bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
2005 NAPS Presidential Address: Remembering Abraham of Farshut: History, Hagiography, and the Fate of the Pachomian Tradition
Authors: Goehring James E.
Published: March 2006

Evidence preserved in three panegyrics on Abraham of Farshut, the last Coptic orthodox archimandrite of the Pachomian Koinonia, indicates that ideological divisions within the federation brought on by the Council of Chalcedon led to its decline and ultimate failure within Egypt. During the reign of Justinian I, pro-Chalcedonian elements within the Koinonia gained complete control, forcing Abraham and the other Coptic orthodox monks to depart. When Egypt remained non-Chalcedonian, the latter-day pro-Chalcedonian Pachomian movement became irrelevant and lost its place in history. While Byzantium and the West continued to trace the history of coenobitic monasticism back from their own northern Mediterranean ascetic heroes to the early Pachomians, the Coptic church tracked its development from the early Pachomians through Shenoute and his White Monastery federation to the present. As a result, Shenoute came to eclipse Pachomius within the Coptic tradition, while he remained virtually unknown in Byzantium and the West.
The Characterization of Jesus in Codex W
Authors: Howell Justin R
Published: March 2006

An analysis of the singular readings in Codex W reflects a tendency to heighten the character of Jesus by portraying him as a well-received, non-threatening, and affable teacher. Such a characterization fits within the ideological context of early Christian polemic, as evidenced in patristic literature and early Christian art—where the character of Jesus is widely portrayed as a teacher and philosopher. The essay considers nine singular readings (Luke 8.38; Matt 12.48, 26.52; Mark 1.27, 3.21, 6.50, 10.32; and John 21.4) and two subsingular readings (Matt 4.23; Luke 24.36) that affect the characterization of Jesus. Just as Jesus and other key figures are portrayed as having the abilities, qualities, and duties of a philosopher in early Christian polemic, the character of Jesus displays such a portrayal in Codex W, thus providing yet another medium through which one may view the ideological and social contexts of early Christianity.
In the Footsteps of Paul: Scriptural and Apostolic Authority in Ignatius of Antioch
Authors: Mitchell Matthew W
Published: March 2006

Although they agree that the writings of Ignatius make frequent use of Pauline language and reflect seemingly little interest in the Jewish scriptural tradition, scholars frequently ignore these issues when discussing points of contact between the written gospels and the Ignatian correspondence. This article argues that there are in fact few such uses of written "Christian" materials in the letters of Ignatius and that his infrequent reliance on the Jewish Scriptures derives from a desire to subordinate the Old Testament to other sources of authority. The letters of Ignatius thus reflect a transitional state in early Christianity wherein the phrasing of Paul's writings serves as a normative exemplar, although there is not yet any reference to exclusively Christian written authorities.
Slavery and Pope Gregory the Great
Authors: Serfass Adam
Published: March 2006

This is the only detailed study of slavery and Pope Gregory the Great that is readily available. The first part of the study examines Gregory's theoretical writings on slavery; it focuses, in particular, on a passage in the Regula Pastoralis where Gregory teaches slaves and masters how to find God through their dependency. The second part turns to Gregory's correspondence. In his interventions in slaves' lives, Gregory is seen generally to follow Justinianic law, with occasional deviations therefrom. I argue that an abiding interest in fostering social order underlies both Gregory's views on slavery in theory and his encounters with it in practice.
Boccaccio, Petrarch, and Peter Damian: Two Models of the Humanist Intellectual
Authors: Barsella Susanna
Published: March 2006

This article focuses on Giovanni Boccaccio and Francesco Petrarca's different approaches to the interpretation of a preeminent figure of medieval religious thought, Saint Peter Damian. Following Petrarch's request of information about the saint, Boccaccio wrote a Life of Saint Peter Damian, in which the author transformed a medieval hagiographical source into a narrative modeled on his humanistic ideal of intellectual. Petrarch included Peter Damian among the exemplary figures of solitude in his De vita solitaria without utilizing Boccaccio's biography. The distance between the two connected treatments of Damian's biography reveals Petrarch and Boccaccio's different conceptions of the role of the intellectual in the Christian society in early Humanism.
Johns Hopkins Revisited
Authors: Bianchini Angela
Published: March 2006

In this contribution, originated as a talk delivered by the author at the Seminar of the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures on April 20, 2005, the author recalls her stay at Johns Hopkins from 1941 to 1945 when she obtained her Ph.D. in French Linguistics, underlines the special scholarly atmosphere created by the presence of great teachers, both American and Europeans, the impact of Leo Spitzer's method and personality on his students. Later she was a witness to Spitzer's Italian years, from his coming to Rome, in 1955, to his death in Forte dei Marmi in 1960.
The Poetics of Flight: Futurist "Aeropoesia"
Authors: Bohn Willard
Published: March 2006

In 1931, Marinetti published a Manifesto of Futurist Aeropoetry, in which he urged the Futurist poets to emulate the aeropainters. During the next thirteen years, he and his colleagues celebrated the advent of aviation in poem after poem, some of which were paired with Futurist paintings. Evoking the physical and psychological sensation of flying, Marinetti and his fellow poets described not only what they felt but also how it affected them. Attempting to describe what they saw from their aerial perspective, they indulged in verbal pyrotechnics and experimented with various visual effects.
The Czarina's Russia through Mediterranean Eyes: Francesco Algarotti's Journey to Saint Petersburg
Authors: Bufalini Robert
Published: March 2006

Francesco Algarotti's Viaggi di Russia is a work dealing primarily with Russian Realpolitik and war. And yet it includes a great number of "d�lices" and "agr�ments." This can be explained in part by the demands of the eighteenth-century travel genre, but also by the combination of "stoicism" and "epicureanism" that existed in the circles that Algarotti frequented, and especially in that of Friedrich II of Prussia. Algarotti has been criticized for adorning the account of his journey through the northern seas to Russia with Latin quotations referring to the classical Mediterranean world. But allusions to ancient Rome, playful and serious at the same time, are essential to his analysis of Russian military power and to his criticism of the Russian campaign of 1736-39 in the Crimea.
Pilgrim Wombs, Physicke and Bed-Tricks: Intellectual Brilliance, Attenuation and Elision in Decameron III:9
Authors: Cassell Anthony K. (Anthony Kimber)
Published: March 2006

This article investigates the reception of Boccaccio's novella of Giletta di Narbona, Decameron III:9. The novella, which inspired many plays, including Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well, has received controversial judgments from the critics, based on its allegedly sketch-like plot design. The author proposes a reassessment of the novella, showing the connections with other novelle, such as that of Griselda (Dec., X:10). The author's contention is that Boccaccio deliberately muffles the verve and genius of III:9 to cause the surrounding tales to shine brighter.
The tale's plot, revolving around the thematic threads of Giletta's infatuation and the fulfillment of her medical challenge, incorporates a critique of Christian asceticism and eroticism, whose origin may be traced back to the fabliaux. Boccaccio's witty sequence of events presents the role of matrimony and child bearing in the complex balance of medieval societal dynamics. Having dealt with the religious and ritualistic aspects of Giletta's growth to parenthood, the author scrutinizes the medical and psychological motives behind Boccaccio's depiction of a female physician. On the foundation of the Platonic and Hippocratic notion of a mobile uterus, which was inherited by the Salernian School, the author highlights how the "wandering womb," allegorizes and parodies Giletta's vicissitudes in her attempt to become a mother. By escaping her courtly, chauvinistic milieu and by healing the King of France, Giletta exerts her dead father's intellectual and social function, thus getting to marry her beloved Beltramo. She then proves able to carry out her absent husband's governing duties, and eventually tricks him into sleeping with her. She begets two children, thus fulfilling Beltramo's nearly impossible requests. By an errant life, Giletta "gains manipulative and even sadistic mastery over what has made her abject to herself and to others."
Records, Fiction, and Power in Alessandro Manzoni's I promessi sposi and Storia della colonna infame
Authors: Codebo Marco
Published: March 2006

The final edition of Manzoni's major works comprises a novel, I promessi sposi, and a historical investigation, Storia della colonna infame. In so doing, Manzoni behaves as an archivist who assembles a dossier of records. Narrating only events supported by, or consistent with archival records defines Manzoni's novel as an original type of historical narrative. As Manzoni unveils the archive's reliance on power he ends up, in Storia della colonna infame, by exposing the core of invention that lies at the foundation of the archive. He reaches a theoretical impasse that brings about his silence as creative writer after 1842.
Flirting with the Chamaleon: Alberti on Love
Authors: Cracolici Stefano
Published: March 2006

Within the vastness and variety of Leon Battista Alberti's work, the theme of love seems to pose a rather intractable problem, approached so far as a mere expression of his chameleonic versatility and, as such, as a juvenile example of his rhetorical mastery. And yet, the pervasiveness of the theme of love--amicable love, fraternal love, paternal love, uxorial love, but also sentimental love--in his writings claims for a more detailed account. This article aims at discussing Alberti's personal treatment of love by focusing on his Deifira, the first love dialogue ever written in the Italian vernacular, in accordance with its intellectual outline, its phenomenological design, and its philosophical significance, in order to illuminate what can be understood as an archeology of the emotional experience--an archeology of the emotional gestures and of the emotional words concealed in Alberti's amorous writings.
From prose to stage: Machiavelli's Mandragola
Authors: Di Maria Salvatore
Published: March 2006

The article discusses Machiavelli's Mandragola as an adaptation of Boccaccio's story of Ricciardo and Catella with the purpose of demonstrating that imitations are not, as we often think, mere reworkings of existing material. A discussion of the formal changes necessary for the transition from prose narrative to stage, such as the unity of time and place, reveal significant thematic innovations that mark the play's originality and independence from its source. Further analysis of the alteration and addition of characters leads to the conclusion that Mandragola stages a world hardly reminiscent of the Boccaccian tale that inspired it.
Pietoso stile: Italian Translations of Gray's Elegy to 1900
Authors: Garrison James D
Published: March 2006

The popularity of Thomas Gray's Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard in Italy is evident in the Italian translations of the poem that appeared between 1772 and 1889. From Melchiorre Cesarotti and Giuseppe Torelli in the 1770's to Giacomo Zanella and Emilio Teza in the 1880's, translators stake a claim for Gray as a poet of Italy by placing the Elegy in dialogue with Italian literature. At once influenced by classic Italian authors and in turn influencing the Italian Romantics, Gray's poem owes its appeal in Italy to its historical position between tradition and innovation in Italian poetry.
The Failure of Memory and Literature in Primo Levi's Il sistema periodico
Authors: Scheiber Elizabeth
Published: March 2006

In Il sistema periodico Primo Levi achieves an analogy between an element from the Periodic Table and people and events in his personal and professional life. "Vanadio," however, establishes an imperfect analogy which becomes the locus of Levi's symbolizing process. It represents the inability of memory to reconstruct the past and at the same time it also stands for literature's failure to recreate the past faithfully and communicate the truth of the Holocaust effectively.
Effectiveness of Statewide Articulation Agreements on the Probability of Transfer: A Preliminary Policy Analysis
Authors: Anderson Gregory (Gregory Mark) , Sun Jeffrey C , Alfonso Mariana
Published: March 2006

The paper poses the following research question: Does
the existence of statewide articulation agreements increase the
probability of vertical transfers from two-year to four-year colleges?
Stated differently, is there a difference in transfer rates between
those states with statewide mandates versus those without such
policies?
Additionally, this paper culls from postsecondary data on individual
characteristics to identify other factors impacting the probability of
transferring and to suggest policy considerations that will likely
increase student transfers from two-year to four-year institutions.
Engaging Graduate Education: A Pedagogy for Epistemological and Theoretical Diversity
Authors: Gunzenhauser Michael Gerard , Gerstl-Pepin Cynthia I
Published: March 2006

In the wake of paradigmatic and methodological wars, a post-paradigmatic time of epistemological and theoretical diversity in educational research calls for rethinking graduate education. The authors argue for an engaged pedagogy, which represents a shift in emphasis from instrumental training in research methods to an approach in which students develop appreciation for complex possibilities. Through a pedagogy informed by Freire, Noddings, and hooks, the authors suggest that graduate students, valued as knowing subjects, may enrich their investigations of educational problems and questions with epistemologies and theoretical perspectives that value their individual identities and inform their "life-projects."
Assessing and Addressing Faculty Morale: Cultivating Consciousness, Empathy, and Empowerment
Authors: Norman Marie , Ambrose Susan A. , Huston Therese A
Published: March 2006

Drawing on narrative theory, we propose a scenario-based approach to conducting discussions among junior and senior faculty about issues affecting job satisfaction. This study reports how discussions of fictional scenarios (based on data drawn from 123 faculty interviews) prompt open dialogue, foster greater consciousness, empathy, and empowerment among faculty, and guide positive institutional responses.
The Higher Education We Choose: A Question of Balance
Authors: Rhoades Gary
Published: March 2006

In this paper, originally delivered as the 2004 ASHE presidential address, the author relates four streams of his research to the increasingly stratified system of U.S. higher education. He traces the effects of academic capitalism and the new economy, identifies the rise of managerial professionals as a Mode III form of production, discusses the collective organizing efforts of "core contingent" faculty, and explores the education outreach efforts of some managerial professionals. The conclusions advocate social entrepreneurial initiatives that enhance access and social justice in higher education.
No College Student Left Behind: The Influence of Financial Aspects of a State's Higher Education Policy on College Completion
Authors: Titus Marvin A
Published: March 2006

Using national data from various sources, this study investigates the influence of financial aspects of state higher education policy on college completion. It found that college completion is positively associated with total state grants as a percentage of appropriations of state tax funds for operating expenses of higher education and state need-based grant dollars per individual in the traditional college-age (18–24) population. The study's results have implications for policies which attempt to link institutional eligibility for federal financial aid programs to graduation rates and for state higher education finance strategies that would improve the chance for college completion.
Rhetoric, Religion, and Politics in Sir Thomas Browne's Religio Medici
Authors: Berensmeyer Ingo
Published: March 2006

Studies of Sir Thomas Browne's Religio Medici (1643) are often confronted with a discrepancy between the stylistic qualities of this book and the topicality of its subject matter. This problem is usually solved either by ignoring one of these aspects altogether or by seeking a tepid compromise. Instead, this article traces the interrelations and intersections among the discursive domains of rhetoric, religion, and politics in Religio Medici. It explores the performative dimensions of Browne's writing in order to demonstrate that, viewed in the appropriate historical context, the communicative and epistemological functions of Browne's peculiar style can be reconstructed.
Bacon and the Politics of the Prudential Imagination
Authors: Butler Todd Wayne
Published: March 2006

While Francis Bacon has often been considered hostile to the powers of the imagination, this essay argues that Bacon must be seen as simultaneously suspicious of and fascinated by this mental faculty. For Bacon, the imagination becomes a key pathway to political authority, one accessible to any individual. In texts such as De Augmentis, the Sylva Sylvarum, and his brief reflections on Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar, politics becomes less about Bacon's specific relationship to royal authority and more about his assessment of a mental mechanism that when properly restrained offered significant power to all who could master its workings.
The Failed Jeremiad in Samson Agonistes
Authors: Johnson Eugene
Published: March 2006

Milton's play Samson Agonistes critiques the optimism that informs the relation between individual citizen and national community in Areopagitica. Both the play and the pamphlet invoke the rhetoric of the jeremiad, but Samson's interaction with the Chorus of Danites and his father Manoa indicates that the optimism present in Milton's use of the jeremiad in Areopagitica is no longer possible for him in the post-Restoration era.
Recent Studies in the English Renaissance
Authors: Lamb Mary Ellen
Published: March 2006

An assessment of recent scholarly work treating the literature of the English Renaissance and some general observations on the state of the profession. A full bibliography and price list of the works received by SEL for consideration follow.
The Erotic Politics of Grief in Surrey's "So crewell prison"
Authors: Lines Candace
Published: March 2006

This essay argues that Surrey's elegy "So crewell prison," which mourns the death of Henry VIII's illegitimate son the Duke of Richmond, displays intimacy between men as a form of political self-assertion. The poem associates emotional and erotic bonds between noblemen with a literary tradition of chivalry derived particularly from Chaucer's Knight's Tale, and contrasts those chivalric bonds with the (in Surrey's terms) debased intimacy politics of the Henrician privy chamber. By grieving for Richmond, Surrey fashions himself as a surviving representative of a true chivalry, the loss of which would entail political catastrophe.
Scriptural Exegesis, Female Prophecy, and Radical Politics in Mary Cary
Authors: Loewenstein David
Published: March 2006

The Fifth Monarchist Mary Cary was one of the most talented radical millenarian writers of the English Revolution, yet her writings have received only sporadic scholarly attention. This essay examines Cary's contributions as a radical religious exegete and visionary poet in her two most ambitious and interconnected works, The Little Horns Doom and Downfall and A New and More Exact Mappe, or Description of New Jerusalems Glory (1651). By means of apocalyptic exegesis as well as polemical verses, Cary was able to question and challenge gender relations, clerical orthodoxies, the social order, and contemporary political regimes as she offered daring new historical interpretations of scripture in writings of remarkable visionary power and range.
How to Look at a Hermaphrodite in Early Modern England
Authors: Mann Jenny C
Published: March 2006

This essay argues that the curiosity surrounding hermaphrodites in the early modern period is generated by the very texts in which they appear, texts that train the reader to want to examine the hermaphrodite's body. By reading sixteenth-century medical texts alongside English translations of Ovid's tale of Salmacis and Hermaphroditus, I show that just as doctors were beginning to lift up the skirts of historical hermaphrodites and publish descriptions of what they found, Ovidian poets were cloaking the hermaphrodite's sexual parts and thereby frustrating their readers' curiosity. This essay, then, shows how Ovidian poetry diverges from what has been described as the early modern "culture of dissection," thus complicating the conventional narrative of the rise of empiricism.
Marvell and Milton's Literary Friendship Reconsidered
Authors: McWilliams John
Published: March 2006

The relationship between Andrew Marvell and John Milton is typically taken to be one of straightforward friendship. This article offers a complete reconsideration of the association between these two major writers, re-examining their Interregnum correspondence, their involvement in Restoration controversy, and, most importantly, Marvell's poem "On Paradise Lost." It offers new readings of this evidence, pointing out important tensions and difficulties that have often been overlooked. The article concludes that, although this was a friendship worthy of the name, it was also a more profoundly uneasy alliance than has hitherto been recognized.
Spenser, Donne, and the Theology of Joy
Authors: Potkay Adam
Published: March 2006

Protestant writing of the early modern era vividly evokes both joy and the threat of joylessness. For the individual soul seeking signs of its salvation, joy is a proof or "earnest" of its sanctification by the Holy Spirit. Conversely, joylessness is a sign of the spirit's absence from the life of the individual believer and the corporate church. To illustrate this dynamic of joy and joylessness, I examine selected works of German and English theology before turning to book 1 of Spenser's The Faerie Queene and John Donne's Sermons.
Chaucer's Mutability in Spenser's Mutabilitie Cantos
Authors: Steinberg Glenn A
Published: March 2006

Recent scholarship has increasingly focused attention on Spenser's continuity with Chaucer. This essay focuses attention on an important discontinuity between Spenser's Mutabilitie Cantos and Chaucer's Parliament of Fowls as a corrective to potential exaggeration of Spenser's resemblance to Chaucer. The specific differences between Spenser's and Chaucer's poems draw attention to the significant ways in which Spenser is removed from Chaucer in time and thought, especially in terms of the way in which each poet understands and portrays the sources of disharmony and suffering in the world.
Movement Intention Is Better Predicted than Attention in the Posterior Parietal Cortex
Authors: Quian Quiroga Rodrigo , Snyder Lawrence H. , Batista Aaron P. , Cui He , Andersen Richard A.
Published: March 2006

We decoded on a trial-by-trial basis the location of visual targets, as a marker of the locus of attention, and intentions to reach and to saccade in different directions using the activity of neurons in the posterior parietal cortex of two monkeys. Predictions of target locations were significantly worse than predictions of movement plans for the same target locations. Moreover, neural signals in the parietal reach region (PRR) gave better predictions of reaches than saccades, whereas signals in the lateral intraparietal area (LIP) gave better predictions of saccades than reaches. Taking together the activity of both areas, the prediction of either movement in all directions became nearly perfect. These results cannot be explained in terms of an attention effect and support the idea of two segregated populations in the posterior parietal cortex, PRR and LIP, that are involved in different movement plans.
Hippocampal Long-Term Potentiation Is Supported by Presynaptic and Postsynaptic Tyrosine Receptor Kinase B-Mediated Phospholipase Cγ Signaling
Authors: Gärtner Annette , Polnau Dorit G. , Staiger Volker , Sciarretta Carla , Minichiello Liliana , Thoenen Hans , Bonhoeffer Tobias , Korte Martin
Published: March 2006

Neurotrophins have been shown to play a critical role in activity-dependent synaptic plasticity such as long-term potentiation (LTP) in the hippocampus. Although the role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its tyrosine kinase receptor [tyrosine receptor kinase B (TrkB)] is well documented, it still remains unresolved whether presynaptic or postsynaptic activation of TrkB is involved in the induction of LTP. To address this question, we locally and specifically interfered with a downstream target of the TrkB receptor, phospholipase Cγ (PLCγ). We prevented PLCγ signaling by overexpression of the PLCγ pleckstrin homology (PH) domain with a Sindbis virus vector. The isolated PH domain has an inhibitory effect and thereby blocks endogenous PLCγ signaling and consequently also IP3production. Surprisingly, concurrent presynaptic and postsynaptic blockade of PLCγ signaling was required to reduce LTP to levels comparable with those in TrkB and BDNF knock-out mice. Blockade of presynaptic or postsynaptic signaling alone did not result in a significant reduction of LTP.
Involvement of Matrix Metalloproteinase in Neuroblast Cell Migration from the Subventricular Zone after Stroke
Authors: Lee Seong-Ryong , Kim Hahn-Young , Rogowska Jadwiga , Zhao Bing-Qiao , Bhide Pradeep , Parent Jack M. , Lo Eng H.
Published: March 2006

After brain injury, neuroblast cells from the subventricular zone (SVZ) expand and migrate toward damaged tissue. The mechanisms that mediate these neurogenic and migratory responses remain to be fully dissected. Here, we show that bromodeoxyuridine-labeled and doublecortin-positive cells from the SVZ colocalize with the extracellular protease matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) during the 2 week recovery period after transient focal cerebral ischemia in mice. Treatment with the broad spectrum MMP inhibitor GM6001 significantly decreases the migration of doublecortin-positive cells that extend from the SVZ into the striatum. These data suggest that MMPs are involved in endogenous mechanisms of neurogenic migration as the brain seeks to heal itself after injury.
Delayed Transplantation of Adult Neural Precursor Cells Promotes Remyelination and Functional Neurological Recovery after Spinal Cord Injury
Authors: Karimi-Abdolrezaee Soheila , Eftekharpour Eftekhar , Wang Jian , Morshead Cindi M. , Fehlings Michael G.
Published: March 2006

Spinal cord injury (SCI) results in loss of oligodendrocytes demyelination of surviving axons and severe functional impairment. Spontaneous remyelination is limited. Thus, cell replacement therapy is an attractive approach for myelin repair. In this study, we transplanted adult brain-derived neural precursor cells (NPCs) isolated from yellow fluorescent protein-expressing transgenic mice into the injured spinal cord of adult rats at 2 and 8 weeks after injury, which represents the subacute and chronic phases of SCI. A combination of growth factors, the anti-inflammatory drug minocycline, and cyclosporine A immunosuppression was used to enhance the survival of transplanted adult NPCs. Our results show the presence of a substantial number of surviving NPCs in the injured spinal cord up to 10 weeks after transplantation at the subacute stage of SCI. In contrast, cell survival was poor after transplantation into chronic lesions. After subacute transplantation, grafted cells migrated >5 mm rostrally and caudally. The surviving NPCs integrated principally along white-matter tracts and displayed close contact with the host axons and glial cells. Approximately 50% of grafted cells formed either oligodendroglial precursor cells or mature oligodendrocytes. NPC-derived oligodendrocytes expressed myelin basic protein and ensheathed the axons. We also observed that injured rats receiving NPC transplants had improved functional recovery as assessed by the Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan Locomotor Rating Scale and grid-walk and footprint analyses. Our data provide strong evidence in support of the feasibility of adult NPCs for cell-based remyelination after SCI.
The Neural Site of Attention Matches the Spatial Scale of Perception
Authors: Hopf Jens-Max , Luck Steven J. , Boelmans Kai , Schoenfeld Mircea A. , Boehler Carsten N. , Rieger Jochem , Heinze Hans-Jochen
Published: March 2006

What is the neural locus of visual attention? Here we show that the locus is not fixed but instead changes rapidly to match the spatial scale of task-relevant information in the current scene. To accomplish this, we obtained electrical, magnetic, and hemodynamic measures of attention from human subjects while they detected large-scale or small-scale targets within multiscale stimulus patterns. Subjects did not know the scale of the target before stimulus onset, and yet the neural locus of attention-related activity between 250 and 300 ms varied according to the scale of the target. Specifically, maximal attention-related activity spread from a high-level, relatively anterior visual area (the lateral occipital complex) for large-scale targets to include a lower-level, more posterior area (visual area V4) for small-scale targets. This rapid change indicates that the neural locus of attention in visual cortex is not static but is instead determined rapidly and dynamically by means of an interaction between top-down task information and local information about the current visual input.
Persistent Sodium Current in Layer 5 Neocortical Neurons Is Primarily Generated in the Proximal Axon
Authors: Astman Nadav , Gutnick Michael J. , Fleidervish Ilya A.
Published: March 2006

In addition to the well described fast-inactivating component of the Na+current [transient Na+current (INaT)], neocortical neurons also exhibit a low-voltage-activated, slowly inactivating “persistent” Na+current (INaP), which plays a role in determining neuronal excitability and synaptic integration. We investigated the Na+channels responsible forINaPin layer 5 pyramidal cells using cell-attached and whole-cell recordings in neocortical slices. In simultaneous cell-attached and whole-cell somatic recordings, no persistent Na+channel activity was detected at potentials at which whole-cellINaPoperates. Detailed kinetic analysis of late Na+channel activity in cell-attached patches at 36°C revealed that somatic Na+channels do not demonstrate “modal gating” behavior and that the probability of single late openings is extremely low (<1.4 × 10−4or <0.02% of maximal open probability ofINaT). Ensemble averages of these currents did not reveal a sustained component whose amplitude and voltage dependence could account forINaPas seen in whole-cell recordings. Local application of TTX to the axon blocked somatically recordedINaP, whereas somatic and dendritic application had little or no effect. Finally, simultaneous current-clamp recordings from soma and apical dendrite revealed that Na+plateau potentials originate closer to the axon. Our data indicate that the primary source ofINaPis in the spike initiation zone in the proximal axon. The focal axonal presence of regenerative subthreshold conductance with voltage and time dependence optimal to manipulate integration of synaptic input, spike threshold, and the pattern of repetitive firing provides the layer 5 pyramidal neuron with a mechanism for dynamic control of its gain.
Participation of Sodium Currents in Burst Generation and Control of Membrane Excitability in Mesencephalic Trigeminal Neurons
Authors: Enomoto Akifumi , Han Juliette M. , Hsiao Chie-Fang , Wu Nanping , Chandler Scott H.
Published: March 2006

Subthreshold sodium currents are important in sculpting neuronal discharge and have been implicated in production and/or maintenance of subthreshold membrane oscillations and burst generation in mesencephalic trigeminal neurons (Mes V). Moreover, recent data suggest that, in some CNS neurons, resurgent sodium currents contribute to production of high-frequency burst discharge. In the present study, we sought to determine more directly the participation of these currents during Mes V electrogenesis using the action potential-clamp method. In postnatal day 8–14 rats, the whole-cell patch-clamp method was used to record sodium currents by subtraction in response to application of TTX in voltage-clamp mode using the action potential waveform as the command protocol. We found that TTX-sensitive sodium current is the main inward current flowing during the interspike interval, compared with the h-current (Ih) and calcium currents. Furthermore, in addition to the transient sodium current that flows during the upstroke of action potential, we show that resurgent sodium current flows at the peak of afterhyperpolarization and persistent sodium current flows in the middle of the interspike interval to drive high-frequency firing. Additionally, transient, resurgent, and persistent sodium current components showed voltage- and time-dependent slow inactivation, suggesting that slow inactivation of these currents can contribute to burst termination. The data suggest an important role for these components of the sodium current in Mes V neuron electrogenesis.
Improved Long-Term Potentiation and Memory in Young Tau-P301L Transgenic Mice before Onset of Hyperphosphorylation and Tauopathy
Authors: Boekhoorn Karin , Terwel Dick , Biemans Barbara , Borghgraef Peter , Wiegert Olof , Ramakers Ger J. A. , de Vos Koos , Krugers Harm , Tomiyama Takami , Mori Hiroshi , Joels Marian , van Leuven Fred , Lucassen Paul J.
Published: March 2006

The microtubule binding protein tau is implicated in neurodegenerative tauopathies, including frontotemporal dementia (FTD) with Parkinsonism caused by diverse mutations in the tau gene. Hyperphosphorylation of tau is considered crucial in the age-related formation of neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) correlating well with neurotoxicity and cognitive defects. Transgenic mice expressing FTD mutant tau-P301L recapitulate the human pathology with progressive neuronal impairment and accumulation of NFT. Here, we studied tau-P301L mice for parameters of learning and memory at a young age, before hyperphosphorylation and tauopathy were apparent. Unexpectedly, in young tau-P301L mice, increased long-term potentiation in the dentate gyrus was observed in parallel with improved cognitive performance in object recognition tests. Neither tau phosphorylation, neurogenesis, nor other morphological parameters that were analyzed could account for these cognitive changes. The data demonstrate that learning and memory processes in the hippocampus of young tau-P301L mice are not impaired and actually improved in the absence of marked phosphorylation of human tau. We conclude that protein tau plays an important beneficial role in normal neuronal processes of hippocampal memory, and conversely, that not tau mutations per se, but the ensuing hyperphosphorylation must be critical for cognitive decline in tauopathies.
Empirical equations for calculating the rate of liquid flow through GCL-geomembrane composite liners
Authors: Touze-Foltz N. , Barroso M.
Published: March 2006

This paper presents equations for the evaluation of advective flow rates though composite liners involving GCLs. Advective flow is due to the existence of defects in the geomembrane, and depends on the contact condition between the geomembrane and the GCL. In this paper the geomembrane-geosynthetic clay liner contact condition is quantitatively defined, based on experimental data. Accordingly, empirical equations are presented for circular defects having diameters in two different ranges: 2 to 20 mm and 100 to 600 mm. The validity of the empirical equation obtained for the smallest range of diameters is compared with experimental results and with an existing empirical equation. The empirical equations developed in this paper are then combined in a simple analytical solution, leading to semi-empirical equations that allow one to predict flow rates for narrow and wide defects, taking account of the flow that takes place at both ends of these defects of finite length. A parametric study shows, through a correlation factor, the importance of the flow at both ends of defects of finite length, mainly for narrow defects.
Structural lightweight concrete based on coal ashes (containing undesirable radionuclides) and waste of stone quarries
Authors: Nisnevich M. , Sirotin G. , Eshel Y. , Schlesinger T.
Published: March 2006

Utilisation of coal combustion by-products (bottom ash and fly ash) generated at power stations and stone quarries waste (unprocessed crushed sand), for the production of lightweight concrete is being studied at the Research Authority of The College of Judea and Samaria (Ariel, Israel). One of the main contributions of this study is the manufacturing of ecologically friendly lightweight concrete using coal ashes containing different quantities of natural radionuclides. For this goal, a technology for the production of a ternary lightweight concrete based on the use of above-mentioned waste was developed. The conducive features of each material are used in an optimum manner that enables the production of an ecologically friendly concrete with desirable building characteristics. Bottom ash is used as a porous lightweight aggregate. A mixture of the fly ash with the cement forms a dense matrix, which compensates for the low strength of bottom ash particles. Unprocessed crushed sand is used as a diluting non-radioactive material, which reduces the radioactivity of the concrete to a safe level. It is used also to further increase the strength of the lightweight concrete. Based on laboratory and field studies, the technology that has been developed can be recommended for production of structural lightweight concrete, which complies with the requirements of present standards related to strength and density, as well as to radiological characteristics.
Modelling coastal boundary layer flows over typical bed-forms
Authors: Li M. , Pan S. , O'Connor B. A.
Published: March 2006

This paper presents details of hydrodynamics, turbulence characteristics, sediment concentrations and transport rates computed by a new three-dimensional numerical boundary layer model above typical coastal bed-forms. Comparisons are made against a large number of available laboratory and field measurements covering situations of current alone, wave alone, and combined wave and current, which demonstrate the model's ability to simulate the complex structure of flow interactions as well as the associated sediment transport processes with reasonably good accuracy. The model results are also parameterised by averaging over both bed-form length and wave period in an attempt to produce improved relations of the overall bed-form-induced roughness height and equivalent near-bed reference concentration for engineering morphological modelling. Verifications of these averaged results against some simple engineering predictors show realistic agreements along with some noticeable differences. Where differences are found, modifications are also suggested to the existing engineering formulae in order to improve their predictions for complex flows. Further model testing is also suggested to refine the constants used for the proposed modifications.
A 510‐kb SOG‐DRAM for mobile displays with embedded frame memories
Authors: Haga H. , Nonaka Y. , Kamon Y. , Otose T. , Sasaki D. , Kitagishi Y. , Matsuzaki T. , Sato Y. , Asada H.
Published: March 2006

Abstract— A system‐on‐glass (SOG) dynamic random access memory (DRAM), which enables the implementation of frame‐memory‐integrated displays, has been developed. A dynamic one‐transistor‐one‐capacitor memory cell, which has a data retention time of over 16.6 msec, and a compression/decompression (CODEC) circuit were developed to reduce the layout area and power. The CODEC enables an 18‐bit/pixel color display, while reducing the memory capacity from 18 to 12 bits/pixel. A frame‐memory macro was created by combining the SOG‐DRAM with an embedded controller that enables independent access for writing and reading. Its operation was verified by chip measurement and demonstration as a frame‐memory operation of 262k‐color QCIF+ displays. The work reported in this paper was the first step to creating a Zero‐Chip Display with an integrated frame memory, and it proved the concept was feasible.
10‐bit source driver with resistor‐resistor‐string digital‐to‐analog converter
Authors: Sung Yoo‐Chang , Kwon Oh‐Kyong , Kim Jong‐Kee
Published: March 2006

Abstract— A 10‐bit gray‐scale source driver using a resistor‐resistor‐string digital‐to‐analog converter (RR‐DAC) is proposed for a TFT‐LCD source driver. The 10‐bit RR‐DAC consists of an 8‐bit resistor‐string DAC and a two‐bit resistor‐string DAC without an intermediate unity‐gain buffer to isolate the parallel‐connected resistor string. The output deviation of the proposed source driver is less than ±3 mV. The chip area of the proposed 10‐bit source driver with an RR‐DAC is increased to 29% of that of an 8‐bit source driver.
A new driving method to compensate for row‐line signal‐propagation delays in an AMLCD
Authors: Kim Soo Hwan , Park Hyunwoo , Kim Suki , McCartney Richard
Published: March 2006

Abstract— The row‐line and data‐line that make up of a TFT‐LCD panel can be modeled as a distributed resistance and capacitance network. As TFT‐LCD panels become larger and provide higher resolution, the induced signal propagation delay time from the row and column lines become an appreciable part of the line time. In particular, the row signal‐propagation delay time is traditionally accommodated by waiting for the worst‐case propagation time before the start of a new line. This conventional method, however, reduces the subpixel charging time. A new driving method, Horizontal Line Delay Compensation (H‐LDC), has been implemented and verified to compensate for row‐line propagation delay. The benefit of longer subpixel charging time is of particular interest to large‐area high‐resolution fast‐refresh‐rate LCD TVs.
Self-Esteem and Stigma Among Persons With Schizophrenia: Implications for Mental Health
Authors: Berge Melinda , Ranney Molly
Published: March 2006

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between perceived stigma and self-esteem among adults with schizophrenia. The sample was drawn from three outpatient public mental health clinics in Southern California in September to November 2002. The following selection criteria were used to identify 31 respondents: (1) a diagnosis of schizophrenia and (2) stable symptoms. Self-esteem was measured using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Stigma was measured using the Devaluation-Discrimination Measure. The strongest areas of stigma reported by those surveyed were related to hospitalization. The self-esteem of the respondents was moderately high. A Pearson’s r correlation indicated that there was a significant, moderately strong correlation, with a higher level of perceived stigma associated with a lower level of self-esteem. Findings suggest that using a strengths-based approach and a recovery case management model is recommended to decrease stigma and promote self-esteem among persons with schizophrenia.
Psychometric Evaluation of the Shared Care Instrument in a Sample of Home Health Care Family Dyads
Authors: Sebern Margaret D.
Published: March 2006

Researchers have studied negative effects of caregiving on a family caregiver; however, less is known about positive aspects of exchanging assistance for both members of a family caregiving dyad. In a previous naturalistic inquiry the author indentified a basis for studying caregiving interactions was a construct called shared care. The three components of shared care identified in the naturalistic inquiry were communication, decision making, and reciprocity. The Shared Care Instrument (SCI) was developed to measure the construct. The purpose of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of the SCI, and to assess its construct and criterion-related validity. A sample of home care family dyads (110 patients and 109 family members) returned usable survey questionnaires. Results indicated the Cronbach’s alphas for the patient group for the SCI subscales ranged from .78 to .84, and .77 to .79 for family members. Factor analysis supported the underlying theoretical basis and factor structure of the SCI. Criterion-related validity was also supported. Therefore, the results of this study provide initial evidence for the reliability and validity of the SCI for use with family caregiving dyads. The findings support the need for additional testing of the SCI.
Commitment to Health Scale
Authors: Kelly Cynthia W.
Published: March 2006

The Commitment to Health Scale (CHS) was developed to predict likelihood of clients being able to permanently adopt new health-promoting behaviors. Commitment is based on the association between starting new health behaviors and long-term performance of those behaviors. The CHS evolved from an examination of Prochaska and DiClemente’s Stages of Change Algorithm, Decisional Balance Scale, and Strong and Weak Principle (Velicer, Rossi, Prochaska, & DiClemente, 1996). Scale items were assessed by classical and Rasch measurement methods. The research was performed in three separate studies at various locations in the United States and included approximately 1,100 subjects. A new unidimensional variable was identified called Commitment to Health. Internal consistency reliability of the scale was .94 (Cronbach’s alpha). External validity and reliability were assessed based on expected and observed ordering and between known groups. Scale scores predicted self-reported health behaviors and body mass index.
Cultural Factors and Medication Compliance in Chinese Immigrants Who Are Taking Antihypertensive Medications: Instrument Development
Authors: Li Wen-Wen , Stewart Anita L. , Stotts Nancy A. , Froelicher Erika Sivarajan
Published: March 2006

Chinese immigrants in the United States have a moderate to high prevalence of hypertension, but little is known about antihypertensive medication compliance in Chinese immigrants. This study presents some first-generation measures of antihypertensive medication compliance in a sample of Chinese immigrants. A literature review and two qualitative pilot studies were conducted to generate culturally sensitive instruments. Items were developed to assess cultural factors and medication compliance in Chinese immigrants receiving antihypertensive medications. Cultural factors included measures of cultural health perception of hypertension, health perceptions of Chinese herbs, health perceptions of Western medications, beneficial self-care behaviors, and social support. Four medication compliance scales were developed. The applicability of these scales was tested in a Chinese immigrant population (n = 200). Cronbach’s alpha for the cultural factors scales ranged from .57 to .91. Two of the medication compliance scales had Cronbach’s alphas above .60. Results showed that most of the scales are applicable and acceptable in a Chinese immigrant population and had good reliability. However, further testing with a larger sample in other regions of the country is indicated.