bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A note on the asymptotic analysis of a thermal relaxation oscillator
Authors: Lundberg P. , Bahrami F. , Zarroug M.
Published: November 2009

A nonlinear oscillator, based on two connected vessels which are thermally forced around the maximum‐density temperature of the working fluid, is investigated. For a suitable choice of parameters, the system executes self‐sustained relaxation oscillations. This process has been examined for a large volume difference between the vessels, in which case the solution makes almost discontinuous jumps between the two branches of the slow manifold of the problem. It was found that in this limit, a lowest‐order analysis does reasonable justice to the periodic behaviour of the system.
More Than 25 Years of Surgical Treatment of Hydatid Cysts in a Nonendemic Area Using the “Frozen Seal” Method
Authors: Stoot J. H. M. B. , Jongsma C. K. , Limantoro I. , Terpstra O. T. , Breslau P. J.
Published: November 2009

Background

Hydatid disease of the liver remains endemic in the world and is an imported disease in The Netherlands. The aim of this study was to evaluate the treatment and outcome of surgically treated patients for hydatid disease in a single center in The Netherlands.

Methods

This retrospective study included 112 consecutive patients surgically treated for hydatid disease between 1981 and 2007. The primary outcome was relapse of the disease. Secondary outcomes were infections, complications, reoperations, length of hospital stay, and mortality.

Results

In all cases, echinococcosis was diagnosed by computed tomography or ultrasonography (US). Serology (enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay, immunofluorescence) confirmed the diagnosis in 92.9%. Most of the cysts were seen only in the liver (73.5%). All cysts were operated on with the frozen seal technique. Relapse of disease was seen in 9 (8.0%) cases. Five (4.5%) required surgical treatment at a later stage. Twenty (17.9%) complications were recorded. Four (3.6%) needed radiological drainage and three (2.7%) a reoperation. Follow‐up was performed with US and/or serology at a mean of 24 months (range 0.5–300 months). All but one complication were seen in the liver‐operated group, this proved not to be of statistical significance (P = 0.477). Patients with complications stayed significantly longer in hospital than did the patients without complications (P < 0.001). No mortality was observed in this study.

Conclusions

The present study suggests that the frozen seal method of surgery for hydatid disease is safe and effective. Future studies are needed to prove its position in the treatment of hydatid disease as new developments show promising results.
Unsuspected Gallbladder Cancer Diagnosed After Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy: Focus on Acute Cholecystitis
Authors: Kim Ji Hun , Kim Wook Hwan , Kim Jin Hong , Yoo Byung Moo , Kim Myung Wook
Published: November 2009

Background

The aim of the present study was to investigate clinicopathological features of patients who were diagnosed with unsuspected gallbladder cancer (UGC) after laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) and to clarify the relationship between acute cholecystitis (AC) and unsuspected gallbladder cancer.

Methods

From June 1997 to March 2008, a total of 2,607 LCs were performed at Ajou University Medical Center. Twenty‐six patients (1.0%) were diagnosed with gallbladder cancer after LC. We excluded patients with preoperatively or intraoperatively suspected gallbladder cancer.

Results

Of 1,128 patients with AC, 19 (1.6%) were identified with gallbladder cancer after surgery. The preoperative diagnosis included a high rate of acute and severe acute cholecystitis (n = 19; 73.1%). The rate of conversion to open surgery was 15.4% (4/26), and bile spillage occurred in 14 of 26 patients (53.8%). Adenocarcinoma (92.3%) and pT2 (65.4%) were the most common pathological findings. In 19 UGC patients with AC, the most common pathological finding was also pT2 (n = 12; 63.1%). In addition, all 5 of the patients with positive resection margin belonged to the UGC with AC group. Two of 26 patients (7.7%) underwent additional surgery after LC, and 2 patients (7.7%) underwent excision of the port site/wound for recurrence. The overall median survival was 32 months (95% Confidence Interval [CI] = 21–43). There were no significant differences in age, the presence of acute cholecystitis, or bile spillage (P > 0.05) However, tumor differentiation was associated significantly with survival rate.

Conclusions

The preoperative diagnosis included a high rate of acute and severe acute cholecystitis. Survival was not associated with the presence of AC and bile spillage. Therefore, we suggest that AC may not influence the prognosis of unsuspected gallbladder cancer after LC. Moreover, good tumor differentiation can guarantee favorable survival, even in UGC with AC.
Heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia in childhood: Cardiovascular risk prevention
Authors: van der Graaf A. , Kastelein J. J. P. , Wiegman A.
Published: November 2009

Children with familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) have severely increased low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL‐C) levels that strongly predispose to premature cardiovascular disease (CVD) later in life. Early identification makes it possible to start lipid‐lowering therapy at young age to prevent CVD. The atherosclerotic process can be inhibited by potent lipid‐lowering therapy. The cornerstone of lipid‐lowering therapy is a healthy lifestyle, but most of the time this is insufficient to reach adequate LDL‐C goals. Subsequently, pharmacological therapy is initiated with increasing frequency. In the past decade numerous studies have assessed the efficacy and safety of statins in children with FH. Those studies demonstrate that statins are well tolerated, safe and effective. Therefore, these agents have a pivotal role in the treatment of children with FH.
Inflammatory Response with Osteolysis Related to a Bioabsorbable Anchor in the Finger: A Case Report
Authors: Galano Gregory J. , Jiang Kevin N. , Strauch Robert J. , Rosenwasser Melvin P. , Tang Peter
Published: November 2009

Soft tissue fixation of ligaments and tendons in the hand can be achieved by the use of metal or bioabsorbable suture anchors. Advantages of bioabsorbable suture anchors include lack of interference in magnetic resonance imaging, resorption of anchor, replacement by bone, and no need for hardware removal. However, complications of these bioabsorbable implants include inflammatory response to the material use. We present what we believe to be the first case in the hand of a poly(L-lactide-co-D,L-lacitide) suture anchor causing an inflammatory response leading to significant osteolysis 4 months postoperatively after repair of a ring finger flexor digitorum profundus avulsion. Exploration of the distal phalanx revealed an intact implant and repair, no signs of infection, and an extensive bone defect. Pathology showed chronically inflamed tissue. This case has led us to reconsider the use of bioabsorbable anchor sutures in the hand. Further research is necessary to better define the contraindications to bioabsorbable suture anchor use in the hand.
Surfactant‐like Properties of Alkaline Extracts from Wastewater Biosolids
Authors: Becerra Flor Yunuén García , Allen D. Grant , Acosta Edgar J.
Published: November 2009

In order to assess the potential for utilizing wastewater biosolids as a source of useful substances, the surface activity of materials extracted from wastewater biosolids (activated sludge) by simple incubation with sodium hydroxide solutions at room temperature was assessed. The surface activity, measured by surface and interfacial tension methods, of the extracts was shown to be dependent on the extraction pH and the concentration of the organic matter solubilized in the alkaline solution. Increasing the extraction pH increased the surface activity of the extract (lower surface tensions), which is linked to the presence of more hydrophobic species in the extract. After adjusting the pH to more acidic values (e.g., pH = 4), the extracts retained their surface activity. The apparent CMC (critical micelle concentration) of pH 12.6 extracts was approximately 1,000 mg/L (based on total organic carbon or TOC), and the surface tension after CMC approximately 35 mN/m. While the CMC of the extract is significantly higher, when compared to a conventional surfactant, sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS, CMC ~ 25 mg/L), its surface tension at CMC was comparable. Above its CMC, the pH 12.6 extract had similar interfacial tensions than SDBS against toluene, heptane and hexadecane. Furthermore, the extract and SDBS had similar detergency performance for the removal of hexadecane from cotton. Skin corrosivity tests of the neutralized extracts show that they have comparable toxicity to conventional anionic surfactants such as sodium dodecyl sulfate. The potential use of these extracts in commercial products is discussed.
Testosterone undecanoate in the functional compartments of the male reproductive tract
Authors: Koukkou E. , Mitios G. , Kapolla N. , Spiropoulos E. , Lass H. , Bourounis M. , Pappa A. , Nicopoulou S. , Adamopoulos D. A.
Published: November 2009

Background

Assessment of testosterone undecanoate’s (TU) presence in the functional compartments of the male reproductive tract has never been performed despite the evidence that its documented beneficial effect in male infertility might be mediated through an epididymal action and this study was set to examine this possibility.

Materials and methods

In 18 normozoospermic volunteers TU has been administered (40 mg t.i.d.) for 6 days with serum measurements of TU, total testosterone (T), DHT, E2, SHBG, FSH, LH, and PRL before and at the end of medication. Steroid hormones (T, E2, and TU) were also assayed in seminal plasma. In a selected group of 7 men with previously diagnosed non-obstructive azoospermia TU, T, and E2 were assayed in the extracts of testicular biopsy material taken before ICSI and at the end of the same medication.

Results

A marked rise of serum DHT (average 148%,P< 0.001) has been found after treatment, whereas T, E2, FSH, LH, SHBG, and PRL did not significantly change. Measurable amounts of TU were found in the serum of all men but only in 6 cases in seminal plasma (11.1 ± 8.0 ng/mL) and all of them in semen delivered 7–8 h after the last TU capsule was taken. In dilution fluid from testicular tissue extracts, no detectable amounts of TU were found whereas mean values of 92.5 ± 54.3 pg/mL and 43.8 ± 16.3 ng/mL for E2 and T were observed. Positive correlations among TU and E2, T or DHT concentrations were found in serum samples (P< 0.01, 0.02, and 0.002) as well as between E2 and T (P< 0.01), E2 and DHT (P< 0.001), or T and DHT (P< 0.001).

Conclusion

It is concluded that TU was identified and measured for the first time in seminal plasma of a fair percentage (33%) of men on this medication and was associated in all men with a marked rise of DHT concentration, a known epididymal function promoter, in the absence of an effect on pituitary and gonadal activity. On this evidence, it appears that a beneficial effect of TU on epididymal function may be a distinct possibility.
The Ex Utero Intrapartum Treatment (EXIT) Procedure for Fetal Head and Neck Masses
Authors: Filipchuk Debora , Avdimiretz Lourdes
Published: November 2009

A congenital head or neck mass increases the risk of airway obstruction and imminent respiratory failure at birth. The ex utero intrapartum treatment (EXIT) procedure is an option to secure the infant's airway in some clinical situations when an antenatal diagnosis of a head or neck mass or potential airway obstruction has been established.

This article discusses an EXIT procedure performed on a maternal patient whose 38‐week gestational age fetus was diagnosed with a lymphatic malformation. Planning and coordination between surgical teams at two clinical sites allowed the multidisciplinary teams to achieve a safe, successful outcome for the mother and child. AORN J 90 (November 2009) 661–672. © AORN, Inc, 2009.
Metasynthesis: A Goldmine for Evidence‐Based Practice
Authors: Beck Cheryl Tatano
Published: November 2009

Metasynthesis is a technique that can help establish qualitative research as a viable source of evidence. Using this approach, results from multiple qualitative research studies on the same topic are combined and synthesized to reveal the best evidence.

This article addresses metasynthesis and its application to perioperative evidence‐based care. Noblit and Hare's method for synthesizing qualitative research is described and illustrated using a previously published metasynthesis of postpartum depression research. AORN J 90 (November 2009) 701–710. © AORN, Inc, 2009.
Glycemic Control: A Literature Review with Implications for Perioperative Nursing Practice
Authors: Kittelson Kristina A.
Published: November 2009

Surgical patients have an increased risk for hyperglycemia and its subsequent complications, such as increased risk of infection, morbidity and mortality, and length of stay.

Interventional studies indicate that tight glycemic control with intensive insulin therapy improves outcomes. More recent randomized controlled trials, however, provide conflicting results, indicating that hypoglycemia and death may result from tight glycemic control. This calls into question the safety and efficacy of tight glycemic control.

Perioperative nurses must be prepared to implement measures to control hyperglycemia for patients with and without diabetes throughout the perioperative process. Perioperative nurses should participate in multidisciplinary efforts to develop evidenced‐based glycemic control protocols. AORN J 90 (November 2009) 714–726. © AORN, Inc, 2009.
Guidelines for the Management of Vasa Previa
Authors: Gagnon Robert , Morin Lucie , Bly Stephen , Butt Kimberly , Cargill Yvonne M. , Denis Nanette , Gagnon Robert , Hietala‐Coyle Marja Anne , Lim Kenneth Ian , Ouellet Annie , Racicot Maria‐Hélène , Salem Shia , Gagnon Robert , Hudon Lynda , Basso Melanie , Bos Hayley , Delisle Marie‐France , Farine Dan , Grabowska Kirsten , Menticoglou Savas , Mundle William , Murphy‐Kaulbeck Lynn , Ouellet Annie , Pressey Tracy , Roggensack Anne
Published: November 2009

Objectives

To describe the etiology of vasa previa and the risk factors and associated condition, to identify the various clinical presentations of vasa previa, to describe the ultrasound tools used in its diagnosis, and to describe the management of vasa previa.

Outcomes

Reduction of perinatal mortality, short‐term neonatal morbidity, long‐term infant morbidity, and short‐term and long‐term maternal morbidity and mortality.

Evidence

Published literature on randomized trials prospective cohort studies, and selected retrospective cohort studies was retrieved through searches of PubMed or Medline, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Library, using appropriate controlled vocabulary (e.g., selected epidemiological studies comparing delivery by Caesarean section with vaginal delivery studies comparing outcomes when vasa previa is diagnosed antenatally vs. intrapartum) and key words (e.g. vasa previa). Results were restricted to systematic reviews, randomized control trials/controlled clinical trials, and observational studies. Searches were updated on a regular basis and incorporated into the guideline to October 1, 2008. Grey (unpublished) literature was identified through searching the websites of health technology assessment and health technology assessment‐related agencies, clinical practice guideline collections, clinical trial registries, and from national and international medical specialty societies.

Values

The evidence collected was reviewed by the Diagnostic Imaging Committee and the Maternal Fetal Medicine Committee of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC) and quantified using the evaluation of evidence guidelines developed by the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care.

Benefits, Harms, and Costs

The benefit expected from this guideline is facilitation of optimal and uniform care for pregnancies complicated by vasa previa.

Sponsors

The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada.
The Case for Responsible Parties
Authors: BERNHARDT DAN , DUGGAN JOHN , SQUINTANI FRANCESCO
Published: November 2009

Electoral platform convergence is perceived unfavorably by both the popular press and many academic scholars. Arguably, to paraphrase, “it does not provide enough choice” between candidates. This article provides a formal account of the perceived negative effects of platform convergence. We show that when parties do not know voters' preferences precisely, all voters ex ante prefer some platform divergence to convergence at the ex ante median. After characterizing the unique symmetric equilibrium of competition between responsible (policy-motivated) parties, we conclude that all voters ex ante prefer responsible parties to opportunistic (purely office-motivated) ones when parties are sufficiently ideologically polarized that platforms diverge, but not so polarized that they diverge excessively. However, greater polarization increases the scope for office benefits as an instrument for institutional design. We calculate the socially optimal level of platform divergence and show that office benefits can be used to achieve this first-best outcome, if parties are sufficiently ideologically polarized.
Zircon geochronology and trace element characteristics of eclogites and granulites from the Orlica-Śnieżnik complex, Bohemian Massif
Authors: BRÖCKER MICHAEL , KLEMD REINER , KOOIJMAN ELLEN , BERNDT JASPER , LARIONOV ALEXANDER
Published: November 2009

U–Pb zircon geochronology and trace element analysis was applied to eclogites and (ultra)high-pressure granulites that occur as volumetrically subordinate rock bodies within orthogneisses of the Orlica-Śnieżnik complex, Bohemian Massif. Under favourable circumstances such data may help to unravel protolith ages and yet-undetermined aspects of the metamorphic evolution, for example, the time span over which eclogite-facies conditions were attained. By means of ion-probe and laser ablation techniques, a comprehensive database was compiled for samples collected from prominent eclogite and granulite occurrences. The206Pb/238U dates for zircons of all samples show a large variability, and no single age can be calculated. The protolith ages remain unresolved due to the lack of coherent age groups at the upper end of the zircon age spectra. The spread in apparent ages is interpreted to be mainly caused by variable and possibly multi-stage Pb-loss. Further complexities are added by metamorphic zircon growth and re-equilibration processes, the unknown relevance of inherited components and possible mixing of different aged domains during analysis. A reliable interpretation of igneous crystallization ages is not yet possible. Previous studies and the new data document the importance of a Carboniferous metamorphic event atc.340 Ma. The geological significance of this age group is controversial. Such ages have previously either been related to peak (U)HP conditions, the waning stages of eclogite-facies metamorphism or the amphibolite-facies overprint. This study provides new arguments for this discussion because, in both rock types, metamorphic zircon is characterized by very low total REE abundances, flat HREE patterns and the absence of an Eu anomaly. These features strongly suggest contemporaneous crystallization of zircon and garnet and strengthen interpretations proposing that the Carboniferous ages document late-stage eclogite-facies metamorphism, and not amphibolite-facies overprinting.
THE CARING FISCAL-MILITARY STATE DURING THE SEVEN YEARS WAR, 1756–1763
Authors: CHARTERS ERICA
Published: November 2009

This article re-examines the concept of the fiscal-military state in the context of the British armed forces during the Seven Years War (1756–63). This war, characteristic of British warfare during the eighteenth century, demonstrates that British victory depended on the state caring about the wellbeing of its troops, as well as being perceived to care. At the practical level, disease among troops led to manpower shortages and hence likely defeat, especially during sieges and colonial campaigns. During the 1762–3 Portuguese campaign, disease was regarded as a sign of ill-discipline, and jeopardized military and political alliances. At Havana in 1762, the fear, reports, and actual outbreaks of disease threatened American colonial support and recruitment for British campaigns. Throughout the controversial campaigns in the German states, disease was interpreted as a symptom of bad governance, and used in partisan criticisms concerning the conduct of the war. Military victory was not only about strategy, command, and technology, but nor was it solely a question of money. Manpower could not simply be bought, but needed to be nurtured in the long term through a demonstration that the British state cared about the welfare of its armies.
IRELAND, COLONIAL SCIENCE, AND THE GEOGRAPHICAL CONSTRUCTION OF BRITISH RULE IN INDIA, c. 1820–1870
Authors: CROSBIE BARRY
Published: November 2009

This article examines the role that Ireland and Irish people played in the geographical construction of British colonial rule in India during the nineteenth century. It argues that as an important sub-imperial centre, Ireland not only supplied the empire with key personnel, but also functioned as an important reference point for scientific practice, new legislation, and systems of government. Occupying integral roles within the information systems of the colonial state, Irish people provided much of the intellectual capital around which British rule in India was constructed. These individuals were part of nineteenth-century Irish professional personnel networks that viewed the empire as a legitimate sphere for work and as an arena in which they could prosper. Through involvement and deployment of expertise in areas such as surveying and geological research in India, Irishmen and Irish institutions were able to act decisively in the development of colonial knowledge. The relationships mapped in this article centre the Irish within the imperial web of connections and global exchange of ideas, technologies, and practices during the long nineteenth century, thereby making a contribution towards uncovering Ireland's multi-directional involvement in the British empire and reassessing the challenges that this presents to existing British, Irish, and imperial historiography.
PUBLISHING THE RAPHAEL CARTOONS AND THE RISE OF ART-HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS IN ENGLAND, 1707–1764
Authors: HSIEH CHIA-CHUAN
Published: November 2009

In studies of English artistic culture of the first half of the eighteenth century, the notion of art-historical consciousness has attracted little attention, in contrast to an immense interest in issues of picture consumption and taste. This article provides a new perspective on the rise of art-historical consciousness by examining publications associated with the Raphael Cartoons, then at Hampton Court. Through a wide range of engraved reproductions and written commentaries, the Cartoons not only came to be the most visible Old Master paintings in England in the period, but also became central to an on-going process whereby ideas about painting were formulated in terms of artistic standards and historical development. The Cartoons publications illustrate a trend in which works of art formerly enjoyed privately by royal or aristocratic collectors became increasingly accessible to wider audiences. In consequence, ideas associated with these works penetrated diverse levels of society and art-historical consciousness assumed a public value.
FRENCH EMPIRE ELITES AND THE POLITICS OF ECONOMIC OBLIGATION IN THE INTERWAR YEARS
Authors: THOMAS MARTIN
Published: November 2009

This article considers the changing ways in which French political elites understood imperial obligation in the interwar years. It suggests that the economics of imperial rule and disputes over what could and should be done to develop colonial economies provide the key to understanding both the failure of interwar colonial reforms and the irreversible decline in France's grip over its colonies. In making this case, the article investigates four related colonial policy debates, all variously linked to changing conceptualizations of economic obligation among France's law-makers. The first concerns Albert Sarraut's 1921 empire development plan. The second reviews discussions over the respective obligations of the state and private financiers in regenerating colonial economies during the depression years of the early 1930s. The third debate reassesses policymakers' disputes over colonial industrialization. Finally, the article revisits the apparent failure of the investigative studies of economic and labour reforms conceived by the left-leaning Popular Front in 1936–8. The point is to highlight the extent to which senior political figures clashed over concepts of ‘colonial obligation’ viewed less in the cultural terms of ‘civilizing mission’ than in the material sense of economic outlay.
ITALIAN SOCIETY UNDER ANGLO-AMERICAN BOMBS: PROPAGANDA, EXPERIENCE, AND LEGEND, 1940–1945
Authors: BALDOLI CLAUDIA , FINCARDI MARCO
Published: November 2009

The Italian experience of being bombed has been neglected in the historiography of the Second World War, especially in English. This marginalization is not justified by the record of events; according to official estimates, Italian civilian victims of bombing numbered around 60,000. The reaction of the Italian population to air raids was carefully evaluated and discussed by the Allies, who decided to hit civilians living near industrial areas with a view to testing their psychological resistance. The article focuses on the civilians' reactions to death coming from the sky, by examining their response to both Anglo-American and Fascist propaganda, and to the experience of the raids at different stages of the war. It analyses the ways in which civilians coped with the collapse of state defences (including the creation of legends and the spreading of rumours independent of state propaganda), and the psychologically complex and shifting response to bombers who introduced themselves as liberators. The research presented is based on archival sources, particularly prefects' reports from different parts of Italy to the Ministry of Interior, on both Anglo-American and Fascist propaganda, newspaper articles, and civilians' diaries.
HOW IDEOLOGY WORKS: HISTORIANS AND THE CASE OF BRITISH ABOLITIONISM
Authors: PALMER WILLIAM
Published: November 2009

This review considers how historians have approached the role of ideas in understanding the beginnings of early British abolitionism. It pays particular attention to the work of Eric Williams, Roger Anstey, David Brion Davis, and, most recently, Christopher Leslie Brown. It uses Brown's Moral capital as a point of departure for offering an alternative approach to the role of ideology in early British abolition and about its operation generally.
CHRISTIAN IDEALS OF MANLINESS IN THE EIGHTEENTH AND EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURIES
Authors: VAN REYK WILLIAM
Published: November 2009

Christian ideals of manliness were articulated by writers across the religious spectrum throughout the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. At their heart was the shared ideal of the imitation of Christ, an all-encompassing Christian ideal of personhood. Whilst non-partisanship was itself an important ideal, theological differences and disagreements over the strictness of ideals led to accusations that some Christians, attacked as ‘moralists’ or ‘enthusiasts’, undermined or neglected ideals of manliness. At the same time, there were attempts to associate Christian ideals of manliness exclusively with the emerging ‘Evangelical’ party. In the historiography of masculinity in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, however, Christian ideals have often been marginalized, and, when considered, they have tended to be misconstrued by the adoption of church-party approaches. This review offers a detailed critique of Leonore Davidoff and Catherine Hall's account of Evangelical ideals of manliness in Family fortunes: men and women of the English middle class, 1780–1850 (1987; rev. edn, 2002). Their notion of distinctive ‘Evangelical’ ideals of manliness does not withstand scrutiny, and the key concepts associated with them, including ‘domesticity’, ‘the calling’, ‘the world’, ‘public’, and ‘private’, demand revision. At the same time, they gave insufficient consideration to ‘solitude’ and ‘charity’.
The Dialectics of Resistance: Colonial Geography, Bengali Literati and the Racial Mapping of Indian Identity
Authors: BASU SUBHO
Published: November 2009

Through a study of hitherto unexplored geography textbooks written in Bengali between 1845 and 1880, this paper traces the evolution of a geographic information system related to ethnicity, race, and space. This geographic information system impacted the mentality of emerging educated elites in colonial India who studied in the newly established colonial schools and played a critical role in developing and articulating ideas of the territorial nation-state and the rights of citizenship in India. The Bengali Hindu literati believed that the higher location of India in such a constructed hierarchy of civilizations could strengthen their claims to rights of citizenship and self-government. These nineteenth century geography textbooks asserted clearly that high caste Hindus constituted the core ethnicity of colonial Indian society and all others were resident outsiders. This knowledge system, rooted in geography/ethnicity/race/space, and related to the hierarchy of civilizations, informed the Bengali intelligentsia's notion of core ethnicity in the future nation-state in India with Hindu elites at its ethnic core.
A controlled family study of children with DSM-IV bipolar-I disorder and psychiatric co-morbidity
Authors: Wozniak J. , Faraone S. V. , Mick E. , Monuteaux M. , Coville A. , Biederman J.
Published: November 2009

Background

To estimate the spectrum of familial risk for psychopathology in first-degree relatives of children with unabridged DSM-IV bipolar-I disorder (BP-I).

Method

We conducted a blinded, controlled family study using structured diagnostic interviews of 157 children with BP-I probands (n=487 first-degree relatives), 162 attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (without BP-I) probands (n=511 first-degree relatives), and 136 healthy control (without ADHD or BP-I) probands (n=411 first-degree relatives).

Results

The morbid risk (MR) of BP-I disorder in relatives of BP-I probands (MR=0.18) was increased 4-fold [95% confidence interval (CI) 2.3–6.9, p<0.001] over the risk to relatives of control probands (MR=0.05) and 3.5-fold (95% CI 2.1–5.8, p<0.001) over the risk to relatives of ADHD probands (MR=0.06). In addition, relatives of children with BP-I disorder had high rates of psychosis, major depression, multiple anxiety disorders, substance use disorders, ADHD and antisocial disorders compared with relatives of control probands. Only the effect for antisocial disorders lost significance after accounted for by the corresponding diagnosis in the proband. Familial rates of ADHD did not differ between ADHD and BP-I probands.

Conclusions

Our results document an increased familial risk for BP-I disorder in relatives of pediatric probands with DSM-IV BP-I. Relatives of probands with BP-I were also at increased risk for other psychiatric disorders frequently associated with pediatric BP-I. These results support the validity of the diagnosis of BP-I in children as defined by DSM-IV. More work is needed to better understand the nature of the association between these disorders in probands and relatives.
Family-focused cognitive behaviour therapy versus psycho-education for chronic fatigue syndrome in 11- to 18-year-olds: a randomized controlled treatment trial
Authors: Chalder T. , Deary V. , Husain K. , Walwyn R.
Published: November 2009

Background

Only one previous randomized controlled trial (RCT) has examined the efficacy of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) for chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) in children. The aim of this study was to compare family-focused CBT with psycho-education for CFS in adolescents.

Method

Sixty-three 11- to 18-year-olds (43 girls, 20 boys) with CFS were randomly assigned to either family-focused CBT or psycho-education delivered over 6 months. School attendance was the main outcome, which was assessed at the end of treatment and at 3, 6 and 12 months follow-up.

Results

At the main outcome point (the 6-month follow-up) both groups had improved similarly. However, although those who received family-focused CBT were attending school for longer than those who received psycho-education, at discharge from treatment and at 3 months follow-up, they improved less quickly across the follow-up period.

Conclusions

Adolescents with CFS get back to school more quickly after family-focused CBT. This is important as they are at a crucial stage of their development. However, the finding that psycho-education was as effective as family-focused CBT at 6 and 12 months follow-up has important implications for health service delivery.
Can pharmacotherapists be too supportive? A process study of active medication and placebo in the treatment of depression
Authors: Strunk D. R. , Stewart M. O. , Hollon S. D. , DeRubeis R. J. , Fawcett J. , Amsterdam J. D. , Shelton R. C.
Published: November 2009

Background

This study examined therapist–patient interactions during clinical management with antidepressant medication and pill-placebo.

Method

The sample consisted of 80 patients on active medication and 40 patients in a pill-placebo condition from a randomized controlled trial for moderate to severe depression. Pharmacotherapist–patient interactions were characterized using observer ratings of the therapeutic alliance, pharmacotherapist-offered facilitative conditions, pharmacotherapist adherence to clinical management treatment guidelines and pharmacotherapist competence. Patients, therapists and raters were blind to treatment condition and outcome.

Results

Provision of greater non-specific support (facilitative conditions) in early sessions predicted less subsequent improvement in depressive symptoms for patients receiving pill-placebo but not those receiving active medications, for which none of the process ratings predicted subsequent change. Early symptom change predicted later alliance and adherence in both conditions and therapist competence in the active condition.

Conclusions

Higher levels of support in early sessions predict poorer subsequent response among placebo patients. It remains unclear whether patients who are likely to be refractory elicit greater non-specific support or whether the provision of such support has a deleterious effect in unmedicated patients. Differences in treatment process variables between conditions late in treatment are likely to be largely a consequence of symptom relief produced by active medications.
Differing patterns of brain structural abnormalities between black and white patients with their first episode of psychosis
Authors: Morgan K. D. , Dazzan P. , Morgan C. , Lappin J. , Hutchinson G. , Chitnis X. , Suckling J. , Fearon P. , Jones P. B. , Leff J. , Murray R. M.
Published: November 2009

Background

African-Caribbean and black African people living in the UK are reported to have a higher incidence of diagnosed psychosis compared with white British people. It has been argued that this may be a consequence of misdiagnosis. If this is true they might be less likely to show the patterns of structural brain abnormalities reported in white British patients. The aim of this study therefore was to investigate whether there are differences in the prevalence of structural brain abnormalities in white and black first-episode psychosis patients.

Method

We obtained dual-echo (proton density/T2-weighted) images from a sample of 75 first-episode psychosis patients and 68 healthy controls. We used high resolution magnetic resonance imaging and voxel-based methods of image analysis. Two separate analyses were conducted: (1) 34 white British patients were compared with 33 white British controls; (2) 41 African-Caribbean and black African patients were compared with 35 African-Caribbean and black African controls.

Results

White British patients and African-Caribbean/black African patients had ventricular enlargement and increased lenticular nucleus volume compared with their respective ethnic controls. The African-Caribbean/black African patients also showed reduced global grey matter and increased lingual gyrus grey-matter volume. The white British patients had no regional or global grey-matter loss compared with their normal ethnic counterparts but showed increased grey matter in the left superior temporal lobe and right parahippocampal gyrus.

Conclusions

We found no evidence in support of our hypothesis. Indeed, the finding of reduced global grey-matter volume in the African-Caribbean/black African patients but not in the white British patients was contrary to our prediction.
Reduced connectivity of the auditory cortex in patients with auditory hallucinations: a resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging study
Authors: Gavrilescu M. , Rossell S. , Stuart G. W. , Shea T. L. , Innes-Brown H. , Henshall K. , McKay C. , Sergejew A. A. , Copolov D. , Egan G. F.
Published: November 2009

Background

Previous research has reported auditory processing deficits that are specific to schizophrenia patients with a history of auditory hallucinations (AH). One explanation for these findings is that there are abnormalities in the interhemispheric connectivity of auditory cortex pathways in AH patients; as yet this explanation has not been experimentally investigated. We assessed the interhemispheric connectivity of both primary (A1) and secondary (A2) auditory cortices in n=13 AH patients, n=13 schizophrenia patients without auditory hallucinations (non-AH) and n=16 healthy controls using functional connectivity measures from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data.

Method

Functional connectivity was estimated from resting state fMRI data using regions of interest defined for each participant based on functional activation maps in response to passive listening to words. Additionally, stimulus-induced responses were regressed out of the stimulus data and the functional connectivity was estimated for the same regions to investigate the reliability of the estimates.

Results

AH patients had significantly reduced interhemispheric connectivity in both A1 and A2 when compared with non-AH patients and healthy controls. The latter two groups did not show any differences in functional connectivity. Further, this pattern of findings was similar across the two datasets, indicating the reliability of our estimates.

Conclusions

These data have identified a trait deficit specific to AH patients. Since this deficit was characterized within both A1 and A2 it is expected to result in the disruption of multiple auditory functions, for example, the integration of basic auditory information between hemispheres (via A1) and higher-order language processing abilities (via A2).
Gender differences in immediate memory in bipolar disorder
Authors: Carrus D. , Christodoulou T. , Hadjulis M. , Haldane M. , Galea A. , Koukopoulos A. , Kumari V. , Frangou S.
Published: November 2009

Background

Gender is known to modulate the clinical course and severity of bipolar disorder (BD). Although cognitive abnormalities are an established feature of BD, there is limited information regarding whether gender also influences the pattern and severity of cognitive impairment.

Method

We evaluated the performance of 86 remitted patients with BD, type 1, (BD-I) (36 male and 50 female) and 46 healthy participants (21 male and 25 female) on tasks of general intellectual ability, memory encoding, recognition and retrieval, response inhibition and executive function (abstraction and perseveration). The impact of illness severity in patients was assessed using the global assessment of functioning (GAF).

Results

We found a gender effect and an interaction between diagnosis and gender on immediate memory, implicating encoding and retrieval processes, both showing male BD-I patients being disadvantaged compared with female patients and healthy controls. Immediate memory correlated with GAF scores and this association was statistically significant for male BD-I patients.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that gender differences in BD-I are associated with memory function, particularly processes relating to encoding and retrieval, and may contribute to poor functional outcome particularly in men.
Bidirectional calcium signaling between satellite glial cells and neurons in cultured mouse trigeminal ganglia
Authors: Suadicani Sylvia O. , Cherkas Pavel S. , Zuckerman Jonathan , Smith David N. , Spray David C. , Hanani Menachem
Published: November 2009

Astrocytes communicate with neurons, endothelial and other glial cells through transmission of intercellular calcium signals. Satellite glial cells (SGCs) in sensory ganglia share several properties with astrocytes, but whether this type of communication occurs between SGCs and sensory neurons has not been explored. In the present work we used cultured neurons and SGCs from mouse trigeminal ganglia to address this question. Focal electrical or mechanical stimulation of single neurons in trigeminal ganglion cultures increased intracellular calcium concentration in these cells and triggered calcium elevations in adjacent glial cells. Similar to neurons, SGCs responded to mechanical stimulation with increase in cytosolic calcium that spread to the adjacent neuron and neighboring glial cells. Calcium signaling from SGCs to neurons and among SGCs was diminished in the presence of the broad-spectrum P2 receptor antagonist suramin (50 μM) or in the presence of the gap junction blocker carbenoxolone (100 μM), whereas signaling from neurons to SGCs was reduced by suramin, but not by carbenoxolone. Following induction of submandibular inflammation by Complete Freund's Adjuvant injection, the amplitude of signaling among SGCs and from SGCs to neuron was increased, whereas the amplitude from neuron to SGCs was reduced. These results indicate for the first time the presence of bidirectional calcium signaling between neurons and SGCs in sensory ganglia cultures, which is mediated by the activation of purinergic P2 receptors, and to some extent by gap junctions. Furthermore, the results indicate that not only sensory neurons, but also SGCs release ATP. This form of intercellular calcium signaling likely plays key roles in the modulation of neuronal activity within sensory ganglia in normal and pathological states.
Geochemical ‘Golden Spike’ for Lower Palaeozoic metabentonites
Authors: Batchelor Richard A.
Published: November 2009

A number of approaches to interpreting geochemical data for categorising and correlating metabentonites are presented. Bulk rock geochemistry, combined with data from cognate minerals, provides the most robust means of characterising an altered ash bed. While it is not possible at present to identify one single parameter which can uniquely fingerprint an altered ash bed, it is possible to come close to an unique fingerprint, or ‘Golden Spike’, by utilising an array of geochemical parameters comprising bulk rock element ratios, Rare Earth Elements, Sr and Nd isotopic ratios in apatite, composition of sandine phenocrysts, and the chemical composition of melt inclusions.
Shoshonites, vaugnerites and potassic lamprophyres: similarities and differences between ‘ultra’-high-K rocks
Authors: Scarrow J. H. , Bea F. , Montero P. , Molina J. F.
Published: November 2009

A comparative study of three main igneous rock associations that plot in the K2O–SiO2 diagram shoshonite field: shoshonite series absarokites–shoshonites–banakites (henceforth referred to as shoshonites s.l.), vaugnerites, and potassic lamprophyres, reveals that similarities between the associations are superficial. Vaugnerites and lamprophyres are more magnesian, richer in large ion lithophile and high field strength elements and have higher light rare earth/heavy rare earth ratios than shoshonites. Furthermore, shoshonites have low radiogenic heat production, typical of subduction-related rocks, but most vaugnerites and some lamprophyres are highly radioactive. Relative to bulk-Earth, shoshonites have depleted, asthenospheric mantle-like Sr and Nd isotope signatures, whereas vaugnerites and potassic lamprophyres have enriched, crust or lithospheric mantle-like compositions. Though vaugnerites and some lamprophyres show evidence of crustal contamination, the contaminated magma was not originally shoshonitic. Their composition is consistent with derivation from a metasomatised upper mantle source enriched long before melting, thus precluding an active subduction setting. In conclusion, the term shoshonite, implying late-stage arc magmas, cannot be applied to a rock series simply because it plots into the K2O–SiO2 diagram shoshonite field. Shoshonites with a subduction-related source may, however, be identified by discriminant function analysis.
A revised lithostratigraphic nomenclature for the Palaeogene Faroe Islands Basalt Group, NE Atlantic Ocean
Authors: Passey Simon R. , Jolley David W.
Published: November 2009

The Palaeogene volcanic succession of the Faroe Islands in the NE Atlantic Ocean is formalised using a purely lithostratigraphic approach and following international guidelines. The Faroe Islands Basalt Group (FIBG) has a gross stratigraphic thickness of ∼6·6 km, dominated by subaerial basalt lava flows, and is subdivided into seven formations. The Lopra Formation forms the basal ∼1·1 km of the Lopra-1/1A borehole, dominated by hyaloclastites, volcaniclastic sandstones and invasive basaltic lavas/sills. It is overlain by the ∼3·25 km-thick Beinisvørð Formation, dominated by laterally extensive basalt sheet lobes separated by minor volcaniclastic lithologies. The Beinisvørð Formation is overlain by the <15 m-thick, inter-eruption, coal-bearing facies of the Prestfjall Formation and the <50 m-thick, syn-eruption, pyroclastic and sedimentary facies of the Hvannhagi Formation. Lava flow volcanic activity resumed with the <1·4 km-thick Malinstindur Formation, dominated by thinly bedded compound basalt lava flows. The top of this formation is marked by a regional disconformity surface, overlain by sandstone and conglomerate deposits of the maximum 30 m-thick Sneis Formation, a newly recognised stratigraphic unit. The final phase of volcanism recorded on the Faroe Islands consists of the >900 m-thick Enni Formation composed of a mixture of basalt sheet lobes and compound flows with abundant volcaniclastic units, e.g. the Argir Beds, that may require a further subdivision at this stratigraphic level. The new lithostratigraphy allows for more refined biostratigraphical and sequence stratigraphic correlations and prepares for a revised geological map of the Faroe Islands.