bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Hypothalamic–Pituitary Function in Brain Death
Authors: Nair-Collins Michael , Northrup Jesse , Olcese James
Published: April 2014

The Uniform Determination of Death Act (UDDA) states that an individual is dead when “all functions of the entire brain” have ceased irreversibly. However, it has been questioned whether some functions of the hypothalamus, particularly osmoregulation, can continue after the clinical diagnosis of brain death (BD). In order to learn whether parts of the hypothalamus can continue to function after the diagnosis of BD, we performed 2 separate systematic searches of the MEDLINE database, corresponding to the functions of the posterior and anterior pituitary. No meta-analysis is possible due to nonuniformity in the clinical literature. However, some modest generalizations can reasonably be drawn from a narrative review and from anatomic considerations that explain why these findings should be expected. We found evidence suggesting the preservation of hypothalamic function, including secretion of hypophysiotropic hormones, responsiveness to anterior pituitary stimulation, and osmoregulation, in a substantial proportion of patients declared dead by neurological criteria. We discuss several possible explanations for these findings. We conclude by suggesting that additional clinical research with strict inclusion criteria is necessary and further that a more nuanced and forthright public dialogue is needed, particularly since standard diagnostic practices and the UDDA may not be entirely in accord.
An approach based on singular spectrum analysis and the Mahalanobis distance for tool breakage detection
Authors: Liu Hongqi , Lian Lingneng , Li Bin , Mao Xinyong , Yuan Shaobin , Peng Fangyu
Published: April 2014

The failure of cutting tools significantly decreases machining productivity and product quality; thus, tool condition monitoring is significant in modern manufacturing processes. A new method that is based on singular spectrum analysis and Mahalanobis distance are combined to extract the crucial characteristics from spindle motor current to monitor the tool's condition. The singular spectrum analysis is a novel nonparametric technique for extracting the properties of nonlinear and nonstationary signals. However, because the components are not completely independent, the original singular spectrum analysis eventually leads to misinterpretation of the final results. The proposed method is used to overcome the weakness of the original singular spectrum analysis. The singular spectrum analysis algorithm is adopted to decompose the original signal and the useful singular values that correspond to the tool condition can be extracted. The Mahalanobis distance of the singular values is proposed as a feature that can effectively express the tool condition. The experiments on a CNC Vertical Machining Center demonstrate that this method is effective and can accurately detect the tool breakage in mill process.
The Nature and Power of Interests
Authors: Rounds James , Su Rong
Published: April 2014

Despite their significance to both individuals and organizations, interests are often misunderstood, and their predictive power is often overlooked. In this article, we discuss the nature of interests, describe several key features of interests, and, contrary to the received knowledge of many, explain how interests can be used to predict career and educational choice, performance, and success. Finally, we discuss the continuity of interests across the life span and explain how evidence of stability supports conceptualizations of interests as being distinct dispositions rather than simply extensions or workplace instantiations of basic personality traits.
Attentional Mechanisms of Distractor Suppression
Authors: Geng Joy J.
Published: April 2014

The ability to suppress distractors is critical for the successful completion of goal-oriented behaviors. This is particularly true for everyday behaviors that take time to accomplish and are frequently interrupted by unpredicted events (e.g., spotting a sale on a favorite drink while searching a grocery store for an apple). For one to continue with the intended goal, attention to the distractor must be reactively suppressed (i.e., terminated) so that the goal-oriented behavior may resume. Such reactive suppression can be contrasted with a proactive mechanism that anticipates the appearance of a distractor and suppresses related sensory processing in advance. In this review, I consider three aspects of distractor suppression: (a) the distinction between proactive and reactive mechanisms, (b) the conditions under which reactive distractor rejection can be rapid, and (c) the neural and cognitive processes necessary for controlling proactive and reactive distractor suppression.
Globalisation and Public Policy Adoption: What Implications for Nigeria (1986–2010)
Authors: Akume Albert T. , Okoli F.C.
Published: April 2014

Globalisation is about interrelationship and interdependence between nation-states anchored on production, trade, exchange and governance relations which have occasioned trans-border flows. Global interface between governance and the economies is bolstered by advances in communication and transport technology. Trans-border flows have their opportunities and challenges for nations depending on the degree of hegemony that a nation-state holds. Given the relevance of state hegemony to the pursuit of state-centric interest in the relationship and Nigeria’s weak governance environment, what does this mean for the policy table for Nigeria? It is against this backdrop that this article, utilising documentary methodology and an analytical approach, examines if globalisation has influenced Nigeria’s internal policy direction (1986–2010) as a nation-state that has been a player in global relations. Inferring from the analysis it is observed that global relations have indeed significantly influenced public policy direction in such a manner that in some instances the interest of the collectives is neglected.
Exploring Dimensions of Post-apartheid Xenophobic Sentiments towards African Immigrants in South Africa
Authors: Kang’ethe S.M. , Duma V.
Published: April 2014

The concept ‘xenophobia’ originates from the Greek word ‘xenos’ which means a ‘stranger’ or a ‘foreigner’ and ‘phobo’ meaning phobia which is an irrational fear of persons or groups that are regarded as ‘outsiders’. Episodes of xenophobia have occurred everywhere and anywhere in the world. Throughout human history, there have been variations in the expression of xenophobia – ranging from the Jewish holocaust, ethnic cleansing and genocide, on the one hand, to periodic and wanton outbursts of xenophobic violence on the other. The phenomenon of xenophobia is dreadful, especially when voices fostering national, regional and global peace are becoming louder every day. The task of cultivating and promoting peaceful co-existence, stability and development among the people of the world is a global imperative that should receive urgent attention. This article, through a literature review methodology, discusses the underpinnings of xenophobia in South Africa. The article has identified the following factors that underpin the phenomenon of xenophobia: historical dimensions; culture of crime and violence; economic deprivation and inequalities and disillusionment with unfulfilled socio-economic benefits. The article recommends the following strategies to address xenophobia: massive community education; addressing crime and violence; strengthening the legal and institutional frames and mitigating the state of poverty.
Determinants of Self-Reported Barriers to Glaucoma Medicine Administration and Adherence
Authors: Sleath Betsy L. , Blalock Susan J. , Muir Kelly W. , Carpenter Delesha M. , Lawrence Scott D. , Giangiacomo Annette L. , Goldsmith Jason A. , Hartnett Mary Elizabeth , Slota Catherine , Robin Alan L.
Published: April 2014

Background: Many factors influence glaucoma medication adherence. A better understanding of the relationships between health literacy, depressive symptoms, and patient-reported problems in using glaucoma medications may reveal opportunities for intervention that could improve patients’ clinical outcomes. Objective: To examine the relationship between patient characteristics (demographics, health literacy, and depressive symptoms) and patient-reported problems in using glaucoma medications and to assess factors related to patients’ self-reported adherence to glaucoma medications. Methods: Patients diagnosed with primary open-angle glaucoma (n = 228) currently taking intraocular pressure–lowering medications were recruited at 6 ophthalmology clinics. Patients were interviewed to identify problems using glaucoma medications, and self-reported medication adherence was determined using a Visual Analog Scale. Questionnaires were administered to assess health literacy, depressive symptoms, outcome expectations, and medication self-efficacy. Results: Younger patients ( P = 0.03), patients with depressive symptoms ( P = 0.02), and patients who reported more medication problems ( P = 0.005) were significantly less adherent to their glaucoma medications. Patients with higher glaucoma medication self-efficacy adherence scores ( P = 0.003) and higher outcome expectations ( P = 0.03) were significantly more adherent. Conclusions: Providers should consider using tools to screen glaucoma patients for depressive symptoms and for problems in using medications to identify patients who are at higher risk of nonadherence to treatment and who might benefit from follow-up with primary care providers.
Psychopharmacological Treatment of ADHD in Adults Aged 50+
Authors: Lensing Michael B. , Zeiner Pål , Sandvik Leiv , Opjordsmoen Stein
Published: March 2014

Objective: To study pharmacotherapy in adults aged 50+ with ADHD. Method: A survey was administered to adults with ADHD (≥50 years old). Participants on medication for ADHD were compared with those not on medications. Results: Mean age of participants was 55.8 years, and mean age when diagnosed with ADHD was 50.3 years. Ninety-five participants (63.8%) reported current psychopharmacological treatment for ADHD, 36 (24.2%) had stopped psychopharmacological treatment, and 18 (12.0%) were psychopharmacological treatment naive for ADHD. Those currently being treated psychopharmacologically for ADHD reported significantly improved attention relative to the two nonmedicated groups ( p < .01). Among examined sample characteristics (including current psychopharmacological treatment for ADHD), employment was associated with a better outcome (odds ratio = 3.3, p = .006). Conclusion: The majority of adults aged 50+ with ADHD reported regular pharmacotherapy for ADHD. Participants currently receiving psychopharmacological treatment for ADHD reported better attention than those not receiving pharmacotherapy. Employment was associated with more favorable outcomes.
Emotion Dysregulation Is Associated With Social Impairment Among Young Adolescents With ADHD
Authors: Bunford Nora , Evans Steven W. , Langberg Joshua M.
Published: March 2014

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate aspects of emotion dysregulation (ED) that characterize young adolescents with ADHD, examine the effects of subtype and comorbidity, and determine the extent to which ED is related to aggression and rule-breaking and social impairment. Method: We examined which aspects of ED are most relevant to ADHD in 180 young adolescents (75% boys), as well as whether ED differs across ADHD subtypes or comorbid oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) status. We also examined the association between ED and aggression, rule-breaking, and social impairment. Results: Young adolescent females and males with ADHD exhibited various manifestations of ED, including behavioral dyscontrol in the presence of strong emotions and inflexibility/slow return to emotional baseline. ED did not differ as a function of ADHD subtype or comorbid ODD. Three aspects of ED, namely, low threshold for emotional excitability/impatience, behavioral dyscontrol in the face of strong emotions, and inflexibility/slow return to baseline, predicted three of six measured indices of parent- and self-reported social impairment, above and beyond comorbid ODD. Conclusions: ED is associated with ADHD among young adolescents, does not differ based on ADHD subtype or ODD status, and is associated with social impairment.
Does Emotion Dysregulation Mediate the Association Between Sluggish Cognitive Tempo and College Students’ Social Impairment?
Authors: Flannery Andrew J. , Becker Stephen P. , Luebbe Aaron M.
Published: April 2014

Objective: Studies demonstrate an association between sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) and social impairment, although no studies have tested possible mechanisms of this association. This study aimed to (a) examine SCT in relation to college students’ social functioning; (b) test if SCT is significantly associated with emotion dysregulation beyond depressive, anxious, and ADHD symptoms; and (c) test if emotion dysregulation mediates the association between SCT symptoms and social impairment. Method: College students ( N = 158) completed measures of psychopathology symptoms, emotion dysregulation, and social functioning. Results: Participants with elevated SCT (12%) had higher ADHD, depressive, and anxious symptoms in addition to poorer emotion regulation and social adjustment than participants without elevated SCT. Above and beyond other psychopathologies, SCT was significantly associated with social impairment but not general interpersonal functioning. SCT was also associated with emotion dysregulation, even after accounting for the expectedly strong association between depression and emotion dysregulation. Further analyses supported emotion dysregulation as a mediator of the association between SCT and social impairment. Conclusion: These findings are important for theoretical models of SCT and underscore the need for additional, longitudinal research.
Governing the dieting self: Conducting weight-loss via the internet
Authors: Clarke Andrew
Published: April 2014

Recent critical scholarship on bodyweight issues has taken a step back from debates regarding the veracity of claims made about the ‘obesity epidemic’ and its dietary causes and solutions. Instead, researchers have begun to explore the ‘truth effects’ of obesity discourse: how this discourse is translated into interventions that target how people relate to, and act upon, themselves and others. The study contributes to this scholarship through an analysis of a commercially distributed online weight-loss program, where participants are required to govern their own dietary conduct with the assistance of tools and resources supplied via the internet. Adopting a governmentality approach, I demonstrate that the program’s operationalisation of bodyweight and dietary discourse in its attempt to affect the dietary conduct of dieters is dependent upon techniques for governing conduct ‘at a distance’ that are derived from broader innovations in the techniques through which power is exercised in ‘advanced liberal’ societies.
Exploring the Cuban blogosphere: Discourse networks and informal politics
Authors: Vicari Stefania
Published: April 2014

Despite the rapid growth of a blogosphere literature interested in blogging practices across democratic countries and authoritarian regimes, little is known about Cuban blogs. This study aims to bridge this gap by specifically looking at 66 blogs from four ideologically diverging Cuban blog platforms. By applying a combination of social network analysis and content analysis techniques, the study investigates structure and content of the Cuban blogosphere. Findings show that blog interactions have developed differently depending on the blogs’ ideological orientation although cross-ideologictsal interactions have sometimes emerged. The Cuban blogosphere has extended beyond national borders primarily via diaspora blogs, centering its discourse network on domestic political issues divergent from those available on state- or US-controlled mainstream media.
Iconography of the West
Authors: Alexander Bryant Keith
Published: March 2014

This is the introduction to the Special Issue, “Iconography of the West: Autoethnographic Representations of the West(erns)” that engages a writing of variable images invoked in the reference to the West and Westerns, and the exposure of the authors to the movie genre and lived reality of westerns and frontier life.
Damming the Amazon
Authors: Diversi Marcelo
Published: March 2014

The Belo Monte Dam on the Xingu River, at the heart of the Amazon tropical forest, is not the first in the area. But it is going to be the largest. The third largest hydroelectric plant on the planet. It will dry out miles and miles of a river that sustains more than a dozen surviving indigenous tribes. More than 20,000 people will be displaced from their ancient lands, many forcibly moved into the new slums of little towns servicing the new dam. The ecological damage of flooding a tropical forest as large as a small country is undisputed by natural scientists. And this is just the beginning of greater encroachment into the Amazon forest and its people. For the Belo Monte Dam to be operational all year around, it will need 4 or 5 smaller dams upstream. Indigenous people live there too. And the government has plans for 40 more dams all over the Amazon for the rest of this century. Indigenous and allies have put up a strong and organized resistance. But Belo Monte marches forward backed up by the new national economic pride. Energy over people. It is an old story happening again, in a massive ecological scale, in our times. Here I grapple with the competing narratives of justification and try to imagine a narrative that firmly puts people over energy.
The Old West of Old Town
Authors: McMullen Melissa
Published: March 2014

Old Town, Scottsdale, Arizona, is a modern-day old Western town that boldly claims to transport visitors back to the days of cowboys and Indians. Yet, Old Town is a representation of an old Western town that never existed as depicted. By engaging in ethnographic methods of observation and interview, this study analyzes how the visual communication of cultural and historic identities affects visitors’ experiences in the area as well as their understanding of the American Old West. It argues that the visual narratives of the space serve as a simulacrum that attracts visitors to the area while simultaneously failing to achieve what it promises.
Disidentifications From the West(ern)
Authors: Eguchi Shinsuke
Published: March 2014

In this article, I write my autoethnography of disidentifications from the West(ern) as I become an Other in the context of cross-national transitions from Japan to the United States. Specifically, I illustrate my performative modes of disidentifying from the West(ern) genre and motif to examine how historical, cultural, and somatic impacts of the West(ern) are negotiated and renegotiated in everyday interactions. In doing so, I utilize my Asian/Japanese transnational gay identity as the embodied text to disrupt, complicate, and transform understandings of “Others” in the context of intraqueer/intercultural encounters.
The Stripping Cowboy
Authors: Staszel John Paul
Published: March 2014

The cowboy is undoubtedly one of the most iconic masculine symbols of the 20th century. Film, television, and music present the cowboy figure in many forms and styles continuously attracting audiences with voyeuristic interest, erotic fantasy, and physical desire. Media has shaped the cowboy image into both a symbol that is idolized, sexualized, and fantasized over in sexual performance spaces. These archives offer unforgettable examples of “the good, the bad, and the sexy” cowboy. As a result of such representations, the cowboy has become one of the most popular characters performed in the male strip show.
Superiority of chlorhexidine 2%/alcohol 70% wipes in decontaminating ultrasound equipment
Authors: Shukla Bhavin , Howell Victoria , Griffiths Alicia , Thoppil Anita , Liu Monica , Carter Joseph , Young Peter
Published: April 2014

Ultrasound equipment is known to act as a reservoir for potentially pathogenic organisms. The aims of these studies were to establish current cleaning practices, to review the extent of bacterial contamination of ultrasound equipment in our hospital, to establish an effective cleaning regimen and to ensure that cleaning does not cause damage. A questionnaire was sent to all acute NHS hospitals in England to establish current cleaning practices. A review of our current practice was performed to establish the extent of bacterial contamination of ultrasound equipment currently in use. Laboratory studies compared cleaning the probes with soap and water with decontaminating with a chlorhexidine 2% and alcohol 70% wipe, including quantifying the residual effect. Accelerated aging was performed on the probe and staff surveyed to establish potential problems with using the wipes on the probe. The survey revealed that a variety of cleaning methods were used to decontaminate ultrasound probes; 57% of our ultrasound machines were contaminated with bacteria. The laboratory studies showed superiority of the chlorhexidine and alcohol wipes over soap and water due to a residual effect, both immediately after cleaning and after 24 hours. The staff survey demonstrated no apparent change in function of the probe after cleaning with the chlorhexidine wipes. Cleaning ultrasound probes with chlorhexidine and alcohol wipes is effective and provides additional protection against bacterial contamination due to its residual effect, and appears in the short term to have no detrimental effect on the probe.
Whole-genome profiling highlights the molecular complexity underlying eccentric cardiac hypertrophy
Authors: Barnes Justin , Pat Betty , Chen Yuan-Wen , Powell Pamela C. , Bradley Wayne E. , Zheng Junying , Karki Amrit , Cui Xiangqin , Guichard Jason , Wei Chih-Chang , Collawn James , Dell’Italia Louis J.
Published: April 2014

Objectives:

Heart failure is typically preceded by myocardial hypertrophy and remodeling, which can be concentric due to pressure overload (PO), or eccentric because of volume overload (VO). The molecular mechanisms that underlie these differing patterns of hypertrophy are distinct and have yet to be fully elucidated. Thus, the goal of this work is to identify novel therapeutic targets for cardiovascular conditions marked by hypertrophy that have previously been resistant to medical treatment, such as a pure VO.

Methods:

Concentric or eccentric hypertrophy was induced in rats for 2 weeks with transverse aortic constriction (TAC) or aortocaval fistula (ACF), respectively. Hemodynamic and echocardiographic analysis were used to assess the development of left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy and functional differences between groups. Changes in gene expression were determined by microarray and further characterized with Ingenuity Pathway Analysis.

Results:

Both models of hypertrophy increased LV mass. Rats with TAC demonstrated concentric LV remodeling while rats with ACF exhibited eccentric LV remodeling. Microarray analysis associated eccentric remodeling with a more extensive alteration of gene expression compared with concentric remodeling. Rats with VO had a marked activation of extracellular matrix genes, promotion of cell cycle genes, downregulation of genes associated with oxidative metabolism, and dysregulation of genes critical to cardiac contractile function. Rats with PO demonstrated similar categorical changes, but with the involvement of fewer individual genes.

Conclusions:

Our results indicate that eccentric remodeling is a far more complex process than concentric remodeling. This study highlights the importance of several key biological functions early in the course of VO, including regulation of matrix, metabolism, cell proliferation, and contractile function. Thus, the results of this analysis will inform the ongoing search for new treatments to prevent the progression to heart failure in VO.
Sports-Related Head Injuries in Students
Authors: LaBond Virginia , Barber Kimberly R. , Golden Ina J.
Published: April 2014

The short- and long-term neurologic impairment of children sustaining sports-related head injuries has recently entered the forefront of medical literature, resulting in new guidelines on concussion management being provided to clinicians, coaches, and trainers. Yet, most parents have not been formally educated on head injuries. The purpose of this article is to share the findings of a study conducted with 235 parents that identified their knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of sports-related head injuries in school-age students. The study found that 51% of respondents were unaware that head trauma was more serious in children, 80% were uninformed as to whether the school district had a policy on sports-related head injuries, 44% did not know if there were medical guidelines for return to play, and 35% did not know that repeated head trauma could cause dementia. Results of this research implore school nurses to improve patient and parental education when they care for and monitor students with head injuries.
Mobile communication and intermediality
Authors: Helles Rasmus
Published: April 2014

The article argues the importance of intermediality as a concept for research in mobile communication and media. The constant availability of several, partially overlapping channels for communication (texting, calls, email, Facebook, etc.) requires that we adopt an integrated view of the various communicative affordances of mobile devices in order to understand how people choose between them for different purposes. It is argued that mobile communication makes intermediality especially central, as the choice of medium is detached from the location of stationary media and begins to follow the user across all contexts of daily life.
The mobile phone between fashion and design
Authors: Fortunati Leopoldina
Published: April 2014

In this article first of all I want to look at the current debate on fashion and the mobile phone. After a brief outline of the question, I discuss the role of fashion and then of design, an interconnected theme that has never been satisfactorily addressed in this debate. Then I analyse briefly how social networks and applications have introduced the discourse surrounding fashion and information about fashion to this device. My conclusion is that it is now necessary to make social science research converge with HCI research in order to have a better understanding of the potentialities of the mobile phone and a clearer vision of where research is now needed.
So what? Why study mobile media and communication?
Authors: Smith Richard
Published: April 2014

The essay argues that even though mobile may soon become less distinctive as a niche form of communication, Mobile Media and Communication will remain relevant through a focus on “mobile” from both the historical and user perspective. These stances encourage reflection. Keeping a critical stance and focusing on users in our work is absolutely essential.
The promise and peril of mHealth in developing countries
Authors: Chib Arul
Published: April 2014

The mHealth field understandably arose from a base of practice, developed a nascent, yet ever-expanding, body of inter-disciplinary scholarship, and currently hopes for recognition by, and establishment on, national and trans-national policy bodies and agendas respectively. However, to justify public investment, policymakers require a body of theoretically sound, methodologically rigorous, and generalizable, evidence on how mobile technologies can effectively improve basic healthcare service delivery for hard-to-reach, resource-poor populations in developing countries.

This essay draws upon prior work, ranging from a review article, an mHealth intervention for Indonesian healthcare workers within the medical infrastructure, to a text-messaging project in Uganda focused on beneficiaries. The argument is organized around theoretical, methodological, and sustainability issues, and proposes suggestions for how the discipline of mobile communication studies can add value to the field of mHealth research in developing countries.
The texture of our business
Authors: Harper Richard
Published: April 2014

A key theme in mobile communications research is the idea that people are suffering from communications overload. This essay remarks on what that term might mean and how it ought to be addressed when viewed from the perspective of mobile phone research. It will argue that its use in everyday life is rich and complex, and that this use ought to be a research topic in its own right. Some of the difficulties that will need to be addressed when this occurs are noted.
Measuring mobile phone use: Gender, age and real usage level in relation to the accuracy and validity of self-reported mobile phone use
Authors: Vanden Abeele Mariek , Beullens Kathleen , Roe Keith
Published: April 2014

This article reports the results of a mobile phone use validation survey in which we compared self-reported mobile phone use to network provider data, and examined the observed discrepancies between both data sources in a convenience sample of 466 Flemish mobile phone users (18–65 years). The results showed significant discrepancies between self-reported and behavioral mobile phone use, particularly for the number and duration of mobile calls. Light users tended to overestimate, while heavy users tended to underestimate their mobile phone use. Females were more likely to underestimate their weekly number of calls. Younger adults were more accurate in reporting their weekly number of calls, but less accurate in reporting their weekly number of text messages. The discussion devotes particular attention to potential question wording effects that are likely to have influenced the results.
New visualities and the digital wayfarer: Reconceptualizing camera phone photography and locative media
Authors: Hjorth Larissa , Pink Sarah
Published: April 2014

In this article, we examine how second-generation locative media and emerging contemporary camera phone practices are becoming entangled to create new visualities and socialities of place and place making. With location-based services (LBS) smartphone apps like Instagram geotagging is increasingly the default, rather than choice. This has transformed both how we experience and conceptualize co-present relationships across micro and macro realms and how we chart these relationships and environments as we move through the everyday world. Through a preliminary study of 10 users of smartphones in urban Australia we explore their daily routines and how camera phone and LBS practices become part of those everyday repetitions. In 2013, Australia mobile Internet subscriptions have now reached 22.1 million: basically one subscription for every person in the country. To understand these new everyday visualities we develop the notion of the “digital wayfarer” as a way to think about the perpetually moving mobile media user. Expanding upon Tim Ingold’s notion of the wayfaring type of mobility that is both routine and repetitive (i.e., “transport”) in the realm of the digital interwoven within the everyday, we reflect upon the digital wayfarer as they move through taking and sharing pictures and their tagged geographic and temporal contexts as part of broader emplaced and interwoven visualities and socialities.
Migrant mothering and mobile phones: Negotiations of transnational identity
Authors: Chib Arul , Malik Shelly , Aricat Rajiv George , Kadir Siti Zubeidah
Published: April 2014

Transnational mothers working in foreign countries face the challenges of providing “intensive” mothering to their children from a distance, and risk being subject to the “deviancy” discourse of mothering. This paper investigates the role of mobile phone usage, via voice, text messages, and social networking sites, in dealing with the tensions and ambivalence arising from transnational mothering as a dialectical process. We surveyed 42 Filipina and Indonesian foreign domestic workers (FDWs) in Singapore using a mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods. FDWs addressed tensions arising out of societal expectations of motherhood and their own anxieties about children’s well-being. The reluctant obsessive struggled to maintain a balance between an intensive nurturing style and a deviant mode of mothering that respected the growing independence of the children. The diverted professional had to balance the financial empowerment of being the primary breadwinner with the risk of surrogate motherhood for the employer’s children subsuming the care provided to her own. The remote-control parent shared mothering responsibilities with caregivers, usually relatives, who acted as a contradictory proxy presence for intensive mothering. The incomplete union of stressed marital parenting put further pressure on the romantic and sexual identities of migrant women. Transnational mothers utilized mobile phones actively as a tool to negotiate and redefine identities and relationships that created fissures in their sense of self. These included the management of third-party relationships, withholding of emotions or information, and engaging in counterintuitive phenomenon such as restricting, or actively dis-engaging from, mobile phone usage as a communication strategy. The paper calls for future research into the multiple, and interacting, social identities assumed and managed by transnational mothers, and the complex role played by mobile phones in the constant process of negotiation by agentic, self-relective and multifaceted women.
Study of the Maillard reaction products formed by glycine and D- glucose on different mineral substrates
Authors: Bosetto M. , Arfaioli P. , Pantani O. L.
Published: April 2014

This work deals with the formation of humic-like compounds, products of the Maillard reaction between glycine and D-glucose, on clay (K+, Ca2+ and Al3+-saturated montmorillonite and kaolinite) and quartz systems in the presence of the same cations. Natural quartz was used as the control while the effect of cation type, mineral substrate and CEC was evaluated. All the systems form humic-like substances that are probably responsible for the decrease in the pH (H2O) after 30 d. The type of cation does not influence the overall production of humic substances, while the amount of cations controls the formation of humic-like material especially in the presence of clays. A mineral surface is necessary to synthesize molecules with this high degree of complexity.

Fulvic-like compounds are produced in great amounts on natural quartz and their formation is hampered by the presence of ‘free’ cations, regardless of their amount. Humic substances do not penetrate the interlayer of montmorillonite.
Dynamic remodeling of histone modifications in response to osmotic stress in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Authors: Magraner-Pardo Lorena , Pelechano Vicent , Coloma María Dolores , Tordera Vicente
Published: March 2014

Background

Specific histone modifications play important roles in chromatin functions; i.e., activation or repression of gene transcription. This participation must occur as a dynamic process. Nevertheless, most of the histone modification maps reported to date provide only static pictures that link certain modifications with active or silenced states. This study, however, focuses on the global histone modification variation that occurs in response to the transcriptional reprogramming produced by a physiological perturbation in yeast.

Results

We did a genome-wide chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis for eight specific histone modifications before and after saline stress. The most striking change was rapid acetylation loss in lysines 9 and 14 of H3 and in lysine 8 of H4, associated with gene repression. The genes activated by saline stress increased the acetylation levels at these same sites, but this acetylation process was quantitatively minor if compared to that of the deacetylation of repressed genes. The changes in the tri-methylation of lysines 4, 36 and 79 of H3 and the di-methylation of lysine 79 of H3 were slighter than those of acetylation. Furthermore, we produced new genome-wide maps for seven histone modifications, and we analyzed, for the first time in S. cerevisiae, the genome-wide profile of acetylation of lysine 8 of H4.

Conclusions

This research reveals that the short-term changes observed in the post-stress methylation of histones are much more moderate than those of acetylation, and that the dynamics of the acetylation state of histones during activation or repression of transcription is a much quicker process than methylation.
A phase II study of cisplatin with intravenous and oral vinorelbine as induction chemotherapy followed by concomitant chemoradiotherapy with oral vinorelbine and cisplatin for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer
Authors: Lerouge Delphine , Rivière Alain , Dansin Eric , Chouaid Christos , Dujon Cécile , Schott Roland , Lavole Armelle , Le Pennec Vincent , Fabre Elizabeth , Crequit Jacky , Martin Francis , Dehette Stéphanie , Fournel Pierre , Precheur-Agulhon Bénédicte , Lartigau Eric , Zalcman Gérard
Published: March 2014

Background

Concomitant platinum-based chemotherapy and radiotherapy (CT-RT) is the recommended treatment for unresectable locally advanced stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We conducted a phase II study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of fractionated oral vinorelbine with cisplatin as induction CT followed by CT-RT.

Methods

Patients with stage III NSCLC received 2 induction cycles of intravenous vinorelbine 25 mg/m2 and cisplatin 80 mg/m2 on day 1 and oral vinorelbine 60 mg/m2 on day 8. Responding patients received 2 more cycles of cisplatin 80 mg/m2 on day 1 and oral vinorelbine 20 mg on days 1, 3 and 5 concomitantly with radiotherapy 2 Gy daily, 5 days/week for a total of 66 Gy.

Results

Seventy patients, median age 61 years, were enrolled. Overall response rate (ORR) was 50.0%; Disease Control Rate was 81.42%. Median PFS was 14.58 months [95% CI, 10.97-18.75]. Median OS was 17.08 months [95% CI, 13.57-29.57]. One-year and 2-year survival rates were 68.6% [95% CI, 57.7-79.4] and 37%. One patient had a grade 3 pulmonary radiation injury and 26.5% had graded 1/2 esophagitis.

Conclusion

In non-operable IIIA-IIIB NSCLC, the combination oral vinorelbine (fractionated fixed dose) plus cisplatin, during concomitant CT-RT, could offer a well-tolerated option, with comparable activity to I.V. vinorelbine-based chemoradiotherapy regimens.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01839032
Brazilian and Mexican experiences in the study of incipient domestication
Authors: Lins Neto Ernani Machado de Freitas , Peroni Nivaldo , Casas Alejandro , Parra Fabiola , Aguirre Xitlali , Guillén Susana , Albuquerque Ulysses Paulino
Published: April 2014

Background

Studies of domestication enables a better understanding of human cultures, landscape changes according to peoples’ purposes, and evolutionary consequences of human actions on biodiversity. This review aimed at discussing concepts, hypotheses, and current trends in studies of domestication of plants, using examples of cases studied in regions of Mesoamerica and Brazil. We analyzed trends of ethnobiological studies contributing to document processes of domestication and to establish criteria for biodiversity conservation based on traditional ecological knowledge.

Methods

Based on reviewing our own and other authors’ studies we analyzed management patterns and evolutionary trends associated to domestication occurring at plant populations and landscape levels. Particularly, we systematized information documenting: ethnobotanical aspects about plant management and artificial selection mechanisms, morphological consequences of plant management, population genetics of wild and managed plant populations, trends of change in reproduction systems of plants associated to management, and other ecological and physiological aspects influenced by management and domestication.

Results

Based on the analysis of study cases of 20 native species of herbs, shrubs and trees we identified similar criteria of artificial selection in different cultural contexts of Mexico and Brazil. Similar evolutionary trends were also identified in morphology (selection in favor of gigantism of useful and correlated parts); organoleptic characteristics such as taste, toxicity, color, texture; reproductive biology, mainly breeding system, phenological changes, and population genetics aspects, maintenance or increasing of genetic diversity in managed populations, high gene flow with wild relatives and low structure maintained by artificial selection. Our review is a first attempt to unify research methods for analyzing a high diversity of processes. Further research should emphasize deeper analyses of contrasting and diverse cultural and ecological contexts for a better understanding of evolution under incipient processes of domestication.

Conclusion

Higher research effort is particularly required in Brazil, where studies on this topic are scarcer than in Mexico but where diversity of human cultures managing their also high plant resources diversity offer high potential for documenting the diversity of mechanisms of artificial selection and evolutionary trends. Comparisons and evaluations of incipient domestication in the regions studied as well as the Andean area would significantly contribute to understanding origins and diffusion of the experience of managing and domesticating plants.
Facilitation of the HPA Axis to a Novel Acute Stress Following Chronic Stress Exposure Modulates Histone Acetylation and the ERK/MAPK Pathway in the Dentate Gyrus of Male Rats
Authors: Ferland Chantelle L. , Harris Erin P. , Lam Mai , Schrader Laura A.
Published: April 2014

Evidence suggests that when presented with novel acute stress, animals previously exposed to chronic homotypic or heterotypic stressors exhibit normal or enhanced hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) response compared with animals exposed solely to that acute stressor. The molecular mechanisms involved in this effect remain unknown. The extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) is one of the key pathways regulated in the hippocampus in both acute and chronic stress. The aim of this study was to examine the interaction of prior chronic stress, using the chronic variable stress model (CVS), with exposure to a novel acute stressor (2,5-dihydro-2,4,5-trimethyl thiazoline; TMT) on ERK activation, expression of the downstream protein BCL-2, and the glucocorticoid receptor co-chaperone BAG-1 in control and chronically stressed male rats. TMT exposure after chronic stress resulted in a significant interaction of chronic and acute stress in all 3 hippocampus subregions on ERK activation and BCL-2 expression. Significantly, acute stress increased ERK activation, BCL-2 and BAG-1 protein expression in the dentate gyrus (DG) of CVS-treated rats compared with control, CVS-treated alone, and TMT-only animals. Furthermore, CVS significantly increased ERK activation in medial prefrontal cortex, but acute stress had no significant effect. Inhibition of corticosterone synthesis with metyrapone had no significant effect on ERK activation in the hippocampus; therefore, glucocorticoids alone do not mediate the molecular effects. Finally, because post-translational modifications of histones are believed to play an important role in the stress response, we examined changes in histone acetylation. We found that, in general, chronic stress decreased K12H4 acetylation, whereas acute stress increased acetylation. These results indicate a molecular mechanism by which chronic stress-induced HPA axis plasticity can lead to neurochemical alterations in the hippocampus that influence reactivity to subsequent stress exposure. This may represent an important site of dysfunction that contributes to stress-induced pathology such as depression, anxiety disorders, and posttraumatic stress disorder.
The Sonic Hedgehog-Induced Type 3 Deiodinase Facilitates Tumorigenesis of Basal Cell Carcinoma by Reducing Gli2 Inactivation
Authors: Luongo Cristina , Ambrosio Raffaele , Salzano Salvatore , Dlugosz Andrzej A. , Missero Caterina , Dentice Monica
Published: April 2014

Thyroid hormone (TH) is an important regulator of growth, development, and metabolism. Most of the active TH T3 is generated by peripheral TH metabolism mediated by the iodothyronine deiodinases. Type 3 deiodinase (D3) inactivates T3 via specific deiodination reactions. It is an oncofetal protein frequently expressed in neoplastic tissues and is a direct target of the sonic hedgehog (Shh) pathway in basal cell carcinomas (BCCs). However, the molecular mechanisms triggered by T3 in BCC are still mostly unrevealed. Here, we demonstrate that D3 action is critical in the proliferation and survival of BCC cells. D3 depletion or T3 treatment induce apoptosis of BCC cells and attenuate Shh signaling. This is achieved through a direct impairment of Gli2 protein stability by T3. T3 induces protein kinase A, which in turn destabilizes Gli2 protein via its C-terminal degron. Finally, in a mouse model of BCC, T3-topical treatment significantly reduces tumor growth. These results demonstrate the existence of a previously unrecognized cross talk between TH and Gli2 oncogene, providing functional and mechanistic evidence of the involvement of TH metabolism in Shh-induced cancer. TH-mediated Gli2 inactivation would be beneficial for therapeutically purposes, because the inhibition of Shh-Gli2 signaling is an attractive target for several anticancer drugs, currently in clinical trials.
Changes in Lipoprotein Kinetics Associated With Type 2 Diabetes Affect the Distribution of Lipopolysaccharides Among Lipoproteins
Authors: Vergès Bruno , Duvillard Laurence , Lagrost Laurent , Vachoux Christelle , Garret Céline , Bouyer Karine , Courtney Michael , Pomié Céline , Burcelin Rémy
Published: April 2014

Context:

Lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) are inflammatory components of the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria and, in plasma, are mostly associated with lipoproteins. This association is thought to promote their catabolism while reducing their proinflammatory effects.

Objectives:

Our aim was to determine the impact of lipoprotein kinetics on plasma LPS distribution and how it may affect patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Design:

We performed a kinetic study in 30 individuals (16 T2DM patients, 14 controls) and analyzed the impact of changes in lipoprotein kinetics on LPS distribution among lipoproteins.

Results:

Plasma LPS levels in T2DM patients were not different from those in controls, but LPS distribution in the two groups was different. Patients with T2DM had higher LPS-very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL; 31% ± 7% vs 22% ± 11%, P = .002), LPS-high-density lipoprotein (HDL; 29% ± 9% vs 19% ± 10%, P = .015), free (nonlipoprotein bound) LPS (10% ± 4% vs 7% ± 4%, P = .043) and lower LPS-low-density lipoprotein (LDL; 30% ± 13% vs 52% ± 16%, P = .001). In multivariable analysis, VLDL-LPS was associated with HDL-LPS (P < .0001); LDL-LPS was associated with VLDL-LPS (P = .004), and VLDL apolipoprotein (apo) B100 catabolism (P = .002); HDL-LPS was associated with free LPS (P < .0001) and VLDL-LPS (P = .033); free LPS was associated with HDL-LPS (P < .0001). In a patient featuring a dramatic decrease in VLDL catabolism due to apoA-V mutation, LDL-LPS was severely decreased (0.044 EU/mL vs 0.788 EU/mL in controls). The difference between T2DM patients and controls for LDL-LPS fraction was no longer significant after controlling for VLDL apoB100 total fractional catabolic rate.

Conclusions:

Our data suggest that in humans, free LPS transfers first to HDL and then to VLDL, whereas the LPS-bound LDL fraction is mainly derived from VLDL catabolism; the latter may hence represent a LPS catabolic pathway. T2DM patients show lower LDL-LPS secondary to reduced VLDL catabolism, which may represent an impaired catabolic pathway.