bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Population Activity in the Human Dorsal Pathway Predicts the Accuracy of Visual Motion Detection
Authors: Donner Tobias H. , Siegel Markus , Oostenveld Robert , Fries Pascal , Bauer Markus , Engel Andreas K.
Published: May 2007

A person's ability to detect a weak visual target stimulus varies from one viewing to the next. We tested whether the trial-to-trial fluctuations of neural population activity in the human brain are related to the fluctuations of behavioral performance in a “yes–no” visual motion-detection task. We recorded neural population activity with whole head magnetoencephalography (MEG) while subjects searched for a weak coherent motion signal embedded in spatiotemporal noise. We found that, during motion viewing, MEG activity in the 12- to 24-Hz (“beta”) frequency range is higher, on average, before correct behavioral choices than before errors and that it predicts correct choices on a trial-by-trial basis. This performance-predictive activity is not evident in the prestimulus baseline and builds up slowly after stimulus onset. Source reconstruction revealed that the performance-predictive activity is expressed in the posterior parietal and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices and, less strongly, in the visual motion-sensitive area MT+. The 12- to 24-Hz activity in these key stages of the human dorsal visual pathway is correlated with behavioral choice in both target-present and target-absent conditions. Importantly, in the absence of the target, 12- to 24-Hz activity tends to be higher before “no” choices (“correct rejects”) than before “yes” choices (“false alarms”). It thus predicts the accuracy, and not the content, of subjects’ upcoming perceptual reports. We conclude that beta band activity in the human dorsal visual pathway indexes, and potentially controls, the efficiency of neural computations underlying simple perceptual decisions.
Genetic analysis of hyperoxic acute lung injury survival in reciprocal intercross mice
Authors: Prows Daniel R. , Hafertepen Amanda P. , Winterberg Abby V. , Gibbons William J. , Liu Chunyan , Nick Todd G.
Published: May 2007

Acute lung injury (ALI) and its most severe presentation, acute respiratory distress syndrome, represent a full spectrum of a complex and devastating illness, with associated mortality that still hovers around 30–40%. Even supplemental O2, a routine and necessary therapy for such patients, paradoxically causes lung injury. The detrimental effects of O2 have established hyperoxic ALI (HALI) as a conventional model to study neonatal and adult forms of respiratory distress syndromes in experimental animals. To confront the high ALI mortality problem quite differently, we recently identified a mouse model (sensitive C57BL/6J and resistant 129X1/SvJ mice) to assess the genetic complexity of HALI and to identify genes affecting strain survival differences. Segregation analysis of 840 F2 mice generated from all four possible intercrosses between C57BL/6J and 129X1/SvJ mice demonstrated that survival time is a quantitative trait with decreased penetrance, and significant sex, cross, and parent-of-origin effects. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) analyses of the total F2 population identified three highly significant (named Shali1, Shali2 and Shali3, for Survival to hyperoxic acute lung injury) and one significant ( Shali4) linkage. Analysis of F2 subpopulations further identified a male-specific QTL ( Shali5). QTL allelic comparisons supported cross and sex effects and were consistent with imprinting. Genome-wide pairwise analysis predicted additive gene-gene interactions between the QTLs and also revealed a significant epistatic interaction with an otherwise unlinked region. QTL results confirmed that both parental strains contribute dominant resistance alleles to their offspring to determine individual HALI susceptibility.
Impact Factors in Urology
Authors: Labanaris Apostolos P. , Kuhn Reinhard , Schott Günter E. , Zugor Vahudin
Published: May 2007

Introduction: The purpose of our analysis was to assess the performance of urological journals in terms of the standardized measures created by the Institute of Scientific Information (ISI) Journal Citation Report® (JCR) in comparison to other medical and surgical fields. Additionally, an evaluation of all original articles, clinical or experimental, published in the year 2005, assessing the time interval needed from submission to publication, submission to acceptance, and acceptance to publication of a manuscript was conducted for all urologic journals. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted with the help of the ISI JCR and the University of Erlangen Medical Center’s library (and on-line library). Results: The field of urology demonstrates satisfactory measures created by the (ISI) JCR in comparison with various fields of medicine. In comparison with the surgical field, urological journals demonstrate outstanding results. Discussion: The impact factor is a measure of the importance of scientific journals. Urological journals stack up quite well against other medical and especially surgical journals.
Chronic Hypoxia, Physical Exercise and PSA: Correlation during High-Altitude Trekking (2004 K2 Expedition)
Authors: Verratti Vittore , Di Giulio Camillo , Di Francesco Simona , Berardinelli Francesco , Pellicciotta Mario , Gidaro Stefano , Zezza Andrea , Tenaglia Raffaele
Published: May 2007

The aim of the present study was to identify the effects of physical exercise on PSA serum levels and the diagnostic validity of PSA in the screening of prostate cancer in subjects undergoing physical exercise during chronic hypoxia. The study was performed during trekking between 3,200 and 5,600 meters of altitude on K2 mountain for 26 days. Mean serum PSA values before and after exposure did not show significant difference due to physical exercise. These data indicate that physical exercise or mountain hypoxia do not affect the diagnostic validity of PSA.
Transrectal Ultrasound versus Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Estimation of Prostate Volume as Compared with Radical Prostatectomy Specimens
Authors: Lee Jae Seok , Chung Byung Ha
Published: May 2007

Introduction: There are relatively few studies that compare the use of transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to estimate the prostate volume. In this study, we compared the prostate volumes measured with MRI and TRUS with a surgical specimen volume. Patients and Methods: Seventy-three patients underwent TRUS examination of the prostate prior to radical prostatectomy. All specimens were weighed and measured when freshly excised. The corresponding volume measurements calculated using TRUS and MRI were compared retrospectively with the measured volumes of freshly excised prostate. Results: The volume measured with TRUS and MRI was linearly related to the radical prostatectomy volume. The estimated increase in the prostate volumes measured with TRUS and MRI per specimen volume was 0.9508 and 0.9331 by regression analysis, respectively. If the prostate volumes were <35 cm3, the prostate volumes measured with MRI overestimated the specimen volumes. If the prostate volumes were >35 cm3, the prostate volumes measured with MRI underestimated the specimen volumes. The classic ellipsoid formula was adequate for determining the prostate volume. Conclusions: In this study, MRI and TRUS gave different volumes. MRI is more accurate than TRUS for determining the prostate volume. However, because TRUS is inexpensive, noninvasive, and almost as accurate as MRI, it should be the preferred method for measuring the prostate volume.
Synchronous Epidermoid Cyst and Mature Teratoma of the Testis: An Unusual Association
Authors: Huyghe Eric , Mazerolles Catherine , Moran Cesar , Khedis Mehdi , Khoury Elias , Nohra Joe , Soulié Michel , Plante Pierre
Published: May 2007

We describe here the first case of a synchronous epidermoid cyst and mature teratoma of the testis occurring in a young man presenting a with bilateral testicular tumor. After a clinical, biological and ultrasound evaluation, testis-sparing surgery was performed on the left testis and a total orchiectomy on the right side in accordance with oncological principles. Histopathological examination revealed a simple epidermoid cyst on the left side and a mature teratoma on the right side, following Price’s criteria. No metastasis was detected, and the patient was closely followed. The patient remains disease-free and has normal postoperative testosterone levels 3 years after the surgery.
Seminal Vesicle-Rectal Fistula with Preceding Right Acute Epididymitis
Authors: Izumi Kouji , Takase Yasukazu , Kobayashi Tadahiro , Tokunaga Shuji , Namiki Mikio
Published: May 2007

A case of seminal vesicle-rectal fistula is reported. A 74-year-old Japanese man was admitted to our hospital due to repeated right scrotal swelling and high fever with pneumaturia. A diagnosis of the right acute epididymitis was made. Bilateral vesiculography showed contrast medium leakage to the rectum, and colonoscopy revealed ostium of the fistula in the anterior wall of the rectum. Symptoms were improved by extirpation of the right scrotal contents.
Synchronous Endoscopic Management of Bilateral Kidney and Ureter Fungal Bezoar
Authors: Modi Pranjal , Goel Rajiv
Published: May 2007

Candidiasis of the lower urinary tract is common in immunocompromised patients. Diabetes and chronic indwelling catheter are two common risk factors for such opportunistic infections. However, upper urinary candidiasis is rare. Further, bilateral synchronous involvement of kidneys and ureter is extremely rare. Treatment usually requires relief of obstruction by percutaneous drainage of the kidney and systemic infusion or local irrigation of antifungal agents. When these measures fail, percutaneous surgical debulking of the fungal bezoar is indicated. We present a case of obstructive anuria due to fungal bezoar in both the pelvicalyceal system and ureter managed by bilateral synchronous endoscopic removal of fungal bezoar.
Urethane Modification of EEG-Like Activity and Acoustically Evoked Field Potentials Recorded from Deep Nuclei
Authors: McClung R. , Reilly E. , Dafny N.
Published: May 2007

Average acoustic-evoked responses (AAER) and EEGs were recorded from the lateral hypothalamus (LH), ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH), medial forebrain bundle (MFB) and reticular formation (RF) of freely behaving rats before and after various doses (0.2, 0.4, 0.8, 1.2 g/kg) of the anesthetic drug, urethane. The effect of a surgical level of urethane (1.2 g/kg) over time (8–14 h) was also studied. Urethane produced a dose-dependent slowing in the EEG frequency. The effect of 1.2 g/kg over time was a bimodal depression of the EEG frequency. Three components of the AAER were recorded consistently and evaluated in terms of amplitude. With increasing doses, the early component (P2) was depressed in the LH, VMH and MFB, but not in the RF which remained at control values or higher. The later components (N2 and P3) were depressed in all four structures. This suggests that urethane may be blocking the integrative function of the RF, as well as in the thalamus, resulting in lower sensory input to higher CNS structures.
Electrophysiologic Principles of Radiofrequency Lesion Making
Authors: Organ L.W.
Published: May 2007

Understanding of the electrophysiologic principles of radiofrequency lesion making is necessary to ensure reliable results in surgical procedures using this technique. A radiofrequency lesion is produced by tissue electrocoagulation. lts method of formation and factors affecting heat generation and loss are discussed. Guidelines for making radiofrequency lesions, based on electrophysiologic principles, are outlined.
Differential Regulation of Toll-Like Receptor 4 Gene Expression in Renal Cells by Angiotensin II: Dependency on AP1 and PU.1 Transcriptional Sites
Authors: Bondeva Tzvetanka , Roger Thierry , Wolf Gunter
Published: May 2007

Background: Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is involved in the sensing of lipopolysaccharide and, therefore, plays a central role in innate immune responses to Gram-negative bacteria. Interestingly, TLR4 expression occurs within the kidney. We have previously demonstrated that angiotensin II (ANG II) upregulates TLR4 expression on mesangial cells. However, the factors controlling transcriptional activation of the Tlr4 gene in mesangial cells are not known, and the specificity of this response for other renal cells is unclear. Methods: Cultured murine proximal tubular cells (mouse cortical tubule cell line; MCT cells), murine mesangial cells (MMCs), and murine podocytes were treated with ANG II. The expression of ANG II receptor mRNA and TLR4 mRNA and protein was determined by polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting. The transcriptional activity of wild-type and mutant mouse TLR4 promoter reporter constructs was determined upon transient transfection of the three cell types. Results: Although MMCs, podocytes, and syngeneic proximal MCT cells similarly expressed ANG II receptors, ANG II stimulated TLR4 mRNA and protein expression in MMCs and podocytes only. A mouse TLR4 promoter construct (–518/+129), previously shown to contain all important transcriptional regulatory elements in various cell types, was activated by ANG II in MMCs and podocytes, but not in MCT cells. Mutation of a proximal PU.1-binding consensus site or an AP1 site abolished ANG-II-mediated transcriptional activation of the TLR4 promoter. Finally, basal transcription of the Tlr4 gene depended in all three cell lines on an intact AP1 site and additionally on the proximal PU.1 site in MMCs. Conclusions: ANG II stimulates TLR4 transcription through AP1 and PU.1 sites in a cell-specific manner. Since the intrarenal ANG II concentrations are enhanced in many pathophysiological situations, ANG-II-stimulated transcription of TLR4 on MMCs and podocytes may contribute to renal inflammation.
Effects of Varicocele on Electrical Field Stimulation-Induced Biphasic Twitch Responses in the Ipsilateral and Contralateral Rat Vasa Deferentia
Authors: Ozen I.O. , Moralioglu S. , Vural I.M. , Ozturk G.S. , Ozkan M.H. , Demirtola A. , Ercan Z.S. , Barun S. , Sarıoglu Y.
Published: May 2007

Aim: Although little is known about the mechanisms, varicocele is considered as one of the factors leading to male infertility. Since reduced motility of the vas deferens was shown to contribute to male infertility, in this study we aimed to investigate the effect of varicocele on electrical field stimulation (EFS)-induced biphasic contractions of the vas deferens in order to evaluate the effect of varicocele on the motility of the vas deferens. Material and Methods: A total of 26 Sprague-Dawley rats (200–250 g) were assigned randomly into two groups: sham (n = 10) and varicocele (n = 16). Varicocele was produced by partial obstruction of the left renal vein. Four weeks after the surgical procedure, vasa deferentia were harvested and EFS-induced responses were recorded from the strips prepared from ipsilateral and contralateral sides via Grass isometric force displacement transducers. Exogenous α-β methyl ATP was applied at the concentration of 10–5M to the vasa deferentia strips, and exogenous noradrenalin was applied cumulatively at the concentrations between 10–7 and 10–4M. At the end of each experiment, 80 mM KCl was applied to induce contractions. All contractions were expressed as the percentage of the 80 mM KCl-induced contractions. Results: Varicocele significantly inhibited both phases of EFS-induced biphasic contractions in the ipsilateral side, whereas in the contralateral site it did not produce any change. However, there was no change in exogenously applied α-β methyl ATP, noradrenalin and KCl-evoked contractions of the vasa deferentia obtained from both sides. Conclusions: These results suggest that varicocele affects the ipsilateral vas deferens motility by reducing neurotransmitter release.
Frequency and Clinical Characteristics of Early-Onset Dementia in Consecutive Patients in a Memory Clinic
Authors: Shinagawa Shunichiro , Ikeda Manabu , Toyota Yasutaka , Matsumoto Teruhisa , Matsumoto Naomi , Mori Takaaki , Ishikawa Tomohisa , Fukuhara Ryuji , Komori Kenjiro , Hokoishi Kazuhiko , Tanabe Hirotaka
Published: May 2007

Aims: To investigate the frequency, rate of causes of dementia, and clinical characteristics of early-onset dementia in consecutive patients of a memory clinic. Methods: A total of 668 consecutive demented patients were involved in this study. We examined the distribution of patients’ diagnosis, differences in sex, education, dementia severity and cognitive function at the first visit, and the duration from onset to consultation. We also examined the changes in the proportion of subjects during the research period. Results: There were 185 early-onset patients, 28% of all demented patients. No significant differences were observed between the early-onset and late-onset dementia groups in Clinical Dementia Rating and Mini-Mental State Examination score at the first consultation, but the duration from onset to consultation was significantly longer in the early-onset group. In the early-onset group, the rates of patients with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies were relatively low and the rate of patients with frontotemporal lobar degeneration was relatively high. There were no significant differences in the proportion between either demented subjects and nondemented subjects or early-onset dementia patients and late-onset dementia patients during the research period. Conclusion: We conclude that early-onset dementia is not rare and its clinical characteristics and causes are different from late-onset dementia.
Party Politics and Fiscal Discipline in a Federation
Authors: Khemani Stuti
Published: May 2007

Theoretical and empirical analysis suggests that federations are prone to fiscal indiscipline, because of intergovernmental bargaining over the allocation of national resources. What role do political parties play in mediating this bargain? If the national government is dominated by a single political party, does the party discipline those states where its affiliates are in power? If the national government consists of a coalition of political parties, do states ruled by coalition partners bargain for higher deficits? This article provides evidence on these questions from India, a large federation in the developing world that serves as a valuable laboratory for this purpose. The authors find that those state governments that belong to the same party as that leading the national government run higher than average deficits; correspondingly, states governed by rival political parties have lower deficits, even if these parties are members of a coalition government at the center.
In the Grip of a Green Giant
Authors: Teitelbaum Emmanuel
Published: May 2007

Social scientists studying rural—urban struggles have primarily focused on the issue of urban bias. The issue of rural bias and its potential effects on urban dwellers has received much less attention. This article demonstrates how agrarian political mobilization of rural constituents adversely affected urban workers in India. Agrarian mobilization led to two changes in development policy that undermined the bargaining strength of organized labor. First, remunerative pricing for agricultural products biased the terms of trade in favor of agriculture, resulting in a rise in the product wage. Second, incentives for rural and small-scale industries led to increased product market competition in the manufacturing sector, generating unemployment among urban workers. Under these circumstances, unions could not frequently strike, and, when they did strike, they fought longer to win their demands. The author supports these arguments with a statistical analysis of strike frequency and duration in India from 1976 to 1997.
Performance-Approach and Performance-Avoidance Goals: When Uncertainty Makes a Difference
Authors: Darnon Céline , Harackiewicz Judith M. , Butera Fabrizio , Mugny Gabriel , Quiamzade Alain
Published: May 2007

Performance-avoidance goals (the desire to avoid performing more poorly than others do) have been shown to have consistently deleterious effects on performance but the effects of performance-approach goals (trying to outperform others) are more complex. Two studies examine uncertainty as a moderator of the effect of performance-approach goals on performance. Experiment 1 shows that manipulated performance-approach goals lead to better performance than do performance-avoidance goals in the absence of uncertainty about performance but when participants learn that a coactor disagreed with them about problem solutions, creating uncertainty, performance-approach goals do not differ from performance-avoidance goals in their effect on performance. Experiment 2 shows that uncertainty also moderates the effects of self-set performance-approach goals. Moreover, the same dynamic occurs with another kind of uncertainty: negative competence feedback.
Potential Moral Stigma and Reactions to Sexually Transmitted Diseases: Evidence for a Disjunction Fallacy
Authors: Young Sean D. , Nussbaum A. David , Monin Benoît
Published: May 2007

Five experiments demonstrate how potential moral stigma leads people to underplay their susceptibility to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and dampens their interest in getting tested. After adding unprotected sex to a list of otherwise innocuous possible vectors for a disease, the authors found that infected people were perceived to be less moral (Experiment 1a), and individuals believed that if they had the disease, others would see them as less moral too (Experiment 1b). Adding this stigmatized vector also reduced reported testing intentions (Experiment 2) and perceived risk of exposure (Experiment 3)—a disjunction fallacy because adding a potential cause reduced estimated likelihood, in violation of basic probability rules. Finally, the authors replicated the effect in a computer virus analog (Experiment 4) and showed that it did not result from simply knowing that one has not engaged in the stigmatized behavior. Results suggest that avoidance of potential stigma can have dramatic health consequences, both for an individual's health decision and for health policy.
Age Distribution and Risk Factors for the Onset of Severe Disability Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults With Functional Limitations
Authors: Ying Wu  , Hai Huang  , Bei Wu  , McCrone Susan , Lai Hong-Jian
Published: May 2007

This study examines age distribution and risk factors for the onset of severe disability among community-dwelling older adults with functional limitations. Data were obtained from the initial community-dwelling sample (n = 6,088) of the National Long-Term Care Survey in 1982 and the follow-up interviews in 1984, 1989, 1994, and 1999. Multiple proportional hazard regression was conducted using age at onset of severe disability as the dependent variable. Explanatory variables included chronic diseases and sociodemographic and personal characteristics. Of the 3,485 elders who were not severely disabled initially, 1,364 were identified as developing severe disability over time. The onset age ranged from 66 to 109 years with the peak occurring at 82 to 83 years. The predictors for earlier onset of severe disability were paralysis, arthritis, obesity, hypertension, and middle education level (Grades 9-12). These findings provide practical implications for identifying at-risk individuals and developing health behavior interventions to delay onset of severe disability.
Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services for the Elderly: Trends in Programs and Policies
Authors: Kitchener Martin , Ng Terence , Harrington Charlene
Published: May 2007

This article presents the latest available expenditure and participation trends (1999-2002) for three Medicaid home and community-based (HCBS) programs that serve the elderly (home health, waivers, and personal care services [PCS]) and reports a national survey of policies used on these programs in 2002. Although the trend data show a rise in elderly waiver and PCS programs and participation, they also reveal falling per participant expenditures in PCS programs, declining annual growth in total HCBS expenditures, and large interstate variations in elderly waivers. The use of cost control policies such as spending caps and large waiver waiting lists in many states contribute to the gap between demand and supply for Medicaid HCBS for the elderly.
Making the Case for Affordable Housing: Connecting Housing with Health and Education Outcomes
Authors: Mueller Elizabeth J. , Tighe J. Rosie
Published: May 2007

As advocates push for inclusion of affordable housing beyond the central city, siting battles have become increasingly common. Opponents often claim that affordable housing brings no net benefits to the community, and that it threatens neighborhood property values. This review considers existing evidence regarding the relationship between provision of quality affordable housing and benefits to the larger community. Evidence is considered in the areas of health and education. Given the high level of public concern with these two issues, evidence of benefits could be especially potent in public discussions of affordable housing. Future research is proposed in each area.
The Furor Over Maternal Homicide
Authors: Fontaine Jocelyn , Parmley Angela Moore
Published: May 2007

The furor over maternal homicide, fueled by the media frenzy, prompted passage of the Unborn Victims of Violence Act in April 2004. Leading up to the passage of the Act, maternal homicide received extensive media attention because of sensationalized cases like the murder of Laci Peterson and her unborn baby Conner. This article questions whether the media sensationalism surrounding maternal homicide has deflected attention from the fundamental issue by exploring the extant research on the relationship between intimate partner violence and pregnancy and intimate partner homicide and pregnancy. The article concludes that the primary issue underlying pregnancy and homicide is intimate partner violence. Because of a focus on maternal homicide that may not be warranted, the article advocates for a stronger relationship between researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. The article also outlines suggestions for future research that could further disentangle the relationship between pregnancy and homicide.
A Case Study of the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force
Authors: Brewer Thomas W. , Jefferis Eric , Butcher Fredrick , Wiles Todd D.
Published: May 2007

Although the implementation of multijurisdictional task forces has increased during the past two decades, relatively little empirical attention has been paid to these organizations within the scholarly literature. In general, task forces allow local law enforcement agencies access to increased resources. Also, task forces allow agencies to circumvent jurisdictional issues that may arise. In observing this phenomenon, the present study focuses on the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force (NOVFTF), specifically its operations in Youngstown, Ohio. The study is conducted along two general paths. Descriptive data on the volume and type of cases handled by the NOVFTF were gathered from the United States Marshals Service, and interviews were conducted with officers and administrators involved with the NOVFTF. These interviews gathered information about the respondents' views on the task force's effectiveness, interagency cooperation, training, and media response. As a descriptive case study, the article offers policy implications stemming from the NOVFTF and avenues for further research.
Politicizing the Past: Indigenous Scholarship and Crown—Maori Reparations Processes in New Zealand
Authors: Hill Richard S. , Bönisch-Brednich Brigitte
Published: May 2007

The historical injustices inflicted upon Maori by colonization are being addressed by the New Zealand state through reparations processes conducted under the Treaty of Waitangi of 1840. In this antipodean version of transitional justice, indigenous and western worldviews confront each other in fundamental ways. Methodologically, for example, `western' legal and historical scholars are faced with the challenge of an oral-based indigeneity whose goals transcend those of the reparations system. The resulting complex series of interactions are transacted differentially between disciplines. With the legal profession focusing on text, western historians on context and indigenous scholars on orality, problems abound. These are further complicated by the essentially political nature of `Treaty settlement' negotiations. But legal and historical disciplines are showing signs of flexible and innovative approaches to indigenous perspectives (and vice versa). And on a practical level, settlements are being signed. The ultimate test of `healing the past' in an increasingly bicultural country will be, however, whether the experiences of the Treaty reparations processes assist the parties to reach arrangements that meet the indigenous aspiration which dominates the history of Crown—Maori relations in New Zealand: the attainment of the rangatiratanga/autonomy promised in the Maori version of the second article of the Treaty.
Reframing Medical Injury? Viewing People With Hemophilia as Victims of Cultural Injustice
Authors: Orsini Michael
Published: May 2007

There is a burgeoning literature in the social sciences on the politics of reparations for historical injustices. Using a case study of Canada, this article asks whether people with hemophilia who contracted HIV and/or hepatitis C through the blood system should be viewed as victims of cultural injustice. The dominant approach to understanding the claims made on behalf of tainted-blood recipients is the narrow frame of compensation for medical injury. Tainted-blood recipients are cast as the unwitting victims of a system that placed a premium on cost savings over patient safety. Giving contaminated blood to members of a community who were presumed to be already infected made sound economic sense at the time. As members of a tight-knit community, people with hemophilia have been stigmatized and subjected to school-yard taunts from classmates who viewed them as sissies because they had special medical needs and because of their association with a `gay disease'. Weaving elements of social movement theory and the reparations literature, I argue that the inarticulation of recognition claims to remedy cultural injustice simplified the state's response to the redistributive claims made on behalf of tainted-blood victims.
A Return to the Gold Standard? Questioning the Future of Narrative Construction as Educational Research
Authors: Barone Tom
Published: May 2007

Narrative construction is an approach to social research in which data are configured into any of a variety of diachronic, or storied, formats. Having recently gained popularity, this approach is now in danger of marginalization (along with other qualitative and quantitative forms of social research) as a result of politically charged attempts to reinstitute a narrow methodological orthodoxy. In an attempt to prompt discussion about the future of this inquiry approach, the author asks questions that highlight recurring issues within ongoing conversations among educational researchers who advocate and/or engage in the construction of narratives. These questions relate to the political character of stories, fictionalization, audience, modalities of representation, quality control, research purpose, and strategies for maintaining and enlarging the space for narrative construction as a qualitative research approach within an era of political retrogression.
Validity Issues in Narrative Research
Authors: Polkinghorne Donald E.
Published: May 2007

Attention to the judgments about the validity of research-generated knowledge claims is integral to all social science research. During the past several decades, knowledge development has been split into two communities: conventional researchers and reformist researchers. Narrative research is positioned within the reformist community. The two communities use different kinds of data and employ different analytic processes. In both communities, researchers develop arguments to convince readers of the validity of their knowledge claims. Both need to respond to threats to validity inherent in their designs. The threats particular to narrative research relate to two areas: the differences in people's experienced meaning and the stories they tell about this meaning and the connections between storied texts and the interpretations of those texts.
Constructing Reflexive Fieldwork Relationships
Authors: Mahoney Dan
Published: May 2007

The interpretive ethnographic literature makes a strong case for new and experimental approaches to narrative, by documenting the interpretive practices through which social realities are created and observed. These stylistic textual forms create a context for a deep, emotional understanding of lived experience. During my PhD dissertation on intimacy construction and storytelling in everyday gay life, I used a collaborative storytelling methodology to write six narratives about the ordinary occurrences, practices, and emotive experiences gay men face in their interpersonal relationships. This article provides a critical reflection about my collaborative storytelling practices. My research identity and the construction of my reflexive fieldwork relationships had a profound effect on the way the stories were told, the layering of intimate disclosures, and the interactions between me and my gay male collaborators. Of particular interest are the insider/outsider researcher identities that emerged as a result of conducting this research in a British context.
Strategic Stories and Reflexive Interruptions
Authors: Downe Pamela J.
Published: May 2007

This article presents a narrative that emerged during research with 12 young women involved in cross-border sex work in the eastern Caribbean. This narrative draws on a locally specific historical reference and allows the young women to construct a notion of a “healthy home” amidst the uprootedness, frequent travel, and violence and risk that they face in their work. Drawing on Bruno Latour's constructivist notion of reflexivity, the framing of this narrative is examined for what it reveals about the personal reaction of the researcher as well as the dominant discourse of sex trafficking. By offering reflexive interruptions that make the attention and gaze of the researcher explicit and by explaining how the master narrative of sex trafficking must be drawn on with critical interrogation, the dialectic properties and contingent nature of the women's narrative are explored.
Just Thinking, Reflecting, and Acting in Schools
Authors: Ryan Diana F. , Katz Susan J.
Published: May 2007

This case presents contemporary issues confronting a school district where school leaders must take a role in leading staff to develop greater insight into issues of social justice. The story is set in a suburban village school district that has recently seen an influx of immigrants moving into the community. The school district needs to change but the question is “how?” The school district's personnel are challenged by the new school superintendent to take responsibility for creating a socially just educational system. Through the eyes of the superintendent and one building principal, the story unfolds. Information and activities are woven into the story to help educational leadership candidates think about, reflect on, and explore possible actions for change as future leaders in schools.
King Elementary
Authors: McKenzie Kathryn Bell , Scheurich James Joseph
Published: May 2007

This case addresses a typical context faced by a new urban principal. Under the former principal, the school had several years of average academic success. Consequently, the superintendent appointed the new principal to significantly improve the success of the highly diverse elementary school. Although the new principal has been well trained and has had experience under a successful principal, she understands that her challenges are formidable. In response, she has been building trust and relationships with the staff, teachers, and parents, but now she must develop a yearlong improvement plan, as must the students who use this case in their coursework.
Negotiating Law and Religion in Ancient Jewish Texts
Authors: Halberstam Chaya T.
Published: May 2007

The problem of negotiating law and religion is not a modern one; ever since ancient authors and jurists experienced the tension between optimism in divine justice and realism about injustice done on earth, they sought to find ways to reconcile the two different spheres, albeit with difficulty. This paper explores how this tension was negotiated in ancient Jewish texts that represent a variety of approaches: the canonical Hebrew Bible, which sought to provide a sense of divine justice working through history; the work of Ben Sira, which endeavored to tie the details of Jewish law to the wisdom tradition; the philosophy of Philo of Alexandria, which tied the same to Greek thought; and the obscure texts of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which viewed the fate of the world as dependent on the communities' particular observances. Attention is paid not only to how these texts endeavored to bring these two spheres of practice together, but also to what is lost in the process. Law, Culture and the Humanities 2007; 3: 189—204
The Problem of War — Rawls and the Law of Peoples
Authors: Kochi Tarik
Published: May 2007

This article considers the Law of Peoples, written by the late John Rawls. Rawls' text occurs as an inheritance of Immanuel Kant's approach to the problem of war. Drawing upon the approaches to the problem of war given by Immanuel Kant and by G.W.F. Hegel the article considers the viability of Rawls' approach to the problem of war and the questions that his account opens for jurisprudence. Law, Culture and the Humanities 2007; 3: 244—265
The Lessons of Capturing the Friedmans: Moral Panic, Institutional Denial and Due Process
Authors: Bandes Susan
Published: May 2007

In the 1980's hundreds of childcare workers were accused of sexually abusing children in horrific ways. Arnold and Jesse Friedman, whose prosecutions are chronicled in the film Capturing the Friedmans, were among those convicted and sent to prison during this period. Sociologists have called this series of prosecutions a classic moral panic: a widespread, hostile, volatile overreaction to a perceived societal threat. This paper examines the concept of moral panic in the context of the day care sexual abuse prosecutions in general, and the Friedman prosecutions in particular. It begins by exploring the role of the legal system in the construction of a moral panic, asking how a system which styles itself as rational and process oriented becomes the handmaiden of institutionalized hysteria. It then considers whether moral panic is a useful heuristic for understanding how justice was derailed in the Friedman cases and so many others, and what ought to be done to address the problem. It argues that the concept is limited in its ability to distinguish normatively between cases of overreaction and cases of institutional denial. Further, it suggests that, to the extent the concept of moral panic misconceives these periods of institutionalized hysteria as a series of isolated phenomena, it does not adequately address the deeply entrenched causes of injustice in cases like the Friedman prosecutions. The paper ultimately concludes that the concept of moral panic is useful because it reminds us of the cultural and historical contingency of notions of criminal justice and criminal deviance. Nevertheless, the concept has limitations that render it inadequate to address the hurdles to justice encountered in the Friedman cases. Most prominently, the concept is hindered by its retrospective nature. Like the question of guilt or innocence, the notion of moral panic is backward-looking, and therefore not well suited to addressing the prospective question of how the justice system can be reformed to dismantle ongoing, systemic hurdles to criminal justice. Law, Culture and the Humanities 2007; 3: 293—319
Terminal Exceptions: Law and Sovereignty at the Airport Threshold
Authors: Feldman Leonard C.
Published: May 2007

The rise of crisis governance in the United States after September 11, 2001 has raised disturbing questions about the relationship between law and exceptions to the law. The debate over the exception — should it be inside or outside law? — reflects what Giorgio Agamben describes as a threshold where inside and outside meet and blur. I show how this undecidable relation between law and the exception is present in popular culture as well. I argue that legal debates over codifying emergency measures (as in “torture warrants”) reflect the undecidable relation between the exception and the law and that certain cultural representations (Steven Spielberg's The Terminal) work as fantasy to externalize and contain the exception. Law, Culture and the Humanities 2007; 3: 320—344
β2-Glycoprotein I inhibits von Willebrand factor–dependent platelet adhesion and aggregation
Authors: Hulstein Janine J. J. , Lenting Peter J. , de Laat Bas , Derksen Ron H. W. M. , Fijnheer Rob , de Groot Philip G.
Published: May 2007

Patients with antiphospholipid syndrome are characterized by the association of thrombosis or pregnancy morbidity and the presence of antiphospholipid autoantibodies. Particularly, anti-β2-glycoprotein (β2 GPI) autoantibodies correlate with thrombosis, suggesting an antibody-induced gain of prothrombotic function and/or an antibody-induced loss of antithrombotic function of β2 GPI. In the search for potential antithrombotic properties of β2 GPI, we found that β2 GPI inhibits von Willebrand factor (VWF)–induced platelet aggregation. In addition, platelet adhesion to a VWF-coated surface was decreased by 50% in the presence of β2 GPI (P < .03). β2 GPI binds to the A1 domain of VWF but preferably when the A1 domain is in its active glycoprotein Ibα-binding conformation. Anti-β2 GPI antibodies isolated from a subset of antiphospholipid syndrome patients neutralized the β2 GPI-VWF interactions and thus the inhibitory activity of β2 GPI. In comparison to healthy individuals, the amounts of active VWF in circulation were increased 1.5-fold (P < .001) in patients positive for lupus anticoagulant (LAC) due to anti-β2 GPI antibodies. Thus, β2 GPI is a biologically relevant inhibitor of VWF function by interfering with VWF-dependent platelet adhesion. Anti-β2 GPI autoantibodies neutralize this inhibitory function and are associated with increased levels of active VWF. This mode of action could contribute to the thrombosis and consumptive thrombocytopenia observed in patients with anti-β2 GPI antibodies.
Leukocyte PI3Kγ and PI3Kδ have temporally distinct roles for leukocyte recruitment in vivo
Authors: Liu Lixin , Puri Kamal D. , Penninger Josef M. , Kubes Paul
Published: May 2007

Phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3Ks) have been considered important in leukocyte motility. PI3Kγ, the class IB PI3K, expressed prominently in leukocytes and also in endothelial cells, mediates leukocyte functional responses induced by chemoattractants. To reveal its role in leukocyte recruitment, we used intravital microscopy to directly visualize leukocyte rolling, adhesion, and emigration in postcapillary venules in PI3Kγ-deficient (PI3Kγ-/-) mice. We report here that PI3Kγ deficiency had no significant effects on leukocyte rolling flux or rolling velocity and minor effects on adhesion (30% to 35%) in response to CXC chemokine MIP-2 (CXCL2) or KC (CXCL1). However, leukocyte emigration was severely impaired in PI3Kγ-/- mice in an early (first 90 minutes) response to MIP-2 or KC. Chimeric mice receiving bone marrow transplants revealed that this early response was entirely dependent upon PI3Kγ in neutrophils but not parenchymal cells (endothelium and others). Identical responses were observed when endogenous chemokine production was induced by TNFα; leukocyte emigration was reduced in PI3Kγ-/- mice. More prolonged responses to MIP-2 (for 4 to 5 hours) or TNFα (6 to 8 hours) were almost entirely PI3Kγ independent and largely dependent on PI3Kδ. Our results reveal that leukocyte emigration response to CXC chemokines is entirely dependent upon PI3Kγ or PI3Kδ, but these are nonoverlapping, temporally distinct events in inflamed tissues in vivo.
Hematopoietic cell transplantation in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome or acute myeloid leukemia arising from myelodysplastic syndrome: similar outcomes in patients with de novo disease and disease following prior therapy or antecedent hematologic disorders
Authors: Chang ChunKang , Storer Barry E. , Scott Bart L. , Bryant Eileen M. , Shulman Howard M. , Flowers Mary E. , Sandmaier Brenda M. , Witherspoon Robert P. , Nash Richard A. , Sanders Jean E. , Bedalov Antonio , Hansen John A. , Clurman Bruce E. , Storb Rainer , Appelbaum Frederick R. , Deeg H. Joachim
Published: May 2007

We analyzed outcomes after hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in 257 patients, 3 to 72.7 years old (median, 43 y), with secondary myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) including those with transformation to acute myeloid leukemia (tAML). Conditioning regimens included high-dose total-body irradiation (TBI)/chemotherapy (n = 83); busulfan (BU)/cyclophosphamide (CY) (BUCY, n = 122; with BU targeting [tBUCY], n = 93); fludarabine (Flu) with tBU (FLUtBU; n = 12); Flu plus 200 cGy TBI (n = 26); and miscellaneous regimens (n = 14). Donors were HLA-identical or partially mismatched family members in 135 and unrelated individuals in 122 patients. Five-year relapse-free survival was highest (43%) and nonrelapse mortality lowest (28%) among tBUCY-conditioned patients. Outcomes were compared with results in 339 patients who received transplants for de novo MDS/tAML, and a multivariate analysis failed to show significant differences in outcome between the 2 cohorts. Relapse probability and relapse-free survival correlated significantly with disease stage (P < .001) and karyotype (P < .001). Relapse incidence was lower (P = .003) and relapse-free survival superior (P = .02) with unrelated donor transplants. The data suggest that overall inferior outcome in patients with secondary MDS/tAML was related to the frequency of high-risk cytogenetics. For both cohorts, transplantation outcomes improved over the time interval studied.