bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Increased muscle sympathetic nerve activity acutely alters conduit artery shear rate patterns
Authors: Padilla Jaume , Young Colin N. , Simmons Grant H. , Deo Shekhar H. , Newcomer Sean C. , Sullivan John P. , Laughlin M. Harold , Fadel Paul J.
Published: February 2010

Escalating evidence indicates that disturbed flow patterns, characterized by the presence of retrograde and oscillatory shear stress, induce a proatherogenic endothelial cell phenotype; however, the mechanisms underlying oscillatory shear profiles in peripheral conduit arteries are not fully understood. We tested the hypothesis that acute elevations in muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) are accompanied by increases in conduit artery retrograde and oscillatory shear. Fourteen healthy men (25 ± 1 yr) performed three sympathoexcitatory maneuvers: graded lower body negative pressure (LBNP) from 0 to −40 Torr, cold pressor test (CPT), and 35% maximal voluntary contraction handgrip followed by postexercise ischemia (PEI). MSNA (microneurography; peroneal nerve), arterial blood pressure (finger photoplethysmography), and brachial artery velocity and diameter (duplex Doppler ultrasound) in the contralateral arm were recorded continuously. All maneuvers elicited significant increases in MSNA total activity from baseline ( P < 0.05). Retrograde shear (−3.96 ± 1.2 baseline vs. −8.15 ± 1.8 s−1, −40 LBNP, P < 0.05) and oscillatory shear index (0.09 ± 0.02 baseline vs. 0.20 ± 0.02 arbitrary units, −40 LBNP, P < 0.05) were progressively augmented during graded LBNP. In contrast, during CPT and PEI, in which MSNA and blood pressure were concomitantly increased ( P < 0.05), minimal or no changes in retrograde and oscillatory shear were noted. These data suggest that acute elevations in MSNA are associated with an increase in conduit artery retrograde and oscillatory shear, an effect that may be influenced by concurrent increases in arterial blood pressure. Future studies should examine the complex interaction between MSNA, arterial blood pressure, and other potential modulatory factors of shear rate patterns.
RhoA-Rho kinase signaling mediates endothelium- and endoperoxide-dependent contractile activities characteristic of hypertensive vascular dysfunction
Authors: Denniss Steven G. , Jeffery Andrew J. , Rush James W. E.
Published: February 2010

Hypertensive vasomotor dysfunction is defined by endothelium-dependent contractions involving prostaglandins and ROS. Since both thromboxane-prostanoid receptor (TPr) signaling and ROS activate RhoA-Rho kinase (ROCK) in vascular smooth muscle (VSM) preparations, we hypothesized that enhanced endothelium-dependent contraction in the common carotid artery (CCA) of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) is ROCK mediated. ACh-stimulated contractions were approximately twofold greater in SHRs versus normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats, abolished by endothelial denudation or cyclooxygenase (COX)-1 inhibition, and nearly eliminated by TPr blockade. RhoA but not ROCK-II protein expression was increased (∼50%) in the SHR CCA. Inhibition of ROCK, but not protein kinase C, caused a dose-dependent reduction in endothelium-dependent contractions to ACh across strains, with the highest dose mirroring the effect of high-dose TPr antagonism. Conversely, ROCK inhibition caused dose-dependent and endothelium- and nitric oxide-independent relaxation in CCAs precontracted with the TPr agonist U-46619. Prostacyclin was the predominant prostaglandin produced by ACh-stimulated CCAs, with greater than twofold more prostacyclin released from SHR versus WKY rats, and its production was unaffected by ROCK inhibition. RhoA activation was approximately twofold higher in quiescent SHR CCAs compared with those from WKY rats and was significantly increased by ACh stimulation. Augmentation of chemical superoxide quenching with tiron or inhibition of the NADPH oxidase-derived superoxide-producing pathway with apocynin reduced ACh-stimulated contractile activity in SHR more than in WKY rats, whereas the SOD mimetic tempol amplified the response. Exposure of CCAs to exogenous H2O2caused contractions, similar to ACh stimulation, that were greater in SHR than in WKY rats, abolished by COX-1 inhibition, and highly attenuated by TPr blockade or ROCK inhibition. These results indicate that RhoA-ROCK may act as a molecular switch, transducing signals from endothelium-derived prostaglandin(s) and ROS, which are overproduced in SHR CCAs, to “turn on” VSM contractile pathways, thus mediating the enhanced endothelium- and endoperoxide-dependent vascular contractions characteristic of hypertension, among other cardiovascular disease states, such as diabetes and aging.
Transition of Tau Protein from Disordered to Misordered in Alzheimer’s Disease
Authors: Kovacech Branislav , Skrabana Rostislav , Novak Michal
Published: February 2010

The neuronal protein tau, a member of the class of intrinsically disordered proteins, is characterized by the absence of any firm 3-D structure and high solubility when free in solution. The tau protein forms insoluble fibrils in the brain of people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other tauopathies and plays a key role in the neurodegenerative process. Posttranslational events leading to the transition of tau from a disordered highly soluble protein to the insoluble aggregate seem to be associated with hyperphosphorylation, truncation or a combination of both. These modifications are assumed to change the native disorder of tau into a preaggregation state, which then directly initiates the fibrillization process. Conformation-specific anti-tau antibody DC11 detects pathological truncated tau forms present in AD brains but not in the normal human brain. A truncated tau protein selected from this pool of DC11-positive molecules was sufficient to initiate and drive the complete tau cascade of neurofibrillary pathology in a rat model of tauopathy. Thus, DC11 antibody recognizes the AD-specific conformation of tau not found in the normal human brain. We propose the term ‘misdisordered’ for this distinct conformational state of tau, which is the first step in the transition of tau from a soluble disordered protein to its insoluble, misordered aggregated form.
Effects of Interleukin-6 on Depression Risk in Dialysis Patients
Authors: Sonikian Makrouhi , Metaxaki Polyxeni , Papavasileiou Dimitrios , Boufidou Fotini , Nikolaou Chrysoula , Vlassopoulos Dimosthenis , Vlahakos Demetrios V.
Published: February 2010

Background/Aims: Depression represents the most frequent psychiatric disorder in nephrology. Cytokines, and especially IL-6, were found to be elevated in depressed patients with normal renal function. The objective of this pilot study was to examine the relationship between depression and cytokines (IL-6, TNF-α, and IL-10) in patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD). Methods: We studied 44 stable patients with ESKD for 71 ± 66 months (32 males; 64 ± 13 years; 27 on hemodialysis and 17 on peritoneal dialysis). The control group included 20 healthy age- and gender-matched individuals (12 males; 60 ± 12 years). Depression was assessed by the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (ZS). Nephelometry for high-sensitivity CRP and ELISA kits for IL-6, IL-10 and TNF-α were used. Results: Compared to controls, patients with ESKD had higher ZS scores (56.8 ± 16.8 vs. 44 ± 12.7, p < 0.01), WBC (7,987 ± 2,347 vs. 6,413 ± 870/mm3, p < 0.01), ESR (36.3 ± 15.8 vs. 9.4 ± 3.3 mm, p < 0.001), TNF-α (52 ± 18.4 vs. 10.7 ± 2.8 pg/ml, p < 0.001) and IL-6 (6.3 ± 4 vs. 1.8 ± 0.4 pg/ml, p < 0.001). No differences in high-sensitivity CRP and IL-10 were noted between the ESKD and control groups. Serum IL-6 levels were the only parameter positively correlated with the values of the ZS score in ESKD patients (r = 0.34, p < 0.02). Conclusions: IL-6 may play a role in the pathogenesis of depression in patients with ESKD.
Quantifying Pain Relief Following Administration of a Novel Formulation of Paracetamol (Acetaminophen)
Authors: Green Bruce , Chandler Stephen , MacDonald Garth , Elliott Geraldine , Roberts Michael S.
Published: February 2010

This article describes how a model‐based analysis was used to aid development of a novel formulation technology. Paracetamol (acetaminophen) was used as the motivating example with 4 different formulations (2 developmental and 2 commercial) compared using stochastic (Monte Carlo) pharmacokinetic (PK)–pharmacodynamic (PD) simulations to explore potential differences in pharmacodynamic outcomes. PK models were developed from data collected during an intensively sampled, 4‐arm crossover trial in 25 fasted healthy subjects, administered 1 g of paracetamol in 4 different formulations. The PK models were linked to a previously published PD model that quantified pain relief over time following tonsillectomy. The number needed to treat (NNT) was the primary numeric used to compare effectiveness. The developmental formulations were likely to produce faster and greater analgesia with an NNT (compared with placebo) to reduce pain by 50% over a 45‐minute interval post dose of 2.75 and 2.88 compared with 4.31 and 3.2 for the commercial products. Over the course of 1 hour, all formulations were comparable. The stochastic simulations provided support that the novel formulation technology was likely to provide a clinically meaningful advantage and should be developed further.
Using Critical Incident Reporting to Promote Objectivity and Self-Knowledge in Pre-Service School Psychologists
Authors: Griffin Maureen L. , Scherr Tracey G.
Published: February 2010

This longitudinal project consisted of exploring the usefulness of Critical Incident Reporting (CIR) as an instructional tool (Griffin, 2003) to first increase objectivity and self-knowledge among practicum students and then to guide practices when those students became interns the following academic year. Analysis included 120 CIRs written by 15 practicum students and responses from ten of the same students on a follow-up questionnaire when they were interns. The use of CIR during students’ practicum year illuminated the types and qualities of experiences that affected pre-service school psychologists most and how they processed those experiences within the context of CIR. Benefits of the CIR process included schema internalization that promoted objectivity and self-knowledge among interns, provision of a systematic framework for that process and generation of related data to inform training curricula.
Temperament Styles of Children in South Korea and the United States
Authors: Dong Hun Lee  , Oakland Thomas , Changgu Ahn
Published: February 2010

Temperament styles of 4,628 South Korean children, ages 9—17, are described in reference to possible gender and age differences and compared with those of 3,200 US age peers in the light of Jung’s theory of temperament as modified by Myers and Briggs, one that highlights four bipolar qualities: extroversion—introversion, practical—imaginative, thinking—feeling and organized—flexible styles. It was found that South Korean children strongly prefer extroverted to introverted, imaginative to practical, feeling to thinking and flexible to organized styles. In contrast to South Korean males, South Korean females are more likely to prefer extroverted, feeling and organized styles. Age differences are seen on all four styles, with children generally expressing a greater preference for introverted, practical, feeling and flexible styles with age. In contrast to US children, South Korean children are more likely to express preferences for extroverted, imaginative, feeling and flexible styles. These preferences also are more frequent in South Korean than US males and females as well as all four age groups. Findings and implications of this study are discussed.
Change in the Manifestation of Overt Aggression During Early Adolescence
Authors: Kim Sangwon , Kamphaus Randy W. , Orpinas Pamela , Kelder Steve H.
Published: February 2010

This study examined how the manifestation of overt aggression changes during early adolescence using Hierarchical Linear Modeling. The distinct courses of physical and verbal aggression identified in this study provide support for developmental transformations in overt aggression, which would have been obscured unless aggression had been defined with greater specificity. The examination of gender effects revealed that while boys demonstrate higher initial levels of physical and verbal aggression, there were no gender differences in the growth of physical and verbal aggression. In addition, the testing of ethnicity effects demonstrated that Blacks and Hispanics show higher initial levels of physical and verbal aggression than Whites, however, adolescents from other ethnicities did not differ from Whites in terms of initial aggression levels. Despite the significant differences in initial status, ethnicity did not significantly predict the growth of aggression with the exception that Blacks exhibited a faster rate of decline in physical aggression. The limitations of this study and the implications for future research and practice are discussed.
Legalists, Visionaries, and New Names: Sectarianism and the Search for Apocalyptic Origins in Isaiah 56-66
Authors: Doak Brian R.
Published: February 2010

This essay re-examines the difficult questions concerning the origins of apocalyptic literature and the rise of Jewish sectarianism. Since the publication of O. Plöger’s Theokratie und Eschatologie and P. Hanson’s The Dawn of Apocalyptic , the search for proto-apocalyptic origins in early post-exilic period sectarian conflict has generated a fair amount of debate. The most cogent and sustained response to Hanson’s and Plöger’s theories, S. Cook’s Prophecy & Apocalypticism (1995), attempted to purge the influence of “deprivation theory” from the field of biblical studies, and, more broadly, social anthropology. The present essay makes a fresh study of some central lines of thought in these works, especially as they relate to the issue of sectarianism and the social framework used for drawing exegetical conclusions. In particular, one prominent theory of the symbolic—in this case, textual—expression of sectarian groups, that of the anthropologist Mary Douglas, is applied to a series of enigmatic and highly debated texts in Trito-Isaiah in order to show the continued viability of the “sectarian” interpretation of these passages.
Ill Met in Ghana
Authors: Liston Katie , Mennell Stephen
Published: February 2010

In recent years, Sir Jack Goody has published a series of essays (2002, 2003, 2004, 2006: 154—79) criticizing Norbert Elias’s theory of ‘civilizing processes’. In all of them, Goody — himself a West African specialist — makes clear that his disagreement with Elias dates back to their acquaintance in Ghana. The date is highly significant for it is unlikely that Goody’s opinions of Elias’s ideas were initially formed by his reading of Elias’s publications. There were also important differences between them in their approaches to theories of long-term social development. Despite appearances to the contrary, Elias and Goody have in fact much in common intellectually. Goody is one of the most historically orientated of anthropologists, and many points of contact with Elias are evident in his work on literacy (1968, 1987), food (1982), or The Domestication of the Savage Mind (1977). Both swam against the ahistorical current of their respective disciplines and both rejected the old notion of ‘progress’. Elias’s fault is that occasionally his formulations may appear to give the opposite impression. Goody’s fault, perhaps, is that — in spite of his own historical perspective — under any model of a structured process he suspects there lurks a vision of progress and of European superiority.
Occidentalism: Jack Goody and Comparative History
Authors: Featherstone Mike
Published: February 2010

This article introduces the special section on the contribution of Jack Goody, which focuses on The Theft of History (2006). Goody attacks the notion of a radical division between Europe and Asia, which has become built into the commonsense academic wisdom and categorical apparatus of the social sciences and humanities. Eurocentrism is a constant target as he scrutinizes and finds wanting the claims of the West to have invented modern science, cultural renaissances, the free city, capitalism, democracy, love and secularism. Goody’s approach favours a dynamic long-term basis for comparisons between societies and focuses on the exchange of information and goods across Eurasia to argue that the comparative advantage one society gains has been only temporary, swinging between different parts of Eurasia a number of times over the millennia. Goody suggests that China developed an active mercantile urban culture before Europe. Cities and towns with their mixture of luxury and learning, should not be seen as inevitably subordinate to centralized power structures in both eastern and western Eurasia. Goody criticizes the theoretical assumptions and the handling of evidence of Perry Anderson, Fernand Braudel, Norbert Elias, Moses Finlay, David Landes, Karl Marx, Joseph Needham, Immanuel Wallerstein and Max Weber. His concern is that the master categories of world history, such as antiquity, feudalism and capitalism, have been developed against a background of the particular European trajectory, then projected onto the world at large. Goody remains sceptical, not just about eurocentrism, but also the additional danger of being eurocentric about ethnocentricity, which he regards as a trap that postcolonialism and postmodernism frequently fall into.
Modernity and Modernizing Moves
Authors: Domingues José Maurício
Published: February 2010

Some of the most promising advances in recent social and sociological theory have happened in connection with historical sociology, including the ‘multiple’ or ‘entangled’ modernity as well as the civilizational approaches, despite their several problems. This article critically resumes this debate, proposing specific conceptualizations of civilization and modernity, at the global level, as well as of regions. Multidimensionality and collective subjectivities and modernizing moves cut across the whole text. The discussion starts from a specific analysis of Latin American modernity, including the criticism of some recent interpretations. It then moves into more general conceptual dimensions, taking Latin America in unitary terms and as a unit of analysis, regardless of its relative internal heterogeneity, and placing of the subcontinent within a comparative view of, in particular, a third, contemporary phase of modernity, vis-à-vis China, India, Africa and other civilizational coordinates.
Representing Latin America through Pre-Columbian Art
Authors: Feres João
Published: February 2010

Latin America has often been represented by images of pre-Columbian artifacts and artwork on book covers and in other printed materials produced by Latin American studies. This article tries to show that there are strong connections between this type of representation and the semantics of Latin America both in everyday English language and in the discourses of the social sciences. First, the author reviews the history of the concept of Latin America in everyday English language, showing how it has been defined as the opposite of a glorified collective self-image of America, in cultural, temporal, and racial terms. Next, chief approaches of Latin American studies (modernization theory, studies of corporatism, and the present-day textbook literature) are examined, focusing on how social scientific discourses have defined Latin America. Before returning to the topic of pre-Columbian representation, the covers of the best-selling present-day textbooks are surveyed to show how these pictorial representations reproduce the cultural and temporal perceptions of otherness already present in the texts, plus a racial perception that is mostly absent in them. The author argues that the pre-Columbian representation reproduces the three aspects of Latin America’s othering in a powerful and synthetic way. Last, the results of the present analysis are evaluated in the light of some contributions to postcolonial theory, visual culture studies and picture theory.
The Biopolitics of Technoculture in the Mumbai Attacks
Authors: Kaplan Caren
Published: February 2010

In the case of the attacks in Mumbai in November 2008 two primary discourses generative of biopolitics in the global matrix of war can be identified as a framework of knowledge about mobile technologies: first, that national security is threatened by the use of digital information technologies heavily symbolized by the use of mobile devices and the perceived manipulation of otherwise neutral forms of media by those deemed to be enemies; and, second, that national security is enhanced by the utilization of these technologies on the level of individuals and non-state groups within the nation to better practice democracy and to identify as citizen-consumer subjects. In the global matrix of war, the emphasis on digital information technologies and new media — especially mobile iterations — as weapons has generated the subjects of globalized and local technoculture in historically specific, militarized directions. In this context, contemporary media operate in ways that call for critical engagement rather than romanticization of a purely emancipatory sphere of social networking over and against a fully networked, enemy ‘other’.
‘Age-Appropriate Development’ as Measure and Norm
Authors: Kelle Helga
Published: February 2010

The article provides an ethnographic study of the logic of conducting routine paediatric checkups in children from birth to the age of 5 in Germany (U1 to U9). These checkups are meant as a continual evaluation of a child’s developmental process and progress, and their outcomes inform decisions on children’s careers in educational institutions. The article focuses on the concept of ‘age-appropriate development’ as applied in the field of study, discusses its meaning in the context of the checkups’ practical anthropology and theoretically reflects on the construction of ‘normal development’. In the analysis of an example of a U9 (with a 5-year-old child) it is shown how an extremely condensed picture of a child’s developmental state and how legitimization for intervening in children’s developmental processes are produced in the course of the checkups.
‘I Am Only Ten Years Old’
Authors: Rysst Mari
Published: February 2010

Based in experience-near anthropology, this article explores constructions of gender by 10-year-old Norwegian girls who are informed by a developmental discourse and by new clothing-fashion codes. The analysis reveals gaps in aesthetic understanding between the clothing-fashion industry, preteen girls and older generations. The industry seems to assume that 10-year-old girls want to dress ‘older than their age’, a trend the girls in this study understand and relate to in their presentation of selves. The girls want to be fashionable and kul, not ‘sexy’, which conflicts with the way in which older people view the girls’ fashion preferences. This poses an ethical dilemma for the girls (and their parents) in how to present themselves.
‘I’m Not Scared of Anything’
Authors: Ahn Junehui
Published: February 2010

This article examines how American middle-class children learn and acquire culturally appropriate emotions and sentiments, focusing especially on children’s experiences. By analysing children’s emotional worlds as well as adult socialization practices, the article shows that children actively reinterpret, reconstruct and reformulate various cultural resources offered through emotional socialization in order to organize their own culture-laden social worlds. The article articulates children’s agentive role in cultural reproduction and the inherent dynamism involved in socialization processes.
Bringing Environmentalism Home
Authors: Larsson Bengt , Andersson Magnus , Osbeck Christina
Published: February 2010

This article discusses children as contributors to sustainable ecological development. The aim of the article is to develop a framework for researching two questions: What are the prerequisites for children to become responsible environmentalists? What actual and potential influence do children have on their family’s consumption? Three theoretical perspectives are elaborated in relation to relevant empirical research: children as cosmopolitan actors and world citizens, children as ‘subjects of responsibilization’ in relation to the discourse on sustainable development and children as actors influencing family negotiations about consumption. The article concludes by suggesting methodological implications that follow from this framework.
The Violence of the Cut: Michael Haneke’s Caché and Cultural Memory
Authors: Silverman Max
Published: February 2010

Michael Haneke’s film Caché (2005) treats the cut in a number of ways. There are the violent physical cuts that punctuate the film, violent cuts in the ties binding one character to another, the cuts that mark out the dividing lines between the protected zone of Georges’s bourgeois life and the outside world, and, finally, the filmic cut which splices up the world into disconnected images. In this article, I will argue that the cut is central to Haneke’s presentation of the real and of memory: cocooned in a world of dislocated images, we are cut off from our contact with the real and from our past. Exposure to the violence of the cut re-establishes connections that have been severed, returns us to an ethical position with regard to the other, and reinscribes human action within history.
Renegotiating the Self: France and its Privileged Other
Authors: Raymond Gino G.
Published: February 2010

It is commonly the case that in the French media the adjective ‘Anglo-Saxon’ refers to one vast category that includes both English and American, since they share a common language. Moreover, since the nineteenth century, the French passion for modernity has tended to resort to an American template much more than an English one. But in the process of ‘othering’ that is crucial to the definition of the Self, England is the enduring and indispensable partner, the privileged Other. With particular reference to the fictional English archetype created by Pierre Daninos in Les Carnets du Major Thompson , this article will examine the ways in which, whether negatively or positively, France has needed to engage with the otherness of England, with the unvarying and ultimate aim of renegotiating a more secure sense of self in the face of forces that appear to undermine it.
Violence et capital symbolique: L’exemple du sport
Authors: Guilbert Sébastien
Published: February 2010

Cette étude propose d’objectiver la violence et l’image qu’elle procure dans le champ sportif. Trois cents compétiteurs provenant de cinq disciplines sportives, le karaté, le basket-ball, le tennis de table, la natation et le tir ont répondu à un questionnaire. Les résultats montrent que la violence, ses ‘formes’ et ‘images’ diffèrent significativement selon les sports. Trois classes de pratiques à ‘violences’ et ‘images’ différenciées ont été identifiées, révélant par là même qu’elles sont des propriétés symboliques particulièrement opérantes dans la distribution des pratiques dans le champ sportif.
Putting on Sunday Best: The Silencing of Battered Women Within Christian Faith Communities
Authors: Knickmeyer Nicole , Levitt Heidi , Horne Sharon G.
Published: February 2010

This paper presents findings related to the silencing of battered women within Christian faith communities in Memphis, Tennessee, a large metropolitan area in the Mid-South region of the United States. Participants in this qualitative inquiry were 10 Christian identified women from diverse denominations and racial/ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds who had experienced intimate partner violence. Data were analyzed according to grounded theory method. Findings illuminate mechanisms through which Christian beliefs about the sanctity of marriage and partner and community pressure to present as model Christians serve to shame and silence battered women. Findings are discussed in relation to stages that participants negotiated as they sought to create abuse-free lives.
Perception of Affordances in Multi-Scale Dynamics as an Alternative Explanation for Equivalence of Analogical and Inferential Reasoning in Animals and Humans
Authors: Davids Keith , Araújo Duarte
Published: February 2010

Recent claims of equivalence of animal and human reasoning are evaluated and a study of avian cognition serves as an exemplar of weaknesses in these arguments. It is argued that current research into neurobiological cognition lacks theoretical breadth to substantiate comparative analyses of cognitive function. Evaluation of a greater range of theoretical explanations is needed to verify claims of equivalence in animal and human cognition. We conclude by exemplifying how the notion of affordances in multi-scale dynamics can capture behavior attributed to processes of analogical and inferential reasoning in animals and humans.
Self Constructing Activities
Authors: Raeff Catherine
Published: February 2010

Classic research and contemporary scholarship suggest that the self cannot be understood apart from the activities of people within specific contexts. The current conceptualization of self constructing activities is derived from James’ distinction between representations of one’s characteristics and the process of constructing those representations. It is argued that this distinction has been obscured in generations of self scholarship by attributing the process of self construction to “I”s and selves. The paper clarifies the distinction between self constructing activities and the constructed self, and ultimately offers a conceptualization of the forms, constituents, and functions of self constructing activities. Focusing on self constructing activities provides a way to address some of the complexities of the self by directing theoretical and empirical attention towards considering how selves emerge dynamically as people participate together in cultural practices.
Towards a “Critical Ontology of Ourselves”?
Authors: Yates Scott , Hiles Dave
Published: February 2010

Applications of Foucault’s work in psychology have been criticized for using an under-theorized notion of discourse. This has recently been addressed by Hook, who provides a timely and detailed consideration of the implications of Foucault’s theoretical and methodological writings on genealogy. Hook’s work also hints at but leaves unaddressed the challenge for critical psychology of accounting for Foucault’s concerns with the constitution and experience of forms of subjectivity. In relation to this challenge, we contend that Foucault’s work can productively be understood as a series of analyses comprising a tripartite critical ontology with significant concerns for subjectivity and individual conduct. We set out this reading and briefly explore Foucault’s intellectual debt to Heidegger. We argue that this suggests the possibility of a form of discourse analysis conceptualized along similar lines to Foucault’s “critical ontology of ourselves.” This is illustrated with some examples from recent research.
Instrumentalism and Psychology
Authors: Fowers Blaine J.
Published: February 2010

This article explores the pervasive, but insufficiently examined assumption of instrumental rationality in psychology. Instrumental rationality has five characteristics: there is a sharp separation between means and ends; ends are subjective preferences and means are strategies or tools; the effectiveness of means is central; means are dispensable when ineffective; and actors are independent of the means. Psychology’s almost exclusive reliance on means—ends explanations of human behavior is called instrumentalism. Instrumentalism encourages perceiving everything as means toward one’s ends, adopting an exploitive stance toward persons and the environment, and becoming alienated from others and the world, and it effectively obscures and distorts non-instrumental activity. A constitutentends framework is presented in which ends are inseparable from means and actors identify with or embody means rather than use them in pursuing goals, which confers meaning, coherence, and cumulativeness on the activities. The article concludes that instrumental action is subordinate to constitutive action in optimal human life.
A Critique of the Concept of Accuracy in Social Information Processing Models of Children’s Peer Relations
Authors: Woods Ruth
Published: February 2010

According to Kenneth Dodge’s social information processing model, children who behave aggressively do so because they interpret others’ behaviour, and evaluate aggressive acts, inaccurately. The concept of accuracy is inappropriate here because members of different social groups can differ systematically in their interpretations and evaluations of behaviour. Imposing the concept of accuracy exalts one social group’s views as accurate, with others seen as flawed. Social information processing models could remove the concept of accuracy by drawing on the theory of autopoiesis, which states that an organism’s response to a stimulus is specified by the organism rather than by the stimulus itself. Thus the environment is seen not as information to be (in)correctly interpreted, but as a set of triggers in a person’s phenomenological world. This approach is strengthened by attention to the myriad ways in which a person’s interpretations are informed (but not determined) by other people, explaining why we are likely to form interpretations and values similar, but not identical, to others in our social groups.
Art, Music, and Movement Connections for Elementary Education Teacher Candidates
Authors: Bohannon R. Larry , McDowell Carol
Published: February 2010

Visual arts, movement, and music are all connected by common structural elements. The lesson described in this article was prepared so that teacher candidates in elementary education may make connections among music, movement, and the visual arts using an elemental integration approach. This lesson used visual art to introduce the concept of line and contour. Line and contour were then integrated into movement and music and outside subject areas of math, social studies and geography, science, and language arts. The purpose of this approach was to encourage elementary education majors to experience the arts through a hands-on approach and to become more comfortable in using the arts in the elementary classroom.
Agency and Communication Challenges in Discussions of Informed Consent in Pediatric Cancer Research
Authors: Young Amanda J. , Kim Loel , Shu Li  , Baker Justin N. , Schmidt Michael , Camp Jonathan W. , Barfield Raymond C.
Published: February 2010

In this article we examine the discourse of four focus groups we conducted at a pediatric research hospital in which we queried teenage patients, parents, nurses, and physicians about their perceptions of the informed consent process in research. Autonomy, as the goal of informed consent, is a murky concept, with some ethicists questioning the possibility that it can ever be attained. We argue that it might be more productive to consider agency, which we define as language and action that are constructed, negotiated, and maintained through effective communication. Our goal was to understand how individuals rhetorically constructed agency in discussions of informed consent experiences. After transcribing and coding the focus group interviews, we identified six aspects of agency in participants’ discourse: (a) defining roles, (b) seeking information, (c) providing information, (d) supporting others, (e) making decisions, and (f) claiming agency for self. Examining these aspects of agency indicated that efforts to improve the informed consent process must address: (a) status differentials, (b) role definitions, (c) information flow, and (d) relationships.
Superwoman Schema: African American Women’s Views on Stress, Strength, and Health
Authors: Woods-Giscombé Cheryl L.
Published: February 2010

Researchers have suggested that health disparities in African American women, including adverse birth outcomes, lupus, obesity, and untreated depression, can be explained by stress and coping. The Strong Black Woman/Superwoman role has been highlighted as a phenomenon influencing African American women’s experiences and reports of stress. The purpose of this study was to develop a preliminary conceptual framework for Superwoman Schema (SWS) by exploring women’s descriptions of the Superwoman role; perceptions of contextual factors, benefits, and liabilities; and beliefs regarding how it influences health. Analysis of eight focus group discussions with demographically diverse African American women yielded themes characterizing the Superwoman role and personal or sociohistorical contextual factors. Participants reported that the Superwoman role had benefits (preservation of self and family or community) and liabilities (relationship strain, stress-related health behaviors, and stress embodiment). The SWS framework might be used to enhance future research on stress and African American women’s health.
Institutional ethnography, autoethnography, and narrative: an argument for incorporating multiple methodologies
Authors: Taber Nancy
Published: February 2010

In this article, I discuss the methodological issues arising from both my research aims and my research context of a western national defence force. First, I discuss the uniqueness of my research context and the issues that arise when organizational access is required from a hierarchical government institution. Second, I discuss the main tenets of institutional ethnography (IE) as developed by Dorothy Smith, exploring how it was ideal for my research at the same time as it presented specific methodological challenges. Third, I explain how I overcame these challenges by using autoethnography and narrative as methods to obtain entry-level IE data. I argue that research methodologies are constantly evolving. Researchers must continually push methodological boundaries in order to address research questions that cannot be explored with traditional methods.
Telling tales? Using ethnographic fictions to speak embodied ‘truth’
Authors: Inckle Kay
Published: February 2010

This article traces my journey into embodied methodologies as I endeavoured to accurately and ethically research and represent experiences of body-marking practices (i.e. body modification and self-injury). Because of the fundamentally embodied nature of body-marking, I sought methodologies which were equally embodied and able to contain and represent the complex, emotive, fluid and dynamic nature of these experiences. It was also essential to me that the knowledge forms I produced, in empirical and epistemological terms, avoided the dualism and hierarchy which pervade our logocentric norms. Both the form and practice of my research, then, required an ethic which was specifically embodied and which grew out of corporeal experience. Here, I describe the research journey which drew me into the strategy of ‘ethnographic fiction’, and how this practice answered many of the issues and dilemmas posed by the specific and bodily nature of my work, and my own relationship with it.
Summarizing historical information on controls in clinical trials
Authors: Neuenschwander Beat , Capkun-Niggli Gorana , Branson Michael , Spiegelhalter David J
Published: February 2010

Background Historical information is always relevant when designing clinical trials, but it might also be incorporated in the analysis. It seems appropriate to exploit past information on comparable control groups.

Purpose Phase IV and proof-of-concept trials are used to discuss aspects of summarizing historical control data as prior information in a new trial. The importance of a fair assessment of the similarity of control parameters is emphasized.

Methods The methodology is meta-analytic-predictive. Heterogeneity of control parameters is expressed via the between-trial variation, which is the key parameter determining the prior effective sample size and its upper bound (prior maximum sample size).

Results For a Phase IV trial (930 control patients in 11 historical trials) between-trial heterogeneity was fairly small, resulting in a prior effective sample size of approximately 90 patients. For a proof-of-concept trial (363 patients in four historical trials) heterogeneity was moderate to substantial, resulting in a prior effective sample size of approximately 20. For another proof-of-concept trial (14 patients in one historical trial), assuming substantial heterogeneity implied a prior effective sample size of 7. The prior effective sample size can only be large if the amount of historical data is large and between-trial heterogeneity is small. The prior effective sample size is bounded by the prior maximum sample size (ratio of within- to between-trial variance), irrespective of the amount of historical data.

Limitations The meta-analytic-predictive approach assumes exchangeability of control parameters across trials. Due to the difficulty to quantify between-trial variability, sensitivity of conclusions regarding assumptions and type of inference should be assessed.

Conclusions The use of historical control information is a valuable option and may lead to more efficient clinical trials. The proposed approach is attractive for nonconfirmatory trials, but under certain circumstances extensions to the confirmatory setting could be envisaged as well. Clinical Trials 2010; 7: 5—18. http://ctj.sagepub.com
Methodological issues in the use of composite endpoints in clinical trials: examples from the HIV field
Authors: Wittkop Linda , Smith Colette , Fox Zoe , Sabin Caroline , Richert Laura , Aboulker Jean-Pierre , Phillips Andrew , Chêne Genevieve , Babiker Abdel , Thiébaut Rodolphe ,   NEAT-WP4
Published: February 2010

Background In many fields, the choice of a primary endpoint for a trial is not always the ultimate clinical endpoint of interest, but rather some surrogate endpoint believed to be relevant for predicting the effect of the intervention on the clinical endpoint. The classic example of such a field is clinical HIV treatment research, where a variety of primary endpoints are used to evaluate the efficacy of new antiretroviral drugs or new combinations of existing drugs. The choice of endpoint reflects either the goal of therapy as recommended by treatment guidelines (e.g. rapid virological suppression) or the licensing requirements of official drug approval organizations (e.g. time to loss of virological response [TLOVR]).

Purpose To review the diversity of endpoints used in recent clinical trials in HIV infection and highlight the methodological issues.

Methods We identified articles relating to antiretroviral therapy by searching PubMed and through hand searches of relevant conference abstracts. We restricted the search to randomized controlled trials conducted in HIV-infected adults published/presented from January 2005 until March 2008.

Results We identified 28 trials in antiretroviral-naive patients (i.e. patients who were starting antiretroviral therapy for the first time at the time of randomization) and 23 trials in antiretroviral-experienced patients. Most trials were performed for purposes of drug licensing, but others were focused on strategies of using approved drugs. Most trials (40 of 51) used a composite primary endpoint (TLOVR in 13). Of note, 22 of these 40 studies reported that they had used a purely virological efficacy endpoint, but the primary endpoint was actually a composite one due to the way in which missing data and treatment switches were considered as failures.

Limitations Examples are restricted to HIV clinical trials.

Conclusions Whilst most current HIV clinical trials use composite primary endpoints, there are substantial differences in the components that make up these endpoints. In HIV and other fields where precise definitions are variable, guidelines for standardization of definition and reporting would greatly improve the ability to compare trial results. Clinical Trials 2010; 7: 19—35. http:// ctj.sagepub.com
Studying Leadership Critically: A Psychosocial Lens on Leadership Identities
Authors: Ford Jackie
Published: February 2010

This article explores a new approach to researching leadership in organizations through drawing on psychosocial accounts of the lives of managers as leaders. This study of managers’ lives through a critical, psychosocial analysis presents a different account of leadership identities and how these are constructed and how they function in oppressive ways. The analysis concludes that managers are not transcendental and are not homogeneous. Managers construct multiple, competing and ambiguous narratives of the selves. Key to this more critical approach is the contextual location and partiality of accounts of leadership, and the recognition that our sense of selves are not only entwined within the context and the situations in which they are performed, but also within the hegemonic discourses and culturally shaped narrative conventions.
Exploring Trait and Task Self-awareness in the Context of Leadership Development among Undergraduate Students from Malaysia
Authors: Krauss Steven Eric , Hamid Jamaliah Abdul , Ismail Ismi Arif
Published: February 2010

Despite the theoretical justification for the importance of self-awareness as a key input to leadership development, the construct, as understood according to awareness of one’s traits and tasks, has received little attention in the literature related to undergraduate leadership development. This article sets out to address this gap by investigating Trait and Task Self-awareness (SA) among more than 1700 undergraduate students from Malaysian institutions of higher learning. Analysis focused on comparing Trait and Task SA according to seven demographic variables. Results indicated that older, male students with higher CGPAs from the social sciences scored higher on both types of self-awareness than their counterparts. The findings begin to shed light on Malaysian undergraduates’ status in terms of the development of self-awareness in the context of leadership, and how it can be further enhanced.
Lineage-specific combinatorial action of enhancers regulates mouse erythroid Gata1 expression
Authors: Drissen Roy , Guyot Boris , Zhang Lin , Atzberger Ann , Sloane-Stanley Jackie , Wood Bill , Porcher Catherine , Vyas Paresh
Published: February 2010

Precise spatiotemporal control of Gata1 expression is required in both early hematopoietic progenitors to determine erythroid/megakaryocyte versus granulocyte/monocyte lineage output and in the subsequent differentiation of erythroid cells and megakaryocytes. An enhancer element upstream of the mouse Gata1 IE (1st exon erythroid) promoter, mHS−3.5, can direct both erythroid and megakaryocytic expression. However, loss of this element ablates only megakaryocytes, implying that an additional element has erythroid specificity. Here, we identify a double DNaseI hypersensitive site, mHS−25/6, as having erythroid but not megakaryocytic activity in primary cells. It binds an activating transcription factor complex in erythroid cells where it also makes physical contact with the Gata1 promoter. Deletion of mHS−25/6 or mHS−3.5 in embryonic stem cells has only a modest effect on in vitro erythroid differentiation, whereas loss of both elements ablates both primitive and definitive erythropoiesis with an almost complete loss of Gata1 expression. Surprisingly, Gata2 expression was also concomitantly low, suggesting a more complex interaction between these 2 factors than currently envisaged. Thus, whereas mHS−3.5 alone is sufficient for megakaryocytic development, mHS−3.5 and mHS−25/6 collectively regulate erythroid Gata1 expression, demonstrating lineage-specific differences in Gata1 cis-element use important for development of these 2 cell types.