bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
BOUNDS FOR THE DEVIATION OF A FUNCTION FROM THE CHORD GENERATED BY ITS EXTREMITIES
Authors: DRAGOMIR S. S. 
Published: October 2008

AbstractSharp bounds for the deviation of a real-valued function f defined on a compact interval [a,b] to the chord generated by its end points (a,f(a)) and (b,f(b)) under various assumptions for f and f′, including absolute continuity, convexity, bounded variation, and monotonicity, are given. Some applications for weighted means and f-divergence measures in information theory are also provided.
EXAMINING THE GEOGRAPHICAL HETEROGENEITY ASSOCIATED WITH RISK OF MISTIMED AND UNWANTED PREGNANCY IN GHANA
Authors: AMOAKO JOHNSON FIIFI , MADISE NYOVANI J. 
Published: October 2008

SummaryAfter a decade of fertility decline, Ghana’s fertility and the level of unmet need for contraception stalled in mid-transition in the late 1990s. Although the literature acknowledges this, the geographical patterns in unmet need have not been adequately documented. Spatial analysis of unmet need can reveal differences in usage and provision of contraceptive commodities, thereby pointing to geographical areas where contraceptive programmes should be strengthened. This study examines the geographical variation of the risk of mistimed and unwanted pregnancies between rural communities and also between urban communities of the three ecological zones of Ghana. The study also investigates if geographical differences in the risks of mistimed and unwanted pregnancies changed during the period when unmet need stalled at the national level. A multilevel regression model was applied to pooled data from the 1998 and 2003 Ghana Demographic and Health Surveys to examine the determinants of the risk of unintended pregnancies, while controlling for clustering of outcomes within communities. The results show that between the two surveys, there was no significant change in the levels of risk of mistimed and unwanted pregnancy. However, geographical heterogeneity in the risk of mistimed and unwanted pregnancy was observed, after controlling for relevant predictors. This showed concentration of mistimed pregnancies in some rural communities relative to others, and variation in the risk of unwanted pregnancies between urban communities. The results give a clear indication that bridging the inequality gap in contraceptive use requires programmes that are area-specific.
Population zoogeography of brown shrimp Crangon crangon along its distributional range based on morphometric characters
Authors: Campos Joana , Pedrosa Cindy , Rodrigues Joana , Santos Sílvia , Witte Johanses I.J. , Santos Paulo , Van der Veer Henk W. 
Published: October 2008

Morphometry has been used in the investigation of the common shrimp Crangon crangon subpopulation structure at a local scale (100 km) around the UK. In the present study C. crangon populations were sampled over the whole distributional range from northern Norway to the Mediterranean and Black Sea to test whether the same method could be applied to describe subpopulation structure at a much larger scale (1000 km). Spatial variability in morphometric characters was determined by sampling 25 locations across the distributional range. In addition, the temporal variability in morphology was studied at 4 sites (Bodo, Norway; Wadden Sea, The Netherlands; Minho and Lima estuaries, Portugal). Contrary to expectations, temporal variability was observed in three of those sites resulting in an inability to distinguish between populations at the local scale. However, the large scale subdivision of shrimp populations from the Adriatic, Black Sea, Mediterranean and Atlantic were clearly identified. It is concluded that, while there are clear morphological differences between major zoogeographical zones, at a local scale, subpopulations frequently cannot be identified because of individual variability.
A plane quartic curve with twelve undulations
Authors: Edge W. L. 
Published: October 2008

The pencil of quartic curveswhere x, y, z are homogeneous coordinates in a plane, was encountered by Ciani [Palermo Rendiconli, Vol. 13, 1899] in his search for plane quartic curves that were invariant under harmonic inversions. If x, y, z undergo any permutation the ternary quartic form on the left of (1) is not altered; nor is it altered if any, or all, of x, y, z be multiplied by −1. There thus arises an octahedral group G of ternary collineations for which every curve of the pencil is invariant.Since (1) may also be writtenthe four linesare, as Ciani pointed out, bitangents, at their intersections with the conic C whose equation is x2 + y2 + z2 = 0, to every quartic of the pencil. The 16 base points of the pencil are thus all accounted for—they consist of these eight contacts counted twice—and this set of points must of course be invariant under G. Indeed the 4! collineations of G are precisely those which give rise to the different permutations of the four lines (2), a collineation in a plane being determined when any four non-concurrent lines and the four lines which are to correspond to them are given. The quadrilateral formed by the lines (2) will be called q.
A generalisation of Dirichlet's multiple integral
Authors: Rao S. K. Lakshmana 
Published: October 2008

The well-known multiple integralwhere Rn is the region defined by x1 ≥ 0, x2 ≥ 0, …., xn ≥ 0, x1 + x2 + …. + xn ≤ 1, and where a0, a1, …, an are positive constants, can be evaluated either in the classical way using the Dirichlet transformation or by the use of the Laplace transform. I. J. Good has considered a more general integral and has proved the following result by induction:—If f1(t), f2(t), …, fn(t) are Lebesgue measurable for 0 ≤ t ≤ 1, m1, m2, …., mn, mn+1 (= 0) are real numbers, Mr = m1 + m2 + … + mr, x1, x2, …, xn are non-negative variables and Xr = x1 + x2 + … + xr, thenIt does not seem to be possible to establish this relation by employing the Laplace transform, but we show below that it can be obtained using the Mellin transform.
On Wallis' formula
Authors: Kazarinoff Donat K. 
Published: October 2008

In the course of mathematical progress new truths are discovered while older ones are sometimes more precisely articulated and often generalised. Because of their elegance and simplicity, however, some classical statements have been left unchanged. As an example, I have in mind the celebrated formula of John Wallis,which for more than a century has been quoted by writers of textbooks. Usually this formula is written asIn this note it is shown that ¼ < θ < ½. Unquestionably, inequalities similar to this one can be improved indefinitely but at a sacrifice of simplicity, which is why they have survived so long.
A theoretical approach to the deficits in infantile autism
Authors: Rogers Sally J. , Pennington Bruce F. 
Published: October 2008

AbstractDeficits specific to the syndrome of infantile autism appear in imitation, emotion sharing, theory of mind, pragmatics of communication, and symbolic play. Current competing theories of Hobson and of Baron-Cohen, Frith, and associates account for some, but not all, of these specific deficits. The present article suggests that early social capacities involving imitation, emotion sharing, and theory of mind are primarily and specifically deficient in autism. Further, these three capacities involve forming and coordinating social representations of self and other at increasingly complex levels via representational processes that extract patterns of similarity between self and other. Stern's theory of interpersonal development is offered as a continuous model for understanding the development and deficits of the autistic child and as a means for integrating competing theories about the primary deficits in autism. Finally, the article suggests a neuropsychological model of interpersonal coordination involving prefrontal cortex and executive function capacities that is consistent with the social deficits observed in autism.
Play and social behavior in maltreated preschoolers
Authors: Alessandri Steven M. 
Published: October 2008

AbstractThis study investigates play and nonplay behavior in maltreated and nonmaltreated preschool children. In addition, standardized tests of cognitive and language ability were administered, and teachers rated the children's classroom behavior. Thirty 4–5-year-old children participated in the study: 15 had a history of child abuse, and 15 nonabused children served as a matched control group. Across a 6-week period, children's social and play interactions were videotaped in the classroom. Videotape recordings were analyzed for the level of social participation and cognitive play. No differences were found between the two groups on the standardized measures. However, maltreated, relative to nonmaltreated, children engaged in less overall play and greater functional or sensorimotor play. Maltreated children also engaged in more transitional behavior and aggression, were less competent with peers, and were perceived by teachers as more emotionally disturbed. Results of this study suggest that the impact of maltreatment extends beyond the family into play and social relationships in preschool.
Patterns of relatedness in maltreated and nonmaltreated children: Connections among multiple representational models
Authors: Lynch Michael , Cicchetti Dante 
Published: October 2008

AbstractThis study examined children's reports of relatedness to multiple relationship figures in a population of low SES maltreated (N = 115) and nonmaltreated (N = 100) children, ranging in age from 7 to 13 years old. Relatedness scales were administered to children as part of individual interviews given in the context of a summer day camp. Consistent with prior normative research, it was found that the two dimensions of relatedness–emotional quality and psychological proximity-seeking–are negatively correlated with each other. Moreover, patterns of relatedness, based on the configuration of children's scores on both dimensions, reflect group differences, with maltreated children more likely to have confused patterns of relatedness and nonmaltreated children more likely to have optimal patterns. Connections were examined among children's self-reported feelings of relatedness for different relationship figures. Substantial concordance was found among the children's reports of relatedness with their mothers, their teachers, and their best friends. Evidence is presented to support the claim that children form both global and specific models of relationships. The findings are discussed in terms of attachment and self-system theory.
Quality of attachment in the preschool years
Authors: Crittenden Patricia M. 
Published: October 2008

AbstractThis is a theoretical paper about differences in quality of attachment in preschool-aged children with emphasis on the development of the goal-corrected partnership. Inferences are made about the processes underlying preschoolers' attachment behavior. Specifically, the notion of quality of attachment is expanded to explicitly include strategy, regulation of affect, negotiation, secure base behavior, and response to maternal behavior. The classificatory system is expanded by adding two additional defended patterns, that is, compulsive caregiving and compulsive compliance, to the infant avoidant pattern. Furthermore, at the preschool age, the infant ambivalent pattern is identified as having a coercive strategy. In addition, the disorganized infant category is reconceptualized in terms of complex organization, reorganization, and disorganization. Finally, the process of generating new theories and hypotheses through a “participant observer” methodology is considered from the perspective of developmental psychopathology.
Continuity and desistance in disruptive boys' early fighting at school
Authors: Loeber Rolf , Tremblay Richard E. , Gagnon Claude , Charlebois Pierre 
Published: October 2008

AbstractDisruptive boys in kindergarten, selected from teacher ratings in a large study, were each followed up for four successive years. There was considerable continuity of the boys' fighting, despite a declining prevalence in fighting over the years. High oppositional behavior in one year did not consistently predict fighting in the next year. A history of fighting was associated with being held back in grade. Boys were assigned to fighting evolution status on the basis of their fighting scores over the four years: stable high fighters, desisting high fighters, and variable/initiating high fighters. Stable high fighters, unlike desisting high fighters, scored high on nonaggressive antisocial acts at the end of the four years. For some boys, cessation of fighting was associated with later nonaggressive antisocial behavior. Fighting evolution status was examined further in relationship to anxiety, hyperactivity/inattentiveness, and prosocial behaviors. At age 9, stable high fighters, and to a lesser extent variable/initiating high fighters, were more likely to come from single parent families than desisting high fighters. The results are discussed in the context of the development of conduct problems in children.
Behavioral/emotional profiles of preschool language-impaired children
Authors: Tallal Paula , Dukette Dianne , Curtiss Susan 
Published: October 2008

AbstractPrevious research has suggested that language-impaired (LI) children have a high prevalence of psychiatric disorders, and conversely, that children being treated for psychiatric disorders have a high incidence of language impairment. To investigate the relationship between developmental language and psychiatric disorders further, the behavioral and emotional status of a large, well-defined group of preschool-age LI and matched control children were evaluated using the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Based on parent report, data were analyzed for broad- as well as narrow-band syndromes. For the broad-band syndromes, results demonstrated significant between-group differences for boys, but not girls. However, for the narrow-band syndromes, unexpectedly few significant between-group differences were found for boys or girls. Only the Immaturity scale for boys and Social Withdrawal scale for girls proved significantly different between groups. Inspection of the items that comprised these two scales revealed a high prevalence of items which relate to attention, perception, and motor functions. As previous research with LI children has demonstrated that highly significant perceptual/motor disorders characterize this population, additional analyses were performed to determine the extent to which attention, perception, and motor items on the CBCL contributed to the significant group differences found. When items classified as assessing attention, perception, or motor functioning were excluded, few significant between-group differences remained. Subsequent analyses demonstrated a high correlation between the CBCL items classified as assessing attention, perception, or motor functions and the performance of LI and normal children on a battery of non-verbal attention, perception, and motor tasks. These results suggest that psychiatric disorders previously identified in LI children may be related primarily to specific neurodevelopmental delay in perceptual/motor functioning.
Hypothetical versus real-life moral reasoning among psychopathic and delinquent youth
Authors: Trevethan Shelley D. , Walker Lawrence J. 
Published: October 2008

AbstractDifferences in moral reasoning concerning hypothetical versus real-life conflicts were examined with a sample of 44 youths (aged 15–18 years) who were classified as psychopathic, delinquent, or normal. All subjects were individually interviewed and assessed on (a) Hare's Psychopathy Checklist, (b) two of Kohlberg's hypothetical moral dilemmas, and (c) a subject-generated real-life moral dilemma. The results revealed that the normal youths attained a higher level of moral reasoning than either the delinquents or psychopaths. All groups scored lower on the real-life than the hypothetical dilemmas, indicating that hypothetical dilemmas may best elicit a person's level of moral reasoning competence, whereas real-life dilemmas may entail factors that lower the level of reasoning used in a situation of moral conflict. These two dilemma types also were found to elicit differing moral orientations. Finally, psychopaths were found to orient more to egoistic concerns than did delinquents when discussing real-life dilemmas.
Neuropsychological assessment of executive functions in self-reported delinquents
Authors: Moffitt Terrie E. , Henry Bill 
Published: October 2008

AbstractDeficits in “executive” neuropsychological functions have been proposed to underlie the development of antisocial behavior such as juvenile delinquency. Results of research into the executive functions of delinquents have been mixed, and studies have been hampered by reliance on small samples of adjudicated subjects and questionable validity of the tests administered. This research examined the performance of a large unselected birth cohort of adolescent boys and girls on five tests of executive function that have documented reliability and validity. It is the first such study to use self-reports of antisocial behavior. Executive deficits were shown only by a subgroup of delinquent subjects with childhood comorbidity of antisocial behavior and attention deficit disorder; that subgroup's behavior was also rated as more aggressive and impulsive than comparison groups'. Group differences on executive measures remained significant after the effects of overall IQ were statistically controlled. Also, delinquents who had been detected by police did not show poorer executive functions than subjects with equivalent self-reports of delinquent behavior who had evaded official detection, suggesting that executive deficits are related to the development of antisocial behavior itself, and not simply to risk of detection.
Joint-attention deficits in autism: Towards a cognitive analysis
Authors: Baron-Cohen Simon 
Published: October 2008

AbstractMundy and Sigman (1989) present a challenge to the metarepresentational theory of autism. Their argument holds if it is assumed that the capacity for metarepresentation only emerges at 12–24 months old in normal development, as manifested in pretend play. However, I present reasons for postulating that the capacity for metarepresentation may be present from as early as 7–9 months of age, manifested in joint-attention behaviors. If this account has any validity, then the metarepresentational theory of autism is unaffected by Mundy and Sigman's challenge. In addition, I highlight some problems in Mundy and Sigman's alternative model of autism. These criticisms aside, their article is without doubt important and opens up critical questions both for models of the origins of autism and of a theory of mind in normal development.
Perceived and actual competence among maltreated and comparison school children
Authors: Vondra Joan , Barnett Douglas , Cicchetti Dante 
Published: October 2008

AbstractThis research examined the impact of child maltreatment and grade level on perceptions of competence and explored relations between perceived competence and school functioning among a sample of 104 low-income school children, half of whom belonged to families in which child maltreatment had been officially documented. Data were collected on 76 first through third graders and 28 fourth through sixth graders, who were interviewed in a laboratory setting, and on a subset of 74 children, who were evaluated by their teachers on measures of school functioning. Results indicated that maltreated children perceive themselves and/or describe themselves differently than do their low-income peers. However, these differences took the expected negative direction only beginning around the middle of the elementary school years. In earlier grades, maltreated children demonstrated a tendency to describe themselves in exaggerated positive terms, over and above the self-enhancement bias documented here and in other research among younger nonmaltreated children. Differences between maltreated and comparison children also appeared in teachers' ratings of school functioning and in use of special educational services. These results are presented and discussed as suggestive evidence for a causal chain from parent-child relationships, to self-perceptions, to school functioning.
Optimal informants on childhood disruptive behaviors
Authors: Loeber Rolf , Green Stephanie M. , Lahey Benjamin B. , Stouthamer-Loeber Magda 
Published: October 2008

AbstractThe question of which informant on childhood behavior disorders is the most useful an'd valid for which disorders influences diagnostic accuracy and research findings. The present study focuses on 177 boys, most of whom had been referred to outpatient services because they were displaying disruptive behavior. The boys, their mothers, and their teachers responded to a psychiatric interview concerning the boys' behavior. Analyses of conditional agreements between informants show that children, as compared with mothers and teachers, were less adequate informants on their own hyperactivity and inattentiveness. The same applied to children's reports of their own oppositional behavior. In contrast, children's reports of their conduct problems tended to complement the reports by adults. Although informants agreed significantly on the presence of many disruptive child behaviors, there were several on which they did not agree, particularly in the realm of hyperactivity/inattentiveness. There were few age differences between older and younger boys in this sample of 7- to 12-year-olds. The implications of the findings for research and clinical practice are discussed.
On the origins of self and the case of autism
Authors: Hobson R. Peter 
Published: October 2008

AbstractThis article examines what it means to have a self. My focus is on the essential components of self-experience, the kind of psychological architecture required to construct a self, rather than on the configurations or qualities of individual “selves.” I adopt a developmental perspective and indicate how early childhood autism may afford unique insights into the role of perceptual-affective and interpersonal experience in determining the normal child's developing awareness of self.
Low self-worth and anger as components of the depressive experience in young adolescents
Authors: Renouf Andrew G. , Harter Susan 
Published: October 2008

AbstractThe present study sought to examine two issues related to the phenomenological experience of depression in a normative sample of young, middle-school adolescents. The first hypothesis was that self-reported depressed affect would be highly related to low global self-worth. The second hypothesis was that depression is experienced as a blend of sadness and anger, where anger can be directed toward either the self or others. The findings revealed a strong correlation (r = .81) between global self-worth and affect (along a continuum of cheerful to depressed). With regard to the second issue, depression is clearly experienced by adolescents as a blend of affects. Eighty percent reported that depression represents a mix of sadness and anger. In addition, the vast majority reported that the anger is directed toward others, either as the only target or in conjunction with anger toward the self. Findings also revealed that the primary causes of depression involve actions of others against the self, thereby making the anger component realistic. Discussion focused on the role of self-deprecatory ideation in depression and on the issue of the comorbidity of internalizing and externalizing symptoms manifest in depression.