bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Gene Expression of Aurora Kinases in Prostate Cancer and Nodular Hyperplasia Tissues
Authors: Nna Emmanuel , Madukwe Jonathan , Egbujo Ejike , Obiorah Chris , Okolie Charles , Echejoh Godwin , Yahaya Amina , Adisa James , Uzoma Ijeoma
Published: October 2012

Objective: To measure the transcript levels of Aurora kinases and compare them to their immunoreactivity patterns in prostate tumors. Materials and Methods: A total of 26 cases of prostate cancer (PCa) and 38 cases of benign nodular hyperplasia (BPH) were sampled from archived formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues. Tissue sections were lysed, total RNA extracted and cDNA made by random hexamer priming while slide sections were immunostained for the kinases. Normalized relative quantitation was performed for all the kinases using real-time PCR on TaqMan chemistry. Results: The immunoreactivity profile showed 15.4, 53.8 and 30.7% positivity for Aurora kinases A, B and C in PCa cases, respectively, while the positivity was 76.3, 73.7 and 84.2% for the same kinases in BPH cases. The immunoreactivity was preponderant on epithelial tissue compared to stromal component. Conclusion: Aurora kinases were significantly overexpressed in BPH cases compared to PCa cases. At the transcript level, there was no significant differential expression in the kinases between PCa and BPH cases.
Feasibility of Gemcitabine plus Oxaliplatin in Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients with Child-Pugh B Cirrhosis
Authors: Dhooge Marion , Coriat Romain , Mir Olivier , Perkins Géraldine , Brezault Catherine , Boudou-Rouquette Pascaline , Goldwasser François , Chaussade Stanislas
Published: October 2012

Purpose: Sorafenib improves survival in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but the demonstration of its efficacy and safety is limited to Child-Pugh A cirrhotic patients. The biweekly combination of gemcitabine and oxaliplatin (GEMOX) is safe and widely used in patients with advanced malignancies. We aimed to evaluate the feasibility of GEMOX in HCC patients with Child-Pugh B cirrhosis ineligible for sorafenib. Methods: The medical records of cirrhotic patients with advanced HCC receiving the GEMOX regimen between July 2006 and November 2011 were retrospectively reviewed. Treatment was repeated every 2 weeks until disease progression or unacceptable adverse effects occurred. The primary evaluation criterion was safety. Secondary evaluation criteria were the presence of muscle wasting (sarcopenia), response rate, progression-free survival and overall survival (OS). Results: Patients with Child-Pugh A (group A, n = 17) or Child-Pugh B cirrhosis (group B, n = 15) received a total of 169 cycles (median 4, range 1–16/patient). Eight patients in each group had sarcopenia. Common toxicities were thrombocytopenia (25 and 14 in groups A and B, respectively; p = 0.65) and peripheral neuropathy (44 and 54% in groups A and B, respectively; p = 1). Neither febrile neutropenia nor toxic death occurred. One patient in each group experienced grade 3 oesophageal varices bleeding. The response and disease control rates were 18% (95% CI 0–35.8) and 58.8% (95% CI 35.4–82.2) in group A, and 27% (95% CI 4.3–49.1) and 60.0% (95% CI 35.2–84.8) in group B. The median progression-free survival and OS did not differ between the two groups, but median OS was significantly shorter in sarcopenic patients. Conclusions: The GEMOX regimen appears feasible in HCC patients with Child-Pugh B cirrhosis and exerts anti-tumour activity. These data need to be confirmed in a prospective study.
Neuromuscular Choristoma of the Internal Auditory Meatus
Authors: Nikolaou Georgios , Röösli Christof , Huber Alex , Probst Rudolf
Published: October 2012

Choristomas of the internal auditory meatus are exceedingly rare tumors. In most cases, neuromuscular choristomas have initially been misdiagnosed as vestibular schwannomas (VS). No known characteristics in the clinical presentation or in imaging exist distinguishing these tumors from VS, which are the most common tumors at this location [Smith et al.: AJNR Am J Neuroradiol 1997;18:327–329]. We present a case of a neuromuscular choristoma of the 8th cranial nerve that was operated because of growth demonstrated on two MRI scans 3 months apart. We were convinced that this young patient would require treatment sometime in the future, and we believed that an operation at that time had higher chances to preserve the anatomical structures. Histomorphological examination of the tumor revealed a nodular lesion with fascicular and nodular assembled smooth muscle cells, connective tissue and nerve fibers.
Development of Auditory Localization Accuracy and Auditory Spatial Discrimination in Children and Adolescents
Authors: Kühnle S. , Ludwig A.A. , Meuret S. , Küttner C. , Witte C. , Scholbach J. , Fuchs M. , Rübsamen R.
Published: October 2012

The present study investigated the development of two parameters of spatial acoustic perception in children and adolescents with normal hearing, aged 6–18 years. Auditory localization accuracy was quantified by means of a sound source identification task and auditory spatial discrimination acuity by measuring minimum audible angles (MAA). Both low- and high-frequency noise bursts were employed in the tests, thereby separately addressing auditory processing based on interaural time and intensity differences. Setup consisted of 47 loudspeakers mounted in the frontal azimuthal hemifield, ranging from 90° left to 90° right (–90°, +90°). Target signals were presented from 8 loudspeaker positions in the left and right hemifields (±4°, ±30°, ±60° and ±90°). Localization accuracy and spatial discrimination acuity showed different developmental courses. Localization accuracy remained stable from the age of 6 onwards. In contrast, MAA thresholds and interindividual variability of spatial discrimination decreased significantly with increasing age. Across all age groups, localization was most accurate and MAA thresholds were lower for frontal than for lateral sound sources, and for low-frequency compared to high-frequency noise bursts. The study also shows better performance in spatial hearing based on interaural time differences rather than on intensity differences throughout development. These findings confirm that specific aspects of central auditory processing show continuous development during childhood up to adolescence.
Urinary Sodium Is a Potent Correlate of Proteinuria: Lessons from the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort Study
Authors: Weir Matthew R. , Townsend Raymond R. , Fink Jeffrey C. , Teal Valerie , Sozio Stephen M. , Anderson Cheryl A. , Appel Lawrence J. , Turban Sharon , Chen Jing , He Jiang , Litbarg Natasha , Ojo Akinlolu , Rahman Mahboob , Rosen Leigh , Steigerwalt Susan , Strauss Louise , Joffe Marshall M. ,   on behalf of the CRIC study Investigators
Published: October 2012

Background: While higher blood pressure is known to increase proteinuria, whether increased dietary sodium as estimated from 24-hour urinary excretion correlates with increased proteinuria in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is not well studied. Methods: We measured 24-hour urinary sodium, potassium and protein excretion in 3,680 participants in the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort study, to determine the relationship between urinary sodium and potassium and urinary protein excretion in patients with CKD. We stratified our data based on the presence or absence of diabetes given the absence of any data on this relationship and evidence that diabetics had greater urinary protein excretion at nearly every level of urinary sodium excretion. Multiple linear regressions were used with a stepwise inclusion of covariates such as systolic blood pressure, demographics, hemoglobin A1c and type of antihypertensive medications to evaluate the relationship between urinary electrolyte excretion and proteinuria. Results: Our data demonstrated that urinary sodium (+1 SD above the mean), as a univariate variable, explained 12% of the variation in proteinuria (β = 0.29, p < 0.0001), with rising urinary sodium excretion associated with increasing proteinuria. The significance of that relationship was only partially attenuated with adjustment for demographic and clinical factors and the addition of 24-hour urinary potassium to the model (β = 0.13, R2 = 0.35, p < 0.0001). Conclusions: An understanding of the relationship between these clinical factors and dietary sodium may allow a more tailored approach for dietary salt restriction in patients with CKD.
Molecular Genetics of Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease: From Genes to Genomes
Authors: Azzedine H. , Senderek J. , Rivolta C. , Chrast R.
Published: October 2012

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) is a heterogeneous group of disorders of the peripheral nervous system, mainly characterized by distal muscle weakness and atrophy leading to motor handicap. With an estimated prevalence of 1 in 2,500, this condition is one of the most commonly inherited neurological disorders. Mutations in more than 30 genes affecting glial and/or neuronal functions have been associated with different forms of CMT leading to a substantial improvement in diagnostics of the disease and in the understanding of implicated pathophysiological mechanisms. However, recent data from systematic genetic screening performed in large cohorts of CMT patients indicated that molecular diagnosis could be established only in ∼50–70% of them, suggesting that additional genes are involved in this disease. In addition to providing an overview of genetic and functional data concerning various CMT forms, this review focuses on recent data generated through the use of highly parallel genetic technologies (SNP chips, sequence capture and next-generation DNA sequencing) in CMT families, and the current and future impact of these technologies on gene discovery and diagnostics of CMTs.
The Tropical Precipitation Response to Orbital Precession
Authors: Merlis Timothy M. , Schneider Tapio , Bordoni Simona , Eisenman Ian
Published: October 2012

Orbital precession changes the seasonal distribution of insolation at a given latitude but not the annual mean. Hence, the correlation of paleoclimate proxies of annual-mean precipitation with orbital precession implies a nonlinear rectification in the precipitation response to seasonal solar forcing. It has previously been suggested that the relevant nonlinearity is that of the Clausius–Clapeyron relationship. Here it is argued that a different nonlinearity related to moisture advection by the atmospheric circulation is more important. When perihelion changes from one hemisphere’s summer solstice to the other’s in an idealized aquaplanet atmospheric general circulation model, annual-mean precipitation increases in the hemisphere with the brighter, warmer summer and decreases in the other hemisphere, in qualitative agreement with paleoclimate proxies that indicate such hemispherically antisymmetric climate variations. The rectification mechanism that gives rise to the precipitation changes is identified by decomposing the perturbation water vapor budget into “thermodynamic” and “dynamic” components. Thermodynamic changes (caused by changes in humidity with unchanged winds) dominate the hemispherically antisymmetric annual-mean precipitation response to precession in the absence of land–sea contrasts. The nonlinearity that enables the thermodynamic changes to affect annual-mean precipitation is a nonlinearity of moisture advection that arises because precession-induced seasonal humidity changes correlate with the seasonal cycle in low-level convergence. This interpretation is confirmed using simulations in which the Clausius–Clapeyron relationship is explicitly linearized. The thermodynamic mechanism also operates in simulations with an idealized representation of land, although in these simulations the dynamic component of the precipitation changes is also important, adding to the thermodynamic precipitation changes in some latitudes and offsetting it in others.
The Reversibility of Sea Level Rise
Authors: Bouttes N. , Gregory J. M. , Lowe J. A.
Published: October 2012

During the last century, global climate has been warming, and projections indicate that such a warming is likely to continue over coming decades. Most of the extra heat is stored in the ocean, resulting in thermal expansion of seawater and global mean sea level rise. Previous studies have shown that after CO2 emissions cease or CO2 concentration is stabilized, global mean surface air temperature stabilizes or decreases slowly, but sea level continues to rise. Using idealized CO2 scenario simulations with a hierarchy of models including an AOGCM and a step-response model, the authors show how the evolution of thermal expansion can be interpreted in terms of the climate energy balance and the vertical profile of ocean warming. Whereas surface temperature depends on cumulative CO2 emissions, sea level rise due to thermal expansion depends on the time profile of emissions. Sea level rise is smaller for later emissions, implying that targets to limit sea level rise would need to refer to the rate of emissions, not only to the time integral. Thermal expansion is in principle reversible, but to halt or reverse it quickly requires the radiative forcing to be reduced substantially, which is possible on centennial time scales only by geoengineering. If it could be done, the results indicate that heat would leave the ocean more readily than it entered, but even if thermal expansion were returned to zero, the geographical pattern of sea level would be altered. Therefore, despite any aggressive CO2 mitigation, regional sea level change is inevitable.
Simulation of Spaced Antenna Wind Retrieval Performance on an X-Band Active Phased Array Weather Radar
Authors: Venkatesh V. , Frasier S. J.
Published: October 2012

Spaced antenna baseline wind retrievals, in conjunction with traditional Doppler measurements, are a potential means of fine angular resolution weather radar wind vector retrieval. A spaced antenna implementation on an X-band active phased array architecture is investigated via Monte Carlo simulations of the backscattered electric fields at the antenna array. Several retrieval methods are exercised on the data produced by the simulator. Parameters of the X-band spaced-antenna design are then optimized. Benefiting from the parametric fitting procedure inherent in the time domain slope at zero lag and full correlation analysis, the study finds both of these algorithms to be more immune to thermal noise than the spectral retrieval algorithms investigated. With appropriately chosen baselines, these time domain algorithms are shown to perform adequately for 5-dB SNR and above. The study also shows that the Gaussian slope at zero lag (G-SZL) algorithm leads to more robust estimates over a wider range of beamwidths than the Gaussian full correlation analysis (G-FCA) algorithm. The predicted performance of the X-band array is compared to a similar spaced antenna implementation on the S-band National Weather Radar Testbed (NWRT). Since the X-band signal decorrelates more rapidly (relative to S band), the X-band array accumulates more independent samples, thereby obtaining lower retrieval uncertainty. However, the same rapid decorrelation also limits the maximum range of the X-band array, as the pulse rate must be sufficiently high to sample the cross-correlation function. It also limits the range of tolerable turbulence velocity within the resolution cell.
Synoptic-Scale Environments of Predecessor Rain Events Occurring East of the Rocky Mountains in Association with Atlantic Basin Tropical Cyclones*
Authors: Moore Benjamin J. , Bosart Lance F. , Keyser Daniel , Jurewicz Michael L.
Published: October 2012

The synoptic-scale environments of predecessor rain events (PREs) occurring to the east of the Rocky Mountains in association with Atlantic basin tropical cyclones (TCs) are examined. PREs that occurred during 1988–2010 are subjectively classified based upon the synoptic-scale upper-level flow configuration within which the PRE develops, with a focus on the following: 1) the position of the jet streak relative to the TC, 2) the position of the jet streak relative to trough and ridge axes, and 3) the positions of trough and ridge axes relative to the PRE and to the TC. Three categories were identified from this classification procedure: “jet in ridge,” “southwesterly jet,” and “downstream confluence.” PRE-relative composite analysis for each category reveals that, consistent with previous studies, PREs typically occur near a low-level baroclinic zone, beneath the equatorward entrance region of an upper-level jet streak, and in the presence of a stream of water vapor from a TC. Despite these common characteristics, key differences exist among the three PRE categories related to the phasing of a TC with the synoptic-scale flow and to the interactions between a TC and its environment. Brief case studies of PREs associated with TC Rita (2005), TC Wilma (2005), and TC Ernesto (2006) are presented as specific examples of the three PRE categories.
The association between suicide and the utilization of mental health services in South Tirol, Italy: A psychological autopsy study
Authors: Giupponi Giancarlo , Pycha Roger , Innamorati Marco , Lamis Dorian A , Schmidt Evelyn , Conca Andreas , Kapfhammer Hans Peter , Lester David , Girardi Paolo , Pompili Maurizio
Published: October 2012

Aims:

The aim of the present study was to investigate potential differences between suicide decedents who had contact with a psychologist or psychiatrist before committing suicide and those individuals who had not had previous contact with a mental health professional prior to ending their lives.

Methods:

Psychological autopsy interviews ( N = 396) were conducted for individuals who died by suicide between 1997 and 2007 in South Tirol, Italy.

Results:

The study found that suicide decedents known to mental health professionals were more frequently women and more frequently unemployed or with unstable employment. These decedents were significantly more likely than those unknown to mental health professionals to have a family history of mental illness, one or more past suicide attempts, and more frequent substance abuse, and likely to have frequent alcohol abuse. They more often had visited a physician in the last four weeks before dying and more frequently complained about psychological symptoms. In the prediction of group membership, individuals whom were known to mental health professionals prior to their suicidal act were 3 times more likely to have a family history of mental illness, 5.8 times more likely to have one past suicide attempt, 9.7 times more likely to have two or more past suicide attempts and 3.5 times more likely to have visited a physician in the four weeks prior to their death.

Conclusion:

Our findings indicate that suicide decedents who had contact with mental health services can be distinguished from those who were not known to mental health professionals.
Deconstructing Good Times and The Cosby Show
Authors: Hopkins Patricia D.
Published: October 2012

As countless critics of The Cosby Show (1984-1992) would have us believe, the Huxtable family, as portrayed and envisioned by educator and comedian Bill Cosby, is not the traditional representation of Black family life. For many critics, as well as some Cosby show defenders, the experience depicted by the fictional Huxtable family was the unique experience of too few African Americans at the time; the suggestion is that the family is very wealthy. Contrary to the moral majority, its critics and defenders, I am not from the upper or middle classes like the Huxtable family; however, I identified with The Cosby Show more than with its predecessors, like Good Times (1974-1979). African Americans are no different than any other American group, and therefore, as writer and novelist Wendy Alexia Rountree suggests in her article “‘Faking the Funk’: A Journey Towards Authentic Blackness,” we “should be allowed to develop individual identities that are not considered in conflict with our ethnic group identity but as a legitimate part of it.” Consequently, as someone who identifies with The Cosby Show; who is an autistic, working-class Black female from the projects of East Harlem with two Ivy League degrees; and for whom cowboy boots are her footwear of choice, I say, take Good Times and The Cosby Show if you must, but leave me my Black experience.
Formation of silk–gold nanocomposite fabric using grapefruit aqueous extract
Authors: Nolasco-Arizmendi Víctor , Morales-Luckie Raúl , Sánchez-Mendieta Víctor , Hinestroza JP , Castro-Longoria E , Vilchis-Nestor Alfredo R
Published: October 2012

Gold nanostructures were synthesized by reduction of gold ions using aqueous extract of grapefruit pulp ( Citrus paradisi). This eco-friendly bioreduction method allows the formation in solution and support of gold nanostructures on silk fibers. Bioreduction techniques involve biomolecules of grapefruit extract for reducing a gold precursor to obtain different kinds of nanostructures. Carbohydrates and organic acids, present in C. paradise, are believed to be responsible for the formation of nanoparticles. Analysis of gold–silk nanocomposites by electron microscopy shows gold nanostructures with quasi-spherical, hexagonal, and triangle shapes. The evolution of functional groups in the silk fibers before and after the bioreduction process was followed by infrared spectroscopy. Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) and laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM) were used to probe surface plasmon resonance and fluorescent behavior in the silk–gold composite. This simple and novel methodology for obtaining these types of nanocomposite may have important applications in the development of functional fibers.
Strain rate effects of tensile behaviors of 3-D orthogonal woven fabric: Experimental and finite element analyses
Authors: Hou Yangqing , Jiang Lili , Sun Baozhong , Gu Bohong
Published: October 2012

The tensile behaviors of 3-D woven fabric under high strain-rate states, i.e. tensile impact behaviors, are important for the design of the fabrics and the reinforced composites under impulsive loading. This paper reports the testing and the numerical simulation of the impact tension behaviors of 3-D woven fabric under high strain rates compared with those under quasi-static tension. The tensile behaviors of 3-D orthogonal woven fabric (3DOWF) were investigated using a MTS 810.23 material testing system and a self-designed split Hopkinson tension bar apparatus, under a wide range of strain rates (0.003–2308/s). The tensile stress–strain curves obtained from the quasi-static and high strain rates were used to analyze the rate-sensitivity of 3DOWF tensile behaviors. It was found that both the tensile strength and the failure strain increased with increases in the strain rate. The two-phase tensile stiffness phenomenon of 3DOWF under high strain rates has been observed experimentally. A microstructure model combined with finite element analysis was established to explain the tensile failure mechanisms of 3DOWF under high strain rates. It was found that the fabric architecture influences the stress wave propagation, thus leading to the two-phase tensile stiffness phenomenon in the stress–strain curve under high strain-rate tensions.
Relativism and the Ontological Turn within Anthropology
Authors: Paleček Martin , Risjord Mark
Published: October 2012

The “ontological turn” is a recent movement within cultural anthropology. Its proponents want to move beyond a representationalist framework, where cultures are treated as systems of belief (concepts, etc.) that provide different perspectives on a single world. Authors who write in this vein move from talk of many cultures to many “worlds,” thus appearing to affirm a form of relativism. We argue that, unlike earlier forms of relativism, the ontological turn in anthropology is not only immune to the arguments of Donald Davidson’s “The Very Idea of a Conceptual Scheme,” but it affirms and develops the antirepresentationalist position of Davidson’s subsequent essays.
The Possible Selves of High-Ability African Males Attending a Residential High School for Highly Able Youth
Authors: Frazier Andrea Dawn
Published: October 2012

This study explored the possible selves of high-ability African American males attending a specialized school for high-ability students. To this end, interviews were conducted with nine students. Results provided details about the hoped-for and feared selves the young men envisioned as well as the strategies these youth utilized to realize and avoid these possibilities for their future. The interviews also demonstrated the impact of family, the specialized school’s culture, their neighborhoods, and racism on the possibilities the young men envisioned for themselves.
Detachment From Parents, Problem Behaviors, and the Moderating Role of Parental Support Among Italian Adolescents
Authors: Pace Ugo , Zappulla Carla
Published: October 2012

This study examined the relationship of emotional detachment from parents, parental support, and problem behaviors and focused on the unique and common contribution that detachment and parental support made to internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems. A total of 461 young adolescents, 13 to 14 years old ( M = 13.4; SD = 0.44), 234 boys and 227 girls, completed self-reporting measures of detachment, parental support, and internalizing and externalizing problems. Data showed that detachment was related positively to internalizing problem behaviors. Results revealed that parental support played a moderating role in the relationship between detachment and internalizing problems, such that, at higher levels of detachment, internalizing problems tended to be lower when parental support was high.
In silico predictive studies of mAHR congener binding using homology modelling and molecular docking
Authors: Panda Roshni , Cleave A Suneetha Susan , Suresh PK
Published: October 2012

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is one of the principal xenobiotic, nuclear receptor that is responsible for the early events involved in the transcription of a complex set of genes comprising the CYP450 gene family. In the present computational study, homology modelling and molecular docking were carried out with the objective of predicting the relationship between the binding efficiency and the lipophilicity of different polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners and the AHR in silico. Homology model of the murine AHR was constructed by several automated servers and assessed by PROCHECK, ERRAT, VERIFY3D and WHAT IF. The resulting model of the AHR by MODWEB was used to carry out molecular docking of 36 PCB congeners using PatchDock server. The lipophilicity of the congeners was predicted using the XLOGP3 tool. The results suggest that the lipophilicity influences binding energy scores and is positively correlated with the same. Score and Log P were correlated with r = +0.506 at p = 0.01 level. In addition, the number of chlorine (Cl) atoms and Log P were highly correlated with r = +0.900 at p = 0.01 level. The number of Cl atoms and scores also showed a moderate positive correlation of r = +0.481 at p = 0.01 level. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study employing PatchDock in the docking of AHR to the environmentally deleterious congeners and attempting to correlate structural features of the AHR with its biochemical properties with regards to PCBs. The result of this study are consistent with those of other computational studies reported in the previous literature that suggests that a combination of docking, scoring and ranking organic pollutants could be a possible predictive tool for investigating ligand-mediated toxicity, for their subsequent validation using wet lab-based studies.
Mitigation of hepatotoxic effects of arsenic trioxide through omega-3 fatty acid in rats
Authors: Mathews Varghese V , Paul MV Sauganth , Abhilash M , Manju Alex , Abhilash S , Nair R Harikumaran
Published: October 2012

Arsenic trioxide (As2O3) is an effective drug in the treatment of leukaemia and many solid tumours. In clinical trials, arsenic therapy is closely associated with hepatic toxicity. The present study was designed to investigate the efficacy of omega-3 fatty acid against As2O3-induced hepatotoxicity. A 4 mg/kg body weight (bw) of As2O3 was orally administered to Wistar male rats for 45 days. Hepatotoxicity was evaluated by biochemical tests, antioxidant assays and histopathological examinations. Arsenic accumulation was found in the liver tissue of rats treated with As2O3. Hepatoprotective efficacy of omega-3 fatty acid was analysed by the combination therapy with As2O3. In vivo studies revealed a significant rise in lipid peroxidation with concomitant decline in reduced glutathione, glutathione-dependant antioxidant enzymes and antiperoxidative enzymes in the liver tissue of rats treated with arsenic. The supplementation of omega-3 fatty acid at a dose of 50 mg/kg bw with As2O3 offers ameliorative effect against hepatocellular toxicity. Omega-3 fatty acid maintained hepatic marker enzymes, antioxidant enzymes and decreased lipid peroxidation. The combination treatment clearly reduced the hepatic structural abnormalities such as haemorrhage, necrosis and cholangiofibrosis in the rats treated with arsenic. This study concludes that the omega-3 fatty acid might be useful for the protection against As2O3-induced hepatotoxicity.
Ameliorative effect of Vernonia cinerea in vincristine-induced painful neuropathy in rats
Authors: Thiagarajan Venkata Rathina Kumar , Shanmugam Palanichamy , Krishnan Uma Maheswari , Muthuraman Arunachalam
Published: October 2012

The present study was designed to investigate the antinociceptive potential of Vernonia cinerea (VC) on vincristine-induced painful neuropathy in rats. A chemotherapeutic agent, vincristine (50 μg/kg intraperitoneally for 10 consecutive days), was administered for the induction of neuropathic pain in rats. The painful behavioral changes were assessed using hot plate, acetone drop, paw pressure, Von Frey hair and tail immersion tests to assess the degree of hyperalgesic and allodynic pain sensation in paw and tail. Tissue biomarker changes including  thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARSs), reduced glutathione (GSH) and total calcium levels were estimated in sciatic nerve tissue samples to assess the degree of oxidative stress. Histopathological changes were also observed in transverse sections of rat sciatic nerve tissue. Ethanolic extract of VC leaves and pregabalin were administered for 14 consecutive days from day 0 (day of surgery). Pregabalin served as a positive control in the present study. Vincristine administration resulted in a significant reduction in painful behavioral changes along with a rise in the levels of TBARS, total calcium and decrease in GSH levels when compared with the normal control group. Furthermore, significant histopathological changes were also observed. Pretreatment with VC significantly attenuated vincristine-induced development of painful behavioral, biochemical and histological changes in a dose-dependent manner, which is similar to that of pregabalin-pretreated group. The attenuating effect of VC in vincristine-induced nociceptive painful sensation may be due to its potential of antioxidative, neuroprotective and calcium channel inhibitory action.
Death and Taxes
Authors: Schieber Sylvester J.
Published: October 2012

In recent years, there has been a growing angst about the state over retirement security. What seemed a golden age of retirement 15 years ago has become increasingly costly and precarious, and there is limited understanding of the underlying causes for the changing environment. The discussion here explores the evolution of public policies and demographics that have driven the different experience of successive generations under both Social Security and employer-sponsored pensions. Social Security has become much more expensive and less efficient over time because it is financed on a pay-as-you-go basis. Employer-sponsored pension costs have exploded in recent years because we largely deferred the funding of the baby boom generation’s retirement benefits to the latter part of their working lives. This result was driven by a combination of policy appetites to keep income tax rates low and variations in financial market performance. The need to bring new policies to bear on our situation is delineated, and a description of potential policies to address current and future generations’ income security is provided.
New Advances in the use of Neuman’s Lines of Defense and Resistance in Quantitative Research
Authors: Gigliotti Eileen
Published: October 2012

In 1997, Gigliotti proposed that certain conceptual and empirical considerations were necessary when using the Neuman systems model lines of defense and resistance in quantitative research. Since that time, a period of theoretical sharpening has resulted both from the iterative process of theory development through research and refinement of proposed relations, and from concept clarification efforts. These new advances prompt new empirical considerations. Specifically, the notion of the flexible line of defense strictly as a moderator has been reconsidered and new relations between the normal line of defense and the lines of resistance, as well as between the core, the lines of resistance and the normal line of defense are proposed.
Neuman Systems Model in Holland
Authors: Merks André , Verberk Frans , de Kuiper Marlou , Lowry Lois W.
Published: October 2012

The authors of this column, leading members of the International Neuman Systems Model Association, provide an update on the use of Neuman systems model in Holland and document the various changes in The Netherlands that have influenced the use of the model in that country. The model’s link to systems theory and stress theory are discussed, as well as a shift to greater emphasis on patient self-management. The model is also linked to healthcare quality improvement and interprofessional collaboration in Holland.
What’s wrong with the Concept of Self-management?
Authors: Baumann Steven L.
Published: October 2012

In the following introduction to an update on the use of Betty Neuman Systems Model in Holland, the author raising some questions about the use of the concept of ‘self-management’ and patient as ‘consumer’ by nurses. An excessive emphasis on individualism and consumerism in healthcare is seen as too narrow and demoralizing.
Metaphorically Speaking . . .
Authors: Condon Barbara Backer
Published: October 2012

Metaphors are thought to provide a means to better understand phenomena. Metaphors have been found to be helpful in communication, nursing, nursing research, and as a pedagogical tool in the teaching-learning environment. This column briefly discusses metaphors and introduces a column which offers a unique use of metaphors in nursing education.
A Medieval Metaphor to Aid Use of the Neuman Systems Model in Simulation Debriefing
Authors: McClure Marilyn , Gigliotti Eileen
Published: October 2012

Patient simulation is an effective clinical nursing experience and debriefing is recognized as the most crucial phase for students to internalize learning. The Neuman systems model is an excellent organizing framework for simulation debriefing to maximize learning. However, due to the model’s complexity, metaphor may be useful to help students to link simulation events with the model’s concepts. A medieval metaphorical adaptation of the Neuman systems model was created as an educational debriefing tool to help students bridge this gap. Neuman’s concepts are represented as medieval figures encountering and dealing with stressor dragons, with assistance (nursing intervention) as necessary. The companion questionnaire allows recording of student insights and becomes an evaluation tool for student comprehension.
High Altitude Leadership and the Humanbecoming Leading-Following Model
Authors: Damgaard Gloria
Published: October 2012

The concept of high altitude leadership and the humanbecoming leading-following model are explored from the perspective of the Executive Director of the South Dakota Board of Nursing. The humanbecoming essentials inherent in leading: commitment to a vision, willingness to risk, and reverence for others, are discussed in relation to high altitude leadership concepts that illuminate the risks, dangers, and patterns for surviving the threats that may surface along the journey of leading.
Ethical Implications and Interprofessional Education
Authors: Milton Constance L.
Published: October 2012

Policy and position statements from global regulatory agencies in all health disciplines are emphasizing and implementing requirements that interprofessional team education become a mandatory educational component for each of the health disciplines. What is interprofessional and/or interdisciplinary team-based healthcare? What are potential ethical implications specifically for the practice of nursing? In this column the author offers an exploration of potential definitions and meanings for future nursing education, research, and practice from a nursing theoretical perspective.
Social regulation and diversity management: A comparative study of France, Canada and the UK
Authors: Klarsfeld Alain , Ng Eddy , Tatli Ahu
Published: October 2012

Much of the diversity management debate is trapped in a binary opposition between regulation and voluntarism. We argue for an evidence-based approach and illustrate this by offering a context-sensitive overview of workforce diversity debate and practice in three countries: France, Canada and the UK. We use Reynaud’s social regulation theory in order to challenge the assumption that there is a clear separation between regulation and voluntarism. The article unpacks the complexities and ambivalences of regulation of workforce diversity, which is generated by multiple influences.
The role of regulatory and temporal context in the construction of diversity discourses: The case of the UK, France and Germany
Authors: Tatli Ahu , Vassilopoulou Joana , Ariss Akram Al , Özbilgin Mustafa
Published: October 2012

Despite growing interest in how the concept of diversity management is reinterpreted as it crosses national boundaries, there has been little study of this process in Europe. To bridge this knowledge gap, this article explores the construction of diversity discourses in the context of the UK, France and Germany. We use the discursive politics approach to investigate the ways in which the meaning of diversity is shrunk, bent and stretched. We demonstrate that the concept of diversity has no universal fixed meaning but is contextual, contested and temporal. Temporarily fixed definitions and frames of diversity are path-dependent and shaped by the regulatory context. Thus unique national histories and the context of regulation are key determinants of the ways in which the concept is redefined as it crosses national and regional borders.
Trade unions and discourses of diversity management: A comparison of Sweden and Germany
Authors: Stringfellow Emma
Published: October 2012

This article uses a discursive institutionalist approach to explain the different responses of Swedish and German trade unions to diversity management and their involvement in its institutionalization. It is argued that the institutionalization of diversity management is more likely to be based on social dialogue where it is introduced primarily as a solution to a socio-political crisis (as in Sweden). However, where its introduction is motivated primarily by a drive for softer regulation (as in Germany), it may undermine social dialogue.
Blood lead levels and enzymatic biomarkers of environmental lead exposure in children in Córdoba, Argentina, after the ban of leaded gasoline
Authors: Martínez SA , Simonella L , Hansen C , Rivolta S , Cancela LM , Virgolini MB
Published: October 2012

Lead (Pb) is a developmental neurotoxicant found in industrial activities, many of them already prohibited worldwide. This study aimed to evaluate current blood Pb (PbB) levels in children in Cordoba, Argentina, and to compare these with similar studies performed before Pb was banned in gasoline in 1996. We also sought to identify mechanistically relevant biomarkers by measuring δ-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (δ-ALAD), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT) activities. We finally aimed to determine whether sociodemographic characteristics are associated with Pb toxicity. Blood samples collected from 161 healthy children between September 2009 and February 2010 revealed mean PbB levels of 2.58 ± 0.30 µg/dl. Enzymatic δ-ALAD, CAT, and SOD activities showed no significant variations when plotted against PbB levels. Finally, children living in the suburbs have higher PbB levels than their city counterparts, while low socioeconomic status increased δ-ALAD inhibition compared with that of middle-income children. Overall, these results evidenced a substantial reduction in exposure to Pb in this pediatric population over a decade after Pb was restricted in gasoline and reveal the importance of pursuing novel biomarkers of toxicity along with the sociodemographic profile to complement Pb diagnosis.
Anti-erythropoietin receptor antibodies in systemic lupus erythematosus patients with anemia
Authors: Luo X-Y , Yang M-H , Peng Ping , Wu L-J , Liu Q-S , Chen L , Tang Z , Liu N-T , Zeng X-F , Liu Y , Yuan G-H
Published: October 2012

Anemia is a common hematologic abnormality in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). An inadequate erythropoietin (EPO) response in SLE patients with anemia has been described that may be due to the presence of antibodies to EPO in SLE patients. However, whether anemia in patients with SLE is related to antibodies to EPO receptor (EPOR) has not yet been investigated. We enlisted 169 consecutive patients with SLE and 45 normal individuals to investigate the existence and importance of circulating autoantibodies to EPOR in sera from patients with SLE. In all patients with SLE, the disease activity was evaluated by using the SLE disease activity index SLEDAI. Anti-EPOR antibodies were detected by using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). A higher frequency of anti-EPOR antibodies was observed in SLE patients than in healthy controls (18.3% vs 2.2%, p = 0.007). Moreover, anti-EPOR antibodies were detected in 22 of 69 (31.9%) SLE patients with anemia and in only nine of 100 (9.0%, p < 0.001) in those without. Furthermore, the patients with anti-EPOR antibodies exhibited more severe anemia and often presented as microcytic anemia ( p = 0.001). Finally, anti-EPOR antibodies seemed more likely to occur in patients with rash ( p = 0.008), lower levels of C3 component ( p = 0.01), higher titer of anti-dsDNA antibodies ( p < 0.001) and higher disease activity scores ( p = 0.024). The results of this study suggest that anti-EPOR antibodies might play a vital role in SLE patients developing anemia because of the higher incidence of antibodies to EPOR found in SLE patients with anemia. Thus, there might be clinical value in detecting anti-EPOR antibodies in SLE patients with anemia. Therefore, the pathologic role of the antibodies in inducing anemia needs to be established in future studies.
Governing (in)security in a postcolonial world: Transnational entanglements and the worldliness of ‘local’ practice
Authors: Hönke Jana , Müller Markus-Michael
Published: October 2012

While analysis of transnationalized forms of security governance in the contemporary postcolonial world features prominently in current debates within the field of security studies, most efforts to analyse and understand the relevant processes proceed from an unquestioned ‘Western’ perspective, thereby failing to consider the methodological and theoretical implications of governing (in)security under postcolonial conditions. This article seeks to address that lacuna by highlighting the entangled histories of (in)security governance in the (post)colonial world and by providing fresh theoretical and methodological perspective for a security studies research agenda sensitive to the implications of the postcolonial condition.
Adolescent Lifestyle in India: Prevalence of Risk and Promotive Factors of Health
Authors: Singh Arun Pratap , Misra Girishwar
Published: October 2012

The present study investigated the prevalence of lifestyle related concerns among school adolescents. The data were collected from 1,500 Indian school students enrolled in sixth to eleventh grades drawn from rural, urban, and metro settings. They completed an anonymous Adolescent Lifestyle Survey. The study documents the multiple concerns related to inappropriate dietary practices (fast food consumption, cold drinks, low fruit and vegetable intake), irregular sleeping habits, less religiosity, mild activity pattern, unhealthy daily routine and pursuance of different forms of risk behaviours. The study also showed an association of life style with several contextual variables (i.e., residential context, developmental stage and gender). The results suggest need for urgent attention to deal with the emerging concerns of risks and promoting factors of health through relevant policy-oriented reformulation, coordinated efforts among stakeholders, and initiating culturally appropriate lifestyle interventions among adolescents.
The Idea of Development and the Study of Children in Brazil as a Developing Society
Authors: de Castro Lucia Rabello
Published: October 2012

Development has been for long an idea and an ideal that moulded the teleological movement of nations as well as that of individual self-realisation. The present paper looks at such a ‘paradigm of development’ in order to examine its impact on the social science research agenda on children in Brazil. Looking at issues concerning the modernisation processes and national development engendered contradictions, as far as a child’s position in a developing country was concerned. The seeming universality and taken for granted truth about development has concealed the relevance of evaluating its shortcomings, especially for those like children, who do not often benefit from its positive effects. The article questions whether there can be univocal value-directions and objectives whereby countries can envisage their futures. The effect of disembedding future cosmologies from given trajectories of development can have an impact on children’s research agenda as it opens up new ways to look at children and their social realities in developing countries.
Who is an ‘Ideal’ Father? Father, Mother and Childrens’ Views
Authors: Sriram Rajalakshmi , Navalkar Prachee G.
Published: October 2012

The paper focuses on the constructions of the phrase—‘an ideal father’—by integrating findings from six different qualitative studies. Out of these six studies, five are from the city of Baroda while one is from Mumbai, both cities in western India. The total sample included 175 fathers, 50 mothers and 120 children. The studies used semi-structured interviews to elicit data from fathers and mothers about ‘who is an ideal father’? The study also sought children’s notions in the form of responses to open-ended statements. The data was analysed using themes from the generative-fathering framework (Dollahite, 2002; Dollahite and Hawkins, 1997). The results revealed that fathers were most influenced by their own parents in their ideals, followed by close relatives and other sources such as the media, mythology, friends and their respective spiritual gurus. The discussion focuses on understanding the results in terms of change and continuity in fatherhood ideals as well as the use of a generative framework for research on fatherhood.