bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Glucose Control and Walking in a Multiethnic Sample of Older Adults
Authors: Swartz Ann M. , Strath Scott J. , Miller Nora E. , Cashin Susan E. , Cieslik Linda J.
Published: February 2008

Background: Although walking is the most commonly reported physical activity by older adults, there is a paucity of data determining the relationship between objectively determined walking behavior and glucose dynamics in older adults. Objective: This study was designed to investigate the relationship between objectively determined walking behavior and glucose control in a multiethnic sample of older adults. Methods: Data were collected on 142 older adults (age 72.1 ± 9.2 years; body mass index (BMI) 29.4 ± 6.3; 37 males, 105 females). Anthropometric measures, fasting plasma glucose (FG), and glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) were assessed; race/ethnicity was self-reported. The study participants wore a pedometer for 7 consecutive days. Results: The average number of steps/day reported by the entire group was 3,939 ± 232. White participants (n = 48) were older (p = 0.019), taller (p = 0.002), had lower waist circumference (WC) (p = 0.021), HbA1c (p = 0.001) and FG (p = 0.007), and did not differ in average steps/day (p = 0.162) or BMI (p = 0.280) as compared with nonwhite participants (n = 94). Individuals with HbA1c values <7% and those with FG <100 mg/dl walked about 1,343 more steps/day than those with unfavorable HbA1c and/or FG values. Age, race/ethnicity, WC, BMI, log base 10 of steps/days, and type 1 and 2 diabetes medications accounted for 37.5% of the variance in inverse HbA1c (p < 0.001), with significant or near significant individual model contributions consisting of WC (beta = –0.316, B = –0.001, SE = 0.000, p = 0.047), BMI (beta = 0.310, B = 0.001, SE = 0.001, p = 0.050), diabetic medication (beta = –0.473, B = –0.035, SE = 0.006, p < 0.001), and log base 10 of steps/day (beta = 0.198, B = 0.019, SE = 0.010, p = 0.056). Interpretations of transformed data illustrate that greater WC and being on diabetic medications are associated with higher HbA1c levels. Further, there is a trend to suggest that fewer accumulated steps/day and lower BMI are associated with higher HbA1c concentrations. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that objectively determined walking behavior and indicators of obesity were modest predictors of chronic glucose control, after accounting for glucose-altering medications, in this multicultural sample of older adults. Further, when comparing individuals with good glucose control to those with less favorable glucose control, walking an additional 0.5–0.75 miles was associated with better glucose control.
A Comparison between Young and Old Adults in Their Ability to Rapidly Sidestep during Gait when Attention Is Divided
Authors: Cho Chiung-Yu , Gilchrist Louise , White Scott
Published: February 2008

Background: The incidence of falls among older adults is high and the risk factors are often complex in nature. Considerable research has been done in the area of age-related changes of balance in an attempt to better understand the increased risk of falls. Studies of cognitive changes, however, suggest that the elderly are less able to divide their attention between two or more activities. This inability to divide attention could explain the increased risks of falls in the elderly. Objective: To investigate the effects of divided attention, age and prior knowledge of movement path, on kinetic measures and the position of the sacral marker relative to the center of pressure (COP) when individuals perform a rapid sidestep during walking. Methods: 32 young and 32 old adults participated in this study. Subjects walked and took a sidestep without interrupting forward progression. An arithmetic task was performed during half of the walking trials with the sidestep direction preplanned or unknown. Peak lateral ground reaction force, mean distance between COP and sacrum, walking velocity, performance speed and accuracy of the cognitive task were measured. Results: Both groups significantly decreased their mediolateral distance between the sacral marker and the COP in the dual-task trials (p = 0.04). Both groups significantly decreased their walking speed in the dual-task trials (p < 0.0001). Prior knowledge of the sidestep direction significantly affected the peak lateral ground reaction force and the sacral marker to COP distance but the differences were age-dependent. Young adults had a larger value in the unknown condition than in the preplanned condition (p < 0.0001). For the cognitive task, both groups decreased their performance speed (p < 0.0001) but maintained their performance accuracy as compared to the baseline data (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Our results revealed that old adults tended to be conservative, when facing the dual-task trials or unknown test condition. The fact that the older adults in the current study did not perform similarly to the younger adults suggests that they might have a fear of fall when facing a challenging balance task.
Pharmacokinetics, Efficacy and Safety of IMMUNATE® Solvent/Detergent (IMMUNATE® S/D) in Previously Treated Patients with Severe Hemophilia A: Results of a Prospective, Multicenter, Open-Label Phase III Study
Authors: Nemes L. , Lissitchkov T. , Dobaczewski G. , Klukowska A. , Komrska V. , Zimmermann R. , Auerswald G. , Engl W. , Abbühl B. , Pavlova B.G. , Ehrlich H.J.
Published: February 2008

WITHDRAWN: The paper entitled "Pharmacokinetics, Efficacy and Safety of IMMUNATE® Solvent/Detergent (IMMUNATE® S/D) in Previously Treated Patients with Severe Hemophilia A: Results of a Prospective, Multicenter, Open-Label Phase III Study" by Nemes, L. et al, which was published online 28 February 2008, has been withdrawn at the authors request.
Association Analysis of GRIN2B, Encoding N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor 2B Subunit, and Alzheimer’s Disease
Authors: Seripa Davide , Matera Maria Giovanna , Franceschi Marilisa , Bizzarro Alessandra , Paris Francesco , Cascavilla Leandro , Rinaldi Monica , Panza Francesco , Solfrizzi Vincenzo , Daniele Antonio , Masullo Carlo , Dallapiccola Bruno , Pilotto Alberto
Published: February 2008

Background: The glutamatergic neurotransmitter systems play a crucial role in memory formation and information processing. Alterations in this system contribute to the manifestation of symptoms in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Glutamate transmits signals via the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs). Aims: The potential involvement of polymorphisms in the GRIN2B gene, encoding subunit 2B of the NMDA receptor, in the risk for AD was evaluated. Methods: We investigated the 3 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs1019385, rs1806201 and rs890, i.e. the G–200→T transversion in the 5′UTR, the A2664→G transition in exon 13 and the G5072→T transition in the 3′UTR of the GRIN2B gene, in 222 Caucasian AD patients and 170 healthy Caucasian age-matched controls. Results: No differences were found in the overall distribution of the single-nucleotide polymorphism genotypes between AD patients and healthy controls, even when the analysis was adjusted for sex, age and APOE. As expected from genotype frequencies, no differences were found in the distribution of the estimated allele and haplotype frequencies between AD patients and healthy controls. Conclusion: In this study no significant association between polymorphisms in the GRIN2B gene and AD was observed. Further investigations of polymorphisms in the gene encoding the NMDA receptor 2B subunit in AD patients with different genetic setting are needed to clarify their role in the pathogenesis of AD.
Phase I/II Study of 24-Hour Infusion of Irinotecan Combined with Oral UFT for Metastatic Colorectal Cancer
Authors: Sadahiro Sotaro , Suzuki Toshiyuki , Maeda Yuji , Ishikawa Kenji , Yasuda Seiei , Makuuchi Hiroyasu , Murayama Chieko
Published: February 2008

Background: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of irinotecan combined with UFT for untreated and pretreated metastatic colorectal cancer. Methods: Escalating doses of irinotecan (80–110 mg/m2) were administered by 24-hour infusion on day 1. UFT was administered orally at 400 mg/m2/day on days 3–7 and 10–14. The treatment cycles were repeated every 2 weeks. Results: In the phase I study, the maximum tolerated dose of irinotecan was 110 mg/m2 and the recommended dose for the phase II study was determined to be 100 mg/m2. Thirty-five patients including 3 patients at the recommended dose in the phase I study were evaluated in the phase II study. The grade 3/4 toxicities observed were leukopenia, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia and anemia. No grade 3 or more severe nonhematological toxicities were noted. The response rate was 62.9% and the median overall survival 16.7 months. Conclusions: A 24-hour infusion of irinotecan combined with UFT is feasible and active for metastatic colorectal cancer.
Stochastic Processes during Mouse Blastocyst Patterning
Authors: Dietrich Jens Erik , Hiiragi Takashi
Published: February 2008

Mammalian preimplantation development serves to form a blastocyst, a structure that is able to implant into the mother’s uterus to support further development of the embryo proper. In the developing conceptus, the first differentiation events separate the epithelial trophectoderm from the inner cell mass, which is comprised of the primitive endoderm and embryo-generating epiblast. Although the process of blastocyst formation may appear simple, its morphogenesis and the mechanism(s) of lineage specification are not yet fully understood. Here we discuss findings that suggest the involvement of stochastic processes and the influence of external cues in the patterning process during mouse preimplantation development.
Immunological Barriers to Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Therapies
Authors: Šarić Tomo , Frenzel Lukas P. , Hescheler Jürgen
Published: February 2008

Replacement of diseased tissues with healthy cells derived from embryonic stem (ES) cells has a potential to become, in the future, a better alternative to current treatments of a number of conditions characterized by irreversible tissue injury, such as heart and liver failure, diabetes mellitus and neurodegeneration. However, several obstacles have to be overcome before this new therapeutic modality becomes part of a standard clinical practice. First of all, ethical and safety issues have to be resolved, the methodologies must be developed to enable obtaining sufficient amounts of differentiated cells, and the immune rejection of allogeneic cells must be prevented in order to ensure their long-term engraftment and function. Data on immunological properties of human and murine ES cells and their differentiated derivatives are controversial, ranging from those claiming unique immune-privileged properties for ES cells to those which refute these conclusions. This indicates that much more research is required to definitively understand the immunological features and engraftment capacity of ES cell derivatives. We review here the current state of the art in this new and exciting field of ES cell immunology and discuss the implications of these findings for the development of ES cell-based therapies.
Neurogenesis in Human Hippocampus: Implications for Alzheimer Disease Pathogenesis
Authors: Castellani Rudy J. , Zhu Xiongwei , Lee Hyoung-Gon , Perry George , Smith Mark A. , Casadesus Gemma
Published: February 2008

Hippocampal neurogenesis, the innate capacity of stem cells in the hippocampus to generate new neurons throughout life, is attracting interest in neurodegenerative disease research as an indicator of neuroplasticity and therefore treatment. Conditions that improve cognitive output and increase neurogenesis are associated with a decreased incidence of Alzheimer disease (AD), and conditions that lead to reduced cognition and neurogenesis are associated with increases in the incidence of AD. Therefore, hippocampal neurogenesis may be of particular relevance in the development of AD, and the modulation of this process can afford an important therapeutic avenue. Nevertheless, apparent contradictions across studies examining all factors of hippocampal neurogenesis in AD have led to a confusing state of affairs regarding the role of this process in the disease, as aberrant cell cycle activation has been advanced as an early pathogenic factor in the development of AD. The objective of this review is to critically examine these contradicting reports and provide additional and alternative insights into the function of hippocampal neurogenesis in AD.
Postnatal Developmental Changes of Vitreous and Lens Volumes in Sprague-Dawley Rats
Authors: Sha O. , Kwong W.H.
Published: February 2008

Purpose: To study the postnatal changes in the vitreous and lens volumes in Sprague-Dawley rats. Methods: Six eyes from Sprague-Dawley rats at each age (postnatal days 1, 6, 12, 21, 30 and 120) were obtained and cryosectioned without fixation. The areas of vitreous, lens and intraocular cavity in the sections were measured separately and their volumes calculated. The percentages of vitreous and lens volumes in the intraocular cavity of each eye were also calculated. Results: The rat vitreous volumes (means ± SE) were 5.2 ± 0.5 µl on day 1, 13.4 ± 0.6 µl on day 6, 22.2 ± 1.0 µl on day 12, 27.8 ± 0.6 µl on day 21, 33.3 ± 1.3 µl on day 30 and 52.4 ± 1.9 µl on day 120. The lens volumes were 3.5 ± 0.2 µl, 7.7 ± 0.4 µl, 10.6 ± 0.4 µl, 15.1 ± 0.5 µl, 19.6 ± 0.8 µl and 43.0 ± 1.3 µl, respectively, in each time group. The vitreous and lens measurements revealed different growth rates and trends. Conclusion: Our systematic data quantify the postnatal development of the lens and the vitreous, and also provide a reference for the ocular volumes of rats at specific postnatal ages.
Development and Aging Expression of Cystathionine-Beta Synthase in the Temporal Lobe and Cerebellum of Down Syndrome Patients
Authors: Kanaumi Takeshi , Ichinohe Akiko , Kimura Hideo , Iwasaki Hiroshi , Hirose Shinichi , Takashima Sachio
Published: February 2008

Down’s syndrome (DS) is characterized by intellectual disabilities and Alzheimer-type dementia. Cystathionine-β synthase (CBS) plays a role in the production of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in the brain and is encoded by a gene which is localized in the DS critical region of chromosome 21. The expression of CBS was compared during development and aging. Therefore, cerebri (temporal lobe) and cerebelli from fetuses and adults were studied in 22 normal controls and 21 DS patients using immunohistochemical methods. During normal development, CBS-positive astrocytes appeared in the cortical layer at 14 weeks of gestation (GW), remained elevated until 34 GW and decreased slightly during the infantile period (1–11 months of age). A few CBS-positive neurons were transiently found in the deep cortical layer only at 35 GW. In the cerebellum, CBS-positive Bergmann glial cells were found from 26 GW to adulthood in both controls and DS patients. In DS, there were greater numbers of CBS-positive astrocytes, situated predominantly in granular cell layers II and IV, compared to the controls. In addition, CBS-positive astrocytes were also increased around senile plaques in adults with DS. The high level of CBS in the granular cell layers in DS may be related to an abnormal development of inhibitory neurons and may be responsible for the pathogenesis of intellectual disability, while the increased CBS observed in adult DS may be related to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer-type dementia.
A Room of One's Own: Women and Power in the New America
Authors: Fusco Coco , Muñoz José Esteban
Published: February 2008

Fusco's monologue addresses the role of female interrogators in the War on Terror. The piece is staged as a briefing by an intelligence officer who rationalizes the use of sexual harassment by female interrogators of Islamic fundamentalist detainees.
Cortical Differentiation for Nouns and Verbs Depends on Grammatical Markers
Authors: Tyler L. K. , Randall B. , Stamatakis E. A.
Published: February 2008

Here we address the contentious issue of how nouns and verbs are represented in the brain. The co-occurrence of noun and verb deficits with damage to different neural regions has led to the view that they are differentially represented in the brain. Recent neuroimaging evidence and inconsistent lesion–behavior associations challenge this view. We have suggested that nouns and verbs are not differentially represented in the brain, but that different patterns of neural activity are triggered by the different linguistic functions carried by nouns and verbs. We test these claims in a functional magnetic resonance imaging study using homophones—words which function grammatically as nouns or verbs but have the same form and meaning—ensuring that any neural differences reflect differences in grammatical function. Words were presented as single stems and in phrases in which each homophone was preceded by an article to create a noun phrase (NP) or a pronoun to create a verb phrase (VP), thus establishing the word's functional linguistic role. Activity for single-word homophones was not modulated by their frequency of usage as a noun or verb. In contrast, homophones marked as verbs by appearing in VPs elicited greater activity in the left posterior middle temporal gyrus (LpMTG) compared to homophones marked as nouns by occurring in NPs. Neuropsychological patients with grammatical deficits had lesions which overlapped with the greater LpMTG activity found for VPs. These results suggest that nouns and verbs do not invariably activate different neural regions; rather, differential cortical activity depends on the extent to which their different grammatical functions are engaged.
Age-related Differences in Brain Activity during True and False Memory Retrieval
Authors: Dennis Nancy A. , Kim Hongkeun , Cabeza Roberto
Published: February 2008

Compared to young adults, older adults show not only a reduction in true memories but also an increase in false memories. We investigated the neural bases of these age effects using functional magnetic resonance imaging and a false memory task that resembles the Deese–Roediger–McDermott (DRM) paradigm. Young and older participants were scanned during a word recognition task that included studied words and new words that were strongly associated with studied words (critical lures). During correct recognition of studied words (true memory), older adults showed weaker activity than young adults in the hippocampus but stronger activity than young adults in the retrosplenial cortex. The hippocampal reduction is consistent with age-related deficits in recollection, whereas the retrosplenial increase suggests compensatory recruitment of alternative recollection-related regions. During incorrect recognition of critical lures (false memory), older adults displayed stronger activity than young adults in the left lateral temporal cortex, a region involved in semantic processing and semantic gist. Taken together, the results suggest that older adults' deficits in true memories reflect a decline in recollection processes mediated by the hippocampus, whereas their increased tendency to have false memories reflects their reliance on semantic gist mediated by the lateral temporal cortex.
The Key Locus of Common Response Inhibition Network for No-go and Stop Signals
Authors: Zheng Dongming , Oka Tatsuro , Bokura Hirokazu , Yamaguchi Shuhei
Published: February 2008

Response inhibition is one of the highest evolved executive functions of human beings. Previous studies revealed a wide variety of brain regions related to response inhibition, although some of them may not be directly related to inhibition but to task-specific effects or noninhibitory cognitive functions such as attention, response competition, or error detection. Here, we conducted event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging studies in which all subjects performed both stop-signal and go/no-go tasks in order to explore key neural correlates within the response inhibition network irrelevant to task designs and other cognitive processes. The successful inhibition in the stop-signal and go/no-go tasks, respectively, activated a set of predominantly right-lateralized hemispheric cortices. The common inhibitory regions across the two tasks included the right middle prefrontal cortex in addition to the right middle occipital cortex. Correlation analysis was carried out within these areas between intensity of activation and behavioral performance in the two tasks. Only the region located in the middle prefrontal cortex showed significant correlations in both tasks. We believe this region is the key locus for execution of response inhibition in the distributed inhibitory neural network.
Arousal and Attention: Self-chosen Stimulation Optimizes Cortical Excitability and Minimizes Compensatory Effort
Authors: Fischer Thomas , Langner Robert , Birbaumer Niels , Brocke Burkhard
Published: February 2008

Cortical excitability is assumed to depend on cortical arousal level in an inverted U-shaped fashion: Largest (optimal) excitability is usually associated with medium levels of arousal. It has been proposed that under conditions of low arousal, compensatory effort is exerted if attentional demands persist. People tend to avoid this resource-consuming top–down compensation by creating or selecting environmental conditions that provide sufficient bottom–up stimulation. These assumptions were tested in an attention-demanding dual-task situation: We combined a simulated driving task to induce three different arousal levels by varying stimulation (high vs. low vs. self-chosen) with a visual two-stimulus paradigm to assess cortical excitability by the initial contingent negative variation (iCNV) component of the event-related potential. Additionally, we analyzed the oscillatory power of the beta2 band of the electroencephalogram at anterior frontal sites, which is assumed to reflect low-arousal compensatory activity. The iCNV amplitude differed in all three arousal conditions as expected: It was highest in the condition of self-chosen stimulation and lowest in the low- and high-arousal conditions. Additionally, in the low-arousal condition, anterior frontal beta2 power was found to be significantly higher than in the other two conditions and correlated positively with subjective strain. This pattern of results suggests that subjects select medium levels of stimulation which optimize cortical excitability under attentional demand conditions. The elevated fronto-central beta2 power in the low-stimulation condition may indicate the involvement of the anterior cingulate cortex in compensating for reduced arousal by top–down stimulation of the noradrenergic arousal system.
Trait Aggressiveness Modulates Neurophysiological Correlates of Laboratory-induced Reactive Aggression in Humans
Authors: Krämer Ulrike M. , Büttner Sarah , Roth Gerhard , Münte Thomas F.
Published: February 2008

Reactive aggression following provocation is a frequent form of human social behavior. The neural basis of reactive aggression, especially its control, remains poorly understood, however. We conducted an event-related potential (ERP) study using a competitive reaction time task that elicits aggression through provocation. Participants were selected from a larger sample because of extreme scores in trait aggressiveness, yielding high and low trait aggressive groups. As each trial in the task is separated into a decision phase, during which the punishment level for the opponent is set, and an outcome phase, during which the punishment is applied or received, we were able to disentangle provocation-related and evaluation-related modulations of the ERPs during the aggressive interaction. Specifically, we observed an enhanced frontal negativity during the decision phase under high provocation that was positively correlated with the participants' ability to refrain from retaliation. This held true for high trait aggressive participants only, pointing to a higher need for inhibitory and control processes in these people when provoked. During the outcome phase, we detected a mediofrontal negativity in loss compared to win trials, resembling previous ERP findings to negative feedback stimuli, which have been linked to the evaluation of an outcome's valence. This mediofrontal negativity was differentially pronounced in aggressive and nonaggressive participants: Nonaggressive participants showed only a slightly smaller mediofrontal negativity in win than in loss trials, suggesting that for them punishing the opponent had a similar negative valence as being punished.
Selective and Shared Contributions of the Hippocampus and Perirhinal Cortex to Episodic Item and Associative Encoding
Authors: Staresina Bernhard P. , Davachi Lila
Published: February 2008

Although the general role of the medial-temporal lobe (MTL) in episodic memory is well established, controversy surrounds the precise division of labor between distinct MTL subregions. The perirhinal cortex (PrC) has been hypothesized to support nonassociative item encoding that contributes to later familiarity, whereas the hippocampus supports associative encoding that selectively contributes to later recollection. However, because previous paradigms have predominantly used recollection of the item context as a measure of associative encoding, it remains unclear whether recollection of different kinds of episodic detail depends on the same or different MTL encoding operations. In our current functional magnetic resonance imaging study, we devised a subsequent memory paradigm that assessed successful item encoding in addition to the encoding of two distinct episodic details: an item–color and an item–context detail. Hippocampal encoding activation was selectively enhanced during trials leading to successful recovery of either an item–color or item–context association. Moreover, the magnitude of hippocampal activation correlated with the number, and not the kind, of associated details successfully bound, providing strong evidence for a role of the hippocampus in domain-general associative encoding. By contrast, PrC encoding activation correlated with both nonassociative item encoding as well as associative item–color binding, but not with item–context binding. This pattern suggests that the PrC contributions to memory encoding may be domain-specific and limited to the binding of items with presented item-related features. Critically, together with a separately conducted behavioral study, these data raise the possibility that PrC encoding operations—in conjunction with hippocampal mechanisms—contribute to later recollection of presented item details.
Patterns of Autobiographical Memory Loss in Medial-Temporal Lobe Amnesic Patients
Authors: Rosenbaum R. Shayna , Moscovitch Morris , Foster Jonathan K. , Schnyer David M. , Gao Fuqiang , Kovacevic Natasha , Verfaellie Mieke , Black Sandra E. , Levine Brian
Published: February 2008

The issue of whether the hippocampus and related structures in the medial-temporal lobe (MTL) play a temporary or permanent role in autobiographical episodic memory remains unresolved. One long-standing belief is that autobiographical memory (AM), like semantic memory, is initially dependent on the MTL but ultimately can be retained and recovered independently of it. However, evidence that hippocampal amnesia results in severe loss of episodic memory for a lifetime of personally experienced events suggests otherwise. To test the opposing views, we conducted detailed investigations of autobiographical episodic memory in people with amnesia resulting from MTL lesions of varying extent. By combining precise quantification of MTL and neocortical volumes with sensitive measures of recollection of one's personal past, we show that the severity of episodic, but not semantic, AM loss is best accounted for by the degree of hippocampal damage and less likely related to additional neocortical compromise.
Homeostatic Metaplasticity in the Human Somatosensory Cortex
Authors: Bliem Barbara , Müller-Dahlhaus J. Florian M. , Dinse Hubert R. , Ziemann Ulf
Published: February 2008

Long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD) are regulated by homeostatic control mechanisms to maintain synaptic strength in a physiological range. Although homeostatic metaplasticity has been demonstrated in the human motor cortex, little is known to which extent it operates in other cortical areas and how it links to behavior. Here we tested homeostatic interactions between two stimulation protocols—paired associative stimulation (PAS) followed by peripheral high-frequency stimulation (pHFS)—on excitability in the human somatosensory cortex and tactile spatial discrimination threshold. PAS employed repeated pairs of electrical stimulation of the right median nerve followed by focal transcranial magnetic stimulation of the left somatosensory cortex at an interstimulus interval of the individual N20 latency minus 15 msec or N20 minus 2.5 msec to induce LTD- or LTP-like plasticity, respectively [Wolters, A., Schmidt, A., Schramm, A., Zeller, D., Naumann, M., Kunesch, E., et al. Timing-dependent plasticity in human primary somatosensory cortex. Journal of Physiology, 565, 1039–1052, 2005]. pHFS always consisted of 20-Hz trains of electrical stimulation of the right median nerve. Excitability in the somatosensory cortex was assessed by median nerve somatosensory evoked cortical potential amplitudes. Tactile spatial discrimination was tested by the grating orientation task. PAS had no significant effect on excitability in the somatosensory cortex or on tactile discrimination. However, the direction of effects induced by subsequent pHFS varied with the preconditioning PAS protocol: After PASN20-15, excitability tended to increase and tactile spatial discrimination threshold decreased. After PASN20-2.5, excitability decreased and discrimination threshold tended to increase. These interactions demonstrate that homeostatic metaplasticity operates in the human somatosensory cortex, controlling both cortical excitability and somatosensory skill.
Comenius, the Conversion of the Turks, and the Muslim-Christian Debate on the Corruption of Scripture
Authors: Malcolm Noel
Published: February 2008

In 1666 Comenius wrote a dedicatory epistle, addressed to the Ottoman Sultan, which he intended to be printed with a translation of the Bible into Turkish: in it, he expressed an unusually conciliatory attitude towards Islam, while also defending the Christian Bible against the Muslim accusation that it was a corrupted text. This article prints the text of the epistle and discusses the background to it. Comenius's attitude towards Islam is examined, across the range of his other writings. His belief that the Turks could and would be converted to Christianity is also connected with the apocalyptic anti-Habsburg prophecies of Mikuláš Drabík, which Comenius promoted. And his defence against the charge of textual corruption is located in a tradition of argument which can be traced back, via the Calvinist Johannes Hoornbeeck, to the response made by a Roman Catholic, Filippo Guadagnoli, to an anti-Christian text written by a Persian scholar in 1622.
The Wavenumber–Frequency Spectrum of Vortical and Internal-Wave Shear in the Western Arctic Ocean
Authors: Pinkel Robert
Published: February 2008

Upper-ocean velocity and shear data were obtained from Doppler sonars operated at the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean (SHEBA) ice camp during the camp’s year-long drift across the western Arctic Ocean. These are used to estimate wavenumber–frequency spectra of shear E(κz, σ) during three selected time intervals. The Arctic shear spectra are similar in form to typical oceanic spectra, except that they have roughly an order-of-magnitude less variance. The slope of the frequency dependence is also steeper (σ−3–σ−4 for σ < −f, where f is the Coriolis frequency) in the internal-wave band, and the vertical wavenumber dependence is centered at higher wavenumber. Given the small vertical scales and low velocities of Arctic signals, a careful assessment of sonar precision is performed. Fluctuations at vertical scales > 10 m and time scales > 1 h are deemed significant. At subinertial frequencies, a vortical (quasigeostrophic) contribution to the shear spectrum is seen. The vertical wavenumber dependence of the shear spectrum in this frequency range is distinctly red, in contrast to the band-limited form of the superinertial spectrum; that is, E(κz, σ) ∼ κ−1z for |σ| < f. A fundamental characteristic of both the internal-wave and vortical spectral contributions is that the observed frequency bandwidth increases linearly with increasing vertical wavenumber magnitude. This is interpreted as the signature of the Doppler shifting of the observations by random “background” currents and by ice motion and is responsible for the distinctly “nonseparable” nature of the shear spectrum. As a consequence, the vertical wavenumber spectrum of the subinertial motion field is white: Evort(κz) = ∫Evort(κz, σ) dσ ∼ κ0z.
Asymmetric Tidal Mixing due to the Horizontal Density Gradient*
Authors: Li Ming , Trowbridge John , Geyer Rocky
Published: February 2008

Stratification and turbulent mixing exhibit a flood–ebb tidal asymmetry in estuaries and continental shelf regions affected by horizontal density gradients. The authors use a large-eddy simulation (LES) model to investigate the penetration of a tidally driven bottom boundary layer into stratified water in the presence of a horizontal density gradient. Turbulence in the bottom boundary layer is driven by bottom stress during flood tides, with low-gradient (Ri) and flux (Rf) Richardson numbers, but by localized shear during ebb tides, with Ri = ¼ and Rf = 0.2 in the upper half of the boundary layer. If the water column is unstratified initially, the LES model reproduces periodic stratification associated with tidal straining. The model results show that the energetics criterion based on the competition between tidal straining and tidal stirring provides a good prediction for the onset of periodic stratification, but the tidally averaged horizontal Richardson number Rix has a threshold value of about 0.2, which is lower than the 3 suggested in a recent study. Although the tidal straining leads to negative buoyancy flux on flood tides, the authors find that for typical values of the horizontal density gradient and tidal currents in estuaries and shelf regions, buoyancy production is much smaller than shear production in generating turbulent kinetic energy.
Lagrangian Study of Tropical Instability Vortices in the Atlantic
Authors: Dutrieux Pierre , Menkes Christophe E. , Vialard Jerome , Flament Pierre , Blanke Bruno
Published: February 2008

Tropical instability waves and tropical instability vortices (TIVs) exert major controls on ocean dynamics, thermodynamics, and biology on intraseasonal to seasonal time scales. To understand the fundamental mechanisms at play, a Lagrangian analysis of the 3D circulation of westward-propagating TIVs was performed in a high-resolution Atlantic Ocean simulation. The model reproduces the main temperature and velocity features of the tropical Atlantic mean state and the TIVs. Lagrangian diagnostics were used to track the water masses transported in vortices and exchanged with surrounding waters. The 3D circulation within vortices is consistent with previous observations and dominated by anticyclonic rotation with downwelling and upwelling near the leading and trailing edges of the vortex, respectively. This convergent flow creates sharp gradients at the TIV southwestern edge, where vertical mixing is most efficient. While TIVs remain highly dynamically coherent throughout their lifetime, significant exchanges occur with their surroundings, with 50% of their water being renewed over one rotation cycle. A detailed investigation of the eddies’ sources and sinks reveals that they mostly transport southern water zonally, while northern waters are mostly passing through or fluxed southward in their lee. A notable source of entrained water is the Equatorial Undercurrent.
Operationalizing Crime Over the Life Course
Authors: Bosick Stacey J.
Published: February 2008

Pointing to declines in self-reported criminality across waves of the National Youth Survey, several researchers have concluded that “testing effects” may render longitudinal self-report data unreliable. This article argues that the issue remains unsettled on two accounts. First, alternative explanations for the declines have not been fully addressed. These include matters of scale construction, item-specific age—crime curves, and selective attrition. Second, previous research tends to conflate two types of testing effects explanations: panel fatigue and changing content validity. Each of these five explanations has different implications and is explored in the present article. Through this series of analyses, the author concludes that the declines stem from item-specific issues, namely, the inclusion of early-peaking offenses in the scales and the changing content validity of some survey items. Implications are discussed with respect to how criminologists operationalize key constructs such as crime and deviance and how we study the age—crime relationship.
The Impact of the Taser on Suspect Resistance
Authors: White Michael D. , Ready Justin
Published: February 2008

Despite the Taser’s increasing popularity among police agencies, questions have been raised concerning the weapon’s use and effectiveness as well as its potential to cause serious injury or death. This article examines all Taser deployments by the New York City Police Department from 2002 to 2005 ( N = 375) and uses two multivariate approaches—logistic regression and chi-square automatic interaction detection—to identify predictors of Taser effectiveness, measured as continued suspect resistance and officer satisfaction. Findings indicate that several factors are associated with reduced effectiveness, including suspect body weight (more than 200 pounds), drug and alcohol use, physical violence, and close distance (3 feet or less) between the officer and the suspect. Although this study represents a preliminary effort at identifying predictors of Taser effectiveness, there are clear training and policy implications for police departments.
The Role of Qualitative Methods in Designing Health Care Organizations
Authors: Johnson Julie K. , Barach Paul
Published: February 2008

Qualitative research methodologies can play an important role in health care design as they can provide contextual data about health care settings—specifically the people, processes, and patterns that make up the daily work of providing health care. Health care is provided in complex environments with intricate webs of relationships, which represent the multiple interactions with people, information, technology, culture, and the physical environment in which the care is provided. One could ask, “Is good design possible without an understanding of the context in which the work occurs?” Qualitative methods can capture the experiential aspects of design and usability; however, certain qualitative methods are better suited to capture the complexity of health care. These include observations, focus groups, and interviews, which are discussed in depth.
Impact of Emergency Department Built Environment on Timeliness of Physician Assessment of Patients With Chest Pain
Authors: Hall Kendall K. , Kyriacou Demetrios N. , Handler Jonathan A. , Adams James G.
Published: February 2008

A retrospective cohort study was conducted to evaluate the effect of the built environment of an emergency department (ED) on the timeliness of physician assessment of chest pain patients. The main outcome variable was time to initial physician assessment. Potential predictor variables included presence of a solid door, distance of treatment room from work area, staffing team, day of week, and the patient's age, sex, and triage level. After multi-variate adjustment, the only predictors of time to initial assessment greater than 10 minutes were being placed in a room with a door (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 1.58; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01-2.48) and being placed in a room 25 feet or more from the main physician work area (adjusted OR 1.38; 95% CI 1.13-1.67). These findings suggest that the ED built environment can be a barrier for providing timely care for this group of patients and may have implications for future ED architectural designs.
Inpatient Unit Flexibility
Authors: Pati Debajyoti , Harvey Tom , Cason Carolyn
Published: February 2008

Flexibility in health care design is typically addressed from an architectural perspective without a systematic understanding of its meaning from the end-user's viewpoint. Moreover, the architectural perspectives have been generally focused on expandability and convertibility. This study explored flexibility needs in adult medical-surgical inpatient care with the objective to understand its meaning from an end-user perspective and identify characteristics of the physical environment that promote or impede stakeholders' requirements. Semistructured interviews were conducted using a qualitative design with 48 stakeholders in nursing and nursing-support services at 6 hospitals across the United States. Data were collected during September–November 2006. Findings suggest that adaptability influences more aspects of unit operations than convertibility or expandability. Furthermore, physical design characteristics affect 9 critical operational issues where flexibility is required, spanning nursing, environmental services, materials management, dietary services, pharmacy, and respiratory therapy.
Are Literature References Sufficient for Dose Recommendations? An FDA Case Study of Efavirenz and Rifampin
Authors: DiGiacinto Jennifer L. , Chan‐Tack Kirk M. , Robertson Sarah M. , Reynolds Kellie S. , Struble Kimberly A.
Published: February 2008

One of the numerous regulatory functions of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is the evaluation of drug‐drug interactions and the determination of appropriate dose adjustments, if necessary, to ensure the safe and effective use of medications. The FDA considers several data sources when determining the significance of drug‐drug interactions. The majority of dose adjustment recommendations are based on specific drug‐drug interactions studies. The FDA reviews individual patient pharmacokinetic and safety data from drug interaction studies, determines appropriate dose adjustments, and provides recommendations to update the respective product labeling. Sometimes literature references are submitted to the FDA to support dosing recommendations. Determining an appropriate dose adjustment recommendation based on literature reports is a challenge for the FDA due to the lack of individual patient pharmacokinetic or safety data from these studies. Recently, the FDA encountered a challenging regulatory situation when evaluating literature reports to determine the appropriate dose of efavirenz and rifampin. Although numerous studies were found in the literature about this combination, a dosing recommendation cannot be concluded from the reported data. This article reviews the process the FDA used to evaluate literature to support potential dose adjustments for efavirenz when coadministered with rifampin and the challenges encountered during the process.
Graduate Students' Perceptions of Contrapower Sexual Harassment
Authors: Mohipp Charmaine , Senn Charlene Y.
Published: February 2008

This study compared the perceptions of 172 graduate students to traditional versus contrapower sexual harassment. Graduate students are a unique sample due to their dual role as a student and a teacher. After controlling for attitudes toward feminism and sexual harassment, participants viewed contrapower sexual harassment as less indicative of sexual harassment than traditional sexual harassment. Those with teaching experience perceived the scenarios provided as more indicative of sexual harassment than participants without teaching experience, and this effect was magnified for males. These findings suggest that people take sexual harassment less seriously in contrapower sexual harassment than in traditional sexual harassment. Furthermore, it is possible that teaching experience makes graduate students more aware of the complicated power differentials involved in classroom settings.
Methods for Estimating Medical Expenditures Attributable to Intimate Partner Violence
Authors: Brown Derek S. , Finkelstein Eric A. , Mercy James A.
Published: February 2008

This article compares three methods for estimating the medical cost burden of intimate partner violence against U.S. adult women (18 years and older), 1 year postvictimization. To compute the estimates, prevalence data from the National Violence Against Women Survey are combined with cost data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, the Medicare 5% sample, and published studies and with relative risk estimates from published studies. Results are compared and reasons for difference are explored, including the advantages and disadvantages of each approach. Estimates of the medical cost burden of intimate partner violence within the first 12 months after victimization range from $2.3 billion to $7.0 billion, depending on the method used. Although limited to women victimized in the last year, each method reveals that intimate partner violence imposes a substantial burden on the health care system. Among the approaches, there is no clear gold standard nor any evidence of bias.
Sixth Grade Students Who Use Alcohol: Do We Need Primary Prevention Programs for “Tweens”?
Authors: Pasch Keryn E. , Perry Cheryl L. , Stigler Melissa H. , Komro Kelli A.
Published: February 2008

Young adolescent alcohol users drink at higher rates than their peers throughout adolescence and appear to be less amenable to intervention. This study compares those who reported alcohol use in the past year to those who reported no use in a multiethnic, urban sample of sixth graders in 61 schools in Chicago in 2002 ( N = 4,150). Demographic, behavioral, intrapersonal, and socioenvironmental factors were identified based on behavioral theories and potential mediators of the Project Northland Chicago intervention. Single and multiple regression models were created for users and nonusers to determine associations between these factors and alcohol use behavior and intentions. The multiple regression models explained 35% and 56% of the variance in alcohol use behavior and intentions between students for nonusers and users, respectively. Results suggest that primary prevention programs for alcohol use should occur prior to sixth grade, particularly for the substantial group at high risk for early use.
A holistic approach to primary—secondary transitions
Authors: Jindal-Snape D. , Foggie J.
Published: February 2008

A longitudinal study was conducted to follow children, in a city in Scotland, to understand their experiences of primary—secondary transition. The children were purposively selected as known to be having/potentially having problems with transition. Initial interviews were conducted with children, their parents and professionals when five were in the first year of secondary school, two in the second year of secondary school and two in the last year of primary school. Follow-up interviews were undertaken with six children again after six months when four were in the second year and two in the first year of the secondary school. Three out of the nine children were finding it difficult to deal with transition even at the follow-up. The issue of transition was complex, with considerable impact of a child's internal attributes, family, peers, school systems, professionals and community on his/her primary—secondary transition being successful or not.