bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Statin use and decreased risk of benign prostatic enlargement and lower urinary tract symptoms
Authors: St Sauver Jennifer L. , Jacobsen Steven J. , Jacobson Debra J. , McGree Michaela E. , Girman Cynthia J. , Nehra Ajay , Roger Veronique L. , Lieber Michael M.
Published: August 2010

Study Type – Prevention (individual cohort) Level of Evidence 2b

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

Statin medications reduce inflammation. Inflammation may be important in causing prostate enlargement and lower urinary tract symptoms in aging men. Therefore, statin use may decrease inflammation and help prevent prostate enlargement and lower urinary tract symptoms.

Men who took statin medications were less likely to develop an enlarged prostate or lower urinary tract symptoms compared to men who did not take statins. Additionally, men who took statins for the longest period of time had the lowest risk of developing these urological problems. These results suggest that statin use may help prevent common urological problems in aging men.

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether statin use is associated with a decreased risk of developing benign prostatic enlargement (BPE) and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS).

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

We conducted a retrospective, population‐based cohort study of 2447 men, 40–79 years of age, residing in Olmsted County, MN, USA, in 1990, and followed these men biennially through 2007.

Cox proportional hazard models were used to assess associations between statin use and new onset of moderate/severe LUTS (American Urological Association Symptom Index score >7), a decreased maximum urinary flow rate (<12 mL/s) or BPE (prostate volume >30 mL).

RESULTS

Statin use was inversely associated with new onset of LUTS (Hazard ratio (HR) 0.39; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.31–0.49), a decreased maximum flow rate (HR 0.53; 95% CI 0.34–0.82) and BPE (HR 0.40; 95% CI 0.23–0.69) after adjustment for baseline age and body mass index, diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart disease, smoking, alcohol use, activity level and non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory use.

The longest duration of statin use was associated with the lowest risk of developing each outcome (all tests for trend: P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

In this study, statin use was associated with a 6.5‐ to 7‐year delay in the new onset of moderate/severe LUTS or BPE.

While men typically take statin medications to prevent coronary heart disease events and related outcomes, these data suggest that men who use statins may also receive urologic benefits.
Artificial urinary sphincter (AMS 800) implantation for women with intrinsic sphincter deficiency: a technique for insiders?
Authors: Chartier‐Kastler Emmanuel , Van Kerrebroeck Philip , Olianas Roberto , Cosson Michel , Mandron Eric , Delorme Emmanuel , Richard François
Published: August 2010

Study Type – Therapy (case series)  Level of Evidence 4

Artificial urinary sphincter (AUS) implantation is one of several surgical options for the treatment of female stress urinary incontinence. It is indicated for women with both clinically and urodynamically defined intrinsic sphincter deficiency that significantly affects quality of life. The erosion/revision risk increases after several previous surgical interventions. Therefore, women believed to be candidates for AUS implantation should be rapidly (after the failure of a maximum of two previous surgical procedures) referred to specialized centres, where the knowledge and experience concerning the diagnosis, surgery and management of female stress urinary incontinence is concentrated. To refer correctly, non‐academic urologists/gynaecologists should also be well informed about AUS implantation. Only in this way can the patient weigh the high long‐term success rate and high quality of life improvement of AUS implantation against the greater complication/revision risk and take a well‐considered decision.
Follow the leader: fund managers trading in signal‐strength sequence*
Authors: Fong Kingsley Y. L. , Gallagher David R. , Gardner Peter A. , Swan Peter L.
Published: August 2010

When fund managers trade sequentially in the same direction, the information confirmation hypothesis predicts the long‐term profitability of the leader trade to be increasing in the number of subsequent trades. The information cascade hypothesis predicts a non‐positive relationship. Using active equity funds’ daily trading data, we document a transition from information confirmation to information cascades as the number of followers increase. We find that highly disguised multiple‐broker packages exhibit higher market impact, higher long‐term returns and are associated with fewer followers. Our study also documents that lead fund managers face portfolio risk constraints in trading on private information.
Is auditory discrimination mature by middle childhood? A study using time‐frequency analysis of mismatch responses from 7 years to adulthood
Authors: Bishop Dorothy V.M. , Hardiman Mervyn J. , Barry Johanna G.
Published: August 2010

Behavioural and electrophysiological studies give differing impressions of when auditory discrimination is mature. Ability to discriminate frequency and speech contrasts reaches adult levels only around 12 years of age, yet an electrophysiological index of auditory discrimination, the mismatch negativity (MMN), is reported to be as large in children as in adults. Auditory ERPs were measured in 30 children (7 to 12 years), 23 teenagers (13 to 16 years) and 32 adults (35 to 56 years) in an oddball paradigm with tone or syllable stimuli. For each stimulus type, a standard stimulus (1000 Hz tone or syllable [ba]) occurred on 70% of trials, and one of two deviants (1030 or 1200 Hz tone, or syllables [da] or [bi]) equiprobably on the remaining trials. For the traditional MMN interval of 100–250 ms post‐onset, size of mismatch responses increased with age, whereas the opposite trend was seen for an interval from 300 to 550 ms post‐onset, corresponding to the late discriminative negativity (LDN). Time‐frequency analysis of single trials revealed that the MMN resulted from phase‐synchronization of oscillations in the theta (4–7 Hz) range, with greater synchronization in adults than children. Furthermore, the amount of synchronization was significantly correlated with frequency discrimination threshold. These results show that neurophysiological processes underlying auditory discrimination continue to develop through childhood and adolescence. Previous reports of adult‐like MMN amplitudes in children may be artefactual results of using peak measurements when comparing groups that differ in variance.
How prepared is prepared enough?
Authors: Jongejan Ruben B. , Helsloot Ira , Beerens Ralf J.J. , Vrijling Jan K.
Published: August 2010

Decisions about disaster preparedness are rarely informed by cost‐benefit analyses. This paper presents an economic model to address the thorny question, ‘how prepared is prepared enough?’ Difficulties related to the use of cost‐benefit analysis in the field of disaster management concern the tension between the large number of high‐probability events that can be handled by a single emergency response unit and the small number of low‐probability events that must be handled by a large number of them. A further special feature of disaster management concerns the opportunity for cooperation between different emergency response units. To account for these issues, we introduce a portfolio approach. Our analysis shows that it would be useful to define disaster preparedness not in terms of capacities, but in terms of the frequency with which response capacity is expected to fall short.
‘You fix my community, you have fixed my life’: the disruption and rebuilding of ontological security in New Orleans
Authors: Hawkins Robert L. , Maurer Katherine
Published: August 2010

Using the concept of ontological security, this paper examines the physical and psychological loss of home and community following Hurricane Katrina. This qualitative longitudinal study includes 40 heads of households with school‐age children who lived in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. Participants describe a breakdown in their social fabric at the individual and structural/community levels that contributes to a sense of community loss and social displacement, disrupting their ontological security—their notion of safety, routine and trust in a stable environment. Three interrelated reactions were common: 1) experiencing nostalgia for their old neighbourhoods specifically and New Orleans in general; 2) experiencing a sense of loss of people and things that represented a level of security or constancy; 3) initiation of a process for re‐establishing ontological security whether or not they returned to New Orleans. The paper concludes that intangible losses have an important psychological effect on community redevelopment and recovery from trauma.
Land tenure, disasters and vulnerability
Authors: Reale Andreana , Handmer John
Published: August 2010

Although often overlooked, land tenure is an important variable impacting on vulnerability to disaster. Vulnerability can occur either where land tenure is perceived to be insecure, or where insecure tenure results in the loss of land, especially when alternative livelihood and housing options are limited. Disasters often provide the catalyst for such loss. This paper avoids making generalisations about the security of particular types of tenure, but instead explores factors that mediate tenure security, particularly in the wake of a disaster. The paper identifies five mediating factors: (1) the local legal system; (2) government administrative authority; (3) the economy; (4) evidence of tenure, and; (5) custom and dominant social attitudes. It is shown that some mediating factors are more salient for particular types of tenure than others. The paper will highlight the importance of land tenure in any assessment of vulnerability, and conclude with suggestions for further research.
Networking emergency teams in Jerusalem
Authors: Yanay Uri , Benjamin Sharon , Yamin Hanna Gimmon
Published: August 2010

With the recent upsurge in terrorism, more and more attention is being directed at examining the effectiveness and efficiency of emergency teams. These teams tend to focus on their areas of expertise without necessarily communicating, cooperating or coordinating their operations. Research suggests that improved interpersonal communication and coordination enhances the overall work of each emergency team, and that their combined effort is far in excess of the sum of their individual endeavours. This paper outlines attempts made in Jerusalem to improve the performance of emergency teams and to help the helpers by holding training workshops, setting up a forum of co‐workers and encouraging dialogue among various emergency teams in the city. A planned intervention programme was designed to enable informal networking between team leaders. The programme had an impact on team workers and resulted in a more coordinated and effective service delivery during emergencies.
Crime in post‐Katrina Houston: the effects of moral panic on emergency planning
Authors: Settles Tanya , Lindsay Bruce R.
Published: August 2010

This study used a mixed methods approach to estimate whether a moral panic occurred after Hurricane Katrina forced the evacuations of more than 250,000 people to Houston, Texas. The study viewed data from the Houston Police Department combined with a qualitative review of references of criminal activity in local print media. In total, over 8,500 lines of text were analysed to discern themes associated with media representations of the influence of evacuees on the city of Houston. There was little evidence of statistically significant increases in crime over the months following the evacuations. There was, however, evidence that evacuees, principally from New Orleans, were blamed for perceived increases in violent crime and lawlessness. There are also significant policy implications for state, local and federal governments. In particular, the policies of the Federal Emergency Management Agency were blamed for at least some of the perceived crime attributed to Katrina evacuees.
Continuity, social change and Katrina
Authors: Henry Jacques
Published: August 2010

For some time, disaster researchers have looked for social change and mostly found continuity. This paper argues that shifting the focus from investigating social change to documenting continuity may enhance the understanding and planning of post‐disaster situations especially in industrialised societies like the United States. Drawing from qualitative data from post‐Katrina New Orleans, it proposes using the concept of continuity as an analytical device both to identify the axes of continuity and evaluate the likelihood and possible dimensions of social change. The analysis of long‐term recovery plans, along with field observations and interviews with evacuees, suggest that despite the well‐documented emergence of conflict in post‐Katrina New Orleans, the likelihood of social change appears limited.
Half full or half empty? Shelter after the Jogjakarta earthquake
Authors: MacRae Graeme , Hodgkin David
Published: August 2010

The international shelter response to the Jogjakarta earthquake in Indonesia in May 2006 is widely regarded as a success story, especially when compared with the response to the Indian Ocean tsunami 16 months earlier. This evaluation is largely in terms of the international aid system itself, which emphasises statistical measures of ‘success’ and internal coordination and efficiency. From the perspective of those closer to the ground, however, it was less successful, especially in terms of coordination and communication with and participation of local agencies and affected communities. This paper, by an aid worker resident in Jogjakarta and an anthropologist, examines the response from a perspective grounded both within and outside the aid system, local as well as global. It recognises the relative success of the response, but argues for an approach more grounded in local knowledge and responsive to local concerns, while also providing practical suggestions for improvement.
The normalisation of terror: the response of Israel's stock market to long periods of terrorism
Authors: Peleg Kobi , Regens James L. , Gunter James T. , Jaffe Dena H.
Published: August 2010

Man‐made disasters such as acts of terrorism may affect a society's resiliency and sensitivity to prolonged physical and psychological stress. The Israeli Tel Aviv stock market TA‐100 Index was used as an indicator of reactivity to suicide terror bombings. After accounting for factors such as world market changes and attack severity and intensity, the analysis reveals that although Israel's financial base remained sensitive to each act of terror across the entire period of the Second Intifada (2000–06), sustained psychological resilience was indicated with no apparent overall market shift. In other words, we saw a ‘normalisation of terror’ following an extended period of continued suicide bombings. The results suggest that investors responded to less transitory global market forces, indicating sustained resilience and long‐term market confidence. Future studies directly measuring investor expectations and reactions to man‐made disasters, such as terrorism, are warranted.
Framing the Good Citizen
Authors: Pykett Jessica , Saward Michael , Schaefer Anja
Published: August 2010

This article interrogates the norms of good citizenship invoked in and across different social domains, using the example of citizenship education in the UK as one field in which good citizenship is constituted. It is possible to make visible the political struggle inherent in the mechanisms of framing the good citizen by unpacking the differences between citizenship as acts, status and virtues. This is a necessary step in assessing good citizenship claims in the absence of moral and political absolutes. We deploy a two-tiered account of Butler's theory of performativity to examine how ordinary citizenship acts are preceded by elite rhetorical framing. We conclude that citizenship, like democracy, is always enacted in particular contexts in which positioning, method and motives play an important part.
‘Let Me Tell the Story Straight On’: Middlemarch, Process-Tracing Methods and the Politics of Narrative
Authors: Ruback Timothy J.
Published: August 2010

Much thought has been put into developing rationales for the process-tracing method, but proponents of this narrative method have been agnostic about the criterial demands for ‘writing up’ a case study. This article addresses that lack through a double reading. First, I show that ‘good’ process-tracing prose mirrors a narrative voice found in Victorian fiction, most notably in George Eliot's Middlemarch. Then, in the second reading, I critique this narrative approach through a close reading of Middlemarch. In doing so, I explain how this style attempts (and ultimately fails) to mask its own pre-theoretical political commitments. For process-tracing to seem effective, its practitioners must turn a blind eye to the theoretical consequences of narrative style and must remain silent on the instability inherent in their prose.
Forecasting the Vote for a Third Party: The British Liberals, 1974–2005
Authors: Bélanger Éric , Nadeau Richard , Lewis-Beck Michael S.
Published: August 2010

While for multiparty systems the development of vote function forecast models for the incumbent party and the official opposition party is commonplace, only rarely do these models try to forecast the vote for a third party. Can third party vote shares be forecasted with reasonable accuracy? We explore this question within the context of British politics. Our model proposes that the British Liberal party vote is mostly driven by the extent to which the UK electorate approves or disapproves of the official opposition leader. Our results are consistent with the idea that once the decision has been made to punish the incumbent government, a voter must then decide whether to support the official opposition party or another smaller party.
3D Surface Reconstruction Using a Generalized Distance Function
Authors: Poranne R. , Gotsman C. , Keren D.
Published: August 2010

We define a generalized distance function on an unoriented 3D point set and describe how it may be used to reconstruct a surface approximating these points. This distance function is shown to be a Mahalanobis distance in a higher‐dimensional embedding space of the points, and the resulting reconstruction algorithm a natural extension of the classical Radial Basis Function (RBF) approach. Experimental results show the superiority of our reconstruction algorithm to RBF and other methods in a variety of practical scenarios.
High‐Quality Screen‐Space Ambient Occlusion using Temporal Coherence
Authors: Mattausch Oliver , Scherzer Daniel , Wimmer Michael
Published: August 2010

Ambient occlusion is a cheap but effective approximation of global illumination. Recently, screen‐space ambient occlusion (SSAO) methods, which sample the frame buffer as a discretization of the scene geometry, have become very popular for real‐time rendering. We present temporal SSAO (TSSAO), a new algorithm which exploits temporal coherence to produce high‐quality ambient occlusion in real time. Compared to conventional SSAO, our method reduces both noise as well as blurring artefacts due to strong spatial filtering, faithfully representing fine‐grained geometric structures. Our algorithm caches and reuses previously computed SSAO samples, and adaptively applies more samples and spatial filtering only in regions that do not yet have enough information available from previous frames. The method works well for both static and dynamic scenes.
Hermite Radial Basis Functions Implicits
Authors: Macêdo I. , Gois J. P. , Velho L.
Published: August 2010

The Hermite radial basis functions (HRBF) implicits reconstruct an implicit function which interpolates or approximates scattered multivariate Hermite data (i.e. unstructured points and their corresponding normals). Experiments suggest that HRBF implicits allow the reconstruction of surfaces rich in details and behave better than previous related methods under coarse and/or non‐uniform samplings, even in the presence of close sheets. HRBF implicits theory unifies a recently introduced class of surface reconstruction methods based on radial basis functions (RBF), which incorporate normals directly in their problem formulation. Such class has the advantage of not depending on manufactured offset‐points to ensure existence of a non‐trivial implicit surface RBF interpolant. In fact, we show that HRBF implicits constitute a particular case of Hermite–Birkhoff interpolation with radial basis functions, whose main results we present here. This framework not only allows us to show connections between the present method and others but also enable us to enhance the flexibility of our method by ensuring well‐posedness of an interesting combined interpolation/regularization approach.
Progressive Point‐Light‐Based Global Illumination
Authors: Dammertz H. , Keller A. , Lensch H. P. A.
Published: August 2010

We present a physically based progressive global illumination system that is capable of simulating complex lighting situations robustly by efficiently using both light and eye paths. Specifically, we combine three distinct algorithms: point‐light‐based illumination which produces low‐noise approximations for diffuse inter‐reflections, specular gathering for glossy and singular effects and a caustic histogram method for the remaining light paths. The combined system efficiently renders low‐noise production quality images with indirect illumination from arbitrary light sources including inter‐reflections from caustics and allows for simulating depth of field and dispersion effects. Our system computes progressive approximations by continuously refining the solution using a constant memory footprint without the need of pre‐computations or optimizing parameters beforehand.
Fullsphere Irradiance Factorization for Real‐Time All‐Frequency Illumination for Dynamic Scenes
Authors: Michael D. , Chrysanthou Y.
Published: August 2010

Computation of illumination with soft‐shadows from all‐frequency environment maps, is a computationally expensive process. Use of pre‐computation add the limitation that receiver's geometry must be known in advance, since Irradiance computation takes into account the receiver's normal direction. We propose a method that using a new notion that we introduce, the Fullsphere Irradiance, allows us to accumulate the contribution from all light sources in the scene, on a possible receiver without knowing the receiver's geometry. This expensive computation is done in a pre‐processing step. The pre‐computed value is used at run time to compute the Irradiance arriving at any receiver with known direction. We show how using this technique we compute soft‐shadows and self‐shadows in real‐time from all‐frequency environments, with only modest memory requirements. A GPU implementation of the method, yields high frame rates even for complex scenes with dozens of dynamic occluders and receivers.
Dyslexic, delayed, precocious or just normal? Word reading skills of children with autism spectrum disorders
Authors: Åsberg Jakob , Dahlgren Sandberg Annika
Published: August 2010

Word reading skills and reading‐related language and cognitive correlates were examined in Swedish 10–15‐year‐olds with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The full group with ASD did not differ statistically from an age‐matched comparison group in word reading, but a poor‐readers subgroup was identified who displayed severe difficulties. Normal readers with ASD did not differ from the comparison group in nonverbal ability, phonological processing, rapid naming or receptive vocabulary. The poor subgroup performed, however, below on all measures except nonverbal ability. When poor readers with ASD were matched for reading level with younger controls, no difference was found on any reading‐related skill. No significant correlation was furthermore found between autistic symptomatology and word reading within the ASD group. It is concluded that the pattern of individual differences in word reading among children with ASD conforms well to that seen in children without ASD of normal or delayed reading abilities.
‘If It Ain't True, Then It's Just a Book!’ The reading and teaching of faction literature
Authors: Olin‐Scheller Christina , Tengberg Michael
Published: August 2010

This article examines issues related to the reading and teaching of faction literature in school. Faction is defined not only as a literary genre but also as a form of reading applied to the reader. The article discusses young people's encounters with novels ‘based on a true story’ as well as the challenges this means for literature instruction. We also analyse the relationship between teachers' approach to faction literature in the classroom and syllabus formulations regarding appreciative forms of reading. The empirical material mainly consists of instances of teaching in the subject of Swedish from three upper secondary school classrooms. Our analysis suggests three areas in which the students' reading of faction becomes complicated in the way that the text's factual accuracy is often taken for granted. To meet these challenges a reflective literature instruction is required. We also demonstrate that the idea of literature mainly as a source of knowledge of life is strongly advocated in the syllabus.
Spanish dyslexic spelling abilities: the case of consonant clusters
Authors: Serrano Francisca , Defior Sylvia
Published: August 2010

This paper investigates Spanish dyslexic spelling abilities: specifically, the influence of syllabic linguistic structure (simple vs consonant cluster) on children's spelling performance. Consonant clusters are phonologically complex structures, so it was anticipated that there would be lower spelling performance for these syllabic structures than in simple ones, because of the poor phonological processing of dyslexic children. The participants were 31 dyslexic children, 31 chronological age‐matched children and 31 reading level‐matched children. A dictation task with words and pseudowords (with and without consonant clusters) was used. Word lexical frequency was controlled. The results show that the spelling of consonant clusters presents difficulties for dyslexic spelling performance despite this structure being orthographically consistent. Dyslexic children present a higher performance difference in items with consonant clusters than in simple items, compared with typically developing children. The work raises questions about the items used for the identification of dyslexic children's difficulties.
What's Bad About Bad Faith?
Authors: Feldman Simon D. , Hazlett Allan
Published: August 2010

Abstract:Contemporary common sense holds that authenticity is an ethical ideal: that there is something bad about inauthenticity, and something good about authenticity. Here we criticize the view that authenticity is bad because it detracts from the wellbeing of the inauthentic person, and propose an alternative moral account of the badness of inauthenticity, based on the idea that inauthentic behaviour is potentially misleading.
Integrating computer vision with web‐based knowledge for medical diagnostic assistance
Authors: Segev Aviv
Published: August 2010

Abstract: The analysis of medical documents necessitates context recognition for diverse purposes such as classification, performance analysis and decision making. Traditional methods of context recognition have focused on the textual part of documents. Images, however, provide a rich source of information that can support the context recognition process. A method is proposed for integrating computer vision in context recognition using the web as a knowledge base. The method is implemented on medical case studies to determine the main symptoms or achieve possible diagnoses. In experiments the method for integrating computer vision in context recognition achieves better results than term frequency and inverse document frequency and only context recognition. The proposed method can serve as a basis for an image and text based decision support system to assist the physician in reviewing medical records.
Influence diagrams and multiple experts: a preliminary model
Authors: Hurt C.D.
Published: August 2010

Abstract: This paper examines the problem of eliciting expertise from multiple experts without using group techniques and then using that expertise in a meaningful manner. The solution proposed preserves the input of the experts in two problem areas: (1) where there is disagreement among the experts and (2) where there is unequal weighting of the experts. The model proposed has the benefit of robustness and of retaining the reliability and validity of the underlying expertise.
Cutaneous metastasis of lung carcinoma: a retrospective study of 12 cases
Authors: Dhambri S , Zendah I , Ayadi‐Kaddour A , Adouni O , El Mezni F
Published: August 2010

Background  The skin is a rare site of metastasis of the internal malignancies. On the contrary, lung cancer is a common primary malignancy of skin metastasis. The latter is either synchronous with the primary lung tumour or can reveal it.

Objective  To analyse the clinical findings and the outcome of cutaneous metastasis in patients with primary lung cancer.

Methods  Retrospective study including 12 cases of cutaneous metastasis of lung cancer diagnosed in our institution during 6 years.

Results  Our patients included three women and nine men with a median age of 59.83 years. The cutaneous metastases were unique in seven cases. They revealed the primary tumour in two cases, were discovered synchronously with the primary tumour in six cases and after the primary tumour in four cases. They appeared in patients presenting multiple metastases in 10 cases. Clinical appearance consisted on a firm nodule, sometimes ulcerated with a diameter ranging from 0.5 to 5.5 cm. The tumour was sited in the thorax, the back, the abdomen; or the upper or lower limbs. Pathological examination of bronchial biopsy revealed an adenocarcinoma in eight cases, a squamous cell carcinoma in two cases and a small cell carcinoma in two cases. In spite of lung cancer therapies, the patients with metastasis to other organs with a median follow‐up time of 4 months died.

Conclusion  Cutaneous metastases of lung cancer are of poor prognosis. They are most of the time associated with an advanced neoplastic process with metastasis to other organs. Median survival after skin involvement does not exceed months.
In vivo reflectance confocal microscopy: automated diagnostic image analysis of melanocytic skin tumours
Authors: Koller S , Wiltgen M , Ahlgrimm‐Siess V , Weger W , Hofmann‐Wellenhof R , Richtig E , Smolle J , Gerger A
Published: August 2010

Background  In vivo reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) has been shown to be a valuable imaging tool in the diagnosis of melanocytic skin tumours. However, diagnostic image analysis performed by automated systems is to date quite rare.

Objectives  In this study, we investigated the applicability of an automated image analysis system using a machine learning algorithm on diagnostic discrimination of benign and malignant melanocytic skin tumours in RCM.

Methods  Overall, 16 269 RCM tumour images were evaluated. Image analysis was based on features of the wavelet transform. A learning set of 6147 images was used to establish a classification tree algorithm and an independent test set of 10 122 images was applied to validate the tree model (grouping method 1). Additionally, randomly generated ‘new’ learning and test sets, tumour images only and different skin layers were evaluated (grouping method 2, 3 and 4).

Results  The classification tree analysis correctly classified 93.60% of the melanoma and 90.40% of the nevi images of the learning set. When the classification tree was applied to the independent test set 46.71 ± 19.97% (range 7.81–83.87%) of the tumour images in benign melanocytic skin lesions were classified as ‘malignant’, in contrast to 55.68 ± 14.58% (range 30.65–83.59%; t‐test: P < 0.036) in malignant melanocytic skin lesions (grouping method 1). Further investigations could not improve the results significantly (grouping method 2, 3 and 4).

Conclusions  The automated RCM image analysis procedure holds promise for further investigations. However, to date our system cannot be applied to routine skin tumour screening.
Licensing Parents Revisited
Authors: LaFOLLETTE HUGH
Published: August 2010

abstract

Although systems for licensing professionals are far from perfect, and their problems and costs should not be ignored, they are justified as a necessary means of protecting innocent people's vital interests. Licensing defends patients from inept doctors, pharmacists, and physical therapists; it protects clients from unqualified lawyers. We should protect people who are highly vulnerable to those who are supposed to serve them, those with whom they have a special relationship. Requiring professionals to be licensed is the most plausible way of doing that. Given the overwhelming support for the licensing of these professionals, I find it odd that so many people categorically reject proposals to license parents. Although the relationship between a parent and her children is different in some respects, it is also relevantly similar to that between a professional and those she serves. To defend these claims, I show how and why the rationale for licensing parents parallels the rational for licensing professionals. I then ask whether such a program could be justifiably implemented. Finally, I describe and reject what I see as the flawed view of the relationship between parents and their children.
Ecological Refugees, States Borders, and the Lockean Proviso
Authors: NINE CARA
Published: August 2010

abstract

Ecological refugees are expected to make up an increasing percentage of overall refugees in the coming decades as predicted climate change related disasters will displace millions of people. In this essay, I focus on those rights ecological refugees may claim on the basis of collective self‐determination. To this end, I will focus on a few specific cases that I call cases of ‘ecological refugee states’. Tuvalu, the Maldives, and to a certain extent, Bangladesh are predicted to be ecological refugee states in the near future. These are states whose entire (or close to it) geographical territory is predicted to be lost to rising sea levels; the collective body of the people will itself become an ecological refugee.

The question is: what may the people of an ecological refugee state legitimately claim on the basis of their right to self‐determination? Should we redraw state borders to accommodate a New Tuvalu? I argue that a plausible position regarding territorial rights is that when (1) a people clearly is (or recently was) self‐determining and has a legitimate claim to continue to be self‐determining, and (2) the self‐determination of a people is existentially threatened because the people lacks territorial rights, that (3) the people becomes a candidate for sovereign over a new territory. The result is that existing state borders may need to change to accommodate something like a New Tuvalu. To generate these results on behalf of ecological refugee states, I examine the principles of the system of territorial states. Because the system of territorial states is a system of exclusive rights over goods, especially land, it is possible that it is subject to the conditions of a Lockean proviso mechanism. This paper is dedicated mainly to adapting a version of the Lockean proviso for use in territorial rights theory.
Is Health (Really) Special? Health Policy between Rawlsian and Luck Egalitarian Justice
Authors: SEGALL SHLOMI
Published: August 2010

abstract

In recent work, Norman Daniels extends the application of Rawls's principle of ‘fair equality of opportunity’ from health care to health proper. Crucial to that account is the view that health care, and now also health, is special. Daniels also claims that a rival theory of distributive justice, namely luck egalitarianism (or ‘equal opportunity for welfare’), cannot provide an adequate account of justice in health and health care. He argues that the application of that theory to health policy would result in an account that is, in a sense, too narrow, for it denies treatment to imprudent patients (e.g. lung cancer patients who smoked). In a different sense, Daniels argues, luck egalitarian health policy would be too wide: it arguably tells us to treat individuals for such brute‐luck conditions as shyness, stupidity, ugliness, and having the ‘wrong’ skin colour. I seek to advance three claims in response to Daniels's revised theory, and in defence of a luck egalitarian view of health policy. First, I question Daniels's assertion regarding the specialness of health. While he is right to abandon his insistence on the specialness of health care, it is doubtful that health proper can be depicted as special. Second, I try and meet Daniels's objections to luck egalitarianism. Luck egalitarian health policy escapes being too narrow for it does not in fact require denying basic care to imprudent patients. As for it being allegedly too wide, I try to show that it is not, after all, counterintuitive to rid individuals of unfortunate and disadvantageous biological traits (say, a disadvantageous skin colour). And third, I question whether Daniels's own Rawlsian account is in fact wide enough. I argue that fair equality of opportunity fails to justify some standard medical procedures that many health systems do already practice.
Radon in the investigations of geo‐hazards in Polish collieries
Authors: WYSOCKA M.
Published: August 2010

Outbursts (releases of gas and coal from exposed coal face) are dangerous events in coal mines, potentially leading to damage in the galleries and casualties among miners. For that reason, monitoring of this hazard is very important in collieries with seams prone to outbursts. Current hazard indicators are not sufficient for the proper prediction of geodynamic events and any effort to find a new and better method of monitoring is thus desirable. During the 1980s and 1990s, attempts were undertaken to apply specific radiometric methods to support the prediction of outbursts in collieries in the Lower Silesian Coal Basin (LSCB) in south‐western Poland. This idea was developed as an analogy to the study of radon changes in groundwater prior to earthquakes. This study investigates the hypothesis of possible variations of radon emanation from coal seams prior to outbursts. Techniques and a methodology of radon observation in gas samples from strata were developed and applied. It has been stated that there is a degree of correlation between the temporal and spatial variations of radon level and the hazard level of an outburst. In the 1990s, all collieries in LSCB were abandoned and further investigations were thus stopped. In the last few years, the occurrences of outbursts were noticed in the collieries of Upper Silesian Coal Basin. For that reason, we initiated the monitoring of radon concentration as sampled from headings in dangerous coal seams. The purpose of the research is an attempt to introduce a new parameter, ‘the radon indicator of outburst hazard’, which could be used to support other routinely applied techniques of outburst prediction. This study provides some results from previous investigations performed in the collieries of the LSCB, as background and calibration to the preliminary results of the new research, performed in one of the coal mines in Upper Silesia region.
Sensory processing in internationally adopted, post‐institutionalized children
Authors: Wilbarger Julia , Gunnar Megan , Schneider Mary , Pollak Seth
Published: August 2010

Background/Methods:  Sensory processing capacities of 8–12‐year‐old internationally adopted (IA) children who experienced prolonged institutional care (> 12 months with 75% of pre‐adoption lives in institutional care) prior to adoption into family environments (PI) were compared to a group of IA children who were adopted early (< 8 months) predominantly from foster care with little or no institutional experience (EA/FC) and another group of non‐adopted (NA) children raised by their birth parents in the United States. All children had estimated IQs within the normal range and did not evidence major neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g., cerebral palsy, fetal alcohol syndrome, Down’s syndrome). Sensory processing was evaluated with a commonly used parent‐report measure and a laboratory assessment.

Results:  Children who had experienced prolonged institutionalization showed higher levels of reactivity to sensation and displayed both more aversion and approach to sensory stimuli than the other groups. The comparison groups (EA/FC & NA) did not differ on any of the sensory processing measures.

Conclusions:  These results suggest that early institutional rearing which typically involves both sensory and social deprivation is associated with problems in sensory modulation capacities.
Tuning in to Kids: improving emotion socialization practices in parents of preschool children – findings from a community trial
Authors: Havighurst Sophie S. , Wilson Katherine R. , Harley Ann E. , Prior Margot R. , Kehoe Christiane
Published: August 2010

Background:  This study evaluated a new prevention and early intervention parenting program: Tuning in to Kids. The program aims to improve emotion socialization practices in parents of preschool children and is based on research evidence that parents’ responses to, and coaching of, their children’s emotions influence emotional and behavioral functioning in children.

Methods:  Two hundred and sixteen primary caregiver parents of children aged 4.0–5.11 years were randomized into an intervention or waitlist control group. Parents in the intervention condition attended a 6‐session group parenting program plus two booster sessions. Assessment occurred pre‐intervention, post‐intervention and at six‐month follow‐up. Questionnaires assessed parent emotion awareness and regulation, parent beliefs and practices of emotion socialization (emotion dismissing, emotion coaching, empathy) and child behavior (parent and teacher report). Observation of emotion socialization practices and child emotional knowledge was conducted pre‐intervention and at follow‐up with 161 parent–child dyads.

Results:  Parents in the intervention condition reported significant improvements in their own emotion awareness and regulation, increases in emotion coaching, and decreases in emotionally dismissive beliefs and behaviors. There were increases in parents’ observed use of emotion labels and discussion of causes and consequences of emotions with their children. Child emotional knowledge improved, and reductions in child behavior problems were reported by parents and teachers.

Conclusions:  This study provides support for the efficacy of a parenting intervention targeting parent emotion socialization practices that lead to improved child emotional knowledge and behavior. This preventative intervention targeting parents’ own emotion awareness and regulation, as well as emotional communication in parent–child relationships, is a promising addition to available parenting programs.
Annual Research Review: Development of the cerebral cortex: implications for neurodevelopmental disorders
Authors: Rubenstein John L.R.
Published: August 2010

The cerebral cortex has a central role in cognitive and emotional processing. As such, understanding the mechanisms that govern its development and function will be central to understanding the bases of severe neuropsychiatric disorders, particularly those that first appear in childhood. In this review, I highlight recent progress in elucidating genetic, molecular and cellular mechanisms that control cortical development. I discuss basic aspects of cortical developmental anatomy, and mechanisms that regulate cortical size and area formation, with an emphasis on the roles of fibroblast growth factor (Fgf) signaling and specific transcription factors. I then examine how specific types of cortical excitatory projection neurons are generated, and how their axons grow along stereotyped pathways to their targets. Next, I address how cortical inhibitory (GABAergic) neurons are generated, and point out the role of these cells in controlling cortical plasticity and critical periods. The paper concludes with an examination of four possible developmental mechanisms that could contribute to some forms of neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism.
Phosphatidic acid mediates salt stress response by regulation of MPK6 in Arabidopsis thaliana
Authors: Yu Lijuan , Nie Jianing , Cao Chunyan , Jin Yakang , Yan Min , Wang Fuzheng , Liu Ji , Xiao Yun , Liang Yongheng , Zhang Wenhua
Published: August 2010

Commentary p640
Pollinator behaviour and plant speciation: can assortative mating and disruptive selection maintain distinct floral morphs in sympatry?
Authors: Rymer Paul D. , Johnson Steven D. , Savolainen Vincent
Published: August 2010

Featured paper: See Commentary p303
Task requirements change signal strength of the primary somatosensory M50: Oddball vs. one‐back tasks
Authors: Götz Theresa , Huonker Ralph , Miltner Wolfgang H. R. , Witte Otto W. , Dettner Konrad , Weiss Thomas
Published: August 2010

Studies on attention to tactile stimuli have produced conflicting results concerning the possibility and/or direction of modulation of early somatosensory‐evoked fields (SEFs). To evaluate sources of these conflicting results, the same subjects performed four different tasks in which the stimulation site, type, and intensity were kept constant. Twelve subjects performed an oddball‐like tactile task, two different one‐back tactile tasks, and a visual task, while two distal phalanges of the index and ring finger were stimulated. Task‐dependent SEF modulations were found as early as 50 ms after stimulus onset (M50 component). Target/non‐target ratios of M50 revealed enhanced values for the oddball‐like tactile task, but decreased values for the tactile one‐back task. This indicates that previously obtained conflicting results might be due to different central mechanisms induced by different task requirements.
Distinct neural generators of sensory gating in schizophrenia
Authors: Williams Terrance J. , Nuechterlein Keith H. , Subotnik Kenneth L. , Yee Cindy M.
Published: August 2010

Although malfunctioning of inhibitory processes is proposed as a pathophysiological mechanism in schizophrenia and has been studied extensively with the P50 gating paradigm, the brain regions involved in generating and suppressing the P50 remain unclear. The current investigation used EEG source analysis and the standard S1‐S2 paradigm to clarify the neural structures associated with P50 gating in 16 schizophrenia patients and 14 healthy subjects. Based on prior research, the superior temporal gyrus, hippocampus, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, thalamus, and their dipole moments were evaluated. In modeling the P50, a neural network involving all four brain regions provided the best goodness‐of‐fit across both groups. In healthy subjects, the P50 ratio score correlated positively with the hippocampal dipole moment ratio, whereas a significant association with the DLPFC dipole moment ratio was observed in schizophrenia patients. In each instance, the neural structure was found to account for unique variance in explaining the P50 ratio, along with some suggestion of DLPFC involvement in healthy subjects.