bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Lipid–protein modifications during ascorbate‐Fe2+ peroxidation of photoreceptor membranes: protective effect of melatonin
Authors: Guajardo Margarita H. , Terrasa Ana M. , Catalá Angel
Published: June 2006

Abstract:  The rod outer segment (ROSg) membranes are essentially lipoprotein complexes. Rhodopsin, the major integral protein of ROSg, is surrounded by phospholipids highly enriched in docosahexaenoic acid (22:6 n3). This fluid environment plays an important role for conformational changes after photo‐activation. Thus, ROSg membranes are highly susceptible to oxidative damage. Melatonin synthesized in the pineal gland, retina and other tissues is a free radical scavenger. The principal aim of this work was to study the changes in the ROSg membranes isolated from bovine retina submitted to nonenzymatic lipid peroxidation (ascorbate‐Fe2+ induced), during different time intervals (0–180 min). Oxidative stress was monitored by increase in the chemiluminescence and fatty acid alterations. In addition we studied the in vitro protective effect of 5 mm melatonin. The total cpm originated from light emission (chemiluminescence) was found to be lower in those membranes incubated in the presence of melatonin. The docosahexaenoic acid content decreased considerably when the membranes were exposed to oxidative damage. This reduction was from 35.5 ± 2.9% in the native membranes to 12.65 ± 1.86% in those peroxidized during 180 min. In the presence of 5 mm melatonin we observed a content preservation of 22:6 n3 (23.85 ± 2.77%) at the same time of peroxidation. Simultaneously the alterations of membrane proteins under oxidative stress were studied using sodium dodecyl sulfate‐polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS‐PAGE). Loss of protein sulfhydryl groups and increased incorporation of carbonyl groups were utilized as biomarkers of protein oxidation. In membranes exposed to Fe2+‐ascorbate, we observed a decrease of protein thiols from 50.9 ± 3.38 in native membranes to 1.72 ± 2.81 nmol/mg of protein after 180 min of lipid peroxidation associated with increased incorporation of carbonyl groups into proteins from 7.20 ± 2.50 to 12.50 ± 1.12 nmol/mg of protein. In the SDS‐PAGE we observed a decrease in the content of all the proteins, mainly rhodopsin, as a consequence of peroxidation. Melatonin, prevent both lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation.
Heterogeneous expression of melatonin receptor MT1 mRNA in the rat intestine under control and fasting conditions
Authors: Soták Matúš , Mrnka Libor , Pácha Jiří
Published: June 2006

Abstract:  Melatonin is found in mammalian central nervous system and various peripheral tissues including gastrointestinal tract (GIT) where it participates in the regulation of intestinal motility, blood flow, immunomodulation, ion transport, cell proliferation and scavenging of free radicals. Some of these effects are achieved via melatonin binding to specific receptors, MT1 and MT2. As no thorough study on the expression of these receptors in the GIT has yet been done, the aim of this study was to determine the MT1 mRNA expression in the rat intestine under both control and fasting conditions. Our results suggest that MT1 mRNA is present in epithelial as well as subepithelial layer, with higher expression in the latter in all intestinal segments studied. The highest signal of the MT1 transcript along the rostro–caudal intestinal axis was found both in epithelial and subepithelial layers of the duodenum. Nevertheless, duodenal MT1 mRNA expression did not reach the level found in pituitary gland. In a 12:12‐hr light:dark cycle a MT1 receptor expression in the subepithelial layer of rat distal colon did not manifest a significant diurnal rhythm. Short‐term fasting increased the expression of MT1 transcript in the subepithelial layer of both the small and large intestine. During long‐term fasting the increase persisted only in distal colon while a return to control levels was observed in small intestinal segments. In conclusion we demonstrated heterogeneous expression of MT1 receptor in the rat intestine and showed that its expression is up‐regulated by nutritional deprivation.
Mechanisms of protection by melatonin against acetaminophen‐induced liver injury in mice
Authors: Matsura Tatsuya , Nishida Tadashi , Togawa Aki , Horie Shunsuke , Kusumoto Chiaki , Ohata Shuzo , Nakada Junya , Ishibe Yuichi , Yamada Kazuo , Ohta Yoshiji
Published: June 2006

Abstract:  The present study was performed to determine whether melatonin protects mouse liver against severe damage induced by acetaminophen (APAP) administration and where melatonin primarily functions in the metabolic pathway of APAP to protect mouse liver against APAP‐induced injury. Treatment of mice with melatonin (50 or 100 mg/kg, p.o.) 8 or 4 hr before APAP administration (750 mg/kg, p.o.) suppressed the increase in plasma alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase activities in a dose‐ and a time‐dependent manner. Melatonin treatment (100 mg/kg, p.o.) 4 hr before APAP administration remarkably inhibited centrilobular hepatic necrosis with inflammatory cell infiltration and increases in hepatic lipid peroxidation and myeloperoxidase activity, an index of tissue neutrophil infiltration, as well as release of nitric oxide and interleukin‐6 into blood circulation at 9 hr after APAP administration. However, melatonin neither affected hepatic reduced glutathione (GSH) content nor spared hepatic GSH consumption by APAP treatment. Moreover, pretreatment with melatonin 4 hr before APAP administration did not influence the induction of hepatic heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) by APAP and melatonin alone did not induce HSP70 in mouse liver. These results indicate that exogenously administered melatonin exhibits a potent hepatoprotective effect against APAP‐induced hepatic damage probably downstream of the activity of cytochrome P450 2E1, which works upstream of GSH conjugation in the pathway of APAP metabolism, via its anti‐nitrosative and anti‐inflammatory activities in addition to its antioxidant activity.
Effects of combination of melatonin and dexamethasone on acute lung injury in a mice model of carrageenan‐induced pleurisy
Authors: Crisafulli Concetta , Mazzon Emanuela , Muià Carmelo , Bella PaoloDi , Esposito Emanuela , Meli Rosaria , Cuzzocrea Salvatore
Published: June 2006

Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of combination therapy with melatonin and dexamethasone (DEX) on acute lung injury. In particular, we investigated the effects of combination therapy in animal models of acute lung inflammation (carrageenan‐induced pleurisy). Injection of carrageenan into the pleural cavity of rats elicited an acute inflammatory response characterized by fluid accumulation in the pleural cavity which contained a large number of neutrophils [polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN)] as well as an infiltration of PMN in lung tissues and subsequent lipid peroxidation, and increased production of nitrite/nitrate (NOx), and prostaglandin E2(PGE2). Furthermore, carrageenan induced an upregulation of the adhesion molecules ICAM‐1 and P‐selectin, inducible nitric oxide synthase, cycloxygenase‐2 as well as nitrotyrosine as determined by immunohistochemical analysis of lung tissues. No anti‐inflammatory effect was observed in animals treated with melatonin (10 mg/kg) or with DEX (0.01 mg/kg) alone. This study shows that the combination therapy with melatonin and DEX reduced the degree of acute lung inflammation and tissue damage associated with carrageenan‐induced pleurisy in mice and supports the possible use of melatonin in combination with steroids in order to reduce the dose and the side effects related with the use of steroids for the management of inflammatory disease.
Mucoepidermoid carcinoma of minor salivary glands: a clinical study of 16 cases and review of the literature
Authors: Triantafillidou K , Dimitrakopoulos J , Iordanidis F , Koufogiannis D
Published: June 2006

Objective:  Mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) is the most common malignant tumor of salivary glands with a widely diverse biologic behavior that is correlated with the histological grade of the tumor. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical outcomes of MEC of minor salivary glands in a group of 16 patients, who were treated in our clinic, and to discuss the management of this carcinoma.

Materials and methods:  Between 1985 and 2000, 16 patients with MEC of minor salivary glands were treated in the Clinic of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery of the ‘G. Papanikolaou’ General Hospital, in Thessaloniki. The age range was 16–65 years. The distribution of the primary sites was: hard plate (one), soft palate (two), hard and soft palate (three), hard and soft palate with spread in paranasal sinus and nasal cavity (one), buccal mucosa (three), hard palate, alveolar process and buccal mucosa (two), and retromolar triangle (our). The tumors were clinically staged according to the tumor nodes metastase (TNM) system (Seifert, 1991). All patients were treated radically with surgery. The surgery was combined with radiotherapy in nine patients. Radiotherapy was delivered using Co‐60. Doses ranged from 50 to 60 Gy and the duration of the therapy ranged from 25 to 35 days. Immunohistochemical assay of the expression of the Ki‐67 antigen was performed on a subset of 15 cases.

Results:  The mean follow‐up range was 4–14 years. From the 16 patients with MECs 10 (62.5%) were alive and five (35.6%) had died from the disease. Four patients were free of the disease for more than 5 years (range 8–14), five patients were free of the disease for 5 years and one patient was free of the disease for 4 years. One patient lived more than 10 years and died from another cause. Local recurrence developed in one patient 10 years after the initial treatment. Lymph node metastases occurred in one patient within the first year after the initial surgical treatment. Distant metastases (two in bones and one in lungs) occurred in three patients within 2 years after completing the treatment. The Pearson chi‐square statistical analysis was used for comparing the Ki‐67 values in correlation with histological grade of the tumors. The Ki‐67 expression was only 1% in low‐grade MECs, while in intermediate‐grade tumors it was estimated between 3 and 4%. The high‐grade tumors had increased expression (10%) of tumor cells.

Conclusion:  Complete surgical excision is the treatment of choice for MECs. Adequate excision is important in all grades of tumors. Prognosis of MECs is a function of the histological grade, adequacy of excision and clinical staging. The immunohistochemical study of Ki‐67 expression may provide additional prognostic information for this tumor.
Association of uncultivated oral phylotypes AU126 and X112 with periodontitis
Authors: Li CL , Liang JP , Jiang YT
Published: June 2006

Objective:  To discuss the relationship between uncultivated pathogenic bacteria and periodontitis.

Subjects and methods:  Specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers were designed for phylotypes AU126 and X112; PCRs were applied to determine the prevalence of these phylotypes in 35 patients with chronic periodontitis, 26 patients with plaque‐induced gingivitis and 20 healthy control subjects.

Results:  The specificity of each primer is validated on the basis of the results from sequence analysis of PCR products. AU126 and X112 were detected in the subgingival plaque samples in all the three groups. The prevalence of AU126 in subgingival plaque in chronic periodontitis (77.1%) and plaque‐induced gingivitis (61.5%) is relatively higher than that in the healthy subjects (10.0%), and the difference is statistically significant (P < 0.01). The prevalence of X112 in subgingival plaque in periodontitis patients (85.7%) is higher than that in healthy subjects (30.0%), the difference (P < 0.01) being equally statistically significant. The difference between the chronic periodontitis group and the plaque‐induced gingivitis group (50.0%) is statistically significant (P < 0.05).

Conclusions:  It might be assumed that the novel uncultivated AU126 phylotype could possibly be related to chronic periodontitis and plaque‐induced gingivitis, and that X112 might play a role in the progress of lesion from gingivitis to periodontitis.
MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING OF THE INTRATEMPORAL FACIAL NERVE IN IDIOPATHIC FACIAL PARALYSIS IN THE DOG
Authors: VAREJÃO ARTUR S.P. , MUÑOZ ALBERTO , LORENZO VALENTINA
Published: June 2006

The most common cause of peripheral facial nerve paralysis in dogs, in the absence of otitis media, is thought to be idiopathic. Gadolinium‐enhanced (Gd) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging has been used to study peripheral facial weakness in humans with a wide variety of disorders, including Bell's palsy, the clinical equivalent of idiopathic facial nerve paralysis in dogs. Gd‐MR imaging may be useful to demonstrate abnormal enhancement of the intratemporal facial nerve. The aim of this study was to define the role of the Gd‐MR imaging in dogs with idiopathic facial nerve paralysis, with regard to pattern of enhancement, and to search for prognostic information. Six dogs with peripheral facial nerve paralysis, followed between 2003 and 2005, were studied. Physical and neurologic examinations, as well as clinical tests, were performed, including routine hematology, serum biochemistry, thyroid screening, cerebrospinal fluid analysis, and MR imaging. The time interval between the onset of the clinical signs, the progress of the disease, and the final recovery was noted in each dog. The following four intratemporal segments of the facial nerve were analyzed: internal acoustic meatus, labyrinthine segment/geniculate ganglion, tympanic segment, and mastoid segment. Along its length, contrast enhancement was found in four dogs. In this group, contrast enhancement of the facial nerve was found in all segments of two dogs, in three segments of one dog, and in one segment of the other dog. In the four dogs with enhancement, one recovered completely in 8 weeks and three have not recovered completely. The two dogs without evidence of enhancement recovered completely in an average time of 4 weeks.
INTRACRANIAL EPIDERMOID CYST AND SYRINGOHYDROMYELIA IN A DOG
Authors: MACKILLOP EDWARD , SCHATZBERG SCOTT J. , DE LAHUNTA ALEXANDER
Published: June 2006

A 5‐year‐old female Cocker Spaniel dog had a sudden onset of vestibular disease that localized to the caudal fossa. Upon computed tomography of the brain, a large, hypoattenuating mass with a slight peripheral ring enhancement pattern was detected ventral to the cerebellum. A hypoattenuating region was also identified in the center of the C2 spinal cord segment, consistent with syringohydromyelia. Postmortem examination of the brain revealed a fluid filled, cystic mass located dorsal to medulla oblongata that caused severe compression of the overlying cerebellum. The histopathologic diagnosis was an epidermoid cyst. Extensive syringohydromyelia and obstructive hydrocephalus were identified, both thought to be secondary to overcrowding of the caudal fossa.
FISTULA FORMATION SECONDARY TO A NYLON CABLE BAND IN A DOG
Authors: JOHNSON‐NEITMAN JENNIFER L. , BAHR ROBERT J. , BROADDUS KRISTYN D.
Published: June 2006

A dog with a 9‐month history of a chronic draining tract involving the left flank had previously undergone five surgeries and two drain placements with no permanent resolution of the draining tract. Fistulography and computed tomography were useful in characterizing the draining tract and identifying a suspected foreign body. Surgery was performed and a nylon cable band foreign body was removed.
CHANGES IN ECHOCARDIOGRAPHIC VARIABLES OF LEFT VENTRICULAR SIZE AND FUNCTION IN A MODEL OF CANINE NORMOVOLEMIC ANEMIA
Authors: SPOTSWOOD TIM C. , KIRBERGER ROBERT M. , KOMA LEE M.P.K. , THOMPSON PETER N. , MILLER DAVID B.
Published: June 2006

The objective of this study was to document changes in echocardiographic variables of left ventricular size and function noninvasively during acute normovolemic anemia. This model was developed as a pilot study with the purpose of providing baseline information to investigate the pathophysiology, and more specifically the effect on the heart, of canine babesiosis‐induced anemia. The study group comprised of 11 mature healthy Beagle dogs that weighed between 9 and 15 kg. Severe normovolemic anemia was induced over a 3–4‐day period by serial bleeding while maintaining normovolemia by autotransfusing plasma and infusing crystalloids. The dogs were then allowed to recover. Preanemic (mean Hct 46.7%, standard deviation [SD] 2.4%) echocardiographic variables of left ventricular performance (Fractional shortening, ejection fraction, end‐systolic and end‐diastolic ventricular volumes, cardiac index, and heart rate) were compared with those in the severely (mean Hct 15.3%, SD 1.1%), moderately (Hct mean 24.7%, SD 1.5%), and mildly (mean Hct 33.5%, SD 2.5%) anemic states, and between the anemic states. With the exception of end diastolic volume, there was a statistically significant (P<0.05) increase in all variables in the severely anemic state vs. the preanemic and the mild and moderate anemic states. In concordance with previous invasive models, a hyperdynamic state of the left ventricle develops in response to experimentally induced acute canine normovolemic anemia in the conscious dog. Echocardiography has promise as a noninvasive technique of evaluating the cardiac changes in dogs having canine babesiosis.
ULTRASONOGRAPHIC TECHNIQUE AND NORMAL ANATOMIC FEATURES OF THE SACROILIAC REGION IN HORSES
Authors: ENGELI EMMANUEL , YEAGER AMY E. , ERB HOLLIS N. , HAUSSLER KEVIN K.
Published: June 2006

The purpose of this study was to establish the normal percutaneous ultrasonographic appearance of anatomic structures within the equine sacroiliac region. Percutaneous ultrasonography was performed in a cranial‐to‐caudal direction in 10 normal adult live horses. The following structures were examined in detail: supraspinous ligament, lumbar and sacral spinous processes, thoracolumbar fascia and its caudal extension, tubera sacralia, ilial wings, dorsal and lateral portions of the dorsal sacroiliac ligaments, lateral part of the sacrum, and the lateral sacral crest. After ultrasonography, all animals were euthanized and detailed dissection of the lumbosacropelvic region was performed in six horses. Four lumbosacropelvic specimens were frozen and sectioned transversely for evaluation of cross‐sectional anatomy. Gross anatomic findings were correlated with ante‐mortem ultrasonographic images. On percutaneous ultrasonography, all horses had tubera sacralia with a mild‐to‐moderate roughened surface with occasional irregular hyperechoic mineralizations located within the apophyseal cartilage of younger horses. At the level of the tuber sacrale the caudal extension of the thoracolumbar fascia joined the dorsal portion of the dorsal sacroiliac ligament and assumed two different configurations relative to the dorsal portion of the dorsal sacroiliac ligament, with the predominant configuration of the thoracolumbar fascia located medial to the dorsal portion of the dorsal sacroiliac ligament. The less frequently encountered configuration had the thoracolumbar fascia positioned dorsal to the dorsal portion of the dorsal sacroiliac ligament. Caudal to the tuber sacrale the dorsal portion of the dorsal sacroiliac ligament and thoracolumbar fascia consolidated to form a single, fused structure with a common insertion on the sacral spinous processes. A large variability in linear fiber pattern, echogenicity (small focal hypoechoic areas), ligament height, and cross‐sectional measurements was identified in the fused dorsal portion of the dorsal sacroiliac ligament and thoracolumbar fascia of normal horses. Diagnosing mild‐to‐moderate desmitis of the fused dorsal portion of the dorsal sacroiliac ligament and thoracolumbar fascia based solely on ultrasonography may therefore be difficult. To correlate ultrasonography with histology, samples of a fused dorsal portion of the dorsal sacroiliac ligament and thoracolumbar fascia with bilateral hypoechoic lesions were submitted for histology and revealed diffuse mild‐to‐moderate loss of fiber density, multifocal fibrocyte degeneration, and cartilagenous metaplasia with multifocal, mild myofiber mineralization, which was compatible with age‐related changes. As controls, sections of ultrasonographically normal fused dorsal portion of the dorsal sacroiliac ligament and thoracolumbar fascia from three horses demonstrated similar but milder histologic findings, which were considered normal.
Law and Literature in the Romantic Era: The Law’s Fictions
Authors: Chaplin Sue
Published: June 2006

This essay examines the emerging ideological relation between literature and law in the Romantic era and the significance of this relation to modern Western conceptualisations of what constitutes ‘law’ and ‘literature’. In particular, the article explores the problematics of juridical textuality in the Romantic period – the extent to which the law comes to be regarded as text– and seeks to set this within the context of developing conceptualisations of ‘literature’ as a juridically defined commodity. The modern understanding of ‘literature’ began to be shaped in the Romantic era by a juridical re‐formulation of the relation between the author, the text, the reader and the publisher: creative, original writing –‘literature’– becomes a commodity copyrighted to an author/publisher. This development is accompanied by the State’s recognition of the growing cultural and political power of new and diverse textual forms in an era of the mass production and consumption of ‘literature’, and the article considers alongside the contemporaneous formulation of copyright regulations the draconian censorship of textual production in this period. With reference to diverse juridical and literary sources (Clara Reeve’s The Progress of Romance, Blackstone’s Commentaries, Bentham’s Fragment on Government, Godwin’s Enquiry and Caleb Williams, amongst others), I examine the extent to which these various phenomena reveal the subjection of textuality in the Romantic era to the modern force of law.
Chaucer and the Theory Wars: Attack of the Historicists? The Psychoanalysts Strike Back? Or a New Hope?
Authors: Sebastian John T.
Published: June 2006

This essay surveys recent exchanges between historicism and psychoanalysis in the criticism of Chaucer’s poetry. Some of these exchanges have been heated. In some accounts the differences appear irreconcilable. However, other accounts suggest that historicism and psychoanalysis share much common ground.
Assessing Changing Views of the President: Revisiting Greenstein's Children and Politics
Authors: CARTER AMY , TETEN RYAN L.
Published: June 2006

This study examines the political views that American children hold of the presidency. Using the template of Fred Greenstein's survey and work in Children and Politics(1969), the authors seek to compare changes in the opinions of children about the president. They find that children in today's political world still view the presidency as the dominant political office and see it as a powerful, and overall positive, institution. However, in contrast to past studies, the authors find that young children do differentiate between the presidency as an institution and the specific officeholder. The study also finds that today's children are more willing to cast negative opinions regarding the president than children of the past.
From the Fabulous Baker Boys to the Master of Disaster: The White House Chief of Staff in the Reagan and G. H. W. Bush Administrations
Authors: COHEN DAVID B.
Published: June 2006

Chiefs of staff in the modern presidency usually assume three major roles during their tenure: administrator, adviser, and guardian. Through original survey data, this article explores these roles by examining six chiefs of staff who served during the Reagan‐Bush era: James Baker, Donald Regan, Howard Baker, Kenneth Duberstein, John Sununu, and Samuel Skinner. Based on the evidence, Howard Baker and James Baker were perceived as the most effective chiefs of staff in performing these three major functions. Not surprisingly, the Reagan administration prospered during both Bakers’tenures.
Harnessing Conflict in Foreign Policy Making: From Devil's to Multiple Advocacy
Authors: GEORGE ALEXANDER L. , STERN ERIC K.
Published: June 2006

When making (foreign)policy, presidents must navigate between twin dangers: excessive conformity and destructive conflict among the policy advocates. The notions of devil's and multiple advocacy are reexamined in light of three decades of research in political science and psychology as coping strategies for dealing with these dangers. Devil's advocacy is of some help in promoting diversisity and mitgating tendencirs toward conformity, despite serious implementation difficulties. A substantial body of conceptual and empirical work bearing on the assessment of the more comprehensive multiple advocacy work has accumulated since its formulation in 1972. The main findings are (I) that practices associated with multiple advocacy have indeed contributed to improving and uncovering avoidable errors, (2) that the implementation of multiple advocacy has been uneven (which makes evaluation difficult), and (3) a number of suggestions for fine‐tuning the prescriptive model and specfing conditions conducive to its effective application.
The President, the Press, and the War‐Making Power: An Analysis of Media Coverage Prior to the Persian Gulf War
Authors: LEWIS DAVID A. , ROSE ROGER P.
Published: June 2006

This study examines media coverage of war powers for a five‐month period before the Persian Gulf War. Previous research has shown that the range of foreign policy debate reported in the media is a function of the range of debate in Washington, DC. Based on an analysis of ABC News, the New York Times, and presidential news conferences, the authors find that reporting on war powers–and in particular, the perspective that congressional authorization is required prior to the use of military force–is linked to the dynamics of institutional debate in Washington. In the midst of a massive military buildup wherein the prospect of conflict with Iraq was a distinct possibility, the issue of war powers was virtually ignored by media sources until it became a source of conflict between Congress and the Bush administration. The authors argue that the lack of independent reporting on war powers works to the advantage of the executive by diminishing the extent to which a constitutional constraint on its behavior will be subject to public debate.
The Contemporary Presidency: The Bush White House: First Appraisals
Authors: TENPAS KATHRYN DUNN , HESS STEPHEN
Published: June 2006

This article examines Bush's first crack at assembling his White House and assesses its early performance as well as the staff and structural changes made in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. In an effort to gain perspective on the Bush record, the authors compare his staff to the initial staffs of his three immediate predecessors‐Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush, and Ronald Reagan. The findings refute much conventional wisdom and shed new light on White House staffing.
Source Material: Presidential Data Locator
Authors: SULLIVAN TERRY
Published: June 2006

This article begins a series on data resources available online. It begins with a new data set on public opinion and presidential standing.
Who Wins? Campaigns and the Third Party Vote
Authors: LUKS SAMANTHA , MILLER JOANNE M. , JACOBS LAWRENCE R.
Published: June 2006

The conventional wisdom among students of elections is that the choices of voters are largely driven by powelforces that have lasting effects from one election to the next‐enduring political orientations and retrospective judgments about economic performance. The authors’article revises this account by suggesting that scholars have been looking in the wrong place campaign effects. Based on analyses of the 1992, 1996, and 2000 presidential elections, it largely confirms the constraining effects of enduring electoral forces on Democratic and Republican campaigns butsugests that the personality traits of thirdparty candidates do exert signGcant iniuence on voters.
Suburban Voting in Presidential Elections
Authors: MCKEE SETH C. , SHAW DARON R.
Published: June 2006

Two observations have gained widespread acceptance in the wake of the 2000 presidential election. First, America has become a “49 percent nation,” in which it will be difficult for either the Republicans or the Democrats to wrest much of an advantage, either in congressional or presidential elections. Second, in this ultracompetitive environment, national elections will be decided in the sub urbs. This article examines the dynamics of suburban voting, paying particular attention to movement away from Republican presidential candidates in the 1990s. The authors consider the argument that the shift in political preferences of suburban voters was driven by changes in northern but not southern suburbs. They also investigate the notion that changes in the suburbs are due to demographic shifts favorable to Democratic candidates. Survey data demonstrate that the hypothesized changes have occurred but that they are neither regionally localized nor attributable solely to demographic shifts.
The Polls: State‐Level Presidential Approval: Results from the Job Approval Project
Authors: COHEN JEFFREY E.
Published: June 2006

In this article, the author reports on the state job approval data set. Although the data set includes state‐level job approval for governors and U. S. senators, it also contains similar data on the president. These data allow us to test propositions about public opinion toward the president at a level of aggregation lower than the national level but higher than the individual level. More than one thousand state‐level presidential job approval readings exist in this data set. Such a large N allows us to test ideas and bypotheses that other limited N designs cannot accomplish. In the first part of this article, the author discusses the properties of these data. In the second part, he uses these data to test two competing theories of the impact of economic perceptions on presidential approval, the retrospection versus the prospection model, which provides one example of how these data can be put to use.
The ManchesterUnion Leader'sInfluence in the 1996 New Hampshire Republican Primary
Authors: FARNSWORTH STEPHEN J. , LICHTER S. ROBERT
Published: June 2006

Content‐coded network newscasts are used to examine the relationship between news and editorial coverage of candidates by New Hampshire's largest newspaper and the daily New Hampsbire poll standings of the leading 1996 Republican candidates in the weeks before the primary. The Manchester Union Leader'snews and editorial coverage powerfully influenced the poll standings of Patrick Buchanan, the paper's preferred candidate. News coverage of the horse‐race aspects of the Buchanan campaign and substantial evaluation of the candidate in editorials proved to be the most influential types of coverage for Buchanan, who won the 1996 New Hampshire primary. The paper's news coverage and editorials relating to the other leading candidates‐Bob Dole, Lamar Alexander, and Steve Forbes‐bad far less significant effects on their standings in the tracking polls.
Our Chief Magistrate and His Powers: A Reconsideration of William Howard Taft's “Whig” Theory of Presidential Leadership
Authors: KORZI MICHAEL J.
Published: June 2006

This article discusses William Howard Taft's theory of presidential leadership. Often seen as embodying a passive or weak conception of the presidency and dismissed as anachronistic, the author argues that Taft's theory merits a second look. First, through analysis of Taft's presidential actions and academic writings, the author shows that his theory is far more nuanced and substantial than traditional accounts allow. Taft's theory is best characterized as a “party agency” Whig theory of the presidency because of its simultaneous concern with popular democracy (via political parties) and presidential moderation. Second, the author argues that Taft's theory of the presidency is rooted in nineteenth‐century Whig and Republican ideas of presidential leadership, which, appropriately understood, embody most of the same principles and values. Thus was Taft in many ways a conservator of a nineteenth‐century notion of presidential leadership. Finally, the author concludes that Taft's Whiggish theory of the presidency (as well as the nineteenth‐century Whig/Republican theory of the presidency) has much to contribute to contemporary debates on presidential leadership.
Evolution of the Modern Rhetorical Presidency: Presidential Presentation and Development of the State of the Union Address
Authors: TETEN RYAN L.
Published: June 2006

This study looks at the structural and rhetorical changes in the state of the union address from George Washington to Bill Clinton. The author finds that beginning with early‐twentieth‐century presidents, the length of address drops significantly and the president increasingly attempts to identify himself as one of the public in the speech. Among other things, the findings suggest three distinct periods in the evolution of the state of the union address: a founding period, a traditional period, and a modern period. However, although early‐twentieth‐century presidencies may exhibit change in delivery and style of the state of the union address, it is unclear whether this can be credited to a specific modern rhetorical innovation or whether the traditional/modern paradigm may necessitate reevaluation.
Presidential Success in Communicating with the Public through Televised Addresses
Authors: WELCH REED L.
Published: June 2006

Although the televised address to the nation is portrayed as a potentially powerful tool in influencing public opinion, scholars have little understanding of the president's ability to use these addresses to communicate his message to the American people. Thus, this study examines the president's effectiveness at using televised addresses to get his message across to the public, with whom he is most successful communicating his message, and why he succeeds in getting his message across to some but not to others. Using a unique set of national opinion surveys conducted by Richard Wirthlin, who was Ronald Reagan's pollster throughout Reagan's years as president, the author finds that the president has limited success in getting his message across to the public, the success he has varies among different groups, and that people's education and the amount of exposure they have to an address explain why the president is successful communicating his message to some but not to others.
The Law: The Constitutionality of Congressional‐Executive Agreements
Authors: KLAREVAS LOUIS
Published: June 2006

The limited attention to international agreements in the Constitution has created a void that has left students of American jurisprudence with little direction as to which situations require a Senate‐ratified treaty and which situations can be dealt with by other agreements. The scant attention devoted to international agreements in the Constitution has led to debates over the constitutionality of nontreaty agreements. One type of agreement that has generated a good deal of debate is the congressional‐executive agreement‐an international agreement concluded by the executive branch and authorized or approved by legislation enacted by both houses of Congress. A review of two recent cases, coupled with an independent analysis of the historical practices and legal precedents regarding nontreaty agreements, leads to the conclusion that constitutional‐executive agreements are legally permissible.
The Polls: Can Presidential Rhetoric Affect the Public's Economic Perceptions?
Authors: COHEN JEFFREY E. , HAMMAN JOHN A.
Published: June 2006

In this article, the authors ask whether presidential speech can affect public expectations of the economy, which they view as an overall indicator of public optimism or pessimism about the future. They argue that foreign policy speeches, because of their nature, will have stronger impacts on the public's future orientations than other types of speeches, in particular, economic and domestic policy speeches. This derives from the leadership image of the president presented in such speeches. Finally, the authors argue that the popularity of the president at the time of the speech is a potentially important context for speech giving. The authors hypothesize that presidents will be more persuasive when they are popular than when they are not. The authors test these ideas on monthly time series consumer economic expectations data. Strong confirmation is found for the impacts of speech type and the popularity context. The article concludes with thoughts about future research directions.
Characterization of N‐glycosylation consensus sequences in the Kv3.1 channel
Authors: Brooks Natasha L. , Corey Melissa J. , Schwalbe Ruth A.
Published: June 2006

N‐Glycosylation is a cotranslational and post‐translational process of proteins that may influence protein folding, maturation, stability, trafficking, and consequently cell surface expression of functional channels. Here we have characterized two consensus N‐glycosylation sequences of a voltage‐gated K+ channel (Kv3.1). Glycosylation of Kv3.1 protein from rat brain and infected Sf9 cells was demonstrated by an electrophoretic mobility shift assay. Digestion of total brain membranes with peptide N glycosidase F (PNGase F) produced a much faster‐migrating Kv3.1 immunoband than that of undigested brain membranes. To demonstrate N‐glycosylation of wild‐type Kv3.1 in Sf9 cells, cells were treated with tunicamycin. Also, partially purified proteins were digested with either PNGase F or endoglycosidase H. Attachment of simple‐type oligosaccharides at positions 220 and 229 was directly shown by single (N229Q and N220Q) and double (N220Q/N229Q) Kv3.1 mutants. Functional measurements and membrane fractionation of infected Sf9 cells showed that unglycosylated Kv3.1s were transported to the plasma membrane. Unitary conductance of N220Q/N229Q was similar to that of the wild‐type Kv3.1. However, whole cell currents of N220Q/N229Q channels had slower activation rates, and a slight positive shift in voltage dependence compared to wild‐type Kv3.1. The voltage dependence of channel activation for N229Q and N220Q was much like that for N220Q/N229Q. These results demonstrate that the S1–S2 linker is topologically extracellular, and that N‐glycosylation influences the opening of the voltage‐dependent gate of Kv3.1. We suggest that occupancy of the sites is critical for folding and maturation of the functional Kv3.1 at the cell surface.
Managing older adults with diabetes
Authors: Hainer Theresa A.
Published: June 2006

Purpose: To review special considerations in the management of adults 65 years of age and older with diabetes mellitus (DM) with particular attention to initiation of insulin in the management of type 2 DM (DM2), Medicare eligibility for insulin pump therapy, and intensive insulin therapy in both type 1 DM (DM1) and DM2 in older adults.

Data sources: American Diabetes Association Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes, selected research articles, textbooks, and Internet sources.

Conclusions: American Diabetes Association, American Association of Diabetes Educators, and American Association of Clinical Endocrinologist acknowledge that no long‐term studies have been conducted in older adults with DM. Furthermore, these groups as well as the American Geriatric Society conclude that a person’s functional capacity and not age should determine the treatment modality most beneficial in each situation.

Implications for practice: Management of diabetes in the older adult is a common clinical scenario for primary care providers (PCPs). Treatment strategies follow a continuum over time from lifestyle modification to intensive management. Intensive insulin therapy, through the use of either multiple daily injections or continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion using insulin pumps, has demonstrated benefit in both DM1 and DM2; however, there is evidence that PCPs are reluctant to initiate insulin. Moreover, in the management of older adults with diabetes, evidence‐based outcomes regarding intensive management are lacking. Further studies are needed.
Post–Hurricane Katrina challenge: Vibrio vulnificus
Authors: Rhoads Jacqueline
Published: June 2006

Purpose: To describe the epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of Vibrio vulnificus, a rare organism that surfaced following Huricane Katrina and caused serious problems for many victims.

Data sources: Selected scientific literature supplemented with case presentations of patients seen following Katrina.

Conclusions: After Hurricane Katrina and as a result of extensive flooding of below–sea‐level New Orleans, toxic waters contaminated many areas of the city. As a result of this extensive flooding of toxic waters, people were exposed to V. vulnificus.

Implications for practice: Consider V. vulnificus in the differential diagnosis and culture all wounds for this organism in any patients exposed to contaminated seawater. Prompt initiation of antibiotic treatment, especially before the onset of septic shock, provides the best outcomes.
Knowledge and practices of Ohio nurse practitioners regarding food access of patients
Authors: Tscholl Elizabeth , Holben David H.
Published: June 2006

Purposes: To assess the self‐identified food security knowledge and practices of nurse practitioners (NPs) in Ohio and the relationships of food security knowledge and practices to NP characteristics.

Data sources: This study utilized a survey approach for data collection. Participants were licensed NPs with prescriptive authority in Ohio who were randomly selected from the Ohio licensure list and responded to a questionnaire (n= 288) with demographic and food security–related questions.

Conclusions: Less than one third of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that they were knowledgeable about the topic of food security. Education of NPs about food insecurity and about incorporation of food security principles into the healthcare process is needed.

Implications for practice: Food insecurity can negatively impact compliance to prescribed treatments. NPs should address food security issues in order to provide specialized, individualized care to patients in order to achieve positive outcomes. Through evaluation of patients’ food access, and factors that are related to food insecurity, this can be achieved.
Phosphorus in Cold-Water Corals as a Proxy for Seawater Nutrient Chemistry
Authors: Montagna Paolo , McCulloch Malcolm , Taviani Marco , Mazzoli Claudio , Vendrell Begoña
Published: June 2006

Phosphorus is a key macronutrient being strongly enriched in the deep ocean as a result of continuous export and remineralization of biomass from primary production. We show that phosphorus incorporated within the skeletons of the cosmopolitan cold-water coral
Desmophyllum dianthus
is directly proportional to the ambient seawater phosphorus concentration and thus may serve as a paleo-oceanographic proxy for variations in ocean productivity as well as changes in the residence times and sources of deep-water masses. The application of this tool to fossil specimens from the Mediterranean reveals phosphorus-enriched bottom waters at the end of the Younger Dryas period.
Metagenomic Analysis of Coastal RNA Virus Communities
Authors: Culley Alexander I. , Lang Andrew S. , Suttle Curtis A.
Published: June 2006

RNA viruses infect marine organisms from bacteria to whales, but RNA virus communities in the sea remain essentially unknown. Reverse-transcribed whole-genome shotgun sequencing was used to characterize the diversity of uncultivated marine RNA virus assemblages. A diverse assemblage of RNA viruses, including a broad group of marine picorna-like viruses, and distant relatives of viruses infecting arthropods and higher plants were found. Communities were dominated by distinct genotypes with small genome sizes, and we completely assembled the genomes of several hitherto undiscovered viruses. Our results show that the oceans are a reservoir of previously unknown RNA viruses.
Efficacy of a tart cherry juice blend in preventing the symptoms of muscle damage
Authors: Connolly D A J , McHugh M P , Padilla-Zakour O I
Published: June 2006

Background:Numerous antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agents have been identified in tart cherries.

Objective:To test the efficacy of a tart cherry juice blend in preventing the symptoms of exercise induced muscle damage.

Methods:This was a randomised, placebo controlled, crossover design. Fourteen male college students drank 12 fl oz of a cherry juice blend or a placebo twice a day for eight consecutive days. A bout of eccentric elbow flexion contractions (2 × 20 maximum contractions) was performed on the fourth day of supplementation. Isometric elbow flexion strength, pain, muscle tenderness, and relaxed elbow angle were recorded before and for four days after the eccentric exercise. The protocol was repeated two weeks later with subjects who took the placebo initially, now taking the cherry juice (and vice versa). The opposite arm performed the eccentric exercise for the second bout to avoid the repeated bout protective effect.

Results:Strength loss and pain were significantly less in the cherry juice trial versus placebo (time by treatment: strength p<0.0001, pain p  =  0.017). Relaxed elbow angle (time by treatment p  =  0.85) and muscle tenderness (time by treatment p  =  0.81) were not different between trials.

Conclusions:These data show efficacy for this cherry juice in decreasing some of the symptoms of exercise induced muscle damage. Most notably, strength loss averaged over the four days after eccentric exercise was 22% with the placebo but only 4% with the cherry juice.
Rib impingement in first class cricketers: case reports of two patients who underwent rib resection
Authors: Boyce Cam N J , Muthukumar N , Boyle S , Lawton J O
Published: June 2006

Two first class cricket bowlers presented with costoiliac pain secondary to rib impingement. In both patients, conservative management of the injury had failed to improve symptoms. Surgical resection of the affected rib was undertaken. At follow up, both patients had made a good recovery and had returned to competitive cricket.
Angiogenesis in nodal B cell lymphomas: a high throughput study
Authors: Tzankov Alexandar , Heiss Simone , Ebner Stephanie , Sterlacci William , Schaefer Georg , Augustin Florian , Fiegl Michael , Dirnhofer Stephan
Published: June 2006

Aim:To assess the biological significance of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) A, VEGF receptor (Flk-1) and cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2) expression with respect to microvessel density (MVD), proliferative activity (Ki-67), expression of p53 and clinical presentation in a large cohort of nodal B cell lymphomas.

Methods:An immunohistochemical and morphometric study was performed on a validated tissue microarray containing 271 B cell lymphoma specimens, 197 of which included follow-up data. Statistical assessment was done by Pearson’s χ2test, Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient, analysis of variance and survival analysis.

Results:266 (98%) cases were evaluable. Strong VEGF expression was observed in only 20 diffuse large B cell lymphomas (DLBCLs). Flk-1 and COX2 were expressed in 53 and 21 cases, respectively, mainly in DLBCLs, follicular lymphoma (FL) grade 3 and mantle cell lymphomas (MCLs), in a low proportion of cells. MVD decreased in the following order: DLBCLs, FLs, MCLs and small lymphocytic lymphomas/chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (SLL/CLLs). VEGF expression correlated with Ki-67, p53 and COX2 expression in the whole cohort and in DLBCLs. Flk-1 expression correlated with Ki-67 in the cohort and in SLL/CLL and FL grade 1 and 2. COX2 expression correlated with Ki-67 and p53. The analysed angiogenesis parameters did not correlate with clinical parameters or survival.

Conclusions:Angiogenesis plays a differential role in various B cell lymphomas. Aggressive lymphomas express the potential molecular therapeutic targets VEGF and COX2, and have higher MVD. In a few low proliferation-fraction lymphomas, Flk-1 might have a role in proliferative advantage. Therapeutic strategies aimed at angiogenesis should take into account lymphoma heterogeneity.