bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
QRS widening and QT prolongation under bupropion: a unique cardiac electrophysiological profile
Authors: Caillier Bertrand , Pilote Sylvie , Castonguay Annie , Patoine Dany , Ménard‐Desrosiers Verlaine , Vigneault Patrick , Hreiche Raymond , Turgeon Jacques , Daleau Pascal , De Koninck Yves , Simard Chantale , Drolet Benoit
Published: May 2011

QRS widening and QT prolongation are associated with bupropion. The objectives were to elucidate its cardiac electrophysiological properties. Patch‐clamp technique was used to assess the IKr‐, IKs‐, and INa‐blocking effects of bupropion. Langendorff retroperfusion technique on isolated guinea‐pig hearts was used to evaluate the MAPD90‐, MAP amplitude‐, phase 0 dV/dt‐, and ECG‐modulating effects of bupropion and of two gap junction intercellular communication inhibitors: glycyrrhetinic acid and heptanol. To evaluate their effects on cardiac intercellular communication, fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) technique was used. Bupropion is an IKr blocker. IC50 was estimated at 34 μm. In contrast, bupropion had hardly any effect on IKs and INa. Bupropion had no significant MAPD90‐modulating effect. However, as glycyrrhetinic acid and heptanol, bupropion caused important reductions in MAP amplitude and phase 0 dV/dt. A modest but significant QRS‐widening effect of bupropion was also observed. FRAP experiments confirmed that bupropion inhibits gap junctional intercellular communication. QT prolongation during bupropion overdosage is due to its IKr‐blocking effect. QRS widening with bupropion is not related to cardiac sodium channel block. Bupropion rather mimics the QRS‐widening, MAP amplitude‐ and phase 0 dV/dt ‐reducing effect of glycyrrhetinic acid and heptanol. Unlike class I anti‐arrhythmics, bupropion causes cardiac conduction disturbances by reducing cardiac intercellular coupling.
Effects of periodic and continued resistance training on muscle CSA and strength in previously untrained men
Authors: Ogasawara Riki , Yasuda Tomohiro , Sakamaki Mikako , Ozaki Hayao , Abe Takashi
Published: May 2011

To determine muscle adaptations to retraining after short‐term detraining, we examined the effects of continuous and interrupted resistance training on muscle size and strength in previously untrained men. Fifteen young men were divided into continuous training (CTr) or retraining (RTr) groups and performed high‐intensity bench press training. The CTr group trained continuously for 15 weeks, while the RTr group trained for 6 weeks, stopped for a 3‐week detraining period and resumed training at week 10. After the initial training phase, increases (P<0·01) in one repetition maximum (1‐RM) and magnetic resonance imaging‐measured triceps brachii and pectorals major muscle cross‐sectional areas (CSAs) were similar in both groups. Muscle CSA and 1‐RM increased (P<0·05) continuously for the CTr group, but the muscle adaptations were lower (P<0·05) after the last 6‐week training period than after the initial phase. In the RTr group, there were no significant decreases in muscle CSA and 1‐RM after the 3‐week detraining period, and increases in muscle CSA after retraining were similar to those observed after initial training. Ultimately, improvements in 1‐RM and muscle CSA in both groups were similar after the 15‐week training period. Our results suggest that compared with continuous 15‐week training, 3‐week detraining does not inhibit muscle adaptations.
One world, big society: a discursive analysis of the Conservative green paper for international development
Authors: NOXOLO PATRICIA
Published: May 2011

This article offers a discursive analysis of the Conservative green paper for international development, published as part of the closely fought election campaign of 2010 that culminated in a UK coalition government with the Liberal Democrats. The article examines the paper in comparison with the discursive shifts represented by the first Department for International Development (DfID) white paper, published by the outgoing Labour administration in 1997. In contrast with the optimistic and globalist developmentalism that characterised Labour's development discourse, the green paper sounds a more cautious note, using empire to focus on Britain's leadership role in poverty alleviation rather than on global progress, and brings back the full force of developmentalism only at the point where it seeks to legitimate spending on security concerns as a development concern. The article then moves on to examine the green paper's most explicit discursive move, the signalling of a ‘post‐bureaucratic age’. This move towards increased information provision to promote transparency and accountability is likely to signal greater control by powerful donors in securitised times, albeit with a potential re‐scaling of responsibility for poverty alleviation to the poorest local communities. Finally, the article looks briefly at information technologies in relation to the transnational spatiality of civil society, arguing that attention needs to be paid to the more embodied forms of transnational association encouraged by the green paper, and to the selection and impacts of information, which need to be seen in the discursive context of wider Conservative constructions of the ‘big society’.
The orexin receptor OX1R in colon cancer: a promising therapeutic target and a new paradigm in G protein‐coupled receptor signalling through ITIMs
Authors: Laburthe Marc , Voisin Thierry
Published: May 2011

An exciting aspect of the heptahelical orexin receptor 1 (OX1R) has emerged recently, when it was shown that it drives apoptosis in human colon cancer cell lines. Here we review recent findings related to the role of OX1R in colorectal cancers and the unexpected mechanism whereby this G protein‐coupled receptor works. The OX1R is aberrantly expressed at all steps of primary colorectal tumour progression and after local (lymph node) or distant (liver, lung) metastasis. No OX1R is detected in normal colonic epithelial cells. Treatment of human colon cancer cells in culture with orexins promotes robust apoptosis and subsequent reduction of growth including in cells that are resistant to 5‐fluorouracil, the most commonly used drug in chemotherapy. When human colon cancer cells are xenografted in nude mice, treatment with orexins dramatically slows tumour growth and even reverses the development of established tumours. Thus, OX1R agonists might be novel candidates for colon cancer therapy. Activation of OX1R drives apoptosis through Gq protein but independently of classical Gαq activation of phospholipase C. In fact, it is the freed βγ dimer of Gq that plays a pivotal role by stimulating Src‐tyrosine kinase. This results in phosphorylation of two immunoreceptor tyrosine‐based inhibitory motifs (ITIM) in OX1R and subsequent recruitment by OX1R of the phosphotyrosine phosphatase SHP‐2, which is activated thereby. Downstream events include release of cytochrome c from mitochondria and activation of caspase‐3 and caspase‐7. The role of ITIMs in OX1R‐driven apoptosis represents a new paradigm of G protein‐coupled receptor signalling.

LINKED ARTICLES This article is part of a themed section on the Molecular Pharmacology of G Protein‐Coupled Receptors (GPCRs). To view the other articles in this section visit http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bph.2012.165.issue‐6. To view the 2010 themed section on the same topic visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.2010.159.issue‐5/issuetoc
Desmoteplase: discovery, insights and opportunities for ischaemic stroke
Authors: Medcalf Robert L
Published: May 2011

Nature has provided a vast array of bioactive compounds that have been exploited for either diagnostic or therapeutic use. The field of thrombosis and haemostasis in particular has enjoyed much benefit from compounds derived from nature, notably from snakes and blood‐feeding animals. Indeed, the likelihood that blood‐feeding animals would harbour reagents with relevant pharmacology and with potential pharmaceutical benefit in haemostasis was not too far‐fetched. Blood‐feeding animals including leeches and ticks have evolved a means to keep blood from clotting or to at least maintain the liquid state, and some of these have been the subject of clinical development. A more recent example of this has been the saliva of the common vampire bat Desmodus rotundus, which has proven to harbour a veritable treasure trove of novel regulatory molecules. Among the bioactive compounds present is a fibrinolytic compound that was shown over 40 years ago to be a potent plasminogen activator. Studies of this vampire bat‐derived plasminogen activator, more recently referred to as desmoteplase, revealed that this protease shared a number of structural and functional similarities to the human fibrinolytic protease, tissue‐type plasminogen activator (t‐PA) yet harboured critically important differences that have rendered this molecule attractive for clinical development for patients with ischaemic stroke.
Subchronic treatment with fluoxetine and ketanserin increases hippocampal brain‐derived neurotrophic factor, β‐catenin and antidepressant‐like effects
Authors: Pilar‐Cuéllar F , Vidal R , Pazos A
Published: May 2011

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

5‐HT2A receptor antagonists improve antidepressant responses when added to 5‐HT‐selective reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) or tricyclic antidepressants. Here, we have studied the involvement of neuroplasticity pathways and/or the 5‐hydroxytryptaminergic system in the antidepressant‐like effect of this combined treatment, given subchronically.

EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH

Expression of brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its receptor (TrkB), 5‐bromo‐2′‐deoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation, and β‐catenin protein expression in different cellular fractions, as well as 5‐HT1A receptor function were measured in the hippocampus of rats treated with fluoxetine, ketanserin and fluoxetine + ketanserin for 7 days, followed by a forced swimming test (FST) to analyse antidepressant efficacy.

KEY RESULTS

mRNA for BDNF was increased in the CA3 field and dentate gyrus of the hippocampus by combined treatment with fluoxetine + ketanserin. Expression of β‐catenin was increased in total hippocampal homogenate and in the membrane fraction, but unchanged in the nuclear fraction after combined treatment with fluoxetine + ketanserin. These effects were paralleled by a decreased immobility time in the FST. There were no changes in BrdU incorporation, TrkB expression and 5‐HT1A receptor function in any of the groups studied.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

The antidepressant‐like effect induced by subchronic co‐treatment with a SSRI and a 5‐HT2A receptor antagonist may mainly be because of modifications in hippocampal neuroplasticity (BDNF and membrane‐associated β‐catenin), without a significant role for other mechanisms involved in chronic antidepressant response, such as hippocampal neuroproliferation or 5‐HT1A receptor desensitization in the dorsal raphe nucleus.
Toward a Theory of Compliance in State-Regulated Livelihoods: A Comparative Study of Compliance Motivations in Developed and Developing World Fisheries
Authors: Gezelius Stig S. , Hauck Maria
Published: May 2011

This article addresses the question of how states can best promote citizens' compliance with laws that regulate livelihoods. Based on ethnographic data from fishing communities in three countries—Norway, Canada, and South Africa—the article compares compliance motivations that exist under different socioeconomic and political conditions. The comparisons give rise to a typology of three compliance motivations: deterrence, moral support for the law's content, and the legislator's authority. This article then identifies three governable preconditions—enforcement, empowerment of citizens, and civic identity—that respectively explain these motivations. The article argues that the compliance discourse in a given type of state must be framed such that it includes at least the governable preconditions for compliance that have not been met in that state. Consequently, a functional compliance strategy would vary between different state types. The article thus questions the transferability of the developed world's compliance discourses to the developing world.
Tactical Balancing: High Court Decision Making on Politically Crucial Cases
Authors: Kapiszewski Diana
Published: May 2011

This article advances a new account of judicial behavior: the thesis of tactical balancing. Building on existing models of judicial decision making, the thesis posits that high court justices balance a discrete set of considerations—justices' ideologies, their institutional interests, the potential consequences of their rulings, public opinion, elected leaders' preferences, and law—as they decide important cases. Variation in a high court's balancing of those considerations as it decides different cases leads it to alternate between challenging and endorsing the exercise of government power. The way in which high courts carry out this “tactical balancing” reflects their broader strategy for prioritizing the different roles they can play in a polity, and thus has significant implications for the rule of law and regime stability in developing democracies. The thesis is illustrated through a detailed analysis of the Brazilian high court's rulings on cases concerning crucial economic policies (1985–2004).
Short-Term Effects of Sanctioning Reform on Parole Officers' Revocation Decisions
Authors: Steiner Benjamin , Travis Lawrence F. , Makarios Matthew D. , Meade Benjamin
Published: May 2011

Parole officials have traditionally been afforded considerable discretion when making sanctioning decisions to be able to tailor sanctions according to substantively rational concerns such as individuals' unique needs and situations. However, the application of substantive rationality in sanctioning can also generate unwanted disparities because sanctioning decisions may be based on extralegal factors that parole officials consider relevant. Concerns regarding disparate treatment of offender groups have prompted a number of states to consider adopting administrative violation response policies that emphasize formal rationality and uniformity by restricting parole officers' discretion and structuring sanctioning decisions according to legally relevant criteria. By emphasizing formal rationality in sanctioning, structured sanction policies present a dilemma for parole officers—uniformity versus individualized treatment. In 2005, the state of Ohio implemented an administrative violation response policy designed to reduce parole officers' reliance on revocation hearings and promote uniformity in sanctioning decisions. This study involved an examination of whether Ohio's shift to structured sanctioning coincided with differences in legal and extralegal effects on parole officers' decisions to pursue revocation hearings. Analyses of data collected before and after the implementation of the policy revealed a reduction in the number of revocation hearings officers pursued. Only modest increases in uniformity were observed, however, because there was little disparity resulting from officers' hearing decisions before the policy was put in place. These findings are discussed within perspectives on justice system actors' decision making.
Effects of Pacing Rates on Global and Regional Myocardial Blood Flow
Authors: Ten CATE TIM J.F. , KNAAPEN PAUL , LAMMERTSMA ADRIAAN A. , De COCK CAREL C. , Van HEMEL NORBERT M. , VERZIJLBERGEN J. FRED
Published: May 2011

Background:
 Information is scarce on the effects of right ventricular apical (RVA) pacing on regional and global myocardial blood flow (MBF). The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between pacing rate and both regional and global MBF.

Methods:
 Four patients with exclusive atrial pacing and six patients with exclusive RVA pacing underwent three consecutive H215O positron emission tomography scans at 60, 90, and 130 pulses per minute (ppm). For each pacing rate, regional and global MBF was determined. In all patients, the left ventricular (LV) function was normal.

Results:
 By varying the atrial pacing rate from 60 to 130 ppm, the mean global MBF increased from 0.94 to 1.40 mL/g/min, whereas the mean septal to lateral MBF ratio decreased from 1.09 to 0.83. In ventricular‐paced patients at corresponding rates, the mean global MBF also increased from 1.07 to 1.52 mL/g/min but here the mean septal to lateral MBF ratio increased from 0.83 to 1.0.

Conclusions:
 During both acute atrial and RVA pacing, regional and global MBF increases with higher pacing rates. However, the septal to lateral MBF ratio decreases with atrial pacing and increases with RVA pacing in patients with normal LV function. In RVA pacing, these different rate‐dependent effects on regional MBF can be considered as a favorable factor that helps to understand why in some long‐term paced patients, LV function is preserved. (PACE 2011; 34:587–592)
Entrance Skin Dose during Radiofrequency Catheter Ablation for Tachyarrhythmia: A Multicenter Study
Authors: KIDOUCHI TAKASHI , SUZUKI SHIGERU , FURUI SHIGERU , MITANI HARUO , NITTA JUNICHI , MATSUMOTO KUNIHIRO , OHTOMO KUNI
Published: May 2011

Background:
 To assess the entrance skin dose (ESD) during radiofrequency catheter ablation procedures for tachyarrhythmia including atrial fibrillation (Af).

Methods:
 This study focused on 99 consecutive patients who underwent procedures for tachyarrhythmia (Af; n = 34, non‐Af; n = 65) in three institutions. The non‐Af group included atrial flutter, atrial tachycardia, paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia, ventricular tachycardia, ventricular premature contraction, atrial premature contraction, atrioventricular nodal reentry tachycardia, and Wolff‐Parkinson‐White syndrome. In two of the three institutions, the procedures were performed for both Af and non‐Af. The ESDs were measured using 100 radiosensitive indicators attached to the back of each patient's jacket at 5‐cm intervals. For statistical analyses, multiple regression analysis (the dependent variable, Max‐ESD; and the independent variables, dose area product [DAP], total fluoroscopic time [TFT], body mass index, etc.), Pearson's correlation test, and the Mann‐Whitney test were employed.

Results:
 The overall averages for the TFTs, the DAPs, and the Max‐ESDs were 49.9 ± 28.2 minutes, 71.2 ± 73.7 Gy cm2, and 0.57 ± 0.51 Gy, respectively. DAP was positively related to the Max‐ESD and was significant in stepwise multiple regression analysis (P < 0.0001). There was a significant association between TFT and Max‐ESD in five of the six kinds of angiographic unit, and between DAP and Max‐ESD in all three systems with available DAP measures. In one institution, TFT, DAP, and Max‐ESD differed significantly between the Af and non‐Af groups (P = 0.0002, P < 0.0001, and P < 0.0001).

Conclusions:
 During the cardiac catheter ablation, ESDs of only a few patients exceeded the thresholds of radiation skin injuries, and the DAP proved useful to estimate each patient's Max‐ESD. (PACE 2011; 34:563–570)
A community of learners in the evidence‐based dental clinic
Authors: Schoonheim‐Klein M. , Wesselink P. R. , Vervoorn J. M.
Published: May 2011

An increasing emphasis has been placed on the need for an evidence‐based approach in dentistry. This calls for effort in dental education to develop and implement tools for the application of evidence in clinical decision‐making (evidence‐based decision‐making, EBDM).

Aim:  To evaluate whether the implementation of a community of learners (COL) within a clinical EBDM course enables students, clinical teachers and scientists to discuss the application of evidence in clinical decision‐making and whether it stimulates a scientific approach in students.

Material and Methods:  A clinical course in EBDM was created. Students presented and discussed patient cases in a COL of student‐peers, clinical teachers and scientists. From the discussion, clinical questions arose and were translated into PICO format (Problem, Intervention, Comparison and Outcome). Students searched for evidence in the literature. Four weeks later, they presented and discussed the evidence found. Before and after the implementation of the course, students, clinical teachers and scientists completed a questionnaire anonymously on the procedure adopted, its content, the learning outcomes and their appreciation of this course. Assessment of the competence EBDM was performed at the end of the course. Grading scores of students in the COL were compared with scores of a student group that did not participate in the COL and were not advised by scientists.

Results:  Evaluation showed that scientists, clinical teachers and students gradually became more positive on the adopted procedure, content, learning outcomes and the appreciation of this course (ANOVA Bonferoni P < 0.05). The student’s evaluation showed the development of a more scientific approach. Assessment scores of EBDM were sufficient and promising.

Conclusion:  A stimulating arena was created: a COL, in which the evidence used in clinical decision‐making, was discussed. The COL involved dental students, clinical teachers and scientists. In this setting, an EBDM course appeared to result in a more scientific approach from dental students. The COL provided a good working concept for EBDM in dental education.
Invasive plants do not display greater phenotypic plasticity than their native or non‐invasive counterparts: a meta‐analysis
Authors: Palacio‐López Kattia , Gianoli Ernesto
Published: May 2011

Phenotypic plasticity is commonly considered as a trait associated with invasiveness in alien plants because it may enhance the ability of plants to occupy a wide range of environments. Although the evidence of greater phenotypic plasticity in invasive plants is considerable, it is not yet conclusive. We used a meta‐analysis approach to evaluate whether invasive plant species show greater phenotypic plasticity than their native or non‐invasive counterparts. The outcome of such interspecific comparisons may be biased when phylogenetic relatedness is not taken into account. Consequently, species pairs belonged to the same genus, tribe or family. The meta‐analysis included 93 records from 35 studies reporting plastic responses to light, nutrients, water, CO2, herbivory and support availability. Contrary to what is often assumed, overall, phenotypic plasticity was similar between invasive plants and native or non‐invasive closely related species. The same result was found when separate analyses were conducted for trait plasticity to nutrients, light and water availability. Thus, invasive plant species and their native or non‐invasive counterparts are equally capable of displaying functional responses to environmental heterogeneity. The colonization of a wide range of environments by invasive plants could be due to their capacity to undergo adaptive ecotypic differentiation rather than to their ability to display plastic responses. Alternatively, phenotypic plasticity might play a role in plant invasion, but only during the initial phases, when tolerance of the novel environment is essential for plant survival. Afterwards, once alien plants are identified as invaders, the magnitude of phenotypic plasticity might be reduced after selection of the optimum phenotypes in each habitat. The identification of plant traits that consistently predict invasiveness might be a futile task because different traits favor invasiveness in different environments. Approaches at the local scale, focusing on the ecology of specific invasive plants, could be more fruitful than global macro‐analyses.
Incorporating the process of vertical transmission into understanding of host–symbiont dynamics
Authors: Gundel P. E. , Rudgers J. A. , Ghersa C. M.
Published: May 2011

Variation exists in the frequency of obligate, vertically transmitted symbiotic organisms within and among host populations; however, these patterns have not been adequately explained by variable fitness effects of symbionts on their hosts. In this forum, we call attention to another equally important, but overlooked mechanism to maintain variation in the frequency of symbioses in nature: the rate of vertical transmission. On ecological time scales, vertical transmission can affect the equilibrium frequencies of symbionts in host populations, with potential consequences for population and community dynamics. In addition, vertical transmission has the potential to influence the evolution of symbiosis, by affecting the probability of fixation of symbiosis (and therefore the evolution of complexity) and by allowing hosts to sanction against costly symbionts. Here we use grass–epichloae symbioses as a model system to explore the causes and consequences of variation in vertical transmission rates. We identify critical points for symbiont transmission that emerge from considering the host growth cycle devoted to reproduction (asexual vs sexual) and the host capability to maintain homeostasis. We also use information on the process of transmission to predict the environmental factors that would most likely affect transmission rates. Altogether, we aim to highlight the vertical transmission rate as an important process for understanding the ecology and evolution of symbiosis, using grass–epichloae interactions as a case study.
Effect of leptin on differentiation of human dental stem cells
Authors: Um S , Choi J‐R , Lee J‐H , Zhang Q , Seo BM
Published: May 2011

Oral Diseases (2011) 17, 662–669

Objectives:  Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were identified in adult human periodontal ligament and dental pulp that are considered as potential stem cell sources for future clinical applications in dentistry. Leptin is known as an important regulator of mesenchymal differentiation. The objective of this study was to elucidate the role of leptin on proliferation and differentiation of dental MSCs.

Materials and methods:  Enhancement of cemento/odontoblastic differentiation of dental stem cells by leptin was confirmed by alizarin red S staining and alkaline phosphatase activity staining. In contrast, leptin reduced adipogenesis in both dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) and periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs) confirmed by oil red O staining and RT‐PCR. The expression of adipogenic markers, lipoprotein lipase and proliferator‐activated receptor γ2 (PPARγ2), were suppressed in PDLSCs incubated on media supplemented with leptin for 2 weeks.

Results:  Leptin had a relatively stronger osteogenesis promoting effect and adipogenesis suppressing effect in PDLSCs than in DPSCs.

Conclusions:  Collectively, leptin had a relatively stronger promoting effect on cemento/odontoblastic differentiation and a suppressing effect on adipogenesis in PDLSCs than in DPSCs. This study has provided evidence that leptin acts as an important modulator of dental MSCs differentiation.
Recurrent wheeze in children with Down syndrome: is it asthma?
Authors: Weijerman Michel E , Brand Paul LP , van Furth Marceline A , Broers Chantal JM , Gemke Reinoud JBJ
Published: May 2011

Aim:  To compare the prevalence of current wheeze in children with Down syndrome (DS), their siblings, and nonrelated population controls.

Methods:  This was a case–control study in which the International Study of Asthma and Allergy in Childhood questionnaire for respiratory symptoms was completed by parents for 130 children with DS, 167 of their siblings, and for 119 age‐ and sex‐matched control subjects from the general population.

Results:  Both wheeze ever and wheeze during the last 12 months was more commonly reported in DS than in their siblings or controls. The relative risk (RR) of current wheeze in DS was 2.8 (95% CI, 1.42–5.51) compared with siblings, and 2.75 (95% CI, 1.28–5.88) compared with controls. A doctor’s diagnosis of asthma was found in 3.1% in children with DS, in 4.2% in siblings and in 6.7% in controls. During 4‐years follow‐up, the diagnosis of asthma could not be confirmed in the 24 DS children with current wheeze, and atopy was found in none of them.

Conclusion:  Wheeze is common in children with DS. This is likely to be related to the factors specific for DS and probably unrelated to asthma.
Predictors of death in under‐five children with diarrhoea admitted to a critical care ward in an urban hospital in Bangladesh
Authors: Chisti Mohammod J , Pietroni Mark AC , Smith Jonathan H , Bardhan Pradip K , Salam Mohammed A
Published: May 2011

Aim : To evaluate the clinical and laboratory predictors of death in hospitalized under‐five children with diarrhoea.

Methods : This is a prospective cohort study carried out in the Special Care Ward (SCW) of the Dhaka Hospital of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B), Dhaka, Bangladesh. All admitted diarrhoeal children of both sexes, aged 0–59 months, from September 2007 through December 2007 were enrolled. We compared and analysed factors among diarrhoeal children who died (n = 29) with those who survived (n = 229).

Results : In logistic regression analysis, after adjusting for potential confounders (infusion of intravenous fluid and immature PMN), absent peripheral pulse even after complete rehydration (OR 10.9, 95% CI 2.1–56.8; p < 0.01), severe malnutrition (OR 7.9, 95% CI 1.8–34.8; p < 0.01), hypoxaemia (OR 8.5, 95% CI 1.0‐75.0; p = 0.05), radiological lobar pneumonia (OR 17.8, 95% CI 3.7–84.5; p < 0.01) and hypernatraemia (OR 15.8, 95% CI 3.0–81.8; p < 0.01) were independently associated with deaths among diarrhoeal children admitted to SCW.

Conclusions:  Thus, the absence of peripheral pulses even after full rehydration, severe malnutrition, hypoxaemia, lobar pneumonia and hypernatraemia are independent predictors of death among the under‐five children with diarrhoea admitted to critical care ward of a resource‐limited setting in Bangladesh.
Soft drink and sweet food consumption and suicidal behaviours among Chinese adolescents
Authors: Pan Xiaoqun , Zhang Cuilin , Shi Zumin
Published: May 2011

Aim:  Greater soft drink consumption was associated with increased risk of mental health problems in Western countries. The objective of the study was to examine the association between soft drink and sweet food consumption and suicidal behaviours among adolescents in China.

Methods:  In 2005, a population‐based cross‐sectional study was conducted in 100 schools in Jiangsu Province, China. Participants were aged 12–19 years old (n = 23 976).

Results:  Among the participants, 20.5% reported daily soft drink consumption; 18.6% reported having suicidal ideation. Soft drink consumption was significantly and positively associated with risk of suicidal plan or suicide attempt. Prevalence of suicidal plan was12.8% among those who consumed soft drink at least three times per day and 6.2% among those who did not consume any soft drinks. In multivariate analyses, compared with soft drink consumption less than once per day, consumption at least three times per day was associated with 80% increased risk for suicidal plan and more than 3.5‐fold increased risk for suicide attempt. Of note, nonconsumption of soft drinks was also associated with about 32% elevated risk for suicidal plan and suicidal attempt. High frequency intake of sweet food was associated with increased risk of suicidal behaviours.

Conclusions:  There is a positive association between consumption of soft drinks and sweet food and risks for suicidal behaviours among adolescents in China. Prospective studies are warranted to confirm these findings.
Waist circumference and waist‐to‐height ratio in Norwegian children 4–18 years of age: Reference values and cut‐off levels
Authors: Brannsether B , Roelants M , Bjerknes R , Júlíusson PB
Published: May 2011

Aim:  To establish reference values for waist circumference and waist‐to‐height ratio of Norwegian children.

Material:  Data were collected in 2003–2006 as part of a cross‐sectional study, including 5725 children 4–18 years of age. Reference curves were fitted with the LMS method; appropriate cut‐offs were selected using receiver operating characteristic analysis.

Results:  Reference values for waist circumference and waist‐to‐height ratio are presented. Mean waist circumference increased with age for both genders. Boys had a higher waist circumference at almost all ages. Mean waist‐to‐height ratio decreased until early adolescence and thereafter increased slightly towards adult age. There was a strong positive correlation between waist circumference and BMI (r = 0.907, p < 0.01) and a moderate positive correlation between waist‐to‐height ratio and BMI (r = 0.397 p < 0.01). A waist circumference cut‐off value of 1.0 SDS (85th percentile) gave a sensitivity of 79% and a specificity of 94% to detect overweight. A cut‐off value of 1.6 SDS (95th percentile) gave a sensitivity of 94% and a specificity of 96% to detect obesity.

Conclusion:  This study presents the first reference values of waist circumference and waist‐to‐height ratio for Norwegian children 4–18 years, which also represent the first reference in Scandinavian schoolchildren. The 85th and 95th percentiles of waist circumference are proposed as appropriate cut‐offs for central overweight and obesity.
Direct and indirect effects of grazing constrain shrub encroachment in semi‐arid Patagonian steppes
Authors: Cipriotti Pablo A. , Aguiar Martín R.
Published: May 2011

Question: What are the long‐term effects of grazing exclusion on the population structure and dynamics of, and interactions among, three dominant shrub species?

Location: Grass‐shrub Patagonian steppe, Chubut, Argentina.

Methods: Permanent plots were established in grazed paddocks and paddocks excluded from grazing in representative Patagonian rangelands. Shrub abundance, population size‐structure, short‐term (two 3‐yr periods) and long‐term (matrix models) population dynamics, and neighborhood interactions of three native and codominant shrub species (Mulinum spinosum, Senecio filaginoides and Adesmia volckmanni) were measured and analysed using different statistical approaches.

Results: The total density of shrubs was 74% higher in paddocks excluded from grazing, owing mainly to increases in Mulinum (80%) and Senecio (68%) species. However, differences in size structure between ungrazed and grazed paddocks were only detected in Mulinum. Demographic rates differed between shrub species, time‐periods and grazing conditions. In particular, recruitment in the short term (especially in wet years) and population growth rate in the long term (λ) were higher in paddocks excluded from grazing only in Mulinum populations. Senecio populations showed a marginal increase in recruitment and mortality independent of the grazing condition in the wet and dry period. Grazing exclusion modified the balance of neighborhood interactions among the three shrub species. In grazing‐exclusion paddocks, there was a balance between positive and negative interspecific interactions, while in grazed paddocks there were more negative intraspecific and interspecific interactions, resulting in a net negative balance of neighborhood interactions.

Conclusions: Our understanding of woody encroachment in arid rangelands can be informed through evaluation of direct and indirect effects of grazing exclusion on the abundance and demography of dominant woody species. In Patagonian arid steppes, the occurrence of woody encroachment in rangelands excluded from grazing can be explained by altered responses in plant‐animal and plant‐plant interactions among shrub species.
Maternal nutrition in rural Kenya: health and socio‐demographic determinants and its association with child nutrition
Authors: Gewa Constance A. , Oguttu Monica , Yandell Nanette S.
Published: May 2011

High levels of food insecurity and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection place most breastfeeding mothers in Kenya at high risk of malnutrition. We examined the role of selected socio‐economic, demographic and health factors as determinants of nutritional status among HIV‐infected and HIV‐uninfected mothers in rural Kenya and further examined the interrelationship between maternal nutritional and child nutritional status within this population. A cross‐sectional design was used to collect data from non‐pregnant mothers with children ages 4–24 months in Kisumu District, Kenya. Over 80% of the mothers were breastfeeding at the time of the study. Mean maternal body mass index (BMI) (21.60 ± 3.15) and percent body fat (22.29 ± 4.86) values were lower than among lactating mothers in other Sub‐Sahara African countries. Maternal HIV status was not significantly associated with any of the maternal nutritional indicators assessed in the study. Breastfeeding, recent severe illness and having multiple children below 2 years of age were negatively associated with maternal nutritional status, while higher maternal age, socio‐economic status and household food security were each positively associated with maternal nutritional status. Significant positive association was reported between maternal weight, height, BMI, mid‐upper arm circumference (MUAC), body fat and fat‐free mass estimates, and children's height‐for‐age, weight‐for‐age, weight‐for‐height and MUAC‐for‐agez‐score. This analysis identifies determinants of maternal nutritional status in rural Kenya and highlights the importance of interventions that address malnutrition in both HIV‐infected and HIV‐uninfected mothers in rural Kenya. Significant association between maternal and child nutritional status stresses the importance of addressing maternal and young child nutritional status as interrelated factors.
LEGAL CYNICISM, COLLECTIVE EFFICACY, AND THE ECOLOGY OF ARREST*
Authors: KIRK DAVID S. , MATSUDA MAURI
Published: May 2011

Ethnographic evidence reveals that many crimes in poor minority neighborhoods evade criminal justice sanctioning, thus leading to a negative association between the proportion of minority residents in a neighborhood and the arrest rate. To explain this finding, we extend recent theoretical explications of the concept of legal cynicism. Legal cynicism refers to a cultural orientation in which the law and the agents of its enforcement are viewed as illegitimate, unresponsive, and ill equipped to ensure public safety. Crime might flourish in neighborhoods characterized by legal cynicism because individuals who view the law as illegitimate are less likely to comply with it; yet because of legal cynicism, these crimes might go unreported and therefore unsanctioned. This study draws on data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods to test the importance of legal cynicism for understanding geographic variation in the probability of arrest. We find that, in neighborhoods characterized by high levels of legal cynicism, crimes are much less likely to lead to an arrest than in neighborhoods where citizens view the police more favorably. Findings also reveal that residents of highly cynical neighborhoods are less likely to engage in collective efficacy and that collective efficacy mediates the association between legal cynicism and the probability of arrest.
LEARNING TO BE BAD: ADVERSE SOCIAL CONDITIONS, SOCIAL SCHEMAS, AND CRIME*
Authors: SIMONS RONALD L. , BURT CALLIE HARBIN
Published: May 2011

In this article, we develop and test a new approach to explain the link between social factors and individual offending. We argue that seemingly disparate family, peer, and community conditions lead to crime because the lessons communicated by these events are similar and promote social schemas involving a hostile view of people and relationships, a preference for immediate rewards, and a cynical view of conventional norms. Furthermore, we posit that these three schemas are interconnected and combine to form a criminogenic knowledge structure that results in situational interpretations legitimating criminal behavior. Structural equation modeling with a sample of roughly 700 African American teens provided strong support for the model. The findings indicated that persistent exposure to adverse conditions such as community crime, discrimination, harsh parenting, deviant peers, and low neighborhood collective efficacy increased commitment to the three social schemas. The three schemas were highly intercorrelated and combined to form a latent construct that strongly predicted increases in crime. Furthermore, in large measure, the effect of the various adverse conditions on increases in crime was indirect through their impact on this latent construct. We discuss the extent to which the social‐schematic model presented in this article might be used to integrate concepts and findings from several major theories of criminal behavior.
ASSESSING AND EXPLAINING MISPERCEPTIONS OF PEER DELINQUENCY*
Authors: YOUNG JACOB T. N. , BARNES J. C. , MELDRUM RYAN C. , WEERMAN FRANK M.
Published: May 2011

Peer delinquency is a robust correlate of delinquent and criminal behavior. However, debate continues to surround the proper measurement of peer delinquency. Recent research suggests that some respondents are likely to misrepresent their peers’ involvement in delinquency when asked in survey questionnaires, drawing into question the traditional (i.e., perceptual) measurement of peer delinquency. Research also has shown that direct measures of peer delinquency (e.g., measures obtained via networking methods such as Add Health), as compared with perceptual measures, differentially correlate with key theoretical variables (e.g., respondent delinquency and respondent self‐control), raising the question of whether misperception of peer delinquency is systematic and can be predicted. Almost no research, however, has focused on this issue. This study, therefore, provides detailed information on respondents’ misperceptions of peer behavior and investigates whether individual characteristics, the amount of time spent with peers, and peer network properties predict these misperceptions. Findings indicated that 1) some individuals—to varying degrees—misperceived the delinquent behavior of their peers; 2) self‐control and self‐reported delinquency predicted misperception; 3) respondents occupying densely populated peer networks were less likely to misperceive their peers’ delinquent involvement; and 4) peers who occupy networks in which individuals spend a lot of time together were more likely to misperceive peer delinquency. Implications are discussed.
Decolourization performance and mechanism of leachate secondary effluent using Poly‐aluminium(III)–magnesium(II) sulphate
Authors: Liu Zhan‐Meng , Sang Yi‐Min , Tong Zhen‐Gong , Wang Qun‐Hui , Sun Ti‐Chang
Published: May 2011

Poly‐aluminium(III)–magnesium(II) sulphate (PMAS) was used to remove the colour from the secondary effluent of landfill leachate and the decolourization mechanism was researched. The results indicated that the decolourization efficiency using PMAS was better than the decolourization that occurred using other traditional coagulants, with a colour removal >90%. X‐ray diffraction and infrared spectrometry showed that PMAS was probably a type of macromolecular composite polymer of aluminium and magnesium that was based on –OH bonds. The coagulation mechanism of PMAS was primarily charge neutralization and coprecipitation netting, with charge neutralization being the dominant mechanism at low doses. In addition, the flocculation behaviour differed in response to various pH values of wastewater at high doses. Specifically, flocculation was primarily driven by charge neutralization at a low pH and coprecipitation netting at a high pH, while it occurred via a combination of these procedures under neutral conditions.
Parent company liability for asbestos claims: some international insights
Authors: Anderson Helen
Published: May 2011

Throughout the world, the corporate group structure has long proved troublesome to the creditors, and particularly the tort creditors, of undercapitalised subsidiary companies. In the wake of Australia's James Hardie asbestos compensation inquiry, Senior Counsel assisting the Jackson Special Commission, Mr John Sheahan QC, called for the Commission to ‘recommend reform of the Corporations Act so as to restrict the application of the limited liability principle as regards liability for damages for personal injury or death caused by a company that is part of a corporate group...’. Following this call, in May 2008 the Corporations and Markets Advisory Committee released a report on long-tail liabilities, making various recommendations for reform. Separately, legislation was passed making pooling available for insolvent group companies in Australia. This paper examines the long-tail liability suggestions and the 2007 pooling amendments. It will be argued that neither of these is adequate for the proper protection of tort creditors of insolvent subsidiaries. It then considers international alternatives which might satisfy Mr Sheahan's appeal for reform.
Oral Histories of Education and the Relevance of Theory: Claiming New Spaces in a Post-Revisionist Era
Authors: Eick Caroline
Published: May 2011

Almost forty years since the publication of Cutler's landmark “Oral history—its nature and uses for educational history,” growing numbers of historians of education have adopted oral interviews as the basis for historical analysis. Furthermore, questions about the objectivity of oral sources in view of memory's fallibility have been more productively redirected toward exploring, in light of credibility standards borrowed from the social sciences and literary theory, the many hues of subjectivity of oral historical testimonies, and their implications for understanding same past events from multiple perspectives. As Portelli aptly states, “the first thing that makes oral history different, is that it tells us less abouteventsthan about theirmeaning” He boldly asserts that “what informants believeisindeed a historicalfact“that is, the fact that they believe it”, as much as what really happened.” Oral historians not only reproblematized memory for historians by focusing attention on understanding the subjectivity of memory as a manifestation of historical consciousness, but they also brought to our attention how memories are gendered, racialized, and class based. They brought to our attention the importance of examining why different individuals and groups experience the same event in very different ways. Today, oral sources, particularly since the 1990s when historians began investigating the construction of identities, are compared less pejoratively with documentary sources by academic disciplinarians. And oral historians continue to break down “boundaries between the educational institution and the world, between the [history] profession and ordinary people.” However, they also continue to be faced with the challenge of articulating “the connection between individual and social historical consciousness.”
History, Theory, and Education
Authors: Rury John L.
Published: May 2011

The distinguished Africanist Robert Harms once observed that “we historians are a practical people who pride ourselves on our attention to facts and our painstaking attention to detail.” If this is the case in other parts of the world, it is certainly true of American historians, who have been periodically admonished for their disinterest in questions of theory and purpose related to their craft. In this issue we have an opportunity to discuss the question of theory as it may pertain to the history of education, with particular attention to the United States. Regardless of whether one believes that historians should be ardent students of social theory, after all, there is little question about whether they should be cognizant of it. Indeed, there is danger in ignoring it. Quoting John Maynard Keynes, Harms suggested that practical people who feel “exempt from any intellectual influences” run the risk of “becoming slaves to some defunct economist.”
The Proper Place of Theory in Educational History?
Authors: Urban Wayne J.
Published: May 2011

I am pleased to respond to this series of essays, shortened versions of which were presented at the AERA meeting in San Diego in April 2009. When I heard Eileen Tamura, Carolyn Eick, and Roland Coloma talk about theory in educational history in San Diego, I responded positively to what I thought was serious work and an invitation to those of us who don't do that kind of work to consider its value. Reading the essays, seeing the arguments fleshed out, I am able here to react more extensively to each.