bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The effects of intracrystalline and surface‐bound proteins on the attachment of calcium oxalate monohydrate crystals to renal cells in undiluted human urine
Authors: Grover Phulwinder K. , Thurgood Lauren A. , Wang Tingting , Ryall Rosemary L.
Published: August 2009

OBJECTIVE

To compare the binding to Madin‐Darby canine kidney (MDCK)‐II cells of: (i) inorganic calcium oxalate monohydrate (iCOM) crystals and COM crystals precipitated from urine containing different concentrations of protein; and (ii) urinary COM crystals containing intracrystalline and intracrystalline + surface‐bound protein.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Urinary COM crystals were generated in sieved (sCOM), centrifuged and filtered (cfCOM), and ultrafiltered (ufCOM) portions of a pooled human urine and their adhesion to MDCK‐II cells was compared using six different ultrafiltered urine samples as the binding medium. Crystal matrix extract (CME) was prepared by demineralizing calcium oxalate crystals precipitated from human urine and used to prepare COM crystals with intracrystalline, and intracrystalline + surface‐bound CME at protein concentrations of 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.5 and 5.0 mg/L. The amount of protein associated with the crystals was qualitatively assessed by sodium dodecyl sulphate‐polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western blotting, using prothrombin fragment 1 (PTF1) as a marker. Protein concentration was determined in sieved, centrifuged and filtered, and ultrafiltered fractions of 10 additional urine samples.

RESULTS

The median crystal attachment in the six urine types decreased in the order iCOM > ufCOM > cfCOM = sCOM, in inverse proportion to the concentration of protein in the solution or urine from which they were precipitated. sCOM and cfCOM crystals bound ≈ 23% less than iCOM crystals. The attachment of COM crystals generated in the presence of increasing concentrations of CME proteins was unaffected up to a concentration of 5 mg/L, but binding of crystals containing the same concentrations of intracrystalline + surface‐bound proteins decreased proportionally at protein concentrations from 0 to 5.0 mg/L.

CONCLUSION

Inorganic COM crystals bind significantly more strongly to MDCK‐II cells than urinary crystals precipitated from sieved, centrifuged and filtered, and ultrafiltered urine, and binding affinity is inversely related to the concentration of protein in the urine in which they are formed. While both intracrystalline and superficial CME proteins reduce the attachment of COM crystals to MDCK‐II cells, those located on the crystal surface have a greater influence than those incarcerated within the mineral bulk. Future cell–crystal interaction studies should use urinary crystals and be performed in human urine.
Does perineural invasion on prostate biopsy predict adverse prostatectomy outcomes?
Authors: Loeb Stacy , Epstein Jonathan I. , Humphreys Elizabeth B. , Walsh Patrick C.
Published: August 2009

Study Type – Prognostic (case series) Level of Evidence 4

OBJECTIVE

To determine the relationship between perineural invasion (PNI) on prostate biopsy and radical prostatectomy (RP) outcomes in a contemporary RP series, as there is conflicting evidence on the prognostic significance of PNI in prostate needle biopsy specimens.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

From 2002 to 2007, 1256 men had RP by one surgeon. Multivariable logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards models were used to examine the relationship of PNI with pathological tumour features and biochemical progression, respectively, after adjusting for prostate‐specific antigen level, clinical stage and biopsy Gleason score. Additional Cox models were used to examine the relationship between nerve‐sparing and biochemical progression among men with PNI.

RESULTS

PNI was found in 188 (15%) patients, and was significantly associated with aggressive pathology and biochemical progression. On multivariate analysis, PNI was significantly associated with extraprostatic extension and seminal vesicle invasion (P < 0.001). Biochemical progression occurred in 10.5% of patients with PNI, vs 3.5% of those without PNI (unadjusted hazard ratio 3.12, 95% confidence interval 1.77–5.52, P < 0.001). However, PNI was not a significant independent predictor of biochemical progression on multivariate analysis. Finally, nerve‐sparing did not adversely affect biochemical progression even among men with PNI.

CONCLUSION

PNI is an independent risk factor for aggressive pathology features and a non‐independent risk factor for biochemical progression after RP. However, bilateral nerve‐sparing surgery did not compromise the oncological outcomes for patients with PNI on biopsy.
Neural markers of subordinate‐level categorization in 6‐ to 7‐month‐old infants
Authors: Quinn Paul C. , Doran Matthew M. , Reiss Jason E. , Hoffman James E.
Published: August 2009

Subordinate‐level category‐learning processes in infants were investigated with ERP and looking‐time measures. ERPs were recorded while 6‐ to 7‐month‐olds were presented with Saint Bernard images during familiarization, followed by novel Saint Bernards interspersed with Beagles during test. In addition, infant looking times were measured during a paired‐preference test (novel Saint Bernard vs. novel Beagle) conducted at the conclusion of ERP recording. Slow wave activity corresponded with learning a familiarized category at the subordinate and basic levels, whereas Negative central (Nc) and P400 components were linked with novel category preference. The results provide the first evidence identifying the neural markers of subordinate‐level categorization observed in looking‐time tasks conducted with infants. Moreover, when considered in conjunction with prior research investigating the neural markers of basic‐level categorization in infants, the findings indicate that (1) slow wave and Nc components of infant ERP waveforms are general markers for processes of category learning on the one hand and novel category preference on the other, (2) novel category preference for a contrast category at the basic and subordinate levels have the Nc component in common, but novel category preference at the subordinate level is accompanied by an additional P400 component, a finding in keeping with the notion that subordinate‐level categorization is governed by mechanisms supplementary to those underlying basic‐level categorization, and (3) slow wave activity associated with subordinate‐level learning followed that associated with basic‐level learning by approximately 200 ms, a result in accord with a coarse‐to‐fine scheme for the emergence of category partitioning.
South Australia: Caution and Consistency
Authors: Provis Chris , Strickland Andrew
Published: August 2009

During the 1990s public service industrial relations in South Australia have followed the state's long‐standing practice of being moderate and careful. From 1993 onwards, processes of corporatisation and privatisation that had commenced under the Bannon Labor government were continued and extended under the new Liberal government, in part as a response to financial pressures arising from the State Bank collapse, and in part as a reflection of the same trends that were widespread elsewhere. Where possible the government avoided direct confrontation with unions. There were various contests where the parties explored options in the changing environment, but the most prominent trend was that government policies of financial restraint and outsourcing tended to reduce most unions' bargaining power. Those policies were initially conjoined with agency‐specific enterprise bargaining, but the resulting variations in outcomes finally led to a Wages Parity Agreement to restore consistency.
Conditions for Facelike Expertise With Objects
Authors: Wong Alan C.-N. , Palmeri Thomas J. , Gauthier Isabel
Published: August 2009

Compared with other objects, faces are processed more holistically and with a larger reliance on configural information. Such hallmarks efface processing can also be found for nonface objects as people develop expertise with them. Is this specifically a result of expertise individuating objects, or would any type of prolonged intensive experience with objects be sufficient? Two groups of participants were trained with artificial objects (Ziggerins). One group learned to rapidly individuate Ziggerins (i.e., subordinate-level training). The other group learned rapid, sequential categorizations at the basic level. Individuation experts showed a selective improvement at the subordinate level and an increase in holistic processing. Categorization experts improved only at the basic level, showing no changes in holistic processing. Attentive exposure to objects in a difficult training regimen is not sufficient to produce facelike expertise. Rather, qualitatively different types of expertise with objects of a given geometry can arise depending on the type of training.
Entering the Twilight Zone: The Local Complexities of Pay and Employment Equity in New Zealand
Authors: Jones Deborah , Torrie Rae
Published: August 2009

This article introduces the recent pay and employment equity situation in the New Zealand state sector through a discussion of research carried out for a Pay and Employment Equity Taskforce. It investigates the twilight zone of pay and employment equity — the murky situations where pay and employment equity programmes already exist, but progress for senior women has stalled for no obvious reasons. Qualitative research is necessary to make sense of these complex situations and to complement labour‐market level studies. The example used is a study of teachers in New Zealand schools, where a range of complex reasons, including lack of support, gendered job designs and intense workloads, creates a bottleneck for women at senior levels. The authors argue that highly decentralized human resources practices work against progress in equal employment opportunity in the state sector.
Minors Travelling Alone: A Risk Group for Human Trafficking?
Authors: Derluyn Ilse , Lippens Valesca , Verachtert Tony , Bruggeman Willy , Broekaert Eric
Published: August 2009

Minors travelling without their parent(s) or guardian are an increasing phenomenon. Although their travel objectives might differ importantly, varying from holiday purposes to migration objectives, an important subgroup of them might be at risk to fall into exploitative circumstances, such as human trafficking. Studying the group of minors travelling alone arriving at Brussels Airport (Belgium), this research investigates the population’s characteristics, the procedures used, and the risks some of these minors run of falling into exploitative situations. Firstly, registration revealed that tens of thousands minors travelling alone arrive at Brussels Airport each year, with an important part of them coming from African countries. Secondly, participant observations showed that detection of possible cases of human trafficking is a very complex issue, resulting in the alarming hypothesis that many cases of trafficking of minors travelling alone might not be detected during their journey or at their arrival at the airport.
Protecting Women Asylum Seekers and Refugees: From International Norms to National Protection?
Authors: Freedman Jane
Published: August 2009

Little attention is paid in most national asylum policies and legislation to the specific position of female asylum seekers, and to gendered aspects of refugee and asylum situations. Further, even in those countries that have adopted asylum legislation to specifically address the question of women asylum seekers and victims of gender specific persecution, problems still remain in the implementation of these policies and in the full recognition of persecutions specific to women. Whilst the issue of protection of women victims of this type of violence have been put on the international agenda, at least to some extent, through directives on the defence of women’s human rights and on the protection of female refugees and asylum seekers, the international norms which have thus been created have been implemented unevenly and unequally in different national contexts. This article seeks to analyse the extent to which national asylum legislation and policies have integrated a concern with the protection of women victims of gender specific forms of persecution, and how effective this implementation has been. The article will engage critically with existing accounts of global norm creation to examine the uneven diffusion and implementation of norms on the protection of female refugees, pointing to the importance of discursive opportunity structures open to actors in mobilising around these issues at local and national levels. It will also argue that even where policies and legislation dealing specifically with women refugees and asylum seekers do exist, they may not actually address some of the important insecurities facing these women because of an approach that does not fully comprehend and act upon gendered structures and relations of power.
DEPORTED: The Right to Asylum at EU’s External Border of Italy and Libya1
Authors: Andrijasevic Rutvica
Published: August 2009

During the past year the temporary holding centre for irregular migrants in Lampedusa, Italy’s southernmost island, has been repeatedly denounced for instances of procedural irregularities and alleged human rights violations. This study presents an overview of events and policies implemented by the Italian and Libyan Governments, the European Union and the International Organization for Migration and outlines the contentions surrounding these policies. It argues that the implementation of the detention and return schemes, commonly discussed in terms of the externalization of asylum, does not actually relocate the asylum procedures outside the EU’s external borders but rather deprives asylum seekers of the possibility of accessing asylum determination procedure. It further suggests that policies geared towards deterring irregular migratory flows into Europe and combatting smuggling in migrants in Libya, might paradoxically result in ‘illegalizing’ the movement of migrants in northern Africa and increasing the involvement of smuggling networks. The study ends by raising the issue of the political responsibility of all actors involved and suggests the most affective ways to balance the rights and responsibilities on asylum at the EU’s southern border.
Asylum Legislation and Asylum Applications: A Geographical Analysis of Belgian Asylum Policy by Country of Origin (1992‐2003)
Authors: Vanheule Dirk , Witlox Frank
Published: August 2009

In many European countries a traditional policy and legal response to an undesirable increase of asylum applications has been the change of asylum law and procedures. By making it more difficult to obtain asylum and refugee status, the attractiveness as a possible country of asylum is believed to diminish. In the period from 1992 to 2003 three major revisions of the Belgian asylum procedure were enacted. When speaking in absolute figures these changes resulted in a certain decrease in the number of asylum applications filed. However, upon a closer examination of the number of asylum applications per country of origin, the effects appeared to be quite differential. Hence, factors other than geographical ones, such as the location of the country of origin or distance, must be decisive for the effect of a change in legislation on the number of asylum claimants coming from one particular country. Nevertheless, it has been possible to distinguish seven clusters of countries of origin where similar developments in patterns of asylum applications and shifts therein, depending on changes in asylum law, can be seen.
Standardized care plans in Swedish health care: their quality and the extent to which they are used
Authors: Olsson Pernilla Turunen , Petersson Helena , Willman Ania , Gardulf Ann
Published: August 2009

Objectives:  To investigate the quality of standardized care plans and the extent to which they are used within Swedish in‐hospital somatic care. Further, to examine the quality of the knowledge summaries on which existing standardized care plans were supposed to be based.

Design:  Submitted documents were reviewed with study‐specific protocols.

Setting:  A national survey, based on a structured selection of Swedish hospitals.

Participants:  A total of 25 Swedish hospitals participated, and were asked to submit all documents in use that were labelled standardized care plan.

Results:  Only 4% (34 out of 782) of the reviewed documents fulfilled the criteria for being a standardized care plan. None of the 34 knowledge summaries (an accompanying document with a compilation of scientific facts and reliable experience) was evidence‐based.

Conclusions:  There is a lack of knowledge regarding what a standardized care plan is, and how such a document should emanate from evidence‐based knowledge. Our results raise the question of how recent developments in research are used to create standardized care plans for the best possible care. In the process of developing standardized care plans it is important to acknowledge that staff who develop these plans need scientific training and experience. Standardized care plans are in the early stages of development, and at this stage it seems appropriate to initiate a discussion regarding possible cooperation at national level when developing standardized care plans for certain large groups of patients suffering from specific diseases, or undergoing the same treatment.
Constipation and defecation pattern the first 30 days after thoracic surgery
Authors: Rasmussen Lene Schütt , Pedersen Preben Ulrich
Published: August 2009

Scand J Caring Sci; 2010; 24; 244–250
 
Constipation and defecation pattern the first 30 days after thoracic surgery

Introduction:  In clinical practice constipation is often an overlooked aspect of patient care and first gains attention when it has become a severe problem for the patients. Constipation increases the risk for postoperative complications, can prolong hospital stay, increase financial cost, and staff nursing care time.

Material and method:  A prospective descriptive design was used. One hundred and thirty nine patients participated in the study from February to June 2006. On admission, day of discharge, and 30 days after surgery patients normal and actual defecation pattern, stool consistency, and if they experienced problems with defecation was assessed by a structured interview. North America Nursing Diagnosis Associations (NANDA’s) general definition of constipation was used as a frame of reference for this study. The Bristol Stool Scale was used to measure stool consistency. Prolonged and difficult evacuation and defecation pattern was recorded on a self‐composed scale.

Results:  Fifty per cent of patients developed constipation during the first postoperative period and their normal pattern of defecation was re‐established 17 days after discharge. Nearly one third of the patients reported that their daily life was affected by constipation after discharge.

Conclusion:  The results imply that further studies are needed to prevent constipation and to help patients to cope with this side effect of surgery after discharge. The results of this study also suggest that acute and chronic constipation might be two different disorders.
CURRICULUM GUIDE FOR RESEARCH ETHICS WORKSHOPS FOR COUNTRIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Authors: SILVERMAN HENRY , AHMED BABIKER , AJEILET SAMAR , AL‐FADIL SUMAIA , AL‐AMAD SUHAIL , EL‐DESSOUKY HADIR , EL‐GENDY IBRAHIM , EL‐GUINDI MOHAMED , EL‐NIMEIRI MUSTAFA , MUZAFFAR RANA , SALEH AZZA
Published: August 2009

To help ensure the ethical conduct of research, many have recommended educational efforts in research ethics to investigators and members of research ethics committees (RECs). One type of education activity involves multi‐day workshops in research ethics. To be effective, such workshops should contain the appropriate content and teaching techniques geared towards the learning styles of the targeted audiences. To ensure consistency in content and quality, we describe the development of a curriculum guide, core competencies and associated learning objectives and activities to help educators organize research ethics workshops in their respective institutions. The curriculum guide is divided into modular units to enable planners to develop workshops of different lengths and choose content materials that match the needs, abilities, and prior experiences of the target audiences. The content material in the curriculum guide is relevant for audiences in the Middle East, because individuals from the Middle East who participated in a Certificate Program in research ethics selected and developed the training materials (e.g., articles, powerpoint slides, case studies, protocols). Also, many of the activities incorporate active‐learning methods, consisting of group work activities analyzing case studies and reviewing protocols. The development of such a workshop training curriculum guide represents a sustainable educational resource to enhance research ethics capacity in the Middle East.
Carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and enzymatic activity under different land uses in a tropical, dry ecosystem
Authors: Sandoval‐Pérez A. L. , Gavito M. E. , García‐Oliva F. , Jaramillo V. J.
Published: August 2009

We compared total C, N and P, available forms of N and P and dehydrogenase, urease and acid phosphatase activities in soils from primary forests, 26‐year‐old pastures and 26‐year‐old secondary forests in the tropical dry forest region of Chamela, Jalisco, Mexico. We hypothesized that, because of their natural regeneration and greater plant diversity, secondary forest soils would have higher fertility and enzyme activities than pasture soils and would be more similar to primary forest soils. We predicted also that enzymes would be better indicators of land‐use effects on soil fertility than nutrients. Only one nutrient, available phosphorus, and one enzyme, acid phosphatase, were significantly and consistently affected by land use. As expected, these parameters were greater in primary and secondary forests than in pastures. Principal components analysis using all variables placed secondary forests intermediate between primary forests and pastures, as predicted, and total C, N and P, available P, ammonium, phosphatase, urease and the C:P ratio were the variables associated with this spatial arrangement of land uses. We conclude that secondary forest soils showed improved fertility and were overall closer to primary forests than to pastures in most variables measured.
Phosphorus and trace metal dynamics in soils amended with poultry litter and granulates
Authors: Toor G. S. , Haggard B. E.
Published: August 2009

Environmental sustainability of animal agriculture is strongly dependent upon development of approaches to minimize the potential environmental impacts of applying animal manures. The excess manure and its nutrients (primarily phosphorus) in intensive animal production regions may need to be exported to other areas to comply with increased regulations on manure management. In our previous study we generated a variety of granulated products from poultry litter to achieve export of excess litter from the southwestern Ozarks, AR, USA. Our objective in the present study was to determine the effect of the application of poultry litter and granulated litter products on phosphorus (P), arsenic (As), copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) dynamics in two Arkansas soils (Dewitt silt loam and Hector sandy loam). Poultry litter and granulated products were mixed with the surface horizon (0–15 cm) of soils at two application rates: P‐based (100 kg total P per hectare) and N‐based (160 kg plant‐available N per hectare). Soil–litter mixtures were incubated at 25 °C for 21 days. Sub‐samples were removed at 1, 7 and 21 days to determine the solubility and availability of P, As, Cu and Zn in soils. Results suggest that when litter was applied at 100 kg total P per hectare, contents of P, As, Cu and Zn were significantly greater in the soils amended with litter and granulated products than in the control (soil alone). However, the contents of P, As, Cu and Zn did not significantly differ in the soils amended with either normal litter or granulated litter products at total P or plant‐available N‐based application rates. This suggests that poultry litter granulation is a sound management practice that can be used to reduce concerns with fresh litter transport and potentially improve P and trace element balances in intensive poultry production regions, especially when applied on a plant‐available N basis.
The q‐Theory Approach to Understanding the Accrual Anomaly
Authors: WU JIN (GINGER) , ZHANG LU , ZHANG X. FRANK
Published: August 2009

Interpreting accruals as working capital investment, we hypothesize based on q‐theory that firms optimally adjust their accruals in response to discount rate changes. A higher discount rate means less profitable investments and lower accruals, and a lower discount rate means more profitable investments and higher accruals. Our evidence supports this optimal investment hypothesis: (1) adding an investment factor into standard factor regressions substantially reduces the magnitude of the accrual anomaly, often to insignificant levels; (2) accruals covary negatively with discount rate estimates from the dividend discounting model, and for the most part, with estimates from the residual income model; (3) accruals with low accounting reliability covary more with capital investment than accruals with high accounting reliability; and (iv) expected returns to accruals‐based trading strategies are time‐varying, suggesting that the deterioration of the accrual effect in recent years might be temporary and likely to mean‐revert in the near future.
Low concentrations of amitriptyline inhibit nicotinic receptors in unmyelinated axons of human peripheral nerve
Authors: Freysoldt A , Fleckenstein J , Lang PM , Irnich D , Grafe P , Carr RW
Published: August 2009

Background and purpose: Amitriptyline is often prescribed as a first‐line treatment for neuropathic pain but its precise mode of analgesic action remains uncertain. Amitriptyline is known to inhibit voltage‐dependent ion channels and also to act as an antagonist at ligand‐gated ion channels, such as nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). In the present study, we tested the effect of amitriptyline on nicotinic responses of unmyelinated axons in isolated segments of human peripheral nerve. In particular, a comparison was made between the concentrations of amitriptyline necessary for inhibition of nAChRs and those required for inhibition of the compound C‐fibre action potential.

Experimental approach: Isolated axon fascicles were prepared from short segments of human sural nerve, and multiple measures of axonal excitability were recorded using computer‐controlled threshold tracking software.

Key results: Amitriptyline (EC502.6 µM) reduced the nicotine‐induced increase in C‐fibre excitability but only slightly altered the amplitude and latency to onset of the compound action potential. In contrast, tetrodotoxin produced a clear reduction in the amplitude and a prolongation of action potential onset latency but was without effect on the nicotine‐induced increase in axonal excitability.

Conclusions and implications: These data demonstrate that low concentrations of amitriptyline suppress the response of human peripheral C‐type axons to nicotine by directly inhibiting nAChRs. Blockade of tetrodotoxin‐sensitive, voltage‐dependent sodium channels does not contribute to this effect. An inhibitory action of amitriptyline on nAChRs in unmyelinated nociceptive axons may be an important component of amitriptyline's therapeutic effect in the treatment of neuropathic pain.
Carbon monoxide is a rapid modulator of recombinant and native P2X2ligand‐gated ion channels
Authors: Wilkinson WJ , Gadeberg HC , Harrison AWJ , Allen ND , Riccardi D , Kemp PJ
Published: August 2009

Background and purpose: Carbon monoxide (CO) is a potent modulator of a wide variety of physiological processes, including sensory signal transduction. Many afferent sensory pathways are dependent upon purinergic neurotransmission, but direct modulation of the P2X purinoceptors by this important, endogenously produced gas has never been investigated.

Experimental approach: Whole‐cell patch‐clamp experiments were used to measure ATP‐elicited currents in human embryonic kidney 293 cells heterologously expressing P2X2, P2X3, P2X2/3and P2X4receptors and in rat pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells known to express native P2X2receptors. Modulation was investigated using solutions containing CO gas and the CO donor molecule, tricarbonyldichlororuthenium (II) dimer (CORM‐2).

Key results: CO was a potent and selective modulator of native P2X2receptors, and these effects were mimicked by a CO donor (CORM‐2). Neither pre‐incubation with 8‐bromoguanosine‐3′,5′‐cyclomonophosphate nor 1H‐[1,2,4]Oxadiazolo[4,3‐a]quinoxalin‐1‐one (a potent blocker of soluble guanylyl cyclase) affected the ability of the CO donor to enhance the ATP‐evoked P2X2currents. The CO donor caused a small, but significant inhibition of currents evoked by P2X2/3and P2X4receptors, but was without effect on P2X3receptors.

Conclusions and implications: These data provided an explanation for how CO might regulate sensory neuronal traffic in physiological reflexes such as systemic oxygen sensing but also showed that CO could be used as a selective pharmacological tool to assess the involvement of homomeric P2X2receptors in physiological systems.
Methyl ethyl ketone blocks status epilepticus induced by lithium‐pilocarpine in rats
Authors: Inoue Osamu , Sugiyama Eriko , Hasebe Nobuyoshi , Tsuchiya Noriko , Hosoi Rie , Yamaguchi Masatoshi , Abe Kohji , Gee Antony
Published: August 2009

Background and purpose: A ketogenic diet has been used successfully to treat patients with intractable epilepsy, although the mechanism is unknown. Acetone has been shown to have an anticonvulsive effect in various animal models. The main purpose of this study was to determine whether other ketones, 2‐butanone (methyl ethyl ketone: MEK) and 3‐pentanone (diethyl ketone: DEK), also show anticonvulsive effects in lithium‐pilocarpine (Li‐pilocarpine)‐induced status epilepticus (SE) in rats.

Experimental approach: Anticonvulsive effects of MEK and DEK in Li‐pilocarpine SE rats were measured by behavioural scoring. Anti‐seizure effects of MEK were also evaluated using electroencephalography (EEG). Neuroprotective effect of MEK was investigated by haematoxylin and eosin staining 4 weeks after the treatment with pilocarpine.

Key results: Acetone, MEK and DEK showed anticonvulsant effects in Li‐pilocarpine‐induced SE rats. Treatment with MEK twice (8 mmol·kg−1and 5 mmol·kg−1) almost completely blocked spontaneous recurrent cortical seizure EEG up to 4 weeks after the administration of pilocarpine. MEK also showed strong neuroprotective effects in Li‐pilocarpine‐treated rats 4 weeks following the administration of pilocarpine. Significant neural cell death occurred in the hippocampus of Li‐pilocarpine SE rats, especially in the CA1 and CA3 subfields. In contrast, normal histological characteristics were observed in these regions in the MEK‐pretreated rats.

Conclusions and implications: Both MEK and DEK showed strong anticonvulsive effects in Li‐pilocarpine‐induced SE rats. They also inhibited continuous recurrent seizure and neural damage in hippocampal region for 4 weeks after the treatment with pilocarpine. These findings appear to be of value in the investigation of epilepsy.
THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN RETRACTED  Conscience in Renaissance moral thought: a concept in transition?
Authors: Stone M. W. F.
Published: August 2009

This paper focuses on a neglected aspect of the history of the discussion of conscience in late fifteenth‐century Europe. It seeks to explain how Adrian of Utrecht (1459–1523), a prominent scholastic theologian at Louvain, pondered the more subjective dimensions of conscience, and how his arguments can be appraised from the perspective of a wide‐ranging discussion of the nature and function of moral cognition and judgement that took place in humanist and philosophical circles. Adrian's work is especially interesting for reason that he has important things to say about ‘moral integrity’, and ‘convictions of the heart’– ideas that bring into focus how highly personalized aspects of moral reflection impinge upon the activities of conscience. Having outlined Adrian's concerns, his description of the machinations of our moral conscience will then be set in context by comparing his account to that of a leading philosopher of his age, Marsilio Ficino (1433–1499). In addition to this, the thoughts of the celebrated ‘Christian humanists’ John Colet (1467–1519) and Desiderius Erasmus (1466/9–1536) will also be enlisted so that a richer picture of Renaissance ideas of conscience can emerge.
Conscience and the law in Thomas More
Authors: Cummings Brian
Published: August 2009

No figure in the early modern period is more identified with an ideal of personal conscience than Thomas More. However, the figure of More in modern imagination is almost completely at variance with the view of historians. Indeed, according to this consensus, far from being radically modern, More's understanding of conscience is carefully orthodox and conservative, in line with the scholastic concept of synderesis as developed by Bonaventure and Aquinas. This essay re‐examines the scholastic inheritance while also placing More's thought in the context of the legal framework of conscience, especially its place in the court of chancery, where More worked on a daily basis. By considering new pressures on the idea of conscience both within late medieval and Reformation theology, and within the new legal theories of More's contemporary St German, the essay suggests that More's thinking is more ambiguous and yet also more potentially radical than is supposed in revisionist commentary. Nowhere is the complexity of More's thinking more evident than in the last letters of his life, written in prison, where he uses the word with extraordinary frequency and depth of understanding.
Shakespeare's open consciences
Authors: Tilmouth Christopher
Published: August 2009

Conscience is experienced in Renaissance texts both as a private form of moral self‐knowledge shared between God and the individual and as public knowledge shared between the individual and his compatriots. Humanist sources reinforce this latter sense of a public, mutual mode of moral consciousness by urging man to imagine himself beset by shame and always living under the scrutinizing gaze of third parties. The capacity of such gazes to invade the conscience is powerfully felt in Shakespeare's Lucrece. Presuming that her moral state is publicly visible, Lucrece supposes she can only cleanse her pollution by killing herself under the very same public gaze. Macbeth likewise imagines his conscience as perpetually exposed to accusative eyes, both when he originally contemplates Duncan's murder, and after the fact, when he figures first Banquo's gaze, then others' too, as rebuking him. Macbeth's futile efforts to suppress such shame‐consciousness drive him to despair.
The Bible, reason of state, and the royal conscience: Juan Márquez's El governador christiano
Authors: Braun Harald E.
Published: August 2009

The Spanish theologian Juan Márquez OSA (1565–1621) explores new ways of instructing the conscience of prince and counsellor. Fray Juan wrote his treatise El governador christiano (1612) as a defence of Catholic moral theology. He seeks to verify its ability to adapt to the demands of realpolitik as well as the reading habits of a lay audience by providing courtier‐politicians with pragmatic counsel drawn from biblical narrative presented in the vernacular. The overall aim is to substitute and marginalize the works of the ‘modern historians’, ‘Machiavellians’, and teachers of reason of state like Jean Bodin, Philippe de Commines or Francesco Guicciardini. Scholastic and humanist genres, styles and methodologies of enquiry are blended and casuistic argument is absorbed into historical exemplarity carefully crafted to pull in the reader. Fray Juan's contention is that the time and lives of Moses and Joshua hold all the lessons a statesman needs to ensure the survival and success of a kingdom or principality in a hostile and morally deficient world. Interpreting scripture as a manual of reason of state, however, Márquez often tends to soothe moral anxiety by dismissing rather than analysing moral predicament. Persuasive and influential, El governador christiano appears a manual primarily for a Catholic conscience already assured of its own orthodoxy and ideological outlook.
Prospective randomised multicentre trial with the birth trainer EPI‐NO® for the prevention of perineal trauma
Authors: RUCKHÄBERLE Eugen , JUNDT Katharina , BÄUERLE Martin , BRISCH Karl‐Heinz , ULM Kurt , DANNECKER Christian , SCHNEIDER Karl Theo Mario
Published: August 2009

Background: In several non‐randomised trials training with EPI‐NO® increased the rate of intact perineum and decreased episiotomy rates, shortened the second stage of labour and lowered use of pain killers.

Aims: To verify the preliminary results with EPI‐NO® in a prospective randomised trial.

Methods: Randomised, single‐blind multicentre trial in four university hospitals in Germany including 276 primigravidae.

Results: After training with EPI‐NO® we observed a significant increase in the incidence of intact perineum (37.4% vs 25.7%; P = 0.05) and a tendency towards lower episiotomy rates (41.9% vs 50.5%; P = 0.11). We found no significant differences between the two groups regarding incidence of perineal tears, duration of second stage of labour, use of pain relief and rate of vaginal infection.

Conclusions: Training with EPI‐NO® increases significantly the likelihood of having an intact perineum and reduces the episiotomy rate.
Migralepsy: A call for a revision of the definition
Authors: Sances Grazia , Guaschino Elena , Perucca Piero , Allena Marta , Ghiotto Natascia , Manni Raffaele
Published: August 2009

Migralepsy is an ill‐defined nosologic entity, with only a few cases described in the literature. In the 2004 International Classification for Headache Disorders (ICHD‐II), the International Headache Society proposed that the following diagnostic criteria should be met: (1) migraine fulfilling criteria for 1.2 Migraine with aura (MA) and (2) a seizure fulfilling diagnostic criteria for one type of epileptic attack occurs during or within 1 h after a migraine aura. Herein, by presenting a case with symptoms suggestive of migralepsy and by reviewing all previous cases described in the literature, we discuss the challenges of differentiating this condition from epileptic seizures, as well as the inaccuracy of the current ICHD‐II definition.
A prospective study of smoking, caffeine, and alcohol as risk factors for seizures or epilepsy in young adult women: Data from the Nurses’ Health Study II
Authors: Dworetzky Barbara A. , Bromfield Edward B. , Townsend Mary K. , Kang Jae H.
Published: August 2009

Purpose:  Seizures and epilepsy are associated with significant disability and substantial treatment costs, yet little is known about primary prevention. We prospectively examined the association of cigarette smoking, caffeine use, and alcohol intake with risk of seizure or epilepsy among women, aged 25–42 years, in the Nurses’ Health Study II.

Methods:  Participants provided dietary and cigarette smoking information on multiple questionnaires beginning in 1989. Among 116,363 women at‐risk for incident seizure or epilepsy, we confirmed 95 cases of seizure and 151 cases of epilepsy occurring from 1989–2005 using information from a detailed supplementary questionnaire and medical records. Multivariable‐adjusted relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression.

Results:  Compared with never smoking, current cigarette smoking was associated with an increased risk of seizure (RR 2.60, 95% CI 1.53–4.42), after adjustment for stroke and other potential confounding factors. Past smoking was not associated with risk of seizure, but was associated with modestly increased risk of epilepsy (RR 1.46, 95% CI 1.01–2.12). Long‐term caffeine and moderate alcohol intake were not associated with seizure or epilepsy.

Discussion:  Cigarette smoking may be associated with increased risk of seizure. More prospective studies are needed to investigate potential factors to ultimately prevent the development of seizures or epilepsy.
Coactivation of GABA receptors inhibits the JNK3 apoptotic pathway via disassembly of GluR6‐PSD‐95‐MLK3 signaling module in KA‐induced seizure
Authors: Li Chong , Xu Bo , Wang Wei‐Wei , Yu Xiu‐Ju , Zhu Jie , Yu Hong‐Min , Han Dong , Pei Dong‐Sheng , Zhang Guang‐Yi
Published: August 2009

Purpose: Past work has demonstrated that kainic acid (KA)–induced seizures could cause the enhancement of excitation and lead to neuronal death in rat hippocampus. To counteract such an imbalance between excitation and inhibition, we designed experiments by activating the inhibitory γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor to investigate whether such activation suppresses the excitatory glutamate signaling induced by KA and to elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms.

Methods: Muscimol coapplied with baclofen was intraperitoneally administrated to the rats 40 min before KA injection by intracerebroventricular infusion. Subsequently we used a series of methods including immunoprecipitation, immunoblotting, histologic analysis, and immunohistochemistry to analyze the interaction, expression, and phosphorylation of relevant proteins as well as the survival of the CA1/CA3 pyramidal neurons.

Results: Coadministration of muscimol and baclofen exerted neuroprotection against neuron death induced by KA; inhibited the increased assembly of the GluR6‐PSD‐95‐MLK3 module induced by KA; and suppressed the activation of MLK3, MKK7, and JNK3.

Discussion: Taken together, we demonstrate that coactivation of the inhibitory GABA receptors can attenuate the excitatory JNK3 apoptotic signaling pathway via inhibiting the increased assembly of the GluR6‐PSD‐95‐MLK3 signaling module induced by KA. This provides a new insight into the therapeutic approach to epileptic seizure.
Validation of a brief screening instrument for the ascertainment of epilepsy
Authors: Ottman Ruth , Barker‐Cummings Christie , Leibson Cynthia L. , Vasoli Vincent M. , Hauser W. Allen , Buchhalter Jeffrey R.
Published: August 2009

Purpose:  To validate a brief screening instrument for identifying people with epilepsy in epidemiologic or genetic studies.

Methods:  We designed a nine‐question screening instrument for epilepsy and administered it by telephone to individuals with medical record–documented epilepsy (lifetime history of ≥2 unprovoked seizures, n = 168) or isolated unprovoked seizure (n = 54), and individuals who were seizure‐free on medical record review (n = 120), from a population‐based study using Rochester Epidemiology Project resources. Interviewers were blinded to record‐review findings.

Results:  Sensitivity (the proportion of individuals who screened positive among affected individuals) was 96% for epilepsy and 87% for isolated unprovoked seizure. The false positive rate (FPR, the proportion who screened positive among seizure‐free individuals) was 7%. The estimated positive predictive value (PPV) for epilepsy was 23%, assuming a lifetime prevalence of 2% in the population. Use of only a single question asking whether the subject had ever had epilepsy or a seizure disorder resulted in sensitivity 76%, FPR 0.8%, and estimated PPV 66%. Subjects with epilepsy were more likely to screen positive with this question if they were diagnosed after 1964 or continued to have seizures for at least 5 years after diagnosis.

Discussion:  Given its high sensitivity, our instrument may be useful for the first stage of screening for epilepsy; however, the PPV of 23% suggests that only about one in four screen‐positive individuals will be truly affected. Screening with a single question asking about epilepsy yields a higher PPV but lower sensitivity, and screen‐positive subjects may be biased toward more severe epilepsy.
Hyperpolarization‐activated cation currents in human epileptogenic neocortex
Authors: Wierschke Stephan , Lehmann Thomas‐Nicolas , Dehnicke Christoph , Horn Peter , Nitsch Robert , Deisz Rudolf A.
Published: August 2009

Purpose:  Hyperpolarization‐activated cation currents (IH) play a pivotal role in the control of neuronal excitability. In animal models of epilepsy both increases and decreases of IH have been reported. We, therefore, characterized properties of IH in human epileptogenic neocortex.

Methods:  Layer II/III neurons in slices from epilepsy surgery tissues and rat cortex were investigated with whole‐cell patch‐clamp recordings.

Results:  A total of 484 neurons from 96 temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) tissues and 32 neurons from 8 frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE) tissues were recorded. Voltage‐clamp recordings revealed on hyperpolarizing command steps two time‐ and voltage‐dependent inward currents, namely a fast, Ba2+‐sensitive current (KIR) and a slowly activating current, namely consisting of two kinetically distinct components sensitive to the established IH blocker ZD7288. Only, the fast component (IH(fast)) of TLE neurons was on average smaller and activated more slowly (density 2.7 ± 1.6 pA/pF; tau 38.4 ± 34.0 ms) than in FLE neurons (4.7 ± 2.3 pA/pF; 16.6 ± 7.9 ms; p < 0.001 for both). Within the TLE tissues the IH(fast) density (averaged per patient) was smaller in cases with numerous annual grand mal seizures (GM; 2.2 ± 0.6 pA/pF) compared to those with few GM (2.8 ± 1.0 pA/pF; p = 0.0184). A similar difference was obtained in the case of complex partial seizures (CPS; many CPS 2.2 ± 0.6 pA/pF; few CPS 2.9 ± 1.0 pA/pF, p = 0.0037).

Discussion:  The biophysical properties of IH in cortices from TLE, FLE, and rat tissue suggest a deficit of HCN1 subunits in the human epileptogenic neocortex, which in turn may increase excitability and probability of seizure activity.
Struggling with Poverty: Implications for Theory and Policy of Increasing Research on Social Class‐Based Stigma
Authors: Williams Wendy R.
Published: August 2009

Low‐income people are stigmatized in a number of ways, including being negatively stereotyped and discriminated against both interpersonally and institutionally (seeLott & Bullock, 2007for a comprehensive review). Yet psychologists have not focused much attention on social class in general, nor on social class‐based stigma in particular. This article argues that by resolving three main problems in the literature (the achieved/ascribed discrepancy, the complexity of operationalizing social class, and the seeming lack of identification with one's social class), psychologists are in a unique position to use their knowledge to aid practitioners and policymakers in ameliorating the consequences of poverty. Thus, this article focuses on how better to incorporate social class into the stigma literature and how this research can be linked to social policy initiatives.
Diversity and Connectance in an Industrial Context
Authors: Wright Ramsey A. , Côté Raymond P. , Duffy Jack , Brazner John
Published: August 2009

The ecological metaphor of industrial ecology is a proven conceptual tool, having spawned an entire field of interdisciplinary research that explores the intimate linkages between industry and its underlying natural systems. Besides its name and a number of borrowed concepts, however, industrial ecology has no formal relationship with the ecological sciences. This study explores the potential for further interdisciplinary collaboration by testing whether some of the same quantitative analysis techniques used in community ecology research can have meaning in an industrial context. Specifically, we applied the ecological concepts of connectance and diversity to an analysis of Burnside Industrial Park in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Our results demonstrate that these ecological tools show promise for use in industrial ecology. We discuss the meaning of connectance and diversity concepts in an industrial context and suggest next steps for future studies. We hope that this research will help to lay the groundwork of an ecologically inspired tool kit for analyzing industrial ecosystems.