bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Brain MRI and Neurological Deficit Measurements in Focal Stroke: Rapid Throughput Validated with Isradipine
Authors: Lenhard Stephen C. , Strittmatter Robert , Price William J. , Chandra Sudeep , White Ray F. , Barone Frank C.
Published: August 2007

Background/Aims: Isradipine, a calcium channel blocker, provides consistent protection of the brain from injury and reduces neurological deficits produced by ischemic stroke in hypertensive rats. In these experiments, isradipine was utilized to cross-validate both the serial MRI measurement of brain infarctions with histology measurements and to validate a series of simple neurological deficit tests in order to establish a more rapid, higher throughput approach to screening compounds for utility in stroke. Methods: Spontaneously hypertensive rats were treated with vehicle, or 2.5 or 5.0 mg/kg isradipine and middle cerebral artery occlusion. T2-weighted MRI image analysis was compared to standard triphenyltetrazolium chloride-stained histological image analysis of brain sections to quantify isradipine neuroprotection 1, 3, and 30 days after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO; stroke). In addition, serial evaluation (i.e. 1, 2, 5, 12, 20 and 30 days after MCAO) of four simple neurobehavioral tests were completed for each animal. Tests included assessment of hindlimb and forelimb function, and balance beam and proprioception performance. Results: At 1, 3 and 30 days there was a significant positive correlation of the percent hemispheric infarct for T2-weighted MRI and histology (p < 0.05). Practically identical isradipine dose-response neuroprotection curves were observed for both measurement procedures. Isradipine produced a dose-related reduction in all neurological deficits scored by the four neurological deficit tests (p < 0.05). In addition, a significant time-related recovery from neurological deficits in vehicle-treated rats was observed (p < 0.05). The four different neurological deficit tests did provide unique time-related profiles of neurological recovery. Conclusions: The present study validates the use of serial MRI in experimental stroke and establishes several simple neurological tests that can be used to measure neurological/behavioral deficits associated with brain injury and brain recovery of function over time. Under these conditions, T2-weighted MRI and neurological testing required only about 10 min each per animal, thus providing rapid data collection and analysis and requiring reduced scientific personnel.
Contribution of Selected Vitamins and Trace Elements to Immune Function
Authors: Wintergerst Eva S. , Maggini Silvia , Hornig Dietrich H.
Published: August 2007

Adequate intakes of vitamins and trace elements are required for the immune system to function efficiently. Micronutrient deficiency suppresses immune functions by affecting the innate T-cell-mediated immune response and adaptive antibody response, and leads to dysregulation of the balanced host response. This increases the susceptibility to infections, with increased morbidity and mortality. In turn, infections aggravate micronutrient deficiencies by reducing nutrient intake, increasing losses, and interfering with utilization by altering metabolic pathways. Insufficient intake of micronutrients occurs in people with eating disorders, in smokers (both active and passive), in individuals with chronic alcohol abuse, in patients with certain diseases, during pregnancy and lactation, and in the elderly. With aging a variety of changes are observed in the immune system, which translate into less effective innate and adaptive immune responses and increased susceptibility to infections. Antioxidant vitamins and trace elements (vitamins C, E, selenium, copper, and zinc) counteract potential damage caused by reactive oxygen species to cellular tissues and modulate immune cell function through regulation of redox-sensitive transcription factors and affect production of cytokines and prostaglandins. Adequate intake of vitamins B6, folate, B12, C, E, and of selenium, zinc, copper, and iron supports a Th1 cytokine-mediated immune response with sufficient production of proinflammatory cytokines, which maintains an effective immune response and avoids a shift to an anti-inflammatory Th2 cell-mediated immune response and an increased risk of extracellular infections. Supplementation with these micronutrients reverses the Th2 cell-mediated immune response to a proinflammatory Th1 cytokine-regulated response with enhanced innate immunity. Vitamins A and D play important roles in both cell-mediated and humoral antibody response and support a Th2-mediated anti-inflammatory cytokine profile. Vitamin A deficiency impairs both innate immunity (mucosal epithelial regeneration) and adaptive immune response to infection resulting in an impaired ability to counteract extracellular pathogens. Vitamin D deficiency is correlated with a higher susceptibility to infections due to impaired localized innate immunity and defects in antigen-specific cellular immune response. Overall, inadequate intake and status of these vitamins and minerals may lead to suppressed immunity, which predisposes to infections and aggravates malnutrition.
Observational Study of Hepatic Cytochrome P-450 Protein Expression and Activity in Summer Flounder (Paralichtys dentatus) after Combination Ormetoprim-Sulfadimethoxine Treatment
Authors: Topic Popovic Natalija , Babish John G. , Bowser Paul R.
Published: August 2007

The metabolism of aquaculture antibiotics on the piscine, hepatic cytochrome P-450 (CYP) system has not yet been defined. Fifty summer flounder, maintained at 20°C, were fed ormetoprim-sulfadimethoxine (Romet-30®) at 1% body weight daily and were randomly sampled before treatment and on days 1, 6, 10 and 21 after treatment. Western blotting of hepatic microsomes included goat antirat CYP1A1 and rabbit antihuman CYP3A4 serum. Catalytic activities comprised: 3-cyano-7-ethoxycoumarin (CEC), 7-benzyloxy-4-trifluoromethylcoumarin (BFC), resorufin benzyl ether (BzRes). Treatment induced CYP1A1 and CYP3A4 expression. Dealkylation of CEC (CYP1A2) was increased after treatment. Romet-30 inhibited CYP3A4 activity measured by BFC, but induced BzRes CYP3A4. The usefulness of mammalian antibodies for piscine P-450 Western blotting was demonstrated. The hepatic P-450 1A2 and 3A4 metabolism was quantifiable by kits developed for mammalian microsomes.
Self-Reported Snoring, Maternal Obesity and Neck Circumference as Risk Factors for Pregnancy-Induced Hypertension and Preeclampsia
Authors: Ursavas Ahmet , Karadag Mehmet , Nalcı Nazan , Ercan Ilker , Gozu R. Oktay
Published: August 2007

Background: Physical and hormonal changes during pregnancy alter breathing patterns of pregnant women. It is possible that occult disordered breathing during sleep may be a risk factor for the development of pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) and preeclampsia. Objective: Our aim was to determine the incidence of self-reported snoring in pregnant women, and to investigate the relationship of snoring, obesity and neck circumference to PIH and preeclampsia. Methods: 469 pregnant women and 208 age-matched nonpregnant women were included in the study. Both groups were asked to complete a questionnaire. Maternal complications were retrieved from the medical records. Results: Habitual snoring was reported from 1.9% of nonpregnant women, 2.5% of pregnant women prior to pregnancy and 11.9% of those same women during the third trimester of pregnancy (p < 0.001). Age, smoking during pregnancy, and weight before delivery were independent risk factors for habitual snoring in pregnancy. PIH and preeclampsia developed in 20 and 10.9% of pregnant women with habitual snoring, as compared to 11 and 5.8% of non-snoring pregnant women (p = 0.045, p = 0.125, p = 0.415), respectively. In women who developed preeclampsia, weight before pregnancy, weight before delivery and neck circumference were significantly higher in univariate analysis. Neck circumference was an independent risk factor for PIH and preeclampsia according to logistic regression analysis. Conclusion: The incidence of snoring is significantly higher in pregnant women than in nonpregnant women. Snoring may indicate a risk of PIH. Neck circumference was an independent risk factor for both PIH and preeclampsia.
The European Commission's Evolving Role in Conflict Resolution
Authors: Tannam Etain
Published: August 2007

The main aim of this article is to examine the role-perception and operation of European Commission officials towards Northern Ireland and the peace process. A relative gap in the theoretical literature, until recently, on the Commission's endogenous preferences is highlighted. The main conclusion is that the European Commission's preferences towards conflict resolution in Northern Ireland have altered since 1994 and that Commission officials exhibit a greater analytical understanding and proactive approach to Northern Ireland. The cause of this change has not been socialization into `European' supranational norms, but instead has reflected the impact of British and Irish cooperation and agreement.
Concurrent Validity of Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scales–Third Edition Index Score Short Forms in the Canadian Standardization Sample
Authors: Lange Rael T. , Iverson Grant L.
Published: August 2007

This study evaluated the concurrent validity of estimated Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scales—Third Edition (WAIS-III) index scores using various one- and two-subtest combinations. Participants were the Canadian WAIS-III standardization sample. Using all possible one- and two-subtest combinations, an estimated Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI), an estimated Perceptual Organization Index (POI), and an estimated Working Memory Index (WMI) were generated by prorating relevant subtest scores. As expected, two-subtest short forms were consistently more accurate than one-subtest short forms. Agreement between short-form and full-form index scores was high for two-subtest combinations (range = 88% to 96%) but only moderate with one subtest (range = 62% to 79%). Accuracy did not vary by age, ethnicity, gender, or education. However, accuracy was lowest for index scores in the high average to very superior range. These results suggest that although some two-subtest short forms are useful for estimating VCI, POI, and WMI scores, one-subtest short forms should not be used for this purpose.
The Protevangelium of James
Authors: Foster Paul
Published: August 2007

The Protevangelium of James is a text that narrates events prior to and immediately following the birth of Jesus. Unlike the four canonical gospels the central character of this narrative is not Jesus, but his mother Mary. She is portrayed as a paradigm of purity. From the time she turns three until she reaches twelve she lives in the Temple and her role is patterned on that of the young Samuel serving in the Temple at Shiloh. The text strongly advocates the perpetual virginity of Mary and thus allows for some of the origins of this theological position to be identified. The text has little or no historical value in terms of the actual events it reports, but it does provide a fascinating window into the piety of late second-century or early third-century Christianity.
Textual Criticism and Theology
Authors: Parker David
Published: August 2007

For various reasons, the topics of textual criticism and theology are disconnected. The importance of reuniting them is explored with reference to: the concept of the original text, theologically motivated textual variation, concepts of orthodoxy, and the texts as historical documents. This article offers a fresh theological approach.
Transformational Leadership, Cohesion Perceptions, and Employee Cynicism About Organizational Change
Authors: Wu Cindy , Neubert Mitchell J. , Xiang Yi
Published: August 2007

The impact of supervisors' transformational leadership (TFL), informational and interpersonal justice, and group cohesion perceptions on employee cynicism about organizational change (CAOC) was investigated in a sample of 469 employees from a large Chinese organization undergoing major organizational change. Results indicate that (a) TFL is negatively related to employee CAOC; (b) employee perceptions of group cohesion moderate the relationship between TFL and CAOC such that the higher the cohesion perceptions, the stronger the influence of TFL on employee CAOC; (c) the moderating effect of cohesion perceptions on the TFL—CAOC relationship is fully mediated by interpersonal justice; and (d) informational and interpersonal justice partially mediate the TFL—CAOC relationship. The theoretical and practical implications of the process by which TFL impacts CAOC are discussed.
Class Is Not Dead—It Has Been Buried Alive: Class Voting and Cultural Voting in Postwar Western Societies (1956–1990)
Authors: van der Waal Jeroen , Achterberg Peter , Houtman Dick
Published: August 2007

By means of a reanalysis of the most relevant data source—the International Social Mobility and Politics File—this article criticizes the newly grown consensus in political sociology that class voting has declined since World War II. An increase in crosscutting cultural voting, rooted in educational differences rather than a decline in class voting, proves responsible for the decline of traditional class-party alignments. Moreover, income differences have not become less but more consequential for voting behavior during this period. It is concluded that the new consensus has been built on quicksand. Class is not dead—it has been buried alive under the increasing weight of cultural voting, systematically misinterpreted as a decline in class voting because of the widespread application of the so-called Alford index.
Engendering Redistribution, Recognition, and Representation: The Case of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the United Kingdom and France
Authors: Guiné Anouk , Moreno Fuentes Francisco Javier
Published: August 2007

Immigration changed the ethnic composition of Western European societies. The new populations brought a series of culturally determined practices that challenged the liberal framework of values of the receiving states. Despite the existence of important variations between the official discourses and the actual policies finally implemented, the responses to those challenges varied with the models of integration defined by each country to deal with ethnic diversity. In this article, we study the policies designed and implemented by the United Kingdom and France against “female genital mutilation” practices, analyzing how both British and French policies affected these types of practices.
Emotional Labour in Action: Navigating Multiple Involvements in the Beauty Salon
Authors: Toerien Merran , Kitzinger Celia
Published: August 2007

Building on Hochschild's path-breaking analysis of service providers' `emotional labour', this article demonstrates some of the interactional skills required for emotional labour to be performed. Using conversation analysis (CA), we examine a single case from a database of recorded beauty salon interactions. The episode was chosen because it makes visible the mechanics of how a beauty therapist manages conflict between her `multiple involvements' in the salon: between her simultaneous engagement in topic talk and hair removal. We show first how she navigates this conflict and then how her actions may be understood as an example of emotional labour. The article addresses, then, both the feminist concern with making visible the skills of emotional labour and the conversation analytic concern with how participants manage multiple involvements in a socially meaningful way.
Existential Uncertainty and the Will to Conform: The Expressive Basis of Coleman's Rational Choice Paradigm
Authors: Yair Gad
Published: August 2007

This article provides a new reading of Coleman's rational choice paradigm. Coleman's overt assumptions about action depicted the latter to be purposive and rational, suggesting that action is taken in order to maximize long-term instrumental utility. This article shows that, in his empirical studies, Coleman relied on expressive assumptions about the motives of action, in particular self-related existential anxieties. Coleman argued that in response to their uncertainty, actors choose to emulate others because conformity allows them to secure their social position in the short term. The decisive motive which appears to drive action is not the maximization of instrumental utility, but rather the short-term reduction of existential uncertainty. According to the standards Coleman set for a pure rational choice model, this type of conformist rationality is not rational in the long run. Future studies may improve on prior efforts to utilize the rational choice program by appreciating that the most known figure in this school himself held two alternative conceptions of action: expressive and rational.
Strategies in times of regulatory change: a Norwegian case study on the battle for a commercial radio licence
Authors: Enli Gunn Sara , Sundet Vilde Schanke
Published: August 2007

For broadcasting institutions regulated with a time-limited licence agreement, one of the most crucial times is when the licence period expires and a new licence agreement has to be negotiated. Such a key moment opens up changes in the broadcasters’ constraints and unmasks hidden external conditions and conflicts. As a consequence, the broadcasting institutions have to battle for dominance and control in different arenas, each arena demanding different strategies and skills. What are the main institutional strategies used in the different arenas? How do differences in the institutions’ resources and capital influence their choice of strategies? And which arena is the most important to master in order to succeed as a commercial broadcaster with public service obligations? The article draws on empirical evidence from a Norwegian case study, where two private radio institutions battled: first for the same national radio licence agreement and then – when a second licence agreement was handed out – for the same market segments of listeners and advertisers.
Media, communication and the establishment of public camera surveillance programmes in Canada
Authors: Hier Sean P. , Greenberg Josh , Walby Kevin , Lett Daniel
Published: August 2007

Throughout Europe and North America, policing services, government agencies and private-sector interests have turned increasingly to open-street closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance to address crime, fear of crime and perceptions of social disorder. Although recent scholarly contributions have displaced the traditional explanatory reliance on the panopticon with mechanisms of consumer seduction, ‘post-panoptic’ insights into the establishment of open-street monitoring programmes have not advanced completely beyond the determinism reminiscent of the exercise of panoptical power. With the intention of supplementing the displacement of the panoptic paradigm with a less deterministic and more flexible framework, we conceptualize the establishment of public monitoring programmes in terms of the central role of communications and media in surveillance policy development and change. Presenting empirical data from an investigation of public camera surveillance in Canada, we develop theoretical and, necessarily, empirical insights that enable us to move beyond explanatory emphases on responsibilization strategies and social ordering techniques.
Lesbians in (cyber)space: the politics of the internet in Latin American on- and off-line communities
Authors: Friedman Elisabeth Jay
Published: August 2007

Living in societies that use law, mainstream media and social opprobrium to deny their enjoyment of basic rights – and sometimes their very existence – Latin American lesbians have long relied on alternative ways of expressing and associating themselves. In the late 1990s, they adopted a powerful new tool that is also a'virtual' space: the internet, or cyberspace. This article argues that cyberspace – the dense web of information and communication created by email, chat, distribution lists and websites – is a virtual public sphere especially useful for Latin American lesbian communities. The internet addresses the central problems impeding the effectiveness of lesbian organizing: isolation, repression, resource restriction and lack of community cohesion. Despite the opportunities cyberspace offers, it presents new challenges for organizers, from an increase in responsibilities to an erosion of political accountability. Nevertheless, the contributions of the internet far outweigh the complications it brings.
In digital remembrance: vernacular memory and the rhetorical construction of web memorials
Authors: Hess Aaron
Published: August 2007

In this study, I examine four web memorials to explore the material construction of memory on the internet. Using Blair's arguments about the rhetorical materiality of memorials, I seek to understand the vernacular responses to 9/11 in the form of individually crafted web memorials. I argue that vernacular web memorials contain dual rhetorical functions of being memorials themselves as well as the tributary markers found at other national monuments. Additionally, webmastered memorials highlight the vernacular strategies of narrative memory, which recall the individual responses and calls to action after 9/11. The internet both fosters the use of vernacular commemoration and hampers it through the use of commercially registered domain names. First, web memorials assist in the creation of vernacular commemorative communities in the form of web-rings. Second, however, the durability of the digital monuments is challenged by the very form they take due to their potentially ephemeral nature.
Positive intergroup attitudes: The role of ethnic identity
Authors: Phinney Jean S. , Jacoby Brian , Silva Charissa
Published: August 2007

Developmental theory suggests that a well-developed ethnic identity serves as a secure position which allows people to be more open and accepting to people from other ethnic groups. To examine this prediction, two studies were carried out. In Study 1, 713 college freshmen from four ethnic groups were surveyed regarding positive attitudes toward other groups and were assigned to ethnic identity statuses on the basis of scores on the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (Phinney, 1992). The results showed that Asian American and Latino students with an achieved ethnic identity reported significantly more positive attitudes toward other groups than did those in ethnic identity diffusion. Study 2 used qualitative methods with 124 adolescents from five ethnic groups. Ethnic identity and intergroup attitudes were assessed with open-ended questions regarding views of one's own ethnicity and experiences with other ethnic groups. Results showed that ethnic identity achieved adolescents, compared to diffuse adolescents, gave responses indicating greater awareness and understanding of intergroup relations. Overall, the results provide evidence that a secure ethnic identity is associated with positive intergroup attitudes and mature intercultural thinking.
Friendship and identity in a language-integrated school
Authors: Aboud Frances E. , Sankar Janani
Published: August 2007

A cross-sectional design was used to inquire about peer relations of 85 second and fifth grade students in two integrated Anglophone and Francophone schools in Montreal, Canada. Data on same- and cross-ethnic identification, interactive companions and mutual best friends were collected for each student. Overall findings were that students had more companions from their own than the other ethno-linguistic group, but equivalent numbers of mutual best friends. Same- and cross-ethnic mutual friends were rated similarly in terms of friendship quality (as assessed by the McGill Friendship Questionnaire). Exploratory in-depth interviews with 16 students indicated that cross-ethnic relationships ran into two barriers. One was that they were limited to only a few activities and locations and so did not become personalized. The second was that in-group and out-group friends did not always mix well.
Intergroup biases in conflict: Reexamination with Arab pre-adolescents and adolescents
Authors: Teichman Yona , Bar-Tal Daniel , Abdolrazeq Yasmina
Published: August 2007

This study examined the proposition derived from the integrative developmental contextual theory (IDCT) (Bar-Tal & Teichman, 2005; Teichman & Bar-Tal, in press) that contextual circumstances determining collective self esteem (i.e. conflict and social status), and developmental stage in which identity development is a central issue (pre- and early adolescence) would influence intergroup biases. This proposition was previously examined with Israeli Jewish participants and here is re-examined in three samples, aged 8—17, including Israeli Arabs and two groups from the Palestinian Authority. The three samples were based in different intergroup contexts in which their group status was relatively high, medium or low. The findings demonstrate differences in the relationship between contextually defined collective self-esteem and intergroup attitudes. Results confirmed the hypothesis that in conflict, irrespective of age highest intergroup biases would be displayed by the high status group. However, the hypothesis that the lowest status group would express only more negativity toward the out-group was not confirmed. The developmental hypothesis that pre- and early adolescents from the high status group would express most varied and extreme biases was also confirmed. With some exceptions in the middle status group, all older adolescents displayed moderation in biases.
Effects of physical atypicality on children's social identities and intergroup attitudes
Authors: Patterson Meagan M. , Bigler Rebecca S.
Published: August 2007

Individuals vary in the degree to which they are representative, or typical, of their social groups. To investigate the effects of atypicality on intergroup attitudes, elementary-school-age children ( N = 97) attending a summer school program were assigned to novel color groups that included typical (blue or green) and atypical (light blue or light green) members. Children's state self-esteem, ingroup identification, and intergroup attitudes (e.g., trait ratings, evaluations, peer preferences) were assessed following several weeks in the classroom. Results indicated that atypicality primarily affected children's views of their ingroup. Among younger (but not older) children, atypical group members viewed themselves as more similar to — but less happy being a member of — their ingroup than typical group members.
Evaluations of interracial peer encounters by majority and minority US children and adolescents
Authors: Killen Melanie , Henning Alexandra , Kelly Megan Clark , Crystal David , Ruck Martin
Published: August 2007

US majority (European-American) and minority (African-American, Latin-American, Asian-American) children were interviewed regarding race-based and non-race based reasons for exclusion in interracial peer contexts ( N = 685), evenly divided by gender at 9, 12, and 15 years of age (4th, 7th, and 10th grades) attending 13 US public schools. All children judged race-based exclusion as wrong using moral reasons. In contrast, non-race based reasons such as lack of shared interests, parental discomfort, and peer pressure were viewed as more wrong by minority children than by majority children. This pattern decreased with age for all participants. Further minority children were more likely to expect that racial exclusion occurs, indicating that ethnic background, social experience, and age are significantly related to interpretations of interracial peer motives for exclusion.
Effects of peer group rejection, group membership, and group norms, on children's outgroup prejudice
Authors: Nesdale Drew , Maass Anne , Kiesner Jeff , Durkin Kevin , Griffiths Judith , Ekberg Andreas
Published: August 2007

This study examined the effects on 6- and 8-year old children ( n = 160) of rejection versus acceptance by an initial group, the reason for the rejection or acceptance (personal versus category-based), and the norms (inclusion versus exclusion) of a new group to which the children were assigned, on their negative affect and attitudes towards the initial group, new group and an outgroup. Results showed that rejected compared with accepted children had a negative attitude towards the initial group, but that both were equally positive towards their new group. In addition, whereas accepted participants were less positive towards the outgroup, rejected participants displayed outgroup prejudice. Results also revealed main effects on group attitudes of participants' age and group norms, as well as a peer status × status reason interaction, but participants' negative affect was only affected by their age. The basis of the effect of peer group rejection on outgroup prejudice is discussed.
Behaviour Prescriptions versus Professional Identities in Multi-cultural Corporations: A Cross-cultural Computer Simulation
Authors: Schneider Andreas
Published: August 2007

There is a strong focus on cognitive, language-based, information processing in organizations. Acknowledging the gut decision of managers, this article introduces a symbolic interactionist framework that allows the investigation of organizational behaviour based on affective meaning, on emotion-generated implications. Unlike most symbolic interactionist approaches, affect-control theory is based on rigorous mathematical formalization that allows precise empirical methodologies. The effectiveness of this affective model is demonstrated in a multicultural setting where cultural differences and language differences make communication within the organization difficult. Computer-based simulations of interaction address the problems that managers experience following culture-centric behaviour prescriptions instead of using the affective meaning of their professional identities as guidance for their behaviour.
Essal: On Paragrammatic Uses of Organizational Theory — A Provocation
Authors: Gabriel Yiannis
Published: August 2007

Having indicated some of the recurring difficulties in establishing a conceptual or philosophical link between theory and practice, the author examines the relation between organization theory and the practices of academics, managers and other organizational participants. He argues that this relation is shaped by the way organizational theories are disseminated in the face of an expanding hegemony of consumerization and consumerism. Like other commodities, organizational theories are not used passively, in general, but in a creative, opportunistic and individualistic way. In this, they resemble folk knowledge, such as cooking recipes and cookery books, which different users employ or experiment with in widely differing ways, for widely differing ends. In contrast to both programme and paradigm, the author uses the term `paragramme' to indicate a shifting stock of ideas, routines, images and ingredients which invite improvization and elaboration, rather than copying or adherence.
Comparison between audio and tactile systems for delivering simple navigational information to visually impaired pedestrians
Authors: Gustafson-Pearce Olinkha , Billett Eric , Cecelja Franjo
Published: August 2007

Many of the current GPS (Global Positioning Systems) navigation aids use an audio method to deliver navigation information to the user. For the visually impaired person this method can be problematic. The visually impaired pedestrian relies heavily on information contained within the ambient sound environment; for location and orientation information, navigation information and, importantly, safety information. In this article we present the design of an innovative tactile interface and verification of results obtained through experimental trials. This pilot study compared the efficiency of the tactile interface to an audio method of delivering simple navigational information. The findings indicate that the tactile interface could be used successfully by blind and sighted pedestrians and may offer advantages over auditory interfaces.
Helping children with visual impairment develop humour: a review of the literature
Authors: Pagliano Paul J. , Zambone Alana M. , Kelley Pat
Published: August 2007

Humour is a highly regarded attribute and often forms the basis of childhood friendships. As much humour is visual, children with visual impairment are particularly vulnerable to missing out on this type of development. Recent research indicates that children can be taught to develop their sense of humour. Therefore, children with visual impairment must be given plentiful opportunities to overcome limitations so that they are not excluded. This article recommends that children with visual impairment be explicitly taught about humour in order to facilitate more active inclusion in the pleasurable pursuits of their social cohort. Research on stages of humour development in children is discussed, and those characteristics and processes that assist the learning process in children with visual impairment are highlighted. Techniques for the six major aspects of instruction in humour are described, along with strategies for addressing challenges faced by children with visual impairment in their efforts to appreciate humour.
Information start-ups need to succeed
Authors: Cohen Madeleine , McDonough Kristin
Published: August 2007

Describes how the New York Public Library's Science, Industry and Business Library (SIBL) was created in 1996 to target a new audience — small businesses. Gives an overview of business, financial, science & technology and legal information available free at the library to start-ups. Describes SIBL as a destination for the New York City (NYC) small business community because of its robust services built on business information sources by the staff information specialists and business advisors from partner organizations. Covers hands-on training by librarians in premium online databases; reference assistance for quick answers; after-work seminars by business experts; and on-site business advisory services by SCORE volunteers and paid staff from the NYC Business Solution Center. Highlights SIBL's New York Small Business Resource Center website (smallbiz.nypl.org) including an events calendar, business videos and moderated forums. Shows how staff have developed new skills and how SIBL's customers and partners promote its business services.
Social Networking Analysis
Authors: Cheuk Bonnie
Published: August 2007

Explains how the British Council used the theory of Social Networking Analysis (SNA) as a practical tool to support its knowledge management programme, when faced with the challenges presented by a globally dispersed workforce. Demonstrates that SNA exercises are simple to carry out and that the results can provide a focal point for discussion in improving knowledge flow — in particular of the need to balance people to people networking against document exchange. Gives details of how the SNA exercise was conducted, covering the data collection, analysis and visualization, and the discussion of the findings and resultant proposals for interventions. Highlights the key learning points that resulted and explains the benefits gained from the exercise, while also highlighting some of the limitations of the resulting social networking map.
Market research aggregation
Authors: Gudgin David
Published: August 2007

Explains the processes involved in collating the business information that the world's leading companies rely on to make their crucial business decisions. Demonstrates how a company such as Euromonitor adds value to the raw statistical and other data available to it, including ensuring that all data is comparable across countries, researching the macroeconomic environment in which companies operate to provide consumer data and combining datasets to provide further useful data. Also describes how its analysts add in areas such as forecasting. Highlights difficulties that users of aggregated market research face compared with `power users' of the data, including slower speed and shorter shelf life for aggregated reports and lack of access to the full suite of information and statistical data that a market research company can command.
Path Manifold-based Kinematic Control of Wheeled Mobile Robots Considering Physical Constraints
Authors: Kim Youngshik , Minor Mark A.
Published: August 2007

This paper presents a time invariant kinematic motion controller for wheeled mobile robots. Actuator capability, mechanical design, and traction forces governed by terrain features provide velocity and curvature limitations that are used in the design of the controller. A novel path manifold that considers curvature limitations is introduced to provide a desired path shape and convergence to the reference posture or trajectory. Lyapunov techniques are then used to derive a control law that asymptotically converges the robot to an arbitrarily small neighborhood of the path manifold. Posture regulation, path following, and trajectory tracking capability to a similarly scaled neighborhood of the target are provided. Controller parameters are optimized and initial conditions are identified that satisfy physical constraints of the robot and provide smooth commands. Curvature boundaries and asymptotic convergence naturally limit allowable initial conditions and are resolved by driving the robot to intermediate goal points within regions of allowable initial conditions. Posture regulation is evaluated in simulation and experiment on a Compliant Framed wheeled Modular Mobile Robot (CFMMR) for two different terrain surfaces. Trajectory tracking and path following of constant curvature references are evaluated in simulation and experiment, respectively.
Stability and Performance Analysis of Centralized and Distributed Multi-rate Control Architectures for Multi-user Haptic Interaction
Authors: Fotoohi Mahyar , Sirouspour Shahin , Capson David
Published: August 2007

This paper is concerned with multi-user haptic simulation environments in which users can interact across an Ethernet-based Local Area Network (LAN) or a Metropolitan Area Network (MAN). Using network protocols such as the UDP and TCP/IP under normal network traffic conditions, the achievable real-time packet communication rate can be well below the 1 kHz update rate suggested in the literature for high fidelity haptic rendering. However by adopting a multi-rate control strategy, the local control loops can be executed at a much higher rate than that of the data packet transmission between the user workstations. Within such a framework, two control architectures, namely centralized and distributed are presented. Mathematical models of the controllers are developed and used in a comparative analysis of their stability and performance. The results of such analysis demonstrate that the distributed control architecture has greater stability margins and outperforms the centralized controller. It is also shown that the limited network packet transmission rate can degrade the haptic fidelity by introducing a viscous damping into the perceived impedance of the virtual object. Using the proposed models, this damping value is calculated and compensated by active control. Experiments conducted with a dual-user/dual-finger haptic platform confirm the analytical results.
Soil and water conservation on the Loess Plateau in China: review and perspective
Authors: Chen Liding , Wei Wei , Fu Bojie , Lü Yihe
Published: August 2007

The Loess Plateau, China, has long been suffering from serious soil erosion. About 2000 years ago, larger areas were used for grain production and soil erosion was thus becoming severe with increase in human activity. Severe soil and water loss led to widespread land degradation. During the past decades, great efforts were made in vegetation restoration to reduce soil erosion. However, the efficiency of vegetation restoration was not as satisfactory as expected due to water shortage. China initiated another state-funded scheme, the `Grain-for-Green' project in 1999, on the Loess Plateau to reduce soil erosion and improve land quality. However, the control of soil erosion effectively by land-use modification raised problems. In this paper, the lessons and experiences regarding soil and water conservation in the Loess Plateau in the past decades are analysed first. Urgent problems are then elaborated, such as the contradiction between land resource and human population, shortage of water both in amount and tempospatial distribution for vegetation growth, weak awareness of the problems of soil conservation by local officials, and poor public participation in soil and water conservation. Finally, suggestions regarding soil and water conservation in the Loess Plateau are given. In order to control soil erosion and improve vegetation, a scientific and detailed land-use plan for the Loess Plateau has to be made, in the first instance, and then planning for wise use of water resources should be undertaken to control mass movement effectively and to improve land productivity. Methods of improving public awareness of environmental conservation and public involvement in vegetation rehabilitation are also important.
The Relocation of the Columbia Villa Community
Authors: Gibson Karen J.
Published: August 2007

The federal program, Housing Opportunities for People Everywhere (HOPE VI), is intended to revitalize the worst public housing developments in the nation. It assumes that these places contribute little, if anything, positive to the lives of residents. Surveys of 173 residents who were relocated from Portland's defense era housing, the 462-unit Columbia Villa, reveal that well-designed housing that is properly managed and safe provides the essential foundation on which families cope with the vicissitudes of poverty. Contrary to public opinion, Columbia Villa was a strong, close-knit, safe community for families, the disabled, and the elderly.
The Religious Sector's Presence in Local Community Development
Authors: Botchwey Nisha D.
Published: August 2007

This article identifies the extent, service offerings, and location similarities or differences among secular community-based organizations, religious congregations, and faith-based organizations that engage in service delivery in low-income urban communities. The literature shows that religious organizations provide significant social services to communities, but little is known about how they compare to their secular counterparts within the same geographic context. Employing qualitative and quantitative approaches together with GIS applications for spatial analysis to survey data from religious and secular organizations in North Philadelphia, this article measures the influence of the religious sector in local community development. The article concludes that religious institutions, specifically congregations and faith-based organizations, have a significant community presence in their offerings, presence, and location and provide a substantial level of service to individuals in that they operate as “silent partners” within communities, providing important—although often unseen “institutional capital” to local development in urban America.
Comparing the Effects of Housing Vouchers and Low-Income Housing Tax Credits on Neighborhood Integration and School Quality
Authors: Lan Deng
Published: August 2007

This study compares the effects of housing vouchers and low-income housing tax credits (LIHTC) on neighborhood integration and school quality in six metropolitan areas. The study shows that program performance varies according to government policy choices and the local market environment. New York and Boston are the only two areas where vouchers clearly do better than LIHTC, a result of LIHTC's targeting of distressed neighborhoods and the dispersion of vouchers. In Atlanta and Miami, LIHTC's emphasis on new construction has brought more assisted families to middle-income suburban neighborhoods. By contrast, the persistent racial segregation in Cleveland and a regionwide housing shortage in San Jose have diminished the economic and educational prospects for both programs.
Three Questions Regarding Urbanization in China
Authors: Heikkila Eric J.
Published: August 2007

The three questions addressed in this article pertain, respectively, to the contributing factors, outcomes, and policy interventions associated with urbanization in China. Contributing factors include transition to a market-driven economy, political devolution, demographic changes, globalization, and technological change. These are unravelled with care, with a conclusion that embedded markets are the central contributing factor, with globalization and political institutions as important helpmates. Regarding urbanization outcomes, the evidence reviewed supports the convergence hypothesis in broad terms, but with ample evidence of hybridity, resulting in urbanization with Chinese characteristics. The article concludes with a call for a more balanced approach to urban policy interventions in China, whereby existing spatial planning perspectives are complemented by market-based perspectives.
A Quantitative Analysis of Consensus Building in Local Environmental Review
Authors: Schively Carissa
Published: August 2007

This study analyzes consensus-building efforts in environmental review. It provides evidence of the effectiveness of consensus building by assessing changes in participants' perceptions before and after their involvement in a stakeholder advisory panel. In contrast to qualitative case study investigations of consensus building, this study uses quantitative analysis based on a quasi-experimental research design.
Desperate Housewives
Authors: Ho Petula Sik-ying
Published: August 2007

This article documents the strategies that married Chinese women in Hong Kong use to cope with the stigmatized identity of being si-nais (middle-aged housewives). It analyzes how, in the larger context of Hong Kong's social, economic, and political transformation, the term si-nai has changed over time from being a mark of respect to being a derogatory label. The dissatisfaction expressed by these women with their lives is matched by resistance to a stigmatized social identity and stereotyping images with which others may seek to confine them. The study problematizes the way in which the figure of the housewife is constituted as some form of “other” by feminism.
Capacity Building and IT Diffusion
Authors: Kalu Kalu N.
Published: August 2007

The “digital divide” in the utilization of e-government between the industrialized and developing countries stands to spell serious consequences for the latter's political and economic development. Because African countries rank very low on the global measure of e-government readiness, critical variables were studied to find out which policy and programmatic areas should become priority in bridging the gap. Findings from a multiple regression analysis indicate that the low ranking of African countries on the global e-government readiness index indicates that the countries would need to develop, first, the internal utilization capacity as well as an enhanced public access to information, communication, and technology (ICT) infrastructures. These would, in turn, generate the demand necessary to spur increased government investment in ICT infrastructural development. What is mostly required is public sector leadership that creates the enabling environment for increased public and private sector participation in e-government interactions.