bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Interagency collaborative research projects: Illustrating potential problems, and finding solutions in the nursing literature
Authors: McCloughen Andrea , O’Brien Louise
Published: August 2006

ABSTRACT:  Collaborative research activities are increasingly being used across health‐care settings and are viewed as a positive way to achieve mutual outcomes. However, interagency or intersectoral research programmes are not without problems. They are, at best, challenging and complex activities that require enormous commitment of resources, expertise and insight from all stakeholders. This paper uses the example of an actual collaborative research project to illustrate factors that can impair collaboration and in turn negatively impact on intersectoral research outcomes. It is anticipated that an honest description of those events and issues that adversely affected the programme presented here, and examination of the associated literature, will serve as a guide to others embarking on similar collaborative endeavours. This paper does not attempt to provide a full review of the comprehensive range of literature about collaboration and collaborative research; rather, it presents some key themes identified as having the potential to impact on the success of collaborative research projects. Key themes acknowledged by the authors as influencing the progress of the research project highlighted here are communication, environment, politics and power, and organizational culture.
Self‐management of medication for mental health problems by homeless young people
Authors: Muir‐Cochrane Eimear , Fereday Jennifer , Jureidini Jon , Drummond Andrew , Darbyshire Philip
Published: August 2006

ABSTRACT:  Youth homelessness is a growing Australian and international concern associated with considerable health disadvantage, including serious mental health problems. This paper reports findings of a qualitative study that explored young homeless people’s experiences of mental health and well‐being through in‐depth interviews. Thematic analysis identified medication use and management as a central issue for the young people. Reasons identified for medication non‐adherence included unwanted side‐effects, issues of access and storage, and lack of support from health and social agencies. These problems were compounded by everyday stresses of homelessness. Medication adherence was facilitated by social support, consistent contact with supportive health services, and regular medication supply, often resulting in improved mental health and well‐being. For these young people, prioritizing management of medication helped stabilize one aspect of their lives. Health professionals can play an important role in helping them achieving this goal.
Reducing the isolation of young adults living with a mental illness in rural Australia
Authors: Mostafanejad Karola
Published: August 2006

ABSTRACT:  Research on mental health issues in rural Australia has been insufficient to date to guide nurses’ clinical practice. This study explored young adults’ experience of living with a mental illness in rural Western Australia using the grounded theory approach. Nine young adults, aged 18–30 years, identified isolation as their main concern. Isolation was brought about by society excluding participants because they had a mental illness and because of their behaviour. This isolation was further increased by the general population’s lack of knowledge and understanding of what it is like to live with a mental illness. Based on the findings of this study, measures of how nurses can help reduce these young adults’ isolation in a rural area are suggested.
Carer participation in mental health service delivery
Authors: Cleary Michelle , Freeman Adele , Walter Garry
Published: August 2006

ABSTRACT:  There is increasing emphasis on enhancing consumer and carer participation in the planning and provision of mental health services. However, health professionals, consumers, and carers have different perceptions about what constitutes optimal care; identifying, negotiating, and meeting their respective needs can be challenging. The aim of the paper is to highlight the challenges of facilitating carer participation in daily practice and emphasize the broader issues that would benefit from more extensive discussion among health professionals. By examining the strategies used to enhance consumer participation, there is the potential to avoid many of the mistakes of the past and create a flexible and responsive framework to increase carer involvement. The authors anticipate that this discussion will resonate with many clinical staff as well as carers themselves. Identifying barriers to carer participation opens the way to promoting collaboration and enhancing care.
Best practice guidelines for the administration of intramuscular injections in the mental health setting
Authors: Wynaden Dianne , Landsborough Ian , McGowan Sunita , Baigmohamad Zena , Finn Michael , Pennebaker Duane
Published: August 2006

ABSTRACT:  Intramuscular injections are administered to mental health consumers in both the community and hospital settings. Medications delivered by the intramuscular route assist consumers to live in the community and enhance their ability to integrate and engage in community life. Although the practice of giving intramuscular injections is routine for mental health nurses, the process is invasive and best practice guidelines are not well developed. The aim of this study was to identify a best practice technique for the administration of intramuscular injections in the mental health setting based on: (i) the identification of 300 abstracts and a systematic review of 150 articles in the subject area; (ii) an evaluation of current practice of 93 nurses; and (iii) the use of the newly developed technique with 96 consumers. The findings add significantly to the knowledge base on administering intramuscular injections in the mental health setting. The identified best practice technique provides mental health nurses with evidence‐based guidelines, thus ensuring that the medication administered by intramuscular injection provides the best possible outcomes for consumers.
A new α‐proteobacterial clade of Bdellovibrio‐like predators: implications for the mitochondrial endosymbiotic theory
Authors: Davidov Yaacov , Huchon Dorothee , Koval Susan F. , Jurkevitch Edouard
Published: August 2006

Bdellovibrio‐and‐like organisms (BALOs) are peculiar, ubiquitous, small‐sized, highly motile Gram‐negative bacteria that are obligatory predators of other bacteria. Typically, these predators invade the periplasm of their prey where they grow and replicate. To date, BALOs constitute two highly diverse families affiliated with the δ‐proteobacteria class. In this study, Micavibrio spp., a BALO lineage of epibiotic predators, were isolated from soil. These bacteria attach to digest and grow at the expense of other prokaryotes, much like other BALOs. Multiple phylogenetic analyses based on six genes revealed that they formed a deep branch within the α‐proteobacteria, not affiliated with any of the α‐proteobacterial orders. The presence of BALOs deep among the α‐proteobacteria suggests that their peculiar mode of parasitism maybe an ancestral character in this proteobacterial class. The origin of the mitochondrion from an α‐proteobacterium endosymbiont is strongly supported by molecular phylogenies. Accumulating data suggest that the endosymbiont’s host was also a prokaryote. As prokaryotes are unable to phagocytose, the means by which the endosymbiont gained access into its host remains mysterious. We here propose a scenario based on the BALO feeding‐mode to hypothesize a mechanism at play at the origin of the mitochondrial endosymbiosis.
Unraveling the Dyad: Using Recurrence Analysis to Explore Patterns of Syntactic Coordination Between Children and Caregivers in Conversation
Authors: Dale Rick , Spivey Michael J.
Published: August 2006

Recurrence analysis is introduced as a means to investigate syntactic coordination between child and caregiver. Three CHILDES (MacWhinney, 2000) corpora are analyzed and demonstrate coordination between children and their caregivers in terms of word‐class n‐gram sequences. Results further indicate that trade‐offs in leading or following this coordination reflect individual differences between children at varying levels of development. Further analyses characterize the syntactic patterns that are coordinated, and results are consistent with recent language acquisition research on syntax acquisition. Overall, recurrence analysis reveals that there is a process of child‐caregiver coordination taking place in ongoing conversation at the level of syntactic description.
Effects of Stimulus Characteristics and Background Music on Foreign Language Vocabulary Learning and Forgetting
Authors: de Groot Annette M. B.
Published: August 2006

This study examined the effects of three stimulus variables and background music on paired‐associate learning of foreign language (FL) vocabulary. The stimulus variables were the frequency and concreteness of the native language (L1) words and the (phonotactical) typicality of the FL words. Sixty‐four L1‐FL pairs were presented for learning six times, followed by a recall test after the second, fourth, and sixth learning round. A fourth recall test took place 1 week later. Typical FL words, FL words paired with frequent L1 words, and FL words paired with concrete L1 words were learned better than atypical FL words and FL words paired with infrequent and abstract L1 words, respectively. More learning occurred in the music condition than in the silent condition. The results are interpreted in terms of differences between memory representations of L1 words, differences in the phonological coding enabled by the FL words, and individual learner differences.
Price Competition and Product Differentiation when Goods have Network Effects
Authors: Conrad Klaus
Published: August 2006

The objective of our approach is to develop a model that captures horizontal product differentiation under environmental awareness with price competition whereby environmentally friendly products are costlier to produce. As an example, we refer to automobile producers offering cars with a gasoline-powered engine and one with a natural gas-powered engine. The network of petrol stations provides the complementary good. We use a two-stage game in prices and characteristics to analyse the market structure. In order to find out whether a private decision on the type of engine coincides with a socially optimal product differentiation, we determine the position of the two types of engine by a welfaremaximizing authority.
Costing eradications of alien mammals from islands
Authors: Martins T. L. F. , Brooke M. de L. , Hilton G. M. , Farnsworth S. , Gould J. , Pain D. J.
Published: August 2006

The ability to estimate costs of alien species eradications is essential for a rigorous assessment of priorities for island restoration. Using a global data file from 41 islands, mostly gleaned from the ‘grey’ literature, we show that the cost of vertebrate eradications can be satisfactorily predicted if island area and species to be eradicated are known. About 72% of the variation in cost can be explained by island area, whereas, for a given area, rodent eradications are 1.7–3.0 times more expensive than ungulate eradications. Costs per hectare decrease with island size. Restricting the analysis to roughly half the data set, the relatively homogeneous half concerned with New Zealand islands, we identify two further influences on cost: date of eradication and distance to the main airport (an indicator of remoteness). For a given area, costs have declined over time but increase with island remoteness. This information therefore provides conservation planners with a robust, if preliminary, estimate of the cost of any proposed eradication programme.
Generalizability of neotropical bird abundance and richness models
Authors: Lindell C. A. , Chomentowski W. H. , Zook J. R. , Kaiser S. A.
Published: August 2006

Predicting the consequences of land‐cover change on tropical biotas is a pressing task. However, testing the applicability of models developed with data from one region to another region has rarely been done. Bird faunas were sampled along 3.0‐km routes in southern Costa Rica (Coto Brus) to develop statistical models to describe the abundance and richness of groups as a function of land‐cover characteristics. The relative value of the land‐cover models was assessed by comparing them with null models. The generalizability of the models was tested with data from north‐western Costa Rica (Monteverde) to determine whether the models were applicable to another area that has undergone significant land‐cover change in the last 60 years. The richness and abundance of understory, open‐country and edge non‐insectivore groups showed clear relationships with land‐cover variables, and the land‐cover models had lower prediction errors than the null models for Coto Brus. With one exception, useful models for canopy birds, edge insectivores and hummingbirds could not be developed. The land‐cover models of abundance of canopy insectivores, understory insectivores and non‐insectivores, and edge non‐insectivores were generalizable to Monteverde whereas the land‐cover models of abundance of open‐country birds and species richness for any of the groups were not better than null models for Monteverde. The results indicate that land‐cover models that describe the abundance or richness of various bird groups provide useful predictions in the area where the data were collected and that models of abundance of some canopy, understory and edge birds may perform well in areas that are similar in elevation, life zones and land use to the area from which data were collected. Land‐cover models of the abundance of other groups, and of the richness of the majority of groups, may be less generalizable to other areas, or it may be difficult to develop models at all.
Maternity Leave and the Evidence for Compensating Wage Differentials in Australia*
Authors: EDWARDS REBECCA
Published: August 2006

Using data from Wave I of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey, 2001, in this paper I investigate the value of the maternity leave provisions available to Australian women. The theory of compensating wage differentials informs the model used to estimate the shadow price of eligibility for both paid and unpaid maternity leave benefits. The results suggest a negative wage differential may exist in Australia such that employed women eligible for maternity leave receive a lower rate of pay than those ineligible, all other things being equal. The policy implications of the results are discussed.
Explaining Unemployment Duration in Australia*
Authors: CARROLL NICK
Published: August 2006

What influences the probability that someone will leave unemployment? Informed by a search‐theoretic framework and allowing for exits to not in the labour force and employment, in this paper I examine what influences the probability that somebody will leave unemployment. The unemployment data used are derived from the retrospective work history information from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey. The results show that variables that increase wage offers and lower reservation wages are associated with shorter unemployment durations, and that exit rates from unemployment appear to remain steady initially with duration before declining relatively sharply.
Heating Up the Sources: Using Community Cookbooks in Historical Inquiry
Authors: Nussel Jill
Published: August 2006

Even after immigrant women had changed to American dress and began sending their children to public school, the last aspect of life to change was their foodways. One of the ways by which women could stay within their sphere and still find a public voice was through the compilation of a community cookbook that were compiled for the benefit of their churches and a myriad of community organizations. But they were far more than just collections of recipes. A careful examination of charity cookbooks shows how women defined their roles, disseminated hierarchy within their own groups, advised others, dispensed moral teachings to a broader audience, and preserved the best parts of their own heritage for future generations. And in the process, women who probably never would have been published or remembered beyond their family ties have produced artifacts worthy of continued inquiry.
The Role of Lay Perceptions of Ethnic Prejudice in the Maintenance and Perpetuation of Ethnic Bias
Authors: Esses Victoria M. , Hodson Gordon
Published: August 2006

This article discusses the role of lay perceptions of ethnic prejudice in the maintenance and perpetuation of prejudicial attitudes. We first discuss the importance of lay beliefs about ethnic prejudice for understanding processes underlying prejudice and its reduction. We also discuss the potential relations between two individual differences—social dominance orientation and right‐wing authoritarianism—and these beliefs. Next, we describe the research that we have conducted on lay perceptions of ethnic prejudice, including perceptions of causes of prejudice, solutions to prejudice, and the inevitability and justifiability of prejudice. This research demonstrates that individuals who are high in social dominance orientation and, to a lesser extent, right‐wing authoritarianism, hold beliefs which may serve to maintain and perpetuate prejudicial attitudes. We conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for developing effective intervention strategies.
Extended Contact through Story Reading in School: Reducing Children's Prejudice toward the Disabled
Authors: Cameron Lindsey , Rutland Adam
Published: August 2006

The aim of this study was to develop and assess a prejudice‐reduction intervention for young children based on a relatively recent psychological concept, extended contact. A number of extended contact interventions were tested based on different models of generalized intergroup contact. A 3 (type of extended contact: neutral, decategorization, and “intergroup”) × 2 (time of interview: pre‐ vs. post‐extended contacts) mixed design was used, with the latter variable being within participants. Non‐disabled children (N= 67) aged 5–10 years took part in a 6‐week intervention involving reading stories featuring disabled and non‐disabled children in friendship contexts. The main dependent variables were children's attitudes and intended behavior toward non‐disabled and disabled people. Results showed that extended contact led to increased positivity toward the disabled, and this was most pronounced in the intergroup‐extended contact condition. These findings suggest that extended contact can provide a prejudice‐reduction intervention tool that can be used with young children in contexts in which the opportunity for direct contact is low. The findings also add to the psychological literature, providing support of theHewstone and Brown (1986)“intergroup” model in the context of extended contact.
Relative Importance of Contact Conditions in Explaining Prejudice Reduction in a Classroom Context: Separate and Equal?
Authors: Molina Ludwin E. , Wittig Michele A.
Published: August 2006

Research on contact theory has typically presented four major situational conditions of intergroup contact as separate and equally important in creating an environment that leads to lower levels of racial/ethnic prejudice. We empirically test this “separate and equal” assumption with a variety of student samples and outcome variables. Using data from three cohorts of high school students, as well as one middle school sample, we demonstrate that acquaintance potential and interdependence are the most consistent and robust predictors of prejudice reduction, outgroup orientation, and perceptions of a common ingroup identity. Findings concerning differences in the relative importance of these situational conditions for different racial/ethnic groups are also reported. Implications for implementing optimal contact conditions for prejudice reduction among various ethnic groups are drawn.
Slurs, Stereotypes, and Student Interventions: Examining the Dynamics, Impact, and Prevention of Harassment in Middle and High School
Authors: Wessler Stephen L. , De Andrade Lelia L.
Published: August 2006

Considerable research has focused on the scope and impact of bullying and harassment on middle and high school students. Previous findings suggest that a small percentage of students are the target of bullying and harassment, and they may experience long‐term emotional damage. But, for researchers and practitioners, many questions remain about the content and forms, the impact, and the amelioration of bullying and harassment in schools. In this article, we as practitioners in the field of bullying prevention address these questions with findings from our fieldwork. Focusing on verbal harassment, we offer detailed descriptions of the content, forms, and motivations behind school bullying. Following this analysis, we shift our focus to discuss the anti‐bias education programs we developed and implemented in response to these findings, and we highlight areas in which more research is needed.
Valuing Diversity and Interest in Intergroup Contact
Authors: Tropp Linda R. , Bianchi Rebecca A.
Published: August 2006

The present research examines ways in which valuing diversity relates to interest in intergroup contact among members of minority and majority status groups. Using open‐ended responses, Study 1 reveals that ethnic minority group members are less likely to perceive that diversity is valued than ethnic majority group members, yet those who perceive that diversity is valued tend to express greater interest in intergroup contact. Surveys of Black and White respondents (Study 2) and ethnic minority and majority respondents (Study 3) indicate similar trends. Moreover, these studies consistently show that valuing diversity uniquely predicts interest in intergroup contact among majority group members, whereas perceiving that outgroup members value diversity predicts interest in intergroup contact among minority group members. Implications of these findings for understanding the role of diversity in intergroup relations, and reformulating aspects of intergroup contact theory, are discussed.
Improving Race Relations in Schools: From Theory and Research to Practice
Authors: Banks James A.
Published: August 2006

Editors' introduction: James A. Banks was born in the racially segregated Arkansas delta the year that Pearl Harbor was attacked and the United States entered World War II. The justifications of war as a means to promote democracy abroad contradicted with the lived realities at home. His childhood and early teenage years were marked by private ruminations about the racial inequalities he confronted in the public—at schools, churches, water fountains, and more. The stereotypical racist images in textbooks were contrasted with what and who he knew of people in his family and community. These experiences and his early contemplations about “why were the slaves represented as being happy in textbooks?” (Banks, 2006, p. 2), set the stage for Banks' indelible legacy to intergroup relations. He is widely renowned as the “father of multicultural education” in the United States. In his commentary, Banks draws on this long‐standing, unwavering, and deep commitment to education, equity, and justice. He explores ways in which theory and basic research can inform programs in schools to improve race relations. He shows how the articles contained in this issue, more than the majority of the existing research, grapple with the complexity of intergroup interventions. Banks stresses that interventions must take into account the diversity of participants or students; what may work for one group, say the majority group, may not necessarily work for minority groups.
The Advantages of Multilevel Approaches
Authors: Pettigrew Thomas F.
Published: August 2006

Editors' introduction: Thomas F. Pettigrew was born and raised in tightlysegregated Richmond, Virginia in 1931. But his Scottish‐immigrant family did not subscribe to the South's racist norms, and he identified with and had early positive contact with African Americans. As an undergraduate at the University of Virginia, he discovered that there was a discipline that studied and resisted racism. These formative experiences forged his career path in social psychology to study intergroup relations. As a student of Allport's, Pettigrew is widely recognized as having expanded personality‐oriented perspectives on prejudice to include a more social, contextualized orientation (Kimmel, 1986). In that same vein, he focuses his commentary on incorporating multiple levels of analysis as we integrate theory, research and practice on intergroup relations. He emphasizes the importance of macro‐level—institutional and societal—contextualization of social psychological work. Pettigrew thoughtfully considers each article in the issue and contends that multiple level analyses, and incorporating the macro‐level, are critical for theoretical and empirical progress as well as maximizing effectiveness of interventions.
Informing Theory from Practice and Applied Research
Authors: Gurin Patricia
Published: August 2006

Editors' introduction:Patricia Gurin grew up in southern Indiana where citizens split in support of the South and the North during the Civil War, and where the Ku Klux Klan was founded. After graduating from Northwestern University, she worked with the American Friends Service Committee (the social action voice of the Quakers). Later, after earning her PhD in social psychology at the University of Michigan, she (with Edgar Epps) conducted a study of students attending historically Black colleges, focusing on how the vast majority integrated collective and individual achievements, worked with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and stayed in college at the same time. That work initiated her life‐long interest in personal and group identity. Most recently, Gurin presented expert testimony in the 2003 Supreme Court cases on affirmative action and the use of race in college admissions decisions. This social science evidence, providing strong support for the compelling interest for diversity in higher education, was widely cited in the majority opinion favoring race‐conscious admission policies. Gurin brings this rich activist scholarship to her commentary and discusses the promise of practice and applied research for informing theory. She traces her own professional biography, one that evolved from being a researcher (using primarily national surveys) and teacher (primarily large lecture courses) to becoming intimately involved in teaching through interactive, small group learning communities. Gurin brings to light contributions from the articles that converge on theorizing about the social context such that the theorizing can take into account differences rather than be applied universally.
A Nation of Immigrants: Living Our Legacy
Authors: Deaux Kay
Published: August 2006

Immigration is a social issue of global importance. Understanding immigration patterns and trends requires paying attention to historical trends, demographic patterns, public policy developments, and cultural attitudes and beliefs. In this article I call for an intensified social psychological analysis of immigration, usingPettigrew's (1997)three‐level framework as a means to define the approach. Selected research examples build the case for the critical role that social psychology can play in understanding the individual, group, and intergroup dynamics of immigration.
Better Late Than Never: Raymond Aron’s Theory of International Relations and Its Prospects in the Twenty‐First Century
Authors: Frost Bryan‐Paul
Published: August 2006

Although students of Raymond Aron’s Peace and War might rightly bemoan the fact that this book has had relatively little impact on Anglo‐American scholarship, the question arises as to whether Aron has anything significant to teach us today. After all, Aron is often seen first and foremost as a Cold War theoretician: is he the best person to turn to in order to make sense of events like Islamic fundamentalism, global terrorism, and the apparent importance of transnational organizations and treaties, to name just a few pertinent issues? This article hopes to demonstrate that Aron’s theoretical framework serves as a very useful starting point in conceptualizing international politics—including current politics—in a most comprehensive fashion. The article sketches Aron’s distinctive moral contributions to international relations theory and suggests that his conceptual framework can help us to understand, both theoretically and practically, the threat posed by Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism.
Nationalism and the Spanish Dilemma: The Basque Case
Authors: Sánchez José J. Jiménez
Published: August 2006

Liberal democracies have been founded on the nation‐state model, which has now entered a state of crisis fundamentally for two types of reasons: the effects produced by globalization and the revival of the model itself. This work deals with the latter. It focuses on the problems that have arisen in Spain as a result of the presentation and approval of the so‐called “Ibarretxe Plan” to the Basque Parliament, in which the Basque people’s right to self‐determination is asserted. The right to self‐determination is the true expression of sovereignty. When claims to sovereignty come from one part of a sovereign state, it creates a problem whose solution depends on how the concept of sovereignty is understood. This study argues that only a rational understanding of sovereignty can provide an adequate solution to the problem, because only this establishes a balanced priority between the recognition of individual rights and the preservation of the identifying elements of every community without the legal‐political system self‐destructing.

And how can all this come out well, I thought immediately, that one people—If the Muslims of Bosnia who speak Serbo‐Croat and who belong to Serbian stock, are a people—arbitrarily establish a state in a region where there are two other peoples who had the right, and what is more, the same right, and where there are, moreover, three different ethnic groups all living together, and not only that, without going further, in the capital of various cultures, but in every town and, in the towns themselves, in every house or cottage, they live cheek by jowl. And, again, how would I have behaved myself there, if I had been a Serb in Bosnia, seeing how, to put it politely, the strongest justified a state, to put it politely, that had nothing to do with me, in my, our region?

(Handke 1996, 41) [author’s translation]
Women Candidates and the Media: 1992‐2000 Elections
Authors: Jalalzai Farida
Published: August 2006

Studies examining newspaper coverage of gubernatorial and senatorial candidates running in the 1980s found women to be at a disadvantage compared to men. Although women are still underrepresented as senators and governors, they have increased their numbers in more recent years. With greater representation, has press coverage become more gender neutral? To answer this important question, coverage of men and women senatorial and gubernatorial candidates running between 1992 and 2000 is analyzed. Findings suggest, in general, that newspaper coverage of candidates has become increasingly gender‐balanced. Although certain disparities exist, some differences now actually favor women candidates. Some possible explanations for more balanced newspaper coverage are also discussed.
The Governor and the Lieutenant Governor: Forms of Cooperation between Two State Executives
Authors: Winder David W. , Hill David
Published: August 2006

The relationship between the governor and other elected executives is seldom explored in the field of state politics. This study focuses on that relationship, using survey responses and other data. The dependent variables include the frequency of meetings between the two officials, the number of gubernatorial assignments given to the lieutenant governor, the number of bills the lieutenant governor helps to develop for the chief executive’s program, and the frequency with which the lieutenant governor lobbies for the gubernatorial program proposals. Our findings indicate that lieutenant governors selected as a team with the governor have more joint meetings and help to develop more gubernatorial bills. The results also suggest that the gap in power between the two officials is positively related to the number of meetings and gubernatorial assignments. The various forms of cooperation between the two executives help the governor exercise leadership, encouraging more effective state policy making.
Manipulation of Host Hepatocytes by the Malaria Parasite for Delivery into Liver Sinusoids
Authors: Sturm Angelika , Amino Rogerio , van de Sand Claudia , Regen Tommy , Retzlaff Silke , Rennenberg Annika , Krueger Andreas , Pollok Jörg-Matthias , Menard Robert , Heussler Volker T.
Published: August 2006

The merozoite stage of the malaria parasite that infects erythrocytes and causes the symptoms of the disease is initially formed inside host hepatocytes. However, the mechanism by which hepatic merozoites reach blood vessels (sinusoids) in the liver and escape the host immune system before invading erythrocytes remains unknown. Here, we show that parasites induce the death and the detachment of their host hepatocytes, followed by the budding of parasite-filled vesicles (merosomes) into the sinusoid lumen. Parasites simultaneously inhibit the exposure of phosphatidylserine on the outer leaflet of host plasma membranes, which act as “eat me” signals to phagocytes. Thus, the hepatocyte-derived merosomes appear to ensure both the migration of parasites into the bloodstream and their protection from host immunity.
Discovery of a Young Planetary-Mass Binary
Authors: Jayawardhana Ray , Ivanov Valentin D.
Published: August 2006

We have identified a companion to the young planetary-mass brown dwarf Oph 162225-240515. This pair forms a resolved binary consisting of two objects with masses comparable to those of extrasolar giant planets. Several lines of evidence confirm the coevality and youth of the two objects, suggesting that they form a physical binary. Models yield masses of ∼14 and ∼7 times the mass of Jupiter for the primary and the secondary object, respectively, at an age of ∼1 million years. A wide (∼240–astronomical unit) binary in the ultra-low-mass regime poses a challenge to some popular models of brown dwarf formation.
CONFLICTS AND FAIR TESTING
Authors: MALIK ROBI , STREADER DAVID , REEVES STEVE
Published: August 2006

This paper studies conflicts from a process-algebraic point of view and shows how they are related to the testing theory of fair testing. Conflicts have been introduced in the context of discrete event systems, where two concurrent systems are said to be in conflict if they can get trapped in a situation where they are waiting or running endlessly, forever unable to complete their common task. In order to analyse complex discrete event systems, conflict-preserving notions of refinement and equivalence are needed. This paper characterises an appropriate refinement, called the conflict preorder, and provides a denotational semantics for it. Its relationship to other known process preorders is explored, and it is shown to generalise the fair testing preorder in process-algebra for reasoning about conflicts in discrete event systems.
A TIMED FAILURE EQUIVALENCE PRESERVING ABSTRACTION FOR PARAMETRIC TIME-INTERVAL AUTOMATA
Authors: NAKATA AKIO , TANIMOTO TADAAKI , SASAKI SUGURU , HIGASHINO TERUO
Published: August 2006

In the development of real-time communicating hardware/embedded-software systems, it is frequently the case that we want to refine/optimize the system's internal behavior while preserving the external timed I/O behavior. In such a design refinement, modification of the systems' internal branching structures, as well as re-scheduling of internal actions, may frequently occur. Our goal is, then, to ensure that such modification of internal branching structures and re-scheduling of internal actions preserve the systems' external timed behavior, which is typically formalized by the notion of (timed) failure equivalence since it is less sensitive to the difference of internal branching structures than (timed) weak bisimulation. In order to know the degree of freedom of such re-scheduling, parametric analysis is useful. One of the models suitable for such an analysis is a parametric time-interval automaton(PTIA), which is a subclass of the existing model, a parametric timed automaton. It has only a time interval with upper- and lower-bound parameters as a relative timing constraint between consecutive actions. In this paper, at first, we propose an abstraction algorithm of PTIA which preserves timed failure equivalence. Timed failure equivalence is strictly weaker than timed weak bisimulation in the sense that it does not distinguish the difference of the timing when the internal resolution of nondeterminism has occurred, but it does distinguish the difference of the refusals of communicating actions observed by an external environment. Then, we also show that after applying our algorithm, the reduced PTIA has no internal actions, and thus the problem deriving a parameter condition in order that given two models are timed failure equivalent can be reduced to the existing parametric strong bisimulation equivalence checking.
TYPENESS FOR ω-REGULAR AUTOMATA
Authors: KUPFERMAN ORNA , MORGENSTERN GILA , MURANO ANIELLO
Published: August 2006

We introduce and study three notions of typeness for automata on infinite words. For an acceptance-condition class γ (that is, γ is weak, Büchi, co-Büchi, Rabin, or Streett), deterministic γ-typeness asks for the existence of an equivalent γ-automaton on the same deterministic structure, nondeterministic γ-typeness asks for the existence of an equivalent γ-automaton on the same structure, and γ-powerset-typeness asks for the existence of an equivalent γ-automaton on the (deterministic) powerset structure – one obtained by applying the subset construction. The notions are helpful in studying the complexity and complication of translations between the various classes of automata. For example, we prove that deterministic Büchi automata are co-Büchi type; it follows that a translation from deterministic Büchi to deterministic co-Büchi automata, when exists, involves no blow up. On the other hand, we prove that nondeterministic Büchi automata are not co-Büchi type; it follows that a translation from a nondeterministic Büchi to nondeterministic co-Büchi automata, when exists, should be more complicated than just redefining the acceptance condition. As a third example, by proving that nondeterministic co-Büchi automata are Büchi-powerset type, we show that a translation of nondeterministic co-Büchi to deterministic Büchi automata, when exists, can be done applying the subset construction. We give a complete picture of typeness for the weak, Büchi, co-Büchi, Rabin, and Streett acceptance conditions, and discuss its usefulness.
QUANTUM OCTAL GAMES
Authors: GRAVIER SYLVAIN , JORRAND PHILIPPE , MHALLA MEHDI , PAYAN CHARLES
Published: August 2006

Quantum games offer situations where quantum information theory may help in solving or improving games with lack of information. For example, one may rely upon properties of entanglement for showing the superiority of a quantum player who is allowed to use quantum operations against a classical player (penny flipover [5]). Quantum communication properties enter into play in cooperative games (prisoners game, [3], guessing number [10]). An introduction to this field and an overview of important results are proposed in [7, 8]. But games may also help to make notions easier to understand, and new ways of reasoning to apprehend. The objective of this paper is to formalize and study a simple game with qubits using quantum notions of measurement and superposition, while keeping a simple formalism so that knowing quantum mechanics is not necessary to play the game. We generalize Conway's classical octal games to quantum octal games, and we solve the quantum combinatorial game QO.07 by giving a winning strategy for it. A playable version of the studied qubit game is available at the address .
SPIKE TRAINS IN SPIKING NEURAL P SYSTEMS
Authors: PĂUN GHEORGHE , PÉREZ-JIMÉNEZ MARIO J. , ROZENBERG GRZEGORZ
Published: August 2006

We continue here the study of the recently introduced spiking neural P systems, which mimic the way that neurons communicate with each other by means of short electrical impulses, identical in shape (voltage), but emitted at precise moments of time. The sequence of moments when a neuron emits a spike is called the spike train (of this neuron); by designating one neuron as the output neuron of a spiking neural P system II, one obtains a spike train of II. Given a specific way of assigning sets of numbers to spike trains of II, we obtain sets of numbers computed by II. In this way, spiking neural P systems become number computing devices. We consider a number of ways to assign (code) sets of numbers to (by) spike trains, and prove then computational completeness: the computed sets of numbers are exactly Turing computable sets. When the number of spikes present in the system is bounded, a characterization of semilinear sets of numbers is obtained. A number of research problems is also formulated.
MODEL INDEPENDENT CONSTRAINTS ON NON-ELECTRONIC FLAVORS IN THE SOLAR BORON NEUTRINO FLUX
Authors: DEV S. , KUMAR SANJEEV , VERMA SURENDER
Published: August 2006

We perform the most general model-independent analysis of the latest 391-Day Salt Phase SNO Data Set incorporating the super-Kamiokande ES flux measurement and obtain bounds on the antineutrino and sterile neutrino flux in the solar 8 B neutrino flux reaching the detectors on the earth. The muon/tauon antineutrino flux is found to be disallowed at 1.4σ C.L. The sterile flux is found to be nonzero at about 1.26 standard deviations.
EXCITED STATES OF DE SITTER SPACE SCALAR FIELDS: LATTICE SCHRÖDINGER PICTURE
Authors: HUANG JUNG-JENG
Published: August 2006

In lattice Schrödinger picture, the wave functionals of a free real scalar field in de Sitter space for the Bunch–Davies vacuum and the corresponding excited states are given explicitly in momentum space for the following coupling cases: (i) massless conformal couplng, (ii) massless minimal coupling, and (iii) massive minimal coupling. Implications of these solutions for inflationary scenarios in cosmology are also discussed.
MICROSCOPIC CALCULATIONS OF QUANTUM PHASE TRANSITIONS IN FRUSTRATED MAGNETIC LATTICES
Authors: BISHOP RAYMOND F. , KRÜGER SVEN E.
Published: August 2006

It is nowadays acknowledged that the coupled cluster method (CCM) provides one of the most powerful and most widely used of all ab initio techniques of microscopic quantum many-body theory. It has been applied to a broad range of both finite and extended physical systems defined on a spatial continuum, where it has generally yielded numerical results which are among the most accurate available. This widespread success has spurred many recent applications to quantum systems defined on a lattice. We discuss here a typical example of a two-dimensional spin-half Heisenberg magnet with two kinds of competing nearest-neighbour bonds. We show how the CCM can successfully describe the influence of strong quantum fluctuations on the zero-temperature phases and their quantum phase transitions. The model shows how the CCM can successfully describe the effects of competition between magnetic bonds with and without the presence of frustration. The frustrated case is particulary important since many other methods, including quantum Monte Carlo simulations, typically fail in this regime.
RECENT APPLICATIONS OF THE DMRG METHOD
Authors: HALLBERG KAREN
Published: August 2006

Since its inception, the DMRG method has been a very powerful tool for the calculation of physical properties of low-dimensional strongly correlated systems. It has been adapted to obtain dynamical properties and to consider finite temperature, time-dependent problems, bosonic degrees of freedom, the treatment of classical problems and non-equilibrium systems, among others. We will briefly review the method and then concentrate on its latest developments, describing some recent successful applications. In particular we will show how the dynamical DMRG can be used together with the Dynamical Mean Field Theory (DMFT) to solve the associated impurity problem in the infinite-dimensional Hubbard model. This method is used to obtain spectral properties of strongly correlated systems. With this algorithm, more complex problems having a larger number of degrees of freedom can be considered and finite-size effects can be minimized.
FUNCTIONAL RENORMALIZATION GROUP IN THE 2D HUBBARD MODEL
Authors: HONERKAMP CARSTEN
Published: August 2006

We review recent developments in functional renormalization group (RG) methods for interacting fermions. These approaches aim at obtaining an unbiased picture of competing Fermi liquid instabilities in the low-dimensional models like the two-dimensional Hubbard model. We discuss how these instabilities can be approached from various sides and how the fermionic RG flow can be continued into phases with broken symmetry.
QUANTUM PHASE TRANSITIONS AND EVENT HORIZONS: CONDENSED MATTER ANALOGIES
Authors: CHAPLINE GEORGE
Published: August 2006

Although it has been generally believed that classical general relativity is always correct for macroscopic length scales, certain predictions such as event horizons and closed time-like curves are inconsistent with ordinary quantum mechanics. It has recently been pointed out that the event horizon problem can be resolved if space-time undergoes a quantum phase transition as one approaches the surface where general relativity predicts that the redshift becomes infinite. Indeed a thought experiment involving a superfluid with a critical point makes such a suggestion appear plausible. Furthermore the behavior of space-time near an event horizon may resemble quantum phase transitions that have been observed in the laboratory. For example, the phenomenology of metamagnetic quantum critical points in heavy fermion materials resembles the behavior expected, both in terms of time standing still and the behavior of quantum correlation functions. Martensitic transformations accompanied by non-adiabatic changes in the electronic wave function are also interesting in this connection.
TWO–PARTICLE–TWO–HOLE EXCITATIONS IN 3He
Authors: KROTSCHECK E. , BÖHM H. M. , SCHÖRKHUBER K.
Published: August 2006

We describe the development of a systematic theory of excitations in strongly interacting Fermi systems. Technically, we derive the equations of motion for multi–pair excitations from a stationarity principle. This method has, in Fermi systems, so far been developed only to the level of one–particle–one–hole excitations, where it leads to the (correlated) random phase approximation (RPA). We extend the analysis here to pair excitations. Our work is motivated by the fact that time–dependent pair correlations are necessary for explaining the physics of the phonon–roton spectrum in 4 He . It is therefore plausible that the same processes also have visible effects in the excitation spectrum of 3 He . Further motivation is derived from recent measurements of the dynamic structure function in two–dimensional 3 He .

We first formulate the theory for a second quantized, weakly interacting Hamiltonian and then generalize the theory to a correlated ground state. We show that the inclusion of Jastrow–Feenberg type correlations leads to prescriptions for calculating weak effective interactions from a microscopic, strongly interacting Hamiltonian.
ANALYSIS OF THE INTERATOMIC POTENTIAL OF THE HELIUM SYSTEMS
Authors: UJEVIC SEBASTIAN , VITIELLO S. A.
Published: August 2006

The effects of interatomic potentials in the equation of state of 4 He and other properties of the system are investigated. A multi-weight diffusion Monte Carlo method is applied in order to compute very small energies differences with great accuracy. From our analysis we identify the best current description for the helium systems.