bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Infertility and Life Satisfaction Among Women
Authors: McQuillan Julia , Torres Stone Rosalie A. , Greil Arthur L.
Published: June 2007

Using data from a random sample of 580 midwestern women, the authors explore the association between lifetime infertility and life satisfaction. Past research shows lower life satisfaction among those seeking help for infertility. The authors find no direct effects of lifetime infertility, regardless of perception of a problem, on life satisfaction; however, there are several conditional effects. Among women who have ever met the criteria for infertility and perceive a fertility problem, life satisfaction is significantly lower for nonmothers and those with higher internal medical locus of control, and the association is weaker for employed women. For women with infertility who do not perceive a problem, motherhood is associated with higher life satisfaction compared to women with no history of infertility.
The influence of music style and conductor race on perceptions of ensemble and conductor performance
Authors: Vanweelden Kimberly , McGee Isaiah R.
Published: June 2007

The purpose of this study was to examine music style and conductor race on perceptions of ensemble and conductor performance. Results found that conductor race and music style significantly affected ratings of ensemble and conductor performance. Evaluators rated a white conductor group higher than a black conductor group conducting the same pre-recorded western art music excerpt. Likewise, the black conductor group was rated higher than the white conductor group when conducting the same pre-recorded spiritual music excerpt. Music style and conductor race were also significant factors in evaluations of conductors' body expressions. Higher eye contact, facial expression, and posture ratings were given to the white conductor group when conducting the western art excerpt, and the black conductor group was rated higher on the three body expressions when conducting the spiritual excerpt. Race of the evaluator was not a significant factor in evaluations of ensemble performance or conductor body expressions.
Effect of keyboard ownership on keyboard performance in a music fundamentals course
Authors: Price Harry E.
Published: June 2007

This study examined whether requiring undergraduate college nonmusic majors, enrolled in a music fundamentals course, to own a keyboard would enhance their keyboard skills. The course included instruction in reading notation, singing and keyboard skills. There were two groups. One group (experimental) owned keyboards and had them accessible at their homes for practice, while the other group (contact-control) had to check out keyboards for use in the music building. Students' keyboard skills were tested three times. There was no significant difference in keyboard performance data between groups. There was also no significant difference in overall student achievement, which included music reading, singing, rhythm accuracy and keyboard skills. While one might assume that students having ready access to their own keyboard at home would increase the likelihood of practice and therefore enhance their keyboard performance, as well as other music skills, that was not the case in this study.
Attitudes and practices of Japanese and American music teachers towards integrating music with other subjects
Authors: Zdzinski Stephen F. , Ogawa Masafumi , Dell Charlene , Ching Yap Ching , Adderley Cedric , Dingle Rosetta
Published: June 2007

The purpose of this study was to compare attitudes and practices among general music teachers in Japan ( n = 135) and the USA ( n = 136) concerning the integration of music with other academic subjects. Teachers completed a researcher-designed questionnaire, and results revealed significant differences in both areas. Music teachers from the USA obtained higher attitude ratings towards the use of music integration, while music teachers in Japan integrated music with other subjects to a lesser extent. Teachers in both countries were most likely to integrate music with reading, language, science and math. History and social science integration with music was the least common area of integration among Japanese music teachers, while among American music teachers the practice of integrating music into history and social science content was more common. Several of the attitude correlations (i.e. science and mathematics integration, art integration) were not significantly related among Japanese teachers.
Entrepreneurial Social Capital
Authors: Anderson Alistair , Park John , Jack Sarah
Published: June 2007

Although the literature on social capital has increased dramatically in recent years, concerns have been raised about the expanse of applications of the term, diversity of constructs, definitions and variety of analyses. The purpose of this article is to clarify the conceptualization of social capital in entrepreneurship.To achieve this, the article begins with a review of the extensive literature on social capital.This provides a preliminary theoretical framework about the nature and categories of social capital. Thereafter, an account is provided of an empirical study in which in-depth and extensive data were gathered about the social interactions of entrepreneurs from 10 technology firms. Findings demonstrate that social capital is a social relational artefact produced in social interactions. It is not owned but represents a pool of goodwill residing in a social network and it can be envisaged as a revolving mutual fund of traded and un-traded interdependencies.
Should We Promote Organ Donor Registries When So Few Registrants Will End Up Being Donors?
Authors: Howard David H. , Byrne Margaret M.
Published: June 2007

Background . A major obstacle facing efforts to register organ donors is that the likelihood that any given registrant will die in such a way as to render his or her organs suitable for donation is extremely low. Such policies make sense only if the resources used to sign up an additional donor are proportional to the expected benefits. Methods . Using data on historical donation patterns, estimates of the potential donor supply, and an estimate of the monetary value of an organ donor, the authors calculate the average value to society of a registrant as a function of age at registration. Result . Under a “first-person consent” regime, the value of a registrant ages 18 to 34 years is $1900. The value of registering individuals who have not already registered is even higher because these persons are more likely to become donors. If donor families have the right of refusal, the value of a registrant is substantially less, around $840. Conclusion . Given that most donor registries are fairly limited operations, piggybacking on drivers' license registration and renewal administration, results suggest that registries are cost-effective. Of course, a complete analysis awaits concrete data on the costs of operating registries and attracting new registrants.
A Review and Meta-Analysis of Prostate Cancer Utilities
Authors: Bremner Karen E. , Chong Christopher A. K. Y. , Tomlinson George , Alibhai Shabbir M. H. , Krahn Murray D.
Published: June 2007

Background. Health-related quality of life is a key issue in prostate cancer (PC) management. The authors summarized published utilities for common health-related quality of life outcomes of PC and determined how methodological factors affect them. Methods. In their systematic review, the authors identified 23 articles in English, providing 173 unique utilities for PC health states, each obtained from 2 to 422 respondents. Data were pooled using linear mixed-effects modeling with utilities clustered within the study, weighted by the number of respondents divided by the variance of each utility. Results. In the base model, the estimated utility of the reference case (scenario of a metastatic PC patient with severe sexual symptoms, rated by non-PC patients using time tradeoff) was 0.76. Disease stage, symptom type and severity, source of utility, and scaling method were associated with utility differences of 0.10 to 0.32 (P < 0.05). Utilities from PC patients rating their own health were 0.14 higher than those from the reference case, but utilities from PC patients rating scenarios were lowest. Time tradeoff yielded the highest utilities. Computer administration yielded lower utilities than personal interview (P = 0.02). Neither the scale's high anchor nor study purpose had significant effects on utilities. Conclusions. This study provides pooled utility estimates for common PC health states and describes how clinical and methodological factors can significantly affect these values. When possible, utility estimates for a modeling application should be derived similarly. Formal data synthesis methods might be useful to researchers integrating utility data from heterogeneous sources. Further exploration of these methods for this purpose is warranted.
Factors Influencing Surgeons' Decisions in Elective Cosmetic Surgery Consultations
Authors: Cook Sharon A. , Rosser Robert , James M. Ian , Kaney Sue , Salmon Peter
Published: June 2007

Background. Current guidelines for surgeons' decisions about whether to offer cosmetic surgery are ineffective. Therefore, surgeons have to make difficult decisions on a case-by-case basis. The authors sought to identify the patient variables that influence surgeons' decisions in practice. Design. A qualitative study first delineated, from observation of consultations and interviews with surgeons and other staff, variables that might influence their decisions. Then, in a cross-sectional survey of patients seeking cosmetic surgery, the authors measured these variables and tested whether they predicted the surgeons' decisions to offer surgery. Participants. Participants were 6 consultant plastic surgeons who assess cosmetic surgery referrals and 276 new patients aged 16 years or older referred to these surgeons. Results. The qualitative study suggested that, as well as clinical factors (the probability of a satisfactory surgical outcome and the risks v. benefits of surgery), surgery was more likely to be offered where it was of low cost (i.e., minor skin surgery), physical symptoms or dysfunction were present, and abnormality of appearance was extreme. The role of patients' quality of life was unclear. The quantitative study confirmed that the probability of surgery was increased where requests were for minor skin procedures and by abnormality of patients' appearance. In patients seeking major body procedures, surgery was less likely when patients reported poor quality of life. Conclusion. Surgeons' decisions about whether to offer elective cosmetic surgery follow systematic rules. By incorporating the factors that surgeons use in their decision making, more effective guidelines about elective cosmetic surgery provision than are presently available could be developed.
The Default Effect in End-of-Life Medical Treatment Preferences
Authors: Kressel Laura M. , Chapman Gretchen B.
Published: June 2007

Background. Living wills are intended to preserve patient autonomy, but recent studies suggest that they do not always have their desired effect. One possible explanation is that living wills do not capture the authentic preferences of the patients who write them but instead reflect transient contextual effects on preferences. Purpose. Two experiments examined whether end-of-life treatment preferences expressed in a living will were influenced by the presence of default options. Method. College students participated in 2 Web-based questionnaire experiments (N s = 182 and 51). Participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 or 3 default conditions. Results. In experiment 1, participants expressed significantly different treatment preferences in 3 normatively equivalent, check box—formatted living wills that were either positively worded (“indicate medical treatments you would want administered”), negatively worded (“indicate treatments you would want withheld”), or of forced-choice format (P = 0.01). Participants expressed a stronger preference to receive treatment in the negatively worded document than in the positively worded document as a consequence of preferring the default option in both cases. Participants in experiment 2 were also influenced by the presence of a default option, but this time, while writing narrative living wills after viewing 1 of 2 sample living wills. In this experiment, the sample living will represented the default preference. The participants' own living wills tended to express preferences similar to those in the sample (P = 0.0005). Conclusion. The default manipulations in both experiments had potent but transient effects and influenced what participants wrote in their living wills but not their responses to later medical scenarios. Expression of end-of-life treatment preferences appears to be temporarily constructed from the decision-making context. These results have implications for surrogate decision making and the use of the living will as a tool to preserve patient autonomy.
The Implications of Using US-Specific EQ-5D Preference Weights for Cost-Effectiveness Evaluation
Authors: Noyes Katia , Dick Andrew W. , Holloway Robert G.
Published: June 2007

Objective. The objective of this study is to examine the effect of country-specific EQ-5D preference weights on the cost-effectiveness (CE) of initial pramipexole versus levodopa strategy in patients with Parkinson disease (PD). Methods. A total of 301 subjects with PD were randomized to initial pramipexole or levodopa and followed every 3 months over a 4-year period. Subjects' health-related quality of life (HRQOL) was measured using EQ-5D, and their health preferences were calculated using both the UK and US sets of weights. The effectiveness of pramipexole was defined as the additional quality-adjusted life-years (QALY) gained compared to levodopa and was estimated as the area between the treatment-specific HRQOL profiles adjusted for baseline difference. Results. Using the original UK weights, the incremental effectiveness was 0.155 QALYs, which resulted in the incremental CE ratio (ICER) of $42,989/QALY and a probability that pramipexole was cost-effective relative to levodopa of 0.57, 0.77, and 0.82 when a QALY was valued at $50,000, $100,000, and $150,000, respectively. Using the US-specific weights resulted in lower incremental effectiveness (0.062 QALYs), higher ICER ($108,498/QALY), and a lower probability that pramipexole was cost-effective compared to levodopa at any valuation of QALY (0.23 for $50,000, 0.48 for $100,000, and 0.58 for $150,000). Conclusions. Country-specific preference weights in clinical-economic trials might have important effects on estimates of incremental cost-effectiveness. Using US preference weights rather than UK preference weights reduced the probability that pramipexole was cost-effective compared to levodopa.
Racial Differences in Hospital Discharge Disposition among Stroke Patients in Maryland
Authors: Onukwugha Ebere , Mullins C. Daniel
Published: June 2007

Objective. The objective of this retrospective study was to assess the evidence for racial differences in discharge disposition among patients hospitalized for stroke. Data. Hospital discharge data from the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission were used in the analysis. The data covered the period from January 2000 to September 2003. Study design. Discharge-disposition categories were ordered such that higher numbers corresponded to less desirable outcomes: 1 = discharge to home; 2 = discharge to any medical care facility; 3 = death. We analyzed the influence of black race on the discharge disposition by estimating a partial proportional odds logit regression model that included demographic and clinical covariates. Data extraction. The study inclusion criteria were 1) stroke (ICD9 431—434; 436—438) as a primary admission diagnosis and 2) patient race identified as black or white. Patients discharged against medical advice were excluded. The sample contained 51,564 stroke hospitalizations. Principal findings. Based on the relative odds ratios (OR; 95% confidence interval [CI]), black males were more likely to be discharged to higher ranked (i.e., less desirable) discharge categories (OR = 1.66; CI 1.55—1.77) compared to white males. Black females were more likely to die (OR = 1.14; CI 1.02—1.28) and more likely either to die or to be discharged to medical care (OR = 1.38; CI 1.24—1.54) compared to white males. Conclusions. Blacks are at greater mortality risk following stroke hospitalizations and face less desirable discharge dispositions if they survive. These results are consistent with prior reports of lower survival rates among blacks and are robust to adjustments for various confounding factors. Key words: patient discharge; African Americans; cerebrovascular stroke; in-hospital mortality. (Med Decis Making 2007;27:233—242)
Paleolithic Ornaments: Implications for Cognition, Demography and Identity
Authors: Kuhn Steven L. , Stiner Mary C.
Published: June 2007

Beads and other ‘body ornaments’ are very widespread components of the archaeological record of early modern humans (Homo sapiens). They appear first in the Middle Stone Age in Africa, and somewhat later in the Early Upper Paleolithic of Eurasia. The manufacture and use of ornaments is widely considered to be evidence for significant developments in human cognition. In our view, the appearance of these objects represents the interaction of evolved cognitive capacities with changing social and demographic conditions. Body ornamentation is a medium or technology for communication, particularly of socially-relevant information. The widespread adoption of beads and other discrete objects as media for communication implies changes in the complexity and stability of social messages, as well as the scale of social networks. The relatively sudden appearance of beads in the Paleolithic archaeological record coincides with genetic and archaeological evidence for expansion of human populations. We argue that these changes reflect expanding scales of social interaction and more complex social landscapes resulting from unprecedentedly large and internally differentiated human populations.
The Origin of Art
Authors: Lorblanchet Michel
Published: June 2007

The very concept of the ‘birth’ or ‘origin’ of art may seem inappropriate, since humans are by nature artists and the history of art begins with that of humanity. In their artistic impulses and achievements humans express their vitality, their ability to establish a beneficial and positive relationship with their environment, to humanize nature; their behaviour as artists is one of the characteristics for selection favourable to the evolution of the human species. Evidence from a huge analysis of rock art and cave paintings and engravings shows that, from their origins, humans have also been Homo aestheticus.
The Origin of Humanity and Modern Cultures: Archaeology's View
Authors: d'Errico Francesco
Published: June 2007

It is hard to define cultural modernity. Nonetheless, apparently there is no match between biological and cultural evolution, between biological and archaeological data. The features of cultural modernity cannot be seen as a direct consequence of the biological origin of our species. A second crucial aspect is that the subsistence strategies, technological and symbolic traditions of Neanderthals are not significantly different from those of modern humans living in Africa and the Near East at the same period. Europe, at the level of human evolution, was a cul-de-sac and not a disseminating centre. Bifaces reached Europe a million years after their invention in Africa. Homo sapiens and Neanderthals thus evolved in parallel, even though speed and cultural forms varied from one population to another. It now seems clear that the features we recognize as ‘modern’ appeared in different regions and in different human groups. It would be the same later with the invention of agriculture, writing, state societies, which appeared separately at several points on the planet.
Home Equity, Fungibility, and Consumption: The Increasing Rationalization of Society
Authors: Redmond William H.
Published: June 2007

The article argues that home equity borrowing is an instance of Max Weber's concept of increasing rationalization of society. The dramatic growth in U.S. home equity borrowing is associated with an increasingly fungible orientation to the home, in which a significant portion of this borrowing is used to fund additional spending on consumer goods. Survey data are used to support the notion that rationalization is spread by a process of diffusion.
Saving, Spending, and Self-Control: Cognition versus Consumer Culture
Authors: Starr Martha A.
Published: June 2007

Recent economic literature puts forth “behavioral” perspectives on self-control as a means of understanding oddities of consumer behavior: spending too much, saving too little, borrowing too much on costly credit cards. This article argues that the behavioral emphasis on cognition overlooks the extent to which issues of self-control are framed, elaborated, and sustained as problematics of contemporary consumer culture. As such, they are rooted as much in the social, cultural, and economic dynamics of capitalism as they are in the human mind.
Socialist Political Economies and the Growth of Mass Consumption in Britain and the United States, 1880 to 1914
Authors: Thompson Noel
Published: June 2007

The article discusses the reaction of socialist political economists in Britain and the United States to the onset of mass consumption among the working class. It considers their response to its impact on working-class aspirations, tastes, political sensibilities, and solidarity. It discusses too their views as to the form that consumption should take under socialism and how working-class consumption could be denuded of the social and other diseconomies that attached to it under capitalism.
Juvenile Attitudes Toward the Police
Authors: Hurst Yolander G.
Published: June 2007

The past three decades have seen an increase in research on the attitudes of juveniles toward the police. This research suggests that juveniles are generally less positive in their attitudes toward the police than are adults. However, most research on juvenile attitudes has focused on youth residing in metropolitan areas, ignoring the role of geographical location in explaining perceptions. Using survey data, the present study examined the attitudes of rural youth toward the police. The findings suggest that although the level of support among rural teenagers did not mirror the levels found within the adult literature, rural teenagers may be more supportive of the police than their metropolitan counterparts. Furthermore, whereas White teenagers were generally more positive in their perception of the police than were Black teenagers, race was not a significant predictor of attitudes toward the police. Still, many of the variables identified as theoretically relevant in the existing literature were significant predictors of the attitudes of juveniles residing in rural areas.
Vigilant Visualities: The Watchful Politics of the War on Terror
Authors: Amoore Louise
Published: June 2007

This article engages with a form of visual culture that is, W. J. T. Mitchell (2002: 170) reminds us, `not limited to the study of images and media', but extends also `to everyday practices of seeing and showing'. In the spirit of this openness to multiple manifestations of the domain of the visual and visual practices, the article explores how a particular mode of vigilant or watchful visuality has come to be mobilized in the `homefront' of the so-called war on terror. In homeland security programmes from border and financial screening to Highway Watch, how has sight become represented as the sovereign sense on the basis of which security decisions can be taken? Taking its illustrative cue from Paul Haggis's film Crash, and from a body of work that conceives of touch as `integral to' seeing, the article asks how we might subvert watchful politics by seeing seeing differently.
Grave Misgivings: Allegory, Catharsis, Composition
Authors: Beier J. Marshall
Published: June 2007

Days after the December 1890 US Army massacre of Lakota refugees at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, commercial photographer George Trager photographed the Army burial detail as they cleared the site and committed the dead to a mass grave. Widely circulated as post-cards, Trager's photographs merged with a broader colonial narrative, allegorically and cathartically sketching a heroic account of a dire confrontation between `civilization' and `savagery'. Reconfirming dominant ideas about an inherently dangerous foe, the Wounded Knee photos worked through colonial imaginaries in ways that reinforced a Euro-American monopoly on legitimacy in war. More recently, widely circulated photos of abuse of prisoners by US soldiers at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib Prison have effected a disruption of the operant war narrative. Whereas Trager's photographs worked to sustain stable definitions of moral `civilization' and `savage' depravity, those from Abu Ghraib have undermined the legitimacy of US conduct in Iraq. In this article, I consider these differing effects with reference to photographic composition and the popular functions of allegory and catharsis.
Steve Bell's Eye: Cartoons, Geopolitics and the Visualization of the `War on Terror'
Authors: Dodds Klaus
Published: June 2007

This article explores the geopolitical representations of British cartoonist Steve Bell. The Bush administration's so-called `War on Terror' provides a political and visual backdrop to a detailed analysis of a number of Bell's editorial cartoons in the British newspaper The Guardian, as well as an interview conducted with the artist. As with cartoonists in the past, Bell's work seeks to provide a contemporary view of events in a manner that calls into question dominant practices and representations, such as the USA's `War on Terror'. This article is intended to further contribute to the necessary debate on how visual images and technologies are put to work for the purpose of making sense of the geopolitical world around us.
Counter-Terror Culture: Ambiguity, Subversion, or Legitimization?
Authors: Erickson Christian W.
Published: June 2007

This article examines themes of terrorism and counter-terrorism in US popular culture, focusing on eight cinematic or televisual works from the pre- and post-9/11 environment. Each of these works explores the dilemmas posed by terrorism, counter-terrorist mobilization, and occupation and resistance in fictional spaces. Three of the works — 24, The Agency, and The Grid — are narratives that attempt to simulate the activities of counter-terrorist operations in, respectively, a wholly fictional Counter Terrorist Unit; the Central Intelligence Agency; and ad hoc intelligence and tactical groups combing CIA, FBI, NSC, and MI5 agents. The other five works are more removed from an explicit attempt to mimic `reality': The X-Files, The Matrix Trilogy, Alias, The 4400, and Battlestar Galactica. In all of these works, the dangers to human rights posed by both overt and covert security operations lie at the core of their narrative structures.
Photographic Interventions in Post-9/11 Security Policy
Authors: Möller Frank
Published: June 2007

Regardless of its cultural and discursive turn, the field of security studies has not yet paid sufficient attention to visual culture. In particular, approaches that focus on the articulation of security have been quite inattentive to images. With respect to post-9/11 security policy, it is argued here that the images of planes crashing into the World Trade Center have become not only a legitimacy provider for security policy but also part of every person's visual reservoir and pictorial memory, on which the successful articulation of security in part depends. It is therefore suggested to link the study of securitization with the study of both images and pictorial memory. The present article, by discussing three visual projects revolving around 9/11, looks for desecuritizing potential in photography and examines the extent to which photography can offer oppositional interventions in security policy. However, the surplus meaning that images inevitably carry with them, while limiting the securitizing potential of images, also reduces the extent to which opposition can rely on images.
Cultural Evolution, Disproportionate Prior Exposure and the Problem of Cooperation
Authors: Welser Howard T. , Gleave Eric , Vaughan Deborah S.
Published: June 2007

How can disproportionate prior exposure cause a behavior to evolve in a population? This article investigates how this mechanism might evolve cooperation in a manner that can overcome the tendency towards defection in human societies. We extend Mark's analysis by testing his emulation model in a social setting where defection is likely, and we offer new models that more accurately capture the learning process of disproportionate prior exposure. Our results suggest that this mechanism can account for some evolution of cooperation, and that its strength is greatly influenced by conditions that alter actors' perceptions of the joint distribution of fitness and cooperation. We conclude by discussing how cultural mechanisms like stories and myths may magnify the evolutionary potential of disproportionate prior exposure in cultural evolution.
Explaining Norm Enforcement
Authors: Horne Christine
Published: June 2007

This article presents a theory of norm enforcement. Dominant accounts explain norms by referring to their consequences. On this view, norms are enforced when doing so increases the welfare of group members. While useful, such approaches do not explain much of what we observe. The theory developed here argues that while sanctioning consequences are part of the explanation, characteristics of social relations — in particular, interdependence — have significant effects. Hypotheses are tested using unique data that include quantitative behavioral measures of norm and metanorm enforcement. The results show that the effects of sanctioning benefits and costs vary depending on the level of interdependence between group members. Further, concern with social relations, not sanctioning benefits and costs, explains metanorm enforcement. The research therefore suggests that explanations that focus on the direct consequences of sanctioning, and that fail to incorporate characteristics of social relations, may produce inaccurate predictions. Accordingly, understanding the role of social relations is essential for explaining norm enforcement.
Opportunism, Trust and Cooperation
Authors: Cabon-Dhersin Marie-Laure , Ramani Shyama V.
Published: June 2007

Even when there is a potential danger of opportunism, economic agents often initiate contracts or engage in trust. Considering a world with two types of agents, opportunists and non-opportunists, interacting under incomplete information, this article develops a simple two-stage game theoretic model to show how trust and cooperation can emerge in a one-shot interaction, even in the absence of a supporting incentive mechanism. Two classic paradigms are considered: the prisoner's dilemma and the game of chicken. In the context of the prisoner's dilemma, trust depends on the exogenous probability of having a non-opportunist partner, while in the game of chicken trust is purely a function of the payoffs. Contrary to intuition, a high ratio of non-opportunistic agents in the population does not favor contract initiation in the game of chicken and a strong presence of opportunists does not act as an impediment to respecting commitments.
Inflammation, Cardiovascular Disease, and Metabolic Syndrome as Sequelae of Violence Against Women
Authors: Kendall-Tackett Kathleen A.
Published: June 2007

Women who experience violence are significantly more likely to have serious health problems above and beyond any injuries they might incur. The intriguing question is why this is so. In this article, the author describes how three sequelae of violence against women—depression, hostility, and sleep disturbance—can increase the risk of disease. One possible mechanism by which these sequelae increase risk is by elevating levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines. These cytokines have an adaptive function in fighting infection and repairing injured tissues. However, chronically high levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines have been implicated in a wide range of diseases. The author focuses on two illnesses that have not received much attention in the violence against women (VAW) literature: cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome, the precursor to type 2 diabetes. Preliminary studies also suggest that treatments that can lower inflammation may be promising adjuncts for survivors of VAW.
Does Physical Intimate Partner Violence Affect Sexual Health?
Authors: Coker Ann L.
Published: June 2007

Forty years of published research (1966-2006) addressing physical intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual health was reviewed (51 manuscripts) and synthesized to determine (a) those sexual health indicators for which sufficient evidence is available to suggest a causal association and (b) gaps in the literature for which additional careful research is needed to establish causality and explain mechanisms for these associations. Sexual health was defined as a continuum of indicators of gynecology and reproductive health. IPV was consistently associated with sexual risk taking, inconsistent condom use, or partner nonmonogamy (23 of 27 studies), having an unplanned pregnancy or induced abortion (13 of 16 studies), having a sexually transmitted infection (17 of 24 studies), and sexual dysfunction (17 of 18 studies). A conceptual model was presented to guide further needed research addressing direct and indirect mechanisms by which physical, sexual, and psychological IPV affects sexual health.
Preparing the Next Generation of Physicians
Authors: Hamberger L. Kevin
Published: June 2007

Medical schools and postgraduate residency programs have largely included intimate partner violence (IPV) in their curricula. There is presently disagreement on the optimal model for implementing such training and the amount of time to be devoted to IPV. There is considerable overlap in the general content and teaching methods that focus on enhancing medical knowledge, professional attitudes, and clinical skills for asking about and responding to patient reports of IPV. Curricular evaluations have generally supported the idea that training increases knowledge, attitudes, and skills. However, a number of methodological issues preclude firm conclusions. There is a need for more randomized, controlled studies, better quasi-experimental designs, posttraining follow-up intervals, and demonstrations of actual clinical behavioral competency. Despite the latter concerns, however, the future shows promise that the next generation of physicians will understand and accept IPV and its health effects on their patients as constituting an important health issue that they will comfortably address.
Interactions Between Victims of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women and the Health Care System
Authors: Plichta Stacey Beth
Published: June 2007

Intimate partner violence (IPV) affects the use of health care by increasing the risk of poor health outcomes. IPV victims seek health services as often as others but are less likely to receive needed services, more likely to overuse services, and more likely to have a poor relationship with their health care provider. This stems from patient and provider barriers to care that are exacerbated by the lack of a clear and consistent health care system response to IPV. Most health care systems are not equipped to assist either victims or providers seeking to help victims. There are a few models of system-wide interventions, but these are not the current standard. A strong health policy framework is needed, but the decision of the U.S. Preventative Task Force not to recommend universal screening is a setback. Overall, there is limited progress in moving the health care system toward assisting IPV victims.
Pregnancy Following Partner Rape
Authors: McFarlane Judith
Published: June 2007

Despite more than 30 years of research on violence against women and scores of publications on intimate partner violence during pregnancy and consequences for maternal and infant health, little is known about the incidence and outcomes of pregnancies that follow partner rape. The occurrence and consequences of partner rape and violence during pregnancy are reviewed as well as the one study identified on the characteristics and consequences of pregnancy following partner rape. Literature on unintended pregnancy and violence against women is also reviewed. Directions for future research are explored, including the need for studies that explore women's control of their sexuality within the context of intimate partner relationships, how and when to ask women about partner rape, and how to include males as the solution to ending rape.
Pregnancy-Associated Violent Deaths
Authors: Martin Sandra L. , Macy Rebecca J. , Sullivan Kristen , Magee Melissa L.
Published: June 2007

This literature review examines intimate partner violence in relation to pregnancy-associated femicide and suicide. Empirical publications were eligible for review if they included information on intimate partner violence and examined females who were pregnant/postpartum and who were victims of femicide/attempted femicide and/or suicide/attempted suicide. Nine publications met the inclusion criteria and were reviewed. Results suggest that intimate partners perpetrate one- to two-thirds of the pregnancy-associated femicides in the United States and that pregnant women make up 5% of urban intimate partner femicides. Intimate partner abuse during pregnancy appears to be a risk factor for severe intimate partner violence, including attempted/completed femicide. So little information exists concerning intimate partner violence in pregnancy-associated suicides that it is impossible to draw conclusions regarding this topic; however, a hospital-based study suggests that intimate partner violence may be a risk factor for attempting suicide while pregnant. More research is needed concerning intimate partner pregnancy-associated femicide and suicide so that evidenced-based preventive/therapeutic interventions may be developed.
HIV/AIDS and Intimate Partner Violence
Authors: Gielen Andrea Carlson , Ghandour Reem M. , Burke Jessica G. , Mahoney Patricia , McDonnell Karen A. , O'Campo Patricia
Published: June 2007

This article reviews 35 U.S. studies on the intersection of HIV and adult intimate partner violence (IPV). Most studies describe rates of IPV among women at risk or living with HIV/AIDS and identify correlates, using multiple types of convenience samples (e.g., women in methadone treatment, women in shelters or clinics), cross-sectional designs, and self-reported risk behaviors. HIV-positive women appear to experience any IPV at rates comparable to HIV-negative women from the same underlying populations; however, their abuse seems to be more frequent and more severe. The authors found only four relevant interventions and none addressed sexually transmitted HIV and partner violence risk reduction simultaneously. There is a critical need for research on (a) causal pathways and cumulative effects of the syndemic issues of violence, HIV, and substance abuse and (b) interventions that target IPV victims at risk for HIV, as well as HIV-positive women who may be experiencing IPV.
Intimate Partner Violence and the Childbearing Year
Authors: Sharps Phyllis W. , Laughon Kathryn , Giangrande Sandra K.
Published: June 2007

Intimate partner violence (IPV) against women is a significant public health problem with negative physical and mental health consequences. Pregnant women are not immune to IPV, and as many as 4% to 8% of all pregnant women are victims of partner violence. Among pregnant women, IPV has been associated with poor physical health outcomes such as increased sexually transmitted diseases, preterm labor, and low-birth-weight infants. This article focuses on the physical health consequences of IPV for mothers and their infants. The purpose of this review is therefore to examine timely research ranging from 2001 to 2006 on IPV during pregnancy, the morbidity and mortality risks for mothers and their infants, and the association between IPV and perinatal health disparities. It will also identify gaps in the published empirical literature and make recommendations for practice, policy, and research.
MEK1/2 inhibitors potentiate UCN-01 lethality in human multiple myeloma cells through a Bim-dependent mechanism
Authors: Pei Xin-Yan , Dai Yun , Tenorio Sarah , Lu Jianghua , Harada Hisashi , Dent Paul , Grant Steven
Published: June 2007

The role of Bim in synergistic interactions between UCN-01 and MEK1/2 inhibitors in human multiple myeloma cells was investigated. Exposure of U266 or RPMI8226 cells to UCN-01 resulted in ERK1/2 activation-associated BimEL phosphorylation/down-regulation, events abrogated by MEK1/2 inhibitors. Enforced activation of ERK1/2 by transfection with constitutively active MEK1 diminished the capacity of PD98059 but not PD184352 to block UCN-01–mediated BimEL phosphorylation and to potentiate apoptosis. Cotreatment with MEK1/2 inhibitors increased the association of BimEL with both Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL in UCN-01–treated cells, leading to Bax/Bak conformational change and Bax mitochondrial translocation. Down-regulation of BimEL by shRNA substantially diminished UCN-01/MEK inhibitor-mediated Bax/Bak activation and apoptosis. Furthermore, transfection of cells with S65A Bim, a mutant resistant to UCN-01–mediated phosphorylation, significantly sensitized cells to UCN-01 lethality. Conversely, ectopic expression of either Bcl-2 or Bcl-xL did not alter UCN-01/MEK1/2 inhibitor-mediated modifications in BimEL phosphorylation but largely prevented cell death. Finally, IL-6 or IGF-1 failed to prevent MEK1/2 inhibitors from blocking UCN-01–induced BimEL phosphorylation/degradation or cell death. Collectively, these findings argue that UCN-01–mediated ERK1/2 activation leads to BimEL phosphorylation/inactivation, resulting in cytoprotection, and that interference with these events by MEK1/2 inhibitors plays a critical role in synergistic induction of apoptosis by these agents.
sIR: siRNA Information Resource, a web-based tool for siRNA sequence design and analysis and an open access siRNA database
Authors: Shah Jyoti K , Garner Harold R , White Michael A , Shames David S , Minna John D
Published: June 2007

Background

RNA interference has revolutionized our ability to study the effects of altering the expression of single genes in mammalian (and other) cells through targeted knockdown of gene expression. In this report we describe a web-based computational tool, siRNA Information Resource (sIR), which consists of a new open source database that contains validation information about published siRNA sequences and also provides a user-friendly interface to design and analyze siRNA sequences against a chosen target sequence.

Results

The siRNA design tool described in this paper employs empirically determined rules derived from a meta-analysis of the published data; it uses a weighted scoring system that determines the optimal sequence within a target mRNA and thus aids in the rational selection of siRNA sequences. This scoring system shows a non-linear correlation with the knockdown efficiency of siRNAs. sIR provides a fast, customized BLAST output for all selected siRNA sequences against a variety of databases so that the user can verify the uniqueness of the design. We have pre-designed siRNAs for all the known human genes (24,502) in the Refseq database. These siRNAs were pre-BLASTed against the human Unigene database to estimate the target specificity and all results are available online.

Conclusion

Although most of the rules for this scoring system were influenced by previously published rules, the weighted scoring system provides better flexibility in designing an appropriate siRNA when compared to the un-weighted scoring system. sIR is not only a comprehensive tool used to design siRNA sequences and lookup pre-designed siRNAs, but it is also a platform where researchers can share information on siRNA design and use.
A set of stage-specific gene transcripts identified in EK stage X and HH stage 3 chick embryos
Authors: Lee Bo Ram , Kim Heebal , Park Tae Sub , Moon Sunjin , Cho Seoae , Park Taesung , Lim Jeong Mook , Han Jae Yong
Published: June 2007

Background

The embryonic developmental process in avian species is quite different from that in mammals. The first cleavage begins 4 h after fertilization, but the first differentiation does not occur until laying of the egg (Eyal-Giladi and Kochav (EK) stage X). After 12 to 13 h of incubation (Hamburger and Hamilton (HH) stage 3), the three germ layers form and germ cell segregation in the early chick embryo are completed. Thus, to identify genes associated with early embryonic development, we compared transcript expression patterns between undifferentiated (stage X) and differentiated (HH stage 3) embryos.

Results

Microarray analysis primarily showed 40 genes indicating the significant changes in expression levels between stage X and HH stage 3, and 80% of the genes (32/40) were differentially expressed with more than a twofold change. Among those, 72% (23/32) were relatively up-regulated at stage X compared to HH stage 3, while 28% (9/32) were relatively up-regulated at HH stage 3 compared to stage X. Verification and gene expression profiling of these GeneChip expression data were performed using quantitative RT-PCR for 32 genes at developmental four points; stage X (0 h), HH stage 3 (12 h), HH stage 6 (24 h), and HH stage 9 (30 h). Additionally, we further analyzed four genes with less than twofold expression increase at HH stage 3. As a result, we identified a set of stage-specific genes during the early chick embryo development; 21 genes were relatively up-regulated in the stage X embryo and 12 genes were relatively up-regulated in the HH stage 3 embryo based on both results of microarray and quantitative RT-PCR.

Conclusion

We identified a set of genes with stage-specific expression from microarray Genechip and quantitative RT-PCR. Discovering stage-specific genes will aid in uncovering the molecular mechanisms involved the formation of the three germ layers and germ cell segregation in the early chick embryos.