bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Context Sensitivity and Balancing in Indian Organizational Behaviour
Authors: Sinha Jai B. P. , Kanungo R. N.
Published: July 2002

This paper attempts to explain Indian organizational behaviour with the help of two interrelated concepts: context sensitivity and balancing. Context sensitivity pertains to beliefs about person (patra), time (kal), and ecological (desh) components of the environment. Balancing is a behavioural disposition to avoid extremes and to integrate or accommodate diverse considerations. Traditional systems such as Hindu religion, caste as a form of social stratification, and agricultural mode of production have interacted with foreign invasions and alien rules to give rise to several sociocultural characteristics: (1) group embeddedness and hierarchy while relating to people (patra), (2) uncertainty about future and the resultant short‐term perspective while relating to time (kal), and (3) scarcity of resources, deficient infrastructural facilities, and poverty syndrome while relating to ecology (desh). Rapid industrialization and the transplant of Western technology and work forms in the last three decades have added individualistic values and Western management practices. While responding to the three components of the environment, people exhibit both a primary expresive mode that is traditional in nature and a secondary expressive mode that is acquired as a result of the transplantation of the Western management system onto a traditional core. Superior‐subordinate relationships, work behaviour, and management practices reflect both the primary and secondary modes in varying degrees.
Cultural Dimensions, Gender, and the Nature of Self‐concept: A Fourteen‐country Study
Authors: Watkins David , Akande Adebowale , Fleming James , Ismail Maznah , Lefner Kent , Regmi Murari , Watson Sue , Yu Jiayuan , Adair John , Cheng Christopher , Gerong Andres , McInerney Dennis , Mpofu Elias , Singh‐Sengupta Sunita , Wondimu Habtamu
Published: July 2002

Ratings of the importance of and satisfaction with 20 areas of the self were obtained from 3604 first or second year social science undergraduates from 14 countries (15 cultures). Factor analysis at the culture by gender level supported four factors for both sets of ratings. The resulting factor scores were analyzed for mean differences according to the cultural dimension of Individualism‐Collectivism by Gender and by correlations with other cultural dimenions and economic indicators. It was found that participants from the 10 collectivist cultures placed greater salience for their self‐concepts on “family values” than did those from the individualist cultures. However, this cultural difference was not found for “social relationships”. The expected gender differences, with females valuing “family values” and “social relationships” more highly, were found only for the individualist countries. The findings indicate that there may be a strong cultural level interaction effect between gender and Individualism‐Collectivism on the nature of self‐conceptions, and that the “family” and “social” aspects of self‐concept in collectivist countries need to be considered separately.
Merger under Spatial Competition
Authors: Rothschild R.
Published: July 2002

This paper studies the relationship between merger activity and choice of location under conditions of spatial price discrimination. We consider an industry containing three firms, of which two make up the merged entity and the third remains an 'outsider'. In this type of model, the location choices of the parties to a merger reflect their individual shares in post-merger profits. We show in particular that: the presence of the outside firm has an important role to play in the determination of the equilibrium set of locations within the market; the overall as well as the individual (per-firm) profitability of merger depends upon the firms' relative shares in the gains from this activity; the profitability of the outside firm may be either increased or decreased by the merger; the profitability of entry into the industry depends upon the ownership structure of the existing firms.
The US Airport Hierarchy and Implications for Small Communities
Authors: Reynolds-Feighan Aisling
Published: July 2002

This paper examines the nature and characteristics of the US airport hierarchy and compares the size distribution of air-traffic communities with the urban hierarchy, using data from 1997. Air-carrier network structures have a significant influence on the distribution of traffic in the US hierarchy, and it is demonstrated that there is greater variability in the relationship between traffic and urban population at the top and bottom sections of the hierarchy than for medium-sized communities. Small communities are examined in detail with economic and demographic characteristics of 'Essential Air Service' communities being presented. It is demonstrated that the subsidised communities are generally located in areas of lower economic growth and lie further from the larger air-traffic hubs than unsubsidised communities.
Design Appeals in England in the 1990s: An Aggregate Analysis
Authors: Punter John , Bell Andrew
Published: July 2002

Design is a critical area in development control practice, and design appeals constitute a particularly important set of control cases. This is especially true in Britain where developers make much more use of the appeal system than elsewhere, and where central government utilises appeals to control local planning practice. This paper examines trends in all appeals over the period 1981-95 and trends in design appeals during 1991-95. It reveals high proportions of design appeals, but stable dismissal rates close to the appeal average. Three kinds of design appeal are identified and their incidence and dismissal rates assessed. Analysis of design issues reveals the dominance of contextual factors numerically, but no wide variances in dismissal rates from issue to issue. Intrinsic design has been a relatively minor design issue, while landscaping has been almost entirely ignored at appeal. However, design issues, broadly interpreted, remain the dominant concerns at appeal. There is no evidence of design appeals becoming more likely to be dismissed as a result of more positive government advice, or as a result of the introduction of a plan-led system which introduces district-wide design policies for the first time in most areas.
Power and Policy Networks in Urban Governance: Local Government and Property-led Regeneration in Dublin
Authors: McGuirk Pauline M.
Published: July 2002

Using Dublin as a case study, this paper examines how the locus of power in urban governance is reshaped through the emergence of networked governing practices. Specifically, the paper takes the intersection of central government property-led regeneration initiatives with local government planning regulation in Dublin as a forum in which to explore the multiscaled policy networks constituting urban governance and the role of local government, particularly local government planners, within them. The paper employs a Latourian notion of the social production of power in interactions to analyse the power-flows through the networked practices of urban governance and to suggest strategies for the empowerment of local government within them.
State Restructuring and Local Power in Japan
Authors: Child Hill Richard , Fujita Kuniko
Published: July 2002

Western understanding of the post-war evolution of states in advanced capitalist societies envisions a moment of fundamental transition beginning in the mid 1970s and indexed by reduced government spending, the privatisation of public services and increased inequality among local governments. Regulation theory sees the process as a transition from a Keynesian welfare state to a Schumpeterian workfare state necessitated by the shift from a Fordist to a post-Fordist regime of capital accumulation. Japan, a member of the OECD, and the world's second-largest economy, fits neither the political-economic trends nor the model put forward by Western regulation theorists. Japan has not experienced the decline in state spending, the privatisation of public activity or the rising inequality among local governments that characterises Western OECD nations. The Japanese have selectively incorporated Keynesian and Schumpeterian ideas, but in a spirit much closer to that of writers associated with the German historical school, and always within a framework rooted in Japan's own historical traditions and exigencies. We document Japan's departure from the Western model of state restructuring and explore the theoretical implications.
Price Discovery between Private and Public Housing Markets
Authors: Ong Seow-Eng , Sing Tien-Foo
Published: July 2002

Public and private housing markets are usually differentiated in terms of price, regulations and policies, but they are not necessarily segmented. Any integration, as opposed to segmentation, between private and public markets implies that the prices of private housing are interrelated with the prices of public housing determined in the open market. If so, information revealed in one market will be pertinent for making inferences on prices in the other market. This paper addresses the price discovery or relation between public and private housing in view of Singapore's substantial public housing programme that has an actively traded secondary market. Implications for the direction of price causality and upward mobility for households between housing price strata are examined.
The Impact of Socioeconomic Factors on State Suicide Rates: A Methodological Note
Authors: Kunce Mitch , Anderson April L.
Published: July 2002

This note examines the purported impact of conventional socioeconomic and social environment factors on annual, state-level suicide rates. Results from an inductive fixed-effects (covariance) analysis, of state-level time-series/cross-section data for the period 1985-95, do little to support Durkheim's social causes hypothesis that aggregate socioeconomic factors matter in explaining state suicide rates. A possible source of heterogeneity-aggregation bias is identified raising questions surrounding past inferences made in aggregate suicide research. The data and empirical method support a mounting sentiment of an abiding ecological fallacy in the suicide literature. Implications of this investigation call for a shift in research focus and method to a smaller unit of analysis (for example, individual-level, controlling for key social processes).
Knowledge-intensive Services and Urban Innovativeness
Authors: Wood Peter
Published: July 2002

This paper addresses three issues in the context of knowledge-intensive service (KIS) development, related to the competitive base of cities and the degree to which they possess distinctive sources of innovativeness. The first is, how may growing KIS, or consultancy, use influence client innovation? Although this is inherently difficult to demonstrate, the expertise and modes of operation of consultancies suggest that they do influence technical and organisational change amongst clients. The second issue is the segmentation of consultancy influence, especially by sector and types of firm. Finally, how far does the urban base of consultancy supply imply local, specifically urban, benefits for client innovation? Consultancy services are often delivered over wide areas from their urban bases, within national and international nexuses of corporate and public-sector service exchange. This question cannot be answered by focusing only on local exchange. Urban client-consultancy interaction needs to be set within a national and even an international context of specialist expertise exchange.
Comparative Statics Analysis of Urban Land Values in the Presence of Government Regulation
Authors: Pasha Hafiz A.
Published: July 2002

The paper undertakes comparative statics of urban land values in the presence of government regulation of density or rent in the central city or at the periphery. The principal finding is that the conclusions of Wheaton (1974) regarding the flattening of the rent curve due to a rise in income or its steepening following an increase in transport cost need not always hold in the presence of such regulation. Results of the comparative statics are used to derive practical implications for individual real estate investors and for urban planning.
Journey and Transactions Frequency: An Alternative Explanation of Rent-gradient Convexity
Authors: McCann Philip
Published: July 2002

This paper contends that in many real-world situations, the frequency with which transactions take place is central to the relationship between land prices and location. It will therefore be argued that an approach which makes the transactions and journey frequency endogenous to the cost problem is the correct way in which time should be incorporated into many urban rent-distance models. Under these conditions, it can be shown that a convex distance-rent gradient can be generated without the need for the assumption of a convex indifference curve or isoquant. Furthermore, in many such cases, the convex distance-rent curve can be shown to exist irrespective of whether transport costs are concave, linear or greater than linear with distance. Real examples will be used to illustrate the problem.
The Real Estate Economy and the Design of Russian Housing Reforms, Part I
Authors: Renaud Bertrand
Published: July 2002

The transition from plan to market in socialist economies dominates the economic agenda of this decade. This two-part paper on the Russian housing reforms addresses four questions. First, what is the legacy of the administrative-command system and why were demands for major reforms so widespread in the housing sector? Secondly, in what manner does the severe contraction of the Russian economy complicate the reformers' task? Thirdly, how has the Russian government responded so far to the reform challenge? Fourthly, why are the privatisation of housing and rent reforms at the core of the transition to market? The first part of the paper deals with the first two questions. The second part addresses the last two questions. Priority goes to an integrated perspective on the early stages of Russian reforms over an in-depth analysis of individual issues. The modern analysis of the real estate economy distinguishes two markets: the 'property market' for the allocation of space, and the 'asset market' where investment decisions are made. This theoretical insight provides a much needed framework to understand how the key components of Russian reform interact during the housing transition to market.
Deterioration of Public Capital and Optimal Policy of Local and Central Government
Authors: Yagi Tadashi
Published: July 2002

Deterioration of public capital in the US has been reported to be in crisis since the mid 1970s. There is an argument which insists that the deterioration is caused by the shortage of expenditure on the maintenance of public capital. The budget allocation for maintenance is not a technological problem. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the following three issues by describing both local and central government behaviour. First, the optimal conditions for the allocation of maintenance expenditure are examined. Secondly, the impact of the differences in preference of residents for public capital used for amenity and maintenance is examined. Finally, we examine the condition for the case where provision of subsidy from the central government to a local government creates a large loss of efficiency.
Change and Continuity in the Irish Urban System, 1966-81
Authors: Huff David L. , Lutz James M.
Published: July 2002

The Irish urban system has evolved over time. Urban centres have moved up and down the urban hierarchy, and the delineation of urban spheres of influence for the top levels of the urban hierarchy in 1966, 1971 and 1981 indicates that hinterlands have also changed. New centres in the upper tiers of the hierarchy developed in areas where the hinterlands of the older centres in that tier had previously converged. The analysis of such spheres of influences and urban attraction over time can be used as an important aid for a variety of types of government planning.
Identities, Citizenship and Power in the Cities
Authors: Imrie Rob , Pinch Steven , Boyle Mark
Published: July 2002

In this introduction to selected papers from the Tenth Urban Change and Conflict Conference (UCC), held at Royal Holloway University of London in September 1995, we offer some thoughts on the contemporary health of urban studies. UCC conferences have always been characterised by their commitment to analysing the social relations of (political) oppression and domination which underpin the dynamics of cities. This has entailed some commitment to political economy yet, in recent years, the so-called 'interpretative' turn has challenged the relevance of political economy approaches to the study of cities. However, the papers presented at the Tenth UCC conference point towards the importance of (re)engaging with political economy and with recognising the ways in which a political economy of urbanism is able to capture the complexities of contemporary social and economic life.
Coordinating Employment, Transport and Housing in Cities: An Institutional Perspective
Authors: Pratt Andy C.
Published: July 2002

This paper outlines a reconceptualisation of the relationship between employment, housing and transport in cities that draws upon insights drawn from structuration theory and institutional sociology. It identifies the need for a new focus, one that lies between the structural and the individual—the institution—as well as the need for the integration of time-space into analyses. Institutions are embedded social action. The unique formations of institutional matrices (households, labour markets, housing markets and transport systems) are identified as sites for further research and policy development. The paper calls for future research to identify who gains and who loses within the current, and future, configurations of institutions in cities. Changes in individual behaviour and the policies to enable or to constrain such behaviour should be evaluated in this light.
Urban and Housing Indicators
Authors: Flood Joe
Published: July 2002

Most of the world's economic and population growth is taking place in cities and, increasingly, many of the world's major challenges and problems have their loci in cities. Poverty, environmental degradation, lack of urban services, transport, local government management and inadequate shelter and access to land are among the main areas of concern. This paper outlines the history of social and urban indicators and their application through the UNCHS (Habitat) Indicators Programme as one of the major country preparation activities for Habitat II. A list of 46 key indicators was endorsed for Habitat II, to be used with other indicators as the quantitative basis for country reporting on the status of human settlements. Some 109 countries participated in the UNCHS Indicators Programme, providing comparable data for 236 cities. The resulting Urban Indicators Database is a unique resource for examining the problems and conditions of human settlements, and will provide baseline data for future monitoring of the Global Plan of Action and national action plans prepared for Habitat II. The Indicators Programme also initiated capacity-building activities in which the indicators form the basis of national monitoring programmes and are used for training of officials at national and local government levels. A number of countries have set in place processes whereby the indicators from the Programme, often with some local adaptation, will be used to monitor major national programmes and will be collected in most urban areas. The values of the key urban indicators are presented here as regional averages and for countries of different levels of economic development. Preliminary analysis of the data reveals a wealth of information in support of known facts about human settlement activities, and sheds light on a number of new concerns.
Cities in a Global Economy: Structural Change and Policy Reactions
Authors: Harris Nigel
Published: July 2002

Although economic issues have been featured significantly in the urban literature since Habitat I in 1976, they have usually been related to sector issues or to applications in urban microeconomic analysis. At the mid stage between Habitat I and Habitat II, urban specialists increasingly made reference to broad changes in the international economy, but without recourse to research programmes in structural-spatial change. A useful example of the position in 1987 with generalised commentary upon the relevance of structural change is the collection of chapters in Lloyd Rodwin's Shelter, Settlement and Development. Since 1987 appreciation of the significance of international structural-spatial change has gradually deepened, especially because the new urban agenda in UNCHS and World Bank policies heightens the relevance of urban development in contributing to long-term growth. This appreciation of significance was taken a step further in the Symposium: The Management of Cities During Structural Adjustment, Bombay, 12-14 October 1995, organised by the Development Planning Unit of University College London and Bombay First. This provided a context for Habitat II, and though the UNCHS paper to the Istanbul conference was rather sparse on urban economic issues, the subsequent global report of Habitat II has appreciation of urban economies.
Land Conversion and Urban Development in the Northern Region of West Java, Indonesia
Authors: Firman Tommy
Published: July 2002

This article examines the impacts of economic development on land conversion in the Northern Region of West Java (NRWJ) and discusses their implications for urban and regional development. The recent development of NRWJ has been triggered largely by domestic and foreign investment in the region, which has led to a tremendous increase in demand for land. Subsequently, prime agricultural land has been subdivided and converted into industrial estates and other urban land uses. Land conversion is basically a normal part of the urban development process, but in NRWJ it does reflect the land businesses carried out by large developers, which tend to be speculative in character. The study also discusses some land-related policy reforms which are needed to guide land conversion.
Black Africans in Great Britain: Spatial Concentration and Segregation
Authors: Daley Patricia O.
Published: July 2002

Research on Britain's African population has been rather limited, which is partly due to the lack of data. The 1991 Census gave official recognition to the increasing permanency of the African population through the introduction of the ethnic category Black African, which enumerated the group's population at 212 362 and resulted in a vast amount of illuminating demographic and socioeconomic data. This paper draws heavily on this database. It is clear that the Black-African group tends to have similar spatial patterns to the Black-Caribbean, but a high degree of segregation from whites and other ethnic groups. This can be explained through discrimination, economic marginalisation and poor social housing, although cultural factors do contribute to the pattern. It is suggested that Black-African concentrations may begin to disperse to replicate the current suburbanisation experience of the Black Caribbean.
Rational Expectations, Uncertainty and Cyclical Activity in the British Office Market
Authors: Tsolacos Sotiris , McGough Tony
Published: July 2002

This study presents an econometric investigation of office building development in Great Britain. The results show that the cyclical activity in office development, measured by the changes in the office building output series compiled by the Department of the Environment, is explained by the changes in Hillier Parker real office rents, and changes in the volume of output in services. There is also strong evidence that uncertainty, originating in the volatility of rents, exerted a negative influence on the rate of office development in the 1990s. The study advances further the existing econometric treatment of office building development by undertaking direct tests of rationality and shows that the estimated model produces forecasts which are characterised by rational expectations. It is established that information contained in the past history of office building output and variables which are considered to explain its cyclical pattern is efficiently and consistently incorporated. The model also suggests that in the formation of one-period forecasts the weight attached to the error most recently observed is about 30 per cent.
Decoding Decentralisation: The Marketing of Urban Local Power?
Authors: Paddison Ronan
Published: July 2002

Local decentralisation-to urban neighbourhood level-has become commonly projected as an important component of urban restructuring, and in particular of new modes of urban governance. This ubiquity is founded on the mythical qualities of decentralisation. Focusing on the discursive strategies employed by two urban Scottish local authorities, this paper shows how local decentralisation can become commodified as both a good and as 'good practice'. Analysis of the texts used to advocate local decentralisation identifies the language through which the marketing of power is conveyed.
Relationship between School Composition and Characteristics of School Process and their Effect on Mathematics Achievement
Authors: Opdenakker Marie‐Christine , Van Damme Jan
Published: July 2002

Abstract This study explores the relationship between school composition and characteristics of school process and investigates their effect on mathematics achievement in Belgian (Flemish) secondary education by means of multilevel analysis. Attention is paid to the differential effectiveness of both types of school characteristics. The study confirms that there are important relationships between school composition and school process variables in secondary education. The analyses of the effect of both variables on achievement revealed that these variables have important net and joint effects on achievement independent of initial ability. We found that the addition of school composition variables to models with school process variables caused a decline in the effect of important school process variables. This outcome has important consequences for school effectiveness research, school improvement and teacher training.
Reasoning and action complexity: Sources and consequences on maternal child-rearing behaviour
Authors: Rodrigo Maria J. , Janssens Jan M.A.M. , Ceballos Esperanza
Published: July 2002

In this study, two approaches of complexity of maternal thinking were examined: Newberger’s(1980) analysis of reasoning complexity, and Vallacher and Wegner’s (1985) analysis of action complexity, that was adapted to the parenting ” eld. Measures for action complexity and for maternal behaviours were derived from hypothetical child-rearing situations and from mother-child observed interactions. Links between reasoning and action complexity to child-rearing actions and to sources, such as socioeconomic status (SES) were explored in a Spanish sample of 60 mothers with a child 7 to 10 years old. Moreover, it was proposed that the relation between SES and maternal child-rearing behaviour was mediated by either form of complexity. A LISREL model for the hypothetical situations showed that the influence of SES on less positive child rearing was only mediated by Reasoning complexity, whereas Action complexity showed an independent path to positive child-rearing behaviour. A LISREL model for the observed situations showed that both maternal reasoning complexity and action complexity played an equivalent mediating role between maternal SES and negative child-rearing behaviour. The theoretical and methodological implications of both aspects of complexity to the analysis of child-rearing behaviour were discussed.
Children’s incipient ability to distinguish mistakes from lies: An Italian investigation
Authors: Gilli Gabriella , Siegal Michael , Marchetti Antonella , Peterson Candida C.
Published: July 2002

We report a study in which Italian children aged 3 to 5 years were given situations requiring a distinction between lies and honest mistakes. As in previous research, the children displayed an incipient grasp of the lie-mistake distinction with regard to situations involving falsehoods about edibility of a substance that had been contaminated. However, children of all ages often regarded instances of both lies and mistakes as negative rather than restricting their judgements of naughtiness to the lying alone. The results are discussed in terms of the characteristics of Italian language and culture such as the connotations of words used to indicate “mistakes” and references to anger in labelling a variety of emotional events.
Global self-esteem, ethnic self-esteem, and family integrity: Turkish and Dutch early adolescents in The Netherlands
Authors: Verkuyten Maykel
Published: July 2002

The relationship between ethnic minority identity and global self-esteem continues to be an important topic. In two studies among Turkish and Dutch early adolescents in The Netherlands, it was found that both groups did not differ in global self-esteem. However, the Turks indicated more positive ethnic self-esteem than the Dutch and they more strongly endorsed family integrity as an individual tendency towards collectivism. In addition, ethnic self-esteem was found to have a stronger positive relation with global self-esteem among Turkish than Dutch participants. Further, only among the Turks was family integrity positively related to ethnic self-esteem and global self-esteem. Both the esteem derived from ethnic group membership as well as family integrity contributed independently to global personal self-esteem among the Turks. Among both ethnic groups boys had a more positive global (two studies) and ethnic self-esteem (one study) than girls.
Effects of intellectual variables, age, and gender on divergent thinking in adulthood
Authors: Reese Hayne W. , Lee Liang-Jei , Cohen Stanley H. , Puckett James M.
Published: July 2002

Divergent thinking was assessed in 400 adult women and men with tests of word association (associational ‘ uency) and alternate uses (production ‘ uency, ‘ exibility, and originality). The participants were from four age cohorts: young (17-22 years old), middle-aged (40-50), young-old (60-70), and old-old (75+). The test battery also included two intellectual “process” variables (inductive reasoning, memory span), one “dynamic resource variable” (intellectual speediness), one “structural resource variable” (vocabulary), and two moderator variables (depression, education). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that divergent thinking was significantly, linearly, positively, and moderately related to all of these variables except depression, which was not significantly related to divergent thinking. Effects of age group and gender were assessed in analyses of variance (alpha = .01). The age groups did not differ significantly in associational ‘ uency, but the middle-aged group was the best on production ‘ uency, ‘ exibility, and originality. Gender had a significant effect on only one variable: Women had higher depression scores than men.
Attachment, Emergent Morality, and Aggression: Toward a Developmental Socioemotional Model of Antisocial Behaviour
Authors: van IJzendoorn Marinus H.
Published: July 2002

Does attachment play a role in the development of moral reasoning and antisocial behaviour? In this contribution we discuss the role of attachment relationships in the development of early precursors of morality and antisocial behaviour, in particular compliance and aggression in infancy and in childhood. Findings are presented on the role of attachment representations in the development of morality, authoritarianism, and criminal behaviour in adolescence and young adulthood. For heuristic purposes, two socioemotional models of the development of mild and serious types of antisocial behaviour are proposed in which attachment is a prominent feature.
Developmental Issues in the Study of Coping
Authors: Losoya Sandra , Eisenberg Nancy , Fabes Richard A.
Published: July 2002

Developmental issues generally have been ignored in the study of coping. Thus, the goals of this paper were threefold: (1) to summarise theory in which coping is placed in the larger context of emotion regulation; (2) to review brie‘y existing literature related to consistency and change in coping, interrelations among coping strategies at different ages, and the relation of coping to the quality of social functioning at different ages; and (3) to summarise data from a longitudinal study pertaining to the aforementioned issues. Coping was relatively consistent across time (over a six-year period); there were some age-related changes in mean levels of children’s adult-reported coping; and there was considerable consistency in interrelations of coping strategies at different ages. In general, relations of coping to social functioning were similar across age, although some age-related changes in patterns were noted.
Children’s Reciprocal Perceptions of Friendship Quality in the Sociocultural Contexts of East and West Berlin
Authors: Little Todd D. , Brendgen Mara , Wanner Brigitte , Krappmann Lothar
Published: July 2002

Testing 551 East and 210 West Berlin children (grades 2-5), we sought to: (1) gain a broader understanding of the reciprocal nature of children’s friendships, especially their perceptions of friendship quality; and (2) examine sociocultural influences on such perceptions. We expected friends’ perceptions to form two distinct types of perceptions: (i) objectively perceived and, thus, shared interpersonal perceptions; and (ii) subjectively interpreted and, thus, nonshared intrapersonal perceptions. Mean and covariances structures analyses revealed that: (a) our distinction was well supported and generalisable across both contexts; and (b) East Berlin children reported more perceived friendship conflict, fewer mutual visits and sleep-overs, and less fun in their play activities than did their West Berlin age-mates. These differences are consistent with known characteristics of these two distinct sociocultural contexts.
Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Nonneoplastic Lesions in Toxicology Studies
Authors: Shackelford Cynthia , Long Gerald , Wolf Jeffrey , Okerberg Carlin , Herbert Ronald
Published: July 2002

A pathology report is written to convey information concerning the pathologic findings in a study. This type of report must be complete, accurate and communicate the relative importance of various findings in a study. The overall quality of the report is determined by three Quality Indicators: thoroughness, accuracy, and consistency. Thoroughness is the identification of every lesion present in a particular organ or tissue, including spontaneous background lesions. Experienced pathologists familiar with background lesions may disregard certain types of lesions or establish a threshold or a severity above which background lesions are diagnosed. Accuracy is the ability to make, and precisely communicate, correct diagnoses. Nomenclature of lesions is a matter of definition and experienced pathologists generally agree as to what terms are to be used. Consistency is the uniform use of a specific term to record a defined lesion and implies that the same diagnostic criteria are being followed for each type of diagnosis. The relative severity of nonneoplastic lesions can be recorded either semiquantitatively or quantitatively. Semiquantitative analysis involves the application of defined severity grades or ranges for specific lesions. Quantitative analysis (counts and measurements) can be performed manually or electronically, utilizing image analysis and stereological techniques to provide numerical values. When both qualitative and quantitative parameters are applied in preparation of a pathology report, the recorded pathology findings can be interpreted and put into perspective. The use of this approach assures a reader that the pathology report meets the highest standards.
Pathways to the Future? An Initial Assessment of RDA Strategies and their Contribution to Integrated Regional Development
Authors: Roberts Peter , Benneworth Paul
Published: July 2002

The English Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) were established in April 1999 as part of the wider package of devolution measures. One of the first tasks undertaken by the RDAs was the preparation of Region al Economic Strategies (RESs). These strategies were intended to be a means of securing agreement on a single regional vision and programme of development. However, the RDAs are n ot the only actors present in the English regions and the RESs are not the only region al-level planning exercises. This paper reviews the guidance given to RDAs regarding the preparation and content of RESs. It also provides an initial assessment of the strategy documents an d the extent to which they are coordinated with other regional plans and programmes. The eight RESs differ in terms of their structure, content and emphasis. In general terms, and accepting the constraints under which they were prepared, it is clear that they represent positive attempts to develop strategies for the regions. Key issues for the future include the need for RDAs to agree detailed subject-specific action plans, to establish stronger links with other regional actors and to en sure that they add value to regional development.
RDAs, Sub-Regional Partnerships and Local Regeneration
Authors: Liddle Joyce
Published: July 2002

This article examines the structures and relationships being formed between regional, sub-regional and local levels of governance. It highlights how traditional methods for the delivery of regeneration, based on Weberian formalization, centralization and bureaucratic procedures, are being challenged by the call for more flexible arrangements with decentralized decision-making and wider participation, a key philosophy of contemporary regeneration management. It is suggested that the implementation of programmes is problematic because cultural and professional differences emerge between professional regeneration managers an d the recipients of regeneration projects. By focusing on the emergence of four Sub-Regional Partnerships (SRPs), a new intermediary in regeneration, in the North East of England, this article will be of interest to both practitioners and academics. Early evidence tends to indicate that through SRPs, the governance of regeneration appears to be an other ‘managerial fix’ rather than a new form of political articulation.
Serum levels of TNF‐α, sIL‐2R, IL‐6, and IL‐8 are increased and associated with elevated lipid peroxidation in patients with Behçet′s disease
Authors: Evereklioglu Cem , Er Hamdi , Türköz Yusuf , Çekmen Mustafa
Published: July 2002

Aim: Behçet′s disease (BD) is a systemic immuno‐inflammatory disorder and the aetiopathogenesis is to be specified. Cytokines play a role in immune response and in many inflammatory diseases. The aim of this case‐control study is to investigate serum pro‐inflammatory cytokine tumour necrosis factor (TNF)‐α, interleukin‐1beta (IL‐1β), soluble IL‐2 receptor (sIL‐2R), IL‐6, and chemokine IL‐8 levels in patients with BD. We also determined the end product of lipid peroxidation (malondialdehyde (MDA)) in BD patients as an index for oxidative stress.

Methods: A total of 37 patients (19 men, 18 women) with BD (active, n = 17; inactive, n = 20) and 20 age‐matched and sex‐matched healthy control subjects (11 men, nine women) included in this cross‐sectional, blinded study. Serum TNF‐α, IL‐1β, sIL‐2R, IL‐6 and IL‐8 levels were determined by a spectrophotometer technique using the immulite chemiluminescent immunometric assay. Lipid peroxidation was evaluated by Wasowicz et al. The levels of cytokines and lipid peroxidation in the active period were compared with the inactive period of the disease. Results are expressed as mean ± standard error.

Results: IL‐1β levels were below the detection limits of the assay (< 5 pg/ml) in all samples. Mean levels of MDA (8.1 ± 0.7 μmol/l), sIL‐2R (800 ± 38 U/ml), IL‐6 (12.6 ± 1.1 pg/ml), IL‐8 (7.2 ± 0.4 pg/ml), and TNF‐α (7.9 ± 0.5 pg/ml) in active BD patients were significantly higher than those in inactive patients (4.3 ± 0.5 μmol/l, p < 0.01; 447 ± 16 U/ml, p < 0.001
; 8.3 ± 0.6 pg/ml, p = 0.006; 5.3 ± 0.1 pg/ml, p < 0.001; and 5.1 ± 0.2 pg/ml, p < 0.001; respectively) or control subjects (2.1 ± 0.2 μmol/l, p < 0.001; 446 ± 20 U/ml, p < 0.001; 6.4 ± 0.2 pg/ml, p < 0.001; 5.4 ± 0.1 pg/ml, p < 0.001; and 4.7 ± 0.1 pg/ml, p < 0.001, respectively). On the contrary, only the mean IL‐6 level was significantly different between inactive BD and control subjects
(p = 0.02). All acute phase reactants were significantly higher in active BD than in inactive period
(for each, p < 0.01).

Conclusions: High levels of sIL‐2R, IL‐6, IL‐8 and TNF‐α indicate the activation of immune system in BD. Serum sIL‐2R, IL‐6, IL‐8 and TNF‐α seem to be related to disease activity. Increased lipid peroxidation suggests oxidative stress in BD and therefore tissue damage in such patients. Amelioration of clinical manifestations would be envisaged by targeting these cytokines, chemokines and lipid peroxidation with pharmacological agents.
Voice characteristics in the progression of Parkinson's disease
Authors: J. Holmes Rhonda , M. Oates Jennifer , J. Phyland Debbie , J. Hughes Andrew
Published: July 2002

This study examined the acoustic and perceptual voice characteristics of patients with Parkinson's disease according to disease severity. The perceptual and acoustic voice characteristics of 30 patients with early stage PD and 30 patients with later stage PD were compared with data from 30 normal control subjects. Voice recordings consisted of prolongation of the vowel /a/, scale singing, and a 1‐min monologue. In comparison with controls and previously published normative data, both early and later stage PD patients’ voices were characterized perceptually by limited pitch and loudness variability, breathiness, harshness and reduced loudness. High modal pitch levels also characterized the voices of males in both early and later stages of PD. Acoustically, the voices of both groups of PD patients demonstrated lower mean intensity levels and reduced maximum phonational frequency ranges in comparison with normative data. Although less clear, the present data also suggested that the PD patients’ voices were characterized by excess jitter, a high‐speaking fundamental frequency for males and a reduced fundamental frequency variability for females. While several of these voice features did not appear to deteriorate with disease progression (i.e. harshness, high modal pitch and speaking fundamental frequency in males, fundamental frequency variability in females, low intensity and jitter), breathiness, monopitch and monoloudness, low loudness and reduced maximum phonational frequency range were all worse in the later stages of PD. Tremor was the sole voice feature which was associated only with later stage PD.
Specific language impairment in Italian: The first steps in the search for a clinical marker
Authors: Bortolini Umberta , Caselli M. Cristina , Deevy Patricia , Leonard Laurence B.
Published: July 2002

Recent studies of children with specific language impairment (SLI) have identified language measures that seem quite accurate in distinguishing preschool‐age children with SLI from their normally developing peers. However, the studies have focussed exclusively on English, and it is clear from the literature that the SLI profile varies between languages. This paper reports on three studies designed to assess the utility of particular language measures for Italian. In the first two studies, it was found that a composite measure based on the use of definite singular articles and third‐person plural inflections showed good sensitivity and specificity in distinguishing Italian‐speaking children with SLI from their typically developing peers. The third study showed that the same composite can be applied successfully to individual cases of SLI. Some of the additional steps needed to evaluate this composite measure are discussed.
Phonological Awareness Skills Of 4‐Year‐Old British Children: An Assessment And Developmental Data
Authors: Burt Lucy , Holm Alison , Dodd Barbara
Published: July 2002

This study reports developmental data for the phonological awareness and processing skills of 57 normally developing Tyneside preschool children, aged between 46 and 58 months. The children were assessed on eight tasks: consistency of word production, phonological variability according to speech production task, non‐word imitation, syllable segmentation, rhyme awareness, alliteration awareness, phoneme isolation and phoneme segmentation. The results indicated that girls and boys performed similarly; socio‐economic status significantly affected performance on six of the tasks; and age was significantly correlated with performance on tasks targeting alliteration, non‐word imitation, phonological variability, and phoneme isolation and segmentation. The older children were more phonologically aware than the younger children.
Mitochondrial Participation in the Intracellular Ca2+ Network
Authors: Babcock Donner F. , Herrington James , Goodwin Paul C. , Park Young Bae , Hille Bertil
Published: July 2002

Calcium can activate mitochondrial metabolism, and the possibility that mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake and extrusion modulate free cytosolic [Ca2+] (Cac) now has renewed interest. We use whole-cell and perforated patch clamp methods together with rapid local perfusion to introduce probes and inhibitors to rat chromaffin cells, to evoke Ca2+ entry, and to monitor Ca2+-activated currents that report near-surface [Ca2+]. We show that rapid recovery from elevations of Cac requires both the mitochondrial Ca2+ uniporter and the mitochondrial energization that drives Ca2+ uptake through it. Applying imaging and single-cell photometric methods, we find that the probe rhod-2 selectively localizes to mitochondria and uses its responses to quantify mitochondrial free [Ca2+] (Cam). The indicated resting Cam of 100–200 nM is similar to the resting Cac reported by the probes indo-1 and Calcium Green, or its dextran conjugate in the cytoplasm. Simultaneous monitoring of Cam and Cac at high temporal resolution shows that, although Cam increases less than Cac, mitochondrial sequestration of Ca2+ is fast and has high capacity. We find that mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake limits the rise and underlies the rapid decay of Cac excursions produced by Ca2+ entry or by mobilization of reticular stores. We also find that subsequent export of Ca2+ from mitochondria, seen as declining Cam, prolongs complete Cac recovery and that suppressing export of Ca2+, by inhibition of the mitochondrial Na+/ Ca2+ exchanger, reversibly hastens final recovery of Cac. We conclude that mitochondria are active participants in cellular Ca2+ signaling, whose unique role is determined by their ability to rapidly accumulate and then release large quantities of Ca2+.