bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Good Sport?
Authors: Krouwel André , Boonstra Nanne , Duyvendak Jan Willem , Veldboer Lex
Published: February 2007

Since the rise of a right-wing populist movement in 2002, the issue of the ‘unsuccessful’ integration of ethnic minorities is at the centre of Dutch public debate. The quest for promising social spheres to bridge gaps between the autochthonous Dutch population and minority groups has brought recreational sport to the political agenda. Sport participation is widely advocated as an effective and unproblematic way for interethnic contact and socialization. In this article we report on two studies conducted in the city of Rotterdam to test these assumptions. One study, focusing on motivations to participate in sport, showed that among participants meeting different people is less valued than expected, especially among marginalized migrant-groups who primarily want to confirm their ethnic identity through homogeneous sport activities. Further research on sport encounters between different ethnic groups made it clear that, particularly in soccer, these encounters frequently result in aggression and can seldom be labelled as trouble-free contact. This can be explained as much by the aggressive elements of the game itself as by the fact that inter-ethnic tensions from other social spheres are imported and even magnified in these sports activities. In sum, although recreational sport (such as soccer) might seem ideal for meaningful cultural crossovers, in practice ethnic differences are reinforced in this sphere instead of bridged.
Running Race
Authors: Elder Catriona , Pratt Angela , Ellis Cath
Published: February 2007

This article examines how the idea of reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians became entwined with the Sydney 2000 Olympics. It does this by undertaking a critical reading of media stories on the twin issues of Cathy Freeman’s 400 m race, and the fear of Indigenous protest disrupting the games. We argue the Olympic Games helped to reinforce a discourse of reconciliation that best suited non-Indigenous peoples, and that the Games came to be represented as the space where reconciliation could and should take place. We argue that, in combination with nationalist stories, the impending Olympic Games were deployed as a way of disciplining Indigenous people and maintaining a particularly conservative understanding of reconciliation; one that did little to change the unequal power relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.
The Nonsense of Native American Sport Imagery
Authors: Robidoux Michael A.
Published: February 2007

The pejorative use of Aboriginal imagery in professional and amateur sport has been criticized by Native Americans, public activists and academics from various disciplinary backgrounds. They have campaigned successfully to convince sport organizations to rid themselves of such slanderous signification. While sensitive to these activist and academic strategies such perspectives do not seriously take into account that many First Nations peoples and sport teams in Canada display these images in a variety of ways. The proliferation of these images in First Nations contexts motivated me to examine the issue of Native American sport imagery further, in particular how their use by First Nations peoples may problematize standard oppositional discourse that dominates academic literature on the subject. Through my interaction with these context specific uses of such imagery, I have come to formulate a reading that encourages the proliferation of these images, a call for their saturation in the sport and fashion industry. It is only then that their signifying potential of a reality that never was can be erased, giving way to new systems of meanings.
Supporting the Placements of Children Adopted Out of Care
Authors: Sturgess Wendy , Selwyn Julie
Published: February 2007

This article reports the findings related to adoption support of a Department of Health-funded study: Costs and Outcomes of Non-infant Adoptions. This is the first UK study to comprehensively examine the support provided by Social Services Departments (SSDs), Health, Education, and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) beyond the first year of the adoptive placement. The services provided to 80 children, before Adoption Orders were granted, were examined from SSD records. Interviews with 54 adoptive parents then investigated the services provided to 64 of the 80 children post order. Families were initially supported primarily by Social Services but, post order, Health, Education and CAMHS shouldered most of the support responsibilities. A high proportion of the children were seen by these professionals over the course of the adoptive placements but many adopters felt that the services provided had been ‘too little, too late’. While there were assessments of children’s difficulties, mainstream services typically failed to provide what adopters considered sufficient or effective support. This was also largely true of the services provided by SSDs and is an important message for practitioners if they are to succeed in improving adoption support services.
Belonging and Connection to School in Resettlement: Young Refugees, School Belonging, and Psychosocial Adjustment
Authors: Kia-Keating Maryam , Ellis B. Heidi
Published: February 2007

Schools are one of the first and most influential service systems for young refugees. There is a burgeoning interest in developing school-based refugee mental health services, in part to reduce stigma and increase treatment access for this population. Despite the relevance of gaining a better understanding of how refugee students experience schools in resettlement and how this relates to psychosocial adjustment, belonging and connection to school have not been previously investigated among a population of resettled refugees. This study examines school belonging and psychosocial adjustment among a sample of 76 Somali adolescents resettled in the United States. A greater sense of school belonging was associated with lower depression and higher self-efficacy, regardless of the level of past exposure to adversities. Notably, more than one-quarter of the variation in self-efficacy was explained uniquely by a sense of school belonging. School belonging was not significantly associated with posttraumatic stress symptom severity and did not moderate the effect of exposure to adversities on psychological adjustment. These results suggest that investigating ways of improving school experiences would be particularly useful in the effort towards continued development of school-based mental health programs for young refugees.
Drawings vs. Narratives: Drawing as a Tool to Encourage Verbalization in Children Whose Fathers are Drug Abusers
Authors: Lev-Wiesel Rachel , Liraz Revital
Published: February 2007

The study aimed to examine the extent to which the use of drawing prior to narrative description increases the richness of the narrative given by children who are exposed to a succession of negative life events. The sample consisted of study and comparison groups (60 children: 27 boys, 33 girls), ranging in age from 9 to 14, whose fathers were addicted to drugs. The study group was asked to first ‘draw your life in the shadow of your father’s addiction to drugs’, then verbally describes ‘your life under the shadow of an addicted father’; the comparison group was asked only the latter. Following evaluation of drawings and narratives by two judges, analysis of variance between the groups’ narratives revealed that when children were first asked to draw, their narratives were more detailed and more revealing of emotions compared to children who were asked only to verbally describe their lives, whereas expressions of resistance and splitting were more apparent in the comparison group.
Resilience as a Predictor of Depressive Symptoms: A Correlational Study with Young Adolescents
Authors: Hjemdal Odin , Aune Tore , Reinfjell Trude , Stiles Tore C. , Friborg Oddgeir
Published: February 2007

This correlational study explored the Resilience Scale for Adolescents (READ)1 as a predictor for developing depressive symptoms controlling for known risk factors. A young adolescent sample ( N = 387) completed the READ, the Short Mood and Feeling Questionnaire (SMFQ), Social Phobia Anxiety Index for Children (SPAI-C), and the occurrence of Stressful Life Events (SLE). In addition, a subsample of their parents ( N = 240) completed a parental version of READ (READ-P). The results indicated that the READ assesses important protective factors that are associated with fewer depressive symptoms among young adolescents even when controlling for known risk factors. All five READ-factors were predictors of depressive symptoms, while the READ-P showed no predictive value. There were no significant interaction effects between READ and SLE. There were, however, significant main-effects supporting a compensatory model of protective factors. The findings suggest that the READ is a significant predictor of mental health and a useful tool for further research examining differences in stress tolerance among young adolescents.
Facilitating Treatment Attendance in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services: A Community Study
Authors: Watt Bruce D. , Dadds Mark R.
Published: February 2007

Failure of parents to attend and engage in treatment is a significant barrier to implementing effective interventions in child and adolescent mental health. Approaches to enhance treatment attendance and participation have targeted both structural operations of the clinic and aspects of the therapeutic process. Little research, however, has looked at clinicians’ use of strategies to enhance treatment participation. Fifty-one mental health practitioners completed measures of strategies to increase treatment participation among families of conduct problem children. Client attendance was collected for each clinician over a 1-month period. As hypothesized, therapists were more aware of, and reported greater use of, therapy process compared to structural approaches to increase treatment participation. Clinician ratings of usefulness, competence and willingness to use therapy process strategies predicted client appointment attendance. The results are discussed in relation to the importance of training and supervision of professionals working with families in mental health services targeting a range of strategies to enhance treatment participation.
Outcome of Patients Attending a Specialist Educational and Mental Health Service for Social Anxiety Disorders
Authors: Mcshane Gerard , Bazzano Cheryl , Walter Garry , Barton Giles
Published: February 2007

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the outcome of adolescents with anxiety-based school attendance problems enrolled in a specialist adolescent educational and mental health program that provides educational assistance and social skills development, and to suggest key elements that may account for its apparent effectiveness. Young people attending the Sulman Program in Sydney, Australia, between March 2003 and December 2004 were identified. Baseline information was gathered from the medical records, pre and postintervention personal development questionnaires were given to students, and pre and postratings of function were made. Those attending the program showed improvement in their general level of functioning indicated by completion of a year-long course of study (17 of 24), preparation for employment (17), increased independent travel (5), and self-rated improvement in social skills, stress tolerance and emotional literacy. Pre and poststaff ratings on the Health of the Nation Outcomes Scales Child and Adolescent (HoNOSCA), Children’s Global Assessment Scale (CGAS) and Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) indicated improvement in personal and social functioning. Parental satisfaction was rated as high. The findings confirm the effectiveness of, and need for, flexible programs to support adolescents with social anxiety disorder and other longer-term mental health problems to offset the adverse consequences of early withdrawal from educational and social environments. Several elements may help to explain the program’s effectiveness and provide guidance for similar programs elsewhere.
Theorizing student voice: values and perspectives
Authors: Robinson Carol , Taylor Carol
Published: February 2007

This article explores some of the core values which underpin student voice work. We are in the very early stages of trying to understand the values that surround student voice and hope to develop these understandings by drawing on the work of various educational theorists. Throughout the article we examine some of the complexities that arise in theorizing student voice, and allude to the practical implications of the values in the context of student voice work in schools and the implications to school improvement.
‘My school has been quite pushy about the Oxbridge thing’: voice and choice of higher education
Authors: Byrom Tina , Thomson Pat , Gates Peter
Published: February 2007

Whilst government policies are now pushing teachers to listen to pupils, this concern is largely framed within the school improvement agenda. This is not the only arena where listening to pupils counts. This article examines the ways in which two young people, making a significant choice about which university to attend, felt unable to discuss their interests and concerns with their teachers. In one case, this resulted in a young woman doing less well in her examinations in order to avoid getting her first preference of Oxbridge, and securing her ‘real choice’ at another Russell Group university. The other was not invited by his school to apply to Oxbridge, despite a desire to go there which he felt unable to articulate at school. We suggest that, given the current concern over widening participation, these two cases provide hints that all is not well with school gate-keeping and career guidance procedures.
The role of students’ voices and their influence on adults in creating more sustainable environments in three schools
Authors: Shallcross Tony , Robinson John , Pace Paul , Tamoutseli Konstandia
Published: February 2007

This article draws on the Sustainability Education in European Primary Schools (SEEPS) Project, which was an EU-funded project examining approaches to sustainability education. As part of that project the team developed a case study approach to the individual country contributions to the overall project, which concluded by developing a model based on whole institution approaches to school improvement towards sustainability. These case studies form the basis of this article. In the article we draw on case study materials from a range of European countries to examine how learners perceive their participation in school improvements towards sustainability to be conceived and received by school administrators and teachers. The article tries to develop a meta-analytical rather than descriptive account of the case studies in order to identify commonalities across the cases relating to the learner’s participation in decisions about learning.
Recognizing student leadership: schools and networks as sites of opportunity
Authors: McGregor Jane
Published: February 2007

Against the wider background of increasing interest in pupil voice, this article gives examples of the student involvement activity in the largest of the National College of School Leadership (NCSL) development and enquiry initiatives: the Networked Learning Communities project. In programme-level research, student voice and participation were commonly reported as a significant dimension of network development. Recognizing and conceptualizing such involvement as leadership is discussed in relation to students’ roles as active agents in improving learning in schools and networks of schools. A study for NCSL indicated generally low levels of discourse among those in schools around what leadership might be, particularly among students, but indicated a preference for people-based, relational forms. It is argued that a perception of leadership as a relational process of influence rather than of hierarchical power strengthens the possibility of recognizing the potential of students as leaders. Schools and networks of schools are suggested as important sites for the enactment of leadership as influence through lateral modalities of power such as negotiation and persuasion which may contest and change existing structures.
To be or not to be a mother?
Authors: Maher JaneMaree , Saugeres Lise
Published: February 2007

This article is based on a recently completed study of fertility decision-making in Victoria, Australia. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 100 women, it explores how dominant discourses of mothering influence women in their life decisions about children. While much research indicates that all women negotiate dominant ideals of good mothering, our findings suggest that such stereotypes need to be further broken down, since women with and without children respond to different aspects of such ideals. For women who have children, images of the ‘good mother’ are less prevalent than pragmatic concerns about how to manage mothering. Women without children, in contrast, understand mothering as all-encompassing and potentially overwhelming. These findings suggest that Australian women share ideals and assumptions about mothering with their counterparts in the United Kingdom and the United States, but they also point to an increasing gap between how mothering is viewed and how it is practised.
Declining fertility
Authors: Mitchell Deborah , Gray Edith
Published: February 2007

The decline in fertility rates across Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) nations has been the subject of considerable debate over the past decade. The sudden decline in fertility following the post-war baby boom is viewed by some as a return to long-run trends, while others attribute the fall to decline in government financial support for families and changing social attitudes, career and lifestyle aspirations. This article explores a range of attitudes and aspirations reported by a group of childless respondents to the Negotiating the Life Course survey to establish whether these attitudes/aspirations vary with their stated fertility expectations. Using responses to 20 questions that cover gender role attitudes, the importance of children, and career and lifestyle aspirations, we find some significant differences between those who do and those who do not want to have a child. We further investigate respondents’ fertility expectations three years on, and find that fertility expectations are not stable.
Exposure to pornography among youth in Australia
Authors: Flood Michael
Published: February 2007

Youth in Australia are routinely exposed to sexually explicit images. Among 16- and 17-year-olds, three-quarters of boys and one-tenth of girls have ever watched an X-rated movie. Three-quarters of 16- and 17-year-olds have been exposed accidentally to pornographic websites, while 38 percent of boys and 2 percent of girls have deliberately accessed them. Internet pornography is a particularly pervasive source of minors’ exposure to pornography, both accidental and deliberate. Two features of children’s exposure to pornography mirror those among adults. First, males are more likely to seek out, and are more frequent consumers of, both X-rated movies and pornographic websites. Second, Internet users of any age find it difficult to avoid unwanted encounters with sexually explicit materials.
New farming masculinities
Authors: Coldwell Ian
Published: February 2007

Studies have suggested that traditional gender identity constructions of farmers tend to accompany conventional methods of farming and so are implicated in stalling the transition to sustainable agriculture. This article attempts to build on this work by exploring how young male farmers construct their masculine identities and how those identity constructions shape and are shaped by their farming practices and the social conditions in which those farming practices are carried out. Reflexivity is a significant part of this process. This exploratory study is based on focus group discussions conducted in one locality in Northern Victoria, among young male dairy farmers. Analysis of the findings supports the existence of a traditional-modern dualism in rural masculine identities. What is also evident is that more open and flexible masculine identities are emerging among young farmers, suggesting that existing tensions in agriculture situated at the nexus of alternative farming practices and traditional agrarian ideology might be a catalyst for change toward more equitable gender relations and sustainable ways of farming.
Sound sight: seeing with ultrasound
Authors: Büscher Monika , Jensen Gloria
Published: February 2007

Recent advances in medical imaging, information and communication technology promise to support medical visual practice as well as everyday healthcare experience. However, this potential is not easy to realize. A better understanding of existing practices can inform socio-technical innovation. We draw on ethnographic observations and our involvement in the design of `palpable computing' to examine the use of ultrasound imaging technologies in consultations with pregnant women with a view to ideas and implications for socio-technical innovation.
Monitoring practice and alarm technology in anaesthesiology
Authors: Svensson Marcus Sanchez
Published: February 2007

In this article we examine how one of the most pervasive technological implementations in the healthcare domain - the alarm system - is used in anaesthesiology as part of patient monitoring. The utility and appropriateness of alarms in healthcare domains have been widely addressed in the literature. However, we argue that we still know little about the practical use of alarm systems in actual healthcare practice. Studies rarely examine in detail the everyday monitoring practices during normal operations in the absence of, or before, problems become critical and alarming. They have mainly considered how medical professionals manage the interpretation of and response to alarms. Rather than examining how the anaesthesiologist identifies and responds to alarms and critical problems, in this article we focus on how the anaesthesiologist is actively and prospectively engaged in implementing a situated and emergent organization of patient monitoring, using a wide range of different technological and material resources.
Reconciling History with Sociology?
Authors: Hochberg Leonard J.
Published: February 2007

This analysis of Tocqueville’s thought is based on John R. Hall’s strategies of sociohistorical inquiry. Historical sociologists have recognized Tocqueville as a master of the ‘contrast-oriented comparison’. However, in Democracy in America, he also deploys a ‘universal history’, which posits the existence of four ages, with the United States arriving at an age of despotism despite the fact that the historical trajectory of the United States differed from France’s. A reconstruction of Tocqueville’s universal history is presented as a prelude to how the findings of his contrast-oriented comparison of the United States with France fit with those of his universal history. In seeking to assimilate both the United States and France to a universal history, Tocqueville’s key analytical concepts, such as ‘old regime’ and ‘revolution’, are rendered highly ambiguous, resulting in surprising silences with regard to critical political events in pre-revolutionary France and in the pre- and post-revolutionary United States.
Interests, Values and Democracy
Authors: Faught Jim
Published: February 2007

A renewed scholarly interest in the social foundations of democratic societies provides an opportunity to examine complementary lines of analysis in the writings of Alexis de Tocqueville and Max Weber. Comparative studies of their reflections typically rely upon a detailed consideration of Tocqueville’s Democracy in America and Weber’s writings on the sociology of religion. This strategy has provided a basis for concluding that Tocqueville developed an interest-based theory of politics that contrasts with Weber’s emphasis on the role of values as essential for motivating politically relevant action and legitimating states. I will argue that a more comprehensive perspective on their intellectual positions requires taking into account their assessment of social structures within which ideal and material interests are embedded. My conclusion that Tocqueville and Weber shared an intellectual focus on social structures and how those structures may impede as well as facilitate democracy is drawn from an analysis of Tocqueville’s The Old Regime and the Revolution and selected political writings of Weber.
The End of History
Authors: Featherstone Mark
Published: February 2007

The theory of the end of history suggests that radical social and political change has reached its dialectical conclusion in the globalization of neo-liberal capitalism and that reformism is now key to the modification of problematic social relations. Given that the critique of global economy remains more or less absent from the reformists’ account, it is unlikely that this strategy will ever produce social justice. In the first section of the article I use Donald Rumsfeld’s theory of knowledge and non-knowledge to show how contemporary reformism misrecognizes the essential relationship between economy and social and political inequality. This discussion leads to the conclusion that the problem with the contemporary politics of reformism resides in their realism and consequent lack of imagination and raises the question of the revolutionary potential of a politics of idiocy. Finally the notion of Socratic ignorance is employed to think about a new form of political hope to oppose the contemporary hegemony of the politics of reformism that shield neoliberalism from revolutionary critique.
Finding A Place in the World: The Experience of Recovery from Severe Mental Illness
Authors: Bradshaw William , Armour Marilyn Peterson , Roseborough David
Published: February 2007

This hermeneutic phenomenological study of 45 adults with serious and persistent mental illness (SPMI) examines the experience of recovery over 3 years. After a brief review of the results from the first two phases, this article reports the findings from the third phase of the recovery process. Five essential themes are identified: (1) reintegration in the community; (2) reintegration with family and friends; (3) reintegration with the case manager; (4) reintegration with oneself; (5) barriers to social inclusion. Findings highlight the unmet needs for consumers in their relationships with case managers and barriers to inclusion at the macro level. Implications for practice include the delineation of client and case manager tasks specific to each essential theme.
The Role of Self–efficacy in Recovery from Serious Psychiatric Disabilities: A Qualitative Study with Fifteen Psychiatric Survivors
Authors: Mancini Michael A.
Published: February 2007

This qualitative analysis applied the theory of self–efficacy to results from a study that used grounded theory to identify the factors that influenced the recoveries of 15 psychiatric survivors. Participants identified the development of a more competent and efficacious sense of self as a central aspect contributing to their recoveries. Analysis also revealed four factors related to this development: meaningful activities, supportive professional relationships, peer-support and choice among a variety of treatment alternatives. Participants' description of the recovery process and how they were able to develop a competent sense of self, possessed several parallels with Bandura's social cognitive theory of self–efficacy. This article argues that self–efficacy may provide practitioners with a useful guide for creating the contexts that facilitate the recovery process. Implications for practice and research will be explored.
Intergenerational Transmission of Trauma across Three Generations: A Preliminary Study
Authors: Lev–Wiesel Rachel
Published: February 2007

This qualitative study reports a preliminary investigation of the intergenerational transmission of trauma across three generations, and across three types of trauma. Representatives of three families in which the first generation had experienced a trauma were examined. Trauma included experiencing the Holocaust, being placed in a transit camp following immigration from Morocco, and being forced to dislocate as the result of a war. The representatives of successive generations were administered qualitative, open–ended interviews regarding their life as survivors or victims, or as the second/third generation of survivors/victims. A content analysis revealed that the intergenerational transmission of three types of trauma was perpetuated across three generations.
Ethnomethodology for Social Work
Authors: de Montigny Gerald
Published: February 2007

This article provides an introduction for social workers to ethnomethodology (EM), and suggests that they can find not only a similarity of attention between their front-line work and EM, but ways of making sense which explicate the connections between concrete and practical activity and the accomplishment of local as well as extra-local orders. EM redirects analytic attention to the ordinary and mundane ways that people in their everyday lives jointly produce, account for, and manage local, practical, and taken-for-granted scenes to produce social order. EM, by attending to what people ‘do’ in concert, rather than what they might say, think, or imagine, provides a essential empirical redirection for social work at a time when increasing attention is being given to language, discourse, and narrative. Through EM social workers can find tools to explicate the essential reflexivity of their practice and the incorrigible indexicality of professional and client accounts. By turning to EM social workers can recover and celebrate actual peoples’ artful accomplishment of local settings and forms of order.
Photoinduced J-Aggregation of Photochromic Spironaphthooxazine in a Glass Forming Organic Mixture
Authors: Kang Tae-Wook , Lee In-Ja
Published: February 2007

Low-temperature UV–vis spectra of spironaphtooxazine (SNO) in a glass forming organic mixture clearly evidenced the J-aggregate formation. J-Aggregate becomes unstable above 100 K and its quantum efficiency for the visible photoreaction was lower than that of monomeric open form B. In a dilute solution, the intensity of the J-band was maximized at 150 K while it decreases with temperature in a concentrated solution.
Microchip Electrophoresis for Detection of Circle-to-Circle Amplification Products towards Sensitive and Rapid DNA Analysis
Authors: Mahmoudian Laili , Melin Jonas , Mohamadi Mohamad Reza , Yamada Keiko , Ohta Michio , Kaji Noritada , Tokeshi Manabu , Nilsson Mats , Baba Yoshinobu
Published: February 2007

A new method for fast and precise analysis of circle-to-circle amplification (C2CA) products by microchip electrophoresis has been developed. Stable C2CA products were produced by applying a new enzymatic step to C2CA. Detection was carried out within 55s with RSD of migration time of 3.6% (n = 6) enabling reproducibility and high speed. A real sample of bacterial pathogen (V. Cholerae) at single nucleotide level was detected successfully based on this method.
Solution-phase 13C NMR Spectroscopy of Detonation Nanodiamond
Authors: Komatsu Naoki , Kadota Naoki , Kimura Takahide , Osawa Eiji
Published: February 2007

Solution-phase 13C NMR spectroscopy of detonation nanodiamond has been developed to give the resonance of diamond carbons. This novel and convenient analytical method is promising for quantitative and structure-informative analysis of the surface chemical structure of nanodiamond as has been used for the analysis of organic molecules.
Proton Migration in –N···H···O– Hydrogen-bonded Complex of (Chloranilic Acid)(1,2-Diazine)2 Studied by Dielectric Response and Infrared Absorption Spectra
Authors: Suzuki Hideaki , Mori Hatsumi , Yamaura Jun-ichi , Matsuda Masaki , Tajima Hiroyuki , Mochida Tomoyuki
Published: February 2007

A dielectric response by an intermolecular –N···H···O–proton transfer was observed around 120 K for (Chloranilic acid)(1,2-Diazine)2 [CA(1,2-DA)2]. This response, observed on the way of the migration from N–H···O at 300 K to O–H···N below 90 K, was demonstrated by infrared absorption spectra and the temperature dependence of lattice constants.
Enantiomeric Resolution of Chiral 1,8-Anthrylene Cyclic Tetramers with Acetylene and Diacetylene Linkers
Authors: Goichi Michio , Yamasaki Shingo , Miyahara Hiroaki , Wakamatsu Kan , Akashi Haruo , Toyota Shinji
Published: February 2007

A macrocyclic anthracene–acetylene oligomer with a chiral structure was synthesized by metal-catalyzed coupling reactions. X-ray analysis revealed that the molecule had a distorted diamond prism structure of D2 symmetry. This compound underwent spontaneous resolution upon crystallization, and the chiroptical properties of enantiopure samples were investigated by CD spectroscopy.
Direct Electron Transfer of Hemoglobin Molecules on Bare ITO Electrodes
Authors: Ayato Yusuke , Itahashi Takashi , Matsuda Naoki
Published: February 2007

Direct electron transfer of hemoglobin (Hb) molecules was found at bare indium–tin–oxide (ITO) electrodes without promoters and mediators or modifications of electrodes by cyclic voltammetry. The quantity of electroactive Hb molecules was close to that of monolayer deposition on the electrode surface. The peak current, indicating redox reaction of a heme FeIII/FeII couple, changed in proportion to sweep rate.
An Efficient and Highly Stereoselective Method to Synthesize 3-(1-Hydroxyalkyl)pyrrolidinone
Authors: Lian Gao-Yan , Yu Jin-Di , Yang Hai-Feng , Lin Feng , Gao Qiang , Zhang Dan-Wei
Published: February 2007

Three contiguous stereocenters with syn–anti structure on the 3-(1-hydroxyalkyl)pyrrolidinone were constructed in one step with high yields and high diastereoselectivity by an Et2AlCl-catalyzed group transfer radical cyclization reaction from N-alkenyl-β-hydroxyalkanamides with 125-W UV lamp irradiation. The relative stereochemistry was confirmed by X-ray analysis.
Dibarium Magnesium Diphosphate Yellow Phosphor Applied in InGaN-based LEDs
Authors: Wu Zhanchao , Gong Menglian , Shi Jianxin , Wang Gang , Su Qiang
Published: February 2007

An efficient yellow-emitting phosphor, Eu2+-doped Ba2Mg(PO4)2, is reported. Its excitation band is extending from 250 to 450 nm, which is adaptable to the emission band of near-UV LED chips (350–420 nm). Upon 367-nm light excitation, the phosphor exhibits a strong yellow emission centered at 576 nm. A bright yellow LED was fabricated by incorporating the phosphor with an InGaN-based NUV chip. All the characteristics suggest that Ba2Mg(PO4)2:Eu2+ is a good yellow phosphor candidate for creating white light in phosphor converted white LEDs.
Unique Effects of 2,3,5,6,7,8-Hexasilabicyclo[2.2.2]octan-1-yl Moiety on Photophysical Properties of π-Conjugated System
Authors: Shimizu Masaki , Kawaguchi Tomoaki , Oda Katsunari , Hiyama Tamejiro
Published: February 2007

We prepared 2,3,5,6,7,8-hexasilabicyclo[2.2.2]octan-1-yl-substituted biphenyl, terphenyl, and tolan, and observed that introduction of the polysilacage group into arenes induced bathochromic shifts of absorption maxima and enhancement of molecular extinction coefficients, compared with the parent π-conjugated arenes, in addition to increase in fluorescence quantum yields.
Preparation, Structural Characterization, and Reactivities of (Digermanyl)lithium. Its Application to the Synthesis of Bis(1,1-diphenyl-2,2,2-trimethyldigermanyl)platinum(II)
Authors: Mochida Kunio , Ogawa Satoshi , Naito Noriaki , Gaber Abd El-Al , Usui Yoko , Nanjo Masato
Published: February 2007

(Pentamethyldigermanyl)lithium (Me3GeGeMe2Li, 1a) and (1,1-diphenyl-2,2,2-trimethyldigermanyl)lithium (Me3GeGePh2Li, 1b) were prepared and characterized by spectroscopic methods. The structure of (digermanyl)lithium 1b was established by X-ray diffraction. The reaction of 1b with cis-PtCl2(PMe2Ph)2 gave the expected substitution product, trans-Pt(Me3GePh2Ge)2(PMe2Ph)2.
One-pot Synthesis of Main Chain-type Polyrotaxane Containing Cyclodextrin Wheels
Authors: Arai Takayuki , Takata Toshikazu
Published: February 2007

Polyrotaxane possessing cyclodextrin wheels was prepared in one pot through the initial threading complexation of polytetrahydrofuran axle and α-cyclodextrin wheel followed by the end-capping reaction of the terminal amino groups of the axle with a bulky isocyanate in water.
The Aldol Type Reaction Catalyzed by Arylmalonate Decarboxylase —A Decarboxylase can Catalyze an Entirely Different Reaction, Aldol Reaction—
Authors: Terao Yosuke , Miyamoto Kenji , Ohta Hiromichi
Published: February 2007

The catalytic promiscuity of AMDase was demonstrated using a well-designed substrate based on the consideration of the reaction mechanism. As the reaction catalyzed by AMDase is supposed to proceed via an enolate intermediate, we expected that the enzyme promotes the aldol type reaction when an acceptor is properly arranged, which turned out to be true.
A Facile Route to Mesoporous Carbon Catalyst Support Modified with Magnetic Nanoparticles
Authors: Tian Ye , Li Guo-Dong , Gao Qian , Xiu Yang , Li Xin-Hao , Chen Jie-Sheng
Published: February 2007

Magnetically separable ordered mesoporous carbon with Fe3O4 nanoparticles, which were grafted on the outer surface of the mesoporous carbon material CMK-3, was prepared through a facile route. The catalytic performance for hydrogenation of cyclohexene to cyclohexane validates the mesoporous nanocomposite material as a promising magnetically separable catalyst support.
Cognitive and affective predictors of academic achievement in schoolchildren
Authors: Armitage Christopher J.
Published: February 2007

The ability of the theory of planned behaviour to predict objectively measured outcomes was tested in school‐age children. Study 1 (N=71) showed that the theory of planned behaviour accounted for significant proportions of the variance in intention and that the intentions predicted scores in a science test; study 2 (N=175) replicated these effects across a broader range of subjects. In addition, study 2 explored the mechanism by which intention was translated into action and demonstrated that intention stability moderated the intention‐academic achievement relationship. Moreover, controlling for a range of cognitive and affective variables, intention and positive affect were independent predictors of intention stability. These findings suggest that although positive affect did not influence intention directly, it did influence intention stability, the mechanism by which intentions are translated into action. Future educational interventions should therefore influence both cognitive and affective factors to promote sustained motivation.
Health, wealth and IQ in sub‐Saharan Africa: Challenges facing the Savanna Principle as an explanation for global inequalities in health
Authors: Ellison George T. H.
Published: February 2007

Kanazawa's (2006)national‐ and individual‐level analyses seem to support his hypothesis that: IQ scores are better predictors of health than wealth or inequality, except in ‘evolutionarily familiar’ sub‐Saharan Africa which offers limited selection for intelligence (British Journal of Health Psychology11: 623–42). However, the present paper exposes the flawed assumptions, questionable data, inappropriate analyses and biased interpretations on which this thesis was based. It questions the assumptions that: IQ scores are markers of adaptive genetic differences in intelligence; humans evolved within a predictable ‘environment of evolutionary adaptedness’: and this environment characterizes contemporary sub‐Saharan Africa, offering little selection for intelligence. It also demonstrates that the macro‐level data on which these analyses were based were collected across a range of different years, using a range of different sources, and were significantly intercorrelated. While none of these analyses adjusted for study year or study type, all were susceptible to multicollinearity and the ‘ecological fallacy’. These flaws were compounded by the selective presentation and partial interpretation of the analyses, which focused on the absence of an ‘independent’ relationship between ‘national IQ’ and health within sub‐Saharan Africa, but ignored the fact that this is also true for every other region of the world. Likewise, the individual‐level analyses did not explore the relationship between IQ scores, self‐reported income and health by race, which would have demonstrated the impact of the ecological fallacy. Instead,Kanazawa (2006)mistook statistical associations for evidence of causality and falsely concluded that populations in sub‐Saharan Africa are less healthy because they are unintelligent and not because they are poor.
Quantitative Trait Locus That Determines the Cross-Sectional Shape of the Femur in SAMP6 and SAMP2 Mice
Authors: Otsuki Bungo , Matsumura Takuro , Shimizu Motoyuki , Mori Masayuki , Okudaira Shuzo , Nakanishi Rika , Higuchi Keiichi , Hosokawa Masanori , Tsuboyama Tadao , Nakamura Takashi
Published: February 2007

We segregated a QTL on chromosome 11 that affects femoral cross-sectional shape during growth by generating a congenic strain and an additional 16 subcongenic strains of the senescence-accelerated mouse strain, SAMP6. The QTL region was narrowed down to a 10.0-Mbp region.

Introduction: Genetic background is known to affect bone characteristics. However, little is known about how polymorphic genes modulate bone shape. In a previous study using SAMP2 and SAMP6 mice, we reported a quantitative trait locus (QTL) on chromosome (Chr) 11 that had significant linkage to peak relative bone mass in terms of cortical thickness index (CTI) in male mice. We named it Pbd1. Here we aimed to clarify the effects of Pbd1 on skeletal phenotype in male mice and to narrow down the QTL region.

Materials and Methods: We generated a congenic strain named P6.P2-Pbd1b, carrying a 39-cM SAMP2-derived Chr11 interval on a SAMP6 genetic background. Sixteen subcongenic strains with smaller overlapping intervals on the SAMP6 background were generated from P6.P2-Pbd1b to narrow the region of interest. The effects of Pbd1 on bone properties were determined. Gene expression analysis of all candidate genes in Pbd1 was performed using real-time RT-PCR.

Results: The CTI of strain P6.P2-Pbd1b at 16 wk was higher than that of SAMP6. This was not caused by differences in cortical thickness but by cross-sectional shape. Morphological analysis by μCT revealed that the femoral cross-sectional shape of P6.P2-Pbd1b (and the other subcongenic strains with higher CTI or bone area fraction [BA/TA]) was more compressed anteroposteriorly than that of SAMP6, which was associated with superior mechanical properties. This feature was formed during bone modeling up to 16 wk of age. Subcongenic strains with a higher CTI showed significant increases in endocortical mineral apposition rate and significant reductions in periosteal mineral apposition rate at 8 wk compared with those of the SAMP6. The Pbd1 locus was successfully narrowed down to a 10.0-Mbp region, and the expression analysis suggested a candidate gene, Cacng4.

Conclusions: The Pbd1 affects femoral cross-sectional shape by regulating the rate of endocortical and periosteal bone formation of the femur during postnatal growth.
Plasma Homocysteine, Folate, and Vitamin B12 and the Risk of Hip Fracture: The Hordaland Homocysteine Study
Authors: Gjesdal Clara Gram , Vollset Stein Emil , Ueland Per Magne , Refsum Helga , Meyer Haakon E , Tell Grethe S
Published: February 2007

Homocysteine and related factors were evaluated as risk factors for subsequent hip fractures among 4766 elderly men and women. High levels of homocysteine and low levels of folate predicted fracture, whereas vitamin B12 and genotypes were not related to fracture risk. High homocysteine may be a modifiable risk factor for hip fracture.

Introduction: Elevated plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) and deficiencies of folate and vitamin B12 are associated with risk of osteoporosis and fracture. We examined whether plasma levels of tHcy, folate, and vitamin B12 and the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) 677C→T and 1298C→T polymorphisms predicted hip fracture.

Materials and Methods: This was a population-based prospective study of 2639 women and 2127 men who were 65–67 yr at enrollment in 1992–1993. Information on hip fracture was obtained from computerized records of discharge diagnoses from all hospitalizations in the region in the period between enrollment and November 30, 2005. Cox proportional hazard regression was used to estimate fracture risk according to levels of plasma tHcy, folate, and vitamin B12 and for different genotypes.

Results: Over a median follow-up period of 12.6 yr, hip fracture was recorded in 184 (7.0%) women and 90 (4.2%) men. The adjusted hazard ratio (95% CI) for fracture in subjects with high (≥15 μM) compared with low levels (<9.0 μM) of tHcy was 2.42 (1.43–4.09) among women and 1.37 (0.63–2.98) among men. Dose-response analyses indicated a positive association between plasma tHcy and risk of fracture in both sexes and a negative association between plasma folate and risk of fracture among women only. Plasma vitamin B12 level or MTHFR genotype was not significantly related to risk of fracture after adjustments for confounding factors. The association between tHcy and risk of hip fracture was only slightly weakened by adjustments for plasma levels of vitamin B12 and folate.

Conclusions: tHcy seems to be a predictor for hip fracture among elderly men and women. Folate was a predictor among women only, whereas vitamin B12 and MTHFR genotype did not predict hip fracture. Our data corroborate the hypothesis that homocysteine may play a role in the pathogenesis of osteoporotic fractures.
Novel LRP5 Missense Mutation in a Patient With a High Bone Mass Phenotype Results in Decreased DKK1-Mediated Inhibition of Wnt Signaling*
Authors: Balemans Wendy , Devogelaer Jean-Pierre , Cleiren Erna , Piters Elke , Caussin Emanuelle , Van Hul Wim
Published: February 2007

We found a novel heterozygous missense mutation (M282V) in the LRP5 gene in a patient with a high bone mass phenotype. In vitro studies suggest that a reduced antagonistic effect of DKK1 on canonical Wnt signaling contributes to the molecular effect of this mutation and its pathogenic consequence.

Introduction: Gain-of-function mutations in the gene encoding LDL receptor–related protein 5 (LRP5) cause high bone mass. Recent studies revealed that a reduced inhibition of canonical Wnt signaling by Dickkopf 1 (DKK1) contributes to the pathophysiology of this disease phenotype.

Materials and Methods: We report on a 55-yr-old female patient with a high bone mass phenotype. Sequencing of exons 2–4 of the LRP5 gene was carried out to screen for disease-associated mutations in genomic DNA of the patient. The effect of the identified mutation on LRP5 membrane trafficking was studied by immunoblotting of a truncated form of LRP5. Additionally, Wnt signal activation in the absence and presence of DKK1 was assessed using a TCF4-based reporter gene assay in Saos-2 cells.

Results: Our patient presents with dense bones (Z-scores > +6), and radiographic examination showed a generalized thickening of the skeleton. BMD at the hip and lumbar spine significantly decreased through the passage to menopause, indicating no protection to bone loss. Further clinical evaluation revealed torus palatinus. Mutation analysis showed the presence of a novel heterozygous missense variant (844A→G; M282V) in LRP5, located in the first β-propeller domain of the extracellular portion. Although protein secretion seemed to be impaired, this mutant was able to transduce Wnt signals at levels comparable with wildtype LRP5. We additionally observed a less efficient inhibition of canonical Wnt signaling by DKK1.

Conclusions: Like all high BMD–associated gain-of-function LRP5 mutations described thus far, the M282V variant affects an amino acid located in the first β-propeller domain, underlining the functional importance of this region in the pathophysiology of these conditions. This mutation most likely alters a region important for LRP5 modulation by DKK.