bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Elastostatics of Cubic Boxes Subjected to Pressure
Authors: Durelli A. J. , Pavlin V. , Buhler-Vidal J. O.
Published: November 2010

This paper deals with the experimental stress and strain analysis of cubic boxes subjected to pressure. The models manufactured had inside-span-to-wall-thickness ratios varying from approximately 5 to 14. All internal corners had circular fillets. The experimental analysis was conducted using electrical strain gages, brittle coatings and photoelasticity. Results, given parametrically by means of families of curves representing normalized stresses are applicable to boxes of any size, made of any elastic material, provided the span-to-wall-thickenss ratio falls within the range studied. Results obtained using the theory of structures approach are included for comparison purposes and presented in a form useful to designers.
Transient Elasto-Dynamic Response of a Circular Crack in a Thick Plate Under Torsion
Authors: Chen E. P.
Published: November 2010

The elasto-dynamic response of a thick plate under torsion is considered in this study. A penny-shaped crack is assumed to exist in the center of the plate such that the problem is axisymmetric in nature. The crack is pressurized suddenly along its surfaces resulting in transient conditions. This problem is also equivalent to that of sudden appearance of a crack in the loaded plate. Hankel and Laplace transforms are used to reduce the problem to the solution of a pair of dual integral equations. A numerical Laplace inversion routine is used to recover the time dependence of the solution. The dynamic stress intensity factor is determined and its dependence on time and geometry is discussed.
Inelastic Analysis of Nonaxisymmetrically Heated Thick Cylindrical Shells
Authors: Rao M. S. M. , Narayanan T. V. , Gupta G. D.
Published: November 2010

The elastic-plastic-creep analysis of a thick cylindrical tube supported at the ends by elastic springs and subjected to nonaxisymmetric thermal and pressure loads is considered. The exact elasticity solution based on Fourier series is extended to determine the incremental plasticity and creep solutions. The plasticity problem is treated by using the concept of “initial stress.” Ziegler’s modification of Prager’s kinematic hardening rule is used in the elastic-plastic solution. The uniaxial stress-strain curve is assumed to be bilinear and the yield stress may be temperature dependent. The creep solution is obtained by using a strain hardening approach. Two examples of solar superheaters subjected to diurnal temperature and pressure cycles are solved by the present method and compared to the finite element solutions. The comparison shows excellent agreement between the solutions. The cost of computation of the present method is considerably smaller than that of the finite element method. The problem has applications in the conventional fossil-fired steam generators as well as in other power systems.
Some Observations Regarding the Statistical Determination of Stress Rupture Regression Lines
Authors: Pizzo P. P.
Published: November 2010

Observations concerning the statistical evaluation of creep data are presented. Methods currently employed in the determination of stress rupture regression lines can result in conflicting and necessarily invalid results. Anomalous behavior is principally associated with the selection of the dependent variable. However, it is the least squares method of curve fitting which introduces regression bias. Methods to improve the validity of least squares regressions are suggested.
Hydrogen etching and cutting of multiwall carbon nanotubes
Authors: Behr Michael J. , Gaulding E. Ashley , Mkhoyan K. Andre , Aydil Eray S.
Published: October 2010

The interaction of H atoms with the curved concentric graphene walls of a multiwall carbon nanotube and the stacked planar graphene sheets of graphite was investigated using a combination of high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) in conjunction with electron energy-loss and Raman spectroscopies. Continuous cylindrical graphene walls of a nanotube are etched and amorphized by the H atoms. Etching is not uniform across the length of the CNT but rather, small etch pits form at defective sites on the CNT walls along the entire nanotube length. Once an etch pit is formed, etching proceeds rapidly, and the remainder of the CNT is quickly etched away. The carbon K core-loss edge spectra collected from etch pits do not differ from the spectra collected from pristine CNT walls, indicating that reactions occur exclusively at the exposed graphene edges. Similar observations were made when sheets of planar graphite were exposed to H atoms. Confocal Raman spectroscopic measurements revealed that H etching occurs preferentially at the graphite edges. Eventually, large holes appear in the graphite, as observed under HRTEM. Etched holes in planar graphite are similar to the etch pits that form when a graphene layer is rolled up to form the cylindrical walls of a CNT. Once a hole or an etch pit is formed, the edges of the planar graphene sheets or cylindrical CNT walls become exposed, and H etching proceeds quickly from these edges.
A method to evaluate the option of storing carbon in your forest
Authors: Van Deusen Paul C.
Published: November 2010

Managing the forest to store carbon is a relatively new concept. Various regional greenhouse gas initiatives and new Federal legislation are providing financial incentives for forest owners to manage for carbon in addition to other forest products. These incentives are intended for landowners who engage in activities that go beyond business as usual practices. Managing for carbon will likely involve foregoing other investment alternatives and increasing rotation lengths. The analysis approach demonstrated here provides a relatively simple method for an owner to compare traditional forest management and regular harvests with letting the trees grow to accumulate more carbon in the forest. Several financial decision statistics are considered and demonstrated with examples. A derivative of land expectation value, called rotation equivalent value, is shown to be a useful decision tool for comparing carbon storage with other management options having different rotation lengths.
EXCHANGE RATE MISALIGNMENT AND ECONOMIC GROWTH: EVIDENCE FROM PAKISTAN'S RECENT FLOAT
Authors: ZAKARIA MUHAMMAD
Published: October 2010

The paper empirically evaluates growth effects of real exchange rate misalignments in Pakistan for the flexible exchange rate period (1983Q1 to 2005Q4). First, real exchange rate misalignment is calculated as the deviation of the actual real exchange rate from its equilibrium value. It is found that the actual real exchange rate in Pakistan remained undervalued. Second, using the GMM estimation technique, it is found that undervaluation of the Pak-rupee has improved output growth in Pakistan and this result is robust to alternative growth equation specifications. The results also stress the role of other factors in determining output growth rate; particularly, capital per worker, democracy, corruption, human capital and deeper financial markets have the theoretical predicted signs and are statistically significant.
STATUS, FERTILITY, GROWTH AND THE GREAT TRANSITION
Authors: TOURNEMAINE FREDERIC , TSOUKIS CHRISTOPHER
Published: October 2010

We develop an overlapping generation model to examine how the relationship between status concerns, fertility and education affect growth performances. Results are threefold. First, we show that stronger status motives heighten the desire of parents to have fewer but better educated children, which may foster economic development. Second, the government should sometimes postpone the introduction of an economic policy in order to maintain the process of economic development, although such a policy aims to implement the social optimum. Third, status can alter the dynamic path of the economy and help to explain the facts about fertility during the great transition.
Struggling with a Gastric Volvulus Secondary to a Type IV Hiatal Hernia
Authors: George Dafnomilis , Apostolos Pappas V. , Athanasios Panoutsopoulos , Emmanuel Lagoudianakis E. , Nikolaos Koronakis E. , Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos , Charalampos Seretis , George Karanikas , Andreas Manouras J.
Published: October 2010

Type IV hiatal hernias are characterized by herniation of the stomach along with associated viscera such as the spleen, colon, small bowel, and pancreas through the esophageal hiatus. They are relatively rare, representing only about 5%–7% of all hernias, and can be associated with severe complications. We report a 71-year-old veteran wrestler who presented to our department with a type IV paraesophageal hernia containing a gastric volvulus and treated successfully with emergency operation.
Thermal Transient Measurements of an Ultra-Low-Power MOX Sensor
Authors: Rastrello F. , Placidi P. , Abbati L. , Scorzoni A. , Cozzani E. , Elmi I. , Zampolli S. , Cardinali G. C.
Published: October 2010

This paper describes a system for the simultaneous dynamic control and thermal characterization of the heating of an Ultra Low Power (ULP) micromachined sensor. A Pulse Width Modulated (PWM) powering system has been realized using a microcontroller to characterize the thermal behavior of a device. Objectives of the research were to analyze the relation between the time period and duty cycle of the PWM signal and the operating temperature of such ULP micromachined systems, to observe the thermal time constants of the device during the heating phase and to measure the total thermal conductance. Constant target heater resistance experiments highlighted that an approximately constant heater temperature at regime can only be obtained if the time period of the heating signal is smaller than 50 s. Constant power experiments show quantitatively a thermal time constant that decreases during heating in a range from 2.3 ms to 2 ms as a function of an increasing temperature rise between the ambient and the operating temperature. Moreover, we calculated the total thermal conductance. Finally, repeatability of experimental results was assessed by guaranteeing the standard deviation of the controlled temperature which was within C in worst case conditions.
Interference Coordination for E-MBMS Transmissions in LTE-Advanced
Authors: Lopes Alberto A. , Seguro José , Gomes Paulo , Souto Nuno , Correia Américo
Published: October 2010

Interference coordination methods for Evolved-Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service (E-MBMS) in Long-Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) are presented. In addition, we consider signal space diversity based on Rotation Matrices (RM) known to provide good performance gains over uncorrelated Rayleigh fading channels. OFDM/OFDMA systems can make the use of RM very attractive both for single and multiple antenna transmissions. In this paper, OFDM/OFDMA signals based on LTE parameters are combined with RM, MIMO, Turbo, or LDPC codes. We have considered different types of receivers, namely, we used an MMSE (Minimum Mean Squared Error) equalizer and a Maximum Likelihood Soft Output criterion (MLSO). Frequency, signal, and space diversity gains are evaluated for different spatial channel models (SCM) based on ITU multipath propagation channels. Different adaptive frequency reuse and schedulers are considered to evaluate the E-MBMS spectral efficiency at the cell borders.
Biosorption of Lanthanides from Aqueous Solutions Using Pretreated Buccinum tenuissimum Shell Biomass
Authors: Koto Yusuke , Kano Naoki , Wang Yudan , Sakamoto Nobuo , Imaizumi Hiroshi
Published: October 2010

Biosorption experiment from aqueous solutions containing known amount of rare earth elements (REEs) using pre‐treated Buccinum tenuissimum shell was explored to evaluate the efficiency of shell biomass as sorbent for REEs. In this work, four kinds of sieved shell samples: (a) “Ground original sample”, (b) “Heat‐treatment (480∘C, 6 hours) sample”, (c) “Heat‐treatment (950∘C, 6 hours) sample” and (d) “Heat‐treatment (950∘C, 6 hours) and water added sample” were used. Furthermore, to confirm the characteristics of the shell biomass, the crystal structure, the surface morphology, and the specific surface area of these shell samples were determined. Consequently, the following matters have been mainly clarified. (1) The crystal structure of the shell biomass was transformed from aragonite (CaCO3) into calcite (CaCO3) phase by heat‐treatment (480∘C, 6 hours); then mainly transformed into calcium oxide (CaO) by heat‐treatment (950∘C, 6 hours), and calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2) by heat‐treatment (950∘C, 6 hours) and adding water. (2) The shell biomass showed excellent sorption capacity for lanthanides. (3) Adsorption isotherms using the shell biomass can be described by Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms satisfactorily for lanthanides except “heat‐treatment (950∘C, 6 hours) sample”. (4) Shell biomass (usually treated as waste material) can be an efficient sorbent for lanthanides in future.
Growth of AlGaSb Compound Semiconductors on GaAs Substrate by Metalorganic Chemical Vapour Deposition
Authors: Ramelan A. H. , Harjana H. , Arifin P.
Published: October 2010

EpitaxialAlxGa1-xSb layers on GaAs substrate have been grown by atmospheric pressure metalorganic chemical vapour deposition using TMAl, TMGa, and TMSb. We report the effect of V/III flux ratio and growth temperature on growth rate, surface morphology, electrical properties, and composition analysis. A growth rate activation energy of 0.73 eV was found. For layers grown on GaAs at 580∘C and 600∘C with a V/III ratio of 3 a high quality surface morphology is typical, with a mirror-like surface and good composition control. It was found that a suitable growth temperature and V/III flux ratio was beneficial for producing good AlGaSb layers. Undoped AlGaSb grown at 580∘C with a V/III flux ratio of 3 at the rate of 3.5 μm/hour shows p-type conductivity with smooth surface morphology and its hole mobility and carrier concentration are equal to 237 cm2/V.s and 4.6 × 1017 cm-3, respectively, at 77 K. The net hole concentration of unintentionally doped AlGaSb was found to be significantly decreased with the increased of aluminium concentration. All samples investigated show oxide layers (Al2O3,Sb2O3, andGa2O5) on their surfaces. In particular the percentage of aluminium-oxide was very high compared with a small percentage of AlSb. Carbon content on the surface was also very high.
Hybrid Taguchi‐Differential Evolution Algorithm for Parameter Estimation of Differential Equation Models with Application to HIV Dynamics
Authors: Ho Wen-Hsien , Chan Agnes Lai-Fong
Published: October 2010

This work emphasizes solving the problem of parameter estimation for a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) dynamical model by using an improved differential evolution, which is called the hybrid Taguchi‐differential evolution (HTDE). The HTDE, used to estimate parameters of an HIV dynamical model, can provide robust optimal solutions. In this work, the HTDE approach is effectively applied to solve the problem of parameter estimation for an HIV dynamical model and is also compared with the traditional differential evolution (DE) approach and the numerical methods presented in the literature. An illustrative example shows that the proposed HTDE gives an effective and robust way for obtaining optimal solution, and can get better results than the traditional DE approach and the numerical methods presented in the literature for an HIV dynamical model.
Probable Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease in an Apolipoprotein E2 Homozygote
Authors: Cole Lauren , Belden Christine , Jacobson Sandra , Liebsack Carolyn , Myers Kent , Reninger Cornelia , Berk Camryn , Sabbagh Marwan N.
Published: October 2010

Objective: To describe a case of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in an apolipoprotein (Apo) Ε2/Ε2 homozygote. Background: Apo Ε2/Ε2 is the rarest of the ApoE genotypes, representing only 1.4% of the population. Cognitive decline in ApoE Ε2 homozygotes has rarely been reported. Case Report/Methods: We report a 58-year-old Apo Ε2/Ε2 female who meets clinical criteria for probable AD as confirmed by neuropsychological testing, positron emission/computed tomography scan, CSF analysis and genetic screening for known mutations. Results: The clinical course is typical of AD, with progressive cognitive and functional decline. Conclusion: Clinically confirmed early-onset AD is atypical in ApoE2 homozygotes but can occur.
Sublingual Allergen-Specific Immunotherapy Adjuvanted with Monophosphoryl Lipid A: A Phase I/IIa Study
Authors: Pfaar Oliver , Barth Christine , Jaschke Christine , Hörmann Karl , Klimek Ludger
Published: October 2010

Background: Sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) allergy vaccines have an excellent safety profile, but opinions vary on their efficacy, and treatment regimens are often lengthy. This study assessed the effects of the Toll-like receptor 4 agonist monophosphoryl lipid A (MPL®) on safety/tolerability and clinical and immunological efficacy when combined with grass pollen SLIT formulations in treating patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis. This is the first reported study of adjuvanted SLIT. Methods: In this double-blind placebo-controlled phase I/IIa study, 80 grass pollen-sensitive subjects were randomized into 4 groups of 20 subjects to receive daily treatment for 8 weeks. Sixteen patients per group received SLIT and 4 received placebo. The formulation given to each group varied with respect to grass pollen extract and MPL content. Grass allergen nasal challenge tests (NCTs) were performed prior to dosing and in weeks 4 and 10. Grass pollen-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgE antibodies were measured at baseline and prior to dosing in weeks 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10. Results: Local and systemic adverse events were generally comparable for patients who received active treatment and placebo. Patients in the 2 groups given SLIT containing the highest amount of MPL experienced the highest proportion of negative NCTs after 10 weeks (47 and 44%, vs. 20% with placebo). These patients also showed earlier median increases in specific IgG and smaller increases in IgE levels than those receiving other formulations. Conclusions: These results suggest that SLIT preparations containing MPL are well tolerated and alter the immunological response to grass antigens after 3 weeks of exposure, with an associated suppression of nasal challenge responses.
NGO Power in Global Social and Environmental Standard-Setting
Authors: Boström Magnus , Hallström Kristina Tamm
Published: October 2010

We have seen a worldwide increase in new nonstate, multi-stakeholder organizations setting standards for socially and environmentally responsible behavior. These standard-setting arenas offer new channels for political participation for NGOs. Scholars have drawn attention to the rise and the role of NGOs in global politics, but there is less research on the power and long-term implications of NGO participation in transnational multi-stakeholder standard-setting. This article analyzes NGOs within three such global organizations: the Forest Stewardship Council, the Marine Stewardship Council, and the International Organization for Standardization on Social Responsibility. Using a power-based perspective, we demonstrate the impact that NGOs can have on multi-stakeholder work. In doing so, we analyze four types of NGO power: symbolic, cognitive, social, and monitoring power. The article further emphasizes institutional, structural, and discursive factors within multi-stakeholder organizations that create certain challenges to NGO power and participation in the longer term.
Reconstructing Automobility: The Making and Breaking of Modern Transportation
Authors: Goodwin Katherine J.
Published: October 2010

Automobility, the global system of human movement built around petroleumfueled cars, clearly has significant negative environmental consequences. Yet transforming this system presents a nearly overwhelming technological, cultural, and political challenge. The production of oil and cars is fundamental to modern capitalism and is a source of geopolitical power, while the consumption of these goods intimately structures the lives of billions of people worldwide. This article offers a conceptualization of the challenge presented by automobility. It argues that automobility operates according to a socially constructed logic linking gasoline, cars, and mobility to human flourishing. Using examples of industry decisions, public policy adjustments, and shifts in cultural meanings, this essay illustrates that automobility has never been inevitable, nor is its future assured. Rather, its logic has been constructed and is continually reconstructed through human agency.
Strength Prediction of Composite Π Joints Under Tensile Load
Authors: Libin Zhao  , Tianliang Qin  , Ajit Shenoi R. , Jianyu Zhang  , Xianzhu Liang  , Hai Huang
Published: October 2010

Application of an all-composite π joint as a structural connector for integrated aircraft structures can potentially enable both weight and assembly cost benefits while retaining good load carrying capability. This article is concerned with the behavior of an all-composite π joint under a static, tensile load. The damage onset, propagation, and ultimate collapse of the composite π joint are simulated by a progressive damage method. A progressive damage model, which includes three aspects: a three dimensional finite element model of composite π joint for stress analysis, a modified maximum stress failure criterion to assess damage/failure, and a material degradation model to simulate the structural stiffness reduction, is presented to predict strength of composite π joint. Stress distributions are characterized and the load transfer path in the joint is traced. Failure mechanisms are identified and failure progression between the first and final failures is outlined for the composite π joint. Experimental results show good agreement with the predictions from the numerical models.
What’s Educational Leadership Without an African-Centered Perspective? Explorations and Extrapolations
Authors: Hopson Rodney K. M. , Hotep Uhuru , Schneider Dana L. , Turenne Ithamar Grace
Published: October 2010

This article provides an overview of current issues confronting educational leaders dedicated to the fundamentals, curriculum, pedagogy, and practices of African-centered education (ACE) and its evolving nature in the 21st century. By considering and situating African-centered leadership in the discussion of educational leadership generally, and within the expanding and prescient notions of leadership for social justice specifically, the article offers useful connections to educational leadership scholars and practitioners who straddle these interdisciplinary domains of scholarship and action as an opportunity to build from the emerging literature within the extant fields of study and to push urban educational leaders and practitioners to think more critically about the direction of ACE theory, practice, and praxis.
Constructing Self as Leader: Case Studies of Women Who Are Change Agents in South Africa
Authors: Mogadime Dolana , Mentz PJ (Kobus) , Armstrong Denise E. , Holtam Beryl
Published: October 2010

The present article draws from the biographical narratives of three South African high school female principals which are part of a larger research study in which 26 aspiring and practicing women school leaders were interviewed. Narratives were constructed from in-depth interviews with each participant and analyzed for themes that provided insights into the skills, knowledge, and understanding that contribute to an effective African-centered leadership style that values three key principles of ubuntu: spirituality, interdependence, and unity. Findings indicate these women’s narratives are a testimony to their moral and ethical commitments in which social emancipation, compassion, and care for the community’s children are firmly rooted at the center of their leadership style. This study answers the call for research that explores context-specific leadership.
On the limit of spirit: Hegel’s racism revisited
Authors: Purtschert Patricia
Published: October 2010

In his speech at the University of Dakar in July 2007, the French president Nicolas Sarkozy referred to Africa as the continent that has not yet fully entered history. This article takes this obvious reference to Hegel as its starting point and examines the current significance of ‘Hegel’s Africa’. Through a close reading of The Philosophy of History and The Phenomenology of Spirit, it shows that Hegel’s remarks on Africa are by no means incidental. They constitute rem(a)inders of a modernity that is based on the construction of Africa as its own limit. The return of Hegel’s Africa, the article concludes, can thus not be restricted to a problem of the new European right. It is part of an understanding of modernity that remains haunted by the specters of racism.
Records management in the Cloud? Records management IS the Cloud!
Authors: James Roger
Published: October 2010

This article discusses the challenges that contemporary technology present to records management. The costs of traditional records management are increasing. At the same time Cloud computing provides an exciting opportunity to contain costs while increasing organizational capability. Good records management is fundamental to the sustainability of organizations but is seldom seen as anything other than a burdensome addition to the day job by employees. In grappling with the implications of digital and paper records, records managers are not yet dealing with the fact that the sheer economics, volume and challenge of managing information — as records or other ‘stuff’ — simply mandates an automated technical easy to use solution. The Cloud, because it operates at the level of content, can drive dramatic change in the professions working on content management and address the continual expansion in the content created — and this includes forward thinking records managers. The Web together with the Cloud also delivers a new challenge to records management — to open up content for others to use in inclusive participation not hide it away for exclusive use. The article argues that Cloud based innovation will stimulate organizations to reconsider what information they wish to protect and what to release. In a digital world transparency rather than protection will be the stronger influence as seen in the UK’s government plans for opening up data. Organizations will use far more information from the Web and internally will see that it has become simpler and better to recreate much of the information, now protected as records, than to rely on stored old versions. The new records management lifecycle needs to promote an obsession with content use rather than protection. The capture of contextual data at source will transform the way a record can be used. The cost of storage will cease to be an issue instead new values of storage will drive policy. Records management will become use based not store based and placing the new activities of records management at the heart of the living company.
Brown-Utility Heuristic? The Presence and Contributing Factors of Latino Linked Fate
Authors: Sanchez Gabriel R. , Masuoka Natalie
Published: October 2010

In an electoral system governed by the plurality rule, those groups who wield the greatest amount of power in the United States are those who vote as a cohesive bloc. Although the size of the Latino population is growing, it is unclear whether all Latinos perceive a shared collective identity that will be exercised in the political realm. This study uses the Latino National Survey, a nationally representative telephone survey of 8,600 Latino adults, to examine how individual Latinos perceive their personal fates and the fate of their national origin group with the larger panethnic community. The authors utilize ordered logistic regression analysis to test their hypotheses regarding the impact of immigration experiences, race, and socioeconomic status on Latino linked fate. Results suggest that linked fate for Latinos may be a temporary phenomenon, as linked fate for Latinos appears to be based on marginalization derived from economic status and immigration experiences.
Racial and Ethnic Socialization in Later Generations of a Mexican American Family
Authors: Chávez-Reyes Christina
Published: October 2010

Later-generation Mexican American (third or more) experience diminishing educational gains compared with second-generation Mexican Americans. Positive racial and ethnic socialization (RES) and ethnic identity can facilitate strong academic performance. Using the oral histories of 18 third- and fourth-generation Mexican Americans in the same family, this study describes RES from childhood to young adulthood to understand how RES can be used to improve their academic circumstances. Results indicate that later-generation RES is multidimensional and influenced by varied factors (e.g., historical moment, socioeconomic status). As a result, Mexican Americans develop a dual RES self-schema that lacks academic achievement as a result of both the ethnic and larger community neglecting to positively affect RES and ethnic identity. The author suggests that the ethnic community (families) and larger society need to re-define group membership to incorporate academic achievement.
Latino Adolescents’ Academic Motivation: The Role of Siblings
Authors: Alfaro Edna C. , Umaña-Taylor Adriana J.
Published: October 2010

Guided by an ecological perspective, two competing models were tested to examine how sibling relationship quality directly predicted or interacted with academic support from siblings to predict Latino adolescents’ academic motivation ( N = 258). Gender differences were examined utilizing multiple group analysis in structural equation modeling. Findings indicated that academic support from siblings was a significant predictor of both boys’ and girls’ academic motivation. In addition, sibling relationship quality was directly related to girls’ academic motivation. Findings underscore the importance of examining the role that siblings play in Latino adolescents’ academic motivation.
The happiness of sociality. Economics and eudaimonia: A necessary encounter
Authors: Bruni Luigino
Published: October 2010

The paper discusses some issues of the debate on happiness in economics. In particular it deals with the relationship between happiness and sociality. In fact, in contemporary ‘economics and happiness’ literature there is a new interest in interpersonal relationships thanks to the huge empirical evidence that genuine sociality is one of the heaviest components of self-reported happiness. At the same time, mainstream economics is badly equipped for studying genuine sociality, because it treats interpersonal interactions as elements to be taken into account in terms of externalities. The intuition originating the paper is the conviction that if research on happiness aims at taking into account non-instrumental interpersonal relations, i.e. ‘relational goods’, scholars will profit by a reconsideration or retrieving of the Aristotelian tradition of happiness as eudaimonia.
Emergent cultural signatures and persistent diversity: A model of conformity and consistency
Authors: Bednar Jenna , Bramson Aaron , Jones-Rooy Andrea , Page Scott
Published: October 2010

Empirical evidence demonstrates that cultures exist, they differ from one another, they’re coherent and yet diversity persists within them. In this paper, we describe a multi-dimensional model of cultural formation that produces all of these properties. Our model includes two forces: an internal desire to be consistent and social pressure to conform. When both forces operate, the society converges to a coordinated behavior that is consistent across the attributes. We find that convergence in the two-force model is slower than a pure conformity model and that a preponderance of one force over the other slows convergence, rather than hastening it. We further find that the two forces amplify small errors in individual behavior and prove capable of producing substantial persistent diversity.
A rational heuristic model of economic decision making
Authors: Grandori Anna
Published: October 2010

A conspicuous ‘hole’ lies between the ‘rational-choice’ paradigm and the ‘behavioral decision-making’ paradigm. The ‘missing model’ is ‘heuristic’ (research-based) yet ‘rational’ (non-biasing): a set of methods for the logically sound discovery and design of economic actions, options and objectives. Such a model is developed in this paper, enriching the notion and repertory of heuristics that are typically considered in economic and cognitive sciences with the notion and set of heuristics typically considered in the philosophy of science and the logic of discovery. The model then provides a response to the hitherto unaddressed question of how knowledge, on which the rationality and wisdom of any decision largely depends, can be constructed in a valid and reliable way. The specification of the heuristics that can effectively and efficiently guide economic discovery and innovation seems to be overdue in an economy said to be knowledge intensive and innovation oriented.
Sustaining Engagement Through Work in Postdisaster Relief and Reconstruction
Authors: Wang Xiao Lu , Shi Zhan Biao , Ng Siu Man , Wang Bin , Chan Cecilia L. W.
Published: October 2010

After the devastating 2008 earthquake in China, grass-roots government officials were the main local force in postquake relief and reconstruction. Like other survivors, many officials were severely bereaved. Their psychological well-being was at stake. We conducted 25 semistructured interviews to investigate sources of stress at work and their coping experiences. We coded interviews using the content analysis method. Misunderstandings and assaults from survivors, prolonged heavy workload, and grief and bereavement were major sources of stress at work. Finding meaning in the work, emotion regulation, and goal and time management were main coping strategies. The challenge and importance of the work, combined with support and recognition at work, fostered an empowering work environment. Few interviewees reported fatigue, whereas the majority displayed dedication to work, indicating a status of work engagement more than burnout among grass-roots officials. Implications of a meaning-oriented empowerment approach to stress management for disaster relief forces are drawn.
Item Response Theory Analyses of Adult Self-Ratings of the ADHD Symptoms in the Current Symptoms Scale
Authors: Gomez Rapson
Published: October 2010

The graded response model, which is based on item response theory, was used to evaluate the psychometric properties of adult self-ratings ( N = 852) of the attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity symptoms presented in the Current Symptoms Scale. This scale has four ordered response categories. The results for the discrimination parameters showed that all symptoms were generally good for discriminating their respective latent traits. For virtually all symptoms, their threshold values showed that they were especially good at representing the appropriate traits from around the mean trait level onward. The item information function values for most symptoms indicated reasonable reliability from approximately the mean trait level onward. All these findings are new and extend existing psychometric information for adult self-ratings of the attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms in the Current Symptoms Scale.
Hybrid Electric Vehicles and Implications for Transportation Finance
Authors: Hajiamiri Sara , Wachs Martin
Published: October 2010

Fuel efficiency improvements in the U.S. vehicle fleet are slowing growth in gasoline consumption. Although this is desirable with respect to goals for achieving energy security and environmental improvement, it has adverse implications for the current system of transportation finance. Reductions in gasoline consumption relative to the amount of driving that takes place result in reductions in fuel tax revenues that fund transportation projects. The authors estimate the magnitude of the forgone tax revenue when a hybrid electric vehicle displaces a similar-sized conventional gasoline-powered vehicle. The authors find that under several vehicle electrification scenarios, the combined federal and state trust fund contributions could decline by as much as 5% because of new hybrid electric cars to be sold in 2020 and as much as 12.5% because of those to be sold in 2030. Alternative fee systems more directly tied to the use of the transportation system rather than to fuel consumption should be considered, which could reconcile energy security, environmental, and transportation finance goals.
Internal Improvements to Public Works to Infrastructure: Tolling in California and the Public/ Private Dichotomy in Historical Perspective
Authors: Dyble Louise Nelson
Published: October 2010

This article considers the administration of toll-financed transportation infrastructure in its larger historical context, through an overview of the political economy of public works in the United States. The decision to shift responsibility for California’s toll bridges to a state-level authority in 1929 reflected larger, long-term political and institutional trends as well as the powerful influence of Progressive Era ideology. Similarly, political and institutional developments since the 1970s have propelled initiatives to establish new mechanisms for infrastructure financing, administration, and management in California and elsewhere and suggest that private toll roads may again be on the horizon in a new era of free-market ideology.
The Impact of Special Flood Hazard Area Designation on Residential Property Values
Authors: Posey John , Rogers William H.
Published: October 2010

Floodplains in the United States are designated by the federal government as special flood hazard areas (SFHA). There is a dearth of published work on the effect of SFHA designation on property values in noncoastal areas. This research note addresses this lacuna by analyzing home sales prices in St. Louis County, Missouri. A hedonic model with correction for spatial autocorrelation indicates that being located in a SFHA reduces the value of a property by about 8.6%, including both direct and indirect effects. This information is relevant to ongoing policy discussions regarding weakened levee systems in the United States.
Balancing the good, the bad and the better: A discursive perspective on probiotics and healthy eating
Authors: Koteyko Nelya
Published: October 2010

Functional foods promoted as novel food products providing health benefits beyond basic nutrition are gradually becoming part of the European food basket. Typically, research on functional food has focused on public attitudes, the acceptability of different product types, and public trust in novel food. In this article, discursive analysis of focus group discussions held in Britain with 34 users and non-users of probiotics points to the argumentative orientation of explanations for consumption of this particular type of functional food. Using the concepts of ‘interpretative repertoire’ and ‘subject position’, I explore the role of moral considerations in people’s accounts of purchasing probiotics in the current context of increased health awareness and health anxiety. The analysis demonstrates how the lay accounts of eating and purchasing probiotics are entangled with notions of indulgence, individualism, as well as social norms and responsibility.
Towards a developmental ethology: Exploring Deleuze’s contribution to the study of health and human development
Authors: Duff Cameron
Published: October 2010

This article explores the work of French thinker Gilles Deleuze and argues for the application of his central ideas to the study of health and human development. Deleuze’s work furnishes a host of ontological and epistemological resources for such analysis, ushering in new methods and establishing new objects of inquiry. Of principal interest are the inventive conceptualizations of affect, multiplicity and relationality that Deleuze proposes, and the novel reading of subjectivity that these concepts support. This article introduces a developmental ethology in exploring Deleuze’s contributions to the study of human development and its varied courses and processes. Taken from a Deleuzean perspective, human development will be characterized as a discontinuous process of affective and relational encounters. It will be argued further that human development is advanced in the provision of new affective sensitivities and new relational capacities. This course is broadly consistent with existing approaches to human development — particularly those associated with Amartya Sen’s capabilities model — with the considerable advantage of offering a more viable working theory of the ways in which developmental capacities are acquired, cultivated and maintained. A provisional research agenda consistent with this developmental ethology is offered by way of conclusion.
Screening for breast cancer: Medicalization, visualization and the embodied experience
Authors: Griffiths Frances , Bendelow Gillian , Green Eileen , Palmer Julie
Published: October 2010

Women’s perspectives on breast screening (mammography and breast awareness) were explored in interviews with midlife women sampled for diversity of background and health experience. Attending mammography screening was considered a social obligation despite women’s fears and experiences of discomfort. Women gave considerable legitimacy to mammography visualizations of the breast, and the expert interpretation of these. In comparison, women lacked confidence in breast awareness practices, directly comparing their sensory capabilities with those of the mammogram, although mammography screening did not substitute breast awareness in a straightforward way. The authors argue that reliance on visualizing technology may create a fragmented sense of the body, separating the at risk breast from embodied experience.
Intimacy and/or degradation: Heterosexual images of togetherness and women’s embracement of pornography
Authors: Benjamin Orly , Tlusten Dmitry
Published: October 2010

Previous studies on women’s experiences with sexually explicit material used by their long-term partners indicate that women’s responses were complex. Neutrality and acceptance were the dominant responses even though some women continued to report negative emotions and experiences. This complexity has not yet been explored from the perspective of maintaining intimacy and the meanings of togetherness. On the basis of semi-structured interviews with 20 Israeli Jewish women, we identified a process in women who expect to have passionate and sexually active relationships. Apparently, embracing pornography and using it as a guiding resource for developing couples’ sexuality is characteristic of women for whom togetherness implies the need to nurture mutual passion. We also examine how pornographic images of intimacy in heterosexual relationships can lead to the development of alienated and hierarchical sexuality in the lives of married women who feel entitled to fulfill their sexuality.
Reproducing or constructing? Some questions about transcription in social research
Authors: Hammersley Martyn
Published: October 2010

Audio- and video-recordings are the major sources of data in qualitative research today. There is now a substantial literature about the task of transcribing these recordings, though this mainly relates to socio-linguistic and discourse analysis. In general, this takes the view that transcripts construct the talk or action that they portray rather than reproducing what is given. In this article I argue that while this is true in important respects, in that many decisions are involved in producing transcripts, there is also an important sense in which both the strict transcription of words used and the descriptions of speakers’ behaviour are aimed at capturing something that exists independently of the transcription process. ‘Construction’ and ‘givenness’ are both metaphors and we must take care not to be misled by either of them.
Effect of oral beta-blocker on short and long-term mortality in patients with acute respiratory failure: results from the BASEL-II-ICU study
Authors: Noveanu Markus , Breidthardt Tobias , Reichlin Tobias , Gayat Etienne , Potocki Mihael , Pargger Hans , Heise Antje , Meissner Julia , Twerenbold Raphael , Muravitskaya Natalia , Mebazaa Alexandre , Mueller Christian
Published: November 2010

Introduction

Acute respiratory failure (ARF) is responsible for about one-third of intensive care unit (ICU) admissions and is associated with adverse outcomes. Predictors of short- and long-term outcomes in unselected ICU-patients with ARF are ill-defined. The purpose of this analysis was to determine predictors of in-hospital and one-year mortality and assess the effects of oral beta-blockers in unselected ICU patients with ARF included in the BASEL-II-ICU study.

Methods

The BASEL II-ICU study was a prospective, multicenter, randomized, single-blinded, controlled trial of 314 (mean age 70 (62 to 79) years) ICU patients with ARF evaluating impact of a B-type natriuretic peptide- (BNP) guided management strategy on short-term outcomes.

Results

In-hospital mortality was 16% (51 patients) and one-year mortality 41% (128 patients). Multivariate analysis assessed that oral beta-blockers at admission were associated with a lower risk of both in-hospital (HR 0.33 (0.14 to 0.74) P = 0.007) and one-year mortality (HR 0.29 (0.16 to 0.51) P = 0.0003). Kaplan-Meier analysis confirmed the lower mortality in ARF patients when admitted with oral beta-blocker and further shows that the beneficial effect of oral beta-blockers at admission holds true in the two subgroups of patients with ARF related to cardiac or non-cardiac causes. Kaplan-Meier analysis also shows that administration of oral beta-blockers before hospital discharge gives striking additional beneficial effects on one-year mortality.

Conclusions

Established beta-blocker therapy appears to be associated with a reduced mortality in ICU patients with acute respiratory failure. Cessation of established therapy appears to be hazardous. Initiation of therapy prior to discharge appears to confer benefit. This finding was seen regardless of the cardiac or non-cardiac etiology of respiratory failure.

Trial registration

clinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00130559
Prevention of Adsorption of Fluorescent Amino Acids to Gels by Using a Peptide Containing Dendritic Amino Acids
Authors: Kitamatsu Mizuki , Akagi Kazumasa , Sisido Masahiko
Published: October 2010

We synthesized two dendritic amino acids containing two or four carboxylic acids in the side chain. Using these amino acids, we prepared dendritic peptides that could wrap fluorescent amino acids. Because of the steric hindrance in the dendritic amino acid units present in the peptides, nonspecific adsorption of the fluorescent amino acid to gels was prevented.
Haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis complicating Hodgkin's lymphoma in an HIV-positive individual
Authors: Flew S J , Radcliffe K W
Published: October 2010

We report the case of an HIV-positive man who presented with pyrexia of unknown origin. Histological specimens from an inguinal lymph node and liver biopsy gave a diagnosis of Epstein Barr virus (EBV)-positive Hodgkin's lymphoma and haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), respectively. HLH is a condition characterized by proliferation of activated macrophages that phagocytose leukocytes, erythrocytes and platelets. Clinical features include splenomegaly, fever and pancytopenia, all of which have a wide differential diagnosis in HIV-positive patients. HLH can be caused by infections, malignancy, drugs or autoimmune conditions. There have been a number of reports of HLH in HIV-positive patients, and it can be seen at all stages of HIV infection. HIV, lymphomas, EBV infection and haemophagocytic syndrome have a complicated pathophysiology. Unfortunately, HLH in this setting has a particularly aggressive course, often with a poor outcome. This case highlights the need for awareness of the syndrome to ensure prompt diagnosis and instigation of appropriate treatment.