bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Functionalization of PET Fabrics by Corona and Nano Silver
Authors: Gorenšek Marija , Gorjanc Marija , Bukošek Vili , Kovač Janez , Jovančić Petar , Mihailović Darka
Published: November 2009

In this work, the antibacterial and other properties of polyester fabrics previously functionalized by corona and/or silver nano particles have been studied. Corona air plasma was used as a pretreatment of raw, washed and washed-thermostabilized polyester fabrics to increase the adhesion of nano silver particles resulting in an excellent antibacterial effect. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was applied to analyze the surface composition and chemical bonding of the surface atoms on untreated and treated fabrics. The surface morphological changes of polyester fibers were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The quantity of silver on the polyester fabrics was determined by the use of the inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry method. The antimicrobial properties of functionalized polyester fabrics were tested according to American Society for Testing and Materials ASTM Designation: E 2149-01. Additionally, the dyeing of polyester fabrics with selected disperse dye as well as capillary action tests were performed to confirm the chemical and morphological changes of polyester fibers after corona treatment. Considerable differences in surface composition were found between the raw and washed or washed-thermostabilized fabrics. The surface of raw fabrics is richer in carbon and the concentrations of the C—O and O—C=O groups are lower than on the other samples. An opposite effect is observed for washed and washed thermostabilized fabrics. SEM analyses show that the plasma treatment also affects the surface morphology. The chemical surface composition and morphology are highly related to the hydrophobicity and hydrophylicity, and the achievement of better nano silver adhesion and enhanced dyeing and antimicrobial properties of differently prepared corona plasma-treated polyester fabrics. Therefore, corona air-treated raw polyester fabrics demonstrated optimum antimicrobial properties due to the excellent adhesion of nano silver.
Effect of Diallyl Disulfide Immobilization on the Immunoreaction of Polysulfone Membranes
Authors: Chang Le-Shin , Su Te-Li , Yang Ming-Chien , Kung Fu-Chen
Published: November 2009

Diallyl disulfide (DADS) was covalently bonded to a layer of poly(acrylic acid) grafting on the surface of polysulfone (PSF) membranes. The effects of DADS bonding on oxidative stress, removal of cholesterol, triglyceride and endotoxin, and the ability of thrombus prevention were then evaluated. The surface was characterized with contact angle measurement and Fourier transform infrared spectrometer. Thrombus, platelet aggregation, and oxidative stress were evaluated using human blood. Coagulation times (CT) were evaluated in vitro for hemocompatibility. The production of reactive oxygen species was measured by the chemiluminescence (CL) method to evaluate the oxidative stress. Furthermore, the removal of cholesterol, triglyceride and bacterial endotoxin by DADS-bonding PSF was measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The results showed that the DADS-bonding PSF membrane exhibited longer CT, and less adsorption of plasma proteins than the unmodified PSF membrane. In addition, the CL counts of hydrogen peroxide and superoxide values for the DADS-bonding PSF membrane were more stable than those for the unmodified PSF membrane. In addition, the DADS-bonding PSF membrane exhibited ability to remove cholesterol, triglyceride and endotoxin. These results demonstrate that DADS bonding can improve the blood compatibility of PSF membranes. The DADS-bonding PSF membrane could offer protection for patients against oxidative stress and could also reduce the dosage of anticoagulant required during hemodialysis.
Policing Development: Urban Renewal as Neo-liberal Security Strategy
Authors: Samara Tony Roshan
Published: November 2009

This paper examines the evolution of policing in the townships of Cape Town in the context of a neo-liberalising city. Policing is situated in relation to the shifting meaning of security, the city’s emphasis on economic growth and attempts to develop the townships through a law-enforcement-driven urban renewal process. Research conducted in the city suggests that current approaches to urban renewal risk exacerbating social instability by reproducing aggressive forms of policing associated with the apartheid era. Further, as crime is framed as a security threat because of the danger it is thought to pose to market-led growth, urban governance in the townships increasingly takes on the character of a containment strategy. Current security ideology and policing practice create an expanding law enforcement web in which millions of poor residents are caught annually and which appears to undermine the very developmental goals used to justify its expansion.
Escaping Car Dependence in the Outer Suburbs of Paris
Authors: Motte-Baumvol Benjamin , Massot Marie-Hélène , Byrd Andrew M.
Published: November 2009

The outer suburbs of Paris are home to a large number of low-income households driven from the centre by the workings of the property market. This shift could give rise to a new form of socio-spatial segregation insofar as the elevated costs of mobility in such highly car-dependent areas restrict and change these households’ mobility patterns. These effects were observed in data on three groups of working people from the 2001 global transport survey. However, the socio-spatial impact of this outward movement is significantly reduced by the residential mobility of low-income households, which move from the most car-dependent areas to denser areas with better public transport provision. The presence of social housing in these areas only partially explains these migrations. These results obtained from 1999 census micro-data cast doubt upon the emergence of a new form of segregation in the outer suburbs described by Dodson and Sipe.
A Tale of Two Cities: A Comparative Analysis of Quality of Life Initiatives in New York and Bogotá
Authors: Beckett Katherine , Godoy Angelina
Published: November 2009

In the 1990s, city officials made a concerted effort to enhance security and civility in two large cities long associated with fear and danger: New York City and Bogotá, Colombia. In this article, a comparison is made of how ‘quality of life’ and ‘civility’ were conceptualised and pursued in New York City and Bogotá in the 1990s. The findings suggest that there were some similarities in the conceptualisation and operationalisation of these ideals, and that both cities became markedly safer in the period under investigation. Yet there were also important differences in the quality of life campaigns undertaken in the two settings. Specifically, measures to protect rights, enhance social services and expand the use of public spaces, particularly in poor communities, were a key component of Bogotá’s quality of life campaign. The Bogotá example shows that it is possible to take crime and civility seriously without criminalising minor offences and by coupling security measures with broader initiatives to strengthen democratic inclusion.
Revisiting Affirmative Action in Leveling the Playing Field
Authors: Harris G.L.A.
Published: November 2009

Affirmative action is an amalgam of federal, state, and local ordinances and other legislative mandates to remedy inequities in employment for traditionally marginalized groups. The need for such programs continues to be debated given varying evidence that affirmative action has not been as even handed as proponents have touted. This article explores the extent to which affirmative action, after more than 40 years, has leveled the playing field in the workplace for women and minorities. In essence, who have been the true beneficiaries of affirmative action?
Synthesis and Characterization of a New Trimethacrylate Monomer with Low Polymerization Shrinkage and Its Application in Dental Restoration Materials
Authors: He Jingwei , Luo Yuanfang , Liu Fang , Jia Demin
Published: November 2009

In this study, a new trimethacrylate monomer α,α,α′-tri[4-(2′-hydroxy-3′-methacryloyloxy-propoxy)phenyl]-1-ethyl-4-isopropylbenzene (α,α,α′-THMPEIB) with a molecular weight of 850 and a large molecular volume was designed and synthesized. The structure of monomer α,α,α′-THMPEIB was confirmed by FT-IR, 1H NMR, and elemental analysis. Degree of double-bond conversion, volume shrinkage, water sorption and solubility, diffusion coefficient value, and flexure strength of α,α,α′-THMPEIB/tri(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate- (TEGDMA) based resin were measured. 2,2-Bis[4-(2′-hydroxy-3′-methacryloyloxy-propoxy)-phenyl]-propane (bis-GMA)/TEGDMA monomer mixture was used as reference. The result showed that the α,α,α′-THMPEIB/TEGDMA-based resin had the lower double-bond conversion, polymerization shrinkage, and water solubility than bis-GMA/TEGDMA-based resin. Water sorption and diffusion coefficient value of α,α,α′-THMPEIB/TEGDMA-based resin were nearly the same as those of bis-GMA/TEGDMA-based resin. Flexural strength of α,α,α′-THMPEIB/TEGDMA-based resin was higher than that of bis-GMA/ TEGDMA-based resin.
Research Opportunities With Curanderos to Address Childhood Overweight in Latino Families
Authors: Clark Lauren , Bunik Maya , Johnson Susan L.
Published: November 2009

Curanderos are consulted as an adjunct or alternative to biomedical health care in the greater southwest, although the extent of their involvement in obesity prevention and treatment is poorly understood. Seven curanderos participated in audiotaped interviews about their work with families and beliefs about childhood feeding and overweight. Themes reflected curanderos’ beliefs about their practice and childhood obesity. Curanderos approach their work as a calling, emphasizing elements from nature in etiology and cure. From the curandero’s standpoint, essential elements of obesity management must acknowledge the socially marginalized experiences of Latinos. We encountered working with curanderos as problematic, and this likely reflected our differing personal characteristics and a tension between our healing professions. Curanderos could serve as collaborators in childhood obesity interventions if we craft health messages and delivery modes that resonate with Latino families and address ethical and communication issues on the research team.
An Exploratory Study of Secondary School Pupils’ Perspectives Regarding the Student Teachers in their Music Classrooms
Authors: Wayman Davis Virginia
Published: November 2009

The purpose of this study is to determine how pupils view the student teachers in their classrooms. In this exploratory study, secondary school music students were asked to offer their insights about the student teachers assigned to their music classes as well as discuss their feelings regarding the experience of being taught by a student teacher. Participants in this study were 248 middle and high school students from a medium-sized southern city who were enrolled in one of three types of school ensemble: band, choir, or orchestra. Seven student teachers were represented in this study. In a 20-question survey, pupils were asked to respond to questions regarding the student teacher’s warmth, enthusiasm, and fairness; preparation and delivery; classroom management; and knowledge of subject matter or musicianship. Pupils rated the student teachers favorably in creating good relationships with the students and in improving their teaching skills. Certain delivery and classroom management skills were rated lower.
The efficacy of family support and family preservation services on reducing child abuse and neglect: what the literature reveals
Authors: O'Reilly Rebecca , Wilkes Lesley , Luck Lauretta , Jackson Debra
Published: November 2009

Globally, child protection services are under-resourced and unable to meet the demands associated with the increasing numbers of families who are being exposed to child abuse and neglect. Family support and family preservation interventions are the methods cited within the literature as those employed by child protection services to address this issue. Intensive family preservation services and cognitive behavioural therapy are discussed as the most effective interventions currently used by child protection services. This article presents a review of the literature on the efficacy of family-centred interventions for child abuse and neglect. Revealed in this review is that such efficacy remains controversial, with literature affirming that the most successful practice is a combination of interventions applied simultaneously. The literature reviewed suggests that more contemporary research around family-centred interventions for child abuse and neglect is required.
Ambivalent globalization, amorphous vulnerable nationalism
Authors: Beasley Chris , Bulbeck Chilla , McCarthy Gregory
Published: November 2009

Debates about nation and national positioning within the global exemplified in the Australian culture, history and literacy ‘wars’ have tended to be definitive and apparently oppositional in tone. Yet these debates have proceeded in the absence of a concretized notion of Australian identity and do not adequately address the complexities of political identification and allegiance. Despite intense concerns in these ‘wars’ about the views of young people and the role of their schooling, young people do not necessarily have less well-developed conceptions of Australia’s place in a globalizing world than their elders. Our research on young people’s responses to globalization, global cultural products and national identity offers some suggestive new directions for considering these issues and the school curriculum, directions which are built upon the actual ways in which young Australians express uncertainty about US—Australian relations, while simultaneously identifying with American cultural products.
Trade globalization, economic development and the importance of education-as-knowledge
Authors: Babones Salvatore J.
Published: November 2009

It is widely asserted that globalization puts a premium on knowledge, but in fact there is no empirical correlation across countries between globalization and returns to education. One reason for this discrepancy may be that education is not everywhere coequal with knowledge. In this article the overall contribution of education to income is modelled as the sum of the contributions of two components of education, education-as-knowledge and education-as-credential. Assuming that the former dominates in developed countries while the latter dominates in developing countries, it is possible to separate these two effects. In a broadly comparative analysis of returns to education in 80 countries using World Values Survey data, globalization is found to be positively associated with education in developed countries but negatively associated with education in developing countries, consistent with the model. These results are robust in the face of controls for the supply and demand for education.
Gabapentin Therapy for Ocular Opsoclonus-Myoclonus Restores Eye Movement Communication in a Patient With a Locked-In Syndrome
Authors: Pistoia Francesca , Sarà Marco
Published: November 2009

The experience with a patient with locked-in syndrome suffering from opsoclonus—myoclonus symptoms is described: gabapentin successfully reversed the symptoms, just favoring the regaining of eye-dependent communication strategies.
Dignity and significance in urgent care: older people’s experiences
Authors: Bridges Jackie , Nugus Peter
Published: November 2009

In this paper we report the role that a sense of significance plays in the experiences of older patients in urgent care settings, and explore the factors that influence these experiences. The paper draws on findings from a UK study in which 69 patients and 27 relatives from 31 English NHS Trusts were interviewed about their urgent care experiences using semi-structured qualitative interviews. Key among the findings was that older patients experienced a diminished sense of their individual significance. Some questioned the legitimacy of their presence in the urgent care setting and believed that they mattered little in relation to other patients and the other tasks which health professionals were undertaking. The three key features of this diminished sense of significance were: the primacy of technical, medical care; an imbalance of power; and the subordination of patients’ non-medical needs. These features suggest that interventions to enhance care delivery that promotes a sense of significance will need to target practitioners and the wider organisational culture.
Induction of nitric oxide by erythropoietin is mediated by the β common receptor and requires interaction with VEGF receptor 2
Authors: Sautina Larysa , Sautin Yuri , Beem Elaine , Zhou Zhuo , Schuler Anna , Brennan Jennafer , Zharikov Sergey I. , Diao YanPeng , Bungert Jorg , Segal Mark S.
Published: November 2009

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and erythropoietin (EPO) have profound effects on the endothelium and endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), which originate from the bone marrow and differentiate into endothelial cells. Both EPO and VEGF have demonstrated an ability to increase the number and performance properties of EPCs. EPC behavior is highly dependent on nitric oxide (NO), and both VEGF and EPO can stimulate intracellular NO. EPO can bind to the homodimeric EPO receptor (EPO-R) and the heterodimeric receptor, EPO-R and the common β receptor (βC-R). Although VEGF has several receptors, VEGF-R2 appears most critical to EPC function. We demonstrate that EPO induction of NO is dependent on the βC-R and VEGF-R2, that VEGF induction of NO is dependent on the expression of the βC-R, and that the βC-R and VEGF-R2 interact. This is the first definitive functional and structural evidence of an interaction between the 2 receptors and has implications for the side effects of EPO.
Orai1 regulates intracellular calcium, arrest, and shape polarization during neutrophil recruitment in shear flow
Authors: Schaff Ulrich Y. , Dixit Neha , Procyk Emily , Yamayoshi Itsukyo , Tse Tiffany , Simon Scott I.
Published: November 2009

Orai1 was reported to function as a calcium channel subunit that facilitates store operated calcium entry (SOCE) in T cells and is necessary for formation of the immune synapse. We reasoned that SOCE via Orai1 might regulate PMNs activation during recruitment to inflamed endothelium. Orai1 function was assessed by real-time imaging of calcium transients as PMNs were stimulated to roll, arrest, and migrate on E-selectin and ICAM-1 in shear flow. Calcium entry was significantly reduced when Orai1 function was impaired by heterozygous knockout in a mouse model or by siRNA knockdown in HL-60 cells. Reduced Orai-1 expression correlated with the delayed onset of arrest and reduced ability to transition to a polarized migratory phenotype. Inhibition of SOCE by treatment with 2-APB, or blocking phospholipase C (PLC) mediated calcium store release with U73122, abrogated formyl peptide induced calcium elevation, and delayed subsequent cell arrest and polarization. These results suggest that calcium entry via Orai1 is the predominant SOCE that cooperates with cytoplasmic calcium store release in coordinating integrin-dependent PMN arrest and migration in the acute response to inflammation.
Cyclosporine-induced immune suppression alters establishment of HTLV-1 infection in a rabbit model
Authors: Haynes Rashade A. H. , Ware Evan , Premanandan Christopher , Zimmerman Bevin , Yu Lianbo , Phipps Andrew J. , Lairmore Michael D.
Published: November 2009

Human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) infection causes adult T-cell leukemia and several lymphocyte-mediated inflammatory diseases. Persistent HTLV-1 infection is determined by a balance between host immune responses and virus spread. Immunomodulatory therapy involving HTLV-1–infected patients occurs in a variety of clinical settings. Knowledge of how these treatments influence host-virus relationships is not understood. In this study, we examined the effects of cyclosporine A (CsA)–induced immune suppression during early infection of HTLV-1. Twenty-four New Zealand white rabbits were split into 4 groups. Three groups were treated with either 10 or 20 mg/kg CsA or saline before infection. The fourth group was treated with 20 mg/kg CsA 1 week after infection. Immune suppression, plasma CsA concentration, ex vivo lymphocyte HTLV-1 p19 production, anti–HTLV-1 serologic responses, and proviral load levels were measured during infection. Our data indicated that CsA treatment before HTLV-1 infection enhanced early viral expression compared with untreated HTLV-1–infected rabbits, and altered long-term viral expression parameters. However, CsA treatment 1 week after infection diminished HTLV-1 expression throughout the 10-week study course. Collectively, these data indicate immunologic control is a key determinant of early HTLV-1 spread and have important implications for therapeutic intervention during HTLV-1–associated diseases.
Novel IL-21 signaling pathway up-regulates c-Myc and induces apoptosis of diffuse large B-cell lymphomas
Authors: Sarosiek Kristopher A. , Malumbres Raquel , Nechushtan Hovav , Gentles Andrew J. , Avisar Eli , Lossos Izidore S.
Published: November 2009

Interleukin-21 (IL-21), a member of the IL-2 cytokine family, has diverse regulatory effects on natural killer (NK), T, and B cells. In contrast to other cytokines that are usually immunostimulatory, IL-21 can induce apoptosis of murine B cells at specific activation-differentiation stages. This effect may be used for treatment of B-cell malignancies. Herein we report that diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) cell lines exhibit widespread expression of the IL-21 receptor (IL-21R) and that IL-21 stimulation leads to cell-cycle arrest and caspase-dependent apoptosis. IL-21 also induces apoptosis in de novo DLBCL primary tumors but does not affect viability of human healthy B cells. Furthermore, IL-21 promotes tumor regression and prolongs survival of mice harboring xenograft DLBCL tumors. The antilymphoma effects of this cytokine are dependent on a mechanism involving IL-21–activated signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) up-regulating expression of c-Myc. This up-regulation promotes a decrease in expression of antiapoptotic Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL proteins triggering cell death. Our results represent one of the first examples in which the STAT3–c-Myc signaling pathway, which can promote survival and oncogenesis, can induce apoptosis in neoplastic cells. Moreover, based on IL-21's potency in vitro and in animal models, our findings indicate that this cytokine should be examined in clinical studies of DLBCL.
New tools for detecting latent tuberculosis infection: evaluation of RD1-specific long-term response
Authors: Butera Ornella , Chiacchio Teresa , Carrara Stefania , Casetti Rita , Vanini Valentina , Meraviglia Serena , Guggino Giuliana , Dieli Francesco , Vecchi Marco , Lauria Francesco N , Marruchella Almerico , Laurenti Patrizia , Singh Mahavir , Caccamo Nadia , Girardi Enrico , Goletti Delia
Published: November 2009

Background

Interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) release assays (IGRAs) were designed to detect latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI). However, discrepancies were found between the tuberculin skin test (TST) and IGRAs results that cannot be attributed to prior Bacille Calmètte Guerin vaccinations. The aim of this study was to evaluate tools for improving LTBI diagnosis by analyzing the IFN-γ response to RD1 proteins in prolonged (long-term response) whole blood tests in those subjects resulting negative to assays such as QuantiFERON-TB Gold In tube (QFT-IT).

Methods

The study population included 106 healthy TST+ individuals with suspected LTBI (recent contact of smear-positive TB and homeless) consecutively enrolled. As controls, 13 healthy subjects unexposed to M. tuberculosis (TST-, QFT-IT-) and 29 subjects with cured pulmonary TB were enrolled. IFN-γ whole blood response to RD1 proteins and QFT-IT were evaluated at day 1 post-culture. A prolonged test evaluating long-term IFN-γ response (7-day) to RD1 proteins in diluted whole blood was performed.

Results

Among the enrolled TST+ subjects with suspected LTBI, 70/106 (66.0%) responded to QFT-IT and 64/106 (60.3%) to RD1 proteins at day 1. To evaluate whether a prolonged test could improve the detection of LTBI, we set up the test using cured TB patients (with a microbiologically diagnosed past pulmonary disease) who resulted QFT-IT-negative and healthy controls as comparator groups. Using this assay, a statistically significant difference was found between IFN-γ levels in cured TB patients compared to healthy controls (p < 0.006). Based on these data, we constructed a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and we calculated a cut-off. Based on the cut-off value, we found that among the 36 enrolled TST+ subjects with suspected LTBI not responding to QFT-IT, a long term response to RD1 proteins was detected in 11 subjects (30.6%).

Conclusion

These results indicate that IFN-γ long-term response to M. tuberculosis RD1 antigens may be used to detect past infection with M. tuberculosis and may help to identify additional individuals with LTBI who resulted negative in the short-term tests. These data may provide useful information for improving immunodiagnostic tests for tuberculosis infection, especially in individuals at high risk for active TB.
Detection of Chlamydia trachomatis-DNA in synovial fluid: evaluation of the sensitivity of different DNA extraction methods and amplification systems
Authors: Freise Julia , Bernau Iris , Meier Sabine , Zeidler Henning , Kuipers Jens G
Published: November 2009

Introduction

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and ligase chain reaction (LCR) are used in research for detection of Chlamydia trachomatis (C. tr.) in synovial fluid (SF). However there is no standardized system for diagnostic use in clinical practice, therefore this study aimed at determining the molecular biology method best suited to detect C. tr. from SF.

Methods

SF samples were spiked with C. tr. elementary bodies (EB) and human peripheral blood monocytes (PBMo) persistently infected with C. tr. in vitro to evaluate the sensitivity of different molecular biology methods and assays. Five different DNA-extraction methods were tested: 1) Alkaline lysis, 2) QIAex II Gel Extraction Kit®+ CTAB, 3) Chelex®-extraction, 4) QIAmp Tissue Kit® and 5) QIAmp DNA Stool Kit®. All DNA extracts were subjected to 5 different DNA amplification systems to detect C. tr.- DNA in the spiked SF samples: two C. tr. -omp1-- directed PCR, one C. tr.-plasmid-PCR, one C. tr. -16s RNA directed PCR, and one commercially available LCR (LCX®, Abbott laboratories).

Results

In SF samples spiked with C. tr.-EB and with C. tr.-PBMo, alkaline lysis, detecting 1 C. tr.-EB/ml SF, 0,1 C. tr.-PBMo/ml SF and QIAmp gel extraction kit®+ CTAB detecting 0,1 C. tr. -EB/ml SF, 1 C. tr.-PBMo/ml, respectively, allowed most sensitive detection of the organism in combination with the C. tr.- omp1-(152 bp) PCR. Sensitivity decreased in all methods after storage of the DNA of C. tr.- dilution series at -20°C for 4 months by at least one log phase.

Conclusions

The sensitivity to detect C. tr.- DNA from SF is highly dependent on the DNA extraction method and the detection system applied. Alkaline lysis as well as the QIAmp Gel extraction kit® + CTAB in combination with C. tr.- omp1 - (152 bp) PCR evolved as the most sensitive methods to identify C. tr. in serial dilutions.
Assessment of Circulating Sex Steroid Levels in Prepubertal and Pubertal Boys and Girls by a Novel Ultrasensitive Gas Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry Method
Authors: Courant Frédérique , Aksglaede Lise , Antignac Jean-Philippe , Monteau Fabrice , Sorensen Kaspar , Andersson Anna-Maria , Skakkebaek Niels E. , Juul Anders , Bizec Bruno Le
Published: November 2009

Context: Estrogens and androgens play key roles for pubertal onset and sexual maturation. Most currently used immunoassays are not sensitive enough to accurately measure the low circulating levels of sex steroids in children without any signs of puberty. However, this does not exclude that sex steroids have important biological roles in prepubertal children.

Objectives: To accurately determine levels of sex steroid hormones and their metabolites in serum of healthy children before any physical signs of puberty and to evaluate possible sex differences.

Main Outcome Measures: Total (unconjugated plus conjugated) serum levels of 17β-testosterone, 17α-testosterone, 5α-dihydrotestosterone, 5β-dihydrotestosterone, androsterone, etiocholanolone, estradiol, and estrone measured by an ultrasensitive method based on gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry in samples from 81 healthy schoolchildren (42 boys) without any signs of puberty. For comparison, 48 pubertal children were studied.

Results: 17β-Estradiol levels in prepubertal boys were undetectable or extremely low (median < 3.7 pmol/liter), whereas levels in prepubertal girls were significantly higher (median 9.6 pmol/liter, P < 0.001). Among the older prepubertal children (>8 yr), girls had significantly higher androsterone (4.07 vs. 1.45 nmol/liter, P < 0.05), etiocholanolone (5.45 vs. 1.95 nmol/liter, P < 0.0001), 5α-dihydrotestosterone (0.11 vs. <0.10 nmol/liter, P < 0.01), and 17β-testosterone concentrations (0.69 vs. 0.47 nmol/liter, P < 0.05) compared with similarly aged prepubertal boys.

Conclusion: Using an accurate and sensitive method, we found significantly higher levels of estrogens as well as androgen metabolites in prepubertal girls compared with age-matched boys. The higher prepubertal sex steroid levels in girls may contribute to their earlier onset of puberty including pubic hair development.
Introduction: State and Society: Neither Lovers nor Haters
Authors: Turam Berna , Ringer Monica M.
Published: November 2009

In both media accounts and scholarship, contemporary Turkey draws much attention as a hotbed of contestation between Islamists and secularists. Indeed, the ban of the popularly elected Islamist Welfare Party and of the headscarf in universities in 1998 reinforced an already predominant dichotomy between the repressively secular state and the Muslim actors. What deserves more attention, however, is the transformation in state-society relations since the late 1990s.

From a state-society perspective, the recent secularist backlash remains understudied. Why does the secularist discontent peak at a time when Muslim actors in Turkey seem to have secularized and integrated into the secular polity and capitalist market? The answer lies in the shifting patterns of interaction between the secular state and Muslim actors. While Islamists abandoned their radical edge and integrated into the secular system and free market, the ability of the Turkish state to accommodate religion has likewise expanded. Put differently, through its nonconfrontational interactions with Islamists, the Turkish state has experimented with greater capacities for accommodating religious piety and politics. While admittedly this increased tolerance has not always been smooth or unilinear, the long-term trend has been toward “the politics of engagement”—that is, everyday negotiations and cooperation between Muslims and the secular state.
The Dynamic Nature of Educational Policies and Turkish Nation Building: Where Does Religion Fit In?
Authors: Bayar Yeşim
Published: November 2009

This article looks into how religion was situated within the educational policies of the early republican era (1920–38) in Turkey. The existing literature on Turkish nation building treats the educational policies of the time as solely and unchangingly directed toward the Westernization and secularization of the newly built nation. The present work is critical toward these works, and its aim is twofold. First, it demonstrates that while the direction and content of the republican elite's educational policies included the aims of Westernization and secularization, they also went beyond and above these two goals. More specifically, religion occupied a central place in educational policies. Second, the present article also demonstrates that the content of educational policies shifted throughout the Kemalist era and that these shifts signified a redefinition and reinterpretation of the role of religion in the education system.
A Transformed Kemalist Islam or a New Islamic Civic Morality? A Study of “Religious Culture and Morality” Textbooks in the Turkish High School Curricula
Authors: Türkmen Buket
Published: November 2009

This article discusses the meaning of the formulation of a new Turkish civic morality infused with Islam in contemporary Turkey through a content analysis of the 1995 and 2007–08 editions of Religious Culture and Morality course textbooks used in high school curricula. I argue that this course, while maintaining continuity with the republic's diffusion of national religious morality through a revised version of Islam, referred to as “Kemalist Islam,” concretizes in its recent syllabus the consequences of the re-Islamization of the Turkish public sphere since the 1990s.

This article asks questions about the relationship between secularism, citizenship, and Islam in contemporary Turkey. I argue that the “privatized religious belief” that Kemalist secularism tried to propagate did not result in reinforcing individualism in Turkish society. Rather, it was thought to provide a basis for a civic morality reinforcing the holistic spirit of Turkish nationalism, which subordinates the individual to society. My research tries to figure out in what sense the content of Kemalist Islam, once the only legitimate religiosity taught in national education, changed with the modifications and whether Kemalist Islam loses its centrality in the definition of citizen identity, to the advantage of a new Islamic morality with the re-Islamization of the Turkish public sphere.
Christian and Turkish: Secularist Fears of a Converted Nation
Authors: Özyürek Esra
Published: November 2009

In the past twenty years, around three thousand Turkish Muslims converted to a Turkish-speaking Protestant movement. Despite their small number, they have been physically and ideologically attacked by Turkish nationalists. This article asks why it is so difficult for Turkish secular nationalists to accept that one can be a Turk and a Christian at the same time. Based on eight months of ethnographic research among Turkish Christians in Istanbul and Ankara and discourse analysis of popular antimissionary literature in Turkey, it argues that the nature of the campaign against Christian missionaries and Turkish converts to Christianity is first and foremost nationalist and etatist, not religious. Spokespeople and the gunmen of the antimissionary and anti-Christian campaign fear and loathe Turkish Christians primarily because they believe that by converting to Christianity they are being disloyal to their nation and their state.
Does Secularism Face a Serious Threat in Turkey?
Authors: Heper Metin
Published: November 2009

Since 2002, the year the Justice and Development Party (JDP) formed a majority government in Turkey, the bulk of secularists in that country have felt that Turkey would soon drift toward a state based on Islam. The secularists in question are of the opinion that the JDP government has been engaged in dissimulation (takiyye) and that, in the first opportune moment, would attempt to Islamize the state. In a related manner, the secularists think that there has been a gradual increase in the number of turbaned women and that the latter would exercise a moral pressure on uncovered women and oblige them to sport turbans. Thus it is presumed that the bulk of the people in Turkey long for a state based on Islam. This article takes up the question of whether indeed a great majority of the people in Turkey are inclined toward a state based on Islam, for they oppose the secular republic, they have little or no tolerance toward the secularists, and they insist that everybody in that country should practice and live Islam as they themselves do. The article draws on findings from reliable nationwide surveys conducted in Turkey since 1999.
Women's Choices of Head Cover in Turkey: An Empirical Assessment
Authors: Çarkoğlu Ali
Published: November 2009

Despite its political significance, not much is known about the behavioral and attitudinal bases of different head cover practices in Turkey. The article makes use of two nationwide representative surveys, one carried out in 1999 and the other in 2006, to expose the characteristics of “covered” women in contrast to “the uncovered.” Three different types of head covers are distinguished: (1) the more traditional but relatively more colorful head cover allows for the hair, neck, and shoulders and much of the face to be seen; the turban, paler in color, covers all hair, the neck, and the shoulders and leaves only a smaller portion of the face uncovered; and the veil, in dark brown or black, leaves only the eyes uncovered. Several hypotheses are made on an a priori conceptual level, variables are operationalized, and proper tests are conducted. A detailed series of questions concerning attitudinal traits and the social and political preferences of covered and uncovered women, together with demographics, are used to determine Turkish women's choices for different types of religiously meaningful head covers. Among the various hypotheses, the political significance of turban wearing, as opposed to purely private-sphere religious beliefs as the guiding motivation behind turban use, is contrasted and tested.
The Secularization of a Faqih-Headed Revolutionary Islamic State of Iran: Its Mechanisms, Processes, and Prospects
Authors: Matsunaga Yasuyuki
Published: November 2009

This article examines the secularization thesis of Iran's faqih-headed revolutionary Islamic state, as put forward by Sa'id Hajjarian (1954–), against the institutional and political developments in the post-Khomeini period. His thesis posited that the religious state in postrevolutionary Iran, with its official doctrine of the absolute mandate of the jurisprudent, serves as the most important accelerator in the two-part process of secularization of the traditional institutions and jurisprudence of Shiism as well as of the faqih-headed Islamic state. The article finds that the developments in the post-Khomeini period have generally confirmed the logic and insights of Hajjarian's thesis and suggests that the secularizing trends will likely continue as long as this particular state is in place.
Who Could Marry at a Time Like This? Debating the Mehndi Ki Majlis in Hyderabad
Authors: Ruffle Karen G.
Published: November 2009

Networks of trade, scholarship, and pilgrimage have traditionally connected Muslims transregionally, yet these very networks draw into dramatic relief the significance of the local in defining Shi'i religious practices and worldviews. The Shi'i community in the South Indian city of Hyderabad, an important location within the Shi'i cosmpolitan, has strongly resisted campaigns launched by the religious elite of Iran and Iraq to homogenize its “vernacular” Muharram ritual-devotional practices. This article examined the contested nature of the mehndi ceremony of Qasem, who was married and martyred at the battle of Karbala in 680 CE. The mehndi ceremony, or majlis, is steadfastly observed on 7 Muharram by Hyderabadi Shias in defiance of pressures from the ulema in Iran and Iraq to eliminate practices deemed to be unauthentic and un-Islamic. Drawing on archival and ethnographic data, I argue that the participation in the mehndi ki majlis narrates a worldview connecting Hyderabad's Shias to the cosmopolitan Karbala through the vernacular ecology, aesthetics, and values of the local Deccani culture.
Reading the Texture of History and Memory in Early-Nineteenth-Century Punjab
Authors: Dhavan Purnima
Published: November 2009

This article examines two early-nineteenth-century Punjabi histories to demonstrate how these texts reflect ruptures in the recording and reordering of Sikh historical memories in the decades prior to colonization. An awareness of the East India Company's interest in the records of the recent Sikh past is reflected in the works of Ratan Singh Bhangu, the author of the hagiographic work Gur Panth Prakash, and Ram Sukh Rao, the court historian of the Sikh kingdom of Kapurthala. The works on these Punjabi authors reveal anxieties about how the recent past would be recorded and understood not only by the colonial state but also by the larger Punjabi-speaking Sikh community. A close contextual reading of both texts reveals the complex impact of colonial rule on local modes of historical narration. Each author crafted competing discourses about the nature of Sikh sovereignty for the new audiences of Sikh courts and the Khalsa warrior community. Reading these two texts together destabilizes our understanding of these two important and widely used sources of Sikh history and raises methodological concerns about how such precolonial sources should be read. In particular, analyzing the expressive and literary forms of such narratives to understand the ways in which they simultaneously created and engaged new audiences in vernacular languages such as Punjabi, mobilizing such groups through the forging of new political and cultural identities, is extremely important.
A Literary and Historical Background of Martyrdom in Iran
Authors: Korangy Alireza
Published: November 2009

Martyrdom in Iran and the Middle East is a phenomenon that has been subject to a plethora of religious exegesis. However, scholars, often not having prescribed to the Aristotelian notion of poetics, have not only ignored the literary aspects of this phenomenon in the Middle East but have also failed to realize the poetics that exist within the parameters of religious and Koranic exigencies of martyrdom. This article summarizes and creates reference points for the morphology of a contemporary phenomenon, which finds its prototype not only in the tragic events of Karbala but also in literary occasions that long preceded it in Iran. This paradigm is found to be quite sufficient when dealing with martyrdom in Iran, which with the onslaught of the Safavids was provided with the proverbial “trigger” for its already long-standing literary canons. The importance of a lover-beloved relationship in accordance with a martyr's view of self as pertains to his or her actions in the face of God, country, and man under the rubric of some historical and literary events and productions throughout Iranian history is also epmhasized.
Issues of Power and Modernity in Understanding Political and Militant Islam
Authors: Amin-Khan Tariq
Published: November 2009

The article offers an alternative to Eurocentric understandings of political Islam and now militant Islam—the two phenomena are distinguished—as an analysis of modernity, power, and the political is offered in relation to political Islam's characterization by modernists and civilizational theorists. This alternative perspective is useful to grasp the powerful new social reality in the form of militant Islam that has been unleashed since the end of the Cold War: altering culture, language, social, and political policy, while targeting women in many Muslim-majority societies. I argue that political Islam has to be conceived historically as a political phenomenon with a range of diverse manifestations that began to emerge during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as anticolonial movements and national liberation struggles became visible in colonized areas of Asia and Africa. Political Islam's emergence in the colonial context had two distinct responses: first, to engage with ideas of modernity, and, second, to contest and reject Western modernity by positing Islamic revivalism within the ambit of pan-Muslim nationalism. In the current context, the culturalist idiom has been employed equally by the forces of empire and militant/political Islam, but the latter has been more effective in galvanizing support. To make sense of this rise of militant Islam, the article examines the specific histories of political and militant Islam, the Muslim philosophers' engagement with the issue of “power” and the “political” in Islam and the unfolding dialectic of collaboration and resistance between political/militant Islam and the United States. The article's conclusion is that despite using the culturalist terrain of modernity to demonize the two tendencies in contemporary Islam, the United States' imperial drive and the role of client Muslim-majority states remain central in the rise of political and militant Islam.
The Second Empire: The Transformation of the Ottoman Polity in the Early Modern Era
Authors: Tezcan Baki
Published: November 2009

This essay proposes a new framework to study the history of the Ottoman Empire in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by focusing on the transformation of Ottoman political structures in the seventeenth century. It offers a summary of Ottoman political history up to the sixteenth century, underlines the socioeconomic transformation of the late sixteenth century and its impact on politics, and argues that the rebellions and depositions of the seventeenth century limited the political power of the Ottoman monarch and changed the nature of his relations with other major actors in the polity. This new political dispensation, which the author calls the “Second Empire,” came to be remembered retrospectively as a corrupt version of the patrimonial empire that it had replaced mainly because its history was produced by the Ottoman New Order that destroyed the political structures of the Second Empire in the nineteenth century.
Communalism, Globalization, and Governmentality: Some Reflections on South Asia
Authors: Heath Deana
Published: November 2009

Any viable explanation of communalism must go beyond viewing all communalisms as nationalist fragments to delineate the differing natures of these fragments, as well as to study their changing configuration over time, including the ways in which they have been shaped by globalization. But since what distinguishes contemporary global processes from earlier geopolitical formations is that individuals are encouraged to voluntarily seek inclusion in the new global order, this article aims to extend the analysis of the relationship between communalism and globalization not only by exploring the ways in which the globalization of governmental processes that endeavour to fashion “the conditions in which the body is to live and to define its life” has served to shape contemporary communalisms but also by exploring the role of such communalisms in transforming the domain of global governmentality.
Foreign travel associated with increased sexual risk-taking, alcohol and drug use among UK university students: a cohort study
Authors: Vivancos R , Abubakar I , Hunter P R
Published: November 2009

We conducted a prospective cohort study to assess sexual behaviour of students at a British University during the summer break, to explore the role of foreign travel as a risk factor of sexually transmitted infections acquisition and to determine characteristics associated with casual sex. We found that those who travelled abroad were more likely to use alcohol (RR 1.59, 95% CI 1.17–2.16) and cannabis (RR 1.35, 95% CI 1.13–1.62) and to have casual sex during holidays. They also reported more sexual relationships after holidays (RR 1.26, 95% CI 1.09–1.53). New partnerships during holidays were associated with being single, foreign travel, drinking alcohol and having previously had large number of sexual partners. The adjusted relative risk of developing new sexual partnerships with foreign travel was 2.70 (95% CI 1.11–6.61). People who travel abroad during holidays are more likely to engage in risk taking behaviour and have casual sex. They are also more sexually active after holidays.