bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Indigenous wisdom and the PRME: inclusion or illusion?
Authors: Verbos Amy Klemm , Humphries Maria T.
Published: January 2015

Purpose

– The Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME) are a United Nations led initiative that includes a mandate to engage with voices generally marginalized in business classrooms. The voices of Indigenous peoples are among such marginalized voices. Inclusion of indigenous worldviews offer opportunities to enhance the capacity of the PRME to contribute to more just and sustainable management and development of humanity. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– PRME Principle One inspires opportunities to integrate the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (DRIP) and through this confluence, contribute to manifesting the espoused aspirations of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) – i.e. the transformation of poverty and environmental degradation toward universal human and environmental thriving.

Findings

– Greater attention to relational ethics through critical pedagogy encourages reflection on the paradoxes of the market logic that permeates management education. The outcome in practice of this logic appears to result in ever increasing disparity. Its unfettered trajectory risks both people and planet. An indigenous call to respect all life, including that of the planet, brings the principles of universal inclusiveness to light in a compelling way.

Originality/value

– This essay is unique in its call to construe together the PRME, UNGC, Business Reference Guide (BRG), and the DRIP to progress aspirations of inclusiveness and sustainability; and contribute indigenous worldviews for their intrinsic value in critical reflection on the damage caused by the market logic endemic to management education.
Responsible management education for a sustainable world
Authors: Dyllick Thomas
Published: January 2015

Purpose

– The reforms in business schools based on the Ford and Carnegie Foundation reports (Pierson, 1959; Gordon and Howell, 1959) have been very successful in embedding management in a research-based body of knowledge, thereby elevating the academic status of business administration. These reforms, however, did nothing toward making management more socially trustworthy or management education more responsible. In the light of the pressing economic, social and environmental crises the world is facing, the feeling is spreading that not only business and economics but business schools also need to change fundamentally, if they want to be a provider of solutions to these crises and thereby keep and regain their legitimacy. The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical analysis of the fundamental challenges facing the role of business schools and their contributions in the areas of education, research, managing faculty, and role of the business school. It presents suggestions what responsible management education for a sustainable world could and should look like.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper builds on the existing literature on the needed changes in business schools and has been written as part of a large international project, the 50+20 initiative (www.50plus20.org), which was developed by a broad coalition of organizations with the World Business School Council for Sustainable Business (WBSCSB), the Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative (GRLI) and the UN Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) at its core and 16 business schools and organizations from all around the world as supporters (Muffet al., 2013).

Findings

– Business schools need to transform themselves fundamentally, if they want to be a provider of solutions to the crises of responsibility and sustainability and thereby keep and regain their legitimacy.

Originality/value

– The paper pulls together insights from a diverse area of literature and develops practical conclusions.
The business case and barriers for responsible management education in business schools
Authors: Doherty Bob , Meehan John , Richards Adam
Published: January 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to gain a greater depth of understanding of both the pressures and barriers for embedding responsible management education (RME) within business and management schools.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper utilises a longitudinal case study design of six business/management schools.

Findings

– This research identifies a set of institutional pressures and barriers for RME in the business schools selected. First, the pressures appear to come from a number of external business school sources and the barriers from a series of organisational resource and individual factors.

Research limitations/implications

– RME cannot be seen as just a bolt on. The orientation needs to change to view RME as requiring a shift in culture/purpose/identity. Due to the barriers this will require systemic organisational change at all levels and an organisational change process to bring about implementation.

Practical implications

– The results clearly show these market pressures are no passing fad. Failure to respond in a systemic way will mean business schools will run into serious problems with legitimacy.

Originality/value

– This paper fulfils a need for an in depth study of a number of business schools to identify the barriers to RME. This is now a critical issue for schools and this research has provided a number of practical recommendations which will help business schools overcome the identified barriers.
Moving beyond the rhetoric of responsible management education
Authors: Cornuel Eric , Hommel Ulrich
Published: January 2015

Purpose

– Business schools appear to be slow adopters of responsible management education (RME), though the rhetoric of RME is visible throughout the sector. The purpose of this paper and the accompanying ones in this Special Issue is to address this apparent gap between substance and image by analysing the barriers to RME adoption and potential ways of overcoming them. The contributions offer insights from a range of different perspectives that will help encourage an informed debate on how to make RME more of a reality in management education.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper analyses the problem within the dominant institutional logic of the business school sector, which is shaped by entrepreneurialism, operational for-profit orientation and externally validated reputation creation. It sets the stage for the other contributions to this Special Issue, which use alternative approaches to analyse the limited progress of RME adoption.

Findings

– This paper identifies five potential barriers to RME adoption: students, as “customers”, do not sufficiently value the “R” in RME; the switch from full-time to part-time and online provision precludes the use of pedagogical methods particularly suited for RME; the fragmentation of intellectual production in business schools makes it difficult to implement an institution-wide RME-based learning model; the standardization of educational provision combined with a focus on ranking-related performance indicators moves business schools away from addressing RME-specific learning needs; and entrepreneurialism and business school rankings link RME directly and indirectly to financial impact, which is difficult to determine. In the authors’ view the way forward requires a review of the intellectual underpinning of modern management in combination with the adjustment of organizational routines and more explicit forms of faculty development.

Originality/value

– The existing literature focuses on the differentiating features of RME and how they can help to overcome deficiencies in management education as practiced today. This paper and others in this Special Issue adopt the reverse perspective and analyse the reasons for institutional inertia as a starting point for identifying ways of encouraging more widespread adoption.
Diffusion of changes in organizations
Authors: Kim Taesung
Published: January 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to address the advisability of innovation diffusion theory for enhancing the adoption/execution success rate in leading organizational change.

Design/methodology/approach

– The study design involved an interpretive discussion of innovation diffusion theory and related research, followed by a review of influential models of organizational change management (CM). Through analysis and synthesis of the essential ideas and processes derived from both schools, this study conceptualized an integrated change diffusion model with practical and research implications.

Findings

– The study findings were presented via an organizational change diffusion model and its phases with major considerations. Leading change should be a systematic but responsive process as visualized by a sequential but recursive flow of the phases; change could sustain with the spontaneous function of organizational dynamics; before-during-after diagnosis and evaluation would be fundamental to the success of change efforts.

Research limitations/implications

– This study recommended that future research empirically test the validity of this study’s conceptual arguments and attempt to further integrate innovation diffusion and CM research in many areas, including the change leader’s competencies. Extended research opportunities were presented as well.

Practical implications

– This study suggested that change leaders concentrate resources on a few positively or negatively influential individuals and take advantage of communication networks to persuade and inform others to help with their change adoption. Change leaders were also advised to partner with formal/informal opinion leaders and facilitate each player’s proper role in the change diffusion efforts. An additional suggestion was that system-centric thinking should precede the individual-blame orientation in the root cause analysis of adoption/non-adoption (diffusion/non-diffusion) of a change.

Originality/value

– This study offers value by enriching CM approaches in consultation with the research asset on innovation diffusion, which has been less capitalized upon in the organizational CM arena. Specifically, value added includes an encompassing consideration of both normative-reeducative and empirical-rational perspectives on individuals’ behavior change, a research-based conceptual extension of CM models, and consummative strategies for effective and efficient change interventions.
Aligning management model and business model in the management innovation perspective
Authors: Basile Alessandro , Faraci Rosario
Published: January 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to present some evidence on the role of management models in the implementation or in the transformation of the business models, highlighting the pivotal role of managerial dynamic capabilities. The analysis provides relevant lines of managerial action both strategic and operational levels.

Design/methodology/approach

– An innovative conceptual analysis is proposed. Managerial dynamic capabilities play a central role in the coupled link between management model and business model at the organizational level.

Findings

– The authors propose a highly usable and generalizable conceptual model for management practices, strategic planning and operational assessment.

Originality/value

– This paper investigates a new emerging research stream of management innovation theory. The research presents a new and innovative conceptual analysis of management model and business model alignment. This theme has not been explored in prior researches and represents an experiment to pair the management model and the business model evidence.
Analysis of customer churn behavior in digital libraries
Authors: Lai Yuangen , Zeng Jianxun
Published: January 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to discuss issues related to customer churn behavior in digital libraries (DLs) and demonstrate the successful application of Survival Analysis for understanding customer churn status and relationship duration distribution between customers and libraries.

Design/methodology/approach

– The study applies non-parametric methods of Survival Analysis to analyze churn behaviors of 8,054 customers from a famous Chinese digital library, and a cluster method to make customer segmentation according to customer behavioral features.

Findings

– The customer churn rate of the given library is very high, so as to the churn hazard in early three months after customer's registration on the web site of the library. There is clear difference in both customer survival time and churn hazard among customer groups. It is necessary to strengthen customer churn analysis and customer relationship management (CRM) for DLs.

Research limitations/implications

– The studied samples are mainly based on customers from one digital library and some hypotheses have not been strictly proven due to the absence of relevant empirical researches.

Practical implications

– This study provides a reasonable basis for decision making about CRM in DLs.

Originality/value

– Most previous researches about information behavior concentrate on information seeking behavior in DLs, seldom discuss customer switching behavior. The paper discusses issues related to customer churn analysis and illustrates the adaptation of Survival Analysis to understand customer churn status and relationship duration distribution in DLs.
A feature selection approach for automatic e-book classification based on discourse segmentation
Authors: Guo Jiunn-Liang , Wang Hei-Chia , Lai Ming-Way
Published: January 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to develop a novel feature selection approach for automatic text classification of large digital documents – e-books of online library system. The main idea mainly aims on automatically identifying the discourse features in order to improving the feature selection process rather than focussing on the size of the corpus.

Design/methodology/approach

– The proposed framework intends to automatically identify the discourse segments within e-books and capture proper discourse subtopics that are cohesively expressed in discourse segments and treating these subtopics as informative and prominent features. The selected set of features is then used to train and perform the e-book classification task based on the support vector machine technique.

Findings

– The evaluation of the proposed framework shows that identifying discourse segments and capturing subtopic features leads to better performance, in comparison with two conventional feature selection techniques: TFIDF and mutual information. It also demonstrates that discourse features play important roles among textual features, especially for large documents such as e-books.

Research limitations/implications

– Automatically extracted subtopic features cannot be directly entered into FS process but requires control of the threshold.

Practical implications

– The proposed technique has demonstrated the promised application of using discourse analysis to enhance the classification of large digital documents – e-books as against to conventional techniques.

Originality/value

– A new FS technique is proposed which can inspect the narrative structure of large documents and it is new to the text classification domain. The other contribution is that it inspires the consideration of discourse information in future text analysis, by providing more evidences through evaluation of the results. The proposed system can be integrated into other library management systems.
Influence of orally administered Lactobacillus GG on respiratory immune response in a murine model of diet‐induced obesity
Authors: Miyazawa Kenji , Yoda Kazutoyo , Kawase Manabu , Harata Gaku , He Fang
Published: January 2015

Mice with diet‐induced obesity were fed with Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) suspended in saline or saline alone (control mice). Pulmonary mRNA expression of IFN‐γ; IFN‐α receptor 1; CD247 antigen; killer cell lectin‐like receptor subfamily K, member 1; TNF‐α; IL‐12 receptor β1 and IL‐2 receptor β, and the proportion of Lactobacillales in feces were significantly greater in the LGG group than in the control mice (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01, respectively). These results suggest that LGG alters the respiratory immunity of obese subjects through having a potent impact on intestinal immunity.
Ambulatory Surgery Centers and Their Intended Effects on Outpatient Surgery
Authors: Hollenbeck Brent K. , Dunn Rodney L. , Suskind Anne M. , Strope Seth A. , Zhang Yun , Hollingsworth John M.
Published: January 2015

Objectives

To assess the impact of ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) on rates of hospital‐based outpatient procedures and adverse events.

Data Sources

Twenty percent national sample of Medicare beneficiaries.

Study Design

A retrospective study of beneficiaries undergoing outpatient surgery between 2001 and 2010. Health care markets were sorted into three groups—those with ASCs, those without ASCs, and those where one opened for the first time. Generalized linear mixed models were used to assess the impact of ASC opening on rates of hospital‐based outpatient surgery, perioperative mortality, and hospital admission.

Principal Findings

Adjusted hospital‐based outpatient surgery rates declined by 7 percent, or from 2,333 to 2,163 procedures per 10,000 beneficiaries, in markets where an ASC opened for the first time (p < .001 for test between slopes). Within these markets, procedure use at ASCs outpaced the decline observed in the hospital setting. Perioperative mortality and admission rates remained flat after ASC opening (both p > .4 for test between slopes).

Conclusions

The opening of an ASC in a Hospital Service Area resulted in a decline in hospital‐based outpatient surgery without increasing mortality or admission. In markets where facilities opened, procedure growth at ASCs was greater than the decline in outpatient surgery use at their respective hospitals.
The Use of the Developmental Rate of the Aquatic Midge Chironomus riparius (Diptera, Chironomidae) in the Assessment of the Postsubmersion Interval
Authors: González Medina Alejandro , Soriano Hernando Óscar , Jiménez Ríos Gilberto
Published: January 2015

Nonbiting midges (Diptera, Chironomidae) are the most abundant members of the fauna associated with submerged carcasses, but their use in the medicolegal context is very restricted because of their complex ontogeny. In this case, the corpse of a woman was recovered in late spring from a river in Granada (Iberian Peninsula). It showed obvious signs of long permanence in the aquatic environment and, along with pulmonary and microscopical analyses, led to the conclusion that the cause of death was drowning. Several larvae‐like specimens were sampled from the scalp and later identified by morphological external features as IV instar larvae of Chironomus riparius Meigen, 1804 (Diptera, Chironomidae). Sequencing of cytochrome oxidase subunit I was performed to confirm the identification. The knowledge of the biology of C. riparius at low temperatures was critical to assess a postsubmersion interval of 16–17 days.
Peritoneal Dialysis is Limited by Kidney and Liver Volume in Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease
Authors: Hamanoue Satoshi , Hoshino Junichi , Suwabe Tatsuya , Marui Yuji , Ueno Toshiharu , Kikuchi Koichi , Hazue Ryo , Mise Koki , Kawada Masahiro , Imafuku Aya , Hayami Noriko , Sumida Keiichi , Hiramatsu Rikako , Hasegawa Eiko , Sawa Naoki , Takaichi Kennmei , Ubara Yoshifumi
Published: January 2015

We evaluated the influence of kidney volume (KV) and liver volume (LV) on continuation of peritoneal dialysis (PD) in patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (PKD). Twenty‐two PKD patients on PD were retrospectively investigated after being divided into two groups. Group 1 comprised 15 patients who started PD at our hospital and group 2 was composed of seven patients referred from other hospitals for treatment of renomegaly by transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) at 47.1 ± 21.8 months after commencing PD. In group 1, KV for both kidneys (mean ± SD) was 2787 ± 1945 mL (range: 1043 to 6816 mL), LV was 2198 ± 1139 mL (1005 to 4116 mL), and the total organ volume (TV = KV + LV) was 4985 ± 1815 mL (2320 to 8912 mL). In the patient with the largest TV from group 1 (KV of 6816 mL, TV of 8912 mL, and TV/BMI ratio of 426, PD was stopped due to dialysate leakage. However, dialysate leakage did not occur in the other 14 patients (TV ≦ 7963 mL and TV/BMI ratio of 353 at the start of PD). In group 2, KV was 5822 ± 1597 mL (3832 to 8862 mL), LV was 1776 ± 519 mL (1271 to 2671 mL), and TV was 7597 ± 1431 mL (5505 to 10358) before TAE. Leakage of dialysate did not occur with a mean infusion volume of 1530 ± 370 mL (1000 mL to 2000 mL), even after renomegaly and hepatomegaly progressed to the maximum TV/BMI ratio of 359. Six patients from the two groups developed new abdominal hernias at 36 ± 5 months (6–55 months) after starting PD. These findings suggest that performance of PD may be limited by renomegaly and hepatomegaly in patients with PKD.
A rare combination: chylous polyserositis and autoimmune myelofibrosis as a presentation of systemic lupus erythematosus
Authors: Kakar Atul , Pipaliya Keyur , Gogia Atul
Published: January 2015

Chylous polyserositis and autoimmune myelofibrosis occurring concomitantly inn a case of SLE are a rare phenomenon. We here report a case of a 38‐year‐old woman who was admitted with a history of cough and shortness of breath for 1½ months along with fever and abdominal distension for 1 month. She also had arthralgias, weight loss and pancytopenia. She was diagnosed as a case of SLE with Chylous polyserositis and autoimmune myelofibrosis. She was started on steroids and immunosuppressive therapy, to which she responded.

To summarize, this is the first case report where chylous polyserositis and pancytopenia due to autoimmune myelofibrosis occurred which was responsive to steroids and immunosuppressive therapy.
Psychometric Testing of the Spanish Version of the Pain Level Outcome Scale in Hospitalized Patients With Acute Pain
Authors: Bellido‐Vallejo José C. , Rodríguez‐Torres María C. , López‐Medina Isabel M. , Pancorbo‐Hidalgo Pedro L.
Published: January 2015

Purpose

This study aims to evaluate the psychometric properties and sensitivity to change of the Spanish version of the Pain Level Outcome Scale.

Methods

This article applied observational longitudinal validation study with patients suffering from acute pain at three hospitals.

Findings

The study included 73 patients. Inter‐rater agreement was kappa = .88 and internal consistency α = .93. Principal components analysis yielded four components that explained 81.86% of the variance; the correlation with the Numerical Pain Intensity Scale was r = −.81.

Conclusions

The version with 17 indicators shows good psychometric properties and adequate sensitivity to change. A Spanish version of the Pain Level Outcome Scale with 17 indicators is proposed as a structured multidimensional instrument to help nurses choose the most appropriate indicators for assessing patients’ pain.
Giraffe birth locations in the South Luangwa National Park, Zambia: site fidelity or microhabitat selection?
Authors: Bercovitch Fred B. , Berry Philip S. M.
Published: January 2015

Birth site location can have enormous implications for female reproductive success. Some ungulate species demonstrate consistent birth site fidelity, while others shift birth locations during their lifetimes as a function of ecological and social factors. We plotted 39 years of birth records from a wild population of Thornicroft's giraffe, Giraffa camelopardalis thornicrofti, to test the hypothesis that giraffe use consistent locations for birth. Data from 29 calves born to nine females revealed that birth seasonality was absent and that ecological zone had no significant impact on birth locations. Consecutive births by individual females were not limited to certain locations, with the distance between sequential birth sites tending to be greater if a calf failed to survive the first year of life. Our evidence conflicts with the suggestion that giraffe cows regularly return to special locations for bearing calves. We suggest that the choice of birth location is a function of nonseasonal breeding, predator pressure and extensive variation in microhabitat characteristics within ecological zones. Female giraffe have evolved a flexible reproductive strategy, whereby they regulate choice of birth site location based upon their past reproductive history, current ecological conditions (including both resource availability and predator pressure) and present social surroundings.
What makes people decide to pay more? Understanding cooperation in the context of an alternative food network
Authors: Lavín Claudio , Espejo Alvaro , Bravo Diego , Morales Sebastián
Published: January 2015

In recent decades, cooperative behaviour has been the target of much research. Although there is some evidence about the motives that lead people to engage in cooperation, there is still little research on cooperation models in real‐life settings. To shed some light on this issue, we studied cooperation in an alternative food network. This organization is based on social and environmental concerns, and its appeals to subscribers can be operationalized as a real‐life expression of cooperative behaviour. The research aimed to understand the motives behind people's subscription to the organization and whether their motivations are consistent with traditional experimental evidence about cooperative decision‐making. The results reveal that subscribers explained their participation in the organization by reporting self‐oriented and other‐oriented motivations and that their decision was motivated by the match between the structural characteristics provided by the organization and their individual concerns. These findings suggest that people seek to benefit both themselves and others and indicate that a conjunction between structural frames and individual ethical values is critical for explaining human cooperation.
Effects of voice and similarity on procedural fairness and trust: A dual process model of public acceptance based on representatives’ participation
Authors: Nonami Hiroshi , Hirose Yukio , Ohnuma Susumu , Midden Cees , Ohtomo Shoji
Published: January 2015

In citizen participation, a few representatives of the total citizen population participate in discussions with authorities regarding public decisions and policies. The present study examines a dual process model in which the representatives’ voice and similarity of values facilitate public acceptance through procedural fairness and trust in representatives, respectively. The results of an experiment employing a scenario method, which included participants from Japan (n = 211) and the Netherlands (n = 200), indicate that the representatives’ voice increased procedural fairness and public acceptance when the similarity of representatives was high. The effects of representatives’ voice on public acceptance via procedural fairness was supported in both nations, while other effects of representatives’ similarity on acceptance via trust were indicated only in Japan. These results suggest that the indirect voice of citizens, as conveyed by representatives, plays an important role in increasing perceptions of procedural fairness and public acceptance among citizens.
A randomised controlled trial of periconal eye blockade with or without ultrasound guidance
Authors: Najman I. E. , Meirelles R. , Ramos L. B. , Guimarães T. C. F. , do Nascimento P.
Published: January 2015

We randomly allocated 129 participants with normal eyes to periconal blockade with (n = 69) or without (n = 60) ultrasound guidance before cataract surgery. There was no difference in the rates of complication, 1/69 and 0/60, respectively, p = 1.0. The rate of intraconal needle placement was 1/69 with ultrasound and 12/60 without ultrasound, a relative risk (95% CI) of 0.07 (0.01–0.55), p < 0.0001.
Utility of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the treatment of operable breast cancer
Authors: Read Rebecca L. , Flitcroft Kathy , Snook Kylie L. , Boyle Frances M. , Spillane Andrew J.
Published: January 2015

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is a legitimate alternative to first‐line surgical therapy for the treatment of breast cancer patients, as level one evidence shows the effect on overall survival is equivalent to that of adjuvant chemotherapy. In the treatment of women with operable breast cancer, NAC provides a number of potential advantages including: improving the chance of achieving breast‐conserving surgery, improving cosmesis after breast‐conserving surgery, downstaging the breast and axilla, allowing time to fully consider surgical options, time for genetic testing and facilitating breast reconstruction in otherwise high‐risk patients. However, in Australia, NAC is poorly utilized with less than 3% of women with operable breast cancer receiving NAC. This review discusses the potential harms and benefits of NAC, discusses areas of controversy in the use of NAC and describes how we have used NAC in our own practice. We conclude that if it is obviously necessary for the newly presenting breast cancer patient to have chemotherapy as part of the treatment, it is worth considering NAC. In many patients, the potential benefits of NAC outweigh the harms. However, maximizing these benefits is closely aligned with appropriate patient selection and timely multidisciplinary team communication.
Where is the Baby From, Why is it Here? Creative Ways of Working with Dissociated States in Private Practice
Authors: Standish Liz
Published: January 2015

Through one clinical example involving complex post‐traumatic stress disorder, this paper explores the ways in which the psychoanalytic psychotherapist may need to find creative ways of working which incorporate findings from neuroscience whilst holding the basic frame and methods of the traditional psychoanalytic approach. This entails bringing knowledge of how the body (including the brain) works into the consulting room. In particular, the author describes ways of accompanying the patient during florid flashbacks to chronic and severe childhood abuse and of using grounding techniques afterwards, so that anxiety levels can be sufficiently contained for the necessary therapeutic work to take place. The role of supervision is also explored in terms of how the dynamic of rescuer/victim/persecutor may be played out in the supervisory relationship. Unusually, some of the patient's own reflections, written at the end of the therapy, have been incorporated into the paper. Consideration is given to whether departures from standard psychoanalytic technique constitute boundary violations or useful enactments, which can be seen as a form of creativity which enables the work to move on.
Remembering, Repeating and Working Through: The Impact of the Controversial Discussions
Authors: Robinson Ken
Published: January 2015

Freud's recognition that what cannot be remembered may well be repeated in action is useful for understanding the trauma and aftermath of the Controversial Discussions. I shall be concentrating on disavowal, repeating, working through and remembering in the evolving context of the process of the impact of the Discussions. I suggest that we can distinguish three phases of the impact of the Discussions: the first a silence as if the Discussions constituted something too traumatic or too shameful to speak about; the second a phase of mutual influence between two or more groups which constitutes one form of working through, an attempt to integrate (with its opposite a concentration on irreconcilable differences); and third a further stage of working through which is closer to remembering, treating the Discussions as a historical point of reference in the service of sorting out clinical and conceptual problems.
Seventy Years On: Some Clinical Consequences of The Controversial Discussions
Authors: Hernandez‐Halton Isabel
Published: January 2015

Seventy years ago with much of the world engaged in a battle for survival in the Second World War, the British Psychoanalytical Society organized a series of scientific meetings to discuss the new theories of Melanie Klein. The paper starts with a historical background to the Controversial Discussions and moves on to discuss some of the main points of the debate. It revisits the concept of unconscious phantasy along with the debates on primary narcissism and the death instinct, also exploring its use and relevance in current clinical practice. Following Bion's idea that psychic change is felt as catastrophic, I attempt to link some of the anxieties and processes that were present during the Controversial Discussions with similar processes present in the psychoanalytic world today.
Intrathecal injection of lentivirus‐mediated glial cell line‐derived neurotrophic factor RNA interference relieves bone cancer‐induced pain in rats
Authors: Meng Fu‐fen , Xu Yang , Dan Qi‐qin , Wei La , Deng Ying‐jie , Liu Jia , He Mu , Liu Wei , Xia Qing‐jie , Zhou Fiona H. , Wang Ting‐hua , Wang Xi‐yan
Published: January 2015

Bone cancer pain is a common symptom in cancer patients with bone metastases and the underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. The aim of this study is to explore the endogenous analgesic mechanisms to develop new therapeutic strategies for bone‐cancer induced pain (BCIP) as a result of metastases. MRMT‐1 tumor cells were injected into bilateral tibia of rats and X‐rays showed that the area suffered from bone destruction, accompanied by an increase in osteoclast numbers. In addition, rats with bone cancer showed apparent mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia at day 28 after intratibial MRMT‐1 inoculation. However, intrathecal injection of morphine or lentivirus‐mediated glial cell line‐derived neurotrophic factor RNAi (Lvs‐siGDNF) significantly attenuated mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia, as shown by increases in paw withdrawal thresholds and tail‐flick latencies, respectively. Furthermore, Lvs‐siGDNF interference not only substantially downregulated GDNF protein levels, but also reduced substance P immunoreactivity and downregulated the ratio of pERK/ERK, where its activation is crucial for pain signaling, in the spinal dorsal horn of this model of bone‐cancer induced pain. In this study, Lvs‐siGDNF gene therapy appeared to be a beneficial method for the treatment of bone cancer pain. As the effect of Lvs‐siGDNF to relieve pain was similar to morphine, but it is not a narcotic, the use of GDNF RNA interference may be considered as a new therapeutic strategy for the treatment of bone cancer pain in the future.
Identification of a novel E‐box binding pyrrole‐imidazole polyamide inhibiting MYC‐driven cell proliferation
Authors: Mishra Rajeev , Watanabe Takayoshi , Kimura Makoto T. , Koshikawa Nobuko , Ikeda Maki , Uekusa Shota , Kawashima Hiroyuki , Wang Xiaofei , Igarashi Jun , Choudhury Diptiman , Grandori Carla , Kemp Christopher J. , Ohira Miki , Verma Narendra K. , Kobayashi Yujin , Takeuchi Jin , Koshinaga Tsugumichi , Nemoto Norimichi , Fukuda Noboru , Soma Masayoshi , Kusafuka Takeshi , Fujiwara Kyoko , Nagase Hiroki
Published: January 2015

The MYC transcription factor plays a crucial role in the regulation of cell cycle progression, apoptosis, angiogenesis, and cellular transformation. Due to its oncogenic activities and overexpression in a majority of human cancers, it is an interesting target for novel drug therapies. MYC binding to the E‐box (5′‐CACGTGT‐3′) sequence at gene promoters contributes to more than 4000 MYC‐dependent transcripts. Owing to its importance in MYC regulation, we designed a novel sequence‐specific DNA‐binding pyrrole–imidazole (PI) polyamide, Myc‐5, that recognizes the E‐box consensus sequence. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that the Myc‐5 binding sequence appeared in 5′‐ MYC binding E‐box sequences at the eIF4G1, CCND1, and CDK4 gene promoters. Furthermore, ChIP coupled with detection by quantitative PCR indicated that Myc‐5 has the ability to inhibit MYC binding at the target gene promoters and thus cause downregulation at the mRNA level and protein expression of its target genes in human Burkitt's lymphoma model cell line, P493.6, carrying an inducible MYC repression system and the K562 (human chronic myelogenous leukemia) cell line. Single i.v. injection of Myc‐5 at 7.5 mg/kg dose caused significant tumor growth inhibition in a MYC‐dependent tumor xenograft model without evidence of toxicity. We report here a compelling rationale for the identification of a PI polyamide that inhibits a part of E‐box‐mediated MYC downstream gene expression and is a model for showing that phenotype‐associated MYC downstream gene targets consequently inhibit MYC‐dependent tumor growth.
Cold‐inducible RNA‐binding protein promotes the development of liver cancer
Authors: Sakurai Toshiharu , Yada Norihisa , Watanabe Tomohiro , Arizumi Tadaaki , Hagiwara Satoru , Ueshima Kazuomi , Nishida Naoshi , Fujita Jun , Kudo Masatoshi
Published: January 2015

Most hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) develop in the context of chronic liver inflammation. Oxidative stress is thought to play a major role in the pathogenesis of HCC development. In this study, we examined whether cold‐inducible RNA‐binding protein (Cirp) controls reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation and development of HCC by using murine models of hepatocarcinogenesis and human liver samples. Cirp expression, ROS accumulation, and CD133 expression were increased in the liver of tumor‐harboring mice. Cirp deficiency reduced production of interleukin‐1β and interleukin‐6 in Kupffer cells, ROS accumulation, and CD133 expression, leading to attenuated hepatocarcinogenesis. Thioacetamide treatment enhanced hepatic expression of CD133 and phosphorylated signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), which was prevented by treatment with the antioxidant butylated hydroxyanisole. Intriguingly, the risk of human HCC recurrence is positively correlated with Cirp expression in liver. Cirp appears to play a critical carcinogenic function and its expression might be a useful biomarker for HCC risk prediction.
Peroxisome Proliferator‐activated Receptor‐γ Agonist Pioglitazone Ameliorates White Matter Lesion and Cognitive Impairment in Hypertensive Rats
Authors: Lan Lin‐Fang , Zheng Lu , Yang Xian , Ji Xiao‐Tan , Fan Yu‐Hua , Zeng Jin‐Sheng
Published: January 2015

Aims

Cerebrovascular white matter lesion (WML) is a major subtype of cerebral small vessel disease. Clinical drugs are not available for WML. We investigated whether peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor‐γ agonist pioglitazone, with properties of vascular protection and antiinflammation, exerts beneficial effect in hypertensive WML rats.

Methods

Stroke‐prone renovascular hypertensive rats (RHRSP) were treated with pioglitazone for 12 weeks. Morris water maze experiment was conducted to assess cognition. WML was observed by Luxol fast blue staining. Smooth muscle actin‐alpha, collagen I, collagen IV, glial fibrillary acidic protein, and ionized calcium‐binding adaptor molecule‐1 were evaluated by immunohistochemistry. Interleukin‐1 beta (IL‐1β) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF‐α) in brain and soluble intercellular adhesion molecule‐1 (sICAM‐1) in serum were detected.

Results

Pioglitazone significantly attenuated WML in corpus callosum, caudate putamen, external capsule, and internal capsule. Cognitive impairment in RHRSP was ameliorated by pioglitazone. Pioglitazone attenuated arteriolar remodeling and reduced sICAM‐1 level in serum. Pioglitazone decreased the proliferation of microglia and astrocyte and lowered the expression of proinflammatory cytokines IL‐1β and TNF‐α in the white matter.

Conclusions

Long‐term treatment of pioglitazone has beneficial effect on hypertension‐induced WML and cognition decline, which may partly through its effect on attenuation of arteriolar remodeling, endothelial activation, and brain inflammation.
Regional lymph node status after neoadjuvant chemoradiation of rectal cancer producing a complete or near complete rectal wall response
Authors: Shwaartz C. , Haim N. , Rosin D. , Lawrence Y. , Gutman M. , Zmora O.
Published: January 2015

Aim

Transanal excision of the tumour site after complete response to chemoradiotherapy can determine the rectal wall response to treatment. This study was designed to assess whether the absence of tumour in the rectal wall corresponds to the absence of tumour in the mesorectum (true pathological complete response).

Method

A retrospective review identified patients who underwent preoperative chemoradiation therapy for advanced mid and low rectal cancer followed by routine pre‐planned radical surgery with total mesorectal excision. Patients in whom the pathology specimen showed no residual tumour in the rectal wall (ypT0) or a ypT1 lesion were assessed for tumour involvement in the mesorectum.

Results

Seventy‐eight patients who underwent pelvic chemoradiation followed by radical surgery were reviewed. The rectal wall tumour disappeared in eight (ypT0). Of these, residual tumour was found in the mesorectum (ypT0N1) in one (12%) patient. Eleven patients were found to have ypT1 residual tumour. Of these, two (18%) had a final post‐surgical staging of ypT1N1.

Conclusion

Complete rectal wall tumour eradication was achieved in 10% of the patients, and downstaging to ypT1 was achieved in 14%. In 15% (12% in ypT0 and 18% in ypT1) of these patients, residual tumour cells were evident in the mesorectum. This would probably have rendered these patients with residual disease had a nonradical approach of transanal excision of the original tumour site been employed. Caution should be taken when considering the avoidance of radical surgery.
Effects of motor action on affective preferences in autism spectrum disorders: different influences of embodiment
Authors: Eigsti Inge‐Marie , Rosset Delphine , Col Cozzari Ghislaine , da Fonseca David , Deruelle Christine
Published: January 2015

In the embodied cognition framework, sensory, motor and emotional experiences are encoded along with sensorimotor cues from the context in which information was acquired. As such, representations retain an initial imprint of the manner in which information was acquired. The current study reports results indicating a lack of embodiment effects in ASD and, further, an association between embodiment differences and ASD symptomatology. The current results are consistent with an embodied account of ASD that goes beyond social experiences and could be driven by subtle deficits in sensorimotor coordination.
GADA and anti‐ZnT8 complicate the outcome of phenotypic type 2 diabetes of adults
Authors: Haller‐Kikkatalo Kadri , Pruul Katrin , Kisand Kalle , Nemvalts Virge , Reimand Koit , Uibo Raivo
Published: January 2015

Background

A proportion of phenotypic type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients produce pancreatic autoantibodies and a majority of T2D patients develop serious life‐disabling complications over time despite the implementation of adequate clinical interventions. This study determined whether the presence of pancreatic autoantibodies (GADA, IA‐2A, anti‐ZnT8, or ICA) was associated with serious complications or concomitant diseases of adult patients diagnosed with T2D (N = 305).

Main results

In the study population, 22·3% (N = 68) of subjects were positive for at least 1 of the 4 of the markers associated with autoimmune diabetes (presence of pancreatic autoantibody – pAb), followed by GADA (14·1%, N = 43), ICA (8·9%, N = 27), anti‐ZnT8 (5·6%, N = 17) and IA‐2A (2·0%, N = 6). Logistic regression analysis adjusted for patient's age, gender and duration of T2D revealed that (i) pAb was associated with higher prevalence of adiposity (odds ratio of adjusted regression model (adOR) 2·51, P = 0·032); (ii) pAb, GADA and anti‐ZnT8 were associated with autoimmune thyroid disease (adORs 3·07, P = 0·012; 6·29, P < 0·001 and 3·52, P = 0·052, respectively); (iii) pAb and GADA, in particular, were risk factors for neurological complications (adORs 2·10, P = 0·036; 2·76, P = 0·009, respectively) and polyneuropathy in particular (adORs 2·60, P = 0·012; 3·10, P = 0·007, respectively); and (iv) anti‐ZnT8 was a risk factor for developing nephropathy (adOR 4·61, P = 0·022). In addition, adiposity was associated with 5·3‐year earlier onset of disease (adjusted linear regression model, P = 0·006).

Conclusions

These results suggest that GADA and anti‐ZnT8 are associated with progression of serious T2D complications, including polyneuropathy and nephropathy. In addition, adiposity represents a significant risk for autoimmunity development in T2D patients.
Alterations in the mechanical properties of the extracted human teeth to be used as biological restorations on storing them in different storage media: an in vitro study
Authors: Kantoor Pallavi , Srivastava Nikhil , Rana Vivek , Adlakha Vivek K.
Published: January 2015

Background

Total or partial loss of tooth structure occured due to caries or trauma. The decayed or fractured tooth is restored with appropriate restorative materials. A range of restorative materials are available in the market today, but each of them has one or the other drawbacks, viz. color mismatch, variable wear resistance, and strength. Therefore, there has always been a quest to use a restorative material which has properties as close to natural tooth as possible. Extracted human teeth have been tried as restorative materials with good success rate, but their storage has been a problem due to change in physical properties.

Aims and objectives

To evaluate the changes in the mechanical properties of the extracted human teeth to be used as biological restoration upon storing them in different storage media and to compare their effectiveness.

Material and methodology

Five hundred and twenty extracted human teeth (samples) included in the study were equally distributed and randomly stored in different storage media (saline, artificial saliva, ORS, coconut water, and eye solution), and their mechanical properties were checked at different time intervals (7, 14, and 30 days) using universal testing machine and Vickers hardness test.

Result and conclusion

None of the storage media used in the study significantly altered mechanical properties of the stored extracted human teeth except the hardness which was substantially reduced after storing for 30 days. Of the 4 media tested, eye solution was found to be the best, while artificial saliva was found to be least effective as storage media. It was also concluded that storage time of the extracted teeth to be used as biological restorations should not exceed more than 3–4 weeks as beyond this time, mechanical properties namely hardness get altered significantly.
Polymorphism of the E‐cadherin gene CDH1 is associated with susceptibility to vitiligo
Authors: Tarlé Roberto Gomes , Silva de Castro Caio Cesar , do Nascimento Liliane Machado , Mira Marcelo Távora
Published: January 2015

Vitiligo is a depigmenting disorder characterized by loss of functional melanocytes from the epidermis. Experimental data suggest that defective melanocyte adhesion may underlie the pathogenesis of the disease. In particular, association between vitiligo and genetic variants of the DDR1 gene involved in melanocyte adhesion has been recently published. A subsequent, independent study revealed lower expression of DDR1 in vitiligo lesions. Here, we expand this investigation by testing for association between vitiligo and polymorphisms of CDH1, IL1B and NOV (formerly CCN3), genes belonging to the DDR1 adhesion pathway, in two population samples of distinct design. Our results reveal that alleles of marker rs10431924 of the CDH1 gene are associated with vitiligo, especially in the presence of autoimmune comorbidities.