bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Organic mound‐building ants: their impact on soil properties in temperate and boreal forests
Authors: Jurgensen M. F. , Finér L. , Domisch T. , Kilpeläinen J. , Punttila P. , Ohashi M. , Niemelä P. , Sundström L. , Neuvonen S. , Risch A. C.
Published: April 2008

Ants are important components of most soil invertebrate communities, and can affect the flow of energy, nutrients and water through many terrestrial ecosystems. The vast majority of ant species build nests in the mineral soil, but a small group of ants in temperate and boreal forests of Eurasia and North America build large parts of their nests above‐ground using organic materials collected from the surrounding soil. Many studies have shown that ants nesting in mineral soil can affect water infiltration rates, soil organic matter (OM) content, and nutrient cycling, but much less is known on how mound‐building ants influence soil physical and chemical properties. In this paper we summarize what is known on the soil impacts of organic mound‐building ants in temperate and boreal forests, and how these ants could be affected by ecosystem disturbance and future climate change. Much of this information comes from studies onFormica rufagroup ants in Europe, which showed that CO2emissions and concentrations of C, N, and P are usually higher in ant mounds than in the surrounding forest soil. However, ant mounds are a minor component of total soil C and nutrient pools, but they do increase spatial heterogeneity of soil water and available nutrients. Mound‐building ants can also impact tree growth, which could change the quantity and quality of OM added to soil. Forest management, fire, and projected climate change, especially in boreal forests, could affect mound‐building ant population dynamics, and indirectly, soil properties.
Impact of Formica exsecta Nyl. on seed bank and vegetation patterns in a subalpine grassland ecosystem
Authors: Schütz M. , Kretz C. , Dekoninck L. , Iravani M. , Risch A. C.
Published: April 2008

The mound building ant Formica exsecta Nyl. is widely distributed in grassland ecosystems of the Central European Alps. We studied the impact of these ants on seed bank and vegetation patterns in a 11 ha subalpine grassland, where we counted over 700 active ant mounds. The mounds showed a distinct spatial distribution with most of them being located in tall‐grass, which was rarely visited by ungulates (red deer; Cervus elaphus L.). Heavily grazed short‐grass, in contrast, seemed to be completely avoided by ants as only few mounds were found in this vegetation type. The species composition of the ant mound and grassland seed banks was quite similar, i.e. from 15 common plant species 12 were found in both seed bank types. We found the same proportions of myrmecochorous seeds in ant mound and grassland soil samples. In contrast, the number of seeds was 15 times higher in mound compared with the grassland soil samples. Also, the vegetation growing on ant mounds significantly differed from the vegetation outside the mounds: graminoids dominated on ant mounds, herbaceous and myrmecochorous species in the grassland vegetation. We found significant continuous changes in vegetation composition on gradients from the ant mound centre to 1 m away from the mound edge. Overall, F. exsecta was found to have a considerable impact on seed bank and vegetation patterns in the grassland ecosystem studied. These insects not only altered grassland characteristics in the close surrounding of their mounds, but also seem to affect the entire ecosystem including, for example, the spatial use of the grassland by red deer.
A prospective and comparative cohort study on efficacy and drug resistance during long‐term lamivudine treatment for various stages of chronic hepatitis B and cirrhosis
Authors: Nishida Tomohiro , Kobashi Haruhiko , Fujioka Shin‐ichi , Fujio Kozo , Takaguchi Kouichi , Ikeda Hiroshi , Kawaguchi Mitsuhiko , Ando Masaharu , Araki Yasuyuki , Higashi Toshihiro , Shoji Bon , Takaki Akinobu , Iwasaki Yoshiaki , Sakaguchi Kohsaku , Shiratori Yasushi , Yamamoto Kazuhide
Published: April 2008

Background and Aims:  A prospective, non‐randomized cohort study on long‐term lamivudine treatment, comparing efficacy, drug resistance, and prognosis for various stages of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV)–related liver disease was performed to elucidate the significance and indication of lamivudine for individual patients at each stage of disease.

Methods:  A total of 158 cases consisting of 87 chronic hepatitis, 28 compensated cirrhosis, and 43 decompensated cirrhosis, with serum HBV‐DNA > 5 log10 copies/mL and with elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) over twice the upper normal limit or complications of hepatic insufficiency, were administered 100 mg of lamivudine daily and monitored for HBV markers, biochemistry, and prognosis.

Results:  Lamivudine reduced HBV‐DNA and ALT equally in all groups. Serum albumin, prothrombin time (%), and platelet count increased in all groups. The increased margin of albumin was the highest in the decompensated cirrhosis and higher in the compensated cirrhosis than the chronic hepatitis groups. Cumulative incidence of virologic breakthrough was 16%, 42%, 49%, and 53% at 12, 24, 36, and 48 months, respectively, and the strongest predictive factor for lamivudine resistance was persistent HBV‐DNA at 3 months. Ascites, encephalopathy, and jaundice improved in the majority of patients with decompensated cirrhosis. On the other hand, hepatic failure developed or deteriorated in 10 patients after virologic breakthrough, and nine of them had decompensated cirrhosis.

Conclusions:  Lamivudine was effective in reducing HBV‐DNA and improving hepatic reserve at all stages and was most beneficial and significant for decompensated cirrhosis. Meanwhile, close monitoring of viral load and immediate rescue treatment for lamivudine resistance is necessary to prevent hepatic failure in decompensated cirrhosis.
Diagnostic value of magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography for clinically suspicious spontaneous passage of bile duct stones
Authors: Sakai Yuji , Tsuyuguchi Toshio , Yukisawa Seigo , Tsuchiya Shin , Sugiyama Harutoshi , Miyakawa Kaoru , Ohara Tadashi , Ebara Masaaki , Miyazaki Masaru , Yokosuka Osamu
Published: April 2008

Background and Aim:  We investigated the usefulness of magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) and the need for endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in patients with clinically suspicious spontaneous passage of bile duct stones.

Methods:  The study population consisted of 113 patients suspected of having common duct bile stones. Of them, 50 patients were clinically suspected of spontaneous passage of bile duct stones based on the presence of gallbladder stones on ultrasound examination or a history of common bile duct stones after cholecystectomy, clinical symptoms including abdominal pain and fever associated with inflammatory reaction and marked rise of hepatobiliary enzymes which resolved or normalized after conservative treatment without evidence of stones in the common bile duct on MRCP. These 50 patients were prospectively followed up for a median of 10.2 months.

Results:  All patients except for one had had no symptoms related to cholangitis. Only one patient received ERCP due to recurrence of symptoms after 6 months.

Conclusion:  When clinical symptoms improve, hematological parameters normalize, and MRCP indicates that there are no stones in the common bile duct, it can be considered that the stones have passed naturally.
Early activation of mucosal dendritic cells and macrophages in acute Campylobacter colitis and cholera: An in vivo study
Authors: Pulimood Anna B , Ramakrishna Balakrishna S , Rita Arockiasamy B , Srinivasan Pattabiraman , Mohan Vivek , Gupta Sanjaykumar , Perakath Benjamin , Kang Gagandeep , Chandy George , Balasubramanian Kunnissery A
Published: April 2008

Background and Aim:  Macrophages and dendritic cells are closely related mononuclear phagocytic cells. Little is known about their in vivo role in acute intestinal bacterial infections in humans. We undertook to evaluate these cells in rectal mucosal biopsies of patients with acute colitis.

Methods:  All mucosal mononuclear phagocytic cells in rectal biopsies of patients with acute Campylobacter colitis (n = 5), shigellosis (n = 5), and cholera (n = 10) were evaluated ultrastructurally and compared with those in controls (n = 5).

Results:  Mononuclear phagocytic cells in the superficial rectal mucosa showed a higher prevalence of ultrastructural features of activation in Campylobacter colitis and cholera than in controls. A lower prevalence of features of activation with increased monocytes was seen in shigellosis. Cells with the ultrastructural morphology of activated dendritic cells constituted 41% and 45% of all mononuclear phagocytic cells in two of five patients with Campylobacter colitis and 4–22% of cells in four of 10 patients with cholera. Their presence in patients with Campylobacter colitis was associated with significant surface epithelial damage and prominent acute inflammatory changes in the mucosa.

Conclusions:  This is the first ultrastructural study to show activated macrophages and dendritic cells in vivo in acute Campylobacter colitis and cholera. Dendritic cell activation occurred early in the clinical course of these infections. Surface epithelial damage may play a role in the activation of dendritic cells.
Enhanced expression of mucin 6 glycoprotein in cholangiocarcinoma tissue from patients in Thailand as a prognostic marker for survival
Authors: Thuwajit Peti , Chawengrattanachot Watinee , Thuwajit Chanitra , Sripa Banchob , Paupairoj Anucha , Chau‐in Siri
Published: April 2008

Background and Aim:  Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a mucin‐producing cancer that has poor prognosis. Mucin 6 (MUC6) is a mucin that is normally co‐expressed with the trefoil factor family‐2 (TFF2) trefoil peptide. Both MUC6 and TFF2 have been reported to be involved in the progression of many types of cancers. The aim of this study was to determine the expression of MUC6 and TFF2 in CCA tissues and associate these results with clinical data.

Methods:  MUC6 and TFF2 were detected in CCA tissues by immunohistochemistry. The correlations of MUC6 and TFF2 expressions with clinical data were analyzed.

Results:  We determined the significant co‐expression of both proteins in serial CCA tissues. The high expressions of MUC6 and TFF2 were demonstrated in 37% and 31% of patients, respectively. The expression levels decreased in the advanced stage of CCA when clinical metastasis was exhibited. The high expression of either protein showed a correlation with prolonged postoperative survival time, but only a high expression of MUC6 is significantly correlated with a 5‐year survival rate. A multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that a low expression of MUC6, high expression of TFF2, age of patients >56 years, tumor size >5 cm, and poorly‐differentiated histological type were independent, poor prognostic indicators for CCA.

Conclusion:  MUC6 showed a good correlation with the survival of CCA patients. It may be of value to propose that MUC6 is a good prognostic marker for CCA management.
Gastroesophageal reflux disease in Asia: A condition in evolution
Authors: Ho Khek Yu
Published: April 2008

Widespread epidemiological changes, rising prevalence and gradual shifts in patterns of disease manifestations: this is the changing face of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in Asia. Are we witnessing a disease in evolution or merely the result of increased and more accurate case reporting that comes with advancing diagnostic technology, better medical facilities and heightened awareness of the disease? Do the figures reported really reflect the actual scenario or is there more to it than meets the eye? In this article, we take you back in time to review relevant developments over the past decade or so. We will draw on findings from across Asia, take an in‐depth look at prevailing trends and patterns and examine some of the most plausible explanations behind the dynamics of this epidemiological transition.
Current treatment of HIV/hepatitis B virus coinfection
Authors: Iser David M , Sasadeusz Joseph J
Published: April 2008

Coinfection with HIV and hepatitis B virus (HBV) has become a significant global health problem. Liver disease is now one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in individuals with HIV, particularly those with viral hepatitis. There are a number of agents available with dual activity against HIV and HBV, and effective treatment depends on understanding the potential advantages and pitfalls in using these agents. There are a number of unresolved issues in the management of HIV/HBV coinfection. These include the role of liver biopsy, the significance of normal aminotransferase levels, serum HBV DNA threshold for treatment, treatment end‐points, and the treatment of HBV when HIV does not yet require treatment. Treatment of HBV should be considered in individuals with HIV/HBV coinfection with evidence of significant fibrosis (≥F2), or with elevated serum HBV DNA levels (>2000 IU/mL). Sustained suppression of serum HBV DNA to below the level of detection by the most sensitive available assay should be the goal of therapy, and, at present, treatment of HBV in HIV/HBV coinfection is lifelong. If antiretroviral therapy is required, then two agents with anti‐HBV activity should be incorporated into the regimen. If antiretroviral therapy is not required, then the options are pegylated interferon, adefovir or the early introduction of antiretroviral therapy. Close monitoring is necessary to detect treatment failure or hepatic flares, such as immune reconstitution disease. Further studies of newer anti‐HBV agents in individuals HIV/HBV coinfection may advance treatment of this important condition.
Liver stem cells: A scientific and clinical perspective
Authors: Dan Yock Young , Yeoh George C
Published: April 2008

The promise of liver stem cells lie in their potential to provide a continual and readily available source of liver cells that can be used for gene therapy, cellular transplant, bioartificial liver‐assisted devices, drug toxicology testing and use as an in vitro model to understand the developmental biology of the liver. Both the rodent and human embryonic stem cell, bone marrow hematopoietic stem cell, mesenchymal stem cell, umbilical cord blood cell, fetal liver progenitor cell, adult liver progenitor cell as well as the mature hepatocyte have been reported to be capable of self‐renewal, giving rise to daughter hepatocytes both in vivo and in vitro. These cells can repopulate livers in animal models of liver injury and seemingly improve liver function. However, significant challenges still exist before these cells can be used in humans. These include lack of consensus in immunophenotype of liver progenitor cells, uncertainty of the physiological role of reported candidate stem/progenitor cell, practicality in obtaining sufficient quantity of cells for clinical use and concerns over ethics, long‐term efficacy and safety. Current molecular techniques of stem cell identification are confounded by cell fusion, horizontal gene transfer, incomplete differentiation and fetal microchimerism. Reports of stem cell transplantation and phase 1 trials of bone marrow transplantation in humans for liver diseases are exciting but require more robust verification. We review the evidence for various candidate stem cells, human clinical trials reported to date and highlight the challenges facing clinicians in their quest to use liver stem cells to save lives.
Columnar‐lined esophagus: Time to drop the eponym of “Barrett”: Historical review
Authors: Bani‐Hani Kamal E , Bani‐Hani Bayan K
Published: April 2008

There can be few medical conditions that have been surrounded by as much confusion about their definition or terminology as columnar‐lined esophagus (CLE); approximately 30 different terms and eponyms have been used to describe this condition. The history of this condition can be divided into five stages: (i) descriptive stage, 1906–1950; (ii) “argument” stage, 1950–1963; (iii) “significant” stage, 1963–1973; (iv) surveillance stage, 1973–1990; and (v) refined research stage, 1990–present. The use of the eponym “Barrett's” to describe CLE is not justified from a historical point of view. Lining of the lower esophagus by columnar epithelium was termed “Barrett's esophagus” after the presentation by Barrett in 1957. Although this finding has been attributed to Barrett, the work of others, including Tileston, Lortat‐Jacob, and Allison and Johnstone, preceded Barrett's description. The historical aspects of CLE were reviewed to show how little Norman Barrett had contributed to the core concept of this condition in comparison to the contributions of other investigators, particularly the contribution of Philip Allison. Based on many discussed historical facts, we are not in favor of retaining the term “Barrett's esophagus” and we propose that CLE be henceforth referred to as “columnar‐lined esophagus”.
Combination therapy of thymosin alpha‐1 and lamivudine for HBeAg positive chronic hepatitis B: A prospective randomized, comparative pilot study
Authors: Lee Hyun Woong , Lee Joung Il , Um Soon Ho , Ahn Sang Hoon , Chang Hye Young , Park Yong Kwang , Hong Sun Pyo , Moon Young Myoung , Han Kwang‐Hyub
Published: April 2008

Background and Aim:  Monotherapy of lamivudine, interferon‐alpha (IFN‐α), and thymosin alpha‐1 (Tα1) is unlikely to be sufficient for the eradication of a chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. The aim of our study is to elucidate whether the combination of Tα1 and lamivudine is superior to lamivudine monotherapy in hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) positive naïve patients with chronic hepatitis B.

Methods:  Sixty‐seven patients were assigned to two different groups in a randomized manner. The combination group (n = 34) received Tα1 (1.6 mg subcutaneously, twice a week) and lamivudine (100 mg orally, daily) for 24 weeks, followed by continuous lamivudine therapy. The monotherapy group (n = 33) received lamivudine monotherapy continuously.

Results:  The incidence of HBeAg seroconversion at 24 weeks was 26.5% (9/34) in the combination group and 6.1% (2/33) in the monotherapy group (P = 0.024). However, there was no statistically significant difference between 26.5% (9/34) in the combination group and 12.1% (4/33) in the monotherapy group at 52 weeks (P = 0.138). The emergence of viral breakthrough gradually increased to 35.3% (12/34) in the combination group, and to 21.2% (7/33) in the monotherapy group at 52 weeks (P = 0.201).

Conclusions:  The combination treatment of Tα1 and lamivudine did not have an obvious benefit of virological and biochemical response as compared to the lamivudine monotherapy during the combination period. In addition, after the cessation of Tα1 treatment, the combination therapy did not prevent the occurrence of viral and biochemical breakthroughs.
Unusual causes of rhabdomyolysis
Authors: Mazokopakis E. E.
Published: April 2008

We report four cases with unusual causes of rhabdomyolysis. These included quail ingestion (coturnism), interaction between grapefruit juice and atorvastatin, hypothyroidism and infection by Epstein–Barr virus.
Medications for the secondary prevention of ischaemic heart disease and heart failure are underutilized in dialysis patients
Authors: Ranchord A. M. , Harding S. A. , Pidgeon G.
Published: April 2008

We determined the prescription rates of medications for the secondary prevention of ischaemic heart disease and left ventricular systolic dysfunction in stable dialysis patients. In patients with established ischaemic heart disease, statins, beta‐blockers and renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system blockers were substantially underprescribed. Furthermore, beta‐blockers and renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system blockers were prescribed in less than half of those with left ventricular systolic dysfunction. Contraindications to treatment were infrequent and did not explain these findings.
Experience with a new commercial skin testing kit to identify IgE‐mediated penicillin allergy
Authors: Nolan R. C. , Puy R. , Deckert K. , O’Hehir R. E. , Douglass J. A.
Published: April 2008

Many patients who describe a history of allergy to penicillin do not prove to be allergic and can be treated safely with penicillin. After a period of 2 years where testing of penicillin allergy was not possible, a new commercial kit has recently become available. We report our initial experience with use of the kit with 29 patients and discuss one patient who experienced anaphylaxis during i.d. testing.
Darwin’s naturalization conundrum: dissecting taxonomic patterns of species invasions
Authors: Diez Jeffrey M. , Sullivan Jon J. , Hulme Philip E. , Edwards Grant , Duncan Richard P.
Published: April 2008

Darwin acknowledged contrasting, plausible arguments for how species invasions are influenced by phylogenetic relatedness to the native community. These contrasting arguments persist today without clear resolution. Using data on the naturalization and abundance of exotic plants in the Auckland region, we show how different expectations can be accommodated through attention to scale, assumptions about niche overlap, and stage of invasion. Probability of naturalization was positively related to the number of native species in a genus but negatively related to native congener abundance, suggesting the importance of both niche availability and biotic resistance. Once naturalized, however, exotic abundance was not related to the number of native congeners, but positively related to native congener abundance. Changing the scale of analysis altered this outcome: within habitats exotic abundance was negatively related to native congener abundance, implying that native and exotic species respond similarly to broad scale environmental variation across habitats, with biotic resistance occurring within habitats.
Are there general mechanisms of animal home range behaviour? A review and prospects for future research
Authors: Börger Luca , Dalziel Benjamin D. , Fryxell John M.
Published: April 2008

Home range behaviour is a common pattern of space use, having fundamental consequences for ecological processes. However, a general mechanistic explanation is still lacking. Research is split into three separate areas of inquiry – movement models based on random walks, individual‐based models based on optimal foraging theory, and a statistical modelling approach – which have developed without much productive contact. Here we review recent advances in modelling home range behaviour, focusing particularly on the problem of identifying mechanisms that lead to the emergence of stable home ranges from unbounded movement paths. We discuss the issue of spatiotemporal scale, which is rarely considered in modelling studies, as well as highlighting the need to consider more closely the dynamical nature of home ranges. Recent methodological and theoretical advances may soon lead to a unified approach, however, conceptually unifying our understanding of linkages among home range behaviour and ecological or evolutionary processes.
The BSG/ACPGBI guidelines for colonoscopic screening: what are we missing?
Authors: Subramanian A. , Thomasson L. , Hanson H. , Hodgson S. , Simson J. N. L.
Published: April 2008

Introduction  Before publication of the British Society of Gastroenterology and Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland guidelines in 2002, screening for people with a family history of colorectal cancer was sporadic and largely dependant on unvalidated local guidelines. Since 1990 we have been screening patients with both high and moderate risk family histories of colorectal cancer using local protocols which were more liberal than the new guidelines. In this study, we have analysed the pathology that would have been missed if we had been using the new guidelines in the period 1990–2002.

Method  A total of 399 consecutive patients with a positive family history of colorectal malignancy underwent screening endoscopy according to local guidelines. Demographic, endoscopic and pathologic data were prospectively collected. Patients were retrospectively divided into those who would have been screened under the new guidelines (group 1) and those who would not (group 2). The recorded pathology was graded as significant or insignificant and the findings compared between the two groups.

Results  A total of 399 patients underwent 557 endoscopies of which 278 (50%) were indicated under the new guidelines (group 1) and 279 (50%) were not indicated (group 2). A significant pathology or carcinoma was found in 15.8% of group 1 endoscopies and 10.0% of group 2 endoscopies. This difference was significant.

Conclusion  If we had been using the new guidelines in the period 1990–2002, we would not have performed 279 (50%) of the 557 procedures, but would not have discovered significant pathology in 10% of the moderate risk endoscopies representing 39% of the significant pathology, which was actually present in this population.
Combination endo‐radiological colorectal stenting: a prospective 5‐year clinical evaluation
Authors: Baraza W. , Lee F. , Brown S. , Hurlstone D. P.
Published: April 2008

Objective  Self‐expanding metallic stents have found increasing use in the palliation of malignant large‐bowel obstruction or as a ‘bridge to surgery’ to facilitate a planned operative procedure. We describe a 5‐year experience of using the combined endoscopic/fluoroscopic through‐the‐scope method of stent placement in a tertiary referral centre.

Method  A prospective database of patients referred for colorectal stenting was compiled. Technical success, clinical success (decompression) and procedure‐related complications were measured as end‐points.

Results  Sixty‐three patients underwent 71 stenting procedures; 39 (62%) patients were male and the median age of patients was 78 years; 32 patients had metastatic disease and seven strictures were due to extrinsic compression. The indication for stenting was palliation in 56 patients and preoperative in seven patients. There was a technical success rate of 91% and a clinical success rate of 89%. Complications occurred in 24% of the cohort: overgrowth, (8%), migration (6%), fistulation (4%), stent fracture (3%), tenesmus (3%) and faecal urgency (1%). There was no procedure‐related death within the cohort and no technical failures proximal to the descending colon.

Conclusion  Combination endoscopic/fluoroscopic colorectal stenting is effective and safe. It may be particularly useful in the stenting of more proximal colonic strictures.
A taxonomic reappraisal of the European Daphnia longispina complex (Crustacea, Cladocera, Anomopoda)
Authors: Petrusek Adam , Hobæk Anders , Nilssen Jens Petter , Skage Morten , ČErný Martin , Brede Nora , Schwenk Klaus
Published: April 2008

The Daphnia longispina complex contains some of the most common water flea species in the northern hemisphere, and has been a model organism for many ecological and evolutionary studies. Nevertheless, the systematics and nomenclature of this group, in particular its Palaearctic members, have been in flux for the past 150 years; this hinders the correct interpretation of scientific results and promotes the erroneous use of species names. We revise the systematics of this species complex based on mitochondrial sequence variation (12S rDNA and COI) of representative populations across Europe, with a special focus on samples from type localities of the respective taxa. Combining genetic evidence and morphological assignments of analysed individuals, we propose a comprehensive revision of the European members of the D. longispina complex. We show that D. hyalina and D. rosea morphotypes have evolved several times independently, and we find no evidence to maintain these morphotypes as distinct biological species. Alpine individuals described as D. zschokkei are conspecific with the above‐mentioned lineage. We suggest that this morphologically and ecologically plastic but genetically uniform hyalina–rosea–zschokkei clade should be identified as D. longispina (O. F. Müller, 1776). The valid name of Fennoscandian individuals labelled D. longispina sensu stricto in the recent literature is D. lacustris G. O. Sars, 1862. Additionally, we discovered another divergent lineage of this group, likely an undescribed species, in southern Norway. Our results present a solution for several prevailing taxonomic problems in the genus Daphnia, and have broad implications for interpretation of biogeographical patterns, and ecological and evolutionary studies.
The role of lymph‐node dissection in the treatment of upper urinary tract cancer: a multi‐institutional study
Authors: Abe Takashige , Shinohara Nobuo , Harabayashi Toru , Sazawa Ataru , Ishikawa Shuhei , Kubota Kanako , Matsuno Yoshihiro , Osawa Takahiro , Shibata Takeshi , Shinno Yuichiro , Kamota Shinji , Minami Keita , Sakashita Shigeo , Takeuchi Ichiro , Kumagai Akira , Mori Tatsuya , Togashi Masaki , Nonomura Katsuya
Published: April 2008

OBJECTIVES

To determine the role of lymph‐node (LN) dissection in patients undergoing surgery for upper urinary tract (UUT) cancer.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We reviewed the clinicopathological data from 312 patients with UUT cancer treated predominantly by nephroureterectomy. The relationship between clinical characteristics and cancer‐specific survival (CSS) was analysed, focusing on node‐related information.

RESULTS

In all, 166 patients had LN dissection while 146 did not (pNx). Multivariate analysis showed that T stage, grade and pN status were significant variables for CSS. The difference in survival between the pN0 and pNx groups remained significant in a multivariate analysis. The median (range) number of LNs removed was 6 (1–65). There was no significant difference in CSS between the 72 patients with fewer than six LNs removed and the 78 with six or more removed.

CONCLUSIONS

LN dissection is important for postoperative stratification of patients with UUT cancer because node‐positive disease was one of the variables with a significant adverse effect on survival. In addition, the significant difference in survival between the pN0 and pNx groups might indicate a therapeutic benefit of LN dissection, although removing more LNs did not uniformly increase the probability of CSS.
The Making of the Kelly Girl: Gender and the Origins of the Temp Industry in Postwar America
Authors: HATTON ERIN
Published: April 2008

Abstract  This article examines how temp industry leaders exploited notions of “women's work” in the postwar era to create a new category of “respectable” but marginal employment. Although they employed substantial numbers of men, postwar industry leaders publicly cast temp work as “women's work,” constructing the iconic image of the “Kelly Girl.” In doing so, they entered the postwar cultural debate about women and work, encouraging housewives to get jobs for self‐fulfillment while at the same time maintaining the primacy of the domestic sphere. Through this strategy they began to build a new model of employment that would eventually change the meaning of work in America.
“The Whole Extent of the Evil”: Origin of Crime Statistics in the United States, 1880–1930
Authors: GHATAK SARAN
Published: April 2008

Abstract  This article traces the origin and the development of crime statistics in the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Due to the federal nature of the polity and decentralization of state power, the historical process of “governmentalization” of the state in the US differed markedly from other Western European nations. The path to the establishment of a national archive of crime statistics in the US was especially tortuous, and its trajectory was shaped by strategic alliances as well as conflicts between various institutional actors involved in the process.
Rules, Red Tape, and Paperwork: The Archeology of State Control over Migrants
Authors: MARTÍN DAVID COOK
Published: April 2008

Abstract Conventional accounts of a drastic shift to migration restriction after World War I following a golden era of free movement obscure crucial processes of state formation around matters of administering migration. How and with what consequences did state control over migration become acceptable and possible after the Great War? Existing studies have centered on core countries ofimmigration and thus underestimate the degree to which legitimate state capacities have developed in a political field spanning sendingandreceiving countries with similar designs on the same international migrants. Relying on archival research, and an examination of the migratory field constituted by two quintessential emigration countries (Italy and Spain), and a traditional immigration country (Argentina) since the mid‐nineteenth century, this article argues that widespread acceptance of migration control as an administrative domain rightfully under states' purview, and the development of attendant capacities have derived from legal, organizational, and administrative mechanisms crafted by state actors in response to the challenges posed by mass migration. Concretely, these countries codified migration and nationality laws, built, took over, and revamped migration‐related organizations, and administratively encaged mobile people through official paperwork. The nature of efforts to evade official checks on mobility implicitly signaled the acceptance of migration control as a bona fide administrative domain. In more routine migration management, states legitimate capacity has had unforeseen intermediate‐ and long‐term consequences such as the subjection of migrants (and, because ofius sanguinisnationality laws, sometimes their descendants) to other states' administrative influence and the generation of conditions for dual citizenship. Study findings challenge scholarship that implicitly views states as constant factors conditioning migration flows, rather than as developing institutions with historically variable regulatory abilities and legitimacy. It extends current work by specifying mechanism used by state actors to establish migration as an accepted administrative domain.
Baseball in England: A Case of Prolonged Cultural Resistance
Authors: BLOYCE DANIEL , MURPHY PATRICK
Published: April 2008

Abstract  The concern within this paper is to examine how, notwithstanding the growing global power of the USA and the declining power of Britain over a period of fifty years from 1874 to 1924, a series of attempts made by American entrepreneurs to establish the game of baseball in England were, to all intents and purposes, rebuffed. On four separate occasions during this period various American baseball entrepreneurs put on exhibition matches of baseball. On each occasion, baseball was given short shrift within the English press. We provide an empirical account before engaging in some theoretical reflections utilising a figurational sociological approach.
Explaining the Extraversion/Positive Affect Relation: Sociability Cannot Account for Extraverts' Greater Happiness
Authors: Lucas Richard E. , Le Kimdy , Dyrenforth Portia S.
Published: April 2008

ABSTRACT
The association between Extraversion and positive affect is one of the most robust findings in the study of personality and emotion. Temperament models posit that the association is direct; instrumental models posit that the association is mediated by additional processes. Two experience sampling studies were conducted to test instrumental mechanisms that might underlie the effect. According to a mediation model, extraverts' greater social activity can account for their increased positive affect when compared to introverts. According to a person‐by‐situation interaction model, extraverts react more positively to social situations than do introverts, and this interaction can account for the association. Only weak support for the instrumental models was found; consistent with temperament models, a moderate direct association remained even after controlling for these effects.
Asymmetry in Judgments of Personality: Others Are Less Differentiated Than the Self
Authors: Beer Andrew , Watson David
Published: April 2008

ABSTRACT
Previous evidence suggests that judges rely more heavily on implicit personality theories when they rate relatively unfamiliar others. One further implication of this evidence is that correlations among traits should be stronger in other ratings than in self‐ratings, particularly when (a) judges lack trait relevant information and/or (b) motivational accuracy is low. We tested these predictions by comparing self‐ versus other ratings on the Big Five in two studies. Study 1 used previously published data to demonstrate clear self/peer differences in the average relations between Big Five dimensions (excluding Extraversion). Study 2 was based on self‐ versus other ratings in 12 samples. Overall, the intercorrelations among Big Five traits (excluding Extraversion) tended to be significantly stronger in peer ratings than in self‐ratings. The most consistent effect involved the relation between Neuroticism and Agreeableness (overall r=−.43 and −.29 in the peer ratings and self‐ratings, respectively). In addition, as expected, the degree of relation among traits varied depending upon the type of target being rated (i.e., spouse vs. dating partner vs. friend vs. stranger). Implications of these findings are discussed.
Regulating Positive and Negative Emotions in Daily Life
Authors: Nezlek John B. , Kuppens Peter
Published: April 2008

ABSTRACTThe present study examined how people regulate their emotions in daily life and how such regulation is related to their daily affective experience and psychological adjustment. Each day for an average of 3 weeks, participants described how they had regulated their emotions in terms of the reappraisal and suppression (inhibiting the expression) of positive and negative emotions, and they described their emotional experience, self‐esteem, and psychological adjustment in terms of Beck's triadic model of depression. Reappraisal was used more often than suppression, and suppressing positive emotions was used less than the other three strategies. In general, regulation through reappraisal was found to be beneficial, whereas regulation by suppression was not. Reappraisal of positive emotions was associated with increases in positive affect, self‐esteem, and psychological adjustment, whereas suppressing positive emotions was associated with decreased positive emotion, self‐esteem, and psychological adjustment, and increased negative emotions. Moreover, relationships between reappraisal and psychological adjustment and self‐esteem were mediated by experienced positive affect, whereas relationships between suppression of positive emotions and self‐esteem adjustment were mediated by negative affect.
Do Dispositional Pessimism and Optimism Predict Ambulatory Blood Pressure During Schooldays and Nights in Adolescents?
Authors: Räikkönen Katri , Matthews Karen A.
Published: April 2008

ABSTRACT
We tested the hypotheses that (1) high pessimism and low optimism (LOT‐R overall and subscale scores) would predict high ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) level and 24‐hour load (percentage of ABP values exceeding the pediatric 95th percentile) among healthy Black and White adolescents (n=201; 14–16 yrs) across 2 consecutive school days and (2) that the relationships for the pessimism and optimism subscales would show nonlinear effects. The hypotheses were confirmed for pessimism but not for optimism. The results suggest that high pessimism may have different effects than low optimism on ABP and that even moderate levels of pessimism may effect blood pressure regulation. These results suggest that optimism and pessimism are not the opposite poles on a single continuum but ought to be treated as separate constructs.
RUSTIC POSEURS: PEASANT MODELS IN THE PRACTICE OF JEAN‐FRANÇOIS MILLET AND JULES BRETON
Authors: WALLER SUSAN
Published: April 2008

In the 1850s, Jean‐François Millet and Jules Breton relocated their studios from Paris to the French countryside, where they no longer had access to the professional models that posed in urban ateliers. This study examines the evolution of their studio practice within the rural context: it explores their shift from professional to proprietary and peasant models, how the shift inflected the artist/model transaction, and their negotiation of the social structures and standards of decorum of the rural communities in which their studios were located.
BEYOND ABORTION: THE LOOMING BATTLE OVER DEATH IN THE ‘CULTURE WARS’
Authors: EVANS JAMES
Published: April 2008

By concentrating on abortion, the culture wars have avoided facing a crisis about the end of life. This paper explores four themes: (1) the technological transformation of birth and death into matters of decision, not matters of fact; (2) abortion as the nexus of Eros (sex) with Thanatos (death); (3) the real crisis, conveniently masked by our obsession with sex, looming at the end of life, not at its beginning; (4) the surplus‐repression that protects us from assuming responsibility for choosing between life and death.
‘Foreign’ Terror? London Bombings, Resistance and the Failing State
Authors: Bulley Dan
Published: April 2008

The British government's response to the London bombings sought to make the terror of that day foreign, even though it appeared largely domestic. This helped construct it as unusual, contingent, part of the uncontrollable ‘otherness’ of the ‘foreign’. However, it also drew the response into the arena of British foreign policy, where the ‘failing state’ has been the dominant conceptualisation of insecurity and terrorism, especially since September 11th. When the bombings are examined through the ‘failing state’ disturbing and important problems are uncovered. Primarily, the ‘failing state’ discourse deconstructs under the influence of the terrorism in London, revealing that Britain itself is a ‘failing state’ by its own description and producing a generalisation of state ‘failure’. It thereby reveals several possible sites for responding to and resisting the government's representation.
Policy Innovation and the Dynamics of Party Competition: A Schumpeterian Account of British Electoral Politics, 1950–2005
Authors: Hindmoor Andrew
Published: April 2008

The first part of this article develops a critique of Anthony Downs’ An Economic Theory of Democracy and, more generally, of rational choice theories of party competition. Drawing on and adapting Joseph Schumpeter's critique of general equilibrium theory, it is argued that the use of the equilibrium method within rational choice theory precludes the analysis of policy innovation. Having developed this theoretical argument, the second part of the article offers a ‘Schumpeterian’ account of the dynamics of British electoral competition between 1950 and 2005. Drawing on an analysis of 1,984 policy commitments within Conservative, Labour and Liberal general election manifestos, the fate of 758 policy innovations is tracked. Policy innovation, it is argued, generates an ongoing process of divergence and convergence between the political parties very different to that predicted within rational choice equilibrium analysis.
The Promise and Perils of Women's Participation in UK Mosques: The Impact of Securitisation Agendas on Identity, Gender and Community
Authors: Brown Katherine
Published: April 2008

This article examines the confluence of two major recent developments with regard to British Muslim communities. For many British Muslim women Islam has become the cornerstone of their identity. However, alongside this development has been the emergence of a new national security agenda based on counter-terrorism with a particular focus on Islamic fundamentalism. The discourse of state agencies locates Islam and Muslim communities not simply as ‘problem communities’ but as security concerns. The impact of this securitisation on Muslim women's political agency and identity has yet fully to be assessed. The issues surrounding this relatively recent securitisation are explored via the current debates on mosque reform, women's access to mosques and the current discourse which perceives mosques as ‘insecure’ (terrorist) sites in the UK.
Consistency and asymptotic normality of least squares estimators in generalized STAR models
Authors: Borovkova Svetlana , Lopuhaä Hendrik P. , Ruchjana Budi Nurani
Published: April 2008

Space–time autoregressive (STAR) models, introduced by Cliff and Ord [Spatial autocorrelation (1973) Pioneer, London] are successfully applied in many areas of science, particularly when there is prior information about spatial dependence. These models have significantly fewer parameters than vector autoregressive models, where all information about spatial and time dependence is deduced from the data. A more flexible class of models, generalized STAR models, has been introduced in Borovkovaet al. [Proc. 17th Int. Workshop Stat. Model. (2002), Chania, Greece] where the model parameters are allowed to vary per location. This paper establishes strong consistency and asymptotic normality of the least squares estimator in generalized STAR models. These results are obtained under minimal conditions on the sequence of innovations, which are assumed to form a martingale difference array. We investigate the quality of the normal approximation for finite samples by means of a numerical simulation study, and apply a generalized STAR model to a multivariate time series of monthly tea production in west Java, Indonesia.
The Discipline of Economics*
Authors: SEN AMARTYA
Published: April 2008

This is the text of the first Morishima Lecture at the LSE, and it investigates in particular two distinct priorities that are both important for the discipline of economics. One priority is that of “separation” with a focus on segregating distinct questions sharply, and then analyzing them separately. A very different priority is that of “integration” which looks particularly for interrelations between distinct issues. It is argued, with illustrations, that some of the major battles within the methodology of economics have been connected with the conflicting priorities of the two. The discipline, however, needs both.
The Thin End of the Wedge: Foreign Women Professors as Double Strangers in Academia
Authors: Czarniawska Barbara , Sevón Guje
Published: April 2008

The impetus for this study was an observation that many of the first women to obtain chairs at European universities were foreigners. Our initial attempt to provide a statistical picture of this proved impossible, because there were numerous problems deciding the contents of such concepts as ‘first’, ‘university professor’ and ‘foreigner’. We have therefore focused on four life stories. It turns out that being a ‘double stranger’— a woman in a masculine profession and a foreigner — is not, as one might think, a cumulative disadvantage. Rather, it seems that these two types of strangeness might cancel out one another, permitting these women a greater degree of success than was allowed their native sisters. This situation however, provides little psychological comfort, hence the metaphor of the wedge: opening the doors but suffering from double pressure.