bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Biomechanics of medial hamstring lengthening
Authors: Dagge Benjamin , Firth Gregory B. , Palamara Joseph E. A. , Eizenberg Norman , Donath Susan , Graham H. Kerr
Published: April 2012

Background:  Medial hamstring lengthening is frequently used to correct contractures in neuromuscular conditions such as cerebral palsy. Surgical techniques vary considerably and little is known about the lengthening characteristics of muscle‐tendon‐units after surgical intervention.

Methods:  A randomized trial was performed on paired cadaver medial hamstring muscle‐tendon‐units comparing ‘High’ (proximal) versus ‘Low’ (distal) lengthening procedures. The paired muscle‐tendon‐units were subjected to tensile testing utilizing an Instron® (Instron Corporation, Canton, MA, USA) machine under controlled conditions. Prior to tensile testing, the paired semitendinosus and paired gracilis received either high or low intramuscular tenotomy. Load (N) versus displacement (mm) was recorded continuously for each test. The difference in lengthening and load at failure for intact and surgical simulation muscle‐tendon‐units was recorded and compared with paired t‐tests.

Results:  Both low and high lengthenings increased the amount of lengthening achieved compared with intact controls and the lengthening was achieved at lower applied load. Low intramuscular tenotomy of the semitendinosus resulted in a 30% greater lengthening when compared with high intramuscular tenotomy. For the gracilis muscle, the low intramuscular tenotomy achieved 39% greater lengthening than the high intramuscular tenotomy and these differences were significant.

Conclusion:  Biomechanical testing of formalin‐preserved human cadaveric medial hamstring muscle‐tendon‐units confirms that it is possible to achieve lengthening in continuity following an intramuscular tenotomy or fascial striping procedure. The site of the surgical procedure (high versus low) results in a different effect on the lengthening characteristics, dictated by the anatomy of the particular muscle‐tendon‐unit.
Open rotator cuff repairs in patients 70 years and older
Authors: De Carvalho Bruno Roque , Puri Arvind , Calder John Arthur
Published: April 2012

Background:  Symptomatic rotator cuff tear is a commonly diagnosed problem in patients over the age of 70; however, there is controversy regarding the management of this condition. We set out to investigate whether this group has satisfactory results with operative management of their rotator cuff tears.

Methods:  Retrospective review of one surgeon's patients who have undergone an open rotator cuff repair at age 70 or older. Outcome assessment included history of work and recreational activities, review of medical records, clinical examination, the Simple Shoulder Test (SST) and the Constant Shoulder Score (CSS).

Results:  A total of 96 patients (104 shoulders) underwent open rotator cuff repair during the study period. Sixteen patients (16 shoulders) were lost to follow‐up leaving 80 patients (88 shoulders) for review. Mean duration of symptoms was 18.3 months, mean age at surgery was 74.2 years and mean time to follow‐up was 40.8 months. The mean SST and CSS scores were 9.8 and 80.1, respectively. In both tests, patients scored best in the pain relief categories and worst in strength‐measuring areas. A total of 73 patients (92.7%) reported satisfaction with their surgery. None of these were limited by their shoulders in returning to pre‐injury independence, work or recreations. They were either completely pain free or had only mild symptoms.

Conclusion:  Patients in our study reflected a high satisfaction rate of 92.7% as well as excellent pain relief and a high level of function when related to their daily activities, independence and recreations or work.

Level of evidence:  Level IV (observational study without control – retrospective study).
Prenatal diagnosis of right diaphragmatic eventration associated with fetal hydrops
Authors: Iskender Cantekin , Tarım Ebru , Yalcınkaya Cem
Published: April 2012

Congenital diaphragmatic eventration (CDE) is a rare diaphragmatic abnormality. Clinical manifestations of CDE may mimic congenital diaphragmatic hernia. Prenatal differential diagnosis of eventration is critical because postnatal managing and prognosis of these conditions vary significantly. Sonographic features of CDE involve presence of abdominal organs in the thorax, shift of cardiac axis and mediastinum. Non‐immune hydrops fetalis (NIHF) has been previously reported to be associated with intrathoracic masses as well as CDE. In this report, we present a case of congenital right diaphragmatic eventration associated with NIHF.
Management of spontaneous chronic corneal epithelial defects (SCCEDs) in dogs with diamond burr debridement and placement of a bandage contact lens
Authors: Gosling Allyson A. , Labelle Amber L. , Breaux Carrie B.
Published: April 2012

Objective  To describe the outcome of canine spontaneous chronic corneal epithelial defects (SCCED) treated with diamond burr debridement (DBD) and bandage contact lens placement (BCL).

Animal studied  Forty eyes of 36 dogs presenting to a single private practice.

Procedures  A retrospective review of medical records was performed. Cases were eligible for inclusion if they were newly diagnosed with SCCED by a veterinary ophthalmologist and treated with DBD/BCL. All patients received a complete ocular examination followed by DBD using a battery‐powered, handheld motorized burr (Algerbrush®, Alger Equipment Company, Lago Vista, TX, USA). A BCL was placed post‐debridement in all patients. Data were analyzed for sex, age, breed, duration of clinical signs prior to DBD; number of debridements required before healing was achieved; contact lens retention, complications attributed to DBD, and additional surgical interventions were required to achieve healing.

Results  The median time to first recheck examination was 7 days (IQR 7–9 days) with 28/40 (70%) of cases healed at this examination. The mean time to second recheck examination was 15.5 ± 5.5 days with 37/40 (92.5%) healed by this examination. The median time to final recheck examination was 19 days (IQR 18–35.5 days) with a range of 18–52 days. All cases resolved by the third and final recheck examination. A second DBD/BCL was performed in 5/40 (12.5%) of cases. The BCL retention rate was 95% over all examination time points. No case required a keratectomy or other surgical intervention to achieve healing. The only complication observed was one case of suspected bacterial keratitis post‐DBD/BCL.

Conclusions  Results suggest that DBD/BCL is safe and effective for treatment of canine SCCED.
Renal oncocytoma growth rates before intervention
Authors: Kurup Anil Nicholas , Thompson R. Houston , Leibovich Bradley C. , Harmsen W. Scott , Sebo Thomas J. , Callstrom Matthew R. , Kawashima Akira , Atwell Thomas D.
Published: April 2012

Study Type – Prognosis (case series)

Level of Evidence 4

What's known on the subject? and What does the study add?

Growth of small renal masses has been shown to be variable, with mean growth rates ranging from 1 to 5 mm/year in several series. Small numbers of oncocytomas in these series show similar but variable growth rates of 0.5–5.2 cm/year with no statistically significant difference compared with RCCs.

This study gathered growth rate data from the largest pool (n= 33) of pathologically proven oncocytomas to date, using current imaging techniques. Primarily, it confirms the variable growth of renal oncocytomas over an extended period of time with mean (sd) growth of 2.9 (2.6) mm/year over a mean of 36 months. Observed oncocytoma growth was equivalent to that previously established for RCCs, and small renal masses generally, under surveillance. Secondarily, we found considerable similarity in tumour measurements between observers, suggesting that even low growth rates may be reproducibly documented.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the growth rates of oncocytomas before treatment with surgical resection or percutaneous ablation.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

This single‐institution retrospective study included 33 consecutive, pathologically proven renal oncocytomas with serial contrast‐enhanced computed tomography scans spanning at least 1 year before intervention, from 2000 to 2009.

Tumours were measured by two radiologists, and growth rates and interobserver variability were calculated.

The mean (range) pre‐procedural imaging surveillance period was 36 (12–124) months (median 33 months).

RESULTS

The mean (sd) oncocytoma size was 17 (11) mm (range 4–47 mm, median 15 mm) in maximum transverse diameter on initial imaging and grew to a mean (sd) of 26 (5) mm (range 10–83 mm, median 23 mm) by the time of treatment.

Overall, the mean (sd) and median growth rates were 2.9 (2.6) mm/year and 2.7 mm/year, respectively (range −1.2–10.9 mm/year). After weighting by the se of each tumour's growth rate, the mean (sd) change was 2.1 (1.2) mm/year.

The mean (range) interobserver variability for each tumour measurement was 1 (0–7) mm with an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.99.

CONCLUSIONS

Renal oncocytomas grow at a rate similar to reported growth rates of renal cell carcinoma.

As the observation of growth does not distinguish between benign and malignant renal tumours, growth of small renal masses under active surveillance should be carefully considered before a switch is made to intervention.
Hexanic lipidosterolic extract of Serenoa repens inhibits the expression of two key inflammatory mediators, MCP‐1/CCL2 and VCAM‐1, in vitro
Authors: Latil Alain , Libon Christine , Templier Marie , Junquero Didier , Lantoine‐Adam Frédérique , Nguyen Thien
Published: April 2012

What's known on the subject? and What does the study add?

Pervasive inflammatory infiltrates, mainly composed of chronically activated T cells and monocytes/macrophages, have been observed in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Permixon®, a hexanic lipidosterolic extract of Serenoa repens (hexanic LSESr) used to treat urinary dysfunction in BPH patients, has anti‐inflammatory activities. This paper provides new insights into the anti‐inflammatory properties of Permixon®. We report that hexanic LSESr inhibits early steps of leukocyte infiltration in vitro by downregulating MCP‐1/CCL2 and VCAM‐1 expression.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the mechanisms by which hexanic lipidosterolic extract of Serenoa repens (hexanic LSESr) may prevent leukocyte infiltration in benign prostatic hyperplasia by studying its impact on monocyte chemoattractant protein 1/chemokine (C‐C motif) ligand 2 (MCP‐1/CCL2) and vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM‐1) expression in vitro.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

After pretreatment with hexanic LSESr, human prostate (epithelial and myofibroblastic) cells and vascular endothelial cells were stimulated with proinflammatory cytokines.

MCP‐1/CCL2 and VCAM‐1 mRNA expression was quantified by real‐time PCR.

ELISA kits were used to determine MCP‐1/CCL2 levels in culture supernatants and VCAM‐1 expression in living cells.

RESULTS

Hexanic LSESr reduced MCP‐1/CCL2 mRNA levels in both epithelial (BPH‐1) and myofibroblastic (WPMY‐1) prostate cell lines.

Hexanic LSESr downregulated MCP1/CCL2 secretion by WPMY‐1 cells in a concentration‐dependent manner, more efficiently than Serenoa repens extracts obtained by supercritical carbon dioxide extraction.

Hexanic LSESr inhibited tumour‐necrosis‐factor‐α‐induced MCP‐1/CCL2 secretion by the human vascular endothelial cell line EAhy.926, as well as surface VCAM‐1 protein expression, in a concentration‐dependent manner.

CONCLUSIONS

Hexanic LSESr impedes key steps of monocyte and T cell attraction and adherence by inhibiting MCP‐1/CCL2 and VCAM‐1 expression by human prostate and vascular cells in an inflammatory environment.

These findings provide new insights into the anti‐inflammatory effects of the hexanic lipidosterolic extract of Serenoa repens, Permixon®, in benign prostatic hyperplasia.
‘Do more, smoke less!’ Harm reduction in action for smokers with mental health/substance use problems who cannot or will not quit
Authors: BAKER AMANDA L. , CALLISTER ROBIN , KELLY PETER J. , KYPRI KYPROS
Published: April 2012

Although smoking rates among mental health/substance abusing populations are very high, the focus of treatment and research has tended to be on substances other than tobacco. A range of harm‐reduction strategies is needed, including long‐term nicotine maintenance, smokeless tobacco and ‘clean’ nicotine products. For those who cannot or will not quit, assistance in reducing smoking should be given. Interventions for smoking among people with mental health/substance use problems may best be delivered by addressing multiple health‐risk behaviours, especially physical activity, around the same time.
[Baker AL, Callister R, Kelly PJ, Kypri K. ‘Do more, smoke less!’ Harm reduction in action for smokers with mental health/substance use problems who cannot or will not quit. Drug Alcohol Rev 2012;31:714[ndsh]717]
Transcriptional activation of Brassica napus β‐ketoacyl‐ACP synthase II with an engineered zinc finger protein transcription factor
Authors: Gupta Manju , DeKelver Russell C. , Palta Asha , Clifford Carla , Gopalan Sunita , Miller Jeffrey C. , Novak Stephen , Desloover Daniel , Gachotte Daniel , Connell James , Flook Josh , Patterson Thomas , Robbins Kelly , Rebar Edward J. , Gregory Philip D. , Urnov Fyodor D. , Petolino Joseph F.
Published: April 2012

Targeted gene regulation via designed transcription factors has great potential for precise phenotypic modification and acceleration of novel crop trait development. Canola seed oil composition is dictated largely by the expression of genes encoding enzymes in the fatty acid biosynthetic pathway. In the present study, zinc finger proteins (ZFPs) were designed to bind DNA sequences common to two canola β‐ketoacyl‐ACP Synthase II (KASII) genes downstream of their transcription start site. Transcriptional activators (ZFP‐TFs) were constructed by fusing these ZFP DNA‐binding domains to the VP16 transcriptional activation domain. Following transformation using Agrobacterium, transgenic events expressing ZFP‐TFs were generated and shown to have elevated KASII transcript levels in the leaves of transgenic T0 plants when compared to ‘selectable marker only’ controls as well as of T1 progeny plants when compared to null segregants. In addition, leaves of ZFP‐TF‐expressing T1 plants contained statistically significant decreases in palmitic acid (consistent with increased KASII activity) and increased total C18. Similarly, T2 seed displayed statistically significant decreases in palmitic acid, increased total C18 and reduced total saturated fatty acid contents. These results demonstrate that designed ZFP‐TFs can be used to regulate the expression of endogenous genes to elicit specific phenotypic modifications of agronomically relevant traits in a crop species.
Performance Management in Australia's Public Mental Health Service: A State Based Perspective
Authors: Holloway Donell , Alam Manzurul , Griffiths Arthur , Holloway David
Published: April 2012

This article investigates the implementation of key performance indicators (KPIs) in Western Australia's public mental health system. A nationally agreed performance measurement framework forms part of the much needed reform now taking place within Australia. However, progress in the effective monitoring and reporting of KPIs is slow in most states, including Western Australia. The authors report on the results of a selective case study involving semi‐structured interviews with mental health administrators and offer a more nuanced insight into the intricacies and difficulties involved in performance measurement reform. The principal finding is that effective performance measurement and reporting can be internally problematic, particularly within a fragmented and networked system. This tends to give rise to a conformance‐only approach to performance measurement.
Strategic Thinking, Shared Meaning‐Making and the Interpretive Turn in Policy ‐ A Case Study
Authors: Nicklin Germana
Published: April 2012

Governments' demands for results in a complex and rapidly changing policy environment call for more strategic and nuanced ways of approaching policy. Drawing on the work of the British interpretive ‘turn’, evidenced in the network governance literature and the differentiated polity critique of Westminster narratives, and of Liedkta on strategy as design, this paper suggests that shared strategic narratives, more consciously applied to policy development and implementation, could deliver better results; that consensus from shared meaning‐making may have depth, and that it could emphasise the transformative over the conservative forces of individuals' traditions and beliefs.

Data for the paper came from a micro‐study on the implementation of SmartGate automated border processing system in New Zealand.
The Role, Scope and Scale of Local Government in New Zealand: Its Prospective Future
Authors: Asquith Andy
Published: April 2012

This article contributes to the current debate as to the role, scope and scale of local government in New Zealand. In 2008, the Nationals Local Government Minister announced his intention to undertake a fundamental review of local government in NZ. This review finally took shape in mid 2011 with the publication of the consultation document ‘Smarter Government, Stronger Communities: towards better local governance and public services’ (Hide 2011). This article adds to the debate by identifying four key themes within the NZ local government system, namely: the legislative framework; managerial capabilities; calibre of elected members and finally democratic deficit and community disengagement. Whilst the first two themes are undoubted strengths, the latter two are equally weaknesses in the local governance system of NZ. Hence the article makes a number of recommendations, seeking to exploit the strengths and to correct the weaknesses in order to create a robust and credible local governance system for NZ.
The Rise and Fall and Rise Again of Public Broadcasting? The Case of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Authors: Miragliotta Narelle , Errington Wayne
Published: April 2012

The purported capacity of the digital age to solve the problem of market failure in the broadcasting sector was widely expected to further compromise the already fragile status of public service broadcasting in advanced democracies. The proliferation of niche media content made possible by convergence led to speculation that publicly funded broadcasters would be rendered redundant. However while public service broadcasting in Australia and in comparable states remains under financial pressure, many signs point to a renewed government commitment to the sector. Using the Australian Broadcasting Corporation as our case study we argue that the digital era has contributed to the renaissance of the sector in unexpected ways.
SCHEDULING IN HETEROGENEOUS COMPUTING AND GRID ENVIRONMENTS USING A PARALLEL CHC EVOLUTIONARY ALGORITHM
Authors: Nesmachnow Sergio , Alba Enrique , Cancela Héctor
Published: April 2012

Scheduling is a capital problem when using distributed heterogeneous computing (HC) and grid environments to solve complex problems. The scheduling problem in heterogeneous environments is NP‐hard, so a significant effort has been made to develop efficient methods for solving the problem. However, few works have faced realistic grid‐sized problem instances. This work presents a parallel CHC (pCHC) evolutionary algorithm codified over MALLBA, a general‐purpose library for combinatorial optimization, for solving the scheduling problem in HC and grid environments. Efficient numerical results are reported in the experimental analysis performed on both a standard benchmark and a set of large‐sized problem instances specially designed in this work. The comparative study shows that pCHC is able to achieve high problem solving efficacy, significantly improving over traditional deterministic scheduling methods, while also showing a good scalability behavior when solving large problem instances.
EVOLUTIONARY SHALLOW NATURAL LANGUAGE PARSING
Authors: Atkinson John , Matamala Juan
Published: April 2012

Identifying syntactical information from natural‐language texts requires the use of sophisticated parsing techniques mainly based on statistical and machine‐learning methods. However, due to complexity and efficiency issues many intensive natural‐language processing applications using full syntactic analysis methods may not be effective when processing large amounts of natural‐language texts. These tasks can adequately be performed by identifying partial syntactical information through shallow parsing (or chunking) techniques. In this work, a new approach to natural‐language chunking using an evolutionary model is proposed. It uses previously captured training information to guide the evolution of the model. In addition, a multiobjective optimization strategy is used to produce unique quality values for objective functions involving the internal and the external quality of chunking. Experiments and the main results obtained using the model and state‐of‐the‐art approaches are discussed.
AUTOMATIC ALGORITHM DEVELOPMENT USING NEW REINFORCEMENT PROGRAMMING TECHNIQUES
Authors: White Spencer , Martinez Tony , Rudolph George
Published: April 2012

Reinforcement Programming (RP) is a new approach to automatically generating algorithms that uses reinforcement learning techniques. This paper introduces the RP approach and demonstrates its use to generate a generalized, in‐place, iterative sort algorithm. The RP approach improves on earlier results that use genetic programming (GP). The resulting algorithm is a novel algorithm that is more efficient than comparable sorting routines. RP learns the sort in fewer iterations than GP and with fewer resources. Experiments establish interesting empirical bounds on learning the sort algorithm: A list of size 4 is sufficient to learn the generalized sort algorithm. The training set only requires one element and learning took less than 200,000 iterations. Additionally RP was used to generate three binary addition algorithms: a full adder, a binary incrementer, and a binary adder.
DETONATION CLASSIFICATION FROM ACOUSTIC SIGNATURE WITH THE RESTRICTED BOLTZMANN MACHINE
Authors: Bengio Yoshua , Chapados Nicolas , Delalleau Olivier , Larochelle Hugo , Saint‐Mleux Xavier , Hudon Christian , Louradour Jérôme
Published: April 2012

We compare the recently proposed Discriminative Restricted Boltzmann Machine (DRBM) to the classical Support Vector Machine (SVM) on a challenging classification task consisting in identifying weapon classes from audio signals. The three weapon classes considered in this work (mortar, rocket, and rocket‐propelled grenade), are difficult to reliably classify with standard techniques because they tend to have similar acoustic signatures. In addition, specificities of the data available in this study make it challenging to rigorously compare classifiers, and we address methodological issues arising from this situation. Experiments show good classification accuracy that could make these techniques suitable for fielding on autonomous devices. DRBMs appear to yield better accuracy than SVMs, and are less sensitive to the choice of signal preprocessing and model hyperparameters. This last property is especially appealing in such a task where the lack of data makes model validation difficult.
TIME FOR LOVE: The Place of Marriage and Children in the Thought of Stanley Hauerwas
Authors: Meilaender Gilbert
Published: April 2012

In essays written throughout his career, Stanley Hauerwas has unfolded a Christian vision of the marriage bond and the presence of children that seeks insistently to place these seemingly natural bonds within the new family of God that is the church. I examine his understanding, aiming to appreciate the Christian vision displayed while also suggesting that his emphasis on the new thing God does in the church is sometimes allowed to absorb and thereby lose the distinctive significance of the created bonds of marriage and family.
DEFENDING NIEBUHR FROM HAUERWAS
Authors: Novak David
Published: April 2012

In his 2001 book, With the Grain of the Universe, Stanley Hauerwas has made an extended case for Karl Barth as the model for how to do Christian ethics, and for Reinhold Niebuhr as the model for how not to do it. Though Barth's closer and deeper theological connection to the Christian tradition appeals to a Jewish traditionalist by analogy, nevertheless, Niebuhr's approach to social ethics, based as it is on a version of natural law, is of greater appeal. That is because it is more philosophically arguable in a secular society and culture, and because it is more politically effective there. It is what made Niebuhr a more effective opponent of Nazism than was Barth. Also, Niebuhr's version of natural law is not a christianized version of Stoic natural law teaching but, rather, a profound use of the biblical prohibition of idolatry, having heretofore unnoticed affinities with rabbinic developments of that prohibition.
RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT AND MILITARIZED HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION: When and Why the Churches Failed to Discern Moral Hazard
Authors: Reed Esther D.
Published: April 2012

This essay addresses moral hazards associated with the emerging doctrine of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P). It reviews the broad acceptance by the Vatican and the World Council of Churches of the doctrine between September 2003 and September 2008, and attempts to identify grounds for more adequate investigation of the moral issues arising. Three themes are pursued: how a changing political context is affecting notions of sovereignty; the authority that can approve or refuse the use of force; and plural foundations for human rights in a religiously and otherwise plural world such that the human rights protection does not become tyrannical.
THE JERUSALEM DECREE, PAUL, AND THE GENTILE ANALOGY TO HOMOSEXUAL PERSONS
Authors: Olson Jon C.
Published: April 2012

Revisionists and traditionalists appeal to Acts 15, welcoming the Gentiles, for analogies directing the church's response to homosexual persons. John Perry has analyzed the major positions. He faults revisionists for inadequate attention to the Jerusalem Decree and faults one traditionalist for using the Decree literally rather than through analogy. I argue that analogical use of the Decree must supplement rather than displace the plain sense. The Decree has been neglected due to assumptions that Paul opposed it, that it expired, or because Gentiles wanted non‐kosher meat. I argue that Paul continued to observe the Torah and supported the Decree, that it has not expired, and that Gentile desire for non‐kosher meat is not a firm obstacle. Affirming the plain sense of the Decree, I develop the analogy from Acts 15 to homosexual persons.
Coercion, vengeance, feud and accommodation: homicide in medieval Iceland
Authors: FIRTH HUGH
Published: April 2012

Quantitative methods were employed to situate medieval Icelandic homicide in comparative context. Estimates of homicide rates were derived from samtíðarsögur, and found comparable with European rural medieval homicide estimates: late twelfth‐century Iceland was probably not as violent as a qualitative reading of the sagas might suggest. There were significant differences in patterns of vengeance between íslendingasögur and samtíðarsögur. In íslendingasögur, farmers committing homicide faced flight, outlawry or death; chieftains who initiated homicide might escape justice, although most became embroiled in feud. In samtíðarsögur, lethal vengeance following ordinary homicide was less common, and not a source of feud. These results generate a critique of previous notions of reciprocity in Icelandic vengeance, and support more recent interpretations of early medieval Icelandic society as a highly unequal, divided society. Both sources suggest that, although vengeance may have been legitimated in the language of ‘repayment’, vengeance is best understood within a cross‐cultural context as competitive behaviour designed to achieve superiority rather than parity.
Retaining Early Childcare Educators
Authors: Jovanovic Jessie
Published: April 2012

Long day childcare (LDC) services provide education and care for children under 5 years of age in Australia. Those who work in these services are poorly paid and their efforts are undervalued. To support the emotional, social, intellectual and physical needs and interests of children, LDC staff are working physically, exercising vigilance in order to fulfil their duty of care, monitoring their interactions with children and regulating their own emotions. Perhaps for these reasons, the retention of early childhood (EC) educators is significantly lower than of other care‐based professions. However, little attention has been given to the impact of legislative requirements upon the workplace factors beyond pay and conditions that are likely to affect staff retention. This instrumental case study thus investigated workplace factors that personally or professionally affected EC educators' work in their LDC services. The study involves observations and interviews with EC educators (N = 28) from four South Australian LDC services. The results show that current legislative, structural and operational requirements constrain the ability of participants to collaborate across the board and to enhance the quality of their educative care. These concerns were amplified by the funding of their LDC service and the difficulty the participants found in achieving a work–life balance. The implications of the way in which LDC services are perceived and operate in liberal market economies are discussed.
Hemiplegia and thrombolysis
Authors: Meretoja A. , Strbian D. , Putaala J. , Kaste M. , Tatlisumak T.
Published: April 2012

Background and purpose

Hemiplegia at stroke onset may be considered a contraindication for thrombolytic therapy. We describe the outcome of patients with ischaemic stroke presenting with hemiplegia and treated with intravenous alteplase (tPA).

Methods

All patients treated with tPA for acute ischaemic stroke between 1995 and 2010 were prospectively recorded in the Helsinki Stroke Thrombolysis Registry. Patients with basilar artery occlusion (BAO) were excluded. Hemiplegia was defined as no visible voluntary movement on ipsilateral arm and leg.

Results

Of all treated patients (n = 1579), we excluded those with BAO (n = 152). Of remaining 1427 patients, 81 (6%) had hemiplegia at baseline. By 24 h, three had died and 20 retained their total hemiplegia. At day 7, a further nine had died, and 10 had persistent hemiplegia. A good 3‐month outcome, modified Rankin Scale (mRS, 0–2), was observed in 23%, independence in ambulatory function (mRS 3) in further 16%, while 9% were bedridden and 20% dead. A wide clinical spectrum of neurological deficits coexisted with hemiplegia. With advanced age, more neurological functions lost, and with early radiological signs, the prognosis of patients with hemiplegia deteriorated. With combined fixed eye deviation (n = 23), half were either bedridden (n = 3) or dead (n = 9) by 3 months, and fatal intracerebral haemorrhage were common (n = 5).

Conclusions

Hemiplegia at presentation should not prevent thrombolytic therapy by itself, as limb movements are likely to return, and two of five thrombolysis‐treated patients will walk independently by 3 months. With combined fixed eye deviation, the outcome is poorer and haemorrhagic complications are common.
Employment, Consumption, Debt, and European Industrial Relations Systems
Authors: CROUCH COLIN
Published: April 2012

Comparisons between British and German employment performance in recent years have characterized the two countries as, respectively, finding a formula of high employment based on high‐consumption expenditure financed by household debt, and remaining tied to an external trade and low‐consumption model that no longer creates jobs. Placing these two countries in a wider perspective of all European Union member states and the United States reveals a different picture. Two different patterns seem associated with high employment levels: a northern European one of low‐consumption expenditure and high household debt, and an Anglophone one of high‐consumption expenditure and high household debt. Links for these contrasting models are sought in their very different social policy and industrial relations systems. Questions are raised concerning the role of household debt in the northern European cases, and the lack of any clear patterns differentiating much of western, southern and central Europe.
Understanding the Role of Institutions in Industrial Relations: Perspectives from Classical Sociological Theory
Authors: JACKSON GREGORY , MUELLENBORN TIM
Published: April 2012

Theories of industrial relations have called for a stronger integration of the economic and social. Whereas economists have studied economic functions of institutions, neo‐institutional approaches in sociology have strongly rejected economic explanation in favor of seeing institutions as taken‐for‐granted cognitive assumptions. To further dialogue among these perspectives, this study reconstructs the concept of institutions in the classical sociological theory of Durkheim and Weber. Both classical perspectives place the dynamic tensions between the economic and social at the center of their theories, but develop these in distinct ways. The study illustrates the potential and limits of these four theoretical perspectives on institutions with regard to the empirical case of codetermination in Germany.
Varieties of Capitalism and Employment Relations: Informally Dominated Market Economies
Authors: DIBBEN PAULINE , WILLIAMS COLIN C.
Published: April 2012

The varieties of capitalism and employment relations literature have largely focused on formally regulated market economies, with a general neglect of the informal economy and of emerging markets where this work arrangement is dominant. In this article, however, the intention is to propose the Informally Dominated Market Economy as a form of capitalism that could be usefully incorporated into the industrial relations literature. To start to unpack this variety of capitalism, this article explores institutions and employment relations practices in the African economy of Mozambique. The outcome is a conceptual framework that includes both formal and informal institutions and considers the implications for work and employment relations.
The Impact of Private Equity on Management Practices in European Buy‐outs: Short‐termism, Anglo‐Saxon, or Host Country Effects?
Authors: BACON NICK , WRIGHT MIKE , MEULEMAN MIGUEL , SCHOLES LOUISE
Published: April 2012

This article explores the impact of private equity (PE) firms on human resource management practices in buy‐outs using data drawn from the first representative pan‐European survey into this issue. The findings suggest the overall impact of PE on high‐performance work practices (HPWP) is affected more by length of the investment relationship than the countries where PE is going to or is coming from. PE investment results in the increased use of HPWP in buy‐outs the longer the anticipated time to exit. With respect to the PE firms’ country of origin, buy‐outs backed by Anglo‐Saxon PE firms are as likely to introduce new HPWP (and are specifically more likely to extend performance‐related pay schemes) as those backed by non‐Anglo‐Saxon PE firms, suggesting some adaptation to the local host country contexts of buy‐outs.
Gene–environment interaction in teacher‐rated internalizing and externalizing problem behavior in 7‐ to 12‐year‐old twins
Authors: Lamb Diane J. , Middeldorp Christel M. , Van Beijsterveldt Catarina E.M. , Boomsma Dorret I.
Published: April 2012

Background:  Internalizing and externalizing problem behavior at school can have major consequences for a child and is predictive for disorders later in life. Teacher ratings are important to assess internalizing and externalizing problems at school. Genetic epidemiological studies on teacher‐rated problem behavior are relatively scarce and the reported heritability estimates differ widely. A unique feature of teacher ratings of twins is that some pairs are rated by different and others are rated by the same teacher. This offers the opportunity to assess gene–environment interaction.

Methods:  Teacher ratings of 3,502 7‐year‐old, 3,134 10‐year‐old and 2,193 12‐year‐old twin pairs were analyzed with structural equation modeling. About 60% of the twin pairs were rated by the same teacher. Twin correlations and the heritability of internalizing and externalizing behavior were estimated, separately for pairs rated by the same and different teachers. Socioeconomic status and externalizing behavior at age 3 were included as covariates.

Results:  Twin correlations and heritability estimates were higher when twin pairs were in the same class and rated by the same teacher than when pairs were rated by different teachers. These differences could not be explained by twin confusion or rater bias. When twins were rated by the same teacher, heritability estimates were about 70% for internalizing problems and around 80% in boys and 70% in girls for externalizing problems. When twins were rated by different teachers, heritability estimates for internalizing problems were around 30% and for externalizing problems around 50%.

Conclusions:  Exposure to different teachers during childhood may affect the heritability of internalizing and externalizing behavior at school. This finding points to gene–environment interaction and is important for the understanding of childhood problem behavior. In addition, it could imply an opportunity for interventions at school.
Proactive and reactive control inS‐Rcompatibility: A brain potential analysis
Authors: Mansfield Karen L. , van der Molen Maurits W. , van Boxtel Geert J. M.
Published: April 2012

We investigated how proactive and reactive control facilitates performance in mixed stimulus–response compatibility (SRC) tasks.SRCeffects were eliminated in mixed tasks and reversed following incompatible trials. In mixed tasks, early preferential response activation was present in stimulus‐locked lateralized readiness potentials (LRPs) but reduced following incompatible trials. In event‐related potentials (ERPs), stimulus‐lockedN2 was enhanced in all mixed trials but was not significantly influenced by the preceding trial. A response‐locked fronto‐central negative component (N‐120), peaking just before the response, was largest for mixed compatible trials preceded by incompatible trials. ThisN‐120 was paired with an enhancement to the peak of the response‐lockedLRP. Proactive control is involved in selection of anS‐Rmapping via the indirect route of a dual‐route model. Reactive control corrects theS‐Rmapping, particularly when alternating betweenS‐Rmappings.
Demonstrating emotional processing differences in psychopathy using affective ERP modulation
Authors: Anderson Nathaniel E. , Stanford Matthew S.
Published: April 2012

Psychopaths exhibit abnormalities processing emotional information, but there is less certainty regarding the role attention plays in these processes. We present data from two affective picture‐viewing tasks comparing event‐related potential (ERP) modulation effects when emotional information is present but not task relevant (Task 1) followed by a condition directing attention to the categorization of emotional content (Task 2). Controls show a robust, persistent ERP positivity (200–900 ms) associated with emotional target photos compared to neutral targets in both tasks. Individuals with psychopathy only showed this differentiation when explicitly attending to the emotional content of the photos (Task 2), and these effects remained smaller than the amplitude differences demonstrated by controls. Although abnormal allocation of attention may play a critical role, this cannot completely account for emotional processing deficits associated with psychopathy.
New rather than old? For working memory tasks with abstract patterns the P3 and the single‐trial delta response are larger for modified than identical probe stimuli
Authors: Mathes B. , Schmiedt J. , Schmiedt‐Fehr C. , Pantelis C. , Basar‐Eroglu C.
Published: April 2012

Memory‐guided decision making is dynamic and context‐dependent, even though many studies describe an enhancement of the P3 for recognized items in memory tasks (“old‐new effect”). This study utilized a delay‐dependent working memory task during which decision making could be optimized by focusing attention on detected changes instead of recognized similarities. Mean P3 amplitude and delta activity were analyzed from participants who classified probe stimuli as identical or modified. The P3 amplitudes were larger for modified than for identical probes, even when the probe occurred 4,000 ms after the primary stimulus. Enhanced single‐trial amplitude, trial‐by‐trial consistency, and frontoparietal phase coherence of delta activity contributed to the larger P3 for the modified probe. Thus, context‐dependent attentional resource allocation supporting memory‐guided decisions might explain the enhancement of the P3 for specific probe types.
‘My colleagues wear blinkers . . . If they were trained, they would understand better’. Reflections on teacher education on inclusion in Cyprus
Authors: Symeonidou Simoni , Phtiaka Helen
Published: April 2012

This paper discusses fundamental theoretical issues in relation to education on inclusion. These issues inform core decisions about initial teacher education courses and in‐service teacher‐training programmes on inclusion. International and local discussions and research in this area formed the background for the design and implementation of a 2‐year funded research project whose aim was to record teachers' knowledge, attitudes and skills in relation to inclusion before developing an in‐service training programme that suited their profiles. The paper focuses on Greek‐Cypriot teachers' perceptions of their initial and in‐service teacher education on inclusion in Cyprus, as revealed by survey and interview findings. The findings are discussed with reference to relevant literature from Cyprus and other countries in an attempt to draw connections between teacher education, local culture and international practice. The paper concludes with a discussion of the argument that in‐service training programmes on inclusion are of central importance, not only for Cyprus but also for other countries. We argue that teachers' initial education does not guarantee a shared understanding of inclusive education; therefore, in‐service teacher‐training programmes need to be carefully planned and delivered to all schoolteachers to address both theoretical and practical aspects of inclusive education effectively.
Insulin‐like growth factor‐1 lowers spreading depression susceptibility and reduces oxidative stress
Authors: Grinberg Yelena Y. , van Drongelen Wim , Kraig Richard P.
Published: April 2012

J. Neurochem. (2012) 122, 221–229.

Spreading depression (SD), the likely cause of migraine aura and perhaps migraine, is triggered by widespread and unfettered neuronal hyperexcitability. Migraine and the initiating hyperexcitability of seizure, which involve oxidative stress (OS), are likely interrelated. Environmental enrichment (EE) decreases seizure and can reduce migraine. EE’s well‐characterized neuroprotective effect involves insulin‐like growth factor‐1 (IGF‐1). Accordingly, we asked if IGF‐1 could mitigate the hyperexcitability that initiates SD using rat hippocampal slice cultures. We demonstrate that IGF‐1 significantly decreased SD susceptibility and related OS. We mimicked OS of SD and observed that IGF‐1 abolished hyperexcitability from OS. Application of an antioxidant significantly decreased SD susceptibility and co‐administration of an antioxidant with IGF‐1 produced no additive effect, whereas an oxidizer significantly increased SD, and this effect was abrogated by IGF‐1. Moreover, IGF‐1 significantly decreased baseline OS, despite seemingly paradoxically increasing CA3 bursting. These results suggest that IGF‐1 increased endogenous antioxidants to levels sufficient to buffer against the OS of SD. Insulin similarly mitigated SD susceptibility, but required a far greater dose. Since brain IGF‐1 increases with EE, and, like insulin, independently functions as an EE mimetic, we suggest that EE mimetics are a novel source of therapeutics for SD, and by extension, migraine.
Aortic reservoir function, estimated myocardial demand and coronary perfusion pressure following steady‐state and interval exercise
Authors: Lane A. D. , Heffernan K. S. , Rossow L. M. , Fahs C. A. , Ranadive S. M. , Yan H. , Baynard T. , Wilund K. , Fernhall B.
Published: April 2012

Aortic reservoir function is a measure of the aorta's ability to distribute blood during diastole, attenuating the pulsatility of blood flow, and is important in balancing cardiac flow. Effects of acute high versus moderate exercise intensity on reservoir function and cardiac energetics is unknown. Eighteen athletes completed a interval (INT) and steady‐state (SS) cycling bout at 60% of VO2 peak. Reservoir function was calculated as the ratio of diastolic run‐off to stroke volume and expressed as a percentage. Coronary perfusion pressure was derived from tissue Doppler imaging and echocardiography. Systolic tension–time integral (TTI) from the aortic pressure waveform served as a measure of myocardial oxygen consumption. All measures were made at rest, 30‐min postexercise and 60‐min postexercise. Average reservoir function before SS was 76%, which was reduced to 62% 30‐min post‐SS and 67% 60‐min post‐SS (P<0.05). Significantly greater reductions in reservoir function were seen following INT (from 71% pre‐INT to 45% 30‐min post‐INT and 53% 60‐min INT, P<0.05). Estimated coronary perfusion pressure was reduced 30 min following INT but not SS; both bouts reduced coronary perfusion pressure at 60‐min postexercise (P<0.05). TTI increased following both INT and SS at 30‐ and 60‐min postexercise with greater increases following INT (P<0.05). Following exercise, reservoir function was associated with TTI (P<0.05), but not coronary perfusion pressure (P>0.05). We conclude that reservoir function is attenuated following acute SS and INT, but these reductions were greater post‐INT, suggesting that exercise intensity affects reservoir function. Reduction of reservoir function following exercise is related to TTI, a reflection of myocardial oxygen consumption but apparently not associated with coronary perfusion pressure.
Rethinking governance and value in commodity chains through global recycling networks
Authors: Crang Mike , Hughes Alex , Gregson Nicky , Norris Lucy , Ahamed Farid
Published: April 2012

The dominant political‐economic approaches to global trade flows known as global value chains and global production networks offer powerful insights into the coordination and location of globally stretched supply chains, in particular from global South to North. By way of both conceptual and empirical challenge, this paper highlights flows of end‐of‐life goods from the global North towards the global South. This involves the disassembly and destruction of goods to recover secondary resources for further rounds of commodity production. Global recycling networks take things of rubbish value (often spent or end‐of‐life goods) and turn them back into resources in other places and production networks. They operate not through adding value, but by connecting different regimes of value. The paper does not set out a new conceptual framework, but asks what challenges the rekindling of value in used goods creates for global commodity chain analysis and what insights those approaches bring to looking at waste flows. The examples of used clothing and end‐of‐life merchant ships are mobilised to illustrate the dynamics of global recycling networks and to challenge prevailing commodity chain approaches in three key areas – supply logics and crosscutting networks, value and materiality, and inter‐firm governance. We argue that resource recovery engenders highly complex and brokered forms of governance that relate to practices of valuing heterogeneous materials and that contrast markedly with the modes of coordination dominated by big capital typical of global production networks for consumer goods.