bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Mitochondrial Ca2+-activated K+channels more efficiently reduce mitochondrial Ca2+overload in rat ventricular myocytes
Authors: Kang Sung Hyun , Park Won Sun , Kim Nari , Youm Jae Boum , Warda Mohamad , Ko Jae-Hong , Ko Eun A , Han Jin
Published: March 2007

We investigated the role of the mitochondrial ATP-sensitive K+(KATP) channel, the mitochondrial big-conductance Ca2+-activated K+(BKCa) channel, and the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP) in the ouabain-induced increase of mitochondrial Ca2+in native rat ventricular myocytes by loading cells with rhod 2-AM. To overload mitochondrial Ca2+, we pretreated cells with ouabain before applying mitochondrial KATPor BKCachannel and/or MPTP opener. Ouabain (1 mM) increased the rhod 2-sensitive fluorescence intensity (160 ± 5.0% of control), which was dramatically decreased to the control level on application of diazoxide and NS-1619 in a dose-dependent manner (half-inhibition concentrations of 78.3 and 7.78 μM for diazoxide and NS-1619, respectively). This effect was reversed by selective inhibition of the mitochondrial KATPchannel by 5-hydroxydecanoate, the mitochondrial BKCachannel by paxilline, and the MPTP by cyclosporin A. Although diazoxide did not efficiently reduce mitochondrial Ca2+during prolonged exposure to ouabain, NS-1619 reduced mitochondrial Ca2+. These results suggest that although mitochondrial BKCaand KATPchannels contribute to reduction of ouabain-induced mitochondrial Ca2+overload, activation of the mitochondrial BKCachannel more efficiently reduces ouabain-induced mitochondrial Ca2+overload in our experimental model.
Oxygen delivery by blood determines the maximal Vo2and work rate during whole body exercise in humans: in silico studies
Authors: Liguzinski Piotr , Korzeniewski Bernard
Published: March 2007

It has been proposed by Saltin ( J Exp Biol 115: 345–354, 1985) that oxygen delivery by blood is limiting for maximal work and oxygen consumption in humans during whole body exercise but not during single-muscle exercise. To test this prediction quantitatively, we developed a static (steady-state) computer model of oxygen transport to and within human skeletal muscle during single-muscle (quadriceps) exercise and whole body (cycling) exercise. The main system fluxes, namely cardiac output and oxygen consumption by muscle, are described as a function of the “primary” parameter: work rate. The model is broadly validated by comparison of computer simulations with various experimental data. In silico studies show that, when all other parameters and system properties are kept constant, an increase in the working muscle mass from 2.5 kg (single quadriceps) to 15 kg (two legs) causes, at some critical work intensity, a drop in oxygen concentration in muscle cells to (very near) zero, and therefore oxygen supply by blood limits maximal oxygen consumption and oxidative ATP production. Therefore, the maximal oxygen consumption per muscle mass is significantly higher during single-muscle exercise than during whole body exercise. The effect is brought about by a distribution of a limited amount of oxygen transported by blood in a greater working muscle mass during whole body exercise.
Cigarette smoke extract-induced suppression of caspase-3-like activity impairs human neutrophil phagocytosis
Authors: Stringer Kathleen A. , Tobias Meghan , O'Neill Heidi C. , Franklin Christopher C.
Published: March 2007

Neutrophils are the primary inflammatory cell in smokers’ lungs, but little is known about the ability of cigarette smoke to modulate neutrophil function. Neutrophils undergo caspase-3-dependent spontaneous, as well as phagocytosis-induced, apoptosis. This study investigated the ability of cigarette smoke extract (CSE) to alter neutrophil caspase-3 activity, apoptosis, and phagocytosis. CSE treatment resulted in a dramatic suppression of neutrophil caspase-3-like activity, which correlated with reduced cleavage of glutamate-l-cysteine ligase catalytic subunit, a known target of active caspase-3. CSE did not affect procaspase-3 processing to its active fragment, suggesting a direct effect of CSE on active caspase-3. Consistent with this, CSE inhibited active recombinant caspase-3 activity, which was abolished by dithiothreitol, suggesting a redox-sensitive mechanism. CSE-induced suppression of caspase-3 activity did not alter spontaneous apoptosis but did impair phagocytic activity. Since CSE treatment resulted in profound suppression of caspase-3 activity but did not alter apoptosis, the possibility of a threshold level of caspase-3 activity was investigated. CSE reduced caspase-3 activity in a concentration-dependent manner. Despite near complete suppression of caspase-3 activity, spontaneous apoptosis was not altered. Conversely, treatment with the pan-caspase inhibitor, Z-Val-Ala-Asp-fluoromethylketone, reduced spontaneous apoptosis. These data demonstrate that CSE does not suppress caspase-3 activity below a threshold level to prevent spontaneous apoptosis, but the level of inhibition is sufficient to impair neutrophil phagocytic activity. These divergent functions of caspase-3 may contribute to the persistence of neutrophils in the lungs of smokers, as well as be a factor in their higher incidence of community-acquired pneumonia.
Heparan sulfates mediate pressure-induced increase in lung endothelial hydraulic conductivity via nitric oxide/reactive oxygen species
Authors: Dull Randal O. , Mecham Ian , McJames Scott
Published: March 2007

We investigated the nonlinear dynamics of the pressure vs. hydraulic conductivity (Lp) relationship in lung microvascular endothelial cells and demonstrate that heparan sulfates, an important component of the endothelial glycocalyx, participate in pressure-sensitive mechanotransduction that results in barrier dysfunction. The pressure vs. Lp relationship was complex, possessing both time- and pressure-dependent components. Pretreatment of lung capillary endothelial cells with heparanase III completely abolished the pressure-induced increase in Lp. This extends our ( 7 ) previous observation regarding heparan sulfates as mechanotransducers for shear stress. Inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) synthase with l-NAME ( NG-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester HCl) and intracellular scavenging of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by TBAP [tetrakis-(4-benzoic acid) porphorin] significantly attenuated the pressure-induced Lp response. Intracellular NO/ROS were visualized using the fluorescent dye, 2′7′-dichlorofluorescein diacetate (DCFA), and cells demonstrated a pressure-induced increase in intracellular fluorescence. Heparanase pretreatment significantly reduced the pressure-induced increase in intracellular fluorescence, suggesting that cell-surface heparan sulfates directly participate in mechanotransduction that results in NO/ROS production and increased permeability. This is the first report to demonstrate a role for heparan sulfates in pressure-mediated mechanotransduction and barrier regulation. These observations may have important clinical implications during conditions where pulmonary microvascular pressure is elevated.
The response to recruitment worsens with progression of lung injury and fibrin accumulation in a mouse model of acid aspiration
Authors: Allen Gilman B. , Leclair Timothy , Cloutier Mary , Thompson-Figueroa John , Bates Jason H. T.
Published: March 2007

Reopening the injured lung with deep inflation (DI) and positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) likely depends on the duration and severity of acute lung injury (ALI), key features of which include increased alveolar permeability and fibrin accumulation. We hypothesized that the response to DI and PEEP would worsen as ALI evolves and that this would correspond with increasing accumulation of alveolar fibrin. C57BL/6 mice were anesthetized and aspirated 75 μl of HCl (pH 1.8) or buffered normal saline. Subgroups were reanesthetized 4, 14, 24, and 48 h later. Following DI, tissue damping (G) and elastance (H) were measured periodically at PEEP of 1, 3, and 6 cmH2O, and air within the lung (thoracic gas volume) was quantified by microcomputed tomography. Following DI, G and H increased with time during progressive lung derecruitment, the latter confirmed by microcomputed tomography. The rise in H was greater in acid-injured mice than in controls ( P < 0.05) and also increased from 4 to 48 h after acid aspiration, reflecting progressively worsening injury. The rise in H was reduced by PEEP, but this effect was significantly blunted by 48 h ( P < 0.05), also confirmed by thoracic gas volume. Lung permeability and alveolar fibrin also increased over the 48-h study period, accompanied by increasing levels and transcription of the fibrinolysis inhibitor plasminogen activator inhibitor-1. Lung injury worsens progressively in mice during the 48 h following acid aspiration. This injury manifests as progressively increasing alveolar instability, likely due to surfactant dysfunction caused by increasing levels of alveolar protein and fibrin.
BIPHASIC Trial
Authors: Stiell Ian G. , Walker Robert G. , Nesbitt Lisa P. , Chapman Fred W. , Cousineau Donna , Christenson James , Bradford Paul , Sookram Sunil , Berringer Ross , Lank Paula , Wells George A.
Published: March 2007

Background—

There is little clear evidence as to the optimal energy levels for initial and subsequent shocks in biphasic waveform defibrillation. The present study compared fixed lower- and escalating higher-energy regimens for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

Methods and Results—

The Randomized Controlled Trial to Compare Fixed Versus Escalating Energy Regimens for Biphasic Waveform Defibrillation (BIPHASIC Trial) was a multicenter, randomized controlled trial of 221 out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients who received ≥1 shock given by biphasic automated external defibrillator devices that were randomly programmed to provide, blindly, fixed lower-energy (150-150-150 J) or escalating higher-energy (200-300-360 J) regimens. Patient mean age was 66.0 years; 79.6% were male. The cardiac arrest was witnessed in 63.8%; a bystander performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation in 23.5%; and initial rhythm was ventricular fibrillation/ventricular tachycardia in 92.3%. The fixed lower- and escalating higher-energy regimen cases were similar for the 106 multishock patients and for all 221 patients. In the primary analysis in multishock patients, conversion rates differed significantly (fixed lower, 24.7%, versus escalating higher, 36.6%;
P
=0.035; absolute difference, 11.9%; 95% CI, 1.2 to 24.4). Ventricular fibrillation termination rates also were significantly different between groups (71.2% versus 82.5%;
P
=0.027; absolute difference, 11.3%; 95% CI, 1.6 to 20.9). For the secondary analysis of first shock success, conversion rates were similar between the fixed lower and escalating higher study groups (38.4% versus 36.7%;
P
=0.92), as were ventricular fibrillation termination rates (86.8% versus 88.8%;
P
=0.81). There were no distinguishable differences between regimens for survival outcomes or adverse effects.

Conclusions—

This is the first randomized trial to compare fixed lower and escalating higher biphasic energy regimens in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, and it demonstrated higher rates of ventricular fibrillation conversion and termination with an escalating higher-energy regimen for patients requiring multiple shocks. These results suggest that patients in ventricular fibrillation benefit from higher biphasic energy levels if multiple defibrillation shocks are required.
Prognostic Value of Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Stress Tests
Authors: Jahnke Cosima , Nagel Eike , Gebker Rolf , Kokocinski Thomas , Kelle Sebastian , Manka Robert , Fleck Eckart , Paetsch Ingo
Published: March 2007

Background—

Adenosine stress magnetic resonance perfusion (MRP) and dobutamine stress magnetic resonance (DSMR) wall motion analyses are highly accurate for the detection of myocardial ischemia. However, knowledge about the prognostic value of stress MR examinations is limited. We sought to determine the value of MRP and DSMR, as assessed during a single-session examination, in predicting the outcome of patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease.

Methods and Results—

In 513 patients (with known or suspected coronary disease, prior coronary artery bypass graft, or percutaneous coronary intervention), a combined single-session magnetic resonance stress examination (MRP and DSMR) was performed at 1.5 T. For first-pass perfusion imaging, the standard adenosine stress imaging protocol (140 μg · kg
−1
· min
−1
for 6 minutes, 3-slice turbo field echo–echo-planar imaging or steady-state free precession sequence, 0.05 mmol/kg Gd-DTPA) was applied, and for DSMR, the standard high-dose dobutamine/atropine protocol (steady-state free-precession cine sequence) was applied. Stress testing was classified as pathological if at MRP ≥1 segment showed an inducible perfusion deficit >25% transmurality or if at DSMR ≥1 segment showed an inducible wall motion abnormality. During a median follow-up of 2.3 years (range, 0.06 to 4.55 years), 19 cardiac events occurred (4.1%; 9 cardiac deaths, 10 nonfatal myocardial infarctions). The 3-year event-free survival was 99.2% for patients with normal MRP and DSMR and 83.5% for those with abnormal MRP and DSMR. Univariate analysis showed ischemia identified by MRP and DSMR to be predictive of cardiac events (hazard ratio, 12.51; 95% confidence interval, 3.64 to 43.03; and hazard ratio, 5.42; 95% confidence interval, 2.18 to 13.50;
P
<0.001, respectively); other predictors were diabetes mellitus, known coronary artery disease, and the presence of resting wall motion abnormality. By multivariate analysis, ischemia on magnetic resonance stress testing (MRP or DSMR) was an independent predictor of cardiac events. In a stepwise multivariate model (Cox regression), an abnormal magnetic resonance stress test result had significant incremental value over clinical risk factors and resting wall motion abnormality (
P
<0.001).

Conclusions—

In patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease, myocardial ischemia detected by MRP and DSMR can be used to identify patients at high risk for subsequent cardiac death or nonfatal myocardial infarction. For patients with normal MRP and DSMR, the 3-year event-free survival was 99.2%. MR stress testing provides important incremental information over clinical risk factors and resting wall motion abnormalities.
Endogenous Endothelin in Human Coronary Vascular Function
Authors: Halcox Julian P.J. , Nour Khaled R.A. , Zalos Gloria , Quyyumi Arshed A.
Published: March 2007

Endothelin 1 mediates coronary vasoconstriction and endothelial dysfunction via endothelin receptor type A (ET
A
) activation. However, the effects of selective endothelin receptor type B (ET
B
) and combined ET
A+B
receptor blockade on coronary vasomotion are unknown. We measured coronary vascular tone and endothelium-dependent and -independent vasomotor function before and after selective infusion of BQ-788 (an ET
B
receptor antagonist) or combined infusion of BQ-788+BQ-123 (an ET
A
antagonist) into unobstructed coronary arteries of 39 patients with coronary atherosclerosis or risk factors undergoing cardiac catheterization. BQ-788 did not affect epicardial diameter but constricted the microcirculation (
P
<0.0001), increased coronary sinus endothelin, and reduced nitrogen oxide levels. In contrast, BQ-123+BQ-788 dilated epicardial (
P
<0.0001) and resistance (
P
=0.022) arteries. Responses to acetylcholine and sodium nitroprusside were unaffected by BQ-788 alone. Epicardial endothelial dysfunction improved after BQ-123+BQ-788 (
P
=0.007). Coronary microvascular responses to acetylcholine and sodium nitroprusside were unaffected by BQ-123+BQ-788. We conclude that selective ET
B
receptor antagonism causes coronary microvascular constriction, without affecting epicardial tone or endothelial function, via reduced endothelin clearance and NO availability. Combined ET
A+B
blockade dilates coronary conduit and resistance vessels and improves endothelial dysfunction of the epicardial coronary arteries. Thus, endogenous endothelin, predominantly via ET
A
receptor stimulation, contributes to basal constrictor tone and endothelial dysfunction, whereas ET
B
activation mediates vasodilation in human coronaries. Our data suggest that selective ET
A
blockade may have greater therapeutic potential than nonselective agents, particularly for treatment of endothelial dysfunction in atherosclerosis.
Direct Renin Inhibition With Aliskiren in Obese Patients With Arterial Hypertension
Authors: Jordan Jens , Engeli Stefan , Boye Sam W. , Le Breton Stephanie , Keefe Deborah L.
Published: March 2007

Current guidelines from the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure recommend first-line treatment with a thiazide diuretic but do not provide specific guidance for obese patients. The renin system is activated in obesity-associated arterial hypertension. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that the oral direct renin inhibitor aliskiren could provide additive blood pressure lowering in obese patients with hypertension (body mass index ≥30 kg/m
2
; mean sitting diastolic blood pressure: 95 to 109 mm Hg) who had not responded to 4 weeks of treatment with hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) 25 mg. After a 2- to 4-week washout, 560 patients received single-blind HCTZ (25 mg) for 4 weeks; 489 nonresponders were randomly assigned to double-blind aliskiren (150 mg), irbesartan (150 mg), amlodipine (5 mg), or placebo for 4 weeks added to HCTZ (25 mg), followed by 8 weeks on double the initial doses of aliskiren, irbesartan, or amlodipine. After 8 weeks of double-blind treatment (4 weeks on the higher dose), aliskiren/HCTZ lowered blood pressure by 15.8/11.9 mm Hg, significantly more (
P
<0.0001) than placebo/HCTZ (8.6/7.9 mm Hg). Aliskiren/HCTZ provided blood pressure reductions similar to those with irbesartan/HCTZ and amlodipine/HCTZ (15.4/11.3 and 13.6/10.3 mm Hg, respectively), with similar tolerability to placebo/HCTZ. Adverse event rates were highest with amlodipine/HCTZ because of a higher incidence of peripheral edema (11.1% versus 0.8% to 1.6% in other groups). In conclusion, combination treatment with aliskiren is a highly effective and well-tolerated therapeutic option for obese patients with hypertension who fail to achieve blood pressure control with first-line thiazide diuretic treatment.
Evolving Virtual Creatures and Catapults
Authors: Chaumont Nicolas , Egli Richard , Adami Christoph
Published: March 2007

We present a system that can evolve the morphology and the controller of virtual walking and block-throwing creatures (catapults) using a genetic algorithm. The system is based on Sims' work, implemented as a flexible platform with an off-the-shelf dynamics engine. Experiments aimed at evolving Sims-type walkers resulted in the emergence of various realistic gaits while using fairly simple objective functions. Due to the flexibility of the system, drastically different morphologies and functions evolved with only minor modifications to the system and objective function. For example, various throwing techniques evolved when selecting for catapults that propel a block as far as possible. Among the strategies and morphologies evolved, we find the drop-kick strategy, as well as the systematic invention of the principle behind the wheel, when allowing mutations to the projectile.
“Life Is a Verb”: Inflections of Artificial Life in Cultural Context
Authors: Helmreich Stefan
Published: March 2007

This review essay surveys recent literature in the history of science, literary theory, anthropology, and art criticism dedicated to exploring how the artificial life enterprise has been inflected by—and might also reshape—existing social, historical, cognitive, and cultural frames of thought and action. The piece works through various possible interpretations of Kevin Kelly's phrase “life is a verb,” in order to track recent shifts in cultural studies of artificial life from an aesthetic of critique to an aesthetic of conversation, discerning in the process different styles of translating between the concerns of the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and sciences of the artificial.
Teacher and Student Attitudes toward Teacher Feedback
Authors: Zacharias Nugrahenny T.
Published: March 2007

This study aims to explore students' attitudes toward teacher feedback. The study used a triangulation of participants and methods in which the practice of feedback was seen from the perspectives of students and teachers collected from the quantitative data (questionnaires) and qualitative data (open-ended items in questionnaires and interviews). A total of 100 students participated in filling in the questionnaires and 21 of them were interviewed using a semi-structured format. In addition, there were 20 teachers who completed the questionnaires and 10 of them were interviewed using the same semi-structured format. The findings show that generally teachers and students have a marked preference for teacher feedback. The high preference for teacher feedback was mainly the result of the respondents' positive attitudes towards teacher feedback. Interestingly, student preferences for teacher feedback also stemmed from their awareness that teachers control grades. The data collected from the questionnaires and interviews indicated that students preferred teacher feedback that was specific since this kind of feedback would facilitate students in the revision process. Students also show a high preference for feedback which focused on language. Compared to feedback on content, feedback on form was considered to be more helpful. Students often complained that teacher feedback on content tended to be general and sometimes, contradictory to student ideas. Moreover, the interview data illustrated that teacher feedback contributed greatly to students' emotional states particularly their motivation and attitudes towards writing.
Investigating the Accuracy of Teachers' Word Frequency Intuitions
Authors: McCrostie James
Published: March 2007

Previous research has found that native English speakers can judge, with a relatively high degree of accuracy, the frequency of words in the English language. However, there has been little investigation of the ability to judge the frequency of high and middle frequency words. Similarly, the accuracy of EFL teachers' frequency judgements remains largely unstudied. This study required two groups of native English speakers (English teaching professionals and undergraduate university students) to judge the frequency of words by ranking two lists of 24 words in order of frequency. The first list covered a wide range of frequency levels and the second list covered words in the middle frequency range. The results from this study indicate that the English teaching professionals' accuracy judgments do not seem to be signifi-cantly better than university undergraduates. Furthermore, both groups of native English speakers had difficulty judging the frequency of words in the middle frequency range. These results indicate the need for teachers to consult frequency lists rather than rely solely on their intuitions.
Developing an EAP Writing Course for Chinese ESL Students
Authors: Hu Guangwei
Published: March 2007

Academic writing competence comprises attitudes, knowledge, skills, and strategies that enable one to produce writing in accordance with the expectations of the academic discourse community. This paper introduces an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) writing course developed to help students from China acquire an adequate level of academic writing competence in English so that they can successfully handle the academic writing tasks that they will need to undertake in their undergraduate studies. It describes: (1) the curricular objectives that the writing course aims to accomplish; (2) the pedagogy that is adopted in the course; (3) the course materials that are used; (4) the ways in which the students' progress in academic writing is assessed; and (5) the gains in writing proficiency that the students have experienced, as well as the feedback that they have given on the course. It is believed that sharing curriculum development efforts provides a valuable opportunity for EAP practitioners, course developers, and materials writers to engage in healthy exchanges of effective curricular practices and constructive criticisms. Exchanges of this nature can contribute to the development of EAP curriculums that better cater for the academic writing needs of second language students in institutions of higher education.
Globalization, Language, and the Tongue-Tied American: A Textual Analysis of American Discourses on the Global Hegemony of English
Authors: Demont-Heinrich Christof
Published: March 2007

How is English in the global context constructed in the print media discourse of American-owned prestige press newspapers? The author zeroes in on examples of explicit reflection on the American “situation” vis-à-vis the global hegemony of English. These were drawn from a 275-text data pool generated for the author’s recently published doctoral dissertation. A number of different themes emerged in the texts and excerpts analyzed here, most prominently that of English monolingualism as potentially compromising American national security and economic competitiveness. Several texts also focused on a great paradox: tremendous American linguistic diversity and widespread English monolingualism in the United States. Perhaps the most interesting theme that emerged was what the author terms wistful regret: Americans reflecting with considerable melancholy on how they saw the hegemony of English as inhibiting their incentive and opportunity to become multilingual.
Neoliberal Visions and Revisions in Global Communications Policy From NWICO to WSIS
Authors: Pickard Victor
Published: March 2007

The author proposes that any account seeking to contextualize crucial policy debates connected to the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) must engage with two necessary projects. First, it must historicize WSIS in relation to an earlier international forum similarly focused on global communications policy, the New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO). Second, it must theorize WSIS in terms related to neoliberalism, the dominant political economic system defining global relations today. This analysis brings into focus both continuities and changes in global communications policy during the formative period of the past three decades.
Think About It: The Misbegotten Promise of Positive Thinking Discourse
Authors: Woodstock Louise
Published: March 2007

This article, historical and critical in scope, explores self-help literature’s positive thinking discourse, through which key concepts of selfhood, self-transformation, and society are textually conveyed, within the context of the genre’s development from roughly 1880 to the present. The article tracks how individual thought, in contrast to dialogical social interaction, has long been constructed as the central means to health, happiness, and self-transformation. By unpacking the conflicting ways in which positive thinking messages construct notions of the self, society, thought, and communication, the article argues that these messages run counter to theories of the social construction of reality and considers the consequences of these popular and powerful messages. The article concludes by placing positive thinking within the context of a broader system of belief: communication as cure-all, a simplistic notion of communication that pervades popular culture.
The Answers of Applied Islamology
Authors: Arkoun Mohammed
Published: March 2007

The starting point of the article is the archive, characterized as a query about the future, and Foucault’s call for a discourse that provides a dual articulation of the history of individuals on the subconscious of culture and the historicity of the latter on individual subconsciousness. The archive has not been read as such either by exponents of the Islamic tradition or by modern scholarship in the Orientalist tradition, thus the first ambitious task of applied Islamology is to deconstructively analyse the foundational discourse of an imaginary that, since the Middle Ages, has opposed Arab-Islamic consciousness to a Jewish and Christian consciousness. Applied Islamology also explores the ‘universal values’ that were invented in the West and then seen as transferable to all cultures worldwide. The public is deprived of the conceptual tools necessary to explore both this imaginary and the West’s ‘universal’ values. The social frameworks of knowledge regarding Islamic studies are in operation as much in the West as in Muslim contexts.
Religious Authority and the New Media
Authors: Turner Bryan S.
Published: March 2007

In traditional societies, knowledge is organized in hierarchical chains through which authority is legitimated by custom. Because the majority of the population is illiterate, sacred knowledge is conveyed orally and ritualistically, but the ultimate source of religious authority is typically invested in the Book. The hadith (sayings and customs of the Prophet) are a good example of traditional practice. These chains of Islamic knowledge were also characteristically local, consensual and lay, unlike in Christianity, with its emergent ecclesiastical bureaucracies, episcopal structures and ordained priests. In one sense, Islam has no church. While there are important institutional differences between the world religions, network society opens up significant challenges to traditional authority, rapidly increasing the flow of religious knowledge and commodities. With global flows of knowledge on the Internet, power is no longer embodied and the person is simply a switchpoint in the information flow. The logic of networking is that control cannot be concentrated for long at any single point in the system; knowledge, which is by definition only temporary, is democratically produced at an infinite number of sites. In this Andy Warhol world, every human can, in principle, have their own site. While the Chinese Communist Party and several Middle Eastern states attempt to control this flow, their efforts are only partially successful. The result is that traditional forms of religious authority are constantly disrupted and challenged, but at the same time the Internet creates new opportunities for evangelism, religious instruction and piety. The outcome of these processes is, however, unknown and unknowable. There is a need, therefore, to invent a new theory of authority that is post-Weberian in reconstructing the conventional format of charisma, tradition and legal rationalism.
Veiled Interventions in Pure Space
Authors: Werbner Pnina
Published: March 2007

The rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Europe seems to be tangibly signalled by an increase in women and young girls wearing the Muslim veil, the hijab. In France, this has led to the legal banning of all headscarves and other religious symbols in state schools in the name of French secularism. The article considers the ambiguities and ambivalences associated with the politics of embodiment surrounding veiling and honour killings comparatively, in Britain and France, and the implications for ongoing debates on multiculturalism. The article argues that the publicity surrounding symbolic practices of sexual intimacy in the context of modernity may come to be loaded with secondary symbolic connotations, often highly politicized, for both Muslims and Europeans, leading to irresolvable conundrums. The processes of higher order symbolization outlined here raise critical questions of authority: who has the authority to interpret the scriptures, in this case the Koran and ideas about individual liberty? Who has the right to determine the limits of modesty, or whom a young person should marry? As in the earlier confrontations in South Asia between Sufi saints and learned Muslim clerics, the current contestation involves a range of actors claiming authoritative sacred knowledge.
Metacognition and Transfer: Keys to Improving Marketing Education
Authors: Ramocki Stephen P.
Published: March 2007

A primary purpose of marketing education is to prepare students to perform throughout their careers, and performance largely relies on transferability of knowledge. It has been demonstrated that training in metacognition, along with emphasis on transfer, does lead to increased probability that knowledge will be transferred into environments dissimilar to those encountered in the classroom. This article discusses the ramifications of metacognition and transfer and offers methods through which they can become a standard part of marketing educational pedagogy. A simulated assignment is also presented to clarify the discussion.
Arthroscopic Treatment of the Painful “Internal” Snapping Hip
Authors: Flanum Mark E. , Keene James S. , Blankenbaker Donna G. , DeSmet Arthur A.
Published: March 2007

Background

Traditional surgical treatment for a painful snapping iliopsoas tendon has been an open lengthening of the tendon.

Hypothesis

An endoscopic release will alleviate painful snapping of the tendon.

Study Design

Case series; Level of evidence, 4.

Methods

Six patients with painful snapping hips who had no pain relief after magnetic resonance arthrography, which included injection of bupivacaine into the hip joint, subsequently had an ultrasound evaluation of their iliopsoas tendons and an anesthetic injection into the psoas bursa. In all 6 patients, the injection relieved their hip pain, and in 4, real-time imaging demonstrated snapping of the tendon. All hips were evaluated with the 100-point Harris hip scoring system before and at 1.5, 3, 6, and 12 months after surgery.

Results

Preoperative hip scores averaged 58 points. After surgery, all patients had hip flexor weakness, used crutches for 5 weeks, and had 6-week scores that averaged 62 points. The patients continued to improve, and at 6 and 12 months, their scores averaged 90 and 96 points, respectively, and none had recurrence of their snapping or pain.

Conclusion

Ultrasound-guided anesthetic injection of the psoas bursa is useful to confirm snapping of the iliopsoas tendon as the cause of a patient's hip pain. Endoscopic release of the tendon is a safe outpatient procedure that provides effective relief of the snapping and pain.
In Vivo Measurement of the Pivot-Shift Test in the Anterior Cruciate Ligament—Deficient Knee Using an Electromagnetic Device
Authors: Hoshino Yuichi , Kuroda Ryosuke , Nagamune Kouki , Yagi Masayoshi , Mizuno Kiyonori , Yamaguchi Motoi , Muratsu Hirotsugu , Yoshiya Shinichi , Kurosaka Masahiro
Published: March 2007

Background

The pivot-shift test is commonly used for assessing dynamic instability in anterior cruciate ligament—insufficient knees, which is related to subjective knee function, unlike static load-displacement measurement. Conventional measurements of 3-dimensional position displacement cannot assess such dynamic instability in vivo and produce comparable parameters. Not only 3-dimensional position displacement but also its 3-dimensional acceleration should be measured for quantitative evaluation of the pivot-shift test.

Hypothesis

Knees with a positive pivot-shift test result have increased tibial anterior translation and acceleration of its subsequent posterior translation, and they are correlated with clinical grading.

Study Design

Controlled laboratory study.

Materials and Methods

Thirty patients with isolated anterior cruciate ligament injury were included. Pivot-shift tests were evaluated under anesthesia manually and experimentally using an electromagnetic knee 6 degrees of freedom measurement system. From 60 Hz of 6 degrees of freedom data, coupled tibial anterior translation was calculated, and acceleration of posterior translation was computed by secondary derivative.

Results

All anterior cruciate ligament—deficient knees demonstrated a positive pivot-shift test result. The coupled tibial anterior translation was 7.7 and 15.6 mm in anterior cruciate ligament—intact and —deficient knees, respectively. The acceleration of posterior translation was —797 and —2001 mm/s 2, respectively. These differences were significant (P < .01). The coupled tibial anterior translation and acceleration of posterior translation in the anterior cruciate ligament—deficient knee were larger in correlation with clinical grading (P = .03 and P < .01, respectively).

Conclusion

The increase of tibial anterior translation and acceleration of subsequent posterior translation could be detected in knees with a positive pivot-shift result, and this increase was correlated to clinical grading.

Clinical Relevance

These measurements can be used for quantified evaluation of dynamic instability demonstrated by the pivot-shift test.
Management of Morel-Lavallee Lesion of the Knee
Authors: Tejwani Samir G. , Cohen Steven B. , Bradley James P.
Published: March 2007

Background

The Morel-Lavallee lesion is a closed degloving injury most commonly described in the region of the hip joint after blunt trauma. It also occurs in the knee as a result of shearing trauma during football and is a distinct lesion from prepatellar bursitis and quadriceps contusion.

Purpose

To review the authors’ experience with Morel-Lavallee lesion of the knee in the elite contact athlete to construct a diagnostic and treatment algorithm.

Study Design

Case series; Level of evidence, 4.

Methods

Twenty-seven knees in 24 players were identified from 1 National Football League team's annual injury database as having sustained a Morel-Lavallee lesion between 1993 and 2006. Their charts were retrospectively reviewed.

Results

The most common mechanism of injury was a shearing blow on the playing surface (81%). The most common motion deficit was active flexion (41%). The mean time for resolution of the fluid collection and achievement of full active flexion was 16.3 days. The mean number of practices missed was 1.5. The mean number of games missed was 0.1. Fourteen knees (52%) were treated successfully with compression wrap, cryotherapy, and motion exercises. Thirteen knees (48%) were treated with at least 1 aspiration, and 6 knees (22%) were treated with multiple aspirations for recurrent serosanguineous fluid collections. In 3 cases (11%), the Morel-Lavallee lesion was successfully treated with doxycycline sclerodesis after 3 aspirations failed to resolve the recurrent fluid collections; return to play was immediate thereafter in each case.

Conclusion

In football, Morel-Lavallee lesion of the knee usually occurs from a shearing blow from the playing field. Diagnosis is confirmed when examination reveals a large suprapatellar area of palpable fluctuance. Elite athletes are typically able to return to practice and game play long before complete resolution of the lesion. Recurrent fluid collections can occur, necessitating aspiration in approximately half the cases for successful treatment. Recalcitrant fluid collections can be safely and expeditiously treated with doxycycline sclerodesis.
Clinical, Histologic, and Radiographic Outcomes of Distal Femoral Resurfacing with Hypothermically Stored Osteoarticular Allografts
Authors: Davidson Philip A. , Rivenburgh Dennis W. , Dawson Patti E. , Rozin Roman
Published: March 2007

Background

Fresh osteoarticular allograft transplantation has a long history of clinical success. These grafts have typically been implanted less than 1 week from donor asystole.

Hypothesis

Osteoarticular allografts stored 4 to 6 weeks represent a viable alternative to treat full-thickness cartilage and osteochondral defects of the distal femur as measured by clinical, histologic, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) criteria.

Study Design

Case series; Level of evidence, 4.

Methods

Osteoarticular allografts were implanted after a mean graft storage time (at 4°C) of 36 days (range, 28-43). Sixty-seven patients received massive hypothermically stored osteoarticular allografts. Ten knees in 8 of these patients underwent second-look arthroscopic evaluation and biopsy at a mean of 40 months (range, 23-60) after implantation. Clinical assessment was performed using multiple outcome measures and sequential MRI evaluations. Biopsy specimens were obtained from the graft as well as from native articular cartilage at the time of second-look arthroscopy for histologic analysis.

Results

The mean International Knee Documentation Committee scores were as follows: preoperative, 27 (range, 9-55); postoperative, 79 (range, 56-99); P = .002. The mean Lysholm scores were as follows: preoperative, 37 (range, 12-47); postoperative, 78 (range, 55-90); P = .002. The mean Short Form-36 physical scores were as follows: preoperative, 38 (range, 24-55); postoperative, 51 (range, 39-61); P = .002. The mean Tegner scores were as follows: preoperative, 4.3 (range, 1-9); postoperative, 5.3 (range, 4-7); P = .16. The mean International Cartilage Repair Society score at follow-up was 10 (nearly normal) (range, 7-11). The mean modified Outerbridge scores were as follows preoperative, 4.3 (range, 3-5); postoperative, 0.6 (range, 0-1); P = .002. The mean graft and native cartilage cellular density and viability were not statistically different.

Conclusions

Fresh-stored osteoarticular grafts for full-thickness articular surface defects of the distal femur appear to offer a viable biological method to restore knee function. Our study suggests that osteoarticular grafts stored in cell culture medium at 4°C for 4 to 6 weeks provide successful short-term clinical outcomes.
Lessons learned for a more efficient knowledge and technology transfer to South American countries in the fields of solid waste and contaminated sites management
Authors: Bezama Alberto , Szarka Nóra , Navia Rodrigo , Konrad Odorico , Lorber Karl E.
Published: March 2007

The present paper describes the development, performance and conclusions derived from three know-how and technology transfer projects to South American countries. The first project comprised a collaborative study by European and South American universities to find sustainable solutions for Chilean and Ecuadorian leather tanneries which had underachieving process performances. The second project consisted of investigations carried out in a Brazilian municipality to enhance its municipal solid waste management system. The final collaborative programme dealt with the initial identification, evaluation and registration of suspected contaminated sites in an industrial region of Chile. The detailed objectives, methods and procedures applied as well as the results and conclusions obtained in each of the three mentioned projects are presented, giving special attention to the organizational aspects and to the practical approach of each programme, concluding with their main advantages and disadvantages for identifying a set of qualitative and quantitative suggestions, and to establish transferable methods for future applications.
Major voice, minor key
Authors: Langdon Julia
Published: March 2007

In a rare interview, the former Prime Minister begins by making an off-hand disparaging remark about the inaccurate press reports of his purchase of his London apartment and goes on to talk about the nature of the press during his term of office and as it is today. "Although he insists that what he has to say is not prompted by the bruising coverage he has consistently received over the years, there is more than a trace of bitterness detectable in his remarks," records Langdon, and she continues: "'I don't think I handled the press very well," he says now - and he uses that precise phrase three times. "It's quite difficult to be clear why. I thought it was fairly improper to get too close to the press. I'm rather a puritan in this respect." Sir John goes on the call for a new voluntary code of conduct for the press - "I don't know that there are many people who think self-regulation is working as well as it could."
Growing strong from the Acorn
Authors: Neale Greg
Published: March 2007

Historian Neale writes that, "today, as it begins its second century, the NUJ is in relatively good health, after surviving several crises - political and financial - in the 1980s and 1990s... NUJ membership has topped 40,000, budgets are in the black, an increasing number of women members reflect changes in journalism as well as wider society, and the NUJ has, if anything, bucked the trend of failing union membership in British industry." He continues: "Questions of job security, pay and conditions remain pre-occupations for the NUJ, as they do for its members, but questions of conscience, professional standards and the wider, social role of the journalist reverberate in its discussions as widely as they seem to have done in any of the past ten decades. One suspects that they will continue to do so in the next century, too."
It’s a fact - Brits don’t check
Authors: Maury Laurel
Published: March 2007

There are many things to admire about the British press, believes Maury, an American, but accuracy isn't one of them. She writes that, "American fact checking likes to believe it's robust, and in truth, it usually is. We assume that our government is also stringent about its facts, and until the Bush Administration, it was. (This is, I believe, part of the reason why our papers initially believed George Bush's statements about WMDs.) What robust fact checking means is that as a journalist I have to tape every interview and turn in transcripts to my editors along with the finished pieces. I also double-check facts from newspapers and magazines. I used to believe this was the standard for all reliable press in the Western world." But not so - Laurel investigated a story about a Muslim British beauty Queen and reports: "While British readers read about a poor, persecuted Muslim girl who'd been a refugee from the Taliban, who's family was so poor that her mother had to make her pageant dress, I found a middle-class Muslim girl whose parents had been university professors. She loved wearing pink and wanted to study advertising. I spoke with the head of fact checking at a national magazine here in America. He sighed and said that the British press was notorious for bad fact checking. His attitude was "live and learn", meaning don't even pitch a piece based on facts in the British press without checking them yourself."
Can journalists keep the faith?
Authors: Nicholson Lindsay
Published: March 2007

"I have been wondering lately whether God has got himself a Max Clifford-style press agent, " writes Nicholson, a practising Christian. "Certainly the number of mentions he gets in the media has increased dramatically." Yet journalists shy away from personal faith, some rejecting it on professional grounds. Yet "I cannot agree that finding support and comfort in faith conflicts with journalistic independence and integrity? Of course journalists can have faith and still be good at their jobs, just as supporters of political parties or specific football teams can function properly and without showing bias. Humans are essentially tribal. Are those who grow up in the world owing no allegiance to any grouping - spiritual or secular - better journalists? Or are they little more than robots, unable to comprehend what it is that drives people to believe and to understand people who believe differently?"
Movie journalists: hello Hollywood
Authors: Niblock Sarah
Published: March 2007

Journalists on film have for decades offered fantasy, fun and escapism to millions, writes academic Niblock, but most of the movies have emerged from Hollywood. And that could be changing now that three new high-profile British-led or inspired productions (one about Robert Maxwell; a big screen version of the BBC mini-series State of Play and Embeds, set in Iraq) are in the pipeline. Niblock recalls memorable movies of the past and concludes: "If and when those major new productions of journalistic subjects reach the big screen, it will be fascinating to see if they stimulate a deeper interest in the workings of the British news media, and journalists' relationship with the state, as they have done in the U.S. It was widely reported after the release of All the President's Men that there was a surge in young people wanting to enter journalism in order to 'make a difference' and to challenge the status quo. Perhaps a new raft of films will inspire greater idealism and dynamism on the part of the next generation of reporters."