bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Polyunsaturated fatty acids modulate prostaglandin synthesis by ovine amnion cells in vitro
Authors: Kirkup S E , Cheng Z , Elmes M , Wathes D C , Abayasekara D R E
Published: September 2010

Diets or supplements high in n-3 and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have been shown to influence the timing of parturition. PUFAs are substrates for prostaglandin (PG) synthesis, and PGs play central roles in parturition. Hence, the effects of altering PUFA composition may be mediated through alterations in the type and relative quantities of PGs synthesised. Therefore, we have investigated the effects of a range of n-3 and n-6 PUFAsin vitroon PG synthesis by amnion cells of late gestation ewes. The n-6 PUFA, arachidonic acid (20:4, n-6), increased synthesis of two-series PGs. Degree of stimulation induced by the n-6 PUFAs was dependent on the position of the PUFA in the PG synthetic pathway, i.e. PG production of the two-series (principally prostaglandin E2:PGE2) increased progressively with longer chain PUFAs. Effects of n-3 PUFAs on output of PGE2were more modest and variable. The two shorter chain n-3 PUFAs, α-linolenic acid (18:3, n-3) and stearidonic acid (18:4, n-3), induced a small but significant increase in PGE2output, while the longest chain n-3 PUFA docosahexaenoic acid (22:6, n-3) inhibited PGE2synthesis. Dihomo-γ-linolenic acid (20:3, n-6), the PUFA substrate for synthesis of one-series PGs, induced an increase in PGE1generation and a decrease in PGE2and PGE3outputs. Hence, we have demonstrated that PUFA supplementation of ovine amnion cellsin vitroaffects the type and quantity of PGs synthesised.
Blindness caused by retrobulbar hemorrhage (orbital compartment syndrome)
Authors: Klenk Gusztáv
Published: September 2010

A szerző osztályán 2007 augusztusától 2010 márciusáig 199 arcközéptörést szenvedett beteg közül öt betegnél alakult ki a sérülést követően retrobulbaris haematoma (2,5%). Ezen betegek közül négy vesztette el véglegesen és teljesen szeme világát az érintett oldalon. Egy betegnél az időben történt beavatkozás a szemet megmentette. A szerző a különböző osztályokról gyakorlatilag vak állapotban érkezett betegek retrospektív analízisét ismerteti. Az orbitatörés miatt létrejövő, szemgolyó mögötti vérzés – retrobulbaris haematoma – és oedema a kevéssé tágulni képes orbitában gyors nyomásfokozódást okoz – orbitakompartment-szindróma –, és emiatt alakul ki a nervus opticus ischaemiája, nekrózisa és a következményes vakság. A retrobulbaris haematoma tüneteinek (proptosis, chemosis, ecchymosis, ophthalmoplegia, mydriasis), illetve panaszainak észlelésekor (fájdalom, diplopia, látásélesség-csökkenés, majd vakság) azonnal elkezdett gyógyszeres (intravénás szteroid, mannitol, acetazolamid kombináció) és sebészi kezelés (lateralis canthotomia, cantholysis és orbitadekompresszió) esélyt adhat a beteg szemének, látásának megmentéséhez, ellenkező esetben már akár 20 percen túl is irreverzíbilis, végleges vakság alakul ki. A retrobulbaris haematoma leírása és kezelése nem szerepel a magyar egyetemi tankönyvek tananyagában, ezért, sajnos, a betegekkel először találkozó kollégák – amint azt a bemutatott esetek történetei is jelzik – bizonytalanok a diagnózist, a sürgősséget és a tennivalókat illetően. A szerző hiánypótlásként foglalja össze a tünetegyüttest és a kezelés lehetőségeit. A kórkép ismerete mellett elképzelhető, hogy az előfordulás gyakoribb, mint gondolnánk. A korrekt betegellátás céljából lehetséges, hogy az egyetemi, illetve posztgraduális képzésben is szükség lenne a betegség ismertetésére. Orv. Hetil., 2010, 38, 1537–1544.
Three-Dimensional Assessment of Early Surgical Outcome in Repaired Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate: Part 2. Lip Changes
Authors: Ayoub Ashraf , Garrahy Ann , Millett Declan , Bowman Adrian , Siebert J.P. , Miller James , Ray Arup
Published: September 2010

Objective

To evaluate three-dimensional lip morphology, following primary reconstruction in children with unilateral cleft lip and palate relative to contemporaneous noncleft data.

Design

Prospective, cross-sectional, controlled study.

Setting

Glasgow Dental Hospital and School, University of Glasgow, U.K.

Patients and Participants

Two groups of 3-year-old children (21 with unilateral cleft lip and palate and 96 controls) with facial images taken using a three-dimensional vision-based capture technique.

Method

Three-dimensional images of the face were reflected so the cleft was on the left side to create a homogeneous group for statistical analysis. Three-dimensional coordinates of anthropometric landmarks were extracted from facial images. Three-dimensional, generalized Procrustes superimposition was implemented and a set of linear measurements were used to compare cleft and control subjects for right and left sides, adjusting for sex differences.

Results

Crista philtri on both the cleft and noncleft sides were displaced laterally and posteriorly; there was also a statistically significant increase in philtrum width. No significant differences between cleft and control regarding the cutaneous height of the upper lip. The lip in the cleft patients was flatter than in the noncleft individuals, with less prominence of labialis superioris.

Conclusions

Stereophotogrammetry allows detection of residual dysmorphology following cleft repair. There was significant increase of the philtrum width. The lip appeared flatter and more posterior displaced in unilateral cleft lip and palate patients compared with controls.
Reliability and Validity of a Computer-Mediated, Single-Word Intelligibility Test: Preliminary Findings for Children with Repaired Cleft Lip and Palate
Authors: Zajac David J. , Plante Caitrin , Lloyd Amanda , Haley Katarina L.
Published: September 2010

Objective

To determine the reliability and validity of a computer-mediated, 50-word intelligibility test designed to be a global measure of severity of speech disability in children with repaired cleft lip and palate.

Design

A prospective between-group design was used with convenience sampling of patients from a university craniofacial center.

Participants

A total of 38 children between the ages of 4 and 9 years participated. Of these, 22 had repaired cleft lip and palate; whereas, 16 had no clefts. Twenty adults served as listeners.

Main outcome Measure(s)

Speech intelligibility scores were calculated for repeated administrations of a single-word test based upon the number of correct orthographically transcribed words by four groups of five listeners per child. Measures of parallel forms, interlistener, and intralistener reliabilities were estimated; measures of construct validity were also determined.

Results

All measures of reliability were adequate. Parallel forms reliability of the test based upon mean scores from five listeners per child was high (r= .97). Thirty-seven of 38 children had differences between forms of 11 percentage points or less. Construct validity of the test was shown by (1) significantly lower speech intelligibility scores for children with cleft lip and palate than controls and (2) a moderately high correlation (r= .79) between intelligibility scores and percent consonants correct for all children.

Conclusions

A computerized, single-word intelligibility test was described that appears to be a reliable and valid measure of global speech deficits in children with cleft lip and palate. Additional development of the test may further facilitate standardized assessment of children with cleft lip and palate.
Cleft Lip/Palate: Incidence of Prenatal Diagnosis in Glasgow, Scotland, and Comparison with Other Centers in the United Kingdom
Authors: Paterson Paul , Sher Haroon , Wylie Faye , Wallace Shirley , Crawford Anne , Sood Vikas , Gillgrass Toby , Ray Arup , Devlin Mark
Published: September 2010

Objectives

To determine the proportion of children with cleft lip and/or cleft palate diagnosed prenatally between 1999 and 2008 in those referred for treatment to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow, Scotland (RHSC); and to compare the percentage prenatally diagnosed in 2008 versus other cleft treatment centers in the U.K.

Method

A retrospective study was performed using medical records of the 459 cleft patients born and referred to RHSC between 1999 and 2008. Comparable data for year 2008 were requested from other U.K. units.

Results

For the period studied, the percentage of all clefts diagnosed prenatally was 15%. This rose to 28% when only the cases of cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL±P) were considered. An increase was seen in prenatal detection of CL±P from 11% in 1999 to 50% in 2008 ( p = .011). Two of the six U.K. units that responded had a significantly higher percentage of CL±P cases diagnosed prenatally compared with RHSC in 2008 ( p < .05).

Conclusions

The percentage of CL±P cases diagnosed prenatally in this study is consistent with the literature and increased between 1999 and 2008. Routine ultrasound anomaly scanning is shown to significantly improve detection rates compared with scanning of high-risk pregnancies only. Cases of CL±P where the alveolus or the palate is involved have significantly higher detection rates than those involving only the lip.
Multiple paleoecological controls on the composition of marine fossil assemblages from the Frasnian (Late Devonian) of Virginia, with a comparison of ordination methods
Authors: Bush Andrew M. , Brame Roderic I.
Published: September 2010

Ecological ordination can reveal gradients in the species composition of fossil assemblages that can be correlated with paleoenvironmental gradients. Ordinations of simulated data sets suggest that nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) generally produces less distorted results than detrended correspondence analysis (DCA). We ordinated 113 brachiopod-dominated samples from the Frasnian (Late Devonian) Brallier, Scherr, and lower Foreknobs Formations of southwest Virginia, which represent a range of siliciclastic marine paleoenvironments. A clear environmental signal in the ordination results was obscured by (apparently) opportunistic species that occurred at high abundance in multiple environments; samples dominated by these species aggregated in ordination space regardless of paleoenvironmental provenance. After the opportunist-dominated samples were removed, NMDS revealed a gradient in species composition that was highly correlated with substrate (grain size); a second, orthogonal gradient likely reflects variation in disturbance intensity or frequency within grain-size regimes. Additional environmental or ecological factors, such as oxygenation, may also be related to the gradients. These two gradients, plus the environmental factors that controlled the occurrence of opportunistic species, explain much of the variation in assemblage composition in the fauna. In general, the composition of fossil assemblages is probably influenced by multiple paleoecological and paleoenvironmental factors, but many of these can be decomposed and analyzed.
Integrating phylogeny, molecular clocks, and the fossil record in the evolution of coralline algae (Corallinales and Sporolithales, Rhodophyta)
Authors: Aguirre Julio , Perfectti Francisco , Braga Juan C.
Published: September 2010

When assessing the timing of branching events in a phylogeny, the most important tools currently recognized are a reliable molecular phylogeny and a continuous, relatively complete fossil record. Coralline algae (Rhodophyta, Corallinales, and Sporolithales) constitute an ideal group for this endeavor because of their excellent fossil record and their consistent phylogenetic reconstructions. We present the evolutionary history of the corallines following a novel, combined approach using their fossil record, molecular phylogeny (based on the 18S rDNA gene sequences of 39 coralline species), and molecular clocks. The order of appearance of the major monophyletic taxa of corallines in the fossil record perfectly matches the sequence of branching events in the phylogeny. We were able to demonstrate the robustness of the node ages in the phylogeny based on molecular clocks by performing an analysis of confidence intervals and maximum temporal ranges of three monophyletic groups of corallines (the families Sporolithaceae and Hapalidiaceae, as well as the subfamily Lithophylloideae). The results demonstrate that their first occurrences are close to their observed appearances, a clear indicator of a very complete stratigraphic record. These chronological data are used to confidently constrain the ages of the remaining branching events in the phylogeny using molecular clocks.
Intraspecific variation and micro-macroevolution connection: illustration with the late Miocene genusProgonomys(Rodentia, Muridae)
Authors: Lazzari Vincent , Aguilar Jean-Pierre , Michaux Jacques
Published: September 2010

Recent progresses in our knowledge of mouse odontogenesis have enhanced rodent tooth morphology as a model for Evo-Devo studies. Deciphering the connection between macroevolution and microevolution, however, especially in the case of mammalian teeth, requires examples to illustrate how morphological differences among species, or higher taxa, can stem from population-level processes. In this paper we use paleontological material to study intraspecific variation of tooth morphology in the late Miocene speciesProgonomys clauzoni, over a short span of geological time in a restricted area.Progonomysis of particular interest as a stem genus of all murine rodents (Old World rats and mice). We use morphometrical and statistical methods to illustrate how change in the amplitude in variation at the population level through geological time is associated with the emergence of new characters. Some of these new characters, including functional ones, become fixed in parallel in distinct murine lineages. Nine million years ago,Progonomys clauzonidisplayed variational properties of the developmental system shared by the Murinae, which can also explain some singular tooth characteristics that now are scattered among the diverse lineages. Further morphometric studies, however, are necessary to explain how the variety of cusp patterns observed inProgonomys clauzonican be explained by developmental properties.
An Australian land mammal age biochronological scheme
Authors: Megirian Dirk , Prideaux Gavin J. , Murray Peter F. , Smit Neil
Published: September 2010

Constrained seriation of a species-locality matrix of the Australian Cenozoic mammal record resolves a preliminary sixfold succession of land mammal ages apparently spanning the late Oligocene to the present. The applied conditions of local chronostratigraphic succession and inferences of relative stage-of-evolution biochronology lead to the expression of a continental geological timescale consisting of, from the base, the Etadunnan, Wipajirian, Camfieldian, Waitean, Tirarian, and Naracoortean land mammal ages. Approximately 99% of the 360 fossil assemblages analyzed are classifiable using this method. Each is characterized by a diagnostic suite of species. An interval of age magnitude may eventually be shown to lie between the Camfieldian and Waitean, but is currently insufficiently represented by fossils to diagnose. Development of a land mammal age framework marks a progressive step in Australian vertebrate biochronology, previously expressed only in terms of local faunas. Overall, however, the record remains poorly calibrated to the Standard Chronostratigraphic Scale. Codifying the empirical record as a land mammal age sequence provides an objective basis for expressing faunal succession without resort to standard chronostratigraphic terms with the attendant (and hitherto commonly taken) risks of miscorrelating poorly dated Australian events to well-dated global events.
Implications of Discrimination Based on Sexuality, Gender, and Race/Ethnicity for Psychological Distress among Working-Class Sexual Minorities: The United for Health Study, 2003–2004
Authors: Chae David H. , Krieger Nancy , Bennett Gary G. , Lindsey Jane C. , Stoddard Anne M. , Barbeau Elizabeth M.
Published: September 2010

This study investigated the distribution of demographic characteristics, the prevalence of discrimination based on sexuality, gender, and race, and relationships with psychological distress among 178 working-class sexual minorities (i.e., who identified as lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) or had ever engaged in same-sex sexual behaviors) recruited to the United for Health Study (2003–2004). The results indicated considerable heterogeneity in responses to items assessing sexual orientation and sexual behavior, with a majority of sexual minority participants not identifying as LGB (74.2%). The authors found significant demographic differences in LGB identification by gender, race/ethnicity, nativity, and socioeconomic factors. In addition, LGB participants had higher levels of psychological distress than non-LGB-identified sexual minorities. Linear regression analyses revealed that reports of racial/ethnic discrimination and sexuality discrimination were associated with higher levels of psychological distress among sexual minority participants. The results underscore the need to collect multiple measures of sexuality in conducting research on racially diverse working-class communities; to consider demographic factors in collecting sexuality data; and to disaggregate information on sexuality by LGB identification. Findings also highlight the importance of addressing discrimination in ameliorating problematic mental health outcomes among working-class sexual minorities.
Transition from the Labor Market: Older Workers and Retirement
Authors: Peterson Chris L. , Murphy Greg
Published: September 2010

The new millennium has seen the projected growth of older populations as a source of many problems, not the least of which is how to sustain this increasingly aging population. Some decades ago, early retirement from work posed few problems for governments, but most nations are now trying to ensure that workers remain in the workforce longer. In this context, the role played by older employees can be affected by at least two factors: their productivity (or perceived productivity) and their acceptance by younger workers and management. If the goal of maintaining employees into older age is to be achieved and sustained, opportunities must be provided, for example, for more flexible work arrangements and more possibilities to pursue bridge employment (work after formal retirement). The retirement experience varies, depending on people's circumstances. Some people, for example, have retirement forced upon them by illness or injury at work, by ill-health (such as chronic illnesses), or by downsizing and associated redundancies. This article focuses on the problems and opportunities associated with working to an older age or leaving the workforce early, particularly due to factors beyond one's control.
Ruptured Identities: Leaving Work Because of Chronic Illness
Authors: Walker Christine
Published: September 2010

When people in contemporary society have to leave paid employment because they are too ill to continue, the impact is greater than the loss of income and daily activity, as social identity is bound up with paid employment. Loss of a chosen identity may be accompanied by the assumption of an unwanted identity. This article explores the value of reconsidering Parsons' “sick role” in relation to deviance. While the “sick role” has been dismissed because it does not appear relevant to chronic illnesses, the author argues that in the current political economic context of neoliberalism, people who cannot be responsible for their own welfare now assume a deviant status. People with chronic illnesses who are unable to work are examples of this form of deviance. The deviant status of being unable to work explains why many chronically ill people adopt behaviors described by Goffman in Stigma.
Caring and Retirement: Crossroads and Consequences
Authors: Dow Briony , Meyer Claudia
Published: September 2010

As older workers move closer to retirement, they are more likely to take on caring roles. This may affect their health, retirement plans, and income security. Retired men and women experience the caring role differently, with men less likely to be adversely affected and more likely to accept services and to derive satisfaction from caring. Carers make an important contribution to the lives of the people they care for and to the community. Caring is a productive role that can be sustained into older age, as long as the carer's health and well-being are maintained. More research is needed on the relationship between retirement and caring, to explore the extent of caring and its impact on retirement plans, income, and the physical and mental health of retired carers. This information could then be built into retirement planning to better prepare older workers for this important role. Caring roles and retirement intersect in several ways. About 6 million Americans, 2.6 million Australians, and 6 million people in the United Kingdom are informal carers. People (especially men) are more likely to take on caring roles as they get older and leave the paid workforce. The need to care for a spouse or older relative can be an unanticipated outcome or a precipitator of retirement. Retirement may coincide with illness or disability of a parent or spouse, or may be forced by the demands of caring. Caring may bring about major changes to retirement plans. The financial impact of having been a carer during one's working life may also be felt most keenly on retirement, through the lack of opportunities for savings and retirement fund co-contributions.
Middle-Class Mythology and the Houdini Disappearing Act: Health Care and Jobs Joined at the Hip
Authors: Ehrle Lynn Howard , Cleveland Robert W.
Published: September 2010

Myths have long legs. Once they become integrated into the cultural ethos they are almost impossible to dislodge. The Middle Class Myth is a case in point. Spoken of in reverential terms, the conventional wisdom holds that the U.S. economy is driven by a vast middle class, anchoring its consumer-driven system of goods and services. But contrary to frequent statements by pundits, politicians, and many economists, the middle class has actually disappeared. Another commonly held myth—that the United States has the best health care system in the world—is perpetuated by medical leaders and the mainstream media. Despite huge worker layoffs causing 50 million to be without health insurance, and millions more who are underinsured, the myth persists. A third myth, one currently in vogue among media pundits and politicians, is that health care and jobs are two separate issues and policymakers can deal with them as unrelated to each other, when in reality they are inextricably interwoven—the connective tissue of a physically and mentally robust workforce. The authors use Census Bureau after-tax income and Federal Reserve data to demonstrate that the middle class has disappeared, leaving millions of Americans with little disposable income, meager savings, and no health care safety net.
Health Consequences of Chernobyl: The New York Academy of Sciences Publishes an Antidote to the Nuclear Establishment's Pseudo-Science
Authors: Katz Alison Rosamund
Published: September 2010

In February 2010, the New York Academy of Sciences published the most complete and up-to-date collection of evidence, from independent, scientific sources all over the world, on the health and environmental consequences of the Chernobyl accident. For 24 years, through a high-level, internationally coordinated cover-up of the world's most serious industrial accident, the nuclear lobby has deprived the world of a unique and critically important source of scientific information. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), mouthpiece of the nuclear establishment, has coordinated the cover-up through the dissemination and imposition of crude pseudo-science. Regrettably, the World Health Organization, a U.N. agency on which the world's people rely for guidance, is subordinate to the IAEA in matters of radiation and health, has participated in the cover-up, and stands accused of non-assistance to populations in danger. The new book on Chernobyl makes available huge amounts of evidence from independent studies undertaken in the affected countries, unique and valuable data that have been ignored by the international health establishment. This comprehensive account of the full dimensions of the catastrophe reveals the shameful inadequacy of current international assistance to the affected populations. It also demonstrates, once more, that future energy options cannot include nuclear power.
Circles of Exclusion: Obstacles in Access to Health Care Services in Israel
Authors: Filc Dani
Published: September 2010

The Israeli National Health Insurance Act establishes a formal framework that guarantees equal access to health care services. The author analyzes the ways in which the neoliberalization of Israeli society, through partial privatization of the public health care system, and its structure of citizenship interact in excluding significant social groups, such as Israeli Arabs and migrant workers, from equal access to health care.
Indigenous Health Organizations in Australia: Connections and Capacity
Authors: Baeza Juan I. , Lewis Jenny M.
Published: September 2010

The health of Aboriginal people is significantly worse than that of the rest of the Australian population. Aboriginal community-controlled health organizations live with uncertainty in terms of funding, and the amount of money spent on indigenous people through mainstream health services is less than that spent on the non-indigenous population, especially when the different needs of these two groups are taken into account. The Aboriginal population is small and widely dispersed, causing problems for policy and funding. This article provides an analysis of the network of health organizations in Victoria, with a specific focus on indigenous health, and analyzes the connections between mainstream and indigenous-specific health services. The research approach involved semi-structured interviews with informants from a range of health organizations within the state. This research illustrates the importance of Aboriginal community-controlled health organizations to the indigenous community. There is evidence that connections between the indigenous and mainstream health systems need to be further developed and strengthened to provide the indigenous population with a high-quality, culturally sensitive, and comprehensive health service.
Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance Erosion Continues in 2008 and is Expected to Worsen
Authors: Gould Elise
Published: September 2010

Although employer-sponsored health insurance (ESI) is the primary source of health coverage in the United States, at 61.9 percent of the under-65 population, the rate of this coverage has decreased every year since 2000, when 68.3 percent had ESI. By 2008, the rate of ESI coverage had fallen 6.4 percentage points, and 5 million fewer people under the age of 65 had ESI in 2008 than in 2000. Because of these large declines in ESI, workers and their families have become uninsured at alarming rates; more than 7.5 million more Americans became uninsured after 2000. Uninsured workers are disproportionately young, Hispanic, lower educated, and lower income; however, workers across all socioeconomic groups have experienced declines in coverage since 2000. Children's coverage also fell 7.0 percentage points over the 2000s, and the gap in ESI access by income substantially widened over this period. The only reason the drop in ESI did not translate into a larger increase in the overall number of uninsured is that 3.4 million additional non-elderly people were covered by public insurance from 2007 to 2008. Because of the rise in unemployment between 2008 and 2010, the number without ESI and without any coverage at all is likely to swell in the coming years.
In Search of Affective Citizenship: From the Pragmatist-Phenomenological Perspective
Authors: Hung Ruyu
Published: September 2010

This article aims to explore the meaning of the concept of affective citizenship and its educational implications. The author defines the concepts of citizenship and citizenship education by three types: the conventional, the critical rational and the affective. The article argues that conventional citizenship has been the mainstream concept and implies deficiencies. Critical rational citizenship is thus proposed to solve the problems by incorporating the values of modern liberalism and democracy. Yet the critical rational concept might still involve the difficult notion of oppression and domination over the otherness. Therefore, the author proposes that affective citizenship could be more inclusive and tolerant than the alternatives in terms of improvement, in the light of the philosophies of pragmatist philosopher Richard Rorty and phenomenological philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty. Affective citizenship may point towards a more inclusive and more open public sphere and enable citizens to think and act rationally as well as be caring, sensitive and perceptive.
‘You Can Only Get a Degree!’ Theoretically Situating the Alterations to the Back to Education Allowance Welfare to Education Programme of 2003/04
Authors: Power Martin J.
Published: September 2010

This article critically examines the Back to Education Allowance (BTEA) as a mechanism of social inclusion for Irish welfare recipients through participation in third-level education. The article is based on empirical data from focus group and in-depth qualitative interviews with third-level students on the BTEA, and key informants. The article adopts a strong ‘structural’ position, situating the source of social exclusion in the structured inequality of the labour market and the state, which disadvantages particular groups in society. In an era of unprecedented growth in Ireland, the first signs of a fiscal crisis saw cuts made to welfare programmes in 2003/2004. The article examines the resultant changes made to the BTEA, utilising Mutch's adaptation of Bourdieu's field theory to form a theoretical understanding of how and why these restrictive changes to the BTEA occurred.
Reconceptualising Access in Education Policy: Method and Mindset
Authors: Vongalis-Macrow Athena
Published: September 2010

Enhancing access to education and knowledge is a long-held principle enshrined in education policy. Access to education offers leverage for educational attainment and achievement, at the individual and social levels. In policy, the term equates with concepts of inclusion, social justice and equity. Over the last decades, as education policy has responded to global social, cultural and economic reforms, concepts such as access have also undergone revision. This article revisits the relationship between access, education and knowledge-making, in order to clarify the meaning of access in current education policies by re-evaluating how access is constructed in policy and how the concept associates with other aspects of education. The research examines the concept of access in order to improve the efficacy of policy, opening the way for more systematic and transparent policy analysis and policy making centred on defining and delineating conceptual meanings such as access, as a basis for more targeted policy. Using evidence-based policy research, the article proposes a research process model based on the hierarchy of abstraction, to show that education policy requires systematic examination of key concepts as a fundamental step towards more clearly defined policy postulates that recognise and deal with contextual complexity of education policy. Defining and delineating the meaning of concepts such as access can help in the way that education policy contributes to guiding innovative knowledge construction.
Teaching Racial Literacy: Challenges and Contributions of Multiculturalism
Authors: Canen Ana
Published: September 2010

Building on a critical post-colonial multicultural perspective and on whiteness studies that go beyond recognising cultural diversity towards challenging narratives that construct and exclude the other, the present article outlines impacts and challenges of the enactment of a recent Brazilian government educational law to combat racism in education, which makes it compulsory for schools to include black African history and culture in the curriculum. It analyses the underpinnings and the challenges within that policy. The article suggests that contradictory discourses, such as racial blindness, essentialisation of race identities, and the use of miscegenation as ‘evidence’ of racial democracy, are powerful lenses and cultural signifiers that have deeply polarised the way race has been addressed in Brazil. The study is relevant comparatively in that it provides illustrations of an official national anti-racist pedagogic experience taken as a case study, in the context of a highly inter-racial society, suggesting that anti-racist pedagogies are more likely to have positive impacts when they take into account cultural hybridisations and the provisionary nature of identity constructions.
Link or Breach? The Role of Trust in Developing Social Capital within a Family Literacy Project
Authors: Cross Beth
Published: September 2010

This article examines survey and focus group transcripts of a well-established early years literacy project in Scotland in light of contextual information about changing local authority policy in order to look at the gains in social capital identified by participants and the extent to which these indicate lasting durable change that will reap later benefits for both individuals and the community in which they are situated. Contextual information provides the basis to examine the interlinking dynamics and resources of a network of volunteer and statutory organisations that support the project and raises questions about how its benefits will be sustained should that network be seriously undermined by the changing policies of local and national government authorities. In analysing the issues at stake in sustained empowerment, a comparison is made with Bagley's work in a contrasting early years project in England. The article questions the appropriation of the metaphor of capital to the dynamics of social relations, particularly when issues of trust are at stake. Trust, it is argued, is of particular importance in decisions about how linking capital can be said to be reinvested. By looking at layers of data the conclusions that might be reached relying on statistical measures alone are problematised.
Interrogating the University as an Engine of Capitalism: Neoliberalism and Academic ‘Raison D'état’
Authors: Davidson-Harden Adam
Published: September 2010

In the era of knowledge capitalism, universities are consistently regarded as potential ‘engines' of capital accumulation and state prosperity. This article will argue that as regards their teaching and research functions – but with specific attention to the research function – universities can be seen to be enacting a type of neoliberal discourse/discursive practice that corresponds to the particular notion of ‘ raison d'état’ raised by Foucault in his 1978–79 Collège de France lectures on neoliberalism. The positioning of monetary accumulation and expansion in the rawest sense as the ultimate desirable goal of universities serves to enact the type of ‘limitation of self-regulation’ which Foucault describes as a function of the (new) liberal state, conditioned as it is to build itself, and condition all of its behaviour, on the principal goal of economic growth and accumulation, enacting a form of neoliberal governmentality, in Foucault's (and others') terms. Subsequently, a neoliberal conception of science as necessarily wedded to a narrow instrumental-economic idea of technology continues to animate public discourse both at the government and university levels, resulting in a complex – and at times contested – political terrain which revolves around a particular economic regime of truth predicated in growth and accumulation before any other consideration. In this context, universities must grow and expand, but particularly in the ways that are demanded by the particular regime of truth which is hegemonic at the time, which revolve around what is understood here as the neoliberal discourse of knowledge capitalism. This argument is offered with the example of Canada in mind in particular, but with cognizance of related trends active in other countries impacted by the ‘knowledge economy’ discourse in the OECD group of countries, for instance, and beyond.
Is Negative Goodwill Valued by Investors?
Authors: Comiskey Eugene E. , Clarke Jonathan E. , Mulford Charles W.
Published: September 2010

SYNOPSIS: Accountants have historically distanced themselves from the concept of negative goodwill on the premise that bargain purchases should not take place in the presence of efficient securities markets. This position has been a powerful influence on the accounting for negative goodwill for over half a century. However, in line with the expansion of fair value accounting, the latest accounting standard that addresses negative goodwill, SFAS No. 141(R), Business Combinations (FASB 2007), calls for the full recognition of bargain-purchase (negative goodwill) amounts. Rather than allocating some or all negative goodwill against selected acquired assets, as has been done previously, negative goodwill is now to be recognized in the year of the acquisition as a regular item of income or gain. In essence, SFAS No. 141(R) holds that the excess of the fair value of net assets acquired over the acquiring firm’s acquisition cost constitutes the receipt of value to the acquiring firm, and should be recognized as such. While this position may seem plausible, to our knowledge there has been no research that tests whether negative goodwill is valued. Based upon a sample of acquisition transactions involving negative goodwill, our research does not provide compelling evidence that markets value negative goodwill.
Global Accounting Convergence and the Potential Adoption of IFRS by the U.S. (Part I): Conceptual Underpinnings and Economic Analysis
Authors: Hail Luzi , Leuz Christian , Wysocki Peter
Published: September 2010

SYNOPSIS: This article is Part I of a two-part series analyzing the economic and policy factors related to the potential adoption of IFRS by the United States. In this part, we develop the conceptual framework for our analysis of potential costs and benefits from IFRS adoption in the United States. Drawing on the academic literature in accounting, finance, and economics, we assess the potential impact of IFRS adoption on the quality and comparability of U.S. reporting practices, the ensuing capital market effects, and the potential costs of switching from U.S. GAAP to IFRS. We also discuss the compatibility of IFRS with the current U.S. regulatory and legal environment, as well as the possible macroeconomic effects of IFRS adoption. Our analysis shows that the decision to adopt IFRS mainly involves a cost-benefit trade-off between (1) recurring, albeit modest, comparability benefits for investors; (2) recurring future cost savings that will largely accrue to multinational companies; and (3) one-time transition costs borne by all firms and the U.S. economy as a whole, including those from adjustments to U.S. institutions. In Part II of the series (see Hail et al. 2010), we provide an analysis of the policy factors related to the decision and present several scenarios for the future evolution of U.S. accounting standards in light of the current global movement toward IFRS.
Continuing the Normative Dialog: Illuminating the Asset/Liability Theory
Authors: Miller Paul B. W. , Bahnson Paul R.
Published: September 2010

SYNOPSIS: This paper responds to the call in Dichev (2008) for rekindling the public discussion of normative accounting theories and analyses. Our goal is to enable and encourage members of the accounting academy to participate productively in dialogs with policy makers and to bring normative theory and analysis into their classrooms to help prepare students for more productive careers as practitioners or educators. Toward that end, we begin by explaining our position on the functional role for normativism. Next we offer up five guidelines to be applied in constructing and analyzing normative accounting theories. The guidelines are then used to frame a discussion of our version of the normative asset/liability theory of income measurement and financial position, especially its advantage of basing accounting measures on observed empirical data without relying on assumptions, predictions, and allocations. This theory is similar to and yet distinct from the one described in the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s Conceptual Framework and is quite different from the “balance sheet approach” criticized by Dichev. In the final section of the paper we use the guidelines to address several points in Dichev’s article and to suggest ways his analysis could be improved.
Section 404 Compliance and Financial Reporting Quality
Authors: Nagy Albert L.
Published: September 2010

SYNOPSIS: This study examines whether the Sarbanes-Oxley Act Section 404 (S404) compliance efforts lead to higher quality financial reports. An objective of S404 is to encourage companies to devote adequate resources and attention to their internal control systems, which should lead to more reliable financial statements. A natural laboratory of S404 compliance and noncompliance companies exists because the Securities and Exchange Commission has deferred the S404 compliance date for small companies (nonaccelerated filers). A logistic regression model is estimated using a sample of companies surrounding the S404 compliance threshold to measure the S404 compliance effect on the likelihood of issuing materially misstated financial statements. The results show a significant and negative relation between S404 compliance and issuance of materially misstated financial statements, and suggest that the S404 regulation is meeting its objective of improving the quality of financial reports.
Apolipoprotein A-I Mimetic Peptides Prevent Atherosclerosis Development and Reduce Plaque Inflammation in a Murine Model of Diabetes
Authors: Morgantini Cecilia , Imaizumi Satoshi , Grijalva Victor , Navab Mohamad , Fogelman Alan M. , Reddy Srinivasa T.
Published: September 2010

OBJECTIVE

To determine the effect of the apolipoprotein A-I (ApoA-I) mimetic peptide, D-4F, on atherosclerosis development in a pre-existing diabetic condition.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

We induced hyperglycemia in 6-week-old apoE−/− female mice using streptozotocin. Half of the diabetic apoE−/− mice received D-4F in drinking water. Ten weeks later, plasma lipids, glucose, insulin levels, atherosclerotic lesions, and lesion macrophage content were measured.

RESULTS

Diabetic apoE−/− mice developed ∼300% more lesion area, marked dyslipidemia, increased glucose levels, and reduced plasma insulin levels when compared with nondiabetic apoE−/− mice. Atherosclerotic lesions were significantly reduced in the D-4F–treated diabetic apoE−/− mice in whole aorta (1.11 ± 0.73 vs. 0.58 ± 0.44, percentage of whole aorta, P < 0.01) and in aortic roots (36,038 ± 18,467 μm2/section vs. 17,998 ± 12,491 μm2/section, P < 0.01) when compared with diabetic apoE−/− mice that did not receive D-4F. Macrophage content in atherosclerotic lesions from D-4F–treated diabetic apoE−/− mice was significantly reduced when compared with nontreated animals (78.03 ± 26.1 vs. 29.6 ± 15.2 P < 0.001, percentage of whole plaque). There were no differences in glucose, insulin, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and triglyceride levels between the two groups. Arachidonic acid, PGE2, PGD2, 15-HETE, 12-HETE, and 13-HODE concentrations were significantly increased in the liver tissue of diabetic apoE−/− mice compared with nondiabetic apoE−/− mice and significantly reduced by D-4F treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that oral D-4F can prevent atherosclerosis development in pre-existing diabetic mice and this is associated with a reduction in hepatic arachidonic acid and oxidized fatty acid levels.
Efficiency of concrete removal with a pulsed Nd:YAG laser
Authors: Savina Michael , Xu Zhiyue , Wang Yong , Reed Claude , Pellin Michael
Published: September 2010

The mechanism and efficiency of ablating concrete surfaces with a pulsed Nd:YAG laser were studied. Ablation efficiency and material removal rates were determined as functions of irradiance and pulse overlap. The ablation mechanism was dominated by fragmentation and disaggregation of the concrete. The ablation efficiency was insensitive to peak laser irradiance over a range from 0.2 to 4.4 MW/cm2. Excessive pulse overlap (>60%) caused a significant decrease in ablation efficiency by inducing melting. In concrete samples, the cement phase of the material responds in various ways to the laser energy, including disaggregation, melting, and vaporization, but the aggregate portion (sand and rock) mostly fragments. The ablation effluent therefore consists of both micron-size aerosol particles and chunks of fragmented aggregate material.
Hardness, chemical, and microstructural studies for laser-fabricated metal parts of graded materials
Authors: Kahlen Franz-Josef , von Klitzing Andreas , Kar Aravinda
Published: September 2010

Laser deposition of metal layers has been recognized, in recent years, as a one-step process to fabricate metal parts instead of the two-step process of producing a mold and then using the mold to cast a metal part. The authors have employed this one-step technique to create graded materials by varying the part’s composition from 100% stainless steel to a 100% nickel-based superalloy. Mechanical properties of these graded materials are measured and the effects of slow solidification rates are investigated. A multimode CO2 laser is operated at 270 W to produce wall-like structures of graded materials. The CO2 laser beam is focused to a spot size of 600 μm using a 127 mm focal length lens.
Drilling of glass by excimer laser mask projection technique
Authors: Keiper Bernd , Exner Horst , Löschner Udo , Kuntze Thomas
Published: September 2010

Presently, there is a growing demand from the industry for microprocessing of materials. In particular, for applications in the field of microsystems technology it is necessary to produce structures with dimensions down to the micrometer scale especially in materials that could not be processed or processed well by conventional microelectronic technologies. We have been investigating the drilling of anodically bondable Pyrex glass by means of laser microprocessing using the excimer laser mask projection technique (248 or 193 nm wavelength, 10 ns pulse duration, 8 mJ pulse energy, 500 Hz repetition rate). We will show the dependence of the processing results on the laser parameters. The diameter of the holes ranges from 30 to 100 μm at the front side and from 1 to 50 μm at the rear side of the 500-μm-thick wafer. We observed the formation of cracks in the laser processed region. Accordingly, we found distinct relationships between the process parameters and the quality of the walls of the drilled holes. Especially the change from 248 to 193 nm wavelength led to a distinct decrease of crack formation but the wall at the rear side of the wafer shows still a break off of some material. As a solution the drilling of the wafer from both sides of the wafer allows us to produce crack free holes.