bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Assessing the Utility of a Daily Log for Measuring Principal Leadership Practice
Authors: Camburn Eric M. , Spillane James P. , Sebastian James
Published: October 2010

Purpose: This study examines the feasibility and utility of a daily log for measuring principal leadership practice. Setting and Sample: The study was conducted in an urban district with approximately 50 principals. Approach: The log was assessed against two criteria: (a) Is it feasible to induce strong cooperation and high response rates among principals with a daily instrument? and (b) Can daily logs accurately measure important aspects of principal leadership? The first criterion was assessed through a discussion of data collection procedures and results. The second criterion was assessed through mixed-method analyses comparing daily logs, observations, and an experience-sampling instrument. Results: The authors found that substantial participant contact time and strategic follow-up achieved strong cooperation and yielded high response rates. The accuracy of the log was confirmed through comparisons with an experience-sampling instrument and direct observations. The results also contribute to a broader understanding of how principals allocate their time across leadership domains. Like earlier structured observation studies, the authors found that principals spend more time on management, personnel issues, and student affairs and less time on instructional leadership than advocated by leadership scholars and professional standards. Implications for Research and Practice: Daily logs appear to be a viable means of measuring important aspects of principal practice and overcoming measurement errors associated with one-time surveys that are common in leadership research. Strategies used to maintain high participation rates are discussed in detail, and an example of a district’s adaptation of the daily log methodology is provided.
An Examination of Christianity and Socially Conscious and Frugal Consumer Behaviors
Authors: Pepper Miriam , Jackson Tim , Uzzell David
Published: October 2010

In recent years, the potential of religions for fostering more sustainable consumer behaviors on the part of their adherents has often been invoked. This article provides an overview of research on Christianity and ecologically conscious, socially conscious, and frugal consumer behaviors. Previous research has focused mainly on ecologically conscious consumer behavior, reporting mixed findings, depending on the religion measures that are used. In an extension to this body of work, a U.K.-based survey examining religious influences on socially conscious and frugal consumer behaviors is reported. Weak positive relationships between general religion measures (dispositional religiousness, spirituality, religious service attendance, and Christian identification) and both types of consumer behavior were obtained, suggesting that religion does indeed foster sustainable consumer behaviors, albeit marginally. However, attempts to distinguish among consumer behaviors by means of God concepts were largely unfruitful. Future research needs to investigate the influence of specific religious beliefs about consumerism, wealth, and social justice on consumer behavior. An increased focus on action research would also be valuable.
Gendered Perspectives About Water Risks and Policy Strategies: A Tripartite Conceptual Approach
Authors: Larson Kelli L. , Ibes Dorothy C. , White Dave D.
Published: October 2010

Previous research has examined gendered perspectives on a variety of environmental risks. Mixed results complicate the ability to make generalizations about human-ecological judgments, largely because of the use of inconsistent conceptual and methodological approaches in previous work. Following the tripartite model, we examine differences between men and women for diverse attitudinal judgments about water scarcity and resource governance in the desert metropolis of Phoenix, Arizona. Although women exhibit significantly stronger affective concern about water scarcity risks than men, cognitive perceptions about the causes of risks and conative attitudes about management strategies are largely the same across genders. As a whole, this article clarifies gender differences in environmental perspectives and posits a clear conceptual approach in examining multidimensional judgments in diverse contexts.
Transitioning to Future Air Traffic Management: Effects of Imperfect Automation on Controller Attention and Performance
Authors: Rovira Ericka , Parasuraman Raja
Published: October 2010

Objective: This study examined whether benefits of conflict probe automation would occur in a future air traffic scenario in which air traffic service providers (ATSPs) are not directly responsible for freely maneuvering aircraft but are controlling other nonequipped aircraft (mixed-equipage environment). The objective was to examine how the type of automation imperfection (miss vs. false alarm) affects ATSP performance and attention allocation.

Background: Research has shown that the type of automation imperfection leads to differential human performance costs.

Method: Participating in four 30-min scenarios were 12 full-performance-level ATSPs. Dependent variables included conflict detection and resolution performance, eye movements, and subjective ratings of trust and self confidence.

Results: ATSPs detected conflicts faster and more accurately with reliable automation, as compared with manual performance. When the conflict probe automation was unreliable, conflict detection performance declined with both miss (25% conflicts detected) and false alarm automation (50% conflicts detected).

Conclusion: When the primary task of conflict detection was automated, even highly reliable yet imperfect automation (miss or false alarm) resulted in serious negative effects on operator performance.

Application: The further in advance that conflict probe automation predicts a conflict, the greater the uncertainty of prediction; thus, designers should provide users with feedback on the state of the automation or other tools that allow for inspection and analysis of the data underlying the conflict probe algorithm.
Complacency and Bias in Human Use of Automation: An Attentional Integration
Authors: Parasuraman Raja , Manzey Dietrich H.
Published: October 2010

Objective: Our aim was to review empirical studies of complacency and bias in human interaction with automated and decision support systems and provide an integrated theoretical model for their explanation.

Background: Automation-related complacency and automation bias have typically been considered separately and independently.

Methods: Studies on complacency and automation bias were analyzed with respect to the cognitive processes involved.

Results: Automation complacency occurs under conditions of multiple-task load, when manual tasks compete with the automated task for the operator’s attention. Automation complacency is found in both naive and expert participants and cannot be overcome with simple practice. Automation bias results in making both omission and commission errors when decision aids are imperfect.Automation bias occurs in both naive and expert participants, cannot be prevented by training or instructions, and can affect decision making in individuals as well as in teams.While automation bias has been conceived of as a special case of decision bias, our analysis suggests that it also depends on attentional processes similar to those involved in automation-related complacency.

Conclusion: Complacency and automation bias represent different manifestations of overlapping automation-induced phenomena, with attention playing a central role. An integrated model of complacency and automation bias shows that they result from the dynamic interaction of personal, situational, and automation-related characteristics.

Application: The integrated model and attentional synthesis provides a heuristic framework for further research on complacency and automation bias and design options for mitigating such effects in automated and decision support systems.
Assessing Appropriate Parenteral Nutrition Ordering Practices in Tertiary Care Medical Centers
Authors: Martin Kelley , DeLegge Mark , Nichols Michele , Chapman Emily , Sollid Ronald , Grych Catherine
Published: October 2010

Background:Parenteral nutrition (PN) is an essential feeding route for specific patient populations. Despite its utility, PN is invasive, costly, and associated with clinical complications. In most U.S. hospitals, PN is overprescribed. This study measured rates of inappropriate PN use in hospitalized adults, as determined by the 2002 American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition guidelines, at 4 tertiary care South Carolina hospitals (facilities A–D). Secondary aims were to identify indicators of inappropriate use and estimated preventable costs.Methods:Over a 3‐month period, trained registered dietitians at each site collected data retrospectively and prospectively to determine PN appropriateness and indicators of use in 278 randomly selected PN cases.Results:PN therapy was inappropriately prescribed in 32% of cases, resulting in approximately 552 days and $138,000 in preventable hospital costs. Thirteen percent of patients who were prescribed inappropriate PN were discharged on home PN. Mean duration of PN therapy was higher in inappropriate cases vs appropriate cases (6 ± 7 days [range, 1–78 days] vs 10 ± 10.6 days [range, 1–51 days];P< .004). Facility B had lower rates of inappropriately prescribed PN (23%) compared with facilities A (33%), C (35%), and D (38%). Dietitians recommended against PN in >70% of all inappropriate cases at facilities A and D compared with <45% at facilities B and D (P< .001). Facility B employed more certified nutrition support dietitians (68% of staff) and was among the 2 hospitals using a nutrition support team (NST).Conclusion:This study was novel by comparing PN practices in statewide hospitals. Results indicate that NSTs and certified nutrition support clinicians can curtail preventable spending from inappropriate PN use. Future studies should identify barriers in implementing evidence‐based practice.
Dynamics of Acquired Firm Pre-Acquisition Employee Reactions
Authors: Teerikangas Satu
Published: October 2010

Based on a qualitative, large-scale, interview-based inductive study of eight acquisitions conducted by Finnish multinationals, this article develops a grounded model of the dynamics of acquired firm employee reactions preceding related, industrial cross-border acquisitions. In contrast to most merger and acquisition (M&A) research portraying employee reactions in times of M&A in a negative, stressful light, the present findings shed a contradictory light on this discourse. In six of the studied acquisitions, pre-acquisition employee reactions tended toward motivation rather than uncertainty. The underlying reason was that these acquisitions were perceived as opportunities instead of threats in the target firms. As a result, target firm management became proactively involved in promoting the acquisition’s success. The author terms this target behavioral responsiveness and found it to result from (a) “static” factors (partner organizational attractiveness and target cognitive responsiveness) as well as (b) “dynamic” factors (partner behavioral attractiveness and target strategic responsiveness). Intriguingly, the dynamic factors were found to have a stronger predictive impact on target behavioral responsiveness. Indeed, in two of the acquisitions, their low ranking on static factors was countered by a high ranking on dynamic factors, namely, attractive partner behaviors and a strategically responsive target. Employee reactions to a forthcoming acquisition are thus not the deterministic result of the change itself, but can be influenced through buying firm behaviors and positive future intentions as well as the target experiencing a need to be acquired. Implications for M&A research are discussed, and a model and propositions to guide future research are suggested.
Invited Editorial: The Four Theories of Profit and Their Joint Effects
Authors: Makadok Richard
Published: October 2010

As a theory of profit, resource-based theory is focused on a single causal mechanism—competitive advantage. Although this focus has been useful in helping to understand some sources of interfirm profit differentials, it is nevertheless highly limiting because competitive advantage is not the only causal mechanism by which profit can be generated. Three other mechanisms, labeled here as rivalry restraint, information asymmetry, and commitment timing, have also been extensively studied as sources of profit. Rather than continuing to examine each of these four mechanisms’ main effects on profit in isolation, and thereby generate increasingly incremental knowledge over time, the author proposes an alternative agenda for future research—namely, to synthesize multiple mechanisms in order to focus on their relatively unexplored interaction effects on profit. This article reviews the small but emerging literature of research that has already begun to pursue this agenda and outlines some logical next steps for further development.
Nutrition in Medicine
Authors: Adams Kelly M. , Kohlmeier Martin , Powell Margo , Zeisel Steven H.
Published: October 2010

Proper nutrition plays a key role in disease prevention and treatment. Many patients understand this link and look to physicians for guidance diet and physical activity. Actual physician practice, however, is often inadequate in addressing the nutrition aspects of diseases such as cancer, obesity, and diabetes. Physicians do not feel comfortable, confident, or adequately prepared to provide nutrition counseling, which may be related to suboptimal knowledge of basic nutrition science facts and understanding of potential nutrition interventions. Historically, nutrition education has been underrepresented at many medical schools and residency programs. Our surveys over a decade show that most medical schools in the United States are still not ensuring adequate nutrition education, and they are not producing graduates with the nutrition competencies required in medical practice. Physicians, residents, and medical students clearly need more training in nutrition assessment and intervention.

The Nutrition in Medicine (NIM) project, established to develop and distribute a core nutrition curriculum for medical students, offers a comprehensive online set of courses free of charge to medical schools. The NIM medical school curriculum is widely used in the United States and abroad. A new initiative, Nutrition Education for Practicing Physicians, offers an innovative online medical nutrition education program for residents and other physicians‐in‐training, but with targeted, practice‐based educational units designed to be completed in 15 minutes or less. The NIM project is strengthening medical nutrition practice by providing a free, comprehensive, online nutrition curriculum with clinically relevant, evidence‐based medical education for undergraduate and postgraduate learners.
Education Materials for Home Nutrition Support Consumers
Authors: Metzger Lisa Crosby
Published: October 2010

Parenteral and enteral nutrition (PEN) are life‐sustaining therapies that can be administered in the home. They are also complex therapies, with many facets about which patients and caregivers must learn. Once home on PEN, the patient assumes much of the responsibility for day‐to‐day care. Although patients are trained in many aspects of home PEN management before they leave the hospital and often again upon arrival home, there is much to retain and put into practice. Many health care facilities, companies, and nonprofit organizations create home PEN patient education materials. In 1993 and 1995, directories were created to list the home nutrition support materials that were available. The 1995 directory has been updated and appended to this article. This directory was created in the spirit of the original: to encourage communication and the exchange of information between individuals and institutions.
Developing an Education Program for Nutrition Support Teams
Authors: DeChicco Robert , Neal Tiffany , Guardino Jason M.
Published: October 2010

Focused training and continuing medical education are necessary for nutrition support clinicians to acquire new skills, maintain competence, and keep abreast of advancements in the field. Unfortunately, there is a lack of physician‐nutrition specialists to act as teachers and role models. One solution is to have members of a multidisciplinary nutrition support team, regardless of discipline, share their expertise with others. This is best accomplished within the framework of a formal education program that can accommodate the knowledge and skill level of each instructor and educational goals of each student. Developing an education program should include the following steps: formulate general goals of the program, specify learning objectives, assess each student's current level of knowledge and educational goals, determine educational strategies and learning activities that will best meet the goals of each student and the program, and devise a method to evaluate the performance of each student and the program as a whole.
Education Methods and Techniques for Training Home Parenteral Nutrition Patients
Authors: Gifford Heather , DeLegge Mark , Epperson Lou Anne
Published: October 2010

The goal of home infusion therapy education is to teach patients and their caregivers all aspects of home infusion to ensure independence in therapy administration and to decrease vascular access device complications and long‐term parenteral nutrition (PN) complications. When patients receive home PN (HPN), the education is generally more complicated and requires a focus different from routine intravenous medication infusion. In addition, the management of an HPN patient is different from a hospitalized PN patient because needs and goals of HPN patients vary from those of hospitalized patients. Educating HPN patients so that goals and outcomes can be achieved effectively while allowing the patient to maintain as independent as possible and reduce PN complications is a challenge. This article reviews the methods of education currently available to HPN patients. The education provided to HPN patients also is reviewed, with an emphasis on achieving independence and reducing PN complications.
Maternal Vitamin D Status in Gestational Diabetes Mellitus
Authors: Soheilykhah Sedigheh , Mojibian Mahdieh , Rashidi Maryam , Rahimi‐Saghand Soodabeh , Jafari Fatemeh
Published: October 2010

Background: Vitamin D deficiency has long been suspected as a risk factor for glucose intolerance. This study compared serum levels of 25‐hydroxy vitamin D3 in pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), and non‐GDM control subjects. Methods: In this case‐control study, 54 women with diagnosed GDM and 39 women with IGT (1 abnormal oral glucose tolerance test) were compared with 111 non‐GDM control women in whom GDM were excluded by glucose challenge test. Controls were matched in gestational age, age, and body mass index with IGT and GDM groups. Results: Maternal serum 25‐hydroxy vitamin D3 concentration in GDM and IGT groups at 24–28 weeks of gestation were significantly lower than non‐GDM controls (P = .001). A total of 83.3% of GDM compared with 71.2% of the control group had plasma 25‐hydroxy vitamin D3 concentrations consistent with a diagnosis of vitamin D deficiency (<20 ng/mL; P = .03). Women with GDM had a 2.66‐fold increased risk of deficient status (25‐hydroxy vitamin D3 <15 ng/mL) compared with control group. Conclusions: These results suggested that rates of vitamin D deficiency are higher among women with IGT/GDM, and the relationship between vitamin D status and glucose tolerance in pregnancy needs further study.
Loss of Protein, Immunoglobulins, and Electrolytes in Exudates From Negative Pressure Wound Therapy
Authors: Wade Charles , Wolf Steven E. , Salinas Reuben , Jones John A. , Rivera Racheal , Hourigan Leslie , Baskin Toney , Linfoot John , Mann Elizabeth A. , Chung Kevin , Dubick Michael
Published: October 2010

Background: A relatively new technology in wound care, negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT), has become widely used for the management of open abdomens and soft tissue wounds and provides a means to collect wound exudate to quantify protein loss. Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted in surgical, trauma, or burn patients (8 patients with open abdomens and 9 patients with acute soft tissue wounds on NPWT). NPWT exudate was collected and assayed to characterize loss of protein, electrolyte, and immunoglobulins over multiple days of NPWT. Results: Total protein was present in open abdomen NPWT exudate, 2.9 ± 0.9 g/dL. In the soft tissue wound exudate, a similar mean concentration was found, 2.59 ± 0.6 g/dL (P = .34). Exudate concentrations of albumin, urea nitrogen, immunoglobulins, and electrolytes between wound types were also not significantly different. There were significant (P = .03) differences in the median volume of exudate, 1031 mL/d for open abdomens in contrast to 245 mL/d soft tissue wounds. Therefore, 24‐hour losses of proteins and electrolytes were greater in patients with open abdomens than soft tissue wounds. Mean total protein loss was 25 ± 17 g/d for open abdomens and 8 ± 5 g/d for soft tissue wounds. Conclusion: There are significant losses of proteins in wound exudate. As there is no significant difference in the concentration of total protein between wound type, the rate of loss may be calculated as 2.9 g/dL times the volume of wound exudate. The rate of protein loss from wounds is similar to the presently assumed insensible loss rate of 12‐25 g/d.
Barriers to Providing Nutrition Counseling Cited by Physicians
Authors: Kolasa Kathryn M. , Rickett Katherine
Published: October 2010

In a 1995 pivotal study, Kushner described the attitudes, practice behaviors, and barriers to the delivery of nutrition counseling by primary care physicians. This article recognized nutrition and dietary counseling as key components in the delivery of preventive services by primary care physicians. Kushner called for a multifaceted approach to change physicians’ counseling practices. The prevailing belief today is that little has changed. Healthy People 2010 and the U.S. Preventive Task Force identify the need for physicians to address nutrition with patients. The 2010 objective was to increase to 75% the proportion of office visits that included ordering or providing diet counseling for patients with a diagnosis of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or hypertension. At the midcourse review, the proportion actually declined from 42% to 40%. Primary care physicians continue to believe that providing nutrition counseling is within their realm of responsibility. Yet the gap remains between the proportion of patients who physicians believe would benefit from nutrition counseling and those who receive it from their primary care physician or are referred to dietitians and other healthcare professionals. The barriers cited in recent years continue to be those listed by Kushner: lack of time and compensation and, to a lesser extent, lack of knowledge and resources. The 2010 Surgeon General's Vision for a Healthy and Fit Nation and First Lady Obama's “Let's Move Campaign” spotlight the need for counseling adults and children on diet and physical activity.
Editorial on top? Er, well…
Authors: Berry Don
Published: October 2010

As newspapers struggle to secure ad revenue advertisers are calling the tune by designing ads that dominate pages to the detriment of editorial. Don Berry laments the trend and asks, possibly with tongue in cheek: why don’t proprietors and chief executives unite to resist the ad agency bullies?
The future is in the hands of journalists
Authors: Chisholm Jim
Published: October 2010

There is room for optimism in the newspaper industry, but how can journalism flourish in a market where nobody wants to pay for news? Media analyst Jim Chisholm thinks the news media’s biggest problem lies in its customers’ fickleness. He urges journalists to come to terms with this fact and try to engage with their audiences.
Brave, yes, but this war game is wrong
Authors: Cole Michael
Published: October 2010

Former BBC reporter Michael Cole takes issue with the corporation for allowing the partially paralyzed correspondent Frank Gardner to report from Afghanistan. Gardner, who is dependent on a wheelchair after being shot in Saudi Arabia in 2004, would have been incapable of protecting himself if the Taliban had attacked. Cole writes: "Gardner is clearly a very brave man. But it is crazy, beyond irresponsibility, for the BBC to put a man who is partially paralyzed into the line of fire."
Catholicism’s poisoned chalice
Authors: Donovan Paul
Published: October 2010

As Pope Benedict XVI prepares to visit Britain in mid-September, Paul Donovan considers the impact of the Vatican’s many PR disasters under his leadership of the Roman Catholic Church. He analyses the changes made by the church in Britain to its communications strategy since the child abuse scandal broke. Though it has adopted a more professional approach he believes the attempt to win the hearts and minds of the media could well prove to be a PR disaster.
A quantum leap for science writing
Authors: Cooper Quentin
Published: October 2010

It is the Year of Science, and this has been greeted with more science programmes on TV and radio. But Quentin Cooper, who presents Radio 4’s The Material World, looks beyond those positive signs to look at the continuing problems of the media’s coverage of scientific matters. He argues that cutbacks both in media and science funding have contributed to the “still widespread perception that science is boring.” He points to examples of poor coverage – taking a side-swipe at the Daily Mail – and goes on to conclude that the "media hierarchy" should grant scientists, and the journalists who cover science, the time and space to go on covering a fascinating subject.
Life is a carnival, old chums
Authors: Watkins Alan
Published: October 2010

Alan Watkins, who died in May aged 77, wrote a brilliant memoir about his life as one of Britain’s most readable political columnists, A Short Walk Down Fleet Street. In this extract from his book, he tells how he came to leave The Observerand of the vicissitudes of writing for the Independent on Sunday. His pen-portraits of David Montgomery and Rosie Boycott, along with asides about Donald Trelford, should not be missed.
History is the first casualty of war
Authors: Barton Will
Published: October 2010

"The cliché (variously attributed) has it that the first casualty of war is the truth. Today it may be better to say that the first casualty is history." That’s the starting point for media academic Will Barton’s polemic on the failure of journalists to explain the history and context of Afghanistan’s relationship with the countries now fighting a war within its borders. He claims that a "profound ‘ahistoricalisation’ of Britain’s present Afghan adventurism is typical of much contemporary news reporting practice."
Life’s a puzzle all right - trust me
Authors: Maughan Stephen
Published: October 2010

Stephen Maughan threw up a well-paid job to take a post-graduate journalism course. Now, having passed with flying colours, he finds himself as a freelance struggling to pay the bills. He even writes 4,000-word articles for nothing. His experiences in trying to get work are enough to make grown journalists weep.
Remembrances of Times East
Authors: Boroditsky Lera , Gaby Alice
Published: October 2010

How do people think about time? Here we describe representations of time in Pormpuraaw, a remote Australian Aboriginal community. Pormpuraawans’ representations of time differ strikingly from all others documented to date. Previously, people have been shown to represent time spatially from left to right or right to left, or from front to back or back to front. All of these representations are with respect to the body. Pormpuraawans instead arrange time according to cardinal directions: east to west. That is, time flows from left to right when one is facing south, from right to left when one is facing north, toward the body when one is facing east, and away from the body when one is facing west. These findings reveal a qualitatively different set of representations of time, with time organized in a coordinate frame that is independent from others reported previously. The results demonstrate that conceptions of even such fundamental domains as time can differ dramatically across cultures.
Full-body radiography (LODOX Statscan) in trauma and emergency medicine: a report from the first European installation site
Authors: Evangelopoulos Dimitrios S , Deyle Simone , Zimmermann Heinz , Exadaktylos Aristomenis K
Published: October 2010

Lodox Statscan is a whole-body, skeletal and soft-tissue, low-dose X-ray scanner with digital enhancement and enlargement capabilities. Ten years ago it was introduced as a screening device for the examination of trauma patients. Its incorporation into the Emergency Room enabled anterior-posterior and lateral thoraco-abdominal studies to be performed in 3—5 min with only about one-third of the radiation required for conventional radiography. Since its approval by the Food and Drug Administration in the USA, several trauma centres have incorporated this technology into their Advanced Trauma Life Support protocols. This review provides an overview of the system, and reports on the authors’ own experience with the system and that of others over the past 10 years, based on a literature search for all review articles, original articles, conference proceedings, case reports and short reports related to the Lodox Statscan device.
Philosophical and religious influences on social welfare policy in the United States: The ongoing effect of Reformed theology and social Darwinism on attitudes toward the poor and social welfare policy and practice
Authors: Martin Michelle E
Published: October 2010

• Summary: This article explores the historical and contemporary philosophical and religious influences of social welfare policy and programs in the United States. A discussion of Weber's critique of Calvin's Reformed theology and the profound influence of Calvin's Reformed theology, including the concept of predestination and the Protestant work ethic, as well as the influence of Spencer's social Darwinism on US social policy. Elements of early ideological bias that reflected the moral failure of the poor are discussed with regard to early poor care and the Charity Organization Society movement, and are contrasted with the more pragmatic and compassionate approach of Jane Addams's Settlement House movement.

• Findings: An argument is made that a resurgence of social Darwinism and secularized Reformed theology is currently reflected in contemporary political and economic movements, including welfare reform measures in PRWORA of 1996, and the related TANF program, which has had a devastating effect on the economically disadvantaged populations in the United States.

• Application: Since social workers are on the front lines of social welfare policy development and practice, implication for social work education and practice are discussed emphasizing the importance of increased awareness of such damaging ideologies. Such awareness will lead to increased political discourse and advocacy for social welfare policy development and practice congruent with social work values.
Imagined Commodities: Video Game Localization and Mythologies of Cultural Difference
Authors: Carlson Rebecca , Corliss Jonathan
Published: October 2010

Broadly interested in the agents and institutions that structure social imaginations and subjectivities by mediating which images are available to what audiences to imagine through, this paper specifically considers the power at play when intermediaries—in this case, video game localizers—filter the images and narratives that are sold and marketed to global consumers, and the way these mediating processes in turn are both produced by, and productive of, (cultural) imaginings. This paper also discusses the way that localization practices—while often framed by a discourse that positions cultural differences as both incommensurable and easily and discretely bounded by the borders of nation-states—typically involve a nuanced negotiation of contradictions, dilemmas and interests.
Dynamic combinatorial interactions of RUNX1 and cooperating partners regulates megakaryocytic differentiation in cell line models
Authors: Pencovich Niv , Jaschek Ram , Tanay Amos , Groner Yoram
Published: October 2010

Specific interactions of transcription factors (TFs) with their targets are crucial for specifying gene expression programs during cell differentiation. How specificity is maintained despite limited selectivity of individual TF-DNA interactions is not fully understood. RUNX1 TF is among the most frequently mutated genes in human leukemia and an important regulator of megakaryopoiesis. We used megakaryocytic cell lines to characterize the network of RUNX1 targets and cooperating TFs in differentiating megakaryocytes and demonstrated how dynamic partnerships between RUNX1 and cooperating TFs facilitated regulatory plasticity and specificity during this process. After differentiation onset, RUNX1 directly activated a large number of genes through interaction with preexisting and de novo binding sites. Recruitment of RUNX1 to de novo occupied sites occurred at H3K4me1-marked preprogrammed enhancers. A significant number of these de novo bound sites lacked RUNX motif but were occupied by AP-1 TFs. Reciprocally, AP-1 TFs were up-regulated by RUNX1 after 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate induction and recruited to RUNX1-occupied sites lacking AP-1 motifs. At other differentiation stages, additional combinatorial interactions occurred between RUNX1 and its coregulators, GATA1 and ETS. The findings suggest that in differentiating megakaryocytic cell lines, RUNX1 cooperates with GATA1, AP-1, and ETS to orchestrate cell-specific transcription programs through dynamic TF partnerships.
Platelet factor 4 binds to bacteria, inducing antibodies cross-reacting with the major antigen in heparin-induced thrombocytopenia
Authors: Krauel Krystin , Pötschke Christian , Weber Claudia , Kessler Wolfram , Fürll Birgitt , Ittermann Till , Maier Stefan , Hammerschmidt Sven , Bröker Barbara M. , Greinacher Andreas
Published: October 2010

A clinically important adverse drug reaction, heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT), is induced by antibodies specific for complexes of the chemokine platelet factor 4 (PF4) and the polyanion heparin. Even heparin-naive patients can generate anti-PF4/heparin IgG as early as day 4 of heparin treatment, suggesting preimmunization by antigens mimicking PF4/heparin complexes. These antibodies probably result from bacterial infections, as (1) PF4 bound charge-dependently to various bacteria, (2) human heparin-induced anti-PF4/heparin antibodies cross-reacted with PF4-coated Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, and (3) mice developed anti-PF4/heparin antibodies during polymicrobial sepsis without heparin application. Thus, after binding to bacteria, the endogenous protein PF4 induces antibodies with specificity for PF4/polyanion complexes. These can target a large variety of PF4-coated bacteria and enhance bacterial phagocytosis in vitro. The same antigenic epitopes are expressed when pharmacologic heparin binds to platelets augmenting formation of PF4 complexes. Boosting of preformed B cells by PF4/heparin complexes could explain the early occurrence of IgG antibodies in HIT. We also found a continuous, rather than dichotomous, distribution of anti-PF4/heparin IgM and IgG serum concentrations in a cross-sectional population study (n = 4029), indicating frequent preimmunization to modified PF4. PF4 may have a role in bacterial defense, and HIT is probably a misdirected antibacterial host defense mechanism.
Gene duplications in prokaryotes can be associated with environmental adaptation
Authors: Bratlie Marit S , Johansen Jostein , Sherman Brad T , Huang Da Wei , Lempicki Richard A , Drabløs Finn
Published: October 2010

Background

Gene duplication is a normal evolutionary process. If there is no selective advantage in keeping the duplicated gene, it is usually reduced to a pseudogene and disappears from the genome. However, some paralogs are retained. These gene products are likely to be beneficial to the organism, e.g. in adaptation to new environmental conditions. The aim of our analysis is to investigate the properties of paralog-forming genes in prokaryotes, and to analyse the role of these retained paralogs by relating gene properties to life style of the corresponding prokaryotes.

Results

Paralogs were identified in a number of prokaryotes, and these paralogs were compared to singletons of persistent orthologs based on functional classification. This showed that the paralogs were associated with for example energy production, cell motility, ion transport, and defence mechanisms. A statistical overrepresentation analysis of gene and protein annotations was based on paralogs of the 200 prokaryotes with the highest fraction of paralog-forming genes. Biclustering of overrepresented gene ontology terms versus species was used to identify clusters of properties associated with clusters of species. The clusters were classified using similarity scores on properties and species to identify interesting clusters, and a subset of clusters were analysed by comparison to literature data. This analysis showed that paralogs often are associated with properties that are important for survival and proliferation of the specific organisms. This includes processes like ion transport, locomotion, chemotaxis and photosynthesis. However, the analysis also showed that the gene ontology terms sometimes were too general, imprecise or even misleading for automatic analysis.

Conclusions

Properties described by gene ontology terms identified in the overrepresentation analysis are often consistent with individual prokaryote lifestyles and are likely to give a competitive advantage to the organism. Paralogs and singletons dominate different categories of functional classification, where paralogs in particular seem to be associated with processes involving interaction with the environment.
Universal and specific quantitative detection of botulinum neurotoxin genes
Authors: Hill Brenna J , Skerry Janet C , Smith Theresa J , Arnon Stephen S , Douek Daniel C
Published: October 2010

Background

Clostridium botulinum, an obligate anaerobic spore-forming bacterium, produces seven antigenic variants of botulinum toxin that are distinguished serologically and termed "serotypes". Botulinum toxin blocks the release of acetylcholine at neuromuscular junctions resulting in flaccid paralysis. The potential lethality of the disease warrants a fast and accurate means of diagnosing suspected instances of food contamination or human intoxication. Currently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-accepted assay to detect and type botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) is the mouse protection bioassay. While specific and sensitive, this assay requires the use of laboratory animals, may take up to four days to achieve a diagnosis, and is unsuitable for high-throughput analysis. We report here a two-step PCR assay that identifies all toxin types, that achieves the specificity of the mouse bioassay while surpassing it in equivalent sensitivity, that has capability for high-throughput analysis, and that provides quantitative results within hours. The first step of our assay consists of a conventional PCR that detects the presence of C. botulinum regardless of the neurotoxin type. The second step uses quantitative PCR (qPCR) technology to determine the specific serotype of the neurotoxin.

Results

We assayed purified C. botulinum DNA and crude toxin preparations, as well as food and stool from healthy individuals spiked with purified BoNT DNA, and one stool sample from a case of infant botulism for the presence of the NTNH gene, which is part of the BoNT gene cluster, and for the presence of serotype-specific BoNT genes. The PCR surpassed the mouse bioassay both in specificity and sensitivity, detecting positive signals in BoNT preparations containing well below the 1 LD50 required for detection via the mouse bioassay. These results were type-specific and we were reliably able to quantify as few as 10 genomic copies.

Conclusions

While other studies have reported conventional or quantitative PCR-based assays for the detection of C. botulinum genes, our procedure's high-throughput capability and its portability allows most laboratories to quickly assess the possible presence of BoNTs either in food processing samples or in suspected cases of botulism. Thus, this assay provides rapid and specific detection of BoNT and toxin complex genes and would enable the targeting of appropriate therapeutics to infected individuals in a timely manner.
Complete response in gallbladder cancer to erlotinib plus gemcitabine does not require mutation of the epidermal growth factor receptor gene: a case report
Authors: Mody Kabir , Strauss Edward , Lincer Robert , Frank Richard C
Published: October 2010

Background

Gallbladder cancer typically follows an aggressive course, with chemotherapy the standard of care for advanced disease; complete remissions are rarely encountered. The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a promising therapeutic target but the activity of single agent oral EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors is low. There have been no previous reports of chemotherapy plus an EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) to treat gallbladder cancer or correlations of response with the mutation status of the tyrosine kinase domain of the EGFR gene.

Case presentation

A 67 year old man with metastatic gallbladder cancer involving the liver and abdominal lymph nodes was treated with gemcitabine (1000 mg/m2) on day 1 and 8 every 21 days as well as daily erlotinib (100 mg). After four cycles of therapy, the CA 19-9 normalized and a PET/CT showed a complete remission; this response was maintained by the end of 12 cycles of therapy. Gemcitabine was then discontinued and single agent erlotinib was continued as maintenance therapy. The disease remains in good control 18 months after initiation of therapy, including 6 months on maintenance erlotinib. The only grade 3 toxicity was a typical EGFR-related skin rash. Because of the remarkable response to erlotinib plus gemcitabine, we performed tumor genotyping of the EGFR gene for response predicting mutations in exons 18, 19 and 21. This disclosed the wild-type genotype with no mutations found.

Conclusion

This case report demonstrates a patient with stage IV gallbladder cancer who experienced a rarely encountered complete, prolonged response after treatment with an oral EGFR-TKI plus chemotherapy. This response occurred in the absence of an EGFR gene mutation. These observations should inform the design of clinical trials using EGFR-TKIs to treat gallbladder and other biliary tract cancers; such trials should not select patients based on EGFR mutation status.
Abalone visceral extract inhibit tumor growth and metastasis by modulating Cox-2 levels and CD8+ T cell activity
Authors: Lee Choong-Gu , Kwon Ho-Keun , Ryu Jae Ha , Kang Sung Jin , Im Chang-Rok , II Kim Jae , Im Sin-Hyeog
Published: October 2010

Background

Abalone has long been used as a valuable food source in East Asian countries. Although the nutritional importance of abalone has been reported through in vitro and in vivo studies, there is little evidence about the potential anti-tumor effects of abalone visceral extract. The aim of the present study is to examine anti-tumor efficacy of abalone visceral extract and to elucidate its working mechanism.

Methods

In the present study, we used breast cancer model using BALB/c mouse-derived 4T1 mammary carcinoma and investigated the effect of abalone visceral extract on tumor development. Inhibitory effect against tumor metastasis was assessed by histopathology of lungs. Cox-2 productions by primary and secondary tumor were measured by real-time RT-PCR and immunoblotting (IB). Proliferation assay based on [3H]-thymidine incorporation and measurement of cytokines and effector molecules by RT-PCR were used to confirm tumor suppression efficacy of abalone visceral extract by modulating cytolytic CD8+ T cells. The cytotoxicity of CD8+ T cell was compared by JAM test.

Results

Oral administration of abalone visceral extract reduced tumor growth (tumor volume and weight) and showed reduced metastasis as confirmed by decreased level of splenomegaly (spleen size and weight) and histological analysis of the lung metastasis (gross analysis and histological staining). Reduced expression of Cox-2 (mRNA and protein) from primary tumor and metastasized lung was also detected. In addition, treatment of abalone visceral extract increased anti-tumor activities of CD8+ T cells by increasing the proliferation capacity and their cytolytic activity.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that abalone visceral extract has anti-tumor effects by suppressing tumor growth and lung metastasis through decreasing Cox-2 expression level as well as promoting proliferation and cytolytic function of CD8+ T cells.
Comparison of the pharmacokinetics, safety and tolerability of two concentrations of a new liquid recombinant human growth hormone formulation versus the freeze-dried formulation
Authors: Liedert Bernd , Forssmann Ulf , Wolna Peter , Golob Michaela , Kovar Andreas
Published: October 2010

Background

Somatropin is recombinant human growth hormone (GH) used for the treatment of growth failure in children and GH deficiency in adults. Two concentrations of a liquid formulation have been developed: 5.83 and 8.0 mg/mL. This trial compared the pharmacokinetics (PK), safety and tolerability of these two liquid concentrations against the freeze-dried (FD) formulation in healthy volunteers.

Methods

In an open-label, single-centre, three-way crossover study, volunteers (aged 18-45 years) were given subcutaneous injections of the reconstituted FD and two liquid formulations in random sequential order, each at 4 mg/dose, with a 1-week wash-out period between doses. To suppress endogenous GH secretion, intravenous somatostatin was infused continuously 1 hour before to 24 hours after each dose, achieving a cumulative dose of 3 mg. Primary PK endpoints were area under the serum concentration-time curve (AUC0-t) and maximum serum concentration (Cmax). For each of the two liquid formulations, bioequivalence with the FD formulation was concluded if the 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the estimated test/reference ratios of geometric means of AUC0-t and Cmax were within the standard pre-specified acceptance range (0.80-1.25).

Results

Fifteen men and 15 women enrolled (safety population, n = 30; PK population, n = 28). Bioequivalence with the FD formulation could be shown for both liquid formulations. The ratios of geometric means (95% CI) were 1.046 (0.980, 1.117) and 0.991 (0.929, 1.058) for AUC0-t and 0.954 (0.875, 1.040) and 0.955 (0.876, 1.041) for Cmax for the 5.83 and 8.0 mg/mL formulations, respectively. No significant differences between the three treatments in half-lives, time to reach Cmax, clearance or volume of distribution were observed. After injection, the most common side-effects were pain or injection-site reactions (all of mild intensity). There were no clinically significant abnormal vital signs, ECG or laboratory findings. There were 56 treatment-related adverse events (AEs): 49 mild, 6 moderate and 1 severe (vomiting). No serious AEs occurred. The pattern of AEs was as expected and all resolved by study end.

Conclusion

Both concentrations of a new liquid multi-dose formulation are bioequivalent to the FD reference formulation and all are well tolerated.

Trial registration number

NCT01034735.