bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Cancer pain management modalities and positioning of oxycodone
Authors: Murakawa Kazushige , Moriyama Kazuhide , Yanamoto Fujio , Nakano Susumu , Fukunaga Tomoe , Arimura Yoshinobu , Chujo Kousuke
Published: March 2008

Cancer pain management is centered on opioid therapy. In Japan, 3 types of strong opioid are available for treatment; therefore it is important to use them according to the characteristics of each drug and dosage form. Particularly, oxycodone is suitable as first‐line choice of opioid, which can also be employed as opioid switching when symptoms of the central nervous system is manifested following the use of oral morphine. Furthermore, opioid responsiveness should be taken into account when opioid therapy is carried out; assessment of the analgesic effect is particularly important. Recently, we tried to select suitable treatment modalities by speculating on the pathologic conditions of pain relative to the responsiveness to morphine and causes of pain. In the case of pain with low response to morphine, it was possible to attain good pain control not only by opioid therapy but also by a combination of opioid therapy and nerve block therapy. In cancer pain treatment, appropriate assessment of pathologic conditions of pain and selection of adequate and accurate treatment modalities are essential for improvement of the effect of pain relief.
Opioid analgesics in the management of neuropathic pain
Authors: Moulin Dwight E.
Published: March 2008

Neuropathic pain affects 2 to 3% of the population in developed countries and can be particularly severe and debilitating. There has been considerable controversy regarding the role of opioid analgesics in the management of this disabling condition. However, a recent systematic review of high‐quality randomized controlled trials (RCTs) utilizing opioid analgesics in the treatment of chronic neuropathic pain showed clinically significant benefit. These studies demonstrate, on average a 20 to 30% reduction in pain intensity. RCTs in patients with postherpetic neuralgia given controlled‐release oxycodone or controlled‐release morphine showed a significant reduction in pain intensity with variable improvement in sleep and disability. Trials of controlled‐release oxycodone in painful diabetic neuropathy showed more consistent improvement in pain, sleep and ability to function. Nausea and constipation are common side effects, but can usually be controlled with anti‐emetics and a bowel regimen, respectively. Psychological dependence or addiction is unusual in the absence of a history of substance abuse. Methadone may be particularly useful when conventional opioid analgesics have failed due to its N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate (NMDA) antagonist properties. When antidepressants and anticonvulsants fail to provide adequate pain control for neuropathic pain, opioid analgesics are emerging as an important treatment option ‐ in some cases, this class of drugs can make the difference between bearable and unbearable pain.
Control of breathing: how to better understand the respiratory effects of opioids
Authors: Francisco Norberto A.
Published: March 2008

At present, major post operative & post traumatic pain relief is impossible without opioid treatment. Providing adequate and satisfactory pain relief with minimal respiratory risk is an important adjunct to patient recovery. Respiratory depression by opioids is dose‐related; however, the response to a given dose is quite variable among patients. Avoiding opioid‐induced respiratory depression can be achieved by monitoring the level of sedation, breathing, pupillary constriction, and gas exchange.
Basic pharmacology of buprenorphine
Authors: Ohtani Michiteru
Published: March 2008

Buprenorphine is a derivative of the morphine alkaloid thebaine. The plasma elimination half‐life of buprenorphine is three times longer than that of the active metabolite, norbuprenorphine. Although the elimination of norbuprenorphine from the body is more rapid than that of buprenorphine, the plasma concentration of norbuprenorphine was observed to exceed that of buprenorphine with chronic administration of buprenorphine. This plasma level of norbuprenorphine is based on the proportional increase in norbuprenorphine‐glucuronide observed after one enterohepatic circulation of buprenorphine due to the first‐pass metabolism. When buprenorphine and norbuprenorphine were administered intraventricularly, the analgesic effect of norbuprenorphine was approximately one‐fourth that of buprenorphine. After intravenous administration of buprenorphine or norbuprenorphine in rats, the analgesic effect of norbuprenorphine was approximately 1/50th that of buprenorphine. The remarkably weak analgesic effect of norbuprenorphine after intravenous administration may be due to the low permeability of norbuprenorphine into the brain. Therefore, the plasma concentration of norbuprenorphine with chronic administration of buprenorphine has little analgesic effect. The most dangerous side effect of opioid therapy is respiratory depression. In our study of the respiratory effects after intravenous infusion in rats, norbuprenorphine was ten times more potent than the parent drug. However, it is possible that the plasma levels of norbuprenorphine with chronic administration of buprenorphine are not sufficiently high to depress respiratory function. Overall, buprenorphine is a safe and highly effective analgesic opioid for the treatment of chronic pain.
A clinical snapshot of transdermal buprenorphine in pain management
Authors: Russo Marc A. , Wasiak Jason
Published: March 2008

New and effective analgesics for the treatment of pain are essential. Buprenorphine, a partial mu receptor agonist, offers unique physico‐chemical and pharmacological qualities, making it an attractive first‐choice opioid for the treatment of acute and chronic pain. Several delivery formulations are available including parental, sublingual tablet, sublingual solution and transdermal. The parental formulation has been administered intravenously, intramuscularly, epidurally and intrathecally. Transdermal patches allow the drug to be continuously absorbed through the skin and into the systemic circulation. This approach has been shown to have clinical benefit, along with high‐level patient acceptability, compliance and improved quality of life. However, further randomised controlled trials are needed to focus on defining dose requirements in different pain states and the appropriateness and utilisation of adjuvant analgesics when required.
The Culinary Reality of Roman Upper-Class Convivia: Integrating Texts and Images
Authors: D'Arms John H.
Published: March 2008

Twenty years ago, in Cooking, Cuisine and Class, Jack Goody trained his sights, those of a social anthropologist, on the conditions prerequisite for the emergence of differentiated cuisine—a high and a low cuisine—in societies and cultures. Sweeping boldly over Europe, Asia, and Africa, and traversing a period of time which extended from the fourth millennium B.C.E. in Egypt to two contemporary societies in northern Ghana, Goody could find space for only a few pages on ancient Rome; these may conveniently serve as my point of departure.
Environment and Population: The Collapse of Large Irrigation Systems Reconsidered
Authors: Borsch Stuart J.
Published: March 2008

Irrigation systems were the first source of great abundance that stemmed from the Agricultural Revolution. They were also humanity's first great environmental curse. Long before issues of global warming and freshwater shortages haunted the modern world, irrigation systems blessed and bedeviled humans with their promise and peril. While a well-ordered functional irrigation system provided inhabitants with seed-to-yield ratios that were the envy of any dry-farming regime, these same irrigation systems could collapse in toto, bringing disaster on a scale never seen in rain-fed agricultural systems.
Gillian Hart, Disabling Globalization: Places of Power in Post-Apartheid South Africa. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002.
Authors: Sanders Mark
Published: March 2008

Dominant understandings of globalization, according to Gillian Hart, are “disabling.” By measuring the effect of the “global” on the “local,” conventional impact studies rely on a flawed conceptual opposition of time and space: the “global” is temporal and dynamic, the “local” spatial and static (12–13). This drives the lament, heard in post-apartheid government circles, that “there is no alternative” to the pro-globalization policies adopted when the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) was displaced in June 1996 by a plan known as Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR). “The central premise of GEAR was that an orthodox neoliberal package—tight fiscal austerity, monetary discipline, wage restraints, reducing corporate taxes, trade liberalization, and phasing out exchange controls—would lure investment . . . unleash rapid growth, tighten labor markets, and drive up wages” (20). A few years later, poverty had grown among the poorest and unemployment remained high.
Efficacy of curcumin therapy against Angiostrongylus cantonensis-induced eosinophilic meningitis
Authors: Shih P.C. , Lee H.H. , Lai S.C. , Chen K.M. , Jiang S.T. , Chen Y.F. , Shiow S.J.
Published: March 2008

Angiostrongylus cantonensis can invade the central nervous system, leading to human eosinophilic meningitis or eosinophilic meningoencephalitis. Curcumin is a natural product which has the effects of anti-inflammation, anti-oxidation and anti-carcinogensis, while the administration of curcumin has been reported to possibly relieve the symptoms of meningitis. The present study tested the potential efficacy of curcumin in A. cantonensis-induced eosinophilic meningitis of BALB/c mice. Assay indicators for the therapeutic effect included the larvicidal effect, eosinophil counts and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) activity in angiostrongyliasis. Eosinophils were mildly reduced in treatment groups compared with infected-untreated mice. However, there were no significant differences in larvicidal effects or MMP-9 activity. This study suggests that anti-inflammatory treatment with curcumin alone has low efficacy, but the treatment does not interfere with MMP-9 expression and is not useful for larvicidal effects. The possible reasons include low curcumin across the blood–brain barrier and also those larvae that survive stimulate MMP-9 production, which promotes blood–brain barrier damage, with leukocytes then crossing the blood–brain barrier to cause meningitis. Further studies will be required to test these possibilities.
Mounting evidence for the presence of influenza A virus in the avifauna of the Antarctic region
Authors: Wallensten Anders , Munster Vincent J. , Osterhaus Albert D.M.E. , Waldenström Jonas , Bonnedahl Jonas , Broman Tina , Fouchier Ron A.M. , Olsen Björn
Published: March 2008

Penguin blood samples collected at Bird Island, sub-Antarctic South Georgia, and faecal samples taken from penguins at several localities along the Antarctic Peninsula were analysed in order to investigate if influenza A virus is present in penguin populations in the South Atlantic Antarctic region. Serology was performed on the blood samples while the faecal samples were screened by a RT-PCR method directed at the matrix protein gene for determining the presence of influenza A virus. All faecal samples were negative by PCR, but the blood samples gave serologic indications that influenza A virus is present amongst these penguin species, confirming previous studies, although the virus has still not been isolated from any bird in the Antarctic region.
DID KATRINA RECALIBRATE ATTITUDES TOWARD POVERTY AND INEQUALITY?: A Test of the “Dirty Little Secret” Hypothesis
Authors: Grusky David B. , Ryo Emily
Published: March 2008

We test the popular claim that poverty and inequality were “dirty little secrets” until the media coverage of Hurricane Katrina exposed them to a wider public. If this account were on the mark, it would suggest that the absence of major antipoverty initiatives in the United States is partly attributable to public ignorance and apathy coupled with the narrowly rational decision on the part of policymakers to attend to other issues about which the public evidently cares more. Using the 2004 Maxwell Poll, we find strikingly high levels of awareness and activism on poverty and inequality issues even prior to Katrina, clearly belying the “dirty little secret” account. The follow-up Maxwell Poll, which was administered in 2005 immediately after Katrina, revealed only a slight increase in public awareness of poverty and inequality. The Katrina effect was evidently dampened because (1) the large number of preexisting poverty activists reduced the size of the residual population “at risk” for conversion to antipoverty activism, and (2) the remaining non-activists were ardently opposed to poverty activism and hence unlikely to be receptive to the liberal message coming out of Katrina.
WORLDS APART: Blacks and Whites React to Hurricane Katrina
Authors: Huddy Leonie , Feldman Stanley
Published: March 2008

Hurricane Katrina was a natural disaster that destroyed New Orleans, a major U.S. city, and it is reasonable to expect all Americans to react with sympathy and support for the disaster's victims and efforts to restore the city. From another vantage point, however, Hurricane Katrina can be seen more narrowly, as a disaster that disproportionately afflicted the poor Black inhabitants of New Orleans. Past research demonstrates a large racial divide in the support of issues with clear racial overtones, and we examine the possibility of a racial divide in reactions to Katrina using data from a national telephone survey of White and Black Americans. We find large racial differences in sympathy for the hurricane's victims, the adequacy of the federal government's response, and support for proposed solutions to mend hurricane-ravaged New Orleans, verifying the racial nature of the disaster. Blacks viewed the hurricane victims more positively than did Whites, drew a sharper distinction between and felt more sympathy for those stranded than for those who evacuated New Orleans, and were substantially more supportive of government efforts to improve the situation of hurricane victims and rebuild New Orleans. This racial gap is as large as any observed in recent polls; persists even after controlling for education, income, and other possible racial differences; and documents more fully differences that were hinted at in public opinion polls reported at the time of the disaster. We spell out the implications of this divide for racial divisions within U.S. politics more generally.
POVERTY, RACE, AND ANTIPOVERTY POLICY BEFORE AND AFTER HURRICANE
KATRINA
Authors: Danziger Sheldon , Danziger Sandra K.
Published: March 2008

Although Hurricane Katrina generated a compassionate public response
toward those affected, it did not lead to a serious discourse about the
nature of poverty in America, nor did it lead policymakers to re-examine
antipoverty policies. In this paper, we present data on long-run trends in
the economic status of African Americans and Whites. We demonstrate that
even though earnings are lower and poverty rates are higher for African
Americans than for Whites, the economic experiences of poor Americans have
been similar over the last three decades. The period since the early 1970s
has been an era of slow growth in median earnings for all workers and
falling real earnings for less-educated men. Although the economy has
generated increasing economic hardship for less-educated workers,
antipoverty policies have not taken up the slack. If the United States had
in place a more comprehensive safety net, the effects of Hurricane Katrina
on the poor would have been smaller than they were. We discuss a series of
policies that address the broad poverty problem that persists. However,
since these safety net reforms are not likely to be implemented, we also
propose a “disaster-assistance safety net” that could better
serve the poor in the aftermath of any future natural or other
disaster.
IT AIN'T ABOUT RACE: Some Lingering (Linguistic) Consequences of the African Slave Trade and Their Relevance to Your Personal Historical Hardship Index
Authors: Baugh John
Published: March 2008

While most Americans agree that government officials failed to act promptly to provide food, water, shelter, and other relief to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, they disagree about the racial relevance of this negligence. Nevertheless, the unavoidable images of the storm's disproportionately high number of African American victims among those unable to flee a foretold disaster brought into view the specter of racial inequality. While most theorists and commentators have used race and poverty as the primary lenses through which to view Katrina's human toll, this paper utilizes linguistic rubrics and relative immigration status to address inequities globally suffered by people of African descent. In the case of American Blacks, our emphasis is on Blacks with ancestral ties to enslaved Africans, since those who suffered most in the wake of Katrina were not merely Black, but also direct descendants of American slaves of African origin. Framing the discussion in terms of linguistic ancestry, its relationship to slavery, and instances of (c)overt social and educational apartheid born of statutory racial segregation, I develop aHistorical Hardship Indexas an alternative way to advance equality in the period after the end of African slave trade. The proposed Historical Hardship Index can be applied—with slight regional modifications—to anyone, anywhere, without reference to race.
RACIAL APATHY AND HURRICANE KATRINA: The Social Anatomy of Prejudice in the Post-Civil Rights Era
Authors: Forman Tyrone A. , Lewis Amanda E.
Published: March 2008

During the crisis that followed Hurricane Katrina, many Americans expressed surprise at the dramatic levels of racial inequality captured in the images of large numbers of poor Black people left behind in devastated New Orleans. In this article we argue that, to better understand both the parameters of contemporary racial inequality reflected in the hurricane's aftermath and why so many were surprised about the social realities of racial inequality that social scientists have known about for decades, it is essential to recognize the shifting nature of Whites' racial attitudes and understandings. There is widespread evidence that in the post-civil rights era the expression of White racial prejudice has changed. In fact, during the post-civil rights era subtle and indirect forms of prejudice have become more central to the sustenance and perpetuation of racial inequality than are overt forms of prejudice. We draw on both survey and qualitative data to investigate current manifestations of White racial attitudes and prejudices. Our results indicate that racial apathy, indifference towards racial and ethnic inequality, is a relatively new but expanding form of racial prejudice. We further show that Whites' systematic “not knowing” about racial inequality (White ignorance), which was manifest in the reaction to the crises after Hurricane Katrina, is related to this racial indifference. Racial apathy and White ignorance (i.e., not caring and not knowing) are extensions of hegemonic color-blind discourses (i.e., not seeing race). These phenomena serve as pillars of contemporary racial inequality that have until now received little attention. We conclude with a discussion of the theoretical and the practical implications of our results for understanding racial dynamics in the post-Katrina United States.
KATRINA, BLACK WOMEN, AND THE DEADLY DISCOURSE ON BLACK POVERTY IN
AMERICA
Authors: Ransby Barbara
Published: March 2008

This article explores the suffering and resilience of Black women who
were impacted by Hurricane Katrina in August of 2005. It also explores the
ways in which the pre-existing national discourse on poverty, race, and
gender set the stage for victim blaming and the neglect of poor Black
women and children after the storm. African American women in the Gulf
Coast region are some of the poorest in the nation. Women in general are
more vulnerable in times of natural disaster because they are the primary
caretakers of the young and the old. These factors and others meant that
poor Black women were among those most severely impacted by Hurricane
Katrina. They also had minimal resources to cope with the disaster and its
aftermath. However, instead of sympathy and support, some conservative
pundits have sought to link the suffering caused by Katrina to the lack of
patriarchal Black family structures, which they argue could have helped
individuals survive in the crisis. Contrary to these stereotypes, many
Black women have not only been resilient and self-reliant, but creative
and heroic in the face of crisis. It is their stories that offer hope for
the future of New Orleans and our nation.
WHERE ARE THE ASIAN AND HISPANIC VICTIMS OF KATRINA?: A Metaphor for
Invisible Minorities in Contemporary Racial Discourse
Authors: Kao Grace
Published: March 2008

Hurricane Katrina, which hit the Central Gulf Coast in August 2005,
was undoubtedly one of the worst natural disasters to strike the United
States in the age of round-the-clock media journalism. Television coverage
of Hurricane Katrina brought to the forefront the costs of disadvantage
along racial and class lines. Needless to say, the victims left behind
were disproportionately African American, elderly, and impoverished
residents of the area. While the focus of media discussions centered
around whether African Americans were abandoned by governmental agencies
or if they were to blame for not heeding the call to evacuate, there was a
complete absence of coverage and discussion of Hispanic and Asian American
residents of the area, who are also disproportionately poor and many of
whom lacked English skills to navigate the little help available to
residents. This essay briefly discusses the few newspaper articles that
examined these populations; Hispanic and Asian American journalists wrote
almost all of these articles. I then examine how the lack of attention to
these populations shapes our common understandings of race and why this
may be problematic both in the United States and in a global
environment.
THE LAST LAST WAVE
Authors: Lie John
Published: March 2008

Hurricane Katrina was a horrible tragedy. Rather than reprising the obvious pitfalls of governmental response or the dire consequences of social inequalities, however, I pose a series of questions. In particular, I seek to highlight the blind spots and silences that the media frenzy generated. These range from the fate of the Native Americans and the complexity of New Orleans' racial history to the explanatory adequacy of the dominant narrative and the unreflective premise of the reconstruction effort. The precarious state of nature and civilization demands a way to think and act beyond short-term palliatives.
Spreading rate, spreading obliquity, and melt supply at the ultraslow spreading Southwest Indian Ridge
Authors: Cannat Mathilde , Sauter Daniel , Bezos Antoine , Meyzen Christine , Humler Eric , Le Rigoleur Marion
Published: March 2008

We use bathymetry, gravimetry, and basalt composition to examine the relationship between spreading rate, spreading obliquity, and the melt supply at the ultraslow spreading Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR). We find that at regional scales (more than 200 km), melt supply reflects variations in mantle melting that are primarily controlled by large‐scale heterogeneities in mantle temperature and/or composition. Focusing on adjacent SWIR regions with contrasted obliquity, we find that the effect of obliquity on melt production is significant (about 1.5 km less melt produced for a decrease of 7 mm/a to 4 mm/a in effective spreading rates, ESR) but not enough to produce near‐amagmatic spreading in the most oblique regions of the ridge, unless associated with an anomalously cold and/or depleted mantle source. Our observations lead us to support models in which mantle upwelling beneath slow and ultraslow ridges is somewhat focused and accelerated, thereby reducing the effect of spreading rate and obliquity on upper mantle cooling and melt supply. To explain why very oblique SWIR regions nonetheless have large outcrops of mantle‐derived ultramafic rocks and, in many cases, no evidence for axial volcanism (Cannat et al., 2006; Dick et al., 2003), we develop a model which combines melt migration along axis to more volcanically robust areas, melt trapping in the lithospheric mantle, and melt transport in dikes that may only form where enough melt has gathered to build sufficient overpressure. These dikes would open perpendicularly to the direction of the least compressive stress and favor the formation of orthogonal ridge sections. The resulting segmentation pattern, with prominent orthogonal volcanic centers and long intervening avolcanic or nearly avolcanic ridge sections, is not specific to oblique ridge regions. It is also observed along the SWIR and the arctic Gakkel Ridge in orthogonal regions underlain by cold and/or depleted mantle.
Quantitative in situ determination of hydration of bright high‐sulfate Martian soils
Authors: Campbell J. L. , Gellert R. , Lee M. , Mallett C. L. , Maxwell J. A. , O'Meara J. M.
Published: March 2008

The total water content of soils and rocks encountered by the Spirit rover has been determined by a new analysis method applied to the existing data from the Alpha Particle X‐Ray Spectrometer (APXS). This approach employs Monte Carlo simulation of the intensities of the photon scatter peaks in the APXS spectra, together with extraction of these intensities from the spectra. For any individual sample, the water detection limits (∼6 wt %) and error bars are high due to low counting statistics in the spectra, but combining the data from a well‐defined group of similar samples improves the error bars and lowers the limit. Thus typical basaltic surface soils are found to be essentially dry (<1 wt % water) and basaltic rocks are very close to dry (<3.5 wt % water). For four bright subsurface soils in Gusev Crater the water content lies in the range 6–18 wt %; these soils contain sulfur at unusually high levels (>12 wt %, 30 wt % SO3) relative to the soils common at other landing sites. Mass balance mixing calculations of available cations infer the presence of Fe‐, Mg‐, and Ca‐sulfates in these bright soils. Together with constraints from mineralogy, our results imply that highly hydrated ferric sulfates are the most important carrier of the bound water found in these four spots. In conjunction with the complementary available chemical and mineralogical information they reveal additional information about present bound water reservoirs on Mars, their mineralogy and their spatial and lateral distribution along the Spirit rover's traverse.
Molar mass, surface tension, and droplet growth kinetics of marine organics from measurements of CCN activity
Authors: Moore R. H. , Ingall E. D. , Sorooshian A. , Nenes A.
Published: March 2008

The CCN‐relevant properties and droplet growth kinetics are determined for marine organic matter isolated from seawater collected near the Georgia coast. The organic matter is substantially less CCN active than (NH4)2SO4, but droplet growth kinetics are similar. Köhler Theory Analysis (KTA) is used to determine the average organic molar masses of two samples, which are 4370 ± 24% and 4340 ± 18% kg kmol−1. KTA is used to infer surface tension depression, which is in excellent agreement with direct measurements. For the first time it is shown that direct measurements of surface tension are relevant for CCN activation, and this study highlights the power of KTA.
Aminoguanidine prevents the impairment of cardiac pumping mechanics in rats with streptozotocin and nicotinamide‐induced type 2 diabetes
Authors: Wu M‐S , Liang J‐T , Lin Y‐D , Wu E‐T , Tseng Y‐Z , Chang K‐C
Published: March 2008

Background and purpose:

Aminoguanidine (AG), an inhibitor of advanced glycation endproducts, has been shown to prevent arterial stiffening and cardiac hypertrophy in streptozotocin (STZ) and nicotinamide (NA)‐induced type 2 diabetes in rats. Our aims were to examine whether AG produced benefits on cardiac pumping mechanics in the STZ and NA‐treated animals in terms of maximal systolic elastance (Emax) and theoretical maximum flow (Qmax).

Experimental approach:

After induction of type 2 diabetes, rats received daily injections of AG (50 mg kg−1, i.p.) for 8 weeks and were compared with age‐matched, untreated, diabetic controls. Left ventricular (LV) pressure and ascending aortic flow signals were recorded to calculate Emax and Qmax, using the elastance‐resistance model. Physically, Emax reflects the contractility of the myocardium as an intact heart, whereas Qmax has an inverse relationship with the LV internal resistance.

Key results:

Both type 2 diabetes and AG affected Emax and Qmax, and there was an interaction between diabetes and AG for these two variables. The Emax and Qmax were reduced in rats with type 2 diabetes, but showed a significant rise after administration of AG to these diabetic rats. Moreover, the increase in Qmax corresponded to a decrease in total peripheral resistance of the systemic circulation when the STZ and NA‐induced diabetic rats were treated with AG.

Conclusions and implications:

AG therapy prevented not only the contractile dysfunction of the heart, but also the augmentation in LV internal resistance in rats with STZ and NA‐induced type 2 diabetes.

British Journal of Pharmacology (2008) 154, 758–764; doi:10.1038/bjp.2008.119; published online 31 March 2008
Growth hormone, IGF‐I and insulin and their abuse in sport
Authors: Holt R I G , Sönksen P H
Published: March 2008

There is widespread anecdotal evidence that growth hormone (GH) is used by athletes for its anabolic and lipolytic properties. Although there is little evidence that GH improves performance in young healthy adults, randomized controlled studies carried out so far are inadequately designed to demonstrate this, not least because GH is often abused in combination with anabolic steroids and insulin. Some of the anabolic actions of GH are mediated through the generation of insulin‐like growth factor‐I (IGF‐I), and it is believed that this is also being abused. Athletes are exposing themselves to potential harm by self‐administering large doses of GH, IGF‐I and insulin. The effects of excess GH are exemplified by acromegaly. IGF‐I may mediate and cause some of these changes, but in addition, IGF‐I may lead to profound hypoglycaemia, as indeed can insulin. Although GH is on the World Anti‐doping Agency list of banned substances, the detection of abuse with GH is challenging. Two approaches have been developed to detect GH abuse. The first is based on an assessment of the effect of exogenous recombinant human GH on pituitary GH isoforms and the second is based on the measurement of markers of GH action. As a result, GH abuse can be detected with reasonable sensitivity and specificity. Testing for IGF‐I and insulin is in its infancy, but the measurement of markers of GH action may also detect IGF‐I usage, while urine mass spectroscopy has begun to identify the use of insulin analogues.

British Journal of Pharmacology (2008) 154, 542–556; doi:fn1; published online 31 March 2008
Potential Impacts of Tailings and Tailings Cover Fertilization on Arsenic Mobility in Surface and Ground Waters
Authors: Rayne Sierra , Forest Kaya
Published: March 2008

A number of mining sites worldwide, particularly gold mines, have tailings management facilities (TMFs) that contain high levels of arsenic. Current closed mine site regulatory agencies tend to prefer revegetation of TMFs as part of the mandated reclamation activities. At many sites, often in polar regions, vegetation is difficult to establish either directly on the tailings or on the coarse-rock covers due to nutrient poor soils, phytotoxicity problems, and/or a less than optimum climate. Addition of phosphorus-based fertilizers to the tailings and/or cover material is commonly considered in order to promote the revegetation process and – ideally – allow the site owners to discharge their closure duties as rapidly as possible. However, due to the similar geochemistry of arsenic and phosphorus oxyanion species, this type of mine closure strategy may have unintended consequences regarding arsenic mobility on and off the site. This document reviews the current state-of-the-art regarding mobilization of arsenic by phosphate ions, and identifies relevant risks and opportunities of using this information to better manage closed mine sites.
BMI, Waist Circumference, and Incident Urinary Incontinence in Older Women
Authors: Townsend Mary K. , Curhan Gary C. , Resnick Neil M. , Grodstein Francine
Published: March 2008

Overall body fat and central adiposity may reflect different mechanisms leading to urinary incontinence (UI). We examined the associations of BMI and waist circumference with incident UI, including the independent associations of BMI and waist circumference with UI type, among women aged 54–79 years in the Nurses' Health Study. Study participants reported their height in 1976 and their weight and waist circumference in 2000. From 2000 to 2002, we identified 6,790 women with incident UI at least monthly among 35,754 women reporting no UI in 2000. Type of incontinence was determined on questionnaires sent to cases with at least weekly incontinence. Relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using multiple logistic regression. There were highly significant trends of increasing risk of UI with increasing BMI and waist circumference (P for trend <0.001 for both). Multivariable RRs of developing at least monthly UI were 1.66 (95% CI 1.45–1.91) comparing women with a BMI of ≥35 kg/m2 to women with BMI 21–22.9 kg/m2 and 1.72 (95% CI 1.53–1.95) comparing women in extreme quintiles of waist circumference. When BMI and waist circumference were included in models simultaneously, BMI was associated with urge and mixed UI (P for trend 0.003 and 0.03, respectively), but not stress UI (P for trend 0.77). Waist circumference was associated only with stress UI (P for trend <0.001). These results suggest that women who avoid high BMI and waist circumference may have a lower risk of UI development.
Threshold Values of High‐risk Echocardiographic Epicardial Fat Thickness
Authors: Iacobellis Gianluca , Willens Howard J. , Barbaro Giuseppe , Sharma Arya M.
Published: March 2008

Objective: Echocardiographic epicardial adipose tissue is a new index of cardiac and visceral adiposity with great potential as a diagnostic tool and therapeutic target. In this study, we sought to provide threshold values of echocardiographic epicardial fat thickness associated with metabolic and anthropometric risk factors.

Methods and Procedures: Epicardial fat thickness was measured in 246 consecutive white subjects (120 women, 126 men, median age 46 years (30–65), median BMI 32 kg/m2 (22–52), median waist circumference 100.5 cm (85–140)), who underwent routine transthoracic echocardiogram for standard clinical indications. Metabolic syndrome (MetS), Insulin resistance, BMI, and waist circumference categories were identified and epicardial fat was calculated.

Results: Among 246 subjects, 58% had MetS. These subjects showed median values of epicardial fat thickness of 9.5 and 7.5 mm (in men and women, respectively), significantly higher than those found in subjects without MetS (no MetS) (P < 0.001). Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis showed that epicardial fat thickness of 9.5 and 7.5 mm maximize the sensitivity and specificity to predict MetS, in men and women, respectively. In separate analyses, median epicardial fat thickness values of 9.5 and 7.5 mm were cutoff points associated with high abdominal fat in men and women, respectively. When insulin sensitivity was considered separately, epicardial fat thickness of 9.5 mm was associated with insulin resistance.

Discussion: Median values of 9.5 and 7.5 mm should be considered the threshold values for high‐risk echocardiographic epicardial fat thickness in white men and women, respectively. Echocardiographic epicardial fat measurement may be of help for cardiometabolic risk stratification and therapeutic interventions targeting the fat.
Regulation of cell–cell adhesion by the cadherin–catenin complex
Authors: Nelson W. James
Published: March 2008

Ca2+-dependent cell–cell adhesion is regulated by the cadherin family of cell adhesion proteins. Cadherins form trans-interactions on opposing cell surfaces which result in weak cell–cell adhesion. Stronger cell–cell adhesion occurs by clustering of cadherins and through changes in the organization of the actin cytoskeleton. Although cadherins were thought to bind directly to the actin cytoskeleton through cytoplasmic proteins, termed α- and β-catenin, recent studies with purified proteins indicate that the interaction is not direct, and instead an allosteric switch in α-catenin may mediate actin cytoskeleton reorganization. Organization and function of the cadherin–catenin complex are additionally regulated by phosphorylation and endocytosis. Direct studies of cell–cell adhesion has revealed that the cadherin–catenin complex and the underlying actin cytoskeleton undergo a series of reorganizations that are controlled by the Rho GTPases, Rac1 and RhoA, that result in the expansion and completion of cell–cell adhesion. In the present article, in vitro protein assembly studies and live-cell studies of de novo cell–cell adhesion are discussed in the context of how the cadherin–catenin complex and the actin cytoskeleton regulate cell–cell adhesion.
Vascular and epithelial junctions: a barrier for leucocyte migration
Authors: Garrido-Urbani Sarah , Bradfield Paul F. , Lee Boris P.-L. , Imhof Beat A.
Published: March 2008

Rapid mobilization of leucocytes through endothelial and epithelial barriers is key in immune system reactivity. The underlying mechanisms that regulate these processes have been the basis for many recent studies. Traditionally, leucocyte extravasation had been believed to occur through a paracellular route, which involves localized disruption of endothelial cell junctions. However, more recently, a transcellular route has been described involving the passage through the endothelial cell body. Leucocytes are also able to migrate through epithelium to monitor mucosal tissues and microenvironments. A number of adhesion molecules are known to regulate transmigration of leucocytes through epithelial and endothelial layers. Paracellular and transcellular leucocyte transmigration are regulated by adhesion molecules such as PECAM-1 (platelet–endothelial cell adhesion molecule 1), CD99, VE-cadherin (vascular endothelial cadherin) and JAM (junctional adhesion molecule) proteins. The purpose of this review is to discuss the role of these molecules in leucocyte transmigration and how they contribute to the different mechanisms that regulate leucocyte trafficking.
The Impact of Work-Related Goals on Hospitality Industry Employee Variables
Authors: Crawford Alleah , Hubbard Susan S.
Published: March 2008

Goals have been shown to affect performance of employees within the service sector. The purpose of this study was to assess differences that might exist between employees with work-related goals as compared to employees without work-related goals. Employee outcomes, including organisational commitment, intention to quit, intrinsic work satisfaction, job involvement, and organisation-based self-esteem, were assessed and the groups of hospitality employees were compared on each outcome. The findings revealed that employees with work-related goals experienced greater organisational commitment, greater organisation-based self-esteem, while being less likely to leave the organisation, and more involved with the job.
Forecasting and Evaluating the Tourist Hotel Industry Performance in Taiwan Based on Grey Theory
Authors: Wu Wann-Yih , Hsiao Shih-Wen , Tsai Cheng-Hung
Published: March 2008

Although Grey theory is extensively adopted to construct the forecasting models for evaluating organisational performance, it is rarely used in the hotel industry. This study draws on the GM(1,1) model to accurately predict the coming year's output value and on Grey relational analysis to select the best-performing hotels in Taiwan. Measures of hotel performance — including profit before tax, ROI before tax, revenue per employee, REVPAR, revenue per square meter, and occupancy rate — were collected from the Tourism Bureau in Taiwan. These data contain the performance of 56 international tourist hotels in 2002 and industry data from 1992 to 2005. Results in this study indicate that four-point GM(1,1) is the best model for predicting output value in the future. In addition, this investigation reveals the various competitive advantages and strategies in these top hotels, such as their appropriate site, higher price, and higher occupancy rate.
Analysis of electronic memory traps in the oxide-nitride-oxide structure of a polysilicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-semiconductor flash memory
Authors: Seo Y. J. , Kim K. C. , Kim T. G. , Sung Y. M. , Cho H. Y. , Joo M. S. , Pyi S. H.
Published: March 2008

The origin of the electron memory trap in an oxide-nitride-oxide structure deposited on n-type Si is investigated by both capacitance-voltage and deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS). Two electron traps are observed near 0.27 and 0.54eV, below the conduction band minimum of Si and are identified as the nitride bulk trap and the Si–SiO2 interfacial trap, respectively. The trap depth, viz., vertical distribution of the electron trap, in both nitride bulk and Si–SiO2 interface, are also estimated from the bias voltage dependent DLTS.
On the identity of a crucial defect contributing to leakage current in silicon particle detectors
Authors: Bleka J. H. , Murin L. , Monakhov E. V. , Avset B. S. , Svensson B. G.
Published: March 2008

The annealing kinetics of the so-called E4/E5 center or E4a/E4b center in electron-irradiated Si particle detectors has been studied at four different temperatures from 23to65°C using deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS). The center gives rise to two energy levels at 0.37 and 0.45eV below the conduction-band edge, and the annealing process is found to be of dissociative nature with an energy barrier of 1.1–1.2eV. A striking similarity of the annealing rates (and kinetics) is revealed with that obtained for the 936-cm−1 infrared absorption band, studied by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy using identical type of Si material as in the DLTS study but irradiated with neutrons. The result strongly suggest that the E4/E5 levels and the 936-cm−1 band originate from the same defect, and the latter has been attributed to a di-interstitial-oxygen (I2O) complex. The E4/E5 center plays a crucial role for the detrimental leakage current in irradiated Si particle detectors, and an assignment of E4/E5 to I2O implies that oxygen-lean Si material (<1014cm−3) should be advantageous to enhance detector performance.
Correlation between microstructure, electronic properties and flicker noise in organic thin film transistors
Authors: Jurchescu Oana D. , Hamadani Behrang H. , Xiong Hao D. , Park Sungkyu K. , Subramanian Sankar , Zimmerman Neil M. , Anthony John E. , Jackson Thomas N. , Gundlach David J.
Published: March 2008

We report on observations of a correlation between the microstructure of organic thin films and their electronic properties when incorporated in field-effect transistors. We present a simple method to induce enhanced grain growth in solution-processed thin film transistors by chemical modification of the source-drain contacts. This leads to improved device performance and gives a unique thin film microstructure for fundamental studies concerning the effect of structural order on the charge transport. We demonstrate that the 1∕f flicker noise is sensitive to organic semiconductor thin film microstructure changes in the transistor channel.
Near-field scanning optical microscopy with monolithic silicon light emitting diode on probe tip
Authors: Hoshino Kazunori , Rozanski Lynn J. , Vanden Bout David A. , Zhang Xiaojing
Published: March 2008

We describe optical and topographic imaging using a light emitting diode monolithically integrated on a silicon probe tip for near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM). The light emission resulted from a silicon dioxide layer buried between a phosphorus-doped N+ silicon layer and a gallium-doped P+ silicon region locally created at the tip by a focused ion beam. The tip was employed in a standard NSOM excitation setup. The probe successfully measured optical as well as topographic images of a chromium test pattern with imaging resolutions of 400 and 50nm, respectively. The directional resolution dependence of the acquired images directly corresponds to the shape, size, and polarity of the light source on the probe tip. To our knowledge, this report is the first successful near-field imaging result directly measured by such tip-embedded light sources.
Promoting ‘relational equity’ and high mathematics achievement through an innovative mixed‐ability approach
Authors: Boaler Jo
Published: March 2008

Equity is a concept that is often measured in terms of test scores, with educators looking for equal test scores among students of different cultural groups, social classes or sexes. In this article the term ‘relational equity’ is proposed to describe equitable relations in classrooms; relations that include students treating each other with respect and responsibility. This concept will be illustrated through the results of a four‐year study of different mathematics teaching approaches, conducted in three Californian high schools. In one of the schools—a diverse, urban high school—students achieved at higher levels, learned good behaviour, and learned to respect students from different cultural groups, social classes, ability levels and sexes. In addition, differences in attainment between different cultural groups were eliminated in some cases and reduced in all others. Importantly, the goals of high achievement and equity were achieved in tandem through a mixed‐ability mathematics approach that is not used or well known in the UK.
Tl+-induced μs Gating of Current Indicates Instability of the MaxiK Selectivity Filter as Caused by Ion/Pore Interaction
Authors: Schroeder Indra , Hansen Ulf-Peter
Published: March 2008

Patch clamp experiments on single MaxiK channels expressed in HEK293 cells were performed at high temporal resolution (50-kHz filter) in asymmetrical solutions containing 0, 25, 50, or 150 mM Tl+ on the luminal or cytosolic side with [K+] + [Tl+] = 150 mM and 150 mM K+ on the other side. Outward current in the presence of cytosolic Tl+ did not show fast gating behavior that was significantly different from that in the absence of Tl+. With luminal Tl+ and at membrane potentials more negative than −40 mV, the single-channel current showed a negative slope resistance concomitantly with a flickery block, resulting in an artificially reduced apparent single-channel current Iapp. The analysis of the amplitude histograms by β distributions enabled the estimation of the true single-channel current and the determination of the rate constants of a simple two-state O-C Markov model for the gating in the bursts. The voltage dependence of the gating ratio R = Itrue/Iapp = (kCO + kOC)/kCO could be described by exponential functions with different characteristic voltages above or below 50 mM Tl+. The true single-channel current Itrue decreased with Tl+ concentrations up to 50 mM and stayed constant thereafter. Different models were considered. The most likely ones related the exponential increase of the gating ratio to ion depletion at the luminal side of the selectivity filter, whereas the influence of [Tl+] on the characteristic voltage of these exponential functions and of the value of Itrue were determined by [Tl+] at the inner side of the selectivity filter or in the cavity.