bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Talking Cancer, Saving Lives: Breast Cancer Awareness Training for Health Professionals in Hong Kong
Authors: Wong-Kim Evaon , Sormanti Mary , Tang Kwong Leung , Ngai Steven
Published: February 2009

A two-day training program aimed at promoting breast cancer awareness and utilization of breast cancer screening in Hong Kong was presented to a group of breast cancer survivors and mid-level health and social services professionals ( n = 75). Using a training of trainer model, six modules were presented covering biological, psycho-social, sexual, and quality of life issues relating to breast cancer. Self-administered pre-test, post-test, and follow-up measures were used to determine participants' knowledge about breast cancer related issues and their self-perceived competence to discuss these issues professionally. The participant demographic profile was primarily female, mostly married with mean age of 38. Most of the participants attributed the causes of breast cancer to genetic, lifestyle risk, and environmental risk factors (over 60%). Their attitude, on average, was most positive regarding the difference between a support group and psychoeducational support group ( M > 8 on a 0–10 scale). Their knowledge, on average, was lowest regarding familiarity with the types and uses of alternative medicine in Hong Kong ( M < 5 on a 0–10 scale). Paired t-tests comparing pre-test to the first post-test indicated a statistically significant increase in composite scores of competence, cause recognition, and suggested frequency of breast self-exam. This training proved to be a culturally competent approach that facilitates health care providers' service provision to breast cancer survivors in Hong Kong.
Case Management of Childhood Fever by Traditional Healers in Southwest Nigeria: Identification of Training and Collaborative Needs
Authors: Fawole Olufunmilayo I. , Akinboye Dora O. , Falade Catherine O. , Arulogun Oyedunni S. , Adeniyi Joshua D.
Published: February 2009

Traditional healers play an important role in the provision of healthcare in many communities in Africa. This study aimed to improve home management of malaria in children by assessing the healer's knowledge and practice. A semi-structured questionnaire interview of 127 traditional healers selected by proportionate sampling technique from two rural and two urban local government areas (LGAs) of southwestern Nigeria was followed by a training program. Malaria ranked first (87%) among the illnesses managed by the healers. Diagnosis of fever was often (72%) based on client history, physical examination (24.4%), consulting oracles (18.9%), and interpretation of dreams (3.1%). Treatment of malaria was with boiled herbs (“agbo”; 72%), ground herbs (“agunmu”; 14%), and incisions and scarifications (3%). Forty-one (32.5%) healers had referred febrile children to a health facility. Younger healers and those who had at least a secondary education were more likely to refer patients ( p < 0.05 in both cases). Thirty-six healers (28.4%) had previous formal training on management of fevers, most of whom were the younger ( p < 0.05), educated healers ( p > 0.05), with fewer years of practice ( p > 0.05). Research into traditional herbs (48%), better acknowledgment by government (23.6%), and collaboration with other health sectors were suggestions to improve practice. Traditional healers, especially the older, less-educated, and long-practicing healers, urgently require formal training and collaboration with other healthcare providers to improve knowledge and promote early referral of children with fever.
Factors Affecting Condom Usage among College Students in South Central Kentucky
Authors: Kanekar Amar , Sharma Manoj
Published: February 2009

The absence of consistent and correct usage of condoms increases the risk of sexually transmitted infections (STI) and HIV/AIDS. However, most studies done to date across the nation indicate a low usage of condoms among college students. This study identifies protective and risk factors associated with condom use among college students. The National College Health Assessment was administered to a random sample of students at a state comprehensive university in south central Kentucky. Findings revealed that among the sexually active students, approximately half never used condoms during vaginal intercourse. Further, among students engaging in oral sex, an alarmingly high proportion (95%) reported never using a condom during this act. These findings, along with differences noted in various subgroups (gender, housing, class standing), and other risk behaviors (alcohol, illicit drug use) are discussed.
Religious Attitude, Religiosity, and Arrack Drinking Patterns among Muslim, Hindu, Santal, and Oraon Communities in Rasulpur Union, Bangladesh
Authors: Uddin Md. Emaj
Published: February 2009

This study compares how religious attitudes and religiosity of the Muslim, Hindu, Santal, and Oraon communities influence arrack drinking patterns in the Rasulpur Union of Bangladesh. The 391 respondents (Muslim, 109; Hindu, 103; Santal, 89; and Oraon, 90), selected by simple random sampling, were interviewed with a semi-structured questionnaire. The results suggest that the Santal and Oraon drinkers with their permissive attitude are involved more frequently with moderate and chronic arrack drinking patterns compared to the Hindu drinkers' arrack drinking pattern with their ambivalent attitude and the Muslim drinkers' arrack drinking pattern with their abstinence attitude. In addition, the Hindu, Santal, and Oraon arrack drinkers participated more in their respective religious activities, but the Muslim arrack drinkers participated less in their respective religious activities.
Employment Discrimination in Hungary and its Effect on Health
Authors: Fuzesi Zsuzsanna , Busa Csilla , Varga Ivett , Tistyan Laszlo
Published: February 2009

A dramatic drop in employment occurred in Hungary following the change of regime which particularly affected the Roma, people of reduced working ability, and mothers with young children. Alongside economic considerations, the prejudices of employers and discrimination in employment constitute the most significant obstacles to returning to the workplace. The poor mental and physical health of these groups further reduces their chances of finding employment. Only legislation exists to manage the problem, which—in the absence of other interventions—has not brought a breakthrough in the employment of these groups in either the state or local governments or in private spheres.
Characteristics of Effective Job Health and Safety Committees
Authors: Morse Tim , Goyzueta Jeanette , Curry Leslie , Warren Nicholas
Published: February 2009

Although Health and Safety Committees (HSCs) are widely used, there is very little empirical information on what specific characteristics of HSCs (structure, activities, and resources) are associated with effectiveness in lowering injury and illness rates. An exploratory study was conducted in Connecticut, a state which requires HSCs in all workplaces with at least 25 employees. The study included analysis of administrative data (including HSC meeting minutes) of 29 committees. Lower injury rate companies were found to have a higher ratio of hourly workers to managers on the HSC, a larger committee compared to size of the employer, and reviewed a larger average number of worker complaints and suggestions.
Productive Reorganization, Outsourcing, and Work Relations in the Offshore Oil Industry in the Campos Basin, Rio de Janeiro
Authors: Figueiredo Marcelo , Alvarez Denise , Athayde Milton , Suarez José Diego , Pereira Renata , Soares Leonardo
Published: February 2009

This article analyzes the relationship between the intensive use of outsourcing and labor organizations on offshore oil platforms in the Campos Basin, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The theoretical and methodological framework applied in our research is based on Ergonomics of Activity and the Psychodynamics of Work, from an ergological perspective. In addition to the more general trend of increasing precariousness, we highlight the potential loss of formal and informal knowledge resulting from the fragmentation of work collectives, as we consider the cohesion of these collectives to be a crucial element contributing to reliability in process operations. Increasing precariousness of work contributes to this fragmentation and one of its main causes is the uncontrolled increase in outsourcing of work. This situation has had nefarious consequences for workers' health and safety, suggesting that those who have adopted outsourcing as a labor management tool have failed to consider these harmful consequences as rigorously as necessary.
Freedom Isn't Free: Voices from the Truck Driving Industry
Authors: Wenger Julia
Published: February 2009

I interviewed and received written correspondences from truck drivers to gain insight into their lives and to investigate their occupational health and work issues. Drivers discussed money; an interest in trucks, driving, and the truck-driving community; as well as freedom as primary incentives for becoming truck drivers. However, their incentives for becoming drivers were counteracted by concerns such as high fuel costs, sleep deprivation, physical and emotional health problems, safety, company practices, and government regulations. The concerns raised by truck drivers highlight a few of the major health and occupational hazards associated with this profession.
A Population Estimate for Golden Eagles in the Western United States
Authors: GOOD RHETT E. , NIELSON RYAN M. , SAWYER HALL , MCDONALD LYMAN L.
Published: February 2009

ABSTRACT Researchers have suggested golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) populations may be declining in portions of their range. However, there are few baseline data describing golden eagle populations across their range in the western United States. We used aerial line transect distance methodology with a double‐observer modification to estimate golden eagle population numbers in 4 bird conservation regions of the western United States. We conducted surveys from 16 August to 8 September 2003, after most golden eagles had fledged and before fall migration. The goal of our sampling strategy was to provide >80% power (α = 0.1) to detect an annual rate of total population change >3% per year over a 20‐year period. We observed 172 golden eagles across 148 transects and estimated 27,392 golden eagles (90% CI: 21,352‐35,140) occurred in the study area during the late summer and early fall of 2003. Following the surveys, we used Monte Carlo simulation to determine the statistical power to detect trends in the golden eagle populations if yearly surveys were continued over a 20‐year monitoring period. The simulation indicated the desired power could be achieved under the current methodology and sample size. The methods utilized in this study can be implemented for other raptor species when population estimates that include nonbreeding members of a population are needed. The results of this study can be utilized by professionals to help manage golden eagle populations and to develop conservation strategies.
Survival of Breeding Pacific Common Eiders on the Yukon‐Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska
Authors: WILSON HEATHER M. , FLINT PAUL L. , MORAN CHRISTINE L. , POWELL ABBY N.
Published: February 2009

ABSTRACTPopulations of Pacific common eiders (Somateria mollissima v‐nigrum) breeding in Alaska, USA, have declined markedly over the past 40 years. We studied survival of adult female Pacific common eiders using capture—recapture of nesting hens at 3 sites on the Yukon‐Kuskokwim Delta (YKD), Alaska from 1994 to 2004. We used data consisting of 268 recapture events from 361 uniquely marked individuals to investigate temporal, geographic, and environmental variation in adult female survival. Our results suggest apparent annual survival of adult eiders from the YKD was high (0.892, SE = 0.022) and spatially and temporally invariant (σ2= 0.005), a pattern consistent with other long‐lived marine birds. Moreover, our results suggest adult survival may be functionally fixed for Pacific common eiders, and at the present, adult survival may be relatively unresponsive to environmental or management perturbations. Our data did not support hypothesized variation in survival relative to mortality factors such as predation on breeding grounds, physiologic costs of reproduction, and wintering conditions. Although changes in adult survival likely have a large potential effect on prospective population growth, our results suggest viable management actions aimed at increasing survival may be extremely limited.
Why Paulson is Wrong
Authors: Zingales Luigi
Published: February 2009

There are alternatives to a massive government bailout of the U.S. financial industry, according to Luigi Zingales--they just would be more costly for financiers and cheaper for taxpayers.
A Statement on the Appropriate Role for Research and Development in Climate Policy
Authors: Arrow Kenneth J. , Cohen Linda , David Paul A. , Hahn Robert W. , Kolstad Charles D. , Lane Lee , Montgomery W. David , Nelson Richard R. , Noll Roger G. , Smith Anne E.
Published: February 2009

A statement by a group of economists and scientists which met at Stanford University on October 18, 2008 to discuss the role of research and development in developing effective policies for addressing the adverse potential consequences of climate change.
Quantification of Hormesis in Anticancer-Agent Dose-Responses
Authors: Nascarella Marc A. , Stanek Edward J. , Hoffmann George R. , Calabrese Edward J.
Published: February 2009

Quantitative features of dose responses were analyzed for 2,189 candidate anticancer agents in 13 strains of yeast ( Saccharomyces cerevisiae). The agents represent a diverse class of chemical compounds including mustards, other alkylating agents, and antimetabolites, inter alia. Previous analyses have shown that the responses below the toxic threshold were stimulatory and poorly predicted by a threshold dose-response model, while better explained by a hormetic dose-response model. We determined the quantitative features of the hormetic concentration-responses ( n = 4,548) using previously published entry and evaluative criteria. The quantitative features that are described are: (1) the width of the concentration range showing stimulation above 10% of the control (mean of 5-fold), (2) the maximum stimulation of the concentration-responses (mean of 27% above the control), and (3) the width from the maximum stimulation to the toxicological threshold (mean of 3.7-fold). These results show that 52.5% of the 2,189 chemicals evaluated display hormetic concentration-responses in at least one of the 13 yeast strains. Many chemicals showed hormesis in multiple strains, and 24 agents showed hormesis in all 13 strains. The data are compared to previously reported quantitative features of hormesis based on published literature.
African Tourist Encounters: Effects of Tourism on Two West African Societies
Authors: van Beek Walter E. A.
Published: February 2009

This article compares encounters with tourism in two African communities, the Dogon in Mali and the Kapsiki in north Cameroon. The societies are comparable in many respects, but the effects on them of the tourist presence quite different. The Dogon react to tourism by bolstering their cultural pride and self esteem, and they develop inventive ways of gearing their cultural performances to tourist demands without compromising the rituals to which the performances belong. For them, the tourist presence signals the importance and intrinsic interest of Dogon culture. The Cameroonian Kapsiki (called Higi in north Nigeria) interpret the attention bestowed upon them and their country as indicating that they are marginal, living at the rim of the habitable world. They translate the tourist quest for ‘authenticity’ as being ‘backward’ and left out. The reasons for these different reactions are traced to processes inherent in cultural tourism, to the specific agenda of tourism in either place, and to some characteristics of the host '. The overall effect of tourist encounters with local communities seems to be to reinforce existing patterns of identity construction and to restate the images of the relevant ‘other’ already current in those cultures.
FREUD'S SPANISH: BILINGUALISM AND BISEXUALITY
Authors: Gallo Rubén
Published: February 2009

This article examines Freud's use of the Spanish language during his adolescent years. Based on an analysis of Freud's letters to Eduard Silberstein, Gallo examines the different affective relationship to Spanish and German: one was the language of love, the other the tongue of reason. The article links Freud's Spanish to his reading of Cervantes's Exemplary Novels and shows that a young Freud imitated the Cervantine portrayal of a dangerous female sexuality. Spanish was a secret language for Freud, one that he never used again after his correspondence with Silberstein came to an end.
FREUD AND THE CULTURE HISTORIANS: AN ESCAPE FROM THE CLINICAL?
Authors: Cotti Patricia
Published: February 2009

In 1905, caught in the difficulties he encountered with some of his patients’ biographies, Freud chose to follow Iwan Bloch's approach of mental disorders. He consequently adopted an anthropological point of view. He then consulted what he called ‘Kulturgeschichte’ and ‘Kulturhistoriker’ to propose his theory of neuroses and repression. Who were these ‘culture historians’? What ideas and concepts did they convey? Which role was granted them exactly in psychiatric writings? I will try to answer these questions in order to uncover their precise theoretical influence on Freud's writings during the first decade of the twentieth century.
SHAPING HISTORY: ALEXANDER MITSCHERLICH AND GERMAN PSYCHOANALYSIS AFTER 1945
Authors: Dehli Martin
Published: February 2009

German post-war psychoanalysis was marked for many years by a strong narrative that assured its professional identity: psychoanalysis in Germany had been liquidated by National Socialism and had been rebuilt from scratch after 1945. The psychoanalyst Alexander Mitscherlich was both an integral part of this narrative and its most important propagator. The author analyses the genesis of this narrative, its moral and political function and finally its demise. In doing so he gives a short account of the first years of the reconstruction of psychoanalytic life in Germany after 1945. He draws on new research on Alexander Mitscherlich to describe his relationship with organized psychoanalysis. He explains why the biography of Mitscherlich and the history of German post-war analysis became interrelated to the point where both provided an integral part of each other's self-understanding. Finally, he documents how the narrative was gradually deconstructed after the death of Mitscherlich in 1982.
ÉMIGRÉ ANALYSTS OF THE 1930S AND THEIR LOSS OF THE MOTHER TONGUE: DIFFICULTIES IN WRITING THE HISTORY OF PSYCHOANALYSIS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Authors: Kowalik Jill Anne
Published: February 2009

Taking memoirs, biographies, oral histories and interviews of émigré analysts as her subjects of interrogation, Kowalik questions what these analysts felt about the loss of their mother-tongue, deliberates what vulnerabilities this loss made them heir to and what compensatory strategies this trauma led them to. She scrutinizes the histories, both those of eminent founders of the Southern Californian Institutes as well as those of the institutions and finds that the issues of the loss of the most important tool of the émigré analyst, their mother tongue, have neither been researched nor even been thematized. She maintains that only a history of psychoanalysis as praxis can access the effects of the loss and outlines the difficulties in writing such a history (confidentiality, medicalization of psychoanalysis, the status of the dyad, need to forget trauma). She concludes with a challenge to historians to use psychoanalytic tools in writing the history of psychoanalysis in Southern California.
THE HISTORIAN OF THE FREUD MUSEUM: LYDIA MARINELLI
Authors: Mayer Andreas
Published: February 2009

The Freud Museum in Vienna is certainly one of the best-known tourist attractions of Europe, drawing crowds of visitors every year. Over the past 15 years, it has also acquired a reputation for being the site of some of the most inventive intellectual work in the history of psychoanalysis. A set of highly original exhibitions, film and lecture series, and conferences all set a new tone that was unheard of in Vienna, a city where Sigmund Freud had been turned, as had so many other of the great figures of Austria's glorious past, into a piece of merchandise. It took the scholarly world and the larger public some time to realize that this fresh and courageous approach was the work of a young historian who was not even Viennese, but had arrived from the Eastern part of the Tyrol.
FORT, DA: THE CAP IN THE MUSEUM,
Authors: Marinelli Lydia
Published: February 2009

Simple headgear can hardly be seen as an enticement to commit a crime. In order to awaken criminal energy, a cap must go through a series of transformations: only so ennobled can it become the object of a crime. There is a short story by Thomas Bernhard that relates the disturbing development of a mundane found item into the object of a crime. In his text ‘Die Mütze’ [The Cap], a scientist plagued by head troubles searches for the rightful owner of a cap he finds. Being unable to track down its owner, he increasingly begins to worry that he is nothing better than a common hat thief. The tale ends with the scientist, martyred by terrible feelings of guilt, finally putting on the cap, which in the future will warm him at his writing desk.3
Neurosis and Modernity: The Age of Nervousness in Sweden by Petteri Pietikainen (Leiden/Boston, MA: Brill, 2007; 391 pp); reviewed by Per Magnus Johansson
Authors: Johansson Per Magnus
Published: February 2009

Petteri Pietikainen, who presented his thesis, C.G. Jung and the Psychology of Symbolic Forms, at the University of Helsinki in 1999, has published a new book – this time, in English: Neurosis and Modernity: The Age of Nervousness in Sweden. It deals with the development of a society that became increasingly characterized by a psychological way of thinking. He investigates the period spanning from 1890 to 1950. Pietikainen shows how the concept of neurosis became what is known as a ‘contagious diagnosis’, and how the process caused terminology like discontent and stress to be adopted into modern everyday language, and that this process is linked to the development of the concept of neurosis.
Phonologically conditioned allomorphy in the morphology of Surmiran (Rumantsch)
Authors: R. Anderson Stephen
Published: February 2009

Alternations between allomorphs that are not directly related by phonological rule, but whose selection is governed by phonological properties of the environment, have attracted the sporadic attention of phonologists and morphologists. Such phenomena are commonly limited to rather small corners of a language's structure, however, and as a result have not been a major theoretical focus. This paper examines a set of alternations in Surmiran, a Swiss Rumantsch language, that have this character and that pervade the entire system of the language. It is shown that the alternations in question, best attested in the verbal system, are not conditioned by any coherent set of morphological properties (either straightforwardly or in the extended sense of ‘morphomes’ explored in other Romance languages by Maiden). These alternations are, however, straightforwardly aligned with the location of stress in words, and an analysis is proposed within the general framework of Optimality Theory to express this. The resulting system of phonologically conditioned allomorphy turns out to include the great majority of patterning which one might be tempted to treat as productive phonology, but which has been rendered opaque (and subsequently morphologized) as a result of the working of historical change.
Pseudometathesis in three Standard Arabic broken-plural templates
Authors: A. Haddad Youssef
Published: February 2009

This paper suggests that what McCarthy and Prince (1990) , following Levy (1971) , call consonant-vowel metathesis in three Standard Arabic broken-plural templates is more likely a two-step diachronic process of pseudometathesis in the sense of Blevins and Garrett (1998) . This process is characterized by vowel deletion followed by vowel insertion. Evidence from present-day dialects, mainly Lebanese Arabic and Moroccan Arabic, is used to argue that this alternative analysis is the more plausible analysis.
Recursive compounds
Authors: Mukai Makiko
Published: February 2009

I propose a structure for recursive compounds in Japanese, English and Mainland Scandinavian within the frameworks of the Minimalist Program ( Chomsky 1995 , 2000 , 2001 ) and Distributed Morphology ( Halle and Marantz 1993 ). Within the proposed theory, Collins’ (2002) definition of head is used: a head is a category which has one or more unsaturated features. Secondly, it is assumed that discharging a theta-feature from a simple nominal is also possible, since nouns are predicates ( Higginbotham 1985 ) and an undischarged theta-feature counts as an unsaturated feature. In addition, the non-head of a compound is argued to be a root without word class features.
Environmental Impact of Flame Retardants (Persistence and Biodegradability)
Authors: Segev Osnat , Kushmaro Ariel , Brenner Asher
Published: February 2009

Flame-retardants (FR) are a group of anthropogenic environmental contaminants used at relatively high concentrations in many applications. Currently, the largest market group of FRs is the brominated flame retardants (BFRs). Many of the BFRs are considered toxic, persistent and bioaccumulative. Bioremediation of contaminated water, soil and sediments is a possible solution for the problem. However, the main problem with this approach is the lack of knowledge concerning appropriate microorganisms, biochemical pathways and operational conditions facilitating degradation of these chemicals at an acceptable rate. This paper reviews and discusses current knowledge and recent developments related to the environmental fate and impact of FRs in natural systems and in engineered treatment processes.
Emerging Patient-Driven Health Care Models: An Examination of Health Social Networks, Consumer Personalized Medicine and Quantified Self-Tracking
Authors: Swan Melanie
Published: February 2009

A new class of patient-driven health care services is emerging to supplement and extend traditional health care delivery models and empower patient self-care. Patient-driven health care can be characterized as having an increased level of information flow, transparency, customization, collaboration and patient choice and responsibility-taking, as well as quantitative, predictive and preventive aspects. The potential exists to both improve traditional health care systems and expand the concept of health care though new services. This paper examines three categories of novel health services: health social networks, consumer personalized medicine and quantified self-tracking.
Nicotine Pretreatment Increases Dysphoric Effects of Alcohol in Luteal-Phase Female Volunteers
Authors: Penetar David M. , Kouri Elena M. , McCarthy Elissa M. , Lilly Michelle M. , Peters Erica N. , Juliano Trisha M. , Lukas Scott E.
Published: February 2009

The present report shows that nicotine enhances some of alcohol’s positive and negative effects in women and that these effects are most pronounced during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. Ten low progesterone and 10 high progesterone/luteal-phase women received nicotine patch pretreatments (placebo or 21 mg) 3 hours before an alcohol challenge (0.4 g/kg). Subjective effects were recorded on mood adjective scales and the Addiction Research Center Inventory (ARCI). Heart rate and skin temperature were recorded. Luteal-phase women reported peak positive (e.g. “stimulated”) and peak negative effects (e.g. “clumsy”, “dizzy”) almost twice as great as low progesterone women.
A Study of 279 General Outbreaks of Gastrointestinal Infection in the North-East Region of England
Authors: Tebbutt Grahame M. , Wilson Deborah , Holtby Ian
Published: February 2009

All outbreaks of infectious intestinal disease reported to the authorities were entered on a computer database with outbreak control teams being established to investigate larger or more significant incidents. The outbreak database and, when set up, the notes of outbreak team meetings were examined for the 279 outbreaks reported in a three-year period (2003-2005). Faeces specimens submitted as part of an outbreak were examined for microbial pathogens and the results cross-matched to the outbreak number. Almost half of the general outbreaks reported (137) occurred in long-term care facilities for the elderly, 51 outbreaks were recorded in hospitals and 31 occurred in the wider community. In 76 outbreaks no specimen was logged. A microbial cause was confirmed in about one-third of outbreaks, with noroviruses being the most common (19%). Salmonellas accounted for 12 of the 21 community outbreaks linked to social events and all were foodborne. Suggestions for improving notification and surveillance are discussed.
Radioactivity of Tobacco Leaves and Radiation Dose Induced from Smoking
Authors: Papastefanou Constantin
Published: February 2009

The radioactivity in tobacco leaves collected from 15 different regions of Greece and before cigarette production was studied in order to find out any association between the root uptake of radionuclides from soil ground by the tobacco plants and the effective dose induced to smokers from cigarette tobacco due to the naturally occurring primordial radionuclides , such as 226Ra and 210Pb of the uranium series and 228Ra of the thorium series and/or man-made radionuclides, such as 137Cs of Chernobyl origin. Gamma-ray spectrometry was applied using Ge planar and coaxial type detectors of high resolution and high efficiency. It was concluded that the activities of the radioisotopes of radium, 226Ra and 228Ra in the tobacco leaves reflected their origin from the soil by root uptake rather than fertilizers used in the cultivation of tobacco plants. Lead-210 originated from the air and was deposited onto the tobacco leaves and trapped by the trichomes. Potassium-40 in the tobacco leaves was due to root uptake either from soil or from fertilizer. The cesium radioisotopes 137Cs and 134Cs in tobacco leaves were due to root uptake and not due to deposition onto the leaf foliage as they still remained in soil four years after the Chernobyl reactor accident, but were absent from the atmosphere because of the rain washout (precipitation) and gravitational settling. The annual effective dose due to inhalation for adults (smokers) for 226Ra varied from 42.5 to 178.6 μSv/y (average 79.7 μSv/y), while for 228Ra from 19.3 to 116.0 μSv/y (average 67.1 μSv/y) and for 210Pb from 47.0 to 134.9 μSv/y (average 104.7 μSv/y), that is the same order of magnitude for each radionuclide. The sum of the effective doses of the three radionuclides varied from 151.9 to 401.3 μSv/y (average 251.5 μSv/y). The annual effective dose from 137Cs of Chernobyl origin was three orders of magnitude lower as it varied from 70.4 to 410.4 nSv/y (average 199.3 nSv/y).
Correlation Analysis of Cocoa Consumption Data with Worldwide Incidence Rates of Testicular Cancer and Hypospadias
Authors: Giannandrea Fabrizio
Published: February 2009

The underlying reasons for the increasing occurrence of male reproductive diseases (MRD) such as hypospadias, cryptorchidism, and testicular cancer (TC) over the last decades are still unknown. It has been hypothesized that the risk of MRD is determined in utero and that pregnancy dietary intake could also affect MRD risk in the offspring. Various studies in animals reported that cocoa and theobromine, the main stimulant of cocoa, exert toxic effects on the testis, inducing testicular atrophy and impaired sperm quality. A correlation analysis was conducted to examine the possible role of cocoa consumption on the occurrence of selected MRD during the prenatal and early life period of cases. The incidence rates between 1998-2002 of TC in 18 countries obtained from Cancer Incidence in Five Continents were correlated with the average per-capita consumption of cocoa (kg/capita/year) (FAOSTAT-Database) in these countries from 1965 to 1980, i.e. the period corresponding to the early life of TC cases. In order to test the above correlation in the case of hypospadias, the mean prevalence at birth in 20 countries (1999-2003) with average per-capita consumption of cocoa in these countries in the same period corresponding to pregnancy were used. The consumption of cocoa in the period 1965–80, was most closely correlated with the incidence of TC in young adults (r=0.859; p
Anomalously Strong Effect of the Ion Sign on the Thermochemistry of Hydrogen Bonded Aqueous Clusters of Identical Chemical Composition
Authors: Nadykto Alexey B. , Yu Fangqun , Al Natsheh Anas
Published: February 2009

The sign preference of hydrogen bonded aqueous ionic clusters Χ±(H2O)i (n =1-5, Χ = F; Cl; Br) has been investigated using the Density Functional Theory and ab initio MP2 method. The present study indicates the anomalously large difference in formation free energies between cations and anions of identical chemical composition. The effect of vibrational anharmonicity on stepwise Gibbs free energy changes has been investigated, and possible uncertainties associated with the harmonic treatment of vibrational spectra have been discussed.
Biomass Production Potential of a Wastewater Alga Chlorella vulgaris ARC 1 under Elevated Levels of CO2 and Temperature
Authors: Chinnasamy Senthil , Ramakrishnan Balasubramanian , Bhatnagar Ashish , Das Keshav
Published: February 2009

The growth response of Chlorella vulgaris was studied under varying concentrations of carbon dioxide (ranging from 0.036 to 20%) and temperature (30, 40 and 50oC). The highest chlorophyll concentration (11 µg mL-1) and biomass (210 µg mL-1), which were 60 and 20 times more than that of C. vulgaris at ambient CO2 (0.036%), were recorded at 6% CO2 level. At 16% CO2 level, the concentrations of chlorophyll and biomass values were comparable to those at ambient CO2 but further increases in the CO2 level decreased both of them. Results showed that the optimum temperature for biomass production was 30oC under elevated CO2 (6%). Although increases in temperature above 30oC resulted in concomitant decrease in growth response, their adverse effects were significantly subdued at elevated CO2. There were also differential responses of the alga, assessed in terms of NaH14CO3 uptake and carbonic anhydrase activity, to increases in temperature at elevated CO2. The results indicated that Chlorella vulgaris grew better at elevated CO2 level at 30oC, albeit with lesser efficiencies at higher temperatures.
Polymer‐Fullerene Bulk‐Heterojunction Solar Cells
Authors: Dennler Gilles , Scharber Markus C. , Brabec Christoph J.
Published: February 2009

Solution‐processed bulk‐heterojunction solar cells have gained serious attention during the last few years and are becoming established as one of the future photovoltaic technologies for low‐cost power production. This article reviews the highlights of the last few years, and summarizes today's state‐of‐the‐art performance. An outlook is given on relevant future materials and technologies that have the potential to guide this young photovoltaic technology towards the magic 10% regime. A cost model supplements the technical discussions, with practical aspects any photovoltaic technology needs to fulfil, and answers to the question as to whether low module costs can compensate lower lifetimes and performances.
Inaugural diversity award winner is announced; law firm award, honorable mention go to two U.K. firms
Authors: Bleemer Russ
Published: February 2009

The CPR Institute presents its first Award for Outstanding Contribution to Diversity in ADR, and its second set of honorees for the Law Firm Award for Excellence in ADR. Also, CPR offers mediation space, and more.
Photocontrolled Translational Motion of a Microscale Solid Object on Azobenzene‐Doped Liquid‐Crystalline Films
Authors: Kausar Abu , Nagano Hiroto , Ogata Tomonari , Nonaka Takamasa , Kurihara Seiji
Published: February 2009

Flucht aus dem Licht: Die UV/Vis‐Bestrahlung mit Azobenzol dotierter flüssigkristalliner Filme bewirkt eine Translationsbewegung eines mikrometergroßen festen Objekts auf der Oberfläche, die auf dercis‐trans‐Isomerisierung der Azobenzoleinheit beruht. Wird mit einem Ar+‐Laser (488 nm) bestrahlt, so lässt sich die Translationsbewegung präzise steuern: Das Teilchen bewegte sich stets von der bestrahlten Stelle weg (siehe Bild).

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A Stable Homodinuclear Biscobalt(III)–Schiff Base Complex for Catalytic Asymmetric 1,4‐Addition Reactions of β‐Keto Esters to Alkynones
Authors: Chen Zhihua , Furutachi Makoto , Kato Yuko , Matsunaga Shigeki , Shibasaki Masakatsu
Published: February 2009

Hochkonzentriertes Arbeiten: Der Dicobalt‐Schiff‐Base‐Komplex Co2(OAc)2‐1 katalysiert die asymmetrische 1,4‐Addition von β‐Ketoestern an Alkinone unter lösungsmittelfreien Bedingungen an Luft (siehe Schema). Die Reaktionen sind weder luft‐ noch feuchtigkeitsempfindlich und ergeben hohe Enantioselektivitäten (99–91 % ee) bei Raumtemperatur und hohen Konzentrationen (lösungsmittelfrei bis 20 M) mit 0.1–2.5 Mol‐% Katalysator.

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Assembly of an R3N52− Chain by Cycloaddition of a Hydrazinediide and an Azide at Zirconium and its Thermal Fragmentation
Authors: Gehrmann Thorsten , Lloret Fillol Julio , Wadepohl Hubert , Gade Lutz H.
Published: February 2009

Breaking the chain: Reaction of a zirconium hydrazinediide with organoazides gives 2‐pentazene‐1,4‐diyl complexes, such as [Zr(N2TBSNpy){N(Ad)N3NPh2}] (C gray, N blue, Si green, Zr turquoise), by formal [2+3] cycloaddition. Bonding within the N5 chain is investigated using density functional calculations. These complexes thermally eject N2 to give side‐on bonded diazenides.

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Acrylic resins resisting oxygen inhibition during free‐radical photocuring. I. Formulation attributes
Authors: Feng Li , Suh Byoung I.
Published: February 2009

A resin system was found to be resistant to the formation of an oxygen‐inhibited layer when cured in air via conventional free‐radical photopolymerization. The resins, containing multifunctional acrylates and a high concentration of a photoinitiator, were applied as thin film coatings and photocured with either visible light (400–500 nm) or UV light (254 nm). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy with an attenuated total reflection attachment and pencil hardness were used to assess the surface double‐bond conversion and the surface hardness of the coatings cured in air and without air, respectively. The surfaces of many tested resins could produce similar conversions under both curing conditions. Optimally formulated resins had a high conversion and hardness even when the irradiance was as low as 50 mW/cm2 for the visible light and 4 mW/cm2 for the UV light. The requirements for possessing such a unique curing property are presented. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009
Polylactide/nano and microscale silica composite films. I. Preparation and characterization
Authors: Huang Jiann‐Wen , Chang Hung Yung , Wen Ya‐Lan , Kang Chiun‐Chia , Yeh Mou‐Yung
Published: February 2009

Polylactide (PLA)/silica composite films were prepared by two methods: blending nanoscale colloidal silica sol and sol–gel. The nano and microscale silica particles, respectively, were well dispersed in PLA when observed using scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscope. The mechanical and thermal stability of composite films were measured before and after hydrolysis by Instron and thermogravimetric analysis. The fillers increase tensile strength, Young's modulus, thermal stability, and hydrolysis resistance with increasing silica content. The nanoscale particles exhibit better effects than the microscale ones. The activation energy, Ea, of thermal decomposition is also simulated by the Kissinger and Ozawa equation. The results also show that the thermal stability is increased by the incorporation of silica particles and is lowered by hydrolysis. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009
Information use and early warning effectiveness: Perspectives and prospects
Authors: Choo Chun Wei
Published: February 2009

This introductory article explores how the use of information affects the effectiveness of early warning systems. By effectiveness, we refer to the capacity of the system to detect and decide on the existence of a threat. There are two aspects to effectiveness: (a) being able to see the evidence that is indicative of a threat and (b) making the decision, based on the weight of the evidence, to warn that the threat exists. In early warning, information use is encumbered by cues that are fallible and equivocal. Cues that are true indicators of a threat are obscured in a cloud of events generated by chance. Moreover, policy makers face the difficult decision of whether to issue a warning based on the information received. Because the information is rarely complete or conclusive, such decisions have to consider the consequences of failing to warn or giving a false warning. We draw on sociocognitive theories of perception and judgment to analyze these two aspects of early warning:detection accuracy(How well does perception correspond to reality?) anddecision sensitivity(How much evidence is needed to activate warning?) Using cognitive continuum theory, we examine how detection accuracy depends on the fit between theinformation needs profileof the threat and theinformation use environmentof the warning system. Applying signal detection theory, we investigate how decision sensitivity depends on the assessment and balancing of therisks of misses and false alarmsinherent in all early warning decision making.
Chromosome segment duplications in Neurospora crassa: barren crosses beget fertile science
Authors: Singh Parmit K. , Iyer Srividhya V. , Ramakrishnan Mukund , Kasbekar Durgadas P.
Published: February 2009

Studies on Neurospora chromosome segment duplications (Dps) performed since the publication of Perkins's comprehensive review in 1997 form the focus of this article. We present a brief summary of Perkins's seminal work on chromosome rearrangements, specifically, the identification of insertional and quasiterminal translocations that can segregate Dp progeny when crossed with normal sequence strains (i.e., T × N). We describe the genome defense process called meiotic silencing by unpaired DNA that renders Dp‐heterozygous crosses (i.e., Dp × N) barren, which provides a basis for identifying Dps, and discuss whether other processes also might contribute to the barren phenotype of Dp × N and Dp × Dp crosses. We then turn to studies suggesting that large Dps (i.e., >300 kbp) can allow smaller gene‐sized duplications to escape another genome defense process called repeat‐induced point mutation (RIP), possibly by titration of the RIP machinery. Finally, we assess whether in natural populations dominant RIP suppressor Dps provide an “RIP‐free” niche for evolution of new genes following the duplication of existing genes.
On the diabetic menu: Zebrafish as a model for pancreas development and function
Authors: Kinkel Mary D. , Prince Victoria E.
Published: February 2009

Development of the vertebrate pancreas is a complex stepwise process comprising regionalization, cell differentiation, and morphogenesis. Studies in zebrafish are contributing to an emerging picture of pancreas development in which extrinsic signaling molecules influence intrinsic transcriptional programs to allow ultimate differentiation of specific pancreatic cell types. Zebrafish experiments have revealed roles for several signaling molecules in aspects of this process; for example our own work has shown that retinoic acid signals specify the pre‐pancreatic endoderm. Time‐lapse imaging of live zebrafish embryos has started to provide detailed information about early pancreas morphogenesis. In addition to modeling embryonic development, the zebrafish has recently been used as a model for pancreas regeneration studies. Here, we review the significant progress in these areas and consider the future potential of zebrafish as a diabetes research model.
Sudden infant death syndrome and serotonin: animal models
Authors: Nattie Eugene
Published: February 2009

The sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the sudden, unexpected death of an infant that is not explained by autopsy, death scene examination, and history. The etiology is unknown. Recent postmortem studies have discovered abnormalities in brainstem serotonergic neurons, but how these translate into dysfunction and cause SIDS is uncertain. Recently, lethal effects in transgenic mice with overexpression of the serotonin 1A autoreceptor have been described. Many die spontaneously between postnatal day 40 (P40) and P80, and some spontaneously exhibit bradycardias and drops in body temperature. The severity of the autonomic dysfunction and its age dependence suggest relevance to SIDS. However, SIDS cases have decreased serotonin 1A autoreceptor binding, which is opposite to its overexpression in the mice, and the peak incidence of SIDS is between 2 and 6 months of age, which is arguably younger (in relative terms) than the ages at which the mice die. Nevertheless, the description of an animal model with serotonin defects that has autonomic dysfunction and spontaneous mortality at a young age is an exciting finding of possible importance for understanding SIDS.
Genomic analysis of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells: routes to reprogramming
Authors: Kanawaty Ashlin , Henderson Jeffrey
Published: February 2009

The phenomenal proliferation of scientific studies into the nature of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells following publication of the findings of Takahashi and Yamanaka little more than 2 years ago, have significantly expanded our understanding of cellular mechanisms relating to cell lineage, differentiation, and proliferation. While the full potential of iPS cell lineages for both scientific tool and therapeutic applications is as yet unclear, findings from several lines of investigation suggests that multipotential and terminally differentiated cells from an array of cell types are competent to undergo epigenetic reprogramming to a pluripotential state. The nature of this pluripotential state appears to be similar to, but not identical with that previously described for embryonic stem (ES) cells. Understanding the nature of this induced reprogrammed state will be critical to determining the full potential of iPS cells. Recently, this issue has been examined through an integrated analysis of the genome in fully and partially reprogrammed iPS cell lineages. These results provide a window onto the temporal components of reprogramming and suggest mechanisms by which the efficacy of reprogramming can be enhanced.