bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Hepatocyte Growth Factor Activator Inhibitor Type 1 Is a Suppressor of Intestinal Tumorigenesis
Authors: Hoshiko Shinri , Kawaguchi Makiko , Fukushima Tsuyoshi , Haruyama Yukihiro , Yorita Kenji , Tanaka Hiroyuki , Seiki Motoharu , Inatsu Haruhiko , Kitamura Kazuo , Kataoka Hiroaki
Published: February 2013

Hepatocyte growth factor activator inhibitor type 1 (HAI-1/SPINT1) is a membrane-bound serine protease inhibitor expressed on the surface of epithelial cells. Although HAI-1/SPINT1 is abundantly expressed in the intestinal epithelium, its role in intestinal tumorigenesis is not known. In this study, we investigated the role of Hai-1/Spint1 in intestinal tumorigenesis using mouse models. The membranous Hai-1/Spint1 immunoreactivity was decreased in murine ApcMin/+ tumors and also in carcinogen (azoxymethane treatment followed by dextran sodium sulfate administration)-induced colon tumors compared with the adjacent non-neoplastic epithelium. The decreased immunoreactivity appeared to be due to sheddase activity of membrane-type 1 matrix metalloprotease. Then, we examined the effect of intestine-specific deletion of Spint1 gene on ApcMin/+ mice. The loss of Hai-1/Spint1 significantly accelerated tumor formation in ApcMin/+ mice and shortened their survival periods. Activation of HGF was enhanced in Hai-1/Spint1–deficient ApcMin/+ intestine. Gene expression profiling revealed upregulation of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling circuit, claudin-2 expression, and angiogenesis not only in tumor tissue but also in the background mucosa without macroscopic tumors in Hai-1/Spint1–deficient ApcMin/+ intestine. Intestinal deletion of Spint1 also enhanced the susceptibility to carcinogen-induced colon tumorigenicity of wild-type Apc mice. Our findings suggest that HAI-1/SPINT1 has a crucial role in suppressing intestinal tumorigenesis, which implies a novel link between epithelial cell surface serine protease inhibitors and protection from carcinogenic stimuli. Cancer Res; 73(8); 2659–70. ©2013 AACR.
Inherited Variation in miR-290 Expression Suppresses Breast Cancer Progression by Targeting the Metastasis Susceptibility Gene Arid4b
Authors: Goldberger Natalie , Walker Renard C. , Kim Chang Hee , Winter Scott , Hunter Kent W.
Published: February 2013

The metastatic cascade is a complex and extremely inefficient process with many potential barriers. Understanding this process is of critical importance because the majority of cancer mortality is associated with metastatic disease. Recently, it has become increasingly clear that microRNAs (miRNA) play important roles in tumorigenesis and metastasis, yet few studies have examined how germline variations may dysregulate miRNAs, in turn affecting metastatic potential. To explore this possibility, the highly metastatic MMTV-PyMT mice were crossed with 25 AKXD (AKR/J × DBA/2J) recombinant inbred strains to produce F1 progeny with varying metastatic indices. When mammary tumors from the F1 progeny were analyzed by miRNA microarray, miR-290 (containing miR-290-3p and miR-290-5p) was identified as a top candidate progression-associated miRNA. The microarray results were validated in vivo when miR-290 upregulation in two independent breast cancer cell lines suppressed both primary tumor and metastatic growth. Computational analysis identified breast cancer progression gene Arid4b as a top target of miR-290-3p, which was confirmed by luciferase reporter assay. Surprisingly, pathway analysis identified estrogen receptor (ER) signaling as the top canonical pathway affected by miR-290 upregulation. Further analysis showed that ER levels were elevated in miR-290–expressing tumors and positively correlated with apoptosis. Taken together, our results suggest miR-290 targets Arid4b while simultaneously enhancing ER signaling and increasing apoptosis, thereby suppressing breast cancer progression. This, to the best of our knowledge, is the first example of inherited differences in miRNA expression playing a role in breast cancer progression. Cancer Res; 73(8); 2671–81. ©2013 AACR.
Y-box Binding Protein-1 Contributes to Both HER2/ErbB2 Expression and Lapatinib Sensitivity in Human Gastric Cancer Cells
Authors: Shibata Tomohiro , Kan Hitoshi , Murakami Yuichi , Ureshino Hiroki , Watari Kosuke , Kawahara Akihiko , Kage Masayoshi , Hattori Satoshi , Ono Mayumi , Kuwano Michihiko
Published: February 2013

Gene amplification of HER2/ErbB2 occurs in gastric cancer and the therapeutic efficacy of the HER2-targeted antibody, trastuzumab, has recently been improved against HER2-positive advanced stomach cancer. Here, we examined whether Y-box-binding protein-1 (YB-1) could selectively control HER2 gene expression and cellular sensitivity to EGF receptor (EGFR) family protein-targeted drugs in human gastric cancer cells. HER2 expression was specifically downregulated by YB-1 silencing using its cognate siRNA, whereas there was less change in the expression of EGFR and HER3. A chromatin immunoprecipitation assay revealed the specific binding of YB-1 to its consensus sequence on the 5′-regulatory region of HER2. YB-1 knockdown induced drug resistance to lapatinib, a dual EGFR and HER2 kinase inhibitor, and also to erlotinib, an EGFR kinase inhibitor. Moreover, phosphorylation of protein kinase B (Akt) was not markedly affected by lapatinib or erlotinib when YB-1 was silenced. Nuclear YB-1 expression was significantly (P = 0.026) associated with HER2 expression, but not with EGFR or HER3, in patients with gastric cancer (n = 111). The YB-1-HER2 axis may therefore be useful for the further development of personalized therapeutics against gastric cancer by HER2-targeted drugs. Mol Cancer Ther; 12(5); 737–46. ©2013 AACR.
The Role of Estrogen Receptor β in Transplacental Cancer Prevention by Indole-3-Carbinol
Authors: Benninghoff Abby D. , Williams David E.
Published: February 2013

In the present study, the efficacy of indole-3-carbinol (I3C), a key bioactive component of cruciferous vegetables, for prevention of cancer in offspring exposed in utero to the environmental carcinogen dibenzo[def,p]chrysene (DBC) was evaluated using an estrogen receptor β (ERβ) knockout mouse model. I3C was provided either through the maternal diet coincident with carcinogen exposure during pregnancy or directly to offspring postinitiation with DBC. I3C was effective at reducing T-cell acute lymphoblastic lymphoma/leukemia (T-ALL)–related mortality in offspring only if provided via the maternal diet, although a gender difference in the role of ERβ in mediating this response was evident. In female offspring, chemoprevention of T-ALL by maternal dietary I3C required expression of ERβ; survival in Esr2 wild-type and heterozygous female offspring was more than 90% compared with 66% in Esr2 null females. Alternatively, ERβ status did not significantly impact the transplacental chemoprevention by I3C in males. The possible role of ERβ in mediating lung carcinogenesis or chemoprevention by I3C was similarly complicated. Lung tumor incidence was unaltered by either dietary intervention, whereas lung tumor multiplicity was substantially reduced in Esr2 null females on the control diet and marginally lower in Esr2 null males exposed to I3C via the maternal diet compared with their wild-type and heterozygous counterparts. These findings suggest that I3C may act via ERβ to prevent or suppress DBC-initiated transplacental carcinogenesis but that the involvement of this receptor seems to differ depending on the cancer type and gender of the offspring. Cancer Prev Res; 6(4); 339–48. ©2013 AACR.
Chemoprevention Activity of Dipyridamole in the MMTV-PyMT Transgenic Mouse Model of Breast Cancer
Authors: Wang Chunmei , Schwab Luciana P. , Fan Meiyun , Seagroves Tiffany N. , Buolamwini John K.
Published: February 2013

Dipyridamole (DPM) is widely used to prevent strokes and vascular thrombosis. Combination therapy of DPM and antimetabolites has shown synergistic anticancer activity. This study investigated the chemopreventive effects of DPM in the mouse mammary tumor virus promoter-driven polyoma middle T oncoprotein metastatic breast cancer model. We also investigated the effects of DPM on gene and miRNA expression. Chemopreventive activity was assessed by comparing the time to onset of palpable lesions, primary tumor growth kinetics, and the number of lung metastases in transgenic mice treated with DPM or vehicle. Gene expression and miRNA expression profiles of mammary tumor tissues were then analyzed using the Affymetrix GeneChip or miRNA 2.0 arrays. Real-time quantitative PCR was used to confirm changes in gene expression. Treatment with DPM beginning at the age of 4 weeks delayed the onset of palpable lesions, delayed tumor progression, and suppressed lung metastasis. Microarray gene expression analysis identified 253 genes differentially expressed between DPM-treated and control mammary tumors. miRNA expression analysis revealed that 53 miRNAs were altered by DPM treatment. The results indicate that DPM has chemoprevention activity against breast cancer tumorigenesis and metastasis in mice. The array analyses provide insights into potential mechanisms of DPM's chemopreventive effects, involving upregulation of several genes and miRNAs known to suppress cancer growth and/or metastasis and downregulation of genes known to promote cancer. Some of these genes have not been previously studied in breast cancer and may serve as novel molecular targets for breast cancer chemoprevention. Cancer Prev Res; 6(5); 437–47. ©2013 AACR.
Prognostic value of post-procedural aPTT in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction treated with primary PCI
Authors: Kikkert Wouter J. , van Nes Sophie H. , Lieve Krystien V. V. , Dangas George D. , van Straalen Jan , Vis Marije M. , Baan Jan , Koch Karel T. , de Winter Robbert J. , Piek Jan J. , Tijssen Jan G. P. , Henriques Jose P.
Published: February 2013

Unfractionated heparin is the most commonly used anticoagulant in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and its effect can be monitored with activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT). However, the optimal aPTT range during heparin therapy after primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is yet to be defined. A mean aPTT was calculated of all aPTT measurements in the first 24 hours after pPCI in a total of 1,876 STEMI patients. Mean aPTT measurements were stratified into four categories; < 1.5 times the upper limit of normal (ULN), 1.5 – 2.0 times ULN (the therapeutic group), 2.01 – 3.99 times ULN, and ≥ 4 times ULN. Compared to patients with a therapeutic aPTT, patients with aPTTs < 1.5 times ULN had no increase in recurrent ischaemic events and had similar rates of bleeding complications. Patients with a mean aPTT ≥ 4 times ULN had higher rates recurrent ischaemic and haemorrhagic complications. After multivariable analyses, aPTT ratios ≥ 4 times ULN were no longer associated with recurrent ischaemic events, but remained a strong predictor of severe and moderate bleeding (hazard ratio [HR] 4.64, p = 0.016 and HR 2.27, p = 0.052). In conclusion, in 1,876 STEMI patients treated with pPCI, low aPTTs in the first 24 hours after PCI were not associated with an increase in ischaemic events, whereas high aPTT values were associated with more frequent bleeding complications. These results indicate no clear benefit as well as a safety concern with heparin treatment after primary PCI.
General mechanisms of coagulation and targets of anticoagulants (Section I)
Authors: Husted Steen , Wallentin Lars , Andreotti Felicita , Arnesen Harald , Bachmann Fedor , Baigent Colin , Huber Kurt , Jespersen Jørgen , Kristensen Steen , Lip Gregory Y. H. , Morais João , Rasmussen Lars , Siegbahn Agneta , Verheugt Freek W. A. , Weitz Jeffrey I. , De Caterina Raffaele
Published: February 2013

Contrary to previous models based on plasma, coagulation processes are currently believed to be mostly cell surface-based, including three overlapping phases: initiation, when tissue factor-expressing cells and microparticles are exposed to plasma; amplification, whereby small amounts of thrombin induce platelet activation and aggregation, and promote activation of factors (F)V, FVIII and FXI on platelet surfaces; and propagation, in which the Xase (tenase) and prothrombinase complexes are formed, producing a burst of thrombin and the cleavage of fibrinogen to fibrin. Thrombin exerts a number of additional biological actions, including platelet activation, amplification and self-inhibition of coagulation, clot stabilisation and anti-fibrinolysis, in processes occurring in the proximity of vessel injury, tightly regulated by a series of inhibitory mechanisms. ″Classical″ anticoagulants, including heparin and vitamin K antagonists, typically target multiple coagulation steps. A number of new anticoagulants, already developed or under development, target specific steps in the process, inhibiting a single coagulation factor or mimicking natural coagulation inhibitors.
C2362F mutation gives rise to an ADAMTS13-resistant von Willebrand factor
Authors: Pontara Elena , Battiston Monica , Morpurgo Margherita , Cattini Maria , Casarin Elisabetta , Saga Giorgia , Daidone Viviana , De Marco Luigi , Casonato Alessandra
Published: February 2013

von Willebrand factor (VWF) multimers result from proteolysis by the metalloprotease ADAMTS13. Since C2362F-VWF features abnormally large multimers with their triplet oligomer structure replaced by a diffuse smear, we explored the susceptibility of C2362F-VWF to ADAMTS13. VWF-enriched blood samples, obtained by cryoethanol precipitation of plasma from a patient with von Willebrand disease (VWD) homozygous for the C2362F mutation and a normal subject, were submitted to cleavage by recombinant ADAMTS13 under static conditions in the presence of urea. C2362F-VWF proved completely ADAMTS13-resistant in vitro. At any concentration of recombinant ADAMTS13 (from 0.1 μM to 1 μM), there was no evidence of the abnormally large VWF multimers of C2362F-VWF disappearing, nor any increased representation of triplet multimer bands, unlike the situation seen in normal VWF. This is due partly to a defective ADAMTS13 binding to C2362F-VWF under static conditions, as seen in both the patient’s and recombinant mutated VWF proteins. These findings were associated with a significantly shorter than normal survival of C2362F-VWF after DDAVP, demonstrating that proteolysis and VWF survival may be independent phenomena. Our findings clearly demonstrate that the loss of cysteine 2362 makes VWF resistant to proteolysis by ADAMTS13, at least partly due to an impaired ADAMTS13 binding to VWF. This suggests that the B2 domain of VWF is involved in modulating ADAMTS13 binding to VWF and the consequent proteolytic process. The C2362F-VWF mutation also enables a new abnormality to be identified in the VWF-ADAMTS13 relationship, i.e. an ADAMTS13-resistant VWF.
Regulation of kallikrein-related peptidases in the skin – from physiology to diseases to therapeutic options
Authors: Fischer Jan , Meyer-Hoffert Ulf
Published: February 2013

Kallikrein-related peptidases (KLKs) constitute a family of 15 highly conserved serine proteases, which show a tissue-specific expression profile. This made them valuable tumour expression markers. It became evident that KLKs are involved in many physiological processes like semen liquefaction and skin desquamation. More recently, we have learnt that they are involved in many pathophysiological conditions and diseases making them promising target of therapeutic intervention. Therefore, regulation of KLKs raised the interest of numerous reports. Herein, we summarise the current knowledge on KLKs regulation with an emphasis on skin-relevant KLKs regulation processes. Regulation of KLKs takes place on the level of transcription, on protease activation and on protease inactivation. A variety of protease inhibitors has been described to interact with KLKs including the irreversible serine protease inhibitors (SERPINs) and the reversible serine protease inhibitors of Kazal-type (SPINKs). In an attempt to integrate current knowledge, we propose that KLK regulation has credentials as targets for therapeutic intervention.
Chloroquine Prevents Progression of Experimental Pulmonary Hypertension via Inhibition of Autophagy and Lysosomal Bone Morphogenetic Protein Type II Receptor Degradation
Authors: Long Lu , Yang Xudong , Southwood Mark , Lu Junyu , Marciniak Stefan J. , Dunmore Benjamin J. , Morrell Nicholas W.
Published: February 2013

Rationale:

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is characterized by excessive proliferation and apoptosis resistance in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs).

Objective:

We reasoned that chloroquine, based on its ability to inhibit autophagy and block lysosomal degradation of the bone morphogenetic protein type II receptor (BMPR-II), might exert beneficial effects in this disease.

Methods and Results:

PAH was induced in male Sprague–Dawley rats by administering monocrotaline. The induction of PAH was associated with changes in lung expression of LC3B-II, ATG5, and p62, consistent with increased autophagy, and decreased BMPR-II protein expression. Administration of chloroquine prevented the development of PAH, right ventricular hypertrophy, and vascular remodelling after monocrotaline, and prevented progression of established PAH in this model. Similar results were obtained with hydroxychloroquine. Chloroquine treatment increased whole lung and PASMC p62 protein levels consistent with inhibition of autophagy, and increased levels of BMPR-II protein. Chloroquine inhibited proliferation and increased apoptosis of PASMCs in vivo. In cultured rat PASMCs we confirmed that chloroquine both inhibited autophagy pathways and increased expression of BMPR-II protein via lysosomal inhibition. Consistent with the in vivo findings, chloroquine inhibited the proliferation and stimulated apoptosis of rat PASMCs in vitro, with no effect on endothelial cell proliferation or survival. Moreover, direct inhibition of autophagy pathways by ATG5 small interfering RNA knockdown inhibited proliferation of rat PASMCs.

Conclusions:

Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine exert beneficial effects in experimental PAH. The mechanism of action includes inhibition of autophagy pathways and inhibition of lysosomal degradation of BMPR-II.
Hemispheric Asymmetry in Perception: A Differential Encoding Account
Authors: Hsiao Janet H. , Cipollini Ben , Cottrell Garrison W.
Published: February 2013

Hemispheric asymmetry in the processing of local and global features has been argued to originate from differences in frequency filtering in the two hemispheres, with little neurophysiological support. Here we test the hypothesis that this asymmetry takes place at an encoding stage beyond the sensory level, due to asymmetries in anatomical connections within each hemisphere. We use two simple encoding networks with differential connection structures as models of differential encoding in the two hemispheres based on a hypothesized generalization of neuroanatomical evidence from the auditory modality to the visual modality: The connection structure between columns is more distal in the language areas of the left hemisphere and more local in the homotopic regions in the right hemisphere. We show that both processing differences and differential frequency filtering can arise naturally in this neurocomputational model with neuroanatomically inspired differences in connection structures within the two model hemispheres, suggesting that hemispheric asymmetry in the processing of local and global features may be due to hemispheric asymmetry in connection structure rather than in frequency tuning.
Homophobia in Serbia and LGBT Rights
Authors: Mršević Zorica
Published: February 2013

Homophobia is present in contemporary Serbian society as a rather widespread treatment of non-heterosexuality. It is manifested through various forms of public hate speech, through the forms and cases of discrimination and violence that are caused by homophobia, and through the homophobia-caused deprivation of members of the LGBT population of their various rights, particularly the right to the freedom of peaceful public assembly. Such homophobia is mostly shown by research data recently obtained by the Serbian LGBT rights groups (such as Gay Straight Alliance and Labris) and by media reporting on the recent public events (mostly on three recent attempts to organise Pride Parades in Belgrade, in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012). The research data showed that homophobia originates mostly from a lack of knowledge and a stereotyped comprehension of the people and relations among them, while its main protagonists in Serbia are nationalists, traditionalists, conformists and those who believe that hating others is the proper and even only way to defend their national and territorial integrity, as well as a reflection of their genuine patriotism. The spheres in which it is active include all social relations, from private and family, through professional, to public, media and political relations. Research data obtained in recent years by LGBT organisations provide evidence that homophobia is still very prevalent in Serbia, in some respects somewhat more so than in 2008, when the first research of that type was conducted.
The first palpimanid spiders from Bolivia: two new species of the genus Otiothops MacLeay, and the female of Fernandezina pulchra Birabén (Araneae: Palpimanidae: Otiothopinae)
Authors: PIACENTINI LUIS N. , CALERO SERGIO L. ÁVILA , PÉREZ MARIANELA E. , GRISMADO CRISTIAN J.
Published: February 2013

The araneomorph spider family Palpimanidae is reported from Boliviafor the first time. Two new species: Otiothops kath-iae and O. naokii are described and illustrated based on specimens recently collected in Santa Cruz Department. Addition-ally, Fernandezina pulchra Birabén, 1951 previously known only fromFormosa, in northernArgentina, is newly recorded fromSanta Cruz, and the female is described for the first time. Potential relationships with previously described species are also briefly discussed.
Coadaptive Aiding and Automation Enhance Operator Performance
Authors: Christensen James C. , Estepp Justin R.
Published: February 2013

Objective:

In this work, we expand on the theory of adaptive aiding by measuring the effectiveness of coadaptive aiding, wherein we explicitly allow for both system and user to adapt to each other.

Background:

Adaptive aiding driven by psycho- physiological monitoring has been demonstrated to be a highly effective means of controlling task allocation and system functioning. Psychophysiological monitoring is uniquely well suited for coadaptation, as malleable brain activity may be used as a continuous input to the adaptive system.

Method:

To establish the efficacy of the coadaptive system, physiological activation of adaptation was directly compared with manual activation or no activation of the same automation and cuing systems. We used interface adaptations and automation that are plausible for real-world operations, presented in the context of a multi–remotely piloted aircraft control simulation. Each participant completed 3 days of testing during 1 week. Performance was assessed via proportion of targets successfully engaged.

Results:

In the first 2 days of testing, there were no significant differences in performance between the conditions. However, in the third session, physiological adaptation produced the highest performance.

Conclusion:

By extending the data collection across multiple days, we offered enough time and repeated experience for user adaptation as well as online system adaptation, hence demonstrating coadaptive aiding.

Application:

The results of this work may be employed to implement more effective adaptive works-tations in a variety of work domains.
Localism in Finland: The changing role and current crisis of the Finnish municipal system
Authors: Andersson Kjell , Sjöblom Stefan
Published: February 2013

The authors analyse localism as a precondition for developing local self-government in Finland. The point of departure for the analysis is autonomy at the municipal level, of particular interest are variations in autonomy between key historical periods. For a long time, in fact until the 1990s, rural localism strongly affected the development of Finnish municipal self-government. However, the analysis shows that the developments over the past 10 years represent a fundamental paradigm shift, particularly concerning localism as a value for pursuing societal reforms. Localism is largely abandoned, both as an historic legacy and as a potential resource in facing current challenges of rural and out-migration areas. The authors argue that the paradigm shift will have deep-reaching consequences for local democracy in general and for rural development in particular.
Measuring the low carbon economy at the local level: A hybrid approach
Authors: Bishop Paul , Brand Steven
Published: February 2013

Identifying and measuring low carbon activities at the local authority level faces a number of problems related to the proliferation of overlapping low carbon concepts, a lack of data related to meaningful low carbon sectors and the rapidly changing nature of the sector. This paper provides a critical overview of the low carbon concept and presents a hybrid method of measurement involving a compromise between relatively costly bottom-up methods of data collection and the limitations of using existing data sources and statistical categories. The method maps existing national and regional survey data to the local level using an iterative scaling approach, utilising the recently developed concept of low carbon, environmental goods and services. The method is illustrated by outlining its application in the case of Plymouth within the context of a recent pilot study for the Low Carbon Framework.
Partisan, scholarly and active: arguments for an organic public sociology of work
Authors: Brook Paul , Darlington Ralph
Published: February 2013

Despite a thriving tradition of critical scholarship in United Kingdom-based sociology of work, Burawoy’s call for a partisan organic public sociology that is part of ‘a social movement beyond the academy’ and Bourdieu’s plea for committed scholarship in the service of the social movement against neo-liberalism have received scant attention. This article seeks to stimulate debate by presenting a framework for a left-radical organic public sociology of work based on Gramsci’s concept of the connected organic intellectual rather than Bourdieu’s expert committed scholar. The latter, it is argued, is ultimately incompatible with activist partisan scholarship based on democratized relations between researchers and researched. Participatory action research is offered as a methodological orientation that underpins and enables organic scholars of work to engage actively with the marginalized and labour in the co-creation of knowledge that aids their struggles for change.
The Hepatitis C Self-Management Program
Authors: Groessl Erik J. , Ho Samuel B. , Asch Steven M. , Stepnowsky Carl J. , Laurent Diana , Gifford Allen L.
Published: February 2013

Objective. Chronic hepatitis C infection afflicts millions of people worldwide. Although antiviral treatments are increasingly effective, many hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients avoid treatment, do not complete or respond to treatment, or have contraindications. Self-management interventions are one option for promoting behavioral changes leading to liver wellness and improved quality of life. Our objective was to evaluate whether the effects of the HCV self-management program were sustained at the 12-month follow-up assessment. Methods. Veteran Affairs patients with hepatitis C ( N = 134; mean age = 54.6 years, 95% male, 41% ethnic minority, 48% homeless in last 5 years) were randomized to either a 6-week self-management workshop or an information-only intervention. The weekly 2-hour self-management sessions were based on a cognitive–behavioral program with hepatitis C–specific modules. Outcomes including hepatitis C knowledge, depression, energy, and health-related quality of life were measured at baseline, 6 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months later. Data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA. Results. Compared with the information-only group, participants attending the self-management workshop improved more on HCV knowledge ( p < .005), SF-36 energy/vitality ( p = .016), and the Quality of Well-Being Scale ( p = .036). Similar trends were found for SF-36 physical functioning and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Short Depression Scale. Conclusion. Better outcomes were sustained among self-management participants at the 12-month assessment despite the intervention only lasting 6 weeks. HCV health care providers should consider adding self-management interventions for patients with chronic HCV.
Children’s School Readiness
Authors: Pagani Linda S. , Fitzpatrick Caroline
Published: February 2013

Background. School-entry characteristics predict adult educational attainment, which forecasts dispositions toward disease prevention. Health and education risks can also be transmitted from one generation to the next. As such, school readiness forecasts a set of intertwined biopsychosocial trajectories that can influence the developmental antecedents to health and disease prevalence in society. Purpose. To predict children’s health behaviors and academic adjustment at the end of fourth grade from their kindergarten entry math, vocabulary, and attention skills. Method. We use a subsample of 614 girls and 541 boys from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development (Canada). Children were individually assessed for cognitive skills and teachers rated their classroom attention skills at 65 months. Outcome measures include health behaviors, psychosocial, and academic outcomes at 122 months. Multiple regression analyses were used. Results. Receptive vocabulary in kindergarten exclusively predicted fourth-grade dietary habits. Unstandardized coefficients predicted decreases in sweet snack intake (β = −.009, 95% confidence interval [CI] = −.011 to −.006) and dairy product intake (β = .009, 95% CI = .005 to .013). Conversely, higher kindergarten math skills predicted increases in activities requiring physical effort (β = .030, 95% CI = .011 to .056). Although vocabulary and attention skills were found important, kindergarten math skills were stronger and more consistent predictors of later academic outcomes. Conclusions. From a population-health perspective, the skills children bring to the kindergarten classroom might reduce a host of lifestyle risks from childhood through adulthood. Early promotion of such skills also offers possibilities for ultimately reducing later disparities in health and education.
Magnetic resonance imaging outcomes from a phase III trial of teriflunomide
Authors: Wolinsky Jerry S , Narayana Ponnada A , Nelson Flavia , Datta Sushmita , O’Connor Paul , Confavreux Christian , Comi Giancarlo , Kappos Ludwig , Olsson Tomas P , Truffinet Philippe , Wang Lin , Miller Aaron , Freedman Mark S ,   for the Teriflunomide Multiple Sclerosis Oral (TEMSO) Trial Group
Published: February 2013

Objective:

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of oral teriflunomide on multiple sclerosis (MS) pathology inferred by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Methods:

Patients ( n=1088) with relapsing MS were randomized to once-daily teriflunomide 7 mg or 14 mg, or placebo, for 108 weeks. MRI was recorded at baseline, 24, 48, 72 and 108 weeks. Annualized relapse rate and confirmed progression of disability (sustained ≥12 weeks) were the primary and key secondary outcomes. The principal MRI outcome was change in total lesion volume.

Results:

After 108 weeks, increase in total lesion volume was 67.4% ( p=0.0003) and 39.4% ( p=0.0317) lower in the 14 and 7 mg dose groups versus placebo. Other measures favoring teriflunomide were accumulated enhanced lesions, combined unique activity, T2-hyperintense and T1-hypointense component lesion volumes, white matter volume, and a composite MRI score; all were significant for teriflunomide 14 mg and most significant for 7 mg versus placebo.

Conclusions:

Teriflunomide provided benefits on brain MRI activity across multiple measures, with a dose effect evident on several markers. These effects were also consistent across selected subgroups of the study population. These findings complement clinical data showing significant teriflunomide-related reductions in relapse rate and disease progression, and demonstrate containment of MRI-defined disease progression.
Storytelling in dementia: Embodiment as a resource
Authors: Hydén Lars-Christer
Published: February 2013

In narrative research about persons with dementia, much research focuses on individual storytellers and their stories often stressing the discursive or textual aspects of stories. As persons with Alzheimer’s disease generally have difficulties in telling stories according to often implicit narrative norms, they may appear to be less competent and agentive than what is actually the case. In the article, I argue for a change of focus from the textual aspects of narratives and the story as a product, to a focus on performative aspects and the embodied aspects of storytelling. A focus on the storytelling activity implies a change from the individual storyteller to the interaction with other participants in the storytelling situation. Drawing on two particular cases of storytelling, I stress the collaborative and embodied aspects of storytelling and argue that embodiment is less an individual expressive phenomenon than it is an interactive resource.
Dementia, personhood and embodiment: What can we learn from the medieval history of memory?
Authors: Katz Stephen
Published: February 2013

Memory and dementia are historical ideas that preceded the development of modern neuroscientific, psychogeriatric and medical approaches to aging and cognitive impairment. This article explores the value of such historical ideas in order to understand the discourses and metaphors by which Western thought has individualized memory as the guarantor of rational personhood, while at the same, treating memory decline as a threat to healthy and successful aging. Discussion focuses on the relationship between memory and the body in the classical and medieval ars memoria (the art of memory) and in the early modern philosophies of personhood, particularly the work of John Locke. Conclusions consider the significance of Western culture’s history of embodied memory as it moved from cosmic to individual to neurocognitive sites for our wider views about the treatment of dementia.
The Balanced Curriculum Model
Authors: Squires David A.
Published: February 2013

The Balanced Curriculum is a web-based tool that school districts use to create, align, assess, and manage their curriculum development and implementation. The courses are divided into time-bound units with significant tasks (or assured activities) that local district teachers develop and promise to teach. The significant tasks are aligned to standards and assessment specifications. District curriculum authors also develop assessments for all to use when implementing the curriculum. Results of more than 15 years of implementation show that all districts that have developed curriculum using this model, and ensured implementation, have had significant improvement on their test scores. Implications for teachers, principals, and central office staff are given at the end of the article.
How Do Teacher Preparation Programs Promote Desired Dispositions in Candidates?
Authors: Rose Steven
Published: February 2013

This article describes the results of a national survey of teacher preparation programs in the United States. It asks three major questions: (a) What strategies do programs use to promote and teach the dispositions they desire in preservice teachers? (b) What strategies are used relatively, commonly? and (c) How do institutions perceive the effectiveness of the strategies they use to promote and teach dispositions? The purpose is to fill a void in the scholarship about the promotion of desired dispositions, the means by which this is done, and institutions’ perceptions of perceived effectiveness, not to recommend or compare strategies.
Some results on parallel iterative algorithms for strictly pseudocontractive mappings
Authors: Yang Xiaoye , Qing Yuan , Zhang Mingliang
Published: February 2013

In this paper, a parallel iterative algorithm with mixed errors is investigated. Strong and weak convergence theorems of common fixed points of a finite family of strictly pseudocontractive mappings are established in a real Banach space.

AMS Subject Classification:47H05, 47H09, 47J25.
Collaborative routing and data delivery architecture for commercial wireless sensor networks
Authors: Hasani Bilal , Zafar Saima , Akbar Ali Hammad , Magsi Babar Ali
Published: February 2013

Lately, wireless sensor network applications have emerged for provision of commercial services to end users. This results in commercial deployment of sensor networks which is as an important research area due to a number of design and quality of service challenges. An important technical challenge for sensor service provision to end users is managing dynamic network conditions such as unreliability of sensor nodes and network links which results in frequent service outages. This research is aimed at addressing this challenge. It presents a novel architecture which utilizes the availability of multiple sensor networks under different administrative domains, deployed in an area such that maximum network connectivity and high service availability are ensured. The architecture incorporates modifications and enhancements at the medium access control and the routing layers of sensor nodes for the collaborative operation of sensor networks. The design is based on IEEE 802.15.4 standard and ad hoc on demand distance vector routing protocol. The proposed architecture is mathematically analyzed with regards to overheads associated with the design such as routing and communication, and techniques to minimize these overheads are recommended. Through simulations using OMNET++, we show that the proposed architecture effectively provides connectivity for disconnected nodes achieving an overall increase in throughput for all the cooperating networks.
Ethno-ornithology and conservation of wild birds in the semi-arid Caatinga of northeastern Brazil
Authors: Alves Rômulo Romeu Nóbrega , Leite Railson Cidennys Lourenço , Souto Wedson Medeiros Silva , Bezerra Dandara M M , Loures-Ribeiro Alan
Published: February 2013

The utilization of birds as pets has been recognized as one of the principal threats to global avifauna. Most of the information about the use and sale of birds as pets has been limited to areas of high biodiversity and whose impacts of anthropic actions have been widely broadcast internationally, for example for the Amazon Forest and forest remnants of Southeast Asia. The Caatinga predominates in the semi-arid region of Brazil, and is one of the semi-arid biomes with the greatest biological diversity in the world, where 511 species of birds exist. Many of these birds are used as pets, a common practice in the region, which has important conservationist implications but has been little studied. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to detail aspects of the use of birds as pets in a locality in the semi-arid region of Northeast Brazil. Information on the use of avifauna was obtained through interviews and visits to the homes of 78 wild bird keepers. A total of 41 species of birds were recorded, mostly of the families Emberizidae (n = 9 species), Columbidae (n = 7 species), Icteridae (n = 6 species) and Psittacidae (n = 3 species). The birds that were most often recorded wereParoaria dominicana(n = 79 especimens),Sporophila albogularis(n = 67),Aratinga cactorum(n = 49),Sporophila lineola(n = 36),Sicalis flaveola(n = 29) andSporophila nigricollis(n = 27). The use of wild birds in the area studied, as an example of what occurs in other places in the semi-arid Northeast, demonstrates that such activities persist in the region, in spite of being illegal, and have been happening in clandestine or semi-clandestine manner. No statistically significant correlation were found between socioeconomic factors and keeping birds as pets reflects the cultural importance of this practice of rearing wild birds for pets in the region, which is widespread among the local population, independent of socioeconomic factors. Obviously, human pressure on the avifauna exploited has ecological implications and makes it clear that conservationist measures should consider the cultural, economic and social aspects of these practices. These measures should be carried out by both directly combating the illegal traffic of animals and promoting educational campaigns aimed at all the players involved, from the collectors up to the consumer and wild bird keepers.
The many faces of HMGB1: molecular structure-functional activity in inflammation, apoptosis, and chemotaxis
Authors: Yang Huan , Antoine Daniel J , Andersson Ulf , Tracey Kevin J
Published: February 2013

Review of recent advances on post-translational modifications that determine the role of HMGB1 as a cytokine mediator.

HMGB1 is a ubiquitous nuclear protein present in almost all cell types. In addition to its intracellular functions, HMGB1 can be extracellularly released, where it mediates activation of innate immune responses, including chemotaxis and cytokine release. HMGB1 contains three conserved redox-sensitive cysteines (C23, C45, and C106); modification of these cysteines determines the bioactivity of extracellular HMGB1. Firstly, the cytokine-stimulating activity of HMGB1 requires C23 and C45 to be in a disulfide linkage, at the same time that C106 must remain in its reduced form as a thiol. This distinctive molecular conformation enables HMGB1 to bind and signal via the TLR4/MD-2 complex to induce cytokine release in macrophages. Secondly, for HMGB1 to act as a chemotactic mediator, all three cysteines must be in the reduced form. This all-thiol HMGB1 exerts its chemotactic activity to initiate inflammation by forming a heterocomplex with CXCL12; that complex binds exclusively to CXCR4 to initiate chemotaxis. Thirdly, binding of the HMGB1 to CXCR4 or to TLR4 is completely prevented by all-cysteine oxidation. Also, the initial post-translational redox modifications of HMGB1 are reversible processes, enabling HMGB1 to shift from acting as a chemotactic factor to acting as a cytokine and vice versa. Lastly, post-translational acetylation of key lysine residues within NLSs of HMGB1 affects HMGB1 to promote inflammation; hyperacetylation of HMGB1 shifts its equilibrium from a predominant nuclear location toward a cytosolic and subsequent extracellular presence. Hence, post-translational modifications of HMGB1 determine its role in inflammation and immunity.
Guest Editor's Introduction
Authors: Sand Jordan
Published: February 2013

The four essays presented in this special section emerged from a conference originally conceived by Miriam Silverberg and organized at the University of California, Los Angeles in collaboration with Mariko Tamanoi in 2007. Each essay takes up some aspect of life in the Japanese colonial empire, exploring the politics of colonial relations beyond the realm of the formal and explicit. They consider issues of bodily habitus, emotional experience both ecstatic and abject, sexual fantasy, and the everyday language of racism. The concept of sensibility ties these investigations of colonial experience to one another. This flexible term encompasses ideas of empirical apprehension of the world through the senses, of affect preceding or exceeding conscious articulation, and of the special cultivation of feeling whose history is inseparable from class and national ideologies. Building on the historiography and the many theoretical contributions in this flourishing field, these essays seek to expand the purview of study of the Japanese empire by bringing to light the connections between colonial sensibility and colonial relations of power.
Dying as a Daughter of the Empire
Authors: Lee Helen J. S.
Published: February 2013

During wartime Japan (late 1930s – 1945), the Japanese women in colonial Korea were pounded by ideological injunctions and practical imperatives demanding better service to the empire. This article explores the negotiations and struggles of Asano Shigeko (1922 – 42), a Keijō-born female Japanese student who died of tuberculosis at age twenty-one, through a reading of her Yamatojuku nikki, the Diary of Yamato School. Asano's diary documents most forcefully the desire of a young woman for imperial validation, neither as a wife nor a mother — two legitimate categories of women recognized by the empire — but as daughter of the empire.
Tropical Furniture and Bodily Comportment in Colonial Asia
Authors: Sand Jordan
Published: February 2013

This essay examines graphic, textual, and material evidence concerning the use of chairs by European colonists in South and Southeast Asia and by Japanese colonists in Taiwan. It focuses particularly on informal furniture made from lightweight tropical fibers such as rattan. The significance of chair sitting and the ways that chairs were used in these different contexts reveal contrasting colonial sensibilities — that is, bodily awarenesses and experiences of the colonial milieu and colonial social relationships. Many Europeans in Asia adopted furniture suited to a posture of languishing that would have been socially unacceptable in the same settings in Europe but reflected the sense of tropical life as a constant physical affliction and the accompanying indifference to the presence of native servants. In Japan's case, the process of colonization was concurrent with an effort to modernize national customs in both metropole and colonies on a European model, and inexpensive upright rattan chairs played a role in this. Yet Japanese colonists in Taiwan found themselves in an unusual situation since they were by habit floor sitters, placed by colonial conquest in a dominant position among a Chinese population accustomed to sitting on chairs. This introduced a complex dynamic into the bodily negotiation of relationships between colonizers and colonized in Taiwan, in which Japanese colonists' attitudes and behaviors did not always successfully map the power relationship of metropole and colony. A coda briefly considers a third type of rattan chair and an accompanying set of sensibilities tied to circuits of deployment in the United States military empire in the Pacific after World War II.