bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Seasonally Evolving Dominant Interannual Variability Modes of East Asian Climate*
Authors: Wu Bo , Zhou Tianjun , Li Tim
Published: December 2008

A season-reliant empirical orthogonal function (S-EOF) analysis is applied to seasonal mean precipitation over East Asia for the period of 1979–2004. The first two dominant modes account for 44% of the total interannual variance, corresponding to post-ENSO and ENSO turnabout years, respectively. The first mode indicates that in El Niño decaying summer, an anomalous anticyclone appears over the western North Pacific (WNP). This anticyclone is associated with strong positive precipitation anomalies from central China to southern Japan. In the following fall, enhanced convection appears over the WNP as a result of the underlying warm SST anomalies caused by the increase of the shortwave radiative flux in the preceding summer. A dry condition appears over southeastern China. The anomalous precipitation pattern persists throughout the subsequent winter and spring. The second mode shows that during the El Niño developing summer the anomalous heating over the equatorial central Pacific forces a cyclonic vorticity over the WNP. This strengthens the WNP monsoon. Meanwhile, an anomalous anticyclone develops in the northern Indian Ocean and moves eastward to the South China Sea and the WNP in the subsequent fall and winter. This leads to the increase of precipitation over southeastern China. The anticyclone and precipitation anomalies are maintained in the following spring through local air–sea interactions.

The diagnosis of upper-level velocity potential and midlevel vertical motion fields reveals a season-dependent Indian Ocean forcing scenario. The Indian Ocean basinwide warming during the El Niño mature winter and the subsequent spring does not have a significant impact on anomalous circulation in the WNP, because convection over the tropical Indian Ocean is suppressed by the remote forcing from the equatorial central-eastern Pacific. The basinwide warming plays an active role in impacting the WNP anomalous anticyclone during the ENSO decaying summer through atmospheric Kelvin waves or Hadley circulation.
The Multiensemble Approach: The NAEFS Example
Authors: Candille Guillem
Published: December 2008

The North American Ensemble Forecasting System (NAEFS) is the combination of two Ensemble Prediction Systems (EPS) coming from two operational centers: the Canadian Meteorological Centre (CMC) and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). This system provides forecasts of up to 16 days and should improve the predictability skill of the probabilistic system, especially for the second week. First, a comparison between the two components of the NAEFS is performed for several atmospheric variables with “objective” verification tools developed at CMC [i.e., the continuous ranked probability score (CRPS) and its reliability-resolution decomposition, the reduced centered random variable, and confidence intervals estimated with bootstrap methods]. The CMC system is more reliable, especially because of a better ensemble dispersion, while the NCEP system has better probabilistic resolution. The NAEFS, compared to the CMC and NCEP EPSs, shows significant improvements both in terms of reliability and resolution. The predictability has been improved by 1–2 forecast days in the second week. That improvement is not only a result of the increased ensemble size in the EPS—from 20 members to 40 in the present case—but also to the combination of different models and initial condition perturbations. By randomly mixing members from the CMC and NCEP systems in a 20-member EPS, an intrinsic skill improvement of the system is observed.
Airflow and Precipitation Properties within the Stratiform Region of Tropical Storm Gabrielle during Landfall
Authors: Kim Dong-Kyun , Knupp Kevin R. , Williams Christopher R.
Published: December 2008

Kinematic and microphysical characteristics of a stratiform rainband within Tropical Storm Gabrielle during landfall on 14 September 2001 were investigated using data from a collocated 915-MHz wind profiler and scanning Doppler radar. The curved 60-km-wide rainband was relatively intense with mesoscale updrafts and downdrafts exceeding ±1 m s−1. The bright band is classified as strong, as indicated by reflectivity factors in excess of 50 dBZ and rainfall rates below the bright band peaking at 10–20 mm h−1. The melting layer microphysical processes were examined to understand the relation between brightband processes and precipitation intensity and kinematics (mesoscale downdraft in particular) below the melting layer. The profiler and Doppler radar analyses, designed to maximize vertical resolution of flows within the melting layer, disclose a striking convergence–divergence couplet through the melting layer that implies a prominent cooling-induced finescale circulation. Melting-driven cooling initiates midlevel convergence in the upper part of the melting region, while weak convergence to positive divergence is analyzed within the lower melting layer. A melting-layer parameter study indicates the significance of the level of maximum reflectivity that separates convergence above from divergence below and also reveals a mixture of aggregation and breakup of ice particles, with aggregation being dominant. In this vigorous rainband case, the presence of strong mesoscale downdrafts cannot be ignored for accurate retrievals of raindrop size distribution and precipitation parameters from the Sans Air Motion model. When downdrafts are included, retrieved rainfall estimates were much higher than those under the zero vertical air motion assumption and were slightly less than those from a power-law Z–R relation. The rainfall estimates show a positive correlation with reflectivity factor and brightband intensity (i.e., aggregation degree) but less dependence on brightband height.
Synoptic-Scale Characteristics and Precursors of Cool-Season Precipitation Events at St. John’s, Newfoundland, 1979–2005
Authors: Milrad Shawn M. , Atallah Eyad H. , Gyakum John R.
Published: December 2008

The issue of quantitative precipitation forecasting continues to be a significant challenge in operational forecasting, particularly in regions susceptible to frequent and extreme precipitation events. St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada, is one location affected frequently by such events, particularly in the cool season (October–April). These events can include flooding rains, paralyzing snowfall, and damaging winds.

A precipitation climatology is developed at St. John’s for 1979–2005, based on discrete precipitation events occurring over a time period of up to 48 h. Threshold amounts for three categories of precipitation events (extreme, moderate, and light) are statistically derived and utilized to categorize such events. Anomaly plots of sea level pressure (SLP), 500-hPa height, and precipitable water are produced for up to 3 days prior to the event. Results show that extreme events originate along the Gulf Coast of the United States, with the location of anomaly origin being farther to the north and west for consecutively weaker events, culminating in light events that originate from the upper Midwest of the United States and south-central Canada. In addition, upper-level precursor features are identified up to 3 days prior to the events and are mainly located over the west coast of North America.

Finally, results of a wind climatology produced for St. John’s depict a gradual shift in the predominant wind direction (from easterly to southwesterly) of both the 925-hPa geostrophic wind and 10-m observed wind from extreme to light events, inclusively. In addition, extreme events are characterized by almost exclusively easterly winds.
A Comparison of 2 White Blood Cell Count Devices to Aid Judicious Antibiotic Prescribing
Authors: Casey Janet R. , Pichichero Michael E.
Published: December 2008

A low or normal white blood cell (WBC) count is usually associated with viral illnesses. This study evaluated the reliability of a new point-of-care, inexpensive, WBC count device which requires only 10 µL (1 drop) of whole blood from a finger stick to an automated Cell-Dyn® counter in a busy office practice setting and assessed its reliability to assist in avoiding antibiotic prescribing. A total of 120 acutely ill children and potential antibiotic recipients were studied from October 2007 to March 2008. The mean WBC count was 7.4 × 109/L and 8.1 × 10 9/L for the new WBC device and the automated Cell-Dyn counter, respectively. The correlation between the 2 devices was high ( r = .988, P = .005). A total of 88 children (73%) did not receive antibiotics and mean WBC was 7.2 × 109/L. In all, 32 children (27%) received an antibiotic and 1 (3%) returned for a follow-up office visit for the same or a related illness. Of the 88 children with a low blood count who did not receive an antibiotic, 3 (3%) had return visit within 30 days and received an antibiotic. A simple and quick point-of-care WBC count device produces similar results as achievable with a Cell-Dyn counter for total WBCs and may assist in judicious antibiotic prescribing.
The Effect of Empathy in Environmental Moral Reasoning
Authors: Berenguer Jaime
Published: December 2008

Based on Batson’s Model of Altruism, in the present work it is argued that moral reasoning about the environment (number of moral reasons given for pro-environmental behaviors) can be improved by manipulating the emotion of empathy. It is also argued that the argument of moral reasoning will be different depending on whether the object of empathy is a natural object (vulture) or a human being (young man). The present work reports a study using a factorial design (2x2) with control group on the relationship between empathy level (high or low), empathy object (vulture or young man) and moral reasoning about ecological dilemmas. The reasoning was evaluated using four different ecological moral dilemmas, with responses coded in three categories (anthropocentric, ecocentric and nonvenvironmental). The results of the study indicate that participants who showed a high empathy level provided more arguments of moral reasoning than those in the low empathy group. When the object of empathy was a vulture the number of moral arguments of an ecocentric nature increased; when it was a young man the number of moral arguments of an anthropocentric nature increased.
Vixen Resistin’
Authors: Balaji Murali
Published: December 2008

In recent years, scholarship on Black womanhood has become more closely connected to postmodern discourses on identity and resistance, following in the footsteps of Audre Lorde’s claim that identity and sexuality have emancipatory potential. However, in the post-hip-hop era, feminists and media critics have once again brought up the idea of who controls the image. The purpose of this study is to describe possible sites of self-definition by Black women in music videos while accounting for the cultural industries that reproduce and exploit Black women’s sexuality. Using textual analysis and the perspective of a noted music video performer, Melyssa Ford, this study articulates the expanse of ambiguity that lies between the images of Black womanhood that bombard consumers of BET and MTV and the selfconceptualization of the women who play those roles.
Class and Cultural Division in the UK
Authors: Le Roux Brigitte , Rouanet Henry , Savage Mike , Warde Alan
Published: December 2008

Using data drawn from the Cultural Capital and Social Exclusion study, we examine the relationship between social class membership and cultural participation and taste in the areas of music, reading, television and film, visual arts, leisure, and eating out. Using Geometric Data Analysis, we examine the nature of the two most important axes which distinguish `the space of lifestyles'. By superimposing socio-demographic variables on this cultural map, we show that the first, most important, axis is indeed strongly associated with class. We inductively assess which kind of class boundaries can most effectively differentiate individuals within this `space of lifestyles'.The most effective model distinguishes a relatively small professional class (24%) from an intermediate class of lower managerial workers, supervisors, the self-employed, senior technicians and white collar workers (32%) and a relatively large working class which includes lower supervisors and technicians (44%).
How Real is Cosmopolitanism in Europe?
Authors: Pichler Florian
Published: December 2008

Theoretical concepts of cosmopolitanism suggest new forms of societal and political organization.Yet these notions are overwhelmingly normative and hardly specify the ways in which cosmopolitanism is constructed from`below'.To what extent are people cosmopolitan and who are they? In following the debate on cosmopolitanization we offer a case study of Europe in which we provide grounding for `global' forms of identification. Using the recent Eurobarometer 64.2 (European Commission, 2005),`global belonging' is juxtaposed with attitudes and perceptions of the European Union, describing theoretically claimed openness and recognition of difference.We find that a considerable proportion of Europeans see themselves as what could be called cosmopolitan.These views are, however, socially stratified and do not necessarily go hand in hand with open-mindedness. To conclude, the social reality of cosmopolitanism is ambiguous: substantive European cosmopolitanism exists next to more banal forms, but forms of non-cosmopolitanism should not be underestimated.
To Plan or Not to Plan?
Authors: Devadason Ranji
Published: December 2008

This article challenges existing contentions regarding the weakening of work identities amongst young adults and the proposition that labour market uncertainty inhibits life planning. It draws on analysis of 48 in-depth young adult interviews carried out in two globalizing, post-industrial cities, Bristol and Gothenburg, and presents a typology of future orientations which demonstrates the salience of employment to young adult identities. Since young adult life narratives are often about what they want to become, rather than what they are, analysis of aspirations is crucial for understanding the place of employment in their lives. The findings reveal a propensity towards detailed employment-centred life plans amongst young adults in Bristol, which contrasts with the desire to take life a `day at a time' in Gothenburg.These emergent future orientations reveal alternative versions of the `good life', which stem from the contrasting education and welfare regimes of the two countries, Britain and Sweden
What Can Sociology Say About FairTrade?
Authors: Adams Matthew , Raisborough Jayne
Published: December 2008

This article critically considers the `fit' between FairTrade consumption and conceptualizations of the reflexive project of selfhood . By outlining the ways in which FairTrade products are marketed, we argue that a particular and partial reflexivity is invoked and mobilized. Following from recent class debates which apply a Bourdieusian analysis to explore the operations of everyday class distinctions, we explore what such an analysis can offer to the project of critically mapping out the dynamics of this particular reflexivity and ethical consumption. However, FairTrade's emphasis on `just' consumption and invocation of a deserving farmer/worker allows some scope for problematization here too. By turning to an emerging literature on the `moral economy' we reach past the homogenizing tendency in some `new' class analyses to suggest possibilities both for a psychosocial imagining of ethical consumption and for fleshing out the conceptualization of a `situated reflexivity' demanded by recent social theory.
Display Work
Authors: Almack Kathryn
Published: December 2008

This article examines neglected aspects of coming out that arise for lesbian parents and for their families of origin and considers the ways in which these forms of coming out resonate with the concept of display work. It draws upon a study that examines the family lives of lesbian couples who had their first and subsequent children in the context of their current relationship. Respondents identify having children as a point at which their own parents (and other members of their families of origin) are potentially called upon to negotiate new kin relationships. The lesbian parents' child may also be a grandchild, a nephew or niece, a cousin. I utilize the concept of display work to examine respondents' accounts about how they negotiate recognition and validation as a lesbian parent family with their family of origin and how their families of origin `come out' (or not) within their own social networks.
Romantic Relationships, Individualism and the Possibility of Togetherness
Authors: Santore Daniel
Published: December 2008

A parallel is drawn in this article between influential theoretical perspectives on the contemporary culture of romantic intimacy, and Durkheimian interpretations of modernity, individualism and social solidarity.The author sketches generalities of Durkheim's account of individualism and solidarity in modern society; this sketch serves as a heuristic for cataloguing and distilling North American and European theories of contemporary intimacy that have emerged post-1960. Scholarly discourse on intimacy is shown to share rhetorical and substantive ground with Durkheimian understandings of individual interest and social obligation. Self-development and collective ties, and the potential for these to be mutually reinforcing, are central concerns in intimacy theory.Though not commonly engaged in such a manner, perspectives on contemporary intimacy present an opportunity to explore personal relationships in a style uniquely consistent with the generalist inclinations of past sociological traditions, and to move beyond heavily normative claims about individualism in intimacy.
Facing the Future
Authors: Gali Cinamon Rachel , Hason Iris
Published: December 2008

This study examines 15 at-risk Israeli youngsters' work and family plans and the perceived barriers and resources influencing the realization of those plans. In-depth interviews analyzed by Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) demonstrate the complexity of the future awaiting these youths. Participants perceive work mainly as a means of obtaining money and only consider a limited range of occupations as being available to them. Their vision of their future family focuses mainly on their providing a safe place for their children and providing food and stability. They view themselves as being both their own major resource and chief barrier to the realization of future plans. Other resources comprise social support and the ability to cut themselves off from their past, including original family and childhood friends. Implications for practice and research are discussed.
John H. Herz and the International Law of the Third Reich
Authors: Stirk Peter M. R.
Published: December 2008

John H. Herz was unusual amongst the founding fathers of international relations in having paid detailed attention to the ideology and international law of the Third Reich in a study published in 1938. This article sets his investigation in the context of the turn away from law in the emerging discipline of international relations and the competing visions of Hans Kelsen and Carl Schmitt. It assesses developments in the international law of the Third Reich during the war years against Herz's own expectation of the emergence of a coherent doctrine, and concludes by suggesting that Herz's defence of international law has much to recommend it.
John H. Herz and the Resurrection of Classical Realism
Authors: Sylvest Casper
Published: December 2008

This article argues that the political theory of John H. Herz — best known in International Relations (IR) for the invention of the concept of the security dilemma — reveals a sophisticated body of thought deeply relevant to the ongoing attempt to resurrect classical realism. Like other forms of classical realism, the Herzian variant was strategic and rhetorical in character. Beneath its realist posture we find a liberal ideology focused on achieving order, progress and justice in international politics. Although this positive project began from a pessimistic rendering of the political, Herz's political theory was never fatalistic. In combining liberal ideals with a realist understanding of politics, Herz continuously stressed how international politics could be mitigated and changed. This vision was, in turn, based on a broadly constructivist rendering of the security dilemma. Through an identification and analysis of these three central characteristics of Herz's realism (its strategic character, its liberal internationalist purpose, and its underlying constructivism), the article stresses the coherence and continuity of Herz's political thought, and provides a nuanced and complex understanding of an innovative and overlooked scholar of international relations, as well as a normatively compelling position from which to re-articulate classical realism today.
Representing Blue
Authors: Wilkins Vicky M. , Williams Brian N.
Published: December 2008

This study examines whether the presence of Latino police officers reduces the racial disparity in traffic stops in divisions in which they work. Specifically, the link between passive and active representation for ethnicity in the context of racial profiling is tested. This context allows one to examine this link within an organization that relies heavily on socialization. It is found that the presence of Latino police officers increases the racial disparity within the division in which they work. This finding seems to suggest that the pressure to “represent blue” weighs heavily on Latino officers and may affect their professional attitudes and behaviors.
Environmental Turbulence, Organizational Stability, and Public Service Performance
Authors: Boyne George A. , Meier Kenneth J.
Published: December 2008

A turbulent external environment is widely believed to have damaging effects on public service performance. Much less consensus has been reached on whether the best response to turbulence is to retain or alter existing organizational structures. We provide the first comprehensive empirical analysis of these issues by testing the links between turbulence, structural stability, and performance in a large sample of public organizations. Our results show that turbulence has a negative effect on performance, and that this is compounded by internal organizational change. Thus public managers can mitigate the harmful effects of volatility in the external environment by maintaining structural stability.
Success Attributions and More: Multidimensional Extensions of the Sexual Attribution Bias to Failure Attributions, Social Emotions, and the Desire for Social Interaction
Authors: Agthe Maria , Spörrle Matthias , Försterling Friedrich
Published: December 2008

According to the recently discovered sexual attribution bias (SAB), young adults attribute the success of same-aged, same-sex attractive stimulus persons in a more derogative way than the success of less attractive same-sex persons, whereas this pattern is reversed for members of the opposite sex. Because this bias has so far only been investigated with respect to attributions in success scenarios, two studies examined its potential transferability to other psychological variables and settings: Study 1 (N = 419) demonstrated analogous biases for emotions and the desire for social interaction, and Study 2 (N = 509) revealed that the SAB can also be extended to failure scenarios.
Getting Off on the Wrong Foot: The Timing of a Breach and the Restoration of Trust
Authors: Lount Robert B. , Zhong Chen-Bo , Sivanathan Niro , Murnighan J. Keith
Published: December 2008

Few interpersonal relationships endure without one party violating the other's expectations. Thus, the ability to build trust and to restore cooperation after a breach can be critical for the preservation of positive relationships. Using an iterated prisoner's dilemma, this article presents two experiments that investigated the effects of the timing of a trust breach—at the start of an interaction, after 5 trials, after 10 trials, or not at all. The findings indicate that getting off on the wrong foot has devastating long-term consequences. Although later breaches seemed to limit cooperation for only a short time, they still planted a seed of distrust that surfaced in the end.
Gradual Retirement, Sense of Control, and Retirees' Happiness
Authors: Calvo Esteban , Haverstick Kelly , Sass Steven A.
Published: December 2008

The aim of this study was to explore the factors that affect an individual's happiness while transitioning into retirement. Recent studies have found that workers often view the idea of gradual retirement as a more attractive alternative than a “cold turkey” or abrupt retirement. However, there is very little evidence as to whether phasing or cold turkey makes for a happier retirement. Using longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study, the authors explored what shapes the change in happiness between the last wave of full employment and the first wave of full retirement. The results suggest that what matters is not the type of transition (gradual retirement or cold turkey) but whether people perceive the transition as chosen or forced.
Role of Health Locus of Control Between Uncertainty and Uncertainty Appraisal Among Patients With Atrial Fibrillation
Authors: Kang Younhee
Published: December 2008

The purpose of this study was to determine the role of health locus of control in the model of uncertainty in illness among patients with atrial fibrillation. This study employed a descriptive, correlational survey. A total of 81 patients with atrial fibrillation were recruited from two large medical centers in the United States. Only the interaction term of uncertainty and internal health locus of control had a significant moderating effect on appraisal of danger. Greater internal health locus of control was associated with greater appraisal of danger at the given degree of uncertainty. Therefore, the internal health locus of control played a significant role in magnifying the relationship of uncertainty on appraisal of danger. However, health locus of control did not moderate the relationship between uncertainty and appraisal of opportunity. Finally, this study concluded that internal health locus of control had a moderating effect on the relationship between uncertainty and appraisal of danger.
Comparison of Short Scales to Measure Depressive Symptoms in Elders With Diabetes
Authors: Zauszniewski Jaclene A. , Graham Gregory C.
Published: December 2008

Depression is the most common mental health problem among American elders and it is also prevalent among those with diabetes. The 20-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) is commonly used to measure depressive symptoms in elders, but its length is potentially burdensome. Twelve short forms of the CES-D (4 to 16 items) exist, but they have not been tested with elders with diabetes. This study compared reliability and validity estimates across the 12 short forms and investigated similarities in classifying elders with diabetes as clinically depressed using standardized cut scores. Beck's theory provides a framework for identifying the affective, cognitive, behavioral, and somatic symptoms that are measured by the CES-D. Data were merged from two studies, which yielded 80 elders with diabetes who completed the CES-D items during structured interviews. Cronbach's alpha was .87 for the CES-D; it ranged from .60 (5 items) to .84 (16 items) for shorter forms. Correlations of the full CES-D and short forms ranged from .82 (4 items) to .98 (16 items). Using the CES-D cut score, 14% of the elders with diabetes had clinically significant depressive symptoms: 21% men, 11% women, 17% African Americans, and 13% Caucasians. A 5-item scale overestimated 29% as clinically depressed: 33% men, 27% women, 25% African Americans, and 29% Caucasians. The findings suggest that shortened scales to measure depressive symptoms may be potentially useful with elders with diabetes. Further psychometric studies of the CES-D short forms are recommended with elders with chronic conditions.
An investigation into the agreement between clinical, biomechanical and neurophysiological measures of spasticity
Authors: Malhotra Shweta , Cousins Elizabeth , Ward Anthony , Day Charles , Jones Peter , Roffe Christine , Pandyan Anand
Published: December 2008

Objective: To quantify agreement between three clinically usable methods of measuring spasticity.

Methods: Patients with a first stroke who had no useful functional movement in the upper limb within six weeks from stroke onset were eligible to participate. Spasticity at the wrist joint was simultaneously measured using three methods, during an externally imposed passive stretch at two (uncontrolled) displacement velocities. The measures used were a common clinical measure (modified Ashworth Scale), a biomechanical measure (resistance to passive movement) and a neurophysiological measure (muscle activity).

Results: One hundred patients (54 men and 46 women) with a median age of 74 years (range 43—91) participated. Median time since stroke was three weeks (range 1—6), the right side was affected in 52 patients and the left in 48 patients. Based on muscle activity measurement, 87 patients had spasticity. According to the modified Ashworth score 44 patients had spasticity. Sensitivity of modified Ashworth score, when compared with muscle activity recordings, was 0.5 and specificity was 0.92. Based on muscle activity patterns, patients could be classified into five subgroups. The biomechanical measures showed no consistent relationship with the other measures.

Conclusion: The presentations of spasticity are variable and are not always consistent with existing definitions. Existing clinical scales that depend on the quantification of muscle tone may lack the sensitivity to quantify the abnormal muscle activation and stiffness associated with common definitions of spasticity. Neurophysiological measures may provide more clinically useful information for the management and assessment of spasticity.
Capacity to make a decision about discharge destination after stroke: a pilot study
Authors: Mackenzie JA , Lincoln NB , Newby GJ
Published: December 2008

Objective: To investigate the effect of cognitive problems and other factors on the capacity to make a decision about discharge destination and to compare the impressions of multidisciplinary team (MDT) members regarding capacity with a formal assessment.

Design: Between-subjects comparison design.

Setting: One stroke rehabilitation unit.

Subjects: Thirty-four stroke patients.

Procedure: For six months, all patients admitted to a stroke rehabilitation unit were asked to take part after one week and assessed on the outcome measures.

Main outcome measures: The multidisciplinary team completed questionnaires regarding risk, capacity and referral plans. All participants had a cognitive assessment. Capacity was assessed blind to the results of the cognitive assessment and independently rated by another assessor. Clinical and demographic information were collated.

Results: No significant association was found between cognitive functioning and capacity (P>0.05). Age, weeks post-stroke, Barthel and dysphasia were not significantly associated with capacity (P>0.05). Multidisciplinary team members were often unsure about the capacity of people to make decisions. Inter-rater reliability for the capacity assessment was reasonable (72%; P=0.06).

Conclusions: The preliminary conclusions are that cognitive test scores, age and dysphasia are not good predictors of capacity to decide about discharge destination in stroke patients receiving rehabilitation. Impressions of capacity should not be used to determine the need for a formal capacity assessment.
Home rehabilitation after hip fracture. A randomized controlled study on balance confidence, physical function and everyday activities
Authors: Zidén Lena , Frandin Kerstin , Kreuter Margareta
Published: December 2008

Objective: To investigate whether home rehabilitation can improve balance confidence, physical function and daily activity level compared to conventional care in the early phase after hip fracture.

Design: A randomized controlled study.

Setting: Geriatric rehabilitation clinic.

Subjects: One hundred and two community-dwelling elderly people.

Interventions: A geriatric, multiprofessional home rehabilitation programme focused on supported discharge, independence in daily activities, and enhancing physical activity and confidence in performing daily activities was compared with conventional care in which no structured rehabilitation after discharge was included.

Main measures: Falls efficacy, degree of dependency and frequency in daily activities, habitual physical activity and basic functional performance.

Results: When comparing status one month after discharge with baseline, the home rehabilitation group showed a higher degree of recovery in self-care (P<0.0001), mobility (P = 0.002), locomotion (P = 0.0036) and domestic activities (P = 0.0098), as well as larger increase in balance confidence on stairs (P = 0.0018) and instrumental activities (mean increase home rehabilitation 19.7 and conventional care 7.1, P<0.0001) compared with the conventional care group. At one month, a majority of the home rehabilitation participants (88%) took outdoor walks, compared with less than half (46%) of the conventional care group (P<0.001) and were also more independent in outdoor activities (P = 0.0014).

Conclusions: This study indicates that home rehabilitation, focused on supported discharge and enhancing self-efficacy, improves balance confidence, independence and physical activity in community-dwelling older adults in the early phase after hip fracture.
Health Literacy and Cancer Risk Perception: Implications for Genomic Risk Communication
Authors: Brewer Noel T. , Tzeng Janice P. , Lillie Sarah E. , Edwards Alrick S. , Peppercorn Jeffrey M. , Rimer Barbara K.
Published: December 2008

Background. As new genomic technology expands the number of medical tests available to physicians and patients, identifying gaps in our understanding of how best to communicate risk is increasingly important. We examined how health literacy informs breast cancer survivors' understanding of and meaning assigned to recurrence risks yielded by genomic tests. Methods. Study participants were posttreatment female breast cancer survivors (N =163 ) recruited at a university breast cancer clinic. We assessed their health literacy (using REALM) and their interpretation of hypothetical recurrence risk results from a genomic test, presented in several verbal and numerical formats. Analyses controlled for women's objective recurrence risk, age, income, and race. Results. Women with lower health literacy gave higher mean estimates of recurrence risk for a hypothetical group of women with early-stage breast cancer than did women with higher health literacy (52% v. 30%, P < 0:001 ). Women with lower health literacy also gave more variable estimates in this and several other tasks. When making chemotherapy decisions using risks presented in verbal formats, decisions by women with lower health literacy were less sensitive to the difference between low and high recurrence risk. Ease of understanding of risk formats differed by health literacy. Conclusions. Health literacy affected the meanings women assigned to recurrence risk when presented in certain formats. The greater variability in responding by women with lower health literacy supports the hypothesis that they have less precise mental representations of risk, but more research is needed to rule out other possible explanations.
Undocumented bodies, burned identities: refugees, sans papiers, harraga — when things fall apart
Authors: Beneduce Roberto
Published: December 2008

Taking an anthropological approach, the author reflects on refugees and clandestine immigrants, and in particular on the fractured structure of their narratives. This attempt to grasp the sense of vagueness or silence we so often find in immigrants' stories is designed to draw attention to the psychological consequences of both traumatic past events and of the unpredictability and uncertainty often experienced in host countries. The author further argues that the attitudes of social workers involved in clandestine migration and refugee issues reveal unconscious attitudes characteristic of meeting with the Other which also convey the contradictions, racism, and hypocrisy of our policies and governments. The author finally discusses the scenarios of death, violence and apartheid that characterize the day-today life of many undocumented immigrants, and invites academic researchers not to take for granted such descriptive terms as `clandestine', `refugees', and so on.
Spooky liberty: the art of avoiding identification process — an object for social sciences
Authors: Assier-Andrieu Louis , Gotman Anne
Published: December 2008

Social sciences, caught in binarism and embedded in moral considerations for a short but founding period, stressed sets of dual oppositions in which one party was right and the other wrong. When, for instance, institutions are considered in opposition to individuals, identity and belonging appear either to be enforced or to enforce, but in all events to carry the compulsion to `fit in'. This bias leads to using identification categories to qualify processes of avoiding identification. Alternatively, the authors consider clandestine tactics and strategies as a theory of attitudes, most of which are invisible, aimed at defying the identification process. We argue for an `aggiornamento', not so as to build a meta-theory, but in order to grasp an underestimated aspect of reality: the avoidance of belonging and preset identity as a mere enactment of natural-born liberty.
A legal disgrace? The retention of deported migrants in contemporary France
Authors: Richard Clémence , Fischer Nicolas
Published: December 2008

This article analyses contemporary trends in the deportation of undocumented immigrants, focusing on the past and present situation of the centres de rétention administrative , French confinement facilities where deportees await their removal. Studying the differential enforcement of legal protections for this particular population, we argue that the `rule of law', though integrated with the everyday practice of deportation, has been turned into a way to more easily `govern' the deported population.
Latin@s and the decolonization of the US empire in the 21st century
Authors: Grosfoguel Ramón
Published: December 2008

The present article discusses the political and cultural implications of the demographic shifts in the United States in the 21st century. White Americans are going to be a demographic minority in several decades. The article argues that the US empire is divided between two political options: neo-apartheid or decolonization. A new form of apartheid — different from the past — is emerging as an option for white elites to keep their privileges and power in a context where they no longer represent the demographic majority.
`Doing things right', or `doing the right things'? Call centre migrations and dimensions of knowledge
Authors: van den Broek Diane
Published: December 2008

The nature of call centre `logics' and their predominance in routine commercial areas of the economy underscored much of the early research into call centre operations. Recent regulatory, structural and technological developments in advanced economies underscored subsequent migrations of call centres from the private to the public sector (Glucksman, 2004;Taylor and Bain, 2007). Further call centre migrations have also occurred into more skilled occupations in the public sector. Drawing on published and unpublished research on in-bound call centres operating in social work and nursing in the UK and Australia, this discussion analyses the dual migration of call centres from routine commercial operations to professional public sector services.The following discussion recognizes the viability of cost efficient and customer service dualities, however, given shifts into more complex areas of service delivery, pre-existing norms of professional practice became another important driver of call centre labour processes.
Preference or constraint? Part-time workers' transitions in Denmark, France and the United Kingdom
Authors: Gash Vanessa
Published: December 2008

This article investigates whether women work part-time through preference or constraint and argues that different countries provide different opportunities for preference attainment. It argues that women with family responsibilities are unlikely to have their working preferences met without national policies supportive of maternal employment. Using event history analysis the article tracks part-time workers' transitions to both full-time employment and to labour market drop-out.The article compares the outcome of workers in the UK, a country with little support for maternal employment, relative to Denmark and France, two countries with a long history of facilitating workers' engagement in both paid employment and family life. It finds evidence of part-time constraint in the UK relative to the other two countries.
Idealism and the applied relevance of research on employee participation
Authors: Beirne Martin
Published: December 2008

Academic research on employee participation has lost some of the radicalism and commitment to progressive practice that was evident through much of the 20th century, becoming more detached and coldly evaluative. While idealistic concerns are still apparent in the regular condemnation of inauthentic participation, the focus of scholarly activity is largely restricted to analysis and explanation, without following through to an explicit logic of practice. Recalling how value commitments influenced the work of earlier generations of theorist practitioners, this article aims to reinvigorate debate about role definitions and the scope of academic contributions. By engaging with recent, though rare, examples of practically focused output in the traditions of socio-technical systems thinking and critical management studies, it argues for a grounded idealism that anchors applied research to local rather than `top driven' insights and priorities.
Too much pressure? Retailer power and occupational health and safety in the food processing industry
Authors: Lloyd Caroline , James Susan
Published: December 2008

This article examines the impact of supply chain pressures on the UK food processing industry and the implications for occupational health and safety. Based upon case studies in three meat processing plants, the research found that although the number of accidents is declining, little progress has been made in dealing with the widespread ill-health problems associated with largely repetitive and, in some cases, heavy work regimes. Supermarkets play a contradictory role in that they provide incentives to improve health and safety while at the same time their price and delivery demands have a detrimental impact. Despite these intense supply chain pressures, there is some room for `manoeuvrability' in that both employers and workplace trade unions can make a difference to health and safety outcomes.
The Ypres League and the Commemoration of the Ypres Salient, 1914—1940
Authors: Connelly Mark
Published: December 2008

This article explores British visions of Ypres between 1914 and 1940, and concentrates on the work of the crucial interwar remembrance movement, the Ypres League. The city of Ypres became a crucial symbol of all Britain was fighting for during the course of the First World War, and rapidly developed a holy aura. Led by the league, the horrors of industrial warfare were commuted into a spiritual quest in which British and imperial troops were purified by their experiences in the Ypres salient. After the war, British people visited Ypres in large numbers in order to imagine the sufferings of the servicemen and gain a spiritual benefit often with the assistance of the Ypres League and its publications. This reflected a culture of high diction and ritual greatly at odds with the idea that the twenties and thirties saw the dawn of an age disillusioned with the values of 1914. The British also became resident in Ypres in considerable numbers, and the article explores the relationship between the local population and the immigrants. By exploring the nature of war commemoration through the detailed case study of one particular site, it is intended to deepen the historiography of commemoration studies.
All Present and Correct: The Verifiable Army of the Schlieffen Plan
Authors: Holmes Terence M.
Published: December 2008

Despite the recent wave of attacks on his view that `there never was a “Schlieffen plan”', Terence Zuber stands by his `central thesis', which is that the Schlieffen plan called for 96 divisions at a time when the German army could deploy only 72. This article will disprove Zuber's calculations. The Schlieffen plan called for 90 divisions, not 96. The official deployment plans of 1906 involved 78 divisions, including two of the ersatz corps that Zuber says were `non-existent'. From the official discussion about those two ersatz corps we can prove that it would have been perfectly feasible to raise eight of them altogether, as required by the Schlieffen plan.
How Do I Remember You?
Authors: Stewart Karen A.
Published: December 2008

This narrative seeks to engage the reader by creating a verbal portrait of the author's father-in-law, Bob, as he is diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease. The portrait is a collection of caregiving accounts shared by the author and her husband, Todd, who became Bob's primary caregivers. The author presents a counternarrative to overly sentimental and resistant accounts of Alzheimer's Disease while also demonstrating ways self-respect and dignity remain intact despite the deteriorating effects of the illness and the drastic ways Alzheimer's changes family relationships.
Roots/Routes
Authors: Swanson Dalene M.
Published: December 2008

Part 1

This narrative and poetic rendering acts as an articulation of a journey of many routes. It is a storying of critical research issues and events as performances of lived experience. It is a métissage of hybrid, but interrelated, themes that find cohesion through fragmentation and coalescence, severance, and regrowth. These themes are invoked by the (inter)relationship of the metaphors of roots/routes and the play on meaning through the play on words. The storying is a journey of seeking that calls forth, highlights, and attempts to dislodge, or “root out,” the dilemmas and contradictions in discourses and practices that emerge through the choices we make as we search or “root”—like a wild sow in the sod—for routes toward transcendence. This ethical seeking occurs as we reflexively unearth our understandings of the histories, epistemologies, practices, and prejudices of ours and others' roots/routes and routedness/rootedness. Part II of “Roots/Routes” follows Part I.

Part II

This narrative acts as an articulation of a journey of many routes. Following Part I of the same research journey of rootedness/routedness, it debates the nature of transformation and transcendence beyond personal and political paradoxes informed by neoliberalism and related repressive globalizing discourses. Through a more personal, descriptive, and philosophical approach, the author seeks to move, in a reflexive manner, beyond the delimiting roots of deficit discourse and its unrootedness with the daily, local, and lived. Through the use of a nontraditional writing–research approach, the author explores other, less objectifying, ways of being in research and attempts to provide alternative pedagogies of possibility away from dichotomous and positivist research engagement. By confronting socially constructed knowledges and identities, and “(re)sourcing” these through “humble togetherness” (Ubuntu), the storying seeks to find a transcendent spirituality through the routes/roots of research and achieve the emergence of transformative possibilities through pedagogies of hope!