bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The broad effects of the functional IL-10 promoter-592 polymorphism: modulation of IL-10, TIMP-3, and OPG expression and their association with periodontal disease outcome
Authors: Claudino Marcela , Trombone Ana Paula F , Cardoso Cristina R , Ferreira Samuel B , Martins Walter , Assis Gerson F , Santos Carlos F , Trevilatto Paula C , Campanelli Ana Paula , Silva João S , Garlet Gustavo P
Published: August 2008

Periodontal diseases are infectious diseases, in which periodontopathogens trigger chronic inflammatory and immune responses that lead to tissue destruction. It occurs through the generation of metalloproteinases and the activation of bone resorption mechanisms. Anti-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-10 seem to attenuate periodontal tissue destruction through the induction of tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) and the inhibitor of osteoclastogenesis osteoprotegerin (OPG). A high individual variation in levels of IL-10 mRNA is verified in periodontitis patients, which is possibly determined by genetic polymorphisms. In this study, the IL-10 promoter -592C/A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), which is associated with a decrease in IL-10 production, was analyzed by RFLP in 116 chronic periodontitis (CP) patients and 173 control (C) subjects, and the IL-10, TIMPs, and OPG mRNA expression levels in diseased gingival tissues were determined by real-time-PCR. The IL-10-592 SNP CA (P=0.0012/OR=2.4/CI:1.4-4.1), AA (P=0.0458/OR=2.3/CI:1.1-4.9), and CA+AA (P=0.0006/OR=2.4/CI:1.4-3.4) genotypes and the allele A (P=0.0036/OR=1.7/CI:1.2-2.4) were found to be significantly more prevalent in the CP group when compared with control subjects. Both CA and AA genotypes were associated with lower levels of IL-10, TIMP-3, and OPG mRNA expression in diseased periodontal tissues and were also associated with disease severity as mean pocket depth. Taken together, the results presented here demonstrate that IL10-592 SNP is functional in CP, being associated with lower levels of IL-10 mRNA expression, which is supposed to consequently decrease the expression of the downstream genes TIMP-3 and OPG, and influence periodontal disease outcome.
Randomized Trial of Denosumab in Patients Receiving Adjuvant Aromatase Inhibitors for Nonmetastatic Breast Cancer
Authors: Ellis Georgiana K. , Bone Henry G. , Chlebowski Rowan , Paul Devchand , Spadafora Silvana , Smith Judy , Fan Michelle , Jun Susie
Published: August 2008

Purpose

Adjuvant aromatase inhibitor therapy is well established in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive breast cancer, but such therapy is complicated by accelerated bone loss and increased fracture risk. We investigated the ability of denosumab, a fully human monoclonal antibody against receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand, to protect against aromatase inhibitor–induced bone loss.

Patients and Methods

Eligible women with hormone receptor–positive nonmetastatic breast cancer treated with adjuvant aromatase inhibitor therapy were stratified by duration of aromatase inhibitor therapy (≤ 6 v > 6 months), received supplemental calcium and vitamin D, and were randomly assigned to receive placebo (n = 125) or subcutaneous denosumab 60 mg (n = 127) every 6 months. At enrollment, all patients were required to have evidence of low bone mass, excluding osteoporosis. The primary end point was percentage change from baseline at month 12 in lumbar spine bone mineral density (BMD).

Results

At 12 and 24 months, lumbar spine BMD increased by 5.5% and 7.6%, respectively, in the denosumab group versus placebo (P < .0001 at both time points). Increases were observed as early as 1 month and were not influenced by duration of aromatase inhibitor therapy. Increases in BMD were also observed at the total hip, total body, femoral neck, and the predominantly cortical one-third radius. Bone turnover markers decreased with denosumab treatment. Overall incidence of treatment-emergent adverse events (AEs) was similar between treatment groups.

Conclusion

In women with nonmetastatic breast cancer and low bone mass who were receiving adjuvant aromatase inhibitor therapy, twice-yearly administration of denosumab led to significant increases in BMD over 24 months at trabecular and cortical bone, with overall AE rates similar to those of placebo.
DOES ADHERENCE TO TREATMENT TARGETS IN CHILDREN WITH SEVERE TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY AVOID BRAIN HYPOXIA? A BRAIN TISSUE OXYGENATION STUDY
Authors: Figaji Anthony A. , Fieggen A. Graham , Argent Andrew C. , LeRoux Peter D. , Peter Jonathan C.
Published: August 2008

OBJECTIVE

Most physicians rely on conventional treatment targets for intracranial pressure, cerebral perfusion pressure, systemic oxygenation, and hemoglobin to direct management of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in children. In this study, we used brain tissue oxygen tension (PbtO2) monitoring to examine the association between PbtO2 values and outcome in pediatric severe TBI and to determine the incidence of compromised PbtO2 in patients for whom acceptable treatment targets had been achieved.

METHODS

In this prospective observational study, 26 children with severe TBI and a median postresuscitation Glasgow Coma Scale score of 5 were managed with continuous PbtO2 monitoring. The relationships between outcome and the 6-hour period of lowest PbtO2 values and the length of time that PbtO2 was less than 20, 15, 10, and 5 mmHg were examined. The incidence of reduced PbtO2 for each threshold was evaluated where the following targets were met: intracranial pressure less than 20 mmHg, cerebral perfusion pressure greater than 50 mmHg, arterial oxygen tension greater than 60 mmHg (and peripheral oxygen saturation > 90%), and hemoglobin greater than 8 g/dl.

RESULTS

There was a significant association between poor outcome and the 6-hour period of lowest PbtO2 and length of time that PbtO2 was less than 15 and 10 mmHg. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that low PbtO2 had an independent association with poor outcome. Despite achieving the management targets described above, 80% of patients experienced one or more episodes of compromised PbtO2 (< 20 mmHg), and almost one-third experienced episodes of brain hypoxia (PbtO2 < 10 mmHg).

CONCLUSION

Reduced PbtO2 is associated with poor outcome in pediatric severe TBI. In addition, many patients experience episodes of compromised PbtO2 despite achieving acceptable treatment targets.
CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE INFRATENTORIAL ROSETTE-FORMING GLIONEURONAL TUMOR
Authors: Tan Caroline C. , Gonzales Michael , Veitch Alastair
Published: August 2008

OBJECTIVE

This article describes our experience with two patients who presented with unusual tumors in the cerebellar vermis and cerebral aqueduct. Although sparing the fourth ventricle proper, both tumors had histological features consistent with the rare diagnosis of a rosette-forming glioneuronal tumor of the fourth ventricle, of which only 19 cases have been reported previously. A review of the clinical features and courses of all 21 cases is presented and management recommendations are given.

CLINICAL PRESENTATION

Patient 1 was a 42-year-old man who presented with a headache of 1 day's duration and no neurological signs, in whom magnetic resonance imaging disclosed a nonenhancing mass lesion occupying the proximal cerebral aqueduct. Patient 2 was a 38-year-old woman with a long history of intermittent giddiness, no neurological signs, and a magnetic resonance imaging scan that demonstrated a nonenhancing and subtle abnormality in the cerebellar vermis.

INTERVENTION

Biopsy was performed on both lesions, the first endoscopically and the second via craniotomy. The only postoperative complication was short-lived double vision and poor upgaze in Patient 1.

CONCLUSION

These cases demonstrate that the rosette-forming glioneuronal tumor may be more accurately categorized as an infratentorial tumor rather than a tumor of the fourth ventricle. Because the literature indicates that this is a tumor with little potential for malignant behavior and considerable morbidity can accompany attempts at resection, a conservative management approach would seem well advised. If this tumor is to be managed conservatively, because of the paucity of extended follow-up data, long-term radiological and clinical surveillance is strongly recommended.
On the trail of the `new head' in Les Treilles
Authors: Bronner-Fraser Marianne
Published: August 2008

The vertebrate brain develops in association with neighboring tissues:neural crest, placodes, mesoderm and endoderm. The molecular and evolutionary relationships between the forming nervous system and the other craniofacial structures were at the focus of a recent meeting at the Fondation des Treilles in France. Entitled `Relationships between Craniofacial and Neural Development', the meeting brought together researchers working on diverse species, the findings of whom provide clues as to the origin and diversity of the brain and facial regions that are involved in forming the `new head' of vertebrates.
Hedgehog signaling to distinct cell types differentially regulates coronary artery and vein development
Authors: Lavine Kory J. , Long Fanxin , Choi Kyunghee , Smith Craig , Ornitz David M.
Published: August 2008

Vascular development begins with formation of a primary capillary plexus that is later remodeled to give rise to the definitive vasculature. Although the mechanism by which arterial and venous fates are acquired is well understood, little is known about when during vascular development arterial and venous vessels emerge and how their growth is regulated. Previously, we have demonstrated that a hedgehog (HH)/vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) and angiopoeitin 2 (ANG2) signaling pathway is essential for the development of the coronary vasculature. Here, we use conditional gene targeting to identify the cell types that receive HH signaling and mediate coronary vascular development. We show that HH signaling to the cardiomyoblast is required for the development of coronary veins, while HH signaling to the perivascular cell (PVC) is necessary for coronary arterial growth. Moreover,the cardiomyoblast and PVC appear to be the exclusive cell types that receive HH signals, as ablation of HH signaling in both cell types leads to an arrest in coronary development. Finally, we present evidence suggesting that coronary arteries and veins may be derived from distinct lineages.
A crucial role for hnRNP K in axon development inXenopus laevis
Authors: Liu Yuanyuan , Gervasi Christine , Szaro Ben G.
Published: August 2008

We report that hnRNP K, an RNA-binding protein implicated in multiple aspects of post-transcriptional gene control, is essential for axon outgrowth in Xenopus. Its intracellular localization was found to be consistent with one of its known roles as an mRNA shuttling protein. In early embryos, it was primarily nuclear, whereas later it occupied both the nucleus and cytoplasm to varying degrees in different neuronal subtypes. Antisense hnRNP K morpholino oligonucleotides (MOs) microinjected into blastomeres suppressed hnRNP K expression from neural plate stages through to at least stage 40. Differentiating neural cells in these embryos expressed several markers for terminally differentiated neurons but failed to make axons. Rescue experiments and the use of two separate hnRNP K MOs were carried out to confirm that these effects were specifically caused by knockdown of hnRNP K expression. For insights into the involvement of hnRNP K in neuronal post-transcriptional gene control at the molecular level, we compared effects on expression of the medium neurofilament protein (NF-M), the RNA for which binds hnRNP K, with that of peripherin, another intermediate filament protein,the RNA for which does not bind hnRNP K. hnRNP K knockdown compromised NF-M mRNA nucleocytoplasmic export and translation, but had no effect on peripherin. Because eliminating NF-M from Xenopus axons attenuates, but does not abolish, their outgrowth, hnRNP K must target additional RNAs needed for axon development. Our study supports the idea that translation of at least a subset of RNAs involved in axon development is controlled by post-transcriptional regulatory modules that have hnRNP K as an essential element.
Human Serum Albumin Nanotubes Comprising Layer-by-layer Assembly with Polycation
Authors: Lu Gang , Tsuchida Eishun , Komatsu Teruyuki
Published: August 2008

Cylindrical protein nanotubes comprising a layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly of human serum albumin (HSA) with polycations [polyallylamine hydrochloride (PAH), poly-l-arginine hydrochloride (PLA), and poly-l-lysine hydrobromide (PLL)] have been prepared using template synthesis with a porous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membrane. Visible absorption spectra of the multilayered thin film of the polycation and HSA on a quartz plate showed alternate LbL film formation of (polycation/HSA)n.
Single Crystal Growth of CaMn2O4 and CaMn3O6 in Molten CaCl2
Authors: Fukabori Akihiro , Awaka Junji , Takahashi Yasuhiko , Kijima Norihito , Hayakawa Hiroshi , Akimoto Junji
Published: August 2008

We developed a novel growth route for oxide crystals in the Ca–Mn–O system. Single crystals of CaMn2O4 and CaMn3O6 were obtained by heating starting Na0.44MnO2 polycrystalline samples in molten CaCl2 salt at 950 and 850 °C, respectively. The as-grown CaMn2O4 crystals were black in color; they also had a polyhedral shape with a maximum dimension of 0.7×0.5×0.3 mm3. In the case of CaMn3O6, needle-like single crystals having average lengths of up to 0.2 mm were successfully grown at 850 °C for the first time.
Solvation Structure of Polyacrylamide Fine Particle Surfaces Studied by Picosecond Time-resolved Fluorescence Spectroscopy
Authors: Sakamaki Tsutomu , Fujino Tatsuya , Hosoi Haruko , Tahara Tahei , Korenaga Takashi
Published: August 2008

Picosecond time-resolved fluorescence measurements using fluorescent probe molecule (C153) were carried out to understand chemical properties around polyacrylamide (PAAm) fine particles. The solvation structure around the PAAm fine particle was investigated by changing the particle size and the length of hydrophilic polymer chains.
Addition of Al2O3 or Cr2O3 Promotes Metal Reduction in a CoO–NiO–MgO Solid Solution Catalyst for CH4/H2O Reforming
Authors: Nagaoka Katsutoshi , Hashimoto Yusaku , Sato Katsutoshi , Wakatsuki Toshiya , Nishiguchi Hiroyasu , Takita Yusaku
Published: August 2008

Addition of Al2O3 or Cr2O3 promotes metal reduction in a CoO–NiO–MgO solid solution catalyst and provides great resistance to oxidative deactivation in steam reforming of methane.
Synthesis of Zr-grafted SBA-15 as an Effective Support for Cobalt Catalyst in Fischer–Tropsch Synthesis
Authors: Liu Yanyong , Murata Kazuhisa , Okabe Kiyomi , Hanaoka Toshiaki , Sakanishi Kinya
Published: August 2008

Zr-grafted SBA-15 is the most effective support among Zr-modified SBA-15 materials prepared by various methods for supporting Co catalyst in the Fischer–Tropsch synthesis due to the large BET surface area of the support and the strong interaction between Zr promoter and Co catalyst.
Measurement Environment Dependency of Single Molecule Conductance
Authors: Taniguchi Masateru , Morimoto Kosuke , Tsutsui Makusu , Kawai Tomoji
Published: August 2008

In order to investigate the measurement environment dependency of single molecule conductance, the lifetime of Au single-atom contacts and the conductance of a metal complex were investigated in solution and vacuum using a nanofabricated, mechanically controllable break junction (nano-MCBJ). The lifetime of Au single-atom contacts in a solution is shorter than that in vacuum. Single molecule conductance of a metal complex was found to be independent of the measurement environment.
Directed organ donation: is the donor the owner?
Authors: Cronin Antonia J , Price David
Published: August 2008

The issue of directed donation of organs from deceased donors for transplantation has recently risen to the fore, given greater significance by the relatively stagnant rate of deceased donor donation in the UK. Although its status and legitimacy is explicitly recognized across the USA, elsewhere a more cautious, if not entirely negative, stance has been taken. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Human Tissue Act 2004, and in Scotland the Human Tissue (Scotland) Act 2006, are both silent in this regard. Although so-called conditional donation, donation to (or perhaps withheld from) a specific class, has been outlawed as a product of guidance issued by the Secretary of State for Health issued in the wake of the controversial incident occurring in the North of England in 1998, its intended application to ‘directed’ donation is less certain.

Directed and conditional donations challenge the traditional construct of altruistic donation and impartial (equitable) allocation in a very immediate and striking fashion. They implicitly raise important questions as to whether the body or parts of the body are capable of being owned, and by whom. This paper attempts to explore the notion of donor ownership of body parts and its implications for both directed and conditional donation.
Owning information – anonymity, confidentiality and human rights
Authors: Miola José
Published: August 2008

As the General Medical Council (GMC) is currently in the process of reviewing its ethical guidance on confidentiality, it is a prescient time to consider the legal and ethical issues inherent in it. This paper examines the question of anonymized data, and highlights the fact that the legal position regarding whether it should be classed as confidential is unclear, with the possibility of a change in the law being very real. Indeed, the article argues that the notion that anonymized data is not confidential can be challenged on both legal and ethical grounds, and thus that the GMC should take this into account in its new guidance. Although identifying the fact that this might have implications for epidemiological research, the article highlights an alternative approach that would allow the conduct of such research while not infringing patients' legally protected human rights.
Keyholders and flak jackets: the method in the madness of mixed metaphors
Authors: Maclean Alasdair
Published: August 2008

The law in England allows that both parents and competent minors concurrently have the right to consent to medical treatment of the minor. This means that while competent minors may consent to treatment their refusal of consent does not act as an effective veto of treatment and treatment remains lawful if given with parental consent. This approach has been heavily criticized as inconsistent with the House of Lords decision in the Gillick case and damned as ‘palpable nonsense’. In this article, I examine these criticisms and conclude that, far from being illogical, it is entirely consistent with the essential asymmetry between consent to treatment and refusal of treatment. I examine the two metaphors of keyholders and flak jackets used to explain this approach and I suggest that both have value but only when used in combination. I also explain why, contrary to the criticism, it is consistent with Gillick.
Genotypic distribution of hepatitis C among hepatitis C and HIV co-infected patients in Brazil
Authors: Mendes-Correa M C , Cavalheiro N P , Mello C , Barone A A , Gianini R J
Published: August 2008

Summary:

Information on hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypic distribution among HIV-HCV co-infected patients is lacking in Brazil as well as other Latin American countries. The objective of this study was to evaluate the level of exposure to different risk factors associated with HCV transmission among a group of co-infected patients and to characterize the genotypic distribution of HCV in this cluster. A series of 100 HIV-HCV co-infected patients was analysed. The data to be analysed were collected from specific laboratory tests. Information was collected through a questionnaire. HCV genotyping was carried out by sequencing the 5′ non-coding region of HCV. Chi-square and Fischer association tests or Kruskal-Wallis test were used to study the association between HCV transmission-related variables and the established genotypes. In conclusion, exposure to multiple risk factors associated with HCV transmission was common among HIV co-infected patients and an association between HCV genotype 3 and intravenous drug user was observed.
How men with non-chlamydial, non-gonococcal urethritis are managed in Australasia
Authors: Teague R , Fairley C K , Newton D , Bradshaw C , Donovan B , Bowden F , Cummings R , Chen M Y
Published: August 2008

Summary:

The aim of this study was to ascertain how sexual health physicians in Australia and New Zealand manage men with chlamydia-negative non-gonococcal urethritis (NGU), particularly in relation to the notification of their female sexual partners. In July 2006, a cross-section survey was sent out to all the members of the Australasian Chapter of Sexual Health Medicine. Seventy-three percent of sexual health physicians believed that female partners of men who present with chlamydia-negative NGU were at risk of adverse reproductive health outcomes. At least 62% usually initiated some form of partner notification of female partners of men with chlamydia-negative NGU. However, only 19% (21/111) of sexual health physicians routinely tested for, and only 65% sometimes tested for, pathogens other than Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Chlamydia trachomatis in men presenting with NGU. These included Mycoplasma genitalium, herpes simplex virus, ureaplasma species, Trichomonas vaginalis and adenoviruses.
Expanding HIV rapid testing via point-of-care paraprofessionals
Authors: Knapp Herschel , Anaya Henry D , Feld Jamie E
Published: August 2008

Summary:

HIV counselling and testing has traditionally been performed by highly trained professionals in clinical settings. With HIV rapid testing, a reliable and easy to use diagnostic tool, paraprofessionals can be trained to administer on-site HIV testing in a variety of non-traditional settings, broadening the HIV detection rates. Our objective was to create a robust and sustainable paraprofessional training module to facilitate off-site HIV rapid testing in non-clinical settings. Trainees attended a series of training sessions involving HIV education, rapid test instructions and communication techniques. After these sessions, trainees competently carried out HIV rapid testing in homeless shelters throughout the Los Angeles county. Agencies motivated to expand HIV screening programmes may use trained paraprofessionals to administer a full range of services (recruitment, pretest counselling, test administration, interpretation of results, post-test counselling and documentation) through this training model and enabling more highly trained healthcare providers to focus efforts on patients identified as HIV-positive.
Black and minority ethnic men who have sex with men: a London genitourinary medicine clinic experience
Authors: Soni S , Bond K , Fox E , Grieve A P , Sethi G
Published: August 2008

Summary:

The aim was to examine sexual behaviour and rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in black and minority ethnic (BME) men who have sex with men (MSM) attending a London genitourinary medicine clinic. A case-note review of BME MSM (n = 203) attending our service between 1 April 2005 and 31 March 2006 was carried out. BME MSM were those who self-identified as being of Black (Caribbean, African or Other), South Asian (Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi or Sri Lankan) and Chinese/South-East Asian (Malaysian, Thai, Filipino, Japanese) ethnicities. Consecutively attending self-identified white British (WB) MSM (n = 203) were used as a comparative group. BME MSM were significantly more likely to report unprotected anal intercourse with casual male partners in the preceding three months (P = 0.0016) and were more likely to report female sexual partners (P = 0.0018). Rectal gonorrhoea was more common in WB MSM (P = 0.02). Numbers of other bacterial STIs and HIV infection were similar in both groups.

The higher reported rates of risk behaviour in BME MSM are of concern and support the need for focussed sexual health promotion.
Successful prevention of multidrug resistant HIV mother-to-child transmission with enfuvirtide use in late pregnancy
Authors: Madeddu Giordano , Calia Giovanna Maria , Campus Maria Licinia , Lovigu Carla , Mannazzu Marco , Olmeo Paolina , Mela Maria Graziella , Mura Maria Stella
Published: August 2008

Summary:

The availability of antiretroviral therapy has dramatically reduced the risk of HIV mother-to-child transmission (MTCT). However, mothers infected with multidrug resistant HIV (MDR-HIV) are at increased risk of MTCT. We report the case of a pregnant patient infected with MDR-HIV in whom MTCT was avoided with enfuvirtide use in late pregnancy and elective caesarean section.
Attending an STI Foundation course increases chlamydia testing in primary care, but not HIV testing
Authors: Bailey A C , Dean G , Hankins M , Fisher M
Published: August 2008

Summary:

The Sexually Transmitted Infection Foundation course (STIF) is a recommended training course for UK general practitioners (GPs) and others delivering sexual health services in the community. We assessed the impact of attending the course on testing for HIV and chlamydia. Thirty-one GPs attending Brighton STIF courses were identified and the laboratory database was searched to identify all chlamydia and HIV tests they requested in the three months prior to attending, the first three months after attending and the subsequent three months. Three hundred and eight chlamydia tests were performed precourse, 390 postcourse and 342 in the following three months. This represented a significant increase from baseline to postcourse (P = 0.007), which was lost by three to six months (P = 0.25). The proportion of positives did not change. A total of 98, 111 and 131 HIV tests were performed in the three time periods of which; none were positive. Barriers other than training may need to be overcome to increase HIV testing in primary care.
Effects of Inconsistent Relevance Judgments on Information Retrieval Test Results: A Historical Perspective
Authors: Saracevic Tefko
Published: August 2008

The main objective of information retrieval (IR) systems is to retrieve information or information objects relevant to user requests and possible needs. In IR tests, retrieval effectiveness is established by comparing IR systems retrievals (systems relevance) with users’ or user surrogates’ assessments (user relevance), where user relevance is treated as the gold standard for performance evaluation. Relevance is a human notion, and establishing relevance by humans is fraught with a number of problems—inconsistency in judgment being one of them. The aim of this critical review is to explore the relationship between relevance on the one hand and testing of IR systems and procedures on the other. Critics of IR tests raised the issue of validity of the IR tests because they were based on relevance judgments that are inconsistent. This review traces and synthesizes experimental studies dealing with (1) inconsistency of relevance judgments by people, (2) effects of such inconsistency on results of IR tests and (3) reasons for retrieval failures. A historical context for these studies and for IR testing is provided including an assessment of Lancaster’s (1969) evaluation of MEDLARS and its unique place in the history of IR evaluation.
Reflections: An Interview with F. W. Lancaster
Authors: Estabrook Leigh S. , Lancaster F. W.
Published: August 2008

This article is an interview with F. W. Lancaster that explores his recollections of his life and career, including his accomplishments and the individuals who had significant influence on him.
Aftermath of a Prediction: F. W. Lancaster and the Paperless Society
Authors: Young Arthur P.
Published: August 2008

Professor Lancaster’s audacious prediction of a paperless society by the end of the twentieth century is examined from multiple perspectives. Rationales for the prognostication, textual and contextual; reception by the profession; and impact on the literature of library and information science are reviewed. Bibliometric data is introduced in support of the extensive citation links to Lancaster’s core writings. The accuracy of Lancaster’s prediction and the leavening insights of the collateral literature are considered.
F. W. Lancaster as Scholar, Teacher, and Mentor: Reflections of Students
Authors: Haricombe Lorraine J. , Prabha Chandra
Published: August 2008

This essay captures the reflections of several students who studied with Professor F. W. Lancaster during his tenure at the University of Illinois Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS) from 1970 to 1992 and beyond. It is organized around the emerging themes as expressed by a diverse group of students in the United States and from around the globe. These students have given us permission to use all or some of their comments in this Festschrift.
Evidence-Based Practice and Organizational Development in Libraries
Authors: Russell Keith
Published: August 2008

This article is written for a Festschrift for F. W. Lancaster, and it summarizes the author’s library school experiences as a student of Professor Lancaster and Professor Herbert Goldhor at the University of Illinois. Both professors instilled in students a strong inclination to use real and appropriate information in evaluating situations, making decisions, delivering information services, and managing libraries. The author suggests that this Lancaster-Goldhor approach to information, and to data-driven decision making, anticipated the current movement toward evidence-based practice (EBP) in libraries. He suggests that libraries embrace the premises, philosophy, values, and practices of organizational development (OD) as an overarching discipline that facilitates EBP in the library culture, and ultimately leads to healthier and more effective organizations. This article complements a 2004 Library Trends article on OD, and numerous recent publications on OD and related topics are cited.
Online Systems for Information Access and Retrieval
Authors: Tenopir Carol
Published: August 2008

In 1973 F. W. Lancaster published the first textbook about online information retrieval (with E. G. Fayen). That text and his later writings and books on the topics relating to online searching set the precedent for many books to follow. His early work also advocated many changes to the state-of-the-art systems and anticipated many of the characteristics of modern online information retrieval systems. Although the basic underlying structure of modern systems is still similar to what Lancaster wrote about thirty years ago, many of the changes he advocated have occurred. From an era of bibliographic databases on command-driven systems searched by library professionals, online systems have evolved to have friendlier interfaces, include full texts or links to full texts, and are targeted to the end users of the information. The information industry has evolved, as have the online search systems and tools that are so commonplace today.
The Evolution of Measurement and Evaluation of Libraries: A Perspective from the Association of Research Libraries
Authors: Kyrillidou Martha , Cook Colleen
Published: August 2008

This paper reviews the evolution of measurement and evaluation in libraries from the perspectives of three important figures who have shaped the history of library assessment activities: James Gerould, F. Wilfrid Lancaster, and Duane Webster. Although Lancaster is about a decade older than Webster and almost half a century removed from Gerould, the contributions of the three individuals knit a common fabric in the development of assessment in libraries in the past century. In investigating the interconnections of the three individuals, not only can we gain an understanding of how we got to today’s world of evaluation in libraries, but also we can gain a glimpse into future developments in the field. James Gerould was a library administrator, Lancaster was a library educator, and Webster was a library association executive. Each brought unique perspectives into the evaluation and measurement of library services. In this article we attempt to offer a tribute to Lancaster’s accomplishments within the context of the work done in the Association of Research Libraries as it was shaped over the years between Gerould and Webster, from the beginning toward the end of the twentieth century.
F. W. Lancaster: A Family Tribute
Authors: Lancaster Cesaria , Meyer Miriam , Lancaster Owen , Lancaster Jude , Lancaster Aaron , Hanumanthappa Lakshmi , Hanumanthappa Raji
Published: August 2008

This article in the Festschrift for F. W. Lancaster contains reflections by Lancaster’s family about him as a husband and father.
F. W. Lancaster: A Bibliometric Analysis
Authors: Qin Jian
Published: August 2008

F. W. Lancaster, as the most cited author during the 1970s to early 1990s, has broad intellectual influence in many fields of research in library and information science. This bibliometric study collected citation data for Lancaster’s publications from 1972 to 2006 and analyzed the data in terms of the time and space and disciplinary breadth of his intellectual influence. The result shows that Lancaster has established an extraordinary record of both productivity and citedness. Six of his works, according to the criteria for citation classic, have been cited so extensively over a longtime span that they qualify as citation classics in library and information science. Although much of the citation data, especially those in non-English publications, are not covered in citation databases, the bibliometric depiction nonetheless provides a good picture of Lancaster’s contribution to and influence in library and information science.
Testing the Calculation of a Realistic h -index in Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science for F. W. Lancaster
Authors: Jacso Peter
Published: August 2008

This paper focuses on the practical limitations in the content and software of the databases that are used to calculate the h -index for assessing the publishing productivity and impact of researchers. To celebrate F. W. Lancaster’s biological age of seventy-five, and “scientific age” of forty-five, this paper discusses the related features of Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science (WoS), and demonstrates in the latter how a much more realistic and fair h -index can be computed for F. W. Lancaster than the one produced automatically. Browsing and searching the cited reference index of the 1945–2007 edition of WoS, which in my estimate has over a hundred million “orphan references” that have no counterpart master records to be attached to, and “stray references” that cite papers which do have master records but cannot be identified by the matching algorithm because of errors of omission and commission in the references of the citing works, can bring up hundreds of additional cited references given to works of an accomplished author but are ignored in the automatic process of calculating the h -index. The partially manual process doubled the h -index value for F. W. Lancaster from 13 to 26, which is a much more realistic value for an information scientist and professor of his stature.
The Influence of F. W. Lancaster on Information Science and on Libraries: Notes on the scope of this Festschrift
Authors: Haricombe Lorraine J. , Russell Keith
Published: August 2008

Over a period of four decades F. W. Lancaster has continuously emerged as a visionary leader in the field of library and information science. His research, writings, and teachings have earned him the highest honors in the profession. Lancaster excelled at many fronts: as scholar, educator, mentor, and writer. This essay summarizes the personalized contributions of Lancaster’s friends, family, students, colleagues, and scholars in the field to celebrate and pay homage to him for his life’s work.
Thesauri and Facets and Tags, Oh My! A Look at Three Decades in Subject Analysis
Authors: Schwartz Candy
Published: August 2008

The field of subject analysis enjoyed a flurry of interest in the 1970s, and has recently become a focus of attention again. The scholarly community doing work in this area has become more diffuse, and has grown to include new groups, such as information architects. Changes in information services and information seeking have led to reexamination of the nature and role of subject analysis tools and practices. This selective review looks at thesauri, guided navigation, and folksonomy as three activity areas in which subject analysis researchers have been attempting to address rapidly changing new environments.
A Tribute to F. Wilfrid Lancaster
Authors: Hayes Robert M.
Published: August 2008

This article presents an overview of the career of F. W. Lancaster. It starts with a review of the recognitions he has received for his teaching accomplishments, both in the United States and in many foreign countries. It then turns to his books, for which he has received awards from the American Library Association (ALA) and the American Society for Information Science and Technology, and his other writings, among them the 1969 report on the evaluation of MEDLARS, which received an American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIS) award as the best paper of the year. Next, Lancaster’s contributions in research are discussed, starting with his work on the evaluation of information systems. Then, Lancaster’s work as consultant to governments, commercial companies, nonprofit agencies, and libraries throughout the world is briefly reviewed. Finally, this article highlights Lancaster’s contributions to the profession, with emphasis on his leadership as editor of Library Trends . The article then concludes by viewing Lancaster’s contributions in the context of historic cooperation between the United States and the United Kingdom.
Library Education: Its Past, Its Present, Its Future
Authors: Lynch Beverly P.
Published: August 2008

This paper traces the history of library education primarily as it developed in the United States. The issues pertaining to curriculum, students, and faculty are presented as are the current questions of whether the educational program should have a professional, vocational, or discipline-based focus.
Excellence in Evaluation: Early Landmarks at the National Library of Medicine
Authors: Rapp Barbara A.
Published: August 2008

F. Wilfrid Lancaster has earned a reputation for greatness in the evaluation of information storage and retrieval systems. Many of his extensive contributions stem from his early experience with the National Library of Medicine (NLM) MEDLARS system. His evaluation of the MEDLARS Demand Search Service in 1966 and 1967 was an important landmark as one of the earliest evaluations of a computer-based retrieval system and as the first application of re-call and precision measures in a large, operational database setting. In 1971, his evaluation of the MEDLARS AIM-TWX system was an important study of early online systems and their direct use by end users. This paper summarizes Lancaster’s two major evaluations of the MEDLARS system, including the information environment at the time and their impact in the field of information science. Examples of Lancaster’s other evaluation work with information retrieval systems are provided, followed by discussion of the textbooks that grew out of his evaluation experience and expertise. The article closes with comments from current and former NLM staff regarding Lancaster’s time at NLM or his influence on their own career.
Allegories of Rending: Killing Time with Walter Benjamin
Authors: Lehman Robert S.
Published: August 2008

Nearly every critic of Benjaminian allegory has begun with the assumption that allegory is a fundamentally temporal form. Two possible readings thus present themselves: on the one hand, a finitist reading in which allegory insists on the implacable decay of all life against the organicism of the symbol; on the other, an infinitist reading in which allegory becomes the privileged figure for history’s dialectical unfolding. Though each position has resulted in a number of powerful interpretations, neither has addressed the most radical feature of Benjaminian allegory: its challenge to time as the latter manifests itself by ordering human history. Benjamin develops his allegorical challenge to time in The Origin of German Tragic Drama , his studies of Baudelaire and, most profoundly, the ninth thesis “On the Concept of History.” In the last of these texts, Benjamin’s allegorical presentation of the “new angel” depicts a vision of history without time, a vision in which events occur absent any temporal continuity. In this vision, I argue, the critical force of what Benjamin calls the “allegorical intention” emerges.
Dialogues with/and Great Books: With Some Serious Reflections on Robinson Crusoe
Authors: Fishelov David
Published: August 2008

The essay argues that a work’s reputation as a great book is a function of the number and diversity of dialogues it inspires in literature, art and criticism (in the form of allusions, translations, adaptations, parodies, performances and interpretations). After outlining some basic types of (genuine and pseudo) dialogue that can be found in day-to-day communication and in literature, the essay focuses on Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe as a test case for the dialogic approach to great books. A brief survey of the magnitude and variety of echoes and dialogues this work has inspired throughout the ages provides ample evidence for the new approach. Against prevalent theories of literary history and canon formation—explaining a book’s reputation in terms of either aesthetic values or of social hegemonies—the dialogic approach offers an elegant explanation for the gaining of literary reputation and for its fluctuations.
The Things of Civilization, the Matters of Empire: Representing Jemmy Button
Authors: Mayer Ruth
Published: August 2008

This paper reflects upon the many representations of Jemmy Button, a Fuegian native who was abducted to England and returned to Tierra del Fuego in the first half of the 19th century. Travel and science writers like Robert Fitzroy, Charles Darwin, W. Parker Snow, and social Darwinist writers such as Max Nordau reflected upon Jemmy Button's life and fate – and their accounts reveal a deep, if changing, fascination with the material aspects of the civilizatory project. Jemmy Button's story was told in many variations and with glaringly different conclusions, but it tends to be told as a story replete with objects, objectification, and with the fantasies that objects inspire. Focusing on the material aspects of the story, I mean to cast light on a larger logic of materialism which framed the development of Darwin's theory of evolution and civilization, and its social Darwinist offsprings.
“Frightful Spectacles of a Mangled King”: Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko and Narration Through Theater
Authors: Figlerowicz Marta
Published: August 2008

My paper studies the relationship of Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko to theater. I demonstrate that Behn’s novella is structured as a series of successive performances observed and responded to by diverse audiences. It is by imitating the interactions between the actors and the spectators of a play that Oroonoko can successfully combine the tragedy central to its plot with a broad exploration of cultural alterity and colonial politics. Since Oroonoko is often regarded as a precursor of the novel, this observation is of wider significance for our understanding of the origins and development of this genre.
Self-Critical Theory: Discursive Strategies in an Era of Real Universality
Authors: Mattessich Stefan
Published: August 2008

This essay looks at the figure of the universal, or a universalizable substrate, in the work of four contemporary theorists (Cornell, Butler, Badiou, Rancière). It argues that this figure, understood as a “living” universality, implies a necessary implication of the writer and reader in the “abstract” rationalities of today’s global system. The first is grasped uniquely in the internalized risk of the latter, taken on as one’s own and according to a performative logic of the subject. “Self-Critical Theory” analyzes, in the differences between cultural and radical politics, and between social and philosophical criticism, various registers of this logic, suggesting a common ground from which new possibilities for critique and resistance can arise.
Habeas Corpus: British Imaginations of Power in Walter Scott’s Old Mortality
Authors: Witherbee Amy
Published: August 2008

This essay addresses Walter Scott’s The Tale of Old Mortality alongside Giorgio Agamben’s study of the history of Western sovereignty to argue that even as Agamben’s work helps us to clarify the political implications of Scott’s novels, these novels reveal alternatives to modern subjectivity through an older, law-based conception of land. Thus, Scott’s fictional landscapes demand a reading that is far more geographically literal than the use of land as a symbol for nation, that resists the illusions of certainty encouraged by text, and that envisions jurisdictional power as a counterpoint to the emergence of modern political subjectivity.
Wooden Subjects
Authors: Zamir Tzachi
Published: August 2008

The essay offers a reading of botanical imagery in Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus , associating trees with the play’s presentation of grief and trauma. I situate the play in relation to Kyd’s Spanish Tragedy and its own linkage between trees and violence, and discuss how these plays highlight the dubiousness of tragic pleasure. Shakespeare’s response to the misgivings invoked by enjoying tragedy is moral and also psychological, presenting both a moral progress in speaking for pain (in Titus himself) and a penetrating and poetically precise image of what grief involves and what responding to it might demand.
Reading Derrida on Being Monolingual
Authors: Chow Rey
Published: August 2008

The essay is a study of Derrida’s autobiographical reflections on the politics of language under colonialism, reflections that are made especially thought-provoking by Derrida’s candid revelations of his own anguished relationship to the French language. In particular, by juxtaposing Derrida’s reference to French as an absolute “habitat” and Bourdieu’s use of the concept “habitus,” Chow suggests that Derrida’s life-long work on language may be understood as a form of resistance, not so much to colonialism per se as to the presumption that any language can ever be mastered. Chow concludes with questions about monolingualism and multilingualism that Derrida’s interventions have enabled but left open, and that remain important considerations in the study of postcolonial cultures.
A Few Things for Themselves
Authors: Guzzetti Alfred
Published: August 2008

What characteristics inform the camera's view of things? Is a photograph or a film image capable of offering a view of an object simply for itself, regarded for itself, or must that view at its origin bring along a baggage of signification, metaphoric or otherwise? Can this question be disentangled from the way that the author of the image is to one degree or another inscribed in it, irresistibly leading the viewer back to the spatial realities that the image evokes?