bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The power of relationships
Authors: Til Jon Van 
Published: March 2007

AbstractThe Deliberative Democracy Handbook: Strategies for Effective Civic Engagement in the 21st Century, edited by John Gastil and Peter Levine. San Francisco: Jossey‐Bass, 2005. 336 pp., $36.00 cloth.Politics Is About Relationship: A Blueprint for the Citizens' Century, by Harold H. Saunders. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. 242 pp., $35.00 cloth.Going Public: An Organizer's Guide to Citizen Action, by Michael Gecan. New York: Anchor, 2002. 224 pp., $12.00 paper. The Civic Renewal Movement: Community‐Building and Democracy in the United States, by Carmen Sirianni and Lewis A. Friedland. Dayton, Ohio: Kettering Foundation Press, 2005. 260 pp., $9.95 paper.
Application of the theory of colloid stability to the problem of particle formation in aqueous solutions of vinyl acetate
Authors: Dunn A. S. , Chong L. C.‐H. 
Published: March 2007

AbstractThe problem of particle formation in aqueous solutions of vinyl acetate is treated according to the Deryaguin‐Landau‐Verwey‐Overbeek (D.L.V.O.) theory of the stability of lyophobic colloids.In the absence of surfactants, polymer particles are stabilised by ionic end‐groups derived from persulphate initiator. Palit's dye partition method is used to determine the number of these end‐groups and the amount of adsorbed sodium dodecyl sulphate which was used as emulsifying agent in some experiments; this enables the electrical forces of repulsion between particles to be calculated. The Hamaker constant which defines the magnitude of the van der Waals' forces of attraction between particles has been estimated for polyvinyl acetate. The dependence of the stability of the polymer dispersion formed on the concentrations of initiator, emulsifier, etc. is investigated; the observations accord with expectations on the basis of D.L.V.O. theory. It is shown that small particles are unstable with respect to coalescence with larger particles. The processes of polymerisation and particle growth are essentially independent in this system.
Effect of hostile environments on adhesive joints III. Role of simple alcohols with unstressed epoxide adhesive
Authors: Kerr C. , Macdonald N. C. , Orman S. 
Published: March 2007

AbstractExposure of aluminium‐epoxide bonds to methanol, ethanol, ammonia and formamide has shown that the hydrogen bonding ability of the ‘solvent’ plays little part in determining the effect on bond strength. The strength of the bonds may be increased by short‐term exposures to the alcohols. A mechanism is proposed to explain the data.
Characterisation of latex particles produced by emulsion polymerisation
Authors: Hearn J. , Ottewill R. H. , Shaw J. N. 
Published: March 2007

AbstractThe emulsion polymerisation of styrene, using sodium dodecanoate as emulsifier and hydrogen peroxide as initiator, has been used to prepare a series of polystyrene latices of different sizes. The size range covered was from 600 Å to 4230 Å. After removal of the soap by dialysis, the surface groups on the particles were characterised by electrophoresis. The main surface groupings were found to be carboxyl groups. Number‐average molecular weight determinations were carried out using osmometry and it was found that the molecular weight decreased as the particle size increased. The evidence obtained suggests that the growth of a latex particle involves a surface‐phase polymerisation.
Inferences on the mechanism of emulsion polymerisation of styrene from characterisation of the polymer end‐groups
Authors: van den Hul H. J. , Vanderhoff J. W. 
Published: March 2007

AbstractSolute electrolyte and adsorbed emulsifier can be removed by ion exchange from polystyrene latices prepared with persulphate initiator. Rigorous purification of the ion‐exchange resins is necessary to avoid contamination by leached polyelectrolytes. These ion‐exchanged latices are stabilised by strong acid surface groups ‐ sulphate end‐groups of the polymer molecules. The number of surface groups as determined by conductometric titration of the latex, plus the number buried within the particle as determined by conductometric titration of the polymer in solution (or by X‐ray fluorescence), is less than the expected value of two per polymer molecule. The other end‐groups are shown to be hydroxyl groups by oxidation to the carboxyl form followed by ion exchange and titration. The total number of end‐groups thus determined is close to two per molecule. As the pH of the polymerisation medium is decreased, the proportion of hydroxyl end‐groups increases and that of the sulphate end‐groups decreases. No carboxyl groups are detected in ion‐exchanged latices prepared in a nitrogen atmosphere, independent of the nature of the emulsifier. The dye partition method gives end‐group concentrations that are far lower than those determined by titration or X‐ray fluorescence, probably because the formation of the dye end‐group ion‐pair is not complete. Finally, for latices prepared at relatively low emulsifier concentrations, the contribution of the sulphate end‐groups to the surface charge density is significant and cannot be overlooked, as has been done in the past.
Effect of an elastomeric phase on the properties of rigid thermoplastics
Authors: Haward R. N. 
Published: March 2007

AbstractPresent knowledge of the properties of glassy thermoplastics in the solid state is briefly reviewed. Crazing and deformation processes are discussed together with their influence on the toughness of polymers. Toughness can be enhanced by introducing rubber, the properties of the reinforced polymer depending not only on the rubber involved but also on the matrix. It is shown that polyolefins, e.g. polyethylene and polypropylene, can be considered as rubber‐reinforced plastics. The effect of introducing rubber in the form of block copolymers is briefly considered.
Perfluoroalkylene‐linked aromatic polymers
Authors: Critchley J. P. , McLoughlin V. C. R. , Thrower J. , White I. M. 
Published: March 2007

AbstractPolymers of the type (m‐C6H4·(CF2)m·m‐C6H4‐X))n have been synthesised and their properties are reported. They include polyesters and polycarbonates, polysiloxanes, polyimides and poly‐(1,3‐phenylenehexafluoro‐trimethylene. Preparation of the precursors was facilitated by the discovery of a direct fluoroalkylation process involving fluoroalkylcopper intermediates. In various instances, the effects of introducing m‐phenylene‐perfluoroalkylene units on the properties of these polymers, particularly their glass transition temperatures, are compared with the corresponding effects from m‐phenylene ether units.
Spiking neurons, dopamine, and plasticity: Timing is everything, but concentration also matters
Authors: Thivierge Jean‐Philippe , Rivest François , Monchi Oury 
Published: March 2007

AbstractWhile both dopamine (DA) fluctuations and spike‐timing‐dependent plasticity (STDP) are known to influence long‐term corticostriatal plasticity, little attention has been devoted to the interaction between these two fundamental mechanisms. Here, a theoretical framework is proposed to account for experimental results specifying the role of presynaptic activation, postsynaptic activation, and concentrations of extracellular DA in synaptic plasticity. Our starting point was an explicitly‐implemented multiplicative rule linking STDP to Michaelis‐Menton equations that models the dynamics of extracellular DA fluctuations. This rule captures a wide range of results on conditions leading to long‐term potentiation and depression in simulations that manipulate the frequency of induced corticostriatal stimulation and DA release. A well‐documented biphasic function relating DA concentrations to synaptic plasticity emerges naturally from simulations involving a multiplicative rule linking DA and neural activity. This biphasic function is found consistently across different neural coding schemes employed (voltage‐based vs. spike‐based models). By comparison, an additive rule fails to capture these results. The proposed framework is the first to generate testable predictions on the dual influence of DA concentrations and STDP on long‐term plasticity, suggesting a way in which the biphasic influence of DA concentrations can modulate the direction and magnitude of change induced by STDP, and raising the possibility that DA concentrations may inverse the LTP/LTD components of the STDP rule. Synapse 61:375‐390, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Amyloid β‐peptide Aβ1–42 but not Aβ1–40 attenuates synaptic AMPA receptor function
Authors: Parameshwaran Kodeeswaran , Sims Catrina , Kanju Patrick , Vaithianathan Thirumalini , Shonesy Brian C. , Dhanasekaran Muralikrishnan , Bahr Ben A. , Suppiramaniam Vishnu 
Published: March 2007

AbstractThe brains of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients have large numbers of plaques that contain amyloid beta (Aβ) peptides which are believed to play a pivotal role in AD pathology. Several lines of evidence have established the inhibitory role of Aβ peptides on hippocampal memory encoding, a process that relies heavily on α‐amino‐3‐hydroxy‐5‐methyl‐4‐isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptor function. In this study the modulatory effects of the two major Aβ peptides, Aβ1–40 and Aβ1–42, on synaptic AMPA receptor function was investigated utilizing the whole cell patch clamp technique and analyses of single channel properties of synaptic AMPA receptors. Bath application of Aβ1–42 but not Aβ1–40 reduced both the amplitude and frequency of AMPA receptor mediated excitatory postsynaptic currents in hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons by ∼60% and ∼45%, respectively, in hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons. Furthermore, experiments with single synaptic AMPA receptors reconstituted in artificial lipid bilayers showed that Aβ1–42 reduced the channel open probability by ∼42% and channel open time by ∼65% and increased the close times by several fold. Aβ1–40, however, did not show such inhibitory effects on single channel properties. Application of the reverse sequence peptide Aβ42–1 also did not alter the mEPSC or single channel properties. These results suggest that Aβ1–42 but not Aβ1–40 closely interacts with and exhibits inhibitory effects on synaptic AMPA receptors and may contribute to the memory impairment observed in AD. Synapse 61:367‐374, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Legacies of the past in the present‐day forest biodiversity: a review of past land‐use effects on forest plant species composition and diversity
Authors: Hermy Martin , Verheyen Kris 
Published: March 2007

AbstractParticularly in the temperate climate zone many forests have, at some moment in their history, been used as agriculture land. Forest cover is therefore often not as stable as it might look. How forest plant communities recovered after agriculture was abandoned allows us to explore some universal questions on how dispersal and environment limit plant species abundance and distribution. All studies looking at the effects of historical land use rely on adequate land use reconstruction. A variety of tools from maps, archival studies, and interviews to field evidence and soil analyses contribute to that. They allow us to distinguish ancient from recent forests and many studies found pronounced differences in forest plant species composition between them. A considerable percentage of our forest flora is associated with ancient forests. These ancient forest plant species (AFS) all have a low colonization capacity, suggesting that dispersal in space (distance related) and time (seed bank related) limit their distribution and abundance. However recent forests generally are suitable for the recruitment of AFS. There is clear evidence that dispersal limitation is more important than recruitment limitation in the distribution of AFS. Dispersal in time, through persistent seed banks, does not play a significant role. Ancient forests are not necessary more species‐rich than recent forest, but if diversity is limited to typical forest plant species then ancient forests do have the highest number of plant species, making them highly important for nature conservation. The use of molecular markers, integrated approaches and modelling are all part of the way forward in this field of historical ecology.
n‐3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Atopy in Korean Preschoolers
Authors: Hwang Inkyung , Cha Aeri , Lee Hyosun , Yoon Hyejung , Yoon Taeho , Cho Byungmann , Lee Suill , Park Yongsoon 
Published: March 2007

AbstractAtopy is a growing problem for Korean children. Since eicosapentaenoic acid is a precursor of less active inflammatory eicosanoids, n‐3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) may have a protective effect on atopy. This study was undertaken to determine whether n‐3 PUFA in red blood cells (RBC) is lower in atopic than in non‐atopic preschoolers. Three hundred and eight Korean children aged 4–6 years were enrolled. Total RBC fatty acid composition was measured by gas chromatography. The prevalence of atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis, or asthma was 29%. Total RBC n‐3 PUFA were lower in preschoolers with atopy than controls (9.8 ± 1.2 vs. 11.4 ± 1.6%; P < 0.05), while n‐6 PUFA (33.0 ± 1.4 vs. 32.2 ± 1.0%; P < 0.05) and n‐6/n‐3 PUFA ratio (3.4 ± 0.6 vs. 2.8 ± 0.5; P < 0.05) were greater. The following factors were also associated with an increase in atopy: higher saturated fatty acids (39.6 ± 1.4 vs. 40.6 ± 1.9; P < 0.05) and arachidonic acid (15.3 ± 1.6 vs. 16.0 ± 2.9; P < 0.05), and lower total PUFA (43.8 ± 0.7 vs. 42.8 ± 1.4; P < 0.05) and omega‐3 index (EPA + DHA; 9.1 ± 0.8 vs. 7.8 ± 0.5; P < 0.05) in RBC. Maternal history of atopy was a significant (P < 0.05) risk factor, while lactation was not. The results suggest that a reduced content of n‐3 PUFA in the RBC membrane could play a role in early children atopy.
The influence of maternal treadmill running during pregnancy on short‐term memory and hippocampal cell survival in rat pups
Authors: Kim Hong , Lee Sang‐Hak , Kim Sung‐Soo , Yoo Jae‐Hyun , Kim Chang‐Ju 
Published: March 2007

AbstractMaternal exercise during pregnancy has been suggested to exert the beneficial effects on the brain functions of offspring. In the present study, we attempted to determine the effects of maternal treadmill running during pregnancy on short‐term memory ability, hippocampal cell survival, and the expression of brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) mRNA in rat pups. After confirming pregnancy, the pregnant rats were divided into two groups: the control group and the running group (n = 6 in each group). Beginning on the 15th day of pregnancy, the pregnant rats in the running group were forced to run on a treadmill for 30 min at a mild‐intensity, once a day until delivery. After all the pregnant rats had given birth, there were rat pups available for use in this study in each group (n = 15 in each group). The latency of the step‐down avoidance task was used in order to evaluate the short‐term memory ability of the rat pups on the 28 days after birth. Immunohistochemistry for 5‐bromo‐2′‐deoxyuridine (BrdU) and reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) for BDNF mRNA were performed to determine hippocampal neurogenesis and hippocampal BDNF mRNA expression of the rat pups on the 29 days after birth, respectively. Our results revealed that maternal running during pregnancy resulted in significant increase in the expression of BDNF mRNA, enhanced hippocampal cell survival, and improved the short‐term memory capability of rat pups, as compared to those measured in the control group. The findings of our study provide evidence that maternal running during gestational period may enhance the brain functions of offspring.
La question de la liberté d'expression dans les
démêlés judiciaires et les revers administratifs de
CHOI-FM
Authors: Gingras Anne-Marie 
Published: March 2007

Résumé. Cet article porte sur
l'utilisation du concept de “ liberté d'expression
” par une station de radio de Québec, CHOI-FM, dans ses
démêlés avec le CRTC et dans le procès de
Sophie Chiasson contre la station en Cour supérieure du
Québec. Bien que les promoteurs de CHOI-FM aient fait de la
liberté d'expression leur argument principal en 2004 et 2005,
nous défendons l'hypothèse que cet argument
était purement instrumental. Cependant, le concept de
liberté d'expression mérite d'être
analysé, car il a un pouvoir d'évocation peu commun en
démocratie; il renvoie en effet à la nécessaire
effervescence du débat public et à l'individualisme.
D'autre part, la liberté d'expression a aussi
été associée au populisme et au discours illicite,
éléments auxquels elle confère un vernis de
respectabilité.Abstract. This paper deals with the use of the concept of
freedom of expression by a Quebec City radio station, CHOI-FM, in its
dispute with the CRTC and in the court case of Sophie Chiasson before the
Quebec Cour supérieure. Although freedom of expression is
the main argument used by CHOI-FM in 2004 and 2005, our hypothesis is that
this argument is mainly instrumental. Nevertheless, freedom of expression
must be analyzed because it is a major symbol of democracy; it is linked
with lively public debate and individualism. In this case, freedom of
expression is also used in an attempt to lend respectability to populism
and illicit discourse.
Problems and Methods in the Study of Politics
Authors: Loewen Peter John 
Published: March 2007

Problems and Methods in the Study of Politics, Ian Shapiro,
Rogers M. Smith and Tarek E. Masoud, eds., Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2004, pp. xi., 419.This important volume recounts a meeting of some the best minds in
political science, but, in the end, it is a meeting in the physical sense
(as the volume comes out of a conference held at Yale in 2002) and not
really in any intellectual sense. The ostensible goal of the volume is to
proffer answers to what the editors call “a fundamental question
about the proper place of problems and methods in the study of
politics…. Which should political scientists chose first, a problem
or a method?” (1). Unfortunately, a good many of the contributors to
the volume ask whether this is a question at all. Perhaps unsurprisingly,
most of those who reject the question do not have objections to the
increased technical and mathematical nature of modern political science.
And, equally unsurprising, those who suggest that method has too often
come before problem are those who have earlier, and often eloquently,
bemoaned the rise of rational choice theory and econometric applications.
As an intellectual rapprochement, the work fails. It rather resembles a
dinner of extended family, where long-held differences and grievances are
kept just under the breath, but as a collection of essays by leading
scholars which consider the methodologies and epistemologies of political
science, the volume is a smashing success.
The Essential Thomas Jefferson
Authors: Newman Stephen L. 
Published: March 2007

The Essential Thomas Jefferson, Jean M. Yarbrough, ed.,
Indianapolis and Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2006, pp.
xxxvii, 287.This is a useful collection of Jefferson's political writings
well suited to undergraduate and graduate courses in political theory and
especially in American political thought. There are twelve public papers
and addresses (including “A Summary View of the Rights of British
America” and, of course, the Declaration of Independence, excerpts
from the “Notes on Virginia,” and 44 letters to various
correspondents. This compares favourably with an older and larger
anthology edited by the distinguished Jefferson scholar Merrill Peterson
(The Portable Thomas Jefferson, New York: Viking, 1975), which
features roughly the same number of public papers and addresses but also
contains the “Notes on Virginia” in its entirety and some 75
letters. While the Peterson volume is more inclusive, Yarbrough's
decision to excerpt the “Notes” is understandable, given how
few chapters bear directly on political questions, and the selected
correspondence provides an ample survey of Jefferson's views on a
variety of topics.
Collective Dreams: Political Imagination and Community
Authors: Mooers Colin 
Published: March 2007

Collective Dreams: Political Imagination and Community,
Keally D. McBride, University Park PA: Penn State University Press, 2005,
pp. 157.Political imagination is greatly underrated, not least because there
is so little of it in what passes for “official” politics
these days. But it is also understudied by political theorists whose
domain encompasses the many imagined but rarely realized versions of the
“good society” handed down from the past. And yet political
imagination is arguably central to every vision of an alternative
political order. Plato never lived in his Republic; Hobbes never wandered
through the state of nature; and Marx never knew the rule of the
“associated producers.” But, all of them may have felt that
they had glimpsed elements of these alternate futures in their own time.
Hobbes, after all, lived through the English Revolution which he may have
thought resembled a “war of all against all” and Marx
witnessed the heady days of the Paris Commune. This is surely as true
today. Social conservatives may espy the glimmerings of a heavenly utopia
in their local church group. Progressive social activists may see a new
social order prefigured in their food co-op or trade union. Political
imagination, in other words, is just as much a part of the world we
inhabit as it is of those we dream of inhabiting. However, as Keally
McBride observes, “Imagination itself, as opposed to its products,
is generally not studied in political science. But it is our best tool for
changing the world” (1).
Post-tonsillectomy morbidity statistics: are they underestimated?
Authors: Doshi J , Damadora M , Gregory S , Anari S 
Published: March 2007

AbstractBackground:Post-tonsillectomy morbidity statistics are obtained when patients present to hospital with complications. The two common morbidities are pain and haemorrhage. Hospital-recorded morbidity rates may be an underestimation, as some patients are treated by general practitioners and are therefore not included in hospital audits.Methods:Prospective, cohort, questionnaire study to assess: the post-tonsillectomy haemorrhage rate (i.e. actual rate versus hospital recorded rate); and the number of patients with post-operative pain and/or bleeding who were treated with antibiotics by their general practitioner.Results:The response rate was 76 per cent (70/92). The actual rate of secondary haemorrhage was three times that noted in the hospital records (15.7vs5.7 per cent, respectively). Fifteen patients (21 per cent) required extra analgesia after discharge. General practitioners prescribed antibiotics for pain alone in six patients (11 per cent).Conclusion:The actual post-tonsillectomy haemorrhage rate is much higher than that recorded in hospital statistics. General practitioners differ in their treatment of post-tonsillectomy patients presenting with pain alone; some prescribe antibiotics in addition to analgesia.