bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A System Identification Technique Using Pseudo-Wavelets
Authors: Hou Zhikun , Hera Adriana 
Published: April 2003

Sensitivity of regular wavelets to singularity has been used to detect a suddenly occurred structural damage and estimate its location in a large-scale structure. The usage of the approach is sometimes limited by a demand to the signal that the measurement data need to include the time period when the damage occurred. In this paper a concept of pseudo-wavelet is proposed based on shifting and scaling of conventional wavelets and a related pseudo-wavelet transform (PWT) is defined. A class of pseudo-wavelets is defined based on the frequency response function of the single degree of freedom mass-spring-dashpot system. A PWT-based system identification technique is developed to estimate the system parameters, mainly the natural frequencies and the damping ratios of the structure using vibration data. The approach can be applied for structural health monitoring. Change in system parameters using any two segments of response data may suggest occurrence of structural damages. The proposed approach is illustrated for single- and multiple-degree-of-freedom mass-spring-dashpot systems using simulated vibration response data. In all the case studies, the structural parameters are successfully estimated.
Improving the Clarity of Journal Abstracts in Psychology
Authors: Hartley James 
Published: April 2003

Background. Previous research with structured abstracts has taken place in mainly medical contexts. This research indicated that such abstracts are more informative, more readable, and more appreciated by readers than are traditional abstracts. Aim. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that structured abstracts might also be appropriate for a particular psychology journal. Method. Twenty-four traditional abstracts from the Journal of Educational Psychology were rewritten in a structured form. Measures of word length, information content, and readability were made for both sets of abstracts, and forty-eight authors rated their clarity. Results. The structured abstracts were significantly longer than the original ones, but they were also significantly more informative and readable and judged significantly clearer by these academic authors. Conclusions. These findings support the notion that structured abstracts could be profitably introduced into psychology journals.
The Fracture Behavior of Aluminum Foam Sandwich Structures Based on Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastics
Authors: Kiratisaevee H. , Cantwell W. J. 
Published: April 2003

The fracture properties of a range of novel sandwich structures based on an aluminum foam core and fiber reinforced thermoplastic skins have been investigated. Initially, the mixed-mode interlaminar fracture properties of the thermoplastic-matrix composites were investigated using the mixed-mode flexure test geometry. Here, values of GI/IIc ranged from 2400 J/m2 for the glass fiber/nylon composite to 3300 J/m2 for a glass fiber/polypropylene composite. The fracture properties of the thermoplastic interlayer materials used to bond the skin and core materials were also investigated and found to vary between approximately 1200 J/m2 for a PP-based system to 6800 J/m2 for a neat PEEK interlayer. Tests using the single cantilever beam sandwich (SCB) specimen showed that the degree of adhesion between the composite skins and the foam core was good at both quasi-static and dynamic rates of loading. An optical examination of the PP and PEEK-based SCB samples indicated that the primary crack propagated through the core material whereas failure in the nylon-based system occurred through the interlayer material at the skin-core interface. The fracture energies associated with both types of failure were found to be significantly lower than those of the plain composite and modified samples containing the thermoplastic interlayer. The impact response of three types of sandwich structure was investigated by conducting low velocity impact tests on simply supported beams. Here, damage in the form of fiber fracture and splitting in the composite skins and localized crushing in the composite core were observed at intermediate and high incident energies. Flexure tests to characterize the residual load-bearing properties of the sandwich structures highlighted the superior mechanical properties of the carbon fiber/PEEK-based system.
Discourse Communities and the Discourse of Experience
Authors: Little Miles , Jordens Christopher F.C. , Sayers Emma-Jane 
Published: April 2003

Discourse communities are groups of people who share common ideologies, and common ways of speaking about things. They can be sharply or loosely defined. We are each members of multiple discourse communities. Discourse can colonize the members of discourse communities, taking over domains of thought by means of ideology. The development of new discourse communities can serve positive ends, but discourse communities create risks as well. In our own work on the narratives of people with interests in health care, for example, we find that patients speak of their illness experiences as victims of circumstance; policy makers construct adverse experiences and challenges as opportunities to be taken; health care workers speak from a mixed perspective, seeing themselves as both victims and opportunists depending on context. To be trapped within the discourse of a particular community is to put at risk the ability to communicate across discourses. Membership of a discourse community can impair the habit of critique, and deny opportunities for heteroglossic discourse. Privileging critique as a mode of discourse perhaps might define the ethical community, suggesting that ethical community may be an antidote to the constraining effects of conventional discourse community.
Reconceptualizing ‘Inappropriateness’: Researching Multiple Moral Positions in Demand for Primary Healthcare
Authors: Ehrich Kathryn 
Published: April 2003

In a recently completed study of the management of ‘out-ofhours’ primary healthcare for children and ways in which judgements are made about legitimate access, the construct of ‘inappropriate demand’ is investigated. This seemingly intractable health care issue has not been resolved by research that rests on a one-sided conceptualization of the ‘problem’. In practice, ‘demand’ arises within complex processes of interaction between people taking a range of moral positions in particular contexts. This is illustrated with interpretations of some ethnographic material from the study. An argument is made for an alternative research approach to such contentious issues that acknowledges multiple and latent moral orientations, and reveals moral judgements in scientific guise.
The State That Wasn't There
Authors: Hug Simon 
Published: April 2003

`[C]onstitutions are unlikely to work as intended unless they employ the engines of Bentham, i.e., punishments and rewards.' (Sartori, 1994: ix) `The transition to democracy consists of the design and manipulation of institutions... that render certain actions and the pursuit of certain outcomes in people's self-interest.' (Ordeshook, 1997: 111)
Constitutional Quandaries and Critical Elections
Authors: Schofield Norman 
Published: April 2003

In his book on Liberalism against Populism, William Riker argued that Lincoln's success in the 1860 election was the culmination of a long progression of strategic attempts by the Whig coalition of commercial interests to defeat the `Jeffersonian-Jacksonian' Democratic coalition of agrarian populism. Riker adduced Lincoln's success to his `heresthetic' maneuver to force his competitor, Douglas, in the 1858 Illinois Senate race, to appear anti-slavery, thus splitting the Democratic Party in 1860. Riker also suggested that electoral preferences in 1860 exhibited an underlying `chaotic' preference cycle. However, these accounts do not explain why the slavery question became paramount in 1858-60. I suggest here that US politics, from 1800 to 1858, can be interpreted in terms of a single land-capital axis that sustained the pre-eminence of an agrarian coalition, first created by Jefferson, of both slave interests and free labor. Lincoln's strategy in 1858-60 was to persuade free labor in the northern and western states that they were threatened by the consequences of the Dred Scott decision by the Supreme Court in 1857. Lincoln argued that although the decision applied to the territories, it was indicative of the intention of the South to extend slavery to the free states. Lincoln's speeches in 1858-60 made this threat credible to the North, and initiated a belief cascade among the electorate. For southern voters, the North consequently appeared to be a `tyrannical' majority, whose creation violated the constitutional logic of Union, and legitimated secession. I argue that this second `civil rights dimension, created in the election of 1860, is necessary for understanding critical elections that have occurred at irregular intervals in US political history.
Fighting for Life: A Qualitative Analysis of the Process of Psychotherapy-Assisted Self-Help in Patients With Metastatic Cancer
Authors: Cunningham Alastair J. , Phillips Catherine , Stephen Joanne , Edmonds Claire 
Published: April 2003

This exploratory study is an attempt to define psychological attributes related to longer survival in patients with meta-static cancers. Previous published analyses have been limited in two ways. First, they have almost always been carried out on patients not receiving therapy; we have followed people receiving a year of group therapy, on the assumption that if mental qualities are to affect cancer progression, substantial mental change would be needed to alter the established balance between the cancer cells and host regulatory mechanisms. Second, the methods typically used to characterize patients’ psychology have been self-report inventories, and many decades of research with such methods have largely failed to produce a consensus on what mental qualities, if any, promote survival. By contrast, we have used qualitative methods, allowing a much more in-depth analysis of the patients, without preliminary assumptions as to what would be important. The present report describes the results of a detailed qualitative analysis of data collected from 22 participants over a year of weekly group therapy. Using grounded methods, categories were derived from the extensive verbal data (comprising patients’ written homework and therapists’ notes), and linked in a model of change. By applying ratings to some of these categories, and combining these ratings, we derived a quantitative estimate of patients’“involvement in self-help.” Rankings on degree of involvement corresponded quite closely with the quality of patients’ experience and with their survival duration. There was a great range in degree of involvement, and various subgroupings could be discerned. Nine of the participants were classed as “highly involved,” meaning that they devoted regular daily time, often several hours, to such self-help strategies as relaxation, mental imaging, meditation, cognitive monitoring and journalling. All but 1 of these patients enjoyed a good quality of life and lived at least 2 years. Two of them have remained in complete remission for 7 years. At the other end of the scale, 8 patients showed little application to the work, being either unconvinced that it would help them or hampered by psychological problems such as low self-esteem. None of these was rated as having a good quality of life, and only 1 lived more than 2 years, although, as a group, their medicalprognoses were no more unfavorable at the onset of therapy than for the “high involvement” group. The different subgroups and aspects of the model are illustrated by representative quotations.
Influence of extracorporeal photopheresis on clinical and laboratory parameters in chronic graft-versus-host disease and analysis of predictors of response
Authors: Seaton Edward D. , Szydlo Richard M. , Kanfer Edward , Apperley Jane F. , Russell-Jones Robin 
Published: April 2003

Abstract
We report 28 patients with advanced chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) treated with extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP). All had failed conventional immunosuppressive therapy. Of the patients, 27 had extensive cGVHD and 20 had more than 50% cutaneous surface area involvement. ECP was initiated approximately 2 years after onset of cGVHD and 3 years following allogeneic stem cell transplantation and administered fortnightly for 4 months and then monthly. Response was assessed using quantifiable disease measures, including skin score, liver function tests (LFTs), blood counts, and lung function tests. Regression analysis allowed assessment of any pretreatment clinical or laboratory parameters that predicted response. There were 25 patients who completed 3 months and 21 who completed 6 months of treatment. Systemic immunosuppression was stable or reduced in 86% of patients. There were 3 patients who died from cGVHD. After 6 months, median skin scores were 53% lower (P = .003) in sclerodermoid and lichenoid disease. Of 6 patients with mucosal ulceration, 3 improved. A nonsignificant improvement of LFTs occurred. We infer that ECP is effective even in patients with extensive cutaneous cGVHD of 2 years duration that is resistant to conventional therapy. Furthermore, both sclerodermoid and lichenoid subtypes responded. However, no baseline parameters predicted a favorable response to ECP, so patient selection must continue to be made on clinical grounds.
Stem cell transplantation for chronic myeloid leukemia in children
Authors: Cwynarski Kate , Roberts Irene A. G. , Iacobelli Simona , van Biezen Anja , Brand Ronald , Devergie Agnes , Vossen Jaak M. , Aljurf Mahmoud , Arcese William , Locatelli Franco , Dini Giorgio , Niethammer Dietrich , Niederwieser Dietger , Apperley Jane F. ,   for the Paediatric and Chronic Leukaemia Working Parties of the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation
Published: April 2003

Abstract
Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (SCT) is the only proven cure for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), a rare disease in childhood. We report outcomes of 314 children with Philadelphia-chromosome–positive (Ph+) CML undergoing SCT from HLA-matched siblings (n = 182) or volunteer-unrelated donors (VUD; n = 132). Three-year overall survival (OS) and leukemia-free survival (LFS) rates were 66% and 55% (n = 314). For 156 children in first chronic phase (CP1) who underwent transplantation from HLA-identical siblings, OS and LFS rates were 75% and 63%. For 97 children who underwent SCT in CP1 from VUD, 3-year OS and LFS rates were 65% and 56%, reflecting higher transplantation-related mortality (TRM) after VUD SCT (35% vs 20%; multivariate hazard ratio [HR], 1.9; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.0-3.5; P = .05). In a multivariate model for OS and LFS, outcomes were superior in CP1 than in advanced phase (AP/CP1) (OS HR, 2.0; 95% CI, 1.3-3; P = .001; LFS HR, 1.8; 95% CI, 1.2-2.6; P = .003). For relapse, donor source (VUD/sibling) (HR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.19-0.76; P = .006) and disease stage (AP/CP1) (HR, 2.4; 95% CI, 1.36-4.3; P = .003) were significant. This is the first large series to show that SCT confers long-term LFS in most children with CML and helps assess alternative therapy, including tyrosine kinase inhibitors.
Involvement of nitric oxide in farnesyltransferase inhibitor–mediated apoptosis in chronic myeloid leukemia cells
Authors: Selleri Carmine , Maciejewski Jaroslaw P. , Montuori Nunzia , Ricci Patrizia , Visconte Valeria , Serio Bianca , Luciano Luigiana , Rotoli Bruno 
Published: April 2003

Abstract
The mechanism of action of farnesyltransferase inhibitors (FTIs) has not been fully clarified. We investigated the cytotoxic effects of various FTIs in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), using LAMA cells and marrow cells from 40 CML patients in chronic phase. FTI-mediated cytotoxic effect was observed in LAMA cells and in 65% of primary CML cells, whereas marrow cells from controls were only weakly affected. Cytotoxic effects were partially related to enhanced apoptosis; however, Fas-receptor (FasR) and Fas-ligand (FasL) expression were not modified by FTIs. Susceptibility to FTI-mediated inhibition did not correlate with FasR/FasL expression in CD34+ CML cells. Moreover, intra-cellular activation of caspase-1 and -8 were not altered by FTIs, and their blockade did not reverse FTI toxicity. However, we observed FTI-induced activation of caspase-3, and its inhibition partially reverted FTI-induced apoptosis. FTIs did not modulate bcl2, bclxL, and bclxS expression, whereas they increased inducible nitric oxide (iNOS) mRNA and protein levels, resulting in higher NO production. Furthermore, C3 exoenzyme, a Rho inhibitor, significantly increased iNOS expression in CML cells, suggesting that FTIs may up-regulate NO formation at least partially through FTI-mediated inhibition of Rho. We conclude that FTIs induce selective apoptosis in CML cells via activation of iNOS and caspase-3.
Hyperhomocysteinemia in cerebral vein thrombosis
Authors: Martinelli Ida , Battaglioli Tullia , Pedotti Paola , Cattaneo Marco , Mannucci Pier M. 
Published: April 2003

Abstract
High plasma levels of total homocysteine (tHcy) are a risk factor for deep vein thrombosis. Because no information on the relationship between cerebral vein thrombosis and hyperhomocysteinemia is available, a case–control study of 121 patients with a first episode of cerebral vein thrombosis and 242 healthy control subjects was carried out. Fasting plasma levels of tHcy and their postmethionine load (PML) increments, together with other laboratory markers of thrombophilia, were measured in plasma or DNA. Hyperhomocysteinemia (high fasting tHcy and/or PML increments) was diagnosed in 33 patients (27%) and 20 control subjects (8%) (odds ratio, 4.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.3-7.6). Low levels of serum folate and the 677TT methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase were associated with hyperhomocysteinemia, but in a multivariate model hyperhomocysteinemia only was associated with an increased risk of cerebral vein thrombosis. Oral contraceptive intake was associated with the disease with an odds ratio of 6.1 (95% CI, 3.3-11.0). The combined presence of the latter and hyperhomocysteinemia increased the risk of the disease with an odds ratio of 19.5 (95% CI, 5.7-67.3). In conclusion, hyperhomocysteinemia is associated with a 4-fold increased risk of cerebral vein thrombosis; whether or not its correction with vitamins reduces the risk of the disease remains to be demonstrated.
Inter- and intraindividual variation of endotoxin- and β(1 → 3)-glucan-induced cytokine responses in a whole blood assay
Authors: Wouters Inge M , Douwes Jeroen , Thorne Peter S , Heederik Dick , Doekes Gert 
Published: April 2003

Inflammatory airway responses to bioaerosols and to their active compounds, such as endotoxin and β(1 → 3)- glucan, vary between individuals. These differences may be explained by variation in cytokine responsiveness, which can be assessed by in vitro stimulation tests with isolated blood leukocytes or lung macrophages. In large- scale population studies, ex vivo induced cytokine production may also be tested with a more simple `whole blood assay’ (WBA). However, applicability of a WBA to characterize a subject’s responsiveness depends largely on its reproducibility. This study was conducted to: 1) assess the within- and between-subject variability in cytokine production in a WBA after stimulation with endotoxin or β(1 → 3)-glucan; and 2) to determine under which conditions this test is most discriminating between subjects and most reproducible within subjects. Blood was collected from 14 healthy volunteers, of whom 10 also participated on a second occasion. Each blood sample was used in two WBA tests; the first WBA was initiated two hours and the second 26 hours after venapuncture. The WBA test itself comprised overnight incubation with serial dilutions of endotoxin [lipopolysaccharide (LPS)] and curdlan (a β(1 → 3)-glucan), after which blood cell supernatant was collected. Interleukin(IL)-1, IL6, IL8 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) were determined in the supernatant. In all individuals, a dose-dependent production of cytokines was observed for both LPS and curdlan. For all cytokines, variation between subjects was higher than within subjects, and this was most pronounced for IL1 and IL6. There was moderate-to-high correlation in the induced release of all four cytokines, and between cytokine release induced by LPS or curdlan. Optimal stimulation concentrations were 6.25 and 12.5 ng/mL for endotoxin and 12 500 and 25 000 ng/mL for curdlan. Cytokine production in WBA initiated 26 hours after venapuncture showed lower between-subject and larger within-subject variance, thus favoring an early initiation of the assay. In conclusion, measuring endotoxin-or glucan-induced cytokine production in a WBA initiated within two hours after venapuncture appears to be an effective method to determine a person’s cytokine responsiveness, at least in healthy naive subjects. Toxicology and Industrial Health 2002; 18: 15-27.
Synthesis, Chemical Modification, and Surface Assembly of Carbon Nanowires
Authors: Amma A. , Razavi B. , St. Angelo S.K. , Mayer T.S. , Mallouk T.E. 
Published: April 2003

AbstractCarbon nanotubules and nanowires were synthesized by pyrolysis of polymer precursors in the pores of alumina membranes. The nanowires were released by dissolving the membranes, and were then made hydrophobic or hydrophilic by chemical surface derivatization. These nanowires could be placed into lithographically defined wells on surfaces by means of electrostatic interactions with monolayers at the bottoms of the wells.
Nanoparticle Arrays on Surfaces Fabricated Using Anodic Alumina Films as Templates
Authors: Sander M.S. , Tan L.‐S. 
Published: April 2003

AbstractHigh density nanoparticle arrays on surfaces have been created using a template‐assisted approach. Templates were produced by evaporating aluminum onto substrates and subsequently anodizing the aluminum to produce nanoporous alumina films. The resulting templates have a narrow distribution of pore sizes tunable from ∼ 25 to ∼ 70 nm. To demonstrate the flexibility of this approach for producing nanoparticle arrays on various substrates, templates have been fabricated on silicon oxide, silicon, and gold surfaces. In all cases, a final chemical etching step yielded pores that extended completely through the template to the underlying substrate. Because the templates remain in intimate contact with the substrate throughout processing, they may be used with either vacuum‐based or wet chemical deposition methods to direct the deposition of nanoparticles onto the underlying substrates. Here we have produced gold nanodot arrays using evaporation and gold nanorod arrays by electrodeposition. In each case, the diameter and height of the nanoparticles can be controlled using the confining dimensions of the templates, resulting in high density (∼ 1010 cm–2) arrays of nanoparticles over large areas (> 1 cm2).