bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Grabbing attention: the importance of modal density in advertising
Authors: White Paul
Published: December 2010

This article compares marketing communications mediated by conventional media (street posters) with those employing a convergence of old and new technologies (posters, SMS texting, Bluetooth transmitters). The author first analyses in detail the famous Lord Kitchener poster created in 1914 and shows that the semiotic and modal structure of the Kitchener poster became a template on which many subsequent communications have been and still are based. He then goes on to compare the semiotic and modal structure of the famous Kitchener poster with the New Zealand Army interactive recruitment posters created by Saatchi & Saatchi (New Zealand) in 2007. Building on Rodney Jones’s notion of sites of engagement as sites of attention and using Sigrid Norris’s concept of modal density, this article analyses the New Zealand Army interactive posters and shows how communications in the age of information overload are more likely to be successful if they find new ways of getting and keeping attention. Furthermore, it suggests that multimodal discourse analysis can have an important and, as yet unrealized, role to play in refining the study of advertising and marketing communications effectiveness.
Understanding couple communication in reproductive health by using a Visually Assisted Interview Guide (VAIG)
Authors: Karvande Shilpa , Apte Hemant , Tanner Marcel
Published: December 2010

Learning the process of couple communication, in terms of place, time, duration, content, style, form and barriers, is crucial before developing strategies to improve communication among rural couples in India. Considering the sensitivity of the subject, cultural setting, family dynamics and difficulties in reaching couples, visuals accompanied by an interview guide prove effective. The current article explains the construction and validation of a Visually Assisted Interview Guide (VAIG). The rural context limits the choice of visual forms and thus hand-drawn pictures depicting day-to-day life scenarios were used in the tool. The tool construction was primarily based on adding value to the interview guide and offering ease/comfort to the respondents and researchers when dealing with personal information. Results show that hand-drawn pictures help respondents to replace their own self-conscious identity with that of the illustrated individuals, enabling them to give realistic, impersonal responses to sensitive issues. A VAIG is therefore useful in understanding the process of how couples in rural settings communicate over reproductive health issues.
Visual Testimonies of Atrocity: Archives of Political Violence in Chile and Guatemala
Authors: Gómez-Barris Macarena
Published: December 2010

In the aftermath of political violence in Latin America, the testimonial emerged as an important document of witness regarding the atrocities that had been committed in the region. In many cases, testimonies stood in for the absence of evidence, whereby archives of witness had been destroyed, hidden, or otherwise disappeared from public record. In this essay, the author analyzes forms of visual evidence in Guatemala and Chile, such as documentary film and illustrations from survivors that extend the function of the testimonial by not only narrating the past, but also visualizing spaces of terror and witness, such as the collective grave, prison camps, and photographs of skeletons. Such visual interruptions in the landscape of memory have the potential to fracture dominant State memory in their refusal to merely disappear. Instead, these forms of visuality name and mark social suffering.
Historical Pyrrhonism and Architectural Truth
Authors: Naginski Erika
Published: December 2010

This essay explores the status and function of non-literary sources — and, in particular, of architectural representation — in the polemical context of historical criticism in the 1670s, 1680s and 1690s. As Arnaldo Momigliano has shown, controversial essays such as ‘The Lack of Certainty in History’ (1668) by the sceptic philosopher François de La Mothe Le Vayer set the stage for an antiquarian response to historical methods in crisis. The aim here is to investigate the terms in which a regime of visual truth emerged in the illustrated writings of antiquarians such as Jacob Spon and others, who posited artifactual evidence as ‘symbol and proof of what happened’. The idea tested out, by way of a few, necessarily restricted, examples, is that the visual turn circa 1700 helped set the stage for the ensuing incursion of architectural knowledge into both antiquarian practice and historical method in the context of the pan-European fascination with antiquities. Central in all of this was the manner in which the conventions of architectural pictoriality surfaced, then intervened, in a methodological transformation of the terms in which speculation on the remote past was conceived.
Visual Testimony: Lee Miller’s Dachau
Authors: Sliwinski Sharon
Published: December 2010

This essay examines images of the liberation of Dachau concentration camp taken by American war correspondent and photographer Lee Miller. Miller’s work is mobilized as an optic through which to grasp the shock of confronting the Nazi camps. Her images are read as a form of visual testimony. That is, although they fail to provide a transparent view of what occurred in the Nazi lagers, they are nevertheless inscribed with all that the photographer did not know of the events to which she bore witness. The nature of this strange unintelligibility is what the author pursues: the visual inscription of the unspeakable as a disquieting resource for thinking through the paradoxes of witnessing and the transmission of human experience.
Capturing a City’s Past
Authors: Zelljadt Katja
Published: December 2010

In the late 19th century, the city officials of Berlin were intent on improving sanitation and hygiene in ‘Old Berlin’, the city’s messy and crowded historic core. While officials believed that demolishing blighted neighborhoods would create a healthier city, they also recognized the need to document disappearing buildings and vanishing streetscapes. Photographs of ‘Old Berlin’ taken between 1860 and 1914 created visual histories of the city: in the earlier period from 1860 to 1890, the images recorded the complex relationship of preservation and progress, whereas after 1900, photographs of the city reflected an historical turn which aestheticized the past into a nostalgic, fixed, eternal moment.
Institutional Context and Party Power: Member Participation and Leadership Strategy in the Lame-Duck Congressional Era
Authors: Jenkins Jeffery A. , Nokken Timothy P.
Published: December 2010

The authors examine how institutional context affects political decision making in Congress by investigating party leaders’ agenda construction strategies and members’ roll-call participation across regular and lame-duck sessions in the pre-Twentieth Amendment House (1877-1933). The authors find evidence to suggest that party leaders pursued relatively more partisan agendas in lame-duck sessions and did so successfully. Next, we investigate the effects such agendas had on roll-call participation. The authors find that returning (reelected) members significantly decreased their abstention levels, while departing (defeated and retiring) members significantly increased their abstention levels. Yet the authors also find that departing members could be drawn to participate on certain types of roll-call votes even in the face of strong incentives to shirk. Party leaders rely on the generally higher levels of participation by returning members as well as the selective participation of departing members to overcome “participatory agency loss” and pass surprisingly partisan lame-duck agendas.
Diabetes Mellitus is a Predictor for Early Adverse Outcome After Carotid Endarterectomy
Authors: Debing Erik , Aerden Dimitri , Van den Brande Pierre
Published: December 2010

Purpose: The aim of the study was to compare the outcome after carotid endarterectomy (CEA) in patients with and without diabetes mellitus. Methods: We prospectively recorded the data from patients who underwent CEA. A patient was considered diabetic when he reported the use of antidiabetic medication. De novo diagnosis of diabetes was defined as the first demonstration of a fasting glucose serum concentration >126 mg/dL or >200 mg/dL after glucose load. An early adverse outcome was defined as the occurrence of ipsilateral minor or major stroke and/or death during the 30-day postoperative period. Results: The stroke and death rate was significantly higher in diabetic patients (n = 380) compared to the controls (n = 971; 4.5% versus 1.5%, P = .002). Multivariate analysis showed a significant association between the presence of diabetes and 30-day stroke and death rate (OR 2.94, CI 1.46-5.97, P = .003). Conclusions: Diabetic patients are at greater risk for perioperative stroke and death.
A Computational Fluid Dynamics Study Pre- and Post-Stent Graft Placement in an Acute Type B Aortic Dissection
Authors: Karmonik Christof , Bismuth Jean , Davies Mark G. , Shah Dipan J. , Younes Houssam K. , Lumsden Alan B.
Published: December 2010

Purpose: To demonstrate the capability of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for quantifying hemodynamic forces pretreatment/posttreatment in type B aortic dissection (TB-AD). Methods: From CFD simulations initialized with dynamic magnetic resonance image data, wall shear stress (WSS) and dynamic pressure (dynP) changes post endovascular treatment were quantified. Results: After 1 year follow-up, thoracic aortic segment was completely remodeled, and persistent, nonthrombosed false lumen in the abdominal aorta was noted. Pretreatment, large WSS (>5 Pa) and dynP (>80 Pa) occurred at entrance tear and a stenotic region in the true lumen (TL). Posttreatment, WSS was lower than 3.3 Pa and dynP was lower than 55 Pa in TL, except at proximal end of the stent graft and at reentrance tear. Two focal locations of high dynP existed within the stent graft. Conclusions: Computational fluid dynamics may provide quantitative assessment of hemodynamic wall forces in TB-AD potentially of interest for follow-up examinations.
What is Transformation?: Nine Principles Toward an Understanding of the Transformational Process for Transformational Leadership
Authors: Poutiatine Michael I.
Published: December 2010

This paper seeks to offer an exploration of nine basic principles of transformational learning and organizational change theory as well as the implications of these principles for transformational leadership. While there are many theoretical discussions of transformational leadership (Anderson & Anderson, 2001; Bass, 1985; Bass & Avolio, 1994, Bass and Reggio, 2006; Burns 1978, 2003; Hacker & Roberts, 2004; Nanus, 1992; Tichy & Devanna, 1990), with some common aspects to their transformational leadership theories and some significant differences, nearly all take for granted transformational learning theory. This paper posits that leaders who wish to lead in transformational ways must clearly understand the process of transformation, and in order to do so, they must be grounded at least to some extent in transformational learning theory (Cranton, 1994, 1994, 2006a, 2006b; Mezirow, 1990, 1991, 1997, 2000; Taylor 2006). The nine principles presented below take the first step toward that understanding.
Critical Thinking, Transformative Learning, Sustainable Education, and Problem-Based Learning in Universities
Authors: Thomas Ian
Published: December 2010

In universities, the need for education associated with sustainability is widely accepted and it is increasingly being introduced. However, the associated concepts and terms are contested—education for sustainable development and education for sustainability represent increasing levels of change required in curricula, while achieving sustainable education will require even greater change. A transformative pedagogy underlies and contributes to the extent of the change, as more argue for a range of analytical and context-related skills to be developed in students. To operationalize education associated with sustainability, teaching approaches must focus on elements relating to the processes of learning, rather than the accumulation of knowledge—to develop graduates with capabilities to improvise, adapt, innovate, and be creative. Skills such as interdisciplinary thinking, problem solving, team working, and holistic thinking are often mentioned. These skills are encompassed by the pedagogy of problem-based learning (PBL), which provides students with opportunities to learn to think, specifically ‘‘how to think’’ rather than ‘‘what to think,’’ and potentially within the framework of sustainability. Consequently, it is important to identify the commonalities of transformative learning, sustainable education and PBL. A key link here is critical thinking, and the challenge is to transform our pedagogy across all disciplines to have academics and students thinking critically. This article elaborates on these points and argues that the development of thinking is the critical element in education related to sustainability.
Creating a Successful Professional Culture: Reorganizing to Rebuild a Challenging School
Authors: Owens Michael A.
Published: December 2010

Teacher assignment policies vary among school districts. Frequently, districts handle basic employment requirements, and principals draw from prescreened teachers. However, schools occasionally may have to recruit many teachers at once when the district experiences a radical change. This case study involves a principal at an urban school in a district whose population is diminishing as students move to suburban, private, and charter schools. The district has reassigned the principal of a successful school to restaff an underperforming school. How should she proceed? The case explores issues that accompany selecting and developing staff to create a successful school culture in an uncertain setting.
Picking Linebackers or Athletes: Reframing the Risks in Teacher Recruitment
Authors: Pomson Alex
Published: December 2010

Set in a private parochial high school, this case invites consideration of the costs and benefits in a range of tactics that schools use for teacher recruitment. The case calls attention to the technical solutions that make one particular school an adept recruiter of teachers and to the extensive human and social capital at its disposal. At the same time, below the surface of the case lurk questions about how the tactics of teacher recruitment are complicated or undermined by an unspoken set of understandings about what makes successful teaching possible, and about the school’s role in nurturing such success.
“It Takes at Least Two to Tangle”
Authors: Walker Janice M.
Published: December 2010

Despite past lessons, book-banning continues to exist at all levels within our democratic society. This case presents a realistic scenario when the school district, facing a book challenge by a concerned parent, responds by removing the book from the library. On the basis of a true story, the study features a parent of an elementary child challenging a school library book for inappropriate content. The case undergirds issues surrounding First Amendment rights and may also be used to discuss same-sex relationships and topics dealing with social justice such as homosexuality. The case study may be used with courses within Educational Leadership curriculum specifically educational leadership, curriculum design and development, educational law, community relationship, and supervision.
Diameter of Polyhedra: Limits of Abstraction
Authors: Eisenbrand Friedrich , Hähnle Nicolai , Razborov Alexander , Rothvoß Thomas
Published: December 2010

We investigate the diameter of a natural abstraction of the 1-skeleton of polyhedra. Even if this abstraction is more general than other abstractions previously studied in the literature, known upper bounds on the diameter of polyhedra continue to hold here. On the other hand, we show that this abstraction has its limits by providing an almost quadratic lower bound.
Airway-Rehydrating Agents for the Treatment of Cystic Fibrosis: Past, Present, and Future
Authors: Pettit Rebecca S , Johnson Cary E
Published: December 2010

Objective

To review and evaluate airway-rehydrating agents used for the treatment of cystic fibrosis (CF).

Data Sources:

Literature was retrieved through MEDLINE (1977-August 2010), Cochrane Library, and International Pharmaceutical Abstracts (1977-August 2010). Search terms used included hypertonic saline, inhaled mannitol, denufosol, Moli 1901, lancovutide, and cystic fibrosis. Reference citations from selected articles were reviewed.

Study Selection And Data Extraction:

All articles published in English identified from the data sources were evaluated for inclusion. Clinical trials in humans and relevant review articles were evaluated for each airway-rehydrating agent,

Data Synthesis:

Use of airway-rehydrating agents for the treatment of CF is an expanding area. Hypertonic saline (7% NaCl) is currently the only commercially available airway-rehydrating agent recommended for chronic therapy in patients with CF and is being evaluated in younger patients. Inhaled mannitol is an investigational dry-powder inhalation agent that improves mucus clearance in a similar manner to hypertonic saline and produced a statistically significant increase in forced expiratory volume in 1 second in a Phase 3 trial. Denufosol, a P2Y2 agonist, rehydrates the airway surface liquid bypassing the basic CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein defect. It produces improvement in pulmonary function and is being further evaluated in a Phase 3 trial. Lancovutide (Moli 1901) is an investigation at agent in early-phase trials that activates a calcium-dependent chloride channel, allowing chloride to enter the airway.

Conclusions:

Hypertonic saline is the primary airway-rehydrating agent used in the treatment of CF. Inhaled mannitol may become an alternative to hypertonic saline since it is faster and easier to administer. It remains unclear whether Denufosol and lancovutide will be synergistic or antagonistic with hypertonic saline. Both agents have a unique mechanism of action that bypasses the basic CFTR defect.
Improved synthesis of Bn5CpRu(CO)2Cl and its application as racemization catalyst in preparative-scale metalloenzymatic dynamic kinetic resolution of 1-phenylethanol
Authors: Mavrynsky Denys , Kanerva Liisa T. , Sillanpää Reijo , Leino Reko
Published: December 2010

An improved gram-scale synthesis of Bn5CpRu(CO)2Cl is reported based on heating of pentabenzylcyclopentadiene with Ru3(CO)12 at 160 °C under argon atmosphere in mesitylene followed by addition of chloroform, continued heating, and evaporation of the solvents. Subsequent washing of unreacted ligand precursor with hexane provided pure title compound in 77 % yield. In combination with Candida antarctica lipase B (CAL-B) (Novozym 435), this complex forms a highly active racemization catalyst for metallo-enzymatic dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR) of secondary alcohols as demonstrated in the present work by converting 100 g of racemic 1-phenylethanol to (R)-1-phenylethanol in >99 % ee and 93 % overall yield over two steps using 0.05 mol % loading of the metal catalyst and 1 mass % loading of immobilized enzyme. In addition, the synthesis and crystallographic characterization of the palladium congener Bn5CpPd(PPh3)Cl are briefly discussed.
Concordance Study of 3 Direct-to-Consumer Genetic-Testing Services
Authors: Imai Kenta , Kricka Larry J , Fortina Paolo
Published: December 2010

BACKGROUND

Several companies offer direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing to evaluate ancestry and wellness. Massive-scale testing of thousands of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) is not error free, and such errors could translate into misclassification of risk and produce a false sense of security or unnecessary anxiety in an individual. We evaluated 3 DTC services and a genomics service that are based on DNA microarray or solution genotyping with hydrolysis probes (TaqMan® analysis) and compared the test results obtained for the same individual.

METHODS

We evaluated the results from 3 DTC services (23andMe, deCODEme, Navigenics) and a genomics-analysis service (Expression Analysis).

RESULTS

The concordance rates between the services for SNP data were >99.6%; however, there were some marked differences in the relative disease risks assigned by the DTC services (e.g., for rheumatoid arthritis, the range of relative risk was 0.9–1.85). A possible reason for this difference is that different SNPs were used to calculate risk for the same disease. The reference population also had an influence on the relative disease risk.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study revealed excellent concordance between the results of SNP analyses obtained from different companies with different platforms, but we noted a disparity in the data for risk, owing to both differences in the SNPs used in the calculation and the reference population used. The larger issues of the utility of the information and the need for risk data that match the user's ethnicity remain, however.
Neuronal Apoptosis Induced by Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Is Regulated by ATF4–CHOP-Mediated Induction of the Bcl-2 Homology 3-Only Member PUMA
Authors: Galehdar Zohreh , Swan Patrick , Fuerth Benjamin , Callaghan Steven M. , Park David S. , Cregan Sean P.
Published: December 2010

An increasing body of evidence points to a key role of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in acute and chronic neurodegenerative conditions. Extensive ER stress can trigger neuronal apoptosis, but the signaling pathways that regulate this cell death remain unclear. In the present study, we demonstrate that PUMA, a Bcl-2 homology 3 (BH3)-only member of the Bcl-2 family, is transcriptionally activated in cortical neurons by ER stress and is essential for ER-stress-induced cell death. PUMA is known to be a key transcriptional target of p53, but we have found that ER stress triggers PUMA induction and cell death through a p53-independent mechanism mediated by the ER-stress-inducible transcription factor ATF4 (activating transcription factor 4). Specifically, we demonstrate that ectopic expression of ATF4 sensitizes mouse cortical neurons to ER-stress-induced apoptosis and that ATF4-deficient neurons exhibit markedly reduced levels of PUMA expression and cell death. However, chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments suggest that ATF4 does not directly regulate the PUMA promoter. Rather, we found that ATF4 induces expression of the transcription factor CHOP (C/EBP homologous protein) and that CHOP in turn activates PUMA induction. Specifically, we demonstrate that CHOP binds to the PUMA promoter during ER stress and that CHOP knockdown attenuates PUMA induction and neuronal apoptosis. In summary, we have identified a key signaling pathway in ER-stress-induced neuronal death involving ATF4–CHOP-mediated transactivation of the proapoptotic Bcl-2 family member PUMA. We propose that this pathway may be an important therapeutic target relevant to a number of neurodegenerative conditions.
Countervailing Modulation ofIhby Neuropeptide Y and Corticotrophin-Releasing Factor in Basolateral Amygdala As a Possible Mechanism for Their Effects on Stress-Related Behaviors
Authors: Giesbrecht Chantelle J. , Mackay James P. , Silveira Heika B. , Urban Janice H. , Colmers William F.
Published: December 2010

Stress and anxiety-related behaviors controlled by the basolateral amygdala (BLA) are regulatedin vivoby neuropeptide Y (NPY) and corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF): NPY produces anxiolytic effects, whereas CRF produces anxiogenic effects. These opposing actions are likely mediated via regulation of excitatory output from the BLA to afferent targets. In these studies, we examined mechanisms underlying the effects of NPY and CRF in the BLA using whole-cell patch-clamp electrophysiology in rat brain slices. NPY, even with tetrodotoxin present, caused a dose-dependent membrane hyperpolarization in BLA pyramidal neurons. The hyperpolarization resulted in the inhibition of pyramidal cells, despite arising from a reduction in a voltage-dependent membrane conductance. The Y1receptor agonist, F7P34NPY, produced a similar membrane hyperpolarization, whereas the Y1antagonist, BIBO3304 [(R)-N-[[4-(aminocarbonylaminomethyl)-phenyl]methyl]-N2-(diphenylacetyl)-argininamide trifluoroacetate], blocked the effect of NPY. The NPY-inhibited current was identified asIh, which is active at and hyperpolarized to rest. Responses to NPY were occluded by either Cs+or ZD7288 (4-ethylphenylamino-1,2-dimethyl-6-methylaminopyrimidinium chloride), but unaffected by the GIRK-preferring blockers Ba2+and SCH23390 [(R)-(+)-7-chloro-8-hydroxy-3-methyl-l-phenyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-3-benzazepine hydrochloride]. Application of CRF, with or without TTX present, depolarized NPY-sensitive BLA pyramidal neurons, resulting from an increase inIh. Electrophysiological and immunocytochemical data were consistent with a major role for the HCN1 subunit. Our results indicate that NPY, via Y1receptors, directly inhibits BLA pyramidal neurons by suppressing a postsynapticIh, whereas CRF enhances restingIh, causing an increased excitability of BLA pyramidal neurons. The opposing actions of these two peptides on the excitability of BLA output cells are consistent with the observed behavioral actions of NPY and CRF in the BLA.
A Decrementing Form of Plasticity Apparent in Cerebellar Learning
Authors: Ohyama Tatsuya , Voicu Horatiu , Kalmbach Brian , Mauk Michael D.
Published: December 2010

Long-term synaptic plasticity is believed to underlie the capacity for learning and memory. In the cerebellum, for example, long-term plasticity contributes to eyelid conditioning and to learning in eye movement systems. We report evidence for a decrementing form of cerebellar plasticity as revealed by the behavioral properties of eyelid conditioning in the rabbit. We find that conditioned eyelid responses exhibit within-session changes that recover by the next day. These changes, which increase with the interstimulus interval, involve decreases in conditioned response magnitude and likelihood as well as increases in latency to onset. Within-subject comparisons show that these changes differ in magnitude depending on the type of training, arguing against motor fatigue or changes in motor pathways downstream of the cerebellum. These phenomena are also observed when stimulation of mossy fibers substitutes for the conditioned stimulus, suggesting that changes take place within the cerebellum or in downstream efferent pathways. Together, these observations suggest a plasticity mechanism in the cerebellum that is induced during training sessions and fades within 23 h. To formalize this hypothesis more specifically, we show that incorporating a short-lasting potentiation at the granule cell to Purkinje cell synapses in a computer simulation of the cerebellum reproduces these behavioral effects. We propose the working hypothesis that the presynaptic form of long-term potentiation observed at these synapses is reversed by time rather than by a corresponding long-term depression. These results demonstrate the utility of eyelid conditioning as a means to identify and characterize the rules that govern input to output transformations in the cerebellum.
Neural Correlates of Syntactic Processing in the Nonfluent Variant of Primary Progressive Aphasia
Authors: Wilson Stephen M. , Dronkers Nina F. , Ogar Jennifer M. , Jang Jung , Growdon Matthew E. , Agosta Federica , Henry Maya L. , Miller Bruce L. , Gorno-Tempini Maria Luisa
Published: December 2010

The left posterior inferior frontal cortex (IFC) is important for syntactic processing, and has been shown in many functional imaging studies to be differentially recruited for the processing of syntactically complex sentences relative to simpler ones. In the nonfluent variant of primary progressive aphasia (PPA), degeneration of the posterior IFC is associated with expressive and receptive agrammatism; however, the functional status of this region in nonfluent PPA is not well understood. Our objective was to determine whether the atrophic posterior IFC is differentially recruited for the processing of syntactically complex sentences in nonfluent PPA. Using structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging, we quantified tissue volumes and functional responses to a syntactic comprehension task in eight patients with nonfluent PPA, compared to healthy age-matched controls. In controls, the posterior IFC showed more activity for syntactically complex sentences than simpler ones, as expected. In nonfluent PPA patients, the posterior IFC was atrophic and, unlike controls, showed an equivalent level of functional activity for syntactically complex and simpler sentences. This abnormal pattern of functional activity was specific to the posterior IFC: the mid-superior temporal sulcus, another region modulated by syntactic complexity in controls, showed normal modulation by complexity in patients. A more anterior inferior frontal region was recruited by patients, but did not support successful syntactic processing. We conclude that in nonfluent PPA, the posterior IFC is not only structurally damaged, but also functionally abnormal, suggesting a critical role for this region in the breakdown of syntactic processing in this syndrome.
Encoding of Coordinated Grasp Trajectories in Primary Motor Cortex
Authors: Saleh Maryam , Takahashi Kazutaka , Amit Yali , Hatsopoulos Nicholas G.
Published: December 2010

Few studies have investigated how the cortex encodes the preshaping of the hand as an object is grasped, an ethological movement referred to as prehension. We developed an encoding model of hand kinematics to test whether primary motor cortex (MI) neurons encode temporally extensive combinations of joint motions that characterize a prehensile movement. Two female rhesus macaque monkeys were trained to grasp 4 different objects presented by a robot while their arm was held in place by a thermoplastic brace. We used multielectrode arrays to record MI neurons and an infrared camera motion tracking system to record the 3-D positions of 14 markers placed on the monkeys' wrist and digits. A generalized linear model framework was used to predict the firing rate of each neuron in a 4 ms time interval, based on its own spiking history and the spatiotemporal kinematics of the joint angles of the hand. Our results show that the variability of the firing rate of MI neurons is better described by temporally extensive combinations of finger and wrist joint angle kinematics rather than any individual joint motion or any combination of static kinematic parameters at their optimal lag. Moreover, a higher percentage of neurons encoded joint angular velocities than joint angular positions. These results suggest that neurons encode the covarying trajectories of the hand's joints during a prehensile movement.
Functional Subdivisions in the Left Angular Gyrus Where the Semantic System Meets and Diverges from the Default Network
Authors: Seghier Mohamed L. , Fagan Elizabeth , Price Cathy J.
Published: December 2010

The left angular gyrus (AG) is reliably activated across a wide range of semantic tasks, and is also a consistently reported component of the so-called default network that it is deactivated during all goal-directed tasks. We show here that there is only partial overlap between the semantic system and the default network in left AG and the overlap defines a reliable functional landmark that can be used to segregate functional subdivisions within AG. In 94 healthy human subjects, we collected functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data during fixation and eight goal directed tasks that involved semantic matching, perceptual matching or speech production in response to familiar or unfamiliar stimuli presented in either verbal (letters) or nonverbal (pictures) formats. Our results segregated three different left AG regions that were all activated by semantic relative to perceptual matching: (1) a midregion (mAG) that overlapped with the default network because it was deactivated during all tasks relative to fixation; (2) a dorsomesial region (dAG) that was more activated by all tasks relative to fixation; and (3) a ventrolateral region (vAG) that was only activated above fixation during semantic matching. By examining the effects of task and stimuli in each AG subdivision, we propose that mAG is involved in semantic associations regardless of the presence or absence of a stimulus; dAG is involved in searching for semantics in all visual stimuli, and vAG is involved in the conceptual identification of visual inputs. Our findings provide a framework for reporting and interpreting AG activations with greater definition.
Identification of a Novel Form of Noradrenergic-Dependent Respiratory Motor Plasticity Triggered by Vagal Feedback
Authors: Tadjalli Arash , Duffin James , Peever John
Published: December 2010

The respiratory control system is not just reflexive, it is smart, it learns, and, in fact, it has a memory. The respiratory system listens to and carefully remembers how previous stimuli affect breathing. Respiratory memory is laid down by adjusting synaptic strength between respiratory neurons. For example, repeated hypoxic bouts trigger a form of respiratory memory that functions to strengthen the ability of respiratory motoneurons to trigger contraction of breathing muscles. This type of respiratory plasticity is known as long-term facilitation (LTF). Although chemical feedback, such as hypoxia, initiates LTF, it is unknown whether natural modulation of mechanical feedback (from vagal inputs) also causes motor plasticity. Here, we used reverse microdialysis, electrophysiology, neuropharmacology, and histology to determine whether episodic modulation of vagally mediated mechanical feedback is able to induce respiratory LTF in anesthetized adult rats. We show that repeated obstructive apneas disrupt vagal feedback and trigger LTF of hypoglossal motoneuron activity and genioglossus muscle tone. This same stimulus does not cause LTF of diaphragm activity. Hypoxic episodes do not cause apnea-induced LTF; instead, LTF is triggered by modulation of vagal feedback. Unlike hypoxia-induced respiratory plasticity, vagus-induced LTF does not require 5-HT2receptors but instead relies on activation of α1-adrenergic receptors on hypoglossal motoneurons. In summary, we identify a novel form of hypoxia- and 5-HT-independent respiratory motor plasticity that is triggered by physiological modulation of vagal feedback and is mediated by α1-adrenergic receptor activation on (or near) hypoglossal motoneurons.
Golgi Cells Operate as State-Specific Temporal Filters at the Input Stage of the Cerebellar Cortex
Authors: Heine Shane A. , Highstein Stephen M. , Blazquez Pablo M.
Published: December 2010

Cerebellar processing of incoming information begins at the synapse between mossy fibers and granule cells, a synapse that is strongly controlled through Golgi cell inhibition. Thus, Golgi cells are uniquely positioned to control the flow of information into the cerebellar cortex and understanding their responses during behavior is essential to understanding cerebellar function. Here we show, for the first time, that Golgi cells express a unique oculomotor-related signal that can be used to provide state- and time-specific filtering of granule cell activity. We used newly established criteria to identify the unique electrophysiological signature of Golgi cells and recorded these neurons in the squirrel monkey ventral paraflocculus during oculomotor behaviors. We found that they carry eye movement, but not vestibular or visual, information and that this eye movement information is only expressed within a specific range of eye positions for each neuron. In addition, simultaneous recordings of Golgi cells and nearby mossy fibers revealed that Golgi cells have the opposite directional tuning of the mossy fiber(s) that likely drive their responses, and that these responses are more sluggish than their mossy fiber counterparts. Because the mossy fiber inputs appear to convey the activity of burst–tonic neurons in the brainstem, Golgi cell responses reflect a time-filtered negative image of the motor command sent to the extraocular muscles. We suggest a role for Golgi cells in the construction of forward models of movement, commonly hypothesized as a major function of the cerebellar cortex in motor control.
Fragile X Protein FMRP Is Required for Homeostatic Plasticity and Regulation of Synaptic Strength by Retinoic Acid
Authors: Soden Marta E. , Chen Lu
Published: December 2010

Homeostatic synaptic plasticity adjusts the strength of synapses during global changes in neural activity, thereby stabilizing the overall activity of neural networks. Suppression of synaptic activity increases synaptic strength by inducing synthesis of retinoic acid (RA), which activates postsynaptic synthesis of AMPA-type glutamate receptors (AMPARs) in dendrites and promotes synaptic insertion of newly synthesized AMPARs. Here, we show that fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP), an RNA-binding protein that regulates dendritic protein synthesis, is essential for increases in synaptic strength induced by RA or by blockade of neural activity in the mouse hippocampus. Although activity-dependent RA synthesis is maintained inFmr1knock-out neurons, RA-dependent dendritic translation of GluR1-type AMPA receptors is impaired. Intriguingly, FMRP is only required for the form of homeostatic plasticity that is dependent on both RA signaling and local protein synthesis. Postsynaptic expression of wild-type or mutant FMRP(I304N) in knock-out neurons reduced the total, surface, and synaptic levels of AMPARs, implying a role for FMRP in regulating AMPAR abundance. Expression of FMRP lacking the RGG box RNA-binding domain had no effect on AMPAR levels. Importantly, postsynaptic expression of wild-type FMRP, but not FMRP(I304N) or FMRPΔRGG, restored synaptic scaling when expressed in knock-out neurons. Together, these findings identify an unanticipated role for FMRP in regulating homeostatic synaptic plasticity downstream of RA. Our results raise the possibility that at least some of the symptoms of fragile X syndrome reflect impaired homeostatic plasticity and impaired RA signaling.
Midazolam Inhibits Hippocampal Long-Term Potentiation and Learning through Dual Central and Peripheral Benzodiazepine Receptor Activation and Neurosteroidogenesis
Authors: Tokuda Kazuhiro , O'Dell Kazuko A. , Izumi Yukitoshi , Zorumski Charles F.
Published: December 2010

Benzodiazepines (BDZs) enhance GABAAreceptor inhibition by direct actions on central BDZ receptors (CBRs). Although some BDZs also bind mitochondrial receptors [translocator protein (18 kDa) (TSPO)] and promote the synthesis of GABA-enhancing neurosteroids, the role of neurosteroids in the clinical effects of BDZs is unknown. In rat hippocampal slices, we compared midazolam, an anesthetic BDZ, with clonazepam, an anticonvulsant/anxiolytic BDZ that activates CBRs selectively. Midazolam, but not clonazepam, increased neurosteroid levels in CA1 pyramidal neurons without changing TSPO immunostaining. Midazolam, but not clonazepam, also augmented a form of spike inhibition after stimulation adjacent to the pyramidal cell layer and inhibited induction of long-term potentiation. These effects were prevented by finasteride, an inhibitor of neurosteroid synthesis, or 17PA [17-phenyl-(3α,5α)-androst-16-en-3-ol], a blocker of neurosteroid effects on GABAAreceptors. Moreover, the synaptic effects were mimicked by a combination of clonazepam with FGIN (2-[2-(4-fluorophenyl)-1H-indol-3-yl]-N,N-dihexylacetamide), a selective TSPO agonist, or a combination of clonazepam with exogenous allopregnanolone. Consistent with thesein vitroresults, finasteride abolished the effects of midazolam on contextual fear learning when administrated 1 d before midazolam injection. Thus, dual activation of CBRs and TSPO appears to result in unique actions of clinically important BDZs. Furthermore, endogenous neurosteroids are shown to be important regulators of pyramidal neuron function and synaptic plasticity.
Spinal Interneurons Facilitate Coactivation of Hand Muscles during a Precision Grip Task in Monkeys
Authors: Takei Tomohiko , Seki Kazuhiko
Published: December 2010

Grasping is a highly complex movement requiring coordination of a number of hand joints and muscles. In contrast to cortical descending systems, the contribution of the subcortical system for coordinating this higher degree of freedom is largely unknown. Here we explore how spinal interneurons (INs) contribute to the coordination of hand muscles by recording their activity from the cervical spinal cord (C5–T1) simultaneously with electromyographic (EMG) activity from hand and arm muscles in three monkeys performing a precision grip task. Spike-triggered averages of the rectified EMGs were compiled for 255 neurons (4821 neuron–muscle pairs). Twenty-six neurons produced 68 significant postspike effects in hand and arm muscles and were identified as premotor interneurons (PreM-INs), which presumably have relatively direct synaptic effects on spinal motoneurons. The majority of the PreM-INs (22/26 neurons) produced postspike effects in finger muscles (intrinsic and extrinsic hand muscles) compared with wrist (9/26 neurons) and elbow muscles (1/26 neurons). The effects in finger muscles were mostly facilitative [postspike facilitations (PSFs), 19/22 neurons], and few had suppressive effects (postspike suppressions, 3/22 neurons). Moreover, PreM-INs produced more divergent PSFs in intrinsic hand muscles (2.5 ± 1.9 muscles/neuron) than in wrist muscles (1.2 ± 0.4 muscles/neurons). We conclude that spinal PreM-INs produce divergent facilitations preferentially in intrinsic hand muscles. These results suggest that spinal interneurons contribute to the control of hand grasping in primates by combining and coordinating multiple finger muscles.
Maria mediatrix – mittellos mittel aller súnder
Authors: Mertens Fleury Katharina
Published: December 2010

Maria mediatrix represents a paradigm of mediality in the Middle Ages. Mary′s power consists in bridging the gap between the celestial sphere and the world, the Christ and mankind. She is full of grace and conveying grace, participating in humanity and divinity by these characteristics. Her influence is based on having given birth to the Christ, accompanied his life until his death on the cross, having suffered and died in her soul with him in love. She incites the individual to follow her on her paths, to love and suffer as she did, to follow the Christ. Her path – if followed – offers the perspective to reach redemption and salvation. But she is also interceding for the sinners. Ascended to heaven and crowned as queen, she is able to change the severity of judgements of her son into mercy. The present article outlines a “mediologic” approach, presenting some developments from the bible to the Middle Ages and giving examples of different ways of Mary′s mediation. The latter are mainly focussed on homilies written by Bernhard de Clairvaux (1090–1153) on the occasion of the feasts of the birth and ascension of Mary and five chapters of the ‘Büchlein der Ewigen Weisheit’ by Heinrich Seuse (1295–1366).
Medienphilosophische Konzeptionen in der Erkenntnis- und Zeichentheorie des Mittelalters
Authors: Meier-Oeser Stephan
Published: December 2010

The article shows that the currently fashionable idea of an omnipresence of mediality is already effective in some areas of medieval thought, even though in another form. The medieval conception of the relation between god, the world, and man implies a theological world view, according to which the phenomenon of mediality is not only universally present in the world, but in which the mundus creatus itself appears as a medium par excellence, as a message to man, assisting him in transcending that medium. Furthermore it is argued that medieval philosophical thought is by no means restricted to such a symbolic world view. Scholastic philosophy does not only come with a highly elaborate theory about the different forms of cognitive media, but also has developed, particularly in the context of logic, a thoroughly rational theory of the sign and its functions, by which the symbolic and allegorical thinking was pushed to the margins of the philosophical discourse.
Bildmodelle in der Glasmalerei des 12. und 13. Jahrhunderts. Vom vollfarbig zum teilfarbig verglasten Fenster
Authors: Kurmann-Schwarz Brigitte , Schiffhauer Angela
Published: December 2010

The article examines the change in luminosity in Gothic stained-glass windows, based on examples from France. This change began around the middle of the 13th century, when coloured panels were increasingly set into grisaille glass. The joint use of clear glass with intensely coloured glass on the one hand allowed more light to enter the interior of the church, and on the other led to different design solutions for combining coloured images with the grisaille. This brought about the evolution of the band window in which one or more horizontal series of coloured figurative panels crossed over the narrow mullions against a ground of grisaille. In order to explain the development of composite windows, material arguments (economic constraints, technological progress) as well as non-material arguments (new aesthetic) have been advanced and are critically considered. The focus of the article is on the effect of the media synthesis between stained glass and architecture with regard to the visual projection of the images.
Adenosino-deaminase no líquido celalorraqueano de pacientes com a síndrome da imunodeficiência adquirida
Authors: Machado Luís Dos Ramos , Livramento José Antonio , Spina-França Antonio
Published: December 2010

A determinação da atividade enzimática da adenosino-deaminase (ADA) no líquido cefalorraqueano (LCR) de pacientes com síndrome da imunodeficiência adquirida (AIDS) pode sinalizar, ainda que de modo inespecífico, a atividade de patologias associadas. Os níveis de atividade de ADA, estudados no LCR de 263 pacientes, estavam aumentados naqueles com patologias associadas em relação aos controles normais e em relação aos pacientes com AIDS que não apresentam alterações ao exame de LCR. No entanto, os níveis de ADA detectados no LCR não apresentaram diferença estatística ao se considerarem os seguintes grupos de pacientes distribuídos segundo os achados no próprio LCR: com anticorpos para toxoplasmose, sífilis ou citomegalovírus; com C. neoformans ou seus antígenos; com bacilos álcool-ácido-resistentes; com linfomas.
Pulmonary involvement in patients with HTLV-I associated myelopathy
Authors: Mattos Kilma , Melo Ailton , Publio Conceição Queiroz Leandro , Peçanha-Martins Antonio Carlos , Freitas Virgínia , Gomes Irenio
Published: December 2010

Pulmonary involvement in HTLV-I patients has been identified by several authors in Africa, Japan and Brazil. The objective of this controlled study is to establish an association between HAM and lymphocytosis in the bronchoalveolar fluid (BAL). Thirty-five adult patients with non-traumatic and non-tumoral myelopathy filled out a detailed historical survey and underwent a neurological examination, a thoracic radiological evaluation and a CSF examination. Of the patients in this sample, 22 were diagnosed with HTLV-I associated myelopathy and 13 had myelopathies with other etiologies. Lymphocytosis in the BAL fluid was detected in 18 (82%) of the HAM patients and in 2 (15%) of non-HAM patients. We concluded that the lung represents an important organ in the pathogenesis of HAM.