradition, it is by no means clear which of these values should be prioritized in those instances where they come into conflict. This article insists that the only way these two values can be meaningfully weighed against each other is if their competition can be understood within the broader framework of liberalism and democracy. Within this broader framework it is possible to find criteria which enable us to choose between these values in a non-circular manner — i.e. in ways which do not already presuppose a commitment to the value we wish to support.
REVIEW ESSAY: Moral realism, radical politics
Authors: Barbeito Varela J. Manuel
Published: October 2008

Some major leftist thinkers, including Alain Badiou, Slavoj Žižek and Terry Eagleton, have lately offered readings that claim the relevance of alternative interpretations of the Christian tradition in the face both of the conservative turn in the Catholic Church and of the contemporary secular oblivion of anything that has to do with religion. Furthermore, post-colonial studies have tended to blame the West en bloc for the disasters of past and present colonization, and have attacked the western endeavour to extend universal truths as an ethnocentric device to facilitate and justify exploitation.

In Holy Terror, Terry Eagleton both condemns western politics and questions its appeal to universals; but he also hears in this tradition a demand for a relationship with the other which offers an alternative to that established by current politics and capitalist exploitation. The other is the excluded, the oppressed, the exploited; the true material, rather than ideal, universal produced by global capitalist exploitation. As a consequence, anything that happens in any part of the planet belongs in our world and indicts us, though we tend to build barriers around an ideally safe and stable identity that ignores part of its own reality and that is therefore haunted by it. Texts like the Bacchae or the New Testament open the gates of the city and of the heart to the excluded. Terrorists — saints for their own communities and satanic for the rest — offer an example of the other that is impossible to comprehend within our conventional ways of life. Nevertheless, only if we hear in their violence a demand for justice can an exit be found from the vicious circle of violence and revenge.
The status struggle
Authors: Claassen Rutger
Published: October 2008

Competition for positional goods is an important feature of contemporary consumer societies. This paper discusses three strategies for a normative evaluation of positional competition. First, it criticizes an evaluation in terms of people's motives to engage in such competition. A reconstruction of an American debate over the status-motivation of consumer behavior shows how such an analysis founders on the difficulties of distinguishing between status and non-status motives for consumption. Second, the article criticizes an approach based on assessing the (positive and negative) externalities of positional competition. This approach is plagued by the methodological difficulty of determining the relevant externalities and their weight. The article then puts forward a third kind of evaluation, in terms of recognition relations. Starting from Axel Honneth's theory of recognition, I will propose to think of positional competition as a struggle for one kind of recognition that is necessary to personal autonomy, i.e. recognition according to the principle of achievement. Finally, the paper discusses the question of how we can assess the legitimacy of interferences with positional competition. I argue that the recognition-based approach has a better response to this question than the externalities-based approach, especially with regard to the liberal objection that such interference is a violation of personal freedom.
Marcuse's critical theory of modernity
Authors: Hammer Espen
Published: October 2008

Analyzing Eros and Civilization, in this article I argue that Marcuse is incapable of offering an account of the empirical dynamics that may lead to the social change he envisions, and that his appeal to the benefits of automatism is blind to its negative effects. I then claim that Marcuse's vision of the good life as centered on libidinal self-realization, if actualized, would threaten the freedom of individuals and potentially undermine their sense of self-integrity. Comparing Marcuse's position with that of Adorno, I argue that the former fails to take temporality and transience properly into account. Unlike Adorno, Marcuse has no genuine appreciation of the need for mourning. Instead, Marcuse's concept of primary narcissism, which is meant to represent the gist of his utopian vision, leads him to recommend an essentially melancholic position. I finally argue that political action requires a stronger ego-formation than what Marcuse's conception allows for.
The Macaque Placenta—A Mini-Review
Authors: de Rijk Eveline P. C. T. , Van Esch Eric
Published: October 2008

As part of an overview of the female reproductive organs in the macaque monkey, the present paper presents normal placental development. Although normally not examined in routine toxicologic pathology, the interest in the macaque as a model for reprotoxicity studies is increasing significantly. Based on different classifications, the macaque placenta belongs to the chorioallantoic, (bi)discoid, villous, deciduate, and hemochorial placental type. Within the first fourteen days after fertilization, a large number of events subsequently occur (apposition, adhesion, penetration and traversal of trophoblasts, blood vessel penetration, and development of villi). After this period, the basic placental structure has been laid down in the endometrium, and the initial communication between mother and fetus has been established. Further expansive growth of the placenta and development of anchoring villi are believed to be accomplished by continuous proliferation and migration of the trophoblasts from the trophoblastic shell. Despite the same function of human and macaque placentas, the morphologic structure and developmental timelines are different. Possible toxicological and physiological implications of these differences toward the value of macaques within reprotoxicity studies is discussed at the end of this paper. Besides a transporting role between mother and fetus, the placenta is also an endocrine organ that synthesizes a variety of hormones and cytokines. They influence ovarian and uterine physiology at the start of pregnancy and fetal and mammary physiology during gestation and around labor, respectively.

Competing Interests: This article was sponsored by Covance Inc. and Schering-Plough. Eveline P. C. T. de Rijk and Eric Van Esch are employed by Schering-Plough. No other competing interests were declared.
Competence of General Practitioners in Giving Advice about Changes in Lifestyle to Hypertensive Patients
Authors: Windak Adam , Gryglewska Barbara , Tomasik Tomasz , Narkiewicz Krzysztof , Grodzicki Tomasz
Published: October 2008

Objective . The aim of this study was to assess the advice about lifestyle changes that general practitioners (GPs) gave hypertensive patients with different levels of cardiovascular risk. Design and Methods . A stratified sample of primary health care physicians in Poland completed a questionnaire consisting of 8 case vignettes that differed with regard to 3 major variables: 1) the level of blood pressure (high-normal blood pressure or grade 2 hypertension), 2) the presence of selected risk factors such as smoking and obesity, and 3) diabetes mellitus. The case vignettes were followed by a series of open questions. Results . The response rate was 65% (125/192 selected physicians responded). The mean age was 45.2 ± 8.1 years, and the average length of professional experience in primary care was 14.7 ± 9.3 years. For 1000 potential clinical decisions considered, all expected pieces of advice were given in 18.3% of situations, whereas in 11.5%, no advice concerning nonpharmacological treatment was provided. In 70.2% of situations, Polish primary health physicians gave incomplete advice. The average percentage of expected advice in all cases was 57.2% ± 30.8%. The presence of hypertension along with other risk factors of cardiovascular disease was associated with better quality advice (P < 0.001), but the coexistence of diabetes mellitus had opposite consequences (P< 0.001). Conclusions . Despite the existence of well-known guidelines for the treatment of hypertension in Poland, GPs rarely give complete lifestyle advice, particularly for patients with cardiovascular risk due to high-normal blood pressure and diabetes.
Femoral Nerve Blockade as a Preemptive Anesthetic in Patients Undergoing Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction
Authors: Matava Matthew J. , Prickett William D. , Khodamoradi Shardad , Abe Satomi , Garbutt Jane
Published: October 2008

Background

Femoral nerve blockade has been purported to be an effective regional anesthetic in patients undergoing various procedures to lower extremities.

Hypothesis

Femoral nerve blockade will provide improved postoperative pain control over a local anesthetic in the knee joint alone in patients undergoing endoscopic patellar tendon anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

Study Design

Randomized, controlled trial; Level of evidence, 1.

Methods

Fifty-six adult patients undergoing an endoscopic patellar tendon anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction under general anesthesia were prospectively randomized to receive either a bupivacaine femoral nerve blockade (block) or a saline placebo injection (control). Both groups received local bupivacaine injection and intravenous ketorolac at wound closure. Outcomes included postoperative pain measured on a validated visual analog scale at postoperative intervals for 72 hours, intraoperative and postoperative narcotic consumption, admission rates, hospital charges, patient satisfaction, and complications related to the femoral nerve block.

Results

There were 31 block patients and 25 control patients. No significant differences between groups for postoperative pain scores, intraoperative or postoperative narcotic consumption, readiness for discharge, duration of hospitalization, admission rates, hospital charges, or patient satisfaction were observed. There were no complications related to the femoral nerve block.

Conclusion

A preemptive femoral nerve blockade, although safe, does not provide significant clinical benefit in this patient population to justify its routine use.
Structural Change of Soft Tissue Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstructions with Cross-Pin Fixation between Immediate and Postoperative 8 Weeks: A Study with use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Authors: Lee Yong Seuk , Ahn Jin Hwan , Lim Hong Chul , Kim Jin Goo , Yoo Jae Ho , Wang Joon Ho , Park Joon Soo
Published: October 2008

Background

There is some controversy regarding the optional method for proximal fixation in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction surgery using soft tissue grafts. Concern about the strength of fixation has limited rehabilitation during the early postoperative period.

Hypothesis

Graft slippage occurs after cross-pin femoral fixation during the early healing period when the strength of the tendon-to-bone interface is lowest.

Study Design

Case series; Level of evidence, 4.

Methods

Coronal and sagittal T2-weighted magnetic resonance images of arthroscopically reconstructed anterior cruciate ligaments performed in 18 consecutive knees were evaluated. The images were taken along the tunnel direction an average of 4 days (after the hemovac removal) and 8 weeks (recovery >120° range of motion) after surgery. The distance was measured from the uppermost point of the graft to the upper border of the superior cross pin. To reduce the intra- and interobserver bias, the measurements were taken twice by 2 orthopaedic surgeons for all patients.

Results

Interrater and intrarater reliability were determined twice by 2 orthopaedic surgeons. The intrarater (0.88 and 0.93) and interrater (0.79 and 0.81) agreement ranged from 0.79 to 0.93. One of the 18 patients showed complete breakage of the 2 cross pins 8 weeks after surgery, even though the pins were intact 4 days postoperatively. From an analysis of the remaining 17 patients, there was no significant difference in the coronal and sagittal measurements taken at postoperative 4 days and 8 weeks (P =. 170-.737) and all individual cases showed less than 3 mm slippage.

Conclusion

The expansion mechanism of the cross pin works well during the early healing period. However, further studies on the long-term outcomes are required. In addition, further study on the strength of this fixation technique is needed because 1 of the 18 patients showed broken pins.
Gender Differences in Rotation of the Shank during Single-Legged Drop Landing and its Relation to Rotational Muscle Strength of the Knee
Authors: Kiriyama Shinya , Sato Haruhiko , Takahira Naonobu
Published: October 2008

Background

Increased shank rotation during landing has been considered to be one of the factors for noncontact anterior cruciate ligament injuries in female athletes. There have been no known gender differences in rotational knee muscle strength, which is expected to inhibit exaggerated shank rotation.

Hypothesis

Women have less knee external rotator strength than do men. Lower external rotator strength is associated with increased internal shank rotation at the time of landing.

Study Design

Controlled laboratory study.

Methods

One hundred sixty-nine healthy young subjects (81 female and 88 male; age, 17.0 ± 1.0 years) volunteered to participate in this study. The subjects performed single-legged drop landings from a 20-cm height. Femoral and shank kinematics were measured using a 3D optoelectronic tracking system during the drop landings, and then the joint angles around the knee (flexion/extension, valgus/varus, and internal/external rotation) were calculated. The maximal isometric rotational muscle strength of the knee was measured at 30° of knee flexion in a supine position using a dynamometer.

Results

The female subjects had significantly less external shank rotation strength than did the male subjects (P < .001). Female subjects also exhibited significantly greater peak shank internal rotation angles than did males during landing (P < .05). Moderate but significant association was found between the maximum shank external rotation strength and the peak shank internal rotation angle during landing (r = —0.322, P < .01).

Conclusion

Female subjects tended to have poor shank external rotator strength. This may lead to large shank internal rotation movement during the single-legged drop landing.

Clinical Relevance

Improving strength training of the external rotator muscle may help decrease the rates of anterior cruciate ligament injury in female athletes.
Shifts in the Employment Conditions of Mexican Migrant Men and Women
Authors: Donato Katharine M. , Wakabayashi Chizuko , Hakimzadeh Shirin , Armenta Amada
Published: October 2008

Prior studies suggest that the passage of the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) in 1986 signaled deterioration in the labor market conditions faced by Mexican migrant men. In this article, the authors examine whether and how labor market conditions changed for migrant women after 1986, and the extent to which these shifts were comparable to those experienced by men. Using data about household heads and their spouses from the Mexican Migration Project, they examine sex differences in five employment conditions: hourly wages, hours worked, and the likelihoods of receiving wages in cash and paying federal and Social Security taxes. The authors find significant gender differences in the post-1986 period, especially after 1993 when most avenues to legal visas disappeared. These findings document negative policy impacts on the employment conditions of Mexican migrant men and women, and they suggest particularly precarious employment conditions for women since 1994.
Counterframes and Allegories of Evil
Authors: Isaac Larry
Published: October 2008

Social movement scholars have increasingly focused on the importance of the cultural-symbolic dimensions of collective contention. Conceptual and empirical studies of mobilization (and countermobilization) employing a framing perspective have become a growth industry. In this article, the author expands our purview of the symbolic-representational repertoire employed in collective contention and conceptually distinguishes between counterframing, counternarrating, and counterimagining as strategic forms of symbolic characterization employed by oppositions against social movements. The author illustrates these ideas by focusing on the countercontention against labor during the Gilded Age. All three symbolic countering strategies—framing, narrating, and imaging— were employed by business and cultural elites against labor as it was becoming a national-level movement during the last several decades of the 19th century. However, extended narratives (e.g., novels and partisan quasi-histories) and pictorial art produced an intelligibility distinct from, if not unrelated to, frames because they have the capacity to feature (a) movement or active presentation over time; (b) detailed characterization of actors; and (c) collective representation in allegorical-political terms that specified the evils of important emergent categories, like the transformation of “the good worker” into “the bad worker.” The author concludes that students of the labor movement (and social movements more generally) would benefit by augmenting analyses of frames to include allegorical-political uses of narrative and pictorial art forms as well.
ABS Nanocomposites Containing Modified Clay
Authors: Ambre Avinash , Jagtap Ramanand , Dewangan Badal
Published: October 2008

Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) nanocomposites were prepared by melt-mixing virgin ABS with organoclay. The organoclay was prepared by modifying sodium montmorillonite clay. The increase in the basal spacing of sodium montmorillonite clay resulting from modification and polymer intercalation was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The dispersion of clay layers in the polymer matrix was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Mechanical and thermal properties of the prepared nanocomposites were investigated. The prepared ABS nanocomposites were also subjected to characterization by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA).
Toughness of Adhesive Bonded Interface Under Static and Dynamic Loads — An Experimental Study
Authors: Kalyan Kumar Singh  , Singh R.K. , Kumar Prashant
Published: October 2008

Static toughness and impact-induced-damage of an adhesively bonded interface between two GFRP laminates are determined. A polyfunctional epoxy system, Epibond 1590 A/B, is employed as the adhesive. It is modified with a small amount of high molecular carboxylated acrylonitrile butadiene (XNBR) to enhance the toughness of adhesively bonded interface. To determine the optimum amount of XNBR four candidate proportions 0, 5, 7.5 and 10% of XNBR are explored. The Epibond 1590 A/B adhesive modified with 7.5% XNBR by weight gives the best performances. Impact studies on panels made of glassfiber fabric and impacted with incident impact energy of 9—12 J show a small separation failure on the adhesive interface which is much smaller than interlaminar delamination. However, impact induced experiments on glassfiber angle ply adherends with 12 J impact energy do not exhibit any separation failure on the adhesive interface although the interlaminar delamination is quite extensive.
An Investigation of Failure Criterion for New Orthotropic Ceramic Matrix Composite Materials
Authors: Yeh Hsien-Yang , Murphy Holly C. , Yeh Hsien-Liang
Published: October 2008

The purpose of this paper is to further study the Yeh-Stratton failure criterion for the application to the newly developed ceramic matrix composite (CMC). In this study, the failure analysis of notched orthogonal composite laminates under uniaxial tensile loading is examined with the Yeh-Stratton criterion. The Yeh-Stratton failure predictions are compared to several other fracture criteria including Tsai-Hill, Tsai-Wu, Cowin, Hoffman, Fischer, Chang and Chang, Hashin and Rotem Criterion, and Hashin. The materials being examined are fiber-reinforced orthotropic composites, each with a central crack. The first material is a ceramic matrix composite of interest in the aerospace industry. The second material in this study is a graphite/epoxy AS4/3502 [0/902/0]. Testing of both fiber reinforced CMC [0/90] and AS4/3502 [0/902/0] laminates containing central cracks and under tensile loading conditions were analytically investigated by the failure criteria and evaluated against the experimental results. The Yeh-Stratton criterion proved, in this study, to be an accurate means of predicting the fracture stress of a notched orthogonal composite laminate.
Effect of Coupling Agents on Polymer-Filler Surface Interactions, Morphology and Properties of Fiber-Reinforced Thermoplastics
Authors: Shokoohi Shirin , Aref Azar Ahmad
Published: October 2008

Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)/short glass fiber (SGF) composites were prepared. The effect of fiber volume fraction on the properties of composites was investigated, and test results were compared with theorical equations. SEM micrographs confirmed the reports in other studies that the adhesion between ABS and neat glass fiber is poor. Silane coupling agents with different organofunctional groups were used to improve the interface. The role of these coupling agents was studied by comparing processability, mechanical and physical properties of the composites containing different silane-treated glass fibers. It seems that using coupling agents, especially those with more effective functional groups, reduces the deviation of properties from theory. The affinity of different functional groups to ABS, as well as the strength of chemical and physical bandings formed during the reaction of silane modification, decides the effectiveness of the relative coupling agent. By properties and morphology analysis we concluded that tricholorovinyl silane seems to be the best coupling agent, for this composite. This conclusion is supported by the theorical possibility of forming stronger bands at the interface for this specific coupling agent.
Neuromuscular Hyperexcitability Associated with Acetylcholine Receptor Antibodies in a Child
Authors: Oskarsson Bjorn , Zawadzki Lucyna , Benke Timothy , Quan Dianna
Published: October 2008

This report describes the clinical and electrophysiological features of an 8-year-old boy with autoimmune neuromuscular hyperexcitability. He presented with features of lower extremity pain, stiffness, and rippling muscles. The diagnosis was made by electromyography and supported by the presence of an antibody directed against nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. His symptoms responded to immunomodulatory treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin. Response to immunomodulatory therapy has not previously been described in the pediatric population with autoimmune neuromuscular hyperexcitability. This case highlights that this is a treatable condition.
Demyelinating Optic Neuritis in Children
Authors: Alper Gulay , Wang Li
Published: October 2008

Acute demyelinating optic neuritis in children can occur in isolation or be associated with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, multiple sclerosis, or neuromyelitis optica. Clinical features, neuroimaging, cerebrospinal fluid findings, and long-term prognosis were reviewed in 26 children diagnosed with optic neuritis at the first presentation of demyelinating disease. The risk factors for the subsequent diagnosis of multiple sclerosis were analyzed. The mean duration of follow-up was 6.2 years. To date, 6 children have been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (23%). An abnormal brain magnetic resonance imaging, older age, oligoclonal bands in cerebrospinal fluid, and elevated immunoglobulin G index were associated with multiple sclerosis outcome. Children with monosymptomatic optic neuritis and an abnormal brain magnetic resonance imaging had a higher risk for multiple sclerosis. These children should be monitored closely for the subsequent diagnosis of multiple sclerosis and can be considered for early preventive therapy.
An Age and Gender Dependency of Metabolite Concentrations in Basal Ganglia in Children with Spastic Diplegia: Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Study
Authors: Kulak Wojciech , Sobaniec Wojciech , Śmigielska-Kuzia Joanna , Kubas Bożena , Zawada Bozena , Otapowicz Dorota
Published: October 2008

We determined metabolite profile in spastic diplegic children compared to controls in left basal ganglia of brain in using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy in correlation with age and gender. Twenty-four patients with spastic diplegia and twenty-six healthy children were examined. The relative concentrations of N-acetylaspartate, choline, and myoinositol were measured in relation to creatine and different combinations of metabolites within 8-cm3 brain voxel. Children with spastic diplegia showed reduced ratios of N-acetylaspartate/creatine, N-acetylaspartate/ choline, and N-acetylaspartate/myoinositol in the basal ganglia compared to the control group. Patients and controls subjects demonstrated a significant age-dependent increase in N-acetylaspartate/creatine, N-acetylaspartate/choline in the basal ganglia. No gender-dependent difference was shown in children with cerebral palsy for all tested metabolite ratios. Gender-related differences because of increased ratio N-acetylaspartate/choline in girls in controls were detected. These results indicate that maturation of brain exists in cerebral palsy and healthy children to a higher degree in healthy children.
The Influences of Gender and Religiousness on Alzheimer Disease Caregivers' Use of Informal Support and Formal Services
Authors: Fei Sun  , Lee Roff Lucinda , Klemmack David , Burgio Louis D.
Published: October 2008

Objective: This study explored how male and female family caregivers of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients differ in their use of formal services and informal support and how religiousness may affect such differences. Methods: Data were from a sample of 720 family caregivers of AD patients who participated in the Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer's Caregiver Heath (REACH I) study sites in Birmingham, Boston, Memphis, and Philadelphia. Results: Female caregivers were less likely to use in-home services than males ( M = 0.83 vs. M = 1.06, p < .01) but reported more use of transportation services (21.6% vs. 12.7%, p < .01) and more use of informal support ( M = 13.9 vs. M = 10.7, p < .01). Mediation tests suggested that three measures of religiousness helped explain the relationship between gender and use of formal services and informal support. Discussion: These findings highlight the necessity to assess AD caregivers' religiousness to better understand their circumstances.
The Little Mosque On the Prairie
Authors: Cañas Sandra
Published: October 2008

In the post-9/11 geopolitical context characterized by the reinforcement of orientalist ideas about Islam, and increasing xenophobia against Muslims, this article examines the politics of representation of Canadian television comedy Little Mosque on the Prairie. Drawing upon Frederic Jameson's contributions and postcolonial feminist critiques of western feminism, it highlights the ways this television show challenges orientalist conceptions of Islam and Muslims—particularly Muslim women—promoting diversity and tolerance among people from different origins and religious beliefs. Moreover, it also shows how even though Little Mosque on the Prairie seeks to promote religious and cultural diversity, this promotion has its own limitations and marginalizes those expressions considered extreme or contrary to a liberal conception of multiculturalism.
The Anti-Miscegenation History of the American Southwest, 1837 To 1970
Authors: Menchaca Martha
Published: October 2008

This article proposes that a historical analysis of court cases and state statutes can be used to illustrate how racist ideologies were transformed into practice and used to legalize racism. To exemplify this argument, marriage prohibition laws in the United States Southwest from 1837 to 1970 are examined. This analysis demonstrates that African Americans and Anglo Americans were not the only groups affected by anti-miscegenation legislation. Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, and Native Americans were also profoundly affected and their respective histories contribute to a more indepth understanding of the policies and practices used by state governments and the courts to discriminate against people of color. This article also reveals that most legal cases reaching state supreme courts in the Southwest involved Mexican Americans because their mixed racial heritage placed them in a legally ambiguous position.
'You can't do it ... it's theory rather than practice': staff use of the practice/principle rhetorical device in talk on empowering people with learning disabilities
Authors: Jingree Treena , Finlay W.M.L.
Published: October 2008

This study explores the discourses of support staff of people with learning disabilities talking about how choices and control are promoted or denied for service-users. A semi-structured interview based on issues identified in the White Paper 'Valuing People' was administered to 15 professional care-givers of people with learning disabilities. These were transcribed and analysed using discourse analysis. The analysis demonstrated the use of two dominant discursive themes: increasing autonomy and practicalities talk. These themes were frequently mobilized together in a manner that paralleled what Wetherell et al. (1987) termed a 'practice/ principle rhetorical device,' to argue against increasing choices and control. The implications of this are discussed, as are the subject positions offered to staff and service-users.
The construction of Turkey's possible EU membership in French political discourse
Authors: Tekin Beyza Çağatay
Published: October 2008

This study examines the construction of Turkey's possible membership of the European Union (EU) in French political discourse, after the Helsinki European Council of 1999. The primary objective of the article is to investigate which discursive strategies and which linguistic structures have been instrumental in this construction. Five analytical categories were investigated in this study; namely, the argumentation strategies, referential/ nomination strategies, predication strategies, as well as perspectivation and mitigation strategies. In each of these discursive strategies special attention is paid to linguistic tools, lexicalizations and rhetorical devices. The analysis shows that the core semantic strategy in the French political discourse on Turkey's possible EU membership is the construction of in- and outgroups, which is accomplished through a highly rhetorical language. Through these constructions French speakers are involved in an ongoing process of identity formation.
The expert witnesses and courtroom discourse: applying micro and macro forms of discourse analysis to study process and the 'doings of doings' for individuals and for society
Authors: Winiecki Don
Published: October 2008

The expert witness in legal proceedings is both a historically necessary part of modern legal proceedings in a society increasingly influenced by science and technology, and a much maligned figure often accused of purporting 'junk science' and of acting as an ethically empty mercenary. While much of the social action that attempts these various subjectifications is done outside of courtrooms, this article takes as its object verbal interaction in actual court proceedings that involve an expert witness. The study takes a combined conversation analytic (specifically, non-sequential, or membership categorization analyses) and discourse analytic (specifically post-structural) perspective. Findings focus on the particular use of categorizations by lawyers, judges and the expert witness in terms of rules of the law and of relevant science in the process of court proceedings and the way those categorizations are then used in subsequent court activities and decisions.
The language of critical discourse analysis: the case of nominalization
Authors: Billig Michael
Published: October 2008

This article examines the way that critical discourse is written. It does so by considering the concept of nominalization. Critical discourse analysts have suggested that nominalization (along with passivization) has important ideological functions such as deleting agency and reifying processes. However, the language used by critical analysts, as they explore nominalization, is revealing. They tend to use, and thereby instantiate, the very forms of language whose ideological potentiality they are warning against — such as deleting agency, using passives and turning processes into entities. The concept of 'nominalization' is itself a nominalization; it is typically used in imprecise ways that fail to specify underlying processes. If critical analysts take seriously their own ideological warnings about nominalization and passivization, they need to change the standard ways of writing critical analysis. We need to use simpler, less technical prose that clearly ascribes actions to human agents.
Incongruent and proud: de-vilifying 'nominalization'
Authors: Martin J.R.
Published: October 2008

This rejoinder reviews the interpretation of nominalization and grammatical metaphor in systemic functional linguistic theory and the critical role it plays in constructing knowledge, enabling evaluation and facilitating information flow. It is suggested that different disciplines deploy grammatical metaphor in complementary ways to construct their discourse and that these discourses depend fundamentally on this resource for their existence.