bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Urinary Tract Anomalies Associated with MTHFR Gene Polymorphism C677T in Girls
Authors: Behunova Jana , Klimcakova Lucia , Podracka Ludmila
Published: August 2011

Background/Aims: Periconceptional folate has a preventive effect not only on neural tube defects, but possibly also on other birth defects such as urinary tract anomalies (UTA), orofacial clefts and conotruncal heart defects. Folate metabolism gene variants are therefore being investigated as potential susceptibility factors. Methods: We assessed the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene C677T and A1298C genotypes in 132 UTA patients and 290 controls, also with respect to sex. Results: We found a significantly higher incidence of the T allele/TT genotype of the C677T polymorphism in UTA patients compared with controls (p = 0.019/p = 0.044). In the individual sexes, the T allele frequency in UTA girls versus control girls was 42.6 versus 21.7%, p < 0.0001 (OR = 2.68; 95% CI: 1.63–4.40), and the frequency of TT genotypes was 19.2 versus 5.6%, p = 0.02 (OR = 4.0; 95% CI: 1.26–12.69); no difference was observed between the boys’ groups. Conclusion: The higher incidence of the C677T MTHFR gene polymorphism in girls with UTA could point to a developmental difference between the sexes that might be related to sexual dimorphism in methylation due to the lower activity of MTHFR in the system with the highest sexual dimorphism: the urogenital system. Naturally, this assumption should be further tested.
Catechin-Rich Grape Seed Extract Supplementation Attenuates Diet-Induced Obesity in C57BL/6J Mice
Authors: Ohyama Kana , Furuta Chie , Nogusa Yoshihito , Nomura Kenzo , Miwa Tetsuya , Suzuki Katsuya
Published: August 2011

Background: Grape seed extracts (GSE) are known to present health benefits such as antioxidative and anti-obesity effects in animal models. The purpose of this research is to determine whether the specially manufactured GSE, catechin-rich GSE (CGSE), can protect against obesity induced by a high-fat diet (HFD) and to address the mechanism underlying this effect. Methods: The componential analysis of CGSE was performed using liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. Oxygen consumption and the respiratory quotient were determined using 500 mg/kg CGSE administered orally for 3 days in 14- to 15-week-old male C57BL/6J mice. Nine-week-old male C57BL/6J mice were supplemented with 0.5 or 1% CGSE in a HFD for 12 weeks, and their body weight and food intake were monitored. Blood and tissue samples were collected and analyzed. Results: The main polyphenol components of CGSE were catechin and epicatechin. CGSE supplementation in the HFD-induced obesity model chronically suppressed the increase in body weight and the weight of fat pads. Furthermore, CGSE improved metabolic parameter abnormalities and upregulated the fatty acid oxidation-related genes in the liver. Conclusions: These findings suggest that CGSE contains monomeric catechins in high concentrations and ameliorates HFD-induced obesity in C57BL/6J mice.
Association of Mean Weekly Epoetin Alfa Dose with Mortality Risk in a Retrospective Cohort Study of Medicare Hemodialysis Patients
Authors: Weinhandl Eric D. , Gilbertson David T. , Collins Allan J.
Published: August 2011

Background/Aims: Randomized trials of hemoglobin targeting in chronic kidney disease suggest that erythropoiesis-stimulating agent (ESA) dosing increases mortality risk, but dosing intensity is confounded by hemoglobin concentration. Appropriately designed observational studies are needed to clarify the association of ESA dosing with mortality risk. Methods: Using Medicare claims, we conducted a retrospective cohort study of mortality risk associated with epoetin alfa (EPO) dosing in prevalent hemodialysis patients (n = 137,918), 2000–2004. We used marginal structural modeling to account for time-varying confounding attributable to recent history of blood transfusion and catheter insertion for vascular access, hemoglobin, hospital admission and days, and intravenous iron dosing. We stratified mortality analyses according to hemoglobin level (<10, 10–10.9, 11–11.9, and ≧12 g/dl). Results: With adjustment for serial correlation in EPO dosing, hemoglobin, hospital admission and days, and intravenous iron administration were the strongest predictors of outpatient EPO dosing. With hemoglobin <10 g/dl, mean weekly EPO dose in a 3-month period was negatively associated with subsequent mortality risk. With hemoglobin 10–10.9 and 11–11.9 g/dl, EPO dose and mortality risk were associated in a U-shaped form. With hemoglobin ≧12 g/dl, mean weekly EPO dose >20,000 IU was positively associated with mortality risk. Conclusions: ESA dosing may be directly associated with risk of death, but the nature of the association likely varies according to hemoglobin concentration. Small doses with hemoglobin ≤12 g/dl and large doses with hemoglobin ≧10 g/dl may both be associated with poor outcomes.
Age- and Gender-Specific Familial Risks for Venous Thromboembolism
Authors: Zöller Bengt , Li Xinjun , Sundquist Jan , Sundquist Kristina
Published: August 2011

Background—

This nationwide study sought to determine age- and gender-specific familial risks in siblings hospitalized for venous thromboembolism (VTE).

Methods and Results—

The Swedish Multigeneration Register on 0- to 75-year-old subjects was linked to the Hospital Discharge Register for the years 1987–2007. Standardized incidence ratios were calculated for individuals whose siblings were hospitalized for VTE compared with those whose siblings were not affected. Among a total of 45 362 hospitalized cases with VTE, 2393 affected siblings were identified, with a familial standardized incidence ratio of 2.45 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.66 to 3.61). Gender-specific differences in incidence rates were observed. The familial risks were significantly increased from the age of 10 to 69 years, with a familial standardized incidence ratio of 4.77 (95% CI, 1.96 to 10.83) at ages 10 to 19 years, which decreased to 2.08 (95% CI, 1.35 to 3.20) at ages 60 to 69 years, although the absolute risk increased with age. The familial standardized incidence ratios for siblings with 2 and ≥3 affected probands were 51.87 (95% CI, 31.47 to 85.00) and 53.69 (95% CI, 25.59 to 108.50), respectively. Spouses had low familial risks (standardized incidence ratio=1.07; 95% CI, 1.04 to 1.10; observed spouse cases=3900).

Conclusions—

Familial factors, although influenced by age and gender, are important risk factors for VTE. The present study shows that VTE is aggregated in families and suggests that uncovering the sources of familial aggregation (genetic and nongenetic) may be worthwhile. Moreover, in a small fraction of siblings, the familial risk was very high, suggesting segregation of rare but strong genetic risk factors.
Relation of Obesity to Circulating B-Type Natriuretic Peptide Concentrations in Blacks
Authors: Fox Ervin R. , Musani Solomon K. , Bidulescu Aurelian , Nagarajarao Harsha S. , Samdarshi Tandaw E. , Gebreab Samson Y. , Sung Jung Hye , Steffes Michael W. , Wang Thomas J. , Taylor Herman A. , Vasan Ramachandran S.
Published: August 2011

Background—

Lower plasma B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) concentrations in obese individuals (“natriuretic handicap”) may play a role in the pathogenesis of obesity-related hypertension. Whether this phenomenon may contribute to hypertension in blacks is unknown. We tested the hypothesis that body mass index is inversely related to BNP concentrations in blacks.

Methods and Results—

We examined the relation of plasma BNP to body mass index in 3742 Jackson Heart Study participants (mean age, 55±13; 62% women) without heart failure using multivariable linear and logistic regression, adjusting for clinical and echocardiographic covariates. The multivariable-adjusted mean BNP was higher for lean participants compared with obese participants in both normotensive (
P
<0.0001) and hypertensive (
P
<0.0012) groups. In sex-specific analyses, the adjusted mean BNP was higher in lean hypertensive individuals compared with obese hypertensive individuals for both men (20.5 versus 10.9 pg/mL, respectively;
P
=0.0009) and women (20.0 versus 13.8 pg/mL;
P
=0.011). The differences between lean and obese participants were more pronounced in normotensive participants (men, 9.0 versus 4.4 pg/mL;
P
<0.0001; women, 12.8 versus 8.4 pg/mL;
P
=0.0005). For both hypertensive and normotensive individuals in the pooled sample, multivariable-adjusted BNP was significantly related to both continuous body mass index (
P
<0.05 and
P
<0.0001, respectively) and categorical body mass index (
P
for trend <0.006 and <0.0001, respectively).

Conclusion—

Our cross-sectional study of a large community-based sample of blacks demonstrates that higher body mass index is associated with lower circulating BNP concentrations, thereby extending the concept of a natriuretic handicap in obese individuals observed in non-Hispanic whites to this high-risk population.
Angiotensin II Impairs Endothelial Progenitor Cell Number and Function In Vitro and In Vivo
Authors: Endtmann Cathleen , Ebrahimian Talin , Czech Thomas , Arfa Omar , Laufs Ulrich , Fritz Mathias , Wassmann Kerstin , Werner Nikos , Petoumenos Vasileios , Nickenig Georg , Wassmann Sven
Published: August 2011

Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) contribute to endothelial regeneration. Angiotensin II (Ang II) through Ang II type 1 receptor (AT
1
-R) activation plays an important role in vascular damage. The effect of Ang II on EPCs and the involved molecular mechanisms are incompletely understood. Stimulation with Ang II decreased the number of cultured human early outgrowth EPCs, which express both AT
1
-R and Ang II type 2 receptor, mediated through AT
1
-R activation and induction of oxidative stress. Ang II redox-dependently induced EPC apoptosis through increased apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1, c-Jun N-terminal kinase, and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphorylation; decreased Bcl-2 and increased Bax expression; and activation of caspase 3 but had no effect on the low cell proliferation. In addition, Ang II impaired colony-forming and migratory capacities of early outgrowth EPCs. Ang II infusion diminished numbers and functional capacities of EPCs in wild-type (WT) but not AT
1
a-R knockout mice (AT
1
a
−/−
). Reendothelialization after focal carotid endothelial injury was decreased during Ang II infusion. Salvage of reendothelialization by intravenous application of spleen-derived progenitor cells into Ang II-treated WT mice was pronounced with AT
1
a
−/−
cells compared with WT cells, and transfusion of Ang II–pretreated WT cells into WT mice without Ang II infusion was associated with less reendothelialization. Transplantation of AT
1
a
−/−
bone marrow reduced atherosclerosis development in cholesterol-fed apolipoprotein E–deficient mice compared with transplantation of apolipoprotein E–deficient or WT bone marrow. Randomized treatment of patients with stable coronary artery disease with the AT
1
-R blocker telmisartan significantly increased the number of circulating CD34/KDR-positive EPCs. Ang II through AT
1
-R activation, oxidative stress, and redox-sensitive apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1–dependent proapoptotic pathways impairs EPCs in vitro and in vivo, resulting in diminished vascular regeneration.
Antihypertensive Effects of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor-β Activation in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats
Authors: Zarzuelo María José , Jiménez Rosario , Galindo Pilar , Sánchez Manuel , Nieto Ana , Romero Miguel , Quintela Ana María , López-Sepúlveda Rocío , Gómez-Guzmán Manuel , Bailón Elvira , Rodríguez-Gómez Isabel , Zarzuelo Antonio , Gálvez Julio , Tamargo Juan , Pérez-Vizcaíno Francisco , Duarte Juan
Published: August 2011

Activation of nuclear hormone receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor β/δ (PPARβ) has been shown to improve insulin resistance and plasma high-density lipoprotein levels, but nothing is known about its effects in genetic hypertension. We studied whether the PPARβ agonist GW0742 might exert antihypertensive effects in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs). The rats were divided into 4 groups, Wistar Kyoto rat-control, Wistar Kyoto rat-treated (GW0742, 5 mg · kg
−1
· day
−1
by oral gavage), SHR-control, and SHR-treated, and followed for 5 weeks. GW0742 induced a progressive reduction in systolic arterial blood pressure and heart rate in SHRs and reduced the mesenteric arterial remodeling, the increased aortic vasoconstriction to angiotensin II, and the endothelial dysfunction characteristic of SHRs. These effects were accompanied by a significant increase in endothelial NO synthase activity attributed to upregulated endothelial NO synthase and downregulated caveolin 1 protein expression. Moreover, GW0742 inhibited vascular superoxide production, downregulated p22
phox
and p47
phox
proteins, decreased both basal and angiotensin II–stimulated NADPH oxidase activity, inhibited extracellular-regulated kinase 1/2 activation, and reduced the expression of the proinflammatory and proatherogenic genes, interleukin 1β, interleukin 6, or intercellular adhesion molecule 1. None of these effects were observed in Wistar Kyoto rats. PPARβ activation, both in vitro and in vivo, increased the expression of the regulators of G protein–coupled signaling proteins RGS4 and RGS5, which negatively modulated the vascular actions of angiotensin II. PPARβ activation exerted antihypertensive effects, restored the vascular structure and function, and reduced the oxidative, proinflammatory, and proatherogenic status of SHRs. We propose PPARβ as a new therapeutic target in hypertension.
Contribution of Central Nervous System Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase to Neurohumoral Activation in Heart Failure Rats
Authors: Biancardi Vinicia C. , Son Sook J. , Sonner Patrick M. , Zheng Hong , Patel Kaushik P. , Stern Javier E.
Published: August 2011

Neurohumoral activation, a hallmark in heart failure (HF), is linked to the progression and mortality of HF patients. Thus, elucidating its precise underlying mechanisms is of critical importance. Other than its classic peripheral vasodilatory actions, the gas NO is a pivotal neurotransmitter in the central nervous system control of the circulation. While accumulating evidence supports a contribution of blunted NO function to neurohumoral activation in HF, the precise cellular sources, and NO synthase (NOS) isoforms involved, remain unknown. Here, we used a multidisciplinary approach to study the expression, cellular distribution, and functional relevance of the endothelial NOS isoform within the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus in sham and HF rats. Our results show high expression of endothelial NOS in the paraventricular nucleus (mostly confined to astroglial cells), which contributes to constitutive NO bioavailability, as well as tonic inhibition of presympathetic neuronal activity and sympathoexcitatory outflow from the paraventricular nucleus. A diminished endothelial NOS expression and endothelial NOS-derived NO availability were found in the paraventricular nucleus of HF rats, resulting, in turn, in blunted NO inhibitory actions on neuronal activity and sympathoexcitatory outflow. Taken together, our study supports blunted central nervous system endothelial NOS-derived NO as a pathophysiological mechanism underlying neurohumoral activation in HF.
Cardiovascular Protection by Initial and Subsequent Combination of Antihypertensive Drugs in Daily Life Practice
Authors: Corrao Giovanni , Nicotra Federica , Parodi Andrea , Zambon Antonella , Heiman Franca , Merlino Luca , Fortino Ida , Cesana Giancarlo , Mancia Giuseppe
Published: August 2011

Guidelines recommend a combination of 2 drugs to be used as first-step treatment strategy in high-risk hypertensive individuals to achieve timely blood pressure control and avoid early events. The evidence that this is associated with cardiovascular (CV) benefits compared with initial monotherapy is limited, however. The objective of this study was to assess whether, compared with antihypertensive monotherapy, a combination of antihypertensive drugs provides a greater CV protection in daily clinical practice. A population-based, nested case-control study was carried out by including the cohort of 209 650 patients from Lombardy (Italy) aged 40 to 79 years who were newly treated with antihypertensive drugs between 2000 and 2001. Cases were the 10 688 patients who experienced a hospitalization for CV disease from initial prescription until 2007. Three controls were randomly selected for each case. Logistic regression was used to model the CV risk associated with starting on and/or continuing with combination therapy. A Monte-Carlo sensitivity analysis was performed to account for unmeasured confounders. Patients starting on combination therapy had an 11% CV risk reduction with respect to those starting on monotherapy (95% CI: 5% to 16%). Compared with patients who maintained monotherapy also during follow-up, those who started on combination therapy and kept it along the entire period of observation had 26% reduction of CV risk (95% CI: 15% to 35%). In daily life practice, a combination of antihypertensive drugs is associated with a great reduction of CV risk. The indication for using combination of blood pressure drugs should be broadened.
The Global Subduction/Obduction Rates: Their Interannual and Decadal Variability
Authors: Liu Ling Ling , Huang Rui Xin
Published: August 2011

Ventilation, including subduction and obduction, for the global oceans was examined using Simple Ocean Data Assimilation (SODA) outputs. The global subduction rate averaged over the period from 1959 to 2006 is estimated at 505.8 Sv (1 Sv ≡ 106 m3 s−1), while the corresponding global obduction rate is estimated at 482.1 Sv. The annual subduction/obduction rates vary greatly on the interannual and decadal time scales. The global subduction rate is estimated to have increased 7.6% over the past 50 years, while the obduction rate is estimated to have increased 9.8%. Such trends may be insignificant because errors associated with the data generated by ocean data assimilation could be as large as 10%. However, a major physical mechanism that induced these trends is primarily linked to changes in the Southern Ocean. While the Southern Ocean plays a key role in global subduction and obduction rates and their variability, both the Southern Ocean and equatorial regions are critically important sites of water mass formation/erosion.
Atmospheric Temperature Measurement Biases on the Antarctic Plateau
Authors: Genthon Christophe , Six Delphine , Favier Vincent , Lazzara Matthew , Keller Linda
Published: August 2011

Observations of atmospheric temperature made on the Antarctic Plateau with thermistors housed in naturally (wind) ventilated radiation shields are shown to be significantly warm biased by solar radiation. High incoming solar flux and high surface albedo result in radiation biases in Gill (multiplate)-styled shields that can occasionally exceed 10°C in summer in cases with low wind speed. Although stronger and more frequent when incoming solar radiation is high, biases exceeding 8°C are found even when solar radiation is less than 200 W m−2. Compared with sonic thermometers, which are not affected by radiation but are too complex to be routinely used for mean temperature monitoring, commercially available aspirated shields are shown to efficiently protect thermistor measurements from solar radiation biases. Most of the available in situ reports of atmospheric temperature on the Antarctic Plateau are from automatic weather stations that use passive shields and are thus likely warm biased in the summer. In spite of low power consumption, deploying aspirated shields at remote locations in such a difficult environment may be a challenge. Bias correction formulas are not easily derived and are obviously shield dependent. On the other hand, because of a strong dependence of bias to wind speed, filtering out temperature reports for wind speed less than a given threshold (about 4–6 m s−1 for the shields tested here) may be an efficient way to quality control the data, albeit at the cost of significant data loss and records that are biased toward high wind speed cases.
Emotional and Personality-Related Career Decision-Making Difficulties
Authors: Gati Itamar , Asulin-Peretz Lisa , Fisher Ahinoam
Published: August 2011

This study tests the temporal stability and the concurrent and predictive validity of the Emotional and Personality-related Career decision-making Difficulties (EPCD) model and questionnaire. Five hundred forty-three participants filled out the EPCD twice, 3 years apart. The Anxiety cluster was the most stable of the three, followed by the Self-Concept and Identity cluster, and then the Pessimistic Views cluster, which showed a significant decrease. Participants who reported having made a career decision by the second administration had lower EPCD scores at Time 1 than did those who remained undecided at Time 2. Whereas the decided group showed a decrease in the EPCD scores during the 3-year interval, the undecided group showed no significant decrease. Significant correlations were observed between the EPCD scores and low satisfaction with one’s chosen occupation. Gender differences were also found: among the decided group, women had higher EPCD scores than did men; overall, women had higher EPCD scores than did men only in the clusters of Anxiety and Self-Concept and Identity.
Racial, Economic, and Linguistic Segregation
Authors: Jacobs Nicholas
Published: August 2011

The author examines racial, economic, and linguistic segregation in the Washington, D.C. charter school system and asks, “Are government supports aimed at deterring segregation effective at preventing enrollment bias in charter schools?” The author shows that charter schools in Washington, D.C. remain heavily segregated even though market supports meant to deter racial, economic, and linguistic segregation have been adopted. The findings of this study are generalizable to other charter school systems because segregation is least likely to arise in D.C. charter schools. The results indicate that underlying market forces continue to create segregated schools and that further study and government supports are necessary to diversify public charter schools.
Globalization, power and resistance: Postcolonial and transnational feminist perspectives for social work practice
Authors: Deepak Anne C.
Published: August 2011

Postcolonial and transnational feminist perspectives on globalization, power and resistance can transform our approach to human rights and development in international social work. This analysis of globalization as historical, gendered and complicated by cross-cutting power dynamics from the personal to the national to the global allows a nuanced approach that is in solidarity with the perspectives of stakeholders in the global South and marginalized populations in the global North.
The early development of social work: A comparison between the West and Bangladesh, a South Asian developing country
Authors: Sultana Nahid
Published: August 2011

The main purpose of this paper is to find out the similarities and differences of the origin and development of social work in the West and in a South Asian developing country: Bangladesh. In this paper, the author points out four aspects – charity and religion, poor and impoverished, social justice and equality, and concern for women – where the development of social work is almost the same in these two opposite regions of the world. The author also shows that the differences depend on how social work is practiced in different countries as well as on the situation of the country, type of government, social policies and existing laws of the country. The paper also provides a clear picture of how social work, which is not professionalized yet in Bangladesh, assists and provides social services for the well-being of the poor people.
Competitive Food Sales in Schools and Childhood Obesity
Authors: Van Hook Jennifer , Altman Claire E.
Published: August 2011

The vast majority of American middle schools and high schools sell what are known as “competitive foods,” such as soft drinks, candy bars, and chips, to children. The relationship between consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks and snacks and childhood obesity is well established, but it remains unknown whether competitive food sales in schools are related to unhealthy weight gain among children. The authors examined this association using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class. Employing fixed effects models and a natural experimental approach, they found that children’s weight gain between fifth and eighth grades was not associated with the introduction or the duration of exposure to competitive food sales in middle school. Also, the relationship between competitive foods and weight gain did not vary significantly by gender, race/ethnicity, or family socioeconomic status, and it remained weak and insignificant across several alternative model specifications. One possible explanation is that children’s food preferences and dietary patterns are firmly established before adolescence. Also, middle school environments may dampen the effects of competitive food sales because they so highly structure children’s time and eating opportunities.
Governance as ‘Performed’, Governance as ‘Inscribed’
Authors: Chatterjee Ipsita
Published: August 2011

The ‘new urban politics’ literature highlights local entrepreneurialism as the basis of neo-liberal urbanism; this article adds to this literature by demonstrating how entrepreneurial neo-liberalism and ethno-religiosity are inflected in governance. Two concepts are proposed: ‘governance as performed’ (practice of ethno-religious entrepreneurialism) and ‘governance as inscribed’ (documenting policy through scientific planning). The dialectical interplay between ‘performance’ and ‘inscription’ defines the terrain of ‘new urban governance’ in its global/local entirety. Using examples from Ahmedabad city, India, this paper explicates how ‘governance as performed’ and ‘governance as inscribed’, produce dual narratives of the ‘lived’ and the ‘inscribed’ city. The narrative of abstract and objective Ahmedabad inscribed in planning documents directly contradicts the ‘grubby practices’ of entrepreneurial, ethno-religious neo-liberalism performed in the city. By simultaneously analysing both narratives, this article proposes to demystify the contexts of exclusion, thus exposing injustice embedded in ‘new urban politics’.
Trans-urban Networks of Learning, Mega Events and Policy Tourism
Authors: Cook Ian R. , Ward Kevin
Published: August 2011

This paper argues for a rethinking of our understanding of what and where go into the ‘urban’ in the New Urban Politics (NUP). It contends that these issues have always been more complex, complicated and, most importantly, contested than has sometimes appeared to be the case in the literature. Using the example of one trans-urban policy learning network—that around the city of Manchester’s bids for the Olympic and Commonwealth Games—the paper makes the case for taking seriously the politics around comparison and referencing in making possible the NUP. It argues that there is a need to study the circuits, networks and webs in and through which urban knowledge and learning are constituted and moved around, and that often underpin the territorial outcomes that have been the traditional focus of scholars working on the NUP.
The Politics of Urban Informality in Philadelphia’s Recovery House Movement
Authors: Fairbanks Robert P.
Published: August 2011

There are some 60 000 vacant properties in the city of Philadelphia, 30 000 of which are abandoned row houses. In the neighbourhood of Kensington, street-level entrepreneurs have reconfigured hundreds of former working-class row homes to produce the Philadelphia recovery house movement: an extra-legal poverty survival strategy for addicts and alcoholics located in the city’s poorest and most heavily blighted zones. The purpose of this paper is to explore, ethnographically, the ways in which informal poverty survival mechanisms articulate with the restructuring of the contemporary welfare state and the broader political economy of Philadelphia. It is argued that recovery house networks accommodate an interrelated set of political rationalities animated not only by retrenchment and the churning of welfare bodies, but also by the agency of informal operators and the politics of self-help. Working as an alternative and partially vestigial boundary institution or buffer zone to formal regimes of governance, the recovery house movement reflects the ‘other story’ of the new urban politics in Philadelphia.
The New Post-suburban Politics?
Authors: Phelps Nicholas A. , Wood Andrew M.
Published: August 2011

Settlements variously termed ‘ex-urbs’, ‘edge cities’, ‘technoburbs’ are taken to signal something different from suburbia and as a consequence might be considered post-suburban. Existing literature has focused on defining post-suburbia as a new era and as a new form of settlement space. Whether post-suburbia can also be delimited in terms of its distinctive politics is the open question explored here. The paper begins by considering the need to make urban political theory more tailored to the different settlements that populate the heavily urbanised regions of nations. The paper stresses the structural properties of capitalism that generate differences within the unity of the urbanisation process. It then discusses what is new about a class of post-suburban settlements, concentrating on what the increasing economic gravity of post-suburbia, the difficulty of bounding post-suburban communities and the continuing role of the state imply for understanding urban politics and the reformulation of urban political theory.
Governing Social Reproduction in Masterplanned Estates
Authors: McGuirk Pauline , Dowling Robyn
Published: August 2011

Critical urban research arising from the ‘new urban politics’ rich heritage has conventionally privileged the politics of accumulation and the city’s downtown over the politics of social reproduction and everyday, residential spaces. This paper focuses on residential spaces and the politics involved in recasting everyday practices of social reproduction through private neighbourhood governance. Focusing on the masterplanned estates increasingly prevalent across Sydney’s residential landscape, it explores the material practices and subjectivities shaped by these estates’ contractual governance and the contours and limits to the formation of self-governing middle-class consumer citizens. The paper highlights a granular fabric to urban politics produced as residents engage with meeting the demands of daily urban life and providing the means of middle-class social reproduction in a neo-liberalised context. Finally, it points to opportunities for a more complete grammar of contemporary urban politics provided by this expanded focus.
The New Urban Politics as a Politics of Carbon Control
Authors: Jonas Andrew E. G. , Gibbs David , While Aidan
Published: August 2011

The new urban politics (NUP) literature has helped to draw attention to a new generation of entrepreneurial urban regimes involved in the competition to attract investment to cities. Interurban competition often had negative environmental consequences for the urban living place. Yet knowledge of the environment was not very central to understanding the NUP. Entrepreneurial urban regimes today are struggling to deal with climate change and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon reduction strategies could have profound implications for interurban competition and the politics of urban development. This paper explores the rise of a distinctive low-carbon urban polity—carbon control—and examines its potential ramifications for a new environmental politics of urban development (NEPUD). The NEPUD signals the growing centrality of carbon control in discourses, strategies and struggles around urban development. Using examples from cities in the US and Europe, the paper examines how these new environmental policy considerations are being mainstreamed in urban development politics. Alongside competitiveness, the management of carbon emissions represents a new yet at the same time contestable mode of calculation in urban governance.
Employment Outcomes and Plant Closure in a Post-industrial City: An Analysis of the Labour Market Status of MG Rover Workers Three Years On
Authors: Bailey David , Chapain Caroline , de Ruyter Alex
Published: August 2011

This paper examines how the loss of 6300 jobs from the closure of MG Rover (MGR) in the city of Birmingham (UK) in April 2005 affected the employment trajectories of ex-workers, in the context of wider structural change and efforts at urban renewal. The paper presents an analysis of a longitudinal survey of 300 ex-MGR workers, and examines to what extent the state of local labour markets and workers’ geographical mobility—as well as the effectiveness of the immediate policy response and longer-term local economic strategies—may have helped to balance the impacts of personal attributes associated with workers’ employability and their reabsorption into the labour markets. It is found that the relative buoyancy of the local economy, the success of longer-run efforts at diversification and a strong policy response and retraining initiative helped many disadvantaged workers to find new jobs in the medium term. However, the paper also highlights the unequal employment outcomes and trajectories that many lesser-skilled workers faced. It explores the policy issues arising from such closures and their aftermath, such as the need to co-ordinate responses, to retain institutional capacity, to offer high-quality training and education resources to workers and, where possible, to slow down such closure processes to enable skills to be retained and reused within the local economy.
Urban Politics Reconsidered
Authors: MacLeod Gordon
Published: August 2011

Over the past three decades, research in urban politics or increasingly urban governance reveals a landscape powerfully reflecting what might now be defined as a post-political consensus. Following a waning of the community power, urban managerialist and collective consumption debates, this ‘new urban politics’ has appeared conspicuously absorbed with analysing a purported consensus around economic growth alongside a proliferation of entrepreneurially oriented governing regimes. More recent contributions, acknowledging the role of the state and governmentalities of criminal justice, uncover how downtown renaissance is inscribed through significant land privatisations and associated institutionalised expressions like Business Improvement Districts and other ‘primary definers’ of ‘public benefit’: all choreographed around an implicit consensus to ‘police’ the circumspect city, while presenting as ultra-politics anything that might disturb the strict ethics of consumerist citizenship. Beyond downtown, a range of shadow governments, secessionary place-makings and privatisms are remaking the political landscape of post-suburbia. It is contended that the cumulative effect of such metropolitan splintering may well be overextending our established interpretations of urban landscapes and city politics, prompting non-trivial questions about the precise manner in which political representation, democracy and substantive citizenship are being negotiated across metropolitan regions, from downtown streetscape to suburban doorstep. This paper suggests that recent theorisations on post-democracy and the post-political may help to decode the contemporary landscape of urban politics beyond governance, perhaps in turn facilitating a better investigation of crucial questions over distributional justice and metropolitan integrity.
Composition Analysis of Carbon Black-Filled Polychloroprene Rubber Compound by Thermo-Oxidative Degradation of the Compound
Authors: Chakraborty Sugata , Roy Pradip , Pathak Amit , Debnath Mrinmoy , Dasgupta Saikat , Mukhopadhyay Rabindra , Bandyopadhyay Samar
Published: August 2011

This study describes a method for the composition analysis of the carbon black-filled polychloroprene rubber (CR) compound. Good agreement of the experimental data with the actual value was found. The method is based on three experiments namely thermogravimetric analysis, solvent extraction, and newly developed thermo and thermo-oxidative degradation of the vulcanized CR compound in the presence of nickel catalyst. Thermogravimetric analysis experiment gives the amount of inorganic material in the rubber compound. Solvent extraction gives the extractable amount. Thermo-oxidative degradation experiment gives the polymer amount. In thermo-oxidative degradation experiment, liberated chloride ion was titrated by Mohr’s method, and the amount of CR was back calculated from the chlorine content.
The “Swinish Multitude”
Authors: McNeur Catherine
Published: August 2011

In the first half of the nineteenth century, New Yorkers fought passionately over the presence of hogs on their streets and in their city. New York’s filthy streets had cultivated an informal economy and a fertile environment for roaming creatures. The battles—both physical and legal—reveal a city rife with class tensions. After decades of arguments, riots, and petitions, cholera and the fear of other public health crises ultimately spelled the end for New York’s hogs. New York struggled during this period to improve municipal services while adapting to a changing economy and rapid population growth. The fights between those for and against hogs shaped New York City’s landscape and resulted in new rules for using public space a new place for nature in the city.
“This Is Not a Cotton Picker’s Dream”
Authors: Howison Jeffrey D.
Published: August 2011

Neither the Supreme Court’s reapportionment rulings of the 1960s nor the issue of reapportionment more generally has received adequate attention in the recent scholarship of the “conservative turn” in American politics and society during the long post–World War II period. This article addresses the issue through the lens of the National Commission on Constitutional Government (NCCG), an anti-reapportionment lobby group headquartered in Jefferson City, Missouri, from 1964 to 1966. Much of the “states’ rights” rhetoric of the organization was unmistakably southern in origin, although NCCG leadership carefully avoided direct association with the segregationist cause and successfully appealed to a broad range of new conservative leaders and interests on a national scale, some of which were unlikely supporters of preserving “rural” power in state legislatures.
“Ready to Shoot and Do Shoot”
Authors: King Shannon
Published: August 2011

Throughout the first three decades of the twentieth century, black people in New York City encountered white violence, especially police brutality in Manhattan. The black community used various strategies to curtail white mob violence and police brutality, one of which was self-defense. This article examines blacks’ response to violence, specifically the debate concerning police brutality and self-defense in Harlem during the 1920s. While historians have examined race riots, blacks’ everyday encounters with police violence in the North have received inadequate treatment. By approaching everyday violence and black responses—self-defense, legal redress, and journalists’ remonstrations—as a process of political development, this article argues that the systematic violence perpetrated by the police both mobilized and politicized blacks individually and collectively to defend their community, but also contributed to a community consciousness that established police brutality as a legitimate issue for black protest.
The Jewish Quarter after 1967
Authors: Bar Doron , Rubin Rehav
Published: August 2011

The article explores the reconstruction of Jerusalem’s Jewish Quarter after the 1967 war, with an emphasis on the area’s emergence as a symbolic Israeli landscape. The post-1967 Jewish Quarter became a symbol of national renewal and of Jewish control over united Jerusalem. In fact, it was the destruction during the 1948 war and the severe neglect in its aftermath that provided Israel the opportunity to recreate the area’s geography and history, to design and build it anew from both a physical and a symbolic standpoint. After 1967, primarily during the formative years of the 1970s and 1980s, various agents—politicians, planners, contractors, archeologists, clergy, cultural groups, and private people—had their impact on the revival of the Jewish Quarter. Together, they crafted a new landscape whose connection to the pre-1948 neighborhood is extremely vague. By drawing from the quarter’s past in a selective manner, these agents created new forms of historical memory, which helped forge and bolster Israeli identity and pride. At the end of this process, it is doubtful whether the symbolic values of the Jewish Quarter as one can experience them today were developed according to ideas that the government agents had in the beginning of its reconstruction.
The Role of Parenteral Lipids in the Development of Advanced Intestinal Failure–Associated Liver Disease in Infants
Authors: Diamond Ivan R. , de Silva Nicole T. , Tomlinson George A. , Pencharz Paul B. , Feldman Brian M. , Moore Aideen M. , Ling Simon C. , Wales Paul W.
Published: August 2011

Background: Given the recent interest in the role of ω‐6 lipids in the development of intestinal failure–associated liver disease (IFALD), the authors sought to examine the role of parenteral lipids in the development of a serum conjugated bilirubin >100 µmol/L (5.9 mg/dL; CB100) in infants. Method: Between 2003 and 2004, data were collected prospectively on infants undergoing an abdominal surgical procedure. Univariate logistic regression models for the prediction of CB100 by 1 year postoperatively were developed. Predictors significant at the 0.2 level on univariate analysis were entered into a backward stepwise multiple variable logistic regression. Results: Of 152 infants who received parenteral nutrition (PN) postoperatively, 22 developed CB100. Predictors that met criteria for consideration in the multiple‐variable model were age, weight, small bowel length, presence of a stoma, proportion of enteral feeds postoperatively, septic episodes, days of maximal PN amino acid (>2.5 g/kg/d), days of maximal lipid (>2.5 g/kg/d), and PN duration. The final model included septic episodes (odds ratio, 3.23; 95% confidence interval, 1.8–5.9) and days of lipid >2.5 g/kg/d (1.04; 1.003–1.06). At 60 days of maximal lipid, the odds of advanced IFALD were increased 10‐fold. Conclusions: This model suggests a key role of parenteral lipids and septic events in the development of CB100 from IFALD. These data may provide targets, such as careful line care, reduction in maximal lipid dose, or alternate lipids such as ω‐3 fatty acids, to prevent CB100, an identified marker of subsequent liver failure from IFALD.
Nutrition in Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Authors: Alastair Forbes , Emma Goldesgeyme , Emma Paulon
Published: August 2011

The diet of industrialized nations may contribute to the pathogenesis of both ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn disease (CD). Malnutrition is relatively unusual in UC, but in CD, which often affects the small intestine, it is frequent and may be severe. Nutrition support is therefore frequently indicated. First principles of artificial nutrition can be applied effectively using the gut whenever possible. Parenteral nutrition is generally required only in those with short bowel syndrome. An increasing literature (especially in pediatrics) favors the use of defined exclusive enteral nutrition (EN) in the primary treatment of active CD. Controlled trials are, however, lacking, and recommendations are accordingly not of the highest rank. It appears that in this context, simple polymeric regimens are usually sufficient, and there is currently insufficient evidence to make a strong recommendation for disease‐specific feeds. In the maintenance of remission in CD, controlled data demonstrate that defined EN reduces the risk of relapse requiring steroid treatment. There are no data in support of primary nutrition therapy in UC either in management of the acute flare or in maintenance. In conclusion, nutrition therapy in adults with inflammatory bowel disease is probably both undervalued and underused, but the evidence base needs to be strengthened to confirm its efficacy, determine better those patients most likely to benefit, and optimize the regimens to be employed.
Is Indirect Calorimetry a Necessity or a Luxury in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit?
Authors: Kyle Ursula G. , Arriaza Ana , Esposito Monica , Coss‐Bu Jorge A.
Published: August 2011

Background: Critically ill children differ in their energy needs from healthy children in terms of underlying metabolic derangement, comorbidities, energy reserve, and response to illness. This study determined how many pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) patients were candidates for indirect calorimetry (IC), per American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (A.S.P.E.N.) recommendations. Methods: Admission diagnosis, demographics, type/amount of nutrition support, length of intensive care unit/hospital stay were collected. Patients were classified as candidates for IC per A.S.P.E.N. guidelines. Results: Mean (SD) age of patients (n = 150) was 6.7 (5.6) years, with PICU length of stay of 3.9 (5.3) days. IC was indicated in 72.0% (108/150) of patients during PICU days 1–7. Patients with miscellaneous (50%), neurological (73%), respiratory (81%), sepsis (83%), and oncology (100%) diagnoses were candidates for IC. Underweight/overweight/obese (32.4%), hypermetabolism (26.4%), and not meeting nutrition goals (13.7%) were the most frequent indications for IC (χ2, P < .001). Patients (31%) met ≥2 indications for IC. Patients with neurological disease (relative risk [RR], 4.8; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.7–14.6), oncology patients (4.2; 1.1–15.9), respiratory patients (5.5; 2.0–16.9), and children with sepsis/septic shock/infection (5.6; 1.9–18.1) were more likely to have ≥2 indications for IC compared to those with other diagnoses. Conclusions: Three of 4 patients were candidates for IC per A.S.P.E.N. guidelines. PICUs might have to prioritize performing IC in patients who are <2 years of age, malnourished (underweight/overweight) on admission, or PICU stay of >5 days. Future studies should determine the cost‐benefit ratios of performing IC in PICU patients.
Systematic Functional Assessment of Nasal Dyspnea
Authors: Larson Daniel A. , Cilento Benjamin W.
Published: August 2011

Objective

Evaluate the ability of a systematic preoperative evaluation to determine the most appropriate procedures for patients undergoing functional septorhinoplasty and to accurately predict postoperative outcomes.

Study Design

Case series with chart review.

Setting

Tertiary care military hospital.

Subjects and Methods

Fifty‐nine consecutive patients from a quality control database who underwent functional rhinoplasties for nasal dyspnea were evaluated. All patients underwent a full preoperative assessment using intranasal manipulation to determine the area(s) contributing to their nasal dyspnea. Rates of success for the predictive ability and for the functional outcome were determined for each side of the nose by comparing preoperative visual analog scale (VAS) scores (1‐10) to postoperative scores.

Results

Overall there was a 91% success rate in predicting the outcome of surgery and a 95% success rate in improving nasal dyspnea at 1 year. There was no statistically significant difference in improvement between different surgical groups (septoplasty ± alar strut grafts ± spreader grafts) or between primary surgeries and revisions.

Conclusion

Using a systematic approach to evaluate patients for nasal dyspnea, it is possible to predict and improve outcomes by choosing the most appropriate surgery for each individual.