bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Elevation of Receptor Tyrosine Kinases by Small Molecule AKT Inhibitors in Prostate Cancer Is Mediated by Pim-1
Authors: Cen Bo , Mahajan Sandeep , Wang Wenxue , Kraft Andrew S.
Published: April 2013

The PI3K/AKT pathway is hyperactivated in prostate cancer but its effective therapeutic targeting has proven difficult. In particular, the antitumor activity of AKT inhibitors is attenuated by upregulation of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTK) through an uncharacterized feedback mechanism. In this report, we show that RNA interference-mediated silencing or pharmacologic inhibition of Pim-1 activity curtails AKT inhibitor-induced upregulation of RTKs in prostate cancer cells. Although Pim kinases have been implicated in cap-dependent translational control, we find that in the context of AKT inhibition, the expression of RTKs is controlled by Pim-1 in a cap-independent manner by controlling internal ribosome entry. Combination of Pim and AKT inhibitors resulted in synergistic inhibition of prostate tumor growth in vitro and in vivo. Together, our results show that Pim-1 mediates resistance to AKT inhibition and suggest its targeting to improve the efficacy of AKT inhibitors in anticancer therapy. Cancer Res; 73(11); 3402–11. ©2013 AACR.
Solar UV Radiation and Cancer in Young Children
Authors: Lombardi Christina , Heck Julia E. , Cockburn Myles , Ritz Beate
Published: April 2013

Background: Studies have shown that higher solar UV radiation exposure (UVR) may be related to lower risk of some cancers in adults. Recently, an ecologic study reported lower risks of some cancers among children living in higher UVR cities and countries. In a large population-based case–control study in California, we tested the hypothesis that childhood cancers may be influenced by UVR.

Methods: Cancers in children ages 0 to 5 years were identified from California Cancer Registry records for 1988 to 2007 and linked to birth certificate data. Controls were sampled from the birth certificates at a ratio of 20:1. Based on birth address, we assigned UVR exposure in units of Watt-hours/m2 using a geostatistical exposure model developed with data from the National Solar Radiation Database.

Results: For cases with UVR exposure of 5,111 Watt-hours/m2 or above, we estimated a reduction in odds of developing acute lymphoblastic leukemia (OR: 0.89, 95% CI: 0.81–0.99), hepatoblastoma (OR: 0.69, 95% CI: 0.48–1.00), and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (OR: 0.71, 95% CI: 0.50–1.02) adjusting for mother's age, mother's race, and child's year of birth. We also observed a small increase in odds for intracranial/intraspinal embryonal tumors (OR: 1.29, 95% CI: 1.01–1.65).

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that UVR during pregnancy may decrease the odds of some childhood cancers. Future studies should explore additional factors that may be correlated with UVR exposure and possibly include biomarkers of immune function and vitamin D.

Impact: This study shows protective associations of UVR with some childhood cancers. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 22(6); 1118–28. ©2013 AACR.
Indole-3-Carbinol and 3′,3′-Diindolylmethane Modulate Androgen's Effect on C-C Chemokine Ligand 2 and Monocyte Attraction to Prostate Cancer Cells
Authors: Kim Eun-Kyung , Kim Young S. , Milner John A. , Wang Thomas T.Y.
Published: April 2013

Inflammation has a role in prostate tumorigenesis. Recruitment of inflammatory monocytes to the tumor site is mediated by C-C chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2) through binding to its receptor CCR2. We hypothesized that androgen could modulate CCL2 expression in hormone-responsive prostate cancer cells and thereby promote recruitment of monocytes. Given the inhibitory effect of broccoli-derived compounds indole-3-carbinol (I3C) and 3,3′-diindolylmethane (DIM) on androgen-dependent pathways, we also reasoned that I3C and DIM could modulate the effect of androgen on CCL2-mediated pathways. Dihydrotestosterone was found to induce a time-dependent (0–72 hours) and concentration-dependent (0–1 nmol/L) increase in CCL2 mRNA levels in androgen-responsive human prostate cancer cells (LNCaP). This increase in CCL2 mRNA corresponded with increased secretion of CCL2 protein. The effect of dihydrotestosterone was mediated through an androgen receptor (AR)-dependent pathway as small inhibitor RNA against AR negated the induction of CCL2. Although dihydrotestosterone also induced TWIST1 mRNA, an epithelial–mesenchymal transition–related factor, and purported inducer of CCL2, blocking its expression with small inhibitor RNA did not inhibit dihydrotestosterone induction of CCL2 mRNA. Moreover, conditioned media from androgen-treated cells promoted human monocyte THP-1 cell migration and this effect was blocked by antibody against CCL-2. Both I3C and DIM inhibited promotional effects of dihydrotestosterone on CCL2 and migration. These results show that androgen may regulate CCL2 and promote inflammatory microenvironment in prostate tumors and that this process can be blocked by broccoli-derived compounds. Cancer Prev Res; 6(6); 519–29. ©2013 AACR.
Vitamin D Receptor and Retinoid X Receptor α Status and Vitamin D Insufficiency in Models of Murine Colitis
Authors: Knackstedt Rebecca W. , Moseley Vondina R. , Sun Shaoli , Wargovich Michael J.
Published: April 2013

The anti-inflammatory actions of vitamin D have long been recognized and its importance in modulating colon cancer and colitis development is becoming apparent. The vitamin D receptor (VDR) is downregulated in human ulcerative colitis and colitis-associated cancer (CAC); however, its status in murine models of colitis has yet to be explored. Snail and Snail2, zinc-finger transcription factors regulated by inflammatory pathways and able to transcriptionally silence VDR, are upregulated in human Ulcerative Colitis and are associated with localized VDR silencing. To signal, VDR must heterodimerize with retinoid X receptor α (RXRα). If either VDR or RXRα are compromised, vitamin D cannot regulate inflammatory pathways. RXRα is downregulated in human colorectal cancer, yet its expression in human and murine colitis has yet to be investigated. To explore the importance of vitamin D and VDR in murine colitis, we used acute and chronic azoxymethane/dextran sulfate sodium models of murine colitis. VDR was downregulated early in the onset of colitis, whereas RXRα downregulation only occurred as colitis became chronic and developed into CAC. Receptor downregulation was associated with an early increase in the expression of the inflammatory markers, Snail and Snail2. The acute colitis model induced in combination with a vitamin D–deficient diet resulted in increased morbidity, receptor downregulation, inflammatory marker expression, and Snail and Snail2 upregulation. These experiments show the importance of vitamin D and VDR in modulating murine colitis development. Cancer Prev Res; 6(6); 585–93. ©2013 AACR.
Illuminating Cancer Systems with Genetically Engineered Mouse Models and Coupled Luciferase ReportersIn Vivo
Authors: Kocher Brandon , Piwnica-Worms David
Published: April 2013

Bioluminescent imaging (BLI) is a powerful noninvasive tool that has dramatically accelerated the in vivo interrogation of cancer systems and longitudinal analysis of mouse models of cancer over the past decade. Various luciferase enzymes have been genetically engineered into mouse models (GEMM) of cancer, which permit investigation of cellular and molecular events associated with oncogenic transcription, posttranslational processing, protein–protein interactions, transformation, and oncogene addiction in live cells and animals. Luciferase-coupled GEMMs ultimately serve as a noninvasive, repetitive, longitudinal, and physiologic means by which cancer systems and therapeutic responses can be investigated accurately within the autochthonous context of a living animal.

Significance: Luciferase-dependent bioluminescence imaging coupled with genetically engineered mouse models of cancer permit interrogation of tumor biology and therapeutic response within the proper physiological context of the whole animal in vivo. Cancer Discov; 3(6); 616–29. ©2013 AACR.
Elevated Ecto-5'-nucleotidase-Mediated Increased Renal Adenosine Signaling Via A2B Adenosine Receptor Contributes to Chronic Hypertension
Authors: Zhang Weiru , Zhang Yujin , Wang Wei , Dai Yingbo , Ning Chen , Luo Renna , Sun Kaiqi , Glover Louise , Grenz Almut , Sun Hong , Tao Lijian , Zhang Wenzheng , Colgan Sean P. , Blackburn Michael R. , Eltzschig Holger K. , Kellems Rodney E. , Xia Yang
Published: April 2013

Rationale:

Hypertension is the most prevalent life-threatening disease worldwide and is frequently associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, the molecular basis underlying hypertensive CKD is not fully understood.

Objective:

We sought to identify specific factors and signaling pathways that contribute to hypertensive CKD and thereby exacerbate disease progression.

Methods and Results:

Using high-throughput quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction profiling, we discovered that the expression level of 5′-ectonucleotidase (CD73), a key enzyme that produces extracellular adenosine, was significantly increased in the kidneys of angiotensin II–infused mice, an animal model of hypertensive nephropathy. Genetic and pharmacological studies in mice revealed that elevated CD73-mediated excess renal adenosine preferentially induced A2B adenosine receptor (ADORA2B) production and that enhanced kidney ADORA2B signaling contributes to angiotensin II–induced hypertension. Similarly, in humans, we found that CD73 and ADORA2B levels were significantly elevated in the kidneys of CKD patients compared with normal individuals and were further elevated in hypertensive CKD patients. These findings led us to further discover that elevated renal CD73 contributes to excess adenosine signaling via ADORA2B activation that directly stimulates endothelin-1 production in a hypoxia-inducible factor-α–dependent manner and underlies the pathogenesis of the disease. Finally, we revealed that hypoxia-inducible factor-α is an important factor responsible for angiotensin II–induced CD73 and ADORA2B expression at the transcriptional level.

Conclusions:

Overall, our studies reveal that angiotensin II–induced renal CD73 promotes the production of renal adenosine that is a prominent driver of hypertensive CKD by enhanced ADORA2B signaling–mediated endothelin-1 induction in a hypoxia-inducible factor-α–dependent manner. The inhibition of excess adenosine-mediated ADORA2B signaling represents a novel therapeutic target for the disease.
Macrophage ADAM17 Deficiency Augments CD36-Dependent Apoptotic Cell Uptake and the Linked Anti-Inflammatory Phenotype
Authors: Driscoll Will S. , Vaisar Tomas , Tang Jingjing , Wilson Carole L. , Raines Elaine W.
Published: April 2013

Rationale:

Apoptotic cell phagocytosis (efferocytosis) is mediated by specific receptors and is essential for resolution of inflammation. In chronic inflammation, apoptotic cell clearance is dysfunctional and soluble levels of several apoptotic cell receptors are elevated. Reports have identified proteolytic cleavage as a mechanism capable of releasing soluble apoptotic cell receptors, but the functional implications of their proteolysis are unclear.

Objective:

To test the hypothesis that ADAM17-mediated cleavage of apoptotic cell receptors limits efferocytosis in vivo.

Methods and Results:

In vivo comparison of macrophage efferocytosis in wild-type and
Adam17
-null hematopoietic chimeras demonstrates that ADAM17 deficiency leads to a 60% increase in efferocytosis and an enhanced anti-inflammatory phenotype in a model of peritonitis. In vitro uptake of phosphatidylserine liposomes identifies the dual-pass apoptotic cell receptor CD36 as a major contributor to enhanced efferocytosis, and CD36 surface levels are elevated on macrophages from
Adam17
-null mice. Further, temporal elevation of CD36 expression with inflammation may also contribute to its impact. Soluble CD36 from macrophage-conditioned media comprises 2 species based on Western blotting, and mass spectrometry identifies 3 N-terminal peptides that represent probable cleavage sites. Levels of soluble CD36 are decreased in
Adam17
-null conditioned media, providing evidence for involvement of ADAM17 in CD36 cleavage. Importantly, enhanced efferocytosis in vivo by macrophages lacking ADAM17 is CD36 dependent and accelerates macrophage clearance from the peritoneum, thus promoting resolution of inflammation and highlighting the impact of increased apoptotic cell uptake.

Conclusions:

Our studies demonstrate the importance of ADAM17-mediated proteolysis for in vivo efferocytosis regulation and suggest a possible mechanistic link between chronic inflammation and defective efferocytosis.
Expression of the BMP Receptor Alk3 in the Second Heart Field Is Essential for Development of the Dorsal Mesenchymal Protrusion and Atrioventricular Septation
Authors: Briggs Laura E. , Phelps Aimee L. , Brown Elizabeth , Kakarla Jayant , Anderson Robert H. , van den Hoff Maurice J.B. , Wessels Andy
Published: April 2013

Rationale:

The dorsal mesenchymal protrusion (DMP) is a prong of mesenchyme derived from the second heart field (SHF) located at the venous pole of the developing heart. Recent studies have shown that perturbation of its development is associated with the pathogenesis of atrioventricular (AV) septal defect. Although the importance of the DMP to AV septation is now established, the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying its development are far from fully understood. Prior studies have demonstrated that bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling is essential for proper formation of the AV endocardial cushions and the cardiac outflow tract. A role for BMP signaling in regulation of DMP development remained to be elucidated.

Objective:

To determine the role of BMP signaling in DMP development.

Methods and Results:

Conditional deletion of the BMP receptor Alk3 from venous pole SHF cells leads to impaired formation of the DMP and a completely penetrant phenotype of ostium primum defect, a hallmark feature of AV septal defects. Analysis of mutants revealed decreased proliferative index of SHF cells and, consequently, reduced number of SHF cells at the cardiac venous pole. In contrast, volume and expression of markers associated with proliferation and active BMP/transforming growth factor β signaling were not significantly altered in the AV cushions of SHF-Alk3 mutants.

Conclusions:

BMP signaling is required for expansion of the SHF-derived DMP progenitor population at the cardiac venous pole. Perturbation of Alk3-mediated BMP signaling from the SHF results in impaired development of the DMP and ostium primum defects.
Pragmatists and Believers: Dynamics of Ideology and Compromise within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, 1941-1942
Authors: Stotland Daniel
Published: April 2013

The significance of World War II within the Russian historiography is unequivocal– but the impact of that great cataclysm on the Soviet state and Soviet society is frequently understated or overstated. The early 1940s brought massive losses to the upper echelons of the Communist Party, resulting in a rapid mobilization of the state, but these upheavals took place in a society that was already hamstrung by both the traditional scarcity of qualified professionals and the strain that Marxist-Leninist purism placed on an already strained education system. Long before the October Revolution, Russia was plagued with the enduring problem of scarcity of the qualified managerial cadres; after the Revolution, this problem was exacerbated by factional disputes between ideologues, who were primarily concerned with the ideological purity of the Soviet state, and pragmatists, who favoring a greater focus on vocational education. Caught between these two factions was the proto-middle class from which the professional stratum of Russian society was to be recruited.

During the opening years of World War II, the demand for educated professionals rose, forcing compromises in their ideological purity. In the long term, the result was a gradual, piecemeal shift toward pragmatic compromise. In the short term, however, faced with a dilemma between under-staffed and under-indoctrinated, caught in a decision-making paradigm locked in by Marxism-Leninism, the Soviet matrix opted for personalized networks and regional cliques over the professional apparatus in its quest for short-term efficiency.

Drawing on archival materials such as memoir literature, epistolary documentation and state reports from Moscow and provincial (particularly those of the Tver’ Oblast’) collections, this article examines the tensions that underpinned the conditions of the proto-middle class from throughout the 1940s, tracing the ideological constraints that structured the political landscape, the repeating cycles of essentially identical attempts at reform, and the ways in which the strain of the ideological/pragmatic conflict on Russian professionals was, and was not, resolved in the wake of World War II.
The First Stalin Mass Operation (1927)
Authors: Velikanova Olga
Published: April 2013

This article based on new archival documents introduces a new episode of mass operations, which took place in June and July of 1927 and was directed against the broad group of “anti-Soviet” forces. It preceded many practices of mass terror of the 1930s with judicial and extra-legal mechanisms. The goal of this article is to explain motivations, justifications, and mechanisms of this repressive campaign and to put this episode in the wider context of Soviet terror. Facing the combination of a perceived danger of war and real internal social hostility expressed in broad defeatism, both threatening the perpetuation of their governmental powers, authorities resorted to repressions. The 1927 episode highlights the factor of a perceived threat of war as a crucial motivating element in Soviet repressive tactics.
Orthodox Dissidence as De-Atomization: Father Dmitrii Dudko and His Battle with Razobshchennost’
Authors: Ganson Nicholas
Published: April 2013

On June 20, 1980, after more than five months of imprisonment, grueling interrogation, and emotional anguish, Fr. Dmitrii Dudko appeared on Soviet television and disavowed his earlier “anti-Soviet” statements. Dudko’s televised repudiation of his activities appeared to put the last nail in the coffin of an Orthodox dissident movement, which had shown promise as a political opposition to the Soviet state. Based on the case of Fr. Dmitrii, this article advances the idea that the characterization of the movement in political terms misrepresents the motives of its participants. Far from dismissing the political implications of the churchmen’s actions, the article, building on Fr. Dmitrii’s expressed struggle with razobshchennost’ (social atomization or isolation), explains his “dissidence” on its own terms, while considering its consequences and potential threat to the Soviet state. Seeking to grasp some of the nuance of the Orthodox dissident movement in the Soviet Union, this article employs the paradigm of atomization, de-atomization, and re-atomization to connect the religiously motivated activities of Fr. Dmitrii Dudko with the political implications of his actions for the Soviet state.
Weathering the Soviet Countryside: The Impact of Climate and Agricultural Policies on Russian Grain Yields, 1958–2010
Authors: Dronin Nikolai M. , Kirilenko Andrei P.
Published: April 2013

Agriculture in Russia has always had to contend with unfavorable climate. At the same time, large-scale socio-economic experiments have also strained the country’s food production potential throughout the 20th century. The relative role of climate and state agricultural policies in affecting production of cereals was studied for the period of 1958–2010. The study used statistical yield modeling to explain the variations in observed yields with slowly changing progress in technology and management and weather variability. The correlation between the actual and weather-explained yields is moderate to high: measured at the level of the entire country, Pearson’s r is 0.74 and Spearman’s rho is 0.68. Further, we suggest that the residual yield variability can be explained partially with the influence of large-scale changes in agricultural policies at the state level. Between these policies, we consider the following key periods in the history of Russian agriculture: “Virgin Lands” campaign (end of 1950s), Kosygin-Liberman initiatives (late 1960s), Brezhnev’s investment programmes in response of stagnation of agriculture (late 1970s – early 1980s), Gorbachev’s “Perestrojka” (1985–1991), and land privatization and price liberalization (1990s).
Civic Life and Democratic Citizenship in Qatar Findings from the First Qatar World Values Survey
Authors: Gengler Justin , Tessler Mark , Al-Emadi Darwish , Diop Abdoulaye
Published: April 2013

The present study examines the Arab nation that has remained least affected by the regional upheaval that has gripped much of the Middle East and North Africa since the beginning of 2011: the Gulf state of Qatar. Using previously unavailable data from the inaugural Qatar World Values Survey administered in December 2010, we explore the political orientations of ordinary Qatari citizens. Specifically, we extend several recent empirical analyses that suggest a conditional relationship between civic participation and democratic political orientations in Arab and other non-Western societies. As in other non-democratic contexts, we find, in Qatar citizen involvement in societal organizations is not associated with higher appreciation for democracy, nor again with those values and behaviors thought to be essential to it. Rather, associational life in Qatar is simply an extension of traditional society and the prevailing regime, with those most involved being those who derive the most benefit and who would thus stand to lose most from any revision of the political status quo.
Salafist movement and sheikh-ism in the Tunisian democratic transition*
Authors: Merone Fabio , Cavatorta Francesco
Published: April 2013

The article examines the complexity of Tunisian Salafism in the context of the Tunisian transition to democracy. Building on primary sources and original field work, the article highlights the theoretical and practical divergences that affect the Salafist camp in Tunisia in its struggle to continue a revolutionary project for a sector of disenfranchised youth unwilling to support a process of renewal of political institutions that they perceive as contributing their marginalization. In addition, the article explores the ways in which, paradoxically, the emergence and public presence of Salafism can contribute to the strengthening of democratic debate in the country.
Taxonomic revision of the genus Brounopsis Blair (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Cerambycinae) with description of four new species
Authors: WANG QIAO , LU WEN
Published: April 2013

The longicorn beetle genus Brounopsis Blair, 1937, is revised. A diagnosis of Brounopsis and a key to all five species of the genus are given. One previously known species, B. hudsoni Blair, 1937, is redescribed, and four species described as new: B. concolora sp. nov., B. nigrifacta sp. nov., B. deitzi sp. nov. and B. gourlayi sp. nov. Dorsal views of each species are provided as photographs. The genus occurs exclusively in the South Island of New Zealand and is associated with Cassinia spp. (Asteraceae).
Asian International Students’ Mental Health-Related Outcomes
Authors: Wong Y. Joel , Wang Kenneth T. , Maffini Cara S.
Published: April 2013

Guided by a Person × Context cultural framework, this is the first known study to examine the relationship between cultural values and mental health-related outcomes (depressive symptoms and professional psychological help seeking) across diverse interpersonal contexts. Using a quasi-experimental research design, 465 Asian international college students were randomly assigned to report their adherence to the Asian cultural values of emotional self-control and humility during interactions with (a) their families of origin, (b) peers from their country of origin, or (c) American peers. Humility was positively associated with depressive symptoms only during interactions with nonfamily members, and not with family members. Emotional self-control was negatively associated with attitudes toward seeking psychological help only during participants’ interactions with members of their country of origin. Humility was negatively related to psychological help seeking only during participants’ interactions with nonfamily members.
United States–India Nuclear Relations Post-9/11: Neo-Liberal Discourses, Masculinities, and Orientalism in International Politics
Authors: Das Runa
Published: April 2013

In this article I explore how the post-9/11 neo-liberal climate of globalization has served as the context within which is articulated masculinist and orientalist forms of nuclear discourses between India and the United States (US). To this extent, I draw from feminist international relations (IR), that security is a gendered phenomenon, to explore the linkages between masculinities and nuclear weapons as underpinning the nuclear security discourses between India and the US. Yet considering issues of international hierarchy and power relations between India and the US, I also draw from Edward Said’s Orientalism to explore how assumptions of orientalism are also sustained in these masculinist nuclear discourses. My contribution lies in enriching feminist IR with a post-colonial angle by suggesting that feminist IR continue to engage with post-colonial feminist perspectives to comprehend the masculinist and orientalist forms of identity politics that underpin security relations/discourses between Western and post-colonial states.
The Fischer Controversy, the War Origins Debate and France: A Non-History
Authors: Keiger J.F.V.
Published: April 2013

The controversy that followed publication in 1961 of Fritz Fischer’s Griff nach der Weltmacht was not restricted to West Germany. Even if the Fischer debate abroad did not acquire the vehemence it took on domestically, intellectually the effect was powerful. This article will demonstrate that France was potentially a most propitious terrain for the Fischer controversy to spread. Yet for a variety of reasons, largely to do with the nature of history practised in France in the 1950s and 1960s, it had remarkably little impact. The reasons for there being little reaction to the Fischer controversy also explain the state of the war origins debate in France 50 years on and why the war’s causes have not been seriously investigated by French historians for several decades.
Russian Historiography on the Origins of the First World War Since the Fischer Controversy
Authors: Sanborn Joshua
Published: April 2013

This article examines Soviet and post-Soviet historiography on the origins of the Great War, paying special attention to the reverberations of western historiographical disputes in the Soviet Union and Russia. The author argues that Fischer’s thesis was mostly uncontroversial in Russia. Most Soviet historians were predisposed to view his stress on imperialism (and German imperialism in particular) in a favorable way. Later Russian historians have also mainly agreed with Fischer, though by now the controversy is far enough in the past that few of them refer to him directly in their works. Instead, current Russian historians largely seek to place their works both within the context of the Soviet historiography and with contemporary works in Europe and the United States.
Reforming the Nhs in England: Opportunities and Challenges
Authors: Ham Chris
Published: April 2013

This paper reviews the main challenges facing the NHS in England. It assesses the radical reforms proposed by the coalition government and the financial pressures facing the NHS. The paper argues that much more emphasis needs to be given to integrated care in future in the context of an ageing population and the increased prevalence of chronic diseases. The importance of effective leadership in the NHS must be recognised and supported and is likely to be one of the issues highlighted in the Francis Inquiry report into Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust. There is also a need to look beyond current debates on reform and funding and ask what kind of health and social care system is required in the future. The King's Fund's programme of work on the future system will be raising major questions about the current emphasis on hospital based care and the need to reorient towards supporting people in their own homes and in community settings.
Ethnic Group Population Change and Neighbourhood Belonging
Authors: Finney Nissa , Jivraj Stephen
Published: April 2013

The community cohesion agenda in Britain has focused attention on the ethnic character of neighbourhoods and how population change affects cohesion. This paper examines the relationship between neighbourhood ethnic group population change and belonging. The paper measures population change as immigration, gross internal migration and with a categorisation of ethnic group population dynamics that combines migration and natural change. Pooled 2005 and 2007 Citizenship Survey data are analysed using multilevel logistic regression models. The paper does not find evidence for relationships between immigration or local population turnover and levels of neighbourhood belonging; nor is there evidence that ethnically differentiated population change matters. However, belonging does vary by individual’s ethnicity; and strong belonging is associated with high co-ethnic density for minorities. In addition, the overall population change of an area may be significant: highest levels of belonging were found in areas of White and Minority population growth driven by migration.
Shared Space and the Post-politics of Environmental Change
Authors: Imrie Rob
Published: April 2013

While the design of urban space provides an opportunity to create places sensitised to the manifold complexities of the body, places continue to be designed with little understanding of the interrelationships between design, disability and space. One issue is the absence of embodied knowledge about impairment in urban design, and the understanding of disability as an aberration, not intrinsic to the crafting of well-designed environments. With the focus on vision impairment, the paper evaluates a popular approach to improving the quality of street environments, shared space, in which pavements and roads are merged into single and shared surfaces. Data from a study of English local authorities show that the diverse needs of vision-impaired people are barely recognised or given a platform to influence shared space policy. It is suggested that this marginalisation of vision-impaired people is part of a post-political condition, in which deliberative techniques, such as public consultation, are part of a process to manage those that dissent from the preferred policy choice—i.e. shared space. An implication is the depoliticisation of shared space policy in which the unequal, and unjust, ways in which urban design impacts on vision-impaired people are neither articulated nor recognised by formal policy programmes.
Travel Time and Distance in International Perspective: A Comparison between Nanjing (China) and the Randstad (The Netherlands)
Authors: Feng Jianxi , Dijst Martin , Prillwitz Jan , Wissink Bart
Published: April 2013

While Western countries are trying to reduce car dependency on the back of low carbon objectives, the ownership and use of private cars in urban China is increasing dramatically. In this paper, light is shed on both developments through a comparative study of the travel behaviour in two regions with a very different built environment: Nanjing, China, and the Randstad in the Netherlands. Controlled for car ownership, daily travel time and distance are analysed in both regions. The results indicate that, in the case of Nanjing, the suggestion is that the configurations of current land use which support walking and cycling should be preserved as much as possible and that, in the meanwhile, investments should be made in fast public transport to facilitate economic developments. As regards the Randstad, it would seem wise to promote the use of walking and cycling by continuing to encourage compact land use patterns in combination with relatively fast public transport developments.
“A Bad Neighbour Is as Great a Plague as a Good One Is a Great Blessing”: On Negative Relationships between Neighbours
Authors: Nieuwenhuis Jaap , Völker Beate , Flap Henk
Published: April 2013

With research on social relations hitherto, it is not clear how and why negative relationships between neighbours emerge. In this study, arguments are developed on the conditions within neighbourhoods and on individual characteristics that facilitate negative relations amongst neighbours. The arguments are divided according to three perspectives: diversity, uncertainty and social influence. In the Dutch context, most support is found for the social influence perspective, and both the neighbourhood and the individual level seem important in explaining negative relationships. Important factors that explain the likelihood for negative relationships are the willingness of residents to intervene on behalf of the neighbourhood, religious diversity and individually perceived conflicts in the neighbourhood. However, people who have more relationships outside the neighbourhood, undergo less influence of perceived conflict.
Strongyloides stercoralis infection presenting as an unusual cause of massive upper gastrointestinal bleeding in an immunosuppressed patient: a case report
Authors: Jaka Hyasinta , Koy Mheta , Egan John P , Meda John R , Mirambo Mariam , Mazigo Humphrey D , Kabangila Rodrick , Wang Y Lynn , Mueller Andreas , Peck Robert N , Mchembe Mabula D , Chalya Phillipo L
Published: April 2013

Strongyloidiasis caused by Strongyloides stercoralis is a rare but well documented cause of massive upper gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding especially in endemic areas. However, oesophagogastroduodenoscopic findings and extractions of S. stercoralis, in the adult worm form, from the duodenum is even rarer. We report a case of a 27-year-old Tanzanian woman with HIV who presented with massive upper GI bleeding. She had S. stercoralis, in the adult worm form, traversing the stomach and duodenum and extracted by oesophagogastroduodenoscopy (OGD). She was treated successfully with Ivermectine and antiretroviral therapy for HIV was initiated. Strongyloidiasis should be included in the differential diagnosis of mass upper GI bleeding in immunosuppressive patients living in, or originating from, endemic areas. We believe this to be the first case to be reported from our environment.
Hyper-reactive malarial splenomegaly in the absence of raised IgM antibodies
Authors: Haider Mahnur , Nizami Sobia , Qureshi Adnan , Raza Afsheen , Mahar Farheen Karim , Beg Mohammad Asim
Published: April 2013

Hyper-reactive malarial splenomegaly (HMS) is diagnosed by the presence of massive splenomegaly, raised IgM and antimalarial antibodies and a response to antimalarial therapy. Although malaria is endemic to Pakistan, HMS is uncommon. We report on HMS in a patient with massive splenomegaly, positive Plasmodium falciparum polymerase chain reaction but normal immunoglobulin M antibody levels. The investigations were not consistent with any other diagnosis. HMS is also briefly reviewed.
The burden of surgical diseases on critical care services at a tertiary hospital in sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Tomlinson Jared , Haac Bryce , Kadyaudzu Clement , Samuel Jonathan C , Campbell Emilia LP , Lee Clara N , Charles Anthony G
Published: April 2013

In many developing countries, including those of sub-Saharan Africa, care of the critically ill is poorly developed. We sought to elucidate the characteristics and outcomes of critically ill patients in order to better define the burden of disease and identify strategies for improving care. We conducted a cross sectional observation study of patients admitted to the intensive care unit at Kamuzu Central Hospital in 2010. Demographics, patient characteristics, clinical specialty and outcome data was collected for the 234 patients admitted during the study period. Older age and admission from trauma, general surgery or medical services were associated with increased mortality. The lowest mortality was among obstetrical and gynaecology patients. Use of the ventilator and transfusions were not associated with increased mortality. Patients with head injuries had the highest mortality rate. Rationing of critical care resources, using admitting diagnosis or scoring tools, can maximize access to critical care services in resource-limited settings. Furthermore, improvements of critical care services will be central to future efforts to reduce surgical morbidity and mortality and improving outcomes in all critically ill patients.
Fabrication of autoclavable bacteriologic loops for handling Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from recycled materials in a resource poor setting
Authors: Ochang Ernest Afu
Published: April 2013

In resource limited settings, the appropriation of scarce resources during research efforts can be daunting. Sourcing for disposable plastic bacteriological loops for manipulating M. tuberculosis had been eating into the research budget. In an attempt to reduce cost, an alternative and more cost effective way of obtaining autoclavable bacteriologic inoculation loops from used materials in the laboratory was employed. Autoclave resistant loops were prepared from polypropylene automatic pipette tips and platinum wires from electric stoves. The loop volume, when desired, was calculated using a simple mathematical equation after several passes in weighted water. Laboratories in resource poor settings could also save on inoculating loops by adopting such pragmatic approaches using recycled materials.
Statistical analysis of flexural modulus of cenospheres-reinforced, recycled poly(ethylene terephthalate) using Taguchi method
Authors: Prabhu B Krishna , Dudse Sanjeev , Kulkarni Sathyabodh M
Published: April 2013

Statistical methods are playing an important role in the design and analysis of engineering experiments. One such method called Taguchi method is found to provide sufficient information to optimize a process with the use of minimum number of experiments. This article presents systematic application of Taguchi method for optimizing the process parameters of compression moulding process. The response under consideration is flexural modulus. The study includes the use of recycled polyethylene terephthalate reinforced with fly ash cenospheres. The use of these recycled materials is promising to reduce the cost of the engineering parts and help nature by increasing waste utilization. A model for flexural modulus is designed and verified through experiments. The outcome from analysis of variance brings out the facts that moulding pressure, moulding temperature and weight fraction of cenospheres are the three most significant parameters of flexural modulus, contributing 59.44, 21.45 and 7.75%, respectively. The optimum set values for these parameters are found to be 5 MPa, 50°C and 15%. The proposed quadratic model for flexural modulus proves to be well in agreement with the experimental results.
Mrs. McCain’s Parlor
Authors: Logan Cameron
Published: April 2013

A housing restoration trend—called “brownstoning” in New York, and urban pioneering or the back-to-the-city trend in other cities—had a noticeable impact in several major U.S. cities from the late 1950s onwards. Nowhere was the trend more influential than Washington, D.C. In key “intown” residential areas such as Georgetown, Capitol Hill, and Dupont Circle, the popularity of housing restoration was catalyzed by a very active set of neighborhood preservation and restoration groups. Focusing on the Capitol Hill area, this paper explores the organizational and publicity apparatus that drove the restoration process as well as the cultural politics and racial tension that accompanied it.
What kind of reflection do we need in public management?
Authors: Knassmüller Monika , Meyer Renate E.
Published: April 2013

In a rapidly changing and increasingly complex environment, the importance of reflection for public managers has been acknowledged almost unanimously by academics as well as practitioners. In this article we highlight the necessity to look at reflection in a more nuanced way. Reflection is a broad and multifaceted concept and public sector work environments are not consistently complex. We therefore argue that a differentiated and nuanced approach towards the role and purpose of reflection is required in order to do justice to the great variety of different constellations and to make the concept manageable in practice. Focusing on three standard configurations – newcomers, experts and line managers in public administration – we illustrate that different types of reflection processes are required to different extents in various practical situations. By this approach we aim to provide a multilayered perspective on reflection that sheds light on its advantages as well as highlighting the downsides and suggesting ways to address them.
Virtual Reality Exposure and Imaginal Exposure in the Treatment of Fear of Flying
Authors: Rus-Calafell Mar , Gutiérrez-Maldonado José , Botella Cristina , Baños Rosa M.
Published: April 2013

Fear of flying (FF) is an impairing psychological disorder that is extremely common in developed countries. The most effective treatment for this particular type of phobia is exposure therapy. However, there are few studies comparing imaginal exposure (IE) and virtual reality (VR) exposure for the treatment of FF. The present study compared the effectiveness of these two approaches using two manualized interventions based on the exposure technique. Patients with FF ( N = 15) were randomly assigned to either VR ( n = 7) or IE therapy ( n = 8), consisting of a total of eight sessions: two assessment sessions (pre-treatment and after the real flight) and six exposure therapy sessions, which were conducted twice a week. During each exposure session, subjective perceived anxiety was measured every 5 min. Participants were also asked to sit through a real flight immediately after the treatment. The results showed no differences between the two treatments in relation to reduced clinical symptomatology associated with the FF, although participants in the VR group experienced less anxiety during the real flight after treatment. Furthermore, at 6-month follow-up, danger expectations and flight anxiety continued to decrease in participants who had received the VR exposure therapy, and four of these seven participants took at least one more flight.
Productivity and Broadband
Authors: Mack Elizabeth , Faggian Alessandra
Published: April 2013

While the productivity paradox has been largely resolved, debate persists about the impacts of information and communications technologies on productivity, particularly as regards broadband Internet connections. To date, the bulk of the literature has not addressed the impacts of broadband provision on regional variations in productivity. This study develops a series of spatial econometric models that examine the link between broadband provision and productivity for US counties. The models developed not only consider the link between productivity and broadband provision, but they also evaluate the variability in broadband impacts that are related to the quality of human capital stock within counties. The results of the models are evidence of skill-based technological change and suggest that in general, broadband has a positive impact on productivity only in locales with high levels of human capital and/or highly skilled occupations.
Unpacking the Effect of Parental Monitoring on Early Adolescent Problem Behavior
Authors: Lippold Melissa A. , Greenberg Mark T. , Graham John W. , Feinberg Mark E.
Published: April 2013

This study explores the monitoring process longitudinally among a sample of rural early adolescents and addresses two research questions: (a) Does maternal knowledge mediate the relationship between three aspects of the parental monitoring process and adolescent problem behavior: active parent monitoring efforts, youth disclosure, and parental supervision? (b) Are these meditational pathways moderated by the affective quality of the parent–child relationship? Parent efforts to monitor youth and youth disclosure in the Fall of Grade 6 predicted substance use and delinquency in Grade 8. These relations were mediated by increases in maternal knowledge assessed in the Spring of Grade 6, suggesting that the protective effects of these constructs are partially indirect. Supervision was not significantly related to maternal knowledge or problem behavior. Parent efforts to monitor were more strongly related to maternal knowledge in families with high levels of positive affect than in families with low levels of positive affect.
Heterosexual Men and Parenthood Decision Making in South Africa
Authors: Morison Tracy
Published: April 2013

This article reports on a qualitative study about male involvement in parenthood decision making (i.e., decisions related to becoming a first-time parent) in which the focus was on White, heterosexual men. Little is known about the roles and involvement of these men in decision-making processes. They comprise an invisible norm in research as heteronormative assumptions about parenthood cause them to be overlooked. This oversight—exacerbated by the pervasive problem perspective in social science—forms the research rationale. Conducted within a gender-relational framework, the study included 23 heterosexual, White South African women and men with a view to exploring how gender constructions influence this process and affect the gender power relations. Interviews with participants were analyzed using a narrative–discursive method and the findings show how an assumption of childbearing shaped the data and may have implications for female–male power relations in reproductive partnerships.
“Men Always Adopt”
Authors: Herrera Florencia
Published: April 2013

The purpose of this article is to understand how men who have faced difficulties in conceiving with their partners and have become fathers by means of nonnormative modes of reproduction see and portray themselves in the reproductive process. Narratives by 16 fathers who resorted to assisted reproduction and/or adoption are analyzed and compared in order to learn how they describe their participation in these processes. Unstructured interviews that favor the emergence of narratives describing men’s experience in reproduction processes were conducted. In men’s assisted reproduction narratives, men portray themselves as secondary and nonactive characters. By contrast, in narratives about adoption, men center themselves as co- or equal actors. Becoming fathers is a central aspect of Chilean men’s lives and identities. However, they are still looking for ways to validate their position in the reproductive process.