bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Democratizing Agri-Biotechnology? European Public Participation in Agbiotech Assessment
Authors: Levidow Les
Published: October 2009

Anticipating or responding to European public concerns over agbiotech, state bodies have sponsored participatory exercises in technology assessment (TA). Some participants have sought to open up technological decisions vis-à-vis alternative futures and normative choices, but such efforts have been marginalized; the trajectory of biotechnological innovation has been protected from challenge. Questions about agbiotech as control have been displaced and channeled into regulatory issues and control measures. To some extent, participatory TA exercises have helped to hold governments accountable for regulatory criteria, but not for innovation choices. These participatory TA exercises generally internalize assumptions about agbiotech as societal progress. Despite aspirations to democratize technological choices, the exercises tend to biotechnologise democracy. The prospects for democratization depend upon wider, autonomous forms of participation – neither sponsored nor welcomed by state bodies.
Law and Participation
Authors: Baier Matthias
Published: October 2009

The main problem discussed in this paper is that the legal system might be dysfunctional to various political participatory ambitions. Participation implies inclusion, but we see examples of exclusion that originate from internal operations of the legal system. Considering the many instances of participatory instruments embedded in legal frameworks in many sectors of society, it is important to ask what kind of problems the law might cause and the reasons behind these problems. With environmental law and regulation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), as examples, this essay analyses the paradoxical tendencies of the legal system to exclude citizens even when regulations have the purpose of including them. The scientific residence of this essay is sociology of law.
The Non-Muslim 'Other': Gender and Contestations of Hierarchy of Rights
Authors: Tadros Mariz
Published: October 2009

This paper argues that religious affiliation (and not just gender) influences the hierarchy of rights attainable through Personal Status Legislation. While the context of this study is Egypt, the issue is relevant to all Arab countries in which sharia is a guiding framework for Personal Status legislation. The paper examines the way in which there has been a dichotomization of engaging with Personal Status issues for Muslims and non-Muslims with implications on the “othering” of the non-Muslim vis-a-vis Muslim Personal Status legislation. This is followed by an examination of legal cases involving Muslims and non-Muslims. The conceptual and theoretical implications of a failure to take these cases into account are explored, and in the final part of the paper, there is an analysis of the jurisprudence bases for legitimizing such a hierarchy of rights.
PsSal 17, die Hasmonäer und der Herodompeius
Authors: Eckhardt Benedikt
Published: October 2009

The Psalms of Solomon are an important source for reconstructing Jewish attitudes towards the major political shift that occurred in 63 BCE. The end of the Hasmonean dynasty and the beginning of Roman rule are often said to have pleased at least some contemporary Jewish groups because they perceived the Hasmoneans as illegitimate rulers. The analysis seeks to show that the only contemporary evidence for this view is PsSol 17:1-10, and that this part of the PsSol does not speak of Pompey, but of Herod the Great. Some attitudes towards the Hasmonean dynasty assumed to be contemporary by scholars have to be seen against the background of the Herodian, not the Hasmonean period.
The Religious Brain: A General Introduction to the Experimental Neuroscience of Religion
Authors: Schjoedt Uffe
Published: October 2009

This article is an introduction to the experimental neuroscience of religion, intended for scholars who have an interest in the neurobiological and cognitive aspects of religion, but who do not have the necessary technical and methodological knowledge to evaluate this field's limitations and potential. The article reviews six lines of research, with particular focus on issues of ecological validity, the use of contrast conditions, and theoretical grounding.
Criminal Justice under Shari'ah in the 21st Century—An Inter-Cultural View
Authors: Hedayati-Kakhki Mohammad , Bohlander Michael
Published: October 2009

This paper tries to analyse some of the basic issues arising in the conversation between legal systems based on Shari'ah and those based on secular traditions, as well as the efforts of the law-makers in the former to adapt to changed expectations in modern society. The argument focuses on the area of criminal law and highlights concepts such as hudud crimes, apostasy and al-diyah. The authors advocate an increased dialogue and ultimately the creation of a Centre of Global Ijmā' as a forum in which Islamic and other legal scholars could meet to discuss their respective approaches to legal issues of global interest in order to avoid unnecessary ideological clashes and to provide a base for global policymakers to draw upon in their decision-making process.
Arbitrating Individual Labour Disputes in Jordan: Has the Policy of Promoting Arbitration Been Misplaced?
Authors: Bashayreh Mohammad Hussein
Published: October 2009

The Jordanian Court of Cassation has recently ruled that arbitration clauses are enforceable against employees in relation to individual labour disputes. While the Court rested its rulings mainly on the policy favouring arbitration as enshrined in the Arbitration Law, concerns arising from the Labour Law perspective have not been dealt with sufficiently by the Court. This article presents the relevant decisions of the Court of Cassation and assesses them from the perspective of labour law and the public policy embedded in it. It is argued that, while the arbitrability of individual labour disputes may be accepted, the enforceability of a particular arbitration agreement against an employee warrants a more careful approach than actually followed by the Court.
A Lagrangian Climatology of Tropical Moisture Exports to the Northern Hemispheric Extratropics
Authors: Knippertz Peter , Wernli Heini
Published: October 2009

Case studies have shown that heavy precipitation events and rapid cyclogenesis in the extratropics can be fueled by moist and warm tropical air masses. Often the tropical moisture export (TME) occurs through a longitudinally confined region in the subtropics. Here a comprehensive climatological analysis of TME is constructed on the basis of seven-day forward trajectories started daily from the tropical lower troposphere using 6-hourly 40-yr ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-40) data from the 23-year period 1979–2001. The objective TME identification procedure retains only those trajectories that reach a water vapor flux of at least 100 g kg−1 m s−1 somewhere north of 35°N. The results show four distinct activity maxima with different seasonal behavior: (i) The “pineapple express,” which connects tropical moisture sources near Hawaii with precipitation near the North American west coast, has a marked activity maximum in boreal winter. (ii) TME over the west Pacific is largest in summer, partly related to the East Asian monsoon and the mei-yu–baiu front. This region alone is responsible for a large portion of TME across 35°N. (iii) The narrow activity maximum over the Great Plains of North America is rooted over the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea and has a clear maximum in summer and spring. (iv) TME over the western North Atlantic shows the smallest annual cycle with a maximum in winter and autumn. The interannual variability of (i) and (iv) is significantly modulated by El Niño. Over the African–European–Asian region, high orographic barriers impede TME. A typical TME trajectory evolution is poleward and quasi-horizontal in the subtropics and then more eastward and upward in the southern midlatitudes, where TME contributes up to 60% to climatological precipitation. The TME dataset presented here can serve as a basis for future studies on extreme events.
The Effects of a Short Course of Antibiotics on Alvimopan and Metabolite Pharmacokinetics
Authors: Schmith Virginia D. , Johnson Brendan M. , Vasist Lakshmi S. , Kelleher Dennis L. , Hewens Deborah A. , Young Malcolm A. , Ameen Vanessa , Dukes George E.
Published: October 2009

Alvimopan is a novel, oral, peripherally acting mu‐opioid receptor (PAM‐OR) antagonist that blocks the effects of opioids on the gastrointestinal tract, without blocking opioid‐induced analgesic effects. It is metabolized by gut microflora to an active amide‐hydrolysis metabolite, which is equipotent to alvimopan. The objective of this study was to characterize the pharmacokinetics of alvimopan and metabolite before, during, and after administration of a short course of antibiotics in healthy adult participants. Simulations were conducted to determine the feasibility for this study. An open‐label, sequential drug interaction study was conducted in 45 participants who received twice‐daily dosing of alvimopan with and without ciprofloxacin. Metabolite concentrations were reduced by 99.2% (90% confidence interval: 98.8–99.5) in the presence of ciprofloxacin. The interaction occurred rapidly, and recovery was slow. The interaction may be of relevance for patients with relatively high metabolite plasma concentrations prior to antibiotic administration but of little relevance for patients with little or no plasma metabolite exposure initially. Administration of ciprofloxacin decreased alvimopan Cmax by 24%, which is of no clinical relevance. There was no effect of ciprofloxacin on alvimopan trough concentrations or AUC. Alvimopan was well tolerated.
Quantifying the impact of standardized assessment and symptom management tools on symptoms associated with cancer-induced anorexia cachexia syndrome
Authors: Andrew Inga M , Waterfield Kerry , Hildreth Anthony J , Kirkpatrick Graeme , Hawkins Colette
Published: October 2009

The objective of this study was to quantify the impact of standardized assessment and management tools on patient symptom scores in cancer-induced anorexia cachexia syndrome (ACS) using a within-group study design. Baseline assessments included the Patient Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) tool and an amended Symptoms and Concerns Checklist (SCC). Symptom management strategies, written for this project, were instigated. Follow-up SCC scores were collected at 2 and 4 weeks. Forty out of 79 patients referred were recruited; 29/79 (36.7%) were too unwell or had died prior to consent. At baseline, the PG-SGA tool revealed 250 active symptoms associated with ACS. Total PG-SGA score was above 9 for all patients. Predominant interventions involved simple dietary advice and prescription of artificial saliva, mouthwash and prokinetic antiemetics. Median total SCC score improved sequentially from 11 at baseline, to 7 and 4 at first and second review, respectively (visit 1 to 2, p = 0.001; visit 1 to 3, p < 0.001; and visit 2 to 3, p = 0.02). We conclude that patients with ACS are recognised late in their disease and have a considerable burden of active symptoms. A structured approach to assessment and management has a significant impact on symptom burden.
French general practitioners vary in their attitudes toward treating terminally ill patients
Authors: Mas Céline , Albaret Marie-Claire , Sorum Paul C , Mullet Etienne
Published: October 2009

The purpose of this study is to analyze French general practitioners’ attitudes toward prescribing opiate painkillers for dying patients and compare them with their attitudes toward making frequent home visits. One hundred and fifteen general practitioners indicated the acceptability of prescribing opiates in 48 scenarios of terminal cancer patients with different levels of age, gender, stated pain, request for painkillers, and signs of depression; 103 of them also indicated the acceptability of making frequent home visits in the same 48 scenarios. The responses were analyzed using analysis of variance and cluster analysis. For prescribing opiates, four clusters of physicians were found: 13 prescribed primarily in response to stated pain; 43 to request for painkillers; 43 to the combination of pain, request, and depression; and 16 in virtually all cases. Using the same clusters to analyze visiting gave results that were very consistent with those for prescribing. We conclude that French general practitioners have differing and consistent styles in prescribing painkillers and making home visits to dying cancer patients.
Room for improvement? A quality-of-life assessment in patients with malignant bowel obstruction
Authors: Selby D. , Wright F. , Stilos K. , Daines P. , Moravan V. , Gill A. , Chakraborty A.
Published: October 2009

This prospective study followed 35 patients admitted to hospital with malignant bowel obstruction (MBO) to evaluate quality of life (QOL). Subjects completed the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS) and Rotterdam Symptom Checklist (RSCL) at recruitment, and at one week, one month and three months.

The highest ranked ESAS scores at recruitment (which was generally 18-36 hours post admission to hospital) included loss of appetite (median=7.5), fatigue (6.5) and overall well-being (6.0). The total ESAS score improved by 7.5, 11.5 and 11.0 points respectively at one week, one month and three months (p<0.05, p<0.01, NS).

RSCL median scores for physical and psychological subscales were high at baseline (36.2, 42.9) and improved significantly at one week and one month (p<0.05). Psychological functioning appeared to be worsening by three months and at no time did activity level improve significantly. The overall QOL score was extremely poor at baseline (6.0 median) improving to 3.3 at one month (median fall=1.0, p<0.05) and 3.4 at three months.

Further work should address the lack of improvement in activity and apparent deterioration in psychological functioning after one month.
On the Design and Use of a Micro Air Vehicle to Track and Avoid Adversaries
Authors: Ruijie He  , Bachrach Abraham , Achtelik Michael , Geramifard Alborz , Gurdan Daniel , Prentice Samuel , Stumpf Jan , Roy Nicholas
Published: October 2009

The MAV ’08 competition focused on the problem of using air and ground vehicles to locate and rescue hostages being held in a remote building. To execute this mission, a number of technical challenges were addressed, including designing the micro air vehicle (MAV), using the MAV to geo-locate ground targets, and planning the motion of ground vehicles to reach the hostage location without detection. In this paper, we describe the complete system designed for the MAV ’08 competition, and present our solutions to three technical challenges that were addressed within this system. First, we summarize the design of our MAV, focusing on the navigation and sensing payload. Second, we describe the vision and state estimation algorithms used to track ground features, including stationary obstacles and moving adversaries, from a sequence of images collected by the MAV. Third, we describe the planning algorithm used to generate motion plans for the ground vehicles to approach the hostage building undetected by adversaries; these adversaries are tracked by the MAV from the air. We examine different variants of a search algorithm and describe their performance under different conditions. Finally, we provide results of our system’s performance during the mission execution.
FISST-SLAM: Finite Set Statistical Approach to Simultaneous Localization and Mapping
Authors: Kalyan B. , Lee K.W. , Wijesoma W.S.
Published: October 2009

The solution to the problem of mapping an environment and at the same time using this map to localize (the simultaneous localization and mapping, SLAM, problem) is a key prerequisite in the synthesis of truly autonomous vehicles. By far the most common formulation of the SLAM problem is founded on a vector based stochastic framework, where the sensor models and the vehicle models are represented in state-space form and the joint posterior or its statistics are obtained based on recursive Bayesian estimation. All of these SLAM solutions leading from the stochastic vector state-space approach require that we solve certain parallel problems in each recursion. These include effective solutions to the problems of data association, feature extraction, clutter filtering, and landmark or map management. In this paper, we propose an alternative framework based on finite set statistics (FISST), where the SLAM problem is reformulated so that the landmark map and the measurements are represented using random finite sets and the landmark map is jointly estimated with the vehicle state vector, whilst explicitly accounting for measurement detection uncertainty, data-association uncertainty, false alarms and map management in the SLAM filter framework. Similar to FastSLAM, the proposed formulation is based on a factorization of the full SLAM posterior into a product of the vehicle trajectory posterior and the landmark map posterior conditioned on the vehicle trajectory. The vehicle trajectory posterior is then estimated using a particle filter and the map posterior conditioned on the vehicle trajectory via a sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) implementation of the probability hypothesis density (PHD) filter. Simulation results of the proposed algorithm are presented and benchmarked against FastSLAM to demonstrate the effectiveness and improved performance of the FISST-SLAM in the presence of significant clutter.
Isometric Placement of Lateral Ulnar Collateral Ligament Reconstructions: A Biomechanical Study
Authors: Goren David , Budoff Jeffrey E. , Hipp John A.
Published: October 2009

Background

Lateral ulnar collateral ligament (LUCL) reconstruction using a tendon graft is a well-accepted procedure used in the treatment of posterolateral rotatory instability. However, unlike most other ligament reconstructions, anatomical guidelines for the isometric points for tunnel placement of LUCL reconstruction have not been defined.

Purpose

To determine if isometric points exist for tunnel placement for LUCL reconstruction and, if so, to determine their anatomical guidelines.

Study Design

Controlled laboratory study.

Methods

A series of 1.8-mm drill holes was placed in potential ligament reconstruction origin and insertion sites in 13 normal cadaveric elbows along the supinator crest of the ulna and in the lateral epicondyle of the humerus. The prepared specimens were mounted in a plastic test frame with electromagnetic sensors inserted into the drill holes. The distance between each potential pair of insertion sites was measured throughout the arc of elbow motion to determine the most isometric combinations of humeral and ulnar insertion sites.

Results

We could not locate truly isometric points for tunnel placement for LUCL reconstruction. For LUCL reconstruction, the position of most isometric tunnel placement was on the supinator crest 16 to 20 mm distal to the proximal margin of the radial head for the proximal wall of the ulnar tunnel, and between the 3:00 and 4:30 o'clock positions on the lateral epicondyle for the posterior/distal wall of the humeral tunnel.

Conclusion

Similar to the native LUCL, there is no truly isometric location for LUCL tendon graft reconstruction tunnels. Also similar to the native LUCL, the distance between the optimal tunnel position decreases in elbow extension and often increases in elbow flexion.

Clinical Relevance

The most isometric position for LUCL reconstruction tunnel placement was defined using anatomical references.
Functional Hip Characteristics of Baseball Pitchers and Position Players
Authors: Laudner Kevin G. , Moore Stephanie D. , Sipes Robert C. , Meister Keith
Published: October 2009

Background

During the throwing motion, the lower extremity is responsible for creating power that is transmitted through the core to the upper extremity. Research has shown that good hip range of motion and strength in throwing athletes results in greater performance and decreased stress placed on the upper extremity. Although research has investigated bilateral differences in hip characteristics among baseball pitchers, little is known about differences between pitchers and position players.

Hypothesis

Pitchers will have decreased passive hip rotation range of motion and gluteus medius strength compared with position players.

Study Design

Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3.

Methods

Forty professional baseball pitchers and 40 position players with no recent history of lower extremity injury participated. Bilateral hip external and internal rotation range of motion, total arc of motion, and gluteus medius strength were measured with a digital inclinometer and handheld dynamometer.

Results

A Hotelling T2 multivariate analysis of variance showed position players to have significantly more hip internal rotation range of motion (3.1°, P = .01, effect size = .53) and abduction strength (3.5 kg, P =.04, effect size = .53) in the trail leg compared with the pitchers. There were no significant differences for any other hip characteristics between groups (P > .07).

Conclusion

The results of this study indicate that baseball pitchers have significantly smaller amounts of hip internal rotation range of motion and abduction strength of the trail leg compared with position players. However, these differences may not be clinically significant.

Clinical Relevance

Position players may be able to develop more energy in the lower extremity, while pitchers may rely more on energy created in the core and upper extremity, potentially placing pitchers at an increased risk for upper extremity injury. These descriptive hip characteristics may help clinicians detect inadequacies and provide appropriate prevention, diagnostic, and treatment interventions for such athletes.
Exploitation in Older Adults: Social Vulnerability and Personal Competence Factors
Authors: Pinsker Donna M. , McFarland Ken , Pachana Nancy A.
Published: October 2009

Clinicians are frequently called upon to determine whether an older adult is at undue risk of exploitation and, in particular, financial exploitation. However, there is currently no widely accepted clinical model for describing or explaining who will fall victim to exploitation in later life, and identification of vulnerable older people has been a somewhat onerous process. In this article, an overarching theoretical framework for conceptualizing such forms of vulnerability and its assessment in older adults is presented. Central to this framework are various personal competence factors (i.e., intelligence, cognitive functioning, social intelligence, social skill, personality traits, physical functioning) that purportedly contribute to, or protect against, exploitation. Recommendations and argument for a more holistic approach to assessing and educating potentially vulnerable older adults are presented, as well as directions for future research.
The Concept of Responsibility: Dilemma and Necessity
Authors: Schoberth Wolfgang
Published: October 2009

Beginning with a critique of Max Weber’s famous, but misleading distinction between an ‘ethics of intention’ and an ‘ethics of responsibility’, the article brings attention to the elucidating analysis of the concept of responsibility by the German philosopher Georg Picht. Originally a juristic term, responsibility was applied to eschatology and so became a fundamental ethical concept. By separating the concept from its theological background it remains a necessary idea for modern societies but increasingly loses its definition. The concept suffers from overemphasising the autonomous subject, which is overburdened by the universality of responsibility. Therefore a ‘polis ethic’ is needed: not the isolated subject, but subjects in community are its authors. For Christians all human responsibility is preceded by God’s actions and held by God’s grace.
Responsibility and Moral Realities
Authors: Schweiker William
Published: October 2009

This essay explores ‘responsibility’ within moral theory and around the question of God’s relation to the world and to acting and suffering human beings. Advancing reflection beyond the outlooks of twentieth-century theologians, the inquiry outlines a multidimensional position that interweaves different rationalities crucial to orienting responsible life. Actions and relations are responsible which respect and enhance the integrity of life. Responsibility is thereby not in itself the object or norm of the ethics but the form of moral existence. This account enables current thought to weave together previous arguments in Christian ethics in a way productive for our global times.
The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—III and Malingering in Traumatic Brain Injury
Authors: Curtis Kelly L. , Greve Kevin W. , Bianchini Kevin J.
Published: October 2009

A known-groups design was used to determine the classification accuracy of Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—III (WAIS-III) variables in detecting malingered neurocognitive dysfunction (MND) in traumatic brain injury (TBI). TBI patients were classified into the following groups: (a) mild TBI not-MND ( n = 26), (b) mild TBI MND ( n = 31), and (c) moderate/severe (M/S) TBI not-MND ( n = 26). A sample of 80 general clinical patients was used for comparison. Verbal IQ, Verbal Comprehension Index, and Working Memory Index detected approximately 25% of malingerers with a false positive (FP) error rate of approximately 5% in the mild TBI group. Comparable FP rates were obtained in M/S TBI. FP rates for Performance IQ, Perceptual Organization Index, and Processing Speed Index were acceptable in mild TBI but too high in M/S TBI. Previously studied specialized indicators (Vocabulary minus Digit Span and the Mittenberg formula) failed to differentiate malingerers from nonmalingerers. The clinical application of these findings is discussed.
Outcome Expectancies of Partner Abuse: Assessing Perpetrators’ Expectancies and Their Associations With Readiness to Change, Abuse, and Relevant Problems
Authors: Meis Laura A. , Murphy Christopher M. , Winters Jamie J.
Published: October 2009

Concerns about low motivation to change among perpetrators of intimate partner violence (IPV) have heightened interest employing behavior change models with this population. In the present investigation, a new scale was developed, the Outcome Expectancies for Partner Abuse (OEPA) Scale, assessing the negative and positive outcome expectancies of partner abuse. Items were generated from statements made by IPV offenders during videotaped group therapy sessions. Among a clinical sample of 130 IPV perpetrators, item psychometric properties, factor structure, and subscale validity were examined. Results indicated generally good psychometric properties and a 2-factor solution, with the exception of 4 items subsequently removed from the negative expectancies scale. Significant associations were demonstrated between instrument subscales, readiness to change, and self-reported abusive behavior. Additionally, positive expectancy scores correlated with anger problems and relationship adjustment whereas negative expectancy scores correlated with partner-reported IPV. Potential uses of the OEPA and future directions for psychometric research are discussed.
Assessing the Affective Features of Psychopathy in Adolescence: A Further Validation of the Inventory of Callous and Unemotional Traits
Authors: Roose Annelore , Bijttebier Patricia , Decoene Stefaan , Claes Laurence , Frick Paul J.
Published: October 2009

To provide an extended assessment of the affective features of psychopathy, Frick developed the Inventory of Callous and Unemotional Traits (ICU), which is a multi-informant questionnaire. Previous studies have provided initial support for the self-report version. The aim of the present study is to investigate the validity of self- as well as other report versions of the ICU and examine associations with measures of psychopathic traits, empathy, antisocial behavior and prosocial attitudes, reward and punishment sensitivity, and personality traits in a Dutch community sample of 455 adolescents (56% males). The results of the present study replicate and extend previous findings on the psychometric properties and the validity of the ICU in a sample of nonreferred youth. The three ICU subscales showed distinctive patterns of associations with key external criteria. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.
Emotional and Behavioral Reaction to Intrusive Thoughts
Authors: Berry Lisa-Marie , May Jon , Andrade Jackie , Kavanagh David
Published: October 2009

A self-report measure of the emotional and behavioral reactions to intrusive thoughts was developed. The article presents data that confirm the stability, reliability, and validity of the new seven-item measure. Emotional and behavioral reactions to intrusions emerged as separate factors on the Emotional and Behavioral Reactions to Intrusions Questionnaire (EBRIQ), a finding confirmed by an independent stress study. Test—retest reliability over 30 to 70 days was good. Expected relationships with other constructs were significant. Stronger negative responses to intrusions were associated with lower mindfulness scores and higher ratings of experiential avoidance, thought suppression, and intensity and frequency of craving. The EBRIQ will help explore differences in reactions to intrusive thoughts in clinical and nonclinical populations, and across different emotional and behavioral states. It will also be useful in assessing the effects of therapeutic approaches such as mindfulness.
Some Remarks on Applying Homogenization Theory to Modeling the Constitutive Response of Carbon Nanotubes
Authors: Bellout Hamid , Bloom Frederick
Published: October 2009

An approach is described for constructing (using molecular dynamics simulations at the atomic scale) a mathematical model for the constitutive behavior of a carbon nanotube. The method is based on applying homogenization theory to a hexagonal array of carbon atoms with a specific chirality vector. The molecular dynamics simulations generate a set of periodic, rapidly varying, elastic constants for the nanotube. An example is presented to illustrate the technique for a specific array on a nanotube surface.
Athletic Participation and Seatbelt Omission Among U.S. High School Students
Authors: Melnick Merrill J. , Miller Kathleen E. , Sabo Donald F. , Barnes Grace M. , Farrell Michael P.
Published: October 2009

Although seatbelts save lives, adolescents may be disproportionately likely to omit their use. Using data from the 1997 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, a national survey of more than 16,000 U.S. public and private high school students, the authors employed a series of logistic regression analyses to examine cross-sectional associations between past year athletic participation and regular seatbelt omission. Controlling for the effects of gender, age, race, parental education, and school urbanicity, student athletes were significantly less likely than nonathletes to report seatbelt omission. Separate gender-specific analyses showed that this effect was significant for girls but only marginally significant for boys; in addition, the effect was strongest for adolescents who participated on three or more school or community sports teams. Possible explanations for the relationship between athletic participation and seatbelt omission, including Jessor’s problem behavior syndrome, prosocial sport subcultures, and sensation seeking, are considered.
Gender differences in health-related quality of life in multiple sclerosis
Authors: Casetta Ilaria , Riise Trond , Wamme Nortvedt Monica , Economou Nicola Tiberio , De Gennaro Riccardo , Fazio Patrik , Cesnik Edward , Govoni Vittorio , Granieri Enrico
Published: October 2009

Women have about twice the risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS) compared with men, a ratio that seems to be increasing. Most studies show that female patients seem to have a more favourable outcome of the disease. We studied the gender-specific impact of MS on health-related quality of life. We surveyed the population prevalence of MS patients in Ferrara, Italy. Data were extracted from the MS registry of the study area. Health-related quality of life was assessed using the MSQOL54 questionnaire. We analysed 370 patients (105 men and 265 women). They had worse scores than the general population in all health-related quality of life dimensions, ranging from 2.5 standard deviations (SD) lower for physical functioning to less than 0.5 standard deviations for mental health. Health-related quality of life scores were inversely correlated with disability scores. The impact of disability on health-related quality of life was higher for men than women regarding physical functioning (p < 0.01), vitality (p < 0.001), social functioning (p < 0.001), emotional wellbeing (p < 0.05) and mental health (p < 0.01). For scales reflecting mental health, a marked reduction with increasing disability was seen for men, while a linear reduction in the range of Expanded Disability Status Scale score 0—5 was reported for women, followed by no clear decrease for higher scores. We conclude that MS affects health-related quality of life in all of its dimensions. The impact of disability seems to be stronger among men, in particular for scales related to mental well-being. This could indicate that interventions should to be gender specific in order to better meet patients’ needs.
‘Living life with grace is my revenge’
Authors: Rowntree Margaret
Published: October 2009

This article explores the kind of insights survivors can provide into understanding sexual violence and its prevention. I begin in fairly orthodox fashion, reporting on a qualitative study with 10 South Australian men and women who have direct experience of the problem. However, the data produced from narrative-based interviews display their desire to tell stories about recovery rather than the topic under investigation. As interlocutor in these conversations, I reflect on the nature of knowledge produced in the space created between the researcher and the researched. The data illustrate that participant understandings are informed more from alternate and ‘new age’ ideas than from current discourses in the literature. However, the data also show that participants, as survivors, offer situated knowledge about rejuvenation in the aftermath of sexual violence, through their focus on personal ethical transformation. While contributing further to debates about how to prevent sexual violence, this article also discusses participant insights about how to heal from its effects.
Transformation through Interaction
Authors: Forte James
Published: October 2009

Meta-ethnography is presented as an innovative method for the systematic review of a set of symbolic interactionist ethnographies of mutual aid group work. Interpretive metaphors and themes from each study are synthesized in relation to the major phases of the planned change process. ‘Transformation through interaction’ is identified as the master integrative theme. Grounded lessons for mainstream group work are also generated. The merits and limitations of meta-ethnography in relation to the project of translation science, the bridging of the social worlds of researcher and practitioner, are also discussed.
Preparation and Evaluation of CuO/Chitosan Nanocomposite for Antibacterial Finishing Cotton Fabric
Authors: Gouda M. , Hebeish A.
Published: October 2009

Cupric oxide—chitosan nanocomposite was prepared in aqueous solution. Copper ions were adsorbed into the chitosan mainly by chelation to form copper-loaded chitosan. Copper-loaded chitosan was reduced by using sodium hydroxide at specific pH. Copper oxide nanoparticle-loaded chitosan was formed by oxidation of Cu(OH)2-loaded chitosan by using drops of H2O 2 (30%). CuO nanoparticles-loaded chitosan molecules were stirred with a high-speed homogenizer at 10,000 rpm for 30 minutes. The corresponding CuO/chitosan nanocomposite formed was characterized by using transmission electron microscope images. The copper oxide/chitosan nanocomposite was applied to cotton fabric by using pad-dry cure technique. Cotton fabric treated with CuO—chitosan nanocomposite was characterized via scanning electron microscope supplied with energy dispersive spectroscopy to verify the elemental composition of deposited materials on the fabric. Antimicrobial activity of the prepared fabric samples treated with chitosan nanoparticles and CuO/chitosan nanocomposites against Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aurous) and Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli) were investigated. Durability of treated cotton fabrics with nanocomposites has been evaluated.
Sickle cell disease and stroke
Authors: Verduzco Luis A. , Nathan David G.
Published: October 2009

Twenty-four percent of sickle cell disease (SCD) patients have a stroke by the age of 45 years. Blood transfusions decrease stroke risk in patients deemed high risk by transcranial Doppler. However, transcranial Doppler has poor specificity, and transfusions are limited by alloimmunization and iron overload. Transfusion withdrawal may be associated with an increased rebound stroke risk. Extended blood typing decreases alloimmunization in SCD but is not universally adopted. Transfusions for thalassemia begun in early childhood are associated with lower rates of alloimmunization than are seen in SCD, suggesting immune tolerance. Optimal oxygen transport efficiency occurs at a relatively low hematocrit for SCD patients because of hyperviscosity. Consequently, exchange rather than simple transfusions are more effective in improving oxygen transport efficiency, but the former are technically more demanding and require more blood units. Although viscosity is of importance in the noncerebral manifestations of SCD, inflammation may play a larger role than viscosity in the development of large-vessel stroke. The future of SCD stroke management lies in the avoidance of transfusion. Hydroxyurea and anti-inflammatory measures may reduce the need for transfusion. Recent genome-wide association studies may provide methods for modulating fetal hemoglobin production enough to attenuate stroke risk and other complications of SCD.
In vivo cellular imaging pinpoints the role of reactive oxygen species in the early steps of adult hematopoietic reconstitution
Authors: Lewandowski Daniel , Barroca Vilma , Ducongé Frédéric , Bayer Jan , Van Nhieu Jeanne Tran , Pestourie Carine , Fouchet Pierre , Tavitian Bertrand , Roméo Paul-Henri
Published: October 2009

Few techniques are available to characterize in vivo the early cellular dynamics of long-term reconstitution of hematopoiesis after transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) after lethal irradiation. Using a fiber-optic imaging system, we track the early steps of in vivo recruitment and proliferation of Lin−Sca-1+c-Kit+CD34− (LSKCD34−) HSCs highly enriched in HSCs and transplanted into lethally irradiated mice. Recruitment of the transplanted LSKCD34− hematopoietic cells first occurs in the femoral head and is continuous during 24 hours. Quantification of the fluorescence emitted by the transplanted hematopoietic cells shows that proliferation of LSKCD34− hematopoietic cells in the femoral head was potent 3 days after transplantation. Using a development of this fiber-optic imaging system, we show that the transplanted LSKCD34− hematopoietic cells are associated with vascularized structures as early as 5 hours after transplantation. This early association is dependent on reactive oxygen species (ROS) partly through the regulation of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 expression on endothelial cells and is followed by a ROS-dependent proliferation of LSKCD34− hematopoietic cells. This new in vivo imaging technique permits the observation of the early steps of hematopoietic reconstitution by HSCs in long bones and shows a new role of ROS in the recruitment of HSCs by bone marrow endothelial cells.
Abnormal serum free light chain ratio in patients with multiple myeloma in complete remission has strong association with the presence of oligoclonal bands: implications for stringent complete remission definition
Authors: de Larrea Carlos Fernández , Cibeira María Teresa , Elena Montserrat , Arostegui Juan Ignacio , Rosiñol Laura , Rovira Montserrat , Filella Xavier , Yagüe Jordi , Bladé Joan
Published: October 2009

The prevalence of an abnormal serum free light chain (FLC) ratio in 34 patients with multiple myeloma in complete response (CR) after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation was studied. Fourteen of 34 patients (41.2%) showed an abnormal FLC ratio. The frequency of abnormal FLC ratio in patients with or without oligoclonal bands was 72.7% versus 26%, respectively (P = .023). The median value of FLC ratio was 2.55 (95% confidence interval, 1.89-3.20) in patients with oligoclonal bands versus 0.87 (95% confidence interval, 0.70-1.04) for those with no oligoclonal bands (P = .011). This is the first report showing that the presence of oligoclonal bands in patients with multiple myeloma in CR frequently results in an abnormal FLC ratio. Because an oligoclonal immune response is associated with a good outcome, our results question the current definition of stringent CR and support that the prognostic impact of oligoclonal bands should be also assessed on multivariate analysis.
Classification of amyloidosis by laser microdissection and mass spectrometry–based proteomic analysis in clinical biopsy specimens
Authors: Vrana Julie A. , Gamez Jeffrey D. , Madden Benjamin J. , Theis Jason D. , Bergen H. Robert , Dogan Ahmet
Published: October 2009

The clinical management of amyloidosis is based on the treatment of the underlying etiology, and accurate identification of the protein causing the amyloidosis is of paramount importance. Current methods used for typing of amyloidosis such as immunohistochemistry have low specificity and sensitivity. In this study, we report the development of a highly specific and sensitive novel test for the typing of amyloidosis in routine clinical biopsy specimens. Our approach combines specific sampling by laser microdissection (LMD) and analytical power of tandem mass spectrometry (MS)–based proteomic analysis. We studied 50 cases of amyloidosis that were well-characterized by gold standard clinicopathologic criteria (training set) and an independent validation set comprising 41 cases of cardiac amyloidosis. By use of LMD/MS, we identified the amyloid type with 100% specificity and sensitivity in the training set and with 98% in validation set. Use of the LMD/MS method will enhance our ability to type amyloidosis accurately in clinical biopsy specimens.
Lyn and PKCδ order SHIP1 embargo
Authors: Naik Ulhas P.
Published: October 2009

In this issue of Blood, Chari and colleagues provide a novel mechanism for the unique negative regulatory role of PKCδ in platelet dense granule release downstream of collagen signaling.
Semantic web data warehousing for caGrid
Authors: McCusker Jamie P , Phillips Joshua A , Beltrán Alejandra González , Finkelstein Anthony , Krauthammer Michael
Published: October 2009

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) is developing caGrid as a means for sharing cancer-related data and services. As more data sets become available on caGrid, we need effective ways of accessing and integrating this information. Although the data models exposed on caGrid are semantically well annotated, it is currently up to the caGrid client to infer relationships between the different models and their classes. In this paper, we present a Semantic Web-based data warehouse (Corvus) for creating relationships among caGrid models. This is accomplished through the transformation of semantically-annotated caBIG® Unified Modeling Language (UML) information models into Web Ontology Language (OWL) ontologies that preserve those semantics. We demonstrate the validity of the approach by Semantic Extraction, Transformation and Loading (SETL) of data from two caGrid data sources, caTissue and caArray, as well as alignment and query of those sources in Corvus. We argue that semantic integration is necessary for integration of data from distributed web services and that Corvus is a useful way of accomplishing this. Our approach is generalizable and of broad utility to researchers facing similar integration challenges.
Stable replication of the EBNA1/OriP-mediated baculovirus vector and its application to anti-HCV gene therapy
Authors: Suzuki Hitoshi , Matsumoto Norihiko , Suzuki Tomoyuki , Chang Myint OO , Takaku Hiroshi
Published: October 2009

Background

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is one of the main causes of liver-related morbidity and mortality. Although combined interferon-α-ribavirin therapy is effective for about 50% of the patients with HCV, better therapies are needed and preventative vaccines have yet to be developed. Short-hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) inhibit gene expression by RNA interference. The application of transient shRNA expression is limited, however, due to the inability of the shRNA to replicate in mammalian cells and its inefficient transduction. The duration of transgene (shRNA) expression in mammalian cells can be significantly extended using baculovirus-based shRNA-expressing vectors that contain the latent viral protein Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA1) and the origin of latent viral DNA replication (OriP) sequences. These recombinant vectors contain compatible promoters and are highly effective for infecting primary hepatocyte and hepatoma cell lines, making them very useful tools for studies of hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses. Here, we report the use of these baculovirus-based vector-derived shRNAs to inhibit core-protein expression in full-length hepatitis C virus (HCV) replicon cells.

Results

We constructed a long-term transgene shRNA expression vector that contains the EBV EBNA1 and OriP sequences. We also designed baculovirus vector-mediated shRNAs against the highly conserved core-protein region of HCV. HCV core protein expression was inhibited by the EBNA1/OriP baculovirus vector for at least 14 days, which was considerably longer than the 3 days of inhibition produced by the wild-type baculovirus vector.

Conclusion

These findings indicate that we successfully constructed a long-term transgene (shRNA) expression vector (Ac-EP-shRNA452) using the EBNA1/OriP system, which was propagated in Escherichia coli and converted into mammalian cells. The potential anti-HCV activity of the long-term transgene (shRNA) expression vector was evaluated with the view of establishing highly effective therapeutic agents that can be further developed for HCV gene therapy applications.