bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Stimulus features underlying reduced tremor suppression with temporally patterned deep brain stimulation
Authors: Birdno Merrill J. , Kuncel Alexis M. , Dorval Alan D. , Turner Dennis A. , Gross Robert E. , Grill Warren M.
Published: October 2011

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) provides dramatic tremor relief when delivered at high-stimulation frequencies (more than ∼100 Hz), but its mechanisms of action are not well-understood. Previous studies indicate that high-frequency stimulation is less effective when the stimulation train is temporally irregular. The purpose of this study was to determine the specific characteristics of temporally irregular stimulus trains that reduce their effectiveness: long pauses, bursts, or irregularity per se. We isolated these characteristics in stimulus trains and conducted intraoperative measurements of postural tremor in eight volunteers. Tremor varied significantly across stimulus conditions ( P < 0.015), and stimulus trains with pauses were significantly less effective than stimulus trains without ( P < 0.002). There were no significant differences in tremor between trains with or without bursts or between trains that were irregular or periodic. Thus the decreased effectiveness of temporally irregular DBS trains is due to long pauses in the stimulus trains, not the degree of temporal irregularity alone. We also conducted computer simulations of neuronal responses to the experimental stimulus trains using a biophysical model of the thalamic network. Trains that suppressed tremor in volunteers also suppressed fluctuations in thalamic transmembrane potential at the frequency associated with cerebellar burst-driver inputs. Clinical and computational findings indicate that DBS suppresses tremor by masking burst-driver inputs to the thalamus and that pauses in stimulation prevent such masking. Although stimulation of other anatomic targets may provide tremor suppression, we propose that the most relevant neuronal targets for effective tremor suppression are the afferent cerebellar fibers that terminate in the thalamus.
Signals from the ventrolateral thalamus to the motor cortex during locomotion
Authors: Marlinski Vladimir , Nilaweera Wijitha U. , Zelenin Pavel V. , Sirota Mikhail G. , Beloozerova Irina N.
Published: October 2011

The activity of the motor cortex during locomotion is profoundly modulated in the rhythm of strides. The source of modulation is not known. In this study we examined the activity of one of the major sources of afferent input to the motor cortex, the ventrolateral thalamus (VL). Experiments were conducted in chronically implanted cats with an extracellular single-neuron recording technique. VL neurons projecting to the motor cortex were identified by antidromic responses. During locomotion, the activity of 92% of neurons was modulated in the rhythm of strides; 67% of cells discharged one activity burst per stride, a pattern typical for the motor cortex. The characteristics of these discharges in most VL neurons appeared to be well suited to contribute to the locomotion-related activity of the motor cortex. In addition to simple locomotion, we examined VL activity during walking on a horizontal ladder, a task that requires vision for correct foot placement. Upon transition from simple to ladder locomotion, the activity of most VL neurons exhibited the same changes that have been reported for the motor cortex, i.e., an increase in the strength of stride-related modulation and shortening of the discharge duration. Five modes of integration of simple and ladder locomotion-related information were recognized in the VL. We suggest that, in addition to contributing to the locomotion-related activity in the motor cortex during simple locomotion, the VL integrates and transmits signals needed for correct foot placement on a complex terrain to the motor cortex.
Incidence of Malaria in the Interior Division of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, Based on Nested PCR
Authors: Joveen-Neoh Wan Fen , Chong Ka Lung , Wong Clemente Michael Vui Ling , Lau Tiek Ying
Published: October 2011

Introduction. Malaria is currently one of the most prevalent parasite-transmitted diseases caused by parasites of the genusPlasmodium. Misidentification of human malaria parasites especiallyP. knowlesibased on microscopic examination is very common. The objectives of this paper were to accurately identify the incidence of human malaria parasites in the interior division of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, based on small subunit ribosomal RNA (ssrRNA) and to determine the misidentification rate in human malaria parasites.Methods. Nested PCR was used to detect the presence of human malaria parasites. A total of 243 blood spot samples from patients who had requested for blood film for malaria parasite (BFMP) analyses were used in this study.Results. Nested PCR findings showed that there was noP. malariaeinfection while the highest prevalent malaria parasite wasP. knowlesi, followed byP. vivax,P. falciparum, and mixed infection. Only 69.5% of the 243 samples giving consistent nested PCR and microscopic results.Conclusion. The preliminary findings from molecular detection of malaria showed thatP. knowlesiwas the most prevalentPlasmodiumspecies in the interior division of Sabah. The findings from this paper may provide a clearer picture on the actual transmission of differentPlasmodiumspecies in this region.
Twentieth Century Winter Changes in Southern Hemisphere Synoptic Weather Modes
Authors: Frederiksen Jorgen S. , Frederiksen Carsten S.
Published: October 2011

During the last sixty years, there have been large changes in the southern hemisphere winter circulation and reductions in rainfall particularly in the southern Australian region. Here we examine the corresponding changes in dynamical modes of variability ranging from storm tracks, onset-of-blocking modes, northwest cloud-band disturbances, Antarctic low-frequency modes, intraseasonal oscillations, and African easterly waves. Our study is performed using a global two-level primitive equation instability-model with reanalyzed observed July three-dimensional basic states for the periods 1949–1968, 1975–1994, and 1997–2006. We relate the reduction in the winter rainfall in the southwest of Western Australia since the mid-1970s and in south-eastern Australia since the mid-1990s to changes in growth rate and structures of leading storm track and blocking modes. We find that cyclogenesis and onset-of-blocking modes growing on the subtropical jet have significantly reduced growth rates in the latter periods. On the other hand there is a significant increase in the growth rate of northwest cloud-band modes and intraseasonal oscillation disturbances that cross Australia and are shown to be related to recent positive trends in winter rainfall over northwest Western Australia and central Australia, in general. The implications of our findings are discussed.
Performance Evaluation of Some Distributed Averaging Algorithms for Sensor Networks
Authors: Baldi Marco , Zanaj Elma , Chiaraluce Franco
Published: October 2011

Though capillary sensor networks have the advantage of reporting punctual estimations of their sensed quantity, it is often useful for the nodes to know the overall average value of the same quantity. This is required, for example, when the network can make autonomous decisions. Several algorithms exist for solving the averaging problem in a distributed manner. Their efficiency can be measured by the number of iterations needed to converge to the average sensed value. In this paper, we consider two point-to-point and one point-to-multipoint distributed averaging algorithms that can be seen as variants of the same averaging solution. We define a set of analytical tools to evaluate the performance of these algorithms and to optimize their parameters in such a way to accelerate convergence. We also provide a performance assessment, based on numerical simulations, aimed at verifying the results of the analytical treatment and at comparing the considered schemes.
Sharp Generalized Seiffert Mean Bounds for Toader Mean
Authors: Chu Yu-Ming , Wang Miao-Kun , Qiu Song-Liang , Qiu Ye-Fang
Published: October 2011

For p ∈ [0,1], the generalized Seiffert mean of two positive numbers a and b is defined by Sp(a, b) = p(a − b)/arctan[2p(a − b)/(a + b)],   0 < p ≤ 1,   a ≠ b;   (a + b)/2,   p = 0,   a ≠ b;   a,   a = b. In this paper, we find the greatest value α and least value β such that the double inequality Sα(a, b) < T(a, b) < Sβ(a, b) holds for all a, b > 0 with a ≠ b, and give new bounds for the complete elliptic integrals of the second kind. Here, denotes the Toader mean of two positive numbers a and b.
New Resistive Switching and Self-Regulating Heating in Foliated Graphite/Nickel Polyvinyl Chloride Nanocomposites
Authors: Al-Hartomy Omar A. , Al-Salamy Falleh , Al-Ghamdi A. A. , Al-Ghamdi Attieh A. , Abdel Daiem A. M. , El-Tantawy Farid
Published: October 2011

Polyvinyl chloride- (PVC-) based nanocomposites containing nanosized graphite and nickel nanoparticles (GN) as conductive fillers to achieve positive temperature coefficient of resistance (PTCR) thermistors and self-regulating heater function have been successfully fabricated. The microstructure of the foliated graphite and nanocomposites was examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The effect of GN content on the static electrical conductivity, carrier's mobility, and number of charge carriers of the nanocomposites was studied. The applicability of nanocomposites as PTCR thermistors was examined by monitoring the conductivity as a function of temperature. It is found that the conduction mechanism in PVC/GN nanocomposites is governed by tunneling mechanism. Also, the applied voltage versus current and temperature were studied to check the applicability of composites as self-regulating heater. The results show that the PVC/GN nanocomposites might have potential applications in PTCR devices, self-regulating heater, and temperature sensors.
The Inhibitory Role of B7-H4 in Antitumor Immunity: Association with Cancer Progression and Survival
Authors: He Changjun , Qiao Haiquan , Jiang Hongchi , Sun Xueying
Published: October 2011

B7-H4 is one of the most recently identified members of B7 superfamily of costimulatory molecules serving as an inhibitory modulator of T-cell response. B7-H4 is broadly expressed in human peripheral tissues and inducibly expressed in immune cells. The expression of B7-H4 has been observed in various types of human cancer tissues, and its soluble form has been detected in blood samples from cancer patients. However, its precise physiological role is still elusive, as its receptor has not been identified and the expression levels are not consistent. This paper summarizes the pertinent data on the inhibitory role of B7-H4 in antitumor immunity and its association with cancer progression and survival in human patients. The paper also discusses the clinical significance of investigating B7-H4 as potential markers for cancer diagnosis and prognosis, and as therapeutic targets.
Tumor and Microenvironment Modification during Progression of Murine Orthotopic Bladder Cancer
Authors: Tham Sin Mun , Ng Kee Hui , Pook Sim Hwee , Esuvaranathan Kesavan , Mahendran Ratha
Published: October 2011

The aim of this study was to monitor changes in the expression of immune-related genes in the bladder after tumor implantation. Mice were orthotopically implanted with MB49-PSA cells (C57BL/6 mice) on day 1 and terminated on days 7, 14, 21, and 28. Another mouse model (MBT-2/C3H mice) was examined at day 7. Gene expression analysis was performed using a TaqMan Low Density Mouse Immune Panel (Applied Biosystems, USA) on RNA extracted from the bladders. Selected genes were reconfirmed by real-time PCR analysis and RT-PCR on the mRNA from other animals. Immune suppressive (IL13, IL1β, PTGS2, NOS2, IL10, CTLA4, and CCL22) and immune stimulatory genes (CSF2, GZMB, IFNγ, CXCL10, TNFα, CD80, IL12a, and IL6) and AGTR2 were increased by day 7. By day 28, IL10, CCL2, CCL5, CXCL11, CTLA4, GZMB, IFNγ, CSF2, and IL6 were significantly increased. Therapeutic strategies involving TH1 induction and TH2 dampening may improve responses to immunotherapy.
Platelet-Activating Factor Induces Th17 Cell Differentiation
Authors: Drolet Anne-Marie , Thivierge Maryse , Turcotte Sylvie , Hanna Dominique , Maynard Bruno , Stankovà Jana , Rola-Pleszczynski Marek
Published: October 2011

Th17 cells have been implicated in a number of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The phospholipid mediator platelet-activating factor (PAF) is found in increased concentrations in inflammatory lesions and has been shown to induce IL-6 production. We investigated whether PAF could affect the development of Th17 cells. Picomolar concentrations of PAF induced IL-23, IL-6, and IL-1βexpression in monocyte-derived Langerhans cells (LCs) and in keratinocytes. Moreover, when LC were pretreated with PAF and then cocultured with anti-CD3- and anti-CD28-activated T cells, the latter developed a Th17 phenotype, with a significant increase in the expression of the transcriptional regulator RORγt and enhanced expression of IL-17, IL-21, and IL-22. PAF-induced Th17 development was prevented by the PAF receptor antagonist WEB2086 and by neutralizing antibodies to IL-23 and IL-6R. This may constitute a previously unknown stimulus for the development and persistence of inflammatory processes that could be amenable to pharmacologic intervention.
Involuntary and Persistent Environmental Noise Influences Health and Hearing in Beirut, Lebanon
Authors: Fooladi Marjaneh M.
Published: October 2011

Objective. This study was conducted to assess the effects of involuntary and persistent noise exposure on health and hearing among Lebanese adults in Beirut, Lebanon, where people are exposed to noise from construction sites, power generators, honking cars, and motorcycles.Methods. Using a descriptive and exploratory design with mixed methods, participants were surveyed, interviewed, and tested for hearing while street noise levels were measured near their residents and work places.Results. Self-reports of 83 Lebanese adult, who lived and worked in Beirut, helped identify common patterns in experiences such as irritability, anger, headaches, and sleep disturbances due to noise annoyance. Of those tested, 30% suffered from high-frequency hearing impairment. Our results showed that environmental sound dB had increased by 12% and sound intensity by 400% above the maximum standard level when compared to the WHO report of 1999.Conclusion. Environmental noise contributes to premature hearing loss and potentiates systemic diseases among Lebanese.
Ab Initio Potential Energy Surfaces for Both the Ground (X̃1A′) and Excited (A∼1A′′) Electronic States of HSiBr and the Absorption and Emission Spectra of HSiBr/DSiBr
Authors: Li Anyang , Lin Sen , Xie Daiqian
Published: October 2011

Ab initio potential energy surfaces for the ground (X̃1A′) and excited (A˜A′′1) electronic states of HSiBr were obtained by using the single and double excitation coupled-cluster theory with a noniterative perturbation treatment of triple excitations and the multireference configuration interaction with Davidson correction, respectively, employing an augmented correlation-consistent polarized valence quadruple zeta basis set. The calculated vibrational energy levels of HSiBr and DSiBr of the ground and excited electronic states are in excellent agreement with the available experimental band origins. In addition, the absorption and emission spectra of HSiBr and DSiBr were calculated using an efficient single Lanczos propagation method and are in good agreement with the available experimental observations.
Toll-Like Receptor Transcriptome in the HPV-Positive Cervical Cancer Microenvironment
Authors: DeCarlo Correne A. , Rosa Bruce , Jackson Robert , Niccoli Sarah , Escott Nicholas G. , Zehbe Ingeborg
Published: October 2011

The human papillomavirus (HPV) directly infects cervical keratinocytes and interferes with TLR signalling. To shed light on the effect of HPV on upstream receptors, we evaluated TLRs 1–9 gene expression in HPV-negative normal and HPV-positive pre-malignant and malignantex vivocervical tissue. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was performed separately for epithelial and stromal tissue compartments. Differences in gene expression were analyzed by the Jonckheere-Terpstra trend test or the Student'st-test for pairwise comparison. Laser capture microdissection revealed an increase in TLR3 and a decrease in TLR1 mRNA levels in dysplastic and carcinoma epithelium, respectively. In the stroma, a trend of increasing TLR 1, 2, 5, 6, and 9 mRNA levels with disease severity was found. These findings implicate the involvement of TLR3 and TLR1 in early and late cervical carcinogenesis, respectively, suggesting that stromal upregulation of TLRs may play a role in cervical disease progression.
Pirh2, a Ubiquitin E3 Ligase, Inhibits p73 Transcriptional Activity by Promoting Its Ubiquitination
Authors: Wu Hong , Abou Zeinab Rami , Flores Elsa R. , Leng Roger P.
Published: October 2011

p73, a homolog of the tumor suppressor p53, transactivates many p53 target genes, leading to apoptosis or cell-cycle arrest. p73 has recently been reported to play an important role in tumor suppression in a mouse model. Here, we show that Pirh2 physically interacted with p73 and downregulated p73 function through its E3 ligase activity. Pirh2 promoted p73 ubiquitination in vivo and in vitro. Intriguingly, Pirh2 primarily used K63-linked chains to ubiquitinate p73 in vitro, but in vivo, Pirh2 utilized K11-, K29-, K48-, and K63-linked chains to promote p73 ubiquitination. Depletion of Pirh2 by siRNA significantly reduced the ubiquitination of p73 in p53 null cells. Ectopic expression of Pirh2 repressed p73-dependent transcriptional activity, but the levels of p73 were not decreased. We consistently showed that ablation of endogenous Pirh2 restored p73-mediated transactivational activity. We found that Pirh2 repressed p73 transcriptional activity by directly inhibiting the p73 transcript, and p73 repression by Pirh2 was required for p73-dependent transcriptional activity and G1 arrest but not for apoptosis. This study provides evidence that the ubiquitination of p73 mediated by Pirh2 represents an important pathway for controlling the suppressive function of p73. Furthermore, the data suggest a link between the transcriptional activity of p73 and its ubiquitination. Mol Cancer Res; 9(12); 1780–90. ©2011 AACR.
The Cardiogenic Niche as a Fundamental Building Block of Engineered Myocardium
Authors: Christalla Peter , Hudson James E. , Zimmermann Wolfram-Hubertus
Published: October 2011

Cardiac muscle engineering is evolving rapidly, aiming at the provision of innovative models for drug development and therapeutic myocardium. The progress in this field will depend crucially on the proper exploitation of stem cell technologies. Understanding the processes governing stem cell differentiation towards a desired phenotype and subsequent maturation in an organotypic manner will be key to ultimately providing realistic tissue models or therapeutics. Cardiogenesis is controlled by milieu factors that collectively constitute a so-called cardiogenic niche. The components of the cardiogenic niche are not yet fully defined but include paracrine factors and instructive extracellular matrix. Both are provided by supportive stromal cells under strict spatial and temporal control. Detailed knowledge on the exact composition and functionality of the dynamic cardiogenic niche during development will likely be instrumental to further advance cardiac muscle engineering. This review will discuss the concept of myocardial tissue engineering from the stem cell/developmental biology perspective and put forward the hypothesis of the cardiogenic niche as a fundamental building block of tissue-engineered myocardium.
Galactose Counteracts Hypoglycemia-Induced Decline of Cholinergic Neurons at Low pH in Organotypic Rat Brain Slices of the Basal Nucleus of Meynert
Authors: Pirchl Michael , Humpel Christian
Published: October 2011

A growing body of evidence indicates that hypoglycemia and acidosis may contribute to the development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The cell death of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons constitutes a hallmark of AD and directly correlates with cognitive impairment. The aim of the present study was to investigate, in an organotypic rat brain slice model of the basal nucleus of Meynert, the effects of glucose deprivation on cholinergic neurons under normal and acidic conditions. Furthermore, we were interested to explore whether different saccharides (galactose, fructose, saccharose, lactose) can replace glucose under low pH conditions. Our data show a pH-dependent survival of cholinergic neurons at a high (37.1 mmol/l) glucose level, which was markedly decreased at a low (5.6 mmol/l) glucose level. Galactose (+31.5 mmol/l) significantly counteracted the loss of choline acetyltransferase-positive neurons in low-glucose-treated slices, while fructose, lactose and saccharose only partly protected cholinergic neurons. In conclusion, our results indicate that replacement of glucose with different saccharides, but most potently with galactose, protects cholinergic neurons against hypoglycemia at a low pH.
Feasibility of Delta-Shaped Anastomoses in Totally Laparoscopic Distal Gastrectomy
Authors: Oki E. , Sakaguchi Y. , Ohgaki K. , Saeki H. , Chinen Y. , Minami K. , Sakamoto Y. , Toh Y. , Kusumoto T. , Maehara Y.
Published: October 2011

Background: Delta-shaped (DS) anastomosis is a new reconstruction method for totally laparoscopic distal gastrectomy (TLDG) using a linear stapler. We evaluated the feasibility of using this method for TLDG. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed in 114 patients who underwent TLDG with DS anastomosis. Twenty-four patients reconstructed with a Roux-en-Y (RY) anastomosis during the same period were analyzed as control subjects. Results: The patient characteristics of DS and RY anastomoses were slightly different in terms of tumor location and extent of lymph node dissection, since this was not a prospective comparative study. Blood loss, postoperative complication rate and postoperative hospital stay were not different between the two groups. There was only 1 case of anastomotic leakage, and no case of anastomotic stricture after DS anastomosis. The length of the operation using DS anastomosis was significantly shorter than for RY anastomosis. The rates of body weight loss were not significantly different at 1 year after the operation. Conclusions: Although this was a small retrospective analysis, DS anastomosis was feasible, required a shorter operation time, and had no associated complications. This method can therefore be recommended as a standard procedure for TLDG.
Environmental Activism and Moral Schemas
Authors: Farrell Justin
Published: October 2011

Why do some people, but not others, participate in environmental activism? This article considers a potentially powerful yet underresearched explanation: variation in moral schemas. Drawing on Durkheim’s theory about the role of sacredness in moral decision making, the article classifies respondents into three mutually exclusive groups: unenchanted, who do not believe nature is sacred; intrinsic, who believe that nature is sacred in itself; and creational, who believe nature is sacred because it is a divine creation. Group membership predicts environmental activism using the 2000 General Social Survey. Individuals holding an intrinsic schema are more likely than other groups to sign an environmental petition and participate in an environmental group. Individuals holding an intrinsic or creational schema are more likely to donate money to environmental causes, relative to the unenchanted. Findings are robust, controlling for religious tradition, education, and various predictors of biographical availability. Both sacredness and its source matter for proenvironmental behavior.
Same-sex partner immigration and the civil rights frame: A comparative study of Australia, Israel, and the USA
Authors: Ho S Iimay , Rolfe Megan E
Published: October 2011

As of 2011, only 19 countries around the world grant immigration rights to the foreign same-sex partners of gay and lesbian citizens. Of these, Australia and Israel are two countries that recognize same-sex couples in the immigration system without the recognition of same-sex marriages or civil unions. Since the Defense of Marriage Act prohibits any federal recognition of same-sex unions in the USA, we compare Australia and Israel with the USA in this comparative-historical, cross-sectional study to identify the factors that led to the inclusion of same-sex partners in the immigration systems of Australia and Israel and determine whether these factors are present in the USA. Through secondary data analysis from 1988 to 2000, we find that parliamentary politics, the autonomy of ministers, and access to elite allies in Australia and Israel created a political opportunity structure that was favorable to gay rights activists. Activists then used a civil rights frame, further legitimizing their cause and reducing opposition. Although gay immigrant rights activists in the USA use a similar frame, we conclude that the political opportunity structure of the USA limits successful advocacy for gay immigration equality.
Primum Non Coercere
Authors: Szasz Thomas
Published: October 2011

Relations between doctors of the body (physicians) and their patients are governed by contract and the principle of “primum non nocere” (first, do no harm). Relations between doctors of the mind (psychiatrists) have never been so governed: relations between these two parties have always rested on domination and coercion, authorized by the state. This is still the case. Once doctors and patients disagree about what counts as harm and what counts as help, it becomes necessary—for the protection of the patient’s liberty interests—to restrain the psychiatrist by the principle of “primum non coercere” (first, do not coerce) and by extending the legal rule of treating unauthorized or coerced therapy as assault and battery. Because of the absence of such a rule, the history of psychiatry has been a tale of an unending series of tragedies—medical, legal, economic, and social.
Assessing the Impacts of Smart Growth Policies on Home Developers in a Bi-state Metropolitan Area: Evidence from the Portland Metropolitan Area
Authors: Dong Hongwei , Gliebe John
Published: October 2011

While there are many empirical studies examining the effectiveness of smart growth policies, few of them study the perspective of developers, the major urban space producers in US cities. This article assesses the impacts of smart growth policies on home developers in the Portland bi-state metropolitan area by developing home developer location choice models. The study shows that home developers in the region are sensitive to most smart growth policies being implemented in the region, but they react to them differently across the border between Oregon and Washington due to their different land use planning systems. The findings suggest that smart growth policies impact single- and multifamily home developers’ location choices differently and that home developers exhibit strong spatial inertia in their location choice.
Socialization and Self-Selection
Authors: Oberfield Zachary W.
Published: October 2011

To what extent are bureaucrats’ views shaped by the organizational contexts that they enter? What role do preorganizational influences have? This study provides some answers to these questions by testing hypotheses drawn from organization and personality theories. Using survey and interview data from a longitudinal study, this article examines how police officers develop their attitudes about using force during their first 2 years on the job. This study shows that development is a mixture of socialization and self-selection. However, it moves beyond the “it’s both” explanation by showing which influences mattered most and at which times.
Styling the Revolution
Authors: Lee Doreen
Published: October 2011

This article explores the changes to urban political culture in Jakarta, Indonesia, from 1998 to the present. By tracing the contributions of youth activists, and middle-class university students in particular, to the production of the street as a political and public space, the author demonstrates to what extent the democratized post-Suharto era naturalizes the place of youth in nationalist politics. Central to this inquiry of youth identity formation is the elision of class and gender as analytical categories. Student movements in 1998 and after have relied on a specific masculine style that draws on both the authenticity of nationalist historical narratives and the street as the domain of the People, and in the process masks potentially contentious class and gender differences among progressive activists.
Nineteenth-Century Urbanization as Sacred Process
Authors: Steinhoff Anthony
Published: October 2011

This article examines a crucial site for modernity’s encounter with religion during the long nineteenth century, albeit one largely ignored both by religious and urban historians: the modern big city. Drawing on evidence from Strasbourg, which joined the ranks of Germany’s big cities soon after the Franco-Prussian War, it points out first, that urbanization had a significant urban dimension. It altered the absolute and relative size of the city’s faith communities, affected the confessional composition of urban neighborhoods, and prompted faith communities to mark additional parts of the urban landscape as sacred. Second, while urban growth—both demographic and physical—frequently challenged traditional understandings of religious community, it also facilitated the construction of new understandings of piety and community, especially via voluntary organizations and the religious media. Thereby, urbanization emerged as a key force behind sacralization in city and countryside as the nineteenth century ended and the twentieth began.
The Religious Landscape of Revolutionary St. Petersburg, 1905-1918
Authors: Herrlinger K. Page
Published: October 2011

Although legitimately associated with a crisis of faith and the rapid spread of atheistic-socialism, the revolutionary period 1905-1918 in St. Petersburg/Petrograd can and should also be understood as one of unprecedented religious experimentation and spiritual growth, even among the working classes. Rejecting overly simplistic notions of “secularization” and de-Christianization, this article offers a necessarily fluid and pluralistic portrait of Petersburg religious culture, the contours of which were shaped by tensions between rural and urban practices, popular and official institutions, and competing notions of the sacred and the profane in the city’s increasingly diverse marketplace of beliefs. It examines the new and varied demands that working-class believers voiced with respect to the role of the Orthodox faith and Church in their lives and investigates urban Orthodoxy as it was “lived,” including changes and continuities in religious practice, sacramental life, icon worship, and pilgrimage.
Secularization and Pluralism
Authors: Metzler Tobias
Published: October 2011

Urbanization and secularization are inseparable. All too often, this position has dominated the study of urban Jewish cultures. By putting forward the argument that the modern big city was simultaneously a site of secularizing tendencies and new forms of religiosity, this article calls for a revision of this position. Examining different cultural practices employed by urban Jews to come to terms with the challenges of modernity, this article, thus, argues that early twentieth-century Berlin became a space for diverse new expressions of Jewish identity and different conceptualizations of Jewishness and Judaism rather than a hostile environment for religiousity.
Age 55 or Better
Authors: Trolander Judith Ann
Published: October 2011

Active adult, age-restricted communities are significant to urban history and city planning. As communities that ban the permanent residence of children under the age of nineteen with senior zoning overlays, they are unique experiments in social planning. While they do not originate the concept of the common interest community with its shared amenities, the residential golf course community, or the gated community, Sun Cities and Leisure Worlds do a lot to popularize those physical planning concepts. The first age-restricted community, Youngtown, AZ, opened in 1954. Inspired by amenity-rich trailer courts in Florida, Del Webb added the “active adult” element when he opened Sun City, AZ, in 1960. Two years later, Ross Cortese opened the first of his gated Leisure Worlds. By the twenty-first century, these “lifestyle” communities had proliferated and had expanded their appeal to around 18 percent of retirees, along with influencing the design of intergenerational communities.
“Stones Run It”
Authors: Cooley Will
Published: October 2011

In the 1960s and 1970s African American “supergangs” emerged in Chicago. Many scholars have touted the “prosocial” goals of these gangs but fail to contextualize them in the larger history of black organized crime. Thus, they have overlooked how gang members sought to reclaim the underground economy in their neighborhoods. Yet even as gangs drove out white organized crime figures, they often lacked the know-how to reorganize the complex informal economy. Inexperienced gang members turned to extreme violence, excessive recruitment programs, and unforgiving extortion schemes to take power over criminal activities. These methods alienated black citizens and exacerbated tensions with law enforcement. In addition, the political shelter enjoyed by the previous generation of black criminals was turned into pervasive pressure to break up street gangs. Black street gangs fulfilled their narrow goal of community control of vice. Their interactions with their neighbors, however, remained contentious.
Perceived risks around choice and decision making at end-of-life: A literature review
Authors: Wilson F , Gott M , Ingleton C
Published: October 2011

Background:

the World Health Organization identifies meeting patient choice for care as central to effective palliative care delivery. Little is known about how choice, which implies an objective balancing of options and risks, is understood and enacted through decision making at end-of-life.

Aim:

to explore how perceptions of ‘risk’ may inform decision-making processes at end-of-life.

Design:

an integrative literature review was conducted between January and February 2010. Papers were reviewed using Hawker et al.’s criteria and evaluated according to clarity of methods, analysis and evidence of ethical consideration. All literature was retained as background data, but given the significant international heterogeneity the final analysis specifically focused on the UK context.

Data source:

the databases Medline, PsycINFO, Assia, British Nursing Index, High Wire Press and CINAHL were explored using the search terms decision*, risk, anxiety, hospice and palliative care, end-of-life care and publication date of 1998–2010.

Results:

thematic analysis of 25 papers suggests that decision making at end-of-life is multifactorial, involving a balancing of risks related to caregiver support; service provider resources; health inequalities and access; challenges to information giving; and perceptions of self-identity. Overall there is a dissonance in understandings of choice and decision making between service providers and service users.

Conclusion:

the concept of risk acknowledges the factors that shape and constrain end-of-life choices. Recognition of perceived risks as a central factor in decision making would be of value in acknowledging and supporting meaningful decision making processes for patients with palliative care needs and their families.
Myocardial Toxicity in a Group of Greyhounds Administered Ractopamine
Authors: Yaeger M. J. , Mullin K. , Ensley S. M. , Ware W. A. , Slavin R. E.
Published: October 2011

Ractopamine, a synthetic β2-adrenoceptor agonist, is widely used as a feed additive in the United States to promote a reduction in body fat and enhance muscle growth in cattle, pigs, and turkeys. It has the potential for illegal use in show and racing animals because it may affect performance via its β-adrenergic agonist properties or anabolic activities. Nine greyhounds were orally administered 1 mg/kg of ractopamine to investigate the ability to detect the drug in urine. Postdosing, 7 of 9 dogs developed cardiac arrhythmias and had elevated troponin levels indicating myocardial damage. One dog necropsied 4 days postdosing had massive myocardial necrosis, mild to focally moderate skeletal muscle necrosis, and widespread segmental arterial mediolysis. A second dog necropsied 17 days postdosing had mild myocardial necrosis and fibrosis. Scattered arteries exhibited segmental medial and perimedial fibromuscular dysplasia. This is the first reported case of arterial, cardiac, and skeletal muscle damage associated with ractopamine.
Relationships Among Tendon Regeneration on MRI, Flexor Strength, and Functional Performance After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction With Hamstring Autograft
Authors: Choi Jung Yun , Ha Jeong Ku , Kim Young Woo , Shim Jae Chan , Yang Sang Jin , Kim Jin Goo
Published: October 2011

Background: There are numerous reports on hamstring tendon regeneration after harvest for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. However, few studies have evaluated the relationships among the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings of hamstring regeneration, muscle strength, and functional results.

Purpose: This study evaluates the correlations among the hamstring regeneration on MRI, flexor strength, and functional performance after hamstring tendon harvesting in ACL reconstruction.

Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3.

Methods: We enrolled 45 patients who underwent primary ACL reconstruction using hamstring tendon autografts and in whom flexor strength, functional performance, and preoperative and postoperative MRI results were evaluated at least 2 years postoperatively. Isokinetic flexion strength was tested in the standard and prone positions. We evaluated the differences in flexor strength and functional performance according to the number of regenerated tendons. The correlation between the MRI findings (the number of regenerated hamstring tendons and proximal shift of the musculotendinous junction) and the functional performance and flexor strength was analyzed.

Results: The patients were divided into 3 groups according to the regeneration of the hamstring tendons on MRI: both semitendinosus and gracilis tendons regenerated (group SG), only 1 tendon regenerated (group O), and no tendon regenerated (group N). Significant differences were found in the flexor deficit between group N and groups SG and O on the standard and prone position isokinetic tests. There was a significant correlation (ρ = –.472) between the number of regenerated hamstring tendons and the carioca test result. The proximal shift significantly correlated with the flexor deficit in the prone position isokinetic test (semitendinosus, r = .449; gracilis, r = .366).

Conclusion: Hamstring tendons regenerated after harvest for ACL reconstruction in a high proportion of the patients. The flexor strength with both the standard and prone position isokinetic tests differed in the 3 groups. The number of regenerated hamstring tendons was significantly correlated with performance on the carioca test. Proximal shifting of the musculotendinous junction was significantly correlated with flexor deficit on the hyperflexion isokinetic test.
The New Emerging Adult in Chiapas, Mexico
Authors: Manago Adriana M.
Published: October 2011

Social changes in indigenous Maya communities in Chiapas, Mexico toward increasing levels of formal education, commercialization, and urbanization are transforming traditional Maya developmental pathways toward adulthood. This mixed-methods study is based on interviews with a sample of 14 first-generation Maya university students who have also undergone a transition from a rural to an urban environment, either with their families or as part of their educational process. Greenfield’s theory of social change and human development suggests that formal education and urbanization shift developmental pathways in the direction of increasing values for individual autonomy. This study supports Greenfield’s theory: students perceive they are departing from traditional values by endorsing notions of choice, exploration, self-fulfillment, expanded norms for behavior, and gender equality. However, change is a gradual process of negotiating a pathway through old and new values. Qualitative analyses of interviews reveal how Maya university students are working to harmonize new values of independence, self-fulfillment, and gender equality with the traditional values of respect for elders and family obligation. The study concludes that formal education and urbanization are forces that create conditions for changes in developmental pathways toward adulthood consistent with the characteristics of emerging adulthood. This study adds to a growing body of literature documenting particular manifestations of emerging adulthood in developing countries around the world and shows how emerging adulthood may be a key developmental period connected to the socialization of individualistic values.
In praise of counter-conduct
Authors: Davidson Arnold I.
Published: October 2011

Without access to Michel Foucault’s courses, it was extremely difficult to understand his reorientation from an analysis of the strategies and tactics of power immanent in the modern discourse on sexuality (1976) to an analysis of the ancient forms and modalities of relation to oneself by which one constituted oneself as a moral subject of sexual conduct (1984). In short, Foucault’s passage from the political to the ethical dimension of sexuality seemed sudden and inexplicable. Moreover, it was clear from his published essays and interviews that this displacement of focus had consequences far beyond the specific domain of the history of sexuality. Security, Territory, Population ( Foucault, 2007 ) contains a conceptual hinge, a key concept, that allows us to link together the political and ethical axes of Foucault’s thought. Indeed, it is Foucault’s analysis of the notions of conduct and counter-conduct in his lecture of 1 March 1978 that seems to me to constitute one of the richest and most brilliant moments in the entire course. It is astonishing, and of profound significance, that the autonomous sphere of conduct has been more or less invisible in the history of modern (as opposed to ancient) moral and political philosophy. This article argues that a new attention should be given to this notion, both in Foucault’s work and more generally.
Political science after Foucault
Authors: Bevir Mark
Published: October 2011

This article concerns the relevance of postfoundationalism, including the ideas of Michel Foucault, for political science. The first half of the article distinguishes three forms of postfoundationalism, all of which draw some of their inspiration from Foucault. First, the governmentality literature draws on Marxist theories of social control, and then absorbs Foucault’s focus on power/knowledge. Second, the post-Marxists combine the formal linguistics of Saussure with a focus on hegemonic discourses. Third, some social humanists infuse Foucauldian themes into the New Left’s focus on culture, agency and resistance. The second half of the article then describes a research program that may bring together these varieties of postfoundationalism. This research program includes aggregate concepts that overtly allow for the constitutive role of meanings in social life and the contingent nature of these meanings. The concepts are: situated agency, practice and power. A postfoundational research program also needs concepts that demarcate a historicist form of explanation, that is, concepts such as narrative, tradition and dilemma. Finally, this research program contains specific empirical focuses to link these aggregate and explanatory concepts back to governmentality, post-Marxism and social humanism.
Toward a left art of government: from ‘Foucauldian critique’ to Foucauldian politics
Authors: Ferguson James
Published: October 2011

Many contemporary uses of Foucauldian modes of analysis to ‘critique power’ (as it is often put) today lead to a rather sterile form of political engagement, in which denunciation (the politics of the ‘anti’) takes the place of positive political programs, and the strategies of government that such positive programs necessarily entail. Attention to some of Foucault’s own remarks about politics hints at a different political sensibility, in which empirical experimentation rather than moralistic denunciation takes center place. This article identifies some examples of such experimentation that come out of recent research on the politics of social assistance in southern Africa, and draws conclusions regarding the prospects for developing a ‘left art of government’.
Foucault across the disciplines: introductory notes on contingency in critical inquiry
Authors: Koopman Colin
Published: October 2011

Foucault is one of the most widely cited thinkers across social sciences and humanities disciplines today. Foucault’s appeal, and ongoing value, across the disciplines has much to do with the power of his thought and his method to help us see the contingency of practices we take to be inevitable. It is argued in this introductory article that Foucault’s emphasis on contingency is as misunderstood as it is influential. I distinguish two senses of contingency in Foucault. A first sense, widely acknowledged, concerns Foucault’s facility at showing that a taken-for-natural practice is in fact contingently produced. A second sense, widely neglected, concerns the facility of Foucauldian methods for grasping how a given practice was contingently produced. The second sense of contingency opens up possibilities for practical transformation that the former sense of contingency largely leaves to the side.
Development of hot melt adhesive pad and its application to polishing of monocrystalline silicon
Authors: Tsai S-L , Ke H-Z , Ke J-H , Huang F-Y , Yan B-H
Published: October 2011

This study has developed a new polishing pad and an accompanying group of parameters for polishing monocrystalline silicon. A hot melt adhesive polishing pad coated with SiC abrasive uses these parameters more effectively and provides better polishing quality when compared with a conventional wool pad. Three control parameters, feed rate, polishing load and turning speed of the polishing wheel, were tested to identify their impact on the polishing quality of the silicon surface. A silicon surface polished with the proposed new pad under optimum conditions can obtain surface roughness of 2.45 nm Ra with mirror-like appearance.
Functional and advanced functional and causal relationship diagrams for remote condition monitoring
Authors: Wiliem L , Yarlagadda P KD V , Gudimetla P
Published: October 2011

Analysing the condition of an asset is a big challenge as there can be many aspects which can contribute to the overall functional reliability of the asset that have to be considered. Inthis paper we propose a two-step functional and causal relationship diagram (FCRD) to address this problem. In the first step, the FCRD is designed to facilitate the analysis of the condition of an asset by evaluating the interdependence (functional and causal) relationships between different components of the asset with the help of a relationship diagram. This is followed by the advanced FCRD (AFCRD) which refines the information from the FCRD into a comprehensive and manageable format. This new two-step methodology for asset condition monitoring is tested and validated for the case of a water treatment plant.