bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Seasonal habitat use and selection by grizzly bears in Northern British Columbia
Authors: Milakovic Brian , Parker Katherine L. , Gustine David D. , Lay Roberta J. , Walker Andrew B. D. , Gillingham Michael P.
Published: September 2011

We defined patterns of habitat use and selection by female grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) in the Besa‐Prophet watershed of northern British Columbia. We fitted 13 adult females with Geographic Positioning System (GPS) radio‐collars and monitored them between 2001 and 2004. We examined patterns of habitat selection by grizzly bears relative to topographical attributes and 3 potential surrogates of food availability: land‐cover class, vegetation biomass or quality (as measured by the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), and selection value for prey species themselves (moose [Alces alces], elk [Cervus elaphus], woodland caribou [Rangifer tarandus], Stone's sheep [Ovis dalli stonei]). Although vegetation biomass and quality, and selection values for prey were important in seasonal selection by some individual bears, land‐cover class, elevation, aspect, and vegetation diversity most influenced patterns of habitat selection across grizzly bears, which rely on availability of plant foods and encounters with ungulate prey. Grizzly bears as a group avoided conifer stands and areas of low vegetation diversity, and selected for burned land‐cover classes and high vegetation diversity across seasons. They also selected mid elevations from what was available within seasonal ranges. Quantifying relative use of different attributes helped place selection patterns within the context of the landscape. Grizzly bears used higher elevations (1,595 ± 31 m SE) in spring and lower elevations (1,436 ± 27 m) in fall; the range of average elevations used among individuals was highest (500 m) during the summer. During all seasons, grizzly bears most frequented aspects with high solar gain. Use was distributed across 10 land‐cover classes and depended on season. Management and conservation actions must maintain a diverse habitat matrix distributed across a large elevational gradient to ensure persistence of grizzly bears as levels of human access increase in the northern Rocky Mountains. © 2011 The Wildlife Society.
Simultaneous quantitation of testosterone and estradiol in human cell line (H295R) by liquid chromatography/positive atmospheric pressure photoionization tandem mass spectrometry
Authors: Zhang F. , Rick D. L. , Kan L. H. , Perala A. W. , Geter D. R. , Lebaron M. J. , Bartels M. J.
Published: September 2011

The possible interaction of environmental contaminants with the endocrine system has been an environmental concern since the early 1990s. To examine these interactions test guidelines have been introduced by regulatory agencies to screen for possible endocrine active compounds. One of these guidelines is the EPA's OPPTS 890.1550 [Steroidogenesis (Human Cell Line‐H295R)]. This guideline requires the quantification of two major biomarkers (testosterone and estradiol) in various biological test systems. Traditional quantitation methodologies such as Radioimmunoassay (RIA) and Enzyme‐linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) have been used to quantify low levels of steroids. However, those methodologies have drawbacks such as the radioactive safety, antibody availability, separate assay for each biomarker, and lack of selectivity. In the current study, a rapid and sensitive liquid chromatography/positive atmospheric pressure photoionization tandem mass spectrometry method (LC/APPI‐MS/MS) has been developed and validated for the simultaneous quantitation of testosterone and estradiol in the H295R cell line. Briefly, the media from cultured cells was extracted with dichloromethane (CH2Cl2) containing internal standards of both testosterone‐d3 and estradiol‐13C3; then, the extracted organic layer was concentrated down to dryness. The final residue was derivatized with dansyl chloride solution, and directly analyzed by LC/APPI‐MS/MS. The calibration curves, with concentration ranging from 10 to 2500 pg/mL, were linear with coefficient >0.99. The lower limits of quantitation for both testosterone and estradiol were 10 pg/mL. This method was successfully validated to support requirements of the current EPA Steroidogenesis guideline. This type of method may also provide value for rapid and precise measurements of these two hormones in other in vitro or in vivo test systems. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Efficient multiple‐collision trapdoor hash family
Authors: Aboud Sattar J. , Al Ajeeli Abid T.
Published: September 2011

In this paper, we suggest a multiple‐collision trapdoor hash family under both integer factoring and discrete logarithm problems, and we present their security proofs. In multiple‐collision trapdoor hash family, exposing multiple collisions of similar hash functions will not disclose the private key of trapdoor hash value. In the proposed multiple‐collision trapdoor hash family, a pair of secret keys is employed for generating digital signature. Under the suggested trapdoor hash family, we present competitive online and off‐line signature schemes that can considerably enhance the efficiency of online and off‐line signature schemes. Moreover, in the proposed signature scheme, a trapdoor hash function can be employed for signing multiple documents. When a signer embraces this approach in the public‐key digital certificate, there is no need to include an ordinary digital signature scheme to sign the hash function in the off‐line part. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Analysis of the Inter- and Intra-Observer Agreement in Radiographic Evaluation of Wrist Fractures Using the Multimedia Messaging Service
Authors: Ferrero Andrea , Garavaglia Guido , Gehri Roland , Maenza Ferruccio , Petri Gianfranco John , Fusetti Cesare
Published: September 2011

Background

Orthopaedic surgeons are often asked to evaluate X-rays of patients admitted to the Accident and Emergency Department with the suspicion of a wrist fracture or, in the case of an evident fracture, to decide the correct treatment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of a correct interpretation of the images of injured wrists on the screen of a last generation mobile phone, in order to evaluate if the specialist could make the right diagnosis and choose the correct treatment.

Methods

Five orthopaedic and one hand surgeons have evaluate the X-rays of 67 patients who sustained an injury to their wrist. In the case of fracture, they were asked to classify it according to the AO and Mayo classification systems. The evaluation of the images was accomplished through the PACS and using a mobile phone, at a different time. In order to check the inter- and intra-observer reliability, the same pattern was followed after a few months.

Results

The mobile phone showed basically the same agreement between the observers highlighting the worsening of the inter- and intra-observer reliability with the increment of the variables considered by a classification system.

Conclusions

The present paper confirms that a last generation mobile phone can already be used in the clinical practise of orthopaedic surgeons on call who could use it as a useful device in remote or poorly served areas for a rapid and economic consultation

Level of Evidence

The level of evidence of this case is economic and decision analysis, level 2
Cognitive and Affective Trust between Australian Exporters and Their Overseas Buyers
Authors: Zur Andrew , Leckie Civilai , Webster Cynthia M.
Published: September 2011

This study examines the impact of trust on relational exchanges between buyers and sellers in an international context. Trust is considered as two separate dimensions: cognitive trust and affective trust. Data from Australian exporters are tested with regards to their overseas buyers. The empirical results show that cognitive trust and affective trust are distinct dimensions. Shared goals is a common antecedent to both dimensions of trust. Perceived cultural distance and reputation are the unique antecedents to cognitive trust while total interdependence is the unique antecedent to affective trust. The results indicate that international relational outcomes benefit from the presence of both cognitive and affective trust. In other words, when exporters exhibit both dimensions of trust, they are more willing to be flexible and report higher levels of satisfaction with export performance.
Frontal instabilities and waves in a differentially rotating fluid
Authors: Flór J.-B. , Scolan H. , Gula J.
Published: September 2011

We present an experimental investigation of the stability of a baroclinic front in a rotating two-layer salt-stratified fluid. A front is generated by the spin-up of a differentially rotating lid at the fluid surface. In the parameter space set by rotational Froude number, $F$, dissipation number, $d$ (i.e. the ratio between disk rotation time and Ekman spin-down time) and flow Rossby number, a new instability is observed that occurs for Burger numbers larger than the critical Burger number for baroclinic instability. This instability has a much smaller wavelength than the baroclinic instability, and saturates at a relatively small amplitude. The experimental results for the instability regime and the phase speed show overall a reasonable agreement with the numerical results of Gula, Zeitlin & Plougonven (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 638, 2009, pp. 27–47), suggesting that this instability is the Rossby–Kelvin instability that is due to the resonance between Rossby and Kelvin waves. Comparison with the results of Williams, Haines & Read (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 528, 2005, pp. 1–22) and Hart (Geophys. Fluid Dyn., vol. 3, 1972, pp. 181–209) for immiscible fluid layers in a small experimental configuration shows continuity in stability regimes in $(F, d)$ space, but the baroclinic instability occurs at a higher Burger number than predicted according to linear theory. Small-scale perturbations are observed in almost all regimes, either locally or globally. Their non-zero phase speed with respect to the mean flow, cusped-shaped appearance in the density field and the high values of the Richardson number for the observed wavelengths suggest that these perturbations are in many cases due to Hölmböe instability.
How States Ration Flexibility: Tariffs, Remedies, and Exchange Rates as Policy Substitutes
Authors: Pelc Krzysztof J.
Published: September 2011

A close look at the commitments of World Trade Organization (WTO) members presents a striking paradox. Most states could raise their duties significantly before falling afoul of their WTO obligations. Moreover, such “binding overhang” varies between countries: some could more than double the amount of trade protection they offer overnight, whereas others are tightly constrained. What accounts for this variation? The author argues that more flexibility is not always better: obtaining it and subsequently using it are both costly. Rather than maximize flexibility, states thus seek an optimal amount. If they have access to policy space through other means, such as currency devaluations and trade remedies, they will exercise restraint in seeking binding overhang. The same supply-side logic holds at the domestic level: governments strategically withhold binding overhang from industries that are able to rely on trade remedies, despite the fact that these tend to have the greatest political clout.
Channeling the “Restless Spirit of Innovation”: Elite Concessions and Institutional Change in the British Reform Act of 1832
Authors: Morrison Bruce
Published: September 2011

The long-standing understanding of the British 1832 Reform Act as an elite response to a revolutionary threat has been given renewed prominence in recent work on the political economy of democratization. But earlier episodes of popular revolt in Britain led to elite unity rather than elite concessions. This article argues that the absence of effective elite closure against parliamentary reform in the early 1830s was the result of an extended process of state reform that had the effect of gradually reducing the capacity of the monarchy. This deprived the crown of patronage required for the construction of an antireform coalition, while also mollifying the reformers' fears that mass mobilization would invite repression and with it the recalibration of the constitution in favor of the monarchy. Therefore, while pressure from below was indeed critical to the passage of parliamentary reform, its contribution was mediated by institutional changes that, over time, weakened the sources of resistance to change and rendered reformist elites more amenable to the necessary reliance on the threat of force. This case study thus establishes that change at critical junctures can be subject to the influence of incremental institutional change occurring in relatively settled periods.
Digital Divide and Social Cleavage: Case Studies of ICT Usage among Peasants in Contemporary China
Authors: Guo Yuhua , Chen Peng
Published: September 2011

During its structural transformation, rural China witnessed the emergence of four types of village: traditional, industrialized, commercial and villages in cities. Information Communication Technologies (ICTs), including fixed phones, cell phones, television sets and the internet (with personal computers), are now commonly used in Chinese villages but in ways that differentiate villagers according to variables such as occupation, villager membership and social status. The adoption of ICTs by peasants not only represents but also accelerates growing peasant differentiation; in other words, the function of ICTs could not penetrate the barrier of social structure. Meanwhile, structural transformation in China has been an activator to shaping peasants' diversified ideas about information, and the demand for and usage of ICTs. An analysis of peasants' ICT adoption thus enables us to identify the basic trends and characteristics of social transformation in contemporary China.
The Ugly Truth: Negative Aesthetics and Environment
Authors: Brady Emily
Published: September 2011

In autumn 2009, BBC television ran a natural history series, ‘Last Chance to See’, with Stephen Fry and wildlife writer and photographer, Mark Carwardine, searching out endangered species. In one episode they retraced the steps Carwardine had taken in the 1980s with Douglas Adams, when they visited Madagascar in search of the aye-aye, a nocturnal lemur. Fry and Carwardine visited an aye-aye in captivity, and upon first setting eyes on the creature they found it rather ugly. After spending an hour or so in its company, Fry said he was completely ‘under its spell’. A subsequent encounter with an aye-aye in the wild supported Fry's judgment of ugliness and fascination for the creature: ‘The aye-aye is beguiling, certainly bizarre, for some even a little revolting. And I say, long may it continue being so.’
Moral Foundations for Global Environmental and Climate Justice
Authors: Okereke Chukwumerije
Published: September 2011

Aspirations for global justice have, in the last two decades, found their most radical expressions in the context of global environmental governance and climate change. From Rio de Janeiro through Kyoto to Copenhagen, demands for international distributional justice, and especially North–South equity, have become a prominent aspect of international environmental negotiation. However, claims for international environmental and climate justice have generally been deployed in the form of instinctive gut reaction than as a closely argued concept. In this paper, I outline the ways in which issues of international justice intertwine with notions of global environmental sustainability and the basic premises on which claims for North–South equity are entrenched.
Aesthetic Appreciation of Nature and Environmentalism
Authors: Carlson Allen
Published: September 2011

There can be no doubt that aesthetic appreciation of nature has frequently been a major factor in how we regard and treat the natural environment. In his historical study of American environmental attitudes, environmental philosopher Eugene Hargrove documents the ways in which aesthetic value was extremely influential concerning the preservation of some of North America's most magnificent natural environments. Other environmental philosophers agree. J. Baird Callicott claims that historically ‘aesthetic evaluation… has made a terrific difference to American conservation policy and management’, pointing out that one of ‘the main reasons that we have set aside certain natural areas as national, state, and county parks is because they are considered beautiful’, and arguing that many ‘more of our conservation and management decisions have been motivated by aesthetic rather than ethical values’. Likewise environmental philosopher Ned Hettinger concludes his investigation of the significance of aesthetic appreciation for the ‘protection of the environment’ by affirming that ‘environmental ethics would benefit from taking environmental aesthetics more seriously’. Callicott sums up the situation as follows: ‘What kinds of country we consider to be exceptionally beautiful makes a huge difference when we come to decide which places to save, which to restore or enhance, and which to allocate to other uses’ concluding that ‘a sound natural aesthetics is crucial to sound conservation policy and land management’.
Climate Change and Causal Inefficacy: Why Go Green When It Makes No Difference?
Authors: Garvey James
Published: September 2011

Think of some environmentally unfriendly choices – taking the car instead of public transport or driving an SUV, just binning something recyclable, using lots of plastic bags, buying an enormous television, washing clothes in hot water, replacing something when you could make do with last year's model, heating rooms you don't use or leaving the heating high when you could put on another layer of clothing, flying for holidays, wasting food and water, eating a lot of beef, installing a patio heater, maybe even, as some have said lately, owning a dog. Think about your own choices, instances in which you take an action which enlarges your carbon footprint when you might have done otherwise without much trouble. Is there consolation in the thought that it makes no difference what you do?
Mg2+ as an indicator of nutritional status in marine bacteria
Authors: Heldal Mikal , Norland Svein , Erichsen Egil Severin , Sandaa Ruth-Anne , Larsen Aud , Thingstad Frede , Bratbak Gunnar
Published: September 2011

Cells maintain an osmotic pressure essential for growth and division, using organic compatible solutes and inorganic ions. Mg2+, which is the most abundant divalent cation in living cells, has not been considered an osmotically important solute. Here we show that under carbon limitation or dormancy native marine bacterial communities have a high cellular concentration of Mg2+ (370–940 mm) and a low cellular concentration of Na+ (50–170 mm). With input of organic carbon, the average cellular concentration of Mg2+ decreased 6–12-fold, whereas that of Na+ increased ca 3–4-fold. The concentration of chlorine, which was in the range of 330–1200 mm, and was the only inorganic counterion of quantitative significance, balanced and followed changes in the concentration of Mg2++Na+. In an osmotically stable environment, like seawater, any major shift in bacterial osmolyte composition should be related to shifts in growth conditions, and replacing organic compatible solutes with inorganic solutes is presumably a favorable strategy when growing in carbon-limited condition. A high concentration of Mg2+ in cells may also serve to protect and stabilize macromolecules during periods of non-growth and dormancy. Our results suggest that Mg2+ has a major role as osmolyte in marine bacteria, and that the [Mg2+]/[Na+] ratio is related to its physiological condition and nutritional status. Bacterial degradation is a main sink for dissolved organic carbon in the ocean, and understanding the mechanisms limiting bacterial activity is therefore essential for understanding the oceanic C-cycle. The [Mg2+]/[Na+]-ratio in cells may provide a physiological proxy for the transitions between C-limited and mineral nutrient-limited bacterial growth in the ocean's surface layer.
Determinants of the enzymatic activity and the subcellular localization of aspartate N-acetyltransferase
Authors: Tahay Gaëlle , Wiame Elsa , Tyteca Donatienne , Courtoy Pierre J. , Van Schaftingen Emile
Published: September 2011

Aspartate N-acetyltransferase (NAT8L, N-acetyltransferase 8-like), the enzyme that synthesizes N-acetylaspartate, is membrane-bound and is at least partially associated with the ER (endoplasmic reticulum). The aim of the present study was to determine which regions of the protein are important for its catalytic activity and its subcellular localization. Transfection of truncated forms of NAT8L into HEK (human embryonic kidney)-293T cells indicated that the 68 N-terminal residues (regions 1 and 2) have no importance for the catalytic activity and the subcellular localization of this enzyme, which was exclusively associated with the ER. Mutation of conserved residues that precede (Arg81 and Glu101, in region 3) or follow (Asp168 and Arg220, in region 5) the putative membrane region (region 4) markedly affected the kinetic properties, suggesting that regions 3 and 5 form the catalytic domain and that the membrane region has a loop structure. Evidence is provided for the membrane region comprising α-helices and the catalytic site being cytosolic. Transfection of chimaeric proteins in which GFP (green fluorescent protein) was fused to different regions of NAT8L indicated that the membrane region (region 4) is necessary and sufficient to target NAT8L to the ER. Thus NAT8L is targeted to the ER membrane by a hydrophobic loop that connects two regions of the catalytic domain.
Cytoskeletal rearrangements in human red blood cells induced by snake venoms: light microscopy of shapes and NMR studies of membrane function
Authors: Yau Tsz Wai , Kuchel Rhiannon P. , Koh Jennifer M. S. , Szekely David , Mirtschin Peter J. , Kuchel Philip W.
Published: September 2011

RBCs (red blood cells) circulating through narrow blood capillaries withstand major deformation. The mechanical and chemical stresses commonly exerted on RBCs continue to attract interest for the study of membrane structure and function. Snake venoms are lethal biochemical ‘cocktails’ that often contain haemotoxins, metalloproteinases, myotoxins, neurotoxins, phosphodiesterases, phospholipases and proteases. We have monitored the effects of 4 snake venoms (Pseudechis guttatus, Oxyuranus scutellatus, Notechis scutatus and Naja kaouthia) on human RBCs using NMR spectroscopy, DIC (differential interference contrast) and confocal light microscopy. RBCs underwent reproducible stomatocytosis, with unusual geographical‐like indentations, spherocytosis, followed by rapid lysis. Confocal micrographs using a fluorescent dye linked to phalloidin showed that the change in morphology was associated with the aggregation of actin in the cytoskeleton. 31P NMR saturation transfer experiments recorded transport of the univalent anion HPA (hypophosphite) on a subsecond time scale, thereby reporting on the function of capnophorin or Band 3 linked to the cytoskeleton; anion‐exchange activity was substantially reduced by venom treatment. We propose a molecular‐cytological hypothesis for the shape and functional changes that is different from, or supplementary to, the more ‘traditional’ bilayer‐couple hypothesis more often used to account for similar morphological changes invoked by other reagents.
Perceived Size and Perceived Direction: The Interplay of the Two Descriptors of Visual Space
Authors: Šikl Radovan , Šimeček Michal
Published: September 2011

The stimulus in the outdoor psychophysical experiment was formed by two rods placed on the ground plane over a range of possible distances and orientations. Observers estimated its size and direction by positioning the third rod in the neighbouring space to form an evenly spaced collinear triple of rods. The data revealed interesting similarities between the profiles of the deviations in both judgments: for size judgments, the variability of the responses was least when the targets were at a frontal orientation and gradually increased as the orientation approached the medial plane. For direction judgments, on the other hand, the variability of the responses was least when the stimuli were aligned with the observer's line of sight and gradually increased as the orientation approached the frontoparallel plane. The finding of inverse relationship between the precision of size and direction judgments is interpreted as a consequence of the unequal precision in localisation between the frontal and in-depth dimensions of visual space. The question of the best parameterisation of the observers' responses is discussed.
Binocular Disparity Magnitude Affects Perceived Depth Magnitude despite Inversion of Depth Order
Authors: Matthews Harold , Hill Harold , Palmisano Stephen
Published: September 2011

The hollow-face illusion involves a misperception of depth order: our perception follows our top–down knowledge that faces are convex, even though bottom–up depth information reflects the actual concave surface structure. While pictorial cues can be ambiguous, stereopsis should unambiguously indicate the actual depth order. We used computer-generated stereo images to investigate how, if at all, the sign and magnitude of binocular disparities affect the perceived depth of the illusory convex face. In experiment 1 participants adjusted the disparity of a convex comparison face until it matched a reference face. The reference face was either convex or hollow and had binocular disparities consistent with an average face or had disparities exaggerated, consistent with a face stretched in depth. We observed that apparent depth increased with disparity magnitude, even when the hollow faces were seen as convex (ie when perceived depth order was inconsistent with disparity sign). As expected, concave faces appeared flatter than convex faces, suggesting that disparity sign also affects perceived depth. In experiment 2, participants were presented with pairs of real and illusory convex faces. In each case, their task was to judge which of the two stimuli appeared to have the greater depth. Hollow faces with exaggerated disparities were again perceived as deeper.
Discrepant Integration Times for Upright and Inverted Faces
Authors: Arnold Derek H , Lipp Ottmar V
Published: September 2011

Judgments of upright faces tend to be more rapid than judgments of inverted faces. This is consistent with encoding at different rates via discrepant mechanisms, or via a common mechanism that is more sensitive to upright input. However, to the best of our knowledge no previous study of facial coding speed has tried to equate sensitivity across the characteristics under investigation (eg emotional expression, facial gender, or facial orientation). Consequently we cannot tell whether different decision speeds result from mechanisms that accrue information at different rates, or because facial images can differ in the amount of information they make available. To address this, we examined temporal integration times, the times across which information is accrued toward a perceptual decision. We examined facial gender and emotional expressions. We first identified image pairs that could be differentiated on 80% of trials with protracted presentations (1 s). We then presented these images at a range of brief durations to determine how rapidly performance plateaued, which is indicative of integration time. For upright faces gender was associated with a protracted integration relative to expression judgments. This difference was eliminated by inversion, with both gender and expression judgments associated with a common, rapid, integration time. Overall, our data suggest that upright facial gender and expression are encoded via distinct processes and that inversion does not just result in impaired sensitivity. Rather, inversion caused gender judgments, which had been associated with a protracted integration, to become associated with a more rapid process.
Judging Political Affiliation from Faces of UK MPs
Authors: Roberts Tom , Griffin Harry , McOwan Peter W , Johnston Alan
Published: September 2011

Subjects were shown photographs of UK MPs' faces and asked to judge their political affiliations. Participants were unable to correctly distinguish between Conservative and Labour politicians. However, their responses were used to create computer-generated idealised faces representative of each party, which independent evaluators could correctly identify. These faces give an indication of the mental images we might reference when imagining MPs from the two main UK political parties.
Breed differences in fetal and placental development and feto-maternal amino acid status following nutrient restriction during early and mid pregnancy in Scottish Blackface and Suffolk sheep
Authors: Ashworth C. J. , Dwyer C. M. , McIlvaney K. , Werkman M. , Rooke J. A.
Published: September 2011

This study assessed the effect of feeding 0.75 energy requirements between Days 1 and 90 of pregnancy on placental development and feto-placental amino acid status on Day 125 of pregnancy in Scottish Blackface and Suffolk ewes carrying a single fetus. Such moderate nutrient restriction did not affect placental size, placentome number or the distribution of placentome types. Although fetal weight was unaffected by maternal nutrition, fetuses carried by nutrient restricted mothers had relatively lighter brains and gastrocnemius muscles. Suffolk fetuses were heavier and longer with a greater abdominal circumference, relatively lighter brains, hearts and kidneys, but heavier spleens, livers and gastrocnemius muscles than Blackface fetuses. Total placentome weight was greater in Suffolk than Blackface ewes. Ewe breed had a greater effect on amino acid concentrations than nutrition. Ratios of maternal to fetal amino acid concentrations were greater in Suffolk ewes than Blackface ewes, particularly for some essential amino acids. The heavier liver and muscles in Suffolk fetuses may suggest increased amino acid transport across the Suffolk placenta in the absence of breed differences in gross placental efficiency. These data provide evidence of differences in nutrient handling and partitioning between the maternal body and the fetus in the two breeds studied.
Pari Khan Khanum: A Masterful Safavid Princess
Authors: Gholsorkhi Shohreh
Published: September 2011

The Royal Harem is Perhaps One of the Most Misunderstood Institutions of the Perso-Islamic social order. The myths surrounding the harem originated primarily in the West, fomented to a great extent by European travelers over a period of several centuries. As is well known, the Islamic empires, at their zenith (beginning around A.D. 1500), attracted numerous European merchants and traders, as well as assorted adventurers, emissaries, and missionaries. Many of them took up residence in these countries, some for a short time, some for many years. They toured cities, saw the countryside and became acquainted with the local people. In several instances, some made their way into the royal courts. Many of these travelers kept extensive notes about their journeys and left careful sketches of the various aspects of the society with which they came in contact. Often, upon their return home, many made their narratives available at court and sometimes to the public.
Women's Employment Issues in Contemporary Iran: Problems and Prospects in the 1990s
Authors: Moghadam Valentine M.
Published: September 2011

Patterns of Women's Employment in Iran have been Influenced BY the oil-based nature of the economy; by the policy of import-substitution industrialization which has favored capital-intensive, male-intensive industries; by cultural attitudes and gender bias which render many occupations inappropriate or off-limits to women; by women's low level of literacy, educational attainment, and skills relative to men; and by high rates of fertility. These factors have affected, and indeed limited, the supply of and demand for female labor, especially in the 1980s.

The results of the 1986 census, which came to light in 1988, seem to have prompted a number of significant policy shifts on the part of the government of President Rafsanjani and sparked debates, studies, and research projects concerning population issues, women's economic and social roles, and development strategies.
Discussion
Authors: Juviler Peter
Published: September 2011

First of all, is it true that the issue Professor Salitan talked about—that of indigenous rights of self-determination versus individual rights (sometimes called indigenous versus human rights, but I think this is a mistake in terminology)—is being exploited by centrists against the movements for independence?
Are Republics Becoming Ethnically Homogeneous?
Authors: Lewis Robert
Published: September 2011

One of the major problems facing independence movements in the USSR is that significant and increasing numbers of people reside outside their national homelands and, therefore, are considered aliens in the national homelands of others. The ancestral homeland is intimately enmeshed with nationalism, and the deep emotional attachment to and the sense of exclusive ownership of the sacred soil of the homeland should not be underestimated. Most ethnic conflict involves alien in-migration or disputes over the control of the homeland. Significant numbers of nonindigenous groups within the national homelands undermine the nation's exclusive claim to the homeland, dilute the national homogeneity of the homeland, and increase interethnic interaction within the homeland. Thus, throughout the world, nations strive to maximize national homogeneity within their homelands, and migration that results in alien incursions into the national homeland is viewed with alarm and frequently results in violence. In the Baltic republics, for example, alien in-migration is of intense public and political concern and is frequently cited as a major justification for political independence. Differential natural increase among the nationalities in a homeland is also a vital concern when it significantly affects the ethnic composition of a homeland. Assimilation through intermarriage is another development frequently viewed as a threat to national homogeneity, although in the Soviet Union offspring of intermarriage in national homeland most often identify with the indigenous nationality.
The Emergence of Civil Society
Authors: Sadomskaya Natalia
Published: September 2011

Now Iam not concerned with definitions. Instead I would like to discuss very briefly the appearance of three organizations in Central Asia that are independent of the state. Everyone knows about the popular fronts in the Baltics; everyone has heard presentations about Ukraine, Belorussia, and Moldavia. I decided, therefore, to take the “hopeless” people, about whom one Soviet diplomat said two years ago: “They are not ready yet for democracy because they have jumped from the feudal system to the socialist system, avoiding your wonderful capitalistic stage when you created democratic institutions.” I want to demonstrate that democratic institutions were indeed created independently from the state in these Central Asian republics.
Gypsy Policy in Socialist Hungary and Czechoslovakia, 1945–1989
Authors: McCagg William O.
Published: September 2011

In discussion of ethnic minorities in Eastern Europe, one hears regularly of appalling official misbehavior—not just about attempted genocide (though that too), but also about bureaucratic cruelties inflicted in every field of human activity and at every level of control. Nonetheless, it is always useful to have a measurable basis for assessing unfairness; and historians have the special task of inquiring rationally why and how unfairness came about. Hence the following paper, which attempts not just to condemn, but to explain and evaluate the Hungarian and Czechoslovak official treatment of the Gypsies in recent decades. As is fairly well known, this treatment has included not only harassment of populations which presently exceed 600,000 people in each country, but also (in both countries) systematic abduction of children by the state from unwilling Gypsy parents, and (in Czechoslovakia) equally systematic sterilization of Gypsy women.

Since the point of the paper is to reach beyond mere indictment, I will use a comparative method. Specifically, in recounting each stage of the development of policy towards the Gypsies I will compare what was being done to two other groups: the Jews, on the one hand, and the physically disabled on the other.
The RomaniPořajmos:The Nazi Genocide of Europe's Gypsies
Authors: Huttenbach Henry R.
Published: September 2011

The Nazi assault on Gypsies as an undesirable group was launched in the first months of the Third Reich. By the end of 1933, the outlines of a policy of total removal and, if possible, extinction were in place. Over the course of the first year of Hitler's rule, Gypsies had been numbered among those destined for mass sterilization. The goal of preventing their propagation had been pronounced on July 14 when the new cabinet issued a statement (with the force of law) proclaiming the concept ofLebensunwertesleben—life unworthy of living—a category of person that, at the time, specifically and indiscriminately included and embraced all Gypsies. Shortly thereafter, exploratory contacts were made with the League of Nations to assess the practicability of allocating one or two Polynesian islands to which the Gypsies could be deported. By September 1933, the Ministry of Interior announced a more realizable preliminary plan to arrest persons with no fixed and permanent addresses (i.e. primarily Gypsies) and to incarcerate them in special detention camps as a means of removing them from the mainstream of society. There the Gypsies would be rendered preemptively criminally harmless, (since they were described as a potential detriment to the general German population), and biologically “futureless”(zukunftloss)by way of mass sterilization.

In retrospect, the central ingredients for a formula of genocide, for the complete extermination of the Gypsies, were all in place: an ideology which deprived them of the basic right to life; a process of law by edict, which subjected them to totalitarian rule; a hypothetical plan to deport them abroad, and a more concrete one to isolate them from the citizenry, by segregating them in prison-like compounds, deprived of all civil rights; and a technology of physical mutilation that would deny them progeny and a link with a biological future, by literally destroying the unconceived next generation. Thus, a skeletal blueprint for the genocide of Gypsies by the racial architects of the Nazi regime had been drawn up by the end of 1933 well before the first Gypsies in Germany were rounded up in January 1934.
Political Parties: Identity and Identification
Authors: Rosimannus Rain
Published: September 2011

In Estonia, parties have, within a short period of time and with little trouble, assumed a dominating position in the political process.
Foreign Policy
Authors: Vares Peeter , Zurjari Olga
Published: September 2011

First Visions

During the Soviet period Estonia, like the other national republics of the USSR, lacked a foreign policy of her own. While foreign ministries did exist, they had just a symbolic function: staffed by only five or six people, they were allowed minimal cultural and trade contacts with the Western countries and limited inter-communist party ties within the Soviet bloc. They had to report to the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs on every move they made and served, first and foremost, as cover organizations for the KGB. Designing more substantive foreign policies in the Baltic Republics actually began before they gained independence in 1991. In 1989–1990, the emerging political parties voiced their first visions of the future of the Baltic States, which, generally speaking, boiled down to becoming sovereign democratic states, striving for friendly relations with all countries of the world. By that time, under the pressures of perestroika and glasnost, the Soviet authorities had been compelled to loosen their grip on the foreign contacts of the union republics. Those contacts, however, could not be called yet a foreign policy. They could, rather, be identified as isolated moves in the arena of international politics.
Fighting for the Mini-State: Four Scenarios
Authors: Park Andrus
Published: September 2011

Historically there was a long-standing competition to control Estonian territory, primarily between Russia, Germany, Poland, Sweden, and Denmark, until 1710 when this area was conquered and ruled for two centuries by Imperial Russia. In the twentieth century, the only rival to Russia's (USSR's) domination over Estonia has been Germany. A Norwegian security analyst, Olav Knudsen, says correctly that the Baltic states “fall outside all other geographical and political contexts than the Russian and to some extent the German one.” As is known, Estonia was occupied by Germany in the course of the World Wars in 1918 and 1941–44. Generally speaking, the pre-1991 history of Estonia is a good case to prove that the survival of small states as independent powers is precarious, “depending on a multitude of factors over which they have little influence.”
Culture and the Development of Civil Society
Authors: Aarelaid-Tart Aili , Tart Indrek
Published: September 2011

Every nation has its own history and its own way to create civic culture. The problem of civil society in Estonia is rather specific being first and foremost related to the nation's cultural development and only then with its political development. The restoration of civil society in Estonia from 1987 to 1988 is based on our own historical experience of civil initiative rather than the example of the other post-Communist countries of Eastern Europe.
Estonian Social Democratic Party on Some of the Most Important Problems Facing Estonia
Authors: Laanoja Ülo
Published: September 2011

The most important issue in today's Estonia is undoubtedly everyday security in the streets and at home. As there has been an explosive growth in crime and particularly serious crime, the police often lack the resources (both time and people) to tackle petty crime which affects the man on the street most directly. Most of the serious crimes are connected with the settling of accounts among criminal gangs which can affect ordinary citizens too, since they are often accidentally caught up in such conflicts. Organized crime is directed at making new successful businessmen pay “taxes,” which in future can slow down economic activity, although this is not happening yet. Currently, part of the “successful” criminal structures try to secure positions in legal economic structures (by money laundering), and there are clear indications that at least some of them have succeeded. The main roots of organized crime are in the former Soviet Union, and insufficient border control contributes to its penetration into Estonia. The criminal gangs of the former Soviet Union are not just a problem for Estonia or the Baltics but also for the police in Central and Western Europe. Besides, the spread of organized crime may rest on structures created on the instructions and financing of the KGB, and that in certain situations these structures may serve political orders.
Orthographic Analogies and Reading Development
Authors: Goswami Usha
Published: September 2011

Given the interest in the use of orthographic analogies in skilled reading, the role of analogies in reading development has received surprisingly little attention. The experiments presented here examine three important developmental issues: whether beginning readers can make orthographic analogies, how the consistency of spelling–sound relations affects this ability, and whether orthographic analogies are used in reading prose. It is concluded that orthographic analogies have an important role to play in reading development, and some suggestions are offered as to why this may be so.
Semantic Priming of Familiar Faces
Authors: Bruce Vicki , Valentine Tim
Published: September 2011

A series of experiments to explore the effect of priming by semantically related items in familiarity judgement tasks using faces and names that are analogous to lexical decision tasks is reported. In the first experiment, the semantic priming effect in face recognition reported by Bruce (1983) was explored in more detail by including neutral as well as associated and unrelated primes and by varying the prime-target SOA from 250 to 1,000 msec. Significant facilitation effects, with no inhibition, were found at all three SOAs. To explore the analogy between the processing of faces and verbal materials, a second experiment used names rather than faces. The difference between related and unrelated conditions at 250- and 1,000-msec SOA was similar to that found for faces in Experiment 1, but for names there was some evidence of inhibition. To investigate the locus of the priming effect with faces, in Experiment 3 the effect of degrading face targets was examined. An interaction between stimulus quality and semantic priming was observed, suggesting that the locus of the facilitation might lie at a relatively early stage in face processing. The results of these experiments illustrate further similarities between the processing of faces and verbal materials (cf. Bruce 1979, 1981).
The Effects of Amount of Processing on Recall and Recognition
Authors: Hanley J. Richard , Morris Peter
Published: September 2011

Johnson-Laird, Gibbs and de Mowbray (1978) and Ross (1981) have argued that amount of processing, as indexed by the overall number of decisions a subject makes, provides a good predictor of incidental memory performance. Conversely, McClelland, Rawles and Sinclair (1981) have provided evidence that it is normally the number of positive decisions rather than the overall number of decisions per se that determines level of recall. The present study replicated and extended the findings of McClelland and his colleagues. In free recall (Experiment 1 and 3), cued recall (Experiment 3) and recognition in the presence or absence of context cues (Experiments 2 and 3), an account based on number of positive decisions provided by far the better explanation. Experiment 3 also revealed that the experimental manipulations had a somewhat greater effect on recall than recognition. This is explained in terms of Tulving and Pearlstone's (1966) distinction between availability and accessibility. It is suggested that words associated with negative decisions are not only less accessible in memory, there are also fewer of them available for recall and recognition.
Phonology, Lexical Access in Reading, and Articulatory Suppression: A Critical Review
Authors: Besner Derek
Published: September 2011

Considerable confusion exists in the literature on visual word recognition and reading with respect to the effects of articulatory suppression upon phonological recoding. The authors of a large number of journal articles, chapters, cognitive psychology textbooks, and books devoted to reading processes have concluded that suppression interferes with phonological receding of print and have used this supposed fact as a basis for determining when phonology is involved in various reading tasks. Others have concluded that suppression need not interfere with phonological recoding (e.g. Besner, Davies and Daniels, 1981; Besner and Davelaar, 1982). The present review concludes that a phonological code can be derived from printed English and used for lexical access without interference from suppression. However, operations performed upon a phonological code—e.g. post-assembly phonemic segmentation and deletion, maintenance in working memory—are disrupted by suppression. A review of the literature supports this distinction; some implications of these views are noted.