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Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is associated with significant morbidity, functional decline, and mortality in older adults. The role of statins for primary CVD prevention in older adults remains unclear, largely due to systematic exclusion of these individuals in trials that inform current practice guidelines, leading to conflicting national and international practice recommendations for statin use for primary prevention of CVD in adults aged 75 and older. In this narrative review, we performed a literature review utilizing PubMed, and ultimately focus on seven major national and international guidelines of lipid lowering therapy. Through the lens of two clinical cases, we review physiologic changes in lipid metabolism with aging, discuss the relationship between cholesterol and cardiovascular events in older adults, examine the national and international guidelines and the available evidence informing these guidelines for statin use in primary prevention of CVD in older adults. Finally we review practical clinical considerations for drug monitoring and deprescribing in this population. Guidelines for the use of statins for primary CVD prevention in older adults is conflicting. Collectively, evidence to date suggests statin therapy may be beneficial for primary CVD prevention in older adults free of life-limiting comorbidities. Randomized controlled trials are currently underway to address current evidence gaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Montesquieu's many works contain a sophisticated account of military strategy that anticipated nineteenth-century developments in the subject. In particular, his influence over Jomini was more significant than previously realized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Isaiah Berlin has not attracted much attention from academic strategists. This is unfortunate, because his concept of value pluralism helps explain why strategic decisions are burdened by uncertainty. It also highlights the importance of political judgement in reducing this uncertainty and the role of history in educating political judgement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hobbes' relevance to the concerns of strategy has gone unappreciated. He is, after all, interested in escaping the condition of war, rather than exploiting its political utility. And yet, exactly because of this, Leviathan addresses the principal difficulty with strategic deliberation – which is the epistemic deficit that attends human interaction, encouraging anticipatory violence. As the military theorist Carl von Clausewitz observed, minimizing the costs of war involves identifying opportunities for exercising mutual restraint over its conduct. And achieving this requires that the aforementioned epistemic deficit be ameliorated. For Hobbes, the sovereign state achieves this for its citizens; but he also considers other solutions in the context of relations between such states. The resulting insights are relevant to matters such as nuclear deterrence, and recent stability operations in the Middle East. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using results from a design-research studio analysing rail station access in Melbourne, this article considers how differing Autonomous Vehicle (AV) deployment models might fit into a suburban landscape. The results challenge assumptions about AV deployment. If AVs are low occupancy, peak demands may require station carparks to be used entirely as pick-up/drop off zones. This suggests little opportunity to re-purpose car parks for non-transport uses. Further, with AVs uncoupling station demand from existing feeder bus and park-and-ride provision, a re-distribution of demand along rail corridors may occur. The work has broad applicability to the policy challenges of an AV future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical activity has been strongly associated with better physical and mental health outcomes. However, physical activity for better health outcomes depends on many factors, including the nature of the environment. In resource-challenged settings, the configurations of physical activities for salutogenic effects is rarely characterized. Using the Health Belief Model (HBM), this paper reviews and analyses factors that influence 150–300 minutes per week of Mild to Moderate Physical Activity (MMPA-150) among urban minority residents. Residents of a Racial and Ethnic Approach to Community Health (REACH)-targeted campaign funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), including schools, housing projects, community health center and faith-based organizations in minority neighborhoods in a mid-west city were surveyed with a REACH Health Activity Assessment questionnaire. Using HBM constructs, multinomial logistic regression analyses were applied to determine levels of factors that impact MMPA-150. Black/African Americans were significantly more likely than others to engage in MMPA-150. Perceived vulnerability also predicted MMPA-150 in the bivariate model. There is need for planning and implementation, based on differences in resource access/availability. It is essential to clearly identify salutogenic activities that are living style based, which may not be vulnerable to lack of 'resources', for their implementation. Targeting these living style-based activities with health promotion and education interventions may help move the needle forward regarding the salutogenic effects of physical activities, and engaging in them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Questions about how to plan and govern for future urban mobility are reaching a critical point as Australian cities are faced with disruption to transport and urban systems arising from new forms of shared mobility services and the rise of autonomous vehicles. An industry engagement workshop, drawing on the insights of participants from public and private sectors of the industry, articulated a large array of complex and interrelated questions highlighting the uncertainty and scarcity of knowledge. These questions are grouped into three key themes concerning how implementation may take place, what the impacts of the uptake of these emerging transport technologies may be and how to understand them. The resultant research agenda is vast and one of multi-complexity by space, time and institutionally. 新型共享移动服务和无人驾驶汽车的出现，打乱了澳大利亚城市现有的交通和城市系统，如何规划和治理 未来城市的移动，便成为一个迫在眉睫的问题。在一场有公共部门和私营部门参与的产业交流工作坊中，人们提出了一系列错综复杂的问题，凸显了相关知识的不确定性和稀缺性。这些问题可大致分为三个方面： 策略如何实施，交通新技术会产生哪些影响，以及如何认识这些新技术。随之而产生的研究计划非常庞大， 且涉及空间、时间和制度，因而具有多重复杂性。 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among policymakers and researchers at an international level, there is great interest in the performance of the Melbourne rail franchise model. This review attempts to examine the Melbourne model in an international context and assess the performance of the system under current contracts. Potential flaws are highlighted including lack of information, concerns over performance and contestability, and the treatment of the potential long-term maintenance backlog under short-term contracts. The authors conclude with an overall stance of there needing to be far greater public information transparency to allow proper scrutiny of the effectiveness of these contracts for the public good. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AV technologies have the potential to transform urban landscapes and existing transport systems and networks. Yet, the utopian imaginary of reduced automobile ownership and a new shared economic future sits in tension with suggestions that car dependency, urban sprawl and transport inaccessibility will be exacerbated. The issues are situated in a complex governance landscape involving an influential private sector who are increasingly setting the agenda. The public sector may be forced into reacting to the new innovations by information technology and automobile companies as they are introduced into existing built environments. Drawing on an extensive literature base and interviews with public sector planners, this paper reveals the conceptual gaps in the framing of AV technology - the prospects and limits - and how these are conceived. The paper raises questions about the role urban planning can play in the rollout of AVs in order to anticipate and mediate unwanted built environment and socio-spatial impacts, as well as reconciling the ambition of transport innovation with the public purpose of planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clausewitz has much to tell us about strategy. However, his most fundamental and enduring insights are obscured by his problematic theorizing about war in general. Essentially the same insights have been more clearly and economically articulated in the fields of political philosophy and game theory. As such, these literatures provide a more accessible introduction to the basics of strategy. The real value of Clausewitz resides in his profound understanding of how basic strategic dynamics play out in the specific context of war. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article attempts to assess some of Herb Gans’s influential contributions, not only in his important paper on symbolic ethnicity, but also his wider discussion of the changing role of race, ethnicity, and religion in American society. In a period spanning more than half a century, he has helped to raise key questions and to suggest avenues of research that have stimulated debates and the re-evaluation of a complex, controversial, and highly dynamic field of social science research and policy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is a systemic condition of unknown cause characterized by highly fibrotic lesions, with dense lymphoplasmacytic infiltrates containing a preponderance of IgG4-expressing plasma cells. CD4+ T cells and B cells constitute the major inflammatory cell populations in IgG4-RD lesions. IgG4-RD patients with active, untreated disease show a marked expansion of plasmablasts in the circulation. Although the therapeutic depletion of B cells suggests a role for these cells in the disease, a direct role for B cells or IgG4 in the pathogenesis of IgG4-RD is yet to be demonstrated. Among the CD4+ T-cell subsets, Th2 cells were initially thought to contribute to IgG4-RD pathogenesis, but many previous studies were confounded by the concomitant history of allergic diseases in the patients studied and the failure to use multi-color staining to definitively identify T-cell subsets in tissue samples. More recently, using an unbiased approach to characterize CD4+ T-cell subsets in patients with IgG4-RD – based on their clonal expansion and ability to infiltrate affected tissue sites – CD4+ CTLs have been identified as the major CD4+ T-cell subset in disease lesions as well as in the circulation. CD4+ CTLs in affected tissues secrete pro-fibrotic cytokines including IL-1β, TGF-β1, and IFN-γ as well as cytolytic molecules such as perforin and granzymes A and B. In this review, we examine possible mechanisms by which activated B cells and plasmablasts may collaborate with the expanded CD4+ CTLs in driving the fibrotic pathology of the disease and describe the lacunae in the field and in our understanding of IgG4-RD pathogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bayonet has long been regarded as an obsolete piece of military technology. This article advances a proxemic account of close combat, which points to its continuing utility under modern battlefield conditions. It is argued that bayonet training remains an effective way of preparing soldiers to psychologically dominate contested spaces on the battlefield. Thus, although other weapons and techniques can fulfil the same role, it can nevertheless be argued that the bayonet’s enduring presence is not simply the result of some atavistic military mind-set. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objective: To evaluate the work process for CP cases in different rehabilitation centers according to Brazilian health policies and recommendations from the 'World Report on Disability'. Methods: A questionnaire - Evaluation Process of Rehabilitation of Children with CP was applied to the Coordinators of 13 services. This instrument has a maximum score of 108 points. Results: The results of the questionnaire varied from 28 to 64 points. The mean and SD were 43.5 and 10.9, respectively. The main administrative difficulties were: (a) presence of unmet demand, (b) patient absenteeism, (c) referral to primary care services, (d) inadequate physical facilities, (e) the scarce provision of prosthetics and orthotics, (f) insufficient financial resources, (g) human resources training, (h) difficulties with the use of the information system and (i) transportation difficulties for patients. Conclusion: Administrative and clinical guidelines are needed for uniformity of the work process of the rehabilitation centers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Banton and Rex's differences in their analysis of race and ethnic relations rest not so much on the contrast between ‘prophet’ and ‘scientist’, but rather on two quite different perspectives on the nature of sociology itself. Each in their own way has much to offer the field, which explains their continuing relevance to this area of study. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Melbourne and Vancouver share many similarities, but there are significant differences in the content and outcomes of transport and urban planning policies since 1970. Melbourne has built a large urban freeway network and is struggling to create a coherent transit network from its large but fragmented transit system. Vancouver has achieved some enviable successes in urban planning, but is still facing significant car-dependence in its outer suburbs. This paper provides a conceptual theoretical model that asserts the centrality of local politics as the source of reasons for particular urban transport policy trajectories. It describes the political and institutional context for the development of transport policies and the behaviour of key actors in the two cities, and identifies some of key factors behind transport and planning outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of conventional armed forces in a deterrent role merits close consideration. Instability in weak or failing states can have global ramifications, while efforts to build stability take time. In principle, conventional deterrence can be used to buy the time required for such stabilization efforts. Attempts at deterrence will, however, need to overcome credibility problems stemming from the technical limitations associated with conventional armed forces, and with the likely requirement for multiple external actors to deter multiple intrastate audiences. While deterrence might work under certain circumstances, it will not play as central a role in strategy as it did during the Cold War. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The question of whether or not cyber war amounts to war per se is difficult to determine given strategic theory's uncertain grasp of the concepts of force, violence and lethality. These three concepts, along with their relationships with one another, are explored in order to demonstrate that cyber attacks can in fact be construed as acts of war. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article makes a case for treating escalation in irregular warfare as different in kind from the regular variant that was originally theorized during the Cold War. The regular variant emphasizes the role of clearly defined and commonly recognized ‘thresholds’ as a means of organizing cooperation within conflict. In contrast, the irregular variant can reward efforts by weaker terroristic actors to erode the moral significance of the combatant/non-combatant threshold, just as it can reward efforts by their stronger adversaries to bolster it. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The notion of “counterinsurgency” (COIN) has for some years been the central concept driving military operations in Afghanistan, and before that, in Iraq. It constitutes the dominant idea influencing much current military planning of the major Western powers. This study questions the assumptions and relevance of the thinking behind counterinsurgency doctrine. It suggests that the ultimate effect of its dominance is to reduce the highly contingent nature of war to a list of techniques, the application of which are regarded as a sufficient precondition whenever states deem that they are confronted by conflicts that can be described as an “insurgency.” Such assumptions are both arbitrary and risk crowding out necessary, although by their nature very difficult, political judgments that are required for the effective construction and implementation of strategies that seek to ensure that the ends sought are proportional to the means employed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article describes a benchmarking exercise designed to identify directions for improvements in the efficiency and effectiveness of public transport in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. International comparators were chosen for their similarities in urban form and demographics, and their differences in public transport performance. The aim was to focus attention on the impact of different practices in planning and delivering public transport services. The research shows that public transport in the comparator cities achieve higher trip-making rates than the New Zealand cities, but without making a proportionately large investment in the overall supply of public transport services. The difference appears to lie in the degree to which this supply of public transport services is organised and presented to users as a unified network. The benchmarking exercise has been successfully used to inform public transport planning processes in the New Zealand cities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Understanding plant interactions with nanoparticles is of increasing importance for assessing their toxicity and trophic transport. The primary objective of this study was to assess uptake, biodistribution and toxicity associated with exposure of tobacco plants ( Nicotiana xanthi) to gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). We employed synchrotron-based X-ray microanalysis with X-ray absorption near-edge microspectroscopy and high resolution electron microscopy to localize AuNPs within plants. Results from these experiments reveal that AuNPs entered plants through the roots and moved into the vasculature. Aggregate bodies were also detected within root cell cytoplasm. Furthermore, AuNP uptake was size selective as 3.5 nm AuNP spheres were detected in plants but 18 nm AuNPs remained agglomerated on the root outer surfaces. Finally, leaf necrosis was observed after 14 days of exposure to 3.5 nm AuNPs. Overall, results of this work show the potential for AuNPs to enter plants through size-dependent mechanisms, translocate to cells and tissues and cause biotoxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of ‘credibility’ is a central component of deterrence theory. In this article, credibility is used as a lens through which to examine the effectiveness of conventional force as a deterrent. An advantage that conventional force enjoys over its nuclear counterpart is that it can be used with much greater discrimination. Conventional threats can, therefore, be considered more politically credible than nuclear threats under all but the most extreme circumstances. Conversely, the relatively modest power of conventional weapons renders their effects ‘interpretable’ to a problematic degree by potential aggressors. Thus, such threats are less likely to be as technically credible as their nuclear equivalents. A range of communicative efforts may serve to reduce the scope for interpreting the effects possible to conventional weapons, although efforts of this kind risk being hampered by cultural obstacles. In consequence, success with conventional deterrence will turn on the ability to identify the specific technical and cultural conditions under which credible threats can readily be made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To report a case of a patient with optic nerve involvement in neuro-Sweet syndrome and review the literature on this systemic disease. Methods: Interventional case report and review of the literature. Results: A 49-year-old man developed an acute exacerbation of bilateral panuveitis and optic disc edema together with symptoms of a papular rash on his forearms, fevers, malaise, and arthalgias. Laboratory findings revealed an aseptic meningitis and neutrophilic leukocytosis. Biopsy of the skin rash demonstrated an intense neutrophilic infiltrate in the dermis consistent with the diagnosis of neuro-Sweet syndrome. The patient continued to require corticosteroids for inflammation control in spite of immunomodulatory therapies, including tumor necrosis factor-alpha inhibitor infliximab. Conclusions: Sweet syndrome can present with optic nerve involvement. Screening for underlying etiologies, including autoimmune disease, malignancy, and offending drugs, is important for targeted therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oil depletion scenarios suggest that public transport powered largely by electricity, together with cycling and walking, will be the mainstays of future urban mobility. This paper argues that there is great scope, in a time-scale of years rather than decades, for transport planners to increase the number and types of trips for which public transport is a convenient option. Our argument begins with a snapshot of Melbourne during the last period of intense and sustained constraints on oil supply and an overview of the performance of various transport modes in the three decades from 1976 to 2006. The decline of public transport since 1950 occurred at a faster rate than changes in density and can be reversed without the need for widespread re-creation of the urban form. The key to making these changes lies in the approach to public transport planning used in successful European and North American cities: service-based network planning. This model offers hope for greater public transport use in Australian cities, and is outlined in the central part of the article. We conclude with some comments on the forms of transport governance required to deliver 'networked' public transport services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A review of the article "Bioethicists Can and Should Contribute to Addressing Racism" by M. Danis, Y. Wilson and A. White is presented.

Melbourne's public transport system, despite its extensive train and tram lines, is facing major challenges. From a point of near-extinction in the late 1970s, Perth's historically smaller public transport system is arguably now better placed to deal with growing environmental and economic pressures. The election of reformist governments in Victoria and WA in the early 1980s provided critical opportunities for public transport in both cities. This article documents the striking differences in the behaviour of the politicians, bureaucrats and civic action groups engaged in contention over transport policy in the two cities during this period. These differences had a significant influence on the performance of public transport in Melbourne and Perth today, and point to changes that will be required to improve transport policy outcomes in Melbourne [image omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This manuscript takes issue with the frequently-made assertion that Al Qaeda cannot be deterred from employing weapons of mass destruction. It argues that Al Qaeda's leadership employs terroristic violence in a manner calculated to achieve a set of political goals. They are, in other words, rational actors who are sensitive to the potential costs and benefits associated with their actions, and thus are to some extent deterrable. The article examines a number of ways in which the lack of discrimination and proportionality associated with weapons of mass destruction might be expected to produce more problems than benefits for Al Qaeda and thus deter their use. It also considers some ways in which the West might seek to bolster these deterrent effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study on the modes of transportation used for going to work in capital cities in Australia. According to the study, journey to work is essential to peak-hour traffic volumes. The study found that more workers are using cars. ON the other hand, the number of people car-pooling went down. Use of public transportation went down.

Much as Martin van Creveld predicted in 1991, contemporary conflicts have tended to occur within, rather than between, states. Conversely, van Creveld's contention that such conflicts would not be amenable to Clausewitzian analysis has been the subject of much debate. More specifically, Clausewitz's famous 'Trinity' has been shown to be capable of accommodating non-state strategic actors as readily as the state-based variety. Quite what this means for the strategic analysis of contemporary conflict was not clearly spelt out in the debate on the Trinity, however. In this article, therefore, an attempt is made to present a specific approach to employing the Trinity as an aid to strategic analysis, with particular reference to the ethnic conflicts in the Balkans and the current war in Iraq. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the end of April 2004, the first author of this article gave a talk entitled Racial Conflict Revisited, as the Inaugural Public Lecture of the Racist Futures programme based in the Centre for Ethnicity and Racism Studies at the University of Leeds. In early July 2005, three young men caught a train from Leeds to London, where they were joined by a collaborator, and rapidly became the prime suspects in the 7/7 suicide bombings of the London underground and bus system. What, if anything, does the latter event tell us about the evolving pattern of conflict in the twenty-first century? In this analysis we seek to explore the complexities of ethnic and racial divisions in the contemporary global environment, looking backwards to the forces unleashed by the end of the Cold War, and forward to the probable challenges of the next two decades, that will undoubtedly be linked to the so-called "War on Terror". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article borrows from the work of Clausewitz to posit two general approaches to the pursuit of limitation in war, one being political and the other technical. The political approach seeks to control escalation via consensual arrangements with the adversary, while the technical approach seeks to forestall escalation by peremptorily destroying the enemy's military capability. It is argued that the 'Revolution in Military Affairs' (RMA) instantiates the second, technical, approach to war limitation. By exploiting advanced technology, the US armed forces hope to limit the costs of war by defeating their adversaries in a rapid, decisive manner. The problems associated with this approach are discussed in relation to the nature of the conflicts that the US is likely to face in the foreseeable future. The article concludes by suggesting that such conflicts will require that more attention be paid to the political sources of limitation in war. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective:To determine the computed tomography (CT) evolution of various pulmonary manifestations of Wegener's Granulomatosis (WG) following appropriate pharmacologic treatment of the disease. Method: Eleven patients with WG were identified, each of who had had at least two CT examinations. CTs were reviewed retrospectively to identity pulmonary lesion of WG. Lesions were categorized as nodules, cavities, lobar atelectasis pulmonary bands, or infiltrated. To determine the evolution each individual lesion following pharmacologic treatment, the authors compared the lesion at presentation to their appearances on follow-up CT examinations. Results: A total of 112 lesion were identified (nodules=70, cavities = 25, lobar atelectasis=7, pulmonary bands=6, infiltrates= 4). the mean time interval between CT examinations was 34 weeks (range 3-248 weeks). Treated nodules tended to smaller (33/70,47%), to resolve (14/70,20%), or to remain unchanged (8/70,11%).However, the nodules became larger or cavitated in a substantial minority of case (13/70,19% and 2/70,3%, respectively). Although more than half of the treated cavities became smaller (13/25,52%) of resolved (1/25,4%) many evolved into nodules (6/25,24%)or enlarged (5/25,20%).All cases of lobar atelectasis (14/14,100%)and transpulmonary bans (6/6,100%)were unchanged at follow-up. All infiltrates were resolved (3/4,75%) or substantially improved (1/4,25%) .Conclusion: WG has a wide spectrum of pulmonary manifestations. Nodules, cavities, and infiltrates are among the most common lesion seen on CT. Although these finding tend to improve with treatment, mixed responses are not uncommon. Lobar atelectasis and transpulmonary bands tend not to improve, even with the occurrence of clinical disease remission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Banton's critique of race and ethnic relations highlights differences between the U.K. and the U.S.A. The interplay between ethnic politics and the teaching of the subject in the universities reflects differing reactions to the demise of Marxism, the impact of globalization and the growth of transnationalism. In America, anthropology, economics, cultural studies and conflict resolution have had a mixed impact on the field, but an examination of textbooks over the past thirty years — as well as Banton's prolific scholarship — suggests that most of the core problems remain the same. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper tracks an ongoing, 15-year initiative to reform and assess a general education programme at a regional comprehensive university in the US. The paper identifies four key phases in the process, chronicling emergent challenges, describing key setbacks and highlighting noteworthy successes. The authors identify five key lessons that may prove useful to other institutions planning or currently attempting to integrate assessment into their general education programme, and conclude that designing and implementing general education assessment is more challenging than assessing other programmes in post-secondary settings because it is influenced by more internal and external constituencies than any other assessment process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a common and increasing problem among older persons. Symptoms associated with CHF include edema, fatigue, dyspnea, limited exercise tolerance, and significant activity limitation. Using a comprehensive review of literature, this article describes the public health burden arising out of CHF in the United States. It describes CHF in terms of functional limitation and disability in the elderly following the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation and Research (NCMRR) disability model. The use of home based interventions (HBI) to assist people with CHF is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Considers the motion pictures `Platoon' and `Wall Street,' both by Oliver Stone, as morality plays. Comparison of both films; How evil is represented in both films; Conclusion.

As recent events in Kosovo have demonstrated, demands for the international community to intervene in ethnic conflict and Civil Wars have become common currency in the post-Cold War era. While much attention has been focused on the ethical imperative behind such interventions, little attention has been paid to the doctrinal aspects of such intervention, including matching the military force required to the political objective. By examining the current debates surrounding the efficacy of air-power over land-power -- a debate, as the author reminds us, that has long been a feature of debates over limited war -- the author argues for a re-examination of the way outside military force should be employed in future internecine conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article looks back over the first twenty volumes of Ethnic and Racial Studies to consider the extent to which the field has changed during the last two decades and how this has been reflected in the diverse contributions to the journal. The original aim of the venture was to establish a scholarly publication for interdisciplinary and comparative studies of race and ethnic relations, viewed as a global phenomenon and open to the broadest range of intellectual traditions and perspectives. After documenting the major shifts in topics and theories from the 1970's to the 1990's, as seen in a selected sample of some of the more than five hundred articles and other contributions published over this period, attention is focused on an assessment of postmodernism as one of the most influential paradigms in contemporary social science. It is argued that the deficiencies of postmodernism are clearly exposed in any serious attempt to explain contemporary race and ethnic relations, and that 'bringing power back in' is the most promising strategy for both advancing intellectual understanding and promoting constructive public policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two concepts of separatism, embodied in the doctrines of Black Nationalism and Apartheid, have been advocated by sections of the Black minority in the United States and the White minority in South Africa. Although these ideologies have developed on diametrically opposed political foundations, situations of subordination in contrast to situations of dominance, they contain certain common themes. This paper explores a number of basic problems in the sociology of separatism: (i) what is distinctive about separatism as an ideology? (ii) what causes the emergence of specific separatist ideologies? (iii) what structural factors are common to both ‘dominant’ and ‘subordinate’ separatism? (iv) what are the manifest and latent functions of separatist ideologies? (v) what general sociological hypotheses can be drawn from these two case studies concerning the origin and persistence of separatist ideologies? [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Since its advent during the First World War, the tank has had both proponents of its dominance in warfare and also its detractors. With the end of the Cold War and new emerging operational doctrines, it has again come under scrutiny. In this challenging article, Dr Stone argues that current confidence in the role of the tank is misplaced due to the imbalance between design concepts based in battlefield performance and the stress placed on manoeuvrability in operational doctrine With financial commitments already made on Challenger, it may be necessary to face the limitations imposed by design shortcomings on how the Army's operational concepts may evolve in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Author George Orwell's novel "Nineteen Eighty Four" was the most celebrated fictional attempt to predict the shape of things to come to written in the English language in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War. Less well known, but similarly prescient, was the history of South Africa written by author Arthur Keppel-Jones covering the years from 1952 until the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century which was first published in 1947. The title of the book "When Smut Goes," symbolized the end of an era and anticipated the demise of the United Party and the final triumph of the militant wing of Afrikaner nationalism. The political, social and economic consequences of this victory were set out with chilling realism. However, just as it is true that not every aspect of Orwell's nightmare vision has come to pass, so, too, several important features of Keppel-Jones' future of South Africa have proved to be incorrect. Nevertheless, these errors and omissions, almost as much as the uncanny anticipation of so many events that did actually take place, provide some instructive lessons for anyone trying to repeat Keppel-Jones' flight of the sociological imagination some forty years later. The paper outlines the course of events set out in "When Smut Goes." It reassess the accuracy of its basic predictions now that the half-way mark in Keppel-Jones' history have been reached. The paper considers what factors are likely to prove to be the most important in determining the future path of South African society as it moves towards the next century.

Presents an introduction to the July 1979 issue of the periodical "Ethnic and Racial Studies."

Focuses on the influence of speech courses on communication apprehension in the U.S. Reason for avoiding interpersonal communication; Behaviors associated with anomia; Approaches for the reduction of apprehension.