Reward,persuasion, and the Sokal Hoax: A study in citation identities

A citation identity is a list of an author's citees ranked by how frequently that author has cited them in publications covered by the Institute for Scientific Information. The same Dialog software that creates identities can simultaneously show the overall citation counts of citees, which indicate their reputations. Using identities for 28 authors in several disciplines of science and scholarship, I show that the reputational counts of their citees always have an approximately log-normal distribution: citations to very famous names are roughly balanced by citations to obscure ones, and most citations go to authors of middling reputation. These results undercut claims by constructivists that the main function of citation is to marshal “big-name” support for arguments at the expense of crediting lesser-known figures. The results are better explained by Robert K. Merton's norm of universalism, which holds that citers are rewarding use of relevant intellectual property, than by the constructivists' particularism, which holds that citers are trying to persuade through manipulative rhetoric. A universalistic citation pattern appears even in Alan Sokal's famous hoax article, where some of his citing was deliberately particularistic. In fact, Sokal's basic adherence to universalism probably helped his hoax succeed, which suggests the strength of the Mertonian norm. In specimen cases, the constructivists themselves are shown as conforming to it. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Complementary Tasks to Measure Working Memory in Distinct Prefrontal Cortex Subregions in Rats.

Acquisition of odor-guided or visually-guided delayed win-shift behavior was evaluated in rats after lidocaine-induced inactivation within the agranular insular area of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) or the prelimbic area of the PFC. Additional sites and tasks were used to control for neuroanatomical and behavioral specificity of lidocaine inactivation of the agranular insular and prelimbic areas. Results showed that acquisition of the odor-guided delayed win-shift task was dependent on the agranular insular area, whereas acquisition of the visually-guided version was dependent on the prelimbic area. This dissociation suggests that the stimulus modality used is critical for revealing working memory functions of different PFC subregions. The described methods provide a complementary means to study working memory in PFC subregions using a radial-arm maze. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Inducing affect about self or other: Effects on generosity in children.

85 7–12 yr olds were asked to discuss happy, sad, or affectively neutral incidents that had been experienced either by themselves or by another child. Following the inducement of affect, the Ss were given the opportunity to share their experimental earnings with some less fortunate children. As predicted, a significant interaction of the discussion topic (self/other) and affect was found. Ss relating sad experiences encountered by another individual shared significantly more than those describing sad incidents that they had experienced. Although older Ss were more generous than the younger Ss in sharing their experimental earnings, age did not interact with the other experimental variables. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Effect of Intensity-Modulated Radiotherapy to the Head and Neck Region on the Oral Innate Immune Response and Oral Microbiome: A Prospective Cohort Study of Head and Neck Tumour Patients

Neutrophils, also known as polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs), form a significant component of the innate host response, and the consequence of the interaction between the oral microbiota and PMNs is a crucial determinant of oral health status. The impact of radiation therapy (RT) for head and neck tumour (HNT) treatment on the oral innate immune system, neutrophils in particular, and the oral microbiome has not been thoroughly investigated. Therefore, the objective of this study was to characterize RT-mediated changes in oral neutrophils (oPMNs) and the oral microbiome in patients undergoing RT to treat HNTs. Oral rinse samples were collected prior to, during and post-RT from HNT patients receiving RT at Dental Oncology at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. The oPMNs counts and activation states were analysed using flow cytometry, and the oral microbiome was analysed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Statistically significant (p < 0.05) drops in oPMN counts and the activation states of the CD11b, CD16, CD18, CD64 and H3Cit markers from pre-RT to post-RT were observed. Moreover, exposure to RT caused a significant reduction in the relative abundance of commensal Gram-negative bacteria and increased the commensal Gram-positive microbes. Ionizing radiation for the treatment of HNTs simultaneously decreased the recruitment of oPMNs into the oral cavity and suppressed their activation state. The oral microbiome composition post-RT was altered significantly due to RT which may favour the colonization of specific microbial communities unfavourable for the long-term development of a balanced oral microbiome.     

Romantic versus realistic views of psychology.

Comments on the article by R. J. Sternberg and E. L. Grigorenko (see record 2001-10045-001), which described an approach to psychology ("unified psychology") that is a multiparadigmatic, multidisciplinary, and integrated study of psychological phenomena through converging operations. According to the present author, Sternberg and Grigorenko ignored fundamental methodological differences within the discipline when they developed their concept of unified psychology. In addition, Sternberg and Grigorenko's conception of a unified psychology was achieved by extending the meanings of converging operations (W. R. Garner et al, 1956) and paradigm (T. S. Kuhn, 1970) beyond their original intent. Sternberg and Grigorenko flagrantly ignored striking differences among contemporary psychologists' criteria for truth or verisimilitude. Instead of viewing psychology within the context of converging operations and paradigms and holding the amorphous conception that psychologists "need adhere to no particular set of methods, to no particular field, and to no particular paradigm," psychologists should consider an alternative, more direct approach: explicitly stating both the nature of the psychological phenomena to be studied and as well as their intended mode of explanation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of a sensitive picrate method to determine total cyanide and acetone cyanohydrin contents of gari from cassava

The sensitivity of the normal picrate method for determination of total cyanide in cassava was increased tenfold using a small 1 cm² picrate paper, eluted using 0.5 mL instead of 5 mL of water as in the normal method. The absorbance was measured in a 2 mm cuvette in the spectrophotometer. The sensitive method was calibrated against the normal picrate method. The total cyanide content in mg HCN equivalents/kg sample = ppm, is calculated from the absorbance (A) by the equation ppm = A × 45.7 which is applicable from 0.1 to 50 ppm. A new method to determine acetone cyanohydrin was developed based on irreversible denaturation of linamarase in 0.1 M HCl at 30 °C for 1 h. Five gari samples from Mozambique gave a mean total cyanide content of 12 ppm (range 6–15 ppm) and mean acetone cyanohydrin content of 11 ppm (range 5–14 ppm). Acetone cyanohydrin liberates cyanide quantitatively in the human intestine.     

Fire development theory—An overview

Man's qualitative understanding of fire phenomena has enabled him to develop the fire prevention, control, and extinguishment methods in use today Quantitative understanding derived from the application of engineering science has resulted in significant improvements in many areas of technology. Would not the same approach, the author asks, benefit fire protection engineering?     

IRON OXIDE IN ENAMEL GLASS AS DISSOLVED FROM THE METAL BASE*

The iron oxide content of an enamel glass was measured by the use of a predetermined curve representing iron oxide versus the index of refraction. It was found that the iron oxide content of the glass adjoining the interface between the enamel and the iron base rises sharply in the early stages of firing to a value close to the solubility limit of the glass after which it gradually falls to a constant value. The iron content at the surface remains low until that at the interface decreases, whereupon the surface concentration correspondingly increases. The cobalt additions resulted in a lower iron content in solution at the interface, but they increased the dendrite content of the glass. A decrease in the cobalt content resulted in an opposite effect. There was a direct relation between the amounts of cobalt and dendrites and the adherence. The effects of temperature and thickness of application are given, and the results are discussed.     

SOME EXPERIMENTS ON CRYSTAL GROWTH AND SOLUTION IN GLASSES*

Experiments, which included the development of methods of measuring the linear rates of crystal growth and crystal solution and a study of surface crystallization, were conducted on commercial-type glasses. A method of studying interdiffusion of two glasses of similar composition is described but no conclusions were reached. It was found that (a) the rate of crystal growth is constant until the crystallization zones from the opposite surfaces meet and (b) the curve of crystal solution is continuous with that of crystal growth as the temperature is raised above the liquidus temperature. The results indicate that dust in the atmosphere is a major contributing factor promoting surface devitrification.