bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Increased sickness absence in diabetic employees: what is the role of co‐morbid conditions?
Authors: Kivimäki M. , Vahtera J. , Pentti J. , Virtanen M. , Elovainio M. , Hemingway H.
Published: June 2007

Aims  Diabetes is thought to be associated with increased risk of sickness absence in working populations. We examined the contribution of co‐morbidity to this association.

Methods  Records of physician‐certified sickness absence episodes (> 3 days) over a 1‐year period were obtained from employers’ records after a survey of chronic diseases and risk factors in 638 diabetic and 32 510 non‐diabetic public sector employees in Finland (the Public Sector Study).

Results  Diabetic employees had a 2.15‐fold (95% confidence interval 1.92–2.40) age‐ and sex‐adjusted excess risk of sickness absence compared with their colleagues with no chronic disease. In absolute terms, diabetes was related to 59 extra absence episodes per 100 person years. Of this excess risk, 55% was attributable to co‐occurring non‐cardiovascular diseases, such as depression, prolapsed intervertebral disc and bronchitis. The contribution of cardiovascular complications to the excess sickness absence was small (7%).

Conclusions  In this occupational cohort, the excess risk of sickness absence in diabetic employees was largely accounted for by non‐cardiovascular co‐morbidity. Intervening multiple chronic conditions may be important in programmes to reduce sickness absence in diabetic employees.
How to Integrate the Visually Impaired
Authors: Hodgson Ann
Published: June 2007

Educating visually impaired children alongiside mainstream pupils is not a cheap option. It calls for extra teaching help to enable them to keep up their progress and it demands close cooperation between the specialist and class teacher, writes Dr Ann Hodgson, research officer, National Foundation for Educational Research
English: Half Way There
Authors: Wade Barrie
Published: June 2007

Sections 3 and 4 of the 1988 Education Reform Act include English as one of the compulsory core subjects in the National Curriculum and empower the Secretary of State to specify attainment targets, programmes of study, and assessment arrangements for English for children of compulsory school age. The English Working Group appointed to advise the Secretary of State on English for ages five to 11 reported in September and its recommendations for attainment targets, programmes of study and statements of attainment were published in November alongside the English proposals of the Secretary of State for Education and Science and for Wales. The English Working Group will be reporting on English from 11 to 16 at the end of next month. Dr Barrie Wade, senior lecturer in education, Birmingham University, discusses the report on English for Ages 5 to 11.
Child Abuse: The Undetected ‘Special Need’
Authors: Maher Peter
Published: June 2007

When public understanding of the nature and extent of child abuse is larger than five years ago, it would be good to be able to assume that teachers were more enlightened. Unfortunately this is generally not true, writes Peter Maher, head of Harold Hill Community School, London Borough of Havering, and editor of the recent book Child Abuse: The Educational Perspective. Training for teachers has been negligible. Where training exists the quality and orientation have not always been appropriate.
INSET Issues and Whole‐School Policies
Authors: Arthur Heather
Published: June 2007

Issues raised by an in‐service course encouraging a whole‐school approach are discussed by Heather Arthur, deputy county TVEI coordinator for Bedfordshire.
LMS: A Rising Sense of Alarm
Authors: Willey Mavis
Published: June 2007

Mavis Willey is head of an outer London primary school which includes a number of pupils with learning difficultles and she is committed to a whole school approach to their education. She views with mounting dismay the threats to the whole school policy and the viability of schools like hers which local management of schools and other provisions of the Education Reform Act present.
Children, Special Needs and the Courts
Authors: Rabinowicz Jack
Published: June 2007

Recent decisions in the courts about the interpretation of the 1981 Education Act are one of the key factors underlying the government's proposals for amending the law on special educational needs. Jack Rabinowicz, chairman of the Education Law Association and a partner in a firm of London solicitors, summarises the main legal developments relating to the 1981 Act and comments on possible trends in the future.
A Framework for Religious Education
Authors: Brown Erica
Published: June 2007

Religious education is not compulsory for pupils in special schools and its curriculum content is not laid down in the National Curriculum but Erica Brown believes that the spiritual and religious development of all pupils with special educational needs must be encouraged. She is director of special educational needs, The National Society, Church House, Westminster, responsible for in‐service training for church schools in England and Wales, and editor of RESPECT, a bi‐annual journal for teachers of RE to pupils with special educational needs.
Conductive Education in a New Context
Authors: Lambert Mike
Published: June 2007

This month an independent research team from Birmingham University is due to report to the Department for Education on its assessment of the first three years' work of the Birmingham Institute for Conductive Education. Its findings, if published, will arouse wide interest. Meanwhile, Mike Lambert, director, Centre for Research and Development at the Birmingham Institute, reviews the way the National Curriculum has been introduced and how far it seems compatible with conductive education. This is the first journal article to examine this issue.
Interactions between Pupils with Severe Learning Difficulties and their Mainstream Peers
Authors: Ware Jean , Sharman Maeve , O'Connor Sue , Anderson Mall
Published: June 2007

Dr Jean Ware, Department of Educational Psychology and Special Educational Needs, Institute of Education, London University, Maeve Sharman, Sue O'Connor and Mall Anderson describe four studies on the interaction between pupils with SLD and their mainstream peers.
NARREN, SCHELME UND FRAUEN: ZUM VERHÄLTNIS VON NARRENTUM UND WEIBLICHKEIT IN DER LITERATUR DES SPÄTMITTELALTERS UND DER FRÜHEN NEUZEIT
Authors: Zitzisperger Ulrike
Published: June 2007

Der Narr wird im Spätmittelalter und in der Frühen Neuzeit zu einem der entscheidenden Träger der literarischen wie sozialen Aussage im Kontext einer in Umbruchen befindlichen Zeit. Trotz der unterschiedlichen Deutungen ist der Figur eigen, daß sie in der Gesellschaft, gegen dieselbe und aus ihr heraus agiert Bemerkenswert ist, daβ sie in der Gesellschaft, gegen dieselbe und aus ihr heraus agiert Bemerkenswert ist, daβ der Narr zwar in der Auseinandersetzung mit Frauen steht, sich aber dennoch nur als mä männliche Figur konstituiert. Eine mögliche Erklärung dafür, warum das Weibliche als Personifikation des Einzelnarren ausgeschlossen ist, kann in der Prägung der Frau als Gestalt zwischen Eva und Maria und der Frauen unterstellten sinnlichen und unbeherrschten Lebensweise gesehen werden. Beide Charakteristika sind dem Narren nicht zuträglich. Auffallend ist auch die diabolisierte Funktion der Frau in der Repräsentation der Zeit als Hexe. Sie ist genuin weiblich und wie die unberechenbare Fortuna oder Frau Welt funktional dem Narren zwar nicht gleichzusetzen, aber vergeichbar, Mit dem 17. Jahrhundert und unter sich verändernden Bedingungen tritt der weibliche Schelm stärker in den Vordergrund.
STARVING FOR IDENTITY: WASTING WOMEN IN GERMAN LITERATURE 1775‐1820
Authors: Richards Anna
Published: June 2007

Late eighteenth‐ and early nineteenth‐century physicians and thinkers emphasised women's physical and moral sensitivity and their subsequent vulnerability to wasting illnesses such as chlorosis. Many heroines of the period, including Sophie in Johann Martin Miller's novel Siegwarl, eine Klostergeschichte (1776) and Mine in Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel's Lebensläufe nach aufteigender Linie (177&81), grow pale and thin and finally die from what seems to be a form of chlorosis as a result of unrequited love, and thus appear to reinforce the contemporaiy stereotype of female fragility. Viewed in another light, however, a heroine's wasting death can be seen as a rejection of the maternal imperative, associated with bodiliness, which existed alongside the popular image of women's ethereality. In contrast to the widely held contemporary view of the femalf sex as permanently ‘receptive’ (Moreau, Novalis and others), self‐starvation such as that of Ottilie in Goethe's Die Wahluerwundtschuften (1809) provides an image of closure and may be read as an act of self‐assertion.
WOMEN IN THE TEXTS AND CONTEXTS OF SOUTH‐WEST GERMAN ‘NATURTHEATER’
Authors: Phipps Alison M.
Published: June 2007

This paper examines the perceptions of women and their roles in the texts, performance and cultural contexts of the ‘Naturtheater’ of south‐west Germany. The phenomenon of ‘Naturtheater’ is introduced and defined as a form of popular open‐air theatre, and shown to be a major cultural phenomenon in southern Germany today. The paper is divided into three sections examining women's roles in text, in performance and in the cultural contexts of different ‘Naturtheater’. Women are shown to be absent from the ‘Naturtheater’ as dramatists, and only given stereotypical roles in the majority of the texts. The patriarchal structures suggested by both text and performance are compared to those in the cultural context. The case of the Hayingen ‘Naturtheater’ and the work of the ‘Theatermacher’ Martin Schleker is highlighted as an example of an enlightened ‘Naturtheater’ in which much reconstruction of women' roles has occurred in text and performance context.
Development and characterization of the first microsatellite markers in the mangrove species Pelliciera rhizophorae Triana & Planchon
Authors: CASTILLO‐CARDENAS MARÍA F. , TORO‐PEREA NELSON
Published: June 2007

Pelliciera rhizophorae is a unique Neotropical mangrove species belonging to Pelliciera genus. We isolated eight microsatellite loci from this species. All loci were polymorphic and showed three to nine alleles per locus in Colombian Pacific and Caribbean populations. Polymorphic information content ranged from 0.46 to 0.69. Two loci (PeRh‐14 and PeRh‐19) showed null alleles on the Caribbean coast, which suggest genetic differentiation between Pacific and Caribbean populations of P. rhizophorae. Development of these microsatellite loci constitutes a new molecular tool to carry out studies in the genome of the species and to evaluate its population dynamics.
Pulmonary Hypertension: New Perspectives
Authors: Nauser Trenton D. , Stites Steven W.
Published: June 2007

The World Health Organization symposium offers a new treatment‐oriented classification of pulmonary hypertension based on an improved understanding of its pathophysiology. Regardless of the etiology, severe or unrelieved pulmonary hypertension leads to right heart failure. Symptoms and signs of pulmonary hypertension are often subtle and nonspecific. As a result, a significant delay between the onset of symptoms and the diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension is common. Echocardiography with Doppler flow is the most useful study to evaluate patients suspected of having pulmonary hypertension. The suspected diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension should then be confirmed by right heart catheterization. If present, further evaluation may include oxygen assessment, pulmonary function testing, high resolution computed tomography of the chest, and ventilation‐perfusion lung scanning. Treatment of pulmonary hypertension requires uncommon expertise. General measures include correction of the underlying cause, reversal of hypoxemia and judicious use of diuretics. Advances in vasodilator therapy have increased treatment options beyond calcium channel blockers and intravenous epoprostenol. Lung transplantation remains an option for select patients with pulmonary hypertension not responding to medical management.
Controversies in the Use of Beta Blockers in Heart Failure
Authors: Chavey William E. , Bleske Barry E. , Nicklas John M.
Published: June 2007

Recent evidence from randomized controlled trials has provided compelling evidence to support the use of β blockers in most patients with heart failure due to systolic dysfunction. There is little disagreement about the mortality benefit provided by adding β blockers to standard therapy, which may include angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitors, diuretics, and sometimes digoxin. A few areas are still controversial. The authors review the available literature encompassing four of those controversial areas: 1) the comparability among β blockers; 2) the utility of β blockers among patients with New York Heart Association class I and class IV heart failure symptoms; 3) the impact of race on the effectiveness of β blockers; and 4) the safety and efficacy of β blockers among patients on concomitant therapy with angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, or spironolactone.
Hyperthyroidism: A “Curable” Cause of Congestive Heart Failure—Three Case Reports and a Review of the Literature
Authors: Riaz Kamran , Forker Alan D. , Isley William L. , Hamburg Mitchell S. , McCullough Peter A.
Published: June 2007

With the increasing incidence of coronary artery disease and the aging population, the prevalence of congestive heart failure (CHF) is increasing. In the majority of these cases the etiology is underlying coronary artery disease. Other less common causes of CHF include valvular heart disease, hypertension, alcoholic cardiomyopathy, and dilated cardiomyopathy. In addition, there are rare causes, one of which is hyperthyroidism. Hyperthyroidism can affect the cardiovascular system in a variety of ways. The cardiovascular manifestations range from sinus tachycardia to atrial fibrillation and from a high cardiac output state to CHF due to systolic left ventricular dysfunction. If the underlying hyperthyroidism is recognized and treated early the CHF in such cases can be “cured.” The authors present three cases of CHF due to systolic left ventricular dysfunction secondary to hyperthyroidism, which showed considerable improvement in the left ventricular function once the hyperthyroidism was treated.
Depression and Congestive Heart Failure
Authors: Guck Thomas P. , Elsasser Gary N. , Kavan Michael G. , Eugene J. Eugene J.
Published: June 2007

The prevalence rates of depression in congestive heart failure patients range from 24%–42%. Depression is a graded, independent risk factor for readmission to the hospital, functional decline, and mortality in patients with congestive heart failure. Physicians can assess depression by using the SIG E CAPS + mood mnemonic, or any of a number of easily administered and scored self‐report inventories. Cognitive‐behavior therapy is the preferred psychological treatment. Cognitive‐behavior therapy emphasizes the reciprocal interactions among physiology, environmental events, thoughts, and behaviors, and how these may be altered to produce changes in mood and behavior. Pharmacologically, the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are recommended, whereas the tricyclic antidepressants are not recommended for depression in congestive heart failure patients. The combination of a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor with cognitive‐behavior therapy is often the most effective treatment.
Treatment of Heart Failure in Older Persons
Authors: Aronow Wilbert S.
Published: June 2007

Diabetes mellitus is a risk factor for congestive heart failure. Diabetics with congestive heart failure should have good glycemic control, treatment of hypertension and dyslipidemia, and treatment with diuretics, angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitors, and β blockers as well as digoxin, if the left ventricular ejection fraction is abnormal. Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease may have left ventricular failure because of a coexistent cardiac disorder or right ventricular failure from pulmonary hypertension. An acute respiratory tract infection may precipitate right ventricular failure and should be treated. Alveolar hypoxia should be corrected by improving alveolar ventilation through relieving airflow obstruction with bronchodilators and by increasing inspired oxygen concentration. Loop diuretics should be used cautiously. Beta blockers may be given to patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and left ventricular failure if bronchospasm is not present. Angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitors should be used to treat left ventricular failure. Digitalis should not be used in patients with right ventricular failure due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs are contraindicated in patients with congestive heart failure. There are controversial data about the negative interaction between aspirin and angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitors in patients with congestive heart failure. Patients with arthritis and congestive heart failure needing large doses of aspirin for pain relief may be treated instead with acetaminophen, tramadol, or Percocet if necessary for chronic severe pain.
A Warning Zone Method for the Multiperiod Cost Variance Investigation Problem
Authors: Finley David R. , Liao Woody M.
Published: June 2007

This paper develops a warning zone approach to make variance investigation decisions for a multiperiod process. The assumed cost generation process varies between an in‐control and out‐of‐control state. These states cannot be directly observed, but must be inferred from the reported cost variances. Using the warning zone method of inference, the manager investigates the process whenever an upper threshold is exceeded or a lower threshold is exceeded for two consecutive periods. A four‐state Markov chain models the resulting decision process. Steady state probabilities are derived for this chain and are used to obtain explicit formulas for the effectiveness and efficiency of the decision process. These formulas permit computation of the cost savings attainable by the warning zone method. Compared to other decision rules, the warning zone method is much simpler than the theoretically optimal Bayesian revision method, but uses more information than the Markovian control limit method. Numerical comparison of results shows that the warning zone method usually captures most of the available cost savings, even in cases where the Markovian control limit method does not perform well.
Combining Forecasts: Multiple Regression versus a Bayesian Approach*
Authors: Walz Daniel T. , Walz Diane B.
Published: June 2007

Simple linear combinations of forecasts have consistently been found to be more accurate than individual forecasts. Several recent studies have found that combination forecasts derived by constrained or unconstrained multiple regression are more accurate than a simple average of individual forecasts. This study uses macroeconomic data to compare the accuracy of combination forecasts derived by a Bayesian methodology with the accuracy of composite forecasts derived by multiple regression. Using the forecasts of four macroeconomic variables from five well‐known econometric models, the study finds that the Bayesian combination procedure produces more accurate composite forecasts than does the regression combination procedure, based on a version of Theil's U2 statistic.
Cost and Shortage Trade‐Offs in Aggregate Production Planning*
Authors: Singhal Kalyan , Adlakha Veena
Published: June 2007

It is exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to measure shortage costs. To bypass this difficulty in aggregate production planning, this paper develops an optimal policy function (piecewise linear or a curve) for trade‐offs between shortages and the sum of production and inventory costs. The optimal management decision is based on this function. It should be of major interest in production planning since similar functions for inventory management have been successfully applied in practice.
Network Models for Fleet Management*
Authors: Vemuganti R. R. , Oblak M. , Aggarwal A.
Published: June 2007

This paper presents network models to determine the optimal replacement policy for a fleet of vehicles over a finite planning horizon. First, a minimum cost‐flow model is developed to determine the optimal replacement schedule for a fleet of fixed size consisting of a single type of vehicle of various ages. The model is then extended to allow for restrictions on capital expenditures that limit the purchase of new vehicles in any time period and to allow for fluctuations in the fleet size due to planned expansion or retrenchment. Finally, a multi‐commodity network model is developed for a fleet consisting of multiple vehicle types and ages.
The Choice of Depreciation Method Under Uncertainty*
Authors: Berg Menachem , Moore Giora
Published: June 2007

This study presents a framework for choosing between depreciation methods when future cash flows from operations are not assumed known with certainty but only in probabilistic terms. Specifically, the accelerated depreciation method and the straight‐line depreciation method are compared and mathematical conditions are derived for the depreciation method that should be adopted in different circumstances and under different tax systems. It is shown that, contrary to conventional wisdom, the straight‐line depreciation method is the preferred method for lowering the company's present value of tax liability in various realistic situations.
On the Joint Lot‐Sizing Problem with Zero Setup Costs
Authors: Erenguc S. Selcuk , Mercan H. Murat
Published: June 2007

In a recent paper, Pinto and Mabert [5] presented a lot‐sizing rule and an improvement procedure for the joint lot‐sizing problem with zero setup costs. We show that this procedure often yields infeasible schedules. We also present and discuss two interesting properties of the joint lot‐sizing problem with zero setup costs. A numerical example to illustrate the second property is provided.
Linear and Nonlinear Valence Functions: A Behavioral Decision‐Making Assessment
Authors: Ravichandran Ramarathnam , Baker Douglas D. , Randall Donna M.
Published: June 2007

In Vroom's [45] original formulation of expectancy theory, the relationship between affect and perceived instrumentality was assumed to be linear. Others have suggested that such a relationship may be better modeled by a nonlinear, utility‐type function [30]. The current research contrasts the predictive ability of two linear and four nonlinear functions. Using four levels of McClelland's [26] needs for achievement, affiliation, and power as instrumentalities, 101 subjects provided more than 12,900 decisions on the valences of jobs in a behavioral decision‐making experiment. Nearly 40 percent of the subjects exhibited nonlinear valence functions. The results emphasize the need to specify the appropriate functional form of the valence component to enhance predictive accuracy and to prevent misspecification problems.
Goal Programming Approach for Regression Median*
Authors: Sueyoshi Toshiyuki , Chang Yih‐Long
Published: June 2007

This study presents a new robust estimation method that can produce a regression median hyper‐plane for any data set. The robust method starts with dual variables obtained by least absolute value estimation. It then utilizes two specially designed goal programming models to obtain regression median estimators that are less sensitive to a small sample size and a skewed error distribution than least absolute value estimators. The superiority of new robust estimators over least absolute value estimators is confirmed by two illustrative data sets and a Monte Carlo simulation study.
Shopping Model of the Time‐Sensitive Consumer
Authors: Umesh U. N. , Pettit Kathy L. , Bozman Carl S.
Published: June 2007

The shopping behavior of time‐sensitive consumers has been modeled as an economic model of choice. Consumers are said to balance the costs of time spent commuting to the store and in the store with storage costs and other nontime costs of shopping. In so doing, these consumers tend to minimize their overall costs. Propositions are developed and tested using this economic model of shopping. The model is extended beyond time sensitivity to include deal proneness; further propositions are developed and tested using the extended model. The empirical results support the derived models.
A Clustering Algorithm for Computer‐Assisted Process Organization
Authors: Aronson Jay E. , Klein Gary
Published: June 2007

Amathematical programming clustering model that forms groups based on total group membership interactions is extended to include precedence relationships, group size limits, and group time limits. The extended clustering model is most appropriate for structured design of information systems as described by the computer‐assisted process organization (CAPO), which requires certain ordering and may have limits on development and production capacity. An efficient algorithm for optimizing the CAPO criteria along with computational results is presented. The results show that the method is viable for the CAPO problems reported in the literature.
An Empirical Test of Staw and Ross's Prescriptions for the Management of Escalation of Commitment Behavior in Organizations*
Authors: Barton Sidney L. , Duchon Dennis , Dunegan Kenneth J.
Published: June 2007

This study tests two major prescriptions of Staw and Ross about the management of escalation behavior in organizations. Since these prescriptions are primarily based on research using students in controlled settings, the efficacy of the prescriptions was tested in the context of a real, functioning organization. The results provide conditional support for separating initial decision responsibility from subsequent responsibility as a means of reducing escalation behavior. However, the findings did not support a reduction of project failure risk as a means of minimizing escalation of commitment to a failing course of action.
Assigning Students to Groups for Class Projects: An Exploratory Test of Two Methods
Authors: Muller Thomas E.
Published: June 2007

Beheshtian‐Ardekani and Mahmood [1] recently offered a means of assigning students to groups for class projects to achieve a balanced distribution of student skills within groups. They assumed‐ but did not show‐that the instructor would give weaker students a better chance to learn from stronger group members, that there would be greater synergistic learning effects, and that students would be happier with the project experience. This experiment tests the balanced‐group method of assigning students using the people‐sequential heuristic by comparing its effectiveness against the results achieved by random assignment to groups. The findings show that balanced groups have a modest advantage over groups formed randomly. Students in balanced groups felt slightly more satisfied with and challenged by the group and shared the work load more evenly. Within randomly assigned groups, student perceptions of the quality of the group‐project learning experience were less homogeneous.
Dermatopathological indicators of poor melanoma prognosis are significantly inversely correlated with the expression of NM23 protein in primary cutaneous melanoma
Authors: Ferrari Donata , Lombardi Mara , Ricci Roberto , Michiara Maria , Santini Marcello , De Panfilis Giuseppe
Published: June 2007

Background:  Some dermatopathological parameters are recognized as dominant indicators of high metastatic potential in melanoma, especially Breslow thickness, ulceration, Clark’s level of invasion and mitotic rate. Because NM23 protein is the product of a melanoma metastasis suppressor gene, the aim of this study was to compare such dermatopathological indicators of melanoma prognosis with NM23 protein expression in primary cutaneous melanoma.

Methods:  The immunohistochemical NM23 expression was semiquantitatively assessed in 30 primary cutaneous melanomas. Ten dermatopathological parameters were evaluated and compared with NM23 expression.

Results:  A significant inverse correlation was found for NM23 expression in comparison with Breslow thickness (p < 0.01), ulceration (p < 0.05), Clark’s level (p < 0.01), mitotic rate (p < 0.05), and vertical growth phase (p < 0.05). By contrast, no significant correlation was found for NM23 expression in comparison with cell morphology, presence of adjacent nevus, pigmentation, tumor‐infiltrating lymphocytes, and regression was impossible to evaluate.

Conclusions:  The expression of NM23 protein in primary cutaneous melanoma is significantly inversely correlated with dermatopathological parameters currently recognized as powerful indicators of melanoma prognosis. NM23 may be therefore considered in the dermatopathological evaluation of primary cutaneous melanoma.
Investigation of the hair follicle inner root sheath in scarring and non‐scarring alopecia
Authors: Horenstein Marcelo G , Simon Jessica
Published: June 2007

Background:  Premature desquamation of the inner root sheath (IRS) is described as a defining histologic feature of follicular degeneration syndrome/central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia (CCCA). However, IRS abnormalities have been noted in other types of alopecia.

Design:  We evaluated the IRS in terminal hair follicles with transverse sections stained with hematoxylin‐eosin and Ziehl‐Neelsen stains in 22 non‐scarring (7 areata and 15 androgenetic) and 21 scarring (13 CCCA, 2 lichen planopilaris, 2 lupus erythematosus, 1 folliculitis decalvans and 3 end stage) alopecia cases. In addition, we evaluated 15 normal controls with longitudinal sections to establish the level of IRS desquamation.

Results:  The IRS was present in 99.5 ± 0.01% (mean ± standard error) of normal follicles at the level of the arrector pili muscle/sebaceous gland/sweat gland coil (L2) and variably present at higher levels. The IRS was present at L2 in 97.9 ± 1.5% of alopecia areata, 87.4 ± 5.3% of androgenetic alopecia, 59.3 ± 7.0% of CCCA and 49.4 ± 11.3% of other scarring alopecia follicles.

Conclusions:  Premature desquamation of the IRS was identified in CCCA; however, it was also noted in other scarring alopecia cases. IRS premature desquamation is a non‐specific histologic feature in scarring alopecia and cannot be used alone as a defining feature of CCCA.
Pagetoid reticulosis with CD30 positivity and cytotoxic/suppressor cells
Authors: Jacyk Witold K. , Grayson Wayne , Dinkel Jurgen Erich , Requena Luis
Published: June 2007

Pagetoid reticulosis (PR) is a low‐grade primary cutaneous T‐cell lymphoma that usually presents as a solitary, slowly enlarging erythematous or hyperkeratotic plaque on the distal areas of the extremities. Histopathologically, it is characterized by a dense, band‐like infiltrate of atypical lymphocytes with prominent epidermotropism within a hyperplastic epidermis, and immunophenotypic studies show in most cases, a CD4‐positive T‐helper phenotype for the neoplastic lymphocytes. We describe an African man with a more than 20‐year history of an acral lesion of PR, which was histopathologically characterized by lymphocyte immunophenotype consisting of CD8‐ and CD30‐positive cells. We discuss the differential diagnosis with other primary cutaneous lymphoproliferative disorders showing similar immunophenotype. This case shows that CD30‐positive PR should be included as a rare variant within the spectrum of CD30‐positive primary cutaneous lymphoproliferative disorders. As in other primary cutaneous CD30‐positive lymphoproliferative processes, lesions of CD30‐positive PR show an indolent course and a benign biological behavior.
Monoclonal antibody Ber‐EP4 reliably discriminates between microcystic adnexal carcinoma and basal cell carcinoma
Authors: Krahl Dieter , Sellheyer Klaus
Published: June 2007

Background:  Sclerosing cutaneous neoplasms often represent a diagnostic challenge. The monoclonal antibody Ber‐EP4 recognizes two glycopolypeptides found in most human epithelial cells. It is diagnostically highly reliable in the differentiation between basal cell carcinoma and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. In this study, we report its application in the differential diagnosis of microcystic adnexal carcinoma, desmoplastic trichoepithelioma and basal cell carcinoma.

Methods:  Biopsy samples from 28 sclerosing and infiltrating basal cell carcinomas, 13 microcystic adnexal carcinomas and 16 desmoplastic trichoepitheliomas were examined after immunohistochemical staining with Ber‐EP4.

Results:  Ber‐EP4 did not label any of the microcystic adnexal carcinomas, whereas all 28 basal cell carcinomas were Ber‐EP4 positive. Twenty‐seven of the 28 showed moderate or strong staining intensity, with the majority being strong. Only one basal cell carcinoma was weakly positive. Twelve of the 16 desmoplastic trichoepitheliomas were immunoreactive with Ber‐EP4 and the staining was more variable than those of basal cell carcinomas.

Conclusions:  Ber‐EP4 reliably differentiates microcystic adnexal carcinoma from basal cell carcinoma to the same extent as it distinguishes the latter tumor from squamous cell carcinoma. While it stains the majority of desmoplastic trichoepitheliomas, these tumors still have to be considered in the differential diagnosis with microcystic adnexal carcinoma, when Ber‐EP4 is applied.
Desmoplastic tricholemmoma of the eyelid misdiagnosed as sebaceous carcinoma: a potential diagnostic pitfall
Authors: Cabral Erik S. , Cassarino David S.
Published: June 2007

Background:  Sebaceous carcinoma (SC) most commonly presents on the eyelid and is frequently misdiagnosed both clinically and pathologically. Only very rare cases of desmoplastic tricholemmoma (DTL) of the eyelid have been reported.

Methods:  We present a case of DTL of the eyelid initially misdiagnosed as an invasive SC.

Results:  A 55‐year‐old man presented with a rapidly growing 5 mm erythematous lesion on his upper eyelid. Histologic examination showed a lobular, folliculocentric proliferation of palely eosinophilic to clear cells surrounded by peripheral basal cells with palisading. The central portion of the lesion appeared infiltrative with clear cells surrounded by a thickened basement embedded in a dense, collagenous stroma. However, the cells showed mostly uniform cytoplasmic clearing, lacking the multivacuolization or nuclear scalloping of sebocytes. In addition, a periodic acid Schiff stain was positive with diastase sensitivity, indicating cytoplasmic glycogen, not lipid. CD34 immunohistochemical staining was also positive, which has been reported in DTL but not in SC.

Conclusions:  SC is often misdiagnosed as other entities, but misidentification of other neoplasms as SC is less common; however, this is an important diagnostic pitfall, as it may result in unnecessary and disfiguring surgical treatment and consequent medical‐legal liability. Therefore, DTL should enter the differential diagnosis of clear‐cell neoplasms on the eyelid.
Ein gern vergessenes Buch Thomas Manns
Authors: Brock Erich
Published: June 2007

Es sind jetzt 40 Jahre, dass Thomas Manns Betrachtungen eines Unpolitischen erschienen. Sie wurden damals von Freund und Feind begierig aufgenommen als eine (im ganzen durchaus würdige und gehaltvolle) Apologie von tausend Dingen, welche die Deutschen bis dahin mehr auf dumpfe Weise empfunden hatten als etwas, was ein Recht ihrer geistig‐politischen Eigenform begründete. Aber solche Empfindung genügte nicht mehr im Ersten Weltkrieg angesichts des konzentrischen Angriffs der übersichtlich durchorganisierten Ideologie der Westvölker. Soweit gut; das Erstaunliche dabei aber war, dass der Verfasser selbst empfand, sein Werk kehre sich damit, dass es dieser durchgegliederten Ideologie eine ebensolche Front entgegenwarf, weitgehend gegen sich selbst. Es verteidigte mit den Mittehi differenziertester, besonders an Nietzsche geschulter Sprach‐ und Stilkunst eine Sache, die wesentlich auf Schweigen stand, auf blossem Sein, auf dem zwischen Ja und Nein unentschiedenen, weil beide übergreifenden Wesen, das der Natur, der Musik, der Religion zugrunde liegt. Indem Mann diesem Wesen, das er als Inbegriff der Deutschheit empfand, bewussteste Worte in den Mund legte, musste er sie notwendig beim Westen entleihen und damit seine Aussage schon als Aussage bis zu gewissem Masse in ihr selbst verkehren. Schon allein die Systematisierung, die Mann da der deutschen Geistesart angedeihen liess, brachte das mit sich. (Wir sehen ganz davon ab, dass seine Hauptgewährsmänner immer Schopenhauer, Wagner und Nietzsche sind; über die Grösse der beiden ersten denkt man heute wohl mit Recht zurückhaltend.) Mann schrieb gegen Antithetik, Rationalisierung, Organisierung des Geistigen ‐ und wusste natürlich infolgedessen für das, was er verteidigte, kein Prinzip zu nennen ‐ nur dass es noch war, eben noch tatsächlich war. Sicherlich gab es im Zweiten Reiche der Deutschen viel Gutes, was nur noch auf sich selbst stand, nicht auf einem rationalen Prinzip, und trotzdem von unersetzlichem Wert war. Und wer wollte überhaupt leugnen, dass in der Menschheit die Hälfte aller Werte ein Noch sind, Werte der Frühe, der Natur, der Schöpfungsfrische, des vorlogischen Zustandes ‐ und dass so‐wohl im Individuellen wie im Völkerleben dadurch Dinge bezeichnet werden, die durch nichts, was am Ende eines bewussten und willensmässigen Strebens zu erreichen sind, einfach aufgewogen werden. Im staatlichen Gebiet zumal sind es solche Werte, die auf einem echten Patriarchalismus, einer Pietät ruhen, welche nicht organisiert, nicht aus einer vernünftigen Wurzel mit Sicherheit wieder heraufgeführt werden kann, wenn die Entwicklung darüber hinweggeschritten ist. Die tatsächliche Unersetzlichkeit einer pietätvollen Einstellung gilt auch im Sinne eines reinen Wertbegriffs. Für Mann handelt es sich also um die Verteidigung dessen, was er im schönsten Sinn bewahrend, konservativ nennt, und dies ist, was ihm als das Wesen des deutschen Geistes vorschwebt.
Der Epiker Thomas Mann
Authors: Hamburger Käte
Published: June 2007

Aristoteles hat in seiner Poetik der Verwunderung Ausdruck gegeben, daß man zu seiner Zeit unter dem Begriff der Dichtung so ganz verschiedene Dinge wie die elegische und die epische Dichtung zusammen begreife. Man richte sich, meinte er, dabei nur nach dem Versmaß, dem Distichon, beachte aber nicht, daß die epische, die homerische Dichtung Mimesis (Nachbildung) sei, die elegische, d.i. die lyrische, dagegen nicht. Und wiederum waren ihm die epische und die dramatische (tragische) Dichtung recht eng zusammengehörige Dichtarten, weil sie beide, wenn auch mit verschiedenen Mitteln, Mimesis sind. So tadelt er z. B. solche Epiker, die in der ersten Person reden, denn in diesem Falle, meint er scharfsinnig, bilden sie nicht nach. Und er lobt Homer, weil dieser so bald wie möglich einen Mann oder eine Frau auftreten lasse, die statt seiner reden, denn umso stärker sei die Mimesis. –
Thomas Mann und Rilke
Authors: Mason Eudo C.
Published: June 2007

Rilke und Thomas Mann, die bis auf wenige Monate gleichaltrig waren, kamen aile beide schon in ihren Anfängen unter den Einfluß des im ausgehenden Jahrhundert so weit verbreiteten, z.T. biologisch bedingten Dekadenzgedankens, worin sie auch, jeder nach seiner Weise, den Schlussel zur eigenen als rätselhaft und problematisch empfundenen Dichterexistenz zu entdecken glaubten. Bei allen beiden wird dieser Dekadenzgedanke, ins Mythische und Metaphysische erhöht, nicht nur zu einem Mittel der privaten Selbstdeutung, sondern darüber hinaus noch zu einem wesentlichen Motiv der eigenen Dichtung und zu einem konstitutiven Bestandteil der eigenen Weltschau. Die Anwendbarkeit des Dekadenzgedankens auf den eigenen Fall ergibt sich für Rilke sowie für Thomas Mann aus dem Bewußtsein eines sich eigentümlich auswirkenden gemischten Blutes– wobei freilich Thomas Mann mit seiner halbportugiesischen Mutter einen viel greifbareren Anhaltspunkt findet als Rilke, der in allem, was er verschiedentlich von der vielfältigen Zusammensetzung1 seines Bluts sagt, fast immer von seiner doch irgendwie auch exotischen Mutter absieht und sein Augenmerk auf die uradligen Kärntner Rülkes richtet, mit denen er in Wirklichkeit höchst wahrscheinlich in keinerlei Blutsverwandtschaft stand.
Eyvind Johnson und Thomas Mann
Authors: Munk Nielsen C. A.
Published: June 2007

Sie sind die Stimme der hehren Menschlichkeit, der hehrsten Menschlichkeit. Sie müssen fühlen, daß Ihr Werk den übrigen Menschen von Nutzen gewesen ist, daß Sie ihnen unmittelbar geholfen haben mit Ihren lehrreichen Bildern, oder daß sie mit Ihren Gedanken ihnen geholfen haben, Mittel und geistige Werkzeuge zu finden, um sich selbst zu helfen. In der erwachenden und wachenden Menschheit, die Ihren Leserkreis bildet, besteht eine Dankbarkeit, die im Leben viele Ausdrücke im Wort, im Tonfall finden kann. Wenn man sagt: Dank, Thomas Mann!, so bedeutet dies nicht nur ein Dank an Sie für Gedanken und Gestalten in Ihrem Werk, nein, es bedeutet auch die Freude darüber, daß es dennoch eine Menschheit im höheren Sinne gibt, eine Menschheit, die Dichtung und Kunst schaffen und erfassen kann und die Lügen durchschaut und Wahrheiten entdeckt. Ihr Werk, Thomas Mann, ist ein Mittel, den Menschen das Leben besser und milder zu gestalten.
Ironische Brüderschaft Thomas Manns Joseph der Ernährer und Laurence Sternes Tristram Shandy
Authors: Seidlin Oskar
Published: June 2007

Es mag auf den ersten Blick nicht mehr als eine Marotte scheinen, zwei Autoren und Romanwerke,1 die durch Sprache, Zeit, geistige Weite, schöpferische Antriebe und Absichten weit voneinander geschieden sind, in nachbarliche Beziehung rücken zu wollen, – eine Marotte, im besten Falle amüsant exzentrisch, im schlimmsten verantwortungslos und willkürlich. Wo wäre das Bindeglied zwischen dem wildwuchernden und so oft unbekümmert obszönen Schnickschnack des englischen Landgeistlichen aus der Mitte des achtzehnten Jahrhunderts und der monumentalen Wiedererweckung der biblischen Geschichte durch den zeitgenössischen deutschen Dichter; zwischen den harmlosen Narreteien meines Onkels Toby und der Entschlüsselung eines ehrwürdigen Mythos, ja der Natur des Mythischen überhaupt; zwischen dem scholastischen Unsinn Vater Shandys und dem tiefsinnigen Grübeln des Urvaters Jaakob über Gott, den Menschen und ihr heiliges Bündnis; zwischen dem ländlich englischen Haus‐ und Familienbetrieb mit solch wichtigen Höhe‐punkten wie Frau Shandys Wochenbett, einer ungeölten Türangel, einem Paar Pumphosen und der überfeinerten sozial politischen Maschinerie des alten Ägypterreiches?

1. Alle Stellennachweise beziehen sich auf die einbändige Modern Library‐Ausgabe von Laurence Sterne, Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy (New York, 1941), hier abgekürzt als TS, und auf Thomas Mann, Joseph der Ernährer (Stockholm, 1943), hier abgekürzt als JE.
Politics in Shakespeare
Authors: White Howard B.
Published: June 2007

It seems to me most unlikely that anyone who knows as much about politics as Shakespeare did merely absorbed that knowledge by breathing the rather unwholesome air of Elizabethan London. He takes the student of English history through the labyrinth of legitimacy and illegitimacy, succession and usurpation. He sees and shows the struggling forces in the young Roman republic of Coriolanus and the dying Roman republic of Julius Caesar. He raises again and again the old problem of the rule of men and the rule of law. He uses political terms in the most exact sense, as in the discussions of tyranny.1 His remarks on the role of fortune are worthy of Machiavelli. If, however, the superstition that the poet is not a thinking man persists, these few illustrations will not dispel it. The convictions with which I begin must be regarded simply as assumptions, if it makes sense to the reader to believe that a great writer is no more deliberate in his thought or careful in his presentation than are the casual utterances of transient communication. I suppose, on the contrary, that a great writer is likely to write with a certain deliberation, that he is likely to have a conscious and coherent philosophy rather than what T. S. Eliot calls a “rag‐bag philosophy”.2 I also suppose that Shakespeare was bound neither by the conventions of the theater nor by his sources, but that his selection was thoughtful.3 He followed Plutarch quite closely in three Roman plays, but Antony and Coriolanus become quite different people from what they were in his sources. He found in Plutarch only the most meager suggestions for Midsummer Night's Dream and Timon of Athens, which also deal with Plutarchian characters. Characters not found in his sources, like Mariana in Measure for Measure or Faulconbridge in King John, (The Bastard) to some extent give these plays their profound political significance. Shakespeare made the marriage of Lancaster and York largely responsible for the restoration of civil peace after the Wars of the Roses, while Bacon, writing in the same period, with quite different political intentions, stresses the fact that Henry VII delayed the marriage as long as possible.4 As for the conventions of the theater, Shakespeare knew them so well that he could use them or alter them as he chose, and he showed that when he returned to the three unities in The Tempest.
Kleists Amphitryon als Tragikomödie
Authors: Guthke Von Karl S.
Published: June 2007

In seiner Übersicht über die Kleistliteratur stellte Paul Kluckhohn 1943 fest, gegenüber den vorwiegend auf den Gehalt gerichteten hermeneutischen Frage‐stellungen sei die Erforschung der dichterischen Gestaltung und des sprachlichen Ausdrucks allzusehr im Hintertreffen geblieben.e1 Das gilt größtenteils noch heute und besonders für den Amphitryon, der so entgegengesetzte Deutungen erfahren hat, daß auch beim gegenwärtigen Forschungsstand noch Frickes Wort zutrifft, es ≥ offenbare sich hier am stärksten, wie die Interpretation hoffnungslos und gleichsam rätselratend in einer verwirrenden Fülle sich aufhebender Auslegungen auseinanderläuft. ≥2 Alle diese Deutungen sind, wie auch die Frickes, in erster Linie auf ideelle Gehalte eingestellt und richten sich nicht auf das Stück als ein gegliedertes Kunstganzes, das als solches eine dichterische Formidee verwirklicht. Dabei liegt die Betrachtung der Formgesetzlichkeit dieses Dramas doch besonders nahe, da der Stoff gewissermaßen parat lag und die Dramatiker der Weltliteratur immer wieder zur Gestaltung gereizt hat. Die Frage: wie hat Kleist diesea Stoff geformt? bietet sich da geradezu an. Eine bestimmte Formstruktur birgt aber zugleich einen spezifischen Sinn in sich. So darf man von einer Analyse der Gestaltung des Werks, wie sie hier versucht werden soll, über die Aufschlüsse über den Kunstcharakter hinaus neues Licht auf die gehaltlichen Probleme erwarten, um die es hier geht. Das um so mehr, wenn man, wie hier, nicht eine beliebige äußerliche Formauffassung zugrundelegt, die vielleicht nur Komplementärbegriff zum geGehaltes wäre, sondern die Frage nach der gattungsmäßigen Bestimmtheit des Stückes stellt. Denn der Gattungsbegriff, der sich in der modernen wissen‐schaftlichen Poetik abzuzeichnen beginnt, umschließt ja in notwendiger Einheit gestalterische wie auch gehaltliche Aspekte eines Werks, sofern er an der Auffassungsweise des Menschlichen orientiert ist, die sich im Kunstwerk als dessen Bildungsgesetz objektiviert hat.