bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Speeding Up Backpropagation Using Multiobjective Evolutionary Algorithms
Authors: Abbass Hussein A.
Published: September 2003

The use of backpropagation for training artificial neural networks (ANNs) is usually associated with a long training process. The user needs to experiment with a number of network architectures; with larger networks, more computational cost in terms of training time is required. The objective of this letter is to present an optimization algorithm, comprising a multiobjective evolutionary algorithm and a gradient-based local search. In the rest of the letter, this is referred to as the memetic Pareto artificial neural network algorithm for training ANNs. The evolutionary approach is used to train the network and simultaneously optimize its architecture. The result is a set of networks, with each network in the set attempting to optimize both the training error and the architecture. We also present a self-adaptive version with lower computational cost. We show empirically that the proposed method is capable of reducing the training time compared to gradient–based techniques.
Implementing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
Authors: Tang Kwong-Leung
Published: September 2003

Canada signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child in December 1991. It played a leading role in the drafting process of the Convention. This article looks at the debates on the `spanking law' and the rights polls conducted by Elections Canada. They highlight the fact that the pursuit of children's rights could be socially divisive. Social workers ought to assist in the successful implementation of the Convention that would lead to an improvement in children's well-being and quality of life.
The `Social' in Social Work Practice
Authors: Ng Ho-Yee
Published: September 2003

Byneglecting the religious dimension, social work practice has not only negated its social roots, but also deprived both client and worker of a valuable source of help. Chinese shamanic healing is contrasted with casework practice and implications are drawn for re-establishing the `social' dimension in social work practice.
Ethical Decision-Making of Social Workers' Associations
Authors: Mansbach Abraham , Kaufman Roni
Published: September 2003

This article presents a case of whistle-blowing by a field worker in Israel, in order to examine the ethical decision-making of the Israeli Association of Social Workers. This body initially punished the field worker for criticizing his colleagues' treatment of Israel's disadvantaged Misrachi ethnic group, but some 14 years later officially honored him for the same act. The analysis emphasizes the contingency of ethical decision-making and looks at some organizational, professional and political-cultural factors that affected the association's decisions.
Social Services for the Aged in Cuba
Authors: Bertera Elizabeth M.
Published: September 2003

The increase in the world's elderly population during the 1990s had a powerful impact on the Caribbean island of Cuba. Health care is considered a human right for all citizens. Through its extensive gerontology and geriatrics programs Cuba has developed innovative approaches to address the growth of the older population and related societal challenges. The article also explores the role of social workers in a predominantly socialist society from the perspective of a social work professor visiting Cuba from the US.
Expectations of Costs and Rewards
Authors: Lev-Wiesel Rachel
Published: September 2003

This study compares Israeli social work students' perceptions of the rewards and costs of working in the profession with those held by Israeli senior social workers. Questionnaires examining this issue were administered to 91 participants. Findings indicated that students' perceptions were significantly higher than senior social workers' perceptions.
The Feasibility of Promoting User
Authors: Lee Francis Wing-Lin , Siok Pitmas Yu-Yeung
Published: September 2003

The practicality of promoting the user participation concept in the helping process of social work with the elderly has rarely been explored. This article explores the applicability of adopting user participation in the provision of social services for the elderly from the practitioner's point of view. The findings support the promotion of user participation in working with the elderly. Methods for the implementation of this concept in working with the elderly are suggested.
Creating a Culture of Hope
Authors: Karabanow Jeff
Published: September 2003

Employing in-depth interviews with street children and service providers, and case analyses, this article explores programs and/or organizations in Toronto, Montreal, and Guatemala City that have been successful in attracting street children. Four keyelements regarding service delivery are proposed: provide direct and immediate basic services; build a sense of community that is safe and supportive; create linkages to mainstream culture; and, advocate for needed resources and/or better treatment.
Peer Sexual Harassment and Peer Violence among Adolescents in Johannesburg and Chicago
Authors: Fineran Susan , Bennett Larry , Sacco Terry
Published: September 2003

In this comparison study of peer sexual harassment and peer violence in Johannesburg, South Africa and Chicago, US schools, the role of gender and power in the experience, perpetration and reaction to peer sexual harassment, physical violence and sexual violence are described for 208 South African students and 220 US students aged 16-18.
Social Work and Ethnic Minorities' Social Development in the People's Republic of China
Authors: Smith Alice E.
Published: September 2003

China's ethnic minorities may require specific social policies to support their unique development, so that they may share in the country's common development and progress. By integrating principles from social development and social work, this article identifies and discusses strategies with potential for supporting minority development and progress.
Prodigal Sons and Family Values in Eighteenth-Century France
Authors: Merrick Jeffrey
Published: September 2003

French preachers and philosophes used the parable of the prodigal son, like other examples of domestic order and disorder, to illustrate their versions of human nature and social relations. The preachers generally emphasized the necessity for obedience to and discipline by the husband and father in order to control sinfulness in the form of dangerous desires. The philosophes generally emphasized the opportunity for and obligation of families to cultivate benevolent feelings in husbands and wives as well as parents and children. In transforming the parable into plays and poetry, eighteenth-century authors addressed tensions in the biblical narrative involving the figures of the father and the brother. Du Cerceau (1703) made changes without changing the message. Voltaire (1736) and Daillant de La Touche (1785) assigned female characters essential roles in their adaptations, which illustrate changing family values.
`Better to Reign in Hell than Serve in Heaven'
Authors: Schäffner Raimund
Published: September 2003

John Davidson is one of the most controversial poets of the late Victorian and Edwardian period. A precursor of modernism, he experimented with new aesthetic forms of representation, broke with many ethical taboos of his contemporaries, and merged political, evolutionary, racist and imperialist thought. Drawing on a wide range of poems and essays taken from the different stages of Davidson's career, this article contests conventional readings of his poetry and socio-philosophical convictions as a progressive development from a liberal, socially critical to a radical, materialist, atheist position. It sets out to demonstrate that the constituent elements of Davidson's Social Darwinist view of the world and philosophy of life, which he brings to the subjects of social class and imperialism, permeates his early writing as well as his later work written under the influence of Nietzsche.
In Vidocq's Footsteps
Authors: Guyon LoïC P.
Published: September 2003

Whether in person or in the guise of some fictional character, the figure of Eugène-François Vidocq appears regularly in the literature of the nineteenth century. In the present article, I study the figure's literary posterity and examines how the ex-convict who rose to the rank of chief of police was treated by some French and English authors of the time, including Jerrold, Balzac and Collins. By doing so I establish the various processes involved in the making of a legend and explore the different stages in the development of the adventurer as a social type in the nineteenth century.
Ethics of the Wound
Authors: Lavery Carl
Published: September 2003

This article sheds new light on Jean Genet's complex notion of political commitment. It does so by focusing on a biographical event, which has been hitherto underestimated by critics: namely, his traumatic encounter with an abject travelling companion in a third-class railway carriage in the early 1950s. This painful experience, defined as `la blessure' or wound, gets to the core of Genet's politics, for it determines his ethical understanding of commitment, which, like Emmanuel Levinas's alternative concept of humanism, is grounded in alterity, respecting the difference of the Other. Additionally, the wound illuminates other little-discussed aspects of Genet's politics, including his anarchic, deterritorialized view of le champs politique and his curious decision to define himself as a witness in his final work, Un captif amoureux (1986).
Levosimendan: Implications for Clinicians
Authors: McBride Brian F. , White C. Michael
Published: September 2003

Levosimendan is a novel calcium sensitizing agent in development for the treatment of acute and chronic heart failure. The agent increases myocardial force without increasing myocyte calcium concentrations, thus reducing the possibility for myocardial necrosis. In addition, the agent also causes vasodilation of coronary and peripheral vessels to improve coronary blood flow and reduce afterload. The short half‐life is a benefit for intravenous administration but could be problematic for the drug's use in chronic heart failure. The risk of the development of arrhythmias from levosimendan appears small secondary to an increase in the QTc interval of 15 msec but needs to be evaluated in light of the ability of levosimendan to open adenosine triphosphate (ATP)– sensitive potassium channels. In addition, the agent has not been studied in patients with additional risks for torsades de pointes. Levosimendan has been shown to have beneficial survival effects in several populations; its use improves patient outcomes relative to the standard of care and has the potential to reduce hospital costs associated with heart failure.
Renal Transplantation in a Case of Acute Intermittent Porphyria
Authors: Warholm Carl , Wilczek Henryk
Published: September 2003

Acute intermittent porphyria (AIP) results from a deficiency of the porphobilinogen deaminase enzyme of heme biosynthesis. The disease is exacerbated by a wide variety of drugs. Only steroids and azathioprine (Aza) have so far been considered safe in patients with AIP, and cyclosporine is listed as contraindicated. From the transplantation point of view, it is well known that cyclosporine (CsA) is a superior immunosuppressive agent compared to azathioprine. This case report presents a female patient evaluated for renal transplantation. A test dose of CsA was given, and no symptoms of AIP occurred. Renal transplantation with a cadaveric donor was performed, and the patient was immunosuppressed with CsA, Aza, and prednisolone. Following three acute rejections, Aza was replaced by mycophenolate mofetil. Nevertheless, graft function deteriorated slowly, necessitating return to dialysis 3 years after transplantation. No symptoms of AIP were observed while the patient was on cyclosporine and/or mycophenolate mofetil therapy, and the authors conclude that these drugs can be safely administered to at least some patients with AIP.
Use of Monte Carlo Simulation to Design an Optimized Pharmacodynamic Dosing Strategy for Meropenem
Authors: Kuti Joseph L. , Dandekar Prachi K. , Nightingale Charles H. , Nicolau David P.
Published: September 2003

Prolonging the infusion of meropenem over 3 hours increases the percentage of the dosing interval that drug concentrations remain above the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), there by maximizing the pharmacodynamics of this agent and adhering to drug stability constraints. Monte Carlo simulation was employed to determine pharmacodynamic target attainment rates for several prolonged infusion (PI) meropenem dosage regimens as compared with the traditional 30‐minute infusion (TI) against Enterobacteriaceae, Acinetobacter species, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa populations. Percent time above the MIC (%T>MIC) exposures for 1000 mg TI q8h, 2000 mg TI q8h, 500 mg PI q8h, 1000 mg PI q12h, 1000 mg PI q8h, 2000 mg PI q12h, and 2000 mg PI q8h were simulated for 10,000 subjects. Variability in pharmacokinetic parameters and MIC distributions were derived from studies in healthy volunteers and the MYSTIC surveillance program, respectively. The probabilities of attaining bacteriostatic (30% T>MIC) and bactericidal (50% T>MIC) exposures were high for all dosage regimens against populations of Enterobacteriaceae. Against Acinetobacter species and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the 2000‐mg PI q8h dosage regimen provided the highest target attainment rates. For mild to moderate infections caused by Enterobacteriaceae, prolonged infusion regimens of 500 mg PI q8h and 1000 mg PI q12h would provide equivalent target attainment rates to the traditional 30‐minute infusion while requiring less drug over 24 hours. For more serious infections presumably caused by Acinetobacter species or Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a dose of 2000 mg PI q8h is recommended because of its high bactericidal target attainment rate against these pathogens. Further study of these dosage recommendations in clinical trials is suggested.
An Evaluation of the Dose‐Dependent Inhibition of CYP1A2 by Rofecoxib Using Theophylline as a CYP1A2 Probe
Authors: Bachmann Kenneth , White Donald , Jauregui Luis , Schwartz Jules I. , Agrawal Nancy G. B. , Mazenko Ralph , Larson Patrick J. , Porras Arturo G.
Published: September 2003

This study was undertaken to determine whether rofecoxib can interfere with CYP1A2 activity in humans using theophylline as a probe substrate. Single oral doses of theophylline were administered to each of three panels of 12 healthy subjects receiving daily doses of rofecoxib for 7 days to examine the effect of rofecoxib administration on the absorption and disposition of theophylline. Each panel was administered doses of 12.5, 25, or 50 mg of rofecoxib or a matching placebo in a two‐way, randomized, crossover fashion and administered a single oral 300‐mg dose of theophylline on day 7 of rofecoxib or placebo administration. Plasma concentrations of theophylline were monitored for 48 hours postdose to assess differences in pharmacokinetics. All three commercially marketed doses of rofecoxib were found to slow the clearance of theophylline with no detectable effect on absorption. CL/F values for theophylline were estimated from AUC∞ and by point estimates from the concentrations of drug in plasma at 12 and 24 hours postdose. The point estimates of CL/F were found to be in agreement with those derived from AUC.
Virtual Togetherness: an Everyday-life Perspective
Authors: Bakardjieva Maria
Published: September 2003

This article examines the place and value of online relationships and interactions in Internet users' everyday lives. The analysis is based on an in-depth study of the practices of 21 domestic users of the Internet in Vancouver, Canada, focusing on their engagement with electronic forums. The main questions are: Why do users participate in these forums? What does it mean to them? How does it reflect on the public understanding of the Internet? The article offers a typology of different forms of online involvement with others on the Internet. In this light, it questions concepts, such as `virtual community,' and dichotomies - real versus virtual, public versus private - framing the theoretical debate about the social significance of the Internet as a new communication medium.
Unnatural History? Deconstructing the Walking with Dinosaurs Phenomenon
Authors: Scott Karen D. , White Anne M.
Published: September 2003

In their book, Remediation: Understanding New Media, Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin argue that digital visual media can best be understood by examining the ways in which they relate to earlier technologies of representation, a relationship that is a complex mix of homage, critique and revision. They also suggest that this process, referred to as `remediation' takes two main forms: immediacy, in which the presence of the medium is downplayed in order to achieve an effect of transparency and realism, and hypermediacy, in which the medium is foregrounded and draws attention to its own artificiality. In this paper, we explore Bolter and Grusin's ideas using the BBC series Walking with Dinosaurs, the related documentary entitled The Making of `Walking with Dinosaurs' and the official supporting BBC Online web site. We have focused on the process of remediation, by analysing the various ways in which Walking with Dinosaurs, one of the first television series to fully exploit the potential of digital technology, utilized codes and conventions from earlier media forms and technologies. We examine whether the overall effect achieved in these programmes can best be described as immediacy or hypermediacy, and have contrasted this with the associated documentary and web site. We conclude by exploring some of the broader issues relating to media representation that are raised by this ground-breaking television concept.
When Creators, Corporations and Consumers Collide: Napster and the Development of On-line Music Distribution
Authors: McCourt Tom , Burkart Patrick
Published: September 2003

The Internet is often depicted as the ultimate arena for unfettered capitalism, erasing geographic boundaries and barriers to entry while providing a plethora of goods and services to consumers. This article traces how public and private reactions by the five major record companies to new Internet distribution technologies have undermined this popular myth. We use a political economic approach to examine the case of A&M Records et al. v. Napster, and discuss how this case underscores the importance of controlling the Internet as an entertainment distribution pipeline. Expressed concerns about piracy mask the actual intentions of the `Big Five' - control of all modes of distribution. The strength of the Big Five's cartel has a momentum of its own based in its market oligopoly, which has been secured through its ownership and management of intellectual property; through format changes and setting standards for other technologies; and through lobbying and legal activities.
`Doing IT for the Kids': Re-examining Children, Computers and the `Information Society'
Authors: Selwyn Neil
Published: September 2003

For the past 20 years the discourse of the child as `expert', or at least competent, computer user has proliferated in popular and political rhetoric in Western societies. From the early 1980s phenomena of the `keyboard junkie' and `computer hacker' to the `cyberkids' and `technotots' of the early 21st century, notions of omnipotent young computer users have been instrumental in shaping public expectations and fears concerning technology and society. Despite this importance, the role of the `child computer user' in expediting societal acceptance of technology remains relatively unexamined. This article analyses the varying discursive constructions of `child computer users' in the UK over the last 20 years through government rhetoric and policy making, IT industry marketing and media representation. In so doing the article shows how various discourses of the `child computer user' have been integral elements in the framing and justification of prevailing notions of the `information society' in the `adult world' and, more importantly, continue to underpin the ongoing political-economic construction of the UK as a technological society. The article concludes by considering how the metaphoric use of the child acts to obscure the key actors and power relations behind the on-going construction of the information age.
Gotta Catch 'em all: Structure, Agency and Pedagogy in Children's Media Culture
Authors: Buckingham David , Sefton-Green Julian
Published: September 2003

This article uses an analytical case study of the Pokémon phenomenon as a means of addressing broader theoretical issues concerned with the relationships between structure and agency in children's media culture. It analyses the political economy of Pokémon, and its attempts to appeal to different sub-sections of the children's market; the textual appeals of the different Pokémon artefacts, and the role of `knowledge'; and debates about the positive and negative consequences for child consumers. In the process, the article explores the notion of `pedagogy' as an alternative means of understanding the relations between structure and agency, and assesses its possibilities and limitations in the context of the case study.
Understanding Workplace Envy Through Narrative Fiction
Authors: Patient David , Lawrence Thomas B. , Maitlis Sally
Published: September 2003

In this article, we explore the social construction of workplace envy through an analysis of its portrayal in a fictional narrative. Based on our examination of three excerpts from Richard Russo's novel Straight Man, we argue that envy is socially constructed in prominent and revealing episodes within broader organizational narratives. We further show that envy both serves as a catalytic emotion that engenders action and sensemaking, and at the same time, acts as a mechanism that reproduces the moral and cultural order within which it occurs.
Performance Measures and the Rationalization of Organizations
Authors: Townley Barbara , Cooper David J. , Oakes Leslie
Published: September 2003

This article focuses on rationalization, its dimensions, the possibilities of reasoned justification in the public sphere, and the technologies that would operationalize this. It does so through an analysis of the introduction of performance measurement in the Provincial Government of Alberta, Canada. We argue that performance measurement represents twin dimensions of rationalization: the pursuit of reason in human affairs, that is, the process of bringing to light the justifications by which actions and policies are pursued; and rationalization as the increasing dominance of a means-end instrumental rationality. The article illustrates how an initial enthusiasm by managers for the performance management initiatives was replaced with scepticism and cynicism. We show how the potential for reasoned justification was frustrated in practice, through a growing disparity between a discourse of reasoned justification and the practical operationalization of mechanisms of business planning and performance measurement. The search for reasoned justification and instrumental mastery are part of the same rationalization process, and these two contradictory, but inherently connected forces are an important explanation of the dynamics of managers' responses to organizational change.
The Local Selves of Global Workers: The Social Construction of National Identity in the Face of Organizational Globalization
Authors: Ailon-Souday Galit , Kunda Gideon
Published: September 2003

This article seeks to further understanding of the significance and impact of national identity in the context of organizational globalization. Arguing against the tendency of organizational researchers to pose this identity as an objective, cognitive essence, the article claims that national identity constitutes a symbolic resource that is actively and creatively constructed by organizational members to serve social struggles which are triggered by globalization. It offers support to this claim with ethnographic field data generated from an Israeli high-tech corporation undergoing a merger with an American competitor. The implications of the article concern the need for researchers to take into account the space for choice that organizational members have in defining national identity and the interrelationships between the enactment of this identity and processes of resistance to globalization.
The Management Science Researcher between Theory and Practice
Authors: Lallé Béatrice
Published: September 2003

This article discusses a series of management research experiments in the banking sector carried out from the original perspective of the `actor-researcher', that is, by a management researcher who is also a practitioner. It describes some of the epistemological and methodological implications involved in positioning the `actor-researcher', permitting him or her, on the one hand, to play a directly useful role in an organization, and on the other, to generate new scientific knowledge.
Do Organizational Cultures Replicate National Cultures? Isomorphism, Rejection and Reciprocal Opposition in the Corporate Values of Three Countries
Authors: Nelson Reed E. , Gopalan Suresh
Published: September 2003

Despite the intuitive relation between national and organizational culture, empirical research relating the two phenomena is sparse. This article compares the national and organizational cultures of India, Brazil, and the USA, uncovering a significant but complex relationship. Clusters are found in all three countries that both systematically replicate and reject national values. Possible reasons for these `isomorphic' and `rejective' responses to national culture are explored and their theoretical implications developed.
Repairing Managerial Knowledge-Ability Over Distance
Authors: Goodall Keith , Roberts John
Published: September 2003

Despite a growing acknowledgement in the literature of the `socially embedded' character of organizational knowledge, in this article we argue that conceptualizations of knowledge management have remained aloof from the agency that they seek to inform, particularly in relation to managing within physically dispersed organizations. We seek, therefore, to explore the essential link between knowledge and action (`knowledge-ability') through an empirical investigation of the organizational conditions and managerial labour needed to preserve knowledge-ability within a transnational. In order to achieve this, we compare the experiences and practices of three managers located in China, Columbia and Australia as they seek both to communicate knowledge of their local context to the remote centre in order to influence policy and gather knowledge of what is happening remotely in order to coordinate their local action with shifts in corporate thinking. A model of the resources needed in order to limit and repair the damage of distance is generated using this qualitative data. We argue that the labour of repairing knowledge-ability should be understood as an essential aspect of the workings of power relations within the transnational, and involves an intensification of self-disciplinary practices within network forms of organizing.
Leaders or Followers?
Authors: Earley Peter
Published: September 2003

This article begins with a brief exploration of notions of leadership and governance, as perceived by school leaders, and in particular the leadership role of school governing bodies. It draws upon the findings of a recently completed DfES-funded research project into the current state of school leadership which, among other things, sought heads' and governors' views on such matters. It also considers ways in which governing bodies demonstrate `leadership' and are seen, by heads and others, to be of benefit to their schools. Finally, a brief comparison is made with the role of non-executive directors in the world outside of education and some of the implications of the findings are explored.
Implementing Performance Management for Headteachers in English Secondary Schools
Authors: Jennings Keith , Lomas Laurie
Published: September 2003

This article discusses performance management within the public sector and specifically analyses the impact of the new statutory headteacher performance management scheme in a sample of Kent's secondary schools. Secondary headteachers in East Kent appear to have responded positively to the new scheme and are effectively establishing a performance management culture within their schools. Major improvements brought about by the performance management scheme would appear to be a closer linkage between school and staff management systems. There is some disagreement, however, about the role that performance management has had in raising standards in the classroom and also whether performance management has enhanced target setting and review procedures. The article concludes that it would be useful to re-examine the data at a later date when the performance management scheme has settled and to extend it to the primary education sector across a variety of geographical locations.
The Evaluation of a Teacher Training Programme in School Management
Authors: Wong Ping-Man , Wong Chi-Sum
Published: September 2003

Since the beginning of the 1990s, there have been changes in the rationale and practice of Hong Kong's teacher education. Apart from the expansion of initial teacher education, there has also been an increase in the provision of refresher teacher training programmes. Many of these training programmes are offered by the Hong Kong Institute of Education, and have been credit-bearing since 1998. To ensure that these programmes are effective in meeting the needs of schools, evaluation studies are necessary. This study adapted Kirk-patrick's training evaluation model to examine the effectiveness of a primary refresher training programme entitled `The School as an Organization' (SAO). We used a longitudinal investigation with multiple methods (questionnaires, tests and interviews) and sources of information (teachers and their principals) to examine the reactions, learning and behavioural changes of 129 trainees. Our results indicated that the refresher training programme is very effective, especially for senior teachers who are responsible for managerial duties. The findings and implications of the study are discussed.
School Self-Evaluation—Conditions and Caveats
Authors: Devos Geert , Verhoeven Jef C.
Published: September 2003

In this article, school self-evaluation as a driving force of organizational learning is scrutinized. The self-evaluation process of three Flemish secondary schools is analysed. The results of intensive case studies are compared with the schools' interpretation of a self-evaluation tool about their organizational learning culture. The study indicates that schools have difficulty in translating the data of a self-evaluation process into adequate recommendations. School administrators have a reflex of mediating organizational problems with more of the same. A longitudinal analysis of the schools' actions based on the self-evaluation process indicates that 12 months after the self-evaluation the schools were unable to realize fundamental changes.
Finding the Balance
Authors: Briggs Ann R.J.
Published: September 2003

This article considers case-study data from four English further education colleges. Responses from managers occupying a range of middle manager roles, their senior managers and their teams were analysed in order to assess key features of the middle manager role, and to identify factors which enable or impede them. Analysis focused upon the `mechanical' and `organic' aspects of the role, ways in which the role occupies the mechanical and organic dimensions, and where the difficulties lie in balancing the needs of the two.
Teacher Leadership—Improvement through Empowerment?
Authors: Muijs Daniel , Harris Alma
Published: September 2003

As the limitations of the `charismatic head' theories of leadership in schools have become ever more apparent, there has been a move towards teacher leadership, characterized by a form of collective leadership in which teachers develop expertise by working collaboratively. In this article, the possible benefits of teacher leadership are explored, as well as the possible barriers to and opportunities for making teacher leadership work in practice. It is concluded that teacher leadership could have beneficial effects on school improvement, school and teacher effectiveness and teacher motivation and retention, but that the right conditions need to be in place in order for teacher leadership to flourish. The lack of research on teacher leadership in the UK is noted.
Acts of Misrecognition: Transnational Black Politics, Anti-Imperialism and the Ethnocentrisms of Pierre Bourdieu and Loïc Wacquant
Authors: Hanchard Michael
Published: September 2003

This article is a response to the 1999 article `On the Cunning of Imperialist Reason' by Pierre Bourdieu and Loïc Wacquant, in which US intellectuals such as myself were accused of engaging in `imperialist reason' through scholarly and institutional efforts to impose a US paradigm of racial relations upon Brazilian society and scholarship. This article makes three principal points in relation to Bourdieu and Wacquant's charges. First, their critique relies on presumptions and critical analytical methods which privilege the nation-state and culture as the sole object for comparative analysis, and, second, as a consequence ignore how Afro-Brazilian politics and the US civil rights movement intersect within the political contexts and histories of transnational black politics. The intersecting affiliations of transnational black politics across territorial and nation-state boundaries problematize any characterization of international and inter-state relations as the inevitable interaction of politically discrete, territorially sovereign entities. Bourdieu and Wacquant's self-entrapment within the analytic category of the territorial nation leads them to imprison and caricature US African-American politics and thought within the geographic boundaries of the USA. Their assertions, however, provide an opportunity to consider the so-called US civil rights movement within the larger context of black struggles for racial equality in various parts of the world. Third, Bourdieu and Wacquant's attack is in some ways consistent with Wacquant's demonstrated habit of decontextualizing black cultural production and presenting such decontextualization as a virtue or strength, as evidenced in some of his writings on boxing in the United States. This final linkage is crucial, I believe, in understanding how the indiscriminate use of sociological categories and the refusal to engage the specific peculiarities of the tensions between politics and culture in Brazil are symptomatic of a wider misrecognition of black agency more generally in Wacquant's writings.
US Foundations and Racial Reasoning in Brazil
Authors: Telles Edward E.
Published: September 2003

This article examines the role played by US foundations in shaping the academic field of race relations and a black social movement in Brazil. It takes issue with Pierre Bourdieu and Loïc Wacquant's assertion that US foundations use their power to impose a US model on understanding race in Brazil. Their analysis exaggerates the power of US foundations in Brazil, fails to understand how programming decisions are made within the foundations, greatly underestimates the intellectual agency of the Brazilian academy and its black social movement, and reveals a rather dated understanding of the academic literature and public opinion on race in Brazil. The author relies on information gleaned from his former position as a Program Officer of the Ford Foundation in Rio de Janeiro and as a researcher of Brazilian race relations.
The Brazilian Remake of the Orpheus Legend: Film Theory and the Aesthetic Dimension
Authors: Dos Santos Myrian Sepúlveda
Published: September 2003

An increasing sensitivity towards films and other forms of visual experience has become apparent in social theory. Recent explorations of new media of communication and entertainment have criticized the emphasis on the hegemonic or manipulative power of cultural industries and popular forms of leisure. Films, like many other discursive and visual forms, have been considered as signifying practices and investigated as processes of production, exhibition and reception. This article takes these recent contributions as its point of departure and investigates two Brazilian films, made in the 1950s and 1990s, based on a play that retells the Greek legend of Orpheus in Brazilian social and cultural settings. This article considers the different historical contexts, explores discursive and visual forms of representation, struggles for power within the narratives, unconscious systems of signification, and makes some considerations about the aesthetic dimension present in each film.
Complementary Medicine: Cosmopolitan and Popular Knowledge, and Transcultural Translations - Cases from Urban Mexico
Authors: Napolitano Valentina , Mora Flores Gerardo
Published: September 2003

This article discusses some aspects of the practice of complementary and traditional medicine in urban Mexico through a transcultural paradigm, hence it focuses on how medical knowledge(s) are commodified as well as how a `travelling' medical knowledge acquires agency in a transculturation process. This study, while analysing different practices of Chinese and Japanese medicine, argues that oriental medicine is translated in at least two ways - a popular and a cosmopolitan form - that shape particular expressions of citizenship. The popular form is carried out in low-income neighbourhoods and it focuses around a `Mexicanization' of oriental medicine and the reaffirmation of the popular as part of the national. Cosmopolitan medicine, on the other hand, is particularly practised in exclusive health spas and seeks to purge the popular out of the national and to incorporate `traditional' medicine as one of the multiple components of cosmopolitan consumption. The article argues that both popular and cosmopolitan expressions are important to understanding how complementary and oriental medicine have become not only part of a global market, but also part of a particular history of national and popular medical systems.
Mapping Film Piracy in China
Authors: Wang Shujen , Zhu Jonathan J.H.
Published: September 2003

This article examines one of the most crucial yet often-overlooked links in global film processes: piracy. It does so within the context of a changing digital media environment that calls for a reassessment of key dimensions: networks, globalization, technology, space and the state. More specifically, it focuses on the operation of film piracy networks in Greater China that includes the Mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan. By zooming in on `Greater China', this article presents empirical accounts of specific links and connections on and between the intersecting distribution and piracy networks. In sum, distribution and piracy in China highlight some of the most interesting and intricate insights into issues of power, control, technology, network, speed, global-regional-national dynamics, subjectivities and reflexivity. Given the complexity of the issues, this study argues for a spatial, network and process-oriented theoretical framework.
The Beautiful Jew is a Moneylender: Money and Individuality in Simmel's Rehabilitation of the `Jew'
Authors: Morris-Reich Amos
Published: September 2003

This article contends that Georg Simmel attempted a rehabilitation of the Jewish stereotype in a singular way: via his theory of modernity and the quintessential place held therein by money. The first part of the article, based almost entirely on Simmel's The Philosophy of Money, seeks to demonstrate that Simmel intended to overturn the negative Aristotelian and Marxist assessments of money and of those who deal with it. The second part of the article is based on Simmel's unique theory of type. This part seeks to establish that what Simmel in fact rehabilitates is the Jewish type, rather than any actual historical entity, and that this type is in fact the stereotype of the Jew. Simmel's attempt is made in terms of existential authenticity (i.e. truth and beauty) and in direct relation to the project of modernity (money).
Does the Brain Noradrenaline Network Mediate the Effects of the CO2 Challenge?
Authors: Bailey J. E. , Argyropoulos S. V. , Lightman S. L. , Nutt D. J.
Published: September 2003

The inhalation of carbon dioxide (CO2) is commonly used in patients and volunteers as a means of producing anxiety or panic. It is generally believed that patients with panic disorder are more vulnerable to the effects of CO2 than patients with other anxiety disorders or healthy volunteers and there is speculation and debate as to the mechanism for this apparent sensitivity. Recent work from our group has shown that a single inhalation of 35% CO2 activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis, increases blood pressure (BP) and increases subjective fear responses in healthy volunteers. Correlation analyses reveal a relationship between the changes in BP and the cortisol increase. These findings led us to postulate that a common mechanism may mediate these and the subjective responses to inhalation of CO2. We propose that the noradrenergic system, particularly the locus coeruleus (LC), but including the A1 and A2 cell groups, may be a key mediator of these responses. This article examines the evidence and discusses the results of studies from our laboratory in relation to a neuroanatomical model centring on the LC.
The Psychomotor Effects of Carbamazepine in Epileptic Patients and Healthy Volunteers
Authors: Pieters M. S. M. , van Steveninck A. F. , Schoemaker R. C. , Kroon J. M. , van Gerven J. M. A. , Cohen A. F.
Published: September 2003

The effect of straight release carbamazepine monotherapy was studied in 12 well-controlled epileptic patients using adaptive tracking, smooth pursuit and saccadic eye movements, body sway, Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST) and Visual Analogue Scales. Patients were matched to healthy controls for age and gender. After patients had received their usual morning dose of carbamazepine, patient-control pairs were studied for 7 h. Compared to controls, the average DSST scores of patients were significant lower. No relationships were shown between DSST performance and plasma concentrations of carbamazepine and carbamazepine-epoxide. No significant differences were found for any of the other effect parameters. Variations in plasma concentrations were limited, contributing to the absence of systematic fluctuations in test results. Of the used tests, DSST is most clearly related to cognitive function. It is concluded that the difference in DSST performance appears to reflect a long-term small neurocognitive difference between subjects with and without epilepsy.
Acute Reboxetine Administration Increases Plasma and Salivary Cortisol
Authors: Hill S. A. , Taylor M. J. , Harmer C. J. , Cowen P. J.
Published: September 2003

We investigated the effect of a single oral dose of the selective noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor, reboxetine (4 mg), on plasma and salivary cortisol in 24 healthy volunteers in a randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel-group design. Reboxetine significantly increased both plasma and salivary cortisol, although the correlation between the responses in plasma and saliva was modest. Our results are consistent with previous neuroendocrine challenge studies showing that potentiation of brain noradrenaline function stimulates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Reboxetine-induced salivary cortisol release appears to be a simple and relatively non-invasive test of hypothalamic noradrenaline function. However, placebo-controlled, within-subject designs are likely to yield a more valid measure of noradrenaline-mediated cortisol release.
Combined Paroxetine and Clonazepam Treatment Strategies Compared to Paroxetine Monotherapy for Panic Disorder
Authors: Pollack Mark H. , Simon Naomi M. , Worthington John J. , Doyle Alicia L. , Peters Patricia , Toshkov Fany , Otto Michael W.
Published: September 2003

Despite the widespread application of combined selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) and benzodiazepine treatment for panic disorder, there has been relatively little systematic assessment of the safety and efficacy of this therapeutic strategy. Although the limited number of studies to date suggest a more rapid onset of benefit with combined treatment, this study is the first to address the critical question of whether continued combined treatment confers superior efficacy. This study is a randomized, double-blind, three-arm study in patients with panic disorder (n = 60), comparing the efficacy and safety of paroxetine and placebo (PP), paroxetine coadministered with clonazepam followed by a tapered benzodiazepine discontinuation phase (PC-D), and ongoing combination treatment (PC-M). All treatment groups demonstrated significant improvement by endpoint. There was a significant advantage for the combined treatment groups early in treatment but, subsequently, outcome in all three groups was similar. A trend towards greater achievement of endpoint remission status for the PC-D group was attenuated when variability in baseline severity was considered. The results of this study should be interpreted in the context of a relatively moderate sample size and higher rates of early dropout. Combined treatment with paroxetine and clonazepam resulted in more rapid response than with the SSRI alone, but there was no differential benefit beyond the initial few weeks of therapy. Initiating combined treatment followed by benzodiazepine taper after a few weeks may provide early benefit while avoiding the potential adverse consequences of long-term combination therapy.
Caffeine and Central Noradrenaline: Effects on Mood, Cognitive Performance, Eye Movements and Cardiovascular Function
Authors: Smith Andrew , Brice Carolyn , Nash Jon , Rich Neil , Nutt David J.
Published: September 2003

There have been numerous studies on the effects of caffeine on behaviour and cardiovascular function. It is now important to clarify the mechanisms that underlie such effects, and the main objective of the present study was to investigate whether changes in central noradrenaline underlie some of the behavioural and cardiovascular effects of caffeine. This was examined using a clonidine challenge paradigm. Twenty-four healthy volunteers were assigned to one of four conditions: (i) clonidine/caffeine; (ii) clonidine/placebo; (iii) placebo/caffeine; (iv) placebo/placebo. Baseline measurements of mood, cognitive performance, saccadic eye movements and cardiovascular function were recorded. Subsequently, volunteers were given either clonidine (200 μg) or placebo and consumed coffee containing caffeine (1.5 mg/kg) or placebo. The test battery was then repeated 30 min, 150 min and 270 min later. A second cup of coffee (with the same amount of caffeine as the first) was consumed 120 min after the first cup. The results showed that clonidine reduced alertness, impaired many aspects of performance and slowed saccadic eye movements; caffeine removed many of these impairments. Both clonidine and caffeine influenced blood pressure (clonidine reduced it, caffeine raised it) but the effects appeared to be independent, suggesting that separate mechanisms were involved. In addition, there were some behavioural effects of caffeine that were independent of the clonidine effect (e.g. effects on speed of encoding of new information) and these may reflect other neurotransmitter systems (e.g cholinergic effects). Overall, the results suggest that caffeine counteracts reductions in the turnover of central noradrenaline. This mechanism may underlie the beneficial effects of caffeine seen in low alertness states.