bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of ionization techniques for mass spectrometric detection of contact allergenic hydroperoxides formed by autoxidation of fragrance terpenes
Authors: Nilsson J. , Carlberg J. , Abrahamsson P. , Hulthe G. , Persson B.‐A. , Karlberg A.‐T.
Published: October 2008

Hydroperoxides formed by autoxidation of common fragrance terpenes are strong allergens and known to cause allergic contact dermatitis (ACD), a common skin disease caused by low molecular weight chemicals. Until now, no suitable methods for chemical analyses of monoterpene hydroperoxides have been available. Their thermolability prohibits the use of gas chromatography and their low UV‐absorption properties do not promote sensitive analytical methods by liquid chromatography based on UV detection. In our study, we have investigated different liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) ionization techniques, electrospray ionization (ESI), atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI), and atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI), for detection of hydroperoxides from linalool and limonene.

Flow injection analysis was used to evaluate the three different techniques to ionize the monoterpene hydroperoxides, linalool hydroperoxide and limonene hydroperoxide, by estimating the signal efficacy under experimental conditions for positive and negative ionization modes. The intensities for the species [M+H]+ and [M+H−H2O]+ in positive ionization mode and [M−H]− and [M−H−H2O]− in negative ionization mode were monitored. It was demonstrated that the mobile phase composition and instrumental parameters have major influences on the ionization efficiency of these compounds. ESI and APCI were both found to be appropriate as ionization techniques for detection of the two hydroperoxides. However, APPI was less suitable as ionization technique for the investigated hydroperoxides. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Structural identification of novel glucoside and glucuronide metabolites of (−)‐epigallocatechin‐3‐gallate in mouse urine using liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry
Authors: Sang Shengmin , Yang Chung S.
Published: October 2008

(−)‐Epigallocatechin‐3‐gallate (EGCG), the most abundant and most biologically active polyphenolic compound in tea, has been proposed to have many health beneficial effects. The metabolic fate of EGCG, however, is not well understood. In the present study, we identified a novel EGCG metabolite, 7‐O‐β‐D‐glucopyranosyl‐EGCG‐4″‐O‐β‐D‐glucupyranoside, in a mouse urine sample using liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. The structure of this metabolite was confirmed by analyzing the MSn (n = 1–4) spectra as well as comparing the MS/MS spectra of its product ions with those from EGCG and EGCG‐4″‐O‐β‐D‐glucupyranoside standards. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the identification of a glucoside metabolite of EGCG in mammals. Our results indicate that glucosidation represents a novel pathway in the metabolism of EGCG in mice. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Doxorubicin‐Loaded Polymeric Micelle Overcomes Multidrug Resistance of Cancer by Double‐Targeting Folate Receptor and Early Endosomal pH
Authors: Kim Dongin , Lee Eun Seong , Oh Kyung Taek , Gao Zhong Gao , Bae You Han
Published: October 2008

An optimized, pH‐sensitive mixed‐micelle system conjugated with folic acid is prepared in order to challenge multidrug resistance (MDR) in cancers. The micelles are composed of poly(histidine (His)‐co‐phenylalanine (Phe))‐b‐poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and poly(L‐lactic acid) (PLLA)‐b‐PEG‐folate. Core‐forming, pH‐sensitive hydrophobic blocks of poly(His‐co‐Phe) of varying composition are synthesized. The pH sensitivity of the micelles is controlled by the copolymer composition and is fine tuned to early endosomal pH by blending PLLA(3K)‐b‐PEG(2K)‐folate in the presence of a basic anticancer drug, doxorubicin (DOX). In vitro tests are conducted against both wild‐type (A2780) and DOX‐resistant ovarian carcinoma cell lines. A mixed‐micelle system composed of poly(His‐co‐Phe (16 mole%))‐b‐PEG (80 wt%) and PLLA‐b‐PEG‐folate (20 wt%) is selected to target early endosomal pH. DOX‐loaded micelles effectively kill both wild‐type sensitive (A2780) and DOX‐resistant ovarian MDR cancer‐cell lines (A2780/DOXR) through an instantaneous high dose of DOX in the cytosol, which results from active internalization, accelerated DOX release triggered by endosomal pH, and an endosomal membrance disruption.
Real‐Time Translocation of Fullerene Reveals Cell Contraction
Authors: Salonen Emppu , Lin Sijie , Reid Michelle L. , Allegood Marcus , Wang Xi , Rao Apparao M. , Vattulainen Ilpo , Ke Pu Chun
Published: October 2008

Carbon‐based nanomaterials possess unique structural, mechanical, and electronic properties that are exploited in numerous applications. The fate of nanomaterials in living systems and in the environment is largely unknown, though there is a reason for concern. Here it is shown how the interaction of fullerene with natural phenolic acid induces cell contraction. This phenomenon has a general applicability to carbon‐based nanomaterials interacting with natural amphiphiles. Atomistic simulations reveal that the self‐assembly of C70–gallic acid (GA) favors aggregation. Confocal fluorescence microscopy shows that C70–GA complexes translocate across the membranes of HT‐29 cells and enter nuclear membranes. Confocal imaging further reveals the real‐time uptake of C70–GA and the consequent contraction of the cell membranes. This contraction is attributed to the aggregation of nanoparticles into microsized particles promoted by cell surfaces, a new physical mechanism for deciphering nanotoxicity.
Construction of Helical Nanofibers from Self‐Assembling Pseudopeptide Building Blocks: Modulating the Handedness and Breaking the Helicity
Authors: Guha Samit , Drew Michael G. B. , Banerjee Arindam
Published: October 2008

Helical nanofibers are successfully constructed from suitable self‐assembling pseudopeptide‐based molecular building blocks. The handedness of these nanofibers can be reversed by using mirror‐imaged pseudopeptide‐based building blocks. Straight nanofibers are also constructed by modulating the molecular and supramolecular structures by the proper choice of the stereochemical nature of the molecular scaffolds. This study demonstrates that molecular structure and chirality are not the only determining factors for tuning the morphology and chirality of nanostructures; the nature of the supramolecular structures formed from the corresponding molecular scaffolds also plays a key role in dictating the shape and chirality of nanostructures. Helical nanofibers are suitable templates for fabricating dipeptide‐capped gold nanoparticles, indicating a possible use of these nanofibers in the construction of arrays of gold nanoparticles.
A General Synthesis for PEDOT‐Coated Nonconductive Materials and PEDOT Hollow Particles by Aqueous Chemical Polymerization
Authors: Luo Shyh‐Chyang , Yu Hsiao‐hua , Wan Andrew C. A. , Han Yu , Ying Jackie Y.
Published: October 2008

A method for coating functionalized poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) on nonconductive substrates in aqueous solution allows the deposition of PEDOT thin layers on various substrates, including silica and polystyrene (PS) nanoparticles, siliceous mesocellular foam, and chitosan–alginate fibers. The surface property is tuned by controlling the monomer composition in the aqueous solutions. Using appropriate organic solvents to remove the PS cores of PEDOT‐coated PS nanoparticles, hollow PEDOT particles with single holes and PEDOT capsules can be formed.
CdTe Nanoparticles Display Tropism to Core Histones and Histone‐Rich Cell Organelles
Authors: Conroy Jennifer , Byrne Stephen J. , Gun'ko Yurii K. , Rakovich Yury P. , Donegan John F. , Davies Anthony , Kelleher Dermot , Volkov Yuri
Published: October 2008

The disclosure of the mechanisms of nanoparticle interaction with specific intracellular targets represents one of the key tasks in nanobiology. Unmodified luminescent semiconductor nanoparticles, or quantum dots (QDs), are capable of a strikingly rapid accumulation in the nuclei and nucleoli of living human cells, driven by processes of yet unknown nature. Here, it is hypothesized that such a strong tropism of QDs could be mediated by charge‐related properties of the macromolecules presented in the nuclear compartments. As the complex microenvironment encountered by the QDs in the nuclei and nucleoli of live cells is primarily presented by proteins and other biopolymers, such as DNA and RNA, the model of human phagocytic cell line THP1, nuclear lysates, purified protein, and nucleic acid solutions is utilized to investigate the interactions of the QDs with these most abundant classes of intranuclear macromolecules. Using a combination of advanced technological approaches, including live cell confocal microscopy, fluorescent lifetime imaging (FLIM), spectroscopic methods, and zeta potential measurements, it is demonstrated that unmodified CdTe QDs preferentially bind to the positively charged core histone proteins as opposed to the DNA or RNA, resulting in a dramatic shift off the absorption band, and a red shift and decrease in the pholuminescence (PL) intensity of the QDs. FLIM imaging of the QDs demonstrates an increased formation of QD/protein aggregates in the presence of core histones, with a resulting significant reduction in the PL lifetime. FLIM technology for the first time reveals that the localization of negatively charged QDs to their ultimate nuclear and nucleolar destinations dramatically affects the QDs' photoluminescence lifetimes, and offers thereby a sensitive readout for physical interactions between QDs and their intracellular macromolecular targets. These findings strongly suggest that charge‐mediated QD/histone interactions could provide the basis for QD nuclear localization downstream of intracellular transport mechanisms.
Design of Multicomponent Microgels by Selective Deposition of Nanomaterials
Authors: Hain Jessica , Schrinner Marc , Lu Yan , Pich Andrij
Published: October 2008

In the present paper a method for the targeted deposition of different nanomaterials on aqueous microgels is described. In the first stage poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) nanorods are introduced into the microgel structure by in situ oxidative polymerization. In the second stage hydrogen tetrachloroaurate is used to transform PEDOT chains to an oxidized state in the microgel structure, leading to the fixation of chloroaurate anions on the surface of the PEDOT nanorods. The reduction of chloroaurate ions induces the formation of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) predominantly located on the PEDOT surface. Obtained microgel/PEDOT/AuNP hybrid particles with different nanoparticle loadings exhibit superior colloidal stability and temperature sensitivity. The microgel/PEDOT/AuNP hybrid microgels exhibit extraordinary catalytic activity in aqueous media.
An analysis of the relationship between service cores and the embodied/running energy of tall buildings
Authors: Trabucco Dario
Published: October 2008

The service core is now acquiring an increased consideration in the design process of a tall building, since it is responsible for a great share of its energy consumption. Nowadays architecture is required to design green buildings, and the industry of high rises is strongly influenced by the ‘sustainable’ movement too. For this reason, several researches have been carried out recently, meant to lower the energy requirements of the core as a whole and of each of its sub‐components. On the contrary, little work has been done in order to assess its relevance on the embodied energy of the skyscraper. The present paper provides the author's definition for the service core, and analyzes the energy used by a tall building and the energy embodied in the materials during its construction. The author proposes several design strategies meant to lower the embodied energy of the service core. In order to assess the effectivity of alternative design strategies, the software Energy Plus has been used on a digital model of an existent building and on fictitious building having different core positioning. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The theory of successful intelligence as a basis for instruction and assessment in higher education
Authors: Sternberg Robert J. , Grigorenko Elena L.
Published: October 2008

The theory of successful intelligence suggests that students' failures to achieve at a level that matches their potential often result from teaching and assessment that are narrow in conceptualization and rigid in implementation.
Rib Fracture Repair: Indications, Technical Issues, and Future Directions
Authors: Nirula Raminder , Diaz Jose J. , Trunkey Donald D. , Mayberry John C.
Published: October 2008

Rib fracture repair has been performed at selected centers around the world for more than 50 years; however, the operative indications have not been established and are considered controversial. The outcome of a strictly nonoperative approach may not be optimal. Potential indications for rib fracture repair include flail chest, painful, movable rib fractures refractory to conventional pain management, chest wall deformity/defect, rib fracture nonunion, and during thoracotomy for other traumatic indication. Rib fracture repair is technically challenging secondary to the human rib’s relatively thin cortex and its tendency to fracture obliquely. Nonetheless, several effective repair systems have been developed. Future directions for progress on this important surgical problem include the development of minimally invasive techniques and the conduct of multicenter, randomized trials.
Multiple Proinsulin‐Secreting Tumors of the Pancreas Treated by Laparoscopic Distal Pancreatectomy and Splenectomy
Authors: Clark Gary , Sadur Craig , Puligandla Balaram
Published: October 2008

Background

Patients with pancreatic tumors that induce hypoglycemia present with a myriad of symptoms. Laboratory testing can frequently result in data challenging to the clinician to confirm the biochemical diagnosis. Proinsulin, in addition to insulin levels, may be essential in evaluating and diagnosing an insulinoma.

Methods

The objective of this case report is to demonstrate the potential importance of proinsulin levels in the evaluation of tumor‐induced hypoglycemia. We report a 49‐year‐old woman with an unusual clinical presentation. Unlike many patients with tumor‐induced hypoglycemia, her fasting glucose levels were fairly unimpressive, her insulin levels were undetectable during a prolonged fast, and she had elevated proinsulin levels.

Results

The inpatient fast was remarkable for levels of serum glucose 53 mg/dl or higher, a serum insulin <2 uIU/ml, C‐peptide 0.7–1.1 (nl 0.8–3.1 ng/ml), and proinsulin 29.2–36.8 pmol/l (nl ≤ 18.8 pmol/l). CT scanning of the abdomen revealed multiple pancreatic lesions. A laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy led to the removal of multiple neuroendocrine tumors, which stained only for proinsulin and not for other pancreatic tumor markers. Postoperatively, she normalized her biochemical serum studies and has remained symptom‐free 2 years later.

Conclusions

The measurement of proinsulin plays an important part in the diagnostic workup of neuroendocrine tumors causing hypoglycemia. These potentially malignant tumors can be treated adequately with minimally invasive surgery.
Hepatic Metastasectomy for Soft‐Tissue Sarcomas: Is It Justified?
Authors: Rehders A. , Peiper M. , Stoecklein N. H. , Alexander A. , Boelke E. , Knoefel W. T. , Rogiers X.
Published: October 2008

Background

Except for patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), systemic chemotherapy in patients with liver metastasis of soft‐tissue sarcoma (STS) is not effective. Therefore, all patients with resectable liver metastases underwent surgical therapy. We present our experience with this approach during the last 13 years.

Methods

All patients (n = 45) with liver metastasis of STS undergoing surgical therapy were prospectively analyzed. Clinical and histopathological parameters as well as the postoperative course were recorded. Survival data were analyzed by using the Kaplan‐Meier method and the log‐rank test.

Results

Twenty‐seven of 45 patients with liver metastasis underwent hepatic resection; 59% of these patients had a solitary metastasis, 22% had two metastases, and 18% had three or more metastatic nodules. The surgical perioperative mortality was 7%. The median survival was 44 (range, 1–123) months, and the 5‐year survival was 49%. Repeated resection for recurrent tumor was performed in eight patients, which yielded a median survival of 76 months.

Conclusions

Patients who have hepatic metastases that are functionally and technically resectable should be considered for surgery because this treatment offers the chance for long‐term survival (>5 years).
Prevalence of Symptoms and Use of Medication for Gastroesophageal Reflux in an Australian Community
Authors: Watson David I. , Lally Carolyn J.
Published: October 2008

Introduction

Gastroesophageal reflux disease is common in Western societies, although the prevalence of reflux symptoms in the community is not well described. In this study we determined the prevalence of symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux and other “esophageal” symptoms, and the consumption of medication for reflux in an Australian community.

Patients and methods

A population sample designed to accurately reflect the characteristics of the population aged 15 years or older in the State of South Australia was studied. Demographic data; symptoms specific to reflux, dysphagia, and abdominal bloating; and the consumption of antireflux medication were determined in a face‐to‐face interview. The frequency and severity of heartburn and dysphagia were assessed with analog scales.

Results

A total of 2,973 people (age range: 15–95 years) were interviewed between September and December 2006. Approximately half experienced the symptom of heartburn; 21.2% experienced heartburn at least once a month, and 12.4% described frequent symptoms of heartburn (at least a few times each week). Of those with heartburn, 25.0% graded it as moderate or severe, 10.9% reported some dysphagia for solid foods, and 6.9% reported dysphagia for liquids. 3.7% described dysphagia for solids at least once a month. Abdominal bloating was reported by 48.2%. 16.9% were taking medications for reflux symptoms (10.1% proton pump inhibitors, 1.2% H2‐receptor antagonists, 2.1% simple antacids, 3.4% alternative medications). Heartburn was more common in individuals who consumed medication. There were significant associations between heartburn and bloating, and between heartburn and dysphagia.

Conclusions

Symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux and the use of medications to treat such symptoms are very common in the community of South Australia. Nearly 1 in 7 people over the age of 15 consume medication for the treatment of symptoms of reflux.
Clinicopathological Features of Tumors as Predictors of the Efficacy of Primary Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy for Operable Breast Cancer
Authors: Shien Tadahiko , Akashi‐Tanaka Sadako , Miyakawa Kunihisa , Hojo Takashi , Shimizu Chikako , Seki Kunihiko , Ando Masashi , Kohno Tsutomu , Taira Naruto , Doihara Hiroyoshi , Katsumata Noriyuki , Fujiwara Yasuhiro , Kinoshita Takayuki
Published: October 2008

Background

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NC) is standard therapy for patients with locally advanced breast cancer and is increasingly used for early‐stage operable disease. Clinical and pathological responses are important prognostic parameters for NC, which aims to achieve a pathological complete response or tumor reduction to reduce the volume of subsequent breast resection. Clinicopathological markers that predict patient response to NC are needed to individualize treatment.

Methods

From 1998 to 2006, 368 patients with primary breast cancer underwent curative surgical treatment after NC (anthracycline and/or taxane without trastuzumab). We retrospectively evaluated the clinicopathological features and classification of the tumors using computed tomography (CT) before NC and analyzed the correlation with the pathological complete response (pCR) and reduction of tumor size after treatment.

Results

The overall response and pCR rates in these patients were 86% and 17%, respectively. In multivariate analysis, classification as a scirrhous‐type tumor was an independent predictor of reduced likelihood of pCR (p = 0.0115; odds ratio 0.21). For tumor reduction, histological grade 3 (p = 0.0002; odds ratio 3.3) and localized tumors identified by using CT imaging (p = 0.0126; odds ratio 2.4) were independent predictors in multivariate analysis.

Conclusions

In this study, NC often did not result in pCR for breast cancers classified as scirrhous. Furthermore, tumor type classification using CT imaging and histological grading was effective to predict tumor reduction in response to NC that included an anthracycline and/or a taxane.
Mechanism of cellular rejection in transplantation
Authors: Ingulli Elizabeth
Published: October 2008

The explosion of new discoveries in the field of immunology has provided new insights into mechanisms that promote an immune response directed against a transplanted organ. Central to the allograft response are T lymphocytes. This review summarizes the current literature on allorecognition, costimulation, memory T cells, T cell migration, and their role in both acute and chronic graft destruction. An in depth understanding of the cellular mechanisms that result in both acute and chronic allograft rejection will provide new strategies and targeted therapeutics capable of inducing long-lasting, allograft-specific tolerance.
How Do Organizations and Social Policies ‘Acculturate’ to Immigrants? Accommodating Skilled Immigrants in Canada
Authors: Sakamoto Izumi , Wei Yi , Truong Lele
Published: October 2008

While the idea of acculturation (Berry 1997) was originally proposed as the mutual change of both parties (e.g., immigrants and the host society), the change processes of host societies are neglected in research. A grounded theory study explored the efforts of human service organizations to ‘acculturate’ to an increasingly diverse immigrant population, through interviews conducted with service providers serving Mainland Chinese immigrants. Acculturation efforts of human service organizations (mezzo‐level acculturation) were often needs‐driven and affected by the political will and resultant funding programs (macro‐level forces). Even with limitations, human service organizations commonly focused on hiring Mainland Chinese immigrants to reflect the changing demographics of their clientele and creating new programs to meet the language and cultural backgrounds of the clients. To contextualize these organizational efforts, an analysis of how policy changes (macro‐level acculturation) interact with organizational practice is presented. Finally, the meaning of acculturation for the host society is discussed.
The Case of a City Where 1 in 6 Residents is a Refugee: Ecological Factors and Host Community Adaptation in Successful Resettlement
Authors: Scott Smith R.
Published: October 2008

The notable success of an upstate New York community in resettling refugees raises the question of whether multiple waves of resettlement over a 15‐year period have resulted in greater accommodation to refugees. Structured interviews based on transactional models of acculturation were used along with archival data to explore ecological factors supporting a host community's behavioral flexibility and perseverance in response to the influx of refugees. Evidence suggests that socioeconomic climate, historical background/social norms, and the organizational structure of agencies involved in resettlement moderate successful inclusion of refugees into a host community in a bidirectional process.
Tetrahydrobiopterin deficiency in human rabies
Authors: Willoughby R. E. , Opladen T. , Maier T. , Rhead W. , Schmiedel S. , Hoyer J. , Drosten C. , Rupprecht C. E. , Hyland K. , Hoffmann G. F.
Published: October 2008

Rabies is a fatal viral encephalitis characterized by a clinically acute and progressive course. With rare exceptions, there is a discrepancy between clinical outcome and frank histological alterations in rabies. Investigators have postulated that rabies virus may modify neurotransmission through occupancy of cellular receptors or alteration of ion channels. We took advantage of these observations to improvise a successful therapy for rabies. The Milwaukee protocol (www.mcw.edu/rabies) was further modified to treat two German patients. We measured pterins and monoamine neurotransmitter metabolites in the CSF of patients with rabies by HPLC with electrochemical or fluorescent detection. We report loss of tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) and associated pathological decrease of dopaminergic and serotoninergic neurotransmission in three successive patients with rabies. CSF levels of BH4 and neurotransmitter metabolites increased in two patients who were supplemented. Our findings support the long‐standing speculation of modified neurotransmission in the pathogenesis of rabies, but by another mechanism. Brain turnover of dopamine and serotonin is reduced following rabies‐acquired BH4 deficiency. Neuronal nitric oxide synthase is BH4‐dependent and may also be involved, possibly causing cerebrovascular insufficiency in one patient. This work must be carefully replicated in animal models and future patients. We are cautiously optimistic at the prospect of readily available, metabolically specific, enteral therapy for rabies.
Fracture of the Proximal Pole of the Bipartite Carpal Scaphoid: A Probable Holt–Oram-Like Syndrome
Authors: Saccomanni B.
Published: October 2008

Bipartite scaphoid has been debated, and is of a traumatic origin for some authors and congenital for others. The aim of study is to distinguish clinical, radiographic and MR criteria for the diagnosis of congenital bipartite scaphoid. I describe a case of a patient with bilateral bipartite scaphoid admitted at my clinic following a traumatic accident which produced a fracture of the proximal pole of the right carpal scaphoid. The patient had a history of bipartite scaphoid. In conclusion, I believe that congenital origin is more probable and this rare pathology is a sporadic form of Holt–Oram-like syndrome.
Diversity of the Enzymatic Activity in the Lipoxygenase Gene Family of Arabidopsis thaliana
Authors: Bannenberg Gerard , Martínez Marta , Hamberg Mats , Castresana Carmen
Published: October 2008

Lipoxygenases (LOX) catalyze the oxygenation of polyunsaturated fatty acids, the first step in the biosynthesis of a large group of biologically active fatty acid metabolites collectively named oxylipins. In the present study we report the characterization of the enzymatic activity of the six lipoxygenases found in the genome of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Recombinant expressed AtLOX‐1 and AtLOX‐5 had comparable oxygenase activity with either linoleic acid or linolenic acid. AtLOX‐2, AtLOX‐3, AtLOX‐4 and AtLOX‐6 displayed a selective oxygenation of linolenic acid. Analyses by high‐performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry demonstrated that AtLOX‐1 and AtLOX‐5 are 9S‐lipoxygenases, and AtLOX‐2, AtLOX‐3, AtLOX‐4 and AtLOX‐6 are 13S‐lipoxygenases. None of the enzymes had dual positional specificity. The determined activities correlated with that predicted by their phylogenetic relationship to other biochemically‐characterized plant lipoxygenases.
Determination of Triacylglycerols in Butterfat by Normal‐Phase HPLC and Electrospray–Tandem Mass Spectrometry
Authors: Kalo P. , Kemppinen A. , Ollilainen V.
Published: October 2008

Here, we report the identification and quantification of the molecular species of long‐, medium‐, and short‐chain triacylglycerols (TAG) in butterfat (BF), including TAG with an odd number of acyl carbons (ACN) and TAG with unidentified molecular species. In the present study, in addition to auto‐MS2, a large number of methods, each recording MS2 for 1–4 ions, were used for identification of TAG species. For the quantification of long‐chain, odd ACN TAG, and TAG with unidentified molecular species, molar correction factors (MCF) were calculated from the uncorrected mol% (area mol%) of each ACN:DB (number of double bonds) class in randomized butterfat (RBF), and the respective mol% in the calculated random composition of RBF. The butyrate, caproate, and medium‐chain (C8, C10) TAG were quantified using regio‐ or acyl‐chain‐specific MCF calculated from their area mol% in RBF and mol% in the calculated random composition. These methods enabled us to identify ca. 450 TAG species in 184 quantified peaks of 88 ACN:DB classes. The proportions of saturated, monoene, diene, triene, tetraene, pentaene, and hexaene TAG were 40.0, 38.4, 16.2, 4.5, 0.6, 0.1, and 0.03 mol%, respectively. The proportions of TAG with not identified molecular species and odd ACN TAG were 11.8 and 5.7 mol%, respectively. The most abundant short‐chain TAG species were butyroyldipalmitoylglycerol + butyroylmyristoylstearoylglycerol (5.25 mol%) and butyroylpalmitoyloleoylglycerol (4.08 mol%).
Crystal structure of Tk‐subtilisin folded without propeptide: Requirement of propeptide for acceleration of folding
Authors: Tanaka Shun-ichi , Takeuchi Yuki , Matsumura Hiroyoshi , Koga Yuichi , Takano Kazufumi , Kanaya Shigenori
Published: October 2008

Tk‐subtilisin (a subtilisin homologue from Thermococcus kodakaraensis) is matured from Pro‐Tk‐subtilisin upon autoprocessing and degradation of Tk‐propeptide. To analyze the folding mechanism of Tk‐subtilisin, the crystal structure of the active site mutant of Tk‐subtilisin (S324A‐subtilisin∗), which was refolded in the presence of Ca2+ and absence of Tk‐propeptide, was determined at 2.16 Å resolution. This structure is essentially the same as that of Tk‐subtilisin matured from Pro‐Tk‐subtilisin. S324A‐subtilisin∗ was refolded with a rate constant of 0.17 and 1.8 min−1 at 30 °C in the absence and presence of Tk‐propeptide, respectively, indicating that Tk‐subtilisin does not require Tk‐propeptide for folding but requires it for acceleration of folding.
Unwanted pregnancy as a risk factor for offspring schizophrenia-spectrum and affective disorders in adulthood: a prospective high-risk study
Authors: McNeil T. F. , Schubert E. W. , Cantor-Graae E. , Brossner M. , Schubert P. , Henriksson K. M.
Published: October 2008

Background

This study investigated whether ‘unwanted pregnancy’ (i.e. a negative or ambivalent attitude towards the pregnancy/reproduction) is associated with schizophrenia-spectrum and affective disorders in the offspring in adulthood, and if so, whether other pregnancy, perinatal, childhood or genetic-risk factors account for this association.

Method

In a prospective study beginning during pregnancy, unwanted pregnancy (in combination with other early life risk factors) was studied in relation to adult mental disorders in 75 genetic high-risk (HR) and 91 normal-risk (NR) offspring, defined through maternal psychosis history. Early life risk factors were studied through personal interviews, observations and medical records, and offspring mental disorders were independently diagnosed through follow-up examination at about 22 years of age.

Results

Unwanted pregnancy by itself was significantly related to adult offspring schizophrenia-spectrum disorders in both the total sample and the HR subgroup, but the effect was found to be limited to the HR group and occurred in interaction with genetic risk. Other co-temporaneous pregnancy stressors and later perinatal complications, malformations and early childhood environmental stressors could not explain this relationship. Unwanted pregnancy also interacted with genetic-risk status in relating to affective disorders in the offspring.

Conclusions

Unwanted pregnancy, when occurring together with genetic risk for psychosis, was found to be related to both adult schizophrenia-spectrum and affective mental disorders in the offspring. Although the effect of unwanted pregnancy could be mediated by other yet-unidentified factors, unwanted pregnancy might be a functional, discrete environmental psychosocial factor with its own deleterious impact on offspring mental development, when co-occurring with genetic risk.
Working memory in schizophrenia: a meta-analysis
Authors: Forbes N. F. , Carrick L. A. , McIntosh A. M. , Lawrie S. M.
Published: October 2008

Background

Memory impairment is being recognized increasingly as an important feature of the neuropsychology of schizophrenia. Dysfunction of working memory, a system for the short-term storage and manipulation of information, may relate to a number of core symptoms of schizophrenia. Many studies have examined working memory function in schizophrenia but a clear understanding of the nature and extent of any deficit has been elusive.

Method

A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies comparing working memory function in subjects with schizophrenia and healthy controls was performed. Following a comprehensive literature search, meta-analyses were conducted on 36 measures of phonological, visuospatial and central executive working memory functioning, encompassing 441 separate results from 187 different studies.

Results

Statistically significant effect sizes were found for all working memory measures, indicating deficits in schizophrenia groups. Some of these were robust findings in the absence of evidence of significant heterogeneity or publication bias. Meta-regression analyses showed that the working memory deficit was not simply explained by discrepancies in current IQ between schizophrenia and control groups.

Conclusions

Large deficits in working memory were demonstrated in schizophrenia groups across all three working memory domains. There were, however, no clear differences across subdomains or between particular working memory tasks. There was substantial heterogeneity across results that could only be partly explained.
Symptoms of post-concussional syndrome are non-specifically related to mild traumatic brain injury in UK Armed Forces personnel on return from deployment in Iraq: an analysis of self-reported data
Authors: Fear N. T. , Jones E. , Groom M. , Greenberg N. , Hull L. , Hodgetts T. J. , Wessely S.
Published: October 2008

Background

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is being claimed as the ‘signature’ injury of the Iraq war, and is believed to be the cause of long-term symptomatic ill health (post-concussional syndrome; PCS) in an unknown proportion of military personnel.

Method

We analysed cross-sectional data from a large, randomly selected cohort of UK military personnel deployed to Iraq (n=5869). Two markers of PCS were generated: ‘PCS symptoms’ (indicating the presence of mTBI-related symptoms: none, 1–2, 3+) and ‘PCS symptom severity’ (indicating the presence of mTBI-related symptoms at either a moderate or severe level of severity: none, 1–2, 3+).

Results

PCS symptoms and PCS symptom severity were associated with self-reported exposure to blast whilst in a combat zone. However, the same symptoms were also associated with other in-theatre exposures such as potential exposure to depleted uranium and aiding the wounded. Strong associations were apparent between having PCS symptoms and other health outcomes, in particular being a post-traumatic stress disorder or General Health Questionnaire case.

Conclusions

PCS symptoms are common and some are related to exposures such as blast injury. However, this association is not specific, and the same symptom complex is also related to numerous other risk factors and exposures. Post-deployment screening for PCS and/or mTBI in the absence of contemporaneous recording of exposure is likely to be fraught with hazards.
God and Factual Necessity
Authors: Daher Adel
Published: October 2008

Many philosophers and philosophically oriented theologians hold that it is unreasonable to treat the statement ‘There is a God’ as analytic or logically true. As an existential statement, they argue, it is no different from any statement of its kind. Existential statements cannot be analytic, because contra-existential statements cannot be contradictory. (Notice, however, that existential statements can be contradictory, and contra-existential statements can be analytic.) To say, for example, that unicorns do not exist is simply to say that no entity satisfies the description ‘unicorn’. But this cannot be complex in the sense of entailing two contradictory statements. If so, then the existential statement corresponding to it cannot be analytic. In general, since no contra-existential statement can be contradictory, no existential statement can be analytic.
Falsification and Belief
Authors: Ogden Schubert M.
Published: October 2008

In general, there are two main approaches to settling the alleged conflict between religion and science. On the first approach, one argues that there is not even the possibility of such a conflict, since the uses of religious utterances are sufficiently different from those of scientific ones to constitute them a distinct logical type. Thus, if religion appears to conflict with science, either this is merely an appearance, or else one of them, at least, is also performing the function of the other, in which case their conflict is really either a scientific conflict or a religious conflict. In no case, however, can the truth of a scientific utterance be any reason for inferring the falsity of a religious one, and much less can it be any reason for entertaining doubts about the religious utterance's logical propriety.
William Ernest Hocking on our Knowledge of God and Other Minds
Authors: Bowman Carroll R.
Published: October 2008

To me the decisive reason in favor of our minds meeting in some common objects at least is that, unless I make that supposition, I have no motive for assuming that your mind exists at all.
Comment on Professor Jeffner's Paper
Authors: Wright Colin
Published: October 2008

By far the most common term in Professor Jeffner's paper is ‘understanding’, and it is clearly with understanding that he is primarily concerned. However, at the beginning of his paper he talks of understanding and explanation, and at least in the case of his third kind of reality he clearly sees understanding and explanation as intimately related. In this he is surely right. I myself would say that understanding is cognizing a manifold as a single whole in all its internal relationships, and this ties up with what Jeffner has to say about Gestalts on pp. 220–221. And explanation, as I hope to show, depends upon or presupposes the understanding that flows from the possession of a Gestalt. However, Jeffner adopts Hempel and Oppenheim's deductivist account of scientific explanation, and I believe this account to be fundamentally mistaken, and to have serious consequences for his argument. One does not achieve explanation merely by finding a set of empirically true premises from which a proposition expressing the explanandum can be deduced – if that were so one would explain Socrates' mortality by pointing out that everything snub-nosed is mortal, and that Socrates was snub-nosed. It is interesting, in this respect, to compare Hempel's account of explanation with that of Aristotle. There are substantial similarities between the two accounts, but there is one fundamental difference. Hempel insists that there can be no explanation unless events are connected in some way, and so rejects, for example, a mere sequential narrative as constituting an explanation.
God and Gratuitous Evil: A Reply to Yandell
Authors: Chrzan Keith
Published: October 2008

In his recent paper ‘Gratuitous Evil and Divine Existence’. Keith Yandell declares the deductive argument from evil solved. He notes, however, that what persists is a probabilistic version of the argument from evil, one concluding from the evidence of evil (gratuitous evil in particular) that it is ‘highly improbable’ that God exists. Yandell attempts to refute this probabilistic argument from gratuitous evil; as shown below, however, he fails.
Rudolf Otto and the Limits of Religious Description
Authors: Barnes L. Philip
Published: October 2008

In a recent study entitled ‘Numinous Experience and Religious Language’, Dr Leon Schlamm has endorsed Rudolf Otto's well known and much discussed account of the relationship of religious experience to religious language, and then used this position to criticize some highly influential voices in the continuing debate on the precise nature of mystical experience. The aim of this paper, in response to Schlamm, is to question the plausibility of Otto's account inThe Idea of the Holyof the nature of religious knowledge and his closely related understanding of the relationship between religious experience (or as he prefers, numinous experience) and religious language. By implication, this also calls into question Schlamm's use of Otto's position in his criticism of those writers on mysticism that he takes issue with, chiefly Steven Katz and those who propose an essentially Kantian interpretation of mysticism. However, for the most part I shall leave the contemporary debate on mysticism unaddressed, though my comments do have a bearing on it. If there is a wider target, it is chiefly those interpreters of religion, like Schlamm, who conceive of the relationship of religious experience (or the religious object itself) and religious language in essentially the same way as Otto. One thinks immediately here of Friedrich Schleiermacher, whom Otto admired greatly, and who stands in the same Liberal Protestant tradition. Also Karl Barth, who ironically, for all his strictures of Liberal Protestantism, actually propounded a view of the meaning and nature of religious language which is remarkably similar to the views of both Schleiermacher and Otto; at least at the beginning of his theological career, in his famous commentary onRomans: all that talk of God as ‘the inexpressible’ and ‘the Wholly Other’. In addition one could mention those classical texts of Hinduism and Buddhism, which like many contemporary writers on mysticism (e.g. the late Deirdre Green), conceive of mystical experience and the truth which it reveals as ‘beyond the scope of discursive thought, language and empirical activity’.
God as Absolute Spirit: a Heideggerian Interpretation of Hegel's God-Talk
Authors: Huang Yong
Published: October 2008

In this postmodern era, God-talk is facing serious challenges. Is it still possible to have a meaningful concept of God after the demise of metaphysical realism? How can we make sense of the idea of absolute transcendence in a secularized world? In what sense can we still believe something as divine revelation when foundationalism is no longer taken for granted? While some believe that we can go about our old theological business as usual, others have entirely given up on the hope of any intelligible theology. It is my hunch, however, that there are ways of doing theology that can take our postmodern conditions into serious account. In this article, I shall argue that, however anachronistic it might seem, Hegel's God-talk, seen through the lens of Heidegger's understanding of Being, provides one such possibility.
Ian Ramsey on Talk about God
Authors: Evans Donald
Published: October 2008

For Ian Ramsey, talk about God raises many philosophical problems:

‘If we are not to use anthropomorphic concepts like love, power, wisdom, we cannot talk about God; but if we do use them, how do we manage to talk of God and not man?’ (MJGC152)

‘Believers wish on the one hand to claim that he (God) is indescribable and ineffable, and yet on the other hand to talk a great deal about him. Nay more, when they speak of God they say that he is transcendent and immanent, im passible yet loving, and so on. But if we speak like this, are we talking significantly at all? Here is the Falsification Problem: What kind of talk can this talk about God be, if it permits us to use such conflicting descriptions of God and to continue to use these descriptions in the face of any and all empirical phenomena?’ (RL 13–14).
Kierkegaard and The Logic of Insanity
Authors: Westphal Merold
Published: October 2008

Feigned madness can be a valuable asset. King David once used it to escape from the Philistines (I Sam. 21), and a twentieth century king, Pirandello's Henry IV pulled much the same trick on a modern philistine culture. Thrown from his horse and struck on the head while on his way to a masquerade party dressed as the Henry of Canossa's chill repentance, he had for twenty years insanely identified himself with the eleventh century monarch. At least this is what his family and the court they provided for his humour thought. As the play opens they are unaware that he has returned to sanity, but has continued to play Henry IV for the last eight of the twenty years, preferring the mad world in which he had lived to the sane world to which he would have to return.
God and Gamesmanship
Authors: Struckmeyer Frederick R.
Published: October 2008

Norbert Wiener has recently pointed out that the relation between God and man, according to orthodox Jewish and Christian theology, is analogous to the relation between men and ‘intelligent’ machines. God is supposed to have created man just as man has created (or ‘manufactured’) machines. And just as God has endowed man with intelligence, creating him in his own image (although the Imago Dei admittedly involves more than this), so man has endowed the machine with intelligence—i.e. with problem solving capacities of a high order. Moreover, just as the endowment of man with intelligence led to unintended, if not unforeseen developments (i.e. the Fall), so the development of sophisticated computing machinery raises the possibility that some unintended and unwanted consequences may be forthcoming in the man-machine domain. Just such a possibility is realised in the recent film 2001: A Space Odyssey, where a quasi-human computer is represented as having both emotions and purposes of its own. Even though this particular film may be regarded as a bit far-fetched, in some respects, there are nonetheless many who, like Wiener, wonder whether the machines we have brought into being will always behave with reasonable predict ability, and in ways that will promote rather than frustrate human purposes.
In Defence of Theism—A Reply to Kai Nielsen
Authors: Trethowan Illyd
Published: October 2008

So much has been written in recent years about the philosophy of religion that one might have expected some definite pattern to be emerging from the discussion. In particular, one might have hoped that theists and non-theists would cease to adduce supposedly knock-down arguments against their opposite numbers. But there are still Thomists, commoner in the English-speaking countries than on the Continent of Europe, who seem to think that some purely logical process can settle the matter, and there are still positivists, again more especially in the English-speaking countries, who seem to think that God can be disproved. Professor Kai Nielsen's article does not make that claim in so many words, but he does conclude that the orthodox Christian's use of ‘God’ is the result of a mere confusion of mind and that for the philosopher the question of God should not arise at all or arises only to be dismissed. I hope I have not overstated Nielsen's conclusion (that would be a poor return for his kindness in allowing me a pre-view of his article); his treatment of the vast topic of the ‘human condition’ seems to me so extraordinary that I cannot help wondering whether I have misinterpreted it, most of all as it appears that he is not merely controverting Mr I. M. Crombie but also undertaking to dispose of theism altogether. He seems to think that ‘Flew's challenge’ is the decisive move in this debate, and that Crombie's two attempts to meet it are the only attempts which have to be considered. If this is really the case (as I shall have to suppose in what follows) I find it quite perplexing.