bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
MALARIA IN PREGNANCY
Authors: Takem Ebako Ndip , D'Alessandro Umberto
Published: January 2013

Pregnant women have a higher risk of malaria compared to non-pregnant women. This review provides an update on knowledge acquired in the past decade on P. falciparum and P.vivax infections in pregnancy. Maternal risk factors for malaria in pregnancy (MiP) include low maternal age, low gravidity, and low gestational age. The effects of MIP include maternal anaemia, low birth weight (LBW), preterm delivery and increased infant mortality.P. falciparum infected erythrocytes sequester in the placenta by expressing surface antigens, mainly variant surface antigen (VAR2CSA), that bind to specific receptors, mainly chondroitin sulphate A. In stable transmission settings, the higher malaria risk in primigravidae can be explained by the non recognition of these surface antigens by the immune system. Recently, placental sequestration has been described also for P.vivax infections. The mechanism of preterm delivery and intrauterine growth retardation is not completely understood, but fever (preterm delivery), anaemia, and high cytokines levels have been implicated.      Clinical suspicion of MiP should be confirmed by parasitological diagnosis. The sensitivity of microscopy, with placenta histology as the gold standard, is 60% and 45% for peripheral and placental falciparum infections, respectively. Compared to microscopy, RDTs have a lower sensitivity.Insecticide treated nets (ITN) and intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp) are recommended for the prevention of MiP in stable transmission settings. ITNs have been shown to reduce malaria infection and adverse pregnancy outcomes by 28-47%. Although resistance is a concern, SP has been shown to be equivalent to MQ and AQ for IPTp. For the treatment of uncomplicated malaria, a combination of quinine + clyndamycin is recommended in all trimesters, while artesunate+ clindamycin or any other ACT known to be effective in the region are recommended in the second and third trimesters. For severe malaria, quinine (parenteral) is recommended in the first trimester while artesunate (parenteral) is recommended in the second and third trimesters.
Implications of the O + OH reaction in hydroxyl nightglow modeling
Authors: Caridade P. J. S. B. , Horta J.-Z. J. , Varandas A. J. C.
Published: January 2013

Abstract. The hydroxyl nightglow has been examined anew using calculated rate constants for the key reactive and inelastic O + OH(v') quenching processes. These constants have been obtained from quasiclassical trajectories run on the adiabatic ab initio-based double many-body expansion-IV potential energy surface for the ground state of the hydroperoxil radical. Significant differences in the vertical profiles of vibrationally excited hydroxyl radicals are obtained relative to the ones predicted by Adler-Golden (1997) when employing an O + OH(v') effective rate constant chosen to be twice the experimental value for quenching of OH(v' = 1). At an altitude of 90 km, such deviations range from ~ 80% for v' = 1 to only a few percent for v' = 9. Other mechanisms reported in the literature have also been utilized, in particular those that loosely yield lower and upper limits in the results, namely sudden-death and collisional cascade. Finally, the validity of the steady-state hypothesis is analysed through comparison with results obtained via numerical integration of the master equations.
Hydrologic control of the oxygen isotope ratio of ecosystem respiration in a semi-arid woodland
Authors: Shim J. H. , Powers H. H. , Meyer C. W. , Knohl A. , Dawson T. E. , Riley W. J. , Pockman W. T. , McDowell N.
Published: January 2013

Abstract. We conducted high frequency measurements of the δ18O value of atmospheric CO2 from a juniper (Juniperus monosperma) woodland in New Mexico, USA, over a four-year period to investigate climatic and physiological regulation of the δ18O value of ecosystem respiration (δR). Rain pulses reset δR with the dominant water source isotope composition, followed by progressive enrichment of δR. Transpiration (ET) was significantly related to post-pulse δR enrichment because leaf water δ18O value showed strong enrichment with increasing vapor pressure deficit that occurs following rain. Post-pulse δR enrichment was correlated with both ET and the ratio of ET to soil evaporation (ET / ES). In contrast, soil water δ18O value was relatively stable and δR enrichment was not correlated with ES. Model simulations captured the large post-pulse δR enrichments only when the offset between xylem and leaf water δ18O value was modeled explicitly and when a gross flux model for CO2 retro-diffusion was included. Drought impacts δR through the balance between evaporative demand, which enriches δR, and low soil moisture availability, which attenuates δR enrichment through reduced ET. The net result, observed throughout all four years of our study, was a negative correlation of post-precipitation δR enrichment with increasing drought.
Radar subpixel-scale rainfall variability and uncertainty: a lesson learned from observations of a dense rain-gauge network
Authors: Peleg N. , Ben-Asher M. , Morin E.
Published: January 2013

Abstract. Hydrological models for runoff estimations and flash-flood predictions are very sensitive to rainfall's spatial and temporal variability. The increasing use of radar and satellite data in hydrological applications, due to the sparse distribution of rain gauges over most catchments worldwide, requires improving our knowledge of the uncertainties of these data. In 2011, a new super-dense network of rain gauges, containing 27 gauges covering an area of about 4 km2, was installed near Kibbutz Galed in northern Israel. This network was established for a detailed exploration of the uncertainties and errors regarding rainfall variability in remote-sensing at subpixel-scale resolution. In this paper, we present the analysis of the first year's record collected from this network and from the Shacham weather radar. The gauge–rainfall spatial correlation and uncertainty were examined along with the estimated radar error. The zero-distance correlation between rain gauges was high (0.92 on the 1-min scale) and increased as the time scale increased. The variance of the differences between radar pixel rainfall and averaged point rainfall (the variance reduction factor – VRF) was 1.6%, as measured for the 1-min scale. It was also found that at least four uniformly distributed rain stations are needed to represent the rainfall on the radar pixel scale. The radar–rain gauge error was mainly derived from radar estimation errors as the gauge sampling error contributed up to 22% to the total error. The radar rainfall estimations improved with increasing time scale and the radar-to-true rainfall ratio decreased with increasing time scale. Rainfall measurements collected with this network of rain gauges in the coming years will be used for further examination of rainfall's spatial and temporal variability.
Evaluation of Alternatives for Dysfunctional Double Lumen Central Venous Catheters Using a Two-Compartmental Mathematical Model for Different Solutes
Authors: Van Canneyt Koen , Van Biesen Wim , Vanholder Raymond , Segers Patrick , Verdonck Pascal , Eloot Sunny
Published: January 2013

Double lumen (DL) central venous catheters (CVC) often suffer from thrombosis, fibrin sheet formation, and/or suction towards the vessel wall, resulting in insufficient blood flow during hemodialysis. Reversing the catheter connection often restores blood flows, but will lead to higher recirculation. Single lumen (SL) CVCs have often fewer flow problems, but they inherently have some degree of recirculation. To assist bedside clinical decision making on optimal catheter application, we investigated mathematically the differences in dialysis adequacy using different modes of access with CVCs.

A mathematical model was developed to calculate reduction ratio (RR) and total solute removal (TSR) of urea, methylguanidine (MG), beta-2-microglobulin (β2M), and phosphate (P) during different dialysis scenarios: 4-h dialysis with a well-functioning DL CVC (DL-normal, blood flow QB 350 ml/min), dysfunctional DL CVC (DL-low flow, QB 250), reversed DL CVC (DL-reversed, QB 350, recirculation R = 10%) and 12 Fr SL CVC (effective QB273).

With DL-normal as reference, urea RR was decreased by 3.5% (DL-reversed), 13.0% (SL), and 15.6% (DL-low flow), while urea TSR was decreased by 3.3% (DL-reversed), 13.2% (SL), and 13.5% (DL-low flow). The same trend was found for MG and P. However, β2M RR decreased only 1.5% with SL CVC although TSR decrease was 17.2%, while RR decreased 21.1% with DL-low flow although TSR decrease was only 4.9%.

In the case of dysfunctional DL CVCs, reversing the catheter connection and restoring the blood flow did not impair TSR, with 10% recirculation. The SL CVC showed suboptimal TSR results that were similar to those of the dysfunctional DL CVC.
Considerations on Afterload Management for Patients with Centrifugal Ventricular Assist Devices
Authors: Kouatli Yasser , Neill Sean , Pagani Frank
Published: January 2013

This case report illustrates the challenges in managing patients with centrifugal ventricular assist devices (VADs). As these devices have evolved, their physical properties have changed, impacting patient management. Levitated centrifugal pumps have a non-linear response to afterloads. The device output will decrease significantly in the presence of high systemic vascular resistance. Blood pressure control is integral to the management of patients in the immediate and later postoperative period.
PAR-1 Mediates the Thrombin-induced Mesothelial Cell Overproduction of VEGF and PAI-1
Authors: Belling Franziska , Ribeiro Andrea , Wörnle Markus , Ladurner Roland , Mussack Thomas , Sitter Thomas , Sauter Matthias
Published: January 2013

Purpose

Thrombin mediates an excess in the production of neoangiogenetic (VEGF) and profibrotic (PAI-1) factors in human peritoneal mesothelial cells (HMC). The mechanisms leading to this overproduction have not been elucidated so far; in the context of peritoneal dialysis it can result in impaired peritoneal membrane function.

Objectives

This study was performed to evaluate the presence of the thrombin receptor Proteaseactivated receptor-1 (PAR-1) in HMC and to characterize its function in the thrombin-dependent effects mentioned above.

Methods

All experiments were performed using cultured primary HMC. Real-Time PCR and Western Blot were used to evaluate PAR-1; ELISA and Real-Time PCR were employed to examine PAR-1 effects on target mediators.

Results

We found that cultivated primary HMC show a basal presence of PAR-1. Stimulation with IL-1β induced an increase of the mesothelial PAR-1 expression whereas stimulation with glycosilated human serum albumin or the ligand thrombin itself resulted in decreased PAR-1 expression. Stimulation with the specific PAR-1 ligand TFLLR-NH2 caused increased VEGF and PAI-1 levels similar to stimulation with thrombin, whereas preincubation with PAR-1 blocking antibodies ATAP2 and WEDE15 attenuated the thrombin-induced overproduction of VEGF and PAI-1.

Conclusions

HMC express PAR-1 and the receptor is involved in thrombin effects on these cells. These findings may be a basis for pharmacological prevention of neoangiogenesis and adhesions in the context of peritoneal dialysis and peritonitis.
Accountability and the Sri Lankan Civil War
Authors: Ratner Steven R.
Published: January 2013

Sri Lanka's civil war came to a bloody end in May 2009, with the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) by Sri Lanka's armed forces on a small strip of land in the island's northeast. The conflict, the product of long-standing tensions between Sri Lanka's majority Sinhalese and minority Tamils over the latter's rights and place in society, had begun in the mid-1980s and ebbed and flowed for some twenty-five years, leading to seventy to eighty thousand deaths on both sides. Government repression of Tamil aspirations was matched with ruthless LTTE tactics, including suicide bombings of civilian targets; and for many years the LTTE controlled large parts of northern and eastern Sri Lanka.
Impact ofSalmonella entericaType III Secretion System Effectors on the Eukaryotic Host Cell
Authors: Ramos-Morales Francisco
Published: January 2013

Type III secretion systems are molecular machines used by many Gram-negative bacterial pathogens to inject proteins, known as effectors, directly into eukaryotic host cells. These proteins manipulate host signal transduction pathways and cellular processes to the pathogen’s advantage.Salmonella entericapossesses two virulence-related type III secretion systems that deliver more than forty effectors. This paper reviews our current knowledge about the functions, biochemical activities, host targets, and impact on host cells of these effectors. First, the concerted action of effectors at the cellular level in relevant aspects of the interaction betweenSalmonellaand its hosts is analyzed. Then, particular issues that will drive research in the field in the near future are discussed. Finally, detailed information about each individual effector is provided.
Health Benefits of Probiotics: A Review
Authors: Kechagia Maria , Basoulis Dimitrios , Konstantopoulou Stavroula , Dimitriadi Dimitra , Gyftopoulou Konstantina , Skarmoutsou Nikoletta , Fakiri Eleni Maria
Published: January 2013

Probiotic bacteria have become increasingly popular during the last two decades as a result of the continuously expanding scientific evidence pointing to their beneficial effects on human health. As a result they have been applied as various products with the food industry having been very active in studying and promoting them. Within this market the probiotics have been incorporated in various products, mainly fermented dairy foods. In light of this ongoing trend and despite the strong scientific evidence associating these microorganisms to various health benefits, further research is needed in order to establish them and evaluate their safety as well as their nutritional aspects. The purpose of this paper is to review the current documentation on the concept and the possible beneficial properties of probiotic bacteria in the literature, focusing on those available in food.
Gendering CSR in the Arab Middle East: An Institutional Perspective
Authors: Karam Charlotte M. , Jamali Dima
Published: January 2013

This paper explores how corporations, through their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities, can help to effect positive developmental change. We use research on institutional change, deinstitutionalization, and institutional work to develop our central theoretical framework. This framework allows us to suggest more explicitly how CSR can potentially be mobilized as a purposive form of institutional work aimed at disrupting existing institutions in favor of positive change. We take the gender institution in the Arab Middle East as a case in point. Our suggestion is that the current context of the Arab Spring, which combined with increasingly obvious endogenous institutional contradictions, has created a fertile ground for shaping change processes within the gender institution. Finally, we provide concrete examples of CSR initiatives that regional corporate actors can engage in for positive developmental change supporting women.
Biotechnology valuation and governance: Drug development and board of directors composition
Authors: Houston Chad , Graham J. Edward , Schuhmann Peter
Published: January 2013

This paper examines the valuation of biotechnology firms and measure firm value relative to the firmsâ€™ drug development pipelines, alliances with other firms, and the varied composition of those firmsâ€™ boards of directors.Â  Unsurprisingly, the advancement of drugs in the pipeline is associated with increased valuation, and the failure of drugs in testing is found to have negative impacts. Â Findings do not support the notion that companies engaged in partnerships or alliances have better performance. Extending prior research, the study finds that the presence of medical doctors on the boards of directors is significantly positively associated with the price-to-book ratio and firm value. Drug approvals seemed less likely for small cap firms; this outcome is likely the result of small cap firms with more promising prospects being acquired, and exiting â€œsmall capâ€ status. Among other findings, a higher number of drug approvals among such targeted diseases as AIDS and cancer are observed; modestly higher approval rates are observed in concert with a relatively higher proportion of financiers â€“ such as hedge fund managers and investment bankers â€“ on biotechnology boards. Â Findings are important to the investor, the biotechnology manager and the regulator.
Focusing on the Efficacy of Tizanidine in the Multiple Sclerosis Clinic
Authors: Scott Thomas F.
Published: January 2013

The use of tizanidine is well established in spasticity due to multiple sclerosis (MS), spinal cord injury, and cerebrovascular disease. Refinement of the use oftizanidine in these areas is ongoing. To date, most large studies have focused primarily on measurement of changes in abnormalities of tone and spasm frequency rather than changes related to improved function. More detailed studies may help to better elucidate the impact of tizanidine and other spasticity treatments on activities of daily living and overall quality of life of MS patients. (Int J MS Care. 2001; 3(1): 29–31)
Managing Spasticity in People With Multiple Sclerosis: A Goal-Oriented Approach to Intrathecal Baclofen Therapy
Authors: Jarrett Louise , Leary Siobhan M. , Porter Bernadette , Richardson Davina , Rosso Tiziana , Powell Michael , Thompson Alan J.
Published: January 2013

The effectiveness of intrathecal baclofen therapy (ITB) in the management of severe spasticity in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) was reviewed retrospectively. The multidisciplinary team reviewed the medical, therapy, and nursing notes of 19 people with MS who were treated with ITB. The audited information included surgical procedures, postoperative complications, medical side effects, dose requirements, and multidisciplinary input.

Seventeen people were included in the audit. A total of 23 problems and 34 functional goals as objects for ITB treatment were recorded. Eighty-seven percent of the patients had sustained improvement in at least one problem, and 79% in at least one goal. Only two patients had no sustained improvement in any problem or goal. These results suggest that ITB can be an effective intervention in people with severe spasticity in MS. However, this approach requires careful patient selection, a dynamic goal-oriented approach, expert implantation, and ongoing evaluation of individual responses to treatment over time. (Int J MS Care. 2001; 3(4): 10–21)
Sweat Response During Submaximal Aerobic Exercise in Persons With Multiple Sclerosis
Authors: Mulcare Janet A. , Webb Paul , Mathews Thomas , Gupta Satyendra C.
Published: January 2013

The relationship between the metabolic, thermal load of exercise, sudomotor (sweat) response, and core temperature was examined in 20 individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) and eight non-MS control subjects. Participants performed an incremental bicycle test of maximal aerobic power (VO2peak) fiom which 50% of VO2peak was calculated. A 50% VO2peak endurance test was performed while subject wore a full-body water garment. Initial circulating water temperature of 27°C was increased 2°C every three minutes to enhance the thermal load. Core, skin, and circulating water temperatures were monitored. Onset of sweating was measured at five sites. Results showed that 50% of the subjects with MS had an abnormally low sweat response in spite of relatively high skin temperatures (> 35°C) at several sites. The thermal load (kJ/kg) of these subjects at test termination was 89% higher than that of the MS subjects with a normal sweat response. Clinicians should be aware that sweat response may be blunted or absent in many patients with MS. Guidance for ways to enhance heat dissipation under adverse climatic conditions or during activities that increase whole body metabolism should be provided to patients with MS. Perhaps of even greater importance was the finding that increased core and skin temperature during exercise did not result in the appearance of any MS-related symptom in 95% of our sample. This finding is in direct conflict with much of the clinical literature. (Int J MS Care. 2001; 3(4): 26–33.)
An Audit of a New System of Self–Referral in the Management of Multiple Sclerosis
Authors: Carroll Áine , Mattison Paul , Comiskey Catherine
Published: January 2013

A random sample of the referral notes of 35 multiple sclerosis patients experiencing relapse and referred via the current general practitioner (GP) system was reviewed. The time between receipt of the referral and assessment/admission (lead time) was examined. The mean value was obtained and a self referral system was initiated and monitored for a period of five months. The mean referral times were compared. The patients' disability status before and after treatment was measured using the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) and Functional Independence Measure (FIM), and we invited the patients' opinions about the self-referral system.

The goals of the newly implemented self-referral system were to reduce lead time to less than 6.5 days, improve patient disability, and avoid inappropriate referral; the new system was also to be “user friendly.”

The new system reduced referral times by a statistically significant amount (P = 0.0016). There was a significant objective improvement in patients' disability as measured by the EDSS and FIM scores (P = 0.031 and P = 0.04, respectively). There was a subjective improvement, and patients expressed a preference for the new system. There were no inappropriate referrals. These findings suggest that the self-referral system is efficient and effective and should be further evaluated. (Int J MS Care. 2002; 4: 10–12)
Changes in Voiding Patterns in Patients With MS and Extended-Release Oxybutynin
Authors: O'Leary Margie , Erickson Janet R. , Smith Christopher P. , Cannon Tracy W. , Fraser Matthew , Boyd Marlene , Heyman Rock , Chancellor Michael B.
Published: January 2013

We evaluated the effects and tolerability of extended-release oxybutynin chloride on the voiding and catheterization frequency of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with neurogenic bladder. This was a 12-week, prospective, dose-titration study of extended-release oxybutynin (oxybutynin XL). MS patients were recruited for this study from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine's MS clinic. Entry criteria included a postvoid residual urine volume of less than 200 mL (in noncatheterized subjects). Previous urodynamic testing was not required. Exclusion criteria included individuals with urine results indicating pyuria in the presence of a positive urine culture. These tests were repeated at six and 12 weeks. After a seven-day washout period, patients recorded episodes of voiding or catheterization and incontinence for three consecutive days. Patients received initial daily doses of 10 mg oxybutynin XL in the first week. Doses were increased at weekly or biweekly intervals to a maximum of 30 mg/d. Tolerability information was collected at each follow-up visit. Twenty of the original 23 patients completed the study. The mean age was 46.3 (range, 24 to 61). Fifteen subjects (75%) were women. Subjects reported clinical improvement with decreased urinary frequency and incontinence episodes after dosing was escalated to 30 mg/d. Seventeen patients chose a final effective dosage greater than 10 mg/d, with 13 patients taking at least 20 mg/d at the end of the study. There were no serious adverse events during the course of the study. Extended-release oxybutynin is safe and effective in MS patients with neurogenic bladder. The onset of clinical efficacy occurs within one week, and daily doses up to 30 mg may be indicated and are well tolerated. (Int J MS Care. 2002; 4: 116–119, 124)
Problems in Clinical Trial Design in Multiple Sclerosis
Authors: Greenstein Jeffrey I.
Published: January 2013

Historically, it has been difficult to demonstrate the effectiveness of treatments for multiple sclerosis (MS) because of the variability in the course of the disease, the lack of well-defined, reliable clinical measures, and the pervasiveness of poorly controlled clinical trials. Hence, to interpret the results of clinical trials in MS and make evidence-based decisions regarding treatment for their patients, neurologists should have a basic understanding of appropriate outcome measures and the necessary controls of a well-designed study. This paper reviews the controls required to test the efficacy of agents for the treatment of MS and offers examples of poorly controlled clinical trials to illustrate the problems in interpreting data without such controls. In addition, the outcome measures that should be used to assess the efficacy of treatments on the physical, inflammatory, and cognitive components of the disease are discussed. (Int J MS Care. 2002; 4: 125–131, 136–137)
Health and Social Profile of Older Adults With MS: Findings From Three Studies
Authors: Finlayson Marcia
Published: January 2013

Currently in the United States, approximately 45% of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) are older than 55. The majority of these people can expect to live as long as their age peers. This paper provides a health and social profile of 440 older adults with MS (mean age, 64) using data from three separate studies conducted in Canada and the United States. The majority of participants were women, married, living with at least one other person, and reporting that their income was adequate to meet their needs. The most common symptoms reported included fatigue, problems with balance, and weakness. Participants had the most difficulty with doing heavy housework, making a hot meal, managing finances, and bathing. Overall, most participants reported their health as poor. Comparing these findings to existing literature suggests important health differences between younger and older people with MS, and between older adults with and without MS, that may not be sufficiently recognized by existing services. (Int J MS Care. 2002; 4: 139–143, 148–151)
Report of the Consensus Panel on the New International Panel Guidelines for Diagnosis of MS
Authors: Herndon Robert M. , Coyle Patricia K. , Murray Thomas J. , Wolinsky Jerry S.
Published: January 2013

The new international panel guidelines for diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) raised a number of concerns regarding their use and application, particularly in relation to their impact on treatment issues and options. As a result, a consensus panel composed primarily of North American neurologists with inclusion of several members from the International Panel was convened in Fort Worth, Texas, November 30 to December 2, 2001, to discuss these concerns, resulting in the following consensus statement regarding the guidelines and their appropriate use. (Int J MS Care. 2002; 4: 170–173)
Influence of Infant Feeding Method on Postpartum Relapse of Mothers With MS
Authors: Gulick Elsie E. , Halper June
Published: January 2013

In an effort to determine relapse rates in breast-feeding and non—breast-feeding mothers with multiple sclerosis (MS) as well as differences in symptom prevalence between relapsing and non-relapsing mothers, weekly diaries through the first six postpartum months were kept by mothers to record the frequency and percentages of infant feeding by breast or formula and health problems that the mothers experienced. Of 140 mothers who breast-fed their infants, 35 (25%) experienced at least one neurologist-confirmed MS relapse during the first six months and 47 (33.6%) during the 12-month period; for non—breast-feeding mothers, 18 (51.4%) experienced relapse by six months and 22 (61.1%) by 12 months. MS relapse during pregnancy predicted increased relapse during the first three postpartum months while an increased percentage of infant feedings by breast predicted decreased relapse. Relapse the year before pregnancy and during pregnancy predicted increased relapse during the four- to six-month postpartum period. Length of time on immunomodulating therapy since delivery predicted increased relapse at seven to nine months. MS relapse during pregnancy predicted increased relapse at the 10- to 12- month period. For non—breast-feeding mothers none of the predictors of relapse were significant for the three-month period except use of immunomodulating therapy during the four- to six-month period when such use was associated with increased relapse. Relapsing compared with non-relapsing mothers reported significantly more MS-related symptoms during the three-month postpartum period. Decreased relapse rates during the first three months following delivery among breast-feeding mothers compared with non—breast-feeding mothers have implications for encouraging women with MS who wish to breast-feed their infants to do so, particularly if their pregnancy was free of relapse. Women with MS are also encouraged to postpone the initiation of immunomodulating therapy until three months following delivery or when breast-feeding is discontinued. (Int J MS Care. 2002; 4:183–191)
Perceived Effects of Marijuana Use By MS Patients in Saskatchewan—A Pilot Study
Authors: Linassi A. Gary , Hader Walter J.
Published: January 2013

Dissatisfaction with conventional treatments has led to increasing awareness of complementary therapies. To study the use and effects of marijuana in multiple sclerosis (MS), an anonymous questionnaire was sent to 250 randomly selected MS patients from Saskatchewan asking about course of the disease, symptoms, complementary therapy use, and details of past or present marijuana usage. Of the 168 respondents, 36% had smoked marijuana. The incidence of marijuana use for the symptoms of MS was 15%. (A total of 15% used marijuana as treatment for symptoms of MS.) Symptoms that improved included spasticity at sleep onset (58%), weight loss (58%), spasticity when walking (47%), depression (45%), spasms at night (43%), and muscle pain (41%). Statistical significance was not achieved because of the small number of respondents (25 of 168) who smoked marijuana.

This small number of cannabis users provides some indication of potential symptomatic relief in MS. The effects of marijuana appear to modestly benefit symptoms of spasticity, pain, and depression. These data support the proposal for a controlled randomized trial to evaluate the beneficial effects of marijuana in MS. (Int J MS Care. 2003; 6: 139–147)
A Medical Student Falls Ill
Authors: Oliker Rachel
Published: January 2013

A medical student offers a first-person account of her experience with multiple sclerosis (MS) from initial symptoms to diagnosis and treatment—and discusses the adjustments that living with the disease has necessitated, as well as the insights she has gained by seeing medical care from the dual perspectives of health care professional and patient. (Int J MS Care. 2003; 5: 151–154)
Introduction
Authors: Nerone John
Published: January 2013

Media history is an emerging field. Ambiguities about its object of study and modes of explanation make it difficult to define the boundaries of media history. It is possible to sketch out some existing formations of scholarly work in the area. This introduction offers some suggestions for mapping the field while it introduces the structure and contents of the handbook. It also addresses the received history of the field of media studies. It challenges the likelihood of the emergence of accepted grand narratives about either media history or the foundations of media studies, but proposes that the resulting anarchy is a sign of intellectual robustness.
The Two Marxes
Authors: Mosco Vincent
Published: January 2013

This chapter examines how political economy and the cultural study of technology inform media analysis and history. It addresses the divide between these two perspectives on media history as a debate between Karl Marx and Leo Marx. Political economy primarily grew from the materialist conception of Karl Marx which viewed technology as dynamic but banal. Karl's work gave rise to a materialist or political economic tradition in media studies that took up the role of communication technology in class domination, exploitation, contradiction, struggle, and resistance. Leo Marx developed an approach that focused on the sublime nature of technology. In doing so, he demonstrated how technology drew people to visions of transcending the banalities of everyday life. Leo viewed the sublime as a genuine experience of meaningful transcendence and not what materialists concluded was false consciousness. Whereas Karl provided structural explanations that drew from a philosophical anthropology based in praxis, Leo offered cultural explanations based on a vocabulary rooted in aesthetics. The chapter focuses on specific tendencies and strengths within each and suggests how to draw them together.
The Conditions of Media's Possibility
Authors: Packer Jeremy
Published: January 2013

This chapter integrates Michel Foucault's historiographic approach with media history. After describing how Foucault's work has traditionally been used and understood by media historians, four areas of work are used as examples for establishing a more holistic account of the value of Foucault's archaeological and genealogical methods of historical enquiry. They are (1) the work of German media theorist Friedrich Kittler, (2) the Stanford School of the philosophy of science, (3) cultural studies work in governmentality studies, and (4) Giorgio Agamben's application of the Foucauldian concept apparatus. After providing eight questions for orienting Foucauldian historical investigation, the chapter explains how this leads to understanding the interrelated dimensions of power, knowledge, and subjectification as they intersect with the historical establishment of media forms, institutions, and technologies.
Journalism History
Authors: Wilke Jürgen
Published: January 2013

Europe is the cradle of journalism. This does not only apply to the term, but also to the matter itself. The national and cultural diversity of the continent makes it difficult to generalize about its journalism history, but the rough outline of a common history is possible to recount. The earliest printed newspapers presented a correspondent's journalism. These were followed in most countries by journals of opinion. Commercialization in the nineteenth century produced a more popular journalism. Professionalization began in the nineteenth century also. The development of journalism in Europe in the twentieth century was above all influenced by two groups of factors. On the one hand, there were restraints resulting from the political conditions of this century. On the other hand, there were technical innovations which produced new mass media. At the beginning of the twenty‐first century, journalism in Europe (as in other parts of the world) is again in a process of extensive change.
Journalism History
Authors: Kim Sae‐Eun
Published: January 2013

Journalism in Korea has ancient roots in Confucian political ideas. Its modern version is tied to the Japanese colonial period and the US occupation in the mid‐twentieth century. In post‐independence South Korea, journalism's development has been influenced by its place within the military government and the limitations on freedom of the press that followed. In recent years, a handful of news organizations have dominated mainstream journalism. But strong political and social movements, along with the emergence of digital media and the Internet, have destabilized the journalism system. Korea's journalism is at a crossroads. Despite Korea's particular situation of national division and the authoritarianism of the government, it can be overcome by being faithful to journalistic norms and principles.
Journalism History
Authors: Chen Shihua , Wang Qian
Published: January 2013

China has a long history but a relatively short journalism history. Before the nineteenth century, most ancient information media only circulated within bureaucracies in order to maintain the ruling class. Modern journalism started in the early nineteenth century. The first Chinese newspapers and magazines were set up by missionaries to preach religion, mainly in the Southeast. From the middle of the nineteenth century, Chinese media established by Chinese intellectuals emerged and advanced the reforms of the Ch'ing dynasty and social modernization, finally leading to the collapse of the old regime. In the first half of the twentieth century, journalism was used by different political forces. Media became party organs to facilitate revolution and seize power in the conflict between the KMT and the CCP. After the foundation of the PRC, journalism was mainly the mouthpiece of the CCP; no commercial media existed until the 1980s. Afterward, journalism shifted emphasis from propaganda to economic reporting; commercial media emerged and succeeded in the market economy; and newspaper groups, broadcasting groups, and the Internet developed quickly. But party control still exists. Journalism in China still has to fight to survive under the double pressure of market and party.
Communications Networks in theUnitedStates
Authors: John Richard R.
Published: January 2013

The history of communications in the United States is a relatively uncultivated field. Generalizations abound yet conceptual frameworks are few. This essay contends that the history of the country's dominant communications networks can be understood as a chapter in the history of government–business relations, or what contemporaries would have called political economy. In the long nineteenth century that began in 1788 and ended in 1914, the three most important communications networks – that is, the mail, the telegraph, and the telephone – were shaped not only, or even primarily, by technological imperatives and economic incentives, but also by the regulatory regimes in which they were embedded.
Photography
Authors: Robertson Craig
Published: January 2013

This chapter provides an overview of the contested emergence of photography in the second half of the nineteenth century. In the field of media studies, photography is often positioned to provide a critique of historically specific modes of understanding and representation. Viewed as a medium, photography and its early development offers important insights into various debates about evidence, truth, and authenticity, and more generally modernity. The chapter reviews examples of photography's contested emergence in the United States from the world of portraiture, the courtroom, immigration enforcement, and journalism. In most of these cases photographs provided an initial challenge to the authority of the word (both spoken and written). The examples also illustrate that whether it is linked to understandings of personal identity, citizenship, national identity and democracy, or capitalism, consumption, and mass culture, the complicated set of practices associated with photography provides important examples of how the present of the nineteenth century was imagined and interrogated as new.
Television
Authors: Ouellette Laurie
Published: January 2013

This chapter traces the history of television in the United States in relation to broader societal conditions and changes. Rejecting the assumption that technological advances are inevitable or necessarily progressive, it situates evolving “stages” of television as complex responses to the shifting demands and contradictions of advanced liberal capitalist democracies. Events and ruptures in television's development as a cultural form are discussed in the context of three conjunctures –masstelevision,nichetelevision, andposttelevision. At a moment of dizzying technological change, the chapter emphasizes the importance of history and the need to look beyond the shiny surface of the new, to consider how the transformation of broadcasting intersects with a broader reconfiguration of the “social forms” (work, family, geography, market, government) in which we live.
The Culture Industries
Authors: Wasser Frederick
Published: January 2013

The genealogy of the term “culture industry” is traced through Horkheimer and Adorno to Marx. It was coined to describe the relations of production and consumption of media culture in the mid‐twentieth century, in an age of mass produced texts consumed by middle‐class and working‐class audiences. Since the 1980s, there have been two revolutions in the culture industries: a technological revolution, featuring the emergence of digital media, and an audience revolution, featuring fragmentation, participatory formats, and mobility. The result is a post‐Fordist system of cultural production and consumption, best exemplified by gaming. The key insights of the “culture industry” argument remain relevant.
The Rise of the Professional Communicator
Authors: Barnhurst Kevin G.
Published: January 2013

Professionalism became an ideal for organizing work in the nineteenth‐century United States and reached communication occupations by century's end. Its rise continued an early modern tradition that embodied knowledge in specialists engaged at universities and in practical projects. A sociology of professions emerged by the twentieth century to describe their characteristics, a useful template for professionalism in communication and applied to newswork as a case prominent for its claim to serve democracy. Arguments over whether journalists have professional traits may discount their importance as workers involved in power‐as‐knowledge, with consequences for workers in the twenty‐first century as US professionalism spreads abroad.
Communication and Democracy
Authors: Hardt Hanno
Published: January 2013

This chapter focuses on the contribution of social and economic thought to media studies in the United States. It details the migration of ideas from Germany and their creative application regarding the press to social and political conditions unique to the United States at the end of the nineteenth century. An evolving mass medium warranted theorizing its role and function in a democratic society and produced a critical literature of its performance. This chapter proposes that US media studies are partially the result of a realization in nineteenth‐ and early twentieth‐century social thought that communication is an essential, binding force in a democratic society and partially the result of a turn to communication research void of larger philosophical concerns that had characterized the Chicago School in its consideration of communication and US democracy.
Frankfurt School, Media, and the Culture Industry
Authors: Kellner Douglas
Published: January 2013

The Frankfurt School theorists were among the first theorists to examine the fundamental roles of the media in shaping thought and behavior, influencing politics, and managing consumer demand in the twentieth century. Horkheimer and Adorno's analysis of the “culture industry” presented a model of media as instruments of power and social control developed by Walter Benjamin, Herbert Marcuse, Erich Fromm, and Jürgen Habermas, who gave the Horkheimer and Adorno culture industry analysis a historical grounding. The Frankfurt School also studied the effects of mass culture and the rise of the consumer society on the working classes that were to be the instrument of revolution in the classical Marxian scenario. They also analyzed how the culture industries and consumer society were stabilizing contemporary capitalism and thus were among the first to see the expanding roles of mass media and communication in politics, socialization and social life, culture and the constructions of subjectivities. In this chapter, I examine the contributions to media and social theory developed by the Frankfurt School and their limitations and blind spots.
Unmasking Class and Tradition
Authors: McCarthy Cameron , Logue Jennifer
Published: January 2013

Drawing on examples of cinematic and literary production, this chapter calls attention to the limitations of British cultural studies regarding topics on which the theorization of proponents has been long thought to be fundamentally secure. These topics are class and tradition. The chapter further maintains that the field‐bound, ethnographic, and center–periphery paradigm that has fueled the subcultural studies approach to the working class of cultural studies has been overtaken by events associated with globalization in which culture is being separated from place and the long‐held stable social identities associated with the working class are being disembedded. Now, identities have become more hybrid, and more coordinated across a plurality of styles, tastes, needs, interests, and organizational capacities. Working‐class actors increasingly recuperate their identities in the domain of hyperconsumption rather than production. This is the era of the working class without work. Understanding this requires greater attention to the international division of labor and transnational and postcolonial perspectives.
The Governance of Communication and Culture
Authors: Sarikakis Katharine
Published: January 2013

This chapter explores the role of communication and cultural policy in regularizing changes in the regime of accumulation and in the processes of production and consumption of cultural goods. It explores the emergence of new geographies of power in decision‐making and the people in production and consumption who define the ways in which the circulation and accumulation of cultural goods and profits is developing. Working with definitions of cultural policy and the European experience as a geography of political and political–economic power for decision‐making, the chapter places Europe in the continuum of global production/consumption in the digital age.
Citizenship and Media Ownership
Authors: McMurria John
Published: January 2013

For the practice and study of media production, ownership matters. This chapter considers three orientations to media ownership in the US, with attention to how each invokes particular rationales for citizenship. The first orientation considers the critique of media conglomeration that emerged in the 1980s and the anti‐corporate populist expressions of citizenship that have informed recent campaigns to reduce corporate media power. The second considers positions that perceive a potential for new interactive digital technologies to free individuals from corporate and government power. The third assesses the movement, since the 1970s, to increase minority ownership of media. Here access to media ownership is framed within conceptions of citizenship informed by past and present conditions of racial discrimination. In each of these orientations, consideration is given to how ideas about the transformative power of media in democratic societies engage with political and cultural struggles over rationales of citizenship.
Music in the New Capitalism
Authors: D. Taylor Timothy
Published: January 2013

This chapter attempts to reinstate capitalism as the transcendent category of analysis for music production. This new capitalism is marked by the ascendance of the new petite bourgeoisie. This class promulgates an ideology of the hip and the cool and has an outsized role in the production of culture, since most musicians today are forced to permit their music to be used in commercials. The new class is comprised of new kinds of cultural workers, who can deploy their taste as music supervisors, choosing music for film and broadcasting in an era when more music is more easily available. Another aspect of the new capitalism is that workers can be compensated less, or not at all. In the realm of advertising composition is increasingly outsourced, as it simple to upload video to servers around the world. Users enter data on songs in online databases and their search habits are recorded and used to sell more products, all without compensation.