bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Cancer Stem Cells: Repair Gone Awry?
Authors: Rangwala Fatima , Omenetti Alessia , Diehl Anna Mae
Published: December 2010

Because cell turnover occurs in all adult organs, stem/progenitor cells within the stem-cell niche of each tissue must be appropriately mobilized and differentiated to maintain normal organ structure and function. Tissue injury increases the demands on this process, and thus may unmask defective regulation of pathways, such as Hedgehog (Hh), that modulate progenitor cell fate. Hh pathway dysregulation has been demonstrated in many types of cancer, including pancreatic and liver cancers, in which defective Hh signaling has been linked to outgrowth of Hh-responsive cancer stem-initiating cells and stromal elements. Hence, the Hh pathway might be a therapeutic target in such tumors.
Liposome Technology for Industrial Purposes
Authors: Wagner Andreas , Vorauer-Uhl Karola
Published: December 2010

Liposomes, spherical vesicles consisting of one or more phospholipid bilayers, were first described in the mid 60s by Bangham and coworkers. Since then, liposomes have made their way to the market. Today, numerous lab scale but only a few large-scale techniques are available. However, a lot of these methods have serious limitations in terms of entrapment of sensitive molecules due to their exposure to mechanical and/or chemical stress. This paper summarizes exclusively scalable techniques and focuses on strengths, respectively, limitations in respect to industrial applicability. An additional point of view was taken to regulatory requirements concerning liposomal drug formulations based on FDA and EMEA documents.
Sperm DNA Integrity and Meiotic Behavior Assessment in an Infertile Male Carrier of a 9qh+++ Polymorphism
Authors: García-Peiró A. , Oliver-Bonet M. , Navarro J. , Abad C. , Guitart M. , Amengual M. J. , Benet J.
Published: December 2010

Although several reports on male infertility suggest a relationship between chromosome 9 polymorphisms and infertility, the effects on the phenotype have not been extensively reported. In this study, an infertile patient was found to carry a 9qh+++ chromosome. The flow cytometric TUNEL assay and SCD test have been applied to characterize sperm DNA integrity. In order to assess its meiotic behaviour, synapsis, recombination, and aneuploidy, analyses have been also performed. Sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF) was 77.81% and 87% for the TUNEL and SCD tests, respectively. Ninety‐two percent of pachytene cells analyzed showed meiotic abnormalities. The mean number of MLH1 foci per pachytene in the control group was higher (49) than the mean found in the 9qh+++ patient (38) (P < .0001). In spermatozoa, significant increases of disomy rates were observed for chromosome 18 and for the sex chromosomes (P < .0001). These disturbances could be present in other male carriers of a less marked 9qh+.
Evaluation of Itch by Using NC/NgaTnd Mice: A Model of Human Atopic Dermatitis
Authors: Tanaka Akane , Matsuda Hiroshi
Published: December 2010

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is the extremely complicated syndrome that various abnormalities develop in a heap. There are various factors in patients for the onset and exacerbation of AD, including genetic cofactors of individuals, environmental factors, the failure of the skin barrier function, unfavorable regulation of the immune system, and the hypersensitivity of sensory nerves. In recent years, there have been many trials of the drug discovery that targets itch, because itch is one of the most serious clinical symptoms of AD. The selection of the suitable animal model that represents the condition of patients, as well as innovative analyzing protocols that can precisely evaluate itch, is indispensable for investigation of an effective drug for AD. In the paper, the unique spontaneous animal model for AD (NC/NgaTnd mice) and the novel quantification system of the laboratory animals that may bring a great progress in the future study of itch are outlined.
Second-Look Surgery for Colorectal Cancer: Revised Selection Factors and New Treatment Options for Greater Success
Authors: Sugarbaker Paul H.
Published: December 2010

Proper indications for second-look surgery in patients with colorectal cancer have always been a controversial subject. The surgical literature suggests benefit in a reoperation, where a limited extent of cancer is discovered and then resected with negative margins. However, patients are often subjected to a negative exploratory laparotomy or an intervention that is unable to achieve an R-0 resection; in these circumstances, little or no benefit occurs. Unfortunately, an unsuccessful repeat intervention may place the patient in a worse condition, especially if morbidity occurs. This paper seeks to identify the clinical parameters of a primary colorectal cancer and a followup plan that are associated with cancer recurrence that can be definitively addressed by the second look surgery. New surgical technologies, including cytoreductive surgery with peritonectomy and perioperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy with hyperthermia, are suggested for use in this group of patients. This new management strategy used in patients with local-regional recurrence may result in a high proportion of patients converted from a second-look positive patient to a long-term survivor.
Hybrid Proximal-Type Algorithms for Generalized Equilibrium Problems, Maximal Monotone Operators, and Relatively Nonexpansive Mappings
Authors: Zeng Lu-Chuan , Ansari QH , Al-Homidan S
Published: December 2010

The purpose of this paper is to introduce and consider new hybrid proximal-type algorithms for finding a common element of the set "Equation missing" of solutions of a generalized equilibrium problem, the set "Equation missing" of fixed points of a relatively nonexpansive mapping "Equation missing", and the set "Equation missing" of zeros of a maximal monotone operator "Equation missing" in a uniformly smooth and uniformly convex Banach space. Strong convergence theorems for these hybrid proximal-type algorithms are established; that is, under appropriate conditions, the sequences generated by these various algorithms converge strongly to the same point in "Equation missing". These new results represent the improvement, generalization, and development of the previously known ones in the literature.
Epigenetics
Authors: Cooper Mark E. , El-Osta Assam
Published: December 2010

Epigenetic modifications regulate critical functions that underlie chromosome metabolism. Understanding the molecular changes to chromatin structure and the functional relationship with altered signaling pathways is now considered to represent an important conceptual challenge to explain diabetes and the phenomenon of metabolic or hyperglycemic memory. Although it remains unknown as to the specific molecular mechanisms whereby hyperglycemic memory leads to the development of diabetic vascular complications, emerging evidence now indicates that critical gene-activating epigenetic changes may confer future cell memories. Chemical modification of the H3 histone tail of lysine 4 and 9 has recently been identified with gene expression conferred by hyperglycemia. The persistence of these key epigenetic determinants in models of glycemic variability and the development of diabetic complications has been associated with these primary findings. Transient hyperglycemia promotes gene-activating epigenetic changes and signaling events critical in the development and progression of vascular complications. As for the role of specific epigenomic changes, it is postulated that further understanding enzymes involved in writing and erasing chemical changes could transform our understanding of the pathways implicated in diabetic vascular injury providing new therapeutic strategies.
Mesp1
Authors: Bondue Antoine , Blanpain Cédric
Published: December 2010

In mammals, the heart arises from the differentiation of 2 sources of multipotent cardiovascular progenitors (MCPs). Different studies indicated that an evolutionary conserved transcriptional regulatory network controls cardiovascular development from flies to humans. Whereas in
Drosophila
, Tinman acts as a master regulator of cardiac development, the identification of such a master regulator in mammals remained elusive for a long time. In this review, we discuss the recent findings suggesting that Mesp1 acts as a key regulator of cardiovascular progenitors in vertebrates. Lineage tracing in mice demonstrated that Mesp1 represents the earliest marker of cardiovascular progenitors, tracing almost all the cells of the heart including derivatives of the primary and second heart fields. The inactivation of
Mesp1/2
indicated that
Mesp
genes are essential for early cardiac mesoderm formation and MCP migration. Several recent studies have demonstrated that Mesp1 massively promotes cardiovascular differentiation during embryonic development and pluripotent stem cell differentiation and indicated that Mesp1 resides at the top of the cellular and transcriptional hierarchy that orchestrates MCP specification. In primitive chordates, Mesp also controls early cardiac progenitor specification and migration, suggesting that
Mesp
arises during chordate evolution to regulate the earliest step of cardiovascular development. Defining how Mesp1 regulates the earliest step of MCP specification and controls their migration is essential to understand the root of cardiovascular development and how the deregulation of these processes can lead to congenital heart diseases. In addition, these findings will be very useful to boost the production of cardiovascular cells for cellular therapy, drug and toxicity screening.
Myocardial Lineage Development
Authors: Evans Sylvia M. , Yelon Deborah , Conlon Frank L. , Kirby Margaret L.
Published: December 2010

The myocardium of the heart is composed of multiple highly specialized myocardial lineages, including those of the ventricular and atrial myocardium, and the specialized conduction system. Specification and maturation of each of these lineages during heart development is a highly ordered, ongoing process involving multiple signaling pathways and their intersection with transcriptional regulatory networks. Here, we attempt to summarize and compare much of what we know about specification and maturation of myocardial lineages from studies in several different vertebrate model systems. To date, most research has focused on early specification, and although there is still more to learn about early specification, less is known about factors that promote subsequent maturation of myocardial lineages required to build the functioning adult heart.
Can Psychiatry Residents Be Attracted To Analytic Training? a Survey of Five Residency Programs
Authors: Katz Debra A. , Kaplan Marcia
Published: December 2010

In the face of fewer psychiatrist applicants for psychoanalytic training, determining the interest of current psychiatric residents in psychoanalysis and psychodynamic psychiatry is a pressing concern. To gauge this interest, an anonymous online survey was sent to residents from five psychiatry residency programs in the Midwest and South. Seventy-five residents responded, for a return rate of 42%. The data suggest that residents value psychoanalytic concepts and most plan to incorporate the practice of psychodynamic psychotherapy into their careers after graduation; however, residents have little confidence in their level of skill and the adequacy of their training. While 46% express interest in further psychodynamic psychotherapy training, only 22% express interest in psychoanalytic training. Most cite the cost and time involved as reasons they would not pursue further training. This study demonstrates that psychiatric residents have strong interest in and respect for psychodynamic psychotherapy and psychoanalysis. The data suggest that psychiatric residents are a viable pool of applicants for psychoanalytic training, especially if barriers to training can be reduced and creative ways for psychoanalysts to engage residents can be fostered.
Between Paranoia and Creativity: Candidates’ Experience of Psychoanalytic Training
Authors: Ward Anne , Gibson Walter , Miqueu-Baz Christine
Published: December 2010

There is widespread concern regarding various aspects of psychoanalytic education. A recent paper by Patrick Casement, drawn widely from his long experience as a supervisor both in the U.K. and abroad, implied that the British Psychoanalytical Society is not exempt from these concerns. To investigate this, a semistructured, anonymous questionnaire was devised and sent to all candidates and all recently qualified analysts at the society. Overall there was a 58% response rate, with 77% of candidates and 39% of recently qualified analysts responding. Concerns were expressed about aspects of the training, but on the whole these were balanced by appreciation. Although strong criticism was expressed by a minority, it seems that when something goes wrong for a candidate, this experience is felt keenly by the peer group as well. The results are discussed in the context of the current training and ethos of the British Society, as well as in relation to a more widespread move toward “competency-based” education. The maturational tasks facing both candidates and trainers are also addressed.
Political Institutions and Property Rights: Veto Players and Foreign Exchange Commitments in 127 Countries
Authors: Weymouth Stephen
Published: December 2010

What political institutions improve property rights? Building on the work of North and Weingast, this article argues that institutional checks on policy-making discretion (“veto players”) improve the property rights of investors regarding the value of the domestic currency. Veto players constrain the ability of policy makers to opportunistically pursue policy that may lead to a depreciated domestic currency. The study offers some of the first large-sample evidence that check and balance institutions lower the risk of expropriation, using a direct measure of investors’ revealed preferences as the dependent variable. In particular, evidence from 127 countries over the period 1975-2004 shows that the use of foreign currency as a store of value— a common hedge against domestic currency depreciation—decreases with the number of veto players in government. The findings are robust to multiple specifications, including instrumental variable models that exploit exogenous sources of institutional variation.
Microneedles: A Valuable Physical Enhancer to Increase Transdermal Drug Delivery
Authors: Escobar‐Chávez José Juan , Bonilla‐Martínez Dalia , Angélica Martha , Villegas‐González  , Molina‐Trinidad Eva , Casas‐Alancaster Norma , Revilla‐Vázquez Alma Luisa
Published: December 2010

Transdermal drug delivery offers an attractive alternative to the conventional drug delivery methods of oral administration and injection. However, the stratum corneum acts as a barrier that limits the penetration of substances through the skin. Recently, the use of micron‐scale needles in increasing skin permeability has been proposed and shown to dramatically increase transdermal delivery. Microneedles have been fabricated with a range of sizes, shapes, and materials. Most in vitro drug delivery studies have shown these needles to increase skin permeability to a broad range of drugs that differ in molecular size and weight. In vivo studies have demonstrated satisfactory release of oligonucleotides and insulin and the induction of immune responses from protein and DNA vaccines. Microneedles inserted into the skin of human subjects were reported to be painless. For all these reasons, microneedles are a promising technology to deliver drugs into the skin. This review presents the main findings concerning the use of microneedles in transdermal drug delivery. It also covers types of microneedles, their advantages and disadvantages, enhancement mechanisms, and trends in transdermal drug delivery.
Gene Expression, Biomarkers, and Glial Cells in Nervous System Diseases
Authors: Sills Robert C. , Garman Robert H.
Published: December 2010

Session 3 of the “Toxicologic Neuropathology” Symposium sponsored jointly by the Society of Toxicologic Pathology (STP) and the International Federation of Societies of Toxicologic Pathologists (IFSTP) focused on advances in the understanding of cellular and molecular mechanisms of the nervous system and neurodegenerative diseases, and on new information on the function and roles of microglia cells and astrocytes. This overview highlights the major themes of the presentations in General Session 3; these themes are covered in greater detail in four papers in this issue of Toxicologic Pathology.
Issues in Developing Drugs for Primary Brain Tumors: Barriers and Toxicities
Authors: Raizer Jeffrey
Published: December 2010

Drug development in neuro-oncology remains a challenge for neoplasms of the central nervous system (CNS). Drugs can be administered peripherally (i.e., oral or intravenous) or locally (into the tumor or the adjacent neuropil). Each of these routes has advantages and disadvantages. Like the treatment for non-CNS cancers, peripheral side effects are encountered (i.e., diarrhea, myelosuppression, rash); however, there also may be neural-specific side effects for patients that may be acute or delayed (i.e., seizures, somnolence, hearing loss). The nervous system is also a privileged site protected by the blood-brain barrier, so many agents developed for peripheral administration will not penetrate into the CNS due to issues of size, charge, or lack of lipid solubility. In addition, the abnormal vasculature, increased interstitial pressure, and inherent mechanisms of tumor resistance (methyl-guanine-methyl transferase [MGMT], P-glycoprotein, etc.) within brain neoplasms reduce the efficacy of many agents designed for neuro-oncologic indications. Each of these issues alone, and all of them in aggregate, are reasons for the limited success of therapeutic agents directed against CNS tumors despite promising data acquired using cell lines and animal models.
Differential contributions of serotonin receptors to the behavioral effects of indoleamine hallucinogens in mice
Authors: Halberstadt Adam L , Koedood Liselore , Powell Susan B , Geyer Mark A
Published: December 2010

Psilocin (4-hydroxy- N, N-dimethyltryptamine) is a hallucinogen that acts as an agonist at 5-HT1A, 5-HT2A, and 5-HT2Creceptors. Psilocin is the active metabolite of psilocybin, a hallucinogen that is currently being investigated clinically as a potential therapeutic agent. In the present investigation, we used a combination of genetic and pharmacological approaches to identify the serotonin (5-HT) receptor subtypes responsible for mediating the effects of psilocin on head twitch response (HTR) and the behavioral pattern monitor (BPM) in C57BL/6J mice. We also compared the effects of psilocin with those of the putative 5-HT2Creceptor-selective agonist 1-methylpsilocin and the hallucinogen and non-selective serotonin receptor agonist 5-methoxy- N, N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT). Psilocin, 1-methylpsilocin, and 5-MeO-DMT induced the HTR, effects that were absent in mice lacking the 5-HT2Areceptor gene. When tested in the BPM, psilocin decreased locomotor activity, holepoking, and time spent in the center of the chamber, effects that were blocked by the selective 5-HT1Aantagonist WAY-100635 but were not altered by the selective 5-HT2Cantagonist SB 242,084 or by 5-HT2Areceptor gene deletion. 5-MeO-DMT produced similar effects when tested in the BPM, and the action of 5-MeO-DMT was significantly attenuated by WAY-100635. Psilocin and 5-MeO-DMT also decreased the linearity of locomotor paths, effects that were mediated by 5-HT2Cand 5-HT1Areceptors, respectively. In contrast to psilocin and 5-MeO-DMT, 1-methylpsilocin (0.6–9.6 mg/kg) was completely inactive in the BPM. These findings confirm that psilocin acts as an agonist at 5-HT1A, 5-HT2A, and 5-HT2Creceptors in mice, whereas the behavioral effects of 1-methylpsilocin indicate that this compound is acting at 5-HT2Asites but is inactive at the 5-HT1Areceptor. The fact that 1-methylpsilocin displays greater pharmacological selectivity than psilocin indicates that 1-methylpsilocin represents a potentially useful alternative to psilocybin for development as a potential therapeutic agent.
Uneasy Embodiment: Eating Disorders Through A Feminist Lens
Authors: Hayden Mary
Published: December 2010

Feminist Perspectives on Eating Disorders, Patricia Fallin, Melanie A. Katzman, and Susan C. Wooley (Eds.). New York: Guilford Press, 1994. 465 pp., $36.95. ISBN: 0-89862-180–1.

Understanding Eating Disorders, Leann Alexander-Mott and D. Barry Lumsden (Eds.). Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis, 1994. 302 pp., $29.50. ISBN: 0-89116-295–0.
Thermal behavior of MWNT-reinforced thermoplastic natural rubber nanocomposites
Authors: Tarawneh Mouad. A. , Ahmad Sahrim Hj. , Rasid Rozaidi , Yahya S.Y. , Lau Kin-tak , Kong Ing , Se Yong Eh Noum
Published: December 2010

This article studies the thermal properties of a multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT)-reinforced thermoplastic natural rubber (TPNR) nanocomposite. The nanocomposite was prepared using a melt blending method. Various percentages (1, 3, 5, and 7 wt%) of MWNTs were added into TPNR to improve its thermal properties. The laser flash technique was also employed to determine the thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, and specific heat capacity of the nanocomposite. The DMA result showed that the glass transition temperature (Tg) increased with the increase in MWNT content. TEM micrographs also demonstrated that a good dispersion of MWNTs was achieved in the TPNR environment.
Perceived Discrimination and Social Support
Authors: Schmidt Christa K. , Miles Joseph R. , Welsh Anne C.
Published: December 2010

The experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) college students have been an increasing area of interest in the realm of career development in recent years. Although career theorists have posited the importance of considering context when examining career development, the specific variables related to LGBT individuals' experiences warrant further investigation. The aim of this study was to examine how the perception of discrimination and social support related to career development and college adjustment in an LGBT undergraduate student sample. Two multiple regression analyses demonstrated that perceived discrimination and social support contribute to vocational indecision and college adjustment. The implications for career counselors and other professionals working with this student group are discussed.
A MPCDM-enabled Product Concept Design via User Involvement Approach
Authors: Wang Chao-Hua , Chen Robert Chien-Chung
Published: December 2010

This article reports how designers manipulate a collaborative and reliable process, which is more directly in contact with users and is different from the traditional design approach for interpreting and satisfying users’ specific needs. The approach user involvement for product concept design is proposed, from a multi-professional design knowledge-handling viewpoint. It comprises three phases, namely, user needs elicitation and transformation, product definition diversification and design concept specification, which integrates the means end chain technique with systematic analysis and design technology to develop the multi-professional collaborative design model (MPCDM) for product concept design (PCD). Basically, this approach is a method of making design decisions via user involvement, that is, a strategy for transferring user preference into a specific product concept. A case study on designing an assistive eating device for patients with cervical cord injuries is used to illustrate the performance of the proposed prototype MPCDM-enabled PCD, which has demonstrated its effectiveness in user involvement issue and explained how designers are able to identify with a good degree of certainty attributes for creative product development, by collaboration with users via Internet.
The Relationship Between Child Welfare Involvement and Mental Health Outcomes of Young Children and Their Caregivers Receiving Services in System of Care Communities
Authors: Gyamfi Phyllis , Lichtenstein Carolyn , Fluke John , Xu Ye , Lee Stacey , Fisher Sylvia
Published: December 2010

This study examined how young children entering mental health system of care services who were involved with the child welfare system compared to children with no such involvement in (a) descriptive characteristics and (b) selected outcomes 6 months after entry into such services. The characteristics of the two groups were similar, although children involved in child welfare were exposed to more factors that put them at risk for mental health problems. Children involved with child welfare were more anxious or depressed, which suggests the need for early trauma assessment and trauma-informed services. Surprisingly, children involved with child welfare were more likely to have improved behavior compared to children not involved with child welfare, after other factors were taken into account. One interpretation suggested is that caregivers involved with the child welfare system experienced more oversight, support, and services (they reported receiving case management and family preservation services more frequently).
Students’ motivation to study music: The Brazilian context
Authors: Hentschke Liane
Published: December 2010

This article presents the results of the Brazilian component of an international research project entitled ‘Meanings of music for students in school-based and non-school musical activities’ across eight countries. This research aimed to investigate the importance and the meaning assigned by students to musical activities developed in school and non-school contexts. The method consisted of a survey, involving 21,975 students from eight countries (Brazil, China, Finland, Hong Kong, Israel, Mexico, South Korea, and the USA), which was based on the Eccles and Wigfield’s expectancy-value model for motivation. The Brazilian sample consisted of 1848 students from the 6th grade of fundamental education to the 3rd grade of high school, from 11 cities of the Rio Grande do Sul state. These students belonged to three different cohorts of music learning. Those who had: (a) music in schools and as an extra-school activity; (b) music as a school subject; (iii) music as an outside school activity. Data collection was carried out through a 38-item questionnaire about the students’ profile and their opinions on interest, importance, difficulty, utility, competence and confidence in relation to arts, science, physical education (PE), mathematics, Portuguese, and music. Data were examined using mixed-design Analyses of Variance (ANOVAs). Results show that the degree of interest, importance and utility of music increased as the students progressed through schooling, which contradicts data generated from this study in most of the other countries. Despite the interest of Brazilian students in music, arts and PE, they considered Portuguese, mathematics and science to be more important and useful. When compared to other countries, the results show that Brazilian students demonstrated a great value for music, despite the differences in the learning contexts of the three groups. Those students who only studied music in schools showed the lowest levels of interest, importance and utility.
The discursive construction of femininities in the accounts of Japanese women
Authors: Charlebois Justin
Published: December 2010

This article presents findings from a study investigating the gendered interpretative repertoires or ‘ways of seeing the world’ that a group of Japanese women drew on as they discursively constructed their gendered identities during semi-structured interviews. The study draws on critical discursive psychology which views language not simply as a window into people’s minds, but as a discursive resource which individuals utilize to perform various discursive functions. Participants assumed a range of subject positions in relation to these repertoires that suggests that Japanese society may be in a state of flux where dominant repertoires are undergoing discursive reformulation and change. Results of this study indicate that while interpretative repertoires constitute cultural ‘common sense’, individuals possess agency to discursively deploy, resist, and sometimes even reconstruct these discursive resources.
Participation through imitative repetitions
Authors: Johansen Marianne
Published: December 2010

This article provides an analysis of participation within the framework of language socialization with a focus on the child’s position as overhearer. The study suggests that a particular position as creative imitator is to be included within models of participation in order to account for the particular transition position in which the child transforms his position from overhearer to speaker. Through an empirical study it is demonstrated how an overhearing child (aged 2.2—2.4 years) embeds his contributions within the local social and interactional order through repetitions of other participants’ contributions. It is argued that these repetitions are social acts by which the child displays involvement in family conversations by orienting to their perspectives. The child can be seen to learn through others and not only from others.
‘Going mental’: The risks of assessment activities (in teenage talk)
Authors: Rasmussen Gitte
Published: December 2010

Using multi-modal Conversation Analysis (CA), this article demonstrates how teenage boys end assessments of social experiences with insults. When they participate in social activities, teenagers — as everybody else — routinely make assessments through which they produce social organization and create alignments. This article, however, analyzes structures of assessments that are contested in a counter-positional action. It will be demonstrated how the teenage boys end these challenged-assessment sequences through ‘insults’. A feature of these insults is that the conversationalists ‘go mental’, that is, they question the ‘mental’ abilities and competences of their co-participant and thereby exclude him from the status of being a competent member of the group. In and through such conduct, the participants make the social function as well as the risks of assessing explicit: as competent members of a social group (society) they are being held accountable for having claimed knowledge of the assessed target and may on these grounds be excommunicated as someone who does not understand social life.
Teaching EBP in social work: Retrospective and prospective
Authors: Rubin Allen
Published: December 2010

• Summary: This article examines the precursors and advent of the evidence-based practice (EBP) movement, identifies feasibility obstacles to increasing the emphasis on teaching EBP in social work, offers some suggestions for alleviating those obstacles, and discusses arguments for and against the proposition that EBP is being oversold by advocates for increasing its emphasis in social work practice and education.

• Findings and Applications: It suggests that that if we increase the emphasis on EBP in the curriculum, we must so in an appropriate manner that gives adequate attention to the various kinds of EBP questions and their respective research hierarchies, to the significant degree of practitioner flexibility encouraged by the EBP process, and to the important role of theory and relationship factors in that process.
Accounting for consumer choice: Inter-temporal decision making in behavioural perspective
Authors: Foxall Gordon R.
Published: December 2010

Temporal discounting, which is apparent in all modes of consumer behaviour from the routine to the addictive, is an evolutionary endowment that has been biologically and culturally modified through time. Its evolutionary advantage is most obvious in the pre-agricultural phases of the Pleistocene era, when immediate consumption was essential to both survival and biological fitness and delay would inhibit both. The capacity to overcome impulsivity, on which both agrarian and animal husbandry depended, required the development of executive functions that enable long-term memory, self-rule formation and the self-control of emotional response to engender behavioural inhibition. In human evolutionary terms, the key outcome of this development has been the capacity of behaviour to be reinforced by symbolic as well as functional consequences and the consequent ability to enter into collective intentionality. The paper argues that only a model of consumer choice that incorporates the various influences on impulsive and inhibited choice and their manifestations can explain both everyday and extreme consumer behaviour. This process requires the integration of evolutionary psychology with the insights provided by neuroeconomics and reinforcement learning. A model of consumer choice based on reinforcement learning, the Behavioural Perspective Model (BPM), enables such integration by synthesizing the range of consumer behaviours observed in the modern world and the differing patterns of influence exerted by their common neurobiological and environmental causes.
Revisiting and revising Alderson’s formula to measure the productivity of the aggregate marketing system
Authors: Shaw Eric H.
Published: December 2010

In response to a swirling controversy over high costs, wastes and inefficiencies in marketing, Wroe Alderson (1948) proposed a novel formula to measure the productivity (or efficiency) of the marketing system. His dual input—output formulation represented a significant conceptual advance over marketing efficiency measures that had gone before or have come after. Alderson’s main contribution was to add a measure of household purchasing productivity to the standard economic formulation of the aggregate marketing productivity of business firms. There were, however, conceptual, operational and empirical problems with the formula, particularly with Alderson’s inclusion of household buying behavior. Because the conceptual challenges appeared so intractable and also because the difficulties of measurement seemed so insurmountable, the formula has long been relegated to the scrapheap of marketing history.

Conceptual advances in marketing theory, particularly in light of Alderson’s later theoretical work, along with the availability of data sources hitherto unavailable, now make empirically testing the efficiency formula a realistic possibility. Consequently, it is worth revisiting the formula and reexamining the conceptual challenges so that one of Alderson’s most brilliant theoretical contributions to marketing thought may finally be conceptually resurrected and empirically tested.
Does Alcohol Use Predict Violent Behaviors? The Relationship Between Alcohol Use and Violence in a Nationally Representative Longitudinal Sample
Authors: Maldonado-Molina Mildred M. , Reingle Jennifer M. , Jennings Wesley G.
Published: December 2010

The current study examined the relationship between alcohol and violence using a longitudinal survey of adolescents ages 11—26. Data were derived from 10,828 adolescents in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) Waves I-III. Survey logistic regression was used to examine the relationship between alcohol use and violence. Even after adjustment for baseline, consistent alcohol use predicted violence in young adulthood (OR = 1.41; 95% CI [1.03, 1.91]); however, violence was not predictive of problematic alcohol use. Overall, consistent alcohol use appears to be a predictor of serious physical violence, whereas physical violence does not predict problematic alcohol use.
Primary Headteachers: New Leadership Roles Inside and Outside the School
Authors: Robinson Susan
Published: December 2010

This article considers some of the findings of research undertaken for a PhD into the changing educational agenda and its impact on the role of primary headteachers in England. During the course of the study from 2005—2009, as a result of government policy new roles for headteachers both inside and outside their school increasingly emerged. The research discusses the perceptions of headteachers regarding the reasons for system change and considers their motivations for undertaking new roles. Findings include the range and type of new roles undertaken; the impact of performativity and ways in which the relationship some headteachers experience with inspection is symbiotic together with how building capacity to sustain new roles impacts on leadership practice.
Agency and Female Teachers’ Career Decisions: A Life History Study of 40 Women
Authors: Smith Joan
Published: December 2010

This article reports on some of the findings of a wider, life history study on the factors affecting the career decisions of 40 female secondary school teachers in England. By using life history interviews, it was possible to gain rich and nuanced insights into the complexity of factors influencing women’s career decisions. While acknowledging the reality of constraints on women’s lives and options, this article focuses on the women’s perceptions of their own agency in their approach to career. A typology of career approaches is presented. I argue that women’s awareness of their own potential for agency, and how they choose to exert it, are key considerations in understanding female teachers’ career trajectories. I conclude that there is a need to move beyond an analysis in which the existence of barriers to progression is taken as a given and assumed to be a major career-shaping force, to an analysis that affords scope for taking into account the multifarious ways in which women exert their agency in the career context, making conscious and positive choices which may be at odds with traditional, hierarchical notions of career.
Bioprocess Control in Microscale: Scalable Fermentations in Disposable and User-Friendly Microfluidic Systems
Authors: Funke Matthias , Buchenauer Andreas , Mokwa Wilfried , Kluge Stefanie , Hein Lea , Müller Carsten , Kensy Frank , Büchs Jochen
Published: December 2010

Background

The efficiency of biotechnological production processes depends on selecting the best performing microbial strain and the optimal cultivation conditions. Thus, many experiments have to be conducted, which conflicts with the demand to speed up drug development processes. Consequently, there is a great need for high-throughput devices that allow rapid and reliable bioprocess development. This need is addressed, for example, by the fiber-optic online-monitoring system BioLector which utilizes the wells of shaken microtiter plates (MTPs) as small-scale fermenters. To further improve the application of MTPs as microbioreactors, in this paper, the BioLector technology is combined with microfluidic bioprocess control in MTPs. To realize a user-friendly system for routine laboratory work, disposable microfluidic MTPs are utilized which are actuated by a user-friendly pneumatic hardware.

Results

This novel microfermentation system was tested in pH-controlled batch as well as in fed-batch fermentations of Escherichia coli. The pH-value in the culture broth could be kept in a narrow dead band of 0.03 around the pH-setpoint, by pneumatically dosing ammonia solution and phosphoric acid to each culture well. Furthermore, fed-batch cultivations with linear and exponential feeding of 500 g/L glucose solution were conducted. Finally, the scale-up potential of the microscale fermentations was evaluated by comparing the obtained results to that of fully controlled fermentations in a 2 L laboratory-scale fermenter (working volume of 1 L). The scale-up was realized by keeping the volumetric mass transfer coefficient k

L

a constant at a value of 460 1/h. The same growth behavior of the E. coli cultures could be observed on both scales.

Conclusion

In microfluidic MTPs, pH-controlled batch as well as fed-batch fermentations were successfully performed. The liquid dosing as well as the biomass growth kinetics of the process-controlled fermentations agreed well both in the microscale and laboratory scale. In conclusion, a user-friendly and disposable microfluidic system could be established which allows scaleable, fully controlled and fully monitored fermentations in working volumes below 1 milliliter.
Insulin Up-Regulates Heme Oxygenase-1 Expression in 3T3-L1 Adipocytes via PI3-Kinase- and PKC-Dependent Pathways and Heme Oxygenase-1–Associated MicroRNA Downregulation
Authors: Chang Chih-Ling , Au Lo-Chun , Huang Seng-Wong , Fai Kwok Ching , Ho Low-Tone , Juan Chi-Chang
Published: December 2010

Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), the rate-limiting enzyme in heme catabolism, has antioxidant, antiinflammatory, and antiapoptotic effects in many physiological systems. HO-1 activity in obese mice is lower than in controls, and a sustained increase in HO-1 protein levels ameliorates insulin resistance and compensatory hyperinsulinemia. In the present study, we explored the regulatory effect of insulin on HO-1 expression in 3T3-L1 adipocytes and the underlying mechanism. We investigated the time- and dose-effect of insulin on HO-1 expression in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Using specific inhibitors acting on insulin signaling pathways, we clarified the involvement of insulin downstream signaling molecules in insulin-regulated HO-1 expression. We also investigated the involvement of microRNAs (miRNAs) in insulin-regulated HO-1 expression using microarray and real-time RT-PCR assays. In an in vivo study, we performed insulin/glucose coinfusion in rats to increase circulating insulin levels for 8 h, then measured adipocyte HO-1 expression. Insulin caused a significant increase in HO-1 expression that was time- and dose-dependent, and this effect was blocked by inhibition of phosphatidylinositol 3 (PI3)-kinase activation using LY294002 (50 μM) or of protein kinase C activation using Ro-318220 (2 μM), but not by an Akt inhibitor, triciribine (10 μM). Furthermore, incubation of 3T3-L1 adipocytes with 100 nm insulin resulted in a significant decrease in levels of the miRNAs mir-155, mir-183, and mir-872, and this effect was also blocked by pretreatment with LY294002 or Ro-318220, but not triciribine. An in vivo study in rats showed that 8 h of a hyperinsulinemic euglycemic state resulted in a significant increase in adipocyte HO-1 expression. In conclusion, insulin increases HO-1 protein expression in 3T3-L1 adipocytes via PI3-kinase and protein kinase C-dependent pathways and miRNAs down-regulation.
Profiling of Endogenous Estrogens, Their Precursors, and Metabolites in Endometrial Cancer Patients: Association with Risk and Relationship to Clinical Characteristics
Authors: Audet-Walsh Étienne , Lépine Johanie , Grégoire Jean , Plante Marie , Caron Patrick , Têtu Bernard , Ayotte Pierre , Brisson Jacques , Villeneuve Lyne , Bélanger Alain , Guillemette Chantal
Published: December 2010

abstract

Background:

Endometrial cancer (EC) predominantly occurs after menopause and is strongly related to steroid hormones, particularly estrogens. However, the relationship between these hormones and clinical characteristics remains unaddressed.

Experimental Design:

We analyzed the circulating levels of 18 steroids including adrenal precursors, androgens, estrogens, and their glucuronide metabolites, using specific and validated methods based on tandem mass spectrometry. Our goals were to compare circulating levels in postmenopausal women with EC (n = 126) with those of healthy postmenopausal women (n = 110) and to investigate how these hormonal levels relate to clinical characteristics.

Results:

After adjustment for potential confounders, most hormones were significantly elevated in EC patients compared with healthy controls. In women with type I cancer, estrogen levels were up to 3-fold those of healthy women (P < 0.05). These higher levels were associated with an increased risk of cancer, particularly estrogens and their direct precursors, testosterone and androstenedione (odds ratios ranging from 4.4 to 13.3; P ≤ 0.0003). Elevated circulating levels of estrogens and their metabolites were found in cancer cases with type I endometrioid cancer and low-grade and noninvasive tumor, suggesting an association between these hormones and the tumoral estrogenic activity. In addition, levels of estrone-sulfate in EC patients with relapse were 2-fold over levels of EC patients without relapse (P < 0.05), and 4.5-fold over those of healthy women (P < 0.001).

Conclusions:

Circulating levels of steroids were associated with increased risk of EC. Estrogens may represent novel biomarkers predictive of clinical characteristics, including evidence for an increased risk of relapse.
Luteinizing Hormone Receptor mRNA Down-Regulation Is Mediated through ERK-Dependent Induction of RNA Binding Protein
Authors: Menon Bindu , Franzo-Romain Megan , Damanpour Shadi , Menon K. M. J.
Published: December 2010

The ligand-induced down-regulation of LH receptor (LHR) expression in the ovaries, at least in part, is regulated by a posttranscriptional process mediated by a specific LH receptor mRNA binding protein (LRBP). The LH-mediated signaling pathways involved in this process were examined in primary cultures of human granulosa cells. Treatment with 10 IU human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) for 12 h resulted in the down-regulation of LHR mRNA expression while producing an increase in LHR mRNA binding to LRBP as well as a 2-fold increase in LRBP levels. The activation of ERK1/2 pathway in LH-mediated LHR mRNA down-regulation was also established by demonstrating the translocation of ERK1/2 from the cytosol to the nucleus using confocal microcopy. Inhibition of protein kinase A using H-89 or ERK1/2 by U0126 abolished the LH-induced LHR mRNA down-regulation. These treatments also abrogated both the increases in LRBP levels as well as the LHR mRNA binding activity. The abolishment of the hCG-induced increase in LRBP levels and LHR mRNA binding activity was further confirmed by transfecting granulosa cells with ERK1/2 specific small interfering RNA. This treatment also reversed the hCG-induced down-regulation of LHR mRNA. These data show that LH-regulated ERK1/2 signaling is required for the LRBP-mediated down-regulation of LHR mRNA.
Targeted JAM-C deletion in germ cells by Spo11-controlled Cre recombinase
Authors: Pellegrini Manuela , Claps Giuseppina , Orlova Valeria V. , Barrios Florencia , Dolci Susanna , Geremia Raffaele , Rossi Pellegrino , Rossi Gabriele , Arnold Bernd , Chavakis Triantafyllos , Feigenbaum Lionel , Sharan Shyam K. , Nussenzweig Andre
Published: December 2010

Meiosis is a crucial process for the production of functional gametes. However, the biological significance of many genes expressed during the meiotic phase remains poorly understood, mainly because of the lethal phenotypes of the knockout mice. Functional analysis of such genes using the conditional knockout approach is hindered by the lack of suitable Cre transgenic lines. We describe here the generation of transgenic mice expressing Cre recombinase under the control of the meiotic Spo11 gene. Using LacZ-R26loxP and EYFP-R26loxP reporter mice, we show the specific expression and activity of Cre during meiosis in males and females. Spo11Cre mice were then crossed with floxed Nbs1 and JAM-C mice to produce conditional knockouts. A strong reduction of Nbs1 and JAM-C protein levels was found in the testis. Although Nbs1-deleted mice developed minor gonadal abnormalities, JAM-C-knockout mice showed a spermiogenetic arrest, as previously described for the null mice. These results provide strong evidence that Spo11Cre transgenic mice represent a powerful tool for deleting genes of interest specifically in meiotic and/or in postmeiotic germ cells.