bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Self‐assessment of genital anatomy, sexual sensitivity and function in women: implications for genitoplasty
Authors: Schober Justine M. , Meyer‐Bahlburg Heino F.L. , Ransley Philip G.
Published: August 2004

Authors from the USA and UK evaluate female patients’ perception of genital anatomy, and estimate the implications of this for genitoplasty. There are several important observations by the people who completed the questionnaire which should lead surgeons who perform genitoplasty to remember the functional aspects as well as the anatomical appearance after this operation.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the perceptions of healthy women of their genital anatomy and sexual sensitivity, and to provide suggestions for genitoplasty based on this information, as the success of genitoplasty has historically relied upon the surgeon's perception of the patient's anatomy and function, rather than the patient's perception of outcome in terms of appearance and erotic sensitivity.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

Fifty healthy, sexually active, adult women (aged 20–56 years) with no history of genital surgery completed the female version of the Self‐Assessment of Genital Anatomy and Sexual Function. This self‐ report questionnaire comprises written text and images enabling women to rate the appearance, size and position of clitoris and vagina, as well as the intensity of orgasm and effort required for achieving orgasm in specified areas around the clitoris and within the vagina. Anatomical locations were compared for these ratings by repeated‐measures analysis of variance.

RESULTS

Anatomically, 46% of women described their clitoris as ‘moderate‐sized and raised’, 42% as ‘small and raised’, and 78% reported that their vaginal opening was adequate for sexual penetration. The women reported the strongest orgasm and least effort to obtain an orgasm with stimulation of the area on and above the clitoris. For vaginal sensitivity, scores for orgasm intensity increased, and for orgasm effort decreased, with increasing vaginal depth, and they indicated less sexual sensitivity for the vagina than for the external genitalia.

CONCLUSION

The skin above the clitoris, and the clitoris itself, appeared to be the most sexually sensitive. During genitoplasty, attention to preserving skin‐flap integrity in this area seems appropriate.
Gender and teleworking identities in the risk society: a research agenda
Authors: Wilson Melanie , Greenhill Anita
Published: August 2004

This paper discusses the potential implications of a risk society on identities due to alterations in work practices. The promise of ‘flexibility’ via at‐home telework entails a renegotiation of the home–work boundary. This brings into play the gendered identities and roles attached to these different spheres of life. After deconstructing promises made on behalf of telework, we construct an alternative research agenda engaging with writings on changing work identities in the risk society where traditional sureties are called into question.
A decade of neglect: reflecting on gender and IS
Authors: Adam Alison , Howcroft Debra , Richardson Helen
Published: August 2004

This paper presents the case that research on gender and information systems (IS), from both quantitative and qualitative traditions, is problematic as the concept of gender continues to remain under‐theorised. This will be elaborated upon with a critique of some recent qualitative and quantitative research papers that have been published in key IS journals within a ten‐year period.
Dynamics and function of intron sequences of thewinglessgene during the evolution of theDrosophilagenus
Authors: Costas J. , Pereira P. S. , Vieira C. P. , Pinho S. , Vieira J. , Casares F.
Published: August 2004

SummaryTo understand the function and evolution of genes with complex patterns of expression, such as theDrosophila winglessgene, it is essential to know how their transcription is regulated. However, extracting the relevant regulatory information from a genome is still a complex task. We used a combination of comparative genomics and functional approaches to identify putative regulatory sequences in two introns (1 and 3) of thewinglessgene and to infer their evolution. Comparison of the sequences obtained from severalDrosophilaspecies revealed colinear and well‐conserved sequence blocks in both introns.Drosophila willistonishowed a rate of evolution, in both introns, faster than expected from its phylogenetic position. Intron 3 appeared to be composed of two separate modules, one of them lost in the willistoni group. We tested whether sequence conservation in noncoding regions is a reliable indicator of regulatory function and, if this function is conserved, by analyzingD. melanogastertransgenic reporter lines harboring intron 3 sequences fromD. melanogaster(Sophophorasubgenus) and the species from theDrosophilasubgenus presenting the most divergent sequence,D. americana. The analysis indicated that intron 3 contains pupal enhancers conserved during the evolution of the genus, despite the fact that only 30% of theD. melanogasterintron 3 sequences lie in conserved blocks. Additional analysis ofD. melanogastertransgenic reporter lines harboring intron 3 sequences fromD. willistonirevealed the absence of an abdomen‐specific expression pattern, probably due to the above‐mentioned loss of a regulatory module in this species.
Carbohydrate‐based species recognition in sea urchin fertilization: another avenue for speciation?
Authors: Biermann Christiane H. , Marks Jessica A. , Vilela‐Silva Ana‐Cristina E. S. , Castro Michelle O. , Mourão Paulo A. S.
Published: August 2004

Summary
Spawning marine invertebrates are excellent models for studying fertilization and reproductive isolating mechanisms. To identify variation in the major steps in sea urchin gamete recognition, we studied sperm activation in three closely related sympatric Strongylocentrotus species. Sperm undergo acrosomal exocytosis upon contact with sulfated polysaccharides in the egg‐jelly coat. This acrosome reaction exposes the protein bindin and is therefore a precondition for sperm binding to the egg. We found that sulfated carbohydrates from egg jelly induce the acrosome reaction species specifically in S. droebachiensis and S. pallidus. There appear to be no other significant barriers to interspecific fertilization between these two species. Other species pairs in the same genus acrosome react nonspecifically to egg jelly but exhibit species‐specific sperm binding. We thus show that different cell–cell communication systems mediate mate recognition among very closely related species. By comparing sperm reactions to egg‐jelly compounds from different species and genera, we identify the major structural feature of the polysaccharides required for the specific recognition by sperm: the position of the glycosidic bond of the sulfated α‐L‐fucans. We present here one of the few examples of highly specific pure‐carbohydrate signal transduction. In this system, a structural change in a polysaccharide has far‐reaching ecological and evolutionary consequences.
Association of hyponatremia and hyperglycemia with outcome in dogs with congestive heart failure
Authors: Brady Colleen A. , Hughes Dez , Drobatz Kenneth J.
Published: August 2004

Objective:To evaluate plasma sodium and glucose concentrations in dogs with congestive heart failure (CHF) prior to treatment and evaluate the differences between survivors and non‐survivors.

Design:Retrospective study.

Animals:Fifty‐nine dogs with CHF prior to receiving cardiac medication.

Interventions:None.

Measurements and main results:The mean plasma sodium concentration in dogs with CHF was below the reference range (144–156 mmol/L) and significantly lower (P=0.009) in non‐survivors (141±6 mmol/L) compared with survivors (147±4 mmol/L). The mean plasma glucose concentration was above the reference range (76–117 mg/dL) and significantly higher (P=0.004) in non‐survivors (128±52 mg/dL) compared with survivors (100±13 mg/dL). Forty‐four percent of non‐survivors had concurrent low plasma sodium and high plasma glucose concentrations, whereas no survivors had both abnormalities (P<0.0001).

Conclusions:Lower plasma sodium and higher plasma glucose are associated with a worse outcome in dogs with CHF.
C‐reactive protein concentrations in canine acute pancreatitis
Authors: Holm Jennifer L. , Rozanski Elizabeth A. , Freeman Lisa M. , Webster Cynthia R. L.
Published: August 2004

Objective:To determine if C‐reactive protein (CRP) concentration is elevated in spontaneously occurring canine acute pancreatitis (AP), and to measure changes in CRP during the course of hospitalization.

Design:Prospective study.

Setting:Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine Foster Hospital for Small Animals.

Animals:Sixteen client‐owned dogs with AP and 16 healthy controls.

Interventions:Blood samples were obtained from the AP group on the day of diagnosis (Day 1), and on Days 3 and 5, unless the dog died or was discharged from the hospital. Blood was obtained from the control dogs once.

Measurements and main results:Serum CRP was measured using a commercial immunoassay for each dog with AP and for healthy controls. Day 1 CRP concentrations were significantly higher in the AP group (56.1±12.7 μg/mL) compared with controls (2.8±1.3 μg/mL;P<0.001). For the 7 dogs that had samples collected on all 3 days, the mean CRP concentrations decreased significantly (P=0.043) over the 5 days of measurement. Of the 16 dogs with AP, 14 were discharged from the hospital and 2 were euthanized.

Conclusions:Serum CRP concentrations were elevated in this group of 16 dogs with spontaneously occurring AP. In the 7 dogs that had measurements on all 3 days, the mean CRP concentration decreased from the day of diagnosis to the measurement made 5 days later.
Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome in humans and dogs
Authors: Johnson Valerie , Gaynor Alison , Chan Daniel L. , Rozanski Elizabeth
Published: August 2004

Objective:To describe the clinical appearance and theories on the pathogenesis of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) in humans, and to review the evidence suggesting that a similar syndrome occurs in critically ill dogs.

Human‐based studies:Currently, there are a multitude of publications describing the pathogenesis and clinical course of MODS in humans. Providing much of the basis for on‐going research and the development of clinical applications, a consensus statement made by the American College of Chest Physicians and Society of Critical Care Medicine defined parameters that had guided and shaped much of what is known about MODS.

Veterinary‐based studies:To date, there are few publications describing MODS in dogs and much of what is known has been derived from case reports and reviews of various critical illnesses in dogs. While a similar syndrome of multiple organ dysfunction likely exists in dogs, a consensus statement defining clinical parameters has not been made.

Data sources:Veterinary and human literature review.

Conclusions:The development of MODS in human critical illness is widely recognized and major strides have been made in the understanding of this complex syndrome. Scoring schemes applied to human MODS patients have established that with increasing numbers of failing organs, there is a worse prognosis. As a similar finding likely exists in dogs, an awareness of MODS is vital to veterinary critical care clinicians and a consensus definition of MODS in dogs is warranted.
Efficiency Measurement in Australian Local Government: The Case of New South Wales Municipal Water Services
Authors: Woodbury Kim , Dollery Brian
Published: August 2004

Australian local government has experienced a series of reforms directed at increasing economic efficiency. An important element in the reform program has been the development of a number of partial indicators of local government service delivery in the states and territories. This paper attempts to augment this literature on performance measurement in Australian local government by using data envelopment analysis (DEA) with holistic indices of allocative and technical efficiency in New South Wales (NSW) municipal water services. It also seeks to incorporate qualitative indicators into efficiency measures. “Best‐practice” councils are identified and the underlying causes of municipal water service efficiency are analyzed.
The Government Centralization‐Decentralization Debate in Metropolitan Areas
Authors: Hamilton David K.
Published: August 2004

The extent of centralized or decentralized government has been an issue in America's governing system since the Revolutionary War. The major issues debated at the Constitutional Convention revolved around the amount of authority the national government should possess in relation to the states. The centralization‐decentralization issue is still a matter of contention, but a major focus of the debate has shifted to the metropolitan area. Despite the differences in time and levels of governments, many of the same arguments made during the constitutional debates are similar to the arguments made for and against government reform in metropolitan areas today. The author reconsiders the centralization‐decentralization issues debated at the Constitutional Convention and the ratification fight in the context of the current debate in metropolitan areas. Theoretical support for this exercise is provided by the international relations model. An application of the issues debated and resolved by the colonists to the current debate on the extent of centralized government in metropolitan areas would favor the establishment of metropolitan government.
Binational Vital Signs: A Quality of Life Indicator Program for the San Diego–Tijuana Metropolitan Region1
Authors: Murphy‐Greene Celeste , Blair John
Published: August 2004

This is a study of a binational community indicator program for the San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area (SDTMA). The key objective of the research was to produce a citizen‐generated community indicator program (CIP). The study is closely based on the work of the two focus groups held in the two cities and offers a small program that has immediate practical potential for implementation. The program consists of a suite of thirty‐five indicators for which data has been identified and provided. Fifteen of the indicators apply to Tijuana, twenty to San Diego. The program is built around principles of community well‐being or quality of life (QOL). It is the first subregional attempt at the scale of the United States‐Mexico Bi‐National Region (BNR) to integrate existing environmental, social, and economic data into a single coherent program to inform community leaders about the condition of the SDTMA. The region covered by the CIP generally consists of the urbanized core of metropolitan Tijuana, the city of San Diego, and associated cities like Chula Vista and El Cajon within the southern part of San Diego County.
Changes in American Opinion about Family Planning
Authors: Grammich Clifford , DaVanzo Julie , Stewart Kate
Published: August 2004

A 1998 public opinion survey conducted in the United States indicated high levels of support for many family planning policies, including US health insurance coverage of family planning services and US sponsorship of family planning programs in developing countries. To gauge changes in opinion on these issues since then, some of the 1998 questions were asked in an omnibus 2003 survey. The results indicate continuing high support for requiring US health insurers to cover family planning services (87 percent in 1998 and 84 percent in 2003), but some loss of support (from 80 to 69 percent) for US sponsorship of family planning programs in developing countries. Opinion remains divided on the policy of prohibiting nongovernmental organizations from receiving federal funding for performing or actively promoting abortion services. The authors explore several possible explanations for these findings, including the role changing presidential policy may have had in shaping opinion regarding family planning aid for developing countries.
Experimental studies on cervical and lumbar ribs in mouse embryos
Authors: Rengasamy Padmanabhan , Padmanabhan Rajagopala Ramanan
Published: August 2004

ABSTRACT  In humans, the presence of cervical and lumbar ribs is of particular clinical significance. However, the relevance of their occurrence in the offspring of experimental animals in reproductive toxicologic studies is poorly understood. Maternal toxicity has been implicated in the etiology but conclusive evidence is lacking. The present study was undertaken to determine the incidence of supernumerary ribs (SNR) in mouse fetuses prenatally exposed to valproic acid (VPA) and retinoic acid (RA), and to compare their differential developmental susceptibility and morphological association with other axial skeletal anomalies. Single doses of valproic acid (VPA) or retinoic acid (RA) were administered to groups of mice on one of gestation days (GD) 7–12. Fetuses were collected on GD 18 and their skeletons examined for SNR. VPA treatment on GD 7 and GD 8 resulted in a high incidence of cervical and lumbar ribs, respectively. Cervical neural arch anomalies in the GD 7 group, and eight pairs of sternal ribs and seven sternebrae in the GD 8 group were observed in excess of the background SNR suggesting a direct effect of VPA on the developing mouse skeletal system. In the RA groups, GD 8–12 were susceptible for lumbar rib induction but increased incidence of cervical ribs was observed only from GD 9–12. Peak incidence of cervical ribs was found in the GD 10 and 11 groups and that of the lumbar ribs in the GD 8 and 11 groups. Although SNR incidence generally increased with increasing dose of RA, a strict dose–response relationship was lacking. Cervical arch anomalies were observed in as many embryos as those with cervical ribs, but eight pairs of sternal ribs and seven sternebrae did not correlate well with the lumbar ribs in the peak day groups. Interrupted cervical neural arches correlated well with lumbar ribs. The reduction in the frequency of presacral vertebrae from 26 to 25 in the VPA groups was limited to GD 7 (30%) and 8 (18%) groups. RA‐induced reduction in presacral vertebral number extended to GD 9 and was greater in the GD 8 than in the GD 9 groups. Sternal anomalies occurred both in VPA and RA experiments and did not strictly correlate with the frequency of SNR. VPA had a narrow window of susceptibility, whereas RA effects on sternum extended from GD 9–12. The incidence of sternal anomalies generally increased with increasing dose and advancing developmental stage at which RA exposure occurred. These developmental susceptibility windows and associated malformations, when considered in the context of the ability of these drugs to induce alterations in gene expression in mouse embryos suggest that SNR are polygenic in origin and greatly influenced by environmental toxicants.
Comments from the Behavioral Teratology Committee of the Japanese Teratology Society on OECD Guideline for the Testing of Chemicals, Proposal for a New Guideline 426, Developmental Neurotoxicity Study, Draft Document (September 2003)
Authors: Fukui Yoshihiro , Ema Makoto , Fujiwara Michio , Higuchi Hashihiro , Inouye Minoru , Iwase Takayuki , Kihara Takahide , Nishimura Tatsuya , Oi Akihide , Ooshima Yojiro , Otani Hiroki , Shinomiya Mitsuhiro , Sugioka Kozo , Yamano Tsunekazu , Yamashita Keisuke H. , Tanimura Takashi
Published: August 2004

ABSTRACT  In September 2003, a new revision of the draft guideline (Organization for Economic Co‐operation and Development [OECD] Guideline for the Testing of Chemicals, Proposal for a New Guideline 426, Developmental Neurotoxicity Study) was distributed. The draft guideline consists of 51 paragraphs and an appendix. The National Coordinators were requested to arrange national expert reviews of the guideline proposal in their member countries. The member of the Behavioral Teratology (BT) Committee of the Japanese Teratology Society (JTS) reviewed, discussed and commented on the draft Test Guideline proposal. The BT Committee of the JTS also commented that the International Collaborative Study to validate this protocol should be definitely performed. These comments were sent to the OECD Secretariat. The BT Committee of the JTS expects that the comments are useful for further discussion.
Effects of Communication Skills Training on Parents and Young Adolescents From Extreme Family Types
Authors: Riesch Susan K. , Henriques Jeffrey , Chanchong Weena
Published: August 2004

PROBLEM What were the effects of a communication skills training intervention among a sample of young adolescents and parents who scored in the “extreme” range of the Circumplex Model of Family Systems?

METHODS Thirty‐seven young adolescents and a parent (intervention group) participated in communication skills training 2 hours/week for 6 weeks. Their responses on measures of satisfaction with the family system and perceptions of communication were compared with those of 47 young adolescents and a parent who scored in the extreme range but did not participate in the training (control group).

FINDINGS Fathers and young adolescents demonstrated no change as a result of the program. Mothers who participated in skills training perceived communication with their young adolescent as more open than control mothers, but became increasingly dissatisfied with the family system.

CONCLUSION This universal, community‐based, family‐focused intervention may not be indicated for extreme families.
Using Poetry to Discover and Share Significant Meanings in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Nursing
Authors: Raingruber Bonnie
Published: August 2004

TOPIC Does writing and reading poetry help nurse‐therapists, students, and clients reflect on significant meanings and gain a greater understanding of intense clinical situations?

PURPOSE To describe the use of poetry in managing intense feelings, discuss the relevant literature, articulate how students and clients responded to the use of poetry, and address the limitations of such an approach.

SOURCES Published literature, clinical expertise, and poems written by the author.

CONCLUSIONS Writing and reading poetry helps clinicians, students, and clients give voice to situations that touch their hearts. Poetry and literature should be used more extensively in clinical and educational settings.
Depressive Symptoms and Associated Factors in Children With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Authors: LeBlanc Nancy , Morin Diane
Published: August 2004

PROBLEM To compare depressive symptoms in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to those in healthy children, and to explore the influence of individual and family factors on level of depression.

METHODS Individual interviews with 68 children, ages 7 to 12 years, in order to complete the Children's Depression Inventory.

FINDINGS Children with ADHD reported significantly more depressive symptoms than did children without ADHD; 14.7% of children with ADHD reached the threshold of a 19 point score, which suggests clinical depression. No significant effects of individual and family factors on level of depression were found.

CONCLUSIONS Children with ADHD are more inclined to experience depressive symptoms than are healthy children. To plan appropriate interventions, nurses evaluating and working with children with ADHD should always consider a possible coexistence of depressive symptoms.
Methylphenidate: Mechanism of Action and Clinical Update
Authors: Scahill Lawrence , Carroll Deirdre , Burke Kathleen
Published: August 2004

In a series of four articles, we consider psychopharmacological treatment of children with ADHD.
GRID DEPLOYMENT OF BIOINFORMATICS APPLICATIONS: A CASE STUDY IN PROTEIN SIMILARITY DETERMINATION
Authors: COMIN MATTEO , FERRARI CARLO , GUERRA CONCETTINA
Published: August 2004

In this paper we present a scenario for the grid immersion of the procedures that solve the protein structural similarity determination problem. The emphasis is on the way various computational components and data resources are tied together into a workflow to be executed on a grid. The grid deployment has been organized according to the bag-of-service model: a set of different modules (with their data set) is made available to the application designers. Each module deals with a specific subproblem using a proper protein data representation. At the design level, the process of task selection produces a first general workflow that establishes which subproblems need to be solved and their temporal relations. A further refinement requires to select a procedure for each previously identified task that solves it: the choice is made among different available methods and representations. The final outcome is an instance of the workflow ready for execution on a grid. Our approach to protein structure comparison is based on a combination of indexing and dynamic programming techniques to achieve fast and reliable matching. All the components have been implemented on a grid infrastructure using Globus, and the overall tool has been tested by choosing proteins from different fold classes. The obtained results are compared against SCOP, a standard tool for the classification of known proteins.
PROTEUS: a Bioinformatics Problem Solving Environment on Grids
Authors: CANNATARO MARIO , COMITO CARMELA , CONGIUSTA ANTONIO , VELTRI PIERANGELO
Published: August 2004

Bioinformatics can be considered as a bridge between life science and computer science, where high performance computational platforms and software are required to manage complex biological data. In this paper we present PROTEUS, a Grid-based Problem Solving Environment that integrates ontology and workflow approaches to enhance composition and execution of bioinformatics application on the Grid. Architecture and preliminary experimental results are reported.
Early Periodic Register Allocation on ILP Processors
Authors: TOUATI Sid-Ahmed-Ali , EISENBEIS Christine
Published: August 2004

Register allocation in loops is generally performed after or during the software pipelining process. This is because doing a conventional register allocation as a first step without assuming a schedule lacks the information of interferences between values live ranges. Thus, the register allocator may introduce an excessive amount of false dependences that dramatically reduce the ILP (Instruction Level Parallelism). We present a new theoretical framework for controlling the register pressure before software pipelining. Thus is based on inserting some anti-dependence edges (register reuse edges) labeled with reuse distances, directly on the data dependence graph. In this new graph, we are able to fix the register pressure, measured as the number of simultaneously alive variables in any schedule. The determination of register and distance reuse is parameterized by the desired minimum initiation interval (MII) as well as by the register pressure constraints - either can be minimized while the other one is fixed. After scheduling, register allocation is done on conventional register sets or on rotating register files. We give an optimal exact model, and an approximation that generalizes the Ning-Gao [22] buffer optimization method. We provide experimental results which show good improvement compared to [22]. Our theoretical model considers superscalar, VLIW and EPIC/IA64 processors.
GAUGE FIELD THEORY ON THE Eq(2)-COVARIANT PLANE
Authors: MEYER FRANK , STEINACKER HAROLD
Published: August 2004

Gauge theory on the q-deformed two-dimensional Euclidean plane [Formula: see text] is studied using two different approaches. We first formulate the theory using the natural algebraic structures on [Formula: see text], such as a covariant differential calculus, a frame of one-forms and invariant integration. We then consider a suitable star product, and introduce a natural way to implement the Seiberg–Witten map. In both approaches, gauge invariance requires a suitable "measure" in the action, breaking the Eq(2)-invariance. Some possibilities to avoid this conclusion using additional terms in the action are proposed.
KINETICS OF ATOMIC SURFACE TRANSFORMATION DURING STRANSKI–KRASTANOW GROWTH MODE
Authors: BRUNEV D. V. , KARPOV A. N. , NEIZVESTNY I. G. , SHWARTZ N. L. , YANOVITSKAYA Z. Sh.
Published: August 2004

Using a kinetic, Monte Carlo model influence of Schwoebel barriers on morphology of growing films was investigated. With the increase of the deposited dose, transition from 2D to 3D growth mode within Stranski–Krastanow (SK) region without changing interlayer exchange and the growth parameters, was observed. The influence of interlayer atomic exchange on 2D island density, average and maximum island sizes in different atomic layers of thin film were in question. The enlargement of island sizes with the increase of the atomic layer number was demonstrated. This effect is much more pronounced in heterosystems, where atomic hops in the upper layer dominate over hops to the lower layer. The mechanism for transition from two-dimensional to three-dimensional growth mode in one growth process was suggested.
MODIFICATION OF GROWTH MODE OF Ge ON Si BY PULSED LOW-ENERGY ION-BEAM IRRADIATION
Authors: DVURECHENSKII A. V. , SMAGINA J. V. , ZINOVYEV V. A. , TEYS S. A. , GUTAKOVSKII A. K. , GROETZSCHEL R.
Published: August 2004

Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) experiments were performed to study growth modes induced by hyperthermal Ge + ion action during molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) of Ge on Si (100). The continuous and pulsed ion beams were used. These studies have shown that ion-beam bombardment during heteroepitaxy leads to decrease in critical film thickness for transition from two-dimensional (2D) to three-dimensional (3D) growth modes, enhancement of 3D island density and narrowing of island size distribution, as compared with conventional MBE experiments. The crystal perfection of Ge / Si structures with Ge islands embedded in Si was analyzed by Rutherford backscattering/channeling technique (RBS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results of Kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) simulation have shown that two mechanisms of ion beam action can be responsible for stimulation of 2D–3D transition. They are: (1) surface defect generation by ion impacts and (2) enhancement of surface diffusion.
TWO-DIMENSIONAL ORDERED POROUS STRUCTURES FOR PHOTONIC CRYSTALS OBTAINED USING DEEP ANODIC ETCHING AND FOCUSED ION BEAM TECHNIQUES
Authors: GAVRILIN E. Yu. , GORBATOV Yu. B. , STARKOV V. V. , VYATKIN A. F.
Published: August 2004

Photonic crystals are the very promising novel materials for micro- and nanophotonics for visible region. To produce photonic crystals for this region of light, artificial structures with characteristic sizes less than 1 μm have to be manufactured. Electrochemical deep anodic etching and plasma etching techniques is normally used to produce such structures in silicon wafers. However, standard way of deep anodic etching realization is not suitable for sub-micrometer porous silicon formation. In the present work combination of the deep anodic etching and focused ion beam techniques is used to produce ordered structure of macropores in silicon.
NANOSWITCH BASED ON NANOTUBES: BENT-NANOTUBES TRANSPORT
Authors: FARAJIAN A. A. , YAKOBSON B. I. , MIZUSEKI H. , KAWAZOE Y.
Published: August 2004

The electronic transport through bent single-wall carbon nanotubes is studied. Using a four-orbital per atom tight-binding model, the relaxed configurations of a (10, 0) semiconducting nanotube at different bending angles are first obtained. The optimized structures are then used in calculating conductance and current–voltage characteristics of the systems. These results are used to establish a correspondence between the mechanical deformation and transport properties, with potential applications in, e.g., nanoswitches. The source of the switching behavior is explained in terms of the localized states within the bent region.
ELECTRONICS OF MOLECULAR NANOCLUSTERS
Authors: KISLOV V. V. , GULYAEV Yu. V. , KOLESOV V. V. , TARANOV I. V. , GUBIN S. P. , KHOMUTOV G. B. , SOLDATOV E. S. , MAXIMOV I. A. , SAMUELSON L.
Published: August 2004

The molecular nanoclusters proved to be very promising objects for applications in electronics not only because they have absolutely identical chemical structure and allow for bottom to top approach in constructing new electronic devices, but also for the possibility to design and create great variety of such clusters with specific properties. The formation and deposition of mixed Langmuir monolayers composed of inert amphiphile molecular matrix and guest ligand-stabilized metal-core nanoclusters are described. This approach allowed to obtain the ordered stable reproducible planar monolayer and multilayer nanocluster nanostructures on solid substrates. The use of novel polymeric Langmuir monolayers formed by amphiphilic polyelectrolytes and nanoclusters resulted in fabrication of ultimately thin monomolecular nanoscale-ordered stable planar polymeric nanocomposite films. The morphology and electron transport in fabricated nanostructures were studied experimentally using AFM and STM. The effects of single electron tunneling at room temperature through molecular cluster object containing finite number of localized states were theoretically investigated taking into account electron–electron Coulomb interaction. It is shown that tunnel current-bias voltage characteristic of such tunnel junction is characterized by a number of staircase steps equal to the number of cluster's eigenlevels, however the fronts of each steps are asymptotically linear with finite inclination. The analytically obtained current–voltage characteristics are in agreement with experimental results for electron tunneling through molecular nanoclusters at room temperatures.
FIELD EFFECT NANOTRANSISTOR ON ULTRATHIN SILICON-ON-INSULATOR
Authors: NASTAUSHEV Yu. V. , GAVRILOVA T. A. , KACHANOVA M. M. , NAUMOVA O. V. , ANTONOVA I. V. , POPOV V. P. , LITVIN L. V. , SHEGLOV D. V. , LATYSHEV A. V. , ASEEV A. L.
Published: August 2004

Peculiarities of the fabrication of field effect transistor (FET) at nanoscaled size on ultrathin silicon-on-insulator (SOI) was studied in details. Two types of FET transistor were successfully realized: in-plane-gate FET (IPGFET) with 40 nm minimum channel size and multichannel top-gate MOSFET on silicon-on-insulator. The deep submicron top-gate of Ti/Au embraces each of the conductive oxidized silicon wires placed with 400 nm pitch. The type and concentration of carries in a conductive channel of the ultrathin SOI was controlled by a bottom gate. The fabricated transistors demonstrated high transconductance and low threshold voltage. Some results of electron properties of the nano-FET transistors are presented.
FIELD-EFFECT TRANSISTOR STRUCTURES WITH QUASI-ONE-DIMENSIONAL CHANNEL
Authors: ROTKIN SLAVA V. , RUDA HARRY E. , SHIK ALEXANDER
Published: August 2004

Drift–diffusion model is applied for transport in a one-dimensional field effect transistor. A unified description is given for a semiconductor nanowire and a single wall nanotube basing on a self-consistent electrostatic calculations. General analytic expressions are found for basic device characteristic which differ from those for bulk transistors. We explain the difference in terms of weaker screening and specific charge density distribution in quasi-one-dimensional channel. The device characteristics are shown to be sensitive to the geometry of leads and are analyzed separately for bulk, planar and wire contacts.
Corticofugal Shaping of Frequency Tuning Curves in the Central Nucleus of the Inferior Colliculus of Mice
Authors: Yan Jun , Zhang Yunfeng , Ehret Günter
Published: August 2004

Plasticity of the auditory cortex can be induced by conditioning or focal cortical stimulation. The latter was used here to measure how stimulation in the tonotopy of the mouse primary auditory cortex influences frequency tuning in the midbrain central nucleus of the inferior colliculus (ICC). Shapes of collicular frequency tuning curves (FTCs) were quantified before and after cortical activation by measuring best frequencies, FTC bandwidths at various sound levels, level tolerance, Q-values, steepness of low- and high-frequency slopes, and asymmetries. We show here that all of these measures were significantly changed by focal cortical activation. The changes were dependent not only on the relationship of physiological properties between the stimulated cortical neurons and recorded collicular neurons but also on the tuning curve class of the collicular neuron. Cortical activation assimilated collicular FTC shapes; sharp and broad FTCs were changed to the shapes comparable to those of auditory nerve fibers. Plasticity in the ICC was organized in a center (excitatory)-surround (inhibitory) way with regard to the stimulated location (i.e., the frequency) of cortical tonotopy. This ensures, together with the spatial gradients of distribution of collicular FTC shapes, a sharp spectral filtering at the core of collicular frequency-band laminae and an increase in frequency selectivity at the periphery of the laminae. Mechanisms of FTC plasticity were suggested to comprise both corticofugal and local ICC components of excitatory and inhibitory modulation leading to a temporary change of the balance between excitation and inhibition in the ICC.
Transgenic rescue demonstrates involvement of theIan5gene in T cell development in the rat
Authors: Michalkiewicz Mieczyslaw , Michalkiewicz Teresa , Ettinger Ruth A. , Rutledge Elizabeth A. , Fuller Jessica M. , Moralejo Daniel H. , Van Yserloo Brian , MacMurray Armand J. , Kwitek Anne E. , Jacob Howard J. , Lander Eric S. , Lernmark Åke
Published: August 2004

A single point mutation in a novel immune-associated nucleotide gene 5 ( Ian5) coincides with severe T cell lymphopenia in BB rats. We used a transgenic rescue approach in lymphopenic BB-derived congenic F344. lyp/ lyp rats to determine whether this mutation is responsible for lymphopenia and to establish the functional importance of this novel gene. A 150-kb P1 artificial chromosome (PAC) transgene harboring a wild-type allele of the rat Ian5 gene restored Ian5 transcript and protein levels, completely rescuing the T cell lymphopenia in the F344. lyp/ lyp rats. This successful complementation provides direct functional evidence that the Ian5 gene product is essential for maintaining normal T cell levels. It also demonstrates that transgenic rescue in the rat is a practical and definitive method for revealing the function of a novel gene.
Cooperation in the Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma Is Learned by Operant Conditioning Mechanisms
Authors: Gutnisky D. A. , Zanutto B. S.
Published: August 2004

The prisoner's dilemma (PD) is the leading metaphor for the evolution of cooperative behavior in populations of selfish agents. Although cooperation in the iterated prisoner's dilemma (IPD) has been studied for over twenty years, most of this research has been focused on strategies that involve nonlearned behavior. Another approach is to suppose that players' selection of the preferred reply might be enforced in the same way as feeding animals track the best way to feed in changing nonstationary environments. Learning mechanisms such as operant conditioning enable animals to acquire relevant characteristics of their environment in order to get reinforcements and to avoid punishments. In this study, the role of operant conditioning in the learning of cooperation was evaluated in the PD. We found that operant mechanisms allow the learning of IPD play against other strategies. When random moves are allowed in the game, the operant learning model showed low sensitivity. On the basis of this evidence, it is suggested that operant learning might be involved in reciprocal altruism.
Beyond Mysterium Tremendum: Thoughts toward an Aesthetic Study of Religious Experience
Authors: McRoberts Omar M.
Published: August 2004

Much sociological ethnography of religion values an objective distance between observer and subject to the point of reducing religion to a catalogue of doctrines and rituals, failing all the while to take seriously the subjective experiences of believers and the experiences of ethnographers themselves. The association of religious experience with transcendent feelings of awe or ecstasy, coupled with the methodological impossibility of perfect empathy, further drives the ethnography of religion away from the consideration of religious experience. I offer thoughts toward an aesthetics-oriented method of studying lived religiosity, whereby the ethnographer becomes sensitive to aspects of religious experience that are precognitive but not necessarily spiritual.
Discovering Ink: A Mentor for an Historical Ethnography
Authors: Kornblum William
Published: August 2004

Ethnographers often find that the discovery of a mentor, someone who generously unlocks doors and shares invaluable experience with a naive outsider, is a critical turning point in the research process. This article explores a mentor-investigator relationship in ethnographic research within the more specialized field of historical ethnography and through a case of historical ethnography: fieldwork in Chicago’s jazz and blues music scenes from August through October 1924, where the discovery of a mentor has brought an unexpected and original perspective to the research.
Shifting from Media to Literacy
Authors: Rogow Faith
Published: August 2004

Reflecting on how media literacy has changed in the United States in recent years, this article argues that the field has shifted from an emphasis on media to an emphasis on literacy. The result is a change in practice that makes more pedagogical sense than media literacy conceived of as an ideological or political movement.
Media as Social Institution
Authors: Silverblatt Art
Published: August 2004

Mass media have emerged as a social institution, assuming many of the functions formerly served by traditional social institutions such as the church, school, government, and family. However, in Western countries operating on the private-ownership model (most notably the United States), media systems were never intended to serve as a social institution. Instead, the primary objective of a privately owned media organization is to make a profit for the company. Thus, many films, television programs, and Web sites contain sexual and violent content designed to attract the largest imaginable audience. The messages contained in these programs can be confusing or disruptive to a public looking to the media for direction, purpose, and meaning. The public’s reliance on the Western media for guidance and support can therefore be dangerous. Within this context, media literacy provides strategies that enable people to critically examine media messages and put media programming into meaningful perspective.
A Review of School-Based Initiatives in Media Literacy Education
Authors: Hobbs Renee
Published: August 2004

When teachers use videos, films, Web sites, popular music, newspapers, and magazines in the K-12 classroom or when they involve students in creating media productions using video cameras or computers, they may aim to motivate students’interest in the subject, build communication and critical-thinking skills, encourage political activism, or promote personal and social development. This article reviews teachers’motivations for implementing media literacy in K-12 education, focusing on current efforts in elementary education, secondary English language arts, and media production. An overview of statewide media literacy initiatives in Texas, Maryland, and New Mexico is provided, and the author examines some public anxieties concerning the uses of popular media in K-12 classrooms and makes recommendations for future research.
A Deeper Sense of Literacy
Authors: Scheibe Cynthia L.
Published: August 2004

Media literacy can be used effectively as a pedagogical approach for teaching core content across the K-12 curriculum, thus meeting the needs of both teachers and students by promoting critical thinking, communication, and technology skills. This article focuses on the work of Project Look Sharp at Ithaca College, a media literacy initiative working primarily with school districts in upstate New York. Basic principles and best practices for using a curriculum-driven approach are described, with specific examples from social studies, English/language arts, math, science, health, and art, along with methods of assessment used to address effectiveness in the classroom.
“If you Build it, they will Come”
Authors: Considine David M.
Published: August 2004

Who studies media literacy and why? What has the nation’s first graduate program in media literacy learned about what motivates students to come from across the country and around the world to pursue the study of media literacy? How do students in this learning community support each other? How did the graduate program emerge from a college of education’s commitment to a social constructivist model of learning, and how is media literacy reinforced and integrated in other degree tracks throughout the college? The coordinator of the program offers some insights, including anecdotal comments from the students themselves.
Mining the Invisible
Authors: Holtzman Linda
Published: August 2004

We are separated in our neighborhoods, faith groups, and schools. We are divided by income, race, ethnicity, and nationality. Gays and lesbians are often invisible to their neighbors. Without personal contact, there is an information gap about “the Other.” This gap is filled by what we learn in school and at home. But the most common source of information, misinformation, and stereotypes are the popular media that create messages and stories that add up to invisible norms and “truths” about human difference. Teaching to mine these invisible messages can provide the tools for independent thinking and dismantle the seeds of bias.
Reviving Lolita?
Authors: Merskin Debra
Published: August 2004

Lolita: A name that conjures up images of preadolescent allure and perversion. The Lolita look has become a main stay not only of movies, books, and magazines but also of advertising, particularly fashion advertising. In this brief study, Galician’s model for media literacy is applied to four illustrative fashion advertisements. The sexualization of preadolescent and adolescent girls has implications for their psychological and physical well-being.
Health Literacy via Media Literacy
Authors: Rich Michael
Published: August 2004

Video Intervention/Prevention Assessment (VIA) builds on the innate comfort that children and adolescents have with audiovisual media to give them control of an important information stream about their own health and well-being. Clinicians provide video camcorders to young people who have chronic medical conditions and ask them to teach the clinicians about their experiences and needs by making visual illness narratives. Their visual narratives are unexpected, insightful, and extremely useful for developing a reality-based clinician-patient partnership in health. VIA visual narratives function as important research, education, policy-making, and advocacy tools to deliver more realistic, more humane, and ultimately more effective medical care. Most important, by providing key information about the context in which they live with illness, young patients can attain a position of equal authority in the inherently unbalanced clinician-patient power differential.
The More We Know, the More We See
Authors: Natharius David
Published: August 2004

The role of visual perception in media literacy is paramount in understanding the shift from a linear perceptual process (literacy) to a holistic perceptual process (visuality) by which almost all information is now transmitted through the visual forms of mass media: television, film, and the Internet. The media-literate individual must be educated in the processes of visual perception and how the media use the visual channels to transmit, and often distort, information. The media-literate person understands the meaning of the primary axiom of visual communication—The more we know the more we see—as well as the next most important axiom: What is not seen is as important as what is seen.