bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Effects of Socioeconomic Status on Participation in Care Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults
Authors: Wiltshire Jacqueline C. , Roberts Velma , Brown Roger , Sarto Gloria E.
Published: December 2008

Objective: This study assesses the effects of socioeconomic status (education and poverty) on seeking health information and subsequent use of this information during the medical encounter. Method: Data on 19,944 adults (aged 45 and older) were drawn from the 2000-2001 Household Component of the Community Tracking Study, a nationally representative survey of non-institutionalized individuals. Results: Higher levels of education were associated with a greater likelihood of seeking health information and mentioning information to physicians. The poor and near poor were less likely to seek health information, but only the near poor were significantly less likely to mention information to the physician. Discussion: These findings underscore the importance of education in the acquisition and use of health information among middle-aged and older adults.
The Sermon on the Mount as Realistic Disclosure of Solid Ground
Authors: Stassen Glen H.
Published: December 2008

In our Age of Interaction, we need a historically based method for validating our ethics as standing on solid ground. Applying such a method to historical test times such as the Third Reich, the US Civil Rights Movement, and others, indicates that an ethic of incarnational discipleship, trinitarianly interpreted, passes the test. But this requires an interpretation of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount that corrects idealist interpretations, and points instead to realistic practices of deliverance. A new paradigm for interpreting the Sermon on the Mount is demonstrated, with fourteen grace-based transforming initiatives of realistic deliverance from vicious cycles. A hermeneutic of analogical imagination is advocated for relating Jesus' practices in his context to effective practices of deliverance in our historical context. This points to realistic practices of just peacemaking that are effective in preventing wars and creating conditions that lead toward peace — and therefore are realistic for social ethics.
The Encounter Between Informal and Professional Care at the End of Life
Authors: James Inger , Andershed Birgitta , Ternestedt Britt-Marie
Published: December 2008

The purpose of this study was to obtain and describe in-depth knowledge about family carers' experiences of the encounter, in a hospital, between informal and professional care at the end of life. A hermeneutic approach was chosen, and we conducted interviews with 27 family carers 6 to 8 months after their loved one's death. In the encounter, the family carers made their own assessment of their loved one's condition and situation. The professionals' attitudes could both promote and impede the interaction between the two forms of care. Family carers' care actions were characterized by struggling to get treatment, being left behind, being partners, keeping the illness at a distance, hovering beside their loved one, waiting for death, and being experts and protectors. The main interpretation of the findings is that family carers possess practical knowledge about what care is the best, or least harmful, for their loved one. This can be linked to what Aristotle called phronesis.
Women Coping Successfully With Multiple Sclerosis and the Precursors of Change
Authors: Kirkpatrick Pinson Donna Marie , Ottens Allen J. , Fisher Teresa A.
Published: December 2008

In this qualitative study, we explored the question of why some women with progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) cope successfully in spite of disease progression. Ten women with progressive courses of MS, the more physically challenging forms of the disease, who self-reported as coping successfully with the disease, participated in the study. The study features an interview protocol using a psychotherapeutic model of change, precursors of change model, and incorporates a then-post design. The women's rich descriptions and explanations of precursors indicate the differences between the precursors used most frequently at time of diagnosis with MS and at the time of interview. The article provides a glimpse into the experiences these women have had with the continued change and unpredictability that the disease often engenders.
Malignant Irreversible Intestinal Obstruction: The Powerful Association of Octreotide to Corticosteroids, Antiemetics, and Analgesics
Authors: Weber Catherine , Zulian Gilbert B.
Published: December 2008

In the case of malignant intestinal obstruction, surgery often carries important mortality and morbidity risks, and feasibility is neither realistic nor reasonable. A total of 4 clinical cases of intestinal obstruction caused by advanced gastrointestinal cancers in their terminal phase are described. The association of analgesics, corticosteroids, antiemetics, and octreotide was effective to relieve symptoms of intestinal obstruction for the remaining lifetime. The insertion of a nasogastric tube was avoided in 3 of 4 cases. Death occurred 51, 56, and 64 days after clinical and radiological diagnosis of irreversible intestinal obstruction. This combination of drugs appears very powerful and well tolerated. The relatively long survival that was observed should encourage future studies of longer half-life somatostatin analogues with no need of continuous infusion or multiple daily injections.
Shifting and Shirking
Authors: Bresler-Gonen Rotem , Dowding Keith
Published: December 2008

Principal—agent models in public administration concentrate upon policy drift—when agencies allow policy to drift away from the bliss point of executive politicians. We distinguish two types of policy drift: policy shifting and agent shirking. The first occurs when agents' political bliss points are located differently from those of their principals. The second occurs when agents do not competently carry out their principals' wishes. One response to policy shift is to appoint agents who share the bliss point of the principal, allowing the reduction of costly monitoring. Through 10 cases in three Israeli cities where political appointments were made to push through structural changes to contract out services, we show that political appointees are less effective than career bureaucrats, so that solving shifting often increases shirking, especially when monitoring is reduced. The agency problems thus created were only solved by increasing monitoring and returning to career civil servants.
ADHD and Health Services Utilization in the National Health Interview Survey
Authors: Cuffe Steven P. , Moore Charity G. , McKeown Robert
Published: December 2008

Objective: Describe the general health, comorbidities and health service use among U.S. children with ADHD. Method: The 2001 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) contained the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; used to determine probable ADHD), data on medical problems, overall health, and health care utilization. Results: Asthma was two and headaches were three times more prevalent, and overall health was significantly lower, among children with SDQ ADHD. Of children with SDQ ADHD, 45% saw a mental health professional in the past year and over half were not taking medication regularly. Urban residence, age (9-13), higher family education, having health insurance, and having comorbid emotional problems were associated with mental health care utilization in children with SDQ AD/HD, while race, gender and family income were not associated. Conclusions: Children with SDQ AD/HD had more medical problems and were more likely to visit the emergency room. Treatment data suggest a problem with under-treatment of ADHD in the United States. Interventions should be targeted in rural areas, and among families with low education and without health insurance. ( J. of Att. Dis. 2009; 12(4) 330-340 )
Can rate of brain atrophy in multiple sclerosis be explained by clinical and MRI characteristics?
Authors: Korteweg T , Rovaris M , Neacsu V , Filippi M , Comi G , Uitdehaag BM , Knol DL , Polman CH , Barkhof F , Vrenken H ,   On behalf of the MAGNIMS collaboration
Published: December 2008

Introduction

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is characterized, besides focal lesions, by brain atrophy. The determinants of atrophy rates in individual patients are poorly understood.

Aim

This study investigated the predictive value of clinical and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) factors, including short-term changes thereof, for concurrent and future atrophy evolution using Spearman’s rank correlations and stepwise multiple linear regression.

Methods

We retrospectively identified a group of 115 active, early relapsing-remitting (RR) patients relatively homogeneous in terms of disease course and MRI activity compared to a second group of 96 patients with broader spectrum of MS phenotypes and inactive scans. All patients had undergone three MRI investigations with interscan intervals of at least 12 and 24 months, respectively.

Results

In the RR patients, 23% of variance in concurrent atrophy rates (over the first interval) could be explained by the combination of baseline T2 lesion volume and change in EDSS score over the first interval, whereas only 6% in future atrophy rates (over the second interval) was explained. In the heterogeneous group, 20.2% of the variance in future atrophy rates could be explained, but slightly less in concurrent atrophy rates (16.2%).

Conclusion

We concluded that variance in brain atrophy rates can partially be explained by clinical and MRI measures of disease. Future atrophy rates in individual MS patients are difficult to predict even when including previous atrophy rates.
Learning new segments and reducing domains in German L2 phonology: The role of the Prosodic Hierarchy
Authors: Lleó Conxita , Vogel Irene
Published: December 2008

This paper investigates interactions between the prosodic structures of L1 and L2 in second language acquisition. We focus here on a case in which the L1 and L2 are quite different with regard to the role played by the prosodic structures: the acquisition of German by speakers of Spanish. “Demarcating languages” such as German tend to phonologically mark the beginnings and/ or ends of relatively small prosodic constituents, while “Grouping languages” such as Spanish tend to favor the application of phonological phenomena throughout relatively long constituents. The subset-superset relationship inherent in current views of L2 acquisition, in particular the Asymmetry Hypothesis, predicts that reducing the domain of application of a process should be impossible to learn. In this light, we examine data (spontaneous and read speech of 11 Spanish speakers learning German) involving phonological processes which differ both in their segmental content and in their domains of application in the two languages. Our results are different from those predicted, that is, the pattern of acquisition cuts across the categories that would be established in such framework. Our findings thus demonstrate that the Asymmetry Hypothesis cannot be maintained as a model of L2 phonological acquisition, at least in its present form.
Retention of Irish skills: A longitudinal study of a school-acquired second language
Authors: Murtagh Lelia , van der Slik Frans
Published: December 2008

This paper describes a study of retention of school-acquired Irish among school leavers. The initial group selected represented final year secondary school students from three different instructional categories: ordinary level Irish, advanced level Irish and immersion school students. Participants were interviewed and their language skills assessed as they completed their study of Irish and again 18 months after they had left secondary school. Proficiency was measured in terms of scores on a communicative test of spoken Irish and a C-test in Irish. Background information collected included participants' self-assessed ability in spoken Irish, attitude/motivation in relation to learning Irish and their out-of-school use of Irish.

Test results did not indicate any attrition of Irish language skills over time, despite participants' general feelings of loss. This outcome matches findings from similar studies of second language attrition elsewhere, for example, Weltens, 1989. The results also indicated a general decline in opportunity to use Irish among participants from all three instructional backgrounds. The ex-immersion school participants, however, were the most likely to continue speaking the language. A small but significant gain on one particular Irish speaking subtest which was noted in this ex-immersion group may be attributed, in part at least, to these participants' greater access to Irish language-speaking networks.
A cognitive view of the bilingual lexicon: Reading and speaking words in two languages
Authors: Kroll Judith F. , Sumutka Bianca M. , Schwartz Ana I.
Published: December 2008

In this paper we review recent research on experimental psycholinguistic approaches to the bilingual lexicon. The focus in this work is to understand how it is that lexical access in both comprehension and production is fundamentally nonselective with respective to language, yet bilinguals are able to control the use of their two languages with relatively high accuracy. We first illustrate the nature of the data that support the claims of nonselectivity and then consider some of the factors that may modulate the resulting cross-language competition. These include differences in lexical parsing strategies across languages, in lexical cues that signal one language rather than another, in the ability to allocate cognitive resources, and in the nature of the tasks that initiate spoken production. We argue that the competitive nature of processing across the two languages of the bilingual provides an exquisite model to examine cognitive activity and its control.
Codeswitching and language change: One thing leads to another?
Authors: Backus Ad
Published: December 2008

This article introduces the topic of and the contributions to this Special Issue of the International Journal of Bilingualism. It explores the degree to which the hypothesis that codeswitching is a cause of contact-induced language change makes sense. After reviewing a number of methodological conditions that need to be met before the question can even be tackled, I provide an overview of theories proposed to account for structural change in contact situations (Croft, Johanson, Thomason), pointing out commonalities and differences. The article concludes with an attempt to classify attested contact-induced changes on the basis of these theories, and finally revisits the question to what degree codeswitching can cause change.
Phrase-final intonation in narratives told by Turkish-German bilinguals
Authors: Queen Robin M.
Published: December 2008

In this study, I examine how three preadolescent, Turkish-German bilingual girls use intonational resources from both of their languages as one strategy for organizing monologic narratives. In so doing, I show that the bilingual narrators make strategic use of phrase-final tunes that have their origins in the speakers' (and their community's) bilingualism. In particular, these speakers utilize two phrase-final rises that differ in their frequency of occurrence, acoustic, phonological and functional characteristics. The contrasts in the rises taken in conjunction with the contrasts between rises, levels and falls provide the speakers with conventionalized strategies for cueing specific narrative contexts. These conventionalized strategies represent a fusion of Turkish and German intonational patterns into a single intonational grammar and form part of the bilingual linguistic and discursive repertoire. As such they also represent one locus of contact-related language change.
Early understanding of two words for the same thing: A CDI study of lexical comprehension in infant bilinguals
Authors: De Houwer Annick , Bornstein Marc H. , De Coster Sandrine
Published: December 2008

A basic question that arises with respect to early bilingual comprehension is whether, as in production, bilingual infants understand words from two languages that have the same meaning (translation equivalents). This study addresses this question using CDI-data from 31 children growing up bilingual in French and Dutch. Raters report that 13-month-old bilingual infants all understand translation equivalents; however, the extent to which children understand translation equivalents is marked by considerable inter-individual variability. This understanding is related to how many meanings children understand: the more advanced infants' comprehension skills are, the more meanings they know in two languages rather than just one.
Convergence in Estonia's Russian: Directional vs. Static vs. Separative Verb
Authors: Verschik Anna
Published: December 2008

The topic of the current article is convergence in Estonia's Russian (copying of Estonian directional/static/separative verbal government) and its perception by two different sets of Russian speakers. The convergent forms in question are viewed in the terms of code-copying framework. There are clear rules of verbal government defining which Estonian verb requires which case (separative, static or directional). Russian verbs require mostly prepositional phrases with static cases (prepositional or genitive) that correspond to Estonian directional/separative cases. Thirty-seven Russian-speaking informants from Tallinn and 37 informants from Kohtla-Järve have been asked to assess the grammaticality of nine real and nine constructed utterances with the convergent forms in question by giving points from 0 to 5 to each utterance. All utterances deviate from monolingual Russian. No difference in the treatment of real versus constructed utterances was found. The informants from Tallinn tend to grant more points, since Estonian is more available there. However, individual preferences and awareness of Standard Russian may overweigh macro-sociolinguistic factors (high proficiency in and frequent use of Estonian). Difference in assessment cannot be explained by structural properties, because habitualization and subsequent conventionalization of certain collocations (for instance, in advertisements) increases the probability of acceptance.
Language contact between Spanish and Mosetén: A study of grammatical integration
Authors: Sakel Jeanette
Published: December 2008

Mosetén (Mosetenan) is spoken by approximately 800 people in the foothills of the Bolivian Andes. All of the speakers are bilingual in Spanish and Mosetén. Spanish is highly dominant and as expected, Mosetén has borrowed many structures from this language. I focus on Spanish grammatical markers that are integrated into the Mosetén system. These elements include coordinating and subordinating conjunctions, discourse markers, certain prepositions as well as markers expressing delimitation. Most of the elements are similar to gestures and function above the level of the proposition. They can be used together with native markers that express similar notions and in some cases have different functions from their equivalents in Spanish. I will show that the contact phenomena in Mosetén are typical for languages in similar situations. This similarity can be explained by the processes that appear at the very onset of borrowing in addition to comparable circumstances during the integration into the system of the language.
The evolution of trilingual codeswitching from infancy to school age: The shaping of trilingual competence through dynamic language dominance
Authors: Hoffmann Charlotte , Stavans Anat
Published: December 2008

This article reports on a study of the codeswitches produced by two children who acquired their three languages in early childhood. We compared formal and functional aspects of their switches recorded at two different stages of their development. Of particular interest was the consideration of sociolinguistic variables that have intervened in the children's environment. We undertook a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the children's codeswitches to ascertain the frequency of switching, the use of each of the three languages employed for switching and the linguistic complexity of the switches. We assumed that the sociolinguistic conditions that changed the linguistic landscape in which these children operated would be reflected not only in the development of each of their languages, but also in the kind of switches that they produced. We tried to establish whether it is the case that certain forms and functions of codeswitches constitute a “core” of trilingual language behavior while others are prone to change. Ultimately, our aim was to gain an insight into the specific trilingual language production processes over a given period of time that can shed light on the development and nature of trilingual competence.
Where do ethnolects stop?
Authors: Eckert Penelope
Published: December 2008

The paper discusses the complex role of ethnicity in the construction of a peer-based social order in preadolescence, and argues that the indexical value of “ethnic” variables is constructed among, rather than simply within, ethnic groups, and hence incorporates concerns that span ethnic boundaries. In Northern California, white Anglo speech is showing a split in /ae/ as it raises before nasals and backs elsewhere, while Chicano speakers commonly back both classes of /ae/. Based on ethnography in two Northern California elementary schools, this paper shows that the Chicano pattern does not simply index ethnicity, but indexes place in the peer-based social order as well, and as such is available to speakers regardless of ethnicity.
Sociolinguistic approaches to multiethnolect: Language variety and stylistic practice
Authors: Quist Pia
Published: December 2008

The paper presents the findings of two studies of Copenhagen multiethnolect. The first study depicts a set of linguistic features that constitutes the linguistic variety which is termed multiethnolect. This study was by and large carried out from a perspective which in the paper is called a variety perspective. The second study was carried out from a stylistic practice perspective where multiethnolect is analyzed in more holistic terms as part of a broad range of stylistic repertoires in a local community of practice. The two studies serve in this article as illustrations of different approaches to studying language use and variation in multiethnic urban areas.
Activity-Based Electrical Stimulation Training in a Stroke Patient With Minimal Movement in the Paretic Upper Extremity
Authors: Page Stephen J. , Maslyn Samantha , Hermann Valerie Hill , Wu Andy , Dunning Kari , Levine Peter G.
Published: December 2008

Background. Existing task-specific practice interventions do not increase movement in stroke patients exhibiting minimal distal movement in the paretic upper extremity. Although often used, an important limitation of conventional electrical stimulation is that it does not involve task-specific practice. Objective. To determine the impact of an activity-specific electrical stimulation program on paretic limb impairment, functional limitation, and ability to perform valued activities in a subacute stroke patient exhibiting minimal paretic wrist and hand movement. Method. A female subject exhibiting trace paretic hand and finger movement was administered, 9 months after stroke, the upper extremity section of the Fugl-Meyer Impairment Scale (FM), the Action Research Arm Test (ARAT), and the Arm Motor Ability Test (AMAT). She then engaged in paretic upper extremity, task-specific training incorporating an electrical stimulation neuroprosthesis. Training occurred 3 hours per day, 5 days per week for 3 weeks. The FM, ARAT, and AMAT were again administered. Results. After intervention, she exhibited reduced impairment (evidenced by an FM score change of 22 to 29), decreased functional limitation (evidenced by an ARAT score change of 4 to 10), and increased ability and speed in performing valued AMAT activities. She also reported using the paretic hand and fingers more and new abilities to perform valued activities such as playing piano. Conclusion. Although conventional paretic upper extremity training strategies are ineffective in patients at this level, electrical stimulation training incorporating a neuroprosthesis appears promising.
Knowledge Versus National Security
Authors: Doscher Stephanie Paul
Published: December 2008

As instructional leaders, principals often make curriculum decisions that balance their community's need for knowledge with the nation's need for knowledge workers. Across the country, school administrators are searching for funding and effective means of infusing more technology, foreign language learning, and global perspectives instruction into the curriculum. Government and business leaders tout such skills as being critical to 21st century economic growth and, in the post—9/11 world, national security. In this case, a high school principal, having attempted to address community and national needs, stands accused of having caused a serious security threat.
Are fuel poverty reduction schemes associated with decreased excess winter mortality in elders? A case study from London, UK
Authors: El Ansari Walid , El-Silimy Sally
Published: December 2008

The London Borough of Newham, London piloted the Warm Zone, a government-led fuel poverty reduction scheme. Fuel poverty is often cited as a factor in excess winter mortality (EWM) in the UK. This study reported in this paper assessed whether EWM decreased for people aged ≥65 years in Newham as compared to all London, employing data from before and throughout the duration of the Warm Zone project. The paper also discusses the difficulties surrounding the measurement and interpretation of health impact relating to fuel poverty. We calculated and compared the yearly EWM indices for people aged ≥65 years for all of London, and for Newham over 12 years (1993—2005). The yearly EWM ratio for Newham in relation to all London was then calculated and compared. No definitive evidence to support the effect of the War Zone on EMW were noted. Relationships between EWM and fewer poverty reduction schemes are difficult to interpret, as many factors are entangled. These include cold strain and biological, genetic, gender, physiological, thermoregulation, environmental, meteorological, socio-economic, healthcare provision/expenditure, lifestyle and co-morbidity aspects, besides the challenges of sample sizes and whether other fuel poverty reduction schemes were simultaneously in operation. Those in privately owned housing might be `masked' (underestimated) in their vulnerability to fuel poverty. Redefining the specific criteria for eligibility for fuel poverty grants and tackling heat inefficiency in privately owned homes not eligible for home heating improvement despite fulfilling other criteria for vulnerability requires attention. The implications are discussed.
Living with cystic fibrosis-related diabetes or type 1 diabetes mellitus: a comparative study exploring health-related quality of life and patients' reported experiences of hypoglycaemia
Authors: Tierney Stephanie , Webb Kevin , Jones Andrew , Dodd Mary , Mckenna Diane , Rowe Rachel , Whitehouse Joanna , Deaton Christi
Published: December 2008

Objectives: To compare patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) or cystic fibrosis-related diabetes (CFRD) on frequency and severity of symptoms suggestive of hypoglycaemia and diabetes-specific health-related quality of life (HRQoL).

Methods: This was a cross-sectional comparison study. Participants with T1DM or CFRD completed a questionnaire that assessed symptoms suggestive of hypoglycaemia and diabetes-specific HRQoL, and recorded episodes of low blood sugars in a prospective diary. Comparisons of responses were conducted, and Pearson product correlations were determined between HRQoL scores and other continuous variables. HRQoL scores were compared between the groups after adjusting for confounding factors.

Results: Diabetes in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients had a less negative impact on HRQoL than in T1DM patients. Both groups experienced hypoglycaemia, but loss of consciousness or needing help was more common in T1DM patients. Symptoms suggestive of hypoglycaemia were less of a problem for CFRD patients in terms of severity, with T1DM patients having more neuroglycopenic symptoms.

Discussion: Although the same percentage of patients in both groups reported experiencing hypoglycaemia, severity (e.g. symptoms and loss of consciousness) was higher for those with T1DM. Symptoms of hypoglycaemia appear to have a significant impact on HRQoL, and could account for the worse HRQoL in T1DM patients.
The Arabic version of Diabetes-39: psychometric properties and validation
Authors: Khader Yousef S. , Bataineh Safaa , Batayha Waleed
Published: December 2008

Objective: To translate Diabetes-39 (D-39) into Arabic language and assess its psychometric properties among patients with type 2 diabetes in Jordan.

Methods: A sample of 368 subjects (162 men and 206 women) was randomly selected from patients with type 2 diabetes attending outpatient clinics in King Abdullah University Hospital (KAUH). D-39 was translated using backward forward translation method. Individual D-39 items were recoded, summed and transformed to a 0 to 100-scale. Acceptability, item level validity, scale level validity and reliability were evaluated.

Results: The mean (SD) of D-39 subscales ranged from 26.9 (22.4) for `Social burden' to 50.5 (21.1) for `Energy and Mobility'. Inter item correlations within each scale were moderate to strong. All item-scale correlations exceeded the minimum correlation of 0.40 for adequate item internal consistency. Item discriminat validity was demonstrated since items correlated higher with their own scale than with other scales. For all scales, Cronbach's alpha coefficient exceeded the minimum criterion of 0.7.

Conclusions: Arabic version of D-39 is a reliable and valid instrument to measure quality of life among patients with diabetes in Jordan.
Synthesis and thermal stability of novel amorphous Al70Fe25Zr5 alloy prepared by mechanical alloying
Authors: Zou X. G. , Zou Y.
Published: December 2008

A novel amorphous Al70Fe25Zr5 alloy was synthesised through high energy ball milling the mixtures of Al, Fe and Zr powder with the milling intensity of 150G (G is the gravitational acceleration). By comparing with the binary Al–Fe amorphous, differential scanning calorimeter results indicated the crystalline temperature of ternary Al70Fe25Zr5 amorphous alloy shifts higher temperature, and it showed two stages of crystalline reactions which corresponded to the formation of Al5Fe2 and Al3Zr phases respectively. Improvement of the thermal stability for this novel Al70Fe25Zr5 amorphous alloy is explained in terms of the total structure factor that was determined by the X-ray diffraction method.
Effect of composition on kinetics of athermal martensite formation in plain carbon steels
Authors: van Bohemen S. M. C. , Sietsma J.
Published: December 2008

The kinetics of martensite formation in three Fe–C–Mn alloys has been determined using dilatometry, and is compared with the data for other steels reported in literature. Each curve can be well described by the Koistinen–Marburger equation using a composition dependent start temperature and rate parameter αm. The empirical relationship derived for αm as a function of the chemical composition can improve predictions with the Koistinen–Marburger model of the volume fraction martensite at a certain temperature.
VEGF-mediated cross-talk within the neonatal murine thymus
Authors: Cuddihy Andrew R. , Ge Shundi , Zhu Judy , Jang Julie , Chidgey Ann , Thurston Gavin , Boyd Richard , Crooks Gay M.
Published: December 2008

Although the mechanisms of cross-talk that regulate the hematopoietic and epithelial compartments of the thymus are well established, the interactions of these compartments with the thymic endothelium have been largely ignored. Current understanding of the thymic vasculature is based on studies of adult thymus. We show that the neonatal period represents a unique phase of thymic growth and differentiation, marked by endothelium that is organized as primitive, dense networks of capillaries dependent on vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). VEGF dependence in neonates is mediated by significantly higher levels of both VEGF production and endothelial VEGF receptor 2 (VEGF-R2) expression than in the adult thymus. VEGF is expressed locally in the neonatal thymus by immature, CD4−CD8− “double negative” (DN) thymocytes and thymic epithelium. Relative to adult thymus, the neonatal thymus has greater thymocyte proliferation, and a predominance of immature thymocytes and cortical thymic epithelial cells (cTECs). Inhibition of VEGF signaling during the neonatal period results in rapid loss of the dense capillaries in the thymus and a marked reduction in the number of thymocytes. These data demonstrate that, during the early postnatal period, VEGF mediates cross-talk between the thymocyte and endothelial compartments of the thymus.
Barcodes for genomes and applications
Authors: Zhou Fengfeng , Olman Victor , Xu Ying
Published: December 2008

Background

Each genome has a stable distribution of the combined frequency for each k-mer and its reverse complement measured in sequence fragments as short as 1000 bps across the whole genome, for 1<k<6. The collection of these k-mer frequency distributions is unique to each genome and termed the genome's barcode.

Results

We found that for each genome, the majority of its short sequence fragments have highly similar barcodes while sequence fragments with different barcodes typically correspond to genes that are horizontally transferred or highly expressed. This observation has led to new and more effective ways for addressing two challenging problems: metagenome binning problem and identification of horizontally transferred genes. Our barcode-based metagenome binning algorithm substantially improves the state of the art in terms of both binning accuracies and the scope of applicability. Other attractive properties of genomes barcodes include (a) the barcodes have different and identifiable characteristics for different classes of genomes like prokaryotes, eukaryotes, mitochondria and plastids, and (b) barcodes similarities are generally proportional to the genomes' phylogenetic closeness.

Conclusion

These and other properties of genomes barcodes make them a new and effective tool for studying numerous genome and metagenome analysis problems.
Contact heat evoked potentials using simultaneous EEG and fMRI and their correlation with evoked pain
Authors: Roberts Katherine , Papadaki Anastasia , Gonçalves Carla , Tighe Mary , Atherton Duncan , Shenoy Ravikiran , McRobbie Donald , Anand Praveen
Published: December 2008

Background

The Contact Heat Evoked Potential Stimulator (CHEPS) utilises rapidly delivered heat pulses with adjustable peak temperatures to stimulate the differential warm/heat thresholds of receptors expressed by Aδ and C fibres. The resulting evoked potentials can be recorded and measured, providing a useful clinical tool for the study of thermal and nociceptive pathways. Concurrent recording of contact heat evoked potentials using electroencephalogram (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has not previously been reported with CHEPS. Developing simultaneous EEG and fMRI with CHEPS is highly desirable, as it provides an opportunity to exploit the high temporal resolution of EEG and the high spatial resolution of fMRI to study the reaction of the human brain to thermal and nociceptive stimuli.

Methods

In this study we have recorded evoked potentials stimulated by 51°C contact heat pulses from CHEPS using EEG, under normal conditions (baseline), and during continuous and simultaneous acquisition of fMRI images in ten healthy volunteers, during two sessions. The pain evoked by CHEPS was recorded on a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS).

Results

Analysis of EEG data revealed that the latencies and amplitudes of evoked potentials recorded during continuous fMRI did not differ significantly from baseline recordings. fMRI results were consistent with previous thermal pain studies, and showed Blood Oxygen Level Dependent (BOLD) changes in the insula, post-central gyrus, supplementary motor area (SMA), middle cingulate cortex and pre-central gyrus. There was a significant positive correlation between the evoked potential amplitude (EEG) and the psychophysical perception of pain on the VAS.

Conclusion

The results of this study demonstrate the feasibility of recording contact heat evoked potentials with EEG during continuous and simultaneous fMRI. The combined use of the two methods can lead to identification of distinct patterns of brain activity indicative of pain and pro-nociceptive sensitisation in healthy subjects and chronic pain patients. Further studies are required for the technique to progress as a useful tool in clinical trials of novel analgesics.
Desmoglein 2 is a substrate of kallikrein 7 in pancreatic cancer
Authors: Ramani Vishnu C , Hennings Leah , Haun Randy S
Published: December 2008

Background

In a previous report we have demonstrated that the chymotryptic-like serine protease kallikrein 7 (KLK7/hK7) is overexpressed in pancreatic cancer. In normal skin, hK7 is thought to participate in skin desquamation by contributing in the degradation of desmosomal components, such as desmogleins. Thus, the ability of hK7 to degrade desmogleins was assessed and the effect of hK7 expression on desmoglein 2 was examined in cultured pancreatic cancer cells.

Methods

The expression of Dsg1, Dsg2, and Dsg3 in pancreatic tissues was examined by immunohistochemistry and their expression in two pancreatic cancer cell lines, BxPC-3 and Panc-1, was determined by western blot analysis. The ability of hK7 to degrade Dsg1 and Dsg2 was investigated using in vitro degradation assays. BxPC-3 cells stably transfected to overexpress hK7 were used to examine the effect of hK7 on cell-surface resident Dsg2.

Results

The levels of immunoreactive Dsg1 and Dsg2 were reduced in pancreatic adenocarcinomas compared with both normal pancreatic and chronic pancreatitis tissues. Among the desmosomal proteins examined, Dsg2 exhibited robust expression on the surface of BxPC-3 cells. When hK7 was overexpressed in this cell line, there was a significant increase in the amount of soluble Dsg2 released into the culture medium compared with vector-transfected control cells.

Conclusion

A reduction in the amount of the cell adhesion components Dsg1 and Dsg2 in pancreatic tumors suggests that loss of these desmosomal proteins may play a role in pancreatic cancer invasion. Using in vitro degradation assays, both Dsg1 and Dsg2 could be readily proteolyzed by hK7, which is overexpressed in pancreatic adenocarcinomas. The enforced expression of hK7 in BxPC-3 cells that express significant amounts of Dsg2 resulted in a marked increase in the shedding of soluble Dsg2, which is consistent with the notion that aberrant expression of hK7 in pancreatic tumors may result in diminished cell-cell adhesion and facilitate tumor cell invasion.
Evolutionary and structural analyses of alpha-papillomavirus capsid proteins yields novel insights into L2 structure and interaction with L1
Authors: Lowe John , Panda Debasis , Rose Suzanne , Jensen Ty , Hughes Willie A , Tso For Yue , Angeletti Peter C
Published: December 2008

Background

PVs (PV) are small, non-enveloped, double-stranded DNA viruses that have been identified as the primary etiological agent for cervical cancer and their potential for malignant transformation in mucosal tissue has a large impact on public health. The PV family Papillomaviridae is organized into multiple genus based on sequential parsimony, host range, tissue tropism, and histology. We focused this analysis on the late gene products, major (L1) and minor (L2) capsid proteins from the family Papillomaviridae genus Alpha-papillomavirus. Alpha-PVs preferentially infect oral and anogenital mucosa of humans and primates with varied risk of oncogenic transformation. Development of evolutionary associations between PVs will likely provide novel information to assist in clarifying the currently elusive relationship between PV and its microenvironment (i.e., the single infected cell) and macro environment (i.e., the skin tissue). We attempt to identify the regions of the major capsid proteins as well as minor capsid proteins of alpha-papillomavirus that have been evolutionarily conserved, and define regions that are under constant selective pressure with respect to the entire family of viruses.

Results

This analysis shows the loops of L1 are in fact the most variable regions among the alpha-PVs. We also identify regions of L2, involved in interaction with L1, as evolutionarily conserved among the members of alpha- PVs. Finally, a predicted three-dimensional model was generated to further elucidate probable aspects of the L1 and L2 interaction.
Decreased postnatal neurogenesis in the hippocampus combined with stress experience during adolescence is accompanied by an enhanced incidence of behavioral pathologies in adult mice
Authors: Hayashi Fumihiko , Takashima Noriko , Murayama Akiko , Inokuchi Kaoru
Published: December 2008

Background

Adolescence is a vulnerable period in that stress experienced during this time can affect the incidence of psychiatric disorders later, during adulthood. Neurogenesis is known to be involved in the postnatal development of the brain, but its role in determining an individual's biological vulnerability to the onset of psychiatric disorders has not been addressed.

Results

We examined the role of postnatal neurogenesis during adolescence, a period between 3 to 8 weeks of age in rodents. Mice were X-irradiated at 4 weeks of age, to inhibit postnatal neurogenesis in the sub-granule cell layer of the hippocampus. Electrical footshock stress (FSS) was administered at 8 weeks old, the time at which neurons being recruited to granule cell layer were those that had begun their differentiation at 4 weeks of age, during X-irradiation. X-irradiated mice subjected to FSS during adolescence exhibited decreased locomotor activity in the novel open field, and showed prepulse inhibition deficits in adulthood. X-irradiation or FSS alone exerted no effects on these behaviors.

Conclusion

These results suggest that mice with decreased postnatal neurogenesis during adolescence exhibit vulnerability to stress, and that persistence of this condition may result in decreased activity, and cognitive deficits in adulthood.
The prognostic value of blood lactate levels relative to that of vital signs in the pre-hospital setting: a pilot study
Authors: Jansen Tim C , van Bommel Jasper , Mulder Paul G , Rommes Johannes H , Schieveld Selma JM , Bakker Jan
Published: December 2008

Introduction

A limitation of pre-hospital monitoring is that vital signs often do not change until a patient is in a critical stage. Blood lactate levels are suggested as a more sensitive parameter to evaluate a patient's condition. The aim of this pilot study was to find presumptive evidence for a relation between pre-hospital lactate levels and in-hospital mortality, corrected for vital sign abnormalities.

Methods

In this prospective observational study (n = 124), patients who required urgent ambulance dispatching and had a systolic blood pressure below 100 mmHg, a respiratory rate less than 10 or more than 29 breaths/minute, or a Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) below 14 were enrolled. Nurses from Emergency Medical Services measured capillary or venous lactate levels using a hand-held device on arrival at the scene (T1) and just before or on arrival at the emergency department (T2). The primary outcome measured was in-hospital mortality.

Results

The average (standard deviation) time from T1 to T2 was 27 (10) minutes. Non-survivors (n = 32, 26%) had significantly higher lactate levels than survivors at T1 (5.3 vs 3.7 mmol/L) and at T2 (5.4 vs 3.2 mmol/L). Mortality was significantly higher in patients with lactate levels of 3.5 mmol/L or higher compared with those with lactate levels below 3.5 mmol/L (T1: 41 vs 12% and T2: 47 vs 15%). Also in the absence of hypotension, mortality was higher in those with higher lactate levels. In a multivariable Cox proportional hazard analysis including systolic blood pressure, heart rate, GCS (all at T1) and delta lactate level (from T1 to T2), only delta lactate level (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.20, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.05 to 0.76, p = 0.018) and GCS (HR = 0.93, 95% CI = 0.88 to 0.99, p = 0.022) were significant independent predictors of in-hospital mortality.

Conclusions

In a cohort of patients that required urgent ambulance dispatching, pre-hospital blood lactate levels were associated with in-hospital mortality and provided prognostic information superior to that provided by the patient's vital signs. There is potential for early detection of occult shock and pre-hospital resuscitation guided by lactate measurement. However, external validation is required before widespread implementation of lactate measurement in the out-of-hospital setting.
Low-frequency reflections from a thin layer with high attenuation caused by interlayer flow
Authors: Quintal Beatriz , Schmalholz Stefan M. , Podladchikov Yuri Y.
Published: December 2008

The 1D interlayer-flow (or White’s) model is based on Biot’s theory of poroelasticity and explains low-frequency seismic wave attenuation in partially saturated rocks by wave-induced fluid flow between two alternating poroelastic layers, each saturated with a different fluid. We have developed approximate equations for both the minimum possible value of the quality factor, [Formula: see text], and the corresponding fluid saturation for which [Formula: see text] is minimal. The simple approximate equations provide a better insight into the dependence of [Formula: see text] on basic petrophysical parameters and allow for a fast assessment of the minimal value of [Formula: see text]. The approximation is valid for a wide range of realistic petrophysical parameter values for sandstones partially saturated with gas and water, and shows that values of [Formula: see text] can be as small as two. We ap-plied the interlayer-flow model to study the reflection coefficient of a thin (i.e., between 6 and 11 times smaller than the incident wavelength) layer that is partially saturated with gas and water. The reflection coefficient of the layer, caused only by a contrast in attenuation between the layer and the nonattenuating background medium, can be larger than 10% for [Formula: see text] within the layer. The reflection coefficient was calculated with finite difference simulations of wave propagation in heterogeneous, poroelastic solids and in equivalent viscoelastic solids. The reflection coefficient of the layer is also estimated with an analytical solution using a complex velocity for the layer. The numerical and analytical results agree well. Our results indicate that reflection coefficients of gas reservoirs can be significantly increased and frequency dependent in the low-frequency range because of attenuation within the reservoir caused by wave-induced flow.