bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
“How Shall I Say it … ?” Relating the Nonrelational
Authors: Harrison Paul
Published: February 2007

As the ideas of the relational and relationality become part of the everyday conceptual make-up of human geography, in this paper I seek to recall the insistent and incessant importance of the nonrelational. In dialogue with nonrepresentational theory, as well as its critics, I suggest that any thought or theory of relationality must have as its acknowledged occasion the incessant proximity of the nonrelational. The occasion for this discussion is a consideration of the relationship between suffering, pain, or passion and the thematising actions of representation, communication, narrativisation, and theorisation. Such affections, it is claimed, present social science with a particular problem, a problem which revolves around an irreducible nonthematisability within these dimensions of corporeal existence. Drawing on the writings of Butler, Derrida, and Levinas I offer an account of how this problem or impasse allows for a rethinking of the ethical within social analysis and of the nature of representation, corporeality, and intersubjectivity.
Immigrant Grocery-Shopping Behavior: Ethnic Identity versus Accessibility
Authors: Wang Lu , Lo Lucia
Published: February 2007

This paper contributes to the ongoing debate in the ‘new’ economic geography over the dialectic between the cultural and the economic, and in which the study of the geography of consumption is a prime example. The consumer behavior of culturally distinct immigrants is an intriguing and complex economic and cultural inquiry. In this paper we explore the grocery-shopping behavior of suburban middle-class Chinese immigrants in Toronto, where the group's ethnic economy has become full-fledged. Using a mixed approach combining focus groups and logistic modeling, we examine the preferences of Chinese immigrants between the fast-growing Chinese supermarkets and competing mainstream supermarket chains. Attention is focused upon the interplay of ethnic identity and accessibility in determining store patronage. The findings suggest a stronger effect of ethnic affinity on immigrants' choice of shopping venue than that of economic rationality. Grocery shopping, a most mundane and taken-for-granted activity, is practiced with sociocultural meanings by immigrants, and the social use of ethnic shopping spaces indicates that immigrants are not only consumers in ethnic shopping places but coactors in producing the unique ethnic retail environment.
Kitsch Geographies and the Everyday Spaces of Social Memory
Authors: Atkinson David
Published: February 2007

Given recent developments in retheorising the spatialities of memory, in this study I move beyond established foci upon monuments and fixed sites of memory to consider some of the more ordinary places where memory erupts. In contrast to the high-profile, waterfront regeneration projects that often draw academic attention, I focus upon one of the more routine docklands that are less regularly analysed—namely ‘Victoria Dock Village’ in Hull. I discuss the ways a maritime-heritage aesthetic was employed by the developers to brand and market this site. Thereafter, I discuss how residents negotiated these aesthetics and a sense of local heritage through two planning debates. To do this I adapt recent reconceptualisations of kitsch in critical and material culture studies. These reconceptualisations take a category that academics have dismissed traditionally as vulgar, banal, ‘low’ culture, and suggest that the repetitive familiarity, reassuring predictability, and nostalgic sentimentality of kitsch prove comforting in an increasingly uncertain, disembedded world. I explore the degree to which residents engage with these kitsch landscapes, and whether they feel more rooted as a consequence. I also suggest that a greater emphasis upon everyday understandings of more ordinary places may contribute to wider analyses of how place identities are constructed and continually remade by the quotidian practices and negotiation of social memory.
Fade to Grey: Some Reflections on Policy and Mundanity
Authors: Bell David
Published: February 2007

In this paper I draw on my experience, in the context of the UK higher education sector, of trying to be ‘useful’. Specifically, I discuss cultural policy work, and contextualize this through debates in both cultural studies and geography concerning relevance and engagement beyond the academy. In a confessional tone, I argue that the translations that occur in the policy environment can result also in ‘mundanization’, in the emptying out of applied research as it is repurposed to suit the pressing needs of a public sector, fast-policy audit culture.
Shrubland fire regime scenarios in the Swartberg Mountain Range, South Africa: implications for fire management
Authors: Seydack A. H. W. , Bekker S. J. , Marshall A. H.
Published: February 2007

Over the last seven decades, the Mediterranean-type shrublands of the Swartberg Mountain Range (170 856 ha), South Africa, have been subject to divergent fire management policies. Management objectives sequentially focused on grazing, fire control, water and biodiversity conservation during successive fire management periods. The aim of the present study was to explore the factors that determined the prevailing fire regime patterns during these fire management periods. This was considered particularly relevant in view of the ongoing debate on the relative role of fuel characteristics versus weather and ignition rates in shaping fire regime patterns. The extent of burning followed climatic cycles of alternating periods of relatively high temperatures and summer rainfall with cooler periods and increased winter rainfall. Accordingly, fires occurred more extensively during the former and were largely unaffected by the absence or presence of fire control measures. Fire return intervals were strongly inversely related to productivity of the vegetation. Long-term means between 30 and 55 years were found to apply in low-altitude xeric shrubland types. Corresponding fire return intervals were generally shorter in mesic shrublands at mid to high altitudes (15–30 years). Proteoid shrublands younger than 6 years were practically non-flammable. Two basic fire regime scenarios were identified. Fire regime patterns in xeric shrublands at lower altitudes were largely controlled by the rate of fuel accumulation, whereas climatically controlled ignition frequencies and fire climate constituted the dominant controls in proteoid shrublands at mid to high altitudes. The spatiotemporal distribution of fire regime parameters (fire frequencies, season, size and intensity) as recorded in the present study for the Swartberg Mountain Range under natural fire zone management (predominance of lightning fires since 1980), appeared to be conducive to the maintenance of biodiversity according to our current understanding of the fire–vegetation system.
Pre-wildfire fuel treatments affect long-term ponderosa pine forest dynamics
Authors: Strom Barbara A. , Fulé Peter Z.
Published: February 2007

The 2002 Rodeo–Chediski fire, the largest wildfire in south-western USA history, burned over treated stands and adjacent untreated stands in the Apache–Sitgreaves National Forest, setting the stage for a natural experiment testing the effectiveness of fuel reduction treatments under conditions of extraordinary fire severity. In seven pairs of treated–untreated study sites measured 2 years after the fire, thinning was strongly associated with reduced burn severity. Treated areas had more live trees, greater survival, and reduced fire intensity as indicated by crown base height and bole char. Ponderosa pine regeneration was patchy but more dense in treated areas. We assessed decade- to century-long effects of the pre-wildfire fuel treatments using the Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS). Differences between treated and untreated areas were projected to persist for several decades after the fire in terms of stand structure characteristics and for at least 100 years in terms of species composition, with ponderosa pine making up ~60% of basal area in treated areas but only 35% in untreated areas. Future ecosystem development may take the trajectory of recovery to a ponderosa pine/Gambel oak forest or of a shift to an alternative stable state such as an oak-dominated shrubfield, with untreated areas more apt to undergo a shift to a shrubfield state. Current management decisions about fuel treatments have multi-century legacies.
Impact of prescribed fire and other factors on cheatgrass persistence in a Sierra Nevada ponderosa pine forest
Authors: Keeley Jon E. , McGinnis Thomas W.
Published: February 2007

Following the reintroduction of fire Bromus tectorum has invaded the low elevation ponderosa pine forests in parts of Kings Canyon National Park, California. We used prescribed burns, other field manipulations, germination studies, and structural equation modelling, to investigate how fire and other factors affect the persistence of cheatgrass in these forests. Our studies show that altering burning season to coincide with seed maturation is not likely to control cheatgrass because sparse fuel loads generate low fire intensity. Increasing time between prescribed fires may inhibit cheatgrass by increasing surface fuels (both herbaceous and litter), which directly inhibit cheatgrass establishment, and by creating higher intensity fires capable of killing a much greater fraction of the seed bank. Using structural equation modelling, postfire cheatgrass dominance was shown to be most strongly controlled by the prefire cheatgrass seedbank; other factors include soil moisture, fire intensity, soil N, and duration of direct sunlight. Current fire management goals in western conifer forests are focused on restoring historical fire regimes; however, these frequent fire regimes may enhance alien plant invasion in some forest types. Where feasible, fire managers should consider the option of an appropriate compromise between reducing serious fire hazards and exacerbating alien plant invasions.
Cerebral: a Cytoscape plugin for layout of and interaction with biological networks using subcellular localization annotation
Authors: Barsky Aaron , Gardy Jennifer L. , Hancock Robert E. W. , Munzner Tamara
Published: February 2007

Summary: Cerebral (Cell Region-Based Rendering And Layout) is an open-source Java plugin for the Cytoscape biomolecular interaction viewer. Given an interaction network and subcellular localization annotation, Cerebral automatically generates a view of the network in the style of traditional pathway diagrams, providing an intuitive interface for the exploration of a biological pathway or system. The molecules are separated into layers according to their subcellular localization. Potential products or outcomes of the pathway can be shown at the bottom of the view, clustered according to any molecular attribute data—protein function—for example. Cerebral scales well to networks containing thousands of nodes.

Availability:  http://www.pathogenomics.ca/cerebral

Contact:  tmm@cs.ubc.ca

Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
The food and feeding relationships of larval and 0+ year juvenile fishes in lowland rivers and connected waterbodies. I. Ontogenetic shifts and interspecific diet similarity
Authors: Nunn A. D. , Harvey J. P. , Cowx I. G.
Published: February 2007

Many fish species are zooplanktivorous at the onset of exogenous feeding, but distinct shifts in their foraging biology may occur with development. This study investigated the food and feeding relationships of the larvae and 0+ year juveniles of 13 fish species in ‘main river’, ‘marina’ and ‘pond’ macrohabitats in the lower River Trent, England. Young larvae had narrow diet spectra, with feeding diversity and the importance of species‐specific traits increasing with development. Two main ontogenetic shifts in diet were differentiated, corresponding with the transition from finfold to finformed larvae, and from the larval to the juvenile period. Dietary overlap was generally greatest among ecologically similar species, with competition and resource partitioning most likely where prey availability was lowest. The greater availability of zooplankton in connected waterbodies compared with main river channels provides suitable prey for a wide range of fish species, and may enhance recruitment success.
Effects of habitat complexity and predator exclusion on the abundance of juvenile red snapper
Authors: Piko A. A. , Szedlmayer S. T.
Published: February 2007

Predator exclusion and habitat complexity factors that may affect juvenile red snapper Lutjanus campechanus habitat selection were examined in field and laboratory experiments. A significant predator exclusion effect was detected. Uncaged shell habitats showed significantly lower numbers of age 0 year red snapper, and both uncaged shell and block‐shell habitats showed significantly lower numbers of age 1 year red snapper compared with caged habitats (P < 0·001). Habitat complexity also affected age 0 year red snapper, as mean abundance significantly decreased with decreased habitat complexity (P < 0·001). In the laboratory, age 0 year red snapper association with complex habitats significantly increased with exposure to a predator Gulf flounder Paralichthys albigutta (P < 0·001). This study showed that predator exclusion and habitat complexity were significant factors that affected the abundance of juvenile red snapper in nursery areas of the northern Gulf of Mexico. Predation may affect juvenile red snapper abundance directly through mortality and indirectly by influencing habitat selection.
Temporal variability in marine feeding of sympatric Arctic charr and sea trout
Authors: Rikardsen A. H. , Dempson J. B. , Amundsen P.‐A. , Bjørn P. A. , Finstad B. , Jensen A. J.
Published: February 2007

The marine feeding pattern of anadromous brown trout (sea trout)Salmo truttaand Arctic charrSalvelinus alpinuswas studied during June to August in 1992–1993 and 2000–2004 in a fjord in northern Norway. In general sea trout fed proportionally more on fishes than on crustaceans and insects (81, 1 and 18% by mass, respectively) by comparison with Arctic charr (52, 25 and 22% by mass, respectively). HerringClupea harengusdominated the total fish diet of both species, but the Arctic charr also fed significantly on gadoids and sandlanceAmmodytesspp. While sea trout became virtually all piscivorous at fork lengths (LF) ≥250 mm, the Arctic charr was ≥400 mmLFbefore shifting totally to a fish diet. Despite annual variation in diet and forage ratios, there was a clear shift in diet from 1992–1993 to 2000–2004. Sandlance and different crustaceans constituted most of the diet during the initial period with a shift towards gadoids and especially herring during the latter period. This shift seemed to be associated with a high abundance of herring larvae during the latter sampling period, indicating a preferential selection on herring when present, particularly by sea trout. Furthermore, an index indicated dietary overlap in years with intensive feeding on herring of both species, and usually differences in the trophic ecology during years feeding mostly on other prey species. In combination, it was hypothesized that the two species reflect the type of marine prey present within a fjord system over time, and therefore provide an index of variation in the production and biological diversity of their potential prey within fjords.
Nucleolar variation in response to nutritional condition in juvenile pejerrey Odontesthes bonariensis (Valenciennes)
Authors: Carriquiriborde P. , De Luca J. C. , Dulout F. N. , Ronco A. E.
Published: February 2007

The variations of the nucleolar characteristics size and number were studied in the gill and liver of Odontesthes bonariensis under different feeding regimes in order to test the hypothesis that functional genomes at the nucleolus, which determine variation of size (heterogeneity) in juvenile fishes, are modulated by environmental factors such as food availability. The programme that controls genetic changes of the nucleolar characteristics of the diploid cells of O. bonariensis was different from that described in the diploid cells of cyprinid fishes. No variations of the mean nucleolar number per nucleus were observed in liver or gill cells in relation to the feeding regime. Conversely, significant reduction of the mean nucleolar volume per nucleus (VMN) and change in the shape of the frequency distribution of the total nucleolar volume per cell was evident in both cell types in response to starvation or food restriction. Tissue specificity was observed in relation to the absolute values of the nucleolar characteristics; however, the relative behaviour was comparable in digestive and non‐digestive tissues. The time‐course reduction of VMN in gill and liver cells of restrictively fed fish followed a negative exponential. A good correlation between VMN and the condition index of the fish (K) was observed after long‐term food restriction; however, a faster response of VMN was observed after short‐term fasting events. Results supported the stated hypothesis and showed nucleolar activity as a direct, rapid and sensitive indicator of the nutritional status of the fish.
The half‐life of the T‐cell receptor/peptide–major histocompatibility complex interaction can modulate T‐cell activation in response to bacterial challenge
Authors: Carreño Leandro J. , Bueno Susan M. , Bull Paulina , Nathenson Stanley G. , Kalergis Alexis M.
Published: February 2007

T‐cell activation results from engagement of the T‐cell receptor (TCR) by cognate peptide–major histocompatibility complex (pMHC) complexes on the surface of antigen‐presenting cells (APC). Previous studies have provided evidence supporting the notion that the half‐life of the TCR/pMHC interaction and the density of pMHC on the APC are two parameters that can influence T‐cell activation. However, whether the half‐life of the TCR/pMHC interaction can modulate T‐cell activation in response to a pathogen challenge remains unknown. To approach this question, we generated strains of bacteria expressing variants of the ovalbumin (OVA) antigen, carrying point mutations in the SIINFEKL sequence. When bound to H‐2Kb, this peptide is the cognate ligand for the OT‐I TCR. Variants of the H‐2Kb/SIINFEKL bind to the OT‐I TCR with distinct half‐lives. Here we show that dendritic cells (DCs) infected with bacteria expressing OVA variants were incapable of activating OT‐I T cells when the half‐life of the TCR/H‐2Kb/OVA interaction was excessively short. Consistent with these data, T‐cell activation was only observed in mice infected with bacteria expressing OVA variants that bound to OT‐I with a half‐life above a certain threshold. Considered together, our data suggest that the half‐life of TCR/pMHC interaction can significantly modulate T‐cell activation in vivo, as well as influence recognition of antigens expressed by bacteria. These observations underscore the importance of the TCR/pMHC half‐life on the clearance of pathogens.
Guided‐wave and ellipsometric imaging of supported cells
Authors: BIVOLARSKA M. , VELINOV T. , STOITSOVA S.
Published: February 2007

In this study, results are reported from guided‐wave microscopy and imaging ellipsometry near the angle of resonant excitation of an optical guided mode in planar wave guides with metal and dielectric layers. The main goal was to test their ability to detect micro‐organisms (Escherichia coli) attached to a support. For this purpose, images from the two techniques were compared with an optical image and good agreement was found. The reasons for the differences between the pictures obtained with wave‐guide microscopy and imaging ellipsometry were investigated and it was found that both the reduced plasmon propagation length and the use of additional polarizing elements contributed to the improved quality of the latter.
Electron backscatter diffraction on pearlite structures in steel
Authors: WALENTEK A. , SEEFELDT M. , VERLINDEN B. , AERNOUDT E. , VAN HOUTTE P.
Published: February 2007

Electron backscatter diffraction measurements were performed on a set of pearlitic steel samples after different heat treatments. The strengths and limitations of the technique with respect to the pearlite issue are presented. Interpretation of the obtained results confirmed that more than one pearlite colony may exist inside one ferrite nodule of nearly the same crystallographic orientation. It was also found that, in most cases, a misorientation of the order of several degrees exists between pearlite colonies within one ferrite nodule. Moreover, the ferrite matrix exhibits changes of crystallographic orientation inside colonies often accompanied by a network of low angle boundaries. The mean size of the ferrite nodule in the matrix was determined by means of electron backscatter diffraction. However, determination of the mean pearlite colony size was difficult and often impossible by means of both metallographic methods and electron backscatter diffraction measurements.
Gonadotrophin‐Releasing Hormone (GnRH) Release In Marmosets II: Pulsatile Release of GnRH and Pituitary Gonadotrophin in Adult Females
Authors: Tannenbaum P. L. , Schultz‐Darken N. J. , Woller M. J. , Abbott D. H.
Published: February 2007

Unlike other mammals, including rodents, Old World primates and humans, common marmosets and probably all other New World primates synthesise and release chorionic gonadotrophin (CG), and not luteinising hormone (LH) from pituitary gonadotrophs. However, little is known about the physiological dynamics of gonadotrophin‐releasing hormone (GnRH)‐regulated CG release from gonadotrophs and whether such CG release has pulsatile release characteristics similar to those of LH in other mammalian species. Consequently, we performed a series of in vivo and in vitro studies in ovariectomised laboratory rats and female marmosets to compare GnRH‐induced pituitary LH and CG release characteristics, respectively. Exogenous GnRH stimulated a slower onset of release of marmoset pituitary CG, both in vivo and in vitro, and induced an approximately 400% greater increase in the duration of marmoset pituitary CG release compared to that for rat LH. Not surprisingly, hypothalamic pulsatile release of GnRH in vivo was not obviously concordant with endogenous episodic changes in circulating levels of CG in marmosets, in contrast to the clear concordance observed between in vivo GnRH and LH release previously demonstrated in rats and other mammals. Pituitary CG release in marmosets thus demonstrates considerable divergence from the timely hypothalamic GnRH‐regulated LH release in other female mammals, implying potentially different physiological dynamics in gonadotrophin regulation of marmoset ovarian function.
Exposure to Oestrogen Prenatally Does Not Interfere with the Normal Female‐Typical Development of Odour Preferences
Authors: Bakker J. , De Mees C. , Szpirer J. , Szpirer C. , Balthazart J.
Published: February 2007

The neural mechanisms controlling mate recognition and heterosexual partner preference are sexually differentiated by perinatal actions of sex steroid hormones. We previously showed that the most important action of oestrogen during prenatal development is to defeminise and, to some extent, masculinise brain and behaviour in mice. Female mice deficient in alpha‐foetoprotein (AFP) due to a targeted mutation in the Afp gene (AFP‐KO) do not show any female sexual behaviour when paired with an active male because they lack the protective action of AFP against maternal oestrogens. In the present study, we investigated whether odour preferences, another sexually differentiated trait in mice, are also defeminised and/or masculinised in AFP‐KO females due to their prenatal exposure to oestrogens. AFP‐KO females of two background strains (CD1 and C57Bl/6j) preferred to investigate male over female odours when given the choice between these two odour stimuli in a Y‐maze, and thus remained very female‐like in this regard. Thus, the absence of lordosis behaviour in these females cannot be explained by a reduced motivation of AFP‐KO females to investigate male‐derived odours. Furthermore, the presence of a strong male‐directed odour preference in AFP‐KO females suggests a postnatal contribution of oestrogens to the development of preferences to investigate opposite‐sex odours.
Molecular characterization of NBS‐LRR‐RGAs in the rose genome
Authors: Hattendorf Anja , Debener Thomas
Published: February 2007

To isolate resistance gene analogues (RGAs) from roses we used various degenerate oligonucleotide primers targeting conserved motifs within the NBS region of nucleotide binding site (NBS)‐leucine‐rich repeat (LRR) resistance genes. A large RGA sublibrary consisting of 7000 clones was constructed. This sublibrary contains at least 40 unique RGA families of the TIR (toll‐/interleukin‐1 receptor) and the LZ (leucine zipper) type, which were further analysed. Phylogenetic studies revealed close relationships of some rose RGAs to R genes and RGAs from other plants and gave rise to the assumption that rose R genes evolved from different starting points, prior to and subsequent to speciation. Southern blot analyses showed that the RGAs were organized as single, low and multicopy loci in the rose genome. None of the analysed sequences detected any hybridization signal in Prunus cérasus indicating that the analysed RGAs are not conserved across genera. The efficiency and selectivity of the different degenerate primers used for the RGA isolation is discussed in detail.
Activated protein C (Xigris®) treatment in sepsis: a drug in trouble
Authors: Gårdlund B.
Published: February 2007

Drotrecogin alfa (activated) or recombinant human activated protein C (rhAPC) has been registered for use as adjuvant treatment in severe sepsis since 2001 under the trade name Xigris® essentially based on the results from one large clinical trial (the PROWESS trial). In a recently published second randomized clinical trial (the ADDRESS trial), enrolling patients with severe sepsis but with less risk of death, no effect of the treatment was shown, not even a trend to a positive effect in the subgroup of patients with a high risk of death that would match the present prescription label for Xigris®. In addition, a large randomized, placebo‐controlled trial with rhAPC in paediatric sepsis has recently been terminated prematurely because of lack of efficacy. Altogether, the robustness of the data supporting the use of rhAPC in treating patients with severe sepsis may indeed be questioned. A confirmatory clinical trial is required before rhAPC can be used with confidence. The side‐effects and the cost of rhAPC are well documented but its efficacy is not.
Capnography rapidly confirmed correct endotracheal tube placement during resuscitation of extremely low birthweight babies (< 1000 g)
Authors: Salthe J. , Kristiansen S. M. , Sollid S. , ØGlænd B. , Søreide E.
Published: February 2007

During neonatal resuscitation, the routine use of capnography to verify correct placement of the endotracheal tube is not an established international practice. We present four cases that illustrate the successful use of immediate capnography to verify correct tracheal tube placement even in extremely low birthweight (ELBW) prematures (< 1000 g) during resuscitation. Based on this limited experience, we reached institutional consensus among paediatricians and anaesthesiologists that capnography should become standard monitoring during all endotracheal intubations in premature babies.
Return hospital visits and morbidity within 60 days after day surgery: a retrospective study of 18,736 day surgical procedures
Authors: Engbæk J. , Bartholdy J. , Hjortsø N.‐C
Published: February 2007

Background:  As day surgery includes more extensive procedures focus should be put on late outcome. The frequency of day surgery‐related return visits and the associated morbidity were examined to identify suitable indicators of quality.

Methods:  From two centres, 16,048 patients underwent 18,736 day surgery operations including 4,829 surgical abortions. Patients were retrospectively analysed for contacts to Danish hospitals within 60 post‐operative days and the associated morbidity and mortality. Data were obtained from the Danish National Patient Registry and the National Causes of Death Registry. Patient records were studied to validate contacts as being definite, likely, possible or not related.

Results:  Altogether 113 patients (not including the surgical abortions) were readmitted to hospitals with 117 complications definitely or likely related to day surgery. The most common complications were haematomas or haemorrhage (0.40%) and infections (0.29%). Morbidity after the two most common procedures, hernia repair and knee arthroscopy, was observed in 1 : 39 patients and 1 : 220 patients, respectively. More serious complications included four patients with septic arthritis of the knee and six patients with venous thromboembolism. After surgical abortion, pelvic inflammation and bleeding were observed in 3.1% and 2.2%, respectively, with centre differences. Altogether no myocardial infarctions, central nervous system deficits, pneumonias or deaths were recorded that could definitely or likely be related to day surgery.

Conclusion:  Day surgery in Denmark is a safe practice. Readmission rates, haematomas and wound infections are likely future indicators of outcome quality after day surgery.
Serum osmolality and outcome in intensive care unit patients
Authors: Holtfreter B. , Bandt C. , Kuhn S.‐O. , Grunwald U. , Lehmann C. , Schütt C. , Gründling M.
Published: February 2007

Background:  The aim of the present study was to compare 16 routine clinical and laboratory parameters, acute physiologic and chronic health evaluation (APACHE) and sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score for their value in predicting mortality during hospital stay in patients admitted to a general intensive care unit (ICU).

Methods:  A retrospective observational clinical study was carried out in a 15‐bed ICU in a university hospital. Nine hundred and thirty‐three consecutive patients with ICU stay > 24 h (36.2% surgical, 29.1% medical and 34.7% trauma) were observed. Blood sampling, patient surveillance and data collection were performed. The primary outcome was mortality in the hospital. We used receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses and logistic regression to compare the 16 relevant parameters, APACHE II and SOFA scores.

Results:  Two hundred and thirty‐three out of the 933 patients died (mortality 25.0%). One laboratory parameter, serum osmolality [area under the curve (AUC) 0.732] had a predictive value for mortality which lay between that of APACHE II (AUC 0.784) and SOFA (AUC 0.720) scores. When outcome prediction was restricted to long‐term patients (ICU stay > 5 days), serum osmolality (AUC 0.711) performed better than either of the standard scores (APACHE AUC 0.655, SOFA AUC 0.636). Using logistic regression analysis, the association of clinical parameters, age and diagnosis group with mortality was determined.

Conclusion:  Elevated serum osmolality at ICU admission is associated with an increased mortality risk in critically ill patients. Serum osmolality is cheaper and more rapid to determine than the scoring systems. However, further studies are needed to evaluate the predictive value of serum osmolality in different patient populations.
Lack of analgesic effect of parecoxib following laparoscopic cholecystectomy
Authors: Puolakka P. A. E. , Puura A. I. E. , Pirhonen R. A. , Ranta A. U. , Autio V. , Lindgren L. , Rorarius M. G. F.
Published: February 2007

Background:  The cyclo‐oxygenase‐2 inhibitor, parecoxib, can be administered parenterally. The recommended dose for post‐operative use is 40 mg twice daily, which may not be the appropriate dose for the treatment of visceral pain. We studied the effect of a single dose of parecoxib of either 40 or 80 mg in laparoscopic cholecystectomy, and its effect on opioid‐induced side‐effects.

Methods:  Seventy‐three patients scheduled for elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy were enrolled in this prospective, randomized, double‐blind study. Patients were randomized into three groups: a placebo‐treated control group, a 40‐mg parecoxib‐treated group (P40) and an 80‐mg parecoxib‐treated group (P80). We recorded the cumulative fentanyl consumption during the first 20 h post‐operatively by patient‐controlled analgesia equipment, the pain scores during rest, coughing and mobilization (visual analogue scale, 0–10), the worst pain during the first 2 h post‐operatively and in the following 18 h, and the side‐effects by questionnaire.

Results:  No significant differences in fentanyl consumption between the three groups could be detected. The worst pain experienced between 2 and 20 h post‐operatively on the ward was significantly lower in the P80 group than in the control group.

Conclusion:  The recommended dose of parecoxib, 40 mg, is not effective for the treatment of pain during the early post‐operative period after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Doubling the dose to 80 mg seems to improve the results.
The Effect of Hemosporidian Infections on White‐Crowned Sparrow Singing Behavior
Authors: Gilman Sarah , Blumstein Daniel T. , Foufopoulos Johannes
Published: February 2007

Relatively little is known about the effects of specific parasites on sexually selected behavioral traits. We subjected free‐living mountain white‐crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys oriantha) to a playback experiment to identify the effect of hemosporidian parasites on potentially sexually selected song characteristics. We recorded song after a playback of a novel white‐crowned sparrow song, meant to simulate a territorial intrusion. Infections withLeucocytozoonorPlasmodiuminfluenced singing behavior, while infection withHaemoproteushad no detectable effect. Specifically, song consistency, as measured using a spectrogram correlation, was influenced by bothPlasmodiumandLeucocytozooninfection. Additionally, birds infected withPlasmodiumsang fewer songs following experimental playback. Thus, relatively widespread parasites, likePlasmodium, may have a strong effect on potentially sexually selected song characteristics.
Benefits, Costs and Constraints of Anti‐Parasitic Grooming in Adult and Juvenile Rodents
Authors: Hawlena Hadas , Bashary Dikla , Abramsky Zvika , Krasnov Boris R.
Published: February 2007

Grooming behaviour plays various roles in the health care, reproduction, and social life of an individual vertebrate. However, the reasons for the variability in time spent grooming amongst species, populations and individuals are not fully understood. We tested the hypothesis that the main role of grooming is ectoparasite removal and thus that time spent grooming by an animal reflects the costs of parasite infestation offset against the costs of grooming. The test was conducted on a rodent,Meriones crassus, that is parasitised by a flea,Xenopsylla conformis. We monitored behaviour of juvenile and adult rodents before and after flea infestation and quantified the probability of mortality of fleas with respect to the time spent grooming in adults compared with juvenile rodents. We predicted that: (1) increased costs of flea infestation (e.g. in parasitised as opposed to flea‐free rodents and in juveniles as opposed to adults) increases time spent grooming and (2) mortality probability per flea increases with increasing time spent grooming and is higher for fleas on juveniles than for fleas on adult rodents. We were interested to discover at the expense of which activity grooming is increased. Our findings established that the major role of grooming is in flea removal, as exposure to fleas evoked grooming activity in all rodents and grooming activity explained 57–70% of the variation in flea mortality. Furthermore, we showed that the rise in grooming activity was at the expense of resting. However, we found only partial support for the predicted increase in grooming time with increasing costs of flea infestation. Flea infestation did indeed increase the time spent grooming by rodents. Nevertheless, juvenile rodents who incur higher costs of flea infestation spent less time grooming than adults and sustained similar flea densities, suggesting that these hosts are constrained by some other factors, such as feeding time.
Possible Food Economies: a Methodological Framework for Exploring Food Production–Consumption Relationships
Authors: Holloway Lewis , Kneafsey Moya , Venn Laura , Cox Rosie , Dowler Elizabeth , Tuomainen Helena
Published: February 2007

Modes of food production–consumption defined as ‘alternative’ have received considerable academic attention, with studies exploring both their potential for contributing to rural development strategies and the opportunities they provide for countering established power relations in food supply systems. However, the use of the term ‘alternative’ as part of a persistent dualism in which it is opposed to the ‘conventional’ is problematic as it loses sight of the specificity of different examples food production–consumption. Based on extensive field research with a series of very different food projects, this article develops a methodological framework which structures a description of how specific examples of food production–consumption are organised with reference to a series of analytical fields. This framework retains a sense of the diversity and particularity of particular cases of production–consumption, and directs attention to the particular locations of resistance to prevalent power relations in food systems that are made possible through different food projects.
Grammaticalisation due to homonymy avoidance In Gudbrandsdalen /æpr˛ede/?1
Authors: Enger Hans‐Olav
Published: February 2007

This paper is devoted to the historical origin of the definiteness suffix ‐deon a class of neuter nouns in the Northern Gudbrandsdalen dialect of Norwegian. Homonymy avoidance, which has previously been invoked, is argued to be irrelevant. Rather, the suffix has arisen through reanalysis in combination with analogy; it appears to be an example of whatHaspelmath (1995)has termed ‘secretion’. The case is theoretically interesting, both because it indicates that analogy can work from the minority on the majority and because it shows that analogy in one place in a system can lead to complications elsewhere.
Intelligibility studies: a consideration of empirical and ideological issues
Authors: RAJADURAI JOANNE
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACT:  This paper critically examines key issues underpinning past research on the intelligibility of L2 speech. While acknowledging the substantial contribution made by intelligibility studies to our understanding of L2 speech and how it is received and perceived, a close reading of the research in this area gives rise to grave misgivings. In particular, there has been a tendency to treat intelligibility with no serious consideration of the context of interaction and the real participants involved. Furthermore, this field of investigation appears to be largely grounded in unequal native/non‐native hierarchies, manifested in misconceptions and myths about native and non‐native speakers and their speech. With an emphasis on issues of pronunciation, and a focus on the varieties and speakers of the Outer Circle, this paper questions and challenges some of the dominant trends in this field, and concludes by suggesting new ways of defining and investigating intelligibility.
In Loving Memory of Mary Belshaw, May McRidge, and the Nyungar People of the Badjaling Mission, 1930–1954
Authors: LONGWORTH ALISON
Published: February 2007

Using examples from his family and religious history, Patrick O’Farrell analysed the transition from Irish emigrant to assimilated colonial in what was perceived as vacant land. Like O’Farrell, this article will also use family history to address the issues of memory, religion, and assimilation. The Irish weaver Mary Belshaw (1879–1960) came to Australia in 1913 and was instrumental in the emigration of her family to Australia during the 1920s. She worked as a Protestant missionary among Aboriginal Australians from 1915, until her retirement in 1953. Although the grave she shares with her co‐worker May McRidge (1882–1943) bears the words “Ever remembered by what she has done,” her story was largely forgotten by her family. In 1986, the Nyungar people erected a memorial stone to Belshaw and McRidge and the thirty‐nine Nyungar families who lived at the Badjaling Mission in Western Australia from 1930 to 1954. This article will address the wider issues in twentieth‐century Australia which contributed to the neglect of the story by Belshaw's Irish Australian family and then led to its recovery. It will reveal how an Irish heritage was rediscovered because the story lived within a Nyungar community who had survived terra nullius and assimilation policies to return to their land at Badjaling.
SUPERVENIENCE, DETERMINATION, AND DEPENDENCE
Authors: YOSHIMI JEFFREY
Published: February 2007

Abstract:  I show how existing concepts of supervenience relate to two more fundamental ontological relations: determination and dependence. Determination says that the supervenient properties of a thing are a function of its base properties, while dependence says that having a supervenient property implies having a base property. I show that most varieties of supervenience are either determination relations or determination relations conjoined with dependence relations. In the process of unpacking these connections I identify limitations of existing concepts of supervenience and provide ways of overcoming them. What results is a more precise, flexible, and powerful set of tools for relating sets of properties than current concepts of supervenience provide. I apply these tools to a recalcitrant problem in the physicalism literature – the problem of extras.
‘Doing Something Meaningful’: Gender and Public Service during Municipal Government Restructuring
Authors: Worts Diana , Fox Bonnie , McDonough Peggy
Published: February 2007

Research on the gendered dimensions of workplace restructuring often focuses on management strategies and their structural consequences. Less attention is paid to employees’ gendered practices. In this article, we analyse material from in‐depth interviews with front‐line public‐sector employees following a major reorganization of their jobs and workplaces. Our study makes three contributions to theory and research on gender and organizational change. Firstly, it highlights the micro‐level dynamics at the heart of restructuring by showing how workers engaged with an ideal that was central to their understanding of public‐sector work — the public‐service ethic — which they believed was threatened. Secondly, it highlights the importance of gendered meanings and identities in shaping how workers engaged with the public service ethic. Thirdly, the study shows that front‐line employees did not passively accept management plans for change but struggled to resist or transform them in gendered strategies for dealing with organizational change.
Spatialising industrial relations
Authors: Rainnie Al , Herod Andrew , Champ Susan McGrath
Published: February 2007

In this article, we argue for a deeper and more theoretically informed engagement between the fields of industrial relations and geography. We lay out a number of concepts developed more fully by geographers and show, through four vignettes, how such concepts can add to our understanding of industrial relations practices.
Picturing global educational inclusion? Looking and thinking across students’ photographs from the UK, Zambia and Indonesia
Authors: Kaplan Ian , Lewis Ingrid , Mumba Paul
Published: February 2007

Over the last few years we have engaged children and young people in participatory photography projects in a diverse range of international contexts. The projects, diverse as they are, have been school‐based and primarily focused on students’ experiences of educational inclusion/exclusion. Photographs taken by students can stimulate conversations in which different perspectives are shared and considered. Whilst this process is meaningful within a local context, it is also compelling to reflect more widely on what children and young people's photographs and commentary (and through these their interpretations of their educational experiences) have to tell and, indeed, show us about educational inclusion globally. In this paper, we begin by explaining what we mean by the term ‘educational inclusion’, and consider what methodological relevance the participatory photography has for engaging in research with children and young people about their educational experiences. We then briefly describe the contexts of the projects this paper draws on, which took place in the UK, Zambia and Indonesia. In the main body of the paper, we will look across these international projects and consider a selection of students’ photographs and interpretations in relation to several broad themes about educational inclusion which they suggest.
Student researchers in the middle: using visual images to make sense of inclusive education
Authors: Moss Julianne , Deppeler Joanne , Astley Lesley , Pattison Kevin
Published: February 2007

Using ‘visual narrative’ theoretically and practically, this paper explores issues of inclusive education, during a period of curriculum reform and renewal in Australia. In Australia, the middle years of schooling, Years 5 to 9, are well researched and known as a period when students disengage with learning and participation in schooling. Research in the middle years affirms the importance of engaging with ‘student voice’. In this special edition, we are aiming to highlight how the use of visual imagery can be a rich source of understanding, illustrating students’ self‐knowledge of schooling. Methodologically we refer to our research approach as ‘visual narrative’. Other writers in this edition use the term ‘photo voice’. For researchers it is important to highlight the differing orientations that ‘visual narrative’ and ‘photo voice’ signify. The terms are not mutually exclusive but highlight differing research possibilities and emphasis. Our argument, through the use of visual narrative produced by middle years’ students, is that visual texts open out some innovative possibilities for understanding inclusive education and supporting new relationships with our research community. Such approaches are not new; however, in a field such as special education that purports to support marginalised groups, liberatory research methods are under‐represented. This paper aims to open out these discussions and provide a way forwards for teachers and researchers interested in breaking apart why it is that inclusive education remains a never‐ending struggle.