bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
How Globalization Really Happens: Remembering Activism in the Transformation of Istanbul
Authors: Houston Christopher
Published: December 2014

Over the past 20 years it has become accepted wisdom that Istanbul has become a ‘global city', transformed in tandem with a raft of neoliberal economic policies. What is the relevant history of this globalization? A muted local knowledge possessed by Istanbul's inhabitants is that the military coup in 1980 was the crucial event in the re‐engineering of the city. Yet exactly here a contradiction emerges: despite this acknowledgement, there is apparently little public memory about what it was like to study, work and agitate in Istanbul in the ‘crisis' years before the coup. Based on extensive interviews with people active in political fractions in the late 1970s, this article privileges a phenomenological approach to identify spatial practices, performances and perceptions of activists that generated and structured Istanbul's expanding urban environment in that period. Further, it shows how this history is relevant for comprehending both the ‘micro‐causes' of the coup as well as important dimensions of Turkish politics in the present, each of which cast illuminating light on Istanbul's experience of globalization.
Clinical oral health of Australia's rural children in a sample attending school dental services
Authors: Ha Diep Hong , Crocombe Leonard A. , C Mejia Gloria
Published: December 2014

Objective

To examine the association between children's clinical oral health status and their residential location using the latest available data (2009) and to ascertain whether poor oral health among rural children is related to being Indigenous, having less access to fluoridated water or being of lower socioeconomic status (SES), than children from urban areas.

Design

Cross‐sectional survey.

Setting and participant

Data were collected on 74 467 children aged 5–12 years attending school dental services in Australia (data were not available for Victoria or New South Wales).

Main outcome measures

Clinical oral health was determined by the mean number of permanent teeth with untreated caries, missing and filled permanent teeth, and the mean decayed, missing and filled permanent teeth index (DMFT) of 8 to 12‐year‐old‐children and the mean number deciduous teeth with untreated caries, missing and filled deciduous teeth, and the mean decayed, missing and filled deciduous teeth index (dmft) of 5–10‐year‐olds.

Results

The multivariable models that included coefficients on whether the child was Indigenous, from an area with fluoridated water and SES, were controlled for age and sex. The mean DMFT of 8–12‐year‐old children and the mean dmft of 5–10‐year‐old‐children were significantly higher in rural areas compared with urban centres after accounting for Indigenous status, fluoridated water and SES.

Conclusion

Children's oral health was poorer in rural areas than in major city areas.
Implementation of a multicomponent intervention to optimise patient safety through improved oxygen prescription in a rural hospital
Authors: Gunathilake Roshan , Lowe Deborah , Wills James , Knight Anne , Braude Peter
Published: December 2014

Objective

To rationalise oxygen procedures in adult medical and surgical inpatients with a view to improving patient safety.

Design

Prospective pre‐ and post‐intervention audit.

Setting

Manning Hospital, a rural referral hospital in Taree NSW.

Participants

Pre‐intervention: 82 patients aged 72.7 ± 14.7 years. Post‐intervention: 77 patients aged 73.6 ± 12.4 years.

Intervention

A multicomponent intervention composed of implementation of a local hospital oxygen policy, introduction of a specific oxygen prescription chart and targeted staff education.

Main outcome measures

Satisfactory oxygen prescription, monitoring and titration.

Results

Only 2/82 (2.4%) patients had satisfactory oxygen prescription specifying target saturation, device and initial flow rate before the intervention compared with 26/77 (34%) patients post‐intervention (χ2 = 56.88, df = 5, P < 0.0001). Percentage of patients with conditions predisposing to hypercapnic respiratory failure who were overtreated with oxygen dropped from 9/19 (47%) to 4/22 (18%) following the study intervention (χ2 = 4.011, df = 1, P = 0.04). Oxygen therapy monitoring was satisfactory during the audit period, but oxygen titration was unsatisfactory and did not significantly improve following the intervention.

Conclusions

A multicomponent intervention can achieve a significantly increased rate of satisfactory oxygen prescriptions specifying target saturation, including in those who are at risk of hypercapnic respiratory failure.
A retrospective 15‐year review: survival advantage after switching to sirolimus in hepatitis C virus infected liver graft recipients
Authors: Shah M. , Shankar A. , Gee I. , Nash K. , Hoare M. , Gibbs P. , Davies S. , Alexander G. J. M.
Published: December 2014

Background

The use of sirolimus‐based immune suppression in liver transplantation, particularly in hepatitis C virus (HCV)‐infected recipients, remains contentious. There is some evidence that sirolimus retards hepatic fibrosis, is renal sparing and may be of benefit in preventing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) recurrence. Sirolimus has not been adopted by many transplant centres because of persistent concerns regarding an increased risk of hepatic artery thrombosis, graft loss and death with de novo sirolimus.

Aim

To review the impact of switching to sirolimus monotherapy in HCV‐infected liver recipients with respect to survival, graft loss and hepatic fibrosis.

Methods

A retrospective review of 190 patients from a single centre undergoing first liver transplantation for HCV over 15 years. 113 patients were switched from calcineurin inhibitor (CNI)‐based therapy to low‐dose sirolimus monotherapy at a median of 15 months after transplantation for HCV‐related fibrosis (72%), renal impairment (14%) or high‐risk HCC (5%).

Results

Patients switched to sirolimus had improved survival (P < 0.001) and slower progression to cirrhosis (P = 0.001). In patients with HCC (n = 91), sirolimus duration rather than strategy was an independent predictor of survival (P = 0.001) and extended time to HCC recurrence (33 vs. 16 months). Patients switched for renal dysfunction showed improvement in serum creatinine (140–108 μmol/L, P = 0.001). Those remaining on CNI‐therapy were more likely to develop post‐transplant diabetes (P = 0.03).

Conclusion

These data suggest selective switching to low‐dose sirolimus monotherapy in HCV‐positive liver recipients improves clinical outcome.
Protective effect of aqueous extracts from Rhizopus oryzae on liver injury induced by carbon tetrachloride in rats
Authors: Suzuki Takehito , Fukuoka Hideo , Ushikoshi Setsuo , Sato Reiichiro , Morita Hidetoshi , Takizawa Tatsuya
Published: December 2014

Hepatoprotective effects of Rhizopus oryzae/ U‐1 aqueous extract (RU) were demonstrated in carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)‐induced liver‐injured rats. In order to investigate the RU effects, the rats were administered RU at a dose of 10 or 100 mg/kg of body weight for 10 days before induction of the liver injury by oral administration of CCl4 (125 mg/kg body weight). (i) Pretreatment with RU caused a significant decrease in serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activities that were increased by the administration of CCl4. (ii) RU pretreatment (100 mg/kg) increased 5‐bromo‐2′‐deoxyuridine incorporation at 48 h after CCl4 treatment in hepatocytes. (iii) Histological hematoxylin and eosin staining of the liver showed that RU pretreatment reduced the damage induced by CCl4 administration. (iv) Reverse transcriptase PCR analysis showed RU retreatment caused a transient but significant increase in hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and a sustained and significant increase in insulin‐like growth factor‐I (IGF‐I) gene expression in hepatocytes injured by CCl4 treatment. From these results, we conclude that oral pre‐administration of RU was effective to suppress liver injury induced by the subsequent oral CCl4 administration, and RU‐induced increase in IGF‐I and HGF gene expression may be, even in part, involved in biological actions of RU in rats.
A trial of devices for urinary incontinence after treatment for prostate cancer
Authors: Macaulay Margaret , Broadbridge Jackie , Gage Heather , Williams Peter , Birch Brian , Moore Katherine N. , Cottenden Alan , Fader Mandy J.
Published: December 2014

Objective

To compare the performance of three continence management devices and absorbent pads used by men with persistent urinary incontinence (>1 year) after treatment for prostate cancer.

Patients and Methods

Randomised, controlled trial of 56 men with 1‐year follow‐up. Three devices were tested for 3 weeks each: sheath drainage system, body‐worn urinal (BWU) and penile clamp. Device and pad performance were assessed. Quality of life (QoL) was measured at baseline and follow‐up with the King's Health Questionnaire. Stated (intended use) and revealed (actual use) preference for products were assessed. Value‐for‐money was gathered.

Results

Substantial and significant differences in performance were found. The sheath was rated as ‘good’ for extended use (e.g. golf and travel) when pad changing is difficult; for keeping skin dry, not leaking, not smelling and convenient for storage and travel. The BWU was generally rated worse than the sheath and was mainly used for similar activities but by men who could not use a sheath (e.g. retracted penis) and was not good for seated activities. The clamp was good for short vigorous activities like swimming/exercise; it was the most secure, least likely to leak, most discreet but almost all men described it as uncomfortable or painful. The pads were good for everyday activities and best for night‐time use; most easy to use, comfortable when dry but most likely to leak and most uncomfortable when wet. There was a preference for having a mixture of products to meet daytime needs; around two‐thirds of men were using a combination of pads and devices after testing compared with baseline.

Conclusions

This is the first trial to systematically compare different continence management devices for men. Pads and devices have different strengths, which make them particularly suited to certain circumstances and activities. Most men prefer to use pads at night but would choose a mixture of pads and devices during the day. Device limitations were important but may be overcome by better design.
Historical changes in the Canadian university presidency: An empirical analysis of changes in length of service and experience since 1840
Authors: Turpin David H. , De Decker Ludgard , Boyd Brendan
Published: December 2014

The number of Canadian university presidents terminated by their Boards of Governors has increased dramatically. Examining this phenomenon requires situating it in its historical context, yet there has been little empirical work. This study examines the total length of service and the average years of experience of presidents at 102 Canadian institutions. The analysis runs from 1840 until 2011 and shows that presidents spend much less time in office than was historically the case. The percentage of women serving in these roles increased during the 1980s reaching approximately 20% in the mid‐1990s and has since remained at that level. The recent increase in terminations and early departures are discussed in light of the changing nature of the university presidency.
Identification of Novel Proteasome Inhibitors from an Enaminone Library
Authors: Elliott Megan L. , Thomas Kevin , Kennedy Steven , Koduri Naga D. , Hussaini R. Syed , Sheaff Robert J.
Published: December 2014

A library of structurally distinct enaminones was synthesized using sonication or Ru(II) catalysis to couple primary, secondary, and tertiary thioamides with α‐halocarbonyls or α‐diazocarbonyls. Screening the library for proteasome inhibition using a luciferase‐based assay identified seven structurally diverse compounds. Two of these molecules targeted luciferase, while the remaining five exhibited varying potency and specificity for the trypsin‐like, chymotrypsin‐like, or caspase‐like protease activities of the proteasome. Physiological relevance was confirmed by showing these molecules inhibited proteasomal degradation of the full‐length protein substrate p21cip1 expressed in tissue culture cells. A cell viability analysis revealed that the proteasome inhibitors differentially affected cell survival. Results indicate a subset of enaminones and precursor molecules identified in this study are good candidates for further development into novel proteasome inhibitors with potential therapeutic value.
The experiences of participating in winter among youths with a physical disability compared with their typically developing peers
Authors: Lindsay S. , Morales E. , Yantzi N. , Vincent C. , Howell L. , Edwards G.
Published: December 2014

Background

Having a physical disability and using a wheelchair can create difficulties in navigating the physical and built environment, especially during winter when snow and ice become problematic. Little is known about the experiences of winter among youth who use an assistive mobility device. This study aimed to understand how youth with a physical disability experience winter, compared with typically developing peers.

Methods

A purposive sample of 25 youths (13 with a physical disability; 12 typically developing) completed a 2‐week weather journal and photographs in two Canadian cities during winter. These data were used to guide semi‐structured interviews with participants.

Results

Youths with disabilities experienced many similar challenges in winter, such as health and safety concerns and accessibility issues, compared with typically developing youth – but to a greater extent. Youths with disabilities reported more challenges going outdoors during winter and negative psychosocial impacts, including loneliness and increased dependence, compared with peers without a disability. They also, however, described developing several adaptive strategies to cope with these challenges.

Conclusions

There is a strong need to remove physical and environmental barriers to facilitate the participation and inclusion of youth with disabilities in winter.
Local IgE in non‐allergic rhinitis
Authors: Campo P. , Rondón C. , Gould H. J. , Barrionuevo E. , Gevaert P. , Blanca M.
Published: December 2014

Local allergic rhinitis (LAR) is characterized by the presence of a nasal Th2 inflammatory response with local production of specific IgE antibodies and a positive response to a nasal allergen provocation test (NAPT) without evidence of systemic atopy. The prevalence has been shown to be up to 25% in subjects affected with rhinitis with persistence, comorbidity and evolution similar to allergic rhinitis. LAR is a consistent entity that does not evolve to allergic rhinitis with systemic atopy over time although patients have significant impairment in quality of life and increase in the severity of nasal symptoms over time. Lower airways can be also involved. The diagnosis of LAR is based mostly on demonstration of positive response to NAPT and/or local synthesis of specific IgE. Allergens involved include seasonal or perennial such as house dusts mites, pollens, animal epithelia, moulds (alternaria) and others. Basophils from peripheral blood may be activated by the involved allergens suggesting the spill over of locally synthesized specific IgE to the circulation. LAR patients will benefit from the same treatment as allergic patients using antihistamines, inhaled corticosteroids and IgE antagonists. Studies on immunotherapy are ongoing and will determine its efficacy in LAR in terms of symptoms improvement and evolution of the natural course of the disease.
Outdoor Human Motion Capture by Simultaneous Optimization of Pose and Camera Parameters
Authors: Elhayek A. , Stoll C. , Kim K. I. , Theobalt C.
Published: December 2014

We present a method for capturing the skeletal motions of humans using a sparse set of potentially moving cameras in an uncontrolled environment. Our approach is able to track multiple people even in front of cluttered and non‐static backgrounds, and unsynchronized cameras with varying image quality and frame rate. We completely rely on optical information and do not make use of additional sensor information (e.g. depth images or inertial sensors). Our algorithm simultaneously reconstructs the skeletal pose parameters of multiple performers and the motion of each camera. This is facilitated by a new energy functional that captures the alignment of the model and the camera positions with the input videos in an analytic way. The approach can be adopted in many practical applications to replace the complex and expensive motion capture studios with few consumer‐grade cameras even in uncontrolled outdoor scenes. We demonstrate this based on challenging multi‐view video sequences that are captured with unsynchronized and moving (e.g. mobile‐phone or GoPro) cameras.
Predestined Migrations: UndocumentedPeruvians inSouthKorean Churches
Authors: VOGEL ERICA
Published: December 2014

This article explores how undocumentedPeruvian laborers have established a significant presence within some ofKorea's powerful evangelical churches through their identification ofrespuestas(answers or signs) fromGod. ManyPeruvians arrived inKorea in the early 1990s on their way to more profitable labor destinations, such asJapan orEurope, but stayed after finding factory work. Through their conversions toProtestantism inKorea, they have begun to identify events such as unplanned pregnancies or their ability to evade deportation as signs that their migration toKorea was predestined. Through promoting their respuestas to various audiences,Peruvians not only recast their unlikely migration as predestined but change their own status from being economic laborers to recognized leaders withinKorean churches.Korean church leaders embracePeruvians and respuestas as a way to promote their church's own cosmopolitan image and desires for launching global missions to locations such asPeru. As such, respuestas are a common framework through which migrants and church leaders co‐create their global aspirations and experiences.
Biomass‐based targets and the management of multispecies coral reef fisheries
Authors: McClanahan T. R. , Graham N. A. J. , MacNeil M. A. , Cinner J. E.
Published: December 2014

The failure of fisheries management among multispecies coral reef fisheries is well documented and has dire implications for the 100 million people engaged in these small‐scale operations. Weak or missing management institutions, a lack of research capacity, and the complex nature of these ecosystems have heralded a call for ecosystem‐based management approaches. However, ecosystem‐based management of coral reef fisheries has proved challenging due to the multispecies nature of catches and the diversity of fish functional roles. We used data on fish communities collected from 233 individual sites in 9 western Indian Ocean countries to evaluate changes in the site's functional composition and associated life‐history characteristics along a large range of fish biomass. As biomass increased along this range, fish were larger and grew and matured more slowly while the abundance of scraping and predatory species increased. The greatest changes in functional composition occurred below relatively low standing stock biomass (<600 kg/ha); abundances of piscivores, apex predators, and scraping herbivores were low at very light levels of fishing. This suggests potential trade‐offs in ecosystem function and estimated yields for different management systems. Current fishing gear and area restrictions are not achieving conservation targets (proposed here as standing stock biomass of 1150 kg/ha) and result in losses of life history and ecological functions. Fish in reefs where destructive gears were restricted typically had very similar biomass and functions to young and low compliance closures. This indicates the potentially important role of fisheries restrictions in providing some gains in biomass and associated ecological functions when fully protected area enforcement potential is limited and likely to fail. Our results indicate that biomass alone can provide broad ecosystem‐based fisheries management targets that can be easily applied even where research capacity and information is limited. Of particular value, is our finding that current management tools may be used to reach key ecosystem‐based management targets, enabling ecosystem‐based management in many socioeconomic contexts.
Neurobehavioural assessment: a useful component of holistic care in single‐suture craniosynostosis
Authors: O'hare Anne
Published: December 2014

This commentary is on the original article by Gray et al. on pages 456–462 of this issue.
Convergent ecosystem responses to 23‐year ambient and manipulated warming link advancing snowmelt and shrub encroachment to transient and long‐term climate–soil carbon feedback
Authors: Harte John , Saleska Scott R. , Levy Charlotte
Published: December 2014

Ecosystem responses to climate change can exert positive or negative feedbacks on climate, mediated in part by slow‐moving factors such as shifts in vegetation community composition. Long‐term experimental manipulations can be used to examine such ecosystem responses, but they also present another opportunity: inferring the extent to which contemporary climate change is responsible for slow changes in ecosystems under ambient conditions. Here, using 23 years of data, we document a shift from nonwoody to woody vegetation and a loss of soil carbon in ambient plots and show that these changes track previously shown similar but faster changes under experimental warming. This allows us to infer that climate change is the cause of the observed shifts in ambient vegetation and soil carbon and that the vegetation responses mediate the observed changes in soil carbon. Our findings demonstrate the realism of an experimental manipulation, allow attribution of a climate cause to observed ambient ecosystem changes, and demonstrate how a combination of long‐term study of ambient and experimental responses to warming can identify mechanistic drivers needed for realistic predictions of the conditions under which ecosystems are likely to become carbon sources or sinks over varying timescales.
Geographies of wellbeing: an introduction
Authors: Schwanen Tim , Atkinson Sarah
Published: December 2014

This short introduction to the themed issue on ‘geographies of wellbeing’ first outlines the rise to prominence and power of wellbeing as a concept, and then summarises the diversified ways in which geographers have examined wellbeing. It argues that geographers have a key role to play in interdisciplinary and non‐academic debates about the governance of wellbeing, not least because they are uniquely positioned to reflect on the processes of abstraction that are inevitably involved in researching wellbeing, and on the potentially less‐than‐innocent implications of the normative connotations with which wellbeing can become imbued. A brief discussion of the papers brought together in the themed issue concludes this editorial introduction.
A new sterilization and inoculation method in silage research
Authors: Mogodiniyai Kasmaei K. , Passoth V. , Spörndly R. , Udén P.
Published: December 2014

The study aimed at evaluating an effective sterilization–inoculation technique to facilitate silage research on the effect of forage microflora on fermentation variables. The sterilization effect of heating at 60°C for 3 h + 103°C for 15 h was tested on samples of grass, grass–clover, white clover and maize, pre‐dried at 60°C to a dry‐matter (DM) content >900 g kg−1. The ensilability of treated samples, reconstituted to original DM concentration (250–390 g kg−1), was assessed by inoculation with microfloras extracted from the original samples. Microfloral inoculants were obtained by a combination of centrifugation (15 500 g for 40 min) and filtration (0·45 and 0·22 μm pore sizes) of the supernatant. The sterilization treatment effectively sterilized the forage samples but decreased water soluble carbohydrates by 49% and N buffer solubility by 22% and increased the acid detergent insoluble N proportion of total N by 53% (P < 0·05). The reconstituted silages had 18% less lactic acid, 20% less ethanol and 37% less ammonia‐N (P < 0·05), but volatile fatty acids and 2,3‐butanediol did not differ from the untreated silages (P > 0·05). Counts of lactic acid bacteria, enterobacteria, clostridia, yeasts and moulds in the two silage treatments were also similar (P > 0·05). It is concluded that, despite causing chemical and physical alterations, the sterilization–inoculation technique evaluated could be a useful tool for future studies on the effects of microflora on ensiling results.
Clinical validity of the estimated energy requirement and the average protein requirement for nutritional status change and wound healing in older patients with pressure ulcers: A multicenter prospective cohort study
Authors: Iizaka Shinji , Kaitani Toshiko , Nakagami Gojiro , Sugama Junko , Sanada Hiromi
Published: December 2014

Aim

Adequate nutritional intake is essential for pressure ulcer healing. Recently, the estimated energy requirement (30 kcal/kg) and the average protein requirement (0.95 g/kg) necessary to maintain metabolic balance have been reported. The purpose was to evaluate the clinical validity of these requirements in older hospitalized patients with pressure ulcers by assessing nutritional status and wound healing.

Methods

This multicenter prospective study carried out as a secondary analysis of a clinical trial included 194 patients with pressure ulcers aged ≥65 years from 29 institutions. Nutritional status including anthropometry and biochemical tests, and wound status by a structured severity tool, were evaluated over 3 weeks. Energy and protein intake were determined from medical records on a typical day and dichotomized by meeting the estimated average requirement. Longitudinal data were analyzed with a multivariate mixed‐effects model.

Results

Meeting the energy requirement was associated with changes in weight (P < 0.001), arm muscle circumference (P = 0.003) and serum albumin level (P = 0.016). Meeting the protein requirement was associated with changes in weight (P < 0.001) and serum albumin level (P = 0.043). These markers decreased in patients who did not meet the requirement, but were stable or increased in those who did. Energy and protein intake were associated with wound healing for deep ulcers (P = 0.013 for both), improving exudates and necrotic tissue, but not for superficial ulcers.

Conclusions

Estimated energy requirement and average protein requirement were clinically validated for prevention of nutritional decline and of impaired healing of deep pressure ulcers. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2015; 15: 1201–1209.
Improved prediction of inhibitor development in previously untreated patients with severe haemophilia A
Authors: Hashemi S. M. , Fischer K. , Moons K. G. M. , van den Berg H. M.
Published: December 2014

Treatment of previously untreated patients (PUPs) with severe haemophilia A is complicated by the formation of inhibitors. Prediction of PUPs with high risk is important to allow altering treatment with the intention to reduce the occurrence of inhibitors. An unselected multicentre cohort of 825 PUPs with severe haemophilia A (FVIII<0.01 IU mL−1) was used. Patients were followed until 50 exposure days (EDs) or inhibitor development. All predictors of the existing prediction model including three new potential predictors were studied using multivariable logistic regression. Model performance was quantified [area under the curve (AUC), calibration plot] and internal validation (bootstrapping) was performed. A nomogram for clinical application was developed. Of the 825 patients, 225 (28%) developed inhibitors. The predictors family history of inhibitors, F8 gene mutation and an interaction variable of dose and number of EDs of intensive treatment were independently associated with inhibitor development. Age and reason for first treatment were not associated with inhibitor development. The AUC was 0.69 (95% CI 0.65–0.72) and calibration was good. An improved prediction model for inhibitor development and a nomogram for clinical use were developed in a cohort of 825 PUPs with severe haemophilia A. Clinical applicability was improved by combining dose and duration of intensive treatment, allowing the assessment of the effects of treatment decisions on inhibitor risk and potentially modify treatment.
FROM CATASTROPHE TO HOPE
Authors: Dean Carolyn J.
Published: December 2014

In his recent book, Amir Eshel focuses on over thirty recent German‐, Hebrew‐, and English‐language novels to develop a reading method—the “hermeneutics of futurity”—that would replace moralizing approaches to past traumas, including German guilt over the Holocaust and Israeli denial of Palestinian suffering. Futurity demonstrates how various narratives imagine a future liberated from denial, guilt, and thus traumatic repetition. In so doing Eshel emphasizes human agency to counter the “hermeneutics of suspicion” that has long dominated a great deal of literary theory, and focuses on how novelists construct human choices and their consequences. He covers two generations of German‐language novels spanning the Adenauer era to the present, and two generations of Israeli writers reflecting on 1948 and later, 1967. In order to develop fully the concept of futurity he also writes on recent American and English novels, often with implicitly political themes.

The book succeeds in demonstrating the value of how various novelists read the past otherwise in order to reconstruct the present and future. At the same time, Eshel conceives human agency and “choice” so capaciously that the book often neglects the institutional constraints on agency that afflict victims of traumas in particular. His treatment of Martin Walser's controversial fictionalized memoir is exemplary of this problem in an otherwise stimulating work.
RESISTING MODERN TEMPORALITIES: TOWARD A CRITICAL HISTORY OF BREAKS IN TIME
Authors: Lianeri Alexandra
Published: December 2014

This is an exceptionally sophisticated and wide‐ranging book on historical time, the construction of the past, present, and future, and the problem of periodization. Its major thesis is that temporal divisions of history are produced by social actors, including historians, who break up time from their distinct temporal positions. The book inquires about the theoretical underpinning and historical constitution of temporal breaks: the premises sustaining notions of pastness, presentness, and futurity; the relations constructed by these notions between historiography and other fields of knowledge; the specific articulation of shifting and mutually competing temporalities both within and beyond European history; and the political implications of temporal divisions. Throughout the book the breaking up of time is studied as a fundamental political operation. To engage with temporal breaks, the authors contend, is to engage with the historian's contemporary, to negotiate borders that act upon the present, including the border that safeguards the presumed autonomy of the time of history‐writing.

Focusing especially on the temporality of European modernity, the book invites reflection on the politics of time as articulated through categories of historical totalization imposed on modernity's others. But it also suggests that this imposition gave rise to acts of resistance indicating how historical time defies the analytical categories through which social actors seek to organize and control it. This dialectic of imposition and defiance is made evident through the comparative study of temporal concepts that replace one another, compete with one another in certain historical settings without any of them constituting a final historical representation. It is also traced in the continuing significance of suppressed or “failed” temporalities, which are nonetheless still capable of challenging and qualifying our insights into historical time. The book's key contribution lies precisely in the attempt to intensify this challenge by translating the contradictory constitution of modern temporality into a language of self‐critique.
Evaluation of the Microsemi CRP, an automated hematology analyzer for rapid 3‐part WBC differential and CRP using whole blood
Authors: Nomura N. , Saito K. , Ikeda M. , Yuasa S. , Pastore M. , Chabert C. , Kono E. , Sakai A. , Tanaka H. , Ikemoto T. , Takubo T.
Published: December 2014

Introduction

We evaluated the basic performance of Microsemi CRP, an unique automated hematology analyzer which can simultaneously measure CBC including 3‐part WBC differential (3‐Diff) and CRP using whole blood treated with EDTA‐2K anticoagulant.

Method

We found that it produced generally the acceptable results for all parameters performed (repeatability, reproducibility, linearity, interference effect, carry over, and correlation) using control materials, fresh human whole bloods, and serum samples.

Results

CBC data examined using Microsemi CRP showed the good correlation with the previous model, Micros CRP200 (r ≧ 0.9), and also those obtained using the routine analyzer, ADVIA 2120i (r ≧ 0.989). Concerning the 3‐Diff, both GRA (%) and LYM (%) showed the excellent correlation coefficient between Microsemi CRP and Micros CRP200 (r ≧ 0.992) as well as ADVIA 2120i (r ≧ 0.957). MON (%) showed good correlation between Microsemi CRP and Micros CRP200 (r = 0.959), but lower correlation between Microsemi CRP and ADVIA 2120 i (r = 0.471). CRP data showed the good correlation with HITACHI7600 (r ≧ 0.997) and Micros CRP200 (r ≧ 0.997).

Conclusion

From these findings, we concluded that Microsemi CRP seemed the convenient laboratory analyzer in the setting of point of care testing (POCT) especially at NICU or primary care unit.
Separate receptors mediate oxytocin and vasopressin stimulation of cAMP in rat inner medullary collecting duct cells
Authors: Wargent E. T. , Burgess W. J. , Laycock J. F. , Balment R. J.
Published: December 2014

The two neurohypophysial hormones arginine vasopressin (AVP) and oxytocin have actions in the inner medullary collecting duct (IMCD) where both peptides induce an increase in cAMP accumulation. The present study has employed a novel IMCD cell line to determine whether these two hormones induce cAMP accumulation via common or separate receptors, and to characterize the potential receptors responsible. Equal volumes of vehicle (150 mM NaCl) or hormone/antagonist solutions were added to aliquots of 104 IMCD cells in the presence of 10‐3 m 3‐isobutylmethylxanthine (IBMX) and incubated at 37 °C for 4 min. cAMP levels were determined by radioimmunoassay and protein concentration by Bradford assay. Both AVP and oxytocin elicited dose‐dependent increases in cAMP generation, though oxytocin was less potent than AVP (EC50 = 1.6 × 10‐8 M vs. 7.4 × 10‐10 m). AVP at 10‐8 m and oxytocin at 10‐6 m, concentrations sufficient to elicit near‐maximal cAMP accumulation, resulted in cAMP levels of 73.4 ±1.7 and 69.0 ± 3.3 pmol (mg protein)−1 (4 min)−1, respectively (n = 10), compared with the vehicle‐treated basal value of 37.7 ± 2.2 pmol (mg protein)−1 (4 min)−1 (P < 0.001, n = 10). Combined AVP (10‐8 m) and oxytocin (10‐6 m) resulted in cAMP accumulation of 63.8 ± 3.1 pmol (mg protein)−1 (4 min)−1 (n = 10), which was not significantly different from the effect of oxytocin alone, but slightly less than that for AVP alone (P < 0.05). A submaximal concentration of AVP (10‐10 m) induced cAMP accumulation of 48.6 ± 2.5 pmol (mg protein)−1 (4 min)−1 (P < 0.01 compared with basal level of 34.9 ± 2.4 pmol (mg protein)−1 (4 min)−1, n = 10), which was blocked in the presence of a vasopressin V2 receptor antagonist (10‐7 m OPC‐31260) but not by the oxytocin receptor antagonist (10‐6 m [Pen1,pMePhe2,Thr4,Orn8]oxytocin) (36.3 ± 6.1 and 45.1 ± 1.3 pmol (mg protein)−1 (4 min)−1 respectively, P < 0.05, n = 10). A submaximal concentration of oxytocin (10‐7 m) induced a cAMP accumulation of 45.8 ± 1.8 pmol (mg protein)−1 (4 min)−1 (n = 10), which was reduced by addition of 10‐6 m oxytocin antagonist (36.3 ± 2.1 pmol (mg protein)−1 (4 min)−1, P < 0.05, n = 10), whereas co‐incubation with 10‐6 m of the V2 receptor antagonist had no effect (43.2 ± 1.3 pmol (mg protein)−1 (4 min)−1, n = 10). These results indicate that AVP and oxytocin induce cAMP accumulation from a common ATP pool in IMCD cells, and that separate vasopressin V2 and oxytocin receptor systems are involved, perhaps coupled to a common adenylate cyclase system.
The effects of acute and chronic systemic hypoxia on muscle oxygen supply and oxygen consumption in the rat
Authors: Marshall Janice M. , Davies William R.
Published: December 2014

The aims of the present study were to evaluate how acute systemic hypoxia affects O2 delivery to skeletal muscle and muscle O2 consumption (V̇O2) of the rat and to establish how these relationships are altered by chronic systemic hypoxia. Thus, the effects of breathing different concentrations of O2 (air, 12% and 8% O2) upon oxygen delivery and V̇O2 were studied in hindlimb muscles of control, normoxic (N) rats and of rats that had been made chronically hypoxic in a chamber at 12% O2 for 3–4 weeks (CH) rats. Under anaesthesia, arterial blood pressure, femoral blood flow (FBF), arterial O2 content (Ca,O2) and venous O2 content in the efflux from hindlimb were measured. In N rats, changing the inspirate from air to 12 % and 8 % O2 for 5 min each, reduced Ca,O2 from 20 ± 0.3 ml (100 ml)−1 in air to 13 ± 1.0 ml (100 ml)−1 in 8 % O2. FBF did not change significantly (1.7 ± 0.1 ml min−1 in air) so that O2 delivery to hindlimb muscles fell from 0.28 ± 0.07 to 0.16 ± 0.02 ml min−1 in 8 % O2. Nevertheless, the V̇O2 of hindlimb muscles was well maintained: 0.06 ± 0.02 ml min−1 in air and 0.08 ± 0.02 ml min−1 in 8 % O2. In CH rats breathing 12% O2, Ca,O2 (23 ± 10 ml (100 ml)−1) was comparable to that of N rats breathing air, due to an increase in haematocrit, as were FBF (1.6 ± 0.2 ml min−1) and O2 delivery (0.39 ± 0.05 ml min−1). However, V̇O2 was 2–5‐fold greater in CH rats (0.16 ± 0.03 ml min−1). As in N rats, FBF was well maintained at 1.7 ± 0.2 and 1.6 ± 0.2 ml min−1 in 8 % O2 and air, respectively. Further, V̇O2 was also well maintained, at 0.17 ± 0.02 and 0.12 ± 0.02 ml min−1 in 8% O2 and air, respectively. These results suggest that, contrary to previous reports, muscle V̇O2 of the rat is independent of O2 delivery over a wide range of O2 delivery values. They also suggest that muscle V̇O2 of CH rats is similarly independent of O2 delivery. The novel finding that muscle V̇O2 has a greater absolute value in CH rats can, we propose, be explained by an increase in V̇O2 of the vasculature rather than of the skeletal muscle fibres and reflects increased biosynthetic activity of the vessel walls and/or vascular remodelling.
Synchrony analysis between blood pressure and sympathetic nerve signal inhibited by atrial receptor stimulation in Wistar rats
Authors: Yang Zhuo , Zhang Tao , Coote John H.
Published: December 2014

Recently attempts have been made to analyse blood pressure (BP) and renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA) to determine how patterns contained within them might reflect control by the autonomic nervous system. To date, these studies have primarily used coherence analysis of BP and RSNA in the frequency domain. However, this analysis is unable to assess the non‐linear properties of the underlying cardiovascular control system. In this study we employed not only coherence analysis but also cross‐entropy analysis using balloon inflation (‘balloon‐on’) to assess the influence of right atrial receptors on the relationship between BP and RSNA under two conditions in anaesthetised Wistar rats. Balloon‐on stimulation alone inhibited RSNA by 28 ± 4% in eight rats without changing BP. This effect on integrated nerve activity was not present when atrial stimulation was applied during stimulation of a site in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus which increased RSNA by 158.7 ± 58% and increased BP by 17.1 ± 2.3 mmHg. However, the cross‐entropy measurement was significantly decreased (P < 0.05) during balloon‐on stimulation in both the conditions revealing that there is greater synchrony between the oscillating signals contained within the BP and RSNA time series. Thus during the enhanced RSNA elicited by stimulation of the PVN, the inhibitory influence of atrial receptors, although apparently blocked, was still effective in that it resulted in the energy of the RSNA spectrum becoming more evenly distributed over a range of frequencies. The data show that cross‐entropy calculations are able to characterize the non‐linearities of underlying cardiovascular control.
Egg removal by cuckoos forces hosts to accept parasite eggs
Authors: Mikami Osamu K. , Sato Nozomu J. , Ueda Keisuke , Tanaka Keita D.
Published: December 2014

Many avian brood parasites remove one or more host eggs before laying their own eggs in the host nest. Various hypotheses have been proposed to explain the adaptive significance of this behaviour, but none of them provides an adequate explanation. Here we provide a new hypothesis for explaining why a parasite removes host eggs before laying its own. In this study, we attempted to answer this question by constructing a mathematical model that focused on the changes in host decision making according to reduced clutch size as a consequence of egg removal by parasites. We assume that a host selects one of the following two options to maximise the number of its own chicks: trying to eject a suspicious egg from the nest (trying‐to‐eject) or acceptance without trying to eject the egg (acceptance). The option selected depends on the number of eggs in the nest. Our model provides a new explanation for egg removal behaviour by showing that the host should select trying‐to‐eject if there is a large number of eggs in the nest but acceptance with a small number of eggs. This is because the relative payoff for a host that selects trying‐to‐eject decreases with the number of eggs in the nest. Therefore, parasites benefit by removing the host egg because this behaviour reduces the number of eggs in the nest, thereby increasing the probability of their own eggs being accepted. Thus, hosts have evolved egg ejection to combat brood parasites, but it may also have facilitated the evolution of egg removal by parasites. This hypothesis may also apply to brood parasitic species that do not eject host chicks. In addition, this hypothesis may explain other parasitic behaviours, such as egg damaging and egg puncturing, which lead to reductions in the host clutch size.
Efficacy of adjunctive anti‐plaque chemical agents in managing gingivitis: a systematic review and meta‐analysis
Authors: Serrano Jorge , Escribano Marta , Roldán Silvia , Martín Conchita , Herrera David
Published: December 2014

Aim

The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the efficacy of anti‐plaque chemical formulations for managing gingivitis, in 6‐month, home‐use, randomised clinical trials (RCTs).

Material and Methods

A protocol was designed, including inclusion and exclusion criteria to identify RCTs assessing gingival and/or bleeding indices. Electronic and hand‐searches identified relevant papers, which were screened and evaluated for inclusion. Full‐papers were retrieved and relevant information was extracted (also plaque indices), including quality and risk of bias. Mean treatment effects were calculated to obtain weighted mean differences (WMD) and 95% confidence intervals.

Results

After the process of screening and selection, 87 articles with 133 comparisons, were included in the review. The additional effects of the tested products were statistically significant in terms of Löe & Silness gingival index (46 comparisons, WMD −0.217), modified gingival index (n = 23, −0.415), gingivitis severity index (n = 26, −14.939%) or bleeding index (n = 23, −7.626%), with significant heterogeneity. For plaque, additional effects were found for Turesky (66 studies, WMD −0.475), Silness & Löe (n = 26, −0.109), and plaque severity (n = 12, −23.4%) indices, with significant heterogeneity.

Conclusion

Within the limitations of the present study, formulations with specific agents for chemical plaque control provide statistically significant improvements in terms of gingival, bleeding and plaque indices.
Risk factor assessment tools for the prevention of periodontitis progression a systematic review
Authors: Lang Niklaus P. , Suvan Jean E. , Tonetti Maurizio S.
Published: December 2014

Objectives

(i) To identify characteristics of currently published patient‐based tools used to assess levels of risk for periodontitis progression and (ii) systematically review the evidence documenting the use of patient‐based risk assessment tools for predicting periodontitis progression.

Material and methods

A systematic review was prepared on the basis of an electronic search of the literature supplemented with manually searching the relevant journals of the latest 5 years. Prospective and retrospective cohort studies were included as no randomized controlled clinical trials were available.

Results

The search identified 336 titles, and 19 articles were included in this systematic review. The search identified five different risk assessment tools. Results of nine of 10 cohort studies reporting outcomes of 2110 patients indicate that risk assessment tools are able to identify subjects with different probability of periodontitis progression and/or tooth loss. Subjects with higher risk scores showed more progression of periodontitis and tooth loss.

Conclusions

In treated populations, results of patient‐based risk assessments, for example periodontal risk calculator (PRC) and periodontal risk assessment (PRA), predicted periodontitis progression and tooth loss in various populations. Additional research on the utility of risk assessment and results in improving patient management are needed.
Association between the level of circulating adiponectin and prediabetes: A meta‐analysis
Authors: Lai Huasheng , Lin Nie , Xing Zhenzhen , Weng Huanhuan , Zhang Hua
Published: December 2014

Aims/Introduction

Adiponectin has been proposed to have an essential role in the regulation of insulin sensitivity and metabolism, but previous studies on levels of adiponectin in prediabetes remain inconsistent. The present study aimed to assess the differences of adiponectin levels between prediabetes patients and healthy controls by carrying out a meta‐analysis.

Materials and Methods

We carried out a systematic literature search of PubMed, EMBASE, and other databases for case–control studies and cohort studies measuring adiponectin levels in serum or plasma from prediabetes patients and healthy controls. The pooled weighted mean difference (WMD) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to estimate the association between adiponectin levels and prediabetes.

Results

Three cohort studies and 15 case–control studies with a total of 41,841 participants were included in the meta‐analysis. The results showed that circulating adiponectin levels in prediabetes patients were significantly lower than that of healthy controls (WMD –1.694 μg/mL; 95% CI –2.151, –1.237; P < 0.001). Subgroup analysis showed more significant differences between prediabetes patients and healthy controls when the ratio of the homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance was >2.12 (WMD −2.95 μg/mL; 95% CI –4.103, –1.806; P < 0.001) and average age was >60 years (WMD −2.20 μg/mL; 95% CI –3.207, –1.201; P < 0.001). Additionally, WMD in adiponectin showed a trend of direct correlation in subgroups of homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance ratio, body mass index and age.

Conclusions

The present meta‐analysis supports adiponectin levels in prediabetes patients being lower than that of healthy controls,indicating that the level of circulating adiponectin decreases before the onset of diabetes.