bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
L‐arginine ameliorates experimental autoimmune myocarditis by maintaining extracellular matrix and reducing cytotoxic activity of lymphocytes
Authors: Okabe Taka‐aki , Hattori Miki , Yuan Zuyi , Kishimoto Chiharu
Published: September 2008

It was previously shown that administration of the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor NG‐nitro‐l‐arginine methyl ester (l‐NAME) aggravated murine viral myocarditis by increasing myocardial virus titres. Experimental autoimmune myocarditis in mice and rats mimics human fulminant myocarditis. The effects of l‐arginine, a precursor of nitric oxide, upon heart failure in experimental autoimmune myocarditis were evaluated. Dietary l‐arginine (l‐arginine group) and l‐arginine plus NG‐nitro‐l‐arginine methyl ester (l‐arginine + l‐NAME group) were administered to C57BL/6 mice immunized with porcine cardiac myosin over 3 weeks. An untreated myocarditis group was prepared. Cardiac damage was less in the l‐arginine group compared with the other two groups, as was incidence of heart failure. In addition, extracellular matrix change was less prominent in the l‐arginine group. Plasma concentrations of nitric oxide were elevated in the l‐arginine group. Cytotoxic activities of lymphocytes were lower in l‐arginine group than in other two groups. l‐arginine treatment may be effective in preventing the development of heart failure in experimental myocarditis by maintaining extracellular matrix and reducing the cytotoxic activity of lymphocytes.
Investigating the physiological responses of patients listening to music in the intensive care unit
Authors: Chan Moon Fai , Chung Yuet Foon Loretta , Chung Siu Wai Anne , Lee On Kei Angela
Published: September 2008

Aims.  To determine whether definable subtypes exist within a cohort of patients listening to music with regard to their physiological patterns and to compare whether associated factors vary between subjects in groups with different profiles.

Background.  The intensive care unit (ICU) is one of the most stressful environments for patients among various clinical settings in a hospital. ICU patients are not only compromised by illness but also faced with a wide range of stressors.

Design.  A repeated‐measures design was conducted with one music group.

Method.  One hundred and one patients were recruited in three intensive care units in Hong Kong. There were two main outcome variables: demographic characteristics and physiological outcomes.

Results.  A cluster analysis yielded two clusters. Patients in cluster 1 typically experienced relatively low therapeutic effects from listening to music. There were more males, of a younger age but more educated and employed than patients in cluster 2, and they represented 41·6% of the total respondents. Cluster 2 comprised almost 58·4% of this study sample and they reported high therapeutic effects of music. There were more females in this group as well as more older people and they mainly used a ventilator in the intensive care unit.

Conclusion.  Our study shows that music may have a more positive effect on groups of patients whose profile is similar to that of the patients in cluster 2, than for patients such as those in cluster 1. A clear profile may help health professionals to design appropriate care therapy to target a specific group of patients to improve their physiological outcomes.

Relevance to clinical practice.  The implication of this study is that music therapy should be provided to patients as a relaxation technique if they are willing to accept it, and the selection of music should be based on their preferences. Information should be given to patients so that they can understand how music therapy works and they should be encouraged to focus their attention on listening to the music to maximise its benefits.
Rice Indeterminate 1 (OsId1) is necessary for the expression of Ehd1 (Early heading date 1) regardless of photoperiod
Authors: Park Soon Ju , Kim Song Lim , Lee Shinyoung , Je Byoung Il , Piao Hai Long , Park Sung Han , Kim Chul Min , Ryu Choong‐Hwan , Park Su Hyun , Xuan Yuan‐hu , Colasanti Joseph , An Gynheung , Han Chang‐deok
Published: September 2008

Indeterminate 1 (Id1), a classical flowering gene first reported in 1946, is one of the earliest genes whose expression in leaf tissues affects the floral transition in the shoot meristem. How Id1 is integrated into the flowering process is largely unknown. In this study, we examined the genetic action of the rice (Oryza sativa) ortholog OsId1. In rice, OsId1 is preferentially expressed in young leaves, but the overall expression pattern is broader than that in maize (Zea mays). OsId1 is able to activate transcription in yeast. RNAi mutants show a delay in flowering under both short‐day (SD) and long‐day (LD) conditions. OsId1 regulates the expression of Ehd1 (Early heading date 1) and its downstream genes, including Hd3a (a rice ortholog of FT) and RFT1 (Rice Flowering Locus T1), under both SD and LD conditions. In rice, the expression of Ehd1 is also controlled by the photoperiodic flowering genes OsGI (a rice ortholog of GI) and OsMADS51. However, the expression of OsId1 is independent of OsGI, OsMADS51, and OsMADS50 (a rice SOC1 ortholog). This study demonstrates that the activation of Ehd1 by OsId1 is required for the promotion of flowering.
ABCB19/PGP19 stabilises PIN1 in membrane microdomains in Arabidopsis
Authors: Titapiwatanakun Boosaree , Blakeslee Joshua J. , Bandyopadhyay Anindita , Yang Haibing , Mravec Jozef , Sauer Michael , Cheng Yan , Adamec Jiri , Nagashima Akitomo , Geisler Markus , Sakai Tatsuya , Friml Jiri , Peer Wendy Ann , Murphy Angus S.
Published: September 2008

Auxin transport is mediated at the cellular level by three independent mechanisms that are characterised by the PIN‐formed (PIN), P‐glycoprotein (ABCB/PGP) and AUX/LAX transport proteins. The PIN and ABCB transport proteins, best represented by PIN1 and ABCB19 (PGP19), have been shown to coordinately regulate auxin efflux. When PIN1 and ABCB19 coincide on the plasma membrane, their interaction enhances the rate and specificity of auxin efflux and the dynamic cycling of PIN1 is reduced. However, ABCB19 function is not regulated by the dynamic cellular trafficking mechanisms that regulate PIN1 in apical tissues, as localisation of ABCB19 on the plasma membrane was not inhibited by short‐term treatments with latrunculin B, oryzalin, brefeldin A (BFA) or wortmannin – all of which have been shown to alter PIN1 and/or PIN2 plasma membrane localisation. When taken up by endocytosis, the styryl dye FM4‐64 labels diffuse rather than punctuate intracellular bodies in abcb19 (pgp19), and some aggregations of PIN1 induced by short‐term BFA treatment did not disperse after BFA washout in abcb19. Although the subcellular localisations of ABCB19 and PIN1 in the reciprocal mutant backgrounds were like those in wild type, PIN1 plasma membrane localisation in abcb19 roots was more easily perturbed by the detergent Triton X‐100, but not other non‐ionic detergents. ABCB19 is stably associated with sterol/sphingolipid‐enriched membrane fractions containing BIG/TIR3 and partitions into Triton X‐100 detergent‐resistant membrane (DRM) fractions. In the wild type, PIN1 was also present in DRMs, but was less abundant in abcb19 DRMs. These observations suggested a rationale for the observed lack of auxin transport activity when PIN1 is expressed in a non‐plant heterologous system. PIN1 was therefore expressed in Schizosaccharomyces pombe, which has plant‐like sterol‐enriched microdomains, and catalysed auxin transport in these cells. These data suggest that ABCB19 stabilises PIN1 localisation at the plasma membrane in discrete cellular subdomains where PIN1 and ABCB19 expression overlaps.
SRFR1, a suppressor of effector‐triggered immunity, encodes a conserved tetratricopeptide repeat protein with similarity to transcriptional repressors
Authors: Kwon Soon Il , Kim Sang Hee , Bhattacharjee Saikat , Noh Jae‐Jong , Gassmann Walter
Published: September 2008

Effector‐triggered immunity provides plants with strong protection from pathogens. However, this response has the potential to be highly deleterious to the host and needs to be tightly controlled. The molecular mechanisms in the plant that regulate the balance between activation and suppression of resistance are not fully understood. Previously, we identified Arabidopsis suppressor of rps4‐RLD 1 (srfr1) mutants with enhanced resistance to the bacterial effector AvrRps4. These mutants were recessive and retained full susceptibility to virulent bacteria, suggesting that SRFR1 functions as a negative regulator and that AvrRps4‐triggered immunity was specifically enhanced in the mutants. Consistent with this, we show here that the response to flagellin, an elicitor of basal resistance, is unaltered in srfr1‐1. In contrast, resistance to AvrRps4 in srfr1‐1 requires EDS1, a central regulator of effector‐triggered immunity via multiple resistance genes. SRFR1 is a single‐copy gene encoding a pioneer tetratricopeptide repeat protein conserved between plants and animals. The SRFR1 tetratricopeptide repeat domain shows sequence similarity to those of transcriptional repressors in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Caenorhabditis elegans. Indeed, a sub‐pool of SRFR1 transiently expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana leaf cells localizes to the nucleus. Identification of SRFR1 may therefore provide insight into the regulation of the transcriptional reprogramming that is activated by effector‐triggered immunity.
Comparison of transperitoneal and retroperitoneal laparoscopic nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma: A single‐center experience of 100 cases
Authors: Okegawa Takatsugu , Noda Haruhisa , Horie Shigeo , Nutahara Kikuo , Higashihara Eiji
Published: September 2008

Objectives:  To report our experience with the retroperitoneal and transperitoneal approaches of laparoscopic nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

Methods:  Between July 2001 and December 2007, 100 patients with RCC underwent laparoscopic radical nephrectomy at our institution for clinically localized RCC. Fifty‐three patients received a retroperitoneal procedure and 47 received a transperitoneal procedure. The perioperative and oncological outcomes of these groups were reviewed retrospectively.

Results:  Mean follow up was 34 months. No statistically significant difference was found between the two approaches in terms of pathological stage, operative time, need for additional procedures such as adrenalectomy and/or lymph node sampling, estimated blood loss, need for blood transfusions, analgesic requirement, length of hospital stay, or the incidence of minor or major complications. The 5‐year disease‐free survival rate was 90% for both the retroperitoneal and transperitoneal procedures. The 5‐year overall survival rates were 98% and 96%, respectively. Therefore, no significant difference was observed in the long‐term oncological outcome between the two groups.

Conclusions:  Tumor control and surgical morbidity in laparoscopic radical nephrectomy seem not to be significantly influenced by the approach.
Pharmacological prophylaxis of venous thromboembolism in contemporary radical retropubic prostatectomy: Does concomitant pelvic lymphadenectomy matter?
Authors: Jessie Benjamin C , Marshall Fray F
Published: September 2008

The prevention of venous thromboembolism is a major concern in cancer patients undergoing pelvic surgery. Radical retropubic prostatectomy is a common treatment for localized prostate cancer and has been identified as a high risk procedure for postoperative venous thromboembolism. However, most patients diagnosed with prostate cancer in the current era have clinically localized, low volume disease and the risk of venous thromboembolism is very low. Multiple guidelines exist for the prevention of venous thromboembolism in patients undergoing radical retropubic prostatectomy and pharmacological venous thromboembolism prophylaxis is recommended. Most urological surgeons in the USA however, do not routinely utilize pharmacological prophylaxis. A major concern arises when radical retropubic prostatectomy is performed with a concomitant pelvic lymphadenectomy. Pharmacological prophylaxis is known to increase the rate of lymph drainage and the rate of lymphocele formation. Evidence suggests that lymphocele may be an independent risk factor for venous thromboembolism in the postoperative period. These factors raise concern over current guidelines calling for routine use of pharmacological venous thromboembolism prophylaxis in radical retropubic prostatectomy especially when lymphadenectomy is performed simultaneously.
Predictors of discharge stability in the first year following hospital admission for a frail elderly population
Authors: Heppenstall C. P. , Hanger H. C. , Wilkinson T. J.
Published: September 2008

The frail elderly are a group of patients who are at high risk of institutionalization and death. Specialist older person’s health care aims to maximize function and independence. However, there is little published work on the long‐term outcomes following hospitalization in a frail elderly population. This study examines the outcomes in the first year after hospitalization for this group. We find that 62% are able to remain in their own homes and that functional status is the strongest predictor of outcome, with age and living arrangements also significant.
General physicians: born or made? The use of a tracking database to answer medical workforce questions
Authors: Poole P. , McHardy K. , Janssen A.
Published: September 2008

Background: The aim of the study was to use a tracking database to investigate the perceived influence of various factors on career choices of New Zealand medical graduates and to examine specifically whether experiences at medical school may have an effect on a decision to become a general physician.

Methods: Questionnaires were distributed to medical students in the current University of Auckland programme at entry and exit points. The surveys have been completed by two entry cohorts and an exit one since 2006.

Results: The response rates were 70 and 88% in the entry and exit groups, respectively. More than 75% of exiting students reported an interest in pursuing a career in general internal medicine. In 42%, this is a ‘strong interest’ in general medicine compared with 23% in the entry cohort (P < 0.0001). There is correlation between a positive experience in a clinical rotation and the reported level of interest in that specialty with those indicating a good experience likely to specify career intentions in that area. Having a positive experience in a clinical rotation, positive role models and flexibility in training are the most influential factors affecting career decisions in Auckland medical students. Only 11% of study respondents reported that student loan burden has a significant influence on career decisions.

Conclusion: Quality experiences on attachments seem essential for undergraduates to promote interest in general medicine. There is potential for curriculum design and clinical experiences to be formulated to promote the ‘making’ of these doctors. Tracking databases will assist in answering some of these questions.
Taking Constitutionalism beyond the State
Authors: Walker Neil
Published: September 2008

In recent years, the idea that constitutional modes of government are exclusive to states has become the subject both of sustained challenge and of strong defence. This is due to the development at new regional and global sites of decision-making capacities of a scale and intensity often associated with the demand for constitutional governance at state level, to the supply at these same new sites of certain regulatory institutions and practices of a type capable of being viewed as meeting the demand for constitutional governance, as well as to a growing debate over whether and in what ways these developments in decision-making capacity and regulatory control should be coded and can be constructively engaged with in explicitly constitutional terms. The aim of the article is threefold. It asks why taking the idea and associated ethos and methods of constitutionalism ‘beyond the state’ might be viewed as a significant and controversial innovation, and so in need of explanation and justification – a question that requires us to engage with the definition of constitutionalism and with the contestation surrounding that definition. Secondly, taking account of the various arguments that lie behind these definitional concerns, it attempts to develop a scheme for understanding certain key features of constitutionalism and of its post-state development that is able to command broad agreement. Thirdly, and joining the concerns of the first two sections, it seeks to identify the key current tensions – or antinomies – surrounding the growth of post-state constitutionalism with a view to indicating what is at stake in the future career of that concept.
What's So Special about States? Liberal Legitimacy in a Globalising World
Authors: Macdonald Terry
Published: September 2008

Throughout the history of liberal thought, questions about political legitimacy concerned with the protection of individual rights and the entrenchment of democratic public decision making have typically focused on the structure and conduct of state-based institutions. Normative political theorists have so far said less, however, about the prospects for achieving liberal legitimacy via new non-state forms of political organisation involving powerful actors such as non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and transnational corporations (TNCs). The goal of this article is to present a preliminary theoretical assessment of the prospects of non-state institutions for delivering liberal political legitimacy in the context of globalisation. It asks: is there anything special about the various institutional forms associated with ‘states’ and ‘sovereignty’, or should these be superseded by some new public institutional order more suited to our era of globalisation? It is argued that while certain institutional characteristics of states will remain essential for achieving liberal political legitimacy in a globalising world, state-based institutional forms will be unable to deliver such legitimacy alone. Non-state forms of regulation and democratic decision making are increasingly essential for securing political legitimacy in a globalising world, but they have certain inherent weaknesses relative to state institutions. In light of this, global political legitimacy could perhaps best be achieved through the development of hybrid regulatory and democratic institutions, with selected characteristics of both state and non-state institutional forms. Questions about how best to develop such hybrid institutions should therefore receive more attention than they have done so far from normative political theorists.
Hybrid States: Globalisation and the Politics of State Capacity
Authors: Robinson Mark
Published: September 2008

This article seeks to re-conceptualise the notion of state capacity in order to develop a formulation that better approximates the realities of contemporary developing states. Four strands of argument are developed in the article. First, it identifies the critical factors shaping contemporary processes of state transformation, centred on analysing the significance of globalisation, democratisation, liberalisation and the new security agenda. Second, it interrogates the limitations of the dominant technocratic approach to state reform. Third, the article examines the limitations of approaches to state capacity building predicated on the ‘command-hierarchy’ approach, contrasting this with the ‘influence-network’ model centred on forms of engagement with multiple actors and institutions operating outside the boundaries of centralised, national states. Fourth, and in contrast to the influence-network approach, the article advances the notion of a spectrum of hybrid state forms, each associated with differing types of capacity that relate to the structural characteristics of contemporary states that are changing in response to globalisation and other exogenous factors.
Paul Hirst's Pluralism: A Response to Mark Wenman
Authors: Jason Edwards , Kelvin Knight
Published: September 2008

In a recent article in Political Studies, Mark Wenman advances a critique of Paul Hirst's theory of associative democracy. In response, we argue that Wenman overstates the importance of G. D. H. Cole in the formation of Hirst's theory, that he therefore misrepresents important aspects of Hirst's argument, and that, as it stands, his own theory of ‘agonistic pluralism’ is less the ‘alternative’ he claims than an observation about the ineradicability of social conflict that Hirst would have regarded as true, but sought to move beyond in thinking about how a viable pluralism could be politically constructed and sustained in modern societies.
Circuits of Secularity or the Aesthetics of Religion in an Age of Cities and Citations
Authors: ELMORE MARK
Published: September 2008

This article explores the circulation of contemporary discourses on religion and secularity in the western Himalayas. It traces a media circuit from Himachal Pradesh's remote villages to its urban centers and back again, using the circuit as a hermeneutic to illuminate how religion and the city become mutually constituted problems in need of definition, defense or reform. The conjoined circulation of ‘religion’ and ‘the city’— both as discursive products and as lived realities — has restructured how Himachalis understand, perform and problematize relations to local deities and the rites they enjoin as well as performances in and reflections on urban spaces and their rural exteriors. In this new circulatory system, the individual becomes the foundation of authority, the state trumps competing organizational forms, deities become metaphysical abstractions, particular beliefs are repurposed as religion, and villages emerge as ‘heritage’ to be promoted and observed. I use this argument to show why, despite the self‐evidence of religion's meaning for those mobilizing its powers, a stable definition must remain forever a chimera.

Cet article examine la circulation des discours contemporains sur la religion et la sécularité dans l’Ouest de l’Himalaya. Il retrace un circuit de médias qui va et revient entre les villages reculés et les centres urbains de l’Himachal Pradesh, en utilisant ce circuit comme herméneutique pour expliquer comment la religion et la ville deviennent des enjeux qui se constituent mutuellement et qui appellent à une définition, une défense ou une réforme. La circulation conjointe de “la religion” et de “la ville”— toutes deux étant des produits discursifs et des réalités vécues — a restructuré la manière dont les Himachalis comprennent, pratiquent et considèrent les relations à l’égard des divinités locales et des rites prescrits ainsi que les célébrations et les matérialisations dans les espaces urbains et leurs extérieurs ruraux. Dans ce nouveau réseau de circulation, l’individu devient le fondement de l’autorité, l’État prévaut sur les formes organisationnelles concurrentes, les divinités deviennent des abstractions métaphysiques, des convictions particulières refinalisées en religion, et les villages apparaissent comme un “patrimoine”à promouvoir et respecter. À partir de cet argumentaire, il est montré pourquoi, malgré l’évidence intrinsèque de la signification de la religion pour ceux qui mobilisent ses pouvoirs, une définition stable doit rester une chimère à jamais.
Accra's Sounds and Sacred Spaces
Authors: DE WITTE MARLEEN
Published: September 2008

This article explores the sonic sacralization of urban space in the multicultural city of Accra. In Ghanaian cities today religious groups increasingly vie for public presence. It is especially the religious manifestation in the urban soundscape, most forcefully by charismatic‐Pentecostal churches and preachers, that has of late generated controversy. While charismatic‐Pentecostal ‘noisemaking’ leads to conflicts all year round, it is especially during the annual traditional ‘ban on drumming and noisemaking’ that the religious confrontation over sound and silence in the city comes to full and violent expression. Approaching the articulation between religiosity and urban space through the aural, this article examines how religious sound practices create, occupy and compete for urban space. Comparing the nexus of religion, urban space and aurality in charismatic Pentecostalism and Ga traditional religion, it seeks to establish two points. First, that behind the apparent opposition between Pentecostalism and traditional religion is a difference in religious spatiality, but a remarkable similarity in the place of sound in relation to the spiritual. Second, it argues that the religious clash over sonic sacralization of urban space should not only be understood as a competition for symbolic control of spaces, but also as a spiritual struggle over the invisible, but all the more affective powers felt to be present in the city.

Cet article s’intéresse à la sacralisation sonore de l’espace urbain dans la cité multiculturelle d’Accra. Dans les villes ghanéennes, les groupes religieux rivalisent aujourd’hui de plus en plus pour gagner en présence publique. La dimension sonore des manifestations religieuses, particulièrement énergique de la part des églises et pasteurs pentecôtistes charismatiques, a récemment suscité une controverse. Alors que la “génération de bruit” pentecôtiste charismatique crée des différends tout au long de l’année, c’est surtout pendant l’interdiction annuelle traditionnelle sur les tambours et le bruit que l’affrontement religieux relatif au “son et silence” s’exprime pleinement et violemment dans la ville. Abordant l’articulation entre religiosité et espace urbain à travers la dimension auditive, cet article examine comment les pratiques sonores religieuses créent, occupent et luttent pour l’espace urbain. Deux points sont dégagés en comparant le lien entre religion, espace urbain et nature auditive dans le Pentecôtisme charismatique et la religion traditionnelle Ga : en premier lieu, derrière l’apparente opposition entre le Pentecôtisme et la religion traditionnelle, on trouve une différence de spatialité religieuse, mais une étonnante similitude dans l’importance du son par rapport au spirituel  en second lieu, le désaccord religieux concernant la sacralisation sonore de l’espace urbain ne devrait pas être appréhendé uniquement comme une rivalité en vue d’un contrôle symbolique des espaces, mais aussi comme une lutte spirituelle contre les puissances invisibles, et d’autant plus affectives, perçues dans la ville.
The Urban Question as Cargo Cult: Opportunities for a New Urban Pedagogy
Authors: SHIELDS ROB
Published: September 2008

Urban research is unreflexive toward its object of study, the city, compromising its methodologies and theoretical capacity. This polemic draws on examples such as ‘creative cities’, which have been profiled and analysed for their local recipes for economic success. ‘Global cities’ have become stereotypes of a neoliberal form of the ‘good life’ to which much recent urban research is a handmaiden, a hegemonic knowledge project. These ‘metro‐poles’ of value are a form of urban pedagogy that presents lesser local elites with lessons to be followed. A form of cargo cult theory suggests, build it and wealth will come — hence the symmetry of urban scholarship with the fad for city rankings in pop journalism. In contrast to neo‐structural analyses of the global city, other research focuses too closely on regional geographies, local forces and urban affordances. A synthetic level of theory is proposed to bridge the divide which marks urban and regional studies. The ‘urban’ needs to be rediscovered as a central question. The urban is an object of theory and the city is a truth spot. The urban is more than infrastructure and bodies but an intangible good or ‘virtuality’ that requires an appropriate methodological toolkit.

La recherche urbaine manque de réflexivitéà l’égard de son objet d’étude, la ville, ce qui compromet ses méthodologies et sa capacité théorique. Cette critique part d’exemples tels que les “villes créatives” dont on a établi le profil et l’analyse pour en déterminer les recettes locales de réussite économique. Les “villes planétaires” sont devenues des stéréotypes d’une forme néolibérale de la “bonne vie” au service de laquelle se met généralement la recherche urbaine, un projet de savoir hégémonique. Ces métro‐pôles de valeur constituent une sorte de pédagogie urbaine qui expose aux moindres élites locales des leçons à suivre. Un genre de théorie du culte du cargo suggère qu’il suffit de construire pour voir la richesse arriver, d’où la symétrie entre les travaux de recherche urbaine et la mode pour les palmarès de villes dans le journalisme populaire. Contrairement aux analyses néo‐structuralistes de la ville planétaire, d’autres études se consacrent de trop près aux géographies régionales, aux forces locales et aux affordances urbaines. Un niveau de théorie synthétique est proposé pour franchir la ligne de démarcation des études urbaines et régionales. Il faut redécouvrir “l’urbain” en tant que question centrale. L’urbain est un objet de théorie, la ville est un lieu de vérité. L’urbain est plus qu’une infrastructure et des entités, c’est un bien intangible, une “virtualité”, qui nécessite un jeu d’outils méthodologiques approprié.
West African Insurgencies in Agrarian Perspective: Côte d’Ivoire and Sierra Leone Compared
Authors: CHAUVEAU JEAN‐PIERRE , RICHARDS PAUL
Published: September 2008

This paper examines agrarian issues in civil wars in Côte d’Ivoire and Sierra Leone. Attention is paid to two different ways in which lineage society evolved during the colonial and post‐colonial periods. The motivations of fighters are related to these different trajectories of agrarian social change. In Côte d’Ivoire youth militia fought to uphold a lineage‐based social order, but in Sierra Leone a comparable group of young fighters sought to overturn it. Large migrant populations on a forest frontier are an important factor in Côte d’Ivoire, while in Sierra Leone significance attaches to an excluded agrarian underclass. Not all African conflicts are ethnic conflicts; autochthony is shown to be a factor in one conflict and class in the other. Approaches to post‐war reconstruction based on undifferentiated notions of community should be resisted.
An Analysis of Standards‐based Regulation in the EU Organic Sector, 1991–2007
Authors: GIBBON PETER
Published: September 2008

Against the background of a discussion of recent analyses of capitalist subsumption of agriculture and of neo‐liberalism, the paper uses a ‘liberal governmentality’ framework to trace the development of the EU Regulation on organic agriculture from its adoption in 1991 to its recent repeal and replacement in 2007. The central argument is that regulatory development took the form of a cycle of elaboration, tightening, increasing deviation and finally a ‘return to principles’ in order to reduce deviation. At different stages in this cycle, different groups of ‘stakeholders’, including experts, were influential. Likewise, different forms of expertise became dominant or were sidelined. Meanwhile, ‘capital’ in its different incarnations remained marginal throughout. The paper leaves open the questions of the generalizability of this analysis to regulatory arenas other than the EU, as well as to regulatory objects more central than organic agriculture to capitalist accumulation.
From Agrarian Reform to Ethnodevelopment in the Highlands of Ecuador
Authors: DE ZALDÍVAR VÍCTOR BRETÓN SOLO
Published: September 2008

Through an examination of interventions in the agrarian structures and rural society of the Ecuadorian Andes over the past 40 years, this article explores the gradual imposition of a particular line of action that separates rural development from the unresolved question of the concentration of land ownership and wealth among the very few. This imposition has been the consequence, it is argued, of the new development paradigms implemented in Andean peasant communities since the end of land reform in the 1970s. The new paradigms emphasize identity and organizational aspects of indigenous populations at the expense of anything connected with the class‐based campesinista agenda, which was still operational in the indigenous movement in the early 1990s. The essay concludes with some thoughts on the remarkable parallels between the 1990s neoliberal and counter‐reformist models of action, and the pre‐reformist indigenist policies of the period that ended in the 1960s.
Experimenting with Affirmative Action: The Coate and Loury Model*
Authors: KIDD MICHAEL P. , CARLIN PAUL S. , POT JONATHAN
Published: September 2008

Coate and Loury (1993) suggest the impact of affirmative action on a negative stereotype is theoretically ambiguous leading to either: a benign equilibrium in which affirmative action eradicates the negative stereotype and leads to equal proportional representation of the two groups; or alternatively a patronising equilibrium in which the stereotype persists. The current paper examines this theoretical ambiguity within the context of a laboratory experiment. Although benign and patronising equilibria are equally plausible in theory, the laboratory experiments easily replicate most features of the benign equilibrium, but diverge from the theoretically predicted patronising equilibrium.
Bayesian Information Transmission and Stable Distributions: Motion Picture Revenues at the Australian Box Office*
Authors: MCKENZIE JORDI
Published: September 2008

Recent empirical literature has identified the importance of information transmission in creating box office blockbusters. It has been shown that box office revenue distributions are characterised by extremities of skew and variance that cannot be explained by such things as expensive budgets, star power, critical acclaim or awards. Empirical research of this industry has subsequently turned its attention to models of information transmission and the consequential implications for box office revenues. Using a large new Australian dataset, this paper adds to the literature by exploring the suitability of the α‐stable distribution for various definitions of Australian box office revenues.
How Costly is Exchange Rate Stabilisation for an Inflation Targeter? The Case of Australia*
Authors: CROSBY MARK , KAM TIMOTHY , LEES KIRDAN
Published: September 2008

This paper quantifies the costs of mitigating exchange rate volatility within the context of a flexible inflation targeting central bank. Within a standard linear‐quadratic formulation of inflation targeting, we append a term that penalises deviations in the exchange rate to the central bank's loss function. For a simple forward‐looking new‐Keynesian model, we show that the central bank can reduce volatility in the exchange rate relatively costlessly by aggressively responding to the real exchange rate. However, when we append correlated shocks to better match summary statistics of the Australian data, we find that the costs associated with reducing exchange rate volatility are larger: output volatility increases substantially. Finally, we apply our method to a variant of a small backward‐looking new‐Keynesian model of the Australian economy. Under this model, large increases in inflation and output volatility accrue if the central bank attempts to mitigate exchange rate volatility.
Public Capital Spillovers and Growth Revisited: A long‐run and Dynamic Structural Analysis*
Authors: KAM TIMOTHY , WANG YI‐CHIA
Published: September 2008

We extend the deterministic growth model ofGlomm and Ravikumar (1994)to a stochastic endogenous growth model which nests both exogenous and endogenous growth factors. By introducing simple shocks to production technology, private capital and public capital investment, we can derive testable time series properties of the analytical model. We find evidence of co‐integration between per capita output, per capita private capital and public capital. A nested test of the strictly endogenous growth model is rejected statistically. We find that growth is exogenous even in the presence of significant and sizeable public capital spillover effects. Our long‐run elasticity estimates help to inform the short‐run dynamic transitions of the model. In particular, we are able to structurally rationalise other empirical findings of bi‐directional short‐run effects between public and private capital and also aggregate output.
Effects of short‐term reminiscence therapy on elderly with dementia: A comparison with everyday conversation approaches
Authors: OKUMURA Yumiko , TANIMUKAI Satoshi , ASADA Takashi
Published: September 2008

Background:  Recent research has demonstrated the usefulness of reminiscence therapy as a psychosociological approach to the care of the demented elderly. However, to date neither the variables (e.g. evaluation methods and the optimal number of therapy sessions related to this technique) have been established, nor have the differences between reminiscence and other verbal interventions been clarified. In the field of clinical and nursing care in which reminiscence therapy is undertaken, in order to facilitate the participation of as large a number of elderly people as possible, both short‐ and long‐term courses of sessions are needed. The present study conducted five therapy sessions using closed groups. Mainly, a verbal fluency task was used to assess the efficacy of therapy.

Method:  The results of the five sessions that were conducted with a reminiscence therapy group (reminiscence group; n = 8 ambulant elderly women with Alzheimer's‐type dementia) were compared with those of an everyday conversation group (conversation group; n = 8 ambulant elderly women with Alzheimer's‐type dementia).

Results:  In the reminiscence group, there was a significant increase in the number of words recalled at the end of the fifth session compared with that recalled at the end of the first session. In addition, the number of words recalled increased significantly compared with that recalled by the conversation group. Furthermore, the interchanges through non‐verbal communication between others in the group improved and a positive change in participants' everyday life circumstances was observed. Moreover, the participants in the reminiscence group reported that they enjoyed the sessions.

Conclusions:  Reminiscence therapy performed over a short period of time in closed groups was shown to be more effective than everyday conversations in the treatment of elderly people with dementia. It is suggested that the effectiveness of group reminiscence therapy should be ascertained not only by the verbal fluency tasks, but also by changes in patients' interactions with others through non‐verbal communication.
Post‐marketing survey of donepezil hydrochloride in Japanese patients with Alzheimer's disease with behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD)
Authors: TANAKA Toshihisa , KAZUI Hiroaki , MORIHARA Takeshi , SADIK Golam , KUDO Takashi , TAKEDA Masatoshi
Published: September 2008

Background:  To investigate the efficacy and safety of donepezil hydrochloride (Aricept®; Eisai Co., Ltd, Tokyo, Japan), we conducted a post‐marketing survey in Japanese patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) who also had behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD), such as hallucinations/delusions, wandering, and aggression, which cause the greatest burden on caregivers.

Methods:  A prospective, centrally registered investigation was conducted through regular clinical settings with patients diagnosed as mild to moderate AD presenting with hallucinations/delusions, wandering, and/or aggression. The treatment period was 12 weeks and no restrictions were placed on concomitant medications.

Results:  The BPSD improvement rates at last‐observation‐carried‐forward (LOCF) were 60.1% for hallucinations/delusions, 59.6% for wandering, and 65.6% for aggression. For all symptoms, improvement rates increased with the duration of the treatment period. The BPSD deterioration rates at LOCF were 1.3% for hallucinations/delusions, 3.4% for wandering, and 1.6% for aggression. Assessment of cognitive function with both the revised Hasegawa Dementia Scale (HDS‐R) and Mini‐Mental State Examination (MMSE) indicated significant improvements after treatment. There were significant differences in the changes in HDS‐R scores between patients whose hallucinations/delusions or wandering were improved and patients whose symptoms were not improved. Moreover, the data suggested a possible correlation between changes in hallucinations/delusions and HDS‐R scores, changes in hallucinations/delusions and MMSE scores, and changes in wandering and MMSE scores. Patients in whom BPSD improved also demonstrated a greater improvement in cognitive function compared with patients in whom no improvement in BPSD was noted. Nursing burden on caregivers at LOCF showed 3.6% for ‘No burden’, 54.1% for ‘Burden decreased’, and 4.5% for ‘Burden increased.’ There was an increase in the combined ratio of ‘No burden’ and ‘Burden decreased’ in proportion with prolonged treatment period. Patients with improved BPSD had a significantly greater ratio (88.5–94.4%) of ‘No burden’ plus ‘Burden decreased’ than those patients in whom no improvement in BPSD was noted.

Conclusions:  These results suggest that donepezil not only improves the cognitive dysfunction of AD patients, but may also relieve BPSD in these patients. Treatment with donepezil was also found to alleviate the burden of caregivers for approximately 60% of patients. Moreover, the results indicate that donepezil is unlikely to trigger potential risks of excessive deterioration of BPSD, which would result in a heavier burden of nursing care.
How to treat behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD): Do not treat patients exhibiting symptoms like BPSD with neuroleptics from the beginning
Authors: TAKITA Masashi
Published: September 2008

The present report details the case of three patients who had symptoms like behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD). In all three cases, other factors contributing to the disease were hidden behind the symptoms resembling BPSD. These cases exhibited symptoms like BPSD following acute or subacute onset. Before starting medication with antipsychotic drugs, the underlying causes of the symptoms, especially those with an acute or subacute onset, should be considered.
YOUNG INVESTIGATOR AWARD ARTICLE: Vascular endothelial growth factor promotes macrophage apoptosis through stimulation of tumor necrosis factor superfamily member 14 (TNFSF14/LIGHT)
Authors: Petreaca Melissa L. , Yao Min , Ware Carl , Martins‐Green Manuela M.
Published: September 2008

Resolution of inflammation is critical for normal wound healing. Inflammation is prolonged and fails to resolve properly in chronic wounds. We used in vivo and in vitro approaches to show that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) induces macrophage apoptosis and to delineate mechanisms involved in this process. VEGF inhibition during wound healing leads to an increased number of macrophages remaining in wounds, suggesting the involvement of VEGF in removal of these cells from the wound. If this effect has physiological relevance, it likely occurs via apoptosis. We show that VEGF increases apoptosis of macrophages in vitro using Annexin V‐FITC staining and caspase activation. Microarray analysis, reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction, and immunoblotting showed that VEGF increases the expression of tumor necrosis factor superfamily member 14 (TNFSF14/LIGHT) in macrophages. We also show that in macrophages LIGHT promotes apoptosis through the lymphotoxin β receptor. Moreover, inhibition of LIGHT prevents VEGF‐induced death, suggesting that LIGHT mediates VEGF‐induced macrophage apoptosis. Taken together, our results identify a novel role for VEGF and for LIGHT in macrophage apoptosis during wound healing, an event critical in the resolution of inflammation. This finding may lead to the development of new strategies to improve resolution of inflammation in problematic wounds.
ORIGINAL RESEARCH–CLINICAL SCIENCE: Reducing wound pain in venous leg ulcers with Biatain Ibu: A randomized, controlled double‐blind clinical investigation on the performance and safety
Authors: Gottrup Finn , Jørgensen Bo , Karlsmark Tonny , Sibbald R. Gary , Rimdeika Rytis , Harding Keith , Price Patricia , Venning Vanessa , Vowden Peter , Jünger Michael , Wortmann Stephan , Sulcaite Rita , Vilkevicius Gintaris , Ahokas Terttu‐Liisa , Ettler Karel , Arenbergerova Monika
Published: September 2008

Six out of 10 patients with chronic wounds suffer from persistent wound pain. A multinational and multicenter randomized double‐blind clinical investigation of 122 patients compared two moist wound healing dressings: a nonadhesive foam dressing with ibuprofen (62 patients randomized to Biatain Ibu Nonadhesive Coloplast A/S) and a nonadhesive foam without ibuprofen (60 patients to Biatain Non‐Adhesive—comparator). Patients were recruited from September 2005 to April 2006. The ibuprofen foam was considered successful if the pain relief on a five‐point Verbal Rating Scale was higher than the comparator without compromising safety including appropriate healing rate. Additional endpoints were change in persistent wound pain between dressing changes and pain at dressing change on days 1–5 (double blind) and days 43–47 (single blind). The primary response variable, persistent pain relief, was significantly higher in the ibuprofen‐foam group, as compared with the comparator on day 1–5, with a quick onset of action (p<0.05). Wound pain intensity was significantly reduced with the ibuprofen foam during day 1–5 with 40% from baseline, compared with 30% with the comparator (p<0.001). At day 43–47, the patients in the ibuprofen‐foam group had a significant (p<0.05) reemergence of persistent pain and pain at dressing change (p<0.05) when the active dressing was changed to the comparator. Wound healing was similar in the ibuprofen foam and comparator group. No difference in adverse events between the comparator and the ibuprofen foam with local sustained release of low‐dose ibuprofen was observed in this study. It was generally found that women reported less pain intensity than men, and pain intensity decreased with increasing age. In addition, pain intensity increased with initial pain intensity and increasing wound size. This study has demonstrated that the ibuprofen‐foam dressing provided pain relief and reduced pain intensity without compromising healing or other safety parameters.
The optimal temperature of first aid treatment for partial thickness burn injuries
Authors: Cuttle Leila , Kempf Margit , Kravchuk Olena , Phillips Gael E. , Mill Julie , Wang Xue‐Qing , Kimble Roy M.
Published: September 2008

Using our porcine model of deep dermal partial thickness burn injury, various cooling techniques (15 °C running water, 2 °C running water, ice) of first aid were applied for 20 minutes compared with a control (ambient temperature). The subdermal temperatures were monitored during the treatment and wounds observed and photographed weekly for 6 weeks, observing reepithelialization, wound surface area and cosmetic appearance. Tissue histology and scar tensile strength were examined 6 weeks after burn. The 2 °C and ice treatments decreased the subdermal temperature the fastest and lowest, however, generally the 15 and 2 °C treated wounds had better outcomes in terms of reepithelialization, scar histology, and scar appearance. These findings provide evidence to support the current first aid guidelines of cold tap water (approximately 15 °C) for 20 minutes as being beneficial in helping to heal the burn wound. Colder water at 2 °C is also beneficial. Ice should not be used.