bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Endothelial Dysfunction and Subsequent Decline in Glomerular Filtration Rate in Hypertensive Patients
Authors: Perticone Francesco , Maio Raffaele , Perticone Maria , Sciacqua Angela , Shehaj Ermal , Naccarato Paola , Sesti Giorgio
Published: July 2010

Background—

Chronic kidney disease is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, increasing all-cause mortality. Some evidence suggests that endothelial dysfunction is present in the early stages of renal insufficiency, but no data exist about its possible role in the progression of renal disease. Thus, we prospectively evaluated the effect of endothelial function on estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in essential hypertension.

Methods and Results—

We enrolled 500 never-treated uncomplicated hypertensive subjects with serum creatinine ≤1.5 mg/dL. Endothelial function was measured by strain-gauge plethysmography during intra-arterial infusion of acetylcholine and sodium nitroprusside. eGFR was calculated by use of the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration equation. The annual rate of decline of eGFR (ΔeGFR/y) was determined as the difference between the follow-up and baseline eGFR values, with this value divided by the time interval in years. During follow-up (92.3±36.2 months), mean ΔeGFR/y was 1.49±1.65 mL · min
−1
· 1.73 m
−
2
, with no significant differences between men and women (1.55±1.72 versus 1.43±1.58 mL · min
−1
· 1.73 m
−
2
, respectively;
P
=0.455). This was correlated with acetylcholine-stimulated forearm blood flow (
r
=−0.256,
P
<0.0001), creatinine (
r
=0.141,
P
=0.001), systolic blood pressure (
r
=−0.103,
P
=0.01), and eGFR (
r
=0.092,
P
=0.020). In multivariable regression analysis, forearm blood flow and systolic blood pressure remained associated with change in eGFR. On average, eGFR changed by 0.37 mL · min
−1
· 1.73 m
−
2
for each 100% change in forearm blood flow (
P
<0.001) and by 0.1 mL · min
−1
· 1.73 m
−
2
for each difference of 10 mm Hg in systolic blood pressure (
P
=0.032).

Conclusions—

We demonstrated that acetylcholine-stimulated vasodilation and systolic blood pressure were associated with eGFR loss after adjustment for other cardiovascular risk factors and antihypertensive treatment.
Aging-Related Early Changes in Markers of Ventricular and Matrix Remodeling After Reperfused ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction in the Canine Model
Authors: Jugdutt Bodh I. , Jelani Anwar , Palaniyappan Ariv , Idikio Halliday , Uweira Richard E. , Menon Vijay , Jugdutt Catherine E.
Published: July 2010

Background—

Elderly patients with reperfused ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction are at increased risk for left ventricular remodeling. Extracellular matrix damage has been implicated in early remodeling. We hypothesized that aging results in enhanced early reperfusion injury and left ventricular remodeling after reperfused ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction and that early therapy initiated at the time of reperfusion with an angiotensin II type 1 receptor blocker such as candesartan attenuates age-related increases in reperfusion injury and remodeling.

Methods and Results—

We randomized 3 groups of dogs (age, 1 to 2, 2.1 to 5, and 5.1 to 10 years) with reperfused ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction (90 minutes of ischemia, 2 hours of reperfusion) to therapy with placebo or candesartan (1 mg/kg CV-11974) over 30 minutes from the onset of reperfusion. Reperfusion in placebo groups was associated with aging-related changes in the ischemic zones in markers of damage (increased ischemic injury, infarct size [as percent risk], cardiomyocyte apoptosis, blood flow impairment, no reflow), structural remodeling (increased left ventricular dilation and dysfunction), extracellular matrix remodeling (increased expression of secretory leucocyte protease inhibitor, secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine, osteopontin, a disintegrin and metalloproteinase-10 and -17, and matrix metalloproteinase-9 and -2), and inflammation (increased inducible nitric oxide synthase, proinflammatory cytokines interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α, and transforming growth factor-β
1
; decreased antiinflammatory cytokine interleukin-10). Compared with placebo, candesartan attenuated these age-dependent changes.

Conclusion—

Aging results in age-dependent early increases in markers of damage and adverse structural and matrix remodeling after ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction reperfused after 90 minutes of ischemia, and early therapy initiated at the time of reperfusion with the angiotensin II type 1 receptor blocker candesartan attenuates these changes. This strategy needs clinical confirmation.
Intermittent Hypoxia Increases Arterial Blood Pressure in Humans Through a Renin-Angiotensin System-Dependent Mechanism
Authors: Foster Glen E. , Hanly Patrick J. , Ahmed Sofia B. , Beaudin Andrew E. , Pialoux Vincent , Poulin Marc J.
Published: July 2010

Intermittent hypoxia (IH) is believed to contribute to the pathogenesis of hypertension in obstructive sleep apnea through mechanisms that include activation of the renin-angiotensin system. The objective of this study was to assess the role of the type I angiotensin II receptor in mediating an increase in arterial pressure associated with a single 6-hour IH exposure. Using a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, crossover study design, we exposed 9 healthy male subjects to sham IH, IH with placebo medication, and IH with the type I angiotensin II receptor antagonist losartan. We measured blood pressure, cerebral blood flow, and ventilation at baseline and after exposure to 6 hours of IH. An acute isocapnic hypoxia experimental protocol was conducted immediately before and after exposure to IH. IH with placebo increased resting mean arterial pressure by 7.9±1.6 mm Hg, but mean arterial pressure did not increase with sham IH (1.9±1.5 mm Hg) or with losartan IH (−0.2±2.4 mm Hg;
P
<0.05). Exposure to IH prevented the diurnal decrease in the cerebral blood flow response to hypoxia, independently of the renin-angiotensin system. Finally, in contrast to other models of IH, the acute hypoxic ventilatory response did not change throughout the protocol. IH increases arterial blood pressure through activation of the type I angiotensin II receptor, without a demonstrable impact on the cerebrovascular or ventilatory response to acute hypoxia.
Hypertension Awareness and Psychological Distress
Authors: Hamer Mark , Batty G. David , Stamatakis Emmanuel , Kivimaki Mika
Published: July 2010

There is conflicting evidence regarding the association of hypertension with psychological distress, such as anxiety and depressive symptoms. The association may be because of a direct effect of the raised blood pressure, adverse effects of treatment, or the consequences of labeling. In a representative study of 33 105 adults (aged 51.7±12.1 years; 45.8% men), we measured levels of psychological distress using the 12-item General Health Questionnaire and collected blood pressure, data on history of hypertension diagnosis, and medication usage. Awareness of hypertension was confirmed through a physician diagnosis or the use of antihypertensive medication, and unaware hypertension was defined by elevated clinic blood pressure (systolic/diastolic ≥140/90 mm Hg) without previous treatment or diagnosis. In comparison with normotensive participants, an elevated risk of distress (General Health Questionnaire score ≥4) was observed in aware hypertensive participants (multivariable adjusted odds ratio: 1.57 [95% CI: 1.41 to 1.74]) but not in unaware hypertensives (odds ratio: 0.91 [95% CI: 0.78 to 1.07]). Antihypertensive medication and comorbidity were also associated with psychological distress, although this did not explain the greater risk of distress in aware hypertensives. We observed a weak curvilinear association between systolic blood pressure and distress, which suggested that distressed participants were more likely to have low or highly elevated blood pressure. These findings suggest that labeling individuals as hypertensive, rather than having elevated blood pressure, per se, may partially explain the greater levels of distress in patients treated for hypertension.
Hypervolemia Is Associated With Increased Mortality Among Hemodialysis Patients
Authors: Agarwal Rajiv
Published: July 2010

Among chronic hemodialysis patients, 217 hospitalizations per 1000 patient-years are attributed to congestive heart failure; some are attributable to unrecognized hypervolemia. Hypervolemia can be detected by relative plasma volume (RPV) monitoring. The purpose of this study was to examine among 308 patients on long-term hemodialysis the value of slope of RPV compared with either ultrafiltration (UF) volume or UF rate index in determining all-cause mortality. RPV slopes were calculated by least-squares regression. These slopes were related to all-cause mortality in unadjusted and adjusted Cox proportional hazards models. Over a median follow-up of 30 months (interquartile range: 14 to 54 months) 96 patients (31%) died, yielding a crude mortality rate of 113/1000 patient-years. We found the following: (1) RPV slope measurements were of prognostic significance (hazard ratio of flatter slopes [>1.39%/h]: 1.72;
P
=0.01); (2) the UF volume alone was not prognostically informative (hazard ratio of higher UF volume [>2.7 L of dialysis]: 0.78;
P
=0.23); (3) the UF rate index alone was also not prognostically informative (hazard ratio of higher UF rate index [>8.4 mL/kg per hour]: 0.89;
P
=0.6); and (4) the prognostic relationship of RPV slope to mortality was independent of conventional and unconventional cardiovascular risk factors including the UF volume, UF rate, or UF volume per kilogram of postweight. RPV monitoring yields information that is prognostically important and independent of several risk factors including UF volume, aggressiveness of UF, and interdialytic ambulatory blood pressure. Its use to assess excess volume-related morbidity among chronic hemodialysis patients should be tested in randomized, controlled trials.
Sympathetic Nervous System Activity Is Associated With Obesity-Induced Subclinical Organ Damage in Young Adults
Authors: Lambert Elisabeth , Sari Carolina Ika , Dawood Tye , Nguyen Julie , McGrane Mariee , Eikelis Nina , Chopra Reena , Wong Chiew , Chatzivlastou Kanella , Head Geoff , Straznicky Nora , Esler Murray , Schlaich Markus , Lambert Gavin
Published: July 2010

Excess weight is established as a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, particularly in young individuals. To get a better understanding of the pathophysiology underlying increased cardiovascular disease risk, we evaluated early signs of organ damage and their possible relationship to sympathetic nervous activity. Eighteen lean (body mass index <25 kg/m
2
) and 25 overweight or obese (body mass index >25 kg/m
2
) healthy university students were included in the study. We comprehensively assessed subclinical target organ damage, including the following: (1) assessment of renal function; (2) left ventricular structure and systolic and diastolic function; and (3) endothelial function. Muscle sympathetic nervous activity was assessed by microneurography. Participants with excess weight had decreased endothelial function (
P
<0.01), elevated creatinine clearance (
P
<0.05), increased left ventricular mass index (
P
<0.05), increased left ventricular wall thickness (
P
<0.01), lower systolic and diastolic function (
P
<0.01), and elevated muscle sympathetic nervous activity (
P
<0.001) compared with lean individuals. In multiple regression analysis, endothelial function was inversely related to muscle sympathetic nervous activity (
R
2
=0.244;
P
<0.05), whereas creatinine clearance and left ventricular mass index were positively related to muscle sympathetic nervous activity, after adjustment for body mass index, sex, and blood pressure (
R
2
=0.318,
P
<0.01 and
R
2
=0.312,
P
<0.05, respectively). Excess weight in young individuals is associated with subclinical alterations in renal and endothelial function, as well as in the structure of the heart, even in the absence of hypertension. Sympathetic activity is closely associated with cardiovascular and renal alterations observed in these subjects.
The Future as God’s Amnesty? A Public Theology of Resistance for a Changing Climate
Authors: Manley Scott Peter
Published: July 2010

In this article, I situate anthropogenic climate change in a theological context. Climate change raises, first, the matter of the future of creation and, secondly, the matter of how to understand and affirm the goodness of creation. Further, in theological thought, the goodness of creation cannot be affirmed and fully addressed without, thirdly, some accounting of the goodness of God. In what follows I explore these three issues. The future of creation is discussed in terms of an amnesty bestowed by God. Additionally, some problems with the deployment of amnesty as a theopolitical category are discussed. Next, some of the theological implications of my recommendation of amnesty are explored. For example, what is the relationship between the future of creation and its past; what is the relationship between future and end; what is the relationship between the future of creation and the future of God? Finally, I explore what creaturely resistance is suggested by this appeal to the future as God’s amnesty in a public theological thought.
The Politics of Climate Change: A Talanoa from Oceania
Authors: Havea Jione
Published: July 2010

This article is an invitation to Talanoa (story, telling, conversation) around the politics of climate change. I seek not to debate whether climate change is natural or caused and accelerated by human conducts and our carbon civilization, nor to suggest excuses or cures for the ecological crises that devastate and drown people daily, the world over. Rather, my concern circles around two overlapping questions, under the shadow of which lurk the politics of climate change: whose interests benefit from climate change and whose interests benefit from talking about climate change? I invite Talanoa around those questions, with the lot of the islands and islanders in Oceania as my starting point. I am of course guilty of that which I will critique, for I too talk herein about climate change, thus I am contributing to the politics of climate change.
The Purpose and Practice of a Public Theology in a Time of Climate Change
Authors: Pearson Clive
Published: July 2010

The nature of a public theology is to concern itself with the common good and the flourishing of all. The subject of climate change is to the forefront of the public agenda. Now and then the level of concern can slip down the opinion polls and it does attract a concerted degree of scepticism. It is nevertheless an issue that can allow us to consider the purpose and practice of a public theology. This article sets out to draw upon the insights of others who have contributed to this issue of the International Journal of Public Theology. It also sets out to place this work inside other discussions on what is a public theology and its intersection with an ecotheology.
Disentangling the "Genuine Link": Enquiries in Sea, Air and Space Law
Authors: Cogliati-Bantz Vincent
Published: July 2010

While the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea contains the requirement that there exist a genuine link between a ship and its flag State, neither what constitutes that link, nor the effect of its absence has been determined with unambiguous clarity. In addition, it must be enquired whether the genuine link is a requirement that concerns the opposability of the nationality, or the duties of the flag State once the nationality is conferred, or both. The fact that the genuine link as a requirement has not been singled out expressly in the relation between a State of registry and an aircraft or a space object calls for an analysis of the legal mechanisms in air law and space law in order to determine what meaningful connections are established between these means of transportation and States.
ILO Convention No. 169 Concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries 1989–2009: An Overview
Authors: Yupsanis Athanasios
Published: July 2010

On 27 June 1989, by a majority of 328 votes for, one against and 49 abstentions, the International Labour Conference adopted the Convention No. 169 Concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries, which came into force on 5 September 1991. Twenty years later, the Convention remains the only modern international legally binding instrument containing a series of novel provisions specifically devoted to the rights of indigenous peoples with a view to recognising, protecting and promoting their distinct identity. Despite its shortcomings and its few ratifications (just 20), the Convention has proved to be a significant departure for the defence and strengthening of indigenous rights at national, regional (especially that of Latin America) and universal level.
Hobbes's Fool the Stultus, Grotius, and the Epicurean Tradition
Authors: Springborg Patricia
Published: July 2010

Among the paradoxical aspects of Hobbes's scepticism attention has recently turned to Hobbes's fool of Leviathan, chapter xv, where Hobbes makes a claim about justice that paraphrases Psalm 52:1: "The fool hath said in his heart there is no God." It is a charge of which Hobbes himself could be suspected, but in fact we see that it is on this startling claim that his legal positivism rests. Moreover it is embedded in a theory of natural law that Hobbes inherited from the late scholastics and that he shares in common with Grotius as a practical solution to the problem of scepticism. Indeed, the fool is not even honoured with the designation "sceptic." He is simply dumb, stultus, one of the mindless mob, or those led astray by priests. Hobbes's treatment of the fool as stultus is Epicurean, as we see in the Historia Ecclesiastica, where he gives the topos special attention, and Epicureanism helps us solve the puzzle of the fool.
Hobbes's "Mortal God" and Renaissance Hermeticism
Authors: Paganini Gianni
Published: July 2010

Research made by Schuhmann and Bredekamp has pointed up the unsuspected links between Hobbes and one of the ancient traditions best loved by Renaissance philosophy: Hermeticism. Our goal will be to proceed further and to stress the Hermetic significance implicit in the formula "mortal God". If Asclepius can act as a source for the theme of the fabrication of gods, it does not fit in with the antithesis ("mortal god/immortal God") typical of the Leviathan. A proper source for this topic can rather be found in treatise X ("Clavis") of the Corpus Hermeticum, well known to Ficino and to Iustus Lipsius. We must also stress one capital difference: whereas in the Hermetic texts man's apotheosis passes through gnosis and the exercise of the intellect, reserved in practice for a few selected people, in Leviathan on the contrary it is the holder of sovereignty who acquires the features of the "mortal god". Divinisation passes through politics, with the delicate artificial process of "generating the state"; knowledge only provides the tools for the rational technique needed to elaborate sovereignty, through stipulating pacts and the convention of impersonation. The "artificial man" as a mortal God is the apotheosis of the common man who enters into the founding pact with his ordinary intellectual and motivational faculties.
Thomas Hobbes's doctrine of conscience and theories of synderesis in Renaissance England
Authors: Weber Dominique
Published: July 2010

Is there a specifically "Hobbesian moment" in the extremely complex history of the idea of conscience? In order to answer this question and to understand why Hobbes's conception of conscience was so innovative, one needs to look at the materials he used to build his system, including the medieval doctrine of synderesis. The article examines the way this doctrine was both perpetuated and altered in Renaissance England.
'The Matter, Forme, and Power of a Common-wealth': Thomas Hobbes and Late Renaissance Commentary on Aristotle's Politics
Authors: Brett Annabel
Published: July 2010

Hobbes's relation to the later Aristotelian tradition, in both its scholastic and its humanists variants, has been increasingly explored by scholars. However, on two fundamental points (the naturalness of the city and the use of the matter/form distinction in the political works), there is more to be said in this connection. A close examination of a range of late Renaissance commentaries on Aristotle's Politics shows that they elucidate a picture of pre-civic human nature that had (contrary to Hobbes's implication) much in common with that of Hobbes. Moreover, they deployed the matter-form distinction in their analysis of the city or civitas in ways that are in important respects similar to Hobbes's procedure in De cive and Leviathan. The paper concludes that Hobbes drew on this tradition in multiple ways while at the same time undermining some of its principal conclusions; Hobbes was in no sense an 'Aristotelian' even if his philosophy has substantial debts to Aristotelianism.
Understanding Mission Environments: Local Contexts and the Legitimation of Reforms
Authors: Marenin Otwin
Published: July 2010

Effective and sustainable police- and peace-building reforms require that international interveners and implementers have sufficient knowledge of the political, social and cultural complexities of local environments in which they will attempt reforms. Essential aspects of local mission environments on which information needs to be collected and taught to international interveners are outlined, as are some of the policy implications for planning and implementing sustainable reforms.
Redeeming Statebuilding’s Misconceptions: Power, Politics and Social Efficacy and Capital in Fragile and Conflict-Affected States
Authors: Scheye Eric
Published: July 2010

Statebuilding is believed to be a central development objective. Statebuilding’s track record, however, has been disappointing, as it has typically focused on institution building and capacity development. Even as questions of politics, power, and state legitimation are elevated in importance, the operational guidance of most recent iterations of the statebuilding approach still revert back to institution and capacity building strategies. This is due to a misconception of the nature and structure of the fragile post-colonial state. The relevance and role of the ‘second state’ – polities legally authorized to distribute public goods and services based upon traditional authorities – are too often overlooked. This is despite the fact that the ‘second state’ provides the formal state with much of its legitimacy; delivers the majority of justice and security, and represents the interests of the preponderance of the population. It is also important to distinguish between the ‘second state’ and various non-state actors, groups that do not belong to either the formal or ‘second state,’ but, nevertheless, provide justice and security. Bringing the ‘second state’ and nonstate actors into the statebuilding agenda will redeem it and strengthen individual/group social efficacy and capital, transforming questions of state legitimacy into those of legitimate selfgovernance, without losing the centrality of power in statebuilding’s understanding of politics.
How to Maintain Peace and Security in a Post-conflict Hybrid Political Order – the Case of Bougainville
Authors: Boege Volker
Published: July 2010

After a decade-long large-scale violent conflict, the Pacific island of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea has gone through another decade of post-conflict peacebuilding and at present is confronted with the task of state formation. Peacebuilding has been a success story so far, and the prospects of state formation look promising. The maintenance of order, security and justice in post-conflict Bougainville is based on legal pluralism, with strong customary law and strong customary non-state policing. The violent conflict on Bougainville was a hybrid social-political exchange, with the causes and motivating factors stemming from both the sphere of statecentred politics (‘war of secession’) and the local societal realm in which non-state customary issues (land conflicts, pay back etc.) played a major role. This article explores the specific features of post-conflict peacebuilding on Bougainville that flow from this context, focussing on the local capacities, but also acknowledging the contribution of international peacekeeping, particularly through the United Nations and a regional Peace Monitoring Group. Based on the Bougainville experience, the article develops a critique of the conventional Western peacebuilding-asstatebuilding approach to fragile post-conflict situations, and it critiques the accompanying focus of external actors on capacity-building of state institutions for maintaining order and internal peace. It makes a case for an alternative approach which acknowledges the hybridity of political order and the co-existence and interplay of state and non-state providers of security and justice. Positive mutual accommodation of state and non-state customary institutions are presented as a more promising way to sustainable internal peace and order than the attempted imposition of the Western Weberian model of the state.
Policing, Rule of Law, State Capacity and Sustainable Peace in Timor-Leste
Authors: Kingsbury Damien
Published: July 2010

This paper sets out to demonstrate the link between development, state capacity and peace, employing Timor-Leste as the case study. It employs the association between state capacity and development to illustrate where if state capacity is lacking or functions improperly there is likely to be a low level of state legitimacy. This in turn manifests as lack of respect for or failure of rule of law, developing as generalised lawlessness and anti-state activity and eventually manifesting as intra-state or civil conflict. In particular, policing is seen as a critical component in state legitimacy, being the ‘front line’ of the judicial system from which legitimacy ultimately derives. This issue is particularly critical in states emerging from traditional legal and judicial structures, but which have not yet articulated into ‘rational-legal’ structures. Ipso facto, key state institutions, such as the judicial system and police are required to function well, while these are alone not enough to guarantee peace, they are significant contributors to and guarantors of peace.
Privileges and Immunities of United Nations Police
Authors: Oswald Bruce ‘Ossie’ , Bates Adrian
Published: July 2010

This paper examines the law concerning the privileges and immunities of international police serving in UN peace operations. It describes the legal framework concerning privileges and immunities in UN peace operations and focuses on the key legal privileges and immunities that UN police are granted. More specifically the paper describes the immunity of UN police from criminal and civil jurisdiction of the host State.
Assessing Police Peacekeeping: Systemisation not Serendipity
Authors: Hunta Charles , Hughes Bryn
Published: July 2010

The increasing centrality of police in peace and capacity building operations suggests that the need for incisive assessments of their impact has never been greater. This means that the manner in which input data is aggregated matters integrally since irrelevant perspectives, such as national trends for a localised program, produce irrelevant, or worse misleading, conclusions. Currently, however, common practice is to rely on either patchy anecdotal evidence of practitioners or the acumen of particular analysts, which invariably reflects their organisational biases. The purpose of this article is to engage this problem – in the context of international policing – so that selecting the most meaningful viewpoints and information is not left to chance. We develop a framework which systematises the many nuanced yet crucial forms of disaggregation for monitoring and evaluation. Assessment analyses informed by this framework can therefore go a long way to achieving their main purpose: ensuring more efficient and effective international policing going forward.
The Responsibility to Protect and the Use of Force: Building Legality?
Authors: Brunnée Jutta , Toope Stephen
Published: July 2010

The rapid rise of the responsibility to protect provides us with a unique opportunity to consider the impact of a decade or so of determined norm entrepreneurship. The responsibility to protect has not yet become a binding norm of international law, and in this article we examine what factors are holding back or promoting this development. We draw on an 'interactional' account of international law, which focuses on three inter-locking elements. First, legal norms are social norms and as such they are connected to social practice – they must be grounded in shared understandings. Second, what distinguishes law from other types of social ordering is not so much form or pedigree, as adherence to specific criteria of legality. When norm creation meets these criteria and, third, is matched with norm application that also satisfies the legality requirements, international law will have legitimacy and generate a sense of commitment among those to whom it is addressed. After highlighting key steps in the norm building process so far, from the 2001 report of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty to the General Assembly debate in 2009, we offer a brief sketch of our theoretical framework, and employ it to examine the trajectory of the responsibility to protect norm, concluding with an assessment of its current and potential status as binding law. Although the responsibility to protect, including its potential for the collectively authorized use of force, is increasingly supported by globally shared understandings, the norm falls short on several of the legality criteria. Furthermore, given the inconsistent practice on protective use of force, no practice of legality can be said to have evolved. Proponents of the norm face a lot of hard work ahead.
On Gareth Evans, The Responsibility to Protect: Ending Mass Atrocity Crimes Once and For All
Authors: Brown Chris
Published: July 2010

This article is part of a forum on Gareth Evans' book, The Responsibility to Protect: Ending Mass Atrocity Crimes Once and For All (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 2008). The forum features contributions from Michael Barnett, Chris Brown and Robert Jackson, and it concludes with a response from Gareth Evans.
War Perils in the Responsibility to Protect
Authors: Jackson Robert
Published: July 2010

This article is part of a forum on Gareth Evans' book, The Responsibility to Protect: Ending Mass Atrocity Crimes Once and For All (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 2008). The forum features contributions from Michael Barnett, Chris Brown and Robert Jackson, and it concludes with a response from Gareth Evans.
Response to Reviews by Michael Barnett, Chris Brown and Robert Jackson
Authors: Evans Gareth
Published: July 2010

This article is part of a forum on Gareth Evans' book, The Responsibility to Protect: Ending Mass Atrocity Crimes Once and For All (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 2008). The forum features contributions from Michael Barnett, Chris Brown and Robert Jackson, and it concludes with a response from Gareth Evans.
Social work responses to terrorism: Balancing ethics and responsibility
Authors: Sweifach Jay , Heft LaPorte Heidi , Linzer Norman
Published: July 2010

This article presents a qualitative study that examined how Israeli social workers contend with ethical issues regarding confidentiality and disclosure in the aftermath of a terrorist attack. Respondents of this study shared examples from their own experiences of how ethical issues emerged as a result of confidentiality obligations.
The impact of associational membership on political engagement: A comparative investigation of Brazil and India
Authors: Menon Natasha , Daftary Dolly
Published: July 2010

While membership in civic associations is regarded as an instrument of political engagement, literature has largely ignored the diversity of associations. In an empirical investigation of Brazil and India, we find that membership in social and political associations affects political engagement differently, and in addition, political interest influences political engagement.
Optimized combustion system in coal-fired boiler: using optimization control and fieldbus
Authors: Geng Liang  , Hong Wang  , Wen Li  , Yan Bai
Published: July 2010

This paper presented a comprehensive design and implementation of control and optimization for the combustion system in heat-supplying boilers based on a fieldbus, mainly including the air-to-fuel ratio optimization algorithm based on a PID controller and soft measurement methodology for airflow based on the orifice nature of the air pre-heater. After process description and general control schemes were presented, measurement and control principles for the system were given. After an optimization algorithm for air-to-fuel ratio with constant step was introduced briefly, an adaptive optimization algorithm based on a PID controller was proposed, and then detailed design was presented. Advantages of the proposed adaptive optimization algorithm can be seen after comparison with a former algorithm. Approaches for the soft measurement of airflow in a boiler system based on differential air pressure between the inlet and outlet of the air pre-heater and that of fuel were presented. The complete control strategies for the designed system were given. Implementation of the whole system by a Foundation Fieldbus, including structure design for the control system and soft configurations design for the proposed optimization algorithm, were presented at length. Control effects of the designed system were given, demonstrating tat the design of the whole system was a success by running it reliably for a long time. Some important conclusions on the proposed methodologies and designs in measurement and control using the fieldbus in combustion control were presented at the end of the paper.
Prototype optimization of reconfigurable mobile robots based on a modified Harmony Search method
Authors: Xu He , Gao X.Z. , Peng Gao-liang , Xue Kai , Ma Yulin
Published: July 2010

In this paper, the caster-and-camber-based reconfiguration of the trafficability metrics of mobile robots is first discussed. The trafficability metrics of the reconfigurable mobile robots, such as the equivalent lateral and longitudinal stability margins with non-linear characteristics, can be built up using the geometrical projection approach. We next propose a modified Harmony Search method to deal with the constrained optimization problems, which is based on the direct handling of the given constraints. It is further applied to obtain the optimal configurable prototypes of a mobile robot.
Inferring Attitudes From Mindwandering
Authors: Critcher Clayton R. , Gilovich Thomas
Published: July 2010

Self-perception theory posits that people understand their own attitudes and preferences much as they understand others’, by interpreting the meaning of their behavior in light of the context in which it occurs. Four studies tested whether people also rely on unobservable “behavior,” their mindwandering, when making such inferences. It is proposed here that people rely on the content of their mindwandering to decide whether it reflects boredom with an ongoing task or a reverie’s irresistible pull. Having the mind wander to positive events, to concurrent as opposed to past activities, and to many events rather than just one tends to be attributed to boredom and therefore leads to perceived dissatisfaction with an ongoing task. Participants appeared to rely spontaneously on the content of their wandering minds as a cue to their attitudes, but not when an alternative cause for their mindwandering was made salient.
Cell Compatibility of Fibrin Sealants: In Vitro Study with Cells Involved in Soft Tissue Repair
Authors: Macasev Diana , Diorio James P. , Gugerell Alfred , Goppelt Andreas , Gulle Heinz , Bittner Michaela
Published: July 2010

Fibrin sealants can be used to support tissue regeneration or as vehicles for delivery of cells in tissue engineering. Differences in the composition of fibrin sealants, however, could determine the success of such applications. The results presented in this article show clear differences between Fibrin sealant A (FS A) clots and Fibrin sealant B (FS B) clots with respect to their compatibility with primary human cells involved in soft tissue repair. FS A clots, which are characterized by a physiological coarse fibrin structure, promoted attachment, spreading, and proliferation of keratinocytes, fibroblasts, and endothelial cells. In contrast, FS B clots displaying a fine to medium clot structure failed to support spreading of all three cell types. Adhesion of keratinocytes was decreased on FS B clots compared to FS A clots after 3 h incubation, whereas number of attached fibroblasts and endothelial cells was initially comparable between the two fibrin sealants. However, all three cell types proliferated on FS A clots but no sustained proliferation was detected on FS B clots. We further demonstrate that the observed differences between FS A and B clots are partly based upon 1 M sodium chloride extractable constituents, like thrombin, and partly on nonextractable constituents or the fibrin structure. In conclusion, our in vitro results demonstrate that FS A clots serve as a provisional matrix that encourages adhesion and growth of keratinocytes, fibroblasts, and endothelial cells. Therefore, FS A seems to be well suited for applications in tissue engineering.
Osteoclast and Osteoblast Activities on Carbonate Apatite Plates in Cell Cultures
Authors: Kanayama Keiichi , Sriarj Wantida , Shimokawa Hitoyata , Ohya Keiichi , Doi Yutaka , Shibutani Toshiaki
Published: July 2010

Previous studies have demonstrated that carbonate apatite (CA) is superior to hydroxyapatite (HA) and β-tricalciumphosphate (β-TCP) with regard to osteoclastic resorption, but evidence on osteoclast and osteoblast response remains controversial. In the present study, the expression of bone related mRNA is examined on CA, HA, β-TCP, and titanium plates. ICR mouse osteoblast cells are cocultured with ICR mouse bone marrow cells. Crude osteoclast-like cell-rich suspensions are then seeded onto plates and cultured for 48 h. Total RNA is extracted and mRNA expression is examined by real-time RT-PCR. Amounts of vacuolar-type ATPase, cathepsin K, and TRAP mRNA are significantly greater on CA than on the other plates. The amount of osteoprotegerin mRNA is significantly greater on CA than on the other plates. RANKL mRNA expression, which is generally regarded as an osteoblast maker, varies with material, but shows no significant differences between CA and the other plates. The formation and activity of osteoclasts is greater with CA than with the other plates. Thus, CA is superior to β-TCP as a bioresorbable bone substitute for tissue engineering.
Wheat-Straw-HDPE Composite Produced by the Hot-pressing Method
Authors: Wang W. , Yuan S. , Bu F. , Li G. , Wang Q.
Published: July 2010

Wood fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites are usually manufactured by the extrusion method. However, the size of the extruded board and bio-fibers are limited. The objective of this study was to manufacture large size straw— polymer composite panels by hot-pressing method, focusing on the forms of raw materials and heating method. Wheat straw was reduced to particles and high density polyethylene (HDPE) was processed into fibers or powders. After mixing, preheating, hot-pressing, and cooling, the resulted panels were tested for mechanical and water resistance properties. The data indicated that HDPE in the form of fiber presented better properties than those in powders and preheating treatment before hot-pressing was an effective way to improve the mechanical properties of the straw— PE composite. Coupling agent helped to improve the bonding strength.
Holocene climate change in arid Australia from speleothem and alluvial records
Authors: Quigley Mark C. , Horton Travis , Hellstrom John C. , Cupper Matthew L. , Sandiford Mike
Published: July 2010

New high-resolution MC-ICPMS U/Th ages and C and O isotopic analyses from a Holocene speleothem in arid south-central Australia provide evidence for increased effective precipitation (EP) relative to present at c. 11.5 ka and c. 8—5 ka, peak moisture at 7—6 ka, and onset of an arid climate similar to present by c. 5 ka. δ18O and δ13C time-series data exhibit marked (>+1‰) contemporaneous excursions over base-line values of −5.3‰ and −11.0‰, respectively, suggesting pronounced moisture variability during the early middle Holocene ‘climatic optimum’. Optically stimulated luminescence and 14C ages from nearby terraced aggradational alluvial deposits indicate a paucity of large floods in the Late Pleistocene and at least five large flood events in the last c. 6 kyr, interpreted to mark an increased frequency of extreme rainfall events in the middle Holocene despite overall reduced EP. Increased EP in south-central Australia during the early to middle Holocene resulted from (1) decreased El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variability, which reduced the frequency of El Niño-triggered droughts, (2) the prevalence of a more La Niña-like mean climatic state in the tropical Pacific Ocean, which increased available atmospheric moisture, and (3) a southward shift in the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ICTZ), which allowed tropical summer storms associated with the Australian summer monsoon (ASM) to penetrate deeper into the southern part of the continent. The onset of heightened aridity and apparent increase in large flood frequency at c. 5 ka is interpreted to indicate the establishment of an ENSO-like climate in arid Australia in the late Holocene, consistent with a variety of other terrestrial and marine proxies. The broad synchroneity of Holocene climate change across much of the Australian continent with changes in ENSO behavior suggests strong teleconnections amongst ENSO and the other climate systems such as the ASM, Indian Ocean Dipole, and Southern Annular Mode.
A pollen-based pseudobiomisation approach to anthropogenic land-cover change
Authors: Fyfe Ralph , Roberts Neil , Woodbridge Jessie
Published: July 2010

The degree of anthropogenic modification of land cover through the mid to late Holocene is of significant interest for archaeologists, climate modellers and conservation ecologists, amongst others. Spatially extensive pollen data provide an appropriate resource for the reconstruction of land-cover change; however, traditional simple methods (e.g. the AP/NAP ratio) do not provide the degree of detail required for these user groups. A range of more sophisticated methods have been developed (e.g. mechanistic model-based methods), but they require a high degree of understanding of the pollen—vegetation relationship, which is resource- and time-consuming. This paper proposes a method of intermediate complexity by which major land-cover changes can be assessed for individual sites and regions. A pseudobiomisation approach is used, in which pollen taxa are assigned to different land-cover classes (LCC), and the sum of adjusted pollen proportions for each class used to determine an LCC affinity score for individual pollen samples within stratigraphic pollen sequences. In a pilot study, data from pollen core sites from northwest Scotland and southwest England for the last 8000 cal. BP have been classified into ten land-cover classes, including predominantly wooded, semi-open and open types. Results highlight how land-cover change was punctuated rather than gradual through the mid to late Holocene, and show how habitat diversity increased after ~6000 cal. BP with the arrival of agriculture, before reaching a minimum in early modern times. This pollen-based method is potentially applicable to the reconstruction of long-term land-cover change within Europe and other temperate-zone regions.
‘Little Ice Age’ precipitation in Jotunheimen, southern Norway
Authors: Rasmussen L.A. , Andreassen L.M. , Baumann S. , Conway H.
Published: July 2010

Recently published glaciological data from southern Norway enable analysis of changes in glacier geometry since the ‘Little Ice Age’ (LIA) and estimation of the magnitude of the LIA precipitation anomaly. Glacier area extents in the Jotunheimen region have been created for 2003 using glacier outlines derived from Landsat, and for the LIA maximum (about AD 1750) by using glacier outlines defined by moraines. A 25 m digital terrain model from 1980 was used to derive inventory data for both times. Both inventories provide area and altitude range, as well as length, slope and aspect of the glaciers. Area-altitude profiles A(Z) for the LIA maximum are calculated from the 1980 profiles by assuming that the area-increase distribution Δ A(Z) was concentrated at low altitude and it integrates to the measured area difference between 1980 and the LIA. Under this assumption, the regionally averaged mean altitude change from 1980 to the LIA, Δ Z = 68 m. Glacier mass balance measurements show that the mass balance gradient varied little from year to year over recent decades. Further, mass balance profiles b(z) are nearly linear, so the average balance B over the area—altitude profile is equal to the balance at the mean altitude b(Z) When the observed balance gradient is applied to the mean Δ Z it yields a mass balance anomaly Δ B = +0.60 m w.e./yr, which includes an adjustment of +0.20 m w.e./yr to account for the fact that in 1980 the glaciers were not in equilibrium with the climate. Published data indicate that mass balance sensitivities are 0.14 m w.e./yr per 10% increase in precipitation and −0.55 m/yr w.e. per °C warming, and that temperature in the region was about 0.5°C lower than present during the LIA; using these constraints, we calculate a LIA precipitation anomaly relative to 1961—1990 Δ P of +24±22%.
Holocene temperature and salinity variability of the Atlantic Water inflow to the Nordic seas
Authors: Rasmussen Tine L. , Thomsen Erik
Published: July 2010

Piston core LINK14 from 346 m water depth on the eastern shelf of the Faroe Islands in the Faroe-Shetland Channel has been investigated in order to reconstruct temperature and salinity changes of the Atlantic surface Water during the Holocene. We have analyzed the distribution of benthic and planktic foraminifera, stable isotopes and calculated by transfer functions absolute surface, subsurface and bottom water temperatures and salinities. The summer sea surface temperature (SST) shows a stepwise decrease from an early-Holocene warm phase 10 300—8300 yr BP with temperatures around 12°C, over a mid-Holocene cooler phase 8300—4000 yr BP, to a late-Holocene relatively cool phase with SST around or slightly below 11°C. Bottom water temperatures at 346 m water depth show much less variation than the SST. The late-Holocene sea surface cooling was probably caused by increase in the influence of the polar East Icelandic Current. A distinct decrease in the subsurface salinity from about 8300 to 6800 yr BP is probably also due to a stronger East Icelandic Current. The benthic faunas indicate strong bottom current activity during the entire period. A single exceptional disturbance dated to approximately 8300 yr BP was probably caused by extraordinary high bottom current velocities. The event is marked by a significant coarsening of the sediments and a sorting by size of the foraminifera. The event is close in time to the 8.2-ka cooling event, but more likely correlates with the Storegga slide event.