bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Knowing Love: The Epistemology of Clarissa
Authors: Binhammer Katherine
Published: December 2007

My essay focuses on the eighteenth-century gender revolution, in particular, how the obsessive retelling of seduction narratives provided contesting narratives for knowing love. Love's plot changes with the emergence of bourgeois ideology, a change which many feminist scholars interpret as negative for women. In doing so, scholars read late eighteenth-century seduction narratives as always already reflecting the nineteenth-century ideal of passive desexed femininity. My essay focuses on Samuel Richardson's paradigmatic novel Clarissa in order to demonstrate that Clarissa's multiple narratives provide contesting epistemologies. Clarissa shows that the ideal of passive femininity was not the only and inevitable outcome of the gender revolution and that the multiple plots in the novel reflect the heterogeneous terrain for knowing love in the mid-eighteenth century.
Nowhere and Everywhere: The End of Portability in William Morris's Romances
Authors: Plotz John
Published: December 2007

In News from Nowhere and his neglected prose romances (1891-1896), William Morris aims to refute a Victorian novelistic commonplace: that personal identity and cultural privilege are portable properties, and that empathic identification depends on individuals' carrying a durable sense of self with them, housed in such portable properties. Influenced by the Chartists and by a subterranean tradition of English radical writing, Morris produced these romances as a series of anti-novels, aiming for a deindividuating aesthetic of surfaces over depths, an aesthetic that erased not only apparent differences between words, but also between persons.
Free Trade and Disloyal Smugglers in Scott's Guy Mannering and Redgauntlet
Authors: Çelikkol Ayşe
Published: December 2007

This essay links representations of smuggling in Walter Scott's Guy Mannering and Redgauntlet to early-nineteenth-century economic debates on free trade. It argues that the disloyal smuggler figure in these novels addresses the impact of global commodity exchange on individual subjectivity. The smuggler's status as a romance figure underlies its ability to narrate the capitalist challenge to the authority of the modern nation-state. The genre of romance helps imagine transnational subjectivity because its roots predate the nation state.
Decomposing City: Walt Whitman's New York and the Science of Life and Death
Authors: Farland Maria
Published: December 2007

This essay situates Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass in the context of New York's environmental health crisis in the 1850s and 1860s. Against the dominant conception of Whitman as a poet of urban life, I argue that "This Compost"—and related lyrics in Leaves—express profound discomfort with the City's escalating waste, decay, and decomposing matter, and their effects on environmental and individual health. The poet's early prose writings endorse urban sanitary science as the basis for improved environmental and individual health, whereas his later poetry looks to botanical specimens such as leaves and grass as the preferred healing agents, viewing nature as the "Best Physician."
Evidentiality and double tense in Matses
Authors: Fleck David W
Published: December 2007

The Matses language of the Panoan family, spoken in Amazonian Peru and Brazil, has one of the most intricate evidential systems ever described, requiring speakers to precisely and explicitly code their source of information every time they report a past event. In a typologically unique inflectional configuration that I call DOUBLE TENSE the speakers specify both (i) how long ago an inferred event happened and (ii) how long ago the evidence upon which the inference was made was encountered. This article explores in detail the Matses evidential system, focusing on several novel patterns relevant to the typological study of evidentiality and providing social and historical perspectives.
Un-forgetting Asclepius: An Erotics of Illness
Authors: Morris David B
Published: December 2007

Theorist Georges Bataille asserts that while sex is common to all animals, only humankind turns sexual activity into erotic activity. Professional medicine today is situated in a space remote from erotic experience. Especially because doctors openly deny that eros and desire hold any relevance to illness, a denial echoed by patients who learn to repeat what doctors believe, it is important to explore a contradictory argument (with its strong supporting evidence) holding that illness and medicine operate within an intrinsically erotic dimension. In this argument, Hippocrates stands as the founder and representative of rational medicine—call it medical logos. The great antagonist of Hippocrates, in a typological division useful in clarifying specific historical moments, is the ancient Greek god, Asclepius. Asclepius and Hippocrates reflect a continuing split within medicine between eros and logos. It is a split some patients and doctors today are openly beginning to question. Especially with reference to the work of four writers—Virginia Woolf, Audre Lorde, Anatole Broyard, and Rafael Campo—this study begins an exploration of interrelations in the modern and postmodern era among eros, illness, and medicine.
On the Origin of Adaptations: Rethinking Fidelity Discourse and "Success"—Biologically
Authors: Bortolotti Gary R , Hutcheon Linda
Published: December 2007

Like that early evolutionary theory (though unlike Darwin himself), much work in literary adaptation today thinks only in terms of higher and lower forms, that is, considering adaptations as more or less "faithful" to the "original". In biology, it was only when this sort of evaluative discourse was discarded that new questions could be asked and therefore new answers offered. To that end, a biologist and a literary theorist work to develop the homology between biological and cultural adaptation, between natural and cultural selection: stories, in a manner parallel to genes, replicate; the adaptations of both evolve with changing environments. Their "success" cannot and should not, in either case, be limited to their degree of "fidelity" to anything called a "source" or "original".
Things (Not) to Do with Breasts in Public: Maternal Embodiment and the Biocultural Politics of Infant Feeding
Authors: Hausman Bernice L
Published: December 2007

This article offers a biocultural analysis of public representations of breastfeeding, identifying underlying social conflicts that infant feeding controversies mask. If the traditional biocultural approach to breastfeeding emphasizes a need to take account of biological facts from within an evolutionary perspective, this version attends to biological and cultural narratives of lactation as constructions of maternity that together produce diverse rhetorical and material results. Analyzing breastfeeding from this kind of perspective brings attention to social norms of male embodiment, the role of technology in mediating social anxieties about mother's bodies, and the ambivalent cultural impacts of the medicalization of infant feeding. The analysis focuses on three different representational domains: television programs and other mass media forms, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2004 National Breastfeeding Promotion Campaign, and feminist scholarship and activism addressing breastfeeding. In each domain, the same controversies circulate—for example, the physical difficulties of breastfeeding, whether breastfeeding in public is appropriate, how much breastfeeding contributes to health, or whether breastfeeding necessitates a technological apparatus to insure success. These debates really concern maternal responsibility and sexuality: the "problem of breastfeeding" is really another problem, namely the one initiated by women's attempts to enter into public life as women, with all the attendant difficulties of asserting equality and difference simultaneously and of challenging reigning public norms about women's proper place.
Monsoon Cultures: Climate and Acculturation in Alexander Hamilton's A New Account of the East Indies
Authors: Markley Robert
Published: December 2007

Alexander Hamilton's account of his thirty-five years as a merchant and ship's captain in the Far East (c. 1688-1723) describes the interanimating processes of his acculturation to the peoples, languages, and cultures he encounters and his acclimatization to the monsoon-driven winds, tides, and seasons of a region alien to the experience of his British readers. In its geographical, environmental, and cultural specificity, Hamilton's New Account rejects generic overviews in favor of a socioecological and biocultural analysis of South, Southeast and Far Eastern Asia. Hamilton demonstrates a sophisticated awareness of the feedback loops among climate, ecology, and culture in the monsoonal tropics, and his descriptions of the political ecology of Siam, Cambodia, Bencolon, and Johor reveal the ways in which currents, tides, winds, crops, flora, and fauna become, in Bruno Latour's sense, actants within complex material networks. In this respect, A New Account both supplements and calls into question the production of biocultural knowledge by other Europeans who wrote about Southeast Asia.
Electric Field–Enhanced Sensitivity of Grafted Ligands and Receptors
Authors: Negi Ajay Singh , Sood Ajay Kumar
Published: December 2007

Background: Particle-based agglutination tests consisting of receptors grafted to colloidal microparticles are useful for detecting small quantities of corresponding ligands of interest in fluid test samples, but detection limits of such tests are limited to a certain concentration and it is most desirable to lower the detection limits and to enhance the rate of recognition of ligands.

Methods: A mixture of receptor-coated colloidal microparticles and corresponding ligand was sandwiched between 2 indium tin oxide–coated glass plates. Electrohydrodynamic drag from an alternating-current electric field applied perpendicular to the plates increased the local concentration of the colloidal particles, improving the chances of ligand-receptor interaction and leading to the aggregation of the colloidal particles.

Results: With this technique the sensitivity of the ligand-receptor recognition was increased by a factor as large as 50.

Conclusions: This method can improve the sensitivity of particle-based agglutination tests used in immunoassays and many other applications such as immunoprecipitation and chemical sniffing.
Association of Circulating Lactoferrin Concentration and 2 Nonsynonymous LTF Gene Polymorphisms with Dyslipidemia in Men Depends on Glucose-Tolerance Status
Authors: Moreno-Navarrete José Maria , Ortega Francisco José , Bassols Judit , Castro Antoni , Ricart Wifredo , Fernández-Real José Manuel
Published: December 2007

Background: Lactoferrin, an innate immune protein with antiinflammatory properties, shows considerable antiatherosclerosis activity in animal studies. We investigated the relationship between circulating lactoferrin, lactoferrin gene (LTF, lactotransferrin) polymorphisms, dyslipidemia, and vascular reactivity in the context of glucose-tolerance status in men.

Methods: We evaluated 2 nonsynonymous LTF polymorphisms (rs1126477 and rs1126478) and measured circulating lactoferrin concentrations by ELISA under nonstressed conditions in healthy Caucasian men (n = 188) and male patients with an altered glucose tolerance (n = 202). We also studied the association of lactoferrin concentration with vascular reactivity via high-resolution ultrasound analysis of the brachial artery in a subsample of study participants.

Results: Circulating lactoferrin concentration was inversely associated with fasting triglyceride concentration (r = −0.24; P = 0.001), body mass index (BMI) (r = −0.20; P = 0.007), waist-to-hip ratio (r = −0.35; P <0.001), and fasting glucose concentration (r = −0.18; P = 0.01), and directly correlated with HDL cholesterol concentration (r = 0.21; P = 0.004). Control AG heterozygotes for rs1126477 had significantly decreased fasting triglyceride concentrations (P = 0.001). Similarly, control individuals who were G carriers for rs1126478 had significantly lower fasting triglyceride concentrations (P = 0.044) and significantly higher HDL cholesterol concentrations (P = 0.028) than AA homozygotes. These associations remained significant after controlling for age, BMI, waist-to-hip ratio, fasting glucose concentration, smoking status, and alcohol intake. Circulating lactoferrin concentration was not significantly associated with endothelium-dependent vasodilatation (EDVD) in the individuals studied (n = 95); however, lactoferrin was positively associated with EDVD in obese participants with an altered glucose tolerance (r = 0.54; P = 0.04).

Conclusions: We have identified associations among LTF polymorphisms, circulating lactoferrin concentration, fasting triglyceride concentration, and vascular reactivity in humans.
Hyperinsulinism in Infancy and Childhood: When an Insulin Level Is Not Always Enough
Authors: Palladino Andrew A , Bennett Michael J , Stanley Charles A
Published: December 2007

Background: Hypoglycemia in infants and children can lead to seizures, developmental delay, and permanent brain damage. Hyperinsulinism (HI) is the most common cause of both transient and permanent disorders of hypoglycemia. HI is characterized by dysregulated insulin secretion, which results in persistent mild to severe hypoglycemia. The various forms of HI represent a group of clinically, genetically, and morphologically heterogeneous disorders.

Content: Congenital hyperinsulinism is associated with mutations of SUR-1 and Kir6.2, glucokinase, glutamate dehydrogenase, short-chain 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase, and ectopic expression on β-cell plasma membrane of SLC16A1. Hyperinsulinism can be associated with perinatal stress such as birth asphyxia, maternal toxemia, prematurity, or intrauterine growth retardation, resulting in prolonged neonatal hypoglycemia. Mimickers of hyperinsulinism include neonatal panhypopituitarism, drug-induced hypoglycemia, insulinoma, antiinsulin and insulin-receptor stimulating antibodies, Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome, and congenital disorders of glycosylation. Laboratory testing for hyperinsulinism may include quantification of blood glucose, plasma insulin, plasma β-hydroxybutyrate, plasma fatty acids, plasma ammonia, plasma acylcarnitine profile, and urine organic acids. Genetic testing is available through commercial laboratories for genes known to be associated with hyperinsulinism. Acute insulin response (AIR) tests are useful in phenotypic characterization. Imaging and histologic tools are also available for diagnosing and classifying hyperinsulinism. The goal of treatment in infants with hyperinsulinism is to prevent brain damage from hypoglycemia by maintaining plasma glucose levels above 700 mg/L (70 mg/dL) through pharmacologic or surgical therapy.

Summary: The management of hyperinsulinism requires a multidisciplinary approach that includes pediatric endocrinologists, radiologists, surgeons, and pathologists who are trained in diagnosing, identifying, and treating hyperinsulinism.
Prospective Study of High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein as a Determinant of Mortality: Results from the MONICA/KORA Augsburg Cohort Study, 1984–1998
Authors: Koenig Wolfgang , Khuseyinova Natalie , Baumert Jens , Meisinger Christa
Published: December 2007

Background: C-reactive protein (CRP), an exquisitely sensitive systemic marker of inflammation, has emerged as an independent predictor of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Because other chronic diseases are also associated with an inflammatory response, we sought to assess the association of high-sensitivity CRP (hsCRP) with total and cause-specific mortality in a large cohort of middle-aged men.

Methods: We measured hsCRP at baseline in 3620 middle-aged men, randomly drawn from 3 samples of the general population in the Augsburg area (Southern 0Germany) in 1984–85, 1989–90, and 1994–95. Outcome was defined as all deaths, fatal CVD, fatal coronary heart disease (CHD) including sudden cardiac deaths, and cancer deaths.

Results: During an average follow-up of 7.1 years, 408 deaths occurred (CVD 196, CHD 129, cancer 127). In multivariable Cox regression analysis, subjects with hsCRP >3 mg/L at baseline showed an almost 2-fold increased risk to die vs those with hsCRP <1 mg/L [hazard ratio (HR) 1.88, 95% CI 1.41–2.52]. HRs were 2.15 (95% CI 1.39–3.34) for fatal CVD, 1.74 (1.04–2.92) for fatal CHD, and 1.65 (1.01–2.68) for cancer mortality. In contrast, neither total nor HDL cholesterol significantly predicted all-cause or cancer mortality, and cholesterol had only modest effects on CVD mortality.

Conclusions: Our results suggest that increased circulating hsCRP concentrations are associated with an increased risk of death from several widespread chronic diseases. Persistently increased hsCRP is a sensitive and valuable nonspecific indicator of an ongoing disease process that deserves serious and careful medical attention.
PREDICTION OF NEURODEVELOPMENTAL OUTCOME AFTER PERINATAL ASPHYXIA VIA TRANSCRANIAL CEREBRAL ARTERY DOPPLER ULTRASONOGRAPHY
Authors: Lin Haung-Chi , Shue Teng-Chi
Published: January 2008

INTRODUCTION: Perinatal asphyxia is the most common cause of neurologic injury to the neonate and may lead to significant morbidity and mortality. Cerebral artery Doppler ultrasonography has been used for prediction of outcome after perinatal asphyxia in recent decades.

OBJECTIVE: We investigated whether cerebral artery Doppler ultrasonography is 1 of earliest markers of neurodevelopmental outcome.

METHODS: Cerebral artery Doppler ultrasonography was performed serially via temporal window during the first week of life in 24 asphyxiated neonates in our NICU from 1999 to 2007. The resistive indexes (RI) and blood flow velocities in the cerebral arteries of the circle of Willis were obtained. Neurodevelopmental outcomes were evaluated during follow-up.

RESULTS: Four patterns of cerebral artery Doppler ultrasonography were identified: pattern 1, normal RI with normal cerebral blood flow (6 neonates); pattern 2, normal RI with high cerebral blood flow (4 neonates); pattern 3, high RI after 48 hours of life (8 neonates); and pattern 4, low RI with high cerebral blood flow (6 neonates). Patterns 3 and 4 demonstrated grave prognosis, with severe cerebral palsy or mortality reported in more than 3 of 4 of neonates with either pattern, whereas all neonates with pattern 1 had favorable outcomes, free of delayed development or neurologic sequelae.

CONCLUSIONS: Cerebral artery Doppler ultrasonography is an early useful tool for predicting neurodevelopmental outcome after perinatal asphyxia. The outcomes turned out to be grave once abnormal RIs were detected, either low or high, indicating severe neurologic damage after asphyxia.
Radiographic, scintigraphic and magnetic resonance imaging findings in the palmar processes of the distal phalanx
Authors: NAGY A. , DYSON S. J. , MURRAY R. M.
Published: December 2007

Reasons for performing study: Increased radiopharmaceutical uptake (IRU) in the palmar processes of the distal phalanx is recognised but its clinical significance has not been established.

Objectives: To investigate the relationship between radiographic, scintigraphic and MRI findings in the palmar processes of the distal phalanx.

Hypotheses: Increased radiopharmaceutical uptake in the palmar processes of the distal phalanx is associated with MRI abnormalities; IRU and MRI abnormalities are over‐represented in lame limbs.

Methods: Clinical data, radiographic, scintigraphic and MRI findings of 258 horses with unilateral or bilateral foot pain were recorded. Scintigraphic images were assessed subjectively and using region of interest and profile analysis, and intensity of IRU graded. Alteration in signal intensity in T1 and T2 weighted and short tau inversion recovery (STIR) MR images was documented, and MRI abnormalities graded. Relationships between scintigraphic, MRI, radiographic and clinical findings were assessed.

Results: Focal IRU was over‐represented in palmar processes with most MRI abnormalities. There was a significant correlation between IRU and MRI grades and IRU was over‐represented in palmar processes with MRI Grades 2 and 3. Both IRU and MRI abnormalities occurred most frequently in the medial palmar process. MRI abnormalities were generally over‐represented in lame limbs. The most common MRI abnormality was mild diffuse decreased signal intensity in T1 and T2 weighted images, which was associated with mild generalised IRU.

Conclusions: There was considerable variation in the radiographic, scintigraphic and MRI appearance of palmar processes of the distal phalanx. Focal IRU in a palmar process was seen in association with MRI abnormalities and lameness or as an incidental finding. Magnetic resonance imaging abnormalities occurred more frequently in lame limbs, either contributing to lameness or as a consequence of lameness.

Potential relevance: Further investigation is needed to establish the clinical significance of MRI abnormalities in the palmar processes of the distal phalanx and their relationship with lesions in adjacent structures.
Liposome‐mediated uptake of exogenous DNA by equine spermatozoa and applications in sperm‐mediated gene transfer
Authors: BALL B. A. , SABEUR K. , ALLEN W. R.
Published: December 2007

Reasons for performing study: Sperm‐mediated gene transfer has been reported as a method for production of transgenic animals in a variety of species, and this technique represents a possible method for production of transgenic equids.

Objectives: To evaluate the uptake of exogenous DNA (enhanced green fluorescent protein; pEGFP) by equine spermatozoa and to assess the ability of transfected spermatozoa to introduce this transgene into early equine embryos.

Methods: To evaluate incorporation of pEGFP into equine spermatozoa, washed spermatozoa were incubated with 32P‐pEGFP, with or without lipofection. Spermatozoa were also transfected with fluorescently‐labelled DNA (Alexa647‐pEGFP) and changes in sperm viability and DNA uptake were assessed. Mares were inseminated with pEGFP‐transfected spermatozoa and embryos recovered. Expression of pEGFP was assessed by epifluorescence microscopy of embryos, and the presence of pEGFP DNA and mRNA was assessed by PCR and RT‐PCR, respectively.

Results: Liposome‐mediated transfection increased the incorporation of 32P‐pEGFP into spermatozoa compared to controls. Flow cytometric evaluation of spermatozoa after transfection with Alexa647‐pEGFP revealed a linear increase in the proportion of live, Alexa647+ spermatozoa with increasing DNA concentrations. After insemination with transfected spermatozoa, 8 embryos were recovered. There was no evidence of EGFP expression in the recovered embryos; however, PCR analysis revealed evidence of the pEGFP transgene in 2 of 5 embryos analysed.

Conclusions: The incorporation of exogenous DNA by equine spermatozoa was enhanced by liposome‐mediated transfection and this did not adversely affect sperm viability, acrosomal integrity or fertility. Although the EGFP transgene was detected in a proportion of Day 7–10 embryos, there was no evidence of expression of EGFP in these embryos.

Potential relevance: Sperm‐mediated gene transfer offers a potential technique for the generation of transgenic equids.
Plasma aldosterone, vasopressin and atrial natriuretic peptide in hypovolaemia: A preliminary comparative study of neonatal and mature horses
Authors: HOLLIS A. R. , BOSTON R. C. , CORLEY K. T. T.
Published: December 2007

Reasons for performing study: Neonatal foals succumb rapidly to hypovolaemic shock in comparison to mature horses; they do not consistently increase their heart rate in response to hypotension and respond differently to fluid administration. The hormonal responses to hypovolaemia in the horse and foal require investigation.

Hypothesis: The hormonal responses to hypovolaemia and fluid administration differ between mature and neonatal horses.

Methods: Five mature horses and 5 neonatal foals fulfilling predetermined criteria for hypovolaemia, were included in the study. A blood sample was taken at admission and after normalisation of fluid balance. These were analysed for plasma aldosterone, vasopressin (AVP) and atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP). Normally distributed variables were compared using the Student'sttest and nonparametric data using the Mann‐Whitney U test.

Results: ANP, AVP and aldosterone were higher before fluid resuscitation than after fluid resuscitation in mature horses. Aldosterone was higher before than after fluid resuscitation in foals, and was higher in foals both before and after fluid resuscitation than in mature horses. ANP was lower in mature horses after fluid resuscitation than in foals. No other comparisons were significantly different.

Conclusions: The hormonal responses of the mature and neonatal horses are different during hypovolaemia and following fluid resuscitation.

Potential relevance: The differences in the hormonal responses to hypovolaemia and fluid resuscitation may be important when considering fluid resuscitation of hypovolaemic horses and foals, and warrants further investigation.
The effect of omeprazole paste on intragastric pH in clinically ill neonatal foals
Authors: JAVSICAS L. H. , SANCHEZ L. C.
Published: December 2007

Reasons for performing the study: Administration of omeprazole pasteper osto healthy neonatal foals has been shown to effectively increase intragastric pH, but has not been evaluated in sick neonatal foals.

Objectives: To determine the effect of orally administered omeprazole paste on intragastric pH in clinically ill neonatal foals requiring nasogastric intubation.

Methods: Intragastric pH was measured continuously for 24 h using an indwelling electrode and continuous data recording system in hospitalised neonatal foals age ≤2 days. Intragastric pH was measured for 12 h prior to (pretreatment period) and 12 h following (post treatment period) treatment with omeprazole paste (4 mg/kg bwtper os). All foals displayed periods of acidity (pH <4) prior to treatment. Statistical analysis compared pre‐ and post treatment mean and median intragastric pH, and percentage of time below pH 4.

Results: Eight foals were evaluated age 1–3 days, a gestational age of at least 320 days or reported to be full term. The mean (3.19 ± 1.50 vs. 6.20 ± 0.93) and median (4.6 ± 1.7 vs. 6.86 ± 0.89) pH were significantly higher and the percentage of time below pH 4 (32.25 vs. 1.1%) was significantly lower in the post treatment compared to the pretreatment period.

Conclusion: Omeprazole paste effectively increases intragastric pH in clinically ill neonatal foals after one dose at 4 mg/kg bwt orally.
Effects of a commercial dose of L‐tryptophan on plasma tryptophan concentrations and behaviour in horses
Authors: NOBLE G. K. , BROCKWELL Y. M. , MUNN K. J. , HARRIS P. A. , DAVIDSON H. P. B. , LI X. , ZHANG D. , SILLENCE M. N.
Published: December 2007

Reasons for performing the study: L‐tryptophan is a common ingredient in equine calmative products, but its effectiveness has not been demonstrated in horses.

Hypothesis: To determine whether a commercial dose of L‐tryptophan increases plasma tryptophan and alters behaviour in horses fed a roughage or concentrate meal.

Methods: L‐tryptophan (6.3 g) or placebo (water) was administeredper osin a cross‐over design, to 12 Thoroughbred horses (503 ± 12.1 kg bwt), just before a meal of lucerne hay or oats. Plasma tryptophan was measured by gas chromatography. Horse behaviour was observed in an empty enclosure, then in the presence of an unfamiliar person and a novel object.

Results: Total plasma tryptophan increased 3‐fold in both studies, peaking 1.5‐2 h after dosing. After the peak, tryptophan remained high for several hours if the horses had been fed hay, but fell sharply if fed oats, consistent with the glycaemic responses to these meals. However, the ratio of tryptophan to 4 large neutral amino acids (phenylalanine, tyrosine, leucine and isoleucine) increased in the tryptophan‐treated horses to a similar extent and for a similar duration, with both diets. The presence of a stranger or novel object increased heart rate (P<0.05), but caused no behavioural effects that were altered by tryptophan, regardless of the diet.

Conclusions: Plasma tryptophan increases when tryptophan is administered at a dose used in some commercial products, but this is not reflected by marked behavioural changes in the horse.

Potential relevance: Further work is required to refine behavioural tests and identify an effective dose of L‐tryptophan in the horse.
Treatment of equine cheek teeth by mechanical widening of diastemata in 60 horses (2000–2006)
Authors: DIXON P. M. , BARAKZAI S. , COLLINS N. , YATES J.
Published: December 2007

Reason for performing study: Cheek teeth (CT) diastemata are a significant cause of painful dental disease in horses and limited factual information is available on the treatment of this disorder.

Objective: To assess the response to mechanical widening in the treatment of diastema.

Method: Details of the presenting signs and treatment of cases of CT diastema by widening were recorded and the response to treatment of these cases assessed by re‐examinations and by obtaining follow‐up information from owners.

Results: Sixty horses of various breeds, median age 9 years, with clinically significant CT diastemata were classified as having primary (inadequate rostro‐caudal CT compression: n = 29) and secondary (to other dental abnormalities: n = 31) diastemata. Quidding was present in 82% of cases, weight loss in 35%, halitosis in 17% and bitting disorders in 12%; 85% of the identified CT diastemata involved mandibular CT and 15% maxillary CT, with caudal CT more commonly affected. Of 273 identified diastemata in the 60 horses, 207 were deemed to have significantly associated periodontal food pocketing and were widened to 4.5‐5.5 mm diameter on their occlusal surface using a mechanical burr. The 29 horses with primary diastemata received a median of 1.3 treatments each and at 10 months following their last treatment 72% showed complete remission of signs and 28% showed good improvement. The 31 horses with secondary diastemata received a median of 2.2 treatments each and, at mean 9 months following their last treatment, 48% showed full improvement, 42% good improvement, 6% slight improvement and 3% no improvement. Inappropriate areas of the clinical crown were removed from 4 CT without causing pulpar exposure; one case was reported to have a transient oral infection post treatment and another developed an apical infection in a treated tooth that was unrelated to the diastema widening.

Conclusion: Diastema widening is an effective treatment of periodontal pocketing in CT diastemata

Potential relevance: The described treatment of CT diastema widening by trained personnel is an effective and safe treatment, but repeated treatments are often necessary, especially with secondary diastemata.
Epiphyseal cartilage canal blood supply to the tarsus of foals and relationship to osteochondrosis
Authors: OLSTAD K. , YTREHUS B. , EKMAN S. , CARLSON C. S. , DOLVIK N. I.
Published: December 2007

Reasons for performing study: Pathological changes in the blood supply to growth cartilage have been implicated in the pathogenesis of osteochondrosis (OC) in horses, but have not been reported using vascular perfusion techniques.

Objective: To describe the developmental pattern of cartilage canal vessels in the distal tibial epiphysis and talar growth cartilage of foals.

Methods: Nine foals bred from parents with OC were sacrificed between the ages of 0 and 7 weeks to undergo a barium perfusion procedure. The distal end of the tibia and the entire talus were cleared in methyl salicylate and perfused vessels studied in the intact bones. Slabs with a thickness of 4–5 mm from 3 predilection sites for OC were examined in the stereomicroscope and with light microscopy.

Results: Cartilage canals were present for a limited period of growth. Perfused vessels initially entered canals from the perichondrium. Vessels in the proximal portion of canals retained their perichondrial arterial source throughout. With time, the ossification front advanced to incorporate the mid‐portion of canals; and anastomoses formed between canal vessels and subchondral vessels. A shift occurred and vessels in the distal terminus of canals came to use subchondral vessels as their arterial source. Twelve histological lesions were found in 7 foals. All contained necrotic vessels surrounded by necrotic growth cartilage and 3 caused macroscopically visible delay in endochondral ossification. Lesions were located where vessels traversed the ossification front to enter the distal terminus of canals.

Conclusion: Cartilage canal vessels are particularly susceptible to failure at the point where they cross the ossification front, with consequences for the viability of those chondrocytes that depend on them.

Potential relevance: A better understanding of how lesions of OC arise may improve the ability to identify, monitor, prevent and treat this disorder. Involvement of cartilage canals in the pathogenesis of equine tarsal OC plausibly explains several clinical features of this disease.
The effects of chiropractic, massage and phenylbutazone on spinal mechanical nociceptive thresholds in horses without clinical signs
Authors: SULLIVAN K. A. , HILL A. E. , HAUSSLER K. K.
Published: December 2007

Reasons for performing study: Common methods used to treat back problems in horses need to be assessed objectively.

Objectives: To measure spinal mechanical nociceptive thresholds (MNTs) and evaluate the effects of chiropractic, massage and phenylbutazone, compared with active and inactive control groups.

Methods: Baseline MNTs at 7 sites within the thoracolumbar and sacral regions were measured in 38 healthy mature horses exhibiting no clinical signs of lumbar pain. Horses were assigned to one of 3 treatment groups: instrumentassisted chiropractic treatment, therapeutic massage and phenylbutazone; or 2 control groups: ridden exercise (active control) or routine paddock turnout with no ridden exercise (inactive control). MNT measurements were repeated at 1, 3 and 7 days post treatment. The percentage change from baseline MNT values was calculated within groups.

Results: On Day 7, the median MNT had increased by 27, 12 and 8% in the chiropractic, massage and phenylbutazone groups, respectively. MNT changes of <1% were seen within the active and inactive control groups.

Conclusions: Chiropractic treatment and massage therapy increased spinal MNTs within horses not exhibiting signs of lumbar pain.

Potential relevance: Pressure algometry provides an objective tool to evaluate the effects of commonly used, but currently unproven treatment modalities on spinal MNTs. Future studies need to evaluate combined treatment effects and longer‐term MNT changes in horses with documented back pain.
Neuroanatomy of the equine dorsal cricoarytenoid muscle: Surgical implications
Authors: CHEETHAM J. , RADCLIFFE C. R. , DUCHARME N. G. , SANDERS I. , MU L. , HERMANSON J. W.
Published: December 2007

Reason for performing study: Studies are required to define more accurately and completely the neuroanatomy of the equine dorsal cricoarytenoid muscle as a prerequisite for developing a neuroprosthesis for recurrent laryngeal neuropathy.

Objective: To describe the anatomy, innervation, fibre types and function of the equine dorsal cricoarytenoid muscle.

Methods: Thirty‐one larynges were collected at necropsy from horses with no history of upper airway disease and 25 subjected to gross dissection. Thereafter, the following preparations were made on a subset of larynges: histochemical staining (n = 5), Sihler's and acetylcholinesterase staining for motor endplates (n = 2). An additional 6 larynges were collected and used for a muscle stimulation study.

Results: Two neuromuscular compartments (NMC), each innervated by a primary nerve branch of the recurrent laryngeal nerve, were identified in all larynges. Stimulation of the lateral NMC produced more lateral displacement of the arytenoid cartilage than the medial NMC (P<0.05). The medial NMC tended to rotate the arytenoid cartilage dorsally. Motor endplates were identified at the junction of the middle and caudal thirds of each NMC. If fibre type grouping was present it was always present in both NMCs.

Conclusions: The equine dorsal cricoarytenoid muscle has 2 distinct muscle NMCs with discrete innervation and lines of action. The lateral NMC appears to have a larger role in increasing cross‐sectional area of therima glottidis.

Potential relevance: This information should assist in planning surgical reinnervation procedures and development of a neuroprosthesis for recurrent laryngeal neuropathy.
Lower respiratory tract disease in Thoroughbred racehorses: Analysis of endoscopic data from a UK training yard
Authors: RAMZAN P. H. L. , PARKIN T. D. H. , SHEPHERD M. C.
Published: December 2007

Reasons for performing study: There has been much research directed at potential causative agents and the epidemiology of lower respiratory tract disease (LRTD), but few reports of the clinical progression and outcome.

Objectives: To define clinical features of LRTD in racehorses, including association with age and average duration of disease, through the analysis of endoscopic data.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of records from a single training yard of endoscopic examinations undertaken over a 2‐year period was performed. Horses were subjected to regular endoscopic examination for a variety of reasons, and all horses placed on antibiotic therapy for lower respiratory tract disease were rescoped following treatment. Data analysed included a 0–8 tracheal mucus score based on visible endoscopic mucus and gross tracheal lavage turbidity, as well as age and treatment duration and type.

Results: A total of 522 endoscopic examinations undertaken on 123 horses and tracking 169 episodes of lower respiratory tract disease were recorded. Mean duration of disease episode was 15.5 days (median = 11 days, range = 4–61 days). Horses age 2 years were significantly more likely than those age ≥3 years to have at least one episode of respiratory disease (P<0.001). There was a direct association between initial tracheal mucus score and rescope score after treatment.

Conclusions: Lower respiratory tract disease was more common in 2‐year‐olds than in older horses. Affected horses had endoscopic evidence of increased tracheal mucus accumulation for an average of 15.5 days per episode, a considerably shorter period than that suggested by previous studies.

Potential relevance: Endoscopic examinations permit longitudinal tracking of lower respiratory tract disease in Thoroughbred racehorses. A prolonged duration of disease, sometimes extending for months, can be expected in a small proportion of cases, some of which appear to be refractory to treatment. There is a clear need for evidence‐based analysis of treatment regimes to assist clinicians in decision making when managing disease in both individual and group situations.
Effects of a calm companion on fear reactions in naive test horses
Authors: CHRISTENSEN J. W. , MALMKVIST J. , NIELSEN B. L. , KEELING L. J.
Published: December 2007

Reasons for performing study: In fear‐eliciting situations, horses tend to show flight reactions that can be dangerous for both horse and man. Finding appropriate methods for reducing fearfulness in horses has important practical implications.

Objectives: To investigate whether the presence of a calm companion horse influences fear reactions in naive subject horses.

Hypotheses: The presence of a habituated (calm) companion horse in a fear‐eliciting situation can reduce fear reactions in naive subject horses, compared to subject horses with a nonhabituated companion (control).

Methods: Minimally handled (n = 36), 2‐year‐old stallions were used, 18 as subjects and 18 as companions. Companion horses (n = 9) were habituated to an otherwise frightening, standardised test stimulus (calm companions), whereas the rest (n = 9) of the companion horses remained nonhabituated (control companions). During the test, unique pairs of companion and subject horses were exposed to the test stimulus while heart rate and behavioural responses were registered. Subsequently, subject horses were exposed to the stimulus on their own (post test).

Results: Subject horses, paired with a calm companion horse, showed less fear‐related behaviour and lower heart rate responses compared to subject horses with control companions. Results from the post test suggest that the difference between treatment groups remained in the subsequent absence of companion horses.

Conclusions and potential relevance: It appears possible to reduce fear reactions in young, naive horses by allowing them to interact with a calm companion horse in fear‐eliciting situations.
Equine travellers to the Olympic Games in Hong Kong 2008: A review of worldwide challenges to equine health, with particular reference to vector‐borne diseases
Authors: HERHOLZ C. , FUSSEL A.‐E. , TIMONEY P. , SCHWERMER H. , BRUCKNER L. , LEADON D.
Published: December 2007

The past 10–20 years have seen exponential growth in the volume of trade in horses and equine germplasm; and the extent of global horse movements has increased significantly in the last 4 years. In preparing for the transport of elite Olympic horses to Hong Kong in 2008, it will be very important to be as fully informed as possible of the disease situation in both the exporting and importing country, import and re‐entry requirements, as well as having a vaccination strategy to protect against particular diseases. In this context the review describes the equine vector‐borne disease situation in Europe, Asia, Africa and South America and provides estimates of the number of horse movements between these countries, as well as information on import requirements and vaccination strategies.

Risks of introducing diseases into hitherto free zones
Cytochrome P450 Inhibition Assays Using Traditional and Fluorescent Substrates
Authors: Paradise Elsa , Chaturvedi Prasoon , Ter‐Ovanesyan Elena
Published: January 2008

A key liability in transitioning a new chemical entity (NCE) to a development candidate is NCE‐related inhibition (or induction) of cytochrome P450 enzymes, a superfamily of heme‐containing oxygenases that are the major route of first‐pass metabolism for the majority of marketed drugs. The drawback of a drug/NCE that modulates CYP450 enzyme activity occurs when the compound is co‐administered with another drug that relies on the same P450 enzyme for its metabolism. This could result in overdose of the second drug in the case of inhibition, or more rapid metabolism of one or both drugs accompanied by loss of efficacy in the case of enzyme induction. Screening for the inhibition of CYP450 enzymes is now routine in the early stages of evaluating NCEs. This unit describes two inhibition assays using traditional and fluorescent substrates.Curr. Protoc. Pharmacol. 39:7.11.1‐7.11.12. © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Isolation of Endoplasmic Reticulum, Mitochondria, and Mitochondria‐Associated Membrane Fractions from Transfected Cells and from Human Cytomegalovirus‐Infected Primary Fibroblasts
Authors: Bozidis Petros , Williamson Chad D. , Colberg‐Poley Anamaris M.
Published: January 2008

Increasingly mechanistic virology studies require dependable and sensitive methods for isolating purified organelles containing functional cellular sub‐domains. The mitochondrial network is, in part, closely apposed to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). The mitochondria‐associated membrane (MAM) fraction provides direct physical contact between the ER and mitochondria. Characterization of the dual localization and trafficking of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) UL37 proteins required establishing protocols in which the ER and mitochondria could be reliably separated. Because of its documented role in lipid and ceramide transfer from the ER to mitochondria, a method to purify MAM from infected cells was also developed. Two robust procedures were developed to efficiently isolate mitochondria, ER, and MAM fractions while providing the substantial protein yields from HCMV‐infected primary fibroblasts and from transfected HeLa cells. Moreover, this unit includes a protocol that allows visualization of the mitochondria network disruption that occurs in permissively infected cells by their optimal resolution in Percoll gradients. Curr. Protoc. Cell Biol. 37:3.27.1‐3.27.23. © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Visualization of RNA Using Fluorescence Complementation Triggered by Aptamer‐Protein Interactions (RFAP) in Live Bacterial Cells
Authors: Valencia‐Burton Maria , Broude Natalia E.
Published: January 2008

This unit describes a method allowing RNA visualization in live cells. The method is based on fluorescent protein complementation regulated by RNA‐aptamer/RNA‐binding protein interactions. Based on these two principles, a fluorescent ribonucleoprotein complex is assembled inside the cell only in response to the presence of the aptamer sequence on the target RNA. Curr. Protoc. Cell Biol. 37:17.11.1‐17.11.20. © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Phosphonic acid functionalized polyethylene glycol and derivatives
Authors: Essahli Mohamed , Ganachaud François , In Martin , Boutevin Bernard
Published: January 2008

This article describes the functionalization of polyethylene glycol, mono or bifunctional, and a nonionic surfactant by phosphonic acids without the need for protection of the functional group. The functionalization is performed in two steps, first an esterification by thioglycolic acid, secondly a radical addition of vinyl phosphonic acid on the thiol group. All products were obtained quantitatively and characterized by 1H‐, 13C‐, 31P‐NMR spectroscopy techniques, MALDI, and step‐by‐step chemical titrations. Enhanced thermal properties were found while phosphonylating polyethylene glycol, particularly when the sulfur atom was oxidized into a sulfone group. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008
Subjective relative income and lottery ticket purchases
Authors: Haisley Emily , Mostafa Romel , Loewenstein George
Published: January 2008

Despite a return of only $.53 on the dollar, state lotteries are extremely popular, especially among the poor, who play the most but can least afford to play. In two experiments conducted with low‐income participants, we examine how implicit comparisons with other income classes increase low‐income individuals' desire to play the lottery. In Experiment 1, participants were more likely to purchase lottery tickets when they were primed to perceive that their own income was low relative to an implicit standard. In Experiment 2, participants purchased more tickets when they considered situations in which rich people or poor people receive advantages, implicitly highlighting the fact that everyone has an equal chance of winning the lottery. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Liquid‐Crystalline Ternary Rare‐Earth Complexes
Authors: Knyazev Andrey A. , Galyametdinov Yury G. , Goderis Bart , Driesen Kris , Goossens Karel , Görller‐Walrand Christiane , Binnemans Koen , Cardinaels Thomas
Published: January 2008

The thermal behavior of the metallomesogens [Ln(C12C16dbm)3(phen)] (Ln = La, Nd, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Er, Yb; C12C16dbm = 1‐(4‐dodecyloxyphenyl)‐3‐(4‐hexadecyloxyphenyl)propane‐1,3‐dionate; phen = 1,10‐phenanthroline) was investigated. The complexes of the light lanthanides (Ln = La, Nd) are not mesomorphic, whereas the complexes of the heavy lanthanides (Ln = Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Er, Yb) exhibit a monotropic smectic A phase (SmA). A model for themolecular organization of the molecules in the smectic A phase is proposed. The luminescence properties of the complexes [Eu(C12C16dbm)3(phen)], [Er(C12C16dbm)3(phen)], and [Yb(C12C16dbm)3(phen)] were investigated. (© Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2008)