Age influences anthropometric and fitness-related predictors of bone mineral in men

Objective. This study assessed the influence of age on the predictors of bone mineral in men.

Methods. Middle-age (n = 41, 54 ± 4 yrs) and older (n = 40, 69 ± 5 yrs) men underwent grip and knee extensor strength tests, total body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry with regional analyses and a graded exercise treadmill test.

Results. Bone-free lean mass (BFLM) and, to a lesser extent, fat mass (FM) were correlated with bone mineral variables in middle-age men. In older men, BFLM and, to a lesser extent, FM were related to bone mineral content (BMC) at most sites, but inconsistently to bone mineral density (BMD). Knee extensor strength related to bone mineral (BMC and BMD) at most sites in middle-age men, but none in older men. Grip strength inconsistently related to bone mineral in both groups. Aerobic capacity related to bone mineral in middle-age men, but none in older men. In multiple regression, body weight or BFLM predicted bone mineral in middle-age men (R² = 0.33–0.68) and BMC in older men (R² = 0.33–0.50). Predictors of BMD were inconsistent in older men.

Conclusions. Relationships of body composition, muscular strength and aerobic capacity to bone mineral are stronger in middle-age versus older men.     

Ethnic Consciousness and Identity: A Research Report on Uygur‐Han Relations in Xinjiang

This paper is a report on survey findings conducted in five research sites in Xinjiang during May?–?July 2001. The research team ran into serious problems in fieldwork due to sensitive Uygur?–?Han relations. However, cautious interpretations of the survey data have revealed some interesting findings: (1) the Uygurs manifest strong ethnic and local identity; (2) there is deeply rooted mutual distrust between the Uygurs and Han Chinese; (3) the two nationality groups express prejudices against each other; and (4) a significant proportion of Uygurs and Han Chinese are sceptical about the effectiveness of government policies in maintaining healthy ethnic relations.     

Reibungsverluste an peripheren und internen Schnittstellen

Loss of energy in peripheric and internal interfaces. Considerations on the management of costs and quality in hospitals Organization development, coming from economics, now has reached the area of service societies. The counselors, who are engaged in hospitals, usually are educated in industral management and have a technical and economical view of organization. The author discusses the question, whether their strategies may fit to the organization of hospital, and he proposes to modify the common approaches of organization development. Before the ?therapy“ as the actual organization development may come to pass, a more detailed ?diagnosis“ has to be made: by an examination of the peripheric and internal interfaces, where usually an avoidable loss of energy occurs. Further more, he proposes a comprehensive management of organizational intersections.     

Contrasts in Infant Classical Eyeblink Conditioning as a Function of Premature Birth

The impact of premature birth on associative learning was evaluated using simple delay eyeblink conditioning in which a tone conditional stimulus was paired with an air puff unconditional stimulus. Fourteen preterm (28–31 weeks gestation) and 11 full‐term infants completed at least 3 conditioning sessions, 1 week apart, at 5 months of age (corrected age). Preterm and full‐term groups demonstrated associative learning, as confirmed by comparison with an unpaired control group. Preterm infants, however, exhibited more variability in their learning rates. The majority of full‐term infants and half the preterm infants exhibited rapid acquisition and gradual extinction of conditional responding. A greater proportion of preterm than full‐term infants failed to acquire conditional responding within 2 training sessions. Differences in associative learning rates were not the result of differences in arousal or attentional processes. Diversity in acquisition rates exposed an increased risk for disrupted infant learning due to premature birth.     

A multilevel cross-classified modelling approach to peer review of grant proposals: the effects of assessor and researcher attributes on assessor ratings

Summary. The peer review of grant proposals is very important to academics from all disciplines. Although there is limited research on the reliability of assessments for grant proposals, previously reported single-rater reliabilities have been disappointingly low (between 0.17 and 0.37). We found that the single-rater reliability of the overall assessor rating for Australian Research Council grants was 0.21 for social science and humanities (2870 ratings, 1928 assessors and 687 proposals) and 0.19 for science (7153 ratings, 4295 assessors and 1644 proposals). We used a multilevel, cross-classification approach (level 1, assessor and proposal cross-classification; level 2, field of study), taking into account that 34% of the assessors evaluated more than one proposal. Researcher-nominated assessors (those chosen by the authors of the research proposal) gave higher ratings than panel-nominated assessors chosen by the Australian Research Council, and proposals from more prestigious universities received higher ratings. In the social sciences and humanities, the status of Australian universities had significantly more effect on Australian assessors than on overseas assessors. In science, ratings were higher when assessors rated fewer proposals and apparently had a more limited frame of reference for making such ratings and when researchers were professors rather than non-professors. Particularly, the methodology of this large scale study is applicable to other forms of peer review (publications, job interviews, awarding of prizes and election to prestigious societies) where peer review is employed as a selection process.     

Community Networks in a Generational Perspective: The Change of an Electronic Medium Within Three Decades

Since the inception of electronic community networks in the USA in the 1970s, their goal has remained the provision of support to help the organization of communities at a local level. Despite major commonalities, the authors of this paper identify three generations that coincide roughly with the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. They are clearly differentiated in terms of technology, applications, organization and key actors. This analysis of the US experience of community networks draws on Karl Mannheim's sociological concept of generations to help understand change and adaptability in sociotechnical systems. It is the combined influence of the respective zeitgeist, the advent of a new technology, the influences of technical predecessors, and the appearance of new groups of actors that lead to a generational change. Options for the future of not-for-profit community networks and the possible emergence of a fourth generation are presented which, in the opinion of the authors, lie in a return to their roots. A brief overview of community networks in Europe is also provided.