bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Integrating Environment for Innovation
Authors: Kivimaa Paula
Published: February 2008

Environmental innovations have been emphasized for effectively solving environmental problems. In the innovation literature, organizational factors have been listed among the determinants of innovations, and firm-level research and development (R&D) has been perceived crucial. This indicates that environmental considerations should be integrated into all organizations, especially in R&D, to promote environmental innovation. A typology of six forms of “environmental integration” in product development is created based on organizational integration and product development literatures, and the occurrence of the different integration forms in the product development of four Nordic paper and packaging companies is studied. The results show that although environmental considerations in research and product development are standard practice on some level, the practice still varies a great deal between companies. Furthermore, different combinations of the environmental integration forms used in organizations have implications on the source from which environmental information for innovation originates.
Can molecular dynamics simulations help in discriminating correct from erroneous protein 3D models?
Authors: Taly Jean-François , Marin Antoine , Gibrat Jean-François
Published: February 2008

Background

Recent approaches for predicting the three-dimensional (3D) structure of proteins such as de novo or fold recognition methods mostly rely on simplified energy potential functions and a reduced representation of the polypeptide chain. These simplifications facilitate the exploration of the protein conformational space but do not permit to capture entirely the subtle relationship that exists between the amino acid sequence and its native structure. It has been proposed that physics-based energy functions together with techniques for sampling the conformational space, e.g., Monte Carlo or molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, are better suited to the task of modelling proteins at higher resolutions than those of models obtained with the former type of methods. In this study we monitor different protein structural properties along MD trajectories to discriminate correct from erroneous models. These models are based on the sequence-structure alignments provided by our fold recognition method, FROST. We define correct models as being built from alignments of sequences with structures similar to their native structures and erroneous models from alignments of sequences with structures unrelated to their native structures.

Results

For three test sequences whose native structures belong to the all-α, all-β and αβ classes we built a set of models intended to cover the whole spectrum: from a perfect model, i.e., the native structure, to a very poor model, i.e., a random alignment of the test sequence with a structure belonging to another structural class, including several intermediate models based on fold recognition alignments. We submitted these models to 11 ns of MD simulations at three different temperatures. We monitored along the corresponding trajectories the mean of the Root-Mean-Square deviations (RMSd) with respect to the initial conformation, the RMSd fluctuations, the number of conformation clusters, the evolution of secondary structures and the surface area of residues. None of these criteria alone is 100% efficient in discriminating correct from erroneous models. The mean RMSd, RMSd fluctuations, secondary structure and clustering of conformations show some false positives whereas the residue surface area criterion shows false negatives. However if we consider these criteria in combination it is straightforward to discriminate the two types of models.

Conclusion

The ability of discriminating correct from erroneous models allows us to improve the specificity and sensitivity of our fold recognition method for a number of ambiguous cases.
The differentiation/retrodifferentiation program of human U937 leukemia cells is accompanied by changes of VCP/p97
Authors: Bertram Catharina , von Neuhoff Nils , Skawran Britta , Steinemann Doris , Schlegelberger Brigitte , Hass Ralf
Published: February 2008

Background

Retrodifferentiation and regained proliferative capacity of growth-arrested human leukemic cells after monocyte-like differentiation requires proteolytic activities together with distinct regulatory factors. The AAA ATPase valosin-containing protein (VCP/p97) contributes to protein degradation and cell cycle regulation, respectively, and it was of interest to study a possible role of VCP/p97 during this myelomonocytic differentiation and retrodifferentiation.

Results

Separation of autonomously proliferating human U937 myeloid leukemia cells by centrifugal elutriation demonstrated unaltered VCP/p97 expression levels throughout distinct phases of the cell cycle. However, phorbol ester-induced G0/G1 cell cycle arrest in differentiating human U937 leukemia cells was associated with a significantly increased protein and mRNA amount of this AAA ATPase. These elevated VCP/p97 levels progressively decreased again when growth-arrested U937 cells entered a retrodifferentiation program and returned to the tumorigenic phenotype. Whereas VCP/p97 was observed predominantly in the cytosol of U937 tumor and retrodifferentiated cells, a significant nuclear accumulation appeared during differentiation and G0/G1 growth arrest. Analysis of subcellular compartments by immunoprecipitations and 2D Western blots substantiated these findings and revealed furthermore a tyrosine-specific phosphorylation of VCP/p97 in the cytosolic but not in the nuclear fractions. These altered tyrosine phosphorylation levels, according to distinct subcellular distributions, indicated a possible functional involvement of VCP/p97 in the leukemic differentiation process. Indeed, a down-modulation of VCP/p97 protein by siRNA revealed a reduced expression of differentiation-associated genes in subsequent DNA microarray analysis. Moreover, DNA-binding and proliferation-associated genes, which are down-regulated during differentiation of the leukemic cells, demonstrated elevated levels in the VCP/p97 siRNA transfectants.

Conclusion

The findings demonstrated that monocytic differentiation and G0/G1 growth arrest in human U937 leukemia cells was accompanied by an increase in VCP/p97 expression and a distinct subcellular distribution to be reverted during retrodifferentiation. Together with a down-modulation of VCP/p97 by siRNA, these results suggested an association of this AAA ATPase in the differentiation/retrodifferentiation program.
Comparison of different pain scoring systems in critically ill patients in a general ICU
Authors: Ahlers Sabine JGM , van Gulik Laura , van der Veen Aletta M , van Dongen Hendricus PA , Bruins Peter , Belitser Svetlana V , de Boer Anthonius , Tibboel Dick , Knibbe Catherijne AJ
Published: February 2008

Background

Pain in critically ill patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) is common. However, pain assessment in critically ill patients often is complicated because these patients are unable to communicate effectively. Therefore, we designed a study (a) to determine the inter-rater reliability of the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) and the Behavioral Pain Scale (BPS), (b) to compare pain scores of different observers and the patient, and (c) to compare NRS, BPS, and the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for measuring pain in patients in the ICU.

Methods

We performed a prospective observational study in 113 non-paralyzed critically ill patients. The attending nurses, two researchers, and the patient (when possible) obtained 371 independent observation series of NRS, BPS, and VAS. Data analyses were performed on the sample size of patients (n = 113).

Results

Inter-rater reliability of the NRS and BPS proved to be adequate (kappa = 0.71 and 0.67, respectively). The level of agreement within one scale point between NRS rated by the patient and NRS scored by attending nurses was 73%. However, high patient scores (NRS ≥4) were underestimated by nurses (patients 33% versus nurses 18%). In responsive patients, a high correlation between NRS and VAS was found (rs = 0.84, P < 0.001). In ventilated patients, a moderate positive correlation was found between the NRS and the BPS (rs = 0.55, P < 0.001). However, whereas 6% of the observations were NRS of greater than or equal to 4, BPS scores were all very low (median 3.0, range 3.0 to 5.0).

Conclusion

The different scales show a high reliability, but observer-based evaluation often underestimates the pain, particularly in the case of high NRS values (≥4) rated by the patient. Therefore, whenever this is possible, ICU patients should rate their pain. In unresponsive patients, primarily the attending nurse involved in daily care should score the patient's pain. In ventilated patients, the BPS should be used only in conjunction with the NRS nurse to measure pain levels in the absence of painful stimuli.
Phase III Trial of Gemcitabine Compared With Pegylated Liposomal Doxorubicin in Progressive or Recurrent Ovarian Cancer
Authors: Ferrandina Gabriella , Ludovisi Manuela , Lorusso Domenica , Pignata Sandro , Breda Enrico , Savarese Antonella , Del Medico Pietro , Scaltriti Laura , Katsaros Dionyssios , Priolo Domenico , Scambia Giovanni
Published: February 2008

Purpose

We aimed at investigating the efficacy, tolerability, and quality of life (QOL) of gemcitabine (GEM) compared with pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD) in the salvage treatment of recurrent ovarian cancer.

Patients and Methods

A phase III randomized multicenter trial was planned to compare GEM (1,000 mg/m2 on days 1, 8, and 15 every 28 days) with PLD (40 mg/m2 every 28 days) in ovarian cancer patients who experienced treatment failure with only one platinum/paclitaxel regimen and who experienced recurrence or progression within 12 months after completion of primary treatment.

Results

One hundred fifty-three patients were randomly assigned to PLD (n = 76) or GEM (n = 77). Treatment arms were well balanced for clinicopathologic characteristics. Grade 3 or 4 neutropenia was more frequent in GEM-treated patients versus PLD-treated patients (P = .007). Grade 3 or 4 palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia was documented in a higher proportion of PLD patients (6%) versus GEM patients (0%; P = .061). The overall response rate was 16% in the PLD arm compared with 29% in the GEM arm (P = .056). No statistically significant difference in time to progression (TTP) curves according to treatment allocation was documented (P = .411). However, a trend for more favorable overall survival was documented in the PLD arm compared with the GEM arm, although the P value was of borderline statistical significance (P = .048). Statistically significantly higher global QOL scores were found in PLD-treated patients at the first and second postbaseline QOL assessments.

Conclusion

GEM does not provide an advantage compared with PLD in terms of TTP in ovarian cancer patients who experience recurrence within 12 months after primary treatment but should be considered in the spectrum of drugs to be possibly used in the salvage setting.
Inherited Variation in the Androgen Pathway Is Associated With the Efficacy of Androgen-Deprivation Therapy in Men With Prostate Cancer
Authors: Ross Robert W. , Oh William K. , Xie Wanling , Pomerantz Mark , Nakabayashi Mari , Sartor Oliver , Taplin Mary-Ellen , Regan Meredith M. , Kantoff Philip W. , Freedman Matthew
Published: February 2008

Purpose

Androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) is the most common and effective systemic therapy for advanced prostate cancer. We hypothesized that germline genetic variation in the androgen axis would improve the efficacy of ADT.

Patients and Methods

A cohort of 529 men with advanced prostate cancer treated with ADT was genotyped for 129 DNA polymorphisms distributed across 20 genes involved in androgen metabolism.

Results

Three polymorphisms in separate genes (CYP19A1, HSD3B1, and HSD17B4) were significantly (P < .01) associated with time to progression (TTP) during ADT, remaining so in multivariate analyses and after correcting for the number of hypotheses tested. Individuals carrying more than one of the polymorphisms associated with improved TTP demonstrated a better response to therapy than individuals carrying zero or one (P < .0001).

Conclusion

This report is the first to examine the influence of inherited variation in the androgen metabolic pathway on the efficacy of ADT, establishing the importance of pharmacogenomics on individual's response to this therapy. At least two potential clinical benefits may be realized from this study. The first is prognostic –genotyping patients at these loci may yield important information that could improve efficacy prediction. The second is therapeutic –these results shed light on the pathways that govern response to ADT. Drugs could be developed (or may already exist) to inhibit or augment these targets to improve ADT efficacy.
A medication assessment tool to evaluate adherence to medication guideline criteria in cancer pain management
Authors: Håkonsen Gro Dahlseng , Torbergsen Ann Lisbeth , Strelec Petra , Campbell Derna , Hudson Steve , Loennechen Thrina
Published: February 2008

Objective

The medication assessment tool for cancer pain management (MAT-CP) is a novel tool for measuring quality of drug use in chronic pain management in relation to guideline standards, and has been developed and tested in Norway with UK collaboration. The present paper describes the revision of the assessment tool for use in the UK, and its subsequent validation.

Setting

Three hospitals and one hospice in Scotland, UK.

Method

The MAT-CP was field-tested to produce preliminary data on its applicability in a UK clinical setting. The tool was then modified by peer review among clinical specialists before and after a pilot. The revised tool was further validated by wider application to a study sample of cancer inpatients. The outcome was the evaluation of the tool's utility in relation to clinical documentation in terms of applicability, clarity, reliability and perceived relevance of each criterion. The findings also included a quantification of adherence to the guideline criteria.

Key findings

The revised tool comprised 37 criteria covering six different aspects of cancer pain management. The field testing and pilot informed the modification of the MAT-CP to optimise its clarity and utility when applied to patients' clinical documentation. The revised tool was tested on 101 cancer patients experiencing pain (56 males), mean (standard deviation) age 68.9 (13.5) years. Overall guideline adherence was 68% (n = 1850 applicable criteria). Good inter-rater reliability (Cohen's kappa κ = 0.92) was demonstrated in the application. The preliminary application of the tool during validation and field-testing has highlighted several issues for further study.

Conclusion

A clinical tool to examine prescribing in cancer pain management that was designed for use in Norway has been revised for use in UK clinical settings. Reliability, face and content validity have been informed by applying the tool to patient data in clinical settings.
Intracellular pH homeostasis and serotonin-induced pH changes inCalliphorasalivary glands: the contribution of V-ATPase and carbonic anhydrase
Authors: Schewe Bettina , Schmälzlin Elmar , Walz Bernd
Published: February 2008

Blowfly salivary gland cells have a vacuolar-type H+-ATPase(V-ATPase) in their apical membrane that energizes secretion of a KCl-rich saliva upon stimulation with serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT). We have used BCECF to study microfluometrically whether V-ATPase and carbonic anhydrase (CA) are involved in intracellular pH (pHi) regulation,and we have localized CA activity by histochemistry. We show: (1) mean pHi in salivary gland cells is 7.5±0.3 pH units(N=96), higher than that expected from passive H+distribution; (2) low 5-HT concentrations (0.3–3 nmol l–1) induce a dose-dependent acidification of up to 0.2 pH units, with 5-HT concentrations >10 nmol l–1, causing monophasic or multiphasic pH changes; (3) the acidifying effect of 5-HT is mimicked by bath application of cAMP, forskolin or IBMX; (4) salivary gland cells exhibit CA activity; (5) CA inhibition with acetazolamide and V-ATPase inhibition with concanamycin A lead to a slow acidification of steady-state pHi; (6) 5-HT stimuli in the presence of acetazolamide induce an alkalinization that can be decreased by simultaneous application of the V-ATPase inhibitor concanamycin A; (7) concanamycin A removes alkali-going components from multiphasic 5-HT-induced pH changes; (8) NHE activity and a Cl–-dependent process are involved in generating 5-HT-induced pH changes; (9) the salivary glands probably contain a Na+-driven amino acid transporter. We conclude that V-ATPase and CA contribute to steady-state pHi regulation and 5-HT-induced outward H+pumping does not cause an alkalinization of pHi because of cytosolic H+ accumulation attributable to stimulated cellular respiration and AE activity, masking the alkalizing effect of V-ATPase-mediated acid extrusion.
Vortex wake and flight kinematics of a swift in cruising flight in a wind tunnel
Authors: Henningsson P. , Spedding G. R. , Hedenström A.
Published: February 2008

In this paper we describe the flight characteristics of a swift (Apus apus) in cruising flight at three different flight speeds (8.0, 8.4 and 9.2 m s–1) in a low turbulence wind tunnel. The wingbeat kinematics were recorded by high-speed filming and the wake of the bird was visualized by digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV). Certain flight characteristics of the swift differ from those of previously studied species. As the flight speed increases, the angular velocity of the wingbeat remains constant, and so as the wingbeat amplitude increases, the frequency decreases accordingly, as though the flight muscles were contracting at a fixed rate. The wings are also comparatively inflexible and are flexed or retracted rather little during the upstroke. The upstroke is always aerodynamically active and this is reflected in the wake, where shedding of spanwise vorticity occurs throughout the wingbeat. Although the wake superficially resembles those of other birds in cruising flight, with a pair of trailing wingtip vortices connected by spanwise vortices, the continuous shedding of first positive vorticity during the downstroke and then negative vorticity during the upstroke suggests a wing whose circulation is gradually increasing and then decreasing during the wingbeat cycle. The wake (and implied wing aerodynamics)are not well described by discrete vortex loop models, but a new wake-based model, where incremental spanwise and streamwise variations of the wake impulse are integrated over the wingbeat, shows good agreement of the vertical momentum flux with the required weight support. The total drag was also estimated from the wake alone, and the calculated lift:drag ratio of approximately 13 for flapping flight is the highest measured yet for birds.
Larvae of the fall webworm, Hyphantria cunea, inhibit cyanogenesis in Prunus serotina
Authors: Fitzgerald T. D.
Published: February 2008

The larvae of the fall webworm, Hyphantria cunea (Dru.), though vulnerable to cyanide poisoning, consume the cyanogenic leaves of black cherry, Prunus serotina, without apparent harm. The cyanide contents of leaves, defensive regurgitant, the bolus, and frass were assayed by ion chromatography to determine the fate of the toxin in the caterpillar. Leaves collected in September, when the caterpillars were feeding, contained 1592±276 p.p.m. cyanide. Samples of dried frass obtained from caterpillars fed these leaves yielded 2868±552 p.p.m. cyanide. Frass extracted directly in NaOH yielded approximately five percent of the cyanide obtained from frass ground in buffer and distilled in Warburg flasks,indicating that cyanogenesis is largely inhibited as the bolus traverses the gut. This inhibition is attributable to the ability of the caterpillar to maintain a foregut environment in the presence of the bolus that is sufficiently alkaline to suppress the conversion of the plant cyanogen to cyanide. Although a number of caterpillars feed without harm on cyanogenic plants, this it the first shown to inhibit cyanogenesis in this manner.
Thermoregulation in pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana,Ord) in winter
Authors: Hébert J. , Lust A. , Fuller A. , Maloney S. K. , Mitchell D. , Mitchell G.
Published: February 2008

Conservation of energy is a prerequisite thermoregulatory strategy for survival in northern hemisphere winters. We have used thermistor/data logger assemblies to measure temperatures in the brain, carotid artery, jugular vein and abdominal cavity, in pronghorn antelope to determine their winter body temperature and to investigate whether the carotid rete has a survival role. Over the study period mean black globe and air temperature were–0.5±3.2°C and –2.0±3.4°C, respectively, and mean daytime solar radiation was ∼186 W m–2. Brain temperature (Tbrain, 39.3±0.3°C) was higher than carotid blood temperature (Tcarotid,38.5±0.4°C), and higher than jugular temperature(Tjugular, 37.9±0.7°C). Minimum Tbrain (38.5±0.4°C) and Tcarotid (37.8±0.2°C) in winter were higher than the minimum Tbrain (37.7±0.5°C) and Tcarotid (36.4±0.8°C) in summer that we have reported previously. Compared with summer, winter body temperature patterns were characterized by an absence of selective brain cooling (SBC), a higher range of Tbrain, a range of Tcarotidthat was significantly narrower (1.8°C) than in summer (3.1°C), and changes in Tcarotid and Tbrain that were more highly correlated (r=0.99 in winter vs r=0.83 in summer). These findings suggest that in winter the effects of the carotid rete are reduced, which eliminates SBC and prevents independent regulation of Tbrain, thus coupling Tbrain to Tcarotid. The net effect is that Tcarotid varies little. A possible consequence is depression of metabolism, with the survival advantage of conservation of energy. These findings also suggest that the carotid rete has wider thermoregulatory effects than its traditional SBC function.
Parametric Design and Structural Optimisation for Early Design Exploration
Authors: Holzer Dominik , Hough Richard , Burry Mark
Published: February 2008

The investigation presented in this paper focuses on the following questions: How can engineering and architectural expertise, assisted by a process of digital optimisation, promote structural awareness regarding design alterations in the conceptual design stages? Can building geometry be set up computationally to render it sensitive to structural input? Which software tools are required to foster this interaction and what kind of decision support is needed to allow both architects and structural engineers to interact concurrently in this optimisation process? The authors of this paper form a team of researchers and practitioners from architectural and structural engineering background who combine their efforts to address the issue of interconnecting design intelligence across disciplines and advancing revised work methodologies in practice assisted by academic research. The research has shown that an integrated transfer of design information between architectural and structural designers in the early stages is beneficial to the collaboration if experts from both professions agree on common goals and define suitability rules that guide optimisation processes from the very beginning. To enable this, software tools are required that provide ad hoc decision support to create a wider array of informed design alternatives from which to choose.
Factors Associated with Paraoxonase Genotypes and Activity in a Diverse, Young, Healthy Population: The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study
Authors: Thyagarajan Bharat , Jacobs David R , Carr J Jeffery , Alozie Ogechika , Steffes Michael W , Kailash Poonguzhali , Hayes Jennifer H , Gross Myron D
Published: February 2008

Background: Paraoxonase may mitigate oxidative damage and thus lower risk of macrovascular disease.

Methods: DNA samples from 2252 participants in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study were genotyped for the L55M and Q192R polymorphisms of the PON1 (paraoxonase 1) gene, and paraoxonase activity was measured in serum.

Results: The 192R (67.4% vs 29.7%) and 55L (80.0% vs 63.8%) alleles were more common in blacks vs whites. The Q192R locus was the strongest correlate of paraoxonase activity (100.4 nmol/mL/min greater in the 192RR than the 192QQ genotype). After adjustment for the Q192R locus, the L55M locus (12.7 nmol/mL/min difference between 55LL and 55MM) and race (6.6 nmol/mL/min difference between blacks and whites) were correlated with paraoxonase activity (P ≤0.0001), as were concentrations of HDL cholesterol (23.9 nmol/mL/min difference between highest and lowest quintiles), triglycerides (12.6 nmol/mL/min difference between highest and lowest quintiles), LDL cholesterol (8.2 nmol/mL/min difference between highest and lowest quintiles), smoking status (6.3 nmol/mL/min difference between current smokers of ≥15 cigarettes/day and never smokers), and glucose concentrations at the highest quintile (6.5 nmol/mL/min difference between highest and lowest quintiles in nondiabetic participants). There was no cross-sectional or longitudinal association between paraoxonase enzyme activity and coronary artery calcification (CAC), an early marker of cardiovascular disease, or its progression over 5 years.

Conclusions: Paraoxonase may not play an important role during the early pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease. However, associations with lipids and glucose suggest that paraoxonase may modify or react to macrovascular disease pathogenesis.
Kimberly K. Smith, African American Environmental Thought: Foundations
Authors: Witt Joseph
Published: February 2008

Kimberly K. Smith, African American Environmental Thought: Foundations (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2007), 257pp., $29.95, ISBN 978-0-7006-1516-2.
Michael F. Strmiska (ed.), Modern Paganism in World Cultures: Comparative Perspectives
Authors: Klassen Chris
Published: February 2008

Michael F. Strmiska (ed.), Modern Paganism in World Cultures: Comparative Perspectives (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC Clio, 2005), 382 pp., $85.00, ISBN 1-85109-608-6.
Writing jazz biography
Authors: Perchard Tom
Published: February 2008

The historical biography has come to be viewed with suspicion by those who recognise that the genre’s literary emplotment and narrative demands can waylay the scholarly search for objective historical “truth”. This article explores these biographical narrative conventions and applications – and proposes new approaches to researching and writing within the biographical format – in the context of historical jazz studies. The piece begins by considering, with reference to several biographies of the saxophonist John Coltrane, both the ways that biographical narratives are constituted from disparate source materials and the ideological agendas and political problems that attend this creative act. The article argues that, in the course of doing biographical work, these issues might begin to be accounted for and dealt with by rethinking of the nature of historical-biographical “research”, and by way of hermeneutic, historical-dialogical method of the kind outlined by Hans-Georg Gadamer; with a theoretical approach delineated (and with reference to the author’s own experiences as a jazz biographer), the article goes on to engage with the processes and politics of this research stage, discussing oral history fieldwork and its textual representation, placing special emphasis on encounters of race so often inherent to jazz research and writing. Finally, the piece returns to the act of biographical writing itself, and outlines what, in light of the foregoing discussion, might be considered as new aims, values and strategies for the jazz biographical narrative, and perhaps for biography more generally.
Constructing histories through material culture
Authors: Leonard Marion
Published: February 2008

This article examines how popular music has been represented within museum exhibitions and considers the specificities of collection and display relating to popular music artefacts. Using a number of recent exhibitions as examples, it considers how very particular versions of popular music history are constructed through the display of material culture. In effect, the institutional logics of museums and art galleries mean that the conceptual underpinning of popular music exhibitions tends to take the form of either canonic representations, the contextualisation of popular music artefacts as art or the presentation of popular music as social or local history. The article argues that these types of approach represent a problem for the researcher/curator attempting to reconstruct a truly social history of popular music as they tend to replicate dominant hegemonic versions of history. The article then suggests ways in which the popular music curator can actively learn from private collectors in order to give a more balanced representation of a variety of popular music practices. Drawing on interviews with private collectors it considers how the material culture of popular music can offer an avenue through which to explore personal and social histories, memory, affect and identity in the exhibition context
Role of the Tohunga—Past and Present
Authors: Leske Adrian M
Published: February 2008

In traditional Maori society before the coming of the white man [pakeha], the spiritual leader [tohunga] was the person who was in communication with the gods and spirits [atua] and who maintained the laws of sacredness [tapu] and regulated the life and events of their village. Because of his great authority and power [mana], the tohunga, his instruments and dwelling were tapu. However, with the coming of the white man with his guns, goods, new diseases, and his ignoring of the laws of tapu, the tohunga was seen as losing his mana. Those who continued to use the traditional methods of healing against the new diseases, often with disastrous results, were regarded as charlatans to the extent that legislation was eventually enacted against any who continued to claim to function as a tohunga.
However, emerging out of the Maori wars was a new form of tohunga who had accepted Christianity and combined its teachings with some of the Maori culture and customs. Thus they have become the new Maori spiritual leaders and faith healers, exercising not their own power through the strictures of tapu, but the power of God and his holy angels to heal and restore the Maori to fullness of life.
Desert Spirituality in 17th and 18th Century French Calvinism
Authors: MacGregor Kirk R
Published: February 2008

Between the 1685 Revocation of the Edict of Nantes and the 1735 partial renewal of Protestant toleration, the Huguenots choosing to remain in France were forced to clandestinely practice their religion in the wasteland, or désert, of the Cévennes. Understood within an Old Testament interpretive framework, the Huguenots perceived themselves as the new Israel, which identification was reinforced by their adoption of a covenant theology recognizing only one people of God. Moreover, the decentered character of the désert facilitated direct and universal numinous encounter by its occupants, thereby dissolving traditional boundaries as well as empowering charismata among all those seized by the Spirit. Accordingly, these désert episodes proved instrumental in forging a new Huguenot identity, onto which community members tenaciously clung even following their readmission into French civic affairs.
Victim in Ethical Theology
Authors: Rigby Paul
Published: February 2008

Nietzsche would regard Levinas’ ethical theology, in which the moral subject is responsible for the oppressed as “other,” as a “slave morality” which derives its moral force from resentment. In defence of Levinas’ ethics I turn to the life and reflections of Jean Améry, Jew, philosopher, atheist, resistance fighter tortured by the Gestapo, survivor of Auschwitz. His life is a “trace” of the tragic inhabiting Levinas’ theology. Améry rejects Nietzsche’s view of resentment. Drawing upon Bataille’s distinctive understanding of sadism, Améry claims that oppression is a pitiable degree of loneliness in the face of the tormentor’s lust for domination. This can be righted if the tormentor, by desiring to reverse this situation, becomes a fellow human being. Améry rejects evangelical forgiveness as a sub-moral abandonment of the oppressed’s responsibility for the oppressor. The historical impossibility of this reversal reveals the tragic destiny of the oppressed and of Levinas’ theology of the “other.”
Anita Maria Leopold and Jebbe Sinding Jensen (eds.) Syncretism in Religion: A Reader. Critical Categories in the Study of Religion
Authors: MacKenzie C James
Published: February 2008

Anita Maria Leopold and Jebbe Sinding Jensen (eds.) Syncretism in Religion: A Reader. Critical Categories in the Study of Religion. New York: Routeledge, 2005. xiii + 402 pp. Paper. ISBN 9780415973618. $29.95.
Resisting a stigmatized identity
Authors: Delbene Rosati Roxana
Published: February 2008

The socio-cultural complexities that subsume the HIV/AIDS stigma are examined in relationship to the notions of illness and deviancy as explained in the ‘sick role model’ theory. It is argued that in conversations with their physicians, patients use self-effacing arguments and conversational strategies with the communicative intention of redressing their human images, and as a way of resisting the stigma. The data comprise 46 interviews collected in Uruguay at a public hospital. Some of the self-effacing strategies include: violation of the quantitative maxim, reformulation, and pre-announcement strategy. While self-effacing strategies are the patients’ ways of resisting the stigma, the use of these strategies is seen as culturally linked to moral frames entrenched in the Uruguayan culture. It is observed that the patients’ arguments and strategies used to resist stigmatization might, paradoxically, perpetuate the HIV/AIDS-related stigma.
Developing minority language resources. The case of Spanish in California. Guadalupe Valdés, Joshua A. Fishman, Rebecca Chávez and William Pérez (2006)
Authors: Bono Mariana
Published: February 2008

Developing minority language resources. The case of Spanish in California. Guadalupe Valdés, Joshua A. Fishman, Rebecca Chávez and William Pérez (2006) Multilingual Matters 344pp. ISBN 1-85359-897-6
The Irish language in Ireland: From Goídel to globalisation. Diarmait Mac Giolla Chríost (2005)
Authors: Ó Laoire Muiris
Published: February 2008

The Irish language in Ireland: From Goídel to globalisation. Diarmait Mac Giolla Chríost (2005) Routledge xvi 259pp. ISBN 0-415-32046-1
Age Differences and Changes of Coping Behavior in Three Age Groups: Findings from the Georgia Centenarian Study
Authors: Martin Peter , Kliegel Matthias , Rott Christoph , Poon Leonard W. , Johnson Mary Ann
Published: February 2008

With increasing age, older adults are more likely to be challenged by an increasing number of physical, functional and social losses. As a result, coping with losses becomes a central theme in very late life. This study investigated age differences and age changes in active behavioral, active cognitive and avoidance coping and related coping to adaptational outcomes, such as physical and mental health. Sixty-one sexagenarians, 46 octogenarians, and 47 centenarians from the Georgia Centenarian Study participated in this longitudinal study to assess coping with health and family events. The results indicated age group differences in active behavioral coping, suggesting that centenarians were less likely to use this mode of coping. Centenarians and octogenarians were also more likely to experience decreases in active behavioral coping over time, while sexagenarians were more likely to experience increases in this coping mode. No significant differences in coping with health versus family events were obtained suggesting that coping is consistent across life domains. Moderate levels of stability were obtained for coping in all age groups. Active behavioral and active cognitive coping predicted functional health, active behavioral coping predicted social relations, and avoidance coping predicted negative affect.
Processing Speed, Inhibitory Control, and Working Memory: Three Important Factors to Account for Age-Related Cognitive Decline
Authors: Rozas Arturo X. Pereiro , Juncos-Rabadán Onésimo , González María Soledad Rodríguez
Published: February 2008

Processing speed, inhibitory control and working memory have been identified as the main possible culprits of age-related cognitive decline. This article describes a study of their interrelationships and dependence on age, including exploration of whether any of them mediates between age and the others. We carried out a LISREL analysis of the performance of 79 participants of low educational level aged 40–91 years in six cognitive tasks. In the best mediational model the effects of age on inhibitory control and working memory are largely mediated by its effect on processing speed. However, in the best-fitting model age has only direct effects on processing speed, working memory, and inhibitory control.
Nutritional Challenges of a Dual Diagnosis: Chronic Kidney Disease and Diabetes
Authors: Weber Patricia
Published: February 2008

In Brief

People with diabetes strive to keep blood glucose, blood pressure, and blood lipids within desirable ranges to prevent long-term complications such as chronic kidney disease. Once that complication has occurred, however,nutritional management becomes even more complex. The National Kidney Foundation has addressed “diabetic kidney disease” in recent guidelines. This article summarizes some of the nutritional strategies to prevent or delay progression to kidney failure.
Evaluation of pathways for release of Rift Valley fever virus into domestic ruminant livestock, ruminant wildlife, and human populations in the continental United States
Authors: Kasari Thomas R. , Carr Deborah A. , Lynn Tracey V. , Weaver J. Todd
Published: February 2008

Objective—To evaluate the feasibility for Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) to enter the continental United States by various routes as well as to identify states in which domestic and wild ruminant and human populations would be most vulnerable to exposure to RVFV.

Study Design—Pathways analysis.

Sample Population—Animals, commodities, and humans transported from RVFV-endemic countries to the continental United States between 2000 and 2005.

Procedures—Initially, agent, host, and environmental factors important in the epidemiologic aspects of RVFV were used to develop a list of potential pathways for release of RVFV into the continental United States. Next, the feasibility of each pathway was evaluated by use of data contained in governmental and public domain sources. Finally, entry points into the continental United States for each feasible pathway were used to identify the domestic and wild ruminant and human populations at risk for exposure to RVFV.

Results—Feasible pathways for entry of RVFV into the continental United States were importation of RVFV-infected animals, entry of RVFV-infected people, mechanical transport of RVFV-infected insect vectors, and smuggling of live virus.

Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Domestic ruminant livestock, ruminant wildlife, and people in 14 states (Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia) appeared to be most vulnerable to exposure to RVFV. Pathways analysis can provide the requisite information needed to construct an effective targeted surveillance plan for RVFV to enable rapid detection and response by animal health and public health officials.
Associations among Alexithymia, Positive and Negative Emotions, and Self-Defeating Personality
Authors: Yelsma Paul
Published: February 2008

This study examined the associations among 210 college students' alexithymia scores and three emotional orientation scores. Students completed the following three self-report instruments: 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale, 20-item Positive and Negative Affect Scale, and 24-item Self-defeating Personality Scale. As predicted, a linear regression model indicated that alexithymia was associated with negative emotional activation, self-defeating personality, and inversely associated with positive emotional activation. These three affect orientations accounted for 27% of the variance associated with subjects' cognitive-affective communication difficulties expressing their emotions. A second linear regression model indicated that negative emotion activation was significantly associated with self-defeating personality, and positive emotion activation was significantly inversely associated with self-defeating personality.
A biomechanical comparison of external skeletal fixation and plating for the stabilization of ilial osteotomies in dogs
Authors: Lewis D. , Cross A. , Fitzpatrick N.
Published: February 2008

This in vitro study compares the biomechanical properties of two methods of ilial fracture repair in dogs. Ten pelves were harvested from skeletally mature mixed breed dogs weighing 20–27 kg and bilateral oblique ilial body osteotomies were created. One hemipelvis from each dog was stabilized with a 2.7 mm plate and screws and the contralateral hemipelvis was stabilized with a five pin linear external fixator construct. Each hemipelvis was mounted at an angle of 30° to an actuator platform, such that the acetabulum was centrally loaded by a steel sphere attached to the load cell of a servohydraulic materials testing machine. The construct was loaded at a constant rate of 20 mm/min. A load/displacement curve was generated for each hemipelvis by plotting the sustained load against the actuator movement. The stiffness, yield load and failure load for each hemipelvis were determined from the load/displacement curve. Bending stiffness was defined as the slope of the load/displacement curve from 100 N to yield load. The mode of failure was determined by observations made during testing and gross inspection of each specimen. The mean construct stiffness, yield load and failure load were compared between stabilization groups using a Student’s paired t-test with statistical significance set at p>0.05. Nine out of 10 of the hemipelves that were stabilized by plates and screws failed catastrophically by fracture through the caudal screw holes and nine out of 10 of the hemipelves that were stabilized using an external fixator failed by fracture of the ischium in the region supported by the mounting roller, propagating through the most caudal ischial pin. There was not any significant difference (P = 0.22) in bending stiffness between stabilization techniques, but yield (1467 N vs 2620 N; P = 0.04) and failure (1918 N vs 2687 N; P = 0.002) loads were significantly greater for hemipelves stabilized with external fixators.
Changes in prolactin and glucocorticoid levels in cotton‐top tamarin fathers during their mate's pregnancy: the effect of infants and paternal experience
Authors: Almond Rosamunde E. A. , Ziegler Toni E. , Snowdon Charles T.
Published: February 2008

We have previously shown that paternally experienced cotton‐top tamarin fathers (Saguinus oedipus) had significant increases in prolactin and glucocorticoids at the midpoint of their mate's pregnancy, whereas less experienced fathers showed prolactin increases only the month before offspring birth [Ziegler & Snowdon, Hormones & Behavior 38:159–167, 2000; Ziegler et al., Hormones & Behavior 45:84–92, 2004]. These results could be owing to differing paternal experience or from paternal care given to previous offspring. To test the relative role of infant cues and paternal experience in these hormonal changes, we paired four paternally experienced tamarin fathers with a novel, primiparous female and monitored hormone levels during their first pregnancy together. No fathers showed the significant mid‐pregnancy increase in prolactin seen previously. However, all fathers showed increases in cortisol and significant peaks of corticosterone in mid‐pregnancy. The increase in corticosterone was consistent with previous data occurring in each male during the same week or the week following the urinary cortisol increase shown by his mate. These data may suggest that the elevated mid‐gestation prolactin seen previously in experienced males may be owing to the presence of offspring from the previous set of infants. In contrast, increased cortisol and corticosterone occurred independently of infant cues and may be related to previous paternal experience. We therefore conclude that both offspring presence and paternal experience contribute to the hormonal changes seen in experienced cotton‐top tamarin fathers during their mate's pregnancy. Am. J. Primatol. 70:560–565, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Synthesis, structural characterization and cytotoxic activity of organotin derivatives of indomethacin
Authors: Camacho‐Camacho Carlos , Rojas‐Oviedo Irma , Paz‐Sandoval M. Angeles , Cárdenas Jorge , Toscano Alfredo , Gielen Marcel , Sosa Lidia Barrón , Bártez Francisco Sánchez , Gracia‐Mora Isabel
Published: February 2008

The synthesis, characterization and cytotoxic properties in vitro of tri‐n‐butyltin 1‐(4‐chlorobenzoyl)‐5‐methoxy‐2‐methyl‐1H‐indole‐3‐acetate (1), tri‐phenyltin 1‐(4‐chlorobenzoyl)‐5‐methoxy‐2‐methyl‐1H‐indole‐3‐acetate (2), tetra‐n‐butyltin[bis‐1‐(4‐chlorobenzoyl)‐5‐methoxy‐2‐methyl‐1H‐indole‐3‐acetato]distannoxane (3) and di‐n‐butyltin bis‐1‐(4‐chlorobenzoyl)‐5‐methoxy‐2‐methyl‐1H‐indole‐3‐acetate (4) are described. These compounds have been characterized by 1H, 13C and 119Sn NMR spectroscopy in solution and 119Sn NMR in the solid state, infrared spectroscopy, elemental analysis and X‐ray diffraction for compound 1. The growth inhibition effects of compounds 1–4 against the lung adenocarcinoma cell line SK‐LU‐1 as well as the cervical cancer cell line HeLa were determined. Compounds 1 and 2 exhibit cytotoxic activity, whereas compounds 3 and 4 are inactive. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Highly efficient iron‐catalyzed allylation of aromatic aldehydes with allyltriethoxysilane: one‐pot and practical synthesis of homoallyl ethers
Authors: Yang Ming‐Song , Xu Li‐Wen , Zhang Fei‐Bao , Qiu Hua‐Yu , Jiang Jian‐Xiong , Lai Guo‐Qiao
Published: February 2008

FeCl3 was found to be an active catalyst for the one‐pot allylation reaction of aromatic aldehydes with allyltriethoxysilane under mild and simple conditions, which resulted in the direct synthesis of homoallyl ethers with very high chemoselectivity and yields. Various types of homoallyl ethers were obtained in excellent yields (up to 99%). Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.