bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Childhood Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Substance Use, and Adult Functioning Among Incarcerated Women
Authors: Hennessey Kathleen A. , Stein Michael D. , Rosengard Cynthia , Rose Jennifer S. , Clarke Jennifer G.
Published: September 2009

Objective: To estimate prevalence of childhood ADHD among incarcerated women and determine its association with substance use and adult functioning. Method: 192 female participants are recruited from the Department of Corrections in Rhode Island. Childhood ADHD is defined as scoring >46 on the Wender Utah Rating Scale. Results: The findings reveal that 46% met criteria for childhood ADHD. Multivariate analysis reveal that women meeting WURS criteria were more likely to be inconsistently employed (OR = 0.23, 95% CI = 0.10-0.54), recently homeless (OR = 2.09, 95% CI = 1.02-4.30), lifetime incarceration of more than 90 days (OR = 3.00, 95% CI = 1.37-6.57), current smokers (OR = 2.99, 95% CI = 1.24-7.20), and ever used marijuana regularly (OR = 3.47, 95% CI = 1.61-7.45). Conclusion: Among incarcerated women, childhood ADHD is associated with negative social and health behaviors.
Treatment with the phosphodiesterase type-4 inhibitor rolipram fails to inhibit blood—brain barrier disruption in multiple sclerosis
Authors: Bielekova Bibiana , Richert Nancy , Howard Thomas , Packer Amy N , Blevins Gregg , Ohayon Joan , McFarland Henry F , Stürzebecher Claus-Steffen , Martin Roland
Published: September 2009

Rolipram, a prototypic phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitor, is highly effective in suppressing Th1 autoimmunity in multiple animal models, including experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. In addition, rolipram has been extensively studied as a potential neuroprotective agent. Based on its anti-inflammatory activity, we tested the efficacy of rolipram in suppressing inflammatory disease activity in multiple sclerosis in a proof-of-principle phase I/II open-label clinical trial. Enrolled MS patients were evaluated by monthly MRI and clinical examinations during 3 months (four MRIs) of pretreatment baseline and 8 months of rolipram therapy. The primary outcome was a change in contrast-enhanced lesions between baseline and the last 4 months of rolipram therapy. Previously defined biomarkers of rolipram-mediated immunomodulation were evaluated during the study. The trial was stopped prematurely because the drug was poorly tolerated and because of safety concerns: we observed an increase, rather than decrease, in the brain inflammatory activity measured by contrast-enhanced lesions on brain MRI. At the administered doses rolipram was active in vivo as documented by immunological assays. We conclude that the reasons underlying the discrepancy between the therapeutic efficacy of rolipram in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis versus multiple sclerosis are at present not clear.
Review: Adjuvant bisphosphonates in endocrine-responsive breast cancer: what is their place in therapy?
Authors: Gnant Michael , Blaha Peter , Dubsky Peter , Exner Ruth , Fitzal Florian , Sporn Emanuel , Panhofer Peter , Dal Borgo Andrea , Bigenzahn Sinda , Steger Guenther , Jakesz Raimund
Published: September 2009

Recent advances in the treatment of early breast cancer have improved clinical outcomes and prolonged survival, especially in women with endocrine-responsive disease. However, cancer therapies including cytotoxic chemotherapy, ovarian suppression, and aromatase inhibitors can drastically reduce circulating estrogen, increasing bone loss and fracture risk. Because most women with early breast cancer will live for many years, it is important to protect bone health during cancer therapy. Several recent clinical trials combining adjuvant endocrine therapy with bisphosphonates have demonstrated efficacy for preventing cancer treatment-induced bone loss in pre- and postmenopausal women with early breast cancer. The largest body of evidence supporting the use of adjuvant bisphosphonates comes from studies with zoledronic acid; however, studies with risedronate, ibandronate, and denosumab (a biologic agent) have also demonstrated efficacy for preventing bone loss. Adding zoledronic acid to endocrine therapy prevents bone loss and improves bone mineral density (BMD). In addition, preclinical studies suggest that bisphosphonates have direct and indirect antitumor activity, such as inducing tumor cell apoptosis, reducing tumor cell adhesion and invasion, reducing angiogenesis, activating immune responses, and synergy with chemotherapy agents, among others. Clinical trials have demonstrated significantly improved disease-free survival in patients receiving adjuvant endocrine therapy plus zoledronic acid compared with endocrine therapy alone. Ongoing studies will further define the role of adjuvant bisphosphonates in maintaining bone health and improving clinical outcomes. The available evidence suggests that pre- and postmenopausal patients may receive clinical benefit from including bisphosphonates as part of their adjuvant treatment regimen for endocrine-responsive early breast cancer.
Organisation and delivery of home mechanical ventilation
Authors: Escarrabill J.
Published: September 2009

Educational aims

To analyse home mechanical ventilation (HMV) from a community perspective.

To analyse healthcare delivery alternatives.

To consider different sources of variability in clinical practice.

To emphasise the role of patients in the decision-making process.

The number of patients using HMV is increasing in all Western countries. There has been a significant increase in the number of obese patients and – despite the restrictive recommendations of the guidelines – of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In most countries, there are no systematic registers of patients, outcomes are not followed regularly and support at home is very variable.

It is very important to think about how to organise the care of patients on HMV: it must seek a balance between the role of reference centres and accesibility to local hospitals. Networking should be a reasonable alternative.
Y-27632 enhances differentiation of blastocyst like cystic human embryoid bodies to endocrinologically active trophoblast cells on a biomimetic platform
Authors: Sivasubramaiyan Kavitha , Totey Swapnil , Bhat Vijay , Totey Satish M , Deb Kaushik
Published: September 2009

Trophoblast differentiation and formation of the placenta are important events linked to post-implantation embryonic development. Models mimicking the biology of trophoblast differentiation in a post-implantation maternal microenvironment are needed for understanding disorders like placental-ischemia or for applications in drug-screening, and would help in overcoming the ethical impasse on using human embryos for such research. Here we attempt to create such a model by using embryoid bodies (EBs) and a biomimetic platform composed of a bilayer of fibronectin and gelatin on top of low-melting agarose. Using this model we test the hypothesis that cystic-EBs (day 30) that resemble blastocysts morphologically, are better sources as compared to noncytic EBs (day 10), for functional trophoblast differentiation; and that the Rho kinases inhibitor Y27632 can enhance this differentiation. Non/cytic EBs with/out Y27632 were grown on this platform for 28 days, and screened from secretion and expression of trophoblast and other lineage markers using ECLIA, RT-PCR, and Immunofluorescence. All EBs attached on this surface and rapidly proliferated into hCG and progesterone (P2) secreting functional trophoblast cells. However, the cells derived from cytic-EBs and cytic-EBs+ Y27632 showed the maximum secretion of these hormones and expressed IGF2, supporting our hypothesis. Also Y27632 reduced extraembryonic endoderm and trophoblast lineage differentiation from early noncystic-EBs, whereas, it specifically enhanced the induction of trophoblast and multinucleated syncitiotrophoblast differentiation from late cystic-EBs. In vivo trophoblast differentiation can be replicated in fibronectin based biomaterials, using cytic-EBs and by maneuvering the Rho-ROCK pathways. Response of EBs to a compound may vary temporally, and determination of their right stage is crucial for applications in directed-differentiation or drug-screening.
Mutagenesis of the fusion peptide-like domain of hepatitis C virus E1 glycoprotein: involvement in cell fusion and virus entry
Authors: Li Hsiao-Fen , Huang Chia-Hsuan , Ai Li-Shuang , Chuang Chin-Kai , Chen Steve SL
Published: September 2009

Background

Envelope (E) glycoprotein E2 of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) mediates binding of the virus to target cell receptors. Nevertheless, the precise role of E1 in viral entry remains elusive.

Methods

To understand the involvement of the fusion peptide-like domain positioned at residues 264 to 290 within envelope glycoprotein E1 in HCV infection, mutants with Ala and Asn substitutions for residues conserved between HCV and E proteins of flaviviruses or the fusion proteins of paramyxoviruses were constructed by site-directed mutagenesis and their effects on membrane fusion and viral infectivity were examined.

Results

None of these mutations affected the synthesis or cell surface expression of envelope proteins, nor did they alter the formation of a non-covalent E1-E2 heterodimer or E2 binding to the large extracellular loop of CD81. The Cys residues located at positions 272 and 281 were unlikely involved in intra- or intermolecular disulfide bond formation. With the exception of the G267A mutant, which showed increased cell fusion, other mutants displayed reduced or marginally inhibited cell fusion capacities compared to the wild-type (WT) E1E2. The G267A mutant was also an exception in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)/HCV E1E2 pseudotyping analyses, in that it showed higher one-cycle infectivity; all other mutants exhibited greatly or partially reduced viral entry versus the WT pseudotype. All but the G278A and D279N mutants showed a WT-like profile of E1E2 incorporation into HIV-1 particles. Since C272A, C281A, G282A, and G288A pseudotypes bound to Huh7 cells as effectively as did the WT pseudotype, the reduced infectivity of these pseudotypes was due to their ability to inhibit cell fusion.

Conclusion

Our results indicate that specific residues, but not the structure, of this fusion peptide-like domain are required for mediating cell fusion and viral entry.
Deep proteogenomics; high throughput gene validation by multidimensional liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry of proteins from the fungal wheat pathogen Stagonospora nodorum
Authors: Bringans Scott , Hane James K , Casey Tammy , Tan Kar-Chun , Lipscombe Richard , Solomon Peter S , Oliver Richard P
Published: September 2009

Background

Stagonospora nodorum, a fungal ascomycete in the class dothideomycetes, is a damaging pathogen of wheat. It is a model for necrotrophic fungi that cause necrotic symptoms via the interaction of multiple effector proteins with cultivar-specific receptors. A draft genome sequence and annotation was published in 2007. A second-pass gene prediction using a training set of 795 fully EST-supported genes predicted a total of 10762 version 2 nuclear-encoded genes, with an additional 5354 less reliable version 1 genes also retained.

Results

In this study, we subjected soluble mycelial proteins to proteolysis followed by 2D LC MALDI-MS/MS. Comparison of the detected peptides with the gene models validated 2134 genes. 62% of these genes (1324) were not supported by prior EST evidence. Of the 2134 validated genes, all but 188 were version 2 annotations. Statistical analysis of the validated gene models revealed a preponderance of cytoplasmic and nuclear localised proteins, and proteins with intracellular-associated GO terms. These statistical associations are consistent with the source of the peptides used in the study. Comparison with a 6-frame translation of the S. nodorum genome assembly confirmed 905 existing gene annotations (including 119 not previously confirmed) and provided evidence supporting 144 genes with coding exon frameshift modifications, 604 genes with extensions of coding exons into annotated introns or untranslated regions (UTRs), 3 new gene annotations which were supported by tblastn to NR, and 44 potential new genes residing within un-assembled regions of the genome.

Conclusion

We conclude that 2D LC MALDI-MS/MS is a powerful, rapid and economical tool to aid in the annotation of fungal genomic assemblies.
Topoisomerase I but not thymidylate synthase is associated with improved outcome in patients with resected colorectal cancer treated with irinotecan containing adjuvant chemotherapy
Authors: Kostopoulos Ioannis , Karavasilis Vasilios , Karina Maria , Bobos Mattheos , Xiros Nikolaos , Pentheroudakis George , Kafiri Georgia , Papakostas Pavlos , Vrettou Eleni , Fountzilas George
Published: September 2009

Background

Thymidylate synthase (TS) and Topoisomerase I (Topo I) are significant biomarkers in colorectal cancer (CRC). We aimed to study the expression of TS and Topo I in patients with resected CRC who received adjuvant chemotherapy and correlated it with clinical outcome.

Methods

All patients diagnosed with CRC between 1989 and 2007 and treated with adjuvant chemotherapy within Hellenic Cooperative Oncology Group's (HeCOG) protocols, were identified. Archival paraffin-embedded tumor tissues were used for immunohistochemical detection of TS and Topo I. Immunohistochemistry was performed on tissue microarray slides using monoclonal antibodies against TS and Topo I. The results were correlated with survival (OS) and disease free survival (DFS).

Results

A cohort of 498 patients with a median age of 61 years and Dukes' stage B (49%) and C (51%) fulfilled the criteria of the study. All patients received adjuvant 5-FU-based chemotherapy, 38% irinotecan-containing. Positive TS and Topo I expression was found in 43% and 48% of cases, respectively. Five-year OS was 74% and DFS was 68%. In univariate analysis no association of TS and Topo I expression with OS and DFS was identified. In multivariate analysis however, Topo I expression was associated with a reduced risk of death (HR = 0.61, 95% CI 0.42-0.88, p = 0.009). In the irinotecan-treated subgroup, those patients who expressed Topo I had a better OS (HR = 0.47, 95% CI 0.23-0.94, p = 0.033).

Conclusion

Patients with resected CRC expressing Topo I seem to benefit from irinotecan-containing adjuvant chemotherapy. However randomised prospective trials are needed to confirm these results.
Ovarian cancer survival population differences: a "high resolution study" comparing Philippine residents, and Filipino-Americans and Caucasians living in the US
Authors: Redaniel Maria Theresa M , Laudico Adriano , Mirasol-Lumague Maria Rica , Gondos Adam , Uy Gemma Leonora , Toral Jean Ann , Benavides Doris , Brenner Hermann
Published: September 2009

Background

In contrast to most other forms of cancer, data from some developing and developed countries show surprisingly similar survival rates for ovarian cancer. We aimed to compare ovarian cancer survival in Philippine residents, Filipino-Americans and Caucasians living in the US, using a high resolution approach, taking potential differences in prognostic factors into account.

Methods

Using databases from the SEER 13 and from the Manila and Rizal Cancer Registries, age-adjusted five-year absolute and relative survival estimates were computed using the period analysis method and compared between Filipino-American ovarian cancer patients with cancer patients from the Philippines and Caucasians in the US. Cox proportional hazards modelling was used to determine factors affecting survival differences.

Results

Despite more favorable distribution of age and cancer morphology and similar stage distribution, 5-year absolute and relative survival were lower in Philippine residents (Absolute survival, AS, 44%, Standard Error, SE, 2.9 and Relative survival, RS, 49.7%, SE, 3.7) than in Filipino-Americans (AS, 51.3%, SE, 3.1 and RS, 54.1%, SE, 3.4). After adjustment for these and additional covariates, strong excess risk of death for Philippine residents was found (Relative Risk, RR, 2.45, 95% confidence interval, 95% CI, 1.99-3.01). In contrast, no significant differences were found between Filipino-Americans and Caucasians living in the US.

Conclusion

Multivariate analyses disclosed strong survival disadvantages of Philippine residents compared to Filipino-American patients, for which differences in access to health care might have played an important role. Survival is no worse among Filipino-Americans than among Caucasians living in the US.
Site-specific relapse pattern of the triple negative tumors in Chinese breast cancer patients
Authors: Lin Yanping , Yin Wenjin , Yan Tingting , Zhou Liheng , Di Genhong , Wu Jiong , Shen Zhenzhou , Shao Zhimin , Lu Jinsong
Published: September 2009

Background

It has been reported that triple negative phenotype is characterized by aggressive clinical history in Western breast cancer patients, however its pattern of metastatic spread had never been reported in the Chinese population. Considering racial disparities, we sought to analyze the spread pattern for different sites of first recurrence in Chinese triple negative breast cancers.

Methods

A retrospective study of 1662 patients was carried out from a large database of breast cancer patients undergoing surgery between January 1, 2000 and March 31, 2004 at the Cancer Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. Survival curves were generated using the Kaplan-Meier method and annual relapse hazards were estimated by the hazard function.

Results

We found a statistically significant difference in relapse-free survival (RFS) for locoregional and visceral recurrence (P = 0.007 and P = 0.025, respectively) among the triple negative, ERBB2+ and HR+/ERBB2- subgroups in univariate analysis. In the multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis, RFS for either locoregional or visceral relapse in the triple negative category was inferior to that in HR+/ERBB2- patients (P = 0.027 and P = 0.005, respectively), but comparable to that in ERBB2+ women (both P > 0.05). Furthermore, the early relapse peak appeared later in the triple negative group than that in the ERBB2+ counterpart for both locoregional and visceral relapse. On the other hand, when compared with triple negative breast cancers, a significantly lower risk of developing bone relapse was discerned for ERBB2+ women (P = 0.048; HR = 0.384, 95% CI 0.148-0.991), with the borderline significance for HR+/ERBB2- breast cancers (P = 0.058; HR = 0.479, 95% CI 0.224-1.025). In terms of bone metastasis, the hazard rate remained higher for the triple negative category than that for the ERBB2+ subtype.

Conclusion

Based on the site-specific spread pattern in different subgroups, the triple negative category of breast cancers in the Chinese population exhibits a different pattern of relapse, which indicates that different organotropism may be due to the different intrinsic subtypes. A better knowledge of the triple negative category is warranted for efficacious systemic regimens to decrease and/or delay the relapse hazard.
Both ischemic preconditioning and ghrelin administration protect hippocampus from ischemia/reperfusion and upregulate uncoupling protein-2
Authors: Liu Yajun , Chen Lianbi , Xu Xiaoqun , Vicaut Eric , Sercombe Richard
Published: September 2009

Background

A major endogenous protective mechanism in many organs against ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury is ischemic preconditioning (IPC). By moderately uncoupling the mitochondrial respiratory chain and decreasing production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), IPC reduces apoptosis induced by I/R by reducing cytochrome c release from the mitochondria. One element believed to contribute to reduce ROS production is the uncoupling protein UCP2 (and UCP3 in the heart). Although its implication in IPC in the brain has been shown in vitro, no in vivo study of protein has shown its upregulation. Our first goal was to determine in rat hippocampus whether UCP2 protein upregulation was associated with IPC-induced protection and increased ROS production. The second goal was to determine whether the peptide ghrelin, which possesses anti-oxidant and protective properties, alters UCP2 mRNA levels in the same way as IPC during protection.

Results

After global forebrain ischemia (15 min) with 72 h reperfusion (I/R group), we found important neuronal lesion in the rat hippocampal CA1 region, which was reduced by a preceding 3-min preconditioning ischemia (IPC+I/R group), whereas the preconditioning stimulus alone (IPC group) had no effect. Compared to control, UCP2 protein labelling increased moderately in the I/R (+39%, NS) and IPC+I/R (+28%, NS) groups, and substantially in the IPC group (+339%, P < 0.05). Treatment with superoxide dismutase (10000 U/kg ip) at the time of a preconditioning ischemia greatly attenuated (-73%, P < 0.001) the increase in UCP2 staining at 72 h, implying a role of oxygen radicals in UCP2 induction.

Hippocampal UCP2 mRNA showed a moderate increase in I/R (+33%, P < 0.05) and IPC+I/R (+40%, P < 0.05) groups versus control, and a large increase in the IPC group (+333%, P < 0.001). In ghrelin experiments, the I/R+ghrelin group (3 daily administrations) showed considerable protection of CA1 neurons versus I/R animals, and increased hippocampal UCP2 mRNA (+151%, P < 0.001).

Conclusion

We confirm that IPC causes increased expression of UCP2 protein in vivo, at a moment appropriate for protection against I/R in the hippocampus. The two dissimilar protective strategies, IPC and ghrelin administration, were both associated with upregulated UCP2, suggesting that UCP2 may often represent a final common pathway in protection from I/R.
A comparison of classification methods for predicting Chronic Fatigue Syndrome based on genetic data
Authors: Huang Lung-Cheng , Hsu Sen-Yen , Lin Eugene
Published: September 2009

Background

In the studies of genomics, it is essential to select a small number of genes that are more significant than the others for the association studies of disease susceptibility. In this work, our goal was to compare computational tools with and without feature selection for predicting chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) using genetic factors such as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).

Methods

We employed the dataset that was original to the previous study by the CDC Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Research Group. To uncover relationships between CFS and SNPs, we applied three classification algorithms including naive Bayes, the support vector machine algorithm, and the C4.5 decision tree algorithm. Furthermore, we utilized feature selection methods to identify a subset of influential SNPs. One was the hybrid feature selection approach combining the chi-squared and information-gain methods. The other was the wrapper-based feature selection method.

Results

The naive Bayes model with the wrapper-based approach performed maximally among predictive models to infer the disease susceptibility dealing with the complex relationship between CFS and SNPs.

Conclusion

We demonstrated that our approach is a promising method to assess the associations between CFS and SNPs.
Who uses firearms as a means of suicide? A population study exploring firearm accessibility and method choice
Authors: Klieve Helen , Sveticic Jerneja , De Leo Diego
Published: September 2009

Background

The 1996 Australian National Firearms Agreement introduced strict access limitations. However, reports on the effectiveness of the new legislation are conflicting. This study, accessing all cases of suicide 1997-2004, explores factors which may impact on the choice of firearms as a suicide method, including current licence possession and previous history of legal access.

Methods

Detailed information on all Queensland suicides (1997-2004) was obtained from the Queensland Suicide Register, with additional details of firearm licence history accessed from the Firearm Registry (Queensland Police Service). Cases were compared against licence history and method choice (firearms or other method). Odds ratios (OR) assessed the risk of firearms suicide and suicide by any method against licence history. A logistic regression was undertaken identifying factors significant in those most likely to use firearms in suicide.

Results

The rate of suicide using firearms in those with a current license (10.92 per 100,000) far exceeded the rate in those with no license history (1.03 per 100,000). Those with a license history had a far higher rate of suicide (30.41 per 100,000) compared to that of all suicides (15.39 per 100,000). Additionally, a history of firearms licence (current or present) was found to more than double the risk of suicide by any means (OR = 2.09,P< 0.001). The group with the highest risk of selecting firearms to suicide were older males from rural locations.

Conclusion

Accessibility and familiarity with firearms represent critical elements in determining the choice of method. Further licensing restrictions and the implementation of more stringent secure storage requirements are likely to reduce the overall familiarity with firearms in the community and contribute to reductions in rates of suicide.
Unintended spread of a biosafety level 2 recombinant retrovirus
Authors: Stang Alexander , Petrasch-Parwez Elisabeth , Brandt Sabine , Dermietzel Rolf , Meyer Helmut E , Stühler Kai , Liffers Sven-T , Überla Klaus , Grunwald Thomas
Published: September 2009

Background

Contamination of vertebrate cell lines with animal retroviruses has been documented repeatedly before. Although such viral contaminants can be easily identified with high sensitivity by PCR, it is impossible to screen for all potential contaminants. Therefore, we explored two novel methods to identify viral contaminations in cell lines without prior knowledge of the kind of contaminant.

Results

The first hint for the presence of contaminating retroviruses in one of our cell lines was obtained by electron microscopy of exosome-like vesicles released from the supernatants of transfected 293T cells. Random amplification of particle associated RNAs (PAN-PCR) from supernatant of contaminated 293T cells and sequencing of the amplicons revealed several nucleotide sequences showing highest similarity to either murine leukemia virus (MuLV) or squirrel monkey retrovirus (SMRV). Subsequent mass spectrometry analysis confirmed our findings, since we could identify several peptide sequences originating from monkey and murine retroviral proteins. Quantitative PCRs were established for both viruses to test currently cultured cell lines as well as liquid nitrogen frozen cell stocks. Gene fragments for both viruses could be detected in a broad range of permissive cell lines from multiple species. Furthermore, experimental infections of cells negative for these viruses showed that both viruses replicate rapidly to high loads. We decided to further analyze the genomic sequence of the MuLV-like contaminant virus. Surprisingly it was neither identical to MuLV nor to the novel xenotropic MuLV related retrovirus (XMRV) but showed 99% identity to a synthetic retrovirus which was engineered in the 1980s.

Conclusion

The high degree of nucleotide identity suggests unintended spread of a biosafety level 2 recombinant virus, which could also affect the risk assessment of gene-modified organisms released from contaminated cell cultures. The study further indicates that both mass spectrometry and PAN-PCR are powerful methods to identify viral contaminations in cell lines without prior knowledge of the kind of contaminant. Both methods might be useful tools for testing cell lines before using them for critical purposes.
Inhibition of the NMDA receptor/Nitric Oxide pathway in the dorsolateral periaqueductal gray causes anxiolytic-like effects in rats submitted to the Vogel conflict test
Authors: Tonetto Lucas LM , Terzian Ana L , Del Bel Elaine A , Guimarães Francisco S , Resstel Leonardo BM
Published: September 2009

Background

Several studies had demonstrated the involvement of the dorsolateral portion of periaqueductal grey matter (dlPAG) in defensive responses. This region contains a significant number of neurons containing the enzyme nitric oxide synthase (NOS) and previous studies showed that non-selective NOS inhibition or glutamate NMDA-receptor antagonism in the dlPAG caused anxiolytic-like effects in the elevated plus maze.

Methods

In the present study we verified if the NMDA/NO pathway in the dlPAG would also involve in the behavioral suppression observed in rats submitted to the Vogel conflict test. In addition, the involvement of this pathway was investigated by using a selective nNOS inhibitor, Nω-propyl-L-arginine (N-Propyl, 0.08 nmol/200 nL), a NO scavenger, carboxy-PTIO (c-PTIO, 2 nmol/200 nL) and a specific NMDA receptor antagonist, LY235959 (4 nmol/200 nL).

Results

Intra-dlPAG microinjection of these drugs increased the number of punished licks without changing the number of unpunished licks or nociceptive threshold, as measure by the tail flick test.

Conclusion

The results indicate that activation of NMDA receptors and increased production of NO in the dlPAG are involved in the anxiety behavior displayed by rats in the VCT.
The expression of PLK-1 in cervical carcinoma: a possible target for enhancing chemosensitivity
Authors: Zhang Yuan , Liu Yu , Yang Yuan-Xian , Xia Jia-Hong , Zhang Hong-Xiu , Li Hua-Bin , Yu Chun-Zhao
Published: September 2009

Background

Polo-like kinase-1 (PLK-1) is reported to be upregulated in a variety of human tumors and is implicated in cell proliferation and survival. However, its importance in cervical carcinoma has not yet been fully elucidated.

Methods

We examined PLK-1 expression in cervical carcinoma tissues using immunohistochemical staining. Furthermore, we blocked PLK-1 expression in HeLa cells using specific siRNA and detected the cell cycle, cell proliferation and chemosensitivity using western blotting, MTT and flow cytometry.

Results

We provide evidence that expression of PLK-1 exists in human cervical carcinoma tissues and establish an association with tumor size. Furthermore, we show that PLK-1 knockdown by transfection of siRNA induces accumulation of HeLa cells in the G2/M cell cycle phase and enhances cisplatin-induced apoptosis.

Conclusion

Our results indicate that PLK-1 production in HeLa cells might be critical in determining whether cells survive or undergo apoptosis. Therefore, targeting PLK-1 might be a promising strategy for enhancing sensitivity to chemotherapeutic reagents in cervical carcinoma.
A new integrative weaning index of discontinuation from mechanical ventilation
Authors: Nemer Sergio N , Barbas Carmen SV , Caldeira Jefferson B , Cárias Thiago C , Santos Ricardo G , Almeida Luiz C , Azeredo Leandro M , Noé Rosângela A , Guimarães Bruno S , Souza Paulo C
Published: September 2009

Introduction

Indexes predicting weaning outcome are frequently inaccurate. We developed a new integrative weaning index aimed at improving the accuracy of the traditional indexes.

Methods

Three hundred and thirty-one patients mechanically-ventilated for more than 24 hours were evaluated. Initially, the threshold values of each index that best discriminate between a successful and an unsuccessful weaning outcome were determined in 115 patients. In the second phase, the predictive performance of these values was tested prospectively in the other 216 patients. Frequency/tidal volume ratio (f/Vt ratio), tidal volume (Vt), tracheal airway occlusion pressure 0.1 s (P 0.1), the product of P 0.1 and f/Vt (P 0.1 × f/Vt), respiratory rate (f), static compliance of the respiratory system (Cst,rs), ratio of arterial oxygen tension to fraction of inspired oxygen (PaO2/FiO2 ratio) and the new integrative weaning index IWI (Cst,rs × arterial oxygen saturation/f/Vt ratio) were evaluated in all patients. The readiness for weaning and the decision to return to mechanical ventilation was made by the physician in charge, based on the signs of poor tolerance. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were calculated in order to evaluate the predictive performance of each index. The Bayes' theorem was used to assess the probability of each test of predicting weaning.

Results

In the prospective-validation set, successful weaning was observed in 183 patients (84.7%) and weaning failure in 33 (15.27%). IWI presented the highest accuracy, with the area under the ROC curves larger than that under the curves for the f/Vt ratio (0.96 × 0.85 respectively; P = 0.003), and also larger than that under the curves for the other indexes. IWI presented a higher probability of successful weaning when the test was positive (0.99) and a lower probability when the test was negative (0.14). Measurement of Cst,rs during the weaning process was considered one of the study limitations.

Conclusions

IWI was the best predictive performance index of weaning outcome and can be used in the intensive care unit setting.

Trial Registration

controlled-trials.com ISRCTN92117906
Characteristics and outcomes of trauma patients with ICU lengths of stay 30 days and greater: a seven-year retrospective study
Authors: Ong Adrian W , Omert Laurel A , Vido Diane , Goodman Brian M , Protetch Jack , Rodriguez Aurelio , Jeremitsky Elan
Published: September 2009

Introduction

Prolonged intensive care unit lengths of stay (ICU LOS) for critical illness can have acceptable mortality rates and quality of life despite significant costs. Only a few studies have specifically addressed prolonged ICU LOS after trauma. Our goals were to examine characteristics and outcomes of trauma patients with LOS ≥ 30 days, predictors of prolonged stay and mortality.

Methods

All trauma ICU admissions over a seven-year period in a level 1 trauma center were analyzed. Admission characteristics, pre-existing conditions and acquired complications in the ICU were recorded. Logistic regression was used to identify independent predictors of prolonged LOS and predictors of mortality among those with prolonged LOS after univariate analyses.

Results

Of 4920 ICU admissions, 205 (4%) had ICU LOS >30 days. These patients were older and more severely injured. Age and injury severity score (ISS) were associated with prolonged LOS. After logistic regression analysis, sepsis, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and several infectious complications were important independent predictors of prolonged LOS. Within the group with ICU LOS >30 days, predictors of mortality were age, pre-existing renal disease as well as the development of renal failure requiring dialysis. Overall mortality was 12%.

Conclusions

The majority of patients with ICU LOS ≥ 30 days will survive their hospitalization. Infectious and pulmonary complications were predictors of prolonged stay. Further efforts targeting prevention of these complications are warranted.
Mountain, Become a Volcano: The Image of the Volcano in the Rhetoric of the French Revolution
Authors: Miller Mary Ashburn
Published: September 2009

This article establishes a relationship between the language of natural history and the political rhetoric of the French Revolution by tracing the iconography of the volcano throughout the revolutionary period. The volcano's connotations transformed with specific changes in the political realm. During the early years of the Revolution, it symbolized the potential for unbridled force and destruction. Yet for a brief period that began with the call for terror as the order of the day, the volcano became a positive symbol of revolutionary transformation, emblematic of patriotic passion and republican virtue.

En analysant l'iconographie du volcan pendant l'époque révolutionnaire, cet article établit l'existence d'un lien entre le langage de l'histoire naturelle et la rhétorique politique de la Révolution française. Les variations au milieu politique ont provoqué des variations dans les connotations du « volcan », un symbole équivoque pendant les premières années de la Révolution. A cette époque-là, le volcan symbolisait les forces débridées et la destruction potentielle. Néanmoins, pendant une courte période qui a commencé au moment où on instaure la Terreur à l'ordre du jour, le volcan est devenu un symbole à connotations positives, qui représentait la transformation révolutionnaire, les passions patriotiques et la vertu républicaine.
Why Academic Freedom Doesn't Matter
Authors: Donoghue Frank
Published: September 2009

This essay questions the historical yoking together of the concepts of academic freedom and tenure, arguing that both concepts have been poorly and inconsistently defined since the AAUP's inaugural document, the “Declaration of Principles on Academic Tenure,” was published in 1915. The essay charts the critique of the “Declaration” by the Association of American Colleges (AAC). The AAC, an organization of administrators rather than faculty, laid the groundwork for the tenure system as it exists today. It outlined the seven-year probationary period that would precede tenure, and it fought to restrict academic freedom to the professor's area of academic expertise. In doing so, it joined together the two otherwise unrelated concepts. The second half of the essay examines how the legal system has tried, largely without success, to sort out the relationship between academic freedom and tenure. The essay concludes by noting that the research model in the humanities—in which assistant professors are expected to produce scholarly publications in order to earn tenure—has now been grafted to the probationary period, thus compounding the problems of linking academic freedom to tenure.
The Corporate University, Academic Freedom, and American Exceptionalism
Authors: Cheyfitz Eric
Published: September 2009

In the first part of this essay, I sketch some of the material conditions that comprise the contemporary corporate university: a job market dominated by contingent labor (non-tenure-track positions) and increasingly by part-time labor; the cooptation of links between scholarship and activism (particularly noticeable in ethnic studies and Native American studies programs) by the traditional scholarly agenda of “disinterested” individualized research; and the force of this agenda coupled with the changing labor market to stymie collaborative progressive action within the university. I then suggest the way these conditions have operated in two cases with which I have been centrally involved: faculty governance at Cornell University, and the firing of Ward Churchill by the University of Colorado at Boulder. In the second part of the essay, in addition to the Churchill case, I survey the cases of some scholars who have found themselves under attack by their own universities either for their activism, their scholarship, or a combination of both. By looking closely at the cases of Churchill, Norman Finkelstein, and Nadia Abu El Haj, I conclude that what these cases have in common is that all these scholars have mounted critiques of Israeli and American exceptionalism. I define exceptionalism as a mode of producing history outside of history, as a way of reading history ahistorically in order to create a coherent narrative—one that appears to be without contradiction—that we call the Nation. In particular, the exceptionalist mode functions to deny the violent displacement of indigenous peoples by settler colonialism.
Civility and Academic Life
Authors: Finkelstein Norman G.
Published: September 2009

The essay focuses on whether academic freedom is compatible with prescribing a code of conduct outside the classroom. I first look at the Bertrand Russell case. Russell was denied a teaching post at City College of New York because of his expressed opinions on morality and religion. Russell maintained that insofar as he was appointed to a teaching post in logic and mathematics, his opinions on morality and religion had no relevance in assessing his academic competence. Dissenting from Russell's absolutist position, the essay argues that it is unrealistic to expect a university to hire faculty regardless of their opinions, however outrageous, on topics of general, public interest. I then scrutinize cases of allegedly outrageous political opinions. I conclude that most of the criticism directed at such opinions is hypocritical and disingenuous.
The Economics of Academic Freedom, or Plato's P & T Committee
Authors: Nealon Jeffrey T.
Published: September 2009

Within contemporary debates about the present and future of the university, academic freedom often functions in a Neoplatonic manner—which is to say, it functions as that eternal and unfettered form that guides the mundane material practices of academic life (most obviously, tenure and its lifetime job security). Without the Platonic cover of academic freedom, the exorbitant job guarantees of tenure would, it seems, have precious little reason to exist. However, in the Platonic spirit of academic freedom, I want to propose that we jettison the entire notion of academic freedom as the primary theoretical cover for tenure and examine—dare I say affirm?—tenure as a practice in its own right, as a business practice in a particular labor situation. While most recent analysis suggests no future for tenure precisely because of its economic costs, I argue that tenure is in fact “rational and maximizing” in the present cultural-capital economy of university administration, teaching, and research. In short, this essay argues that it's the practice of tenure, rather than the idea of academic freedom, that needs to be expanded, affirmed, or saved in the context of the corporate university.
Away from Home: The Case of University Employees Overseas
Authors: Ross Andrew
Published: September 2009

As Anglophone universities expand overseas, what are some of the problems facing the protection of faculty rights? The essay describes the spectrum of potential threats to academic freedom at overseas sites and describes various measures undertaken by the AAUP and others to combat them. Protection needs to take account of commercially induced self-censorship, which is less visible than the overt efforts on the part of government authorities to quash politically inconvenient speech. Offshore branches of universities may prove to be the most cost-effective way of servicing the needs of multinational knowledge capital as it roams around the globe in search of the cheapest locations and highest returns. How we think about academic freedom also needs to take account of the increasing crossover between universities and knowledge corporations as they mutate into species more adaptable to the land, sea, and air of the new geography of knowledge capitalism.
The Crowd in the Iranian Revolution
Authors: Abrahamian Ervand
Published: September 2009

This article analyzes the behavior of street demonstrators in the Iranian Revolution of 1977-79. It tries to show that they acted less like irrational mobs and more like the rational crowds found in George Rude's classic works. It also tries to show that the bloodshed in these street protests was far less than conventionally thought both inside and outside Iran.
Revolution, Trauma, and Nostalgia in Diasporic Iranian Women's Autobiographies
Authors: Naghibi Nima
Published: September 2009

This essay argues that the 1979 Iranian Revolution constituted a traumatic break in the national imagination, a break that has paradoxically engendered productive possibilities for women's subjectivities, which manifest themselves through the explosion of diasporic Iranian women's autobiographies since 1999. These autobiographies tend to portray the revolution as an individual and collective trauma colored by a powerful nostalgia for the prerevolutionary era. In this article, I propose that the twinning of private, familial memory with public memory through revolutionary rupture and trauma frames these writers' nostalgic recollections of Iran.
The Revolution Will Not Be Fabricated
Authors: Moallem Minoo
Published: September 2009

This essay, whose title makes reference to Gil Scott-Heron's famous song, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” addresses several components of the Iranian Revolution of 1979, meaning the revolution as an event in its singularity, the revolution as experienced by the subjects who participated in it or to whom the revolution happened, and the effects that the event of revolution have produced in subjects who participated in it. I argue that the emergence of a militant Islamist movement did not have much to do with the return of Islam as an incarnation of a fixed traditions opposed to modernity, but was rather a by-product of modernity and postmodernity. I also argue that in the context of the Iranian Revolution, technologies of vision as well as gender performance (including veiling, militancy, and appearance) proved central to the formation of a modern gendered citizen-subject and its mobilization in pre- and postrevolutionary Iran. In reflecting on the effects of the revolution, I make a case for the triadic mapping of death, revolt, and sexuality, arguing that the relationships between the body, power, and knowledge, in the politics of both life and death, intersect with sexuality in the ways in which subjects are made and enabled to constitute and transform themselves as subjects of desire. This has perhaps been the most enduring effect of the Iranian Revolution for gender and women's issues both in Iran and in the Iranian diaspora.
Has Iran's Islamic Revolution Ended?
Authors: Arjomand Saïd Amir
Published: September 2009

The rise of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and of revolutionary hard-liners makes it difficult to maintain that the Islamic Revolution ended either with the victory of pragmatism and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's program of economic reconstruction in 1989, or with the rise of the reform movement under Mohammad Khatami's leadership in 1997. The sociology of revolution has typically focused on the short-term revolutionary process that ends with the victory of one of the contending groups and the elimination of the others. This process in fact merges into a more drawn-out struggle among the children of the revolution for the definition of the new political order or the constitutional politics of postrevolutionary reconstruction. The regime set up by Ruhollah Khomeini had a mixed constitution consisting of three elements: theocratic or clericalist, republican or democratic, and populist and egalitarian centered on social justice. The first was developed during the decade after his death, while Khatami's attempt to realize the republican component of the heritage failed, leaving the unclaimed populism and social-justice component to be championed by Ahmadinejad and the hard-liners in a throwback to the original revolutionism.
Reflections on Literature after the 1979 Revolution in Iran and in the Diaspora
Authors: Karim Persis M.
Published: September 2009

This essay highlights the changes in literature in Iran and in the diaspora since the 1979 Iranian Revolution, and it especially emphasizes the role of literature and writers in responding to the societal changes in Iran, as well as to the experience of immigration to the West. The role of women writers, in particular, is suggestive of the ways in which the revolution has enabled new voices to emerge even despite the restrictive and repressive policies of the Islamic Republic. Women have been at the forefront of the literature of the diaspora and have taken opportunities to narrate and represent their experiences, becoming the progenitors of a literary movement in the West. This literature of diaspora has reflected the tensions of Iran's relationships with the West, but it has also begun to point to a shift that reflects a more transnational perspective.
Postrevolutionary Trends in Persian Fiction and Film
Authors: Ghanoonparvar M. R.
Published: September 2009

With a brief survey of Iranian fiction and film since the early twentieth century, this article reflects on the changes and developments in these two art forms in recent decades. It argues that although serious writers and filmmakers in the past century displayed a commitment to social and political issues in their country, and while the nature of the endeavors of the postrevolutionary literary authors and serious filmmakers have generally remained the same, the 1978-79 Iranian Revolution and the Iran-Iraq war ,as well as the new restrictions imposed by the Islamic regime, have had considerable impact on and brought changes to the art of storytelling in Iran.