bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Intrahippocampal injection of a lentiviral vector expressing Nrf2 improves spatial learning in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease
Authors: Kanninen Katja , Heikkinen Riikka , Malm Tarja , Rolova Taisia , Kuhmonen Susanna , Leinonen Hanna , Ylä-Herttuala Seppo , Tanila Heikki , Levonen Anna-Liisa , Koistinaho Milla , Koistinaho Jari
Published: September 2009

The amyloid hypothesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) postulates that amyloid-β (Aβ) deposition and neurotoxicity play a causative role in AD; oxidative injury is thought to be central in the pathogenesis. An endogenous defense system against oxidative stress is induced by binding of the transcription factor nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) to the antioxidant response element (ARE) enhancer sequence. The Nrf2-ARE pathway is activated in response to reactive oxygen species to trigger the simultaneous expression of numerous protective enzymes and scavengers. To exploit the Nrf2-ARE pathway therapeutically, we delivered Nrf2 bilaterally into the hippocampus of 9-month-old transgenic AD mice (APP/PS1 mice) using a lentiviral vector encoding human Nrf2. The data indicate that significant reductions in spatial learning deficits of aged APP/PS1 mice in a Morris Water Maze can be achieved by modulating levels of Nrf2 in the brain. Memory improvement in APP/PS1 mice after Nrf2 transduction shifts the balance between soluble and insoluble Aβ toward an insoluble Aβ pool without concomitant change in total brain Aβ burden. Nrf2 gene transfer is associated with a robust reduction in astrocytic but not microglial activation and induction of Nrf2 target gene heme oxygenase 1, indicating overall activation of the Nrf2-ARE pathway in hippocampal neurons 6 months after injection. Results warrant further exploration of the Nrf2-ARE pathway for treatment of AD and suggest that the Nrf2-ARE pathway may represent a potential therapeutic strategy to pursue in AD in humans, particularly in view of the multiple mechanisms by which Nrf2 can exert its protective effects.
Predictable irregularities in retinal receptive fields
Authors: Liu Yuan Sophie , Stevens Charles F. , Sharpee Tatyana O.
Published: September 2009

Understanding how the nervous system achieves reliable performance using unreliable components is important for many disciplines of science and engineering, in part because it can suggest ways to lower the energetic cost of computing. In vision, retinal ganglion cells partition visual space into approximately circular regions termed receptive fields (RFs). Average RF shapes are such that they would provide maximal spatial resolution if they were centered on a perfect lattice. However, individual shapes have fine-scale irregularities. Here, we find that irregular RF shapes increase the spatial resolution in the presence of lattice irregularities from ≈60% to ≈92% of that possible for a perfect lattice. Optimization of RF boundaries around their fixed center positions reproduced experimental observations neuron-by-neuron. Our results suggest that lattice irregularities determine the shapes of retinal RFs and that similar algorithms can improve the performance of retinal prosthetics where substantial irregularities arise at their interface with neural tissue.
S-nitrosylation of stargazin regulates surface expression of AMPA-glutamate neurotransmitter receptors
Authors: Selvakumar Balakrishnan , Huganir Richard L. , Snyder Solomon H.
Published: September 2009

Synaptic plasticity is mediated by changes in the surface expression of AMPA receptors (AMPARs). Stargazin and related transmembrane AMPAR regulatory proteins have emerged as the principal regulators of AMPAR surface expression. Here, we show in heterologous cells and primary neurons that stargazin is physiologically S-nitrosylated, resulting in increased surface expression. S-nitrosylation of stargazin increases binding to the AMPAR subunit GluR1, causing increased surface expression of the AMPAR. NMDAR stimulation, well known to activate neuronal nitric oxide synthase, increases both nitrosylation of stargazin and its binding to AMPAR. Thus, S-nitrosylation of stargazin is a physiologic regulator of AMPAR surface expression.
Bactericidal Activity of Copper and Non-Copper Paints
Authors: Cooney Timothy E.
Published: September 2009

Objective:

To screen copper and noncopper paints for their bactericidal effectiveness in rendering surfaces self-disinfecting.

Design:

Tested paints were applied to glass coverslips, cured, inoculated with test organisms (Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterococcus faecalis), and dried. After 0, 24, or 48 hours, surviving organisms were eluted and enumerated, and counts compared with those obtained from inoculated control (unpainted) coverslips for the corresponding time periods. Copper elution from select copper paints was quantified by complete immersion of coated coverslips followed by spectroscopic analysis to infer a threshold relationship between kill and copper release.

Results:

Nearly all of the tested copper paints were capable of reducing organism counts to negligible levels within 24 hours. Exterior latex paints supplemented with a fungicide were similarly efficacious. Standard interior latex paint reduced bacterial counts to nearly zero within 24 hours for E coli and P aeruginosa, and to zero within 48 hours for E faecalis. However, substantial survival of S aureus occurred (up to 4 logs at 24 hours). Chi-squared analysis of elution and cidal data indicated that lethality was dependent on copper release in excess of 32 μg.

Conclusion:

The data support presumptive bactericidal claims for several copper and noncopper paints. Despite controversy over environment-based contagion, such paints could be used to render surfaces self-disinfecting in strategic locations where environmental causation of nosocomial infections is suspected.
Gown-Glove Interface: A Possible Solution to the Danger Zone
Authors: Meyer Kenneth K. , Beck William C.
Published: September 2009

The gown-glove interface is the weakest point in the present barrier system of gown and glove protection for the surgeon and other healthcare professionals who come into direct contact with body liquids. Try it yourself: put on a fluid-resistant gown and surgical gloves. See that the glove cuff is well proximal to the stockinette. Hold your wrist and forearm for a moment under running water. Wait a minute to see if your forearm is wet. A wet forearm during surgery would be a bloodied one. We propose a gown redesign that creates a dart at the terminal forearm, sealed by a liquid-proof method, and then similarly sealing the proximal end of the glove to the sleeve.
Improved-confinement plasmas at high temperature and high beta in the MST RFP
Authors: Chapman B.E. , Ahn J.W. , Almagri A.F. , Anderson J.K. , Bonomo F. , Brower D.L. , Burke D.R. , Caspary K. , Clayton D.J. , Combs S.K. , Cox W.A. , Craig D. , Deng B.H. , Den Hartog D.J. , Ding W.X. , Ebrahimi F. , Ennis D.A. , Fiksel G. , Forest C.B. , Foust C.R. , Franz P. , Gangadhara S. , Goetz J.A. , Kaufman M.C. , Kulpin J.G. , Kuritsyn A. , Magee R.M. , Miller M.C. , Mirnov V.V. , Nonn P.D. , O'Connell R. , Oliva S.P. , Prager S.C. , Reusch J.A. , Sarff J.S. , Stephens H.D. , Wyman M.D. , Yates T.
Published: September 2009

We have increased substantially the electron and ion temperatures, the electron density, and the total beta in plasmas with improved energy confinement in the Madison Symmetric Torus (MST). The improved confinement is achieved with a well-established current profile control technique for reduction of magnetic tearing and reconnection. A sustained ion temperature >1 keV is achieved with intensified reconnection-based ion heating followed immediately by current profile control. In the same plasmas, the electron temperature reaches 2 keV, and the electron thermal diffusivity drops to about 2 m2 s−1. The global energy confinement time is 12 ms. This and the reported temperatures are the largest values yet achieved in the reversed-field pinch (RFP). These results were attained at a density ∼1019 m−3. By combining pellet injection with current profile control, the density has been quadrupled, and total beta has nearly doubled to a record value of about 26%. The Mercier criterion is exceeded in the plasma core, and both pressure-driven interchange and pressure-driven tearing modes are calculated to be linearly unstable, yet energy confinement is still improved. Transient momentum injection with biased probes reveals that global momentum transport is reduced with current profile control. Magnetic reconnection events drive rapid momentum transport related to large Maxwell and Reynolds stresses. Ion heating during reconnection events occurs globally, locally, or not at all, depending on which tearing modes are involved in the reconnection. To potentially augment inductive current profile control, we are conducting initial tests of current drive with lower-hybrid and electron-Bernstein waves.
Overview of results obtained at the Globus-M spherical tokamak
Authors: Gusev V.K. , Aleksandrov S.E. , Alimov V. Kh , Arkhipov I.I. , Ayushin B.B. , Barsukov A.G. , Ber B. Ya , Chernyshev F.V. , Chugunov I.N. , Dech A.V. , Golant V.E. , Gorodetsky A.E. , Dyachenko V.V. , Kochergin M.M. , Kurskiev G.S. , Khitrov S.A. , Khromov N.A. , Lebedev V.M. , Leonov V.M. , Litunovsky N.V. , Mazul I.V. , Minaev V.B. , Mineev A.B. , Mironov M.I. , Miroshnikov I.V. , Mukhin E.E. , Nikolaev Yu A. , Novokhatsky A.N. , Panasenkov A.A. , Patrov M.I. , Petrov M.P. , Petrov Yu V. , Podushnikova K.A. , Rozhansky V.A. , Rozhdestvensky V.V. , Sakharov N.V. , Shcherbinin O.N. , Senichenkov I. Yu , Shevelev A.E. , Suhov E.V. , Trapesnikova I.N. , Terukov E.I. , Tilinin G.N. , Tolstyakov S. Yu , Varfolomeev V.I. , Voronin A.V. , Zakharov A.P. , Zalavutdinov R. Kh , Yagnov V.A. , Kuznetsov E.A. , Zhilin E.G.
Published: September 2009

Experiments and simulations to achieve high values of plasma parameters at the Globus-M spherical tokamak (ST) at moderate absolute auxiliary heating power (up to 0.8 MW) and high specific heating power (up to 2–3 MW m−3) are described. Important distinguishing features are the low edge safety factor range, which is unusual for STs, 2.7 <q< 5 and small plasma–outer wall space (3–5 cm). High ion heating efficiency with neutral beam injection (NBI) was demonstrated. Results of numerical simulation of fast ion trajectories are described and fast ion generation during the NBI and ion cyclotron resonance heating is discussed. Investigations on their confinement and slowing down are also presented. Reasons for achievement of high IC heating efficiency are outlined. Reliable H-mode regime achievement is described. Transport ASTRA modelling demonstrated that during NB heated H-mode ion heat diffusivity remains neoclassical and the particle diffusion coefficient inside transport barrier decreases significantly. Analysis was performed of divertor tile and special probe surfaces after irradiation by plasma during a large number of shots (3000–10 000 shots). Mixed layer composition is measured and deuterium retention in different tokamak first wall areas is estimated. Plasma jet injection experiments with upgraded plasma jet are described. Jet penetration to the plasma centre with immediate increase of density and temperature drop is proved and analogy with pellet injection is outlined.
Results of Joint Experiments and other IAEA activities on research using small tokamaks
Authors: Gryaznevich M. , Van Oost G. , Peleman P. , Brotankova J. , Dejarnac R. , Dufkova E. , Ďuran I. , Hron M. , Sentkerestiova J. , Stöckel J. , Weinzettl V. , Zajac J. , Berni L.A. , Bosco E. Del , Ferreira J.G. , Simões F.J.R. , Berta M. , Dunai D. , Tál B. , Zoletnik S. , Malaquias A. , Mank G. , Figueiredo H. , Kuznetsov Y. , Ruchko L. , Hegazy H. , Ovsyannikov A. , Sukhov E. , Vorobjev G.M. , Dreval N. , Singh A. , Budaev V. , Kirnev G. , Kirneva N. , Kuteev B. , Melnikov A. , Nurov D. , Sokolov M. , Vershkov V. , Talebitaher A. , Khorshid P. , Gonzales R. , El Chama Neto I. , Kraemer-Flecken A.W. , Soldatov V. , Brotas B. , Carvalho P. , Coelho R. , Duarte A. , Fernandes H. , Figueiredo J. , Fonseca A. , Gomes R. , Nedzelski I. , Neto A. , Ramos G. , Santos J. , Silva C. , Valcárcel D. , Gutierrez Tapia C.R. , Krupnik L.I. , Petrov L. , Kolokoltsov M. , Herrera J. , Nieto-Perez M. , Czarnecka A. , Balan P. , Sharnin A. , Pavlov V.
Published: September 2009

This paper presents an overview of the results obtained during the Joint Experiments organized in the framework of the IAEA Coordinated Research Project on ‘Joint Research Using Small Tokamaks’ that have been carried out on the tokamaks CASTOR at IPP Prague, Czech Republic (2005), T-10 at RRC ‘Kurchatov Institute’, Moscow, Russia (2006), and the most recent one at ISTTOK at IST, Lisbon, Portugal, in 2007. Experimental programmes were aimed at diagnosing and characterizing the core and the edge plasma turbulence in a tokamak in order to investigate correlations between the occurrence of transport barriers, improved confinement, electric fields and electrostatic turbulence using advanced diagnostics with high spatial and temporal resolution. On CASTOR and ISTTOK, electric fields were generated by biasing an electrode inserted into the edge plasma and an improvement of the global particle confinement induced by the electrode positive biasing has been observed. Geodesic acoustic modes were studied using heavy ion beam diagnostics on T-10 and ISTTOK and correlation reflectometry on T-10. ISTTOK is equipped with a gallium jet injector and the technical feasibility of gallium jets interacting with plasmas has been investigated in pulsed and ac operation. The first Joint Experiments have clearly demonstrated that small tokamaks are suitable for broad international cooperation to conduct dedicated joint research programmes. Other activities within the IAEA Coordinated Research Project on Joint Research Using Small Tokamaks are also overviewed.
Breast cancer aetiology: where do we go from here?
Authors: Santos Silva Isabel dos , De Stavola Bianca L. , Potischman Nancy
Published: September 2009

This chapter begins with a brief review of the established adult risk factors for breast cancer. It then assesses the evidence linking breast cancer with childhood and prenatal exposures. Finally, it considers the aetiology of breast cancer in a life course framework in which risk factors occurring at each life stage are linked to investigate possible pathways from early life events to adulthood and subsequent occurrence of breast cancer.
A life course approach to coronary heart disease and stroke
Authors: Lawlor Debbie A. , Ebrahim Shah , Smith George Davey , Law Catherine
Published: September 2009

This chapter shows that the main classical cardiovascular risk factors have the same effects in women as they do in men and preventive treatments that lower risk factors—antihypertensive drugs, aspirin, and cholesterol lowering drugs—work equally well in both sexes. Diabetes and the insulin resistance syndrome may confer greater risk to women than men. Women may be protected from coronary heart disease by a number of interacting factors including a more favourable fat distribution, a less adverse response to dietary saturated fats, and endogenous oestrogens. Low birthweight, poor infant nutrition, and accelerated postnatal growth are all associated with CHD and stroke risk in both women and men.
A life course approach to diabetes
Authors: Colhoun Helen M. , Chaturvedi Nish , Rich-Edwards Janet
Published: September 2009

This chapter focuses on determinants of type 2 diabetes in women and girls from conception through the life course. Topics covered include genetic determinants of diabetes risk, parent of origin effects on diabetes risk, the effect of intrauterine environment on diabetes risk in women, the catch-up growth hypothesis, and effect of parity on subsequent risk of diabetes.
Body image: a life course perspective
Authors: McLaren Lindsay , Wardle Jane , Thompson J. Kevin
Published: September 2009

This chapter integrates existing literature on body dissatisfaction in a way that highlights possible pathways or trajectories that explain variation in body dissatisfaction at midlife. It focuses on three main questions: first, what is the extent or prevalence of body dissatisfaction in women beyond young adulthood, and what trends have there been over time? Second, what are the consequences of body dissatisfaction for health and well-being among older women? Third, what are the determinants of dissatisfaction at different stages of the life span that may be relevant in explaining midlife dissatisfaction? A life course perspective is considered in this third goal, and since this perspective is a new framework for the study of body image, identification of gaps in the literature is inevitable.
Endocrine pathways in differential well-being across the life course
Authors: Worthman Carol M. , Barrett-Connor Elizabeth
Published: September 2009

This chapter provides a survey of endocrine axes (gonadal, adrenal, thyroid, adiposal) to show how mediating pathways operate. Hormones are central agents in the pathways to differential well-being: they regulate virtually every aspect of function, from gestation onwards. Integrated endocrine action also allocates limited resources (energy, materials, time) between the competing demands of living. Such demands range from the immediate necessities for survival, to the life course projects of growing up, reproducing, producing, and being social. This last demand strongly engages the physiological systems responsible for health maintenance because for humans, social context and human relationships are crucial to well-being.
Life course influences on women’s social relationships at midlife
Authors: Marks Nadine F. , Ashleman Kristy , Stansfeld Stephen , Fuhrer Rebecca
Published: September 2009

This chapter reviews evidence documenting how the structure and quality of women's social relationships change from childhood to middle adulthood; considering how biological, psychological, and social factors uniquely, cumulatively, and interactively influence the quantity and quality of women's social relationships over time, which might, in turn, be expected to influence women's health. Several types of relationships are considered—with mothers, with fathers, with siblings, with partners, with children, and with friends. The relative importance of early life course factors for helping to determine later life relationships and relationship quality is examined. Wherever possible, life course differences between women and men, and differences between persons of varying socioeconomic status (SES) are addressed. The chapter concludes with suggestions for future research and implications for policy.
Sexually transmitted infections and health through the life course
Authors: Gray Ronald H. , Wawer Maria J. , Serwadda David , Hall Andrew J.
Published: September 2009

This chapter examines the effects of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV at different life stages. It draws examples from an ongoing population-based cohort studies in rural Rakai District, southwestern Uganda. The chapter also highlights some of the social and behavioural risk factors for disease, as well as the social and health consequences of disease.
Clinical trials: A state-of-the-art assessment
Authors: Meinert Curtis L. , Tonascia Susan
Published: September 2009

This chapter reviews the state of the art of clinical trials. Topics discussed include existing inventories, trials as seen through the published literature, small sample size as a common design flaw, and future needs.
Single-center versus multicenter trials
Authors: Meinert Curtis L. , Tonascia Susan
Published: September 2009

This chapter provides a definition of single and multicenter trials and discusses a number of issues related to these two classes of trials. These include National Institutes of Health count of single center and multicenter trials, design characteristics of single center versus multicenter trials, the pros and cons of single center versus multicenter trials, initiation of single center versus multicenter trials, investigator incentives for single center versus multicenter trials, timing of incentives for single center versus multicenter trials, and cost of single center versus multicenter trials.
Cost and related issues
Authors: Meinert Curtis L. , Tonascia Susan
Published: September 2009

This chapter summarizes available cost data on trials, as provided in the National Institutes of Health Inventory of Clinical trials, and reviews factors that influence the cost of trials.
Essential design features of a controlled clinical trial
Authors: Meinert Curtis L. , Tonascia Susan
Published: September 2009

This chapter discusses the general principles underlying selection of study treatment, the choice of the outcome measure, and the roles of randomization and masking in data collection.
Patient recruitment and enrollment
Authors: Meinert Curtis L. , Tonascia Susan
Published: September 2009

This chapter focuses on recruitment. Topics discussed include recruitment goals, methods of patient recruitment, troubleshooting, the patient shake-down process, the ethics of recruitment, patient consent, randomization and initiation of treatment, and the Zelen consent procedure.
Questions concerning the design, analysis, and interpretation of clinical trials
Authors: Meinert Curtis L. , Tonascia Susan
Published: September 2009

This chapter contains a list of questions and short answers concerning the design, analysis, and interpretation of clinical trials. These include questions concerning the study design, the source of study patients, randomization, and masking.
Interim data analyses for treatment monitoring
Authors: Meinert Curtis L. , Tonascia Susan
Published: September 2009

This chapter addresses issues involved in the treatment monitoring and provides a brief description of some of the analysis approaches used for that purpose. Topics discussed include procedural issues, treatment monitoring reports, special statistical problems, data dredging as an analysis technique, the pros and cons of stopping rules in monitoring trials, and steps in terminating a treatment.
Study publication and information policies
Authors: Meinert Curtis L. , Tonascia Susan
Published: September 2009

This chapter deals with general policy issues involved in the production and publication of study manuscripts. Topics discussed include publication questions, authorship and internal review procedures, and information access policy issues.
The Social Basis of Disparities in Health
Authors: DIDERICHSEN FINN , EVANS TIMOTHY , WHITEHEAD MARGARET
Published: September 2009

This chapter deals with social concepts and theories. Finn Diderichsen, Tim Evans, and Margaret Whitehead address the fundamental question of how societies generate and maintain social and health inequities. A unifying framework, the Diderichsen model, is then presented as a basis for designing research and policy development on this issue. Key features of this framework are the five different mechanisms that may operate to generate inequities in health and the policy entry points to disrupt these mechanisms. The question of which of these mechanisms is important in a particular society can be tested empirically within this framework. Indeed, many of the empirical analyses presented in the thirteen country chapters in the book are based on this framework. The identification of policy entry points in the pathways to social inequities in health is a unique aspect of the Diderichsen model.
Japan: Historical and Current Dimensions of Health and Health Equity
Authors: HASEGAWA TOSHIHIKO
Published: September 2009

Japan has attracted considerable attention as a country with one of the highest life expectancies and lowest infant mortality rates in the world. The focus on impressive gains in average health indicators may have obscured the issue of inequalities in health within Japan. This chapter starts by examining the long-term historical antecedents of the unparalleled improvements in the population's health as a whole. It then analyzes patterns of past, current, and future health inequalities in Japanese society. The analysis reveals significant inequalities in health according to average wealth, income distribution, education levels, television ownership (a indirect marker of income), and occupational grouping. This and other research over recent years calls into question the “classlessness” of Japanese society and the need to remain vigilant to the ways that social or health systems may still generate inequities.
Tanzania: Gaining Insights into Adolescent Lives and Livelihoods
Authors: NANTULYA VINAND M. , SEMAKAFU AVE MARIA , MULI-MUSIIME FLORENCE , MASSAWE AUGUSTINE , MUNYETTI LAWRENCE
Published: September 2009

Adolescents represent a large proportion of the population in developing countries, yet within these countries policy rarely addresses their particular needs. This chapter sheds light on previously ignored aspects of adolescent lives which are of major public health significance in Tanzania and elsewhere. It begins by presenting information that can be gleaned from routine statistical sources and surveys. It then presents further insights gained from interviews and discussion groups with vulnerable adolescents, for example, those working in mines and plantations, commercial sex workers, street children, refugees, and other children living in difficult circumstances. The final part of the chapter draws lessons for future research and policy development in Tanzania.
Bangladesh: An Intervention Study of Factors Underlying Increasing Equity in Child Survival
Authors: BHUIYA ABBAS , CHOWDHURY MUSHTAQUE , AHMED FARUQUE , ADAMS ALAYNE M.
Published: September 2009

This chapter describes the separate and joint health benefits arising from a rural development program designed to promote the rights and status of poor women, and a maternal child health program in rural Bangladesh. The case study is remarkable in that the interventions have been accompanied by reductions in inequities in health—differentials between socioeconomic and gender groups in child mortality have narrowed dramatically in the past two decades. Not only has mortality declined across all groups, but the greatest absolute and relative gains in child mortality were experienced by girls from the poorest households. This example of intervention research provides a valuable model with which to gather further empirical evidence on the ways to reduce socioeconomic and gender inequities in health.
Mexico: Marginality, Need, and Resource Allocation at the County Level
Authors: LOZANO RAFAEL , ZURITA BEATRIZ , FRANCO FRANCISCO , RAMÍREZ TERESITA , HERNÁNDEZ PATRICIA , TORRES JOSÉ LUIS
Published: September 2009

This chapter presents the case of Mexico, which reveals the fact that district/provincial expenditures in health care are inversely related to need, a case in point of the “inverse care law.” Mexico is a middle-income country facing a double burden of infectious and chronic disease and engaged in health sector reform and decentralization. Using the marginality index developed by the Mexican government, the chapter employs a policy-relevant mechanism for highlighting disparity and mapping the intersection of marginality, membership in an indigenous group, and rural poverty. It outlines the implications of the analyses for resource allocation to meet the differential needs for health care more equitably in marginalized areas.
Developing the Policy Response to Inequities in Health: A Global Perspective
Authors: WHITEHEAD MARGARET , DAHLGREN GÖRAN , GILSON LUCY
Published: September 2009

This chapter presents a policy-oriented overview of the whole process of challenging inequities in health—from ethics to action. It identifies ways of challenging inequities in health and highlights some practical applications of the approaches advocated, drawn from all the chapters in the book. It suggests a way forward toward raising awareness of the issue and stimulating policy makers at various levels to take action. Given the global nature of the subject of this book, the chapter incorporates an important section on how the international agencies could work together to challenge these unacceptable inequities in health. This issue deserves to be at the top of the public health agenda in these early years of the 21st century.
Educational Achievements
Authors: Pecora Peter J. , Kessler Ronald C. , Williams Jason , Downs A. Chris , English Diana J. , White James , O'Brien Kirk
Published: September 2009

This chapter presents the educational experience and achievements of the Northwest alumni. Children in foster care are at high risk for school failure because of childhood deprivation and other adversities, frequent school changes, and lack of educational supports. Because of the extended time in care (an average of over six years), educational achievement is particularly relevant for the Northwest alumni. The educational achievement of alumni is tabled at the end of the chapter.
Relation Between Agency Membership and Outcomes
Authors: Pecora Peter J. , Kessler Ronald C. , Williams Jason , Downs A. Chris , English Diana J. , White James , O'Brien Kirk
Published: September 2009

This chapter examines the third major research question: Is one foster care program approach better than another in terms of outcomes? It was hypothesized that Casey alumni would exhibit more desirable outcomes than state alumni. To test this hypothesis, the relation between the location in which alumni were served (agency and state) and outcomes (e.g., PTSD in last twelve months, current employment) was examined after controlling for demographics and risk factors that were significant in a stepwise logistic regression.
Relation Between Foster Care Experience and Outcomes
Authors: Pecora Peter J. , Kessler Ronald C. , Williams Jason , Downs A. Chris , English Diana J. , White James , O'Brien Kirk
Published: September 2009

This chapter examines the third primary research question: Are there key factors or program components that are linked with better functioning in adulthood? It was hypothesized that a more positive foster care experience would be related to more desirable outcomes. These include the following: A more stable placement history; Educational stability and more access to educational tutoring supports; More access to therapeutic service and supports; More involvement with the foster family; Greater preparation for leaving care (e.g., employment training and support); More tangible resources upon leaving care (e.g., $250 in cash and a driver's license); A positive relationship with an adult while growing up. Each outcome (e.g., no PTSD in last twelve months, no major depression in last twelve months) was examined separately after controlling for demographics and risk factor variables that were significant in a stepwise logistic regression: agency serving the youth, the state in which the youth was served, and the interaction between agency and state.
7 Experiments and Subjects
Authors: Lehrer Adrienne
Published: September 2009

To investigate how wine drinkers apply wine descriptors to wines, experiments using a variety of tasks were carried out with three groups of subjects. The basic question was to determine the consensus (agreement) of subjects in each group. Tasks included selecting appropriate words for a list for each wine, comparing three or more wines at a tasting, matching wines with a partner's descriptions, discussing wines with one's partners) to find satisfactory descriptions for each wine tasted, and discussing the words themselves to determine if subjects understood them in the same way. Of the three groups of subjects, two groups consisted mostly of non-experts, and one group consisted entirely of experts, namely enologists from the University of California at Davis.
9 The Tucson Subjects
Authors: Lehrer Adrienne
Published: September 2009

The purpose of the next experiments was to see if non-expert subjects would develop a common wine vocabulary which they used consensually if they met regularly for eight months to drink and discuss wine and wine words. At each session three or four wines were served, and tasks were performed, similar to those used with the Stanford subjects. Afterwards the wines and the descriptors were discussed. Discussions were tape-recorded and analyzed. Tasks carried out at the beginning of the year were replicated with the same wines at the end. Although these results showed no over-all group consensus, subjects reported that they learned a great deal about wines and wine-language and that they could understand the descriptions of the other subjects better, even if they did not use the same descriptors.
12 Research on Taste and Smell
Authors: Lehrer Adrienne
Published: September 2009

Much progress has been made in the psychophysics of taste and smell. Gas chromatography has enabled scientist to determine even trace amount of aroma compounds in wine. Functional magnetic resonance imaging provides information on neural activity in the cortex. Differences in individual sensitivity in tasting and smelling wine has long been known, but recent research shows that everyone has a unique tasting and smelling profile. Some disagreements among wine tasters may occur because they do not perceive a wine identically. Although women outperform men in olfactory and gustatory discrimination, wine experts have historically been men, and experienced tasters discriminate wines better than inexperienced tasters.
15 Nonscientific Uses of Language
Authors: Lehrer Adrienne
Published: September 2009

Some wine talk has an aesthetic function. Isenberg, discussing art criticism, shows that the critic tries to get the perceiver to see or hear some non-obvious aspects of a work of art. He calls this critical communication. When wine drinkers discuss the wines they drink together, they are also engaging in critical communication. Discussion among the Tucson subjects showed that much of the wine talk served this purpose. Another function of wine talk involves phatic communion, where the emphasis is on social bonding, created by shared experiences in wine drinking. Analyses of the Tucson subjects' discussions also showed much humor, making the experiences more fun. Discourse features of these conversations are also discussed.
Addressing environmental health issues
Authors: Claudio Luz , Garg Anjali , Landrigan Philip J.
Published: September 2009

This chapter addresses environmental health issues related to the World Trade Center disaster, including asbestos, lead, particulate matter, polychlorinated biphenyls, and other hazards at the World Trade Center site. It describes specific hazards to workers and to children. It also addresses future needs, including follow-up assessment of those rescue and recovery workers, residents of lower Manhattan, and others exposed to this disaster.
Small arms, explosives, and incendiaries
Authors: Cukier Wendy , Chapdelaine Antoine
Published: September 2009

This chapter describes and discusses small arms, explosives, and incendiaries that can be used as terrorist weapons. It describes antipersonnel landmines and the Mine Ban Treaty of 1997. It concludes that in order to prevent terrorism with small arms, explosives, and incendiaries, we must reduce the diversion of legal small arms and explosives to illegal markets, improve information exchange and investigations, “harden” targets, and strengthen injury control and emergency preparedness.
Nuclear, radiological, and related weapons
Authors: Sutton Patrice M. , Gould Robert M.
Published: September 2009

This chapter describes nuclear, radiological, and related weapons; their use, their proliferation, and adverse consequences of production and use. It describes international measures to control nuclear weapons, the prevention of nuclear terrorism, safeguarding nuclear power facilities and nuclear weapon stockpiles, ending proliferation of fissile materials and nuclear weapons while promoting disarmament, and nuclear abolition.
CHAPTER THREE Paris, 1782–92
Authors: Lister Warwick
Published: September 2009

This chapter describes Viotti's becoming the most acclaimed violinist of his time after his sensational debut at the Concert spirituel in Paris. After only two seasons Viotti renounced public performance, but continued to play in private salon concerts (which this chapter treats in some detail) and for a time he was in the service of the queen, Marie Antoinette. Viotti's Paris works are described, including a section on his improvising, as well as his activities as a violin teacher. The possibility that Viotti's trip to his hometown, Fontanetto, took place in the summer and autumn of 1782, rather than the summer of 1783, as is commonly thought, is considered. Viotti's friendships with Madame Vigée-Lebrun, the painter, and Madame de Genlis, the educator and novelist, are introduced in this chapter. Viotti's putative musical participation in the Masonic Concert olympique, of which he was a member in 1786, is speculated upon.
CHAPTER FIVE Viotti's Achievement Thus Far
Authors: Lister Warwick
Published: September 2009

This chapter discusses and evaluates Viotti's immediate influence on violin playing in Paris and elsewhere, chiefly through his compositions, especially his violin concertos, and his playing and that of his pupils, chief among whom was Pierre Rode. A veritable Viotti school of violin playing was established by his pupils and followers, particularly in the Paris Conservatoire, which trained several generations of violinists. The violin methods of Viotti's three principal followers, Rode, Rodolph Kreutzer, and Pierre Baillot, were extremely influential. The influence of Viotti's violin concertos on such composers as Ludwig Spohr, Mozart, and Beethoven is considered.
CHAPTER SIX London, 1792–98, and Exile, 1798–ca. 1800
Authors: Lister Warwick
Published: September 2009

This chapter begins with Viotti's resumption of public performance at the Hanover Square concerts in London. His London concertos (the last ten of his twenty-nine concertos) are discussed. His trip to the Continent in the summer of 1793 is described, as well as his sojourn in Bath, where he performed in 1794. The Chinnery family—William and Margaret and their three children—are introduced, a family with whom he was to be intimately associated for the rest of his life, and with whom, beginning in 1796, he lived at their home, Gillwell, near London. Viotti's positions at the King's Theatre in London, variously as acting director, director of the Opera Concert, where he appeared with Haydn, and leader of the orchestra, are described in detail. His second temporary renunciation of public performance in 1796, his entering the wine business, and, finally, his exile from England for alleged Jacobin activities, and his sojourn in the village of Schönfeld, near Hamburg, are all described.
CHAPTER SEVEN Gillwell, Paris, Oxford, London, ca. 1800–1812
Authors: Lister Warwick
Published: September 2009

This chapter describes Viotti's life of music making at the private concerts of Margaret Chinnery at Gillwell, and as a guest in other homes, and his participation in the education of the Chinnery children. Well-known visitors to Gillwell included the composer Francesco Bianchi, the singers Giuseppina Grassini, Angelica Catalani, and Giuseppe Viganoni, the violinists Johann Salomon and Feliks Janiewitz, the cellist John Crosdill, and the double bassist Domenico Dragonetti, all friends and colleagues of Viotti's. Viotti's friendship with the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge, the poet William Spencer, and many other prominent persons of the time is given due consideration. His visits to Christ Church College, Oxford, to see George Chinnery, who was a student there, 1808–11, and to St. Omer and Paris with the Chinnerys in 1802, are described. The end of the chapter considers the death of Caroline Chinnery, aged twenty-one, a talented pianist, and the forced departure from England of William Chinnery, both events occurring in March 1812, with the subsequent sale of Gillwell.
Cognitive Systems and the Extended Mind
Authors: Rupert Robert D.
Published: September 2009

This book surveys philosophical issues raised by the situated movement in cognitive science—the treatment of cognitive phenomena as the joint product of brain, body, and environment. The book focuses specifically on the hypothesis of extended cognition, according to which human cognitive processes literally comprise elements beyond the boundary of the human organism. A systems-based approach is held to provide the only plausible criterion distinguishing what is cognitive from what is not. In most human cases, this system appears within the boundary of the human organism. It is argued that the systems-based view explains the existing successes of cognitive psychology and cognate fields in a way that extended conceptions of cognition do not and, furthermore, that once the systems-based view has been adopted, it is especially clear how extant arguments in support of the extended view go wrong. Additional aspects of the situated program, including the embedded and embodied views, are also examined. The book considers whether plausible incarnations of such views depart from orthodox, computational cognitive science, especially with regard to the role of representation and computation. It is argued that the embedded and embodied views do not constitute radical shifts in perspective. For instance, properly understood, the embodied view does not offer a new role for the nonneural body, different in principle from the one presupposed by orthodox cognitive science.
1 Introduction: The Mind, the Computer, and the Alternatives
Authors: Rupert Robert D.
Published: September 2009

This chapter briefly describes the history leading up to the situated revolution. It then introduces and motivates the three varieties of situated view to be discussed: (a) the extended view, which holds that human cognitive processing literally extends into the environment beyond the boundary of the organism; (b) the embedded view, which asserts that the human cognitive system is bounded by the organism but relies in surprising and extensive ways on interaction with the environment; and (c) the embodied view, according to which the human's nonneural physical body deeply influences cognitive processing. The chapter also sets out the book's naturalistic methodology and explores the way in which this methodology might support conclusions about the human mind and self.
4 Realization and Extended Cognition
Authors: Rupert Robert D.
Published: September 2009

This chapter addresses a realization-based interpretation of the extended approach. On this view, cognitive states are states of an organismically bounded cognitive system, yet may still have realizers—that is, physical implementations—that extend beyond the boundary of the organism. Functionalism in philosophy of mind, as well as the associated idea of a physical realization, is spelled out in detail. It is then argued that the extension-friendly approach to realization is untenable. The relevant view of realization either undermines the examples motivating the extended view or is too liberal to be of use in cognitive science. Difficulty with this view arises largely because standard examples of extended cognitive processing involve interactions with the environment, and during these interactions, the realizers of the cognitive states at issue are distinct from those things with which the cognitive system interacts.
10 Embedded Cognition and Mental Representation
Authors: Rupert Robert D.
Published: September 2009

This chapter contains four sections. The first argues that what are supposed to be the innovative characteristics of embedded representations do not, in fact, differentiate them from representations included in orthodox, computational models. The second section argues that the supposedly unhelpful characteristics of orthodox representations are likely to be shared by the representations appearing in embedded models. In Section Three, it is shown how the embedded view can be fruitfully incorporated into standard theories of the fixation of externalist content for mental representations. Section Four applies the lessons of the preceding sections to a common objection to orthodox, computational modeling: that computationalist representations must come prefitted to a prelabeled world. It is argued that the weak sense in which computationalist representations are innate allows them to emerge epigenetically in a world rich with properties some of which come to be represented and some of which do not.
Setting the scene (largely from the UK point of view)
Authors: Pemberton John
Published: September 2009

This chapter begins recollections of how epidemiology was perceived in the 1930s. It then discusses the concept of social medicine in relation to clinical medicine, politics, and war as well as the acceptance of social medicine as part of physicians' training. The establishment of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and origins and contribution to epidemiology of the International Epidemiological Association are discussed.
Epidemiological methods and concepts in the nineteenth century and their influences on the twentieth century
Authors: Morabia Alfredo
Published: September 2009

This chapter focuses on epidemiology in the 19th century. It describes the emergence of what has historically been the specific contribution of epidemiology to science; that is, the progressive constitution of a coherent ensemble of methods and concepts, aimed at assessing health determinants and based on two principles — population thinking and group comparisons. It then discusses pre-formal epidemiology and the influence of 19th-century epidemiology on early modern epidemiology.
Perinatal epidemiology
Authors: Rumeau-Rouquette Claude , Bréart Gérard
Published: September 2009

This chapter traces the development of perinatal epidemiology. It illustrates the development of knowledge and the contribution that good epidemiology can make to improvement in maternal and child health and how epidemiological science helps in the formulation of health policy. It also demonstrates the dangers of reliance on central direction in modern heterogeneous populations.
Emerging infectious diseases
Authors: Detels Roger
Published: September 2009

This chapter comments on why new infectious diseases have emerged as important health issues, what we know about them, and how they may be tackled. Topics covered include types and causes of emerging diseases, examples of disease emerging in the 20th century, and prevention of emerging diseases.
Malaria
Authors: Morrow Richard H. , Moss William J.
Published: September 2009

This chapter focuses on the epidemiology of malaria. Topics covered include malaria and its life cycle, epidemiology of malaria at the turn of the 20th century, advances in malaria epidemiology after the First World War, progress in the fight against malaria in the years preceding the Second World War, national malaria eradication programmes, and the era of molecular biology.
Nutritional epidemiology
Authors: Hetzel Basil S.
Published: September 2009

This chapter on nutritional epidemiology illustrates the application of epidemiology to two conditions. One is associated with undernutrition — the relation of iodine deficiency to fetal brain damage. The other is associated with overnutrition — the fall in mortality due to coronary heart disease.
Data sources and their utilization
Authors: Kogevinas Manolis
Published: September 2009

Mortality statistics remain the most widely available health data sources. The availability of adequate mortality data in more than 100 countries is the most important achievement of that last fifty years in the area of data sources. The second transforming achievement is linked to the development of the World Wide Web that signified the public availability of a rich variety of health-related information in populations. Connected to the latter is an extremely positive change among researchers in the last ten years regarding the public availability of information and a willingness to share data. This chapter discusses the availability of diverse data sources and their use, and then discusses limitations, mistakes, and challenges for the future.