bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Isotopic evidence for mobility and group organization among Neolithic farmers at Talheim, Germany, 5000 BC
Authors: Price T. Douglas , Wahl Joachim , Bentley R. Alexander
Published: April 2008

The mass grave found near Talheim in southern Germany dates to approximately 7000 years ago and contains the skeletal remains of 34 individuals from the Early Neolithic period, associated with what is known as the Linearbandkeramik culture. These individuals appear to have been the victims of a massacre, based on the presence of numerous lethal head wounds, several arrow wounds, and the placement of all of these individuals in the same burial pit. The burials are considered to likely represent members of the same community attacked and executed by another group. In this study we examine the remains from the mass grave at Talheim for information on migration and community structure using strontium isotope ratios in tooth enamel. In essence, strontium isotope ratios are signatures of different rock types. The food chain moves these atoms into the human skeleton from bedrock through water, soils, plants, and herbivores. Because human tooth enamel does not change after formation, it provides a stored signal of the strontium isotopes of the place of birth. If the strontium isotope ratio of the place of death is different, the individual under study must have moved from one geology to another during his or her lifetime. Isotopic provenancing shows that several of the individuals in the group at Talheim were born in a different geological location. We discuss the results of the analysis and its significance in terms of questions of migration and community structure in the Early Neolithic of prehistoric Europe.
Practical Mysticism, Habermas, and Social Work Praxis
Authors: Gray Mel , Lovat Terence
Published: April 2008

• Summary: Mysticism holds that there is an unseen non-empirical reality which is just as important in people's lives as concrete, observable reality and experience. Practical mysticism implies that this unseen reality results in concrete experience and a particular kind of knowing which is just as influential on people's actions and behaviour as observable reality. The authors draw a connection between practical mysticism and the increasing interest in themes relating to religion and spirituality in social work. These themes relate mainly to issues of meaning, motivation and intention in social work. Like all service professions, social work is undergoing re-evaluation away from merely pragmatic and instrumentalist conceptions of its mission to ones concerned with broader issues of meaning and purpose. In this context, issues of religious and spiritual motivation and intention become relevant.

• Findings: We propose that `practical mysticism', arguably revived in Habermasian critical theory, has particular relevance to debates relating to the role of religion and spirituality in social work education and practice. Importantly, practical mysticism has the effect of impelling a rethinking of the relationship between spirituality, religion and the applied values inherent in day-to-day social work practice. We see the consideration of practical mysticism to be a fruitful way of embracing religious and spiritual discourses relevant to social work, including their link with social work ethics and practice.

• Applications : When combined with Habermasian critical and communicative action theories, a practical mystical approach to social work impels a practice (or praxis ) with enhanced potential to motivate the actions of social workers themselves, including in their sensitivity to the religious and spiritual motivations and needs of their clients, and so their capacity to engage more effectively with these clients.
Reliability Index for Structural Health Monitoring of Aging Bridges
Authors: Dissanayake P.B.R. , Karunananda P.A.K.
Published: April 2008

This paper presents a reliability-based methodology for health monitoring of aging bridges. Initially, critical failure criteria are proposed depending on the type of bridge. Safety margins are then defined based on these criteria. It is assumed that quantities in the failure criteria are random variables that are normally distributed. Based on this assumption, elementary reliability indices and thereby elementary failure probabilities are estimated for each critical failure mode. Having found the elementary failure probability values, system failure probability of the bridge is calculated for the period under consideration. Finally, the system failure probability is used to obtain a system reliability index of the bridge. The system reliability index is a quantative way to express the condition of the bridge for the period under consideration. As a case study to illustrate the proposed reliability procedure, a wrought iron railway bridge was selected from the national railway bridge network of Sri Lanka. For this bridge, fatigue and corrosion were selected as the most critical forms of failure. Application of the proposed methodology showed that the present condition of bridge was satisfactory for current loading conditions. Predicting reliability, as opposed to damage, is a positive outlook approach to health monitoring that is useful for infrastructure management.
Strain-based Structural Health Monitoring of Complex Composite Structures
Authors: Kesavan Ajay , John Sabu , Herszberg Israel
Published: April 2008

The use of composite structures in engineering applications has proliferated over the past few decades due to its distinct advantages, namely: high structural performance, corrosion resistance, and high strength/weight ratio. However, they also come with a set of disadvantages, i.e., they are prone to fiber breakage, matrix cracking, and delaminations. These types of damage are often invisible and if undetected, could lead to catastrophic failures of structures. Although there are systems to detect such damage, the criticality assessment and prognosis of the damage is often much more difficult to achieve. This article discusses the research study conducted, which resulted in the development of a Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) system for a 2D polymeric composite T-joint, used in maritime structures. The SHM system was found to be capable of not only detecting the presence of multiple delaminations in a composite structure, but also capable of determining the location and extent of all the delaminations present in the T-joint structure, regardless of the load (angle and magnitude) acting on the structure. The system developed relies on the examination of the strain distribution of the structure under operational loading.
Statistical Analysis of the Effects of Building Conditions on the Initial Loadings of On-piles Quays
Authors: Yáñez-Godoy Humberto , Schoefs Franck , Casari Pascal
Published: April 2008

This article presents an accurate survey of two on-piles quays with tie-rods during the building stage and the two first years of their opening. These first years after building are characterized by a very fair exploitation of both quays. The influence of the building conditions on the loads in the tie-rods of the two quays has been identified from measured data. On these two quays, identically designed, an original instrumentation strategy has been achieved: it aims to follow the behavior of the quays during the next 5 years including their building in view to set up models for the prediction of the loadings evolutions and to base the maintenance policy or exploitation during extreme events (storms) on a better understanding of the in-service behavior. This aim has been achieved by monitoring key components of the structure as the tie-rods and by surveying displacements of the quay, tide level, and water level in the embankment. An analysis of all the measurements obtained from 2002 to 2006 has led to identifying probability distributions which represent the randomness of the measured values. The study concludes on the use of these results for assessing structural health.
Damage Identification of Metallic Structures Using A0 Mode of Lamb Waves
Authors: Ning Hu  , Shimomukai Takahito , Fukunaga Hisao , Zhongqing Su
Published: April 2008

A Lamb wave-based technique was developed for detecting damages in metallic structures, such as cracks and holes in metallic beams and plates. For metallic structures with transverse cracks and holes, A0 mode of Lamb waves was employed due to its shorter wave length compared with S0 mode, which leads to high sensitivity to small damages. Two kinds of excitation techniques for generating comparatively pure A0 mode using piezoelectric lead zirconate titanate (PZT) actuators were realized experimentally. In one technique, two PZT actuators with applied out-of-phase voltages were attached on both sides of the structures. While in the other technique, a kind of grease lubricant was used between the bottom surface of one PZT actuator and the surface of the specimens. Both techniques were able to enhance the component of A0 mode and reduce the component of S0 mode effectively. Secondly, in terms of the arrival time of the A0 wave mode reflected from damages obtained using the wavelet analysis, the positions of damages were identified accurately. The above two techniques were then validated by identifying the transverse cracks and holes in aluminum beams and plates, respectively. Numerical simulations using the finite element method (FEM) for the wave propagation in these structures with damages were carried out. The obtained experimental and numerical results demonstrate that it is possible to identify damage position very accurately by using only sensor data of defective structures without referring benchmark signals (sensor data of intact structures).
Assessment of Training Needs and Preferences for Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Mapping in State Comprehensive Cancer-Control Programs
Authors: Hopfer Suellen , Chadwick Amy E. , Parrott Roxanne L. , Ghetian Christie B. , Lengerich Eugene J.
Published: April 2008

Geographic information systems (GIS) mapping technologies have potential to advance public health promotion by mapping regional differences in attributes (e.g., disease burden, environmental exposures, access to health care services) to suggest priorities for public health interventions. Training in GIS for comprehensive cancer control (CCC) has been overlooked. State CCC programs’ GIS training needs were assessed by interviewing 49 state CCC directors. A majority perceived a need for GIS training, slightly more than half of state CCC programs had access to geocoded data, and the majority of programs did not require continuing education credits of their staff. CCC directors perceived judging maps and realizing their limitations as important skills and identified epidemiologists, CCC staff, public health officials, policy makers, and cancer coalition members as training audiences. They preferred in-class training sessions that last a few hours to a day. Lessons learned are shared to develop training programs with translatable GIS skills for CCC.
The Legacy of ERA, Privatization and the Policy Ratchet
Authors: Ball Stephen J.
Published: April 2008

This article explores the ways in which the neo-liberal impetus toward the privatization of state schooling signalled in the Education Reform Act 1988 (ERA) has become embedded in the English school system. Four main points are made. First, that ERA itself was of huge strategic rather than substantive importance as far as privatization is concerned. Second, by tracing the lineage of privatization from ERA onwards a `ratchet' effect of small and incremental policy moves can be identified, which have disseminated, embedded and naturalized privatization within public sector provision. Third, that while privatization has been taken up and taken much further by New Labour than it had been by the Conservatives there are differences between the two sets of governments in the role of privatization in education policy and the role of the state. Fourth, the participation of private providers in the planning and delivery of state services has put the private sector at the very heart of policy. At points the article draws upon interviews conducted with private sector providers.
Financing Schools
Authors: Levačić Rosalind
Published: April 2008

The article tracks the evolution of the English school finance system from 1988 to 2007. Three main periods are distinguished: Establishing Local Management of Schools (1988—1997); New Labour and Consolidation (1997—2002); and Centralizing Labour (2002—2007). Three key criteria are applied in assessing the system—efficiency, equity and transparency. Until 2002, the degree of financial delegation to schools was steadily extended, thus enabling schools to manage their resources more efficiently. The entire period was marked by tensions between central government and local authorities over methods for determining the amount of central government funding allocated to education at local level. This culminated in the loss of local authority discretion with the introduction of a centrally determined Dedicated Schools Grant. Formula funding of schools is horizontally equitable within each local authority, but the degree of compensatory funding for socially disadvantaged schools remains variable across local authorities. The historical journey through which the school finance system has travelled has produced an a-rational and non-transparent method of funding from central to local government. As this method is at present historical rather than based on a national funding formula for education, it will become increasingly inequitable and will require further amendment.
Reconceptualizing the Self-managing School
Authors: Caldwell Brian J.
Published: April 2008

Contrary to the claims of its critics, the introduction of self-managing schools under the ERA and its counterpart in other countries did not lead to the privatization of public education. Self-managing schools have been one manifestation of a general trend to decentralization in public education in many countries since the late 1960s. The practice was introduced for a range of reasons but much of the heat from often contentious debates about its efficacy was dissipated in the early years of the 21st century as most governments and system authorities settled on the enhancement of learning as its primary purpose. A realistic assessment of impact suggests that the self-management of schools is an appropriate strategy given that each school contains a unique mix of needs, aptitudes and aspirations of students. A system-wide framework for self-management is important. Leaders in self-managing schools will need to be adept at drawing on all of the resources of the community to meet expectations, and these include intellectual capital, social capital, spiritual capital (broadly defined) as well as financial capital. The concept of self-management will continue to change as schools will continue to change.
Policy and Workforce Reform in England
Authors: Gunter Helen M.
Published: April 2008

Current workforce reform, known as Remodelling the School Workforce, is part of an enduring policy process where there have been tensions between public and private sector structures and cultures. I show that the New Right and New Labour governments who have built and configured site based performance management over the past quarter of a century have been concerned to construct a workforce sufficient in numbers and trained in implementation to deliver various reform strategies. In particular, I examine the interplay between managerialism and leadership, as the means by which policy entrepreneurs have enabled a workforce delivery composition and disposition.
Review: Innovative Techniques in Preventing and Salvaging Neurovascular Pedicle Flaps in Reconstructive Foot and Ankle Surgery
Authors: Zgonis Thomas , Stapleton John J.
Published: April 2008

Pedicle flaps to cover soft tissue defects of the foot, ankle, and lower extremity are invaluable. However, venous congestion and flap necrosis, a common complication, poses greater morbidity to the patient as few remaining options for attempted limb salvage remain. The authors discuss how to prevent flap failure by allowing close observation and strict offloading of the pedicle flap through current external fixation designs. This article also discusses the role of medicinal leeches in reestablishing blood flow through the pedicle flap to prevent tissue necrosis. In addition, the use of hydrosurgery as an innovative technique offers the surgeon another option if faced with pedicle flap necrosis.
Pro-protein convertases control the maturation and processing of the iron-regulatory protein, RGMc/hemojuvelin
Authors: Kuninger David , Kuns-Hashimoto Robin , Nili Mahta , Rotwein Peter
Published: April 2008

Background

Repulsive guidance molecule c (RGMc or hemojuvelin), a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-linked glycoprotein expressed in liver and striated muscle, plays a central role in systemic iron balance. Inactivating mutations in the RGMc gene cause juvenile hemochromatosis (JH), a rapidly progressing iron storage disorder with severe systemic manifestations. RGMc undergoes complex biosynthetic steps leading to membrane-bound and soluble forms of the protein, including both 50 and 40 kDa single-chain species.

Results

We now show that pro-protein convertases (PC) are responsible for conversion of 50 kDa RGMc to a 40 kDa protein with a truncated COOH-terminus. Unlike related molecules RGMa and RGMb, RGMc encodes a conserved PC recognition and cleavage site, and JH-associated RGMc frame-shift mutants undergo COOH-terminal cleavage only if this site is present. A cell-impermeable peptide PC inhibitor blocks the appearance of 40 kDa RGMc in extra-cellular fluid, as does an engineered mutation in the conserved PC recognition sequence, while the PC furin cleaves 50 kDa RGMcin vitrointo a 40 kDa molecule with an intact NH2-terminus. Iron loading reduces release of RGMc from the cell membrane, and diminishes accumulation of the 40 kDa species in cell culture medium.

Conclusion

Our results define a role for PCs in the maturation of RGMc that may have implications for the physiological actions of this critical iron-regulatory protein.
An original SERPINA3 gene cluster: Elucidation of genomic organization and gene expression in the Bos taurus 21q24 region
Authors: Pelissier Patrick , Delourme Didier , Germot Agnes , Blanchet Xavier , Becila Samira , Maftah Abderrahman , Leveziel Hubert , Ouali Ahmed , Bremaud Laure
Published: April 2008

Background

The superfamily of

ser

ine

p

roteinase

in

hibitors (serpins) is involved in numerous fundamental biological processes as inflammation, blood coagulation and apoptosis. Our interest is focused on the SERPINA3 sub-family. The major human plasma protease inhibitor, α1-antichymotrypsin, encoded by the SERPINA3 gene, is homologous to genes organized in clusters in several mammalian species. However, although there is a similar genic organization with a high degree of sequence conservation, the reactive-centre-loop domains, which are responsible for the protease specificity, show significant divergences.

Results

We provide additional information by analyzing the situation of SERPINA3 in the bovine genome. A cluster of eight genes and one pseudogene sharing a high degree of identity and the same structural organization was characterized. Bovine SERPINA3 genes were localized by radiation hybrid mapping on 21q24 and only spanned over 235 Kilobases. For all these genes, we propose a new nomenclature from SERPINA3-1 to SERPINA3-8. They share approximately 70% of identity with the human SERPINA3 homologue. In the cluster, we described an original sub-group of six members with an unexpected high degree of conservation for the reactive-centre-loop domain, suggesting a similar peptidase inhibitory pattern. Preliminary expression analyses of these bovSERPINA3s showed different tissue-specific patterns and diverse states of glycosylation and phosphorylation. Finally, in the context of phylogenetic analyses, we improved our knowledge on mammalian SERPINAs evolution.

Conclusion

Our experimental results update data of the bovine genome sequencing, substantially increase the bovSERPINA3 sub-family and enrich the phylogenetic tree of serpins. We provide new opportunities for future investigations to approach the biological functions of this unusual subset of serine proteinase inhibitors.
Research priorities in pediatric rheumatology: The Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance (CARRA) consensus
Authors: Ota Sylvia , Cron Randy Q , Schanberg Laura E , O'Neil Kathleen , Mellins Elizabeth D , Fuhlbrigge Robert C , Feldman Brian M
Published: April 2008

Background

North American pediatric rheumatologists have created an investigator-initiated research network (the Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance – CARRA) to facilitate multi-centre studies. One of the first projects undertaken by this network was to define, by consensus, research priorities for the group, and if possible a first group-sponsored clinical trial in which all members could participate.

Methods

We determined consensus using the Delphi approach. This approach has been used extensively in health research to reach consensus in large groups. It uses several successive iterations of surveys eliciting ideas and opinions from specialists in the field. Three surveys were designed based on this method and were distributed to members of CARRA to elicit and rank-order research priorities.

Results

A response rate of 87.6% was achieved in the final survey. The most highly ranked research suggestion was to study infliximab treatment of uveitis unresponsive to methotrexate. Other highly ranked suggestions were to study i) the treatment of systemic arthritis with anakinra and ii) the treatment of pediatric systemic lupus erythematosus with mycophenolate mofetil.

Conclusion

The Delphi approach was an effective and practical method to define research priorities in this group. Ongoing discussion and cooperation among pediatric rheumatologists in CARRA and others world-wide will help in developing further research priorities and to facilitate the execution of clinical trials in the future.
Prevalence and correlates of being bullied among in-school adolescents in Beijing: results from the 2003 Beijing Global School-Based Health Survey
Authors: Hazemba Alice , Siziya Seter , Muula Adamson S , Rudatsikira Emmanuel
Published: April 2008

Background

Bullying has public health importance. It has been reported that both the victims and perpetrators of bullying are more likely to have suicidal ideation and other suicidal behaviours. Moreover, bullying can be a precursor for school violence and can contribute to poor academic performance. The purpose of the study was to raise awareness on the subject in China. We, therefore conducted an analysis of secondary data to determine the prevalence and correlates of having been bullied among in-school adolescents.

Methods

The data was taken from the Beijing Global School-Based Health Survey conducted in 2003. A weighted analysis to reduce bias due to differing patterns of non-response was conducted using statistical software (SPSS version 14.0). We conducted a backward logistic regression analysis to determine independent predictors for being bullied.

Results

Out of a total of 2,348 in-school adolescents who participated in the survey, 20% (23% males, and 17% females) reported having been bullied. Risk factors for having been bullied were loneliness (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.44; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.42–1.45), being worried (AOR = 1.30; 95% CI 1.29–1.32), being sad or having feelings of hopelessness (AOR = 1.21; 95% CI 1.19–1.22), smoking cigarettes (AOR = 1.09; 95% CI 1.08–1.11), drinking alcohol (AOR = 1.31; 95% CI 1.29–1.32), and being truant (AOR = 1.24; 95% CI 1.22–1.27). Meanwhile protective factors were having close friends (AOR = 0.84; 95% CI 0.83–0.86), receiving parental supervision (AOR = 0.80; 95% CI 0.80–0.81), and ever been drunk (AOR = 0.86; 95% CI 0.84–0.87).

Conclusion

We believe the results of this study will raise awareness among school health practitioners and administrators, paediatric psychiatrists and psychologists on the prevalence and correlates of bullying among adolescents in Beijing, China.
Association between serum levels of C-reactive protein and personality traits in women
Authors: Henningsson Susanne , Baghaei Fariba , Rosmond Roland , Holm Göran , Landén Mikael , Anckarsäter Henrik , Ekman Agneta
Published: April 2008

Background

While low-grade inflammation has consistently been observed in subjects with depression, studies on the possible relationship between inflammation and other aspects of brain function are as yet sparse. In this study, we aimed to investigate the possible association between serum levels of the inflammation marker C-reactive protein (CRP) and personality traits.

Methods

In this study, serum levels of high-sensitivity CRP were determined by ELISA in a population of 270 42-year-old women recruited from the population registry who had been assessed using the Temperament and Character Inventory. Self-reported previous or ongoing depression was also recorded. Unpaired two-tailed t-tests were used for comparison between two groups and correlations were evaluated by the calculation of Pearson's r-coefficient.

Results

The temperament trait harm avoidance was positively (r = 0.227, p < 0.05) and the character trait self-directedness was negatively (r = -0.261, p < 0.01) associated with serum levels of CRP (p-values corrected for multiple comparisons). The correlations between the personality traits and CRP were observed also after exclusion of subjects reporting ongoing depression (n = 26). Whereas women reporting ongoing depression showed significantly increased levels of CRP as compared to non-depressed women (n = 155), women reporting a history of depression displayed no significant difference in CRP levels as compared to women that reported that they had never been depressed.

Conclusion

Serum levels of CRP in women was found to be associated with the personality traits harm avoidance and self-directedness. In addition, moderately elevated levels may be a state dependent marker of depression.
Danaparoid sodium inhibits systemic inflammation and prevents endotoxin-induced acute lung injury in rats
Authors: Hagiwara Satoshi , Iwasaka Hideo , Hidaka Seigo , Hishiyama Sohei , Noguchi Takayuki
Published: April 2008

Introduction

Systemic inflammatory mediators, including high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), play an important role in the development of sepsis. Anticoagulants, such as danaparoid sodium (DA), may be able to inhibit sepsis-induced inflammation, but the mechanism of action is not well understood. We hypothesised that DA would act as an inhibitor of systemic inflammation and prevent endotoxin-induced acute lung injury in a rat model.

Methods

We used male Wistar rats. Animals in the intervention arm received a bolus of 50 U/kg of DA or saline injected into the tail vein after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) administration. We measured cytokine (tumour necrosis factor (TNF)α, interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-10) and HMGB1 levels in serum and lung tissue at regular intervals for 12 h following LPS injection. The mouse macrophage cell line RAW 264.7 was assessed following stimulation with LPS alone or concurrently with DA with identification of HMGB1 and other cytokines in the supernatant.

Results

Survival was significantly higher and lung histopathology significantly improved among the DA (50 U/kg) animals compared to the control rats. The serum and lung HMGB1 levels were lower over time among DA-treated animals. In the in vitro study, administration of DA was associated with decreased production of HMGB1. In the cell signalling studies, DA administration inhibited the phosphorylation of IκB.

Conclusion

DA decreases cytokine and HMGB1 levels during LPS-induced inflammation. As a result, DA ameliorated lung pathology and reduces mortality in endotoxin-induced systemic inflammation in a rat model. This effect may be mediated through the inhibition of cytokines and HMGB1.
DNA signatures for detecting genetic engineering in bacteria
Authors: Allen Jonathan E , Gardner Shea N , Slezak Tom R
Published: April 2008

Using newly designed computational tools we show that, despite substantial shared sequences between natural plasmids and artificial vector sequences, a robust set of DNA oligomers can be identified that can differentiate artificial vector sequences from all available background viral and bacterial genomes and natural plasmids. We predict that these tools can achieve very high sensitivity and specificity rates for detecting new unsequenced vectors in microarray-based bioassays. Such DNA signatures could be important in detecting genetically engineered bacteria in environmental samples.
No detectable endothelial- or leukocyte-derived L-selectin ligand activity on the endothelium in inflamed cremaster muscle venules
Authors: Eriksson Einar E
Published: April 2008

L-selectin is important in mediating leukocyte recruitment in inflammation. The role of L-selectin was for long believed to be influenced by an inducible endothelial ligand; however, L-selectin ligand activity was recently shown to be mediated by leukocytic P-selectin glycoprotein ligand 1 (PSGL-1). Still, it is unknown whether PSGL-1 is deposited on the endothelium or whether leukocyte fragments or leukocytic uropods are presented on the venular surface. Moreover, it is unclear whether ligands for L-selectin other than PSGL-1 are present in inflammation. Overall, this has complicated understanding of the mechanisms that guide recruitment of inflammatory cells. Here, I used intravital microscopy on mouse cremaster muscle venules to show that L-selectin influences leukocyte rolling in inflammation exclusively by mediating L-selectin/PSGL-1-dependent, secondary capture to rolling and adherent leukocytes. I show that leukocyte primary capture in inflammation is mediated almost entirely by P-selectin, whereas the capacity of E-selectin to mediate capture appears to be minimal. In parallel, primary capture remaining after function inhibition of P-selectin is not decreased by blockage or absence of L-selectin. Rolling along the endothelium in venules following a number of inflammatory treatments was abolished by simultaneous blockage of P-selectin, E-selectin, and VCAM-1, indicating that there is no additional adhesive pathway involving L-selectin or any other molecule that can mediate leukocyte rolling in inflamed cremaster muscle venules in response to the used stimuli. Moreover, in vivo staining failed to detect any L-selectin ligand activity on the endothelium. These data demonstrate that expression of L-selectin on leukocytes is insufficient for mediating rolling and efficient recruitment of leukocytes in inflammation.
Concentration of Anti-Müllerian Hormone and Inhibin-B in Relation to Steroids and Age in Follicular Fluid from Small Antral Human Follicles
Authors: Yding Andersen Claus , Rosendahl Mikkel , Byskov Anne Grete
Published: April 2008

Context: Ovaries surgically removed for fertility preservation served as a source of follicle fluid from human small antral follicles.

Objective: The objective of the study was to measure intrafollicular concentrations of anti-Müllerian Hormone (AMH), inhibin-B, progesterone, androstenedione, testosterone, estradiol, and IGF binding protein-4.

Setting: The study was conducted at a university hospital.

Patients: Patients included 43 women having one ovary removed prior to receiving gonadotoxic treatment due to malignant disease.

Interventions: Fluid from 100 follicles (diameter of 3–9 mm) were included.

Main Outcome Measures: Intrafollicular concentrations of the measured hormones, their possible intercorrelation, and correlation with age were measured.

Results: Concentrations of AMH were unrelated to follicular fluid concentrations of androstenedione and testosterone. There was a significant negative correlation between estradiol, inhibin-B, progesterone, and AMH. In four age groups spanning 11–37 yr, levels of AMH, estradiol, androstenedione, testosterone and inhibin-B remained constant, whereas progesterone showed significant variations. IGF binding protein-4 was unrelated to any other measured hormone.

Conclusions: This study was unable to confirm a stimulatory effect of androgens on AMH secretion but did enforce a close intimate correlation between AMH and estradiol expressions in the developing human follicle. The insignificant variation of the AMH concentration with age, even in prepubertal girls, suggests that AMH expression is unrelated to menstrual cycle FSH cyclicity.
Endometrial Inhibin/Activin β-B Subunit Expression Is Related to Decidualization and Is Reduced in Tubal Ectopic Pregnancy
Authors: Horne A. W. , van den Driesche S. , King A. E. , Burgess S. , Myers M. , Ludlow H. , Lourenco P. , Ghazal P. , Williams A. R. , Critchley H. O. D. , Duncan W. C.
Published: April 2008

Context: Ectopic pregnancy is common but remains difficult to diagnose accurately. There is no serum test to differentiate ectopic from intrauterine gestation.

Objective: Our objective was to investigate differential gene expression in decidualized endometrium of ectopic pregnancy.

Design: Tissue and serum analysis informed by microarray study was performed.

Setting: The study was performed at a large United Kingdom teaching hospital.

Patients or Other Participants: Women undergoing surgical termination of pregnancy (n = 8), evacuation of uterus for miscarriage (n = 6), and surgery for tubal ectopic pregnancy (n = 11) were included in the study. Endometrium was collected from normally cycling women undergoing hysterectomy.

Interventions: Decidualized endometrium was subjected to microarray analysis, morphological assessment, and immunohistochemistry. Endometrial stromal fibroblasts were cultured in the presence of decidualizing stimuli.

Main Outcome Measures: Differential expression of potentially secreted molecules was calculated.

Results: Inhibin/activin β-B expression was lower in decidualized endometrium from ectopic pregnancies when compared with that of ongoing pregnancies (P < 0.01) or miscarriages (P < 0.01). The localization of the β-B subunit was more marked in decidualized than nondecidualized stroma. Decidualization of stromal fibroblasts in vitro was associated with increased β-B expression (P < 0.05). Endometrial stroma of ectopic pregnancies was less decidualized morphologically (P < 0.05), with lower prolactin (P < 0.01) and IGF binding protein-1 (P < 0.005) expression. Serum activin B was lower in ectopic pregnancies (P < 0.005) than in intrauterine pregnancies, whereas there was no difference in progesterone concentrations.

Conclusions: Despite similar concentrations of progesterone, the endometrium of ectopic pregnancies is less decidualized than intrauterine pregnancies. Expression of the β-B subunit is related to decidualization and can be detected in the circulation as activin B. Serum activin B concentrations are lower in ectopic pregnancy.
Instituting the ‘third sector’ as a governable terrain: partnership, procurement and performance in the UK
Authors: Carmel Emma , Harlock Jenny
Published: April 2008

In this article we argue that governance of the ‘dispersed state’ is being extended into the quasi-private realm of voluntary and community organisations and their activities. Focusing on public service delivery, we distinguish the formal and operational dimensions of governance, and argue that the goal of partnership carves out a newly governable terrain – the third sector – which is to be organised through the operational governance mechanisms of procurement and performance. The result is the attempted normalisation of VCOs as market-responsive, generic service providers, disembedded from their social and political contexts and denuded of ethical or moral content and purpose.
Offenders in the post-industrial labour market: from the underclass to the undercaste?
Authors: Fletcher Del Roy
Published: April 2008

UK policy makers have increasingly sought to improve the employment prospects of offenders to help reduce re-offending. Yet the past 40 years have witnessed profound changes in the nature of work. This article examines how offenders have been affected by economic transformation and the possible implications for re-offending. The author finds that the possession of a criminal record was a minor inconvenience to finding work in the industrial labour market of the 1960s. However, deindustrialisation and the growing service intensity of the economy have relegated many to the margins of the labour market with potentially profound implications for re-offending.
The role of the private sector in publicly funded schooling in England: finance, delivery and decision making
Authors: West Anne , Currie Peter
Published: April 2008

In England, there is significant involvement of the private sector in publicly funded schools. This article focuses on different forms of involvement via academies and city technology colleges; specialist schools; Education Action Zones; outsourcing of services; and the Private Finance Initiative. Private sector involvement varies along different dimensions: service delivery, source of funding and locus of decision making. In the most far-reaching forms of involvement, decision making no longer rests with the public sector but is transferred to the private sector. The effects of the blurring of public and private finance and delivery are discussed in relation to democratic accountability.
Working Memory for Social Cues Recruits Orbitofrontal Cortex and Amygdala: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study of Delayed Matching to Sample for Emotional Expressions
Authors: LoPresti Matthew L. , Schon Karin , Tricarico Marisa D. , Swisher Jascha D. , Celone Kim A. , Stern Chantal E.
Published: April 2008

During everyday interactions, we continuously monitor and maintain information about different individuals and their changing emotions in memory. Yet to date, working memory (WM) studies have primarily focused on mechanisms for maintaining face identity, but not emotional expression, and studies investigating the neural basis of emotion have focused on transient activity, not delay related activity. The goal of this functional magnetic resonance imaging study was to investigate WM for two critical social cues: identity and emotion. Subjects performed a delayed match-to-sample task that required them to match either the emotional expression or the identity of a face after a 10 s delay. Neuroanatomically, our predictions focused on the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and the amygdala, as these regions have previously been implicated in emotional processing and long-term memory, and studies have demonstrated sustained OFC and medial temporal lobe activity during visual WM. Consistent with previous studies, transient activity during the sample period representing emotion and identity was found in the superior temporal sulcus and inferior occipital cortex, respectively. Sustained delay-period activity was evident in OFC, amygdala, and hippocampus, for both emotion and identity trials. These results suggest that, although initial processing of emotion and identity is accomplished in anatomically segregated temporal and occipital regions, sustained delay related memory for these two critical features is held by the OFC, amygdala and hippocampus. These regions share rich connections, and have been shown previously to be necessary for binding features together in long-term memory. Our results suggest a role for these regions in active maintenance as well.
Interneuronal Activity in Reflex Pathways from Group II Muscle Afferents Is Monitored by Dorsal Spinocerebellar Tract Neurons in the Cat
Authors: Jankowska Elzbieta , Puczynska Anna
Published: April 2008

The main aim of the study was to investigate whether group II muscle afferents contribute to the inhibition of dorsal spinocerebellar tract (DSCT) neurons and thereby modulate information provided by these neurons in the cat. In intracellular recordings, we found disynaptic IPSPs from group II afferents in the majority of DSCT neurons, most often in parallel with IPSPs evoked from group I afferents. In an attempt to identify interneurons that mediate these IPSPs, the second aim of the study, laminas IV–VII in midlumbar segments were searched for interneurons antidromically activated by stimuli applied within Clarke's column. Such interneurons were found in regions in which focal field potentials were evoked by group I and II afferents, or ventral to them, and most were coexcited by these afferents. The input to these interneurons and their location indicate that they belonged to the previously identified population of premotor interneurons in disynaptic pathways between group I and II afferents and hindlimb motoneurons. The study leads thus to the conclusion that inhibitory actions of group II afferents on DSCT neurons are collateral to actions on motoneurons and that DSCT neurons monitor inhibitory actions of group II afferents on motoneurons as closely as they monitor actions of group I afferents. The results also indicate that interneurons mediating disynaptic reflex actions from tendon organ (group Ib) afferents and those mediating disynaptic actions from secondary muscle spindle (group II) afferents to motoneurons may be parts and parcel of the same interneuronal population rather than constitute distinct interneuronal populations.
Synaptic Defects in aDrosophilaModel of Congenital Muscular Dystrophy
Authors: Wairkar Yogesh P. , Fradkin Lee G. , Noordermeer Jasprina N. , DiAntonio Aaron
Published: April 2008

The congenital muscular dystrophies present in infancy with muscle weakness and are often associated with mental retardation. Many of these inherited disorders share a common etiology: defectiveO-glycosylation of α-dystroglycan, a component of the dystrophin complex. Protein-O-mannosyl transferase 1 (POMT1) is the first enzyme required for the glycosylation of α-dystroglycan, and mutations in the POMT1 gene can lead to both Walker-Warburg syndrome (WWS) and limb girdle muscular dystrophy type 2K (LGMD2K). WWS is associated with severe mental retardation and major structural abnormalities in the brain; however, LGMD2K patients display a more mild retardation with no obvious structural defects in the brain. In a screen for synaptic mutants inDrosophila, we identified mutations in theDrosophilaortholog of POMT1,dPOMT1. Because synaptic defects are a plausible cause of mental retardation, we investigated the molecular and physiological defects associated with loss ofdPOMT1inDrosophila. IndPOMT1mutants, there is a decrease in the efficacy of synaptic transmission and a change in the subunit composition of the postsynaptic glutamate receptors at the neuromuscular junction. We demonstrate that dPOMT1 is required to glycosylate theDrosophiladystroglycan orthologDg in vivo, and that this is the likely cause of these synaptic defects because (1) mutations inDglead to similar synaptic defects and (2) genetic interaction studies suggest thatdPOMT1andDgfunction in the same pathway. These results are consistent with the model thatdPOMT1-dependent glycosylation of Dg is necessary for proper synaptic function and raise the possibility that similar synaptic defects occur in the congenital muscular dystrophies.
Protein Kinase A-Induced Phosphorylation of the p65 Subunit of Nuclear Factor-κB Promotes Schwann Cell Differentiation into a Myelinating Phenotype
Authors: Yoon Choya , Korade Zeljka , Carter Bruce D.
Published: April 2008

Axon–Schwann cell interactions are critical for myelin formation during peripheral nerve development and regeneration. Axonal contact promotes Schwann cell precursors to differentiate into a myelinating phenotype, and cAMP-elevating agents can mimic this; however, the mechanisms underlying this differentiation are poorly understood. We demonstrated previously that the transcription factor nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) is required for myelin formation by Schwann cells (Nickols et al., 2003), although how it is activated during this process remained to be determined. Here, we report that culturing Schwann cells with sensory neurons results in the activation of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA), and this kinase phosphorylates the p65 subunit of NF-κB at S276. The phosphorylation was also induced in cultured Schwann cells by treatment with forskolin, dibutyryl-cAMP, or by overexpression of a catalytic subunit of PKA, and this increased the transcriptional activity of NF-κB. In developing perinatal rat sciatic nerve, the kinetics of p65 phosphorylation at S276 paralleled that of PKA and NF-κB activation. To elucidate the role of p65 phosphorylation in myelin formation, we overexpressed an S276A mutant of p65 in cultured Schwann cells, which blocked PKA-mediated transcriptional activation of NF-κB. When the Schwann cells expressing the mutant were cocultured with sensory neurons, there was a 45% reduction in the number of myelinated fibers relative to controls, demonstrating a requirement for p65 phosphorylation by PKA during myelin formation.
Deconstruction of Spatial Integrity in Visual Stimulus Detected by Modulation of Synchronized Activity in Cat Visual Cortex
Authors: Zhou Zhiyi , Bernard Melanie R. , Bonds A. B.
Published: April 2008

Spatiotemporal relationships among contour segments can influence synchronization of neural responses in the primary visual cortex. We performed a systematic study to dissociate the impact of spatial and temporal factors in the signaling of contour integration via synchrony. In addition, we characterized the temporal evolution of this process to clarify potential underlying mechanisms. With a 10 × 10 microelectrode array, we recorded the simultaneous activity of multiple cells in the cat primary visual cortex while stimulating with drifting sine-wave gratings. We preserved temporal integrity and systematically degraded spatial integrity of the sine-wave gratings by adding spatial noise. Neural synchronization was analyzed in the time and frequency domains by conducting cross-correlation and coherence analyses. The general association between neural spike trains depends strongly on spatial integrity, with coherence in the gamma band (35–70 Hz) showing greater sensitivity to the change of spatial structure than other frequency bands. Analysis of the temporal dynamics of synchronization in both time and frequency domains suggests that spike timing synchronization is triggered nearly instantaneously by coherent structure in the stimuli, whereas frequency-specific oscillatory components develop more slowly, presumably through network interactions. Our results suggest that, whereas temporal integrity is required for the generation of synchrony, spatial integrity is critical in triggering subsequent gamma band synchronization.