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Assertion
Selected AbstractsWARRANTED ASSERTABILITY MANEUVERS AND THE RULES OF ASSERTIONPACIFIC PHILOSOPHICAL QUARTERLY, Issue 4 2008LEO IACONO I argue that no invariantist WAM against Stewart Cohen's Airport Case can succeed. The problem is that such a WAM is inconsistent with the known ways of accounting for the evidence that motivates the knowledge account of assertion. [source] DEWEY'S EPISTEMOLOGY: AN ARGUMENT FOR WARRANTED ASSERTIONS, KNOWING, AND MEANINGFUL CLASSROOM PRACTICEEDUCATIONAL THEORY, Issue 1 2006Deron R. BoylesArticle first published online: 3 FEB 200 Deron Boyles asserts that epistemology can and should represent an area of inquiry that is relevant and useful for philosophy of education, especially as it develops classroom practices that foster inquiry. He specifically seeks to revive Dewey's conception of warranted assertibility in an effort to show the value of fallibilist epistemology in practical and social teaching and learning contexts. By highlighting the distinctions between traditional epistemology and Dewey's conception of knowing, Boyles demonstrates that epistemology has value insofar as it highlights a more useful, instrumentalist theory of knowing that is applicable to classroom practice. [source] Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy Has No Benefit for Patients with Primary Cutaneous Melanoma: An Assertion Based on Comprehensive, Critical AnalysisDERMATOLOGIC SURGERY, Issue 6 2005David G. Brodland MD No abstract is available for this article. [source] Assertion that risperidone is superior to haloperidol for treatment of behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementiaINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY, Issue 3 2007Graham A. Jackson No abstract is available for this article. [source] The carcinogenicity of smegma: debunking a mythJOURNAL OF THE EUROPEAN ACADEMY OF DERMATOLOGY & VENEREOLOGY, Issue 9 2006RS Van Howe Abstract Background, Smegma is widely believed to cause penile, cervical and prostate cancer. This nearly ubiquitous myth continues to permeate the medical literature despite a lack of valid supportive evidence. Methods, A historical perspective of medical ideas pertaining to smegma is provided, and the original studies in both animals and humans are reanalysed using the appropriate statistical methods. Results, Evidence supporting the role of smegma as a carcinogen is found wanting. Conclusions, Assertions that smegma is carcinogenic cannot be justified on scientific grounds. [source] Conservation status and causes of decline of the threatened New Zealand Long-tailed Bat Chalinolobus tuberculatus (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae)MAMMAL REVIEW, Issue 2 2000Colin F. J. O'Donnell ABSTRACT Historical anecdotes and preliminary monitoring since 1990 indicate that New Zealand Long-tailed Bats (Chalinolobus tuberculatus, Vespertilionidae) are now rare or absent at many sites where formerly they were common. Chalinolobus tuberculatus appeared to be common throughout New Zealand in the 1800s but by 1900,30 it was becoming scarce in many districts. Formal surveys in the South Island since 1990 either failed to find C. tuberculatus, or recorded bats in low numbers. Of eight sites where transect counts were undertaken, bats were recorded frequently at two sites (45,66% of counts; Eglinton and Dart Valleys), rarely at four sites (2.4,10.7% of counts), and were not recorded at the remaining two sites despite considerable survey effort. Of 10 sites where stationary counts using automatic detector units were used, no C. tuberculatus were recorded in three areas (153 nights combined), they were found rarely at six sites (2.1,21.0% of nights; 461 nights combined) and were recorded commonly only in the Eglinton Valley (85% of 120 nights). Assertions that C. tuberculatus are ,common' and that the conservation status is ,secure' are questionable and this review supports suggestions that the species should be classed as ,Vulnerable'. Possible causes of decline have been suggested including clearance and logging of lowland forests, predation by introduced mammals and owls, competition for roost sites by introduced mammals, birds and wasps, and human interference and disturbance at roosting sites. However, authors' claims have all been speculative and unsubstantiated. There has been no research undertaken to quantify these claims, and this is required urgently. The results of these preliminary surveys provide a new baseline against which future population trends might be compared. Increased effort using standardized monitoring techniques, applied at a national level, is required to confirm the possible trends and to help identify the best sites where conservation managers may attempt to restore the population level. [source] Assertions, Conflations and Human Nature: A Reply to Werner BonefeldBRITISH JOURNAL OF POLITICS & INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, Issue 3 2009Ian Bruff No abstract is available for this article. [source] Assessing corporate environmental reporting motivations: differences between ,close-to-market' and ,business-to-business' companiesCORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2008Janet Haddock-Fraser Abstract In this paper we examine whether proximity to market affects the extent and form of corporate environmental reporting of companies listed in the FTSE 250. The reason for examining this issue is that it is frequently asserted, but not demonstrated, that closeness to market will correlate positively with proactive communication of environmental activities. Our results show that this assertion is, in particular reporting contexts, true. In particular, we find that companies who are close to market, or are brand-name companies, are highly likely to adopt one of the several forms of environmental reporting considered (particularly reporting on product life-cycle or supply chain and reporting through the BitC benchmark system). We also show that companies proximate to market are more likely to be the target of media attention, but are unable within the bounds of the research to assess whether this is a cause of increased environmental reporting or an effect of it. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] An exploration of research into substance misuse and psychiatric disorder in the UK: what can we learn from history?CRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR AND MENTAL HEALTH, Issue 4 2007Ilana B. Crome Background and aim,This review explores UK-based research developments in substance misuse and mental illness over the last 25 years. The main body of work comprises policy-orientated projects funded by the Department of Health from the late 1990s. Early research tended to focus on alcohol, especially alcoholic hallucinosis: the relationship of the latter with schizophrenia-like illness was examined, with the finding that very few cases did develop into schizophrenia. Method and implications,Parallels are drawn with the current debate around the link between cannabis and psychosis, urging caution in too rapid an assertion that cannabis is necessarily ,causal'. The clinical and policy implications of the misinterpretation of evidence are discussed. A proposal is put forward that the genesis of psychotic illness in alcohol misuse be revisited using more sophisticated research methodologies. Given the changing landscape of substance use in the UK, particularly the fashion of polysubstance use and the recognition that this is associated with psychotic illness, other drugs that are associated with psychotic illness should be similarly investigated to determine whether there is a common mechanism that might throw light on understanding the relationship between substance use and psychotic illness or schizophrenia. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Transforming the Developmental Welfare State in East AsiaDEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 3 2005Huck-ju Kwon This article attempts to explain changes and continuity in the developmental welfare states in Korea and Taiwan within the East Asian context. It first elaborates two strands of welfare developmentalism (selective vs. inclusive), and establishes that the welfare state in both countries fell into the selective category of developmental welfare states before the Asian economic crisis of 1997. The key principles of the selective strand of welfare developmentalism are productivism, selective social investment and authoritarianism; inclusive welfare development is based on productivism, universal social investment and democratic governance. The article then argues that the policy reform toward an inclusive welfare state in Korea and Taiwan was triggered by the need for structural reform in the economy. The need for economic reform, together with democratization, created institutional space in policy-making for advocacy coalitions, which made successful advances towards greater social rights. Finally, the article argues that the experiences of Korea and Taiwan counter the neo-liberal assertion that the role of social policy in economic development is minor, and emphasizes that the idea of an inclusive developmental welfare state should be explored in the wider context of economic and social development. [source] Listening to God: Using Meta,Terminology to Describe Revelation in a Comparative Theistic Context1DIALOG, Issue 2 2009A. J. Watson Abstract:, Starting from the assertion that comparative theology is inherently dialogical in nature, this paper examines the use of non-confessional meta-terminology and its application in interfaith dialogue. In so doing, it examines potential meta-terms for describing revelation as related in the Bhagavad-Gita, the Qur'an, and the Gospel of John, and concludes that non-confessional terms aid in the dismissal of normative viewpoints, leading to greater appreciation of commonality and meaning in the truth claims of other faiths and dialogue partners. [source] Quantum Theory and the Resurrection of JesusDIALOG, Issue 3 2004By Anders S. Tune Abstract:, Ever since the time of Hume it has been a truism that the worldview of empirical science, and Christian assertion of the resurrection of Jesus, are antithetical to each other. Yet post-Newtonian science, and especially quantum theory, suggests the need for a reappraisal of this truism. This reappraisal will first examine the implications of the indeterminism of the quantum world, to consider the physical possibility of Jesus' resurrection. Second, an appraisal of the historical evidence will suggest the likelihood of Jesus' resurrection. Finally, I will consider some implications of all this for contemporary Christian thought. [source] The significance of overlapping plant range to a putative adaptive trade-off in the black bean aphid Aphis fabae ScopECOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 4 2004C. R. Tosh Abstract., 1. This study continues to explore the analysis of a putative adaptive trade-off in the utilisation of host plants Vicia faba and Tropaeolum majus by the aphid, Aphis fabae. These plants are utilised exclusively by the subspecies Aphis fabae fabae and A. f. mordwilkoi respectively, and this plant-use system has been studied previously as a potential source of disruptive selection. 2. Here the potential of these two host plants to generate disruptive selection is considered given common utilisation of the abundant host plant, Rumex obtusifolius, by both subspecies. 3. The life history of subspecific clones is quantified in the laboratory on V. faba, T. majus, and R. obtusifolius at various temperatures and used to parameterise a temperature-driven simulation model of aphid population development. 4. Accuracy of the model is tested using a field experiment, and fitness of clones on specific and common host is simulated using temperature data from a number of English sites. 5. The model gives a close quantitative fit to field data and makes the following predictions: performance of A. f. fabae is higher on the specific host than the common host under all tested thermal regimes; and performance of A. f. mordwilkoi is superior on the specific host in warm years but inferior in cold years. 6. Given the great abundance of R. obtusifolius relative to T. majus, the model predicts that the plant utilisation system has little potential to consistently promote hybrid dysfunction. This adds further weight to the assertion that the plant utilisation system studied can offer little insight into the evolutionary processes involved in subspecific differentiation and probably contains a host plant/host plants acquired after the evolution of reproductive barriers. [source] Biodiversity and biocontrol: emergent impacts of a multi-enemy assemblage on pest suppression and crop yield in an agroecosystemECOLOGY LETTERS, Issue 9 2003Bradley J. Cardinale Abstract The suppression of agricultural pests has often been proposed as an important service of natural enemy diversity, but few experiments have tested this assertion. In this study we present empirical evidence that increasing the richness of a particular guild of natural enemies can reduce the density of a widespread group of herbivorous pests and, in turn, increase the yield of an economically important crop. We performed an experiment in large field enclosures where we manipulated the presence/absence of three of the most important natural enemies (the coccinellid beetle Harmonia axyridis, the damsel bug Nabis sp., and the parasitic wasp Aphidius ervi) of pea aphids (Acyrthosiphon pisum) that feed on alfalfa (Medicago sativa). When all three enemy species were together, the population density of the pea aphid was suppressed more than could be predicted from the summed impact of each enemy species alone. As crop yield was negatively related to pea aphid density, there was a concomitant non-additive increase in the production of alfalfa in enclosures containing the more diverse enemy guild. This trophic cascade appeared to be influenced by an indirect interaction involving a second herbivore inhabiting the system , the cowpea aphid, Aphis craccivora. Data suggest that high relative densities of cowpea aphids inhibited parasitism of pea aphids by the specialist parasitoid, A. ervi. Therefore, when natural enemies were together and densities of cowpea aphids were reduced by generalist predators, parasitism of pea aphids increased. This interaction modification is similar to other types of indirect interactions among enemy species (e.g. predator,predator facilitation) that can enhance the suppression of agricultural pests. Results of our study, and those of others performed in agroecosystems, complement the broader debate over how biodiversity influences ecosystem functioning by specifically focusing on systems that produce goods of immediate relevance to human society. [source] Diadegma mollipla parasitizing Plutella xylostella: host instar preference and suitabilityENTOMOLOGIA EXPERIMENTALIS ET APPLICATA, Issue 1 2008Robert S. Nofemela Abstract Oviposition decisions (i.e., host selection and sex allocation) of female parasitoids are expected to correspond with host quality, as their offspring fitness is dependent on the amount and quality of resources provided by a single host. The host size model assumes that host quality is a linear function of host size, with larger hosts believed to contain a greater quantity of resources, and thus be more profitable than smaller hosts. We tested this assertion in the laboratory on a solitary larval,pupal parasitoid Diadegma mollipla (Holmgren) (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) developing on three instars (second,fourth) of one of its hosts, the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae). In a no-choice test, parasitism levels and sex ratio (i.e., proportion of female progeny) were significantly high in hosts attacked in the second instar followed by third then fourth instars. However, the few parasitoids that completed a generation from the fourth instars did so significantly faster than conspecifics that started development in the other two instars. In direct observations, however, the parasitoids (i) randomly attacked the various host instars, (ii) spent a similar period examining the various host instars with their ovipositors, (iii) subdued all three host instars with about the same effort, and (iv) no statistical differences were observed in the attack rates on the three host instars. In a choice test, the females parasitized significantly more third instars followed by second then fourth instars. However, total parasitism in this experiment was 43% lower compared to parasitism of only second instars in the no-choice test. No significant differences were detected in progeny sex ratios. In both choice and no-choice tests, significantly more fourth instars died during the course of the experiments than second instars, while third instars were intermediate. The higher parasitism of third than second instars in the choice test indicates that the females perceived larger hosts as higher quality than smaller hosts, despite their lower suitability for larval development. [source] Transforming Possession: Josephine and the Work of CultureETHOS, Issue 2 2008Bambi L. Chapin After a 30-year career as a priestess during which she became renowned for deep possession trances, firewalking, and blood sacrifices, she no longer participates in these activities. The analysis of this case argues that problematic dissociation outside a ritual context can be used in and transformed by involvement in culturally available possession rituals to promote healing. This counters Melford Spiro and others who have viewed possession experiences as necessarily abnormal, psychotic, and symptomatic of mental disorder. It supports Gananath Obeyesekere's assertion that engagement with these symbolic systems can lead to "progressive transformations." Parallels between this priestess' lifestory and Western psychotherapy extend Obeyesekere's conception of "the work of culture" beyond the domain of meaning and symbol to include roles for embodied practice and interpersonal relationships. [spirit possession, Sri Lanka, dissociation, healing, mental health] [source] The Governance of the European Union: The Potential for Multi-Level ControlEUROPEAN LAW JOURNAL, Issue 1 2002Colin Scott In its White Paper on the Governance of the European Union the European Commission has adopted a narrow concept of governance which focuses almost exclusively on public institutions exercising legislative and executive power (in other words institutions of government). The article suggests that a theory of multi-level control in the EU would attend to greater variety both in the available governance institutions and the techniques of control. The deployment of an analysis grounded in theories of control suggests that the European Commission is substantially holding to a long-held preference for instruments of government premised on the exercise of hierarchical power. This reform path sits uneasily with revived concerns to render the governance of the EU more democratic. Equally it inhibits the generation of more efficient governance arrangements which place greater dependence on communities, competition, and design as alternative bases of control to hierarchy. Control theory suggests that the assertion of different reform agendas and institutional structures by other actors can check the more wayward (and arguably illegitimate) tendencies within the Commission plan, whilst drawing in alternative bases of control which, when combined, may yield technically superior governance solutions. [source] Does Hedging Affect Firm Value?FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2006Evidence from the US Airline Industry Does hedging add value to the firm, and if so, is the source of the added value consistent with hedging theory? We investigate jet fuel hedging behavior of firms in the US airline industry during 1992,2003 to examine whether such hedging is a source of value for these companies. We illustrate that the investment and financing climate in the airline industry conforms well to the theoretical framework of Froot, Scharfstein, and Stein (1993). In general, airline industry investment opportunities correlate positively with jet fuel costs, while higher fuel costs are consistent with lower cash flow. Given that jet fuel costs are hedgeable, airlines with a desire for expansion may find value in hedging future purchases of jet fuel. Our results show that jet fuel hedging is positively related to airline firm value. The coefficients on the hedging variables in our regression analysis suggest that the "hedging premium" is greater than the 5% documented in Allayannis and Weston (2001), and might be as large as 10%. We find that the positive relation between hedging and value increases in capital investment, and that most of the hedging premium is attributable to the interaction of hedging with investment. This result is consistent with the assertion that the principal benefit of jet fuel hedging by airlines comes from reduction of underinvestment costs. [source] Payment For Risk: Constant Beta Vs.FINANCIAL REVIEW, Issue 2 2002Dual-Beta Models Fama and French's (1992) assertion that investors receive premium payments for risk associated with the book value to market price (BE/ME) and size and not for holding beta risk has sparked a lively debate concerning risk factors that are priced in the market. Howton and Peterson (1998) use a dual-beta model to test the Fama and French conclusions. They conclude that the significant relationship between beta and returns depends on the use of the dual-beta model. This work, however, ignores the results reported by Pettengill, Sundaram, and Mathur (PSM, 1995). PSM find a significant relation between a constant risk beta and returns when data are segmented between up and down markets, but do not consider the impact of size and BE/ME. In this paper we show that the PSM (1995) market segmentation procedure alone provides a sufficient condition to identify a significant relation between beta and returns in the presence of size and BE/ME. Dual market betas may be relevant in explaining risk and return. However, the market segmentation procedure of PSM (1995) is the critical condition for finding a significant relationship between returns and betas. [source] Seawater Mg/Ca controls polymorph mineralogy of microbial CaCO3: A potential proxy for calcite-aragonite seas in Precambrian timeGEOBIOLOGY, Issue 2 2008J. B. RIES ABSTRACT A previously published hydrothermal brine-river water mixing model driven by ocean crust production suggests that the molar Mg/Ca ratio of seawater (mMg/Casw) has varied significantly (~1.0,5.2) over Precambrian time, resulting in six intervals of aragonite-favouring seas (mMg/Casw > 2) and five intervals of calcite-favouring seas (mMg/Casw < 2) since the Late Archaean. To evaluate the viability of microbial carbonates as mineralogical proxy for Precambrian calcite-aragonite seas, calcifying microbial marine biofilms were cultured in experimental seawaters formulated over the range of Mg/Ca ratios believed to have characterized Precambrian seawater. Biofilms cultured in experimental aragonite seawater (mMg/Casw = 5.2) precipitated primarily aragonite with lesser amounts of high-Mg calcite (mMg/Cacalcite = 0.16), while biofilms cultured in experimental calcite seawater (mMg/Casw = 1.5) precipitated exclusively lower magnesian calcite (mMg/Cacalcite = 0.06). Furthermore, Mg/Cacalcite varied proportionally with Mg/Casw. This nearly abiotic mineralogical response of the biofilm CaCO3 to altered Mg/Casw is consistent with the assertion that biofilm calcification proceeds more through the elevation of , via metabolic removal of CO2 and/or H+, than through the elevation of Ca2+, which would alter the Mg/Ca ratio of the biofilm's calcifying fluid causing its pattern of CaCO3 polymorph precipitation (aragonite vs. calcite; Mg-incorporation in calcite) to deviate from that of abiotic calcification. If previous assertions are correct that the physicochemical properties of Precambrian seawater were such that Mg/Casw was the primary variable influencing CaCO3 polymorph mineralogy, then the observed response of the biofilms' CaCO3 polymorph mineralogy to variations in Mg/Casw, combined with the ubiquity of such microbial carbonates in Precambrian strata, suggests that the original polymorph mineralogy and Mg/Cacalcite of well-preserved microbial carbonates may be an archive of calcite-aragonite seas throughout Precambrian time. These results invite a systematic evaluation of microbial carbonate primary mineralogy to empirically constrain Precambrian seawater Mg/Ca. [source] Reformulating tradition and modernity: Moroccan migrant women and the transnational division of ritual spaceGLOBAL NETWORKS, Issue 3 2002Ruba Salih In this article I analyse the rituals that transnational migrants who live and work in Europe (mainly Italy) perform in Morocco during their return there for summer holidays. The transnational dimension of rituals and ceremonies reveals the diverse ways in which Moroccan families gain social recognition across transnational space. I explore how migrants construct and display their identities contextually and in opposition to multiple Others. By performing the traditional rituals associated with important turning points in their lives in Morocco, migrants seek to reintegrate themselves and maintain their membership of their community of origin. At the same time, however, these performances bring to the surface a hidden agenda: the assertion and exhibition of migrants' differences with respect to those who have stayed behind. These rituals, which provide a perspective through which to analyse the intersection of global and local interconnections, also reveal complex and shifting interpretations of ,tradition' and ,modernity', and the practices in which these are embedded. I conclude by suggesting that, in this process, migrants develop a creative interplay with ,traditional practices' by subverting, reformulating and giving new creative shape to their meaning and content. [source] Flowpath Delineation and Ground Water Age, Allequash Basin, WisconsinGROUND WATER, Issue 7 2003Christine D. Pint An analysis of ground water flowpaths to a lake and creek in northern Wisconsin shows the flow system in a geologically simple basin dominated by lakes can be surprisingly complex. Differences in source area, i.e., lakes or terrestrial, combined with the presence of intervening lakes, which may or may not capture underflowing ground water as water moves downgradient from recharge areas, contribute to a complex mix of flowpaths. The result is water of different chemistry and vastly different ages may discharge in close proximity. Flowpaths, travel times, and capture zones in the Allequash Basin in northern Wisconsin were delineated using particle tracking based on a calibrated steady-state ground water flow model. The flowpath analysis supports the conclusions of Walker et al. (2003) who made inferences about flowpath characteristics from isotope and major ion chemistry. Simulated particle tracking agreed with Walker et al.'s measurements of water source (lake or terrestrial recharge) in the stream subsurface and also supported their assertion that ground water with a high calcium concentration in the lower basin of Allequash Lake is derived from long flowpaths. Numerical simulations show that ground water discharging in this area originates more than 5 km away in a source area located upgradient of Big Muskellunge Lake, which is upgradient of Allequash Lake. These results graphically illustrate that in settings with multiple sources of water with different age characteristics and converging flowlines (like the Allequash Basin) it may be difficult to obtain accurate estimates of ground water age by chemical analyses of ground water. [source] Natural Attenuation Reactions at a Uranium Mill Tailings Site, Western U.S.A.GROUND WATER, Issue 1 2002Chen Zhu This paper presents a modeling analysis of the geochemical evolution of a contaminated sandy aquifer at a uranium mill tailings site in the western United States. The tailings pond contains fluids having a pH of 1.5 to 3.5 and high levels of As, Be, Cd, Cr, Pb, Mo, Ni, Se, 226Ra, 228Ra, 230Th, 238U, and 234U. Seepage of tailings fluids into the aquifer has formed a low-pH ground water plume. The reclamation plan is to install a low-permeability cover on the tailings pond to stop the seepage and allow the plume to be attenuated by reactions with the aquifer matrix and flushed by uncontaminated upgradient ground water. To evaluate this reclamation scenario, ground water and sediment core samples were analyzed along one flowpath. Speciation-solubility and mass-transfer modeling revealed two sets of chemical reactions for acid seepage and flushing, respectively. The current concentrations and distribution of ground water constituents can be interpreted as being controlled by stepwise pH-buffer reactions with calcite, amorphous aluminum hydroxide, and amorphous iron hydroxides. These buffer reactions divide the aquifer into zones of near-constant pH, separated by interface zones. For the flushing stage, it is predicted that reactions with surface-bound species will dominate the reaction paths, and more pore volumes are required to neutralize the plume than predicted by models that do not consider surface reactions. Direct mineralogical and surface analysis is needed to substantiate this assertion. [source] Cluster headache: the challenge of clinical trials.HEADACHE, Issue 3 2003K Moore Curr Pain Headache. Rep 2002 Feb;6(1):52-56 The design and execution of clinical trials poses special problems for cluster headache. Although there is less inter-individual and intra-individual variability of attacks than seen with migraine, the brevity of attacks, spontaneous remissions unrelated to treatment, and the relative rarity of cluster headaches challenge investigators. The International Headache Society has developed guidelines that represent a compromise between scientific rigor and practicality. Only injectable sumatriptan for acute attacks and verapamil for prophylaxis have demonstrated a robust therapeutic effect in controlled clinical trials. Comment: Kenneth Moore raises important methodological considerations. It is possible to undertake crossover trials comparing different active treatments? He is correct in his assertion that few agents show robust efficacy. A major issue relates to the proportion of patients with episodic versus chronic cluster headache where efficacy of active treatments can vary. For example, oral zolmitriptan was effective against placebo only in those patients with episodic disease (Bahra A, Gawel MJ, Hardebo JE, Millson DS, Breen SA, Goadsby PJ. Oral zolmitriptan is effective in the acute treatment of cluster headache. Neurology. 2000;54:1832-1839). And a set of small studies on melatonin and cluster demonstrate the problems Dr. Moore describes. In one study (Leone M, D'Amico D, Moschiano F, Fraschini F, Busonne G. Metalonin versus placebo in the prophylaxis of cluster headache: a double-blind pilot study with parallel groups. Cephalalgia. 1996;16:494-496), the melatonin worked only in episodic, not chronic cluster patients. In the second study (Prinsheim T, Magnoux E, Dobson CF, Hamel E, Aube M. Melatonin as adjuctive therapy in the prophylaxis of cluster headache: a pilot study. Headache. 2002;42:787-792), melatonin did not work better than placebo in either episodic or chronic cluster patients. Furthermore, the paper abstracted above by Torelli and Manzoni suggests that episodic cluster may progress to chronic cluster as a result of extrinsic factors such as smoking. Finally, there are ethical issues in placebo-controlled cluster studies, given the severity of the pain and the availability of effective acute and chronic treatments. As noted above, Dr. Peter Goadsby points out the need to persevere with these studies to find nonvasoactive treatments for patients with cluster headache. DSM and SJT [source] A critique of the World Health Organisation's evaluation of health system performanceHEALTH ECONOMICS, Issue 5 2003Jeff Richardson Abstract The World Health Organisation's (WHO) approach to the measurement of health system efficiency is briefly described. Four arguments are then presented. First, equity of finance should not be a criterion for the evaluation of a health system and, more generally, the same objectives and importance weights should not be imposed upon all countries. Secondly, the numerical value of the importance weights do not reflect their true importance in the country rankings. Thirdly, the model for combining the different objectives into a single index of system performance is problematical and alternative models are shown to alter system rankings. The WHO statistical analysis is replicated and used to support the fourth argument which is that, contrary to the author's assertion, their methods cannot separate true inefficiency from random error. The procedure is also subject to omitted variable bias. The econometric model for all countries has very poor predictive power for the subset of OECD countries and it is outperformed by two simpler algorithms. Country rankings based upon the model are correspondingly unreliable. It is concluded that, despite these problems, the study is a landmark in the evolution of system evaluation, but one which requires significant revision. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Impairment and Disability: Constructing an Ethics of Care That Promotes Human RightsHYPATIA, Issue 4 2001JENNY MORRIS The social model of disability gives us the tools not only to challenge the discrimination and prejudice we face, but also to articulate the personal experience of impairment. Recognition of difference is therefore a key part of the assertion of our common humanity and of an ethics of care that promotes our human rights. [source] Adult sex ratios in wild bird populationsIBIS, Issue 4 2007PAUL F. DONALD Offspring sex ratios in wild bird populations, and the extent to which they vary from the equality expected by random genotypic sex determination, have received much recent attention. Adult sex ratios (ASRs) in wild birds, on the other hand, remain very poorly described, and many of the questions about them posed by Ernst Mayr in 1939 remain unanswered. This review assesses population-level sex ratio patterns in wild bird populations, with an emphasis on the ASR. A quantitative assessment of over 200 published estimates of ASR, covering species from a wide range of taxa, regions and habitats, supported Mayr's assertion that skewed ASRs are common in wild bird populations. On average, males outnumbered females by around 33%, and 65% of published estimates differed significantly from equality. In contrast, population-level estimates of offspring sex ratio in birds did not generally differ from equality, and mean ASR across a range of wild mammal species was strongly female-skewed. ASR distortion in birds was significantly more severe in populations of globally threatened species than in non-threatened species, a previously undescribed pattern that has profound implications for their monitoring and conservation. Higher female mortality, rather than skewed offspring sex ratio, is the main driver of male-skewed ASRs in birds, and the causes and implications of this are reviewed. While estimates of ASR in wild bird populations may be subject to a number of biases, which are discussed, there is currently no quantitative evidence that an ASR of one male to one female represents the norm in birds. A better understanding and reporting of ASRs in wild bird populations could contribute greatly to our understanding of population processes and could contribute much to theoretical and applied research and conservation. [source] Negotiating Islam: Conservatism, Splintered Authority and Empowerment in Urban BangladeshIDS BULLETIN, Issue 2 2010Samia Huq Bangladesh has recently been seeing a rise in religiosity which has been treated as problematic, anti-secular and anti-progressive within the public sphere. Various writers describe this trend as having a disempowering effect on women and negating their self-expression. However, underlying these views is the assumption that the assertion of women's agency is not enough if it does not confront existing structures of relations. This article asks whether it is possible that in seeking changes in certain aspects of one's life, existing gender relations are not necessarily transformed, but indirectly challenged and reconfigured? The conclusion suggests that rather than a polarisation of the secular and religious ways of living most people are in fact in between, negotiating between the two camps, and borrowing ideas and ways from both. [source] GradH-Correction: guaranteed sizing gradation in multi-patch parametric surface meshingINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 4 2005Stefano Pippa Abstract In this paper a new method, called GradH-Correction, for the generation of multi-patch parametric surface meshes with controlled sizing gradation is presented. Such gradation is obtained performing a correction on the size values located on the vertices of the background mesh used to define the control space that governs the meshing process. In the presence of a multi-patch surface, like shells of BREP solids, the proposed algorithm manages the whole composite surface simultaneously and as a unique entity. Sizing information can spread from a patch to its adjacent ones and the resulting size gradation is independent from the surface partitioning. Theoretical considerations lead to the assertion that, given a parameter ,, after performing a GradH-Correction of level , over the control space, the unit mesh constructed using the corrected control space is a mesh of gradation , in the real space (target space). This means that the length ratio of any two adjacent edges of the mesh is bounded between 1/, and ,. Numerical results show that meshes generated from corrected control spaces are of high quality and good gradation also when the background mesh has poor quality. However, due to mesh generator imprecision and theoretical limitations, guaranteed gradation is achieved only for the sizing specifications and not for the generated mesh. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Pressure boundary condition for the time-dependent incompressible Navier,Stokes equationsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN FLUIDS, Issue 6 2006R. L. Sani Abstract In Gresho and Sani (Int. J. Numer. Methods Fluids 1987; 7:1111,1145; Incompressible Flow and the Finite Element Method, vol. 2. Wiley: New York, 2000) was proposed an important hypothesis regarding the pressure Poisson equation (PPE) for incompressible flow: Stated there but not proven was a so-called equivalence theorem (assertion) that stated/asserted that if the Navier,Stokes momentum equation is solved simultaneously with the PPE whose boundary condition (BC) is the Neumann condition obtained by applying the normal component of the momentum equation on the boundary on which the normal component of velocity is specified as a Dirichlet BC, the solution (u, p) would be exactly the same as if the ,primitive' equations, in which the PPE plus Neumann BC is replaced by the usual divergence-free constraint (, · u = 0), were solved instead. This issue is explored in sufficient detail in this paper so as to actually prove the theorem for at least some situations. Additionally, like the original/primitive equations that require no BC for the pressure, the new results establish the same thing when the PPE approach is employed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||