bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Pre-Explant Stability of Unloading-Promoted Cardiac Improvement Predicts Outcome After Weaning From Ventricular Assist Devices
Authors: Dandel Michael , Weng Yuguo , Siniawski Henryk , Potapov Evgenij , Krabatsch Thomas , Lehmkuhl Hans B. , Drews Thorsten , Knosalla Christoph , Hetzer Roland
Published: September 2012

Background—

Detection of cardiac recovery that allows long-term cardiac stability after ventricular assist device (VAD) explantation is a major goal. After normalization of ventricular diameters during unloading, the pre-explant left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) allows the detection of patients with the potential to remain stable after VAD explantation. However, some patients with LVEF >45 before VAD explantation show early recurrence of heart failure (HF). We aimed to find out if unstable improvement can be recognized before VAD explantation.

Methods and Results—

Among 96 patients weaned from VADs since 1995, a relatively homogenous group of 53 patients with nonischemic chronic cardiomyopathy (CCM) was selected for the study. The pre-explant stability of major parameters of LV function, size, and geometry that were measured by echocardiography during serial “off-pump” trials was tested for relationship with cardiac stability after VAD explantation. LVEF, systolic peak wall motion velocity (Sm), end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD), end-diastolic relative wall thickness (RWT
ED
) and end-diastolic short/long-axis ratio (S/L
ED
) were selected for evaluation. In postweaning unstable patients, the selected parameters showed relevant instability already before VAD explantation during the time period between best cardiac improvement and VAD explantation and also during the final off-pump trial just before VAD explantation. For all parameters, there were significant differences (
P
<0.05) in pre-explant changes between patients with and without postweaning cardiac stability. Using the optimal cutoff values obtained from receiver-operating characteristic analysis, we found for our selected parameters predictive values for postexplant cardiac stability of ≥1 year, ≥3 years, and ≥5 years, ranging between 94 and 100, 92, and 100, and 78 and 100, respectively. Using for all parameter changes the cutoff value of 10, we found similar predictive values for cardiac stability of ≥1 year, ≥3 years, and ≥5 years, ranging between 93 and 97, 90 and 96, and 83 and 92, respectively.

Conclusions—

Our results strongly suggest the possibility to improve the prediction of postexplant transplant/VAD-free outcome in CCM patients with cardiac improvement during VAD support by analyzing the pre-explant stability of several LV off-pump echocardiographic parameters during serial off-pump trials.
Long-Term Clinical and Echocardiographic Follow-Up of the Freestyle Stentless Aortic Bioprosthesis
Authors: Mohammadi Siamak , Tchana-Sato Vincent , Kalavrouziotis Dimitri , Voisine Pierre , Doyle Daniel , Baillot Richard , Sponga Sandro , Metras Jacques , Perron Jean , Dagenais François
Published: September 2012

Background—

Stentless aortic bioprostheses were designed to provide enhanced hemodynamic performance and potentially greater longevity. The present report describes the outcomes of patients with the Freestyle stentless bioprosthesis followed for ≤18 years.

Methods and Results—

Between 1993 and 2011, 430 patients underwent primary aortic valve replacement with a Freestyle bioprosthesis in the subcoronary position. Mean age was 68.2±8.2 years. All of the clinical and echocardiographic data were collected prospectively. Mean overall follow-up was 9.1±4.4 years and was complete in all of the patients. In-hospital mortality was 3.5% (n=15). Overall, 10- and 15-year survival were 60.7% and 35.0%, respectively. Fifty-one patients required reoperation during follow-up, including 27 for structural valve deterioration (SVD). Overall, freedom from reoperation was 91.0% and 75.0% at 10 and 15 years, whereas freedom from reoperation for SVD was 95.9% and 82.3%, respectively. At 10 and 15 years, freedom from reoperation for SVD was 94.0% and 62.6% for patients <60 years of age and 96.3% and 88.4% for patients ≥60 years of age (
P
=0.002). The median time to explant for SVD was 10.7 years. SVD presented mostly as acute, severe aortic insufficiency attributed to leaflet tear (77.8%). The independent risk factors for reoperation for SVD were age <60 years (
P
=0.001) and dyslipidemia (
P
=0.02).

Conclusions—

Aortic valve replacement with the Freestyle bioprosthesis in a subcoronary position provides good long-term clinical and echocardiographic outcomes for patients >60 years of age. Severe aortic insufficiency with leaflet tear is the major mode of SVD leading to reoperation in these patients.
Comparison between single and three portal laparoscopic splenectomy in dogs
Authors: Khalaj Alireza , Bakhtiari Jalal , Niasari-Naslaji Amir
Published: September 2012

Background

Single incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS) is a newly growing technique to replace a more invasive conventional multiple portal laparoscopic surgery. The objective of this study was to compare single (SILS) with three portal (Conventional) laparoscopic splenectomy in dogs. Mongrel dogs (n = 18), weighting 15 ± 3 kg, were selected for this study (n = 12 SILS; n = 6 conventional). The area from xiphoid to pubis was prepared under aseptic conditions in dorsal recumbency with the head down and tilted 30 degree in the right lateral position. Pneumoperitoneum was established by CO2 using an automatic high flow pressure until achieving 12 mm Hg. Instrumentation used consisted of curved flexible-tip 5 mm Maryland forceps and ultracision harmonic scalpel for sealing and cutting of the vessels and splenic attachments.

Results

All dogs recovered uneventfully. The splenectomy procedure using SILS and conventional methods were significantly different in the respective operative time (29.1 ± 1.65 vs. 42.0 + 2.69 min) and the length of the surgical scar (51.6 ± 1.34 mm vs. 72.0 ± 1.63 mm; P < 0.001). There were no post-operative wound complication including inflammation, infection, hernia formation and dehiscence up to one month after surgery. Meanwhile, the conversion to open surgery or application of additional portals was not required in both approaches.

Conclusion

This study demonstrated that SILS is a safe and feasible operation and could be used as an alternative approach to three portal (Conventional) for splenectomy in dog.
Clinical validity of outcome pain measures in naturally occurring canine osteoarthritis
Authors: Rialland Pascale , Bichot Sylvain , Moreau Maxim , Guillot Martin , Lussier Bertrand , Gauvin Dominique , Martel-Pelletier Johanne , Pelletier Jean-Pierre , Troncy Eric
Published: September 2012

Background

The conceptual validity of kinetic gait analysis and disability outcome assessment methods has guided their use in the assessment of pain caused by osteoarthritis (OA). No consensus on the best clinical methods for pain evaluation in canine OA exists, particularly, when evaluating treatments where a smaller treatment effect is anticipated than with pharmacological pain killers. This study thus aimed at determining the technical validity of some clinical endpoints on OA pain in dogs using the green-lipped mussel (GLM)-enriched diet.

Twenty-three adult dogs with clinical OA completed the prospective controlled study. All the dogs were fed a balanced diet over a 30-day control period followed by a GLM-enriched diet over a 60-day period. The kinetic gait analysis parameter (PVFBW, peak vertical force adjusted for body weight change), electrodermal activity (EDA), and a standardized multifactorial pain questionnaire (MFQ) were performed on day (D) 0 (inclusion), D30 (start) and D90 (end). The owners completed a client-specific outcome measures (CSOM) instrument twice a week. Motor activity (MA) was continuously recorded in seven dogs using telemetered accelerometric counts. We hypothesized that these methods would produce convergent results related to diet changes. A Type I error of 0.05 was adjusted to correct for the multiplicity of the primary clinical endpoints.

Results

Neither the EDA nor the MFQ were found reliable or could be validated. Changes in the PVFBW(Padj = 0.0004), the CSOM (Padj = 0.006) and the MA intensity (Padj = 0.02) from D0 to D90 suggested an effect of diet(s). Only the PVFBWclearly increased after the GLM-diet (Padj = 0.003). The CSOM exhibited a negative relationship with the PVFBW(P = 0.02) and MA duration (P = 0.02).

Conclusions

The PVFBWexhibited the best technical validity for the characterization of the beneficial effect of a GLM-enriched diet. The CSOM and MA appeared less responsive following a GLM-diet, but these measures appeared complementary to gait analysis. Apparently, the CSOM provides the capacity to rely on pain OA assessment influenced by both lameness quantification (PVFBW) and physical functioning (MA).
An efficient piecewise linear model for predicting activity of caspase-3 inhibitors
Authors: Firoozpour Loghman , Sadatnezhad Khadijeh , Dehghani Sholeh , Pourbasheer Eslam , Foroumadi Alireza , Shafiee Abbas , Amanlou Massoud
Published: September 2012

Background and purpose of the study

Multimodal distribution of descriptors makes it more difficult to fit a single global model to model the entire data set in quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR) studies.

Methods

The linear (Multiple linear regression; MLR), non-linear (Artificial neural network; ANN), and an approach based on “Extended Classifier System in Function approximation” (XCSF) were applied herein to model the biological activity of 658 caspase-3 inhibitors.

Results

Various kinds of molecular descriptors were calculated to represent the molecular structures of the compounds. The original data set was partitioned into the training and test sets by the K-means classification method. Prediction error on the test data set indicated that the XCSF as a local model estimates caspase-3 inhibition activity, better than the global models such as MLR and ANN. The atom-centered fragment type CR2X2, electronegativity, polarizability, and atomic radius and also the lipophilicity of the molecule, were the main independent factors contributing to the caspase-3 inhibition activity.

Conclusions

The results of this study may be exploited for further design of novel caspase-3 inhibitors.
Golgi phosphoprotein 2 in physiology and in diseases
Authors: Kim Ha-Jeong , Lv Dandan , Zhang Yan , Peng Tao , Ma Xiaojing
Published: September 2012

Golgi phosphoprotein 2 (GOLPH2, also termed GP73 and GOLM1) is a type II transmembrane protein residing in the cis and medial-Golgi cisternae. GOLPH2 is predominantly expressed in the epithelial cells of many human tissues. Under poorly defined circumstances, GOLPH2 can be cleaved and released to the extracellular space. Despite of its relatively “young age” since the first description in 2000, the physiological and pathological roles of GOLPH2 have been the subject that has attracted considerable amount of attention in recent years. Here, we review the history of GOLPH2’s discovery and the multitude of studies by many groups around the world aimed at understanding its molecular, cellular, physiological, and pathogenic activities in various settings.
A comparison of the efficacy of transplantation of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells and unrestricted somatic stem cells on outcome after acute myocardial infarction
Authors: Flynn Aidan , Chen Xizhe , O'Connell Enda , O'Brien Timothy
Published: September 2012

Introduction

A number of questions remain unanswered in the field of cell therapy for acute myocardial infarction, including what is the optimal cell type, and can therapeutic efficacy be enhanced by conditioning regimens. In this study, we sought to address these questions by directly comparing the effect of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells and unrestricted somatic stem cells delivered 24 hours post-myocardial infarction and by determining if the therapeutic efficacy of unrestricted somatic stem cells could be enhanced by exposing the cells to guiding factors before cell transplantation.

Methods

Unrestricted somatic stem cells were guided by exposure to 50 ng/mL basic fibroblast growth factor, 20 ng/mL hepatocyte growth factor and 20 ng/mL bone morphogenetic protein-2 for 24 hours. Using a Sprague-Dawley rat model of acute myocardial infarction, we transplanted cells by intramyocardial injection 24 hours post-myocardial infarction. Cardiac function was serially measured using echocardiography, and histological analyses of infarct morphology, angiogenesis and apoptosis were obtained. Transcriptomic and proteomic changes were assessed using microarray and real-time quantitative PCR.

Results

When assessed 28 days after the myocardial infarction, the delivery of mesenchymal stem cells 24 hours post-myocardial infarction did not improve ejection fraction (P = 0.19), and did not prevent the decline in ejection fraction observed in the absence of cell therapy (P = 0.17). The administration of unrestricted somatic stem cells also did not improve ejection fraction (P = 0.11), but did prevent a further decline in ejection fraction (P = 0.001). Delivery of guided unrestricted somatic stem cells significantly improved ejection fraction (P = 0.03). Guided unrestricted somatic stem cells restored function to a greater extent than mesenchymal stem cells (P = 0.03). The infarct area (P = 0.2), apoptosis (P = 0.07) and angiogenesis (P = 0.09) did not differ between groups. Microarray analysis revealed that, following pre-implantation guiding, the gene groupings of mitosis, signalling and angiogenesis were highly overrepresented, mediators of apoptosis were overrepresented, and cardiomyocyte-associated genes were not differentially expressed.

Conclusions

These results suggest that guided unrestricted somatic stem cells have a moderate capacity to repair cardiac damage and that they are more effective than mesenchymal stem cells in restoring cardiac function after a myocardial infarction. The mechanism of the benefit was not fully elucidated in this study, but these observations may be mediated by favorable dysregulation of angiogenic and apoptotic gene groupings.
Analytic and clinical validation of a standardized cystatin C particle enhanced turbidimetric assay (PETIA) to estimate glomerular filtration rate
Authors: Voskoboev Nikolay V. , Larson Timothy S. , Rule Andrew D. , Lieske John C.
Published: September 2012

Cystatin C is an alternative biomarker for assessing glomerular filtration rate (GFR), yet lack of standardization could hinder its widespread use. In this study we analytically and clinically validated a newer cystatin C particle-enhanced turbidimetric assay (PETIA) traceable to a certified reference material and compared it to the more commonly used particle-enhanced nephelometric assay (PENIA).

Samples from four patient cohorts at the Mayo Clinic were studied: 1) clinical convenience samples (n=50); 2) samples from patients undergoing iothalamate urinary clearance testing for clinical indications (n=101); 3) volunteers without kidney disease (n=292); 4) samples from 1999–2000 with previous cystatin C measurements.

The cystatin C PETIA was analytically robust between 0.15 mg/L and 8.36 mg/L. PETIA cystatin C values were 27.5% higher than PENIA results. Furthermore, PENIA results were 12.9% lower in 2010 than in 2000. PETIA cystatin C values and existing equations performed reasonably well to estimate GFR with an overall –7.4% bias for all patients analyzed. Age and gender specific reference intervals were established for the PETIA cystatin C.

Cystatin C can be precisely measured by PETIA traceable to the international reference material, ERM-DA471/IFCC, using a routine chemistry autoanalyzer. There are important biases between this assay and the widely employed Siemens PENIA. This study highlights the importance of assay standardization if cystatin C is to be widely used to estimate GFR.
Eight Decades of Discouragement: The History of Health Care Cost Containment in the USA
Authors: Jost Timothy Stoltzfus
Published: September 2012

This chapter traces the history of attempts at cost control in the United States from the origins of our modern health care financing system in the 1930s and 1940s, through health care cost regulation in the 1970s, and the deregulatory 1980s and 1990s, to the Affordable Care Act.
Biochemical and functional characterization of human phospholipid scramblase 4 (hPLSCR4)
Authors: Francis Vincent Gerard , Gummadi Sathyanarayana N.
Published: September 2012

Human phospholipid scramblase 4 (hPLSCR4), an isoform of the scramblase family, is a type II single-pass transmembrane protein whose function remains unknown. To understand its role, recombinant hPLSCR4 was obtained by cloning the ORF into a pET28 a(+) vector and overexpressed in Escherichia coli. Functional assay showed that Ca2+, Mg2+, and Zn2+ activate hPLSCR4 and mediate scrambling activity independent of the phospholipid head group. Far-UV-CD and fluorescence spectroscopy revealed that Ca2+ and Mg2+ binding induces conformation change in hPLSCR4, exposing hydrophobic patches of the protein, and Ca2+ has more affinity than Mg2+ and Zn2+. Stains-all studies further confirm that hPLSCR4 is a Ca2+-binding protein. Point mutation (Asp290→Ala) in hPLSCR4 decreased the Ca2+-binding affinity as well as Tb3+ luminescence, suggesting residues of the predicted Ca2+-binding motif are involved in Ca2+ binding. Functional reconstitution with (Asp290→Ala) mutant led to ∼50% and ∼40% decrease in scramblase activity in the presence of Ca2+ and Mg2+, respectively.
Modernization and Medical Care
Authors: Gallagher Eugene B.
Published: September 2012

The introduction of modern medicine into developing societies is an important topic for social-scientific analysis. Here I draw upon modernization theory to illuminate this topic. Using Peter Berger's notion of “carriers of modernity,” I discuss health care as such a carrier. Compared with premodern modes of health care, modern health care has a calculable, “commodity” character. Its production has become a major and increasingly systematized sector of the economy. In addition to its manifest clinical benefits, health care conveys the symbolic meanings of modernity. It participates in the broad though uneven passage of technology and values from Western societies to metropolitan areas in developing societies and thence to the hinterland. Health care as the focus of demodernization strains is also examined, through case examples drawn from Amish and Islamic contexts.
Measuring Status Inconsistency
Authors: Brown Wayne Curtis , Cretser Gary A. , Lasswell Thomas E.
Published: September 2012

There have been many attempts to isolate and measure the effects of status inconsistency (S-I) on a variety of dependent variables, including self-evaluation (Goffman, 1957), social isolation (Geschwender, 1967), political attitudes and behavior (Lenski, 1954), political extremism (Rush, 1967), prejudice (Geschwender, 1970), and psychological stress (Hornung, 1977) among numerous others. These efforts have not, for the most part, dealt satisfactorily with the identification problem demonstrated by Blalock (1965, 1966, 1967, 1968), Hodge (1970), and Hope (1975). This problem arises when one tries to separate the effects of two or more status indicators. A model that tends to overestimate S-I effects is used in the present article. Status consistency's main effects are controlled by using only consistent individuals. The model is employed to explain the variance in an array of dependent variables that have been linked to S-I. This is accomplished using two recent NORC General Social Surveys for the United States and comparative data from a Euro-barometer survey drawn from seven Western European countries. Evidence generated by “objective” measures offers little support for significant empirical effects of S-I. The few significant effects that emerge in one sample are not replicated in the others.
Commitment and Leisure
Authors: Shamir Boas
Published: September 2012

Previous research indicates that leisure can provide alternatives for unsatisfying or missing jobs only if it is “serious” (Stebbins, 1982). Serious leisure is characterized by commitment on the part of participants. However, the terms commitment and leisure are not easily reconciled. Commitment, which denotes obligation, duty, restriction, and routine, may seem to negate essential elements of leisure such as freedom, individuality, spontaneity, variety, and pleasure. The article offers a conceptual discussion of commitment and its implications for the leisure sphere. Two concepts of commitment are derived from the sociological and social-psychological literature: External commitment and internal commitment, and the article analyzes their relationships with continuance, motivation, satisfaction, involvement, freedom, and routine. The analysis shows that, notwithstanding important differences between committed and uncommitted leisure, the concept of commitment is potentially useful for descriptive and explanatory frameworks of leisure behavior.
Intergroup Marriage in Hawaii, 1969–1971 and 1979–1981
Authors: Schoen Robert , Thomas Barbara
Published: September 2012

For residents of Hawaii during the years 1969–1971 and 1979–1981, this article investigates marriage patterns by ethnicity and level of education, using measures that control for the composition of the population. The extent of marriage between members of different ethnic groups is substantial and increasing. Intergroup marriage is not concentrated among particular ethnic groups, nor is it a characteristic of persons with either high or low levels of education. Nevertheless, Hawaii is not a society that ignores ethnicity. There is an ethnic hierarchy, with Chinese, Japanese, and Whites the more favored groups and Hawaiians and Filipinos the less favored. In marriage behavior, that hierarchy is seen in the presence of apparent exchanges between education and ethnicity, as the extent to which women “marry up” with respect to education depends upon the ethnicities of the bride and groom.
“Effects of High School Delinquency on Educational Attainment and Adult Occupational Status”
Authors: Monk-Turner Elizabeth
Published: September 2012

High school delinquency negatively affects educational attainment. However, when controlling for years of schooling attained and other background variables, high school delinquency does not significantly shape adult occupational status. If high school delinquents are able to obtain as much schooling as others, their past delinquency does not exert a negative independent effect on occupational achievement.
“Class” in the Writings of Wallerstein and Thompson: Toward a Class Struggle Analysis
Authors: So Alvin Y. , Hikam Muhammad
Published: September 2012

This article attempts to make three contributions. First contrary to the literature's critique of Wallerstein's world-system perspective, this article points out that Wallerstein has formulated a sophisticated class analysis. Second, this article argues that Wallerstein's class analysis is actually similar to Thompson's writings on class. Third, after pointing out the problems of the historical approach to class, this article utilizes the insights of Wallerstein and Thompson to develop a new class struggle analysis.
Saving Water
Authors: Hamilton Lawrence C.
Published: September 2012

The causes of household water conservation are studied using combined survey and billing-record data on 431 households in a community that recently experienced a severe water shortage. The largest reductions in water use, in absolute terms, occurred in households that had been using the most water to begin with. Smaller users often made larger percentage reductions. The most effective conservation steps involved voluntary changes in private behavior. Such steps were more likely to arise from idealistic than from economic motives, and were more common in larger, better-educated households. Idealistic motives themselves were more common in younger, better-educated, and more affluent households. In contrast, economic motives were more common in poorer, less well-educated households. Although income and education are important variables in the model, their direct and indirect effects nearly cancel each other out, so they are not good predictors of conservation. These findings have both practical and theoretical implications.
Orientations and Membership
Authors: Doyle Daniel P.
Published: September 2012

Unionization and professionalization can be seen as alternative modes of group occupational mobility (Haug and Sussman, 1971). Each mode implies a distinct ideology. But empirical evidence from a case study of an occupation attempting professionalization shows that ideology is not correlated with actual membership. It is suggested that in a newly formed professional association, network ties are more important than ideology in determining who joins. Other correlates of union and professional orientations are examined. Commitment to the occupation is found to be important.
Multiple R, the “Parametric Strategy,” and Measurement Imprecision
Authors: Gephart Robert P.
Published: September 2012

This analysis examines the efficacy of using “the parametric strategy” when doing multiple regression analyses using multiple R and related statistics. The parametric strategy involves transforming ordinal scale data into interval scale measures by assigning rank ordered equal interval scale values to ordinal categories. Studies that have examined the adequacy of the parametric strategy in regression analyses have (1) examined only bivariate, and not multivariate, relations, (2) usually not adequately examined measurement imprecision effects due to ordered polytomies in the data and (3) used simulation data, not real data from substantive sociological contexts. In this study an experiment using real data is undertaken to assess measurement imprecision effects in multiple regressions; observed values of multivariate regression statistics are found to diverge substantially from true values where the parametric strategy is applied to data involving ordered polytomies. The implications of these findings are discussed.
Goffman in Feminist Perspective
Authors: West Candace
Published: September 2012

In this paper, my aim is to call attention to Erving Goffman's contributions to feminist theory. I begin by reviewing his sociological agenda and assessments of that agenda by his critics. Next, I consider various substantive contributions of his work to our understanding of women's experiences in public places, spoken interaction between women and men, and sex and gender. I conclude with a discussion of the significance of Goffman's work for analyzing the politics of and in the personal sphere.
Charles Renouvier and Éamile Durkheim: “Les Règles de La Méthode Sociologique”
Authors: Jones S.G. Stedman
Published: September 2012

This article concerns the relation between Durkheim's “rules” for sociological method and Charles Renouvier's Logique. It identifies each chapter of Durkheim's book as relying in a specific way on features of Renouvier's logical and scientific system. Certain of the puzzles of Durkheim's thought can be elucidated, if not fully explicated, by an analysis of Renouvier's Logique.
Simulation Modeling and Theoretical Analysis in Sociology
Authors: Hanneman Robert A.
Published: September 2012

The use of computer simulation experiments as a tool for working with theories is not as widespread in sociology as it is in most scientific disciplines. This brief article explains how modeling is a distinctive activity from either “theory” or “empirical analysis” but how it informs both and connects them. Simulation models are artificial objects created to translate theoretical generalizations into specific scenarios involving states (variables and/or actors) and rates (the dynamic causal laws hypothesized to generate change over time in the states). Simulation models are analyzed to understand the full range of implications of theoretical statements as they apply to producing historical realizations under particular circumstances. Simulation analysis operates by a method of experimentation, unlike mathematical modeling and statistical modeling. The strengths and limitations of these three approaches to studying models are discussed, and suggested to be complementary rather than competitive with each other. Last, this article briefly points out some of the unique features of the exemplars that compose the remainder of this special issue of Sociological Perspectives.
Social Movements and Institutional Selectivity
Authors: Wisler Dominique , Giugni Marco G.
Published: September 2012

Contrary to what is usually implied by work on the relationship between political opportunity structures and social movements, political institutions are not a general setting offering or denying formal access and political opportunities to every challenge, but rather favor certain types of movements and constrain others. This process of institutional selectivity depends on the relationship between the structure of a given political institution and the movement type and defines social movements as pro-institutional, counter-institutional, or neutral. Accordingly, variation in the movements' action repertoire and degree of success can be observed. Yet, political institutions leave the door open to different interpretations by social actors so that a framing struggle takes place; at stake is the fit between movement demands and the structure of political institutions. The argument is developed through the example of federalism and its impact on two types of movements—namely, regionalist and squatters' movements—and illustrated by discussing their fate in France, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Empirical data suggest that institutional selectivity is to be taken into account to reach a better understanding of the relationship between social movements and their political context.
Transitions to Democracy: Unpredictable Elite Negotiation or Predictable Failure to Achieve Class Compromise?
Authors: Neuhouser Kevin
Published: September 2012

Can democratic transitions be predicted? The elite-negotiation literature claims that the process is so complicated and contingent that the timing and process is unpredictable. The class-compromise framework, however, identifies structural conditions that make stabilization unlikely, specifying who will oppose the authoritarian regime and why. A “triggering” event—a collapse in export demand—also is identified that intensifies and extends opposition, making a transition likely within 1–3 years. To demonstrate the usefulness of the class-compromise framework, two very different authoritarian regimes are compared. In the Brazilian regime (1964–1985), the military ruled as an institution and pursued state-led development; the Chilean regime (1973–1989) was dominated by one general and was radically neo-liberal. Despite these differences, structural conditions pushed both regimes toward export-led growth and wage constraint, hurting workers and capitalists producing for the local market. When exports collapsed in the early 1980s, opposition spread and forced democratic transitions.
Virtue and the Altruistic Personality
Authors: Jeffries Vincent
Published: September 2012

This paper applies the concept of virtue to an analysis of theory and research pertaining to the altruistic personality. Five primary virtues are considered: temperance, fortitude, justice, charity, prudence. The virtues are presented as the personality structure underlying altruistic motivation and behavior. Available evidence indicating a possible relationship between each of the virtues and altruistic behavior is reviewed. Sorokin's scheme of five dimensions of love is used to analyze the relationship between each of the virtues and altruistic behavior in different social situations. The advantages of viewing the altruistic personality from the perspective of the virtues is discussed.
Chicanas in White-Collar Jobs: “You Have to Prove Yourself More”
Authors: Segura Denise A.
Published: September 2012

Using the theoretical perspective originally developed by West and Zimmerman (1987)—wherein gender is viewed as a dynamic, interactional accomplishment rather than a categorical status, this article explores how both gender and race-ethnicity are reinforced and affirmed among 152 selected Chicana white-collar workers in a major public university. Based on results from a 1989–1990 mail survey and in-depth interviews with 35 randomly-selected respondents, I find that the tasks performed in the workplace, sex-and-race/ethnic discrimination and harassment, and the female-associated tasks Chicanas continue to do at home, all intensify their accomplishment of gender as well as reinforce occupational segregation by gender and gender-race/ethnicity. Moreover, Chicanas' attachment to family is linked ideologically to the survival of the Chicano culture, rendering their accomplishment of gender an overt act of racial-ethnic and cultural politics. This particular finding may well be a neglected truth in many women's lives.
Democracy as an Antisystemic Movement in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China: A World Systems Analysis
Authors: So Alvin Y. , Hua Shiping
Published: September 2012

Drawing on Wallerstein's recent depiction of the character and trends in antisystemic movements in the world system, the present study examines the origins, goals, constituents and outcomes of recent democratic movements in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China. The analysis is congruent with Wallerstein's depiction of a lengthy historical sweep of social movements attempting to achieve central antisystemic goals, and with his supposition that the world system helps shape antisystemic movements. The analysis is less congruent with Wallerstein's depiction of the character of antisystemic movements in the Second and Third World. Generalizations regarding the causes of these movements, and their success or failure, are developed. Future work should attempt to integrate these generalizations into existing theories of social movements and democratization within a world systems context.
Export Promotion in the New Global Division of Labor: The Case of the South Korean Automobile Industry
Authors: Woo Myung-Oc
Published: September 2012

The comparative study of three South Korean automobile companies illuminates the growing dependence of new entrants on the integrated global market. The structural barriers of a tightly integrated global market redefine the strategic role of export promotion by late industrializers in the world economy dominated by transnational corporations (TNCs). New forms of export promotion which are negotiated with and internalized by specific firms entail considerable political and economic costs. The integrated global market requires development strategies reconceptualizing the advantages of trade, foreign investment, technology, and the global division of labor.
The Rise of Semiotic Marxism
Authors: Bergesen Albert
Published: September 2012

This paper identifies four distinct stages in the 20th century emergence of a new direction in Marxian theory. Called here “Semiotic Marxism,” its central assumption is a reversal of the classic base/superstructure logic of determinate relations between the economic base and the political and ideological superstructure. Each stage builds upon the theoretical reconstitutions of the previous stage. To illustrate this step-by-step transformation, the theoretical logic of a representative Marxist theorist is explicated. These four stages in the emergence of a Semiotic Marxism are: (1) the initial inversion of base/superstructure logic (Gramsci), (2) the expansion of the logic of the ideological downward to merge with the logic of the political (Althusser), (3) the further expansion downward of the logic of the now merged ideological/political sphere to absorb the logic of the economic sphere (Poulantzas), and finally, (4) the recasting of the once Marxian social formation comprised of social relations in production, into the new Semiotic Marxist “discursive formation” composed of linguistic relations between subject identities (Laclau and Mouffe).
Three Sociological Epistemologies
Authors: Fuchs Stephan
Published: September 2012

Three epistemologies—pragmatism, positivism, and hermeneutics—are sociologically explained as the ideologies of different groups doing various kinds of scientific work. These ideologies are shaped by the material conditions and social structures of scientific work in different areas of the sciences. Pragmatism is the ideology of research fronts that constantly produce change and innovation; positivism is the ideology of normal science with its routinized practices and high task certainty; hermeneutics is the philosophy of choice in loosely coupled textual fields with a high level of decentralization.
Gender Depictions of the Professionally Employed: A Content Analysis of Trade Publications, 1960–1990
Authors: Chafetz Janet Saltzman , Lorence Jon , Larosa Christine
Published: September 2012

Visual gender depictions in six trade publications are examined in decennial years from 1960 through 1990 to assess whether greater female participation in professional occupations and editorial staffs has helped reduce gender stereotyping of professional women. Greater relative numbers of women in the occupation over time and an increasing share of female editors result in more favorable portrayals of women as professional, confident, independent, and attractive. Although the positive portrayal of women by male-dominated professional journals increased over the last four decades, more male-oriented professional publications still display women less favorably than occurs in female-dominant trade journals. Separate analyses by visual type reveal that women are depicted in a less positive manner across advertisements than other visuals, probably because women have less control of ad content. Findings indicate the importance of agents who control visual depictions for the maintenance or reduction of gender stereotyping in the professions. Likely ramifications of such stereotypes for women professionals and for professional behavior in general are discussed.
Dependency, Techno-Economic Heritage, Disarticulation, and Social Development in Less Developed Nations
Authors: Breedlove William L. , Armer J. Michael
Published: September 2012

This analysis investigates the proposition that disarticulation explains the effects of dependency and techno-economic heritage on social development. The results show that disarticulation does not act as a major intervening or mediating structure between dependency and social development, nor does it account for the effects of techno-economic heritage on social development. Disarticulation is found to have a modest curvilinear effect on social development and may act as a contextual variable that enhances rather than mediates the effects of dependency on social development.
How Formal Status, Liking, and Ability Status Structure Interaction: Three Theoretical Principles and a Test
Authors: Shelly Robert K. , Webster Murray
Published: September 2012

We begin to develop a theory of how multiple social processes structure behavior in informal task groups. Our approach is to treat three bases of social structure—status characteristics, formal position, and sentiment—as state organizing processes, and develop theoretical principles about their combined effects. Literature review suggests three general principles: (1) under specified conditions, status, formal position, and sentiment all structure a group's power and prestige inequality; (2) congruence and incongruence (as defined) among structures will affect their strength as organizing principles; and (3) the number of organizing bases will affect efficiency of the structuring process. We state these principles as foundations for incorporation in formal theories. Finally, we analyze data from 70 three-person discussion groups as a first assessment of the principles' empirical adequacy, report conclusions, and suggest directions for further research.
Levels of Specificity within Theoretical Strategies
Authors: Zelditch Morris
Published: September 2012

Theoretical strategies are metatheoretical structures that guide construction of specific substantive theories. Postpositivism treats them as incorrigible and incommensurable, hence choice among them as irrational and change as discontinuous rather than “growth.” But strategies are not all of a piece. Some elements are more corrigible and commensurable than others. At the level of “working strategies,” which are more specific and concrete directives for constructing theories and doing research, it is possible to choose strategies and “grow” on rational grounds of reason and evidence.
American and European Social Theory: Cultural Identities and Social Forms of Theory Production
Authors: Münch Richard
Published: September 2012

This paper gives an account of the cultural background to, and the social forms of theory production that shape the characteristic quality of American and the three most influential European social theory traditions: British, French, and German. After an analysis of Americanization after World War II, the prospects for the revitalization of European social theory and its improved position in world sociology are discussed. In this process, the unique contributions to sociology of British, French, and German social theory are outlined.
Ethnomethodological Recovery of Durkheim
Authors: Hilbert Richard A.
Published: September 2012

When Parsons derived action theory from Durkheim's sociology, he also argued with Durkheim, disputed his claims, and expressly rejected some of his fundamental principles. Accordingly, American functionalism contained a hidden “negative image” of Durkheim. Parsons's student, Harold Garfinkel, addressed functionalism at its weak points, eventually overthrowing most of what Parsons had to say about society. Some of these weak points were predicated on Parsons's rejection of Durkheim, including explicit rejection of Durkheim's equivalences between society, morality, and objective reality. Garfinkel's ethnomethodology therefore rejected what had been premised on Parsons's rejection of Durkheim. In so doing, it reversed the negative image of Durkheim back to its positive classical form and empirically demonstrated some of Durkheim's most troubling principles. Since Garfinkel did not deliberately recover Durkheim in this manner, the dynamics of this case make it an interesting study of how theorists read other theorists.
1998 PSA Presidential Address: The Value of Sociology
Authors: Snow David A.
Published: September 2012

What is the value-added character of sociology? In an era of change and unease in higher education, can a case be made for sociology in terms of intellectual and scholarly substance rather than in terms of bureaucratic and political considerations? As a scholarly and instructional activity, what is the value of sociology beyond what other disciplines have to offer? I address these questions affirmatively in this paper by identifying and elaborating four distinctive foci of the sociological eye that together frame the window onto the world that sociology provides. These distinctive features are a focus on the relational connections among the constituent elements of the objects of sociological analysis; a focus on the socially contextual embeddedness of those objects of analysis; a focus on vexing social conditions and processes construed as social problems; and an ironic perspective, that is, a penchant for discerning and illuminating the incongruous, unexpected, discrepant aspects of social life. I argue that these foci are more pronounced in sociology than in other social sciences and that together they congeal into a window onto the social world that is unique among the social sciences and humanities, thus accounting for the value-added character of sociology.
Do Women Engage in Less Task Behavior Than Men?
Authors: Shelly Robert K. , Munroe Paul T.
Published: September 2012

The overwhelming evidence from data collected in mixed-gender groups is that men originate more behaviors related to solving the task confronting the group than do women. However, efforts to detect whether men and women interact differently in same-gender task groups have produced less consistent findings. Some studies report men originating more task behavior than women, but others report no such difference in task behaviors. We examine data from an experiment in which men and women participated in a decision-making task in two types of same gender groups. In type one, no initial differentiating structure was introduced into the group prior to interaction on the task. In type two, initial differentiating structures were introduced prior to the interaction on the task. We examine the effects that these differentiating structures have on the interaction patterns in these groups, as well as the effects that the gender of the subject has on these interaction processes. Experimental results show that in type one groups, similar power and prestige orders emerged in all-female and all-male groups and that there were no significant gender differences in the rates of task behaviors in these groups. In type two groups, initial differentiating structures organized power and prestige orders, and overall there were no significant differences in the rates of task behavior between all-female and all-male type two groups. Theoretical arguments from expectations states theory are presented to account for these findings.
Implications of Status Exchange in Intermarriage for Hawaiians and Their Sovereignty Movement
Authors: Fu Xuanning , Heaton Tim B.
Published: September 2012

Intermarriage, which is common in Hawai'i, has had a profound effect on Hawaiians. Ethnic Hawaiians have comparatively low socioeconomic status compared with other groups in Hawai'i, and status exchange in intergroup marriages often prompts high-status Hawaiians to marry out. This article examines marriage certificate data in the state of Hawai'i from 1983 to 1994 and focuses on status-based selective outmarriage of Hawaiians. Evidence suggests that Hawaiians with higher status are significantly more likely to marry into high-status groups while those who marry endogamously tend to have low status. Along with continued interethnic marriage, the process of status exchange is expected to have a negative impact on the social well-being of future generations of Hawaiians and on the Hawaiian sovereignty movement.
Democracy, Science, and Institutionalized Dissent: Toward a Social Justification for Academic Tenure
Authors: Sjoberg Gideon
Published: September 2012

Tenure seems to be essential for sustaining intellectual dissent—a foundationstone of both science and democracy. In order to grasp the significance of tenure and of academic freedom we need a fuller understanding of the sociological foundations of freedom. This freedom rests on the objective possibility of criticizing authority relations and of creating alternative courses of action. We also find that freedom and dissent are central for facing up to large and powerful organizations in modern society and for resolving social issues through scientific investigation.
Tenure Status and Grading Practices
Authors: Moore Melanie , Trahan Richard
Published: September 2012

This study examines the relationship between tenure sta- tus of college instructors and grading practices. Using an exchange per- spective, we test the hypothesis that lower status instructors with less secure positions are more likely to assign higher grades than higher status instructors with tenured positions. The sample consists of 417 introduc- tory level college courses taught by instructors of all ranks at a medium sized, state supported university. Overall, the grade point average for courses taught by lower status instructors is substantially higher than the grade point averagefor similar courses taught by higher status instructors. Gender does not accountfor thisfinding. The implications of thesefindings for tenure, university hiring practices, and grade inflation are discussed.