bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An analysis of agricultural informatization in Korea: the government’s role in bridging the digital gap
Authors: Moon Junghoon , Hossain Md. Dulal , Kang Hyoung Goo , Shin Jungsoon
Published: February 2012

Korea is recognized as one of the most advanced countries in terms of informatization. The development of informatization has impacted all sectors of Korean society, including agriculture, and agricultural informatization has played an important role in bridging of the digital gap between rural and urban areas. The issue of agricultural/rural informatization development has conventionally been examined under the rubric of the digital divide, which generally encompasses two seemingly distinct categories—access (first order) and inequalities in the ability to use digital technology (second order). Further, consumers' recent concerns over food safety have helped to put agricultural informatization back on the national agenda. This study discusses the challenges inherent in agricultural informatization by analyzing both the first-order and second-order effects of the digital divide at the regional level and then addresses the role of the government in narrowing the regional digital divide. The results indicate that Korea has achieved success in terms of access (first-order) but that the second-order effects of this achievement remain in an intermediate stage, particularly in terms of agricultural informatization, thereby creating new challenges for policymakers. The results offer a better understanding of the type and amount of effort required to raise the level of agricultural informatization to bridge the digital divide and provide researchers with some guidelines for examining the digital divide and determining how it influences farmers, villagers, managers, and economies.
The leisure divide: can the ‘Third World’ come out to play?
Authors: Arora Payal
Published: February 2012

As billions of dollars are invested in mitigating the digital divide, stakes are raised to gain validity for these cost-intensive endeavors, focusing more on online activities that have clear socio-economic outcomes. Hence, farmers in rural India are watched closely to see how they access crop prices online, while their Orkuting gets sidelined as anecdotal. This paper argues that this is a fundamental problem as it treats users in emerging markets as somehow inherently different from those in the West. After all, it is now commonly accepted that much of what users do online in developed nations is leisure-oriented. This perspective does not crossover as easily into the Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) world, where the utilitarian angle reigns. This paper argues that much insight can be gained in bridging worlds of ICT4D and New Media studies. By negating online leisure in ‘Third World’ settings, our understandings on this new user market can be critically flawed.
The association of rate pressure product (RPP) and myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) findings: a preliminary study
Authors: Ansari M , Javadi H , Pourbehi M , Mogharrabi M , Rayzan M , Semnani S , Jallalat S , Amini A , Abbaszadeh M , Barekat M , Nabipour I , Assadi M
Published: February 2012

Introduction: The product of heart rate and systolic blood pressure, termed as rate-pressure product (RPP), is a very reliable indicator of myocardial oxygen demand and is widely used clinically. There have been previous attempts to describe the relationship between RPP and the onset of pain in angina pectoris. The current study aimed to evaluate the association between RPP results and scan findings.

Materials and methods: In total, 497 patients with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD) underwent gated, single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging with dipyridamole, exercise, or dobutamine stress, and were included in this study. Baseline and maximum heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and electrocardiogram (ECG) results were recorded. The rate-pressure product (RPP) was calculated as the product of heart rate and systolic arterial pressure for both baseline and maximum measures. The difference between the RPP max and the basal RPP is known as the RPP reserve. Researchers also obtained semi-quantitative analyses of myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI), using gated software, demographic information, risk factors of CAD, and pretest likelihoods of CAD using nomograms.

Result: Four hundred and ninety-seven cases, including 426 patients with dipyridamole stress, 59 with exercise stress, and 12 with dobutamine stress, underwent myocardial perfusion imaging. Scan results were positive in 194 (45.5%) and negative in 232 (54.5%) patients with dipyridamole stress. In patients with exercise stress, the scan was positive in 24 (40.7%) cases and negative in 35 (59.3%) cases. In dobutamine stressed patients, the scan was positive in 6 (50%) cases and negative in the 6 remaining cases. Dipyridamole stress resulted in a significant difference between HR at rest and at maximum (28.95 ± 24.53, p-value<0.0001), between systolic BP at rest and maximum (6.75 ± 12.50, p-value<0.0001) and between diastolic BP at rest and maximum (1.45 ± 5.80; p-value<0.0001). There was a significant correlation between sum stress scores (SSS) and reserved RPP (r= −0.12, p-value<0.001) which, in dipyridamole patients, was r=−0.18, p-value=0.0001). In addition, there was a significant association between reserved RPP and risk of CAD (p-value<0.001). In the patients with dipyridamole stress, the ejection fraction (EF) change (odds ratio =0.92; 95% CI: 0.86-0.98; p=0.01), reserve RPP (odds ratio =1.00; 95% CI: 1.00-1.00; p=0.04), risk of CAD (odds ratio =5.80; 95% CI: 3.21-10.50; p<0.0001) and age (odds ratio =0.94; 95% CI: 0.89-0.98; p=0.01) were associated significantly with MPI results, using multiple logistic regressions.

Conclusion. The study demonstrated that RPP is associated with MPI findings using gated SPECT imaging with dipyridamole stress. However, to confirm this preliminary result, further studies are mandatory.
A randomized controlled trial of a cognitive rehabilitation intervention for persons with multiple sclerosis
Authors: Stuifbergen Alexa K , Becker Heather , Perez Frank , Morison Janet , Kullberg Vicki , Todd Ana
Published: February 2012

Objective:

To explore the feasibility and effects of a computer-assisted cognitive rehabilitation intervention – Memory, Attention, and Problem Solving Skills for Persons with Multiple Sclerosis (MAPSS-MS) – for persons with multiple sclerosis on cognitive performance, memory strategy use, self-efficacy for control of symptoms and neuropsychological competence in activities of daily living (ADL).

Design:

A randomized controlled single-blinded trial with treatment and wait list control groups.

Setting:

Southwestern United States.

Subjects:

Convenience sample of 61 persons (34 treatment, 27 wait list control) with multiple sclerosis (mean age 47.9 years, SD 8.8).

Intervention:

The eight-week MAPSS-MS intervention program included two components: (a) eight weekly group sessions focused on building efficacy for use of cognitive compensatory strategies and (b) a computer-assisted cognitive rehabilitation program with home-based training.

Outcome measures:

A neuropsychological battery of performance tests comprising the Minimal Assessment of Cognitive Function in Multiple Sclerosis (MACFIMS) and self-report instruments (use of memory strategies, self-efficacy for control of multiple sclerosis and neuropsychological competence in ADL) were completed at baseline, two months (after classes), and at five months.

Results:

Both groups improved significantly ( P < 0.05) over time on most measures in the MACFIMS battery as well as the measures of strategy use and neuropsychological competence in ADL. There was a significant group-by-time interaction for scores on the measures of verbal memory and the use of compensatory strategies.

Conclusions:

The MAPSS-MS intervention was feasible and well-accepted by participants. Given the large relative increase in use of compensatory strategies by the intervention group, it holds promise for enhancing cognitive function in persons with multiple sclerosis.
Ecstasy (MDMA)-induced hyponatraemia is associated with genetic variants in CYP2D6 and COMT
Authors: Aitchison Katherine J , Tsapakis Evangelia M , Huezo-Diaz Patricia , Kerwin Robert W , Forsling Mary L , Wolff Kim
Published: February 2012

We hypothesised that genetically determined poor metabolism of 3,4-methylene dioxymetamphetamine (MDMA) due either to the presence of CYP2D6 genotypes giving absent or low CYP2D6 enzyme activity, or a COMT genotype predicting low COMT enzyme activity would be associated with a greater degree of MDMA-induced reduction in plasma sodium and osmolality than other genotypes at these genes following consumption of ‘ecstasy’ tablets by clubbers. Of the 48 subjects who returned to the test site post-clubbing, 30 provided samples for measurement of vasopressin (AVP), plasma sodium, urea and plasma and urine osmolality. Genotyping was performed for functional variants in CYP2D6 ( n = 29) and COMT (Val158Met, n = 30). In subjects with urinary MDMA detected post-clubbing, there was a significant association between change in plasma osmolality ( p = 0.009) and in plasma sodium ( p = 0.012) and CYP2D6 genotypic category. Individuals with the low-activity but readily inhibitable CYP2D6 extensive metaboliser/intermediate metaboliser (EM/IM) genotype showed greater reductions in these measures than all other CYP2D6 genotypic categories. COMT low-activity genotypes (Met/Met and Val/Met) were also significantly associated with reductions in plasma osmolality ( p = 0.028) and in plasma sodium ( p = 0.003). On conservative Bonferroni correction for two independent genes, the CYP2D6 and COMT plasma sodium findings remain significant. The relatively high frequency of the low-activity CYP2D6 and COMT genotypes in the population warrants further attention, since consumption of free water following ingestion of MDMA in these individuals may trigger dilutational hyponatraemia and increased risk of syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion.
Safe distributed motion coordination for second-order systems with different planning cycles
Authors: Bekris Kostas E , Grady Devin K , Moll Mark , Kavraki Lydia E
Published: February 2012

When multiple robots operate in the same environment, it is desirable for scalability purposes to coordinate their motion in a distributed fashion while providing guarantees about their safety. If the robots have to respect second-order dynamics, this becomes a challenging problem, even for static environments. This work presents a replanning framework where each robot computes partial plans during each cycle, while executing a previously computed trajectory. Each robot communicates with its neighbors to select a trajectory that is safe over an infinite time horizon. The proposed approach does not require synchronization and allows the robots to dynamically change their cycles over time. This paper proves that the proposed motion coordination algorithm guarantees safety under this general setting. This framework is not specific to the underlying robot dynamics, as it can be used with a variety of dynamical systems, nor to the planning or control algorithm used to generate the robot trajectories. The performance of the approach is evaluated using a distributed multi-robot simulator on a computing cluster, where the simulated robots are forced to communicate by exchanging messages. The simulation results confirm the safety of the algorithm in various environments with up to 32 robots governed by second-order dynamics.
Contingencies of Self-Worth and Appearance Concerns
Authors: Overstreet Nicole M. , Quinn Diane M.
Published: February 2012

Heightened body surveillance can have negative effects on physical and psychological well-being, but little is known about the factors that contribute to this chronic surveillance. The authors tested a model that examined whether staking self-worth in certain domains was associated with decreased or increased body surveillance and appearance satisfaction in a sample of 115 Black and 222 White college women. Results indicated that investing self-worth in appearance and approval from others was associated with increased body surveillance and reduced appearance satisfaction whereas self-worth based in academic competence, God’s love, and family support was associated with less body surveillance and more appearance satisfaction. Tests of racial differences revealed that our model operated similarly across race. However, the structural paths of appearance contingency to body surveillance, academic competence contingency to body surveillance, and family support contingency to appearance satisfaction were stronger for White than Black women. This work outlines potential strategies to counteract body surveillance and appearance dissatisfaction by emphasizing domains of self-worth that are not appearance based and are staked in love and support. Implications of these findings for building positive body esteem and reducing disordered eating symptomatology are also discussed.
Screening of immunomodulatory activity of total and protein extracts of some Moroccan medicinal plants
Authors: Daoudi Abdeljlil , Aarab Lotfi , Abdel-Sattar Essam
Published: February 2012

Herbal and traditional medicines are being widely used in practice in many countries for their benefits of treating different ailments. A large number of plants in Morocco were used in folk medicine to treat immune-related disorders. The objective of this study is to evaluate the immunomodulatory activity of protein extracts (PEs) of 14 Moroccan medicinal plants. This activity was tested on the proliferation of immune cells. The prepared total and PEs of the plant samples were tested using MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay on the splenocytes with or without stimulation by concanavalin-A (Con-A), a mitogenic agent used as positive control. The results of this study indicated different activity spectra. Three groups of activities were observed. The first group represented by Citrullus colocynthis, Urtica dioica, Elettaria cardamomum, Capparis spinosa and Piper cubeba showed a significant immunosuppressive activity. The second group that showed a significant immunostimulatory activity was represented by Aristolochia longa, Datura stramonium, Marrubium vulgare, Sinapis nigra, Delphynium staphysagria, Lepidium sativum, Ammi visnaga and Tetraclinis articulata. The rest of the plant extracts did not alter the proliferation induced by Con-A. This result was more important for the PE than for the total extract. In conclusion, this study revealed an interesting immunomodulating action of certain PEs, which could explain their traditional use. The results of this study may also have implications in therapeutic treatment of infections, such as prophylactic and adjuvant with cancer chemotherapy.
Effect of Thiovit® Jet on the structure of thoracic microtrichia/trichomes in Drosophila melanogaster
Authors: Das Sanjib Kumar , Podder Sayanti , Roy Sumedha
Published: February 2012

Widely used fungicides and pesticides are known to have profound effect on several nontarget organisms, which is a cause of concern. The present study aims to demonstrate the effect of a fungicide, Thiovit® Jet on the structure of epidermal microtrichia (trichome) of the dorsal thorax in Drosophila melanogaster. External morphology and structural variations of thoracic appendages have been extensively studied using scanning electron microscope from flies treated with different concentrations of Thiovit Jet (20, 30, 40 or 200 μg/ml). Similar to the effect of other fungicides like captan and captafol which are reported to produce somatic mutations in the same organism, the present study successfully demonstrates variation in the trichome/microtrichia structure of the dorsal thorax of D. melanogaster. Structural variations were observed to be associated with different concentrations of Thiovit Jet (30, 40 and 200 μg/ml), but the maximum notable change was found with 40 μg/ml treatment. The gross abnormality in the trichome structure may be due to mutation in proteins associated with normal cuticular deposition.
Changes in carbohydrate metabolism, oxidative stress and loss of cortisol secretion in adrenocortica l cells of Oreochromis niloticus exposed in vitro to endosulfan
Authors: Ezemonye LIN , Ikpesu TO
Published: February 2012

The effects of endosulfan, an organochlorine pesticide regularly used in Niger Delta ecological zone, were examined and also its effects on various biochemical parameters in the serum of Oreochromis niloticus, a dominant fish species in Nigeria. One hundred and fifty juveniles of O. niloticus were used for the toxicity study. Lethal concentration of 50% mortality of sample (LC50) was determined using semi-static method. From the result of the LC50 determination, lower concentrations of endosulfan were prepared for sublethal test. Five fish per test concentration in three replicates were exposed to varying concentrations of endosulfan. Glucose level and the enzyme activities were measured spectrophotometrically at the end of 28 days of exposure. Glucose levels and glutathione- S-transferase activities were significantly ( p < 0.05) higher than the control and the concentrations increased with increasing concentration of the toxicant and exposure duration. Cortisol secretion was significantly ( p = 0.05) lower in the treated fish than the control. These findings indicated that endosulfan altered all the investigated parameters, which is an indication of their suitability as markers for fish and other aquatic organism toxicity study.
Green tea extract alleviates arsenic-induced biochemical toxicity and lipid peroxidation in rats
Authors: Messarah Mahfoud , Saoudi Mongi , Boumendjel Amel , Kadeche Lilia , Boulakoud Mohamed Salah , Feki Abdelfattah El
Published: February 2012

The present work was undertaken to evaluate the protective effect of an aqueous extract of green tea (GT, Camellia sinensis) leaves against arsenic (NaAsO2)-induced biochemical toxicity and lipid peroxidation production in experimental rats. The treatment with arsenic exhibited a significant increase in some serum hepatic and renal biochemical parameters (alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, total protein, albumin, bilirubin, cholesterol, urea and creatinine). But the co-administration of GT has increased the level of plasmatic concentration of biochemical parameters. Exposure of rats to arsenic caused also a significant increase in liver, kidney and testicular thiobarbituric acid reactive substances compared to control. However, the co-administration of GT was effective in reducing its level. To conclude, our data suggest that arsenic exposure enhanced an oxidative stress by disturbing the tissue antioxidant defense system, but the GT co-administration alleviates the toxicity induced by arsenic exposure.
Forced Desynchronization of Activity Rhythms in a Model of Chronic Jet Lag in Mice
Authors: Casiraghi Leandro P. , Oda Gisele A. , Chiesa Juan J. , Friesen W. Otto , Golombek Diego A.
Published: February 2012

We studied locomotor activity rhythms of C57/Bl6 mice under a chronic jet lag (CJL) protocol ( ChrA6/2), which consisted of 6-hour phase advances of the light-dark schedule (LD) every 2 days. Through periodogram analysis, we found 2 components of the activity rhythm: a short-period component (21.01 ± 0.04 h) that was entrained by the LD schedule and a long-period component (24.68 ± 0.26 h). We developed a mathematical model comprising 2 coupled circadian oscillators that was tested experimentally with different CJL schedules. Our simulations suggested that under CJL, the system behaves as if it were under a zeitgeber with a period determined by (24 – [phase shift size/days between shifts]). Desynchronization within the system arises according to whether this effective zeitgeber is inside or outside the range of entrainment of the oscillators. In this sense, ChrA6/2 is interpreted as a (24 − 6/2 = 21 h) zeitgeber, and simulations predicted the behavior of mice under other CJL schedules with an effective 21-hour zeitgeber. Animals studied under an asymmetric T = 21 h zeitgeber (carried out by a 3-hour shortening of every dark phase) showed 2 activity components as observed under ChrA6/2: an entrained short-period (21.01 ± 0.03 h) and a long-period component (23.93 ± 0.31 h). Internal desynchronization was lost when mice were subjected to 9-hour advances every 3 days, a possibility also contemplated by the simulations. Simulations also predicted that desynchronization should be less prevalent under delaying than under advancing CJL. Indeed, most mice subjected to 6-hour delay shifts every 2 days (an effective 27-hour zeitgeber) displayed a single entrained activity component (26.92 ± 0.11 h). Our results demonstrate that the disruption provoked by CJL schedules is not dependent on the phase-shift magnitude or the frequency of the shifts separately but on the combination of both, through its ratio and additionally on their absolute values. In this study, we present a novel model of forced desynchronization in mice under a specific CJL schedule; in addition, our model provides theoretical tools for the evaluation of circadian disruption under CJL conditions that are currently used in circadian research.
Transcription-Based Oscillator Model for Light-Induced Splitting as Antiphase Circadian Gene Expression in the Suprachiasmatic Nuclei
Authors: Schroder Sondra , Herzog Erik D. , Kiss István Z.
Published: February 2012

Daily locomotor patterns of a variety of organisms have been interpreted as driven by dual circadian oscillators. Yet, in mammals, cellular data have revealed many circadian oscillators in the bilateral suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). To test how large numbers of oscillators could respond to environmental cues as a pair of oscillators, the authors developed a computational model composed of 2 groups of oscillators with strong local interactions and with weaker coupling between the 2 groups. Unlike previous models that assumed that light affects the timing or polarity of coupling between a pair of oscillators, this simulation assumed that light increased the transcription rate of a clock gene and consequently altered circadian properties of individual cells. In constant dark, weak local (within each of the 2 groups) and distant (between group) coupling established in-phase oscillations and a typical single bout of daily activity. In constant light, local synchrony developed only if coupling was strong and resulted in antiphase synchrony between the 2 groups and bimodal daily activity reminiscent of split behavior. These numerical simulations thus showed that splitting behavior can develop with increased light intensity without structural changes in the coupling topology or sign. Instead, the authors propose that light changes intrinsic oscillator properties through the increase of maximal transcription rate of a clock gene, so that as light intensity increases, the output of the coupled network transitions from a single bout of activity through irregular beating to 2 bouts and, in bright constant light, arrhythmicity.
Robust synchronization of chaotic systems using adaptive sliding mode output feedback control
Authors: Pai Ming-Chang
Published: February 2012

This paper presents an adaptive sliding mode output feedback control method for a class of master–slave chaotic synchronization systems using only output variables. Using a simple adaptation law, a modified sliding mode controller is derived to guarantee the existence of the sliding mode. The proposed scheme not only ensures global synchronization between the master and slave systems, but also can be implemented without requiring a priori knowledge of uncertainties and external disturbances. Moreover, the structure of the slave system is simple and need not be identical to that of the master system. An illustrative example of a six-order coupled Chua hyper-chaotic circuit is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed synchronization scheme.
Cytokine imbalance in systemic lupus erythematosus: a study on northern Indian subjects
Authors: Arora V , Verma J , Marwah V , Kumar A , Anand D , Das N
Published: February 2012

Objective: The phenotype of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in Asian Indians is more severe as compared with that in Caucasians. The reason is not clear. In this context, we studied serum levels of interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interlekin-10 (IL-10). Their interrelations and correlation with SLEDAI scores were evaluated. Materials and methods: Forty patients with active SLE and 40 controls were studied. The mean SLEDAI score and anti-ds DNA level of the patients were 21.45 ± 8.61 and 176.68 ± 81.31 (IU/ml), respectively. Cytokines were estimated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: In controls, the levels of IFN-γ were highest, followed by TNF-α, IL-10 & IL-4. In patients, however, the levels of TNF-α were highest, followed by IFN-γ, IL-10 & IL-4. IL-10 and IL-4 correlated negatively, and IFN-γ and TNF-α correlated positively with the SLEDAI scores. As compared with controls, in patients, the mean values of TNF-α, IL-10 and TNF-α/IL-10 ratio were higher by 6.9, 2.9 and 2.3 times, respectively ( p < 0.001). Significant positive correlation was found between these two cytokines in patients ( r = 0.327, p < 0.05) but not in controls. The levels and ratio of IL-4 and IFN-γ were comparable between patients and controls. These two cytokines correlated negatively both in controls ( r = −0.358, p < 0.05) and patients ( r = −0.990, p < 0.001). The ratio of TNF-α/IL-4 was 4.2 times higher, and those of IFN-γ/IL-4 and IFN-γ/IL-10 were 1.89 and 3.40 times lower in patients as compared with controls. A positive correlation between IL-10 and IL-4 ( r = 0.345, p < 0.05) and a negative correlation between IL-10 and IFN-γ ( r = −0.382, p < 0.05) were observed only in patients. Conclusion: This study showed a distinct profile of cytokine imbalance in patients with SLE from the northern plains of India. The levels, ratios and correlations of cytokines in patients suggested significant deviation from normal. Correlations of cytokines with SLEDAI scores indicated that TNF-α contributes significantly to the pathological manifestations of SLE in patients from the region. A detailed study is warranted.
Autoantibodies associated with RNA are more enriched than anti-dsDNA antibodies in circulating immune complexes in SLE
Authors: Åhlin E , Mathsson L , Eloranta M-L , Jonsdottir T , Gunnarsson I , Rönnblom L , Rönnelid J
Published: February 2012

To what extent different autoantibodies accumulate in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) immune complexes (ICs), and whether such accumulation is associated with disease activity has been investigated. ICs were isolated from SLE sera by both polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation and C1q-binding. Autoantibody specificities were determined using a lineblot assay quantified by densitometry. To compare the relative levels of autoantibodies, levels were normalized to the total levels of IgG measured by ELISA in sera and parallel ICs. Samples were investigated both in a cross-sectional design as well as in a paired design with samples obtained during both active and inactive SLE. All investigated autoantibody specificities except anti-dsDNA were enriched in circulating ICs as compared with parallel sera. The group of antibodies against RNA-associated antigens (anti-RNP/Sm, anti-Sm, anti-SSA/Ro60, anti-SSA/Ro52, anti-SSB/La) all exhibited higher median enrichment than the DNA-associated (anti-dsDNA, anti-histones, anti-nucleosomes) or cytoplasmic (anti-ribosomal P) antigens. In particular autoantibodies against RNP/Sm and SSA/Ro52 had the highest degree of enrichment in SLE PEG precipitates. These findings were corroborated by analysis of autoantibody content in C1q-bound ICs. There was no difference in degree of IC accumulation of the investigated autoantibodies during active and inactive SLE. Our findings demonstrate a difference in enrichment between autoantibodies against RNA- and DNA-associated autoantigens in isolated SLE IC, suggesting that the RNA-associated autoantibodies are more prone to form circulating ICs in SLE, in contrast to antibodies against DNA-associated autoantigens such as dsDNA. These finding have implications in understanding mechanisms of differential autoantibody accumulation in target organs in SLE.
Production of anti-double-stranded DNA antibodies in activated lymphocyte derived DNA induced lupus model was dependent on CD4+ T cells
Authors: Wen Z , Xu L , Xu W , Xiong S
Published: February 2012

Our previous study demonstrated that activated lymphocyte derived DNA (ALD-DNA) could function as an autoantigen to induce production of anti-double-stranded DNA (anti-dsDNA) antibodies in syngeneic BALB/c mice. Here we carefully evaluated the potential role of T cells in the induction of anti-dsDNA antibody. We demonstrated that ALD-DNA could effectively induce production of anti-dsDNA antibodies in vivo and in vitro. In contrast, ALD-DNA could not induce the generation of anti-dsDNA antibodies in nude mice. We further showed that in vivo depletion of CD3+ T cells blocked the induction of anti-dsDNA antibodies in BALB/c mice. Notably, we demonstrated that CD4+ but not CD8+ T cells conferred ALD-DNA to induce anti-dsDNA antibodies. Finally, we demonstrated that adoptive transfer of CD4+ T cells could rescue ALD-DNA induced anti-dsDNA antibodies in nude mice. Our results suggested that T helper cells were required for ALD-DNA to induce anti-dsDNA antibodies. These findings could further our understanding about the immunogenic properties of DNA and throw new light on SLE pathogenesis.
Idiopathic intracranial hypertension as a significant cause of intractable headache in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: a 15-year experience
Authors: Kim J-M , Kwok S-K , Ju JH , Kim H-Y , Park S-H
Published: February 2012

Objective: To evaluate the occurrence of idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and to describe the manifestations, treatments and outcomes in these patients. Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 1084 patients with SLE followed up from January 1997 to June 2011 in our unit. We identified patients with IIH and analyzed the demographic, clinical and laboratory characteristics of these patients. Results: Among the 1084 SLE patients, 47 underwent cerebrospinal fluid studies because of their intractable headache and eight (17%) of these were diagnosed as IIH. All were females aged 14 to 32 years. Nobody belonged to the obesity group. Headache, nausea, vomiting and blurred vision were the most common presenting symptoms. All patients had active SLE at the time of admission (SLE disease activity index ≥6). Five patients had lupus nephritis. In eight patients, there were two with antiphospholipid antibodies, two with anti-ribosomal P antibodies and six with anti-Ro antibodies. All subjects recovered without any complication after high dose steroid therapy. Conclusions: IIH accounts for a considerable part of the causes of intractable headache in SLE patients and steroids should be considered as a first-line treatment.
On the Aesthetics and Ideology of the Indian Documentary Film
Authors: Rajagopal Arvind , Vohra Paromita
Published: February 2012

Understanding Indian documentary film as aesthetic practice and as a set of historical traditions has usually taken second place to political and ideological judgments about filmic significance. However these judgments usually refer to the Indian context exclusively, and ignore the wider global context. We can distinguish two broad trends in the history of documentary film, one that critiqued naïve realism and treated the cinema as a means of self-empowerment for the masses, and the other, that regarded the masses as the object of modernization practices. Both these trends have a shared history, of course, namely, the rise of the masses as a political force, which posed the problem of how the masses/”the people” should be represented, as subject or as object. Assumptions about realism flowed from the historical resolution of this issue in a given context, and changed quite slowly. In the Indian context, they provided the basis for a system where the funding and circulation of documentaries occurred within a complex web of identity and patronage. These assumptions are increasingly coming under scrutiny, due to the pressure of at least three developments: market forces that foreground popular appeal rather than verifiable fact; historical events such as the emergence of the Hindutva documentary that mobilize the presence of invisible worlds to political advantage; and the growing influence of global circuits of funding and exhibition, along with a proliferation of more diverse local spaces, that provide room for a greater range of artistic practice. This article, written as a conversation, discusses these developments and offers some arguments about the ideology and aesthetics of the documentary cinema.
Domestic Concerns, Transnational Fields
Authors: Matzner Deborah
Published: February 2012

This article ethnographically explores two recent documentary films by Raintree Films, a Mumbai-based filmmaking team consisting of director Nishtha Jain and writer/producer Smriti Nevatia. Lakshmi and Me (2008) and At My Doorstep (2009) self-reflexively critique inequality in Indian society by investigating the relationship between members of the filmmakers’ relatively privileged class and their domestic servants. Both films aim to create critical self-awareness in lower and upper class viewers alike, and ultimately to foster inclusive spaces of imagination and debate in the context of deeply ingrained practices of inequality only exacerbated by the exclusionary neoliberal logic. Although similar in politics and topic, the two films vary widely in the conditions of their production, their narrative form and mode of address, and in their routes and degrees of success along international and local itineraries. These differences, I argue, reflect iterative attempts by the filmmakers to realize their critical intentions while confronting the constraints of the postcolonial, transnational field in which they work and engaging in what Hamid Naficy, describing diasporic filmmaking in the West, has termed an “interstitial mode of production” (Naficy, 2001). That they face similar practical, representational, and political dilemmas to those that shape diasporic filmmaking while working “at home” speaks to the complexities of urban, upper class cultural production and citizenship in contemporary India.
The Proximate Truth
Authors: Ghosh Bishnupriya
Published: February 2012

This article assesses the conceptual and political significance of the Aids Jaago (2007) omnibus as prophylactic pandemic media. Critical reenactments of post-cocktail era HIV emergence, these docudramas address the epistemological problematic of the “pandemic vision” recalibrated by the singular cultural history of HIV/AIDS hysteria (1980–1995). What politics ensue from such reenactments? Hardly radical anti-statist or anti-corporate interventions, I argue these NGO-style documentaries index a domain of negotiated cultural strategies: they remain partly complicit with neoliberal individuation (the packaged care of the self) even as they stress the continuing necessity of social networks (family, friends, lovers, communities, and the state) to living with the virus. Thus these deliberative Bollywood-style efforts aim at not only the comprehension (the perceptible, at the level of cognition) but also the apprehension (the sensible, inclusive of sensory, and affective levels) of HIV emergence as a biological and social event. The article elaborates their “politics of proximity” that attaches spectators to a social marked by loss, a living-in-common with both pathogens and the infected. Such affective translations of distant suffering challenges the willful collective blindness in which HIV/AIDS resides only in pathologized, isolated and quarantined, high-risk bodies.
Miffed! or “Gasping for [Polluted?] Air”
Authors: Waugh Thomas
Published: February 2012

A first-person reflection by a Canadian regular participant in the first two decades of the Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Animated and Short Films, founded in 1990 by the Government of India’s Films Division. The article explores the historical trajectory and contradictions of a state-funded and bureaucratic showcase of a genre traditionally devoted to social issues and advocacy within in an increasingly congested international festival industry.
EBooks
Authors: Martinez-Estrada Pedro David , Conaway Roger N.
Published: February 2012

Many people have considered purchasing a tablet device, such as an iPad, Kindle, or Nook, for personal use, yet how many have considered adopting this new technology as a pedagogical tool in the classroom? This article reports on the adoption and use of Kindle eBooks on the campus during the Spring 2010 semester. The authors report on how the eBook supported student learning and course outcomes, and they examine the results of survey assessments of the eBook project. Overall, the university believes that the pilot project conducted proved to be a success, and the campus will continue using tablet devices in the future.
The relation between atherosclerosis and the occurrence of postoperative delirium in vascular surgery patients
Authors: Pol Robert A , van Leeuwen Barbara L , Reijnen Michel MPJ , Zeebregts Clark J
Published: February 2012

Old and frail patients undergoing vascular surgery seem at great risk of developing postoperative delirium (POD). The aim of this review was to identify risk factors for the development of POD in vascular surgery patients. Different aetiological factors have been identified, such as increased age, excessive blood transfusion, preoperative cognitive impairment and depression. Mounting evidence supports a role for inflammation and tobacco exposure in the development of POD. Vascular surgery patients differ from the general surgical population because they suffer from both loco-regional and systemic atherosclerosis. Although current scientific evidence cannot fully link both entities, evidence is growing that suggests a relationship between systemic and cerebrovascular atherosclerosis and the development of POD.
Bildung in the ’burbs: Education for the suburban nation
Authors: Gibson Mark
Published: February 2012

Urban policy makers are increasingly interested in fostering a more polycentric vision of metropolitan regions, bringing increasing attention to ‘place-making’ in the suburbs. Yet cultural and educational policy for the suburbs has often lacked the imagination that this would seem to require. On the conservative side of politics, particularly in North America and Australia, the suburbs have been cast as a site of resolute utilitarianism. The animating impulse has been a largely negative one of defending the suburbs from the clutches of cosmopolitan urban ‘elites’. On the progressive side, the dominant policy rhetoric has been one of addressing suburban ‘disadvantage’. This perspective has been shadowed by the risk of condescension and cultural elitism, resulting in an anaemic ‘equity’ agenda with little interest beyond external indicators of redistribution. The article suggests that one route out of this impasse might be to revisit some ideas from classical liberal theory about the relation between culture, education and place. Drawing from interviews with suburban creative practitioners in Australia, it argues that there is some truth to the idea that the suburbs are defined by an autonomy from urban taste, but that this should not be equated with an absence of creative aspiration. Rather than setting these terms against each other, we might do better to look again at ideas of ‘self-formation’ or Bildung, in the tradition from Wilhelm von Humboldt, in which the role of government is conceived as a supporting and enabling one.
Self-management programmes for COPD
Authors: Effing Tanja W , Bourbeau Jean , Vercoulen Jan , Apter Andrea J , Coultas David , Meek Paula , Valk Paul van der , Partridge Martyn R , Palen Job van der
Published: February 2012

Self-management is of increasing importance in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) management. However, there is confusion over what processes are involved, how the value of self-management should be determined, and about the research priorities. To gain more insight into and agreement about the content of programmes, outcomes, and future directions of COPD self-management, a group of interested researchers and physicians, all of whom had previously published on this subject and who had previously collaborated on other projects, convened a workshop. This article summarises their initial findings. Self-management programmes aim at structural behaviour change to sustain treatment effects after programmes have been completed. The programmes should include techniques aimed at behavioural change, be tailored individually, take the patient’s perspective into account, and may vary with the course of the patient’s disease and co-morbidities. Assessment should include process variables. This report is a step towards greater conformity in the field of self-management. To enhance clarity regarding effectiveness, future studies should clearly describe their intervention, be properly designed and powered, and include outcomes that focus more on the acquisition and practice of new skills. In this way more evidence and a better comprehension on self-management programmes will be obtained, and more specific formulation of guidelines on self-management made possible.
Factors associated with a shorter time until the next pulmonary exacerbation in adult patients with cystic fibrosis
Authors: Sequeiros Iara Maria , Jarad Nabil
Published: February 2012

Time until the subsequent exacerbation (PEx) in cystic fibrosis (CF) is a significant health outcome and one of the significant end points in clinical trials. Risk factors associated with shorter time until the next exacerbation (TUNE) have not been reported. This is a prospective study. TUNE was the number of days from the end of intravenous (IV) antibiotic treatment of a PEx until the day of start of IV antibiotics for the following PEx. Factors assessed were age, gender, site of treatment, CF-related diabetes (CFRD), allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) and infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA). In addition, we examined parameters obtained at day 14 of treatment including forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1), body mass index, CF respiratory symptom score, C-reactive protein (CRP) and serum cytokines. A total of 170 exacerbations in 58 adult CF patients (27 female), mean (SD) age 25.8 (6.7) years were analysed. When analysing individual variables, patients with lower FEV1, greater symptom score and higher CRP at the end of exacerbation were associated with shorter TUNE. Patients with ABPA and CFRD had a shorter TUNE than those without. When applying multiple regression analysis, factors associated with shorter TUNE were older age and lower day-14 FEV1 values. Shorter periods until the following PEx are expected in older CF patients and those with lower FEV1 at the end of course of treatment. When these risk factors are present, there may be a justification to take therapeutic steps to increase the time until the following PEx.
Improving the management of dyspnea in the community using rapid learning approaches
Authors: Kamal Arif H. , Miriovsky Benjamin J. , Currow David C. , Abernethy Amy P.
Published: February 2012

Patients with chronic pulmonary disease often suffer from breathlessness or dyspnea. Traditional evidence generation techniques to expand upon current treatment paradigms are limited by the significant delay between study initiation and clinical implementation of findings. Rapid learning health care is a novel approach to health care delivery that relies on intelligent and continuous integration of clinical and research data sets to deliver personalized medicine using the most current evidence available. Results of important studies in the management of chronic respiratory disease are presented in brief; however, the focus of this review is on evidence supporting the implementation of a rapid learning model for symptom management. Recent findings suggest that a rapid learning system is feasible and acceptable to patients with advanced illness, helps monitor symptoms overtime, facilitates study of the impact of novel interventions, and can identify unrecognized needs and concerns. A rapid learning model improves comprehensive assessment, timeliness of intervention, and accrual of contemporaneous data to support best practice that tailors care specific to the needs of patients as their disease and lifestyle change overtime. Using the rapid learning health care model, data collected in the process of routine care can simultaneously function both as clinical information and as a resource for research on patient-centered experiences and outcomes.
The interaction of ageing and lung disease
Authors: Dyer Christopher
Published: February 2012

This article explores the structural and physiological changes that occur in the ageing lung, and the impact that lung disease and other co-morbidities may have on it. The major changes associated with ageing are reduced lung elasticity, respiratory muscle strength and chest wall compliance, all of which may be influenced by impaired lung growth in early childhood and adolescence. The resultant reduction in diffusing capacity may not be relevant in a fit older adult, but co-morbidities may interact to cause breathlessness and impairments in quality of life. Lung function declines with age, but forced vital capacity (FVC) begins to decline later than forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) and at a slower rate. This results in a natural fall in the FEV1/forced vital capacity (FVC) ratio which may result in overdiagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and hence the need to ensure the FEV1 is less than 80% before confirming the diagnosis. As older adults probably have a diminished response to hypoxia and hypercapnia, they become more vulnerable to ventilatory failure during high-demand states such as heart failure and pneumonia and therefore to possible poorer outcomes. Poor nutritional status is likely to be an important factor, as is cognitive impairment. It is important to assess older patients using a range of clinical and physiological parameters rather than on the basis of age per se which is a poor predictor of outcome.
Huntsville, the Highway, and Urban Redevelopment
Authors: Cannon Joshua
Published: February 2012

In 1968, the Federal Highway Administration allotted twenty-one additional Interstate Highway miles for a spur into Huntsville, Alabama. This article details the long subsequent battle to build the Huntsville spur. Such late additions to the Interstate System stood to be challenged on all fronts amid the nationwide Freeway Revolt and a shifting legislative environment in Congress. Federal highway policy changes during the 1960s and early 1970s gave freeway opponents opportunities to challenge controversial highways. However, decentralized metropolitan growth encouraged Huntsville leaders and city planners to support construction of the new urban expressway. Despite concerns about environmental damage and racial impacts, Huntsville’s freeway revolt faltered. Further, this article argues that, despite Huntsville’s late addition to the Interstate System, the local highway planning process mirrored the earlier national vision of expressway-driven redevelopment of declining central cities.