bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Association of Organochlorine Pesticides with Peripheral Neuropathy in Patients with Diabetes or Impaired Fasting Glucose
Authors: Lee Duk-Hee , Jacobs David R. , Steffes Michael 
Published: July 2008

OBJECTIVE—Recent epidemiological studies have shown that background exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs)—xenobiotics accumulated in adipose tissue—is strongly associated with type 2 diabetes. Hyperglycemia is the cause of long-term complications of diabetes as well as diabetes itself, and POPs are well-known neurotoxicants. This study was performed to explore whether POPs are associated with peripheral neuropathy, a common long-term complication of diabetes, in people with glucose abnormalities.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—We studied cross-sectional associations of peripheral neuropathy with 25 POPs, each of which were detectable in at least 60% of study subjects, in 246 subjects aged ≥40 years with diabetes or impaired fasting glucose (IFG) using National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999–2002 datasets.
RESULTS—Among five subclasses of POPs, organochlorine pesticides showed a strong dose-response relation with prevalence of peripheral neuropathy; adjusted ORs were 1.0, 3.6, and 7.3 (P for trend &lt;0.01), respectively, across three categories of serum concentrations of organochlorine pesticides. Furthermore, when we restricted the analyses to 187 participants with A1C &lt;7%, the adjusted ORs were still 1.0, 3.9, and 6.7 (P for trend &lt;0.01). Organochlorine pesticides were also strongly associated with the prevalence of A1C ≥7%; adjusted ORs were 1.0, 2.5, and 5.0 (P for trend &lt;0.01). Specific POPs belonging to organochlorine pesticides showed similar positive associations.
CONCLUSIONS—This study suggests that background exposure to organochlorine pesticides may be associated with higher risk of peripheral neuropathic complications among those with glucose abnormalities, even beyond the influence of diabetes itself.
“Old People Are Useless”: Representations of Aging on The Simpsons
Authors: Blakeborough Darren 
Published: July 2008

RÉSUMÉLe présent article porte sur la façon dont l'émission Les Simpsons illustre le vieillissement, considérée comme de l'âgisme et comme un stéréotype par certains, peut être vue comme un regard positif sur les personnes âgées qui tente de renverser ces mêmes stéréotypes qu'elle semble employer. La génération du baby-boom est maintenant vue comme un groupe économique attrayant et, à mesure que ces personnes avancent en âge, elles attirent de plus en plus l'attention. Une bourse d'études existe actuellement et porte sur la recherche des perceptions face aux «personnes âgées», sur la façon de cibler leurs besoins et de leur présenter des publicités qui leur sont destinées, marginalisée semble-t-il, et représentée dans le contexte plus vaste du média de masse. Fondé principalement sur les idées théoriques de Frederic Jameson et Linda Hutcheon, un pont est construit et place Les Simpsons directement dans une situation d'esthétique postmoderne et, à l'aide de cette rubrique, démontre comment la nature politique inhérente de la parodie ironique peut aider à inverser la signification.
Can Canadian Seniors on Public Pensions Afford a Nutritious Diet?
Authors: Green Rebecca J. , Williams Patricia L. , Johnson C. Shanthi , Blum Ilya 
Published: July 2008

RÉSUMÉLa présente étude a évalué si les pensions publiques du Canada (Sécurité de la vieillesse et Régime de pension du Canada) fournissaient aux aînés vivant en Nouvelle-Écosse (N.-É.) un revenu adéquat qui puisse leur permettre de bénéficier d'un régime alimentaire de base nutritif en 2005. Les revenus mensuels ont été comparés aux dépenses mensuelles essentielles de quatre types de ménages: 1) couple marié, 80ans et 78ans, en milieu urbain en Nouvelle-Écosse; 2) homme célibataire, 77ans, en milieu rural en Nouvelle-Écosse; 3) couple, 70ans et 65ans, en milieu rural en Nouvelle-Écosse; 4) veuve, 85ans, en milieu urbain en Nouvelle-Écosse. Le coût mensuel des quatre ménages étaient respectivement de 313,32$, 193,83$, 316,71$ et 150,89$. Les résultats ont indiqué que le ménage de chacun des célibataires manquait des fonds nécessaires pour respecter un régime alimentaire nutritif, tandis que la vie avec un partenaire semblait protéger contre un manque de ressources financières adéquates. Ces résultats illustrent le besoin d'améliorer les régimes de retraite du Canada afin de s'assurer que tous les aînés aient des ressources financières qui leur permettent de subvenir à leurs besoins essentiels, notamment en matière d'obtention d'aliments nutritifs, de prévention des maladies chroniques, et d'amélioration finale de leur qualité de vie.
The Significance of Earth-Eating: Social and Cultural Aspects of Geophagy Among Luo Children
Authors: Geissler P. Wenzel 
Published: July 2008

ABSTRACTEarth‐eating is common among primary school children in Luoland, western Kenya. This article describes the social significance and meanings attributed to it. Earth‐eating is practised among children before puberty, irrespective of their sex, and among women of reproductive age, but not usually among adult men or old women. To eat earth signifies belonging to the female sphere within the household, which includes children up to adolescence. Through eating earth, or abandoning it, the children express their emerging gender identity. Discourses about earth‐eating, describing the practice as unhealthy and bad, draw on ‘modern’ notions of hygiene, which are imparted, for example, in school. They form part of the discursive strategies with which men especially maintain a dominant position in the community. Beyond the significance of earth‐eating in relation to age, gender and power, it relates to several larger cultural themes, namely fertility, belonging to a place, and the continuity of the lineage. Earth symbolises female, life‐bringing forces. Termite hills, earth from which is eaten by most of the children and women, can symbolise fertility, and represent the house and the home, and the graves of ancestors. Earth‐eating is a form of ‘communion’ with life‐giving forces and with the people with whom one shares land and origin. Earth‐eating is a social practice produced in complex interactions of body, mind and other people, through which children incorporate and embody social relations and cultural values.
Religious Revival in the Roman Catholic Church and the Autochthony–Allochthony Conflict in Cameroon
Authors: Konings Piet 
Published: July 2008

ABSTRACTThis article explores the reasons for, and the repercussions of, a virulent and protracted crisis in the South West Province of anglophone Cameroon during the 1990s caused by the emergence of a Pentecostalism-inspired revival movement within the Roman Catholic Church. The so-called Maranatha movement and main-line Catholicism were viewed by both parties as incompatible, almost leading to a schism within the Church. The originally internal Church dispute gradually became a particularly explosive issue in the region when the politics of belonging, fuelled by the government and the regional elite during political liberalisation, became pervasive.
Maintaining Difference and Managing Change: Female Agrarian Clientelist Relations in a Gambian Community
Authors: Kea Pamela 
Published: July 2008

AbstractThe introduction of dry-season vegetable cultivation on a large scale in Brikama, The Gambia in the early 1970s has led to the development of a new labour system amongst female farmers whereby strangers or clients are given access to land primarily in the dry season for vegetable cultivation in exchange for providing unremunerated labour for hosts for the cultivation of rice in the rainy season. Hosts, who either claim descent from the founding families or have married into founding families, have access to land and control its distribution for women's crops. This article examines the way in which social difference is played out in the acquisition of land and labour through the establishment of agrarian clientelist relations. Agrarian clientelist relations are about the maintenance of host–stranger distinctions and the management of social difference within a rapidly changing Gambian political economy. The nature of these clientelist relations is changing because of the changing relations of agrarian production, related in turn to the introduction of cooperative gardens in the region, the increasing scarcity of farming land and the increasing political power of strangers on a local and national level. The youth, particularly those who are educated, are moving out of farming altogether. Consequently, female hosts are increasingly reliant on their clients' labour. I argue that female hosts attempt to manage these processes of change out of a need to maintain the particular power relations that form the basis for host–stranger distinctions and their existing claims to land and labour. The article examines the tensions and the intra-gender struggles that emerge between female hosts and their client-strangers. In refusing to take the initiative to set up cooperative gardens, female hosts have maintained what they see as their rightful claims to their land and their clients' labour. Hegemonic notions of ‘the correctness of practices’, associated with host–stranger identities, have informed hosts' behaviour and that of their clients, and ultimately influenced the nature of resource allocation.
‘Kachinjaare Coming!’: Encounters Around Medical Research Work in a Kenyan Village
Authors: Geissler P. Wenzel 
Published: July 2008

AbstractWhen conducting medical field research in a Luo village in western Kenya, my colleagues and I were occasionally suspected of being blood-thieves, locally calledkachinja. The article contextualizes these blood-stealing accusations within the practices of medical research that prompted them, and within the local historical experiences which, I shall argue, they refer to. Further, it examines two social situations, in which blood-stealing accusations were raised against me and people who were in contact with me, in order to show how thekachinjaidiom is used in social practice, as part of long-term social processes as well as of momentary situations, within local patterns of relatedness. These observations show how global structures and processes are articulated and moulded in a particular locality through idioms that carry memories of individual as well as collective, historical experiences, and how they are enacted by people within webs of contemporary local social relations.
Kinship and Contract in Somali Politics
Authors: Mohamed Jama 
Published: July 2008

AbstractTraditional Somali politics was based on two dialectically related principles: kinship and contract (tol iyo xeer). Kinship was founded on the segmentary lineage system under which people traced their descent to common male ancestors. Agnates functioned as corporate political groups because they were blood relatives. But the blood relation was not sufficient to establish a political system. Agnates functioned as corporate political groups because they negotiated a social contract that defined the terms of their collective unity.
The Basis of Epistemic Trust: Reliable Testimony or Reliable Sources?
Authors: Koenig Melissa A. , Harris Paul L. 
Published: July 2008

ABSTRACTWhat is the nature of children's trust in testimony? Is it based primarily on evidential correlations between statements and facts, as stated by Hume, or does it derive from an interest in the trustworthiness of particular speakers? In this essay, we explore these questions in an effort to understand the developmental course and cognitive bases of children's extensive reliance on testimony. Recent work shows that, from an early age, children monitor the reliability of particular informants, differentiate between those who make true and false claims and keep that differential accuracy in mind when evaluating new information from these people. We argue that this selective trust is likely to involve the mentalistic appraisal of speakers rather than surface generalizations of their behavior. Finally, we review the significance of children's deference to adult authority on issues of naming and categorization. In addition to challenging a purely inductive account of trust, these and other findings reflect a potentially rich set of tools brought by children to the task of learning from people's testimony.
Quantitative analysis of lattice ordering in thin film opal‐based photonic crystals
Authors: Khunsin Worawut , Kocher Gudrun , Romanov Sergei G. , Torres Clivia M. Sotomayor 
Published: July 2008

AbstractThis work is devoted to the quantitative evaluation of the lattice ordering of opal films. Assembling colloidal crystals in a moving meniscus under random noise agitation produced opal films with generically the same lattice but different disorders. The lattice ordering is quantified by the magnitudes of harmonics in the Fourier transforms of (i) the scanning electron microscopy images to address the in‐plane lattice ordering and (ii) rotation diagrams of the optical transmission to address the regularity of crystal planes. In prepared opals, the strong deviation of the lattice from the face‐centered cubic symmetry is demonstrated. We find uneven lattice responses to changing the growth conditions, e.g., the 30% improvement of the hexagonal lattice ordering in the (111) growth plane accompanied by a ten‐time better ordering of (220) planes as a result of noise agitation. The suggested approach to characterize crystalline quality of the lattice is a general methodology that can be applied to the analysis of other three‐dimensional photonic crystals.
Rectangular AgIn(WO4)2 Nanotubes: A Promising Photoelectric Material
Authors: Song Shuyan , Zhang Yu , Xing Yan , Wang Cheng , Feng Jing , Shi Weidong , Zheng Guoli , Zhang Hongjie 
Published: July 2008

AbstractRectangular AgIn(WO4)2 nanotubes with a diameter range of 80 to 120 nm and length up to 2 µm have been synthesized by a hydrothermal method. These nanotubes exhibit interesting white light emissions when using 320 nm as the excitation wavelength. A photocatalytic reaction for water decomposition to evolve H2 was performed under UV irradiation, and the rate of H2 evolution is nearly seven times that of the sample prepared by a solid‐state reaction, which shows much higher photocatalytic activities compared with their bulk counterparts. The activity of AgIn(WO4)2 nanotubes for degrading rhodamine B in water irradiated by UV light was about twice that of using bulk materials. The formation mechanism of the rectangular nanotubes is proposed based on the anisotropic intrinsic crystalline structure of AgIn(WO4)2. The enhancement of the photoelectric properties is attributed to the nanometer‐scale size and tubular structure.
Cyclodextrin‐Threaded Conjugated Polyrotaxanes for Organic Electronics: The Influence of the Counter Cations
Authors: Latini Gianluca , Parrott Lisa‐Jodie , Brovelli Sergio , Frampton Michael J. , Anderson Harry L. , Cacialli Franco 
Published: July 2008

AbstractA systematic investigation is reported into the influence of the counter cations on the optical, electrical and electroluminescent properties of polyelectrolytic conjugated polymers and of their cyclodextrin‐threaded rotaxanes. We compare conjugated polyelectrolytes with sulfonated side groups where the anionic charge is balanced by Li+, K+, Cs+, tetramethylammonium (Me4N+) and cryptate‐encapsulated potassium (K+@[2.2.2]). Narrowing (for the unthreaded analogues) and a slight red‐shift of the absorption spectra (for the rotaxanes) are found upon exchange of Li+ for larger cations, together with a blue‐shift and an efficiency enhancement of the luminescence. These effects are similar in nature to those induced by rotaxination, and are therefore assigned to a marked reduction of intermolecular interactions between the conjugated cores. Exchange of Li+ for K+, Cs+, or Me4N+ results in a higher electroluminescence external quantum efficiency (EQE) for both polyrotaxanes and unthreaded polymers. For polyrotaxane‐based devices the EQE increased approximately 7 times upon substitution of Li+ with Cs+ or Me4N+, thereby demonstrating the importance of the selection of the counter‐cations for optimizing the performance of polyelectrolytic conjugated polymers in light‐emitting devices.
Access to Functionalized Isoquinoline N‐Oxides via Sequential Electrophilic Cyclization/Cross‐Coupling Reactions
Authors: Ding Qiuping , Wu Jie 
Published: July 2008

AbstractElectrophilic cyclization of 2‐alkynylbenzaldoximes with various electrophiles leads to the formation of 4‐iodoisoquinoline N‐oxides or 4‐bromoisoquinoline N‐oxides under mild conditions. The reaction can be transferred to highly functionalized isoquinoline N‐oxides via palladium‐catalyzed cross‐coupling reactions.
Accuracy, comprehensibility, and use of material safety data sheets: A review
Authors: Nicol Anne‐Marie , Hurrell A. Christie , Wahyuni Desy , McDowall William , Chu Winnie 
Published: July 2008

AbstractObjectivesMaterial safety data sheets (MSDSs) are used in workplaces to communicate to workers the hazards of chemical products. This article describes a review of the peer‐reviewed scientific literature regarding the accuracy, comprehensibility and use of MSDSs in the workplace.MethodsArticles were retrieved via a systematic search of indexes and databases, followed by hand searching and citation index searching. Two reviewers independently read and coded the articles using an iterative matrix.ResultsOf the 280 unique articles retrieved, 24 fit the review criteria. Eligible articles included a range of methodologies: laboratory analyses, site audits, surveys and qualitative inquiry. Articles were grouped into three main topic categories: accuracy and completeness, awareness and use, and comprehensibility. Accuracy and completeness were found to be relatively poor, with the majority of studies presenting evidence that the MSDSs under review did not contain information on all the chemicals present, including those known to be serious sensitizers or carcinogens. Poor presentation and complex language were consistently associated with low comprehensibility among workers. Awareness and use of MSDSs was suboptimal in workplaces where these factors were studied.ConclusionsDespite the fact that these studies varied in methodology and spanned a period of more than 15 years, a number of common themes emerged regarding inaccuracies, incompleteness, incomprehensibility and overall low use of MSDSs. The results of the literature review suggest that there are serious problems with the use of MSDSs as hazard communication tools. The article concludes with recommendations for governments, regulatory bodies, and occupational health and safety personnel to seriously reassess the ways in which MSDSs are written, monitored, regulated, and used. Am. J. Ind. Med. 51:861‐876, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc
Occupational exposure to crystalline silica: Estimating the number of workers potentially at high risk in Italy
Authors: Scarselli Alberto , Binazzi Alessandra , Marinaccio Alessandro 
Published: July 2008

AbstractBackgroundOccupational exposure to free silica is widespread in several economic sectors and is well known to cause silicosis. This study was designed to establish a database of enterprises and workers in industrial sectors involving silica exposure in Italy and to estimate the number of workers potentially at high risk of exposure.MethodsThe industrial sectors at risk of silica exposure were identified by selecting the industrial sector that employed people who were compensated for silicosis in 2000–2004. The enterprises and the number of workers (blue‐collar) potentially at risk of silica exposure were selected from the Italian database of workplaces.ResultsThe number of workers potentially at high risk of silica exposure, were 28,712. The most involved sectors were: construction, mining and quarrying, metal working, and manufacturing of non‐metallic products. Among regions in Italy, some exposure‐disease scenarios were cited in literature, particularly in Sardinia, Liguria, and Tuscany.ConclusionsEstablishing a database of industries related to silica dust exposure and identifying the number of workers potentially at high risk can be useful to reinforce preventive measures and to control exposure. Am. J. Ind. Med. 51:941–949, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Selection of river crossing location and sleeping site by proboscis monkeys (Nasalis larvatus) in Sabah, Malaysia
Authors: Matsuda Ikki , Tuuga Augustine , Akiyama Yoshihiro , Higashi Seigo 
Published: July 2008

AbstractFrom May 2005–2006, selections of river crossing locations and sleeping sites used by a one‐male group (BE‐Group) of proboscis monkeys (Nasalis larvatus) were investigated along the Menanggul River, tributary of the Kinabatangan River, Sabah, Malaysia. The frequency of river crossings for focal monkeys in the BE‐Group was significantly higher at locations with narrow branch‐to‐bank distances. Branch‐to‐bank distances were defined as the distances between the longest tree branches extending over the river and the bank of river on each side. This was measured in areas crossed by the monkeys. The focal monkeys used locations with a higher probability of successful river crossings that did not require jumping into the water and swimming across than those that did. The frequency of sleeping site usage by the BE‐Group was positively correlated with the frequency of using river crossing locations by the focal monkeys. Previous reports on predation of proboscis monkeys indicate that clouded leopards (Neofelis diardi) and crocodilians (Tomistoma schlegeli and Crocodylus porosus) may be the major terrestrial and aquatic predators of these monkeys. The selection of river crossing locations by proboscis monkeys may be influenced both by the threat of these predators and the location of suitable and protected sleeping sites. Finally, sleeping sites locations that offer arboreal escape routes may protect proboscis monkeys from leopard attack. Am. J. Primatol. 70:1097–1101, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Frequent water drinking by Zanzibar red colobus (Procolobus kirkii) in a mangrove forest refuge
Authors: Nowak Katarzyna 
Published: July 2008

AbstractIsolated populations of Procolobus kirkii on Uzi Island, Zanzibar, use Rhizophora mucronata‐dominated mangrove forest for refuge. Three groups, observed over 14 months, spent up to 85% of total observation time in mangroves with brief excursions to adjacent upland coral rag forest, habitat degraded by human cutting. A large proportion of monkeys' diets consisted of plant parts of five mangrove species. Water drinking was common and 326 water‐drinking events were recorded at a rate of up to 0.87 drinks hr−1. Groups used different strategies to obtain water including licking dew, drinking from treeholes, licking rain off leaves and tree trunks, and drinking from coral rock crevices with Cercopithecus mitis albogularis. Drinking frequency increased with time spent in and consumption of mangroves. Strategies for obtaining water were group‐specific and likely the result of learning. Drinking appeared to be an acquired behavior in movement‐restricted groups living in a habitat with low plant species diversity and limited salty foods. Am. J. Primatol. 70:1081–1092, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Halogen Bonding in Supramolecular Chemistry
Authors: Metrangolo Pierangelo , Meyer Franck , Pilati Tullio , Resnati Giuseppe , Terraneo Giancarlo 
Published: July 2008

AbstractHalogen bonding is the noncovalent interaction where halogen atoms function as electrophilic species. The energetic and geometrical features of the interaction are described along with the atomic characteristics that confer molecules with the specific ability to interact through this interaction. Halogen bonding has an impact on all research fields where the control of intermolecular recognition and self‐assembly processes plays a key role. Some principles are presented for crystal engineering based on halogen‐bonding interactions. The potential of the interaction is also shown by applications in liquid crystals, magnetic and conducting materials, and biological systems.