bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Situational Judgment Tests: A Review of Practice and Constructs Assessed
Authors: Cabrera Michael A. McDaniel , Nguyen Nhung T.
Published: December 2004

In this article, we seek to summarize current practice concerning situational judgment tests in personnel selection. We begin by describing the manner in which situational judgment tests are developed and examining the diverse ways in which situational items are presented and scored. We then offer speculation concerning constructs assessed by situational judgment tests as well as discuss the legal aspect of situational judgment measures. We also review meta‐analytic evidence concerning the construct validity of situational judgment tests and offer several new meta‐analytic findings. Situational judgment tests are shown to be typically correlated moderately with general mental ability. Their primary personality correlates are emotional stability, conscientiousness, and agreeableness. Situational test scores also tend to increase with increasing years of job experience. The article concludes with a list of areas that need addressed in future research.
Toward an Integrative Theory of Counterproductive Workplace Behavior: A Causal Reasoning Perspective
Authors: Martinko Mark J. , Gundlach Michael J. , Douglas Scott C.
Published: December 2004

Over the past decade, there has been an increase in attention to counterproductive workplace behaviors including violence, stealing, dishonesty, volitional absenteeism, drug and alcohol abuse, and aggression, many of which have been addressed in this special issue. Accompanying the attention to these specific types of behaviors has been a proliferation of theories developed to explain, understand, and manage counterproductive behavior. While these theories have addressed many apparently divergent types of behaviors, many similarities exist between and among these various perspectives. In this article, we integrate these various perspectives into a causal reasoning framework, proposing that individuals’ attributions about the causal dimensions of workplace events are a primary factor motivating both the emotions and behaviors that result in counterproductive workplace behaviors.
The Assessment of Counterproductive Tendencies by Means of the California Psychological Inventory
Authors: Hakstian A. Ralph , Farrell Seonaid , Tweed Roger G.
Published: December 2004

The authors developed an 80‐item scale to measure counterproductive tendencies, using items on the California Psychological Inventory (CPI), Form 434, and choosing items on the basis of their correlations, in a sample of 1,019 university undergraduates, with a self‐report instrument measuring counterproductive behaviors. A factor analysis of this criterion instrument revealed nine underlying dimensions. Analyses of scores on the new scale revealed significant gender differences (males higher) and yielded separate‐gender norms for four populations of interest. Internal‐consistency and test‐retest reliability estimates ranged between .80 and .90 across five samples. Correlations with standard CPI scales and domain and facet scales from the NEO PI‐R provided evidence of construct validity. Estimated true criterion‐related validity for the scale (a) averaged .60 in a student sample against the self‐report counterproductive‐behavior criterion, (b) was .35 against rated counterproductive job behavior in an employee sample, and (c) ranged as high as .36 against several other job‐performance ratings in two additional workplace samples.
Assessment and Prevention of Sexual Harassment of Employees: An Applied Guide to Creating Healthy Organizations
Authors: Bell Myrtle P. , Quick James Campbell , Cycyota Cynthia S.
Published: December 2004

Sexual harassment occurs in organizations around the world, with costly consequences for employees and employers. In this article, we present a case for the primary prevention of sexual harassment, a dysfunctional, counterproductive behavior. We propose that primary prevention can positively influence organizational characteristics and the organizational harassment culture through preventive organizational actions (POAs), helping to build healthy organizations. Rather than being reactive, and instituted after the fact, primary prevention is a proactive approach that addresses root causes of sexual harassment, preventing its development. This approach is research‐based and grounded in the well‐established traditions of public health and preventive medicine that are applied to prevention of chronic health problems, such as cardiovascular disease. Management commitment, zero tolerance, applicant and new hire awareness, and regular assessments and training are important aspects of the proactive preventive management of sexual harassment.
Human resource development roles and competencies in five European countries
Authors: Valkeavaara Tuija
Published: December 2004

This article compares HRD practitioners’ self‐assessments based on their work roles, outputs and competencies from England, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany and Finland. The comparison is based on results produced by European surveys conducted between 1992–96, which adopted their model from an earlier study of HRD practitioners in the USA. In terms of work roles, the findings showed the culture‐bound nature of HRD work and also, through the appearance of new work roles, its close relation to changes in working life. English and the Finnish HRD practitioners in particular, seemed to perceive themselves as agents of change while for the Germans, the role of trainer still seemed valid. In terms of their competencies, HRD practitioners seem to represent a broad‐based and development‐oriented source of expertise. Further‐more, despite their diverse roles, HRD practitioners seem to require a common core competence. It is this which enables them to identify the needs and problems of individuals and of the organisation, to promote and analyse the developmental processes, as well as to manage interactional relations.
Employee age and voluntary development activity
Authors: Warr Peter , Birdi Kamal
Published: December 2004

It is known that older workers undertake less formal training than younger ones, but little information is available about age‐patterns in voluntary development activities undertaken in an employee’s own time. In a study of 1798 manufacturing workers, age and ten other factors were examined in relation to four types of activity: participation in a tuition refund scheme, learning in an employee development programme, attendance at an employee development centre, and use of a personal development record. Significant age‐ differences were found, and key influential factors were identified as older workers’ lower educational qualifications (representing both cognitive and affective differences) and their more limited learning motivation (linked to lower learning confidence and greater perceived time constraints). However, older individuals who had previously undertaken each form of development were as positive about that previous activity as were younger participants. Possible interventions to increase voluntary development at older ages include rewards for participation, enhancement of basic skills, pretraining in appropriate learning strategies, sequential exposure to graded learning demands, and steps to change organisational stereotypes of older staff.
Perceived work conditions and self‐directed learning in the process of work
Authors: Straka Gerald A.
Published: December 2004

Self‐directed learning at work is becoming a megatrend in training and organisational development. However, there is a wide range of meanings subsumed under this concept. Referring to theoretical considerations in the domains of motivation, interest, strategies of learning and control, a conceptual model of self‐directed learning, called the Two‐Shell Model of Motivated Self‐Directed Learning was developed and validated. The impact of selected perceived work conditions (experienced autonomy, competence and social integration) on this type of learning was structurally modelled with a sample of 67 employees in the fish processing industry. On the basis of these theoretical considerations and results the instrument ‘project group’ is analysed and recommended to support motivated self‐directed learning.
Are All Species Equal?
Authors: Schmidtz David
Published: December 2004

Species egalitarianism is the view that all species have equal moral standing. To have moral standing is, at a minimum, to command respect, to be something more than a mere thing. Is there any reason to believe that all species have moral standing in even this most minimal sense? If so — that is, if all species command respect — is there any reason to believe they all command equal respect.

The article summarises critical responses to Paul Taylor’s argument for species egalitarianism, then explains why other species command our respect but also why they do not command equal respect. The intuition that we should have respect for nature is part of what motivates people to embrace species egalitarianism, but one need not be a species egalitarian to have respect for nature. The article closes by questioning whether species egalitarianism is even compatible with respect for nature.
On the Tail‐Docking of Pigs, Human Circumcision, and their Implications for Prevailing Opinion Regarding Pain
Authors: Williams R. M.
Published: December 2004

Abstract In this paper, I argue for the modest claim that people's apparent indifference to animal pain may not be predicated upon speciesism. I defend that claim by developing an analogy between current attitudes toward at least some non‐human animal pain — that which pigs endure while having their tails ‘docked’— and our culture's indifference to the pain that male human infants experience while being circumcised. And I conclude that to convince more of their philosophical and social critics, ‘animal liberationists’ need to spend more time analyzing the pain that non‐human animals experience and defending its moral significance, rather than assuming that such pain is significant and then simply arguing that unnecessary forms of it exist.
Moving up, moving down: Political careers across territorial levels
Authors: Stolz Klaus
Published: December 2004

In the sparse literature on political careers in federal systems, regional positions are often seen as mere stepping stones on the way to federal office. But are they really? The recent professionalization of state politics in federal systems and the regionalization of former unitary states point to the strengthening of the regional level as a career arena in its own right. Could this lead to the emergence of a regional political class with a set of career interests distinct from those of national politicians? This article takes a first, comparative look at current patterns of career movements between regional and national parliaments in a wide range of federal and newly regionalized systems. The study shows that, contrary to general belief, the number of deputies actually moving from the regional to federal level is generally relatively low. While some cases show fairly integrated career structures, others exhibit a pattern of career development in which state or regional office functions as the main focus of political careers. The territorial structure of the political class is dependent upon a whole range of social, cultural and institutional factors. At the same time, it is also an important factor in the mechanics and institutional development of each federal system in question.
The theory of human development: A cross‐cultural analysis
Authors: WELZEL CHRISTIAN , INGLEHART RONALD , KLIGEMANN HANS‐DIETER
Published: December 2004

Abstract.This article demonstrates that socioeconomic development, emancipative cultural change and democratization constitute a coherent syndrome of social progress – a syndrome whose common focus has not been properly specified by classical modernization theory. We specify this syndrome as ‘human development’, arguing that its three components have a common focus on broadening human choice. Socioeconomic development gives people the objective means of choice by increasingindividual resources; risingemancipative valuesstrengthen people's subjective orientation towards choice; and democratization provides legal guarantees of choice by institutionalizingfreedom rights. Analysis of data from the World Values Surveys demonstrates that the linkage between individual resources, emancipative values and freedom rights is universal in its presence across nations, regions and cultural zones; that this human development syndrome is shaped by a causal effect of individual resources and emancipative values on freedom rights; and that this effect operates through its impact onelite integrity, as the factor which makes freedom rights effective.
Cooperative forms of governance: Problems of democratic accountability in complex environments
Authors: PAPADOPOULOS YANNIS
Published: December 2004

Abstract.Various schools of research in public policy (the literature on ‘governance’ and its continental counterparts) are converging to focus on the growth of policy styles based on cooperation and partnership in networks, instead of on vertical control by the state. This article focuses on issues of democratic accountability and responsiveness with these governance arrangements. It argues that until recently the legitimacy of governance networks was not at the forefront of theoretical developments, even though the ‘democratic deficit’ of governance is problematic both for normative and for pragmatic reasons. There is now increased sensitivity to this problem, but the remedies presented in the literature are unsatisfactory, and critiques of governance presuppose a somewhat idealised image of representative democracy in terms of accountability or responsiveness of decision‐makers. They also fail to offer adequate solutions to some of the central legitimacy problems of policy‐making in complex societies.
Beyond dichotomous explanations: Explaining constitutional control of the executive with fuzzy‐sets
Authors: PENNINGS PAUL
Published: December 2004

Abstract. What are the main variations in the constitutional control of the executive in 45 parliamentary democracies and how can these differences be accounted for? Four competing hypotheses, based on dichotomies, explain the degree of this control by means of contrasting institutional settings: consensus democracy versus majoritarian democracy, presidentialism versus parliamentarism, thick versus thin constitutionalism and established versus new democracies. These hypotheses are tested with the help of fuzzy‐sets that allow for varying degrees of membership that go beyond the presence/absence suggested by these dichotomies. The necessary and sufficient conditions for constitutional control are specified with the help of this new methodology. The fuzzy‐set analysis shows that the degree of constitutional control can be explained solely by a specific combination of institutional conditions stemming from the four dichotomies, and not by one single dimension. This constellation remains hidden for the traditional correlational techniques like regression. Hence, the fuzzy‐set logic presents a promising new tool for comparativists that can be used to reveal causalities.
Citizens, Charters and Public Service Reform in France and Britain
Authors: Clark David
Published: December 2004

THIS ARTICLE EXAMINES THE PATTERN OF SIMILARITIES AND differences in Britain and France with regard to public service charterism: that strand of recent public service reform designed to reconstruct relations between the state and the citizen on the basis of new or revitalized principles of public service, epitomized by the Citizen's Charter (1991) in Britain and the Charte des Services Publics (1992) in France. Despite the appearance of increasing convergence in the rhetoric of public management reform in the two countries during the 1990s, especially during the incumbency of centre-left governments in the latter part of the decade, there is evidence of continuing divergence in the philosophy and practice of public service charterism. This article argues that variation is a function of the existence of country-specific public service regimes, embodying different ideals of citizenship, which have shaped the emergence and implementation of charter policy in Britain and France.
A House for the Future: Debating Second Chamber Reform in the United Kingdom
Authors: Smith David E.
Published: December 2004

The publication of the report of the royal commission on the Reform of the House of Lords, A House for the Future, provides an occasion to look at second chambers and bicameralism in Anglo- American democracies. This limited focus is not for want of subject matter: the Inter-Parliamentary Union reports that of 178 parliamentary democracies in 1996, 58 were bicameral. Nor is the subject of second chambers, while never popular, a neglected area of inquiry at present. In fact, more has been published on the topic in the past four years than at any time in recent memory. The reason for focusing on Anglo-American countries is that they are the democracies where upper chambers are being transformed today. In response to events unique to themselves, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom have of late looked beyond responsible government as traditionally defined and begun to examine the role of their second chambers. The United States warrants inclusion because it is the founder of the theory of modern bicameralism.
Clinton's Encounter with the Separation of Powers: ‘United’ and ‘Divided’ Gridlock
Authors: Campbell Colin
Published: December 2004

Soon After The Democratic Candidate For President Of The United States in 2000, Al Gore, conceded defeat to George W. Bush, he engaged in a heated exchange with President Bill Clinton over why he had lost the election. Gore argued that Clinton's sexual escapades, and public qualms about other character issues, notwithstanding strong approval ratings for the job he was doing as president, had contributed significantly to Gore's defeat. Clinton retorted that Gore blew an ideal chance to run on the record of the Clinton administration and fumbled a perfect opportunity to become president. However, the Clinton record proves ambiguous at best. Indeed, the aftertaste has carried strongly over to his first hundred days out of office. The dubious pardons, ‘conversion’ of public property from the White House and rental rates at prime Manhattan locations have grabbed more headlines and provided more grist for talk shows, it often seems, than negative coverage of George W. Bush. Indeed, in terms of negatives, we run the risk of seeing Clinton's first hundred days out of office eclipse Bush's first hundred days in the presidency.
Social Capital, Learning and EU Regional Policy Networks: Evidence from Greece
Authors: Paraskevopoulos Christos J.
Published: December 2004

This Article Discusses The Importance Of Social Learning For Eu public policy-making in general and regional policy in particular. The first section analyses the implications of the learning process for EU regional policy and examines its social and institutional prerequisites. Section two introduces the concepts of social capital and institutional networks as components crucial for the learning process and socialization function. The third section, based on the analysis of the role of social learning, delineates the multi-level system of governance in EU regional policy. The fourth section presents empirical evidence from Greek regions on the role of social learning in the implementation of EU regional policy (Structural Funds) programmes. Finally, the last section draws conclusions on the role of social learning in EU regional policy and lessons from the Greek experience.
The Domestic Sources of European Anti‐Americanism
Authors: Fabbrini Sergio
Published: December 2004

The Terrorist Attacks In New York And Washington Dc On 11 September 2001, and the killing of thousands of people were not sufficient to dispel a mood of suspicion in European public opinion towards America. Of course, during the very first days after the attack, there was widespread grief and sorrow about the event among Europeans. But, as soon as discussion on the right strategy to pursu to combat terrorism began, the initial mood of identification with America started to change. And when America, although backed by a large international coalition and legitimated by two UN resolutions, moved towards an armed intervention in Afghanistan, European anti-Americanism emerged again. Thus, during the armed intervention in Afghanistan, especially when the bombing led to the death of innocent victims, a social mobilization against theAmerican wargrew day after day, with its critics apparently losing sight of the fact that a dramatic terrorist attack on America had recently taken place.

The interesting question is why does anti-Americanism re-emerge regularly in large sections of European public opinion? This intermittent Anti-Americanism appears more in southern and continental Europe, than in the northern British Isles and Scandinavia, where it is outdone by a more vociferous anti-Europeanism. In the latter countries, anti-Americanism takes the form of uneasiness with the United States. In fact, in spite of Britain's traditional special relationship with the United States, the fact cannot be denied that post-war British elites grudgingly accept their inferior status in that special relationship. But, of course, frustration with America is not the same as anger towards America. In any case, in (continental) Europe, anti- Americanism seems to be one of the few public philosophies that can unite large sections of the left, the right and the Catholic Church. It is a public philosophy which emerges especially in periods of war (and of international crisis in general).
The ‘Good War’ after September 11
Authors: Lawler Peter
Published: December 2004

Rather Than Signalling The End Of War, As Many Liberal Minds had hoped, the end of the cold war has seen ‘hot’ war moving firmly to centre-stage, while at the same time presaging a reclassification of its predominant forms and purposes. Since 1990 there has been a rash of what Kaldor calls ‘new wars’. Although often highly localized, they confound settled understandings of inter-state or civil war by virtue of the diverse range of protagonists involved, the issues over which they are fought, and their consistently brutal impact upon civilians. A virtual revolution in media technology has also made such wars publicly visible to an unprecedented degree. In spite of the fact that new wars are often fought without recourse to the most sophisticated or destructive of military technology, the horrific impact upon populations caught up in them has clearly assaulted public sensibilities worldwide and generated a chorus of demands that something should be done about them. Consequently, the political and ethical dimensions of going to war in response to such threats have also moved in from the periphery to the centre of public and intellectual debate. As Walzer has recently observed, the ‘chief dilemma of international politics is whether people in danger should be rescued by military forces from outside’. From the point of view of the key members of the international community at least, armed ‘humanitarian intervention’ is no longer just a form of war but has become virtually synonymous with permissible war itself.
Opposition to the European Union in the UK: The Dilemma of Public Opinion and Party Management
Authors: Usherwood Simon
Published: December 2004

The Main Aim Of This Article Is To Understand Some Of The processes at work in the management of European policy formation by political parties in the UK. More specifically, it attempts to apply and extend the model proposed by Aspinwall of institutional constraints on that policy management. Whereas Aspinwall limits the application of his model to parliamentary coalitions and effective power, we push the model further by describing and analysing its interaction with other features of the political landscape, most notably the generally low level of interest in European affairs on the part of the British public.
Selection, Voting and Adjudication: The Politics of Legislative Membership in the Federal Republic of Germany
Authors: Roberts Geoffrey K.
Published: December 2004

There Has Been Much Concern In The Past Few Years About the ‘decline of parliament’ in West European democracies. In the United Kingdom, criticism of the New Labour government has included its apparent neglect of Parliament demonstrated by the style and strategies of the government, ranging from reduction in the time allotted to prime minister's question-time and the utilization of the mass media rather than Parliament as the forum for important policy statements, to the government's refusal to accept reforms to the method of appointments to House of Commons select committees, as recommended by the House of Commons Liaison Committee. Strong party discipline, coupled with sanctions which can affect the political careers of MPs for failure to obey the edicts of the party leadership, have limited the autonomy of MPs in Britain, and, to a varying degree, in other West European countries also. Certainly the German Bundestag has been criticized for being too much under the control of the leaderships of the political parties, in terms of voting on legislation, the stage-management of debates and the choice of leaders of the parliamentary parties (the removal by Chancellor Schröder of Scharping as leader of the SPD parliamentary party in 1998 at the instigation of Lafontaine, the then party chairman, is a notorious instance).
A Strange Affair: The 2002 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections in France
Authors: Cole Alistair
Published: December 2004

The 2002 Elections In France Were A Gripping Drama Unfolding in four acts. Each act has to be understood as part of a whole, as each election was ultimately dependent upon the results of the first round of the presidential election on 21 April. However untypical in the context of Fifth Republican history, the first round of the presidential election strongly inf luenced the peculiar course of the subsequent contests. The outcome of the first election on the 21 April – at which the far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen won through to the second ballot against Jacques Chirac, narrowly distancing the outgoing premier Lionel Jospin – created an electric shock which reverberated around the streets of Paris and other French cities and sparked a civic mobilization without parallel since May '68. The end-result of this exceptional republican mobilization was to secure the easy (initially rather unexpected) re-election of Chirac as president at the second round two weeks later. The election of 5 May was unlike a typical second-round election. Rather than a bipolar contest pitting left and right over a choice of future governmental orientations, it was a plebiscite in favour of democracy (hence Chirac) against the far-right (Le Pen). Chirac was re-elected overwhelmingly as president, supported by at least as many leftwing as right-wing voters. This enforced plebiscite against the extreme right allowed a resurgent Jacques Chirac to claim a renewed presidential authority. At the parliamentary election of 9 and 16 June, the Fifth Republic reverted to a more traditional mode of operation, as a new ‘presidential party’, informally launched just weeks before the elections, obtained a large overall majority of seats to ‘support the President’ in time-honoured Fifth Republican tradition.
Social Democracy and Globalization: The Cases of France and the UK
Authors: Clift Ben
Published: December 2004

This Article Explores The Nature Of Contemporary Social democracy, questioning, with like-minded scholars, John Gray's interpretation of the relationship between social democracy and globalization, which asserts that social democracy is a historically exhausted project. Garrett, for example, in rejecting such assertions, argues that social democracy remains a distinctive and viable ‘project’ within the global economy, specifically in cases where strong left-of-centre parties are linked to ‘encompassing labour movements’. He has subsequently argued that social democracy in ‘Euroland’ (with or without encompassing labour movements) can pursue a less constrained fiscal policy, and expect a more accommodating monetary policy than some predict. Garrett thus insists that social democratic governments within the Eurozone are able to ‘use macroeconomic policy to lessen market dislocations and to redistribute wealth and risk in the ever more globalized economy’.
Brain Blood‐flow Alterations Induced by Therapeutic Vagus Nerve Stimulation in Partial Epilepsy: II. Prolonged Effects at High and Low Levels of Stimulation
Authors: Henry Thomas R. , Bakay Roy A. E. , Pennell Page B. , Epstein Charles M. , Votaw John R.
Published: December 2004

Summary:  Purpose: To measure vagus nerve stimulation (VNS)‐induced cerebral blood flow (CBF) effects after prolonged VNS and to compare these effects with immediate VNS effects on CBF.

Methods: Ten consenting partial epilepsy patients had positron emission tomography (PET) with intravenous [15O]H2O. Each had three control scans without VNS and three scans during 30 s of VNS, within 20 h after VNS began (immediate‐effect study), and repeated after 3 months of VNS (prolonged study). After intrasubject subtraction of control from stimulation scans, images were anatomically transformed for intersubject averaging and superimposed on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for anatomic localization. Changes on t‐statistical maps were considered significant at p < 0.05 (corrected for multiple comparisons).

Results: During prolonged studies, CBF changes were not observed in any regions that did not have CBF changes during immediate‐effect studies. During both types of studies, VNS‐induced CBF increases were similarly located in the bilateral thalami, hypothalami, inferior cerebellar hemispheres, and right postcentral gyrus. During immediate‐effect studies, VNS decreased bilateral hippocampal, amygdalar, and cingulate CBF and increased bilateral insular CBF; no significant CBF changes were observed in these regions during prolonged studies. Mean seizure frequency decreased by 25% over a 3‐month period between immediate and prolonged PET studies, compared with 3 months before VNS began.

Conclusions: Seizure control improved during a period over which some immediate VNS‐induced CBF changes declined (mainly over cortical regions), whereas other VNS‐induced CBF changes persisted (mainly over subcortical regions). Altered synaptic activities at sites of persisting VNS‐induced CBF changes may reflect antiseizure actions.
Phenobarbital for the Treatment of Epilepsy in the 21st Century: A Critical Review
Authors: Kwan Patrick , Brodie Martin J.
Published: December 2004

Summary:  Phenobarbital (PB) is the most widely used antiepileptic drug (AED) in the developing world and remains a popular choice in many industrialized countries. Meta‐analyses of randomized controlled trials suggest that few differences in efficacy exist between PB and other established AEDs, but its possible deleterious cognitive and behavioral side effects remain a concern in the developed world. In contrast, high degrees of efficacy and tolerability in everyday clinical use have been demonstrated consistently in observational studies in developing countries. We propose that a pragmatic, comprehensive outcomes program be carried out, perhaps under the aegis of the Global Campaign Against Epilepsy, to optimize the conditions of the use of PB, so that more people around the world can benefit from this cost‐effective medication and live more fulfilling lives.
The identification of able socially deprived pupils: LEA advice to primary schools
Authors: BONSHEK JANE
Published: December 2004

This article examines the advice that local education authorities (LEAs) in England and Wales give to primary schools on the identification of able socially deprived pupils. The research described here is situated within the context of the theoretical literature and central government policy regarding these children. It is noted that identification of able pupils has become more inclusive, although limited research has been undertaken on socially deprived able pupils. The role of central government in supporting these pupils through flagship initiatives such as Excellence in Cities is then analysed and the identification advice that LEAs provide to primary schools is examined. It was found that, whilst LEAs provide systematic and inclusive identification advice, the identification of able socially deprived pupils is only tangentially addressed. The problems associated with the use of checklists by LEAs are examined and the implications of the research are discussed.
The ethics of intervention
Authors: GLENNY GEORGINA
Published: December 2004

Policy with regard to children with special educational needs has been continuously discussed and revised over the last 25 years to try to ensure that all children receive their rights to appropriate educational opportunities. However, as Georgina Glenny argues in this article, these efforts have led to a focus on the assessment and definition of need at the expense of attention to the quality of the intervention that follows. This relative lack of attention to the quality of the intervention raises serious questions for teachers, schools and local authorities as to the nature of their responsibilities for the children entrusted to their care. It is proposed that more systematic monitoring of the effectiveness of interventions would assist in refocusing attention on to the quality of children's learning experiences.
Linking Marketing and Engineering Product Design Decisions via Analytical Target Cascading*
Authors: Michalek Jeremy J. , Feinberg Fred M. , Papalambros Panos Y.
Published: December 2004

Firms design products that appeal to consumers and are feasible to produce. The resulting marketing and engineering design goals are driven by consumer preferences and engineering capabilities, two issues that conveniently are addressed in isolation from one another. This convenient isolation, however, typically will not result in optimal product decisions when the two problems are interrelated. A method new to the marketing community, analytical target cascading (ATC), is adopted here to explore such interrelationships and to formalize the process of coordinating marketing and engineering design problems in a way that is proven to yield the joint optimal solution. The ATC model is built atop well‐established marketing methodologies, such as conjoint, discrete choice modeling and demand forecasting. The method is demonstrated in the design of dial‐readout household scales, using real conjoint choice data and a parametric engineering product design model. Results indicate that the most profitable achievable product can fall short of predictions based on marketing alone but well ahead of what engineering may produce based on original marketing target specifications. A number of extensions can be accomplished readily using techniques from the extant marketing and design optimization literature.
De novo mutations in monilethrix
Authors: Horev Liran , Djabali Karima , Green Jack , Sinclair Rodney , Martinez‐Mir Amalia , Ingber Arieh , Christiano Angela M. , Zlotogorski Abraham
Published: December 2004

Abstract: Mutations in the hair keratins hHb1 and hHb6 have been recently reported to cause monilethrix, an autosomal dominant hair shaft disorder, characterized by variable degrees of hair fragility and follicular hyperkeratosis. We found 10 families with monilethrix in which the parents were not clinically affected, and sequenced the hair keratin hHb1, hHb3 and hHb6 genes in seven patients. In five patients no mutations were found, while in two patients we identified de novo germline missense mutations at the helix termination motif: E402K (hHb6) and E413K (hHb1).
The differential effect of broad band vs. narrow band UVB with respect to photodamage and cutaneous inflammation
Authors: Tjioe M. , Smits T. , Van De Kerkhof P. C. M. , Gerritsen M. J. P.
Published: December 2004

Abstract:  Since Fischer reported on the superiority of 313 nm UVB compared with broad band UVB in the treatment of psoriasis, narrow band UVB has become the main phototherapeutical modality in several countries. There is some discussion about the safety and photobiological effects of narrow band UVB. In the present study, narrow and broad band UVB have been compared with respect to parameters for photodamage and inflammation. Fourteen healthy volunteers were randomized in two groups. Both groups were irradiated with three minimal erythema doses (MED) of narrow or broad band UVB, respectively. Before and 4, 24 and 48 h after irradiation, 6 mm biopsies were taken for immunohistochemical analysis of p53, apoptosis and p16 (photodamage parameters) and T‐cells, polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) and Langerhans' cells (inflammatory cells). Mean MED for narrow band UVB was 8.125 times higher than broad band UVB. Significant changes in expression were seen for all parameters except for p16. P53, apoptosis, T‐cells and PMN increased, while Langerhans' cell count decreased significantly. No significant differences were seen between the narrow and broad band UVB. In conclusion, following irradiation of three MED narrow band UVB and broad band UVB safety parameters for carcinogenesis and inflammation were induced to the same extent. As narrow band UVB is more effective than broad band UVB, the present study suggests superiority of narrow band UVB as a treatment with a better benefit risk ratio.
Immunomolecular mapping of adherens junction and desmosomal components in normal human epidermis
Authors: Ishiko A. , Matsunaga Y. , Masunaga T. , Aiso S. , Nishikawa T. , Shimizu H.
Published: December 2004

Abstract:  Adherens junctions (AJs) are cell–cell and cell–matrix junctions that are known to comprise of transmembrane and cytoplasmic components linked to the f‐actin cytoskeleton. Although the presence of AJs has been confirmed in normal human epidermis, previous studies immunolocalizing AJ‐related antigens have been controversial. The purpose of this study was to produce a more precise molecular mapping of AJs and their constituents in relation to desmosomes in normal human epidermal keratinocytes. Using an electron microscopy (EM) method to optimally fix plasma membranes, AJ structures were typically seen as a narrowing of the intercellular space between two keratinocytes that was distinct from desmosomes and gap junctions. Such structures were consistently found more frequently in the upper epidermis than in the basal layer. Immunogold electron microscopy showed an absence of the AJ components (E‐cadherin and β‐catenin) from desmosomal areas but they were present at interdesmosomal areas at sites of close membrane association. Conversely, the desmosomal components plakoglobin and plakophilin 1 were restricted only to the outer attachment plaque of the desmosome. These results further confirm that AJs have a distinct molecular composition and distribution from desmosomes and that they regularly occur between desmosomes along the keratinocyte plasma membrane to provide alternative cell–cell adhesion mechanisms.
Long‐term variation in the population structure of Arctic charr,Salvelinus alpinus, and brown trout,Salmo trutta
Authors: Aass P. , Jensen C. S. , L'abée‐Lund J. H. , Vøllestad L. A.
Published: December 2004

The effects of induced water level fluctuations and introduction of the mysidMysis relictaLovén on population structure of brown trout,Salmo truttaL., and Arctic charr,Salvelinus alpinus(L.), were studied during 1953–1995 in Limingen hydroelectric reservoir, Norway. The main response was a marked reduction in catch‐per‐unit‐effort (CPUE) for trout and charr, probably caused by reduced recruitment following increased variation in water level. For both species, mean length decreased until 1967 and increased thereafter, whereas mean mass‐at‐length increased for the whole period. Both length and mass‐at‐length were negatively correlated with CPUE. The increases in mean length and mass‐at‐length were probably because of reduced competition following the reduced recruitment.Mysis relictahas become an important food item for charr but not for brown trout, but the increases in mean length and mass‐at‐length of charr started prior to the appearance ofM. relictain the charr diet.
Transcriptional regulation of a Purkinje cell‐specific gene through a functional interaction between RORα and RAR
Authors: Matsui Takashi
Published: December 2004

Background: The orphan nuclear receptor RORα is highly expressed in the Purkinje cells of the cerebellum during the postnatal development of brain. A recent observation has been made that the RORα gene is disrupted in staggerer mice—which show a cell‐autonomous defect in the development of the Purkinje cells.

Results: In order to understand the functions of RORα in cerebellar development, I attempted to identify its target genes. Transient expression study demonstrated that transcription of the Purkinje cellprotein‐2 (Pcp‐2) gene is activated by RORα,which binds as a monomer to a single half‐site motif (RORE) within the promoter region. Its transcription was also activated by retinoic acid receptor (RAR) which binds as a heterodimer with RXR to a retinoic acid responsive element (RARE) in the downstream region. Interestingly, the RORα‐mediated transcription is further activated synergistically by RAR.

Conclusion: That the Pcp‐2 gene is a targetof RORα, and is suggested that its transcription is also regulated by RAR.
Phosphatidylinositol 3‐kinase inhibition enhances human sperm motility and sperm–zona pellucida binding
Authors: Du Plessis S. S. , Franken D. R. , Baldi E. , Luconi M.
Published: December 2004

Various signalling pathways are involved in the regulation of sperm motility, capacitation, acrosome reaction and sperm–zona binding. Recent data pointed out an important role for phosphatidylinositol 3‐kinase (PI3K) in human sperm motility. However, no study as of yet has been carried out to determine the effect of sperm treatment with the PI3K inhibitor LY294002 on other sperm parameters. In the present study, we investigated the role of PI3K on human sperm motility, acrosome reaction and sperm–oocyte binding by using this inhibitor. We demonstrate that in vitro incubation of washed unselected spermatozoa with LY294002 increased the percentage motility and progressive motility in asthenozoospermia patients as evaluated by computer‐aided sperm analysis. The compound furthermore did not influence the acrosome reaction, whilst it (further) slightly enhanced sperm‐oocyte binding. Our results therefore imply that PI3K negatively affects sperm motility and oocyte binding and might suggest a possible therapeutic role for PI3K inhibitors in the treatment regime for asthenozoospermia.
Caries and dental fluorosis in a 0·25 and a 2·5 ppm fluoride area in the Sudan
Authors: IBRAHIM Y. E. , BJORVATN K. , BIRKELAND J. M.
Published: December 2004

The purpose of this study was to assess the caries prevalence of children living in areas with either 0·25 or 2·5 ppm fluoride in the drinking water, and to relate caries experience to the severity of dental fluorosis. The children, aged 6–16 years (mean 11·3 years), were lifelong residents of their rural villages. The severity of dental fluorosis in the maxillary central incisors, assessed by Deans index, was 1·4 ± 0·9 (n = 59) and 2·3 ± 0·9 (n = 65) in the 0·25 and 2·5 ppm areas, respectively. There was no significant difference in DMFT between children from the two areas (2·6 ± 2·3 n = 59 versus 2·1 ± 2·3, n = 65). In the low‐fluoride area 75% of the children had decayed permanent teeth compared to 66% in the high‐fluoride area. In the primary teeth, however, both the caries prevalence and the dmft were significantly lower in the 2·5 ppm area than in the low‐fluoride area. Stepwise, multiple, linear regression analyses, including all children, showed a significant effect of age on DMFT (30% of the variance explained), but no explanatory effect of fluoride in drinking water, severity of dental fluorosis, or gender. Regression analyses based on children in the 2·5 ppm area alone, showed significantly higher DMFT by increased severity of dental fluorosis. In children with a mixed dentition (n = 66), there was no association between caries in the primary and permanent teeth.
A Test of the Cross‐Generational Transmission of Grooming Preferences in Macaques
Authors: Schino Gabriele , Aureli Filippo , Ventura Raffaella , Troisi Alfonso
Published: December 2004

In this study we compared the grooming networks of macaque mothers and adult daughters in order to test whether primate social preferences may be transmitted from one generation to the next. We studied four social groups belonging to three different species (Macaca fascicularis, M. fuscata and M. sylvanus). We found no evidence for the transmission of individual degrees of kin bias or of preference for high‐ranking individuals (transmission of ‘rules of choice’). Only in one of four social groups were idiosyncratic interindividual preferences of mothers significantly similar to those of their adult daughters. Overall, the results of this study question the generality of the intergenerational transmission of social preferences in macaques. It is suggested that species‐specific degrees of preferences for kin and for high‐ranking individuals should be selected for and strategically adjusted by individual females in relation to social circumstances.
Evidence for a GABAergic projection from the central nucleus of the amygdala to the brainstem of the macaque monkey: a combined retrograde tracing andin situhybridization study
Authors: Jongen‐Rêlo Ana L. , Amaral David G.
Published: December 2004

The central nucleus of the amygdala is interconnected with a variety of visceral and autonomic nuclei of the brainstem. These include the parabrachial nucleus, the nucleus of the solitary tract, the nucleus ambiguus and the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus. Despite repeated attempts, neurochemical characterization of the major subcortical connections of the central nucleus has not yet been accomplished. Based on earlier immunohistochemical andin situhybridization evidence indicating the presence of numerous GABAergic neurons in the macaque monkey central nucleus, we predicted that a sizeable portion of the descending projections may be GABAergic. We tested this hypothesis using a novel double labelling method with gold conjugated WGA‐apoHRP as a retrograde tracer andin situhybridization for detecting the mRNA that encodes the enzyme glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD67) as a marker for GABAergic cells. Following WGA‐apoHRP‐gold injections into the brainstem, a large number of retrogradely labelled cells was observed in the medial and lateral divisions of the central nucleus. Of the retrogradely labelled cells observed in the medial division of the central nucleus, approximately half were double‐labelled for GAD67 mRNA; about 30% double labelling was observed in the lateral division. These data support the view that a sizeable component of the central nucleus projection to the brainstem is GABAergic.