bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Chromophobe renal cell carcinoma and ‘capsulomas’ with acquired cystic disease of the kidney in a long‐term hemodialysis patient
Authors: Nishihara Keisuke , Shomori Kohei , Nagashima Yoji , Kuroda Naoto , Nagamatsu Hirotaka , Ito Hisao
Published: May 2008

Abstract:  Patients receiving long‐term hemodialysis tend to develop renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Among such cases, chromophobe RCC and so‐called ‘capsulomas’ are rarely reported. Here, we report a case of a Japanese woman in her early 70s, who developed both renal lesions after 17 years of hemodialysis. The patient received radical nephrectomy for enlarging renal mass. Grossly, the resected kidney showed a dominant tumor and small‐sized subcapsular nodules. Histologically, two types of neoplasm, chromophobe RCC and ‘capsuloma’, existed with acquired cystic disease of the kidney. Chromophobe RCC had eosinophilic cytoplasm with perinuclear halos, and some tumor cells showed oncocytic features. Hale's colloidal iron staining showed a weakly positive cytoplasmic reaction. Immunohistochemistry was diffusely positive for cytokeratin 7, but negative for vimentin in the tumor cells. ‘Capsulomas’ were multiple subcapsular nodules composed almost entirely of smooth muscle‐like cells with immunoreactivity for melanosome‐associated antigen detected by HMB‐45.
Lung and bone metastases from renal cell carcinoma responsive to bisphosphonates: A case report
Authors: Kijima Toshiki , Fujii Yasuhisa , Suyama Taisuke , Okubo Yuhei , Yonese Junji , Fukui Iwao
Published: May 2008

Abstract: Bisphosphonates (BP) are inhibitors of bone‐resorption and have become the current standard of care for preventing skeletal complications associated with bone metastases. Although previous reports have also suggested potent antitumor, antiangiogenic and immunomodulatory properties of BP, there is debate about the clinical relevance of experimentalin vitroandin vivofindings. We report a renal cell carcinoma case in which multiple lung and bone metastases displayed remarkable remission to BP therapy using 30 mg pamidronate once, 4 mg zoledronate once, and weekly 10 mg incadronate 10 times for 3 months. This is the first case report to demonstrate that BP therapy is effective to non‐osseous visceral metastasis as well as bone metastases in the clinical setting.
Prevalence of sleepiness in surviving drivers of motor vehicle collisions
Authors: Crummy F. , Cameron P. A. , Swann P. , Kossmann T. , Naughton M. T.
Published: May 2008

Background: Although alcohol and recreational drugs are recognized as significant risk factors for motor vehicle collisions (MVC), the contribution of sleepiness alone is less clear. We therefore sought to identify the contribution of sleepiness to the risk of a MVC in injured drivers, independent of drugs and alcohol.

Methods: A prospective questionnaire and examination of sleep‐related risk factors in drivers surviving MVC in a major hospital‐based trauma centre was carried out.

Results: Forty of 112 injured drivers screened were interviewed, of whom approximately 50% had at least one sleep‐related risk factor, 20% having two or more. Of the MVC deemed sleep‐related by questionnaire, only 25% were identified by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau definitions. Shift work was the greatest sleep‐related factor identified contributing to MVC.

Conclusion: Sleepiness, particularly related to shift work, needs to be emphasized as a risk factor for MVC. Australian Transport Safety Bureau definitions of sleep‐related MVC are too lenient.
Fatigue life prediction of cracked padded plates
Authors: GUO K. , BELL R. , WANG X.
Published: May 2008

The fatigue crack propagation analyses of padded plates are conducted to predict the crack growth behaviour under various loading conditions. The fatigue life of a padded plate with a single edge crack originating from the weld toe is calculated using the weight function approach. The fatigue strength of padded plates with different pad thickness under remote loading conditions was investigated and compared to the T‐plate joint. The improvement of the fatigue strength of the pad design is verified.

 The thickness effect of the padded plate was investigated using the fracture mechanics approach. The geometrically similar model pairs with different initial crack sizes were investigated under remote loading conditions. It was shown that the thickness effect depends on both stress concentration and initial crack size.
Effect of shot peening on fatigue limit of surface flawed samples
Authors: TAKAHASHI F. , TANGE A. , ANDO K.
Published: May 2008

The effects of shot peening on the fatigue limit of specimens having a semicircular notch of varied surface length, 2a, are investigated. In the case of un‐peened specimens, the fatigue limit of specimens having a notch of a= 0.05 mm was equal to that of the un‐notched specimens. However, the fatigue limit of a= 0.3 mm was 46% smaller than that of the un‐notched specimens. On the contrary, in the case of peened specimens, the fatigue limit of a= 0.2 mm was equal to that of the un‐notched specimens and furthermore, that of a= 0.3 mm was only 5% smaller than that of the un‐notched specimens. Multiple non‐propagating cracks were observed in peened specimens after fatigue testing. The stress intensity factor of the maximum non‐propagating crack size corresponded to that of a= 0.2 mm notch. These results indicate that shot peening increases fatigue limit and decreases the likelihood that a surface flaw will result in failure.
Load spectra analysis and reconstruction for hydraulic pump components
Authors: CARBONI M. , CERRINI A. , JOHANNESSON P. , GUIDETTI M. , BERETTA S.
Published: May 2008

Hydraulic pumps are used as operating components in many mechanical systems (e.g. actuators in machines for moving materials) and, consequently, during their working life they are subjected to variable amplitude loadings. As this is the case, a thorough analysis of their load histories may be highly useful as it would help to determine an equivalent constant amplitude signal which could be easily applied to a test bench for the homologation of pumps. In the present paper, a novel methodology for the analysis of hydraulic pumps is suggested. The proposed methodology accounts for the different damaging processes of fixed and rotating parts of hydraulic pumps and applies both statistics of extreme values and the analysis of signals in the Markov domain. The results consist of block loadings, to be applied at the test bench, which represent extrapolated experimental signals measured on pumps during their service in different applications.
Applying modified Weibull failure theory to bimaterial specimen under thermal loading
Authors: KHANDAKER M. P. H. , EKWARO‐OSIRE S. , GAUTAM K.
Published: May 2008

Failure of a thermally loaded bimaterial specimen was investigated in this research. A high‐stress gradient due to thermal loading occurs around the free edge of the interface of the bimaterial specimen. This high‐stress gradient plays an important role in the failure of the specimen. The Weibull failure theory has been shown to be unable to account for high‐stress gradients in externally loaded bimaterial specimens. The objective of this work is to develop a weight function method to calculate the effective stress intensity factors in the vicinity of a high‐stress gradient in a thermally loaded bimaterial specimen, and to develop a modified Weibull failure theory to handle the high‐stress gradient. It was found that the modified Weibull failure theory generated monotonous trends for the probability of failure with respect to increasing Weibull moduli, as demonstrated in the literature.
Microanatomical diversity of the humerus and lifestyle in lissamphibians
Authors: Canoville Aurore , Laurin Michel
Published: May 2008

A study of body size and the compactness profile parameters of the humerus of 37 species of lissamphibians demonstrates a relationship between lifestyle (aquatic, amphibious or terrestrial) and bone microstructure. Multiple linear regressions and variance partitioning with Phylogenetic eigenVector Regressions reveal an ecological and a phylogenetic signal in some body size and compactness profile parameters. Linear discriminant analyses segregate the various lifestyles (aquatic vs. amphibious or terrestrial) with a success rate of up to 89.2%. The models built from data on the humerus discriminate aquatic taxa relatively well from the other taxa. However, like previous models built from data on the radius of amniotes or on the femur of lissamphibians, the new models do not discriminate amphibious taxa from terrestrial taxa on the basis of body size or compactness profile data. To make our inference method accessible, spreadsheets (see supplementary material on the website), which allow anyone to infer a lissamphibian lifestyle solely from body size and bone compactness parameters, were produced. No such easy implementation of habitat inference models is found in earlier papers on this topic.
The combination of docetaxel and the somatostatin analogue lanreotide on androgen‐independent docetaxel‐resistant prostate cancer: experimental data
Authors: Lo Nigro Cristiana , Maffi Monica , Fischel Jean Louis , Formento Patricia , Milano Gerard , Merlano Marco
Published: May 2008

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the effects of the association between docetaxel and the somatostatin analogue lanreotide on the androgen‐independent prostate cancer cell line PC3, either sensitive or made resistant to docetaxel (PC3R), as new drugs and new combinations have promising clinical activity in hormone‐refractory prostate cancer.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We examined the effect of docetaxel and lanreotide on cell proliferation, with analysis of the mitogen‐activated protein kinase pathway and expression of cell‐cycle regulatory proteins.

RESULTS

Combined treatment with docetaxel and lanreotide inhibited PC3 cell growth in vitro through an enhanced induction of cell death, compared with treatment with either agent alone; this result was particularly evident on PC3R cells. The results suggested that lanreotide could act as a P glycoprotein inhibitor in PC3R cells.

CONCLUSION

The present results provide a promising therapeutic approach for using somatostatin analogues in hormone‐refractory prostate cancer, in which lanreotide could interact with docetaxel in PC3R cells, with possible explanatory mechanisms which involve P glycoprotein‐mediated docetaxel resistance.
Vascular‐targeted photodynamic therapy (padoporfin, WST09) for recurrent prostate cancer after failure of external beam radiotherapy: a study of escalating light doses
Authors: Trachtenberg John , Weersink Robert A. , Davidson Sean R.H. , Haider Masoom A. , Bogaards Arjen , Gertner Mark R. , Evans Andrew , Scherz Avigdor , Savard Joanne , Chin Joseph L. , Wilson Brian C. , Elhilali Mostafa
Published: May 2008

OBJECTIVE

To report on the efficacy of TOOKAD® (WST 09; NegmaLerads, Magny‐Les‐Hameaux, France) vascular‐targeted photodynamic therapy (VTP) as a method of whole‐prostate ablation in patients with recurrent localized prostate cancer after the failure of external beam radiotherapy (EBRT).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Patients received a fixed photosensitizer dose of 2 mg/kg and patient‐specific light doses as determined by computer‐aided treatment planning. Up to six cylindrical light‐diffusing delivery fibres were placed transperineally in the prostate under ultrasonographic guidance. The treatment response was assessed by measuring serum prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) levels, lesion formation (avascular areas of tissue) measured on 7‐day gadolinium‐enhanced T1‐weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and a 6‐month biopsy.

RESULTS

Treatment of the whole prostate was possible with minimal effects on surrounding organs. An increased light dose improved the tissue response, with MRI‐detectable avascular lesions, encompassing up to 80% of the prostate in some patients. A complete response, as determined by the 6‐month biopsy, required that patients received light doses of at least 23 J/cm2 in 90% of the prostate volume (D90 > 23 J/cm2). Of the 13 patients who received at least this light dose, eight were biopsy‐negative at 6 months. In this group of eight patients, PSA levels decreased and did so to negligible levels for those patients with a baseline PSA level of <5 ng/mL. Side‐effects were modest and self‐limited in most patients; there were recto‐urethral fistulae in two patients, one of which closed spontaneously.

CONCLUSIONS

TOOKAD‐VTP can produce large avascular regions in the irradiated prostate, and result in a complete negative‐biopsy response at high light doses. A response rate of more than half for those patients receiving the highest light doses shows the clinical potential of TOOKAD‐VTP to manage recurrence of prostatic carcinoma after EBRT.
‘Divinity expresses the self …’ An investigation
Authors: Stein Murray
Published: May 2008

Abstract:  The self is more than conscious identity and location (i.e., the ego) because it includes and expresses the full range of the psyche, all conscious and unconscious elements included, and it is responsible for the unity of the psyche as a whole. Beyond this, the self concept sets up the basis for the linkage between analytical psychology and religious doctrines of transcendence. It has been stated by critics and sympathizers that Jung was a ‘mystic’, or a throwback to pre‐Enlightenment medievalism, who equated the self with God, mixed up categories of transcendence and immanence, and put the psyche on a symbolic par with Divinity. While this does contain a kernel of truth about his late views, it is not quite as straightforward as it sounds. This essay1 explores the complex relation of the self to the transcendent (Divinity), as Jung understood these terms and employed them, focusing especially on a critical passage from his last major work, Mysterium Coniunctionis. The notion of self as imago Dei grasps the paradoxical nature of the self, a coincidentia oppositorum that is at once personal and impersonal, embodying a pattern of Divinity that also is revealed as a coincidentia oppositorum, immanent and transcendent. Jung posits, moreover, a dynamic interactive relation between the self and the transcendence it mirrors. Altogether, this combination of features regarding the self sets Jung's psychology apart from humanistic and personalistic psychologies and secular depth psychologies such as those descended from Freud on the one side, and on the other side it also separates it from pre‐Enlightenment dogmatic psychologies such as those belonging to religious fundamentalisms. This essay attempts to explore and to explicate the subtle space between purely secular and religious doctrines and to make the case that Jung's depth psychology represents a post‐Enlightenment, post‐secular, post‐humanistic vision of the human as a material/spiritual being whose psyche links earth and heaven, the here and the beyond, the finite and the infinite. It is a radical attempt to break out of modernity without regressing to medievalism.
Identifying Modifier Loci in Existing Genome Scan Data
Authors: Daw E. W. , Lu Y. , Marian A. J. , Shete S.
Published: May 2008

In many genetic disorders in which a primary disease‐causing locus has been identified, evidence exists for additional trait variation due to genetic factors. These findings have led to studies seeking secondary ‘modifier’ loci. Identification of modifier loci provides insight into disease mechanisms and may provide additional screening and treatment targets. We believe that modifier loci can be identified by re‐analysis of genome screen data while controlling for primary locus effects. To test this hypothesis, we simulated multiple replicates of typical genome screening data on to two real family structures from a study of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. With this marker data, we simulated two trait models with characteristics similar to one measure of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Both trait models included 3 genes. In the first, the trait was influenced by a primary gene, a secondary ‘modifier’ gene, and a third very small effect gene. In the second, we modeled an interaction between the first two genes. We examined power and false positive rates to map the secondary locus while controlling for the effect of the primary locus with two types of analyses. First, we examined Monte Carlo Markov chain (MCMC) simultaneous segregation and linkage analysis as implemented in Loki, for which we calculated two scoring statistics. Second, we calculated LOD scores using an individual‐specific liability class based on the quantitative trait value. We found that both methods produced scores that are significant on a genome‐wide level in some replicates. We conclude that mapping of modifier loci in existing samples is possible with these methods.
Material properties of coyote dentine under bending: gradients in flexibility and strength by position
Authors: Freeman P. W. , Lemen C. A.
Published: May 2008

We investigate the nonlinear properties of dentine from the upper canines of coyotesCanis latranswith bending tests. With the results we predict the behavior of whole canines under load. Coyote dentine is not homogeneous but is stronger and more ductile farther away from the pulp cavity. The modulus of rupture (MOR) first increases and then declines with distance from the pulp cavity. Our analysis of the composite nature of dentine produced by these gradients indicates that there may be an adaptive explanation with the composite having nearly the strength of the strongest dentine and a work of fracture greater than even the most ductile dentine. Coyote dentine is considerably stronger than human dentine. In coyotes, the peak MOR, a measure of bending strength, is 480 MPa, compared with a maximum of 225 MPa for human dentine. This value is about the same as the weakest coyote dentine that we found near the pulp cavity. Finally, enamel plays, at most, a small role in the bending strength of the whole tooth. Our results indicate that enamel under tension adds little to strength, but we cannot dismiss a small role for enamel in compression.
Stable isotope ecology of fossil hippopotamids from the Lake Turkana Basin of East Africa
Authors: Harris J. M. , Cerling T. E. , Leakey M. G. , Passey B. H.
Published: May 2008

The diet of African hippopotamids can be documented through δ13C analyses of enamel and other tissues. Analysis of a 10‐million‐year sequence of hippopotamids in and near the Lake Turkana Basin of northern Kenya shows that hippos have included a substantial fraction of C3 vegetation in their diets since the late Miocene when C4 vegetation first appears in hippo diet as a measurable fraction. The C4 component of vegetation becomes dominant (>50%) by Upper Burgi time (c. 2 million years ago) but does not reach 100% for all individuals. It is therefore not unexpected that the δ13C values of modern hippopotamids show a higher fraction of dietary C3 biomass than has been estimated from traditional observations. Analysis of δ18O of hippos from different stratigraphic levels shows no systematic trend over time; the average value for fossil hippos over the last 10 million years is similar to that of modern hippos from the Omo River system.
Phylogenetic analysis of the allometric scaling of therapeutic regimes for birds
Authors: Kabat A. P. , Blackburn T. M. , McKechnie A. E. , Butler P. J.
Published: May 2008

The use of allometric scaling to estimate drug doses, regimes, and clearance rates (metabolic dosing) is based on the principle that the amount of drug to be administered is more closely related to daily energy use than to body mass (kg). Thus, by using the allometric estimations of minimal energy consumption (MEC) in kcal day−1based on the formula MEC=kMbb, whereb=3, it is thought to be possible to extrapolate appropriate drug dosage regimens to species for which direct MEC data are unavailable. However, the allometric equations for respiratory variables in birds were developed 30 years ago, and were based on a very small sample size, while the appropriate scaling exponent for the allometry of energy use is a matter of considerable debate. Hence, we revisit the issue of the scaling of therapeutic regimes in birds using the most current expanded database available (resting metabolic rate data for 296 species across 17 bird orders), taking account of the non‐independence of species in this process using a phylogenetically independent approach. We show that the use of caloric values to estimate daily energy consumption introduces significant error into the formula, as there are a number of assumptions that are made when converting rate of oxygen consumption to a caloric value. We also show that there are significant differences in the proportionality or Hainsworth coefficientskacross taxa when the data are examined in a phylogenetic context, although the allometric scaling exponent does not vary. We therefore recommend the use of only data based on oxygen consumption values, and not caloric values, and a multi‐order phylogenetic model when calculating the appropriate drug dosage regime.
Stable isotope ecology of the common hippopotamus
Authors: Cerling T. E. , Harris J. M. , Hart J. A. , Kaleme P. , Klingel H. , Leakey M. G. , Levin N. E. , Lewison R. L. , Passey B. H.
Published: May 2008

The diet of African hippopotamids can be documented through stable carbon isotope ratios (13C/12C) analyses of enamel and other tissues. The common hippopotamus Hippopotamus amphibius is widely assumed to be a pure grazer; however, the 13C/12C ratios of modern H. amphibius show a higher fraction of dietary C3 biomass than estimated from traditional observations. Isotope profiles of modern hair and modern tooth enamel confirm that H. amphibius has a variable diet in both the short‐ (seasonal) and long‐ (sub‐decadal) time scales. Isotopic analyses of extant mammals from the same parks as the analyzed hippos provide comparative examples for diets of C3‐browsers and C4‐grazers. Oxygen isotope ratios (18O/16O) show that the hippo is consistently the most 18O‐depleted mammal in any one ecosystem; this directly reflects its semi‐aquatic habitat.
Risky behaviours of males and females in a Spanish suburban community
Authors: Gil‐Lacruz Marta , Gil‐Lacruz Ana I.
Published: May 2008

Health is determined by an accumulative process, so a perspective on life cycle is crucial in any health prevention programme. As a consequence of this accumulative dimension, lifestyles are a key determinant of the state of health of older people. The main contribution of this paper is to explain gender differences in lifestyle and the implications of lifestyle in men's and women's states of health.

We have implemented our empirical analysis into Spanish society through the use of a self‐elaborated survey. From this survey, we have drawn a subsample of 938 people older than 14 years old who live in the Spanish neighbourhood of Casablanca, Zaragoza (452 men and 486 women).

We conclude that men tend to consume more substances that may negatively affect their state of health (alcoholic beverages, tobacco products and coffee), and they are also less careful in keeping an adequate weight and dental hygiene. On the other hand, women tend to be more sedentary. These results are decisive for policy makers that strive to improve the citizens’ state of health, because it is not only important to improve the quality and extension of healthy goods and services, but also to promote healthy lifestyles.
Cigarette pack and advertising displays at point of purchase: community demand for restrictions
Authors: Hickling Jacqueline A. , Miller Caroline L.
Published: May 2008

Tobacco promotion influences tobacco consumption. Traditional forms of tobacco promotion have been heavily restricted in response to the harmful effects of tobacco. Tobacco displays at the point of purchase are increasingly important as a means of communicating brand imagery for the tobacco industry, especially when advertising is restricted at these points. Previous research has demonstrated that children exposed to tobacco advertising at the point of purchase have inflated perceptions of availability, use and popularity of tobacco. Internationally, laws are being debated and implemented to prohibit or restrict the display of tobacco at the point of purchase or put tobacco out of sight. Such measures would reduce tobacco product exposure and, hence, tobacco marketing among youth and the community. In South Australia, a ban on all cigarette advertising at the point of purchase was introduced in 2005. This study was designed to assess community support for restrictions on cigarette displays and advertising at the point of purchase.

A telephone survey was conducted with a random sample of 2026 South Australian adults (aged 18 years and over) in July 2005.

Overall, 63% of the community approved of a hypothetical total ban on cigarette displays at the point of purchase, with over three‐quarters believing this should happen in the next 12 months. A further 24% believed that cigarette displays should be restricted and 82% would approve of a ban on displays in stores that sell confectionary.

Only 7% of adult smokers reported making their decision about the brand of cigarettes to buy at the point of purchase and 90% made their decision before they even entered the shop. The results strengthen arguments that cigarette displays are not necessary to maintain brand loyalty or to encourage brand switching of established smokers. Instead, the results make arguments more credible that cigarette displays normalize and promote smoking among young people and may also promote unplanned purchase or increased consumption among less frequent smokers or former smokers. Placing cigarettes out of sight would be unlikely to impact on brand choice for most smokers, who have already made up their mind before they enter the store.
The attitudes of health care staff to information technology: a comprehensive review of the research literature
Authors: Ward Rod , Stevens Christine , Brentnall Philip , Briddon Jason
Published: May 2008

Objectives:  What does the publicly available literature tell us about the attitudes of health care staff to the development of information technology in practice, including the factors which influence them and the factors which may be used to change these attitudes?

Methods:  Twelve databases were searched for literature published between 2000 and 2005 that identified research related to information technology (IT), health professionals and attitude. English language studies were included which described primary research relating to the attitudes of one or more health care staff groups towards IT. Letters, personal viewpoints, reflections and opinion pieces were not included.

Results:  Complex factors contribute to the formation of attitudes towards IT. Many of the issues identified were around the flexibility of the systems and whether they were ‘fit for purpose’, along with the confidence and experience of the IT users. The literature suggests that attitudes of practitioners are a significant factor in the acceptance and efficiency of use of IT in practice. The literature also suggested that education and training was a factor for encouraging the use of IT systems.

Conclusions:  A range of key issues, such as the need for flexibility and usability, appropriate education and training and the need for the software to be ‘fit for purpose’, showed that organizations need to plan carefully when proposing the introduction of IT‐based systems into work practices. The studies reviewed did suggest that attitudes of health care professionals can be a significant factor in the acceptance and efficiency of use of IT in practice. Further qualitative and quantitative research is needed into the approaches that have most effect on the attitudes of health care staff towards IT.
The farnesylated nuclear proteins KUGELKERN and LAMIN B promote aging‐like phenotypes in Drosophila flies
Authors: Brandt Annely , Krohne Georg , Großhans Jörg
Published: May 2008

The nuclear lamina consists of a meshwork of lamins and lamina‐associated proteins, which provide mechanical support, control size and shape of the nucleus, and mediate the attachment of chromatin to the nuclear envelope. Abnormal nuclear shapes are observed in aging cells of humans and nematode worms. The expression of laminΔ50, a constitutively active lamin A splicing variant in Hutchinson–Gilford progeria syndrome patients, leads to the lobulation of the nuclear envelope accompanied by DNA damage, and loss of heterochromatin. So far, it has been unclear whether these age‐related changes are laminΔ50 specific or whether proteins that affect nuclear shape such as KUGELKERN or LAMIN B in general play a causative role in senescence. Here we show that in adult Drosophila flies, the size of the nuclei increases with age and the nuclei assume an aberrant shape. Moreover, induced expression of the farnesylated lamina proteins Lamin B and Kugelkern cause aberrant nuclear shapes and reduce the lifespan of adult flies. The shorter lifespan correlates with an early decline in age‐dependent locomotor behaviour. Expression of kugelkern or lamin B in mammalian cells induces a nuclear lobulation phenotype in conjunction with DNA damage, and changes in histone modification similar to that found in cells expressing laminΔ50 or in cells from aged individuals. We conclude that lobulation of the nuclear membrane induced by the insertion of farnesylated lamina‐proteins can lead to aging‐like phenotypes.
MANAGERIAL OWNERSHIP, TAKEOVER DEFENSES, AND DEBT FINANCING
Authors: Ağca Şenay , Mansi Sattar A.
Published: May 2008

We examine the effect of agency conflicts on debt financing and show that managerial ownership and its interaction with takeover defenses affect these decisions. We find that (1) the relation between leverage and takeover defenses becomes insignificant when we control for the interaction of these defenses with managerial ownership, and (2) firms with large managerial ownership operate at high debt levels unless they have a large number of takeover defenses. Therefore, a two‐dimensional aspect of governance that includes the interaction between managerial ownership and takeover defenses is useful in understanding the effect of agency conflicts on firms' debt financing decisions.
ORDER PLACEMENT STRATEGIES IN A PURE LIMIT ORDER BOOK MARKET
Authors: Cao Charles , Hansch Oliver , Wang Xiaoxin
Published: May 2008

Using order book information from the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), we examine whether (and to what extent) the order book affects investors' order placement strategies. We find that the top of the book always affects order submissions, cancellations, and amendments, and the rest of the book mostly affects order cancellations and amendments. The previously documented order submission aggressiveness, given a crowded first step of the book, persists to other price steps and is found in order amendments and cancellations along the book. Finally, investors tend to fill in the large price gaps in the book by submitting or amending orders.
Modern Syrian Politics
Authors: Hinnebusch Raymond
Published: May 2008

This article examines major issues and debates in the study of modern Syrian politics including the identity crisis rooted in state formation; reasons for the failure of the early liberal experiment; the nature of the Ba'th regime and whether it can be considered to have carried out a revolution; explanations for the stabilization of the regime under Asad; the nature of Ba'thist political economy; the extent, causes, and consequences of economic liberalization; explanations for succession and the character of Bashar's rule; and the relation between the state and international forces.
From Impartial Liberty to Afro‐Christianity: Assessing the Revolution in Virginia's Religious Life
Authors: Ingham Cynthia Jo
Published: May 2008

In the years after the American Revolution, the religious life of Virginians was dominated by the experience of living with and in ‘impartial liberty’– the expression often used to describe what Thomas Jefferson's ‘Statute for Establishing Religious Freedom’ had wrought. However, the Statute was merely the prelude, for it provided no guidance – only a door to Something Else as yet unknown. Lacking the referent of governmental authority, norms of religious liberty were not self‐evident but under construction. As Virginians began turning abstract concepts into everyday experience, they drew upon a revolutionary lexicon, well practiced in the legislative battle over religious liberty; and they also explored tolerance, or ‘Christian forbearance’, as the basis for good manners in the nondeferential world of the new nation. Yet the emergence of distinct denominational identities reveals that the meaning of the Revolution was plural, which Virginians discovered especially in their religious lives. Indeed, for one particular group, the elasticity of the postrevolutionary moment worked uniquely to their advantage. At a time when power was suspect, authority challenged, and norms pliant, those who most lacked power and authority – Afro‐Virginians, both slave and free – slipped through the unguarded spaces to mold Afro‐Christianity into a source of community, resistance, and hope.
Recent Work and Prospects in American Indian Contact Population
Authors: Henige David
Published: May 2008

The population levels of the newly discovered western hemisphere at contact have been an object of observers’ attention since the first voyage of Columbus. The numbers that have been developed over time reflected the environments in which they evolved – sometimes they were very high and sometimes very low. The latest of these cycles, dating from the 1940s and still in vogue, reflects the highest numbers, as well as the most elaborate methodology, ever applied to the problem. The results have been estimates that are many times most of those previously advanced, and the mechanism to explain this substantially greater decline has been epidemic European diseases, to which the American Indians had no resistance. The High Counters’ methodology involves taking relatively small numbers in the record and multiplying these many times over to reach new numbers that are ten to twenty times as large. A major component of this practice is to presume that the epidemics in question spread across the hemisphere even before Europeans could assess their impact. For this hypothesis, and for several other elements of the exercise, there is no evidence whatever. Despite this handicap, the new cadres of numbers have themselves spread far and wide and can be found in a variety of sources aimed at various audiences.
The Political History of a Postwar Suburban Society Revisited
Authors: Vicino Thomas J.
Published: May 2008

There is a vast multidisciplinary literature on U.S. suburbs. Through an urban historical lens, this article charts the public policies that gave way to the rise of a suburban society. It explores the evolution of scholarly historical thought on the roles that political processes and public policies played in the development of the suburban landscape. Major political and social movements, including the areas of housing, transportation, and race relations, are surveyed. The future prospects for metropolitan America suggest that politics and policy contributed to complex social, economic, and political realities that confront suburbs in an era of uncontrolled urban sprawl and mounting suburban decline.
Whose War Was It Anyway? Some Australian Historians and the Great War
Authors: Bongiorno Frank , Mansfield Grant
Published: May 2008

This article will examine a neglected ‘front’ in Australia's ‘History Wars’: the debate over the Australian response to the outbreak of war in Europe in 1914. Since the 1980s, several historians have contributed to a body of literature which insists that Australia's vital interests were at stake in the confrontation between Britain and Germany in the Great War, and that Australia participated in order to protect these interests. In short, these historians are united in asserting that the Great War was ‘Australia's war’ as much as Britain's, and in condemning an alleged radical‐nationalist orthodoxy that presents Australia as a victim of the British Empire and the war as none of Australia's business. They also seek to redirect historical attention away from the themes emphasised by social and cultural historians, and towards strategy, diplomacy and high politics. Recently, several conservative newspaper columnists have also taken up their line of argument. This article seeks to explain how and why this somewhat one‐sided ‘debate’ has gathered momentum. While recognising the value of much of the new research generated by these historians, we also suggest that its terms are closely connected with efforts by the political right to defend the legitimacy of the British colonisation of Australia. At this point, the issues at stake in the historiography of Australia's response to the outbreak of the Great War intersect with some of the better‐known battles in Australia's ‘History Wars’, and notably those over the nature and extent of frontier conflict.
Early Modern Ireland: A British Atlantic Colony?
Authors: Gibney John
Published: May 2008

The question of whether Ireland should be viewed as a colony within the British Empire has been debated within Irish historiography in recent decades. The term has proven contentious, and alternatives have been suggested. However, there is considerable merit in viewing Ireland in the early modern period as a colony. The period witnessed major British plantation projects, but also increasing levels of violence, expropriation, and cultural and sectarian conflict. The consequences and contested legacies of these events would influence Ireland's historical development as it became integrated into an emerging British Atlantic world, and eventually the British Empire.
Topiramate in older patients with partial‐onset seizures: A pilot double‐blind, dose‐comparison study
Authors: Ramsay R. Eugene , Uthman Basim , Pryor Flavia M. , Rowan A. James , Bainbridge Jacquelyn , Spitz Mark , Sirven Joseph I. , Frederick Tim E.
Published: May 2008

Summary

Purpose: Pharmacokinetics of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) can be altered by age‐related changes in physiology, thereby altering clinical effects, especially tolerability, in older adults. We compared two dosages of topiramate (TPM) in a pilot study of patients ≥60 years of age with partial‐onset seizures.

Methods: In this 24‐week, double‐blind, randomized, parallel‐group study, patients with one or more seizures in previous 6 months were randomized to treatment with 50 or 200 mg/day TPM. TPM was initiated as monotherapy or added to one AED and titrated by 25 mg/day per week to target or maximum tolerated dose as the concomitant AED, if any, was withdrawn.

Results: Thirty‐eight patients were randomized to the 50 mg/day TPM (mean age, 68 years) and 39–200 mg/day TPM (69 years). Seizure control was similar with the two dosages when TPM could be used as monotherapy, whereas 200 mg TPM was more effective than 50 mg in patients requiring adjunctive therapy. The overall incidence of adverse events was similar for the two dosages—66% with 50 mg and 62% with 200 mg TPM. Most common adverse events were somnolence (TPM 50, 13%; TPM 200, 8%), dizziness (13% vs. 8%), and headache (13% vs. 5%). Of 10 (13%) patients reporting a cognitive‐related adverse event, six patients were assigned to the 50‐mg group. A total of 14 patients (18%; seven in each group) discontinued TPM due to adverse events.

Conclusions: This pilot study supports the practice of using low‐to‐moderate dosages of AEDs in older adults.
Predictors of pharmacoresistant epilepsy: Pharmacoresistant rats differ from pharmacoresponsive rats in behavioral and cognitive abnormalities associated with experimentally induced epilepsy
Authors: Gastens Alexandra M. , Brandt Claudia , Bankstahl Jens P. , Löscher Wolfgang
Published: May 2008

Purpose:  Patients with intractable temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) exhibit an increased risk of psychiatric comorbidity, including depression, anxiety, psychosis, and learning disorders. Furthermore, a history of psychiatric comorbidity has been suggested as a predictor of lack of response to therapy with antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) in patients with epilepsy. However, clinical studies on predictors of pharmacoresistant epilepsy are affected by several confounding variables, which may complicate conclusions. In the present study, we evaluated whether behavioral alterations in epileptic rats are different in AED nonresponders versus responders.

Methods:  For this purpose, we used an animal model of TLE in which AED responders and nonresponders can be selected by prolonged treatment of epileptic rats with phenobarbital (PB). Behavioral and cognitive abnormalities were compared between responders and nonresponders as well as between epileptic rats and nonepileptic controls in a battery of tests.

Results:  Fifteen epileptic rats with spontaneous recurrent seizures (SRS) either responding (11 rats) or not responding (4 rats) to PB were used for this study. The nonresponders differed markedly in behavioral and cognitive abnormalities from responders and nonepileptic controls in tests of anxiety (open field, elevated‐plus maze test), behavioral hyperexcitability (approach‐response, touch‐response, pick‐up tests), and learning and memory (Morris water maze).

Discussion:  Our hypothesis that AED‐resistant rats will show more severe behavioral and cognitive changes than AED‐responsive rats was confirmed by the present experiments. The data substantiate that rodent models of TLE are useful to delineate predictors of pharmacoresistant epilepsy.
Carbamazepine‐induced DRESS and HHV6 primary infection: The importance of skin tests
Authors: Aouam Karim , Bel Hadj Ali Hichem , Youssef Monia , Chaabane Amel , Amri Montassar , Boughattas Naceur A. , Zili Jamel Eddine
Published: May 2008

Summary

A 34‐year‐old male with a 20‐year history of epilepsy was treated with valproic acid and phenobarbital. As he had frequent convulsive fits, carbamazepine (CBZ) was added. Thirty‐four days later, the patient developed hyperthermia, (39.5°C), cervical lymphadenopathy and generalized cutaneous exfoliated maculae and papulae. Biochemical investigation was characterized by a white cell count of 16.1 × 103/μl (17% eosinophils) and increased levels of aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase (50 and 116 IU/L, respectively). HHV6 serological tests performed on day 21, detected anti HHV6 IgM, suggesting a HHV6 primary infection. Hence, CBZ was discontinued. One month later, the skin eruption, fever, lymph node swelling, liver dysfunction, and eosinophilia were progressively relieved. Six weeks after complete recovery, prick and patch skin tests were performed. They were strongly positive at 48‐h reading. This report suggests the usefulness of skin tests in diagnosing CBZ‐induced‐DRESS, as well as s possible association between DRESS and HHV6 primary infection.
Carisbamate prevents the development and expression of spontaneous recurrent epileptiform discharges and is neuroprotective in cultured hippocampal neurons
Authors: Deshpande Laxmikant S. , Nagarkatti Nisha , Ziobro Julie M. , Sombati Sompong , DeLorenzo Robert J.
Published: May 2008

Purpose:  Although great advances have been made in the development of treatments for epilepsy, acquired epilepsy following brain injury still comprises approximately 50% of all the cases of epilepsy. Thus, development of drugs that would prevent or decrease the onset of epilepsy following brain injury represents an important area of research.

Methods:  Here, we investigated effects of carisbamate (RWJ 333369) on the development and expression of spontaneous recurrent epileptiform discharges (SREDs) and its neuroprotective potential in cultured hippocampal neurons. This model utilizes 3 h of low Mg2+ treatment to mimic status epilepticus (SE‐like) injury in vitro. Following the injury, networks of neurons manifest synchronized SREDs for their life in culture. Neuronal cultures were treated with carisbamate (200 μM) for 12 h immediately after the SE‐like injury. The drug was then removed and neurons were patch clamped 24 h following drug washout.

Results:  Treatment with carisbamate after neuronal injury prevented the development and expression of epileptiform discharges. In the few neurons that displayed SREDs following carisbamate treatment, there was a significant reduction in SRED frequency and duration. In contrast, phenytoin and phenobarbital, when used in place of carisbamate, did not prevent the development and expression of SREDs. Carisbamate was also effective in preventing neuronal death when administered after SE‐like injury.

Conclusions:  Carisbamate prevents the development and generation of epileptiform discharges and is neuroprotective when administered following SE‐like injury in vitro and may offer a novel treatment to prevent the development of epileptiform discharges following brain injuries.
Problem Behavior and Heart Rate Reactivity in Adopted Adolescents: Longitudinal and Concurrent Relations
Authors: Bimmel Nicole , Van IJzendoorn Marinus H. , Bakermans‐Kranenburg Marian J. , Juffer Femmie , De Geus Eco J. C.
Published: May 2008

The present longitudinal study examined resting heart rate and heart rate variability and reactivity to a stressful gambling task in adopted adolescents with aggressive, delinquent, or internalizing behavior problems and adopted adolescents without behavior problems (total N=151). Early‐onset delinquent adolescents showed heart rate hyporeactivity to the stress‐eliciting gambling task compared to late‐onset delinquent adolescents and adolescents without behavior problems. Heart rate, heart rate variability, and reactivity to stress were not related to environmental factors such as early‐childhood parental sensitivity, parental socioeconomic status, or adoptee's health status at arrival. We conclude that the distinction between delinquency and aggression and between childhood‐onset and adolescence‐onset delinquency is important for the study of stress reactivity in adolescents.
Gender‐ and Age‐Related Differences in the Association Between Social Relationship Quality and Trait Levels of Salivary Cortisol
Authors: Booth Alan , Granger Douglas A. , Shirtcliff Elizabeth A.
Published: May 2008

The majority of studies linking individual differences in the quality of social relationships and activity of the hypothalamic‐pituitary‐adrenal (HPA) axis have focused on the early development of attachment between infants and their caregivers. Later in development, during middle childhood and adolescence, the parallel HPA links to age‐appropriate social relationships with peers, parents, and siblings remain largely unspecified. This study addressed this knowledge gap. Early morning saliva samples were obtained from 367 children in middle childhood (ages 6–10) and 357 adolescents (M age=11–16 years) on two successive days 1 year apart and assayed for cortisol. Latent state–trait modeling was employed to separate variance in cortisol levels attributable to “stable trait‐like” versus “state or situational specific” sources to minimize the high moment‐to‐moment variation in basal adrenocortical activity. During adolescence but not middle childhood, and for girls but not boys, lower levels of “trait cortisol” were associated with poor quality social relationships. The pattern was robust, extending to the quality of relationships with parents, siblings, and peers. Importantly, the relationship was independent of the rates of internalizing or externalizing problem behavior. We found that isolating the variance in cortisol levels attributable to stable intrinsic sources revealed an interpretable pattern that linked individual differences in basal HPA activity to social relationships during adolescence. Studies are needed to reveal the biosocial mechanisms involved in the establishment of this gender‐ and age‐specific phenomenon and to decipher whether or not individual differences in this hormone‐behavior link are adaptive.