bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of CYP2D6 and Efficacy of Tamoxifen and Raloxifene in Women Treated for Breast Cancer Chemoprevention: Results from the NSABP P1 and P2 Clinical Trials
Authors: Goetz Matthew P. , Schaid Daniel J. , Wickerham D. Lawrence , Safgren Stephanie , Mushiroda Taisei , Kubo Michiaki , Batzler Anthony , Costantino Joseph P. , Vogel Victor G. , Paik Soonmyung , Carlson Erin E. , Flockhart David A. , Wolmark Norman , Nakamura Yusuke , Weinshilboum Richard M. , Ingle James N. , Ames Matthew M.
Published: September 2011

Background: Controversy exists regarding the association between CYP2D6 enzyme activity and tamoxifen effectiveness in the adjuvant treatment of invasive breast cancer; however, this association in the primary prevention of breast cancer is unknown.

Methods: We conducted a nested case–control study in the context of the NSABP P1 and P2 prevention trials to determine the impact of CYP2D6 genotype, CYP2D6 inhibitor use, and metabolizer status (CYP2D6 genotype combined with CYP2D6 inhibitor use), on breast cancer events. Women who developed breast cancer (both noninvasive and invasive) while on 5 years of selective estrogen receptor modulators therapy (cases) were matched to controls free of breast cancer. Comprehensive CYP2D6 genotyping was conducted for alleles associated with absent (*3, *4, *5, and *6), reduced (*10, *17, and *41), and increased (*1XN and *2XN) enzyme activity. Information regarding the use of CYP2D6 inhibitors was recorded.

Results: A total of 591 cases were matched to 1,126 controls and DNA was genotyped in more than 97%. In patients treated with tamoxifen, there was no association of CYP2D6 genotype [OR (extensive/poor metabolizer): 0.90; 95% CI: 0.46–1.74, P = 0.74), use of a potent CYP2D6 inhibitor (OR 0.92; 95% CI: 0.575–1.486), or CYP2D6 metabolizer status (OR 1.03; 95% CI: 0.669–1.607) with breast cancer occurrence. Likewise, there was no association between any CYP2D6 metabolism parameter with breast cancer events in raloxifene-treated patients.

Conclusion: In the NSABP P1 and P2 clinical trials, alterations in CYP2D6 metabolism are not associated with either tamoxifen or raloxifene efficacy. Clin Cancer Res; 17(21); 6944–51. ©2011 AACR.
Body Fatness during Childhood and Adolescence, Adult Height, and Risk of Colorectal Adenoma in Women
Authors: Nimptsch Katharina , Giovannucci Edward , Willett Walter C. , Fuchs Charles S. , Wei Esther K. , Wu Kana
Published: September 2011

The latest report by the World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute of Cancer Research concluded that there is convincing evidence that adult height and obesity are risk factors for colorectal cancer. However, studies relating body fatness during early life to the risk of colorectal cancer or adenoma are scarce. In the Nurses' Health Study II, participants recalled adult attained height and body shape at ages 5, 10, and 20 years (using a 9-level pictogram: 1 = most lean body shape, 9 = most overweight body shape) at baseline. Among 32,707 women who had at least one lower bowel endoscopy between 1991 and 2005, 2,327 colorectal adenomas were documented. Adult height was positively associated with risk of colorectal adenoma (multivariate OR per 2 inch increment 1.05, 95% CI: 1.01–1.09). Comparing women who were overweight (body shape level 6 or higher) to women who were most lean (body shape level 1), ORs (95% CI, Ptrend) of colorectal adenoma for body shapes at ages 5, 10, and 20 years were 1.44 (1.04–1.99, 0.01), 1.21 (0.93–1.56, 0.05), and 1.03 (0.74–1.42, 0.58), respectively. Adjustment for adult body mass index did not change results substantially. The positive associations for body fatness at ages 5 and 10 years as well as adult height were restricted to distal adenoma, while not seen for proximal or rectal adenoma. Higher height and body fatness during childhood was associated with increased risk of distal adenoma later in life, independent of adult body weight. Cancer Prev Res; 4(10); 1710–8. ©2011 AACR.
Cryptotanshinone Inhibits Lymphatic Endothelial Cell Tube Formation by Suppressing VEGFR-3/ERK and Small GTPase Pathways
Authors: Luo Yan , Chen Wenxing , Zhou Hongyu , Liu Lei , Shen Tao , Alexander J. Steven , Zheng Shizhong , Lu Yin , Huang Shile
Published: September 2011

Cryptotanshinone (CPT), isolated from the plant Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge, is a potential anticancer agent. However, the underlying mechanism remains to be defined. Here, we show that CPT inhibited lymphangiogenesis in an in vitro model (tube formation). This effect was partly attributed to inhibiting expression of VEGF receptor 3 (VEGFR-3) in murine lymphatic endothelial cells (LEC), as overexpression of VEGFR-3 conferred resistance to CPT inhibition of the tube formation, whereas downregulation of VEGFR-3 mimicked the effect of CPT, blocking the tube formation. Furthermore, CPT inhibited phosphorylation of the extracellular signal–related kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2). Overexpression of VEGFR-3 attenuated CPT inhibition of ERK1/2 phosphorylation, whereas downregulation of VEGFR-3 inhibited ERK1/2 phosphorylation in LECs. Expression of constitutively active MKK1 resulted in activation of ERK1/2 and partially prevented CPT inhibition of LEC tube formation. In addition, CPT also inhibited protein expression and activities of Rac1 and Cdc42 but not RhoA. Expression of constitutively active Rac1 and Cdc42 concurrently, but not Rac1 or Cdc42 alone, conferred resistance to CPT inhibition of LEC tube formation. Taken together, the results suggest that CPT inhibits LEC tube formation, in part, by inhibiting VEGFR-3–mediated ERK1/2 phosphorylation and, in part, by inhibiting expression of the small GTPases. Cancer Prev Res; 4(12); 2083–91. ©2011 AACR.
Aminoguanidine, a Selective Nitric Oxide Synthase Inhibitor, Attenuates Cyclophosphamide-Induced Renal Damage by Inhibiting Protein Nitration and Poly(ADP-Ribose) Polymerase Activation
Authors: Abraham Premila , Rabi Suganthy
Published: September 2011

Background: Cyclophosphamide (CP) is an antineoplastic agent that is used for the treatment of many neoplastic diseases. Renal damage is one of the dose-limiting side effects of CP. Recent studies show that nitrosative stress plays an important role in CP-induced renal damage. Aim: The purpose of our study was to investigate whether aminoguanidine (AG), a selective inducible nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, protects against CP-induced nitrosative stress and renal damage. Method: Renal damage was induced in rats by administration of a single injection of CP at a dose of 150 mg/kg body weight intraperitoneally. For the AG pretreatment studies, the rats were injected intraperitoneally with AG at a dose of 200 mg/kg body weight 1 h before administration of CP. The control rats received AG or saline alone. All the rats were killed 16 h after the administration of CP or saline. Pretreatment with AG prevented CP-induced nitration of protein tyrosine and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) activation. Result: Pretreatment with AG attenuated CP-induced renal damage. The present study demonstrates that AG is effective in preventing CP-induced renal damage and also that the protective effect is from its ability to inhibit nitric oxide-induced protein nitration and PARP activation. Conclusion: The present study shows that AG can prevent CP-induced renal damage by inhibiting protein tyrosine nitration and PARP activation. Thus, a more efficient and comfortable therapy can be achieved for patients in need of CP treatment. AG appears to be a promising drug for the prevention of nephrotoxicity of CP.
The Outcomes of Obese Patients in Critical Care
Authors: Kiraly Laszlo , Hurt Ryan T. , Van Way Charles W.
Published: September 2011

The severity and prevalence of obesity continue to rise throughout the world. A similar rise in the prevalence of obesity is seen in the population of patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). In the ICU setting, nearly every aspect of care is made more difficult by obesity. This review highlights the challenges in the care of obese ICU patients. Multiple statistical reviews have suggested improved outcomes for obese ICU patients. This article critically evaluates published outcome studies and highlights potential confounders that may result in misleading results. Body mass index (BMI) has been traditionally used to stratify risk in obese populations. Other factors that may be more predictive of poor outcomes in obese populations are further discussed. Further research in these factors has the potential to guide therapy in high‐risk critically ill obese populations.
Playing the (Sexual) Field
Authors: Green Adam Isaiah
Published: September 2011

Recently, scholars have used a Bourdieusian theory of practice to analyze systems of sexual stratification, including an examination of sexual fields and sexual (or erotic) capital. While the broad structural features of the sexual field have been a point of focus in this latter research, a systematic analysis of the interactional processes that operate within the sexual status order has not been performed. In this paper, drawing on original data from an urban gay enclave, I identify six key interactional processes that occur within sexual fields, including: 1) actors’ recognition that the sexual field is constituted by a set of relations anchored to competition and sexual selection; 2) the perception of a generalized other ( Mead 1934 ) within the field, including knowledge concerning a given field’s collective valuations of sexual attractiveness; 3) a formulation of one’s own position within the sexual status order vis-à-vis intersubjective feedback and the development of a looking-glass self ( Cooley 1902 ); 4) an assessment of others’ positions within the sexual status order; 5) knowledge of “the game” ( Goffman 1959 )—including how to conduct a successful self-performance (ibid.), the construction of an optimizing front (ibid.) and proper field-specific demeanor ( Goffman 1967 ); and finally, ideally, 6) the ability to “save face.” In total, these interactional processes draw from and reproduce systems of sexual stratification, and are likely to generalize across sexual fields.
Regional innovation performance in light of social-capital research and application
Authors: Adam Frane
Published: September 2011

The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the existing studies of social capital in the framework of regional innovation systems and attempt to answer the question of whether any new insights or methodological shifts have occurred in the last few (seven or so) years. The reconstruction of empirical findings reveals a rather ambiguous picture. It seems that only radical modification of research design and methods can give new impetus and allow us to gain a deeper understanding of the role of social capital and/or its dimensions in (regional) innovation processes. Regarding the existing body of knowledge, the meta-analytical approach is appropriate in order to discern the most relevant, grounded and comparable theses and data. In the case of new research, more attention should be paid to the ethnographic approach and to triangulation.
An essay on social representations and ethnic minorities
Authors: Moscovici Serge
Published: September 2011

Persecution of ethnic minorities, social exclusion and racism are phenomena that cannot be studied as isolated variables. Popular forms of these phenomena arise from multitudes of beliefs, values and images with long histories. In discussing the separation of facts and values, the ‘Eichmann experiment’ and obedience and disobedience towards authority, it is shown here that a mechanical obedience corresponds to scientific and technical practices, and to the disenchantment of the world with modern technology. Racism highlights the separation of facts and values and can be viewed as the process of transformation of ‘scientific’ knowledge into common sense and vice versa. The theory of social representations regards these phenomena as processes of anchoring and objectification and as networks of indices and symbols with an imaginary reflection. Drawing on our notion of themata, it is shown that in the case of Roma, themata are articulated around the long historical narratives artistic/criminal. In contemporary situations Roma have a tendency more towards emancipation than towards assimilation.
Violence and justice in global modernity: Reflections on South Africa with world-sociological intent
Authors: Wagner Peter
Published: September 2011

Fifty years ago, around 1960, the widely accepted sociology of modernization divided the world into ‘modern societies’ and societies that still had to undergo processes of ‘modernization and development’. After fundamental criticism of its evolutionist and functionalist assumptions, the theory was widely discredited two decades later. Its demise, though, has left the comparative sociology of contemporary societies with numerous problems. First, modernization theory has not been replaced by any other approach that aims at providing a sociological analysis of the global social configuration, despite all the talk about ‘globalization’. Second, the critique of functionalist reasoning has deprived sociology of the means of assessing collective problem-solving capacity. As a consequence, neo-liberal economics and comparative political economy have come to dominate this issue. Third, the critique of evolutionism has tended to throw overboard all normative concerns in the sociological analysis of social configurations. As a consequence, normative political theory in various guises has tended to become more central than sociology in the assessment of contemporary socio-political constellations. This article explores the ‘conceptual relation’ between the so-called modern societies of the 1960s and apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa over the past half century with a view to elaborating elements of a new sociology of the global social configuration, or in short: a world-sociology. Discussing at the outset the common assumption that a conceptual abyss separated apartheid society, which operated by means of violent oppression, from liberal-democratic societies, in which public action wants justification, the article insists instead on the need for a comparative-historical reconstruction of the trajectories of ‘Western societies’, on the one hand, and South Africa, on the other, in their changing connectedness in the world context. It is argued that violence has never been absent from the history of modernity and that concerns for justice can be expressed in more varied ways than much modernist thinking assumed. The comparative observations, furthermore, show that key questions of socio-political organization, such as the formation of a collective will, the relationship between individual freedom and collective self-determination, and social justice, have not found permanent answers; and that there is little reason to assume that the responses found in the ‘old modernity’ of the 1960s are superior to others in the current condition of global modernity.
“We Drink, Therefore We Are”
Authors: Livingstone Andrew G. , Young Hollie , Manstead Antony S. R.
Published: September 2011

We consider how ingroup norms, identification and individual attitudes interact when a behaviour (heavy alcohol consumption) is defining of an ingroup identity. We sampled 115 students at a UK university, measuring ingroup identification and attitudes to heavy drinking before manipulating the ingroup drinking norm (moderate vs. heavy). Heavy drinking intentions and tendencies to socially include/exclude two target students—one of whom drank alcohol regularly and one of whom did not—were measured. As predicted, participants with a positive attitude to heavy drinking and who identified strongly with the ingroup reported stronger intentions to drink heavily when the ingroup had a moderate, rather than a heavy drinking norm, indicating resistance to the normative information. A complementary pattern emerged for the social inclusion/exclusion measures. Implications for theory and interventions that focus on group norms are discussed.
Risks of Minor and Serious Violent Victimization in Prison
Authors: Pare Paul-Philippe , Logan Matthew W.
Published: September 2011

The authors use the Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities 2004, which includes 18,185 respondents, to examine why some inmates are more likely to experience violent victimization in prison, focusing on the effects of mental disorders, physical disabilities, and physical size. The authors test four hypotheses based on patterns of minor versus serious victimization and two mediators for provocative behaviors: verbal abuse and physical assault. (1) The authors do not find much support for the hypothesis that inmates with mental disorders, physical disabilities, or small physical size are stigmatized as being vulnerable. Inmates with symptoms of delusions are the only exception. (2) The authors do not find support for the hypothesis that inmates with mental disorders are labeled as being threatening, but they do find support for inmates with larger physical size. (3) The authors find support for the hypothesis that provocation contributes to the victimization of inmates with some types of mental disorders: personality disorders and paranoid thoughts. The victimization of inmates with other mental disorders is not explained by provocation, however. (4) The authors find tentative support for the hypothesis of reversed causality between some types of physical disabilities and serious violent victimization: Paralysis and brain injuries are probably consequences of serious violent victimization while in prison. In contrast, arthritis is a risk factor for victimization.
The Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS) for Use in Biology
Authors: Semsar Katharine , Knight Jennifer K. , Birol Gülnur , Smith Michelle K.
Published: September 2011

This paper describes a newly adapted instrument for measuring novice-to-expert-like perceptions about biology: the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey for Biology (CLASS-Bio). Consisting of 31 Likert-scale statements, CLASS-Bio probes a range of perceptions that vary between experts and novices, including enjoyment of the discipline, propensity to make connections to the real world, recognition of conceptual connections underlying knowledge, and problem-solving strategies. CLASS-Bio has been tested for response validity with both undergraduate students and experts (biology PhDs), allowing student responses to be directly compared with a consensus expert response. Use of CLASS-Bio to date suggests that introductory biology courses have the same challenges as introductory physics and chemistry courses: namely, students shift toward more novice-like perceptions following instruction. However, students in upper-division biology courses do not show the same novice-like shifts. CLASS-Bio can also be paired with other assessments to: 1) examine how student perceptions impact learning and conceptual understanding of biology, and 2) assess and evaluate how pedagogical techniques help students develop both expertise in problem solving and an expert-like appreciation of the nature of biology.
STATISTICAL EVALUATION OF ELECTRICAL SOUNDlNG METHODS. PART I: EXPERIMENT DESIGN
Authors: Glenn W. E. , Ward S. H.
Published: September 2011

Traditional experiment design techniques, widely applied to both linear and nonlinear problems in many scientific fields, is applicable to the design of exploration geophysical surveys. The design technique is formulated using the mathematics of the generalized inverse and its construction via eigenvalue decomposition. The design technique is demonstrated by the designing of electromagnetic sounding surveys for a horizontal loop source.

The experiment is designed whereby it is determined (1) which one of the electromagnetic field quantities, vertical and horizontal magnetic field amplitudes or phases, and polarization ellipse quantities, tilt angle, and ellipticity, and (2) which set of transmitter and receiver separations and transmitter frequencies, best resolve the conductivities and thicknesses of a given layered earth model. Model resolution is sensitive to the data error. As an example, for different assumed data errors, a model is best resolved in one instance by the phase of the two components of the magnetic field, while in another instance it is best resolved by tilt angle and ellipticity measurements. The best designs are obtained using field measurements made at several transmitter frequencies and at two or more transmitter and receiver separations.

The functional relationship between the earth model parameters and the magnetic field quantities is nonlinear. The effect of this nonlinearity on the statistics applied in the method of experiment design has been reported in the literature and is reexamined here. Based on Beale's measure of nonlinearity, the models studied here exhibit adequate linearity to permit use of the linear statistics for experiment design.

A study of the eigenvectors and information density matrix provide insight to model parameter correlations and measurement correlations which can be exploited for improving the design of an experiment.
STATISTICAL EVALUATION OF ELECTRICAL SOUNDING METHODS. PART II: APPLIED ELECTROMAGNETIC DEPTH SOUNDING
Authors: Ward S. H. , Smith B. D. , Glenn W. E. , Rijo L. , Inman J. R.
Published: September 2011

Schlumberger resistivity and electromagnetic sounding data have been obtained over prehistoric Lake Bonneville sediments near Delta, Utah. Inverse interpretation of these data illustrates that vertical electric sounding with the Schlumberger array is superior, for this environment, to electromagnetic sounding with either a vertical magnetic dipole or a horizontal magnetic dipole. Combined parametric and geometric electromagnetic sounding using 84 data points is inferior to Schlumberger sounding using 21 data points. However, superiority in these contexts pertains to parameter resolution. The earth models obtained with all three soundings are virtually identical within the limits of resolution.

The importance of percent parameter standard deviations, parameter correlations, and least‐squares residuals are all illustrated for a field example in this manuscript. Reparameterization in terms of the Dar Zarrouk parameters S and T reduces the parameter correlations as expected. A generalization of reparameterization beyond the Dar Zarrouk parameters is suggested.
How change comes: translating biological research into care
Authors: Gaughran Fiona , Kapur Shitij
Published: September 2011

Thousands of papers have been published on the biological associations with psychosis yet this has had a limited impact on the routine clinical care of people with psychosis. Cognitive dysfunction, genetics and neuroimaging are the research areas likely to integrate into clinical practice in psychosis most rapidly. Clinical and academic collaborations in partnership with patients and carers are necessary to make progress, along with an acceptance that not all new approaches will necessarily prove effective in the longer term. Most discoveries do not just jump from bench to bedside, but require active interactions between scientists and clinicians.
Critical analysis of the concept of adult attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
Authors: Moncrieff Joanna , Timimi Sami
Published: September 2011

We question whether adult attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) represents a discrete condition that is distinguishable from ordinary behaviour and other psychiatric disorders, and whether it is related to the childhood disorder, since adult and childhood ADHD are said to be characterised by a different range of symptoms. Although studies of stimulant drugs find marginal short-term effects, which can be explained by their known psychoactive properties, there is little evidence that there are any sustained long-term benefits of drug therapy. We suggest that adult ADHD represents one of the latest attempts to medicalise ordinary human difficulties, and that its popularity is partly dependent on marketing and the reinforcing effects of stimulants.
“The Most Disturbing Aspects”
Authors: Kirouac-Fram Jaclyn
Published: September 2011

On September 12, 2001, dailies across the United States released photographs of people falling from the highest floors of the twin towers of the World Trade Center, documenting a few of the hundreds of people who had jumped or fallen from the towers the previous day. For their decisions to publish these photographs, newspaper editors nationwide faced harsh charges of exploitation and spectacle from readers who implied that the photographs stripped the subjects of their dignity. Beginning September 13, most newspapers openly and apologetically self-censored photographs of the people who came to be known in popular discourse as “the jumpers,” and their images quickly disappeared from the enormous photographic vocabulary henceforth used to describe and understand the attacks. In what was likely the most photographed disaster in history, images of people falling through the air became unanimously taboo in print and video media nationwide. This essay explores public reactions to the images of people jumping from the World Trade Center, as well as the narrative implications of the photographs' subsequent absence. By problematizing both the nature and the severity of public reaction to the images, I challenge these reactions as spontaneous or natural and explore the anxieties underpinning such resounding outcries.
9/11 and the United Kingdom
Authors: Kerr-Ritchie Jeffrey R.
Published: September 2011

On September 11, 2001, four hijacked commercial aircraft crashed into the World Trade Center (WTC), the Pentagon, and a Pennsylvania field, killing nearly three thousand people and the nineteen hijackers. On July 7, 2005, four bombs exploded on London's public transport system killing fifty-two people and the four suicide bombers. This essay examines the British reaction to the 9/11 attacks, British and American reactions to the 7/7 bombings, and the relationship between the two. Both events and their reactions are analyzed comparatively to provide critical commentary on governmental and popular relations between the United States and the United Kingdom. The central objective is to provide a greater historical understanding of this bloody opening decade of the twenty-first century, together with ideas to prevent its repetition in the second decade.
Cell dynamics in fetal intestinal epithelium: implications for intestinal growth and morphogenesis
Authors: Grosse Ann S. , Pressprich Mark F. , Curley Lauren B. , Hamilton Kara L. , Margolis Ben , Hildebrand Jeffrey D. , Gumucio Deborah L.
Published: September 2011

The cellular mechanisms that drive growth and remodeling of the early intestinal epithelium are poorly understood. Current dogma suggests that the murine fetal intestinal epithelium is stratified, that villi are formed by an epithelial remodeling process involving the de novo formation of apical surface at secondary lumina, and that radial intercalation of the stratified cells constitutes a major intestinal lengthening mechanism. Here, we investigate cell polarity, cell cycle dynamics and cell shape in the fetal murine intestine between E12.5 and E14.5. We show that, contrary to previous assumptions, this epithelium is pseudostratified. Furthermore, epithelial nuclei exhibit interkinetic nuclear migration, a process wherein nuclei move in concert with the cell cycle, from the basal side (where DNA is synthesized) to the apical surface (where mitosis takes place); such nuclear movements were previously misinterpreted as the radial intercalation of cells. We further demonstrate that growth of epithelial girth between E12.5 and E14.5 is driven by microtubule- and actinomyosin-dependent apicobasal elongation, rather than by progressive epithelial stratification as was previously thought. Finally, we show that the actin-binding protein Shroom3 is crucial for the maintenance of the single-layered pseudostratified epithelium. In mice lacking Shroom3, the epithelium is disorganized and temporarily stratified during villus emergence. These results favor an alternative model of intestinal morphogenesis in which the epithelium remains single layered and apicobasally polarized throughout early intestinal development.
Service Sweethearting: Its Antecedents and Customer Consequences
Authors: Brady Michael K. , Voorhees Clay M. , Brusco Michael J.
Published: September 2011

This research is the first to examine service sweethearting, an illicit behavior that costs firms billions of dollars annually in lost revenues. Sweethearting occurs when frontline workers give unauthorized free or discounted goods and services to customer conspirators. The authors gather dyadic data from 171 service employees and 610 of their customers. The results from the employee data reveal that a variety of job, social, and remuneration factors motivate sweethearting behavior and several measurable employee traits suppress its frequency. The results from the customer data indicate that although sweethearting inflates a firm's satisfaction, loyalty, and positive word-of-mouth scores by as much as 9%, satisfaction with the confederate employee fully mediates these effects. Thus, any benefits for customer satisfaction or loyalty initiatives are tied to a frontline worker that the firm would rather not employ. Marketing managers can use this study to recognize job applicants or company settings that are particularly prone to sweethearting and as the basis for mitigating a positive bias in key customer metrics.
Network Rhythms Influence the Relationship between Spike-Triggered Local Field Potential and Functional Connectivity
Authors: Ray Supratim , Maunsell John H. R.
Published: September 2011

Characterizing the functional connectivity between neurons is key for understanding brain function. We recorded spikes and local field potentials (LFPs) from multielectrode arrays implanted in monkey visual cortex to test the hypotheses that spikes generated outward-traveling LFP waves and the strength of functional connectivity depended on stimulus contrast, as described recently. These hypotheses were proposed based on the observation that the latency of the peak negativity of the spike-triggered LFP average (STA) increased with distance between the spike and LFP electrodes, and the magnitude of the STA negativity and the distance over which it was observed decreased with increasing stimulus contrast. Detailed analysis of the shape of the STA, however, revealed contributions from two distinct sources—a transient negativity in the LFP locked to the spike (∼0 ms) that attenuated rapidly with distance, and a low-frequency rhythm with peak negativity ∼25 ms after the spike that attenuated slowly with distance. The overall negative peak of the LFP, which combined both these components, shifted from ∼0 to ∼25 ms going from electrodes near the spike to electrodes far from the spike, giving an impression of a traveling wave, although the shift was fully explained by changing contributions from the two fixed components. The low-frequency rhythm was attenuated during stimulus presentations, decreasing the overall magnitude of the STA. These results highlight the importance of accounting for the network activity while using STAs to determine functional connectivity.
Genetic Deletion ofCdc42Reveals a Crucial Role for Astrocyte Recruitment to the Injury SiteIn VitroandIn Vivo
Authors: Robel Stefanie , Bardehle Sophia , Lepier Alexandra , Brakebusch Cord , Götz Magdalena
Published: September 2011

It is generally suggested that astrocytes play important restorative functions after brain injury, yet little is known regarding their recruitment to sites of injury, despite numerousin vitroexperiments investigating astrocyte polarity. Here, we genetically manipulated one of the proposed key signals, the small RhoGTPase Cdc42, selectively in mouse astrocytesin vitroandin vivo. We used anin vitroscratch assay as a minimal wounding model and found that astrocytes lacking Cdc42 (Cdc42Δ) were still able to form protrusions, although in a nonoriented way. Consequently, they failed to migrate in a directed manner toward the scratch. When animals were injuredin vivothrough a stab wound, Cdc42Δ astrocytes developed protrusions properly oriented toward the lesion, but the number of astrocytes recruited to the lesion site was significantly reduced. Surprisingly, however, lesions in Cdc42Δ animals, harboring fewer astrocytes contained significantly higher numbers of microglial cells than controls. These data suggest that impaired recruitment of astrocytes to sites of injury has a profound and unexpected effect on microglia recruitment.
Developing Criteria for Pediatric/Adolescent Bariatric Surgery Programs
Authors: Michalsky Marc , Kramer Robert E. , Fullmer Michelle A. , Polfuss Michele , Porter Renee , Ward-Begnoche Wendy , Getzoff Elizabeth A. , Dreyer Meredith , Stolzman Stacy , Reichard Kirk W.
Published: September 2011

The prevalence of morbid obesity in adolescents is rising at an alarming rate. Comorbidities known to predispose to cardiovascular disease are increasingly being diagnosed in these children. Bariatric surgery has become an acceptable treatment alternative for morbidly obese adults, and criteria have been developed to establish center-of-excellence designation for adult bariatric surgery programs. Evidence suggests that bariatric surgical procedures are being performed with increasing numbers in adolescents. We have examined and compiled the current expert recommendations for guidelines and criteria that are needed to deliver safe and effective bariatric surgical care to adolescents.
Response ofBemisia tabaci(Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) to Vapor Pressure Deficit: Oviposition, Immature Survival, and Body Size
Authors: Simmons Alvin M , Mahroof Rizana M
Published: September 2011

Whiteflies cause major agricultural problems in environments ranging from arid to humid climates on a global scale. A study was conducted on the effects of vapor pressure deficit (VPD) on oviposition, hatching, body size, and survival of immature B-biotype sweetpotato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae). Experiments were conducted at VPD conditions of 0.5, 1.7, and 2.7 kPa to represent low, medium, and high VPD environments, respectively. The study was conducted at 26°C with insects reared on collard, Brassica oleracea ssp. acephala de Condolle. The rate of oviposition was decreased at the highest VPD treatment. However, percentage egg hatch was not significantly affected by the treatments. More time was required for eggs to hatch at a high (2.7 kPa) compared with a low (0.3 kPa) VPD in a separate experiment. Overall survival to the adult stage was decreased at the highest VPD (≈50%) compared with the other two VPD environments (≈75%). Sizes of males and females were different, as is well known, but VPD had little significant effect on adult body size (length and width). The size effect was erased when the F2 generations from the different treatments were reared under a common environment. Insect population models that include the most relevant environmental parameters can offer the best estimation of life-history events. These results help elucidate the ecology of B. tabaci and indicate that extremes in ambient moisture can have an impact on populations.
Symptom Management in Metastatic Breast Cancer
Authors: Irvin William , Muss Hyman B. , Mayer Deborah K.
Published: September 2011

Approximately 40,000 women die as a result of breast cancer each year and many more live with advanced disease. When breast cancer recurs, the goals of treatment often shift from one of cure to controlling the disease for as long as possible while palliating symptoms interfering with the patient's functional status and quality of life. This requires ongoing discussions with the patient and family about the goals of care. Many symptoms depend on the site of metastasis, with bone being the most frequent, and commonly occur with fatigue, depression, insomnia, and pain. The purpose of this paper is to identify and provide an overview of the management of the most common symptoms in patients with breast cancer metastases.
FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS AND TREATMENT OF COPROPHAGIA
Authors: Ing Anna D. , Roane Henry S. , Veenstra Rebecca A.
Published: September 2011

In the current investigation, functional analysis results suggested that coprophagia, the ingestion of fecal matter, was maintained by automatic reinforcement. Providing noncontingent access to alternative stimuli decreased coprophagia, and the intervention was generalized to two settings.
EFFECTS OF MOTIVATING OPERATIONS ON PROBLEM AND ACADEMIC BEHAVIOR IN CLASSROOMS
Authors: Rispoli Mandy , O'Reilly Mark , Lang Russell , Machalicek Wendy , Davis Tonya , Lancioni Giulio , Sigafoos Jeff
Published: September 2011

The current study examined the effects of motivating operations on problem behavior and academic engagement for 2 students with autism. Classroom sessions were preceded by periods in which the participants had access or no access to the items functionally related to their problem behavior. Results suggested that presession access may result in lower levels of problem behavior and higher levels of academic engagement during classroom instruction.
Deviant Case Analysis: Neglected Approach to Behavior Research
Authors: Ross Alan O.
Published: September 2011

The heterographic method of deviant case analysis which aims to combine the advantages of the nomothetic and the idiographic approaches is proposed as a supplemental technique for the study of behavior. The method involves the detailed study of those Ss whose responses to a psychological test or experimental technique indicate that they are qualitatively different from Ss who are best described by the measure of central tendency. The approach has heuristic value because it serves to generate hypotheses about variables of potential significance which tend to be overlooked when attention is focused on measures of central tendency.
Fatigue, Impairment, and Psycho-Motor Learning
Authors: Nunney Derek N.
Published: September 2011

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of impairment from physical activity on the subjective feelings of fatigue and on psycho-motor learning. Ss, 80 college men students, were divided into five groups equated on the basis of an initial trial on the Snoddy Stabilimeter. Four of the groups participated in physical activities requiring varying degrees of energy output completed in a 5-min. period. Two levels of bicycle ergometer pedalling and treadmill running comprised the activities. The control group sat quietly. Pulse rates were taken before and after the activity and recovery periods. Following the physical work (rest for the control group) Ss completed one practice on the Snoddy Stabilimeter. A score was recorded on each of six practices held on alternate days. Similar comparative data were obtained from a second psycho-motor skill, the Rotary Pursuit meter, on which Ss completed one 30-sec. practice following a 10-min. rest. It was found that the over-all rate of learning of the control group was significantly higher than that of the experimental groups as shown by level of performance on Day 6 Snoddy Stabilimeter scores. The four experimental groups had experienced different levels of energy, yet there were no significant differences among them in stabilimeter learning rate. Following the rest no significant differences were found among the groups in level of learning on the Rotary Pursuit meter. On the basis of group scores Ss who participated in grossly different energy cost activities gave different ratings of felt fatigue, but very low correlations were found between individual pulse changes following the activities and subjective ratings of fatigue experienced. The minimum levels of fatigue and pulse changes experienced by the bicycle freewheel group were sufficient to produce a detrimental effect on psycho-motor learning in the immediate post-activity period. Higher changes in pulse and more intense feelings of fatigue were not related to further decreases in the level of learning.
Choosing among Confusably Distributed Stimuli with Specified Likelihood Ratios
Authors: Lee Wayne
Published: September 2011

A study of choice behavior for overlapping normally distributed stimuli, with specified distribution locations, separations, dispersions, and likelihood ratios was carried out. A distributed stimulus consisted of a set of dots sampled from a bivariate normal distribution and placed on separate cards. Cards with dots from two or three distributions were mixed together and shown one by one to S, who had to choose from which distribution each dot derived, and give a confidence rating. Two theoretical choice models succeeded in bracketing the results: (a) statistical decision theory and (b) a probability micromatching (Mμ) model. Mμ states that choices are made probabilistically and in the proportion defined by the likelihood ratio. Confidence was not always monotonic with likelihood. The perceived distance between distribution centers was about twice the true distance.
Eye Fixation and Recall of Pictures as a Function of GSR Responsivity
Authors: Luborsky Lester , Blinder Barton , Mackworth Norman
Published: September 2011

Our aim was to construct an experimental situation with which we could explore relationships between the looking behavior of the eye and recall of pictures differing in threatening content. Seventeen Ss individually were shown 10 pictures for 10 sec. each with concurrent eye fixation photography (Mackworth eye camera) and GSR recording. The main analysis consisted of breaking high and low GSR “Peak” (i.e., the high point of GSR deflection during the ten seconds of looking) against “mean duration of each fixation,” inspection time of “ground” of each picture (rather than “figure”), recall duration, instances of forgetting the picture, and postponement in recall order. Significant differences were found in most of these measures in a direction which seemed consistent with a concept of avoidance—under conditions of high GSR responsivity more than under low GSR responsivity, Ss tended to show avoidance tendencies in both looking and recalling behavior.
A Simple Skills Device for Research on Learning and Memory
Authors: Bilodeau Edward A. , Rosenquist Henry S.
Published: September 2011

The writers believe the DT to be but one of a family of research tools to be developed in the slide-chart category. The ¼ × 7 × 8½-in. silhouette permits easy stacking of 60 DTs in a standard 2-suiter suitcase and E can perform some of his research outside of his own laboratory thereby finding more Ss and solving the “no show problem.” The economy of the DT permits its use as a throw-away item, with quick replacement of damaged devices preferred in place of costly repairs. The simplicity of the DT, in addition to its economy, permits the user to construct one of his own based upon the description provided herein. Dial Trainers similar to the one described here will be made available at a nominal price to those who may wish to buy them. Otherwise, the reader may wish to adapt the one described here to fit his own need.
Effect of Level of Activation on the Quality and Efficiency of Performance of Verbal and Motor Tasks
Authors: Eason Robert G. , Branks Joseph
Published: September 2011

The primary purpose of the study was to test an implication of Duffy's two-dimensional hypothesis that all behavior varies along two independent continua, direction and intensity. If true, then whether tension level correlates positively or negatively with performance on a given task should be dependent on whether S directs his attention and effort primarily to that task, or whether he shares his attention with some other task situation or set of cues which interferes with performance on the task being measured. Secondary purposes of the study were to gain further information as to which muscles are the most reliable and sensitive indicators of activation level, and to observe the effects of continuous and distributed practice on performance quality, tension level, and performance efficiency. Sixteen Ss performed a rotary tracking (motor) task while simultaneously performing a nonsense-syllable memorization (verbal) task under four incentive conditions. Incentive was varied to manipulate the amount and direction of attention and effort directed to each task. The results provided strong evidence that the relationship between tension level and performance is dependent upon the direction in which S exerts his effort, as well as its intensity. Performance efficiency, expressed as the ratio of performance quality to tension level (EMG), varied with incentive, length of continuous work, and degree of skill. The EMG level of neck muscle was more sensitive to, and changed more consistently with, variations in incentive than did that of any of the other muscles from which recordings were obtained (frontalis, trapezius, and forearm flexors). Frontalis muscle was least sensitive to incentive variations. The results suggest that frontalis muscle tension level is not as good an index of activation level as is that of the neck or of several muscles combined. EMG gradients observed during continuous performance of verbal and motor tasks were interpreted as indicative of a progressive increase in activation level resulting from a change in the psychological significance of the task situation as perceived by S.
Kinetic Frame Effects: I. Alpha Motion
Authors: Sayons K. , Prysiazniuk A. W.
Published: September 2011

Several pseudokinetic effects were obtained under various conditions of a moving frame which was a white rectangle that continually lengthened and shortened. In the center was a black stationary line. When the line was co-oriented with the rectangle, alpha motion occurred at 1.7 cps of the frame; when the line was perpendicular to the frame's movement, two other phenomena were noted: (a) the line changed in both length and thickness, and (b) the frame changed in shape (“bow-tie” effect). The findings led to a revision of the original area theory, toward a conception which included a factor of line-to-frame orientation.
Interaction of Determinants of Perceived Movement Direction
Authors: Toch Hans H.
Published: September 2011

Determinants of apparent movement direction were systematically combined. The stimulus situation used was one which ordinarily produces a tendency to see movement from two sides to the center. This tendency can be modified to produce movement to the left or right. The determinants used in the study were (1) fixation to one side of the stimulus; (2) movement connotations in the stimulus figures (meaning); and (3) identity (vs dissimilarity) of stimulus figures. Fixation was paired with meaning (a weak determinant) and with identity (a strong determinant). In these pairs, the variables were combined (a) “reinforcing” each other and (b) “opposing” each other. The results did not conform to a simple summation model, but rather showed that each set of determinants acts in unique combination. The effectiveness of any given determinant in the perceptual process depends in part on the other determinants operating in the situation.