bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Cognitive activities without cognition? ethnomethodological investigations of selected ‘cognitive’ topics
Authors: Lynch Michael
Published: February 2006

Ethnomethodology and conversation analysis (ethno/CA) investigate many of the activities that are featured in the cognitive sciences. These include memory, learning, perception, and calculative activities. However, for ethno/CA such activities are not necessarily ‘cognitive’, and their investigation as activities does not necessarily require observation or speculation about what goes on within the mind or brain. This article briefly discusses three examples of nominal ‘cognitive’ activities: looking-for/seeing; failing to recall; and counting things and people. The discussion suggests how these examples can be understood and elucidated in a way that has little to do with any existing program in cognitive science. The modest aim of the article is not to persuade readers that ethno/CA can contribute to cognitive studies. Instead, I argue that ethno/CA offers a path not taken in cognitive science: a viable research program for investigating nominally ‘cognitive’ themes without trading in mentalistic notions of cognition.
Participants’ online analysis and multimodal practices: projecting the end of the turn and the closing of the sequence
Authors: Mondada Lorenza
Published: February 2006

Studies of talk-and-bodily-conduct-in-interaction have inspired new insights into the way in which language, interaction and cognition might be articulated. More particularly, they have shown that participants mutually orient to the finely tuned multimodal details by which talk and action in interaction are sequentially organized. This article deals with this form of ‘participants’ multimodal online analysis’ by focusing on a particular phenomenon - the methodical practices and resources by which the end of a turn and of an activity phase is projected and collectively achieved - in a specific videorecorded setting - a meeting in an architect’s office. It aims at questioning both how these local orientations are systematically displayed and exploited by the participants for the sequential organization of their activity and how they can be demonstrably observed by the analyst.
Cognition and conversation
Authors: Potter Jonathan
Published: February 2006

This article considers the different approaches to cognition in conversation analysis (CA) and discursive psychology (DP). Its points are illustrated through a critical but appreciative consideration of an article by Drew in which he uses conversation analysis to identify ‘cognitive moments’ in interaction. Problems are identified with Drew’s analysis and the conclusions he draws. In particular, he a) presupposes a dualistic division between depth and surface; b) makes circular inferences from conventional conversational patterns to underlying cognitive entities; c) presupposes (rather than demonstrates) that the underlying cognitive entities influence conduct. It is argued that none of these things is required by conversation analysis; rather Drew is imposing cognitivist assumptions on conversational materials. Discursive psychology’s approach focuses on cognitive issues in terms of how they are constructed and oriented to in interaction; its virtues are pressed.
On possibles
Authors: Schegloff Emanuel A.
Published: February 2006

Although there is no lack of reasons for conversation analysis to be reluctant to adopt a cognitivist idiom and paradigm in studying talk and other conduct in interaction, examination of the literature with an open mind will disclose attentiveness to such themes in the conversation-analytic literature nonetheless. The pursuit of such themes however, cannot be appropriately and successfully conducted under the aegis of currently dominant cognitivist paradigms. One central analytic resource in CA work is the notion of a ‘possible X’, a resource which is here described and exemplified for three discrete ‘values’ of ‘X’. The understanding of how such ‘possible Xs’ could work for participants in interaction invites understanding by analysts by reference to a ‘multiple passes’ model of uptake, a characterization which for now can be no more than metaphoric. Here is a venue at which conversation-analysts and neuro/cognitive analysts might usefully try to work together.
Discourse, context and cognition
Authors: van Dijk Teun A.
Published: February 2006

In this article the relevance of a sociocognitive approach to discourse is shown by presenting a new theory of context, defined as subjective participants’ constructs of communicative situations, and made explicit in terms of mental models - context models - in Episodic Memory. Through a ‘contextual analysis’ of a fragment of one of the ‘Iraq’ speeches by Tony Blair in the British House of Commons, it is shown how such context models control and explain many political aspects of interaction that cannot be accounted for in autonomous approaches to text and talk. Context models thus provide an explicit theory of relevance and the situational appropriateness of discourse, and hence also a basis for theories of style.
Mediation between discourse and society: assessing cognitive approaches in CDA
Authors: Wodak Ruth
Published: February 2006

While reviewing relevant recent research, it becomes apparent that cognitive approaches have been rejected and excluded from Critical Discourse Analysis by many scholars out of often unjustified reasons. This article argues, in contrast, that studies in CDA would gain significantly through integrating insights from socio-cognitive theories into their framework. Examples from my own research into the comprehension and comprehensibility of news broadcasts, Internet discussion boards as well as into discourse and discrimination illustrate this position. However, I also argue that there are salient limits to cognitive theories which have to be taken into account, specifically when proposing social change via rational/cognitive insights. Examples from recent political debates on immigration and from the election campaign in the US in 2004 serve to emphasize these arguments.
Children’s practices and their connections with ‘mind’
Authors: Wootton Anthony J.
Published: February 2006

In the context of two examples from child conversation the author exemplifies the kinds of attributional process that can be uncovered through detailed examination of interaction. Although these processes implicate an orientation to psychological states by the child their specification does not depend on claims regarding the child’s cognitive processes. Nevertheless this specification can have a bearing on the adequacy of theories of cognitive processes, by (for example) locating competences that such theories should be able to account for. These issues are related to research on ‘theory of mind’, discursive psychology and Vygotskyan psychology.
From ordinary resources to extraordinary performance: environmental moderators of competitive advantage
Authors: Branzei Oana , Thornhill Stewart
Published: February 2006

This study offers new insights into the context-contingent origins of attainable competitive advantage.We investigate how human capital pools and specialized training enable firms to extract superior margins from adopted information technology resources under different environmental contingencies. Using longitudinal survey data from a large and representative sample of manufacturing firms, we find that: first, specialized training for the users of adopted information technologies consistently promotes above-average increases in firmlevel performance; second, human capital endowments do not contribute to attained advantage directly, but significantly enhance the performance gains derived from specialized training in low munificence and technologically complex environments; and third, in munificent or technologically simple settings, investments in specialized training are associated with comparable performance gains for adopters with above-average and below-average human capital endowments.
Why do firms make and buy? Efficiency, appropriability and competition in the trucking industry
Authors: He Daifeng , Nickerson Jack A.
Published: February 2006

Most literature examining firms’ make and buy decisions fails to explore when firms use both governance structures for similar transactions. We examine this phenomenon in the trucking industry, where it is common for a carrier to use both employee drivers and outsourcing at the same time. We argue that efficiency, appropriability and competition concerns lead carriers to organize on a haul-by-haul basis.We empirically examine our theory using a unique data from a small trucking firm in St Louis, MO, and find broad support for our hypotheses.We also discuss the possibility of alternative explanations of market power, capacity constraint, agency theory and property right theory for the use of make and buy. We conclude that these theories do not explain this phenomenon in the trucking industry. Thus, we conclude that it is the interaction of efficiency, appropriability and competition concerns that drive the decision to make and buy in the trucking industry.We further postulate that these concerns can manifest themselves in other industries, suggesting that our theory has applicability beyond trucking.
Harnessing the Immune System Against Human Glioma
Authors: DHODAPKAR KAVITA M. , BANERJEE DEVI , STEINMAN RALPH M.
Published: February 2006

Abstract: Our studies are directed toward immune resistance to glial tumors, particularly in children. Initial experiments indicate that it is possible to boost both innate natural killer T lymphocytes and adaptive CD4+ and CD8+ T cells by targeting the appropriate antigens to dendritic cells. Our hypothesis is that optimal vaccination approaches against cancer will need to recruit both innate and adaptive defense mechanisms.
Manipulating the Local Tumor Microenvironment with Poxviruses Expressing Costimulatory Molecules
Authors: KAUFMAN HOWARD L.
Published: February 2006

Abstract: The identification of tumor‐associated antigens and new insights into the molecular and cellular basis of tumor immunology have generated a variety of vaccine strategies. Although promising in animal models, data from early‐phase clinical trials have not been encouraging. These studies have documented the ability of vaccines to prime T cells, but these responses have not correlated with therapeutic effectiveness. Because the location of T‐cell activation and effector activity may impact T‐cell function significantly, attention has been placed on the tumor microenvironment. There is now evidence that T‐cell responses may be altered in the setting of established tumor growth. To alter the balance between local immune responses and tumor growth, a vaccine regimen using direct intratumoral delivery of poxvirus vaccines expressing costimulatory molecules was developed. An initial series of clinical trials has documented the safety profile of this approach and has suggested that local and systemic immunity can be induced. Herein, we review the general rationale for this approach, discuss the results of ongoing clinical trials, and highlight critical questions that can be addressed in well‐designed preclinical and clinical studies.
The Challenge of Analyzing the Proteome in Humans with Autoimmune Diseases
Authors: CHAN STEVEN M. , UTZ PAUL J.
Published: February 2006

Abstract: Analysis of blood samples from patients suffering from autoimmune diseases remains a mainstay in the clinic for initial diagnosis, prognostication, and clinical decision making. In particular, testing for the presence of serum autoantibodies has proved to be one of the most useful confirmatory assays for many different diseases. Recent genomic and transcript profiling studies have implicated certain cytokines, surface receptors, signaling pathways, and cell types in the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases. The next obvious step is to delve into the much more complex level that follows the genome and transcriptome—the expressed proteome. This review focuses on several proteomics technologies being applied and/or developed by our laboratory for the study of autoimmunity, cancer, and cardiovascular disease, all of which are known to be associated with defects in immunity and inflammation. The findings of other participants in the recent Human Immunology Conference hosted by the Dana Foundation and the New York Academy of Sciences (May 17 & 18, 2005) are included. In particular, major pitfalls in the study of the human proteome are pointed out, and important areas for immediate investigation to move the field forward as rapidly as possible are proposed.
Regulation of Acquired Immunity by γδ T‐Cell/Dendritic‐Cell Interactions
Authors: SHRESTHA NIRAJ , IDA JAMES A. , LUBINSKI A. STEVEN , PALLIN MARIA , KAPLAN GILLA , HASLETT PATRICK A.J.
Published: February 2006

Abstract: In humans, innate immune recognition of mycobacteria, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium leprae, involves toll‐like receptor‐2 (TLR‐2), expressed on immature dendritic cells (DCs), and the T‐cell γδ receptor expressed by a subpopulation of T cells that utilize Vδ2 (Vδ2 T cells). To investigate modulatory relationships between these host‐cell populations in a microbial context, in vitro experiments were performed with human DCs and Vδ2 T cells stimulated with model TLR‐2 ligands and phosphoantigens, respectively. We observed that TLR‐2‐stimulated DCs enhanced interferon‐γ (IFN‐γ) production by Vδ2 T cells; conversely, activated Vδ2 T cells enhanced TLR‐2‐induced DC maturation via soluble factors including IFN‐γ, which costimulated interleukin‐12 (IL‐12) p70 secretion by DCs. Exposure of DCs to activated Vδ2 T cells was critical for Th1 T‐cell priming when TLR‐2 stimulation was limiting. These results suggest that Vδ2 T cells may play an adjuvant role in priming protective antimycobacterial immunity when TLR‐2 stimulation is lacking, as may occur if the infectious inoculum is small, or if the pathogen is an intrinsically weak activator of DCs.
TLR1 and TLR6 Polymorphisms Are Associated with Susceptibility to Invasive Aspergillosis after Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation
Authors: KESH SANDRA , MENSAH NANA YAA , PETERLONGO PAOLO , JAFFE DANA , HSU KATHARINE , VAN DEN BRINK MARCEL , O'REILLY RICHARD , PAMER ERIC , SATAGOPAN JAYA , PAPANICOLAOU G. A.
Published: February 2006

Abstract: Toll‐like receptors (TLRs) transmit signals in response to Aspergillus fumigatus conidia and hyphae. In this preliminary study, we examined the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in TLR1, TLR4, and TLR6 genes and development of invasive aspergillosis (IA) in 127 allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients consisting of 22 patients with IA and 105 unaffected control subjects. The following SNPs and their pairwise interactions were considered in the model: TLR1 (239G > C, 743A > G, 914A > T, 1805G > T), TLR4 (896A > G, 1196C > T), and TLR6 (359T > C, 745C > T, 764C > T). No association was found between donor SNP and the risk of IA. Analysis of recipient SNP data showed that the presence of TLR1 239G > C (Arg80 > Thr) or the presence of both TLR1 743A > G (Asn248 > Ser) and TLR6 745C > T (Ser249 > Pro) is associated with IA (odds ratio = 1.30, 95% confidence interval = 1.13 to 1.50; P < .001). Further analyses using a prospective cohort may enable us to identify TLR polymorphisms associated with the susceptibility to IA within a defined interval among immunocompromised patients.
Autoantigens: The Critical Partner in Initiating and Propagating Systemic Autoimmunity
Authors: DUAN‐PORTER WEI D. , CASCIOLA‐ROSEN LIVIA , ROSEN ANTONY
Published: February 2006

Abstract: The increasing recognition that cancer is frequently associated with an autoantibody response, and observations that systemic autoimmunity is sometimes associated with the diagnosis of a variety of malignancies (many detected near the onset of autoimmune disease), strongly underscore a potential mechanistic connection between cancer immunity and systemic autoimmunity. Accumulating data suggest that autoantigens are critical partners in driving the autoimmune response. Futhermore, unique changes in antigen expression and conformation in the immunizing tumor and the target tissue may play a role in antigen selection and ongoing damage. This construct has important implications for disgnosis, monitoring, and treatment of autoimmunity and, potentially, cancer immunotherapy.
Evaluation of Topoisomerase‐1‐Specific CD8+ T‐Cell Response in Systemic Sclerosis
Authors: BOIN FRANCESCO , WIGLEY FREDRICK M. , SCHNECK JONATHAN P. , OELKE MATHIAS , ROSEN ANTONY
Published: February 2006

Abstract: Measurement of disease activity in systemic autoimmune disorders is often unreliable, and immunosuppressive therapy is often titrated to crude clinical response and/or onset of complications. Systemic sclerosis (SSc) presents a distinct clinical phenotype associated with specific autoantibodies. Anti‐topoisomerase‐1 (SCL‐70) is selectively detected in 30‐60% of subjects with diffuse skin and interstitial lung involvement. Such patients offer an ideal clinical model to characterize and quantify the autoantigen‐specific T‐cell response and its correlation with disease phenotype and activity. Human leukocyte antigen A2 (HLA‐A2)‐restricted topo‐1 peptides were selected based on an epitope prediction algorithm. For initial studies, the best binder topo‐1262‐270 KMLDHEYTT (#262) was used alone or loaded onto an artificial antigen‐presenting platform generated by coupling a dimeric major histocompatibility complex‐immunoglobulin G fusion protein (HLA‐A2‐Ig) and anti‐CD28 antibodies onto magnetic beads (artificial antigen‐presenting cells). Blood samples (100 μL) from HLA‐A2+ SSc patients and cytomegalovirus (CMV) seropositive healthy control subjects were tested in an intracellular cytokine staining assay. Gamma interferon production by CD8+ T cells was measured after stimulation with peptide #262, CMVpp65, or MART‐1 (irrelevant peptide). In two of five SCL‐70+ patients, peptide #262‐loaded aAPCs induced a specific CD8+ T‐cell response (0.45%± 0.23% of total CD8+ cells). This response was not observed in the seven SCL‐70− (five SSc and two CMV+) control subjects studied (0.03%± 0.02%). Interestingly, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid obtained from one topo‐1‐responsive SSc patient who had worsening respiratory function and active alveolitis showed striking enrichment of topo‐1‐specific CD8+ T cells (3.94%). This small‐volume ex vivo assay may prove to be a sensitive and specific tool to assess disease activity and to monitor response to therapy in patients with scleroderma.
B‐Cell Tolerance Checkpoints in Healthy Humans and Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
Authors: YURASOV SERGEY , HAMMERSEN JOHANNA , TILLER THOMAS , TSUIJI MAKOTO , WARDEMANN HEDDA
Published: February 2006

Abstract: Antibodies are protective effector molecules in the body's immune defense against pathogens. However, if directed against the body's own tissues or organs, antibodies can also play a role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune disease. Here, we discuss our data on how autoreactive antibodies are regulated in healthy humans and how a failure to establish self‐tolerance during early B‐cell development in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus may predispose to the development of this autoimmune disease.
Costimulatory Pathways in Rheumatoid Synovitis and T‐Cell Senescence
Authors: GORONZY JÖRG J. , HENEL GABRIELLA , SAWAI HIROKAZU , SINGH KARNAIL , LEE EUN BONG , PRYSHCHEP SERGEY , WEYAND CORNELIA M.
Published: February 2006

Abstract: The pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is determined by a complex interaction of genetic and environmental factors. Of all risk factors, age has the largest impact. RA occurs most often during the postmenopausal period of life, with incidence rates peaking in the eighth decade. While age is generally accepted as an etiologic factor for failure of immunocompetence, much less is understood about the role of T‐cell senescence in autoimmunity. We have hypothesized that senescent T cells are particularly prone to be activated in specialized microenvironments, such as the synovial membrane. CD4 T cells in the senescence program were identified by the loss of CD28. Gene expression profiling documented that CD28− T cells have acquired a spectrum of regulatory receptors that are usually seen only on NK cells. Such regulatory receptors include stimulatory and inhibitory members of the killer immunoglobulin‐like receptor (KIR) family, the stimulatory c‐type lectin receptor NKG2D, and CX3CR1, the receptor for the chemokine fractalkine. Synovial fibroblasts express the relevant ligands, thus providing stimulatory signals to tissue‐infiltrating T cells. The signaling pathways of these regulatory receptors are complex and dependent on the individual T cells, some of which express important adapter molecules such as DAP10 and DAP12. Inhibitory KIRs on T cells are often only partially functional. Our data suggest that, by virtue of altered receptor profiles, conventional tolerance mechanisms can be evaded in the aging host. By acquiring a new set of regulatory receptors, senescent CD4 T cells become responsive to novel environmental cues and find ideal stimulatory conditions in the synovial microenvironment.
Vascular Dendritic Cells in Giant Cell Arteritis
Authors: WEYAND CORNELIA M. , MA‐KRUPA WEI , PRYSHCHEP OLGA , GRÖSCHEL STEFAN , BERNARDINO ROBERTO , GORONZY JÖRG J.
Published: February 2006

Abstract: Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a granulomatous vasculitis that selectively targets medium‐sized and large arteries, especially the cranial branches of the aorta. The inflammatory activity of vascular lesions is driven by adaptive immune responses, with CD4 T cells undergoing clonal expansion in the vessel wall and releasing interferon γ. Recent studies have described a distinctive population of dendritic cells (DCs) localized at the adventitia‐media border of normal medium‐sized arteries that appear to play a critical role in the initiation of vasculitis. Immune effector functions of this DC population are being examined in human artery‐severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mouse chimeras. In their constitutive form, CD11c+ fascin+ adventitial DCs are not recognized by alloreactive T cells. Triggering with Toll‐like receptor (TLR) ligands is sufficient to break this state of tolerance and initiate DC activation, T‐cell recruitment, T‐cell activation, and T‐cell retention in the arterial wall. Systemic administration of ligands for TLR2 or ‐4 in human artery‐SCID chimeras drives differentiation of adventitial DCs into chemokine‐producing effector cells with high‐level expression of both CD83 and CD86 and mediates T‐cell regulatory function through release of interleukin 18. In established vasculitis, fully matured DCs retain antigen‐presenting function; antibody‐mediated DC depletion disrupts T‐cell and macrophage activation and has marked anti‐inflammatory effects. We conclude that adventitial DCs, an indigenous cell population of the arterial wall, are responsive to pathogen‐derived macromolecules and have gatekeeper function in regulating T‐cell recruitment and retention to the arterial adventitia. A switch of adventitial DCs from being nonstimulatory to T‐cell activating emerges as a critical event in the initiation of vasculitis.
Pathogenic T‐Cell Recruitment into the Airway in Human Disease
Authors: MEDOFF BENJAMIN D. , THOMAS SEDDON Y. , BANERJI ALEENA , WAIN JOHN C. , ZHANG HUI , LILLY CRAIG M. , GINNS LEO C. , LUSTER ANDREW D.
Published: February 2006

Abstract: Effector T cells significantly contribute to inflammatory diseases. These cells are recruited into tissue, where they orchestrate an inflammatory response that can either protect against infection or sometimes stimulate human disease. The recruitment of T cells into tissue from the blood and lymphoid compartments is an active process controlled by chemokines and the chemokine receptors expressed on distinct effector T‐cell subsets. Thus, the chemokines secreted in the tissue will determine the specific types of T lymphocyte recruited into that tissue based on the chemokine receptors expressed on these cells. It follows that the chemokine receptor profile on T cells isolated from the lungs of patients with inflammatory pulmonary disease will define the subtype of pathogenic T lymphocytes mediating the disease process and will identify the mechanisms that recruit these cells into the lung. This article reviews data from both human and animal studies that define the chemokine receptors involved in the recruitment of T lymphocytes into the lung in various inflammatory pulmonary diseases, including asthma, obliterative bronchiolitis, sarcoidosis, and chronic eosinophilic pneumonia. We then speculate on the potential role of these chemokine receptors in the pathogenesis of these disorders and potential novel therapeutic approaches suggested by these data.
The Metabolic Syndrome Is Associated with Reduced Central Serotonergic Responsivity in Healthy Community Volunteers
Authors: Muldoon Matthew F. , Mackey Rachel H. , Korytkowski Mary T. , Flory Janine D. , Pollock Bruce G. , Manuck Stephen B.
Published: February 2006

Context: The pathobiology of the metabolic syndrome remains unclear. The central nervous system is likely to be involved via regulation of eating, physical activity, blood pressure, and metabolism.

Objective: The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that low central serotonergic activity is associated with the metabolic syndrome.

Design, Setting, Participants: This was a cross-sectional study of 345 healthy community volunteers, aged 30–55 yr, not taking medications for hypertension, lipid disorders, or diabetes.

Outcome Measures: Central serotonergic responsivity was assessed with the iv citalopram challenge test. The serum prolactin area under the curve (AUC) over 150 min was calculated, and all analyses were adjusted for age, sex, plasma citalopram concentration, and baseline prolactin. The metabolic syndrome was defined according to the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) and International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria. Insulin resistance was estimated by homeostasis model assessment.

Results: Compared with other individuals, persons meeting either NCEP or IDF criteria for the metabolic syndrome had lower mean prolactin responses (P < 0.05 for both). Using logistic regression, a decrease in prolactin AUC of 1 sd (−13.6 ng/ml·h) more than doubled the odds of having the metabolic syndrome (NCEP criteria: odds ratio, 2.38; 95% confidence interval, 1.14–4.97; P = 0.02; IDF criteria: odds ratio, 2.80; 95% confidence interval, 1.48–5.30; P = 0.002). Finally, the prolactin AUC was negatively associated with insulin resistance (β = −0.03, P = 0.02).

Conclusions: Corroborating previous evidence, the metabolic syndrome was associated with diminished brain serotonergic activity as reflected in a comparative blunting of the prolactin response to a selective serotonergic challenge. This association may have implications for the etiology, prevention, and treatment of the metabolic syndrome.
Low Serum Thyrotropin Is Associated with High Plasma Fibrinogen
Authors: Dörr Marcus , Robinson Daniel M. , Wallaschofski Henri , Schwahn Christian , John Ulrich , Felix Stephan B. , Völzke Henry
Published: February 2006

Background: Elevated plasma fibrinogen levels are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events. Decreased serum TSH predicts vascular mortality, which hypothetically could be explained in part by alterations in the blood coagulation system.

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the association between thyroid function and plasma fibrinogen levels in a general population.

Design: The population-based Study of Health in Pomerania was performed in a previously iodine-deficient area in Germany, including 4310 subjects, aged 20–79 yr. Data for 3804 individuals without thyroid disease were analyzed. Analysis revealed an association between thyroid function status and plasma fibrinogen concentration.

Results: Elevated fibrinogen levels (>3.25 g/liter) were observed in 14 subjects with increased serum TSH levels (32.6%), 973 euthyroid subjects (28.9%), 158 subjects with decreased serum TSH levels (40.7%), and six individuals with overt hyperthyroidism (54.4%). Logistic regression analysis revealed decreased serum TSH as an independent risk factor for elevated fibrinogen levels (odds ratio, 1.42; 95% confidence interval, 1.12–1.80).

Conclusions: Thyroid function is associated with plasma fibrinogen. Decreased serum TSH is an independent risk factor for elevated plasma fibrinogen levels as a possible explanation for the high cardiovascular mortality among affected subjects.
Insulin Resistance in Human Preeclamptic Placenta Is Mediated by Serine Phosphorylation of Insulin Receptor Substrate-1 and -2
Authors: Scioscia Marco , Gumaa Khalid , Kunjara Sirilaksana , Paine Malcolm A. , Selvaggi Luigi E. , Rodeck Charles H. , Rademacher Thomas W.
Published: February 2006

Context: Preeclampsia is a severe complication of human pregnancy often associated with maternal risk factors. Insulin resistance represents a major risk for developing preeclampsia during pregnancy.

Objective: A putative second messenger of insulin, inositol phosphoglycan P type (P-IPG), was previously shown to be highly increased during active preeclampsia. Its association with insulin resistance was investigated.

Design and Setting: A cross-sectional study was carried out in a referral center.

Patients: Nine preeclamptic (PE) and 18 healthy women were recruited and matched for maternal age, body mass index, parity, and ethnicity in a 1:2 ratio. Placental specimens were collected immediately after delivery.

Intervention: Placental tissue was incubated with insulin and P-IPG production assessed. Insulin signaling proteins were subsequently studied by immunoblotting.

Results: P-IPG extracted from human term placentas upon incubation with insulin was found to be far lower in those with preeclampsia than controls (P < 0.001). Immunoblotting studies revealed serine phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate-1 and -2 in PE placentas (P < 0.001) with downstream impairment of insulin signaling. The activation of the p85 regulatory subunit of phosphatidylinositol 3- kinase was markedly decreased in PE samples (P < 0.001).

Conclusions: These findings highlight the importance of P-IPG in active preeclampsia and demonstrate a substantially different response to the insulin stimulus of human PE placentas. Acquired alterations in activation of proteins involved in insulin signaling may play a role in the complex pathogenesis of preeclampsia, probably as a consequence of the immunological dysfunction that occurs in this syndrome. These results seem to confirm an insulin-resistant state in PE placenta and shed a different light on its role in the pathogenesis of this disease with potential therapeutic implications.
Estrogen-Metabolizing Enzymes in Breast Cancers from Women over the Age of 80 Years
Authors: Honma Naoko , Takubo Kaiyo , Sawabe Motoji , Arai Tomio , Akiyama Futoshi , Sakamoto Goi , Utsumi Toshiaki , Yoshimura Noriko , Harada Nobuhiro
Published: February 2006

Context: Aromatase, steroid sulfatase, and 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (HSD-1) peripherally up-regulate, whereas estrogen sulfotransferase (EST) and HSD-2 down-regulate, the synthesis of active and more potent estrogens. These estrogen-metabolizing enzymes (EMEs) are important in postmenopausal breast cancers, but have never been systematically examined in breast cancers of the elderly.

Objective and Design: mRNA levels of EMEs in cancerous and normal breast tissues from 39 elderly patients (age, 80–99 yr) were compared with those from 39 controls (age, 37–70 yr) or compared according to estrogen (ER)/progesterone (PR) receptor status.

Results: Aromatase levels were higher in cancers of the elderly (EldCa) than in normal tissue of the elderly (P = 0.0008) or cancers of controls (P = 0.0033). In contrast, levels of steroid sulfatase and EST were higher in cancers of controls than normal tissue of controls (P = 0.0046 and P < 0.0001, respectively) or EldCa (P = 0.0001 and P < 0.0001, respectively). Levels of HSD-1 and HSD-2 did not differ significantly between any two of the categories. Among EldCa, HSD-1 levels were higher in ER/PR-positive than in ER/PR-negative carcinomas, whereas EST and HSD-2 exhibited opposite results.

Conclusions: The importance of aromatase is relatively increased in EldCa. ER/PR-positive EldCa exhibited a pattern of EMEs more beneficial to the production of estrogen than did ER/PR-negative EldCa. The specific pattern exhibited in EldCa may elucidate the role of EMEs in the absence of ovarian estrogens in the pathogenesis of breast cancer.
REVIEW: Efficacy and Mechanisms of Action of Statins in the Treatment of Diabetic Dyslipidemia
Authors: Ginsberg Henry N.
Published: February 2006

Context: The Adult Treatment Panel III recommends 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors, or statins, as first-line lipid-altering therapy for all adult patients with diabetes mellitus. This is based on the well-characterized efficacy and safety profiles of this class of agents as well as several clinical trials demonstrating that statin treatment reduces the risk of cardiovascular events.

Evidence Acquisition: This review provides an overview of the effectiveness and mechanisms of action of statins in patients with diabetes mellitus using small efficacy trials and large clinical outcomes trials as well as studies of the effects of statins on apolipoprotein B (apoB) metabolism.

Evidence Synthesis: The major findings presented are a review of mechanistic studies of selected subjects with diabetes mellitus and dyslipidemia and a compilation of results from large-scale clinical trials of patients with diabetes.

Conclusions: Statins are highly efficacious as low-density lipoprotein cholesterol-lowering agents and have more modest effects on very low-density lipoprotein triglyceride and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. The effects of statins on plasma lipids and lipoproteins result from their ability to both increase the efficiency with which very low-density lipoprotein and low-density lipoprotein are cleared from the circulation and reduce the production of apoB-containing lipoproteins by the liver. Additional investigations are needed to clarify the mechanisms by which statins reduce apoB secretion from the liver.
The Prospective and Retrospective Memory Questionnaire (PRMQ): Latent structure, normative data and discrepancy analysis for proxy‐ratings
Authors: Crawford John R. , Henry Julie D. , Ward Aileen L. , Blake John
Published: February 2006

Objectives.To evaluate the proxy‐rating version of the Prospective and Retrospective Memory Questionnaire (PRMQ) and provide norms and methods for score interpretation.

Design.Cross‐sectional and correlational.

Methods.The PRMQ was administered to a large sample drawn from the general adult population (N=570). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to test competing models of its latent structure. Various psychometric methods were applied to provide clinicians with tools for score interpretation.

Results.The CFA model with optimal fit specified a general memory factor together with additional prospective and retrospective factors. The reliabilities of the PRMQ were acceptable (.83 to .92), and demographic variables did not influence ratings. Tables are presented for conversion of raw scores on the Total scale and Prospective and Retrospective scales toTscores. In addition, tables are provided to allow users to assess the reliability and abnormality of differences between proxy ratings on the Prospective and Retrospective scales. Finally, tables are also provided to compare proxy‐ratings with self‐ratings (using data from the present sample and self‐rating data from a previous study).

Conclusions.The proxy‐rating version of the PRMQ provides a useful measure of everyday memory for use in clinical research and practice.
Paranoia and emotion perception across the continuum
Authors: Combs Dennis R. , Michael Christopher O. , Penn David L.
Published: February 2006

Objectives. Persons with high levels of paranoid ideation may be more sensitive to emotional stimuli, particularly negative emotions, reflecting the operation of a paranoid schema. However, this finding has not been consistently supported and needs further study. This study examined the effect of paranoia, as measured on a continuum, on emotion perception. It was predicted that higher levels of paranoia would be associated with improved emotion perception scores with better recognition for negative emotions than positive.

Design. A four‐group ANOVA design was used to compare participants with clinical and sub‐clinical paranoia to reflect the continuum view of paranoia.

Methods. A group with persecutory delusions (N=30) was compared with three sub‐clinical groups (N=88) on two posed emotion perception tasks. The sub‐clinical participants were divided into high, moderate, and low groups based on scores from the Paranoia Scale, a widely used measure of sub‐clinical paranoia.

Results. Persons with persecutory delusions had lower overall emotion perception scores than all of the sub‐clinical groups. For negative emotions, persons with persecutory delusions had lower identification scores than the moderate and low sub‐clinical groups, but were no different than the high sub‐clinical group. Anger was especially problematic for clinical participants. There were no differences for positive emotions.

Conclusions. Instead of an enhanced sensitivity for the recognition of emotional states, higher levels of paranoia were linked to a performance deficit on emotion perception tasks. The deficits in emotion perception may reflect the increased skepticism and scrutiny associated with posed emotion tasks (Davis & Gibson, 2000). Research should begin to focus on the underlying mechanisms of emotion perception deficits in paranoia.
Does personalized feedback improve the outcome of cognitive‐behavioural guided self‐care in bulimia nervosa? A preliminary randomized controlled trial
Authors: Schmidt Ulrike , Landau Sabine , Pombo‐Carril Maria Guadelupe , Bara‐Carril Nuria , Reid Yael , Murray Kathryn , Treasure Janet , Katzman Melanie
Published: February 2006

Objectives: Feedback has long been a part of psychosocial and health behaviour interventions and with the advent of computerised assessment and treatment tools, is gaining greater importance. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the addition of personalized feedback to a guided cognitive‐behavioural (CBT) self‐help programme for patients with bulimia nervosa.

Design: Randomised‐controlled trial.

Method: 61 patients with DSM‐IV bulimia nervosa or eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS) were randomly allocated to receive 14 sessions of cognitive behavioural guided self‐care with or without added personalised feedback on current physical and psychological status, risk and problems, and variables facilitating or hindering change. Feedback to patients was delivered in a number of ways: (a) personalised letters after assessment and at the end of treatment, (b) a specially designed feedback form administered half‐way through treatment, (c) computerised feedback about bulimic and other symptoms, such as anxiety, depression and interpersonal functioning repeated at intervals throughout treatment and follow‐up.

Results: Outcome was assessed using patient‐rated measures of bulimic symptoms at the end of treatment and at 6‐month follow‐up. The data were analysed using maximum likelihood methods of assess group differences at the follow‐up. Added feedback did not have an effect on take‐up or drop‐out from treatment. However, it improved outcome by reducing self‐induced vomiting and dietary restriction more effectively.

Conclusions: The findings lend support to the notion that the addition of repeated personalised feedback improves outcome from guided CBT self‐help treatment and deserves further study.
Intrusive experiences and hyperarousal in acute stress disorder
Authors: Hopwood Sally , Bryant Richard A.
Published: February 2006

Objective: This study investigated the relationship between hyperarousal, intrusions, and dissociative experiences in acute stress disorder (ASD).

Method: Trauma survivors with ASD (n=30) and without ASD (n=30) completed either a hyperventilation provocation test (HVPT) or a non‐hyperventilating control procedure whilst monitoring intrusive experiences. Participants then completed the Physical Reactions Scale and the Peritraumatic Dissociative Experiences Questionnaire.

Results: Whereas the hyperventilation procedure resulted in an increase in the number of intrusions for ASD participants, the hyperventilation procedure resulted in a decrease in the number of intrusions for non‐ASD participants. Contrary to expectations, there was no differences in dissociative reactions across group or condition.

Conclusions: These findings provide evidence that intrusive phenomenon are directly associated with elevated states of arousal for individuals with ASD.
How Regulatory Fit Affects Value in Consumer Choices and Opinions
Authors: Avnet Tamar , Higgins E. Tory
Published: February 2006

Regulatory fit occurs when the manner of peoples' engagement in an activity sustains their current goal orientation or concerns with that activity. It is proposed that regulatory fit changes the significance of consumers' reactions to something, including the perceived monetary value of a choice they have made or the persuasiveness of a message they have received. When there is a fit, people engage more strongly in and “feel right” about what they are doing, and subsequent evaluative reactions (positive or negative) can be intensified by this fit experience. The fit experience is shown to influence the strength of value experiences independent of hedonic experiences. The authors discuss how the fit effect on value is distinct from other factors that affect value, such as relevancy, matching, hedonic mood, and arousal. Using prior research on this topic, this article summarizes the current state of knowledge about how fit influences value and offers new ideas for further research.
How Customer Self-Determination Influences Relational Marketing Outcomes: Evidence from Longitudinal Field Studies
Authors: Dholakia Utpal M.
Published: February 2006

This article examines the role of customers' self-determination, defined as a person's perception of joining a firm on his or her own initiative versus being induced to join, in influencing relational outcomes for firms. In the first two studies, the author finds evidence of more relational behaviors (Studies 1 and 2) and higher motivation levels regarding purchase (Study 2) among self-determined (versus firm-determined) customers. This article also examines how customers' self-determination interacts with two types of relational marketing programs: reminder coupons, which consumers view as relatively more controlling, and relational rewards, which they view as relatively more informative of their value to the firm. The results reveal that sending a stylized reminder coupon to encourage repeat purchase has negative effects (Study 3) and that automatic enrollment in a relational rewards program has positive effects on relational behaviors of self-determined customers (Study 4). Firm-determined customers are less influenced by rewards in both cases. These findings question the effectiveness of aggressive acquisition and reminder marketing programs in cultivating customer relationships, provide a straightforward way to identify attractive relational candidates in consumer settings, and suggest methods by which to (and how not to) market to self-determined consumers.
The Goal-Gradient Hypothesis Resurrected: Purchase Acceleration, Illusionary Goal Progress, and Customer Retention
Authors: Kivetz Ran , Urminsky Oleg , Zheng Yuhuang
Published: February 2006

The goal-gradient hypothesis denotes the classic finding from behaviorism that animals expend more effort as they approach a reward. Building on this hypothesis, the authors generate new propositions for the human psychology of rewards. They test these propositions using field experiments, secondary customer data, paper-and-pencil problems, and Tobit and logit models. The key findings indicate that (1) participants in a real café reward program purchase coffee more frequently the closer they are to earning a free coffee; (2) Internet users who rate songs in return for reward certificates visit the rating Web site more often, rate more songs per visit, and persist longer in the rating effort as they approach the reward goal; (3) the illusion of progress toward the goal induces purchase acceleration (e.g., customers who receive a 12-stamp coffee card with 2 preexisting “bonus” stamps complete the 10 required purchases faster than customers who receive a “regular” 10-stamp card); and (4) a stronger tendency to accelerate toward the goal predicts greater retention and faster reengagement in the program. The conceptualization and empirical findings are captured by a parsimonious goal-distance model, in which effort investment is a function of the proportion of original distance remaining to the goal. In addition, using statistical and experimental controls, the authors rule out alternative explanations for the observed goal gradients. They discuss the theoretical significance of their findings and the managerial implications for incentive systems, promotions, and customer retention.
Book Reviews
Authors: Schim Stephanie Myers
Published: February 2006

Code Green: Money‐Driven Hospitals and the Dismantling of Nursing. Dana Beth Weinberg. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2003.
Book Reviews
Authors: Johnson Leslie
Published: February 2006

Confronting the Occupation: Work, Education, and Political Activism of Palestinian Families in. Refugee Camp. Maya Rosenfeld. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2004.
Visual Review
Authors: Kingsolver Ann
Published: February 2006

Razing Appalachia. Sasha Waters, director. Sasha Waters (Room 135 Productions), producer. 55 min. Color, with b/w newsreel footage. PA: Bullfrog Films, 2003.
Resources and Rebels: A Study of Identity Management in Indian Call Centers
Authors: Krishnamurthy Mathangi
Published: February 2006

This article is an ethnographic study of Indian call center employees, seeking to determine the effects that these jobs have on their identities as Indians as well as consumers and citizens of the global economy. It engages with the large, skilled, cost‐effective, English‐speaking workforce in this industry in India to explore and nuance dichotomous media discourses of emancipation and regression and to place identity formation within these constructions. The article investigates call centers as specific urban imaginaries, which while indicative of strategies of globalization are also local specificities creating and fostering subjectivities encompassing a particular moment in the trajectory of economic liberalization in India. The discussion is anchored by the insistence on an urban reality that inscribes global capital in tension, collusion and coalition with the microcosmic practices of the local.