bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Prognostic Implication of Anemia on In-Hospital Outcomes After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention
Authors: McKechnie Ronald S. , Smith Dean , Montoye Cecelia , Kline-Rogers Eva , O’Donnell Michael J. , DeFranco Anthony C. , Meengs William L. , McNamara Richard , McGinnity John G. , Patel Kirit , Share David , Riba Arthur , Khanal Sanjaya , Moscucci Mauro
Published: June 2004

Background—

Although prior studies have shown a relationship between anemia and in-hospital mortality after coronary artery bypass grafting and acute myocardial infarction (MI), the prognostic implication of anemia in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is unknown. Therefore, we evaluated the relationship between anemia and outcomes of PCI.

Methods and Results—

Clinical and outcome data on 48 851 consecutive PCIs were prospectively collected. Patients were classified as anemic using the World Health Organization definition (<12.0 g/dL in women and <13.0 g/dL in men). A total of 6471 men (21.7%) and 4659 women (30.4%) were anemic. Anemic men and women were older and had a higher percentage of comorbidities compared with their nonanemic cohorts (
P
<0.0001 for all comparisons). When compared with nonanemic patients, anemic patients had higher in-hospital mortality (3.0% versus 0.8% in men; 2.4% versus 1.5% in women;
P
≤0.0001) and postprocedural MI (2.0% versus 1.6% in men; 2.4% versus 1.6% in women;
P
≤0.02) and a higher combined major cardiovascular events end point, including death, MI, and cerebrovascular event (5.0% versus 2.6% in men; 5.1% versus 3.5% in women;
P
<0.0001). After adjustment for comorbidities, anemia was associated with a higher risk of in-hospital mortality (odds ratio [OR], 2.29; 95% CI, 1.79 to 2.92;
P
<0.0001) and MI (OR, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.05 to 1.72;
P
=0.02) and major cardiovascular events (OR, 1.2; 95% CI, 1.05 to 1.34). Significant gender interactions were observed for death in men and for MI in women.

Conclusions—

Preprocedural anemia is associated with increased adverse in-hospital outcomes after PCI. Whether optimization of hemoglobin before PCI is of clinical benefit will need to be determined in a randomized clinical trial.
Clinical and Economic Outcomes of Percutaneous Coronary Interventions in the Elderly
Authors: Clark Mary Ann , Bakhai Ameet , Lacey Michael J. , Pelletier Elise M. , Cohen David J.
Published: June 2004

Background—

Outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) have been documented extensively in clinical trials and single-center series, but few data exist on the clinical and economic outcomes after PCI in an unselected population.

Methods and Results—

We used the Medicare Standard Analytic File to identify all initial PCI procedures performed in 1998 among a random sample of 5% of all Medicare beneficiaries ≥65 years of age. These patients (n=9868) were followed up for 1 year after PCI to identify clinical outcomes, medical resource use, and costs. Between 1 month and 1 year after PCI, 16.9% of patients required ≥1 repeat revascularization procedures. Mean 1-year medical care costs increased 5-fold among patients with repeat revascularization compared with those without ($26 186 versus $5344;
P
<0.001). After adjustment for baseline differences, the independent cost of repeat revascularization was $19 074 (95% CI, 18 440 to 19 707). Assuming from previous studies that 85% of repeat revascularization procedures over the first year of follow-up are attributable to restenosis, the estimated clinical restenosis rate was 14.4%, and the 1-year economic burden of restenosis to the healthcare system was $2747 per initial PCI procedure.

Conclusions—

Among unselected elderly patients undergoing PCI, repeat revascularization occurs in ≈14% and increases 1-year healthcare costs by >$19 000 per occurrence. These findings have important implications for the cost-effectiveness of new treatments that substantially reduce restenosis.
Vascular CO Counterbalances the Sensitizing Influence of 20-HETE on Agonist-Induced Vasoconstriction
Authors: Kaide Jun-Ichi , Zhang Fan , Wei Yuan , Wang WenHui , Gopal Venkat Raj , Falck John R. , Laniado-Schwartzman Michal , Nasjletti Alberto
Published: June 2004

We examined the influence of interactions between CO and 20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (20-HETE) on vascular reactivity to phenylephrine and vasopressin. Renal interlobar arteries incubated in Krebs buffer released CO at a rate that is decreased (from 125.0±15.2 to 46.3±8.8 pmol/mg protein per hour,
P
<0.05) by the heme oxygenase inhibitor chromium mesoporphyrin (CrMP; 30 μmol/L). The level of 20-HETE in vessels was not affected by CrMP (74.3±6.1 versus 72.5±16.2 pmol/mg protein), but was decreased (
P
<0.05) by CO (1 μmol/L; 33.2±7.9 pmol/mg protein) or the cytochrome P450–4A inhibitor
N
-methylsulfonyl-12,12-dibromododec-11-enamide (DDMS; 30 μmol/L; 11.4±3.3 pmol/mg protein). Phenylephrine elicited development of isometric tension in vascular rings mounted on a wire-myograph (EC
50
, 0.29±0.02 μmol/L; R
max
, 3.78±0.19 mN/mm). The sensitivity to phenylephrine was decreased (
P
<0.05) by CO (1 μmol/L; EC
50
, 0.60±0.04 μmol/L) or DDMS (EC
50
, 0.71±0.12 μmol/L) and increased (
P
<0.05) by 20-HETE (10 μmol/L; EC
50
, 0.08±0.02 μmol/L) or CrMP (EC
50
, 0.11±0.02 μmol/L). Notably, neither CO nor CrMP changed the sensitivity to phenylephrine in vessels treated with DDMS. Refractoriness to CO and CrMP in such a setting was eliminated by inclusion of 20-HETE (1 μmol/L) in the bathing buffer. The aforementioned interventions affected the vascular reactivity to vasopressin in a similar manner. These data indicate that the reactivity of renal arteries to phenylephrine and vasopressin is reciprocally influenced by CO and 20-HETE of vascular origin and that CO desensitizes the vascular smooth muscle to constrictor agonists by interfering with the sensitizing influence of 20-HETE.
Planetary Technoetics: Art, Technology and Consciousness
Authors: Ascott Roy
Published: June 2004

As the planet becomes telematically unified, the self becomes dispersed. The convergence of dry silicon pixels and biologically wet particles is creating a moistmedia substrate for art where digital systems, telematics, genetic engineering and nanotechnology meet. A technoetic aesthetic not only will embrace new media, technology, consciousness research and non-classical science but also will gain new insights from older cultural traditions previously banished from materialist discourse. In the present post- 9/11 crisis, collaborative transdisciplinary research is needed if a truly planetary culture is to emerge that is techno-ethical as well as technoetic.
15 seconds of fame
Authors: Solina Franc
Published: June 2004

15 seconds of fame is an interactive installation that every 15 seconds generates a new pop-art portrait of a randomly selected viewer. The installation was inspired by Andy Warhol's ironical statement that “in the future everybody will be famous for 15 minutes.” The installation detects human faces and crops them from the wide-angle view of people standing before the installation. Pop-art portraits are then generated by applying randomly selected filters to a randomly chosen face from the audience. These portraits are then shown in 15-second intervals on the flat-panel computer monitor, which is framed as a painting.
Color Intervals: Applying Concepts of Musical Consonance and Dissonance to Color
Authors: Lubar Katherine
Published: June 2004

Throughout the centuries there have been numerous attempts to correlate elements within the fields of music and visual art. The author compares the 12- tone musical scale to the 12- hued subtractive pigment color wheel commonly used by artists and applies the principles of consonance and dissonance in musical intervals to their counterparts in color “intervals.” The main function of this paper is to put forth a paradigm that can be used by artists as a point of departure for their own explorations into the use of color as well as to create a possible method of analyzing works of art to understand why certain color combinations may work well together.
Camel Hybridization and the Role of Camelus Bactrianus in the Ancient Near East
Authors:   Potts
Published: June 2004

The evidence of camel hybridization—principally the crossing of Bactrian males and Arabian or dromedary females—is discussed against the backdrop of osteological evidence for the distribution of the Bactrian's wild progenitor, Camelus ferus. Historical and ethnographic evidence attesting to the widespread practice of hybridization, from Central Asia in the east to Anatolia in the west, is presented. The origins of camel hybridization are pushed back into the early 1st millennium B.C. and evidence for the presence of Bactrian camels in areas outside of its natural habitat is discussed in light of the advantages of hybridization. Cet article examine les preuves de l'hybridation des chameaux, plus particulièrement le croisement des mâles de Bactriane avec des femelles arabes ou dromadaires. Elles sont fondées sur l'évidence ostéologique de la répartition du géniteur sauvage des chameaux bactrians. Des témoignages historiques et ethnographiques attestant la pratique largement répandue de l'hybridation, de l'Asie centrale à l'est jusqu'à l'Anatolie à l'ouest, sont rappelés. Les origines de l'hybridation des chameaux se trouveraient donc repoussées au début du premier millénaire avant JC. Et les preuves de la présence des chameaux bactrians dans des régions situées hors de leur habitat naturel sont presentées ainsi à la lumière des avantages de l'hybridation.
India, Russia and the Eighteenth-Century Transformation of the Central Asian Caravan Trade
Authors: Levi Scott
Published: June 2004

This work challenges the widely accepted notion that eighteenth-century Central Asia was economically isolated and culturally stagnant. The author augments recent scholarly achievements with research in primary sources to demonstrate that, throughout the eighteenth century, Central Asia continued to function as an important conduit for overland Eurasian commerce. Available evidence suggests that Central Asia's role in Eurasian commerce during this period was, indeed, transformed by changing Eurasian commercial dynamics. This work argues, however, that rather than being a product of the European Companies' domination of commercial activities in the Indian Ocean, these transformations stemmed from Russia's emergence as an important economic and military power in the region and a corresponding increase in Russian demand for Indian cotton and textiles, largely acquired through the mediation of Central Asian caravan merchants. Whereas these transformations may have resulted in economic decline for some parts of Central Asia, they may also be attributed with intensifying economic activity in other, previously peripheral areas.
"Texts and Bodies": Refashioning the Disturbing Past of Tran Vietnam (1225-1400)
Authors: McHale Shawn
Published: June 2004

Vietnam is often seen to have undergone a fundamental shift in the Tran period (1225-1400) from an unfamiliar, highly Buddhist country to a highly Confucian one. Using a key source for Tran history, the Dai Viêt su ky toan thu, this essay challenges this common view. First, it focuses not on post-Tran Confucian representations of the past but on Tran bodily practices. Second, it argues that modern Vietnamese historians in particular, utilizing texts, ideologies, and structural transformations, have slighted the history of bodies and practices and Confucianized the Vietnamese past.
At the Limits of the Utopian Festival
Authors: Levy Anne Shullenberger
Published: June 2004

What can a nineteenth-century utopian fiction written in France possibly teach contemporary America about itself ? This article demonstrates how Paris in America, meant at the time of its publication to shore up French loyalty to the Union cause during the American Civil War, is an allegory unaware of itself, speaking otherwise than it seems to speak. Its author, the scholar and statesman Edouard de Laboulaye, depicts the structure of daily life in the United States as a utopian festival, in which time is constantly filled with significance. In so doing, however, Laboulaye uncovers what I would argue is an ongoing American tendency to create temporal bubbles in which only the stimulating but solvable incidents rise pell-mell to the status of great meaning, while true predicaments and tragedies are whisked out of sight.
From Compromise to Rebellion: Religion and Political Power of the Nobility in the First Century of the Habsburgs' Reign in Bohemia And Moravia
Authors: Bůžek Václav
Published: June 2004

In Bohemia and Moravia, a religious dualism prevailed following the Hussite revolution and the Compactata of 1436. Although the Compactata were abolished by the pope in 1462, the treaty of Kuttenberg guaranteed a right to individual choice in religion, something the nobility viewed as a crucial privilege. But such choice became a victim of a growing re-Catholicization in the sixteenth century. Although Catholic nobles were a minority in Bohemia and Moravia, they were better organized and supported the Habsburgs and the Council of Trent. Their efforts succeeded in contriving a situation in which non-Catholic nobles were tolerated, but excluded from serving in high state offices. Non-Catholic nobles, starting in the 1570s, attempted to organize themselves, and drew up the Confessio Bohemica, which would have given them control over education, church administration, church courts, and censorship. Although the Confessio never achieved legal status, Calvinist noblemen used the dynastic crises of the Habsburgs during the years 1608-11 to further their agenda. A charter, ratified in 1609, gave them control over the lower consistory courts, Charles University, and a body of Defensors who oversaw the preservation of religious liberties. They thereby established a "state within a state," and unavoidably set themselves up for later conflict with the Habsburgs. After their defeat at the battle of the White Mountain, a revised constitution (1627 in Bohemia, 1628 in Moravia) ended religious toleration by outlawing non-Catholic worship, and paving the way to a later absolutism.
Shifting Identities: Foreign State Servants in France and the Ottoman Empire
Authors: Isom-Verhaaren Christine
Published: June 2004

This essay compares the use of "foreign" state servants in the early-modern kingdom of France and the Ottoman Empire. In both realms, identity was understood as a matter of loyalty not to a defined territory but rather to a dynasty; hence service to the dynasty offered a ready path for assimilation. For a contemporary Ottoman historian, "the inhabitants of Rum" were a people of diverse origins, often descended from converts to Islam. For French jurists, the basic component of citizenship in the kingdom was personal choice; thus French "identity" was gained or lost as outsiders chose to serve the king, or natives of France chose to serve one of his rivals. This fluidity in matters of identity may be illustrated by three careers. George Paleologus Dysphatos (d. 1496), having converted to Roman Catholicism, rose to prominence under Kings Louis XI and Charles VIII, while a man known only as Hüseyn, the subaşt of Lemnos, was important as a diplomat and intelligence-gatherer in the service of Sultan Bayezid II; only from a chance reference in a letter of Charles VIII concerning Hüseyn do we know that he was George's cousin, obviously a convert to Islam. Christophe de Roggendorf (1510-post 1585) who was an Austrian nobleman and who had fought in Austrian armies against Ottoman forces. When Emperor Charles V ruled against him in an inheritance dispute he switched sides, moving to Istanbul where he served Sultan Süleyman for a time. But since he would not convert to Islam, preventing his being eligible for an important office, Roggendorf changed his allegiance again, ending his active career as an honored commander and diplomat under Kings Henri II and Charles IX. As these examples suggest, this was an era in which rulers competed for the loyalty of talented men, regardless of their origins, and potential state servants chose identities that served their own ambitions.
Friendship, Coercion, and Interest: Debating the Foundations of Justice In Early Modern England
Authors: Johnson Lynn
Published: June 2004

This essay examines the significance of friendship and the expectations associated with it in the early modern debate about trust and the fulfillment of obligations as that debate unfolded in England. A thorough rethinking about the foundations of society and the mechanisms of social order focused on the motives and justifications that led people to create and fulfill obligations to others, especially in the area of commutative justice. Commutative justice was achieved when contracts were secure, promises kept, exchanges carried through, and debts paid. The growth of the state, new economic theories, and the development of strict contract encouraged reliance on coercion (or punitive measures) and self-interest. While these visions of society triumphed, there was a show of resistance based on the idea that friendship was a more valuable source of justice because it brought into play the virtues of generosity, gratitude, and promise-keeping (or fidelity). At stake was the very de fi nition and scope of human personality and morality.
Marriage at the Time of the Council of Trent (1560-70): Clandestine Marriages, Kinship Prohibitions, and Dowry Exchange in European Comparison
Authors: Sperling Jutta
Published: June 2004

A close analysis of marital dispensations granted by the Holy Penitentiary shows that so-called clandestine marriages were widespread all over Catholic Europe before the Council of Trent. Only in Italy and perhaps in France were domestic partnerships rare, while they were very common in Portugal and Spain. This essay argues that the popularity of the dowry system in Italy made it difficult for women to choose their partners without parental consent. On the Iberian Peninsula, where forms of joint ownership in marriage and equal inheritance were predominant, free-choice marriages were widespread. The lively debates preceding the abolition of clandestine marriages at the Council of Trent show how divided the church was on this issue. While parental consent was not made mandatory for a marriage to be valid at Trent, post-Tridentine church administrators promoted parental involvement by acknowledging dowry exchange as a vital component of social reproduction. After Trent, applicants had to specify a reason for their intended violation of kinship prohibitions; the most often quoted obstacle to an exogamous union was the bride's lack of a competitive dowry. This change in rhetoric suggests that after Trent, the Penitentiary promoted dowry exchange as a proven means to facilitate arranged marriages among "strangers," while at the same time acknowledging problems with this mode of social reproduction. As an alternative to dotal marriages, the bureau of marital dispensations offered easy exemptions from kinship prohibitions at exponentially increased rates, promoting "cousin" marriages in lieu of exogamous unions. In promoting endogamy and/or dowry exchange, the post-Tridentine church promoted two varieties of marriage behavior indiscriminately which in the past had not only been seen as mutually exclusive, but also as diametrically opposed to the ideals of the Catholic church. Ironically, after Trent marriage had become less rather than more stable, since ecclesiastic courts were now more likely to separate badly married couples than unite them.
Elusive Virtue: Rethinking the Role of Female Chastity in Early Modern Spain
Authors: Poska Allyson
Published: June 2004

For decades, scholars have emphasized the importance of female chastity in early modern Spanish society. Early modern thinkers enthusiastically promoted the notion in their works, Mediterranean anthropologists formulated a cultural model around female chastity through their studies, and early modern historians followed suit in their examinations of the Catholic Reformation. However, this analysis of recent works on gender and the extensive demographic literature on early modern Spain reveals that there is little evidence that female chastity was a priority for most Spaniards. Instead, demography, economy, class, and the influence of regional cultures may have had more of an impact on the development of sexual mores than any overarching cultural program.
Environmental Crime and Environmental Criminal Law in the People's Republic of China
Authors: Wang Shizhou
Published: June 2004

It is a common understanding in the civilized world that we should protect our environment from further damage, no matter upon what kind of political or ideological background this understanding is based or upon what kind of development level. 1 In the academic field, people are more interested in discussing HOW to protect our environment. We all generally agree that this is also a very important issue, because the methods and ways people take in environmental protection do not only re flect their perspectives in their understanding in protecting environment, but also provide us with an ef ficient and economical ways to do so. In order to achieve this academic object, the exchange of academic ideas and information and a comparative study is of great signi ficance. This article, therefore, is an attempt promote this kind of exchange and comparison.
TORNADO-WARNING PERFORMANCE IN THE PAST AND FUTURE: A Perspective from Signal Detection Theory
Authors: Brooks Harold E.
Published: June 2004

Changes over the years in tornado-warning performance in the United States can be modeled from the perspective of signal detection theory. From this view, it can be seen that there have been distinct periods of change in performance, most likely associated with deployment of radars, and changes in scientific understanding and training. The model also makes it clear that improvements in the false alarm ratio can only occur at the cost of large decreases in the probability of detection, or with large improvements in the overall quality of the warning system.
DEVELOPMENT OF A EUROPEAN MULTIMODEL ENSEMBLE SYSTEM FOR SEASONAL-TO-INTERANNUAL PREDICTION (DEMETER)
Authors: Palmer T. N. , Alessandri A. , Andersen U. , Cantelaube P. , Davey M. , Délécluse P. , Déqué M. , Díez E. , Doblas-Reyes F. J. , Feddersen H. , Graham R. , Gualdi S. , Guérémy J.-F. , Hagedorn R. , Hoshen M. , Keenlyside N. , Latif M. , Lazar A. , Maisonnave E. , Marletto V. , Morse A. P. , Orfila B. , Rogel P. , Terres J.-M. , Thomson M. C.
Published: June 2004

A multi-model ensemble-based system for seasonal-to-interannual prediction has been developed in a joint European project known as DEMETER (Development of a European Multimodel Ensemble Prediction System for Seasonal to Interannual Prediction). The DEMETER system comprises seven global atmosphere–ocean coupled models, each running from an ensemble of initial conditions. Comprehensive hindcast evaluation demonstrates the enhanced reliability and skill of the multimodel ensemble over a more conventional single-model ensemble approach. In addition, innovative examples of the application of seasonal ensemble forecasts in malaria and crop yield prediction are discussed. The strategy followed in DEMETER deals with important problems such as communication across disciplines, downscaling of climate simulations, and use of probabilistic forecast information in the applications sector, illustrating the economic value of seasonal-to-interannual prediction for society as a whole.
Cross-National Study of Attitudes Towards Seeking Professional Help: Jordan, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Arabs in Israel
Authors: Al-Krenawi Alean , Graham John R. , Dean Yasmin Z. , Eltaiba Nada
Published: June 2004

Background: Help-seeking processes provide critical links between the onset of mental health problems and the provision of professional care. But little is known about these processes in the Arab world, and still less in transnational, comparative terms. This is the first study to compare help-seeking processes among Muslim Arab female students in Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Israel.

Aims: The present study compares the attitudes of Arab Muslim female students from Israel, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) towards mental health treatment.

Method: A convenience sample of 262 female Muslim-Arab undergraduate university students from Jordan, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Arab students in Israel completed a modified Orientation for Seeking Professional Help (OSPH) Questionnaire.

Results: Data revealed that nationality was not statistically significant as a variable in a positive attitude towards seeking professional help; year of study, marital status and age were found to be significant predictors of a positive attitude towards seeking help. High proportions of respondents among the nationalities referred to God through prayer during times of psychological distress.

Conclusions: The discussion considers implications for professional service delivery and programme development. Future research could extrapolate findings to other Arab countries and to Arab peoples living in the non-Arab world.
The Stigma of Mental Illness: Patients’ Anticipations and Experiences
Authors: Angermeyer Matthias C. , Beck Michael , Dietrich Sandra , Holzinger Anita
Published: June 2004

Background: There are studies that either deal with the stigmatization patients anticipate or with patients’ concrete stigmatization experiences. Up until now, however, research is short of studies that investigate both aspects of subjective stigmatization simultaneously.

Aims: This study aims at investigating to what extent patients with schizophrenia or depression anticipate and experience stigmatization and how this is influenced by the type of mental disorder and the social environment.

Method: A total of 210 patients with schizophrenia or a depressive episode were interviewed, one half living in a city and the other in a small town.

Results: Most of the patients expect negative reactions from the environment, particularly as concerns the access to work. Concrete stigmatization experiences were most frequently reported in the domain of interpersonal interaction. Even though schizophrenia patients and patients with depression anticipated stigmatization similarly frequently, the former reported concrete stigmatization experiences more frequently than the latter. Conversely, patients living in a small town anticipated stigmatization more frequently than patients from the city, even though both had actually experienced stigmatization at a similar rate.

Conclusion: The results underline the necessity to differentiate between anticipated and experienced stigmatization. This is highly relevant for planning interventions aimed at reducing the stigma of mental disorder.
Oral Health of Psychiatric In-Patients in Hong Kong
Authors: Tang Wai Kwong , Sun Frank C.S. , Ungvari Gabor S. , O’Donnell David
Published: June 2004

Background: Poor oral health has been reported among various psychiatric populations. Little is known regarding the oral health among psychiatric patients in Asia.

Aims: To examine the oral health status of a group of Chinese psychiatric inpatients in a long-term rehabilitation facility.

Methods: A dental survey using the WHO standardised dental evaluation form was conducted in adult psychiatric patients in a rehabilitation programme. A qualified dentist examined all consenting patients.

Results: Ninety-one patients (64.8% male; mean age: 44.7 9.9 years; mean length of illness: 20.3 11.5 years) were included in the study, the majority (80.2%) diagnosed with schizophrenia. Malocclusion was found in 79.1% of patients. The mean number of missing teeth was 9.5 8.9. Bleeding on probing, calculus, shallow and deep pockets were found in 7.1%, 71.8%, 72.9% and 28.2% of patients, respectively. Dental caries were found in 75.3% of dentate patients. The mean number of caries per patient was 5.5 6.1. Fifty-four per cent of patients needed dental extraction and 78.8% required conservative dental treatment. Older age and length of illness were significantly associated with poor dental health.

Conclusions: Oral health status of chronic psychiatric patients seems to be considerably worse than that of the general population. Mental health professionals should pay more attention to preventive oral health habits of psychiatric patients.
Evolving the Neural Controller for a Robotic Arm Able to Grasp Objects on the Basis of Tactile Sensors
Authors: Bianco Raffaele , Nolfi Stefano
Published: June 2004

We describe the results of a set of evolutionary experiments in which a simulated robotic arm provided with a two-fingered hand has to reach and grasp objects with different shapes and orientations on the basis of simple tactile information. The results that we obtained are encouraging and demonstrate that the problem of grasping objects with characteristics that vary within a certain range can be solved by producing rather simple forms of behavior. These forms of behavior exploit emergent characteristics of the interaction between the body of the robot, its control system, and the environment. In particular we show that evolved individuals do not try to keep the environment stable, but rather push and pull the objects; thus, they produce a dynamic in the environment and exploit the interaction between the body of the robot and the dynamic environment to master different environmental conditions with similar control strategies.
Environment and Behavior Influence the Complexity of Evolved Neural Networks
Authors: Seth Anil K. , Edelman Gerald M.
Published: June 2004

How does environmental structure influence the dynamics of adaptive behavior and its underlying mechanisms? By analyzing the neural controller of a simulated head/eye system, we show that a specific measure—“neural complexity”—can be selectively sensitive to neural dynamics underlying rich adaptive behavior. Evolutionary algorithms were used to generate neural network controllers able to support target fixation in environmental and phenotypic conditions of qualitatively different complexity. Networks that evolved in rich conditions showed higher behavioral flexibility and robustness, and higher neural complexity, than networks that evolved in simple conditions. The magnitude of neural complexity, which reflects a balance between dynamical integration and dynamical segregation, depended on properties of both the environment and the head/eye phenotype. These results show that neurally complex dynamics can accompany adaptive behavior in rich environmental and phenotypic conditions; they are consistent with the proposal that neural complexity may represent a common property of the functional organization of adaptive neural systems.
Anomalies in the Academy
Authors: Moss David
Published: June 2004

University language programmes are often held to be a vital element in national preparedness to cope with an increasingly connected world. Yet we know very little about the social and intellectual organization of contemporary language departments or the networks through which staff manage their teaching, research and service to the community. I suggest that one starting-point for the necessary analysis is to recognize the anomalous status of languages among the Humanities and examine the ways in which challenges to that status are resisted. I illustrate the argument by considering the evolution of Italian Studies in Australian universities.
Modern Languages in British Universities
Authors: Coleman James A.
Published: June 2004

This article profiles Modern Language studies in United Kingdom universities in a sometimes polemical way, drawing on the author’s experiences, insights and reflections as well as on published sources. It portrays the unique features of Modern Languages as a university discipline, and how curricula and their delivery have evolved. As national and international higher education contexts change more fundamentally and more rapidly than ever before, it seeks to draw on recent and current data to describe the impact of student choice and to identify trends, particularly with regard to the place of literature.
Foreign Language Instruction in Japanese Higher Education
Authors: Mcveigh Brian J.
Published: June 2004

Japanese society has a love–hate relationship with English. Many develop an antipathy toward English, bred through preparing for demanding examinations that focus on the intricacies of grammar. And yet many Japanese will declare their devotion to mastering English in order to ‘internationalize’. What does this all say about the role of the Humanities, foreign language teaching (here understood as English language instruction), and higher education in Japan? I discuss the role of English and how it relates to nationalist attempts to protect Japan from an English (i.e. foreign) invasion. My argument is that the weakness of foreign language instruction in Japanese higher education can be traced to a problem of motivation: when language is studied to please someone else (e.g. educational authorities, corporations, a vague sense of the national collective), enthusiasm for the humanistic impulse of self-edification is hampered. Japan offers us lessons about how humanistic endeavours can fall prey to nationalist and economistic agendas.
‘Don’t Know Much about the French I Took’
Authors: Reagan Timothy
Published: June 2004

Language study can be immensely valuable, but language educators have typically relied on arguments and defenses of second/foreign language study that confuse the benefits of language knowledge with those of language study. In this article, an effort is made to identify three kinds of alternative arguments (epistemological, socio-political, and interpersonal) that might be used for advocating second/ foreign language study as part of the general education of the university student.
Gene expression profiling of pediatric acute myelogenous leukemia
Authors: Ross Mary E. , Mahfouz Rami , Onciu Mihaela , Liu Hsi-Che , Zhou Xiaodong , Song Guangchun , Shurtleff Sheila A. , Pounds Stanley , Cheng Cheng , Ma Jing , Ribeiro Raul C. , Rubnitz Jeffrey E. , Girtman Kevin , Williams W. Kent , Raimondi Susana C. , Liang Der-Cherng , Shih Lee-Yung , Pui Ching-Hon , Downing James R.
Published: June 2004

Contemporary treatment of pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (AML) requires the assignment of patients to specific risk groups. To explore whether expression profiling of leukemic blasts could accurately distinguish between the known risk groups of AML, we analyzed 130 pediatric and 20 adult AML diagnostic bone marrow or peripheral blood samples using the Affymetrix U133A microarray. Class discriminating genes were identified for each of the major prognostic subtypes of pediatric AML, including t(15;17)[PML-RARα], t(8;21)[AML1-ETO], inv16 [CBFβ-MYH11], MLL chimeric fusion genes, and cases classified as FAB-M7. When subsets of these genes were used in supervised learning algorithms, an overall classification accuracy of more than 93% was achieved. Moreover, we were able to use the expression signatures generated from the pediatric samples to accurately classify adult de novo AMLs with the same genetic lesions. The class discriminating genes also provided novel insights into the molecular pathobiology of these leukemias. Finally, using a combined pediatric data set of 130 AMLs and 137 acute lymphoblastic leukemias, we identified an expression signature for cases with MLL chimeric fusion genes irrespective of lineage. Surprisingly, AMLs containing partial tandem duplications of MLL failed to cluster with MLL chimeric fusion gene cases, suggesting a significant difference in their underlying mechanism of transformation.
Theophylline suppresses the release of tumour necrosis factor-alpha by blood monocytes and alveolar macrophages
Authors: Spatafora M , Chiappara G , Merendino AM , D'Amico D , Bellia V , Bonsignore G
Published: June 2004

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of theophylline on tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) release by human blood monocytes (BMo), and rat BMo and alveolar macrophages (AM). BMo and AM were incubated in the absence or presence of theophylline, and the cell-free supernatants were harvested and tested for TNF-alpha activity by bioassay. Theophylline dose-dependently reduced TNF-alpha release by human BMo: significant inhibition was observed at 100 microns (41 +/- 5.9% of controls) and at 50 microns (59 +/- 4.8% of controls), while the inhibitory activity of theophylline at 10 microns (71 +/- 8.9% of controls) was not statistically significant. This activity was maximal at 2 h and declined at 4 h (59 +/- 5.2% of controls) and 24 h (89 +/- 3.1% of controls). Northern analysis performed on ribonucleic acid (RNA) extracted from human BMo demonstrated that theophylline was able to reduce TNF-alpha gene expression. Comparable levels of inhibition of TNF-alpha release were observed on rat BMo and AM (rat BMo 42 +/- 4.9% of controls; rat AM 38 +/- 1.7% of controls), suggesting that BMo and AM are equally susceptible to suppression of TNF-alpha release induced by theophylline. These results indicate that theophylline suppresses TNF-alpha release by mononuclear phagocytes. Since TNF-alpha is involved in the pathogenesis of bronchial hyperresponsiveness and asthma, our results suggest that the therapeutic activity of theophylline might be partly related to its effect on TNF-alpha release.
The role of submucosal oedema in increased peripheral airway resistance by intravenous volume loading in dogs
Authors: Tang GJ , Freed AN
Published: June 2004

Pulmonary congestion leads to an increase in airway resistance. It is still unknown whether this is due to vascular engorgement or to submucosal oedema. The present study was designed to determine the relative contribution of these two potential mechanisms. We examined the effect of intravenous volume loading on canine peripheral airway resistance (Rp). Bronchoscopes were wedged in contralateral sublobar segments and used to record Rp during rapid infusion of normal saline. Volume loading with normal saline increased pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) and Rp. Unlike normal saline, dextran 70 did not increase Rp when infused at a rate that produced similar changes in PCWP. During infusion of normal saline, delta Rp was significantly enhanced in lung segments previously challenged with dry air when compared to contralateral control lungs, unexposed to dry air, and the use of dextran 70 significantly reduced this effect. Vasoconstriction with phenylephrine significantly decreased baseline Rp, but did not completely reverse the effect of fluid infusion. In addition, in lung segments exposed to dry air, delta Rp was significantly greater after volume loading and treatment with phenylephrine when compared to contralateral control lung. Finally, muscarinic receptor blockade was ineffective in preventing Rp from increasing during infusion of normal saline. Our results suggest that volume loading-induced increases in Rp are not caused by either vascular engorgement or the stimulation of muscarinic receptors.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Bronchial provocation testing in the diagnosis of occupational asthma due to latex surgical gloves
Authors: Pisati G , Baruffini A , Bernabeo F , Stanizzi R
Published: June 2004

In sensitized subjects, provocation tests to latex may induce severe systemic reactions and even anaphylactic shock. It is probable that part of the risk is due to the difficulty in grading the stimulating dose and in starting from very low levels of exposure. To identify the aetiological agent of work-related asthma in four nurses with previous allergic contact urticaria to latex surgical gloves dusted with cornstarch powder, we performed a specific bronchial provocation test study, based on exposure on three different days to nonpowdered latex surgical glove extract, powdered latex surgical glove extract and cornstarch powder extract, respectively. Extracts were nebulized in increasing concentrations in a 7 m3 challenge room, in the absence of the patients. The initial extract concentration was a tenfold dilution of the predetermined skin test end-point in the individual undergoing challenge, and the highest concentration was the undiluted extract. After exposure, the patients' forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) was monitored for 2 h. If FEV1 decreased by at least 15%, the next scheduled exposure was not carried out and FEV1 was monitored over a period of 24 h. Whereas nebulization of cornstarch powder extract caused no bronchial reaction in the patients, nebulization of nonpowdered latex surgical glove extract induced immediate bronchoconstriction in two subjects as an undiluted solution, and nebulization of powdered latex surgical glove extract induced immediate bronchoconstriction in all subjects at the 1:10 dilution. No systemic reaction was elicited by the bronchial provocation challenges. Our results demonstrate that airborne powder from latex gloves can be an inhalative occupational hazard.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The proteins of the surfactant system
Authors: Johansson J , Curstedt T , Robertson B
Published: June 2004

The structural and functional integrity of pulmonary surfactant depends on several specific proteins. Two of these, SP-A and SP-D, are large and water-soluble, while SP-B and SP-C are small and very hydrophobic. SP-A is an 18-mer of 26 kDa polypeptide chains and contains N-linked oligosaccharides. Structurally, it can be characterized as a collagen/lectin hybrid. Together with SP-B, SP-A is required for conversion of secreted endogenous surfactant to tubular myelin in the alveolar lining. It also regulates surfactant secretion and reuptake of surfactant lipids by type II cells; these functions are probably receptor mediated. SP-D, a 12-mer of 39 kDa polypeptide chains, is a collagenous glycoprotein with structural similarities to C-type lectins. Both SP-A and SP-D stimulate alveolar macrophages. SP-B is a 79-residue polypeptide that contains three intrachain disulphide bridges. It exists mainly as a homodimer, which is strongly positively charged and may selectively remove anionic and unsaturated lipid species from the alveolar surface film, thereby increasing surface pressure. SP-C is a mainly alpha-helical, extraordinarily hydrophobic polypeptide containing 35 amino acid residues and covalently linked palmitoyl groups. Its alpha-helical portion is inserted into surfactant lipid bilayers. SP-C accelerates the adsorption of lipid bilayers to an interfacial monolayer. In babies with respiratory distress syndrome, the clinical response to treatment with surfactant containing SP-B and SP-C is much faster than in babies treated with protein-free synthetic surfactant. We speculate that, in the near future, surfactant preparations based on recombinant hydrophobic proteins will be available for clinical use.
Portable measurement of maximum mouth pressures
Authors: Hamnegard CH , Wragg S , Kyroussis D , Aquilina R , Moxham J , Green M
Published: June 2004

We have compared a small portable mouth pressure meter (MPM) to our laboratory standard (LS) pressure recording equipment in order to evaluate this new device. The mouth pressure meter measures and displays as a digital read-out peak pressure for inspiratory and expiratory efforts. It samples the signal at 16 Hz, and an integral microprocessor is programmed to determine and display the maximum pressure averaged over one second both during inspiratory and expiratory manoeuvres (PImax and PEmax, respectively). A fine bore catheter connecting the mouthpiece of the mouth pressure meter to a Validyne pressure transducer enabled simultaneous measurement of pressure, which was analysed by LabVIEW, running on a Macintosh Quadra 700 computer. We studied 13 normal subjects and 11 patients with respiratory disease. Each subject performed inspiratory and five expiratory efforts. The values displayed from the mouth pressure meter were manually recorded. The mouth pressure meter reliably and accurately measured peak pressure and maximal pressure both for inspiratory and expiratory efforts in normals and patients. The mean +/- SD difference when compared with the Validyne method was 0.19 +/- 0.12 and -0.04 +/- 0.12 kPa, for PImax and PEmax, respectively. This portable device should be useful to measure mouth pressures, not only in the routine lung function laboratory but also at the bedside and in the clinic.
Safety and efficacy of analgesia-based sedation with remifentanil versus standard hypnotic-based regimens in intensive care unit patients with brain injuries: a randomised, controlled trial [ISRCTN50308308]
Authors: Karabinis Andreas , Mandragos Kostas , Stergiopoulos Spiros , Komnos Apostolos , Soukup Jens , Speelberg Ben , Kirkham Andrew JT
Published: June 2004

Introduction

This randomised, open-label, observational, multicentre, parallel group study assessed the safety and efficacy of analgesia-based sedation using remifentanil in the neuro-intensive care unit.

Methods

Patients aged 18–80 years admitted to the intensive care unit within the previous 24 hours, with acute brain injury or after neurosurgery, intubated, expected to require mechanical ventilation for 1–5 days and requiring daily downward titration of sedation for assessment of neurological function were studied. Patients received one of two treatment regimens. Regimen one consisted of analgesia-based sedation, in which remifentanil (initial rate 9 μg kg-1 h-1) was titrated before the addition of a hypnotic agent (propofol [0.5 mg kg-1 h-1] during days 1–3, midazolam [0.03 mg kg-1 h-1] during days 4 and 5) (n = 84). Regimen two consisted of hypnotic-based sedation: hypnotic agent (propofol days 1–3; midazolam days 4 and 5) and fentanyl (n = 37) or morphine (n = 40) according to routine clinical practice. For each regimen, agents were titrated to achieve optimal sedation (Sedation–Agitation Scale score 1–3) and analgesia (Pain Intensity score 1–2).

Results

Overall, between-patient variability around the time of neurological assessment was statistically significantly smaller when using remifentanil (remifentanil 0.44 versus fentanyl 0.86 [P = 0.024] versus morphine 0.98 [P = 0.006]. Overall, mean neurological assessment times were significantly shorter when using remifentanil (remifentanil 0.41 hour versus fentanyl 0.71 hour [P = 0.001] versus morphine 0.82 hour [P < 0.001]). Patients receiving the remifentanil-based regimen were extubated significantly faster than those treated with morphine (1.0 hour versus 1.93 hour, P = 0.001) but there was no difference between remifentanil and fentanyl. Remifentanil was effective, well tolerated and provided comparable haemodynamic stability to that of the hypnotic-based regimen. Over three times as many users rated analgesia-based sedation with remifentanil as very good or excellent in facilitating assessment of neurological function compared with the hypnotic-based regimen.

Conclusions

Analgesia-based sedation with remifentanil permitted significantly faster and more predictable awakening for neurological assessment. Analgesia-based sedation with remifentanil was very effective, well tolerated and had a similar adverse event and haemodynamic profile to those of hypnotic-based regimens when used in critically ill neuro-intensive care unit patients for up to 5 days.