bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Volume-Targeted versus Pressure-Limited Ventilation for Preterm Infants: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Authors: Wheeler Kevin I. , Klingenberg Claus , Morley Colin J. , Davis Peter G.
Published: June 2011

Background: The causes of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) are multifactorial. Overdistension of the lung (volutrauma) is considered an important contribution. As an alternative to traditional pressure-limited ventilation (PLV), modern neonatal ventilators offer modes which can target a set tidal volume. Objectives: To determine whether volume-targeted neonatal ventilation, compared with PLV, reduces death or BPD. Methods: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis using the methodology of the Neonatal Review Group of the Cochrane Collaboration. A comprehensive literature search was undertaken, and data for prespecified outcomes were combined where appropriate using the fixed effects model. Results: Nine trials were eligible. Volume-targeted ventilation resulted in a reduction in: the combined outcome of death or BPD [typical relative risk, RR, 0.73 (95% confidence interval, 0.57–0.93), numbers needed to treat, NNT, 8 (95% CI 5–33)], the incidence of pneumothorax [typical RR 0.46 (95% CI 0.25–0.84), NNT 17 (95% CI 10–100)], days of ventilation [weighted mean difference 0.8 days (log-transformed data, p = 0.05)], hypocarbia (pCO2 <35 mm Hg/4.7 kPa); [typical RR 0.56 (95% CI 0.33–0.96), NNT 4 (95% CI 2–25)], and the combined outcome of periventricular leukomalacia or grade 3–4 intraventricular hemorrhage [typical RR 0.48 (95% CI 0.28–0.84), NNT 11 (95% CI 7–50)]. Conclusions: Compared with PLV, infants ventilated using volume-targeted ventilation had reduced death/BPD, duration of ventilation, pneumothoraces, hypocarbia and periventricular leukomalacia/severe intraventricular hemorrhage. Further studies are needed to assess neurodevelopmental outcomes.
Three-Dimensional Body Scanning: A New Method to Estimate Body Surface Area in Neonates
Authors: Schloesser R.L. , Lauff M. , Buxmann H. , Veit K. , Fischer D. , Allendorf A.
Published: June 2011

Background: Body surface area (BSA) is usually estimated by calculation with mathematical formulae. Three-dimensional body scanning (3D scan) offers a suitable alternative. Objectives: We determined the BSA in healthy term and near-term neonates by 3D scanning. This system should be useful in the setting of intensive care medicine. Methods: The measuring system consisted of a projector, two cameras, mirrors and a computer, and used the fringe projection technique with visible light. The infants were examined in a supine position; the hidden parts of the bodies were corrected for using a mathematical factor developed with a baby doll model. Results of the 3D scans were compared with those from five mathematical formulae for each subject. Results: A total of 209 infants were studied by 3D scanning, of whom 53 had acceptable images and were selected for further analysis. The mean BSA was 2,139 cm2 (SD 223.72). The minimal BSA was 1,587 cm2, the maximal 2,670 cm2, with a good correlation to body weight and length. One mathematical formula (Du Bois and Du Bois) showed a distinct underestimation of BSA compared to 3D scanning, the others an overestimation. Mean percentage similarity was from 96.8 to 100.9%. Conclusions: 3D scanning is an accurate and practical method to estimate BSA in newborns. Individual and repeated measurements from day to day are possible. Further studies are warranted in preterm and sick neonates.
Direct Effects of Chemoradiotherapy following Esophagectomy
Authors: Marton S. , Juhasz V. , Bogar L. , Papp A. , Cseke L. , Horvath P.O. , Koszegi T. , Ghosh S.
Published: June 2011

Background: Esophageal cancer is a major cause of morbidity and mortality, but despite continuing research, few effective therapies have been identified. In recent years, surgical resection following chemoradiotherapy has been associated with improved survival in several clinical models. Aim: In a prospective, observational study, we evaluated the direct effects of chemoradiotherapy on postoperative mortality, morbidity, and inflammatory response in patients following esophagectomy. Methods: The study cohort was divided into two groups: the first group received preoperative chemoradiotherapy, while the second group had surgical intervention without prior treatment. Nutritional status was evaluated for the members of both patient groups at various time points. Results: Preoperative chemoradiotherapy did not influence morbidity or organ function, and the postoperative inflammatory response did not show immunosuppressive side effects directly after surgery. Conclusion: Preoperative chemoradiotherapy does not improve postoperative organ function, inflammatory response or nutritional status in the patients. These findings may help to improve outcome in patients with esophageal cancer in the future.
Safety and Efficacy of Fibrin Glue versus Vicryl Sutures in Recurrent Pterygium with Amniotic Membrane Grafting
Authors: Mahdy Reda A. , Wagieh Mostafa M.
Published: June 2011

Purpose: The study aimed to compare surgical outcomes with likely toxic side effects when using pterygium excision and amniotic membrane grafting with fibrin glue versus Vicryl sutures. Method: This is a prospective randomized study. Patients were classified into two groups: group 1 consisted of 20 patients with Vicryl-sutured grafts, and group 2 consisted of 20 patients with fibrin-glued grafts that were prepared from autologous blood. Results including surgery time, patient discomfort, complications and recurrence rates within 1, 6 and 12 months were analyzed. Results: The study demonstrated that there was a statistically significant decrease in surgery time in the fibrin glue group (the procedure took 17 min) relative to the sutured group (28 min; p < 0.05). Additionally, both postoperative pain and discomfort were noted significantly less often in the fibrin glue group. Complications were also decreased in the fibrin glue group. Conclusion: The study revealed that the use of fibrin glue in pterygium surgery with amniotic membrane grafting was safer, less toxic and less time-consuming, and resulted in fewer complications than graft surgery with sutures.
Determinants of Preformed Collateral Vessels in the Human Heart without Coronary Artery Disease
Authors: de Marchi Stefano F. , Gloekler Steffen , Meier Pascal , Traupe Tobias , Steck Hélène , Cook Stéphane , Vogel Rolf , Seiler Christian
Published: June 2011

Background: Coronary collaterals protect myocardium jeopardized by coronary artery disease (CAD). Promotion of collateral circulation is desirable before myocardial damage occurs. Therefore, determinants of collateral preformation in patients without CAD should be elucidated. Methods: In 106 patients undergoing coronary angiography who were free of coronary stenoses, a total of 39 clinical test variables were collected. The coronary collateral flow index (CFI) was measured. Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis was performed after choosing a restricted number of candidates emerging from univariate testing. Separate multiple regression analyses were performed in patients with and without beta-blocker therapy. Results: Nine parameters were found to be possible determinants of CFI by univariate analysis: arterial hypertension (aHT), dyslipidemia, statins, diuretics, age, height, heart rate (HR), pulse pressure amplitude, and left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP). After multiple regression analysis, a low HR, absence of aHT, and elevated LVEDP were significantly related to CFI (F = 5.31, p = 0.002, adjusted r2 = 0.12). In patients without beta-blockers, a low HR and absence of aHT were independent predictors of CFI (F = 8.03, p < 0.001, n = 50, adjusted r2 = 0.30). Conclusions: A low HR and absence of aHT are both related to collateral preformation in humans. We suppose that bradycardia favors fluid shear stress in coronary arteries, thus triggering collateral growth.
Smoking Abstinence Rates and Reasons for Failure to Quit Smoking in Cancer Patients in Jordan
Authors: Hawari Feras , Obeidat Nour , Beano Hamza , Dawahrah Sahar , Al-Rimawi Dalia , Ghonimat Iyad
Published: June 2011

Background: Failure to quit smoking in cancer patients is associated with the development of a second primary tumor and a suboptimal response to chemotherapy. However, data characterizing cancer patients' ability to quit is scarce, particularly in developing countries. Such information is valuable in highlighting the potential of cessation interventions in countries where smoking rates are high and antismoking policies are not yet fully implemented. Objectives: To measure the abstinence rates and identify reasons for the failure to quit smoking in patients visiting a smoking cessation clinic in a comprehensive cancer center in Jordan. Methods: Through retrospective medical chart review and prospective follow-up by phone, we studied long-term abstinence rates and reasons for the failure to quit smoking in 156 cancer patients referred to the smoking cessation clinic to receive counseling and pharmacological treatment. Patient demographics, clinical and smoking characteristics and long-term abstinence at 12 months were recorded, as were reasons for the failure to quit smoking. Results: The 12-month abstinence rate was 21.2%. The main reasons for failing to quit smoking included personal or professional stressful situations, not being able to handle withdrawal and the belief that quitting had no value. Conclusion: Abstinence rates in Jordanian cancer patients fall at the lower end of the range that has been reported in the literature for cancer patients. Efforts to improve these rates should focus on assisting patients in handling stress, and in adjusting medications to improve withdrawal symptoms.
Risks of Spontaneous Injury and Extraction of an Active Fixation Pacemaker Lead
Authors: Kay G. Neal , Brinker Jeffrey A. , Kawanishi David T. , Love Charles J. , Lloyd Margaret A. , Reeves Russell C. , Pioger Guy , Fee JoAnn , Overland Mary K. , Ensign Lisa Garnsey , Grunkemeier Gary L. , Investigators for the Accufix Multicenter Clinical Study
Published: June 2011

Background
—The Telectronics Accufix pacing leads were recalled in November 1994 after 2 deaths and 2 nonfatal injuries were reported. This multicenter clinical study (MCS) of patients with Accufix leads was designed to determine the rate of spontaneous injury related to the J retention wire and results of lead extraction.

Methods and Results
—The MCS included 2589 patients with Accufix atrial pacing leads that were implanted at or who were followed up at 12 medical centers. Patients underwent cinefluoroscopic imaging of their lead every 6 months. The risk of J retention wire fracture was ≈5.6%/y at 5 years and 4.7%/y at 10 years after implantation. The annual risk of protrusion was 1.5%. A total of 40 spontaneous injuries were reported to a worldwide registry (WWR) that included data from 34 672 patients (34 892 Accufix leads), including pericardial tamponade (n=19), pericardial effusion (n=5), atrial perforation (n=3), J retention wire embolization (n=4), and death (n=6). The risk of injury was 0.02%/y (95% CI, 0.0025 to 0.072) in the MCS and 0.048%/y (95% CI, 0.035 to 0.067) in the WWR. A total of 5299 leads (13%) have been extracted worldwide. After recall in the WWR, fatal extraction complications occurred in 0.4% of intravascular procedures (16 of 4023), with life-threatening complications in 0.5% (n=21). Extraction complications increased with implant duration, female sex, and J retention wire protrusion.

Conclusions
—Accufix pacing leads pose a low, ongoing risk of injury. Extraction is associated with substantially higher risks, and a conservative management approach is indicated for most patients.
Epidemiological and Genetic Associations of Activated Factor XII Concentration With Factor VII Activity, Fibrinopeptide A Concentration, and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease in Men
Authors: Zito Francesco , Drummond Felicity , Bujac Sarah R. , Esnouf M. Peter , Morrissey James H. , Humphries Steve E. , Miller George J.
Published: June 2011

Background
—The relations of plasma activated factor XII (FXIIa) concentration and a common polymorphism (C46T) of the factor XII gene with hemostatic status and risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) were examined by prospective surveillance.

Methods and Results
—Genotyping for the C46T variant was performed in 2624 men 50 to 61 years of age who were free of CHD at baseline. The genotype distribution was as follows: CC, 56.7%; CT; 36.9%; and TT, 6.6%. Plasma FXIIa was measured by ELISA on 1745 samples collected 1 year after baseline; median levels were (ng/mL) CC, 2.0; CT, 1.4; and TT, 0.8 (
P
<0.0001). Respective values for plasma fibrinopeptide A (FPA, nmol/L) were 1.52, 1.35, and 1.15 (
P
<0.0001); for factor VII coagulant activity (FVIIc, % standard), 114.5, 116.2, and 109.3 (
P
=0.02). Group differences in FVIIc were unchanged by adjustment for body mass index and serum triglycerides. Whereas CHD incidence did not differ significantly by genotype, rates (per 1000 person-years) by thirds of FXIIa distribution were for <1.5 ng/mL, 7.2; for 1.5 to 2.0 ng/mL, 7.2; and for >2.0 ng/mL, 13.6. Respective hazard ratios with the low third as reference group were 1.01 and 1.96 (
P
=0.007), which were essentially unchanged after allowance for genotype, blood lipids, blood pressure, body mass index, FVIIc, and FPA.

Conclusions
—The C46T polymorphism is a determinant of FXIIa, FPA, and possibly FVIIc, suggesting that FXII influences the activity state of the coagulation pathway and FPA cleavage from fibrinogen in vivo. Plasma FXIIa is increased in middle-aged men at high risk of CHD.
Identifying Patients Hospitalized With Heart Failure at Risk for Unfavorable Future Quality of Life
Authors: Allen Larry A. , Gheorghiade Mihai , Reid Kimberly J. , Dunlay Shannon M. , Chan Paul S. , Hauptman Paul J. , Zannad Faiez , Konstam Marvin A. , Spertus John A.
Published: June 2011

Background—

Communicating prognosis to enable shared decision-making is strongly endorsed by heart failure (HF) guidelines. Patients are concerned with both their quantity and quality of life (QoL). To facilitate the recognition of patients at high risk for unfavorable future QoL or death, we created a simple prognostic tool to estimate this combined outcome.

Methods and Results—

We identified factors associated with 6-month mortality or persistently unfavorable QoL, defined by Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ) scores <45 at 1 and 24 weeks after hospital discharge, among 1458 patients from the Efficacy of Vasopressin Antagonism in HF Outcome Study with Tolvaptan (EVEREST). Within 24 weeks of discharge, 478 (32.8%) patients had died and 192 (13.2%) patients had serial KCCQ scores <45. After adjusting for 23 predischarge covariates, independent predictors of the combined end point included low admission KCCQ score, high B-type natriuretic peptide, hyponatremia, tachycardia, hypotension, absence of β-blocker therapy, and history of diabetes mellitus and arrhythmia. A simplified predischarge HF score for subsequent death or unfavorable QoL had moderate discrimination (
c
-statistic 0.72). Predischarge clinical covariates were substantially different in predicting the QoL end point as compared with traditional death or rehospitalization end points.

Conclusions—

At the time of hospital discharge, readily available clinical characteristics are associated with HF patients at high risk for persistently unfavorable QoL or death over the next 6 months. Such information can target patients for whom aggressive treatment options (eg, devices or transplantation) and/or end-of-life discussions should be strongly considered before hospital discharge.

Clinical Trial Registration—

URL:
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov
. Unique identifier: NCT00071331.
Prevalence of Inadequate Blood Pressure Control Among Veterans After Acute Ischemic Stroke Hospitalization
Authors: Roumie Christianne L. , Ofner Susan , Ross Joseph S. , Arling Greg , Williams Linda S. , Ordin Diana L. , Bravata Dawn M.
Published: June 2011

Background—

Reducing blood pressure (BP) after stroke reduces risk for recurrent events. Our aim was to describe hypertension care among veterans with ischemic stroke including BP control by discharge and over the 6 months after the stroke event.

Methods and Results—

The Office of Quality and Performance Stroke Special Study included a systematic sample of veterans hospitalized for ischemic stroke in 2007. We examined BP control (<140/90 mm Hg) at discharge excluding those who died, enrolled in hospice, or had unknown discharge disposition (n=3640, n=3382 adjusted analysis). The second outcome was BP control (<140/90 mm Hg) within 6-months after stroke, excluding patients who died/readmitted within 30 days, were lost to follow-up, or did not have a BP recorded (n=2054, n=1915 adjusted analysis). The population was 62.7% white and 97.7% men; 46.9% were <65 years of age; and 29% and 37% had a history of cerebrovascular or cardiovascular disease, respectively. Among the 3640 stroke patients, 1573 (43%) had their last documented BP before discharge as >140/90 mm Hg. Black race (adjusted odds ratio, 0.77; 95% confidence interval, 0.65 to 0.91), diabetes (odds ratio, 0.73; 95% confidence interval, 0.62 to 0.86), and hypertension history (odds ratio, 0.51; 95% confidence interval, 0.42 to 0.63) were associated with lower odds for controlled BP at discharge. Of the 2054 stroke patients seen within 6 months from their index event, 673 (32.8%) remained uncontrolled. By 6 months after the event, neither race nor diabetes was associated with BP control, whereas history of hypertension continued to have lower odds of BP control. For each 10-point increase in systolic BP >140 mm Hg at discharge, odds of BP control within 6 months after discharge decreased by 12% (95% confidence interval [8%, 18%]).

Conclusions—

BP values in excess of national guidelines are common after stroke. Forty-three percent of patients were discharged with an elevated BP, and 33% remained uncontrolled by 6 months.
A Comparison of Southern Ocean Air–Sea Buoyancy Flux from an Ocean State Estimate with Five Other Products
Authors: Cerovečki Ivana , Talley Lynne D. , Mazloff Matthew R.
Published: June 2011

The authors have intercompared the following six surface buoyancy flux estimates, averaged over the years 2005–07: two reanalyses [the recent ECMWF reanalysis (ERA-Interim; hereafter ERA), and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP)–NCAR reanalysis 1 (hereafter NCEP1)], two recent flux products developed as an improvement of NCEP1 [the flux product by Large and Yeager and the Southern Ocean State Estimate (SOSE)], and two ad hoc air–sea flux estimates that are obtained by combining the NCEP1 or ERA net radiative fluxes with turbulent flux estimates using the Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Response Experiment (COARE) 3.0 bulk formulas with NCEP1 or ERA input variables.

The accuracy of SOSE adjustments of NCEP1 atmospheric fields (which SOSE uses as an initial guess and a constraint) was assessed by verification that SOSE reduces the biases in the NCEP1 fluxes as diagnosed by the Working Group on Air–Sea Fluxes (Taylor), suggesting that oceanic observations may be a valuable constraint to improve atmospheric variables.

Compared with NCEP1, both SOSE and Large and Yeager increase the net ocean heat loss in high latitudes, decrease ocean heat loss in the subtropical Indian Ocean, decrease net evaporation in the subtropics, and decrease net precipitation in polar latitudes. The large-scale pattern of SOSE and Large and Yeager turbulent heat flux adjustment is similar, but the magnitude of SOSE adjustments is significantly larger. Their radiative heat flux adjustments patterns differ. Turbulent heat fluxes determined by combining COARE bulk formulas with NCEP1 or ERA should not be combined with unmodified NCEP1 or ERA radiative fluxes as the net ocean heat gain poleward of 25°S becomes unrealistically large. The other surface flux products (i.e., NCEP1, ERA, Large and Yeager, and SOSE) balance more closely.

Overall, the statistical estimates of the differences between the various air–sea heat flux products tend to be largest in regions with strong ocean mesoscale activity such as the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and the western boundary currents.
Seasonal and Diurnal Variations in Aerosol Concentration on Whistler Mountain: Boundary Layer Influence and Synoptic-Scale Controls
Authors: Gallagher John P. , McKendry Ian G. , Macdonald Anne Marie , Leaitch W. Richard
Published: June 2011

A mountain air chemistry observatory has been operational on the summit of Whistler Mountain in British Columbia, Canada, since 2002. A 1-yr dataset of condensation nuclei (CN) concentration from this site has been analyzed along with corresponding meteorological data to assess the frequency and patterns of influence from the planetary boundary layer (PBL). Characterization of air masses sampled from the site as either PBL influenced or representative of the free troposphere (FT) is important to subsequent analysis of the chemistry data. Median CN concentrations and seasonal trends were found to be comparable to other midlatitude mountain sites. Monthly median number concentrations ranged from 120 cm−3in January to 1601 cm−3in July. Using well-defined diurnal cycles in CN concentration as an indicator of air arriving from nearby valleys, PBL influence was found to occur on a majority of days during spring and summer and less frequently in late autumn and winter. Days with PBL influence were usually associated with synoptic-scale weather patterns that were conducive to convective mixing processes. Although more common in the warm season, vertical mixing capable of transporting valley air to the mountaintop also occurred in February during a period of high pressure aloft. In contrast, an August case study indicated that the more stable character of marine air masses can at times keep the PBL below the summit on summer days. Considerable variability in the synoptic-scale weather conditions at Whistler means that careful analysis of available datasets must be made to discriminate FT from PBL periods at the observatory.
Nonlinear Dynamics and Regional Variations in the MJO Skeleton
Authors: Majda Andrew J. , Stechmann Samuel N.
Published: June 2011

A minimal, nonlinear oscillator model is analyzed for the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) “skeleton” (i.e., its fundamental features on intraseasonal/planetary scales), which includes the following: (i) a slow eastward phase speed of roughly 5 m s−1, (ii) a peculiar dispersion relation with dω/dk ≈ 0, and (iii) a horizontal quadrupole vortex structure. Originally proposed in recent work by the authors, the fundamental mechanism involves neutrally stable interactions between (i) planetary-scale, lower-tropospheric moisture anomalies and (ii) the envelope of subplanetary-scale, convection/wave activity. Here, the model’s nonlinear dynamics are analyzed in a series of numerical experiments, using either a uniform sea surface temperature (SST) or a warm-pool SST. With a uniform SST, the results show significant variations in the number, strength, and/or locations of MJO events, including, for example, cases of a strong MJO event followed by a weaker MJO event, similar to the Tropical Ocean and Global Atmosphere Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Response Experiment (TOGA COARE). With a warm-pool SST, MJO events often begin as standing oscillations and then propagate slowly eastward across the warm pool, a behavior imitating MJOs in nature. While displaying the fundamental features of the MJO skeleton, these MJO events had significant variations in their lifetimes and regional extents, and they displayed intense, irregular fluctuations in their amplitudes. The model reproduces all of these features of the MJO skeleton without including mechanisms for the MJO’s “muscle,” such as refined vertical structure and upscale convective momentum transport from subplanetary-scale convection/waves. Besides these numerical experiments, it is also shown that the nonlinear model conserves a total energy that includes a contribution from the convective activity.
Stratospheric Sudden Warmings as Self-Tuning Resonances. Part I: Vortex Splitting Events
Authors: Matthewman N. Joss , Esler J. G.
Published: June 2011

The fundamental dynamics of “vortex splitting” stratospheric sudden warmings (SSWs), which are known to be predominantly barotropic in nature, are reexamined using an idealized single-layer f-plane model of the polar vortex. The aim is to elucidate the conditions under which a stationary topographic forcing causes the model vortex to split, and to express the splitting condition as a function of the model parameters determining the topography and circulation.

For a specified topographic forcing profile the model behavior is governed by two nondimensional parameters: the topographic forcing height M and a surf-zone potential vorticity parameter Ω. For relatively low M, vortex splits similar to observed SSWs occur only for a narrow range of Ω values. Further, a bifurcation in parameter space is observed: a small change in Ω (or M) beyond a critical value can lead to an abrupt transition between a state with low-amplitude vortex Rossby waves and a sudden vortex split. The model behavior can be fully understood using two nonlinear analytical reductions: the Kida model of elliptical vortex motion in a uniform strain flow and a forced nonlinear oscillator equation. The abrupt transition in behavior is a feature of both reductions and corresponds to the onset of a nonlinear (self-tuning) resonance. The results add an important new aspect to the “resonant excitation” theory of SSWs. Under this paradigm, it is not necessary to invoke an anomalous tropospheric planetary wave source, or unusually favorable conditions for upward wave propagation, in order to explain the occurrence of SSWs.
Initial Studies with the Lightning Detector on the C/NOFS Satellite, and Cross Validation with WWLLN
Authors: Jacobson Abram R. , Holzworth Robert H. , McCarthy Michael P. , Pfaff Robert F.
Published: June 2011

The lightning detector (LD) on the Communications/Navigation Outage Forecast System (C/NOFS) satellite uses a pair of silicon photodiodes, viewing each flank at right angles to the satellite track over an extended field of view. The data product is a report every ½ s of the number of digitizer cycles (125 μs each) for which the detected power was in predefined ranges. The performance of this system over the first 2.5 years of the C/NOFS mission is discussed, statistics of its lightning observations are presented, and a statistical cross validation using the World-Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN) as a ground truth is provided. It is found that the LD reports of lightning, despite their blunt timing (½ s), show correlation with strokes detected and located by WWLLN. The irradiance of these strokes lies on the high-power flank of the irradiance distribution seen earlier by the FORTE satellite. Thus, the LD thresholds favor high-power lightning; it is shown that the closest portion of the field of view is more likely to provide WWLLN coincidences than is the furthest portion of the field of view. Statistics of lightning incidence are examined at low latitudes, versus longitude, and distributions that are consistent with those established earlier by the OTD and LIS instruments are retrieved. Finally, the longitude dependence of the irradiance per stroke is examined and the ways in which it differs between the three major lightning “hot spots” is explored. It is observed that the radiance per stroke over the Congo Basin is lower than that over the other two hot spots (Maritime Continent/South Asia and the Americas), consistent with earlier observations by the OTD imager.
Coda: American Patrimonialism
Authors: Lachmann Richard
Published: June 2011

Patrimonialism, until fairly recently, seemed an archaic social form, largely replaced by bureaucratic rationalism. That confident view of modernity, in the histories that Max Weber and his followers wrote, deserves to be challenged as patrimonial regimes reappear in states and firms throughout the world. This article is my attempt to mount that challenge. I first revisit Weber’s conception of patrimonialism and discuss how gendered and elitist studies of early modern Europe require a reevaluation of patrimonialism’s dynamics and resilience. I then present an overview of evidence for the return of patrimonialism and of ideological justifications for its legitimacy, focusing on the United States. Since Weber and his successors all see patrimonialism and bureaucracy as incompatible, it is necessary to develop a theory of how the dynamics of elite conflict within bureaucratic, capitalist societies can generate patrimonialism. I do so in the penultimate section of this article, and I then explore the implications of that theory for predicting the future course of patrimonialism in the twenty-first century.
Plebiscitarian Patrimonialism in Putin’s Russia
Authors: Hanson Stephen E.
Published: June 2011

The Putin-Medvedev transition reveals the continuing inability of post-Soviet Russian leaders to arrive at any consensual notion of Russia’s national identity around which ordinary forms of legitimate domination might be constructed. In searching for an answer to the problem of leadership succession during his second term as president, Vladimir Putin tried out all three of the classical types of legitimate domination that Max Weber defined—the traditional, the rational-legal, and the charismatic—without success. In the end, the 2008 elections represented a novel combination of strategies for building state legitimacy that we might term “plebiscitarian patrimonialism”: the Russian leadership claims the right to rule as if the state were its personal property, as long as the results of this arbitrary rule are electorally ratified by “the people” as a true reflection of the national will.
Political Familism in Lebanon
Authors: Joseph Suad
Published: June 2011

Patrimonialism has been used to explain the “backwardness” of Middle Eastern states, their “lacks.” Patrimonialism, however, may undermine its own insights by creating false binaries and false histories. The author suggests family/families as a point of departure and political familism as a conceptual step toward reframing analysis of state/citizen relationships in Lebanon. Political familism refers to the deployment of family institutions, ideologies, idioms (idiomatic kinship), practices, and relationships by citizens to activate their demands in relation to the state and by state actors to mobilize practical and moral grounds for governance based on a civic myth of kinship and public discourse that privileges family. Political familism addresses the processes by which states and citizens mutually constitute a set of public practices that reproduce the privileged position of “family,” even as specific family relations and practices diverge from discursive presumptions.
Patrimonialism, Elite Networks, and Reform in Late-Eighteenth-Century Poland
Authors: Mclean Paul D.
Published: June 2011

Poland in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was more a mélange of patrimonially organized latifundia than a sovereign state. Literature on the organization of work and politics on these magnate estates has identified a layer of voluntaristic clientage ties astride a set of more lopsided, purely patrimonial relations. Boundaries separating the personnel of these various estates were firm; estates were mutually autonomous, competing economic and political organizations. National politics was characterized both by contests between a weak, elective monarchy and overwhelmingly powerful lords and by shifting factional alliances among these lords to achieve political ascendancy. While factional politics was unstable for much of the eighteenth century, shifts in the social network organization of elites in the last quarter of that century, combined with a retooling of traditional political cultural symbols, facilitated the “invention” of a constitutional regime in 1791—a remarkable accomplishment of political order out of disorder.
African Patrimonialism in Historical Perspective
Authors: Kiser Edgar , Sacks Audrey
Published: June 2011

One of the most important political legacies of colonialism in Africa has been the reliance on the model of centralized bureaucratic administration, which has had disastrous consequences for African state-building. Like the colonial systems before them, these centralized bureaucracies have not functioned effectively. One of the main problems is a loose coupling between the formal bureaucratic structure of these states and the informal patrimonial elements, mainly patronage, that came to permeate them. Many scholars thus referred to these states as neopatrimonial. Over the past two to three decades, many governments have begun to replace centralized bureaucracies with different forms of partially patrimonial systems, including various forms of decentralization and partial privatization. This article uses both Weber and contemporary agency theory to evaluate the success of these new forms of partially patrimonial administration and to suggest ways in which they could be made more effective.
Where the State Feared to Tread
Authors: Geva Dorit
Published: June 2011

This article places feminist state theorists in dialogue with the Weberian “bellicist” tradition, and argues that locating patriarchalism within modern European states remains a worthwhile endeavor. By tracing conscription exemptions for fathers and husbands in France from the French Revolution’s levée en masse through to Napoleonic conscription and into the first half of the twentieth century, this article shows that consideration for male citizens’ patriarchal positions was a consistent feature of French conscription. This is significant given that conscription was an especially powerful and invasive institution of modern states and central to states’ survival within interstate competition. Yet even this intrusive institution did not undermine local patriarchalism in the country many consider to be the cradle of modern mandatory conscription. An extractive state institution was built on crystallization of male familial authority at the level of on-the-ground citizens.
Patrimony and Collective Capacity
Authors: Ermakoff Ivan
Published: June 2011

This article investigates the ways in which the appropriation of offices and positions for personal use (“patrimony”) shapes incentive structures and collective capacity. Within the context of an agency relation, patrimonial power characterizes a mode of political dominance and resource management excluding accountability. This micro-analytical definition identifies three sources of variation: (1) the degree of codification, (2) the extent to which allegiance is personal (versus office-based), and (3) the extent to which dependence is asymmetrical. Patrimonial power enhances collective capacity through the creation of nodes of agency. It undermines this capacity by begetting arbitrary power and instability, by undercutting incentives for productive innovations, and by fostering the downward fragmentation of spheres of influence. Actors get out of this structural logic through two conjoint processes: (1) groups vying for office regulate the terms of their competition (intergroup dynamics), and (2) principals develop an incentive to make themselves accountable to fend off their agents’ possible exit (intragroup dynamics).
Interlocking Patrimonialisms and State Formation in Qing China and Early Modern Europe
Authors: Wang Liping , Adams Julia
Published: June 2011

Familial power contributed to binding territories together and systematically severing them in both China and early modern European states. In the early Qing (1644–1911) Empire, Manchu conquerors met the challenges of securing and expanding rule by discovering ways to use laterally related brothers and imperial bondservants to hold Chinese bureaucrats in check, while deploying bureaucracy to restrain princely brothers from partitioning the state. The ensuing interlock of patrimonial practices and bureaucracy, developed in a style similar to ancien régime France, stabilized political power for centuries.
Analytic Theology
Authors: Crisp Oliver D.
Published: June 2011

In recent years a number of new approaches to theology have emerged. In 2009 a major international symposium was published by Oxford University Press entitled Analytic Theology: New Essays in the Philosophy of Theology. In it, the editors and contributors set out the prospect of analytic theology — very roughly, a method of doing theology utilising the tools of analytic philosophy. In one sense, this is not new. Analytic philosophers have been doing philosophical theology for at least twenty years. But theologians have been slow to draw on the potential benefits an analytic approach to theology promises. The book is an attempt to stimulate theologians to consider this approach as a theological, rather than philosophical, project. This paper sets out some of the potential benefits of analytic theology. My aim is to give the reader a sense of what analytic theology entails; and to commend analytic theology as a theological method.
The influence of gender role on the prediction of antisocial behaviour and somatization
Authors: Castro Yessenia , Carbonell Joyce L. , Anestis Joye C.
Published: June 2011

Background:

Previous research has demonstrated a sex-differentiated relationship between antisocial behaviour and somatization. One explanation posited is that societal expectations about male and female behaviour may influence a sex-differentiated expression of a common diathesis, but this idea has not been directly tested.

Aims:

The current study examined the potential contribution of gender role in the prediction of antisocial and somatic symptomatology, controlling for biological sex, impulsivity and negative affect.

Methods:

Linear regression was used to examine the influence of gender role on somatic and antisocial symptomatology. Path analysis was used to examine whether relationships among these variables differed significantly for men and women. Participants were 349 undergraduate students in southeastern USA.

Results:

Masculine gender role was positively related to antisocial behaviour, while feminine gender role was negatively related to antisocial behaviour. Gender role did not predict somatization.

Conclusions:

Gender role may be important to the expression of antisocial behaviour, but does not influence somatic symptoms. Current findings underscore the need to consider that observed sex differences in antisocial behaviour might actually be affected by gender role, and highlight the importance of considering societal expectations of male and female behaviour when examining apparent sex differences in behaviour.
Service users’ personal experience and interpretation of mental illness: Oriental narratives
Authors: Wang Jin Yong
Published: June 2011

Background:

Service users’ perception of mental illness is vital because it points out a viable direction that practitioners can follow to fully understand service users in their own sociocultural context.

Material:

Qualitative research findings include mental health service users’ roles and identities, their perceptions of mental illness and their personal experiences of psychiatric stigma.

Discussion:

While there are similar phenomena regarding mental illness stigma between East and West, there are culturally distinctive characteristics found in Taiwan.

Conclusions:

Based on personal perceptions and experiences, mental health service users have interpreted illness and performed the patient role in their own way.
Self-harm and attempted suicide among UK Armed Forces personnel: Results of a cross-sectional survey
Authors: Pinder Richard J. , Iversen Amy C. , Kapur Nav , Wessely Simon , Fear Nicola T.
Published: June 2011

Aims:

Little has been reported on self-harm among the UK Armed Forces, partly due to the difficulties in recording self-harm, within an often-difficult-to-reach population. This study assesses the lifetime prevalence of attempted suicide and self-harm within currently serving and ex-service personnel of the UK Armed Forces.

Methods:

Telephone interviews were conducted with 821 personnel who had previously participated in the King’s Centre for Military Health Research military health study. Within the telephone interview, participants were asked about attempted suicide and episodes of self-harm.

Results:

A lifetime prevalence of 5.6% for intentional self-harm (self-harm or attempted suicide) was reported. Intentional self-harm was associated with psychological morbidity (in particular, post-traumatic stress disorder) and adverse experiences in childhood. Ex-service personnel reported lifetime prevalence more than double that of serving personnel (10.5% vs 4.2%, respectively). Participants reporting intentional self-harm were younger (34.4 years vs 39.8 years).

Conclusion:

A lifetime prevalence of 5.6% for attempted suicide and self-harm is higher than previous research has suggested. Younger service personnel, those who have experienced adversity in childhood, those with other psychological morbidity, and ex-service personnel are more likely to report self-harm behaviours.
‘Now If You Have Only Sons You Are Dead’: Migration, Gender, and Family Economy in Twentieth Century Northwestern Ghana
Authors: Abdul-Korah Gariba B
Published: June 2011

This article explores the interconnectedness between labor migration, gender, and the family economy in northwestern Ghana in the 20th century. It focuses specifically on the Dagaaba of the Nadowli and Jirapa administrative districts of what is now the Upper West Region (UWR). It examines how the relationships between men and women in terms of roles, status, access to productive resources and inheritance, changed in tandem with broader changes in society in the 20th century; changes that over time produced enhanced value and elevated status for women in the family. These changes in gender relations are reflected increasingly in the belief among elderly men that ‘now if you have only sons, you are dead’. By focusing on the lived experiences of ordinary women and men in the migration process, it argues that even though indigenous social structures privileged men over women in almost all spheres of life, Dagaaba women were nonetheless significantly active in shaping the history of their communities and that gender relations in Dagaaba communities were not static — they changed over time and generation. This article contributes to the ongoing discussion of the internal migration phenomenon in West Africa, which has so far attracted scant historical analysis.
Using Social Media to Measure Conflict Dynamics
Authors: Zeitzoff Thomas
Published: June 2011

The lack of temporal disaggregation in conflict data has so far presented a strong obstacle to analyzing the short-term dynamics of military conflict. Using a novel data set of hourly dyadic conflict intensity scores drawn from Twitter and other social media sources during the Gaza Conflict (2008–2009), the author attempts to fill a gap in existing studies. The author employs a vector autoregression (VAR) to measure changes in Israel’s and Hamas’s military response dynamics immediately following two important junctures in the conflict: the introduction of Israeli ground troops and the UN Security Council vote. The author finds that both Hamas’s and Israel’s response to provocations by the other side increase (both by about twofold) immediately after the ground invasion, but following the UN Security Council vote, Israel’s response is cut in half, while Hamas’s slightly increases. In addition, the author provides a template for researchers to harness social media to capture the micro-dynamics of conflict.
Peace through Transformation? Political Realism and the Progressivism of National Security
Authors: Schuett Robert
Published: June 2011

Transformationalist thinking is plentiful. The Iraq invasion is the latest example of its failure. Is international political reality destined to be the ‘realm of recurrence and repetition’? This article delineates a political theory of moderate progress found in Hans Morgenthau’s political realism (Realism). Realism recognises the potentiality of transforming international relations, but, warned by its political anthropology, it envisions a distinct philosophy of politics as an effective means for achieving peace. It makes the case for a foreign policy of national security and humility, believing in progress by other means. Based on a renewed engagement with its concepts of the state, national interest and national security, Realism is shown to be critical and progressivist, restrained and realistic. Its nature and structure makes it intellectually incompatible with conservative organicist projects; nor is it reconcilable with radical critical agendas. In search for allies, Realism shows a potential affinity to a moderately Leftist politics and foreign policy.
Change or Continuity
Authors: Korosteleva Elena A.
Published: June 2011

This article examines the discourse of the EU’s relations with eastern Europe under the recently launched Eastern Partnership (EaP) initiative. First, it evaluates the EaP’s conceptual framework to suggest that there seems to be more continuity than change in the EU’s modus operandi with its neighbours. More crucially, the notion of ‘partnership’, central to the new philosophy of cooperation with the outsiders, continues to be ill defined, causing a number of problems for the effective and legitimate realisation of the European Neighbourhood Policy/Eastern Partnership in the region. Second, drawing on the empirical investigations of the official discourses in Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova, the article reveals an increasing gap between EU rhetoric and east European expectations. In the absence of adequate partnership response to the needs and interests of ‘the other’, the policy is unlikely to find anticipated legitimation in the neighbourhood.
Global Norm Diffusion in East Asia
Authors: Prantl Jochen , Nakano Ryoko
Published: June 2011

This article addresses the problem of global norm diffusion in international relations with particular reference to the implementation of ‘the responsibility to protect’ (R2P) in East Asia. Exposing the limits of previous work on norm localization, we develop the framework of the norm diffusion loop. Rather than understanding norm diffusion as a linear top-down process, we demonstrate that the reception of R2P has evolved in a far more dynamic way that can best be described as a feedback loop. We first look into the processes and causal mechanisms that helped to construct R2P as an emerging transnational soft norm; then we analyse the challenges of diffusing R2P from the global to the regional and domestic levels; and, finally, we examine the variation of norm effects within the same region across states, investigating in particular how R2P has shaped Chinese and Japanese policy responses respectively.