bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Gene therapy by electroporation for the treatment of chronic renal failure in companion animals
Authors: Brown Patricia A , Bodles-Brakhop Angela M , Pope Melissa A , Draghia-Akli Ruxandra
Published: January 2009

Background

Growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) plasmid-based therapy for the treatment of chronic renal failure and its complications was examined. Companion dogs (13.1 ± 0.8 years, 29.4 ± 5.01 kg) and cats (13.2 ± 0.9 years, 8.5 ± 0.37 kg) received a single 0.4 mg or 0.1 mg species-specific plasmid injection, respectively, intramuscularly followed by electroporation, and analyzed up to 75 days post-treatment; controls underwent electroporation without plasmid administration.

Results

Plasmid-treated animals showed an increase in body weight (dogs 22.5% and cats 3.2%) compared to control animals, and displayed improved quality of life parameters including significant increases in appetite, activity, mentation and exercise tolerance levels. Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I, the downstream effector of GHRH) levels were increased in the plasmid treated animals. Hematological parameters were also significantly improved. Protein metabolism changes were observed suggesting a shift from a catabolic to an anabolic state in the treated animals. Blood urea nitrogen and creatinine did not show any significant changes suggesting maintenance of kidney function whereas the control animal's renal function deteriorated. Treated animals survived longer than control animals with 70% of dogs and 80% of cats surviving until study day 75. Only 17% and 40% of the control dogs and cats, respectively, survived to day 75.

Conclusion

Improved quality of life, survival and general well-being indicate that further investigation is warranted, and show the potential of a plasmid-based therapy by electroporation in preventing and managing complications of renal insufficiency.
Improved glycaemic control by switching from insulin NPH to insulin glargine: a retrospective observational study
Authors: Sharplin Peter , Gordon Jason , Peters John R , Tetlow Anthony P , Longman Andrea J , McEwan Philip
Published: January 2009

Background

Insulin glargine (glargine) and insulin NPH (NPH) are two basal insulin treatments. This study investigated the effect on glycaemic control of switching from a NPH-based regimen to a glargine-based regimen in 701 patients with type 1 (n= 304) or type 2 (n= 397) diabetes, using unselected primary care data.

Methods

Data for this retrospective observational study were extracted from a UK primary care database (The Health Improvement Network). Patients were required to have at least 12 months of data before and after switching from NPH to glargine. The principal analysis was the change in HbA1c after 12 months treatment with glargine; secondary analyses included change in weight and total daily insulin dose. Inconsistent reporting of hypoglycemic episodes precludes reliable reporting of this outcome. Multivariate analyses were used to adjust for baseline characteristics and confounding variables.

Results

After adjustment, both diabetic cohorts showed statistically significant reductions in mean HbA1c 12 months after the switch, by 0.38% (p < 0.001) in type 1 patients and 0.31% (p < 0.001) in type 2 patients. Improvement in HbA1c was positively correlated with baseline HbA1c; patients with baseline HbA1c ≥ 8% had reductions of 0.57% (p < 0.001) and 0.47% (p < 0.001), respectively. There was no significant change in weight or total daily insulin dose while on glargine. The majority of patients received a basal-bolus regimen prior to and after the switch (mean 79.3% before and 77.2% after switch in type 1 patients, and 80.4% and 76.8%, respectively in type 2 patients, p > 0.05).

Conclusion

In routine clinical practice, switching from NPH to glargine provides the opportunity for improving glycaemic control in diabetes patients inadequately controlled by NPH.
Characterisation of immune responses and protective efficacy in mice after immunisation with Rift Valley Fever virus cDNA constructs
Authors: Lagerqvist Nina , Näslund Jonas , Lundkvist Åke , Bouloy Michèle , Ahlm Clas , Bucht Göran
Published: January 2009

Background

Affecting both livestock and humans, Rift Valley Fever is considered as one of the most important viral zoonoses in Africa. However, no licensed vaccines or effective treatments are yet available for human use. Naked DNA vaccines are an interesting approach since the virus is highly infectious and existing attenuated Rift Valley Fever virus vaccine strains display adverse effects in animal trials. In this study, gene-gun immunisations with cDNA encoding structural proteins of the Rift Valley Fever virus were evaluated in mice. The induced immune responses were analysed for the ability to protect mice against virus challenge.

Results

Immunisation with cDNA encoding the nucleocapsid protein induced strong humoral and lymphocyte proliferative immune responses, and virus neutralising antibodies were acquired after vaccination with cDNA encoding the glycoproteins. Even though complete protection was not achieved by genetic immunisation, four out of eight, and five out of eight mice vaccinated with cDNA encoding the nucleocapsid protein or the glycoproteins, respectively, displayed no clinical signs of infection after challenge. In contrast, all fourteen control animals displayed clinical manifestations of Rift Valley Fever after challenge.

Conclusion

The appearance of Rift Valley Fever associated clinical signs were significantly decreased among the DNA vaccinated mice and further adjustment of this strategy may result in full protection against Rift Valley Fever.
Cough in adult cystic fibrosis: diagnosis and response to fundoplication
Authors: Fathi Hosnieh , Moon Tanya , Donaldson Jo , Jackson Warren , Sedman Peter , Morice Alyn H
Published: January 2009

Background

Gastroesophageal reflux is one of the most common causes of chronic cough in the general population. Reflux occurs frequently in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). We undertook laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication in adult CF patients with a clinical diagnosis of reflux cough who had failed conventional medical therapies.

Objective

We determined the response to the surgical route in the treatment of intractable reflux cough in CF.

Method

Patients with refractory cough were assessed by 24 h pH monitoring and oesophageal manometry. Pre-and post-operation cough, lung function and exacerbation frequency were compared. Cough was assessed by the Leicester Cough Questionnaire (LCQ), lung function by spirometry and exacerbation frequency was defined by comparing the postoperative epoch with a similar preoperatively.

Results

Significant abnormalities of oesophageal function were seen in all patients studied. 6 patients (2 females), with the mean age of 34.5 years consented to surgery. Their mean number of reflux episodes was 144.4, mean DeMeester score was 39.2, and mean lower oesophageal sphincter pressure 12.4 mmHg. There was a small change in the FEV1 from 1.03 L to 1.17 (P = 0.04), and FVC improved from 2.62 to 2.87 (P = 0.05). Fundoplication lead to a marked fall in cough with the total LCQ score increasing from 11.9 to 18.3 (P = 0.01). Exacerbation events were reduced by 50% post operatively.

Conclusion

Whilst there is an obvious attention to respiratory causes of cough in CF, reflux is also a common cause. Fundoplication is highly effective in the control of reflux cough in CF. Significant reduction in exacerbation frequency may indicate that reflux with possible aspiration is a major unrecognised contributor to airway disease.
Carotid artery injury from an airgun pellet: a case report and review of the literature
Authors: Abad Syed , McHenry Ian DS , Carter Lachlan M , Mitchell David A
Published: January 2009

Historically airguns were powerful weapons. Modern models, though less lethal, are still capable of inflicting serious or life threatening injuries. Current United Kingdom legislation fails to take into the account the capacity for airguns to maim and kill. We believe that airguns should be governed by the same law that applies to firearms. We present a case of a potentially fatal airgun injury to the neck. The airgun pellet caused a defect in the anterior wall of the external carotid artery, which required rapid access and surgical repair. We discuss the mechanism of airgun injury and review the literature in terms of investigation and management.
Information theoretical quantification of cooperativity in signalling complexes
Authors: Lenaerts Tom , Ferkinghoff-Borg Jesper , Schymkowitz Joost , Rousseau Frederic
Published: January 2009

Background

Intra-cellular information exchange, propelled by cascades of interacting signalling proteins, is essential for the proper functioning and survival of cells. Now that the interactome of several organisms is being mapped and several structural mechanisms of cooperativity at the molecular level in proteins have been elucidated, the formalization of this fundamental quantity, i.e. information, in these very diverse biological contexts becomes feasible.

Results

We show here that Shannon's mutual information quantifies information in biological system and more specifically the cooperativity inherent to the assembly of macromolecular complexes. We show how protein complexes can be considered as particular instances of noisy communication channels. Further we show, using a portion of the p27 regulatory pathway, how classical equilibrium thermodynamic quantities such as binding affinities and chemical potentials can be used to quantify information exchange but also to determine engineering properties such as channel noise and channel capacity. As such, this information measure identifies and quantifies those protein concentrations that render the biochemical system most effective in switching between the active and inactive state of the intracellular process.

Conclusion

The proposed framework provides a new and original approach to analyse the effects of cooperativity in the assembly of macromolecular complexes. It shows the conditions, provided by the protein concentrations, for which a particular system acts most effectively, i.e. exchanges the most information. As such this framework opens the possibility of grasping biological qualities such as system sensitivity, robustness or plasticity directly in terms of their effect on information exchange. Although these parameters might also be derived using classical thermodynamic parameters, a recasting of biological signalling in terms of information exchange offers an alternative framework for visualising network cooperativity that might in some cases be more intuitive.
Spermatic cord metastasis presenting as strangulated inguinal hernia – first manifestation of a multifocal colon adenocarcinoma: a case report
Authors: Galanis Ioannis , Chatzimavroudis Grigoris , Katsougiannopoulos Alexandros , Galanis Nikiforos , Makris John , Atmatzidis Konstantinos
Published: January 2009

Spermatic cord is a rare metastatic site of colorectal cancer. We herein report a case of spermatic cord metastasis of a previous undiagnosed multifocal colon adenocarcinoma, which was clinically presented as a strangulated groin hernia.
Suburban Studies and College Writing
Authors: Hothem Thomas
Published: January 2009

An ecocompositional turn to suburban studies can help unlock the wider promise of environmentally oriented composition curricula by encouraging student writers to reevaluate the language in which they describe their world. As the embodiment of modern domesticity, suburban life dramatizes the fundamental role of place in the construction of writers' subjectivity.
“Reach for Me Again”
Authors: Mangiavellano Daniel R.
Published: January 2009

This article makes a case for using MySpace as a pedagogical tool in the survey course. MySpace can draw attention to the kinds of restrictions the collaboration between “literary” and “history” places on how the survey course interprets the past. The article gives detailed accounts of how students uploaded MySpace sites for a cross section of literary figures on the Brit Lit II survey syllabus in Spring 2007. Placing figures from the syllabus on MySpace got students to rethink the past as a series of interconnected networks of complicated and evolving conversations throughout the century. Students used the kinds of communication that MySpace makes possible for their personal lives and used it as a way to manage speculative and informed conversations between literary figures on the course syllabus. Excerpts from student essays suggest that transplanting figures like William Blake, Robert Burns, John Keats, Mary Shelley, Matthew Arnold, Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde, and Virginia Woolf onto MySpace impacts how we understand the kinds of conversations the nineteenth century has with itself, and what this tells us about their literary and historical legacy.
A comparison of near-field beamforming and acoustical holography for sound source visualization
Authors: Cho Yong Thung , Roan M J , Bolton J S
Published: January 2009

Acoustical holography procedures make high-resolution visualization possible via estimation of the sound intensity on surfaces closer to the sources than the near-field measurement surface. Another source localization technique, beamforming, has been used to estimate the direction of arrival of sound from sources that typically lie in the far-field. However, little work has been done using beamforming as a visualization technique based on near-field measurements. As a result, the performance of beamforming and acoustical holography in terms of source resolution capabilities has not been directly compared when using near-field measurements. In this work, point source beamforming was used to visualize sources based on near-field measurements. Acoustic intensity estimated from beamformed pressure measurements was compared with the absolute intensity estimated using acoustical holography techniques. In addition to noise-free, anechoic simulations, cases of measurement pressure with random noise were generated and used to compare source resolution accuracy of acoustical holography and beamforming techniques in the presence of measurement noise. It was found that intensity estimated using acoustical holography provided the clearest image of sources when the measurement surface was conformal with the source geometry. However, sources can be resolved more accurately using near-field beamforming than acoustical holography at high frequencies when the sources are not located perfectly on a surface conformal with the measurement geometry.
Design and development of a modular valveless micropump on a printed circuit board for integrated electronic cooling
Authors: Verma P , Chatterjee D , Nagarajan T
Published: January 2009

With constraints on size, cost, reliability, and performance for liquid-based cooling systems, the design of modular micropumps suitable for an integrated thermal management system still remains a challenge. In this paper, the effectiveness of a low-cost valveless micropump—heat exchanger on a printed circuit board is investigated for electronic cooling. Signal conditioning and control electronics are integrated with the fluidic components on the substrate to form a compact modular unit. Piezoelectric actuation and conical diffusers are utilized to generate pulsating flow through a minichannel heat sink. With ethanol as the working fluid, the tested pump reached a maximum flowrate and a pressure head of 2.4 ml/min and 743 Pa at an input voltage of 6 VDC. Suitability of the system for active real-time temperature control has been demonstrated at two input heater power levels of 1.45 and 2.5 W. A maximum reduction of 57 per cent in the average heat sink surface temperature could be achieved at a maximum power consumption of 150 mW by the micropump.
The influence of initial surface topography on tribological performance of the wheel/rail interface during rolling/sliding conditions
Authors: Lundmark J , Kassfeldt E , Hardell J , Prakash B
Published: January 2009

The influence of surface roughness in a rail/wheel contact has been a concern for railway owners since the introduction of ‘rail grinding’ as a maintenance strategy. Presently, there are no well-defined guidelines regarding the surface topographies of ground rails and re-turned wheels. There is thus a need to establish scientific guidelines regarding the surface topographies for the rails and wheels in order to minimize grinding costs/time and to improve rail/wheel performance. This study is aimed at investigating the influence of surface topographies of wheels and rails on running-in behaviour, wear, friction, and the resultant surface damage through experimental simulation in the laboratory. A two-disc rolling/sliding test machine has been used in this experimental work. Two different roughness values were produced on both the rail and wheel test specimens. A design of experiment approach has been used to conduct experiments and to analyse the results. The results show that the surface roughness values of the specimens in some material pairs do influence wear, friction, and resulting surface damage.
Carbon capture and storage deployment in the UK: What next after the UK Government's competition?
Authors: Chalmers H , Jakeman N , Pearson P , Gibbins J
Published: January 2009

In November 2007, the UK Government set the direction for initial commercial-scale demonstration of carbon capture and storage (CCS) in the UK. It announced the rules for a competition to identify a demonstration of post-combustion capture project at a pulverized coal power plant, linked to a full chain of CCS, including carbon dioxide transport to an offshore storage site. Because there are several options for further demonstration and initial deployment projects to build on this initial effort, the UK Government will need to decide its priorities for CCS deployment. Regardless of the route, a successful transition to widespread use of CCS would have to overcome significant technical, commercial, regulatory, and political challenges. This article considers the significance of understanding and using lessons learned from previous major UK energy sector transitions to manage the development, demonstration, and deployment of CCS. The past transitions considered here are not perfect analogies, but they do suggest a range of potential futures for CCS deployment in the UK. They also provide insights into possible drivers and triggers for deployment and the general business environment required for a successful transition to widespread commercial use of CCS in the UK.
Thermal analysis of transient laminar flow past an in-line cylinders array containing phase change material
Authors: Alawadhi E M
Published: January 2009

Transient laminar flow past an in-line cylinders array containing phase change material (PCM) is simulated using the finite-element method. The problem of the PCM in the cylinders and transient forced convection heat transfer simulates the thermal behaviour of an energy storage system. A parametric study of heat exchanges between the PCM and flow (expressed by the Nusselt number) is reported for Reynolds numbers between 125 and 1000. The pitch to diameter ratios (PDRs) are varied and the Prandtl number is fixed at 0.71. The PCM melting time is predicted for the examined range of Reynolds numbers and PDRs. Plots of the velocity flow field and isotherms are presented. Results are compared favourably with published numerical results. The results indicated that the Reynolds number has a significant effect on the PCM melting time, whereas the PDR has an insignificant effect.
The effects of an operating head on the performance of photovoltaic water pumping systems: An experimental investigation
Authors: Abdolzadeh M , Ameri M , Mehrabian M A
Published: January 2009

The possibility of improving the performance of a photovoltaic (PV) water pumping system using two different arrangements and four different heads was investigated. In both arrangements, the performance of the PV water pumping system was calculated under different operating heads and the results were compared with each other. Experimental results show that when the operating head is fixed, the calculated array power should not be more than the power of the motor pump at maximum speed, because the array and system efficiencies decrease and the remaining array power is not utilized. However, in this case, in spite of lower efficiencies more water is pumped during the day. Furthermore, the results show that two criteria should be met when designing PV water pumping systems: first, the maximum power corresponding to the selected head, and second, the consumer requirements. Satisfying both requirements helps to reduce the installation cost in PV water pumping systems.
Heat recovery steam generator performance and degradation in a 400 MW combined cycle
Authors: Cafaro S , Traverso A , Massardo A F
Published: January 2009

This article presents a research project carried out by the Thermochemical Power Group of the University of Genoa and is concerned with the monitoring of a three pressure level heat recovery steam generator (HRSG).

The work consists of the development of an original computer code using Matlab software that calculates the performance of heat exchangers, at different power plant operating conditions. This kind of software was developed with a twofold objective: to calculate the actual gas path inside the HRSG starting from the available measurements, thus obtaining the current effectiveness of all the heat exchangers in the HRSG, and to estimate the expected performance of each heat exchanger to be compared with the actual ones.

Once the actual effectiveness and the expected effectiveness of the heat exchanger are defined, non-dimensional performance parameters suitable for degradation assessment can be defined. As a result of the sensitivity analysis, each performance parameter is coupled with an accuracy factor. The developed methodology has been successfully applied to historical logged data (3 years) of an existing large size (400 MW) combined cycle, showing good capabilities in estimating the degradation of the HRSG throughout plant life.
Impact of the cavitation model on the theoretical performance of heterogeneous slip/no-slip engineered contacts in hydrodynamic conditions
Authors: Bayada G , Meurisse M-H
Published: January 2009

Today's industry faces intense pressure to reduce energy consumption and to extend components' lifetimes in order to reduce economic and environmental costs. During the last few years, it has been pointed out that fluid wall slip is likely to improve friction in low-loaded mechanisms; if the slip zone covers only a specific zone of the surface, improvement of both load and friction can be obtained. The physico-chemical heterogeneity of the surface acts as a geometrical discontinuity and induces pressure gradients analogous to those occurring in a Rayleigh step bearing. Such favourable behaviour can be inhibited if the location of the slip/no-slip areas causes cavitation. This article aims to show the importance of the choice of the cavitation model in the analysis of slip/no-slip hydrodynamic contacts. Current practice predicts the performance of cavitated devices by using the well-known Half-Sommerfeld or Swift—Stieber models. However, using a mass-flow conserving model such as the so-called Floberg—Elrod—Adams model can lead to qualitatively and quantitatively different conclusions.

The simple case of a parallel slider bearing is of particular interest. If alternating slip/no-slip areas are introduced, then a non-zero load-carrying capacity can be obtained whose theoretical value dramatically depends on the cavitation model and even on the inlet flowrate of the lubricant.
Investigations on the power losses and thermal effects in gear transmissions
Authors: Koffel G , Ville F , Changenet C , Velex P
Published: January 2009

It is generally accepted that the total power loss in gears can be decomposed into contributions of friction between the teeth, lubrication (churning and/or jet lubrication that could induce gas—oil trapping in inter-tooth spaces), and gear windage effects. For low- to medium-speed transmissions, tooth friction is recognized as the main source of dissipation for gears and can significantly influence the temperature equilibrium of a gearbox. In this article, a model to predict power losses due to tooth friction combined with a thermal network to describe the temperature distribution in a geared transmission are presented. The numerical results compare favourably with experimental measurements from a gear test rig.
Effects of various base oils and additives on the tribological behaviour of lubricated aluminium- on-aluminium and steel-on-aluminium contacts
Authors: Chen C , Bosse H , Deters L
Published: January 2009

This study investigates the friction and wear characteristics of various base oils and additives in lubricated aluminium-on-aluminium and steel-on-aluminium contacts. Cylinder-on-plate tribological tests were conducted with a reciprocating tribometer. The rubbed aluminium surfaces were examined using scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, secondary neutral mass spectroscopy (SNMS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to analyse the chemical compositions and structures of tribofilms. The friction and wear tests revealed that hydrocarbon-based fluids such as mineral oil (MO) or polyalphaolefin (PAO) exhibited better tribological characteristics than polar base fluids such as monoester, polyol ester, and polyalkylene glycol. Lubricant composed of MO and zinc dialkyldithiophosphate (ZDDP) demonstrated lower friction and better antiwear performance in steel-on-aluminium contacts than MO alone or MO with a sulphur/phosphorus (S/P) additive. In an aluminium-on-aluminium system, on the other hand, the S/P additive showed better friction and wear behaviour than ZDDP. From surface analysis, it was found that when using ZDDP, the iron transfer played a very important role for a tribofilm to form on an aluminium surface. Moreover, the SNMS and XPS analyses illustrated that the kinds of tribofilm created by a chemical reaction between aluminium and ZDDP were different from those between aluminium and S/P additive, which resulted in different tribological properties.
Surface interactions and tribochemistry in boundary lubrication of hypereutectic aluminium—silicon alloys
Authors: Jiménez A E , Morina A , Neville A , Bermúdez M D
Published: January 2009

The tribofilms formed on a hypereutectic Al—Si alloy after sliding against AISI 52100 steel pins in a reciprocating pin-on-plate tribometer with polyalpha olefin (PAO) base oil containing zinc dialkyldithiophosphate (ZDDP) and molybdenum dithiocarbamate (MoDTC) additives have been studied. Surface-sensitive analytical techniques (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), Raman spectroscopy, and nanoindentation) have been used for tribofilm chemical and mechanical characterization. The thickness of the tribofilms has been evaluated using depth profiling and focus ion beam (FIB) milling. This is the only reported work to analyse this kind of tribofilm on Al—Si alloys in this detail.

From the analysis obtained from miniSIMS, differences in the composition of the top layer of the tribofilms formed from ZDDP and ZDDP+MoDTC lubricants have been observed. When using only ZDDP, this top layer is rich in Zn and Fe; with the addition of MoDTC the top layer contains phosphates, probably from the decomposition of the ZDDP, and MoS2. The effect of adding MoDTC can also be observed in the overall tribofilm thickness and coverage of the samples.
Fracture behaviour of glass fibre-reinforced polyester composite
Authors: Leonard L W H , Wong K J , Low K O , Yousif B F
Published: January 2009

Fracture toughness and critical energy release rate of polyester-reinforced glass fibres were investigated using linear elastic fracture mechanics approach. The effect of fibre volume fraction of chopped strand mat glass fibres in the matrix on the composite properties was considered. Finite-element analysis using FRANC2D/L was adopted for further verification. The results showed a dramatic increase in the values of fracture toughness and critical energy release rate with increasing fibre content. 60% vf of glass fibres enhanced the fracture toughness and critical energy release rate properties of neat polyester by ∼ 22-fold and 1200-fold, respectively. The numerical results showed an agreement with experimental ones.
Development of a new methodology capable of characterizing the contribution of a controlled venting system to impact attenuation in chamber structures for head protection
Authors: Lamb L. , Post A. , Hoshizaki T. B.
Published: January 2009

Currently, ice hockey helmet technologies are based mainly around foam energy absorbers. There is a need in the head protection industry for improved designs, capable of protecting the brain under a wide range of impact conditions. Air chambers are new, thin-walled collapsible energy absorber structures which have the potential to replace or to be used in conjunction with current helmet technology. The chambers consist of several engineering parameters, each of which needs to be examined to understand its mechanical response under impacts. This study was designed to investigate a new methodology capable of investigating the air venting system. This research thereby analyzed the role the chamber’s controlled air release device plays in managing impact energy. The results demonstrated that, as the air chamber approaches the critical failure region, the air released though the controlled vent can prevent larger peak forces. This research identified that an engineered thin-walled collapsible chamber does use air as a mechanism to absorb impacting force.
Twenty-First-Century American Ghosts: The After-Death Communication—Therapy and Revelation from beyond the Grave
Authors: Kwilecki Susan
Published: January 2009

This paper examines a recent arrival on the American pop cultural scene, a type of ghost encounter called After-Death Communications (ADCs). Delivered in dreams, visions, voices, odors, coincidences, etc., these cheerful greetings from deceased loved ones help bereaved survivors cope with their loss. Since the Enlightenment, spirits of the dead have become increasingly irrelevant to collective life. The new phantoms, however, are assigned roles in the family, health, and faith. How has this occurred? Strands of a complicated process are delineated, including medical origins in the bereavement hallucination, a designated symptom of grief. Cultural dynamics behind the current ADC phenomenon are contrasted with national trends that shaped the nineteenth-century spiritualist enthusiasm for ghosts. The literature, published since the 1990s, is reviewed in which the ADC has been formalized as a source of bereavement therapy and revelation. A tally of the peculiar features and functions of this twenty-first-century ghost experience links it to two American industries, psychotherapy and spiritual seeking.
The Remaking of the Catholic Working Class: Detroit, 1919–1945
Authors: Pehl Matthew
Published: January 2009

This essay examines the response of Catholics—both the institutional church and blue-collar laity—to the turmoil of the late 1930s and the rise of the United Automobile Workers in Detroit. It critiques an influential line of scholarship that holds that the ethnic working class was effectively secularized by the rise of mass culture, the welfare state, and industrial unions. Instead, the essay argues that religion—like class, gender, or race/ethnicity—might fruitfully be analyzed as a “consciousness” and, as such, remains fluid, malleable, and protean in the face of historical change. During the Depression years, blue-collar Catholics (especially Catholic men) experienced a re-creation of their religious consciousness to conform to the new world of industrial unionism. While Detroit’s “labor priests” established the Archdiocesan Labor Institute (ALI) and hosted labor schools in parishes across the city, lay people, spurred by the movement for “Catholic Action,” founded the Association of Catholic Trade Unionists (ACTU) to strengthen working-class faith and “Christianize the UAW.” More important, the ALI and ACTU collectively provided a new religious template within which working-class Catholics might reconcile—even intertwine—their class, gender, and religious identities. While the changes of the 1930s did assimilate ethnic Catholics more fully into the secular sphere, this essay demonstrates that such a process did not result in a “decline” in religious significance for many Catholic workers; more precisely, it meant a “re-making” of religious consciousness.
“Representatives of All that is Noble”: The Rise of the Episcopal Establishment in Early-Twentieth-Century Philadelphia
Authors: Rzeznik Thomas F.
Published: January 2009

The United States has never had an established religion, but, by the early twentieth century, many Episcopalians had come to think of themselves as the nation's religious establishment. No other denomination, they believed, was as well-suited to provide moral leadership for the nation and unite its people in faith. This article argues that their commitment to a national civic mission provided Episcopalians with a sense of collective purpose that diverted attention from internal divisions and helped propel the church to a position of prominence within American religious life. It also reveals how many of the prime proponents and beneficiaries of the church's ascendancy were members of the social and financial elite. Committed to a patrician creed of social responsibility, these “representatives of all that is noble” gained status and moral authority through their public support of the church and its mission. To trace the contours of the Episcopal ascendancy, this article focuses on developments within the Diocese of Pennsylvania, one of the largest, wealthiest, and most influential within the church. Over the course of the early twentieth century, its members overcame their prevailing parochialism, strengthened their denominational identity, and brought their influence to bear on the nation's religious life. Their exercise of religious and cultural authority can be seen in their support of three ecclesiastical projects—the proposed diocesan cathedral, historic Christ Church, and the Washington Memorial Chapel at Valley Forge— that helped fashion the public image of the Episcopal Church as the nation's religious establishment.
Continuum of phenotypes and sympathoadrenal function in premature adrenarche
Authors: Utriainen Pauliina , Voutilainen Raimo , Jääskeläinen Jarmo
Published: January 2009

Objectives

Premature adrenarche (PA), the early rise in adrenal androgen (AA) production, can manifest with different clinical signs of androgen effect. Premature pubarche defined as appearance of pubic hair before the age of 8/9 years in girls/boys, is the most prominent clinical sign of PA and often erroneously described as a synonym of PA. Our aim was to determine the association of circulating AA concentrations with different prepubertal signs of androgen action (SAA). Secondly, we tested whether adrenomedullary function is altered in children with SAA, as it is in congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) also causing adrenal hyperandrogenism.

Design and methods

We examined 73 Finnish prepubertal children with any hyperandrogenic sign(s) having appeared before the age of 8/9 years (girls/boys) (35 with pubic and/or axillary hair=PAH; 38 without=nonPAH), and 98 age- and sex-matched controls. Circulating adrenal steroid and catecholamine concentrations were measured and correlated with clinical parameters.

Results

None of the children with SAA had CAH or virilizing tumor. Serum dehydroepiandrosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, and androstenedione concentrations overlapped between the SAA and control children, and they were lower in the nonPAH than PAH group (P<0.01). SAA children had similar plasma epinephrine but higher norepinephrine (NE) concentrations than their controls (mean (95% confidence interval) 1.61 (1.44, 1.77) versus 1.39 (1.30, 1.49) nmol/l,P=0.03).

Conclusions

PA forms a continuum with more pronounced increase in circulating androgens in children with PAH than in those without. Some children show SAA with fairly low androgen concentrations. The clinical significance of elevated NE concentrations associated with SAA needs to be confirmed in further studies.
Functional consequence of a novel Y129C mutation in a patient with two contradictory melanocortin-2-receptor mutations
Authors: Chan Li F , Chung Teng-Teng , Massoud Ahmed F , Metherell Louise A , Clark Adrian J L
Published: January 2009

Context

Familial glucocorticoid deficiency (FGD) is a rare autosomal recessive disease, characterised by isolated glucocorticoid deficiency in the absence of mineralocorticoid deficiency. Inactivating mutations in the ACTH receptor (melanocortin-2-receptor, MC2R) are well described and account for ∼25% of cases. By contrast, activating MC2R mutations are extremely rare.

Patient

We report a child of Saudi Arabian origin who was diagnosed with FGD following hypoglycaemic episodes that resulted in spastic quadriplegia.

Methods and results

MC2R gene analysis revealed an unusual combination of two homozygous missense mutations, consisting of the novel mutation Y129C and the previously described F278C activating mutation. Parents were heterozygous at both of these sites. In vitro analysis of the Y129C mutation using a fluorescent cell surface assay showed that this mutant was unable to reach the cell surface in CHO cells stably transfected with MC2R accessory protein (MRAP), despite the demonstration of an interaction with MRAP by co-immunoprecipitation. The double mutant Y129C-F278C also failed to traffic to the cell surface.

Conclusion

The tyrosine residue at position 129 in the second intracellular loop is critical in MC2R folding and/or trafficking to the cell surface. Furthermore, the absence of cell surface expression of MC2R would account for the lack of activation of the receptor due to the F278C mutation located at the C-terminal tail. We provide a novel molecular explanation for a child with two opposing mutations causing severe FGD.
Changes in content and localization of proteins phosphorylated at tyrosine, serine and threonine residues during ram sperm capacitation and acrosome reaction
Authors: Grasa Patricia , Colas Carmen , Gallego Margarita , Monteagudo Luís , Muiño-Blanco Teresa , Cebrián-Pérez José Álvaro
Published: January 2009

Previously, we reported the involvement of tyrosine phosphorylation in events that lead to ram sperm capacitation. In this study, we carried out a comparative analysis of the localization of tyrosine, serine and threonine phosphoproteins in different functional stages of ram spermatozoa (after the swim-up procedure,in vitrocapacitation, and ionophore-induced acrosome reaction) by immunofluorescence, immunocytochemistry and confocal microscopy. Capacitation increased protein tyrosine, serine and threonine phosphorylation whereas the induction of the acrosome reaction resulted in significantly decreased phosphorylation, mainly in those proteins that increased following capacitation. Control samples showed tyrosine-phosphorylated proteins restricted to the head, mainly distributed at the equatorial region with some cells also displaying an acrosomal and/or post-acrosomal localization.In vitrocapacitation promoted both tail and acrosome phosphorylation, and the acrosome reaction induced the loss of labeling on the acrosome and the subsequent increase in the post-acrosomal region and flagellum. The preferential localization of serine- and threonine-phosphorylated proteins in the equatorial and acrosomal regions found in control samples changed during capacitation, which induced tail phosphorylation in a sequential manner. After the acrosome reaction, the labeling of both phosphoamino acids decreased in the acrosome and increased in the post-acrosome. The obtained results were proved by two immunodetection techniques and strengthened by confocal microscopy, and indicate that changes in phosphorylated proteins during capacitation and acrosome reaction of ram spermatozoa may have physiological significance in consolidating certain phosphorylated proteins to specific sperm regions involved in acrosomal exocytosis and zona pellucida recognition, binding and penetration.
In guinea pig sperm, aldolase A forms a complex with actin, WAS, and Arp2/3 that plays a role in actin polymerization
Authors: Chiquete-Felix Natalia , Hernández José Manuel , Méndez J Alfredo , Zepeda-Bastida Armando , Chagolla-López Alicia , Mújica Adela
Published: January 2009

Glycolytic enzymes have, in addition to their role in energy production, other functions in the regulation of cellular processes. Aldolase A has been reported to be present in sperm, playing a key role in glycolysis; however, despite its reported interactions with actin and WAS, little is known about a non-glycolytic role of aldolase A in sperm. Here, we show that in guinea pig spermatozoa, aldolase A is tightly associated to cytoskeletal structures where it interacts with actin, WAS, and Arp2/3. We show that aldolase A spermatozoa treatment increases their polymerized actin levels. In addition, we show that there is a direct correlation between the levels of polymerized actin and the levels of aldolase A–actin interaction. Our results suggest that aldolase A functions as a bridge between filaments of actin and the actin-polymerizing machinery.
Selective Genotyping and Phenotyping Strategies in a Complex Trait Context
Authors: Sen Śaunak , Johannes Frank , Broman Karl W
Published: January 2009

Selective genotyping and phenotyping strategies are used to lower the cost of quantitative trait locus studies. Their efficiency has been studied primarily in simplified contexts—when a single locus contributes to the phenotype, and when the residual error (phenotype conditional on the genotype) is normally distributed. It is unclear how these strategies will perform in the context of complex traits where multiple loci, possibly linked or epistatic, may contribute to the trait. We also do not know what genotyping strategies should be used for nonnormally distributed phenotypes. For time-to-event phenotypes there is the additional question of choosing follow-up time duration. We use an information perspective to examine these experimental design issues in the broader context of complex traits and make recommendations on their use.
New approach puts Tube station upgrade back on track
Authors: Sibley Keith
Published: January 2009

Tube Lines – a joint-venture company between Amey and Bechtel – is now six years into a 30-year public–private partnership with London Underground to maintain and upgrade all trains and infrastructure on the critical Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines. A total of £550 million alone is being spent on upgrading most of the lines’ 100 stations. This paper describes how major changes in traditional procurement and working practices over the first few years have resulted in significant productivity improvements, including time and cost reductions of over 30%.
Linking indices of biotic integrity to environmental and land use variables: multimetric clustering and predictive models
Authors: Novotny Vladimir , Bedoya David , Virani Hardik , Manolakos Elias
Published: January 2009

Advanced computerized methods and models of retrieving knowledge from large multiparameter data bases were used to analyze data on fish and macroinvertebrate composition (metrics), habitat, land use and water quality. The research focused on the north central and northeastern United States and involved thousands of sites monitored by the state agencies. The techniques and methodologies included supervised and unsupervised Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) modeling, Principal Component Analysis, Canonical Component Analysis (both linear and nonlinear), Multiple Regression Analyses, and analyses of variance by ANOVA. The research resulted in defining a concept of clusters of sites based on their biotic (fish) community composition, identified cluster dominating factors, and developed meaningful models for predicting fish composition based on environmental and in—stream habitat stresses.
Influence of plant tillering and root volume on flow pattern and water purification of vertical down flow wetlands for domestic wastewater treatment
Authors: Wang Sheng , Xu Zuxin , Li Huaizheng
Published: January 2009

Four kinds of plants with tap, tuber and fibrous root system were chosen and their root volume was manipulated by tillering control in this study. Plant tillering could be described by Logistic function, means that controlling the initial planting density in the wetland is unnecessary. Therefore, the minimum planting density for each plant could be considered, and this will have cost benefits for planting wetlands. There is a positive correlation between plant tillering and root development, especially on reed and Juncus effusus L, coefficient of association between above-ground plant weight and root weight, as well as plant tillering and root volume of which reached 0.93–1.Those coefficient of association of Cannaceac and Cyperus alternifoliusL were in the range 0.43–0.69. In the process that root breakthrough the substrate, root could open up the clogged soil, which increased porosity of substrate by 3–44% than the non-planted one, although root also occupied the space in the substrate. The adjoint transverse pressure of root growth would homogenize the substrate, which randomly increased Peclet number of substrate by 6–90% than the non-planted one. No regularity correlation was found between wastewater purification and above-ground plant biomass or root volume. Root plays more role on porosity improvement than substrate homogenization and water purification in VF for domestic wastewater treatment.
Industrial wastewater as an external carbon source for optimization of nitrogen removal at the “Wschod” WWTP in Gdansk (Poland)
Authors: Swinarski M. , Makinia J. , Czerwionka K. , Chrzanowska M.
Published: January 2009

Carbon source alternatives for denitrification belong to the highest research area priorities as they allow to optimize N removal within the existing capacities. In particular, some food industry effluents appear to be good candidates for such alternatives due to their high C/N ratios and high content of readily biodegradable organic fraction. The aim of this study was to determine the immediate effects of dosing different types of industrial wastewater on the denitrification capability of process biomass originating from the “Wschod” WWTP in Gdansk (northern Poland). Three types of industrial wastewater (effluents from a distillery, brewery and fish-pickling factory) were tested in two kinds of batch experiments. The results of this study revealed that the investigated industrial wastewater can be a potential external carbon source to improve denitrification efficiency. The observed single nitrate utilization rates (NURs) were ranging from 2.4 to 6.0 g N/(kg VSS·h) and were comparable to the rates associated with the utilization of readily biodegradable COD in the settled wastewater. When the NURs were measured during anoxic P uptake, the P uptake rates did not appear to be adversely affected by the addition of any carbon source.