bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
CEACAM1 recognition by bacterial pathogens is species-specific
Authors: Voges Maike , Bachmann Verena , Kammerer Robert , Gophna Uri , Hauck Christof R
Published: April 2010

Background

Carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 1 (CEACAM1), an immunoglobulin (Ig)-related glycoprotein, serves as cellular receptor for a variety of Gram-negative bacterial pathogens associated with the human mucosa. In particular, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, N. meningitidis, Moraxella catarrhalis, and Haemophilus influenzae possess well-characterized CEACAM1-binding adhesins. CEACAM1 is typically involved in cell-cell attachment, epithelial differentiation, neovascularisation and regulation of T-cell proliferation, and is one of the few CEACAM family members with homologues in different mammalian lineages. However, it is unknown whether bacterial adhesins of human pathogens can recognize CEACAM1 orthologues from other mammals.

Results

Sequence comparisons of the amino-terminal Ig-variable-like domain of CEACAM1 reveal that the highest sequence divergence between human, murine, canine and bovine orthologues is found in the β-strands comprising the bacteria-binding CC'FG-face of the Ig-fold. Using GFP-tagged, soluble amino-terminal domains of CEACAM1, we demonstrate that bacterial pathogens selectively associate with human, but not other mammalian CEACAM1 orthologues. Whereas full-length human CEACAM1 can mediate internalization of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in transfected cells, murine CEACAM1 fails to support bacterial internalization, demonstrating that the sequence divergence of CEACAM1 orthologues has functional consequences with regard to bacterial recognition and cellular invasion.

Conclusions

Our results establish the selective interaction of several human-restricted bacterial pathogens with human CEACAM1 and suggest that co-evolution of microbial adhesins with their corresponding receptors on mammalian cells contributes to the limited host range of these highly adapted infectious agents.
SuperSAGE analysis of the Nicotiana attenuata transcriptome after fatty acid-amino acid elicitation (FAC): identification of early mediators of insect responses
Authors: Gilardoni Paola A , Schuck Stefan , Jüngling Ruth , Rotter Björn , Baldwin Ian T , Bonaventure Gustavo
Published: April 2010

Background

Plants trigger and tailor defense responses after perception of the oral secretions (OS) of attacking specialist lepidopteran larvae. Fatty acid-amino acid conjugates (FACs) in the OS of theManduca sextalarvae are necessary and sufficient to elicit the herbivory-specific responses inNicotiana attenuata, an annual wild tobacco species. How FACs are perceived and activate signal transduction mechanisms is unknown.

Results

We used SuperSAGE combined with 454 sequencing to quantify the early transcriptional changes elicited by the FACN-linolenoyl-glutamic acid (18:3-Glu) and virus induced gene silencing (VIGS) to examine the function of candidate genes in theM. sexta-N. attenuatainteraction. The analysis targeted mRNAs encoding regulatory components: rare transcripts with very rapid FAC-elicited kinetics (increases within 60 and declines within 120 min). From 12,744 unique Tag sequences identified (UniTags), 430 and 117 were significantly up- and down-regulated ≥ 2.5-fold, respectively, after 18:3-Glu elicitation compared to wounding. Based on gene ontology classification, more than 25% of the annotated UniTags corresponded to putative regulatory components, including 30 transcriptional regulators and 22 protein kinases. Quantitative PCR analysis was used to analyze the FAC-dependent regulation of a subset of 27 of these UniTags and for most of them a rapid and transient induction was confirmed. Six FAC-regulated genes were functionally characterized by VIGS and two, a putative lipid phosphate phosphatase (LPP) and a protein of unknown function, were identified as important mediators of theM. sexta-N. attenuatainteraction.

Conclusions

The analysis of the early changes in the transcriptome ofN. attenuataafter FAC elicitation using SuperSAGE/454 has identified regulatory genes involved in insect-specific mediated responses in plants. Moreover, it has provided a foundation for the identification of additional novel regulators associated with this process.
Laparo-endoscopic single-site (LESS) radical nephrectomy with renal vein thrombectomy: initial report
Authors: Kopp Ryan P , Silberstein Jonathan L , Derweesh Ithaar H
Published: April 2010

Background

By combining trocar sites and extraction incision, Laparo-endoscopic Single-site Surgery (LESS) may provide less morbidity than traditional laparoscopy. Concerns continue about LESS for locally advanced tumors. We present our experience with LESS-radical nephrectomy with renal vein thrombectomy (LESS-RN-RVT)

Case Presentation

Between 5-6/2009, 2 patients underwent LESS-RN-RVT (1 right-/1 left-side). Standard steps of multi-site laparoscopic radical nephrectomy were performed, including stapled renal vein thrombectomy and intact specimen extraction. Both cases were successfully completed by LESS without complications. Mean tumor size was 7.8 cm, incision size 4.5 cm, operative time 152 min, EBL 100 ml, and hospital stay 2.5 days. Both patients had negative margins, and are alive at time of last follow-up. One did not require postoperative opiates.

Conclusions

LESS-RN-RVT is safe and feasible in selected patients with renal vein thrombi. Further accumulation of data and comparison to multiport laparoscopic technique are requisite.
Quantitative proteomics identification of phosphoglycerate mutase 1 as a novel therapeutic target in hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Ren Fenglian , Wu Hong , Lei Yunlong , Zhang Haiyuan , Liu Rui , Zhao Yong , Chen Xiancheng , Zeng Dequan , Tong Aiping , Chen Lijuan , Wei Yuquan , Huang Canhua
Published: April 2010

Background

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide with poor prognosis due to resistance to conventional chemotherapy and limited efficacy of radiotherapy. There is an urgent need to develop novel biomarkers for early diagnosis, as well as to identify new drug targets for therapeutic interventions.

Patients and methods

54 paired HCC samples and 21 normal liver tissues were obtained from West China Hospital of Sichuan University. Informed consent was obtained from all the patients or their relatives prior to analysis, and the project was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee of Sichuan University. Stable Isotope Labeling with Amino Acids in Cell Culture (SILAC)-based proteomics was employed to profile the differentially expressed proteins between a HepG2 human hepatoma cell line and an immortal hepatic cell line L02. Validation of PGAM1 expression was performed by semi-quantitative RT-PCR, immunoblot and immunohistochemistry using clinical samples. shRNA expressing plasmids specifically targeting PGAM1 were designed and constructed by GenePharma Corporation (Shanghai, China), and were utilized to silence expression of PGAM1in vitroandin vivo. Cell proliferation was measured by a combination of colony formation assay and Ki67 staining. Apoptosis was examined by flow cytometry and TUNEL assay.

Results

A total of 63 dysregulated proteins were identified, including 51 up-regulated proteins, and 12 down-regulated proteins (over 2-fold,p< 0.01). Phosphoglycerate mutase 1 (PGAM1) was found markedly upregulated. Clinico-pathological analysis indicated that overexpression of PGAM1 was associated with 66.7% HCC, and strongly correlated with poor differentiation and decreased survival rates (p< 0.01). shRNAs-mediated repression of PGAM1 expression resulted in significant inhibition in liver cancer cell growth bothin vitroandin vivo.

Conclusion

Our studies suggested that PGAM1 plays an important role in hepatocarcinogenesis, and should be a potential diagnostic biomarker, as well as an attractive therapeutic target for hepatocellular carcinoma.
Simvastatin protects bladder and renal functions following spinal cord injury in rats
Authors: Shunmugavel Anandakumar , Khan Mushfiquddin , te Chou Peter C , Dhindsa Ramanpreet K , Martin Marcus M , Copay Anne G , Subach Brian R , Schuler Thomas C , Bilgen Mehmet , Orak John K , Singh Inderjit
Published: April 2010

Background

Urinary bladder and renal dysfunction are secondary events associated with spinal cord injury (SCI) in humans. These secondary events not only compromise quality of life but also delay overall recovery from SCI pathophysiology. Furthermore, in experimental models the effects of SCI therapy on bladder and renal functions are generally not evaluated. In this study, we tested whether simvastatin improves bladder and renal functions in a rat model of experimental SCI.

Methods

SCI was induced by controlled contusion of T9-T10 in adult female rats. Simvastatin (5 mg/Kg body weight) was administered at two hours after SCI and repeated every 24 hours until the end point. Simvastatin-treated SCI animals (simvastatin group) were compared with vehicle-treated SCI animals (vehicle group) in terms of the Basso Beattie Bresnahan score, tissue morphology, cell death, and bladder/renal functions.

Results

The urinary bladder of vehicle animals showed a 4.3-fold increase in size and a 9-fold increase in wet weight compared to sham animals. Following SCI, the urine to plasma osmolality ratio increased initially but decreased 1 week after SCI. Hematoxylin and eosin staining of bladder tissue showed transitional epithelial hyperplasia, degeneration of lamina propria, and enlargement of tunica adventia in addition to detrusor muscle hypertrophy. Rats treated with simvastatin for 14 days displayed remarkable recovery by showing decreased bladder size and maintenance of a normal urine/plasma osmolality ratio, in addition to improved locomotion. The muscularis layer of the bladder also regained its compact nature in simvastatin animals. Moreover, SCI-induced renal caspase-3 activity was significantly decreased in the simvastatin group indicating the ability of simvastatin to reduce the renal tubular apoptosis.

Conclusion

Post-injury administration of simvastatin ameliorates bladder and renal dysfunction associated with SCI in rats.
Genome-wide profiling of gene expression in the epididymis of alpha-chlorohydrin-induced infertile rats using an oligonucleotide microarray
Authors: Xie Shuwu , Zhu Yan , Ma Li , Lu Yingying , Zhou Jieyun , Gui Youlun , Cao Lin
Published: April 2010

Background

As one of the chlorinated antifertility compounds, alpha-chlorohydrin (ACH) can inhibit glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (G3PDH) activity in epididymal sperm and affect sperm energy metabolism, maturation and fertilization, eventually leading to male infertility. Further studies demonstrated that the inhibitory effect of ACH on G3PDH is not only confined to epididymal sperm but also to the epididymis. Moreover, little investigation on gene expression changes in the epididymis after ACH treatment has been conducted. Therefore, gene expression studies may indicate new epididymal targets related to sperm maturation and fertility through the analysis of ACH-treated infertile animals.

Methods

Rats were treated with ACH for ten consecutive days, and then each male rat copulated with two female rats in proestrus. Then sperm maturation and other fertility parameters were analyzed. Furthermore, we identified epididymal-specific genes that are associated with fertility between control and ACH groups using an Affymetrix Rat 230 2.0 oligo-microarray. Finally, we performed RT-PCR analysis for several differentially expressed genes to validate the alteration in gene expression observed by oligonucleotide microarray.

Results

Among all the differentially expressed genes, we analyzed and screened the down-regulated genes associated with metabolism processes, which are considered the major targets of ACH action. Simultaneously, the genes that were up-regulated by chlorohydrin were detected. The genes that negatively regulate sperm maturation and fertility include apoptosis and immune-related genes and have not been reported previously. The overall results of PCR analysis for selected genes were consistent with the array data.

Conclusions

In this study, we have described the genome-wide profiles of gene expression in the epididymides of infertile rats induced by ACH, which could become potential epididymal specific targets for male contraception and infertility treatment.
Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase inhibitor(LY294002) induces apoptosis of human nasopharyngeal carcinoma in vitro and in vivo
Authors: Jiang Hanguo , Fan Desheng , Zhou Gengyin , Li Xiaofang , Deng Huihua
Published: April 2010

Background

To evaluate whether PI3K/Akt pathway could effect on apoptosis and its mechanism in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells.

Methods

The activation of the PI3K/Akt and its effect on CNE-2Z cells in vivo and in vitro was investigated by MTT assay, flow cytometry, western blot, ELISA, terminal deoxyribonucleotide transferase-mediated nick-end labeling assays (TUNEL), and immunohistochemical analyses, using PI3K inhibitor, LY294002.

Results

The results showed that LY294002 inhibited the phosphorylating of Akt (S473), cell proliferation, and induced apoptosis in CNE-2Z cells. However, our experiment results also demonstrated that apoptosis-induced LY294002 was directly regulated by caspase-9 activation pathway.

Conclusion

These data suggested that PI3K inhibitor, LY294002, induced apoptosis by caspase-9 activation pathway and might be as a potentially useful target for therapeutic intervention in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients.
The role of tibialis posterior fatigue on foot kinematics during walking
Authors: Pohl Michael B , Rabbito Melissa , Ferber Reed
Published: April 2010

Background

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of localised tibialis posterior muscle fatigue on foot kinematics during walking. It was hypothesised that following fatigue, subjects would demonstrate greater forefoot and rearfoot motion during walking. It was also postulated that the magnitude of the change in rearfoot motion would be associated with standing anatomical rearfoot posture.

Methods

Twenty‐nine subjects underwent an exercise fatigue protocol aimed at reducing the force output of tibialis posterior. An eight camera motion analysis system was used to evaluate 3D foot kinematics during treadmill walking both pre‐ and post‐fatigue. The anatomical rearfoot angle was measured during standing prior to the fatigue protocol using a goniometer.

Results

Peak rearfoot eversion remained unchanged following the fatigue protocol. Although increases in rearfoot eversion excursion were observed following fatigue, these changes were of a magnitude of questionable clinical significance (<1.0°). The magnitude of the change in rearfoot eversion due to fatigue was not associated with the anatomical measurement of standing rearfoot angle. No substantial changes in forefoot kinematics were observed following the fatigue protocol.

Conclusions

These data indicate that reduced force output of the tibialis posterior muscle did not alter rearfoot and forefoot motion during gait. The anatomical structure of the rearfoot was not associated with the dependence of muscular activity that an individual requires to maintain normal rearfoot kinematics during gait.
Cuff overinflation and endotracheal tube obstruction: case report and experimental study
Authors: Hofstetter Christian , Scheller Bertram , Hoegl Sandra , Mack Martin G , Zwissler Bernhard , Byhahn Christian
Published: April 2010

Background

Initiated by a clinical case of critical endotracheal tube (ETT) obstruction, we aimed to determine factors that potentially contribute to the development of endotracheal tube obstruction by its inflated cuff. Prehospital climate and storage conditions were simulated.

Methods

Five different disposable ETTs (6.0, 7.0, and 8.0 mm inner diameter) were exposed to ambient outside temperature for 13 months. In addition, every second of these tubes was mechanically stressed by clamping its cuffed end between the covers of a metal emergency case for 10 min. Then, all tubes were heated up to normal body temperature, placed within the cock of a syringe, followed by stepwise inflation of their cuffs to pressures of 3 kPa and ≥12 kPa, respectively. The inner lumen of the ETT was checked with the naked eye for any obstruction caused by the external cuff pressure.

Results

Neither in tubes that were exposed to ambient temperature (range: -12°C to +44°C) nor in those that were also clamped, visible obstruction by inflated cuffs was detected at any of the two cuff pressure levels.

Conclusions

We could not demonstrate a critical obstruction of an ETT by its inflated cuff, neither when the cuff was over-inflated to a pressure of 12 kPa or higher, nor in ETTs that had been exposed to unfavorable storage conditions and significant mechanical stress.
Differences in trauma team activation criteria among Norwegian hospitals
Authors: Larsen Kristin T , Uleberg Oddvar , Skogvoll Eirik
Published: April 2010

Background

To ensure the rapid and correct triage of patients in potential need of specialized treatment, Norwegian hospitals are expected to establish trauma teams with predefined criteria for their activation. The objective of this study was to map and describe the criteria currently in use.

Methods

We undertook a cross-sectional survey in the summer of 2008, using structured telephone interviews to all Norwegian hospitals that might admit severely injured patients.

Results

Forty-nine hospitals were included, of which 48 (98%) had a trauma team and 20 had a hospital-based trauma registry. Criteria for trauma team activation were found at 46 (94%) hospitals. No single criterion was common to all hospitals. The median number of criteria per hospital was 23 (range 8-40), with a total number of 156 and wide variation with respect to physiological "cut-off" values. The mechanism of injury was commonly in use despite a well-known, large over-triage rate.

Conclusions

In recent years, Norwegian hospitals have gradually established trauma teams and criteria for their activation. These criteria show considerable variation, including physiological "cut-off" values.
Effect of an analgo-sedation protocol for neurointensive patients: a two-phase interventional non-randomized pilot study
Authors: Egerod Ingrid , Jensen Malene Brorsen , Herling Suzanne Forsyth , Welling Karen-Lise
Published: April 2010

Introduction

Sedation protocols are needed for neurointensive patients. The aim of this pilot study was to describe sedation practice at a neurointensive care unit and to assess the feasibility and efficacy of a new sedation protocol. The primary outcomes were a shift from sedation-based to analgesia-based sedation and improved pain management. The secondary outcomes were a reduction in unplanned extubations and duration of sedation.

Methods

This was a two-phase (before-after), prospective controlled study at a university-affiliated, 14-bed neurointensive care unit in Denmark. The sample included patients requiring mechanical ventilation for at least 48 hours treated with continuous sedative and analgesic infusions or both. During the observation phase the participants (n = 106) were sedated as usual (non-protocolized), and during the intervention phase the participants (n = 109) were managed according to a new sedation protocol.

Results

Our study showed a shift toward analgo-sedation, suggesting feasibility of the protocol. We found a significant reduction in the use of propofol (P < .001) and midazolam (P = .001) and an increase in fentanyl (P < .001) and remifentanil (P = .003). Patients selected for daily sedation interruption woke up faster, and estimates of pain free patients increased from 56.8% to 82.7% (P < .001), suggesting efficacy of the protocol. The duration of sedation and unplanned extubations were unchanged.

Conclusions

Our pilot study showed feasibility and partial efficacy of our protocol. Some neurointensive patients might not benefit from protocolized practice. We recommend an interdisciplinary effort to target patients requiring less sedation, as issues of oversedation and inadequate pain management still need more attention.

Trial registration

ISRCTN80999859.
Enhanced subsurface response for marine CSEM surveying
Authors: Maaø Frank A. , Nguyen Anh Kiet
Published: April 2010

One of the main challenges of using marine controlled-source electromagnetic (CSEM) sounding for hydrocarbon detection has been a relatively low-resolution and restricted depth penetration. In addition, the use of CSEM in shallow waters has been perceived as particularly difficult. A new, robust method for enhancing marine CSEM subsurface response is particularly useful in shallow waters. The method is designed to reduce acquisition imprints and attenuate the dominant primary airwave contribution. Synthetic examples show that it is possible to detect thin, deeply buried 3D resistive bodies in a shallow-water environment with a complex resistivity structure. The results highlight the importance of a sufficient signal-to-noise ratio.
Kisspeptin Regulates Prolactin Release through Hypothalamic Dopaminergic Neurons
Authors: Szawka Raphael E. , Ribeiro Aline B. , Leite Cristiane M. , Helena Cleyde V. V. , Franci Celso R. , Anderson Greg M. , Hoffman Gloria E. , Anselmo-Franci Janete A.
Published: April 2010

Prolactin (PRL) is tonically inhibited by dopamine (DA) released from neurons in the arcuate and periventricular nuclei. Kisspeptin plays a pivotal role in LH regulation. In rodents, kisspeptin neurons are found mostly in the anteroventral periventricular and arcuate nuclei, but the physiology of arcuate kisspeptin neurons is not completely understood. We investigated the role of kisspeptin in the control of hypothalamic DA and pituitary PRL secretion in adult rats. Intracerebroventricular kisspeptin-10 (Kp-10) elicited PRL release in a dose-dependent manner in estradiol (E2)-treated ovariectomized rats (OVX+E2), whereas no effect was found in oil-treated ovariectomized rats (OVX). Kp-10 increased PRL release in males and proestrous but not diestrous females. Associated with the increase in PRL release, intracerebroventricular Kp-10 reduced Fos-related antigen expression in tyrosine hydroxylase-immunoreactive (ir) neurons of arcuate and periventricular nuclei in OVX+E2 rats, with no effect in OVX rats. Kp-10 also decreased 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid concentration and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid-DA ratio in the median eminence but not striatum in OVX+E2 rats. Double-label immunofluorescence combined with confocal microscopy revealed kisspeptin-ir fibers in close apposition to and in contact with tyrosine hydroxylase-ir perikarya in the arcuate. In addition, Kp-10 was not found to alter PRL release from anterior pituitary cell cultures regardless of E2 treatment. We provide herein evidence that kisspeptin regulates PRL release through inhibition of hypothalamic dopaminergic neurons, and that this mechanism is E2 dependent in females. These findings suggest a new role for central kisspeptin with possible implications for reproductive physiology.
Impaired Down-Regulation of E-Cadherin and β-Catenin Protein Expression in Endometrial Epithelial Cells in the Mid-Secretory Endometrium of Infertile Patients with Endometriosis
Authors: Matsuzaki Sachiko , Darcha Claude , Maleysson Elodie , Canis Michel , Mage Gérard
Published: April 2010

Context: Only a few, small, human studies on E-cadherin and β-catenin expression in normal cycling human endometrium have been reported. It remains unclear whether expression of these molecules might be altered in the endometrium of infertile patients with endometriosis.

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to investigate E-cadherin and β-catenin expression in the endometrium of infertile patients with endometriosis, those with uterine fibromas, and patients with unexplained infertility.

Design: Expression levels of E-cadherin and β-catenin mRNA and/or protein in the endometrium of infertile patients with endometriosis (n = 151), those with uterine fibromas (n = 41), patients with unexplained infertility (n = 9), as well as healthy fertile controls (n = 57) were measured. This study utilized laser capture microdissection, real-time RT-PCR, and immunohistochemistry.

Results: No significant differences in E-cadherin or β-catenin mRNA expression in microdissected epithelial cells were observed among the different groups throughout the menstrual cycle. However, very low or no protein expression of E-cadherin, total β-catenin, or dephosphorylated β-catenin in luminal and glandular epithelial cells was detected in the mid-secretory endometrium of healthy fertile controls. E-cadherin, total β-catenin, and dephosphorylated β-catenin protein expression in the mid-secretory endometrium of infertile patients with endometriosis or unexplained infertility was significantly higher compared to that of healthy fertile controls in both luminal and glandular epithelial cells.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that impaired down-regulation of E-cadherin and β-catenin protein expression, along with Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway activation during the window of implantation, might be one of the potential molecular mechanisms of infertility in patients with endometriosis.
Serum Insulin-Like Growth Factor-I and Pro-Collagen Type III N-Terminal Peptide in Adolescent Elite Athletes: Implications for the Detection of Growth Hormone Abuse in Sport
Authors: Guha Nishan , Erotokritou-Mulligan Ioulietta , Burford Caroline , Strobridge Gail , Brigg Joanna , Drake Tamsin , Bassett E. Eryl , Cowan David , Bartlett Christiaan , Sönksen Peter H. , Holt Richard I. G.
Published: April 2010

Context: A method based on two GH-dependent markers, IGF-I and pro-collagen type III N-terminal peptide (P-III-P), has been devised to detect exogenously administered GH. Because previous studies on the detection of GH abuse involved predominantly adult athletes, the method must be validated in adolescent athletes.

Objective: The aim of the study was to examine serum IGF-I and P-III-P concentrations in elite adolescent athletes and to determine whether the method developed in adults is appropriate to detect GH abuse in this population.

Design and Setting: We conducted a cross-sectional observational study at national sporting organization training events.

Subjects: A total of 157 (85 males, 72 females) elite athletes between 12 and 20 yr of age participated in the study.

Intervention: Serum IGF-I and P-III-P were each measured by two commercially available immunoassays. GH-2000 discriminant function scores were calculated.

Results: Both IGF-I and P-III-P rose to a peak during adolescence, which was earlier in girls than in boys. All GH-2000 scores lay below the proposed cutoff limit of 3.7 (although some scores were close to this value), indicating that none of these athletes would be accused of GH doping if the GH-2000 discriminant formulae were used. The results between the two immunoassays for IGF-I and P-III-P were closely aligned.

Conclusions: The GH-2000 score rises in early adolescence, reaches a peak in athletes aged 13–16 yr, and then falls. We have found no evidence that the proposed GH-2000 score developed in adults would lead to an unacceptable rate of false-positive results in adolescent athletes, but caution may be required around the time of peak growth velocity.
History of the Novel, Theory of the Novel
Authors: Moretti Franco
Published: April 2010

My essay poses three questions: Why are novels in prose? Why are they so often stories of adventures? Why was there a European but not a Chinese rise of the novel in the course of the eighteenth century? Disparate as they may sound, the questions have a common source in the guiding idea of the collection The Novel: “to make the literary field longer, larger, and deeper”—historically longer, geographically larger, and morphologically deeper than those few classics of nineteenth-century Western European “realism” that have dominated the recent theory of the novel (and my own work). What the questions have in common is that they all point to processes that loom large in the history of the novel but not in its theory. Here I reflect on this discrepancy and suggest a few possible alternatives.
Desiring-Production and the Novel
Authors: Nandrea Lorri
Published: April 2010

Psychoanalytic paradigms have been widely and successfully used to understand the relationships between desire and narrative fiction. The fact that Freud's theory accounts so well for the structure of many novels, particularly nineteenth-century novels, may lead critics to overlook alternative patterns of desire in narrative or to treat them as failures in relation to desire's presumed ends and objects. The work of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari can be useful in rendering alternative patterns legible as such. In this essay I focus on instances of pointless overproduction, a kind of production Deleuze and Guattari associate with desire in its purest or least “oedipalized” form. First I discuss the deliberate but apparently pointless and wasteful expenditure of labor, time, and resources associated with “curiosities.” Turning to Uncle Toby's battlefield in Tristram Shandy and Mr. Dick's kites in David Copperfield, I consider the tensions between these represented instances of overproduction and the narrative patterns of the novels themselves. As a whole, Tristram Shandy sides with the joy and madness of pointless production. It thus suggests motives for reading that align more closely with the attraction exerted by curiosities than with Freudian patterns of tension and release. The strongly plotted novel David Copperfield distinguishes itself from the kites it describes, though Mr. Dick's name pointedly invites a comparison to Dickens's own writing. Ultimately Mr. Dick presents a “line of flight”—a schizophrenic alternative to the patterns of writing, subjectivity, desire, and temporality embraced by the other characters and the novel as a whole.
The Novel's Mobile Home
Authors: Reitz Caroline
Published: April 2010

Theories of the novel have made us comfortable with the idea of the novel's trademark heteroglossia and dynamism. We accept that the novel, according to Bakhtin, “best of all reflects the tendencies of a new world still in the making” and that, according to Franco Moretti, this results in an “intrinsically contradictory” form shaped by both “dynamism and limits.” Yet theories of the novel have traditionally ignored the implications of its history of serial publication. We tend to see the form of the Victorian novel as a coherent whole that begins with the hero as a child and ends with “Reader, I married him.” We regard “discontinuous continuity” as a “cornerstone of twentieth-century art” (Keith Cohen). In the larger project from which this essay is drawn, I argue that the Victorian periodical is a technology of public space in much the same way as we view the railroad, the steamship, the Crystal Palace or the telegraph—things that simultaneously cut up and connect the modern world. Discontinuous continuity is the formal logic of the serialized Victorian novel; if we miss this, we overlook a key aspect of how novels help produce nations. This particular essay begins with the larger conversation about the novel's relationship to mobility and temporality and then uses Dickens's work as an editor, writer, and national architect to argue that he uses the seemingly fixed idea of “home”—a core theme of all Victorian novels—to create both the novel and the nation as structures through which, paradoxically, to imagine motion.
Marketing Jane Austen at the Megaplex
Authors: Sadoff Dianne F.
Published: April 2010

Recent visual-culture scholars have sought to overturn the notion that a film adaptation should be “faithful” to its literary source. Yet fidelity aesthetics is a capacious concept that may not be theorized apart from cultural uses, historical situations, film production and distribution regimes, and the careers of dramatizers, directors, and stars. Focusing on the early twenty-first century adaptations of Jane Austen's novels, I argue here that the differing ways print and filmic media are packaged, advertised, and sold or exhibited to potential cultural consumers creates and sustains the millennial Jane Austen mania. Adapting Austen's narratives more freely than did the 1990s versions, these films hope to capture the same crossover, multigenerational, mixed-sex audience yet also seek to market Austen for a new mass cohort of teenaged girls. Updating the stars' images, repurposing the period look, and enhancing the novels' romance plots, the Austen franchise now attempts to reach a largely female audience across a wide range of exhibition sectors, including in ancillary markets. Indeed, the Austen boom has also gone global, as filmmakers incorporate and indigenize Austen's stories and heroines for national and diasporic South Asian spectators as well as Atlantic-community ones. Hardly an author of bestsellers in her lifetime, Austen has now become a product brand as her novels provide pre-sold content for a converged, synergistic multimedia entertainment industry across global markets.
Former Colonies: Local or Universal?
Authors: Schwarz Roberto
Published: April 2010

The international recognition of Machado de Assis began in the 1950s and proceeded with no reference to Brazil. In those same years a part of Brazilian criticism took the opposite direction: Machado's greatness was to be explained by his overcoming deadlocks that were central to Brazilian literature and culture. Sooner or later these readings should compete and clash. To what extent are they incompatible? Machado himself was aware of the problem and dramatized its ironies, outlining unexpected perspectives.
Archives of the Black Atlantic: Postcolonial Citation in The Pagoda
Authors: Walters Wendy W.
Published: April 2010

Contemporary African diasporic literature often displays “the allure of the archive” when writers encode archival documents into their narratives, revising the remnants found in an archive, and foregrounding the elements of archival research and data in their texts. Against the well-theorized connection between the archive and the nation-state, diaspora novels require a transnational reading practice that encompasses multiple national archives. This critical practice opens the archive and exposes the nation-state's exclusionary investments in it. Diaspora literature thus unmoors the archive from its stubborn attachment to national narratives.

Bound by the forms of the governments who sponsor their enunciation, archival documents are frequently legal depositions, statements of arrest, indenture, capture, and execution. What can these documents tell us about the subjectivity of those laboring in fields or battened under hatches making a middle passage toward indentureship? This essay focuses on one aspect of novelistic citation of a transnational archive, using Jamaican author Patricia Powell's 1998 novel, The Pagoda, as an example. I suggest that the novel's foregrounding of archival documents (letters, maps, ships' logs, newspaper clippings, etc.), loosens Powell's characters from the social identities to which they were bound. I offer a reading between novel and archive, focusing on a letter being written by Powell's protagonist, Lowe, and the letter's interaction with a history sometimes called “the coolie trade.” The critical reading practice that I argue diasporic literature demands leads us from the literature back toward recognition of the archive itself as transnational.
Paul Goodman, the Living Theater, and the Great Despair
Authors: Stoehr Taylor
Published: April 2010

The following account of the final exchanges between The Living Theater and Paul Goodman is part of a biography of Goodman being written by Taylor Stoehr. For more than two decades Goodman, “the philosopher of the New Left,” as some called him, had been a supporter and collaborator with Julian Beck and Judith Malina, who had staged four of his plays and pointed to his anarchist thought as one of the sources of their revolutionary theater.
The Association of Socioemotional Problems With Early Sexual Initiation
Authors: McLeod Jane D. , Knight Syndee
Published: April 2010

CONTEXT: Research on the association between socioemotional problems and early sexual initiation has not evaluated differences across types of problems, by gender, or by race or ethnicity.

METHODS: Data were analyzed for a sample derived from the Children of the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth: 1,836 youth who were 10–11 years old at the 1992, 1994 and 1996 waves. Mothers’ reports of their child’s socioemotional problems at age 10–11 were assessed; sexual initiation before age 15 was assessed using youth self‐reports. Logistic regression analyses estimated associations between socioemotional problems and early initiation; predicted probabilities and group differences were calculated using various regression techniques.

RESULTS: Twenty‐six percent of youth had had intercourse before turning 15, and their average level of each problem was higher than the level of those who had not. Both internalizing problems (e.g., depression and dependency) and externalizing problems (e.g., hyperactivity and antisocial behavior) were associated with early sexual initiation (odds ratios, 1.1 and 1.2, respectively), but only externalizing problems retained significance when both types were included in the model (1.2). Among specific problems, only hyperactivity and antisocial behavior were associated with early initiation (1.2 for each). Youth with a high level of externalizing problems had a higher predicted probability of having early sex than did those with a low level (0.28 vs. 0.21). Associations between socioemotional problems and early initiation did not differ by gender or by race or ethnicity.

CONCLUSIONS: Interventions should be targeted at youth with externalizing problems, especially those who engage in antisocial or hyperactive behavior, in an effort to promote positive social interactions.
Withdrawal Attitudes and Experiences: A Qualitative Perspective Among Young Urban Adults
Authors: Whittaker Paul G. , Merkh Rebecca D. , Henry‐Moss Dare , Hock‐Long Linda
Published: April 2010

CONTEXT: Withdrawal is a widely used pregnancy prevention practice, but is popularly regarded as ineffective. An in‐depth study of withdrawal behaviors would improve understanding of its role in reproductive health care.

METHODS: Ninety‐five ethnically diverse males and females aged 18–25, recruited through family planning clinics and community outreach in a large U.S. city, participated in semistructured, open‐ended interviews in 2006 and 2007. Interviews examined up to six heterosexual relationships and focused on contraceptive attitudes, norms and experiences. Transcripts were reviewed and coded, and key themes related to withdrawal were identified.

RESULTS: Withdrawal was a popular contraceptive technique, but opinions on its effectiveness were mixed. Some participants (especially women) expressed anxiety concerning pregnancy risk due to perceived ineffectiveness of withdrawal, and women were concerned about their partner’s capacity to consistently withdraw prior to ejaculation. Others described confidence and skill in using withdrawal, and considered it effective. Reasons for use of withdrawal included convenience and dissatisfaction with hormonal contraceptives and condoms. Withdrawal was described as an expected alternative to condoms in both casual and long‐term relationships, and as a secondary, or backup, method with use of hormonal contraceptives or condoms. Participants had rarely discussed withdrawal with health care providers; knowledge about the method had generally come from less reliable sources, including peers.

CONCLUSIONS: Health care provider discussions with patients about withdrawal could give greater insight into risk behaviors. More informed prevention counseling messages would be helped by better effectiveness estimates and understanding of factors most likely to result in withdrawal failure.
Writing about design pedagogy and designing pedagogical writing
Authors: Lyon Philippa
Published: April 2010

The Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning through Design (CETLD) has funded 40 research projects. These set out to explore innovative ways of developing resources and sharing the expertise between HE and collections-based partners for the benefit of students, teachers and institutions
as a whole. In the CETLD's final year of funding, an additional research study is being carried out into the 40 projects, from a type of outsider perspective. This research will rearticulate findings in non-specialist terms, analyse the researchers' experiences and explore the thematic relationships
and disjunctions between the two. Using an ethnographic approach, both formal reports and experiential accounts of the research are analysed.
Strange Botany in Werewolf of London
Authors: Spadoni Robert
Published: April 2010

Werewolf of London (Walker, 1935) depicts a man struggling, unsuccessfully, to control urges that would make him an outlaw in society at large and especially, the film makes clear, in his already troubled marriage. The film transforms the werewolf legend (in large measure by
infusing it with liberal doses of botany) to create a portrait of a werewolf as a gay man, to represent homosexuality as a form of gender inversion, and to explore the horrors of being a gay man living in a violently repressive society.
Evil against Evil: The Parabolic Structure and Thematics of William Friedkin's The Exorcist
Authors: Dudenhoeffer Larrie
Published: April 2010

This essay examines and deconstructs three sets of antagonisms in William Friedkin's The Exorcist (1973). It argues that the film describes its own narrative conflicts as a thematics of evil against evil, so as to de-ethicize the moral violence of those metaphysical dogmatisms
that compete over the souls of others. It then re-couches the one-sidedness of scientific and religious orthodoxies, which damage in similar ways Regan MacNeil, one of the film's main characters, as another variation of this thematics. Finally, this essay suggests that The Exorcist
surveys certain sociopolitical tensions, thus commenting, in its video and theatrical re-releases, timelessly on US tensions with its own counterculture and with the Middle East. The film transcends such mutually destructive tensions in its dramatization of sacrifice, though without taking
this term in its soteriological sense; sacrifice rather involves the reduction of these thematics to Regan's fleshinvolves reversing their anagogic tendenciesso that this flesh at once re-emerges as the site and the template of the film's narrative contestations.
Biopsychosocial Factors and Musculoskeletal Symptoms of the Lower Extremities of Saleswomen in Department Stores in Thailand
Authors: Pensri Praneet , Janwantanakul Prawit , Chaikumarn Montakarn
Published: April 2010

Biopsychosocial Factors and Musculoskeletal Symptoms of the Lower Extremities of Saleswomen in Department Stores in Thailand: Praneet Pensri, et al. Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand

Objectives

To identify individual, work‐related physical and psychosocial factors associated with the self‐reported prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms in the hip, knee and ankle/foot of saleswomen in department stores in Thailand.

Methods

A cross‐sectional survey was conducted in which 1,310 saleswomen in 18 department stores received a self‐administered questionnaire. Returns were 1,200 (92%) questionnaires, and after screening for exclusion criteria, 1,189 saleswomen were found to be eligible for the study.

Results

Having a child, number of working hours per day, frequency of body twisting during work and self‐rated perception of light intensity in the workplace were each significantly associated with the prevalence of experiencing hip symptoms. Significant associations were found between age, number of hours per day required to stand or walk and self‐rated perception of temperature in the workplace, and the prevalence of experiencing knee symptoms. The number of working hours per day and working days per week as well as frequency of working in static postures and rest breaks during work were each significantly related to the prevalence of experiencing ankle/foot symptoms.

Conclusions

Among saleswomen, various individual and work‐related physical factors were identified as risks and preventive factors for musculoskeletal symptoms in the lower extremities. Further research should focus on these modifiable factors in order to develop effective strategies for reducing the occurrence of such symptoms in saleswomen.
Tolerance and Withdrawal From Prolonged Opioid Use in Critically Ill Children
Authors: Anand Kanwaljeet J. S. , Willson Douglas F. , Berger John , Harrison Rick , Meert Kathleen L. , Zimmerman Jerry , Carcillo Joseph , Newth Christopher J. L. , Prodhan Parthak , Dean J. Michael , Nicholson Carol ,   for the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Research Network
Published: April 2010

OBJECTIVE:

After prolonged opioid exposure, children develop opioid-induced hyperalgesia, tolerance, and withdrawal. Strategies for prevention and management should be based on the mechanisms of opioid tolerance and withdrawal.

PATIENTS AND METHODS:

Relevant manuscripts published in the English language were searched in Medline by using search terms “opioid,” “opiate,” “sedation,” “analgesia,” “child,” “infant-newborn,” “tolerance,” “dependency,” “withdrawal,” “analgesic,” “receptor,” and “individual opioid drugs.” Clinical and preclinical studies were reviewed for data synthesis.

RESULTS:

Mechanisms of opioid-induced hyperalgesia and tolerance suggest important drug- and patient-related risk factors that lead to tolerance and withdrawal. Opioid tolerance occurs earlier in the younger age groups, develops commonly during critical illness, and results more frequently from prolonged intravenous infusions of short-acting opioids. Treatment options include slowly tapering opioid doses, switching to longer-acting opioids, or specifically treating the symptoms of opioid withdrawal. Novel therapies may also include blocking the mechanisms of opioid tolerance, which would enhance the safety and effectiveness of opioid analgesia.

CONCLUSIONS:

Opioid tolerance and withdrawal occur frequently in critically ill children. Novel insights into opioid receptor physiology and cellular biochemical changes will inform scientific approaches for the use of opioid analgesia and the prevention of opioid tolerance and withdrawal.