bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Early Identification of Gifted Minority Kindergarten Students in Newark, NJ
Authors: Feiring Candice , Louis Barbara , Ukeje Ikechukwu , Lewis Michael , Leong Philip
Published: September 2007

The overall objective of the "Minority Gifted Children" project is to promote the cognitive and educational development of kindergarten through second grade economically disadvantaged minority gifted children from Newark, New Jersey. Prior to the inception of this project, no Newark public chools provided gifted services for kindergarten students, and the programs for first and second graders were serving a disproportionately small number of children. The current report presents data on a screening and assessment procedure being developed to identify gifted inner city minority kindergarten students. Before the project began, only 0.2% of children entering first grade were identified as gifted, in contras to the 2% found in this sample. The method of identification used in this project appears to hold promise as a relatively cost efficient method of finding young minority children who are gifted in cognitive skill areas. This work indicates that young inner city minority gifted children exist. Therefore, it is imperative that educational programs be provided to nurture potential excellence and achievement in this population.
The Self-Concept of Gifted Adolescents in a Congregated Program
Authors: Wright Paul B. , Leroux Janice A.
Published: September 2007

A positive self-concept is one of the most important forces driving a student to achieve. This study employed a combination of the Harter Self Perception Profile for Adolescents (SPPA), used over time, and an interview technique to study 25 gifted adolescents during the transition year in a congregated (grouped) classroom for high-ability students in secondary school.

The self-image of the students increased significantly in the subscales of Romantic Appeal and Close Friendship. There was also an interaction of time by gender on Behavioral Conduct. Changes in importance ratings also occurred with significant interactions of time by gender on Scholastic Competence, Behavioral Conduct, and Close Friendship. The interviews revealed that gifted students enjoyed being with their gifted peers, however, that they were conscious of being labelled as different. The descriptive study provides insights into the self-concept of students in a congregated (grouped) program.
Concepts of Mental Activities and Verbs in Children of High and Average Verbal Intelligence
Authors: Alexander Joyce M. , Noyes Caroline R. , MacBrayer Elizabeth K. , Schwanenflugel Paula J. , Fabricius William V.
Published: September 2007

In order to understand the contribution of increased cognitive abilities to children's naive theories of mind, children of high and average verbal intelligence rated their understanding of the interrelationships between and among mental activities and verbs. In Study 1, participants rated the similarity of pairs of prototypical mental activity scenarios according to the "way you use your mind" in each one. The scenarios represented the categories of list memory, prospective memory, comprehension, selective attention, inference, planning, comparison, and recognition. In Study 2, participants rated the similarity of cognitive and affective verbs (e.g., decide, memorize, love, worry). Multidimensional scaling and clustering analyses indicated very similar organization and structure of concepts in children of high and average verbal intelligence in both studies. These results add to the growing body of literature suggesting that metacognitive development and its association with intelligence differ depending on the type of metacognition being examined (Alexander, Carr, & Schwanenflugel, 1995).
Birth-Order Effects in the Academically Talented
Authors: Parker Wayne D.
Published: September 2007

Birth-order position was studied among 828 academically talented students from a national sample collected by the Institute for the Academic Advancement of Youth of Johns Hopkins University. When compared to 1990 U.S. Census Bureau data, this sample was disproportionately composed of first-born students. However, much of this birth order effect can be explained by the covariate of family size, with small families over-represented among the gifted. First-born students tended to get higher verbal scores on the Secondary School Admissions Test while youngest-born tended to do better in math. Students were administered the Rotter Internal-External Locus of Control Scale, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, the Adjective Cheek List, the NEO Five Factor Inventory, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, and the Brief Symptom Inventory. Except for a mild relationship between birth order and perfectionistic type, there was no relationship found between birth-order position and personality and adjustment. It is believed that often reported birth-order position effects are strongly related to the covariance of family size.
A Model for Clarification and Expansion of Conceptual Foundations
Authors: Ambrose Don
Published: September 2007

Practitioners, researchers, and theorists can establish stronger rationale and direction for their work through better understanding of the conceptual foundations that influence the field of education of the gifted. Navigation along three interpretive dimensions can clarify and expand these conceptual foundations, which currently suffer from fragmentation and insularity. One of these dimensions invites movement through several different world views. Another dimension invites interdisciplinary movement from the precision of the "hard" sciences to the uncertain complexity of the "soft and human" sciences. A third dimension promotes movement through different levels of analysis, ranging from panoramic levels of philosophical and theoretical perspectives to the grounded levels of empirical research and practical application. A three-dimensional model illustrates the dynamics of these movements while highlighting some barriers that cause fragmentation and insularity in conceptual foundations. Recommendations for breaking through these barriers are provided.
Curriculum Compacting and Achievement Test Scores: What Does the Research Say?
Authors: Reis Sally M. , Westberg Karen L. , Kulikowich Jonna M. , Purcell Jeanne H.
Published: September 2007

This study examined the effects of curriculum compacting on the achievement test seores of a national sample of 336 high ability students from second through sixth grade heterogeneous classrooms in rural, suburban, and urban settings. Curriculum compacting is a strategy for eliminating curricular material that students have already mastered and replacing it with more appropriate learning activities. Teachers from three treatment and control groups in this experimental study selected one to two students from their classes who demonstrated superior ability and advanced content knowledge prior to instruction. They were able to eliminate between 40%-50% of curricula for these students across content areas. Pre and post student achievement was examined using the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, and out-of-grade-level (one grade higher) tests were used to guard against ceiling effects. The results indicated that the achievement test scores of students whose curriculum was compacted did not differ significantly from students whose curriculum was not compacted. These findings from a national study minimize teachers' fears about declines in students' achievement test scores due to compacting.
Building Bridges Between General Practitioners and Educators of the Gifted: A Study of Collaboration
Authors: Purcell Jeanne H. , Leppien Jaun H.
Published: September 2007

The Collaboration Research Study examined the incidence of collaboration, as well as the assumptions of those who entered collaborative alliances. Collaboration was defined as "dialogue and planning between professionals in which the goal is to provide differentiated services for high achieving students." Two hundred and eighty-nine enrichment specialists, classroom teachers, and administrators, selected purposefully, took part in this national, descriptive, ex post facto research. The response rate from the three groups was 61%, 55%, and 51%, respectively. Results indicate that more than 80% of those sampled engage in collaboration. Data suggest that classroom teachers and enrichment specialists enter the collaborative relationship with different, and sometimes conflicting, sets of assumptions about the skills and attitudes of their collaborative partners. These empirical findings suggest that collaboration is a complex, interpersonal process. Implications of the study are twofold. First, collaboration depends upon highly developed interpersonal skills. Second, successful collaborative relationships rest upon the match between the assumptions that each party holds about the other. In order to ensure collaborative alliances that can produce high quality, differentiated learning options, the assumptions of each party need to be understood and, if necessary, bridges need to be built when gaps exist between the assumptions and the actual skills and attitudes of collaborative partners.
Sieges, Seduction and Sacrifice in Revolutionary War: The `Virgins of Verdun', 1792
Authors: Hopkin David
Published: September 2007

After Verdun fell to the Prussians in 1792, a group of women carried a basket of sugared almonds to the King of Prussia’s tent. Twelve of these ‘Virgins of Verdun’ would pay with their lives for this gesture during the Terror. This article attempts to explain the women’s actions in terms of the models of behaviour available to them, derived from an early modern ‘culture of war’ associated with sieges, as well as the new opportunities for women, created by the Revolution, to express their own political choices. It also attempts to unravel the motives of those who prosecuted the Virgins, and those who celebrated their ‘sacrifice’. Verdun was one of the first chapters in the modern cultural history of war, and so is a chance to explore changing ideas about the role of civilians in warfare, the autonomous personality of cities, and the public life of women.
A Dangerous Amazon: Agustina Zaragoza and the Spanish Revolutionary War, 1808—1814
Authors: Tone John Lawrence
Published: September 2007

From 1808 to 1814, women fought alongside men in the Spanish War of Independence against Napoleon. The extent to which this was a ‘people’s war’ has been exaggerated. Nevertheless, the involvement of hundreds of female combatants in Madrid, Gerona, Zaragoza and elsewhere shocked the French and surprised the Spanish, and was taken by both sides as a sign that the war in Spain was not like other wars. In Zaragoza, female militancy was initially associated with the bellicose Virgin of the Pillar, a rather traditional symbol. Yet, the fact that women found themselves deeply involved in the resistance movement – both in Zaragoza and elsewhere in Spain – created a small space in which women could begin to challenge traditional gender roles. Ironically, however, as illustrated in the story of Agustina Aragón, the greatest of the ‘Amazons’ of Zaragoza, liberation from France brought with it a counter-revolution, at least as far as her personal liberation was concerned.
Republican Traditions: Patriotism, Gender, and War in Hamburg, 1770—1815
Authors: Aaslestad Katherine
Published: September 2007

This article explores the intersection of patriotism and gender in the republican city-state of Hamburg from the Enlightenment to the Napoleonic Wars. In eighteenth-century Hamburg, Patriotismus reflected a republican worldview that regarded public and private as fluid and that contributed to the common good. Eighteenth-century patriotic conduct emphasized the shared values and mutual obligations of women and men to the republican community, not innate or ‘natural’ gender differences. Yet the crisis of war redefined patriotism as defense of the city and therefore generated a rupture in traditional notions of communal patriotism. Although both men and women articulated this new martial patriotism, only men could practice patriotic vigor by taking up arms. Through practical functions in supporting the local militias, however, women claimed a patriotic role for themselves during the Wars of Liberation.
Lost Arcadia: The 1812 War and Russian Images of Aristocratic Womanhood
Authors: Martin Alexander M.
Published: September 2007

The Napoleonic invasion of 1812 marks a watershed in the history of Russian aristocratic women. Their social position before 1812, while privileged and sometimes even quite autonomous, had mostly kept their political and social horizons narrow. In addition, eighteenth-century culture had presented them with competing, at times conflicting, models of aristocratic femininity. Based on memoirs by women who experienced the 1812 war, this article argues that the invasion disrupted their pre-war insular way of life and confronted noblewomen with traumas specific to their class and sex. In response, women reaffirmed the aristocracy’s stoic ethos and its claim to leadership in society, and represented women as gentle humanitarians but also patriots and fearless protectors of their loved ones. The women of the 1812 generation thereby helped to crystallize the emerging intelligentsia’s vision of ideal Russian womanhood, which in turn contributed to the rise of the Russian revolutionary movement.
Miniature cardiopulmonary bypass — the Hammersmith experience
Authors: Mulholland J.W. , Anderson J.R. , Yarham G.J. , Tuladhur S. , Saed I. , Oliver M.D.
Published: September 2007

The decision to embark on a miniature cardiopulmonary bypass programme requires careful planning. The objective of this paper is to present our experience and initial findings for consideration by our multidisciplinary peers, who may wish to implement this technology at their own hospitals. The paper reviews the evolution of our programme over the first 150 clinical cases and our current position on the advantages and disadvantages of miniature cardiopulmonary bypass. Perfusion (2007) 22, 161—166.
Review: Benzodiazepines in generalized anxiety disorder: heterogeneity of outcomes based on a systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials
Authors: Martin Jose Luis R. , Sainz-Pardo Maria , Furukawa Toshiaki A. , Martin-Sanchez Eva , Seoane Teresa , Galan Cristina
Published: September 2007

No systematic review or meta-analysis using a hard outcome has been conducted on the role of benzodiazepines for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness and efficacy of benzodiazepines in the treatment of GAD based on trial drop-out rates. We used a systematic review of randomized controlled trials that compared any of the three best established benzodiazepines (diazepam, Lorazepam and aLprazolam) against placebo. Our primary outcome for effectiveness was withdrawal for any reason. Our secondary outcome tapping efficacy was withdrawal due to lack of efficacy, and that tapping side effects was withdrawals due to adverse events.

We included 23 trials. Pooled analysis indicated less risk of treatment discontinuation due to lack of efficacy for benzodiazepines, compared to placebo, relative risk (RR) 0.29 (95% CI 0.18—0.45; p < 0.00001). Nevertheless, pooled analysis showed no conclusive results for risk of all-cause patient discontinuation, RR 0.78 (95% CI 0.62—1.00; p = 0.05). Meta-regression model showed that 74% of the variation in logRR across the studies was explained by year of publication ( p <0.001).

This systematic review did not find convincing evidence of the short-term effectiveness of the benzodiazepines in the treatment of GAD. On the other hand, for the outcome of efficacy, this review found robust evidence in favour of benzodiazepines. Due to the heterogeneity induced by year of publication, three hypotheses are plausibLe when it comes to being able to account for the differences between efficacy and effectiveness observed in the outcomes (publication bias, quality of the trial literature and a non-differential response to the placebo effect).
Adapting a Dynamic Model of Interorganizational Cooperation to the Health Care Sector
Authors: Wells Rebecca , Weiner Bryan J.
Published: September 2007

Despite a recent proliferation of interorganizational networks in health care, there is very little empirical guidance about how to facilitate their success over time. The current study tests a theory of cooperative evolution in the context of five matched pairs of successful versus “challenging” initiatives within six community health center-led networks. Researchers collected initial data in 2000/2001 and conducted follow-up interviews with key informants two years later. Analyses included semi-inductive coding of interview transcripts and systematic comparisons between successful and challenging cooperative efforts. As theory predicts, both initial conditions and subsequent adaptation affected project evolution, with successful and challenging projects following distinct trajectories. The external environment and momentum, however, played more salient roles in these health care safety net networks than they had in corporate ventures. These findings indicate the utility of qualitative techniques to adapt theories developed in other sectors to health care contexts.
Factors Influencing Organ Donation Decisions by African Americans
Authors: Kurz Richard S. , Scharff Darcell P. , Terry Tanchica , Alexander Shanica , Waterman Amy
Published: September 2007

The purpose of this article is to review the literature from 1980 to 2005 regarding organ donation decision making by African Americans for themselves and their loved ones and recommend improvements in subsequent studies. Using the behavioral model of health services utilization as an organizing framework, the review procedure consists of a (1) search of health and medical literature using several key words and eight indexes, (2) selection of articles based on specific criteria, and (3) review of each article with regard to the population and sample used, study design, dependent variables addressed, and its findings. The review indicates that predisposing, enabling, and need factors each influence African Americans' organ donation decision making. Retrospective chart reviews provide a good design for future multivariate analyses of the many factors influencing African American decision making. Interventions to influence decision making should emphasize both community education and the process of organ procurement.
Interventions to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care
Authors: Chin Marshall H. , Walters Amy E. , Cook Scott C. , Huang Elbert S.
Published: September 2007

In 2005, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation created Finding Answers: Disparities Research for Change, a program to identify, evaluate, and disseminate interventions to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in the care and outcomes of patients with cardiovascular disease, depression, and diabetes. In this introductory paper, we present a conceptual model for interventions that aim to reduce disparities. With this model as a framework, we summarize the key findings from the six other papers in this supplement on cardiovascular disease, diabetes, depression, breast cancer, interventions using cultural leverage, and pay-for-performance and public reporting of performance measures. Based on these findings, we present global conclusions regarding the current state of health disparities interventions and make recommendations for future interventions to reduce disparities. Multifactorial, culturally tailored interventions that target different causes of disparities hold the most promise, but much more research is needed to investigate potential solutions and their implementation.
Cultural Leverage
Authors: Fisher Thomas L. , Burnet Deborah L. , Huang Elbert S. , Chin Marshall H. , Cagney Kathleen A.
Published: September 2007

The authors reviewed interventions using cultural leverage to narrow racial disparities in health care. Thirty-eight interventions of three types were identified: interventions that modified the health behaviors of individual patients of color, that increased the access of communities of color to the existing health care system, and that modified the health care system to better serve patients of color and their communities. Individual-level interventions typically tapped community members' expertise to shape programs. Access interventions largely involved screening programs, incorporating patient navigators and lay educators. Health care interventions focused on the roles of nurses, counselors, and community health workers to deliver culturally tailored health information. These interventions increased patients' knowledge for self-care, decreased barriers to access, and improved providers' cultural competence. The delivery of processes of care or intermediate health outcomes was significantly improved in 23 interventions. Interventions using cultural leverage show tremendous promise in reducing health disparities, but more research is needed to understand their health effects in combination with other interventions.
Pay for Performance, Public Reporting, and Racial Disparities in Health Care
Authors: Chien Alyna T. , Chin Marshall H. , Davis Andrew M. , Casalino Lawrence P.
Published: September 2007

Pay-for-performance and public reporting programs may have a neutral, narrowing, or widening effect on racial disparities in health care. The authors begin this article by suggesting that certain characteristics of these programs may affect disparities. They then present results from a systematic review of the literature on the effects of performance incentive programs on racial disparities in health care. The review revealed that only one empirical study provided data on this issue: It showed that a major public reporting program increased disparities in coronary artery bypass graft rates. The authors then present the results of interviews with leaders of 15 major performance incentive programs in the United States. The interviews indicated that current programs are not designed to reduce disparities and often lack characteristics that may be important in reducing disparities. The article concludes with program leaders' recommendations on how performance incentive programs could be designed to reduce disparities.
It's the Debates, Stupid! How the Introduction of Televised Debates Changed the Portrayal of Chancellor Candidates in the German Press, 1949—2005
Authors: Reinemann Carsten , Wilke Jürgen
Published: September 2007

Media election campaign coverage is said to have changed fundamentally in recent decades. Among the trends identified are personalization, negativism, more interpretive coverage, deauthentication, and horse-race coverage. Usually, U.S. studies are cited as empirical evidence for these developments. Recent studies of European campaigns have shown, however, that the picture seems to be different there in various respects.This article argues that one of the reasons for the differences might be the lack of some central campaign events in European elections. Taking Germany as an example, it investigates how the introduction of American-style televised debates in 2002 and 2005 changed media coverage of the major candidates. On the basis of a long-term content analysis between 1949 and 2005, several dramatic effects of this new campaign event are shown.
Presidents and Front-page News: How America's Newspapers Cover the Bush Administration
Authors: Peake Jeffrey S.
Published: September 2007

Presidency and political communication scholars have given scant attention to how local news media cover the presidency. The author offers a comparative study of coverage of the Bush presidency on the front pages of 100 American newspapers during a five-month period in 2006. Sociological and economic theories predict slanted coverage of national politics by America's newspapers, despite journalistic professional norms to the contrary.The analyses suggest there is a slant to the coverage of President Bush that is partly explained by the political leanings of the newspaper and its audience. Newspapers that endorsed Bush's reelection in 2004 tended to write more favorable headlines, and newspapers in states where Democrats are strong politically tended to write less favorable headlines.
Discursive Contention: Palestinian Media Discourse and the Inception of the “First” Intifada
Authors: Alimi Eitan
Published: September 2007

The framing process of political opportunity to act contentiously is examined as a unique type of interaction between news media and social movements, where media institutions act as a forum for reflecting and constructing oppositional views to unfolding political processes. The case of Palestinian contention during the run-up to the “first” Intifada is employed to illustrate the role of “mobilized print media” in framing of opportunity to act contentiously. Findings from content analysis data suggest that (a) during 1987, there is a significant, gradual increase in calls for action and (b) a converging process between various newspapers, representing various political factions within the Palestinian movement, develops regarding a shared framing of ripe political conditions to increase mobilization.
Anchors Away: Media Framing of Broadcast Television Network Evening News Anchors
Authors: Brewer Paul R. , Macafee Timothy
Published: September 2007

Between 2002 and 2006, six newcomers took the anchor chairs at the evening news programs of ABC, CBS, and NBC. Collectively, they received extensive news coverage. This study uses content analysis to examine how three national newspapers framed the new anchors. A frame casting the anchors as competitors in a ratings game was especially common. At the same time, the newspapers regularly framed the anchors in terms of their reporting experience and reporting style, as well as in terms of personal characteristics such as personality, appearance, age, and sex. The newspapers were more likely to frame female anchors in terms of their sex; apart from this, no consistent differences across sex emerged. All three newspapers followed broadly similar patterns in covering the anchors, though some differences across sources emerged. Patterns in news media framing of anchors may carry implications for public opinion about anchors and the news media.
Facing the Muhammad Cartoons: Official Dominance and Event-Driven News in Swedish and American Elite Press
Authors: Shehata Adam
Published: September 2007

Past research has shown that official actors have an advantage when it comes to accessing and framing political issues in the news media. This study examines the dynamics of official dominance and event-driven news from a comparative perspective, focusing on the Muhammad cartoons controversy. A model of official dominance and event-driven news, taking media system factors into account, is developed and tested using a quantitative and qualitative research design. The results show that an intolerance frame dominated over a freedom-of-speech frame in both the Swedish and the American elite press. Furthermore, although dramatic events opened windows of opportunity for unofficial actors, the consequences of intensified coverage for the ratio between unofficial and official voices were more profound in the United States. Finally, there is some evidence of more active journalistic framing in the Swedish papers.
Showdown
Authors: Taylor Douglas
Published: September 2007

While written during Malcolm X’s Muslim years, the narrative standpoint of The Autobiography of Malcolm X (As Told to Alex Haley) often mirrors the “cool pose” he adopted as a hustler in the black ghettoes of Harlem and Roxbury. By focusing on the way that cool pose gets enacted through “showdowns,” a symbolic transaction Malcolm and the other street hustlers in The Autobiography use to bolster their “masculinity,” this essay supplements the performative model of gender with a consideration of the ways that “masculinity” also involves exchanges of gender power.
Public health in transition: views of the specialist workforce
Authors: Griffiths Sian , Thorpe Allison
Published: September 2007

The constant structural changes to the NHS in England have created instability and lack of job security within the public health workforce in the UK. Since posts are linked to structures which keep changing, recent years have seen constant changes in titles, responsibilities and expectations. Effective public health practice involves teamwork across sectors and strong relationships with local communities, and this constant change has posed professional challenges. The changes in 2002 offered the Faculty of Public Health the opportunity to work with the Department of Health to consult with specialists, the main objective being to reach agreement on future roles and ways of working. The lessons learnt from this exercise are described here as they remain relevant as the structural changes continue. Key messages are that if the many opportunities of the current policy agenda are to be realized, the public health profession needs to be supported to play its full role in the three domains of practice: health improvement, health protection and developing better health services. This challenge needs professional bodies to be clear on expected competence of their members; employers to be clear on the potential contribution of public health specialists not only in promoting and protecting health in communities but also within the acute sector; organizational arrangements to be in place to sustain the capacity of the workforce whatever the structural changes occurring. This lesson has yet to be learnt.
New beginnings: stakeholder perspectives on the role of health trainers
Authors: South Jane , Woodward Jenny , Lowcock Diane
Published: September 2007

Aims: First proposed in the 2004 White Paper Choosing Health, health trainers are a new addition to the public health workforce. Health trainers are recruited from local communities and provide support to enable individuals to adopt healthy lifestyles. The aim of this paper is to examine the emerging role of the health trainer in the context of one of the twelve early adopter programmes. The paper describes the support and signposting model developed in Bradford.

Methods: An evaluation of the pilot scheme was undertaken using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The paper draws on two pieces of qualitative data from the evaluation. Two focus groups were held with 15 health trainers in their first months of practice. Telephone interviews were held with a sample of 16 key informants from community based placement organizations. Thematic analysis of the data was undertaken.

Results: The new health trainers were very clear about their role in listening and giving support. Clients presented with a diverse range of needs and often had complex problems. The health trainers perceived that a client-centred approach was of value but there were some issues about the boundaries of appropriate advice. Outreach and networking were considered important skills. In the telephone interviews, interviewees understood the health trainer role and identified potential benefits for service users. The significance of health trainers having local knowledge was highlighted, although some organizations were able to assist with networking. The health trainer programme was seen as an additional and distinct resource complementing existing provision.

Conclusion: The new role of health trainer is a significant development for the public health workforce. Health trainers can offer something quite distinctive and separate from professional advice, and there is potential to help individuals to access support and services in local communities. More research is needed on the relative value of different models of health trainer.
`Faces of the Fallen' and the dematerialization of US war memorials
Authors: Grider Nicholas
Published: September 2007

The advent of internet technology has enabled the process of memorialization of those killed in US military conflicts to keep pace with the casualties themselves and, as such, has marked a shift in both the ideology of the war memorial as symbol and the ideology-driven media use of those symbols. This article argues that a process of increasing humanization and specificity enabled by the information architecture of the internet has lead to a form of `war memorial', exemplified by www.facesofthefallen.org, that emphasizes decontexualized human loss at the expense of a coherent representation of a military nature for the loss itself.
Frozen memories: unthawing Scott of the Antarctic in cultural memory
Authors: Barwell Claire
Published: September 2007

This article explores the staging of memory and death and the connotative differences within still photographs and film. It examines the tenses that can be inferred in reading photographs and film through examples drawn from representations of the British Antarctic Expedition of 1910-13 and Captain Scott's journey to the South Pole taken by Herbert Ponting, and in the 1948 film Scott of the Antarctic.
Comments on the Rights of Others
Authors: Aleinikoff T. Alexander
Published: September 2007

Professor Benhabib seeks to rely upon discourse theory to ground a `right to membership' — a right of immigrants to seek and be granted naturalization. The effort is unpersuasive because discourse theory cannot provide an answer to the fundamental question of who should participate in the conversation that would establish a right to membership, nor is it clear that persons freely and equally discussing membership rules would reach the normative conclusions that Benhabib defends. Protection of the `rights of others' might be better secured by arguing from human rights principles that guarantee rights to all residents — citizens and immigrants — than by arguing for a right to membership.
Democratic Exclusions and Democratic Iterations
Authors: Benhabib Seyla
Published: September 2007

In my book, The Rights of Others, I developed a discourse-theoretic approach to questions of political membership in liberal democracies, which include practices of citizenship, as well as of immigration, refuge and asylum. This article revisits five issues in response to various criticisms. How can we justify democratic exclusions? Is there a `right to membership' and how can it be reconciled with the different practices of various constitutional democracies? Is there a distinction between normatively acceptable and normatively problematic restrictions on political membership? Does the concept of `democratic iterations' describe normative or empirical processes? How plausible is the binarism of the national and the global? I argue that democratic exclusions can be justified by not discriminating against would-be citizens and immigrants on the basis of ascriptive criteria. Ascriptive characteristics, like one's sex and skin colour, are not the product of one's voluntary doings. Democratic iterations are empirical processes which can be judged in the light of normative criteria deriving from discourse theory. Furthermore, while the binarism of national and global is problematical, alternative configurations of political membership at the present are not more defensible.
Size and Virtue
Authors: Herreros Francisco
Published: September 2007

The importance of the size of a political community for the development of civic virtue has usually been related to the advantages of small size in the possibility of direct democracy and the fulfilment of the classical ideal of freedom as governing and being governed by turn. While these are important variables for the development of civic virtue, in this article it is argued that small size also matters because it allows the development of civic virtue by a reputation-building mechanism. The correlate of this argument is that as the political community grows in size, this mechanism turns increasingly unfeasible. However, the article also claims that certain institutional devices for the spread of information about people's preferences can help the development of civic virtue even in big republics. This argument is illustrated with the example of the Roman censorship, an institution that flourished during the Roman Republican period.
Diversity and Unity
Authors: Baumeister Andrea
Published: September 2007

Although Habermas's sophisticated conception of constitutional patriotism successfully avoids the charge of trying to ground patriotism in a set of principles that is too thin and abstract to sustain a real sense of solidarity and belonging, his optimism regarding the prospect in modern pluralist societies of building a genuinely shared political culture is misplaced. The march of modernization as rationalization is neither as relentless nor as inevitable as Habermas assumes. Hence the rational consensus on liberal constitutional principles that is to provide the basis for a shared political culture remains elusive. However, while Habermas's solution to the `solidarity gap' that confronts many contemporary liberal democracies remains problematic, he is right to point to the importance of a shared identity that is strong enough to turn strangers into fellow citizens. The challenges that cultural diversity and value pluralism pose for contemporary states cannot be resolved via a procedural approach that focuses solely on political legitimacy. Yet the difficulties that surround Habermas's conception of `constitutional patriotism' suggest modern states will struggle to build a collective political identity that can generate a genuine sense of solidarity. If this is so, modern pluralist states face a more profound challenge than writers such as Habermas assume.
Advance Consent in Japanese During Prenatal Care for Epidural Anesthesia During Childbirth
Authors: Fetters Michael D. , Yoshioka Tetsuya , Greenberg Grant M. , Gorenflo Daniel W. , Yeo SeonAe
Published: September 2007

The authors developed advance consent in Japanese for epidural anesthesia for pregnant Japanese-speaking women. Their explanatory, sequential mixed methods design involved a survey (QUAN) and telephone interviews with Japanese women (QUAL). An e-mail survey of health professionals (quan/ qual) was conducted concurrently to the QUAL arm. Japanese women and health professionals found advance consent as helpful, though minor problems were identified. Advance consent helped lower communication barriers, and the women wanted more information about pain control. This mixed methods study of Japanese women suggests that bilingual advance consent offers an innovative tool to help overcome the language barrier for non-English-proficient women who predictably needed interventions (e.g., epidurals) under unpredictable circumstances.
Accurate identification of paraprotein antigen targets by epitope reconstruction
Authors: Sompuram Seshi R. , Bastas Gerassimos , Vani Kodela , Bogen Steven A.
Published: September 2007

We describe the first successful clinical application of a new discovery technology, epitope-mediated antigen prediction (E-MAP), to the investigation of multiple myeloma. Until now, there has been no reliable, systematic method to identify the cognate antigens of paraproteins. E-MAP is a variation of previous efforts to reconstruct the epitopes of paraproteins, with the significant difference that it provides enough epitope sequence data so as to enable successful protein database searches. We first reconstruct the paraprotein's epitope by analyzing the peptides that strongly bind. Then, we compile the data and interrogate the nonredundant protein database, searching for a close match. As a clinical proof-of-concept, we apply this technology to uncovering the protein targets of para-proteins in multiple myeloma (MM). E-MAP analysis of 2 MM paraproteins identified human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) as a target in both. E-MAP sequence analysis determined that one para-protein binds to the AD-2S1 epitope of HCMV glycoprotein B. The other binds to the amino terminus of the HCMV UL-48 gene product. We confirmed these predictions using immunoassays and immunoblot analyses. E-MAP represents a new investigative tool for analyzing the role of chronic antigenic stimulation in B-lymphoproliferative disorders.
Constitutively active STAT6 predisposes toward a lymphoproliferative disorder
Authors: Kaplan Mark H. , Sehra Sarita , Chang Hua-Chen , O'Malley John T. , Mathur Anubhav N. , Bruns Heather A.
Published: September 2007

Signal transducer and activator of transcription 6 (STAT6) is critical for IL-4 and IL-13 responses, and necessary for the normal development of Th2 cells. We previously generated mice that express a constitutively active STAT6 (STAT6VT) under control of the CD2 locus control region, which directs expression to the T-cell compartment. We now describe that a small proportion of these mice (∼5%) develop a spontaneous lymphoproliferative disease (LPD) that results in dramatic splenomegaly. The cell populations observed in the LPD spleens can be divided into 2 categories, those that are composed of mixed lineage cells and those that are predominantly T cells with a phenotype similar to that in autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome (ALPS) patients. These data suggest that while active STAT6 is not a transforming factor, expression in T cells predisposes toward the development of lymphoproliferative disorders.
An adaptive route to innate immunity?
Authors: Kornbluth Richard S.
Published: September 2007

Recent notions of the immune response focus on the idea that innate pathogen recognition receptors (PRRs) lead to adaptive immune responses.
A clinical-scale selective allodepletion approach for the treatment of HLA-mismatched and matched donor-recipient pairs using expanded T lymphocytes as antigen-presenting cells and a TH9402-based photodepletion technique
Authors: Mielke Stephan , Nunes Raquel , Rezvani Katayoun , Fellowes Vicki S. , Venne Annie , Solomon Scott R. , Fan Yong , Gostick Emma , Price David A. , Scotto Christian , Read Elizabeth J. , Barrett A. John
Published: September 2007

Selective allodepletion is a strategy to eliminate host-reactive donor T cells from hematopoietic stem cell allografts to prevent graft-versus-host disease while conserving useful donor immune functions. To overcome fluctuations in activation-based surface marker expression and achieve a more consistent and effective allodepletion, we investigated a photodepletion process targeting activation-based changes in p-glycoprotein that result in an altered efflux of the photosensitizer TH9402. Expanded lymphocytes, generated using anti-CD3 and IL-2, were cocultured with responder cells from HLA-matched or -mismatched donors. Optimal results were achieved when cocultured cells were incubated with 7.5 μM TH9402, followed by dye extrusion and exposure to 5 Joule/cm2 light energy at 5 × 106 cells/mL. In mismatched stimulator-responder pairs, the median reduction of alloreactivity was 474-fold (range, 43-fold to 864-fold) compared with the unmanipulated responder. Third-party responses were maintained with a median 1.4-fold (range, 0.9-fold to 3.3-fold) reduction. In matched pairs, alloreactive helper T-lymphocyte precursors were reduced to lower than 1:100 000, while third-party responses remained higher than 1:10 000. This establishes a clinical-scale process capable of highly efficient, reproducible, selective removal of alloreactive lymphocytes from lymphocyte transplant products performed under current Good Manufacturing Practice. This procedure is currently being investigated in a clinical trial of allotransplantation.
R7-binding protein targets the G protein β5/R7-regulator of G protein signaling complex to lipid rafts in neuronal cells and brain
Authors: Nini Lylia , Waheed Abdul A , Panicker Leelamma M , Czapiga Meggan , Zhang Jian-Hua , Simonds William F
Published: September 2007

Background

Heterotrimeric guanine nucleotide-binding regulatory proteins (G proteins), composed of Gα, Gβ, and Gγ subunits, are positioned at the inner face of the plasma membrane and relay signals from activated G protein-coupled cell surface receptors to various signaling pathways. Gβ5 is the most structurally divergent Gβ isoform and forms tight heterodimers with regulator of G protein signalling (RGS) proteins of the R7 subfamily (R7-RGS). The subcellular localization of Gβ 5/R7-RGS protein complexes is regulated by the palmitoylation status of the associated R7-binding protein (R7BP), a recently discovered SNARE-like protein. We investigate here whether R7BP controls the targeting of Gβ5/R7-RGS complexes to lipid rafts, cholesterol-rich membrane microdomains where conventional heterotrimeric G proteins and some effector proteins are concentrated in neurons and brain.

Results

We show that endogenous Gβ5/R7-RGS/R7BP protein complexes are present in native neuron-like PC12 cells and that a fraction is targeted to low-density, detergent-resistant membrane lipid rafts. The buoyant density of endogenous raft-associated Gβ5/R7-RGS protein complexes in PC12 cells was similar to that of lipid rafts containing the palmitoylated marker proteins PSD-95 and LAT, but distinct from that of the membrane microdomain where flotillin was localized. Overexpression of wild-type R7BP, but not its palmitoylation-deficient mutant, greatly enriched the fraction of endogenous Gβ5/R7-RGS protein complexes in the lipid rafts. In HEK-293 cells the palmitoylation status of R7BP also regulated the lipid raft targeting of co-expressed Gβ5/R7-RGS/R7BP proteins. A fraction of endogenous Gβ5/R7-RGS/R7BP complexes was also present in lipid rafts in mouse brain.

Conclusion

A fraction of Gβ5/R7-RGS/R7BP protein complexes is targeted to low-density, detergent-resistant membrane lipid rafts in PC12 cells and brain. In cultured cells, the palmitoylation status of R7BP regulated the lipid raft targeting of endogenous or co-expressed Gβ5/R7-RGS proteins. Taken together with recent evidence that the kinetic effects of the Gβ5 complex on GPCR signaling are greatly enhanced by R7BP palmitoylation through a membrane-anchoring mechanism, our data suggest the targeting of the Gβ5/R7-RGS/R7BP complex to lipid rafts in neurons and brain, where G proteins and their effectors are concentrated, may be central to the G protein regulatory function of the complex.