bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Democratic education in an era of town hall protests
Authors: Stitzlein Sarah M.
Published: March 2011

One central aspect of a healthy democracy is the practice of democratic dissent. For the first time in many years, dissent is being widely practiced in town hall meetings and on street corners across the United States. Despite this presence, dissent is often suppressed or omitted in the prescribed, tested, hidden, and external curriculum of US schools. This article calls for a realignment of these aspects of curriculum with both a guiding vision of ideal democracy and a realistic interpretation of democracy as it is currently invoked in order to maximize this historic moment and work toward more robust democracy as a whole. This article will define dissent, show why it matters for healthy democracy, describe its role in the conscious social reproduction of citizens, reveal implications of the current more consensus-oriented forms of democracy portrayed in US schools, and call for new work on consensus and dissent in schools given changes in the present environment.
The limits of civic education: The divergent implications of political and comprehensive liberalism
Authors: Fowler Tim
Published: March 2011

Education has become one of the foremost arenas in which political liberals attempt to differentiate their account from that of comprehensive liberals. Rawls posits that the requirements of his theory, as laid out in Political Liberalism, will be far less stringent than those of liberals such as Kant, Mill or Joseph Raz. However, a number of influential theorists, most notably Amy Gutmann and Eamonn Callan, have argued that this divergence occurs only at the level of theoretical justification, and does not imply that the two varieties of liberalism will prescribe significantly different educational policies. This article refutes this argument and shows that a more detailed focus on the civic aims of political liberals will reveal significant differences in their position on educational questions from those of their comprehensive rivals.
Controlled study of myocardial recovery after interval training in heart failure: SMARTEX-HF – rationale and design
Authors: Støylen Asbjørn , Conraads Viviane , Halle Martin , Linke Axel , Prescott Eva , Ellingsen Øyvind
Published: March 2011

Background: The large randomized controlled multicentre clinical trial, HF-ACTION, recently demonstrated that a programme of recommendation of regular exercise training at moderate intensity is safe, improves quality of life, and reduces the combined endpoint of all-cause death and hospitalization in patients with chronic heart failure. However, the size of beneficial effects was modest compared to results published in smaller single studies and meta-analyses.

Objective: Based on results of a pilot study, the objective of the present investigation is to test the hypothesis that a programme comprising interval training at high relative intensity would yield significantly larger effects in terms of left ventricular remodelling compared to moderate continuous exercise training.

Study design: In a three-armed randomized multicentre study of stable heart failure patients with left ventricular ejection fraction ≤35%, the effects of a 12-week programme of high-intensity interval training (HIT; 85–90% of peak oxygen uptake, VO2peak) will be compared to actual practice in Europe, represented by either an isocaloric programme of moderate continuous training (MCT; 50–60% of VO2peak) and a recommendation of regular exercise (RE) of the individual patients’ own preference based on clinical practice at the local centre. The primary endpoint is reverse remodelling, defined as change in left ventricular end-diastolic diameter assessed by echocardiography. Secondary endpoints include peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak), biomarkers, quality of life, and level of physical activity assessed by questionnaires. In addition, long-term maintenance of effects after the supervised training period will be determined. Assessments will be made at baseline, after the 12-week intervention programme, and at 1-year follow up. A total number of 200 patients on treatment per protocol, randomized to the three groups in a 1 : 1 : 1 manner, is estimated to detect clinically relevant differences in effect with HIT vs. MCT and RE ( p < 0.05; statistical power 0.90) for the primary endpoint. Inclusion of patients started May 2009 and will run until total number has been reached.
Use of industrial kaolin waste from the Brazilian Amazon region for synthesis of zeolite A
Authors: Maia A. A. B. , Angélica R. S. , Neves R. F.
Published: March 2011

Production of kaolin for the paper-coating industry in the Brazilian Amazon region generates large amounts of waste, most of which is kaolinite. It is known that such materials can be used to synthesize zeolites. The use of kaolin waste for zeolite synthesis could, in principle, help social and economic development while providing valuable materials for industry. Additionally, there is a significant environmental appeal if such wastes could be used instead of new raw materials.

This study focused on the production of zeolite A. Samples of the raw material were first calcined (700ºC/2 h) to obtain metakaolinite for further reaction with NaOH solution. Different parameters were evaluated to optimize the synthesis conditions of zeolite A. The results showed that zeolite A with a large degree of structural order was generally obtained as the only zeolitic product. The following synthesis conditions were used: temperature 110ºC, time 24 h and a Na/Al ratio of 1.36. Hydroxysodalite was also obtained under specific conditions.
Quantification of hematite from the visible diffuse reflectance spectrum: effects of aluminium substitution and grain morphology
Authors: Liu Q. S. , Torrent J. , Barrón V. , Duan Z. Q. , Bloemendal J.
Published: March 2011

Hematite exists ubiquitously in soils and sediments, and is commonly aluminium (Al)-substituted. This study investigated systematically the effects of Al substitution on the visible diffuse reflectance spectrum (DRS) of hematite by using several sets of synthetic samples. We found that the position and amplitude of the characteristic absorption band of hematite (estimated from the first- and second-order derivative curves of the Kubelka-Munk remission function spectrum derived from the DRS) was significantly affected by the degree of Al substitution as well as by sample grain morphology. Therefore, there are ambiguities in quantifying the degree of Al substitution and the mass concentration of hematite using DRS. Nevertheless, if hematite forms under similar environmental conditions, it is possible to establish a transfer function between the DRS parameters and hematite concentration as discussed here for a Chinese loess-palaeosol sequence.
Identification and use of white clayey deposits from the area of Tamra (northern Tunisia) as ceramic raw materials
Authors: Moussi B. , Medhioub M. , Hatira N. , Yans J. , Hajjaji W. , Rocha F. , Labrincha J. A. , Jamoussi F.
Published: March 2011

White clayey geomaterials were collected from northeast of the Nefza region (northern Tunisia). These deposits belong to the Mio-Pliocene molassic basins (basin of Tamra-Sidi Dris, Boukhchiba) and Oligocene Numidien in the area of El Aouinet. Analysis by X-ray diffraction showed associations of halloysite and kaolinite (Tamra), kaolinite and illite (Aouinet zone) and mixed layers, kaolinite and feldspars (Boukhchiba zone). Semi-industrial processed bricks showed promising characteristics and were visibly free of defects. Ceramic tiles had a bending strength that met the required standards but water absorption was somewhat high. So, to achieve higher quality, optimisation needs to be carried out in the formulation of batches or in the processing conditions. Finally, the incorporation in whitish sanitary-ware glaze formulations generated smooth coating layers that showed the required strong brightness and were free of defects.
Evaluation of mineral composition and petrophysical parameters by the integration of core analysis data and wireline well log data: the Carpathian Foredeep case study
Authors: Zorski T. , Ossowski A. , Środoń J. , Kawiak T.
Published: March 2011

Knowledge of mineral composition is helpful in the interpretation of well-logging data, where the hydrocarbon saturation is expected as the final result.It is calculated from the electric resistivity, cation exchange capacity (CEC) and porosity.Porosity is calculated from the bulk density, which is measured directly in the well, and the matrix (mineralogical, grain) density, which can be calculated precisely only when the mineral composition is known.

In the shale-sand formations, which are the subject of this study, the rock matrix can conduct electric current.The Waxman–Smits formula is applied to calculate the water saturation of such rocks.This formula combines rock porosity, water saturation, water resistivity and the CEC with the total rock resistivity measured in the well.CEC is introduced to this formula as the parameter determining the shale ability to conduct electricity.Typically, CEC is controlled by the smectite content of the rock.

In order to evaluate the input data needed in the log interpretation the extended mineralogical (quantitative mineral composition, CEC) and chemical (major, trace and REE) analyses were made for over 200 core samples obtained from four gas fields in the Miocene formation of the Carpathian Foredeep.The most important clay component: the sum of mixed-layer illite-smectite and discrete illite has been quantified.The detailed recognition of clay minerals allowed for constraining the density-neutron cross-plot, which is a well log data interpretation technique for the determination of both porosity and shale content in shale-sand formations.

The statistical multivariate analysis of all data helped to set up a comprehensive petrophysical model.A reliable correlation (r2 = 0.96) of the thermal neutron absorption cross-section (Σama) and the total natural radioactivity (GR) with CEC was established.Such good correlation allows for a continuous on-line CEC determination and therefore a reliable application of the Waxman-Smits water saturation model.Experimental equations with similar level of correlation were established for quartz, clay and carbonate contents, allowing the calculation of matrix density, required in the porosity calculation.

The high correlation of Σama with CEC reflects the presence of boron in the illite-smectite clays.
Influence of hydrocarbon contamination on clay soil microstructure
Authors: Izdebska-Mucha D. , TrzcińSk J. , Żbik M. S. , Frost R. L.
Published: March 2011

Microstructural (fabric, forces and composition) changes due to hydrocarbon contamination in a clayey soil (glacial till) were studied using scanning electron microscopy (microfabric analysis), atomic force microscopy (force measurement) and a sedimentation bench test (particle size measurements). Non-polluted and polluted glacial till from NE Poland (in the area of a fuel terminal) were used for the study. Electrostatic repulsive forces in the polluted samples were much lower than in non-polluted samples. In comparison with non-polluted samples, the polluted samples exhibited lower electric charge, attractive forces on approach and strong adhesion on withdrawal. The results of the sedimentation tests indicate that clay particles form larger aggregates and settle out of the suspension rapidly in diesel oil. In non-polluted soil, the fabric is strongly aggregated – dense packing, dominating face-to-face and edge-to-edge types of contacts, clay film tightly adhering to the surface of larger grains and interparticle pores are more common. In polluted soil the clay matrix is less aggregated – loose packing, dominating edge-to-face types of contacts and inter-micro-aggregate pores are more frequent. Substantial differences were observed in the morphometric and geometrical parameters of the pore space. The polluted soil micro-fabric proved to be more isotropic and less oriented than in non-polluted soil. The polluted soil, in which electrostatic forces were suppressed by hydrocarbon interaction, displays more open porosity and larger voids than non-polluted soil, which is characterized by the occurrence of strong electrostatic interaction between the clay particles.
Diagenesis of Miocene pelitic sedimentary rocks in the Sava Depression (Croatia)
Authors: Grizelj A. , Tibljaš D. , Kovačić M. , Španić D.
Published: March 2011

Miocene pelitic sedimentary rocks from six wells in the Sava Depression (sub-basin in the south-western part of the Pannonian Basin System) were investigated in order to determine the degrees of diagenetic alteration.Qualitative and semiquantitative mineral compositions of samples and the content of smectite in illite-smectite (I-S) were determined by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD).Vitrinite reflectance and thermal alteration index (TAI) were measured in order to estimate the palaeotemperatures.Carbonate minerals, clay minerals and quartz are the main constituents of the pelitic sediments.Feldspars (albite), pyrite, opal-CT and hematite are present as minor constituents in some rocks. The mineral composition of the rocks, apart from previously known differences caused by various depositional environments and clastic material provenance, is dependent on the degree of diagenetic processes. At elevated temperatures and large burial depths the minerals formed by alteration processes or precipitated at the surface; smectite, kaolinite and calcite were gradually replaced by minerals formed by diagenetic processes, i.e. by illite-smectite, illite, chlorite, Ca-excess dolomite/ankerite and albite. Based on XRD data for smectite, I-S and illite, three stages of diagenetic development have been established. The early stage was characteristic of samples at depths <1.8 km containing smectite, I-S of the random R0 type and detrital illite.The middle stage begins with the appearance of the orderedR1 type of I-S at the depths >1.8 km and temperature above 80°C. At depths >4.6 km with corresponding temperatures >190ºC, the late stage began, characterized by the presence ofR>1 I-S with <10% smectite.
SO2adsorption on acid-treated bentonites from Turkey
Authors: Sakizci M. , Erdoğan Alver B. , Yörükoğullari E.
Published: March 2011

The adsorption of sulphur dioxide (SO2) on two bentonites from Unye, Turkey (Kavaktepe and Yemişlitepe deposits – denoted below as BK and BY) and on forms treated with 1 and 2MHCl solutions was investigated. The bentonite samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), thermogravimetry (TG-DTG), differential thermal analysis (DTA) and nitrogen adsorption methods. Adsorption capacities of SO2were obtained using a standard volumetric apparatus at 293 K and 106 kPa. The SO2adsorption capacity of the BY-2 (1.263 mmol g–1) sample was much greater than the BK-2 (1.126 mmol g–1) sample. As the concentration of acid increased, the specific surface areas and the uptakes of SO2gas increased.
3D crosshole ERT for aquifer characterization and monitoring of infiltrating river water
Authors: Coscia Ilaria , Greenhalgh Stewart A. , Linde Niklas , Doetsch Joseph , Marescot Laurent , Günther Thomas , Vogt Tobias , Green Alan G.
Published: March 2011

The hydrogeological properties and responses of a productive aquifer in northeastern Switzerland are investigated. For this purpose, 3D crosshole electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) is used to define the main lithological structures within the aquifer (through static inversion) and to monitor the water infiltration from an adjacent river. During precipitation events and subsequent river flooding, the river water resistivity increases. As a consequence, the electrical characteristics of the infiltrating water can be used as a natural tracer to delineate preferential flow paths and flow velocities. The focus is primarily on the experiment installation, data collection strategy, and the structural characterization of the site and a brief overview of the ERT monitoring results. The monitoring system comprises 18 boreholes each equipped with 10 electrodes straddling the entire thickness of the gravel aquifer. A multichannel resistivity system programmed to cycle through various four-point electrode configurations of the 180 electrodes in a rolling sequence allows for the measurement of approximately 15,500 apparent resistivity values every 7 h on a continuous basis. The 3D static ERT inversion of data acquired under stable hydrological conditions provides a base model for future time-lapse inversion studies and the means to investigate the resolving capability of our acquisition scheme. In particular, it enables definition of the main lithological structures within the aquifer. The final ERT static model delineates a relatively high-resistivity, low-porosity, intermediate-depth layer throughout the investigated aquifer volume that is consistent with results from well logging and seismic and radar tomography models. The next step will be to define and implement an appropriate time-lapse ERT inversion scheme using the river water as a natural tracer. The main challenge will be to separate the superposed time-varying effects of water table height, temperature, and salinity variations associated with the infiltrating water.
Scanning anisotropy parameters in complex media
Authors: Alkhalifah Tariq
Published: March 2011

Parameter estimation in an inhomogeneous anisotropic medium offers many challenges; chief among them is the trade-off between inhomogeneity and anisotropy. It is especially hard to estimate the anisotropy anellipticity parameter η in complex media. Using perturbation theory and Taylor’s series, I have expanded the solutions of the anisotropic eikonal equation for transversely isotropic (TI) media with a vertical symmetry axis (VTI) in terms of the independent parameter η from a generally inhomogeneous elliptically anisotropic medium background. This new VTI traveltime solution is based on a set of precomputed perturbations extracted from solving linear partial differential equations. The traveltimes obtained from these equations serve as the coefficients of a Taylor-type expansion of the total traveltime in terms of η. Shanks transform is used to predict the transient behavior of the expansion and improve its accuracy using fewer terms. A homogeneous medium simplification of the expansion provides classical nonhyperbolic moveout descriptions of the traveltime that are more accurate than other recently derived approximations. In addition, this formulation provides a tool to scan for anisotropic parameters in a generally inhomogeneous medium background. A Marmousi test demonstrates the accuracy of this approximation. For a tilted axis of symmetry, the equations are still applicable with a slightly more complicated framework because the vertical velocity and δ are not readily available from the data.
Information Collection on a Graph
Authors: Ryzhov Ilya O. , Powell Warren B.
Published: March 2011

We derive a knowledge gradient policy for an optimal learning problem on a graph, in which we use sequential measurements to refine Bayesian estimates of individual edge values in order to learn about the best path. This problem differs from traditional ranking and selection in that the implementation decision (the path we choose) is distinct from the measurement decision (the edge we measure). Our decision rule is easy to compute and performs competitively against other learning policies, including a Monte Carlo adaptation of the knowledge gradient policy for ranking and selection.
Solving Nonlinear Covering Problems Arising in WLAN Design
Authors: Amaldi Edoardo , Bosio Sandro , Malucelli Federico , Yuan Di
Published: March 2011

Wireless local area networks (WLANs) are widely used for cable replacement and wireless Internet access. Because the medium access control (MAC) scheme of WLANs has a strong influence on network performance, it should be accounted for in WLAN design. This paper presents AP location models that optimize a network performance measure specifically for the MAC scheme of WLANs that represents the efficiency in sharing the wireless medium. For these models, we propose a solution framework based on an effective integer-linear programming Dantzig–Wolfe reformulation. This framework is applicable to any nonlinear covering problem where the objective function is a sum of contributions over the groundset elements (users in WLANs). Extensive computational results show that our solution strategy quickly yields optimal or near-optimal solutions for WLAN design instances of realistic size.
Building Knowledge from Failure Analysis of Plastic Pipe and Other Hydraulic Structures
Authors: Sharff Phillip A. , Bellemare Simon C. , Witmer Lisa M.
Published: March 2011

Structural plastics have long shown exceptional performance in products used for fluid transport and containment, such as pipes, tanks, and drainage structures. The development and use of plastics enhances the versatility and durability of these important infrastructure components, as well as their economy. However, like all materials, plastics have performance limitations, and serious failures can occur as the result of improper design, fabrication, or installation. Understanding failure mechanisms of plastics can provide valuable insight into those limitations and aid the designer, manufacturer, and installer in optimizing structural and functional performance. We review forensic techniques, including field investigation, material and mechanical laboratory tests, optical and scanning electron microscopy, and stress analysis. The example cases highlight mechanical, environmental and installation issues. These include failure to account for material creep and fatigue, defects in fusion bonding, incompatibility of solvent cement, strength limitation of joint elements, and improper installation techniques. The case studies suggest ways to avoid similar mistakes in the future.
Balancing Contradictory Identities—Performing Masculinity in Victim Narratives
Authors: Åkerström Malin , Burcar Veronika , Wästerfors David
Published: March 2011

Modern sociological identity analysis argues that people perform a preferred identity, rather than revealing an essential self. But what if a given situation necessitates performance of apparently incompatible identities? Earlier research seems to suggest that people will resist one identity and foreground another. Here, the authors present another strategy of delicately balancing the performance of conflicting identities. Their interviews of Swedish young men who were victims of violence reveal that this identity balance occurs through emphasizing and defending the threatened but seemingly preferred identity, with reference to the other identity in more subtle terms. As they elaborated on their experiences, these men did not reject a victim identity altogether but subtly or implicitly modified it. They discursively positioned themselves as both “masculine men” and “victims,” combining seemingly mismatched identities. They achieve the identity work by describing initiative and defense, accounting for non-resistance, and describing injuries, fear, and sympathy from others.
Coding Ethnographies for Research and Training: Merging Qualitative and Quantitative Sociologies
Authors: Hodson Randy , Chamberlain Lindsey Joyce , Crowley Martha , Tope Daniel
Published: March 2011

The project of merging qualitative and quantitative approaches in sociology is advancing on many fronts—most typically through appending in-depth interviews to surveys. This research note describes an alternative approach of amassing in-depth qualitative accounts and content coding them for statistical analysis. Funding requirements for such projects are minimal and students can easily be involved—providing important training opportunities that broaden their appreciation of and expertise in diverse methodologies. Such endeavors thus present valuable opportunities for advancing training and research. We illustrate how this approach has been applied in a project focusing on workplace ethnographies. We conclude with a discussion of additional bodies of ethnographic research similarly ripe for systematic analysis.
The Privilege of Teaching about Privilege
Authors: Messner Michael A.
Published: March 2011

A scholarly literature on the intersectional realities of race, class, gender, and sexual privilege exists, but professors often struggle with how to teach it, especially given our own (often) privileged positions. Here, the author describes how he uses self-reflexive story-telling as a point of entre to encourage students to think about their own lives within a matrix of privilege and subordination. He shows how stories can illuminate the central role played by ideologies of individual meritocracy in privileged peoples' narratives. The author argues that personal stories are limited unless they also are contextualized within structural analyses that illuminate collective agency. He ends by describing an undergraduate study of USC janitors that reveals how the institution constrains these low-wage workers, while putting into stark relief the relative privilege of students and faculty. He concludes that a pedagogy of privilege should always be grounded in the standpoints of subordinated groups of people.
Ambiguity, Religion, and Relational Context: Competing Influences on Moral Attitudes?
Authors: Schafer Markus H.
Published: March 2011

The position that people take on moral issues, such as infidelity, can be influenced by abstract principles (e.g., religious ideals) but also by their own relational experience. Conservative religious orientation provides clear moral prescripts about sexual behavior, but what happens when there is perceived strain within one's actual, non-hypothetical relationship? The author tests a series of hypotheses about attitudes towards infidelity using a representative sample of American adults aged 57–85. The results indicate that although most older Americans oppose infidelity in general, distinct differences emerge when the infidelity scenario involves greater moral ambiguity. When dementia is involved, the relational context in which the respondent is embedded emerges as an important predictor variable. Interestingly, each religious group— even born-again Protestants—are susceptible to this moral contingency effect. Results are discussed in relation to Vaisey's (2009) dual-process theory, in which attitudes are shaped by rational and relational factors alike.
Hierarchy without Hegemony: Locating Boys in an Inclusive School Setting
Authors: McCormack Mark
Published: March 2011

In this article, the author details how 16–18-year-old boys ascribe to the tenets of inclusive masculinity in a U.K. secondary school that the author calls “Standard High.” Drawing on five months of participant observation and twelve in-depth interviews, this article demonstrates that the boys' masculinities are predicated in opposition to the orthodox values of homophobia, misogyny, and aggressiveness. Accordingly, the practices of subordination and marginalization described in hegemonic masculinity theory are not used to regulate masculine behaviors or obtain dominance in this setting. At Standard High, boys ascribing to different masculine archetypes can each maintain high social status. Nonetheless, a social hierarchy still exists. Here, boys are stratified in accordance to a popularity ranking, which is determined by the possession of a matrix of variables: Namely, charisma, authenticity, emotional support, and social fluidity.
Suspended Animation, Slow Time, and the Poetics of Trance
Authors: Mitchell Robert
Published: March 2011

Suspended animation emerged as a concept in the late eighteenth century as part of the efforts of the newly founded Royal Humane Society to convince lay and medical readers that individuals who had apparently drowned might still be alive, albeit in states of “suspended animation” (a condition we would now likely describe as a coma). The term was quickly taken up by medical and literary authors, including Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Mary and Percy Bysshe Shelley, and John Keats. Exploring these Romantic-era approaches to suspended animation can help us understand the reception and formal structures of creative literature, grasp the often counterintuitive links that Romantic-era authors established between “altered states” and “Romantic sobriety,” and articulate why poetry and other slow media remain important in our contemporary new-media landscape.
Zines, Half-Lives, and Afterlives: On the Temporalities of Social and Political Change
Authors: Radway Janice
Published: March 2011

The termzineis a recent variant offanzine, a neologism coined in the 1930s to refer to magazines self-published by Aficionados of science fiction. Until zines emerged as digital forms, they were generally defined as handmade, noncommercial, irregularly issued, small-run, paper publications circulated by individuals participating in alternative, special-interest communities. Zines exploded in popularity during the 1980s when punk music fans adopted the form as part of their do-it-yourself aesthetic and as an outsider way to communicate among themselves about punk's defiant response to the commercialism of mainstream society. In 1990, only a few years after the first punk zines appeared, Mike Gunderloy made a case for the genre's significance in an article published in theWhole Earth Review, one of the few surviving organs of the 1960s alternative press in the United States. He celebrated zines' wide range of interests and the oppositional politics that generated their underground approach to publication.
Arabic Children's Literature Today: Determining Factors and Tendencies
Authors: Dünges Petra
Published: March 2011

Dedicated to the memory of Muḥiyy al-Dīn al-Labbād (1940–2010)

In spite of great obstacles, modern arabic children's literature has seen remarkable developments lately, both in quality of text and illustrations and in breadth of subject matter. Moreover, the intricate question of which variety of Arabic to use in writing for children can now be answered in different ways, closely linked to different conceptions of Arab culture.
Comparative Children's Literature
Authors: O'Sullivan Emer
Published: March 2011

The most striking change in children's culture, including children's literature, over the last few decades has been its commercialization and globalization (O'Sullivan,Comparative Children's Literature149–52). The children's book industry in the United States, the leading market, is increasingly dominated by a handful of large media conglomerates whose publishing operations are small sections of their entertainment businesses. As a consequence, as Daniel Hade observes, “the mass marketplace selects which books will survive, and thus the children's book becomes less a cultural and intellectual object and more an entertainment looking for mass appeal” (511). The influence of these multimedia giants is immense: manufacturing mass-produced goods for children, they sell their products beyond the borders of individual countries, further changing and globalizing what were once regionally contained children's cultures. As a discipline that engages with phenomena that transcend cultural and linguistic borders and also with specific social, literary, and linguistic contexts, comparative children's literature is a natural site in which to tease out the implications of these recent developments.
Goodbye, Ghetto: Further Comparative Approaches to Children's Literature
Authors: Vaclavik Kiera
Published: March 2011

In 2005 Emer O'Sullivan published the most comprehensive outline to date of a comparative approach to the study of literature and other cultural productions for the young. She presents nine constituent areas of comparative study in relation to children's literature (theory of children's literature, contact and transfer studies, comparative poetics, intertextuality studies, intermediality studies, image studies, comparative genre studies, comparative historiography of children's literature, comparative history of children's literature studies), which she illustrates with examples from around the world. But, although extensive, O'Sullivan's proposal is not without its blind spots, and she acknowledges that it “can only be enhanced by future discussion and modification” (12). With the aim of bolstering the field of children's literature, I here propose an area of comparative research overlooked by O'Sullivan. I also suggest extensions to her conception of comparative literature and to her handling of reception or reader response.
On Not Defining Children's Literature
Authors: Gubar Marah
Published: March 2011

As Roger Sale has wryly observed, “everyone knows what children's literature is until asked to define it” (1). The Reasons WHY this unruly subject is so hard to delimit have been well canvassed. If we define it as literature read by young people, any text could potentially count as children's literature, including Dickens novels and pornography. That seems too broad, just as defining children's literature as anything that appears on a publisher-designated children's or “young adult” list seems too narrow, since it would exclude titles that appeared before eighteenth-century booksellers such as John Newbery set up shop, including the Aesopica, chapbooks, and conduct books. As numerous critics have noted, we cannot simply say that children's literature consists of literature written for children, since many famous examples—Huckleberry Finn, Peter Pan, The Little Prince—aimed to attract mixed audiences. And, in any case, “children's literature is always written for both children and adults; to be published it needs to please at least some adults” (Clark 96). We might say that children's literature comprises texts addressed to children (among others) by authors who conceptualize young people as a distinct audience, one that requires a form of literature different in kind from that aimed at adults. Yet basing a definition on authorial intention seems problematic. Many famous children's writers have explicitly rejected the idea that they were writing for a particular age group, and many books that were not written with young people in mind have nevertheless had their status as children's or young adult literature thrust upon them, either by publishers or by readers (or both).
Golden AgeorEarly Modern: What's in a Name?
Authors: Weber Alison
Published: March 2011

As few hispanists have failed to notice,early modern Spainis more often appearing as an alternative term for what we used to callthe Spanish Golden Age.University catalogs still advertise courses on Golden Age poetry, but lectures are more apt to bear titles such as “The Crisis of the Gift in Early Modern Spain.” Although some recent books—Inventing the Sacred: Imposture, Inquisition, and the Boundaries of the Supernatural in Golden Age Spain(Keitt),Honor and Violence in Golden Age Spain(Taylor), andAn Erotic Philology of Golden Age Spain(Martín)—displayGolden Agein their titles, they share shelf space with offerings such asThe Drama of the Portrait: Theater and Visual Culture in Early Modern Spain(Bass),Imperial Lyric: New Poetry and New Subjects in Early Modern Spain(Middlebrook), andFamily and Community in Early Modern Spain: The Citizens of Granada(Casey). The preference forearly modernis showing up even in genres in which traditional usage might be expected. An anthology by Barbara Mujica, published in 1991, is subtitledRenacimiento y Siglo de Oro, but the cover of an anthology edited by her and published thirteen years later readsSophia's Daughters: Women Writers of Early Modern Spain.
Three Literary Manifestos of Early Modern Spain
Authors: Boscán Juan , de la Vega Garcilaso
Published: March 2011

The emergence of Spain as a world power in the early sixteenth century compelled a radical change in its language and literature. reflecting the country's global expansion, Spanish culture moved beyond its medieval belatedness to compete with Renaissance Italian culture, whose superiority was based on the humanist rebirth of ancient values. The cultural rivalry between Spain and Italy is documented in the prefaces that follow, written by the Catalan poet Juan Boscán (1490?–1542) and the Toledan noble Garcilaso de la Vega (1499?–1536). Through these poets' efforts, Spain became the first European nation-state not only to appropriate Italian versification and prose style but also to displace Italy from the political and literary spheres of power (King 240–41). The political and cultural significance of Boscán's and Garcilaso's revisionary poetics makes their prefaces the first literary manifestos of early modern Spain.
“Look!! Look!!! at This!!!!”: The Radical Typography of David Walker'sAppeal
Authors: Dinius Marcy J.
Published: March 2011

From the first publication of David Walker'sAppeal to the Coloured Citizens of the Worldin 1829 through its incorporation into the contemporary literary canon, readers have recognized it as a fiery indictment of slavery and of the contradictions in Christianity and in the United States' founding. Yet the striking typography ofWalker's Appealhas become invisible in our critical focus on the text's relation to African American oratory and even in considerations of the pamphlet's significance in early black print culture. An analysis of this graphic text reveals how it materially registers Walker's impassioned voice and argument and how it visually directs readers to voice his call to the illiterate. Walker attempts to resolve the opposition of the spoken and the printed word by exploiting his text's typography.
Psychoanalytic Historicism: Shadow Discourse and the Gender Politics of Masochism in Ellis, Schreiner, and Haggard
Authors: Kucich John
Published: March 2011

Recent psychoanalytic theories have the historicizing potential to rearticulate discourses relegated to the shadows of institutional and popular psychosocial knowledge. In particular, they can illuminate a shadow discourse secreted in the history of gender politics: a form of masochism that produces political solidarity by mobilizing narcissistic gratifications. Such solidarity derives from masochism's ability to idealize perceptions about collective power—a process legible in first-wave feminism and in the jingoistic imperialist ideals of masculinity that opposed it. This essay argues that feminism has lost sight of a nonsexual form of masochism vital to its own history that could energize its ongoing political projects. Recent relational psychoanalysis emerges as a fertile source for techniques of reading that produce revisionary historicist interpretation. Moreover, reactivating psychosocial dynamics obscured by the historical conflation of masochism with sexuality can reconnect feminism and other political movements with important strategies they may have prematurely disavowed.
Biological Male “Gender Identity Disorder” Is Composed of Essentially Distinguishable Core and Periphery Groups
Authors: Furuhashi Tadaaki
Published: March 2011

In Japan, greater numbers of people with gender identity disorders (GID) are seeking professional help. The aim of our study is to show the clinical significance of classifying them into two subgroups when we address biological males with GID. From January 2001 to August 2009, 27 biological male patients with GID were consecutively examined at a university hospital in a major city in Japan. We formulated patients’ own past history concerning their gender identity on the basis of their narratives presented in several interviews. The present study suggested that Japanese biological male patients with GID who have, since childhood, manifested a special longing for feminine clothes and behaviors, could be positioned as a “core group;” and, patients with an uncomfortable feeling about their own sex that did not appear until adolescence could be positioned as a “periphery group.” As a result of psychotherapy in our samples, while the “core group” patients did not waver in their conviction that “I am a woman,” the cross-gender identification eventually disappeared in the “periphery group.” Identifying these two subgroups proved to be of great importance in deciding the management strategy for biological males with GID.
Preventing Relapse in Smokers Who Quit
Authors: Karon Bertram P. , Widener Anmarie J.
Published: March 2011

Most smokers who give up smoking relapse. There is a simple procedure that has been used successfully that prevents relapse. It has been used clinically for many years. When not smoking, we do not experience the feel, the taste, or the smell of the cigarette. When we next experience any one of these, we tend to reexperience a strong wish to smoke. Each day for 1 month, buy your usual supply of cigarettes. Whenever you want to smoke, light a cigarette and put it out immediately. You may take another one whenever you want, including right away. After a month you will be free of smoking, and you will not relapse. The procedure is simple and cheap and does not require a therapist. It has been used without medication.
Azithromycin May Inhibit Interleukin‐8 Through Suppression of Rac1 and a Nuclear Factor‐Kappa B Pathway in KB Cells Stimulated With Lipopolysaccharide
Authors: Matsumura Yusuke , Mitani Akio , Suga Takayuki , Kamiya Yosuke , Kikuchi Takeshi , Tanaka Shigehisa , Aino Makoto , Noguchi Toshihide
Published: March 2011

Background: Recent studies have shown that the 15‐member macrolide antibiotic azithromycin (AZM) not only has antibacterial activity, but also results in the role of immunomodulator. Interleukin (IL)‐8 is an important inflammatory mediator in periodontal disease. However, there have been no reports on the effects of AZM on IL‐8 production from human oral epithelium. Therefore, we investigated the effects of AZM on IL‐8 production in an oral epithelial cell line.

Methods: KB cells were stimulated by Escherichia coli or Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (previously Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans) lipopolysaccharide (LPS) with or without AZM. IL‐8 mRNA and protein expression and production in response to LPS were analyzed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction, flow cytometry, and enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. The activation of nuclear factor‐kappa B (NF‐κB) and Rac1, which is important for IL‐8 expression, was analyzed by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay and Western blotting, respectively.

Results: IL‐8 mRNA expression, IL‐8 production, and NF‐κB activation in LPS‐stimulated KB cells were inhibited by the addition of AZM. LPS‐induced Rac1 activation was also suppressed by AZM.

Conclusions: This study suggests that AZM inhibits LPS‐induced IL‐8 production in an oral epithelial cell line, in part caused by the suppression of Rac1 and NF‐κB activation. The use of AZM might provide possible benefits in periodontal therapy, with respect to both its antibacterial action and apparent anti‐inflammatory effect.
Orofacial Myiasis of the Gingiva and Nasal Cavity: A Report of Two Cases and General Review
Authors: Avula Jaya Kumar , Avula Haritha , Arora Nupur , Manchukonda Udaya Kumar , VivekaVardhan Reddy Nalla
Published: March 2011

Background:Infestation of the orofacial region with live maggots is a distressing condition and many clinicians are not aware of the existence of such an entity. Usually the condition affects individuals who are debilitated, mentally challenged, and physically not able to attend to their personal needs because of lack of psychomotor coordination.

Methods:This article describes two cases of orofacial myiasis reported at a rural dental school in India. Removal of the live maggots, supportive treatment, management of the cases, and morphologic features of maggots are described.

Results:Both the patients belonged to a low socioeconomic group and were physically and mentally challenged. Maggot removal improved the patients’ pain and distress, and entomologic study identified the maggots as belonging toChrysomya bezziana.

Conclusions:Oral myiasis is more prevalent than commonly believed to be and an astute practitioner should be aware of such maggots in the mouth, in cases of oral and maxillofacial trauma and in vulnerable categories of patients. These patients are not physically or mentally endowed to ward off flies or complain about worms burrowing their way into oral wounds. Occurrences of such cases are rare in developed countries and reflect the lack of special care for the vulnerable group of patients belonging to certain geographic areas.
Periodontal Status of Patients With Hypophosphatemic Rickets: A Case Series
Authors: Ye Ling , Liu Ruohong , White Nicholas , Alon Uri S. , Cobb Charles M.
Published: March 2011

Background: It was previously reported that dentin matrix protein 1–null mice, which are the hypophosphatemic rickets animal model, postnatally developed severe periodontal defects. However, to the best of our knowledge, it was not documented whether similar periodontal defects were present in human patients with hypophosphatemic rickets. The aim of this study is to evaluate the periodontal status of adult patients with hypophosphatemic rickets.

Methods: This case‐series study evaluates the periodontal condition of adults with genetic hypophosphatemic rickets and compared their periodontal status with similar data from several cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Information regarding medical histories, dental histories, intraoral photos, probing depths (PD), calculated clinical attachment loss (AL), the presence of gingival recession, bleeding on probing, and full‐mouth radiographic surveys were acquired. Descriptive statistics were used for comparison to NHANES data.

Results: A total of 10 adult patients with hypophosphatemic rickets (two males and eight females) were evaluated. The definition of periodontitis used in this study is as follows: “A periodontitis case was defined as a person who had ≥ 3 sites with clinical AL ≥ 4 mm and ≥ 2 sites with PD ≥ 3 mm.” According to this definition, the patients exhibited periodontal bone loss at a much higher prevalence (60%) compared to the reported national periodontitis prevalence (3.6% to 7.3%).

Conclusion: The preliminary data from our study suggests that patients with hypophosphatemic rickets are more prone to periodontal bone loss than the general population and may require a more careful examination by dental care providers.
Proliferation of Smooth Muscle Cells Stimulated by Porphyromonas Gingivalis is Inhibited by Apple Polyphenol
Authors: Inaba Hiroaki , Tagashira Motoyuki , Kanda Tomomasa , Amano Atsuo
Published: March 2011

Background: Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg) is thought to be involved in the progression of occlusive arterial lesions, whereas vascular smooth muscle cell (SMC) proliferation is considered to be involved in occlusive arterial disease. We previously showed that bacteremia caused by Pg infection induced proliferation of mouse aortic SMCs. Furthermore, human SMCs stimulated with human plasma incubated with Pg showed a marked transformation from the contractile to proliferative phenotype. In the present study, we examine the involvement of Pg gingipains and fimbriae in induction of the SMC transformation and proliferation, and effective inhibitors.

Methods: Pg strains including gingipain‐ and fimbria‐null mutants were incubated in human plasma, after which the bacteria were removed and the supernatants were added to cultured SMCs. To evaluate the effects of inhibitors, Pg organisms were incubated in plasma in the presence of apple polyphenol (AP), epigallocatechin gallate, KYT‐1 (Arg‐gingipain inhibitor), and KYT‐36 (Lys‐gingipain inhibitor).

Results: Plasma supernatants from wild‐type and fimbria‐mutant cultures markedly stimulated cellular proliferation, whereas those containing gingipain‐null mutants showed negligible effects. SMC proliferation was also induced by plasma treated with trypsin. Furthermore, plasma supernatants cultured in the presence of KYT‐1/KYT‐36 and AP showed significant inhibitory effects on SMC proliferation, whereas cultures with epigallocatechin gallate did not.

Conclusion: Our results suggest that Pg gingipains are involved in the induction of SMC transformation and proliferation, whereas this was inhibited by AP.