bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
DECONSTRUCTING THE SECULAR MAGISTERIUM: VOICES PAST AND PRESENT FOR CONVERSATIONS OF THE FUTURE
Authors: LAKIES CHAD 
Published: February 2010

In this paper I offer a possible approach to accomplishing Benedict's goal proposed in his Regensburg address.1 I take his goal to be twofold. First, we must expand our concept of reason beyond the privileged position of scientific empiricism and philosophical reasoning, both of which form what I have called the Secular Magisterium, put in place as the dominant intellectual force by the Enlightenment. Second, the motivation for expanding our concept of reason is for the purpose of greater dialogue across cultures, across religions and across academic disciplines. Since I take Benedict's goal to be twofold, my paper will address these issues in two parts, the second building from the first.In the first section, I will revisit the counter‐Enlightenment thinking of some well known, yet significantly marginalized voices, with the goal of hearing them again and reviving their critique to inform our own. By the end of this section, I will offer what I take to be a counter‐Enlightenment approach to knowing our world by means of an expanded concept of reason. In the second section, I will address what I take to be some of the more intellectual challenges to the possibilities for conversation across cultures, religions, and disciplines. It is my goal to show how an embodied version of the counter‐Enlightenment approach I offer in the first section can allow for genuine conversation that not only provides opportunities to better know our conversation partners, but also offers the possibility of honest persuasion in which the other sees reality differently and considers this way better.
Alternative Model of Funding for Academic Research in Nigerian Universities
Authors: Olayiwola Shina 
Published: February 2010

AbstractFunding of academic research in Nigerian universities by Government (5 per cent recurrent grants) is a policy dictated by the National Universities Commission (NUC) as the central body for allocating research funds. This research fund, little as it is, is irregular and inadequate and to make it worse is difficult to access. These aforementioned factors have contributed to the decline in research activity as a means of attaining sustainable development in Nigeria. Thus, this article proposes a dual support system of funding academic research as follows: a devolution of the power of the NUC as the central body for administering research funds and the encouragement of another separate body such as the Education Tax Fund (ETF) to promote a healthy competitive research process and collaborative research among university research groups and individuals. These separate bodies (NUC and ETF) should be similar to the dual support system of operation, policies and procedures in the UK, where there is the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and the Research Councils. These bodies collaborate to build and maintain a sustainable research base in the UK. The dual support system as it is operated in the UK is very efficient in backing research in universities, because the research is supported at a marginal cost and provides a research council component of provision irrespective of geographical location.
A novel two‐step kit for topical treatment of tinea pedis – an open study
Authors: Shemer A , Grunwald MH , Davidovici B , Nathansohn N , Amichai B 
Published: February 2010

AbstractBackground  Tinea pedis is a common skin disease affecting most of the population during their lifetime. Topical and systemic treatments give only temporary relief.Objective  To evaluate the efficacy and safety of a new topical treatment for moderate‐to‐severe tinea pedis.Methods  Fifty patients suffering from tinea pedis were treated in two stages: the active stage – single use of the novel topical solution for 45 min and novel cream twice weekly for 4 weeks; the preventive stage – cream application once weekly for 10 months.Results  Forty‐five patients completed the active stage and achieved 76% cure rate. The medication was well tolerated; one patient dropped from the study because of very mild irritation. No other topical or systemic side effects were noted. Another five patients were lost to follow‐up during the preventive stage. The total cure rate after the preventive stage was 70%.Conclusions  This novel treatment was found to be effective, well tolerated and safe in the treatment of moderate and severe tinea pedis during the active and the preventive stages.
The EMF uncertainty problem related to mobile phones: where do consumers place their trust?
Authors: Berg Lisbet , Slettemeås Dag , Throne‐Holst Harald 
Published: February 2010

AbstractThis paper addresses the uncertainty problem, i.e. cases characterized by lack of knowledge or scientific uncertainty. In such situations, it can be hard for consumers to ‘voice’ or practise consumer power. One field characterized by the uncertainty problem is electromagnetic radiation. An explicit goal of this study has been to articulate Norwegian consumers' practices, attitudes and beliefs regarding electromagnetic radiation from mobile phones to public authorities and consumer policy makers.The study was based on 1000 telephone interviews collected in 2008. Today, experts disagree on the potential health effects of radiation from electromagnetic fields (EMF), as well as standards for safe limits of exposure to mobile phones, base stations and wireless telecommunication systems. In addition, complicated technology and extremely rapid product development and diffusion leave consumers' security considerations to their own beliefs and trust. Whether or not electromagnetic radiation from mobile phones constitutes a health hazard will not be addressed in this paper. Rather, it will focus on how consumers react to this situation of uncertainty.The material reveals four main ways in which consumers can solve what we have named the EMF uncertainty problem: the confident and comfortable way, the sceptical and cautious way, the responsible and good citizen way, and finally, the neglecting way.The paper also discusses the precautionary principle related to EMF. Who should be precautionary: the public authorities, the mobile phone industry or the consumers themselves? We believe that a consistent governmental precautionary policy in combination with consumers taking their own precautionary measures is a viable solution. In this way, all consumers would be addressed and aided when navigating this field of uncertainty.
Capturing the voice of older consumers in relation to financial products and services
Authors: Brennan Carol , Ritch Elaine 
Published: February 2010

AbstractThe purpose of this pilot study was to focus on the suitability of selected financial products for older people. Bank accounts and equity release products were selected for this study by an expert advisory panel. New marketing initiatives are being used to promote bank accounts, including forms of insurance, for the ‘50+’ market. Also, older people are now expected to provide for their retirement and it is anticipated that equity release will be one product which may be used to fund and maintain consumer lifestyles. In the first phase of the study, a questionnaire was distributed to 152 people aged over 50 years in Scotland. Eighty‐three were completed, a response rate of 55%. The results informed the development of questions for the second phase which were discussed with 46 participants via the World Café in June 2008, enabling a deeper insight into their opinions. The research found that consumers had lost trust in financial product and service providers because of the perceived excessive profits of banks and lack of customer service. Further, many products and services were prohibited for or incurred extra costs to those aged over 60 or 65 years, leaving limited choices, and equity release products were seen as a last resort for those in financial difficulty. Although the profitability of banks has changed dramatically since the completion of data collection, the issues identified by older consumers in Scotland will be of international interest. The demographic changes resulting in an increasing proportion of elderly people in the population are reflected throughout the UK and many Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development countries. Similar financial products and services, which were the focus of this study, are promoted internationally, offering opportunities to replicate the research methods.
Consumer voices: adoption of residential energy‐efficient practices
Authors: Niemeyer Shirley 
Published: February 2010

AbstractThe purpose of this research is to identify constraining variables that may impinge on adopting energy‐efficient practices, materials, equipment and technology in households. The intent is to uncover relationships of attitudes, beliefs, knowledge and other resource constraints to: (1) existing housing adaptations and adjustments for energy efficiency; and (2) more efficient use of energy in homes. A second objective is to identify existing practices used to reduce energy use and the adaptations made to the existing structure, materials, equipment and technology for energy efficiency as well as their intentions to make future adaptations. Constraint variables include knowledge of existing energy‐efficient practices and technology; economic constraints (household income, cost as a problem, financial need and existing energy costs); obstacles to making changes (lack of information, assistance, time, cooperation, trained persons and the condition of home); and demographic variables (age, education level and urban/rural). Attitude and belief constraints include measures of felt responsibility for energy use‐related actions that impact the natural resources and environment, and measures of concern. These constraints may impinge on or contribute to making energy‐efficient changes in residential households. Questionnaires were mailed to a random stratified sample of 800 households in Nebraska (US state) in April and May of 2008, resulting in a 29% return rate. The analysis indicates that the research produced information about constraining factors that impact the existing energy‐efficiency levels of households. The use of energy‐efficient equipment and technology, and behaviour practices that reduce energy use are related to those barriers. However, residential energy use and behaviour change result from a range of psychological and contextual influences on behaviour. Behaviour is often inconsistent with attitudes because of the presence of various constraining factors that preclude consistency with behaviour. Educational programmes have a challenging task if they are to alter attitudes and norms to overcome situational constraints. It may be more fruitful to educate and to remove the constraints impinging on those who already have a positive attitude about the need to increase energy efficiency for whatever reason.
The link between diet and health: an exploratory study of adolescents in Northern Ireland using foodmaps
Authors: Walsh Aoibéann , Nelson Roy 
Published: February 2010

AbstractA significant proportion of consumers in the UK continue to adopt a diet consisting largely of nutritionally unbalanced foods. The adolescent period has been identified as being formative in the development of long‐term eating habits as the individual achieves greater control over their food choice. By examining the current eating behaviour of a sample of adolescents, the aim of this study was to establish why they are not utilizing their knowledge to choose nutritionally balanced foods. A two‐stage data collecting procedure was adopted. In stage 1, respondents (n = 136) completed a questionnaire that measured demographic and social factors, knowledge, attitudes, pre‐existing behaviour with respect to food and the influence of family, peers, the media and government campaigns on their eating behaviour. In stage 2, a subsection of the respondents (n = 20) completed a foodmap, which revealed the network of relationships involved in the adolescents' decision‐making process by identifying the links among the foods consumed, the people they eat with and the places they eat in. Results emphasized the importance of the home environment and the continuing influence of parents on adolescents' eating behaviour despite the greater independence related to this stage of the life cycle. A proportion of the sample was found to have recognized the need to change their eating behaviour in order to lose weight, because of their sporting commitments or to improve their health. Recommendations from this study include the need for the various agencies involved in the promotion of balanced dietary behaviour to attend to the link among adult, family and adolescent, and the need for greater progress in enabling consumers to translate the theory of nutritional education into practice.
Exploring consumers' preferences with regard to department and specialist food stores
Authors: Jacobs Sunelle , Van Der Merwe Daleen , Lombard Ené , Kruger Nadia 
Published: February 2010

AbstractConsumers' lifestyle changes and striving towards better time management have resulted in the greater choice they are offered with regard to store formats. Therefore, this study was undertaken to identify the factors that influence consumers in their patronage of a particular store format and to categorize department and specialist food store consumers according to their preferences in store layout and product range in a South African context. A qualitative research approach was used and data were collected using semi‐structured interviews with open‐ended questions. Purposive sampling recruited participants shopping for food in a department store in Johannesburg. Forty semi‐structured interviews were conducted before data saturation was reached. Store‐related factors such as store location, appearance and hygiene, service quality, convenience of trading hours, and consistency in store layout predominantly influenced participants in their patronage of a specific store format. Furthermore, product‐related factors such as quality, price, product range and convenient packaging enhanced consumers' store preference. Department store consumers were orientated towards one‐stop shopping and time‐saving strategies, while specialist food consumers were focused on food shopping and the trading hours of the store. Although similarities in participants' preferences with regard to department and specialist food store were found, different preferences were found regarding the placement of specific items within the store. Participants had similar preferences regarding the product range of a food store. However, department store participants emphasized the provision of convenience food and non‐food items. The findings of this study are valuable in providing department and specialist food store retailers with guideline recommendations regarding store layout and product range in order to effectively respond to the needs and preferences of consumers within an emerging economy.
Consumer morality in times of economic hardship: evidence from the European Social Survey
Authors: Lopes Cláudia Abreu 
Published: February 2010

AbstractCrimes of everyday life, often referred to as unfair or unethical practices committed in the marketplace by those who see themselves and are seen as respectable citizens, have burgeoned as a result of the transformations in the European economy in the late 20th century, namely the transition to neo‐liberal markets and the emergence of consumer society. A ‘cornucopia of new criminal opportunities’ has given rise to a new range of crimes such as ripping software, making false insurance claims or paying cash on hand to circumvent taxes. These shady behaviours (legal or not) are part of people's experience, albeit they are collectively regarded as morally dubious. Taken collectively, crimes of everyday life are indicators of the moral stage of a particular society and therefore a valuable instrument for social and political analysis. This paper addresses the question of whether and under which conditions feelings of economic hardship trigger crimes of everyday life. A multilevel theoretical and empirical perspective that integrates theories stemming from political science, sociology, and social psychology is adopted. I start by exploring the embeddedness of economic morality in social institutions, followed by an elaboration of the concept of market anomie to account for deviant behaviour in the marketplace, to finally step down to the examination of the correspondence between social attitudes and consumer behaviour, as postulated by the Theory of Planned Behaviour. The empirical study relies on micro data from the European Social Survey (ESS) (Round 2) and attempts to model, for each country, a formative measure of crimes of everyday life based on socio‐demographic variables and the current economic situation, as it is perceived by the individual (taken as a measure of relative deprivation). The resultant country‐specific regression coefficients are mapped onto the broader economic and normative context of 23 European countries. The results reveal that crimes of everyday life are driven by feelings of economic hardship only in countries where normative factors dictate their deviance. In countries where fraudulent behaviour is more generalized, inner motivations to offend play a secondary role as the more privileged consumers are more likely to commit fraud as they interact more often with the market. In turn, normative aspects result from a dynamic interplay of cultural and economic factors. As the economy grows faster, the tendency to offend in the market becomes more visible, but only in countries whose gross domestic product (GDP) stands above the European average. In countries with low GDP, the normative landscape is shaped by cultural factors that seem to obfuscate the power of economic factors favourable to consumer fraud.
Function of dopamine transporter is compromised in DYT1 transgenic animal modelin vivo
Authors: Hewett Jeff , Johansen Peter , Sharma Nutan , Standaert David , Balcioglu Aygul 
Published: February 2010

J. Neurochem.(2010) 10.1111/j.1471‐4159.2010.06590.xAbstractEarly onset torsion dystonia (DYT1), the most common form of hereditary primary dystonia, is caused by a mutation in the TOR1A gene, which codes for the protein, torsinA. We previously examined the effect of the human mutant torsinA on striatal dopaminergic function in a conventional transgenic mouse model of DYT1 dystonia (hMT1), in which human mutant torsinA is expressed under the cytomegalovirus promotor. Systemic administration of amphetamine did not increase dopamine (DA) release as efficiently in these mice as compared with wild‐type transgenic and non‐transgenic mice. We, now, studied the contribution of the DA transporter (DAT) to amphetamine‐induced DA release in hMT1 transgenic mice usingin vivono‐net flux microdialysis. This method applies different concentrations of DA through the microdialysis probe and measures DA concentration at the output of the probe following an equilibrium period. The slope (extraction fraction) is the measure of the DAT activityin vivo. The slope for hMT1 transgenic mice was 0.58 ± 0.07 and for non‐transgenic animals, 0.87 ± 0.06 (p < 0.05). We further investigated the efficacy of nomifensine (a specific DAT inhibitor) in inhibiting amphetamine‐induced DA release. Local application of nomifensine 80 min before the systemic application of amphetamine inhibited DA release in both transgenic mice and their non‐transgenic littermates. The efficiency of the inhibition appeared to be different, with mean values of 48% for hMT1 transgenic mice versus 84% for non‐transgenic littermates. Moreover, we have evaluated basal and amphetamine‐induced locomotion in hMT1 transgenic mice compared with their non‐transgenic littermates, using an O‐maze behavioral chamber. Basal levels of locomotion in the hMT1 transgenic mice showed that they moved much less than their non‐transgenic littermates (0.9 ± 0.3 m for transgenic mice vs. 2.4 ± 0.7 m for non‐transgenic littermates,p < 0.05). This relative reduction in locomotion was also observed following amphetamine administration (48.5 ± 6.7 m for transgenics vs. 73.7 ± 9.8 m for non‐transgenics,p < 0.05). These results support the finding that there are altered dynamics of DA release and reuptake in hMT1 transgenic micein vivo, with DAT activity is reduced in the presence of mutant torsinA, which is consistent with behavioral consequences such as reduced locomotion and (previously described) abnormal motor phenotypes such as increased hind‐base width and impaired performance on the raised‐beam task. These data implies that altered DAT function may contribute to impaired DA neurotransmission and clinical symptoms in human DYT1 dystonia.
Mutant SOD1 knockdown in all cell types ameliorates disease in G85R SOD1 mice with a limited additional effect over knockdown restricted to motor neurons
Authors: Wang Lijun , Grisotti Gabriella , Roos Raymond P. 
Published: February 2010

J. Neurochem. (2010) 10.1111/j.1471‐4159.2010.06594.xAbstractApproximately 10% of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) have familial ALS (FALS), and 20% of FALS is caused by mutant Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase type 1 (MTSOD1). Previous studies have convincingly demonstrated that MTSOD1 expression in other cell types besides motor neurons (MNs) contributes to disease in MTSOD1 FALS transgenic mice. Using Cre/LoxP methods, we knocked down G85R SOD1 mRNA by 66% in all cell types in 3‐month‐old FALS transgenic mice, delaying disease onset and lengthening disease duration. Surprisingly, the effect on onset and early disease duration was similar to that seen in FALS transgenic mice with ∼25% knockdown prenatally in G85R SOD1 mRNA restricted to MNs and some interneurons. These results demonstrate no clear cumulative effect on disease onset or early disease duration from knocking down G85R SOD1 in other cell types in addition to MNs/interneurons; the findings bring up the possibility that MTSOD1 has a pathogenic effect early in life that our later knockdown did not affect. Despite the more limited amelioration of disease than expected, the effect of the knockdown on disease supports the value of this approach in FALS patients and asymptomatic individuals with SOD1 mutations.
Phosphoinositide 3‐kinase mediated signaling in lobster olfactory receptor neurons
Authors: Corey Elizabeth A. , Bobkov Yuriy , Pezier Adeline , Ache Barry W. 
Published: February 2010

J. Neurochem. (2010) 113, 341–350.AbstractIn vertebrates and some invertebrates, odorant molecules bind to G protein‐coupled receptors on olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) to initiate signal transduction. Phosphoinositide 3‐kinase (PI3K) activity has been implicated physiologically in olfactory signal transduction, suggesting a potential role for a G protein‐coupled receptor‐activated class I PI3K. Using isoform‐specific antibodies, we identified a protein in the olfactory signal transduction compartment of lobster ORNs that is antigenically similar to mammalian PI3Kγ and cloned a gene for a PI3K with amino acid homology with PI3Kβ. The lobster olfactory PI3K co‐immunoprecipitates with the G protein α and β subunits, and an odorant‐evoked increase in phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5)‐trisphosphate can be detected in the signal transduction compartment of the ORNs. PI3Kγ and β isoform‐specific inhibitors reduce the odorant‐evoked output of lobster ORNs in vivo. Collectively, these findings provide evidence that PI3K is indeed activated by odorant receptors in lobster ORNs and further support the potential involvement of G protein activated PI3K signaling in olfactory transduction.