bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Discipline, Sex, and the Republican Self
Authors: Lyons Clare A.
Published: December 2012

The American Revolution took place at a time of a revolutionary loosening of the patriarchal control and marital organization of sexuality that had characterized much of colonial society, as well as a counterrevolution against it. The Revolution and the birth of a new nation coincided with a longer period of changes in intimate behavior initiated by men and women on both sides of the Atlantic. Throughout much of western Europe, sexual behavior escalated outside of marriage, and new meanings associated with sexual practices flourished. In the new United States, sexual expression presented challenges to traditional social hierarchy. Like monarchy, patriarchy came under attack in the second half of the eighteenth century as a manifestation of illegitimate and absolute power. The second sexual revolution, launched to counter the democratic initiatives of the subalterns of early American society, was marked by attempts to define legitimate sexuality and the sexual self.
The Republic in the World, 1783–1803
Authors: Opal J. M.
Published: December 2012

In February 1778, France and the United States formed a military alliance and signed a Treaty of Amity and Commerce. Five years later, Britain sued for peace and surrendered its claims to North America south of Canada. These two diplomatic coups led to the formation of the American republic. Even before the 1783 treaty, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and other statesmen were already hatching plans on how to secure the republic's vast territorial gains. Jefferson and many of his political supporters turned away from traditional European statecraft and embraced a “naturalist” approach that would become the prevailing language of American foreign relations and an important element of American national identity. However, Jefferson's natural rights statecraft was consistently challenged by the realities of international politics, which explains why American statesmen continued to invoke Vattel's Law of Nations doctrine and to urge, into the 1820s, the United States to respect and abide by international law.
America’s Cultural Revolution in Transnational Perspective
Authors: Auslander Leora
Published: December 2012

Through their successfully waged war and also by their novel political strategies, eighteenth-century North Americans seeking home rule made history. By systematically organizing around a refusal of British goods and developing a new national taste, they politicized the everyday. Twenty years later, this politicization was reprised in the French Revolution. Whereas the new American aesthetic was defined by sobriety and domestic production, the forms generated in the French Revolutionary decade combined the symbols of Republicanism with styles connoting non-aristocratic values. The likeness and difference of the role of culture, domesticity, and gender in the American and French revolutions are represented in their iconic forms—homespun for the United States and the dress of the sans-culottes for France. Both revolutions were characterized by a consistent investment in material culture and everyday life, and gave rise to new political cultures. This reformulation is best conceptualized using the term “cultural revolution.”
Biology and Crime
Authors: Peskin Melissa , Gao Yu , Glenn Andrea L. , Rudo-Hutt Anna , Yang Yaling , Raine Adrian
Published: December 2012

Numerous studies carried out over the past two decades suggest that several biological risk factors significantly increase the likelihood for people to commit crime and violence across the lifespan. Researchers trying to understand the relationship between biology and crime have focused on criminal offenders, individuals who display high rates of violent or aggressive behaviors, and those with psychiatric disorders with a strong correlation to criminal behavior, such as psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder. This article summarizes research findings linking neurobiological risk factors with a predisposition to crime, focusing on six domains: genetics, neuroimaging, neuropsychology, psychophysiology, endocrinology and neurotransmitters, and early health risks.
Parenting and Crime
Authors: Wright John Paul , Beaver Kevin M.
Published: December 2012

Western culture has a very high regard for parenting. The belief that parents have the power to shape, mold, and develop their children is based on tradition born out of experience, the influence of Christian beliefs about the sanctity of family and parents, and political forces on the left and right. In criminology, the “cause and cure” for crime has also been linked to the complex dynamics of the family. Parenting works two ways: it is a cause of, and a cure for, crime. This article examines the evidence that links parental socialization efforts to child and adolescent problem behavior. It also offers an alternative view on the limits of parenting and proposes a series of theoretical and empirical reasons that should temper some of the more overarching claims about the role of parents in the delinquency of their children.
Risk Factors and Crime
Authors: Tanner-Smith Emily E. , Wilson Sandra Jo , Lipsey Mark W.
Published: December 2012

Over the past twenty years, developmental criminology has emerged as an increasingly important lens for viewing delinquency and subsequent criminal behavior. The focus of developmental criminology on age-related trajectories of criminal behavior has seen researchers train their sights on the explanatory and causal risk factors that affect a person's likelihood to commit a crime over the life course. Prospective longitudinal studies have provided most of the evidence that links certain risk factors with later delinquent or criminal offending and have actually identified numerous predictors of that behavior. This article examines the developmental criminology perspective and the risk research paradigm, along with the developmental risk factors for crime and delinquency across five key risk domains (individuals, family, peers, schools, and community). Drawing on a meta-analysis of prospective longitudinal panel research studies, the article presents results that summarize the predictive strength of different risk factors for crime and delinquency during adolescence and early adulthood. Some of the risk factors are very promising as targets for delinquency and crime prevention interventions.
Social Learning and Crime
Authors: Salisbury Emily J.
Published: December 2012

This article explores the link between social learning and crime by focusing on social learning theories developed by clinical psychologists based on correctional rehabilitation and developmental behavioral psychology. After providing an overview of Edwin Sutherland's differential association theory and its sociological extension to social learning theory by Ronald Akers, the article examines the contributions of Don Andrews and James Bonta—Canadian psychologists who use a social psychological framework to explain criminal behavior and provide a treatment model of correctional intervention on the basis of psychological principles. It also considers a second psychological perspective on the development and maintenance of childhood aggression, focusing on the work of Gerald Patterson and his colleagues at the Oregon Social Learning Center. Finally, the article argues that given the wide empirical support for psychologically-focused social learning perspectives, social learning theory offers a more plausible explanation for criminal behavior than currently assumed.
Hirschi’s Criminology
Authors: Costello Barbara J.
Published: December 2012

Travis Hirschi is an influential scholar in the field of criminology, largely because of his “social control theory” (also known as “social bond theory”), presented in Causes of Delinquency , and “self-control theory,” presented in A General Theory of Crime. Both theories have been supported by empirical evidence, but also sparked controversies. This article examines three of Hirschi's major contributions to the methods of analysis in criminology: his emphasis on the importance of making underlying assumptions of theories explicit, and concomitantly, his argument that “separate and unequal is better” than theoretical integration; his call for theories to be subject to rigorous empirical testing, and how new empirical knowledge enabled him to turn away from social control theory and to the development of self-control theory with Michael Gottfredson; his belief in the development of parsimonious theory that avoids unnecessarily complicating the explanation of what is actually a very simple phenomenon.
Social Support and Crime
Authors: Makarios Matthew D. , Livelsberger Tara
Published: December 2012

According to social support theory, people who live in environments that provide more support are less likely to commit a crime. In other words, criminal behavior is discouraged when societies, cities, neighborhoods, friendship networks, and families provide individuals with the necessary tools to live a prosocial lifestyle. The social structure of societies can thus create positive conditions that improve individuals and their lives in ways that reduce the likelihood of engaging in criminal activities. This article discusses social support theory, including its conceptual foundation. It examines Francis T. Cullen's initial statement of the theory, explains how social support is related to crime across the life course, and reviews the current empirical status of social support theory. The article concludes by emphasizing how criminologists and policymakers can use the concept of social support in their efforts to understand criminal behavior.
Change in Offending across the Life Course
Authors: Sullivan Christopher J.
Published: December 2012

Over the past twenty years, the developmental, life-course framework has emerged as an important means of understanding crime and delinquency. A number of studies tend to focus more on factors that contribute to onset and continuance of criminal careers than their stoppage. Some argue that criminology has fixated too much on trying to elucidate longitudinal offending patterns as series of preordained events playing out over time based on exogenous individual differences. Research has identified a good deal of stability in antisocial behavior and its underlying causes across portions of offenders' lives, along with a fair degree of within-individual change. In 2001, John H. Laub and Robert J. Sampson suggested that desistance, the primary indicator of change in criminal behavior, is the modal pattern in individual offending careers. That observation has become the basis for an empirical benchmark used to evaluate theoretical explanations for offending over the life course. This article highlights ways that developmental, life-course criminologists might enhance their understanding of change.
Peer Networks and Crime
Authors: Haynie Dana L. , Kreager Derek A.
Published: December 2012

Crime and delinquency have long been linked to peer and friendship relationships. Compared to children and adults, adolescents spend more time with friends, give them greater importance, and are more strongly influenced by their friends' behaviors and attitudes. This article investigates the role of friendship networks in adolescence. After discussing the theories that have been put forward to explain the role of peer networks for understanding crime, the article describes methodological considerations that must be addressed when studying the link between peers and delinquency. It then examines a number of research applications that have adopted a social network approach to better understand crime/delinquency. It also discusses how social networks are used to understand criminal behavior beyond adolescent delinquency.
Girls, Friends, and Delinquency
Authors: McGloin Jean Marie , DiPietro Stephanie
Published: December 2012

One of the controversial issues in criminology is the notion that females are less likely than males to commit a crime. Although scholars have hotly debated the changing magnitude of the gender gap in recent years, they have not devoted so much attention to whether females exhibit disproportionately lower rates of crime—particularly violent crime—than males. Given the persistence of the gender gap in offending, it is not surprising then that research on criminal behavior has relegated females to an ancillary role. This article explores the relationship between gender and offending as it pertains to the peer group, specifically friends. It argues that deviant peer influence is a strong and important predictor of both male and female offending. It examines this risk for female offenders and explains why certain peers—namely those of the opposite sex—may exert a particularly powerful influence over females.
Street Culture and Crime
Authors: Berg Mark T. , Stewart Eric A.
Published: December 2012

Many studies on criminology emphasize the role of cultural mechanisms—the symbolic, relational aspect of social organization—in the uneven representation of crime in society. While dimensions of social structure are also important in this literature, it differs from other criminological research because of the explanatory power granted to culture to account for the origin and scope of socially disapproved behaviors. Cultural explanations still permeate research on criminal behavior in the urban metropolis, but recent questions about the etiology of violence within this environment appear to have revived the cultural perspective, raising the possibility that behavior is shaped by culture. This article reviews criminological research that ascribes criminal behavior to the interaction between individuals and street culture. It examines the propositions derived from urban sociology and recent cognitive-based accounts, focusing on the theoretical and empirical research involving serious crime, particularly violent behavior among individuals living in urban areas.
Immigration and Crime
Authors: Kubrin Charis E.
Published: December 2012

Many of society's problems have historically been blamed on immigrants. Immigrants, for example, have been accused of stealing jobs from hard working native-born Americans or draining America's health care and educational resources. Perhaps most problematically, they have also been accused of being responsible for the increase in crime rates. These accusations are often based on false assumptions and stereotypes and have been challenged by a substantial body of evidence which consistently suggests that immigrants are less likely to engage in criminality compared with the native-born. This article examines some questions and unresolved issues in existing macro-level research on the link between immigration and crime. It considers the importance of testing theories on the immigration-crime nexus, emphasizes the need for more longitudinal research, and highlights data impediments that must be overcome before immigration and crime can be understood more fully.
Choosing Street Crime
Authors: Wright Richard , Topalli Volkan
Published: December 2012

People who commit burglary, robbery, carjacking, and other serious predatory street crimes are disproportionately young, poor, and male. Notwithstanding the strong link between these demographic characteristics and street crime, not all young, poor, males commit street crimes and not all street criminals are young, poor, or male. No one can tell based on demographic information on criminals why an individual who has no intention of committing a crime one minute suddenly is determined to do so the next. This article describes the socio-emotional context underlying street criminals' decision to move from an unmotivated state to a motivated one. It also examines why someone chooses to commit a particular type of street crime over other possible licit or illicit courses of action. The article concludes by assessing the implications of its findings for criminological theory and criminal justice policy.
Choosing White-Collar Crime
Authors: Shover Neal , Hochstetler Andy , Alalehto Tage
Published: December 2012

In Western countries such as the United States, crime is viewed as chosen behavior. This assumption emerged as the dominant theoretical underpinning of crime control policy-making in the decades encompassing the dawn of the twenty-first century. Routine activity theory is a good example of how contemporary criminological scholars have been drawn to choice models of criminal behavior. The notion of crime as choice also underlies many, if not most, contemporary interpretations of white-collar crime. For instance, theoretical explanations in which the causal importance of variation in criminal opportunities is stressed are based on choice models. Crime-as-choice theory overlaps but is not coextensive with rational choice theory; it differs mainly from the latter by not incorporating an assumption a priori that criminal choices are rational. This article applies the concepts and logic of crime-as-choice theory to explain variation in white-collar crime.
Emotions, Choice, and Crime
Authors: Benson Michael L. , Livelsberger Tara
Published: December 2012

According to the rational choice theory, criminals, like all people, are rational actors and their criminal behavior is the result of rational choices that they make in light of situational contingencies. These ideas are of interest to criminological theory for a number of reasons. For example, the rational choice perspective suggests a very simple but very general principle to explain criminal behavior: that individuals always attempt to behave so as to maximize the expected benefits in relation to the costs of their actions. This article advances the rational choice perspective by looking at recent developments in the biology and sociology of emotions. Rationality is an important, but not the only or most important, aspect of human behavior. The article first examines how emotions have been conceptualized and used in standard criminological theories. It then describes the biological bases of emotions and the implications of how the brain works for rational choice theory. Finally, it argues that advances in neuroscience should be incorporated into criminology.
Routine Activity Theory
Authors: Madero-Hernandez Arelys , Fisher Bonnie S.
Published: December 2012

“Opportunity makes the thief” is a saying that emphasizes one thing: crime requires not only the presence of a willing offender but also an opportunity. Based on this notion, even the most motivated offender cannot commit a crime unless he sees an opportunity to do so. The concept of opportunity is therefore important in explaining why crime incidents occur across persons and their property. Routine activity theory, proposed by Lawrence E. Cohen and Marcus Felson, offers an account of how opportunities for crime arise through the day-to-day activities carried out by individuals to meet their needs. Individuals have different routines of life—traveling to and from work, going to school or attending religious functions, shopping, recreating, communicating via various electronic technologies, etc.—and these variations determine the likelihood of when and where a crime will be committed and who or what is the victim. This article examines theoretical and methodological issues relevant to testing routine activity theory and reviews major empirical findings from the extant literature.
The Theory of Target Search
Authors: Brantingham Paul J.
Published: December 2012

From the perspective of criminology, crime can be viewed in two ways. The first focuses on understanding an individual's propensity to commit crimes, or what is known as criminality. The second focuses on the criminal event—the convergence in space and time of law, offender, target, and situation—and assumes that this convergence is critical and in fact, creates the criminal event. This perspective emphasizes the importance of understanding how offenders find criminal targets. The process of locating a target for criminal action is termed “target search.” This article examines the theory of target search and considers the fundamental assumptions of crime pattern theory. It then discusses the components of target search theory, revealing four forms of criminal events involving different forms of target search: proximity events, opportunistic events, intelligence-led target searches, and purposive target searches.
Multilevel Criminal Opportunity
Authors: Wilcox Pamela , Gialopsos Brooke Miller , Land Kenneth C.
Published: December 2012

Some people are more likely to break the law than others. This likelihood or propensity to break the law is commonly known as criminality. A place with stronger criminality is predicted to have higher crime levels. However, more and more scholars are questioning this way of explaining crime. They argue that for a criminal event to take place, offenders must not only have criminality or the willingness to break the law, but also the opportunity to act on their desires. Thus, the distribution of crime across individuals and environmental spaces depends on both criminality and criminal opportunity. A number of theories have addressed the importance of criminal opportunity, including lifestyle-routine activities, environmental design, rational choice, offender search, and social control theories. These theories, collectively known as “opportunity theories,” have one thing in common: their overarching premise that offenders make decisions about crime events based on perceived opportunity. This article integrates opportunity theories into a general multilevel opportunity perspective.
Green Criminology
Authors: Lynch Michael J. , Stretesky Paul B.
Published: December 2012

Green criminology addresses forms of crime that harm the environment but are often ignored in criminological research. Green crimes cause both direct and indirect forms of harm, the former of which affect the ecosystem and the latter a consequence of direct harms. Compared to criminal harms, green crimes and harms are much more widespread. Policies intended to control crime and address biases in law and law enforcement must incorporate green criminology in order to reduce environmental pollution. This article reviews the history of green criminology, including its rationale and definition. It then analyzes the variety of green victims, including direct ecological harms and indirect harms to human and non-human species. It also discusses the primary kinds of direct environmental harms such as air, land, water, mining and timber crimes, as well as the issue of green policies with respect to efforts to reduce environmental pollution and toxins.
A Review of Integration Strategies to Support Gene Regulatory Network Construction
Authors: Chen Hailin , VanBuren Vincent
Published: December 2012

Gene regulatory network (GRN) construction is a central task of systems biology. Integration of different data sources to infer and construct GRNs is an important consideration for the success of this effort. In this paper, we will discuss distinctive strategies of data integration for GRN construction. Basically, the process of integration of different data sources is divided into two phases: the first phase is collection of the required data and the second phase is data processing with advanced algorithms to infer the GRNs. In this paper these two phases are called “structural integration” and “analytic integration,” respectively. Compared with the nonintegration strategies, the integration strategies perform quite well and have better agreement with the experimental evidence.
Influence of Healthcare-Associated Factors on the Efficacy of Hepatitis C Therapy
Authors: Daw Mohamed A. , Dau Aghynya A. , Agnan Mohamed M.
Published: December 2012

Hepatitis C infection is a complex entity associated with sizable morbidity and mortality, with great social and economic consequences that put a heavy potential burden on healthcare systems allover the world. Despite the great improvement of hepatitis C virus (HCV) therapy and its high clinical efficacy, major influencing factors are still hindering and diminishing the effectiveness of hepatitis C treatment. This minimizes the quality of life of the infected patients and reduces the outcome of such therapy, particularly in certain groups of patients such as intravenous drug users and patients coinfected with human immune deficiency virus (HIV). A variety of factors were evolved either at patient individual level, healthcare providers, community surrounding levels, or healthcare setting systems. Analyzing and understanding these factors could help to improve HCV interventions and, thus, reduce the burden of such infection. The objectives of this paper were to highlight such factors and outline the holistic approaches that could be used to overcome such factors.
A High Voltage Ratio and Low Ripple Interleaved DC-DC Converter for Fuel Cell Applications
Authors: Chang Long-Yi , Chao Kuei-Hsiang , Chang Tsang-Chih
Published: December 2012

This paper proposes a high voltage ratio and low ripple interleaved boost DC-DC converter, which can be used to reduce the output voltage ripple. This converter transfers the low DC voltage of fuel cell to high DC voltage in DC link. The structure of the converter is parallel with two voltage-doubler boost converters by interleaving their output voltages to reduce the voltage ripple ratio. Besides, it can lower the current stress for the switches and inductors in the system. First, the PSIM software was used to establish a proton exchange membrane fuel cell and a converter circuit model. The simulated and measured results of the fuel cell output characteristic curve are made to verify the correctness of the established simulation model. In addition, some experimental results are made to validate the effectiveness in improving output voltage ripple of the proposed high voltage ratio interleaved boost DC-DC converters.
Ring1b bookmarks genes in pancreatic embryonic progenitors for repression in adult β cells
Authors: van Arensbergen Joris , García-Hurtado Javier , Maestro Miguel Angel , Correa-Tapia Miguel , Rutter Guy A. , Vidal Miguel , Ferrer Jorge
Published: December 2012

Polycomb-mediated gene repression is essential for embryonic development, yet its precise role in lineage-specific programming is poorly understood. Here we inactivated Ring1b, encoding a polycomb-repressive complex 1 subunit, in pancreatic multipotent progenitors (Ring1bprogKO). This caused transcriptional derepression of a subset of direct Ring1b target genes in differentiated pancreatic islet cells. Unexpectedly, Ring1b inactivation in differentiated islet β cells (Ring1bβKO) did not cause derepression, even after multiple rounds of cell division, suggesting a role for Ring1b in the establishment but not the maintenance of repression. Consistent with this notion, derepression in Ring1bprogKO islets occurred preferentially in genes that were targeted de novo by Ring1b during pancreas development. The results support a model in which Ring1b bookmarks its target genes during embryonic development, and these genes are maintained in a repressed state through Ring1b-independent mechanisms in terminally differentiated cells. This work provides novel insights into how epigenetic mechanisms contribute to shaping the transcriptional identity of differentiated lineages.
Large-Area

 Films Fabricated by Scaled-Up Hybrid Physical–Chemical Vapor Deposition
Authors: Tan Teng , Zhuang Chenggang , Krick Alex , Chen Ke , Xi X
Published: December 2012

A scaled-up hybrid physical-chemical vapor deposition (HPCVD) method has been developed to fabricate large-area high-quality magnesium diboride (MgB2) thin films. The 2-in-diameter MgB2thin films on sapphire (0001) show uniform superconducting properties, includingTc~ 39 K, residual-resistivity ratio ~ 14, andJc(4.2 K) ~ 107A/cm2. X-ray diffraction showed that the films are epitaxial withc-axis normal to the film surface. The film properties are uniform across the 2-in substrate.
Arginine methylation regulates antibody responses through modulating cell division and isotype switching in B cells
Authors: Hata Kikumi , Mizuguchi Junichiro
Published: December 2012

Protein arginine methylation plays crucial roles, including signal transduction, transcriptional control, cell proliferation and/or differentiation. B cells undergo clonal division, isotype switching and differentiate into antibody forming cells following stimulation with Toll‐like receptor‐ligand, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and T cell‐derived signals, including CD40‐ligand (CD40‐L) and interleukin 4 (IL‐4). Whether protein arginine methylation affects B cell division and/or isotype switching to IgG1 in response to LPS, IL‐4, and CD40‐L was examined using the arginine methyl transferase inhibitor adenosine‐2′,3′‐dialdehyde (AdOx). Addition of AdOx substantially reduced the number of division cycles of stimulated B cells, whereas cell viability remained intact. Upon stimulation with LPS/IL‐4/CD40‐L, the proportion of surface IgG1 positive cells in each division cycle was slightly diminished by AdOx. However, the degree of expression of γ1 germ line transcript and activation‐induced cytidine deaminase (AID) in response to LPS/IL‐4/CD40‐L were unaffected by addition of AdOx, suggesting that AdOx influences class switch recombination independent of AID expression through transcriptional control. Taken together, arginine methylation appears to be involved in B cell isotype switching, as well as in clonal expansion of B cells in response to LPS/IL‐4/CD40‐L.
HLA‐DRB1 and HLA–DQB1 genes on susceptibility to and protection from allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis in patients with cystic fibrosis
Authors: Muro Manuel , Mondejar‐López Pedro , Moya‐Quiles María Rosa , Salgado Gema , Pastor‐Vivero María Dolores , Lopez‐Hernandez Ruth , Boix Francisco , Campillo José Antonio , Minguela Alfredo , Garcia‐Alonso Ana , Sánchez‐Solís Manuel , Álvarez‐López María Rocío
Published: December 2012

Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) is a hypersensitivity pulmonary disease that affects both patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) and those with asthma. HLA‐DRB1 alleles have previously been associated with ABPA–CF susceptibility; however, HLA‐DQB1 allele associations have not been clearly established. The aim of the present study was to investigate HLA class II associations in patients with ABPA–CF and determine their roles in susceptibility or protection. Patients with ABPA–CF, patients with CF without ABPA, patients with asthma without ABPA (AST), and healthy controls were included in this study. DNA was extracted by automatic extractor. HLA‐DRB1 and ‐DQB1 genotyping was performed by the Luminex PCR‐SSOP method (One Lambda, Canoga Park, CA, USA). Allele specific PCR‐SSP was also performed by high‐resolution analysis (One Lambda). Statistical analysis was performed with SSPS and Arlequin software. Both HLA‐DRB1*5:01 and ‐DRB1*11:04 alleles occurred with greater frequency in patients with ABPA–CF than in those with AST and CF and control subjects, corroborating previously published data. On the other hand, analysis of haplotypes revealed that almost all patients with ABPA–CF lacking DRB1*15:01 or DRB1*11:04 carry either DRB1*04, DRB1*11:01, or DRB1*07:01 alleles. In the HLA‐DQB1 region, the HLA‐DQB1*06:02 allele occurred more frequently in patients with ABPA–CF than in those with AST and CF and healthy controls, whereas HLA‐DQB1*02:01 occurred less frequently in patients with ABPA–CF. These data confirm that there is a correlation between HLA‐DRB1*15:01, –DRB1*11:04, DRB1*11:01, –DRB1*04 and –DRB1*07:01 alleles and ABPA–CF susceptibility and suggest that HLA‐DQB1*02:01 is an ABPA–CF resistance allele.
Anaplasma phagocytophilum, interferon gamma production and Stat1 signaling
Authors: Choi Kyoung‐Seong , Dumler J. Stephen
Published: December 2012

Human granulocytic anaplasmosis is caused by the obligate intracellular bacterium, Anaplasma phagocytophilum. The proinflammatory cytokine, IFN‐γ, is necessary for innate immunity and plays an important role in the induction of severe histopathology in A. phagocytophilum‐infected mice, horses and humans. In this study, activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription (Stat) 1 phosphorylation associated with A. phagocytophilum infection was examined in mice and found to be markedly greater on day 7 post‐infection than in mock‐infected controls. This increase in phosphorylated Stat1 (pStat1) correlated significantly with IFN‐γ production and inflammatory tissue injury. Because pStat1 operates as a transcription factor central to the generation of effectors of inflammatory injury, these data suggest that Stat1 signaling is involved in IFN‐γ‐mediated immunopathologic lesions and disease in A. phagocytophilum infection and could be an important target for intervention in this disease.
Association of Medicare Part D Medication Out‐of‐Pocket Costs with Utilization of Statin Medications
Authors: Karaca‐Mandic Pinar , Swenson Tami , Abraham Jean M. , Kane Robert L.
Published: December 2012

Objectives

To examine the association between statin out‐of‐pocket (OOP) costs and utilization among the Medicare Part D population.

Data Sources/Study Setting

2006–2008 administrative claims and enrollment data for the 5 percent Medicare sample.

Study Design

Sample included 346,583 beneficiary‐year observations of statin users enrolled in stand‐alone prescription drug plans, excluding low‐income subsidy recipients. We estimated the association between a plan's OOP statin costs and statin utilization using an instrumental variable approach to account for potential bias due to plan selection. Adherence was defined as percentage of days covered (PDC) of at least 80 percent. Plan OOP costs were constructed for a representative market basket of statin medications. Analyses controlled for demographic characteristics, cardiovascular disease risk, co‐morbidity presence, and regional characteristics.

Principal Findings

About 67 percent of the sample had a PDC of at least 80 percent. An increase in annual statin OOP from $200 (50th percentile) to $240 (75th percentile) was associated with a reduction in the rate of adherent beneficiaries from 67 percent to 56 percent (p < .001).

Conclusions

Greater OOP costs for statins are associated with reductions in statin utilization.
Serious Mental Illness and Nursing Home Quality of Care
Authors: Rahman Momotazur , Grabowski David C. , Intrator Orna , Cai Shubing , Mor Vincent
Published: December 2012

Objective

To estimate the effect of a nursing home's share of residents with a serious mental illness (SMI) on the quality of care.

Data Sources

Secondary nursing home level data over the period 2000 through 2008 obtained from the Minimum Data Set, OSCAR, and Medicare claims.

Study Design

We employ an instrumental variables approach to address the potential endogeneity of the share of SMI residents in nursing homes in a model including nursing home and year fixed effects.

Principal Findings

An increase in the share of SMI nursing home residents positively affected the hospitalization rate among non‐SMI residents and negatively affected staffing skill mix and level. We did not observe a statistically significant effect on inspection‐based health deficiencies or the hospitalization rate for SMI residents.

Conclusions

Across the majority of indicators, a greater SMI share resulted in lower nursing home quality. Given the increased prevalence of nursing home residents with SMI, policy makers and providers will need to adjust practices in the context of this new patient population. Reforms may include more stringent preadmission screening, new regulations, reimbursement changes, and increased reporting and oversight.
Effect of Medicaid Disease Management Programs on Emergency Admissions and Inpatient Costs
Authors: Conti Matthew S.
Published: December 2012

Objective

To determine the impact of state Medicaid diabetes disease management programs on emergency admissions and inpatient costs.

Data

National InPatient Sample sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Project for the years from 2000 to 2008 using 18 states.

Study Design

A difference‐in‐difference methodology compares costs and number of emergency admissions for Washington, Texas, and Georgia, which implemented disease management programs between 2000 and 2008, to states that did not undergo the transition to managed care (N = 103).

Data Extraction

Costs and emergency admissions were extracted for diabetic Medicaid enrollees diagnosed in the reform and non‐reform states and collapsed into state and year cells.

Principal Findings

In the three treatment states, the implementation of disease management programs did not have statistically significant impacts on the outcome variables when compared to the control states.

Conclusions

States that implemented disease management programs did not achieve improvements in costs or the number of emergency of admissions; thus, these programs do not appear to be an effective way to reduce the burden of this chronic disease.
Use of Emergency Departments among Working Age Adults with Disabilities: A Problem of Access and Service Needs
Authors: Rasch Elizabeth K. , Gulley Stephen P. , Chan Leighton
Published: December 2012

Objective

To examine the relationship between emergency department (ED) use and access to medical care and prescription medications among working ageAmericans with disabilities.

Data Source

Pooled data from the 2006–2008 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), a U.S. health survey representative of community‐dwelling civilians.

Study Design

We compared the health and service utilization of two groups of people with disabilities to a contrast group without disability. We modeledEDvisits on the basis of disability status, measures of health and health conditions, access to care, and sociodemographics.

Data Extraction

These variables were aggregated from the household component, the medical condition, and event files to provide average annual estimates for the period spanning 2006–2008.

Principal Findings

People with disabilities accounted for almost 40 percent of the annual visits made to U.S.EDs each year. Three key factors affect theirEDuse: access to regular medical care (including prescription medications), disability status, and the complexity of individuals’ health profiles.

Conclusions

Given the volume of health conditions among people with disabilities, theEDwill always play a role in their care. However, someEDvisits could potentially be avoided if ongoing care were optimized.
Justice in development? An analysis of water interventions in the rural South
Authors: Venot Jean‐Philippe , Clement Floriane
Published: December 2012

This paper explores a fruitful convergence between the distributive and procedural dimensions of environmental justice theory and current debates in the field of development studies over capitals and capabilities, institutions, and discourse formation to shed new light on natural resource management projects in the developing world. Specifically, we document the planning and implementation of two types of water interventions in two contrasting regions: watershed development programmes in northeast India and small reservoirs in sub‐Saharan West Africa. We find that there is a contradiction between the inherently political nature of water interventions and the fact that such projects remain grounded in apolitical, technical and managerial narratives. In contrast to the new semantic of development, this depoliticization results in the near absence of attention paid to procedural (participation and empowerment) and distributive (equity) justice concerns and in local actors having to revert to covert ways to achieve their ends. A constructive dialogue between development studies and environmental justice scholars can offer a fresh look on the society‐environment nexus in the developing world.
Illegal Use of Benzodiazepines and/or Zolpidem Proved by Hair Analysis
Authors: Kim Jihyun , In Sanghwan , Choi Hwakyung , Lee Sooyeun
Published: December 2012

The abuse and misuse of benzodiazepines and zolpidem are widespread internationally. Their illegal distribution has raised their abuse to a serious level, and they are often misused in crimes. In the present study, 18 cases involving the illegal use of benzodiazepines and/or zolpidem were proved by hair analysis. The drugs were extracted from the hair samples using methanol and analyzed using LC‐MS/MS. The cases were classified according to case history: five of illegal use in medical staff, eight through inappropriate or illegal distribution, and five related to drug‐facilitated crimes. Among the 18 cases, zolpidem was identified in eight, alprazolam in seven, diazepam in six, and clonazepam in four. The drug concentrations ranged from <LOQ to 6.47 ng/mg. Due to the ready supply and potential for criminal misuse of these drugs, programs for prescription drug monitoring and supervision of those handling these drugs are both recommended.
Ontogeny of Size and Shape Sexual Dimorphism in the Ilium: A Multislice Computed Tomography Study by Geometric Morphometry
Authors: Bilfeld Marie Faruch , Dedouit Fabrice , Sans Nicolas , Rousseau Hervé , Rougé Daniel , Telmon Norbert
Published: December 2012

We studied sexually dimorphic differences in the ilium using geometric morphometric analysis of 10 osteometric landmarks recorded by multislice computed tomography, based on three‐dimensional reconstructions of 188 children (95 boys, 93 girls) of mixed origins living in the area of Toulouse, southern France, and ranging in age from 1 to 18 years. We used geometric morphometrics methodology first to test sexual dimorphism in size (centroid size) and shape (Procrustes residuals) and second to examine patterns of shape change with age (development) and size change with age (growth). On the basis of statistical significance testing, the ilium shape became sexually dimorphic at 11 years of age, although visible shape differences were observed as early as 1 year of age. There was no statistically significant difference in size between sexes. Trajectories of shape (development) and size (growth) differed throughout ontogeny and between sexes.
Positive Dental Identification Using Tooth Anatomy and Digital Superimposition
Authors: Johansen Raymond J. , Michael Bowers C.
Published: December 2012

Dental identification of unknown human remains continues to be a relevant and reliable adjunct to forensic investigations. The advent of genomic and mitochondrial DNA procedures has not displaced the practical use of dental and related osseous structures remaining after destructive incidents that can render human remains unrecognizable, severely burned, and fragmented. The ability to conclusively identify victims of accident and homicide is based on the availability of antemortem records containing substantial and unambiguous proof of dental and related osseous characteristics. This case report documents the use of digital comparative analysis of antemortem dental models and postmortem dentition, to determine a dental identification. Images of dental models were digitally analyzed using Adobe PhotoshopTM software. Individual tooth anatomy was compared between the antemortem and postmortem images. Digital superimposition techniques were also used for the comparison. With the absence of antemortem radiographs, this method proved useful to reach a positive identification in this case.
Fatal Acute Poisoning from Massive Inhalation of Gasoline Vapors: Case Report and Comparison with Similar Cases
Authors: Papi Luigi , Chericoni Silvio , Bresci Francesco , Giusiani Mario
Published: December 2012

We describe a case of an acute lethal poisoning with hydrocarbons resulting from massive accidental inhalation of gasoline vapors. The victim, a 50‐year‐old man was found unconscious inside a control room for the transport of unleaded fuel.

Complete autopsy was performed and showed evidence of congestion and edema of the lungs. Toxicological investigation was therefore fundamental to confirm exposure to fumes of gasoline.

Both venous and arterial blood showed high values of volatiles in particular for benzene (39.0 and 30.4 μg/mL, respectively), toluene (23.7 and 20.4 μg/mL), and xylene isomers (29.8 and 19.3 μg/mL). The relatively low values found in the lungs are consistent with the fact that the subject, during the rescue, underwent orotracheal intubation followed by resuscitation techniques, while the low concentrations for all substances found in urine and kidneys could point to a death that occurred in a very short time after first contact with the fumes of gasoline.
Sudden Unexpected Death due to Chiari Type I Malformation in a Road Accident Case
Authors: Zhang Jianhua , Shao Yu , Qin Zhiqiang , Liu Ningguo , Zou Donghua , Huang Ping , Chen Yijiu
Published: December 2012

This case concerns a sudden death of a patient with Chiari I malformation. A 17‐year‐old female was seen unconscious then fell off a motorbike during the vehicle acceleration. The girl was confirmed dead on the way to hospital, being previously asymptomatic and with a clean medical record. Autopsy findings showed an extremely extra‐long cerebellar tonsillar herniation in the left side and unexplained multiple small cavities in cerebral hemispheres. Microscopic findings revealed loss and abnormal migration of the Purkinje cells, as well as capillary congestion in the herniated tonsil. The cause and mechanisms of this sudden death are considered as the cardiopulmonary dysfunction and arrest resulted from compression of the medulla and cervical cord, which was induced by both the positional insult and minor head trauma. In addition, this study stresses the importance of cervical cord examination in the case of unexpected sudden death following road accidents.
Mucinous carcinomas of the breast: Imaging features and potential for misdiagnosis
Authors: Tan Judith Zhi‐Yie , Waugh John , Kumar Beena , Evans Jill
Published: December 2012

Introduction

Pure mucinous breast carcinomas (PMBC) are commonly lobulated, therefore appear relatively benign compared with the imaging features of invasive ductal carcinoma. The aim of this study was to determine mammographic and sonographic patterns of PMBC, in particular features that may result in misdiagnosis.

Methods

Retrospective review of available mammography and sonography in 90 patients diagnosed with PMBC within the Monash BreastScreen service, 1993–2011 inclusive.

Results

PMBC commonly have indistinct or lobulated mammographic and sonographic margins. Mammographic calcifications are absent in the majority (82%). On ultrasound, these neoplasms are commonly isoechoic (51%) with normal posterior acoustic appearances (80%). However, most (77%) of these lesions have suspicious or definite imaging features of malignancy.

Conclusion

PMBC are commonly lobulated with homogeneous, isoechoic and normal posterior acoustic sonographic appearances but rarely have benign imaging features.