bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Water Sensitive Hydrate: The Bis‐Catena Complex Salt [Mn(H2O)6][BiI4]2·2H2O
Authors: Erbe Manuela , Köhler Daniel , Ruck Michael
Published: April 2010

Bright red crystals of [Mn(H2O)6][BiI4]2·2H2O are obtained from a solution of MnI2, BiI3, and I2 in absolute ethanol, which is exposed to humid air. Reversible dehydratization sets in at about 50 °C. Added water decomposes the hydrate by irreversible precipitation of BiOI. The optical bandgap is about 1.9(1) eV. X‐ray diffraction on a single‐crystal revealed a monoclinic lattice (space group P21/c) with a = 760.39(4) pm, b = 1315.6(1) pm, c = 1398.37(7) pm, and β = 97.438(4)°. In the crystal structure zigzag chains of edge‐sharing [BiI2/1I4/2]– octahedra and linear strings of H2O‐bridged [Mn(H2O)6]2+ octahedra run parallel [100].
Synthesis, Structure, and Properties of Scandium Dysprosium Antimonide ScDySb
Authors: Nuss Jürgen , Wedig Ulrich , Jansen Martin
Published: April 2010

Scandium dysprosium antimonide ScDySb was synthesized from scandium metal and DySb in an all‐solid state reaction at 1770 K. According to X‐ray analysis of the crystal structure [P4/nmm,Z= 4,a= 430.78(1) pm,c= 816.43(4) pm,R1= 0.0238,wR(all) = 0.0688, 268 independent reflections], ScDySb adopts theanti‐PbFCl type of structure, but with pronounced deviations in structural details, which are related to specific bonding interactions between the atoms involved. ScDySb shows antiferromagnetic ordering below 35.4 K, which was verified by susceptibility, heat capacity, and resistivity measurements. X‐ray structure determination, performed at 30 K, showed no significant structural changes to occur during the magnetic phase transition. The band structure was calculated in the framework of Density Functional Theory. The bonding properties are comparable to those of Sc2Sb. Pronounced basins of the Electron Localization Function (ELF) appear in the tetragonal pyramidal Sc4Dy voids.
Hyperparathyroidism in Pregnancy: Options for Localization and Surgical Therapy
Authors: McMullen Todd P. W. , Learoyd Diana L. , Williams David C. , Sywak Mark S. , Sidhu Stan B. , Delbridge Leigh W.
Published: April 2010

Background

Hyperparathyroidism in pregnancy is a threat to the health of both mother and fetus. The mothers suffer commonly from nephrolithiasis, hyperemesis, or even hypercalcemic crisis. Untreated disease will commonly complicate fetal development and fetal death is a significant risk. Treatment options, including medical and surgical therapy, are debated in the literature.

Methods

This is a case series comprising seven patients with primary hyperparathyroidism in pregnancy. Data collected included symptoms at diagnosis, biochemical abnormalities, pathologic findings, treatment regimes, and subsequent maternal and fetal outcomes.

Results

Seven women, aged 20 to 39 years, presented with hyperparathyroidism during pregnancy. The earliest presented at 8 weeks and the latest at 38 weeks. Four of seven patients experienced renal calculi. Calcium levels were 2.7–3.5 mmol/l. All were found to have solitary parathyroid adenomas, of which two were in ectopic locations. Fetal complications included three preterm deliveries and one fetal death with no cases of neonatal tetany. Maternal and fetal complications could not be predicted based on duration or severity of hypercalcemia. Three patients were treated during pregnancy with surgery, and two of these had ectopic glands that required reoperations with a novel approach using Tc‐99m sestamibi scanning during pregnancy to assist in localizing the abnormal gland. Four cases were treated postpartum with a combination of open and minimally invasive approaches after localization. No operative complications or fetal loss related to surgery were observed in this cohort.

Conclusions

Primary hyperparathyroidism in pregnancy represents a significant risk for maternal and fetal complications that cannot be predicted by duration of symptoms or serum calcium levels. Surgical treatment should be considered early, and a minimally invasive approach with ultrasound is best suited to mitigating risk to mother and fetus. Equally important, Tc‐99m sestamibi imaging may be used safely for localization of the parathyroids after negative cervical explorations.
Incidence and Risk Factors of Peripheral Arterial Occlusive Disease in a Prospective Cohort of 700 Adult Elderly Men Followed for 5 Years
Authors: Merino Jana , Planas Adriana , Elosua Roberto , de Moner Ana , Gasol Ana , Contreras Carmen , Vidal‐Barraquer Francesc , Clarà Albert
Published: April 2010

Objective

This study was designed to assess the incidence of peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD) in a population‐based cohort of men aged 55–74 years and to establish a predictive function based on risk factors for the disease.

Methods

This was a prospective study of 699 men representative of an urban population. Cardiovascular risk factors, history of cardiovascular events, and ankle‐brachial index (ABI) at baseline and at 5 years were measured. PAOD was defined as a confirmed ABI <0.9.

Results

A total of 468 (67%) subjects could be evaluated at 5 years. In the remaining 233 subjects, 94 had PAOD at baseline, 66 died during the study, and 73 were lost to follow‐up. At the end of the 5‐year study period, 56 (12%) subjects developed PAOD (21.4% ABI <0.6, 78.6% ABI between 0.61 and 0.9). Independent predictors for PAOD were age older than 70 years at baseline (odds ratio [OR] 2.5, P = 0.004), smoking history more than 40 pack‐year (OR = 2.27, P = 0.007), history of cerebrovascular disease (OR = 3.49, P = 0.02), and symptomatic coronary disease (OR = 3.36, P = 0.004). The 5‐year incidence of PAOD was 22.4% for subjects older than 70 years, 21.5% for heavy smokers, 29.4% for those with previous cerebrovascular events, and 25% for subjects with ischemic heart disease. The risk for PAOD in subjects without risk factors was 6%.

Conclusions

Twelve percent of adult men aged between aged 55 and 74 years developed PAOD during a follow‐up of 5 years. Besides subjects with history of cardiovascular disease, men older than aged 70 years and heavy smokers constituted a high‐risk group for PAOD and, therefore, the object of directed efforts of primary prevention.
Pregnancy in glycogen storage disease type Ib: gestational care and report of first successful deliveries
Authors: Dagli Aditi I. , Lee Philip J. , Correia Catherine E. , Rodriguez Christina , Bhattacharya Kaustav , Steinkrauss Linda , Stanley Charles A. , Weinstein David A.
Published: April 2010

Patients with type Ia glycogen storage disease (GSD) have been surviving well into adulthood since continuous glucose therapy was introduced in the 1970s, and there have been many documented successful pregnancies in women with this condition. Historically, few individuals with type Ib GSD, however, survived into adulthood prior to the introduction of granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G‐CSF) in the late 1980s. There are no previously published reports of pregnancies in GSD type Ib. In this case report we describe the course and management of five successful pregnancies in three patients with GSD type Ib. Patient 1 experienced an increase in glucose requirement in all three of her pregnancies, starting from the second trimester onwards. There were no major complications related to neutropenia except for oral ulcers. The infants did well, except for respiratory distress in two of them at birth. Patient 2 used cornstarch to maintain euglycemia, but precise dosing was not part of her regimen, and, hence, an increase in metabolic demands was difficult to demonstrate. She developed a renal calculus and urinary tract infection during her pregnancy and had chronic iron deficiency anemia but no neutropenia. The neonate did well after delivery. Patient 3 had poor follow‐up during pregnancy. Increasing glucose requirements, worsening lipid profile, neutropenia associated with multiple infections, and anemia were noted. The newborn infant did well after delivery. In addition to the case reports, the challenges of the usage of G‐CSF, the treatment of enterocolitis, and comparisons with the management of GSD Ia are discussed.
Ambivalence and Involvement in the Satisfaction–Repurchase Loyalty Relationship
Authors: Tuu Ho Huy , Olsen Svein Ottar
Published: April 2010

This study tests the different and combined roles of involvement and ambivalence in the satisfaction–repurchase loyalty relationship. The study analyses survey data from 922 Vietnamese consumers. The study uses structural equation modelling for testing mediator and moderator effects. The results indicate that satisfaction has both positive direct and indirect effects on repurchase loyalty via involvement. Ambivalence has negative direct effects on both satisfaction and involvement, but does not directly influence repurchase loyalty. Empirical evidence also reveals that ambivalence and involvement are both moderators in the satisfaction–repurchase loyalty relationship. However, the moderating mechanisms of the two constructs in this relationship are different. While involvement moderates positively the direct effect of satisfaction on repurchase loyalty, ambivalence moderates negatively the indirect effect of satisfaction on repurchase loyalty via involvement. This result means that the indirect effect of satisfaction on repurchase loyalty through involvement is weaker under high ambivalence than low ambivalence. The results of this study indicate that ambivalence and involvement, as well as the combined role of these constructs, are important to understanding and explaining the relationship between satisfaction and repurchase loyalty.
Analgesic efficacy and adverse effects of epidural morphine compared to parenteral opioids after elective caesarean section: A systematic review
Authors: Bonnet Marie‐Pierre , Mignon Alexandre , Mazoit Jean‐Xavier , Ozier Yves , Marret Emmanuel
Published: April 2010

Background: The optimal effective dose of epidural morphine that provides postoperative analgesia after caesarean section with minimal side effects remains debated.

Aims: We performed a systematic review to assess the analgesic efficacy and the incidence of adverse effects of epidural morphine after caesarean section compared to systemic analgesia with opioids.

Methods: We searched Medline, Embase and Cochrane Collaboration Library databases. Studies were evaluated with the Modified Oxford Scale. Prospective randomized studies comparing analgesic efficacy and/or adverse effects of a single epidural morphine administration versus systemic opioids after elective caesarean section were included.

Results: Ten studies (n = 431) were selected. Epidural morphine increases the time until the first request for a rescue analgesic (Emax, 29.7 h; 95% confidence interval, 25.2–33.9) and decreases pain scores and postoperative morphine request during the first 24 h compared to systemic opioid analgesia. However, epidural morphine increases the incidence of pruritus (relative risk, 2.7; 95% CI, 2.1–3.6) and nausea (relative risk, 2.0; 95% CI, 1.2–3.3).

Conclusions: A single bolus of epidural morphine provides better analgesia than parenteral opioids but with an effect limited to the first postoperative day after caesarean section and with an increase in morphine side effects.
Changes in motor unit recruitment strategy during pain alters force direction
Authors: Tucker Kylie J. , Hodges Paul W.
Published: April 2010

Motor unit (MU) recruitment is altered (decreased discharge rate and cessation of discharge in some units, and recruitment of new units) in force‐matched contractions during pain compared to contractions performed before pain. As MU's within a motoneurone pool have different force direction properties we hypothesised that altered MU recruitment during experimental knee pain would change the force vector (total force (FT): amplitude and angle) generated by the quadriceps. Force was produced at two levels during 1 × 60‐s and 3 × 10‐s isometric contractions of knee extensors, and recorded by two force transducers at right angles. This enabled calculation of both FE (extension force) and FT. MU recruitment was recorded from the medial and lateral vastii with four fine‐wire electrodes. Pain was induced by hypertonic saline injection in the infra‐patella fat pad. Nine subjects matched FE and six subjects also matched both medial and lateral forces (FT) before and during pain. Changes in MU discharge pattern (decreased discharge rate (P < 0.001), complete cessation of firing, and recruitment of new units) during pain were associated with a ∼5° change in absolute force angle. As force angle changed in both directions (left/right) for individual subjects with pain there was no change in average FT amplitude between conditions. When both medial and lateral forces were matched MU discharge rate decreased (P < 0.001) with pain, but, fewer units ceased firing or were newly recruited during pain. Change in motoneurone recruitment during pain alters direction of muscle force. This may be a strategy to avoid pain or protect the painful part.
Effects of Pleistocene environmental changes on the distribution and community structure of the mammalian fauna of Mexico
Authors: Ceballos Gerardo , Arroyo-Cabrales Joaquín , Ponce Eduardo
Published: April 2010

Biological communities in Mexico experienced profound changes in species composition and structure as a consequence of the environmental fluctuations during the Pleistocene. Based on the recent and fossil Mexican mammal checklists, we determine the distribution, composition, diversity, and community structure of late Pleistocene mammalian faunas, and analyze extinction patterns and response of individual species to environmental changes. We conclude that (1) differential extinctions occurred at family, genus, and species level, with a major impact on species heavier than 100 kg, including the extinction all proboscideans and several ruminants; (2) Pleistocene mammal communities in Mexico were more diverse than recent ones; and (3) the current assemblages of species are relatively young. Furthermore, Pleistocene relicts support the presence of biogeographic corridors; important refugia existed as well as centers of speciation in isolated regions. We identified seven corridors: eastern USA–Sierra Madre Oriental corridor, Rocky Mountains–Sierra Madre Occidental corridor, Central United States–Northern Mexico corridor, Transvolcanic Belt–Sierra Madre del Sur corridor, western USA–Baja California corridor, Tamaulipas–Central America gulf lowlands corridor, and Sonora–Central America Pacific lowlands corridor. Our study suggests that present mammalian assemblages are very different than the ones in the late Pleistocene.
Growth hormone alters lipid composition and increases the abundance of casein and lactalbumin mRNA in the MAC-T cell line
Authors: Johnson Tasha L , Fujimoto Brent AS , Jiménez-Flores Rafaél , Peterson Daniel G
Published: April 2010

The MAC-T cell line has been used extensively to investigate bovine mammary epithelial cell function. A lactogenic phenotype is generally induced in this cell line by a combination of dexamethasone, insulin and prolactin and has typically been assessed by milk protein production. Few studies have focused on identifying other factors that may affect milk protein synthesis in the MAC-T cell line, and none have considered the lipid class distribution of MAC-T cells as a component of the lactogenic phenotype. Growth hormone (GH) has been shown to increase milk protein synthesis both in vivo and in mammary cell models, and has been shown to alter the lipogenic profile of mammary explant models. We tested the hypothesis that MAC-T cells would respond directly to GH and that the response would include alterations to the lipid class distribution as well as to milk protein gene expression, leading to a more appropriate model for mammary cell function than treatment with dexamethasone, insulin and prolactin alone. Differentiated cells expressed GH receptor mRNA, and addition of GH to the differentiation medium significantly induced production of α-s1casein and α-lactalbumin mRNA. GH also significantly affected the proportion of triacylglycerol and sphingomyelin. These results indicate that GH is an important factor in inducing a lactogenic phenotype in the MAC-T cell line, and support the possibility of a direct effect of GH on milk synthesisin vivo.
Genetic variation at the goat hormone-sensitive lipase (LIPE) gene and its association with milk yield and composition
Authors: Zidi Ali , Fernández-Cabanás Víctor M , Carrizosa Juan , Jordana Jordi , Urrutia Baltasar , Polvillo Oliva , González-Redondo Pedro , Gallardo David , Amills Marcel , Serradilla Juan M
Published: April 2010

Hormone-sensitive lipase (LIPE) plays a fundamental role in the regulation of energy balance by releasing free fatty acids from adipose triacylglycerol stores. These fatty acids can be subsequently transferred to other body compartments to be oxidized or employed in other biochemical reactions. This enzymic function is particularly important in lactating animals because the synthesis of milk components involves the mobilization of lipid depots to satisfy the large energy demands of the mammary gland. In the current study, we partially sequenced the goatLIPEgene in several individuals. In doing so, we identified two synonymous polymorphisms at exons 2 (c.327C>A>T, triallelic polymorphism) and 3 (c.558C>T). Moreover, we found a mis-sense polymorphism at exon 6 (c.1162G>T) that involves an alanine to serine substitution at position 388. Analysis with Polyphen and Panther softwares revealed that this amino acid replacement is expected to be neutral. Performance of an association analysis with a variety of milk traits revealed that goatLIPEgenotype has highly suggestive effects on milk yield (P=0·0032) as well as on C18:3 n-6g (P=0·0051),trans-10cis-12 CLA (P=0·007) and C12:0 (P=0·0084) milk contents. These associations are concordant with the preference of LIPE to selectively mobilize medium-chain and unsaturated fatty acids.
Investigation of mammary blood flow changes by transrectal colour Doppler sonography in anEscherichia colimastitis model
Authors: Potapow André , Sauter-Louis Carola , Schmauder Sandra , Friker Jutta , Nautrup Cordula Poulsen , Mehne Daniel , Petzl Wolfram , Zerbe Holm
Published: April 2010

The objectives of this preliminary investigation were to evaluate the feasibility of transrectal colour Doppler sonography (TCDS) for determining blood flow of the pudendoepigastric trunk in cows with experimentally inducedEscherichia coliMastitis. Five primiparous Holstein dairy cows, 4–6 months after calving, were examined in two trials. All monitored udder quarters were initially clinically healthy, somatic cell count (SCC) was <50 000 cells/ml and bacteriologically negative. The blood flow of the left and the right pudendoepigastric trunk was described by the blood flow volume (BFV). In the methodological part of the study, the intra-observer precision of the method was evaluated. The coefficients of variation of the BFV were 7·1% for the left and 9·4% for the right pudendoepigastric trunk. The intraclass correlation coefficients of the BFV were 0·99 (P<0·001) for the left and 0·75 (P=0·004) for the right vessel. BFV did not differ significantly between the left and the right side nor between pre- and post-milking nor between oestrus and dioestrus. In the experimental part of the study, significant differences of increasing BFV between 0 and 12 h p.i. (post infectionem) (P=0·043) and decreasing BFV between 12 and 24 h p.i. (P=0·043) were discovered for the pudendoepigastric trunk of the infected right side. In the left-right (control-infection) comparison a significant increase of the right BFV was observed at 12 h p.i. (P=0·043). The difference of an increasing SCC correlated positively with the difference of an increasing BFV between 0 and 12 h p.i. (Spearman's ρ=1·00;P=0·043) for the right infected side. It was shown that TCDS is a reproducible technique for investigating pathological mammary blood flow changes at an early stage of acute mastitis.
A comparative study of self-propelled and towed wakes in a stratified fluid
Authors: BRUCKER KYLE A. , SARKAR SUTANU
Published: April 2010

Direct numerical simulations (DNS) of axisymmetric wakes with canonical towed and self-propelled velocity profiles are performed atRe= 50 000 on a grid with approximately 2 billion grid points. The present study focuses on a comparison between towed and self-propelled wakes and on the elucidation of buoyancy effects. The development of the wake is characterized by the evolution of maxima, area integrals and spatial distributions of mean and turbulence statistics. Transport equations for mean and turbulent energies are utilized to help understand the observations. The mean velocity in the self-propelled wake decays more rapidly than the towed case due to higher shear and consequently a faster rate of energy transfer to turbulence. Buoyancy allows a wake to survive longer in a stratified fluid by reducing the 〈u1′u3′〉 correlation responsible for the mean-to-turbulence energy transfer in the vertical direction. This buoyancy effect is especially important in the self-propelled case because it allows regions of positive and negative momentum to become decoupled in the vertical direction and decay with different rates. The vertical wake thickness is found to be larger in self-propelled wakes. The role of internal waves in the energetics is determined and it is found that, later in the evolution, they can become a dominant term in the balance of turbulent kinetic energy. The non-equilibrium stage, known to exist for towed wakes, is also shown to exist for self-propelled wakes. Both the towed and self-propelled wakes, atRe= 50000, are found to exhibit a time span when, although the turbulence is strongly stratified as indicated by small Froude number, the turbulent dissipation rate decays according to inertial scaling.
Double-blind, randomised, controlled study of post-operative pain in children undergoing radiofrequency tonsillotomy versus laser tonsillotomy
Authors: Stelter K , de la Chaux R , Patscheider M , Olzowy B
Published: April 2010

Introduction:

In the last decade tonsillotomy has come into vogue again, whereas the number of tonsillectomies is decreasing rapidly. Currently, most tonsils are reduced by utilise electrosurgery, radiofrequency or carbon dioxide laser. However, it is not clear whether radiofrequency tonsillotomy is as effective as laser or other surgical techniques in respect of post-operative pain and haemorrhage.

Material and methods:

A prospective, randomised, double-blinded, controlled, clinical study was conducted in the otorhinolaryngology department of Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Germany. Twenty-six children with tonsillar hypertrophy were included. Exclusion criteria were: history of peritonsillar abscess, previous tonsil surgery, tonsillitis within two weeks, pain before surgery, psychiatric illness, asymmetrical tonsils, chronic analgesic usage, bleeding disorders and other surgical procedures during the same operation. Tonsillotomy was performed on one side with radiofrequency and on the other side with a carbon dioxide laser. All procedures were performed by a single surgeon, under general anaesthesia. A visual analogue scale was used to measure patients' pain on each side, administered by a ‘blinded’ nurse on the three post-operative mornings and evenings, within the hospital.

Results:

There was no difference in post-operative pain scores or haemorrhage, comparing laser versus radiofrequency tonsillotomy. Patient's overall reported pain was very modest compared with post-tonsillectomy pain. No haemorrhage or other adverse effects were observed.
Is metal accumulation in Pomphorhynchus laevis dependent on parasite sex or infrapopulation size?
Authors: NACHEV M. , ZIMMERMANN S. , RIGAUD T. , SURES B.
Published: April 2010

Concentrations of the elements As, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sn, V, Zn were analysed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) in the acanthocephalan Pomphorhynchus laevis and its fish host Barbus barbus. A total of 27 barbels were collected from the Danube River in autumn 2006 close to the town Kozloduy (685 river kilometer) on the Bulgarian river bank. Fish were divided into 3 groups. According to their P. laevis infrapopulation size hosts were considered as heavily infected (>100 worms per fish) and lightly infected (<20 worms per fish). The third group was used to compare heavy metal concentrations between male and female P. laevis. The 5 elements As, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn were detected in significantly higher concentrations in parasites compared to host tissues (muscle, intestine, liver). According to the calculated mean bioconcentration factors, 3 more elements (Co, Mn, V) showed usually higher concentrations in P. laevis. Comparisons between heavily and lightly infected fish revealed significant differences only for V with higher concentrations for the heavily infected group. Concerning sex-specific metal accumulation V and Zn showed significant differences (V, at P<0·05; Zn, at P=0·05), with higher levels of both metals in females of P. laevis. Our results suggest that – for the metals analysed – the size of the parasite infrapopulation plays no role in the degree of metal accumulation. Similarly, parasite sex seems not to be a crucial factor for metal accumulation in the parasites. Thus, for metal monitoring purposes there is no need to take these aspects into account, which makes the use of parasites as bioindicators more applicable.
Association of the5-HTTLPRgenotype and unipolar depression: a meta-analysis
Authors: Clarke H. , Flint J. , Attwood A. S. , Munafò M. R.
Published: April 2010

Background

We sought to ascertain the strength of evidence for association between the 5-HTTLPRpolymorphism and unipolar depression.

Method

We applied meta-analytic techniques to data from relevant published studies, and obtained an estimate of the likely magnitude of effect of any association. We also tested for possible publication bias, and explored the impact of various study design characteristics on the magnitude of the observed effect size.

Results

Meta-analysis indicated evidence of a small but statistically significant association between the 5-HTTLPRpolymorphism and unipolar depression [odds ratio (OR) 1.08, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.03–1.12]. This remained significant when data from samples of European and East Asian ancestry were analyzed separately. In all cases there was evidence of significant between-study heterogeneity, although the observed associations were robust to the application of a random-effects framework.

Conclusions

Our results support the presence of a small effect of a polymorphism in the serotonin transporter promoter on susceptibility to depression. However, we caution that it is possible that the effect has an artifactual basis, rather than a biological origin.
Predictors and moderators of time to remission of major depression with interpersonal psychotherapy and SSRI pharmacotherapy
Authors: Frank E. , Cassano G. B. , Rucci P. , Thompson W. K. , Kraemer H. C. , Fagiolini A. , Maggi L. , Kupfer D. J. , Shear M. K. , Houck P. R. , Calugi S. , Grochocinski V. J. , Scocco P. , Buttenfield J. , Forgione R. N.
Published: April 2010

Background

Although many studies suggest that, on average, depression-specific psychotherapy and antidepressant pharmacotherapy are efficacious, we know relatively little about which patients are more likely to respond to one versus the other. We sought to determine whether measures of spectrum psychopathology are useful in deciding which patients with unipolar depression should receive pharmacotherapy versus depression-specific psychotherapy.

Method

A total of 318 adult out-patients with major depression were randomly assigned to escitalopram pharmacotherapy or interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) at academic medical centers at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Pisa, Italy. Our main focus was on predictors and moderators of time to remission on monotherapy at 12 weeks.

Results

Participants with higher scores on the need for medical reassurance factor of the Panic–Agoraphobic Spectrum Self-Report (PAS-SR) had more rapid remission with IPT and those with lower scores on the psychomotor activation factor of the Mood Spectrum Self-Report (MOODS-SR) experienced more rapid remission with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) pharmacotherapy. Non-specific predictors of longer time to remission with monotherapy included several panic spectrum and mood spectrum factors and the Social Phobia Spectrum (SHY) total score. Higher baseline scores on the 17- and 25-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scales (HAMD-17 and HAMD-25) and the Work and Social Adjustment Scale (WSAS) also predicted a longer time to remission, whereas being married predicted a shorter time to remission.

Conclusions

This exploratory study identified several non-specific predictors but few moderators of psychotherapy versus pharmacotherapy outcome. It offers useful indicators of the characteristics of patients that are generally difficult to treat, but only limited guidance as to who benefits from IPT versus SSRI pharmacotherapy.
Predictability of oppositional defiant disorder and symptom dimensions in children and adolescents with ADHD combined type
Authors: Aebi M. , Müller U. C. , Asherson P. , Banaschewski T. , Buitelaar J. , Ebstein R. , Eisenberg J. , Gill M. , Manor I. , Miranda A. , Oades R. D. , Roeyers H. , Rothenberger A. , Sergeant J. , Sonuga-Barke E. , Thompson M. , Taylor E. , Faraone S. V. , Steinhausen H.-C.
Published: April 2010

Background

Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is frequently co-occurring with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and adolescents. Because ODD is a precursor of later conduct disorder (CD) and affective disorders, early diagnostic identification is warranted. Furthermore, the predictability of three recently confirmed ODD dimensions (ODD-irritable, ODD-headstrong and ODD-hurtful) may assist clinical decision making.

Method

Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used in order to test the diagnostic accuracy of the Conners' Parent Rating Scale revised (CPRS-R) and the parent version of the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (PSDQ) in the prediction of ODD in a transnational sample of 1093 subjects aged 5–17 years from the International Multicentre ADHD Genetics study. In a second step, the prediction of three ODD dimensions by the same parent rating scales was assessed by backward linear regression analyses.

Results

ROC analyses showed adequate diagnostic accuracy of the CPRS-R and the PSDQ in predicting ODD in this ADHD sample. Furthermore, the three-dimensional structure of ODD was confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis and the CPRS-R emotional lability scale significantly predicted the ODD irritable dimension.

Conclusions

The PSDQ and the CPRS-R are both suitable screening instruments in the identification of ODD. The emotional lability scale of the CPRS-R is an adequate predictor of irritability in youth referred for ADHD.
Efficacy and specificity of computer-assisted cognitive remediation in schizophrenia: a meta-analytical study
Authors: Grynszpan O. , Perbal S. , Pelissolo A. , Fossati P. , Jouvent R. , Dubal S. , Perez-Diaz F.
Published: April 2010

Background

Cognitive remediation is frequently based on computerized training methods that target different cognitive deficits. The aim of this article was to assess the efficacy of computer-assisted cognitive remediation (CACR) in schizophrenia and to determine whether CACR enables selective treatment of specific cognitive domains.

Method

A meta-analysis was performed on 16 randomized controlled trials evaluating CACR. The effect sizes of differences between CACR and control groups were computed and classified according to the cognitive domain assessed. The possible influences of four potential moderator variables were examined: participants' age, treatment duration, weekly frequency, and control condition type. To test the domain-specific effect, the intended goal of each study was determined and the effect sizes were sorted accordingly. The effect sizes of the cognitive domains explicitly targeted by the interventions were then compared with those that were not.

Results

CACR enhanced general cognition with a mean effect size of 0.38 [confidence interval (CI) 0.20–0.55]. A significant medium effect size of 0.64 (CI 0.29–0.99) was found for Social Cognition. Improvements were also significant in Verbal Memory, Working Memory, Attention/Vigilance and Speed of Processing with small effect sizes. Cognitive domains that were specifically targeted by the interventions did not yield higher effects than those that were not.

Conclusions

The results lend support to the efficacy of CACR with particular emphasis on Social Cognition. The difficulty in targeting specific domains suggests a ‘non-specific’ effect of CACR. These results are discussed in the light of the possible bias in remediation tasks due to computer interface design paradigms.
Rethinking the genetic architecture of schizophrenia
Authors: Mitchell K. J. , Porteous D. J.
Published: April 2010

Background

For many years, the prevailing paradigm has stated that in each individual with schizophrenia (SZ) the genetic risk is due to a combination of many genetic variants, individually of small effect. Recent empirical data are prompting a re-evaluation of this polygenic, common disease–common variant (CDCV) model. Evidence includes a lack of the expected strong positive findings from genome-wide association studies and the concurrent discovery of many different mutations that individually strongly predispose to SZ and other psychiatric disorders. This has led some to adopt a mixed model wherein some cases are caused by polygenic mechanisms and some by single mutations. This model runs counter to a substantial body of theoretical literature that had supposedly conclusively rejected Mendelian inheritance with genetic heterogeneity. Here we ask how this discrepancy between theory and data arose and propose a rationalization of the recent evidence base.

Method

In light of recent empirical findings, we reconsider the methods and conclusions of early theoretical analyses and the explicit assumptions underlying them.

Results

We show that many of these assumptions can now be seen to be false and that the model of genetic heterogeneity is consistent with observed familial recurrence risks, endophenotype studies and other population-wide parameters.

Conclusions

We argue for a more biologically consilient mixed model that involves interactions between disease-causing and disease-modifying variants in each individual. We consider the implications of this model for moving SZ research beyond statistical associations to pathogenic mechanisms.
Optical guiding of a laser beam in an axially nonuniform plasma channel
Authors: Singh Arvinder , Singh Navpreet
Published: April 2010

The guiding of a laser beam in a plasma channel formed by a short laser prepulse is investigated. Due to the self defocusing of an ionizing short laser prepulse, the plasma channel formed is axially nonuniform. When a delayed second laser beam is allowed to propagate through such a preformed plasma channel, convergence and divergence of the beam is observed due to the relative competition of the refraction and diffraction phenomenon. We have solved the wave equation governing the propagation characteristics of an ionizing prepulse and a delayed pulse by the moment theory approach. Results have been compared with the paraxial ray model of Liu and Tripathi (1994). The moment theory predicts the propagation of guided laser beam over several Rayleigh lengths.
Focusing of intense laser pulse by a hollow cone
Authors: Yu Wei , Cao Lihua , Yu M.Y. , Lei A.L. , Sheng Z.M. , Cai H.B. , Mima K. , He X.T.
Published: April 2010

It is shown that an intense laser pulse can be focused by a conical channel. This anomalous light focusing can be attributed to a hitherto ignored effect in nonlinear optics, namely that the boundary response depends on the light intensity: the inner cone surface is ionized and the laser pulse is in turn modified by the resulting boundary plasma. The interaction creates a new self-consistently evolving light-plasma boundary, which greatly reduces reflection and enhances forward propagation of the light pulse. The hollow cone can thus be used for attaining extremely high light intensities for applications in strong-field and high energy-density physics and other areas.
Nipah virus outbreak with person-to-person transmission in a district of Bangladesh, 2007
Authors: HOMAIRA N. , RAHMAN M. , HOSSAIN M. J. , EPSTEIN J. H. , SULTANA R. , KHAN M. S. U. , PODDER G. , NAHAR K. , AHMED B. , GURLEY E. S. , DASZAK P. , LIPKIN W. I. , ROLLIN P. E. , COMER J. A. , KSIAZEK T. G. , LUBY S. P.
Published: April 2010

In February 2007 an outbreak of Nipah virus (NiV) encephalitis in Thakurgaon District of northwest Bangladesh affected seven people, three of whom died. All subsequent cases developed illness 7–14 days after close physical contact with the index case while he was ill. Cases were more likely than controls to have been in the same room (100% vs. 9·5%, OR undefined, P<0·001) and to have touched him (83% vs. 0%, OR undefined, P<0·001). Although the source of infection for the index case was not identified, 50% of Pteropus bats sampled from near the outbreak area 1 month after the outbreak had antibodies to NiV confirming the presence of the virus in the area. The outbreak was spread by person-to-person transmission. Risk of NiV infection in family caregivers highlights the need for infection control practices to limit transmission of potentially infectious body secretions.
Verbal Repetition in the Reappraisal of Contamination-Related Thoughts
Authors: Watson Chris , Burley Madelaine C. , Purdon Christine
Published: April 2010

Background: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy advocates use of cognitive defusion techniques to reduce the distress evoked by negative thoughts, including verbal repetition (VR). In VR, a negative word is repeated until its semantic meaning is diluted (i.e. until semantic satiation is achieved). The present two studies examined whether VR is more effective than brief imaginal exposure (IE) and no intervention (CONT) in the reappraisal of contamination-related thoughts. Method: Participants high in contamination fears identified their most distressing thoughts and were randomly assigned to VR, IE, or CONT. A category membership decision task was also conducted to determine if VR produced semantic satiation. Results: In Study 1, there was no evidence of semantic satiation. Significant reductions in negative response to the thoughts was observed immediately following VR, but not IE or CONT; however, at one-week follow-up, both VR and IE groups reported similar reductions. In Study 2, the effects of VR and IE practice between post-intervention and follow-up were examined, as well as changes in behavioural avoidance. VR was found to produce semantic satiation of contamination thoughts, and VR was associated with less negative response at follow-up relative to IE and CONT, but the degree of satiation was not associated with the decreases in negative response. Only IE produced decreases in behavioural avoidance and vigilance monitoring. Conclusions: Taken together, these results suggest that VR may have potential as an additional strategy for managing obsessional thoughts, but more research is warranted.
Mind and Madness: New Directions in the Philosophy of Psychiatry
Authors: Fulford K. W. M.
Published: April 2010

These are exciting times for philosophy and psychiatry. After drifting apart for most of this century, the two disciplines, if not yet fully reconciled, are suddenly at least on speaking terms. With hindsight we may wonder why they should have ignored each other for so long. As Anthony Quinton pointed out in a lecture to the Royal Institute of Philosophy a few years ago, it is remarkable that philosophers, in a sense the experts on rationality, should have had so little to say about the phenomena of irrationality (Quinton, 1985, ch. 2). There have been partial exceptions, of course. Descartes and Kant both touched on madness; and there were, notably, important philosophical influences on the development of modern psychiatry in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (Zilboorg and Henry, 1941). Yet even John Locke, who was a doctor as well as philosopher, confined himself to a fair-l y superficial distinction between what we should now call mental illness and mental defect—those with, in Locke's view, respectively too many ideas and too few (Locke, 1960).
Multiple Personality and Computational Models
Authors: Boden Margaret A.
Published: April 2010

Some readers may have seen the re-runs, on BBC-TV recently, of the ‘Face to Face’ interviews done by John Freeman in the 1960s. One of these was with the singer Adam Faith, then a startlingly beautiful young man with the grace to be amazed at being chosen to be sandwiched between Martin Luther King and (if I remember aright) J. K. Galbraith. The re-runs were accompanied, where possible, with a further interview with the same person. What I found almost as startling as his lost beauty was Faith's referring to himself-when-young in the third person. After watching the rerun interview, the now middle-aged man commented to Freeman, on several occasions, that ‘He said such-and-such’, ‘He told you so-and-so’, and the like.
Vices and the Self
Authors: Taylor Gabriele
Published: April 2010

I am interested in those vices which appear on lists of ‘deadly sins’, not from any theological point of view but because of the insight revealed in their selection as being ‘death to the soul’, which I understand as ‘corruptive of the self’. ‘Corruption’ is here to be taken in a literal sense as ‘destruction or dissolution of the constitution of a thing which makes that thing what it is’ (OED). Such corruption is to be found in the structure of the will. Aquinas thought that vice consists in desire gone wrong because uncontrolled by reason. Perhaps what follows can be seen as an interpretation and filling out of this view.
The Flowering of Thought in Language
Authors: Quine W. V.
Published: April 2010

Our first mental endowment was instinct. Then came thought, and later language. Thanks to language, thought then proceeded to flourish. Such was our phylogeny. Ontogeny, then, true to form, recapitulates the sequence in the development of each child. By instinct a child a few days old will show anxiety when an object moving steadily to a screen and behind it fails to emerge on schedule at the far edge. Also new-borns are said to respond emotionally to emotional facial expressions and even to imitate them.
The first person: problems of sense and reference
Authors: Harcourt Edward
Published: April 2010

0 Consider ‘I’ as used by a given speaker and some ordinary proper name of that speaker: are these two coreferential singular terms which differ in Fregean sense? If they could be shown to be so, we might be able to explain the logical and epistemological peculiarities of ‘I’ by appeal to its special sense and yet feel no temptation to think of its reference as anything more exotic than a human being.
Does moral subjectivism rest on a mistake?
Authors: Foot Philippa
Published: April 2010

I have asked that this article should be reprinted in the volume dedicated to Elizabeth Anscombe because it in particular reflects throughout my great indebtedness to her. I remember, as long ago as the late 1940s confidently referring to ‘the difference between descriptive and evaluative reasoning’ in one of the many discussions that we began to have from that time on. She, genuinely puzzled, simply asked, ‘What do you mean?’
When Time Gets Off Track
Authors: Faye Jan
Published: April 2010

Over the last forty years, philosophers have argued back and forth about backward causation. It requires a certain structure of time for something as backward causation to be not only possible but also to take place in the real world. In case temporal becoming is an objective feature of the world in the sense that the future is unreal, or at least ontologically indeterminate, it is impossible to see how backward causation can arise. Th e same difficulty does not hold with respect to forward causation. For even though it is assumed according to one dynamic view of time, the instant view or presentism, that merely present events exist—and past events therefore are no longer real or have become ontologically indeterminate—such a view can still maintain that past events once were there to cause present events. Future events, however, are still to come, and being indeterminate or nothing at all, they cannot cause any events in the present. In other words, causation backwards in time can occur only if we think of time as static; that is, no objective becoming exists, and the world consists of tenselessly occurring future events that exist in the same sense as past and present events. Backward causation requires the so-called full view, or possibly the half-full view, of time.
Zeno's Arrow and the Significance of the Present
Authors: LePoidevin Robin
Published: April 2010

Perhaps the real paradox of Zeno's Arrow is that, although entirely stationary, it has, against all odds, successfully traversed over two millennia of human thought to trouble successive generations of philosophers. The prospects were not good: few original Zenonian fragments survive, and our access to the paradoxes has been for the most part through unsympathetic commentaries. Moreover, like its sister paradoxes of motion, the Arrow has repeatedly been dismissed as specious and easily dissolved. Even those commentators who have taken it seriously have propounded solutions with which they profess themselves to be perfectly satisfied. So my question is: will Zeno's Arrow survive into the millennium just begun?
Time and Degrees of Existence: A Theory of ‘Degree Presentism’
Authors: Smith Quentin
Published: April 2010

It seems intuitively obvious that what I am doing right now is more real than what I did just one second ago, and it seems intuitively obvious that what I did just one second ago is more real than what I did forty years ago. And yet, remarkably, every philosopher of time today, except for the author, denies this obvious fact about reality. What went wrong? How could philosophers get so far away from what is the most experientially evident fact about reality?
On Absolute Becoming and the Myth of Passage
Authors: Savitt Steven F.
Published: April 2010

In the literature on time in the twentieth century stemming from J. M. E. McTaggart's famous argument for the unreality of time, two gems stand out. The first is C. D. Broad's patient dissection of McTaggart's argument in the chapter ‘Ostensible Temporality’ in his Examination of McTaggart's Philosophy. Broad carefully, and to my mind persuasively, uncovers the root errors in McTaggart's argument. In addition he tentatively proposes that the features of time that he calls its transitory aspect can be explained in terms of a dynamic aspect of time that he calls Absolute Becoming.
On Stages, Worms, and Relativity
Authors: Balashov Yuri
Published: April 2010

Four–dimensionalism, or perdurantism, the view that temporally extended objects persist through time by having (spatio-)temporal parts or stages, includes two varieties, the worm theory and the stage theory. According to the worm theory, perduring objects are four–dimensional wholes occupying determinate regions of space–time and having temporal parts, or stages, each of them confined to a particular time. The stage theorist, however, claims, not that perduring objects have stages, but that the fundamental entities of the perdurantist ontologyarestages. I argue that considerations of special relativity favor the worm theory over the stage theory.