bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
All-Trans Retinoic Acid Suppresses Stat3 Signaling during Skin Carcinogenesis
Authors: Syed Zanobia , Cheepala Satish B. , Gill Jennifer N. , Stein Jennica , Nathan Cherie Ann , DiGiovanni John , Batra Vinita , Adegboyega Patrick , Kleiner Heather E. , Clifford John L.
Published: September 2009

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the skin is the most clinically aggressive form of nonmelanoma skin cancer. We have determined the effects of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), a naturally occurring chemopreventive retinoid, on signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (Stat3) signaling during the development of skin SCC. Stat3 is a transcription factor that plays a critical role in cell proliferation and survival, and it is constitutively active in several malignant cell types. We have previously shown that Stat3 is required for the initiation, promotion, and progression of skin SCC. ATRA is a highly efficient suppressor of tumor formation in the two-stage mouse skin carcinogenesis model and we have shown that this effect correlates with the suppression of the B-Raf/Mek/Erk signaling pathway. In this study, we have determined the pattern of Stat3 phosphorylation throughout the course of the two-stage protocol, both in the presence and absence of ATRA. We have used both SENCAR mice and K5.Stat3C transgenic mice, which express the Stat3C protein, a constitutively active form of Stat3, in the skin. Using Western blotting and immunohistochemical staining with phosphospecific antibodies, we show that coadministration of ATRA suppressed the 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate–induced phosphorylation of Stat3 in both models, but was only able to suppress tumor formation in the SENCAR mice. Surprisingly, ATRA actually enhanced tumor formation in 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate–treated K5.Stat3C mice. We hypothesize that ATRA blocks tumor formation, at least in part, by targeting events upstream of Stat3, such as the B-Raf/Mek/Erk pathway, and that in the K5.Stat3C mice, in which Stat3 activity is constitutive, it cannot suppress tumor formation.
Eleostearic Acid Inhibits Breast Cancer Proliferation by Means of an Oxidation-Dependent Mechanism
Authors: Grossmann Michael E. , Mizuno Nancy K. , Dammen Michelle L. , Schuster Todd , Ray Amitabha , Cleary Margot P.
Published: September 2009

Eleostearic acid (α-ESA) is a conjugated linolenic acid that makes up ∼60% of Momordica charantia (bitter melon) seed oil. Prior work found that water extract from bitter melon was able to inhibit breast cancer. Here, we investigated effects of α-ESA on both estrogen receptor (ER)–negative MDA-MB-231 (MDA-wt) and ER-positive MDA-ERα7 human breast cancer cells. We found that α-ESA inhibited proliferation of both MDA-wt and MDA-ERα7 cells, whereas conjugated linoleic acid had comparatively weak antiproliferative activity at 20 to 80 μmol/L concentrations. We also found that α-ESA (40 μmol/L) treatment led to apoptosis in the range of 70% to 90% for both cell lines, whereas conjugated linoleic acid (40 μmol/L) resulted in only 5% to 10% apoptosis, similar to results for control untreated cells. Addition of α-ESA also caused loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and translocation of apoptosis-inducing factor as well as endonuclease G from the mitochondria to the nucleus. Additionally, α-ESA caused a G2-M block in the cell cycle. We also investigated the potential for lipid peroxidation to play a role in the inhibitory action of α-ESA. We found that when the breast cancer cells were treated with α-ESA in the presence of the antioxidant α-tocotrienol (20 μmol/L), the growth inhibition and apoptosis effects of α-ESA were lost. An AMP-activated protein kinase inhibitor (Dorsomorphin) was also able to partially abrogate the effects of α-ESA, whereas a caspase inhibitor (BOC-D-FMK) did not. These results illustrate that α-ESA can block breast cancer cell proliferation and induce apoptosis through a mechanism that may be oxidation dependent.
UVR Exposure Sensitizes Keratinocytes to DNA Adduct Formation
Authors: Nair Sudhir , Kekatpure Vikram D. , Judson Benjamin L. , Rifkind Arleen B. , Granstein Richard D. , Boyle Jay O. , Subbaramaiah Kotha , Guttenplan Joseph B. , Dannenberg Andrew J.
Published: September 2009

UV radiation (UVR) and exposure to tobacco smoke, a source of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), have been linked to skin carcinogenesis. UVR-mediated activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) stimulates the transcription of CYP1A1 and CYP1B1, which encode proteins that convert PAH to genotoxic metabolites. We determined whether UVR exposure sensitized human keratinocytes to PAH-induced DNA adduct formation. UVR exposure induced CYP1A1 and CYP1B1 in HaCaT cells, an effect that was mimicked by photooxidized tryptophan (aTRP) and FICZ, a component of aTRP. UVR exposure or pretreatment with aTRP or FICZ also sensitized cells to benzo(a)pyrene (B[a]P)-induced DNA adduct formation. αNF, an AhR antagonist, suppressed UVR-, aTRP-, and FICZ-mediated induction of CYP1A1 and CYP1B1 and inhibited B[a]P-induced DNA adduct formation. Treatment with 17-AAG, an Hsp90 inhibitor, caused a marked decrease in levels of AhR; inhibited UVR-, aTRP-, and FICZ-mediated induction of CYP1A1 and CYP1B1; and blocked the sensitization of HaCaT cells to B[a]P-induced DNA adduct formation. FICZ has been suggested to be a physiologic ligand of the AhR that may have systemic effects. Hence, studies of FICZ were also carried out in MSK-Leuk1 cells, a model of oral leukoplakia. Pretreatment with α-naphthoflavone or 17-AAG blocked FICZ-mediated induction of CYP1A1 and CYP1B1, and suppressed the increased B[a]P-induced DNA adduct formation. Collectively, these results suggest that sunlight may activate AhR signaling and thereby sensitize cells to PAH-mediated DNA adduct formation. Antagonists of AhR signaling may have a role in the chemoprevention of photocarcinogenesis.
Isolating the Effects of Social Interactions on Cancer Biology
Authors: Trainor Brian C. , Sweeney Colleen , Cardiff Robert
Published: September 2009

This perspective on Williams et al. (beginning on p. 850 in this issue of the journal) examines the connections between biological responses activated during psychosocial stress and mammary tumorigenesis. Experiments in mouse models of cancer are identifying aspects of tumor biology that may be regulated by hormones such as glucocorticoids released during psychosocial stress. Our growing understanding of the actions of glucocorticoids on breast tumors could lead to important changes in cancer treatment.
Favoritism in DNA Methylation
Authors: Hitchins Megan P. , Ward Robyn L.
Published: September 2009

This perspective on Candiloro and Dobrovic (beginning on p. 862 in this issue of the journal) highlights the interplay between epigenetic aberrations and underlying DNA sequence changes and illustrates how these alterations may predispose individuals to cancer. Candiloro and Dobrovic clearly show that particular genotypes of the MGMT gene are associated with its methylation in healthy individuals. Aberrant MGMT methylation may identify individuals who could be targeted for cancer screening and chemoprevention strategies.
'Cognitive Capitalism' and the Rat-Race: How Capital Measures Immaterial Labour in British Universities
Authors: Harvie David , De Angelis Massimo
Published: September 2009

One hundred years ago, Frederick Taylor and the pioneers of scientific management went into battle on US factory-floors. Armed with stopwatches and clipboards, they were fighting a war over measure. A century on and capitalist production has spread far beyond the factory walls and the confines of 'national economies'. Although capitalism increasingly seems to rely on 'cognitive' and 'immaterial' forms of labour and social cooperation, the war over measure continues. Armies of economists, statisticians, management-scientists, information-specialists, accountants and others are engaged in a struggle to connect heterogeneous concrete human activities on the basis of equal quantities of human labour in the abstract – that is, to link work and capitalist value. In this paper, we discuss contemporary capital's attempt to (re)impose the 'law of value' through its measuring of immaterial labour. Using the example of higher education in the UK – a 'frontline' of capitalist development – as our case-study, we explain how measuring takes places on various 'self-similar' levels of social organisation. We suggest that such processes are both diachronic and synchronic: socially-necessary labour-times of 'immaterial doings' are emerging and being driven down at the same time as heterogeneous concrete activities are being made commensurable. Alongside more overt attacks on academic freedom, it is in this way that neoliberalism appears on campus.
The Logical Construction of Value-Theory: More on Fine and Saad-Filho
Authors: Kincaid Jim
Published: September 2009

Fine and Saad-Filho are wrong to insist that an abstract category of production should be the starting point of Marxist value-theory in logical, temporal and causal terms. Marx, in Capital, begins with a repertoire of simpler categories and slowly constructs the complex category of capitalist production. It is vital that exploitation should be seen as one phase (however crucial) of a process of capital-in-motion, and due weight given to money, competition and realisation.
Althusser and Monod: A 'New Alliance'?
Authors: Turchetto Maria
Published: September 2009

Althusser dedicated the fourth lesson of his 'course of philosophy for scientists' at the Ecole Normale Supériere in the autumn of the 1967 to the inaugural lecture held by Jacques Monod at the Collège de France on 3 November in the same year. Althusser defined the concepts of 'living system' and of 'emergence' that Monod uses in his interpretation of evolution as 'materialist'; whereas he judged his conception of human history as the evolution of ideas in the 'noosphere' as 'idealistic'. Against the latter, Althusser counterposed a reading of Marx's work centred on the notion of 'structure' – which is very close to that of 'system' used within biology – and on the refusal of teleology and finalism. This last position, which Althusser takes up particularly in the writings of the 1980s on the 'materialism of the encounter', represent a particularly significant break with orthodox Marxism.
Single- and Multi-objective Optimization of Composite Structures: The Influence of Design Variables
Authors: Gillet A. , Francescato P. , Saffre P.
Published: September 2009

This study is aimed to evaluate the influence of a number of parameters within the context of composite structure optimization. In particular, the nature of the component materials and all of the possible orientations were studied. Problems optimizing elementary plates and structures modeled using finite elements were treated using a genetic algorithm. The results were used to define the relative importance of these parameters and to derive simple design rules that would reliably obtain a high-performance configuration.
Study on Molding Pressure of X-truss/Foam Sandwich Structures
Authors: Hao Jijun , Zhang Zuoguang , Li Min , Gu Yizuo , Sun Zhijie
Published: September 2009

X-truss/foam sandwich structure with prominent compression and shear strength has broad application prospects as primary structure in aircraft, truck, and other fields. But unsuitable molding pressure usually causes quality defects such as poor skin—core adhesion or broken Z-pins, which seriously decreases the structure’s mechanical property and induces too much thickness error. In order to obtain a suitable molding pressure, the hot pressing process was analyzed. It was found that the suitable molding pressure is mainly determined by the property of the foam core, the resisting force of Z-pin inserting into the face sheets, as well as Z-pin inserting angle and density. In the calculated suitable molding pressure, X-truss/ foam sandwich structures were successfully fabricated using carbon fiber Z-pins and face sheets together with polymethacrylimide foam core. The thickness of sandwich structures and final inserting angle of Z-pins were basically consistent with the calculations.
Enhanced Young’s Modulus of Al-Si Alloys and Reinforced Matrices by Co-continuous Structures
Authors: Lasagni Fernando , Degischer Hans Peter
Published: September 2009

In the present work, the elastic behavior of different hypoeutectic and hypereutectic Al-Si alloys and different Al2O3 short fiber and SiC particle reinforced materials (SFRM and PRM, respectively) is studied. The effective Young’s modulus (E) of materials was experimentally measured and compared with the different theoretical predictions of Hashin-Strikman, Tuchiniskii, shear lag, and the rule of mixtures (ROM). The unreinforced alloys present an interconnected lamellar Si structure after fast solidification, which increases the Young’s modulus up to that of the Tuchiniskii prediction for interpenetrating skeletal structures. On the other hand, alloys presenting isolated and coarse Si particles (after spheroidization treatment at 540°C) are well described by the lower bound of the ROMs. Similarly, the interconnected Si-SiC structure observed in 10 and 70 vol% SiC reinforced AlSi7Mg and AlSi7 matrices in the as cast condition is responsible for the higher stiffness of the composite, if compared with that of Al99.5 or spheroidized AlSi7 matrices. An analogous behavior is observed in the SFRMs in the as cast condition, where the Si lamellae bridge the Al2O3 fibers, increasing the Young’s modulus of the composites, if compared with the conditions of spheroidized Si. Furthermore, the primary Si particles produce an improvement in the Young’s modulus by connecting several fibers in the case of a short fiber-reinforced hypereutectic AlSi18 matrix.
Effects of Recorded Models on Novice Teachers’ Rehearsal Verbalizations, Evaluations, and Conducting
Authors: Montemayor Mark , Moss Emily A.
Published: September 2009

In this study, the authors investigated effects of aural model—supported rehearsal preparation on selected behavioral and evaluative elements of novice teachers’ rehearsals. Sixteen preservice music teachers conducted high school bands in four 15-minute rehearsals (two rehearsals on two different pieces).To prepare for their rehearsals on one piece, participants were given only the conductor score, while for the other piece, they were given both a score and a recorded model of the piece on an audio compact disc.Video recordings of all 64 rehearsals were systematically observed for teachers’ verbalizations across several musical and teaching variables. Participants also completed post-rehearsal evaluations of their teaching and of the ensemble’s playing. Differences between conditions were small, with teachers’ verbalizations reflecting a proportionally greater concern for accuracy in the model-supported condition. Evaluations of rehearsals were less self-directed and were more critical of the ensemble, a finding consistent with previous research.There was virtually no difference in responses between conditions for conductor expressiveness.
Effects of Mexiletine, a CYP1A2 Inhibitor, on Tizanidine Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics
Authors: Momo Kenji , Homma Masato , Osaka Yoshiko , Inomata Shin‐ichi , Tanaka Makoto , Kohda Yukinao
Published: September 2009

The aim of this study was to determine whether mexiletine, a CYP1A2 inhibitor, altered the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of tizanidine. The pharmacokinetics of tizanidine were examined in an open‐label study in 12 healthy participants after a single dose of tizanidine (2 mg) with and without mexiletine coadministration (50 mg, 3 times as a pretreatment for a day and 2 times on the study day). Compared with tizanidine alone, mexiletine coadministration increased the peak plasma concentration (1.8 ± 0.8 vs 5.3 ± 1.8 ng/mL), area under the curve (4.5 ± 2.2 vs 15.4 ± 6.5 ng·h/mL), and the half‐life (1.3 ± 0.2 vs 1.8 ± 0.7 h) of tizanidine, respectively (P < .05). Reduction in systolic blood pressure (−10 ± 8 vs −24 ± 7 mm Hg) and diastolic blood pressure (−10 ± 7 vs −18 ± 8 mm Hg) after tizanidine administration was also significantly enhanced by coadministration of mexiletine (P < .01). Of the 15 patients treated with tizanidine and mexiletine, 4 suffered tizanidine‐induced adverse effects such as drowsiness and dry mouth in the retrospective survey. Present results suggested that coadministration of mexiletine increased blood tizanidine concentrations and enhanced tizanidine pharmacodynamics in terms of reduction in blood pressure and adverse symptoms.
Analysis of Drug Interactions Involving Fruit Beverages and Organic Anion‐Transporting Polypeptides
Authors: Greenblatt David J.
Published: September 2009

Recently there has been speculation regarding prescription drug interactions with fruit beverages through inhibition of drug uptake transport by organic anion transporter polypeptides (OATPs). A review of clinical trials indicates that grapefruit juice (GFJ), orange juice (OJ), and apple juice can reduce oral bioavailability of fexofenadine, potentially reducing pharmacodynamic effects of fexofenadine. However, the clinical importance of the interaction is not clearly established. The effect is diminished by temporal separation of fruit juice and fexofenadine administration. GFJ and OJ substantially reduce oral bioavailability of celiprolol, a beta‐blocker not available in the United States. Beyond these two examples, other meaningful drug interactions with fruit beverages via OATP inhibition are not established at the present time.
Clopidogrel Before Elective Percutaneous Coronary Intervention
Authors: Motovska Zuzana , Widimsky Petr
Published: September 2009

The introduction of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) substantially changed the treatment of patients with coronary artery disease. Stent thrombosis is the most worrisome early complication in patients undergoing PCI. Therefore, antiplatelet therapy forms an integral component of treatment with intracoronary stent implantation. A multitude of randomized and observational studies have helped identify and define the role of clopidogrel in today's PCI patient. Although much is known about its use, a number of questions still remain.
The Safety of H2‐Blockers Use During Pregnancy
Authors: Matok Ilan , Gorodischer Rafael , Koren Gideon , Sheiner Eyal , Wiznitzer Arnon , Uziel Elia , Levy Amalia
Published: September 2009

Little data exist on the safety of H2‐blockers during pregnancy. A computerized database of medications dispensed from 1998 to 2007 to all women registered in the “Clalit” health maintenance organization, in the Southern District of Israel, was linked with computerized databases containing maternal and infant hospitalization records from the district hospital. The following confounders were controlled for: parity, maternal age, ethnic group, maternal diabetes, smoking, and peripartum fever. Also, therapeutic pregnancy termination data were analyzed. A total of 117 960 infants were born during the study period, 84 823 of them (72%) to women registered at Clalit; 1148 of the latter were exposed to H2‐blockers during the first trimester of pregnancy. Exposure to H2‐blockers was not associated with an increased risk for congenital malformations (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 1.03, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.80–1.32); also, no such association was found when therapeutic pregnancy terminations were included in the analysis (adjusted OR = 1.17, 95% CI: 0.93–1.46). Exposure to H2‐blockers was not associated with perinatal mortality, premature delivery, low birth weight, or low Apgar scores.
Capacity Constraints and Cost-Effectiveness: A Discrete Event Simulation for Drug-Eluting Stents
Authors: Jahn Beate , Pfeiffer Karl Peter , Theurl Engelbert , Tarride Jean-Eric , Goeree Ron
Published: September 2009

Background. Waiting times for access to care, for example, for diagnostic imaging or surgery, are a highly relevant issue in health care. Waiting or deferred treatment caused by limited resource capacities can affect treatment success, quality of life, and costs. However, when treatment alternatives are compared in economic models, often unrestricted availability of resources is assumed, and dynamic changes in waiting lines remain unconsidered. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of potential real-world capacity restrictions and implied waiting lines on cost-effectiveness results and additional model outcomes. Methods. A case study of drug-eluting and bare-metal stent treatment illustrates the effect of hypothetical capacity limitations of daily stenting procedures. Therefore, a decision-analytic model which allows for explicitly defined resource capacities and dynamic waiting lines was built using discrete event simulation. Cost-effectiveness, utilization, waiting time, and budgetary impact of alternative treatment scenarios are analyzed under the assumption of limited and unlimited resource capacities. Results. The compared treatment allocation scenarios in the case study demonstrate that the additional cost for waiting increases the average treatment cost per patient. The different scenarios have different impacts on waiting lines because of the number of repeated interventions. Additionally, this effect leads to changes in cost-effectiveness results for the hypothetical capacity limit. Explicitly modeled capacities allow for further analysis of capacity utilization, waiting lines, and budgetary impact. Conclusion. Our model shows that neglected limited capacities can cause wrong cost-effectiveness results. Therefore, capacities should be explicitly included in decision-analytic models if there is evidence of scarcity.
“If I Don’t Have to Work Anymore,Who Am I?”: Job Loss and Collaborative Self-Concept Repair
Authors: Garrett-Peters Raymond
Published: September 2009

Previous research on unemployment among managers and professionals has documented the experience of job loss as stressful because of both economic strain and the damage it does to valued identities and self-conceptions. Little research, however, has examined the processes through which displaced workers collectively attempt to repair this damage. Data from participant observation in four support groups, plus intensive interviews with twenty-two group members, are used to develop an analysis of the self-concept repair strategies used by these relatively privileged workers. Five main strategies are identified: (1) redefining the meaning of unemployment, (2) realizing accomplishment, (3) restructuring time, (4) forming accountability partnerships, and (5) helping others.These findings suggest that our understandings of how people cope with stressful life events need to take into account the social capital available to different groups. A second implication concerns our understanding of how the self-concept operates as a source of motivation.
Gossip at Work: Unsanctioned Evaluative Talk in Formal School Meetings
Authors: Hallett Tim , Harger Brent , Eder Donna
Published: September 2009

This article uses a form of linguistic ethnography (LE) to analyze videotaped recordings of gossip that took place during formal school meetings.By comparing these gossip data against existing models of gossip based on data collected in informal settings, the authors identify eleven new response classes, including four forms of indirectness that operate to cloak gossip under ambiguity and seven forms of avoidance that change the trajectory of gossip. In doing so, this article makes three larger contributions. First, it opens a new front in research on organizational politics by providing an empirically grounded, conceptually rich vocabulary for analyzing gossip in formal contexts. Second, it contributes to knowledge about social interactions in organizations. By examining gossip talk embedded within a work context, this project highlights the nexus among structure, agency, and interaction. Third, it contributes to understandings of gossip in general. By examining gossip in a context previously unexamined, this project provides analytical leverage for theorizing conditions under which gossip is likely and when it will take various forms.
Unmaking a Movement: Identity Work and the Outcomes of Zapatista Community Centers in Los Angeles
Authors: Glass Pepper G.
Published: September 2009

Identity work explains how participants in social movements build and maintain their collective identities, uniting movement groups. This study, based on ethnographic fieldwork comparing two Zapatista community centers in Los Angeles, asks if the absence of identity work leads to the dissolution of organizations. Both of these groups neglected work of identity convergence and identity construction to integrate three subgroups—“activists,” “organizers,” and “community members”—into a whole. Yet a lack of identity work alone does not explain the relative stability of one group while the second experienced conflict and eventually disbanded. Additional structural influences—an external crisis facing the group and the internal proportions between members—combined with these cultural factors to bring about organizational schism.
Examining the Virtual Subculture of Johns
Authors: Blevins Kristie R. , Holt Thomas J.
Published: September 2009

The growth of the Internet and computer-mediated communications has enabled the formation of a variety of deviant subcultures online, particularly among sexual deviants.This qualitative study examines the subculture of the male heterosexual clients of sex workers by exploring their argot. Using a sample of posts from Web forums in ten U.S. cities, this study identifies three subcultural norms that structure beliefs and attitudes about sex work among johns: experience, commodification, and sexuality. The influence of computer-mediated communications on the formation of subcultures and argot are explored as well.
Network-Centric Violence, Critical Infrastructure and the Urbanization of Security
Authors: Coward Martin
Published: September 2009

This article addresses the question of whether contemporary global urbanization is characterized by a distinctive relationship between the city and warfare. In particular, it examines the specific way in which two particular forms of warfare — so-called Al-Qaeda terrorism and US tactics in Iraq — target urban infrastructure. I argue that infrastructure is targeted because it is a constitutive feature of contemporary urban life. Metropolitan life is marked by its constitutive relation to urban infrastructure. The article thus suggests that this targeting of infrastructure provides a lens through which to investigate some of the central questions posed by the contemporary urbanization of security.
Gangs, Urban Violence, and Security Interventions in Central America
Authors: Jütersonke Oliver , Muggah Robert , Rodgers Dennis
Published: September 2009

Urban violence is a major preoccupation of policymakers, planners and development practitioners in cities around the world. Public authorities routinely seek to contain such violence through repression, as well as through its exportation to and containment at the periphery of metropolitan centres. Yet, urban violence is a highly heterogeneous phenomenon and not amenable to reified diagnosis and coercive intervention. Muscular state-led responses tend to overlook and conceal the underlying factors shaping the emergence of urban violence, as well as the motivations and means of so-called violence entrepreneurs. This is very obviously the case of urban gangs in Central America, which are regularly labelled a ‘new urban insurgency’ threatening the integrity of governments and public order. This article considers both the shape and character of Central American gang violence and attempts to reduce it, highlighting the complex relationship between these two phenomena. We advance a threefold approach to measuring the effectiveness of interventions, focusing in turn on discursive, practical and outcome-based criteria. In this way, the article demonstrates how, contrary to their reported success in diminishing gang violence, repressive first-generation approaches have tended instead to radicalize gangs, potentially pushing them towards more organized forms of criminality. Moreover, although credited with some modest successes, more preventive second-generation interventions seem to have yielded more rhetorical advances than meaningful reductions in gang violence.
Psychiatric Nurses’ Expertise, Interest in End-of-Life Care, and Requests for Continuing Education on End of Life
Authors: Valente Sharon , Saunders Judith
Published: September 2009

Background: The time before dying can be extremely challenging and stressful. Gaps in end-of-life care include inadequate communication, education about end-of-life options, symptom control, and management of common mental illnesses (eg, mood disorders, dementia), and death anxiety. Psychiatric nurses are in a pivotal position to help address these gaps and improve end-of-life care. Psychiatric nurses can facilitate communication about end of life, educate patients about options, and provide consultation, assessment, and management of common psychosocial needs (eg, mood disorders, grief, and loss). Objective: This survey examined psychiatric nurses’ perspectives of their skills, knowledge, expertise, continuing education needs, and recommendations for the role of the psychiatric nurse. Study design: Using a descriptive design, we surveyed a convenience sample of psychiatric nurses from the American Psychiatric Nurses Association. Results: Psychiatric nurses reported they were skilled in discussions of difficult topics, evaluation of mental status, and assessment and management of mood disorders, grief, and suicide risk. However, nurses asked for continuing education in focusing these skills for end of life, knowing the needs of the dying patient, and differentiating depression and dementia at end of life. Requests for continuing education on end-of-life care included issues about how to apply these psychiatric skills and knowledge to the dying patient and their families. Conclusions: Psychiatric nurses have skills and knowledge to reduce the gaps in end-of-life care. Many request continuing education to assist them to expand and focus their knowledge to use their psychosocial skills and to develop a specialty area in end-of-life care.
The Resilience of Affirmative Action in the 1980s: Innovation, Isomorphism, and Institutionalization in University Admissions
Authors: Lipson Daniel N.
Published: September 2009

This article applies neoinstitutional organization theory to uncover the central role of university officials in institutionalizing aggressive, race-based affirmative admissions procedures at three selective public universities from the late 1970s until the early 1990s. During this second stage of affirmative action, admissions and diversity officials at the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Wisconsin—Madison began to increasingly emphasize the diversity rationale and the method of individualized review. At a time of increasing judicial and executive scrutiny and skepticism of affirmative action, university officials defended and transformed race-conscious admissions in innovative ways when they could have instead chosen to contribute to its demise.
Influence of Semicontinuous Processing on the Rheology and Droplet Size Distribution of Mayonnaise-like Emulsions
Authors: Bengoechea C. , López M.L. , Cordobés F. , Guerrero A.
Published: September 2009

Oil-in-water (o/w) emulsions stabilized by egg yolk, with a composition similar to those found in commercial mayonnaises or salad dressings, were processed in a semicontinuous device. This specially designed emulsification device consists of, basically, a vessel provided with an anchor impeller, where the continuous phase was initially placed; a pumping system that controls the addition of the oily phase; a rotor-stator unit, where the major breaking of the oily droplets takes place, and a recirculation system. The design allowed the introduction of a rotational rheometer to obtain viscosity data along the emulsification process. The most important advantages of this in-line emulsification device, when compared to discontinuous emulsification equipment, are the possibilities of recording viscosity data along the process and the higher values for the storage, G', and loss moduli, G'', of the resulting emulsions. The influence of egg yolk concentration, agitation speed, and flow rate over the rheological properties (G', G'') as well as droplet size distribution were investigated. Higher protein concentration, agitation speed and flow rate generally produce emulsions with higher G' and G'' values.
A single-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of interferon beta-1b on primary progressive and transitional multiple sclerosis
Authors: Montalban X. , Sastre-Garriga J. , Tintoré M. , Brieva L. , Aymerich FX , Río J. , Porcel J. , Borràs C. , Nos C. , Rovira À.
Published: September 2009

Inflammation and neurodegeneration may have differential impacts on disease evolution in the different forms of multiple sclerosis. However, a beneficial effect of immunomodulatory drugs should not be ruled out in primary progressive multiple sclerosis. Our aim is to investigate the safety and efficacy of interferon beta-1b in primary progressive multiple sclerosis. We conducted a double-blind, stratified, randomized, parallel group, phase II pilot study where patients with primary progressive multiple sclerosis or ‘transitional’ forms of multiple sclerosis received interferon beta-1b at doses of 8 MIU or placebo for 24 months. The main objective of the study was to investigate the safety and tolerability of interferon beta-1b. The primary efficacy variable was the time to neurological deterioration (Expanded Disability Status Scale) confirmed at 3 months. Seventy-three patients were included and three dropped out the study. More patients in the treatment arm had at least one related adverse event (94.4% versus 45.9%; p < 0.001); no other significant differences in safety endpoints were observed. Time to neurological deterioration was not different between trial arms (log-rank test, p = 0.3135). Statistically significant differences favoring treatment were observed for the Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite score at several timepoints, T1 and T2 lesion volume changes at 12 and 24 months, mean number of active lesions and proportion of patients with active lesions at 24 months. We conclude that interferon beta-1b is safe and well tolerated in patients with primary progressive multiple sclerosis and transitional multiple sclerosis. Positive effects of interferon beta on secondary clinical and magnetic resonance imaging outcomes were observed, but a beneficial effect on Expanded Disability Status Scale progression was not demonstrated.
First trimester interleukin 8 levels are associated with postpartum relapse in multiple sclerosis
Authors: Neuteboom Rinze F , Verbraak Evert , Voerman Jane SA , van Meurs Marjan , Steegers Eric AP , de Groot Christianne JM , Laman Jon D , Hintzen Rogier Q
Published: September 2009

Pregnancy has an ameliorating effect on multiple sclerosis (MS), but directly after delivery the risk of a relapse is increased. The pro-inflammatory chemokine interleukin 8 is associated with disease activity. We aimed to investigate whether pregnancy-induced fluctuations of interleukin 8 correlate with periods of enhanced and diminished disease activity. Thirty-six women with MS were prospectively studied before, during and after pregnancy. Serum levels of interleukin 8 were significantly decreased during the third trimester (p = 0.03). High first trimester serum levels of interleukin 8 were associated with a high risk of postpartum relapse (p = 0.007). These results help us to further understand the altered disease course during pregnancy.
Effectiveness of foam sclerotherapy for the treatment of varicose veins
Authors: Nael Raha , Rathbun Suman
Published: September 2009

Varicose veins (VVs) are associated with lifestyle-limiting symptoms and complications. Patients who fail compression therapy are candidates for more invasive treatments. This study evaluates the efficacy and safety of endovenous foam sclerotherapy (EFS) for the treatment of VVs in a US academic center. We reviewed medical records of a consecutive cohort of patients who underwent EFS over a 2-year period. The primary outcome measure was obliteration of VVs. The secondary outcome measures were symptomatic improvement, ulcer healing, recurrence, and adverse events. A total of 166 patients (217 legs) underwent EFS for pain (81%), pruritis (41%), swelling (17%), ulcerations (17%), thrombophlebitis (14%), and varix rupture (3%). Complete (65%) or near-complete (34%) obliteration was achieved in 215 (99%) legs after one injection. Additional injections achieved complete obliteration in 39 of 53 legs. Ninety-three percent (27/29) of active ulcers healed or were decreasing in size. Five ulcers and 11 VVs recurred. Common adverse events included pain and hyperpigmentation. Thrombosis, hematoma, skin necrosis, and neurologic events were rare. In conclusion, EFS appears to be a safe and effective outpatient therapy for the treatment of symptomatic and complicated VVs.
A Linear Mapping Technique for Dispersion Removal of Lamb Waves
Authors: Liu L. , Yuan F.G.
Published: September 2009

A robust signal processing technique using linear mapping for removing dispersion of Lamb waves is presented in this article. Based on the assumption that the dispersion relation characteristic can be adequately approximated by a finite polynomial in the region close to the high wave energy intensity, the dispersion effect begins to reveal in the second-order term of the polynomial. The linear mapping performed in the finite usable frequency domain is to transform the original in priori known dispersion relation into the linear dispersion relation, i.e., truncated the polynomial up to the linear term which is nondispersive. The linear mapping technique does not require the propagation-path lengths and can be applied to the signals consisting of multiple arrivals with the same wave mode or dispersion characteristic. Synthetic and experimental data for isotropic plates with finite in-plane dimensions excited by the fundamental flexural wave mode are shown to demonstrate the robustness of the proposed dispersion removal technique.
Expression of active human sialyltransferase ST6GalNAcI in Escherichia coli
Authors: Skretas Georgios , Carroll Sean , DeFrees Shawn , Schwartz Marc F , Johnson Karl F , Georgiou George
Published: September 2009

Background

The presence of terminal, surface-exposed sialic acid moieties can greatly enhance the in vivo half-life of glycosylated biopharmaceuticals and improve their therapeutic efficacy. Complete and homogeneous sialylation of glycoproteins can be efficiently performed enzymically in vitro but this process requires large amounts of catalytically active sialyltransferases. Furthermore, standard microbial hosts used for large-scale production of recombinant enzymes can only produce small quantities of glycosyltransferases of animal origin, which lack catalytic activity.

Results and conclusion

In this work, we have expressed the human sialyltransferase ST6GalNAc I (ST6), an enzyme that sialylates O-linked glycoproteins, in Escherichia coli cells. We observed that wild-type bacterial cells are able to produce only very small amounts of soluble ST6 enzyme. We have found, however, that engineered bacterial strains which possess certain types of oxidative cytoplasm or which co-express the molecular chaperones/co-chaperones trigger factor, DnaK/DnaJ, GroEL/GroES, and Skp, can produce greatly enhanced amounts of soluble ST6. Furthermore, we have developed a novel high-throughput assay for the detection of sialyltransferase activity and used it to demonstrate that the bacterially expressed ST6 enzyme is active and able to transfer sialic acid onto a desialylated O-glycoprotein, bovine submaxillary mucin. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first example of expression of active human sialyltransferase in bacteria. This system may be used as a starting point for the evolution of sialyltransferases with better expression characteristics or altered donor/acceptor specificities.
Anti-inflammatory and arthritic effects of thiacremonone, a novel sulfurcompound isolated from garlic via inhibition of NF-κB
Authors: Ban Jung Ok , Oh Ju Hoon , Kim Tae Myoung , Kim Dae Joong , Jeong Heon-Sang , Han Sang Bae , Hong Jin Tae
Published: September 2009

Introduction

Sulfur compounds isolated from garlic exert anti-inflammatory properties. We recently isolated thiacremonone, a novel sulfur compound from garlic. Here, we investigated the anti-inflammatory and arthritis properties of thiacremonone through inhibition of NF-κB since NF-κB is known to be a target molecule of sulfur compounds and an implicated transcription factor regulating inflammatory response genes.

Methods

The anti-inflammatory and arthritis effects of thiacremone in in vivo were investigated in 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate-induced ear edema, carrageenan and mycobacterium butyricum-induced inflammatory and arthritis models. Lipopolysaccharide-induced nitric oxide (NO) production was determined by Griess method. The DNA binding activity of NF-κB was investigated by electrophoretic mobility shift assay. NF-κB and inducible nitric oxide synthetase (iNOS) transcriptional activity was determined by luciferase assay. Expression of iNOS and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) was determined by western blot.

Results

The results showed that topical application of thiacremonone (1 or 2 μg/ear) suppressed the 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate-induced (1 μg/ear) ear edema. Thiacremonone (1-10 mg/kg) administered directly into the plantar surface of hind paw also suppressed the carrageenan (1.5 mg/paw) and mycobacterium butyricum (2 mg/paw)-induced inflammatory and arthritic responses as well as expression of iNOS and COX-2, in addition to NF-κB DNA-binding activity. In further in vitro study, thiacremonone (2.5-10 μg/ml) inhibited lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 1 μg/ml)-induced nitric oxide (NO) production, and NF-κB transcriptional and DNA binding activity in a dose dependent manner. The inhibition of NO by thiacremonone was consistent with the inhibitory effect on LPS-induced inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and COX-2 expression, as well as iNOS transcriptional activity. Moreover, thiacremonone inhibited LPS-induced p50 and p65 nuclear translocation, resulting in an inhibition of the DNA binding activity of the NF-κB. These inhibitory effects on NF-κB activity and NO generation were suppressed by reducing agents dithiothreitol (DTT) and glutathione, and were abrogated in p50 (C62S)-mutant cells, suggesting that the sulfhydryl group of NF-κB molecules may be a target of thiacremonone.

Conclusions

The present results suggested that thiacremonone exerted its anti-inflammatory and anti-arthritic properties through the inhibition of NF-κB activation via interaction with the sulfhydryl group of NF-κB molecules, and thus could be a useful agent for the treatment of inflammatory and arthritic diseases.
How mothers with borderline personality disorder relate to their year-old infants
Authors: Hobson R. Peter , Patrick Matthew P. H. , Hobson Jessica A. , Crandell Lisa , Bronfman Elisa , Lyons-Ruth Karlen
Published: September 2009

Background

Women with borderline personality disorder have conflictual interpersonal relations that may extend to disrupted patterns of interaction with their infants.

Aims

To assess how women with borderline personality disorder engage with their 12 to 18-month-old infants in separation–reunion episodes.

Method

We videotaped mother–infant interactions in separation–reunion episodes of the Strange Situation test. The mothers were women with borderline personality disorder, with depression, or without psychopathological disorder. Masked ratings of maternal behaviour were made with the Atypical Maternal Behavior Instrument for Assessment and Classification.

Results

As predicted, a higher proportion (85%) of women with borderline personality disorder than women in the comparison groups showed disrupted affective communication with their infants. They were also distinguished by the prevalence of frightened/disoriented behaviour.

Conclusions

Maternal borderline personality disorder is associated with dysregulated mother–infant communication.
Age at onset and cognition in schizophrenia: meta-analysis
Authors: Rajji T. K. , Ismail Z. , Mulsant B. H.
Published: September 2009

Background

The relationship between cognition and age at onset of schizophrenia is largely unknown.

Aims

To compare cognitive deficits in individuals with youth-onset and late-onset schizophrenia with those in adults with first-episode schizophrenia.

Method

Twenty-nine databases (including EMBASE, MEDLINE and PsycINFO) were searched from 1980 to 2008. Selected publications had to include healthy controls and analyse separately individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia or a related disorder and individuals with first-episode, youth-onset or late-onset schizophrenia. Descriptive and cognitive data were extracted and the latter aggregated into 22 cognitive measures. Cohen's effect size raw and weighted means of cognitive deficits were generated and compared in the three groups.

Results

Individuals with youth-onset and first-episode schizophrenia demonstrate large deficits (mean effect size ⩾0.8) on almost all cognitive measures. Individuals with youth-onset schizophrenia demonstrate larger deficits than those with first-episode schizophrenia on arithmetic, executive function, IQ, psychomotor speed of processing and verbal memory. In contrast, those with late-onset schizophrenia demonstrate minimal deficits on arithmetic, digit symbol coding and vocabulary, but larger ones on attention, fluency, global cognition, IQ and visuospatial construction.

Conclusions

Individuals with youth-onset schizophrenia have severe cognitive deficits, whereas those with late-onset schizophrenia have some relatively preserved cognitive functions. This finding supports the view that severity of the disease process is associated with different ages at onset. In addition, the cognitive pattern of people with late-onset schizophrenia suggests that their deficits are specific rather than solely as a result of ageing and related factors.
Maternal tobacco, cannabis and alcohol use during pregnancy and risk of adolescent psychotic symptoms in offspring
Authors: Zammit Stanley , Thomas Kate , Thompson Andrew , Horwood Jeremy , Menezes Paulo , Gunnell David , Hollis Chris , Wolke Dieter , Lewis Glyn , Harrison Glynn
Published: September 2009

Background

Adverse effects of maternal substance use during pregnancy on fetal development may increase risk of psychopathology.

Aims

To examine whether maternal use of tobacco, cannabis or alcohol during pregnancy increases risk of offspring psychotic symptoms.

Method

A longitudinal study of 6356 adolescents, age 12, who completed a semi-structured interview for psychotic symptoms in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) birth cohort.

Results

Frequency of maternal tobacco use during pregnancy was associated with increased risk of suspected or definite psychotic symptoms (adjusted odds ratio 1.20, 95% CI 1.05–1.37, P = 0.007). Maternal alcohol use showed a non-linear association with psychotic symptoms, with this effect almost exclusively in the offspring of women drinking >21 units weekly. Maternal cannabis use was not associated with psychotic symptoms. Results for paternal smoking during pregnancy and maternal smoking post-pregnancy lend some support for a causal effect of tobacco exposure in utero on development of psychotic experiences.

Conclusions

These findings indicate that risk factors for development of non-clinical psychotic experiences may operate during early development. Future studies of how in utero exposure to tobacco affects cerebral development and function may lead to increased understanding of the pathogenesis of psychotic phenomena.