bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Heritability of cardiovascular risk factors in a Brazilian population: Baependi Heart Study
Authors: de Oliveira Camila M , Pereira Alexandre C , de Andrade Mariza , Soler Júlia M , Krieger José E
Published: May 2008

Background

The heritability of cardiovascular risk factors is expected to differ between populations because of the different distribution of environmental risk factors, as well as the genetic make-up of different human populations.

Methods

The purpose of this analysis was to evaluate genetic and environmental influences on cardiovascular risk factor traits, using a variance component approach, by estimating the heritability of these traits in a sample of 1,666 individuals in 81 families ascertained randomly from a highly admixed population of a city in a rural area in Brazil.

Results

Before adjustment for sex, age, age2, and age × sex interaction, polygenic heritability of systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure were 15.0% and 16.4%, waist circumference 26.1%, triglycerides 25.7%, fasting glucose 32.8%, HDL-c 31.2%, total cholesterol 28.6%, LDL-c 26.3%, BMI 39.1%. Adjustment for covariates increased polygenic heritability estimates for all traits mainly systolic and diastolic blood pressure (25.9 and 26.2%, respectively), waist circumference (40.1%), and BMI (51.0%).

Conclusion

Heritability estimates for cardiovascular traits in the Brazilian population are high and not significantly different from other studied worldwide populations. Mapping efforts to identify genetic loci associated with variability of these traits are warranted.
Effect of iron content on the tolerability of prenatal multivitamins in pregnancy
Authors: Nguyen Patricia , Nava-Ocampo Alejandro , Levy Amalia , O'Connor Deborah L , Einarson Tom R , Taddio Anna , Koren Gideon
Published: May 2008

Background

Gastrointestinal irritability can deter pregnant women from starting or continuing prenatal multivitamin supplementation. In a previous study, suboptimal tolerability was observed among pregnant women taking a large tablet (18 mm × 8 mm × 8 mm) multivitamin with high elemental iron content (60 mg as ferrous fumarate). The objective of the present study was to compare rates of adherence and reported adverse events among pregnant women who were randomized to commence supplementation with a small-tablet prenatal multivitamin, containing either low or high iron content.

Methods

Pregnant women who called the Motherisk Program (Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto) and had not started taking or had discontinued any multivitamin due to adverse events were included in this prospective, randomized, open-label, 2-arm study. Women were randomized to take a small-size (16 mm × 9 mm × 4 mm), low elemental iron content (35 mg as ferrous fumarate) multivitamin ('35 mg' group); or a small-size (5 mm radius, 5 mm thickness), high elemental iron content (60 mg as ferrous sulphate) multivitamin ('60 mg' group). Follow-up interviews documented pill intake and adverse events. Rates of adherence and adverse events were compared between groups using chi-squared tests and Kaplan-Meier survival curves.

Results

Of 167 randomized women, 92 in the '35 mg' group and 75 in the '60 mg' group were included in the analysis. Despite ideal conditions and regular follow-ups, mean adherence based on pill intake recall, in both groups was approximately 50%. No statistically significant difference was detected in proportions of women who actually started taking either multivitamin. Among those who started, no difference was detected in rates of adherence or reported adverse events.

Conclusion

The present results suggest that iron content is not a major determinant of adherence to prenatal multivitamins. Combined with our previous study, tablet size may be the more definitive factor affecting adherence.
Importance of dose-schedule of 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine for epigenetic therapy of cancer
Authors: Lemaire Maryse , Chabot Guy G , Raynal Noël JM , Momparler Louise F , Hurtubise Annie , Bernstein Mark L , Momparler Richard L
Published: May 2008

Background

The inactivation of tumor suppressor genes (TSGs) by aberrant DNA methylation plays an important role in the development of malignancy. Since this epigenetic change is reversible, it is a potential target for chemotherapeutic intervention using an inhibitor of DNA methylation, such as 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (DAC). Although clinical studies show that DAC has activity against hematological malignancies, the optimal dose-schedule of this epigenetic agent still needs to be established.

Methods

Clonogenic assays were performed on leukemic and tumor cell lines to evaluate thein vitroantineoplastic activity of DAC. The reactivation of TSGs and inhibition of DNA methylation by DAC were investigated by reverse transcriptase-PCR and Line-1 assays. Thein vivoantineoplastic activity of DAC administered as an i.v. infusion was evaluated in mice with murine L1210 leukemia by measurement of survival time, and in mice bearing murine EMT6 mammary tumor by excision of tumor after chemotherapy for anin vitroclonogenic assay.

Results

Increasing the DAC concentration and duration of exposure produced a greater loss of clonogenicity for both human leukemic and tumor cell lines. The reactivation of the TSGs (p57KIP2in HL-60 leukemic cells andp16CDKN2Ain Calu-6 lung carcinoma cells) and the inhibition of global DNA methylation in HL-60 leukemic cells increased with DAC concentration. In mice with L1210 leukemia and in mice bearing EMT6 tumors, the antineoplastic action of DAC also increased with the dose. The plasma level of DAC that produced a very potent antineoplastic effect in mice with leukemia or solid tumors was > 200 ng/ml (> 1 μM).

Conclusion

We have shown that intensification of the DAC dose markedly increased its antineoplastic activity in mouse models of cancer. Our data also show that there is a good correlation between the concentrations of DAC that reducein vitroclonogenicity, reactivate TSGs and inhibit DNA methylation. These results suggest that the antineoplastic action of DAC is related to its epigenetic action. Our observations provide a strong rationale to perform clinical trials using dose intensification of DAC to maximize the chemotherapeutic potential of this epigenetic agent in patients with cancer.
Viral vectors based on bidirectional cell-specific mammalian promoters and transcriptional amplification strategy for use in vitro and in vivo
Authors: Liu Beihui , Paton Julian F , Kasparov Sergey
Published: May 2008

Background

Using cell-type-specific promoters to restrict gene expression to particular cells is an attractive approach for gene therapy, but often hampered by insufficient transcriptional activity of these promoters. Previous studies have shown that transcriptional amplification strategy (TAS) can be used to enhance the activity of such promoters without loss of cell type specificity. Originally TAS involved the use of two copies of a cell-specific promoter leading to generation of large expression cassettes, which can be hard to use given the space limitations of the conventional viral gene expression vectors.

Results

We have now developed a new bidirectional lentiviral vector system, based on TAS that can enhance the transcriptional activity of human synapsin-1 (SYN) promoter and the compact glial fibrillary acidic protein (GfaABC1D) promoter. In the opposite orientation, a minimal core promoter (65 bp) derived from the human cytomegalovirus (CMV) was joined upstream of the SYN promoter or GfaABC1D promoter. This led to the formation of synthetic bidirectional promoters which were flanked with two gene expression cassettes. The 5' cassette transcribed the artificial transcriptional activator. The downstream cassette drove the synthesis of the gene of interest. Studies in both cell cultures and in vivo showed that the new bidirectional promoters greatly increased the expression level of the reporter gene. In vivo studies also showed that transgene expression was enhanced without loss of cell specificity of both SYN and GfaABC1D promoters.

Conclusion

This work establishes a novel approach for creating compact TAS-amplified cell-specific promoters, a feature important for their use in viral backbones. This improved approach should prove useful for the development of powerful gene expression systems based on weak cell-specific promoters.
Changes in hospital costs after introducing an intermediate care unit: a comparative observational study
Authors: Solberg Barbara CJ , Dirksen Carmen D , Nieman Fred HM , van Merode Godefridus , Poeze Martijn , Ramsay Graham
Published: May 2008

Introduction

The high cost of critical care resources has resulted in strategies to reduce the costs of ruling out low-risk patients by developing intermediate care units (IMCs). The aim of this study was to compare changes in total hospital costs for intensive care patients before and after the introduction of an IMC at the University Hospital Maastricht.

Methods

The design was a comparative longitudinal study. The setting was a university hospital with a mixed intensive care unit (ICU), an IMC, and general wards. Changes in total hospital costs were measured for patients who were admitted to the ICU before and after the introduction of the IMC. The comparison of interest was the opening of a six-bed mixed IMC.

Results

The mean total hospital cost per patient increased significantly. Before the introduction of the IMC, the total hospital cost per patient was €12,961 (± €14,530) and afterwards it rose to €16,513 (± €17,718). Multiple regression analysis was used to determine to what extent patient characteristics explained these higher hospital costs using mortality, type of stay, diagnostic categories, length of ICU and ward stay, and the Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System (TISS) as predictors. More surgical patients, greater requirements of therapeutic interventions on the ICU admission day, and longer ICU stay in patients did explain the increase in hospital costs, rather than the introduction of the IMC.

Conclusion

After the introduction of the IMC, the higher mean total hospital costs for patients with a high TISS score and longer ICU stay explained the cost increase.
Pain Predicts Overall Survival in Men With Metastatic Castration-Refractory Prostate Cancer
Authors: Halabi Susan , Vogelzang Nicholas J. , Kornblith Alice B. , Ou San-San , Kantoff Philip W. , Dawson Nancy A. , Small Eric J.
Published: May 2008

Purpose

Pain from castration-refractory prostate cancer (CRPC) bone metastases is a common event. Although it is assumed that pain represents an adverse prognostic factor, this variable has not been extensively evaluated. The objective of this study was to determine whether men with CRPC who had higher pain interference scores at baseline had worse clinical outcomes compared with men who had lower pain scores.

Patients and Methods

Data from three randomized phase III multicenter trials conducted by the Cancer and Leukemia Group B from 1992 to 1998 were combined. Eligible patients had progressive CRPC adenocarcinoma of the prostate, an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0 to 2, and adequate hematologic, renal, and hepatic functions. Seven items from the Brief Pain Inventory were used to assess the impact of pain on a range of daily activities and quality of life, each rated on a scale from 0 to 10.

Results

In 599 men, the median pain interference scores was 17 (interquartile range, 4 to 34), and 38% of the men had opioid analgesic use at baseline. There was a statistically significant association between pain interference scores and risk of death. The median survival times were 17.6 months (95% CI, 16.1 to 19.1 months) and 10.2 months (95% CI, 8.6 to 11.3 months; P < .001) in men with low (< 17) and high (≥ 17) pain scores, respectively. Pain was inversely associated with likelihood of prostate-specific antigen decline, objective response, and time to bone progression.

Conclusion

This analysis demonstrates that pain is a statistically significant predictor of overall survival in men with metastatic CRPC. These results need to be validated prospectively in future phase III trials.
Kisspeptin Excites Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Neurons through a Phospholipase C/Calcium-Dependent Pathway Regulating Multiple Ion Channels
Authors: Liu Xinhuai , Lee Kiho , Herbison Allan E.
Published: May 2008

The present study used perforated-patch electrophysiology and calcium imaging in GnRH transgenic mouse lines to determine the mechanisms underlying the potent excitatory effects of kisspeptin upon GnRH neurons in the acute brain slice preparation. Kisspeptin (100 nm) depolarized (6 ± 1 mV) and/or evoked an 87 ± 4% increase in firing rate of 75% of adult GnRH neurons (n = 51). No sex differences were found. Analyses of input resistance and current-voltage curves indicated that a heterogeneous closure of potassium channels and opening of nonselective cation (NSC) channels was involved in kisspeptin’s depolarizing response. Pharmacological pretreatment with either barium, a potassium channel blocker, or flufenamic acid, an NSC channel antagonist, reduced the percentage of responding GnRH neurons from 75 to 40% (P < 0.05). Pretreatment with both barium and flufenamic acid reduced the response rate to 17% (P < 0.05). To examine the intracellular signaling cascade involved, GnRH neurons were treated with antagonists of phospholipase C (PLC), inositol-trisphosphate receptors (IP3R), and ERK1/2 before kisspeptin exposure. PLC and IP3R antagonism reduced the percentage of responding GnRH neurons from 80 to 15 and 7%, respectively (P < 0.001). Real-time calcium imaging showed that kisspeptin evoked an approximately 10% increase in intracellular calcium levels in GnRH neurons that was followed by a decrease and return to pretest calcium levels. Additional experiments indicated that mechanisms intrinsic to the GnRH neuron are responsible for their prolonged depolarizing response to kisspeptin. These studies indicate that kisspeptin activates G protein-coupled receptor 54 (GPR54) to initiate a PLC-IP3R-calcium cascade that modulates both potassium and NSC channels to initiate depolarization in GnRH neurons.
Innocent Imitations? Authenticity and Mimesis in Haitian Vodou Art, Tourism, and Anthropology
Authors: Richman Karen E.
Published: May 2008

Mimesis was essential to the birth of Haitian Vodou art. During the 1940s, worker-artists in urban Haiti imitated foreign entrepreneurs' imitations of their imagined essence. Yet the role of mimetic interplay in folk-art reproduction was concealed by loftier claims of authenticity. This essay reports on one minor instance of this contradiction as a means of engaging modes of seeing, representing, and consuming the exotic folk essence of the Haitian nation. A local scandal erupted after children from an elementary school in the Chicago area created inventive copies of the allegedly sacred objects they had viewed at a major exhibit of Haitian Vodou art. Discussion of this incident is illuminated by memoirs of travel and other texts by experts who participated in the birth of Haitian ethnology, tourism, and Vodou art during the mid-twentieth century's “golden age of Haitian tourism.” Ethnographic research over the past two-and-a-half decades on Haitians' religious practice and discourse in Port-au-Prince and Léogane, Haiti, and in South Florida further informs this discussion.
A New Interpretation of the Aztec Statue Called Coatlicue, “Snakes-Her-Skirt”
Authors: Klein Cecelia F.
Published: May 2008

Most scholars, citing a passage in the sixteenth-century Florentine Codex by Bernardino de Sahagún (1950–82), have interpreted the famous Aztec stone statue known as Coatlicue, “Snakes-Her-Skirt,” as a reference to that goddess's role as the mother of the Aztec patron deity Huitzilopochtli. Sahagún's text, however, cannot account for the statue's portrayal of Coatlicue as decapitated and dismembered, the presence of similar statues that appear to have been part of the same set, or the lavish attention the carver paid to her skirt of braided serpents. The statue seems to better match several other sixteenth-century accounts in which, at the creation of the world, Coatlicue and four of her sisters were voluntarily sacrificed in order to put the sun in motion. The women left behind only their mantas, or large rectangular panels of cloth used to make Mexica skirts, from which they eventually were resurrected. The Coatlicue statue may represent this resurrected creatrix, whose sacrifice gave us light and warmth, in the form of her personified skirt.
Form and History: Reading as an Aesthetic Experience and Historical Act
Authors: Armstrong Paul B.
Published: May 2008

Although form and history are joined in reading, the profession of literary studies has regularly regarded formalism and historicism as opposites and even antagonists. When dichotomous terms replicate themselves without mediation, a phenomenological approach to resolving the stalemate is typically to reflect on how they interact in lived experience. Refocusing attention in this way, I offer five theses on how history and form are connected in the experience of reading: (1) Literary works are historical entities, but they are not reducible to their origins. (2) The historical meaning of a literary work includes the history of its reception. (3) Reading literature entails a response to value and form. (4) The form of a literary work is integral to its moral, social, and political meaning. (5) Unmasking is not an end in itself but a means to various kinds of revelations. I develop these theses by engaging the arguments of some of the best formalist and historicist critics, focusing mainly on well-known examples from the New Critics and the New Historicists, and by trying to bring out aspects of the reading experience that they ignore or insufficiently acknowledge. My goal is to recover the interaction of form and history by analyzing reading as an intersubjective experience in which literary works are preserved and passed on through our ever-changing engagement with their forms.
Eden and Atrocity: Pierre Guyotat's Algeria
Authors: Kendall Stuart
Published: May 2008

Pierre Guyotat joined the French colonial army in Algeria willingly. The atrocities he witnessed while in uniform, however, convinced him that the war was wrong. He did what he could to encourage other soldiers to desert. For these efforts, he was jailed in solitary confinement for three months. In this way, he experienced the war as perpetrator, witness, and victim. His writing of the war echoes and extends these conflicting capacities, radicalizing and ultimately shattering the problems and processes of recognition and identification. In his novel Éden, Éden, Éden Guyotat radicalizes narration by eliminating traditional distinctions between characters, between character and setting, and between scenes. The text is one sentence, a breathless single paragraph, articulated only with the caesuras provided by commas, colons, and backslashes. The book itself is an atrocity, an assault on the notion of “subjectivity” common to both the realist novel and Western psychological norms. It attacks not only the idea of monotheistic theologies but their very structure—the grammar of faith—and with it the spiritualization of all careor desire. Éden, Éden, Éden is a world without love, lovingly described. Journalism is its closest analogue. Éden, Éden, Éden affects the nerves directly with the brutality of fact. If it is an ethical work, it offers an ethics of atrocity. Catastrophe is the subject of the book, and it is the fate of those subject to it.
A Divine Madness: The Secret Language of Trauma in the Novels of Bessie Head and Calixthe Beyala
Authors: Brown Caroline
Published: May 2008

“A Divine Madness: The Secret Language of Trauma in the Novels of Bessie Head and Calixthe Beyala” examines Head's A Question of Power and The Sun Hath Looked upon Me, by Beyala. In both novels, trauma serves as a metaphor for the disruption caused by gendered and/or racialized state violence, which results in alienation not only from larger social structures but, most pervasively, from the very self. This essay posits that the struggle of female protagonists against forms of physical and mental incursion, as manifested in their madness and violent behavior, creates spaces that force the reader to renegotiate the intersection of the personal and political as they are embodied in African women's lives. Modernistic narrative strategies play a key component in recreating the subjective reality of women on the verge, or in the midst, of psychic collapse. Simultaneously, these strategies allow other processes, including the textual violence that undermines the parameters of the Western novel and its misogynistic and racist discursive traditions, to occur.
Constitutionalism in Iran and Its Asian Interdependencies
Authors: Atabaki Touraj
Published: May 2008

In the historiography of Iranian constitutionalism and the constitutional revolution, the reformist movement is treated as a receptive movement crafted by the ideas originating chiefly from nineteenth-century Western Europe or Russia, with no dependencies on Asia or the Middle East, excepting the Ottoman Empire. Even in the case of the Ottoman Empire, the study of the cross-border link has been limited to the nonreciprocal impact that the movement for change and reform in the Ottoman Empire had on late-nineteenth-century and early-twentieth-century Iran, with no reference to the possible impact that Iranian constitutionalism might have had on the Young Turk revolution of 1908. In the case of Transcaspian connections, the historiography of Iranian constitutionalism has been usually limited to its reference to a few nonreciprocal links between Iran and the northern frontiers, where mainly the Caucasus was in charge of producing revolutionary literature or dispatching revolutionary agents to the south in order to save the constitution from being slaughtered by Qajar despotism.

In a corresponding fashion, in Soviet historiography the study of the reformist movement of the early twentieth century in the Caucasus and Central Asia was generally treated as an isolated, self-contained movement, confined within the geographic borders of Baku, Tbilisi, and Bukhara, or at most within the southern region of the czarist empire, Turkistan. The occasional reference to the cross-regional dimension of these reform movements, if ever, was merely to its association with the political reforms exercised during the same period by the Russians or Tatars in different parts of the czarist empire. Here, too, what has been largely overlooked is the bond between the reform movements in the Caucasus and Central Asia and the corresponding movements in neighboring countries, namely, Iran, Afghanistan, India, or the Ottoman Empire.

In this study, I examine the impact that the Iranian constitutional revolution had on the reformist movement of the early twentieth century in the Caucasus and Central Asia and Afghanistan. Further, I sketch the Indian connection that made such an impact possible. My observation in this study is derived from highlighting historical examples at specific moments, rather than adopting a checklist approach, and covering as many spaces as possible over a certain period of time.
Activation of β-catenin signaling programs embryonic epidermis to hair follicle fate
Authors: Zhang Yuhang , Andl Thomas , Yang Steven H. , Teta Monica , Liu Fei , Seykora John T. , Tobias John W. , Piccolo Stefano , Schmidt-Ullrich Ruth , Nagy Andras , Taketo Makoto M. , Dlugosz Andrzej A. , Millar Sarah E.
Published: May 2008

β-Catenin signaling is required for hair follicle development, but it is unknown whether its activation is sufficient to globally program embryonic epidermis to hair follicle fate. To address this, we mutated endogenous epithelial β-catenin to a dominant-active form in vivo. Hair follicle placodes were expanded and induced prematurely in activated β-catenin mutant embryos, but failed to invaginate or form multilayered structures. Eventually, the entire epidermis adopted hair follicle fate, broadly expressing hair shaft keratins in place of epidermal stratification proteins. Mutant embryonic skin was precociously innervated, and displayed prenatal pigmentation, a phenomenon never observed in wild-type controls. Thus,β-catenin signaling programs the epidermis towards placode and hair shaft fate at the expense of epidermal differentiation, and activates signals directing pigmentation and innervation. In transcript profiling experiments,we identified elevated expression of Sp5, a direct β-catenin target and transcriptional repressor. We show that Sp5 normally localizes to hair follicle placodes and can suppress epidermal differentiation gene expression. We identified the pigmentation regulators Foxn1,Adamts20 and Kitl, and the neural guidance genes Sema4c,Sema3c, Unc5b and Unc5c, as potential mediators of the effects of β-catenin signaling on pigmentation and innervation. Our data provide evidence for a new paradigm in which, in addition to promoting hair follicle placode and hair shaft fate, β-catenin signaling actively suppresses epidermal differentiation and directs pigmentation and nerve fiber growth. Controlled downregulation of β-catenin signaling is required for normal placode patterning within embryonic ectoderm, hair follicle downgrowth, and adoption of the full range of follicular fates.
An Effective Deflected Subgradient Optimization Scheme for Implementing Column Generation for Large-Scale Airline Crew Scheduling Problems
Authors: Subramanian Shivaram , Sherali Hanif D.
Published: May 2008

We present a new deflected subgradient scheme for generating good quality dual solutions for linear programming (LP) problems and utilize this within the context of large-scale airline crew planning problems that arise in practice. The motivation for the development of this method came from the failure of a black-box-type approach implemented at United Airlines for solving such problems using column generation in concert with a commercial LP solver, where the software was observed to stall while yet remote from optimality. We identify a phenomenon called dual noise to explain this stalling behavior and present an analysis of the desirable properties of dual solutions in this context. The proposed deflected subgradient approach has been embedded within the crew pairing solver at United Airlines and tested using historical data sets. Our computational experience suggests a strong correlation between the dual noise phenomenon and the quality of the final solution produced, as well as with the accompanying algorithmic performance. Although we observed that our deflected subgradient scheme yielded an average speed-up factor of 10 for the column generation scheme over the commercial solver, the average reduction in the optimality gap over the same number of iterations was better by a factor of 26, along with an average reduction in the dual noise by a factor of 30. The results from the column generation implementation suggest that significant benefits can be obtained by using the deflected subgradient-based scheme instead of a black-box-type or standard solver approach to solve the intermediate linear programs that arise within the column generation scheme.
Beam-ACO for Simple Assembly Line Balancing
Authors: Blum Christian
Published: May 2008

Assembly line balancing problems are concerned with the optimization of manufacturing processes. In this paper we consider the so-called simple assembly line balancing problem with the objective of minimizing the number of used workstations. This problem is denoted by SALB-1 in the literature. For tackling this problem, we present a so-called Beam-ACO approach. This technique results from hybridizing the metaheuristic ant colony optimization with beam search. The experimental results show that our algorithm is a state-of-the-art method for this problem. It can solve 263 of 269 existing benchmark instances to optimality.
Image Reinforcement or Impairment: The Effects of Co-Branding on Attribute Uncertainty
Authors: Geylani Tansev , Inman J. Jeffrey , Hofstede Frenkel Ter
Published: May 2008

Co-branding is often used by companies to reinforce the image of their brands. In this paper, we investigate the conditions under which a brand's image is reinforced or impaired as a result of co-branding, and the characteristics of a good partner for a firm considering co-branding for image reinforcement. We address these issues by conceptualizing attribute beliefs as two-dimensional constructs: The first dimension reflects the expected value of the attribute, while the second dimension reflects the degree of certainty about the attribute. We argue that these parameters are updated after consumers are exposed to a co-branding activity, and we develop an analytical model that incorporates these notions. An analysis of the model leads to several propositions, which we test in an experiment. Our findings indicate that it is not necessarily in a brand's best interest to choose an alliance partner that is of the highest performance possible. Moreover, we find that, while expected values of the brand attributes may improve as a result of co-branding, under certain conditions the uncertainty associated with the brands increases through the alliance. Implications for co-branding researchers and practitioners are discussed.
Building Brands
Authors: Ataman M. Berk , Mela Carl F. , van Heerde Harald J.
Published: May 2008

Which marketing strategies are most effective for introducing new brands? This paper sheds light on this question by ascribing growth performance to firms' postlaunch marketing choices. We decompose the success of a new brand into its ultimate market potential and the rate at which it achieves this potential. To achieve this aim we formulate a Bayesian dynamic linear model (DLM) of repeat purchase diffusion wherein growth and market potential are directly linked to the new brand's long-term advertising, promotion, distribution, and product strategy. We perform the analysis on 225 new-brand introductions across 22 repeat-purchase product categories over five years to develop generalized findings about the correlates of new-brand success. We find that access to distribution breadth plays the greatest role in the success of a new brand, and that investments in distribution and product innovation lead to greater marginal increases in sales for new brands than either discounting, feature/display, or advertising. Moreover, distribution interacts with other strategies to enhance their effectiveness. These findings underscore the utility of extending marketing mix models of new-brand performance to include product and distribution decisions.
Feather-picking Psittacines: Histopathology and Species Trends
Authors: Garner M. M. , Clubb S. L. , Mitchell M. A. , Brown L.
Published: May 2008

Histologic findings are described for 408 feather-picking or self-mutilating psittacines with the use of biopsies from clinically affected and unaffected skin. Inflammatory skin disease was diagnosed in 210 birds, and traumatic skin disease was diagnosed in 198 birds. Criteria used for the diagnosis of inflammatory skin disease included the presence of perivascular inflammation in the superficial or deep dermis of clinically affected and unaffected sites. The primary histologic criteria for the diagnosis of traumatic skin disease were superficial dermal scarring with or without inflammation in the affected sites and an absence of inflammation in the unaffected sites. The inflammatory cells associated with the lesions were typically lymphocytes and occasionally plasma cells, histiocytes, and granulocytes. A preponderance of inflammatory skin disease was seen in macaws ( Ara spp.) and Amazon parrots ( Amazona spp.). A preponderance of traumatic skin disease was seen in cockatoos ( Cacatua spp.) and African grey parrots ( Psittacus erithacus). The prevalence of each was approximately equal in several other species, including conures ( Aratinga and Pyrrhura spp.), eclectus parrots ( Eclectus roratus), quaker parrots ( Myiopsitta monachus), cockatiels ( Nymphicus hollandicus), parakeets ( Cyanorhamphus and Psittacula spp.), and caiques ( Pionites spp.). No geographic or gender-based trends were identified. These findings could be helpful for identifying and treating birds with feather-picking disorders.
Breast Cancer Diagnosis and Prognosis through Quantitative Measurements of Serum Glycan Profiles
Authors: Kyselova Zuzana , Mechref Yehia , Kang Pilsoo , Goetz John A , Dobrolecki Lacey E , Sledge George W , Schnaper Lauren , Hickey Robert J , Malkas Linda H , Novotny Milos V
Published: May 2008

Background: Glycosylated proteins play important roles in cell-to-cell interactions, immunosurveillance, and a variety of receptor-mediated and specific protein functions through a highly complex repertoire of glycan structures. Aberrant glycosylation has been implicated in cancer for many years.

Methods: We performed specific MALDI mass spectrometry (MS)-based glycomic profile analyses of permethylated glycans in sera from breast cancer patients (12, stage I; 11, stage II; 9, stage III; and 50, stage IV) along with sera from 27 disease-free women. The serum glycoproteins were enzymatically deglycosylated, and the released glycans were purified and quantitatively permethylated before their MALDI-MS analyses. We applied various statistical analysis tools, including ANOVA and principal component analysis, to evaluate the MS profiles.

Results: Two statistical procedures implicated several sialylated and fucosylated N-glycan structures as highly probable biomarkers. Quantitative changes according to a cancer stage resulted when we categorized the glycans according to molecular size, number of oligomer branches, and abundance of sugar residues. Increases in sialylation and fucosylation of glycan structures appeared to be indicative of cancer progression. Different statistical evaluations confirmed independently that changes in the relative intensities of 8 N-glycans are characteristic of breast cancer (P < 0.001), whereas other glycan structures might contribute additionally to distinctions in the statistically recognizable patterns (different stages).

Conclusions: MS-based N-glycomic profiling of serum-derived constituents appears promising as a highly sensitive and informative approach for staging the progression of cancer.
“From Troubled Ground to Common Ground”: The Locust Grove African-American Cemetery Restoration Project: A Case Study of Service-Learning and Community History
Authors: BURG STEVEN B.
Published: May 2008

This article chronicles a movement to restore Shippensburg, Pennsylvania's Locust Grove Cemetery, a historic African-American burial ground. The cemetery faced persistent troubles exacerbated by changing demographics in the surrounding neighborhood, its caretakers' limited resources, and the community's history of racial discrimination. Beginning in 2003, Shippensburg University applied history students assisted with research, grant writing, and interpretative materials. By 2005, a community coalition formed that built on the students' efforts, ultimately mobilizing the resources needed to finish the restoration. This case study illustrates the complex dynamics of a community preservation campaign and ways Public History programs can support such efforts.
Espaço autônomo e papel próprio: representações de enfermeiros no contexto do binômio saúde coletiva-hospital
Authors: Gomes Antonio Marcos Tosoli , Oliveira Denize Cristina de
Published: May 2008

Este estudo objetiva analisar a estrutura da representação social da autonomia profissional. Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa com base nas Representações Sociais e desenvolvida com 83 enfermeiros de um município do Estado do Rio de Janeiro. Como coleta de dados utilizou-se a tarefa de evocação livre às expressões autonomia profissional e enfermagem e, para análise, recorreu-se ao Software EVOC. O núcleo da representação à expressão autonomia é constituído por conhecimento, conquista e responsabilidade, ao passo que no termo enfermagem observa-se amor e dedicação. Percebe-se a presença de dimensões representacionais ligadas à pessoa dos profissionais e aos seus sentimentos. Conclui-se que as estruturas representacionais expostas demonstram um processo de conquista da autonomia profissional.
Criatividade e inovação: competências na gestão de enfermagem
Authors: Feldman Liliane Bauer , Ruthes Rosa Maria , Cunha Isabel Cristina Kowal Olm
Published: May 2008

O presente artigo apresenta a importância da criatividade e da inovação nos serviços de saúde, distinguindo esses conceitos. Comportamento criativo é o aprimoramento de um elemento ou ação conhecidos, enquanto inovação significa encontrar novas alternativas. Considerando-se as competências, ou seja, conhecimento, habilidade e atitude - CHA, compreende-se que, estimulando-se a criatividade e a inovação, a atuação do profissional de saúde será otimizada. A criatividade e a inovação são, portanto, elementos-chave para o aprimoramento organizacional e para que, especificamente, a Enfermagem encontre alternativas para solucionar problemas no âmbito profissional. Dessa forma, esta abordagem traz uma ferramenta estratégica no processo de gestão e um diferencial para o enfermeiro o qual, ao criar ou inovar, se surpreenderá com seu potencial.
Potential of biologically active plant oils to control mosquito larvae (Culex pipiens, Diptera: Culicidae) from an egyptian locality
Authors: Khater Hanem Fathy , Shalaby Afaf Abdel-Salam
Published: May 2008

The insecticidal effect of six commercially available plant oils was tested against 4th larval instars of Culex pipiens. Larvae were originally collected from Meit El-Attar, Qalyubia Governorate, Egypt, and then reared in the laboratory until F1 generation. The LC50 values were 32.42, 47.17, 71.37, 83.36, 86.06, and 152.94 ppm for fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-grecum), earth almond (Cyperus esculentus), mustard (Brassica compestris), olibanum (Boswellia serrata), rocket (Eruca sativa), and parsley (Carum ptroselinum), respectively. The tested oils altered some biological aspects of C. pipiens, for instance, developmental periods, pupation rates, and adult emergences. The lowest concentrations of olibanum and fenugreek oils caused remarkable prolongation of larval and pupal durations. Data also showed that the increase of concentrations was directly proportional to reduction in pupation rates and adult emergences. Remarkable decrease in pupation rate was achieved by mustard oil at 1000 ppm. Adult emergence was suppressed by earth almond and fenugreek oils at 25 ppm. In addition, the tested plant oils exhibited various morphological abnormalities on larvae, pupae, and adult stages. Consequently, fenugreek was the most potent oil and the major cause of malformation of both larval and pupal stages. Potency of the applied plant oils provided an excellent potential for controlling C. pipiens.
A exenteração pélvica para o câncer de reto: avaliação dos fatores prognósticos de sobrevida em 27 pacientes operados
Authors: Costa Sergio Renato Pais , Teixeira Alexandre Chartuni Pereira , Lupinacci Renato Arioni
Published: May 2008

OBJETIVO: Identificar os fatores prognósticos de sobrevida dos pacientes submetidos à exenteração pélvica no tratamento curativo do câncer de reto (no Estádio T4 e na recidiva pélvica isolada). MÉTODOS: Os dados completos de 27 pacientes submetidos a esse tipo de operação por adenocarcinoma de reto entre Janeiro de 1996 a Junho de 2006 foram avaliados. Foram estudados diversos fatores prognósticos epidemiológicos, cirúrgicos e histológicos por meio de análise multivariada. RESULTADOS: A mortalidade pós-operatória foi de 7 % (n=2) enquanto a morbidade global foi de 55 % (n=15). A média de sobrevida global foi de 38 meses. A sobrevida global foi maior nos tumores T4 do que nas recidivas pélvicas (47 X 26 meses). Somente o comprometimento linfonodal (N+) foi fator prognóstico negativo na análise multivariada. CONCLUSÃO: A exenteração pélvica para o tratamento do câncer de reto apresenta alta morbidade e considerável mortalidade. Deve ser indicada nos tumores T4, principalmente quando não há disseminação linfonodal.
Manifestação incomum do câncer colorretal: relato de caso
Authors: Mendonça Cláudio Ferreira , Diogo Filho Augusto , Lima Diogo Almeida , Santos Luciano Batista Silveira , Dias Carla Corrêa Lima
Published: May 2008

O câncer colorretal é uma neoplasia bastante freqüente, sendo responsável por alta morbimortalidade. O principal tipo histológico encontrado é o adenocarcinoma. Geralmente, acomete o segmento distal do reto, e o sigmóide e os sintomas mais comuns resultam de alteração do hábito intestinal. Fístulas êntero-vesicais resultantes de complicações neoplásicas são raras e manifestam-se pouco comumente com fecalúria. Este caso trata-se de um homem pardo, de 44 anos, que teve uma fístula reto-vesical como complicação que levou ao diagnóstico de um adenocarcinoma colorretal. O objetivo deste trabalho é relatar uma manifestação incomum deste tipo de neoplasia, que se apresentou com complicação pouco freqüente no momento do diagnóstico, além de fazer uma revisão na literatura médica sobre o assunto.
Câncer ano-reto-cólico: aspectos atuais III - câncer de reto - terapêutica neoadjuvante
Authors: Santos Jr Júlio César M
Published: May 2008

O tratamento cirúrgico do câncer de reto era feito por meio de operação via abdominal se o tumor estivesse no terço superior ou abdominoperineal, se o tumor estivesse no terço médio ou inferior, era associado à radioterapia e/ou a quimioterapia. A preservação do esfíncter anal, pelos princípios cirúrgicos vigentes, era limitada e destinava-se aos tumores que estavam acima do alcance do toque digital. As anastomoses baixas, ensaiadas em doenças benignas, foram introduzidas para o câncer, mas somente ganharam destaques com grampeadores mecânicos. Avanços posteriores incorporaram novas concepções sobre a anatomia cirúrgica do reto e seus aspectos oncológicos, provocando alterações operatórias cujos resultados promoveram revisão de conceitos e emancipação da terapêutica. O arsenal farmacológico foi tão ampliado e enriquecido, que o embaraço atual está em escolher e testar as drogas oncológicas disponíveis. Paralelamente aos aceleradores lineares, os avanços na área de computação e produção de imagens radiológicas possibilitaram o planejamento tridimensional do segmento anatômico a ser atingido, com ganhos valorosos para a radioterapia. O maior desafio no tratamento do câncer de reto, superado os aspectos físicos e cirúrgico-anatômicos, continua sendo o controle da recidiva local, ainda que bem inferiores aos observados no passado. Esse progresso ocorreu graças ao avanço tecnológico das imagens ultra-sonográficas e da ressonância magnética que, no campo propedêutico, vêm aprimorando o estadiamento do tumor; à maior definição do uso da terapêutica neo-adjuvante, à técnica cirúrgica de excisão total do mesorreto e ao apuro manual dos cirurgiões.
Modernização e concentração do transporte urbano em Salvador (1849-1930)
Authors: Saes Alexandre Macchione
Published: May 2008

O artigo recupera a história da formação das empresas de transporte urbano da cidade de Salvador entre os anos de 1849 e 1930. A proclamação da República marcou a fase inicial de modernização das empresas de transporte, em que a fusão de companhias e a incorporação de capitais estrangeiros possibilitaram a introdução dos bondes elétricos na capital baiana. Foi nesse contexto que dois grupos rivais iniciaram mais uma batalha no Brasil, agora pelos mercados de Salvador: de um lado, o grupo nacional da Companhia Brasileira de Energia Elétrica, e de outro lado, o grupo estrangeiro Light, liderado em Salvador pelo empresário norte-americano Percival Farquhar. Diante desse cenário de concorrência, o artigo analisa a relação entre as empresas e a Câmara Municipal de Salvador, instituição responsável por distribuir as concessões de transporte na cidade.
Representação em Rousseau e Hannah Arendt
Authors: Abreu Maria Aparecida Azevedo
Published: May 2008

O artigo tem como objetivo comparar as concepções de representação formuladas por Rousseau e Hannah Arendt. Sempre considerados como críticos da representação política, cada um dos autores faz sua crítica baseada em argumentos bastante distintos. Esses argumentos serão comparados, seguindo a trilha dos conceitos de natureza, artifício, vontade, unidade e pluralidade.
Modelo de mudanças climáticas com gastos públicos
Authors: Carneiro Pedro Erik Arruda
Published: May 2008

Neste artigo, discuto, principalmente, a inserção dos gastos públicos em modelos de mudança climática. Considero a análise de Kemfert, Lise e Tol (2004) como exemplo de modelo formal que agrega as questões econômicas e climáticas, e amplio a discussão com o estudo da inserção dos gastos públicos com gestão ambiental e da matriz energética. Mostro que as estruturas econômicas e físicas dos países estabelecem diferentes gastos públicos, com diferentes impactos ambientais e conseqüências para outras nações e isto afeta sobremaneira os resultados de qualquer modelo econômico. Em termos dos gastos públicos com meio ambiente, observo especificamente o caso brasileiro, verificando os gastos públicos federais com Gestão Ambiental no Brasil de 2000 a 2006. Defendo a importância de se considerar as diversas possibilidades de despesas públicas com gestão ambiental, para o tratamento das questões relativas à mudança climática.
Períodos de semeadura e condições de armazenamento na qualidade de cozimento de grãos de feijão
Authors: Ribeiro Nerinéia Dalfollo , Poersch Nerison Luis , Rosa Simone Saydelles da
Published: May 2008

O objetivo do trabalho foi avaliar o efeito de períodos de semeadura na qualidade de cozimento de grãos de feijão da cultivar "Pérola", armazenados em diferentes condições de temperatura, umidade e tempo de estocagem. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi o inteiramente casualizado, com três repetições. Os tratamentos consistiram da combinação de três períodos de semeadura (15/10/2003, 29/10/2003 e 21/11/2003), três ambientes de armazenamento (temperatura ambiente; temperatura de 12°C e umidade relativa de 45-50%; e temperatura de 0,5°C e umidade relativa de 80%); e três tempos de armazenamento dos grãos (zero, três e seis meses). As porcentagens de grãos normais e de grãos duros apresentaram comportamento diferenciado em função do ambiente e do tempo de armazenamento. A porcentagem de grãos duros foi maior no terceiro período de semeadura. A absorção de água diminuiu após o período de seis meses de armazenamento. O tempo de cozimento dos grãos de feijão não foi alterado com o armazenamento quando as semeaduras foram realizadas em 15/10/2003 e em 29/10/2003. Maior tempo para a absorção de água ou para o cozimento pode ser requerido em função da qualidade dos grãos no momento da colheita ou das condições de temperatura e de umidade de armazenamento.
Interferência alelopática de Raphanus raphanistrum L. sobre a germinação de Lactuca sativa L. e Solanum lycopersicon L.
Authors: Wandscheer Alana Cristina Dorneles , Pastorini Lindamir Hernandez
Published: May 2008

O presente trabalho teve como objetivo verificar os possíveis efeitos alelopáticos de Raphanus raphanistrum L. sobre a germinação de sementes de alface e tomate. Para isso, prepararam-se extratos aquosos de folhas e raízes de nabiça, após serem trituradas em liquidificador industrial e o extrato bruto diluído em água destilada até as concentrações de 5 e 10% (m/v). Os testes de germinação foram realizados colocando-se 25 sementes de alface e tomate em placas de Petri, umedecidas com os extratos obtidos, com quatro repetições em cada tratamento. O tratamento controle foi regado somente com água destilada. As sementes foram mantidas em câmara de germinação a 25°C por cinco dias. Após este período, observou-se que todas as concentrações de extrato de nabiça reduziram a porcentagem, a velocidade, o índice de velocidade de germinação e o comprimento radicular de sementes de alface, sendo maior o efeito nos tratamentos com folhas. Em sementes de tomate, somente o extrato de folha 10% reduziu a porcentagem de germinação e o comprimento radicular e do epicótilo. No entanto, extratos de folhas e raiz 10% causaram atraso no processo germinativo e no número de plântulas germinadas por dia, sendo o extrato de folha 10% mais ativo.