bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Resting cladoceran eggs and their contribution to zooplankton diversity in a lagoon of the Upper Paraná River floodplain
Authors: Palazzo Fabiana , Bonecker Claudia Costa , Fernandes Ana Paula Capelari
Published: October 2008

Zooplankton produce resting eggs and diapause stages as strategies to promote their survival during periods of adverse environmental conditions, thereby ensuring the community diversity. The goal of this study is to investigate the contribution of these eggs, which were present in the sediment of an isolated lagoon in the Upper Paraná River floodplain, to cladoceran diversity. The species hatching from the resting eggs in the sediment do not occur in the plankton. Sediment samples were collected at six sampling sites in the Osmar Lagoon banks, in September 2004 and June, July, August and September 2005. Zooplankton were sampled in the pelagic region, using a motorized pump (1000 L) and plankton net (68 µm). The pH, water temperature (°C), electrical conductivity (µS cm−1) and dissolved oxygen concentration (mg L−1) also were measured. The resting eggs were counted in the laboratory, being maintained under constant temperature and photoperiod until their analyses. The resting eggs were examined daily until hatching. A higher abundance of these eggs was observed in July, during a period of lower temperature and electrical conductivity, and higher pH and dissolved oxygen concentrations. ANOVA results indicated significant differences in resting egg abundance among the sampling months. Ceriodaphnia reticulata, Macrothrix spinosa, Ilyocryptus spinifer, Ephemeroporus tridentatus and Diaphanosoma sp. hatched from the resting eggs, although they were not observed in the plankton samples. C. reticulata was observed for the first time in this floodplain, with these study results corroborating the hypothesis that resting cladoceran eggs do contribute to zooplankton diversity in the lagoon.
Biotic Ligand Model estimation of copper bioavailability and toxicity in the Yacyretá Reservoir on the Paraná River
Authors: Natale Oscar E. , Leis Maria V.
Published: October 2008

The Biotic Ligand Model (BLM) was used to assess copper bioavailability, toxicity and water‐effect ratios (WER) for the Yacyretá Reservoir on the Paraná River. Copper in the Yacyretá Reservoir watershed is ubiquitous (median dissolved concentration = 4.4 µg L−1), being contributed mainly by non‐point surface run‐off from citrus fields and urban sewage point sources. BLM simulations indicated that copper bioavailability is negligible, as almost 100% of the dissolved copper is complexed by dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Copper bioavailability in the Paraná River, which has a mean hardness concentration of 16.5 mg CaCO3 L−1, is controlled by the presence of humic substances (≈60% of humic acids) in DOC. BLM estimates of acute toxicity for a cyprinid fish species were of the same order of magnitude as those corresponding to daphnids (EC50 = 63.54 µg L−1). However, zooplankton species were chosen to represent the aquatic biota for water quality regulatory purposes because of their slightly higher sensitivity to copper toxicity. Based on the corresponding minimum WER (14.6) for copper in Yacyretá Reservoir on the Paraná River, a site‐specific copper criterion for the protection of the aquatic biota of 24 µg L−1 was derived. All measured dissolved copper concentrations for Yacyretá Reservoir during the 2001–2002 period were in compliance with this criterion. Development and application of the BLM provides a useful tool for managing metal loads in reservoir environments.
Resettler choices and long‐term consequences of involuntary resettlement caused by construction of Kotmale Dam in Sri Lanka
Authors: Takesada Naruhiko , Manatunge Jagath , Herath Indika Lakshman
Published: October 2008

Involuntary resettlement caused by dam construction, especially in developing countries, is being criticized as an additional cause of impoverishment of the poor population being resettled. Despite current improvements in planning and implementation of involuntary resettlement, there is little experience or research on the medium‐ to long‐term consequences of involuntary resettlement on those being resettled.

Within the comprehensive water resource development programme in Sri Lanka under the Mahaweli Accelerated Development Programme, Kotmale Dam was constructed in 1985 for the purpose of hydroelectric power generation and irrigation water supply. Construction of the dam caused ≈ 3000 households to be evacuated and relocated. There were two resettlement alternatives for the families being affected by the dam construction project. The first was to stay close to the reservoir, and receive smaller land plots. The other was to settle in newly developed areas for Mahaweli Development Programme, being located >100 km from original villages, but receive larger, irrigated land plots. In order to determine the consequences after 25 years of the resettlement caused by construction of Kotmale Dam, these authors conducted socioeconomic interview surveys of ≈250 households in three resettlement areas, including Mahaweli System H, System B, System C and villages located near the reservoir site.

The study results indicated that the majority of the resettlers perceived their livelihoods as being improved after their resettlement. Furthermore, the majority of them expressed their satisfaction regarding their resettlement choices and their current livelihoods, either in the resettlement sites located near the reservoir or in resettlement sites located far from the original settlement sites. However, their satisfaction is usually based on different perceptions on the part of the resettlers that reflect different strategies for coping with involuntary resettlement. The major factors affecting the choices of resettlers were land ownership and/or the educational opportunities for their children. These survey results indicate that the resettled people made conscious choices for their future, especially for their children. For future resettlement programmes, these authors propose that it is important that the considerations of future generations be incorporated in a feasible, sustainable manner, particularly in regard to educational opportunities.
Thermoelastic investigation of an aluminium helicopter component under non‐adiabatic conditions
Authors: GALLOTTI A. , SALERNO A. , DESIDERATI S. , FANTONI G.
Published: October 2008

Thermoelastic Stress Analysis (TSA) has been used to analyze an aeronautic cross‐shaped structural component, composed of several riveted parts, made of different aluminium alloys. Due to the high thermal diffusivity of aluminium, some parts of the component were not in adiabatic conditions during the test, causing an attenuation of the temperature peaks, linked to the stress distribution. Furthermore, the presence of a thick primer coating altered the TSA results on the component especially at high frequencies. After the removal of the primer from some parts of the surface, a correction procedure was applied to compensate for the heat diffusion, thus obtaining quantitative results, which proved to be in very good agreement with the stress values obtained by strain gauges.
Mechanical fatigue of an electronic component under random vibration
Authors: C¸ELİK M. , GENC¸ C.
Published: October 2008

Electronic equipment, which is widely used in military applications, must be able to survive harsh environments. The endurance of such equipment is defined by the durability of their internal sensitive components. In this study, vibration induced fatigue life analysis of an axial leaded aluminium capacitor is performed. Three point bending tests are performed for the composite FR‐4 printed circuit boards (PCBs) material in order to determine bending modulus. Experimental modal analysis is used to validate a simulation model of the PCB. Step stress tests (SSTs) of reinforced and unreinforced capacitors which are mounted on the test PCBs are performed. It is found that the failure locations on the test PCBs are compatible among themselves and all the failures are due to flexure stress developed at the lead wires and solder joints. Numerical fatigue analyses are performed to define failure in terms of damage index. In addition, the Weibull model is used to define mean time to failure (MTTF) values. The comparison between MTTF values shows that the fatigue lives are strongly increased by the eccobond reinforcement. The last stage in this work is to focus on the influence of some design parameters on the fatigue life. An exponential equation is proposed to find the relation between lead‐wire diameter and the fatigue damage. It is shown that fatigue damage becomes a maximum for a square shaped PCB and it appears that component body diameter is more effective than the body length in increasing fatigue life.
Comparison of the modified three‐rail shear test and the [(+45°,−45°)]ns tensile test for pure shear fatigue loading of carbon fabric thermoplastics
Authors: DE BAERE I. , VAN PAEPEGEM W. , DEGRIECK J.
Published: October 2008

The (three)‐rail shear test is rarely considered for testing of fibre‐reinforced composites under pure shear fatigue loading conditions because of all experimental difficulties. However, in this article, a carbon fabric‐reinforced PPS is tested using a modified three‐rail shear test setup. The results are compared with [(+45°,−45°)]4s tensile tests with good correspondence. All fatigue experiments were done with R= 0 and the influence of maximum shear stress and frequency is investigated. It can be concluded that an increase in maximum shear stress decreases fatigue lifetime, whereas an increase in frequency increases the lifetime. Before failure, a sudden increase in both temperature and permanent deformation could be detected. Creep tests yielded that the occurring deformation is mainly due to the fatigue loading, rather than due to creep phenomena.
Fracture path prediction of diamond segment in a marble cutting disc
Authors: UCUN İ. , ASLANTAS K. , TASGETIREN S. , SEDAT BÜYÜKSAGIS İ.
Published: October 2008

This study investigates the fracture path behaviour of diamond segments that have been brazed on a marble cutting disc. The segments are braze‐joined using the oxy‐gas welding technique. The micro‐structure of the brazing zone and the disc were investigated using standard metallographic techniques and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Additionally, we used numerical modelling to study crack growth at the welding zone. Two dimensional linear elastic fracture mechanics principles were used to analyze propagation behaviour of the crack. Stress intensity factors were calculated using displacement correlation method. It was deduced from the SEM analysis of the fractured segment surface that the fracture occurred in the diamond segment due to stress concentration near the sharp corners of the diamond particles that are embedded into the matrix. The existence of such sharp artefacts within the matrix leads to the formation of cracks.
Fatigue behaviour of friction stir welded AA2024‐T3 alloy: longitudinal and transverse crack growth
Authors: MILAN M. T. , BOSE FILHO W. W. , RUCKERT C. O. F. T. , TARPANI J. R.
Published: October 2008

The fatigue crack growth properties of friction stir welded joints of 2024‐T3 aluminium alloy have been studied under constant load amplitude (increasing‐ΔK), with special emphasis on the residual stress (inverse weight function) effects on longitudinal and transverse crack growth rate predictions (Glinka's method). In general, welded joints were more resistant to longitudinally growing fatigue cracks than the parent material at threshold ΔKvalues, when beneficial thermal residual stresses decelerated crack growth rate, while the opposite behaviour was observed next toKCinstability, basically due to monotonic fracture modes intercepting fatigue crack growth in weld microstructures. As a result, fatigue crack growth rate (FCGR) predictions were conservative at lower propagation rates and non‐conservative for faster cracks. Regarding transverse cracks, intense compressive residual stresses rendered welded plates more fatigue resistant than neat parent plate. However, once the crack tip entered the more brittle weld region substantial acceleration of FCGR occurred due to operative monotonic tensile modes of fracture, leading to non‐conservative crack growth rate predictions next toKCinstability. At threshold ΔKvalues non‐conservative predictions values resulted from residual stress relaxation. Improvements on predicted FCGR values were strongly dependent on how the progressive plastic relaxation of the residual stress field was considered.
Stress intensity factors and crack opening displacements for slanted axial through‐wall cracks in pressurized pipes
Authors: HUH N.‐S. , SHIM D.‐J. , CHOI S. , PARK K.‐B.
Published: October 2008

This paper proposes elastic stress intensity factors and crack opening displacements (CODs) for a slanted axial through‐wall cracked cylinder under an internal pressure based on detailed three‐dimensional (3D) elastic finite element (FE) analyses. The FE model and analysis procedure were validated against existing solutions for both elastic stress intensity factor and COD of an idealized axial through‐wall cracked cylinder. To cover a practical range, four different values of the ratio of the mean radius of cylinder to the thickness (Rm/t) were selected. Furthermore, four different values of the normalized crack length and five different values of the ratio of the crack length at the inner surface to the crack length at the outer surface representing the slant angle were selected. Based on the elastic FE results, the stress intensity factors along the crack front and CODs through the thickness at the centre of the crack were provided. These values were also tabulated for three selected points, that is, the inner and outer surfaces and at the mid‐thickness. The present results can be used to evaluate the crack growth rate and leak rate of a slanted axial through‐wall crack due to stress corrosion cracking and fatigue. Moreover, the present results can be used to perform a detailed leak‐before‐break analysis considering more realistic crack shape development.
Modelling fatigue crack propagation in CT specimens
Authors: BRANCO R. , ANTUNES F. V. , MARTINS R. F.
Published: October 2008

Although there are a great number of numerical studies focused on the numerical simulation of crack shape evolution, a deeper understanding is required concerning the numerical parameters and the mathematical modelling. Therefore, the objectives of the paper are the study of the influence of numerical parameters, particularly the radial size of crack front elements and the magnitude of individual crack extensions, the mathematical modelling of crack propagation regimes, and the linking of crack shape changes with K distribution. A relatively simple through‐crack geometry, the CT specimen, was studied and the numerical model was validated with experimental results with a good agreement. The K distribution along crack front was found to be the driving force for shape variations. Shape variations were found to be one order of magnitude lower than K variations.
Analytical and numerical modelling of plasticity‐induced crack closure in cold‐expanded holes
Authors: DE MATOS P. F. P. , NOWELL D.
Published: October 2008

The aim of this research was the development of an analytical model for plasticity‐induced fatigue crack closure for cold expanded holes. This paper extends Nowell's plane stress model of plasticity‐induced crack closure for a plate with a circular hole and two radial symmetric cracks. The possibility of existence of an initial residual stress field is also taken into account. This model has potential to be applied to other cracked geometries and arbitrary residual stress fields, although the paper is focused on the study of cold‐expanded holes. Hole cold‐expansion is widely used in aircraft industry, for improving the fatigue performance of rivet holes by delaying fatigue crack propagation. This paper shows that the residual stress field due to cold‐expansion has a strong influence on the closure behaviour and therefore on fatigue crack propagation. The analytical model developed, was compared with finite element analyses of plasticity‐induced crack closure with and without residual stresses. Finally, the model was used to predict fatigue lives for some experiments recently reported in the literature for fatigue crack propagation from cold‐expanded holes. Predicted fatigue lives correlate well with experimental data.
The effect of frequency on the giga‐cycle fatigue properties of a Ti–6Al–4V alloy
Authors: TAKEUCHI E. , FURUYA Y. , NAGASHIMA N. , MATSUOKA S.
Published: October 2008

The effect of frequency on giga‐cycle fatigue properties was investigated in smooth and 0.3 mm‐hole‐notched specimens at three heats (Heats A, B, and C) for a 900 MPa‐class Ti‐6Al‐4V alloy. Fatigue tests were performed at frequencies of 120 Hz, 600 Hz, and 20 kHz using electromagnetic resonance, high‐speed servohydraulic, and ultrasonic fatigue testing machines, respectively. Heats A and B developed internal fractures, and in these cases, frequency effects were negligible. On the other hand, Heat C developed only surface fractures. In this case, high‐frequency tests showed a higher fatigue strength, indicating frequency effects were not negligible. The tests using the notched specimens showed almost no frequency effects regardless of the heat. The frequency effects observed in the cases of surface fracture were believed to be related to a delay in local plastic deformation in response to high‐frequency loading, since temperature increases in these specimens were successfully suppressed. The delay in the plastic deformation was observed to be reduced in the notched specimens because of stress concentration and limitation in the plastic deformation zone. In turn, the significant conclusion of this research is that high‐frequency tests can be applied not only to internal fractures but also to notch problems, but are not applicable to surface fractures of smooth specimens.
The effect of high‐temperature annealing on tensile strength and its mechanism of Hi‐Nicalon SiC fibres under inert atmosphere
Authors: YAO R. Q. , WANG Y. Y. , FENG Z. D.
Published: October 2008

Hi‐Nicalon SiC (silicon carbide) fibres were annealed in an argon flow for 10 h at 1400 °C, 1600 °C and 1800 °C. The strength of the fibres was determined by a monofilament tensile testing machine, their fracture surfaces were analysed by SEM (scanning electron microscope) and their microstructure was characterized by a TEM (transmission electron microscope) and XRD (X‐ray diffractometer). The results indicated that the strength of the fibres obeyed the Weibull distribution and the tensile strength decreased with the increase of annealing temperatures. The specimens showed brittle/flat fracture; most of the cracks initiated at the inner region of the fibres. After being annealed at 1800 °C for 10 h, the specimens showed cleavage and transcrystalline fracture. Statistical analysis revealed that the defects at the surface of the fibres had a negligible effect on their strength.
Violence and Xenophobia as Means of Social Control in Times of Collapse: The Soviet Occupation of Post‐War Germany, 1945–1947*
Authors: Slaveski Filip
Published: October 2008

This article explores an overlooked aspect of the Soviet occupation of post‐war Germany, namely, the influence of wartime violence on German behavioural patterns during the post‐war period. Whilst many historians have noted that violent Soviet conduct in Germany merely encouraged the intensification of existing anti‐Soviet attitudes therein, few have attempted to thoroughly investigate its influence on German behaviour. The conclusions made by those few historians who have done so are unsupported by the Soviet archival evidence drawn upon in the article. Using this evidence, the article highlights the tentative links between the violent repression of an occupation force and the muted responses of its subjects. It concludes that the nature of the repression and of the broader occupation landscape in which it developed, was integral in ensuring that the characteristically docile behaviour of the German population toward the Soviet occupier continued unabated throughout much of the occupation period.
Cutting Scotland Loose: Soft Nationalism and Independence-in-Europe
Authors: Preston Peter
Published: October 2008

The reactions of metropolitan political elites to the recent electoral successes of Scottish Nationalists have been broadly negative; arguments for independence have been characterised in domestic United Kingdom terms and thereafter dismissed as voluntaristic, atavistic and indulgent. This is an error: the end of the comfortable certainties of the cold war has revealed a complex pattern of ever-changing structural relationships within which discrete polities must make their way; these changes have given us the European Union, an unfolding project, and as structural change in Europe runs through Scotland local agents must read and react with an eye to the future. Arguments for independence are rational; critics may disagree with such proposals, but it would be sensible to consider them directly. Those inclined to dismissal may neglect good argument today and store up unpleasant surprises for themselves tomorrow.
Viewpoint: Keeping a Close Watch – The Rise of Self-Surveillance and the Threat of Digital Exposure
Authors: Dennis Kingsley
Published: October 2008

Digital technologies have given rise to increased occurrences of self-surveillance and forms of ‘virtual vigilantism’. This has progressed from key moments such as the video recording of the Rodney King incident, to recording human rights abuses, to citizen grassroots surveillance. From this has emerged the phenomenon known as citizen journalism where recent urban crises have been recorded on mobile phones by the individuals involved. Also on the increase are forms of mob vigilantism, or ‘participatory panopticon’; examples here include phone images spread over the Internet as severe forms of ‘community punishment’. I argue that these unmediated forms of bottom-up surveillance – sousveillance – show the early signs of a new type of civil responsibility that stands unregulated and without restraint. This paper addresses the issues of increased individualised self-surveillance and asks whether this is the consequence of a personalised resistance to an ever increasing surveillance society.
The Importance of Survival Units for Norbert Elias's Figurational Perspective
Authors: Kaspersen Lars Bo , Gabriel Norman
Published: October 2008

In this paper, we argue that Norbert Elias's concept of survival unit is a distinctive part of the development of his figurational sociology and one of the most consistent contributions to relational thinking. The survival unit is a particular form of figuration which provides security and the material foundations for life such as food and shelter. Every human being is born into a survival unit. This unit is a relational concept which cannot be conceived outside a relationship with other survival units.

By introducing the concept of survival unit Elias overcomes one of the key problems in relational sociology: how to demarcate primary social relations. Elias argues that human societies from very early on have been divided into survival units. These survival units are demarcated and constituted in their relationship to other survival units. Consequently, their boundaries are generated in a confrontation with other survival units.

This relationship can be peaceful or conflict ridden but in the last resort it can end with violent confrontation. Only the survival unit with the ability to defend a domain of sovereignty will survive. This observation places Elias among the few sociologists with an understanding of the role of warfare in social relationships.
Vive La (Sexual) Révolution: The Political Roots of Bourdieu's Analysis of Gender
Authors: Yair Gad
Published: October 2008

This paper argues that the French Revolution constituted the basic metaphor through which Pierre Bourdieu perceived and analyzed gender hierarchies; that the class structure of the ancien régime and the mechanisms of its legitimation were the major metaphors he used through his scathing critiques on the order of the sexes; and that the ideals of liberté, égalité and fraternité were always his reformatory aims for a just, gender-neutral society. The paper shows how this preoccupation with the Revolution of 1789 structured Bourdieu's analysis of gender relations and sexual identities in contemporary society. It exposes the ways in which he identified men with the nobility and women with the third estate; it presents his analyses of the role that traditional ideologies and state bureaucracies play in legitimating this arbitrary order of masculine domination; and it analyzes his proposals for a sexual revolution while exposing the counter-revolutionary forces that persistently negate attempts to reform gender hierarchies. Fundamentally, this new reading of Bourdieu's exegeses on gender suggests that he was working with a ready-made interpretive scheme, a model of society that he was inclined to see as always reproducing itself: the ancien régime.
Educational Inequalities and Educational Mobility under Socialism in the Czech Republic
Authors: Simonová Natalie
Published: October 2008

The sociology of education on the Czech Republic has focused almost entirely on relative measures of inequality (based on odds ratio data) than to trends in educational mobility (based on mobility tables). Therefore, there is a significant gap in our knowledge of how the Czech education system has evolved in the long term. Although the periods before and after the onset of socialism appear to have had very specific mobility patterns, we know relatively little about their differences. Therefore, this article attempts 1) to verify the findings to date about the character and extent of educational inequalities in the Czech half of socialist Czechoslovakia, and 2) to update these findings with a new mobility analysis. In this context the article poses two key questions: In what ways are the two mobility systems (pre-socialist and socialist) different? Was the Czech education system becoming more or less open? Using the mobility perspective and log-linear modelling, the analysis identifies some specific structural contexts and shows that the level of intergenerational educational reproduction that existed between 1906 and 1938 gradually diminished thereafter, except among women, who experienced a re-strengthening after 1948. Although after the Prague Spring in 1968 the association between the education of parents and their children began to strengthen, the mother-daughter association in educational reproduction weakened at the end of socialism.
Family Comes First or Open All Hours?: How Low Paid Women Working in Food Retailing Manage Webs of Obligation at Home and Work
Authors: Backett-Milburn Kathryn , Airey Laura , McKie Linda , Hogg Gillian
Published: October 2008

This paper draws on qualitative findings from a study exploring work-life balance issues amongst female employees within food retailing. Whilst female employment is fundamental to this sector, there is limited evidence on employees’ experiences of reconciling relatively low-paid work and the particular demands of food retailing with domestic and caring responsibilities. Managing competing discourses and demands at home and work is a feature of many women's lives. For those in low-paid jobs, with fewer material resources to fall back on, such webs of obligation, often stretching over the lifecourse, may be particularly difficult to navigate or escape. In food retail work, as in caring/domestic emergencies, timeframes may be tight and demands made on workers at short notice and outwith the standard working day. The study showed that sustaining their moral identities both as good mothers/daughters/family members (‘family comes first’) and as good and reliable workers (‘the store must be staffed’) was, therefore, an everyday practical accomplishment for these food retail employees. We explore women's accounts against the backdrop of particular familial, workplace and socio-cultural expectations and constraints, identifying overlapping sets of values between home and work as well as points of contradiction and tension.
The embryo as moral work object: PGD/IVF staff views and experiences
Authors: Ehrich Kathryn , Williams Clare , Farsides Bobbie
Published: October 2008

We report on one aspect of a study that explored the views and experiences of practitioners and scientists on social, ethical and clinical dilemmas encountered when working in the field of preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) for serious genetic disorders. The study produced an ethnography based on observation, interviews and ethics discussion groups with staff from two PGD/IVF Units in the UK. We focus here on staff perceptions of work with embryos that entails disposing of ‘affected’ or ‘spare’ embryos or using them for research. A variety of views were expressed on the ‘embryo question’ in contrast to polarised media debates. We argue that the prevailing policy acceptance of destroying affected embryos, and allowing research on embryos up to 14 days leaves some staff with rarely reported, ambivalent feelings. Staff views are under‐researched in this area and we focus on how they may reconcile their personal moral views with the ethical framework in their field. Staff construct embryos in a variety of ways as ‘moral work objects’. This allows them to shift attention between micro‐level and overarching institutional work goals, building on Casper's concept of ‘work objects’ and focusing on negotiation of the social order in a morally contested field.
Understanding adversity and resilience at older ages
Authors: Hildon Zoe , Smith Glenn , Netuveli Gopalakrishnan , Blane David
Published: October 2008

This mixed‐methods study looks at the relationship between adversity and resilience. It examines the dynamics of protection in a sub‐sample of the Boyd Orr cohort that are aged between 70 and 80 years of age (n = 139). We used a questionnaire and activity diaries to gather a range of quantitative data, and interviews using lifegrids to explore past and present experiences of adversity. Sampling of 32 individuals was based on resilient and vulnerable outcomes (16 cases respectively), measured quantitatively as good or poor quality of life (CASP‐19) in the presence of one or more adversities such as ill health or stress. The analysis explored adversity and protection in relationships, retirement, and health. Participants with resilient outcomes drew upon social and individual resources in the face of adversity, in particular resources that stabilised life change by providing continuity. These included: constructing narratives that reinterpreted past adversity in light of recent ones; maintaining social roles and activities that had previously brought pleasure or a sense of mastery; relying on tried and tested coping strategies; support from close ongoing relationships. Participants with vulnerable outcomes, however, described more severe adversities, suggesting that resilience is also dependent on the degree and impact of this experience.
Engaging with sleep: male definitions, understandings and attitudes
Authors: Meadows Robert , Arber Sara , Venn Susan , Hislop Jenny
Published: October 2008

Recent literature has highlighted the sociological significance of sleep and has suggested that sleep offers a ‘window’ onto the gendered nature of our lives. Yet within this body of work men's sleep has been largely ignored. This paper seeks to rectify this omission and situates itself at the intersection between literature on the sociological aspects of sleep and social‐constructionist‐orientated writings on men's health. It draws upon qualitative data from 40 men to investigate male understandings of, and attitudes towards, sleep. At first glance, it could be suggested that men have little regard for sleep, and are prone to taking risks with their dormancy. Viewed in this way sleep becomes an instrument used in the negotiation of status and power and intrinsically bound up with the demonstration of masculinities. Yet, men's relationship with sleep is more complex than this. Amongst other things, the men within the present study were embroiled in a function/non‐function dichotomy. Sleep was seen as needed for the praxis of ‘father’, ‘worker’, ‘husband’ and ‘mate’ but was also considered as something which should not get in the way of performing these roles.
Beyond cultural competency: Bourdieu, patients and clinical encounters
Authors: Lo Ming‐cheng M. , Stacey Clare L.
Published: October 2008

In response to widely documented racial and ethnic disparities in health, clinicians and public health advocates have taken great strides to implement ‘culturally competent’ care. While laudable, this important policy and intellectual endeavour has suffered from a lack of conceptual clarity and rigour. This paper develops a more careful conceptual model for understanding the role of culture in the clinical encounter, paying particular attention to the relationship between culture, contexts and social structures. Linking Bourdieu's (1977) notion of ‘habitus’ and William Sewell's (1992) axioms of multiple and intersecting structures, we theorise patient culture in terms of ‘hybrid habitus’. This conceptualisation of patient culture highlights three analytical dimensions: the multiplicity of schemas and resources available to patients, their specific patterns of integration and application in specific contexts, and the constitutive role of clinical encounters. The paper concludes with a discussion of directions for future research as well as reforms of cultural competency training courses.
Pain experience and the imagined researcher
Authors: Smith Marion V.
Published: October 2008

Little attention has been paid to what happens communicatively when members of the general population attempt to complete a postal survey. The questions – here, on the experience of pain – encapsulate health researchers’ views of useful indicators of the scope of pain experience, hence displaying an ‘official’ representation of experienced pain, limitation, and disability. The respondent faces the double task of aligning their personal experience with this representation in a way that is meaningful and true both to their own experience and to the perceived demands of the questionnaire. For this to succeed, context is often crucial. The paper explores sources and indications of tension in this endeavour as part of a communicative process. Beginning from the observation that respondents frequently write unsolicited comments on their questionnaires, the paper proposes that the need for communication beyond the requested tick in the box treats the questionnaire as an attempt at dialogue with a figure I call ‘the imagined researcher’. The paper discusses the communicative task that confronts respondents and the implications of ‘the imagined researcher’ for the research process.
Foreign Direct Investment, Regulations and Growth
Authors: Busse Matthias , Groizard José Luis
Published: October 2008

The paper explores the linkage between income growth rates and foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows. So far the evidence is rather mixed, as no robust relationship between FDI and income growth has been established. We argue that countries need a sound business environment in the form of good government regulations to be able to benefit from FDI. Using a comprehensive data set for regulations, we test this hypothesis and find evidence that excessive regulations restrict growth through FDI only in the most regulated economies. This result is robust to different specifications of the econometric model.
Making Trade Policy in a New Democracy after a Deep Crisis: Indonesia
Authors: Bird Kelly , Hill Hal , Cuthbertson Sandy
Published: October 2008

This paper examines the recent political economy of trade policy in Indonesia against the backdrop of two major events: the deep economic crisis of 1997–98, and the transition from three decades of rapid growth under an authoritarian regime to a weaker but democratic state. We investigate both international and domestic trade policy. The international trade policy regime has remained largely open, perhaps surprisingly in view of the unpopularity of liberal economic policies in the wake of the crisis and the forces advocating more protectionist policies. However, this openness is precarious, and lacks both institutional and community opinion support. In contrast, while remaining largely open at the international border, domestic barriers to trade have increased. This conjunction of economic crisis and weak, democratic states is a common phenomenon in the developing world, and the lessons for trade policy from the Indonesian experience over this decade are therefore relevant to many other countries.
A Tale of Three Countries: Italian, Spanish and Swiss Manufacturing Operations in China
Authors: Gattai Valeria
Published: October 2008

In this paper, the choice of joint venture versus wholly foreign‐owned enterprise (WFOE), made by Italian, Spanish and Swiss multinationals in China, as shaped by the risk of dissipation of intangible assets, is investigated. Probit estimates, based on an entirely new firm‐level dataset, constructed by the author, show that WFOE is more likely to emerge when know‐how easily spills over – namely for firms endowed with more intangible assets or belonging to high‐tech sectors – in line with the theoretical expectations.
Foreign Acquisition and Firm Productivity: Evidence from Slovenia
Authors: Salis Sergio
Published: October 2008

This paper investigates the impact of foreign acquisition on the productivity of Slovenian manufacturing firms subject to takeover in 1997. It finds evidence that foreign investors acquire those enterprises with higher productivity, that are more inclined to export and that operate in more concentrated industries. It then controls for the estimation bias induced by this non‐random selection process by applying the combined propensity score matching and difference‐in‐differences estimation technique. The results of the empirical analysis show no robust statistical evidence of a positive causal effect of foreign acquisition up to two years following takeover. This finding suggests that a transfer of intangible assets from foreign firms to their Slovenian affiliates does not take place over this time period.
Cultural Distance and the US Immigrant–Trade Link
Authors: White Roger , Tadesse Bedassa
Published: October 2008

Using data from the World and the European Values Surveys, we calculate cultural distances between the US and 54 immigrant home countries and examine the influences of cultural distance and immigrant populations on US imports from and exports to immigrants’ home countries during the years 1997–2004. Our study indicates that, for both US imports and exports, the trade‐enhancing effect of immigrants partially offsets the trade‐inhibiting effect of cultural distance. Further, decomposing our measure of cultural distance into two component dimensions and revisiting the immigrant–trade relationship, we find significant variation in the extent to which immigrants counter the trade‐inhibiting influences of the underlying dimensions of culture for both US imports and exports. Our findings have the implication that by countering the trade‐inhibiting influences of cultural differences between their home and host countries, immigrants exert pro‐development effects.
Impact of Exchange Rate Uncertainty on Trade Flows: Evidence from Commodity Trade between the United States and the United Kingdom
Authors: Bahmani‐Oskooee Mohsen , Kovyryalova Marina
Published: October 2008

Previous studies that investigated the impact of exchange rate volatility on the trade flows employed aggregate trade data and standard estimation techniques. They provided mixed results. In this paper we use disaggregated import and export data for 177 commodities traded between the United States and the United Kingdom to investigate whether volatility of the real bilateral dollar–pound exchange rate has any detrimental effect on trade flows at the commodity level. Additionally, we employ the bounds testing approach to cointegration and error‐correction modelling that is suitable for the models used mostly because it does not require pre‐unit‐root testing and variables in the model could be stationary, non‐stationary or a combination of the two. In most trade flow models estimated, we found a negative effect of exchange rate volatility on commodity trade.
Beggar‐Thy‐Neighbour Exchange Rate Regime Misadvice from Misapplications of Mundell (1961) and the Remedy
Authors: Pope Robin
Published: October 2008

Economists invokeMundell (1961) in arguing for thegeneralpolicy of a flexible exchange rate regime as a means of restoring equilibria after shocks. But there is a discrepancy between the intent of the general policy and attempts at its implementation as identified byspecificchanges in exchange rates. When we assemble the set of specific changes called for by distinct economists operating as advocates for individual countries, these are uniformly in the form of beggar‐thy‐neighbour advice – i.e. travesties of objectively identifying disequilibria and a menace to international cooperation and peace. This paper traces the unintended travesties to problems of complexity and uncertainty, problems that implicitly are assumed absent inMundell (1961) rendering the situation so simple that equilibria are transparent. The problems remained essentially unaddressed when economists extendedMundell (1961) via expected utility theory since this theory also ignores the impossibility of maximising and the complexities of central bankers, private firms and others in doing the evaluation stage in reaching decisions. The problems can be overcome by modelling within SKAT, the Stages of Knowledge Ahead Theory. This paper points to experimental evidence in support of the view that under all sorts of disequilibrating shocks, currency unions outperform flexible currencies by eliminating the inefficiencies generated by exchange rate uncertainty.
Does Monetary Integration Reduce Exchange Rate Pass‐Through?
Authors: Slavov Slavi T.
Published: October 2008

There are several theoretical arguments for why the adoption of a common currency (either a currency union or a currency board) may reduce the exchange rate pass‐through (ERPT) to domestic consumer prices. This paper examines a broad panel of 101 countries over the period 1976–2006, using two‐stage instrumental‐variable estimation techniques in order to resolve the potential endogeneity problem. The main result is that ERPT indeed tends to decline in countries participating in a common currency arrangement. In particular, there has been a strong reduction in pass‐through in the member countries of the European Monetary Union (EMU) since the launch of the euro. Currency boards do not appear to be different from currency unions – both reduce the pass‐through from depreciation to inflation. Furthermore, the negative impact of common currencies on ERPT is at work in both high‐income and low‐income countries. Finally, most of the reduction in pass‐through to consumer prices under common currency arrangements happens somewhere along the pricing chain between the border and the supermarket shelf.
LARGE HOARDING OF INTERNATIONAL RESERVES AND THE EMERGING GLOBAL ECONOMIC ARCHITECTURE
Authors: AIZENMAN JOSHUA
Published: October 2008

The emerging financial configuration of developing countries has been growing managed exchange rate flexibility, greater monetary independence and deeper financial integration. Hoarding international reserves is a key ingredient enhancing the stability of this emerging configuration. International reserves help by providing self‐insurance; mitigating real exchange rate effects of terms of trade shocks; and export promotion. Countries following an export‐oriented growth strategy may end up with competitive hoarding, akin to competitive devaluations. The size of China and its lower sterilization costs suggest that China may be the winner of a hoarding game. Testing precautionary motives may be challenged by the ‘peso problem’.
INFRASTRUCTURE, LONG‐RUN ECONOMIC GROWTH AND CAUSALITY TESTS FOR COINTEGRATED PANELS
Authors: CANNING DAVID , PEDRONI PETER
Published: October 2008

We investigate the consequences of various types of infrastructure provision in a panel of countries from 1950 to 1992. We develop new tests which enable us to isolate the sign and direction of long‐run effects in a manner that is robust to the presence of unknown heterogeneous short‐run causal relationships. We show that while infrastructure does tend to cause long‐run economic growth, there is substantial variation across countries. We also provide evidence that each infrastructure type is provided at close to the growth‐maximizing level on average globally, but is under‐supplied in some countries and over‐supplied in others.
A SYSTEM FOR DATING AND DETECTING TURNING POINTS IN THE EURO AREA
Authors: ANAS JACQUES , BILLIO MONICA , FERRARA LAURENT , MAZZI GIAN LUIGI
Published: October 2008

In the paper we aim to introduce a statistical dating and detection of turning points giving them a first economic interpretation. The main advantage of the proposed approach is represented by the fact that classical and growth cycles are jointly considered both in the dating and in the detecting stage. A key result of this choice is a better description of different economic phases as well as a more accurate investigation of the economic cyclical behaviour. The proposed approach considerably improves the relevance of information delivered to users in comparison with a standard analysis based only on classical or growth cycle components.
Using telemedicine for termination of pregnancy with mifepristone and misoprostol in settings where there is no access to safe services
Authors: Gomperts RJ , Jelinska K , Davies S , Gemzell‐Danielsson K , Kleiverda G
Published: October 2008

Women on Web is a service that uses telemedicine to help women access mifepristone and misoprostol in countries with no safe care for termination of pregnancy (TOP). This study reviews the telemedicine service. After an online consultation, women with an unwanted pregnancy of up to 9 weeks are referred to a doctor. If there are no contraindications, a medical TOP is conducted by mail. After maximising the follow up from 54.8 to 77.6%, 12.6% decided not to do the TOP and 6.8% of the women who did the medical TOP at home needed a vacuum aspiration. Telemedicine can provide an alternative to unsafe TOP. Outcomes of care are in the same range as TOP provided in outpatient settings.