bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
India: The Ambivalent Power in Asia
Authors: Ollapally Deepa
Published: August 2013

This article argues that India’s foreign policy preferences cannot be understood without referring to its state identity as it has evolved over time. The ambivalence that is evident throughout much of India’s post-Independence history lies in deep-seated identity sources—a unique mixture of post-colonial nationalism, civilizational exceptionalism and secular democracy. India’s identity has played out in foreign policy to place an inordinate amount of importance to strategic autonomy but with a normative aversion to power politics and use of force. This has led to an ambivalence that many observers find hard to understand. This orientation is now coming under increasing strain, because of the rise of a realist strand of thinking challenging the country’s traditional normatively driven foreign policy outlook. Realist thinking is posing as a distinct alternative that calls for a more proactive and power infused policy stance. The rise of China in India’s neighbourhood is giving greater weight to realist arguments. Although India’s core value of strategic autonomy is still in force in Indian foreign policy, the article suggests that it is taking on a different form that is more nuanced, more flexible and adaptable. As such, India may now be particularly well positioned to play the role of a ‘bridging power’ more effectively, matching its state identity with a new evolving international role. India’s membership in groups ranging from G-20 and Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) to India, Brazil, South Africa (IBSA) and ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), and its being a serious contender for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, gives India distinct opportunities and status to utilize a greater mix of soft and hard power options than in the past. India may well be at the moment of overcoming its historical ambivalence to power-driven policies and purposeful action.
‘Friends and grades’: Peer preference and attachment predict academic success among Naskapi youth
Authors: Burack Jacob A. , D’Arrisso Alexandra , Ponizovsky Vladimir , Troop-Gordon Wendy , Mandour Tarek , Tootoosis Curtis , Robinson Sandy , Iarocci Grace , Fryberg Stephanie
Published: August 2013

The primary findings of this study are preliminary support for the promotive effects of positive peer relations in an educational context with a specific group of First Nations adolescents. Eighty-one students from grades 6–11 who attended the sole school in the Naskapi community of Kawawachikamach in northern Québec, representing virtually all of the youths in the community, completed questionnaires regarding peer preferences, self-report peer and parental attachment, and affiliation with mainstream White and Native culture. Based on a regression analysis with full information maximum likelihood (FIML) analyses to handle missing data, only the measures of peer preference and self-report attachment to peers were found to predict school grades. These findings are inconsistent with the oppositional hypothesis that has been forwarded with other minority youths from historically oppressed communities, but rather are evidence for the beneficial effects of ‘peer power’ in this community.
Living Ideas and Dead Bodies
Authors: Prozorov Sergei
Published: August 2013

Aside from casual references to Soviet biopolitics in the work of Foucault, Agamben, and Esposito, the theoretical literature on biopolitics has largely ignored the Soviet experience, while empirical research in Russian studies has rarely addressed biopolitics. The article examines the experience of Stalinism as an important case for the study of biopolitics that helps resolve a problem preoccupying scholars from Foucault onward: the proximity of biopolitics to its opposite, the thanatopolitics of the mass production of death. How is it that a mode of power presenting itself in terms of care, augmentation, and intensification of life so frequently end up negating life itself? The article addresses this question in the context of the confluence of two political rationalities in the project of Soviet socialism, the revolutionary transcendence of the old order and the biopolitical immanentism of the construction of new forms of life. Focusing on the catastrophic policies of the Great Break (1928–1932), it argues that this combination is ultimately aporetic, leading to the violent destruction of the very lives that were to be transformed. The conclusion considers the contemporary relevance of the lessons to be learnt from Stalinist biopolitics.
The Biopolitical Birth of Gender
Authors: Repo Jemima
Published: August 2013

This article argues that gender was invented in the 1950s as a new sexual apparatus of biopower. Through a reading of mid-century sexological studies against the background of structural–functionalist and behaviorist theories of social order, it shows how gender was born in the clinic to discipline the reproduction of life in new ways. The truth of sex was no longer found in the genitals or mind, but in the contingent cognitive processes of a behavioral control system. The gender apparatus produced systematized protocols for sex reassignment surgeries for infants with ambiguous genitalia and rendered the family a panoptic institution, all to ensure that children were socialized into normative gender roles guaranteeing the continued reproduction of the life of the species. The violence of this new life-administering technology was crystallized in the pedagogical techniques employed by physicians designed to persuade their child patients to submit themselves to the normalizing care of surgeons and psychiatrists.
The Obligatory Gift of Organ Transplants
Authors: Lindberg Susanna
Published: August 2013

Recent debates on biopolitics have focused on negative and positive interpretations of “life” that is the object of biopolitical apparatuses. Agamben examines the “bare life” that is produced by the sovereign ban, Negri and Hardt speak on the contrary of emancipatory biopolitical production, while Derrida and Esposito study (auto-)immunitary reactions that constitute living beings. The aim of this article is to examine a concrete case that permits to evaluate the explanatory power of these positions. The test case pertains to the recent amendment of the Finnish law on the medical use of human organs, tissues, and cells. It shows very clearly how phenomena that conventionally constitute the basis of proper, personal existence, namely the biological body and death, are not natural phenomena anymore, insofar as they are delimited by biopolitical decisions, that also redefine social relations in a radical manner.
What is Analytical Sociology? Strengths and weaknesses of a new sociological research program
Authors: Opp Karl-Dieter
Published: August 2013

In this article, several problems of Analytical Sociology (AS) – a new school of sociological thought – are discussed. A first contention of this article is that the critique of the covering-law model (i.e. the Hempel–Oppenheim scheme) submitted by proponents of AS is problematic. The rejection of rational choice theory in AS is criticized as well. It is argued that the alleged alternative general theory applied by proponents of AS, namely DBO theory (claiming that Desires, Beliefs and Opportunities determine behavior), is equivalent to a wide version of rational choice theory. Furthermore, the focus on theories of the middle range in AS and the neglect of general theories is considered problematic. Finally, it is argued that the goals of AS can better be achieved if it is supplemented by a research program of empirical theory comparison.
Commodity Terms of Trade in Emerging Markets: A Fragile Blessing
Authors: Loser Claudio M.
Published: August 2013

Gains in terms of trade in recent years have been a source of prosperity in Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. This article discusses in detail the behavior and the impact of terms of trade changes. The evidence shows clearly that GDI and GDP have been directly influenced by this performance. The main question that needs to be faced by the commodity-exporting regions in the world is whether this prosperity will remain for the long haul, or if it will end. Furthermore, how will the economy react if conditions reverse? The answer, as described in this article, is that it will not be easy. A reversal of prices will have a major impact on income, and consequently on growth through the expected multiplier effects of a decline in export income.
Neurochemical and behavioural impact of C18 fatty acids in male mice postweaning
Authors: Yamamuro Yutaka , Yamaguchi Yuki , Abe Shin , Takenaga Fumio
Published: August 2013

Dietary components, particularly essential fatty acids, affect the expression and maintenance of normal physiological phenotypes. However, the influence of C18 fatty acids that are abundantly present in the normal diet is unclear. We focused on the behavioural and neurochemical effects of C18 fatty acids during postweaning development in male mice. An AIN-93G diet supplemented with 8% stearic acid (C18:0), 3% oleic acid (C18:1), 3% linoleic acid (C18:2) or 3% α-linolenic acid (C18:3) was provided from four weeks of age for eight weeks. At 12 weeks of age, novel exploratory behaviour and social interaction tests were carried out. One week after the last behavioural test, the brain of each mouse was removed. The frequency of social interactive behaviour was decreased by approximately 70% in the C18:0 group compared to the basal diet group, but there was no difference in cumulative time. The frequency of social interaction showed a positive correlation to cumulative time in mice fed with the experimental diets except for C18:0. Dietary C18 fatty acids following weaning had no impact on brain fatty acid composition except for the C18:3 diet. Furthermore, the neurochemical properties to be especially noted were that choline acetyltransferase activity was absolutely higher in C18:0 diet-fed mice than in the other groups, especially in the frontal cortex where it was 1.7-fold higher than in the basal diet-fed group. The present results reveal a significant possibility of neurochemical and behavioural effects of dietary fatty acids, and saturated fatty acids are of special importance during the postweaning period.
Ovarian hormone withdrawal in prepubertal developmental stage does not prevent thymic involution in rats
Authors: Arsenović-Ranin Nevena , Perišić Milica , Bufan Biljana , Stojić-Vukanić Zorica , Pilipović Ivan , Kosec Duško , Leposavić Gordana
Published: August 2013

The study was undertaken to assess the effects of ovarian hormone withdrawal in prepubertal age on thymopoiesis in 2- (young) and 11-month-old (middle-aged) rats. In ovariectomized (Ox) rats, irrespective of age, thymic weight and cellularity were greater than in age-matched controls, but the values of both parameters exhibited the age-related decline. In addition, although thymopoietic efficiency was increased in both groups of Ox rats when compared with age-matched controls, thymopoiesis exhibited the age-related decline mirrored in the lower numbers of both CD4+ and CD8+ recent thymic emigrants in peripheral blood. This reflected the prethymic changes affecting bone marrow progenitor generation/entry and the thymic alterations encompassing the impaired progenitor progression through early pre-T-cell receptor developmental stages (defined by CD45RC/CD2 expression) and, possibly, a more pronounced decrease in the proliferation of the most mature thymocytes. Apart from the changes at thymocyte level, in Ox rats the age-related alterations in thymic stroma (substantiated in a prominent loss of thymic epithelial cells) were registered. Ovariectomy-induced changes in thymic lymphoid and epithelial component, most probably, influenced each other leading to the increase in thymic expression of interleukin-6 and interleukin-7 mRNAs along with time after ovariectomy . Collectively, the study showed that the withdrawal of ovarian hormones in prepubertal age increases the efficiency of thymopoiesis in young adult rats, but does not prevent decline in thymopoiesis occurring with age.
Overexpressions of HO-1/HO-1G143H in C57/B6J mice affect melanoma B16F10 lung metastases rather than change the survival rate of mice-bearing tumours
Authors: Liu Qingjun , Wang Bo , Yin Yujing , Chen Gan , Wang Wei , Gao Xu , Wang Peng , Zhou Hong
Published: August 2013

Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is often upregulated in tumour tissues and endows tumour cells with cytoprotection and antiapoptosis. It is worthy of note that some people show higher activity of HO-1 and some anti-cancer therapies could induce HO-1 expression in normal tissues, but the effect of HO-1 of normal tissues on tumours among these people remains unknown. To assess the effect of HO-1 of normal tissues on tumour progressiveness, we investigated the growth, metastasis and angiogenic potential of murine melanoma B16F10 cells in transgenic mice overexpressing HO-1 and its negative dominant mutant HO-1G143H, respectively. The results demonstrated that neither overexpression of HO-1 nor overexpression of HO-1G143H in normal tissues could significantly change the survival rate of tumour-bearing mice, but HO-1 overexpression could inhibit lung metastases and HO-1G143H could significantly promote lung metastases. Meanwhile, the leukocytes infiltration was reduced and angiogenesis was promoted in tumours in mice overexpressing HO-1, but the opposite was true in mice overexpressing HO-1G143H. Our findings suggested that overexpression of HO-1 might be conducive to patients bearing melanoma metastasis.
Correlated mRNAs and miRNAs from co-expression and regulatory networks affect porcine muscle and finally meat properties
Authors: Ponsuksili Siriluck , Du Yang , Hadlich Frieder , Siengdee Puntita , Murani Eduard , Schwerin Manfred , Wimmers Klaus
Published: August 2013

Background

Physiological processes aiding the conversion of muscle to meat involve many genes associated with muscle structure and metabolic processes. MicroRNAs regulate networks of genes to orchestrate cellular functions, in turn regulating phenotypes.

Results

We applied weighted gene co-expression network analysis to identify co-expression modules that correlated to meat quality phenotypes and were highly enriched for genes involved in glucose metabolism, response to wounding, mitochondrial ribosome, mitochondrion, and extracellular matrix. Negative correlation of miRNA with mRNA and target prediction were used to select transcripts out of the modules of trait-associated mRNAs to further identify those genes that are correlated with post mortem traits.

Conclusions

Porcine muscle co-expression transcript networks that correlated topost mortemtraits were identified. The integration of miRNA and mRNA expression analyses, as well as network analysis, enabled us to interpret the differentially-regulated genes from a systems perspective. Linking co-expression networks of transcripts and hierarchically organized pairs of miRNAs and mRNAs to meat properties yields new insight into several biological pathways underlying phenotype differences. These pathways may also be diagnostic for many myopathies, which are accompanied by deficient nutrient and oxygen supply of muscle fibers.
Practice assistants in primary care in Germany – associations with organizational attributes on job satisfaction
Authors: Gavartina Amina , Zaroti Stavria , Szecsenyi Joachim , Miksch Antje , Ose Dominik , Campbell Stephen M , Goetz Katja
Published: August 2013

Background

Job satisfaction and organizational attributes in primary care teams are important issues as they affect clinical outcomes and the quality of health care provided. As practice assistants are an integral part of these teams it is important to gain insight into their views on job satisfaction and organizational attributes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the job satisfaction of practice assistants and the organizational attributes within their general practices in Germany and to explore the existence of possible associations.

Methods

This observational study was based on a job satisfaction survey and measurement of organizational attributes in general practices in the German federal state of Baden-Wuerttemberg. Job satisfaction was measured with the 10-item ‘Warr-Cook-Wall job satisfaction scale’. Organizational attributes were evaluated with the 21-items ‘survey of organizational attributes for primary care’ (SOAPC). Linear regression analyses were performed in which each of SOAPC scales and the overall score of SOAPC was treated as outcome variables.

Results

586 practice assistants out of 794 respondents (73.8%) from 234 general practices completed the questionnaire. Practice assistants were mostly satisfied with their colleagues and least of all satisfied with their income and recognition for their work. The regression analysis showed that ‘freedom of working method’ and ‘recognition of work’, the employment status of practice assistants and the mode of practice were almost always significantly associated with each subscale and overall score of SOAPC.

Conclusions

Job satisfaction is highly associated with different aspects of organizational attributes for primary care (‘communication’, ‘decision-making’ and ‘stress’). Consequently, improved job satisfaction could lead to a better-organized primary care team. This implication should be investigated directly in further intervention studies with a special focus on improving the recognition for work and income.
Eat, drink and gamble: marketing messages about ‘risky’ products in an Australian major sporting series
Authors: Lindsay Sophie , Thomas Samantha , Lewis Sophie , Westberg Kate , Moodie Rob , Jones Sandra
Published: August 2013

Background

To investigate the alcohol, gambling, and unhealthy food marketing strategies during a nationally televised, free to air, sporting series in Australia.

Methods/approach

Using the Australian National Rugby League 2012 State of Origin three-game series, we conducted a mixed methods content analysis of the frequency, duration, placement and content of advertising strategies, comparing these strategies both within and across the three games.

Results

There were a total of 4445 episodes (mean = 1481.67, SD = 336.58), and 233.23 minutes (mean = 77.74, SD = 7.31) of marketing for alcoholic beverages, gambling products and unhealthy foods and non-alcoholic beverages during the 360 minutes of televised coverage of the three State of Origin 2012 games. This included an average per game of 1354 episodes (SD = 368.79) and 66.29 minutes (SD = 7.62) of alcohol marketing; 110.67 episodes (SD = 43.89), and 8.72 minutes (SD = 1.29) of gambling marketing; and 17 episodes (SD = 7.55), and 2.74 minutes (SD = 0.78) of unhealthy food and beverage marketing. Content analysis revealed that there was a considerable embedding of product marketing within the match play, including within match commentary, sporting equipment, and special replays.

Conclusions

Sport is increasingly used as a vehicle for the promotion of range of ‘risky consumption’ products. This study raises important ethical and health policy questions about the extent and impact of saturation and incidental marketing strategies on health and wellbeing, the transparency of embedded marketing strategies, and how these strategies may influence product consumption.
Facilitating education in pulmonary rehabilitation using the Living Well with COPD programme for pulmonary rehabilitation: a process evaluation
Authors: Cosgrove Denise , MacMahon Joseph , Bourbeau Jean , Bradley Judy M , O’Neill Brenda
Published: August 2013

Background

Standardised evidenced-based materials and mechanisms to facilitate the delivery of the education component of pulmonary rehabilitation are not widely available. The aims of this study were: 1) to adapt the self-management programme Living Well with COPD (LWWCOPD) programme, for embedding in pulmonary rehabilitation; and, 2) to conduct a process evaluation of the adapted programme.

Methods

The adaptations to the LWWCOPD programme were informed by focus groups, current practice, relevant research and guideline documents. Pulmonary rehabilitation sites used the adapted programme, the LWWCOPD programme for pulmonary rehabilitation, to deliver the education component of pulmonary rehabilitation. A process evaluation was conducted: elements included reach (patients’ attendance rates), dose delivered (amount of programme delivered), dose received (health professional and patient satisfaction) and fidelity (impact on patients’ knowledge, understanding and self-efficacy on the Understanding COPD questionnaire). Descriptive statistics (mean, SD) were used to summarise demographics and key data from the feedback questionnaires. Qualitative feedback on the programme was collated and categorised. Changes in the Understanding COPD questionnaire were examined using paired t-tests.

Results

The LWWCOPD programme for pulmonary rehabilitation was delivered in eleven hospital- and community-based programmes (n=25 health professionals, n=57 patients with COPD). It consisted of six weekly 30–45 minute sessions. The process evaluation showed positive results: 62.3% of patients attended ≥ 4 education sessions (reach); mean (SD) 90 (10)% of the session content were delivered (dose delivered); the majority of sessions were rated as excellent or good by health professionals and patients. Patients’ satisfaction was high: mean (SD) Section B of the Understanding COPD questionnaire: 91.67 (9.55)% (dose received). Knowledge, understanding and self-efficacy improved significantly: mean change (95% CI): Section A of the Understanding COPD questionnaire: 26.75 (21.74 to 31.76)%, BCKQ 10.64 (6.92 to 14.37)% (fidelity).

Conclusion

This rigorous process evaluation has demonstrated that the LWWCOPD programme for pulmonary rehabilitation can be used to deliver high quality, consistent and equitable education sessions during hospital and community-based pulmonary rehabilitation. This programme is now available worldwide (http://www.livingwellwithcopd.com/living-well-and-pulmonary-rehabilitation.html).

Trial registration

This study was registered with clinicaltrials.gov (reference number: NCT01226836)
Thyroid surgery in geriatric patients: a literature review
Authors: Gervasi Rita , Orlando Giulio , Lerose Maria Antonietta , Amato Bruno , Docimo Giovanni , Zeppa Pio , Puzziello Alessandro
Published: August 2013

Background

Thyroid disease is common in the elderly population. The incidence of hypothyroidism and multinodular goitre gradually increases with age. In view of a growth of aging population, we performed a literature review about the feasibility of thyroid surgery in the elderly.

Methods

We conducted a literature search in the PubMed database in September 2012 and all English-language publications on thyroidectomy in geriatric patients since 2002 were retrieved. The potential original articles mainly focusing on thyroidectomy in elderly patients were all identified and full texts were obtained and reviewed for further hand data retrieving.

Results

We retrieved five papers based on different primary end-point. Four were retrospective non randomized studies and one was prospective non randomized study. At last 65, 70, 75 and 80 years were used as an age cut-off. All studies evaluate the indications of thyroidectomy in geriatric patients, postoperative morbility and mortality. Only one study specifically assesses the rate of the rehospitalization after thyroidectomy among the elderly.

Conclusions

Thyroid nodules are particularly important in elderly patients, as the incidence of malignancy increases and they are usually more aggressive tumors. An age of at least 70 years is an independent risk factor for complications after general surgery procedures. Thyroid surgery in patients aged 70 years or older is safe and the relatively high rate of thyroid carcinoma and toxic goiter may justify an aggressive approach. A programmed operation with a careful pre-operative evaluation and a risk stratification should make the surgical procedures less hazardous, specially in 80 years old patients with an high ASA score.
Ankle/brachial index to everyone
Authors: Giugliano Giuseppe , Sannino Anna , Brevetti Linda , Perrino Cinzia , Schiattarella Gabriele Giacomo , Franzone Anna , Serino Federica , Ferrone Marco , Scudiero Fernando , Carbone Andreina , De Paulis Michele , Izzo Raffaele , Amato Bruno , Trimarco Bruno , Esposito Giovanni
Published: August 2013

Background

In the last years significant attention has been paid in identifying markers of subclinical atherosclerosis or of increased cardiovascular risk.

Method

An abnormal ankle/brachial index (ABI) identifies patients affected by lower extremity peripheral arterial disease, and even more important, represents a powerful predictor of the development of future ischemic cardiovascular events.

Conclusions

In our opinion, ABI is a cardiovascular risk prediction tool with very desirable properties that might become a routine measurement in clinical practice.
Tunical plication in the management of penile curvature due La Peyronie’s disease. Our experience on 47 cases
Authors: Iacono Fabrizio , Prezioso Domenico , Ruffo Antonio , Illiano Ester , Romeo Giuseppe , Amato Bruno
Published: August 2013

Background

Peyronie’s disease is an acquired connective tissue disorder of the penile tunica albuginea with fibrosis and inflammation. The disease produces palpable plaques, penile curvature and pain during erections. Patients report negative effects in four major domains: physical appearance and self-image, sexual function and performance. These changes damage sexual life and compromise the quality of life. Our objective is to review the patient's sexual life after penile tunical plicature using the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) and the Sexual Encounter Profile (SEP) questionnaires.

Methods

A total of 47 patients with Peyronie's disease (PD) were enrolled at our urology department and they underwent correction of penile deviation between February 2009 and March 2010. Mean patient age was 56 years and mean follow-up was 24 months. Patients with painless PD plaque with no progression in angulation for at least 12 months were chosen for surgery. They underwent a penile tunical plication.

IIEF and SEP questionnaire were administered to all patients.

Results

Of all treated patients, 94% were able to insert their penis in the partner's vagina (p<0.01; SEP question 2), compared with 62% preoperatively and 90% of them was satisfied overall with the sexual intercourse (p<0.01; SEP question 5) .Patients had a significantly higher endpoint and a greater change from baseline for the remaining SEP questions related to achievement of an erection, satisfaction of erection hardness (SEP questions 1 and 4; p < 0:001).

We reported a significant improvement in the IIEF scores (from a baseline total score of 25.2 +/- 3.2 to a final score of 38.3 +/- 5.2; P<0.01). It resulted in significantly higher endpoint IIEF scores across all five IIEF domains: Erectile Function, Intercourse Satisfaction, Orgasmic Function, Sexual Desire and Overall Satisfaction. The main complaint was penile shortening (28 patients, 60%), feeling of the suture during flaccidity and tumescence (37 patients, 80%).

Conclusion

Patient quality of life improved after surgery thanks to the improvement of their sexual life. The complications are unimportant and few bother symptoms are reported. The significant improvement in erectile function was also supported by IIEF and SEP questionnaire data. Nowadays tunical plication is a safe, advantageous and useful technique to treat patients suffering of Peyronie’s disease.
Epigenetic silencing of RASSF1A deregulates cytoskeleton and promotes malignant behavior of adrenocortical carcinoma
Authors: Korah Reju , Healy James M , Kunstman John W , Fonseca Annabelle L , Ameri Amir H , Prasad Manju L , Carling Tobias
Published: August 2013

Background

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare endocrine malignancy with high mutational heterogeneity and a generally poor clinical outcome. Despite implicated roles of deregulated TP53, IGF-2 and Wnt signaling pathways, a clear genetic association or unique mutational link to the disease is still missing. Recent studies suggest a crucial role for epigenetic modifications in the genesis and/or progression of ACC. This study specifically evaluates the potential role of epigenetic silencing ofRASSF1A, the most commonly silenced tumor suppressor gene, in adrenocortical malignancy.

Results

Using adrenocortical tumor and normal tissue specimens, we show a significant reduction in expression ofRASSF1AmRNA and protein in ACC. Methylation-sensitive and -dependent restriction enzyme based PCR assays revealed significant DNA hypermethylation of theRASSF1Apromoter, suggesting an epigenetic mechanism forRASSF1Asilencing in ACC. Conversely, theRASSF1Apromoter methylation profile in benign adrenocortical adenomas (ACAs) was found to be very similar to that found in normal adrenal cortex. Enforced expression of ectopicRASSF1Ain the SW-13 ACC cell line reduced the overall malignant behavior of the cells, which included impairment of invasion through the basement membrane, cell motility, and solitary cell survival and growth. On the other hand, expression ofRASSF1A/A133S, a loss-of-function mutant form ofRASSF1A, failed to elicit similar malignancy-suppressing responses in ACC cells. Moreover, association of RASSF1A with the cytoskeleton inRASSF1A-expressing ACC cells and normal adrenal cortex suggests a role for RASSF1A in modulating microtubule dynamics in the adrenal cortex, and thereby potentially blocking malignant progression.

Conclusions

Downregulation of RASSF1A via promoter hypermethylation may play a role in the malignant progression of adrenocortical carcinoma possibly by abrogating differentiation-promotingRASSF1A- microtubule interactions.
Community genomic analyses constrain the distribution of metabolic traits across the Chloroflexi phylum and indicate roles in sediment carbon cycling
Authors: Hug Laura A , Castelle Cindy J , Wrighton Kelly C , Thomas Brian C , Sharon Itai , Frischkorn Kyle R , Williams Kenneth H , Tringe Susannah G , Banfield Jillian F
Published: August 2013

Background

Sediments are massive reservoirs of carbon compounds and host a large fraction of microbial life. Microorganisms within terrestrial aquifer sediments control buried organic carbon turnover, degrade organic contaminants, and impact drinking water quality. Recent 16S rRNA gene profiling indicates that members of the bacterial phylum Chloroflexi are common in sediment. Only the role of the class Dehalococcoidia, which degrade halogenated solvents, is well understood. Genomic sampling is available for only six of the approximate 30 Chloroflexi classes, so little is known about the phylogenetic distribution of reductive dehalogenation or about the broader metabolic characteristics of Chloroflexi in sediment.

Results

We used metagenomics to directly evaluate the metabolic potential and diversity of Chloroflexi in aquifer sediments. We sampled genomic sequence from 86 Chloroflexi representing 15 distinct lineages, including members of eight classes previously characterized only by 16S rRNA sequences. Unlike in the Dehalococcoidia, genes for organohalide respiration are rare within the Chloroflexi genomes sampled here. Near-complete genomes were reconstructed for three Chloroflexi. One, a member of an unsequenced lineage in the Anaerolinea, is an aerobe with the potential for respiring diverse carbon compounds. The others represent two genomically unsampled classes sibling to the Dehalococcoidia, and are anaerobes likely involved in sugar and plant-derived-compound degradation to acetate. Both fix CO2 via the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway, a pathway not previously documented in Chloroflexi. The genomes each encode unique traits apparently acquired from Archaea, including mechanisms of motility and ATP synthesis.

Conclusions

Chloroflexi in the aquifer sediments are abundant and highly diverse. Genomic analyses provide new evolutionary boundaries for obligate organohalide respiration. We expand the potential roles of Chloroflexi in sediment carbon cycling beyond organohalide respiration to include respiration of sugars, fermentation, CO2 fixation, and acetogenesis with ATP formation by substrate-level phosphorylation.
Antimicrobial activity of amazonian medicinal plants
Authors: Oliveira Amanda A , Segovia Jorge FO , Sousa Vespasiano YK , Mata Elida CG , Gonçalves Magda CA , Bezerra Roberto M , Junior Paulo OM , Kanzaki Luís IB
Published: August 2013

Objectives

The aqueous extracts of currently utilized Amazonian medicinal plants were assayed in vitro searching for antimicrobial activity against human and animal pathogenic microorganisms.

Methods

Medium resuspended lyophilized aqueous extracts of different organs of Amazonian medicinal plants were assayed by in vitro screening for antimicrobial activity. ATCC and standardized microorganisms obtained from Oswaldo Cruz Foundation/Brazil were individually and homogeneously grown in agar plate, and holes previously perforated in the gel were filled with diluted plant aqueous extracts. Inhibition halos were evaluated and controlled by the use of the fluoroquinolone ciprofloxacin.

Results

The Amazonian medicinal plants, Hymenelobium petraeum showed inhibitory activity over Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi, Acinetobacter baumannii and Candida albicans, while Vatairea guianensis and Symphonia globulifera presented inhibitory activity exclusively for Staphylococcus aureus. Also, Ptychopetalum olacoides and Pentaclethra macroloba inhibited the growth of Klebsiella ozaenae and Acinetobacter baumannii.

Conclusion

The aqueous botanic extracts that showed activity against microroganisms of ATTC and Osvaldo Cruz strains had at least 40% of antimicrobial activity when compared to halo inhibition produced by the commercial antibiotic ciprofloxacin utilized as a control. Of all plants extracts assayed, the Hymenelobium petraeum had the best performance, sometimes exhibiting higher activity than ciprofloxacin. It is not well-defined by the physicians the exact indication of the majority of medicinal plants in the Amazon area in Brazil. Natives utilize the plants according to their symptoms, based on the traditional knowledge transmitted orally from generation to generation, among Amerindians, Afrodescendents and ethnic mixed populations. A significant number of Amazonian medicinal plants are totally unknown related to their medicinal properties including mechanism of action and therapeutic effects, as very few information is reported in the scientific literature. A tiny amount of data is presented, as the preliminary antimicrobial properties of the medicinal plants here accessed, under the urgent necessity of new antibiotics in the market and in face of the increased resistance of infectious microorganisms to antimicrobials.
A high angiopoietin-2/angiopoietin-1 ratio is associated with a high risk of septic shock in patients with febrile neutropenia
Authors: Luz Fiusa Maiara Marx , Costa-Lima Carolina , de Souza Gleice Regina , Vigorito Afonso Celso , Penteado Aranha Francisco Jose , Lorand-Metze Irene , Annichino-Bizzacchi Joyce M , de Souza Carmino Antonio , De Paula Erich V
Published: August 2013

Introduction

Endothelial barrier breakdown is a hallmark of septic shock, and proteins that physiologically regulate endothelial barrier integrity are emerging as promising biomarkers of septic shock development. Patients with cancer and febrile neutropenia (FN) present a higher risk of sepsis complications, such as septic shock. Nonetheless, these patients are normally excluded or under-represented in sepsis biomarker studies. The aim of our study was to validate the measurement of a panel of microvascular permeability modulators as biomarkers of septic shock development in cancer patients with chemotherapy-associated FN.

Methods

This was a prospective study of diagnostic accuracy, performed in two distinct in-patient units of a university hospital. Levels of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A), soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1) and angiopoietin (Ang) 1 and 2 were measured after the onset of neutropenic fever, in conditions designed to mimic the real-world use of a sepsis biomarker, based on our local practice. Patients were categorized based on the development of septic shock by 28 days as an outcome.

Results

A total of 99 consecutive patients were evaluated in the study, of which 20 developed septic shock and 79 were classified as non-complicated FN. VEGF-A and sFlt-1 levels were similar between both outcome groups. In contrast, Ang-2 concentrations were increased in patients with septic shock, whereas an inverse finding was observed for Ang-1, resulting in a higher Ang-2/Ang-1 ratio in patients with septic shock (5.29, range 0.58 to 57.14) compared to non-complicated FN (1.99, range 0.06 to 64.62; P = 0.01). After multivariate analysis, the Ang-2/Ang-1 ratio remained an independent factor for septic shock development and 28-day mortality.

Conclusions

A high Ang-2/Ang-1 ratio can predict the development of septic shock in cancer patients with febrile neutropenia.
Signals
Authors: Eisner Leo , Maxwell S. , Raymer D. , Williams M. , Primiero P.
Published: August 2013

Signals are letters to the editor submitted by readers of The Leading Edge.
Introduction to this special section: Gravity and potential fields
Authors: Ruder Michal , Pawlowski Robert
Published: August 2013

Tien Grauch and her coauthors describe an integrated study of high-resolution aeromagnetics, ground gravity, airborne gravity gradiometry, TEM, and 2D seismic data for imaging not only basement faulting and relief, but also shallow faulting within the sedimentary section. Rather than invoking magnetic mineralization along fault zones (or other geochemical explanations) as an explanation for the observed sedimentary magnetic anomalies, they show that the anomalies can be completely explained by tectonic juxtaposition of strata of differing magnetic properties across the fault zones. They document, through 2D forward magnetic modeling, a faulted geologic column of juxtaposed magnetite-enriched clastics with magnetite-depleted clastics. These laterally varying magnetite-bearing horizons stack to produce super-positioned magnetic anomalies of relatively low amplitude and short wavelength which are superimposed on the longer wavelength, higher-amplitude magnetic anom-alies sourced by basement composition heterogeneities and structural relief.
Advancements in understanding the aeromagnetic expressions of basin-margin faults—An example from San Luis Basin, Colorado
Authors: Grauch V. J. S. , Bedrosian Paul A. , Drenth Benjamin J.
Published: August 2013

Advancements in aeromagnetic acquisition technology over the past few decades have led to greater resolution of shallow geologic sources with low magnetization, such as intrasedimentary faults and paleochannels. Detection and mapping of intrasedimentary faults in particular can be important for understanding the overall structural setting of an area, even if exploration targets are much deeper. Aeromagnetic methods are especially useful for mapping structures in mountain-piedmont areas at the margins of structural basins, where mineral exploration and seismic-hazard studies may be focused, and where logistical or data-quality issues encumber seismic methods. Understanding if the sources of aeromagnetic anomalies in this context originate from sedimentary units or bedrock is important for evaluating basin structure and/or depth to shallow exploration targets.
Expression of terrain and surface geology in high-resolution helicopter-borne gravity gradient (AGG) data: Examples from Great Sand Dunes National Park, Rio Grande Rift, Colorado
Authors: Drenth Benjamin J.
Published: August 2013

Airborne gravity gradient (AGG) data are rapidly becoming standard components of geophysical mapping programs because of their advantages in cost, access, and resolution over measurements of the gravity field on the ground. Unlike conventional techniques that measure the gravity field, AGG methods measure derivatives of the gravity field. This means that effects of terrain and near-surface geology are amplified in AGG data, and that proper terrain corrections are critically important for AGG data processing. However, terrain corrections require reasonable estimates of density for the rocks and sediments that make up the terrain. A recommended philosophical approach is to use the terrain and surface geology, with their strong expression in AGG data, to the interpreter's advantage. An example of such an approach is presented here for an area with difficult ground access and little ground gravity data. Nettleton-style profiling is used with AGG data to estimate the densities of the sand dunefield and adjacent Precambrian rocks from the area of Great Sand Dunes National Park in southern Colorado. Processing of the AGG data using the density estimate for the dunefield allows buried structures, including a hypothesized buried basement bench, to be mapped beneath the sand dunes.
SEG Board of Directors Special Lecture Tour reaches students in China
Authors: Ma Amelie
Published: August 2013

The SEG Board of Directors Special Lecture Series, presented by Alfred Liaw, began 27 May 2013 and toured six SEG Student Chapters located in and around the greater cities of Beijing and Qingdao, China. The chapters included China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Institute of Geology and Geophysics of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking University, China University of Petroleum (Beijing), CNPC Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development (RIPED), and China University of Petroleum (East China). This lecture series was presented to 264 attendees in four days.
Mathematica strat column
Authors: Liner Christopher L.
Published: August 2013

In my new life as the only geophysicist in a geology/geography department, one of my first jobs is to figure out the local stratigraphy. These are the rocks we plan to investigate by outcrop and near-surface studies, ultimately building a 3D digital geomodel. The formation of interest just now is the Mississippian Lime, a hot oil target in Oklahoma and Kansas. Now there have been stratigraphers working around NW Arkansas for more than a century, many of them still alive and kicking. I am the new kid on the block and sure to step on some toes as I try to understand the stratigraphic section.
Exploring science and technology in Phoenix: The 2013 ISEF
Authors: Nolen-Hoeksema Richard
Published: August 2013

The theme for the 2013 International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) was “Let's See What You Have in Mind.” The 2013 SEG award- and honorable-mention winners tackled problems of musical instrument design, the diffraction limit, electromagnetic induction, wave patterns, liquefaction, magnetism, and acoustic sensors.
Female Monasticism, Ecclesiastical Reform, and Regional Politics: The Northern Archdiocese of Reims, circa 1060-1120
Authors: Vanderputten Steven
Published: August 2013

The evidence analyzed in this article shows that the common understanding of the development of female monasticism in the period between ca. 1060 and ca. 1120 is too reliant on the notion of a drastic transition from one model of monastic foundation and patronage to another. With reference to the northern archdiocese of Reims, I argue that “old” and “new” models of monastic patronage were not incompatible and that the continuing involvement of the highest secular and religious elites in female monasticism reflects their ability to make the best use of religious and social change. Thus this article shows that, contrary to what some scholars have suggested, nunneries in this region were hardly immune to the profound changes that affected Western society around the year 1100.

Les données analysées dans la présente étude permettent de mettre en question la perception communément admise à propos du développement du monachisme féminin au cours de la période qui s’étend de 1060 à 1120 environ. Cette perception s’avère en effet tributaire d’une vision trop drastique de la transition qui s’est opérée entre deux modèles successifs de fondation et de patronage monastiques. Dans le cas de l’archidiocèse Nord de Reims, je soutiens que les modèles dits « ancien » et « nouveau » de patronage monastique n’étaient nullement incompatibles, et que l’engagement persistant des élites séculières et religieuses dans le monachisme féminin reflète leur capacité à exploiter au mieux les transformations religieuses et sociales. Par conséquent, cet article permet de démontrer que, contrairement à ce que de nombreux chercheurs ont considéré jusqu’à présent, les couvents de religieuses dans cette région n’étaient guère maintenus à l’écart des changements profonds intervenus dans la société occidentale aux alentours de l’an 1100.
Versailles as a Family Enterprise: The Perraults, 1660-1700
Authors: Rabinovitch Oded
Published: August 2013

Historians usually treat Versailles as a site of courtly interaction, or as a source for courtly “taste.” This article, however, examines processes that connected Versailles to the wider world, arguing for a model of Versailles’s role in the cultural politics of the monarchy, which stresses appropriations by men of letters and supplants “top-down” models of cultural absolutism. It explores the symbolic and material uses of Versailles in the social and intellectual ventures of the Perraults, a family of Parisian men of letters. While acting as authors, members of royal academies, or aides to Colbert, the Perraults used Versailles as a source of exotic animals for scientific dissection, a depository of manuscript texts, a weapon in literary struggles, and a site of sociability. As the Perraults appropriated Versailles, they used their access to the palace for their own devices, unrelated to the goals of a state-run propaganda machine; yet these appropriations brought Louis XIV’s grandeur to new publics.

Contrairement au traitement habituel de Versailles comme locus de sociabilité courtoise ou comme source de « goût classique », cet article met l’accent sur les médiations de Versailles et sur la construction de l’image de Versailles à travers des appropriations de la part des hommes de lettres. Ce travail propose un modèle du rôle de Versailles dans la politique culturelle de la monarchie louis-quatorzienne, qui va au-delà des notions d’absolutisme culturel. En étudiant les Perrault, une famille d’hommes de lettres parisiens, l’article montre comment les Perrault s’approprient Versailles comme source d’animaux exotiques pour des dissections scientifiques, comme dépôt de manuscrits, comme arme dans les conflits littéraires ou comme site de sociabilité mondaine. En s’appropriant Versailles pour leurs propres fins, les Perrault font rayonner la gloire de Louis XIV aux publics qui n’étaient pas forcément touchés auparavant par la machine de propagande étatique.