bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The dimensions and degree of second-generation incorporation in US and European cities: A comparative study of inclusion and exclusion
Authors: Bean Frank D , Brown Susan K , Bachmeier James D , Fokkema Tineke , Lessard-Phillips Laurence
Published: September 2012

This research compares cities between and within the United States and Europe with respect to their dimensionality and degree of immigrant incorporation. Based on theoretical perspectives about immigrant incorporation, structural differentiation and national incorporation regimes, we hypothesize that more inclusionary (MI) cities will show more dimensions of incorporation and more favorable incorporation outcomes than less inclusionary (LI) places, especially in regard to labor market and spatial variables. We use data from recent major surveys of young adult second-generation groups carried out in Los Angeles, New York, and 11 European cities to assess these ideas. The findings indicate that second-generation immigrants in New York (MI) and in European MI places (i.e. cities in the Netherlands, Sweden and France) show greater dimensionality of incorporation (and thus by implication more pathways of advancement) respectively than is the case in Los Angeles (LI) or in European LI places (i.e. cities in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland). We discuss the significance of these results for understanding how the structures of opportunity confronting immigrants and their children in various places make a difference for the nature and extent of their integration.
The Work of Christian Education in the Seminary and the Church: Then (1812) and Now (2012)
Authors: Mitchell Legg Pamela
Published: September 2012

The shape of Christian Education in the United States has shifted as new communication media have come to the fore, interacting with the overarching purposes and content of Christian Education. As we begin to ask how computer technologies and the Internet may affect Christian Education, it is helpful to look back at the ways communication media have affected Christian Education over the past 200 years.
The Pulpit Leads the Seminary: Two Centuries of Proclamation at Union Presbyterian Seminary and in the American Church
Authors: Zink-Sawyer Beverly A.
Published: September 2012

A review of 200 years of Union Presbyterian Seminary and American preaching history reveals the ways in which preaching has shaped—and been shaped by—changes in church and culture.
From Apology to Pedagogy: Interpreting the Bible Past and Present in the Seminary Classroom
Authors: Brown William P.
Published: September 2012

This essay offers a snapshot of the some of the challenges facing seminary education, specifically teaching the Bible, in the late 19th century that have proved to be fruitful opportunities to recast biblical hermeneutics and, more broadly, theological education in new ways. It examines the way the Bible is handled today in the seminary classroom and charts how we got here theologically and pedagogically as a result of these challenges.
Theology and Ethics Then, Now, and In-Between at Union Seminary and Elsewhere
Authors: Ottati Douglas F.
Published: September 2012

The story of theology and ethics at Union Seminary from 1812 to the present illustrates the critical relationship between theology, ethics, and historical circumstances. In a distinctive fashion, it also reflects both the wider story and current challenges of theology and ethics in American Protestantism.
Why Church History Matters in Seminary and Church: Then (1812) and Now (2012)
Authors: Miller Glenn T.
Published: September 2012

This article highlights three moments in the teaching of Church History in American Protestant seminaries: the early 19th century, the early 20th century, and the present. In each, the interaction between Church History and the pastoral needs of the church is highlighted.
Substance Use and Sexual Risks Among General MSM and Money Boys in Shanghai, China
Authors: Nehl Eric J. , Nakayama Kyogo K. , He Na , Huang Z. Jennifer , Zheng Tony , Wong Frank Y.
Published: September 2012

In China, men who have sex with men (MSM) are at high risk for substance use, HIV, and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). However, there has been little research into their drug use and the sexual behaviors they engage in after drug and alcohol use. Using respondent-driven sampling methodology, this cross-sectional study of 404 MSM described drug use and examined sexual behaviors after drug and alcohol use among general MSM and money boys (those who engage in same-sex commercial sex) in Shanghai, China. Money boys reported using more drugs in the last week, 3 months and ever, and having sex after drinking and sex after using drugs more frequently than general MSM. It is vital to continue research and begin science-based interventions in these high-risk and underserved populations.
Assessing the Impact of Drug Use and Drug Selling on Violent Offending in a Panel of Delinquent Youth
Authors: Phillips Matthew D.
Published: September 2012

Despite a vast number of empirical studies arguing for or against a causal relationship between illegal drug use and selling and violent behavior, the debate continues. In part this is due to methodological weaknesses of previous research. Using data from the Rochester Youth Development Study, the current study seeks to improve on prior research designs to allow for a more precise examination of the mechanisms that lead from an individual’s drug use (chiefly, marijuana use in the current sample) and drug selling to violent action. Results will allow for greater confidence in making causal inference regarding a long-standing concern in the discipline.
A method for investigating blending quality of commingled yarns
Authors: Kravaev Plamen , Stolyarov Oleg , Seide Gunnar , Gries Thomas
Published: September 2012

A prospective technology for manufacturing thermoplastic composites is based on hybrid commingled yarns. The hybrid yarns are further processed into semi-impregnated thermoplastic preforms in the form of woven or non-crimped fabrics, which are consolidated and molded in a single processing step. The quality of the component distribution in yarn is known to affect the mechanical properties of the manufactured composites. As part of a quality management system for the manufacturing process of thermoplastic composites based on commingling yarns, a new method for analyzing the blending quality along the length of commingled structures is presented in this work. By using this method, a new blending index ( kb,yarn) is introduced as a measure of the quality of commingled yarns. The blending index combines the existing coefficients of the lateral and radial distribution of fibers in the cross-section of hybrid yarns. Within this paper, the new analysis method is explained in detail using the example of glass fiber/polyamide 6 (GF/PA) commingled yarns. Due to the combination of the yarn analysis along the yarn axis and in its cross section, the new method allows for the first time a reliable comparison of the blending quality in commingled yarns used for the manufacturing of thermoplastic composites.
An exploratory study of users’ evaluations of the accuracy and fidelity of a three-dimensional garment simulation
Authors: Kim Dong-Eun , LaBat Karen
Published: September 2012

Garment simulation technology is expected to help reduce consumers’ apparel fit dissatisfaction in online shopping. However, the simulated garments must be accurate representations of real garments for consumers to accept this technology. The purpose of this study was to investigate users’ evaluations of the fidelity and accuracy of three-dimensional (3D) garment simulation technology used in a virtual online shopping scenario. Ferwerda’s Functional Realism Framework was used to examine garment simulation realism. Thirty-seven women participated in the study. Participants were scanned, and 3D virtual models were made from their scans. A set of pants (misses 2–20) was developed. These pants patterns were digitally input to the computer to develop virtual pants that were fit to the participants’ virtual models. Each participant evaluated the virtual pants fit and the real pants fit in a simulated shopping experience. Participants evaluated fit at 13 critical areas using a seven-point scale and then explained their evaluations during an interview. The overall accuracy and fidelity of the virtual simulation technology was moderately good, but not to the extent that the participants could perform all important aspects of the online fit evaluation. The overall physical appearances of the virtual pants were similar to the real pants. The pants length and the waistband position were accurately represented; however, fabric wrinkles were not accurately represented in the virtual simulation. Garment and body shape relationships were not accurately represented due to technological limitations. This study revealed aspects of garment simulation technology that warrant further research and development.
Echoes of a “Simple Faith”: The Present Resonance of the Past Proclamation of the Reverend Edler Garnet Hawkins
Authors: Powery Luke A.
Published: September 2012

Though the Reverend Edler Garnet Hawkins was the first black professor at Princeton Theological Seminary, a critical figure within American Presbyterianism and the ecumenical movement of the church, little is written about him. This article attempts to change that by giving voice to his public proclamation as expressed through some of his sermons, lectures, and addresses. It highlights four major motifs embedded in his proclamation and concludes with some reflections on the relevance of his thought for contemporary times.
Slavery, Race, and Gender at Princeton Seminary: The Pre-Civil War Era
Authors: Moorhead James H.
Published: September 2012

The pre-Civil War leaders of Princeton Seminary desired social reform and progress, but these had to come gradually and non-disruptively. Thus while Charles Hodge and his colleagues looked for an end to slavery at some indefinite time in the future, they supported in the meantime the colonization of free blacks in Africa and fought immediate emancipation. They likewise opposed full equality for women. A properly ordered society, they believed, involved “social subordination”—of humanity to God, woman to man, children to parents, slaves to masters, and the morally unfit and uneducated to the best and brightest.
In the Beginning Male and Female, Then She Came to Seminary: A History of Women at Princeton Theological Seminary
Authors: Gardner Freda , Sakenfeld Katharine Doob
Published: September 2012

A history of women at Princeton Theological Seminary covers briefly the scope of women’s participation in the life of Princeton Theological Seminary from the early years to the present, while concentrating on the expanding presence and influence of women faculty and women students from the 1930s through the early 1980s. The article describes the effects of an influx of women M.A. students with the arrival of the Tennent School of Christian education on the Princeton Seminary campus in 1944. Women students’ initiatives in the 1970s for the founding of the Women’s Center and a child care center are summarized. Anecdotes about the experiences of early women students, including the first woman B.D. graduate, Muriel Van Orden Jennings, as well as the experiences of early women faculty members Freda Gardner and Katharine Sakenfeld, reveal the changing attitudes of male students, faculty, and presidents toward the presence of women on the Princeton Seminary campus. This article was originally presented as the Seminary’s 2011–12 Frederick Neumann Lecture and as part of the Seminary’s 2011–12 Bicentennial Celebration.
Actively Closing the Gap? Social Class, Organized Activities, and Academic Achievement in High School
Authors: Morris David S.
Published: September 2012

Participation in Organized Activities (OA) is associated with positive behavioral and developmental outcomes in children. However, less is known about how particular aspects of participation affect the academic achievement of high school students from different social class positions. Using the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002, this study examines the math achievement gains from organized activity participation for advantaged and disadvantaged youths. Findings indicate that the relationship between OA and achievement does indeed vary by social class. Regardless of the type of OA, less advantaged high school students see substantial academic improvements from time in OA while their more advantaged peers do not. These findings suggest that participation in organized activities is a form of resource compensation that helps to reduce the achievement gap between advantaged and disadvantaged youths, even at the end of the K-12 schooling process.
Testing Organisation Man: The Cuban Missile Crisis and The Limits of Safety
Authors: Craig Campbell
Published: September 2012

Scott Sagan’s analysis of the Cuban missile crisis in The Limits of Safety shows how accidents almost triggered a nuclear exchange during that conflict and how they are likely to cause an actual nuclear war at some point in the future. This article examines how Sagan’s crucially important study affects our understanding of the salience of deterrence and non-proliferation in the post-Cold War order and the prospects of nuclear peace. The conclusion contends that Sagan’s advocacy of nuclear arsenal modernisation and active non-proliferation efforts aimed at aspiring nuclear powers may well increase, rather than diminish, the chances of major nuclear war.
Eyeball to Eyeball: Blinking and Winking, Spyplanes and Secrets
Authors: Scott Len
Published: September 2012

The role of American intelligence in the Cuban missile crisis is crucial to understand perceptions and judgements of key actors in October 1962. Dino Brugioni’s Eyeball to Eyeball provides a detailed ‘insider’s’ account that combines memoir and history. It focuses on the role of aerial intelligence, which was vital to how the crisis was managed in Washington. Brugioni’s account also provides a representation of events that explores both military/operational aspects and political decision-making in Washington, most importantly that of President John F. Kennedy. Brugioni argues that it was a victory for Kennedy and for America. Twenty years of scholarship and revelation has challenged this conclusion, which this article examines. Likewise, the idea that the crisis marked a notable success for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is revisited in the light of new information and assessments.
Advocacy Coalitions and Policy Change
Authors: Kim Pan Suk
Published: September 2012

The Saemangeum Tideland Reclamation Project (STRP), one of the most controversial environmental cases in the recent history of South Korea, is an interesting test of the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) and its ability to help us understand policy change. The STRP has gone through several revisions, but the original plan was to reclaim land from the sea in Southwestern Korea. Filling in the estuary began in 1991, but it was slowed by a series of opposition movements by environmentalists. After a long and bitter conflict between the government and environmental activists, the Saemangeum sea dike was completed in 2010, becoming the longest seawall ever built with a length of 33.9 km. Two coalitions, an advocacy coalition for development and an advocacy coalition for conservation, were engaged in a highly heated debate for over 15 years. This study plans to shed light on a question of whether the ACF can explain long-term policy changes.
How Did the Cultural Revolution End? The Last Dispute between Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping, 1975
Authors: Russo Alessandro
Published: September 2012

It is well known that Deng Xiaoping made his first steps in his post– Cultural Revolution strategy during a time of a fierce controversy with Mao Zedong in 1975–1976. Recent analyses have introduced some new elements that afford us a better understanding of that biennium as a key passage in China after the Cultural Revolution. However, the most singular feature of the dispute between Mao and Deng, that is its theoretical-political content, remains unexplored or largely ignored. This article reviews some major issues at stake in that dispute, which was launched by a series of theoretical questions raised by Mao in December 1974. Deng’s project was markedly shaped by the nature and the development of that dispute, albeit through a symptomatic denegation of any value in Mao’s theses.
Chinese Healthcare Reform
Authors: Li Ling , Chen Qiulin , Powers Dillon
Published: September 2012

This article discusses the Chinese healthcare reforms of the past decade and their relation to broader shifts in Chinese development. It examines the historical context, theoretical framework, and major achievements of the reforms, focusing on the three-year healthcare reform push from 2009 to 2011. During that period, the Chinese government implemented reforms with great efficacy, including expansion of health insurance coverage to 95 percent of the population. In a limited timeframe, the Chinese government restructured the healthcare system, placing an emphasis on primary care. However, as this article argues, the more significant achievements include a redefinition of the government’s role in social development and an exploration of more open policy-making procedures among top government officials.
Intelligent robotic impedance control using embedded system structure
Authors: Huang Shiuh-Jer , Yu Chiao-Kuen , Lin Janq-Yann
Published: September 2012

For dexterous interactive manipulations, the robot end-effector must follow a motion trajectory and exert an appropriate force against the contacted environment to provide a specified dynamic working compliance. Hence, the robotic impedance is an important function for future applications of intelligent robots. For this purpose, a generalized hybrid control strategy is developed to monitor the motion trajectory and the end-effector interaction force in the task space simultaneously. Here, the Altera development board-based embedded robotic control structure is constructed and the related intelligent position/force hybrid control strategy is developed. A new model-free intelligent fuzzy sliding mode controller is designed to monitor the force and position specifications for hybrid impedance control purposes. It has the advantages of one-dimensional fuzzy control features with online gain scheduling and sliding mode stability. A force sensor is installed in a Mitsubishi robot end-effector to measure the dynamic contact force during compliant operations. The experimental results show that the dynamic performance of the proposed hybrid impedance control system can reach the contouring error of less than 1 mm and a contact force error of less than 3 N, respectively.
“Back the Bid”
Authors: Mackay Clare
Published: September 2012

This article explores how the London Olympic Bid Committee (LOBC) sought to gain the popular support required for London’s bid for the 2012 Olympic Games by attempting to influence the journalists of the U.K. newspaper with the greatest readership to communicate their discourse to the host urban population. The research draws on Michel Foucault’s concept of discourse to investigate whether and, more importantly, how the journalists of the Sun articulated the key statements that the LOBC sought to convey to the U.K. public in their coverage of London’s bid for the 2012 Games in order to discover how collusion and tension between the discourses and practices of bid committees and those of journalists affect the statements articulated to the reader.
Thinking the Unthinkable
Authors: Travers Ann
Published: September 2012

The purpose of this article is twofold: to capture the injustice inherent in the gendered bifurcation of baseball and softball via the prism of critical feminist sport studies; and to begin to imagine a girl-friendly/women-and trans-inclusive future for baseball that is less fertile for cooptation into post-911 United States security state discourses. In this article I link the “unthinkability” of the occupational segregation of baseball in North America to the dominance of the ideology of the two sex system and European disasporic morality. To illustrate the extent of this occupational segregation via the gendered bifurcation of baseball and softball, I draw on feminist sport studies to examine the exemplars or “texts” of three Canadian brother/sister baseball softball duos: Jason Bay and Lauren Bay Regula; Brett and Danielle Lawrie; and Mathew and Katie Reyes.
Nature’s clothing and spontaneous generation? The observations of Thoreau and Dureau de la Malle on plant succession
Authors: Trudgill Stephen
Published: September 2012

Frederick E. Clements is known as a key figure in the development of plant succession concepts but earlier arguments over the ‘spontaneous generation’ of plants illustrate the critical relationship between theory and observation. The observations of Thoreau (1860) and Dureau de la Malle (1825) provide good examples of the way in which the theory-observation relationships are contextualized in the prevailing orthodoxies of the time.
Status migrainosus as a potential stressor leading to takotsubo cardiomyopathy
Authors: Jalan Pankaj , Dhakal Laxmi , Pandav Vijay , Omar Ayman I
Published: September 2012

Background:

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is a form of non-ischemic cardiomyopathy that may be acutely precipitated by stress. A number of neurologic conditions have been implicated in precipitating this disease such as subarachnoid hemorrhage, stroke, and seizures. Its association with status migrainosus, however, has never been described before.

Case:

We report a case of a 25-year-old female presenting with status migrainosus followed by takotsubo cardiomyopathy. Supportive management was instituted in this patient and she made an excellent recovery.

Conclusion:

The intense pain associated with migraine may have acted as a stressor, thereby precipitating takotsubo cardiomyopathy. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case demonstrating a relationship between status migrainosus and takotsubo cardiomyopathy.
Non-traumatic supraorbital neuralgia: A clinical study of 13 cases
Authors: Mulero Patricia , Guerrero Ángel L , Pedraza María , Herrero-Velázquez Sonia , de la Cruz Carolina , Ruiz Marina , Barón Johanna , Peñas María Luz
Published: September 2012

Introduction:

Supraorbital neuralgia (SON) is an uncommon disorder characterized by pain in the area supplied by the supraorbital nerve, which covers the medial aspect of the forehead, together with tenderness over the supraorbital notch or along the course of the nerve. Few hospital-based series of non-trauma SON have been published.

Methods and results:

We prospectively analyzed 13 patients (11 females, two males) diagnosed with SON in a headache outpatient clinic over a four-year period. Background pain was mostly dull and of moderate intensity. In addition, nine patients reported sharp, burning or stabbing exacerbations of severe intensity. Eight cases were treated with an anesthetic blockade and achieved complete relief lasting from two to six months. Three patients also received gabapentin, with no or only slight improvement.

Conclusion:

Non-traumatic SON is an uncommon disorder in our headache clinic. Female preponderance and clinical features are comparable to the data collected in previous studies. A spontaneously remitting pattern is not uncommon, and anesthetic blockades are not always required.
Psychiatric comorbidity in pediatric chronic daily headache
Authors: Slater Shalonda K , Kashikar-Zuck Susmita M , Allen Janelle R , LeCates Susan L , Kabbouche Marielle A , O’Brien Hope L , Hershey Andrew D , Powers Scott W
Published: September 2012

Objectives:

The objectives of this study were to assess comorbid psychiatric diagnoses in youth with chronic daily headache (CDH) and to examine relationships between psychiatric status and CDH symptom severity, as well as headache-related disability.

Methods:

Standardized psychiatric interviews (Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia, KSADS) were conducted with 169 youth ages 10–17 diagnosed with CDH. Participants provided prospective reports of headache frequency with a daily headache diary and completed measures of symptom severity, headache-related disability (PedMIDAS) and quality of life (PedsQL).

Results:

Results showed that 29.6% of CDH patients met criteria for at least one current psychiatric diagnosis, and 34.9% met criteria for at least one lifetime psychiatric diagnosis. No significant relationship between psychiatric status and headache frequency, duration, or severity was found. However, children with at least one lifetime psychiatric diagnosis had greater functional disability and poorer quality of life than those without a psychiatric diagnosis.

Discussion:

Contrary to research in adults with chronic headaches, most youth with CDH did not appear to be at an elevated risk for comorbid psychiatric diagnosis. However, patients with a comorbid psychiatric diagnosis were found to have higher levels of headache-related disability and poorer quality of life. Implications for treatment are discussed.
Headless Compression Screw Fixation of Jones Fractures
Authors: Nagao Masashi , Saita Yoshitomo , Kameda So , Seto Hiroaki , Sadatsuki Ryo , Takazawa Yuji , Yoshimura Masafumi , Aoba Yukihiro , Ikeda Hiroshi , Kaneko Kazuo , Nozawa Masahiko , Kim Sung-Gon , Nakajima Hiroki , Fukushi Norifumi
Published: September 2012

Background:

Internal fixation is advocated as the primary treatment for fifth metatarsal Jones fractures in athletes; however, screw insertion site discomfort and refracture can occur especially in competitive athletes. The ideal implant has not been determined.

Hypothesis:

Headless compression screw fixation of proximal fifth metatarsal Jones fractures is an effective treatment approach especially in competitive athletes.

Study Design:

Case series; Evidence level, 4.

Methods:

We studied 60 athletes treated surgically with a headless compression screw for fifth metatarsal Jones fractures (mean age, 19 years). The mean follow-up time was 178 weeks. We evaluated the clinical and radiographic outcomes of headless compression screw fixation of Jones fractures.

Results:

All athletes returned to full activity. The mean time to start running after surgery was 6.3 weeks (range, 3-12.7 weeks), and the mean time to full activity after surgery was 11.2 weeks (range, 6-25 weeks). One athlete suffered a delayed union, which healed uneventfully. One athlete suffered a nonunion and underwent reoperation for a screw exchange to an autogenous bone graft harvested from the iliac crest. No screw breakage was reported. No athlete suffered a refracture or discomfort in the screw insertion site.

Conclusion:

Headless compression screw fixation of fifth metatarsal Jones fractures provided excellent results, allowing athletes to return to full activity without both screw insertion site irritation and clinical refracture.
Impact of Small-Group Tutoring Interventions on the Mathematical Problem Solving and Achievement of Third-Grade Students With Mathematics Difficulties
Authors: Jitendra Asha K. , Rodriguez Michael , Kanive Rebecca , Huang Ju-Ping , Church Chris , Corroy Kelly A. , Zaslofsky Anne
Published: September 2012

This intervention study compared the efficacy of small-group tutoring on the mathematics learning of third-grade students at risk for mathematics difficulty using either a school-provided standards-based curriculum (SBC) or a schema-based instruction (SBI) curriculum. The SBI curriculum placed particular emphasis on the underlying mathematical structure of additive problems to represent and solve word problems. At-risk students ( N = 136) from 35 classrooms scoring below a proficiency level on their district accountability assessment were assigned randomly to treatment groups. Results indicated interaction effects on the word problem-solving (WPS) posttest and retention tests such that SBI students with higher incoming (pretest) WPS scores outperformed SBC students with higher pretest scores, whereas SBC students with lower pretest scores outperformed SBI students with lower pretest scores. No effects were found on number combinations automaticity, and mathematics and reading achievement. Implications to improve the problem-solving performance of at-risk students are discussed.
Management of healthcare waste: developments in Southeast Asia in the twenty-first century
Authors: Kühling Jan-Gerd , Pieper Ute
Published: September 2012

In many Southeast Asian countries, significant challenges persist with regard to the proper management and disposal of healthcare waste. The amount of healthcare waste in these countries is continuously increasing as a result of the expansion of healthcare systems and services. In the past, healthcare waste, if it was treated at all, was mainly incinerated. In the last decade more comprehensive waste management systems were developed for Southeast Asian countries and implementation started. This also included the establishment of alternative healthcare waste treatment systems. The developments in the lower–middle-income countries are of special interest, as major investments are planned. Based upon sample projects, a short overview of the current development trends in the healthcare waste sector in Laos, Indonesia and Vietnam is provided. The projects presented include: (i) Lao Peoples Democratic Republic (development of the national environmental health training system to support the introduction of environmental health standards and improvement of healthcare waste treatment in seven main hospitals by introducing steam-based treatment technologies); (ii) Indonesia (development of a provincial-level healthcare waste-management strategy for Province Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) and introduction of an advanced waste treatment system in a tertiary level hospital in Makassar); and (iii) Vietnam (development of a healthcare waste strategy for five provinces in Vietnam and a World Bank-financed project on healthcare waste in Vietnam).
Business waste prevention: a review of the evidence
Authors: Wilson David C , Parker David , Cox Jayne , Strange Kit , Willis Peter , Blakey Nick , Raw Lynn
Published: September 2012

Waste prevention is a policy priority in many countries. For example, European Union member states are currently required to prepare a national Waste Prevention Programme. This article reports on a major international review of the evidence base for business waste prevention to underpin such policy-making. A strict definition of waste prevention is used, including waste avoidance, waste reduction at source or in process, and product reuse—recycling is outside the scope of this article. The review was organised with two key dimensions. Eight types of policy intervention were identified: standards, labelling, procurement, commitments and voluntary agreements, communication, incentives, waste minimisation clubs and other business support. Six illustrative sectors were selected: construction and demolition, food and drink, hospitality, retail, automotive and office-based services. Four broad approaches to business waste prevention have been distinguished and used as part of the analytical framework, classified into a two by two matrix, using supply- and demand-side drivers as one axis, and incremental versus radical change as the other. A fundamental focus was on attitudes and behaviours. A conceptual framework is presented to navigate the various behavioural influences on businesses, and to discuss those motivations and barriers for which the evidence is relatively robust. The results suggest that the (financial) benefits to business of waste prevention are potentially huge, and that some progress is being made, but measurement is a challenge. A taster of some of the learnings on the effectiveness of the different policy interventions to promote waste prevention is also presented.
Site-specific criteria for the completion of landfill aftercare
Authors: Laner David , Fellner Johann , Brunner Paul H
Published: September 2012

Municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills need to be managed after closure to assure long-term environmental compatibility. Aftercare can be completed when the authorities consider the landfill not likely to pose a threat to humans and the environment. In this work, a methodology for deriving site-specific aftercare completion criteria is presented and its application is illustrated via a case study. The evaluation method combines models addressing waste emission behavior, long-term barrier performance, and pollutant migration to assess the potential impact of landfill emissions on the environment. Based on the definition of acceptable impact levels at certain points of compliance, scenario- and pollutant-specific aftercare completion criteria are derived. The methodology was applied to a closed MSW landfill in Austria and potential aftercare durations were determined. While landfill gas emissions may become environmentally tolerable within decades at the site, leachate-related aftercare measures were expected to be necessary for centuries (primarily as a result of ammonium). Although the evaluation comes with large uncertainties, it allows for linking aftercare intensity and duration with respect to an environmentally compatible state of the landfill in the absence of aftercare. However, further case studies including regulatory review and acceptance are needed to use the methodology in a decision support tool on aftercare completion.
National waste prevention programs: indicators on progress and barriers
Authors: Wilts Henning
Published: September 2012

Defining the prevention of waste as top priority of the waste hierarchy—as confirmed by the revised Waste Framework Directive (WFD)—is much more than a simple amendment of ways to deal with waste, but means nothing less than a fundamental change of the socio-technical system of waste infrastructures and requires a transition from end-of-pipe technologies towards an integrated management of resources. The WFD therefore obligates member states to develop national waste prevention programs as a new policy instrument with the development of waste prevention indicators as one of the core elements. The article discusses the limitations of waste-based key figures and shows the need for more process-oriented indicators. As part of the development of national waste prevention programs such indicators reveal the relevance of different barriers that have to be overcome in order to make prevention an effective top priority in the waste hierarchy. With regard to path dependencies caused by sunk costs in end-of-pipe waste infrastructures the absolute amount of integrated environmental investments, as well as their share of the total waste-related investments, can be seen as indicators for the level of innovation activities aimed at waste prevention. Sector-specific indicators for the production phase could be used as benchmarks and to highlight differences in the need for policy interventions.
Effect of polymeric matrix melt flow index in reprocessing extruded wood–plastic composites
Authors: Sarabi Majid Tabkhpaz , Behravesh Amir Hossein , Shahi Peyman , Daryabari Yasser
Published: September 2012

This article presents an experimental study on the effect of polymeric matrix flow behavior on the properties of the reprocessed wood–plastic composites (WPC) of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and wood sawdust. WPCs are considered as sustainable materials due to their durability in the environmental conditions and recyclability. Three grades of HDPE were utilized as polymeric matrix with different melt flow indices (MFIs). Composites containing 60 wt% of sawdust were manufactured via a twin-screw extruder to produce 15 mm rod-shaped profiles (named here as virgin WPCs). In reprocessing, the produced WPC profiles were then ground to obtain WPC granules and then reprocessed (reextruded) via the same extruder. The mechanical properties of both the virgin and the reprocessed profiles were obtained from the bending tests and tensile tests, and the physical tests including water uptake and density measurements were also carried out. Interestingly, reprocessed composites produced with the low and middle MFI HDPE showed an increase in mechanical properties compared with the virgin ones, while for the composites with the high MFI HDPE, opposite result was observed. Water uptake measurement also indicated the best performance of the composites produced with the middle MFI HDPE.
Healthiness of Survival and Quality of Death Among Oldest Old in China Using Fuzzy Sets
Authors: Gu Danan , Zeng Yi
Published: September 2012

Objectives: To investigate healthiness of survival and quality of death among oldest-old Chinese. Methods: Grade of Membership (GoM) method is applied to fulfill our goals using a nationwide longitudinal survey in China. Results: GoM method generates six pure types/profiles for healthiness of survival and five profiles/types for quality of death. The authors combine these 11 profiles into 4 groups. On average, a Chinese oldest old from 1998 to 2000 had 48% probability of experiencing healthy survival, with 30% experiencing unhealthy survival, 11% having nonsuffering death, and 11% having suffering death. Similar memberships of dying with nonsuffering conditions are found across ages among the decedents. Men have a higher probability of being in healthy survival and nonsuffering death as compared to women. Marriage, high social connections, nonsmoking, and regular exercise are important contributors to healthy survival and quality of death. Discussion: It is possible to live to ages 100 and beyond without much suffering.
Poly(amide-imide)s obtained from 3,5-diamino-N-(thiazol-2-yl)-benzamide and dicarboxylic acids containing various amino acid units
Authors: Mallakpour Shadpour , Ahmadizadegan Hashem
Published: September 2012

This study reports a green approach toward the synthesis of novel optically active poly(amide-imide)s (PAI)s bearing thiazole moiety, which was formed by the polycondensation reaction of 3,5-diamino- N-(thiazol-2-yl)benzamide and various diacids containing natural amino acids in molten tetrabutylammonium bromide. Diamine monomer was synthesized by the reduction of 3,5-dinitro- N-(thiazol-2-yl)benzamide in methanol using iron oxide hydroxide as a catalyst. This catalyst can rapidly reduce the sulfur and azo-containing aromatic nitro compounds to the corresponding amines in high yield by employing hydrazine hydrate as a hydrogen donor. Chiral diacid monomers were synthesized in high yield through the reaction of pyromellitic dianhydride and amino acids (l-isoluecine, S-valine, S-methionine, and l-phenylalanine) in acetic acid. The direct polymerization reactions of these monomers provided a series of new optically active PAIs with inherent viscosities in the range of 0.20–0.28 dL g−1. The obtained polymers were characterized by Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy, specific rotation measurements, and the representative of them by proton nuclear magnetic resonance and elemental analysis techniques.
Development of an intelligent flame monitoring system for steel reheating burners
Authors: Thai Shee Meng , Wilcox Steven J , Tan Chee Keong , Ward John , Andrews Graham
Published: September 2012

This article describes the development of a system to indirectly monitor the combustion characteristics of individual burners based on measurement and analysis of the signals detected from photodiodes detecting flame radiation signals. A series of experiments were conducted on a 500 kW pilot-scale furnace and on two 4 MW industrial burners located in two steel reheating furnaces. The flame radiation signals were monitored using a lens that transmitted the flame radiation to ultraviolet, visible and infrared photodiodes through a trifurcated optical fibre. The experiments covered a wide range of burner operating conditions including; variations in the burner load and excess air levels and simulations of burner imbalance. The relationships between the dynamic flame radiation signals and the burner operating parameters and conditions were made off-line using neural network models. The present work indicates that the measurement of flame radiation characteristics, coupled with neural networks, provides a promising means of monitoring and adjusting burner performance.
Investigation of clearance flows in deeply scalloped radial turbines
Authors: He Ping , Sun Zhigang , Zhang Hauliang , Chen Haisheng , Tan Chunqing
Published: September 2012

The tip clearance, backface clearance, and backface cavity clearance flows in deeply scalloped radial turbines are numerically investigated in this article. The secondary flow structures in the rotor passage with the three clearance flows are shown and their influences on the distribution of aerodynamic parameters at the rotor outlet are analyzed. It is found that the migration of the tip clearance flow is constrained near the tip corner, and the region influenced by the tip clearance flow is mainly located at the upper span. With the largest mass flow rate, the tip clearance flow has the greatest impact on the outlet parameters among the three clearance flows. The backface clearance flow enters the mainstream from the blade backface and migrates toward the blade tip due to the centrifugal force. And it mainly affects the distribution of outlet parameters at the mid-span. The backface cavity clearance flow is injected into the mainstream from the disc rim. It moves toward the blade tip and stays close to the suction surface. With the smallest mass flow rate, the impact of the backface cavity clearance flow on the outlet parameters is the lowest.
Migrant labour and the marketisation of care for older people: The employment of migrant care workers by families and service providers
Authors: Shutes Isabel , Chiatti Carlos
Published: September 2012

This article contributes to an understanding of how different institutional contexts produce similar outcomes as regards the employment of migrant workers in care work. It examines how the employment of migrant care workers in both the familial provision of care and the formal provision of care services for older people is shaped, first, by the marketisation of care and, second, by immigration controls. The analysis draws on data on the employment of migrant care workers by families in Italy and by providers of residential and home care services in the UK. It is argued that marketisation processes and immigration controls have contributed to the employment of migrant workers across so-called informal/formal types of care provision, and irregular/regular types of care work and migration. While the institutional contexts in which migrant care labour is located may differ, converging outcomes are evident regarding the structural positioning of migrant workers within the provision of care for older people.
The Holocene record of environmental changes in the ‘Stagno di Maccarese’ marsh (Tiber river delta, central Italy)
Authors: Giraudi C
Published: September 2012

The stratigraphic study of the Stagno di Maccarese, carried out on the sediments exposed in about 7 km of trenches excavated in an area of approximately 1.5 km2, has shown that in the course of the Holocene many environmental variations have taken place. The complex evolution of the marsh is demonstrated by the variations in water salinity and the presence of erosion surfaces and soils between the sediments. In the early Holocene, the area studied was an isolated marsh with water having variable salinity, and it was only about 6000 cal. yr BP that it was encompassed in the system of inner delta marshes. In the delta environment, the water of the marsh was oligohaline until about 9th–8th centuries bc, brackish from 9th–8th centuries bc to about 600 yr BP, and later oligohaline until the 19th century drainage. A number of environmental variations are connected with local phenomena, such as erosion of the beach ridges and Tiber floods, but the others can be correlated chronologically with climatic events recorded at regional and global scale. The millennial variations seem to be connected with changes in insolation, while abrupt variations can be correlated chronologically with the IRD events dated at 8200, 5900, 4200, 2800, 1400 and 500 cal. yr BP.
Living at the margin of the retreating Fennoscandian Ice Sheet: The early Mesolithic sites at Aareavaara, northernmost Sweden
Authors: Möller Per , Östlund Olof , Barnekow Lena , Sandgren Per , Palmbo Frida , Willerslev Eske
Published: September 2012

During an archaeological survey in Pajala parish, northernmost Sweden, clusters of quartz waste from knapping and burnt bone were discovered on a glaciofluvial gravel plateau close to Aareavaara village in the Muonio River valley. Sampled materials from a larger area and small-scale excavations (in total 6 m2) are interpreted as resulting from short-stay hunter-gatherer camps. Radiocarbon dating on burnt bones suggest an age of occupancy at ~10,700 cal. yr BP, which is more or less contemporary with ‘Komsa Phase’ sites on the north coast of Norway (~300–360 km northwards). The Aareavaara site should thus be the oldest known archaeological site to date in northern Sweden. A palaeoenvironmental reconstruction, based on pollen analysis of sediment cores from two nearby lakes and radiocarbon dating of macrofossils for construction of time/depth sedimentation curves, suggests a deglaciation age of the area corresponding to occupation by early man (~10,700 cal. yr BP). Aareavaara was at the time of deglaciation situated in a transitional zone between subaqueous and subaerial ice-margin retreat from the northeast towards the southwest, with higher hills and plateaux forming an archipelago in the Ancylus Lake with highest shorelines formed at ~170 m a.s.l. The hunter-gatherer camp sites at Aareavaara were thus, both in time and space, located in close proximity to the retreating ice sheet margin, but also in a waterfront location, in fact on an island in the Ancylus Lake. Our pollen data suggest a subarctic birch woodland tundra landscape characterized by open vegetation, including occasional birch trees and an abundance of willow and dwarf birch.
Crotalariosis equorum (“jaagsiekte”) in horses in southern Mozambique, a rare form of pyrrolizidine alkaloid poisoning
Authors: Botha Christo J. , Lewis Alex , du Plessis Elizabeth C. , Clift Sarah J. , Williams Mark C.
Published: September 2012

Twenty-eight horses in southern Mozambique died after exhibiting severe respiratory distress. At necropsy, the overinflated lungs did not collapse, had prominent rib impressions, and were fibrotic and emphysematous. Microscopically, prominent proliferation of nonciliated epithelial (Clara) cells in the terminal bronchioles and pulmonary fibrosis were observed, indicative of chronic pneumotoxicity. Transmission electron microscopy demonstrated hyperplasia, desquamation, and apical bulging of Clara cells into the bronchiolar lumen. The outbreak was attributed to ingestion of Crotalaria dura J.M. Wood & M.S. Evans subsp. mozambica Polhill and Crotalaria monteiroi Taub. ex Baker f. var. monteiroi. Semiquantitative gas chromatography–mass spectrometry revealed the presence of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in these 2 Crotalaria species.
Random and Systematic Error in Voting in Presidential Elections
Authors: Richey Sean
Published: September 2012

Condorcet’s theory of voting rests on the crucial proposition that voting errors are random and not systematic. Using Lau and Redlawsk’s voting correctly measure, I test whether voting error is systematic or random in presidential elections from 1972 to 2004. I show that errors are systematically skewed toward Republican candidates. I also show that the level of skew of incorrect voting has led to the incorrect candidate being elected in three out the last nine elections. In addition, I find that greater skew in Republican campaign spending increases skew of incorrect votes toward Republican candidates.