bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Prostate biopsy clinical and pathological variables that predict significant grading changes in patients with intermediate and high grade prostate cancer
Authors: Moussa Ayman S. , Li Jianbo , Soriano Meghan , Klein Eric A. , Dong Fei , Jones J. Stephen
Published: September 2008

OBJECTIVE

To identify the clinical and pathological variables that predict pathological changes in the significant proportion of men with prostate cancer who have an intermediate‐ or high‐grade biopsy Gleason score (GS) of ≥7 and who are upgraded or downgraded on interpretation of radical prostatectomy (RP) pathological specimens, as GS is critical in treatment decisions.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We retrospectively evaluated 1129 patients who had RP after a biopsy showing a GS of ≥7, at our institution, from 2000 to 2007. Complete relevant clinical information was available for all patients. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to identify predictors of pathological grading changes.

RESULTS

The overall mean age was 61 years, with median prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) level of 6 ng/mL. Of the 1129 patients, the surgical GS was upgraded in 296 (26.2%), downgraded in 210 (18.6%), and remained the same in 623 (55.2%). Factors predicting a surgical GS upgrade were a higher PSA level (P = 0.005), presence of perineural invasion (P = 0.043), absence of inflammation (P < 0.001), and absence of associated high‐grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (P = 0.02). In an analysis of pathological variables the number of positive cores (P = 0.033) was predictor of upgrading. Large prostate volume (P = 0.004) and low maximum percentage cancer in any core (P = 0.001) were predictors of downgrading.

CONCLUSION

Men with a higher PSA level, perineural invasion and high‐volume cancer at biopsy are most likely to be upgraded, while men with a large prostate volume and low‐volume cancer at biopsy are more likely to be downgraded. These findings have implications for men with prostate cancer managed without confirmation by RP of their true GS.
The management of renal matrix calculi: a single‐centre experience over 5 years
Authors: Shah Hemendra N. , Kharodawala Shabbir , Sodha Hiren S. , Khandkar Amit A. , Hegde Sunil S. , Bansal Manish B.
Published: September 2008

OBJECTIVE

To define incidence of renal matrix calculi in patients undergoing percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL), and describe its clinical, laboratory and radiological features; we also studied the efficacy of PCNL in managing this rare entity.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed the records of 1368 PCNLs performed from April 2003 to March 2008, and identified 17 patients (mean age 44.3 years; 11 women and six men) having matrix calculi. The patients’ clinical, laboratory and radiological features were studied, and the perioperative outcome and follow‐up data analysed.

RESULTS

Flank pain was commonest mode of presentation (15) followed by recurrent urinary tract infection (five). Pyuria was present in 14 patients and urine culture showed significant growth in 10. A plain X‐ray showed a small radio‐opaque calculus (10 renal units) and faint laminated calcification (four). Intravenous urography showed a filling defect and non‐visualized system in nine and five patients, respectively. Non‐contrast computed tomography and magnetic resonance urography diagnosed calculi in two and one patient, respectively, on haemodialysis. PCNL was abandoned initially in four patients due to pyonephrosis. The mean hospital stay was 3.4 days and decrease in haemoglobin was 0.89 g/dL. One patient developed sepsis. Of 11 stones analysed, two were composed entirely of proteins and the remaining nine had crystalline components. At a mean follow‐up of 12.6 months, no patients had recurrence of stone.

CONCLUSIONS

Matrix calculi occurred in 1.24% of patients undergoing PCNL. Although considered radiolucent, plain X‐ray showed a small radio‐opaque calculi or faint laminated calcifications in 10 of 17 patients. PCNL rendered patients stone‐free with minimum morbidity.
CHANGE‐POINT DETECTION WITH RANK STATISTICS IN LONG‐MEMORY TIME‐SERIES MODELS
Authors: Wang Lihong
Published: September 2008

Wilcoxon‐type rank statistics are considered for testing a long‐memory time‐series model with a common distribution against the alternatives involving a change in the distribution at an unknown time point. The asymptotic properties of the test statistics and the change‐point estimators are studied. Finite‐sample behaviours are investigated in a small Monte Carlo simulation study. Data examples from hydrology and telecommunications illustrate the method.
NON‐PARAMETRIC BAYESIAN INFERENCE FOR INHOMOGENEOUS MARKOV POINT PROCESSES
Authors: Berthelsen Kasper K. , Møller Jesper
Published: September 2008

With reference to a specific dataset, we consider how to perform a flexible non‐parametric Bayesian analysis of an inhomogeneous point pattern modelled by a Markov point process, with a location‐dependent first‐order term and pairwise interaction only. A priori we assume that the first‐order term is a shot noise process, and that the interaction function for a pair of points depends only on the distance between the two points and is a piecewise linear function modelled by a marked Poisson process. Simulation of the resulting posterior distribution using a Metropolis–Hastings algorithm in the ‘conventional’ way involves evaluating ratios of unknown normalizing constants. We avoid this problem by applying a recently introduced auxiliary variable technique. In the present setting, the auxiliary variable used is an example of a partially ordered Markov point process model.
UNIT ROOT TESTING IN THE PRESENCE OF HEAVY‐TAILED GARCH ERRORS
Authors: Wang Gaowen , Mao Wei‐Lin
Published: September 2008

We derive the asymptotic distributions of the Dickey–Fuller (DF) and augmented DF (ADF) tests for unit root processes with Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedastic (GARCH) errors under fairly mild conditions. We show that the asymptotic distributions of the DF tests and ADF t‐type test are the same as those obtained in the independent and identically distributed Gaussian cases, regardless of whether the fourth moment of the underlying GARCH process is finite or not. Our results go beyond earlier ones by showing that the fourth moment condition on the scaled conditional errors is totally unnecessary. Some Monte Carlo simulations are provided to illustrate the finite‐sample‐size properties of the tests.
Risk and Public Protection: Responding to Involuntary and ‘Taboo’ Risk
Authors: Kemshall Hazel , Wood Jason
Published: September 2008

Growing media, political and public concern with high‐risk offenders in the community has focused policy attention on the concept of ‘public protection’. A notion that the public has the right to be protected, particularly from ‘monstrous’ offenders such as predatory paedophiles, has infiltrated much recent legislation and penal policy. This article will explore the critical factors in the ‘public protection’ trend and the framing of risk and risky offenders that has ensued. In particular, attention will be given to the new surveillance and intervention mechanisms under the Multi‐Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) and whether these arrangements manage risk or displace it. To what extent are they driven by the ‘precautionary principle’ and defensive responses to risks that are over‐inflated? To what extent does this result in ‘perverse incentives’ to over‐manage certain risks and to over‐concentrate on restrictive risk management techniques such as electronic tagging, satellite surveillance and curfews rather than treatment? Does the system represent effective risk management or a system for dealing with risk anxiety – both of the public(s) and of politicians?
Social Policy beyond Fear: The Globalization of Strangeness, the ‘War on Terror’, and ‘Spaces of Wonder’
Authors: Rumford Chris
Published: September 2008

Fear has become central to social scientific understandings of contemporary insecurities. However, this article argues that a focus on fear is not sufficient, and that an exploration of ‘wonder’ is more productive, particularly when trying to understand modes of governance and policy regimes introduced as part of the ‘war on terror’. An appropriate starting point for such an exploration is the globalization of strangeness. The idea that globalization has undermined the familiar territoriality of a world of nation states has become accepted in the social science literature. However, the nature of the resulting unfamiliarity or strangeness of the world is rarely explored. This article focuses on the processes by means of which the world is rendered strange and examines the opportunities for new forms of governance opened up by a world designated as insecure, uncertain and unpredictable. The article pays particular attention to the ways in which this strangeness can generate ‘spaces of wonder’. Examples of such ‘spaces of wonder’ include ‘the world’, the UK's border, now offshore according to the Home Office, and ‘global borderlands’. The article advances a critical reading of contemporary political responses to ‘spaces of wonder’, particularly the ways in which the unknown and threatening are rendered in familiar and cosy terms.
Fear and Security: A Vulnerability‐led Policy Response
Authors: Furedi Frank
Published: September 2008

The aim of this article is to explore the rise of vulnerability‐led policy‐making. It attempts to engage with the apparent puzzle of why the official rhetoric of promoting resilience frequently gives way to an orientation towards an emphasis on vulnerability. It contends that the current conceptualization of resilience assumes that vulnerability is the defining condition of social life. One likely consequence of this approach is the reinforcement of the passive side of public life.
Child Protection Social Work: Risks of Fears and Fears of Risks – Impossible Tasks from Impossible Goals?
Authors: Littlechild Brian
Published: September 2008

This article examines the relationship between the causes and effects of fear in child protection social workers, and the effects of risk assessment and risk management policies on this area of work. The focus on risk assessment and risk management has become a major area of attention within practice, policy and management of child protection work in the UK in recent years. Concepts of risk as constructed by the media, government and the public are increasingly impacting upon professional practices. This article examines the basis and validity of risk assessments in the social professions field, and particularly within the child protection arena. The article goes on to examine the experiences of fear arising from the risk agenda, which affects frontline workers, managers and child protection agencies. This agenda arises from centrally produced risk assessment frameworks, alongside unrealistic expectations from central government of prediction of risk by the use of current risk assessment tools. Such controlling policies from central government can lead to fear and anxiety in social work professionals of not assessing and eliminating risk, as the government and their employing agencies are expecting them to do. The article also proposes that this risk agenda fails to address a key element in the assessment of risk – how social workers experience threats and stress in their work, and the pressures they can be subject to within it, particularly in relation to violence and threats from parent service users where their children are being investigated for possible child abuse.
‘We Don't Have to Take This’: Zero Tolerance of Violence against Health Care Workers in a Time of Insecurity
Authors: Gabe Jonathan , Ann Elston Mary
Published: September 2008

Doctors, nurses and other health care workers in the UK are said to be increasingly aware of the ‘risks of the job’ as a result of mounting verbal abuse, threats and assaults from patients and their relatives. In the late 1990s the UK government introduced a policy of ‘zero tolerance’, which it claimed was designed to minimize the risk of such violence. Current policy refers to the need to be tough on offenders and encourage a culture of respect. In this article we review this strategy and the reasons for its introduction and consider some of the potential consequences. The article starts with an account of the policy, the definition of violence that underpins it and how it has been measured, and assesses the evidence regarding prevalence. This is then interpreted in the context of wider policies of zero tolerance to crime, and debates about risk, anxiety and insecurity.
The Credit Channel of Capital Tax Policy
Authors: STRULIK HOLGER
Published: September 2008

A neoclassical growth model is augmented by a corporate sector, financial intermediation, and a set of tax rates. In this setting, capital structure is determined by the interplay between a tax advantage of debt finance and costly state verification entailed by asymmetric information. Effects of capital tax reforms are investigated with a special focus on this micro‐founded credit channel of tax policy. The theoretical part of the paper establishes a new, institution‐based view on the motivation of debt finance in general equilibrium and derives financial and real effects of private and corporate income tax policies. Using a calibration with U.S. data, the applied part demonstrates that tax cuts cause significant adjustments of capital structure. Nevertheless, it turns out that the credit channel generates relatively small effects of tax reforms on consumption, investment, and growth.
International Asset Trade, Capital Income Taxation, and Specialization Patterns
Authors: FUTAGAMI KOICHI , KANEKO AKIHIKO , ONO YOSHIYASU , SHIBATA AKIHISA
Published: September 2008

This paper constructs a small economy version of dynamic Heckscher‐Ohlin models with overlapping generations and analyzes effects of capital income taxation on the specialization pattern of the country. It is shown that once international asset trade is allowed, in the presence of international technological asymmetries, a small country eventually leads to perfect specialization in our overlapping generations model. It is also shown that the residence‐based tax has no effect on the specialization pattern while the source‐based tax has a negative effect on capital accumulation and thereby it can affect the specialization pattern of the small country.
A simple improved method for protein extraction from human head hairs
Authors: Han Mi‐Ok , Chun Jae‐An , Lee Woo‐Hyup , Lee Jin‐Woo , Chung Chung‐Han
Published: September 2008

This study was conducted to establish a simple efficient method for extracting the protein from human head hair materials, which can be a useful tool for the protein analysis applicable to various types of human head hairs. The method developed saves extraction time and effort considerably. The method includes four steps: cutting the hair samples into small pieces 1–2 mm in length, washing them with distilled water, incubating the hair samples in a buffer solution at 50°C for 24 h and finally filtering the incubated mixtures through three layers of nylon mesh. This method is reproducible and reliable. SDS–PAGE analysis of the hair protein extracted by this method shows a clear protein profile on the gel, which is frequently observed in other hair sources. Two smaller sizes of molecular weights are also detected with the SDS–PAGE analysis. Not commonly found in other hair sources, they seem to be other types of human hair proteins.
Skin lipid organization, composition and barrier function
Authors: Bouwstra J. A. , Gooris G. S. , Ponec M.
Published: September 2008

Citation: IFSCC Magazine, 10 (2007) (4) 297–307

The primary function of the skin is to act as a barrier against unwanted influences from the environment and to protect the body from water loss. The barrier function of the skin is located in the superficial layer of the skin, the stratum corneum. The stratum corneum consists of dead cells filled with keratin and water, the corneocytes, embedded in lipid regions. As the lipid regions are the only continuous structure in the stratum corneum, they are considered to be very important for the skin barrier function. The main lipid classes are ceramides, cholesterol and free fatty acids. In this paper the lipid organization in human stratum corneum is reviewed. In addition, the role the various lipid classes play in lipid organization is discussed using mixtures prepared from either native human ceramides or synthetic ceramides. Finally, a model is described which allows study of the relation between lipid composition, organization and barrier function. This model is referred to as the stratum corneum substitute.

Keywords: ceramides, FTIR, lipid organization, stratum corneum, X‐ray diffraction
A new decorin‐like tetrapeptide for optimal organization of collagen fibers
Authors: Puig A. , García Antón J. M. , Mangues M.
Published: September 2008

Citation: IFSCC Magazine, 10 (2007) (4) 309–314

Decorin interacts with collagen via its protein core and influences collagen fibrillogenesis, thus regulating excessive bundle‐like aggregation of collagen. As skin ages, there is a lack of functional decorin which results in disrupted collagen fibers and a reduction in the tensile strength of the skin. Therefore, a substitute for decorin would make up for the non‐functional decorin that is present as we age.

Two tetrapeptide sequences were identified as the specific binding sites of decorin to collagen fibrils. These sequences were engineered in order to generate new tetrapeptides with improved affinity that would present a decorin‐like activity. A focused library of several candidates was synthesized containing only tetrapeptides that mimicked the binding sequences of decorin. The candidates were screened with an in vitro collagen fibrillogenesis assay, and the tetrapeptide with the INCI name Tripeptide‐10 Citrulline achieved the best results. Like decorin, this synthetic tetrapeptide proved in in vitro tests to regulate collagen fibrillogenesis and influence the diameter of collagen fibers, making them thinner and more uniform.

Tripeptide‐10 citrulline is a new cosmetic active to specifically target collagen fiber organization. Skin collagen quality is addressed rather than skin collagen quantity. Tripeptide‐10 citrulline ensures uniformity of fibril diameter and increases skin suppleness due to a better cohesion of collagen fibers.

Keywords: collagen, decorin, diameter, fiber, organization

Winner of the Award for the best Podium Presentation at the IFSCC Conference 2007, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Super mild oxidation coloring: preventing hair damage at the molecular level
Authors: Doering T. , Brockmann C. , Wadle A. , Hollenberg D. , Förster T.
Published: September 2008

Citation: IFSCC Magazine, 10 (2007) (4) 323–329

Hydrogen peroxide is widely used for oxidation hair coloring or bleaching. It displays a high redox potential and easily penetrates into the hair fiber. This renders hydrogen peroxide capable of non‐specific interactions with cortex and cuticle proteins resulting in irreversible cleavage of cystine crosslinks. Various classes of antioxidants were screened for their anti‐hair damage effect in a permanent hair dye formulation using NIR spectroscopy. In parallel, the effect on the coloring and lightening performance was studied to exclude unwanted side effects on primary product performance. The screening criteria were fulfilled by organic disulfides such as α‐lipoic acid but interestingly not by powerful antioxidants such as tocoperol, dibutylhydroxytoluene, or beta‐carotene. Alpha‐lipoic acid significantly protected human hair during oxidation coloring as demonstrated by (i) amino acid and protein analysis, (ii) surface polarity measurement, (iii) lipid analysis, (iv) differential scanning calorimetry, and (v) combing work measurement. Our results show that radical scavenging properties alone do not render antioxidants suitable for hair protection during oxidative treatments. The presence of disulfide bonds appears to be very favorable and it is likely that the intramolecular cross‐link within α‐lipoic acid provides a kinetically controlled protection for cystine crosslinks during oxidation coloring.

Keywords: alpha‐lipoic acid, antioxidant, hair damage, hair dye, NIR spectroscopy

Paper presented at the IFSCC Conference 2007, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
J. Cosmet. Sci., 58, 599–620 (November/December 2007) Ranking of aqueous surfactant–humectant systems based on an analysis of in vitro and in vivo skin barrier perturbation measurements
Authors: Ghosh S. , Hornby S. , Grove G. , Zerwick C. , APPA Y. , Blankschtein D.
Published: September 2008

Accepted for publication July 19, 2007

Synopsis

We propose that skin electrical current measurements can be used in vitro to effectively rank aqueous solutions containing surfactants and humectants (the enhancer) contacting the skin, relative to a PBS aqueous solution (the control) contacting the skin, based on their ability to perturb the skin aqueous pores. Specifically, we develop an in vitro ranking metric using the increase in the skin electrical current induced by an enhancer relative to the control. Aqueous contacting solutions containing (i) surfactants [SDS (sodium dodecyl sulfate)] and C12E6 [dodecyl hexa (ethylene oxide)], (ii) humectants (glycerol and propylene glycol), and (iii) a control (PBS) were studied. Utilizing the new in vitro ranking metric, these aqueous contacting solutions were ranked as follows (from the mildest to the harshest): glycerol < propylene glycol < PBS < C12E6 < SDS. In order to further develop this ranking methodology, which can potentially lead to the reduction, or elimination, of costly and time‐consuming procedures, such as human and animal testing and trial‐and‐error screening in vivo, it was important to correlate the findings of the in vitro ranking metric with direct in vivo skin barrier measurements. For this purpose, in vivo soap chamber measurements, including transepidermal water loss, visual skin dryness, and chromameter erythema measurements, were carried out on human volunteers using the aqueous surfactant–humectant solutions described above. The results of these in vivo measurements were found to be consistent with the ranking results obtained using the in vitro ranking metric. To further explore the validity of our model and to verify the skin barrier mitigating effect of glycerol, in vivo soap chamber measurements were carried out for aqueous SDS solutions containing 10 wt% added glycerol. These in vivo measurements support our recent in vitro finding that glycerol reduces the average radius and the pore number density of the skin aqueous pores, such that SDS micelles are hindered from penetrating into the skin and inducing skin barrier perturbation.
J. Cosmet. Sci., 58, 629–636 (November/December 2007) Hair breakage during combing. IV. Brushing and combing hair
Authors: Robbins C. , Kamath Y.
Published: September 2008

Accepted for publication June 26, 2007

Synopsis

During combing of hair, longer fiber breaks (>2.5 cm) occur principally by impact loading of looped crossover hairs, while short segment breaks (<2.5 cm) occur primarily by end wrapping. Brushing provides breakage similarly but with a higher ratio of long‐to‐short segment breaks, and the ratio of long‐to‐short segment breaks (L/S) is a good way to follow these two pathways of breakage under different conditions. For example, bleaching hair, a longer comb stroke, increasing fiber curvature, wet combing versus dry combing, and brushing versus combing all provide for an increase in long segment breaks and this ratio, with the largest effect produced by brushing.
Cocoa polyphenols and their influence on parameters involved in ex vivo skin restructuring
Authors: Gasser P. , Lati E. , Peno‐Mazzarino L. , Bouzoud D. , Allegaert L. , Bernaert H.
Published: September 2008

Synopsis

Polyphenols in general are compounds that are known to promote health and have a preventive effect against various chronic diseases. The influence of cocoa polyphenols on skin, however, has scarcely been studied from a histological point of view. The aim of this study is to assess the influence of cocoa polyphenols on several indicators of skin elasticity and skin tonus, namely, glycosaminoglycans and collagen I, III and IV. This was carried out by using a model of ex vivo human skin explants maintained in survival, on which a cocoa polyphenol extract was applied. After processing by standard histological techniques (fixation, paraffin embedding, sectioning, staining, immunostaining and microscopical observation), the influence of cocoa polyphenols on the evaluated parameters was quantified by image analysis. The results obtained show that cocoa polyphenols exhibit a positive action on the parameters assessed, and the dose at which they improve the most parameters associated with skin tonus and elasticity was determined. Their activity was compared with a commercially available product, and the results obtained show that their efficacy is equivalent. Moreover, an enhancing effect of cocoa butter on activity of cocoa polyphenol was highlighted. Now that the properties of cocoa polyphenols on ex vivo skin restructuring parameters have been assessed, the next step could include their evaluation in vivo.
Properties of a new hydrotrope hydrophobic molecule and its potential applications
Authors: Schnell E. , Touraud D. , Gick R. , Kunz W.
Published: September 2008

Synopsis

In the present contribution, the properties of dipropylene glycol isobornyl ether (Pribelance™) are discussed, especially in the context of microemulsion and emulsion formulations. Pribelance™ is a new low‐toxic anti‐foaming hydrotrope with excellent co‐surfactant properties that has some similarities with long‐chain alcohols, but in contrast to them, it is liquid at room temperature. In combination with another, more hydrophilic co‐surfactant, it allows significant amounts of oil to be solubilized in water. Possible applications such as in cosmetics, as an anti‐foaming agent or as additive to cooling lubricants are discussed. Further potential applications are plasticizers, fermentation systems, agrochemicals and waste‐water treatments.
Screening of Nepalese crude drugs traditionally used to treat hyperpigmentation: in vitro tyrosinase inhibition
Authors: Adhikari A. , Devkota H. P. , Takano A. , Masuda K. , Nakane T. , Basnet P. , Skalko‐Basnet N.
Published: September 2008

Synopsis

South‐East Asian population is daily exposed to strong sunlight. As a result, the majority of population will have darker, ethnic skin. Moreover, many people suffer from dark spots, hyperpigmentation, which is considered to be a skin disorder and causes psychological disturbance. To treat dark spots, most of the population will still rely on traditionally used crude drugs, knowledge about which is transferred from generation to generation. Fifty‐two crude drugs were selected based on the survey performed among local healers and beauticians of different ethnic origin. These crude drugs were screened for mushroom tyrosinase inhibitory activity, as tyrosinase inhibitors are becoming increasingly important as cosmetic and medicinal products, primarily to control hyperpigmentation. Among the tested crude drugs, methanolic extracts of Glycyrrhiza glabra, Morus alba, Syzygium aromaticum, Citrus aurantifolia, Cypreae moneta, Punica granatum and Citrus aurantium, at the final concentration of 50 μg mL−1, showed mushroom tyrosinase inhibitory activity of 78.9%, 71.0%, 69.4%, 59.0%, 56.0%, 53.4 and 51.9%, respectively, with 91.4% inhibitory activity of kojic acid taken as positive control. To our knowledge, this is the first report that extracts of Cypreae moneta shell and Syzygium aromaticum flowering bud have tyrosinase inhibitory activity. These potent extracts were further evaluated at different concentration. The final concentration of the extracts in reaction mixtures was 50, 25 and 5 μg mL−1 for the initial concentration of 1000, 500 and 100 μg mL−1, respectively. They showed concentration‐dependant inhibition of mushroom tyrosinase. Those extracts expressing relatively weak tyrosinase inhibitory activity may act through different inhibition pathway which is not based on tyrosinase activity. Further evaluation of the most potent tyrosinase inhibitors in in vivo conditions would be recommended.
Identification and Characterization of CFTR Gene Mutations in Indian CF Patients
Authors: Sharma N. , Singh M. , Kaur G. , Thapa B. R. , Prasad R.
Published: September 2008

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an autosomal recessive disease caused by mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene. This study was performed on Indian CF patients (n = 50) to investigate the spectrum of mutations in the CFTR gene and their association with intragenic and extragenic marker haplotypes. We report identification of 14 previously known and eight novel mutations, namely 3986‐3987delC, 876‐6del4, 1792InsA, L69H, S158N, Q493L, I530L and E1329Q. The frequency of delta F508 was found to be 27%. Absolute linkage between delta F508 and the KM.19‐GATT‐TUB9‐M470V‐T854T haplotype (2‐2‐1‐1‐1) predicts a relatively recent appearance of delta F508 in Indian CF patients. Low frequency of delta F508 mutation and detection of eight novel and thirteen rare mutations reflect a heterogeneous spectrum of mutations in Indian CF patients. Failure to detect mutations in 34% of alleles indicates the possible presence of gross deletions involving one or more exons or may indicate the location of the molecular defects in either the noncoding parts of the gene or in the promoter region, which warrants analysis of those regions.
Circadian rhythms of locomotor activity in Ansell's mole‐rat: are mole‐rat's clocks ticking?
Authors: De Vries J. L. , Oosthuizen M. K. , Sichilima A. M. , Bennett N. C.
Published: September 2008

Circadian rhythms of locomotor activity have been investigated in several African mole‐rat species. Even though mole‐rats spend most of their lives in underground burrows devoid of light, studies have shown that they do possess circadian rhythms to some extent. We investigated the circadian rhythms of locomotor activity in 11 male Ansell's mole‐rats Fukomys anselli from Zambia. In order to determine whether these animals can entrain to light and have endogenous rhythms, they were subjected to different light regimes: first, 12 h light/12 h dark, followed by constant darkness, then returned to 12 h light/12 h dark, which was later inversed to 12 h dark/12 h light. Only two individuals displayed arrhythmic activity patterns whereas the other nine (81.8%) exhibited entrainment of their activity to the light regimes. Locomotory activity of Ansell's mole‐rat was predominantly during the dark phase in all light regimes. During constant darkness (DD), only five individuals (45.5%) displayed very weak circadian rhythms that free ran but became more indistinct towards the end of the cycle. Under the second LD light cycle, 90.1% of the animals were active during the night phase of the cycle and when placed under an inverse light cycle, seven individuals still displayed activity predominantly during the dark phase. In conclusion, these results suggest that Ansell's mole‐rat does have a weak circadian clock and is able to perceive light and entrain to light cycles.
The DAF‐2 insulin‐like signaling pathway independently regulates aging and immunity in C. elegans
Authors: Evans Eric A. , Chen Will C. , Tan Man‐Wah
Published: September 2008

The Caenorhabditis elegans DAF‐2 insulin‐like signaling pathway, which regulates lifespan and stress resistance, has also been implicated in resistance to bacterial pathogens. Loss‐of‐function daf‐2 and age‐1 mutants have increased lifespans and are resistant to a variety of bacterial pathogens. This raises the possibility that the increased longevity and the pathogen resistance of insulin‐like signaling pathway mutants are reflections of the same underlying mechanism. Here we report that regulation of lifespan and resistance to the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa is mediated by both shared and genetically distinguishable mechanisms. We find that loss of germline proliferation enhances pathogen resistance and this effect requires daf‐16, similar to the regulation of lifespan. In contrast, the regulation of pathogen resistance and lifespan is decoupled within the DAF‐2 pathway. Long‐lived mutants of genes downstream of daf‐2, such as pdk‐1 and sgk‐1, show wildtype resistance to pathogens. However, mutants of akt‐1 and akt‐2, which we find to individually have modest effects on lifespan, show enhanced resistance to pathogens. We also demonstrate that pathogen resistance of daf‐2, akt‐1, and akt‐2 mutants is associated with restricted bacterial colonization, and that daf‐2 mutants are better able to clear an infection after challenge with P. aeruginosa. Moreover, we find that pathogen resistance among insulin‐like signaling mutants is associated with increased expression of immunity genes during infection. Other processes that affect organismal longevity, including Jun kinase signaling and caloric restriction, do not affect resistance to bacterial pathogens, further establishing that aging and innate immunity are regulated by genetically distinct mechanisms.
A political ecology of scale in urban air pollution monitoring
Authors: Buzzelli Michael
Published: September 2008

Recent developments in air pollution epidemiology are generating new data on human air pollution exposure and health effects in the city. Based on regression mapping or land use regression (LUR), these data also provide a new window on the urban political ecology of scale. Air pollution itself is understudied in the emergent urban political ecology literature and in this case it is aided by – indeed must rely upon – GIS/spatial analysis. A case study of Vancouver illustrates the scalar contradictions in regulatory versus LUR measurements and estimates leading us finally to consider the wider implications for urban political ecology and environmental governance.
Abject spaces, transnational calculations: Zimbabweans in Britain navigating work, class and the law
Authors: McGregor JoAnn
Published: September 2008

Opportunities for migrants in Britain have become increasingly differentiated by hardened legal barriers, restricted access to asylum and filtering by selected skills. This article explores the effects of this differentiation on diaspora formation, social mobility and class identities. It takes the case of one of the UK's largest new African migrant groups – black Zimbabweans – who mostly come from middle class/elite backgrounds, but who have ended up in unskilled and informal work, as well as securing professional posts in Britain. The article asks whether, and in what sense it might be useful to talk of the polarised opportunities created by legal status in terms of emerging class differences and challenges to class identities. It dwells on the subjective experience of those in irregular legal circumstances, whose loss of status in Britain has been particularly acute, drawing on theoretical debates on abjection and dehumanised ‘bare life’ that speak directly to the popular discourses and language in which those doing menial work and lacking papers spoke about their experiences and place in Britain. As some have, however, maintained their class position both at home and in intergenerational terms, the article highlights the transnational calculations that continue to render even illegal unskilled work in the UK attractive, and underlines the importance of discussing abjection in terms of the relations of power and processes that create legal spaces of exclusion rather than as a putative underclass. Notwithstanding such calculations, the article highlights the importance of legal status and inequality within migrant groups in shaping the dynamics of new diaspora communities in Britain.
The ecological paradox: social and natural consequences of the geographies of animal health promotion
Authors: Enticott Gareth
Published: September 2008

Drawing on the example of bovine tuberculosis (bTb), this paper examines the geographies of animal health promotion. Using theories from the sociology of health, the paper outlines how the spatial practices of animal health promotion have had adverse policy consequences – what the paper refers to as an ‘ecological paradox’. Analysis of ethnographic interviews with 61 farmers in England and Wales provides a range of reasons why farmers do and do not implement biosecurity. Drawing on the concept of lay epidemiology and ideas of ‘the candidate’– that is, the terms by which someone/thing is most likely to suffer from a particular illness – the paper shows how farmers construct farmers, cattle and badgers as likely to be a candidate for bTb; and how aspects of luck and fatalism are significant elements of candidature. These effects are traced to a clash of spatial practice within the different knowledge articulated by official attempts to promote animal health and farmers’ understandings. In failing to consider these cultural understandings of disease, the paper argues that the state's attempts to promote animal health have served to reinforce the explanatory power of candidacy and traditional understandings of bTb, thereby overriding attempts to promote biosecurity. The resulting negative consequences for badgers, cattle and farmers are defined as the ecological paradox.
Financial exclusion and the geography of bank and building society branch closure in Britain
Authors: Leyshon Andrew , French Shaun , Signoretta Paola
Published: September 2008

Financial exclusion refers to those processes by which individuals and households face difficulties in accessing financial services. Economic geography was an important catalyst in developing research into processes of financial exclusion in the 1990s, focusing initially on the geographies of physical access. This research was motivated by a concern with the equity effects of financial systems, and identifying a general process of branch closure across industrial economies. The paper contains an analysis of the changing geographies of bank and building society closure in Britain between 1995 and 2003 and reveals that closures continue to be disproportionately concentrated within poorer areas, yet the geography of financial infrastructure has been written out of UK financial exclusion policy. The paper concludes by arguing that policy needs to take greater account of the uneven geography of retail financial services production and consumption.
The Effectiveness of Covering Smoking Cessation Services for Medicare Beneficiaries
Authors: Joyce Geoffrey F. , Niaura Raymond , Maglione Margaret , Mongoven Jennifer , Larson‐Rotter Carrie , Coan James , Lapin Pauline , Morton Sally
Published: September 2008

Objective. To examine whether reimbursement for Provider Counseling, Pharmacotherapies, and a telephone Quitline increase smoking cessation relative to Usual Care.

Study Design. Randomized comparison trial testing the effectiveness of four smoking cessation benefits.

Setting. Seven states that best represented the national population in terms of the proportion of those ≥65 years of age and smoking rate.

Participants. There were 7,354 seniors voluntarily enrolled in the Medicare Stop Smoking Program and they were followed‐up for 12 months.

Intervention(s). (1) Usual Care, (2) reimbursement for Provider Counseling, (3) reimbursement for Provider Counseling with Pharmacotherapy, and (4) telephone counseling Quitline with nicotine patch.

Main Outcome Measure. Seven‐day self‐reported cessation at 6‐ and 12‐month follow‐ups.

Principal Findings. Unadjusted quit rates assuming missing data=smoking were 10.2 percent (9.0–11.5), 14.1 percent (11.7–16.5), 15.8 percent (14.4–17.2), and 19.3 percent (17.4–21.2) at 12 months for the Usual Care, Provider Counseling, Provider Counseling + Pharmacotherapy, and Quitline arms, respectively. Results were robust to sociodemographics, smoking history, motivation, health status, and survey nonresponse. The additional cost per quitter (relative to Usual Care) ranged from several hundred dollars to $6,450.

Conclusions. A telephone Quitline in conjunction with low‐cost Pharmacotherapy was the most effective means of reducing smoking in the elderly.
Hospital Quality, Efficiency, and Input Slack Differentials
Authors: Valdmanis Vivian G. , Rosko Michael D. , Mutter Ryan L.
Published: September 2008

Objective. To use an advance in data envelopment analysis (DEA) called congestion analysis to assess the trade‐offs between quality and efficiency in U.S. hospitals.

Study Setting. Urban U.S. hospitals in 34 states operating in 2004.

Study Design and Data Collection. Input and output data from 1,377 urban hospitals were taken from the American Hospital Association Annual Survey and the Medicare Cost Reports. Nurse‐sensitive measures of quality came from the application of the Patient Safety Indicator (PSI) module of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Quality Indicator software to State Inpatient Databases (SID) provided by the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP).

Data Analysis. In the first step of the study, hospitals' relative output‐based efficiency was determined in order to obtain a measure of congestion (i.e., the productivity loss due to the occurrence of patient safety events). The outputs were adjusted to account for this productivity loss, and a second DEA was performed to obtain input slack values. Differences in slack values between unadjusted and adjusted outputs were used to measure either relative inefficiency or a need for quality improvement.

Principal Findings. Overall, the hospitals in our sample could increase the total amount of outputs produced by an average of 26 percent by eliminating inefficiency. About 3 percent of this inefficiency can be attributed to congestion. Analysis of subsamples showed that teaching hospitals experienced no congestion loss. We found that quality of care could be improved by increasing the number of labor inputs in low‐quality hospitals, whereas high‐quality hospitals tended to have slack on personnel.

Conclusions. Results suggest that reallocation of resources could increase the relative quality among hospitals in our sample. Further, higher quality in some dimensions of care need not be achieved as a result of higher costs or through reduced access to health care.
Modeling Efficiency at the Process Level: An Examination of the Care Planning Process in Nursing Homes
Authors: Lee Robert H. , Bott Marjorie J. , Gajewski Byron , Taunton Roma Lee
Published: September 2008

Objective. To examine the efficiency of the care planning process in nursing homes.

Methods: We collected detailed primary data about the care planning process for a stratified random sample of 107 nursing homes from Kansas and Missouri. We used these data to calculate the average direct cost per care plan and used data on selected deficiencies from the Online Survey Certification and Reporting System to measure the quality of care planning. We then analyzed the efficiency of the assessment process using corrected ordinary least squares (COLS) and data envelopment analysis (DEA).

Results: Both approaches suggested that there was considerable inefficiency in the care planning process. The average COLS score was 0.43; the average DEA score was 0.48. The correlation between the two sets of scores was quite high, and there was no indication that lower costs resulted in lower quality. For‐profit facilities were significantly more efficient than not‐for‐profit facilities.

Conclusions. Multiple studies of nursing homes have found evidence of inefficiency, but virtually all have had measurement problems that raise questions about the results. This analysis, which focuses on a process with much simpler measurement issues, finds evidence of inefficiency that is largely consistent with earlier studies. Making nursing homes more efficient merits closer attention as a strategy for improving care. Increasing efficiency by adopting well‐designed, reliable processes can simultaneously reduce costs and improve quality.
The Evolution of a Contested Concept: A Meta‐Analysis of Social Capital Definitions and Trends (1988–2006)*
Authors: Fulkerson Gregory M. , Thompson Gretchen H.
Published: September 2008

This paper offers a meta‐analysis that traces the contested meaning and use of social capital in sociological research over the last 18 years by focusing on journal article definitions. We identify six common definitions in use that closely correspond to the original—and in some cases, independent—formulations offered by Hanifan, Putnam, Coleman, Bourdieu, and Granovetter. Drawing from Kuhnian theory, we contend that these definitions illuminate deep divisions between those who understand social capital as a normative “cure‐all” (Portes 1998)—in the tradition of Hanifan, Putnam, and Coleman —and those who view it as a resource—in the tradition of Bourdieu and Granovetter—that may be used to create or maintain social inequality. The transition of social capital from preparadigm to paradigm status may potentially involve an integration of these approaches, but this will require greater consideration of power and inequality on the part of normative theorists, who are currently dominating the debate.
Aesthetics of Celebration, Tension and Memory: Nigeria Urban Art History
Authors: Adésànyà Adérónké Adésolá
Published: September 2008

This essay, among other things, addresses the question of origin of Nigerian Urban art, a genre basically found in urban spaces. It highlights the various nomenclatures by which the genre has been tagged to date and provides a robust debate on the pioneer and later urban artists in the country noting the characteristics and nuances of their art. Besides establishing the character of Nigerian urban art as compelling and significant to understanding the aesthetic sensibilities and nuances of the producer culture, issues of identity, training, authorship, patronage, social memory and social responsibility, morality and immorality and how they inform, shape and complicate the creative endeavors of urban artists are brought to the fore. In this insightful interrogation of history, people and spaces one finds the emergence of a new artistic order in which Nigerian urban artists establish and expand their own idioms, unite politics with art, engage their own audiences, cultivate their own clientele, tell their own stories and that of the society, create and endorse new identities, and increasingly expand their socioeconomic space. Their creative formats essentially transform into markets where people, products and services unite. They also serve as cultural lenses through which one gain insights into class struggle in a postcolonial society and how a critical mass of the Nigerian public interprets leadership, commerce, and culture.